Chapter 1

Still a little bit of your song in my ear

"My name is Alice. I worked for the Umbrella Corporation in a secret laboratory developing experimental viral weaponry. There was an incident. The virus escaped. Everybody died. Trouble was, they didn't stay dead. This was the start of an apocalypse that would sweep the entire world. The men responsible for this disaster took refuge underground and continued to experiment with the deadly T-Virus. They felt secure in their high-tech fortress. But they were wrong…"

It had been 13 months since Alice watched Claire and the others fly off in search of Arcadia in Alaska. She hadn't intended on staying away that long, but once she started to unravel the intricate network that made up the Umbrella Corporation, it only took her deeper and deeper into the underbelly of the beast.

Alice was resolute in her aim to make sure that she would never again put those she cared about in danger by having Umbrella pursue her in an attempt to capture and control her. She had made peace with the fact that she was the ultimate weapon, and she was determined to show Umbrella exactly what they had created.

It had all started upon entering the facility in the Nevada Desert, where she was both startled and elated to find an infected Dr Isaacs. What had surprised her though, was that he had been experimenting with ways for the Undead to have more control over their mental functions and injected the experimental drug into himself after he had been bitten. It had slowed the progression of the virus considerably, and allowed him to maintain a level of lucidity even when his body eventually succumbed to the T-Virus infection. It had been harder to kill him then.

But Alice did.

She hadn't done it alone however. That day, Alice had been saved by one of her clones who she had initially thought dead and who she lovingly named Number One. The then blonde and now raven haired beauty, had found one hundred and sixty seven other copies of herself in the facility. With the help of Number One, and surprisingly, the Artificial Intelligence running the compound – The White Queen – they set out on a mission to bring Umbrella to its knees.

Alice's clones reminded her of herself when she had still been wandering aimlessly through the Mojave Desert: callously reckless and exceptionally arrogant. They were apathetic toward anything other than killing Undead and destroying Umbrella. Though they possessed her skills, they weren't nearly as powerful as Alice was. It was the White Queen who had noted that much like the human body became better with exercise, so would Alice and her clones with regards to increasing and controlling their abilities.

And it was with this information, that the first six months had been spent on training vigorously in Nevada, meticulously planning their attacks and procuring weapons and transport. Alice and her copies had taken out most of the smaller facilities after that, sending out squadrons of fifty odd clones to destroy facilities all over the world. The irony of her finally getting to travel like she always wanted to was not lost on the brunette.

Alice had tried not to become attached to the army of women who bared her face and shared so much of her personality. And she could see them in turn, trying to remain dehumanized. After all, it would've been exactly what Alice would've done had she woken one day and discovered she had experienced nothing that she thought she had, especially if she had literally only been in existence for a few hours when she first learned that truth. Alice's clones were secretly relieved that they hadn't actually lived through the horrors Alice had been forced to.

Alice thought that they were by far more honourable than she had ever been. They had pledged their allegiance to a cause that wasn't their own, to try and save a dying world they never lived in. Her memories helped them of course, but none of them had known Claire. She had told them about the woman who had changed her view on life, who had taught her what responsibility was; about fulfilling the obligations that had been imparted on her whether it had been voluntarily or not.

Alice knew that should her clones have had the memory of Claire, they wouldn't have given their lives so easily and devoted themselves to their purpose with such determination. They would've wanted to meet the fiery redhead and the blushing blonde girl that had crept into Alice's heart without mercy or warning.

They were happy to hear that Jill was alive, and upon Alice mentioning the badass brunette, the entire army of clones smugly smirked in unison. Yeah, they definitely remembered Jill Valentine.

They seemed proud of Alice though, for doing something they couldn't possibly imagine themselves doing in the world they perceived from her memories and the woman they were because of those memories. Her copies were proud that Alice had fallen in love and it seemed that at hearing this news, they had all made it their collective prerogative to protect the original Alice above all, so she may live a life they were certain none of them would ever be able to have. Of course this was not the reasoning they had used to convince Alice. They told her that if anything went wrong, the contingency would allow Alice to continue with their cause.

And it was because of this tenacity, and against Alice's will – how could she possibly argue with over a hundred women all as stubborn as she was? – that Alice stood on a hilltop in Japan, watching from a distance with an aching heart, as the Tokyo facility got blown to bits and out of a blinding white blue light, a VTOL came flying that she undoubtedly knew contained Albert Wesker and Number One.

