Lisa Ch. 02: Consequences

"What's so funny Jessica?" Josh asked and moved his face around to keep it in her line of sight as she lowered her eyes. "I could sure use a good laugh."

Jessica looked at Josh and was surprised to see that he seemed to genuinely want to know. She detected no hint of anger or sarcasm in his voice or demeanor. Jessica tried to look away again, but again Josh moved with her line of vision.

"How 'bout you tell me your joke and I'll tell you one of mine?" he asked. He held his breath when it looked like Jessica might actually be considering it. After several seconds of silence Jim came into view behind Josh's shoulder.

"Josh tells a really good joke Jessica. I think you'd really find it funny ..."

Jessica wavered. For a moment, Jessica wanted nothing more than something hilarious to laugh at. But then the front door opened and Riley came in.

"What's going on?" he asked his voice reflecting the panic he felt at seeing Josh and Jim huddled around Jessica like they were. And in that moment Jessica's expression transformed from one of cautious optimism to pure fear.

Josh and Jim looked at one another, deflated. Jessica had been on the verge of telling them her joke ... she'd been that close, they were sure of it. And now the moment was gone.

"Guys! What the hell happened!" Riley demanded when they did not reply.

"Nothing, everything's fine." Jim replied, unable to hide the disappointment he felt.

"Sure sounds like it," Riley said, his voice thick with sarcasm. He eyed Jessica who sat, eyes downcast, and then Jim with the plate full of eggs.

"She's not eating again?" Riley demanded.

"She ate fine." Jim said getting up and going to the kitchen, dropping the plate into the sink.

"Right ..." Riley said, looking to Josh for confirmation that his guess was right.

"No, really ..." Josh said, sitting back on the sofa and glancing over at Jessica. "She ate. Jim and I were just ..." Josh faltered unable to come up with a plausible explanation for why they were huddled over her the way they had been.

"She had an eyelash in her eye." Jim jumped in. "She couldn't get it out. There was a lot of blinking ... eye watering ..." he added when Riley looked at him like he had two heads.

"And she let you get it out?"

"'Let' is not a really accurate term. She's not really in a position to argue." Jim said.

"Okay." Riley said. He shrugged and seemed satisfied with the explanation. "I gotta go into town. Jim, can you come with me?"

"Yeah. Sure." Jim looked at Jessica again. He was glad Josh had been here too, to validate the fact that she had actually made a sound that at least somewhat resembled a laugh. Had he been alone, he would have been unsure. That was all interesting. Very interesting.

As he followed Riley out the door, he wondered what would happen when Scott returned.

He had gone to Caleb's and done his best to explain to Scott what they were doing with Jessica ... the brainwashing attempt. In hopes that Scott would consider doing the same thing and perhaps go easier on her when he returned. But Scott hadn't said much. Just squinted at Jim as he spoke, as if he were speaking a foreign language that Scott was trying to interpret. In truth, Scott was very much within his rights to even go so far as to kill Jessica when he returned. That thought stopped Jim in his tracks. None of them, not, Riley, Angus, Josh nor he himself were able to actually pull the trigger on Jessica, but Scott might very well be able to. And might very well do it.

'Shit!' Jim swore to himself and looked back at the house.

"Are you coming?" Riley called from the car window. He was already in the driver's seat, car running.

Jim got in the car.

"What's wrong with you?" Riley asked while backing out of the driveway.

"What if Scott decides to kill her?"

Riley had stopped to change gears but now sat looking at Jim with a blank expression.

"He might. Not much we can do about that." Riley said.

"I went to see him yesterday. To try and explain what we are doing."

"Jim ..." Riley interrupted in a tone that made it clear he was not impressed.

"Just so he knew ... so he could think it over a little before he came home."

"I bet he appreciated that."

Jim stared out of the windshield as Riley sped down the roadway.

After a few minutes of silence Riley glanced over at Jim.

"So? What did he say?"

"Nothing. Just kept staring at me."

"Probably trying to figure out what planet you came from." Riley said with a laugh. "I know how he feels."

"Ha, ha." Jim replied, in no mood for joking around.

"Look. He'd be within his rights."

"I know ..." Jim said, the dejection in his tone clearly reflecting his mood.

Riley did a double take. He looked back and forth from the road and Jim a few times, surprised by how much Jim was affected. Then he realized that all of his own daydreaming about Jessica and the future would be down the tubes too.

