Author's Note: This is a republishing of an old story with some minor edits. Enjoy!

He wrapped his body around Malena, bracing for impact. He knew that it was unlikely either of them would survive, but if he could give her just that much more of a chance, he was willing to give his own life. What was there left to live for anyway, except to give the other's a chance?

He felt the warmth on his back, flames licking at his bulletproof vest, a practical reminder of his former post with S.T.A.R.s. He screwed his eyes shut, waiting for the death he had been evading for years. His heart broke for Malena as her grip on him tightened; so young to have seen so much death, and then to experience her own… But the pain never came. He felt the heat receding, felt Malena stiffen in his arms. His eyes snapped open, first glancing down to make sure his charge was safe. She was staring straight ahead, her expression a mixture of awe and terror. Internally groaning as yet another curve ball was thrown at the already overtaxed convoy, Carlos followed Malena's gaze.

Shocked stilled him. He would know that silhouette anywhere, no matter how many years pasted between glimpses.

He didn't try to fight the feeling of relief and elation that rose within him.

The inferno had risen high above them, dropping flaming masses of black feathers in rapid succession. The soot and smoke created a haze impossible for him to see through, leaving him with only his memories and imagination to recreate her face, a face he had craved a glimpse of from the moment the privilege had been stolen from him all those years ago.

As flames began to dissipate, Malena pulled herself away from him, hesitating for only a moment before turning and running to Claire and the safety of the convoy. Carlos took a few steps toward his savior before pausing. Behind him, he was sure the rest of the convoy was watching him with horrified expressions. Claire was probably shouting orders at him to come back, maybe ordering others forward to stop him. But no one else would be willing to walk toward this anomaly, this freak, even if she had just saved their lives. She was different, and in a world were life was quickly disappearing, different meant dangerous.

He was only a few feet away now, and it struck him that it had been only a few minutes since her arrival, while to him, it had already felt like hours, hours of waiting, unable to see her, to touch her… The smoke had cleared, and their eyes connected, ice blue with chocolate brown. He saw a flicker of relief in the deep pools, and a slight upward quirk of her lip as he moved forward again. But then she was pitching forward, landing in his arms with all the grace of a bowling ball. That didn't stop him from cocooning her with his body, trying to block out everyone and everything that could ever hurt her. She was breathing hard, too hard for someone with her immense strength. Her grip was desperate, and it too lacked the regular undercurrent of power that all of her movements possessed. She burrowed her head into his shoulder and he rocked her, trying comfort both of them at the same time. Alice was back; his Alice was alive and back.

Time and reality seemed to settle back into place in slow motion, like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle snapping together one by one, revealing the picture little by little until suddenly, there it was, the whole image. He heard the others yelling at him, heard Claire giving orders, heard the shifting of sand as two individuals, probably Claire and someone else, ran toward him, felt a hand on his back and heard the revving of an engine in the background.

"Who is she?" Her voice was hard and untrusting, typical Claire protecting her convoy, the reason they had survived so long.

"And what the hell did she do?" Mikey's voice cracked.

"She saved us." Carlos shifted his precious cargo and gently brushed some of her short blonde hair back from her face, cradling her head against his shoulder. He heard Claire muttering under her breath, but he didn't bother to decipher the words.

He rearranged himself to pick Alice up, trying to jostle her as little as possible. Once he had risen to his full height, he turned and looked at Claire and Mikey, both starring him down, one with curiosity, the other with a look that clearly said she expected answers, and soon. "And her name is Alice," he tossed over his shoulder while walking around them and heading for his truck, a limp Alice tightly secured against him. He felt her shift and looked down, only to find her burying her head in his chest. He smiled down at her before suggesting in a loud, commanding voice that they set up camp for the night.

Carlos placed Alice on the couch in the back of his truck.

When he and LJ had joined the convoy, Carlos had been one of the two members to know how to handle a weapon with any skill. In order to keep him complacent under her command, Claire had given him his own truck, Carlos' 'armory' as it would later be dubbed, and made him her unofficial advisor. If Carlos vetoed a plan, everyone went back to the drawing board. This also came with the extra responsibility of being on security detail more often than any of the others, being constantly summoned for meetings, and being asked for advice (from everyone in the convoy, not just Claire) at all hours of the night.

While this really didn't bother him, he was glad to be useful, it allowed for very little time for sleep, so when he saw Alice lying there in his makeshift bed looking so peaceful, he wanted nothing more than to curl up beside her for a cat nap. But Claire had other plans.

"She can't stay here." Carolos sighed and quietly exited the van, closing the door as softly as possible behind him. "I don't know what she is but everyone is scared, and I won't have my entire convoy living in more fear then they already do. I'm thankful to her for her help, but as soon as she is awake and has gotten over this little fainting spell, she's gone."

"She goes, I go." For the first time during their conversation, Carlos drew his gaze away from the horizon to look Claire square in the eye. She was taken aback by the fierce determination in his eyes. Her tone softened a little and she reached out and placed a hand on his arm.

"How do you know her?" Carlos sighed and briefly closed his eyes.

"She was the one to save LJ and I from Raccoon City. Among others." They had begun walking toward the perimeter; may as well make use of themselves while they had 'story time'.

"How did she do it?" Claire's voice had dropped, and Carlos caught the underlying tone of awe that would be well hidden later in front of Alice herself.

"Umbrella experimented on her. Infected her with the T-virus and-"

"She's infected!" Claire had stopped dead in her tracks and was breathing fire. She reached for the gun at her side and Carlos could see her muscles tensing to run back to the convoy.

"She's not contagious!" Carlos reached forward, but Claire pulled back leveling her gun at his head.

"How can she not be contagious if she is infected! I can't believe you put the entire convoy in such danger! You should have shot her the minute you were safe from the birds! Carlos, how-"

"Claire stop! She is infected with a different strain! Don't you think she would have turned by now if she was infected with the normal strain? I haven't seen her in over five years, and she was infected when she left us! And look at me and LJ! We are just fine!"

Claire lowered her gun, but the angry look remained on her face.

"Keep going before I change my mind."

"Umbrella infected her with a different strain of the T-virus after she escaped infection during the first outbreak at the Umbrella facility called the Hive, where she was head of security." Claire snorted. "Instead of mutating as they expected, somehow Alice's DNA bonded with the virus. And that is what gives her the ability to stop flames and dodge bullets. Umbrella created a 'super soldier' for their own personal use, but they weren't anticipating Alice's mental strength. She has escaped capture twice that I know of, probably more since she left us." Carlos took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "We need her Claire. The convoy is losing members and resources. They need hope. Alice can give them that." He looked at Claire to see her staring him down with a pensive look on her face.

"Does she know?" He quirked an eyebrow.

"That she will bring hope to the convoy? I highly doubt it. She humble to a fault."

"No. I meant, does she know that you love her?" Carlos froze, his eyes locked on Claire's.

"What makes you think that I do?" Claire's lip quirked upward.

"I'll take that as a firm no." She turned and headed back toward the group, tossing her parting words over her shoulder. "She can stay until we decide what we are doing next, then I'll deal with our guest."

Carlos stared after her for a minute before continuing to walk around the perimeter of the camp, eyes on the horizon, but thoughts on the girl sleeping peacefully in his bed.