Title: Painting Little Devils

Chapter One: Discontentment

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or anything General Hospital related. I receive no money for this.

Elizabeth Spencer frowned as she drove her beat up silver Toyota sedan down the deserted streets of Port Charles. It seemed as if everyone – everyone was safe at home still in bed while she was out in the early morning hours driving as if all hell itself was on her tail.

Her husband, Lucky was at home complaining about a head cold he had caught at the police station. For some reason he had expected Elizabeth to wait on him hand and foot. She was, after all a nurse, right? Surely she could take care of her husband on her one free day. It didn't matter that she couldn't remember the last time she had a day all to herself without her husband or her adorable little son in tow. She'd taken each available shift she could get at the hospital because the Spencer's greatly needed the money to pay off their massive bills.

Her son Cameron was busy spending the next few days with his doting grandmother Audrey Hardy and Lucky was safely in bed drowning in self pity and cough syrup. It wasn't as if she were abandoning her family. Every woman needs a little R and R now and then, she assured herself. Lucky was blowing his illness way out of proportion anyway. Whenever he got sick he turned from a twenty-six year old adult into a complaining five year old. She had assured him she would return in time to make him a nice steaming bowl of chicken soup for dinner so all he needed to do while she was away was sleep and rest. He had whined, begging her to stay but she had just smiled, reminded him once more about the dinner plans and left.

It wasn't right that she still felt so damned guilty about it all. She knew she wasn't really being cruel about leaving Lucky, but he sure made her feel that way. He wasn't doing it intentionally but…she felt like she never really got to be Elizabeth anymore. She was wife, mother, and nurse but never her own person. She felt that everyone deserved some time alone and she was in dire need of some for herself. If that was being selfish, then so be it.

Days earlier Elizabeth had gone into an art supply store, pushing her son Cameron in his stroller with her into the building. It had been ages since she had last been in the place. She had stopped painting shortly after her relationship with Ric had ended…well, the first time it had ended. When they had reconciled all thoughts of painting and art went out the window. She had been so caught up in her ex-husband's life and planning for Cameron's birth that she had put it on a short hiatus that had somehow morphed into a long one. But once back in her old familiar haunt, she gathered her bearings and went straight for the oil paints, followed quickly by the canvases.

Elizabeth knew that their budget could barely afford it but she had replenished all her art supplies, buying a multitude of colors, brushes and a brand new medium sized canvas. This was, after all merely for practicing. Cameron, who was almost always a well behaved little boy, had smiled and looked on curiously at the wonders in the store. She had put the purchased supplies in the trunk and only took them out and into the apartment before her husband had arrived home from work. She really didn't know why she hid the fact that she intended to paint again from Lucky. It didn't make any sense to not tell him but something inside her urged her to keep it a secret so she did just that.

The sun's rays were peeking just above the horizon as drove down the road past Kelly's diner and tried to think of a good place to go to begin painting. She no longer had her studio but she could think of only one other place. The light there would be amazing, she thought as she turned left onto Van Ness Street. It was a place that always made her feel safe and as far as she knew, it would have very little traffic there at this hour. In fact, she doubted anyone even went there at all anymore. It was probably too early in the day, she thought.

The place in her mind was none other than Vista Point.

As she had suspected, Vista Point was empty as can be, well, not counting the birds in the trees above. She took out the large tote bag that held her painting supplies from the seat beside her and removed her blank canvas as well as the folding stand out of the trunk. Lucky had been in bed all morning so it had been easy enough to remove the items from the closet (where she had hidden them) and take them out to her car with her.

Blessedly, the night prior when she had dropped Cam off at his grandmother's she had found the old box where she had stored several of her supplies after her divorce with Ric. Everything seemed to be in working order…some of the brushes had gotten smashed while in storage but luckily she had purchased several new ones when she had been in the store.

She carried the supplies with her down the little dirt path that led to the point and looked around her once she reached the area. There was still no sign of anyone. With a smile, she walked down the few steps that led to a bench where people could sit and look out at the view. Elizabeth placed her bag, canvas and wooden stand on the park bench beside her and turned to survey the landscape beyond. The city looked beautiful at that time of morning. The Harborview Towers glittered in the rising sun like a diamond. Her smile broadened.

