A/N: WELL. I have infectious mononucleosis. As you can imagine, this has made me just WILDLY popular with EVERYONE. My family has already marked containers that I've had drinks out of (for example, the pineapple juice and apple cider), segregated my foodstuffs, changed all my bedroom sheets, and given me the command to kiss no one in the family on the lips, and that includes avoiding kissing the tops of the cats' heads because other people do that. I now spend my days doing spurts of work between long naps. I feel oh so accomplished, woo.

---

'Lisa?'

The brunette looked up from the three-month-old People that she'd been reading and smiled at the nurse, who led her back to an examination room. The room was bright and sterile like Jackson's condo, but unlike her new home, it was cold, smelled of antiseptic and moaned with the sound of machinery. After taking her shoes off, Lisa sat down on the paper-covered examination table as the nurse opened her file and looked it over.

'Okay, it's been...' the nurse flipped a page. 'Four months since your last appointment. And what are you here to see Dr Evans for today?'

'An ultrasound,' Lisa replied with a little smile.

The nurse nodded. 'When was the first day of your last period?'

'God, I…' she murmured, rolling her eyes to look at the ceiling in thought. 'The sixteenth of September?'

'And last day of intercourse?'

Lisa considered the question for the moment. 'Last night.'

'Have you taken a home pregnancy test?'

'Yes, and the result was positive.'

The nurse scribbled notes on Lisa's file before opening the cabinet and pulling out a cotton examination gown and blanket. After setting them on the chair in the corner of the room, the nurse smiled at her and held the manila folder against her chest.

'Dr Evans will be with you in a few minutes,' the woman said as she laid her hand on the doorknob. 'Please put on the examination gown. You can use the blanket to keep your legs warm.'

Once the door closed, Lisa went over to the chair and changed into the gown, folding her clothes up and putting them in a pile where the gown had been. After picking up the blanket, she crawled back up on the table and lay down, pulling the blanket over herself as she pressed her head back into the pillow. The clock ticked away five and then ten minutes before there was a knock at the door and Dr Evans appeared in the room. The middle-aged woman smiled at Lisa.

'How are you today, Lisa?' she asked in a maternal voice as she looked down at the file, pressing a hand to her chest. 'An ultrasound... ah, it seems like only yesterday that you were here for your first pelvic examination!'

Laughing uncomfortably, Lisa stared back up at the ceiling and remembered why she didn't like coming to the gynecologist. Cold hands rolled the cotton up from Lisa's abdomen and tucked the blanket down under her hips. Lisa focused on the dimples on the ceiling tiles as Dr Evans started pressing below her belly button, and after a minute or so, Dr Evans turned to pull a tube of gel from the cabinet, squirting it onto her stomach before turning a machine on. When the machine warmed up and the monitor flickered on, the doctor pressed the probe against her stomach.

'Stretch your arms above your head please.'

Lisa reached up and put her hands behind her head. The gel warmed up quickly as the doctor ran the probe over it, and after a few minutes of staring at the screen in front of her, Dr Evans pointed to a dark blur.

'There's your baby.'

Looking at the screen, Lisa imagined that Jackson wouldn't be too impressed, but looking at the little black blob made her chest tighten with happiness. After Lisa had taken a long look with her hand over her mouth, Dr Evans switched off the display and rolled over to the counter, handing Lisa a paper towel to wipe the gel off. As Lisa sat up, the doctor looked over the information that her patient had given to the nurse.

'Okay,' the woman said, tapping a pen against her bottom lip. 'I'd like a follow-up appointment for you on the 9th of December, which should be around the time when your second trimester begins. At that appointment, we'll do a lot more tests and you'll probably be able to hear the baby's heartbeat. You're probably due sometime near the end of June.'

As Lisa rolled the hospital gown back down, she saw Dr Evans' eyes snap to her left hand ring finger and then back to her notes.

'Is there any chance that the baby's father could come to the appointment?' she asked hesitantly.

Lisa froze. 'I... I don't know—'

Dr Evans seemed flustered. 'I'm sorry, I—'

'No, no, it's all right,' Lisa said with reddened cheeks as she slipped off the table and let the gown fall back down to her knees. 'Jackson, he's very iffy about some things. I'll try to convince him though.'

The doctor nodded, obviously relieved. 'I'll see you in about seven weeks then. Take care of yourself and eat well. The nurse will be back in a minute to take you up front so you can make your next appointment.'

Once Dr Evans left the room, Lisa got back into the business suit she dressed in for the day, and after she'd made the appointment, she went out to Jackson's car and drove to the courthouse.

---

She was able to sneak into the back of the room during the prosecution's closing comments. Sitting on the very last bench, she could just see the back of Jackson's head through the crowd of people who came to view the public trial. Mr Allegheny paced in front of the jury box, speaking heatedly at the odd group of people, and although Lisa was getting nervous at his words (and she could see that Mr Clark was too as he loosened his collar), Jackson never even turned his head to watch the prosecutor. Once the pacing man finally finished, the judge looked at the room.

'If there are no further comments, the jury is dismissed to deliberate.'

Lisa watched as Jackson finally turned his head to give a knowing glance at the lead juror. The jury filed out of the courtroom before everyone in the room stood and started talking amongst themselves. With a confused look on her face, Lisa made her way to stand by her father in the front row just behind Jackson.

