Author's Notes: This is an answer to the Love Gone Wrong Challenge at Profiler Fans. Profiler Fans has wallpapers, icons, fictions and other fun things at Live Journal, follow my homepage and check it out sometime. This is inspired very loosely on the film Exotica and the lyrics at the end are from Everybody Knows by Leonard Cohen.
At first she didn't recognize him when she went to his table and began to dance for him. Chloe hadn't seen Jack since her mother's funeral three years ago and she was surprised to find him in Delerium. Delerium was a very upscale gentlemen's club in Atlanta, where the dancers performed in a more sensual rather than sexual manner. For two weeks she'd seen him sitting at a table drinking, never paying attention to the display of flesh around him, then finally he had her summoned for a table dance. It was while she was dancing for him that she recognized him.
Ten years before that night, her mother and Jack had married. One night they had met by accident at a charity ball and had started dating. When Sam finally learned Jack's identity, she was so in love she kept his secret and embraced all he was. Samantha had stayed with the VCTF, Jack's identity was concealed from everyone and they had been happy. Although Chloe was unaware of it, Jack and Samantha really were the same and had shared everything.
At first Chloe had loved Jack, until one day curiosity about her mother's files on her father's killer prompted her to read them. She'd been eleven when she'd read the file and realized her stepfather was Jack-Of-All-Trades. Feeling betrayed by both her mother and her stepfather, Chloe had pulled away from them and demanded they send her to boarding school. Although they tried to reconcile with Chloe, she had refused, telling them that out of love for her mother she wouldn't betray their secret, but out of love for her father she couldn't stay with them.
For seven years, Jack and Samantha had lived together happily. Jack had continued stalking Samantha to avert suspicion and it was almost a form of foreplay for them. Their game had remained an integral part of who they were and their relationship. Just after their seventh anniversary, Samantha discovered to their surprise and delight that she was pregnant. Samantha had been eight months pregnant and two days before starting her maternity leave when tragedy struck. While tracking down a lead on a case, she had gotten too close. That day she disappeared and two days later, her mutilated body was found, leaving Chloe an orphan and Jack a widower.
At the funeral, Jack had wept silently and without end. He seemed to have aged ten years overnight and looked lost. Despite her grief, seeing the hollow shell her stepfather had become, Chloe was tempted to forgive him, but Bailey had come up to her and told her Sam had become careless because of Jack and the baby. Instantly, her heart had steeled and she'd turned her back on the man who for two years before discovering his identity she'd loved and called father.
Samantha's death had destroyed Jack, there was nothing left for him and he was slowly withering away without her. Only Chloe stopped him from joining Samantha in death. Despite Chloe's hatred, Jack had come to love her during the two years they'd been a family before she'd made the discovery of who he was. His carelessness had cost the life of his wife and unborn child, he would watch over Chloe for his Samantha. Normally Jack followed Sam on the job discreetly and it was almost a game to see if she could detect his presence or not. But on the day of her abduction, he'd been picking up a gift for Samantha and their son. One day of not keeping his vigil over her and he'd lost her.
Chloe had finished up boarding school and refused to accept college tuition from Jack when he wrote her a letter offering to pay when she graduated high school. His lawyer had approached her in person telling her that Jack had set up a five million dollar trust fund for her after her refusal. Stubbornly she let the money sit in the trust and enrolled only part time at school in Atlanta. To support herself, Chloe had started dancing at Delerium. She couldn't accept Jack's money, if she did she was accepting his murdering her father.
Briefly she'd considered turning Jack in now that her mother was dead, but there would be no satisfaction in seeing him harmed. Her mother's killer had been captured and was mysteriously killed before his trial. There was no doubt in her mind that Jack had tried, convicted, and executed him and for that alone she would keep his secret. Night after night as she danced, Chloe would wonder if anyone was ever what they really seemed. Were any of the men watching her killers? Was everyone capable of murder?
