Disclaimer: I don't own RE

Sorry if the updates slow, life had poblems then computer shit itself, but now fickle computer is back and I'm eating biscuits with melted chocolate.

WARNING: this chapter may contain dodgeyness. Sorry for any mistakes or confusion.

So, without further ado, I give you Chapter 5.

K-mart was outside with her friend. She had been standing with him for fifteen minutes and still hadn't spoken. He wasn't very good at talking with people but he finally screwed up the courage to break the silence.

'Are you alright?' Even breaking the tension that little bit had him sweating. She released her breath heavily then turned to him.

'No, everything is definitely not alright.' She lapsed into her tense silence again.

'Care to elaborate?' he asked softly. She looked at him, considering whether she could trust him with such sensitive knowledge.

'No.' she finally decided. They both watched the moon gleaming above them. He had an idea of what might be bothering her.

Claire had eventually dragged herself away from the arms of her lover.

'What will you do while I'm gone?' she had asked. Alice had that smirk that told her a straight answer was definitely not coming.

'I'll find some way to amuse myself.'

Now Claire was going to relieve who ever was on watch and instead of concentrating on her surroundings she was going to be wondering what the hell Alice was up to.

Alice was currently prowling the corridors. She had that feeling again, and this time she was not going to let anything distract her until she had found the cause. She was in the lowest levels that contained public cabins. There weren't many occupied in this area as there was plenty of space in the upper floors and people had started bunking together; forming their own instant families.

She stalked slowly, scarcely breathing as she listened for any signs of life. A whisper of something up ahead had her scanning behind her to make sure no one had used the sound to distract her. Then she moved forward soundlessly until she reached a closed door. She carefully leaned forward and heard the sound of muted muttering emanating from the other side. She couldn't catch the words but they seemed to be moving from one side of the room to the other, as if whoever was speaking was pacing at the same time.

She was preparing to open the door when there came the sound of someone screaming. The noise was far into the distance and had she not been straining so hard to hear the person inside the room she may have missed it. She marked the door in her memory than sprinted for the deck.

When she burst out into the open she noticed immediately the small group that was already forming on deck. Most of them were leaning over the rail and calling out to the water. Someone had already thrown a life preserver overboard but whoever had fallen in couldn't reach it. The moon was the only light so far but Alice noted people sprinting for torches. She yelled at people to back up from the railing and dragged those who were too slow to respond. A woman was crying hysterically and trying to climb over the side. Alice pulled her back and thrust her into the arms of a man behind her. She stared out into the dark waves until her sharp eyes picked out a head bobbing further away from the ship. Without hesitation she jumped lightly up onto the rail then dived.

Claire and Chris had been in the control room. She had come to relieve him but he had stuck around to talk. They were both laughing as they reminisced about their childhood when they heard the screams. Claire grabbed a pair of binoculars and could just distinguish the shape of someone leaning over the railing yelling frantically out to the sea.

'Stop the ship! Someone's gone overboard.' Chris leaped for the controls as Claire grabbed the emergency torch from its rack and raced down the stairs, heading for the deck. When she reached the fringes of the group she grabbed one of the bystanders and asked urgently.

'What happened?' the man turned to her, his face was pale even in the moonlight.

'Some kid was playing out here she must have just fallen over, I don't know.' She moved forward, pushing through the crowd until she was closer to the edge.

'Everyone, get back!' she yelled, 'Someone tell me what's going on.' They must have recognised her because they did take a step back. A man, holding a woman who seemed to have collapsed, answered her.

'Kaity went overboard. She was supposed to be in bed.' he seemed to be on the verge of tears, 'Someone dived in after her but I didn't see who.' He tightened his grip on the woman, burying his face in her hair. Someone else took up the story.

'It was a woman, but I don't know who, she didn't look familiar.' The words made Claire's heart constrict and the next ones almost caused it to come out of her throat.

'It was that woman, the one who was with you guys at the beginning, but I'd thought she left ages ago or something.' Claire leaned dangerously close over the edge; she added her torch light to the others.

