Alice stood in front of a cracked mirror in a tiny motel bathroom. She had not been sleeping well. As she stared at her face, dripping with the water she splashed onto it moments earlier, she could really see it in her eyes.
She squeezed them shut and groaned. The shitty fluorescent light buzzing on the ceiling felt far too bright, and it wasn't helping the throbbing pain within her skull. It was becoming a relatively frequent thing for her. Whether it was a result of whatever device Umbrella must've stuck into her head or the strange telekinetic ability she recently developed, she didn't know. All she knew was, that in combination with her reoccurring nightmares, shuteye was beginning to feel like something she shouldn't have even been bothering with trying to accomplish.
With a sigh, she released her white-knuckled grip from the edge of the basin and turned the tap back on, trying again to wake herself up with the aid of the cool water.
Tonight was the night that Alice was going to leave. She couldn't stick around any longer than she already had. Past the door, Jill and Angie were sleeping. In the room adjacent, Carlos, Terri, and L.J. were doing the same.
Every time Alice looked at them, her new retinal implants would flash the word FUGITIVE beside their names. While she wasn't positive if Umbrella had any way of tracking her remotely, she didn't want to wait around and find out while everyone else was with her. That would put them at risk.
Besides, she needed to start searching for her partner, Rain.
The others seemed convinced that she either perished in the flames of their crashed helicopter in Arklay or fell out before they hit the ground. Alice was on death's doormat at the time, so she didn't exactly remember the event. Only some sounds and a whole lot of nauseating spinning. They could have been right.
However, Alice didn't want to believe that. She had no proof that the others were wrong, but they also had no real evidence that they were right.
So, she put her plans together. She collected necessities in secret. And now, she was going.
Shrugging on her oversized coat in order to hide her holsters, she switched off the light and quietly opened the bathroom door, keeping her attention firmly affixed on the thin blue carpet as she headed for the front door. She deposited the bag she kept stashed under the sink onto the floor, which was stuffed with supplies for everyone else to have, and undid the deadbolt, stepping out into the night.
"Can't sleep?"
Alice whipped around, instinctively brandishing one of her guns.
Jill was leaning against the wall beside the window. She raised her eyebrows slightly, looking slowly between the barrel and Alice's hard countenance. She didn't say anything. She didn't even appear phased at the possibility of getting shot. Instead, she simply finished pulling a cigarette out of her pack and placed it between her lips.
"...Yeah." Alice reholstered her weapon.
Jill knew that wasn't the truth. Not the whole truth, anyway. "Me neither," she replied. She struggled with insomnia. More than a few times, she had laid awake and listened to the other woman toss, turn, and mumble in her sleep.
And hell, even amid all the chaos back in Raccoon City, Jill took notice of the way Alice and Rain were with each other. It was the same way Jill was with her last girlfriend. She eyed the red bandana Alice had taken to tying to her wrist, deciding to bite her tongue. "You want a smoke?"
Alice was quiet for a moment. Regardless of her answer, she would need to wait for Jill to go back inside before she could slip away.
"Y'know what? I could use one right now."
"You look it." Jill handed her a cigarette.
For what felt like ages to Alice, the two of them stood there in silence and smoked.
When Jill finally stubbed hers out in the ashtray attached to a nearby trashcan, Alice continued to let hers burn, biding her time.
Jill pushed a hand through her hair and gave the other woman a once-over. "You are aware you're supposed to put that out before you get to the filter, right?"
Alice glanced down, finding all that remained of her cigarette was the brown paper indicating where the filter was. "Oh. Yeah."
Jill huffed out a laugh, stepping aside to allow her easier access to the ashtray. "So. Where are you planning on going?"
"Where am I planning on going?" she echoed, feigning ignorance.
"Don't even try to bullshit me. The moment I head in, you're going to leave because you want to search for Rain. Where are you starting?"
"I'm not—"
"You are. Listen. You..." Jill paused. How did she want to go about this? "You and I... It took me a minute to realize, but I guess we're... alike. In a lot of ways. One of them is that no matter how rough the going gets, no matter how uneven the odds are, we don't give up when there's still a chance things could work out. Angie doesn't sense Rain. I don't see how she could've survived, but then again, I didn't see how you could've, either. Yet, here you are. I mean, you..."
Died. Unspoken, but understood. "Mhm."
"Point is, maybe somehow, you're right." Jill had no doubt that if Rain didn't end up in the fire, her landing was even rougher than Alice's. As in, the kind of thing that no human would survive. But like Alice, Rain wasn't completely human. Maybe there was a reason Angie could pick up on Alice's presence, but not Rain's. A reason only Alice knew because she understood Rain better than any of them. "My... my partner. My best friend, Peyton... I was closer to him than anyone else. I often find myself thinking that if I caught wind that he might be alive, I'd be out looking for his ass in a heartbeat." Jill placed a hand on Alice's shoulder and regarded her with a serious expression. "Tell me, what has you convinced? We can help—"
"No," she said quickly.
"No?"
"I appreciate the offer, but all of you already have targets on your backs. Sticking around me just makes them even bigger."
"I think we can handle that."
"You don't get it. All of you are fugitives, but me? I'm also a..." She couldn't even think of a way to word it that didn't make her feel gross. "They were in the process of making me into an asset when you all showed up, and they're not going to simply let me go after the work they've put into that."
A beat passed. Alice continued. "Assuming you're as dedicated as I think you are to getting justice, I'm sure I'll see you around again." She corrected herself, "We'll see you around."
Jill didn't understand Alice. Not fully. And she knew that Alice wasn't going to let her understand her. Another beat passed. "Don't get yourself killed."
A mirthless grin briefly worked its way onto Alice's face. "If I do, I'll be fine." She began to descend the stairs.
"Is there anything you want me to tell the others?"
She paused, not turning around. "Thanks. For everything." Then, she continued on her way.
