Chapter Six
Lisa walked mutely behind Jackson, one eye on the retreating crowds on the beach, and the other on his back. They were heading away from the fuselage and towards the edge of the jungle, yet Jackson showed no sign of stopping.
"Where are we going?" she finally asked, nimbly stepping over the littering of driftwood and uprooted pants as they finally entered the shaded canopy of the jungle.
"You wanted to talk." Jackson answered shortly without turning around. "I don't want to be interrupted by any of your new friends."
Lisa stopped in her tracks. "No." she said firmly. "I'm not going any further with you."
He turned around, surprised. "If I was going to kill you, Leese, I'd have done it by now. I run a tight schedule, even on a deserted island."
She remained where she was. "I want to be able to see the beach." she insisted stubbornly.
Jackson sighed and retraced his steps until he was at the lip of the jungle. "Fine. We talk right here." he stated, pointing to a fallen tree that formed a convoluted bench.
"You can see the fuselage from between those trees, and if you start screaming as I know you're capable of, I'm sure either the southern hick or the sensei man will come running. I get my privacy, you get your security. Sit."
Lisa worked the situation in her mind, and decided it was sensible. If Jackson did attack her, whether he planned to or not, she could hold him off long enough to scream for nearby help. Eying him cautiously, she took a seat on the tree and crossed her arms. Jackson remained standing in front of her.
"What were you talking about with that man just now?" he began, standing stock-still before her but shifting ever so slightly that Lisa could sense he'd rather be pacing.
"Why did you get in a fight with that man-Sawyer-this morning?" she replied coolly.
Jackson sat down on a rock facing her. "Listen Leese," he instructed, "when I told you we needed to talk, I meant that I was going to be asking the questions and you be answering them. You are going to answer them, or we're going to have a lot of trouble on this island. Now what were you talking to him about?"
"We're going to have a lot of trouble on this island?" Lisa quoted skeptically. "Is that really the best you can do, Jack? You lose all of your bluster when you don't have a family member of mine to threaten, don't you?"
"I'm adaptable" he fired back, the threat lingering in his eyes.
Lisa stared back at him, suddenly emboldened by the idea that Jackson had no way to coerce her here, no way to keep her under his hand. She could walk away right now, and ignore all of his questions. Sure, he'd attack her, but only within the cover of the jungle. On the beach, she was safe, under the stare of so many inquisitive eyes.
But as hard as the managerial side of her mind told her to bolt for the beach, another part of her wanted to stay here and answer his questions, and maybe ask a few of her own.
"Here's what we do." she said slowly, enjoying her foreign sense of power. "For every question I answer, you answer one of mine. I'll tell you exactly what I was talking about with Mr. Locke, and you tell me why you got into a fight with Sawyer. Quid pro quo."
A muscle in Jackson's jaw leaped. "Quid pro Quo." he mocked. "Did they teach you that at the Lux?"
Lisa leaned forward. "Call it a life lesson"
"Alright" Jackson snapped, uncrossing his arms and matching her forward posture. "You first."
Lisa hesitated, unsure of what to tell Jackson about her strange encounter with Locke. "He….he wanted to know about us."
Jackson was immediately on alert. "Why?"
"I think he saw us when…before the crash-"
"-What did you tell him?"
Lisa glanced up, startled at the intense and slightly desperate look that was etched on Jackson's face.
"He asked if we were friends." she said carefully.
"And you said no."
Lisa nodded, trying to gauge his reaction. "I didn't tell him anything else." she added.
Jackson nodded, letting out a controlled breath. "Good. I don't think I have to tell you not to tell anyone about our….background together."
Lisa cocked her head. "What should I tell them then, Jackson? That we're together? Is that really what you want me to tell them?"
Jackson shrugged. "You can tell them whatever you want, as long as it's not the truth."
"And what happens when we get rescued?"
"I'm a complete stranger. You've never met me before in your life. You don't even know my last name." Jackson shook his head. "I don't think you have to worry about that just yet, though."
