Title: Broken and Beautiful
Category: TV Shows ยป General Hospital
Author: Undesired Results
Language: English
Rating: T
Genre: Hurt/Comfort/Friendship/Family/Romance

Chapter One: Shattered Hearts

Bundled up for the cold winter weather, Elizabeth Webber makes her way through the town on foot, needing to get to the local diner where her boyfriend is currently residing. She knows that he's been having a rough time since his return, but she couldn't help wishing for a way to get through to him. Her sister, Sara, has been successful in getting him to open up, making her thankful that someone is. She even got Lucky to agree to have dinner with her, a walk down memory lane, sort of, and she couldn't wait to get started. The fact that he's willing to spend some real time with her, Elizabeth was more than ecstatic.

"Elizabeth, hey, care to join us?" her best friend, Emily Quartermaine, greets her as she walks into the diner, currently sitting with their mutual friend, Nikolas Cassadine.

"Um, sure, just for a little bit," Elizabeth smiles slightly, taking a seat with them, she still has a few minutes to spare. "Lucky and I are going to Eli's for dinner."

"That's great," Emily boasts. "That's really great progress, Liz, you should be over the moon."

"I am," Elizabeth assures, turning to Nikolas, her boyfriend's brother. "This is good, isn't it, Nik?"

"For your sake, I hope so," Nikolas gives as his only reply to the situation, knowing full well that his brother held no intention of truly fixing what remains between the two of them.

"Thanks," Elizabeth replies, trying to keep the hope, but her smile faltering at the look on Nikolas's face. "Anyway, I better get up there, I'm sure he's waiting for me."

"Good luck," Emily offers with a smile, watching as Elizabeth smiles back before making her way up the stairs, turning her attention to Nikolas soon after. "What was that all about?"

"Lucky isn't Lucky anymore, Emily, you have to see that by now," Nikolas says like it was blatantly obvious. "As much as I want them to fix what's been broken, this whole situation reminds me of what happened between me and Sara, and you know how that turned out."

"I..." Emily wanted to deny it, she wanted to chastise him for saying such things but, deep in her heart, she knows he's right. "What are we supposed to do then?"

"Unfortunately, there's really nothing we can do, but wait for it to play out and be there for our friends if they need us," Nikolas sighs before rising to his feet, handing Emily her coat. "Come on, Elizabeth won't want us around if it goes south. You know how she gets."

"Yeah..." she replies as she glances at the stairs, her heart hurting for her friend as she slides into her jacket. "I guess you're right."

Mentally saying a small prayer for her friend, Emily walks out the door with Nikolas, truly hoping he's wrong and the two will be able to mend the damage that's been done to them. When Lucky had supposedly died in a freak accident, Elizabeth had been utterly destroyed, she barely smiled or enjoyed herself at all. When he was returned, the damage had already been done to Lucky at the hands of the witch Helena, leaving them to pick up whatever pieces remained, the best they knew how.

For the most part, Lucky's okay, nothing too permanent has been done to him and he's been moving on fairly well. The only downside to that is that it seems he's been moving on as far away from Elizabeth as he could get. They have both been trying a way to fix their relationship, but nothing has worked thus far. She just hopes that dinner at Eli's will do the trick and they'll both remember why they fell in love in the first place. Unfortunately, however, fate's is not so kind, as Elizabeth gets to the apartment and finds the door slightly ajar. Pushing open the door, Elizabeth's heart shatters within her chest at the sight of her sister and boyfriend in a heated tryst.

"Lizzie," Sara blurts out in shock, quickly covering herself with the blanket. "I...I can explain..."

"Save it," Elizabeth snaps, slamming the door shut before quickly turning away from the room, cursing herself for not seeing it sooner.

"Elizabeth, wait!" Lucky exclaims as he tries to keep the blanket around his naked form. "Please, it's not what it looks like, I swear."

"Seriously, Lucky?!" Elizabeth snaps as she whirls around to face him. "It's not what it looks like? What the hell else could it look like?!"

"We didn't mean to hurt you," Lucky says quickly, inching his way over to her. "Sara...she didn't...it was all my fault..."

