We Found Each Other in Hellish Times

by skullgamerscy

A take on Resident Evil The Final Chapter if everyone came back for the final with the Claire and Alice pairing. Including Alice Claire and Jill acting as mothers to K-Mart, Angie, and Becky. Can't think of a good summary at the moment but this is the gist of it. I will write a better summary later on when I think of how best to describe this. Until then hope you like the idea.

8. Chapter 8

Plant 57 is located in West Africa, Kijuju to be more specific. Information on the situation is limited at best. The plant itself was working on mining and refining iron to be shipped to other facilities to be used or forged into other things. Held a staff of a little over five hundred. The nearby village was retrofitted to help the workers and their families.

Something which Alicia put into action. Her father argued against wasting money on making sure the worker's families and homes were cared for. But Alicia argued that the better quality of housing, structure and benefits would keep the workers happy and loyal. Most of the factories like this around the world have undergone these changes. Production and morale has never been better.

So, whatever caused this plant to go dark has to be from outside sources.

"What do we know about what happened at the Plant." Shade asks from the front passenger seat while Warner drives down the dirt road towards Plant 57. She and the West Africa liaison for this mission Sheva Alomar are sat in the back of the car. The rest of the squad is in the car behind them communicating with them via comms.

Sheva is the one to reply. "Nothing. Just that the plant went dark six hours ago but locals heard multiple gunshots and screaming coming from the facility. Black smoke pouring out has been reported." Well doesn't that sound fun.

"Local hostiles." Shade asks.

"Quasi nationalists using guerrilla warfare lurk in this area." Great. So, they could be spending days searching for an enemy that knows how to hide and use the land to their advantage. She and Ada spent over a week searching the mountains back when she was just starting as an operative. It was incredibly boring, and they turned up nothing when Wesker called them back. So, it was also a huge waste of time. "And the remains of soviet backed paramilitary forces. The region has been unstable for years." Soviets as well. Fantastic.

Warner looks up to the front mirror searching for Alice's gaze. "So why did Umbrella build a factory here."

"Cheap labour," Alice replies her sunglasses covering her eyes as always when on assignment. Her own information and orders coming through. "Areas like this don't have many work opportunities. Umbrella employs eighty percent of the population paying them far less than they would do in more developed countries." Quickly she looks towards Sheva after realising how her words could be interpreted. "No offence."

"None taken." Sheva shrugs her off. "But she's right. The whole region is financed by Umbrella. Cheap labour it might be but it's what's keeping the people around here fed and cared for." Umbrella doing something good. Definitely Alicia's doing.

Warner looks towards Shade. "What's the plan."

"Our team alongside agent Sheva here will infiltrate the facility from the northeast side. Abernathy will make sure the coast is clear and scout out ahead of us before separating and handling her own mission." Shade informs him and Sheva. Alice ignores the way he watches her. He hates working with operatives who go off and do their own thing. He tolerates her doing it but that's more down to their relationship.

Sheva unfamiliar with working with Umbrella commandos and an operative turns her attention to Alice in suspicion. "Which is."

For a moment Alice was very tempted to say the famous If I told you I would have to kill you line. Almost decided it was worth it. Sadly, deciding to remain professional she answers with a simple. "Classified."

Sheva doesn't roll her eyes but you can physically see the retrain she has to do so as she turns away from Alice with an unimpressed look. "And us."

Shade answers Sheva's question as their car begins to slow down as they reach their drop off point before heading out on foot as to not alert anyone of their incoming. "Our job is to locate any survivors and figure out what happened. To do that we will head to central command and reactive the security system. Eliminate any hostiles we encounter. Since the facility is down we have no idea what we are walking into so intelligence on how to proceed has been left to us and our judgement." Basically, no one knows what happened and their job is to find out what happened.

She on the other hand is required to kill any hostiles and download all sensitive data which might show the corporation in a bad light and make sure there is nothing that be used to make Umbrella look bad. Commandos are designed to look like heroes. Operatives are spies and clean up. To put their work nicely.

"Alice." Shade turns his attention to her. Giving her that I know what you're really up to but I'm ignoring it and treating you a like second team on the same mission as us look. She gets that look a lot from him. "Stay on your radio. We'll be feeding you constant updates."

"Will do." She lies hopping out of the car.

Unsurprisingly Shade and Warner head over to the other car meeting up with the rest of the team. What is surprising is the fact that Sheva leans against the car next to her. The African agent seems more interested in her then the team. Alice argues that it might be the fact her mission is secret and Sheva is probing for more information. "Is this your first time in Africa."

An innocent question to the untrained ear. And Alice is anything but. Mulling it over she could lie but lying would gain her nothing. Besides her work in Africa has never been anything bad. So when Sheva tries to dig into it later she won't stumble upon anything that could destroy their partnership going forward or cause trust issues. Lying wins her nothing but could harm her in the future. Telling the truth also gives her nothing but can't be twisted on her later. "In West Africa yeah. Visited the continent a few times before. Me and some friends did Kilimanjaro a few years back."

It was her Ethan and Mia who did the climb. They decided to do it after their grandfather's death. Why they picked to do that she still isn't entirely sure. Ethan just knocked on her bedroom door after the funeral and asked if she fancied doing it and she said yes.

Sheva files that away for later but sees the olive branch Alice is extending. "Well Welcome to West Africa, I guess. After this is over, I can show you the sights."

Alice smiles at Sheva hearing that. "I would like that."

---

The aftermath of the tsunami of fire was still burning in the air when Claire and K-Mart burst out onto the roof. The waves of destruction stopped just before hitting the tanks but thousands of infected had been caught in its path and reduced to nothing but charred remains or ash. Smoke filled the air. It stings at the corner of Claire's eyes as she frantically scans the area for any sign of Alice's condition. Claire had expected to find Alice passed out or barely conscious somewhere.

Expect that isn't the sight Claire was met with. Instead of a heavily bleeding and dazed Alice collapsed onto the ground Claire was met with nothing but a clear view of the railings. Pulling up short in her run Claire looks around the area some more. Abbey was to her left organising the last barrel of the catapult and other then a few gunners taking shots at the remaining infected that were still coming at them no one else was on the rooftop. Begging the question. "Where's Alice." She gasps out trying to slow her breathing down after running up a few flights of stairs.

Out of breath and breathing heavily K-Mart's eyes remained locked on where they had left Alice standing before heading down to face Umbrella. "I... Uh... I think she jumped..." K-Mart slowly says as if trying to explain it to herself.

Jumped... Fuck everything right now. The zipline. Alice's next step of the plan was for her to head down into the sea of infected and liberate any of the hostages from the tanks and take on the remaining infected.

A plan she never agreed with in the first place. It was far too risky. Alice going down into an overcrowded area of infected was a poor decision. Alice is good at fighting. There is no denying that but she shouldn't have put herself at risk like that. She is too exposed and without backup trying to take out two tanks. It's too much to take on all at once. Even for Alice.

And that's thinking about it when Alice is at full power. Which she is most certainly not right now. The injuries she sustained from multiple crashes not to even think about the damage her abilities have done to her protecting the tower...

She sounded bad. Really bad. Bad enough that she and K-Mart took it upon themselves to race up to the roof to make sure she wasn't choking on her own blood bad. But no, she had to go and do something even more stupid. Being that run down and indisposed she still jumped into the fray. Where there are still hundreds if not thousands of infected rushing forward.

There is a difference between being brave and being suicidally stupid. She shouldn't have jumped. Not when there are still so many infected. Not when she is hurt. What was Alice thinking.

Anger and fear burn inside of Claire at Alice's act. That fear quickly feeding into rage boiling in her blood. When she sees Alice, she better be alive so she can scream at her for doing something as insane as this. Again, this is Alice. Her doing something insane is somewhat normal. But this is way way past any line that can be considered sane. The only time Claire has ever felt this outraged at Alice's pure belief that she can defy the realms of the dead was when they had been separated in Las Vegas where Alice had been left behind as they flew to Alaska.

Alice who was outnumbered by infected decided her best form of action wasn't to try and fight her way to the helicopter but instead to go and fight Umbrella in their underground base. She understands now that her anger at Alice for doing that was down to fear and the devastation of thinking Alice was gone. No matter how powerful Alice is she couldn't have got to the chopper she knows that but losing her like that was a powerful blow to Claire who needed to be strong for everyone and get them to safety. She couldn't break so instead turn her pain to anger.

If she thinks about it that is probably what she is doing here but that's for later. Right now she is allowed to be mad at Alice's foolhardy behaviour. Alice has done some stupid things, but this takes the cake. By a long long way.

It wasn't hard to notice that Alice has always enjoyed her brushes with death. The way she would challenge it. Challenge the world to dare to kill her. At the start, Claire has just assumed it was part of Alice's arrogance. The belief that her powers would protect her from anything. That her skills were unmatched and to a point she was correct.

But the more she got to know Alice. The more walls that fell down between them more she came to understand what was really happening. Something Carlos and LJ knew long before her and tried to hint at for her to notice. Not that she did.

Alice has always seemed to balance on a tightrope between recklessness and bravery. Between life and death. She walked that line without fear waiting for a sudden wind to push her one way or another. As if she was waiting for the world to make the decision for her.

Claire understood the guilt Alice holds onto and the contempt she feels for herself, and her family. The weight of the world presses down on her every death is pinned into herself whether it was her fault or not. Every lost chipping away of what little remains of her own self-worth. Her acts of boldness weren't just acts of bravery or skill. It was a battle with death. Something she craved to escape the harsh realities of life. Something she once confided in her that she had thought about doing but never could bring herself to do the deed.

Claire has always been scared that Alice would get herself killed doing something like this. Something to protect others but allow her to chance to grasp death with both hands. The self-sacrifice and martyrish behaviour was her own belief that her life could be redeemed for what her family had done. Claire had made her promise that she wouldn't be as crazy and reckless anymore. Swore she would think before acting more often and only use her dance with Grim Reaper as a last resort. Alice promised her and Alice rarely breaks her promises.

Then again do any of the promises they made to each other count anymore. The rift between them and all the plans and oaths they swore to each other seems to be growing bigger. Every step forward is followed by two steps back. What does a promise they made to each other mean anymore. Hasn't she broken most of them anyways when she started seeing Doc. Is everything between them as broken as it feels right now or can they somehow drag themselves back.