"Why?" Lisa asked, with a faint feeling that she didn't want to know the answer. "You didn't do anything, did you?"
Jackson chuckled. "I told you I wasn't suicidal before, Leese. I'm just pointing out that we've been here almost 24 hours, and no one's come."
Lisa shifted her mind still unwilling to consider the idea of being stuck with Jackson for more than it would take a rescue team to come.
"So, it's my turn to ask a question." she began, blatantly changing the subject. "Why did you get into a fight with Sawyer?"
Jackson snorted. "Is that his name? It figures."
Lisa ignored the jibe. "What happened?"
"He accused me of being an abusive husband." Jackson stated simply in his most controlled tone. "Apparently we had quite an audience last night."
Lisa's eyebrows furrowed as she tried to make sense of the situation. "Why did you attack him then?"
"Because I'm not."
Lisa narrowed her eyes at him. "You're lying."
Jackson raised his eyebrows, looking amused. "The last time I checked, we weren't married. Unless you've decided to go with the 'we're together' cover after all…"
"You know what I mean. You didn't attack him because he thought you were an abusive husband. Why the hell would you care?"
Jackson laughed without a trace of humor. "I don't lie Lisa, remember? Besides, why would I lie to you? He accused me of something I wasn't. Called me all sorts of bad names, too. I had a right to fight him. End of story. Now, I believe it's my question."
He rested his chin in his hand in a mock-thoughtful pose. "Why did you save my life?".
"Why did you save mine?"
Jackson rolled his eyes "Leese, I don't think that you're getting the hang of this quid-pro-quo idea-"
"-I saved your life because it seemed like the right thing to do at the moment." Lisa interred. "I was confused and scared; it was a….a knee-jerk reaction."
Jackson's eyebrows once again rose. "I see." he stated. "Now what was that nonsense before about saving your life?"
"Locke-the man I was talking to-said something." Lisa started, the information he had given her still engraved in her mind. "He told me that after you knocked me out on the plane, you belted me to the seat next to you and gave me an air mask. You saved my life"
She tried to read Jackson's expression as this information sunk in, but besides a brief flash of surprise, his face was a blank canvass.
"Jackson?" Lisa pressed, "Why'd you do it?"
Jackson looked up at her. "I saved your life…." he began, "because…it seemed like the right thing to do at the moment." He smirked. "Call it a knee-jerk reaction."
"Bastard." she muttered, making his smile widen.
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By the time they returned to the fuselage, Jackson had interrogated her as thoroughly as he could on everything that had happened since she had woken up the previous day. Claire, what she had said to her, Boone, what she had said to him; all his concern was focused on the concealment of his identity.
"Did you tell anyone my last name?" he had demanded.
"No. What would happen if I did?"
"I'd have to kill you. Or them. Probably both."
In return, he had answered her questions as cryptically as possible, giving barely any information besides "yes" or "no".
As they walked into the camp, the sun was setting, and Lisa noticed that there were a few missing from the camp. Boone and Shannon, in particular, were gone, as well as Sawyer.
Locke, however, was still sitting on the beach, and Jackson tensed next to her as his eyes fell on them, but Lisa simply nodded her greeting and continued past to sit by Claire at her fire
"Hi." she greeted, sitting down next to her. "Sorry I ran off earlier."
Claire smiled and shook her head. "No problem. Everyone's a little on edge, understandably." Her gaze switched curiously to Jackson, who was hovering behind Lisa, smiling politely.
"Oh, right." Lisa began uncomfortably, getting to her feet. "This is Jackson. We…um.."
"We just met." Jackson stepped in and shook Claire's hand, all smiled and charm. "Lisa was looking after me after I got into a little disagreement earlier this morning."
"Oh." Claire commented, a grin spreading across her face and shooting Lisa a mischievous look. "Well, I heard she's a hotel manager, so you're in very good hands."
"Yes I am." Jackson replied, winking, and Lisa had to force a smile.
