Jake dragged his eyes open. He was suspended in the air... again. He knew he'd been injured badly to have been knocked unconscious, he remembered the sounds of his own bones popping and breaking but he didn't feel any of that now. Just exhaustion. He could feel the bonds on his arms and waist again.

He pulled at them anyway, knowing it was more than likely going to be useless.

"Now, now," said a voice Jake was starting to hate more than anything. Down at his feet stood Albert Wesker, Jr. He was sporting a black outfit this time. The room they were in was a large square lab with about 20 feet of height judging from the height of the ceiling compared to the Ustanak standing in the right corner of the room near the doorway.

"Jake," said a voice to his right. He glanced over and discovered Sherry tied up the same way he was. They were fully clothed still, although Jake's were ripped, torn, and bloody. He glanced over at the Ustanak again. His eyes narrowed. Getting really sick of that thing.

"You were pretty mangled when he brought you in," said Wesker smiling grimly. I actually wondered if you were going to come back or not. Sherry did cry her eyes out when she saw you but you seemed to have made a great come back after all." He grinned. "And now you're both here, I have some exciting news for you." He paused clapping his hands. 

Jake swore the man had a flare for the dramatic. Fucking drama queen, he thought. He said nothing out loud.

"Sherry is with child." This caught Jake completely off guard and for once he had no reply. His mouth hung open. Sherry gasped and even the Ustanak from across the room grunted its surprise.

"I had my assistant run every test on Sherry we could think of, of course she ran that one too. I never would have thought of it, but with you in the picture," he glanced at Jake with a lifted eyebrow, "she did have the foresight for such a possibility." He gave Jake another sharp look. "I admit to wanting to have had the pleasure of doing that myself but once again half-brother you've beaten me to it." Wesker turned his eyes back to Sherry, and for once Jake saw a hunger in them he'd never seen before.

Wesker waved a finger at Sherry. "My father wrote that you were always a goodie two shoes my dear but it seems lately you've been naughty."

"Naturally I'm going to want to see if the virus carries through. We'll move Sherry along for observation. And then we'll carry on with you. After all, with your healing ability in full swing now I can make plenty of videos for my buyers. After all, it doesn't really matter to me if the virus works on them or not. People are desperate not to die that they will even kill themselves for the pleasure of living just a bit longer. Isn't it ironic?"

"Fuck you." Jake couldn't think of anything else to say. Getting Sherry out of here suddenly seemed ten times more necessary than it had earlier.

"Oh please, are we back to that again?" Wesker said. "I'm trying to be polite here but you've never mastered the art. I cannot believe we are even half-brothers." He motioned to Sherry and his assistants lowered her down. "I'm moving her to her own room now. There will be no experiments on her for the time being. I want to see how the next generation turns out." If they turn out, the next offspring will be mine.

Jake wanted to puke. The man was biologically his father. And he wanted Sherry... Jake shuddered, Sherry had given him the condensed version of what happened in China, knowing Wesker had been there. He wondered if she'd told him everything. Wesker had been a lab assistant there for six months?

Sherry, was still speechless as they unstrapped her and brought her down, they'd already taken vials upon vials of blood from her but the discovery of the pregnancy had caused all of that to cease. She felt nauseated by Wesker. Did the man seriously think she was just going to cooperate with him? She glanced at Jake as they moved her away from him. He was still strapped down but she could see the anxiety she felt reflected in his own eyes. 

Didn't we want to get caught? She thought to herself. She glanced at the man at her elbow and recognized him as the man who'd tried to kidnap her the first time.

"How's your throat?" she said in a low voice to him.

"What?" Stents leaned in closer. With a sharp jab, her arm shot out and punched him in the throat, again.

Stents gasped, croaked out, "bitch," and hit the floor gasping but Sherry was already moving to the other man holding her arm. She didn't have any of Jake's abilities or stamina but she'd sparred with him enough to know this guy was counting on his superior size and strength by the way he'd jerked her to him, intending to wrap his arms around her and to pin her in place. She let him pull her towards him and then kicked him viciously in the groin, dropping him before shoving him away from her. She turned towards anyone who was left and saw that it was just Wesker and the Ustanak who remained.

