Warning: this fic contains implied/referenced sex.
Alice.
Rain already knew Alice's name before the whole shitshow began. Alice knew hers. Both of them were quite familiar with each other, actually.
Well. More than familiar. They were close. They had something.
Not that anyone would know.
Alice...
The first time Rain heard her name, it was after she and J.D. decided to go out and get some drinks at their favorite spot: One of two gay bars in Raccoon City. Rain was poking fun at J.D. for his poor alcohol tolerance when the bartender came over a placed a fresh beer in front of her. It was good timing since she was nearing the bottom of her current glass, but— "Hey, man. I didn't order this."
"Yeah, she ordered it for you." He nodded toward the opposite end of the bar where a woman was seated by herself. She was wearing a long coat on top of a simple blue dress with a plunging neckline. Her blonde hair was cut short and had a slight wave to it. In the dim lighting, Rain could manage to make out a sharp jawline, straight nose, round eyes, and nice lips. She was pretty.
When she felt Rain's gaze on her, she looked over and gave her a brief smile. A closemouthed, one-corner-of-the-mouth-ticked-up smile. Then, she turned her attention back toward her vodka.
"Damn, what do I gotta do to find some looker that'll buy me a drink?"
"Don't know, why don't you try picking a better poison? The minute any guy finds out they'd be sendin' that piss water over to you," Rain gestured to J.D's half-empty Budweiser, "they probably change their minds."
He snorted and elbowed her. "Shut up. It's not that bad."
"Right. Sure." She elbowed him back before sparing a second glance over to where the blonde was.
Alice.
When Rain learned her name, it was about fifteen minutes later. The two of them were in the corner of a dark room, bodies flush against one another, hands wandering, faces so close that their lips were still brushing. "Call me Alice," she told her breathlessly.
When morning came, Rain found a neatly folded napkin with a number and a name written on it in the back pocket of her faded jeans.
Alice?
Rain figured she must have slipped that in there when she grabbed her ass just before she left. Slick, Rain thought. Could've easier snagged her wallet or keys instead if she wanted. Rain tucked the napkin halfway under her ashtray and went about her day.
She was no stranger to hooking up with women at bars and for a while, Alice remained just that: A hookup. One would call the other, Alice would show up at Rain's apartment, they'd screw, Alice would usually hang around for a little while after and they'd talk about whatever.
Often, a little while would turn into a long while. There weren't many people in Rain's life that she could hold a decently long conversation with. Mostly because she didn't care enough to bother trying, mind you. But Alice was easy to talk to.
"Can I bum a cigarette off you?"
If she wanted to have a smoke or a drink with her and prolong her stay even further, Rain wasn't gonna say no to her.
"Sure." She passed her a cig from her pack. She went to grab her lighter again, but a hand on her cheek stopped her. Alice turned Rain's face back toward her, carefully lining the tip of her cigarette with the one between Rain's lips. Upon successfully lighting up, Alice lingered for a moment longer, meeting her eyes.
"Thanks."
Rain didn't know why—especially since she was already more than well acquainted with Alice's touch—but she couldn't stop thinking about the featherlight way her cool fingers had grazed her and how she gazed at her at that moment.
Alice...
would take note of every aspect of her surroundings.
Rain caught her inspecting a photo strip on her fridge that was partially obscured by coupons for a local pizza joint. They were mostly of her and J.D. pulling stupid faces.
"Think this is the first time I've gotten to see what you look like smiling."
Even though the remark didn't irritate her like most made about her perpetual scowl, Rain still rolled her eyes at it. "I swear to god if the next words out of your mouth are, 'You'd be so much better-looking if you smiled more', I'm going to fucking puke." When she worked as a cop back in L.A., she would always run into idiots who could manage to brew up the most gag-inducing comments along the lines of that.
"Please. Who do you take me for?" Alice took a sip of her drink. "Besides, you're equally as cute when you seem all pissed."
Cute? Rain leveled her with a glare.
"Like right now."
"You're lucky I kinda enjoy having you around, Abernathy."
Alice simply grinned.
Alice...
Rain was walking back home after a quick stop at the supermarket when she passed by a storefront. There was a red dress in the shop window, and she idly thought about how it seemed like something the other woman would wear.
Then, she stopped and wondered why that was the first thing to enter her brain.
Alice...
was far more observant than Rain initially thought. She would come to learn that when, one night, Alice asked her completely out of the blue, "You work for the Umbrella Corporation, right?"
Rain straightened up. She had never told her that. Never even so much as hinted at it. "...Hold up, how the hell—?"
