Disclaimer: I own nothing having to do with the Resident Evil brand in any way, shape or form, nor do I have any fiscal stake in writing this story. It is all for my creative enjoyment. The only things I own are my original story ideas and my own characters.

Author's Note: Ok, so I have to first stop and say a HUGE thank you to everyone who reviewed. Honestly, I never thought I'd get half the responses that I did, so I'm completely overwhelmed. That and they came flooding in so quickly too. I really, really appreciate it when anyone gives up their time to review, and I'm so happy that you all seem to like my little story. Admittedly, I am very much a person who writes selfishly. I've been writing solely for myself for quite a few years now, but I am very new to sharing my ideas with others. So whenever someone gives me feedback, whether positive or negative, I really am very appreciative of you taking the time at all. Anyway, that's enough of that. I thank you humbly again a thousand times.

Next up, chapter two! To be completely honest, I had a small handful of this already written when I posted the first chapter, so that's why this was able to be uploaded so fast. Last chapter was kind of ridiculously super long in terms of a typical chapter of mine, but I wanted the flashback and a nice chunk of Sherry/Jake introduction to the story in it. To say I was shocked when I saw the word count was 7500 is an understatement. Whoops. And as much as I hate to admit it, this chapter is pretty long as well. Again, completely unintentional. I usually have about 3000ish words in a chapter, but here we're getting close to 6500. I had a written, basic outline of how I wanted it to go and then I kept writing out all the lovely little details and before I knew it I had done it again. Oh well. I hope you all don't mind.

One quick last little note, then the exciting next installment. I just wanted to put an informal second disclaimer in here with the aim of not getting hopes up for quick updates. Chapters 1 & 2 are much longer than normal and I updated this story super, super fast. In a perfect world I would be able to crank out and upload a new chapter every two days, but in reality that's most likely not going to happen. That being said, chapter 3 will be up as soon as I've finished and proofed the crap out of it. That could be in 36 hours or 36 days. You never know. Just wanted to put that out there.

As always, I hope you enjoy what I've written here. Happy reading, and if you are so inclined, reviews are always loved and appreciated. Thanks very much.


As Sherry followed slightly behind Piers, she glanced around the crowded airport terminal. She had been her fair share of places in the world that were not necessarily fond of the United States, but it had been a while since she'd been in the Middle East. Sherry had forgotten how some people felt about Americans. With some of the looks she was getting, Sherry couldn't help but wonder how many more and how much worse the looks would be if they knew Piers was B.S.A.A. and she was a government agent.

Quickening her steps a fraction, Sherry moved to stand slightly closer to Piers as they approached baggage claim. She wasn't generally a nervous person, but having an assigned partner on this mission was definitely a comfort. Sensing her presence at his side, Piers glanced down at the significantly shorter woman beside him. "You ok?" he murmured quietly, his eyes darting around their general area to search for the source of her discomfort.

Nodding subtly, Sherry re-adjusted her backpack on her shoulder. "I'm fine."

Standing in line for the secure baggage claim, Piers began to feel lots of eyes on him, some more critical than others, but all interested in he and Sherry's prescience. Glancing to his left, Piers found a group of elderly men whispering amongst themselves, a few pointing or gesturing to Sherry as they spoke. She was dressed rather conservatively in brown pants with an off white button up, but based on the lack of skin showing on the other women around them, Piers guessed Sherry's outfit was part of the issue.

Looking down to his female companion, an idea came to him. "Just play along," Piers whispered, his right arm coming up to wrap around Sherry's shoulders in a relaxed manner.

Sherry's eyes widened in shock as she turned within his hold to shoot him a questioning look. "What are you doing?" she murmured, trying not to move her lips as she smiled widely up at him.

"Relax," Piers grinned brightly back at her, gently pulling her against his side. "Turkish people aren't the biggest fan of men and women traveling together who aren't… attached. People were giving you weird looks. "

"This is going to help how?" Sherry asked, smiling up at him as she wound her arms around him, giving him a slightly tighter than necessary squeeze.

