“Aren’t we supposed to be working?” & “Okay, so maybe I didn’t see that coming.” with Chris Redfield? Maybe like a competition or something during a slow day at work? (Am I basing this off of Brooklyn Nine Nine? Yes I am) S.T.A.R.S era please? Seriously congrats on 100 Sly! 💛
Ness, this.....became a whole lot longer than I expected. I hope you enjoy this bc I had a lot of fun writing it!! Thank you <3 I cant believe I’ve made this milestone I’m so happy :D
I also might be writing a BSAA Chris one as well bc I love Chris
Warning: cussing and fluff
Chris kicked the S.T.A.R.S. office door open, the sound of the wood slamming against the wall startled you. You scanned the rest of the office. Brad, Barry, and Jill continued on like nothing had happened. As soon as the door closed, everyone closed the files they were reading and turned to Chris who stood triumphant in front of the door. You noticed he had set a large duffle bag on the ground. You were the only one that was visibly confused and Chris took notice. He gave you a brief nod then turned to the rest of the S.T.A.R.S. team.
“It’s cluster meeting day,” Chris smiled, “Once a year, all leadership in the department are whisked away to an all day meeting. Usually, Wesker has us catch up with case files, but we use it for more extracurricular activities.”
Jill turned to you, as her desk was across from yours, “We call it team building.”
“But aren’t we supposed to be working?” You questioned.
“We work every other day of the year, this is our one day to strictly not do work and have fun,” Chris smiled and winked at you, “You’ll enjoy it.”
You nodded, “Okay, um, what kind of activities do you do?”
“All sorts of things,” Barry interjected, “Last year we sumo wrestled in the bomb squad gear.”
You chuckled at the thought of seeing that.
“Did we do taser darts last year or the year before?” Jill asked.
You mouthed ‘taser darts’ to yourself both curious about what that meant and not wanting to know at the same time.
“Year before,” Brad answered at his console behind you.
What were you about to get yourself into?
“We leave coming up with the games to Chris,” Jill smiled, “So what’s in the bag Redfield?”
“Well, Valentine you’ll just have to wait and find out.”
Jill leaned back into her chair and watched Chris intently. Chris only smiled and checked his watch before the office door opened up behind him. Rebecca Chambers from Bravo squad walked in with a shy smile on her face.
Chris turned, “Right on time, Becca.”
Everyone gave Rebecca a ‘hello’ as she stood next to Chris.
“This year won’t be a physical challenge like before. Rebecca wanted to help, so I put her in charge of our very first scavenger hunt.”
“You don’t know what’s in the bags do you?” Jill smirked.
“Not a damn clue,” Chris returned the smirk and moved to his desk, “Take it away Becca.”
You had only interacted with Rebecca a few times. Since she was on Bravo team, you two just naturally worked opposite shifts. But in the times you have talked with her, she’s always been so lovely and kind. She stood where Chris was and unzipped the bags on the ground. Inside the large bag were three smaller ones.
“There will be three teams consisting of two people each. Each team will get one bag. You all have different clues and items you’ll need to receive and put in your respective bags. There will be four items for each team. Whoever gets back to this office with all their items first, wins,” Becca smiled then she pulled out a small box from the bag, “To make it fair, the teams will be picked at random.”
Rebecca walked up to you and held the box out. You stuck your hand in the precut hole and felt ping pong balls. They all felt relatively the same as your hand grasped one and pulled.
“Hey, looks like I’m number one,” you joked and showed the ball with a one written on it in permanent marker to the rest of the team.
Jill went next and she got….number one! There wasn't any other person you wanted on your team other than...
“We are going to destroy them,” Jill smirked, taking you out of your thoughts.
You gave her a nod and smiled. Then you and Jill watched Barry pull number three. Then Brad pulled two. Which left Chris and Joseph. Chris had his hand in the box. His tongue stuck out the side of the mouth and he felt around between the last two ping pong balls. It was comical to say the least and as he pulled his number which had a large two on it.
“Good luck Rookie, Brad and I are guaranteed to win,” Chris smirked.
“That’s a lot of talk Chris,” Barry said, “Joseph and I are going to kick your ass.”
“I’d like to see you both try, I’m not losing,” Jill cut in.
Rebecca placed the box back in the big duffle bag and picked up the individual bags. She gave you, Chris, and Barry a respective bag.
“Okay, you have five minutes to get ready, then the games begin!” Rebecca jumped in place a little, excited to see her hard work and planning actually coming together.
Jill stood from her desk and walked around to yours.
“I know this station pretty well, we’ve got this,” Jill mused, “Let’s look at that first clue.”
You unzipped the bag and pulled out a small replica mannequin. Confusion was evident on your face and Jill smiled. Carefully she took the item from your hands and inspected it.
Jill leaned in to whisper in your ear, “I know exactly where to go, make sure you can keep up.”
You nodded quickly, “Can do.”
“Okay,” Rebecca called out, “Your time starts now!”
