Jake woke feeling far more exhausted then when he'd drifted off to sleep... and in a much fouler mood. His shoulders ached and he could feel a slight pounding behind his eyes which told him he had the mother of all headaches on its way. Sighing tiredly he glanced around the cabin. The glow of the fire was still going strong, he couldn't have slept for long.

"How's the storm coming along?" he asked, making Sherry jump as she stared into the orange flames dancing in the fireplace.

"Still bad. Are you okay, you only slept for an hour?" she told him, looking at the watch on her wrist.

Jake shrugged before flexing his shoulders. He felt stiff and uncomfortable sitting against the wall and it was not helping his mood. "I'm just fine."

Sherry didn't respond. She considered mentioning the way he had mumbled in his sleep, his forehead fixing itself into a deep scowl as he slept. Watching the way he rubbed at his bloodshot eyes and glared at the blocked door she guessed it probably wasn't the best time to bring it up. They sat in an uncomfortable silence for several minutes before Jake noisily got to his feet and began pacing the small floor space, his fingers playing with the hilt of his gun while he ran his other hand over the slight stubble appearing on his chin. Sherry chose to ignore him. Her mission had been to keep him alive until he could be handed over to her superiors. It wasn't necessary to try and make friends, and he had made it quite clear that he wasn't interested in anything but money. She just had to get through the next few hours without letting him out of her sight.

"So... what exactly do your bosses want my blood for?" Jake suddenly asked, coming to stop beside the boarded up window and peering through the slight gap. With his back to her Sherry couldn't see the deep frown he wore, nor the way he pressed his fingertips against the growing thumping in his temple.

"I told you," Sherry explained patiently, "your blood carries an anti-body that would create a vaccine against the C-Virus. We could avoid a major outbreak by mass producing it, rather then scrambling to find a cure after the virus kills thousands, maybe even millions, of people."

"Like in Raccoon City?" Jake asked, glancing over his shoulder in time to see Sherry wince at his words.

"Yes. Like Raccoon City."

Once again a silence settled between them. Without knowing why, Jake watched the way Sherry brought her arms up to wrap around herself as she stared hard at the floor. Her eyes filled with shadows not caused by the fire shining light over her soft features. No, these were a different type of shadow. The kind he had seen only a few times before in men, old and young, who'd ever picked up a gun. Looking back to the window he caught sight of his own reflection and stared at the face looking back at him. "I didn't mean to..." he started suddenly, making Sherry lift her eyes to his hunched back.

"Mean to what?" she asked.

Jake shook his head and pushed himself away from the window. Turning, he slumped against the wooden wall and leant his head against its hard surface. "I'm just trying to figure you out," he confessed, "You're pretty young to be in this line of work. You don't seem all that experienced... you're a weird choice to send into the middle of a battlefield like this."

Sherry rose one eyebrow, unsure if he was trying to insult her. From the way he held her gaze, unflinching and unexpressive, she guessed he was merely making an observation. A blunt, somewhat rude observation.

"How old do you think I am?" she asked, trying to direct the conversation to an easier subject.

"I don't know... about my age? Twenty? Twenty-one?"

Sherry couldn't help the wide grin she flashed him as she chuckled softly to herself. "Nope. Try a little higher!"

Jake's eyes widened slightly as his eyebrows rose. "Older? Older then me? No way."

Sherry laughed and shrugged, replacing her smile with a look of casual indifference. "Age is just a number. Besides, it's rude to ask a lady how old she is."

"Yeah, I've been told that." Jake mumbled with a roll of his eyes. He couldn't believe the girl was older then him. In his twenty short years he'd easily gathered more real-world experience when it came to monsters and mayhem, but she could hold her own, he'd give her that. "I guess it's your freaky super power that got you the job huh, must come in handy when the bullets start flying." Almost immediately Jake knew he had said the wrong thing, and strangely he felt a stab of regret as Sherry quickly broke the gaze he hadn't even realised they'd been holding.