Wesker himself hadn't moved from his position next to Jake. He just stood there with an amused expression on his face. Sherry saw this and for a moment became uncertain and paused. Wesker pushed a button and Jake lowered to Wesker's level and then rotated so he was stretched out flat on his back at Wesker's waist.

"This isn't the kind of fun I had in mind. You could go quietly," he said staring at her, "Or I could call in an army of J'avo. Or, I could simply do this!" He jabbed a knife into Jake's throat.

Sherry gasped. "Nooooo!" Running to Jake's side she put her hand on his face. Knowing that he was going to heal from it didn't stop her from dropping her guard. Hearing him gurgle what should have been his last breath and knowing the torture of going through that over and over again.

Jake gurgled and gasped and felt the searing pain flow back into his throat as his vision dimmed and then brightened again, his chest tightened due to the lack of oxygen but as his throat came back together and the breathing became easier again the tension there eased away. Sherry still stood beside him staring into his face. "Oh god, Jake," she whispered, tears falling. "I don't know if I can watch that again..."

Jake smiled at her suddenly. "Built like a tank remember?" He rasped, his voice getting better. There was blood on the front of him but suddenly he was better again. He could understand the nightmares Sherry went through now. "Don't go quietly." He coughed. "Promise me, you'll never go quietly."

Wesker was still standing there next to her, the amused look was still on his face. "So sentimental...it's such a weakness."

Jake wanted to grab the man and beat him to a pulp. Hell, he'd even go through that fucking Ustanak to do it if he had to. The Ustanak had not moved at all. The big hulking creature had been glancing between Sherry and its master but so far had stayed out of it. Jake began to wonder how much of the man was left in there. He did not attempt to hurt Sherry in anyway, although he'd had no problem crushing Jake to a pulp. Probably normal for him, Jake thought. But still if they could get him to attack Wesker that might give Sherry a chance to get away. Jake had no illusions to his fate strapped as he was to the table.

"Now if you go quietly, I'll not have my friend Devon here, crush him again... in front of you."

"You have what you want." Said Sherry quietly. "Why is that not enough?"

"Your combination is unique," said Wesker to her. "I don't know if it's the circumstances under which you acquired it...your virus helped give my half-brother and I some incredible healing ability now that it's adapted. But I can't make it work for just anyone yet. Jake's sample mutated a poor homeless man. Unless you're immune to the C-virus this isn't going to work for you."

"So what do you need us for? It's not going to work." Snapped Sherry balling her fists.

"Oh it will work, I just need the particulars," Wesker responded. He moved closer and put a hand on her cheek. "Now are you going to be a good girl or am I going to have to use a bit of motivation to get you moving?"

Suddenly Jake couldn't stand to be strapped to the table anymore. He shifted and pulled against the bonds to no avail as Sherry placed herself between him and Wesker.

"I see," said Wesker. He motioned behind him. "Devon, do take care of my half-brother. Make it good..."

"You're just like your father." Sherry said. This caused Wesker to pause and he held up his arm motioning the Ustanak to halt.

"Go on."

"What do you mean, go on? You're just like him. You look exactly like him, like you were...cloned." She said the last word quietly, surprise on her face. Why haven't I thought of it before?

"You met him?"

"Only a few times. You know my father worked with him...he's the reason I was a Ward of the government in the first place. He came after me. After my virus..."

Jake who had been watching Wesker snapped his head around towards Sherry when he heard that. Worked together? Sherry was going to have to sit down with him soon and let him in on everything he didn't already know. Her familiarity with Neo-Umbrella made more sense now. She had grown up with these people. He felt a little spark of anger towards her. She had more than met his father.

"Yes, and Simmons put you right out there for me to find." Said Wesker smiling. "Simmons was always a bit too ambitious for a dog, you understand. He honestly thought he was in charge."

"What my father was doing was wrong," said Sherry as tears rolled down her face at his memory. She had loved her parents and they her. It wasn't till much later she had understood the full extent of the experiments they were working on. "In the end he became a monster."

"And here I am trying to correct their mistakes," Wesker responded. He looked as though he was growing bored with their conversation.

"If you really wanted to help fix their mistakes," said Sherry. "You'd help me shut it down. Don't be a part of the chaos they created. Help me fix it."

