Unfortunately there's nothing from Leon and Claire in this chapter, but plently of Sherry and Jake to make up for it. Thank you to 'jess' and 'Jill valentine' for their anon reviews.

Red

Jake grabbed his gun when he heard Sherry scream.

"Jake, help me!"

He sprang off the couch he'd been sleeping on, now fully alert, adrenalin surging through his body.

"Sherry!" he called, dashing into her bedroom. The sheets were rumpled and messy, but she wasn't there. Shit, the Family must have found them.

"Jake!" he heard her cry his name again. The mercenary dashed towards the stables and kicked open the door. The horses were shifting frantically, and the gate was open. Many sets of footprints were imprinted in the snow.

Completely disregarding his improper attire for freezing cold weather, he sprinted outside. After a while, red droplets appeared alongside the footprints. Blood. If Jake wasn't panicked before, he certainly was now.

"Sherry!" he called desperately. His only answer was the howling wind. He felt like he couldn't breathe; the thought of losing her terrified him. His heart was pounding as he struggled through a particularly deep patch of snow. More and more blood seemed to materialize the longer he ran.

Then the trail stopped abruptly. No more blood. No more footprints. Jake looked around wildly. He was surrounded by snow and trees that obstructed his vision.

Sherry was gone.

"No, no, no." he gasped out. He promised himself he'd keep her safe.

He pulled in as much air as possible in his panicked state, and called out to her again, "Sherry!"

"Jake."

He jerked up quickly. His lungs couldn't seem to function properly; he clutched at his side as he wheezed.

"It's okay, it was just a nightmare." Sherry soothed.

Jake looked over at her sitting next to him on the couch. She was safe. She was with him. She was holding his hand.

Suddenly it was much easier to breathe, and the hand pressed to his side moved to pinch the bridge of his nose as he slumped in his seat.

"Fuck me." he muttered. He'd had nightmares practically all his life. He'd dreamt of his mother, sick, frail and dying. He'd dreamt of his deeds as a mercenary; the light dimming from the eyes of the lives he took. But none were as terrifying as the nightmare he'd just experienced.

"You were calling my name," Sherry informed him, "Was I in trouble?"

He sighed, "Yeah. They'd taken you, and I couldn't stop them."

She didn't have to ask who 'they' were. He continued quietly, "It just felt so real." He was still out of breath, as though he really had run for miles in the snow.

She squeezed his hand gently, "But it wasn't. We're okay."

The mercenary allowed himself a moment of weakness and tightened his grip on her hand. They'd been taking turns to comfort each other whenever they woke from nightmares for a while now. Though while Sherry's were getting less frequent, Jake's were only getting worse.

"We're okay." she murmured to him repeatedly, wishing it were true. She needed to talk to him about leaving. Being here with her wasn't only putting him in danger; it was affecting his health and wellbeing. The thought of him not being with her made her want to curl up and cry, but his interests were more important than hers right now.

Jake laced his fingers with hers and breathed in the scent of her skin; honey, vanilla, soap. And snow. She reminded him of snow.

Seeing that he was finally relaxing, Sherry resolved to talk to him in the morning instead.

Chris dragged Jill behind one of the worn buildings when he heard footsteps coming towards them. They pressed themselves up against the wall as the group passed them, and Chris glanced cautiously around the corner to see the retreating backs of four people in hooded robes.

"There are people living down here?" Jill questioned in disbelief. The answer was confirmed when two pale children -dressed conventionally, yet plainly- rushed past their hiding place, apparently quite happily playing tag.

"Wow." she muttered, staring after them sadly, "They've probably never even seen the sky."

Chris flipped open his GPS, "We're going to need backup." It was working, but there was no signal. He sighed, "Or not."

"Maybe it would be best if we keep a low profile and gather some more intel first anyway. Then we can try and find a place to call for help." she suggested.

Her partner nodded, "Good idea. We need to find some different clothes."