"If it makes you feel any better, I'm not thrilled about it either. But to be fair, if Jessica had shot me I'd probably kill her. And I swear to you Jim, if she ever succeeds in escaping, I'll hunt her down and this time I won't hesitate to pull the trigger."

"Yeah. I think that's the worse part. I would too. We all would. So why should Scott be any different? It's too bad, because I can sense changes coming Riley. I think we're close to things getting a lot better with Jessica. I'm sure you've considered the possibilities ... if we can ... can get her to like it here."

Riley nodded.

"I don't know how likely that is Jim." Riley said, thinking about the previous night. "Last night, Jessica was having nightmare after nightmare. She barely slept."

"That's why she looked so wrecked this morning." Jim said. And then he forced a laugh. "Well I guess that means she's healing. Physically anyway. When she was with me she was so out of it she didn't dream. She was practically unconscious."

"I guess we shouldn't get our hopes up too much." Riley said.

This time Jim was taken by surprise. He glanced at Riley and couldn't help but smile. Despite the façade Riley put on, Riley had hopes too. Now if Scott refrained from killing her, maybe things could get better.

"Maybe we should just make sure that there are no loaded guns around when Scott comes home." Jim suggested.

"Sure. We can do that. It may actually go further toward saving Scott's life than Jessica's. He seems to have a knack for being a sitting duck when Jessica is involved."

"When do you think he'll be home?" Jim asked.

Riley shrugged. "Could be tomorrow, could be a month. Whenever Caleb feels comfortable enough to let him go, and when Scott feels good enough to come home."

Jim nodded. So there was no real timeline. There had to be a way to calm Scott down. But how?

Later that night, Josh was pacing at the foot of his bed. Jessica lay on the bed, looking at the ceiling with a steadfast stare. Josh paused to look at her for a moment and then paced again. He was excited. He'd been excited all day. Finally he had Jessica to himself but for once sex with her was not an option. Her physical state made it nearly impossible, and without the option, Josh's libido went into neutral without any problem.

So, as far as letting her recover, that was one problem gone.

The second problem had been coming up with something to do with her instead of sex. Jim had said to talk to her about something, and Josh had been unable to think of anything to fit the bill. And then this morning the answer was provided for him, by Jessica herself. She'd laughed.

Kind of. In a strangled, garbled, distant cousin of a laugh way, she'd laughed. And then he knew that his favorite past time would probably be ideal for trying to find some common ground with her.

Comic books. He had tons of them. And whenever he had the night to himself, he'd spend his time reading them. Or sketching. He liked to draw. But there was no way in hell he was showing her his drawings. They were far too personal ... private.

So now the question was, which comic would she like him to read to her. He grabbed the stack from his bedside table and climbed onto the bed beside Jessica.

Jessica tensed. And it hurt. So Josh was going to go ahead and violate her. Now and later. She had expected that from Angus, more than Josh, but if she had to pick one of them as a preferred rapist to live up to her expectations, it was Josh. It didn't keep her stomach from turning as he settled down on the bed next to her and pressed up against her.

"What do you prefer?" he asked, "Green Lantern, Spiderman, Batman, Archie? I've got Wolverine too ... somewhere in here." He waved a handful of magazines in front of Jessica while searching through another pile that lay next to him on the bed.

Jessica blinked. Her body was so rigid, preparing for his advance that she could barely turn her head to look at the pages waving in front of her.

"Here it is ..." he finally said and added another magazine to the assortment in his right hand. Switching hands he turned up against her, propped his head on his bent arm and looked back and forth between Jessica and the magazines. "So, which one do you want me to read to you?" He asked in an almost playful manner.

Despite the voice in her head that kept telling her to look away from him, not to encourage him, Jessica couldn't. Josh's huge, muscled body, and severely etched face seemed in congruence with the boyish way that he asked the question, and looked at her in anticipation of an answer. Normally she wouldn't give one. Wouldn't even acknowledge his presence, but something about him reminded her of her brother right then.

Marcus had the same kind of ... innocence about him when he'd been excited about something. The wrongness about finding any resemblance between her sweet, sweet brother, and this monster didn't elude Jessica, but right then she wanted nothing more than to be reminded of him.

Jessica loved comics also, and it wasn't unusual for Marcus and her to read them together. She wasn't sure why Josh suddenly decided to do this. Right now she didn't care.

