There wasn't a part of his body that didn't ache. The beating the young man had taken before was now taking a large toll on him. But more than anything there was the sore kind of stinging pain of the bullet wound. Had he really called out for Lexa? He wasn't even sure himself. All was fuzzy. So many questions. Then he heard her voice, like solace in the darkness. He said not a word, which was unusual for him, but it was hard to focus with all the pain and such. Slowly but surely a smirk came onto his face when he was finally able to comprehend what she had said.

"Cockroach...huh? I-I always thought I was more like... some kind of sexy wild cat... you know...?" It was good to see his sense of humor hadn't died like he could have. That was no surprise, his sense of humor had lasted him through the worst tortures one could imagine. What did surprise him was that Lex was there. Not only was she there but she had seemed to have saved him. What an interesting turn of events. It was almost like... she cared about him.

But surely that was impossible. She had only saved him because it was her nature to do so. It was more likely that she was going to turn him in as soon as she could get rid of him. Jack let out a labored sigh at the thought. When at last it felt like someone actually cared if he lived or died, it was only to make sure he was to suffer some more.

Lexa still couldn't force herself to move. Moving meant action. It meant decisions. And she wasn't ready for those. She scoffed and rolled her eyes at Jack's comment, but it wasn't much of a distraction from the messy cluster of thoughts buzzing in her head.

What was she going to do about Jack? She could've just let him die but instead she'd saved him (well, Tyrell had saved him… and that was a whole other mess to deal with now). And now, because of her, he'd be able to kill and hurt innocent people again. All of those lives, everything he did – it'd be on her shoulders, now. The logical option was to hand him over to the authorities, but what jail could possibly hold him with his powers?

And Ty knew about her. She'd brought him into this, used him and he deserved more than that. He deserved answers. He deserved safety. Lexa didn't know how to ensure that.

But the question that consumed her most of all: had Shirley been telling the truth about her powers? Was she part of the same twisted experiment that had made Jack all he was? A part of her knew it made sense. She remembered the piercing, searing pain from 9's power, how it'd felt too real to be an illusion. What if… what if it hadn't been? She remembered the feral intensity of her hate, her anger, her fear afterwards. Was that… was that who she would've been if she hadn't escaped? Was that who she was?

Lexa closed her eyes and wished she could just sleep through this nightmare.

"So that Shirley guy's a prick. I see why you want to kill him." Her conversational tone was at odds with how her broken voice rasped and tripped over the words.

Lex didn't move from her spot and neither did Jack. He kind of just stared at the ceiling of wherever they were and listened to her breathing. It was so silent that was pretty much all he could hear was both of them breathing in the quiet. He could tell something was up with her, just by listening. When she finally spoke, mentioning Shirley he couldn't help but laugh. Laughing made him wince but he couldn't help but do so. She finally knew why he wanted this man dead, why it was such a big deal to him. "Yea, he's kind of a dick. More so..." He coughed among his words. "More so a bag of really tiny dicks."

"So... You going to tell me what's up with you? Why you saved me? Why you're all freaking out over there?" With a short, painful breath he added. "I know it's not because I almost died."

Jack forced himself up into a sitting position. "AGHHH!!" He clutched his chest in pain. "The fuck." Oh yea... He had gotten shot. That was not fun. "What's the matter, Lexa?"

Her mouth opened without her control, ready to tell him everything – about her fears, her guilt, what Shirley had revealed about her past. But… why? She froze, her lips parted but silent. She forced them closed again. Lexa was quiet for a long moment, eyes unfocused and down-turned.

"I saved you," she finally murmured, "because it felt like the right thing to do." That was the only answer he'd asked for that she was willing to give him. Her eyebrows scrunched together. She looked up to meet his eyes. "But I'm not sure it was." Lexa sighed in the darkness. "From now on, everyone you hurt… everyone you kill… it's on me. Because I couldn't let you die." Why couldn't she let him die?

"I know-" what he'd gone through, how he'd suffered, what made him like this "it's not really your fault. I mean – when you kill someone it's your fault. No matter what you went through, your actions are your own." Just like no matter how much she wished otherwise, she was responsible for killing 9… even if she hadn't been herself. "But… I can't blame you for being this person." She looked down again.

