Lifetime of Promises ~ The Lost Chapter #1

Category: Humor/Family

Rating: I won't limit myself so always NC17/M for the dirty dirty lest I be inspired for smut.

Characters: Maxie Jones & Jason Morgan of General Hospital

Disclaimer: I own nothing but two dogs that always seem to worm their way into my fics :-}

~ The First Spark ~

Maxie woke up to the gentle sway of the boat rolling with the seas. They'd been on the boat for three weeks straight while they crossed the massive Atlantic Ocean. Never had they gone so long without some form of civilization. Even when they were traveling across South America, there were cities, more like dirty dust bowls but cities still. There were people. People other than the three Morgan boys and her.

Feeling the cottony thickness at her throats opening, she reached beside her for the plastic glass that was safely tucked into the extra deep cup holder. Something she was grateful for and always used since the third night at sea when the ice cold water tumbled all over her as she had just drifted off to sleep. Her shocked scream from the freezing cold liquid covering her upper body and soaking her shirt, reverberated through the small cabin of the boat.

Jason ran in first, gun drawn. He flipped the light switch and looked around wildly until he was sure there was no danger. When his eyes finally found the reason for her scream, they bulged and he quickly jerked his head left to stare out the port hole. Anger and something she wasn't quite sure of rolling off of him in waves. His chest heaved underneath the black wife beater he slept in and his muscles flexed and rolled with each breath as he tried to calm down and let loose his adrenaline from the heart gripping fear of what the scream could have meant.

Clicking back on the safety of his gun he gritted out in anger, "Cover yourself Maxie."

In her distress and then fear that Jason would shoot first and ask questions later, she hadn't noticed that the t-shirt she wore to bed was thin and white and the full glass of water had soaked clean through so that the outline of her breasts were showing as if there were no physical barrier obstructing the view.

Her breasts were pert, which they should be for a woman of twenty three without children to force gravity's destruction. The areola was dark, through the white cotton the color likening a sienna hue. Without the white to contrast, it was much more pink in tone. Her nipples both were pebble hard. The way they get when a man ravages them to attention with his tongue and teeth and were slightly darker than the surrounding circle.

Jessie once told her that her breasts were her best feature. He said he'd never seen more perfect tits in his life, even in the magazines men liked to say they read but never did more than peruse the pictures while they pleasured themselves. The half dollar sized dark areolas and the large pea sized nearly brick red nipples being what turned men on the most. And her breasts were tanned to perfection. About six shades lighter than the rest of her body but still a golden brown. At least that was always the goal in the tanning salon when she'd tan nude every sixth time she went.

Of course being a B cup instead of a C always worried her but many men told her that for her small frame they were just what a man liked to see. Yet, after being with Jason and the boys for months now, she'd gained a few pounds from the "kid friendly" foods they'd been eating and had actually bought and fit perfectly into a C cup brassiere when in Paris.

She laughed softly when she noticed the bead of sweat that had formed and was now trailing down the side of Jason's head as he kept his gaze on the horizon. But then her laughter only angered him more and he growled at her again to cover herself.

Always wanting to push him that much further, for the sheer fun of it, she raised her arms above her head then bent them at the elbow to pull the sopping wet baby tee from her body in one swoosh that caused Jason to suck in a large amount of air and then groan when her toss of the garment landed it hanging from the hook on the port hole he was peering through.

"Jesus Maxie, what the fuck are you doing?" He clipped out in an enraged tone that had a hint of hoarseness and crack to the words. His only give away that she was getting to him.

"Well I soaked myself from the stupid glass of water. I can't very well sleep in that shirt so I'm changing." Was her simple reply and she practically cooed it with the innocence both knew she had lost long ago.

"And you can't do that after I've left the room?" His voice rose in pitch but his anger toward her was still palpable. He knew what she was doing. She thought it was a game and he was not going to play. He rarely ever did.

"Hmmm, what's the matter big guy?"

"Just fucking get dressed and…" He groaned and so did she as she scrambled to grab another t-shirt from the pile and yank it over her head quickly.

