Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from the movie Red Eye. I do, however, own all characters that were not in or mentioned in the movie.

Settling the Score
Part I: Flying Once More

All our young lives we search for someone to love. We choose partners, change partners...
all the while wondering if there's someone, somewhere, searching for us.
Unknown

1:32 AM. Lisa glanced at her alarm clock and sighed loudly. She had been staring at it for the past hour and a half and had not gotten any sleep whatsoever. Teasingly, it turned to 1:33, and Lisa groaned. This was getting ridiculous. It had been five grueling months since her encounter with the two-faced Jackson Rippner, and she had yet to get more than three hours of sleep in a row. He haunted her dreams and thoughts. No matter what she was doing, her mind always found a way to drift back to the psychopath. She always felt his eyes on her. In fact, that was what terrified her the most. Every stranger she passed, for a split second, was staring back at her with those eyes. He had caused her to be the one thing she hated: afraid.

Lisa's life had been devoted to preventing fear ever since she was raped. It had become a natural instinct to drive away anything that could pose a threat to her safety. She bought pepper spray, parked closer to the buildings and under streetlights, and refused to park in parking garages, but somehow Jackson managed to get through all of her traps. He had attacked the one thing that she had never thought anybody would. Her heart.

Her eyes wandered outside and to the street, silently searching for any unfamiliar cars, in particularly a silver BMW. When she found none, she allowed herself to relax slightly. It had been five months since her encounter with Jackson Rippner and she couldn't shake the feel that he was out there somewhere, plotting her demise. Now more than ever she was on her guard twenty-four / seven. After the rape, she knew that it had been a random attack. The perpetrator, who was later caught and sentenced to twenty years in prison, had seen her walking to her car in the parking garage and attacked without a second thought. But with Jackson, it was more personal. He knew where she lived, her habits, her likes and dislikes. She even speculated that he had been in her house a couple of times. He had invaded her privacy in multiple ways without her even knowing it. That thought alone scared the hell out of her.

Unable to find a comfortable position, Lisa rolled onto her back and stared up at the ceiling. She was steadily becoming an insomniac. Her father had insisted that she go to a psychologist, but she politely refused. She had not when she had been raped, and she saw no need to go now. All that she needed was firm proof that she would never hear from or see Jackson Rippner again. His trial had been postponed several times due to missing evidence and witnesses, which she had no doubt that Jackson had a small part in. There was even a rumor that Jackson had disappeared from police custody all together, but nothing had been confirmed. She was deathly afraid that he would seek revenge and try to kill her. In order to prevent such actions from happening, she invested in an alarm system and guard dog. She wasn't sure how much they would do to protect her, but something felt a whole lot better than nothing.

With another restless sigh, she glanced at the alarm clock. 1:39 AM. This seemed to be her normal routine and it was a wonder that she managed to make it into work every morning. Every now and then, she would pass out due to sheer exhaustion and have a dreamless sleep. Many people informed her though, Cynthia being one, that it wasn't healthy.

She was sick of everyone's concern. They were constantly asking, "Are you okay?" "You sure?" "Anything I can do to help?" Lisa groaned into her pillow and knocked her alarm clock off the nightstand onto the floor, the numbers facing away from her. Anger filled her as she wished for everyone to leave her alone. Things would be simpler if they just minded their own business. She closed her eyes and tried her best to get comfortable. Allowing all the thoughts to slip from her mind, she began to slip into a light sleep.

The sound of her guard dog barking caused her body to jerk awake. She slipped from her bed and walked into the living room. The dog sat just underneath one of the windows. Lisa knocked on the window, signaling for the dog to be quite. It had been a rash move on her part to buy a fully-grown Doberman Pincher, but at the time the Miami DA was unsure if he was going to make the charges against Rippner stick. After hearing the news, she immediately rushed out and bought the biggest and scariest dog at the pet shop nearest to her. However, it turned out that Lulu was quite a wimp, only barking when she felt it would be the most inconvenient.

Lisa padded her way into the kitchen and opened the door to the fridge. She had very little food stowed away and the only thing that looked relatively edible were the eggs tucked away in the back.

Jackson's comment about her eating scrambled eggs at 3 AM floated up and she decided that she would definitely not be having eggs. Lisa shut the door and walked over to her couch, where she plopped down. The remote was in its usual position, tucked down in one of the cushions by the arm of the couch. She slipped her hand down and fetched it. After turning the TV on, she relaxed and stretched out, flipping through the endless infomercials and late night / early morning reruns. She finally stopped on an old black and white movie. It held her attention for a little while; however, thirty minutes later, she was sleeping.