Following Samantha's death, Jack had followed Chloe with the care he once had for his wife, but kept his watch a secret. After Samantha died and the Trades murders stopped, they speculated, quite accurately that with her gone Jack had no heart left to kill. Once he had killed trying to recapture some feeling, but found he felt as hollow as ever. The large mansion that he'd built as a castle for his queen, was now a shrine and cathedral. All throughout, hundreds of pictures and paintings of Samantha lined the walls and every available surface, with a few pictures of Chloe and one sonogram mingled amongst the,. The urn that held her ashes was in a museum quality lit glass case and Jack had a kneeler installed before it. Every minute not spent on Chloe was spent praying to and for his Samantha.
Jack continued to smoke and drink, increasing the quantity of each with deliberation. Anything to ease the pain even slightly for a brief moment. Night after night, Jack would have one of several escorts come to the house and pretend his Samantha was alive. Not once did he touch one of them, but he wanted long blonde hairs in the shower drain and her side of the bed slept in. One of the girls could ballroom dance and Jack would waltz the night away with her, closing his eyes and pretending.
When Chloe had started working at the club, Jack had been upset and finally decided to confront her in person, he owed it to his Samantha. For two weeks he'd silently watched Chloe dance, trying to work up the nerve to talk to her. She looked so much like her mother and he couldn't bear to see Samantha's face look on him with displeasure. At last he'd worked up his nerve and ordered a table dance so he would have an opportunity to talk to her. Not recognizing him, Chloe had begun to dance for him as Jack sat transfixed, she was so like her mother.
His expression was strange and intense as Chloe danced, his focus was on her face, not her body and she asked, "What are you thinking?"
"I was just thinking, what would happen if someone hurt you."
Chloe was startled at his words. Part of her was shocked to realize that it was Jack and the other part of her was shocked to hear his words. Uncertainly, she responded, "How could anyone hurt me?"
His voice raw with pain, Jack told her, "If I'm not there to protect you-"
Fighting back her own emotions, she assured him, "You'll always be there to protect me."
"But I wasn't," Jack told her. Tears were starting to flow from his eyes as Chloe knelt in front of him. Looking at her in confusion, Jack asked, "Why would someone want to do something like that? How could anyone take you away from me?"
Chloe had been on the verge of snapping at him that that was exactly what he had done to countless people including her father, when she found herself moving upwards and rubbing her cheek against his. He still smelled like tobacco and roses, just as he had when he'd married her mother. Although cruelty might have been satisfying, she felt her heart constrict as she looked at him and realizing he was seeing Sam, not her. Nuzzling against him, Chloe found her eyes tearing up and for the first time since her mother's death, her own emotions were coming out.
"Why did he have to choose you? I would have gone in your place," Jack told Chloe.
"I know that," she cried.
For the rest of the night, Jack paid for table dance after table dance and Chloe let him. She moved just enough to keep her employer from scolding her, but mostly she just clung to Jack like a lost child. After that night, Jack came in night after night. Every night he would ask her over and over how anyone could hurt her. Gradually Chloe found herself asking the same question. For years her mother had hunted the worst of the worst and never come to any harm, then out of the blue she became a victim. Not once since her mother's death had she sat foot in the VCTF but a month after she'd started dancing for Jack, Chloe found herself walking in.
"George? Is that you?"
"Sam? I'm sorry you just look-" George trailed off.
"Like my mother," Chloe supplied. "It's okay, you're not the first person to think that."
"Wow, it's just such a surprise. Bailey isn't around at the moment, but I know he'd love to see you."
"George, I'm not here to socialize," she confessed. "I'm here for answers. Why did my mom go out alone? I mean, you were all so protective of her because of Jack and even more so when she was pregnant. How did it happen?"
Shaking his head, George answered, "I don't know. I remember finding a name and address on my computer and Sam was going to check it out with Bailey. Why she didn't wait for him I don't know."
Chloe thanked George and left. Over the next few days, she mulled over and over why her mother hadn't waited for Bailey. Something didn't feel right and Chloe wanted to find out more. Although she tried asking Jack if he had any ideas he simply looked at her in confusion and asked her what would happen to her if he wasn't there to protect her.
