Alice stood still, her hand on the handle of the driver's side door of her jeep to watch Claire back the Hummer up into the road. The pair shared one last look before the redhead shifted the gear into drive and pulled away from the home she had shared with Alice for over a year. Automatically, she headed in the direction of the Racoon City Police department, where she knew her brother would be. It was where he always was...

As she drove, however, her mind was filled with rampaging thoughts and images, the most predominate being of the night her and Alice had shared making passionate love. It, quite possibly, had been the last time she would ever feel her lover's touch, at least for a long time, and Claire found herself wishing she had made the night last longer. It was the little things that almost haunted her now; the way Alice's breath felt against her skin, the way her stomach was resulted to a pit of butterflies when the blond said her name or told her she loved her...Things Claire knew she would miss desperately in the their time apart.

She didn't know how long she drove, but soon enough, the obnoxious sign of the RCPD came into view. She pulled into the nearest open space, which just so happen to be right in front of the door, and, after shutting off the engine, hopped from the vehicle and cleared the steps to the doors. She moved with purpose to the counter, leaning against it slightly to spot a middle-aged black man sitting at the desk, looking like he was going to fall asleep any second.

"Identification and issue," the portly officer, who hadn't looked up to greet her, droned, as if the words were engrained in his brain. Some welcome, Claire commented internally, even as she leaned against the front desk.

"Claire Redfield, here to see Chris Redfield. It's urgent," She said, straight and to the point. This seemed to gain the officer's attention, and he looked up at her with sharp eyes, looking her up and down before he asked for her I.D. Claire reached around toward her back pocket before she realized she had left it in the truck, silently cursing herself for the un-necessary waste of time, especially when she was in such a hurry. However, a voice calling her name saved her from the explanation.

"Claire?" the voice was distinctly feminine, and the redhead looked over to see Jill, her brother's partner, approaching her. The woman was dressed as usual, complete with the khaki cargo pants, white shirt with the S.T.A.R.S logo on it's arm, and green vest. Matching green boots encased her petite feet, and a pistol holster was strapped to her thigh. Claire noted, internally, that the black haired woman in combat gear didn't look nearly as good as Alice did.

"Hey, Payten, she's good. She's who she says she is," the black haired woman said to the man sitting on the desk, who looked away disinterestedly.

The two women met halfway, Jill's usually stoic face adopting a confused, worried expression. Claire, in turn, breathed a sigh of relief at seeing her best friend, but this wasn't a social call.

"Claire, is everything alright?" The woman asked, her beautiful face marred with concern.

"I'm here for Chris. Can you get him for me?" the redhead asked, not wasting any time. Jill looked even more confused, but she nodded in agreement.

"Sure. Give me a minute," Jill said, walking away to go get her brother. Thankfully, Claire didn't have to wait very long. Chris soon came into view, dressed in the same uniform as Jill, his large bulk only too familiar to the redhead. Immediately, he walked forward and grasped Claire's hands, his expression one of worry.

"Claire?" he asked questionably, his green eyes narrowed slightly. "What's wrong. Why are you here?" If Claire hadn't been in so much of a hurry, she would have found his worry touching. But, she was running out of time, so she immediately got down to business. Grabbing her brother's hand's in return, she pulled him to the side and proceeded to explain in hushed tones.

"We have to leave. Alice got a call, and she had to go to work. Something happened..." she paused in her haste to explain everything in a few seconds, even thought she was failing miserably. "She dressed in combat gear, Chris, combat gear!" The redhead ended frantically, almost losing control of her carefully contained emotions in her haste.

"Hey, It's fine" her brother said soothingly, pulling the redhead into his embrace. If Claire had been able to see his face, she would see the realization mixed with fear there. Chris, like Alice, knew exactly how dire the situation was, and once more thanked God that his sister was with someone as capable as Alice. The blond always thought of her lover before herself, and it was one reason Chris respected her so much. But, with what he knew was coming, he couldn't leave. Alice had known that, but apparently she hadn't told Claire.

"No Chris, It's not. I've never seen her like that. She just kept telling me to get out of the city, no matter what. Over and over again. What's going on?" Claire begged her brother for the answers her lover wouldn't give her, hoping that Chris would explain.

"Something bad, Claire. But you have to listen to Alice. Get out of the city. Today. Now," he specified, pulling away from Claire to look into her green eyes. "Do you have food...water?" Claire simply nodded, absorbing the fact that he wasn't going to tell her anything either. And then, it hit her. He had said 'you', not 'we'.

"You're not coming...?" she asked in disbelief, seeing the answer flash in her brother's matching green eyes before he ever answered with words.

"No, I'm not coming," he replied guiltily, unable to meet his sisters gaze anymore.

"I cant believe this! First Alice and now you! Is everyone going to abandon me without any sort of explanation?" The redhead was in a rage now, unable to believe that the two people she loved most in her life were leaving her alone. Chris reached out to grasp her shoulder, but she immediately ripped away from him, not wanting to feel him touch her.

"Claire, would you give me a second," he pleaded, becoming intensely aware of the eyes that were starring at him. Jill immediately came over, her expression almost angry.

"What's going on?" the black-haired woman asked, her eyes flashing between Chris and Claire.

"It's happened," the man replied simply, much to Claire's disbelief. Jill looked, at first, shocked and then abashed, which only furthered the redhead's anger.

"So she knows what the fuck is going on, but I don't?" the redhead raged, ignoring the surprised look on the other woman's face. Chris stepped forward to grasp his sister's shoulders, and forced her to meet his eyes.