The sound of her alarm clock going off in her bedroom woke Lisa from a seemingly peaceful sleep. She knew without look that it was five thirty in the morning and she had an hour and a half before she had to be at the Lux Atlantic. Slowly, she got of the couch and walked into her room, where she turned her alarm clock off and sat in back on the nightstand. She stretched her arms and legs out as she walked to her bathroom and disrobed. The water was scalding hot when she stepped underneath it, just the way she liked it. It allowed her to slip away from the life she was living and envision herself in a much peaceful more relaxing environment. Lisa finished her shower and stepped out, wrapping a towel around herself. She wasn't looking forward to going to work. A big group of Italian businessmen were coming in and they were sure to wreak havoc. She came very close to calling Cynthia several times and telling her that she was ill. With a sigh, Lisa decided that she had to go to work. She couldn't let Jackson control her life forever. Or at least that's what she hoped.

Jackson lay inside the Mt. Vernon Private Hospital thinking about the one thing that had haunted his thoughts for the past five months. Lisa. His fingers tightened around the side of the bed as he replayed her stabbing the pen into his throat. He had to admit he had never seen it coming and he had definitely underestimated Lisa. His fingers moved to where they were running across the small scar positioned in the middle of his throat.

"It had happened in a parking lot two years ago…"

That's where he should have been first clued in that she was trying to distract him, but he pathetically felt sorry for her and thought that she'd given up fighting. That was only the beginning as far as he was concerned.

"He held a knife to my throat the whole time. I had to convince myself one thing."

Jackson cursed himself for being so stupid. He had been doing his job for ten years and some odd months and he had been blinded by one seemingly innocent conversation with a beautiful girl.

"That it was something you couldn't control."

"No. That it would never happen again."

His reflexes weren't fast enough for him to stop her from lodging the freaky looking pen right into his larynx. Bam! Impromptu tracheotomy.

Now, Jackson would always have a slight rasp in his voice when he talked, and he didn't even want to attempt raising his voice or yelling quite yet. The doctor had told him that was very lucky that he had not lost his voice. That was probably the only good deed Lisa had committed, he thought, that day on flight 1091.

He shifted restlessly in his bed and stared out into the hall, where nurses and doctors passed by going on with their busy lives. For about two months, he had called the private hospital home. It had taken quite awhile for the company he worked to pay off all the right people and make sure that he could disappear easily and it go unnoticed until he was far, far away from Miami. He was indeed far away, as far away as Virginia. However, as soon as he was well enough, he planed on heading back to Miami and exacting revenge upon Lisa, a plan the company had already approved.

They had been very lenient when they had heard of his failure. Jackson should have been dead before he had even reached the hospital, but since he had never failed a mission and had worked for the company for many years, he was given a second chance. The mission and agenda had been changed. It was personal. Revenge would be sweet. He imagined what Lisa would be doing at that very second. Most likely throwing herself head first into work and attempting to make everything perfect, without once thinking about what she needed. He admired that in her, but then again found it incredibly boring.

She was in fact a boring girl. All she cared about was her work. Not a lot of friends and she rarely went out except for once a week to order a Sea Breeze at the local bar. Or at least that is what she used to do. She had probably changed her routine up completely, in attempt to throw anyone who was watching her off. He could see the shock in her eyes when he revealed that he had been watching her for eight weeks. And in those eight weeks, he managed to find out everything about her, aside from the rape.

That piece of information was the key to his downfall. He shouldn't have let himself care. He was a professional. He was there to get a job done, a chief objective in which he failed. The word failure rested uneasy in his mind. The company he worked for had given him the job because they trusted him. "If anyone can do this," his boss said, "you can, Rippner." His charm and charisma had worked against him, and now he found himself lying in a hospital bed somewhere in Virginia with no means of contacting the outside world.

Everything was set. He would begin his mission for revenge soon. He would lie low for several weeks, testing Lisa. He would watch her every move and see how much he had shaken up her life. It would be interesting to get to know the new Lisa. Exactly how he would get revenge, he was unsure, but he would think of something while he stalked her. The term "stalked" seemed so predatory, but in a sense he felt it. Lisa had threatened his existence by not using male-driven fact based logic.

"One simple phone call saves your dad's life."

Jackson slammed his hands down against the sides of the hospital bed. Anger boiled in his veins as Lisa's face filled his mind. Why wouldn't she just listen and do as he said. He hadn't lied to her once. In fact, he kept his part of the deal. She was the one who deviated from the plan. She was to blame for every horrible thing that had happened since the plane landed. He found it hard to sleep at night. The event at 30,000 feet would replay over and over in his mind and every time he would wake up just as she was about to stab him. She was in his thoughts, his dreams. Hell, he was beginning to think that he was obsessed with her. It certainly didn't help when he would be watching the news on the TV in his room and he would see her on the television. His heart would begin to race and he would think back to their encounter in the bathroom. The closeness, the feel of her breath on his cheek, her scar. All of it became real for just a few seconds and then reality would hit and anger would engulf him.

He wanted her to suffer. He wanted her to pay for sticking that hideous pen into his throat. He wanted her dead.

Just as Lisa was about to head out the door, her phone began to ring. She sighed heavily and backtracked toward the ringing annoyance.

