Author's Note: Sorry about taking so long to update. I really have been busy (exams, homework, etc). And to top it all off, my computer malfunctioned. Thankfully, my dad fixed it, but I had to get back to where I started with this chapter and beyond. Expect more sporadic updates like this in the future. But I'm really happy I got reviews on this. Thanks to you all!

Chapter Six: And Thus, We Speak the Truth

After a long, eventless drive, Jake decided to look out the window and was rather surprised to see that he, Jackson and Cheryl were now in a mall parking lot. He shot a look at Jackson.

"What?" Jackson asked, somewhat annoyed. "You and Cheryl have been wearing the same clothes for the past three days. You need a change of clothes, right?"

He was right. Jake felt disgusting since he was still wearing only his soccer uniform and hadn't taken a shower since the day he and Cheryl were kidnapped.

"Don't do anything stupid," Jackson said. Jake, on the other hand snorted with disbelief. He almost sounded... Fatherly.

They stepped out of the car. Cheryl clung tightly onto her brother, from shyness and because she was still scared. Jake held her hand as a way to comfort her.

They walked into the nearest clothing store, not bothering to look at the name. It didn't seem to matter to Jake.

"Here," Jackson said, throwing some clothes to Cheryl and Jake. "You guys go to the fitting room and put these on. I'm sure they'll fit you."

Jake and Cheryl slowly made their way to the fitting rooms when Jackson adden in one last thing: "And by the way, don't get any bright ideas and start writing stupid things on the mirrors."

"Yeah right," Jake muttered sarcastically. Cheryl was taking longer in the dressing room, as she often liked playing dress-up, but Jake simply put his clothes on just to see if they fit. They not only fit him perfectly, but they were also the type of clothes that suited his tastes. 'Then again, he did stalk me and my family for a while...' Jake bitterly thought. The very thought of Jackson hurting one of his family members was enough to make his blood boil. If he ever got out of this alive...

"Hey are you done yet, Jacob?"

"Yeah, just a second," Jake replied, pulling his own clothes over his head and getting out with everything in tow. "They're fine."

"Well if you don't like them, I can get you something else," Jackson offered. The courteous tone in his voice almost made Jake laugh.

"No, they're fine. What about Cheryl?"

"She whined about some of the dresses not being her taste. You want to get some more for her?"

And against his better judgement, Jake replied, "Sure."

And Jackson did something even more unexpected. He smiled. "I knew you'd come around soon, Jake."

Jackson looked at his pathetic excuse for a cell. He was in solitary confinement after he broke an inmate's arm as well as attempting to talk a convicted rapist into swallowing his own tongue. He explained that he did the first act in the name of self defense whereas with the second one, he admitted that it was more for his own twisted amusement. In order to keep both parties happy (Jackson laughed at the 'both parties' aspect), the prison orderlies put Jackson away in solitary confinement. As tiny as his cell was, it was better to have this than having to share it with his former cellmate.

A guard's voice interrupted his thoughts. "Hey, Rippner, your ladyfriend is here to see you. And for some reason, she brought her kid along with her. Be civil to her okay?"

Jackson's heartrate increased. Lisa was here, and she brought their child along with her to visit him.

He saw Lisa standing in front of his cell, and in her arms was a baby boy. Jackson felt a strange mix of emotions well up inside of him. His throat tightened. This was his child; the child he helped to bring into the world.

"Hey, Jackson. You look rested."

Jackson dryly laughed. "You look lovely, as always."

A moment of awkward silence followed before Lisa started talking again. "This is your little boy. His name's Jacob, but we all call him Jake. He's beautiful isn't he?"

Jackson gulped and could nod when he got a a closer look at Jake. He looked so much like him, especially in the eyes. Jake looked something like Lisa, but only seemed to inhereit her general attractiveness, but not any of her features. He had never seen anything so beautiful. He then choked out, "C-can I hold him?"

Lisa looked to the orderly, who nodded. They carefully opened the door, one of the orderlies pointing a dart gun at Jackson to warn him of what should happen if he tried to misbehave. Jackson quietly and complacently took Jake. Lisa was understandably frightened about leaving her son with Jackson, but something in her told her to let Jackson hold Jake. He deserved that much.

"Thank you," Jackson whispered. He then looked at the beautiful life he had in his arms. Jake looked at him with confusuion, but then smiled when he seemed to realize Jackson was good. And for the first time in so long, Jackson wanted nothing more than to be with his child. But he knew it wasn't meant to last... At least not now.

"Okay, time's up," an orderly said rather rudely. "Give him back to his mother."

Jackson then started feeling like a small selfish child. He wanted to keep Jake with him, but again, it wasn't meant to last. Not now anyway.

"Here." He then handed Jake back to Lisa. In turn, she reached into her purse and handed Jackson a picture. It was of Jake.

"I thought you deserved that much," was all Lisa told him before she turned around to leave. She couldn't help but look at him one last time, and felt as though she had just been punched in the gut. Jackson stood there, and she could see how truly sad he was.

"Hey, Jackson. Hello, earth to Jackson, yoo-hoo? Where are you?"

Jackson came out of his little episode and shook his head. "Sorry about that, I just spaced out for a moment."

"Yeah right," Jake grumbled. "Anyway, I got more clothes for Cheryl. I'm going to give them to her."

"Of course."

