Hold Me (in your beating heart)
Head + Heart series, part four
Sequel to In the Aftermath

This is the fic where everything really goes AU.

Come raise the dead
I'm dreaming of the end

- Rachel Rabin, Raise the Dead

Chapter One

Standing outside of Kelly's Georgie blew on her hands and rubbed them together in a vain attempt to ward off the cold December air. She glanced from the shadows at the warm light spilling out of the doors from inside the diner and nearly gave into her temptation to go back inside and escape the cold, but the object in her hands kept her from giving in. Looking at the cell phone Georgie was reminded of the text message that her sister had received and what she had to do.

She just hoped she wouldn't have to do it alone.

An hour before her shift ended Georgie called Jason asking him to meet her at Kelly's but she didn't mention why, because while she suspected that she had the Text Message Killer in her sights she couldn't be certain. And she didn't want to get Jason's hopes up.

Flipping the phone open she glanced at the time and groaned in frustration. She really couldn't wait any longer, she had to get to the park. Taking a deep breath to try and quell her anxiety Georgie turned around and ran straight into the man she'd been waiting for. Relief coursed through her and she embraced him quickly before guiding him around the corner and out of sight.

"You came!" She said as a way of greeting him, her voice slightly high with a mixture of excitement and nervousness.

Jason nodded and said, "you asked me to."

"Right," Georgie replied then shaking her head she asked, "how's Emily?"

"There's still no sign she's going to wake up," Jason told her.

Emily had been attacked by the TMK at the Black and White Ball she and Nikolas hosted over a month ago, but Nikolas had apparently interrupted the attack, going after the killer during one of his rage filled blackouts. The killer eventually got away when Nikolas passed out and Emily was left in a coma. The doctors worried that she had gone too long without oxygen to her brain and had suggested that Monica and Nikolas pull her off of life support. That suggestion didn't sit well with any of her loved ones, who argued that as long as there were still signs of life they would hold out hope that she might one day wake up.

Georgie knew that Jason had been one of the people who'd been sitting with her day and night and while she hated to pull him away from his sister, she also wanted to give him the chance to help her with catching the man who'd killed Leticia and nearly killed Emily.

Georgie just had to make sure that Jason didn't kill the TMK before the police arrived.

"Why did you want to meet me?" Jason asked.

Instead of answering him verbally Georgie handed him the phone. Taking it from her he flipped it open and saw the text message. He gripped the phone tightly and looked back up at her, his face a stone mask of anger.

"Is this from him?"

"I think so," Georgie replied, watching him carefully.

Flipping the phone closed he said, "go home Georgie."

"What? No!" She protested, grabbing onto his arms when he started to walk away. "Jason, I'm going to the park and you're coming with me, but we're doing this my way."

"Your way?"

"Yes, my way. Once we know for sure that whoever sent this text to my sister is the Text Message Killer we're going to call the police," Georgie said, leaving no room for argument. "Emily deserves justice. Try and tell me that she wouldn't want it any other way," she challenged.

Bringing up Emily may have been a low blow but they both knew Georgie was right. Emily wouldn't want Jason to kill anyone for her but she would want to see her attacker arrested and sent to jail.

Relenting Jason agreed to her plan but before they left for the park he called Georgie out. "Were you going to go to the park without me?"

"Yes. This might be the only chance we get, and I'm not going to let anything happen to Maxie," she replied definitely.

"What about you? What if something had happened to you?" Georgie had no response to that and Jason shook his head. "You're not stupid Georgie, so why would you do something so stupid?"

"Wouldn't you do the same thing for Emily?" Georgie countered, unoffended by his question.

Jason knew he couldn't argue with her, if there had been anything he could have done to spare Emily he would've done it, no matter how reckless it would've been. "Just promise me one thing," Jason asked and Georgie nodded in agreement. "Promise me you'll be careful."

Even though she knew Jason was hiding somewhere in the shadows Georgie couldn't shake her unease. What had she been thinking? Would she really have come here by herself to meet a killer? A shudder coursed through her body, but it wasn't a result of the cold. No it was the realization that Jason had been right, coming here alone would've been so, so stupid. It was an unnecessary risk that she couldn't afford to take. But she wasn't alone, she reminded herself, and tried to take solace in Jason's nearly invisible presence.

Looking down at the phone one more time she was worried that whoever it was that had arranged to meet her wasn't going to show up. Either he got cold feet or he'd spotted Jason and abandoned the plan. But Georgie wasn't about to give up yet. She had nearly done that once already that night and almost came here alone. She couldn't afford to make two risky mistakes in one night.

So she waited.

Her thoughts strayed to Emily and to the night of the ball. The young doctor had been so happy when Nikolas announced their engagement that it's hard to believe that a few short hours later she was left for dead. How could life be that cruel? She wondered. Her imagination then replaced the other woman's image with one of her sister and the picture that created in her head made her realize that it could've been worse, Emily might have died, separating her from everyone who loved her forever.

