Wow! I can't believe it took me this long to put out this chapter. I had it handwritten in my notebook for ages but never got around to typing it out. Jackson shows up in this chapter but he's sort of a background character in this scene. And I introduce yet another character to the plot, one Tina Woods. Who is she? And just what is her connection to Jackson? You'll just have to read to find out. And just a heads up...Tina is probably the last new major character in this story. I still have a few minor characters to introduce but no one who will be around for more than a chapter or two or as part of childhood flashback chapters. And Jackson and Sanders' boss Carter will show up again eventually.

And I can't forget to thank WHITE ANGELS WINGS for the emails she sent that helped prod me into actually sitting down and typing out this chapter sooner. Please review!

Chapter 4: The Truth Behind the Lens

"Hey Carl," the black-haired woman greeted the night shift security guard. He was a slightly balding, somewhat overweight, dark-skinned man of nearly sixty.

"Good evening, Miss Woods," he replied gently over the top of his newspaper. "It's a bit late for you, isn't it?"

"A bit, a few of my cases ran over today and I've got one more case to get to before I call it a night," the woman opened a file. "One…Mr. Rippner…Jackson Rippner, room 310."

"Ah, him," Carl put down his paper.

"Sumpthin I should know sug?" Tina Woods questioned. Her southern accent, usually very mild, broke through extremely heavy from curiosity. She fingered the corner of the white lab coat she wore over her street clothes, a simple black not too low-cut shirt and dark red cargo capri pants. Dark red socks and black All Stars completed the outfit.

"Nothing in particular…Keeps to himself mostly, doesn't talk, of course that's probably where you come in…"

"Probably," Tina smiled. She was the current speech therapist assigned to the prison hospital.

"But those eyes…" Carl shivered.

"What about his eyes?"

"They're…cold, but hot at the same time. Like freezing to death on the surface of the sun. Most of the time he just stares off, but when he fixes his stare on you…it's creepy."

"I'll keep that in mind," Tina closed the file. Her eyes wandered to the small, barred window opposite Carl's security desk. The wind was blowing fiercely and thrashed the branches of the trees in the distance about wildly. Tina could barely make out the outlines of the trees as heavy rain pounded down in a torrential descent. It pounded on the roof in a harsh yet oddly melodic sort of way.

Tina Woods enjoyed the rain. While others were resigning themselves to warm blankets and hot beverages she felt more alive than ever, despite the aches and pains the rain brought, and in the abysmal mid-May heat wave Miami had recently been through, the cold rains were a welcome respite.

"Tina, my dear," a slightly tall, lean man of late thirties had spoken very close to her ear, effectively breaking her out of self-induced trance.

"Oh, hello Andrew," Tina half smiled. The man had made no attempt whatsoever to cover up his affection for Tina in the entire six months she had known him. The fact that he was married did not hinder his actions in the least. Tina felt sorry for the poor soul of a woman that had to call herself his wife.

"What keeps you here so late?" Andrew asked slyly.

"My cases ran over. I've got one more left before I can leave for the night," Tina replied.

"Yeah…So who's the lucky inmate?"

"Rippner," Carl answered for her.

"Oh, the stiff," Andrew joked. "The guy hasn't responded to any of his former speech therapists and he can barely pull himself into his wheelchair long enough to use the can."

"So I've heard," Tina responded with distaste. Not at Jackson's abilities but at Andrew's crass language and his disregard for Rippner's current physical state. "But I've been told I'm good at cracking the hard nuts."

"So I've heard," Andrew chuckled. "Got nothing to do for a while, want some company?"

"No, that won't be necessary," Tina replied quickly. She abhorred the man before her. He reminded her of less than honorable men she'd known in the past. Part of her hoped he would forget the protocol involved in a therapist meeting a new patient for the first time. A security officer needed to accompany her to the room and stay within earshot for the whole session. But as fate would have it Andrew recalled the procedure.

"Come on Teen," Andrew cooed. "You know one of us has got to go with you. Unless you would rather put it off till tomorrow."

"No!" Tina shouted a bit too loud and a bit too fast. "No, I'd rather just get it out of the way today, tonight that is. I've got a full day tomorrow," she said more calmly. With the conditions outside, tonight would work just perfectly.

"Then it's settled…I'll go with you," Andrew said cheerfully.

"No, I think I'll accompany Miss Woods," Carl uttered as he lifted himself from his chair. He eyed Tina pointedly.

"Thank you Carl, but I think I'd rather have Andrew accompany me," Tina replied. Carl looked her in the eye.

"You sure about that, young miss?" Carl leaned over the desk and placed a hand on Tina's arm. She merely nodded.

"Yes," she answered as she placed her hand over his. Her back was to Andrew who didn't hear when she whispered to Carl, "I'm sure, old man."

Carl nodded his head in silent reply before she turned around to face Andrew.

"Alright," she forced herself to smile. "Lead the way…room 310 please."

Halfway to Rippner's room Andrew began to lay it on thick.

