He hadn't stopped thinking about her for a while; she played on his mind all the time, and her memory would never fad no matter what he did. He couldn't get her voice, her petit figure or her crystal blue eyes, out of his mind. It was starting to get too much. He'd text her every so often to see how she was, and even when she text back to say she was fine and holding up okay, he knew that she was trying to put on the same brave face she did in Edonia and (especially) Lashiang.

Jake sighed inwardly as he thought about how he felt for Sherry Birkin, and how no longer than a year ago he wouldn't have cared. But she had saved him after all. From being that man, and being who his father had been. He had been a cold-hearted, selfish bastard back then, not caring because he didn't want to be hurt ever again after his mother died.

It all seemed like a lifetime ago.

'Jake?' the voice on the other end of the line jumped him from his thoughts.

'Yeah Super Girl?' Jake forgot where their first actual conversation in weeks had gotten to.

'Are you still coming to Washington?'

'No, I'm going to L.A,' Jake sarcastically remarked, a smirk on his face as he could practically see her rolling her eyes on the other end of the phone.

'Just get here soon, wise ass.' He heard her smirking as he hung up the phone and put it back in his pocket. He walked out of his motel room, across the parking lot and to his Harley Davidson. He swung his leg over and started it up, feeling a real sense of joy run through him as he heard the engine purr. He revved it a few times before kicking the stand away and speeding off.

Sherry hung up the phone and got back to her paper work. She should have been finished the day before, but had at least another hours work. Hunnigan had given her a new field mission, but she had to finish all of her paperwork before and had to wait for her field-partner of choice to get there, before they got the briefing.

She sighed loudly as she continued with writing her reports and findings. She had typed them, spoken them, and now she had to hand-write and file all of them. She'd gotten into the office at around six that morning, just so that she could hopefully get it all done before her partner got there. It was now nine, and everyone was starting their shift. Sherry decided that it was as good a time as any to have a break and get a coffee. A strong one. She walked over to the coffee machine, got a cup and turned it on.

'Sherry!' A voice called to her from the right. She turned to see Leon, finally back from his first mission after China. He reached her as she got her coffee and asked, 'you're going on a field mission already?'

'How'd you find out?' Sherry asked, slightly surprised at the older agent's knowledge of the secret.

'Hunnigan,' he answered simply, with a slight smile at the corner of his mouth. But as he thought of something, his smile dropped instantly, and suddenly his expression was serious. 'Are you sure you're okay with this? You only got back from China eight months ago.'

'As did you.' Sherry counted, a smile tugging at her lips. 'I'll be fine Leon. I need to do this. The death of Simmons didn't help us for long.' Sherry felt a pang of both sadness and guilt as she thought about the death of her legal guardian, and disheartened at the memory of finding out who he really was. She even still felt as though she had betrayed Jake by not seeing what he was going to do sooner. She knew she was going to be experimented on – that seemed to be an unspoken part of the deal. But she had no idea that they were going to do so many similar teste on the mercenary.

'Sherry –'

'Plus, I'm sick of just sitting in an office doing paperwork and filing.' Sherry cut Leon off, not wanting anymore apologies from the agent for killing Simmons, as she knew it was the right thing to do, something that had to be done. She smiled and sighed as she realised that she had some work to do. 'I'll talk to you later Leon.' The older agent nodded as she turned and walked back to her desk, ready to finish her paperwork before her partner got there.

She sat down and sipped her coffee as she continued writing up her reports and other files for around another hour. When she was finally finished at just gone ten-thirty, she sighed and went to the cafeteria for some breakfast and a decent coffee. She paid for her coffee and just-warm croissant, and as she got back to her desk her phone rang.

'Sherry Birkin,' she answered, putting down her coffee and sighing inwardly. She still hadn't filed all her work or reported to Hunnigan.

'Hey Supergirl. Interrupting something?' Jake's voice said, coy and smug as it often was.

Sherry rolled her eyes before answering. 'Just paperwork. Unlike you, I have to do the boring work too.'

Jake laughed on the other end of the phone, obviously finding the fact amusing.

'What's up Jake?'

'Just thought I'd tell you I'm about five minutes away. Or don't you want me anymore?'

'I'll meet you out front then.' Sherry ended the call, not bothering to reply to Jake's remark. Of course she wanted him to come, she wanted to see him again, and she wanted to do more than just get to know him for who he really was…

The thought brought a slight blush to her cheeks, but the heat left immediately when she remembered the fact that may not happen.

Sherry got up from her chair and quickly filed her papers before going to the main lobby. The glass panes that made up the front of the buildings foyer reflected the late February light, causing Sherry to barely be able to see outside with the bright light in her eyes, but the black silhouette of a bike stood out amongst the cars in the parking lot.

Sherry walked out into the parking lot through the glass doors and straight over to the towering figure who looked straight back at her. Sherry felt real joy for the first time in a long while as she got closer to the figure, seeing his piercing blue eyes calm, unlike back in Edonia or China. Yet, those ice-blue eyes still brought back horrid memories she remembered and saw too clearly.