Can Claire keep her family together or will she lose everything.

K-Mart takes a step forward towards the balcony reaching for the radio lying on the ground. "Mum said when she heads down, I'm calling the shots." Following her daughter Claire watches as K takes a few steadying breaths. K copies the way Alice calms herself before taking charge or attempting a death defying stunt. "Jill how far out are you," K asks over the radio.

The static buzz vibrates in K's hand as the reply comes through a few beats later. "Four minutes."

K's curse under her breath. "Jill... Alice is in trouble."

Jill replies almost instantly. "I'll handle it Walgreens." Jill doesn't why Alice is in trouble or what's going on. Just reassurance to K-mart. Maybe to keep her focused on what she can control rather then the danger Alice has thrown herself into. "Can you see her."

Claire follows K-Marts gaze as the black smoke from the fire fills the area making the battlefield hardly visible but what she can see are hundreds of dead still coming. Bullets and gunfire still penetrate the air making it impossible to hear if Alice is down there firing upon the infected.

What Claire can hear is the rattling of a heavy machine gun. The two tanks down there are firing at something that isn't the two. It could be the infected trying to get in... Or it could be Alice they are trying to gun down.

"No... My view is obstructed."

"I'll be there soon." That is all Jill says before the line goes dead again.

Feeling helpless Claire can do nothing but watch as the smoke clears allowing her a better vantage point. The first she notices the now blocked off gate and she almost wants to laugh. Sometimes she forgets how much of a genius and planner Alice is.

With the gate falling to infected and Umbrella after the fire wave burnt up the undead should have been able to rush back into the tower and overwhelm the flimsy barricade again. Yet the dead are piling up outside blocked from entering through the busted gate due to the giant blocks of brick. The ones in the trap Razor handled after Alice secured the stone slabs. Although they aren't as big as the gate was they have managed to stop the infected from coming in. Barricaded from coming in the towers shooters are free to kill and gun down bioweapons without fear of them breaching anytime soon.

The second thing that draws her attention is the figure running through the infected like they aren't even there climbing onto one of the tanks with two jerry cans...

Alice.

"K I see her," Claire shouts pointing towards Alice as she pours gasoline into one of the tank's vents before lighting a flare and dropping on the lighter fluid. The effect is instant. Fire engulfs the outside of the tank and rapidly follows the trail. Waves of flames burst out the side vents.

What is Alice's obsession with fire.

Claire can see Alice reach for a gun in her boot before firing it up into the sky. A bright red flare engulfs the area just above Alice. Before Claire could even question why Alice fired a flare she hears it. The whirling of engines and the rattle of machine guns. Just in time to watch Alice being thrown off one of the tanks and umbrella soldiers surround her.

The resistance has arrived.

---

Before the end of the world, Claire considered herself to be a patient person. Even after everything went to shit, she would have still considered herself a patient person. Having to look after over sixty people, finding food, water and gas was a constant struggle and everyone got on everyone's nerves. But she kept her patience with everyone.

But being patient with people and waiting for this dust storm to be over are two very different things. And it turns out she is not very patient when it comes to waiting until they are able to leave this rundown motel.

"You should try to get some sleep." Alice calmly states dumping a heavy bag of something on the table that it makes an audible thud. "There is nothing you can do at the moment. Everyone else is grabbing some shut eye while they can. I suggest you do as well."

Sleep no. She can't sleep. Now while they don't have any way to detect undead coming their way. When they don't have a permitter. When everyone else is asleep but the two of them. The storm outside makes it impossible for them to see undead approaching or hear them. They wouldn't know until they are banging on the doors.

No. She can't sleep. Someone needs to keep watch. "What if something happens. What if infected find us and we get trapped what if the birds return what if-"

"Then I will come and wake you at the first sign of danger," Alice responds dropping onto a chair and opening her bag grabbing a handful of... coins... What. "If any infected come within range I will sense them." Alice's ability to sense infected is helpful but what if the storm is drowning those senses out. Hell, she doesn't even know how Alice senses the dead. Is it sight, smell, or a weird mental thing. "It's late Claire and you need your sleep just as much as everyone else."

"What about you." Claire shoots back tearing her eyes away from the window to focus on the newcomer.

"I don't need as much sleep as you pesky humans." Alice jokes a tiny smile flickering at the corner of her lips.

"But you do need to sleep." There is so much about Alice that she doesn't understand. The woman and the Virus are both unknowns to her. She knows Alice better then she understands the virus in her and how that works but even then, Alice is still something of an enigma.

"Not at the moment." Is all Alice says not really answering her question.

But Claire lets that slide for the moment. Her curiosity over what Alice is doing with a large bagful of coins takes president. "What are you doing anyways."

"Bullets are becoming harder to find," Alice states flicking a coin over to her which she somehow manages to catch. "So, I'm being creative."

Creative with coins. The dime in her hand doesn't really strike her as the best option for a weapon in the future. Claire will give Alice the nod towards bullets are getting harder to find. But she would have thought looking to use more arrow and projectile things which can be recollected would be the way to go. Alice has her crossbow and is teaching k-Mart how to use it. So why is Alice looking at coins. "How would that even work."

"In theory, I could use coins instead of shotgun shells. The shotgun blast would propel the coins out with enough speed and velocity that it would destroy anything on contact. Making gunpowder is easier than creating bullets from scratch." Claire's face reads unsure. "Like is said it's just a theory at the moment," Alice adds on as she starts to separate coins.

"And if it works." She wouldn't put it passed Alice to figure out how coin can be turned into bullets.

"Then we have something we can distract the kids with." Claire sends Alice a look asking for her to expand more on what see means. "They want to help but know not to get involved in anything relating to the undead. Letting them separate and count coins would give them something to feel like they are helping while keep them out of any danger."

That's not a bad idea. She knew the older kids' wo were reaching their teen years were feeling more and more trapped within their convoy. Always on the move and very little to do to past time. She knows the kids love hearing stories of everyone's past adventures. Carlos and LJ were the best for stories about their fights with Umbrella and the undead. Alice being the star in most of them.

And since Alice has arrived all the kids are constantly badgering her for stories. Normally getting K-mart to convince Alice to give them story time. It's no secret that K-Mart is Alice's favourite member of the convoy. With LJ and Carlos being a close second. But when K-Mart isn't with her she will be following Alice around like a puppy eagerly ready to learn from Alice and just be around her.

Outside the wind seems to pick up even more as dust and rain splatter against the window. Thunder rumbles in the distance silencing most other sounds other then the constant strain of the glass as it is assaulted with sand and rain.

Looking back out the window all she can see is sand. The wind is blowing it so hard that she can't even make out the cars sitting outside because of how bad the visibility is. "I don't know how anyone can sleep with all that noise." It sounds like someone is hitting the glass with a hammer over and over again.

"Not a fan of storms I take it."

"Not a fan of things that put us at risk." Claire shoots back somewhat defensively.

Alice shrugs. "I kind of like them."

"Really... Why does that not surprise me." Alice has always had this sort of chaotic energy about her. You would have to be in order to survive out there on your own for a year. To do the things Alice does without hesitation. "Why do you like them."

Alice pauses in her actions turning her attention back to Claire. "When I was younger my mother told me and Ethan never to be afraid of Storms. They may seem loud and scary, but they are just another way of nature expressing itself. Just like sunshine, rain and snow. I like them because it reminds me that even nature needs to scream sometimes. So, I shouldn't feel so bad about my own dark feelings." That is strangely poetic. And really not what she was expecting Alice to say. "It's a nice reminder that nothing is perfect but there can still be beauty in imperfection."

"That's... an interesting way to look at it."

"Oh..." Responds sounding more amused with Claire's response then offended. "And what do you see when you see a storm."

Claire takes a moment to think about it. Her eyes trailing back to the storm outside. "A storm."

"Really... Why does that not surprise me." Alice parrots her earlier words.

"Maybe because we are starting to understand each other." Alice is a friend. A strange friend she isn't one hundred percent sure on at the moment but a friend, nonetheless. She trusts the former Umbrella soldier. Which says a lot. There are only a few people Claire will trust with anything majorly important within the convoy. Those people being, Chase, Mikey, Betty, Carlos, LJ and now Alice.

Alice doesn't look as convinced by her words but agrees, nonetheless. "Maybe." The blonde and brunette haired woman then goes back to shifting through coins.

"Can I ask you a question." She isn't sure if her sudden confidence comes from the fact it's just the two of them or the realisation of just how much she trusts Alice. But the need to understand her more grows.

Alice doesn't stop in her action. "You can ask." She says nonchalantly but Claire can see Alice tense slightly at the requestion.

That tension that has taken over Alice makes Claire want to rethink her question, but she's committed now. And her curiosity cannot be denied. "What is it like having the T-Virus."

Alice freezes in place the coins she was holding drop to the table bouncing there until they all eventually land. The freeze is so sudden that even Claire is caught off guard by it. Alice just stares at the table not even blinking. Hell, Claire isn't even sure she's breathing.

Silence fills the room and Claire wants to take back what she said. She honestly didn't think her question would cause Alice to shut down like this. It's slightly unnerving the way she is just frozen.

Eventually Alice starts to move breathe and blink again but refuses to meet her eyes. At first with Alice not saying anything she is convinced this is one of those times Alice will just pretend you didn't say anything just to avoid an argument of convince.

But Alice does answer. It's one word but that one word makes everything clear for Claire to never ask again. "Loud."

---

Now Alice will admit that maybe this wasn't the smartest idea. Throwing herself into a endless horde of infected while barely being able to stand. But in her defence, it was the established plan. Dropping behind the wreckage of the destroyed tank with the other two tanks firing upon it to get to her and infected searching for her may have just put her in a bad spot.

But that's fine. It's all good she can figure this out. The infected aren't the biggest problem here. Due to the virus in her, if she doesn't move or make any sound, they don't even realise she's there. So, she can avoid them... Kinda... a little...

Until she moves to take out the two tanks. Where she will have to fight through a wave of undead and two different machine guns.

The smoke gives her some cover but even then, it's not enough. She really should have thought this part through a bit more. Then again, she didn't realise she would be as weak as she is now when planning this part. Her head burns and her body is barely able to respond to her. Nonetheless, she has a job to do.

