Disclaimer: Title comes from the St. Vincent song. I don't own these characters, don't sue, blah blah.
Summary: Post RE6. The mission is over, and Jake Muller is safe, thanks to the decisive, gutsy valor of Sherry Birkin. However, questions left unanswered will always result in unfinished business, and Sherry will have to deal with the repercussions. Warning (or invitation depending how you look at it): contains OCs, spoilers, and sexual content.
AN: Jake's campaign had an excellent ending, but there were a few loose ends I thought needed tying. This story was written to help me deal with those ends, and hopefully it does the same for some of you. This first chapter could possibly be used as a walkthrough for the boss fight. Anyway, enjoy! - Raye
Prologue
They were going to put an end to this, once and for all.
Once and for goddamned all.
Their long tirade of being poked by Neo-Umbrella, having six months of their lives stolen, prodded in the Chinese research facility and being used as perennial lab rats was enough to make either of them just outright fucking pissed, but this, this was the last straw. The Ustanak that had been stalking them (or rather stalking Jake) roared beneath her, slowly sauntering angrily towards Jake on the narrow catwalk they once both stood upon. Sherry hovered above on the scaffolding of the sweltering room after being knocked away from her partner, who was trying to make do as best he could without any weapons. Her trusty sniper rifle was knocked into the unforgiving molten lava-like substance, and she swore at herself for not keeping it better secured to her person.
I could have taken a shot from up here, and I'd knock his brains out, Sherry thought wistfully, but figured action was better than regret. She mustered some leftover strength and quickly bounced up from her cowered position and towards where she could find a resource to assist Jake from her position.
She looked down upon the scene below her and frowned. Jake was trying to hold his own against the lumbering beast.
"We'll just settle this mano a mano," she heard him announce from below.
He was a master at hand to hand combat and he should be fine, but given both their weary and weathered states, the extra help would probably be appreciated.
Sherry came across an industrial cargo-moving mechanism stationed in the center of the arena. Interesting, she thought. She took a few moments to understand the structure of the rail system and how the launch control pad was similar to switch controls at a railroad yard. She grabbed the knob of the computer system and moved it, making the box of cargo point in the direction of the Ustanak and Jake's battle.
She launched the cargo box, and it swirled down the rails with hasty purpose. It swooshed past the two fighting below, and missed the Ustanak by a few hairs. A distant crash was heard on the opposite side of the boiling room.
Shit, Sherry thought.
She gave a sigh of relief when a second cargo box appeared beneath her. She noticed that the Ustanak was slowly cornering Jake to the far right end of the scaffold, and a few poorly launched boxes would result in a loss of precious time, and probably in a loss of Jake.
"Any day now, Sher!" Jake said through gritted teeth, ducking and countering a swinging punch from the lumbering, ugly assailant.
"Yeah yeah yeah," Sherry said as she positioned the launch on the final rail. She deployed the box, and it smacked the Ustanak with a pleasurable smack! Dumbfounded and stunned, the Ustanak stumbled a few steps back, leaving him wide open - and vulnerable - for Jake to unleash a fury of attacks that would hopefully disable his main attack mechanisms.
"Hey, motherfucker," Jake announced from below. "It's dinner time."
With the frightening grace and speed of something not remotely human, Jake landed a second stun attack on the Ustanak, making him haphazardly stumble further back. No longer with the intention - or ability to retaliate, Jake knew he must land the coup de gras on his assailant soon, or both he and his partner would be either mince meat or at least stuck in that awful room for a little while.
He swung a finishing punch at the Ustanak's head with such strength and precision that Jake swore he felt his fist penetrate the ugly piece of shit's head; and that's because it did. The Ustanak's jaw became unhinged, and the meat surrounding his now fractured skull flopped loose, turning it grotesque shades of purple, blue, and green.
Good foresight on wearing gloves, Jake thought as he figured he probably wouldn't get time to wash his hands after this fight.
The Ustanak teetered towards the boiling floor, but somehow maintained his balance on the edge of the scaffold, the macabre tool of death that was his arm resting on his knee.
Jesus, Jake thought, just fuck off already.
With a final swift roundhouse kick in the back, Jake knocked the Ustanak into the boiling liquid below - and before Jake could even confirm that the monster's living cells were frying to a crisp, he looked up at Sherry, her eyes wide with concern.
"Let's move!"
She replied without hesitation. "Roger!"
A few beads of sweat rained down from Sherry's forehead. She noticed a doorway that lead out of the now uncomfortably sweltering room. Jake ran and jumped up to her position, and the partners were now reunited.
Sherry peered down briefly at the once-terrifying monster, now with the physical (and probably mental) consistency of a hard boiled egg. She couldn't help but stare for a little while; it was quite a gruesome death for their ex-stalker, but looking at the scene below at least gave her a little closure.
"Let's haul some ass," Jake said, grasping her hand and gently tugging her forward, without looking down or back.
He doesn't have a sympathy mechanism - at all, Sherry thought. Not even for himself.
The two dashed across Sherry's catwalk and out the exit as alarms started to blare behind them. The electricity that powered the elevator that had gotten them to the battle room had surged through the plant and now the entire building was on meltdown - they had to find a way out of the carnage, and quickly.
A flat railbed conveniently showed up near the exit.
"Who put this here?" Jake said with a wry smirk.
"Let's just get it moving," Sherry said, climbing up towards the railbed's control panel. She pulled the ignition pullcord once, then jerked it back a second time, then greeted with the pleasurable roar of the railbed's motor growling and humming. The rising fire behind them began to blast through the corridor, and despite the stress, Sherry couldn't help but grin to herself as the railbed began to pump forward. History truly does repeat itself, she thought.