"I'm trying to tell you!" he waited a moment to let his sister calm before he continued. "For years now, Umbrella has been working on some kind of viral weaponry. Alice, Jill, myself and a few others have been trying to expose them. Alice was working undercover in their facility, called the Hive. She was trying to figure out what they were working on, and a few days ago, she did. It's some kind of Bio-Organic Weapon, called the Tyrant Virus," he said, speaking in frantic, hushed tones to a very surprised Claire.

So many questions were buzzing around her head at once. Alice was working undercover? Why hadn't she told her? Viral Weaponry? Eventually, Claire just settled for a dumfounded 'What'.

Jill, who took her 'what' as a question about Chris' last comment, felt the need to elaborate. "We don't know much about it, and we don't know what they want to do with it, but we can only assume it isn't anything good."

"Why...why didn't she tell me," It was the one thing Claire really wanted to know. And the answer came faster than she could expect.

"I didn't want her to tell you. I wanted it to be kept from you. Just in case something went wrong, you wouldn't be envolved. I wanted-" Claire didn't give him a chance to finish, and instead went straight into bitching him out.

"You didn't want me to be involved? Chris, what the fuck! I am involved! Just by being with Alice, I'm involved! Everyone knows we're together! If something happened, don't you think they would expect me to be apart of it?"

Chris, thankfully, was saved from having to answer by Jill. "Did she tell Carlos?" The brunette asked, concern clear on her face.

"I...I don't know. She didn't call anyone after Umbrella, but she might have since I left her."

Jill nodded, before turning to Chris. "I have to call him. I have to let him know."

Before she could duck away, however, Claire spoke again, her face tight with anger. "Was I the only one that didn't know about this?"

"Yes." Claire turned her rage fully on Chris, and Jill took the opportunity to slip away unnoticed.

"Of all the fucking stupid things, Chris. What the hell were you thinking?" Claire's arms were crossed over her chest, and Chris recognized the look on her face intimately. He was about to be in big trouble.

"I didn't want you to be involved. I was just trying to keep you safe."

"So you decided to keep me uninformed? That isn't keeping me safe, Chris. That's putting me in more danger. I can't believe Alice agreed to this!"

"It took a lot of convincing, believe me."

"I'm not leaving." This seemed to get his attention, because Chris' jaw dropped.

"What do you mean, your not leaving?" he practically yelled, catching the instant attention of everyone in the station as well as Jill. The black-haired woman made her way back to the siblings, a look of concern on her face.

"If you're not coming, I'm not leaving..." This was the only way she could think of to make him come with her, and there was no way she was leaving without him. She wasn't going to lose both Alice and Chris this night.

"Claire..." It was Jill that tried to reason, and her best friend placed a hand on her arm. Claire jerked it away, flashing her a glare that she had not earned. "Claire, this is stupid. Something is coming. Something bad...and do you think Alice and Chris or myself for that matter would be able to fight it knowing you would be in danger?"

"Why the fuck does everyone assume that I can't take care of myself!" the redhead shouted indignantly, earning many shocked glances. "I might not be a cop or extensively trained in combat like everyone else of my God damn friends, but I can take care of myself! I can handle a piece just as good as you or Chris can, and I can kick ass just as well too." At this, both Chris and Jill raised their eyebrows. "Okay, maybe not as well as you two, but I can kick ass with the best of them!" She was on a rage now, and ranting just so happen to be her rage downfall.

"I can't believe Alice agreed to this..." It was a frustrated growl now, and Claire find herself regretting promising Alice she would leave town. After a few moments of pacing, which Jill and Chris watched her do warily, Claire turned toward them, eyes narrowed and lips pressed in a thin line. "Fine." Both Jill and Chris were adequately shocked.

"Wha...what?" Chris mumbled, his expression completely dumfounded.

"I'll leave. But not for you and not for Jill or anyone else. I'm leaving because I promised Alice I would. But the next time you see her," she said, her voice going from almost wistful to threatening. "You tell her that she has some explaining to do, and she better come up with one hell of a way to make this up to me. I'm talking about sexual favors that have never been even dreamed about before."

At this, both Chris and Jill grimaced. The latter decided to comment. "I so did not want or need to know that." At Claire's glare, however, she wisely shut up.

"Okay..." Chris said after a second, passing Jill a worried glance.

"You had better hope that this 'situation' isn't as bad as you think it is. Because if you get yourself killed, you're going to be in soo much trouble," the redhead said with conviction, her mouth set in a thin line. Chris smiled and stepped forward, pulling the redhead into a tight hug.

"Yeah, sis, I know. I know." Claire returned the embrace, and she felt unwilling tears fell her eyes.

When the siblings unwillingly pulled apart, Jill immediately too Chris' place, and Claire felt herself clinging to her best friend in a desperation. Tonight she would have to walk away from everyone who meant the most to her, and it was much much harder than she would have anticipated.

"I love you. Stay safe," Jill whispered in her ear, the black-haired woman's arms tightening just a bit before they broke apart. The tears Claire had spent so much effort trying to conceal unwillingly spilled from her eyes, and she reached up a hand to impatiently brush them away.

"Be careful, sis." Chris' voice caught, and she could tell he, too, was fighting back tears. A glance to his right side confirmed that, though Jill was defiantly torn up about the situation, she was nowhere close to water works. She was simply too proud and dignified for such things. She flashed the redhead a small smile, and with that, Claire turned and headed back through the double doors, down the steps, and toward the hummer...and away from the people that meant the most to her.

Parting Notes; Okay, my dears. This is the last of it for Engagement Party! I hope you enjoyed the ride, and don't despair. A sequel is already planned! I just have to finish a few things I'm already working on, which I'm sure you all will enjoy, and then I'll begin working on it. Please remember to leave reviews (because I love them!) and throw in some ideas about what you would like to see in the sequel, eh? Thanks for sticking with me this long, guys. Much love, Luxor.