A/N: This is a Journey story. Although things may seem bad for them at times, its Journey through and through. Also, I'm villainizing ( I don't think that's a real word, but basically, I'm making evil) Sam and Jax. I like Sam (not so much Jax) but for this story, she just needs to be mean. Other things to keep in mind is that Carly and Sonny are back together, Michael's gotten over the whole AJ death thing, and the Corinthos family lives across the hall, just 'cause it's easier. I hope you like it, and remember to review…
Chapter One- The Order
"Good morning beautiful" said Jason as he kissed his wife awake.
Courtney moaned next to him, not wanting to be awoken from her slumber.
"Go away Jase" she said as she rolled over
"Do you really want me to?" he asked her with a smile as he continued to kiss her.
"No" she said with a smile of her own. "But you have to shut up"
"Sorry, can't do that. You have to get to work, and so do I" said Jason
"Maybe later" said Courtney.
She really wasn't a morning person. Jason sighed as he threw the covers down off of her body. His breath always caught in his throat when he saw her perfect body. She was so beautiful. How the two were able to spend all that time apart and not go crazy was beyond him. Of course, they had gone crazy. They had gotten together with Sam and Jax. That was definitely considered insane behavior. Courtney was whining and trying to get the blankets from the foot of the bed with just her feet. Jason bent down and picked her up, pulling her from the bed.
"JASON!" she screamed, her eyes still closed.
Jason smirked and carried her into the bathroom. She opened her eyes when she realized where she was.
"Jason Morgan, if you know what's good for you, you will not do this" she said
He ignored her and using one hand, turned the shower on cold. She started flailing in his arms, trying to get away from him, but even with just one hand he was able to keep his hold on her. He dropped her finally, right into the freezing cold shower. She shrieked and he laughed.
"Oh, you think this is funny?" she asked, pulling him in with her.
"Babe, you seem to forget, cold water doesn't affect me" he said.
"Damn accident" she mumbled.
Jason laughed at her, and started kissing her. He reached down and pulled off her sopping wet tank top. She did the same to his t-shirt, and soon both lost their pants as well. Pretty soon, that freezing cold shower was steamy hot.
"I feel like we do this every morning" said Courtney as the two got dressed in their bedroom.
"It's probably because we do" said Jason as he kissed her again.
After the two were dressed, they walked downstairs and across the hall to Sonny and Carly's penthouse. They sat down at the table and had their usual breakfast with the Corinthos family. It was nice having a routine. It made everything feel normal. And that was all Courtney wanted- a shred of normalcy. But she was willing to sacrifice her normalcy for Jason. She loved him too much, and being away from him killed her. She knew it killed him too. But she didn't know how much. He had always been in love with her, since that first time he saw her at Kelly's. He was a man who was not supposed to know how to love, but he had fallen bad for Courtney. As he sat there watching her clean up Morgan and his latest mess, he thought back to the day when he had gotten the love of his life back.
Flashback
"Courtney, do you take this man for your husband? Do you promise to honor and love him, to keep him in sickness and in health, forsaking all others?" asked the minister presiding over her and Jax's wedding.
Carly couldn't take it anymore. She was about to burst. She needed to say something. She opened her mouth, ready to yell out, but someone beat her to it. It was Jason. Everyone turned and stared at the man who yelled "stop".
"Jason, what are you doing?" asked Courtney. She didn't want to admit it, but she was relieved. He had shown up for her. He wasn't ready to let her go.
"Courtney, I can't let you do this. You aren't supposed to be with this guy. You're supposed to be with me. I love you, and I can't imagine spending another day of my life without you" he said looking into her blue eyes.
Both were staring intently into each other's eyes, trying to read the other one. Courtney wasn't sure if she could do this. She wasn't sure if she could get involved in a life of uncertainty again. Jax provided security. And he loved her. But did she love him? Of course not. Jason was the only man she could ever love. Deciding she didn't care about the risks, Courtney let go of Jax's hand.
"I love you too" she said to Jason, and he smiled at her.
Jax's reaction was not as happy though.
"Courtney, what are you doing? Morgan, leave my wife alone. Go kill someone or something, that seems to be the only thing you can actually do you brain damaged idiot" said Jax
Jason was used to the insults, so he was able to keep his anger in check, although truthfully, he wanted to hit Jax anyway. He was about to just open his mouth and argue with him when Courtney raised her hand and slapped Jax clear across the face. Everyone gasped at both the action and just how hard she had hit him. He clutched the side of his face, and looked at her in shock.
"Courtney, what the hell are you doing?" asked Jax
"First of all, I'm not your wife. Second of all, don't you ever, ever insult Jason again. He is a better man than you will ever be. Jax, I'm not marrying you. I love Jason, and I want to be with him" she said, smiling at Jason.
He held out his arms for her and she gladly started running to him. But Jax grabbed her wrist to hold her back. That was the breaking point for Jason. No one ever touched his Courtney. He walked over to Jax, pulled his arm back, and slugged him right in the middle of the face. Jax fell over from the force, clutching his now bleeding nose.
"Don't you dare lay a hand on Courtney" he said, his blue eyes iced over with hatred and anger.
His anger faded as he felt a hand on his arm. He turned and saw Courtney staring at him, a smile on her face, tears welling up in her eyes.
"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to hit him. Please don't cry" he mumbled, hoping he didn't just dash all of his chances with Courtney.