"So what am I supposed to do?"

"What am I supposed to do?"

"You know," He half-winced and half-smirked, "you could've just asked me to stop. I'm fucked up in the head, yes, but I'm not a complete, sadistic fuckwit like Shirley." Jack thought for a moment. "I owe ya my life. I take that at least a bit seriously. I know that stopping my careless murder spree won't change what I've done. But hey, there's gotta be a way to at tone for my sins, amirite?" He stuck his tongue out playfully trying to make light of the situation.

Jack REALLY liked Lexa, but she seemed like she'd never consider him anything but the enemy. "I hate this..." He wasn't sure if he was referring to the pain he felt when he breathed or spoke, or if he meant the fact that she'd never feel anything but disdain toward him. "Sorry, chica, I'm just rambling. Ignore me. How can I be of service, milady?"

Lexa blinked at him, stunned for a moment. He was…? She came back to herself and gave a disbelieving huff.

"You'd stop just like that, huh?" Her voice was less pained than it'd been, and had turned almost indulgent. "Well why didn't you say so earlier. Would've saved us both a world of trouble." The sarcasm wasn't as sharp as she'd intended, but she was too tired to put any real bite into her words. Besides… she wasn't sure she even had it in her anymore.

Lexa finally pushed herself up from where she was curled in the corner, aching muscles stiff and screaming at her. She winced as she stood, hearing her joints pop. She brought her arms above her head and stretched them up, her eyes squeezing shut.

"We need to get you out of here," she said when she finally opened her eyes to look at him again. "It'll be light soon. Someone's probably gonna come into the dance studio and I don't need to deal with them finding a half-dead criminal bleeding out on the floor. I can get us out but only if you think you can handle the trip." Lexa was running on autopilot, too tired to analyze what she was saying – what she was doing with him.

"We're probably gonna need somewhere to lay low. We probably pissed that asshole off. Well. I guess I did this time. But he'll be looking for us."

Us. We. How had they become a package deal? Lexa looked him over again, still not moving towards him. She bent down and picked up her sword from the ground.

"Anywhere in mind?"

She had asked him if he had anywhere in mind for them to go and be safe. With what strength he had he struggled to his feet, groaning in pain as he did so. FUCKSHITFUCKGODDAMNIT The words did not leave his mouth he was in far too much pain. Although he was pretty much healed up by now, he was still in quite a bit of pain. "I know of someone who can help us find a place..." He nodded, seeming to agree with what he had to say. "Yea... someone. His name is Roy he's Luca's son. Luca, the bar owner, remember? He's a bit of a bad boy, I'll be sure to keep him off ya. In any case, he should be able to help us."

Jack almost rejected her offer to teleport him out of there, he wasn't quite sure either of them were up for it. But he knew she was stubborn and they NEEDED to get out of there. He allowed her to teleport them from wherever they were, to the alley beside Luca's dive bar. "Oi. We should be safe if we go in there. But only for a moment. No doubt Shirley's men are looking for us. They'll protect us in there. But they're honestly no match for Shirley and his creations..." Jack noticed something about himself. The joking manner in which he normally spoke was doused by how serious the situation was. He didn't like it one bit. "Alright, sweet cheeks. Allow me to handle this one. This 'bad boy' I spoke of before will only do us the favor we ask if we either give him something. Or threaten him." He chuckled, causing him to wince. "I definitely prefer the latter. Of course, I won't go killing anyone, but threatening is still on the list of things I'm allowed to do, right?"

With another nod of reassurance from himself, he headed inside and gestured to Luca as he entered.

"Luca. 'ave you seen your sleezeball of a son?"

"Roy, yea he's-"

A person interrupted Luca by putting their arm around Jack's shoulder. "Right here, my man."

"Roy!!" Jack tried not to wince and looked toward the door to see if Lexa had followed him. He REALLY didn't want Roy to get his hands on her. Not that he would try much other than kissing and a bit of groping. But it would irritate Jack, nonetheless. In all honesty, Roy was Jack's rival, always trying to steal Jack's women.

"Where've ya been, Jack? Surely not left for dead somewhere by an ex one-nighter?"

