A/N: So the gang's all here, eh? ;) And thanks to all the wonderful people who've reviewed! I feel so grateful!

Chapter Nine: Trust Issues

Lisa Reisert was always the type who preferred to have order in her life. She also preferred to have things run as she planned them. Which was why she was less than happy with her current situation in life.

She had to admit, she was selfish. It was only natural. With her strict upbringing, having a child out of wedlock was less than favorable, and since she had this child, no thanks to her worst enemy, she really didn't want to face the consequences. So she lied, and managed to keep up the charade up until now. And right now, her son really hated her for lying to him.

"Why didn't you just tell me the truth?" Jake asked angrily.

Lisa shook her head and answered, "Oh Jake, if I could've then I would've. But your father wasn't just anyone; he was Jackson Rippner. What else did you expect me to do? Just let you know that your father was a killer and the only reason you exist was because of a failed attempt on my part to appeal to whatever humanity he had?"

"So I could have false hope about Ryan, someone who's hardly been there for me and is a terrorist himself?"

Lisa gasped. "What do you mean?"

"What, Dad, a.k.a. Jackson, never told you? They used to work together."

Lisa shook her head, not wanting to believe she had also been fooled. "No, he was a lawyer when I met him."

"When you met him, yes. But seven years before that, he also worked for the same guys Dad worked for-"

"Don't call him that!" Lisa scolded.

Jake couldn't believe her. "And why not? Jackson's my real father and I've managed to accept that. You haven't done squat in eighteen years, Mom! Just because I was an unplanned accident doesn't mean you can fix it all just by lying to me, yourself, and everyone else around you."

"Don't talk to me that way! I'm your mother, Jacob!"

"You might be my mom, but you sure haven't done anything motherly by lying to me since I was born."

Lisa felt everything break right there. She was more than sure she was going to have a nervous breakdown, if she already hadn't suffered one. "Did you think it was easy for me?! I had to lie to my family- my own parents and my own children! I had to live with that fact everyday. I didn't like that I had to lie to you, but I didn't want to ruin your chances of having a normal life. If you knew who your father was from the start, would your life have been easier? Think about that."

That struck a chord in him. As hard a time as he was having, Jake knew that whatever feelings of loathing and anger he felt towards his mother were nothing compared to the same feelings she felt towards herself; all of her self-loathing had been building up for the past eighteen years and right now, one would consider it a miracle Lisa hadn't lost her mind already. He finally found his voice.

"I'm sorry, Mom. I shouldn't have said that."

Lisa shook her head, tears streaming down. "I don't deserve to be apologized to. You have every right to hate me anyway."

That was when a very familiar voice came in. "You've punished yourself long enough, Lisa. Now, you just have to stop running away."

Jake and Lisa turned around, and saw the last people they wanted to see. There stood a relatively calm Ryan and a very distressed looking Joe Reisert. Ryan took a deep breath, a mixed look of guilt and sadness on his features.

"What are you two doing here?" Lisa asked. The last person she wanted involved in this mess was her father, and Ryan's business trip had at least three more days left. This wasn't going to be good.

Ryan replied, "I got worried when no one was answering their phones, so I called Joe. He was also worried, so I came back. He thought the worst had happened, so I had no other choice but to tell him the truth."

Lisa's eyes went wide, "The truth? Dad, you don't mean…"

Joe answered, "Yes, Lisa, I know now. Jake is actually Jackson Rippner's son, and you have been covering up to keep us all from knowing. Ryan told me everything."

And now, Lisa was officially caught between a rock and a hard place. "Why Ryan?! Why did you do that?!"

"Because I was sick of lying. I felt he deserved to know the truth."

Jake angrily cut in, "And what about the fact that you've been lying to Mom, Cheryl and me? Because Dad had some pretty damn good evidence that you also worked for those same people he did!" He was going to be damned if he didn't show Ryan how angry he was at the man he had called father since he was old enough to talk.

"I'll admit that I've had my own share of lying and I'm not proud that I did all that, but I decided that enough was enough. I knew the truth would come out one day anyway. I wasn't naïve."

But Jake's bottled-up frustrations towards Ryan had reached their boiling point, and in a move that shocked everyone, Jake punched Ryan in the face as hard as he could. Ryan reeled back, falling to the ground, holding his bruised right cheek. Lisa and Joe had to hold him back and were having trouble until Kyle, Ashley, Cheryl and Jackson came to the scene and the two other teens had to latch on to Jake to keep him from going berserk.

"I've called you my dad and you did nothing to deserve that from me! You barely deserve that from Cheryl either, you bastard!"

Ashley managed to whisper in Jake's ear, "Look Jake, we know that this whole thing's been nuts for you, but do you think it's been easy for them to lie to you and know that they did that? Just let them explain themselves, if not for their sakes but also for Cheryl's!"

Jake then calmed down to see Cheryl, kneeling down next to Ryan and looking frightened by her brother's temper. Cheryl was sometimes scared of Jake's temper, even though he would've rather swollowed his own tongue than direct it towards her. He realized just how badly he was reacting to this. By reacting with physical anger and outbursts, he was no better than them. Everyone decided to let go of him, and Jake slumped to the ground He then tried to mend things with Cheryl.

"Hey Cheryl, I didn't mean that. I'm sorry," Jake's voice being barely above a whisper, and desperate. He couldn't believe how out of control he was.

Cheryl still looked at him confusion and fear. She couldn't find any words to express how she felt. Instead, she turned to Ryan, concern in her eyes, and asked, "Are you okay, Daddy?"

Ryan rubbed his cheek, downcast. "I'll be okay, honey. I deserved that a thousand times over."

"You don't even deserve that, Emerson," Jackson spoke up. "Maybe you should follow your own advice and tell Lisa and Jake what really happened. I'd like to know too. Just why did you quit the business twenty-four years ago?"

Ryan took a deep breath, and said, "Sure, I'll tell. All of you at least deserve to hear the truth. I'm sick of keeping up with the charade of an average suburban father anyway."

A/N: Yes, I know, there weren't any flashbacks in this, but that was because I felt they weren't really needed anymore. Hope this was good.