Disclaimer- I don't pretend to own anything related to Red Eye or Beauty and the Beast, etc. Duh. If I did, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be sitting here writing fanfiction to live out some lost fantasy :P

Thanks for all the lovely reviews and faithful readers! It means tons to me!

And also- for those of you wondering why Joe is so okay with Lisa going back for Jackson, just remember this is based off of the Disney version of Beauty and the Beast. I always wondered why Belle's dad was so compliant, too, but… *shrugs*

Chapter Ten

"Candle on the Water" – Pete's Dragon

"I'll be your candle on the water,'till every wave is warm and bright.My soul is there beside you,let this candle guide you.Soon you'll see a golden stream of light.A cold and friendless tide has found you;don't let the stormy darkness pull you down.I'll paint a ray of hope around you,
circling in the air,lighted by a prayer."

Jackson swallowed another gulp of his whiskey. Maybe if he got drunk he wouldn't care so much about being alone. The phone had long since stopped ringing, so now there wasn't even that to remind him that there was a world outside of his home.

He had already shut the files and was engulfing himself in the darkness. The sun was setting just as the buzz was hitting him. The attic had a faint orange glow from the lone window that faced the sunset. He sank back into the corner where he was sitting and listened to the silence. He drank down the last bit of his whiskey and set the glass down beside him. He faintly heard the sound of car doors shutting. Jackson didn't even move. He didn't want to get his hopes up. He knew Lisa was gone. The front door opened and shut.

"Jackson!"

Peggy. Hadn't he told her to stay away?

"Jackson Rippner!"

He grumbled to himself and poured another drink into his glass. He swallowed it quickly. He could hear Peggy running through the house and finally up the stairs to the second level.

"Jackson! Are you here?"

"I thought I told you to leave," he shouted.

He heard Peggy change directions on the second floor until she began climbing up the ladder to the attic. She popped her graying head up through the hole and peered at him. She looked oddly ghost-like in the fading sun. Peggy thought he looked more like a zombie. A corpse. She groaned.

"What on earth are you doing sitting up here drinking? How come you haven't answered the phone?"

"Was it you calling?"

"No it wasn't me calling! It was Melissa! Someone's coming here, Jackson. They're coming for you."

He chuckled softly.

"Let them come."

Peggy looked angrier than Jackson had ever seen her, but he didn't care.

"You're just so pitiful, Jackson Rippner. So pathetic."

Just then, the front door opened once more and there was no sound of it shutting. No sound of feet on the hardwood floors. No worried voices calling for him. Peggy looked down the ladder to the second floor and then back up to Jackson.

"Stay here and stay quiet."

Now Jackson was worried. He didn't care what happened to himself, but he did care what happened to Peggy. He crawled forward to where she stood.

"Run, Peggy. You can still make it out to the beach and down to the next house safely."

"No. I'll distract them. You don't give up."

And with that, Peggy disappeared down the ladder and folded it up after herself. She crept down the hall to the bathroom and began cleaning quietly. Jackson cursed himself and listened carefully. There was practically no sound. Until Peggy spoke.

"Oh! Can I help… you guys?"

"Where's Rippner?"

"Oh." Pause. "Well he's actually gone out to the beach for a spell."

Jackson cringed. They'd know she was lying.

"Really? Because I feel like you're misleading us, old woman."

A squeal from Peggy was all it took for Jackson to fling down the ladder. He whipped out his knives and killed two of the masked men before a third pulled out a gun and pressed it to his temple. Jackson froze immediately.

"Leave her alone," he murmured. "She's just trying to protect me. It's me you want."

Two more masked men emerged from the bathroom, each holding one of Peggy's thin arms.

"Take him down to the woods. We'll be behind," the taller of the men commented.

They led Jackson roughly outside and into the woods. The taller man released Peggy and shoved her towards the road.

"Run," he said. "Run now and you won't die with Rippner. Interfere and I'll kill you slowly while he watches."

Peggy looked torn. Jackson simply blinked before he raised his head high.

"Go, Peggy. I'm a lost cause and your family needs you."

Peggy said her goodbyes with her eyes and then took off in a slow jog. The men waited until she had disappeared into the thick growth before they kicked the back of Jackson's knees, causing him to kneel in the crispy leaves around him.

The two men who had been holding Peggy now pulled off their masks and Jackson growled. He wondered if Lisa knew about Gary Quinn being involved in this. Jackson pieced it together. Quinn must have somehow staged the sickness to get Lisa home. He prayed she was safe. He needed to save her…

Jackson shoved up against his detainers and they stumbled backward. Someone shot out at Jackson, but he heard Paul Anderson telling them, "No! He's ours!"

"I want him alive!" Quinn shouted.

One of the remaining masked men tackled Jackson. He was a huge guy. Nearly twice Jackson's size. They scuffled when they hit the ground, but eventually the larger man had Jackson's arms pinned easily in his own.

"Calm down, Rippner. I'll make it quick," Paul Anderson said.

"No, we make it slow," Quinn commented.

Jackson scowled at both of them. He couldn't let Quinn go back to Florida. Whether or not Lisa would return to Jackson was something else completely. He just didn't want her to get hurt. He had already caused her enough pain for a lifetime. Nobody else was allowed to hurt her. Especially not Quinn.

"I'll kill you both," Jackson growled.

