The Present…

"So you murdered a man so you could be hired by Jackson 's agency?" Lisa couldn't believe what she was hearing. No longer did Serena look impish, quirky and fun. She and Jackson both had been charming people in their own right but each had the same personality. They were both killers. Serena looked like she was struggling for an answer.

"Well, when you put it that way, sure it sounds bad. But this guy was going to destroy our economy. He was going to refuse to sell oil to a refining company in Iran that would then sell it to us. If he did that and our government refused to drill oil on American land, our gas companies would tank. Pardon the pun."

"Is that what Jackson told you?"

"Yes, but then I look it up myself and confirmed the data. That's why I did what I did."

Lisa checked her watch. They still had an hour in the air and then the descent and landing. Her feelings towards Serena had changed drastically from the relief of having another woman to talk to, to fear that Jackson was some place close and now just disgust and confusion. "All your jobs," Lisa practically choked on the words, "involve someone who is going to hurt the country?"

"Most of the time, yes."

"I should have known. Assassins with hearts of gold."

Serena took the comment seriously, overlooking the obvious sarcasm. "I guess some of us are."

"So, why Keefe? The only thing he's ever done is try to protect this country. He's on the

Homeland Security staff and he's making changes, good changes. Why kill him?"

Serena looked very uncomfortable. "We didn't want to take that job."

For the first time in the entire flight, Serena's voice had hardened and she scowled out the window. The change in demeanor put Lisa on edge but her curiosity got the better of her.

"So why did you take the job?"

"You're a manager at a hotel, right? You know how you have those problem guests. They always seem to have a problem every time they come to stay with you but they keep coming back. There's nothing you can do to stop them and you have to make the best of it. Meanwhile, you're screaming with rage on the inside while they're there and you dance in joy when they leave. Some of our clients, you just don't say no to them." Serena sighed and the tension seemed to be released with it. "I think that's another reason why Jackson wanted me to meet you and tell you all is forgiven. He didn't want to do the job in the first place and the entire ordeal didn't sit well with him."

"Have a pen jammed into your windpipe isn't going to sit well with anyone."

Serena actually laughed. "No, it won't."

"How is-" Lisa snapped her mouth shut. She couldn't believe she was about to ask if Jackson's voice ever returned to normal. What did she care? But that was the problem, she did. On some level, she was like Serena, drawn to Jackson's charismatic charm and electric draw. What was the line from the song in Wicked, "Like a comet pulled from orbit, as it passes the sun."

"Lisa, I'm here to answer any questions you may have. Ask away, even if you don't think they should be asked."

Why not? Lisa threw caution to the wind. "What happened to Jackson after they took him from my father's house?"

"I was actually one of the paramedics that picked him up. Ben, our arms guy, he was the other. Maggie had to stay in the driver's seat because you would have recognized her from the flight. We just loaded him up and went on our merry way."

"Who was Maggie?"

Serena grinned widely. "The red headed stewardess. She said she had so much fun ragging on Jackson that flight. Normally, we don't work together in the open like that but since the call had to made on the flight, it's always good to have back up."

"She seemed so nice."

"Maggie is nice. Anyway, when she saw what happened after the plane landed, she slipped off the plane and called me. Ben and I went down to the local fire station and hot wired the ambulance, picked her up at the air port and headed over to your father's place."

"What about the guy I killed?"

Serena's face flickered slightly. "Oh, that was Saul. He was odd. Quiet, loved jazz but just slightly off. Ben is an anomaly when it comes to arms guys. He's like an out of control college kid, keeps us all in touch with our inner child."

"You talk about these people like they're family."

"Well, we are. We work together for weeks at a time, all across the globe, that doesn't do much for your social life. So when we're off, we're basically the only people we know."

Lisa smiled and nodded. "I can only imagine what an assassin's vacation must be like."

Serena laughed. "I wish you could see some of the footage we have from our Disney World trip. Space Mountain was fun."

Lisa couldn't believe what she was hearing. Disney World?

