A/N:

Sorry for the longer than usual delay between chapters! Between a holiday weekend and then getting sick, I got a little behind schedule.

Warning: Minor character death. (Again. I'm really putting these poor people through it!)


Ben had been gone twenty minutes, and Kaylie was starting to get worried. He'd said he would come back if everything was okay, so did his prolonged absence mean everything wasn't okay? Could he have been hurt? Or one of the others? Or maybe nothing had even happened yet and he was waiting to see what did before returning. Or maybe they were all dead and no one was coming back for her and she was completely on her own. She eyed the keys in the ignition. She could just leave, just take off and drive…home, or wherever. Her dad was gone – she fought back a sob – and so hopefully no one would be coming after her now. She could just go. Or she could go after Ben and make sure he was all right. Kaylie peered desperately into the darkness. Thirty minutes, she'd give him until thirty minutes and then she HAD to do one or the other.

At exactly thirty minutes, Kaylie pocketed the keys and jumped out of the car. She wasn't sure exactly when she'd decided what she was doing, but as she hurried back up the dark road towards the apartment building, she didn't change her mind.

Everything was deathly quiet in the building's parking lot. There were a number of cars, she recognized Jackson's, but no people that she could see. She crossed the lot quickly, scanning around her for any signs of trouble. The downstairs door was propped and she silently slipped into the stairwell and then waited, straining to hear anything. Nothing. Where was Ben? Was he upstairs? Were they okay? She set a foot on the first step.

"Kaylie Hewett, I presume."

She nearly jumped out of her skin, turning with sudden dread towards the voice behind her. A man stood several feet away. He was older than Jackson, but younger than Alex and her dad, and dressed in the casual suit that seemed to be a sort of uniform in this business. He smiled at her, but there was nothing friendly about it.

"I'm James Parker, you may have heard of me." He smirked. "I hired Alex to carry out the assassination of Charles Keefe."

Kaylie swallowed hard. "You killed my dad," she whispered, not trusting her voice at a louder volume.

"Yes." The answer was matter of fact. "It was unavoidable, I'm afraid. You see, your friends upstairs have caused quite a mess for me and I'm in the unfortunate position of having to clean it up."

Kaylie didn't reply.

Parker took a step closer, still smiling. "What do you say we go join the party?"

Kaylie backed up, nearly tripping over the stairs. "Stay away from me."

"I'm afraid I can't do that, Kaylie." He took another step. "I sent my guys up a short while ago, but I haven't heard from them, which can't be good. So you have turned up at a most convenient time." His gaze hardened, but Kaylie's eyes were fixed on the gun he withdrew from his jacket. "Upstairs, let's go."

The apartment was on the third floor and Kaylie mounted the first flight with Parker right behind her and the barrel of a gun pressed to her back. She was going to die. Her father had died today and now she was going to die, too, all because she was too stupid to stay in the car. They reached the second floor landing and started on the second flight of stairs. Kaylie was trying hard not to cry. Whatever happened, she was not going to cry. They reached the third floor. Kaylie's eyes widened to see Ben in the partially open apartment doorway. He looked just as shocked to see her. She gave him a desperate look, trying to communicate with everything she had that he should run, get help, disappear before it was too late. It was all in vain, as – in a flash – Ben had his own gun drawn.

"Let her go," he growled.

Parker laughed. "Are you going to try to shoot me while Miss Hewett here is in front of me? I don't think so."

"Let her go," Ben repeated, with a ferocity Kaylie didn't realize he possessed. "Let her go and take me instead."

"I don't even know who you are." Parker sounded amused.

"It doesn't matter," Ben retorted. "If you're looking for collateral, or a human shield, then take me instead."

"You're right," Parker began, in a tone that sent chills down Kaylie's spine. "It doesn't matter." The gun against Kaylie's back disappeared. It reappeared at her side, as Parker fired a bullet straight into Ben's chest.

"Ben!" Kaylie shrieked, the sound muted by Parker's hand clamping hard over her mouth. Ben toppled back into the wall, sliding to the floor just outside the apartment, his gun clattering to the floor and a bloodstain rapidly spreading across his shirt.

"Move," Parker ordered, shoving Kaylie forward through the open doorway and shutting it behind them. No sooner had they crossed the threshold than Jackson and Lisa appeared, emerging from the hallway across the room. They both looked furious.

"Rippner." Parker greeted coldly. "And Miss Reisert. We meet at last. I assume you've already taken care of my bodyguards?"

"Shouldn't send someone else to do your dirty work, Parker," Jackson spat.

