Chapter Text
September 1997
It was not a common occurrence for both the Alpha and Bravo teams to occupy the office at the same time in full force. This usually happened whenever something big had happened and required the concerted efforts of both teams. Wesker and Marini standing stiffly in front of the whiteboard did not bode well. When the last of them, Forest, finally slunk into the office and closed the door behind him, Captain Marini addressed them, awkwardly standing against the partition of Wesker's office.
"Thank you all for showing up in person. We have an important announcement that concerns both teams." Marini didn't even need to glance to his side to know that Wesker's jaw was so tense he was probably grinding his molars as he spoke, which was why he had volunteered to be the one to address both S.T.A.R.S. teams to inform them. "Chief Irons has unfortunately spent too much time talking to the Chief of the Fire Department and has decided that the R.P.D. should participate in a little friendly competition."
Wesker interrupted him, sticking a printed memo to the whiteboard behind them with a magnet. "Irons has volunteered S.T.A.R.S. to pose for a calendar, to raise money for charity."
The note was too small to read from where the teams were standing, but both Wesker and Marini knew it by heart by now. They had received it the previous evening, and they had spent a good ten minutes on the phone cussing out Irons, his drinking habits, and the Raccoon City Fire Department before they had agreed to summon all their squad members for the next morning, forcing them to show up on their days off, and after a graveyard shift, only to hear that they had no choice but to agree to be humiliated on film, for charity.
Joseph raised his hand to ask a question, Wesker stiffened for a second. On one hand he was glad that it wasn't Chris who raised his hand to ask the first, and probably most obvious, question. But on the other hand, it was still one of his.
"Frost," he called, allowing him to voice his mind.
"Ehm, sir, the calendar. How undressed are we talking?"
Jill leaned forward from her spot two people over to give Joseph an unimpressed stare. "Have you ever been to a newsstand, Joseph? They always have the Fire Department Calendar front and center."
Forest chuckled. "Yeah, how could you miss it? I think the girls at the front desk also have a copy on display."
Wesker cleared his throat before the discussion could degenerate further, causing everyone to stop talking and turn their attention back to him. "To answer your question, Frost, I expect us to uphold the Police Department's reputation with tasteful photographs."
"You will keep your clothes on, guys," Marini summarized.
"Which reminds me," Wesker added, turning to look at Jill. "Miss Valentine, as the only female member of S.T.A.R.S., HR strongly suggested that your participation remain on a voluntary basis." His tone was emotionless as he tossed Jill the only life preserver on the boat.
She tried her best to keep her victorious grin in check, so as not to rub it in to the boys. She was not about to squander one of the few advantages her gender gave her. "Oh, I understand, Captain. And I think an all male calendar will be a novelty for the market, perhaps it will even boost sales." She spared a glance at Chris and Forest, who were standing on either side of her. "But I would still like to help in some way."
Wesker nodded. "Your collaboration is noted, Valentine. As for the rest of you," he said, pointing to the last line of the memo they couldn't read, "you are not afforded the option to say no. The photographer will come to the RPD next Wednesday and I expect everyone's full cooperation."
Marini picked up one of the markers and started writing the months on the whiteboard, then he turned around to face the teams once more. "Now that we've gotten that out of the way, we have twelve months to fill and only ten of us."
Wesker turned to stare at Marini, and the tension in the room became almost tangible.
Jill, empowered by her immunity, stepped closer to the board and read the memo.
from: [email protected]
to: [email protected], [email protected]
subject: STARS CHARITY CALENDAR - MANDATORY
Wesker, Marini,
convince your teams to pose for a calendar. The same photographer who does the firemen is coming next Wednesday.
Proceeds will go to the orphanage.
Ensure total compliance from everyone.
Best,
Irons
"I'm pretty sure 'everyone' includes you, Captain. Captain Marini already included himself in the count," she said, a little smugly.
"Yes, think of the orphans, sir!" Chris chimed in, unsurprisingly the first to come in support of Valentine's insubordination.
It became immediately clear that Wesker was outnumbered ten to one, and that he was going to have to endure the same treatment as every other male member of S.T.A.R.S. "Fine," he surrendered.
"Good, as I was saying, twelve spots, ten of us. Let's see some volunteering," Marini said, tapping the empty space next to January with the capped end of his marker. "January. Come on guys, the sooner we get this done, the sooner those of us who had a day off can fuck off again."