"Jason?" Came the little boys voice and then suddenly, little brown curls were standing just to the outer side of Jason's hips in the small doorway of the berth.

Jason's eyes shot to hers. Then they looked down and flicked back up again. He told himself it was because his oldest son was now in the room and he needed to make sure she wasn't exposing herself to him. But subconsciously, without admitting it to himself, he was looking again. His male primal instincts on overdrive. And hands down she had great tits.

"Cam sweetie, did I wake you?" Maxie reached across the bed, leaning forward on her knees to reach for the boy and accidentally brushing the back of her hand across the front of Jason's pants in the process.

Jason groaned and Maxie let out an eeek in surprise at the bulge that was straining under the denim of his pants. She jumped back, landing on her behind and Jason's torso thrust backward into the door jamb. They both looked at each other and then quickly looked away, fearing that what they saw was actually an eclipse of desire in each other's eyes.

Always the first to break the tension, Maxie quickly recovered. "Cam honey…why don't you sleep with me so that we don't wake up Jake as well. Come on." And she patted the large open space at her side.

Then looking back up at Jason she clipped, "You can go now."

Jason's eyes flicked to hers and suddenly she saw that Stone Cold glare that would make men the size of giants piss themselves.

"Oh get over yourself you big Neanderthal. So I spilled some water and you saw…well…what you saw. And it's over and…"

"You woke the kids."

"I woke Cam and he probably wanted to sleep in the bed with me instead of Jake the buzzsaw anyway." She looked down at the boy who had now climbed into her lap and smiled. "Didn't you Cam?"

"Yeah, this bed is bigger and I think Jake made a big one stinky." The little boy announced.

"Well there you go. You have a job to do Dad so I suggest you quit your pouting and go change your son's poopy diaper." She smirked.

At that she laid back and rolled her and Cameron over and pulled the covers up over each of them.

Jason stood in the doorway a minute watching the two ignore him while his blood boiled throughout his body. His near hard on from two minutes ago completely diminished and nothing but scorn and hate for the blonde pixie that was the bane of his existence coursed through him. Finally, he moved out of the berth's doorway and watched as the opening slid closed behind a teakwood paneled door.

Now, as she smiled at that moment, she remembered how she found him today, head in hands, sobbing with his forehead leaning against the captain's wheel earlier that evening. It was two days after Christmas and the loneliness each of them felt for their family and their friends was the only thing palpable on the tiny yacht. The fog had set in and depression was only kept at bay by the bright spots of the boys that shone through.

Jake didn't understand Christmas and was just so happy to have some toy motorcycles of his own. Cameron only understood that Christmas meant Santa Claus and Santa Claus meant presents. Only Maxie understood Jason's pain and regret. She felt it too.

The loss of loved ones. The pain of knowing you'll never see them again. The regret for not being more of a friend, child, cousin, sibling. The regret of selfishness that brought them here, on a boat, harbored in an Antigua port.

They did what they could on their small boat to make Christmas special for the boys two days ago. However, time and space didn't allow for much. They didn't have a Christmas Tree, only a small earring tree Maxie found at a small dirt floor tourist shop. She took her two ruby earrings her father had given her two Christmases before and then her fake emerald ear cuff and attached them and told the boys they were Christmas lights.

Jason found a man and paid him to dress as Santa for the boys but when he finally found an almost Santa looking outfit of a white feather boa, a big black shiny patten leather belt and bright red pajamas, the man was stinking drunk off the money he'd given.

Jason even went so far as to try to pull off the ridiculous outfit himself but in the tight cramps of the boats living area, Jake saw him. And after close inspection, Cam huffed that it was just Jason, not Santa Claus.

After putting the boys to bed Christmas night, each child smiling and happy and hugging their new toys, Jason silently walked up to the deck. After a few moments, Maxie made her way up there too and watched as he stood at the edge of the boat, looking up at the stars of the crystal clear night and hugged himself.

She couldn't help but think he looked broken and wanted to fix him in the worst way. Thinking maybe some words of kindness could help she walked up to him and silently placed her tiny hand on his forearm. "Thank you for today. You'll never know how much this means to me."

