Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“—ill. Jill. We’ve arrived.”

Jill frowned with her eyes closed when hearing Carlos say that from the pilot seat. She slowly opened them and looked through the window. She didn’t know when she had fallen asleep, but she hadn’t even noticed they weren’t in the air anymore.

“Where are we?” she asked while Carlos unbuckled his seat belt to join her in the back.

“No clue.” She stopped rubbing her eyes to deadpan at him, causing this one to chuckle. “But don’t worry, it’s safe. See? Not a single zombie around.”

She looked at him skeptically before taking a proper look at the gas station next to which Carlos had landed the helicopter. She felt her seat bounce when Carlos dropped next to her while she continued examining the place from afar. It did look abandoned, almost peaceful, nothing to do with the city they had just left behind and which had vanished into thin air.

“So? Verdict?”

She looked at Carlos when he formulated that question with irony. The man was closer than she expected him to be, but her answer didn’t betray that her heart had actually skipped a beat because of their proximity.

“It looks safe. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t any zombies inside.”

Carlos exhaled a defeated sigh and surprised her by nodding once.

“Okay: give me a minute.”

When realizing that Carlos had the intention of standing up, Jill slapped a hand against the man’s right thigh in an impulse, keeping him there. The brusqueness of the gesture effectively made Carlos stop mid-action. The soldier’s eyes focused on her again, showing stupor, but if he planned to say something, Jill didn’t let him.

“Where the hell are you going?”

Carlos started to answer her vehement question with a muttered ‘Uhm...’ clearly intended to gain time. The expression that appeared in his face showed that he was already foreseeing that, no matter what he said, she was going to get angry.

“To sweep the area?”

The fact that Jill was already expecting the reply didn’t mean she was going to react with less irritation at it.

“Carlos, have you looked at you?”

The way he smiled mockingly warned Jill about the stupid comment that was surely coming, as a result of not having chosen her words more carefully.

“That’s your way of telling a man he’s handsome— ouch !”

“No, it’s my way of saying that you look like shit,” she snapped while Carlos rubbed his thigh, after she slapped it again.

“Come on, I can’t be that bad when I’ve managed to take both of us here.”

“Yes, and now you’re about to fall asleep as we speak, so you aren’t going to check anything.”

“But maybe there’s food inside.” She glared at him when his words caused her stomach to growl slightly, which made Carlos exhale a triumphant ‘ hah! ’ while pointing at it with his index finger. “See? I’m not the only one who’s hungry!”

“Look, we haven’t gone through all that shit together so that you stupidly risk yourself now, so you stay here voluntarily or this time I shoot you so that you don’t move: your choice.”

Carlos looked at her in stupor while she recovered her breath. When the silence dragged for too long, Jill was about to reach for her weapon to reinforce her argument, but Carlos prevented her from completing the action by exhaling a surprised chuckle.

“Okay, okay, I choose to live,” he joked in a conciliatory tone, putting himself comfortable on the seat again, “you have a point: maybe dying for going to get some snacks is a little stupid.”

Jill snorted softly at Carlos’ choice of words, feeling quite relieved that the soldier had listened to reason. 

At that moment she realized that, during the whole conversation, her hand had been pressed against Carlos’ leg. She was about to remove it when he casually placed his hand over hers, keeping it there. The gesture was pretty gentle, and so it was the smile that appeared in Carlos’ face while looking at her, but Jill’s heart accelerated as a result nevertheless. 

Yes, there was no doubt the man was handsome, but she didn’t plan to give Carlos the pleasure of admitting it so easily. Besides, she had always been more the fighting type, and Carlos’ comment right then had served her the opportunity to do that in a silver platter.

“Well, a death like that would suit you.”

Carlos half-closed his eyes at her.

“Are you calling me stupid, Supercop?”

She simply shrugged.

“You’ve said it, not me.”

Carlos shook his head, obviously pretending to be annoyed, which made difficult for her to keep a completely serious expression.

“Damn, you could be nicer with the guy who saved you.”

“I already thanked you for it. And besides, I’m sure I have saved you more times.”

Carlos barked a laugh.

“Okay, what is this? A competition?”

Jill smirked, shifting her body to better face him.

“What’s wrong, Mr. U.B.C.S soldier? Are you afraid of losing?”

The way he looked at her when hearing her challenging tone caused a familiar heat in her lower stomach. It had been a while since the last time she experienced that sensation, and even more since the last time she did it with so much anticipation for what was surely coming.

“Alright, if this is how you want to play...” Carlos fully faced her as well and pointed at himself with the hand that wasn’t sustaining hers. “I was the first in saving you by shooting that fuckface.”

“You mean when you interrupted my battle, which was perfectly under control, to show off?”

“ Under control ? Come on, you were on your ass surrounded by fire, and clearly needing to be rescued.”

“Are you calling me ‘princess in distress’, Carlos?”

“You’ve said it, not me, princess .”

“I remind you I saved your ass by acting as a bait, so who is the princess in distress now?”

“Definitely you, because who was the one who got that vaccine in time for you? And the one who defended you like your Knight in Shining Armor while you peacefully slept? Exactly: me .”

“Alright, I may admit you helped me a little at that moment.”

“A little ? Okay now, real talk: you know how many of those damn lizards I had to kill in that damn hospital?”

“Please, they weren’t that complicated.”

“You sure we are talking about the same lizards? Big, fast, with sharp claws…”

“For starters, they are called hunter betas, and if you had trouble with them it’s just because your aim is shitty as hell.”

“Woo, stop right there, lady: you can insult me all you want, but my aiming is the damn best of the forces.”

“Which coming from an Umbrella soldier it means it’s below average.”

“ Hey! That’s racist!”

“No, it’s not. And coming back to the main topic, it was me the one who killed that bastard. Twice.”

“Fuck, okay, point taken, but I helped during the first time and if I hadn’t been there—”

“Twice. Oh, and I also shot that shithead of Nikolai, so who wins?” She approached her face to his with a triumphant smirk. “Exactly: me .”

With each argument, their faces had been gradually getting closer and closer, and by when she finished their noses were practically brushing.

The almost non-existent distance between them didn’t last much though, since Carlos didn’t waste time in placing his left hand on the back of her neck to kiss her with intensity. Jill’s eyes fluttered close. She rested her right hand against Carlos’ broad chest while avidly kissing back, causing the soldier to let out a satisfied low grunt in the back of his throat, obviously pleased with her enthusiasm. 

The kiss hadn’t taken her by surprise. She was a S.T.A.R.S. after all. She had been trained to pay attention to the minimum detail, since it could be the difference between life and death, and she had perfectly seen the way Carlos’ eyes had been diverting from her eyes to her lips as their conversation turned more heated. 

