Wow. You guys ended up being a lot more interested in this story than I had ever thought would happen. So. Thanks. And here is chapter 2. Read, enjoy, and review.

Oh and guys? Do me one solid please? I have 3x the amount of followers as I do reviews. Could you maybe, people who take the time to follow since you like it so much, drop a review in the fancy review box? It would make my day/night depending on when I get it. Thanks whole bunches so much and shit! Insert smiley face here.

K-Mart was biting the inside of her cheek-hard- to keep from bursting into sporadic fits of loud laughter. Her fingers twisted and tugged at the comforter adorning Claire's bed which she sat upon, keeping herself from jumping up to hug her pacing sister. Since Claire had picked her up from dentition and had ominously declared that they needed to talk they hadn't said a single word to one another. Claire had ushered K-Mart into her room and gestured for the blond to sit on the bed then began pacing at the foot of the bed, swerving between piles of clothes and other random objects. It was clear that Claire had something important to say to K-Mart but the blond didn't have a clue as to what that was. She probably wanted to tell K-Mart that she was going to send her off to some orphanage because she can't handle her anymore. That was something K-Mart had been waiting for ever since Claire had suggested she get a shrink. Even if that was what Claire wanted to say, watching Claire pace like this and mumble to herself was making the blond want to laugh. It had always amused her.

"K-Mart." Claire said for the fifth time and slapped her closed fist against her palm, red brows drawn low over her emerald eyes. K-Mart nodded her head in acknowledgement but Claire, as she had the other four times she tried to start speaking, opened her mouth and snapped her jaw closed before resuming her pacing. K-Mart sunk her teeth into the soft flesh of her lower lip to prevent her smile from showing. Claire was adorable when she was frazzled, it was no wonder that ladies took such a liking to her big sister. She'd miss Claire after the redhead shipped her off. The teen leaned back against Claire's ornate headboard and reached over for the glass of wine sitting on her sisters nightstand. Before her fingertips even brushed the cool glass Claire had whirled over to that side of the room in a red flash and ripped the glass away from K-Mart, eyes burning with parental warning.

"I don't fucking think so! First off, you are way to young and secondly, even if I shared my wine it would not be with my minor sister whom is a minor. Minor as in underage minor." Claire dropped onto the edge of the bed with a huff, raising the glass to her lips and poking her tongue out to dip into the burgundy merlot. K-Mart finally allowed for a small smile and pushed her feet against Claire's thighs, using her arms to make reaching gestures at Claire and the wine glass in her grasp.

"Just a sip? Please? I wanna try!" K-Mart smirked and crawled ever so slowly towards her scowling sister, reaching for the glass until her fingers touched it. Claire huffed and moved the glass just far enough away that K-Mart couldn't reach it and took a rather large gulp of the liquid.

"No. I want to talk to you about something serious."

"Okay and while you think of what that is you can just let me hold that for you…"

"K-Mart!"

"Claire."

The redhead huffed and crossed one leg over the other, propping her elbow on her knee and dropping her chin into her fist, "It seems we've reached an impasse."

"I'm not sure what that means but you should totes let me try your shit," K-Mart tilted her head to the side, strands of her platinum blond hair falling across her brow, "I mean, you wouldn't want me to try my first drink with some guy who could get me drunk and take advantage of me would you?"

Claire clucked her tongue against her pallet and shook her head in amusement, "Clever little devil you are. Fine. Here. Your not going to like it though."

K-Mart grinned in triumph and took the glass from her sister, swishing the dark liquid around before touching her lips to the brim and tilting her head back to let droplets of the drink soak her tongue. She recoiled almost instantly and spat the drink back into the glass, coughing and gagging in hopes of getting the vile taste of stinging, sour grape juice out of her mouth. Not pleasant. Not at all pleasant. She thrust the glass back towards Claire and dropped her head to wipe her tongue off on the sleeve of her hoodie.

Claire chuckled and took the glass, setting it on back on her nightstand, "Told you that you wouldn't like it."

"Gross," The teen pouted and wiped the drool hanging from her chin on Claire's pillow, "Why do you drink that shit!? It's nasty."

"No," Claire tapped the end of K-Mart's nose with her fingertip, smiling lovingly at the teens pout, "It's an acquired taste. Most people don't drink it for the taste anyway, just the affects. And you really need to watch that mouth of yours."

"Can't. Don't have a mirror," That earned her an eye roll and K-Mart grinned because of it, "So what did you want to talk about? Finally gonna send me to that loony bin you think is best for me?"

Claire frowned and dropped her eyes to her lap, sucking her bottom lip between her teeth as she did so and bit down on it lightly. Had K-Mart really thought that she planned on sending K-Mart away? She closed her eyes and bit on her lip harder, using pain as a way to prevent the eminent tears burning her eyes from making an appearance. She had cried enough today.

"No," She finally let her reddened and aching lip from between her teeth, running her tongue across it to sooth the burn, "Did you really think I was going to do that to you?"

"I dunno. Maybe."

"Well I'm not."