Blood still pouring from her nose, eyes and ears Alice jumps on top of the destroyed tank and uses her mental ability to bend the machine guns to the right so they can't fire any more. More pain shoots through her at using her ability as she stumbles off the tank and falls face first into the dirt.

Gripping her gun tightly she shoots three infected trying to reach her as she struggles to stand. Pushing herself onto her knee she fires four more shots before her gun clicks indicating she is out of bullets. Groaning Alice draws her blades and wills herself to stand just in time to avoid an infected and slicing her blade with precision across its neck.

Wiping away the blood and pushing through her own pain and black dots taking over her vision she staggers over to where she hid the two jerrycans of oil. Using the fire and smoke as cover she then launches herself behind the middle tank and climbs up onto it. Infected run into the tank trying to get her but she's just out of their reach. Slowly she makes her way to the front of the tank where she pours the oil in through the vents.

She hears Issacs shouting from inside Lighting one of her flares she drops into the vent and watches a fire engulfs the inner section as flames burst out of the vents. Reaching down she picks up the flare gun and fires it into the air signalling Jill to start the ambush and tell the resistance where she and the tanks are to take out.

As the flare dies down Alice hears the opening of the hatch behind her opening Alice turns her gun to them. A man comes out with his hands raised. She doesn't shoot waiting to see what his next move is. If he is surrendering, she will accept it. Assuming he isn't the only one laying down his weapon. The hatch next to her flies open and Alice reacts faster than the man she is aiming at as he goes for his own gun to attempt to kill while she is distracted by the second man joining them.

Alice fires first. Her flare ripping through his eye and out through his head before he is even aware she's fired. She then turns to face the other man but is too slow as a powerful kick connect with her stomach and sends her flying off the tank.

In the background, she can vaguely make the sound out of engines whirling and bullets flying. But all she can focus on is trying to breath as her throat clogs up from the sharp pain in her chest. The man who kicked her raises his gun to shoot her and Alice can't do anything to defend herself. Her head hurt too much to bring up her mental shield. Her body won't respond to her. All she can do is lay there and let fate take its course.

Fate however seems to be on her side as the man falls to the ground as half a dozen bullets ram into him. The infected around her drop dead as more bullets rain down all around her.

Dazed and everything spinning she once again wills her body to obey her and she falls onto her stomach and begins to force herself into a kneeling position. She can feel vibrations from the ground. It feels like the earth is shaking. But Raccoon City shouldn't get earthquakes. That doesn't make any sense.

Her mind struggles to make sense of everything around it. It's more foggy noise and blurs of colours. Too much. She's done far far to much. Her arms shake as they try to help her onto her feet but it's to much. Her arms give way and she fall again.

Only something grabs hold of her shoulder stopping her from face planting for a second time. Something echoes in her ear and she is tugged up and something wraps around her waist dragging her away. "Alice... Alice... Come on. I got ya... Don't worry."

Flashes of purple greet her eyes and Alice sags more into the body that is holding on to her. "Jill." She drawls out. She can barely keep her eyes open. Everything hurts. Her body feels discontented from her somehow.

"I'm here. Don't worry I've got ya." Jill soothingly tells her. But the words barely register in Alice's head. Her breathing picks up but it shudders and burns with each breath. Fuck something is really wrong. "Ada, Leon, Alice is out of it. Crystal take over for me and secure the hostages and find Issacs. I'll get her back to the settlement. Medical get ready. Alice is really out of it."

Now that is an understatement.

---

The door closes behind K-Mart, Angie and Becky leaving Jill and Alice alone. "What's going through your head Wonder Girl," Jill questions softly leaning back in her chair.

"Nothing." Alice tries to play it off.

But of course, Jill sees right thrown her and calls her out on her bullshit. "Right 'cause you are totally giving off nothing vibes right now." Jill's eyes roam up and down her clearly tensed body as her left leg jumps a mile a minute.

Alice rests her hand on her leg halting the motion and trying to act like it was a natural movement and not her stopping her jitters. "Jill."

"Alice." Jill cuts her off not allowing her to try and her way out of this. "If this is about what Leon said then fuck him. You know he's a prick."

Sighing Alice nods in agreement. "I know." Her voice comes out for dejected then she meant to and initial winces as Jill eyes her cautiously and suspiciously.

"And what he said wasn't true. Their deaths were not your fault." Jill says more testing her reaction then meaning the words. Jill already suspects something else is bothering her and Alice doesn't have the energy to try and act like she hasn't slipped up. Besides Jill is not one to be gaslighted. If Alice tried to talk her around the subject Jill would pick up on it straight away leading to a different type of argument.

"I know."

"This is something else," Jill states after hearing Alice's pitiful attempt at agreement. Instead of Answering Alice remains quiet on the subject hoping Jill will just let the situation rest. "Come on Alice, I know you. Something is bugging you right now." Naturally, Jill doesn't let the subject rest.

"Can we drop it." She tries.

"No," Jill answers firmly. "Not when something is hurting you." Jill knows better then to let whatever dark thoughts plague Alice fester and grow.

Conceding to the fact Jill won't let this go Alice shrugs wrapping folding her arms over each other protectively in front of her chest. "I punched Leon." Is all she says.

Jill not getting what her point is nods. "Yeah."

Frustration starts to boil in Alice's chest. She doesn't want to have this conversation never mind try to explain it to someone else. "No Jill you don't get it."

"Then explain it to me," Jill asks softly sensing the abrupt change in Alice's feelings.

"Leon did something to anger me and I lashed out in violence."

"Ok," Jill says still not getting it.

"I enjoyed hitting him." Alice tries again.

"I wouldn't blame you." Jill tries to joke but the comment deflates all the anger and frustration in Alice. Jill doesn't get it. But how could she. Jill wasn't as broken and damaged as her. She doesn't understand the biggest fears that plague both her and Ethan. How their every action is calculated in order to avoid becoming what they fear the most.

"Jill... He did something to annoy me, so I hit him. And I enjoyed it. And I can't help but think that the pleasure and satisfaction I felt from hitting him is exactly what my father felt every time he struck me and Ethan."

Jill's eyes widen in horror as all the pieces fall into place in her head. Jill knows what her father did to her. Well, most of it. She knows how terrified Alice is that she will end up like him. Jill has been one of her strongest defenders against those thoughts since Becky, Angie and K-Mart all came under her protection. "NO... NO. Alice that is very different."

"How," Alice asks her voice cracking much to her own horror. Now is not the time to break. She can't let emotions overwhelm her. She's stronger than that. "We both used violence to deal with our anger. We got pleasure from hurting someone else. How is that not different."

"Because you hit Leon a fully grown man who was winding you up. Your father had no reason to hurt you and Ethan. You were children. Innocent children and he hurt you to keep control over you. It's very different." Jill argues back but the words just brush past Alice.

"And what if K-Mart, Angie or Becky pissed me off one day and I hit them."

"That will never happen." Jill sounds so sure of it. So insistent that she wouldn't do it. But how can Alice trust that.

"Won't it... Jill I have always tried to channel my anger away from violent outbursts. Yet today I broke the one rule I had about that. What's to stop me from breaking the next one."

"You are not your father. You are nothing like him."

"I am everything like him, Jill," Alice admits. It's something she's always known. Always hated when people would compare them. But it's true. She's her father's daughter while Ethan is their mother's son. Ethan would joke about it from time to time and every time Alice would immediately shut him down. She hates it. But she can't deny the truth behind it. "Ask Ethan. He will tell you just how similar we are."

"Not in ways like that." In ways like what. Not dropping a nuke on her daughter. Not allowing for them to be tortured and experimented on. No Alice didn't order it, but she couldn't stop it either. Not while they hurt K-Mart to get to her. Not while Angie was experimented on, and she wasn't even looking for her.

At least when her father did it, he would do it on purpose. She just failed to protect them.

"Cain pissed me off, so I throw him out of a helicopter. Not to his death but to the point where it would shatter his ankles so he couldn't run as the infected tore him apart. My father would have laughed and applauded my thinking." She gained far too much pleasure and enjoyment watching as Cain tried to crawl away. How the bullets in his gun ran out before he could kill himself and how it was Doctor Ashford to ripped into him first.

"Alice."

"You can't stop DNA Jill." She says cutting Jill off before she could try and explain how they are not the same as what her father did. "I have his DNA Jill. He's a poison, Jill. A poison that has infected my bloodstream and rests in my lungs leaving a suffocating feeling there. It's always there. A constant reminder that nothing I do with absolve the fact that Frederico Prospero is my father. We share DNA."

Jill shrugs moving closer to her. "Maybe you can't stop DNA. But I know you. You would die a thousand times for them girls. Nothing they could do would ever make you wish harm upon them. You punched Leon for being a dick. I would have done that. Would you think I would ever hit the girls."

"That's different." Jill is not predestined to inherit that anger and rage.

"No, it's not. You may have inherited traits from your father, but you are not the monster he is or the one you believe yourself to be. Besides, I'll be there for you when things get bad. Talk to me before letting your thoughts take over."

---

In all the time she has been alive Jill can safely say there is no one as smart and as stupid as Alice. And she means with love and respect. Alice is a genius. Logically. Emotionally she is a mess but is very good at reading over people. Just not herself. The same goes for looking after others. Alice is fantastic at that. Caring for herself, however... it's like all that knowledge Alice has for other people doesn't work with her.

Is she surprised when a frightened and panicked K-Mart is screaming down the radio that some Umbrella fool just took out Alice. No. No, she is not. Alice's plan on using her mental shield to hold off rockets and three different machine guns over the entire tower sounded like an awful plan. Would it protect everyone yes. Would it fuck up Alice. One hundred percent. Alice can't hold her mental shield over a large area without it causing her to have a nosebleed. It can't take that much damage before Alice is wincing and suffering from the worst kind of headache possible. Holding a shield for an extended amount of time drains her both mentally and physically.

So of course, Alice doing all three at once would have screwed her big time. And to top all that off with Alice out of it and suffering more pain than Jill would like to think about she then decided to dive off the tower taking on the herd of infected and Umbrella. Because that is a decision made by a sane person.

When K-Mart started shouting down the radio about some Umbrella soldier about to kill Alice, Jill just reacted. The ospreys had only just arrived on the scene. Jill could hear the sound of missiles being fired going according to plan. But Alice was in danger and Jill did what any sane person would do when their best friend slash co-parent was in danger. She grabbed her descending wire and attached it to her outfit all while shouting to open the hanger and sprinting towards the exit.

