Sherry stood in front of the mirror studying herself. She looked perfect. Her eyes didn't show the least bit of wear, her hair was in place, her clothes were just right. Mentally she felt exhausted, the drain of pushing through the day, the nights of nightmares, giving her little to no sleep.

It had been six months since China, six months since she'd escaped from the clutches of Neo-Umbrella, six months since she'd seen Jake Muller, the man she'd gone to find in the hopes of saving the world. Six months since she'd actually had a descent night's sleep.

The nightmares had started when she'd returned home alone. Flashes of them running away from B.O.W.'s, escaping and then being caught and he wasn't there with her anymore. Or it was him being killed and there was nothing she could do to stop it. Of him abandoning her as she was sliced open again and again.

The healing ability that came with her infection was what they had studied over and over again. She trembled as the memories came. Those were the worst. Being so close to death and never being allowed to just die. Never taking the pain away, just allowing her to heal repeatedly.

Those were the worst of all.

She sighed and picked up her gym bag. She was practicing her martial arts a lot with the BSAA right now. It was Leon's advice.

She'd been chosen to be a liaison to the BSAA for the DSO for now that they'd been allowed a headquarters on US soil. They had come to some kind of agreement, the BSAA were even allowed an unofficial headquarters in the DC area.

What it really meant? You're grounded until we can figure out what to do with you. Sherry had been a ward of the US Government since she was 12, her unusual circumstances insured she'd never lead a normal life, but at least she could put her abilities to use. Soon she would have to return to her job at the Division of Security Operations.

At least that was her hope. After all Bio-Terrorism hadn't decreased in the past six months. If anything it had become the new normal, but the methods being used were not considered as life threatening as the looming C-Virus epidemic in China had been. So she was on the back burner for now, bored to tears, and plagued by nightmares of man she could never see again unless he wanted the same fate as her. That was too much to ask of him.

Sherry felt amused as she tried to imagine Jake taking orders from the DSO. He would probably end up like Leon. Leon, while good at what he did, even if he was unconventional had more lectures than anyone else at the DSO. He was the leading expert.  Jake was good at what he did too. For a moment Sherry entertained the idea of him being here, but then she turned her thoughts to Leon. 

Leon Kennedy, the man who had rescued her when she was a child, had been rather busy as of late. She'd rarely seen him since she'd come back. He'd been a big part of her decision to join the DSO in the first place. She missed the occasional visits from him and Claire Redfield.

Jake was another matter altogether. They'd gotten close in a short period of time, close in the way people do when forced to go through dangerous situations. She barely made it to the man's shoulder. He'd had to use his brute strength alone to get them out of several bad places. The whole situation had been ironic considering Sherry had been sent in to get him out in the first place.

After running through her routines at the gym she showered, grabbed her gym bag and headed for the car, still reminiscing.

She could hear his voice now. "And here I thought dear old Dad was just a dead beat who skipped out on us. No, no, no, turns out he's a freakin' nut job who almost destroyed the world!"

Sherry dropped her gear into the car, wondering what Jake was up to these days. Whether he was still putting up the good fight or if he'd gone back to his old ways. She was so lost in thought, in fact, she didn't even hear the slow crawl of the car pulling up behind her.

Before she knew what was happening, a hand was on her mouth as a large man tried to wrestle her into his car. Years of self-defense training kicked in. Sherry stomped hard on the man's foot before ramming her elbow as hard as she could into his ribs. The man stumbled back from the blow and Sherry let out a high pitched scream.

Her screams and self-defense skills paid off as BSAA agents came pouring out of the gym in their work out gear to see what was going on. Sherry managed to fight off the one who grabbed her, jabbing him in the throat, and he leaped into the car croaking, "I'll be back for you." The adrenaline rush slapped her back to the present quickly enough. 

"Sherry!" It was Chris Redfield coming out of the gym. He was a lead BSAA Captain, and friend of hers for many years. Chris's unit had also been "reassigned" to train soldiers in the states, although Sherry secretly wondered if they were simply keeping an eye on her. This was the first time the BSAA had been allowed a unit inside the United States. Times had changed as bio-warfare had expanded everywhere. "Jesus you are shaking all over." He took her by the arm, motioning to another man from his unit named Devon. "Call Leon. Hey, anyone see the plate on that car?" 

