Author's Note: Thanks again to everyone who reviewed! I will never be able to say that enough, I think. Well, here's the next chapter. I hope you all like it. Be sure to let me know, kay!

Chapter Seven: Honesty

Jackson's words were like a slap to her face. No. Worse. "You're lying," she said, "You're a liar."

"You can call me a lot of things, Leese, but that isn't one of them." Jackson replied, his face holding none of his usual smugness. Instead, he looked completely serious; what on any other person would have been labeled as sincere. Lisa had begun to question whether or not Jackson had a sincere bone in his body; but in his defense, he had never lied to her. Maybe that was what was really bothering her.

"No." She breathed, her entire body trembling as she clung to the handrail at the back of the elevator to keep herself from falling.

Jackson nodded his head at her. A simple gesture. Nothing more.

"No." Lisa hissed with more ferocity, shaking her head violently from side to side, determined not to let the one thing in her life that had some semblance of normalcy slip through her fingers.

"Please, Lisa, think about it!" Jackson roared, "He's a politician! Since when have any one of his kind not been willing to sell their soul in order to get whatever it is they want?"

Lisa's mind flickered back to dinner that evening. The way Daniel had been so apt to point out the fact that Claustine was ahead of him in the opinion polls. The polite smile that had tugged at the corners of his lips; a totally fake one. How many times had she seen that same smile when he was talking to supporters who had begun to irk him? He was always trying to mask the loathing in his eyes because he thought it to be unbecoming for an elected official. When she really did think about it, Jackson's confession made perfect sense. But she still wasn't ready to just give up on Daniel and start to believe in Jackson. Was she?

"I don't believe you." Lisa said, avoiding the intensity of his gaze.

"Yes, you do." Jackson said. Not an accusation. Not a demand. A statement. A fact. "You just don't want to."

Lisa squeezed both of her eyes closed and put her hand over her mouth to keep her chin from quivering. He had to be lying! She didn't want what he was saying to be true! It messed up her entire safe little normal world that she had worked so damn hard to build for herself. She could feel it crashing down all around her as though Jackson had taken a wrecking ball to it.

"Back to the garage?" Neela asked, giving Lisa a moment to gather her thoughts.

Jackson glanced at his wristwatch and shook his head. "Better not risk it. Let's do a quick walk by Claustine's room, then we'll head back to the suite for preliminaries."

Neela nodded and punched a button.

The elevator door opened with its signature ding and Lisa felt Jackson's hand slip around her elbow before he lead her through the doors, Neela at their heels with her lips pressed together so tightly that they had taken on a pale gray color. She was biting her tongue so hard about what had happened in that elevator, she was surprised it wasn't bleeding yet. They walked at a quick pace; double timing it as they said in the military. They rounded a corner and Jackson pulled Lisa to a halt so quickly that she felt her teeth clack together. She fixed him with an evil stare, but his attention was ahead of them. Lisa slowly turned her head to follow his gaze and soon found her eyes locked with those of her fiancé.

Daniel was standing not ten feet away from them, presumably in front of Claustine's door, his mouth agape as he looked on at Lisa and her two companions. Jake stood at his side; but Butch and Blade were uncharacteristically absent. They all stood there awkwardly staring at one another for what felt like an hour, but in reality couldn't have been more than thirty seconds.

Lisa was the first to act. She jerked her arm away from Jackson and lunged forward. "Daniel!" she cried.

Jackson caught around the waist on sheer reflex that he didn't really care to examine closer just yet, and lifted her off of her feet. He spun around behind Neela, who on impulse had drawn her gun and fixed it on Daniel. Despite a few mistakes that she had made this evening, Neela was a well trained dog. Her first and foremost instincts were to protect her master. Jackson first tried to drag Lisa down the hall, but she fell to the ground and refused to move any further. Jake had reacted as soon as Neela had drawn her weapon. He grabbed her by the wrist and slung her sideways. She had responded by thrusting the heel of her hand upwards into his nose, winning a satisfying crunch and warm splatter of blood across her forearm. Jake yelped and grabbed a handful of Neela's hair and pulled. As the two of them tussled in the middle of the hallway, Daniel was trying to find a gap in which he could squeeze past them.

