Sherry lounged on the bed nursing a hot cup of coffee as she watched Jake's muscled back rise and fall in a steady rhythm. She smiled wickedly behind her coffee cup, "I think that was fifty... or sixty... I'm not sure, you'll have to start again."

Jake paused from his position on the ground, lifting himself on one hand to offer a gesture with the other that clearly told Sherry what he thought of her suggestion. Exercise was more than just a routine for Jake. It was a daily ritual. "Can't all rely on super powers to keep us at our peak." he'd told her one morning when his relentless grunting had woken her from across the room.

Sherry tossed a pillow in his direction for the obscene gesture. He caught it with his raised hand and smiled. The type of smile that Sherry knew meant she was in trouble. "Don't you dare," she said, pointing a finger at him in warning, "I haven't finished my coffee!"

"Then unless you want it all over you, I suggest you put it down."

Sherry pulled her legs up beneath her, holding out her open hand as a sign of defeat as Jake slowly began to stand with the pillow hanging loosely in his grip. "Okay, I'm sorry!" she exclaimed as his eyes narrowed. His mouth quirked upward into its signature smirk.

"Too late!"

The pillow hit her square in the face. Sherry sprawled back on the mattress, cursing as the liquid in her cup soaked the pillows. She felt the bed dip as Jake crawled his way up, tossing the pillow to the floor once he hovered directly above her. Sherry hooked a bare leg around his waist as he paused, resting on his elbows and fixing her with a teasing grin.

"You think you can take me?" he chuckled.

Sherry pretended to scratch her head in thought. "In a pillow fight? Pfft, easy."

"Well why don't you put your money where your mouth is." Jake dipped his head low to run his lips so gently over her own that Sherry barely felt it. Her neck arched instinctively, urging him to press firmer.

"Loser has to count inventory." Jake continued before pressing his lips along her jaw, his teeth grazing the spot beneath her jawline that he knew made her shiver in delight.

Sherry groaned. She hated taking stock of every last bullet, every piece of tech, that was left for them at each drop point. Of course it was necessary, but this time Claire has left quite the haul. It would take ages...

Sherry didn't realise she'd moaned that last thought out load as Jake's mouth continued to move downward. Twice in one morning? Sherry couldn't complain. It wasn't like they usually had this much free time to relax somewhere relatively safe. They both intended to make the most of it.

She could hear Jake's laugh muffled against her chest as he pulled her oversized shirt higher, his fingers brushing the sensitive spot just below her breasts. "Or we could just..."

Her reply was her other leg winding its way around his waist, pulling his hips closer to her own. "Does that mean you forfeit?"

Jake's head shot up quickly, his brow furrowed as he pouted, "Never!"

Sherry squealed as he reached behind her and promptly face-planted her with another pillow. She'd forgotten how competitive he was. Trapped beneath him with her legs still wrapped around his middle Sherry rose both hands in defeat as he assaulted her with the ridiculous multitude of pillows they'd slept on. It was a really nice place considering its uses, he thought while threatening to smother Sherry if she didn't stop tickling his ribs.

Eventually Jake rolled to his side, his smug expression triumphant as Sherry mumbled something unladylike. "You've been around me too long." Jake told her, "When we first met you'd never have uttered such filth."

"Agreed. You are a terrible influence."

"Love you too, babe."

Sherry rolled off the bed, kicking away the pillows responsible for her hair sticking out wildly and flushed cheeks. "I'm still not doing inventory." she declared before grabbing a fresh set of clothes and pulling them on. Her stomach was growling loudly and she hadn't been able to finish her caffeine fix, which was suddenly making her feel a little grumpy.

"You skipped out on it last time." Jake reminded her, "What's in it for me?"

"I'll make breakfast."

"Deal."

Twenty minutes later the pair had relocated to the modest kitchen where Jake had spread the weapons cache over the table and was dutifully counting the ammunition. Sherry cracked another egg into the sizzling pan as she drained her cup of freshly made coffee with a satisfied sigh. Jake gave an impressed whistle as he piled up boxes of cartridges. "Are we going to war or something?" he asked with a scratch of his head. "And this gear she left us... some high spec on this..."

"She mentioned there's been a rise in online communications between some of the shiftier pharmaceutical companies."