Chuckling at her, Piers nodded respectfully at another couple who passed them. "Being a married couple will just be easier for right now."

Her smile faltering, Sherry coughed slightly, clearing her throat. "I'm sorry, we are what now?"

Rolling his eyes, Piers pulled her along as the counter finally freed up. "Hello," he greeted friendly, removing his arm from Sherry to lean against the counter. "We have a few items we need to pick up," he explained, pulling out their two check tickets.

Nodding, the attendant punched some numbers into the computer. "Identification, please," he murmured, looking up at them expectantly.

Sherry and Piers presented their passports. "We're on our honeymoon," Piers smiled brightly, his arm returning to Sherry who hid her face in his side to conceal her deep blush. "She's shy," he joked.

"I see," the man nodded, returning their papers to Piers who filed them away in Sherry's pack. "If you will sign here," he explained, pointing to an electronic sign pad before moving away.

"Stop it," Sherry hissed, pinching Piers' side as he laughed quietly.

"Stop what, honey?" he teased.

Sherry opened her mouth to reply, but the man had returned with their cases. "Here you are Mr. and Mrs. Nivans," he said, handing a large case to Piers and the smaller case to Sherry.

"Thanks," Piers smiled warmly, grabbing Sherry's right hand in his free left one. "Come on, baby."

"Don't 'baby' me," Sherry hissed.

As they made their way to the pick-up area, Sherry became more and more comfortable holding her partner's hand in public. With the exception of a few brief moments with Jake, she had never held hands with a man before. It was an innocent enough gesture, and Sherry found that she kind of liked it. It was a much different experience from holding Jake's hand, which was normally gloved and almost always only available to her during emergency situations. Piers' hand was calloused and slightly rough. Not in a bad way, but very different.

When they stepped outside, there was a hummer a few cars down with a soldier waiting outside of it. As he caught sight of Piers' military green duffle, the man stepped away from the car, holding his hand to his face in a salute of respect. "Lieutenant Nivans and Agent Birkin?" he questioned. Piers nodded, saluting him back. "Welcome to Turkey."

"Thank you," Sherry smiled, shaking his outstretched hand as Piers dug through her bag and retrieved their identification, presenting it.

Looking it over, the man nodded in confirmation. "If you would please," he said, standing aside and holding the door open for them.

Piers shoved their ID's into his pocket as he gestured towards the armored vehicle. "Ladies first."


The ride to the base was a little over an hour in which Sherry and Piers mostly sat in silence. Every so often, one of the Turkish soldiers would pose a question to one or both of them which they answered before the silence would resume. When they arrived at the base, Sherry moved to open her door, but Piers' hand on her arm stopped her.

Looking back, she pulled her hand from the handle. "Remember with Director Fields said. They are air taxing us to Maldonia, but they don't know what we're doing there."

Sherry nodded, pulling her arm away to pat Piers gently on the side of his face. "Don't worry, hubby. I read the file."

Leaving him stunned and slack jawed, Sherry slid from the hummer with a pleased smile on her face. Following behind her closely, the pair was escorted into a hangar.

A highly decorated soldier approached, Piers immediately stopping in his tracks to salute him. The man waved him off, a casual expression on his face. "Welcome to Turkey," he greeted in a very thick accent.

"Thank you, sir," Sherry greeted, shaking his hand. "Agent Sherry Birkin, United States Department of Homeland Security."

"First Lieutenant Piers Nivans, B.S.A.A.," Piers introduced as the man shifted his gaze to him.

"It is an honor," he nodded, shaking Piers' hand quickly. "I am General Irem Demir. If you will follow me." Piers fell into step next to the general as he began leading them towards the entrance to the inner building. He explained some short history of the base and it's accommodations.

