Ok so I'm a firm believer in better late than never. So keep that in mind!
This is supposed to take place the same episode that Sam steals the gun with Jason and Diane watching…it just took me a while to actually get it written! My defense is that I'm visiting my sister in New Jersey and things here have just been crazy! I've been able to write a little at a time until finally I finished! YAY! So needless to say that this is probably far out of everyone's minds already, what with the JaSam we've already got, but I since I wrote it I'm going to post it. I hope you all enjoy this little one-shot, I had TONS of fun writing it! And now I'm off to work on Gone For Good!
Disclaimer: I don't own General Hospital or it's characters!
Coming out of his kitchen with a water Jason takes a long sip before closing the bottle. With a tired sigh he sets the water down on the desk and leans down on the chair there. Hanging his head and rolling his shoulders the knock at the door causes him to pause. Before he can reach for the handle the door is opening and Sam is standing in the doorway, both pause in their actions and stare at each other. The angelic look on her face is all Jason needs to be reminded of the mixture of fear and anger he felt at watching Sam blatantly put herself in the line of fire of Agent Raynor and the PCPD. His gaze roaming the rest of her presence his eyes land on the bag in her hand and the auburn wig that's half falling out the one side. At his sides his hands unconsciously clench and he shakes his head once, but his frustration and concern doesn't dissipate. Jason wanted an explanation.
Sam only had knocked on the door to let Jason and whoever else that were there know that she was coming in. After all the time Sam spent living with Jason she knew how frustrating it was to just be interrupted with no warning. It was something that she worked hard to never forget even though Jason always told her she should just come in…for Sam it was a sign of respect for Jason's space and privacy. So when the door opened and she saw Jason standing there she waited for the usual reminder that she didn't need to knock. Instead all she got was Jason's hard look and Sam knew what that meant and immediately smiled, hoping that it would work its magic and put Jason in a better mood. It didn't. With a deep breath, which Sam blows out of her mouth, she steps through the doorway and starts talking fast. She wanted to talk first, before the inevitable grilling started.
"Ok…So I know it looked bad earlier at the PCPD, but everything turned out ok." Sam says dropping her bag on the desk and her wig falls out, along with the sunglasses and her fake ID. Sam didn't bother to stuff it back in the bag, she just turns to stare at a silent Jason and knows that it was worse than she had expected. He was willingly letting Sam defend herself without interruption…meaning it didn't really matter what she said. Jason wasn't really going to be listening. "You're upset." She says resting back on the desk and biting down on her bottom lip. "But Jason you have no reason to be. I've done jobs like that so many times…it's too easy for me. Besides that cop…if you could even call him that…" Sam rolls her eyes at the child the PCPD had hired. "He was eating out of the palm of my hand. I was under no risk with him." Sam waits to see if Jason was going to say anything yet, still nothing. "That kid won't even be able to recognize me Jason…there's nothing to worry about with him."
"And Agent Raynor?" Jason asks, his voice low, his gaze probing. He knew Sam was hoping he would interrupt her, to talk, possibly yell. It made her more comfortable and gave her an easy target to argue with. It was when Jason stayed silent that caused Sam to ramble. If Jason wasn't so upset with what she did he would've found it kind of cute how she was carrying on. The problem was he kept picturing Agent Raynor walking forward to stand behind Sam and Diane telling him she charged double for federal cases. The money didn't bother Jason. He would pay anything to keep Sam safe and out of trouble…the problem was that if Raynor had caught Sam it could've meant a whole lot of problems for her and Jason didn't want that, especially when if she had stayed home and out of it she wouldn't have been in that predicament. All Jason could think at the moment Raynor had stepped by Sam and she froze was that he was going to have to sit back and watch Sam's future be wrecked because of his life again…he couldn't stand the thought. So yes, he was upset…and nothing she did was going to help. "What if he had noticed you? Recognized you? What then Sam?"
