Jake sat with his back against the glass wall and stared at the unconscious woman lying so close to him. The two were separated by another glass wall, one Jake had already tested the strength of until his knuckles were bloody and his muscles exhausted to the point that he had collapsed onto the cold, tiled floor. They had been brought here, to these cells lined against each other in a long, brightly lit hallway, by Maverick and his men.
His men. Jake sniffed. In all the commotion, the shock at finding Kennedy at the house and knowing Sherry was somewhere close by had been enough to make him forget about the one-eyed man responsible for the collection of black and blue bruises over his ribs. He still hadn't quite figured out what was going, what Bentley had been trying to achieve out here in the middle of nowhere or why someone like Maverick was using him. There was far more to this then he could see, but right now it wasn't his priority to figure it out. Right now all he could think about was the slow rise and fall of Sherry's chest as she slept.
Rubbing a hand over his tired eyes Jake wondered what had happened to Leon after he'd been knocked unconscious. His guess was that Maverick would leave him for dead, that is if he hadn't already put a bullet in his head.
Jake dropped his hand from his eyes as he caught sight of movement from between his fingers. Sherry's hand had moved, sluggishly coming up to press against her temple before moving to press against her shoulder. The shoulder Jake had shot her through. He felt a stab of regret and loathing for himself as Sherry's eyes blinked open and looked around, her fingers pressing into the spot which had eventually healed from the gunshot. As soon as Maverick had seen the wound close before his own eyes he had dropped the gun aimed at her head and signalled for his men to take her away. Jake had tried to stop them, only to have the world turn black on him as something sharp stabbed him on the side of his neck.
After a few long moments Sherry's eyes eventually settled on him. Jake remained still, his hands hanging loosely over his knees as he waited for her reaction. He was prepared for anything, for anger or even hatred for what he'd done. Not just for the bullet he'd put through her shoulder... but she must surely have been briefed on his connection to Urik. No doubt she knew more about his past then he'd ever admitted. So when Sherry quickly sat up, wide-eyed and dazed looking, and smiled at him with the same joy and relief he'd seen back in that locker room in China, Jake couldn't help the slight frown that knitted his brows together.
"Jake!" Sherry breathed, her voice distorted and muffled by the glass between them.
Jake nodded in greeting, lifting one hand in a small wave. "You all right?" he asked, his voice strained.
Sherry had brought herself to her knees, halfway between standing and sitting. She sensed something strange about the way Jake spoke, the way he looked at her. Memories of their brief and unexpected reunion flooded back as her senses returned in full. She remembered seeing him stood in that doorway, eyes blazing as he stared past her... as if he didn't even know her. Yet she'd been sure he had been there for her, to rescue her. It had been a bizarre encounter she hadn't seen coming... but she was glad for it.
"Jake... what's wrong?" she asked, "Where are we? Are you okay? Where's Leon?"
Jake's eyebrows lifted as he listened to her bombardment of questions. Sighing, he rolled his neck and shoulders to ease some of the tension. As much as he felt relieved that she was okay... at least when she'd been unconscious he wouldn't have had to face her. "I'm fine. Not sure where we are, they knocked us both out before bringing us here. Leon..."
He hesitated as Sherry waited patiently for him to go on. How could he tell her the man she respected and cared for so much was probably dead? "I don't know exactly."
"So he was there, at the house with Bentley?" Sherry pressed on. She knew Leon would find her eventually. "What were you doing there?"
Jake weighed up his answer. By being honest it would mean confessing to Sherry the true nature of his past. True, he had not murdered the woman Urik had hired him to kill. But Jake knew Sherry would never look at him the same way if she knew he had once taken money for a hit. Being a mercenary, fighting in a war, was one thing. Committing a planned murder was another. Especially when it was in cold-blood.
"I was just helping out with the BOWs, got myself caught up in the cross-fire."
He could tell from the way Sherry tilted her head and examined him that she wasn't buying it. "The man you killed, did you know who he was?" she asked.