"Ain't they all pretty shifty?"

Sherry didn't reply as she flipped the eggs, knowing Jake liked them over easy.

"Next time Claire leaves us a fresh set of clothes can you let her know I'm the next size up?" he continued, "These are a little tight."

Sherry pointed to Jake's middle with the spatula, a wicked grin spreading over her face. "You sure it's not all this domestic bliss causing those love handles?"

Jake looked thunderous before glancing down at his stomach, "This is one hundred percent muscle right here." he declared, lifting his shirt for Sherry to inspect. Which she did, hungrily. Until the smell of burning eggs took her attention.

Not long after they had finished the slightly burnt meal Jake pushed himself back in his chair, rocking back and forth as he watched Sherry with a strange expression in his face. It took a few moments to notice but eventually Sherry returned his look with a deep frown, "What's wrong? Are you still upset about what I said? Fine, you're an Adonis Jake. Claire just got your size wrong."

Jake shook his head and dropped his chair forward, leaning on his elbows as he regarded her carefully. "You've just... not been yourself this morning."

As cheerful as she seemed, Jake knew when Sherry was hiding her inner turmoil behind lighthearted banter. He knew why, of course. And he knew Sherry wouldn't talk about it unless he pushed, which was exactly why she'd been so keen to keep them both distracted with counting inventory, pillow fights and... other things. Although, she had to admit, there was something else going on with her that she couldn't quite put her finger on. For the last few days she'd felt out of sorts. But while being stalked by creatures that looked like they'd stepped straight out of a nightmare, alongside numerous agencies including a few old mercenary contacts Jake had rubbed shoulders with before, who could blame her. Maybe Claire was right. She needed a break.

Except, as she sat playing house, she couldn't help the stab of guilt in her stomach. How could she be so happy right now when Leon-

"I'm fine." she told the man still watching her closely. Sherry suppressed the urge to move away from those steely blue eyes. Jake had a way of making her feel like he could see right through her.

For a moment she thought he wasn't going to drop the subject. She braced herself, ready to deny the truth... that as much as she loved the man before her, every second spent sitting here felt like a betrayal of her old friend. She didn't want to hurt Jake, but lately Sherry often felt that time spent doing anything other than hunting down BOWs or corrupt organisations was time wasted. She was, she supposed, getting a little obsessed.

Fortunately for Sherry the phone Claire had left behind had begun to buzz against the table. Snatching it up quickly she let out a small sigh, grateful for the sudden interruption. Jake merely scowled. There were only two people that could be, he guessed. Flipping open the phone Sherry smiled warmly at the face that appeared on the screen.

"Chris, how are you?"

Opposite her Jake's scowl intensified. He hadn't gotten the chance for a face-to-face with the older of the Redfields, not that he really had anything to say to the man. He'd been told by Claire what went down between Chris and his father, and Sherry was forever reminding him of all of Chris' achievements in the fight against bio-terror. "Good for him," Jake had spat with a roll of his eyes. He didn't hate Redfield. There was just something about him that got under his skin. As the man's voice was managing to do right now from across the table.

"Sherry, finally! I've been trying to get through to you for hours. I was about to call in to Claire and have her check on you."

Sherry tried to suppress the rising blush in her cheeks, "Sorry about that. We've been a little... busy. And Claire only left last night."

Jake could hear the disapproval in Chris' voice as he fixed Sherry with a hard look, one she purposefully avoided. What business was it of Redfield's what they got up to? Jake thought angrily. Other than himself the only person who treated Sherry like she wasn't a little kid anymore was Claire.

"I see," Chris said flatly, "Well, I'm glad you're okay. Both of you."

"Yeah, right." Jake snorted, earning a warning glance from Sherry over the top of the phone. Either Chris hadn't heard or was choosing to ignore him, which for some reason annoyed Jake all the more.

"I don't have long. I just thought you'd want to know the BOW you believed was tracking you has been taken care of."

Jake's expression clouded as his let out a frustrated hiss. So she had suspected the same thing, that BOWs were being sent out to track her down. Jake felt another stab of annoyance, this time that Sherry hadn't mentioned her concerns to him at all. Clearly it had been part of the discussion she'd had with Claire the night before. And of course she went running to her big brother to play the hero...

