A/N 1: Bloody Hell! I never thought I would get feedback during the first two days, or followers and favorites :O but I'm thrilled! Thank you! It's so good to know I did not write something so bad! Ok, my idea is to publish every time I finish a chapter, this would be every 10 days (maybe less) because I have a lot of studying and I have to train every day. But I'll try to overtake in every spare moment. I am posting another chapter just because I want Claire to appear xD uhm so well thanks again!
A/N2: Just so you know, the title of each chapter is named after songs I like. Not necessarily going to have a connection with the argument but hey, just wanted to do that because I'm strange fucker xD so if anyone is interested in knowing the songs, just ask.
Disclaimer: Same as the chapter 1. (I'm lazy)
Review: At the bottom.
A/N3: I don't have a beta, so if something is wrong (vocabulary, grammar) please let me know :)
2. Comfortably Numb
Gemeinschaft Bank.
Two guards unlocks the doors as Alice walks in. She squints, concerned about the incident last night, but none of them seem to recognize her. Inside the bank, the place is elegant, big room, clean, no windows, Barroco style and completely brilliant floor; this makes her feel badly dressed.
There are two lines, one for special costumers, and another for the rest. She's not sure whether or not she is a "special" costumer, so she goes for the line on the right, behind two men
She's standing there trying to think. What's she gonna say? What can she say?
A redhead is in the front line talking to the cashier; Alice can hear the heated conversation.
"No, this is not my current address. It was two months ago, when my grandfather was alive, but then I had to leave the place because of... problems in his Will…."
She couldn't see her face, only her back and her long red hair.
She was talking with big energy, real beauty hidden beneath that armor, and armor it is, because she was a warrior in full, crisis battle mode.
"….and so now I lost my apartment, my workplace, I have no money and you keep telling me how much you cannot help me with this"
The bank clerk, behind the cubicle was watching the redhead like a deer caught by the lights of a car.
"Miss Redfield… I'm gonna have to ask you to keep your voice down"
"All the papers… all the papers they asked for… I brought all the papers…" She looks incredulous. "Listen, the workshop is in the name of my grandfather, I work there"
The two men standing in front of Alice seem to be desperate.
"Excuse me miss but ..."
"Please listen, in his Will, my grandfather says that the workshop and the bank account are in my name! Now I come here and the Will appears with the name of my brother! Who doesn't even live in the country and the one I haven't seen for almost 5 years"
"Miss, I really understand your problem, but we cannot do anything, it is bank policy not to disclose such information to outsiders ..."
"I'm not an outsider! This is my grandfather that we are talking about…"
Alice was so fully into the conversation of the redhead that she hardly realized when the clerk in the left cubicle waved at her. The two men in front of the line livid.
She moves to the line of special customers.
"Can I help you?" says the woman.
Alice stands before her. Looking very out of place.
"Uhm… yeah, I'm here about a number account"
The woman just nods and pulls a pen and a bank card.
"If you'll just enter you account number here I'll direct you to the appropriate officer"
She takes the pen and writes the account number. Then she gives the bank card back to the clerk.
"That's it miss…. Now please come with me to this hall"
The woman takes her to a security check point where two guards, huge and serious, stand by a bio-metric scanner. A piece of ultra-tech amidst the Barroco. She feels nervous, but at the outside she's got a poker face.
Alice stays there; starring down at this machine. There's something ominously decisive about this. What if it's her? What if it's not?
A memory crosses her mind "There's no turning back" and a shiver ran down her spine. Then the right guard speaks, both guards have been waiting for some reaction from the woman but she's only looking at the machine.
"Your hand, miss ..."
Alice focuses.
The bank guard # 2 helps her, guiding her palms on the scanning surface. A wave of white light passes under her hand.
"Please follow me" the bank guard # 1 says. Apparently all went well; no one is pulling her face to the floor saying she has the right to remain silent.
The guard leads to another hallway. Right, Left, Left, Right. Somehow her super advanced brain can memorize and analyze her surroundings; she is ready to escape if needed.
The guard takes her to a door, where another man, whole sack dress, awaits. Mr. Apfel, Alice read his name badge that is in his coat.
What now?
"Good morning miss. I assume you're here about your box."
The box?
"Yes... the box."
The man just nods and gestures down the corridor.
And there it is: a bank safety deposit viewing room. Sterile and kind of odd, but total privacy. She just sits there, as a deposit guard places a large safety deposit box before her. The guard leaves the room, closing the door behind him.
"So here it is" She says, right in front of her, all the answers.
She lifts the lid.
There's a shallow tray on top. In this tray: a beat-up passport in the name of Alice Abernathy. A French driver's license with a Parisian address. Credit cards for A. Abernathy.
