A/N longest chapter yet! WOOT!! I thank everyone fer reading and I REALLY thank the people who left the feedback :D It keeps me going~! And Im sorry this one took like, 4 months to upload. I've been so active on YouTube making videos with my friends that my time has run away from me. D: (/lileyith)

Replies:

Admiral Sanchez -- okay, yes, haha, my writing goes kinda all over the place. I could never EVER be a novelist or anything like that. Im not consistent D: Hopefully this chapter has a bit more plot XD wawa~!

1914000 -- yer awesome, did you know that? XDDD Yes, that is exactly how I've been trying to get them. I dont know how much I'm failing at it tho D: I just want to go and write the love scenes and thats it XD But I gotta think of some plot, ya know?

Texcatlipoka -- yer review made me smile :D Im so relieved I dont over flower-ize. It's good that I have a balance then? XD Yay!! Thank you :3

BUNNEYH -- ;D You and I are alike. Hopefully, this chapter is love-dovey enough fer you XD I got some action going on but not too much. I feel almost embarrassed writing porn-fiction, HAHA XD :D

Rockaholick -- wootwoot! Im glad to provide :D I hope ya like this chapter XD And I really hope I haven't made any faults.


Reflecting Reality Chapter Five

Holding an air of confidence about her, Marie paraded into the bright street dramatically. From a bird's eye view, any Runner could spot her in a moment; and as Faith looked down onto the street, she knew something was going down. Pushing a car-door shut, Alec's hot face reflected the sun across the street with extreme clarity. He looked tired and worn; his job was to blame for his rugged appearance. When the two approached each other, Faith leaned further off the edge of the building with interest. As soon as Marie opened her mouth, the Runner realized her non-super human hearing and shuffled down to an overpass to examine the two of them closer.

Alec White nodded as Marie spoke, cringing slightly as he took in her words but still closely reading Marie's expressions. On the other hand, Marie looked happier in her silent explanation of current events. She smiled and giggled, squeezing Alec's shoulder with her hand when she had the chance, and confirmed her remarks with a flip of her head. Faith swooped in closer to catch small snippets of words thrown between the two, but the message was still unclear, "I know...but you think...that's not...," Marie's voice sounded much heavier than her face made it out to be. Alec sounded out of it, confused, "What?...why would you...we can...no, please." It only took Faith a few more snippets of words to realize Marie was breaking up with him. Harsh.

A few more feet down the street, a blue car came whizzing past the couple on the sidewalk and honked. They both turned to look at the shiny car with surprise, but Alec's face soon turned to bright reassurance. Before they could respond to the car's hello, it squeaked into a parking building a hundred feet away and the two of them looked at each other apprehensively. Faith took this opportunity to get closer to the action, taking a ladder down to an alleyway near by the two, she moved out towards the street silently, putting her back on the wall of a brink building. Although the air was hot, the brink felt cold from its shadowed life. "No, Alec, don't," Marie said slowly. "Please understand...I did it for a reason. Your view on how the world should be is screwy."

Alec looked at her sternly, then pulled away from her grasp with a hard expression. She moped a little, then recomposed her face. All the while Faith waited silently for their conversation to continue; hiding in the shadows and waiting was what she could do best, other than running that is. She wondered about the little blue car, then her mind shifted to the parking ramp only a few blocks away. Her ear buzzed with a few orders from Merc, she then shifted uncomfortably and ducked further into the shadows, "Their breaking up, Merc," she said quietly into her ear piece, looking up at the blue sky over head. "Marie told Alec about what happened at Gan--,"