Jack snickered. "Nah, I've been busy. Look, can we talk in the alley way for a moment? I've got a request and I don't want the boys finding out about it, ya got me?"

"Sure, sure, Jackaboy." Roy gave a grin and somewhat escorted Jack to the alley with his arm still around his shoulder. "Whatcha nee-" He stopped mid-sentence when he finally noticed Lexa. "Oi, oi. Who's this lovely lady, Jack? You didn't tell me you were with someone."

"I'm not" He gritted his teeth when Roy pushed him away. "She's just a friend. Nothing more."

"C'mon Jack, I've never known you to have 'just a friend' before." He moved closer to Lexa.

Jack reached out and grabbed Roy's shirt collar, pulling Roy back and turning him around so that Jack could put HIS arm around Roy's shoulder. "Look here, you piece of cow dung dipped in elephant jizz, I'd leave her alone before she or I bash your pretty little face in, you got me?" His tone was dark and threatening.

Roy's eyes widened for a moment. "H-heh... Yea Jack. Totally. Wh-what'd you need?"

"Oh, well you know." Jack's tone suddenly lightened and he smiled cheerfully. "We need a place to lay low for a while, no questions asked."

"O-of course." Roy pulled his phone from his pocket and quickly sent a text. Just as quickly as he had sent it, his phone received a text in return. "I'll forward you the address... can I go now?"

"Sure, buddy!" Jack let go of Roy and turned to Lexa as Roy scrambled back into the bar.

"We'd better get going..."

Lexa fought the urge to roll her eyes at Jack's display of… protectiveness? Aggression? Dominance? Some stupidly male thing that she didn't have the patience for but didn't have the energy to fight. All that mattered was they got what they needed and had to get out. Lexa looked at the address on Jack's phone, trying to recognize its location in the city through her tired thoughts. She stood close to Jack as she did so, almost leaning into him unconsciously. Whether it was for her own support or for his, no one could say.

After a moment, she gave a short nod.

"Ok," she said. "I think I got it." She glanced up at Jack and started a bit to find him so close. Leaning back, putting careful inches between them she spoke again. "Ready?" And with that she grabbed his shoulder and teleported them up to the rooftop and across the city.

The pair ended up in the industrial district, a dingy, dirty place with littered streets and unpainted walls. At was on the very edge of the city, just before a great pine forrest that stretched for miles. Lexa worked to narrow it down to the correct street and then the number until she found the building. She was panting, needing rest after the long night and teleporting across town with a passenger, but she knew she couldn't rest yet. She'd begun leaning on Jack more and more throughout the trip, the will to hold herself up growing more and more difficult to muster.

But eventually they made it to Roy's safehouse: an abandoned office building to some logging company that had closed long ago. It was too dark to see much, but it smelled of dust and mildew and the air was stale. But Lexa couldn't have been more relieved to arrive. With a sigh she let go of Jack and plopped down on the floor, her back against a wall. Moonlight shined through the window they'd teleported through above her.

"Shit," she muttered, closing her eyes and leaning her head back. Annoyance more than anything else colored her voice. This exhaustion thing sucked. She needed to work out more.

But… how exactly was one supposed to exercise a superpower? Just do it more? She'd improved by miles over the past year she knew, but she didn't know if that was because her power was getting stronger or if she was just getting better at using it properly.

Her mind flashed back to Shirley and what he'd told her. How she was supposedly… one of them. Lexa winced and covered it up by stretching her neck. She opened her eyes again in the darkness, staring ahead at nothing.

Jack… he'd grown up in the system. He'd spent his whole life learning and perfecting his power. Granted, he'd done it by being tortured. So if the options were know your powers and grow up being tortured, or have a normal life and figure it out on your own… Lexa thought she ended up lucky. She still couldn't believe what Shirley'd told her… what he'd apparently revealed to her about her life.

In a moment of blind impulse, Lexa opened her mouth.

"When you were young," she finally said in a quiet, distant voice, "do you remember… who was the first one to get powers? In the institute or whatever."

