Author's Note: Will try to update next chapter later today and the duel is soon, I promise, Silver. Reviews are appreciated and make me type faster...

Chapter 6

After demanding a servant direct him to the library, Jack began to scan through the titles. There was a book on fencing which he picked up and began to leaf through. No real chance that he could come out of this alive, but God damn it he wouldn't go without a fight. Jack had seen many swordfights in old movies, but never had lifted a sword in his life. If by some miracle he made it through this entire ordeal, he was going to start adding to his repertoire of fighting skills. He tried to be prepared for every possibility, but time travel had never been one of them.

Jack took the book and grabbed a foil from a case on the wall and headed for the ballroom. Sitting the book on a small table in the empty room, Jack began. He held the sword in his hand and moved his arm slowly, getting a sense of the weight distribution in the gleaming silver blade. After becoming used to the feel of the weapon in his hand, he opened the book to an illustration and removed his coat and vest. Jack began to advance across the ballroom practicing attacks and parries.

He paused when he reached the end of the room and began to slowly carve a priceless tapestry that hung on the wall. The sword gleamed in the candlelight and the blade hummed as Jack began to move the blade faster. This was a good start, but he really needed to see how the blade went into flesh. Fabric was a great starter for testing a weapon, but Jack needed something more sanguine. His life would end in a few hours, but his blood was not the only that would be spilled. What he needed was to practice on something live.

Sword in hand, Jack walked out of the ballroom and spotted a servant. The man had fallen asleep on the job and startled awake as Jack grabbed his arm and demanded, "You! What is your position here?"

"I'm a second footman, Sir."

Perfect, Jack decided, the man had no consequence and a slight resemblance to the late Tom Waters was an added bonus. "How would you like an opportunity to advance your station in life?"

"Me?"

"Indeed. Come with me," Jack ordered and opened the door to the ballroom. "Who is the magistrate in the area?"

Looking confused, the man replied, "As owner of the estate you are."

"Thought as much."

"Now what?" the servant asked anxiously. His lordship was acting oddly and he wanted to get his promotion before the nobleman changed his mind.

A smile twisted Jack's lips and he raised the rapier. With a sharp thrust he drove the blade into the man's chest. "Now you die."

Jack watched the man's last breath with satisfaction and was about to practice on the body further when he was interrupted. Samantha had decided to look for Jack and found him in the ballroom standing over the body. "Jack! What did you do?"

"Terminated his employment," Jack shrugged and flicked the sword against the man's arm studying the play of the blade in the flesh.

"You killed him!"

"Did I?" Jack mocked in his light french accent. "I guess I did. What do you want Samantha?"

"I had come to make one last appeal that stop this nonsense-" she trailed off as he made another cut on the body. "What are you thinking?!?"

"I'm thinking I would have been better off taking fencing instead of ballroom dance that one semester in college," Jack replied slicing the body again.

Exasperated, Sam sighed, "I meant what are you thinking killing someone at a time like this and why are you mutilating the body?"

"I need to be able to accurately gauge the amount of pressure required to cause damage effectively. Now, just give me a couple moments and we'll talk, but I have to finish practicing before rigor sets in."

Sam sat down in silent fury and watched her mortal enemy slowly eviscerating the still warm body of the hapless footman. All these years of finding the aftermath of Jack's kills and now she was watching him. She should have felt repulsed by the tableau; but instead found herself mesmerized by the rapid grace with which he worked. Above his lip a tiny drop of perspiration sparkled like a diamond and her body betrayed her as thoughts of his lips on hers played enticingly in her mind. Standing up she forced herself to look away and began to leave the room.

"Samantha," Jack called her back.

Steeling herself, she turned around and replied coldly, "I can't stay and watch this."

Jack walked up to her and studied her face intently. This was the last he would see his love and even to the end she hated him. "You needn't leave Samantha. I'm quite finished. Soon you will be free of me once and for all."

She struggled to find words as he brushed past her, but couldn't find any as he disappeared up the staircase. Free of Jack, once and for all? Life without Jack had always sounded so appealing, now faced with the prospect she felt hollow. Samantha had never felt more lost or alone in her life, then she did at that moment. For years, Jack had been a constant in her life. Granted, he was a dangerous one she'd resisted, but a constant nonetheless. She would be alone if Jack died. Not only in this time, but in her own time as well Samantha realized...