I'm sure everyone came clamoring for the new chapter when they saw the "soon to be" part taken out of the summary and now it's actually Alice/Claire. Wait... what? There was no clamoring? No rushing mass of people stampeding to see why I took that part out? Well that's certainly disappointing. To those few of you that boredly clicked the story because it's updated, I salute you! xD
Anyways, yes, there is a reason that I took that part out of the summary. Read on to find out why. Hopefully it's not a disappointment.
And for those who may not be familiar: bokken are wooden swords used in training for various disciplines of martial arts. I love the ones that I have.
As always... Love it, hate it? Let me know.
The training facility had been cleared of everything inside. The tests were meant to be strictly controlled – at least whatever physical elements were within the facility at the time of the tests. They didn't want anyone improvising, especially the test subject. She was dangerous enough without anything extra to use as a weapon.
Alice stood in the middle of the area, a black bokken in each hand. They'd made the mistake of giving her a real weapon only once. The wooden swords were bad enough; the collateral damage she could cause with them was extraordinary.
The corporation put her through all kinds of tests: endurance, agility, fighting… They wanted to know just what their creation could do, plus they wanted to make sure she could fight anything that stood in their way.
A dozen men, all toting similar wooden weapons, filed into the training area with her and made a circle around Alice. She looked over the ones in front of her, assessing them – they were just standard issue Umbrella pawns. She figured these dozen weren't the only ones that she'd see before the fight was over.
One of the men behind her stepped forward. His heel had barely come into contact with the floor again and she heard the movement, turning fluidly and swiping out with the bokken in her right hand. The left came up to parry another incoming attack as she used the right to hit the first attacker with the broad side of the wooden sword.
She took a step forward, blocking and attacking with ease. It almost seemed like she was a step ahead of the soldiers around her; they'd gone from carefully practiced training to actually trying to attack her in a matter of moments. Two or three would move in at the same time, hoping for strength in numbers, but only ended up knocked down like all the others.
The bokken seemed to be extensions of Alice's arms. She didn't even look like she needed to think about what to do next. Where most would wait and react, she was anticipating and countering the men. In a normal fight, there would be too many – with the enhanced speed and strength the T-virus gave her, this was little more than a small inconvenience.
"Jesus," Carlos commented from the observation deck. He, Jill, Claire, and a few others were watching the latest training session.
"Makes you glad that she's on our side, doesn't it?" Claire inquired. Her double meaning passed by the other Umbrella workers unnoticed.
"She's… amazing," Jill said. "Makes me feel sorry for whatever poor bastards she gets set on."
"I'm really surprised that Rain isn't trying to fight you for her," Carlos told their redheaded boss.
Claire glanced over at him, quirking a brow slightly. "I put an end to that," she informed him.
The man chuckled and shook his head. "I'm sure you did… Is that why we haven't heard from her in a week? She's still recovering?"
"Maybe," the redhead shrugged, turning her attention back to the fight. In the few moments she'd been distracted, Alice had downed all but four of the other soldiers. Another wave was rushing into the training room though.
"Maybe we should train everyone else better," Jill suggested after a moment, watching Alice mow down more of the Umbrella agents. "I think we're just wasting her time and energy with these little play dates."
"These are training exercises designed to test and enhance her abilities," another Umbrella worker spoke up.
"Really? She's just playing with them out there," the woman pointed out. "You sent in two dozen soldiers and only a handful are still standing."
Claire didn't stick around to hear what else was said between the two. She moved down from the observation deck, picking up a bokken for her own use before entering the training area. Now on the same level with Alice, the blonde was even more impressive. She'd seen Alice's fighting up close before, but the intensity was amazing.
The floor was becoming a bit slick with blood as Alice dueled it out with the last couple of soldiers still standing. These guys needed to learn not to bleed so easily… they made quite a mess.
She swept one of the swords around and knocked one man off his feet, before bringing the sword back up and used it along with the second wooden blade to hit the last man across the side of the head. These so called 'training exercises' were just a waste of time.
Movement from behind caught her attention – she expected one of the soldiers to have gotten up and try for a cheap shot. She spun and used the sword in her left hand to block the blade coming down toward her, bringing the other around to attack. Thankfully, she registered the attacker just in time to stop herself just millimeters from the impact.