She watched with increasing horror as the aircraft started plummeting toward the rocky surface of Mount Takao, and exploded on impact. Alice had felt the loss of her copies after the blast, but the loss of Number One, wounded her most. Number One had unintentionally become her friend and her confidant over the long period of time spent cooped up in the facility. She cried quietly as her eyes shifted periodically from the giant crater that used to be Tokyo, to the burning mountain side, almost expecting her enemy to rise again. But mostly Alice waited and hoped for the radio at her hip to crackle with static and indicate that someone, anyone had survived the carnage.

After almost five hours of standing stock still in that same spot, Alice let out a long shaky breath.

Sam Isaacs was dead.

Her clones were dead.

Number One was dead.

Albert Wesker was dead.

They had managed to sever the beast's head from its body.

There were still a few facilities to destroy, but it had been thirteen months, and Alice couldn't fight the longing ache for a certain redhead any longer. She needed Claire's arms around her as she stood and watched what felt like her family, burning so she could have a chance at living again. And Alice was determined to do just that, so they wouldn't have sacrificed themselves in vain.

….

Alice sat in her Yak 52 C-FXZY airplane, flying over the partially snowy terrain of Alaska. She'd memorized the co-ordinates to Arcadia many months ago and on those long lonely nights stuck underground in Nevada, she would repeat them over and over again in her mind, contemplating whether she shouldn't just go and check if the survivors were okay and then return to the facility. But Alice knew Claire Redfield. The minute she had her people set up, Claire would've insisted on going with her. And if there was one person in the world that was even more stubborn than Alice was, it was the stunning redhead.

Alice hoped that Arcadia was real and if it wasn't, she and Jill had mapped out a plan that took the Convoy back down the Western seaboard. She would just follow that route until she found them again. Nonetheless, and in spite of the empty reassurances she tried to mollify herself with, Alice's stomach continued to knot nervously the closer she got to Arcadia's assumed location. She had a really bad feeling, and it had her nauseous with anticipation.

She landed the Yak 52 in a field that had seemingly become a graveyard for a variety of other small aircraft. Alice walked slowly through the planes until she spotted the two Umbrella helicopters stationed on the secluded beach. She ran toward them and her chest convulsed painfully as she saw that they still contained the supplies the survivors had taken with them. Alice noticed that some of the supplies were missing though and frowned pensively, wondering if it could've been an animal, as survivors would've stashed the supplies somewhere safer, more secure. And surely it wouldn't have lasted them this long… unless something happened that prevented them from moving the items…

Alice was still standing out on the open beach in between the two helicopters, trying not to panic at the thought of what may have happened to Claire and the others, when out of nowhere she was hit over the head with a blunt object with such brute force, it knocked her out completely.

…

When Alice regained consciousness, it was night time and she sat with her hands tied behind her back to the landing gear of a vintage Cessna airplane. A small fire was burning in front of her, and behind it sat…

Alice's heart almost leapt out of her chest as she recognized the features of the woman sitting on a log, busy expertly opening a can of food with a hunting knife. She was covered from head to toe in dirt and grime, but it was unmistakably Claire Redfield who had taken her captive. Though Alice was restrained, she could still feel her guns holstered at her waist underneath her large green coat.

She looked up at Claire dressed in only a torn up shirt and tank top, apparently unaffected by the icy cold of the Alaskan evening. The redhead looked like a camouflaged soldier in a jungle warzone and it was this camouflage that had prevented Alice from scenting her to begin with. She was amazed that Claire had been quiet enough to sneak up on her and successfully knock her out. Other than having a slight headache from the already healed bump on her head, Alice was completely unharmed though.

She focused her telekinetic ability and set about undoing the knots of the ropes that were her bondage. Claire must've been a girl scout when she was younger, Alice mused and grinned to herself. She could attempt to just rip the ropes apart, but Claire was clearly not herself and she didn't want to make any sudden movements and startle who she hoped was still a redhead under the damp, greasy strands that covered Claire's head.

"Red?" She whispered hesitantly into the quiet of the night that only held the sounds of the crackling fire and the crashing of the waves in the distance.

Bright blue, feral looking eyes shifted to Alice at the sound of her voice. Alice noted how they seemingly stared straight through her. Claire then got up, walked closer and crouched down in front of her with a can of food in one hand and a spoon in the other. The redhead said nothing as she leaned forward slowly and visibly inhaled Alice's scent.