"And here we have a mission ready room," he said, stopping and placing his hand on the handle to the room, opening the door. Stepping inside, Sherry and Piers followed silently. "You two may use this space to prepare. Feel free to leave behind anything unwanted or not needed and it will be sent back to the United States for you. Unfortunately, there is limited time before the helicopters leave for Maldonia, thirty minutes to be exact. I'm sure you are aware that you two are being taken over with a supply drop."

Sherry slipped her backpack off, turning around with a confused expression on her face. "We are part of a supply drop?" Sherry asked, a hint of nervousness in her voice.

"Is there a problem?" the general asked, his hands folding behind him as Piers tossed his duffle onto one of the benches.

"No, sir," he answered for them both. "No problem."

Hesitating a moment in the doorway, General Demir held out his hand to them both, shaking them again. "Best of luck to you both."

"Thank you, sir," Piers murmured as the door swung closed behind him. Sighing, he turned back around, unbuttoning his shirt.

"Whoa, what are you doing?" Sherry hissed, slapping a hand over her eyes as she spun around.

Laughing, Piers slipped the shirt from his arms, setting it on the bench. "General Demir said we only have a handful of minutes before our taxi leaves, so I'm getting ready. I suggest you do the same."

Grabbing his duffle, Piers pulled out each item out and carefully set them up in a row on his bench. Sherry glanced over her shoulder through her separated fingers at the exposed muscles of Piers' back as he slowly unpacked his items. Her throat became dry as she tried to swallow, feeling her cheeks heat up. Averting her eyes, Sherry moved to her own backpack, pulling out a neatly folded navy blue t-shirt. Nibbling on her bottom lip self conscious, she looked over her shoulder again.

Spinning back around, her eyes wide, Sherry tried to force the feeling of intrusiveness at seeing her B.S.A.A. partner in only his briefs. Quickly she ripped off her blouse before pulling her t-shirt over her head.

"You dressed?" Piers asked after a minute or two, his back still to Sherry, not wanting to invade her privacy.

"Yeah," Sherry murmured, turning as Piers moved to sit, facing her as he pulled on his socks.

"You ever parachuted before?" he asked, tucking his cargo pants into his boots before lacing them up tightly.

Nodding, Sherry slipped off her flats, pulling out boots from her backpack. "Outside of training exercises, once, and it wasn't a good experience," she mumbled, her mind flashing back to when she and Jake had to jump from the helicopter back in Edonia.

"Faulty shoot or something?" Piers joked. Seeing no smile on her face, his fell. "What happened?"

Sighing, Sherry tied her boots laces. "It was Edonia after Jake and I ran into you and Chris. A BOW attacked or helicopter and we had to bail." At recounting it, she couldn't help in involuntary shiver that ran up her spine, the memory of the hunk of metal from the copter wedging through her body. "A piece of sheet metal from the explosion got embedded in my back," she explained solemnly, her eyes drifting to the floor.

"But your body healed itself," Piers said, his voice quiet and hesitant.

"It's funny… most people who find out about my healing and automatically assume it's some kind of gift. No one ever stops to think about whether or not I feel the pain. For whatever reason, despite the severity of the injuries, I haven't died, but that doesn't mean I don't feel it." Looking up, Sherry locked eyes with Piers. "When it sets in and the air won't come to my lungs, I don't stop and think everything's going to be fine. I think I'm going to die. No matter how many times this happens, the pain still hurts me just as much as it would you. The fear is just as real."

Piers frowned, leaning forward, holding out his right hand to her. Looking at it with curiosity, Sherry placed her hand in his. His left coming to cover hers, Piers' face was clearly filled with genuine concern. "I promise you that I will do everything in my power to keep you safe out there. No one should have to go through that, healing or not."

"Thank you, Piers," Sherry whispered, doing her best to keep her emotions in check.

Giving her hand a gentle squeeze, Piers released it. Sniffling, Sherry wiped away the unshed tears from her eyes, slipping on her shoulder holster. "So, how do you plan on taking that huge thing with us if we are jumping out of a helicopter?" Sherry asked, nodding towards Piers' hard case that held his sniper riffle.