Jake found himself unable to hold her gaze anymore. Looking at those eyes, it reminded him of the last time they'd been upon him...
"Jake... do you have anything to do with what Bentley's been doing here?" Sherry pushed, even the glass couldn't disguise the sound of hopelessness in her voice.
"No." Jake replied firmly, his eyes still fixed on the too-white tiles of the floor. "But we go back, me and him. Seems he held a bit of a grudge for some work I never finished for him..."
There. He'd said it. hopefully it would be enough that Sherry wouldn't probe any further. Looking back up into those eyes swimming with feelings Jake was less familiar with, worry, concern... he knew she was reading more into his refusal to give any details then if he just told her the truth. But he couldn't do that. He couldn't tarnish all they'd shared by being the one to say it. He really was just like his father. So desperate to gain everything he ever wanted he was willing to do whatever it took, no matter who stood in the way. Just because he'd had one crisis on conscience didn't excuse his readiness to follow through with his mission. Jake knew that if his target hadn't been a woman sleeping with her children when he'd found her, he'd easily have sunk a bullet into a another persons skull just to be able to take a long vacation with the money it made him.
Just because he'd tried, and failed, to save a kid and his family from the legacy his father had left on the world it didn't make his true nature any less monstrous.
Sherry didn't ask anymore questions. Her instinct told her she didn't want to know, and right now it didn't matter to her. Her surprise and confusion at what was going on, on Jake's sudden appearance, was slowly subsiding to be replaced with the desire to escape her captivity... and take Jake with her. Of every dream she'd had of this scenario, on being so close to him again and being given the chance to tell him all the things she'd thought of during his absence, this had not been one of them. Yet being caged here beside each other with no idea if they were going to be killed... or worse... Sherry had to bite her lip to stop her words from tumbling from her lips. How she'd missed him, that the only thing she'd regretted from their night together was letting him walk away. Her mind might have been filled with questions about his involved with a man like Urik... but her heart thumped in her chest with the desire to break through the glass separating them and feel his arms around her once more.
It wasn't until Jake tried to move and winced, his hand coming to his tender ribs, that Sherry realised he was injured. Moving closer to the glass she resisted the urge to press herself against it, as if she might just be able to slip through if she tried hard enough. "You're hurt?"
Jake kept his lips drawn tightly together until the stabbing pain subsided. His ribs weren't just bruised, Maverick had easily cracked a few. Without the adrenaline keeping him going he was feeling the pain all over his body beginning to make itself known. "Just a few scrapes and bruises. Nothing to worry about." he told her thinly. Sherry might have believed him had it not been for the breathlessness of his voice.
"We need to find a way out..." she began, her eyes finally leaving his slightly hunched form to actually take in her surroundings. The cell she was in didn't even appear to have a door. Every wall but one was clear, thick glass without any indentations or marking at all. Running her palms along them she tried to feel for anything unusual. There was only one spot, almost exactly in the middle of the wall facing the empty corridor, that seemed to have a single warm spot that spread about the size of her palm. She guessed there was some kind of control panel she couldn't see from this side of the glass. She was about to tell Jake to check his own cell for the same thing when the sound of dull footsteps reached her ears. Dropping her hand she looked to Jake, who had apparently also heard the sound and was already on his feet. A set of shadows reached them first before forming the shape of three large men. Maverick stood in the middle, a clean cloth of some kind wrapped around his head to cover the hideous scar Jake knew decorated his face. Under the harsh light, and following what must have been one long shower, he actually looked vaguely respectable in a long red and gold robe that fell to his knees over plain black bottoms and boots. The gun and knife were only half hidden by his robe. The small armory covering his two guards, however, were on full display. Jake felt his fingers twitch at his side as Maverick looked between them both. His eyes settled on Jake's for a long moment as a cold smile spread over his thin lips. Raising a hand he signalled to the two men behind him. One reached out and pressed his forefinger to something unseen on the wall of Sherry's cell. The outline of a door ran in a harsh blue light before the glass slid away and both guards stepped inside.