Claire's features remained blank as she studied Alice's face thoroughly, not a hint of recognition visible in those beautiful blue orbs of hers. Alice however, was struggling not to be affected by the redhead's proximity after so many months. She ceased working on the ropes, needing the extra restraint, as she battled the urge to just grab hold of Claire and pull her tightly against her chest.

She watched as Claire placed a spoonful of baked beans in her mouth, chewing casually as her eyes continued there meticulous examination. It didn't appear as though Claire was searching for anything in particular. She just seemed to be looking. Soon the second spoonful was heading to Alice's mouth. The brunette wasn't hungry, but if she hadn't parted her lips and taken Claire's offering, she was pretty sure her wild woman would've gotten upset. For now though, Alice found the redhead's care, in spite of her incoherence, rather endearing.

Claire fed Alice spoonful after spoonful, still studying the brunette vacantly, occasionally eating some of the beans herself, until they were finished and Claire discarded of the tin and then used her knife to cut Alice loose. Before the brunette even had time to think about what to do next, she was effortlessly picked up and thrown over Claire's shoulder. Alice was surprised to note Claire's enhanced strength as she coolly allowed the woman to lug her around like a sack of potatoes, while she contemplated what was going on.

"Well that was one of the most romantic dinners I've had in a while." Alice quipped, as a stoic Claire carried her into the back of a Beechcraft E18S-9700 airplane that had been stripped of its interior.

Claire placed Alice onto a heap of blankets on the floor of the plane and then brusquely proceeded to mount the stunned brunette. Alice's body wasn't half as confused as her mind as Claire straddled her waist and started grinding sensually against her, both of the redhead's hands eagerly groping Alice's breasts.

Alice tried to stop the woman, but what could she do? Claire was clearly not in her right mind, and Alice suspected it had a lot to do with the red spider like device attached to her chest.

But it's been so very long, so she allowed herself the pleasure of Claire's agile body moving against hers for another few moments, before she ripped the device off of Claire in one smooth movement, and the redhead fell unconscious into Alice's arms.

Alice listened carefully for any sign that the abstraction of the device had caused some sort of negative effect on Claire. She kept the scarab, actually clambering in her grip like a crab, close by, in case she would need to reattach it. When Claire's vital signs seemed stable, Alice destroyed the scarab and took the redhead tenderly in her arms. She covered them with as many blankets as she could, for Claire's sake, whose body temperature seemed to be cooling slowly after the device had been removed.

And that's how they fell asleep.

…

She awoke the next day to Claire jumping from her arms and leaping toward the opposite side of the Beechcraft, one of the revolvers that had been holstered at her side now pointing at Alice's head.

"Morning." Alice greeted her with a lazy grin, sitting up and raising her hands in a sign of surrender. "Do you remember anything?" Alice asked cocking her head to the side.

When she was only met with a hostile glare and still no sign of recognition, Alice gave up and decided that the Scarab seemed to not only trigger memory loss when attached to its host, but also immediately after it was removed. She'd thought about it somewhat the night before and could only theorize that the scarab was a yet to be programmed control device and turned it's bearer into a sort of enhanced human. It allowed Claire the ability to focus on her survival, but not make any other plan to leave the location as she had not been instructed to do so.

Why Claire had literally clubbed her over her head and carried her to her lair like a cavewoman, was still open for debate. Perhaps some part of Claire had recognized her. The redhead had been kind enough to feed her first before attempting to have her way with the brunette. Alice's stomach clenched abruptly as she thought back on the previous night, picturing Claire sensually moving on top of her and she mentally slapped herself so she could focus on the now very lucid woman, who was keeping her at gunpoint.

Alice leisurely rose from her position on the blankets, still armed of course, but hoping that Claire hadn't noticed. She slowly reached for her backpack - which Wild-Woman Claire had considerately placed in the Beechcraft - and pulled out a packet of cigarettes. She was surprised Claire hadn't shot her yet. Of course she could stop the bullet, but that would definitely freak Claire out even more in her current confused state. But Alice was hoping that the more relaxed she appeared, the more relaxed Claire would become, so she casually lit a smoke as she stood calmly in front of Claire and took a long slow drag. Making sure to keep her hands where the redhead could see them.

Claire watched her with a cagey apprehension, gun still raised, not saying a word. Alice flicked on the safety of the weapon with her telekinesis - just in case - as she spoke to the guarded woman again.

"I brought these for you from Japan." Alice said taking out a whole carton of Marlboro's. "I thought you'd appreciate them more than a necklace or perfume." Alice explained and offered Claire another one of her trademark lazy grins.

….