Jill had known it was a matter of time that Carlos snapped, letting out those pent-up feelings that had been harboring during that stressing day. She knew it would happen because she had been feeling them too. In fact, she had been refraining herself from kissing Carlos since she found him in the rooftop and verified with relief he was alive. And truth to be told, if Carlos hadn’t dared to initiated that kiss, she would have done it herself.

“Not much for personal space now?” he teased against her lips when their current kiss finished, causing her to snort softly before taking control of the next one, making Carlos shut up to return it.

She had always been the kind of person of being sure about what she wanted, and right now she knew she wanted Carlos. They didn’t have the best start, with her rejecting everything that had something to do with Umbrella, but Carlos proved her soon that he was someone she could trust. 

There wasn’t anything she hated more than having to be rescued. She was used to take care of herself, and had never wanted to depend on anyone, but it was a fact that Carlos had given his all to save her. He had fought tooth and nail for her, alongside her, and despite their previous teasing he had always acknowledged her strength, so it had been practically impossible not to fall for him at least to some extent. 

So yes, she liked Carlos Oliveira, and she didn’t find necessary to deny it. 

The same way, she didn’t find necessary to deny that Carlos’ tongue expertly rolling against hers was driving her crazy. She reluctantly removed her hand from Carlos’ front to tangle her fingers in the back of his thick hair, tilting her head to the side to better deepen the kiss. 

The next time they stopped for air, she followed the urge of catching his bruised bottom lip between her teeth. Doing that was the correct thing to stir him up, if the aroused grunt he exhaled was any indication. Carlos’ hands gripped her hips to swiftly drag her to his lap. Jill approved both the change of position and the passion of the gesture, and it was a real pity that the mood was broken when she exhaled a pained curse.

“Shit, shit, sorry.” Carlos rapidly removed his hands from her. “Did I hurt you?”

She thought it was quite cute that a guy who punched hunters beta without hesitation sounded so panicked at the perspective of having hurt her a little.

“I think I have a couple of broken ribs.” She hissed while recovering her previous position on her seat with Carlos’ help.

“So I look like shit and you feel like shit. The perfect couple.”

She began to laugh, which also turned to be a bad idea since the piercing pressure in her chest went worse.

“Damn, don’t make me laugh” she protested, closing her eyes while trying to breath more calmly so that it hurt less.

“Well, I have a friend who owes me a favor, so he could lend us his place” he suddenly offered. “We could go there to rest, and if you’re feeling better by then—”

“Carlos, the only bed I’d lie in today would be an hospital one.”

He began to laugh when hearing her definitive reply.

“You sure you wanna visit another hospital?” he joked, bumping his shoulder against hers in reproach after leaning back against his seat, “and for the record, I wasn’t going to suggest having sex, but planning what we’ll do next.”

Jill opened her eyes to look at Carlos.

“...We?”

Carlos looked back at her and nodded.

“Yeah. You said it yourself. We’ve survived this together, so it would be a pity to go separate ways now.”

While talking, Carlos casually interlaced his fingers with hers between them, and Jill found herself returning the gesture without thinking, as if it was something normal to do.

“So...what do you say? Sounds like a plan?”

He tried to sound confident, but there was a hint of expectation in his tone, as if he wasn’t entirely sure of her accepting his suggestion, thing that she proceeded to do by nodding with a smile.

“Sounds like a plan.”

Carlos smiled back, relieved and content, and talked with a tone that already hinted he was going to say something stupid.

“And just to be sure: that plan includes sex when you feel better or—?”

Jill shutting Carlos with a new kiss was all the answer the last one needed.

Chapter Text

Jill averted her eyes from the document she was reading in the computer when two loud knocks sounded at the main door.

She tensed. That wasn’t the signal she and Carlos had agreed on using that day, so she reached for her weapon resting on the desk, now covered in recently printed papers, and reloaded it while abandoning the small study.

At that moment a now-familiar, masculine voice cursed outside the apartment. She rolled her eyes when the correct sequence of one-three-two knocks sounded. With her weapon still in hand she approached the door and opened it, revealing Carlos carrying a heavy-looking, sealed box.

“I know, I know, I screwed up with the signal again” the man said when seeing her reproachful glance, stepping inside the apartment. “But seriously, changing it every day isn’t a little exaggerate?”

Jill sighed with impatience and closed the door while Carlos deposited the box on the floor, next to the coffee table and in front of the sofa.

“You think so?” She left the weapon on the table and sat down on the age-worn sofa, looking pointedly at Carlos who was crouching in front of her to open the package. “Well, call me crazy, but I prefer to take precautions against the assholes who sent a bloodthirsty, gigantic mutant after me.”

Her ironic reply, bordering sarcastic, made Carlos raise his eyes from the box to look at her with an apologetic expression.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to call you paranoid or anything.” He placed a conciliatory hand on her knee, pressing it softly. “I know we must be careful, but trust me: we’re safe. Everyone thinks we died, and even if they were looking for you, I doubt it occurred to them to search for you here.”

Jill sighed again, averting her eyes for a moment while getting lost in her thoughts.

A week had passed since the incident in Raccoon City. During that time, they had been invading Carlos’ friend’s empty apartment in Saltsburg, sited in Indiana County. They had reached the small town in a rented car, after destroying the helicopter in the middle of nowhere to delay whoever could be after them. She hadn’t gone outside since they entered the house, partly because she had needed to rest and recover from her bruised ribs, but also because in theory no one was going after Carlos, so it was safer that he was in charge of sweeping the area.

During that time there hadn’t been any sign of any Umbrella operatives wanting to finish what Nemesis couldn’t, so probably Carlos had a point and no one was looking for them, for the time being at least.

“I guess you’re right” she conceded, talking more to herself than to Carlos. “Besides, I doubt they ever associate me with an Umbrella soldier.”

The overly dramatic sigh that Carlos let out made Jill look at him with surprise.

“I knew it. You’re just with me out of interest.”

Jill rolled her eyes, offering the man a teasing smile.

“No offense, Carlos, but if that was the case, I’d have chosen someone who can remember a simple code.”

He chuckled, continuing removing the tape that kept the box closed.

“Accusation accepted. But hey, I brought some cool stuff that will compensate my terrible memory.”

“Well, you forgot the code twice, so that stuff must be really cool to—what the hell, Carlos, are you an arms dealer or what?”

“Nope, just a simple ex-mercenary with some aces under his sleeve.”

Those ‘aces’ consisted of a considerable amount of ammo for different weapons and grenades of all kind, which would allow them to be really well prepared if someone dared to attack them.

