Lisa Ch. 07a: Jessica

"You double crossing bastards!" Riley yelled as he drew back his arm and landed blow upon blow on Scott's face and head.

"No!" Jessica yelled and tried to run to Riley and stop him but Josh had sensed she'd try to get involved and hung back, blocking her way.

"Stay out of it Jessica!" Josh said, "I want to go help Jim and Scott but you have to promise me you'll stay out of it."

Jessica shook her head as she saw Scott covering his head with his arms and working to buck Riley off of him. Jim almost fell from the second punch Angus landed but pulled himself together at the last second and dodged Angus' next punch.

"I knew you guys were shitheads but I never thought you were backstabbing shitheads!" Angus growled, dodging Jimmy's swing and landing another of his own.

Josh pushed Jessica out of the way, and threw himself against Riley, knocking him off of Scott.

When Scott sprang to his feet, Josh retreated again to block Jessica as she tried to move toward the men.

"Stop! Stop!" Jessica yelled but they didn't pay her any attention.

Tears came to her eyes as she saw blood pouring from Jim's nose, and gashes on Scott's face. Jim and Scott began to land some good punches and despite the initial upper hand that Riley and Angus had gained from the surprise attack, the fights seemed evenly matched.

"I'm going to pound your pompous fucking face in you double crossing sack of shit." Angus yelled at Jim, the dull sound of flesh hitting flesh accenting his point as Angus' fist made contact with Jim's face.

"Good luck." Jim said through split lips. "I have a few bones to pick with you too."

"Oh my God, stop!" Jessica yelled again. Josh had diverted his attention from her and committed himself to the fight with Riley. Riley was working hard to fend both Josh and Scott off.

Jessica tried to grab Josh's arm but he shook her off.

Suddenly Jim charged Angus and the two of them crashed against the sofa, knocking it back. They landed on the floor, struggling.

Finding himself at a standstill with Josh and Scott, Riley kicked out his leg and landed it in the middle of Scott's chest, sending Scott flying. Then turning without warning he tackled Josh sending the both of them smashing into the wall behind them. Jessica could hear the swoosh of the air being knocked out of Josh.

Scuffling, grunting, muffled thuds as punches and kicks landed filled Jessica with horror. Her pleas for the men to stop fell on deaf ears and she felt a growing sense of fear that they were going to kill one another. Frustrated, Jessica clutched her hair and screamed at the top of her lungs, but the men were completely oblivious.

Jessica was desperate but not nearly as desperate as when Angus won the upper hand against Jimmy and stood over him volleying kick after kick into his stomach and ribs. Jessica's eyes strayed to the gun rack. She ran to the rack, grabbed a rifle and fired into the ceiling.

Through the shower of dry wall particles that fell around her, Jessica saw the men freeze and look over at her. A sudden rage overtook her. Jim was clutching his chest, his expression conveying the magnitude of his pain. Angus had frozen mid kick. Blood poured down Josh's face from the gash on his forehead and he looked crooked as he froze against the wall. Riley still pinning him there with one hand and his other hand frozen in the punch that he'd been about to land to Josh's face.

Scott had been in the process of getting up and froze in a kneeling position, looking up at her in obvious surprise.

Jessica lowered the barrel of the gun and swung it between Riley and Angus and with a pronounced pout she said, "You promised you were only going to talk!"

Turning slowly, hands raised, Riley took one look at Jessica and despite how pissed off he was he couldn't help but be disarmed by her. There was an earnestness about her that took the steam out of his anger. The other men seemed to be calming down also. Angus stepped forward, raising his hands slightly, Jim staggered to his feet, clutching his chest, Josh pushed off from the wall, hands slightly raised, Scott slowly got to his feet.

"That was before I found out that these assholes nearly left with you and were willing to kill Angus and me in the process." Riley said, his eyes slipping from Jessica's face to the gun she held, and back again. "And it really fucking pisses me off that the only people here that don't find you with a loaded gun unnerving are Angus and me."

"Grow the fuck up Riley." Jim wheezed, clutching his chest, "Like it or not, you're playing catch-up. You can be as pissed off about it as you want but it doesn't change that fact. Blowing up about it all the time, isn't going to get you any closer to Jessica."

"Grow up?" Angus demanded, "That's fucking rich ... Fuck, we're the ones who covered our obligations with the clan. We're the ones who always had to work ... giving you all the time in the world to make Jessica fall in love with you. And for that, yeah, fuck, you better believe I'm going to blow up."