"Lisa!" He called out.

Jackson threw him a look over his shoulder. He couldn't really explain his actions from that point on. He had no justification or reasoning for what he was about to do other than a wave of something, some mixture of jealousy and rage and selfishness had completely taken over his body. Some weird kind of possessiveness. His mind started working on a baser level. It told him that something was there wanting to take Lisa away from him; his Lisa. Instinct told him to protect her, the way a six year old might protect a favorite toy. And before he knew what he was doing, he had gathered Lisa up in his arms and slung her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and taken off trotting down the hall. Lisa kicked and squirmed against him, but it was futile. She managed to get one nice solid knee into his ribs, but all that that seemed to rouse from him was a grunt and he tightened his grip on her legs, pinning them more firmly together. Soon enough, he had her loaded into the increasingly familiar elevator on their way back up to his floor.

He dropped his shoulder and let Lisa slide down. As soon as Lisa's feet were once again on the ground, she attacked. She punched him in the jaw, the shoulder, the stomach, the chest. There was no planned force of attack, she simply had to hit him. Her body needed to unleash what it was feeling, even though her mind wasn't entirely certain as to what that feeling was exactly. Tears poured from her squinted eyes as her tiny fists used Jackson's body for her punching bag.

"Let me go!" she cried, "Let me go! You don't need me! You're not here for me! Just let me go!"

Jackson used his forearms to ward off her blows. He smacked her in the mouth which snapped her head to the side, and while her face was turned he finally managed to capture her arms. He twisted them around behind her and pinned them between her back and his chest. He held her that way, saying nothing for the rest of the ride.

Tears continued to slide silently down Lisa's face, but she tried her hardest not to make a sound. She didn't want Jackson to have the satisfaction of hearing her whimper. It was a pointless battle as she had more or less just had a breakdown right in front of him, but she needed something to focus on.

Jackson held her to him; to keep her from beating the shit out of him. At least that's what he told himself, even though she had earned every right to do just that. But, even as he told himself that his objective was self protection, he breathed in the scent of her hair. It smelled of Jasmine as he had known it would. That was her favorite shampoo. His thumb had begun to massage the skin of her arm in a small circular motion. He found himself wanting to put her at ease; to help her to relax, but how was he supposed to do that when he had just hauled her off down a hallway, quite obviously in an attempt to keep her away from the man that she had agreed to marry.

Lisa sagged back against Jackson, not having the will in her to struggle anymore. If he really was in league with Daniel, why had he gone through so much trouble to keep her away from him? What did he want from her?

The elevator stopped and Jackson released one of her arms. Keeping a firm grasp on her other one, he lead her, well, more like he dragged her down the hall toward his room. She just sort of stumbled along beside him, as though her feet weren't quite working the way they should be. Of course, she had just been running practically barefoot through the freezing cold. Once they were in the safety of his suite, he lead her to the bathroom by her elbow and all but shoved her inside.

"Clean up." He said, his voice curt and cold as he unknowingly mimicked his same phrase and stance from earlier that evening.

Lisa examined her reflection in the mirror. She looked even more like hell than she had the last time that she was in here. Her lip was busted open again and streaming a small line of blood down her chin. Her cheeks were bruised and there were black mascara smudges underneath her eyes. She grabbed a white washcloth from the counter and ran it under cold water before dabbing at her mouth with it. Once she had gotten the bleeding to stop, she wiped the salt streaks from her cheeks and slapped the washcloth down into the sink and glowered at Jackson through use of the mirror. It was much easier to look defiant without tearstains on her face.

"Let me go." She demanded.

"No."

"You don't need me."

Jackson said nothing. He wouldn't even look her in the eyes. Truth be told, he couldn't bring himself to meet her eyes or even so much as look at her. How could he after what had just happened? If he looked at her now, she would see right through him. She would see exactly what she meant to him and he could not have that. She would see that it wasn't that he couldn't let her go, it was that he didn't want to.