Her thoughts strayed to all the time she had spent up at Vista Point, just looking out at the city below. She had never felt as tranquil as she did then, other than the times of silence when her son lay sleeping peacefully in her arms.

She decided at that moment to paint the city below, just as a practice. She needed to get her feet wet, so to speak and this was the perfect thing to reinitiate her into the world of art. Humming under her breath, she began to set up her supplies, ready to paint the world.

Jason Morgan was having the day from hell. His fiancée, Sam McCall was, once again crying. It got to the point where she seemed to cry at the drop of a hat, her dark brown eyes sorrowful, her cheeks wet from escaping tears.

"Jay-son," she whined, wiping at the snot running out of her nose with her shirt sleeve. Jason cringed, not just at her actions but at the plaintive way she said his name, drawing out the first syllable to unnatural lengths. "Why are you leaving now?" she asked as she followed him to the front door of their penthouse in Harborview Towers.

He found he couldn't breathe. With all of Carly's new drama, Sonny becoming irate over some business dealing or the other, Emily upset over her ruined marriage and Sam crying because she felt Jason wasn't paying enough attention to her…he was at his wits end. He needed fresh air. He needed to feel the road crunch under the wheels of his motorcycle as he sped along the highway at unnatural speeds. He needed…to be free.

"You make me feel free."

It was strange to think of her at that precise moment. Well, maybe not really. The bike, whether he admitted it aloud or not, always reminded him of her and the time they spent together. The two were somehow indelibly intertwined in his mind. They fit together. They just felt right.

As he quickly shrugged into the black leather of his jacket he called something dismissive over his shoulder to Sam, saying he needed to handle some business. That answer seemed to upset her even more and she asked why he was avoiding her.

Jason steeled himself for the sight of his petite fiancée drenched in tears and turned. "I just need to handle a few things." It was true. Sonny needed Jason to take care of a few matters down at the warehouse. Granted they were things that could wait another day but Jason liked to get the business dealings squared away as soon as possible. Sam knew that about him.

Her bottom lip quivered and she tugged at the hem of the oversized long sleeved t-shirt of his that she wore to bed the night before. "Okay. Will you come back soon?" She asked, fresh tears welling up in her eyes. Jason nodded once, turned and left the apartment, taking a deep breath once he was safely closed away in the elevator that would take him to the lower level parking garage.

Once again he thought of her and the way her sapphire eyes used to light up when he let her steer the motorcycle on the cliff roads. She liked those the best, she had told him. She lived for the turns.

He frowned as he straddled the bike and started the engine, revving it a bit before taking off. He didn't want to think about her at that moment. He wanted to clear his mind of everything. He wanted to let go for a while.

He found that he too wanted to feel free.

The azure color that Elizabeth had purchased at the art supply store was a shade or two too light for what she needed. She placed the paintbrush handle between her teeth as she grabbed a few tubes of color and set about blending the perfect shade of blue for the sky.

She needed an ice blue like the way worn denim looked right before it began to fray, like a robin's egg, like…Jason Morgan's eyes.

The tube of paint nearly slipped from her fingers at that thought. Where had that come from? Jason was someone she rarely had contact with these days. They rarely noticed each other anymore, just offering polite smiles every now and then or just sharing brief, casual conversations. His eyes were not something she needed to think of…even though she could recall perfectly how they seemed to soften in color when he smiled…and that shade they turned was the exact color she needed to highlight the sky. "Damn," she muttered around the paintbrush in her mouth.

Staring blankly at her unfinished canvas she thought of Jason. There was no particular memory that crossed her mind, just the vision of him in her mind's eye. He looked good in that electric blue color, that made his eyes seem unnaturally blue. He used to own a t-shirt that she thought suited his blond good looks to a T.

What was she doing? She came to Vista Point to paint, not to fantasize about her ex…no matter how tempting the thought was. With a determined sigh she gripped the tube of dark blue paint in her hand and concentrated on squeezing out the right amount onto her palette and began to blend the various shades of blue together. Jason was her past. She was in her present with Lucky and she intended to live her future with him as well.

She attacked the canvas with her loaded blue paintbrush in an almost brutal fashion, slashing the little ribbons of pigment throughout the skyline above the blurred edges of one of the buildings. Pulling her brush back she surveyed the results and bit her lip.