"Well, never mind." Parker sounded like he was smiling again. "I think I've just taken care of one of yours, he's currently bleeding out all over the hallway carpet." Kaylie barely stifled a sob. "Soon to be joined by this one, if you don't put down your weapons." Parker held the gun to Kaylie's head, the barrel less than an inch from her skin. She swallowed hard.

Lisa set her gun on the counter and raised her hands. "It's me you want, don't hurt her."

Jackson, too, set his knife down. At Parker's cough, he shoved both weapons out of reach. Kaylie noticed through her panic that both the knife and Jackson's shirt were covered in blood. "Let her go, Parker."

"Where's Alex?" Parker queried. "I know he's here somewhere."

"Injured." Jackson replied. Kaylie had to choke back another sob. How many people were going to get hurt?

"Well, let's go find him," Parker said cheerfully. "I'd rather avoid any sneak attacks. You two lead the way," he waved the gun at Jackson and Lisa before bringing it back to Kaylie's head. "We'll follow."

At Jackson's nod, Lisa started down the hallway. Jackson followed, then Kaylie, still in Parker's grip.

The next few minutes passed in a blur. Such a blur, in fact, that when Kaylie tried to reconstruct the events later, she couldn't quite figure out what order they had occurred in. As they passed from the hallway into the living room beyond, Jackson suddenly spun to face them, propelling the three of them into the wall as he forced Parker's gun upwards with one hand and grabbed Kaylie's shirt with the other. Kaylie instinctively ducked as Jackson yanked her forwards, and the gun went off, a bullet embedding itself in the ceiling as the two men grappled for the weapon. Kaylie felt something sharp scrape her arm as Jackson shoved her out of the way. She scrambled off to the side, turning at a grunt of pain to see that Parker had pulled a knife in his free hand and had jabbed it into Jackson's shoulder. Jackson slammed his fist into Parker's elbow and the knife clattered to the floor. The gun fired again into the ceiling. Jackson reached for something at his back, but fumbled when Parker grabbed his injured shoulder, regrouping enough to punch the other man in the stomach.

Another shot rang out. Assuming it had again been from the gun currently being fought over, Kaylie watched in surprise as Parker suddenly dropped in Jackson's grip. Jackson released him, the gun falling from the older man's hand as he crumpled to the floor. A movement to her side caught Kaylie's eye and she turned to see Alex getting to his feet from behind the couch, gun in hand. She glanced at Parker, to the bullet wound she could now see in the side of his head, and then back to Alex in astonishment. Jackson and Parker had been mere inches apart.

"That's the second time tonight someone has saved my life," Jackson stated, sounding as though he wasn't sure if he ought to be grateful or miffed.

"You had it under control," Alex chuckled. "But I thought I'd help put a more expedient end to things."

"I was hoping you might," Jackson admitted.

"Nice shot," Lisa interjected, sounding about as dazed as Kaylie felt.

Alex crossed the room to stare down at Parker. "I've had a lot of practice." He glanced around, his eyes briefly landing on each of them. "Was Parker telling the truth about Ben?"

Kaylie's eyes flooded with tears. "Yes."

Eyes darkening, Alex strode out of the room. They heard the front door open, then shut. Alex reappeared and, as all eyes settled on him, shook his head. Kaylie couldn't stifle the sob this time. "I'm amazed we haven't attracted attention already, but it's only a matter of time," Alex said. "We have to go, now. We'll go out the back."

"We can't just leave Ben," Kaylie choked out.

"We have to, Kaylie." It was Jackson this time, who took her firmly by the shoulders and steered her towards the door. "Come on."


They piled into Jackson's car for the short ride to where Ben had parked earlier, collected any needed possessions, and then continued on to the airport. The airport was tiny, and the few staff nodded to Alex and didn't ask many questions. Jackson had traded his blood-soaked dress shirt for a clean one, which – even unbuttoned and over his slightly bloodied t-shirt – hid his knife wound from view until he could get on the plane. Alex's pilot and copilot, who asked even fewer questions than the airport staff, greeted them on the tarmac and it was only then that Lisa spoke up.

"Where are we going?"

It was Alex who replied. "To my house. In London."

"London?!" Lisa screeched, albeit quietly. "I'm not going to London."

"Yes, you are." Jackson told her.

She turned to him with an expression of furious disbelief that he was fast becoming familiar with. "You promised I could go home. And in case you've forgotten, I haven't exactly had great experiences with you and aircraft."

He smirked. "Hey, I trusted you with a gun."

She glared.

"Lisa," Alex interjected, giving Jackson a sharp look. "Please come with us. We are all in desperate need of sleep and some time to come down from tonight's events. I will arrange your safe return to Miami whenever you wish. You have my word." He glanced over his shoulder to where Kaylie was leaning against the aircraft's stairs. "Also, Kaylie could really use a friend."

