NOTE: For purposes of this story, the events are a little mixed up. Sonny has married Claudia already and JaSam have rescued Jake, but due to the fallout between Sonny and Jason, and the fact that Anthony hasn't let Claudia anywhere near the business, Jason has never even met Claudia and Claudia has never met Jason. Claudia came to town in September for Johnny's trial. She has been in PC since.

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Jake was safe. And life was good. Jason was sitting at Jake's drinking a beer. He was bored. All of the excitement of the kidnapping and the worry and the anxiety was gone because Jake didn't have a scratch on him. Sam had been the one to save him, to get him out before the explosion. He had been useless. Jason had delivered Jake to Liz and sped off on his bike, up the road. He hadn't known where he was going at the time, but somehow found himself in front of the oh-so-famous bar hangout. The second he walked inside, he was greeted by Coleman. Jason had stopped coming by here since he became head of the Corinthos-Morgan organization, but it felt like home just the same. He was the only one in the room.

Jason got up to go shoot a game of pool. By himself. Pool was something he used to relax, because he knew he could win. He couldn't handle anything better than a pool cue. Even his shooting wasn't as good as his pool game. He broke and then he played. For the next fifteen minutes, he sunk balls into pockets, took them out again, broke, and sunk them once more. It reminded him of the days when he could just come here and have a good time. Just hang out. But he didn't have time anymore. He had to handle this entire organization that had been put in his lap. He shot one more ball into a pocket and decided that was enough. He had cooled down. He put the cue back and went to go grab his beer from the counter. He downed it in one gulp and headed for a table. He could stay here just a little bit longer.

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Claudia walked into Jake's looking for nothing but a good time. She had just had her home invaded by probably the bitchiest of bitches, Ms. Brooklyn, and was not going to put up with it. So what if she had been stabbed? Who really cared? No one cared when she was stabbed. People couldn't have been more happy. But she had met that really handsome, dark prince. Claudia liked him. Olivia really wasn't worth all of the trouble people were going to for her. That cute doctor had apparently rushed up to the scene right when Sasha shoved the knife in her stomach. What was his name? Patrick. The one in love with that stupid HIV positive doctor. Oh well. She had an apartment. Sonny wouldn't miss her. He never cared. Except when she was making out with his brother. Then he cared. She could tell it was jealousy but she wasn't going to say anything. The sat down at one of the stools and called for Colman to make her a vodka rocks. She'd drink anything, especially on a night like this, but that was her favorite.

Claudia needed a game of pool. Now. The only difference between her and Jason was that she had to play with somebody. She had to beat somebody. She saw someone sitting in the corner at a table drinking a beer. Big muscles. Leather jacket. Jeans. Her kind of guy, though she was in no mood to play cat and mouse today. She marched over to his table, out two hundred dollars down, and said, "Eight Ball".

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------All Jason could think was that this was one fired up chick. And she had money. Leather Jacket. Jeans. His kind of girl. He picked up the wad of cash and counted it. Two hundred dollars, exactly. He was up for it. Easy game. Easy money. Jason nodded to the woman and picked up the money. He put it on the side of the pool table. She grabbed two cues and handed him one, but he motioned for them to switch. "What difference does it make, honestly? They're cheap, bar cues." She told him, a harsh tone in her voice. She had had the kind of day he had had. Controversy. He thought that summed it up. But there was really no need to go there.

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"You wanna break?" Claudia asked him. She didn't really care, this was her game. She had guaranteed herself a win tonight. The man just nodded towards her, and she took the first shot. Perfect. He shot. Also perfect. She shot. Perfect. He shot. Once again, perfect. The game continued like this until Claudia figured out that she had picked the wrong guy to challenge for a mindless game of pool. This guy was good. He knew everything about this table. The slants, the corners. All of it. Claudia had never played on this table before, but she thought she was doing well for herself. The game neared a close, and Claudia was winning. She sunk the last ball in the pocket. She won.

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He had never been beaten at eight ball by a chick before. He must have been off his game. Or she cheated. Either way, he was embarrassed. "Wanna play again?"she asked him. He was tempted to nod and prove to her just how good he was at pool. He felt like he needed to. But he shook his head and walked out, thoughts of that woman racing though his head. He came up with three words to describe her. Sexy. Dangerous. Tough. He thought the same thing he had thought when he first saw her. His kind of girl.

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She wasn't used to being left. As soon as Jason left, she turned and ordered a beer. She was mad. And Coleman wasn't helping.

"Oooh. Don't feel bad. He does that to almost everyone. I've known him for almost fifteen years."

"Way to cheer me up. No one just leaves me." She said with a fire in her eyes. That man had left three words in her head. Strong. Silent. Smart.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------"Stone cold! Stone cold! The Jackal has uncovered the most grevious of news! There is another Zacchara, namely a woman." Spinelli babbled at Jason as soon as he walked in the door.

"You got a name? Picture? Shadybrook commitment papers?"

"Sadly, it seems that she may not be as crazy or as relenting as the other current mob presiders of Crimson Pointe. I do have a picture." Spinelli shoved the laptop towards Jason and he stared at it for a moment before shaking his head.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------"You know who that was, don't you?" Coleman was talking again. She had never met a chattier bartender. It was really quite annoying.

"No idea. But I don't really care." She responded in a nonchalant tone.

"That was Jason Morgan." Claudia just stared at Coleman.

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A fourth word came to both Claudia and Jason's mouths. Threat.

Then crap.