K-Mart nodded absently and looked down to stare at the covers flipped over on Claire's bed in an unmade mess. Slowly she reached her hand out to rub her fingertips leisurely over the smooth, silken fabric in circles. Anything to keep her mind off the impending apologetic speech she was expecting from her sister about why she couldn't keep K-Mart anymore. Despite whether Claire was taking her to some phyc ward or not, she knew Claire was tossing her out sooner than the garbage. Fuck, what else could it be? Claire had already laid into her yesterday for what happened with Ms. Abernathy so unless Claire was feeling angry about it all over again because of her meeting then K-Mart couldn't think of anything else Claire would have to say. Thankfully, she was already mentally braced for the way this would shred the soft flesh of her sugar heart.

"K listen I want…I want…" Claire's voice tightened until it became nothing more than a soundless breath falling out of her with each heave of her chest. Why was this so difficult to say? Claire had never been good at admitting when she was wrong due to her prideful nature and ego that could contest to nearly any mans but this was just ridiculous. Saying sorry wasn't nearly as difficult as she felt it to be. The apology was burning in her stomach, coiling around her organs like a molten snake, slithering it's way up her throat to sit on and burn her tongue. A burning pet that she couldn't introduce to her sister because it wouldn't budge from her trembling lips. Fuck this.

"Claire? Are you alright? Oh god. Your not trying to tell me that something happened to Uncle Richard are you!? Because I don't think I-"

"No nothing like that. It's…" Claire glanced at her closet, picture the Glock she had stowed away in a locked case and wondering if maybe she used on herself it would be easier than conforming to this fucking apology. Nah, better not. That would be a terrible waste of bullets.

"It's…? It's what?"

"Okay-fuck-okay! Okay….fuck! Listen I'm…I'm…" Claire growled lowly and beat her thighs with her closed fists roughly, anger boiling over at her inability to be like any normal human and apologize.

"Seriously. Your trippin' and it's kind of freakin' me out." K-Mart stared at her sisters paler than usual face and noted the way Claire was abusing herself to vent frustration and then something donned on her and a choked gasp barely escaped her suddenly tense body, "Oh my god Claire. Your not trying to tell me you have like…dying of cancer or something are you? Claire I can't loose you! Please don't-"

The way Claire whipped her head over, eyes wide, stopped K-Mart short. They locked eyes and reached for one another at the same time, arms locking around torsos and bodies pulled to one another. The shorter girl tucked her head beneath her sisters chin and gripped a fist full of Claire's shirt, biting her lip to stop the flow of eminent tears. This was their first shared hug since their fight and K-Mart had missed her sisters protective arms. The way Claire placed light, comforting kisses atop her head and held her tight around her shoulders but not painfully, it was so missed K-Mart couldn't have been prepared for the surge of emotion that finally pushed those brimming tears to roll down her cheeks. Claire rubbed soothing circles along her sisters spine and felt a burn in her eyes when the fine trembling in K-Mart's muscles resonated through her, a tell tale sign of K-Mart's obvious crying.

"Oh K…no. No. I'm just trying to find some way to tell you how unbelievably sorry I am for the way I've been treating you lately and…and for suggesting counseling. That was stupid. I'm stupid. And I'm so sorry." Claire slid her palm up to cup the back of her sisters head, cradling the teen against her chest and lowered her nose into the girls hair. Warm, wetness pooled in Claire's eyes but she adamantly, or more so, stubbornly refused to cry. Instead she slammed her eyes shut tight to prevent leakage and pressed a kiss to the part in K-Mart's hair that turned into two kisses, then three.

"Your…your okay? Promise?" K-Mart picked her head up, sniffing and trying to wipe the mascara tainted tears on her shoulders so she wouldn't have to untangle her arms from Claire but wasn't managing so well. Claire chuckled softly and wiped away K-Mart's troubles for her with her thumbs and blotted at the running makeup with her blanket that had previously been tangled around their knees.

"Promise. At least I think so. Unless I start smoking again like I really want to-" Suddenly Claire tilted her head back and let out a long, want filled groan that echoed through the room and made her chest hum with vibrations, "-Fuck I miss smoking."

K-Mart emitted a watery laugh that was more sniffles than chuckles and shook her head at her sisters theatrics. She lowered her head back to Claire's chest, safely tucked beneath the redhead's tilted chin.

"Your silly Claire."

Claire smiled at the ceiling, feeling a bit of warmth seep into her long sense cold soul upon hearing K-Mart laugh and speak with a pleasance she hadn't been permitted to hear since their fight. Things almost felt repaired between them. All that was left to do was for K-Mart to except Claire's prolonged apology. Humming lowly in her throat Claire pitched her head forward to lay her cheek atop K-Mart's head, looping her arms around the girls skinny middle, bringing the girl half on half off her lap.

"I'm sorry K."

K-Mart nodded minutely, shifting closer to her sisters warmth and protection, "You said that already."

"Well do you forgive me?"

"Of course."

The sisters hugged one another tighter, barely thinking to breath.

"I was a bitch K."

"Yeah. Me too. Forgive me?"

"Yeah, easy. Considering how bitchy I was. No more fighting?"

"No more serious fighting. Like this last one but we're sisters so it wouldn't be normal or healthy if we didn't fight on and off."

