Laura screamed as the walls around them shook violently. Sherry's eyes searched the screen as a flashing red light caught her attention. An explosion below deck... near the cells she and Jake had been held in.

She couldn't help the wry smile or the relieved laugh as she found what she was searching for on the ship's security camera's. Bounding up the stairs toward the control room, taking them two at a time, Jake was making his way to her. Now all she had to worry about was making contact for a rescue team. Her mind wandered back to Leon, hoping he was ok. She'd barely been conscious after Maverick had shown up, all she could remember was his pale face. Blood. Jake's curses as he was struck with the hilt of a gun... and then darkness.

Keeping her gun in sight, Sherry knelt on the floor beside the guard she'd taken by surprise and pulled out the keys to his own cuffs, dangling them in front of his face.

"You can see that monitor right? That explosion breached the hull, we've got less than an hour 'til this ship goes under. You still want to be on board?"

The guard shook his head frantically. Sherry un-cuffed him and dropped the restraints on the table, stepping back quickly as he slowly rose to his feet. "Take her," she said, nodding at Laura's shaking frame, "And get off this ship with the others. You try anything else and you'll be under water too, got it?"

She didn't have to repeat herself. The guard took hold of Laura's arm and began pulling her from the room.

"Wait," the woman pulled herself free, "What about you?"

"I lied about the hull being breached," Sherry smiled wryly as the guard disappeared through the door without so much as a backward glance, "I just needed to make sure he wouldn't hang around or call for back-up."

"Nice," Laura nodded, not returning the smile, "but that doesn't explain what your plan is? This ship is full of... god, I don't even know what to call them. What are you going to do?"

Sherry's eyes fell back to the images on the security cameras. With everyone off the ship it she'd just have to call in their location using the ship's radio and the experiments would be quarantined, the ships files searched for information. Urik was dead, not that he was even the brains behind what was going on here. To her it seemed Maverick had merely used Urik's wealth to fund his twisted experiments. Her skin crawled as she remembered the documents she'd found... the things that had been planned for her.

The door was thrown open, making both women start. Jake strode in, gun in hand, his eyes scanning the room before settling on Sherry. Immediately his stern expression relaxed, his lips twitching with the hint of a smile. Sherry's relief was clear as she closed the space between them and threw her arms around his neck, ignoring Laura's raised eyebrows as she slipped out of the door.

Jake pressed his hand to her side, pushing her back slightly. Sherry felt a little hurt until she realised he was studying her closely, "Are you okay?" he asked.

Sherry nodded, "Are you? Where did they take you, what did they do?"

Jake's expression darkened, his hand twitching against her side. "Now's not the time. We should get out of here."

"I need to radio in for help, we can't just leave the ship-"

Another alarm pierced the air, drowning out her words. Jake's brow furrowed as the screens around them flickered, automatically switching to the holding cells. The creatures Sherry had seen in various states of decay were strewn around the room. Blood marred the smashed glass. "What the hell?" Sherry gasped.

Jake's fingers tightened around his gun. It had been a long shot, he knew, but he'd have thought that grenade might have made some kind of impact.

As Maverick's grotesque figure appeared before them, dragging one of the rotted bodies behind him, Jake slammed his fists against the table. "Oh come on! That son of a bitch"

"What? Who is that?" Sherry asked, unable to tear her eyes away from the thing as it tore the body in its large hands apart and threw the pieces across the room. It looked pissed, whatever that thing was.

"That is - was - Maverick..." Jake told her, catching the look of confusion on Sherry's face, "He injected himself with something. That explosion that set the alarm off before, that was me shoving a grenade up his a-"

"We have to stop him." Sherry interrupted, her face paling. "Look!"

Her stomach turned as Maverick's form bent over, shuddering violently. What was left of his skin seem to blister and tear, gleaming muscle breaking through the surface as he shed his ruined skin like a snake. His claw-like hands scratched at his face. A face no longer recognisable as human.

Jake shook his head in disbelief, "What the hell are these crazy fuckers playing at?"

Sherry turned from the screen, frantically typing into the nearest computer. "There has to be... come on... yes! Jake, there's a storage room for weaponry on the floor below us."

"Then let's go. But first..."

His arms wrapped themselves around Sherry's middle, pulling her toward him with such speed that she didn't realise what he was about to do until his lips were firmly pressed against her own. The memory of their last kiss, their one and only night together, made her shudder with something other than fear or revulsion for once. She didn't hesitate when Jake carefully pushed her back, his hands running over her hips, her thighs and rear before reaching for her wrists as she opened her mouth just enough to let him in...

A click and something cold against her wrist. Sherry pulled back, bewildered as she realised the cuffs she'd taken from the guard were now keeping her chained the desk. The desk which was firmly bolted to the floor. Fury flooded through her as she realised just what Jake was planning. "Don't you dare leave me here!" she cried as Jake stepped back, sliding the key into his pocket. He had the decency to look sorry at least as he shook his head.

"Sorry Supergirl, you can call in the cavalry, but I can't let you go after that asshole."

Sherry rarely cursed, but she used every expletive she knew as Jake closed the gap between them and pressed a firm kiss against her forehead. She punched him in the chest with her free hand, but he only caught it and held it tight.

"I'm not going to stay here and watch you take that thing on by yourself!"

Jake chuckled a little, "Hey, I'll be right back. Don't go anywhere." With one last smirk, he was gone. Sherry cried out in frustration, pulling with all her strength against the metal on her wrist. It was no use. She wasn't going anywhere without the key... they key she know realised he'd taken from her pocket whilst he'd been distracting her with that kiss.

"Damn you Muller!" she bellowed, hoping he would hear her voice echoing after him, "You better not get killed!"

Pushing open the door leading back to the stairway Jake half-smiled to himself. "I don't plan on it, supergirl."

Disclaimer: I own no right to Resident Evil.