She then of course jumped out of the ospreys hanger putting as many bullets into that asshole who was standing above Alice as she could. Seeing him go down but Alice unable to move Jill continued shooting everything in her vicinity until Jill reached the ground and then took off running towards the still downed Wonder Girl.

She pushes the memory of the last time she did a similar move to the back of her head. Which was back on the Arcadia when she was sent to capture or kill Alice and take back the Cargo ship. Back when she was under Umbrella's control like a puppet unable to control what she says or does.

Seeing Alice struggling to push herself up into a kneeling position never mind standing Jill knew this was bad. Blood was dripping off of Alice. Now she has seen Alice covered in blood before. Far more times than she would have liked. But this... this was something straight out of a horror movie. It was a Niagara Falls of blood leaking out of Alice from everywhere. The nose was to be expected. But when blood is cascading out of her eyes, ears and mouth as well you know it's bad.

Gunshots rain down all around her as the other six ospreys soldiers hit the ground. Jill's team safely land behind her and begins gunning down any infected in the area allowing Jill to focus fully on Alice who is trying to crawl away.

"Alice... Alice... Come on. I got ya... Don't worry." Jill reassures the dark haired woman carefully wrapping her arm around her waist and helping her to stand. Alice's full body weight falls onto her and she staggers under the sudden weight but keeps upright.

Below her, Alice can barely keep her eyes open as she whimpers out a quiet and very slurred version of her name.

"I'm here. Don't worry I've got ya." Jill soothingly tells her. All she gets in response is a choked wheeze as Alice struggles to maintain on her feet. Alice coughs spitting out blood but it seems like she isn't even aware of that fact. Fuck this is bad. With the infected still coming at them she needs to get Alice somewhere safe. "Ada, Leon, Alice is out of it." She calls over her earpiece.

Ada is leading the clean up team situated directly in front of the tower. Her job is to secure the entrance of the tower and provide cover for everyone else. Basically, set up a defensible potion everyone can retreat to. While Leon was leading the frontal team in charge of being the first line of attack and defence on the incoming dead. His team is in front of everyone else and has the ability to slowly retreat backwards when needed.

His team's main goal was to give her team time to search the tanks. Alice mentioned there were survivors being held prisoner in them so her team was sent out in the middle of Ada's and Leon's team to open the wreckage and help the survivors back to the tower and kill any Umbrella soldiers they might come across. Speaking of which. Jill turns to her second and one of the people who came to the Hive to save Alice from Umbrella. "Crystal take over for me. Secure the hostages and find Issacs. I'll get her back to the settlement. Medical get ready. Alice is really out of it."

Crystal appears next to her shooting an infected she wasn't even aware was nearby. "Go we got this."

Half dragging, half carrying Alice back towards the tower she looks up to see the ospreys jetting over her head further out then any of their team and using their machine guns on the crowds of dead. Team one which is where Angie and Becky are located have taken up their positions at the top of the tower.

She wonders how K-Mart quickly explained why a group of heavily armed soldiers appeared on the tower's rooftop ignoring them and sharpshooting any undead. Team One's mission is overwatch. They are sniping any infected they can while detailing where the biggest crowds are and where the other teams should focus their attention. Wesker is leading that team.

Typical the asshole would pick the safest team to lead.

Teams five and six respectfully led by Sheva and Ethan were dropped off on both sides of the tower. Each team takes one side to secure so the three teams in the middle cannot be flanked. It's an endless supply of gunshots filling the air mixed in with some explosions.

"Ji... Jill." A fucked up Alice barely manages to spurt out.

"Yeah." She shoots back thankful that Alice is still somewhat conscious.

"Am I... Am I breathing." Alice asks pressing more weight onto Jill through sharp breathing.

She is breathing. But it's faint. Panic surges through Jill. Just how badly injured is Alice for her to not even be aware if she's breathing. "What."

"I... I don... don't think I'm Bre... breathing…" Her words grow more quiet and slurred as her sentence progressed. Before Jill could respond she feels Alice going limp in her arms. The sudden dead weight trips both of them to the ground.

Oh fuck. "Medic." She all but screeches as she reaches where team two are one of the team's medics are located. Alice doesn't do anything as Jill turns her over onto her back trying to wipe the blood away from her face. Alice's chest is barely moving but she is still breathing for the moment at least.

One of the medics meets her along with Ada and another soldier. "Help me get her inside." The medic demands and Jill and the soldier pick Alice up. Ada sends Alice a concerned look but meets Jill's eye nodding.

Jill is allowed to stay with Alice while the medics work on Alice. Normally when someone is injured you just hand them over to the medics and then go back to your position. But since this is Alice, she's allowed to stay with her.

If Alice wakes up while the docs are working on her she might react thinking she's back being experimented on by Umbrella. Jill has had to deal with a few issues of Alice's nightmares causing her powers to flare up. Thankfully if she, Angie K-Mart or Ethan are around she can recognise their voices and calm down a little.

Knowing the three sisters will be on the top of the tower together Jill focuses on helping Alice first before talking with them. Ethan will join them as soon as he is able. Fuck she forgot about him. She dreads what might be going through his head hearing his sister desperately needs a medic. Hopefully, he can push that to the back of his mind for now.

---

They didn't do that. They couldn't do that. They-

Fuck they could and they did.

Alice can barely breathe as everything whirls around in her head. This wasn't supposed to happen. None of this was supposed to happen. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. FUCK.

Everyone's dead. Everyone. Years of creating and building friendships. Working slowly and quietly to build up support in Umbrella and contacts outside of the organisation so that when something went wrong, she had support to fall back on.

But now she can't do that. She has no friends or allies to call on because they are all dead. Umbrella wiped out everyone who could help her.

How could they do that. How could they kill all those people... All those families... Just to stop her from getting help. FUCK. Umbrella executed children just because their mother or father might have been willing to work with her. How... How could they do something like that.

They just nuked a city and she's still questioning how they could commit these atrocious attacks.

Was she blind. She knew a lot of Umbrella was shady. Hell, she's done a lot of bad shit. But there was always an end goal. A reason behind it. She can rationalise nuking Raccoon City. It makes sense. In a horrible way but it does make sense... But this...

They didn't need to do that. They didn't need to kill everyone in relation to her.

Because of her.

Was it her father who gave the order. Or was it Issac's. Both are as bad as each other it seems.

How could Issac's do this. How could he do anything like he did. Never mind doing it to her. How could her uncle turn on her like that. He was supposed to protect her. He was supposed to stop her father from hurting not do worse things to her. She trusted him. How could he do that.

He knew. He knew everything her father did to her. He knew. He didn't stop it but he supported her. He helped her escape from her father's grasp. Pushed her to be who she is. How could he allow her to be experimented on. To be tortured and killed over and over again. To do nothing as she is tied down and screaming.

He just watched.

He turned Matt into a monster. Matt...

He didn't deserve what happened to him. To be infected forced to kill and turned into what he wanted to stop. He saved her in the end. Whether he meant to or not he died protecting her. Her. She failed to stop Umbrella from taking him away. Failed to help him even when he regained his humanity. Failed to protect Matt in the Hive. Failed to protect his sister.

Lisa... She got Lisa killed. Spence might have been the one to release the T-Virus but she was the one who failed to stop him. Her job was to train him to be a loyal umbrella soldier. But she failed to do that. Failed to pay attention to all the warning signs of him turning. She thought she could easily control him. That he wasn't a threat to her.

She should have paid more attention. Her focus was split too much on everything happening in the Hive. The T-Virus, protecting Lisa, Anna and her breaking up, project licker and keeping everyone else from noticing her shift in demeanour and operations. She was working on too much at once and failed to see how Spence became suspicious of her. Failed her friends when they came to shut down the Red Queen.

One, Rain, Medic, Kaplan, JD, Warner and Vance all died because of her missteps. Lisa and Anna died terrified. Both were unable to breathe as they either drowned or suffocated on halon gas.

Her failure led to Raccoon City.

Umbrella might be responsible for creating the virus and experimenting with it. But it was her job to keep everyone alive. And now over eight hundred thousand people are dead. Her mistakes.

The purge by Umbrella is just more bodies to add to her list. More people dead because of her. She briefly wonders out of those eight hundred thousand dead... how many were children... how many were babes who had no idea what was going on as they met a gruesome end.

Would those deaths ever not plague her.

Why is she alive when they all died.

How is she alive. She died on that helicopter. There was no way she survived. Not from a crash and being impaled in the chest. She remembers the screaming all around her. The way it felt as the blood clogged her lungs and throat. How she was choking and spluttering on her own blood. How for a second, she wondered if it would or drowning or blood loss, she would die of first. Then they hit the ground, and everything went black.

She died. She was fucking dead. So how she is here now. What did umbrella do to her this time.

"Alice," Jill calls from behind her. Jill... one of the only people to make it out of the city. Who came to rescue her from Umbrella. She still doesn't understand why she did that. Jill should hate her. She lost everything because of her. "Alice." She calls again much more cautiously.

"Why don't you hate me," Alice asks refusing to look towards the dark haired woman.

She feels a hand on her shoulder but doesn't move. She just remains still staring down at the ground. "It wasn't your fault."

"Wasn't my fault." Alice scoffs venom lacing her every word. "How was it not my fault. I let Spence release the virus. I let the Red Queen kill everyone in the hive. I let the virus escape into the city. Me and my family basically committed genocide and no cares. No one believes what happened." She thinks that's what's worse about all of this. The fact no one believes what happened. That Raccoon City was a horrible accident. A meltdown at the nuclear reactor. They had the proof. They had the video. But just like always Umbrella buried the truth and wrote their own narrative. How many times has she covered things like this up. She is worse than all of them. They have no remorse for their actions all they care about is Umbrella and their own lives. While she cared about everything else. But she still did as they asked. Over and over again she did was she was told no matter how fucked up it was. She did it as the loyal soldier she was. "How can you not hate me."

"Because you tried to stop all of this," Jill replies kneeling down next to her.

Alice blinks at that action. She didn't even realise she was on the ground. She didn't notice the rain falling from the sky and how her knees were sinking in the mud. How she is drenched head to toe, and she is just kneeling out in a field at her family ranch.