"Do you honestly think being home more often would have changed anything about how you dealt with Jessica? Changed your attitude toward her?" Jim panted, running out of breath from the effort of speaking, "Be honest with yourselves ..." Jim added when Riley looked like he was going to argue, "We asked you to go easier on Jess many times. Being home more often would've just given you more time to beat the shit out of her."

Seconds ticked by before Riley exhaled and said, "Shit." His shoulders sagged. He suddenly felt very tired.

"Put the gun away." Angus said to Jessica, "We're done fighting." As Jessica returned the rifle to the rack Angus looked Jim over with an increasing sense of horror. "This is so fucked. Fuck Jim, I'm sorry."

Jim nodded, "'K."

Returning, Jessica stopped and looked around at all the battered faces. Her face, already reflecting her distress with the situation, grew more and more glum as she moved her eyes from Scott to Riley to Josh to Angus , but when they settled on Jim there was no denying her sadness, incredulity and disappointment. Jessica went to Jim, slipping under his arm and melting against him ... cupping his bruised and bloodied face gently with her hand.

"You should sit down Jim," she pleaded.

Tilting his head slightly he pressed his lips into the palm of Jessica's hand and kissed it. Pulling her tighter against him he shook his head, "I'd rather stand for now."

"Jess ..." Riley said, shame overwhelmed him. He'd never felt anything like it before not even when he knew he was using his friends to do his dirty work with Jessica. "... I'm sorry."

"You should never, ever, fight like this Riley." Jessica replied. She looked around at the men, before swinging her eyes back to Riley, "You're the only family you have left ... no matter how much you disagree you can never turn on each other like this again. Please ... promise me."

"I don't know if I can Jess." Riley said, "I don't know how not to be pissed about all the secrets, the inequality in our relationships with you. I don't want to make a promise I might break."

Jessica nodded and let her head fall against Jim's shoulder and she looked even more disappointed.

"So now what?" Angus asked. He wanted Jessica in his arms, he wanted her to stop looking like he and Riley had betrayed her.

"Jim?" Riley asked when the ensuing silence stretched.

Jim shrugged and winced from the pain, "You tell me."

"I have no fucking clue." Riley replied in a despondent tone. He felt so out of his element.

"I think you do." Jim said.

Riley shook his head.

"Jim, you always have a plan." Josh said, bereft of ideas himself.

Jim's laugh quickly turned into a coughing fit. Jessica struggled under Jim's arm, trying to hold him up as his coughing became increasingly painful.

"You're sitting down." Scott said, pulling Jessica away from Jim and taking her place as Josh moved under Jim's other arm. The two of them guided Jim to the sofa and helped him sit. As he tried to stop coughing and catch his breath Jessica slid onto the sofa beside Jim and wrapped her arms around him, comforting him as his coughing fit slowly subsided.

"If you do have a plan," Riley said when Jim didn't look like he was going to say anything else, "I'd like to hear it."

Jim shook his head. "The only plan I had going was for Jess. It was supposed to be a tailored version of marriage ... a way that maybe she could call herself our wife within the confines of our situation." He said locking eyes with Jess as he spoke, "With the hope that eventually you'd be willing to marry us by your definition. No Jess ... don't worry or feel bad." He added when Jessica looked despondent about how her stance on marriage was being received. Pulling her to him, Jim looked around at the men, "But I don't see how it could ever work. It was based on honestly, respect, and love and considering how little of that we have amongst ourselves there's no way Jess could believe in it enough to bother marrying us."

"Well, maybe we need the same plan for ourselves." Scott said.

"There's no fucking maybe about it." Josh said, "What was the plan?"

Jim shook his head, "It can't be my idea. This'll have to be a group effort ... only way all of us can really commit to it is if we all have a say in it."

"Makes sense." Scott said, "But if that's the case I want Jess involved in it too. This has to be all or nothing ... marriage material."

Jim nodded. "And we have to think long term. I don't think it'll be marriage material if we don't think longer term."

"What does that mean?" Angus asked.

"It means we have to consider what will make Jessica happy in the long run. Five years, ten years, twenty years, a life time from now, what will Jessica need to be truly happy." Jim replied.

"Fuck." Riley growled, "That's what got us here in the first place."