Fastening the Kevlar vest over his shirt, Piers pointed behind his back quickly before he began filling his multiple vest pockets and compartments linked to his belt with extra cartridges of ammo. "Under normal circumstances with a gun like mine, there would be no way that I could take it unless I held it in my hands. The other option would be an over the shoulder sling wouldn't be safe or substantial enough for freefall. There is a complicated harness that I could wear in a similar fashion to the one you have with the two arm straps, but that doesn't fit with the vest and it wouldn't fit well with the parachute pack either," he explained, placing his handgun into it's place on his leg attachment. "But we got this really great engineer who works for B.S.A.A. and he fabricated a harness for me that is built right into my vest, so I never have to worry about it."

"Wow," Sherry mumbled, impressed with his statement as she finished loading up her ammo as well. "I wish I had my own fabricator."

"Comes in handy," Piers grinned, standing. "So, you ready?" he asked, giving her a once over.

Sherry made an odd face as she stood as well, pulling her tan jacket on. "I can never feel 100% prepared before I go out on a mission," she shared, setting her bag with Piers' to be sent back to the US. "Until we get going, there's no way to know how this is going to go, and there's always some little voice in the back of my mind saying something doesn't feel right or something is going to go wrong." She watched as Piers locked his riffle in place on his back. "You, however, look calm and ready."

"Not quite," Piers murmured, picking up the last item on the bench; a worn dark green scarf. Wrapping it around his neck, he smiled brightly. "Now I'm ready."

"Nice scarf," Sherry grinned as Piers moved to the door, holding it open for her.

"Thanks. Just in case you're wondering, it's lucky," he said honestly, adjusting it as they began slowly making their way back to the hangar, Sherry's laughter following them.


The ride over wasn't very long. There was a small bench in the hold of the helicopter where Sherry sat with Piers and two Turkish soldiers.

"We are at the drop site!" one of the soldiers shouted as he stood, the other moving to open the hatch. "The supplies will go first, then you two are up!"

"Roger!" Piers bellowed, nodding as he checked the straps on his parachute. Sherry carefully stood, watching as the two Turkish men began pulling the rip cords on the cargo, sending it spiraling out into the air. "You ready?" Piers yelled, turning to Sherry.

Looking down at all the straps from the parachute, Sherry shrugged. "Let's hope so."

Piers bent down and inspected her closely, tugging on things and tightening straps. "You're good to go," he nodded in approval, standing back. The pair watched as the last supply case was sent flying from the helicopter, the two soldiers approaching them.

"I don't know what you're doing in this country," the one said, shaking his head. "But I wish you luck. You will need it."

Sherry's head tilted to the side in thought at his comment. "Why would you say that?"

The second laughed, muttering something in Turkish before giving her a critical once over. "Maldonia is overrun with BOW's and the reports we get out of it aren't pretty. The army has lost so many men the king had to hire hundreds of mercenaries just to try and control the chaos. Whatever you are doing there, it'd better be important for you to risk your lives."

"It is," Sherry answered quickly, her face serious.

Laughing to himself, the second soldier moved past them towards the cockpit. Piers was completely un-phased by the negativity of the other soldier, reaching his hand out to shake the hand of the one who remained. "Thanks for the lift, Airman."

Nodding in respect, the man gave him a hearty slap on the back. "Best of luck to you both."

Turning to Sherry, Piers gave her a lopsided grin. "Let's do this."

"Yeah," Sherry breathed, her hand moving up to double check she knew where the ripcord was. "More like let's get this over with, but to each their own."

Chuckling, Piers walked to the edge of the loading bay, looking out over towards the ground below. "See you on the ground, Birkin!" he yelled over the loud noise of the rushing wind before jumping out.

Following suit, Sherry stepped to the edge and watched Piers fly through the air. Turning back to the soldier who stood at the ready to pull the door closed behind them, she gave him a salute. "Have a nice day!" she smiled, turning and throwing herself from the helicopter.