Lisa gave a heavy sigh, one that Jackson recognized as a sigh of resignation. "I don't have my passport."

"Don't worry, I'll take care of it." Alex turned to help the youngest of their group on board the plane.

"He means it," Jackson said to Lisa's raised eyebrow. "There isn't much that Alex can't take care of."

"Against my better judgment, I'm continuing to trust you," Lisa told him. "Please don't make me regret it." And with that, she followed Alex and Kaylie up the stairs, leaving Jackson on the tarmac.


Kaylie sat next to Lisa on Alex's private jet. She thought that she should maybe be impressed by that fact, but she couldn't summon up the proper emotions. They had just leveled off in the air, en route to London, and she felt completely numb. She had heard the conversation on the tarmac, but could quite honestly care less where they were going. The nightmare that was the past few hours was going to haunt her wherever she was. Lisa was rubbing reassuring circles on her back, but she barely felt it. Jackson crouched in front of her. He was wearing a simple t-shirt; she could see the bloodstain on it from his shoulder wound and the fresh bandage peeking out from underneath the collar.

"Let me see your arm."

Kaylie barely processed that he was speaking to her, but didn't resist as he pulled her left arm away from her body to examine the long cut. She'd nearly forgotten about it. Her only injury from everything that had happened today. Her only physical scar.

Jackson's hands were surprisingly gentle where they touched her skin; the sting of the antiseptic against her wound was not. She hissed and tried to pull away, but Jackson's hand closed around her wrist and held her in place while he finished.

"Are you hurt anywhere else?" He asked, once her arm was clean and bandaged.

Kaylie stared back at him. The cleaning of her wound had brought her just a bit out of her daze. "No. Are you okay?" She nodded towards his shoulder.

"I'll live."

"You were covered in blood."

A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. "Most of that wasn't mine."

Kaylie's stomach flip-flopped. "Thank you," she blurted.

Jackson raised an eyebrow.

"I think you saved my life," she pointed out.

"You're welcome." Jackson glanced to Lisa, who had been silent throughout their exchange. "Leese, do you want to go get cleaned up? I can…" He trailed off, and Lisa shot him a significant look, even as she got to her feet. Kaylie was too drained to figure out what the look meant.

Lisa's hand gently squeezed her shoulder. "I'll be back soon."

Jackson settled in Lisa's vacated spot. Kaylie distantly heard Alex's lilt – something about a car for tomorrow. She turned her head towards Jackson and found, to her surprise, that he was watching her.

"It's my fault that Ben's dead," she whispered, when he said nothing.

"No, it isn't." Jackson retorted.

"It is," she insisted, tears welling up again. "He went back to make sure you all were okay, and I followed him when I should've stayed in the car. If he hadn't tried to rescue me from Parker-"

"Ben should've stayed in the car," Jackson reminded her. "He should have brought you to the airport, as planned, instead of trying to play the hero. It's his own fault. And Parker's. Not yours. Do you hear me?" He sounded almost angry. "None of this is your fault."

Kaylie really wanted to believe him. "Does it even bother you?" She asked then. "That someone you worked with was just killed?"

Jackson stared out the window for several seconds before speaking. "I didn't know him that well and, in this business, you learn early on to avoid personal attachments." He glanced at Kaylie again. "I had nothing against Ben, but I can't say that I feel much remorse."

"I barely knew him," she whispered. "And now he's gone, and so is my dad." She buried her face in her hands at that, struggling to hold back the tears. She didn't really want to break down in front of Jackson, given how he'd reacted to that earlier.

"I know." They sat in silence for several minutes. "You should sleep," he said finally.

"Can't," she muttered, wiping her eyes and leaning her head back against the seat. Did he seriously think she'd be able to sleep after the night she'd had?

Jackson stood and disappeared from view, returning moments later with a blanket. He fanned it out over her and Kaylie flinched as the soft material floated down to rest against her body. He retook his seat beside her.

"Try," he continued, his tone as gentle as she'd ever heard it. "Close your eyes."

She glanced over at him, brow furrowing.

"Close your eyes," he repeated.

Kaylie complied. Images of her dad immediately came to the forefront of her mind and she swallowed hard, trying to keep the emotions at bay. Jackson shifted in his seat, and Kaylie stiffened as his shoulder pressed up against hers. She wasn't exactly used to any contact with him when he wasn't trying to intimidate her. She waited a minute, perhaps two, and he neither moved closer nor moved away. The contact, however minor and from however questionable company, was surprisingly soothing and Kaylie slowly began to relax. She briefly wondered if he was doing it deliberately, but the thought drifted from her mind.

And finally, after a long, exhausting, devastating day and night, Kaylie slept.