As they walked to the fitting room, Jake decided it was his turn to expose something about Jackson. "You know, what I really didn't get was why you decided to take me and Cheryl when your real target were my parents."

"Because they've been lying to you."

This wasn't what Jake had in mind at all. "What do you mean they've been lying to me? They're not terrorists like you!"

"Well, its not like they're the perfect models of the perfect parents," Jackson snorted.

"What would you know?" he stopped and stared angrily at Jackson.

"I know that Ryan used to work in the same profession as me," Jackson growled. Jake stepped back.

"No, he didn't," he argued.

Jackson nodded with irritation. "Yes, he did. Truthfully, even I don't know the whole story but I do know that he got out of the assassination business about seven years before you were even born and went into law because he's trying to cover his ass from our former employers."

Jake felt a massive headache coming on. "That's not true. You don't even know my dad."

Jackson scowled, his face looking pained. Finally he took a photo from his wallet out and showed it to Jake. And there was Jackson. And Ryan. They looked so young.

"Oh God..." he pressed a hand against his forehead and dropped the snapshot. "God, no..."

"Don't worry, he's been a lawyer since before he even met your mother," he said in disgust. "She never even knew."

"Is this why you hate him so much?" Jake asked. "I thought you just didn't like him because he's married to my mom."

"Well, that's part of it."

Jake had enough. He angrily threw the clothes to the side and stormed over to the fitting rooms to get Cheryl.

"Listen to me, Jake," Jackson called. He grabbed Jake's arm and said, "Just listen to me."

"Don't tell me what to do!" Jake spat. "Just because you knew my dad doesn't mean you're like him and you're not the boss of me!"

"Oh, I beg to differ," he snarled, his temper rising. "I'm more like him than you think."

"Yeah, okay," Jake snorted in disbelief. "How so?"

"I am him."

And right there, Jake felt everything collapse. "N-no, you're not."

Jackson paused, sighed, and pulled out his wallet. He folded it open and held it out to Jake, not looking at him. Jake's jaw dropped. His face was staring back at him. But it wasn't a picture of him present-day. It was a baby picture. Not just any baby picture; it was a glamor shot his mother had taken with him when he was a baby. The only people Jake knew who had it were his grandfather, Joe Reisert, and his parents.

"This doesn't prove anything." But it did.

"Jake, think about it. Your father has light brown hair and brown eyes, and your mother has red hair and green eyes. Your hair is dark brown and your eyes are blue, like mine. You look nothing like the man you call "father." And I'm not sure if you knew this or not, but Lisa was pregnant with you before she even met Ryan. The only reason she married him only two months after she met him was to hide that she got pregnant out of wedlock. Your mother's family was too religious for her to admit that."

Jake shook his head hard. As much as he didn't want to admit it, Jackson's explaination made sense. Almost too much sense. "But then, she would've had to... She would've had to..." He couldn'y say it.

"She did," Jackson replied. "It was during the red eye flight."

"Not with you! Not willingly!"

"As a matter of fact, yes she did."

Jake felt sick to his stomach. "All of those threats... You said you'd kill me in front of Cheryl... You even chocked me."

Jackson sadly admitted, "They were all empty. I had to make you behave somehow."

"Where were you all these years?"

"Jail."

"Why didn't Mom tell me?"

"Would you want to admit that you slept with a terrorist who tried to kill you and your family?" Jackson asked in disbelief. "Besides, when she came to tell me about the pregnancy, in jail, she told me that she didn't do it out of... Love. She did it to try saving her father and the Keefe family. She underestimated me."

A few moment passed. The explaination made plenty of sense, but Jake couldn't bring himself to believe it. He didn't want to. "I don't believe you," he hissed. "Mom would never give up her chastity for you."

"She didn't."

"So you lied when you told me you didn't rape her." Jake felt his anger boiling inside. "You sick, twisted son of a bi-"

Jackson angrily cut in. "No. I didn't rape her. Nineteen years ago, she was raped. Remember?"

Jake was so shocked, he couldn't speak. He chocked out, "What?"

"You didn't know? The whole parking lot thing?" Jackson started feeling very guilty. 'Oh God, Lisa's really going to kill me now.'

"No. I didn't know," Jake whispered. His mind started reeling. 'Is there anything in my life that isn't a lie?! Why is everything secrets within secrets? One lie after the next? Why?!'

"I'm very sorry, Jake. Believe me, I didn't want to be the one to have told you this."

"I don't even know what to believe anymore. I've been lied to my whole life," Jake slumped against a chair and buried his face in his hands.

Jackson then took a seat next to Jake and hugged him. it felt awkward, but they both later grew used to it. And for the first time, in a long time, Jackson felt like a real father.

"Oh God..." Ashley whispered. Lisa pulled the car over and burst in tears.

"I just didn't know what else to do," she sobbed. "I felt so hopeless - if I made the call, I'd be killing a good man and his family. But if I didn't, then my father would die. I didn't even really consider that option until he kissed me."

Kyle started feeling as though he would regret asking, but he went on. "Did you ever have feelings for Jackson?" Lisa frowned and finally shook her head.

"I don't think so. There was something physical there, I guess. Nothing beyond that attraction, and I certainly didn't, or don't, feel anything for him after I found out what he really was."

"Oh," Ashley said simply. With that, she wrapped her arms around Lisa, and together, they cried.

A/N: Yeah, it was a really long wait, but I hope the long length of this chapter will make up for it. Happy Holidays!