"I was thinking about you the other day," Alice explained coolly, "and it occurred to me that I'd actually seen you around before we met at the bar. I was racking my brain trying to place my finger on where. Then, I remembered your watch."
"Huh?"
"Your wristwatch." She pointed to the digital watch Rain had sitting on her dresser, which she hardly went anywhere without. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but those models are standard-issue for the members of their commando units."
What the fuck. How the fuck, Rain thought. She stared at her. "That's fuckin' wild... Wait, so you do too, then? Work for them, I mean."
"Yeah. I'm a security officer." It wasn't too much of a shock. She had a subtle air of toughness about her, and there was a steeliness to those blue-green eyes of hers. You'd need a degree of grit to end up in a position like that for Umbrella. "So, let it be known that I could kick your ass in a fight."
Rain scoffed. "I'd like to see you try."
"Is that a challenge?"
"Maybe it is."
And that was how Rain earned herself weird looks from her upstairs neighbors when she went to get her mail the day after.
(She offered them no explanation, just blanky looked at them from under her brows and gave a gruff "What?" They did not reply.)
She always preferred the shooting range over the mats, but she was decent in hand-to-hand combat. Alice, on the other hand... Alice was something else. Each move she made was quick and precise. It was almost like they were programmed into her. Both of them were sweaty and breathing hard when Alice managed to pin Rain to the carpet, her legs straddling her waist and her wrists caught in her deceptively strong grip.
"Not bad, but I'd say I've won." Alice leaned down and pressed a kiss against her lips. "Kind of funny getting to see you under me."
"Don't get used to it."
"Which part?"
Rain smirked. "Both." She bucked her hips, upsetting the other woman's balance enough for her to pull her wrists free. With her arms around her middle and her foot locked in place with hers, Rain rolled, putting herself back on top.
"You don't give up easy, do you?"
"Been told I'm a stubborn bitch more than once."
They kissed again. It, like the one from minutes prior, was not the rough kind they usually shared. It was soft, bordering on tender. Definitely not the sort you'd expect with the type of relationship they were meant to have.
Alice...
If she called, it was typically in the evening or sometime into the night, but it wasn't even noon when Rain's phone began to ring.
She tore her eyes away from the wrestling match she had taped so she could watch it with J.D. She stepped over the legs he had propped up on her coffee table and headed for the kitchen.
"Hey, can you grab me a Coke while you're in there?"
"Sure." She took a can out of the fridge and lobbed it into the living room, snorting when J.D. failed to catch it and it smacked him in the stomach. She checked the caller ID, mild surprise flitting through her as she picked up the receiver. "Who is this and what the fuck do ya want?"
"Do you always answer your phone that way?"
She couldn't help but crack a smile. "Only when it's you."
The was a slight huff of laughter from the other end of the line. "Don't know why you bother asking what the fuck I want, then, since you know what I usually want is to fuck."
"Usually, huh? Name one time you've called for somethin' else, babe."
"Right now."
"Oh yeah? What're you thinkin'?"
"I'm thinking we go out and grab some drinks together. Maybe coffee or something. And talk."
Rain didn't expect that. Didn't expect herself to agree to it as fast as she did, either. They set up a time and place before Alice ended the call with a simple "See you there."
"Who was that?" J.D. asked through a mouthful of pretzels. "Your girlfriend?"
"Ugh. Two things. First, if you get crumbs on my fuckin' floor again, you better be ready to lick that shit up. Second, I'm single."
J.D. cupped a hand beneath his chin in an effort to catch any falling bits of food. "I know you, Rain. You don't call your friends babe."
He wasn't wrong. Actually, she was fairly certain that was the first time she had ever called anyone that.
"Whatever." She brushed him off, but her thoughts continued to linger on Alice and what J.D. said. Had she caught feelings? "What'd I miss?"
Alice...
When they met up later, she decided to drop a bomb on her.
"You're married? You're fucking married?" Rain leaned back in her seat, in disbelief. "That's why you never brought me around yours?"
Alice didn't meet her eyes. She pushed a hand through her hair and slowly exhaled. "No. Listen. I'm married, but I'm not."
"The hell does that mean?"
"It's not real."
"What? You just decided to get married to that guy for fun, then?"
"No."
"...Is he your beard?"
"No. It's for my job. I—" She lowered her voice. "You know what the Hive is, right?"
"You mean that big ass lab beneath us? Yeah, I've got an idea."
"Spence and I, we're meant to guard its entrance. The marriage is just part of our cover."
Alice removed her wedding band and let Rain examine it. It was simple. The only thing of note was that the words PROPERTY OF UMBRELLA CORPORATION were engraved on the inside.