Jake stood up so suddenly it sent the table jolting backward, almost sending the array of weaponry crashing to the floor. He couldn't help the roll of his eyes as Sherry thanked Chris hastily after confirming that there were no further reports of outbreaks. Sherry hung up the phone and slid it into her pocket, crossing her arms over her chest as Jake kept his back to her as he poured himself a cup of coffee before striding from the room without so much as a glance in her direction.

Sherry huffed. She was tempted to ignore Jake's ridiculous behaviour and wait out his little tantrum. She couldn't understand why Jake was so bothered by Chris. Jake had already told her he had no ill-feelings about what happened to his father, not once he had heard the whole sordid tale. As far as Sherry was aware Chris had done no harm to Jake himself, so what was his problem?

She thought back to the first time all three had met, rounding the corner of the crumbling snow covered street and coming across Chris' team. Jake had antagonised them of course, but that was pretty standard for the mercenary. Yet Chris had remained professional, barely acknowledging Jake's snide remarks. Even when they took out the giant BOW that had been dropped from the sky and proceeded to crush everything in its path... the way Jake fought had been like he had something to prove. He made reckless decisions, like leaping onto the creature's back without warning, putting himself directly into the line of the BSAA's gunfire. She'd never forget the smug look on his face when he'd pulled the enormous spike from the BOW's back and plunged it deep within its exposed organs before rolling effortlessly to the ground below as it bellowed and fell to its knees. Sherry felt frustration rippling through her as she watched Jake go. It was childish, testosterone driven behaviour, she was sure. Almost like he saw Chris as-

"Wait," Sherry said loudly, jumping up from the table and following Jake back to the bedroom. He seemed to be pacing aimlessly, his posture rigid and tight as he kept his back to the open door. "Do you... do you see Chris as competition?"

Her eyes were wide with realisation even when Jake clenched his jaw and frantically began denying her accusation. But Sherry could see the way his shoulders hunched, which he always did when he felt defensive. His hand clamped around the cup he held so tight she thought it might shatter. Sherry couldn't help the sound that escaped her lips. It wasn't laughter, not exactly. More the sound of someone who'd finally solved a puzzle that had been driving them insane.

"You don't know what you're talking about." Jake said curtly, his voice low and carefully controlled.

"Right, sure... I must be mistaken." Sherry nodded, crossing her arms once more as she tilted her head to one side. "Except nothing else makes sense, you've no reason not to like him."

Jake spread his hands out wide at his sides in a 'whatever' gesture, oblivious as the contents of his cup fell to the carpet. Sherry vaguely hoped Claire wouldn't be too pissed about the coffee stains they seemed to be leaving all over the place. "You need a reason to not like someone?" he grumbled.

"Usually, yeah."

He was getting frustrated. When Jake was frustrated he would normally go out and find something to drink or hit, neither was an option for him right at that moment. Claire didn't leave them alcohol in her drop-off's anymore. Not after the last incident that involved Sherry catching herself alight on the campfire. "He's just so..."

Sherry waited as he struggled to come up with a compelling argument. She decided to help. "Brave? Strong? Clever? Handsome?"

Bingo, she thought when Jake's eyes flashed with something dark. So it was more than just a professional competition. Did Jake think she had feelings for Chris?

The man in front of her pulled his lips tight over his teeth, hissing as he did so. Sherry was baiting him, poking at insecurities he didn't want to admit to even if she didn't realise it.

He also knew that she was right. Not that he would ever say it out loud.

He too remembered that first meeting. The way Chris' eyes had strayed over Sherry before recognising her name. It wasn't like Jake had the right to be possessive. But it had gotten under his skin nonetheless. And then the other guy had piped up, Piers. Jake didn't like to speak ill of the dead, but in his opinion that guy had one hell of a stick up his ass. Not that Sherry would ever let him say a bad word about either of them. And now Chris was out there being the dutiful hero, and he had to put up with Sherry swooning every time his name was mentioned.

Slowly, purposefully, Sherry began to move toward Jake as he perched himself upon an empty dresser, one knee slightly bent as he balanced himself as casually as he could. He wasn't going to let her see that, yes, he had often considered that Sherry could do so much better than him. And Chris was the polar opposite to him. A real 'american hero'. Jake was... well, he'd done as much bad as he had good. Some of it Sherry knew about. But Jake still had secrets of his own.