Jake stared at Sherry incredulously. Sherry had once told him about never giving up, no matter the odds. He couldn't believe here in the midst of all this, she was trying to see the good in Wesker Jr. Hell, she was even trying to draw it out of him.

That brought him up short. He too was a son of Wesker. Even if he was deeply ashamed of it. And she'd still seen something worth saving...even loving in him. Guilt blossomed in his chest at the anger he'd felt a moment ago. He hadn't told her everything about his growing up years either. Much of it was painful for him to talk about.

"Well isn't this one big happy reunion." Jake muttered. He knew mostly that Sherry's parents had worked in Raccoon City, but never how closely they were all entwined. They had come full circle it seemed. One of the Wesker boys was going to leave here with Sherry. Jake was determined that it was going to be him.

Sherry and Wesker both ignored him and stared at each other.

"Please," Sherry pleaded. She felt more than saw that this was a lost cause. Still she felt like she had to give him a chance to prove he wasn't his father. Whatever happened, she had at least given him a chance. What he did from there was on his own head.

Wesker just stood there and for a second Jake wondered if he was actually going to take Sherry up on the offer to destroy the work of both of their parents. He did not believe that that would happen after listening to the man rant and rave but Sherry had a way with people on occasion.

Just not this time.

"Now, now," started Wesker and Jake knew he was definitely against the idea entirely.

...and that's when Sherry made her move. Jake had to give her credit, she was a terrific actress. She'd been studying where the controls were and flew at the panel and hit the button that unlocked Jake. The bands all locking him into place popped off at once, he rolled to the other side and dropped down to the floor.

Wesker stared at him for a moment and then looked back at Sherry. "My dear you are a wonderful actress. My complements to you. It won't save either of you I'm afraid. I still need your G-Virus." He was still maddeningly calm.

Too fucking calm, thought Jake. He felt a sense of panic in him. He had no idea where they were or how to escape. 

"Devon," Wesker continued. "Please take care of my half-brother. Mash him as much as you like. I'm as curious as the rest of my techs to see how far back he can come from as well. Not to mention the video will be very useful to any future buyers."

The Ustanak advanced on Jake and Jake felt his rage about to boil over. Losing his cool wasn't going to work here though. And he didn't have a handy vat of lava to dump the Ustanak in like last time. Jake still wondered if there was a way to turn the Ustanak on Wesker. He didn't have much love for Devon but he figured the best way to atone for what he'd done was to help protect Sherry. Oh god, and our baby.

Don't think about that right now, Jake. He told himself. You can sort that out later.

The Ustanak came at him swinging and Jake dodged its massive fists by rolling to the floor, glancing around for a weapon of any kind. Something. Anything...

Wesker's voice cut in through the roars of the creature. "I heard you took an Ustanak on single handed. Care for a little demonstration?"

"Son of a bitch!" snapped Jake, ducking in time to avoid another colossal arm sweep.

"No!" called Sherry at the same time. This distracted the Ustanak long enough for Jake to get behind it. It's freakin' massive, he thought. Bigger than the last one.

But once again the Ustanak came to a halt and just stared at Sherry. For the first time even Wesker appeared disturbed by this. "Shawy?" Its over sized jaws moved and for a moment it stared down at her and then looked down at its massive arms. 

"Yeah, it's me." Sherry moved closer. She hesitated hating herself for wanting to just shoot the Ustanak. She wondered if he'd had any choice in the matter. Maybe they would never know.

Jake didn't move, he waited to see if the Ustanak would recognize her. As much as he disliked the guy when he was human he hoped that there was a shred of him left in there so that Sherry wouldn't end up being crushed to a pulp. Something worth saving.

The Ustanak came forward with a roar and a low sweep of its huge arm it sent Sherry flying across the room.

_________________________________________________________________________________

Chris surveyed the entrance of what looked to be a mine shaft. In New York State? Chris thought, not likely. Claire had shot a J'avo with a tracking device, and thankfully they weren't that smart. The signal had stopped here and they figured that the creature was deep underground now.

"Oddly enough property owned by Senator Derges's father, Malcom Derges." Said Claire.

"How is the dear Senator doing by the way?" Leon asked coming up behind Claire.