"What do you mean?" Jim asked when Jessica turned her face into his chest and groaned softly. Angus, Jim, Josh and Scott looked back and forth between Jessica and Riley.

Riley sighed. "Jessica already took a look into the future and worried that we'd force her to have kids."

"What?" Jim gasped.

"Yeah, that's what I said." Riley added, when the other men stared at Jessica in slack jawed shock. "She thought that eventually we would want kids and we'd make her have them. I was doing pretty good at convincing her we wouldn't do that until I realized she'd probably have your kid Jim. If none of the rest of us were here, she'd have your kid. I can fucking guarantee it and it fucking pisses me off."

"It's not true!" Jessica said sitting up, looking around at the men with the horrified look of a person falsely accused of murder. "I don't want kids, honest."

"You don't want kids because you've never wanted kids, or you don't want kids because of our situation?" Scott asked unable to hide how hurt he felt. "And be honest. I'm trusting you to be nothing but truthful Jess."

Jessica blinked at him ... "Our situation." She said quietly. The reactions of the men around her ... all of them clearly hurt, made her heart hurt. She sagged against Jim.

Angus' groaned as his expression contorted into a frozen mask of pain. Jessica looked around at the other men, so surprised by how badly Angus was taking this. The other men, particularly Riley, were watching Angus with trepidation. Sliding off the sofa Jessica went to Angus and slipped into his arms. Melting against him, Jessica cupped his face in her hands. Angus wrapped his arms around her and held her hard against him.

"Please understand that kids need so much. All the things that I had growing up ... I just can't ... I don't want to bring kids into this world without that." she said, looking into his eyes. "I'm sorry."

"What if it happens by mistake? An accident. Will you want to get rid of it?" Angus asked in a sad, pain filled tone.

"Oh, Angus. Is that what happened between you and Beth?" Jessica asked.

"Would you get rid of it?" Angus repeated.

"I don't know ... I'm sorry, but I don't know what I'd want to do. My goal is not to get pregnant. I have the pills and unless you make me stop taking them, that situation will never happen."

"Fuck kids." Angus grumbled, "I just want you. That's all. What kinds of long term things would make you happy?"

Jessica didn't know what to say. Aside from the whole pregnancy thing she hadn't thought long term.

"She likes to shower alone." Josh said when Jessica didn't respond. "She'll want that long term."

"You do?" Angus asked staring at her in startled surprise.

"How do you know that?" Riley demanded from Josh.

"She asked that from us, a long time ago. On our nights with her, she showers alone." Josh replied.

"Was that because of all the things I did to you in the shower?" Angus asked, guilt rolling over him in waves.

"Some of it." Jessica said. "But it was just nice to have some privacy. It was the only time I ever got any."

"Privacy." Angus repeated. "Showering alone. You got it. From now on you shower alone when you're with me." Angus said.

Riley nodded, "Me too."

"And she needs to go out." Jim said as he wheezed. "She can't spend the rest of her life in this house, on this property ... she needs to go shopping, out to restaurants, dancing ... long term she needs a real life."

Scott nodded his agreement. "And you don't need to worry about her being recognized." Scott added when both Riley and Angus looked like they were going to argue. "I checked it out before planning to have Jess ride at the track. No one is looking for her ... they've given up ... they're just waiting for to find a body."

"Fuck Scott can you be any more insensitive?" Josh demanded when Jessica's face went pale.

"Sorry Jess, baby, I'm sorry." Scott said moving to Jessica and Angus and wrapping his arm around her shoulder, giving her a hug, and kissing the top of her head while Angus still held her. "I just meant that it's safe for you to go in public, no one will be looking for you." Scott kissed the top of her head again when Jessica nodded, but she was still pale. Wanting to comfort her more Scott pressed harder against her as she stood wedged between him and Angus and something about the moment ... Angus holding Jessica, Scott holding Jessica, gave Scott an idea that stunned him. His mind raced ... he was amazed they hadn't thought of it before. Temporarily left speechless by the idea Scott watched Riley and Angus struggle with the idea of Jessica going out in public. Expressions of anger, worry, fear, rolled over their faces as silence ensued.

"Okay." Riley finally said. "I give the fuck up. You three are way beyond me in anything related to Jessica ... if you say she should go out, okay. But, I want her to be with us. Not alone, at least not at first. Understood?"