"Lisa Reisert." After working at the hotel for over five years, she had grown accustomed to answering the phone that way.

"Oh sweetie, it's only your mom," her mom said on the other end.

Lisa relaxed a bit and allowed herself to smile. "Hey mom, how's is it going out in Texas?"

She sat down on the couch and sunk into the cushions. Her mom tended to babble after a while and she wasn't sure how long the phone conversation would last. It didn't matter all that much if she was late to work. She was a manger and Cynthia would cover for her at the front desk.

"It's going fine, but listen. Will it be possible for you to come out here for a little bit? Rick is very sick and I need some help taking care of him. I can't do it on my own and still go to work."

Lisa rolled her eyes, but kept her tone the same. In short, she wasn't very fond of Rick. After all, he was the reason her parents divorced.

"What's wrong with him?"

"He has a staph infection in his right leg and the doctor's aren't sure if they caught it in time. He cut his leg while out at the barn about a week ago and now he can't walk on his right leg, it hurts so much."

Her voice was pleading and Lisa was finding it hard to say no.

"Are you sure it's okay with Rick? I mean, we really never did get along."

Lisa could hear her mom sigh on the other end. "Leese, I really need you. I'm at my wits end here and Rick has been grouchy since he came home from the hospital earlier this week. I don't know if I'll make it another day."

It sounded as if her mom was crying. Lisa didn't have the heart to say no after that.

"Yeah, mom. I'll try my best to catch the earliest flight out, okay?"

Her mother's spirit seemed to rise with that news. Lisa had never been really close to her mom, and she figured that her time spent in Dallas could change that. "I'll just call Cynthia at the hotel and let her know. When I get all the details sorted out, I'll call you, okay?"

"Oh sweetie," her mother beamed. "You don't know what this means to me. I love you."

"I love you, too, Mom. Bye."

She hung up with her mother and shrank further into the cushions. It hadn't been in her immediate plans to jump back on a place, especially back to Dallas, but there was really no way around it. Her mother was obviously unable to take care of Rick and they would suffer financially if both of them took off work. It would only be for a couple of days Lisa hoped. Jackson Rippner was locked up somewhere and wouldn't be able to hurt her again. Or at least that's what she liked the think.

Jackson was awakened by the sound of someone walking into his hospital room. He looked over at the door and found a man in a black suit holding a metal brief case. The man had a professional aura about him, and Jackson did not doubt that the man was from the company.

The company did not have a name and for good reasons. If someone was captured and the authorities were to question him, the person would not have any details to give, for he knew none. The only thing that he would be able to say is what his mission was.

He looked over the man curiously, wondering just what his mission was. The man said nothing as he opened up the brief case and pulled a file from it. He handed it to Jackson, nodded his head, and then disappeared from the room. The situation was a little odd, but no doubt it was for the best that no words had been spoken. It may have been a private hospital but there was no telling who or what was watching them.

Jackson opened the file and thumbed through the pages. There was police report after police report discussing how the case files on him had turned up missing. There were even several documents on Lisa and her efforts to help the District Attorney. At the back of the folder were several photos that made Jackson's blood boil. The photos were of Lisa going through her daily routine. The thought that somebody else was watching her pissed him off beyond belief. Somebody else was watching her. That's when it hit him. If he were to fail or decide not to kill Lisa in the end, the company had ensured that in the end Lisa would be dead. Anger filled him. Lisa was his mark and no one else's. Most likely he wasn't the only one on the case. There were others, but none of them knew what she was capable of. None of them knew just what made her tick. Jackson prided himself in knowing these things. He sat up in the bed and decided that he had spent enough time in the hospital. It was time he broke free and go after Lisa. But in order to do that, he had to make sure that no one else would be able to do it before him.

Lisa dropped her phone onto the couch and sighed. It was all set up. She was leaving Miami airport at 10:00 AM and would be arriving in Dallas around five hours later. Her hand shook slightly as she ran it through her hair, attempting to calm herself.

Knock it off, she told herself. He's not coming back!

But Lisa did want him to come back. She wanted him back so that she could show that she could hold her own. She had beaten him once before. But she wanted to beat him for once and for all. To watch the life slip away from his body, so that she would have the solace in knowing that he was no longer a threat.

She had already called her mom, her dad, and Cynthia told let them know what was going on. Cynthia reassured her that she had everything under control and asked her to try and get some rest while out in Texas. Her mother giggled insanely like a little schoolgirl and said that she couldn't wait to see her. Her father, however, sighed. He warned her to be careful and to make sure that whoever she was sitting next to, that she sit in an aisle seat. Lisa smiled when he had said this. She promised that she would be careful and said that she kept a pen on her at all times. After all that, the only thing she had left to do was pack. With a heavy sigh, she got up from the couch and headed into her room. Her flight would be taking off in about two hours and she wanted to make sure that she didn't miss it.

Score: Lisa – 1 / Jackson - 0