Claire grinned and kissed her sisters head once more before shoving K-Mart away towards her mountain of pillows, "That's called bickering. We can bicker. Now enough mush, I'm starting to feel like lovey dovey soup. It's gross."

K-Mart giggled at her sisters typical rebuff of feelings. Her pleasure of finally feeling at peace now that the bond between Claire and her was repaired showed clearly in the way she lounged against the pillows, hands behind her head, and a smile a mile wide. Life was good again.

"Claire?" The redhead hummed her acknowledgment, "That was some real talk."

"Mhm. Made me hungry. What about you? Ready for dinner?" Claire leaned over the edge of her bed to pull her boots off and toss them in some corner of her room without looking. Once her feet were free of their leather confines she wiggled her tingling toes to bring them back to life, wincing at the slight pains accompanying the pops of her joints.

"Let's make spaghetti! And garlic bread! Ohh oh and sugar cookies! For dessert. Or for dinner too when your not looking."

Claire shrugged and stood from the bed, humming her pleasure when her spine popped as she stretched, "Sounds do-able minus the part about you sneaking sugar cookies. Shit wait! I forgot!"

K-Mart pulled her legs into a criss cross and gripped her ankles, tilting her head in confusion, "What?"

"Alice. I need to call her. She offered to baby sit you until I come home from work for the week that you have distension. Which is bogus by the way. Alice told me the real story," Claire turned to pin K-Mart with a very serious look, "Why didn't you tell me you were being bullied so badly?"

Caught and not sure what to do K-Mart dropped her head in shame and plucked at the frays of her jeans, "It's not that big of a deal."

"Yes it is K!" Claire all but yelled, shocking and scaring them both. She paused to collect herself, sucking in a few deep breaths and shaking her hands at her hips as if the anger bubbling inside her were a bit of mud on her hands she could sling off. Now calmer Claire reclaimed her seat on her bed and rested her palm on K-Mart's leg, staring imploringly at her sister with shinning eyes.

"K-Mart it is a big deal. The way they treat you isn't right and its only going to escalate unless someone puts a stop to it. And I'm terrified it's going to escalate into violence and your gonna come home beat to shit." Claire bit into her lip harshly and turned her eyes from K-Mart to stare out the window, hoping that her emotions would get control of themselves so she wouldn't be moved to tears for what seemed like the hundredth time today. She only blinked and returned her eyes back to K-Mart's gentle face when she felt her hand being cradled between K-Mart's own petite hands.

She offered her sister a sloppy smile that didn't do much to hide the turbulence of emotions swirling around inside the much to thin body of hers, "Don't be afraid. I'm not. Ms. Abernathy keeps me safe at lunch and I always ignore them in the halls, even when they shove me or ruin my stuff. I'm kind of hoping one of them will hit me actually."

"The fuck!? Why would you say that!? Are you suddenly a masochist now!?"

K-Mart held up a finger, a perplexed look distorting her else wise smooth features, "Okay I don't know what that means Claire. I do think I can guess close maybe though. I want one of them to hit me because then it will be physical abuse aka assault and then Mr. Wesker would be forced to do something about my bullying because then the police would be involved. Get it?"

"Yeah makes sense but….I don't want that to be what it has to come to. Just try not to get hit please? We'll figure something out. I'll talk to Alice about it when I call her. Now, how about dinner?"

K-Mart picked her head back up, her grin replaced, "Sounds amazing. I'm gonna wash my face first okay? I'll meet you out there!"

"Sure." Claire stood once more to cross the room so she could begin the search for her cellphone. The little fucker liked to hide.

X x x X

"Ali! My Ali Cat! Mija come give me a hug!"

"Oh god, mother! Do not call me that! I'm a grown woman! Honestly." Despite Alice's annoyance at the childhood pet name that her mother had given her, a small smile lit up her face because it was, after all, her mother. The short Hispanic woman was standing in her kitchen, rubbing flour covered hands over the front of her apron so that she could envelop her daughter in what was going to be a bone crushing hug. Anita Olivera was, despite what most people assumed because of her darker skin and warm chocolate eyes, Alice's birth mother. Alice, however, took more after her father who was a tall Caucasian male with blond hair and the same piercing blue eyes as his daughter. She had never met her birth father, just Mr. Ameilio Olivera who her mother Anita had met when Alice was just but a toddler. Alice was to young to desert the difference and had grown knowing only Ameilio as her father and he had always been all she had ever needed in a father. There was no desire in her to find out who her real father was because, if anyone asked who that was, she would tell them Ameilio was that man. About a year after Anita had married Ameilio she had become pregnant with a son and, 9 months later, Alice had received a brother. Carlos Olivera.

The siblings had grown thicker then thieves growing up. Alice was incredibly protective of her younger brother because he was prone to making foolish mistakes and often falling in love with any pretty girl that batted her lashes his way. Vise versa Carlos was equally, if not more, protective of his big sister. Lucky for him, he had always been stocky and finely muscled his whole life because Alice had always had a fondness to pick fights with guys who were three times her size and often times Carlos was the only one foolish enough to have her back. Because of that the siblings had grown up scrapers and labeled as troublemakers and were subject to many of Anita Olivera's rants about good behavior and, for Alice, how to act more like a lady.