Sam heard the edge to his voice and she wasn't sure what to make of it. "But he didn't Jason. Raynor didn't even get a good look at me before you and Diane came out of the interrogation room. Thanks for that by the way, it was really helpful!" Sam quickly adds with a bright smile, but Jason wasn't appeased or smiling in return. "He thinks I was some redhead prostitute who he gave a break to, he didn't even give me a second thought. And the other cop was so preoccupied with my legs he wouldn't be able to pick me out of line-up." Sam said hoping that that train of thought might be distraction enough for Jason.
Jason had to agree with Sam on that…every male in the vicinity had been staring at Sam's leg. Jason included. But that wasn't the point. The point was she was there in the first place. "But you shouldn't have been there Sam." Jason shakes his head. Not able to stand silent any longer. If given the opportunity Sam would change the topic before Jason even knew what was happening. She talked that fast.
"Why Jason?" Sam asks crossing her arms over her chest.
"You could've gotten caught…"
"But I didn't'!" Sam interrupts.
"But you could've." Jason repeats. "You would've been arrested for conspiracy after the fact, tampering in a federal case, and the list I'm sure goes on with what Raynor would've charged you with. You would've gone to prison for sure."When Sam looks ready to argue he silences her with a look. "I had Diane in my ear while we watched you, warning me that even she wouldn't be able to get you off for something so deliberate and thought out. You would've gone to prison Sam. What about Alexis…and your sisters?" Shrugging his shoulders he shakes his head. "What about Spinelli and your business? You would've lost your PI license." Sam was now the one standing there silently and Jason sighs. "And for what Sam?"
Sam had been silent while Jason listed everything Sam had put in jeopardy, because he was right. She had risked a lot, but she couldn't let that last part go. "For what?" She asks, her tone screaming annoyance. "What do you think, Jason? I did it to protect Sonny."
"Sonny doesn't need you to protect him."
"It wasn't just for Sonny." When Jason just looks at her confused she scoffs and shakes her head. "I did it not only to protect Sonny, but everyone connected to him as well. If Sonny goes down…everyone around him goes down."
"Sam I appreciate your concern, but…" Jason says assuming she meant him.
"Not just you." Sam says swiftly, waving a hand. "I am concerned for you, but you can handle the police and the press and the scrutiny…it's everyone else. Carly is a part of this. Michael and Morgan are a part of this. Alexis, my mother, is a part of this. My sisters, Jason, Molly and Kristina…Krissy who already is distressed over what she's seen Sonny is capable of…they all are affected by this."
"Sam…" Jason says feeling like an ass for just assuming it was immediately about him.
"Don't sound like that Jason…I'm on trying to make you feel bad." Sam quickly says, reading his face correctly. "I'm just saying that when you ask why I risked it all. It's because to me, it was worth it. If I can prevent that from happening…from putting everyone through that…it's worth it."
Jason couldn't argue with that…he didn't even want to. So he would try another tactic. "What were you thinking though Sam? Stealing that gun…?" Jason couldn't even finish the thought he was still a little shocked that Sam had done it.
"What Jason?" Sam asks throwing her arms in the air and starting to pace. "We sat in this very living room and discussed this mess with Sonny all night. We listed all of our options Jason…we didn't have many. We listed everything that the police have…which is next to nothing. Except for that gun. It is literally the smoking gun in this whole mess. It's the one thing the PCPD has that is hard evidence against Sonny and it's the one thing that we had a chance to get our hands on. But we had to act fast Jason or it would've been too late."
"I get that." Jason nods his head and reaches out to stop Sam's pacing so she's standing in front of him. "But I talked to Spinelli Sam…you did this all on your own. You had no back up in place if things started going south."
Sam shrugs her shoulders. "It's nothing new to me Jason. I've been doing this for years…it's what makes me so good at my job. Besides…if things did go wrong…I didn't want Spinelli to be anywhere near Agent Raynor or his investigation."
