Disclaimer: I own nothing related to Resident Evil.

AN: Hello everyone, congratulations! You've stumbled upon my not so little story. Here are a few things you should know before reading:

1) This story is completely AU, there will not be any zombies found here, but there also will not be any original characters either. I have tried to use as many characters from the films as possible.

2) This is a femslash, so if that is not your thing I thank you for your time but you may leave now.

3) Alice and Claire do not get together right away, but this will not be an angst ridden story, if that makes sense.

4) I have no idea yet about how long this story will end up being, but it will be fairly lengthy!

5) Reviews are welcomed, so let me know what you think!

AN2: For reference, Alice's look in this story is circa Resident Evil Apocalypse.

AN3: I have affectionately named each chapter after an amazing song (amazing in my opinion). The song may or may not have anything to do with the chapter itself, I've really only done it for my own amusement but feel free to check out the songs if you like and let me know how awful my taste in music is! Anyway, I'll shut up now and let you enjoy (or not) the first offering of my story.

Summary: Alice doesn't believe in soul mates, will a chance encounter with a certain redhead change her mind? No it won't, at least not right away.


The sun was just beginning to rise over the distant horizon of Racoon City on a peaceful Thursday morning. The downtown streets were empty with the exception of a lone pickup truck. The old, beat up, faded green vehicle had two occupants; a dark haired man slouched over in the passenger seat fast asleep against the window and a woman with dirty blonde hair sitting behind the wheel. The woman, Alice Abernathy looked across to her sleeping companion and with a wicked grin, purposely swerved the truck on the empty street. Startling awake Carlos Olivera groaned, rubbing his eyes before looking around.

"What did you do that for?" He glared at Alice. "I agreed to get up unrealistically early to help you out and this is the thanks I get?"

Alice pretended to muse over this information for a moment. "I don't remember you agreeing to do anything. As I recall, I asked you very nicely to help me out this morning and when you refused I had to all but drag your ass out of bed." She said sarcastically.

"Same thing." Carlos waved off, settling back into his seat. "Don't wake me again until we get there."

Alice smirked and taking a sharp left turn which almost flung Carlos from his seat, entered a parking lot and pulled into the nearest spot. "We're here." She dead panned then opened her door, jumping out of the truck.

Alice and Carlos had been best friends since childhood. For as long as either of them could remember they had been pretty much inseparable. They had been next door neighbours raised in the suburbs outside the city and had met through a summer play date arranged by their parents when they were three. Their friendship had been instantaneous when the two discovered they shared a love for superheros. And even though to this day they still had arguments over which super hero was superior, with Alice arguing in favour of Spiderman and Carlos more partial to Batman; their friendship never wavered. Alice spent almost everyday at the Olivera household, and even though she and Carlos weren't biologically related they often told people they were brother and sister. It wasn't until they were eight years old that everything changed, everything but their friendship.

The pair had walked home from school together like every other day but knew right away that something was wrong when they were outside Alice's house and the front door was wide open. Normally Alice's mother was home everyday, usually passed out on the couch, surrounded by empty bottles of alcohol. Carlos was the only one she ever told about what went on behind closed doors and the boy did his best to keep her out of the house as much as possible. Because they lived in the suburbs the Abernathy's looked to be the picture perfect family. Mr. Abernathy had been a real estate broker while Alice's mother stayed at home. And while her father often stayed away from drinking his addiction was to the racetrack, and he often came home late either ecstatic or in a furious rage depending on how much he won or lost and over the years Alice had been forced to come up with some very creative excuses to explain the bruises.

On that fateful day Alice had told Carlos to wait outside, but sensing something was wrong he held her hand and followed Alice inside. Upon entering the house Alice found everything in disarray. A lot of things were missing and everything else seemed to be scattered across the floor. The only room left untouched was her bedroom. It was one of only a handful of times that Carlos ever saw Alice cry. The boy had then picked up his sobbing best friend and ran out of the house, across the front lawn, yelling for his mother the whole way. He set Alice down on his front porch and disappeared into his house to get help.

Mrs. Olivera called the police and late that night she had told Alice what had happened. Alice's parents had skipped town when her father had piled up too many debts that they couldn't pay. She said they had left Alice a note but the girl had refused to read it. It hadn't been a hard decision for the Oliveras to let Alice stay with them, she spent most of her days at their house anyway and when the state had been unable to track down any relatives that could take her in Carlos' parents were able to legally adopt her.

Over the next few months Alice had watched from a window as an elderly couple had purchased and moved into the house she had once called home. It had been unbelievably hard on the blonde to live right next door to her former residence, but it had allowed her to retain some sense of normalcy in her life; she'd been able to stay at the same school and she and Carlos were still inseparable, but she never heard from her parents again. And though Carlos had made numerous attempts over the years, she never once spoke about it. Instead she channelled her emotions into art. Painting and drawing had allowed her to express herself when words could not.

