Make the Call

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Red Eye!

Chapter Six: Fight Back

Lisa let out a scream as Jackson pulled her down towards the ground. Another bullet sang out, striking the plane again. Jackson cursed loudly as he yanked Lisa along, staying close to the ground. He could not believe that this was happening.

"Give it up, Rippner!" called out the hit man. "You're not going to leave this airport alive!"

"Stay down and keep moving," Jackson whispered to Lisa, sneaking off. He was going to take down this man.

Lisa listened to him and kept sliding along the plane, trying to convince the hit man that Jackson was still with her. She was shaking slightly and threw worried glances his direction as often as she could. He could tell that she was worried about his safety as well as making it out alive.

"Come out, come out where ever you are…" sang the hit man, walking closer to the plane. He had just reached the open hatch and caught sight of Lisa when Jackson closed in.

Jackson held a heavy metal object high above his head and swung down with brutal force. The hit man never had a chance. Jackson kept bashing his head in, long after the first blow killed him. Blood spattered all over his clothes, but he did not care. Once he was finished, he ripped off his suit jacket and dress shirt and chucked them back inside the open hatch. He had no choice but to leave the ruined clothes behind. It might later lead to his undoing, but Jackson cared not at the moment. All that mattered was getting Lisa out of there alive.

Lisa lay a few yards away, and her eyes were wide open in shock. She had just begun to trust him again and then she witnessed him in a violent rage, killing someone, even if it was to save their lives.

"Jackson…" she whispered, shaking her head.

"Leese, it's okay…It's okay…No one's gonna hurt you, I swear…" Jackson said softly, sitting down on the tarmac beside her.

"You're right about that," Lisa hissed, pulling a monster pen from the waistband of her black skirt. "Never again…"

Jackson's blue eyes grew confused. Then a sudden, sharp, fiery pain erupted in his throat. Nice…Lisa had pierced his throat with the tacky pen.

She leapt to her feet and started to run towards the airport. Oh no, this could not be happening. He had only been trying to help. This was really not his day.

Jackson ripped the pen from its painful position in his throat. Nothing as menial as a pen was going to stop him. His feelings had changed and so had his job. After several years of being emotionless, Jackson Rippner was finally beginning to open up his frozen heart and he wanted to let Lisa in.

He had risked everything by changing the plans and undoing all of the hard work and planning. His employers would want him dead for sure now and he had risked it all to save her. And the ungrateful young woman had stabbed him in the throat.

Why was she unable to understand what he was doing? Did she not feel the same attraction to him as he felt to her? Did she think that he would hurt her?

Despite the severe pain in his throat, Jackson knew that he could never hurt Lisa. He wanted to protect her more than anything he had ever done in his life. All that mattered was saving Lisa. Everything else he would deal with when the time came. He was no longer planning in advance.

Jackson's days as an assassination manager were over.

Lisa ran on, ignoring the shooting pains in her legs and feet. Damn high heels! How could she have been so stupid? Was it even humanly possible to be this blind?

How could she have trusted him again after everything that he had done to her on the plane? He had nearly killed her in the cramped bathroom, and a few moments ago she had been praying that he would get them both out of this sticky situation alive and wanting nothing more than to cling to him and never let go.

But Jackson had shown his true colors once more. He was a cold-blooded killer and he would kill her if she gave him the chance.

She knew all this instinctively, yet she still felt bad about stabbing him with the pen. She could have easily finished him off—all she needed to do was to drive the pen further into his throat with a quick thrust of her hand—but she had hesitated and then bolted.

Was it because she had feelings for him?

No, that was crazy. How can you have feelings for someone who had no emotions and was a killer? You can't—it was not possible…

Was it?

Author's Notes:

Sorry about the delay in posting. I'm going to try to get back to my regular every day posting tomorrow. Enjoy!