They hugged the wall as they moved around to the other side of the building to the door. Jill tried the handle.

"It's open." she informed quietly. He nodded in confirmation and readied his weapon. She pushed the door open slowly, and Chris scoped the room as he entered wearily.

"Clear." he muttered. Jill entered in after him and made for the stairs while he checked the simply decorated kitchen. Nothing. He followed her upstairs, and she met him on the landing, "Three bedrooms, one bathroom, all clear."

"All clear downstairs too." he replied. She led him to what seemed to be the master bedroom, where a four poster, king-size bed was the most impressive piece of furniture in the room.

"It has a kind of rustic charm to it, don't you think?" Jill asked, opening the right hand part of the wardrobe while removing her holsters. It seemed that the lady of the house kept her clothes here, while the man's were taken up by the left side.

Chris chuckled once as he searched for something that would fit him, "I remember you tried to convince me to decorate our house like this."

"It's nice." she responded, "Simple, but cosy."

"Cold, and uncomfortable." he countered as he took off his melee vest, and she sighed.

"You know, they say compromise is the key to a lasting relationship." Jill informed him playfully.

He smiled as he removed his shirt, "Alright, you can have a new dining table or something, but the bed stays as it is."

She clicked her tongue to get his attention, and Chris turned to her. His breath caught when he saw she was wearing just her blue, lacy underwear.

"I bet I could get you to change your mind." she told him, placing a hand on her hip and grinning at him.

His eyes couldn't help but roam over her beautiful form until he forced himself to look away. They both knew he couldn't resist her, but he firmly reminded himself that now was not the time.

"Later." he told her, pulling a plain green t-shirt over his head, "Then you can decorate the house however you like."

She laughed lightly in triumph, before continuing to get dressed in a simply patterned, brown and blue tunic with skin tight, dark leggings and knee high brown boots.

Chris buttoned up his dark slacks and finished putting on his combat boots, before starting to gather his equipment, "Gotta leave the vests," he muttered uneasily, "Always makes me feel exposed without them."

"Me too." Jill replied, closing the wardrobe, "But we'll stick out like a sore thumb otherwise."

He silently agreed with her, before smiling at her attire. She somehow managed to make anything she threw on look amazing. Chris stepped towards her and held her face in his hands gently. Jill smiled knowingly before his lips descended on hers. Her hands moved to rest on his chest as she nibbled at his bottom lip, which prompted him slant his mouth against hers and deepen the kiss.

"Excuse me?"

They instantly jerked apart, turning to the source of the small voice. Chris' hand went to the handgun sat in its holster, until he realized the speaker was a girl no older than sixteen. She was very pretty, with light brown skin and shiny, black hair. She was smiling at them.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you." The girl said, gazing at them questioningly, "But this is my parent's house. Who are you?"

The partners glanced at each other before Jill spoke, "Um…we're-"

"Are those guns? " The girl abruptly asked, cutting Jill off.

"Yes." Chris replied uncertainly, "But we're not going to hurt you."

Jill felt that there was something off about this girl. She didn't seem afraid of two armed intruders in her home at all. The woman wondered if she'd lived down here all her life.

"Hey, have you ever seen a gun before?" Jill questioned.

The girl shook her head, "Oh no, they're not allowed. My Uncles and Aunties say that they cause all the chaos and death up top."

Chris frowned, "Up top?"

"On the surface," she elaborated, "There are bad people up there, but it's safe down here." Then her eyes widened as though a thought had just occurred to her, "Wait…you must be from up top."

"Yes, we are," Jill told her, making her way around the bed towards her. Now the girl held some fear in her eyes. "It's okay, we're not going to hurt you," Jill promised, "I'm Jill, and this is Chris. What's your name?"

"Maiara." she answered hesitantly.

"That's an unusual name." Jill commented, noticing a serpent tattoo resting on the girls left wrist. Chris had spotted it too, and moved to stand beside Jill.

