Lisa screamed as Caylib was lifted in the air.

"Don't hurt him, please," she begged, tears streaming. "I'll do anything, but...I don't know where Jack is."

There was a few moments of tense, angry silence, until the man holding Caylib ferociously strode over to Lisa's captor and spoke in his ear a whisper. She caught none of it.

"Come on," the man holding her finally said, roughly shaking her shoulder. "We're taking you to headquarters."

"Why?" Lisa asked automatically as he pushed her, tripping, down the stairs.

"Because, you either know where Rippner is and you're not telling us or he's looking for you," he snarled smugly. "And he'll pay with his life."

"I haven't seen him in months," Lisa lied viciously. The man grabbed her arm and twisted it roughly, his nails digging sharply into her wrist.

"That's a lie," he snarled. "Rippner was here two days ago. That's how you got that pretty little bruise, was it not?" Lisa glared at him as Caylib began wailing.

They hauled the Rippners out to a waiting car. Lisa sat in the back between two thugs with Caylib on her lap. The two from her house sat up front.

Her arms were trembling quite noticeably as the men argued.

Just tell them where Jack is, a tiny voice in her head urged.

I can't, another voice argued back.

Stop worrying about him. You need to take more consideration of yourself, of Caylib-

"He said they knew," Lisa's original captor grumbled.

"They do know."

"Well, fucking get it out of her!"

"That's exactly what I plan to do!" he snapped back. "Or use them as leverage. Either way..."

"Either way we're fucked," his opponent spat, running a hand through his platinum blonde hair. "Why are we doing this again?"

"Rippner's screwed us over one too many times," he snarled, his knuckles tightening white on the steering wheel. "Time to pay the reaper."

"So you're going to kill him because he messed up a few jobs?" Lisa interrupted loudly. Her voice quavered. "Didn't Mommy teach you that violence isn't the answer?"

She held her breath as the drive glanced at her in the rearview mirror. It was the exact sort of thing that would anger Jack to no end, and she knew she should've held her tongue. But she couldn't help it.

"You know, we really should kill off all of the Rippners," the driver snarled. "Just for security. Keep up those little remarks and I might forget my morals about women and children yet."

Lisa's jaw tightened and she pulled Caylib closer, wishing more than anything that the thug next to her would magically metamorphose into Jackson.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A few hours later they finally pulled up in front of headquarters. Lisa remembered them well from when she'd been with Sarah all those years ago. The memory of the girl brought a small smile to her face despite the circumstances. She'd be...what, nineteen, now? Wow. Lisa sure felt old.

A familiar face greeted them at the door.

"Jeff?" Lisa asked meekly. He looked up at her slowly, his brown eyes sorrowful. She had not time to contemplate this as she was shoved inside, Caylib still in her arms, and up a flight of stairs to a small room. The thugs ushered Jeff in, and then left him with Lisa.

"Jeff," Lisa began to run to him for comfort. He backed coldly away and she looked up at him as she set Caylib on the floor.

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

"I'm sorry, Lisa," he said quietly.

"What's going on, Jeff?" she repeated nervously. He finally looked up.

"The co-management is overthrowing him, Lisa," Jeff explained. "They got pissed. I turned you all in. It was me or him."

"What?" Lisa's stomach fell out. Betrayed. They'd been betrayed.

"It was me or him, Leese," Jeff tried to take her arms. She jerked away and slapped him hard across the face.

"You were supposed to be his friend!" she screamed. "He'd have done the same for you!"

"He deserves what he gets," Jeff snapped defensively.

"No one deserves this, Jeff," Lisa cried. Jeff set his jaw and turned to the door. He froze with her last, almost inaudible, words.

"No one deserves death."