Chapter 21 – Starting the Process

"Why'd you come through that door Jack?" Angie asked as the door to the study closed leaving the two of them alone for the first time since their arrival. She asked it in an almost mocking tone as she made her way over to the bookcases that lined the wall opposite the door.

Jackson really didn't feel like talking. Not only did he not feel like explaining himself to her at the moment but his throat hurt like hell.

"Oh come on Jack, I didn't hit you that hard. I hope you noticed as well that I purposely hit low so I wouldn't do any permanent damage." She opened one of the cabinets that were interspersed among the shelves loaded with books to reveal a small bar lined with crystal decanters and matching tumblers. "At least I don't think anything will be permanent." She finished with a small smile.

"Was that really necessary?" He finally rasped out.

"I thought it was." She answered casually as she poured a small amount of scotch into two of the tumblers. "Have a seat Jack." She indicated the couch that he stood behind and then walked over and handed him one of the glasses. "It's a very good single malt. You should like it I think." She sat down opposite him in one of the wing back chairs. "Now why did you come through that door?" When he didn't answer right away she chuckled one of those condescending laughs that did nothing except raise Jackson's hackles even more than they already were. Angie knew exactly what buttons to push with him and always had.

"It sounded like things were getting out of hand." He finally supplied in response.

"Aw, were you worried about the safety of your little acquisition?"

"I know what you're capable of Angela."

"Yes, and I thought I knew what you were capable of." She quickly and sharply responded back. "But after watching those tapes I started to wonder, would Jack come to his little woman's rescue? I wasn't positive that you would but low and behold…you came through that door."

Jackson took a sip of his scotch and said nothing. He really didn't have a comeback or a defense so he let things lie as they were. But the scotch really was good. That didn't really surprise him though, since Angie had been the one to turn him onto the stuff to begin with.

Having had enough fun with Jackson at the moment, Angie decided to change gears slightly. It didn't really matter why he'd come through the door this time but if it ever happened again, then that would be something to be potentially concerned about. "I'm glad that you did though, she'll probably like me more now."

"Hmph, probably." He took another small sip.

"I gotta ask, why did you decide to go the way you did with her? Why not just use the usual? If you were anyone else, I'd ask you if you just didn't like beating up on women but I know from personal experience, that's just not the case. I mean, you used to beat the ever living snot out of me when we used to train together."

"I haven't been able to do that for a while. You started focusing on those skills far more than I did." He remarked in an almost reminiscent sort of way. He realized suddenly that he wasn't angry with her anymore. She'd always had a knack for changing the tenor of a discussion without the other person even realizing it. In retrospect he felt like even more of a fool for the way he'd acted. He should have known that any reaction Angie would get out of Lisa would most likely be intended. He couldn't believe he'd forgotten about that ability of the woman that sat across from him, sipping her own drink.

"Then why are you doing it that way?" She asked again.

Jackson smiled before he answered. This was one subject that he already had all of the answers prepared. He'd anticipated it. "To see if I could."

Angie raised an eyebrow. "You know there's a good chance I'll have to take her out because of it."

He just nodded his head but said nothing. Even with prepared answers, he decided not to say anything about that possibility for the moment.

"Alright then, just so we were clear about that, I just want to ask a few questions then." She didn't give him anytime to consent, instead she just launched into them. She asked about his perception of Lisa's current state. She asked about her moods and habits, her reaction to different stimuli and more importantly to Jackson himself. She asked about how he thought things were going and about how well he thought she might do here. Two hours, five notebook pages and another drink refill later, Angie started to wrap things up.

"I think that's all we need to talk about tonight. You have anything for me?"

"Do you really think she's still going to be in her room since you told her none of them are locked?"

Angie smiled. "We'd already know if she wasn't, Derek's watching the door so to speak." She replied as she stood up. "Oh, I almost forgot. The two of you will be staying in the same room together."

"What?" Jackson was caught off guard. He hadn't even done that in the safety of his own home.

"Together. You'll both be staying in the same room while you're here." She said it as though it were the most obvious decision in the world. "Also," she supplied the already incredulous man, "I want you to sleep with her every night you're here unless I tell you otherwise."

"Sleep with her." He repeated. Surely she was joking.

"Yeah, you know…intercourse." She noted Jackson's incredulous stare. "Just do it. I know what I'm doing here. And don't think for a moment that I'm having you do it out of any kinky measure on my part. It's standard procedure in my book."

"Fine. But tell me Angela, why you? Why were you chosen to do this?" He was visibly angry again.