Jason could understand the feeling…he felt the same way about Spinelli helping him sometimes. "But what about me Sam? You could've called me." When Sam just looks at him skeptically he sighs. "What?"
"Jason you would've said no when I told you my idea and we both know it." When Jason rolls his eyes Sam sighs. "What would you have said if I told you I wanted to steal the gun from the PCPD?"
"Well…" Jason says shrugging his shoulders.
"My point exactly Jason." Sam laughs pointing a finger at him. "You would've said no and possibly even placed some rookie in the organization to tail me to be sure that I didn't do anything you wouldn't have approved of."
"I would never put a guard on you without your knowledge." Jason says forcefully. He knew how much of a mistake that would be. First, because it would never work since Sam would be able to spot the man instantly and ditch him. And secondly, Sam hated when Jason placed a guard on her…past experiences had taught him that.
"I know that." Sam says with a small smile. "My point was…you would make sure that I was unable to retrieve that gun. That's why I didn't tell you."
"You still should've given me some warning that you were up to something. In case you needed my help."
"Because that wouldn't have raised your suspicions?" Sam scoffs resting her hands on her hips. "I wasn't trying to keep this a secret from you Jason. I was counting on you to figure out what I was up to." Jason looks at her skeptically and she sighs. "Do you think it was a coincidence that I got picked up and taken in when I knew you would be there trying to see Sonny?"
Jason had never even considered that possibility when he sat there watching Sam work that cop. He had told Sam that morning when he left the penthouse he would be at the PCPD if she needed to get a hold of him for anything. "You knew I was going to be there." Jason says unnecessarily.
"Yes Jason." Sam smiles brighter and nodding her head enthusiastically, he was getting it. "I knew that I could get in to the PCPD with no problem…with my get-up and con skills the cop was putty in my hands. I wasn't even too concerned with getting my hands on the gun. We both know how incompetent the PCPD is, but even I didn't think they would foolish enough to leave it lying out in the open like that. My concern was getting out with the gun." Sam says running her fingers through her hair. Her head was still itchy from that wig and she really wanted a shower. "If I went through with the whole booking process they would take away my belongings…including my shoes and then they would've found it. And even if I convinced that cop to let me go, I had to worry over if he would before they realized the gun was missing."
"But you still went through with it…even with your concerns."
"Because I knew you were going to be there." Sam says shrugging her shoulders and smiling impishly. "We make a great team."
"Not when one of the members is left completely in the dark, we don't." Jason retorts, repressing a smile. Sam was winning the argument, but he wasn't ready to let her know it. "I would've been better prepared if you had told me what was going on."
"Jason we've been over this…you would've stopped me." Sam says on a sigh. "Besides…I didn't even know if I was going to need your help. If Agent Raynor hadn't showed up there probably wouldn't have even been a problem."
"But he did."
"And you stopped him for catching me…see perfect team." Sam says sweetly.
"And if Raynor hadn't let you go? What then?" Jason asks crossing his arms over his chest.
"Well if worst came to worst…" Sam shuffles her feet, she hadn't really thought that far in advance. "You could've pulled out your gun and we would've gone on the run again." She sarcastically says nodding her head and smiling.
"Not funny." Jason says point a finger in her face and trying hard not to show his own amusement.
"What do you want Jason." Sam laughs reaching out and grabbing hold of his hand and lowering it. "I wasn't thinking of the worst case scenario. I was trying to stay positive. I'll leave the pessimism up to you."
Jason just rolls his eyes, but leaves his hand in Sam's. Looking down at their joined hands he releases a tired sigh. "I just can close my eyes and picture what might've happened Sam."
"Well don't." Sam says quietly, shaking their joined hands.
"Could you just avoid any more situations that put you in Raynor's line of fire? For me?" Jason asks staring down into Sam's eyes.
"Jason…I…" Sam didn't know what to say. She had assumed Jason was only annoyed by what she had done, but it appears to have really bothered him.
