And after this world is out of reach
Sober and silent, faded and violent
Hopeless, I fight to fall between
Never surrender, out of the embers
Save a space inside for me

Take the color from your eyes
I bleed for you, I bleed for you
Bring the broken back to life
We'll make it through, we'll make it through
~Never Again

I Will Not Bow

Chapter Eight: Lessons

He was right behind her. Without even looking, without even opening her eyes, she knew he was behind her. He wasn't touching her. He just stood, his chest millimeters away from her back, his feet on both sides of her own, his breath tickling the hairs on the back of her neck.

Lisa took a deep breath and thrust her fist forward as hard as she could. The large bag barely moved; barely even swayed with the force of her punch. She blew out an exasperated breath, her bangs moving with the puff of air.

"You're still not putting enough force behind your punch." He said, his breath brushing her neck.

"I'm doing the best I can."

Jackson scoffed. "Obviously, the best you can isn't good enough."

Lisa whirled on him, clenching her fists at her sides, glaring furiously into his cool eyes. "I guess we can't all be as perfect as you."

Jackson didn't move despite how close they now were. "Why don't you take some of that anger you have at me and use it against the bag. Use some of those emotions you're so damn proud of."

"I thought you told me not to use my emotions. You said they made me weak."

"They do. They cloud your judgement in extreme circumstances. But until you can focus your strength another way, use them."

Lisa squinted up at him. She wasn't sure what to make of him. He wasn't being threatening. He wasn't being angry. He wasn't getting angry if she didn't do something right. It was as if someone had flipped a switch in him.

"I don't see how getting angry at a bag is going to help."

Jackson sighed. "It's not the bag you're getting mad at. Use the anger you've had at me."

"Why can't I just hit you?"

Jackson snorted and shook his head. "You have to learn to punch first. Here," without warning, he placed both hands on her hips and turned her around. He adjusted her stance with his feet and lifted her arms to the proper placement. Once he was satisfied, he moved to the other side of the bag, looking at her from just around the edge. "Now punch. Remember to rotate your shoulder. A punch isn't just hitting with your fist, it's attacking with your whole body."

Lisa nodded, took a deep breath and swung out. She hit harder this time, the bag swaying slightly with the punch.

"That's not hard enough."

She focused on the bag, swinging out again.

"Not hard enough."

Lisa drew another breath and held it, feeling her anger bubbling up in her chest. She willed the anger into her fist, pushing out as hard as she could.

The bag shook.

"Still not hard enough."

"What do you want from me?!" she exploded. "I'm doing the best I can!"

"Look at me."

"What?"

"Look at me."

Lisa flicked her eyes over to him.

"Don't look at the bag. Focus on me. Focus on everything that's happened to you because of me."

Lisa held his gaze, his unnerving blue eyes staring back. He was watching her intently; observing when she moved, how she held herself. He even seemed to watch the little trickle of sweat that rolled down her neck to her collarbone.

And knowing he was watching her like that, knowing that he was watching every move she made, reminded her that he had done the same thing two years before. That he had followed her for weeks leading up to the Red Eye. That he knew everything about her. Even though she was watching him now, even though she knew, her anger began to rise. Her fists clenched in the slightly oversized gloves.

Lisa raised her hands, the fists hovering just near her lips. His eyes moved to her hands, hesitating just for a moment before shifting back to her eyes. Her anger bubbled up in her chest, causing her heart to pound. Her fists clenched tighter seconds before she lashed out at the bag, her fist connecting with every ounce of rage she could muster.

The bag jerked back with enough forces that Jackson had to adjust his stance, his hands gripping the sides a little tighter.

"Better," is all he says.

Lisa drops her arms. "Better? That's all I get?"

He shrugged. "You still need more force, but it's better."

She brought her arms back up. "Then I'll do better."

Jackson's fingers curled around one gloved hand. He shook his head once she looked at him. "Not now. We need food."

"I'm not hungry."

"You're the size of a stick."

Lisa's arms moved to cover herself. "I'm sorry?"

"You're skin and bones, Leese. If you ever hope to get stronger, you need to gain your weight back." He held up a hand to stop the argument about to burst from her lips. "I don't mean fat. You need to bulk up. Eating right and doing proper exercise will do that."