Faith stopped mid sentence when she noticed the eerie silence coming from the street. Although she had distanced herself from the couple to prevent her whispers to travel, she had a strange sense of paranoia creep up her back and the sudden silence made her blood pulse. Merc sounded uneasy in her ear, asking her quietly--as if someone could hear him too--what was going on. All around her a loud siren began ripping through the air. Feeling troubled enough, Faith hopped back up to the rooftops quickly and lashed herself behind an electric-power box. "Shit Faith, it figures this would happen," Merc said to her with a voice full of stress. "Marie is ditching Alec, yada-yada, but did you see how he reacted?" Faith crawled slowly out from behind her hiding spot and peered over the edge of the building. It made sense that Mercury was being over-cautious with their break up; Alec had a history of going bonkers when his pride was damaged--not that she should know about that. Faith reminded herself of the task at hand and noticed both Marie and Alec were walking towards the parking ramp. With a sudden explosion of confidence, Faith ignored the blaring sirens coming from the south and juggled herself down to the streets below yet again. It was risky to run into the lower sunlight of the city, but there were not enough footholds scattered between her building and the parking ramp to make an easy trip. She settled for the streets.

When Merc jolted cautions in her ear, she pushed them aside and darted around the corner of the building into the main sunlight of the pavement. The air felt hotter on the ground to Faith and she sifted her memory of the last time she took this normal traveling-route last. Her mind was running blank.

Only ten feet from the parking ramp now; Faith saw the tail end of Marie and Alec fade into the dark interior of the first floor. The musty smell of gasoline filtered though her senses and she almost let out a cough. When she scooted closer to the entry way, she heard Alec's shrill voice bounce off the deep walls of the building, then back and forth across the lots, creating a distant echo of annoyance and forced confusion. A car door slammed shut, another pair of shoes shuffled on the pavement, and Faith looked around the edge to the three characters looking at each other solemnly.

"Is she the one?" The man from the blue car asked loudly, his voice banging against the walls.

Alec kept his eyes looking at the mystery man but put a hand on Marie's shoulder. "Vasillis' daughter."

"Perfect" the man replied slowly while a smile edged its way onto his face; it oddly didn't fit. "Well then, you know what to do."

Alec nodded and moved his hand from her shoulder to wrap around her arm. She tensed and shot her sight to her former-boyfriend with questions almost forming on her lips.

Faith shook out of the concentration on the odd three and ducked around the corner quickly into the darkness. She slithered behind cars until she was on the other side of the group with Marie facing her. Before she could recognize the meaning of this meeting, Alec had scooped a disgruntled Marie from her feet and nodded towards the car door for the man to open. He quickly obliged and opened the rear-door warmly, placing his hand out to motion where to put her. His smile was growing bigger. Faith's eye brows propped high onto her forehead, trying to conclude the reason for the captivity of Marie. She nearly found herself smirking too, watching this girl who treated Faith so brashly back at Ganner Tech. and wondered what she did to deserve this weird kid-napping.

"What the hell, Alec?!" Marie screeched as she struggled against his surprising strength for a short man. "You have got to be kidding me! What's going on? If this is about Jack then you can just stop because nothing--" her shouts were muffled as the car door shut into her face.

"Two birds with one stone." The man said triumphantly as he took Alec's hand with his own. The two shared a moment of peace, then the man with the blue car turned and opened the driver's door. "You sure you don't want a ride?" His question referred to a previous talk they must have taken part in.

"I'm sure."

The man nodded, then dropped into the driver's seat and before closing the door he said one more thing, "I owe you one." And then he peeled out of the parking ramp, nearly hitting a Taurus on the way. Alec stood in the same spot for a moment, watching the blue car turn onto the bright street and out of sight. He stuffed his hands into his pants pockets and groaned. Just then, Faith's quick arms shot from either side of his head and clung around his neck. She knew he was strong, but not when she had him from behind. She kicked into the backs of his knees and he fell to the dirty pavement with a huff. She followed him down with her arms still tightly wrapped around his neck as he squirmed and croaked.

"Killing birds is illegal in this city. Especially when we have so little," Faith chimed into his ear, tightening the hold on his neck. He gripped her arms with his hands and tried to pry her off of him; he was running out of air to hold. She then loosened her grip enough to allow him speech.

"What--who?" He wasn't getting it.

Mercury clicked into her ear, "Jacknife is on the way, hold him off for a few more minutes, Faith."

