Author's note: Thanks for all the wonderful reviews, they really make my day. I had a lot of issues to work through with this story and without wanting to jinx it in any way, I think I have now. Special thanks (in no particular order) to First Noelle, Royalty09 and emptyvoices for their encouragement and humor.

Chapter 21

Turning away, Lisa managed to steal a quick glance at the message and its very first line made her blood run cold. Congratulations on the show opener, old friend. Killed her yet?

Mechanically, she trudged into the bathroom, going through the motions while being oddly detached from herself. Afterwards she curled up on her mattress and merely shook her head when Jackson, who was still sitting in front of his laptop, asked her whether he should close "the door".

Lisa wondered faintly why she couldn't feel a thing. Jackson hammered into the keyboard, sometimes getting up and grabbing folders from the shelves, and she watched him, but it hardly touched her consciousness. On every clear surface in the room memories played out like a movie on a screen until there were too many to follow and the voices turned into white noise. Lisa saw Jackson mouth a few sentences, yet couldn't grasp their meaning, so she just stared at him or rather, through him.

He crossed the distance and crouched down in front of her, elbows propped on his thighs. Jackson talked to her, regarding her questioningly at first, then with a hint of annoyance and from far away, Lisa realized that his remarks were becoming hurtful, but she didn't care. He rolled his eyes and walked out, turning the main room dark on the way. From the blueish flicker of the light Lisa could tell the TV was on.

After what seemed like ages, he returned to her side and once again crouched down, staring at her intently.

"Leese. Leese!" Jackson shook her until the tremors rocked her out of that strange catatonia. "Anyone in there, Leese?"

Lisa nodded weakly in reply.

"Phew, thought I'd lost you there for a second." He pursed his lips. "Feeling down?"

Did she? She frowned in confusion.

"Okay, what you're going through right now is actually pretty natural. Do you understand?" He waited for her acknowledgement and continued, "It's the old battle: you are stressed out beyond your ability to cope, so your body responds by trying to get you to rest. That's why you feel so exhausted." He tapped her lightly on the temple. "However, the little whirly reel up here is trying to make sense of it all and won't stop turning - and I think we all know that this particular whirly reel is especially relentless. So it's a good old Mexican stand-off until one of the opponents shuts down."

Lisa's intended smile came out as more of a grimace.

"There we go." A faint, but definitely smug grin tugged at the corners of his mouth. "What you need is some sleep and after that, you'll be able to tackle the world all over again. I'm gonna regret this."

His hand reached out and Lisa was surprised to feel him gently skim down her arm with the back of his fingers. She was just starting to relax when he unexpectedly jerked up her wrist and then his other hand shot forward. Lisa yelped in pain when something stung her and she tried to struggle out of his grasp.

"Sshh, it's a sedative, nothing more." He looked her over. "You're no use to me like this."

The drug seared through her veins, leaving her limbs limp and lifeless in its wake.

"Night, Leese." Jackson let go of her wrists and pressed her down onto the mattress by her shoulders. "Easy now."

Finally, Lisa closed her eyes and floated off into Morpheus' open arms.

Once again she was diving up, but this time it wasn't frantic. Lisa forced herself to move smoothly, determined to reach the surface before the pressure could burst her from the inside out. She smiled when she saw the first rays of light pierce the water in a playful dance.

Dawn was breaking. The blinds were shut, but she could hear birds chirping outside and Jackson breathe softly in the next room. Even though the office was dark, Lisa didn't want to turn on the light and ruin the first taste of unsupervised privacy she had gotten in far too long.

She yawned and stretched excessively before suddenly finding herself going through the old warm-up routine she used to do every day back when she was still into competitive sports. Gawd, that was ages ago. True, she was a little rusty and her lungs seemed to be short on air, but the long-forgotten sensation of relying on her body's strength and intuition excited and calmed her at the same time.

"Good morning, Jane Fonda. Doing better?"

"Yeah." Beads of sweat trickled down her forehead, but she was unwilling to stop.

"I need to leave in about an hour - I should be back at noon."

"Okay." If only she could go for a jog. "Business?"

"Not going to tell you."

Jackson left her to her exercises and went into the bathroom. When he returned, he leaned against the doorframe for a while watching her silently. "I suggest you take a quick shower and get something to eat, I have to lock you in."

"Is that really necessary?" The thought of spending the entire time in that claustrophobic space made her queasy.

"Yes. Get moving."

Lisa granted herself a few more minutes to finish and got in the shower. She couldn't remember feeling this relaxed and confident ever since Keefe had called her to Washington.

Jackson's brows rocketed skywards when he saw her choice of food: coffee, scrambled eggs, bacon, buttered toast and a bowl of cereal. "Hungry much?"

"Breakfast of champions." Lisa settled on her mattress and leaned against the wall, the tray of food on her lap.

"Be good." The old smirk firm in place, Jackson winked at her and shut her in.

The hours crawled by slowly and after a while, Lisa was no longer able to ignore the familiar doubt and tension Jackson seemed to instill in her by his sheer existence. What if this was all a big trick, his revenge on her for what happened all those months ago? And even if not … what if something happened to him? Nobody knew she was here and she couldn't get out on her own.

Lisa tried everything, the relaxation exercises her therapist had recommended, thinking about her family and friends, reading, but nothing could dispel the heavy dread that was seeping into her body and mind.

Just when she was about to start pounding the wall in frustration, she heard the apartment door open with a click and held her breath. Please let that be him.

The wall slid apart and with a barely suppressed cry, Lisa propelled herself forward into the openness of the room. Free!

"Hello Leese." Jackson regarded her with amusement. "Miss me?"

Lisa's heart was beating rapidly. "Not you, just the ability to move around."

"Better get used to it. We have an appointment this afternoon and you'll stay in your room until then."

"Who's coming?"

"That's none of your business." He turned away from her.

"Hold it right there, Jackson." Lisa detested the shrillness in her own voice. "It is very much my business and don't even try to argue otherwise."

"What do you want me to tell you? Names? You wouldn't recognize them and we should keep it that way. Who they work for? What they want? Don't burden yourself with unnecessary knowledge, you couldn't stand it."

"I will be the judge of that."

"Sorry to burst your bubble, but no - l will be the judge of that." He tossed her a bag. "Here, I brought you something."

It was a skipping rope and some weights.

"You should work out more often, it does wonders for your temper."