Lisa sat in her seat as the sky began to darken and let her tears slide down her face. She didn't care anymore if Jackson saw. What did it matter, really?

Mel sat quietly next to her, oblivious to Lisa's situation. She doodled on the paper the flight attendant had given her and Lisa would've given anything to be young again.

Jackson sat next to Mel, typing furiously into his laptop. He'd been angry, seething at her revelation to the attendant. Of course, the smooth-talker he was had cleared the whole thing up. And now Lisa was trapped.

Finally she spoke. "I want to call my dad."

Jackson glanced at her but kept typing. "No."

"Please," she whispered. "He'll be worried. I need to talk to him."

Jackson sighed, bit his lip, and handed her his phone.

"Five minutes, no location," he said simply. Lisa nodded.

Joe picked up after the second ring.

"Daddy," Lisa whispered, her voice choked.

"Leese!" he cried. She heard the relief in his voice. "Where are you? Are you alright?"

Lisa paused and took a breath. "I'm with-Jackson R-Rippner..."

Jackson glared at her. "Say goodbye, Leese."

"Leese, is this connected to this Melanie Keefe's disappearance?"

"Ye-" Lisa began, but Jackson snatched the phone away and tapped his watch.

"Time's up."

Lisa tried to get her head around the whole situation.

"Why are you doing this?" she whispered tearfully to Jackson a few minutes later.

"It's my job, Leese," he said exasperatedly.

"No, this...to me," she corrected. "Making me do this, be here, with you..."

"Lisa," Jackson sighed. "I want to be with you, and I always get what I want."

"And threatening's a great way to win a girl's heart," Lisa snapped.

"What, you mean you'd go out with me if I showed up at your doorstep with flowers and a box of chocolates?" he mocked.

"You wish," she snarled.

"Point proven," he concluded. "You might as well get used to it now."

Lisa sighed and leaned her head against the window, urging the train to move faster. She didn't know how long she could endure being locked up in a tiny box with Jackson.

The hours ticked slowly by and Lisa dozed. Mel fell into a deep slumber when the train finally stopped around three am.

"Are we in New York?" Lisa yawned, lifting Mel gently so as not to wake her.

"No," Jackson stood up. "We have to make a connection in Washington, DC."

Lisa sighed. They still were only halfway there.

Jackson took Lisa's hand and she glared at him, pulling away as they left the train. He shot her a furious glance but led her into the station.

It reminded Lisa of an airport. Tiny shops and stands littered around the uncomfortable plastic chairs.

They sat down and Lisa finally spoke. Mel had awakened and had an odd look on her face.

"Jackson, I'm going to take her to the bathroom," Lisa stood back up. Jackson stood with her and blocked her with his body.

"Don't think so," he contradicted. "You drew too much attention to yourself with the 'help me, I'm a hostage' act."

"I think it's going to draw more attention if she wets herself," Lisa snapped. Jackson clenched his jaw and moved slightly aside. She pushed harshly past him and carried Mel to the large, metallic stall. Lisa quickly used another and moved to wash her hands.

The soap gave her a sudden inspiration. Jackson couldn't come in here...she had a chance.

She knew she was wrong as soon as the huge metal door banged open. Lisa turned to whoever it was, thinking it was a female, but her stomach dropped at the sight of the crystalline eyes.

Quick as a flash, he had her up against the wall and his hands were at her throat. She attempted to scream but he muffled her cries with his hand.

"I see we're branching out with our soap writing, aren't we?" he sneered. Lisa tried to jerk her head away. "Psycho-killer in sector four, blue eyes, brown hair, name of Jack Rippner. Sounds like me, huh Leese?" Lisa moaned against the hand.

"I'll answer for you. Yes, it does. And that was really fucking stupid," his grip tightened on her neck. "Now, we're going to set a few ground rules, okay?" He looked to her face for an answer, but obviously she couldn't speak.

"I said, okay?" he repeated forcefully. Lisa let out a weak sound and tried to nod. He took this as a yes.

"Listen, whatever I say, goes," he jerked her neck with every syllable he spoke. "I say jump, you say how high, got it?" Lisa let out a choked noise but nodded.

"Any misdemeanors on your part and my grip on my knife slips, coincidentally very close to Melanie, you hear me?" Lisa's eyes widened slightly but she nodded. He swiped the mirror clean quickly.

"When we get to New York, you do what I say whole time, no one gets hurt," he muttered, slamming her head one last time against the hard tile wall before releasing her. She cried out and regained her breath as she noticed an elderly lady standing behind Jackson. She shot him a menacing glare as he smiled a cocky grin at her and left the bathroom.