And it was her artwork that was the cause of the pair being awake at the crack of dawn. Alice was showing some pieces at the Racoon City Art Gallery for their show dedicated to local artists that would be happening that night. She waited patiently for Carlos to join her outside the truck, grumbling to himself the entire time.

"Remind me again why we had to get up so early to do this?" Carlos asked through a loud yawn.

"The gallery wants all the art set up by noon, and you have to be at work by ten. So this was the only time." She explained. "Honestly, I don't know what you're complaining about. I didn't even go to bed last night. So if anyone should be complaining it should be the one of us who hasn't slept yet."

Carlos waved the comment off. "You're use to it. It was your choice to take that job working overnight shifts."

"Exactly, which is why I'm not complaining, so quit your whining and come help me with this stuff."

Carlos sighed, but nevertheless joined Alice behind the truck and watched her remove the tarp covering her artwork. "You so owe me for this." He stated.

Alice grabbed a canvas from the vehicle, handed it to Carlos and pushed him toward the art gallery's entrance. "I'll buy you breakfast when we're finished." She promised before grabbing another painting and following him inside.


"That wasn't so bad was it?" Alice observed as she and Carlos left the gallery almost two hours later. She yawned and stretched her arms above her head. The combination of working all night and the early morning activity finally catching up to her.

"I guess not." He replied, watching her stifle another yawn. "Do you want me to drive home?"

"You can drive, but let's go get something to eat. I promised you breakfast when we were done and I'm starving."

"You sure?" Alice nodded and tossed Carlos her keys. He caught them and climbed into the driver's seat. "Where do you want to go?"

Alice looked at her best friend in disbelief. "Carlos," she sighed; "every time we go out you ask me where I want to go."

"Yeah?" He said slowly, not understanding where this was going.

"And what do I always say?"

He brought his hands up to make air quotes as he spoke. "'I don't care.'" He recited.

"Exactly. So why do you continue to ask me?"

He thought it over as he started the truck and pulled out of the gallery car park. "I don't know, maybe I think one day you'll change your mind and actually have an opinion."

Alice scoffed. "I have lots of opinions, I just couldn't give a fuck where we eat or what movie we see, or anything like that. Those things just don't matter to me."

Carlos smiled. "That's one of the things I love about you Alice, you never change." He reached over to ruffle her already dishevelled hair but Alice ducked and smacked his hand away. He was laughing but stopped immediately when his eyes caught sight of something outside. "Woah!" He said excitedly, quickly putting his foot on the brake pedal; the sudden halt causing Alice to lurch forward in her seat.

"Dude, what the fuck?" She hissed.

But Carlos didn't reply, his eyes focussed on the sidewalk behind Alice's head. His gaze tracked something outside and Carlos turned around in his seat to follow the movement through the back windshield. With a crooked smile that Alice didn't like at all he continued to stare.

Alice waved a hand in front of his face. "Earth to Carlos." Nothing. "Olivera!" She punched him in the arm. The movement in combination with the car behind them honking in impatience was enough to break Carlos from his staring. Wiping the dreamy look off his face he gave Alice a mischievous smile.

"I know where we're eating." He said excitedly as he forced the truck into an illegal u-turn, ignoring the horns of the other cars behind him. And driving much faster than necessary he took a hard left into a small parking lot.

Alice looked out the window to see where they were. The building was in the shape of a flying saucer which was unusual in itself, but the restaurant stuck out even further by its use of shiny red and white plastic tile covering the outside. "Umbrella Co. Dinning: Our Business is Food Itself." She read off the sign. "Are you shitting me Carlos? That doesn't even make sense!"

"I thought you didn't 'give a fuck' where we ate?" He teased playfully.

"I don't. But I doubt you pulled that stunt back there in my truck because you were dying to try the food here." Alice narrowed her eyes at him and Carlos shifted uncomfortably under her gaze.

"I uh, there was this girl I saw walk in here." He admitted.

"And what? You decided to stalk her? You want us to spy on her while she's eating french toast or something?"

"She's really hot. Please Alice?" He begged with puppy dog eyes.

This wasn't the first time Alice had been roped in by Carlos to do something crazy to meet a girl. Over the many years of their friendship he had forced her to tag along to pep rallies, house parties, bars, and clubs. One time in their teens they had even spent two hours in a record store until Carlos had plucked up enough courage to ask out the girl behind the counter. Every time Carlos would insist that these crazy schemes were in the name of love and every time Alice swore if that was love then she wanted nothing to do with it.