Jake noticed her smile waver slightly as she walked up to him, knowing that something was bugging her. But, he also knew that there was no point in prying, as she would always say she was fine and be done with it. End of story. She'd then change the subject to anything but herself.

'Hey Supergirl. Long time no see,' Jake said as she approached him, aware if the tired circles under her eyes,

'A whole eight months,' Sherry smiled again.

Jake opened his mouth to speak, but the familiar chime of Sherry's phone ringing cut him off. She pulled it from her pocket, throwing an apologetic smile towards Jake, before giving a questioning look at the phone. Jake chuckled slightly.

'Agent Birkin.'

'Has your partner arrived yet Sherry?' Hunnigan asked.

'Yes ma'am.'

'Have you finished and filed all of the repots yet?'

'Yes. I just sent them up to you.' She stopped and thought for a moment. 'Is there a problem ma'am?'

'Excellent. But I'm sorry to inform you that you will not be briefed today.'

'What? But ma'am –'

'I know Sherry. But this is a highly classified, highly dangerous mission.' The emphasis the director of the D.S.O put on 'dangerous' sent shivers down Sherry's spine and set her nerves on edge. Jake noticed her tense her grip on her phone ever-so-slightly. 'I'm terribly sorry Agent Birkin. I have re-scheduled the briefing for tomorrow morning – you and your partner will have to be at my office for eleven a.m. If all of your paperwork has been sent up to me, you and your partner can leave.'

'Understood. Thank you ma'am.' Sherry hung up the phone with a sigh, then looked up at a puzzled Jake. 'Briefing's tomorrow. Sorry Jake.'

'No need,' Jake said, knowing that the conversation with her boss had stressed his older partner out.

'Do you need a place to stay? You can sleep on the couch.'

Jake thought about it for a moment, rubbing his chin in mock thought. 'I think I'll take you up on that.' He smiled as she smiled back at him, her cheeks slightly blushed.

'Oh!' Sherry suddenly remembered something. 'I just have to go back and get my bag. You coming?' Without waiting for an answer, Sherry turned and started to walk back to the doors, with Jake following behind her. They went to the elevator and up to the tenth floor, talking small talk for the 48 second trip. Sherry couldn't help but yawn frequently throughout the short trip, apologising every time she did. Jake shrugged it off, but couldn't quite understand why she was so tired when she had a temporary nine-to-five job. The thought was pushed aside though when the doors opened and there stood a familiar face.

'Hey Hero,' Jake said, a smirk on his face,

'The agent smiled back at him, and then firmly shook his outstretched hand. 'Nice to see you again Jake. You Sherry's partner for the mission?'

'Leon!' It's classified,' Sherry hissed from beside him, then she went to get her bag.

'Fill me in Leon.' Jake was serious, and Leon caught on. He placed his coffee on the nearest desk, paying his full attention to what the mercenary had to say. 'What's up with Sherry? She seems hell too tired to just be working on papers.'

Leon looked over to see that Sherry was already on the way back over, so quickly uttered the words 'Raccoon City.' He then took his coffee from the desk and started up another conversation. 'I hope you're not asking for $50 million again kid.' He joked as Sherry reached them.

'Don't give me that shit. Who do you think I am?' Jake said, mock hurt.

Leon chuckled slightly before replying, 'obviously not the cold-hearted Merc. I met in China.'

'You got that right.' The men smiled at each other, enjoying their little joke. 'See you around.' Leon nodded goodbye back before walking away.

The duo got back into the elevator and went back to the parking lot. They got to Jake's bike and he was about to mount it when he noticed that Sherry had stopped and seemed to be in deep thought. Jake studied her face and knew that she was thinking about something, or someone, close to her.

'Sherry?' She didn't react, but the grip on her bag tightened slightly. Jake walked around the bike to her, and placed a hand on her shoulder, looking down at the blonde with a slightly worried gaze. 'You okay?' he asked gently, his voice a whisper.

Sherry looked away for a moment before looking back, smiling up at the younger man, 'Yeah.' There was a slight paused before she said 'I really missed you Jake.'

The mercenary was taken by surprise for a moment. Not many people said that they'd missed him, and on no occasion had they been genuine – most of the time it was bullshit just to get him to come back. Jake was completely taken aback by the truth behind those words.

After a few moments, Jake regained his composure and smiled. 'C'mon Supergirl. Let's get going.' He then hopped onto his bike and Sherry got on behind him as he started up the engine.

Sherry directed him to her apartment, enjoying the rush of the wind in her boyish hair almost as much as holding onto Jake's waist. Unlike in China, she could enjoy the ride, and the fact that Jake most-probably taught himself to ride only phased her for a few seconds. She was having fun, and when they got to her apartment and parked the bike up, she didn't want to let go of the driver.