Jack could tell Lexa had used a lot of energy teleporting them around town to the dump of a hideout. He sat across the room from her, pushing some wooden planks and rubble out of the way to sit down on the floor. "Notice how no one said a thing about my wound and the blood? Well they know better than to ask. But I'm pretty sure Luca knows my secret. Anyways, you asked me question didn't ya?"

The young man looked up at what was left of the ceiling. "Uh, lemme think I don't remember particularly. I think they started in an order starting with Joker. However..." He closed his eyes tight, trying hard to remember what he had long tried to forget. "There was a mention of a first, before the Card Deck project. I listened rather well when they assumed I was unconscious. It was simply called Project X. and I'm not sure why. I know the victim was female, she was experimented on as a baby or something. Why do you ask? Did Shirley say something to you?"

By now it almost seemed like things were starting to add up. Jack was oblivious to it however. He didn't think in any way Lex could have been the girl that they spoke about, the main experiment of Project X. But it did explain her night terrors and her powers.

Project X. Of course a sadistic organization would name their first evil brainchild Project X. But other than that, what little Jack knew seemed to match up with what Shirley had said. Not that that proved anything.

"Said lots of stuff," Lexa answered. "He talks almost as much as you do. He was trying to get me to join his evil empire or something. Dunno. Wasn't really paying attention." Lexa gave a tired sigh, amber eyes focusing on Jack.

"The only people to ever know about my power were my parents. They hated when I used it. They were just scared, I think. They wouldn't even let me tell my brother, but I think he figured it out on his own." Her gaze drifted to the side as she spoke, remembering them. "But they're all gone now, so it's just you. And Ty." Another mess that needed cleaning up. She owed him explanations. "So what's your plan after this? Lay low and what? Go into hiding? Kill Shirley?" She tried to picture Jack in a non-violent civilian existence. Didn't quite fit. Then again, the same could be said when she tried to picture herself as just Lexa with no Trick.

"Heh. Well, I pretty much told ya I wouldn't kill anymore. So killing Shirley is out of the question. Regardless of, y'kno, the fact that he'll always be after us both and maybe even threaten to kill people we care about or worse..." Jack rolled his eyes but was smiling. "Oh well whatevers. I suppose I will have to move out of the city but what I really want... is to um... Stick with you. I mean! What?! I didn't say anything, I don't know what you're talking about!!" He shook his head like he really hadn't said anything about sticking with her. However, it was the truth that he had wanted to stay with her. But it was probably something she didn't want. In fact, she was probably still livid with him for getting her into all of this and such. Ah well, He would have to see what her reaction was to him saying stupid shit now. Great...

Lexa blinked at Jack when he said he was keeping his no-killing promise, even when it came to Shirley. That was… mildly impressive. Which really said wonders when Lexa was impressed that Jack wasn't planning homicide. She froze though, when he said he wanted to stay with her. Stunned amber eyes watched Jack as he fussed and fidgeted where he sat. He… what? How was she even supposed to react to them?

"Uhm… yeah?" Lexa wanted to run herself through with her sword for responding in the stupidest possible way. Her face was starting to heat. She tore her eyes away from him to look down at the ground. Shit, she was too sleep deprived to deal with this.

If she forced her spinning head to get its damn act together, it wasn't the most terrible idea. The smartest move would likely be for her to skip town, find somewhere new to hide and set up shop. It meant starting over, but… well, Lexa didn't have all that much to lose here. She'd miss her job, and Ty… But now that he knew about her, the farther she was from him, the better. She couldn't stand the idea of him getting wrapped up in this because of her own idiocy. He didn't deserve that.

At least she could bring her dog with her.

As for sticking with Jack… Lexa's eyes flicked up to him before quickly darting away again. Dangerous. Dangerous and volatile. Not homicidal though, for however long that lasted. But if he could be trusted, then he was a good person to have at her back. And…

Lexa had already lost her family once. While Jack wasn't anywhere close to that, she didn't know how willing she was to lose this possible connection to her past. Even if she didn't want to believe it.

"If we do this," she finally spoke again in a gruff voice, hardly believe the words coming out of her mouth, "I'm not babysitting you. I don't wanna turn around and find out you dropped a building or something." Promising to not murder was a good first step, but there was a whole slew of other crimes on his rap sheet.