From his place in the highest tower of the mostly abandoned rubble that used to pass for a city, Jake glared up at the crates with parachutes attached falling from the sky. "Typical."

"What is, mate?" beside him, Fredrick was on his stomach on the hard, dirty floor, his eye attached to the scope of a sniper riffle as he scanned the area.

"Turks are making another supply drop, but just like last time it's on the fucking other side of town." Sighing, Jake sat down beside his teammate and looked out over the city.

"Those bastards!" Fredrick hissed theatrically, earning a chuckle from Jake. "But to be honest, that is where base is, so it makes sense. It just sucks for our little gang who actually gets up off our asses and kills some of these freaks, unlike most of those lazy shits."

Jake mumbled an agreement, leaning to the side to rest his head against the brick of the wall. "Let's be honest, there's no way in hell we are actually going to kill every single BOW in this pitiful little country. How long are we going to keep at this. I mean, it's been three months already and I feel like we've barely dented things. This country's a lost cause."

"You forget that I just got here a few weeks ago, darling," Fredrick muttered off handedly as he continued to scan the ground below. "We've just begun to play as a family unit. Give it a little longer. Besides, just look at this city and all the change we've made here. This was quite the hot zone for a while and now we have to hunt each BOW left individually. Remember when I first got here? I could throw a bloody stone at random and hit a BOW, for fuck's sake."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Jake waved him off, blinking down at his dirty hands. "But now what? People can come back to their homes? What homes? They're all piles of shit and the whole country's in the same boat. It's a fucking mess man. If I was a refugee from this crap, I'd just cut my losses and move somewhere else."

Shrugging, Fredrick pulled his face away from the scope. "Home is home, mate."

Jake let out a quiet snort, shaking his head. "Home's overrated. We didn't all grow up with a solid gold spoon in our mouths like you, Freddy."

Fredrick had a good sense of humor and could laugh at himself, which he did often. "True, but after a while, one grows tired of all that grandeur," he chuckled, sitting back to lean against the wall across from Jake.

"Is that why you're down here in the trenches with us lowly peasants?" Jake asked, malevolently. "Tired of sleeping with your maids?"

"I did not sleep with my maid," Fredrick said, mock offense in his voice and a bright smile on his face. "She is sixty seven years old and spent more hours with me than my own mother." Looking out over the city as he laughed to himself, Fredrick smirked. "My mother's maids however…"

"You're a class act, Richy Rich," Jake muttered, the men laughing together.

Fredrick raised an eyebrow at the nickname. "Oh, now I'm Richy Rich am I? I may come from money, but my personal back account can't hold a candle to yours, Mr. I-Saved-The-World-For-Fifty-Million-Dollars."

Ignoring him, Jake nodded his head out the hole in the building. "How do you think Cliff's doing with Gregor on the ground down there?"

Fredrick shrugged, mirth in his eyes. "The man has some serious anger problems and yet we keep selfishly putting him with Gregor the melodramatic toad. What's wrong with us?"

Jake smiled to himself. "I know why I put him with Gregor." Giving him a questioning look, Jake laughed. "I am secretly hoping he snaps and kills him."

"You're terrible," Fredrick couldn't help but chuckle at the thought. Whether or not he was serious wasn't overly important to his conscious. "So… do you think today's the day?"

"What day is that?" Jake questioned, his eyes moving to the city below them.

"That we're finally going to get the big guy," Fredrick clarified.

"Beats me," Jake shrugged. "It'd be nice to not have him looming over us anymore though. Speaking of looming-"

"Tower, come in. Over." Jake and Fredrick's eyes snapped to the walky talky that was setting on the ground beside Fredrick's riffle.

Reaching down to pick it up, Fredrick wiggled his eyebrows suggestively in excitement as he held down the talk button. "This is the lovely Fredrick Daniels on tower. What do you have for me, Clifford?"