Being ladylike had never been high on Alice's priority list and, the moment she had turned 18, she had enlisted into the Military. She had always been naturally good at adapting her body to vigorous workouts and straining her body to point of utter exhaustion and not one man nor woman had ever bested her in a fight she had entered. That said, she had easily climbed through the ranks of special forces before her brother had joined as well. She had served as his superior through the years of being in active duty, fighting side by side all over the world, until Alice had reached retiring age and opted to take that out. With all of her extensive training in all things military as well as various other things, Alice could have taken many routes but had chose, instead, to become a high school Chemistry teacher. Teaching had always been something Alice had loved doing, aside from shooting guns and inflicting bodily harm, plus she quite enjoyed the idea of being a role model for young adults. She'd also have the accuse of blowing things up for academic reasons. So it was settled for her, Sergeant Major Alice Abernathy had retired at 30 and chosen a profession in the civilian world that was common and moderately safe. Unlike Alice, when Carlos had retired, he had decided to use his skills and join the FBI with little to no schooling thanks to his military background. Staff Sergeant Carlos Olivera liked to brag, very often, to his sister about his latest adventures working for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Alice would just shrug and go into a spiel about her job and how amazing it was in comparison. They had a touch of sibling rivalry going on. Friendly, but obnoxious to their parents.

"Oh mija, you know you'll always be my little Ali Cat no matter how old or tough you get." Anita clucked her tongue against the roof of her mouth as she appraised her daughters attire. A whimsical chuckle filled the room, making Alice scowl and tug at the hem of her shirt self-consciously.

"What?"

Anita shook her head and glided across the wood flooring in her heels to envelop her much taller daughter in a warm hug, "You never were one to dress like a girl honey."

Alice pouted much like a child and tried to pull away from her mother but Anita would have none of it, simply tightening her grip. Both of them knew that, if Alice really wanted to, she could easily pull away using her impressive strength but they also both knew Alice would never do such a thing. So she remained trapped in her mothers hug. Sulking.

"There's nothing wrong with what I'm wearing mother." Alice glanced down at her wardrobe, trying to be sly so her mother wouldn't notice but she was caught and, at the sound of Anita's giggle, Alice went back to sulking. Granted she was wearing bulky combat boots, tan in color, with her dog tags in the laces as was protocol for an officer of her the Military and that was boyish but her clothes were okay. Perhaps. Well she was wearing a baggy Metallica t-shirt she had bought in the men's section but her blue skinny chinos were feminine and stylish at that. She sighed. Yeah, she could see her mothers point of view, she did dress boyish.

"Of course not sweetie. I never said there was." Anita finally-finally-released Alice and patted her child's cheek lovingly before turning on her heels to go back to her cooking. Spices wafted from the pots boiling and brewing on the stove top, filling the air with fragrant, stomach rumbling smells. Alice leaned her hip against the table to watch her mother scurry from one pot to the other, stirring and humming as she moved, then bent to crack the oven and peek inside. More warm, delicious smells rolled around the room when the oven opened and lingered long after it was closed.

"What are you making?" Alice moved forward a step to peek but Anita was ready, armed with a wooden spoon and a dangerous, playful gleam in her eyes.

"Food." Anita poked at Alice with the spoon to shoo her child off and Alice, learned over years of getting whacked upside the head with that spoon for invading her mothers space when she cooked, stepped back. Anita gave an approving nod and turned back to the stove.

"What kind of food?"

"Good food Alice."

"What kind of good food?"

Anita chortled into the palm of her head, sweeping her chocolate eyes from her simmering food to her inquisitive daughter, "Good cooked food. You'll see what it is when its done and everyone else gets here. You sound like a child again asking me all those questions Ali Cat."

Feeling childish, Alice unfolded her arms and let them dangle near her hips, "Whatever. Is the loser still asleep?"

The spoon was once again pointed at Alice in warning, "Alice Abernathy. Don't call your brother names."

Alice finally smiled, amusement tickling her deep down into her labeled cold heart, "Oh mother. I called him names that would make you shriek and cry when I was his Gunnery at MCRD and he was just a little bitty scrap of a recruit."

Anita waved her hand around idly, canceling out what Alice had said, without taking her eyes away from her work, "That's different. It was part of your job to be mean to him then. And that was at boot camp, this is my home. Now, if your curious, Carlos is in his room playing video games. As per usual. Honestly! He's a grown man and he still plays video games like a teenage boy. How is he suppose to give me grandchildren if he spends all his time down there messing around? When are you giving me grandchildren Alice?"

Alice coughed awkwardly and turned away from her mother, peeking her head around the doorway leading into the kitchen to see if she could see a light coming from the stairs that led down into Carlos's basement room, "So yeah…I'm gonna go kick the old man to get him upstairs before everyone gets here. Make sure he shaved and has pants on. The usual!"

Anita whipped around, spoon aimed, and eyes narrowed at her daughter, "Don't think you've gotten out of this mija! I expect grandchildren from you! Soon! Why can't you find a nice woman, settle down, and gimmi some babies!? It's not asking much Alice! For god sakes your at the perfect age for-"

"Mother! Your…ugh! I'll be right back!" And Alice hurried from the kitchen before Anita could say another word about babies.

