Author's Notes: Thank you all for the reviews, it encourages me to continue writing knowing that you're reading and enjoying the story. Reviews are greatly appreciated and encourage me to update faster.
Part 39
Age: 34 Years 7 Months
Jack let Isaac into the warehouse and gave the homeless man a bottle of scotch laced liberally with a little Jack Trades special to rapidly render the man unconscious. Having taken the antidote for it, Jack had a drink with the man to prevent him from being suspicious. As soon as the man fell asleep, Jack set about tying him to a chair using duct tape, everything was almost ready. Soon it would be time for him to get Samantha. Loading a mother of pearl handled 22 caliber revolver, Jack placed one bullet in the chamber and skipped two before finishing loading.
Samantha would balk and there was a good chance she would turn the gun on him. So Jack planned and loaded carefully to allow for his Samantha's inevitable resistance to embracing her destiny. Snatching a cheeto from the bowl on the table where Isaac sat, Jack tucked the gun in the back of his waistband and went to get Samantha from the apartment.
As Jack was getting ready to help Sam realize her potential, her Father sat in the VCTF answering questions. So far they decided the 30 nickels were about betrayal and had diagnosed the drop of blood in the abandoned vehicle that was found a few miles from Bailey's crash as having the markings for Gauchers. The blood was type o negative and was similar to what had been found in Jack's van when he was shot, but had some slight variations and the tests for genetic diseases hadn't been around at the time and all the original Trades blood samples had degraded in a refrigeration accident. Although this troubled them they decided to proceed because they had no other options and Bailey had called in a favor from his CIA friend and was overseeing things.
Walter pointed out a young man at the back of a conference who had given him two million dollars for research that he had told all about Sam. A bit later when he heard George identify him, Walter panicked. Albert Newquay. Jack was believed to be Albert Jackson Newquay and if that was who had given him the money, he was in deep trouble. Without realizing it, he had sold his soul to the devil. If Jack were really the young man his daughter had been married to and he'd pursued her all this time, some damn unpleasant things might come out that would ruin him. As soon as they were done questioning him, Walter slipped away from the building and booked a flight out of Atlanta.
Walking into the mock apartment, Jack smiled as he announced, "It's time to go. Believe me, you're going to love the view."
Sam looked at him uncertainly and then frowned slightly, uncertain how to respond.
"Samantha, I've captured you in order to set you free," Jack explained helpfully.
Petulantly Samantha countered, "If you want to prove your omnipotence why don't you do it out in the real world?"
And leave me and my peace of mind out of all this. Why is it that you can do this to me? Samantha wondered as she looked at him. Why do you have only to walk into the room and I want to touch you? When everything about you and I is so wrong and impossible why am I so damned tempted to give in?
Jack laughed softly and assured her, "I already have."
"I'm not like you and I'm not going to become like you."
Methinks the lady doth protest to much, Jack mused. Aloud he told her, "But you are Samantha. This isn't about proving my omnipotence it's about helping you to recognize yours."
Jack took Samantha's arm and lead her out of the apartment, as he did so she felt a small erotic flicker in the pit of her stomach. Every time he touched her, temptation would whisper around her. When he lead her out to a table where a man was duct taped, she felt a combination of anticipation and fear. She knew what Jack would ask of her but she couldn't, and yet-
"Samantha, you and I are kindred. We will be joined together in the place where we were meant to be," Jack purred. Dismissively he gestured to Isaac and said, "He's not much of a sacrifice I admit."
"Let him go," Samantha parroted the safe and expected response.
Tauntingly Jack countered, "You let him go." Taking the gun from behind him he held it out and informed her, "You're the celebrant. Anoint him."
"You know I won't do it."
Won't you? Jack thought amused.
Won't you? Samantha wondered. Jack is offering you a weapon. Everything you ever learned in the FBI says you should take it and turn it on him. You should take the gun. Why can't you? Why Sam? Why can't you shoot Jack? Maybe you didn't mean to at Christmas a couple years ago but why can't you shoot him? What's wrong with you? Sam you're not thinking of-
Amused by her inner turmoil Jack spoke low and seductively, "But I know you've thought about it Samantha."
He moved closer to her, his voice slow and ripe with sensual promise as he continued, "All those cases. All those corpses. Trying to figure out what goes on in the head of those how kill. Inside my head. Wondering what it actually feels like to take a life."
Yes, she thought, then denied, "No."
"You pride yourself on your insight, but your greatest blind spot, is you," Jack informed her matter-of-factly. Gazing at her lovingly he insisted, "Don't you see, Samantha. It's the one pure endeavor left in this world.
