Apologies that this took so long. No Leon and Claire this time, but they'll have their moments soon. Thank you to anon reviewers, 'Jill valentine', 'Namesdontmatter' , and 'kultkayleigh'. Plus, a special thank you to 'jess', whos reviews have always been helpful from the very first chapter. :)
I don't own Resident Evil, or the characters.
Red
Sherry ascended from the depths of sleep slowly, feeling very comfortable and at peace as she opened her eyes. She'd slept better than ever with no nightmares to disturb her, and felt happy and well rested.
Then she became aware of several sensations at once; her back was very warm, there was a steady stream of soft breath on her neck, and an arm was wrapped around her loosely. She closed her eyes again as she remembered the night before.
'Oh my god, I had sex with Jake Muller.'
Sherry cautiously moved Jake's arm and got up, intending to search the room for her clothes. She shivered as her bare feet touched the chilly floor. It was so cold she was tempted to jump back into bed again, but she needed some space to clear her head, and a fire to heat the cabin wasn't going to start itself. So she slipped on her underwear and slippers, but was unable to find her leggings. Deciding that warming the cabin was more important, she quietly tip-toed into the living room.
Jake grudgingly woke from one of the best night's sleep he'd had in years; he'd had no nightmares. Eyes still closed, he reached across the mattress for Sherry in the hope he would fall asleep again. His hand only came into contact with bed sheets. He opened his eyes.
She'd left the bedroom door open, so he could see her moving around in the living room. She stoked the fire, before moving to collect her shirt and boots from the mess of kitchen utensils and broken dishes they'd left on the floor. Jake raised himself up to rest on his elbow and eyed her bare legs. As though sensing his eyes on her, she glanced towards the bedroom, and was instantly caught in his almost complacent gaze. He smirked, and she smiled nervously back.
"Sorry," she mumbled, "I didn't mean to wake you."
"Nah, don't worry about it," he replied, sitting up, "slept like a baby."
She looked away hurriedly as he got up, unashamed in his nakedness, and began searching for his pants. She concentrated instead on grabbing a dustpan and brush and sweeping up the fragments of porcelain from the floor.
After disposing of everything that was irreparable, Sherry turned and almost bumped into Jake's bare chest. He'd decided to forgo every item of clothing save for his slacks; she struggled not to blush. He smiled as he took the dustpan and brush away from her and chucked them into the corner. Taking her hands, he positioned them on his shoulders before placing his own hands on her waist and drawing her closer.
Her lips began to quiver in anticipation, but he overlooked them in favour of pressing a flurry of slow kisses from underneath her earlobe down to her shoulder. Sherry closed her eyes and sighed.
"You gonna send me away now?" Jake asked quietly.
"No." she murmured, turning her face into his neck.
There were no guards posted outside the Sanctum, and Chris and Jill met no resistance as they cautiously made their way through the labyrinth of corridors.
"These 'Aunties' and 'Uncles' seem awfully trusting." Jill commented, gripping her handgun tightly.
"The society down here is so brainwashed they probably wouldn't expect anyone to disobey them." Chris replied, also keeping his assault rifle at the ready.
Torches lined the stone walls of the corridors, giving any shadows an eerie liveliness that made them both uneasy. The two continued to make spur of the moment decisions as to which way to turn, until Jill stopped suddenly.
He turned to her questioningly to see her tilt her head slightly, as though listening to something. Chris tried to listen also, but could hear nothing himself.
"Jill?" he whispered.
"I can hear voices." she told him quietly. Because Zombies were attracted to noise, her T-virus enhancements granted her exceptional hearing. She turned and walked in the opposite direction, and he followed her as she led him down a different corridor. After a while, he could hear voices too.
They reached a large, black door with a golden serpent crest embedded into the wood. The voices were clearer now, obviously coming from the other side of the door. Jill moved silently to the right side of the doorway, while Chris took the left. He sent her a look, and she nodded as she pressed her ear to the door gently in order to eavesdrop.