It wasn't that Alice didn't want children, on the contrary she did. She loved children, especially in their toddler years when everything was so small and so cute. The problem with her was that all of her insecurities were screaming at her when she thought about finding that nice girl and having those grandchildren. She was afraid that her temper would get in the way when she had to reprimand her children. She was afraid that she may have some sort of mental repression from not knowing her biological father and that would come back to haunt her. She was afraid that no woman perfect enough for her to marry and raise a family with would want to stick with her after they discovered all her faults and her scars. She was afraid of screwing up like she screws up everything good in her life. The only thing she had ever managed to do well was being a Marine and telling other Marines what to do. Marines like her messy, lazy brother Carlos who enjoyed living at home not because it gave him a responsibility free life but because he enjoyed be close enough to his parents he could take care of them if it was called for in any instance. Alice would probably live at home too if she didn't like her lonely apartment as much as she does.

Carlos was, predictably, pants-less. His room was spacious enough to have a sleeping area off to one corner of the room and a entertainment area of sorts in the other. That's where he was to be found, sitting cross legged on his leather sofa in front of his massive plasma screen TV, special edition Black Ops 2 controller in his hands. A headset was molded around his head, covering his ears and flattening a patch of his messy dark hair. He didn't notice his sisters approach thanks to aforementioned headset and his whole attention span being focused entirely on the war going on within the screen. Needless to say he was shocked to suddenly find himself in a tight headlock and to have his headset ripped off and thrown onto the floor.

"Ey fuck'a! What do you think your doin' Sergeant!? Shouldn't you be doing something else right now or should I be makin' you give me pushups lil' fuck'a!?" Alice growled in her commanding tone just near Carlos's ear. The younger of the two siblings cracked a grin and let out something that was probably a laugh but sounded more like a choked whimper thanks to Alice's tight pressure on his larynx.

"Yes Ma'am….sorry ma'am!" Carlos barely got out but, after he had, Alice released him. Instantly he raised his hand to his reddened throat to stroke the irritated skin softly, trying to smooth away the burn. Alice cracked a grin and shoved his head forward playfully, though not gently, and hopped over the couch to sit beside him. While he attempted to recover she scooped up his controller and resumed his game, poking her tongue out and furrowing her brows in concentration as she attempted to maneuver the digital grounds without being killed.

"Where's your pants loser?" She mumbled, jamming her thumb down repeatedly on the 'shoot' button and pumped his fist in victory when she killed her enemy.

"I'll tell mom your calling me names Alice." Carlos smirked as if he had just won a great prize.

"Pussy." Alice glanced at him, shooting him a quick glare, and yelling her frustration when she died because she had taken her eyes off the TV for just a second.

Carlos just glowered and trudged over to his closet to find a pair of clean pants. As he got dressed he listened to Alice curse at the TV and complain about children playing adult videos games and how that should be against the rules. Finally she gave up out of frustration over loosing so easily and threw the controller down on the couch. With a huff she reclined against the armrest, folding her legs beneath her and throwing a look over her shoulder towards Carlos.

"Who all could make it to Mami's dinner?" Alice asked, trying to hold in her laughter when Carlos began struggling getting her leg into the leg whole of his dark jeans.

"Ah…I think she invited everyone. Yuri, Nicholai, Kaplan, Jill, and Rain. All your inferior officers SgtMaj Abernathy. Getting our little group back together."

"You act like Mami doesn't invite them to every family dinner every weekend or something." Which was entirely true. When Alice and Carlos were still in active duty overseas, Alice had been in command over a small group of elite spec ops whose missions were always labeled classified and top secret. After they had all done their time, the group had stayed in contact since they had spent years of their lives bonding and becoming something akin to a family. When they came home, Alice had hosted spec ops dinners that they all tried to attend as frequently as possible but, with conflicting schedules, and there never being much space in Alice's small apartment, they had struggled to continue with the tradition. Until Anita found out and took control of it. Since then she had been hosting the dinners at her house and had basically adopted all of Alice's solders as her own children thus making them more so of a family. A family in all ways except blood and legal paperwork.

"Yeah, yeah. No need to get all sarcastic with me. How was school today?" He flashed his trademark grin that made all the ladies swoon. Usually.

Immediately thinking about school brought Alice's train of thought to the mind-numbingly beautiful redhead-Claire-she had met with earlier that day. Fluttering wings of butterflies tickled her insides, filling her with a childish longing she hadn't felt since high school when she would 'crush' on pretty girls. Alice Abernathy did not crush on woman. She swept them off their feet and laid them down in her bed. She wasn't a romantic. She wasn't much for romance in general. Seduction and sensuality was her forte but damn it if Claire hadn't come into her classroom and blown her away. Something that had been lying dormant within Alice had stirred, groggy and vengeful, that she didn't know lived inside her old heart. Something that had a ravenous apatite for love and was drooling over the sight and idea of Claire. The little fucker had probably been the inspiration behind her word vomit and her stupid idea to give Claire all of her contact information including her home address. Fuck. She may as well have said 'Hey Claire we should totally get married and you should totally meet my parents. Wait! Don't be afraid! Come back! I love you!' because that probably would have been less subtle than the way she had verbally thrown herself at Claire. Not to mention she couldn't stop touching the redhead! Tingles had spread through her each time she even brushed the woman and Alice had quickly become addicted to the feeling.