Rolling his eyes, Jake gave Fredrick a stern look. 'What?' he mouthed. "We've got movement on the ground down here," Cliff's voice crackled from the plastic box.

"What kind of movement?" Jake questioned, grabbing the communication device from Fredrick.

"How rude," Fredrick scoffed, glaring at his partner.

There was a moment of silence before Cliff's answer came through. "We have a woman and with what appears to be a small military detail of sorts."

"Fred-"

"On it," Fredrick interrupted, already getting back on his stomach and searching for it on his scope. "I don't see… wait, there they are. Got 'em." Fredrick mumbled quietly.

"How many?" Jake inquired, following the line of the scope and squinting down between the buildings.

Counting to himself, Fredrick double-checked before reporting. "Seventeen that I can see, but that's an odd number. I'd guess at the very least three somewhere off that we can't see as well."

Frowning at his friend's words, Jake glanced down at him. "Don't say uh oh. Uh oh, what, Daniels? What does that mean?"

Leaning back from his scope, Fredrick frowned up at Jake. "We've got a kid, too."

"A kid?" Jake asked, not believing him. "What is this, protection detail?" Pressing the talk button, Jake looked down at the group of people below. "Cliff, what's your status? Where are you two compared to them?"

"They've stopped forward progression," Fredrick relayed, watching the group closely.

"We are on the South side of the street about 30 meters behind the contingency," Cliff's scratchy voice came through quiet but clear.

"They're breaking off," Fredric whispered, the grip on his riffle tightening. Jake stood, looking over the edge to below him, rubbing his chin in thought. "What are we doing here, Jake?" Fredrick hissed.

His foot tapping in agitation, Jake growled to himself as he moved away from the hole in the building to pace the small room. "I don't know!" he murmured, frowning. "They're not with us, that's for sure, but we have no way to tell if they're hostiles or what the hell they're doing here."

"Woman's being lead into a warehouse and it looks like they're setting up a perimeter around it. A few guys are taking the kid to the building across the street."

"We're staying put, but keep an eye on them," Jake muttered into the walky talky.

Sitting up away from the riffle, Fredrick moved to stand. "So, what do we do, just wait for them to move on?"

Shaking his head, Jake ran his fingers through his short hair. "I don't know man," he shrugged.

Fredrick sighed, shrugging too. "We should probably get at street level in case shit hits the fan. Cliff and Gregor will need someone on this side to manage."

Nodding, Jake checked his current clip. "You stay here and be our back-up. Radio me if anything changes," he murmured, switching on his radio and placing in his ear link-up.

"Roger," Fredrick muttered, shouldering his riffle as he got situated once more.


"See, that wasn't so bad." Sherry frowned down at the tangled straps and cords from her parachute as Piers attempted to help her get out of her harness.

"It was nowhere near as bad as last time, but that didn't mean it was an enjoyable experience," Sherry grumbled, shrugging out of the device.

Piers chuckled to himself as he took a step back, offering her his hand for support as she stepped out of the tangled mess she was standing in. "You're not an extreme sports, thrill seeker kind of person, are you?" Sherry narrowed her eyes at her partner earning an amused laugh as Piers held up his hands in surrender. "Didn't think so."

"My job is enough of an extreme experience for me, thank you very much." As they began heading towards the city, Sherry felt her pocket buzz. Un-zipping her jacket, she pulled her phone out.

"What's up?" Piers asked as he detached his gun from his back and pulled the strap over his head.

Sherry held up a silencing finger as she took the call. "Yes, sir," she greeted formally. Piers watched her carefully, his arms resting on his gun as he stood at the ready. "You're sure?" Sherry asked, blinking in confusion. "No, that's no problem. We can handle it."

Sighing, Piers' eyes scanned the immediate area. In the distance was the contingency of troops for the region's camp that were cleaning up the country, the crates of supplies scattered around the terrain. He and Sherry had landed a distance away and were just on the outskirts of the mostly destroyed city. As he waited for Sherry to finish getting further instructions, Piers critically surveyed the territory. "What a mess," he whispered to himself as he adjusted his ear communication device.