"Mm-hm." Sherry responded, shifting her weight off her legs to bring them up in front of her she linked her arms together around her knees and returned her attention to the fire. Behind her Jake mentally slapped himself. He hadn't meant to imply she was a freak... it just came out that way.

Jake found himself making his way toward her and settled himself down just an arms-reach from her side, stretching one leg straight out in front while the other came to rest on his knee. "Look, I didn't mean to sound like such an asshole. Don't get me wrong, it was kind of gross and creepy seeing you survive being near cut in half..."

Sherry shot him a cold look. "Is this meant to be an apology? Because it sucks."

Jake tapped his fingers against his knee and thought. Was he apologising? That didn't sound like him at all. Why the hell did he care if he hurt this woman's feelings. A woman he'd known less then twelve hours. "Whatever." he shrugged, "I'm just saying."

This time it was Sherry's turn to roll her eyes. She didn't get him. Not at all. Within the first few seconds of their meeting he had fled a group of angry looking J'avo, leaving her to stop the oncoming slaughter before diving to safety herself down that beat up trash chute. He hadn't seemed to care she could have been torn to pieces, nor that she'd landed in a crumbled heap on the floor. The guy was no gentleman, that was for sure. Yet he seemed to making some kind of effort to... what? Talk to her? Get to know her?

Most would have assumed he was trying to find a way to secure his fifty million. But Sherry Birkin, as she carefully managed to sneak a sideways glance at Jake's half-hidden face, was one of the few with the natural talent of seeing deeper into people. Her troubled past had forced her to grow up very quickly, which also meant she'd learned to understand the nature of people from an unsually young age.

"I don't think you're an asshole." she blurted.

Jake couldn't help the small smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. Mostly because hearing her swear like that was like hearing a child curse. Amusing and wrong at the same time. "No? You don't even know me."

Sherry dipped her head in agreement, finally loosening the grip around her knees to bring her fingers into her lap where she wound them tightly together. "You're not exactly Mr Charming but... I've met worse people then you." she finished lamely.

Knowing it would piqué his interest Sherry waited for Jake's inevitable question. She had no doubt he was already wondering who she might have crossed paths with worse then a mercenary.

As predicted, Jake cleared his throat and spoke. "Oh yeah?"

Sherry let her eyes close for a moment, feeling fatigue begin to come over her. She was right. For all Jake's bravado and smart-mouthed comebacks... he hid a very low opinion of himself beneath that devil-may-care attitude.

"Yeah. A long time ago."

Jake waited. He would not pursue an answer, clearly he had already expressed too much interest in this woman's life to have her think he actually cared. Still, it was steadily becoming obvious that Sherry Birkin was not all she seemed.

The atmosphere in the cabin was quickly changing. The impassive silence between them was becoming more... comfortable. Comforting almost. Jake pondered the strange events that had led him here so far. That morning he'd woken to a hail of bullets and spent his day fighting his way through BOW's until his unit had been approached by a woman looking to sell what she claimed would "give them a rush like no other." Jake had never been partial to drug use, but they were getting their asses backed into a corner and the guys he was with were beginning to loose their cool. It had been their decision to dose up... and they had mutated into the creatures that had been trying to kill them. Ironic.

His instinct on the woman had been right. She had been up to something... and he bet it wasn't just to infect his unit and bring down militia numbers. Jake guessed she had nothing to do with the Edonian government they were hired to fight against.

A voice suddenly brought him out of his thoughts. "Jake?"

Sherry was looking at him with a slight frown on her face, concern glinting in those big blue eyes. Jake tore his eyes away. He didn't want to see the worry there, for some reason it bugged him. "What?" he snapped. Sherry seemed to fidget a little, her fingers twisting in her lap as she tried her best to hold the mans steely gaze.

"I... owe you an apology."

Jake's brows shot up. "Why?" he asked, genuinely confused. What had she been keeping from him now, he wondered?

"For what I said before... about the whole sleeping thing. I wasn't implying I didn't trust you or anything..."