They all knew who Leon was just as they all knew Sherry was a friend, and most knew her history, although her healing ability was currently classified. Devon called him back. "He's on his way, Sir. Anything I can do to help?"

"Get her car started. We're taking her home, now." Devon turned the key in the ignition and Sherry, grateful for the assistance, did not argue. Her head hurt, and the strain of not sleeping well was taking its toll on her. She stepped into the back seat of her car and Chris slid in next to her still holding her arm. His cell rang. "It's me," He said, putting it to his ear.

He listened for a moment and then replied, "They got to her, or tried to. Some guy actually grabbed her. Tell me you're on your way. Good, I'm glad she's coming."

"Who is coming?" Sherry asked; her voice still wavered a bit. "Wait, what did you mean? What don't I know?"

She sat there trembling a little with the thought in the back of her mind. I'm an agent, why am I acting like the scared little girl Leon and Claire took out of Raccoon City again? I'm twenty-seven years old, not twelve.

The rain had started to fall as the car moved forward. First Sargent Mac Devon strained to listen to the muted conversation between Sherry and his Captain. The men in the unit were all quite fond of Sherry. 

They knew she'd done time as a National Security Agent and was on leave following a kidnapping in China where she'd disappeared for six months. But not everyone knew who was involved or how she'd escaped. Her security clearance was higher than any of theirs. Chris and his sister Claire had taken her in again after that, dropping in to make sure she was handling things. Leon Kennedy also dropped in to make sure she was doing all right.

But Mac Devon liked her even more than the rest. He attempted to get her out and about more, make her laugh. He could tell she was distracted but told himself that it was the stress from work. The rest of the unit knew he had feelings for her and gave him grief about it.

Chris had told him to back off and let her recover from her experiences. Chris really liked the young man but he knew it was too soon for Sherry. She was still haunted.

So Devon waited just as curious as Sherry Birkin to know what Chris knew that the rest of them didn't.

"They're back," Chris said simply. Sherry seemed to shrink back into her seat. She stared at the falling rain.

"No..." The words slipped out quietly.

They. It could only mean Neo-Umbrella was back. Sherry knew the organization was big, although how big remained a mystery. She remembered telling Jake maybe they had an oil baron or two in their pocket. Perhaps they had a whole lot more than that. They could deliver on their promises, that was the problem. They had the technology; you weren't just wiping out a company, this was a web of countries all using the same technology on each other to further their own goals. 

All Neo-Umbrella had to do was sit and watch them destroy each other as they lined their pockets.

It also meant potentially that she would have to go back to being under the protection of the government. She doubted she'd have too many missions in the field after this. The US Government had access to her pretty much whenever they wanted, but all it took was the wrong person with the wrong motivations and she'd probably go away forever.

For her own safety of course.

"They had your samples in that lab..." Chris continued looking ahead as Devon drove. "They appear to be working on something else from them. We got wind of it, but it seems like they have a few test samples of what they had and it worked...on something. But they're calling it the 'Immortality' virus."

"They're after my virus again." She breathed out, dread suddenly rising up into her chest. "They wanted to know why I could heal....and they tested me a lot...."

"Yeah," said Chris. "You know a lot of people would pay dearly for that. And it looks like they got a sponsor or sponsors."

"So you've been here babysitting me."

Chris had the grace to look sheepish for a moment. "I didn't think it was over yet. No one did."

Sherry looked at Chris in the eye. "Does.... does Jake know?"

Chris sat back looking away. "No, we've kept an eye on him, he's preoccupied himself with taking out B.O.W.'s in the Middle East. A lot of those countries don't even want us in there to help, but somehow, he got in. Not really touched much of the money paid to him to study his blood and make a vaccine from it. We haven't reached out to him just yet."

In truth, Sherry had made sure Jake got every penny he'd asked for the first time. It was the least she could do; he'd done far more than saving the world to her. He'd kept her going, kept her focused on the mission. After they went their separate ways he'd gone out and taken on B.O.W.'s on his own in the Middle East. She smiled at the memories. Part of her missed their harrowing journey more than she was going to admit to anyone. 

Especially to Chris, who right now was staring at her as if she was made of glass.

They pulled up to Sherry's apartment. She lived in a small apartment building not far from the gym. She had a ground floor room, not quite trusting to be up too high anymore. She wanted a quick escape if she needed it. 