But that doesn't matter. What matters is that she was not enough to stop everything. "Too late... I was too late."

"Alice."

"That's not my name." Alice snaps back at Jill who flinches back slightly at her tone.

"What."

"Alice isn't my name. Not by birth anyways. I changed it when I was nineteen." She changed her name to strip herself of any connection to her father. To separate him and her. But now... what's the point.

"Why does that matter," Jill asks seeming confused at the sudden turn in their conversation.

Jill deserves to know. If anyone deserves to know it's Jill. She needs to understand who she is and everything Jill risked to help her. Maybe then she will stay away. Take the others away from her. That would be smart. She can't protect them. She can't protect anyone. She will just get them killed. Four more names to add to her never-ending list. "Because my birth name is Janus Prospero."

Next to her, she can feel Jill shift away from her. "Prospero... as in."

Alice nods her head in defeat. "He's my father yes. Issac's is my uncle."

She expected Jill to get angry at her admission. Welcomed it even. The shocked look on the raven haired woman's face quickly changes to one of anger and Alice braces herself for impact. "What. That bastard was your uncle, and he did that to you. Your father allowed that to happen. Fucking Assholes." Wait what. "How could they do that to you."

"I… I.. What."

Jill angrily shakes her head her voice shifting from pissed off to enraged. "I mean I knew they were pricks but this… your father's family and they still did that to you. How messed up do you have to be to do that." Again what. "Alice… you know their actions aren't your fault right."

But it is. She started the chain reaction. "Aren't they."

"No," Jill says so confidently and determinedly that Alice wants to believe her. To rid herself of this guilt. But that wouldn't be fair to the lost souls. She doesn't deserve to be let off that easy.

Alice doesn't respond to Jill just staring at her in disbelief as her words bounce around her head. The rain continues to pelt them, but Jill doesn't seem to care about the rain preferring to make sure Alice is ok. So, they remain there until their body turn numb from the cold and Alice finally gives in to her feelings letting them out as she cries and Jill wraps her in a safe embrace.

---

Alice had told her the resistance was coming to help them. She knew that. But Claire was still shocked upon seeing six ospreys flying overhead depositing troops and opening fire on the herd.

When Alice went down, she heard K-Mart screaming something at Jill, but Claire could do nothing in this situation. Out of bullets and too far away to do anything she could only watch in horror as the events were unfolding.

That was until a purple figure leapt from the back of an ospreys and made their way towards Alice. She heard K-mart cheering 'Yes Jill' but although knowing that Alice was safe she couldn't stop the ill feeling knowing that it was Jill who saved the day.

The sounds of gunfire slow down to single shots rather than full automation. Claire watches astounded as the snipers on top of the tower dispose from their position with only two remaining where they were and the others head for the stairs back to the ground.

Well, all snipers but one. One of the helmeted snipers walks towards them reaching up to pull off their helmet as they walk. "Hey, sis." The somewhat muffled feminine voice greets. "Heard you got into some trouble today."

"Don't tell Jill." K-mart instantly blurts out smiling brightly towards the approaching figure. Behind Claire, she can sense her brother and the others joining her watching the young blonde and sniper talk.

Taking off the helmet reveals a young teenage girl around K-Marts age with a darker shade of blonde hair then K's. "Ohhh. Is it that bad."

"She would kill us if she knew." K shoots back.

The other young blonde smile seems to grow upon hearing this. "Now I got to know."

Kmart sighs before divulging the gossip. "Me and mum might have been involved in three crashes today resulting in three different vehicles being destroyed."

"Three… THREE." The younger teen bursts out laughing. "Mom will kill the two of you. I'm sorry sis but mom will throttle you two."

Sis… Wait… is this Angie… Jill and Alice's kid… K and Alice mentioned Angie was back with them, but she's never met the girl before…

Chrisitan decides now is the time to but in sending her a suspicious look. "Claire, I thought you only had one secret child."

Angie looks between her and Christian for a few moments before something clicks in her head. Angie's eyes take her in as if judging her but turns back to Chrisitan and the rest of the tower gang. "Oh… I'm not Claires. I am the product of Alice Abernethy and Jill Valentine."

K-Mart laughs nudging Angie's shoulder with her own. "And we thank the gods that you are there is only one of you."

A smug look appears on Angie's face as she turns back to K-mart. "I wouldn't be so sure. Becky seems to be looking to Jill as a parent now." Becky... Alice's biological daughter views Jill as her other parent. That ill feeling from before comes back full throttle.

What if Alice decides she is better off with Jill. Claire will admit she hasn't handed any of this well, but some much has been going on and time has been limited. She can't lose Alice. She needs to get everything sorted out between them.

K-mart unaware of her internal dread laughs louder nodding in agreement to Angie's words. "Ok, I'll give you that. Becky being Jill's makes sense. Jill is Becky's favourite person."

Angie leans back on her right leg. "I love our sister I really do. But she is such a little snitch."

Kmart's eyes widen. "Yes. And she does it so innocently that we can't be mad at her, but she knows what she's doing."

"Right. And it's always Jill she tells." Angie adds on.

"Jill bribed her. I can't see how else that works other then Jill has bribed her somehow."

"Oh, one hundred percent. And have you noticed she never snitches on Jill."

"Yes. Becky will snitch on anyone but Jill. She even snitches on Alice to Jill."

Angie scoffs in amusement at this. "Yeah, but you have to admit that is kind of funny."

K nods in agreement a small chuckle escaping her. "Yeah, it is. Jill is so the favourite parent." K-mart pauses as if something sudden strikes her. "Oh god, the last thing we need is another version of Alice and Jill running around."

Angie raises and eyebrow at K-Mart in response. "Says you who has the same wilful recklessness as mum."

"Mum and Jill are nothing but pure chaos together," K argues back not disagreeing with Angie's statement.

"True but they are so awesome. I wish you had seen the moment they caught up to my aunt and uncle in New York." Alice and K mentioned that they rescued Angie from the Umbrella facility in New York but neither of them mentioned a showdown with Alice and Jill vs Angie's aunt and uncle.

K-mart waves her off raising fights between them and starting a small competition. "Please the battle in Russia was the best fight I've seen them in." Weren't Jill and Alice trying to kill each other in that fight.

"That would have been cool and terrifying to witness." Angie agrees.

"It's kind of was. But not as cool as Ada and Alice vs the two Axeman." K-Mart explained this fight earlier. How Alice and Ada took on the two axemen on their own and they used an exploding taxi to kill the two monsters before moving on.

To be honest that would have been a cool fight to see.

Another wave of anguish and guilt washes over her. She should have been there. She should have been with her daughter and Alice against the unrelenting waves of undead and Umbrella. She should have been with them. Not here moving on with her life.

Once again, she curses her own stupidity.

"I heard about that did mum jump on to their axes and then backflip over the taxi avoiding two simultaneous axe swings."

"She did. It was so cool. And then Ada appeared at her side, and they blew the taxi up killing the monsters."

Angie then throws out another memorable fight to add to the conversation. "My mom planned to blow up a part of my school when we first met." Wait what… Who blew up a school. Alice or Jill. She wouldn't put it past either of them, to be honest.

"No wonder Jill and mum get along so well. The amount of property damage they cause is insane." K-Mart remarks clearing it up for Claire that it was Jill who decided to blow up a school.

"Throw Uncle Ethan in," Angie states much to her confusion.

Claire knows Ethan is Alice's brother but she hasn't heard anything about him being as reckless or causing an insane amount of property damage as Alice tends to do. Then again given the state of the world, it might be considered a family trait.

"I'm surprised we left Washington with any buildings intact." The two blondes smile at each other before drawing each other into a hug. "I know I've missed you."

"I know. I've missed you too." Angie goes to say something else after the two girls pull away from each other. But she freezes staring at the ground intently before nodding. "Understood Mom me and K are on our way," Angie says looking back up to a confused K-Mart.

"We are." K's eyes narrow not understanding what is going on.

"Mom said Mum will be alright and we can see her now," Angie explains as K-Mart lights up knowing that Alice is ok. Claire herself feels relief surge through her knowing that Alice is ok. From up here it looked really bad as Jill struggled to get Alice back to the tower. "Aunt Mia is bringing Becky."

As Angie says this the ospreys that have been circling the tower stop firing and start to land in the open areas around the tower. The two blonde teens take off to meet up with Alice and Jill leaving Claire behind to deal with the numerous questions the tower crew have about everything.

---

The smell of alcohol is the first thing Janus notices upon entering Andrea's apartment. The second thing she notices is the vast amount of broken glass littering the ground. It's like multiple bombs have gone off. The whole apartment is a mess.

Torres had called her in the middle of the night, saying something was wrong with her brother. She was on the next flight out to California with a tired Tara and Alicia was on standby to join them if deemed necessary. Still knowing something was wrong with her brother and seeing the state of her department she never expected it to be this bad.

"Gelo." She calls out manoeuvring around all the shards of smashed glass bottles and destroyed furniture. Silence haunts the apartment and if it wasn't for Torres confirming her brother hadn't left the apartment in four days she would have assumed the place was empty. When she receives no answer, she tries again. "Andrea." Hearing no reply, she ventures forwards into the living room and the sight in front of her shatters her.

Andrea is lying curled up in a ball hugging his knees to his chest silently crying choking on each inhale. For as tall and well built as he is the eighteen year old transforms in her head to the last time she saw him like this. Back when they were still kids, and they realised the man their father was like now was nothing like the man they had adored growing up. After the abuse had started and they understood this was their life now. Andrea crawled into bed with her and cried.

"Andrea." She calls again this time far more softly and she navigates over to him and sits down next to him. The slight hitch in his breathing alerts her to him realising she was there but no words are spoken between them. He will talk when he is ready. He will reach out to her when he is ready. For now, he knows he is not alone in whatever is hurting him.

He's done it enough times for her. Ever since their father had her going to those hotel rooms she has broken down enough times around him for him to understand something really bad was going on. But he's never asked her what. Not out of not caring but it's the system they have built up in their youth. If there is something they want to talk about they will. If not, you do not ask questions, you are just there for them.