"When I saw Raynor walk up behind you my heart stopped for a moment. And what made it even worse was I could see your face and you looked panicked. I knew that your plan wasn't working like you wanted and I feared the worst. What if you got caught Sam?"
"Jason I didn't…"
"But if you had." Jason shakes his head. "I have Sonny who is facing a list of charges that even has Diane concerned. Franco is back to making his mysterious threats that I don't have time to even contemplate. Dominic…" Jason says, but stops and shakes his head. "I mean Dante is a cop trying to take down the organization and he also happens to be Sonny's son. And now, because of that, Sonny has completely disregarded all reason and has decided to stay here in Port Charles. Where he will be tried and convicted."
"Sonny's not leaving?" Sam says surprised, her jaw going slack.
"He says he won't, but I have Carly going in to visit him. Have her try to convince him that if he won't jump bail for himself than he should do it for the kids."
"That's good." Sam says out loud, nodding her head. "Sonny would do anything for his kids."
"Yes, well that's what Diane, Carly, and I are banking on." Jason says bringing his free hand up and running it through his hair. "But I don't want to discuss Sonny right now."
"Then…what?" Sam asks confused.
"My point was that with all that going on…the mess that is surrounding me…do you really think that on top of all that. That I need you behind bars too?" When Sam looks down to avoid Jason's probing gaze he sighs and brings a finger under her chin. "I'm going to need you through all of this Sam."
"I'm right here." She says softly.
"Can we keep it that way?" Jason asks, but before Sam can even answer he is leaning forward and pressing his lips lightly to hers.
"Jason I'm not going anywhere." Sam says reaching out with her free hand to cup his cheek. "And I promise you'll be the first person I call when I find myself in trouble or if I'm in over my head."
"How about you don't let it come to that?" He offers instead. Sam just smiles and shakes her head. "Or at the very least give me forewarning."
"Deal." Sam says before going up on her toes to peck Jason on the lips. "Besides who else would I want watching my back?" Sam smirks pulling away from Jason's grasp and walking towards the desk to pick up her bag and everything that had fallen out.
Following after her Jason reaches out and grabs Sam's fake ID before she can and turns it so he can read it. "Well you, Sam McCall, might want me to watch her back, but what about…" Jason's eyes go wide and an unnaturally wide smile spreads across his face. "Taffee Ryan?" He asks disbelievingly.
"That's Taffee with two E's" Sam says in her horrible southern accent. Grabbing the wig from inside her bag she quickly tugs it on her head and bats her eye lashes and gives Jason her best sultry look. "It's classier that way. Don't you think?" Sam says before bursting into a fit of giggles.
With a laugh Jason reaches out and pulls the wig off and tosses it back on desk along with the ID."I just have one more thing to say…" Jason says staring at the wig.
"What?"
"Shut the front door? Sam?" He asks bringing his gaze back to her, a smile tugging at his lips and his eyes full of humor.
"I was in character Jason!" Sam says laughing and slapping him lightly on the arm. "And it just came out." Sam grumbles glaring at him playfully.
"Ok, but I'm not going to let you forget that for awhile." Jason says shaking his head and looking back at her gym bag in her hands "So why did you bring this get up over here?" Jason asks taking the bag from Sam and starts emptying out the rest of the contents.
"Well the PCPD is filled with a bunch of inept men, wanting to be detectives…but the Feds are involved now…which means that when they notice the gun missing you and I will be the first ones on the list Raynor comes after." Grabbing the wig and ID Sam walks towards the fire and searches for the remote that turns it on. "So I need to get rid of any evidence of Taffee Ryan before that happens." Tossing the bag on his coffee table Sam digs in the bag and pulling out the fake fur coat she had been wearing and the snake skin dress and reaches back in the bag and pulls out the gun, still in its evidence bag. "I also thought you might want to take care of this."
"You carted this around with you in a gym bag?" Jason says skeptically taking the evidence bag from Sam.