She reached with her other hand and pulled the gold necklace with the tiny stamped tag that read Maxie on one side and Georgie on the other, from the valley between her breasts and looked at it sparkle in the moon's light.

Jason looked down and smiled slightly. "It was from Mac" He announced. "He called and told me where he had it made and asked me to pick it up and have it gift wrapped for you when we were in Paris. I couldn't even do that."

"Jason, don't be so hard on yourself."

"I just…" He stopped and thinned his lips as he tamped down his emotions.

Maxie looked up and saw the tears shimmering in his eyes, threatening to spill over at any moment. "Tell me." She whispered.

"I've failed everyone and now I'm failing the boys. I promised Elizabeth…"

"You promised to protect them and that's what you've done. You…you've protected them and taken them away so that no harm can come to them again." She shifted and pulled at his arm to get him to turn and look at her and then laughed slightly when he didn't budge an inch. "You are such a big oaf."

"Thanks. THAT made me feel so much better." He rolled his eyes at her then dropped his head back and looked straight up.

"Well, I'm trying to have an Academy Award winning moment here and you turn it into an Adam Sandler feature."

"Who?" He lifted his head and looked back down at her.

"Adam Sandler…you know Big Daddy?" she looked up and his eyes narrowed in confusion. "Happy Gilmore?" Still no recognition. "The Waterboy?"

Still the man didn't know who he was and then suddenly it hit her. "Bedtime Stories"

"The movie Cameron liked that we all saw when we took the boys the day he got out of the hospital in Tampa?"

"Yes, he played the Uncle. And WE didn't see the movie. I remember you and Jake immediately falling asleep in the theater once you had your fill of junk food."

"Well, it was dark and cool and…"

"I know. You can sleep anywhere."

"Yeah, I guess I can. Occupational benefit."

"Not a hazard?" she asked as she sat down on the couch that did a semi circle behind the captain's chair.

"No, when you are out on a job…sometimes you can spend three and four days in the same spot and sometimes that spot is crouched behind a dumpster at the back door of a warehouse. You're grateful that you can catch cat naps anywhere in those times."

"Behind a smelly dumpster? Are you making that up?"

"No…" He'd gotten used to telling her stories. Sometimes it was the only way to stop hearing her drone on and on about silk and taffeta and hem lines of the season. "Remember when Vinnie Scalia turned up dead?"

"Yeah, Lucky and Alvarez found him in a dumpster behind…OH!" Her eyes widened at the implication. He'd told her stories but never admitted to her anything incriminating.

Jason rolled his eyes. "I didn't kill him. I watched. That's the only way the PCPD had any clue as to who to go after."

"But my Dad arrested you." She accused and then nervously scratched at her forearm with the other hand. A nervous habit Jason had picked up on when the greasy older man from the village reached out to offer her assistance to disembark from the boat at one of their first ports of call, La Palma, in the Canary Islands off the Western Tip of Africa.

"Your Dad arrested me every time the wind blew. Maxie, if a street light broke on Main Street, the PCPD assumed first that I had something to do with it and then created a scenario as to why Sonny would order me to do it."

Jason sat down next to her and then grabbed her hand before she broke skin. "I didn't kill that man. I watched who did. I handed the information over to the police anonymously. Only because it would allow the PCPD to take care of my problem for me and no Corinthos Organization soldier would have to dirty their hands or be accused as a snitch. Actually, Sonny never even knew I led the cops there. But as usual, the Keystone Cops didn't follow procedure and Moreno was out on the streets within seventy two hours."

"Yeah, even as the Police Commissioners daughter and his number one fan, I realize that his men couldn't find their way out of a paper bag much less perform an investigation, solve a crime or properly arrest someone so that the DA's office could get a conviction."

"They almost convicted me." He reasoned and scratched at his eyebrow leaning back and putting his arm across the back of the seat behind Maxie.

"Yeah but they didn't. Diane produced reasonable doubt and the jury acquitted you of all the charges. And YOU did it." She said it so matter of fact that he took in a deep breath and held it.