"So, Teen…that accent of yours…where are you from exactly?"

"I'm originally from Oklahoma. But my paw n I moved round a lot when I was a youngin'," she answered.

"And how is it that you're expected to teach people to talk when you've got that accent?"

"Oh, hun, it ain't hard to talk 'normal'." Tina stopped walking and took a deep breath. "Hello, I am from Oklahoma, but my father and I moved around a lot when I was younger," she stated with no trace of her accent whatsoever.

"Hot damn!" Andrew exclaimed. "Beautiful and smart, that's quite a combination."

"I'm not beautiful," Tina genuinely blushed as she pushed a wayward lock of hair from her face.

"You kiddin' me!? With that black hair and those eyes of yours. They're almost violet, just like Elizabeth Taylor."

"Well, aren't you just a little sweet talker," Tina smiled though on the inside she could have thrown up.

"Tina…could I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Just how old are you?"

"Now didn't I already answer that question?" Tina said with a scowl.

"No, you avoided answering last time. I believe you just left it hanging in the air when one of the gals guessed you to be twenty three. I think you said that it was a good guess," Andrew said with raised eyebrow.

"Didn't anyone ever tell you that it's rude to ask a lady how old she is?" Tina asked with mock indignation.

"I…I didn't mean to come off that way," Andrew stammered. Tina chuckled.

"It's okay…I'm actually thirty years old," she replied truthfully. She felt no need to lie to the man. If things went down the way she wanted tonight then he wouldn't be enjoying the information for that much longer.

"I don't believe it!" Andrew shouted. "I wouldn't have said anything over twenty five! There's no way, just no way you could be that old."

"It's true," she responded with a shrug of her shoulder.

The odd duo reached the elevator. There was another at the other end of the hallway that led to the basement and the roof. Andrew used his key to operate the elevator. Thankfully he didn't say anything else the rest of the way to Rippner's room. Tina prayed that Andrew would not be a problem tonight. He could be a real pain and possibly ruin all of her meticulous planning if she was not careful.

"Here we are, room 310," Andrew announced as he unlocked the door. After he took a look into the room he let Tina enter first.

"Hello Mr. Rippner," Tina said cheerfully. Jackson turned his gaze on the two of them and after giving Andrew a once over he simply stared at the woman.

"They tell me you still have trouble taking. Is that true?" Jackson silently nodded his head in response. "Well…we'll just have to do somethin' bout that, now won't we?" Tina beamed.

"Now Rippner, you aren't going to be trouble for the lady…you are going to behave yourself around Miss Woods, aren't you?" Andrew more demanded than asked. Jackson reached over to a side table by his bed and grabbed a notepad and a red crayon. He wrote for a second or two then held the notepad up for Andrew to see. In capital letters the note read…

FUCK YOU!

That along with a little smiley face drawn underneath. Tina laughed heartily while Andrew only glowered at Jackson. Jackson smiled brightly and regarded Tina with a raised eyebrow.

"A red crayon?" Tina asked when she had regained herself. "What's all that about?" She snickered.

"He's quite capable with sharp objects. He's not allowed a pen or even a pencil," Andrew answered still glowering.

"Well," Tina's laughter tapered off as she approached Jackson. "It would seem your sense of humor's intact." She leaned over and laid a hand on Jackson's shoulder.

Jackson smirked back at the young woman but the smirk froze and faded slightly as he sat up straighter and gazed at her. Noticing his reaction Tina stood up abruptly and quickly pulled some hair from behind her ear and smoothed it along the side of her face.

From outside could be heard loud thunderclaps. The rain continued to pound relentlessly against the roof. Tina couldn't have asked for a better night. Seeing no reason to postpone the inevitable, Tina shivered almost violently.

"What's wrong darlin'?" Andrew asked the young woman.

"It's…it's nothing," Tina stammered crossing her arms over her chest and rubbing the backs of her arms.

"Come on…it is definitely something. You can tell me," Andrew cooed as he smoothed one hand over Tina's lower back.

"It…it's the storm…'n this room is so small 'n there's no window even…I'd just feel better if we could maybe go into a different room…a bigger room with windows," Tina's voice cracked slightly at the end. "Maybe the physical therapy room on the fourth floor?" The forth floor contained the physical therapy room, the recreation room, an employee lounge, the old operating room that was rarely utilized now, and most of the offices used by the doctors and nurses.

"Oh, hun…you scared of the storm? Well, I don't see why we can't move to more spacious accommodations. As long as someone behaves themselves," Andrew uttered with a hint of malice in his voice as he eyed Jackson.

"He'll behave," Tina said almost fearfully as another clap of thunder sounded outside. "Please…You'll behave yourself…won't you, Jackie-boy?" She asked breathily, a pleading look in her eyes as she laid a hand on Jackson's lower leg. She was shocked to find that, although he was thin, there seemed to be a bit more muscle to him then his previously described condition would have suggested. She knew he couldn't possibly be as infirm as he led everyone to believe he was.

