A Family Stolen

Disclaimer: I own nothing

A/N:

Chapter 20 (Standoff)

"And the hits just keep on coming." Jade rubbed her aching temples and groaned while walking alongside Jason at the park. She was trying to talk to him about everything that was going on, while at the same time trying to find a way to help the both of them stop stressing out. "Whatever Jesse's next step is, I hope it's done fast."

Jesse informed them about David's attempted escape, and that the man was now clinging to life by a thread. He said he felt around and thought he detected internal bleeding; but now medical help was being refused and Jesse couldn't convince anyone to try and aid the man. David was officially dying, leaving the girls alone and that much more vulnerable.

To say she wasn't terrified would be a lie, just as much to suggest that she was confident they'd save them. "On the plus side," Jason started, "We don't have to worry about Marcus or Stephen anymore." Not to mention a few of the bad Knights, but that didn't make things much better. "Jesse says he's almost ready, so I think we can do this."

They had task forces ready on all ends. The FBI would enter one way, they'd enter another; the plans were being set in motion. Jesse was currently moving his knights away, slow enough to be careful and slip out without notice; but some that were loyal to Jerome seemed eager to remain.

The Black Knights weren't incredibly large, and the split between those loyal to Jesse and those loyal to Jerome was about a seventy-thirty split. Then there was even less of a number of Jerome's loyalists remaining at the facility. It wasn't small, but it also wasn't an army. There could be anywhere from ten to thirty stilt here.

"I hate to say it, but I'm glad Mr. Vega at least took two of those assholes out; it's too damn bad it was Marcus and Stephen, and not the other two." Jason crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes. "I need to think about something else. Seriously." Jade raised her eyebrows and shrugged. She'd been getting a few self-defense tips from him, but there was so much she felt she could learn; so she had a few ideas on how to take his mind off the matter at hand,.

"Well, maybe you could show me some more defensive moves?" They stopped their walk and turned towards one another, he hummed thoughtfully and stroked his chin. "Maybe show me how to disarm someone?"

"Well. I could show you the way I taught Trina. I showed her a good way to disarm someone that has a knife to their throat, among other things." Jade smiled and motioned with her hand.

"Yeah, that, show me that one." She grinned and Jason uncrossed his arms with a sigh. "I've seen some disarm techniques online." He clicked his tongue and glanced to the side, exhaling gently. Sensing his disapproval, her grin fell and she shrugged. "What?"

"There's the problem. You need to get those things out of your head." He bent over, picking up a small stick from the ground. "A lot of those can end very badly. There's a huge difference between a cooperating partner and someone bigger and stronger than you with intent to kill."

She pursed her lips and raised her chin, considering his words carefully. "Also, the attacker will come without warning." He moved an arm around her waist, holding her firmly in place, then moved the stick to her neck. She gasped out, her eyes opening wide.

Jade attempted to move her body, but his hold on her was too strong. "Jesus, I can barely move."

"Exactly. I'm bigger and stronger than you are; so what are you going to do? Try a move you've seen online. Go ahead."

Jade nodded and tried to step on his foot, but he barely reacted. "I always wear steel toe shoes." She grunted and moved her hand up in between his wrist and her body. Quickly, she tried to push his hand outward. "Ah, nope." He tensed his wrist and pulled back, making it lock in place. She rolled her eyes and dropped her hand.

"What do I do, then? I can't break your hold."

"First off, I'm hardly distracted. My reaction time will be quick. There is no foolproof technique for getting out of this position, even the technique I can show you can still end badly; but it's better than letting your life end."

"How could I distract you? How could I slow down your reaction time?"

"Talking, it keeps the mind preoccupied. As questions to your attacker, say anything. While you're doing this, start raising your hands-you can go slow here, but in a real situation you need to act fast."

"Raising my hands?"

"Yeah, raise your right hand like you're putting your arms up in defense, and start moving your left hand towards my knife hand." She did so, extending her arm up as though about to wrap around his neck. "Now here's what you do. You need to grab my wrist, wrap your fingers around it entirely and twist my wrist downward while pressing it against the chest."

"Okay."

"While you're doing that, your other arm and shoulder serves to block the knife arm from moving forward and cutting you-also aim your fingers towards the eyes to distract." She did as instructed, holding the position.

"At this point, if you're strong enough, you can pivot inwards and under the arm to escape." Jade tried to do so, but the pivot was blocked, leaving her grunting in frustration. "Your attacker is too strong, so you have to try a different method. There are a few, you could step on his foot-"

"You're wearing steel toes…"

"Right. If you need to loosen the attacker's grip on you, you can bite down on their arm. Bite hard, literally try to tear at his skin like that of a vicious dog." Jade glanced at his arm and turned her head, looking at him curiously. He sighed and shook his head at her. "I would rather you didn't do that part right. But let's say you did."