She looked back at him and then rested her back against the cushion, feeling his arm curl slightly around her. "There's no reason to deny it now. Actually you could put it on billboards all over town. JASON MORGAN KILLED LORENZO ALCAZAR. They can't do anything about it now. You were found innocent and there's a law called Double Jeopardy. You can't be tried for that crime again."

"It sounds like we have a lawyer in the making here." He squeezed her shoulder with his right hand.

"No, just a huge Ashley Judd fan." She sighed and moved in a little into his side to block the cool ocean breeze.

"Who?" Jason asked and reached beside him to grab the blanket that was draped over the opposite cushion.

"Jeez Jason, read a magazine, watch ET. You and I have nothing in common and we're going to be stuck together for at least five years." She groaned.

Jason pulled the blanket and draped it across Maxie. "Okay, I'll make you a deal. I'll learn about two topics of your choosing and you have to do the same."

"No way! You'll have me learning the techniques of cleaning for a Glock and something all Neanderthal-ish like the rules of Hockey or something. Or worse, something ghoulish and all McGuyver like how to piece your liver back together after a machine gun splatters it all over a…a…"

"Dirty, smelly dumpster behind a warehouse?" Jason added and then laughed.

Maxie looked up at him in horror of the thought that he'd seen exactly that very thing with the guy that killed Vinnie Scalia but then saw the look in his eyes and knew he was teasing her.

"OH YOU BIG…OAF!" she yelled as she swatted his chest underneath the blanket.

He grabbed her hand to keep her from hitting him again and their eyes met. Suddenly the world around them settled. The air stood still and all they could do was stare into each others blue eyes and see the sparkle of life that each had created for the other on what both living breathing creatures was sure to turn into the worst day of their lives.

See, little boys don't understand. They are happy to just have toys and fun from day to day. But adults, especially the two adults sitting on deck of a yacht in the middle of the Carribean, knowing just how drastically their life had changed in a years time and also how drastically it would continue to change in the years to come; they knew the significance of finding laughter and a single solitary moment of happiness on such a special day as Christmas.

"Merry Christmas Maxie" Jason breathed, breaking the silence that was between them.

"Merry Christmas Jason" Maxie returned and then leaned up and kissed his cheek.

Jason closed his eyes and hugged her close at the feel of her warmth next to him. It'd been so long since he held a woman in his arms. The feeling of rightness that only a woman, her scent and her softness could give a man like him. Hard, brooding, reckless and dangerous. The feeling of safety and love.

Suddenly Jason's eyes popped open.

Love?

Jason jumped up from the couch and moved to the ships wheel. "I got word from Raynor through Spinelli. Our final destination is Tampa."

Suddenly feeling the chill even though she was under a thick wool blanket, Maxie hugged herself and drew the blanket further around her. "Oh?" she said it so nonchalant and then breathed a sigh of relief that he didn't pick up on her guilt. "I liked Tampa. We know they have an excellent Children's Hospital there at least."

"Yeah. I just wonder why there. I mean, I would think it would have been safer to be on the west coast if we had to be located within the United States. I really wanted to be relocated to Europe. Southern Europe would have been best. Far enough away from anyone that would recognize me."

"Well, the West Coast has earthquakes and horrible fashion sense. Except for LA but that doesn't count because those people get access to the Parisian fashions. And anywhere in Europe sounds too close to Russia to me."

Jason looked back at her and his brows furrowed. She was busted and she knew it. But then suddenly, his eyebrows shot up and she smiled. "That was really well thought out for you Maxie. I'm impressed. Not about the silly fashion stuff but that's what you are into so naturally it would be a consideration for you."

He sat down in the captain's chair and turned around to face her. "I did some research too. One of the top cardiologists in the country is based out of Tampa. He fly's all over the world and was actually in college when you had YOUR heart transplant operation. I told Spinelli to set up an appointment with him soon after we arrive. And of course, as you mentioned, the Children's Hospital is one of the best. I always liked Florida and being on the West Coast should help us avoid running into any of my old associates or enemies. They tend to gravitate to the South Beaches of Miami."