This was a terrible idea. She was going to regret this.

But Lexa couldn't find it in herself to pull the words back.

There was rather a lot of anticipation building up as he waited to hear what kind of answer she would give to his words. Stating that he would want to stick with her felt like a mistake on his part, especially since she didn't like him. Jack listened and waited. "If we do this," she began, "I'm not babysitting you. I don't wanna turn around and find out you dropped a building or something." Jack stared with wide-eyes as if she had just pulled a rabbit out of her ear or something. Yes, her ear, not a hat. He was surprised that at what she had said, to say the least. "You mean it?" Jack grinned and lept up, wincing after he did so. "Look, Lexa. I won't let ya down, I swear on my favorite sack of fingernails!" Which was, in fact, a gross joke, but she probably couldn't tell if he was being serious or not. Clutching his wound he placed his opposite hand on his waist, looking up, smiling. "Hah! With you and me together, nothing can take us down!"

--Time skip--

It wasn't long after Jack and Lexa hid themselves away in Luca's son's hideout that they decided they needed to skip town. Which was exactly what they did. It took a bit of time. Jack had to make sure someone knew that Bob was living in his home and that he needed to be taken care of. He didn't dare return and risk getting captured or killed by Shirley. Lexa returned to her place to retrieve her loyal companion and pack a few things. They didn't even say goodbye to the people at the bar, or Lexa's friend from the bookstore. The one who had supposedly saved Jack's life. In any case they were free from the town in a matter of a day, and onto the next town an hour or so away. The city of Scilera was a bit calmer than Jack was used too, perhaps Lexa too.

Jack and Lexa lived in cozy apartment on the first floor of a quaint complex. They were just simple roommates, nothing more nothing less. No one knew who they were, here Jack and Lex were just two young people trying to make it in this world. The only problem was, neither of them had a job and were living off the savings each of them had. Which to Jack, wasn't much. If he wanted to he could easily steal millions of dollars. But that wasn't him anymore, he was never one for thievery anyways.

Anywho. The two somewhat reluctant roommates were in the shopping district of the city, here one could buy the necessities not much else. Yes there were luxury shops but with the town being slightly less busy than the other they came from it wasn't like shops for luxury were overly popular. That day, Jack was wearing a loose white button up t-shirt with the top buttons undo so that his hairless chest was showing a bit. For pants he wore baggy black jeans and black and white checkered Vans. To anyone else he looked like a some what ordinary young man with albinism helping his girlfriend shop for groceries. But he was so much more than that, and him and Lexa were NOT a couple.

He carried the basket under his arm as Lex placed things in it. It had been a month or two and they were finally getting used to living together as well as living like civilized people. He smiled at her as she turned to grab a few apples from the fruit stand in front of them. Some shops like this one were small and outdoors and were a lot cheaper since the food was home grown. He relaxed his face as she turned once more to place the apples in the basket. "So um... Lexa." He stuttered when Lexa paid the gentleman running the stall. "Heh. I've been doing pretty good since before, right?" He asked with a bit of a smirk, proud that he had not injured or murdered another creature or human since they left their homes. He followed her as she kept moving further into the market. It was the middle of a weekend day, just the way they liked it, overly crowded so that they wouldn't be noticed. But it wasn't too crazy for them, considering where they came from.

Lexa didn't look at him as she picked up small box of strawberries. Her dog liked strawberries. She should get him some.

(She really shouldn't with their limited funds, but Lexa's biggest weakness was for her dog.)

"Still here, aren't I?" She spoke with her usual dryness, but there was a soft humor to her voice that betrayed her ease. They'd settled into an odd sort of comfort – an intimacy, almost. Jack could be a handful, but no more than any other eccentric roommate. He didn't make any moves on her, he didn't mess with her stuff, he was good to her dog, and he wasn't committing any felonies. All in all, a stunning improvement.

She put the strawberries in the basket and handed a few bills to the seller before moving on, Jack at her side.

The revelation that she was… that she came from the same place that he did… well, Lexa couldn't say she was comfortable with it yet. It was like a puzzle piece she'd been missing her entire life had finally been put into place, but the picture it formed was something she didn't know if she could stomach. She'd been a science experiment. Manipulated and tortured and then hidden away.