"Come on, we both know who I am, who you are, who she was." Faith liked playing with him; she could almost hear the gears click into motion in his brain as he thought for answers. "Who was that man?" "Damn it to hell I'm telling you!" Alec spat out, his struggle weakened and so did Faith's hold on him. She wondered briefly if he actually recognized her voice. "Let go of me!" They struggled with each other for another moment when Alec whipped his elbow deep into her gut. Faith doubled and Alec wiggled out from her grasp. "Bitch," he spat.

Faith patted her stomach softly but took no time to reach for Alec again, he was ready this time and snagged her arms into a hold of his own. The situation was now reversed.

"Stupid, stupid...," Alec trailed off as he caught his breath. "Stupid runners and their damn eavesdropping." In less than a second, Faith felt a cold pressure against her right temple. "You know what this is...I can blow your brains out sooner than any runner could snatch you back. Do you like how it feels?" Faith stiffened and waited, thinking that cooperation was best suited for this situation. In this position, she was stuck beneath his meaty arms.

"Not so fast, bub," a new voice bellowed into the parking ramp with a loud echo. Alec froze and silenced his threats. "Don't shoot the pretty ones; what would that leave us then?" In the deep fright Faith held, a relief broke throughout her body. Jacknife was with her now. "Let her go."

Faith felt the absence of the gun from her temple and then sensed Alec's arms droop. She spun around and saw Jacknife's very own 9x19 handgun pressed firmly to Alec's scalp. He was smiling at her pleasantly. "Good man, good man." The gun slipped from the back of Alec's head and was placed snugly into Jack's jacket.

They all shared a silent moment when Alec turned around to face the triumphant Jacknife and Faith gave a small smirk back to her partner in crime. The parking ramp echoed nothing but their footsteps and the puffs of their breath. It almost began to feel like a friendly meeting in Faith's opinion. Jacknife took a step forward to Alec with his hand close to the 9x19 and stared him hard in the face. Alec looked annoyed more than scared and he flicked his own gun with his forefinger. "We can discuss this civily, can't we?" Jack asked Alec. He did not receive an answer, only another flick to Alec's gun. "I suppose not."

Faith could feel the tension surging around them. She thought of their only connection: Marie, and how this one girl could create such a huge rift between the two older men. Marie wasn't even attractive. Alec looked tired, but alert, and Jack reflected the same features with a younger version. Faith looked closely at Jack's angular face and the tattoo that ran along his neck and up the left side of his face. His dark hair and eyes looked even darker from the absense of light in the parking building. Feeling like a small bird was fluttering around her lungs, Faith could only watch them duke it out with their hands floating over their guns and their faces gleaming with determination.

Jacknife continued the conversation, "Why not explain to the poor girl who that was."

Faith watched Alec place the gun by his side. He relaxed for a moment and then sighed. With his free hand, he pinched the tight skin in between his eyebrows and began to respond, then stopped himself and turned towards Faith. "Clyde Russo," Faith had the suspicions this was a phony name, but she kept listening despite of her senses. "He...doesn't like Vasillis. And after today's events, I can't elaborate enough how much Marie...has...changed." Alec was picking his words wisely, slowly beating around the real meat and only giving Faith the side salad. Faith didn't mind his lack of information, she had seen everything she needed to know of Alec's new found annoyance towards Marie. She didn't mind that. Not one bit.

"Keep it coming," Jack piped, watching Faith with contentment.

Alec sneered at him but shrugged on to continue "Nothing to lose, I suppose. Russo and Vasillis go long back, childhood friends--enemies--to say the least. Nothing more than that. Just jealous hatred for one another."

"We all know that is not all," came from Jack, egging him on.

Silence from Alec, the gears clicked in his brain, then he spoke again, "Once Russo got word of Vasillis' drop in income, he found his opportunity to get back at him, for whatever reason, and what does he want to do? Take his pride and joy, his lovely, sniveling, runner-lover of a daughter. Not that I'm complaining, she deserves it." He made sure to add the last line for good measure. "And here we are, the after effect of a civil kidnapping for the greater good." Faith found herself nodding and Jacknife threw her a quizzical look. He then cleared his throat and came forward to pat Alec on the shoulder.