As she took in her assessment of him Jackson had reached for his trusty notepad and crayon again. He scribbled furiously for a few moments then showed Tina the note as he shook her hand off.

I'll behave but

DO NOT

CALL ME

JACKIE-BOY!!

"Fair enough," she replied in a small voice. "What d'ya say, Andrew?"

"I say let's go," he answered. He used his walkie-talkie to tell Carl about the change of location.

"Noted…a little strange but noted," Carl's voice came over the device loud enough to be heard by all.

Andrew then unceremoniously kicked Jackson's wheelchair toward the side of the bed. Jackson glared menacingly at the despised security guard as he lowered his bed and reached down to secure the wheel locks in place.

"Need some help with that honey?" Tina asked as she reached down. Rippner only held his hand up and shook his head at the young woman. Though the effort seemed to drain him of his energy Jackson smiled as he huffed and panted in his wheelchair. A light sweat had broken out across his pale forehead. Combine the devilishly handsome smile and amazing blue eyes the breath hitched in Tina's throat. She laid a hand over Jackson's on the brake handle and smiled warmly at him.

"No, please, allow me," she insisted. Jackson made a sound like he was clearing his throat.

"Okay," he whispered softly. Tina grinned lightly as she stood. She then stepped behind the chair, coming around the other side and bending to release the second wheel's brake. She glanced up to see Andrew currently occupied with the contents of a supply cart in the corridor. The door to the room was wide open.

Tina calculated the time it would take to wheel Jackson to the elevator, the time for the elevator to take them to the forth floor and how long it would take to do what needed to be done in the physical therapy room. She figured the whole night's events to take approximately the next hour and half, perhaps hour and forty-five minutes. She would have to do something she abhorred doing in her line of work. She'd have to cut corners. But given the current weather conditions and the less than skeleton crew night shift she would be able to get away with it, provided she was able to get past Andrew. She smiled as she wheeled Jackson out of the room and even granted Andrew the pleasure of a radiant grin as she walked pasted him. It felt good to get one more job out of the way.

As they waited for the elevator, Tina knew what had to be done. She laid a hand on Andrew's shoulder and lifted her left foot to adjust her sock. Before her foot touched back down to the floor, however, she lost her balance and fell into Andrew. He easily caught her.

"Thank you…and sorry 'bout that," she said in a soft voice as she smiled at the taller man.

"Anytime," he replied smoothly.

As the elevator doors opened Andrew lifted his hand in signal to let her in first.

"Such a gentleman," Tina cooed.

"It's not so hard when there's such a beautiful lady around," he returned. Tina averted her gaze. When turned away she rolled her eyes but when she looked back at him her cheeks were flushed and a smile adorned her lips. Andrew was eating it up. Tina wondered what kind of idiot he was to think that after six months of ignoring and avoiding that she would be interested in him now.

Once inside the physical therapy room Tina parked Jackson in front of a large desk a few yards from the door. She pulled out a file and started thumbing through the pages.

"I just have to make sure I fill out…Oops!" Tina gasped as the folder fell from her hands and the pages cascaded around her feet.

"Allow me," Andrew said slyly as she bent down to pick up the loose sheets. Tina saw her opportunity and moved in to strike. She stepped up to within inches of Andrew's crouched form and removed her jacket. She pulled at the front of her cap sleeved shirt to reveal the top of the lace of her bra.

"See somthin' ya like?" She asked in a sultry voice. Andrew swallowed hard.

"Yeah, I do," he said as he stood and closed the distance between himself and Tina. He grabbed her and leaned in to kiss her. She turned her head and instead he started grazing on her neck. She looked over at Jackson who turned away from watching them and eyed the door as though gauging his chances of escape while they were otherwise occupied.

"Wait," Tina breathed. She didn't want Jackson ruining tonight's plans either. "What about Rippner?"

"He can't even get up from that chair…he can watch if he wants," Andrew uttered smugly as he continued his assault on Tina's body. She pushed him back and made him sit on the corner of the desk.

"I'll take care of it," she kissed her index finger and touched it to the tip of his nose. She then walked over to Jackson's wheelchair. Her back was to Andrew as she leaned close to Jackson. She smiled at him as she pushed aside a wayward lock hair from over his left eye, tucking it behind his ear, her thumb brushing across his cheekbone.

"Don't worry, I'll make this quite painless," Tina whispered to Jackson, her southern accent completely gone as she removed the contact lens from her right eye revealing deep chocolate brown.

"Brenna?" Jackson uttered quietly, his artic ice blue eyes wide.

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Author's Note: Kind of a bad spot to leave off on, I know, but it had to be done. The next chapter was originally supposed to be part of this chapter but both parts ended up being too long to put together. I'm still tweaking the next part so it may be a bit before I post it. In it we'll dive back into Jackson and Anna's childhood dealing with the first steps that led to later career choices for our blue-eyed manager. Please Review, even if it's only to say that you hate this story. It's below freezing where I am right now so the flames will help keep me warm:)