"Then it sounds like we have a new home."

"Yep, Tampa Florida…here we come." Jason announced and he picked up his beer that he'd set down before Maxie arrived on deck and lifted it into the air as a toast.

Now…days later she stood from her bed and moved through the door toward the kitchen that Jason insisted she call a galley. She needed to fill her glass.

The sliding of the door alerted Jason to her presence. No one could move on that boat without him sensing them or hearing their movements. It's the only thing that made him feel safe that he had his two boys on a boat in the middle of the ocean. The alarms could only sound once they broke through them. His keen hearing alerted him way before any alarm could possibly sound.

He didn't make a sound. He knew it was Maxie and their last words to each other that night had been mean and hateful. He was especially cruel to her regarding the change in their course toward West Florida. His new plans would cause them to extend their time on the boat for another week and she was livid.

His final words to her were Suck it up and quit being such a bitch before I call the Russians and tell them exactly where they can find you.

Of course he'd never do that. Hell, he'd lay his life down in order to protect hers. She'd become so much more than just an annoyance over the past year.

But their fights were legendary and this one was no exception.

He always went back to something that Courtney had told him one night after a huge fight with Carly over Alcazar. If you didn't love her, you wouldn't waste your time fighting with her.

If that theory was true he must REALLY love Maxie and she must just be simply head over heels over him.

He let out a breath and watched as Maxie turned her head to look in his direction. She couldn't see his face as it was hidden in the shadows of the room but he could see her perfectly in the glow of the running lights that lined the top of the main living cabin.

Her hair was pinned to the top of her head and then messily falling every which way. She had on another one of those damn baby tee's that barely covered her up and short cotton boy shorts.

He felt himself grown aroused at the site. He hated when that happened and promised himself that he would find a woman to release his carnal urges at the next port. Clearly he needed the release if he found Maxie's curves enticing.

He watched her while he slowly moved his hand to his crotch and grasped himself in a snug embrace. She moved, sliding her feet across the floor so she wouldn't trip over anything in her way. She placed the plastic tumbler down on the counter and then lifted both of her arms in a deep yawning stretch.

Jason tugged a little harder and let his thumb brush across the tip of his dick and it jumped in response. The curves of her body, the peaks of her breasts and the gentle slope of her toned stomach shone in the outline. She then bent down and with her back to him, searched the half height refrigerator for the ice tray.

Jason quietly stroked himself at the sight of her backside bent over and displayed to him. After long minutes she finally straightened and turned around facing him on the couch. She set the ice tray down as she kicked the refrigerator door closed and slid her plastic cup closer to her. Gently she twisted the tray and it barely made a sound and she used her fingernails to slide the ice from their holders.

She looked up and Jason froze still. She couldn't see his face but she could see his perfect body. The same body that woke her up in her sleep because the sensation of his strong arms around her in her dream became too much to bear. She studied his chest as it rose and fell, his muscles standing out without flexing. She followed the line of his arms down his torso to his waist.

His arms and hands cupping the one thing that intrigued her the most.

She absentmindedly ran the ice cube down her throat and her chest to cool the valley between her breasts that had suddenly become flush thinking about what Sam had told her during a girl's sleepover at her apartment.

Jason Morgan was packing the likes of which many had never seen. And he knew how to use it with precision, his foremost goal to pleasure his partner first, during and many times afterward.

She shivered as the thought ran through her mind and then she saw his hand stroke himself.

Realization shone in her shocked, wide blue eyes and Jason jumped at the squeaking shrill scream. He jumped from the couch and nearly knocked her down when she ran past him.

The door opened and shut to her berth and she disappeared as quickly as she appeared and had he not seen the ice tray still sitting on the counter, he would have thought it was all an erotic dream.

He leaned his back to the wall she was behind and he could almost feel her presence on the other side. She was nearly in the same spot, fiberglass and teak wood the only thing separating them and they both let out a sigh.

As if on cue they both said out loud to themselves, "What the fuck was that?"