She felt his arm muscles relax, allowing her to turn. Eventually she found her raised arm landed on top of his. "Okay this is going to happen naturally. Move your hand down the arm and to the elbow." She did as instructed, curious how Trina fared learning this.

"How fast can Trina disarm you with this?"

"We…don't do this often, but she's gotten to be very fast at multiple maneuvers."

"Oh." She understood why, based off something he said before. "Ross attacked her with a knife, right? She probably wouldn't be comfortable…"

"She isn't. Neither am I. She's not comfortable with anyone behind her either. It wasn't until she trusted me that she even wanted to learn to disarm someone like this."

"Yeah." She slid behind him, moving her hand across his elbow joint, keeping it bent. "What now?"

"Take the hand grabbing the wrist, let go and move your arm up along the back." She did so, essentially locking his arm between hers. Her eyebrows rose and she chuckled excitedly. "There are many things you can do from here, but at this point you have the arm locked in place. You're in the best position to either follow through with a defensive attack of your own, or to escape."

"What are some things to do from here?"

"Perhaps bringing your knee up, striking your attacker in the back." She did so, hitting the small of his back and pushing his body forward. He clenched his teeth and took a swift breath. "Yeah. At some point your attacker will probably drop the knife. If not, you may be able to force the knife out of his hand."

"Okay, but let's say it is the two of us. You're physically larger and stronger than I am."

"Another reason swift movement would help you more. It loosens the grip, catches the attacker off guard and make him drop the knife as a reflexive move."

"I see." She took a small step back, releasing her hold on him. He turned around, shrugging himself and moving his head from left to right. "Any other techniques?"

"You should probably focus on practicing that one before learning others. There are ways, though dangerous."

"Yeah. Someone like you, I can see how easily it can be to be overpowered." Jason ran a hand along his neck, taking another slow and deep breath. "Has Trina always been a fighter? I know she was doing martial arts before, hell you two bonded because of that, but-I don't really know how to ask what I'm wanting to."

She'd never seen Ross before, nor had she heard of him. Trina was strong, strong enough that she'd taken on Robbie, Beck, and Andre all by herself. "Just because someone knows how to fight and protect themselves doesn't mean they're always safe from danger…" He narrowed his eyes and raised his shoulders. "Ross is on par with me, anyway. Though that's besides the point…"

"Oh." She winced. "I guess that sounded a bit insensitive. I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it." They continued walking, and Jason fell silent after a while, his eyes scanning the area. They walked like this for a good half hour, which made her increasingly nervous. When he finally spoke, she was relieved. "We're being followed."

The color drained from her face and she started to glance over her shoulder, jerking her head back when he told her to look straight ahead. "I've noticed this for a while. It's not often, but every now and then I see someone stalking me. I pretend not to notice…"

"Who do you think?"

"I don't think, I know who it is." His body was tense and he looked ready for a fight. "It's Ross. He's been tailing me a few days now. "I get the feeling he's planning to jump me." He leaned over, still whispering. "You go straight and I'll turn right up here."

"Are you sure we should split up? I mean if he comes after me-"

"He won't, it's me he's after."

She wasn't about to leave his side. It wasn't a matter of her own safety, but she knew if it was Ross tailing him, he was going to need someone to hold him back from crossing a dangerous line.

"Sorry Jason, I'm not going anywhere."

"It'd be safer for you did."

"It's Ross." She narrowed her eyes and scoffed at him. "I'm not leaving the two of you in the same vicinity as one another. The explosion might just be enough to take out everyone at the park." Jason chuckled once and formed a smirk.

"Suit yourself." He stopped walking and turned partially, growling at something in the distance. Jade saw a group of leaves nearby rustling, then a broad shouldered, muscular man stepped into view. He was incredibly tall, had blonde spiked hair and a narrow face with deep and deadly blue eyes.

Her heart dropped into her stomach and fear gripped at her throat. "I should let you know, Trina mentioned to me he was a quarterback on his school's football team." Jade started to tremble and felt sweat forming around the borders of her hairline.

"Huh. So she's into athletes."

"Well, she is an athlete, so..." A lump formed in her throat and she found herself unable to speak. A dark aura seemed to drift from this man, and each step he took made him look like a mountain that was moving.

She hardly thought he would have needed a knife to force Trina down. "Jason." Ross's voice was deep and thick, and hatred shimmered in his eyes. "Jason Tyler, I presume."

"Depends who's asking."

"I think you know me." Jason growled as the behemoth moved closer. Ross's eyes darted to Jade and his mouth twisted into a smirk. "And what is this? A new girlfriend? I heard Trina was missing…I wonder what she would say to this." Jade narrowed her eyes. Jason crossed his arms and shrugged.

"Considering who it is, Trina wouldn't believe I'd possibly be stepping out on her with this girl." Jade nodded, unable to possibly take offense. "I wouldn't cheat on her anyway, she knows me better."