It takes some time, but Andrea eventually reaches his hand out for Janus to clasp onto. Using her as his anchor he pulls himself closer to her and rests his head on her lap. He continues to cry and all she can really do is stroke his hair. The platinum blonde shade which matches their mother's is slightly longer then when she last saw him. As much as she supports his endeavours, he does not suit long hair. But that's a conversation for later.

"He… He's… go..ing …to ki… kill me." Andrea barely manages to splutter out through choked breaths and wheezes.

It's obvious who the he is. The same he who haunts both their lives. "He won't touch you," Janus promises. She would die a thousand times before she ever let him near Andrea. Not again.

A choked laugh escapes her brother. "The…Then… He'll... ki… kill … both… of… u… us." Janus remains silent. He isn't really wrong. If it did come down to a fight between them, she knows her father would win hands down without a doubt. A fight she isn't all too keen to repeat given the last time had her in a medically induced coma to deal with the head trauma.

Asshole

She can feel the way his breathing picks up. His fight or flight instinct kicking in at the mere thought of facing their father again. She tries to calm him down. Their father is in Ohio, not California he can't be touched here. He's safe.

"I failed." He cries out before dissolving into sobs once again.

He failed… Oh… Oh god. His thesis. They were the only results he was waiting on for his masters. If he failed that then he failed his degree. Now the idea of their father killing him sounds like a logical outcome.

She wants to ask questions. Andrea failing his thesis doesn't make much sense to her. Maybe the stress of everything got to him. Or something like that. She remembers writing her own thesis and it was hell. But she passed and is now working on her doctorate. Like Alicia. So Ethan failing doesn't make much sense to her. But she doesn't care if he failed. She's gutted for him but not disappointed or angry. Sometimes shit happens.

Their father won't think that. He's always expected them to be perfect and failing to reach that impossible standard was an unacceptable failure. If their grades weren't perfect he made sure they were aware of his anger and disappointment. Which he often was with them. But that's a problem for later. Right now, she needs to comfort her brother.

Given the state of the room, she can figure out what happened. He got the results and wrecked his apartment in a fit of panicked rage. Then drank what liquor he had to numb the pain and disappointment and when that didn't work took to smashing things again to provide an outlet until he collapsed.

When he's calmed down a little, she'll send him for a shower and attempt to clean up this mess while ordering his favourite foods to cheer him up.

---

The council gather around the makeshift table near the top of the tower. Alice can feel the eyes of resistance members and occupants of the tower watching them. Normally their meeting are held in private behind locked doors and guards to make sure no one can hear what is being said in fear of Umbrella spies revealing any secrets to their enemies.

In the Tower, they don't have the same luxury. Alice knows that Claire and Chris are watching them analysing their every move. She can hear K-Mart and Angie filling them in on who everyone is and what's happening. She knows they want to know more to be more involved in what is going on. But some things cannot be allowed to be shared.

Lie their plans going forward.

Wesker's stand at the front of the table his hand hovering over their hologram map of the area. Alice leans more into Jill's body using her as support as Jill keeps a tight hold around her waist to keep her standing up. Alice can see the worry Jill is holding for her. The way Ethan's eyes flicker from Wesker to her. Even Sheva has moved closer to her to help her if her legs give out and Jill can't hold on to her.

Despite all the exhaustion and pain, she feels Alice is able to focus on what Wesker is saying. "We were able to intercept a message from the Hive to serval Umbrella outposts." Alice sighs already knowing what the message contains. "Umbrella reinforcements will arrive within a few hours. And more will follow."

"So, we need to get the cure before they arrive," Leon states using both his arms to lean on the table as a map of the area forms.

"How long exactly will it be until reinforcements arrive," Ada asks looking towards Wesker.

At her question, the White Queen's voice echoes around the room. "Reinforcements are set to arrive in two hours thirty-eight minutes." Alice winces at hearing her childish voice over the speaker. It was creepy when she was in Las Vegas and had to interact with the child hologram version of yourself.

The main AI's for Umbrella were built off the resemblance of her, Ethan and Alicia. The Red Queen was designed by Oswell based on Alicia. He then went on to create the White Queen and the Blue King. Respectively being her and Ethan. There is then the Purple Princess, Yellow Prince and Orange Princess. These AI's were designed off of their teenage selves. Alice got the Purple one. It was the last thing Oswell created before he died.

Every AI under Umbrella is in charge of a single facility. Apart from the King and Queen. These AI's connect with three facilities. The Red Queen handles their most secretive facilities. Those being The Hive, Umbrella Prime and the Sand Tomb. The Sand Tomb is still under Umbrella control and up until Wesker informed her of that she had assumed that the Hive had been destroyed when Cain nuked the city.

A decision she looks back on in shame. She never should have just assumed the Hive was gone. Other then Prime it was their most important facility and held so many Umbrella secrets. Cain would have made sure the Nuke wouldn't have destroyed it. The Hive was designed to withstand anything. It was far enough underground that only the top level doors have been exposed but no damage was done to the facility.

Prime is gone. Leon and Crystal made sure of that. Thank God. Umbrella is dangerous enough without creating a gigantic clone army to fight against the resistance and an endless supply of bioweapons. The Sand Tomb on the other hand is still standing. According to Sheva that is the central point of Umbrella control in West Africa. But no one not even Wesker has any idea what it is they are doing over there.

Before the outbreak, she had never visited the facility. She knew its existence but never knew what they were doing there. Like Prime the facility was a deeply hidden secret. The only reason people knew the Hive existed was because it was government contracted and people knew that over eight hundred people were hidden away somewhere near Raccoon City. They couldn't hide that eight hundred people would disappear to work in the Hive but pop up monthly to reconnect with society.

The White Queen handled the next level down which was the Weather Station in Las Vegas, The Division in Germany and the Resh Guard in Poland. All three facilities have been claimed by the Resistance and are used as central hubs and safe zones for survivors. The White Queen acting as the number one protector.

And the Blue King is the level under that. With it's three facilities being the one she destroyed in Japan; another she wiped out in Austin Texas while the last one is still operational to the best of her knowledge somewhere in China.

The other AI's created before and after Oswell were designed with the idea of protecting facilities and keeping an eye on the staff. Those AI's are as well developed or maintained but still serve their purpose. Lisa had worked on the AI in Boston as part of her university degree under Dr Simon Barr. He was the man to teach at MIT and take over as head of AI development following Oswell's death. That work is what got Lisa first scouted by Umbrella… Well, that and their relationship but the first time she was offered the job at the Hive was after she graduated and long after they had broken up.

Lisa was one of the best programmers around. Despite her lack of experience in the position and the job she was working in New York there was no denying she was expectational at her job. Something Barr hated. That man had a god complex. Probably why he fit in so well with Umbrella's high command.

Nonetheless when Lisa inquired about the opening at the Hive Umbrella would have been stupid to turn it down. Barr might not have liked it, but he did give a recommendation for Lisa which all but secured her the job.

Lisa had found it strange interacting with the Red Queen. Having met the real Alicia, she could see the resemblance and hear her voice and it freaked her out. Lisa would complain about having to take orders and suggestions from a child. Lisa had gone on to say it feels the AI has a grudge against her. To which she replied well you did break my heart and Alicia is highly protective of me. Lisa told her to fuck off while throwing a chip at her.

Jill nudges her gently forcing Alice to blink a few times coming out of the memory and refocusing on the discussion. "N't have the time to travel to the Hive breach it avoid all the traps subdue the forces inside and get out of the Hive before reinforcements come," Diya argues and Alice has no idea what they are arguing over.

Diya is one of the twelve resistance council members. Other members were her, Jill, Wesker, Ada, Ethan, Leon and Sheva whom Alice knew from before. Diya, Edric, Mason, Jaroslav, and Cesar were people Alice met when she first arrived in Washington. She doesn't really know them all that much outside of meetings like this.

There are other members who sit on the council, but their meetings are done through holograms. It would be stupid to bring everyone to one place. That's just asking for the place to be attacked. For the attack in Washington, they tried to make it look like they were that stupid. All the American leaders are in one place and five European leaders plus one African leader all come together. Umbrella couldn't help but accelerate their plans and attack there and then. Just as the resistance wanted.

Once the attack was over and everyone was in an underground bunker it looked like the aerial bombard worked and the infected killed any survivors. Umbrella then turned their attention away from Washington focusing more on Europe and the rest of the resistance there. Europe is the second largest gathering point for the resistance. The resistance there is split between England and Germany.

Russia is all Umbrella and the rest of Europe is tied down in a ground war with members having to fight off umbrella attacks and thousands of bioweapons. They are more scattered across the countries, but all the strength seems to conjugate into one area. Unlike Asia where there are pockets of resistance but not a large holding. South America is bogged down in a war of attraction. The resistance there is hitting Umbrella outposts, but their biggest threat is bioweapons. The labs around there have been experimenting with all the wildlife there and South America has the worst infected to fight against.

Africa is made up of groups of settlements, but the resistance doesn't have much luck on that continent. The groups of people there would rather take their chance on their own then join the resistance and draw Umbrella's focus onto them. For now, it's working as umbrella doesn't seem to care about the settlements seemingly busier with the creation of new monsters and the wars going on in other continents.

Oceanian… That's all Umbrella. They focused attacks on the major cities and forced people to flee more inland. Where a bush fire surrounded them. Very few groups of survivors remain with New Zealand having the most groups but even then, it's said there are less then four thousand people alive there.

She and Jaroslav have probably talked the most out of the other council members but that's only due to the fact that she can speak Czech and it's nice being able to talk in your native language with other people. Jaroslav was a part of the Czech army and helped establish a base of operation in Prague for the Resistance.

Similarly, Diya did the same for the Indian central reserve police force. Cesar, Edric and Mason were also high standing figures in their respective armed forces hence why they have a spot on the council.

"Surely the cure should be our focus." Cesar points out. "Once we release it, we can focus on Umbrella forces."

"Unless we get overrun by the reinforcements and aren't able to release it," Edric argues back. Alice finally understands what they are debating. Whether they should attack the Hive now and go for the cure or hold back and defeat the incoming reinforcements and then make their way to the Hive.

Jill looks to Alice. "You know the Hive better then anyone. What do you think the play is."

The pointed glare Alice sends Jill has the blonde smirking in return as she shrugs her shoulder unapologetically. All eyes in the room lock on to her. For Fuck Sake. She didn't want to make this decision.