She holds these objects close, as if by holding them her memory will be back. But that's her, her picture. There it is, she really is Alice Abernathy, butthen again she knows nothing about her past, and those dreams/memories did not help at all.
"My name is Alice Abernathy. I live at 121, Rue de la Jardin, Paris." Her voice is raspy as always. "Nice to meet you… Alice."
She turns back to the box, the shallow tray on top. There's Kleenex, several sets of contact lenses, foundation, red lipstick, a knife, a comb. Three sticks of gum, and a pair of sunglasses.
She puts those things aside, lifting the top tray. Staring into the deep bottom tray…
"Oh Hell…."
Money, lots of it. Ten thousand dollar, stacks of of them. Close to a million dollars.
And then there's a gun, and a very good one, with several clips of ammo. And behind them, six more passports. All clean and brand new. All with her photo inside. Six different names, five different Countries: Two Dutch passports, a French one, a South African, a Belgian and an American one.
Umbrella's Zurich Falicity.
It's a subterranean, inner office. A backwater project center hidden deep within the Lindenhof facility in the Zurich complex, disguised as a telecommunications company. There's a small staff, no more than 10 individuals, several technicians, one or two communications, a couple for research and 2 biqwigs. People are at their posts, and it's all quiet, they all are busy, looking for someone.
All of a sudden, an inhalation of surprise cuts the silence of the room.
"Sir!" says one of the technicians.
Now the man got the attention of the rest of the staff.
"She accessed the account"
Everyone is quiet.
"And you're sure it's her?" says a tall, burly man. He's one of the bigwig: Ozwell E. Spencer.
"Yes, sir. it's confirmed…"
Suddenly everything in the room becomes a riot.
She exist the bank, with a red bag full of all the things she found in the box, except the gun, she left it in the box not sure of what to do with it. She's walking briskly now, looking for a taxi, but finding none.
She crosses the street.
Damn.
There's a Zurich cop on the corner. She turns. Trying to look natural. And it's looking good for a moment but then two more cops are coming her way.
Cut. Cross the street.
She's heading down a boulevard. Trying to look small, her pulse is starting to race, fighting the paranoia.
"Where the hell is a cab?"
A Siren.
She turns back fast, but it's just an ambulance. She forces herself to focus and fuck…. there's a cop, Alice stops, and the cop is staring at her.
ALICE POV
Don´t panic… don't panic… don't run… smile…stay small…act normal…
She's scanning her options. There's an alley at her right, just around the corner.
Get to that corner now!
The cop is watching her go, and he is pulling his radio out. Alice hits the corner, forcing herself not no run, and glancing back every now and then, the cop is walking right behind her.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
Then another cop comes out of nowhere, but this one is jogging. Looking for someone.
"Stop! ...stop right there!"
You have to stay calm. Do it fast.
Two more cops join those who are behind her.
"YOU! ... red bag, stop right there!" says Cop #1
Alice stops dead. Though she is giving them her back she can sense they are approaching warily.
"Drop the bag" Cop#2, a woman.
Alice is glancing back; Cop #3 is raising his glock behind her.
"I SAID Drop the bag!"
She nods, still glancing back. She's starting to drop her bag, but only doing it as a distraction. In less than 2 seconds she's swinging the bag at the armed police.
The policeman is taken by surprise, the bag hitting him full in his face; this is enough for Alice to pull a kick to his head, directly to the temple's man. He's falling unconscious to the ground.
The other cops are above her in a moment, trying to corner her at the same time as they pull out their guns. But again Alice is faster, much faster.
Knee kick, punch to the jaw. Two more to go.
While Cop #1 falls unconscious to the ground she manages to grab the combat knife that is on his waistline. Cop #2 now is pointing at her with her gun.
She rolls and hurriedly approaches Cop#4 from behind, she pulls him around to shield her back, knife to her knee.
The other woman would not shoot at one of his comrades.
"Hold your fire" Alice's voice is strong and firm.
"Ok" the cop begins to lower her weapon "Ok, calm"
"Put the gun down, kick it over here"
The police do what the woman asks, suddenly Alice throws the knife at her, nailing her on one shoulder, a wound that is not lethal but will slow her.
Cop #4 also falls down with a blow to his temple, while Alice picks up the gun that has been kicked her. Before the police # 2 can respond, Alice is running down the street.
She still can hear the other woman's frantic words, yelled at her radio:
"This is Officer Krausser!... Red code… I repeat RED CODE, south side Boulevard, female suspect, blonde hair, black jacket, red bag!
She's moving fast, swinging around as she searches for a place to hide.
"She's got a gun!" Someone is screaming.