Sherry's hand came up to take the half-empty cup from his grasp before placing it to the side. Jake allowed her to do so but still refused to look her in the eye even as she wound an arm around his waist, the other sliding over his chest. "I love you, Jake." she said softly, leaning against him so her voice was slightly muffled by his shirt, "How could you think, after everything, that I would feel like this about anyone but you."

He could feel his anger melting away already as the warmth of her body pressed to his. His hand reached up to run down her back before settling firmly on her hip, pulling her closer. How could he tell her it wasn't that he doubted their relationship, which itself was still something Jake hadn't gotten used to. He'd never spent more than a week or so with the same woman. Never gotten even remotely attached. To anyone. But Sherry was different, and he knew how corny that sounded. But even referring to her as his 'girlfriend' seemed ridiculous. She was so much more...

And he was just... him.

Even without all the terrible things he had done without question, without ever stopping for a moment to wonder if he should at least pretend to have some moral code, he had already inherited a legacy covered in blood. The son of a twisted, psychopathic mass murderer. Wesker was responsible for so much pain, more than Jake could ever undo-

"Does this mean you're not mad?" he heard Sherry ask from somewhere beneath arms that had wound themselves tightly around her shoulders. Jake quickly let go, having been so lost in his own dark thoughts that he didn't remember when he'd pulled her into a rib-crushing embrace.

"I'm not mad." he said flatly. It was the truth. Anger was not was he had been feeling, he realised. But Jake was not the sort to spent too much time reflecting on his inner demons. To do so could take him down a path he did not wish to explore.

"Good. So... does that mean you're going to be nicer to Chris?"

Jake rolled his eyes skywards and 'tsked' at her request. "Yeah, yeah. Not like I talk to the guy anyway."

Sherry reached up, standing on the tips of her toes as she always did whenever he didn't lean close enough for her kiss him on the cheek. She almost toppled over when Jake turned his head just enough to catch her lips with his own, kissing her hard and taking her by surprise. Her eyes flew open as hands gripped her hips roughly as his tongue deftly worked its way into her mouth, eliciting a quiet moan from Sherry as it met her own. Her hands placed themselves on his shoulders as Jake's slid down to her thighs, lifting her with ease as he turned and placed her none-too-gently on the dresser. His knee pushed hers aside to stand between her legs, feeling his way beneath her shirt and making Sherry quiver. Briefly she wondered if this was his way of staking a claim and began pulling back from his kiss to protest that she was not some thing for him to use in some perplexing display of toxic masculinity.

Until she saw the look in his eyes which were a slightly deeper shade of his usual blue-gray. There was no more anger or frustration in his expression, but something almost desperate swam behind those eyes. His lips were slightly parted as they took in shallow, rapid breaths. Sherry reached up to press her hand against his cheek, feeling the heat of his skin, the way he shivered under her touch. Even though they'd shared so much of their past with each other, she couldn't always be sure as to exactly what was running through Jake's mind. He rarely opened up to her in his most vulnerable moments. Not verbally. Instead he would seek out her embrace, a hand over his own or a kiss that lingered...

Sherry might have been able to guess at Jake's sudden need for reassurance, and maybe one day he would be completely honest with her about his strange shifts in mood. For now she simply closed the gap between them once more, kissing him just as needily as he kissed her. Their clothes were lost, tossed to the ground without a second thought. When Jake moved against her it was with an eager roughness, a need to be as close to her as he could. To feel her clinging to him, nails digging into his skin as she kissed every part of him she could reach.

Jake found himself trying not to lose control. He hated himself at times like this. When every bad thought and memory came swimming back to the surface, threatening to pull him under and drown him. He shouldn't be using Sherry this way, he knew that. But she was his anchor. She was with him, telling him she loved him as his hands gripped her tight enough to bruise. It was more than physical relief that flooded through him once Sherry's body had gone limp with her own climax. He kept his hold on her as their breathing slowed, his face nestled against her throat. His mind finally quiet for just long enough for him to remember that, as long as he was with Sherry, everything would be okay. He had something with her he'd never had before. A purpose. A home. She was his home.