"Yes, sir," Sherry murmured, hanging up and fiddling with her phone.

"So," Piers breathed, coming to look over Sherry's shoulder at her phone. "What's the story?"

Pulling up the map with coordinates, Sherry held it up to show her partner. "Raya Falk is here," she explained, pointing to the red flashing dot on the map. "And we are… here." Sherry moved her finger to point out there position.

Nodding, Piers stood back and stared forward into the city. "So we're not that far away."

"No, but there's a catch," Sherry said, her hands coming up to rest on her hips. "There's an unknown group of men in the city who are armed that aren't with the Maldonian army."

Piers scrunched his eyes in thought as he turned to face Sherry. "Hostile or unknown, and what is their location in relation to us and to the target?"

"Target is separate as far as we know, but they're closing in on her," she sighed, shaking her head. "I don't know what you think, but that sounds like they're after her."

"Yeah," Piers murmured, frowning. "Well, we better get our asses in gear, because we have to get there first."


Sherry followed Piers at a quick pace as they made their way through the seemingly abandoned streets. "The building she's in is just up ahead," Sherry said, her breathing heavy.

Piers stopped and turned to her, his chest heaving. "Alright, you go grab her and the kid. I'm going to get some height over… there," he said, pointing to a tall building across the street. "That way I can cover you when you're on your way out." Pulling out his phone, Piers pulled up the map of the region. "If we run into trouble, which I'm hoping we don't, head for the drop site."

"Right," Sherry nodded, pulling out one of her handguns and checking her clip before sliding it back in, cocking it back. "No point in dragging this out I guess," she sighed, jogging off towards the entrance of the warehouse.

"Sherry!" Piers called after her quietly. Spinning around, Sherry blinked back at him. "Be careful."

Flashing him a quick smile, Sherry saluted him. "You too. Don't let anyone get me, kay?"

"Roger," Piers nodded, taking off for the tall building across the street.


"What's your status?" Jake whispered, his gun at the ready as he scouted out the first floor of the building he was in.

"Taken three out so far." Gregor's voice reported. "Cliff's got two as well. You?"

Jake held his breath as he swung into the next room, his eyes and gun scanning it carefully. "None yet, but I know at least two came in this way."

"Do we know their deal yet?" Gregor breathed.

"Haven't met anyone yet," Jake answered, crouching down to inspect an old dusty book. "When I do, I'll stop and ask them."

"We have some movement on the street." Fredrick came through loud and clear to all three other men.

His gun hand on his hip, Jake moved his other to press his communication device further into his ear. "Same guys?"

"No," Fredrick drew out, as he focused in on the man. "Two new peope. One in civilian looking clothes and the other is definitely military. Insignia is… B.S.A.A."

Frowning, Jake stood. "B.S.A.A.? Why didn't we get word they were sending troops in?"

"Looks like just the one," Fredrick said, scanning the area. "Yeah, just one B.S.A.A. and a little- they're breaking off. B.S.A.A. is going North and the girl is headed for the warehouse."

"What the hell is going on today?" Jake frowned, mostly talking to himself as he moved through the building towards the street, his gun raised again.

Fredrick followed the woman as she stopped in front of the door to the warehouse, glancing over her shoulder to check the area. That's when he saw her face and his mouth hit the floor. "Uh, Jake?"

"Yeah?" Jake whispered, clearing another room.

"We have a problem."

He was almost to the front of the building. "Something new or same old problems as before?"

Leaning back from his riffle, Fredrick felt an uneasy chill run up his spine. "This situation just got really, really bad mate. She's-"

"On your feet, now!" Fredrick froze from his place on the floor as the unfamiliar voice came from behind him.

"What was that?" Jake asked, stopping his movement. "Fred, what was that?"