"Alice? Hello? You in there?" The woman blinked her eyes and noticed that Carlos had come back to sit beside her on the couch (finally fully dressed) and had been waving his hand in her face to gather her attention. Oops.

With a growl she slapped his hand out of her face and snapped, "What!?"

Carlos shrugged, rubbing his battered hand that had suffered Alice's abuse, "I asked you about school and you totally went all dead zone on me."

"Oh. Yeah school was good. Had a meeting with one of my students…um, parental person. Her sister because her parents died a while back."

Carlos grimace, rubbing her palms up and down his thighs the way he did when he was uncomfortable with something, "Rough," and like he did when he didn't know how to comfort someone because he was uncomfortable, he changed the subject "Was she hot?"

Hot? The woman was a fucking goddess! But Alice couldn't say that, so she played dumb, "Who?"

"The sister duh! Who else? Come on give me details! Hair color, eye color, bust size, ass-"

"Shut up. Pig. God. Your such a man sometimes," Alice rolled her eyes and Carlos smirked, "Red, green, not telling you, and yes, she had a very fine ass. There. Happy?"

Carlos closed his eyes as if he could possibly conjure an image of a woman that could match the real memory Alice had of Claire's beautiful face, and made a pleased humming sound, "You should totally hook us up."

Jealously roared to life, washing over the walls of Alice's insides and leaving behind a burning sensation that was unpleasant as it was strong in presence. She did not like that idea. She didn't like the idea even if it was a joke and fuck if she knew why she felt so adamantly against Claire being with anyone other than her. Besides Carlos wouldn't even have a shot in hell because-the jealously subsided and was replaced with a happy warm balm over the burns it had left-because Claire was as lesbian as Alice was. Very. She smirked and plopped her legs in Carlos's lap, crossing them at the ankles.

"Sorry no can do bro."

Carlos opened his eyes and adopted a look that could easily be misconstrued as pouting, "Why not? I'm single. She's probably single. I'm hot. She's hot. It works." Alice shook her head, practically purring with giddiness for what she was allowed to say next, "She plays for the same team as me bro."

Carlos painful groan was a satisfying moment Alice. She basked in it. That's right, you can't have her Carlos because she's gay. Take it.

The sound of boots stomping down stairs alerted the brother and sister to company but neither of them made to move from the current positions of Alice using her brother as a footstool and Carlos draped over an armrest with his eyes closed and a grimace on his face. Chad Kaplan was the first one down the stairs in all his primped glory. His dishwater blond hair was nearly combed over to one side and, like his hair, he was dressed neat in a pair of gray slacks, a white button up, and a gray tie. Kaplan seemed to always be the one to dress up for these dinners, insisting that it was an insult to Anita and Ameilio should he wear anything else. The man, as always, walked tall with the straightness of only a soldier could since it had be disciplined into his reflexes. Alice gave him a lopsided smile and he gave her a playful salute that had them both laughing.

"Ma'am." He spoke, clacking heels together and standing up straighter if possible, chest out, chin tilted up, arms parallel to his sides. Alice placed two fingers above her brow and gave him a small mock salute.

"At ease Lieutenant." Kaplan tapped his eyebrow in gratitude before moving over to Carlos's mini fridge to find himself a beer or something equally alcohol infused. Carlos seemed to finally pull himself together at the appearance of his friend and shoved Alice's legs off his lap, nearly knocking Alice off the damn sofa. Two pairs of hands stopped her fall, one smaller pair gripping her arms and another pair holding her up near her hips. She heard a feminine grunt and another annoyed huff just before she was shoved back onto the cushions rather roughly.

"You could've helped at least a little Mas'er. Your like, made entirely of muscle and that shit, 's not light you know." Rain Ocampo grumbled unhappily, plopping down onto the couch near Alice's feet. The Latina was in her typical civilian clothes, a pair of black khakis with a canvas belt, her black tank top tucked into the hemline of her pants, her combat boots, and her dog tags strung around her neck, resting atop the swell of her breasts for everyone to see. Her glossy black hair was tied back in a high pony tale, out of her way in case she spontaneously needed to bust ass. She never wore makeup aside from the light glimmer of lip gloss residue her girlfriend, Jill Valentine, left on her after a kiss.

Jill herself sat down upon Rain's lap, pulling her girlfriends lean arms around her hips and twisting herself so that she could plant a kiss on the Latina's lips. Jill was dressed in a low cut, strapless blue dress that fell to about mid thigh where her extremely high legged black leather boots came up to meet the hemline. Out of the three woman, Alice being one of them, in the Spec Ops team Jill was the most fashionable one. The one that dressed comfortably like a woman. Her short raven hair was styled so that her bangs were gelled back, looping in a circle and looking like a wave crashing onto the top of her head. The ends were spiked out in a disarray that probably took an hour to perfect. Somehow, the couple that was cuddling right in front of Alice, were complete opposites but worked perfectly together. A match made in heaven.

