Author's note: As promised, here's a quick update to make up for the short chapter 13. Thanks again to everybody who keeps following and reviewing my story, you guys rock my world!

Chapter 14

The following three days were fairly uneventful. Lisa and Jackson settled into something of a routine - getting up at roughly the same time in the morning, taking their meals together, cleaning up after themselves and chatting carefully with each other.

Whenever Lisa got nervous or restless, Jackson badgered her with something until she was either angry or laughing. Laughing became the more common response. She found the way he could get under her skin so easily still scary, but it helped her take her mind off certain things, so she slowly started to live with it.

They would talk about her life, her job, her friends - with him asking questions and her answering them. Lisa didn't learn anything more about Jackson, though, because whenever the conversation turned to his past, he would divert onto another topic. Sometimes he'd give her what she referred to as "lessons in spy work" and she began to discover his character through the job he had picked.

Somewhere along the line they seemed to have negotiated a fragile truce. Lisa never once forgot who she was dealing with and some issues were definitely off limits. Whitley was one of them – one time they had argued about him to a point where Lisa had lost her temper and hit Jackson in the face. He had pushed her against the wall in response, creating a large bruise on her back. When she had come back upstairs two hours later, he had wordlessly tossed her an ice pack and disappeared into his room until she had called him out for coffee.

On the afternoon of the fourth day, Lisa was reading on the couch while Jackson watched TV.

Suddenly, the atmosphere in the room shifted and Lisa felt the hairs on her arm bristle. She looked to Jackson - he had sat up, listening for something with an expression of poignant concern. The next second, they were already running down into her room where Lisa cuffed herself to the bed and Jackson locked the door.

It could only have been a couple of minutes, but it seemed like ages until Lisa heard the lock turn and Jackson appeared in the doorway. He was trying to hide it, but Lisa could have sworn he was tense.

"False alarm." He unlocked the handcuffs and helped her up.

"What do you mean, false alarm? What's going on, Jackson?"

His voice was curt. "Whitley."

"What did he want?" Lisa grew impatient, getting information from him was such a hassle.

"To tell me everything is underway. Fucking idiot."

"Calm down." She got up and turned to leave. "You know, you two are like kids sometimes."

"You still think he's the right man for the job then, do you?" He sounded strange.

It made Lisa look at him. "How many more times, Jackson? YES. And I'm not in the mood to argue, so leave me alone."

"You'll reconsider once my associates get a hold on us."

"Why do you make me say it, huh? You know the answer – I don't trust you." She stormed out and the mocking "Suit yourself." he threw after her made her blood boil.

They spent the rest of the afternoon in silence, each one deep in thoughts. Every once in a while, Lisa would steal a glance at Jackson, but the way he was sitting there with his jaw set told her not to disturb him.

Sudden darkness.

A shot rang out, followed by a second, followed by more. Yelling.

Lisa jumped up and froze. What was she going to do? Her heart stood still. She had no weapon … a weapon! She raced into the kitchen and ripped open the cutlery drawer, rifling through it with shaking hands that could not hold on to anything. God! A strong arm pulled her away and in a panic Lisa fought and struggled until she realized it was Jackson who kept murmuring soothing words into her ear.

She was frantic, her body stiff as a board. "We gotta get out of here! We have to …"

"Don't worry, everything's under control." He turned her around. "Sssh, Leese."

What?

A world in slow motion.

"I have to assume she's going to read that."

"Read what?"

With a desperate cry Lisa shoved at his chest and got away far enough that the head butt missed, but he still got her nose. Tears shot from her eyes and for a moment, Lisa couldn't see. She pushed out her arms and stumbled backwards until she slammed into the kitchen counter. Jackson was right after her, charging his body onto hers and grabbing her by the shirt.

A strange feeling took over. With crystalline clarity Lisa saw the past - she heard the sounds, she smelled the scents and above all, she felt the determination from back then so strongly that it seemed to spill over into the present. She followed her own angry scream into battle, punching him hard, aiming for hits. Her whole body was her weapon, knees, fists, elbows, her head … and inch for inch, Lisa got away from the counter. It might have been seconds later, it might have been hours, but for the fraction of a moment she was free and - as Jackson blocked the way to the garage - darted out of the kitchen. The door!

A shove sent her tumbling and she ripped down the curtain she had tried to hold on to. Lisa had almost regained balance when Jackson gave her another jab that had her flying backwards, cracking the window upon impact. Warm liquid trickled down her back and her vision blurred. Pain and a sense of futility flooded her mind and the aimed hits turned into frenzied thrashing that grew weaker by the minute. Lisa cursed him, yelling crude expletives that she had never once used before.

Jackson started laughing. With a few hard moves he smashed away her last defenses, pulling her so close she could hardly breathe. "Stop it. Don't make me hurt you."

The patience in his silky voice sent one last flash of fury through her veins and Lisa twisted in his arms. "Get away from me!"

"I gave you a choice, Leese."

She saw it coming, but there was nothing she could do. When Jackson's head connected with hers, white light exploded behind her eyelids and then her world went dimmer and dimmer. She slid down, instinctively holding on to him, and felt him brush her cheek before unconsciousness finally claimed her.

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Water all around. Darkness. The surface so far, far away. Desperate for air.

Lisa came back to her senses with a start and snapped upright, immediately emitting an agonized gasp. Crying and shivering, she detected the source of her pain – she was chained to a wall. With horror, Lisa realized she didn't recognize her surroundings.

"Calm down." Cool fingers on her face, on her wrists, freeing her of the chains.

Lisa crawled backwards into a corner and stared wide-eyed at Jackson. "What did you do? Where am I?" When he made a move towards her, Lisa brought up her knees against her chest and glared at him. "Stay away from me."

He raised his hands in a gesture of peace. "We're at a friend's house."

"A friend?"

This time, Jackson ignored her defensive body language. He pulled her up and steadied her almost gently, considering the circumstances.

"Let me see your back."

"My back?"

A familiar voice rang out from the direction of the door. "Because of the cuts. Jackson told me he had to smash you against a window or else you wouldn't have stopped. I'm impressed."

It was Cherry, the bartender.