The blonde rolled her eyes at her friend but exited the truck anyway. "Fine," she said when he joined her. "But you're paying."

"Deal." He agreed quickly, clapping her on the back and pushing her towards the entrance just as she had done earlier that morning.

Alice went in first, Carlos right behind her. "So, where is this mystery woman?" She asked, glancing around but not observing anyone who could have possibly caused Carlos to stop in the middle of the street. There were only about ten other patrons in the room, scattered among various tables.

Carlos was also looking around the diner frantically. "I don't see her."

Alice shrugged. "Maybe she's in the bathroom." She picked up a newspaper from the stack by the door. "Let's go sit down, the sooner I get something to eat the less cranky I'll be about this stalking thing."

Carlos followed obediently through the semi vacant restaurant and took the seat opposite in a booth next to a window. But even seated he remained agitated, his head swivelling constantly trying to catch a glimpse of his mystery woman.

"Dude, chill out." Alice scolded. "You need to calm down, you look like you're about to rob the place or something."

"What should I say to her?"

"Are you going to actually talk to her? I thought we were just here to eat and spy on her." Sarcasm dripped off every word and Carlos glared across the table in response. "Just be honest and be yourself. But if I were you I wouldn't mention the whole 'I spotted you on the street and followed you in here' thing, women tend to find stalking creepy." Then Alice opened her newspaper and disappeared behind it.

Carlos looked a little guilty. "Sorry, to do this to you again. I know you don't like being my wingman...er wing person?" He shook his head in confusion. "It's just, don't you think we're getting to that age where we need to start thinking about settling down?"

"We're only 24 years old Carlos." Alice replied from behind the paper, sounding almost bored. And she was, Carlos had brought this conversation up every few months over the last year. Normally she would be a bit more sympathetic, but lately all Carlos focussed on when he met a girl was whether or not she could possibly be his future wife.

It was one of the biggest differences between the two friends. Carlos was a hopeless romantic, constantly on the search to find 'the one.' Alice often teased him about it. She didn't think there was such a thing as a soul mate and she was certain there was no way Carlos would ever find 'the one' considering what high standards he held when it came to women. He seemed to think that his soulmate would be perfect; flawless beauty, intelligent, driven, and so on. Carlos had always been the more sentimental of the two of them, but even Alice thought his search for perfection was completely ridiculous.

Carlos' hand came over the top of the newspaper, pulling it down until it rested on the table. "I know this isn't your thing and it's not that I don't like all the time we spend together..."

Alice held up a hand to stop him from speaking further. "I'm gonna stop you right there before you get all weepy on me." She said. "Listen, I'm all about you finding someone who makes you happy, I'm just a little sceptical about the whole love at first sight thing." She gestured around the restaurant who's decor and colour scheme matched its outsides. "I mean, who do you think is going to find their soulmate in the tackiest diner in Racoon City?"

At that moment a waitress came up to their booth. "Welcome to Umbrella Co. Dining, what can I get you this morning?" She passed the pair a couple of menus.

Alice's head swivelled over to look at the waitress and found a woman around their age with long red hair pulled back in a tight ponytail. The name tag on her shirt read 'Claire' and she waited patiently for one of them to speak.

"I'll just have coffee, black. And whatever you have that's been deep fried." Alice answered, passing back the menu she hadn't even looked at.

The waitress nodded with a good-natured smile at the vague request and turned her attention to Carlos. "What about you? What can I get you?"

"Uh, I'll have the same, thanks." He spluttered, staring up at her with wide eyes.

She looked momentarily uncomfortable at his gaze and backed away from the booth. "Sure, I'll be back in a minute." And she rushed off to the kitchen.

Carlos face palmed. "Idiot." He muttered to himself. He glanced across the table at Alice but she had disappeared behind the paper again after relaying her order.

"So, any sign of your mystery girl?" Alice asked when Carlos hadn't immediately fallen back into the conversation from before their interruption.

"It's the waitress." He mumbled, face still buried in his hands.

She lowered the paper enough to make eye contact with Carlos. "The waitress?" He nodded. "Our waitress? Waitress-who-was-just-here waitress?"

"Yes."

Alice sighed and folded up the newspaper, setting it off to the side. "Forget it. She's not your type."

"What?"

"She's not going to go out with you, so you might as well save yourself some embarrassment and let this one go."

"What makes you so sure? You saw her for all of two seconds."

"Carlos," Alice pleaded. "Am I ever wrong about these things?"

"There's always a first for everything." He said gazing off at the redhead who was cleaning up a table across the room.

Alice snapped her fingers in front of him, bring his attention back to their own booth. "Not this time I'm afraid. And isn't this why you drag me along?"