A blue truck sat in the driveway and a brunette woman climbed out as Devon climbed from the car and opened Sherry's door. He took her hand and pulled her out as the other woman rushed over.

"Sherry are you all right? Leon called me and told me to come as quickly as I could. He's on his way."

"I'm fine," Sherry said stiffly to Claire. She was still preoccupied with the best way to get to Jake, to warn him of the dangers they were both in now.

"Let's get her inside." Chris took her by the elbow.

Claire nodded and opened the front door. "I'll make some coffee."

Chris bent down and whispered in her ear. "I know you are worried about Jake but that kid is tough. He can handle himself until we get there."

She jerked to a stop. "You're going after him?"

"Probably," Chris said. "Leon will let me know when he gets here. We've got to have a good excuse for getting him though. Not everyone knows about him." He was looking at his First Sargent who was following behind and closing the door, keeping a wary eye on their surroundings.

"Right." Sudden inspiration burst through her. "What if we're offering him a job? As an agent?"

Chris paused. "What? Why would we do that?"

"Think about it..." Sherry was excited. "He's been clearing B.O.W.'s for the past six months with some success. It's a good excuse."

"We'll run it by Leon..." Chris started.

"Run what by me?" Leon was coming through the doorway, sidestepping Devon with a nod, just as Claire was coming back through with coffee. She handed two cups, one to Chris, the other to Sherry. Leon eyed the coffee for a moment. "Gin?"

Claire shook her head and Leon sighed.

Leon glanced around the room and stopped on Devon. "Guess you now have a higher level security clearance...that is. Do you trust him?" He turned to Chris.

"Yeah I do." Chris responded nodding.

Devon stood a little taller, and glanced over at Sherry who was smiling at him as well over her coffee cup.

"So what are you running by me again?" Said Leon.

"A job, for Jake." Sherry blurted.

Later Devon listened incredulously as they discussed the best way to get to a "Jake Muller." He did not like the way Sherry's eyes lit up when she talked about him. He didn't want her anywhere near this guy. Mostly he didn't understand why they needed him in the first place. He was apparently good at what he did. Leon's admiration told Devon that, but what exactly did they need him for? It wasn't like the BSAA to go get someone outside the system just to protect Sherry. It didn't make sense.

"We can all go," said Chris evenly. "I'll take my unit out to find him."

"He's not going to talk to you." Sherry replied. "I don't think he hates you or anything...but he's not overly fond of you."

Chris shrugged. "Guess you'll have to be there to negotiate." It went unspoken that they never mentioned Jake's biological father around anyone who did not already know. He was the son of Albert Wesker and a woman, Jake's mother, whom Jake refused to name. Jake was afraid they go find her where she was buried, which to him would have been losing her all over again. Wesker never did anything without a reason and initially there'd been some curiousity among higher ups in the know, but Jake had remained tight lipped about everything and they'd been forced to settle for his pint of blood as he'd refused to move to the United States. 

Sherry had been forced to watch him walk away knowing she couldn't force him into the life she'd accepted for herself.

She had never even told Claire about Jake's parentage, and Claire had rescued her from Raccoon City with Leon, who oddly enough had kept quiet about it too.

When Jake and Sherry parted there were so many things left unsaid between them. 

But Sherry was a prisoner of the system that she believed was protecting lives. At least that was her hope. She wouldn't ask him to be the same. There was no telling what they would have done with Jake had he been brought here. She shuddered, remembering all the tests she endured first here in the US and then in China.

"We're all going," said Leon snapping her back to the conversation. "This is a matter for the DOS and the BSAA." He gave Sherry a knowing look.

"I don't get it, Sir," said Devon suddenly. "If she needs a bodyguard, I'll do it. We don't have to go find this guy. He's not one of us."

There was an embarrassed pause that was broken by Chris. The reality was, Devon was not one of them. Sure he was a BSAA agent, but he was the new guy. And there were things he simply would never be privy to. "He's a bit more than a bodyguard, Devon..."

Chris described the events in China six months ago. Most people knew about the outbreak. But he left out Jake's role in creating the vaccine for the C-Virus outbreak, and who his father was.

Devon was left with the impression that Muller had been instrumental in the mission. Also by the way Sherry blushed, he had been extremely important to Sherry.

Devon already hated the guy.