This is the final chapter, I hope you all enjoy it! Reviews are always welcome and desired :)

Chapter 9: Limerence

Alice found Spence waiting anxiously in the foyer and he hugged her tight when she entered.

"God, I was so afraid something happened to you," he said.

The man's concern usually would have been welcomed, but this time Alice just found it annoying.

"I told you Spence, I'm fine," she replied as she pulled away from his embrace and jumped right into the telling, oddly unconcerned about her husband's reaction. "Jill's replacement came in here and tried to commit suicide. It's her blood on the bed."

"What? I don't understand. Why would she come here?"

"She came on to me, I turned her down, and this," Alice looked around noncommittally, "is what happened."

"She came on to you?" Spence's expression was the epitome of shock and disbelief

"She's been stalking me since I hired her."

"I don't believe it," the man scoffed not really hearing Alice's last comment. The thought of two women in a relationship together, while what they could do in bed was a turn on, was just not something he could fathom.

"Believe what you like," Alice responded as her irritation grew.

"I'm sorry, but what am I supposed to think? You tell me another woman comes on to you, and this is what happened," he quoted sarcastically. "You must have done something. Did you lead her on?" Spence went from unbelieving to accusing. "Are you a fucking lesbian now?"

Alice's eyes turned on him with fury as he continued his rant.

"How the fuck could you cheat on me with another woman?" he yelled as he invaded Alice's space.

"Nothing happened!"

"She was in our bed for Christ's sake when I was conveniently gone for a conference!"

The blonde smacked Spence hard across the face.

"Yes, she was in our bed – trying to kill herself!" Alice was done; she couldn't talk about Claire like this any longer. Spence was only focused on what he thought was an affair; he didn't give a damn about Claire or his wife for that matter. The blonde turned away from him as his cheek began to turn red.

Alice left Spence in the foyer and made for the train to the underground laboratory; now seemed as good a time as any to clear the Hive of every trace of Claire and she would also get the space she needed from Spence.

In tier eight Alice sat at her desk and pulled up every one of Claire's files. Once deleted, all of the ex-temp's passwords and access to the Hive and other Umbrella areas would vanish. The redhead wouldn't be able to come within miles of this place. The blonde hit delete and just as she did her phone vibrated in her pocket, the caller ID read: Jill.

She rushed to answer and ignored the pop-up that appeared on the screen of her laptop.

"Hello?"

Jill's breathless voice sounded on the other end of the line.

"Alice, I'm going into labor."

"What! Right now?" Alice asked shocked.

"No, yesterday. Yes, right now!"

Jill's sarcasm was accented by the seriousness of the situation.

"I'm coming – I'm coming."

Alice shut her laptop, sure that she had completed her task, and for the second time that day went to Raccoon City Hospital.

The blonde wasn't allowed in Jill's room when the delivery was taking place, but it ended up a surprisingly short labor time. While Alice waited, her thoughts were drawn to wondering about the distance between the maternity and psychiatric ward, as well as to the patient within the latter.

Jill sent Chris to collect Alice in a couple hours time. The new father was happy, but the blonde could tell that beneath his blissful façade was worry for his sister. Jill seemed drained but overall the black-harried woman was doing well.

"Alice, I'm glad you came," Jill said as she smiled.

The blonde walked over to the hospital bed and looked at the bundle in her friend's embrace. The new life lifted Alice's spirits immensely.

"Of course," she replied.

Jill held the child up to her and Alice took it in her arms with the utmost gentleness. The blonde looked into the baby's eyes and the blue irises were remarkably similar to her own.

"It's a girl," Jill beamed. "Her name is Angela Janus."

At that the baby seemed to coo and Alice fought to keep anything but joy from her features.

"She's beautiful," Alice said.

Suddenly Chris spoke up as he looked lovingly at his daughter.

"Angela was my idea and Claire wanted Janus."

The blonde was not surprised to hear it and she didn't think Chris meant anything by mentioning Claire, but it still made her feel a little sick. She spent a good portion of her evening with Jill and the baby, but left when the mother began to tire. Alice would be lying if she said she was anything other than exhausted at the end of that day.

Alice's divorce was swift in coming. The blonde swore that is was not contingent on what happened with Claire. She wanted to be alone; to just take a break from her husband but that wasn't good enough for Spence. He thought that the idea of a time-out was ridiculous and got angry. Spence threatened her with an ultimatum – if they separated now it would be permanent, and Alice was ok with that. Spence and all his things were removed from the mansion immediately.

The time to retaliate against Umbrella was fast approaching, but Alice still felt like her life was in a state of pause. She did almost everything alone after Spence left; she worked alone without an assistant, she ate alone, she slept alone; it was only when Jill would visit with Angela or when Carlos would stop by for a drink that Alice had real, human interaction. What is happening to me? Alice thought. She didn't know what she was living for anymore and she felt that once she stole the virus her life would become forfeit.

The loneliness was both a gift and a curse, or rather, it gave Alice all the time in the world to think and it was her thoughts that were the double-edged sword. The redhead's remarkable work ethic was absent from her office, the blonde had wine with her dinner almost every night, she couldn't get in her car without debating whether or not she should where her seatbelt, and most shockingly the redhead was a constant feature in Alice's dreams. Claire had given her a lot to consider.

Claire's obsession for her was unhealthy – yes, but did that also make it completely wrong? Could an alcoholic ever have a good relationship with alcohol? For certainly Alice was 190 proof liquor as far as Claire's destructive addiction was concerned.

It was the day before Alice was going to steal the virus when she finally reached some kind of conclusion. Until then there had been absolutely no contact from, no interaction with, and no mention of Claire whatsoever, and until then Alice hadn't wanted it. She decided that the next time she saw Jill she would ask how the redhead was doing.

January 5, 2011

Today, all her dreams come true.

The next day Alice woke at 5 a.m. and like always she got into the shower.

Her phone vibrated on the sink, but she couldn't hear it over the noise of the falling water as she lathered her hair. The devise read:

Biological Outbreak Emergency Protocol OVERRIDE. Biological Purge INITIATE. Authorization: RED QUEEN

The blonde rinsed out the conditioner in her hair and just as she turned off the faucet her phone vibrated again. Alice tried to think about who could be calling her with slightest fantasy that it was the redhead, but her mind seemed to cloud and her senses became dull. She reached for anything to keep her standing, but all she could do was pull the shower curtain off its rungs as she fell to the floor.

Mansion Defense ACTIVATE. Authorization: RED QUEEN