"Fine. But just so you know, it wasn't like I was going to sit here and eat and then ask her out. That would just be creepy."

"Not any creepier than following a woman you saw out on the street into a diner." Alice was quick to retort. "Besides I don't understand why you waste your time chasing girls you don't even know. Isn't there someone at your office that you like enough to go out with?"

"You know there isn't. The only women who work there are my mother's age."

"What about your boss's secretary, what's her name again?"

"Nancy."

"Right, what about her, she's young and hot."

"Yeah, she's also the office slut."

"Well maybe what you need to do is stop looking. Doesn't the saying go that love comes when you least expect it?" She frowned in uncertainty, "or something along those lines." She waved it off. "Anyway, if you're suppose to find your 'soulmate'" she winced at the word "don't you think it's up to the universe to provide? Or at least give you some kind of sign?" She didn't believe a word that was coming out of her own mouth, but it seemed to be working on Carlos anyway.

Carlos considered her words carefully. "Maybe." He looked around the restaurant and chuckled to himself. "You're probably right. Sometimes I get carried away." He relaxed, leaning back into the bright red leather covering the seat. "I should be more like you, just let the women come to me."

Alice scoffed. "Good luck with that. What I have is a gift, often imitated but never mimicked." Then she looked more serious. "I learned a long time ago there isn't any point in worrying about things you can't control. If there is such a thing as a soulmate," she rolled her eyes "you'll meet her when you're suppose to and not before."

Carlos chuckled. "Damn, and I thought I was the smart one of the two of us."

Alice joined him in laughter until the redheaded waitress came back to their table.

"Here you go, deep fried deliciousness." She said, placing the plates in front of them as well as two cups of coffee. "Can I get you anything else?"

"No, I think we're good here. Thanks a lot." Alice replied offering a polite smile which was returned before the redhead walked away again.

The pair ate in relative silence, it was still rather early in the day and despite the diner's strong coffee Alice's lack of sleep was beginning to catch up with her. However, Alice wasn't so out of it that she didn't notice her friend sneaking glances at the redhead every time she passed their table.

Pushing the empty plate off to the side Alice yawned, sitting sat back in the booth as she looked over at Carlos. "I have no idea what we just ate but it was delicious." She commented with a satisfied sigh.

Carlos smirked. "So you forgive me for dragging you in here?"

"With food this good I'll forgive the restaurant for having such a strange theme." She looked around. "I mean, what's up with all the umbrellas?"

"I'm afraid that's one of the great mysteries of life." A voice answered from behind the blonde and a second later the redhead came into view. "I've asked that question myself, many times but I don't think anyone knows why the owner is so obsessed with umbrellas."

"You've never asked him?" Carlos inquired, eager to include himself into the conversation.

"I've never met him, he lives in another state and has someone else run the business." She picked up their empty plates. "Was everything to your liking?"

Carlos looked at her dreamily. "Yes, everything was perfect."

The redhead eyed him uncomfortably again. "Uh, good. Do you want something else or just the bill?"

"Just the bill please." Alice answered before Carlos could order everything on the menu to keep them there longer. When the redhead was out of sight Alice reached across the table to smack Carlos upside the head. "Stop it. She can totally tell when you're leering at her and it's creeping the both of us out!"

"Sorry. You can go wait in the truck while I take care of the check if you want." He offered but Alice immediately was shaking her head.

"No, I think you scared her enough for one day. I'll take care of this, you can pay next time." Carlos looked like he was about to object but Alice glared sternly, cutting off his retort. "You can wait outside, I'll be just a minute." She stood, pulled Carlos from his side of the table and ushered him towards the door.

When he was gone Alice walked over to the counter. Claire stood behind the register, friendly smile back in place. "Does your boyfriend always make you pay?" She teased as Alice handed over some money.

The blonde coughed loudly as she was both amused and horrified at the redhead's assumption. "Sorry, I'm trying not to vomit. First of all, that's disgusting seeing as he's my brother. And second, I would never be with someone who could sit across a table from me and stare dreamily at someone else."

"Replace dreamy with creepy and I'll agree."

"Well I apologize on his behalf if he made you uncomfortable."

"It's alright, no harm done. And in any case we could use his return business." She gestured around the still semi vacant restaurant.

"We will definitely be back, the food was amazing. What did you give us anyway?"

"Sausage wrapped in bacon deep fried in pancake batter."

"Hmm, well if I die of a heart attack on the way home at least I'll know why." Alice covered her mouth to stifle another yawn and checked the redhead's name tag again before backing away from the counter. "Thanks for everything. You have a nice day Claire."

Claire's smile was the last thing Alice saw as she walked out the restaurant, eagerly looking forward to going home for some sleep before the art show that night.