“So? In love with me again?” Carlos jokingly said while Jill began to organize the merchandise on the coffee table.

“When have I said I’m in love with you?” she counterattacked in the same tone, already expecting the next answer when detecting that goofy, seductive tinge in Carlos’ voice.

“Oh, you don’t need to, babe: the heart eyes you put when looking at me are all the proof I need.”

“Well, don’t want to break the spell, babe, but that only happens when you bring food or really cool stuff.”

“Damn, you are a lady difficult to content.”

She looked at him pointedly, from head to toe.

“Nah, I don’t think so.”

This time she laughed when Carlos did look a little offended at the last remark, but made sure to cut his protest by grabbing the back of his neck to capture his mouth. He looked pretty satisfied with the apology, since he didn’t hesitate in kissing back, this time placing both of his hands on her thighs while the kiss lasted.

She was about to fully lean on the sofa while dragging Carlos with her when the computer sounded in the adjacent room. They both looked in that direction before she hurriedly stood up to reenter the small office.

“Redfield again?”

Jill was so busy reading Chris’ answer that she failed to notice the light tension present in Carlos’ tone.

After the incident in the mansion and despite the official disband of the S.T.A.R.S., she, Chris and Barry had decided to keep in contact while continuing their respective investigations, deciding to help each other in case any of them got in trouble. That was the reason why, after sleeping for almost a full day straight, the first thing Jill did was to contact them both.

Two days later Chris responded. They caught up, and then he agreed on using the resources he still had in order to help her and Carlos. It had taken Chris another five days to respond, but by basing on the email attachments, it seemed he had been really thorough in the investigation, which made Jill smile while typing back a grateful ‘I owe you big-time’.

“Jill?”

She turned her face towards the door when hearing Carlos call his name from there. She looked at the soldier, who was leaning both of his hands on the frame while looking at her inquisitively.

“Yes, it’s him. I think he has found something. Can you turn the printer on?”

Carlos looked about to say something but at the last moment he simply nodded.

“Sure.”

They spent the following two hours reviewing their own investigation and all the printed documents what Chris had sent them. After that time, they had some leads that, with a little of luck, could take them to whoever that hired Nikolai.

“Take that, bastard” Jill said to the picture of the mercenary that appeared in one of the documents Chris had sent him. “We’re gonna do this without your damn help.”

She let the document on the table facing down, not willing to see the face of that prick. She then stretched her arms over her head before turning to look at Carlos, now sitting in the sofa at her left. She was in a really good mood at the perspective of finally having a starting point in their crusade of finishing Umbrella, which showed in her more enthusiastic tone.

“Hey, do you want to have dinner already? We could even try those greasy donuts you bought to celebrate our detective work.”

“Okay, just give me a minute.”

She looked at Carlos with surprise. They hadn’t been ‘roommates’ for long, but that time had been enough to know that delaying a meal wasn’t something the soldier would do if it could be avoided. Also, she noticed that Carlos looked unexpectedly serious while examining one of the reports in deep concentration.

“What’s wrong? Did you find something else?” She leaned over him while talking to better see what he was reading, and although Carlos tried to rapidly close the folder, her almost photographic memory allowed her to see what it was. “Chris’ report?”

The caught-red-handed expression that Carlos showed made Jill frown in confusion.

“Yeah, well, I just wanted to learn a little more about your friend.”

Her frown intensified while looking at Carlos again, whose tone hinted there was something else he wasn’t saying.

“Why? Do you think we can’t trust him? Because if that’s the problem, I can assure you that I’d leave my life in his hands with my eyes closed—” She interrupted herself, the sudden tension in Carlos’ posture making her eyes open wide in understanding. “Wait a minute, don’t tell me you’re jealous.”

Carlos’s eyes snapped as opened as hers before barking a laugh, but his next answer, too emphatic and defensive, made Jill be certain of her theory.

“What? No! Why the hell I should be jealous of this guy?”

“I don’t know, maybe because every time I’ve mentioned him you go all quiet and serious.”

“That’s just because we’re gonna be working with someone I don’t know anything about, so I just wanted to learn more about him. Besides, if we end collaborating, we should analyze our weakness and strengths to establish a good strategy of attack, you know?”

“Yeah, right, and focusing on his relationship section is gonna help in your strategy?”

A triumphant smile escaped her when Carlos gulped thickly, his expression showing he had been left without arguments.

“Come on, Carlos, if you wanted to know if we’ve been together, you only had to ask.”

The soldier snorted at her amused tone, leaving the report on the desk before scratching the back of his head.

“It’s not that.” She deadpanned at him, causing him to exhale a chuckle. “Okay, not only that. I admit I was curious to know if you were together.” After a short pause, Carlos talked with a reluctant tone while avoiding looking at her. “And maybe I was a little envious when reading about your training and missions together. You formed quite an awesome team. And I mean, you’ve just admitted you’d put your life in his hands. It’s obvious you blindly trust that guy, and I’d like to have that kind of trust too.”

“You have it.”

The words escaped Jill with an ease and security that seemed to surprise Carlos. He exhaled a relieved laugh before settling his hand on the back of her neck. He played with her hair in a way that forced her to suppress a small shiver, since she enjoyed how the man’s fingers felt tangled in her hair.

“Well, coming from Umbrella’s number one hater, that’s a compliment.”

She accepted the intense kiss he gave her, and enjoyed it, but when he separated and went for a second one, she placed a hand on his chest, stopping him.

“And what else?” Carlos looked at her without understanding. “You said there was something else bothering you, right? What was it?”

Carlos exhaled a long sigh and after separating he dropped back against the sofa. He crossed his arms while Jill tilted her head to look at him with her elbows leaning on her knees.

“I was just thinking that it’d been nice to be with the good ones,” he eventually admitted, clenching his jaw for a moment before continuing. “I thought we were saving the city, but at the end we were completely useless. If I had been part of the S.T.A.R.S., or even if I had belonged to the police, maybe I could’ve done something, but instead I was a stupid, proud member of the U.B.C.S.: working for the ones who created that virus that wiped off an entire city.”

Jill looked at Carlos in silence as this one looked in front of him absentmindedly. When she first met him, Carlos had struck him as the happy-go-lucky kind of guy, with all the joking and that reckless attitude that seemed to indicate that the man simply had fun while fighting.

However, when Carlos didn’t hesitate to go after her, expressing his wish of staying behind to try to save as many people as possible, she realized that her first assessment of the soldier’s personality had been wrong. It was evident that Carlos had wanted to do the correct thing, that he wasn’t aware of what Umbrella truly was, and that the revelation of the company being behind the whole incident in Raccoon City had affected him.