The two sat near each other, speechless for a moment, staring back at the glow of the melting core of the facility chasing them through the corridor. Neither one could speak. Sherry looked over at him and studied his features. He was tense but cautious, hardened but not cold. Her eyes traveled from his furrowed brows to the long scar on his cheek leading to his chiseled jawbone. She thought briefly about what they had been through, and how he had tried to comfort her but they would lose time and opportunity, and wondered if they would ever regain anything, or if he had already forgotten. She wanted to hold his hand again, hell, she just wanted him to touch her elbow or shoulder again. It made her feel human, and she thought - well, she hoped that he at least experienced something similar.
Maybe she was just imagining he cared, but she found herself dismissing all of his gestures a little too much. Anyway, it was dumb, and she put any thoughts on the situation on the backburner. Not important, she kept telling herself. Not important to the mission.
Their silence was interrupted by the angry, bellowing, distorted features of the Ustanak materializing out of the molten flames.
"You've got to be fucking kidding me." Jake attempted to stand up, but the recoil of the railbed hitting a bump caused him to stumble on all fours.
He looked up at Sherry, who was in a similar position. She was knocked further back on the railbed, inches from the Ustanak's grip. In that moment, he briefly remembered Sherry being pulled away from him by the numerous swarming J'avo earlier. He remembered the look of anguish in her eyes, and how she cried as he was pulled away, too. She was crying for me, Jake thought. He wanted to return the favor, but he had yet to articulate how.
He tried to reach out to her, but she was just out of reach. Luckily, she was still physically sound, and started to crawl towards the front of the railbed. The Ustanak bellowed angrily behind them and brought a crashing thud on the railbed, causing both Jake and Sherry to dodge and roll on opposite sides.
"Fucker just doesn't know when to quit," Jake said.
"Look!" Sherry gestured to the front of the railbed; a S&W .45 Magnum rested conveniently beneath the railbed's control panel.
"I find it hard to believe people just leave this shit laying around," Jake mentioned.
The two attempted to crawl towards the magnum, once again a shining beacon of hope in the near distance.
Sherry managed to wiggle a little closer, and the thundering boom of the Ustanak's attack actually jolted her closer to the weapon. By her side, Jake was in the same position, body flat on the railbed, writhing slowly away. The firey appendages of the Ustanak, however, were writing slowly closer to them, too. Sherry felt the soles of her boots begin to become pliable from the scalding heat.
"Little more..." Jake encouraged beside her. "We can do it."
Sherry's heart skipped a beat on his last statement.
We.
The blurry, incorrigible shadow of the Ustanak rising behind them was outlined on the railbed in a hazy fashion, and Sherry inched herself just close enough that her fingertips could graze the cool steel of the .45's barrel. Unexpectedly, Jake placed both of his hands on her hips and gently propelled her forward.
Sherry's hand wrapped around the black rubber grip of the revolver and swirled around on the railbed. Jake was steadily by her side, both of them crouched on all fours. Instinctively, Sherry raised the revolver in the direction of the distorted beast's figure, but the cadence of the railbed and the unevenness of the track caused her hand to uncontrollably quiver.
Come on, come on, come on, she thought, as she nervously wiped sweat off her brows with her shirt sleeve. Years of firearm training would maybe prepare her for this, but this shot - the entire world depended on her making this shot.
As tight as a grip she had on the revolver, she just couldn't keep it steady. That's when she felt Jake's gloved hand wrap around hers, one of his fingers gently brushing against her trigger finger. She heard him exhale for a brief moment as he slowly ran his thumb down the back of her palm. They looked into each other's eyes for a brief moment; Sherry's wince of uncertainty meeting Jake's steely determination. Sherry felt an inexplicable tension in her chest, and it rose to her face.
"This shit ends now," Jake announced, nodding to his partner.
Gripping the revolver together, the two turned their heads forward. Truthfully, neither of them had much patience left, and they figured that if their stalker had wanted a proportionate, fanciful death full of explosions and grandiose fireworks, he might as well get one, given the persistence and stamina the ugly beast seemed to possess.
They both pulled the trigger simultaneously in an act of unspoken synchrony. The bullet from the revolver penetrated the flames and ruptured the cranial exterior of the Ustanak's head - and buried itself deep inside its brain.
Jake imagined the round bouncing around in the beast's skull; surely by now half of its brain matter would be disintegrated into scrambled egg. He enjoyed that image for a while, as the beast relinquished its grip on the edge of the railbed.
With a gurgling roar, the second manifestation of the horrid creature disintegrated before their eyes, fell back into the melting facility, and finally perished.
The two swirled around on the railbed, now facing the metaphorical - and literal light at the end of the tunnel.
It's over? Sherry thought. It's really over?
Her thoughts were interrupted by an arm slowly pulling her closer. She looked at her partner, soot and bits of dried blood covering his hardened face. The hot feeling around her face returned, and her physical being became a little uneasy.
"You saved me," Jake admitted, his steel blue eyes gazing carefully into hers as he held her tightly on the railbed, their bodies - their faces, inches apart. "You know that, right?"
She saved him. He was beginning to see that maybe she saw more in him, that she saw potential. That maybe he wasn't his father's son after all, but had the potential to be better, to do better, and he was starting to believe that now. Speechless, Sherry could just return his gaze. She owed him as much of her life as he did hers, and there was so much she needed to say, so much that needed to be finished, but there were no words.
Just the silence of the moment, and the rocky, rhythmic bounce of the railbed on the rusty tracks.
"Thank you," he finished.
She reached out for his other hand and squeezed it tenderly. He responded by wrapping his fingers around hers, and then for a brief moment, for just a moment, Jake felt himself skipping a few breaths.
You're welcome, her eyes returned.
BUT WAIT THERE'S MOAR
First chapter coming very soon!