"I gotta go. Apparently I have a visitor," Fredrick whispered, pulling his communicator from his ear as Jake's shouting for an explanation could be heard. "I'm getting up, so don't shoot me." Taking a deep breath, Fredrick slowly stood, holding his hands above his head.

"Put your hands on your head and turn around."

Doing as he was told, Fredrick rotated on his heel and locked eyes with the B.S.A.A. man from the street. "You are quite the stealthy little bugger, aren't you?" Fredrick questioned conversationally, seemingly un-phased by the new development in his situation.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" Piers asked, his eyes searching the man for any other weapons or insignia.

"I'm Fredrick," he smiled, moving to hold out his hand but stopping as Piers' grip tightened on his gun. "Perhaps not." Fredrick chuckled, shifting his hand back to his head.

"I don't care about your name. Who are you with and what are you doing here? Are you with Neo-Umbrella?" Piers asked, his voice stern and his face deadly serious.

Fredrick frowned, shaking his head. "There's a Neo-Umbrella presence in Maldonia? Since when?"

"Answer the question!" Piers growled, losing patience with the easily sidetracked mercenary.

"Okay, relax," Fredrick breathed, holding his hands in front of him in surrender. "Look, you're with Cindy, right?"

His face scrunching in confusion, Piers eyed Fredrick critically. "Who?"

"Shit," Fredrick cursed himself as he glanced past Piers in thought. "Cindy, Linda, Mary, Sarah, Stacy… No that's not it."

"What are you talking about?" Piers shouted angrily, his gun gesturing to Fredrick aggressively.

"Your lady- oh thank God. What took you so long?" Fredrick sighed in relief, dropping his hands.

"Hands up!" Piers scowled.

"I think you should take some your own advice there, pal." Piers froze as the cold metal of a gun pressed into the back of his head. Sighing, Piers slowly held up his hands but did not let go of his gun. "What the hell is a B.S.A.A. robot doing wandering around in Maldonia? Where's the rest of your platoon?" Piers listened to the familiar voice, trying to place it. "Not one for friendly conversation?"

As Piers turned and their eyes met, both men's stern expressions turned even more sour. "You?" Piers questioned angrily, shoving Jake's gun out of his face.

"What the hell are you doing here, Jarhead?" Jake spat, holstering his gun.

"This is just ridiculous. Of course you'd be here. As if this planet wasn't full of enough shit holes for you to be in, you have to be in this one."

Smirking Jake crossed his arms over his chest as he sized Piers up. "For some reason I thought you were taller."

"Uh, guys?" Fredrick mumbled from his place looking down on the street below.

"You're a real loser, you know that?" Piers hissed. "Whoever said 'like father, like son' was a genius."

"What did you say?" Jake growled, stepping up to get in Piers' face.

"I'm trying to tell you something over here... hello?" Fredrick questioned, trying to get both men's attentions.

Letting out a dry chuckle, Piers inspected Jake critically. "I said you're a loser, Muller, just like your piece of shit father."

His fists clenching at his sides, Jake reflexively tightened his jaw. "Yeah, pretty boy? Why don't we go a few rounds, then see who the real loser is."

"Hey!" Shoving his way in between them both, Fredrick's glance shifted from Jake to Piers, then back to Jake. "Why don't you two have your little boy pissing contest later? In case either of your are interested, those guys from before are closing in on the warehouse that your-"

"Damn it!" Piers growled, pushing Fredrick away from him as he took off back down the stairs.

Jake was instantly confused, his eyebrows knitting together as he turned to his companion. Snapping his fingers together, Fredrick lightly stomped his right foot on the ground. "That was it. Sherry! My memory is shit."

"What about Sherry?" Jake instantly questioned, concern flooding his features.

"That's what I was starting to tell you when he interrupted me," Fredrick mumbled, shouldering his riffle. "Your girl is here. She's with macho man over there and-" Once again before Fredrick could finish his sentence, Jake had bolted from the room after Piers. "Nobody ever listens to me," he complained, taking off after them both.