A light pink flush had begun to spread over Sherry's cheeks which had nothing to do with the heat of the fire. Jake let his eyebrows return to their usual position and stifled a small laugh. She really thought he cared about that? Not that he appreciated the insinuation that he might take advantage of her, Jake had never hurt a woman in his life... well, only those who'd begged him to. With that thought Jake leant forward a little, almost halving the space between them. Sherry went very still as his eyes locked onto hers and an unreadable smile spread over his lips. He suddenly radiated an almost predatory aura and she wondered if bringing up that particular conversation had been such a good idea.

"Just so we're clear, if I was going to do anything to you - be it murder or anything else - you'd be awake and you'd have a fighting chance against me. I'm a mercenary, not a cold-blooded killer."

Sherry tried to hide the surprise which would otherwise be written all over her face. From the briefing she'd been given she had been led to believe this man would be capable of just about anything. His first known kill had been in his mid-teens after all. Sherry hesitated, trying to figure out exactly what it was she was trying to say to him. For all the things he'd done, and she was sure there was plenty more not on record too, she didn't find him particularly intimidating. Even as he held himself between them, clearly trying to dominate the space keeping them apart, Sherry could see something hidden deep in his determined gaze.

"I know you're not." she told him flatly.

Her response was enough to have Jake pull back a little. Not only had she just told him she trusted him, in a backwards kind of way, but here she was thinking she actually knew him. What he was capable of. Who the hell was this woman?

"You're reckless, hot-headed and kind of arrogant... but we all have our faults." she continued with a shrug.

"Perhaps yours is that you're too trusting... or just niave." Jake offered his own assessment with indifference, yet inside he could feel himself beginning to relax with this woman. He was taken aback when Sherry laughed coldly and nodded her head in agreement. Jake felt the urge to let out an exasperated sigh. He had the feeling she was getting to know a lot more about him then he was about her... and that was beginning to annoy him. Especially when he realised he was the one giving away his life story when he didn't have a clue about hers. "So tell me more about Raccoon City." he told her, his voice demanding as if trying to coax the truth from a dishonest child. Sherry shook her head with a wry smile, she'd been expecting more questions about her past. It was something she never discussed with anyone except Claire. Even when she had been questioned by the various doctors and officials who were supposed to be taking care of her she'd never gone into great detail. Yet, sitting in front of a slowly dwindling fire on the side of a snow-covered mountain that was bound to soon be swarming with J'avo... she decided to be honest.

"I was just a kid, twelve years old, when it happened. But I can remember it all like it was yesterday..."

Jake had listened to her story in silence. In his mind's eye he could see this woman as a little kid, cowering from the monsters she'd probably only thought existed in horror stories, hungry for her flesh and unwavering in their desire to consume her.

She'd spoken without tears or sorrow in her voice, as if reciting an old tale she'd once heard. The only time Jake thought he'd heard any real emotion had been when she'd mentioned her parents. His heart had skipped a beat for some reason when she had, his own shadow of sadness swimming to the surface before being pushed back down with well practised skill.

"So you escaped all that just to be locked up and experimented on for the rest of your life." Jake stated with disbelief. The Edonian government had been well known for its desire to keep its people living in a state of poverty and fear, but Jake found the idea of a government wearing the face of a friend to its people while secretly performing abominations like this... torturing a helpless little girl...

Jake shook his head to clear the image from his mind. "But you're working for them, right?" he asked.

Sherry nodded slowly. "They made me an offer... they'd let me live a normal life as much as possible, but they still needed to keep me under surveillance. So they gave me a job."

"The put you in the firing line," Jake corrected her, his voice laden with an anger he didn't quite understand, "They're using you."

Sherry avoided his gaze and began to chew nervously on her lower lip. She knew it, had known it the moment they offered her the very thought of more freedom. But it had been the price she had to pay. And she could do some good, like she was now. Jake's blood would save countless lives, and that would be down to her keeping him safe.

"You almost sound like you care." Sherry told him quietly, hoping the realisation would stop him chasing the subject.