Proof of that were the nightmares that he had been also suffering, just like her. But truth was that he was just a good guy who had worked for the wrong people at the right time, and she proceeded to make him understand that.

“Look, it’s true that your bosses weren’t the crème de la crème, but you couldn’t know that when being recruited. Besides, S.T.A.R.S. also had its own Nikolai. Someone close to me that we didn’t see coming, and who’s also to blame of all this mess.”

Carlos looked at her again when some hate slipped in her tone, as every time that she remembered Wesker. She sighed softly, shifting her body to face Carlos while pushing away the thought of his former superior.

“But think about it this way.” She leaned her elbow on the sofa to rest the side of her head on her hand. “If you hadn’t been with Umbrella when all this happened, we wouldn’t have been able to find out about the vaccine, or about that secret lab. And even if the sample was destroyed, knowing about it allowed us to know what to investigate. Besides, if you had been with the S.T.A.R.S., maybe another fucking mutant pet would have gone after you, and in that case,” she patted Carlos’ arm with her free hand, “my Knight in Shining Armor wouldn't have appeared, ready and willing to save my ass.”

Her last comment finally extracted a smile from Carlos.

“I thought you didn’t like to be the princess of the tale.”

“And I’m not: we were both knights helping each other like good buddies.”

Carlos chuckled at that.

“I like how that sounds.” He sighed again, uncrossing his arms to let his hands resting between his legs. “I guess you have a point. And it’s not like beating ourselves about it is going to change what happened.”

“No, it won’t.” Jill averted her eyes, now talking more to herself. “We can’t save Raccoon City anymore, but we can make sure that those assholes don’t do anything like that ever again.”

She was pulled away from her thoughts when Carlos placed a hand on hers, a gesture that she realized he did when he wanted to reassure her.

“We will.” Even if the discussed topic would surely involve them killing people, the moment was being unexpectedly romantic, so of course Carlos had to go and ruin it. “I mean you, your ex, and I.”

Jill groaned with exasperation and reached for one of the sofa pillows to hit Carlos’ with it.

“Hey, be careful, Supercop,” Carlos said between laughs, forced to cover his face to avoid a new hit. “If we break something, I’ll have to pay for it!”

“Well, good to know,” Jill replied, clicking her tongue when Carlos managed to avoid successfully the new hit. “I’m gonna turn clumsy all of sudden to break everything I can—hey, give it back!”

She said the last part when Carlos made the most of her distraction to grab the cushion and toss it over the sofa. She was standing up to recover it, pretending to be annoyed while suppressing a smile, but Carlos stopped her from doing so by grabbing her arm to make her sit again.

He kissed her again, more intensely than before, and when they separated, he was offering her one of those warm smiles she was getting used to.

“Thank you, Jill.”

The way he spelled her name made her heart accelerate a little. She initiated the next kiss, sighing softly when feeling Carlos’ left hand placing on her waist. His thumb sneaked under her t-shirt, softly teasing the skin, and although the movement was extremely gentle it was all she needed to suddenly push Carlos backwards while crawling on his lap.

She had time to see the man’s brown eyes opening in surprise before grabbing his face in her hands to kiss him with abandon. Carlos grunted softly, his hands fully enclosing his waist while allowing her to lead the next kiss, which deepened in no time.

Despite the suggestion that Carlos made in the helicopter, the soldier had been extra careful with her that whole week, not trying to rush things in any way nor making any attempt to use the bed for anything that wasn’t resting or sleeping.

She felt grateful for it, and also for Carlos spending the nights with her. Finding the soldier close to her when she woke up in the middle of the night was always comforting. It had greatly helped her to calm down when she suddenly awakened due to the inevitable nightmares, where Nemesis kept running after her, of where Carlos became an undead and died in her arms without her being able to do anything to prevent it.

But she was fine already, mentally and physically. She knew what their purpose was, she was perfectly recovered, and now she wanted more of Carlos. More of them.

And unless what she was feeling under her was an extremely well concealed weapon, it seemed that it was the same for Carlos, and Jill didn’t plan to deny themselves what they wanted for one second longer.

Chapter Text

“Woah.” Carlos exhaled when Jill finally released his mouth. “I guess you aren’t that hungry anymore, huh?”

She chuckled at his surprised but contented tone, placing her hand on his shoulders.

“I’m impressed that you didn’t go for the easy joke.”

Jill regretted saying that when seeing Carlos’ teasing smile.

“Well, I can fix that easily.”

“Carlos, you really don’t have to—”

But Carlos was already approaching his fist theatrically to his mouth before clearing his throat, in order to talk next with a ridiculous, seductive tone that made Jill be about to facepalm even if no word had escaped the soldier’s mouth yet.

“Weeell, Supercop, it seems that someone is hungry for some papi Carlos—ouch!” Carlos exhaled a pained gasp while touching his ribs in the place Jill had hit him. “Damn, that hurt.”

“You had it coming for saying that.”

“Fine, fine, I get it: no more sexy lines for you.”

“That’s not sexy.”

“Then why are you blushing?”

“It’s called second-hand embarrassment.”

“Damn, you’re definitely hard to satisfy.”

Jill was about to deliver a new hit for all that mocking but at that moment the soldier took a grasp on her hips and swiftly inverted their positions in the sofa. Her back ended against the back pillows with her head practically leaning on the top of them, her body still half perched on his lap.

“But I’m always up for a good challenge.”

Carlos suddenly crossed his arms in front of his chest to remove his t-shirt, making Jill blush again but for quite a different reason. The movement was unnecessarily slow, and the way Carlos’ abs flexed was for sure deliberate, but she enjoyed the show nevertheless. Her thoughts must have shown in her face because Carlos smirked before leaning over her to kiss her, slowly and with intensity.

“Alright,” she managed when Carlos pulled back, “that was sexy. I admit it.”

Carlos winked at her jokingly. He kissed her briefly again before settling his mouth on her neck. Jill moaned softly when feeling the man’s tongue circling around the sensitive spot. She took the liberty of roaming her hands through the expanse of Carlos’ broad chest, covered in a layer of dark hair. She then touched down Carlos’ defined stomach, ending enclosing her arms around his back to knead the taut muscle.

“Enjoying yourself?” Carlos said jokingly, travelling up to nip her ear.

“Yes, thanks for asking,” she said without any shame, travelling down to grope the man’s firm ass through his dark trousers, causing Carlos to chuckle against her cheek.

“My turn now then.”