Claire stood and watched the stranger as she coolly smoked her cigarette. She didn't know who the brunette was or who she was for that matter. But there was something very familiar about the woman and that unusually gruff voice of hers… Claire's thoughts were stopped from lingering on the sexiness of the woman's lilt, as the stranger leaned forward ever so slowly, seemingly unconcerned with the barrel of the gun that was now pressed firmly against her chest. Claire's hand trembled around the handle of the weapon. She knew what a gun was; she even knew that is was a Smith & Wesson 460V revolver. Most of all though, Claire knew that if she pulled the trigger at that moment, she could kill the woman right then and there.

Claire stared up into kind green eyes with a slight blue ring around them that had her somewhat mesmerized. She watched as the beautiful brunette took the lit cigarette from her own lips and tentatively placed it between Claire's. The redhead didn't have time to figure out whether she was a smoker or not, before she found herself taking a long drag and relishing in the burn of the nicotine in her lungs.

The strange woman hummed at her and smiled. "Good to see some things are still the same."

The woman's smile was infectious and Claire struggled not to return it. She took over smoking the cigarette the woman had given her. And promptly found herself without her gun, which disappeared back underneath Alice's bulky coat and into its holster, causing Claire to tense up again instantly.

The redhead showed none of her fear and anxiety on the outside though, as she stared Alice down while taking another drag of the cigarette.

"So I take it you don't know who I am?" The woman asked taking a few steps back and giving Claire a good amount of space between them. "Which means you probably can't tell me what happened to the others..." The brunette continued thoughtfully. "It seemed as though that thing," Alice nodded to the destroyed scarab on the floor and Claire's eyes followed, "had been pumping a substance into your bloodstream. I'm hoping that your amnesia will dissipate along with the remaining drugs still left over in your system." Alice explained and Claire's hand automatically reached up to feel at the six small puncture wounds on her chest.

Claire wasn't sure how she had known that that was where that device had been, as she had no recollection of it ever being there. She remained silent however, while she took another long drag of the delicious cigarette the stranger had given her, wondering if she should make a run for it, since the stranger's gun was underneath her coat. Claire's eyes shifted contemplatively between the woman and the door, envisioning an escape route.

"Don't you dare run away from me Red." The woman told her with a melancholic seriousness that held too much emotion for one stranger to have toward another.

Claire relaxed somewhat and continued to watch the brunette warily. Clearly this woman knew her and she had woken up in her arms. It had been a nice feeling until Claire realised she could remember absolutely nothing. Well perhaps not nothing. She knew they were in a plane and that she was in desperate need of a bath because humans weren't supposed to smell this bad. Unless she was homeless... Claire frowned as she wondered if she was homeless and living in the back of a raggedy airplane. The stranger seemed very clean though…

"I'm going to get you some water so you can clean up." The woman announced as if reading her mind or perhaps Claire hadn't been so subtle in sniffing herself. "Don't make me come looking for you." The stranger warned playfully and gave Claire another disarming grin that had the redhead's tummy slightly fluttering.

….

Alice had considered restraining Claire for the redhead's own safety, but thought it best to take a less… hostile approach. She had no idea how long it would take Claire to regain her memory and being forceful with the redhead was bound to result in disaster and even more distrust. Amnesia aside, Alice was sure that Claire would still be as obstinate as ever.

She returned with two huge buckets of warmed water and was surprised to find Claire still there in the Beechcraft, standing rigid and upright looking deep in thought. Alice had been mentally preparing herself to remain calm when she had to go looking for Claire in the vast Alaskan wilderness.

She carefully placed the buckets in the plane along with a large duffel bag gaining Claire's attention.

"You should find a change of clothes in there, along with soap, shampoo and I think there's a towel as well." She said motioning to the backpack. "I'm going to get breakfast started, feel free to join me when you're done and I'll answer any questions you have." Alice sent her a friendly smile before turning around and walking to the fire.

Forty minutes later she was joined by a cleaned up Claire, dressed in a grey v neck T-shirt with a red leather vest over it. Still clearly not as affected by the cold weather as she should've been. Claire also wore a pair of tight black pants with a black utility belt. And her favourite pair of black combat boots; the ones that had kicked Slater into another life.

Alice couldn't help but blatantly stare at the vast difference in Claire's appearance.

"I almost forgot how beautiful you are." Alice breathed thoughtlessly, running her gaze over Claire's clean face and hair.