Lisa crossed her arms over her chest. Her eyes roved over his relaxed form. "You're not much bigger than me."

His eyebrows rose slightly. "And yet. . ."

"And yet what?"

"And yet here we are. It's not about the size, Leese, it's about the force you put behind it."

Lisa saw his eyes widen as she swung at him. He ducked the swing easily and stepped aside. She punched again with her left hand, turning her body to follow his movements. They played the game for a few minutes: Lisa attacking and Jackson merely dodging her. Finally, with an exasperated sigh, Jackson caught the fist she swung at him and moved behind her, bringing her arm up across her chest and over her shoulder. His right arm moved across her abdomen, locking her other arm against her side.

"You're going to wear yourself out swinging wildly like that," he breathed into her ear. "You ask for my help and all you do is argue."

Lisa shivered as his breath caressed her ear. She pulled at the hand over her shoulder. "It's not that easy," she gasped.

"I'm not expecting it to be. I'm not expecting you to just do everything I tell you, but you should at least give me something. I am trying to help you. You have no idea how much its killing me to-" he stopped, inhaling sharply between his teeth.

Lisa waited for him to continue, feeling his heart thundering against her back. She tilted her head slightly when he didn't continue. His eyes were closed, his lips a thin line as if he were holding back everything he wanted to say.

"Jackson."

His eyes shot open as her lips brushed his cheek. He turned his face toward her and then quickly looked down. Jackson slowly loosened his grip and backed away, his hands going back into his pockets and a neutral expression once again crossing his face.

Lisa watched him, waiting to see any flicker of the emotion she had just seen. When he just stared coolly over at her, she sighed and started to unwrap the gloves from her hands. After several fumbling attempts, Lisa lifted her wrist to her mouth, using her teeth to pull at the velcro.

She ignored the soft snort from Jackson but didn't fight him when he took her other hand and deftly removed the glove before she even had the other one loose. Lisa handed the other glove to him silently and watched as he walked to the wall with the equipment.

"You know," she said after what felt like an eternity of silence, "I am kind of hungry. Maybe you're right and we should take a break."

"Glad you agree," he replied, not turning to her.

Lisa wiped the sweat from her neck with the top of her shirt. "I'm going to take a shower first."

"Go for it."

Lisa stalked to the barn door and reached to push it open. Before she could touch it, the door swung open, an imposing figure looming in the doorway. Lisa blinked at the sudden brightness.

"Miss Reisert," a deep voice greeted from the shadowed figure.

Lisa shook the shock from her system. "Mr.- ah, Andrew," she stuttered, realizing after a moment she didn't know his last name.

Andrew stepped aside, holding the door open. "Please. After you."

Lisa thanked him and walked through the door, careful not to walk too close to him. Something about him didn't sit right with her. She had no reason to suspect anything about him- she didn't even really know him- but something just felt off.

But maybe her gut was just wrong about Andrew. Just like it had been the first time she met Jackson.

Just like it had been wrong about everything since then.

The smell of something cooking made Lisa's feet move that much quicker down the wooden stairs. She stopped just outside the kitchen as voices filtered to her ears. Taking a deep breath, Lisa pushed the door open and stepped into the spacious kitchen.

With Nelle at his side, Arthur stood at the stove, stirring a pot of something that made her mouth water. Stana, Andrew and Jackson sat at the table, each nursing their own mug of something hot. At some point, Jackson had changed into a pair of jeans and a loose sweater.

Stana perked up when she saw Lisa. She shifted down in her seat and kicked at the chair across from her, pushing it out slightly. "Sit!" she said brightly. "Arthur's making his chili, which, by the way, is the best chili you'll ever eat."

Lisa gave a small laugh as she sat, attempting to act as normal as possible despite being so close to Jackson. "I'm from Texas. It's going to have to be some fantastic chili."

"Prepare to be amazed," Stana replied, laughter in her eyes.

"I wouldn't talk it up too much," Arthur cut in. "Nothing is ever as good as expected."

Lisa's eyes flicked to Jackson. Arthur had no idea how right he was. Her expectation of the good man she'd met in the airport had certainly been wrong.

"Jackson told me he's training you."

Lisa's head jerked to Andrew. "Ah . . . yes. He is."

The start of a smile pulled at his lips. "And how's that going for you?"