"Chris and Jill are unusual names." Maiara disagreed, smiling again. They smiled back.

"Maiara, what's this?" Chris asked, pointing to the tattoo.

She held her wrist out, "Oh, we all have one. We get a tattoo when we're little, to show that we're part of the Family."

Chris and Jill shared another look.

"Why don't you tell us about your Family, Maiara?" he asked.

There was an air of tension between them that neither could shake, nor confront. Sherry worried over Jake's reaction when she asked him to leave, and what she'd do when he refused. Jake worried that Sherry would try to send him away soon, and he wondered how he'd feel when she did.

They barely talked, and when they did it was uncomfortable. Therefore awkward silence reigned as Sherry curled up on the couch staring into the fire, and Jake sat on the floor, leaning against the wall next to the fireplace.

He glanced at her every now and then, trying to gauge her expressions and body language, before giving up and looking away again. She also stole fleeting looks at him when he wasn't looking, wondering what he was thinking, but not able to guess.

Eventually Sherry cracked, "Jake, we need to talk."

This was it, he knew, "I'm listening."

She steeled herself and sat up, "You have to leave now. You know I'm okay, and you don't need to protect me-"

"Yes I do," he interrupted calmly, "It's you who doesn't need to protect me."

"What?"

"You only want me to leave because you think I'm in danger, but you're not thinking about yourself."

"I'm fine-" she disagreed, but he cut her off again.

"You're being hunted by some super cult that want to use you for their own twisted experiments Sherry!" he said, standing up, "Of course you're not fine. But you're a little safer if I'm with you."

Sherry stood with him, "I don't think you get it, Jake. The Family don't need you anymore. If you stand between them and me, they won't hesitate to kill you. Why don't you understand you need to stay out of their way, and that means staying away from me?"

The mercenary watched carefully as she broke eye contact to stare at the floor, and he stepped towards her, "You don't want me to leave."

She frowned and jerked her head up to contradict him, but found the words lost in her throat when she realized how close he was. Sherry clenched her jaw and brushed past him.

"See, you're not denying it." he pointed out, his voice softer.

She sighed, keeping her back to him, "Of course I don't want you to leave, Jake."

He got in her space again, but this time she didn't move away, "Then I'm staying."

Sherry turned around to face him, shaking her head, "You can't."

He sighed in frustration; he knew she was aware that there was something between them, so why was she still fighting it?

Jake brought his hands up to cradle her face gently, and suddenly Sherry's unyielding demeanor crumbled. She stared up at him like a deer caught in the headlights.

"Jake…" she breathed anxiously, knowing what he was about to do, "Don't." If he kissed her now, she'd never be able summon the strength to send him away.

He ignored her, bringing his face closer to hers, "Sherry, can't you be selfish, just this once?"

She wasn't sure how to respond, but he made the decision for her by closing the distance between their lips. Sherry closed her eyes instinctively, feeling her body begin to warm up from the inside out; coupled with the tingling sensation from her lips, it felt like sparks. Jake didn't even understand what was happening; he'd been with other women, but none of them had ever made him feel like this. He brought his shaking hands down to slide across her shoulders and arms, gathering her trembling form against his chest and moving his lips along her chin to her neck-

Her hand shot out to send him stumbling back; his legs hit the arm of the couch and he almost fell, but he managed to right himself at the last second.

Sherry hugged herself defensively, and pressed her lips together to ward off the tingling sensation before she spoke, "Don't Jake…please."

He frowned in confusion and made to reach out for her, but she backed away, and he let his hand drop dejectedly.

"I…" she looked like a little lost child for a moment, "I'm going to bed."

She stalked past him and shut her bedroom door firmly, and he was left alone, trying to catch his breath and organize his thoughts.

What the hell just happened?

Finally, they kiss. I was wishing they would throughout the whole of their campaign on RE6.

If you have any comments or opinions, I'll be happy to hear them.