"Project Red is advancing slowly but surely, Father." A female voice announced, "The scientists believe they have found a host suitable enough to withstand the Radioactive Exothermic Disease."
"Good." Answered a smooth, male voice, "And what of the search for Sherry Birkin?"
There were a few seconds of quiet, until a different voice spoke, "We have not been able to apprehend her yet, Father."
Jill involuntarily jumped at the bang and clatter that followed the statement.
"How difficult can it be for my Family to track down a single person?!"
"We are narrowing down the search," Another female declared, "There is reason to believe she is hiding in Siberia. Jake Muller has been tracked to Verkhoyansk."
"Jake Muller." The male voice stated, seemingly surprised, "The C-virus host. He escaped from Facility47 a while ago, along with Jill Valentine."
"Yes, Father. Ada Wong has also confirmed that Claire Redfield and Leon Kennedy seem to be heading towards Verkhoyansk also."
"Have they been stopped?"
"Yes, for the moment. But there is no doubt Muller has reached Birkin by now."
There was another short pause, "We can use this to our advantage. I will hire a group of mercenaries to deal with Muller. And we will give Kennedy and Redfield a bit of a surprise once they reach Verkhoyansk that should delay them indefinitely."
Chris and Jill heard the sound of a chair legs being scraped along the floor, "I'm going to head to Verkhoyansk to confront Sherry myself."
"Father, are you certain that is wise?" A male voice asked, "Taking into consideration the history you share-"
"I will hear no objections." Was the response, "Meeting adjourned."
The sound of more chairs being scraped back prompted Chris and Jill to glance at each other, and he nodded. There were at least five people in the room that they knew of; hopefully they would be able to handle the situation.
The partners kicked open the door and swiftly entered the room.
"Freeze!" Chris ordered, raising his gun. Beside him, Jill did the same.
The Family members in robes were shocked and did as they were bid, raising their hands in surrender. It seemed they were unarmed and unprepared. Except the young man in a dark suit that stood at the head of the table; he smiled and spread his arms as though welcoming them, seemingly unfazed at the weapons pointing in his direction. He was tall, blonde and tanned, and had piercing, bright blue eyes.
"Ah, Chris Redfield," he said warmly, as though greeting an old friend, "and Jill Valentine too. What a pleasure it is to finally meet you both in person."
"Who are you?" The BSAA Captain questioned.
"My name is Tobias Morgan. I am the new head of the Family." he told them, dropping his arms.
"You're all under arrest." Jill asserted. The Leader of the Family shook his head, amused. Unbeknownst to the BSAA Agents, he pressed a button under the large table.
Suddenly a thick, opaque gas came pouring in from all sides of the room, causing Chris and Jill to reel back, coughing and sputtering uncontrollably. The Family members scattered, running through the various exits from the room as fast they could.
"After the Leader!" Chris managed to gasp out. Jill had caught sight of a mop of blonde hair and ran after it. Her partner followed her hurriedly.
They ran through the vast corridors and up flights of stairs, following the sound of Morgan's footfalls, though he was too far ahead for them to see him. Eventually they came to a tall ladder, and Jill barely slowed before she jumped onto it and began climbing swiftly. At the top, there was another, wider and more modern corridor, but the light source came from the end.
"Looks like it leads to the surface." she stated, her eyes searching for Morgan, until Chris appeared beside her.
A loud, shrieking alarm rang out, and panels on the walls opened as hoards of infected rushed out; Zombies, Lickers, Napads, J'avo, and Reapers.
"Oh God!" Jill exclaimed, shooting down the nearest J'avo, while Chris concentrated fire on the Reapers' weak spots. He managed to take one out before a Licker's sharp tongue pierced through his shoulder. He cried out in pain, and his partner was instantly by his side, bringing up her combat knife to slice through the creatures tongue.
Chris launched himself towards Jill in the next second, knocking them out of the way of a charging Napad. He dragged her up quickly.
"Run!" he yelled, keeping her hand as they sprinted towards the exit, dodging some Zombies that lunged for them. He wasn't sure if they would be able to get out, never mind trying to contain the creatures.