"Well it wasn't like I skipped around on the sidewalk with it Jason." Sam rolls her eyes. "I kept it at the bottom of the bag and brought it straight here after changing out of that crazy get up." Turning back around to continue her search for the remote Sam hears the ripping of the plastic bag and turns to watch Jason pull the gun out of the bag. Both stare at the gun as he passes it between his two hands. "What are you going to do with it?" Sam asks finally after the silence gets to her.
Jason finally brings his gaze up to Sam and sighs. "I should get rid of it, but not tonight. For now I'm going to keep it hidden in the lock box in case the PCPD do show up here." Turning to head up the stairs Jason pauses and looks back at Sam. "Do you want me to store that stuff too?"
"No I rather not chance keeping any of it and getting caught with it later. Better to destroy it all now." Sam says finally finding the remote in a fancy box placed on the hearth. Listening to Jason's footsteps heading up the stairs, Sam silently questions what exactly was going through Maxie's head when she had decorated the penthouse. Nothing even looked like something Jason would pick on his own. Starting the fire and waiting for it to heat up Sam sits down on the coffee table and picks up the wig and starts brushing any snarls out with her fingers. She actually liked this wig Sam thinks frowning slightly, completely oblivious to Jason coming up behind her.
"I'm not going to miss that." Jason says plucking the wig out of her grasp.
"You didn't like me as a redhead?" Sam asks. "And here I was considering actually changing it." She sarcastically adds.
"I like your hair exactly like it is." Jason says reaching out to brush the stray hairs out of her face. When Sam's face glows from her smile he can't help but smile in return. "May I?" Jason asks reaching the hand holding the wig out towards the fire.
"Go ahead." Sam says turning and grabbing the dress and coat. After Jason tosses the wig in Sam leans forward and sends the clothes in after it. Next went the ID. "Bye bye Taffee Ryan…it's been nice while it lasted."
"So that's everything?" Jason asks sitting on the couch and offering out a hand for Sam to join him.
"Not quite." Sam says grabbing the bag and pulling out one boot and then the other. "I still have these and since my legs were what everyone was so caught up with, I'm sure the cop would recognize them. Possibly better than he would my face." Leaning forward Sam pauses when Jason's hand reaches out and stops her.
"The boots?" Jason says his blue eyes darker than normal.
"Jason…" Sam says smirking. She knew that look. She loved that look. "Are you suggesting that I should hold on to them?" Sam asks.
"Well…" Jason says leaning forward on the couch and pulling one boot and then the other from Sam's grasp. "I didn't really get a good look of them earlier."
"And you're hoping to now?" Sam asks smirking.
"Well…yea." Jason shrugs his shoulders and smiles at Sam. "From the little I saw…you looked good." Jason says hesitantly. He wasn't one to normally comment on Sam's clothes and he always was horrible at compliments, but he had liked what he saw earlier in the PCPD.
"Really?" Sam says skeptically looking at the boots in his hands.
"Really." Jason says dropping the boots and reaching out to grab Sam, who squeals in delight when he pulls her on to his lap.
"Well maybe if you're lucky…" Sam says fluttering her eyelashes before laughing.
Shaking his head Jason stands up with Sam in his arms and starts heading towards the stairs, but stops mid step when Sam squeezes his arm. "What's wrong?" He asks with a mixture of confusion and concern.
"The boots?" Sam asks and when Jason's eyes go dark with hunger she knows her eyes probably have the same look in them.
"We'll get them later." Jason says causing Sam to release a throaty laugh as he heads up the stairs, holding her close.
Like I said… so much has happened since that episode, but I didn't want all that hard work to go to waste. And I'm sorry if some of it's confusing or the flow isn't the best…Like I mentioned I wrote this in little spurts so my inspiration and thoughts kept changing with each little addition I made to the story. Hopefully you all enjoyed and I can't wait to hear what you all think!