"Thanks man, now that we have her up to snuff, we'll be leaving." He swept over to Faith and cooed at her with his voice. "Let's go check on Merc and the USB drive we got the other day." Jacknife looked over to confused Alec, his gears began to click with the new information. "Come on, we don't want to be around this man once he realizes he's been duped." Faith began to see red blotches spread across Alec's face, and then his gun was positioned upwards, to where Jacknife was standing only a moment before. And Faith felt herself be swept away by her partner in crime, out of the parking ramp and towards the sky when a delayed shot rang out from Alec's gun into the dense, summer air.

***

Ducking into Merc's lair with ease, Faith laughed along to Jack's retelling of their adventure. She loved working with him, because not only did he make the job fun, but she enjoyed being in his presence; which, a few weeks ago, would never have crossed her mind as a fun time. Jacknife sprawled out onto the beaten, red mattress of a couch and sighed his tension away. Faith looked around the small space quickly to see any sign of Mercury, he wasn't there. She played with her ear piece and asked, "Didn't Merc say he was waiting for us?" She thought of the conversation she had with him only moments before on their way to accompany him and finally get a look at the USB drive together.

"Weren't you listening? Faithy...ha, you should be faster at this. Runner's are quick in more ways then one."

Faith mocked him and sat down beside him on the couch, which provided not much room for two people. "Well, what did he say that I obviously didn't hear? Because, you know, I'm always zoning out when important information should be heard," she teased, rocking back onto the couch to get comfortable. Jack twisted to face her, took her by the shoulders and smiled.

"Listen carefully now, I will not repeat myself." The high from the escape of Alec's temper still played lightly on Faith's nerve-endings. She giggled, then stopped herself after realizing how out of character she felt. But she kept a smile none-the-less. "Merc said he went out to snatch a victory pizza. Such a nice guy, huh?" Faith smiled harder thinking of the pizza and the laughing and the hurrahs. She shifted her body upwards to trot around the small hideout in a sort of victory-walk. Her feet were itching to start moving again and the wait for Merc to return made her bones jump. She spotted a shiny CD resting on a desktop near the large mass of computer screens. She picked it up and examined it thoughtfully. "Dinner and a show."

"That's right, Faithy, nothing better than food and fun information to suck up into our brains." He watched her open the drive to slip the CD in. "Good thing Merc put it on here too, in case the USB was taken magically," Jacknife smiled and stood up next to Faith to get a better look. "But let's not start until he comes back." the CD was taken out from the drive and placed back on the table. Faith peered over to him and saw a fast flit of nerves pass over Jacknife's face, but they were swept away quickly. He suddenly closed the foot between them and took Faith into his arms. She felt surprised, a feeling which she rarely felt, and flustered. Without thinking, she pushed him away from her; the blood pulsed unevenly in her body. Jacknife threw her a concerned look, then ignored her reaction and sprang to her again. She let him hold her, thinking that it was the least she could do, even though her body felt too buzzed to hug him back, and too embarrassed to think clearly, she let him indulge himself.

She breathed heavily into his hair, so close that she could smell him and so close that she could feel his own blood swell against his skin. She suddenly craved Jacknife and she didn't protest when he pushed his hands against her tank-top and down to her waist. He held her as if he never felt like letting go. She let the waves of embarrassment flood away and replaced it with something deeper and stronger. Jacknife shifted his weight against Faith and breathed softly in her ear. She felt warm and light, the same feeling that showered her after a triumphant cat and mouse chase. He was resting his arms around her back now, making small rotations with his hands against her tank-top and still breathing so slowly that it made Faith's skin crawl. After a long moment of content silence he stepped back away from her and marveled. Faith looked down, feeling flustered and uncomfortable from his sudden stare. He took his hand and snatched her chin so she would look into his eyes.

"Confused, aren't you?" Jack smirked and hung his head closer to her face. "Let's see how long that'll last."