Lisa figured out that she wasn't getting anywhere with demands. So, she switched tactics. There was more than one way to skin a cat; or in this case, an assassin. "You lied to me." She accused.

"When?" Jackson said, his gaze focusing in sharply on her.

Bad move.

She had him now. He had left her an opening and she was about to climb right on up in it.

She turned to face him; stared him down. "You've done nothing but lie to me from the moment you first saw me!"

"I have never lied to you, Lisa." He said, straightening his stance. They were toe to toe now. And neither one of them was showing any sign of backing down.

"You said Daniel hired you."

"He did."

"Then why not just hand me over for him to deal with?"

"Maybe I wasn't ready to give you up!" Jackson snapped without realizing exactly what it was that he was saying. As soon as the words left his mouth, he wished them back. He suddenly felt very exposed.

Lisa took a step back as though he had physically pushed her. He spoke about her just then as though she belonged to him…and scariest notion of it all was that the idea seemed to hold an appeal to her. Her mouth opened and closed several times before she was able to force any sound to come out. "Wha…what do you mean by that?"

"Nothing." Jackson replied with haste, backpedaling. But the words were strangled and shaky in the back of his throat. He needed them to have more force to them. His mind began to ramble at him. To want is to be weak. To need is to be weak. To care is to be dead. "Nothing, I didn't mean anything."

Lisa turned her back to him and ran her hands back over her hair, fresh tears burning behind her eyelids as every fantasy of him, every daydream, every memory came blazing to the surface, bringing with them fresh bites of pain and torment. "Leave me alone. Why would you say something like that?" she said, "Leave me alone. Go away! Leave me alone! Leave me alone!"

She spun around on the ball of her foot to face him and slapped him in the chest with an open palm. "Get out of my head!" she screamed, choking on her own sobs. "Why can't you just leave me be! You're always there, in the back of my mind with your damn eyes! Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! Just, leave me alone for once! Stop messing with my head!"

She sank to her knees, a puddle in the middle of the bathroom floor. Too many times now, he had made her cry; made her question everything about her life; made her question her very sanity. Too many damn times.

Jackson stared down at her, jaw tightened, face a mask to hide the inner suffering that he had been feeling for so long now; for the past two years. No, longer than that even. The suffering that she had apparently been sharing with him. He had to make a decision right then and there, because as soon as he opened his mouth, there would be no going back. He had always considered himself an honest person; prided himself on it. So now he had to decide whether or not to be honest with Lisa. His Lisa.

"Do you think I want to be in your head?" he said, earning him a tearful look from Lisa, "Do you think I want you in mine? Don't you think my life was a whole hell of a lot easier when I didn't eat, breathe, and sleep Lisa fucking Reisert!" He turned away from her and punched the door so hard that the wood cracked. Then, he leaned his forehead against it, his breathing shallow and fast. Some people had Zen gardens, others did Yoga to help manage their stress levels. He preferred to hit things. Hard. "You haunt me, Leese." His voice was trembling slightly under the weight of his words, "For two years now, I haven't gone for one full hour without thinking about you at least once."

Lisa rose unsteadily to her feet and stared at his back. Maybe it wasn't that she wasn't ready to give up Daniel. Maybe it was that she hadn't been ready to accept Jackson. Maybe she had been afraid of Jackson; maybe that had been the safest thing. Was she ready to change that? Was she ready to make that leap and accept all that went with it? Her hands shuddered as she braced them on the marble bathroom counter and took a step forward, afraid that if she didn't hold on to it, her knees would fail her and she would fall.

"I didn't know you would be here, but when I saw you I…" He turned around to face her and was cut off when he found himself practically nose to nose with her. She stared up at him with bloodshot, mascara smudged eyes. Her eyelids fluttered, twice. Her eyes searched his face, resting for the slightest moment on his mouth before landing firmly on his eyes. She looked at him and he knew that she knew everything. He looked into the big, glistening green eyes and he saw every turbulent emotion that he had been fighting to keep bottled up inside of himself for way too long reflected back out at him. Her bottom lips trembled slightly and she sucked it into her mouth to wet it, releasing slowly from the pull of her teeth. Then, tentatively, she lifted up on her tiptoes and pressed her incredibly soft lips to his.