Jim nodded and panned his eyes to Angus who still looked unreceptive to the idea. "Angus?" Jim asked.

Angus thought about it for a long time before nodding. He locked his eyes on Jessica's, "But like Riley said, not alone. Do you understand Jess?"

Jessica nodded. In truth she was as thrown off by the idea as Riley and Angus were. She never, ever, imagined that she'd be going out in public with the men much less alone.

"And I want you to be our wife when we do." Riley added. "By whatever way Jim was thinking ... if you accept it, when we go out I want it to be very clear that you are taken. Do you understand Jess ... "

Jessica nodded, her eyes wide ... to Scott it was hard to tell who was more overwhelmed by the idea of going out in public, Jessica or Riley and Angus.

Scott cleared his throat, "Good. I have the perfect first place to take Jess. A pool hall I always go to. We can go tomorrow, early in the day so it'll be quiet. Do you know how to play pool Jess?"

Jessica shook her head, "Not really." She replied and her look of surprise quickly morphed into excitement.

"Perfect. It's something we can all teach you, together." Scott said, "Which is something we have to start doing more of ... things with Jessica, together. Including fucking her."

"What the fuck?" Riley demanded not sure he'd heard Scott right.

"That's the ultimate thing we can all do together with Jess." Scott explained, "It's the most intimate."

Anxiety rolled over Riley, worry about how he'd compare to the others consuming him, but when Angus said, "Holy fuck yes!" and he looked at Scott with awe, Riley began to rethink the idea.

"But not with each other right?" Angus demanded. "We'd all be there, but the sex would be with Jessica ... I'm not fucking any man, not even you guys." He growled his face twisted in revulsion.

"No, not with each other ..." Scott said. There were a lot of things he liked about sex but man on man was not one of them.

"Besides, I don't think our sexual preferences match too well." Jim said trying to stay calm. He looked at Angus and Scott. "I haven't quite made it to the point of making Jessica scream ..." he added, and for once it was him turning red rather than Jessica.

Josh groaned. Here he was trying to quit having sex with Jessica and now they were all going to do it together? At the same time? But if that was what she wanted then he would do it ... he just wanted to make her happy. "Jessica?" Josh asked, "What do you think?"

Jessica looked around at the men clearly surprised. "I never thought about it. But if you want to have sex with each other I don't mind."

"No, not that." Josh said. "I mean. Do you care if we all have sex with you at the same time?"

"Oh." Jessica said and stopped to consider it. She imagined all of them touching, probing, fucking, her at the same time and her pussy tighten. A thrill swept through her. "No." she said in a breathless whisper, "I think it would be fun."

Jessica's obvious arousal brought the men to full erection ... Jim gasped, pain shooting through his chest as his muscles constricted.

"Why the fuck didn't we think of this before?" Angus demanded in a low guttural growl as he pulled Jessica harder against him, thrusting his leg between hers ... pressing hard against her pussy.

"I'm fucked if I know." Scott said in an equally guttural tone and moved up behind Jessica sandwiching her between him and Angus.

Riley and Josh moved closer to the trio their heavy panting joining Angus, Scott and Jessica's but everyone paused when Jim gasped in pain.

"Jim!" Jessica exclaimed and pushing back into Scott she managed to look over her shoulder, around Scott, and see Jim sagging on the sofa, one arm wrapped around his chest, the hand of his other one pressed firmly on his crotch where his cock strained against his pants. "We can't do this until Jim gets his chest checked ..." she said looking around at the other men ... her arousal still clearly evident on her face but her eyes filled with worry, "Riley, please help him."

Riley struggled to gain control of his urge to strip Jessica down and fuck her. With a grunt he nodded, "I'll get my first aid kit from the car."

"Wait." Jim gasped, "You can do that later ... right now we have to finish settling things between us. Fucking Jessica together, while a great idea, isn't going to help us fix the problems between us, and it's not going to make Jess our wife. Besides which, I agree fucking Jess together is going to be ... hot, but I still want my one on one time with her."

Scott nodded, "Me too."

"That's just going to keep putting you guys ahead." Angus said.

Jim shook his head. "Ninety percent of the time we do things together. And since all we're going to do for the clan anymore is intelligence gathering, Josh, Scott and I can rotate in for that work. We'll all get a shitload of time with Jess. But if we don't get past our secrets and resentments all the gangbanging in the world isn't going to improve things for us."