Carlos separated to grab the bottom of her t-shirt. His hands slid the clothing upwards slowly, as if he wanted to enjoy every bit of exposed skin. Jill smirked when feeling Carlos’ concealed member twitch against her, after seeing her breasts were exposed without any layer in the middle.

“No bra?” he teased with a smile. “Wasn’t expecting that.”

She was about to make a teasing remark about his lack of observation but Carlos’ mouth silenced her, his hands not wasting time in circling his thumbs around her nipples. She hummed pleasantly, her hands grabbing the back of his head to better kiss him.

Their lips eventually parted when Carlos continued traveling lower. A low grunt escaped the soldier just before his mouth enclosed around her right breast. Jill sighed approvingly when Carlos’ tongue circled around the nipple, catching it between his teeth while his other hand focused on the unattended breast.

Jill cursed softly at the stimulation. It felt good, but it wasn’t enough. The dampness in her underwear indicated where she craved Carlos’ mouth, and she proceeded to make the soldier understand such need by grinding her hips against him.

Carlos caught the hint, since just a few undulations were enough so that his hands placed on the too-big sport shorts he had bought for her, not guessing the correct size.

“Have mercy on me, okay?” Carlos commented, sliding to the carpeted floor until ending kneeling in front of her. “It’s been a while since the last time I did this.”

“What? Proposing?” she teased, making Carlos look at her with faked stupor.

“Aren’t you going a little fast? We haven’t even had a proper date,” he said with a conversational tone that contrasted with the way he ripped her shorts and panties off in one fluent movement.

“You’re right. I’ll slow down then,” she played along, before adopting a more serious, curious tone. “But I’m surprised. I thought you were the type of having a different girl in every city.”

Carlos chuckled, smoothing his hands over her thighs before slowly separating her legs, causing Jill’s stomach to clench in anticipation for the sudden exposure.

“Yeah, but lately there’ve been only men in my ports.”

The piece of information about Carlos’ sexuality made Jill raise her eyebrows in surprise. She didn’t have time to express anything about the discovery though, since at that moment the soldier went direct to town, carefully separating her folds with his thumbs to slid his tongue between them.

Her eyes fluttered close, her mouth half-parting in a stuttered gasp when Carlos began to lick, tentative and exploring but with enough skill to make her stomach twist in pleasure.

“Okay, maybe your memory isn’t that bad—ah!”

She moaned when Carlos quickly found the best spot. She arched on the sofa, her right hand tangling in Carlos’ hair while her left hand grabbed the top of the seats, her t-shirt still raised over her exposed breasts.

“I’m a fast learner,” the soldier proudly said with a rasped tone that showed he was enjoying the sight she presented.

Jill forced herself to look down at him, finding Carlos’ brown eyes buried on her before diving down once again. She bit her lower lip not to be too loud, which only provoked Carlos to redouble his efforts to make that happen. Carlos’ left hand reached up to tease her breasts while his right kept her open to continue licking and sucking at her clit.

She didn’t remember when it had been the last time someone had orally pleased her. Months for sure. Maybe it was because it had been a while since the last time, or because Carlos was really good at it, but she found herself close to the edge when only a minute had passed.

“Yes.” She furrowed her brows, her breath coming out in short puffs when Carlos’ tongue pressed and rolled more firmly around her clit. “Oh, god, keep going.”

She gave up in trying to control her voice, listening to her urges that encouraged her to rock against Carlos’ mouth. The action provoked the soldier to grunt in arousal. He placed his hands on her inner thighs, his thumbs almost digging in the soft skin while continuing his ministrations, helping her build and ride her orgasm until she finished while calling Carlos’ name.

Jill remained with her eyes closed and didn’t move for a few seconds, panting while trying to recover her taken away breath. When she opened her eyes again Carlos hadn’t moved from his spot. He was still kneeling, hands resting on her naked thighs while staring at her with an expression that looked smug enough to make her tsk.

“Enjoying yourself?” she said with irony.

“Yeah, the views are great from here”.

His sincere answer made her exhale a breathless laugh.

Carlos straightened his position, continuing standing between her legs with his hands leaning on the top of the sofa.

“Hey, wanna leave it at this?”

Jill blinked before pointing at the tent in Carlos’ trousers with her eyes.

“Do you?”

The soldier exhaled a laugh, scratching the back of his head.

“Well, I wouldn’t mind to keep going, but you looked about to fall asleep, so if you need a rest—”

Carlos’ sentence ended with a surprised groan when Jill rubbed her hand against his concealed erection, being her turn to enjoy the aroused grunt that escaped Carlos.

“Then why don’t you do something to keep me awake, Oliveira?”

The seductive tone she used was mainly mocking, but it seemed to work with Carlos. The soldier cursed and surprised her by raising her in the air, forcing her to wrap her legs around his waist. She had barely secured her arms around his neck when he kissed her fiercely, making her moan.

“You surely know how to push someone’s buttons, Valentine,” he answered in the same way, kissing her again before walking them towards the bedroom.

They didn’t stop making out until Jill was placed on the bed with Carlos looming over her. They made out some more, and when Jill felt Carlos hands sneaking down to unbutton his trousers, she broke the current kiss.

“Stand up. Please,” she added at the last moment when the tone came out maybe too commanding. Carlos smiled at the correction and complied, remaining with his legs hitting the edge of the bed. Jill also straightened her position but she kept sitting, her face at the level of Carlos’ crotch.

It was the man’s turn to hold his breath in anticipation when she slowly zipped down his trousers after rearranging her t-shirt.

“Nervous?” she asked, shooting up a glance at him from below with a smile.

He let out the breath, shaking his head negatively.

“Impatient,” he rectified as Jill’s fingers slipped inside his underwear to lower it.

While being in Carlos’ lap she had already made an initial idea of what the soldier had inside his pants, but still she couldn’t help that her eyes snapped more opened, something that Carlos noticed for the way he chuckled.

“Impressive, huh?” The boast was obviously devoted to make her react, so that’s what she did with a roll of eyes. “I’m thinking that since you’re Supercop, we can have matching names and call me Supercoc—”

“Carlos, do you realize that my teeth are really close to your dick?”

“And what? Maybe I like it rough.” Jill made a biting gesture close enough to Carlos’ cock so that the soldier got pale. “Okay, not that rough. And shit, that scared me. I think I’m gonna lose the boner.”

Jill began to laugh when hearing Carlos. She kissed the man’s V shape conciliatorily before taking the base of the soldier’s (less erect) member.

“Well, I can do something to fix that,” she said, mimicking his usually goofy seductive tone before giving a long lick from the base of Carlos’ member to its tip.