"Diya right. With the time it would take to reach the Hive and get passed its outer defences make our way through the facility dealing with the Red Queen, Wesker, Issacs and whatever defence they have put in place would take too long. We don't know where the cure is either and it could take us hours to find it. And if we are stuck down their Umbrella will wipe out the tower and any forces we have on the outside. Never mind the sea of undead they are no doubt bringing along. We would be trapped and surrounded in the Hive if we go now."

"So, we meet Umbrella reinforcements in battle and then go to the Hive," Sheva asks.

Only for the White Queen to interrupt. "Alert more reinforcement located heading from the east. Estimated time to arrival five hours and eleven minutes." FUCK MY LIFE.

Everyone looks between her and Wesker for a plan on what to do with this development. But both of them remain silent lost in their own thoughts.

---

Cold air brushes against her shivering skin. Alice is by the fire cooking the fish she managed to catch while she watches. Ever since she woke up in a haze nothing has made sense. She knows that the dark haired woman with her is called Alice. But not from memories but from the woman introducing herself to the panicked red head.

Hardly anything lies in her memories. Flashes of images and voices she can't identify. Vague thoughts about sand. Nothing to clarify who she is, what happened to her or where she is. Alice had tried to explain everything to her but the concept of the dead coming back to life and eating everyone seemed a bit far-fetched.

She isn't sure why she trusts Alice. The older woman could easily be lying to her or be the one to cause her memory loss. She would have no way of knowing if she was lying or not. That thing of trust is not helped by the way she is bound in rope so she can't escape. Or do anything for herself. But a part of her maybe a forgotten and buried part of her instinctively trusts Alice. And if trusting Alice is the only thing she can come close to remembering then she has to do it.

Alice passes her a smoothed down rock with a fish on it. She has to admit Alice's resourcefulness is quite impressive. And if they are in the middle of an apocalypse, she's glad someone like Alice is with her. She thanks the woman for her meal. They start to eat in silence but there is a lingering question she needs answered first. "I'm sorry about before."

A flash of surprise passes over Alice's eyes. "She speaks." Alice jokes but Claire can hear the weariness in it. The uncertainty of how this conversation is going to and how much of the woman she seems to know is gone.

"Look I'm sorry about back there." That being when she tried to kill the other woman. "I don't know what happened. I don't remember anything." One moment she vaguely remembers looking for fish and then hearing something loud in the distance. Next thing she knows she sees Alice and is trying to kill her.

Why. Why did she do that. It doesn't make sense to her. She doesn't think she is a violent person. But she doesn't remember anything about herself, does she. For all she knows she is.

Alice looks to the side shaking her head a little. "Don't worry about it. It's not the first time someone tried to kill me." That's not as comforting as Alice thinks it is. Why are people trying to kill her." Besides I've seen you fight. Hell, I've helped train you to fight. That really wasn't your best effort." Alice smirks towards her and Claire feels her heart flutter in her chest… Interesting. "Don't worry about it."

How can she not worry. She doesn't know anything about herself. Anything about who Alice is. Or why is she out here alone. "I don't even remember my own name," Claire admits shagging into herself deflated at dealing with so many unknowns. Everything is so confusing right now.

The look Alice ends her at this admission is guilty understanding. Which in itself raises some questions to the amnestic woman. "It's Claire…" Alice had called her something else before. It was a name but the wording was unfamiliar to her. Like Alice was speaking an entirely different language to her. Then again being called Claire has that same feeling to her so what does she really know. Alice waits for a second seeing if it sparks anything in her head. "Claire Redfield." Nothing immediately jumps out at her hearing what she assumes is her full name. "Does that seem familiar to you."

Casting her eyes downwards she mutters out a quiet, "No." Claire… it's not a bad name per say. A part of her hoped that when hearing her name, it would trigger something and everything would come rushing back to her filling in all the gaps. Instead, she was greeted with nothing but the sense of having lost everything.

"Well, it will," Alice assures her confidently. A flicker of a smile briefly touches her lips. Maybe she hasn't lost everything.

"Will it."

Alice shrugs. "That's up to you. If you don't like it, you can always change it." The woman offers sending her an amused smirk. Like she's missing some part of an inside joke.

"You mean pick a different name." if the world really has ended her old name wouldn't matter much to her. She could pick a new one. But if she does, would she be cutting off what little connection she has to her old life. If her memories return, would she feel bad about picking her a new name. Could she go back to being called Claire. And what name would she even pick to begin with.

Alice shrugs. "Why not. I did it when I was nineteen. Our daughter has chosen her own name at this point it may as well be a family tradition." Alice says offhandedly like she didn't just drop a huge bomb on Claire.

Our daughter. She and Alice have a daughter. She's gay. Alice is gay. She managed to land Alice. Ok yeah, she's starting to see the gay in herself because she will happily admit Alice is very very attractive. How she managed to convince Alice to get with her she doesn't know but is highly impressed with herself. Go Claire.

They have a kid together which means they were somewhat serious. But where is she now. Shouldn't she be here with them. The first conversation Alice had with her comes in pieces. Everything was so confusing then she didn't it all in. But Claire does remember Alice asking where their group was. Then explaining there with other with Claire when she came here but for some reason, she was left on her own. "What's her name…" Claire asks needing to know the answer. Something to help fill in the empty space her life once used to be. "Our… Daughter."

"K-Mart." There's a softness to Alice's voice that she hadn't heard before.

Claire raises an unamused eyebrow at Alice as this. "K-Mart." She repeats appalled at the idea of allowing her kid to be named after a shopping mart.

"It's where you found her," Alice explains unable to stop the amused gleam taking over her face. "She hated being called Delilah. And figured everyone that knew her was dead so who cared. K-Mart saved her life when this all began, and it led her to you. She always said it was the best thing that ever happened to her."

"What is she like." A young girl with blonde hair is blurry in her mind but Claire has no doubt the figure is what little she can recollect about K-Mart. Jubilation rises up within her at being able to conjure up that much. Her memories are still there. Just buried. Alice said to give it time after all.

Maybe soon she won't feel as lost. For now, she will let Alice fill in the lines for her and guide her to the person she used to be.

"A sweet kid. She's sixteen now. Completely adores you. Very chatty and loves reading. She could rant for hours about something this character did in a book. You taught her how to shoot and defend herself. I taught her how to wield different blades and use a crossbow. She is very good at that. She sees the best in the world even now. Even after everything she has endured, she still believes in the good. Our little ray of sunshine. Our Solnyshko."

You can just hear how much Alice adores the teen in the way she talks. The way her smile turns lopsided and her eyes brighten. If there any doubt that Alice as lying about who she is it's all gone now. You can't fake affection like that. No matter how hard you try.

Since Alice is done with the fish, she moves over to basically spoon her. Something which grinds on what little pride she can muster up in herself. "I can feed myself."

The amused look Alice sends her looking down at her tied hands makes her bristle. "I would like to see you eat tied up like that. It would be amusing but we don't have the food to waste."

Narrowing her eyes Claire offers a better option. "Or you could unite me."

The amusement on Alice's face grows as she dramatically mulls over the idea. "Or… I could just feed you and make it easier on all of us." Not wanting to feel like an invalid Claire decides to try a different approach.

Leaning back against the wooden log she raises an eyebrow almost challengingly towards Alice. "If you tie me up, I would prefer it in the sexy way." Her heart flutters in excitement at that thought.

A smirk overtakes Alice's face. Her whole demeanour changes and Claire feels her heart accelerate at the way Alice is eyeing her. Not in fear. But something much more hot. It's like every cell in her body is reacting to Alice begging to be closer. Images of skin, sand, and heat suffocate her.

Yeah, no she can see why she's with Alice. The very dirty thoughts spiralling inside of her head by a simple look paint a pretty vivid picture of who she and Alice were to each other.

Tugging on the rope she looks pointedly towards Alice holding her hands up. "I'll tell you what. If you behave and don't attack me again, I'll think about it…. Oh, and just so you know you do like to be tied up. But not as much as you liked having me all tied up."

---

"You're glaring." Chris all so helpfully points out.

"No, I'm not." Claire snaps back drawing her eyes away from seeing Alice and Jill in the council meeting. Since Alice is still recovering from overusing her powers Jill had her arm wrapped around Alice's waist while her girlfriends leans heavily on the pale blonde haired woman Claire is pretty sure Alice was sleeping with.

Not that Alice ever said that. But Carlos and LJ were pretty sure it was happening and earlier K-Mart said she would like to see them get back together which means they must have been together right. Claire is nearly one hundred percent positive Jill is Alice's ex. Even though she never said the words you could tell from the way Alice talked about her. It was like how she talked about Lisa and Anna. So, they had to be together. It makes sense… Right.

"Yes, you are." Her brother replies not helping matters. It's been a very long and confusing day. With Alice and K-Mart's reappearance, the attack and explaining who the resistance is to the people of the tower answering any questions they have which she could answer.

All of it has been boiling together and now she is starting to get annoyed. All she wants to do is drag Alice off somewhere and just go to sleep. Away from everyone and all dangerous. "Fuck off Chris I'm not glaring."

Stop getting the message to leave her alone Chris keeps pushing. "Ok, then what do you call looking at someone with such ire it looks like you're trying to either kill them or melt them with your gaze."

"Analysing." She snaps back. "I'm just curious about her."

Silence rings between for a few beats but Chris's concerned yet disappointed tone comes across clearly. "Claire. We both know that's not true."

And she does. She hates seeing Jill and Alice wrapped around each other. The small secret smiles the two share. How perfectly in synch they seem to be. It reminds her too much of what she and Alice used to be like.

How did it come to this.

"What's not true," K-mart asks making Claire jump as the three daughters of Alice appear. Becky she had only seen from a distance before is standing in between her two sisters as they approach. She looks so much like that that Claire melts.

No wonder Jill favours her.

Becky notices the council across from there and begins waving madly towards them. Claire follows the kid's gaze as the dark-skinned woman waves back towards Becky just as madly causing a few laughs from the council as they all turn and wave. Jill and Alice sign something towards them and the three girls all laugh and nod back towards them as they fall back into their serious meeting.

Claire shakes her head looking from K-mart and Angie back to Alice and Jill. "Nothing."

"O…K." K-Mart and Angie exchange a look.

"So, Kiddo want to fill us in on whose who." Chris asks breaking the silent tension building between everyone."