Jackson flung himself back against the door away from her, away from the tender contact, staring at her as though she had attacked him. Lisa simply stepped forward and kissed him again, more aggressively this time. She took his face in both hands and pulled him closer to her. A moment later, Jackson kissed her back and then took complete control. He grabbed her by the back of the head, deepening the kiss as he pushed her hips back against the counter. Lisa's mind flashed briefly on her dreams. Briefly. Reality was so much better! She should not be doing this, a voice somewhere in the back of her mind screamed at her. But the promise of Jackson was too appealing; too alluring. He stood in front of her like sin with a seductive smile, waving a crooked finger. He kissed her with hunger and passion. With force. He kissed her with his tongue; with his teeth. He invaded her. He possessed her. His kiss was so utterly male and so utterly him.

Every one of her senses was overwhelmed by the sensations that he was managing to provoke in her at that moment. The taste of his tongue, the smell of his skin, the touch of his hands against her, her heart pounding against her chest so loud that she was certain he could hear it as well. She twisted her fingers into the tufts of his dark hair. It was soft. Somehow, she had always known that it would be. Jackson pulled her hips tighter against his own, his fingers digging into her skin. A moan escaped from somewhere deep inside of Jackson's throat and Lisa whimpered against his mouth. It wasn't enough. She wanted more. She wanted what she had gotten in every single one of her fantasies. Jackson's hand slid around to rest on her buttocks before taking hold of the material and hitching the hem of her dress up just a little. Lisa let out a small sound of approval, which in turn caused Jackson to press himself even harder against her. Sadly, before the two of them could really get going properly, a not so gentle rapping on the hotel suite door sent the flying to opposite sides of the bathroom.

Lisa ran a hand over her flushed face. Her skin felt hot beneath her fingers. She could not believe that she had just done that. Jackson was staring at her, but then all at once, his face reverted once again into a blank mask. She swore that she had just watched him physically meld into a completely different person. He straightened his jacket and walked out the door, though Lisa was certain she had heard him muttering a string of obscenities under his breath.

Lisa remained in the bathroom for a moment, braced against the counter. She took three deep breaths; stress management technique. After she calmed herself down, she turned and splashed some more cold water on her face and then waited, hoping that her cheeks would turn back to their natural color and not so red. She also took the time alone to readjust the hem of her short dress, tugging back down so that it once again covered her read end. Then, she heard raised voices coming from the living room.

When Lisa walking into the living room, her first instinct was to turn right back around and run and hide in the bathroom. She had started to do just that when, damn it, too late.

"Ms. Reisert, Mr. Davis has been very worried about you." Butch said.

"Oh, hell." Lisa muttered.

Blade was standing closer to the door with Jackson, who was, just for the record, looking very unhappy.

"I think that you should come with us, Ms. Reisert." Butch continued.

"Um…well…" Lisa said, struggling to come up with some excuse not to go with them, other than the fact that she really just found them flat out creepy. And she couldn't exactly say, 'sorry, but I wanna stay here and make out some more with my would be assassin!' now could she?

"Come on, miss." Butch said as he took her by the upper arm.

Something primal flashed behind Jackson's eyes. "Hey!" He called. He moved for them, but Blade caught him by the collar and slung him back against the wall.

Mistake, Lisa thought.

Before Blade knew what was coming, Jackson threw an elbow into his face and then delivered a double fisted blow to his stomach before shoving him backwards. Butch dragged Lisa toward the door, and where Jackson had just knocked Blade on his ass. He pulled his gun out of the holster he wore at the back of his belt.

Lisa's eyes widened and she called out to Jackson to warn him, but as soon as Jackson turned toward her voice, Butch hit him in the head with the butt of the gun. Lisa screamed as she watched Jackson sink to the floor. She pounded her fist into Butch's shoulder and tried to twist out of his grip, but only ended up just short of dislocating her shoulder. He flung open the door and dragged her out; Blade came staggering after that. Lisa's face scrunched up involuntarily in her anger and she slammed her balled up fist into Butch's jaw. The blow knocked him sideways and his grasp came loose enough that Lisa managed to tug away from him, but Blade was waiting right there to catch her. Then, she had Butch on one side and Blade on the other, both working together to drag her down the hall. It took both of them to manage her which just went to further Lisa's assumption that they what little brains they did have were shared between the two of them. It was an explanation as to why one didn't seem to function properly without the other.