"Captain!"
Despite the fact that they had disobeyed his orders, Chris had never been happier to see his back up Team, who dashed into the tunnel, opening fire as soon as their Captain and his partner were clear.
Then he heard Jill scream, and turned his head in time to glimpse out of the corner of his eye...the bullet ripped through her chest, spraying blood everywhere. Time seemed to slow and the gunfire faded to background noise as she fell forward, hitting the ground hard. He still had her hand in his.
A potent wave of adrenalin surged through him, throwing everything into sharp focus. Amongst the chaos, his eyes searched for the shooter, and caught a glimpse of Tobias Morgan with his smoking handgun raised in their direction. He was behind the hole from which they'd climbed through, against the wall on which he now pressed a button, sounding another alarm and causing a sturdy steel door to descend from right in front of him. Chris stared at his indifferent expression until it was out of sight, and then turned back to Jill. He would make that bastard pay later.
"Don't let any infected survive!" The BSAA Captain roared, "Contain the infection!"
He heard a few shouts of confirmation as he scooped Jill up into his arms, and took off running towards the exit.
"You're going to be okay, Jill." He told her, as though saying it out loud would make it true.
Sherry had sent him out to buy more plates, as none had survived their fall yesterday. Almost as soon as he returned Lidiya to the stables, Viktor sauntered up to stand next to her. The female horse huffed, but allowed it. Jake grinned in amusement as he took off her saddle and reigns, before picking up the large paper bag filled with new porcelain dishes and heading into the main room.
What he saw there made him pause. There was an old fashioned tin bath in which Sherry reclined with her back to him, bathing in front of the fire.
"Shut the door, you're letting the cold air in." she admonished gently. Jake did as he was told, then set down the plates on the table before walking towards her, taking his jacket off as he did so.
"What do you think you're doing, getting naked without me?" he asked playfully, and she laughed.
"Heaven forbid I have a bath without you." she said sarcastically, watching as he kneeled beside the tub and began to roll up his sleeves past his elbows.
"Damn right." he agreed, ignoring the sarcasm. Sherry shook her head, pretending not to be amused.
But her eyes still honed in on his hands, plunging beneath the surface of the hot water to warm them. He left them there for a while, until the urge to feel her soft skin became too great; using his right hand, he touched her knee, before sliding his palm down her inner thigh slowly. He watched as she bit her lip and closed her eyes.
Smirking a little at her reaction, he removed his hand and instead traced his fingers over her collar bone lightly, listening to her sigh.
"You are so beautiful, Sherry." he told her quietly. She smiled, but didn't open her eyes.
"Thank you." she replied softly. He leaned in and kissed her then, wrapping his arms around her gloriously naked form and pressing her chest to his, disregarding the fact that she was soaking his shirt through. She responded by throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him back just as feverishly.
Jake leaned back momentarily to remove his wet shirt hurriedly, and Sherry abruptly crossed her arms over her chest. Once he'd pulled the garment over his head and saw this, he frowned.
"What's wrong?" he asked, slightly breathless, grasping her shoulders. She shrank away from him. Not knowing what else to do, he kissed her again, and she brushed her lips against his gently to reassure him that it wasn't his fault.
"You shouldn't be self conscious," he encouraged once he'd pulled away, "You are beautiful."
She shook her head, "Can you just look away while I get out?"
"Come on, super girl," he said soothingly, wrapping his hands around her wrists and tugging gently, "You don't have to hide from me."
"Jake, don't!" she reprimanded, but he'd caught a glimpse of light blue on her pale skin.
"Is that a tattoo?" he asked curiously, "Is that what you don't want me to see?"
He tugged harder at her wrists, and she was forced to grab the side of the bath tub to stop herself from slipping further into the water, which gave him the opportunity to finally pull her arm away from her chest.
They both froze. There, embedded into her skin, directly over her heart, was a serpent crest tattoo.
Boom. Left off on a bit of a cliff hanger there; I bet you want to read more, right? Right?
Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Thanks for reading.