Chapter Two: Deal

“What are you doing here?” Tru hissed angrily as she approached the tree that Jack was leaning against.

He was waiting for her. Watching her. He had showed up at Jensen’s funeral with no invitation. No warning.

He took a few steps backwards and around the tree as she followed him with her flaming eyes. Now safely obscured from the views of others, namely Davis and Harrison, Jack answered her.

“I just came to give my condolences,” he told her matter-of-factly. “I know it’s not easy for you right now… losing someone you love. I know you’re angry. But you know you did the right thing. It’s okay to be upset. It’s okay to show those emotions, Tru. It’s okay to let those emotions out. Let them be free.”

She tore her gaze away from him, looking down at the ground. She hadn’t shed a single tear since the funeral had started. She just stood next to Davis, Harrison and Avery. Just stood there.

Numb.

“Thanks,” she bit off, then met his piercing gaze once more. “If you’re done, you should leave. Now.”

Jack chuckled softly. “Oh, I’m not done just yet.”

And with that, he slowly reached out and brushed his fingertips against her soft cheek, stroking it gently with the pad of his thumb and moving towards her, closing the already narrow gap between them.

“What are you--…”

But she was cut off mid-sentence as Jack’s powerful lips crushed against her soft ones. They pressed against hers and stayed there for a few seconds, catching Tru completely off guard. Yet, somehow she began to…

“I can’t!” she cried, suddenly breaking the kiss. “No, it’s not right. I can’t.”

“Why not?” Jack questioned.

“I just… I can’t… we can’t… we…”

“We can get through this together,” Jack finished for her, putting a finger underneath her chin and lifting it to meet his gaze. She then saw a sparkle of sincerity and honesty in his eyes she hadn’t seen before. “We made a deal, Tru. Before Jensen’s death, we made a deal. You came to me asking me how to end his life. I told you how. But there was a little something I asked for in return. Don’t make me regret holding up my end of the bargain.”

“OK, so let’s say we had a deal,” Tru whispered defiantly, crossing her arms. “Give me one reason why I should agree with your end of it. Give me one reason that would make me want to kiss you.”

“Because I know you feel it, too,” he told her, chuckling again. “I’m not sure if you’d ever say it to my face, but deep down I know you feel that there is something between us. Something you can’t quite explain or put your finger on. So instead, you want to run away. You want to stay away from me – avoid me at all costs – because you don’t want to admit those feelings to me… or even to yourself. Besides, as much as you try and convince yourself that Davis and Harrison understand what you’re going through, the cold, harsh reality is that they don’t. They only think they do. But I understand, Tru. I know more than you think I know. Our deal isn’t just about Jensen’s death and secret kisses… it’s something far more powerful than you or I could ever begin to fathom. That’s why I want to help you. I feel your pain as though it’s a part of me. Don’t try to deny our connection. I feel your pain, Tru.”

Tru shook her head silently and began walking away from him, though a firm grip on her upper arm stopped her in her tracks.

“Please. Let me help you.”

Not turning around to face him, Tru sighed. It wasn’t like she had much of a choice in the matter. She knew he was right. She knew she needed him. Especially now.

“Fine,” she caved in. “Meet me on Friday at midnight in the alleyway between the Standard Diner and the watch repair shop. We still have a deal.”

Satisfied, Jack released his grip on Tru’s arm and watched her walk away.

“I don’t know, Tru. Maybe this deal wasn’t such a good idea after all. If I hadn’t gotten you to agree to this deal, then maybe…”

His voice trailed off as he noticed her eyes start to flutter open. She moaned softly, her eyes slowly adjusting to the bright lights and new surroundings.

“Jack…”

He squeezed her hand in response. “I’m here.”

She turned her head in the direction of his voice, gazing directly into his warm cerulean blue eyes.

“Where am I? What happened?”

“You’re at the hospital,” he told her. “We were in the alleyway and you were shot.”

“I was…” her voice trailed off as the memories of what had happened came flooding back to her, causing a violent shiver to course its way through her body. “How long have I been here?”

Jack drew in a deep breath. “Since yesterday. They had to keep you sedated once they got the bullet out. They had to make sure you were stable.”

“So I didn’t die.”

“No, you didn’t. I don’t know what I would have done if you--…” he stopped, his voice cracking as he tried to choke back tears or whatever sudden outburst of emotion that had chosen to present itself at this particular moment.

“I would have asked. You know that.”