"Dead," said Claire.

"Funeral?"

"Close casket, private, family only." She gave Leon a look. "Virus didn't work for him long term anyway. I heard he got ugly...like had to be put down ugly."

"Geez," said Chris in front of them. "Don't they ever learn?"

Chris's team had formed up behind them. Everywhere they looked there were no guards, not even signs of cameras. But Chris wasn't fooled, somewhere they had sensors. Wesker had always been a pompous ass but he was smart and very little escaped his notice. There was no reason to believe the clone was not the same.

"Is this the only way in?" Leon asked quietly.

"No other entry in this area," said Claire. "They've checked. Repeatedly."

Leon paused, storming inside was a really bad idea, but if there was no other way in they were going to make the attempt.

"We could go in alone," he said. "I don't want to send everyone in, what if it's a trap?"

"Isn't it always?" Claire said. She smiled, "How long have we been dealing with this guy again?"

Leon chuckled. "Chris keep your guys stationed outside, we're going in."

"Feels like the good old days," Claire moved forward behind her brother.

"Like they've ever stopped." Chris muttered.  

"Never a dull moment," Leon hesitated. "Claire, we ever going to have that drink?"

"Really?" Chris surprised glanced over at Leon, his eyebrow shooting up. "You do that now?"

"Might never get another chance." Leon grinned at them both. Chris shook his head as he moved in.

Claire followed him without answering but smiled behind them. She shouldn't even be here but the only reason she was allowed was because she had an excellent survival record against B.O.W.s.  Like Leon, the DSO wanted to recruit her for her experience at Raccoon City, but she'd turned down the offer needing a break.

The three of them walked into the tunnel not sure what they were expecting just knowing this was the last place the signal from the J'avo had come from.

_________________________________________________________________________________

Wesker clapped his hands.

Jake was shocked but moved quickly to Sherry's side. As he did the Ustanak turned on him. "Damn it," he swore moving away from Sherry. There was no way he was going back on that table. At least not willingly but Sherry was down and he was going to have to take everyone out before he could get to her.

Alarms began to ring suddenly.

Wesker glanced down at the monitors surrounding the room. "Looks like we have company again. I do hate it that we keep getting interrupted."

One glance at the monitors told Jake that it was Leon, Chris, and Claire coming in.

"I don't need you," said Wesker. "But I am going to take Sherry." He glanced at the Ustanak. "Take care of him won't you? I know you've been itching to beat him down. Well now is your chance. You see Jake, I no longer need a sample from you, although it would have been nice to get one and keep you around just to use your blood, I can use mine. And the infant after it is born. And the others to come." He smirked and let that hang in the air. Jake saw red as Wesker knew he would.

"Not a chance," Jake's voice had gone low. He would focus on preventing Wesker from taking Sherry even if it meant fighting both at the same time. Giving the others a chance to at least show up. That much he could do.

"You have no say in the matter I'm afraid." Wesker turned.

The Ustanak charged Jake then. Jake managed to tuck and roll over to where Sherry was. He heard noises out in the hall and the doors opened and J'avo tumbled in.

"Shit," Jake yelled. He scooped up Sherry and made an attempt to get around the J'avo. The Ustanak was also swinging wildly not caring who he hit, J'avo or Jake.

Only Wesker stood immobile to one spot watching the scene unfold. Sherry stirred over Jake's shoulder. Her healing ability waking her up sooner than most people would have done. Jake slugged a J'avo who got to close and set her down. "Steady?" He said as he stood in front of her attempting to keep the J'avo away as the Ustanak formally known as Mac Devon advanced on them. Gun shots reverberated throughout the hall.

"Yeah," she said shakily taking stock of the situation. She came up next to Jake and slugged the J'avo that tried to come up next to them from her side. Her hand broke at the force of her own punch and she grimaced but it knit itself back together quickly. By the time another came at her with what looked like a short sword the hand was back to normal. 

Unfortunately she couldn't hit hard enough to kill it and it mutated in the room. What used to be a head with 6 eyes in various place had a large snapping insect like jaws. Conveniently, the Ustanak's fist swung back and the huge creature took out the mutated J'avo without even glancing at it. Jake's relief was short lived. They still had the Ustanak to deal with after all.