Alice nodded at them as a greeting, muttering, "Lieutenant Ocampo, Lieutenant Valentine" and giving them the same mock salute she gave Kaplan when they nodded back. That was as long as they allowed their attention to drift from one another and quickly became engrossed in a whispered conversation that made Jill giggle and blush wile Rain just smirked. Alice wasn't jealous of their love, she had never been, but watching them now made her drift into thoughts of red hair and green eyes. Would Claire blush if Alice whispered in her ear? Would Claire giggle and sit in her lap? Fuck, she needed to get her mind set straight. Or, back to normal, not straight.

Yuri and Nicholai came down the stairs beside one another, bother Russian men straight faced and dressed respectively in pressed black clothing, not overly dressy like Kaplan but still nice. Carlos greeted both men with a clap on the back and shoved a beer in their hands, guiding them towards where he and Kaplan had been conversing about their latest adventures in life. They spared a moment to greet their commander and Alice greeted them as she did the others, with a small mocked salute.

Camaraderie among the group came easy and their conversations flew by, one after the one, painted with laughs and smiles large enough to crack faces. They spoke in turns or over one another and that never bothered them, they were always eager to hear more about one another. Some spoke with a jubilance and fluid hand gestures while they spoke and others, like Nicholai, remained still as he spoke aside from the smile stretching his bearded mouth. Laughter emanated loudly around the room from their joined circle, some sitting on the floor others grouped on Carlos's lone sofa. An hour passed before they knew it and Anita was calling them for dinner banging on the open door of Carlos's room upstairs. Like teenage children they raced one another to the dinner table, pushing and shoving with fits of laughter seeping from various people. Alice, of course, had won. As per usual.

She pulled her chair out and plopped down with a victorious smirk, flashing her teeth at the group of adults moping when they took their seats. Bright pain splashed across Alice's knuckles and she let out a surprised yelp, clutching her hand to her chest and looking up at her glowering mother who held her trusty spoon in one hand with her other placed on her cocked hip.

"What is the rule about running in this house? Need I remind you every time you come over Alice?" Anita clucked her tongue once, finalizing what she said, and rover her eyes over all the other guilty looking adults who were each very focused on their empty plates. Even if each one of them were trained killers who had been in the worst of the worst situations and come out alive, they were terrified of Anita and her spoon. As they should be. They were a lethal combination.

"That goes for the rest of you too! Be grateful I don't come over there and whack each one of ya!" For emphasis, Anita waved her spoon at them.

"We're sorry Mrs. Olivera." Rain mumbled with her head bowed and her fingers twined tightly with Jill's for comfort.

Like that, Anita's smile was back in place and she was bubbly and happy again, "That's alright Rain darling. How have you been? How's work? And you Jill? I heard that you received an award! How did that go? I bet it was exciting! Tell me everything." While Anita chatted with the other two females, Alice listened with her keen ears to the sound of the front door being opened and keys being dropped into the bowl near the door. She perked up in her chair and considered getting up to greet whom had entered the house but just when she was swinging her legs out from under the table to stand, Ameilio entered the dinning room.

Droplets of water clung to the thick threads of his suit jacket, catching the lights and shimmering brightly until they rolled away or soaked into the fabric. A black fedora sat atop his slicked back hair, water dripping from the brim off the hat onto his shinny leather shoes. His smile made the dimples in cheeks appear when his cinnamon eyes took in all of his guests sitting at the dinner table. Still smiling he unwound the scarf around his neck and set his briefcase down, leaned back through he archway of the door to toss his scarf onto the back of the couch in the living room. Before he could even move to take his jacket off, Anita was against him with her arms thrown his neck and kissing him as if she hadn't seen him in years instead of the few hours he had spent at work.

"Gross! PDA Mother! Get off him!" Carlos spit out, making gagging sounds to accompany and Alice nodded along with her, covering her eyes with her hands and groaning like she was in pain. Everyone else at the table laughed at their reactions and Jill was still cooing over how cute the adults were.

"Hello children who aren't really children anymore!" Ameilio's baritone voice spoke, amusement laced in his tone. He pecked his wife once more on the cheek before moving forward to hug Alice around her shoulders, placing a kiss atop her blond head.

"Hey Papi. How was work?" Alice gripped his forearm to reciprocate the hug just before he let go to move around the table to repeat the action with his son, clapping his hand on the backs of his guests as he pasted them.

"The usual. Pissy clients, angry boss, and more paperwork for me but I got to come home to all you and my beautiful wife so I'd say I did okay today." Ameilio threw a salacious wink towards his wife.

Anita huffed, dropping her spoon into a pot sitting in the middle of the table and put her hands on her hips, "Oh stop that you. We're much to old to be flirting at the dinner table."

Ameilio acted offended as he claimed his seat at the head of the table, looking over the faces of his guests and roaming over the assortment of food Anita had laid out, "One is never to old to flirt with their wife at the dinner table. Isn't that right girls?" Ameilio reached over to elbow Jill who sat on his right, earning him a peel of laughter from the couple.

"Here, here!" Rain clinking her fork against her wine glass, still chuckling.