"Right." Ross bowed and shook his head, chuckling darkly. "God, I remember when I went out with her. What a girl. I hope she's found soon." Jason's eyes seemed to darken and Jade watched as his lips pulled apart to reveal clenched and grinding teeth. "The body on that girl." Ross raised his head, smirking and meeting Jason's glare as though challenging him. "An amazing fuck too."

Jade put her hand on Jason's wrist, feeling him flinch and twitch. She knew what Ross was doing; he was trying to provoke and get Jason to attack him. She worried that Jason would do exactly that, and Ross might be waiting with a trick up his sleeve. "Relax," she whispered to him, "Don't let him provoke you."

Jason growled in response. Ross extended his hand. "Are you sure you haven't got a chick on the side? Maybe you're thinking Trina's already dead?" Jason lunged forward and Jade shot Ross a glare while trying to hold Jason back.

She wanted to attack the man herself, and was well prepped to do that. She knew the language of the provoker, and attempting to even defend her own self by saying she had a boyfriend would simply give Ross a chance to mock her or continue his attack. It was better to give him nothing than to give him anything.

"He knows you know who he is. He knows you hate him. Don't let him work you." God only knew what could happen if Ross captured Jason; and if anyone could subdue him, Ross certainly looked capable of it. "You know what he's done to Trina." Jason glanced at her, his breathing heavy and nostrils flaring. "What? You want him to kill you and show her your dead body? That would destroy her completely."

"I'm not going to attack him, Jade." He inhaled and Ross cocked his head to the right, as though impatiently waiting for them to finish. "I'm trying to think of the best way out. You should run though."

"Fuck that, Jason. I already told you I'm not leaving you here alone with him."

"I can handle myself."

"You think I'm worried about you? I know what you'd do, you'd do the same thing I would; and that's going to be reckless as hell." He rolled his eyes and pulled his arm away from her.

"I wonder if you know what this is," Ross remarked while pulling out a long switchblade knife. Jade turned her head, studying the knife. It had a long, reddish green handle with a pointed tip. The blade was several inches in length, had two circular holes in the center, and glistened in the sunlight. "I've had this trusty blade for many years."

In the corner of her eyes she saw Jason tensing up. He looked like a dragon, to the point she was almost certain smoke was seeping from his nostrils. "What do you take me for, Ross? A vengeful boyfriend? Why are you even doing this? I know you've been following me for a couple days now."

"Yes, I wanted to see what you were like. Get a feel for you, study you."

"You think you can toy with me, Ross?"

"I think you're not an unreasonable man. I believe you will come with me." Ross narrowed his eyes and smirked. "I might have an idea where Trina is, and we should work together."

"I'd never trust you, much less work with you."

"What? Don't you want to see your beloved again?"

"What I want is to stab you in the neck with that knife you've got." Jason tilted his head and smirked back at him. "But neither of us are getting what we want to today, now are we…" Jason poked a finger out at the knife. "You'd rather gut me with that knife, for whatever reason. I'm not an idiot. Also, if I wanted to, I could take you out right here and right now…but I know better."

"Is that so?"

"The last thing Trina would want is me fucking with you." Jade was impressed and proud. "I even made a promise to her long ago I would never so much as seek you out. She knew what her parents were like, and wanted to make sure I wouldn't do the same."

"Uh huh. Personally I'd love to see you try and take me on. You're not strong enough, I guess."

"Fuck you."

Jade thought Jason was stronger for resisting, and knew it had to be taking every bit of his strength not to attack Ross right now. Jason extended his arms out sideways, raising his eyebrows. "If you were prepared to kill me, I think you would have done that by now. That means you're waiting it out, waiting for something." Jason tensed his forehead and bridge of his nose. "Waiting for me to make a move."

"That's right," Jade thought while turning her eyes to the scowling man before them. If anything, Ross might want him to make the move just to tell Trina Jason actually stalked him and attacked him. There was a number of things it could be, and none of them were good. "Jason, we need to leave."

Ross chuckled. "You'd better go. Your piece on the side looks uncomfortable." Jade whispered for him to ignore Ross. She heard the growl in the back of his throat and waited as he turned sideways.

"Keep it up Ross," Jade remarked with a growl, "Jason holds back for Trina's sake; but my actual boyfriend would have no reason to hold back if you keep making statements like that…."

They walked on, maintaining a safe distance while checking on occasion to make sure they weren't being followed. Ross watched on, fuming and clenching his knife firmly.

When they were out of eyesight, Jade let out a huge sigh of relief. "I'm so glad you were able to keep your cool back there, Jason." Jason grunted and cracked his neck.

"It took everything in me not to tear his head from his shoulders."

"I know, I know…"

"We need to get Trina away from him."

She pat his back, smiling gently. "We will, Jason. Mark my words, we will get her back." He rolled his shoulders, sighing heavily. "Come on, let's get going."

That could have been bad right there. What are your thoughts on this chapter? It was a good lesson at the start, and then the confrontation between Jason and Ross looked like it could have gone bad in an instant.