The tips of their noses brushed first, and then the fraction of a distance between their lips closed slowly. They kissed. It was not enough, Faith thought, and she dove in further against Jack's lips. He responded fiercely with his own strength and took his hand from her chin and placed it at the back of her neck. They fumbled around each other, not separating their lips at any cost; Faith moved her hands around Jacknife's waist and felt the fabric of his jacket slide past her fingers. This moment had been hiding away in Faith's mind, inching it's way out until she couldn't take the lack of contact with Jack anymore. He was what she was looking for, and now, she felt high.

[!!!Warning: Lemon-esq love between Jack and Faith follows until break in text. Do not read if you are uncomfortable with anything more than fluff. Nothing too in-deph, but more than fluff. Half a lemon, if you will.]

Jacknife let go from the kiss leaving Faith feeling unsatisfied, she was about to make a clever remark when he kissed the corners of her mouth, then down past her chin and onto her neck. Her eyes widened with shock and she arched her head backwards to give Jack more skin to touch. They slinked back onto the couch as he played with her, kissing and licking her skin lightly and traveling further down to her nape then collar bone. She tensed and then forced herself to relax as he cupped a free hand around her breast and and squeezed gently. Faith buckled and let out a small moan which only made Jack's confidence grow. He took his left hand and placed it on her hip, then slid it upwards carrying her tank-top up past her belly button, then her rib cage, and finally her chest. Faith felt oddly cold in the warm evening heat, but she passed the feeling on, concentrating on more important feelings passing through her body.

The touch from Jack's rough hands on Faith's bare skin gave her a new sort of high, she fell out of tune with her senses, but she also felt more in control of her mind. Jack removed her tank top entirely and grasped onto her waist with both hands; their lips met again. This kiss was strong, pushing them both back and forth in a struggle of control. Feeling too submissive, Faith swung herself on top of Jacknife and shoved him down so he was down on the couch, facing up at her. Grabbing his blue shirt with her fists, she kissed him harder and began noticing the heat radiating from his skin. She helped him take off his jacket, then shirt, in hope to cool him down.

"Ah, Faithy," Jack mumbled, wrapping his fingers into her short hair. Faith smiled and traced her hands over his defined shoulders and pecs, breathing in to help settle her heart and loosening her muscles to make her feel less tense.

"I'm not confused anymore," Faith pointed out, dipping in low to kiss along side his tattoo.

"Far from it," Jack replied. He propped himself up and kissed her. The setting sun-light streamed into the hideout, across the computer monitors and spilled over Faith and Jack as they kissed deeply. "Now, let the show begin."

***

Later into the night, Faith and Jacknife awoke to a loud clunk near the hideout. Faith thought of Merc immediately, than dozed back into her dreamless sleep. Jack moved Faith gingerly off his arm and stretched up into a standing position. He grabbed his clothes which were strewn all over the room and slipped them on. He looked at the USB drive connected to a hard drive, popped it out and pocketed it. Then he focused his attention on the CD lying on the desk. The gleam from the moonlight replaced the previous setting sun-light and crawled in through the partly shaded windows, bounced off the CD and played on the walls and across Faith's sleeping face.

Jacknife took the CD in both his hands, paused for a moment, then snapped it in half. He turned to face Faith. "Thanks for playing, Faithy," he whispered, then leaped up to the vent at the top of the hideout out into the darkness to greet the man he had been waiting for all night.


A/N Jacknife you naughty, naughty JERK DX Not the CD! Oh no, whats gunna happen next? :o (I actually have the last chapter all straightened out. I just have to write it.) So, just one more chapter and then I hope to spit out an epilogue too. We'll see. XD yay!! And I hope I got people happy with the love scene between Jack and Faith. Some said they didn't want too much (hence the warning. Honestly, the chapter could go on without the sex-ish scene.) but others said they wanted it all. XD Since it seemed to be more votes for action, I wrote some. But jeesh, it's hard writing that stuff o.O I feel all embarrassed. ^///^

As always, flames are always welcome ;)