Barry grumbled under his breath and raised his hand. "I'll take it."
"Splendid." Marini turned around and wrote Burton on the board next to January.
"A volunteer for February?" Wesker asked, trying to speed things up.
"Come on, it's the shortest month, they'll flip you over very quickly," Marini said, turning around to look at their teams. "Look, guys, we can do this the easy way or the hard way."
Kenneth raised an eyebrow. "The hard way?"
"Get me a piece of paper, we write everyone's names and we're drawing lots," Marini explained.
"Oh, that seems fair," Brad said, while Jill rolled her eyes, being deprived of the joy of hearing them argue for which month they would—or would not—want.
"You could choose your birthday month?" Jill offered.
"Nah, I think this is more fair," Richard commented, walking over to the copy machine and extracting a piece of paper from it so that he could hand it over to his Captain.
Marini quickly folded the paper and ripped off ten little rectangles, roughly the same size. He spared a glance at how Brad was fidgeting, saw the way Forest was trying to make eye contact with Chris over Jill's head, and quickly decided that he did not trust them to write their own names on the slips. He borrowed a pen from the closest desk and started writing down everyone's name. He left Barry's slip to the side and rolled up each piece of paper tightly, then he dropped them all into an empty R.P.D. coffee mug, which he offered to Wesker.
"You do the honors, Wesker," he said simply.
Wesker's mouth was a tight, dangerous grimace that promised ten laps around the precinct for whoever dared laugh. He pulled out the first piece of paper and unrolled it. "February is Mr Frost. How apt," he quipped.
Marini wrote the name next to the month, and they quickly had half the board filled. Wesker had probably forgotten that his name had also been added into the mug, because he froze when it was time to call July's assigned name. Marini leaned closer and immediately caught the W he had written.
"Wesker," he said casually as he scribbled the name next to the month.
Wesker cleared his throat, put the paper down with the other extracted ones and picked up the next. "Redfield for August," he announced, and Marini jotted it down.
"Only the two of us left, Speyer," Marini calculated. "So who's it gonna be, Albert?"
Wesker barely unrolled the last piece of paper and coldly announced, while staring at his co-captain, "Marini."
Marini was absolutely unbothered by it, and he quickly wrote down his own name for September and Forest's next to October, then he turned again to face the room. "Good. We have our assignments, I am asking for ideas for the last two months. Anyone who wants to go twice?"
The silence from their teams was utterly telling.
Wesker in the meantime had started tight rolling the slips again and silently dropping them back in the mug. "Use your brains for something more than to keep your ears apart," he called, directing a more pointed stare at his own team, silently begging them to not come up with stupid ideas.
"We could do group shots," Chris broke the silence. Emboldened by his idea, he even elaborated. "One for Alpha, one for Bravo team."
Marini seemed to think about it, but Wesker shook his head. "It would not be fair with Miss Valentine missing from the Alpha team photo. Let's come up with an alternative. Anyone else have an idea?"
Jill stepped beside Wesker. "If I may, sir," she said, taking the mug and dropping Barry's rolled up name inside as well. "In the spirit of charity and since everyone seems so eager to participate," she mocked them openly, utterly amused by her colleagues' resigned stares. "Let's do group shots, but let's make them random. Unless someone volunteers."
"One could be of the two Captains," Edward spoke, demonstrating that his mouth worked faster than his brain.
"You can't volunteer other people, Ed!" Kenneth quickly shut him up.
"Enough," Marini said, to make them stop. "Come on, let's finish this quickly so I can go home. Miss Valentine, pick two names from the mug."
Jill took two little rolls and announced, "Marini and Burton."
Marini quickly wrote the names up next to November. Then Jill took two more and snorted.
"Wesker and Redfield," she read, showing everyone the unrolled pieces of paper to have eyewitnesses, since she could hear Wesker quietly groan behind her. Then she quickly returned to her place to look at the full roster of names on the whiteboard.
"Alright, gentlemen, Miss Valentine, I'm off. No one even think about fucking with the list while I am gone. Good luck, Wesker." He grabbed his jacket and made a beeline for the door, quickly followed by everyone who was not supposed to be in the office in the first place.