'Hi Dad,' she said, throwing her arms around her father.

'Lisa!' He squeezed her tightly. 'What did your doctor say?'

Her eyes flittered to Mr Clark's and then Jackson's faces before she spoke quietly. 'I'm due at the end of June.'

'You're pregnant?' Mr Clark asked in a whisper, looking at Jackson after he spoke and slapping the thin man on the back. 'Congratulations, both of you!'

Jackson simply gave a light, fleeting smile to Mr Clark, but when he looked at Lisa, his eyes spoke volumes more that she knew he couldn't share in their current location. However, he reached over and took her chin in his hand, pulling her closer as he leaned over the wooden railing separating them. Their lips locked for only a moment, but it was enough for both of them. With his hand still perched under her chin, Jackson turned around with a raised eyebrow as the door to the jury chambers opened and the panel spilled back out into the jury box.

'That was fast...' Howard Clark said, narrowing his eyes at Jackson for a brief instant.

The judge also seemed caught off-guard, but he quickly called the court back to order. After everyone had settled, he spoke. 'Jury, how do you rule?'

'In the case of the State of Florida versus Jackson Rippner, we find the defendant not guilty.'

There was a sudden, feverish murmur of voices. A couple of reporters stood in the crowd and took tape for the evening news as people started leaving the court with stern looks on their faces. The prosecutor glared over at Jackson as Howard Clark threw his arms around his client, and Jackson returned in kind to the man, which made Allegheny snap his briefcase closed and leave the room in a huff. Once Mr Clark let go of Jackson, Joe pat the younger man on the back and moved over to speak to Howard, leaving Lisa standing in front of Jackson.

'I told you not to worry,' he said, something hidden in his voice.

'What did you do?' Lisa asked in a harsh whisper, leaning closer to him.

'That's not for here,' Jackson replied sleekly as he leaned forward to meet her, reaching up to tuck a stray hair back behind her ear.

She furrowed her brow at him, but he just laughed a little, bending forward and giving her a nip on the earlobe. Startled, she gasped and he curled around to kiss her deeply with his hand on her waist, holding up a hand in front of their facial profile as a newspaper photographer came over and started snapping pictures.

---

It was almost five hours later when the last person left the condominium. All of Lisa's friends had shown up to congratulate Jackson on the outcome of the case, and there was much drinking and laughing. A few people had been curious about Lisa's straightedge stance throughout the night, but once her father had had a few too many drinks, there was no more question in their minds. He stood on Jackson's stainless steel coffee table and announced to the entire party that he was going to be a grandfather. The people all crowded around Lisa and Jackson, who had been innocuously sitting in the corner, and Jackson figured that was about the time to go out for a smoke. Lisa had been left alone with the party, but once she was able to round up the other sober people, pass out shoes and arrange for rides home, she joined Jackson out on the balcony.

'Hey.'

Jackson was reclined in a plush outdoor chaise lounge, his spent cigarette still smoking in the ashtray. When she spoke, he patted his leg and she came over to settle in his lap.

'How did you do it?'

His serious face broke and he gave her a smile as he rubbed the small of her back. 'Do what?'

'Rig the jury,' she said sharply.

'You make it sound so terrible.'

'Well, it is incredibly illegal.'

He made a questioning noise and pouted at her. 'Didn't you want me to stay with you and the baby rather than go to jail?'

His inclusion of 'the baby' made her feel all warm and fuzzy inside, but she had a feeling he was just trying to get on her good side. 'Yes, but—'

'They had all the evidence they needed to convict me of conspiracy,' he murmured as he shifted his legs under her. 'And I had some unreturned favours.'

'I thought the organisation wanted you dead.'

'But I never told you that. You made that up yourself,' Jackson replied as he rested his head back on the chair. 'On the contrary, after ten years of impeccable service, they owed me a lot. One mistake isn't enough to hang your best.'

'Jackson!' she said, exasperated. 'If they find out—'

'They won't.'

She pressed her lips together tightly and looked at him sternly. 'And how are you so sure of that?'

'Because every single person who was involved in that trial works for the organisation. The judge, the prosecutor, the stenographer, the bailiff, everyone.'

She just stared at him.

'I'm not going to leave you,' he said, looking her straight in the eyes. 'I've stolen you and you're mine. I don't give up my possessions lightly.'

He started fiddling with her left hand, and when she looked down at it, he'd slipped a simple platinum band around her ring finger. After a moment, she looked up, feeling like she should have more of a reaction to being so suddenly engaged, but really she wasn't excited at all. Being with Jackson was a constant battle, and to her, after all they'd been through together, marriage was just a formality. The rings would be, like he said, a marking of possession, like a more socially acceptable version of the bruising bite he gave her the second time they'd had sex or the deep nail scratches she'd given him on his back at the same time. He pressed a matching ring in her hand and she slipped it onto his ring finger.

'Now you're mine also,' she murmured, weaving her fingers in his. 'And even though this is enough for you and me, my parents and the county would probably appreciate a little more validity.'

Jackson was quiet for a moment. 'The 26th of November.'

Tipping her head back, she looked at him with her eyebrows pinched together. 'Specific.'

His gaze out towards the ocean didn't waver as he swallowed. 'The day I killed my parents.'