Chapter Two: The Party
The party had started without him. It was sometimes weeks before Lisa would hear from Jackson, and she felt that his task was keeping him later than expected. She knew that he would come sooner or later. And she knew that keeping Jackson and her father apart longer was probably a good thing. Despite what Jackson had said, she knew that the two men in the same room could end in disaster.
Her father had been the first to arrive. He had overdone himself: four huge boxes for a one-year-old. His excuse was that Vivian was his first grandchild and deserved to be spoiled. Aunt Marianne and Uncle Harry were the next to arrive. They were from out of state-- Atlanta, Georgia to be exact. The drive hadn't been pleasant with the triplet boys in the backseat the entire ride, but they had made it and were going to make a vacation of it. The overweight Aunt Marianne told Lisa that after a rest at the Lux Atlantic, they were off to the beach. Neurotic Uncle Harry had packed enough sunscreen to bathe all five of them. John, George and Harry Jr. made their immediate way to the snacks once they were through the door.
"Oh, Lisa-baby," Marianne said as she grabbed her niece in a tight embrace, "you shoulda told us sooner you had a little darlin'! We'd-a come down sooner!" Lisa grinned as she moved on to hug her Uncle Harry. "Where is the little thing?" Marianne asked, peering around Lisa's small apartment. Lisa brushed her hair behind her ears.
"Dad's got her in the living room," she answered. the Triplets lugged the two presents from the family into the kitchen, where her father's already stood like monuments.
Cynthia and her new boyfriend Zack were the next guests five minutes after the party of five entered the apartment. Cynthia had thoughtfully brought a present for Vivian and a nice wine bottle for the adults. As Lisa poured the wine into glasses for Cynthia, her father and herself she smiled, thinking of Jackson's reaction to the taste of wine in his mouth. He'd always hated it. She was introduced to Zack, who was very unlike most of Cynthia's boyfriends that she'd met. He was shy, and almost as short as she was. He also hated wine.
Almost another half-an-hour passed, and there was no knock on the door to indicate that Lisa's mother was coming. She got a call three minutes later that informed her that her mother couldn't come. Her loss, Lisa decided, and the party began.
Vivian was brought into the kitchen, dressed in her finest overalls. A blue bow was in her hair today. Joe Reisert placed the girl in her highchair, then mysteriously disappeared into the living room again. He emerged with a great, white birthday cake, more than enough to feed the entire room. They lit the candles and turned off the lights.
"Happy Birthday to you--"
They didn't hear the footsteps softly padding up the hallway. Three pairs of them.
"Happy Birthday to you--"
One of them motioned for another to come to the front. He pulled a key from an inside pocket.
"Happy Birthday dear Vivian--"
The man with the key stepped forward, pressing it into the keyhole to Lisa's apartment without a noise.
"Happy Birthday to--"
The door swung open silently just as a familiar dark-haired man jumped through the open kitchen window.
"Jackson!" Lisa cried in surprise.
He wasn't listening. His dead, cold eyes were fixed on the door to her apartment. He reached under his blazer to pull out a thin black gun.
"Get her down!" Jackson said, his head snapping to Lisa. The frightened girl took one look at the three armed men standing in her doorway before she grabbed Vivian and dove under the table.
Gunshots erupted like a thunderstorm. The cake was blown away, white frosting propelled in a snowdrift across her walls. The Triplets screamed, and they disappeared into Lisa's room. Lisa watched as Jackson's arm whipped out of his blazer, the gun shining in the morning sun and each and every bullet fired out of its barrel with God-like precision. The bullets from the opposing guns seemed to fire around him almost on purpose. The wall behind him was being slowly torn apart by gunfire. Pots and pans that had been hung on the wall clattered noisily to the floor. Jackson fired three times, once for each man at the door. They fell to the ground dead, a bullet to the heart each. The silence after was almost as deafening as the gunshots had been before.
And as Jackson stood there, gun smoking and sun to his back, he looked like an epic figure, immortal and beautiful, as dangerous as he was striking. He turned his back slowly to the dead men, nonchalant and uncaring. Lisa had never seen him in such a light.