"How...how long were you there?" Lisa asked the woman quietly.

The old lady shot her a sympathetic glance. "Since the jumping part. Honey, you need to get yourself out of that relationship while you still can."

Lisa sighed. "I honestly wish it were that easy."

Melanie came out of the bathroom then, her face close to tears. Obviously she'd heard the whole thing. Lisa scooped her up in her arms as the wails began.

"Sh, sweetie, it's all right," Lisa murmured, patting the child's back.

"There's a baby involved, too?" she questioned.

Lisa lost her patience.

"Listen, for your information, he's not my husband, this child isn't mine, we're being held hostage," Lisa spat, then slowly began to panic. Oh, shit. Shit shit. What had she just done?

"Please, ma'am," Lisa begged. "Don't tell anyone. He'll hurt her. Please, I beg you."

The lady shot her a weird look. "Darling, I'll tell the police, they'll arrest him-"

"No, you DON'T GET IT!" Lisa snapped. "He's fucking invincible. Police do nothing except slow him down. Please, if you want this child to live, don't say a word."

The old lady sighed and paused. "Fine. But please, be careful."

Lisa nodded and muttered a quick thank-you as she left with the still-sniffling Melanie.

Lisa sat on the train, leaning her head back as the sun began to rise.

Jackson hadn't said a word about their bathroom visit, hadn't paid an ounce of attention to the very upset Mel. Just shot Lisa a casually-tossed off smile and led them to the last train.

Lisa was now seated between Jackson and Mel. He'd insisted on being in charge of the seating this time.

Lisa glanced up at the woman in front of her and moaned inwardly. It was the old lady from the restroom. Lisa was frantically praying that she wouldn't say anything to Jackson, but the woman just shot him a wary glance and sat down. Lisa breathed a sigh of relief.

Lisa heard a man and his daughter joking a few seats ahead as the train began to move, and she sighed.

She missed her dad. After the divorce was when they'd finally grown inseparable, though they were rather close throughout Lisa's childhood.

"What's up?" Jackson asked, startling Lisa.

"Jesus," she gasped.

"You have a weird look on your face," he frowned. "What's wrong?"

"Well, number one on that list is YOU, but other than that I just..." she paused. "Miss my dad."

"Ah, I see," he clicked his tongue. "You know, I know everything about you, Leese. Except one thing.. What were you like as a kid, in highschool?"

Lisa glared at him. "None of your fucking business."

He shot a pointed look at Mel. Lisa sighed but didn't say anything.

"Bet you were one of those popular, cheerleader ditzes," he mused. "After all, I saw the uniform."

Lisa rolled her eyes. "I wasn't popular. I had a small group of close friends, that was all. The picture, you probably saw, at my dad's, yeah, that wasn't even my boyfriend. I twas one of my friends."

"Oh, so you were a geek," he realized.

Lisa sighed in exasperation. "No, I wasn't. I was...like I am now. Successful, and fairly intelligent, but not popular or geeky."

"Just basically fucked up, then," he concluded.

"I really don't think you're the best person to make that judgement, Jack," Lisa snapped. "Working as an assassin isn't exactly the Bill Gates dream job."

"Is for me," he grinned at her. "So why did you do cheerleading and that other retarded Native American sport?"

"My friends wanted me to, and I needed a way to keep in shape," she snapped. "What are you, with the census bureau, or something?"

"I just want to get to know you," he said innocently. "Is that so bad?"

"Yes, seeing how I know absolutely nothing about you," she retorted. "Did you really kill your parents, Jack?"

She saw his face flinch slightly but he remained cool. "I don't know, why did your parents divorce? It was...let's see, before the rape, right?"

Lisa's face hardened. "Shut up."

"Was it your fault? Do you feel responsible for the divorce? Or was one of them as fucked up as you, so screwed up the other couldn't take it?" he sneered.

"Stop it," she croaked.

"Tell me, Leese, did you let yourself be raped because you felt it was punishment for splitting up your parents/"

"Shut up," she said again.

"Guilt's a terrible thing, Leese, hmm? Makes you do bad things. Like telling yourself it's ok for some man to take advantage of you because you couldn't hold a marriage together. You could've fought him off, Leese, couldn't you?"

Lisa slammed her hand up and punched him hard in the nose.

"I SAID SHUT UP!" she screamed. Heads turned as blood streamed from his nose. He still didn't relent, just muttered something softly in her ear.

"Hearing the denied truth often brings out the worst in people, doesn't it?"