Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in "Red Eye" or anything to do with the movie, but this particular storyline and plot are mine.
Author's Note: The next few chapters may follow each other a bit faster than usual as they're mostly written out and just need editing. Thank you to all who are subscribed and take the time out to read this FF. The reviews are a great incentive to keep going. Please enjoy!
Lisa didn't have to wait very long to see what Jackson was grinning about; several minutes later they crested over a canyon rim, and below them on the other side was a large waterfall, both thick and thin at different sections, overflowing vertically like liquid glass. Large bushes of foam and spray from the powerful rivulets collected at the bottom, eventually streaming out to the river down along the mountain. She was so taken by the natural beauty below them that she momentarily abandoned her fears of flight.
Jackson looked knowingly at her, and concentrated on navigating the bird, slowly descending toward the raging, beautiful water.
Lisa struggled to take hold of anything as he came scarily close to the large mist and down current, and she found herself clutching the bottom sides of her seat, petrified. "W-what are you doing, Jackson?" she stammered. "Please, stop. It could suck us in and we'd-"
"Die?" He finished for her, getting so close to the sheet of the waterfall that she thought it would overtake them. Adrenaline surged through her at being so close to such a formidable wonder. She could smell the clean scent of the pine trees and the wet, fresh mist of the water.
"What is it you're afraid of, Leese?" Jackson asked calmly beside her, and she quailed with fear as he plummeted the bird further down the mighty cascade, pulling up just a yard or two before the foam collected and flying about twenty feet above the river, following it.
"You son of a bitch!" She shouted, putting her hand to her pounding heart. "Don't ever do that again!"
Jackson just chuckled and shook his head. She was never going to get it, was she? He whirled the helicopter three hundred and sixty degrees, facing the waterfall and hovering there in mid-air, facing it. "Lisa, look at that," he nodded toward the waterfall.
"Yeah, I see it," she gasped, trying to calm her rapid pulse. "It's right there, I'm looking at it, you've made your point. Can we go now already?"
"No," he persisted. "Really look at it. Sheer power, sheer grace. Nothing stops it, nothing stands in its way. You could be that waterfall, Leese."
Lisa pinched the bridge of her nose, then harvested a laugh. "Oh my - You've got to be kidding me. We're in a helicopter piloted by a crazy person, you almost get us killed, and now you're acting like Dr. Phil?"
Jackson sighed, guiding the helicopter once more up the canyon until they were on their way again. "I'm just trying to show you that we aren't always meant to take the most obvious roads in life, Lisa. Take you for example. You get up every day, go to a well-paying job that makes you feel empowered and weak all at once, and you come home feeling empty and vacant, all alone. Think about what you could become, what you're capable of. I know you don't want to be hovelling and groveling to every upper crust customer that bells the Lux Atlantic. You're worth more than that."
She eyed him bemusedly. "I don't think I've ever known someone who could hurl out an insult and a compliment quite the way you do."
He smiled at her.
"But all the same, I could never fall into your line of work. I couldn't live with myself. I've no idea how you sleep at night."
"Don't be so sure," he chided, "You're just getting started, Leese."
Lisa pursed her lips, staring at him. What right does he have to assume that-
"You know I'm right," he glanced at her pointedly, that old cockiness in his voice. She said nothing, and the helicopter started picking up speed as he flew them towards their destination.
After ten minutes spend stewing in silence, Lisa could not let it go. She half turned to him, incensed. "How dare you think you know anything about how I feel, Jackson? You may have been watching me, but you don't know me inside."
Jackson gave her a sideways smirk. "Leese. I know you better than you know yourself. And deep down, you know I'm right. You desire action, crave it like a drug. I see it in your eyes every time we engage in it, every time you're challenged with anything from irate customers to … compromising circumstances."
Compromising circumstances. I'm sure. "So? That doesn't mean anything. Lots of people are in jobs they're good at, but don't necessarily love every moment of. Everyone always has something they'd rather be doing. It's called life. You can't tell me you haven't had your moments in your 'valiant' line of work either, Jackson. I've seen them. I've seen you fail." She drove the words into him, and Jackson grew dangerously silent as they carried on towards their destination.
He would rather die than admit it, but she was right. And he had shown her that in the lavatory on the plane. Just that flicker in his eyes, that moment of weakness at finally being physically close to her, his defense shields lowered so he was no longer just captor to hostage, but a real, flesh and blood man with needs and desires. That brief interlude between them had given his weaknesses away. And that was something that had never happened before in all his twelve years of reconnaissance and sabotage.
"Who's Brian?" he asked into the silence, and she jumped at both his voice after almost half an hour, as well as the question.
"Brian?" she lifted an eyebrow innocently, tearing her gaze from the scattered houses intermingled with highway and trees below.
"Why is it I always get a question for a question with you, Leese?"
"I dunno, Jack. Don't blame me if you can't keep up the pace."
Jackson's jaw visibly tightened. She would pay for that. "I'll ask again. Who is he?"
"None of your damn business."
