Restored Together

5

A/N: Storylines from the show will be a bit changed for purpose of fitting the story! :)

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A couple weeks had gone by, Jackson joined Sam and Jason on their investigation to take down Shiloh when he wasn't working. He wanted this guy put away, if not dead, just as much as the next person. The things he heard Shiloh do to people. It was just cruel. Especially hearing what he put Kristina and Sam through. As Jackson walked through the park as he was running a few errands, he saw Kristina by the playground.

"I wish I was a kid again." He said as he approached the woman by the park.

"Don't we all?" Kristina responded with a smile as she saw who it was, she turned to greet him.

"How are you?" Jackson asked her with gentle smile.

"I'm good. Still waiting on that drink you owe me. But yeah, I'm good." She responded nonchalantly with a smirk.

"Oh, really?" Jackson smirked, arching an eyebrow.

"Krissy! Krissy!" The pair heard a small voice call out towards them. "I'm thirsty."

"Here's your water, Avery." Kristina gave the little girl her water bottle, "remember don't chug it too fast." She told the girl as she kissed her forehead.

"All done!" Avery squealed before looking at the unfamiliar person next to her, "Who's your gorgeous friend?" She asked her older sister with a big smile.

"Avery, this is Jackson." Kristina blushed as she told her little sister, "Jackson, this is my little sister, Avery." She told him, catching his gaze.

"Avery! Momma's here!" They heard a voice call out towards them.

"And that's her unstable mother." Kristina uttered before greeting Ava.

"Ava." Kristina greeted with a flat tone, "here are Avery's bags. She may be getting hungry soon, she just got out a bunch of energy on the playground."

"Thank you." The blonde woman spat as she took the bags, "but I think I know how to take care of MY daughter." Ava said sternly in defense. "Who is this, your boyfriend?" The woman asked before turning her direction towards Jackson, eyeing him up and down.

"Jackson Thomas." He stepped up confidently, extending his hand. "Just a friend. You've got a beautiful daughter. She's quite funny, too."

"Thank you." Ava said sternly, glancing at him up and down before grabbing Avery's hand, "We'll be leaving now. C'mon, Avery." She said before storming off with her daughter.

"That woman is brutal." Jackson said as she walked out of earshot.

"That's not even half of it. She barely has the custody and rights left to Avery. My father has fought like hell to keep that woman away from Avery." Kristina told him, trying to catch him up to speed on the woman that is Ava Jerome.

"Well, I'm glad Avery has family like you to distract her from her parents drama." He said turning towards her with a smile. "Speaking of parents, have you made up with yours?" Jackson asked her, referring to her mother.

"I'm getting there." She told him with a nod. "I've actually been talking to my therapist about it and he suggested bringing my mom to therapy with me. I don't know if it'll get me the answers I want but I hope it gives me what I need."

"That's good, communication and love go hand in hand. You have to learn to communicate just like you have to learn to love. They're both choices you have to make. Without communication, love runs dry." He told her thoughtfully, speaking from what he's learned himself.

"Choosing to love is the easy part, communicating that love is the hard part." Kristina added, agreeing with him. "Now, about that drink..." she inquired, eyeing her with a grin.

"Meet me at Charlie's tonight after my shift?" He asked her, returning her flirtatious expression.

-

Later that night, Jackson was finishing his shift at the nightclub. As he approached the locker room, he heard commotion between two people. He stopped by the wall, just before the corner to get a peak of what was going on.

"You don't have all my money and you're late on your payment, again!" Jackson heard his boss, the owner of the night club, yell.

"This is all I've got for you." A woman's voice responded.

"You're ten grand short. I swear, if you don't get the rest of your shipment to me within the next couple days, we're done doing business. I'll make sure of it!" His boss stormed off, leaving through the back exit.

Just after that, the woman stormed off across the corner, running right into Jackson. "Watch it, would ya?!" The woman yelled at him, pushing him before meeting his eye. She had recognized him from earlier. "You. You're from the park earlier."

"Sounds like you're in some trouble." Jackson said with charismatic grin as he eyed the blonde woman.

"How much of that did you hear?" She asked.

"Enough to know that you owe at least ten grand." He replied. "Something tells me this isn't just any normal business dealing. You see, I don't know if Avery's father would like hearing about this."

"Don't you dare mention about my daughter." Ava warned him, stepping up to him. "How much to keep you quiet, huh?" She tried him, wondering if she could buy his silence. "You want to finish the job?" The blonde then suggested with a devilish smirk. "You can move a simple shipment like this. It's just a load of paintings from my gallery to move." She stated easily, noticing he wasn't opposing the offer. "I owe your boss quite a lot..." she explained to him. "What's your price? Something tells me you could really use the money."

Jackson took a deep breath as he thought about what Ava was offering him. She wasn't wrong, he could use some extra money to get into an apartment of his own. It wasn't like he couldn't do the job either.

"How much are you offering?" He asked her first, letting her set the price.

"Fifteen hundred. It's a very delicate and expensive shipment." She responded with a smirk. "Do we have a deal?" Ava asked to confirm, extending her hand.

"Seventeen hundred and we have a deal." He responded. She waited a moment before agreeing with a nod and shaking his hand.

-

Jackson had taken off to the location Ava had gave him to get the shipment to move. He sat in the truck after he loaded the paintings in the back. Before he hit the road, he sent Kristina a text putting a rain check on their night. Simply stating he was working late. Jackson shook his head after he sent it before heading to the drop off location.

Jackson met at a warehouse where people had been waiting for his arrival. They immediately started directing him what to do and where to drop off. As he got out of the truck to go meet with the guys to confirm everything, they immediately get the paintings out and lay them all out on the ground. He watches as one of the men cut right through the painting, revealing its hollow inside. The man reaches in to grab bags full of packaged substances that he assumed were drugs. He shook his head at the situation he put himself in. The temptation of his past staring him directly in the face.