DISCLAIMER: DO NOT OWN ANY CHARACTERS OR SETTINGS. ANYTHING REMOTELY FAMILIAR IS USED PURELY AS A FORM OF APPRECIATION TO THE WONDERFUL WORLD WE KNOW AS GENERAL HOSPITAL. UNFAMILIAR THINGS ARE OF MY OWN TWISTED MIND AND ONLY SERVES TO HELP US FURTHER ENJOY THE WORLD WE LOVE ALL SO MUCH. THANK YOU.


TITLE: A HEART'S INSTINCT
MAIN PAIRING: ELIZABETH AND JASON
YEAR: 2012 CIRCA JASON'S DEATH

P.S. CREATIVE LIBERTIES TAKEN, SO, BE FOREWARNED. NOT ALL THINGS ARE EXACTLY CANON.


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Sonny Corinthos had but one weakness. His main weakness for all to see. It wasn't his wife, Carly Corinthos, though she was a liability on even her best days, but no. She wasn't his biggest weakness. Neither are his children, Michael, Kristina, and Morgan. No. Sonny's biggest and most exploitable weakness was none other than the man he had created in his image; Jason Morgan. Everyone that knows the riveting tale of Sonny and Jason know that Jason is the sole reason Sonny has maintained his reign over the extremely profitable town of Port Charles. Playing God, Sonny created the perfect mob enforcer, though some could argue that he merely worked with what God himself had placed before him. The man with a blank slate. A mob boss's dream come true.

Like any weakness, however, Sonny Corinthos has done his very best to make sure that nothing and no one could ever exploit it. Even a sliver of a hint that something could and Sonny squashed it almost instantly. For years he has gotten away with maintaining control with every person to step to him inevitably perishing. She, however, is not just anyone and she will succeed in ways others could merely dream of. It would be tricky. It would take every ounce of her Cassadine wit to pull it off, but it will be done. With a little assistance from her all too willing granddaughter, it will be accomplished and Corinthos will fall. Though, the way things have been turning with the don, it almost feels more like a coup de grĂ¢ce than anything else.

"Has the asset been acquired?" she asked of her minion.

"Yes, my queen." the man replied respectfully, bowing to ensure eye contact was not made. "The asset is currently in transport to the clinic as we speak."

"Splendid." she chuckles with glee, getting a true rush from it all. "As you were. Alert me the moment the asset in Port Charles is obtained."

"As you wish, my queen."

Dismissing the minion, she returns to her plotting, eager to get the experiments underway. Though she has always been fond of Faison, she only recently gained a true admiration for the man when he presented her with a venture she could not resist taking on. Memory mapping has always been one of her more favorite topics to research, but having twins of this caliber to practice it on, well, suffice to say that she was thoroughly pleased with the latest developments. Just the thought of mapping a mind like Jason Morgan's, the kinds of devious plans that could be derived from it, brings life back into her old frozen heart. Let the games begin.


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It has been so long since she has found herself in this old rundown studio, but there weren't many places in town where they could just be themselves without the world weighing in. Sitting down on the couch, many memories coming to mind, Jason and Elizabeth take a moment out of their days to just be together. The kiss they had shared has brought up things from their past that has remained just beneath the surface for so long. Being their with her now, one memory jumps to the forefront of his mind, the memory of the promise of Italy. What he wouldn't give to escape with her to the country of her dreams right then.

"What are you thinking about?" she asks in a soft tone when he starts to play with her fingers.

"Italy." he admits, his eyes lifting to meet hers. "All the lost chances. You?"

"The day you proposed to me." she admits with a soft smile. "Lost chances."

"I never used to bother with what ifs. It was something I believed to be a waste of time." he says as he drops his gaze back to their joined hands. "But I find myself wondering these days..."

"Like what if we had left to Italy like we planned?" she guesses. "Or what if we didn't let the fear stop us from getting married like we wanted? From having the family we wanted?"

"What if I didn't leave the studio and gave into the feelings I knew were there." Jason whispers, his eyebrows scrunching up as he remembers the day, the way his heart practically begged for him to stay.

"Our lives would surely be different, that's for sure."

"My instinct, always, is to protect you. I may not always know how, but I never stop trying." Jason confesses, finally bringing his gaze back to hers. "It was almost second nature to me. I just couldn't stand to see you hurt and I knew if I stayed it would have been inevitable. Not by me hurting you, but by the world I lived in."

"I know the feeling." she admits honestly. "An instinct Taggert wasn't entirely too fond of."

He chuckled at the mention of the former Port Charles lieutenant, "Taggert. Now that's a name I haven't heard in quite some time."

"Right along with Anger Boy, right?"