Angie smiled. "I'm aware you didn't know this Jack but I've been doing all of these for the company for a long time now. So get over yourself, it had absolutely nothing to do with you. Now just go do what I told you to do and I'll see you in the morning."

xxxx

Lisa lay quietly on the bed. That woman. How could she act so cavalier about everything that had happened to her? Jackson was one thing. He was a cold, sadistic sociopath but this woman Angie, outwardly she didn't seem at all like Jackson appearance or demeanor. So for her to act like she did… It was baffling and left Lisa on unstable emotional footing. For all that she didn't like about her, there was one thing that she absolutely adored. She seemed to have an excellent ability to get under Jackson's skin in such a way that he actually acted like he didn't know what to do. That was something she had never seen before today. Lisa felt pretty certain that Angie went out of her way to make Jackson feel uncomfortable. She wondered if this was just her usual habit around Jackson or if she now acted this way because of her. She wondered about the history between the two. Had something happened between them at some point in the past that caused Angie to harbor some sort of animosity toward Jackson and why, after being punched in the neck and thrown into a table, didn't he retaliate? Did Angie have some sort of leverage over him? And if she did, perhaps it would be just the thing to get herself started on some sort of freedom from the madman. Lisa was fairly sure that Angie was in no way going to be her knowing ally but at this point anything was better than going back to the hopeless existence she'd led before coming here. But she also needed to consider that if in some way Angie were able to help her out of her current prison, she might be setting herself up for something even worse. And though she found that thought hard to believe, she had to keep the possibility open that it may just be the case. She didn't know much about Jackson but he had become more predictable as time had passed whereas she knew next to nothing about Angie and even less about the mostly quiet Derek.

Lisa closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. Everything about this place and her somewhat new situation was beginning to give her quite a headache. She took a couple of deep breaths and tried to quiet her overtaxed mind. Her mental relaxation didn't last too long when she heard the door to the room open. Immediately, she sat up and looked to see who had just entered the room. It was Jackson and he wasn't his normal self. He was visibly out of sorts. He looked…angry.

Jackson slowly walked into the room and made a deliberate show of closing the door behind him. In his peripheral vision he watched as Lisa sat up and then stood. He took in the layout of the room as he crossed and headed straight for her. It was filled with potential weapons. Angie hadn't even had the decency to make the room a safe place to keep a person who hated him and would love to watch him die. She expected him to share the room with her with it in this state? There were the cliché sorts of weapons, like a large heavy candlestick on an end table next to a wing back chair as well as a letter opener on the desk across the room. He wouldn't have been surprised to see a lead pipe on the window sill. Unconventional weapons included spindle legged tables that could easily be broken off and used as a blunt style weapon and rope tiebacks on the curtains of the windows that would make for an effective garrote. Honestly, it didn't get any more ridiculous than this. He wondered if Angie had actually decorated the room specifically with him and this situation in mind. Now, with a full inventory of the visible items in the room taken in, he finally looked to Lisa. He studied her posture and the position of her arms and quickly determined that she didn't have any dangerous surprises in store for him.

Lisa actually backed away from him. She hadn't seen this kind of cold fury in Jackson's eyes since he caught her writing bomb messages on the lavatory mirror of the red eye. He looked deadly and frightening. The moment she turned to move out of his steady path, he was on her. He didn't say anything. There were no false assurances, no witty jabs and no condescending speeches. He just grabbed her retreating upper arm and pulled her roughly to him. The moment their bodies collided with one another's, his other hand wound its way into her auburn locks. At first she thought he was going to kiss her in some kind of desperate demanding sort of way but when he pulled her to him, he didn't go for her lips, instead he buried his face in her neck. She stood there frozen, terrified by his unusual demeanor and this unique display. She didn't honestly know what to make of it, a feeling she was beginning to think would never leave her.

Jackson just held her there and breathed in the smell that was uniquely Lisa and all his. Or at least he thought that only a few scant hours ago. If he found out that Angie was acting in any manner outside of the normal vetting process, there would be hell to pay. He'd find out a way of paying her back and he would take pleasure in doing it.

"Take your clothes off." He whispered

xxxx

AN: Not entirely sure that I'm fully happy with this chapter. I'm finding it difficult to write Jackson at the moment since I'm throwing him into a type situation that you never get to see in the movie. I desperately want to keep him in character and I'm just not sure I'm pulling it off. So don't be surprised if you see revisions beyond just grammatical fixes to this chapter in the future. I hope you liked it more than I did. More to come soon.