Slapping his face to shut him up, Elizabeth glares at him with tears frozen in her eyes, realizing what she should have known all along. This isn't her Lucky. This isn't the boy she fell in love with and nothing she did would change that. She had heard stories about Emily's brother, how he had changed after his accident, just realizing that this was a lot like that. Lucky's accident was the fire in his apartment and the man that returned from that accident is no longer hers. Knowing that, knowing he was no longer the boy she fell in love with, didn't help the anger she felt towards her sister. Sara didn't have the same excuse. She's fully responsible for her actions. The fact that she trusted her even a little is what pisses Elizabeth off to no end. To think that she could rely on her sister even a little...what a fool she must be.

"Don't," Elizabeth snaps, glaring at her sister as she walks out to stand behind Lucky. "Don't you dare defend that backstabbing slut to me."

"Lizzie!" Sara pleads with her, needing her to understand.

"Go to hell! Both of you mean absolutely nothing to me!" Elizabeth snaps, spinning on her heels, sick of having them in her sights. "I don't ever want to see either of you ever again!"

Storming out of the diner, she's thankful that her two friends were nowhere in sight, knowing she couldn't bear for them to see her like this. Trudging through town, Elizabeth escapes to the one place she knows she'll get the privacy she so desperately needs. Walking through the snow-covered trees, Elizabeth finds her way to the abandoned boxcar in the middle of nowhere, carefully climbing up to sit on the edge. As she takes deep steady breaths, Elizabeth can feel herself relaxing, the tears flowing freely as she stares out at the beauty that exists before her. This is truly it. The end of Lucky and Liz. After all the fighting and pleading, this is where they end. Elizabeth Imogene Webber is officially all alone once again. No boyfriend. No sister. No one.

.

The cold didn't really bother him as he worked his way back to Harbor View Towers. No. The cold didn't even register past the bullet wound in his abdomen, the blood trickling down the length of his body, making its way to pool in his shoe. As the pain threatened to pull him into unconsciousness, Jason Morgan knew that he had to get off the streets, there's no telling if someone followed him from the meeting point. Arriving at the Towers, Jason silently made his way to the elevator and up to the penthouse level, needing to get to Sonny. Needing his friend to know about the ambush and where they'll go from there before he gets checked out by the doctor.

"Jason, hey, man," Johnny O'Brien, the guard on Sonny's door, greets him when he gets off the elevator. "How did it go?"

"Bad," he replied plainly. "Sonny in?"

"Yeah, go on in," Johnny says as he pushes open the door for him.

Walking into the penthouse, right away Jason could sense that something wasn't right, eyeing Sonny as he sat on the couch. From his demeanor, Jason could tell that something had happened, he just couldn't place what it was. Sonny asks all the right questions in regard to the assignment he had been sent on, Jason suppling answers in short sentences, trying his best to figure out just what the hell was going on with Sonny.

A part of him considered that maybe he was in one of his episodes, but that couldn't be right. Nothing traumatic has happened recently to send him in a downward spiral. Then, as if by fate's design, the answer comes walking down the stairs in nothing but Sonny's shirt. His girlfriend. Carly Roberts. The shock on her face was evidence enough that his worst assumptions had indeed been correct.

As the blank mask falls over his face, Jason turns away from the scene unfolding before him, unable to stand it for a moment longer. Yanking open the door, he ignores her pleas as she begs for him to stay, to work things out because she had simply made a mistake and they could work past this. They had to. Only that wasn't about to happen. Not ever. The moment she fell into Sonny's bed is the moment she no longer exists in his world. All those promises they made, the future they were to have together, all of it burnt to ashes right before his eyes.

Johnny watched in silence as Jason made his way onto the elevator, an uneasy feeling taking hold of him as he hears an argument escalating within the penthouse, the look on Jason's face not helping any. As the doors shut, Johnny's eyes fall to the floor, his breath caught in his throat when he sees the unmistakable sight of blood trailing from the penthouse to the elevator. He's been hit. A part of him wanted to believe he was heading to the doctor's, but the realistic part of himself knows that he's not.

Just as the argument between him and Carly gets heated, Sonny yanks open the door, throwing her out before shutting it firmly behind her. He knows the reasons why he did it, but he knows that it's going to take a lot to get Jason to see at he does. Carly would destroy his friend and Sonny wanted to rid his life of that blonde. Running one hand down his face, Sonny's gaze drops to the floor, his eyes following a clear blood trail that stops just short of the carpet, right where Jason had stopped. A small puddle of blood right where he had been standing before another trail leads back to the door. He's been shot.