She was interested. Josh could tell. There was an expression on her face that he'd never seen before. She licked her lips and looked like she wanted to say something, but just couldn't get it out.

"How 'bout I hold up one a magazine at a time and you nod when you see the one you want me to read? 'K, Green Lantern." Josh paused and then read the name of each magazine one after another. When it got to Wolverine Jessica nodded.

"Really?" Josh said in surprise. "I would've guessed you to be an Archie girl." He shook his head as he put the other magazines onto his side table.

The fact was, that Jessica was an Archie girl. But right now, here in this place, the last thing she wanted to hear about were girls and guys flirting and dating. Some good violence ... good versus evil, where good won every once in a while, sounded much more appealing.

Josh settled back down beside her, opened the magazine so she could see the pictures, and began to read.

They read one comic after another. On and on.

Josh would pepper his reading with comments and observations of his own. And without thinking, Jessica would respond with a grunted acknowledgement or exaggerated eye rolling. She didn't seem to take notice, but Josh did. This had to be hands down one of the best nights he'd ever had. With Jessica, but also in his recent past. They were like old friends just hanging out.

It wasn't until Jessica yawned that Josh looked at his watch.

"Christ, it's 3 in the morning. I guess we should get some sleep."

"Hmmm." Jessica replied, but she was sorry it was time to stop. This had been a pleasant break. As pleasant as the time she and Jim had spent, Jim playing his guitar, and then them watching TV together.

Josh put the magazine away, pulled the blankets over them, turned out the light and without giving it much thought, brushed his lips over her forehead. "Good night." He mumbled as he drifted off to sleep.

Jessica's eyes were heavy. As they closed, she hoped that it was late enough and that Josh was tired enough that he wouldn't ruin the night by waking her later to abuse her.

"There you are!" Angus exclaimed the next morning when Josh placed Jessica on the sofa. "We were starting to think she'd murdered you in your sleep!"

"That's not funny!" Josh said straightening.

"It's almost noon Josh, what did you expect us to think?" Riley asked.

Jim was observing Jessica and was pleased to see that she not only looked physically better, but something else seemed different too. She looked, relaxed. Despite the fact that she was in the worst physical condition probably since she'd been with them, she was the most relaxed he could ever remember seeing her.

"They're kidding Josh." Jim said, "If we'd really thought anything was happening we would've broke down your door."

Angus had been watching Jessica too and seemed to notice the change also.

"Got a good night's rest, did you?" he asked. For some reason the fact that something Josh did made this kind of a change in Jessica, even as small as it was, ignited an anger within him.

Jessica caught his tone, chanced a glance at him, snapped her head down when she saw him staring at her, and all traces of relaxation were gone.

"As a matter of fact we did!" Josh replied anger growing in him. Angus' tone alone riled him, but just to see Jessica revert in a moment like that, just like she had when Riley'd walked in the previous day, frustrated him. He caught a glimpse of Jim glaring at Angus, obviously feeling the same frustration that he did.

"Guys ..." Riley said, "let's cool it."

"I've got work to do!" Angus grunted as he kicked back his chair and stomped out the door.

Riley looked after Angus, and then back at Josh and Jim.

"What the hell is up with you guys? You have to stop your arguing!"

"Tell him that!" Josh snapped, "He's the one always picking the fights!"

"It takes two to fight Josh ..." Riley began but then noticed Jessica. She was still sitting with her head lowered, but every once in a while her eyes would flick up. Lord knew what she thought of all this infighting. They shouldn't be having these kinds of conversations around her. "Forget it for now. We'll have a meeting about it later." 'When Jessica can go in the basement.' He added to himself.

"Fine. I've gotta go take care of the horses." Josh mumbled.

Riley shook his head as he watched Josh stomp out the door.

"You've got her? I've got work to do with the dogs." Riley asked Jim.

"Sure, no prob." Jim replied. As Riley closed the door behind him, Jim was gratified to see Jessica visibly relax.

"So, are you hungry?" he asked. "Of course not, stupid question." He added when Jessica gave him the 'yeah, right.' Look.

"I don't suppose you'd care to let me in on what you found so funny yesterday?"

Jessica gave him the same look.

"You know ... I did let you in on a secret of mine. A pretty big secret. I trusted you with it. You can trust me with this."

Jessica paused. Jim had a point.