The action made Carlos hum pleasantly, his eyes going half-mast. He placed his hands on her shoulders and Jill felt the grip hardening when she enclosed her lips around the tip to lap at it. She made a couple of tentative pumps with her hands before slowly beginning to take the dick further inside her mouth.

Carlos grunted again after she began to bob her head back and forward. She averted her eyes upwards. Carlos had his eyes shut closed now, and his thigh felt stiff under her left hand. The soldier’s posture betrayed he was probably holding back, and that bothered Jill a little.

She released Carlos’ member with a soft pop, causing Carlos to half-open his eyes.

“Jill?”

It was evident that he was going to ask if there was something wrong, so Jill moved Carlos’ right hand from her shoulder to the back of her head, making Carlos show a surprised expression.

“You can grab it.” Jill winked at him mockingly from below. “I don’t mind it rough.”

“Jesus Christ…”

Jill smirked at the breathless tone Carlos’ used. While swallowing his member she kept his hand on the back of her head, only releasing it when feeling Carlos’ fingers tangling in her hair. Still, he didn’t make any attempts to guide her head in any way, and much less to buck into her mouth, and although part of Jill wouldn’t have minded less chivalry, she decided it was fine. Besides, the way Carlos groaned when her tongue found a sensitive spot wasn’t bad at all. Also, Carlos gripping her hair tighter when that happened was arousing enough, and for sure there would be more times to discover how further they could go. At least, she hoped so.

“Jill.”

This time, Carlos’ tone had a hint of warning that made her release his member instantly. Carlos pressed her back against the bed and settled his mouth on her neck to bite the skin there. She cursed softly when feeling the soldier’s right fingers prodding at her entrance. Her nails dug on Carlos’ shoulders as the digits slipped inside her easily, thanks to the previous orgasm that had left her naturally lubricated.

“You think you’re ready?”

Carlos’ slightly strained voice betrayed he really hoped she was, but Jill knew that in case the answer was negative, the man wouldn’t hesitate in waiting as much as she needed.

“Yes, I am...” She froze at that moment, suddenly realizing something. “Shit.”

“What?”

“We don’t have…”

The meaning of her sentence was clear, despite leaving it hanging. However, to her surprise, Carlos simply smiled proudly and abandoned the bed, coming back a few seconds later shaking a couple of condoms.

“You mean this?”

Jill exhaled a laugh, impressed.

“Where did you get that?”

“I had some hidden in a couple of bullet boxes.” Carlos shrugged defensively when she blinked slowly. “What? You never know when you can need them.”

“Yeah, for sure they can save you in a life or death situation.”

“Maybe not, but now it has saved me a hurried visit to the pharmacy.”

Certainly, Jill couldn’t deny that.

Carlos slid then the condom over his member and proceeded to position between Jill’s legs. She had other plans though, so she waited until she was half leaning over her to grab his arms and invert their positions, pinning him against the bed.

“Good?” she inquired with a small grin, already knowing the answer for the way Carlos held his breath.

“Yes, ma’am,” he said, his tone playful but his eyes darkened for the want.

At any other moment Jill would have played around, trying to stir her partner some more by grinding down on him, but she herself had been craving to feel Carlos inside for days now, so she didn’t waste time in raising her hips to position herself over Carlos’ member.

The soldier kept the member erected so that she could take him in more easily, keeping his other hand on her hip. She lowered her hips carefully while placing both of her hands on his chest, letting out short breaths while getting used to the stinging sensation of being opened and filled.

She made sure to look at Carlos in the process. The soldier furrowed his brows as her body gradually accommodated him, and a low grunt escaped him when finally their bodies were fully connected.

“Damn. I hope to last more than a minute.”

Carlos’ slightly worried tone made her exhale a chuckle.

“Don’t worry: I’ll keep the secret if that doesn’t happen.”

Carlos smiled under her.

“Thanks. Very kind of you.” He smoothed his thumbs on her hips when noticing her labored breathing. “You okay?”

As an answer, Jill grabbed his hands and guided them to slide up her body. Carlos cursed and took the hint. He slipped his hands under her t-shirt to cup her breasts while she dragged her body up, slowly beginning to ride him.

“Yes,” she breathed, biting her lower lip when Carlos teased her nipples with his thumbs. “Yes, I’m okay.”

Soon, her rides gained strength and speed, provoking the old bed to begin to creak under them with each up and down movement. Carlos’ member felt hot inside despite the plastic in the middle, and for the way it throbbed when she purposely clenched around him, it seemed that Carlos was enjoying the escalating pace as much as her.

“Joder,” Carlos cursed under her, now rocking up his hips to meet her bounces.

She looked down at the soldier and a wave of arousal hit her when seeing him clearly fighting to keep control. Because if Carlos felt that good restraining himself, she definitely wanted to discover what it was when he got carried away.

“Carlos,” she panted over him, slowering a little her rides so that the man’s eyes fixed on her questioningly, “are you holding back again?”

She knew the answer before Carlos himself admitted it.

“A little.”

Jill leaned down and placed her hands on either side of his head. She kissed him with abandon, keeping his lower lip between her teeth before snarling the next words against his mouth.

“Don’t.”

When that last command escaped her mouth, Carlos’ eyes shined with arousal, and Jill’s stomach clenched when reading the hunger in the soldier's expression.

And then, it was as if a switch had been flipped.

Carlos re-emerged from under her, adopting a sitting position. He claimed her mouth fiercely, his hands gripping her hips with force before starting pounding up inside her with a harder rhythm than before.

“Ah!” Jill placed her hands on Carlos’ shoulders for support, dropping down eagerly meeting each one of his upward, rough thrusts. “Oh yes. Carlos.”

Their mouths connected in a messy and dirty dance, their teeth almost clashing before Carlos pulled back. He practically ripped her t-shirt off her body in order to mouth at her breasts again. Jill arched against Carlos’ mouth. She allowed him to play with her chest for a little while before pulling his head back in order to devour his mouth.

Carlos grunted at the hair pulling. Jill dug her nails on the man’s shoulder blades when he reached down with his right hand to play with her clit. Her next moans came more as whines, the combination of Carlos’ fingers and his deep thrusts provoking electrical shivers of pleasure along her entire body.

“God, Jill,” Carlos incoherently groaned against her half-parted mouth when her inner walls twitched and closed around his throbbing member. “It feels amazing...ngh...Dios, eres increíble.”

Jill didn’t understand everything Carlos said, but enough to know he was as close as her. She sought his mouth to kiss again. Jill’s arms ended wrapped around Carlos’ neck while the soldier’s free arm enclosed around her body, keeping her pressed against his chest as they both chased their climaxes, moving in synchrony until it was impossible to keep a pace that wasn’t erratic.