"Jason's been shot," Sonny informs Johnny once he yanks open the door to come face to face with the guard. "Get the men together and find him. Now!"

Given confirmation, Sonny shuts the door once again, his heart tightening at the fact that his best friend has been shot and walked away from him instead of asking for help. As Sonny places a call to places he thinks Jason would go to for help, his hope deflates when they all respond with the same response, Jason wasn't there. He'll give it a little while longer before he calls them back. Giving Jason enough time to get to one of those places. If they still don't know anything about Jason, he'll get into a car and search the streets himself. This is his fault and Sonny will be damned if he lets Jason die because of a simple indiscretion.

Jason wasn't sure where he was heading as he walked through town, he just knew that he couldn't go anywhere Sonny would look for him. The very thought of seeing Sonny again sends a distasteful amount of bile to surge up his throat, burning it as he stifles it back down. No. He had to find somewhere private, somewhere no one would find him, somewhere secluded. Allowing his body to lead the way as his mind starts to grow cloudy, Jason stumbles his way through the snow-covered trees, back to the one place that was all his. The one place that the stench of Sonny and Carly both has never touched. His first home. The abandoned boxcar.

Making it out of the foliage, Jason feels his body start to shut down, a part of him believing this to be a fitting end for a man like himself. Just as he drops to his knees, the pain becoming unbearably persistent, his eyes focus on a woman sitting in the boxcar, an unfamiliar yet beautiful face. As his eyes meet hers, he can see that she was also in a world of pain, not physically, but still. She knows. She understands. And, in that moment, as he stares into her eyes, he feels something damn near serenity. Yes. This is a good way for his life to end. As his body falls forward, he expects the cold embrace of snow, the ground currently covered in it, but his body falls into something warm instead. Something warm and gentle. A pair of icy blue eyes were the last thing he sees before he slips from consciousness.

.

Elizabeth had been so lost in the scenery that she almost jumped out of her skin when a man in a leather jacket stumbled his way into the clearing. For a moment, they simply stare at each other as she tries to figure out who he was and what he wanted. Then, as he dropped to his knees, she saw it, blood. He's injured. Jumping off the boxcar, she runs to him just as he's about to fall face down on the ground, catching him just as he falls forward. She didn't have much time. She needed to get him into the boxcar before he's completely dead weight. Struggling slightly, somehow she manages to get him inside, knowing it had to be warmer inside than on the snow outside.

Settling him down against the wall, Elizabeth has a realization, she knows him, he's Emily's brother. Reaching into her pockets, she searches for her phone, cursing herself when she finds that it's not there. She had left it at home in her studio, not wanting to have her dinner interrupted, how stupid she had been. What does she do now? God, what was there for her to do now? Taking a deep breath, she gently peels away his shirt from the wound, seeing that it was a truly horrifying wound, most likely from a gunshot, given his choice in careers.

"What do I do? What do I do?" Elizabeth starts pacing back and forth in front of him, needing to figure this out before he bleeds to death. "Oh, god, what am I supposed to do?"

"Maybe I can help?" a voice takes her by surprise, causing her to turn to the door to see who was there, relaxing at the sight of a familiar face. "Elizabeth, right?"

"Yeah," Elizabeth shakes her head, remembering him from the dinner, one of the many regulars.

"I'm Johnny O'Brien. I work with Jason," he says with a slight smile. "Can I come in?"

"Yes, please," Elizabeth says quickly, having no idea how to help Emily's brother, praying that he does. "He's hurt real bad...I barely got him inside before he completely passed out."

"I'm gonna do my best to help him out," Johnny says, dropping the medical bag down beside Jason, knowing he was in for a tough battle with the amount of blood already lost. "You don't have to stay if you don't want to...he's safe with me."

"No...it's okay," Elizabeth assures. "I don't mind."

"Okay," Johnny smiles slightly. "You might want to look away for this part, though...I'm gonna cut off his shirt and sew up the wound."

"Okay," she whispers, taking a deep breath before turning away from the two men. "I'll be right outside."

Johnny waits long enough for her to get outside before he gets started on patching up his friend, knowing that this would be the defining moment, where Jason will either survive this bullet wound or succumb to it. Thankfully the bullet was a through and through, glad to not have to dig out the bullet. He tried that once and it just wasn't pretty. Using his unconscious state to get the task completed, Johnny finishes him up and straps a bandage around him before he works on waking him up. A decent amount of adrenaline should do it.