Now she's regretting about the gun in her hand, it is like a magic wand of hysteria. People in the street are screaming, running away.
She's sprinting down another street, tossing away the glock. She turns to her right; it's a crowded street, just the thing she needs to cover up. She's playing it as normal as possible as she moves along the people.
She can see that no one is following her.
Alice is bailing on the street, disappearing into the back of a huge building. She barely has time to think when a redhead steps out of the building.
CLAIRE POV
Claire is pissed off. How could they do this to her? She's storming away from the attorney's building. She's pissed off and almost broke.
"Motherfucking…sons of bitches!" she mumbles as she approaches her car.
A 68 black mustang. The only thing she's got left, a gift from her German grandfather, and now there was a big red Zurich parking ticker on the windshield.
"Oh you got to be shitting me!" Claire grabs the ticket, tearing it up, tearing the shit out of it, blind with misfortune.
She's throwing the pieces on the ground stomping on them and then she sees a pair of black boots near her car.
"What are you looking at?" and right after she talks with venom in her voice she lifts her gaze.
Oh.
A stunning tall blonde is standing across her car, looking at her with a ghost of a smirk. And the first thing that Claire sees is a pair of piercing blue deep eyes, deeper than the ocean that stares at her own. She sees again at the smirk on her face, a very attractive smirk indeed but she's laughing at her, yeah, because of her childish actions with the parking ticket.
"What's your problem?" She says, getting angry again.
First the bank and the fucking lawyer, then the ticket, and now an attractive woman was amused by her actions. Almost laughing at her face! How about that?
"Nice car" the stranger says, and that voice, low, raspy and husky, send chills through Claire's body. That's enough; she needs to get out of there. She starts to look for her keys in her purse.
"I need a ride" Simple, to the point.
What?
Silence.
Claire is acting as if she had not heard. However, the words echoed in her head, making no sense at all.
"I need a ride out of here" Again that voice, filled with security.
And now Claire is reacting. She looks at the blonde.
"Oh, God…" Backing away.
"Please. I don't want to scare you"
"Well it's a little too late for that…"
"I've got a…. situation here and I…."
"Get the fuck away from my car!"
"I'll give you ten thousand dollars to drive me to Paris"
Bullshit.
"Yeah? I'll give you ten gazillion dollars to get the fuck away from me before I start screaming my head of…"
The blonde was smirking. What? The fucking blonde was smirking, that friggin smug grin.
"You don't want the police any more than I do" She's pointing at the ticket with her eyes.
Then the blonde tosses cash, a stack of hundreds, across the car into Claire's hands, she catches it. She looks at it.
"Oh my God, you just rob a Bank!" Claire is flipping out. This day couldn't get any worse.
"Do you hear any siren?" The god dam blonde is just to calm. And Claire doesn't like it, it sets off all her alarms.
"What?"
"I said: Did you hear any siren?"
"I heard you the first time!.." She was losing it.
"I didn't rob the bank. In this country is almost impossible to rob a bank, there are no cops around and we both can't hear any siren, so the money I just gave to you… it's mine… well now it's yours… I just need a ride" There is something in her voice that sounds sincere.
This is really messed up Red.
"I…"
"Get me out of here. Please"
Claire looks at her. At the money, and back at her, she no longer has the sufficient smirk on her face, now she looks like a scared child, frightened asking Claire for help.
"Get in the car"
Jesus what am I doing?
Umbrella Communications desk, Zurich.
A video is playing fast forward, a speeding blur of images from a satellite, the image is from the outside of the Zurich bank. It's one day worth of footage and there're scanning for Alice's arrival.
"Wait!...Stop, you went past it" Spencer says.
A tech man is working with the console. Freezing the image. There it is, Alice leaving the bank with a red bag.
Spencer is staring at the monitor.
"It's her?" A man named William Birkin says.
"Yes…"
"My God, it's really her…Spencer, we need to do something now, we need to prepare a cross-ref…"
"No, wait… let's see where she's going"
Birkin is not pleased.
"Go ahead, keep running it" Now Spencer is talking to the tech man.
The tech man start the console again, Spencer and Birkin are looking at every detail shown in the screen.
"Sir…" Its another tech man.
.
Both Spencer and Birkin are looking up from the console.
"What?"
"Zurich police is looking for an American woman with a red bag" Tech men #2 is saying slowly. "… Apparently he put two cops in the hospital last night…and"
"Six…"
All heads turn to the monitor; Alice is kicking the shit out of four other cops.
"Damn"
It's like the floor just fell away, so heavy.
"What the fuck is she doing?"
"Everybody! I want everybody active now!"
Now everybody in the room is freaking out, tech people trying to follow the girl, communicates calling other agencies.