It still needed something but she had no idea what exactly that was. Her mouth turned down slightly at the corners. "Hell," she muttered to herself, absently glancing down to her black banded wristwatch. It was later in the day than she had thought. Lucky would be waiting for her to return and make him that soup.

With one last glance at the unfinished canvas, she began to pack up her supplies but decided to wait a while longer before putting the canvas in the car. She wanted to give her latest additions to the portrait time to dry a little before she headed back to the responsibilities of home.

Jason had gone into the warehouse straight away and immediately met a startled Benny in the corridor that led to the offices.

"Jason? What are you doing here on your day off?" The balding older man asked with a touch of fatherly concern.

Jason's handsome face fell into a frown. "I wanted to take care of that paperwork and get it out of the way."

The accountant's eyes narrowed and he couldn't quite hide his surprise at Jason's behavior. "But I told Mr. Corinthos it wasn't anything that needed to be handled right away," he informed the younger man that he couldn't help but have a tender spot for. Sonny valued Benny's advice and regarded him with respect, the highest honor Corinthos could give. Benny respected Sonny as a no-nonsense business man, even if some of the actions his boss committed were not exactly to his taste. But Benny dealt with numbers, not body counts and as long as that happened, he would say and do nothing to betray Corinthos' trust in his ability as an accountant. Sonny's personal life was his own affair.

But it was different when it came to the boys; the men under the mob boss' employ. Jason, Max, Francis and Marco were like the sons he never had. The men, excluding Jason often came to him for the advice that only an older, seasoned man could give. He listened to their worries and tried to give the sound advice that he would have appreciated if he were in their shoes. He liked them all equally except perhaps Jason had always been one of Benny's favorite people. The enforcer told it like it was and didn't bullshit around with the facts to spare others and he always did what he wanted, not bothering to over-think it. The accountant's admiration of the young man had not diminished with time. The two of them had always had a very honest relationship and Benny knew Jason would not be offended by a little advice.

"You need time off, Jason," Benny began again in a soft voice, leaning closer to his friend and putting an arm around the young man's shoulders. Together they walked toward Jason's office. "Take Sam out or go have some time away from here. Everyone needs a day or two off every once and a while. You'll spread yourself too thin otherwise." Benny's eyes were filled with concern. Work had a way of creeping into every aspect of one's life until it obliterated everything in its path, including one's personal life. Benny knew all too well about that and he didn't want the same to happen to his boys.

Jason nodded once at Benny's advice. He respected Benny's opinion and knew the older man meant only to look out for him. "After I take care of the papers, I'll quit for the day."

Somehow Benny did not appear quite mollified but said no more on the subject and after a quick farewell, he left the enforcer to his work.

Once Jason completed the monotonous paperwork, he did as he promised Benny and left the warehouse taking off on his bike to unknown parts. He drove along the streets of Port Charles at a few miles per hour over the maximum speed limit. Once he reached the twisting cliff roads he could really let go. There was a small possibility that the cops would be there and give him a ticket but Jason didn't care. He had more than enough money to pay for it and a higher insurance premium.

The bike growled as he pressed on the gas, speeding up and up into the mountains and farther into freedom. He took a deep breath and was grateful that he had gotten time away from Sonny, Sam, and Carly at least for a while. He loved them all but it felt good to just feel the wind on his face and listen to the roar of the motor and the road crunch beneath his wheels. It cleared his mind of everything but the road.

A small silver sedan sped past Jason on one of the turns and for a second, his eyes registered a sweep of pale skin and dark chestnut hair. Could it be…? The driver was headed back to PC and for a moment Jason swore it was Elizabeth that he saw in the driver's seat but both vehicles were going far too fast for him to be sure. If it was her, what was she doing up there? But as soon as he thought it, he already knew the answer.

Vista Point.

He smiled as he drove farther up the twisting road. He couldn't help but feel a strange sort of happiness at the thought of Elizabeth at Vista Point even if the person he passed in the car was not her. It had been…what was it that she had called it? His spot. Their spot. So many conversations had taken place up there, sitting on the benches, hashing out their differences or just talking about absolutely nothing.

When he came to the fork in the road that led to either Vista Point or father up the mountain, without hesitating Jason headed to the Point and realized as he turned that he hadn't felt this happy in weeks.

TBC...

Thoughts and feedback are very welcome. :)