Title: Cloaked in Shadow

Summary: Raymond and Jackie are back, this time the two are partnered together by their shadowy employers to head to Sushestovanie Island to meet with Alex Wesker and see what they can learn about t-Phobos. Takes place before and during Revelations 2.

Notes: I had a totally different sequel in mind for Raymond and Jackie, but as I played Revelations 2 again, I started to wonder what Raymond was doing, so I changed the entire sequel idea and now this is what I have. I had hoped he'd appear in 2, but at the same time I was glad he didn't. They just love killing my favorites lately!

Chapter 1

In a darkened room in an apartment building on the Maldives, a phone began to ring. It was not a smart phone; it was a cheap, disposable cell phone with one of those shrill rings installed. A hand shot out from under a tangled mess of blankets to snatch the offending phone.

"Yeah?" a woman asked, a strand of dyed blond hair falling in her face. She yawned and sat up, blinking back sleep and fighting the desire to go back to bed. The phone call, after all, was going to be something important.

"Walz, I've got an assignment for you." She rolled her eyes as she cut on the lamp and reached for the pad and pencil she kept by the bed. Of course there was an assignment. That would be the only reason that particular phone of hers would be ringing.

She listened patiently as the mysterious person on the other end spoke. While the organization had many people working for it, she was certain whomever called with details was someone she had never seen before. By the time the timer on her phone reached ten minutes, she had her details, even if she had to get her contact to spell the name of the island three times to be sure she was right.

"Keep in touch," the caller said to end the call.

"Right," Jackie said, stifling a yawn. She hit the end button and returned the phone to the table. Not before catching a glance at the clock. She allowed for a groan. It was only a quarter past five in the morning, and yet she would be awake.

She glanced down at the bed next to her and rolled her eyes again. "Raymond," she said, nudging the sleeping man next to her. He mumbled something in his sleep but otherwise did not stir. "Come on," she said, "we've got a job."

"Great," he said sleepily. "Tell me about it in about four hours."

"Four hours?" she asked in disbelief.

"Just because you're awake doesn't mean I want to be."

With a sigh of annoyance, Jackie gave up and got out of bed. She would leave him to sleep, if that was what he wanted.

By the time his four hours had come and gone, Jacqueline had been awake, had showered, dressed, and eaten breakfast. She heard Raymond get up and the shower turn on. By the time he was out, she had been curled up on the small couch for nearly an hour, her tablet in her hand.

"Getting a start on our assignment?" Raymond asked, his tone still a little sleepy, once he finally joined her, a glass of juice in his hand. He leaned over her shoulder, then scoffed. Despite being a highly skilled hacker, the bright colors and chimes of her favorite match three game was all he saw.

"I thought I would leave that to you," she replied, watching as a cascade of colorful pieces fell on the screen. As the game was still comboing, she handed him the paper with all of the details.

"Sushestovanie Island?" Raymond asked aloud as he read it. Jackie did not answer, but he had not expected her to. As he read, he groaned aloud. "A Wesker? They're sending us to deal with a Wesker?"

Jacqueline finally looked up from her tablet. "Scared?" she asked. Though she had no place to tease him. Her stomach had dropped as soon as she heard the name.

Their eyes locked. Raymond smirked and asked, "So, when do we head out?"

Jacqueline frowned at him and returned to her game. "I decided to let you handle the arrangements.'

"Of course," Raymond said with a scoff. As he left the room to make a few calls to their contacts, it was her turn to smirk. She always enjoyed pushing his buttons.

Sure, they had been successful in their mission to Citlali, and they apparently worked well enough together, but it was still fun to mess with him. If she was honest with herself, not only was she certain that they would never be partnered together again, but she was also so sure that he would not take her up on her invitation to her apartment. That had changed once he actually showed up.

This had been the third time, and the longest he had stayed. He wanted to keep moving, to stay away from the BSAA. A part of her did not blame him, another part wanted to tell him to calm down, they couldn't bother them here.

Or so she had convinced herself. With a sigh, she shut off the tablet, stood up, stretched, and joined Raymond. He glanced up from his spot on the bed, still a mess and neither of them wanted to make it, and held up a finger to stop her. "Three hours?" he said, nodding as whomever was on the other end of the call spoke. "That should give us enough time to get ready. We'll see you at the airstrip."

Jackie sat next to him on the bed and asked, "Did you change your mind? I didn't get the impression you wanted to meet this Alex Wesker too badly."

"Let's get it over with," he said. He ran a hand through his unnaturally red hair, then said something Jacqueline had not expected him to say.

"Before we go, dye your hair."

"Why?"

"The last time i worked with a blond, it didn't end well."

She took a strand of her dyed hair between her thumb and forefinger. She had just dyed it and did not feel like coloring it again so soon. She glanced at Raymond and said, "But you said three hours. Is there even enough time...?"

"I'll pack," he told her. She sighed, then headed to the bathroom. Raymond's tone was more than enough to convince her that he would not let it go. In a cabinet under the sink she found her dye. She reached for a brassy brunette, then smiled to herself and took a cue from Raymond's book. She did not pick his bright red, but instead chose a deep red that was nearly purple. The box called it "red violet."

Nearly three hours later, Raymond Vester and Jacqueline Walz sat at a tiny airstrip awaiting their pilot, three bags packed and waiting at their feet. At the sound of a small craft approaching, Jackie playfully nudged Raymond with her shoulder. "On the road again," she said with a smile.