"Can they get here any faster?" Jake said grabbing her shoulder and pushing her back as the Ustanak's large fist swung over the top of their heads. There was no convenient lava pool to drop this one in, but he wished they had one. The last time they'd burned the skin and the armor off of it, not to mention shortened it's legs to stubs. There were no extra metallic limbs to wrench off to disable the creature. This Wesker had succeeded where Carla Radames had failed. This Ustanak was virtually indestructible.

"Let's just be glad they showed up at all." Sherry snapped. She had a determined look on her face. Jake realized in that moment she was no longer fighting for just them but what she carried inside. There would be no arguments over what to do about the baby. Not that he would have argued with her, but the circumstances made her fight harder. She'd taken a blade off a J'avo somehow and was wielding it with extreme deadly efficiency.

That leaves the Ustanak to me then, he thought. Snatching a blade off a J'avo himself he drove his elbow into its face feeling bones crunch and then stabbed its own blade through its head, killing it. He turned back to the Ustanak just in time to get slammed against the wall. Managing to hang onto the blade, he saw stars for a moment but they cleared quickly. The Ustanak was lumbering toward him and he launched himself from the wall straight at the Ustanak with a loud cry. The blade bit deep into the chest of the Ustanak but did not slow it down.

Wesker still standing motionless with all this chaos watched Jake with interest. Jake was still hanging on the blade on the Ustanak's chest when he was snatched up, ripped off, and hurled violently across the room. He hit the wall, slid to the floor and got up pushing J'avo out of his way in a fury. "I've had enough of this shit." He moved to find another weapon.

The doors from outside blew open and Leon, Claire, and Chris ran into the room guns drawn. They were covered in blood and looked the worse for the wear.

"Leon!" cried Sherry from her side of the room.

Wesker standing there voiced above the fighting. "I don't believe we've met."

"Oh we've met." Said Claire briskly. Aiming at him. She pulled the trigger just as the Ustanak turned into them taking the bullets meant for Wesker

The Ustanak turned on the three of them and with a roar turned its attention on them.

"Devon, damn it!" Shouted Chris.

Jake moved back over to Sherry, breathing hard. They'd all taken hits as the J'avo began to lose their numbers. Another J'avo sprouted a long arm and was lashing at them from across the room. This is going to hurt, Jake thought as he felt the grossly extended arm grab into his shoulder. His feet left the ground and he was slammed into the floor in front of the creature who took a few steps back, it's arm waving wildly over it's head. Jake's shoulder felt raw from the grab site, but he moved in and smashed the J'avo in the face. He'd seen these types before. Up close they were fairly easy to kill. The arm got in the way, but from far away they could snatch you up and toss you off a building if you weren't careful. Any normal guy probably wouldn't be getting up from being slammed into the floor.

They surrounded the Ustanak who was being fired at from all sides. "Get the plate off its chest," shouted Jake over the chaos. "Damn near indestructible everywhere except for there." He fought his way back towards Sherry.

"How'd you get it off last time?" Shouted Leon rolling to the side as he barely dodged a fist.

"Lava," answered Sherry who had run out of things to kill.

By this time most of the J'avo had been put down either by the Ustanak or by those intending to rescue Jake and Sherry. Their bodies littered the floor which in turn was slick with their blood and gore. Somewhere Chris was radioing for back up. Jake couldn't see him but he could hear the man's voice.

The Ustanak was still swinging wildly at whoever was closest to it. Claire, Chris, and Leon all having to jump, dodge, and weave in an insane game of tag.

Wesker was still standing in the corner of the room acting like he did not have a care in the world. He watched the battle with interest but took no part in it himself.... Yet. Jake sorely wanted to walk over and punch him in his smug face but the Ustanak left them no room to deal with the younger Wesker.

Chris had never dealt with an Ustanak before. "How do we get the plate off?" He asked the question everyone was thinking.

"Got a knife? Anyone?," Jake told yelled towards him. Chris nodded and tossed Jake a combat knife and ducked as the creature swung at him. It grazed his shoulder and he tumbled into the wall.

Jake now armed with a blade, took a deep breathe, seized the opportune moment when the creature attacked Chris.