“No, Tru. I didn’t know that. I still don’t know that. But let’s not talk about that, OK? You’re here now and that’s all that really matters.”

Jack leaned over and kissed Tru’s forehead gently.

“That’s all that really matters,” he repeated.

There was a brief pause until Tru’s voice broke the momentary silence that had fallen upon them.

“You know, you were saying yesterday how you liked seeing a feisty side of me. Now it’s my turn to say I’m not used to seeing this tender side of you.”

“Oh, so which side of me would you rather see then?” Jack teased.

“The side where I don’t have to cut through your thick male ego to get a simple answer,” Tru stated simply.

“Ouch,” Jack teased again, feigning mock hurt. Then his facial expression changed and his tone became serious and firm again.

“Tru,” he said, squeezing her hand once more. “The police came by a few hours ago and asked me to ask you if you wanted to file a police report. We can find out who did this. We can find out who--…”

“No,” Tru said, cutting him off abruptly. “I’m not filing a police report, Jack. The police can’t fix this. Only those who are higher than us can help. Those who gave us our abilities to begin with.”

“Tru…” Jack began again. “You’re not making any sense.”

“I already know who did this to me,” she said, her voice in a low whisper, a deadly venom dripping at its intoned edges.

“Who?”

“Jensen.”

“Jensen? But he’s already--…”

Jack was cut off again, but this time by a loud scream and the furious bleeping of the heart monitor that was monitoring Tru’s heart rate.

“Jack!” Tru screamed in pain. No sooner had she let out the yelp of pain, her breathing became irregular again and oblivion was beginning to swallow her.

Jack’s heart nearly skipped a beat. “No, not again. Tru!”

But just as he was about to press the button to call for the nurse, a voice stopped him, chilling his core.

“I wouldn’t do that just yet if I were you,” Jensen Ritchie hissed, his dark voice seeming to reverberate off the walls of the hospital room. He walked over to Tru’s bedside casually, glancing briefly at Tru’s beeping heart monitor and then letting his gaze flicker to Tru before finally meeting Jack’s eyes.

“Jensen, but you’re supposed to be--…”

“Dead?” Jensen finished for him, chuckling softly. “Well, technically, I am. But the soul works in mysterious ways, Jack. And since Tru gave me a second chance at life when she apparently wasn’t supposed to, my soul still exists in the universe, just not in my physical body. So that night when Tru killed me, she was only killing my physical body, not my essence. The soul is the most important part of the physical, emotional and spiritual human body. Without the soul…” he let his voice trail off, his fiery blue eyes matching the intensity of Jack’s with a perfect, synchronous ferocity.

“So why are you here?” Jack asked, trying to keep an even tone to his voice.

“Funny you should ask. I’m here to take Tru’s soul.”

Jack eyed the other man suspiciously. “What?”

“I’m here to take Tru’s soul,” he repeated. “But I’ll make a deal with you. If I take Tru’s soul, then she’ll survive through all of this. She might be unconscious for a little while longer, but she’ll live. She might not be the same Tru as you once knew, but at least she’ll be alive.”

“And if I don’t agree to this deal?”

“If you don’t agree, I’ll make sure she dies instantly and cannot be revived. This also means she will never ask for your help and your day would never restart because it would not be meant to restart.”

Jensen watched Jack carefully as he considered the options that had been presented to him.

“So what will it be, Jack? We don’t have much time as it is.”

Jack inhaled slowly, narrowing his gaze with the other man’s piercing, soulless eyes.

“It’s a deal.”

To be continued…

Author’s Note: Oh, don’t you just love cliffhangers? Hehe! A big, huge thanks to all who have reviewed so far. I really, really appreciate your feedback! I still don’t exactly know where this story is going yet, but I’m slowly working things out in my head and it is coming together as I write. That being said, the reason Jack makes the deal with Jensen is because it actually does buy him some time while Tru is still unconscious to figure out how to get Tru’s soul back and how to get rid of Jensen once and for all. The next chapter will be about how the Powers That Be fit into the Tru/Jack scenario. I just had to get this chapter written tonight because I was so inspired by the feedback I’ve received thus far and I think this story will only get better from here on out. There will definitely be more even after Jack has saved Tru’s soul because he has to help Tru through her painful memories of the shooting and her previous painful memories of being with soulless Jensen before she killed him. So Tru having her soul is definitely essential to how the storyline will develop from here on forward.

Hope everyone enjoyed this chapter! Please leave me some tasty feedback!