"Anger boy." he laughed at that, having known just how much it angered Taggert that it didn't bother him one bit. "Almost forgot about that one."

"I always found it funny that he'd call you that when he was the only one that got angry whenever your paths crossed."

"There was that one time..."

"Ah, that's right." she smiles slightly, remembering the day as if it were yesterday. "The day he threw Lucky's death in my face."

"I was close to beating him to a pulp if he didn't stop."

"I'm sure he saw that." she replies. "Probably the only reason he walked away."

"Maybe."

"We sure have been through a lot over the years haven't we?"

"We have." he agrees. "Its one of the few things I'm grateful for."

"What is?"

"That, despite everything we've been through, we still have each other." Jason says wholeheartedly, unable to truly voice all he feels. "I still have you."

"You could never lose me." Elizabeth promises. "No matter what."

"Honestly, I don't think I could survive truly losing you." Jason finds himself confessing. "When we were on good terms or bad, I always needed to know you were there."

"Jason..."

"Of all the people in my life, you're the one I need to exist." Jason reaches up a hand to caress her cheek. "I need you to exist always, Elizabeth, do you get that?"

Before she could comment one what he had just confessed to her, Jason claimed her lips with his, silencing anything that she was about to say or confess in return. Falling into familiar patterns, they give into the love that they know has always existed between them, a love that no amount of time or space could ever subtract from. As they give into each other, reminding each other of all the reasons life was still worth living, Jason and Elizabeth forsake the outside world. The world did nothing for them. It only proved to tear them apart and they'll be damned if they allowed it to tear them apart now. Not when their love was the only thing that has kept them sane through their separate ordeals. No. The world can go to hell because they are going to drown themselves in each other for as long as they can manage.


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Samantha Morgan, better known to the world as Sam, sits alone in her penthouse living room contemplating what she had just agreed to do. Normally she would tell her grandmother that she could take a flying leap, but things between her and Jason have been so rough lately that she would do just about anything to fix that. With all the damage that has been done, her fling with McBain among the many, she just wants to get back to a place where they are all they ever need again. Back to a place where they live and die for each other.

Since she pushed him away, Jason and that wench Elizabeth have grown closer again. He has already fallen into familiar patterns with her. The kiss shared. The bridge. The memories that only prove to bring them closer together as they remember all the have been through over the years. As much as she hates Carly having any control over Jason, she hates Elizabeth's undeniable hold on her husband even more. Though she has done things in the past that hurt and betrayed Jason, it seems as if her husband had an undying ability to forgive her regardless.

She's tried to come between them time and time again, but nothing works. How she managed to get him to set boundaries with Carly yet still can't manage to tear the two of them out of each other's lives is beyond her. She even went as far as trying to belittle what they shared, but Jason would have none of it. It was as if it was impossible for him to say anything negative about the woman. He defended the kiss. He defended the wench. He defended their past to her and that only proved to anger her further. She had to find a way to rip them apart once and for all. And that's where her grandmother comes in.

If this doesn't work in getting her and Jason back to where they were always meant to be before life decided to tear them apart, she isn't sure what will. Lord help her for she has decided to trust the devil herself to fulfill her lifelong dreams.


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The call had been both a blessing and a curse as he straddled his bike to meet up with Bernie. The man sounded desperate, but he wouldn't speak much on what he needed over the phone. Leaving her was hard, having so much weighing on his mind, but he didn't want to rush things or push things, so, he accepted the job at hand and left her. Promising they'd talk about where things lay with them, he kisses her one last time before leaving to meet up with the accountant. This was the first time they had found themselves in this situation and he wanted to make sure he's in it for the right reasons before they face each other again.

"Bernie?" he calls out when he steps onto the docks, an eerie chill creeping down his spine.

"J-Jason..." a faint voice calls out just as he was about to leave the docks, not liking the feeling one bit.

"Bernie!" he sprints the older man's side, finding him with a bullet wound to the gut.

"I-I'm sorry." the man chokes out through the blood. "Run."

Before he could react, the familiar feeling of a bullet penetrating his body could be felt as it tore through his back almost instantly. Turning quickly, he fires off a couple shots before the wound in his back drops him, the pain overwhelming. He tries to move, to get away, but he can't. His body betrays him as he lays at the edge of the pier, someone approaching quickly before they kick him into the water bellow. His last conscious thought as he sinks into the water abyss is of his son. Of the woman he had left to come there. Of the family he always wanted, but will never have. Of Italy. What he wouldn't give to be there now with the woman who owns his heart.


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STAY TUNED FOR MORE...
NEXT CHAPTER: PORT CHARLES FEELS THE LOSS. THE EXPERIMENT BEGINS.