Jack was still holding the gun out to her as she stated, "I won't kill him."
"I chose this posterboy of great society to break you in slowly. No one will miss him," Jack assured her.
He's right, no one would miss him, a wicked voice whispered in her mind. How often have you imagined what it would feel like? The night you attacked Billy Watkins you had such a high for those few minutes. If you gave in, no one would ever know except for Jack and he won't judge you. When you shot Sharon, you claimed to feel guilty but you felt good. How long can you fight this?
Desperately, she insisted, "He's a human being."
Jack laughed, "And as such he's of no value." A moment later, Jack's amusement left as he asked tiredly, "Do you want me to threaten you Samantha?"
Yes! Give me an out. If I go over the edge because you pull me with you, it's not the same as if I jump alongside you. I want this but I need you to make me do it.
When he didn't threaten she quipped, "Well then your point would be lost, wouldn't it? The killing wouldn't be pure. It would have no meaning and it's all about meaning, isn't?"
Feeling frustrated, Jack turned away and screamed for a moment. Calmly he turned around and asked, "Are you worried about your conscience? Conscience is the excuse of underachievers."
Moving towards her, still offering her the gun, Jack gazed into her eyes and sighed almost pleadingly, "I want you to join me."
Feeling overwhelmed and uncertain, she answered, "No."
Jack never took his eyes from hers as he extended his arm shot Isaac. As the chair clattered to the ground Jack looked over and mocked, "There. I feel good about myself."
He made it look so easy. Why couldn't she give in?
"I just don't understand why this is so difficult," Jack scolded her. Patiently he explained, "People like you and I, were born with strength of intellect and an emotional forbearance."
Sitting the gun down on the table he told her, "We are the chosen ones."
Turning away from her, Jack listened for her movement as he offered, "All the people I took from you. I did it to get you to see. To prepare you."
Samantha, please can't you see what we have. For two decades I've lived for you and you alone. And that's just it I'm always alone. Dreams and hopes are all I've had to get me through for so long. Meet me halfway, give in just a little bit. So many sacrifices, so much pain. So much pain, Jack thought.
Patience fading and emotion rising, Jack confessed, "Everything I endured, the physical pain, the taunting by inferiors. It was a test."
Samantha was torn. Part of her wanted to run as fast as she could and the other part of her wanted to comfort him. If this went on any longer, she would be lost. She'd withstood all the temptation she could and was wavering. Picking up the gun she looked at it uncertainly, could she use it? Maybe she could miss and he would kill her and then she would be with her Jack and be away from the seductive Jack-Of-All-Trades and not have to torment herself with thoughts of what should never be.
Twenty years of keeping his suffering to himself and now having her so close by, his eyes glistened with unshed tears as he choked out, "There's a sound that bones make when they shatter. Unlike anything I've ever heard. I grew to welcome that sound. Because I knew that by overcoming physical pain I could achieve-"
Jack turned around as Samantha cocked the gun. Smiling widely, he mused, "Now this is interesting."
Samantha was trembling as she aimed the gun at Jack and her eyes were tearing. She didn't want to kill him, not really but if she didn't then she would surrender and she couldn't. Looking confident, Jack stood and made no move either to escape or to take the gun from her. Shaking, Samantha squeezed the trigger and the gun chamber clicked empty, once and then again. Frozen to the spot, tears flowed from her eyes as she remained transfixed. Jack moved towards her smiling and took the gun from her.
She continued to stare ahead as Jack murmured in her ear in an insidiously sexy voice, "Now we know what you're capable of. Appreciate the moment for what it is. And please don't spoil it by saying you knew it was empty."
Since she continued to stare at the spot where he'd stood, Jack walked in front of her, aimed the gun in the air and fired. The sound of the gunshot reverberated around them.
Turning back to her, Jack assured her, "You were so close."
Close! Samantha thought in horror. She nearly killed Jack-Of-All-Trades! What if she'd fired a third time? If she'd killed Jack, she couldn't have lived with herself. Her tears continued to course her face and fall to the floor unheeded.
Jack moved beside her. His words dripped with sensuality as he spoke. "The moment you pulled that trigger, you were never so alive. We share that vitality Samantha. It's in you. You were born with it."
"No," she disagreed and slowly turned her head. Her eyes met his as she explained, "You put it there."
"That's the nicest thing-" Jack trailed off.
Tension filled the air and their lips met in a fiery kiss. All the love and hate and pain of the years exploding between them. When Jack finally pulled his mouth away from Samantha's she bent her head to kiss his hand when she noticed his ring...