Claire, with her back turned toward the others, offered Alice a playful grin – to which she earned quite the glare. "Good," she said approvingly.
They had talked about Claire pulling little stunts like that. It was dangerous; Alice would never forgive herself if she hurt the redhead. Alice gave the other woman a curt nod before they headed out of the facility.
Nights on the Arcadia were fairly quiet. Only a skeleton crew stayed awake to keep the ship going and on the right path. That made Claire's journey all the quicker since she didn't have to actually sneak around.
She was on her way to Alice's cabin. Jill, Carlos, and the blonde all had quarters that were situated away from the main living area – they were some of Umbrella's most valuable property, after all. With that came a few nice privileges.
The redhead knew her way, even in the dark. When she came to Alice's cabin, she found the door unlocked, as she suspected. However, there were no lights on inside the cabin, it was pitch black. Maybe the blonde had already turned in for the night… Their last goodbyes had been a little rough, after all. She could have been upset still.
Claire carefully slipped into the room, trying to be as silent as possible. She knew her companion would still hear her. She'd barely stepped inside and found herself pressed back against the wall. "Alice," her voice was low, almost pleading. She could feel that it was the taller woman that had her pinned, though it was too dark to see.
Alice didn't give the other woman time to say anything else as she leaned in to capture her lover's lips with her own. Whatever squabble they had last parted with was insignificant at the moment. Far more important was the fact that they had some time to be together.
Apparently the redhead thought there were more pressing issues however, as she pulled back several moments later. "They're getting suspicious about you three," she said, breathless.
"Let them be suspicious," Alice reasoned easily. "I don't care." She let her lips find Claire's jaw line, eventually working her way to the other woman's neck.
The younger woman was desperately trying to keep her head on straight, but it was proving to be an almost impossible task. They needed to have a serious talk; the blonde was being incredibly persuasive at the moment though. "Alice," she managed to say through a moan.
Suddenly, they were moving. Alice pulled the other woman away from the wall, directing her along to the bed. The blonde sat down, dragging Claire down to straddle her lap. Deft hands were already making dizzying work of the redhead's clothes.
Breath was coming in short, ragged bursts for both of them. Too long had they been apart, and that overrode everything else. Claire had even forgotten about whatever it was that she'd wanted to speak with Alice about.
Claire pushed Alice back on the bed after their clothes were shed, her hair curtaining them both and placing them in their own world.
It wasn't long before the blonde had flipped them over. She took to worshiping Claire's body as thoroughly as she possibly could. The redhead had two fistfuls of sheet clutched tightly in her hands, writhing and occasionally whimpering under Alice's unbearably teasing ministrations. Right now, she was completely at the blonde's mercy – and Alice was taking full advantage of it.
Claire didn't know how long Alice teased her before her mouth opened in a silent cry of pure ecstasy as the blonde pushed her over the edge. After being away from her lover from so long and nearly unending, pleasurable torture, she was in bliss. She didn't ever want to fall back down from her high.
She smiled contently as Alice moved up next to her and was soon wrapped up in the blonde's protective embrace. This was the only place she actually felt safe. "God, I missed you," she whispered.
"I missed you too," Alice replied with a grin.
"I can tell," Claire said, nuzzling against the other woman. "But this isn't exactly why I came in tonight…"
"That's right… you were trying to say something earlier, I didn't quite catch it," Alice teased.
The redhead rolled her eyes. "Because you were being distracting," she said accusingly. "I was trying to tell you that a lot of people are getting suspicious about you, Carlos, and Jill."
"Of course they are," the blonde merely shrugged. "Everyone that has gone with us in the past few missions has died. I'd be concerned if they weren't suspicious."
"Just be careful, okay? I don't know what I would do if I lost you, Alice."
"Hey, I'm not going anywhere. I think I've been forced to prove that more than enough times. Besides, I would never leave you, Claire. Come hell or high water, I'd find my way back to you."
Claire couldn't stop herself from leaning over and pressing her lips to Alice's once more. After a moment, she rolled them so that she was on top of the blonde again. "Tonight, there is no hell or high water," she said. "It's just you and me."