She came first with a broken version of Carlos’ name in her lips, and the soldier followed a few thrusts later while burying his face on the crook of her neck, muttering some unintelligible curses and praises in his native tongue.

After achieving release, neither of them talked for several seconds. Jill kept with her arms around Carlos, slowly going down the high of her second orgasm. She could feel Carlos’ heavy breathing against her skin. She softly placed her right hand in the back of Carlos’ head, distractedly beginning to play with his thick hair.

The action made the soldier deposit a last kiss on her naked shoulder before looking at her. His post-orgasmic expression made her smile with amusement.

“Congratulations: you lasted more than a minute.”

Carlos exhaled a long breath without removing that idiotic, sated smile from his expression. He dropped back on the bed while dragging Jill with him.

“Yep.” He kissed briefly her cheek. “And I managed to make you come twice, so not bad, huh?”

At any other moment she would have replied something at his smug comment, but she had begun the whole teasing. Besides, probably the sex was one of the best she had ever had, so she decided that pumping Carlos’ ego wouldn’t hurt for once.

“No, not bad at all.” She leaned her forearms on his chest and her chin on them. “It was pretty great, Spanish slips included.”

Carlos chuckled with certain embarrassment.

“Yeah, sorry about that. It happens to me sometimes.” He removed some loose strands from her face with his hand while softly caressing her naked back with the tip of his left fingers. “But I know that all my partners love my accent. It drives them crazy.”

Jill rolled her eyes, pushing back a smile because it was evident that Carlos was saying that to tease her.

“You know, I think you and Chris will get along, engaging yourselves in testosterone battles and all that.” She leaned forward to kiss him, and frowned when seeing the pensive expression Carlos was displaying. “What?”

The excessively casual tone Carlos adopted made Jill correctly guess what would follow.

“By the way, you never got to answer.”

“Please, don’t tell me you’re gonna ask again about—”

“Did Redfield and you date or not?”

Jill groaned with exasperation, burying her face on her arms while Carlos exhaled a defensive ‘What?’.

During the following minutes Carlos tried to uselessly justify he wasn’t jealous at the idea, and continued doing so when Jill abandoned the bed in the direction of the bathroom while purposely refusing to clarify his doubts.

Once they both were under the shower, she accused Carlos between laughs of being the worst pillow talker ever. She also teased him by suggesting that, when meeting Chris, she could suggest her former partner a trio, given that her sexual preferences aligned with Carlos’.

The joking proposal triggered a second round of sex that ended being as intense as the first, with her arms and legs wrapped around Carlos and this one fucking her against the wet tiles, this time without holding back from the start.

Later that night, after having a late dinner and while being about to fall asleep in the arms of an already asleep Carlos, Jill wondered how much time they would be able to enjoy that careless domesticity.

She didn’t know how much longer that calm would last. She wasn’t naive, and neither was Carlos. They knew that the moment of facing Umbrella was close, imminent. However, she was certain that when the time came, they would make it.

And that, this time, they would win. Together.

Chapter Text

On his defense, Carlos hadn’t planned to say it aloud.

It happened three days after he and Jill slept together for the first time. He had woken up feeling surprisingly refreshed despite having spent a rather restless night, though this time it wasn’t precisely because of the usual nightmares. For the first time since they began sharing a bed, he had woken up with Jill facing him. The position allowed him to observe her fake-angelic expression without him needing to lean over her to catch a glimpse of it.

He smiled fondly, brushed with care some locks of brown hair away from her face, and then those words that he just planned to think accidentally escaped his lips.

Carlos had never considered himself a coward, or someone who got easily scared. His life hadn’t been a bed of roses precisely, and he had been forced to learn from a young age to quickly overcome his fears if he wanted to survive.

However, when Jill, who was supposedly sleeping, suddenly opened her eyes to look directly at him, Carlos froze in the spot.

An unfamiliar panic slowly invaded him for the perspective of having messed everything up really badly. The silence that fell between them was so tense that Carlos quickly cleared his throat to break it, abandoning the bed in order to put his pants on. He babbled an awkward ‘Gonna prepare breakfast’ or something along those lines before going to the open kitchen.

He started preparing coffee and a couple of omelets in automatic mode, forcing himself to breathe calmly to try to pull himself together. Now he was regretting his (rather lame) escape. His friend’s apartment wasn’t precisely big, so there was no way that he could avoid the inevitable conversation that would surely come afloat.

Carlos had barely finished the second omelet, wondering if he was cooking for nothing because maybe Jill would decide to leave after what had happened, when he heard the woman’s naked footsteps coming from the bedroom. He tensed when feeling Jill approaching the small dining room area, placed just in the middle of the also small kitchen. He was about to say something, anything, before another silence fell again when the sound of a wooden chair sliding on the floor caught his attention.

He looked back and saw Jill standing next to the round kitchen table, about to take a seat. Her outfit complemented his perfectly, since she was only wearing his black t-shirt over her white panties. The close neck of the clothing wasn’t enough to cover the marks Carlos had left on her neck the previous night, and a fading hickey could also be seen in her inner thighs.

The soldier suppressed the urge of licking his lips. He was sure that Jill could look stunning with whatever she decided to wear, but seeing her dressing his clothes...Well, that was another level of sexy.

“Isn’t it risky to cook without a t-shirt?” Jill’s light comment brought him back to the present. He looked at her when she was pointing at her chest area with a circular movement. “For the splatters, I mean.”

Carlos chuckled, relieved.

Maybe he was only overthinking things. Maybe Jill just had happened to wake up after he said that, but hadn’t actually heard him. Maybe he had been lucky, and they wouldn’t have to stand some horrible awkward interactions for not being in the same page.

“Yeah, but I like to live dangerously,” he said in his usual joking tone, signaling at the recently made coffee with the turner spatula he had been using until then. “Coffee?”

“Yes, thanks.”

Carlos finished preparing everything while Jill waited sitting at the table. Neither of them was a morning person, so the silence that settled at the moment wasn’t very different from the one that used to fall between them during breakfasts.

The comfortable familiarity of the situation gave Carlos a false feeling of security, so by when he sat down in front of Jill after placing their coffees and omelets on the table, he was super convinced that the woman hadn’t been aware of his slip.

And then, Jill talked, with a casual tone that made Carlos stop when he was about to approach the cup of coffee to his lips.

“You know, I don’t understand Spanish very well,” Carlos’ heart stopped when finding Jill’s eyes digging in him, “but what you said before, I think I understood it.”

Carlos felt his throat go dry.

Damn.

Of course, he should have known that it wasn't Jill’s style not being blunt.