The helicopter suddenly tilted to the side, and Lisa held on for dear life as Jackson ruefully drove sideways, nearly spilling her against her window, but for the seatbelt tightly pulled across her lap.
"Jackson, s-stop it!"
Just as soon as the bird had turned on its side, he straightened it out again.
"Oh, we could do this all day, Leese," he chuckled.
"Screw you," she gasped, squeezing her eyes shut as her head struggled to get back to normal.
"That could be arranged. I know your favorite scent of candle, your favorite music. Just give me some time to put something together later on tonight, and I promise you won't be disappointed." Lisa shot hate from her eyes at him, but he seemed to be enjoying himself, completely at ease at the helm and amused by prodding her on. "Answer the question. I found his name and number on the dress cover. And don't lie to me, or I'll know. Who is he."
"Fine. He's the new guy I've been seeing, alright?"
The smile wiped away from Jackson's face, and he gripped the controls a little harder than necessary.
"What, you weren't keeping tabs on me? I find that a little hard to believe, considering how you barged into my apartment the other day."
"I was otherwise engaged," he said darkly, reliving the torture he had undergone for the last couple of weeks. "Who is he? How serious is your relationship?"
Lisa prudishly lifted her nose in the air. "No. No, I don't have to tell you anything about us."
"Yes you do, or I'll do a hell of a lot more than just tip us sideways," he threatened. When she saw that he was deadly serious about making good on his threat, she held up a hand.
"Fine. Fine, okay, just … fly, please. I don't feel like dying today. Brian's a stockbroker from New York, he's come down to work out of Miami. I met him when he checked into the Lux Atlantic last month. We've only been on a few dates."
Jackson's clutch on the controls did not let up, and she could sense his rage.
Inwardly, he was vehement that any man had laid a hand on her. Whether it made him truly messed up or not, he had considered her his for quite a while now, and he did not like other men messing with what belonged to him. "And I suppose you were going to wear that the night I came," he bit out sarcastically.
"Yes, he was taking me out." Lisa looked out the window, not liking where this was going.
"Hmm . . . well, consider it over, Leese. You're with me now, at least until you get into Witness Protection. Consider yourself owned."
"You're insane," she mumbled, shaking her head.
"Maybe, maybe not. But you're stuck with me. So deal with it."
Not a word was spoken between them for the rest of the flight, but she could feel his anger seething. Part of her was somewhat glad of it; good. Let him be jealous. Let him want what he couldn't have. He had caused enough trouble and misery in her life that he deserved to be hurt.
She recognized Miami as they neared it, and started to grow antsy in her seat at the thought of being able to get away from Jackson. "Does air traffic control know you're here?" she asked doubtfully, as Jackson descended the copter lower and lower towards the city.
"I have someone positioned there," he replied in a low voice. She braced herself as he approached a skyscraper downtown, landing with ease on the flat roof. A tall man in a black cap and black suit jacket stood against the roof door, shielding the wind with his arm as they landed. The top propeller of the helicopter slowly wound down as Jackson motioned to Lisa to remove her helmet and unbuckle her seatbelt. He led her by the crook of the arm, stepping down from the bird and ducking her head along with his from the spinning of the propeller. Her hair blew in her face, and she felt as if the wind might lift her off the ground at any moment much as Jackson had lifted the helicopter during take off. The feeling was akin to stepping off of a treadmill after being on it for too long.
"Daatson," Jackson yelled above the noise, shaking the man's hand. Lisa looked up at the man, who had a short, cropped military haircut and a gaunt face. Daatson removed his driver's cap and jacket, handing them to Jackson, who put them on over his black turtleneck.
"You'll have to hurry," the man shouted. "You have thirty minutes to get over there, do your thing, and get out. Bosko's behind the desk, everything's set." He handed Jackson a small white card. "This is where the hearse is parked. P2. Elevators are right through the door. I'll be here waiting."
Jackson nodded firmly, patting him on the shoulder as he ushered Lisa past. "Good man. We'll be back. You know what to do if we aren't." Daatson affirmed that he did, and stood like a watchdog by the door, watching the copter.
Straight through the doors were a set of two elevators on each side of painted white walls. Jackson pushed the call button, and Lisa studied the effect of him with the cap and jacket on while he intensely watched the floor indicators above the doors. He was certainly congenial and able to fit in anywhere; the black, shiny cap pulled over his longish hair gave him a strangely Irish look for a moment. His mouth open, he looked down at her from the corner of his eye. She hated her thoughts for betraying her, but she could not help thinking he was an ethereally handsome man. The perfect guise for his line of work.
"What."
"Nothing," she replied as the elevator came up empty. She walked into it, watched as he pushed P2, and rubbed the goose bumps on her arms, suddenly unsure of if he was really taking her to see her father. As the doors opened to their parking level, Jackson firmly took her hand, his palm surprisingly warm.
"Come on, we don't have much time." He walked with her hand in his, glancing down at the card and looking around for the bay the car was in. To an observer, they looked like a young couple, dressed for an occasion. But his hand clamped to hers hard and unyielding. She got the message. Run, and there will be hell to pay.