"Lisa," Jackson said, suddenly kneeling beside her. The table had been knocked askew by the gunfight. He ran his hand over her cheek, and she stared into his eyes blankly, like a deer in the proverbial headlights. "Lisa!" He said again, both hands on her face now. She blinked rapidly, suddenly aware that Vivian was crying.
"Oh, God--" Lisa's tears began, and she quickly inspected her daughter for any harm. Jackson pulled her to her feet as he looked over Vivian just as Lisa did. "What...?" Lisa asked frantically. Her hands were shaking again. They hadn't done that for almost a year.
"I must have done something to piss off that idiot Vore," Jackson said absently as he tucked Vivian's hair behind her ear. "Is she all right?"
Lisa didn't answer. She simply fell into Jackson's open arms and cried. He was surprised at first, almost frightened. Then, slowly, he pulled her closer and held Vivian between them. Her breath was jerky, but he held her tightly. Vivian had stopped her crying and held herself close to her father. He ran his long fingers through Lisa's hair calmingly but said nothing. He didn't know what to say.
"What the hell--!"
Both of the parents' head whipped the direction of Lisa's bedroom. Aunt Marianne was standing, covered in cake, with her arms around her three boys. Her eyes were wide and frightened. The boys, for once, were absolutely silent.
"This is the father! This madman!" Uncle Harry was peeking out from behind his wife, shaking and scared witless. Jackson turned to Lisa again.
"Uncle Harry?" He asked. Lisa, still shaking, nodded. Jackson turned to face Uncle Harry again. "Look, Uncle Harry, make yourself useful and call the police. We don't want those bodies in the doorway all day."
It wasn't another moment before the entire family had locked themselves in Lisa's bedroom. Lisa could hear Cynthia crying in the living room, and Zack's voice trying to comfort her. She was pulled back toward Jackson as his hand moved softly from her brow to her cheek, bright blue eyes inspecting her face.
"Are you all right?" He asked. It was a tone he had never taken with her. A quiet, tender voice. One could almost say loving. Lisa took in a shuddering breath and held Vivian closer to her chest.
"I think so," she responded, unsure of what to make of him.
Jackson sighed in relief, however unwilling to relinquish Lisa from his grip, making sure that she was still tangible beside him. A movement to their right distracted them again.
"We meet again," Joe Reisert said from the other side of the kitchen. He looked unharmed aside from a lump on the head where a falling skillet had struck him. His eyes were close and deadly on Jackson. The latter loosed his grip on Lisa, ready for anything. He remembered the last time he met Lisa's father. It hadn't gone quite according to his plan. He had a bullet wound in the chest to prove it.
"Hello," Jackson said with a playful air. Almost as an afterthought, he added: "Dad."
"Don't pull that wishy-washy shit with me, boy," Joe Reisert began, not giving Jackson an inch. "You should be locked up in prison, rotting in some God-forsaken hell-hole for what you tried to do to my little girl."
"I guess I don't get any Brownie Points for giving Lisa the chance to experience the miracle of childbirth?" Jackson asked. Lisa could have punched him on his bad shoulder for being such an ass.
"Don't avoid me," her father growled. People had begun to file toward Lisa's apartment, hearing the gunshots. "I don't like you, and you don't like me. Neither of us will probably get over that."
"Look, Dad," Jackson said as he began backing toward the kitchen window, "you're probably right. And I really don't have the time to explain everything that's going on. But from what you've just seen, we aren't exactly safe here. Two choices for you: stay here or come with me. Just a heads-up-- they're not all that concerned about you."
"What--?" Joe Reisert's face showed the confusion that stewed in his mind. Jackson suddenly lost all of his cool control.
"I pissed off my old boss, and as a way of sticking it where it really hurts, he wants to kill Lisa and Vivian," he said with an icy tone chillier than his eyes. "Make any more sense, Dad?"
The tension between the two men, both leviathans in their own way, could have rent the apartment in twain. It was Lisa's father that conceded.
"Get the hell outta here," he said in a low voice. Jackson didn't need any more provocation.
"Dad--" Lisa started, pulled by the wrist as Jackson headed for the window.
"If anything happens to her," her father raised his voice tremulously. Jackson whipped his head back as he climbed out the window.