"Jack my mother always kept a journal, did you ever read it after she died?"
Looking at Chloe as if she'd lost her mind, he shook his head. "Your diary is private, I never read it."
Torn between impatience and sorrow, Chloe prompted, "Do you still have it?"
"Of course, I have everything of yours. I could never part with anything of yours."
Chloe ordered Jack to stay until she got off work and told him she was coming with him. Obediently he waited and drank quietly until Chloe came to him. When Chloe entered the house she was stunned. Everything was immaculate and dust free, but everywhere she looked were images of her mother. Televisions in everyroom played over and over dvd's of her mother. Near the display which held her mother's ashes, a mannequin stood wearing the crimson ballgown Sam wore for her wedding to Jack and in it's hands was clutched a bouquet of fresh flowers just like her mother's wedding bouquet.
"Jack how often do you change the flowers?"
"Everyday," he told her solemnly. Then shamefaced he confessed, "They're from a florist, I can't grow roses anymore."
Chloe looked out a window, even in the dim light from the garden lights, she could see that roses had withered, it was as if they died with her mother. Quietly she followed Jack as he paused to look at one photo or another. Near his study, Jack picked up a photo and started weeping. As he sank to his knees, Chloe struggled with her impatience to get the journal. Her heart constricted as she saw the photo of her mother smiling, looking very pregnant and holding up a sonogram.
"Why?" Jack sobbed tracing his fingers over the picture. "How could anyone do this to you? How could they take you from me?"
"Jack," Chloe said softly. When he didn't respond she shouted, "Jack!"
Instantly she regretted her tone as he hugged Samantha's photo to his chest and cowered. Seeing him like this was horrible and Chloe softly ruffled his hair and inquired, "Where is the journal?"
"In the bedroom in your dressing table like always," Jack told her and stood up.
Chloe found the room her mother and Jack had once shared and searched until she found what she was looking for. For several hours she read through her mother's diary and was both horrified and intrigued. Her mother had apparently not only accepted Jack for what he was but had embraced his ways herself. A number of the Trades murders were her work and quite a few had been done by them as a couple. What caught her eye was an entry towards the end. Two days before her mother's kidnapping and murder.
...Oh God! I don't know what I'm going to do. When he confronted me and told me he knew my husband was THE Jack I tried to convince him he was wrong, but he ignored me. I begged him to let us go that we would leave Atlanta and the States forever, but he wouldn't hear it. He says I have two days to decide and then I either do as he asks or he'll let everyone know about Jack.
God, this can't be happening. The baby is due in about a month, how can we flee? There's no way I can disguise my condition. Either I betray Jack and our child or I sacrifice Jack's freedom. I wanted to tell him, but he's so happy I just couldn't. I'm so frightened. When he confronted me the look in his eyes and his voice! They say Jack is insane and evil, but they're wrong, I saw evil today...
Chloe had her answer and went downstairs. Briefly she considered telling Jack, but as she watched him praying to her mother's ashes, she knew she would have to take care of this. Along with everything else she'd read and learned from her mother's journal was that her mother had been very happy and in love until the day she died. Jack killed Tom and nothing would ever change that, but he was suffering from losing Sam more than her mother ever mourned her father. There were a few hints in the journal that her father had occasionally been abusive to her mother and Chloe found herself wondering if Jack was really so terrible. After all, her mother had been betrayed by someone who supposedly cared about her.
When she showed up on Bailey's doorstep, he was surprised and pleased to see her. As he commented on how much she looked like her mother, Chloe began to mimic some of the gestures she remembered her mother making and started to flirt with Bailey. It took her nearly a week to get him in bed and after that she was ready to get things in motion. He didn't like her dancing so she told him she would quit. On her final night of work Chloe danced for Jack one last time, this time when he asked how anyone could take her from him, Chloe wept.
"Jack, hold me," Chloe ordered him as she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him.