"Jase, these are happy tears. Do you have any idea how long I have been waiting for you to do something like this?" she asked. "I love you Jason Morgan, and you are the man I want to spend the rest of my life with"
"I love you too Courtney Matthews, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you too" said Jason as he smiled at her. He picked her up in his arms, and she giggled and wrapped her arms around his neck, breathing in his familiar smell. She couldn't believe she was here again, in the safety of her love's arms. But here she was, and she couldn't be happier. Jason carried her down the aisle as the guests watched in shock, some appalled by what had just happened. However, Carly had stood up and was giving them a standing ovation. She may have been happier than even Courtney and Jason. Well, maybe not. But she was a close second.
End Flashback
"You ok?" asked Courtney, noticing Jason hadn't said anything for a few minutes. He was usually quiet, but he seemed in a daze this morning.
"What? Oh, I'm fine. I was just thinking about that day" he said
"Which day?" she asked
"The day that I came to my senses and stopped being such a headstrong idiot" he said with a smile, and she immediately knew which day he was talking about.
"That was a good day" she agreed. "My knight in shining armor came and saved me"
He smiled and stood up. He walked behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. He closed his eyes and rested his chin on her shoulder, just smelling her hair. She closed her eyes too, wrapping her arms around his arms that were around her.
"Jason, I need to talk to you" said Sonny, coming in from the kitchen.
Courtney and Jason reluctantly pulled away, sighing as they did.
"I have to get to work anyway" said Courtney as she kissed Jason goodbye. She said goodbye to Sonny and Morgan as well, and then she walked across the hall to get her keys and head down to her foundation.
"What is it Sonny?" asked Jason after Leticia had taken Morgan upstairs. Carly was already upstairs with Michael. She had to take him up before when Morgan's mess had spread over to him as well.
"We have a problem" said Sonny
"What kind of problem?" asked Jason.
"I'm going to ask you to do something that you're not going to want to. And truthfully, I don't want to do this either. But we need to" said Sonny
"What is it? Does it involve Courtney? 'Cause I'm not leaving her again Sonny" said Jason, growing angry.
"Calm down, it doesn't involve Courtney. But Jason, I need you to kidnap someone"
"Alright, that's no big deal. We do this all the time Sonny" said Jason, not seeing what the big deal was. He often kidnapped lower ranking people to get information on their bosses.
"The target is different this time" said Sonny
"Who is it?" asked Jason
"It's a woman" said Sonny
"Sonny!" yelled Jason, angry that his boss would even suggest this. "You know that we don't hurt innocent people! Especially not women!"
"Jason, she's not exactly innocent. She's the daughter of that guy from Mexico who's been trying to get our territory. And she's been helping him. She got herself involved in the business."
"Sonny, I can't do this. I have seen Courtney kidnapped too many times, and hurt too many times, to put a woman's life in danger. Or to hurt her in any way"
"You didn't have a problem hurting Faith Roscoe"
"That's different. She's not a woman. She's a she-devil" said Jason
"Jase, you don't have to hurt this girl. Just hold her overnight, and then release her in the morning. It's just going to be a message to Pareña family."
"Sonny, I don't know if I can do this"
"Courtney doesn't need to know" said Sonny, sensing the real reason behind his friend's hesitation. "Its business, she knows not to pry into what's going on"
"Sonny, come on. Isn't there another way?"
"Unfortunately, I can't think of one. Look man, I didn't want it to come down to this, but at this point, this is an order. I'm ordering you to kidnap Carmen Pareña."
"Sonny, don't do this" said Jason
"Jason, don't go against a direct order. You never do. Don't start now"
"Alright" said Jason with a sigh, and he listened intently as Sonny explained to him what the plan was. However, he couldn't brush off the feeling that something terrible was going to happen.
"Hey, how was your day?" asked Courtney as Jason walked into their penthouse.
"Fine" lied Jason as he threw his keys on the table and his jacket over the chair.
"It obviously wasn't fine. You look like a mess" said Courtney as Jason sat down on the couch
"Thanks" he said sarcastically
"Sorry" she said with a smile as she started rubbing his back.
He loved when she did that. Her touch on him made it feel like everything would be better. But even her massages couldn't make him feel any better at what he was going to be doing in a couple of hours.
"I have to work tonight" he said
"Oh" she answered, unable to say anything else. She didn't want him to work that night. She wanted to spend time with him.
"I'm not going to be home all night" he said
"Oh" she said again, biting her lip to stop her from yelling at him. She hated when he did this. He worked all day, and then worked all night.
"I want you to stay at Sonny and Carly's tonight" he said
"Jason, what's wrong? You're scaring me" she said, knowing he would never suggest anything like that unless something big was happening.
"Nothing's wrong. I just feel more comfortable if you're not in our penthouse alone. I know Sonny and Carly are right across the hall and everything, but still. I would just feel better if you did. I love you, and I don't want anything bad to happen to you.
"I love you too. And I know you would never let anything bad happen to me. So fine, I'll spend the night at Sonny and Carly's"
"Thank you" said Jason as he turned around and kissed her.
"Your welcome" she said once they had broken away.
Saying goodbye to her that night was difficult. Normally, Jason hated leaving Courtney for any reason, but especially to work. But there was something different about that night. He was extremely hesitant to leave her. He didn't just hate leaving her, there was something else. Their last kiss of the night had been so painful to him, and he really didn't know why. All he knew was that something terrible was going to happen. And he just wanted his wife to be safe. His Courtney. His life.
A/N: This chapter was kinda fluffy, but it gets more angst driven as time wears on. I just need to set everything up yet. If anyone wants to read a good story, read Unexplainable Love. It's not Journey, sorry to disappoint, but its JasonOC. And, oh yeah, it's my other story: )