Sorry Redfield, he thought as the creature rushed over to Chris laying in a heap in the corner to finish him off.

Leon continued to shoot at the creature to get its attention.

Now or never, Jake. He took off at a run and leapt up onto the creatures massive backside slicing with the knife as he went. The leather straps that secured the plate in place slipped off. Jake got one arm around the Ustanak's massive neck and made an attempt to stab it in the throat but only managed to anger it further. It's huge body swung around trying to dislodge him, in the wildest bull ride any of them would ever see. The Ustanak's left arm came up and grabbed Jake around the shoulder, flinging him away. Jake hit the far wall hard. His vision blackened as he crumpled.

"You are crazy." Leon yelled going in with his gun blazing. He knew he wouldn't survive being tossed like a rag doll, but he could see Jake stirring from the floor as Sherry came running to get to him.

This only infuriated the Ustanak more.

"Tell them to shoot it in the heart." Jake gasped at Sherry. He felt broken bones and had no idea what he looked like, only the painful reality of the quick healing which was agonizing. The shadow of the Ustanak fell over them once more. He could hear Sherry shouting "shoot it in the heart!" Although the way he could feel his body cracking he could bet that it had its back to them and was stomping on him again. Briefly he wondered if there was a limit to how much he could heal from. His second thought was he was really tired of getting stomped on.

Fucking bastard, he thought as he blacked out.

Sherry pounded on the Ustanak with her bare hands as he stomped. She had no gun and there was no way for her to physically stop him. He swatted her aside like a fly and she went flying against the wall herself. It briefly turned its attention to her before turning away to deal with Leon, who had been peppering it with bullets attempting to distract it.

Come on Sherry, she thought to herself. Stop thinking about this as Devon, Mac Devon was dead as soon as they injected him. There is no more pity here.

Chris was suddenly there ducking under the swinging arms. He spotted the vulnerable space where the Ustanak's armor had been aimed and took the shot. It was perfect, it hit square in the heart and the Ustanak paused grunting with pain. Beneath Chris's feet Jake was a bloody mess.

The creature swung around and zeroed in on Chris. It was unsteady on its feet and Chris knew he'd hit the mark. It stepped back five massive steps away from Jake and put a hand over where it had been shot. But it didn't go down just yet.

"Leon, hit the heart!" He shouted. Leon came around the other side of the Ustanak to see if he could get a better shot off, trying not to stare at Jake laying on the floor. He too fired off rounds at the Ustanak's heart which it attempted to cover with its hand.

The Ustanak was obviously slowing. "Shawwwwy!" It shouted. It spun slowly looking for her. She was next to Jake with Claire.

Sherry turned when it called her name. She was red, covered in Jake's blood, she resembled one of the creatures, called the J'avo herself. Without warning she snatched the gun out of Claire's hand and advanced on the Ustanak. There was a wild rage in her eyes.

"Sherry! Get back!" Leon shouted. But for once she didn't listen.

"You son of a bitch," She whispered.

The Ustanak advanced on her and swung both of its massive arms at her leaving its heart unprotected.

And then everything happened in slow motion for Sherry.

Without hesitation she aimed the gun and fired into its massive chest, repeatedly until the clip was empty.

The Ustanak dropped like a stone at her feet both arms to either side of her. She was still pulling the trigger, screaming even though no bullets were coming out. Her eyes were closed and her voice gave out...

"Sherry?" Claire put her arms around her. Leon pulled the gun out of her now trembling hands.

Chris came up next to Sherry. "Is he...?" He didn't quite say it.

"No!" Sherry wheeled around, attempting to kneel next to him despite the mess. "No," she whispered.

"Where is Wesker?" asked Claire suddenly glancing around the room.

Wesker had disappeared again.

"Let's get him out of here," said Leon. He pulled a radio out of his pocket. He couldn't see Jake pulling out of this one. His face was bloody, his chest looked crumpled, blood covered everything. Leon knew Sherry wouldn't leave his side. He told himself he was doing a kindness for Sherry by calling for a medic instead of a body bag. "We need medical in here ASAP." 

Sherry took Jake's hand in her own. He had to live. Her other hand she placed on her stomach and looked down. "Not like this, Jake. Not like this..."