'Alice!' she couldn't pick anything out of the darkness, 'Where's the life boats?' even as she spoke she heard the sound of an engine. The boat came whining out of the darkness but slowed quickly; she could just make out Luther's form at the wheel. The boat circled three times, ranging out and back then coming in closer. On the fourth sweep they stopped. In the glow of the torches Claire could just see two limp bodies been dragged into the boat.

'Everyone except the girl's parents clear the deck. If you want the news I'll send someone down to the cafeteria in about half an hour.' She called to the people around her. They eventually dispersed, leaving the tearful man and the woman in his arms behind.

'We're not really her parents but she's like a daughter to us anyway.' he said.

'You'll do. Come on, they'll take them to the first aid.' She turned and walked off at a brisk pace. When they reached the well stocked medical room the parents pushed passed her and hurried to the bed where the little girl had been placed. She looked cold and her eyes weren't open, but she was alive.

Luther, Chris and K-mart were also there as were a few of the men who had helped Luther in the rescue, but Claire was only looking at the sodden figure that remained a few paces back. She ran to her and threw her arms around her. The rest of them turned their backs respectfully on the little reunion to give them what privacy they could. The pair may have not told anyone about their relationship but it had been assumed.

Neither of them spoke; they weren't ones for showing a great deal of emotion in front of other people. Claire could feel the shivers racking the body in her arms.

'Are we good here?' she broke the contact, turned and asked her brother. He nodded but spoke to Alice before they left.

'That was brave Alice, stupid but brave. You saved her life and we all know how important one life is these days.' The rest of the group were nodding their heads in agreement. K-mart even went so far as to hug the woman.

'That's alright.' She answered the men gruffly and hugged K-mart back.

'K, can you go down and tell anyone in the cafeteria that the girl's okay?' Claire asked. The teen nodded and hurried off, 'Alice, you come with me.' They left the parents with their surrogate daughter. They knew she'd be in good hands with the resident doctor.

In their cabin Claire helped the brunette strip her clothes off. She found a spare set and handed them to her. They completed this in total silence. Claire wouldn't look Alice in the eye and Alice knew she only did that when she was secretly angry at her. She loved Claire, more than life itself, but right now she was too damn cold to care. The water she'd just hurled herself into had come straight from the Arctic, apparently with some complementary ice cubes to boot. Her fingers felt like they didn't belong to her; she could barely feel the material she was struggling to pull over her head. So if Claire wanted to berate her for doing something reckless and potentially fatal then she would take it in silence and wait for the storm to pass.

But Claire surprised her for once. Instead of shouting and pacing she merely wrapped her arms around her again and whispered.

'I thought I'd lost you.' It was Alice who was in danger of crying. She pulled the redhead closer and blamed the cold for the intensity of her shivering; she didn't feel fear. She didn't know how long they stood there but Claire eventually pulled away.

'I need to sort this out; I want you to stay here. I mean it Alice.' She continued when she saw the protest coming, 'You stay here and get warm. If you're not here when I get back, there will be hell to pay, you hear me? I need to know where you are.' She couldn't help her voice wavering a little at the end but she kept her gaze steady. Alice's eyes softened and she quickly kissed the redhead on the lips before sitting on the bed.

'You won't even have to chain me here.' Claire smiled and felt the stress lighten. She moved to straddle the brunette and gave her a much more heated kiss, 'Although if you don't stop that I may end up chaining you to the bed.' Claire smiled against her lips.

'I've never been a sex slave before.' Alice kept her hands carefully in one place.

'You've got to try everything at least once,' she was finding it very difficult not let her hands wander, 'sometimes, in special cases, twice.' She tightened her grip on Claire's waist then lifted her off her lap, 'Now go before I do something stupid.' Claire laughed and walked to the door. She turned before she left and pointed her finger at Alice.

'Stay.' Alice smirked in return.

'Woof.'

Will try to update faster but can't make promises, I usually do this when I'm procrastinating but now I seem even too busy for that *insert world weary sigh here* Anyway, remember my friends, to be blunt means you have no time for stupidity, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. :)

-B