Hearing heavy footsteps behind her pulled her from her morbid thoughts and she turning around, she expected to see Jason, instead she saw a face she never thought she would ever see again.

Diego Alcazar.

Composing her features she tried to appear relaxed, almost happy to see him. "Thank God, it's you," she said, surprised by her own ability to get any words out of her mouth. "For a second I thought I had a stalker."

"What are you doing here, Georgie?" Diego asked, and Georgie thought she might just pass out.

Instead she said, "Isn't that something I should be asking you? I thought you were dead?"

"You shouldn't have come here, I don't want to do this to you," he said and Georgie watched as a cord dropped from his hand.

"You. It was you. You killed Leticia and you tried to kill Emily." Georgie was shocked, why would he do something like this and she asked him that very question. "Why?"

"They had to pay," was the only explanation he gave before lunging at her.

Georgie dodged out of his way, narrowly avoiding his grasp but the pair fell in the process. Scrambling to get up she felt a pair of hands wrap around her arms and looking up she caught sight of Jason who pushed her out of the way just as Diego gained his feet. Seeing Jason stopped him in his tracks and surprised by the other man's appearance he tracked back a step.

For a minute Georgie thought he might try and run, realizing that he was outnumbered, but the sadistic smile that materialized on his face dismissed that idea. "Once I'm done with you two, I'm going to finish off your sister."

The bait was enough and Jason threw himself at the younger man, despite Georgie's protests and she was left to watch as they scuffled on the ground. The sound of metal skidding and scraping over stone drew her attention and she caught sight of a gun sliding away from the pair. Glancing at them then back at the weapon Georgie made a calculated decision and made a mad dash for the gun.

Picking it up she turned to the two men on the ground and watched as Diego gained the upper hand. Straddling Jason he moved to wrap his hands around Jason's throat, to choke him, but Jason held him at bay, keeping a firm grasp on the other man's hands. But Diego dug his knees into Jason side, putting pressure on his ribs. Georgie called out to him, telling him to stop, and pointing the gun in his direction but Diego only turned and looked at her and then at the gun.

"You're not going to shoot me, you don't have it in you," he said with a knowing certainty.

"Are you sure about that?" Because while she didn't want to hurt Diego, when it came to Jason Georgie wasn't sure what she wouldn't do for him and to protect him.

And there must have been something about the look in her eye that made Diego rethink his assumption because he left Jason on the ground and stood up quickly, coming toward her with a murderous look in his eye. Backing up Georgie warned him to stop but he didn't listen. She could see Jason getting up behind him but Diego was moving too quickly and she realized that he was challenging her. Daring her to kill him because if he managed to get the gun away from her there was no doubt in her mind that he would kill her.

In reality it all happened in a matter of seconds, but for Georgie time seemed to slow to a snail's pace and she was able to see what was about to happen and knowing that she didn't have any other choice she raised the gun and pulled the trigger.

Time sped back up again and Georgie watched in horror as the bullet struck Diego, sending him reeling backward, falling to the ground, blood pouring from his chest.

Shaking violently Georgie was vaguely aware of Jason moving to Diego's side and checking for a pulse, he looked back up at her and said something but she couldn't hear him through the high pitched ringing in her ears. Realizing that Georgie couldn't hear him he shook his head letting her know that he was dead.

Diego was dead.

She'd killed him.

Standing, frozen in place, Georgie stared at Diego's body through a sheen of tears. It was only when Jason moved to take the gun from her that she finally reacted. Holding the weapon away from him she protested and warned him not to touch it. "Is this your gun?" she asked.

"No," Jason said shaking his head as he pulled back his jacket and revealed his chrome piece.

"Then you can't touch it, they can't find your fingerprints on it." It was then that they heard the sound of sirens blaring in the distance and coming closer. "Go," Georgie commanded.

"What?"

"You have to go, now!" She repeated. "They can't find you here, if they do you know that they'll try and pin this on you."

"Georgie I can't just leave you here," Jason argued.

"Yes, yes you can," she replied. "Jason, I shot him. I was the one that killed him, but won't matter if they catch you here. You know that Ric and Scott will do everything they can to say that you did this. But you didn't, that's why you have to go."

"Georgie..." Jason trailed off, silently pleading with her to reconsider.

"Go, please," she begged. "No one can ever know you were here. Go!"

The sirens were even closer and giving her one last look, letting her know that leaving her was the last thing he wanted to do, Jason reluctantly left the area. She watched as he glanced back only once before disappearing into the darkness just as she heard pounding footsteps arrive behind her.

"Put the gun on the ground!" An authoritative voice behind her commanded. "Put your hands behind your head and get down on your knees."

Yes, Emily is alive in my universe. Honestly I never understood the logic of killing Emily off only to bring Natalia Livingston back as her twin sister, especially only for a year. Besides that I hated the fact that the writers killed off two Quartermaine's in one year, you can't just do that to a legacy family.