"Don't encourage them Ameilio," Yuri complained, reaching over to grab a roll from the center of the table, "Nicholai and I rode with them here and listening them talk was like listening to a audiotape of porn. Disturbing."

"Oh shut up," Jill countered, throwing her roll at Yuri, "It was not that bad."

"Says you," Nicholai threw in his two cents, his voice thick with his Russian accent even after spending years growing up in America, "You don't hear yourselves. You two should come with your own 'M-rated' stamp across your foreheads."

Everyone laughed, including the couple even if the joke was at their expense. Their laughter was interrupting by the shrill chirping of Alice's cellphone, signaling that she was getting a call. Who would be calling her that wasn't already sitting at this table with her? Confused, she lifted the hem of her shirt to pull her singing phone from her pocket. It was a number she didn't recognize.

Weary, she accepted the call, blatantly ignoring everyone's stares.

"Hello…?"

"Alice, it's Claire. Ah, Claire Redfield. We talked earlier?"

A vibrant blush crawled up Alice's neck and settled in her cheeks. Claire. Claire was calling her. Her eyes widened and she darted her look from person to ever growing curious person. She could see it on their faces that they were going to pounce on her the moment she hung up the phone and she really didn't want that. Quickly she jumped up, knocking her chair over with that back of her knees.

"Claire! Hi! I'm glad you called." She hurried past the group to go hide in the kitchen, leaning her hip against the counter. That only lasted a moment before everyone piled through the doorway and grouped together, eying her blush with smiles.

"You…are?"

"Yes! Um…were you calling me to talk about my," Alice glanced at her prying family and friends, "my proposal?" She groaned in annoyance when the group 'ohh'ed and 'ahh'ed and reached behind her to grab a bag of bread to throw at them. Sadly Kaplan dodged it with ease. She turned to hurry out of the other doorway that looped around the staircase into the living room. Everyone followed but Alice moved fast enough to hopefully be out of ear range.

"Yeah, yeah I am. I thought that it was a great idea and I'd be really thankful if you could do that. I cold even scrape together something to pay you for it-"

"Oh no that won't be necessary Claire. I'm doing this as a favor for you and K-Mart. I can't take money from you for something I'd enjoy doing," Alice glanced over her shoulder to see her father giving her a suggestive wink and, because of the distraction, she missed the oncoming cough and tripped over it, "Fuck!"

"What!? What happened!? Are you alright!? What was that noise!?"

Alice rubbed her head, and glared at everyone who was laughing at her from the other side of the cough, "My skull making contact with the coffee table."

"Ouch. You gonna be alright?"

Warmth seeped into the coggles of Alice's otherwise cold heart at the sincerity and caring on Claire's voice, "Yeah I'll be fine. Thank you."

"Don't die before I can use you for babysitting." Alice heard Claire emit a breathy chuckle that sent flares of heart through the lower reign of her stomach.

"I'll do what it can. So will I be watching K-Mart at your house or should I take her to my apartment or…how would you like this to go?" Alice glanced up at her mother who was wearing a knowing smile then to her father who was leaning his arms on the back of the couch mouthing something about grandchildren. She tried not to look as appalled as she was sure she did. Rain and Jill merely were snickering and making crude hand gestures. Carlos was waggling his eyebrows and elbowing Yuri who was giving Alice a thumbs up. Nicholai looked lost and Kaplan was trying to explain it to him. Stupid. Everyone of them. Unhelpful, annoying, stupid-and she was so going to kill them after she got off the phone!

"Whatever works for you Alice, I'm just really lucky your so cool about this. Or else I would be fucked. No K-Mart-no! Put it in the bowl not the-oh god!" There was a crash on the other side following by more breathy chuckles from Claire and K-Mart's familiar laughter in the background.

"Are you alright? What was that?" Alice couldn't stop the smile spreading across her face as the sisters continued to laugh through the phone.

"K-Mart is trying to be a master chef. She figured she could crack eggs from a distance and throw the egg into the bowl. She failed. Miserably. By the way, K, your cleaning this mess up! Don't argue! You're the one that wanted to make cookies before dinner. Oh Alice…call me tomorrow when you and K-Mart get home okay?"

"I can do that Claire."

"Thank you. I'll leave some money so you guys can order a pizza or something."

"You don't need to. I have money. I am her teacher after all, they pay me to knock something into those heads."

"If your sure…so just call me and try not to let K get away with everything. She does that somehow."

"I won't. Goodbye Claire."

"Goodnight Alice. Sweet dreams."

"You too." Alice disconnected the call with a smile still playing on her lips, dropping her phone onto the carpet near her hips and momentarily ignoring her spectators.

"Who was that Alice?" Her mothers voice broke her Claire induced trance, using that same tone she used when she was asking for grandchildren. Dear god.

"No one. Dinner time?" She scooped her phone up and stood, ready to go back to the table but was blocked off by Yuri's towering figure. Traitor.

"Oh no. I think you need to tell us who this Claire is mija." Ameilio spoke around his chuckle, patting a cushion on the couch for her to sit on while she spoke. Well fuck.

Okay well…I'm being hurried to finish this so…that's it for this chapter. Please, please leave reviews!