Without a word exchanged between them he carried her over to the bed. Leaning on his elbow beside her he checked that he hadn't caused any harm. He was usually so careful, so precise in every touch. He'd cut off his own hand before he hurt her.

Sherry seemed to sense Jake's worry and wound her fingers between his, kissing them gently. "That was..." Jake opened his mouth to apologise but found himself silenced by a chaste peck on his lips, "Nice." Sherry finished with a teasing grin.

Jake paused for a moment. Nice? "Is that all, huh? Seems I need to step up my game..."

The tension that had been thick in the air began to fade. Jake was not the sort to wallow in self-pity, not for long. And Sherry always seemed to know how to pull him out of his self-induced funk. Although, he had to admit, having his sexual prowess downgraded to just 'nice' was a hit to his ego.

"Okay, but I'm going to need a few hours to recover. Twice in one day, how long's it been since that happened?"

Jake lay back on the bed and placed one hand behind his head, the other reaching over to pull the sheets over their exposed bodies. He 'hmm'd' thoughtfully, but didn't answer. In fact he began to feel his eyes grow heavy and his muscles finally relax. Beside him Sherry turned and wrapped herself as tightly to his chest as she could. "Can you imagine if every day was like this?"

Jake couldn't suppress the chuckle that escaped him, "You wouldn't be able to walk straight."

A hand playfully dug into his ribs, but Sherry secretly decided that he was correct. "Do you think, one day..."

She didn't finish her question. Jake was reluctant to answer because he knew that truthfully, they would only ever have these stolen moments. The spread of bio-warfare was like wildfire. They could do all they could to suppress it, to control the outbreaks. But it would never be completely gone. The fight was endless.

"That's the dream." he told her tiredly, unwilling to spoil the contentment rising within him.

Sherry lay awake at his side long after he'd fallen asleep. Her head rose and fell with his chest as she listened intently to the steady beat of his heart until another sound caught her attention. From somewhere on the floor she could hear buzzing. Slipping out from beneath the sheets she pulled on her shirt and underwear before reaching for the pocket she'd slid the phone into earlier.

"Claire?" she spoke softly so as not to wake the man sleeping behind her.

The voice on the other end of the line was not so gentle.

"Sherry! You need to leave, now! We just got a tip off, BOWs heading in your direction!"

Sherry felt her heart stop for what felt like a full ten seconds. A tip off? From who? She must have asked out loud as Claire snapped back, "It doesn't matter right now. You've got an hour, maybe less. I'll send you a safe location as soon as I can."

With that the line went dead.

"What's going on?" came a gruff voice behind her, making Sherry start. Jake was sat on the edge of the bed, his eyes already sharp and alert.

"We've got incoming BOWs, but at least an hours head-start." Sherry explained.

Jake cursed a streak that could've turned the air blue, quickly grabbing up his clothes. "All right. Get packing." he gestured back toward the kitchen.

Sherry pulled on the rest of her own clothes, the thundering beat of her heart making her chest ache. She could have laughed out loud as she remembered her earlier question. Could she imagine a life without running for their lives at a moments notice? Without the calming haziness of post-coital bliss she certainly couldn't. It seemed like such a ridiculous dream now...

Less than ten minutes later Jake was throwing the last of the supplies into the truck left behind by Claire as Sherry jumped into the passenger side. Jake grumbled something about missing his bike as he started the engine. Had the urgency of their situation been less so than Sherry might have made some comment about hoping to never again have to ride on the back of one of those things, her experience in China had not warmed her to motorcycles like it had Jake.

"So, where we headed?"

"Just keep going south for now." Sherry replied, feeling herself begin to deflate as the adrenaline in her body faded. She fixed her eyes on the road, not trusting herself to look back at the house disappearing from view. It was silly, she thought. They'd moved from place to place for over a year now, and yet for the first time she found herself aching to be able to just stay. Something had changed in the last twenty-four hours. Something she couldn't quite put her finger on.

For now she put it down to feeling tired and battle-weary. Tomorrow there would be a new bed... and a new fight. Jake reached over to squeeze her hand tightly. He didn't need to ask what she was thinking, their thoughts were the same. But Sherry was at least grateful for one thing. That no matter what... Jake would always be at her side.

Thank you for reading and for any and all feedback!