"We had expected you to come more willingly, Ms. Reisert." Butch said. He had always been the talker of the two.

"Maybe I just don't like you, Butch." Lisa retorted, sneering at him.

Butch snorted and tightened his grip on her arm to the point of bruising her, earning himself a satisfying yelp. They piled into the elevator, Lisa figured she was getting close to breaking some sort of record for riding in elevators, and Blade pushed the button. Now, Blade was tall and beefy and looked like he had chewed on steroids instead of pacifiers as a baby. His hair was dyed peroxide blond and spiky. As his gigantic sausage fingers hit the button for her suite's floor, she couldn't help but think that he seemed like the type of guy that would push all of the buttons once they were about to get off. The idea made her want to kick him in the shins repeatedly for an hour.

Butch was shorter than Blade, but with no less bulk. He was short, but still a good deal taller than herself, which being around guys like Blade and Jake gave him a mad case of little big man syndrome. He had dark hair which he kept semi long as though he thought he was the missing Beatle. He talked a lot, imagining himself to be somewhat of a smartass, but most of the things that he said were pointless and more often than not made no sense whatsoever.

In what seemed like no time at all, Lisa found herself standing in front of her own suite door while Butch knocked. The door swung open to reveal Jake standing there with a nice shiner on his right eye. Lisa smiled. Way to go Neela!

"Miss Lisa, it's so good to see you back safe and sound." He said.

"Yeah, great to be back." Lisa snapped, "Could you tell Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum here to let me go, now?"

Butch instantly released, and once he saw that his counterpart had let her go, Blade followed suit. Lisa rolled her eyes and shouldered her way in past Jake and stomped into the bedroom.

"Lisa! Oh, my God! I cannot tell you how relieved I am to see you!" Daniel spewed, racing from where he had been sitting on the side of the bed to embrace her. Lisa went completely rigid in his arms and didn't hug him back. She just waited him out; stayed perfectly still until he unwrapped himself from her. He released her from the hug, but took hold of her shoulders and held her at arm's length, bending at the knees to lower himself to her eyelevel.

"Are you okay?" he asked, "Did that man hurt you?"

Did that man hurt you? Lisa thought. That man. That man whom he had never seen before in his life. It was an Oscar worthy performance. Bastard.

"I'm fine." Lisa said, brushing his arms away from her and grabbing her suitcase to take with her into the bathroom. Once she had her privacy, she stripped out of the ruined tight black dress that earlier that evening she had liked so much and dropped it into the trashcan. She looked at herself in the mirror. Tomorrow, she would be covered in black and blue bruises. With a sigh, she pulled on a pair of jeans, white tank top, and an oversized light blue button up shirt that had once belonged to her father. It was a substitute for him and right now, she needed his comfort. Her whole world had just taken a rather unexpected turn and she needed to feel some security. She brushed out her hair and pulled it up into a messy bun. It was comfortable and out of her face.

When she came out of the bathroom, she sat down on the edge of the bed and started to pull on a pair of socks. Daniel was standing by the window with his back to her. He looked like he had been getting ready to go to bed dressed in just his dress slacks and an untucked white dress shirt; his feet were bare. Yeah. He had been really worried about her. His shoulders were square and tense and he stood with his hands on his hips.

"So, tell me, Lisa, sweetheart," he said all of the sudden. He turned to face her, and the expression on his face was unlike any Lisa had ever seen on him. It was cold and distant and sharp. Whoever this man in front of her was, he was not the Daniel that she had known. Or at least the one that she had thought that she had known. He looked emotionless. Soulless. "What exactly did Rippner say to you?"

Author's Note: Well, that's it for now. I hope I haven't disappointed anybody too badly. Let me know what you think!