Jackson had been on his phone a while now, and though Lisa had full permission to roam the house, she remained in her bedroom, limply sitting at the window and watching a thundercloud approach. She sighed and pulled back the curtain as fat raindrops began sliding down the glass.
Lisa placed a hand on the small bump on her stomach. Two, almost three, months. Seven or eight months for her baby to be safe. Once delivered, he or she would always be in danger. The danger named Jackson Rippner.
The above mentioned cracked open the door a moment later, poking his head in.
"Leese."
She turned. "Ever heard of knocking?"
He shrugged. "Get used to it. Now grab a jacket. We're leaving."
"Where are we going?"
"Get a jacket and I'll tell you."
Lisa scowled and grabbed a denim jacket from the closet.
Jackson ushered her to the car and Lisa's stomach began growling again.
"I'm hungry," she complained, though lunchtime wasn't for hours. Jackson looked at her when she finally spoke.
"We'll eat something when we get back."
"But I'm hungry now." Lisa knew she was being petulant, but she cared not.
Jackson grimaced and tossed her a pack of gum. Lisa took two pieces and snapped loudly.
He eventually stopped in front of a large lake. Lisa frowned as she opened her door and the back door, lifting out a long, black canvas bag.
"Wha-" he didn't answer, just gripped her arm and the bag and steered her to a small white motorboat.
"Where are we going?"
He scowled. "Is it possible for you to go for ten minutes without asking questions?"
She glared right back at him. "Is it possible for you to go ten minutes without being an asshole?"
He ignored her and they sped out to the middle of the lake. Once there, he cut the engine and, still not speaking to Lisa, unzipped the bag. When Lisa saw the hand, she realized what was inside and stopped breathing.
"Jackson," she gasped as he lifted the body from the bag. "That's-is-that's-"
"Yes," he snapped, hoisting it up inside the bag. Lisa looked at it. She groaned for two perverse reasons. The first was for the gore. The body had nothing below the waist. Its frame stopped at the torso, legs severed. The second was that the body looked just like the Lisa pre-dye/contacts.
Jackson began to hoist it over the edge, but Lisa felt terrible. Then, feeling as if she needed at least some sort of proper burial, she quickly removed her cross necklace and clasped it around the girl's neck. Then Lisa whispered a quick prayer to herself as Jackson smirked and shoved it overboard. Lisa, recovering from the initial shock, watched the body sink into the inky water. Then she shoved Jackson hard in the chest. He stumbled, then regained balance as she started screaming.
"You bastard! What was that? Why did you do that? You could have at least-"
"Shush," he growled. "That was a woman used for another job one of my subordinates was working on. I found it ironic how uncanny your resemblance was. Needless to say, she failed to perform in that job and was eliminated. I took advantage of the situation and had a few things altered. Right now, she is Lisa Reisert. When the body washes up on shore, someone will undoubtedly report it. Your dear old Maxwell and company will claim it as you, wearing the clothes you were when you disappeared, and wearing your crucifix. Nice work, by the way."
Lisa felt faint and teared up as Jackson grinned smugly and sped back to shore.

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Max was pacing. Rory had just finished her explanation of her little tag-along, and for once Luke had no idea what to do next. Lorelai took the reins.
"Well, its quite obvious that Rory should stay here with Dean," she mused. "With his family, too, of course. But again, just as clairvoyantly, Jess should not stay here. Dean goes wakey-wakey, sees Jess, and kills himself trying to castrate Jess." Jess stirred in his sleep.
Rory stood from the Teflon chair and nodded. "So what do we do with our little vagrant?"
Luke thought. Lorelai thought. Rory thought. Sookie thought. Good Jackson thought. Max paced. Baby Davie slept.
Finally Luke spoke. "I'll take him back to my place and try to squeeze some information out of him."
Lorelai cleared her throat and it was obvious that she wasn't all fond of that idea. "Luke, if you stay back, we only have one guy in the search party. I'm not one for sexism, but I will admit that you and Max are a hell of a lot stronger than Sookie and I."
"Well, there's always me and Cynthia," Joe offered. Luke and Lorelai exchanged looks. They didn't know them that well, or how strong each was. They could very well get the whole group in a trap set by Jackson to kill them all.
Luke frowned, but good Jackson interjected. "Lore, you'll still have me, the other testosterone twin. I'm helping. And Joe and Cynthia too."
"But Davie."
"-will be left at home with Sookie," Jackson finished. Sookie struggled indignantly to her swollen pregnant feet.
"Hey! I want to help! Lisa's my friend, too!"
Lorelai patronizingly patted Sookie's massive stomach. "Sookie, sweetie, we love you, but you're seven months pregnant."
"So?"
"We don't want you to get hurt. Same with Sookie Jr, there."
"I won't get hurt!"
Lorelai sighed. "We're afraid you'll get us all maimed and killed because you run at the rate of a gestating sloth." Sookie snorted and sat back down, but cracked a smile.
"So its settled then, I guess," Rory moved to a chair near Dean's upset family. "I'll keep my phone on. Be safe, guys."
"Trust me, if anyone other than Rippner comes out of this in a bodybag, it'll be Jess," Luke grimaced and roughly hoisted the young man to his feet. The eight left the hospital as one, but broke up at their cars.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Lisa didn't at first hear Jackson when he spoke.
"You hungry?"
"No."
"You sure?"
"I just saw a mutilated look-alike of me being cast into a lake, do you think I'm hungry?" Lisa snapped.
Jackson blinked. "Just thought I'd check."
Suddenly Lisa erupted into tears, slamming her fist on the window. "Kill me!" she shrieked. "Just kill me, please! I don't care anymore! This is no life for my baby! Just kill me!" She reached for the knife in Jackson's side pocket but he caught her wrist, swerving the car to the edge of the road with his free hand. He pinned her wrists to her knees."Lisa, you're talking crazy," he consoled softly. "Come on. You don't realize what you're doing."
"I want to die! Kill me! Please, just do it..."
Jackson gathered her into his arms. She fought at first, but then succumbed to further sobs and pressed herself against his chest. She knew this man and this man alone was the cause of her suicidal yearnings, but she didn't care. She just needed a shoulder to cry on. And coincidentally, he was the only one around.