"Hey, man," Johnny voices when Jason's eyes finally open. "You really had me worried there for a second. Do you know where you are?"

"Boxcar," he says plainly. "How did you find me?"

"Took a wild guess," Johnny admits. "Figured something happened between you and the boss, something big enough to have you walking away without seeing the doctor...this was the only place I could think of that didn't deal with Mr. C."

"The girl..." Jason says carefully, not seeing her in the immediate area.

"Right outside," Johnny informs. "I think you scared her half to death."

"Take her and go," Jason states, laying his head back against the wall. "I'll be fine now."

"Sure you will," Johnny scoffs, his friend living up to his reputation of being the worst patient in history. "I leave you here, you'll die."

"You don't and I'll shoot you."

"Right," Johnny rolls his eyes. "Because you're in the condition to do such a thing."

"John."

"Not leaving you, man," Johnny says seriously. "Tell me where to take you and we can all get out of here. Jake's?"

"No."

"Because of Sonny?" Johnny questions, getting his answer when Jason merely glares at him. "Okay...what about a safe house?"

"No."

"Well, then where the hell should I take you, dammit?" Johnny snaps, groaning when Jason falls unconscious yet again. "Just great."

"Um...Johnny," Elizabeth voices from the doorway before climbing back into the boxcar. "If he needs a place to stay...he can stay at my studio. I don't get any visitors there...he'd be safe."

"You'd do that for him?" Johnny questions curiously, seeing something in her eyes that had him a little intrigued. "Why?"

"He's Emily's brother," Elizabeth explains. "And she's one of my closest friends...I'd like to help if I can...I really don't mind."

"Yeah, okay, that could work," Johnny says after a long moment of thought, knowing Jason wants a place out of Sonny's reach, how much farther could he get than this girl's studio, right? "Here, take my keys, you'll need to drive while I keep him steady in the backseat. You think you can handle that?"

"Y-Yeah," Elizabeth replies carefully. "I can do that."

"Okay," Johnny smiles slightly. "Go on ahead. We've been here for too long as it is. I'll be right behind you."

Elizabeth quickly makes her way to the waiting SUV, starting it up and turning on the heater, taking off once Johnny has Jason secured in the backseat. Johnny wasn't at all sure what happened between his friend and the boss, but he has a pretty good idea what it was. Seeing the distraught look on Carly's face when she was kicked out of Sonny's penthouse, it was clear that the boss might have been incapable of keeping his pants zipped. Whatever the case may be, Johnny will honor his friend's wishes and keep Sonny out of the loop for as long as he can manage. Though, to pull that off, he just may need his partner, Francis Corelli, knowing he couldn't really lie to the man, even if he wanted to. His partner was just that good.

"Okay, so, these are the antibiotics and these are the pain killers," Johnny explains the two medicine bottles, instructing her on how to administer the dosages. "You can still back out, you know? You don't have to care for him, too. The studio is more than enough."

"It's not just a studio...it's also my apartment," Elizabeth admits. "I'll be okay, truly...I don't mind helping him."

"Well, if you're sure, then okay," Johnny says after a moment. "I put my card on the table. Call if either of you need anything, okay? I'll try to pop by every now and again, but it won't be too often. Since Jason doesn't want our boss to know where he is, it'll draw too much suspicion if I'm constantly going to a random studio while he's apparently missing."

"I understand," Elizabeth assures with a slight smile. "We'll be okay. Promise."

"Okay," Johnny lets out a soft sigh before pulling open the door. "Just...keep him alive, okay?"

"That's the plan."

Elizabeth could see that Johnny was worried about his friend, but he also knows that he can't stay there if he wants to keep Jason's location hidden. Shutting the door behind him, Elizabeth leans against the back of the door, letting out a deep sigh. The whole situation happened so quickly that she couldn't even begin to understand how all of this happened. One minute, she's flooded with anger at the end of her relationship with her boyfriend and the next...the next minute, she's flooded with fear and worry over her best friend's brother. Pushing away from the door, she walks over to kneel beside him, adjusting the wet rag on his forehead when he begins to stir, knowing that keeping his temperature down is essential at the moment. With them unable to consult an actual doctor, Johnny's treatment will have to do, and hopefully, it'll be enough to save Jason's life.