“So,” Jill pushed back her plate to be able to lean her crossed arms on the table, tilting her head to the side, “are we going to talk about it? Or you prefer me to pretend I didn’t hear anything?”

Carlos exhaled an embarrassed laugh while Jill observed him with a small smile. She looked calm, but her legs bouncing up and down under the table told another story. Well, at least he was glad of not being the only one nervous.

“I think it’s a little late for the second,” Carlos defeatedly said, passing a hand through the back of his neck before leaving the cup on the table. “So what do you want to know?”

Jill didn’t answer immediately, as if she was also collecting her thoughts before talking.

“Did you mean it?”

Carlos sighed, offering her a helpless smile.

“Yeah, I do.”

She exhaled a long sigh before nodding slowly. Her expression still looked calm, but by basing in the light creaking sound of her chair, her legs were still moving nervously.

“Since when?”

Carlos didn’t have to think much to answer, and surprisingly, now that everything was pretty much in the open, he found himself quite calm while answering.

“Remember when you got upset for telling you how a radio worked?”

Jill’s eyes opened wide, clearly not having expected the answer.

“But that’s practically when we met.”

“Yeah, it is.”

She looked quite shocked, so he continued talking, starting with that improvised confession that definitely he wasn’t planning to do that day.

“I know. It’s crazy. Two weeks ago I was still working for Umbrella, without knowing what the hell those assholes were planning to do, and we didn’t even know about each other.” He made sure to be looking at Jill when saying the next part, as difficult as it was to hold that beautiful, inquisitive, blue stare. “But then I met you: tough, brave, intelligent, dependable, and, as much as I hate to admit it, with the best damn aiming skills I’ve ever seen. Damn, I’m gonna regret admitting this, but probably they’re even better than mine.”

She chuckled at that, but she didn’t make any attempt of talking, so Carlos continued.

“At first, I wasn’t sure about how I felt. Yeah, it was evident that there was something between us, besides zombies and hunters making our life impossible I mean, but I couldn’t help to think - because trust me, I do it sometimes - that maybe those feelings would settle down after we escaped. That maybe they had just been...damn, how to say it? Potentiated after having gone through a zombie apocalypse together, you know?”

He shook his head negatively, noticing that now Jill was unconsciously holding her breath, her arms crossed more tightly over the table.

“But they didn’t. The more I learned about you, the more we talked, and okay, not gonna lie, the more we slept together, the harder I fell for you, and the more I wanted to stay by your side. Not just to help you finish Umbrella, but also after that, as long as you allow me to." Carlos smiled at Jill fondly. “Because I love you, Jill. I really love you. And that’s why, even if this probably makes me a horrible person, I will always remember Raccoon City not for the casualties, or for the city ending wiped off, but for having brought you to my life. And yes, it sounds corny as hell, but it’s the truth.”

After he finally stopped talking, the nervousness that he had managed to push more or less aside while basically opening his heart to Jill (and damn, that sounded corny too) reappeared. Especially because Jill didn’t make any attempt of moving: she simply stayed there, looking at him still in astonishment.

Carlos gulped, scratched the back of his head, and exhaled a hesitant ‘Uhm’ before deciding to talk again.

“And well, I haven’t said it, but of course this doesn’t have to change anything between us. I mean, I’m not trying to force you feel the same about me or anything. Hell, we don’t even have to put a name to what we have, you know? We can still be together, and just keep it easy and casual like until now, and just see where it goes, and—”

Carlos realized then that maybe his reflexes weren’t as good as he thought when Jill suddenly stood up from her chair, leaned forward over the table, and grabbed his face to kiss him.

The coffee was spilled on the surface for the brusque action, but Carlos couldn’t care less about that. He simply returned the kiss, separating briefly from Jill to make the woman circle the table in order to crawl on his lap, in order to keep making out.

Automatically his hands slipped under her t-shirt, his t-shirt, in order to enclose his arms around her naked back, but before things escalated further there was something he needed to clarify.

“So,” he said breathlessly, “this means that you also…”

Jill chuckled, pushing back her bed hair out of her face before offering him a smile that made Carlos’ stomach clench, since it was the first time he saw her smile like that: so sweetly, so fondly, as if she also...

“Yes, idiot. Of course I love you too. However, what you said about keeping it ‘easy and casual’, well, I don’t know about casual, but definitely if you want it easy, you’re with the wrong person.”

Carlos felt a wave of relief so big when hearing her answer that he began to laugh openly.

“Don’t worry: I told you I like a good challenge.” They kissed again for some long seconds before Carlos talked again. “But now I’m curious, when did you realize you had irremediably fallen in love with me?”

Jill exhaled a resigned sigh, closed her eyes tightly, and talked.

“I know I’m gonna regret this.” She opened her eyes again, placing her hands on his shoulders. “Okay, do you remember what you said to me when we met again, after I restored the electricity?”

He averted his eyes with a frown, trying to remember, and when he did, his eyes snapped opened while looking at Jill.

“Wait, you mean when I said—”

“Shit, I knew it was a bad idea telling you.”

“Damn, I think it’s the first time that line works!”

“Listen, it’s not what you think.”

“Oh, no, no, no: don’t try to take it back now.”

“Fuck, can you listen to me? It was NOT because of the line per se, okay? But because you were willing to stay behind to—Carlos, I swear that if you keep showing that stupid smirk, I—”

Never before Carlos had loved so much shutting someone up with a kiss. He also loved to feel Jill shivering against him when he tilted his head to kiss her deeply, and the pressure of her legs and arms around him when he stood up while carrying her to revisit the bedroom.

“I’m gonna remind it to you as long as we live,” Carlos teased against her mouth, obtaining an annoyed bite at his lower lip that just served to stir him up.

“Yeah, well, I won't let you forget what you said about my aiming skills either.”

Carlos chuckled at her lilting tone, depositing Jill on the bed while crawling over her as this one hurriedly removed her - his - t-shirt.

“I think I’ll be able to live with that.” He leaned down to kiss her deeply, enjoying the feeling of her exposed, soft skin against his chest. “Te quiero.”

Her chuckle tickled his lips.

“Me too,” she answered with a softness Carlos somehow knew it was for him only. “So you better be serious about sticking together from now on.”

Carlos returned the smile, briefly nudging his nose against Jill’s.

“I am, Supercop.” The moment was too good to let it pass. “I would never leave you in a cold, cruel Carlos-less world.”

Carlos laughed again when seeing the way she rolled her eyes. He kissed her forehead conciliatorily, hugged her tightly, and when feeling Jill's smile against the crook of his neck he felt that, now for sure, he had found his place to belong.