"It was Ben's idea. Anyway, back to your questions."

She was trying to shake the image of Jackson and Serena walking around the child themed park but it only made her want to laugh at the ridiculousness of it. It was like she was caught in some distorted, comedic dream. "What happened to Jackson's…injuries?"

Serena's seriousness came back quickly. "They healed. Luckily, your shot missed any vital organs but your Dad's shot collapsed a lung. Then, having damage done to his windpipe, it made breathing terribly hard on him for about six months."

"Poor Jackson ."

The sarcasm wasn't lost on Serena this time. "His is voice is pretty much the same. Sometimes he sounds like he has laryngitis and if he over exerts himself, he wheezes a little. But he's made a full recovery other than that."

Lisa couldn't be sure if that news made her relieved, happy or angry. Perhaps it was all three. The pilot announced they were starting their descent and Lisa knew she had to ask the question that plagued her every day since that flight. She would never have another chance. "I have one last question."

Serena nodded for her to go on.

"When he had me in the bathroom and he saw my scar," Lisa took a deep breath, "his entire demeanor changed. Why?" Lisa looked over at Serena and was startled to see she was just as taken off guard by the question as Lisa had been when it happened.

"I don't…" Serena stammered, "He never said…a scar?"

Lisa watched Serena try to process the new information as the woman's hand absently rubbed her neck that was covered by a runched necked sweater. For a moment, Serena's green eyes glossed over and Lisa knew that look well. It was odd, having her answer before Serena had figured it out herself.

"You were attacked too?" Lisa felt some of her disgust melt into compassion for a fellow victim. Serena pulled the sweater down and away from her neck to reveal a long, white jagged scar that ran across the base of her throat.

"I almost died that day," Serena said quietly. "It was supposed to be pay back for a job we…tweaked. Never change details when you deal with Ukrainians. It happened in a parking lot."

Lisa's breath caught in her throat and she thought it might be a trick. But the look on Serena's face told her it was anything but a trick.

"He came up behind me and just sliced my throat, leaving me to bleed out. He didn't know Jackson was with me. He held the wound closed with one hand and called for an ambulance with the other. I lost a lot of blood."

"Mine happened in a parking lot, too."

Serena looked over at her, a cross of apology and sadness in her eyes. "He did more to you, though, didn't he?"

Lisa blinked back tears. "Yes, he did."

"Jackson has a very hard time dealing with men who attack women just to harm them."

"Isn't that a little hypocritical of him?"

Serena frowned slightly. "When your grandmother died and you had to deal with hotel guests, you shoved those feelings aside and dealt with the situation at hand. Jackson, and the rest of us, we are the same way. We put aside our feelings to get the job done. It doesn't mean he enjoyed intimidating you, it was a job."

"It's not that easy to shut yourself down like that."

"For some people, Lisa, it is. That's why we do this job, because we're able to separate ourselves from our emotions. Which brings me to why I had to meet you. For the first time since I had known Jackson, he lost his control. He wasn't able to separate himself from his emotions and I didn't even know about his reaction to your scar."

Lisa watched an almost painful sadness settling into Serena's eyes.

"You made him feel when he didn't want to feel. I've never been able to do that."

The plane landed with a bump and Lisa broke eye contact with Serena. Her words had such a painful edge to them and Lisa felt sorry for Serena. And yet, at the same time, an odd sense of pride welled up inside of her. She had left her mark on Jackson, just as he had left his on her. They had changed each other permanently. She only hoped that whatever she did to cause that reaction in Jackson, Serena would be able to figure out. In light of being Jackson's wife and not able to elicit that kind of emotional reaction from him that a perfect stranger did, it had to cause her pain.

People were starting to get up from their seats and retrieving their things from the overhead compartments. Lisa turned to look at Serena, who was staring off into space, a hand still against her throat. The flight had been very smooth and she actually enjoyed hearing Serena's story. She felt slightly disappointed that they were going to part ways, never to see each other again.