"Fine?"

"It'd be better if she'd learn to punch right."

Lisa glared at Jackson. "I know how to punch just fine, thank you very much."

"That's right. It's the follow through you have a problem with."

"Maybe it's not the student," Andrew interrupted, smirking.

Jackson drew up straight. "I'm sorry?"

"Maybe you're too close. I'm sure it's not good for the relationship."

"Actually," Lisa responded, "taking a swing at him is vastly improving our relationship."

Jackson snorted. "Maybe one of your swings will actually make an impact one day."

"I think," Arthur said, stepping up to the table with the large pot in hand, "that we should all take a step back and eat."

Nelle plopped down in the seat next to her mother after placing a pot holder and bowls on the wooden table. With a smile, Arthur handed Lisa a full bowl. Conversations stopped as soon as everyone had a bowl. An ecstatic look crossed Stana's face as soon as she took a bite.

"Ohmygodsogood!"

A round of laughter sounded around the table.

Lisa stilled as soon as one spoonful went past her lips and an explosion of flavor caressed her tongue.

She could honestly say she had to agree.

Amy Reisert sat on her daughter's old bed, a picture of a smiling Lisa resting on her lap. She felt the tears welling in her eyes but held them back. She'd cried enough since Lisa went missing. Crying wasn't going to get her anywhere. Crying wasn't going to help find her missing child.

"Yes, thank you Agent Blye. I appreciate the update," Joe's voice cut into the silence. "Of course, we will, thank you. Of course, you as well."

Without saying a word, Joe moved into the room and sat beside her. He reached out and gripped her hand, squeezing it gently.

"They'll find her," he stated.

"It's been three weeks."

"I know, but they will. Agent Blye said they were chasing some leads. Nothing concrete, but they're hopeful."

"Hopeful isn't going to bring my baby girl back."

Joe moved an arm around her shoulder and pulled her to him, resting his chin on the top of her head. "It's going to be okay, Amy. They'll find her. She'll be okay."

Amy sighed, allowing the tears to stream down her cheeks. "I just hope you're right."

Lisa pulled her arm across her chest, stretching her shoulder. "No follow through my ass," she muttered.

She fell into the stance Jackson taught her and raised her fists. With a frustrated grunt, Lisa pushed out her right hand, leaving her left hand hovering near her cheek. Her fist hit the bag with a dull thwack.

Again, the bag barely moved.

With a small scream, Lisa began pummeling the bag in anger. He wasn't going to be right. She wouldn't allow him to be right.

"I hate to agree with Jackson," a voice said behind her, as if reading her thoughts, "but your follow through is terrible."

Lisa turned her head to the side, her punches stilling. Andrew leaned against the doorway, his arms crossed over his chest.

"How would you know?"

A smirk crossed his face. "We took a class together in high school."

Lisa turned to him fully.

"And I was in the military."

Lisa nodded. "I forgot about that. Stana mentioned it."

Andrew pushed off from the door and walked towards her, stopping by the rack of gloves and pulled on two flat palmed gloves. He moved in front of her, arms raised.

"Raise your arms," he finally said.

After a confused moment, Lisa complied.

He nodded. "Good. Widen your feet a little. Good. Straighten your back," he paused as she did so. "Okay. Now. Aim for my right hand with yours. Slowly at first so that you can get used to the feel of it."

"Jackson said I wasn't ready to hit someone yet."

Andrew's smirk came back. "Do you always do what Jackson says?"

Touché.

Jackson watched from outside the barn as Lisa slowly hit Andrew's outstretched palm. She course corrected a few times, making sure to hit him square in the center of his palm. Jackson could just imagine the intense look on her face as she concentrated on what she was doing.

Andrew, for his part, was calm and collected. He kept his eyes on Lisa. He watched as she continued her hits; as they became faster with each punch.

Maybe Andrew had been right. Maybe he was too close. Maybe he should have just left her to her own devices; left her to-

No.

Even he wasn't that cruel.

Jackson inhaled. He should take a step back, allow Lisa to work with Andrew for a little while. He needed time to think.

AN: I swear time creeps up on me all the time. It doesn't feel like it's been as long as it has been since I last updated. I am trying to get better at updating. I promise I don't do this on purpose. I hope you guys enjoy.