"Have the doctor's group come back with the transceiver yet?" Lisa asked quickly, sitting down again as far as she could from Jackson.
"Yeah, hours ago. I forgot, you missed everything! There was another fight this afternoon between that man you fought with earlier and another man."
Lisa and Jackson exchanged quick looks over the fire. "What was it about?"
"Well, your man-"
"Sawyer" Lisa and Jackson chorused.
"Yes, him, he accused the other man, who's Iraqi, of crashing the plane."
Lisa winced. "He certainly gets around."
Claire shrugged. "After that, everything calmed down. The doctor's group came back with the transceiver, and the Iraqi man fixed it, and they've led an expedition to higher ground or something to see if they can pick up a signal. He didn't go with them, though."
"Who?"
"Jack, the doctor. He had to stay behind to take care of a wounded man with a piece of shrapnel in his side."
Jackson winced and rubbed his own newly-healed chest wound. "That doesn't sound pleasant."
"Yeah. And everyone's kind of on edge, because of the handcuffs, so they're waiting for him to wake up."
Lisa shook her head. "Wait, I don't understand."
Claire's expression darkened. "That's right; I forgot you weren't there this afternoon. After the fight, another man came forward saying that he had found handcuffs in the jungle. Apparently the shrapnel man is a US Air Marshall, so everyone thinks the handcuffs are somehow related to him."
Lisa suddenly found it very hard to breathe. She looked everywhere; the fire, the ocean, Claire, except at Jackson. "Really?" she forced out, trying to ignore the unidentified fluttering feeling in her stomach.
Claire nodded enthusiastically. "Sayid; the Iraqi man; he thinks it's Sawyer."
Jackson smiled into the fire. "That wouldn't surprise me."
As the minutes passed, Lisa could feel him trying to catch her eye, but instead turned her whole body towards Claire, engaging her in light conversation that she could participate in without really thinking. Her mind was whirring with the new information Claire had just presented her. The handcuffs. The Air Marshall. Jackson's obsession with what she had told others about him.
Claire soon fell asleep, laying by the fire in serene rest and never dreaming that the other tow accompanying her were an assassin and his former victim.
"They're not mine." Jackson spoke quietly over the fire, careful not to wake the sleeping pregnant women beside them.
"I know." Lisa responded after a moment.
Jackson looked pleased. "You've finally comprehended the fact that I don't-"
"-I pulled you out of the plane un-handcuffed. You were unconscious. If you really were being escorted by the Air Marshall you would undoubtedly had them on, and the seat next to you that you strapped me into would be filled by him. Plus, I doubt he would have let you go to the bathroom to see me."
Jackson nodded, impressed. "You've obviously thought this over."
Lisa forced herself to look into his eyes, the veil of fire between them giving her courage.
"But you knew about him. You knew he was on the plane, and he would recognize you."
Jackson bit the inside of his cheek. "Yes, I did."
"What are you going to do when he wakes up?"
Jackson shrugged. "It depends on if he recognizes me or not."
Lisa closed her eyes. "And if he does?"
He chuckled. "Leese, just because you're on an island doesn't mean that you're not a hotel manager anymore. Just because I'm here, away from my job, doesn't mean I'm not a manager anymore. If he recognizes me, I'll do what needs to be done."
His eyes pierced her through the flames. "The same goes for anyone who gets in my way."
They didn't speak after that, just stared until the fire died down and Lisa curled up, her mind scrambling and her stomach churning until she fell into an uneasy sleep.
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Coming Soon: (Random excerpts from next chapter)
-"Hi." the woman said, smiling prettily. "I'm Kate."
-"We hiked up to the highest point we could find." the man explained to the crowd, his face drawn and serious, "But we failed to pick up a signal."
-"He's awake, Jackson. He's awake and he's talking to Jack."
"You think I don't know this?"
Lisa stared at the knife secured at his side. "You're going to kill him, aren't you?"
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Sorry for the wait, guys! Hope you liked the chapter. Reviews make them come faster!