She hadn't told Jack yet. She didn't know if she ever would. But there was a surprising comfort in knowing that there was someone like her. Someone connected to her past, as gruesome as it apparently was. Even if that someone was a wanted criminal.

Well. He was trying.

"Keep it up and who knows, maybe–"

Her quip was cut off by the feeling of something metallic and round pressed into her spine. Lexa froze.

"Hello there, darlings." A greasy voice murmured in her ear. Long fingers curled over her shoulder. Lexa stood frozen in the middle of the walkway, gun still against her back.

Well, shit.

"Bit of a snoozetown, in'nit? I really don't see the appeal of shackin' up here. But I guess you won't be for much longer, ay? You've got an appointment scheduled for this afternoon."

Lexa had really hoped this hideout would've lasted longer than two goddamn weeks. Her eyes were trained straight ahead, looking at the family standing in front of her. If she teleported away, they got shot. She teleported with him, she got shot in the spine and revealed herself in front of this market. She turned and fought, more people likely got caught in the crossfire. All her options were too messy to be worth it.

Goddamn farmers markets. Why were they always so crowded?

Her eyes flicked up to Jack.

"Don't," came a simple command.

Jack was listening to her eagerly awaiting for what she was going to say about his good behavior. He noticed the man come up behind her and press something to her back. His red eyes narrowed as the slime bag spoke quietly to them both. "Don't" Was all Lexa said to Jack. A single move from either of them and anyone could be hurt, civilians, or the two of them. Jack's hands balled into fists. He didn't care as much about the civilians as Lexa did, but he wanted to keep her around, so he controlled himself. However, that didn't mean there was nothing he could do. The white haired young man was fast, almost as fast as Lexa's teleportation. He could easily move behind the enemy and snap his neck. That wouldn't do either.

"Hm..." Jack grinned deviously, not a second passed and he was behind the enemy with the gun. He was almost pressed against the enemy's back. with his body. "You know." He whispered into the gunman's ear with a dark tone. "I've never tried human alchemy before. Do you want to see if we can transmute your skin into spiders? Or snakes? All it takes is one touch."

"Y-you wouldn't, that would kill me in front of all these people, you wouldn't want to reveal yourself would you?"

"No, of course not. However." Jack gently placed his hand on the gunman's shoulder and whispered quieter so Lex couldn't hear him. "If you don't lower your gun and run, very fast, away from here. I will attempt to turn you inside out with my powers and since I've never tried before, I'm not quite sure what will happen to you, friend. So I suggest you get out of here and never bother us again." Jack's voice was ominous and threatening.

The enemy was trembling now, in fear. He did not want to die and wasn't sure if this guy was telling the truth about killing him.

"One last thing, who are you working for? Shirley? it's that buttfuck isn't it?"

"I-I can't say, he'll kill me."

"People are beginning to stare, you will not ruin this for Lex and I. Tell me, who are you working for, no one can kill you more harshly than me, friend. Just tell me the truth and I'll let you go."

"...J-Jo-"

Something flew through the air from one of the nearby buildings and struck the man in the head. He crumbled to the ground, the gun clattered as it fell from his hand. Jack gasped and stared at the thing that had hit the man. People all around them began to scream and run away, including the shop keeps. With gritted teeth, Jack knelt down and removed the playing card from the side of the man's head, blood spewed out. His eyes widened as he flipped the card over and saw which one is was. "Time to move!"

Lexa didn't need to be told twice. In a swift move she knelt down, grabbing the gun in one hand and Jack's arm in the other. She took off, weaving through the frantic crowd to a now abandoned stall of potted flowers. Lexa ducked under it, eyes aimed skyward. Once they were fully under the table and out of sight of the crowd they snapped out of existence.

Lexa and Jack reappeared an instant later on the roof of a building. If they were being targeted they needed to stay away from anyone that might get hurt. She threw the gun down on the flat roof with a clatter.

"No-killing rule is suspended. Civilians are off limits." Her words were short and clipped as her eyes scanned the area. She was tired of being hunted. What happened to the good old days when she just showed up to a crime scene and kicked ass?