"Anything happens to her and I'm next, so don't spend the next three nights plotting extravagant revenge." He took Vivian as he helped Lisa out the window. She glanced back once at her ruined apartment.
"I love you, Daddy," she said, tears in her eyes and voice.
"I love you too, sweetheart," he returned, his own voice breaking.
She turned away from the window, following Jackson across the well-trimmed lawn. The sound of sirens was growing in the distance. Jackson clutched Vivian protectively against his chest, icy eyes darting to and fro in search of danger. He didn't need Lisa to tell him where she had parked her car. They came up alongside it as casually as they could with three dead bodies sitting just inside the apartment building.
"Leese," he muttered beneath his breath, "how the hell do you work this thing?" He was trying desperately to buckle Vivian in her car seat, and she was giggling happily at his frantic attempts. Lisa moved Jackson's shaking hands from the buckle and quickly connected the straps of the small baby chair. He ran an anxious hand through his hair-- longer than it had been in months-- as he searched the parking lot for danger.
"I'll drive," he said lowly, sticking his hand toward Lisa. "Keys?"
She placed them in his hand then dove into the passenger seat. He sat down behind the wheel quickly and turned the key in the ignition. The car came to life, purring softly. The oil needed to be changed in another 400 miles. The gas tank was half empty.
"Where are we going to go?" Lisa asked worriedly, looking back at the oblivious child in the backseat. When Jackson didn't whip out an immediate answer, she glanced over at him. He was slumped over the steering wheel, hand nervous at his brow. "Jackson?"
"I don't know," he shot off, almost angrily. He gave a long, low breath, and was suddenly the Jackson she had come to know while on the red eye-- calm, collected and in control. "We can't go to any of my safe houses, ironically." He looked over his shoulder, shifted the car into reverse and backed out of Lisa's parking space. "I have an idea, but if you have any sudden inspiration, please don't hesitate to tell me."
He shifted back into drive and pulled out of the parking lot as nonchalantly as possible. It was no less than a minute before the police and the ambulance arrived.
AN: Action! More action! I think there's gonna be more action in this than in Taken... by a long shot. I hope that I got Lisa's dad right, because he wasn't in much of the film, and he was either asking Lisa if she was all right or shooting Jackson whenever he was on screen. So yeah. And is it just me, or is the image of Jackson trying to figure out a baby car seat hilarious? Prolly just me. ANYWAY! Shout-outs!
Dai Katana: Thanks much for the review! When I wrote about Vore, I had a distinct picture in my head and I tried to convey that into the writing. I'm glad it helped you see him, too. Heheh, I gotta admit that protective!Jackson is pretty awesome. I am gonna have so much fun with this story. Thanks much and have some e-spahetti!
Darkbutterfly376: Gee, I had no idea that my fic was that popular to attract a reader whose native language isn't English. Thank you so much for reading and reviewing-- it made my day! I'm glad you like my characterization of Jackson. I see him differently than most writers do, I think. But oh well. Thanks again and you're welcome to all the e-spaghetti you want!
MarieNymph: I'm glad I was able to snare you off of the success of Taken -bwahaha- As for loyal!Jackson, I think there's no other way he would act. I can just see him being so protective of his daughter-- partially because of what happened to his sister. Also, it's insane fun to write. Happy reading, and have some e-spaghetti!
SpadesJade: Oh man... Now that you said that thing about Lisa's dad I'm more worried that I didn't get him right in this chapter. Argh... The pains of writing lesser characters. Oh well. I'm happy that you enjoyed Taken and are now thouroughly engrossed in this one (I've trapped another one!) -- I mean, what? Heheh. Enjoy the e-spaghetti, friend!
Ashley: Woah! -hands you some Vicodin- Calm down, my good friend. I assure you that everyone makes it through the next chapter. After that, I make no promises. -BWAHAHA!- Oh, now I'll have you up for days. You can't stay up too much: Lost is tonight! Ahem, anyways, I'm glad I was able to freak you out (is that a good thing?) and I hope the next chapters will continue to be to your liking. Happy reading and e-spaghetti for you! Much love!
As for everyone who didn't get a shout-out, I still love all of you. I want to thank everyone for their support so far, and I hope I can manage to hold on to my few fans. HAPPY READING AND GOODNIGHT!