Jake slammed his hand hard on the floor, making Sherry jump. His expression was dark, filled something dangerous and threatening. "Is that what they're going to do to me too, huh? Lock me up like a test rat?

Sherry scoffed, pulling herself to her feet she stood over Jake with her hands planted firmly on her hips. "That's all you care about, what's going to happen to you?"

Jake blinked up at her. Yes. Yes he did not want to go walking like a fool into the hands of a bunch of narcissistic scientist types waiting to poke and prod at him for the rest of his life. But that wasn't the only reason for his rage. This woman was smart. Sure she'd been handed a shitty lot in life, Jake could relate to that. But here she was just... just taking it. Jumping to his own feet Jake met her hard stare with his own and filled the gap between them so that the finger he pointed at her was almost touching the tip of her nose. "You've got the chance to do anything you want, you could run. Find some place to lay low and take control of your own damn life-"

Sherry swatted his hand away with the back of her own and clenched her fists. "Maybe. But then what? Where will I go when the C-Virus starts to infect the planet Jake? It might not kill me, it might not affect me at all, but when this world is full of mutants and monsters I think I just might regret not doing anything I could to stop it from happening."

"Even if it means giving up your own life, your freedom to do what you want with it?" Jake shot back. Her nobility and loyalty was ridiculous in his eyes. "What happens after? Do you go back to your cage where they turn you into even more of a freak!"

It took all of Sherry's control not to hit him again, and Jake could see it written all over her face. He didn't care. If the girl was stupid enough to let someone walk all over her like they did it then maybe he'd been putting a little too much faith in her.

"They didn't turn me into a freak." Sherry told him, her voice shaking as much as he balled up fists. "If you had listened to what I'd told you then you'd understand... it was my father. My father did this to me... it wasn't his fault exactly but..."

Jake frowned. Was she trying to tell him her father, the man involved in the G-Virus development, had experimented on her too? No... she'd used the word infected when she'd told him what happened...

"Your father mutated too..." he realised. Sherry nodded.

"Those friends I told you about, they saved me. Gave me the cure before it was too late but... the virus still changed me."

Jake had lowered his hand as Sherry spoke. She may have escaped the City, the nightmare, but she was still scarred by it. Could he really blame her for wanting to stop it from happened again? Perhaps he was wrong... just because he had lived by his own selfish impulse of self-preservation since his mother had died didn't make it the right way to live. Here was someone who had taken the crappy hand given to her and moulded it into something she could live with. Even do some good with.

Jake didn't say anything when Sherry turned her back and walked away, only able to reach the furthest side of the room and put some space between the two of them. Jake ran his hand over his short hair and took a deep breath. He was not used to having to be humble, but he would give it a shot. "I'm sorry I flipped out on you." he began, probably not sounding quite as genuine as he felt. Sherry's back shrugged at him from across the room. Jake rolled his eyes to the ceiling and sighed. "I mean it. What I said... that was my shit I was talking about. I just... it bothers me to see someone being weak-" He held his hand up as Sherry spun and opened her mouth to argue. "Which I know you're not now. If anything you're... hell, you're a lot stronger then I am. If I were you I'd have gotten my ass someplace hot and sunny to live out the rest of my life."

Sherry's furious expression melted into mild bewilderment as he spoke before softening a little. Her eyes still glowering with irritation until he raised both hands, palms open in a surrendering gesture, and tried to smile.

"Sorry."

Sherry bit the inside of her lip and contemplated staying mad at him. Even as she considered it she could feel the animosity slowly begin to melt away as she nodded her head in acceptance of his apology and glanced about the cabin, unsure of what to do next.

"How about we forget this whole conversation and start again," Jake offered, lowering his hands he offered one out to her ready to shake, "Hey, I'm Jake. And apparently my blood can save the world."

Sherry stared for a moment before smiling dryly and slowly moving back toward him. She took his hand firmly, her eyes boring into his as they held the shake for a few long, silent moments.

"I'm Sherry Birkin. I'm going to save you."


Disclaimer: I do not own the Resident Evil franchise.