Chapter Thirteen

After alerting the police, Michael rushed outside to find that indeed their cars had been taken. He quickly instructed Cynthia to call a cab while he ran upstairs to pack a suitcase with clothes for Joe. He knew he'd have to go by his house: he needed his own change of clothes and credit cards. Luckily, he'd always kept one credit card and $500 in twenty dollarbillsat home in the event that he was ever robbed.

Thankfully the cab got there in record time; all three were pretty paranoid that John and his cronies would come back for them. They dropped Cynthia by her house, whereupon she called the police to have someone come and keep watch until the men were apprehended. Once they made sure Cynthia was safe, Joe and Michael's cab sped off for Miami International.

Joe all but threw cash at the cabbie and chased after Michael who was sprinting ahead of him with the suitcase in hand. He stopped at the Delta counter and threw his American Express down on the counter.

"I need two seats on a flight to the airport closest to Olcott, NY," Michael practically demanded. The woman behind the counter looked taken aback, partly due to Joe's and his appearances.

"Umm…when?"

"NOW. ASAP. I'm sorry…we're under a lot of stress…this could be a matter of life and death. We really need your soonest flight." The alarmed woman took a few moments to look into the computer.

"There is a flight at 6:45 to Niagara Falls International…from there you'll have to take smaller planes in."

"That is fine; book them."

"Ok, that will be $968 dollars. I'll need to see some ID from both of you."

"DAMMIT, WOMAN! We don't have our goddamn IDS! We've been held captive in his house for the past FOUR days by four people who just tried to MURDER someone at the Lux Atlantic. My girlfriend is being held in a cabin in Olcott, NY by some LUNATIC who tried to blow up said hotel last year. WE REALLY NEED TO GET THERE. Now, do you think it would be possible to overlook the IDS? PLEASE?" Michael managed in one entire breath. People were staring at him.

"Call the police if you don't believe us," Joe reasoned, trying to be the calm one.The woman looked like she'd seen a ghost. She typed something rapid fire into the computer and then handed Michael the tickets a moment later.

"En-enjoy y-your flight…"

"Thank you," Michael hissed, snatching them out of her hand and quickly walking away with Joe following close behind.

"You've got to push, Miss Reisert!" Doctor Hirsh implored Lisa. He wasn't able to give her anything to ease the pain, as she was too far along.

"I'm going to SPLIT IN HALF!" she screamed. Jackson stood by after he'd fetched all kinds of things for the doctor, waiting to be useful once again. He was proud of himself for being able to watch the disgusting scene unfolding in front of him. Those are my kids, He had to keep telling himself. His cell phone rang, startling him, but went unnoticed by the other two occupants present.

"Rippner; Thishad BETTER be imporant!"

"WE'VE BEEN SABOTAGED!" came the angry shout on the other line.

"What? What the hell is going on?"

"Joe Reisert- he escaped somehow and he and Foster and that stupid hotel bitch called the fucking cops. They got Ben and Salena. Shane and I are trying to outrun them! How did they escape, Jack?"

"How the HELL should I know? I've been here!" Jackson yelled over Lisa's screams and the traffic noise from the other line.

"I feel like I've been set up, Rippner…I should have known you'd be out to help that Reisert bitch…you called in an outsider!"

"Fuck off, Caldwell…Lisa is in labor! She had to have a doctor. C'mon, you KNOW I didn't set you up."

"You fucked up for the last time. You're done, Jack. Done. And so is that little bitch of yours. See you in hell." The line went dead. Jackson swallowed hard, but didn't let worry show on his face. He went back to Lisa's side.

"What's going on?" she asked frantically.

"Nothing…it's ok…everything is ok."

"Jackson…I can't…I can't do this…" she squeezed a flood of tears out of her eyes.

"Yes, you can, Lisa. You're strong. I know you are. You're one of the strongest people I know," he bent and kissed her on the lips. She kissed him back with as much strength as she could muster and then gave another large push.

"Good, you're doing good, Miss Reisert…I can see the head." Jackson choked and looked for himself. There it was. Jackson's son or daughter. There was a flutter inside of his chest. However, his moment of elation was cut terribly short when he heard the door open raher forcefully. He grabbed his knife and looked at the doctor.

"Keep going. Don't stop…keep your focus on Lisa." Doctor Hirsh was shaking, but he nodded steadily. Jackson stalked down the hallway. He prayed that however this was had a knife or was at least a lousy shot. Suddenly, from the living room, a man he'd never seen before lunged at him. He managed to knick Jackson's shoulder, but Jackson tripped him and he went tumbling to the floor. He does have a knife. I'm a lucky bastard.