Chloe was fired for allowing a customer to touch her, but still she held onto Jack and stood there while her boss fired her. As she left, she told Jack she would come by to see him in a while. Jack agreed and went home. Chloe went to Bailey's and let him fuck her one last time. As he slept, she dressed, slipped a pair of rubber gloves on she'd hidden in her pockets, and took his gun. Quietly she went to Jack's and entered.
"Jack," Chloe said softly as she approached him in the room with her mother's ashes.
"You've come back. How could he take you from me?"
Chloe wrapped her arms around Jack and hugged him as she gently commanded, "Close your eyes. Do you see my mother?"
"Always."
"When you see my mother, tell her I love her," Chloe told him and pressed her lips to his in a brief kiss.
She brought the gun up to his heart and fired once. Any doubt that she was doing the right thing faded as he fell to the ground and smiled up at her.
"Samantha-" Jack breathed in a whisper as he died.
Whether he thought she was Sam or he was crossing over and seeing her, Chloe knew she had done the right thing. She returned to Bailey's and replaced his gun. The next day when she was informed that her stepfather had been murdered, she told the police that Bailey had told her the night before that he was going to kill Jack and that he'd killed her mother. She told them he'd threatened her and she'd been too frightened to escape him. Bailey's gun was taken for testing and ballistics matched it. Although Bailey protested his innocence and accused Chloe, the fact she'd never touched her trust fund and had been fired from her job the night before for embracing Jack supported Chloe's accusations.
When the investigators searched Jack's home and read Sam's journal they discovered evidence to suggest Malone had lead Samantha to her death. During an interrogation, he finally broke down, unable to handle the guilt any longer and confessed that he had actually killed Sam. He told them it was because he loved her and couldn't bear seeing her with filth like Jack.
After Jack's funeral he was cremated and Chloe took the urn with his ashes and the one with Samantha's ashes to the huge rose garden which gardeners had been pruning and repairing on her orders. There was a large rose bush waiting to be planted and a hole dug for it in the center of the garden. According to her mother's journal she and Jack had often made love in their rose garden, so it was fitting to return them to where they both been so happy. Opening up the urns, Chloe watched the ashes cascade and mingle into the dirt.
Over time Chloe made a home in the house she inherited from Jack and the rose garden grew exquisitely. Sometimes in the garden she could hear her mother's laughter on the wind and Jack sighing happily, Samantha...
Everybody knows that the dice are loaded
Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed
Everybody knows that the war is over
Everybody knows the good guys lost
Everybody knows the fight was fixed
The poor stay poor, the rich get rich
That's how it goes
Everybody knows
Everybody knows that the boat is leaking
Everybody knows that the captain lied
Everybody got this broken feeling
Like their father or their dog just died
Everybody talking to their pockets
Everybody wants a box of chocolates
And a long stem rose
Everybody knows
Everybody knows that you love me baby
Everybody knows that you really do
Everybody knows that you've been faithful
Ah give or take a night or two
Everybody knows you've been discreet
But there were so many people you just had to meet
Without your clothes
And everybody knows
Everybody knows, everybody knows
That's how it goes
Everybody knows
Everybody knows, everybody knows
That's how it goes
Everybody knows
And everybody knows that it's now or never
Everybody knows that it's me or you
And everybody knows that you live forever
Ah when you've done a line or two
Everybody knows the deal is rotten
Old black joe's still pickin' cotton
For your ribbons and bows
And everybody knows
And everybody knows that the plague is coming
Everybody knows that it's moving fast
Everybody knows that the naked man and woman
Are just a shining artifact of the past
Everybody knows the scene is dead
But there's gonna be a meter on your bed
That will disclose
What everybody knows
And everybody knows that you're in trouble
Everybody knows what you've been through
From the bloody cross on top of calvary
To the beach of malibu
Everybody knows it's coming apart
Take one last look at this sacred heart
Before it blows
And everybody knows
Everybody knows, everybody knows
That's how it goes
Everybody knows
Oh everybody knows, everybody knows
That's how it goes
Everybody knows
Everybody knows