"Oh Right. Well, you all know Alice. The blonde she holding on to is Jill." Claire figured that out pretty quickly. The blonde hair surprised her because she could have sworn Alice said she was dark haired. Either way, Claire was easily able to pick out who Jill was in the crowd. Just find the woman latched onto Alice. "The woman next to her is Sheva Alomar." She can vaguely recognise the name. Alice mentioned her once or twice before. Thinking about it Claire thinks it had something to do with a mission in Africa and tattoos. "The blonde guy near Alice is Ethan."

That name catches her off guard. "Wait Ethan as in."

"Her brother yeah." K-Mart answers.

So that's Ethan. He has the same pale blonde hair as K-mart and is only slightly taller than Alice. She had heard a lot about the younger brother of her girlfriend. Just as Alice had heard a lot about Chris. The two of them having both lost their brothers allowed them to bond a little back at the start. Claire didn't feel bad about talking about how much she missed Chris and wished he was here. Alice could understand what she meant and not judge her for wanting to leave the convoy behind to go and find him. Not that she ever would but saying how much she wished to do that helped get the weight pressing down on out.

"The Asian woman is Ada Wong." Alice's operative mentor and the woman who led the rescue mission in Russia saving Alice K-mart and Angel. She knows that Angel and Crystal are around here somewhere. As are members of the convoy but she has not run into any of them yet. The resistance has been busy cleaning up the battle and getting ready for the attack on the Hive. "The long haired blonde guy is Leon Kennedy." K has talked about him a little before. She gets the sense that neither K nor Alice like the man. "You already met a clone of Wesker but that's him." Hopefully, this one isn't going to try and eat Alice. "Then we have Diya, Jaroslav, Edric, Cesar and Mason."

"We don't get to hear their last names," Chris asks.

"I… Don't know their last names. "K-Mart admits sheepishly. "What. I don't talk to them." She quickly defends raising her hands in a surrendering position.

"Alice and Jill barely talk to them," Angie adds on.

A council that barely talks to each other. "Some council." Back in the desert, there was a meeting every day between her and her mini council. For a group this big, how can the leaders not speak to each other. That doesn't make any sense. To Claire at least.

Then again given how well the resistance is doing maybe they are on to something.

Sensing her confusion Angie is quickly to explain the way the council works. "Most of the time the Council is never together. We have the whole world fighting Umbrella and the undead. They are constantly on the move. The five of them plus Sheva only came to American after we liberated the New York facility. It was the start of a turning in the tide and the council all needed to gather in one place to talk next steps. Its how they planned the fake fall of Washington. Umbrella would only move when everyone was gathered to wipe out all the leaders."

"Smart," Chris mutters clearly impressed with the plan. She wonders whose plan it was.

"Once the mission is done here everyone will go back to their homebases. Alice and Jill will hit other facilities together chipping away at Umbrella power." Angie continues.

Before K-Mart jumps is asking. "I wonder where they will hit next."

Angie looks around making sure no one but them is around before answering. "Rumour is Alice, Jill and Sheva were looking into the Sand Tomb."

K-Marts eyes widen at hearing this. "What. When did you hear this."

"Not long after you left. I was dropping Becky and Rose off with Sheva and I overheard her and Ada talking about it and what the situation in Africa is like. Apparently, that is where we were supposed to go before the Red Queen got in contact with you and mum."

"I've never been to Africa." Becky joins in

"Me either. Sounds fun." K-Mart and Becky high-five in the excitement of travelling to Africa.

"Something to look forward to," Angie says sounding happy about the trip but not as excited as Becky and K-Mart.

Any further conversations were cut off when Abbey and Razor appeared looking worried. "Claire we just spotted another dust cloud like the one we just fought approaching.

"We should let Alice know." Claire moves to head towards the council meeting but is halted by Angie.

Angie shakes her head closing her eyes opening them after a around fifteen seconds. "She already knows."

"What." Chris looks between Angie and Alice who is now speaking to the council.

"The council knows and is debating the issue now." Angie turns towards Razor. "Alice has asked for your presence in the meeting."

"How do you know that," Razor asks as no one does anything on the council indicate they wish to talk to anyone.

Angie without hesitation replies with something that not even Claire was expecting. "Me and Alice's minds are connected we can talk telepathically to each other." They can what…

"It's true." K-Mart backs her up. "It's kind of annoying when you two have your mind conversations though."

"Jill said you're not allowed to have mind conversations anymore. You and mummy will get into trouble again." Becky looks up towards Angie wearily not wanting her big sister to get into trouble.

Angie smiles softly toward Becky signing something to her before turning to Razor. "The council is waiting for you." Razor looks to her and Chris but neither of them can assure him on this matter. Grimly nodding Razor makes his way over to the council.

Claire keeps her gaze on Angie who is whispering something to K-Mart who is keeping a blank look on her face but pulls Becky closer to her.

What is going on.

---

Music hummed in the background. Snippets of loud laughs or arguments filter through the closed door. Janus pushed the guys back onto his bed making her take off her top. She had only just started to remove the guys shirt when the door opened. Groaning Janus drops her head into her own chest her hair falling around her face like a barrier. Breaking away from the kiss the guy turns to tell whoever just entered to piss off only to stop. Without even looking she already knows whose standing there. The way the guys pauses mid insult is all the evidence she needs.

Sighing she turns to meet Tara's unwavering gaze. "We have to go." Tara Lambert has been a member of her father's security team for five years now. She was assigned as her personal bodyguard for two of those years. She was poached from the State Department after she was overlooked for a promotion for a male counter part three times.

From what Janus can tell Tara is loyal to her father but cares for her. Not enough to get involved with everything happening behind closed doors but at this point Janus would take anything to get even a little distance from her father. Tara has helped to involve her combat training and shooting. Her father is obsessed with her being a capable fighter for some reason.

Not sure why though. Not like she will be needing to snap people's neck or gun them down in a laboratory with her uncle. The again this is her father. If there is an option for violence he would choose it.

As much as she enjoys Tara's company now is really not the time. Can't she be free to be normal for once. "I've barely been here two hours." She moans and instantly feels like a stupid kid and grimaces.

Tara offers her an apologetic smile but ushers her towards the door. "I know. But we have to go." Theres a seriousness in her voice that Janus has only heard in a few situations. None of them good.

Groaning Janus slides off the bed fasting up her shirt and giving herself a look over in the mirror before following Tara. "Will I see you again." The guy asks.

Before Janus could answer Tara answers for her. "I wouldn't count on it buddy."

Tara takes her out of the house to the waiting SUV. Andrea is already passed out drunk in the back and Alicia is barely coherent. Makes sense Janus had watched the two of them playing shot pong. Beer pong but instead of drinking beer out of the cups they have to do a shot. But each time a cup is removed from their side the amount of shots rises. So, when your first come is removed you take one shot. When you lose your second cup you have to take two shots and then so on until your last cup is gone your having ten shots one after another. Normally it's a three to four person per team game. Which it was. Until she and the guy decided to go elsewhere together wishing Alicia and Andrea luck. Their two guards are sat up front eyes scanning the area constantly. As she closes the door behind them, they start driving.

Staring out the window Tara looks at her apologetically. "I'm sorry to ruin your fun."

Janus scoffs not believing that for a moment. "No, you're not." Whatever order Tara and the others was given was seriousness enough to call for all three teens to be escorted somewhere immediately. Again, meaning nothing good.

She may be slightly tipsy from the shots, but she learnt from her father to always be alert. The fact Andreas protector is going over the speed limit and Alicias is still scanning their surroundings as they race to wherever it is they are going.

Tara is trying to play it off as nothing but there is a tension in her which gives her away. "Well, you are seventeen and he's in his twenties." True but no one needed to know that.

"It's college," Janus argues back.

"I know," Tara replies sounding neutral on the idea.

"Orders are orders." Is her remark. Her curiosity is piqued at what caused the order, but her annoyance at the situation seems to be winning more.

Tara sighs hearing her tone. "Jay."

Janus shakes her head looking back out the window. "I just wanted one night to forget who I am. to just be like everyone else." She's never really had that before. Being able to just fit in with everyone. She, Andrea and Alicia have always been younger than their school mates. Going to college early made her stand out even more.

Who her father is makes her stand out to people as well. She's had to deal with wannabe gold diggers and people trying to befriend her in order to get a foot in the door with Umbrella. Due to that she, her brother and Alicia hardly interact with people outside of their little trio. Who needs over people when they have each other.

But here no one knew who she was. No one cared that she was the eldest daughter of Federico Prospero. Future Board member of Umbrella on track to becoming head scientist when her uncle retires. For a few hours it was nice just to be another girl in the crowd.

They were in Berkeley California for Andrea to look around the campus and meet his tutors for next semester when he begins there. She came just as an excuse to hang out with Gelo and Alicia is a different state for a few days. UPenn is fantastic and she's really enjoying her course but sometimes it sucks being so close to Umbrella Headquarters. She might have slightly escaped her fathers clutch but his hold on her via the company never faulted. And she has still suffered at his hand. At least with Andrea moving so far away he can have a little more breathing room then she does.

It's a shame he picked one of the warmest states in America. Her brother loves snow and winter has always been his favourite season because of the snow and cold. Its how he earned his nickname. Their grandmother on their father's side dubbed him Gelo back when they were all still going on skiing holidays together. Gelo means frost in Italian.

"You could have done better then him," Tara answers back and Janus almost wants to laugh at that remark.

Tara doesn't understand. How could she. "At least he was my choice. I got to choose who got to fuck me." She looks over to Andreas sleeping form. Even with how close they are there are still some things she doesn't want him to learn about her. "Your employer doesn't offer me the choice. I just get dragged out and left there to be used and discarded. He was my choice."

"Janus." Tara seems almost speechless at this statement. Its something they both know. Something a lot of people who work for her father know. But something they never talk about.

Now she may be slightly drunk, but she is nowhere near drunk enough to actually have this type of conversation. "Why were we all ordered to safety anyways."

Tara sits up straighter in her seat at the question humming to herself trying to gather her words. "Oswell Spencer was murdered one hour ago."

Wait. Uncle Oz was dead. He was killed. "Well fuck." Janus states not sure whether she is happy at the news or upset. What she does know is that she wants is another drink.