Quickly Chris dashed towards the door and Jill followed. They both fought to get out the door first. You couldn’t help but laugh at them as you followed through the door. Jill was almost at the end of the hallway when you made it through.
“Come on! We have no time to waste,” Jill yelled as she headed to the first location, where you didn’t really know, you just jogged behind her.
After ten minutes of jogging through the station, trying to dodge the other police officers and employees, you made it to a storage room you’d never been to before. You took a second to catch your breath, tired of having to go down stairs then up stairs and around to get to this one storage room. The design of this building was horrible and made absolutely no sense, but Jill ran through it with no problem.
The most surprising aspect of this challenge was how unphased the other officers were. Some of them even cheered you two on. It was something you’d never experienced at your previous job before and you couldn’t help the smile on your face.
Jill found a small slip of paper and another trinket. As she read the clue, the radio at her hip went off. It was another officer, someone you didn’t recognize calling in.
“Valentine, come in. I got a hit on Redfield.”
Jill smirked, “Where is he?”
“He’s in the library right now. Looks like he’s alone.”
“Thanks for the tip, I owe you one.”
You heard a laugh from the radio and a ten four.
“Okay,” Jill started as she threw the second trinket in the bag, “Splitting up is probably a good idea. Why don’t you distract Chris while I continue? I’ll radio you on channel 1 when I need help. What do you think?”
You listened to her suggestions and she was right. She knew the department way better than you did and being a distraction wasn’t that bad of an idea. There were no rules against it, and you were S.T.A.R.S. after all, you had to be able to adapt on the fly.
“Good idea, Jill,” you smiled, “I’ll make sure to take Chris out.”
“On a date or with a sniper?” Jill hid the smirk with a dip of her head to study the clue.
The storage room warmed considerably, or maybe that was just you, “Uh-”
“The next clue is in the records room!” Jill shouted and started a slight jog.
You followed her movements out of the storage room.
“Library is that way. Make sure you keep him busy!” Jill yelled as she ran ahead of you.
This was not how you expected your day to go. Here you were sprinting towards the library, trying to figure out how you could possibly keep Chris busy as Jill traverses through the RPD by herself figuring out the clues alone. Jill was more than a capable partner, and you trusted her to find the rest of the items. You just had to make sure that you kept up your end.
The door to the second door of the library busted open at your momentum. Below you could only see Chris. It looked like he was going through various books, probably had to do something with his clue. You didn’t see Brad at all. Chris might have sent Brad to do the same thing Jill did to you.
Chris didn’t see you or hear you above him, he was too engrossed in his search which helped to your advantage. You kept your eye on him, making sure to keep yourself low. You had no idea exactly what you were going to do now. Your first thought was get here now your mind went blank.
Below, Chris made an ah-ha sound as he pulled out a book. You strained to see what he found. It looked like the book was fake, from your point you could see that a large hole was cut out of the pages and there laid something inside but you couldn’t see it. Chris stuffed whatever it was inside the black bag in his hands and started reading the next clue. You saw him walk in a circle around the two large tables then he made a headway towards the stairs that were to your left.
Your nerves started to buzz as you saw him ascend the stairs towards you. Your body reacted before your mind does as you stood and ran towards him. Chris looked up from the clue for a second before your body collided with his. Your shoulder dug into his stomach, your arms wrapped around his torso, making his feet come up from underneath him as you both flew down the stairs. Chris instinctively held you close against him and rolled his body so that every hit down the stairs he took instead of you. The momentum threw you both against the wall at the landing between upstairs and down. Neither of you could stop, sending you down the last bit of stairs. You landed on top of Chris at the base of the stairs on the first floor.
Chris groaned with you on top of him digging into his ribs.
It took you a second to realize you were at the bottom of the stairs laying right on top of Chris. You scrambled to get up. He was still in a shock that you fucking tackled him down the stairs, which you used to your advantage. You quickly straddled his waist pinning his hips to the ground. Your hands grasped his wrist and kept them to the floor.
Chris blinked trying to get his bearings.
“I can’t believe you tackled me,” Chris laughed and you felt the rumble of his chest beneath you.
“I want to win,” you breathed, “By any means necessary.”
Your heart rammed against your ribs, be it the adrenaline or his comment. You didn’t think you just acted and didn’t consider the consequences of your actions. The grip on his wrist loosened, your mouth opened about to apologize. Before you could even say anything, Chris took advantage of the moment.
Quickly, Chris grabbed your wrist. He planted his feet. His thighs stretched as his hips bucked up. The force threw you right over his head. You landed with a thud on your back. All the air in your lungs left with the hit.
Chris clambered to grab his scavenger bag that laid a few feet away. You were stuck trying to get air back into your lungs to realize what Chris was doing. He was a S.T.A.R.S. member for a reason.
But that wasn’t going to make you back down from winning your first cluster meeting activities. You moved, though slower than Chris. He bolted out of the closest door to him which led to the Reception and the Main Hall if you weren't mistaken. You sprinted, following him intently.