Christ, her life had gotten odd if those were the good old days.

Lexa was regretting leaving her sword at home. (What was she supposed to do? Bring it to a farmer's market?) But at least she still had two blackbelts, superpowers, and a semi-reformed homicidal madman on her side. Considering her latest foes, that apparently wasn't anything special. But at least it evened the playing field a bit.

Her eyes flashed gold when they landed on a figure on a far roof. Found you. It seemed they'd been found, too. The figure's arm cocked back and released, sending something small and razor sharp flying towards them. Lexa, still holding Jack's arm, teleported them to another roof, a stone structure between them and the assailant.

"You wanna tell me what this one does?" Lexa really wasn't interested in a rerun of the last fight she'd had with Jack's card buddies.

"No-killing rule is suspended..." Jack heard her words, but couldn't quite process them. Although they were words he'd almost longed to hear, his mind was elsewhere. She teleported them out of the way as another card flew toward them. He held the first card loosely in his hand still. Joker... "You wanna tell me what this one does?" Lexa questioned Jack. This time he hadn't heard her at all.

Jack, seemingly fearless Jack, was actually terrified of Joker. He wasn't like the others. He was the first card experiment but was the last to escape. Jack and Ace had agreed that Joker was far too dangerous to be unleashed so they left him behind. It would seem, someone had let him go. Undoubtedly it was Queen. Hopefully Joker wasn't still upset that he had been left to rot. But then, why else would he be trying to kill Jack and Lex?

Joker had had the worst time in the project, he was the first and was there the longest, so he was the one who had the worst stuff done to him. He had lost every ounce of sanity he had in there and couldn't feel anything at all, not mentally or physically, by the end of it.

"Wh-what?" Jack spoke to Lexa in a small, stuttering voice that mirrored his fear. "Lex, I told you we have to get out of here, we can't fight this guy."

If he's here, Queen isn't far.

Then there was that voice... It was right behind him. A terrifying, sadistic sounding voice. "What's the matter, Jackie boy? You're not excited to see a friend from the good ol' days?"

Jack's eyes widened, he froze. What's the matter with you? You're not afraid of anything. C'mon. get it together. He turned quickly and slashed with the card in his hand. Joker was behind Jack in a second, he grabbed him in a headlock with a razor sharp card at his throat. "Ohhh how I've missed you."

Jack winced as the card cut into his neck slightly. "Lex. Get the hell out of here!!"

The sharp note in Jack's voice gave Lexa pause. She looked at him when she realized what it was: panic. Jack was scared. She'd never seen him scared before.

Before she could process this, a cartoonish man had Jack in a headlock, the card pressing into the skin of his throat.

Jack yelled at her to run. But she didn't hear him. Not really. Because running without him – leaving him to this man, for whatever reason wasn't an option. Just like letting him die hadn't been an option two weeks ago.

Lexa steeled herself, muscles tense, ready to react.

"You can drop him or I can separate your top half from your bottom."

Joker laughed casually, as if what was going on wasn't an intense situation. Jack stood tense, with his teeth clenched, blood ran down his neck from the card that dug into his neck slightly. Lexa wasn't listening, she wasn't getting out of there. Well, only one thing to do before Queen showed up. He reached up and with all his strength, pulled Joker's arm from his neck. But only a bit. In a reckless moment he grabbed the razor sharp card, cutting his hand. "Check mate, clown." The card in Joker's hand morphed into something new, something entirely different. A Barbie doll, one Jack had seen in a toy store once a while back. Its blonde head of hair swayed back and forth.

"Hah!" Jack ducked and rolled away from Joker. Once he was back on his feet and at Lexa's side he grinned. "Shove it up your arse, you sonovabitch." Before he could put his hands on his hips and laugh hysterically, his eyes narrowed and he turned quickly. A mallet was raised and ready to be swung at him and Lex. "Ah ah ah." The young man reached up and placed his hand on the mallet.

"Nooo!! Don't touch!" The crazed woman holding the mallet Spartan kicked Jack away from her and her precious mallet.

Jack stumbled back, groaning slightly as he got his footing. "Ughh. Clowns."