"It wasn't that funny." Jessica whispered. It felt odd to speak.

Jim's face lit up and he shifted forward in his seat.

"Try me."

Jessica hesitated. And then the sound of a car pulling into the driveway caught Jim's attention.

"What the ..." he said standing up.

Car doors opened.

"We would've come to get him." Although muffled, Riley's terse voice carried inside.

"He insisted." Someone else said.

"Fine, you can go now ..." Riley replied.

"Let me help you." Josh said, followed by what sounded like shuffling on the steps to the door.

"Shit ..." Jim whispered as he looked at the door.

It wasn't until Jessica heard Angus say "payback time!" with more enthusiasm than she'd ever heard him say anything that she realized with horror what was going on.

The door swung open and there, hanging on to Josh for support was the confirmation of Jessica's fear. Scott and Josh paused in the doorway. He looked awful. After a moment of triumph, she'd gotten a little revenge for her family, Jessica realized that this probably meant even more pain for her.

Scott scanned the room and when his eyes fell on Jessica his face contorted. Fear shot through her.

"Take her to my room!" Scott ordered. Jim didn't move. His mind raced, trying to think of how to stop Scott, to diffuse the situation. But Scott locked his eyes on Jim and ordered, "Now Jim!"

Jim nodded. There wasn't much he could do to help her now. But by the look of Scott, he wasn't going to have enough strength to do much to her. Mind you, it didn't take a lot of strength to pull a trigger. Jim scooped Jessica up into his arms and turned back to watch Scott shuffle into the living room with Josh. Angus and Riley followed. Angus looked like a kid at Christmas.

Scott winced and clutched his chest, where the bandage was wrapped.

"Jesus Christ Scott!" Riley said, "You look like shit. This could have waited a bit longer, till you were stronger."

"No." Scott whispered. "No it couldn't." and he gave Angus such a withering look that Angus actually recoiled.

"I'm sorry Scott ... " Angus mumbled. "I thought you were dead. I never would have ... I would have waited for you if I thought ..."

"Just take me to my room." Scott said to Josh.

As they shuffled forward, Jim realized that he hadn't moved. He rushed ahead of them, Jessica rigid in his arms. But he was no longer that worried about her. Instead he feared that the payback would actually hurt Scott more than her.

"Cuff her to the bed," Scott ordered as he and Josh followed Jim and Jessica into the room. Jim did so and then stood watching as Scott dropped on to the other side of the bed beside Jessica and lay down.

"Thanks guys, you can go now." Scott muttered.

"Are you sure?" Josh asked, "You don't look so good ... "

"I'm sure. Go on." Neither Jim nor Josh moved.

Scott rolled his head in their direction.

"Really, I'm fine. I'll call when I need you, 'k?"

"Behave yourself," Josh said to Jessica who lay still beside Scott. Only her eyes shifted in Scott's direction. "Even if he can't do much to you now, we can ... Angus can. So don't get any ideas."

Jessica didn't look suitably scared anymore. She did have something of a relieved look about her until Josh mentioned Angus' name.

"She'll be fine." Scott mumbled, "Just go."

When the door closed behind Jim and Josh, silence hung in the air.

Jessica could hear Scott's labored breathing.

"You look like hell." Scott finally said. "Worse than me even. Get some sleep and we'll talk after."

Jessica turned her gaze to the ceiling. Surely he was joking about napping, but within seconds Scott was snoring beside her. Jessica had no issues with that. Closing her eyes she drifted off to sleep.

Jessica awoke to find Scott staring down at her. He'd gotten up, and pulled a chair over to her side of the bed.

"Angus has fists like mallets ..." he said, leaning forward to run a finger over the bruises on Jessica's face. "Does it hurt a lot?"

Jessica let a moment or two of silence go by before giving a slight nod. She couldn't decipher the expression on Scott's face. It looked like a strange combination of anger, sadness and shame. A piece of hair had fallen over one of Jessica's eyes. When Scott reached over to move it, Jessica flinched.

"Relax, I'm just moving the hair out of your eye." Scott said quietly. He tucked it behind Jessica's ear and couldn't help but rub his thumb over her cheek bone, tracing the bruise that covered her cheek, from under her eye to her jaw line.

"I know what you expect me to do ... what they expect me to do." Scott continued. "But I'm not going to." He locked his gaze with Jessica's.