“Jill, I stopped Chris for a bit. I’m pursuing him through the main hall now,” You radioed.
“I’m on the last clue, stall him for a little longer,” Jill heaved, she sounded as breathless as you.
“Gotcha,” you stowed the radio back into your hip pouch.
Chris took the stairs two at a time, his laugh echoing in the large hall. You were right on his heels. Some officers cheered and laughed at you two, but you didn’t have much time to pay any attention to them.
“I never knew I liked being chased, until right now,” Chris shot over his shoulder with a stupid smirk on his face.
You brows knitted together in anger, deciding not to indulge in his talking. You just had to stall, a little longer like Jill said. The victory was just in your reach.
It didn’t seem like Chris had any destination in mind he just ran through door after door with you right behind him. But Chris took a corner too quickly for you. You weren’t able to stop your motion, your feet skidded and you felt yourself about to fall.
On instinct your eyes squeezed shut, your hands came out in front of you to try and catch your fall. But the fall never came. You opened your eyes to see the floor, but you were still standing. You looked at the arm around your waist. Then you twisted to see who caught you.
“Are you falling for me, rookie?” Chris blatantly flirted.
Your face heated. You regained your footing, with his help. His hand still hovered on your waist. You both stared into each other’s eyes, though there was something different in this look than the one in the library. Chris’ eyes darted to your lips for a quick second, the scavenger hunt all but forgotten as you mirrored his actions.
Then you both leaned, the distance between you two closing till your lips pressed together lightly. Chris’s lips were softer than you expected. You couldn’t help the smile that pressed against him. Your hand came up to rest on his cheek holding him gently in place not wanting to part just yet. Until you heard the muffled voice at your hip.
Slowly, you two pulled away your eyes half lidded as you focused on his lips.
“Okay, so maybe I didn’t see that coming,” Chris breathed, his hands still resting on your hips.
The edges of his lips tugged into a smile. You heard your name again, glancing at the radio.
“Sorry,” you muttered, pulling the radio out.
“I got it! Head to S.T.A.R.S NOW!” Jill screamed.
You glanced at Chris, a devilish smile on your face as you pushed him away, then bolted down the hallway. You heard a faint hey as you ran. The biggest smile on your face. Not only from the kiss, but from the prospect of winning.
Within a few minutes you made it to the S.T.A.R.S. office a light pep in your steps until you heard a loud scream from behind the door. Your fighting instinct kicked in and you pushed through the door. Jill stood staring at Barry and Joseph in the office. Joseph took his feet off the desk with a meek smile on his face. Barry had the largest smile you’d ever seen.
“We knew you and Chris would go after each other,” Joseph stated simply like it just made sense.
“We even took our time,” Barry laughed.
Chris and Brad came in a few seconds later with their bag full. Rebecca took the bags from everyone and put it back in the large duffle that sat next to the door.
“What did you think?” Rebecca asked.
“It was fun, Becca. We’d all be happy to have you help out again,” Chris turned slightly to make eye contact with you, “I don’t think I’ll ever forget this year.”
Rebecca smiled and clapped happily at the statement, not fully realizing the intentions behind the last statement. The scavenger hunt felt like it went by extremely quick but it took up a good portion of the afternoon. Everyone went back to their respective desks to finish up the menial amount of work they started on earlier this morning.
You could barely focus with Chris’ adjacent to yours. He smiled as he looked back and forth from glancing at you to the case file on his desk. Soon, the Bravo team would be here for a shift change.
You started to gather your things to head out. Jill looked sullen at coming in second. You stood and placed a hand on her shoulder. She squeezed your fingers.
“There’s always next year,” you tried to sooth.
Jill nodded, “At least we weren’t last.”
You held the laugh back with a cough and you saw the little mischievous look in her eyes. Chris stood from his desk and moved towards the armory doing final checks before heading out.
Jill looked at you and tilted her head towards Chris behind her shoulder, “So, date or sniper?”
Your face flushed, “I’m about to take you out with a sniper.”
She just smiled and shook her head, “I’ll watch my back. See you later.”
With that she left, you still stood by her desk, your eyes focusing on Chris at the far end of the office. He turned, and saw you staring. A dumb smile crossed his face, and yours. He walked straight towards you.
“Yeah I did, are cluster meetings like this every year?”
Chris took a second to think, “If you’re talking about our kiss, no. But the fun? Yes.”
You punched him in the shoulder, unable to say anything. Chris just laughed and rubbed the spot on his arm.
“You’re an idiot,” you laughed.
Chris shrugged, “Am I still an idiot if I ask you out for a drink?”
You pouted as you pondered his words. You grabbed your jacket off the corner of your desk.
“No,” you beamed, “That’s probably the smartest thing you’ve done.”
“Ladies first,” Chris extended his hand towards the door.
You shook your head and exited the S.T.A.R.S. office with probably the biggest smile on your face.