Quinn stomped forward and punched Jackson in the face. Paul Anderson stood back and watched, smiling. Quinn continued to beat on Jackson, but Jackson was strong. He didn't cry out for Quinn to stop, he just took it, waiting for his chance.

He was lying face down in the leaves when Quinn finally stopped his angry assault. He huffed and licked the blood from his lips. One of his eyes was swollen shut.

"That'll teach you to stay dead, Rippner," Quinn muttered.

Jackson rolled over painfully to his back. He could breathe easier from this position, but sharp pains shot up through his ribs. One of them was probably broken. He thanked the stupidity of Anderson and Quinn. They were too excited from actually obtaining Jackson that they had not taken the time to check him for weapons. Sure, Jackson was ready to give up, but he never left his knives behind.

Jackson curled himself up, choosing now to groan out in pain, and as he did, he retrieved a blade from a sheath on his hip.

"He can't even take a little beating," Quinn commented.

"Oh shut up, Quinn. He's more equipped to handle it than you. Get up, Rippner. You might be able to fool Gary, here, but you can't fool me. I've worked with you."

Jackson stopped writhing and picked himself up. Paul Anderson nodded off the guards, letting Jackson stand.

"This should be interesting," Quinn laughed.

"Oh, I'll come for you next," Jackson said roughly.

Quinn looked slightly intimidated as Jackson rose to his full height with false ease. The knife was still hidden flat against his wrist, but not for long. He flicked it and it hit Paul Anderson right in the chest. Paul staggered backward and braced himself against a tree. Two of the guards got Jackson under control once more and pinned him face-down in the dirt. Quinn hovered over him while Paul Anderson panted against the tree.

"Kill him."

Quinn kicked Jackson in his injured ribs and Jackson finally let himself cry out. This was the end. This was it. He had accomplished nothing. He heard a gun being cocked. Then the inevitable shot fired.

Jackson wondered why he wasn't dead. Another shot was fired and now more were fired freely. The hands holding him down in the dirt released him and he collapsed on the ground. He opened his remaining good eye and saw the two guards were dead on the ground. Quinn was holding a gun pointed at Jackson's head.

"Move and inch and I'll kill him."

"Don't you dare."

"It sickens me that my threat holds any weight over you, Lisa."

Jackson's heart swelled. She came back…

"You sicken me."

Quinn chuckled. Paul Anderson coughed wetly against the tree somewhere in the distance. Jackson peered up at the gun, but Quinn was too busy debating with Lisa and Melissa, who both had guns trained on him. Jackson inched his way back towards the dead guard's hip and found the gun.

Everyone stopped when they heard Jackson's gun cock. He was struggling against his ribs to lift himself into a right position to shoot Gary Quinn. Gary turned and locked eyes with Jackson as he raised his gun. The women shouted out. Jackson wasn't sure who shot first; him or Gary. But Gary was, for sure, the one who fell to the ground dead. Shots from the women hit him, as did Jackson's shot. There was no chance he was still breathing.

Jackson allowed himself to collapse on the ground once more, hating his ribs. They were on fire. He just wanted to sleep. Now he had accomplished what he had wanted to. Lisa would be safe. Paul Anderson was dying, if not dead, and Gary Quinn was lying dead in the leaves near Jackson's feet. He was content.

Then there was Lisa's face. Sad and distraught. She was leaning over him. He couldn't see her very well from the swelling in his face, but he could smell her and hear her.

"You came back," Jackson said softly.

"Of course I did, Jackson."

He tried to sit up and the pain shot through him again, so he laid back down.

"Easy," Lisa said, rubbing his shoulder. "Melissa's calling someone now… you just hang on."

Jackson got it. He'd been hit. Gary must have shot first.

"You'll be fine," she cooed. "You've had worse."

Still, her voice was shaky. He could always tell when she was lying.

"You're a terrible liar, Leese."

Now her face was even more unbearable. She was struggling not to cry. He could hear some sirens coming down the road. They'd be back in the woods in a few minutes, but he could already feel fuzzy.

"Jackson," she cooed, brushing back his hair and feeling his clammy forehead. "Why'd you make me leave?"

"To keep you happy."

She looked away and waved to the paramedics.

"Leese."

She looked back down instantly.

"Yeah?"

He went to speak, but his throat was so dry. His lungs were dry. Everything around him seemed damp. He coughed and Lisa squeezed his hand strongly.

"Don't do this, Jackson. Don't be weak."

If he had the strength to smile, he would have. She always knew what to say. She was always willing to push his buttons. The paramedics were here now and they hefted him up onto the gurney and began working on him.

The inside of the ambulance was warm, and Jackson loved it. Melissa was nowhere to be seen, but Lisa was attached to his bruised hip. She sat there, gripping his hand, while the paramedics pumped him full of drugs and worked on slowing the bleeding. Jackson was losing feeling.

He could see her smiling sadly down at him while his eyelids began to droop. His hand slipped slowly from hers, but she held on tightly.

"Don't, Jackson," she said into his ear.

Her breath was warm against his skin. So warm, while he was so cold.

"Don't do this," she pleaded.

He couldn't keep looking at her. She was too beautiful and he was too sleepy.

"I love you."

That was all he needed. He slipped away happily. Lisa watched him sadly as the paramedics swarmed on him and she was told to sit back in her seat. She'd always be here for him. She'd will him to live. He had to live. She loved him. Lisa loved Jackson. He couldn't do this to her now.

"Come back, Jackson. Come back to me," she murmured to herself.