Jake had to use every drop of self-control not to react when one of the guards took Sherry roughly by the arm and moved behind her, the other spreading over her chest to hold her tight against him. Sherry knew better then to struggle, she was unarmed and far weaker then either of the men. Instead she remained still and hoped her cooperation wouldn't earn her any unnecessary harm. Her eyes darted from Maverick's approaching form to Jake. She wished she hadn't. The look on his face, the sheer rage burning in his eyes even as he stood completely still and simply watched as Maverick pulled a knife from his side and ran it between his fingers, it was enough to tell Sherry that this man had been the one responsible for Jake's own pain.
She didn't know who this man was or what he wanted. All she knew was that he looked almost gleeful as he pressed the cold blade against her cheek offered her a cold smile.
"This is nothing personal... but I just needed to check that my eyes did not deceive me."
Sherry barely had time to take in his meaning when the blade sliced through her skin, cutting deep enough that she felt the metal strike her back teeth.
She screamed, the movement tearing the wound deeper as the shrill sound of her cry drowned out the torrent of swearing and threats coming from the cell beside her as Jake flung himself at the glass, unable to contain himself any longer as Sherry's blood dripped onto the ground, marking the white tiles at her feet with red.
Even as Sherry fought against the pain and horror at the gaping hole in her face she could feel her body begin to heal. The wound began to burn as new muscle formed and stitched itself together. Within minutes Maverick was looking at her with a mixture of disbelief and glee. He muttered something in a language she didn't know, staring down at the blood smeared over the knife-edge.
"You, my dear, are extraordinary." he told her before laughing loudly, wiping the knife over his sleeve. He ignored Jake still pounding uselessly against the glass as he turned to leave. "Isn't it ironic..." he spoke to no one in particular, "that the two things we needed most to complete our project should happen to just fall into ours laps like this."
Sherry felt her knees shake as the guard let her go and followed Maverick from her cell. The door reappeared and the men walked away without so much as a backwards glance. Her hand came up to touch the soft skin of her face. It was healed, perfect once more. It was far from the worst wound she'd ever experienced, but something about what had just happened left her with a feeling of dread and violation like nothing she'd ever felt before.
When she finally brought her gaze to Jake's she saw the anger still burning there that quickly mixed with concern. He didn't ask if she was okay, he didn't need to in order to know the answer.
With nothing else to do Sherry crossed the gap between them and pressed herself against the glass. In her mind it wasn't there. In her mind Jake had her, was holding her. The fingertips pressing against the wall were stroking her hair as he let her rest her head against his chest.
Jake leant his forehead against the glass and closed his eyes. Maverick's words echoed in his ears as the thunderous roar of his blood rushing through his body began to subside. Whatever he was up to, Jake didn't care. But now he owed that bastard for more than the beating he'd been given by his hands. He would tear him apart without a moment's hesitation. When he finally opened his eyes he looked directly into Sherry's, who was staring up at him dry-eyed and confused.
"We're getting out of here." Jake told her firmly, "Okay? We're getting out."
Sherry dipped her head in one small nod and tried to smile. The feeling of foreboding, of being trapped in the middle of a storm she hadn't seen coming, was steadily growing in her chest. But as Jake did his best to smile down at her she felt the fear pushed back by something else. Even stuck in the seemingly hopeless situation they were in she couldn't help but feel just a little better knowing Jake was there with her. They'd escaped some pretty crappy looking circumstances before. She had faith that together they'd find a way out.
If only she knew exactly what was waiting for them, perhaps she would have felt safer locked away in her safe little cell.
Disclaimer: I own no right to the Resident Evil franchise.
A/N: Apologies for the wait for this chapter and many thanks for all the encouraging reviews so far. I must admit that when that block comes up and I deleted this chapter about five times, hearing how much people liked this stopped me from throwing my computer out the window.