Jackson went for the heart until the man kicked up between Jackson's legs.

"Fucking A…" Jackson wheezed, swiping at the man. He was not letting this piece of shit near Lisa, even if he, himself, had to die to keep him getting to her. From his position on the floor, Jackson managed to cut the man's ankle. The man came down to slice him clean across the shoulder blade. Jackson hissed in pain, but had no time to coddle himself as the main was coming at him again. Jackson succeeded in punching the guy in the face. As the man went down, he took Jackson with him.

They tumbled down the hallway. He cut Jackson again across the stomach. It was deep and it hurt tremendously. Jackson laid there for a moment and felt as though he was going to black out. Through blurred vision, he could see the man going for the bedroom. With the last bit of effort he could muster, he stabbed the man in the leg, succeeding in bringing him to the ground. The man whipped around and plunged his knife into Jackson's shoulder. Jackson managed to kick the guy in the face, knocking him backwards. He pulled his knife out of his shoulder and plunged it as hard as he could into the man's back. And thentwice more.He saw Lisa's face every time the knife went in. Once he was sure the man was no longer breathing, he hauled himself up on his knees. His body throbbed with excruciating pain; his blood was everywhere. He heard Lisa let out a climatic yelp, and it was followed by a baby crying. Jackson crawled as fast as he could into the bedroom, shoving the dead assassin out of his way.

"Congratulations, Miss Reisert, it's a boy." He heard Doctor Hirsh say and then heard Lisa's weak cry of joy. Jackson lay there for a moment trying to regain his strength before using a nearby chest to pull himself up. With the cut in his leg it hurt so much to stand. He staggered towards Lisa and his son.

"You're very lucky that he is so healthy, Mr. Rippner…" the doctor told him. He ignored the comment and focused on Lisa.

"Jackson…" she breathed. He smiled at her warmly. She saw how badly he was hurt, "Oh my God…Jackson, what- OMIGOD…here comes the next one…" she moaned.

"Just a few good pushes, Miss Reisert!" Hirsh told her. Jackson took the baby from her arms and slumped down onto the bed next to her. He looked at his son: he was so tiny. He had no hair…his eyes were clamped shut as he wailed his tiny lungs out.

"Welcome to the world Jonathan," he whispered. Minutes passed before he heard another wail. Dr. Hirsh held up Jonathan's sister.

"And here is your daughter…beautiful and healthy. Both of them." Jackson watched as the doctor cleaned her off and then swaddled her in a blanket, just as he'd done to Jonathan. Jackson could feel himself becoming increasingly light-headed

"Jackson...are you ok…Jackson?" Lisa asked, panicked, "Jackson, you're really hurt!"

"Mr. Rippner…you've lost a lot of blood…" he could hear Dr. Hirsh saying, though it sounded far away. He felt the doctor take his son from him just as he passed out.

When Lisa awoke, she was in a hospital bed. Her father and Michael were standing by her side; each man was holding a baby.

"Where am I?" she asked.

"You're in a hospital in Niagara Falls. We had you airlifted. The police came and apprehended Jackson. He was taken to a hospital I think. I think they should have just left him to die, personally…" Michael babbled on. Lisa turned away from him to look out her window. She wanted to know if he was ok. Hell, if he was alive. Dr. Hirsh had said that he'd lost a lot of blood just before Lisa had joined Jackson in unconsciousness. Between the stress of having the babies and then having Jackson fighting the killer outside in the hall, Lisa had little strength at that point and passed out soon after Jackson had.

"Is he alive?" she asked.

"He had a pulse when they took him away," Michael said forlornly, "If there is any justice in this world, he'll die."

"Don't say that, Michael."

"Lisa-" She cut him off.

"Did…you stop them?" she asked Joe.

"Yes, thankfully. God, Lisa, we were so worried. I'm so happy you're alright." He buried his daughter in a jubilant embrace. Lisa hugged him back as best she could. Michael came and handed Lisa her son, kissing her on the cheek.

"I'm so glad you're ok, Leese." He kissed her again, "I was going crazy." Lisa managed to kiss him back as she rocked her new son lovingly. He has his father's eyes.

"So, what's his name?" Michael asked eagerly.

"Jonathan Jackson Reisert."

AN: First off, thank you all for your kind words of encouragement after last night's post.(Blushing Sigh and No One Mourns the Wicked especially)Upon further relfection, I realized it was no big deal...it just stug a little. But, everyone is entitled to thier opinions, so eh, what the hell right? I hope this chapter was worth the read. One more chappie and a short epilogue left!