Disclaimer: I don't pretend to own anything involving Red Eye… I can only lay claim on certain new characters, of course. Though I wish I was involved with Red Eye… Psh.

I'm on a rolllllll! :P

Chapter Eleven

Shot Through the Heart

Jackson scowled and raised his knife. He threw it just as Serena fired her gun. The knife lodged just beneath her ribs on the right hand side. Jackson staggered backward heavily.

"No!" Lisa shouted, tears already flooding her face.

She could feel Frank's hot breath on her cheek as he undoubtedly grinned. Lisa couldn't stand it. She got Jackson back by some twisted game of fate. He came to rescue her. But, now Lisa had to watch him die right in front of her. That really made her angry. She flung her head back into Frank's face, breaking his nose instantly.

Cole caught Jackson, letting him hang on his arms by his arm pits. Lisa shoved Frank aside as he clutched his gushing nose and began heading towards Jackson when Cole hefted him back up onto his feet. Jackson groaned, but Lisa could see no blood on him. She grinned, frantically wiping her tears while Onnie aimed a gun at Frank's head, daring him to move an inch. Lisa held out her arms, getting ready to hug him. He smiled, but she could see the pain he was trying to hide. Thank god he had been wearing a vest.

Jackson watched as Lisa stumbled and her face twitched. Her smile fell and she looked utterly confused. He hadn't even registered the sound of the shot until Jasmine was freely firing bullets into Serena's lifeless body in retaliation. Lisa stumbled forward and Jackson caught her. He caught her, but cringed as she pressed unintentionally against his sore chest.

"She's shot!" he hollered.

Cole was immediately at his side. Henry was crying like a small boy in the corner and Jasmine was freeing Joe. He, too, went running towards Lisa, where Jackson had laid her down on the ground.

"Jazz! When are the reinforcements coming?"

She checked her watch.

"Five. Tops."

Onnie and Rader now had Frank cuffed and pinned against the wall, Onnie's hulking form still pressing the gun to Frank's head. Jackson held Lisa's hand as Cole inspected her. She had been hit just beneath the center of her scar on the right side of her chest. Cole ripped off his jacket and pressed it to her wound, causing her to hiss in pain.

"You're alive," she breathed to Jackson.

"Yeah. You think I'd let a little thing like death stop me from coming to your rescue?"

"I was doing just fine 'til you distracted me," she laughed.

When Lisa laughed, she began coughing, a wheezing sound coming from her as she breathed.

"Don't talk, Leese. Just focus on breathing. You're doing just fine."

He glanced up at Cole who looked grim. Cole reached his free hand out and held Jackson's. Joe sidled up on the other side of Lisa, holding her hand. He stroked back her hair.

"I'm so proud of you, sweetie."

"Aren't you going to ask if I'm okay?" she whispered.

"No. I know you are."

She was having extreme difficulty breathing. Jackson could hear the fluid rattling in her lung from the puncture. He turned to Henry, looking for someone to unleash his wrath upon.

"Go out and make sure the backup can get back here! Now! And make sure they bring a medic!"

Henry nodded swiftly before disappearing back into the large white room. Jackson turned back to Lisa. She was pale.

"Press harder, Cole," Jackson murmured.

Lisa growled and swore up at Cole as he did so. Jackson placed a hand on her cheek and turned her to face him.

"Hey. That kind of stuff helps, remember? You just hang on. Help will be here soon."

His voice was so smooth. Lisa remembered the many nights she'd simply lie next to him and listen to him read to her. Anything would do. News, a sports article, even descriptions about past files. He never ceased to amaze her. She loved every part of him, even that rage-filled side she'd been privy to.

"Daddy," she said, turning her head weakly to face him. She coughed a small bit of blood coated her lips. Joe looked down at her sadly. "See why I love him?"

Joe wasn't really sure what she meant, but he nodded anyway, stroking her clammy forehead as the medics burst into the room. They paid no mind to the dead guards near the doors or to Serena. They came toward Lisa after Henry's direction.

"Her, her!" he shouted, pointing in a panic to where Lisa lay still.

Onnie dragged a muttering Frank out into the hallway as the medics hauled Lisa onto the stretcher and began applying gauze to her wound. The medics were hooking her up to different machines and as they placed a large oxygen mask across her pale face, she held out her hand for Jackson. She needed him to be with her, but Jackson was sure Joe would want to go.

"Go with her," Joe said, motioning toward where the medics were rushing Lisa from the room.

"Joe…"

"Go! And she better be alive when I arrive, Rippner."

Jackson didn't wait to argue. If Joe's deathly tone wasn't enough to make him run, the fact that the woman he loved was dying would. He bolted off toward the gurney and hopped in the back of the ambulance just as the doors were shutting. Lisa was conscious, but just barely. Her eyes were dazed and her head bobbed from side to side with the motion of the ambulance. Still, her hand remained in Jackson's, her fingers laced with his.

He leaned down and kissed her cheek, causing her to smile weakly. Then he moved up to her ear and she felt as if she would pass out. He was so warm while she was so cold. Everything was so bright, but so distant. Then, Jackson's voice beckoned her back.

"Leese. You fight this… I have an incentive for you…"

He leaned back just enough so that he could look into her eyes. The oxygen mask blocked his lips from hers or he would have given her a quick kiss. He leaned back down against her ear and stroked back her sweaty hair.

"I plan on marrying you one day," he whispered softly into her ear.

It was all just so much. Too much. Lisa felt her eyes slip back into her head as she lost consciousness. Jackson quickly sat back and allowed the medics to swarm her and work on her. He placed his face in his hand and was horrified to hear a small sound come from his throat. He could feel the pressure burning his eyes, so he turned his face to the front. For the first time in years, Jackson Rippner cried. Serena hadn't killed him, but she had most certainly shot him through the heart.

A/N: Okay. I hope that wasn't THAT bad…. Lol. I know it's kind of short, but… *shrugs*

And yeah- Jackson's crying. But it's not like sobbing or anything. He's pretty much just as amazed that he's crying as you are. :P