She saw the redhead looking stunned by the comment and mentally kicked herself for letting the words slip out. No need for Claire to think she was trapped with some psycho lesbian stalker. The redhead was already glancing at the bulges in Alice's jacket - where her weapons were concealed- with obvious wariness.

Claire said nothing though, as she sat down on the other side of the fire and accepted the can of soup Alice offered her.

"Thanks." Claire muttered in a gruff voice.

It was obvious that she hadn't spoken in a very long time.

"You're welcome." Alice grinned. "I'm Alice." She offered politely.

Claire's eyes briefly flashed to her then back down to the soup.

"What do you remember?" Alice cautiously asked again.

"I don't remember anything." Claire answered looking around at all the planes surrounding them. "Where are we?"

"In Alaska." Alice answered. "Thirteen months ago I watched you fly off to come here. It was supposed to be-"Alice paused, mentioning the Undead would probably not be such a good idea right now, Claire already seemed overwhelmed enough as it was."- you came with a few other people, K-Mart, Jill, L.J, Betty… sound familiar?" She looked at Claire expectantly as the redhead swallowed down a spoonful of soup.

"I know K-Mart is a department store." The redhead shrugged nonchalantly, causing Alice to grin.

Claire looked up at her and gave an amused smile of her own but then grew serious again.

"Who am I?" She asked hesitantly.

"Your name's Claire. Claire Redfield." Alice answered, watching closely for any signs that Claire recognized her own name, but the redhead remained as blank as she had before but then blushed.

"And who are you to me?" She asked Alice timidly before coyly averting her gaze again.

"Uh…" Alice struggled to answer as she wasn't exactly sure who she was to Claire. Girlfriend? Lover? It's not like they had been dating or anything. Who actually dated during a zombie apocalypse in any case? She and Claire had fallen into a natural… partnership without any long drawn out conversations about it becoming that. Besides, there hadn't really been time to focus on labelling anything.

"I'm a friend." She offered awkwardly and Claire nodded slowly not looking like she entirely believed the brunette who not so subtly decided to change the subject. "I've lost my memory," Alice announced, "it eventually returned, and so will yours." She added softly yet confidently.

They basked in an uncomfortable silence for a few more moments, both women seemingly lost in their own thoughts. Alice was thinking about finding the others. There were no bodies anywhere, which wasn't necessarily a good sign. The fact that all the supplies were still in the helicopters… Perhaps they had to leave in a hurry, she decided. Jill would've stuck to the route, but Jill would also not have left Claire behind. And the scarab that was attached to Claire was clearly Umbrella technology. Meaning Umbrella must've had the redhead at some point. But there were no signs of any other humans for miles… Had Arcadia been a trap? Judging from the amount of aircraft gathered in the field, a lot more survivors may have received the same co-ordinates…

"We need to get moving." Alice declared sharply, suddenly feeling the need to get the redhead out of there.

Claire agreed with a firm nod and rose from her log without hesitation, leaving Alice slightly stunned at her compliancy.

"Do I need a gun?" Claire asked shifting her gaze to Alice's cloaked weapons again.

"Do you remember how to use a gun?" Alice smirked and Claire frowned. "Exactly. So until you remember, no gun for you Red. Don't want you shooting me by mistake."

Claire glared at her venomously for a moment.

"If you keep on smirking at me like that, it won't be a mistake when I shoot you." Claire shot back, causing Alice's grin to broaden.

"There's my girl." Alice whispered under her breath as she went to retrieve their bags from the Beechcraft.

….

A/N: I'm trying to only write in the movie-verse, but it leaves so many unanswered questions. For example, when did Alice hear the transmission from the Arcadia? I thought the red notebook guided the Convoy to its location? Did I miss something?

And how exactly was Claire's memory affected by the scarab? A completely blank slate? Was she even eating all by her lonesome there in Alaska or was the scarab providing her with sustenance?

Will be sucking most of these 'technicalities' out of my thumb.

Also, some may feel it a cop out to have Alice keep her abilities, my reasons:

1. Alice is awesome cause she's different. She struggles to fit into the human world and she's nowhere close to being Undead. It's what makes her her to me

2. Have you seen the things she does as a 'human' in the movies though? Really, she might as well have had her abilities still, would've made her awesomeness a lot more believable

3. Like with RE: Convoy, RE: Arcadia will focus on the progression of Claire and Alice's relationship, so the action is a secondary storyline in any case and thus her abilities won't be focused on too much… Maybe

4. Lastly, it would be boring sticking to the script, cause then everyone will know what's going to happen next :-)