"We've reach full live signal sir; she's running through the Fith Street."
"Don't lose her! Let's see where she's heading" Spencer is talking really fast. "Call Zurich Police Department. Force them to do nothing more on this. Tell them to withdraw…"
"Spencer what's going on?" Birkin again.
"It' doesn't matter now! Maybe it's a game, maybe she's trying to send us a message, I don't really know"
"She's heading to a crowded street"
"Don´t lose her!"
"She's moving really fast…. "
"Enhance the image…"
Alice is running fast, but then she stops at the back of a building. And...
"Who the hell is that?" Birkin is getting annoyed, this thing is getting messier.
Alice is talking with a redhead.
"Ok people, scan her face, and look for her. I want to know who she is and I what to know it now" Spencer now is yelling.
"What about project Alice, sir?"
"Let her go… Let's see were she's heading to with that girl…"
CLAIRE POV
Her black mustang is now parked on a road on the outskirts of Zurich. Claire is pacing around, while Alice is poring over a map spread out over the hood.
The blonde seems to be very solemn, Claire looks at her for a moment, the girl really is beautiful, but her face has lines of fatigue and worry.
Strange, she thinks, because the woman in front of her seems to walk the same age as the redhead. However, something about the way the blonde moves makes her look much older, experienced.
Suddenly the blonde looks up, with a raised eyebrow.
"Yes?" she says with a smile.
"Watch the paint" is the only thing that manages to say Claire. She was caught staring.
Shit. Just get a grip Claire.
The blonde just half smiles and then continues exploring the map.
"So…" Claire starts. Her nerves just won't let her keep quiet "What's in Paris?"
Alice does not look up.
"I want to go home"
Is she like E.T or something?
"Yeah, for twenty thousand dollars…" Claire scoffs.
Now the blonde is looking at her, again with a smirk.
"I said ten…"
"You have blood on your pants"
"Ok…" The blonde sighs, now serious again. "Twenty thousand it is. Ten now and ten when we get there"
Claire panics again.
"No. No, that's just too easy" She's pacing away.
"I don't…."
"That's just so fucking easy Miss Cashy!" She's starting to yell.
"Hey…" Now the blonde has all her attention towards the redhead "Wait up…just wait up"
"Get the fuck out of here…."
ALICE POV
This chick really had bipolar problems. It all was like a roller coaster, she just went from easy going to a mad woman, screaming and saying the word "fuck" just too many times.
"All this money, this crazy offer…. I mean give me a fucking break with this, this is…." but she was stopped.
She was stopped by Alice, who just grabbed her. Both of them shocked that she's doing it. She immediately pulls back scared. That had felt good, in fact very good, and that's why she was now scared.
"Look, I want a ride to Paris. That's all I want, I swear"
"You swear?" Claire was looking at her coldly. Probably because of the previous reaction to the touch. "That's great, I feel so much better now." Sarcasm.
"I don't want anything but a ride. All I want to do is go home"
Silence.
Claire looks back, she's measuring the blonde girl.
"You could buy a car for twenty grand. You could buy this car."
She was right; then again Alice didn't want to do that.
"I don't want to go alone" It came out as a whisper. "I… I want you to drive me to Paris.
And that was the truth. She didn't wanted to be alone, because been only with herself was like been with another stranger.
That doesn't even make any sense.
CLAIRE POV
Holly Shit
The blonde sounded sincere. But not all psychopaths sound sincere at first?
I mean, she only just meets me and here she is saying she did not want to be without me? Wow well no, it was not like it…She just dont want to be alone. This shit is confusing.
"Ok so I'll drive you home. And I won't get hurt. I get twenty thousand dollars and I don't get hurt"
"I won't hurt you"
"What if I say no?"
"Then I'll find another ride."
Reviews:
poynton90: Billionths thanks :) This second chapter is for you my friend. You took away all my doubts; I was like "What if no one writes anything?" thank you really!
Avienda: Thanks n.n! And… shiiit you're putting a very high challenge for me S: now I'll have to break my head to keep up and surprise you in every chapter. And yes, I think I'm obsessed with this couple xD, it's just that after reading several Clarice FF I saw the movies again to see why there is so much fuss about them and yeah it doesn't looks like a bromance anymore to me! I don't know what to do with all this Aberfeels D: lol (this is me right now post/39685443807/throughout-re-extinction-and-afte rlife)
webminky: I'm glad ;) lol
fang-flames13: Confused about what? If you have any questions please let me know! If it's not a spoiler, I'll gladly answer it :). Hehe the story is a bit tangled, but in the end you will understand everything (I hope). And uhmm… expect more: "I'm a badass motherfucker!" stuff lol.