"I hate to say it," Lisa said, "but Jackson was right. We are similar."

Serena smiled but it didn't quite reach her eyes. "More so than I thought."

"Do you have anyone picking you up?"

She looked around the plane and just seemed to notice that people were leaving. Her good natured personality seemed to snap back into place as she jumped up on her feet. "Yeah, I do actually. Uh," she rummaged through a beat up looking messenger bag, "here's my card. If you ever, you know…"

Lisa smiled politely and took the card. "I'm sure you know how to get in touch with me."

"Yeah," she looked a little sheepish. "But I won't."

Lisa gave her one last look, her feelings towards Serena and the entire situation a complete jumble. She said a quick good bye and slipped out into the aisle and off the plane. She thought about tossing the business card in the trash but it seemed such a disservice to the woman she had just met. Instead, she tucked it in her coat pocket and pushed all thoughts of Jackson, Serena and their odd little assassin family out of her mind before meeting her mom in the baggage claim.

Serena waited until everyone had exited the plane before she left. It didn't take her long to weave her way through the crowded airport and the even more crowded baggage claim. Jackson wouldn't wait for her inside. He didn't want to risk running into Lisa again. The cool air felt good when she stepped outside the terminal. Lisa had been a surprising person but Serena still couldn't figure out what it was about her that forced such a dynamic change in Jackson's iron control over his emotions. She found the black beamer sitting near the back of the long line of waiting cars.

"Good flight?"

She smiled at Jackson. It was so good to see him. "Yeah."

He pulled out of the line of stationary cars and headed for the highway. "How's Leese?"

"She seems to be doing very well. Still a little jumpy but she listened."

"Did she believe you?"

Serena gave him a cocky smile. "Of course. You're the one who can't lie."

He laughed. "True. Well, that's really good news considering our next assignment."

Serena propped up her messenger bag next to her on the seat. She used it as a shield as she pulled her mother's ring off her left hand and switched it back over to her right. "Oh yeah, what's the next job?"

"The panel is divided. One half thinks that Lisa, her dad and the Keefe's all need to be annihilated. The other half thinks they should be left alone or recruited."

"So where do we fit in with this?"

"Hannibal hired us to protect the Reiserts when Lisa gets back to Miami. Phelp's team is going to look after the Keefe's."

Serena felt like she was going to be sick. "What?"

"You get to see your new friend after the holidays."

Serena tried to focus on the buildings flying by her. She had to tell Jackson the truth. She had to tell him how she lied to Lisa to snapped Lisa's attention back to her and not to creating a scene on the plane. "Uh, there may be a slight problem with that."

Jackson gave her wary glance. "What's that?"

"I, uh, had to tell Lisa a little fib to keep her focused on me."

"Which was?"

Surely fifteen years of friendship would protect her from his anger. If not, fifteen years was a good run. "I told her we were married."

He didn't say anything and his eyes remained steadfastly fixed on the road. Serena could see the tense set to his jaw though. That didn't bode well for her.

"She was going to panic, Jackson. She was going to cause a huge scene on the plane and I had to say something shocking to bring her back."

He still remained silent.

"I'm sorry."

"Not yet, you're not."

"What?"

"I put you on that plane to convince her we weren't going to hurt her so she would at least trust you when we going pick her up in Miami. You announce that you lied about us being married, the entire trip becomes worthless."

Serena felt like her head was spinning. "So, we're going to pretend that we're married?"

"Damn straight we are."

Had it been under any other circumstance, Serena would have embraced the idea with excitement. She and Jackson had posed as a married couple for a few jobs but it was always just out in the open and over quickly. But this was going to be more involved, any protection job was. The people they protected usually lived with them in a safe house of sorts. Suddenly, the idea didn't sound all that great.

Serena looked over at Jackson nervously. "You're going to make my life hell aren't you?"

He looked over at her, his eyes chilling. "Absolutely."

Author's Note: And that's the end of Part I! Whew! Please don't forget to review!