"This has gotta be the least romantic thing I've ever seen in my life."
"Yeah." The corner of her lips briefly ticked up. "He's basically a roommate, and he's never cared when I've brought guys around because there isn't anything between us."
"Ah."
"Look, I've started to really like you, Rain. I don't know if you return the feelings, but I know I couldn't keep this from you any longer than I already have."
"So, let me get this straight. Your marriage is a sham officiated by the company we work for in order to help keep the entrance of a lab hidden and protected?"
"That's about the size of it."
"Wow. You know what? Even though this all sounds like a batshit crazy attempt at an excuse, considerin' we're talking about Umbrella here, I can believe it." Rain slid the ring back across the table, pausing before adding, "And in case you were wonderin', I'm into you too, you bitch. Damn near caused me cardiac arrest with all this shit."
Alice smiled full-on, visibly relieved and elated. Then, the expression turned shit-eating as she processed the second half of Rain's confession. "Aww. Did you—?"
"Finish that sentence and I'll take it back."
She pursed her lips and put her hands up, mimicking a show of surrender. "So..."
Rain was positive she already knew what Alice was about to ask, but feigned ignorance. "So?"
"Do you want to go on a date? I can promise you, I know how to show a girl a good time."
"I know you do." She took a sip from her coffee. "I'm down."
Alice...
took Rain to a gun range for their first date.
"What? I know you love guns. You talk about them all the time and I've seen those awards from shooting competitions sitting on your shelf. I want to see what you've got." She aimed her pistol at the target set up in the distance and fired. "I've been brushing up on my skills lately, and I'm fully prepared to try and outshoot you."
"You're on, babe."
Rain hadn't been on many dates, but that one was easily the most memorable out of those few.
"You talking to your girlfriend over there?" J.D. shouted from the couch, back over at hers to hang out like he always was.
From over her shoulder, Rain replied, "Yeah, so could you do me a favor and shut your trap?"
"Yeah?" he echoed. "Yeah?"
She ignored him, painfully aware of what she had just brought upon herself with that answer, and turned her attention back to the phone. "What were you sayin'?"
"You ought to come over later."
"Yeah, alright. What time?"
Rain wasn't sure what she expected Alice's place to look like, but it certainly wasn't what it ended up being.
"This is where you live?" Rain turned in a slow circle, taking in her surroundings. Her apartment seemed like a shithole in comparison. "Man, I already knew the emergency entrance was in a house, but I didn't think that house was a mansion."
"Do you think that makes it more or less conspicuous for anyone looking to find it?"
"I guess I would've figured this would be too obvious."
The two of them got a good hour and a half to themselves before a scruffy dude—presumably Spence—showed up. Rain casually removed her arm from Alice's waist, remembering that she had only mentioned bringing guys around and not women. She didn't know if he already knew that Alice was bi, but she didn't intend to out her if he didn't and potentially make their living situation awkward.
All he did was give a simple greeting in acknowledgment of their presence. That was the entirety of the interaction, and Rain still found herself not liking him all too much. There was something about his vibe that kind of rubbed her the wrong way.
It was probably nothing, though, she figured.
Life went on.
That is, until one late evening in September 2002 when everything changed. Umbrella's bigwigs were informed that an incident occurred down in the Hive, and Rain was promptly called down with the rest of Sanitation to make things right.
She ended up preoccupied with cuffing a supposed R.P.D. officer not long after making an entrance, but that didn't mean she didn't catch a glimpse of the uncharacteristically confused expression on Alice's face when One demanded a report from her.
Alice...
was no longer familiar with her own name. As it turned out, the Red Queen released a load of nerve gas into the mansion and she was still suffering from the side effects. Namely, acute memory loss.
Rain was worried—more than she'd ever admit, honestly—but she kept her mouth shut and kept reminding herself that the shit was temporary, that it would all wear off.
After getting the train's power back on, she pulled herself up through the maintenance doors and got out of the way so Kaplan could shut them, standing near where Alice was seated on the floor beside the "cop".
"Rain."
Rain looked down (perhaps a bit too quickly) before realizing that her partner only said her name because she was reading it off where it was stitched to the front of her uniform. She could swear that there was some faint form of recognition in her eyes, though. "Yeah."
"...I know you, don't I?"
She spared a quick glance at the other people in the car with her. J.D. was staring. "Guess you could say that." The answer clearly didn't satisfy Alice. Too vague. She couldn't give her any more, though. Not with others in earshot. Maybe when they were alone.
Things were going to be fine. The team was going to head in, complete the mission, head out, and Alice would be fine. She would return to her usual self in due time.
Things would go right back to the way they were soon enough.