Shadowing Death: Bleeding in the Rain

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Thanks so much for the reviews! There were some questions in them that I thought I would clear up:

Is this a Sonny/Brenda story?

Sadly, no.

Is Courtney going to be in this?

Just a bit. Remember, she didn't break up Elizabeth and Jason. It's just happy Court and AJ. She is Sonny's sister and he is Jason's brother, so of course appearances will be made, but nothing that stands very much.


Is Carly in this story?

Yes. I couldn't leave her out. However, keep in mind that she is not pregnant.



---------------------------------------- Outside the Church

Sonny felt Jason fall on top of him as the gunshot rang out. "Jason? Can you hear me?" he asked quietly. He thought he could feel wetness seep into his shirt, but he was praying it was just the rain. Behind him he could vaguely hear Brenda's screaming though no noise came from Jason.

Brenda ran up next to them and Sonny could see that she was crying. "Sonny?"

"Help me get him up." He instructed quietly. He wasn't sure why he was near whispering. Goddamnit, where was Francis?

Brenda slowly lifted Jason up and once his friend was up high enough Sonny managed to grab him and help Brenda to move him. Once they laid Jason down next to Sonny they could see that it wasn't just rain that was seeping into Sonny's shirt.

It was Jason's blood.

Sonny looked around the area. If he found Francis then he could get Jason to a doctor. "Francis!" he called out, but didn't hear anything in response. Swearing, he turned his attention back to Jason. "Jase? Can you hear me? Open your eyes, come on. You can do it. Jason!" he encouraged as he tapped Jason's face.

"Sonny. He's bleeding a lot." Brenda needlessly told him, sounding as though she was falling into some sort of shock. She had tears streaming down her face. It wouldn't be right if she didn't acknowledge that she didn't care for Jason much, but he had just saved Sonny and part of her would always care about him. Nothing Jason Morgan ever did would make her forget the affection she had always felt for Jason Quartermaine.

Beside her, Sonny looked at the wound in Jason's chest. He quickly took off his jacket and pressed it to the bloody area in an attempt to slow the bleeding. "Jason. Come on man, don't do this."

Jason groaned and opened his eyes slightly. "Sonny?" He whispered so faintly that Brenda and Sonny weren't even sure he had spoken.

"It's me. I'm right here. Stay with me." He kept encouraging. Looking around again he spotted Francis running up to them. "Where the hell have you been?" he asked angrily. What was the point of a guard when the guard wasn't there to guard you? Wasn't that his job? As much as he hated to admit it, he would much rather have Jason and Francis in reversed places.

"I was going after the gunman. I lost him when he went into the woods. How is Jason?" Francis said quickly.

"Get the car. NOW!" Sonny yelled. He didn't bother to answer Francis's question on Jason's condition. He didn't want to voice how bad this was.

Francis nodded and took off. Sonny looked down at Jason again. The bleeding wasn't letting up. "Jase. You're okay. Don't worry, you're okay." He said slowly to make sure Jason got it, that he knew that he was going to be fine. Sonny wasn't going to let him die.

Brenda kept watching Sonny. She could tell he was falling apart inside. The man had aimed at Sonny - the bullet was from Alcazar, it had to have been. Luis had shot Jason. This was her fault. Sonny was going to lose his best friend and the Quartermaines were losing Jason too. She knew she should have never come back to Port Charles. She should have stayed away.

"Brenda?" Jason whispered to them in slight surprise.

"Yeah, it's me. I bet I was the last person you expected to see." She joked with him, hoping to take his mind off things for even a second.

Jason's mouth twisted into something she chose to take as a smile, but whatever retort he had planned died on his lips. He groaned in pain again.

------------------------------------------ Elizabeth's Studio

Elizabeth was still in the process of catching her breath. Why had she woken up fearing for Jason? It made no sense, but something was wrong. She knew it.

Quickly she threw back the blankets on her couch and ran to the phone. Even in the dark she could see the numbers on the phone. She quickly dialed the number he had once forced to her memorize. The phone rang and after a few rings it was clear that no one was planning on picking up. She slammed the phone down in frustration.

This didn't help the fear she could feel racing through her. "Jason, where are you?"

------------------------------------------ Outside the Church

"Jason, no. Don't do this, Jason. Stay with me." Sonny pleaded to Jason. He could feel it in him. Jason was leaving them.

Jason said nothing back now. His eyes were slowly closing. He opened his mouth again, but only mouthed the word, "Elizabeth…"

Sonny gave Jason's arm a shake to keep him from closing his eyes, "Jason! Don't do this. Don't leave us. You can hang on, I know it. Please." Sonny said. This wasn't happening. How was it that he was getting Brenda back and losing Jason? This was his fault - another person suffering because of him. "Jason. Please, I need you. Carly and Michael do too. Think about Elizabeth. Come on. You're okay. We're gonna bring you to a safe house and a doctor's going to help you. It's going to be fine. Don't worry." He kept talking to Jason. The light was fading from Jason's eyes.

"It's not, not your fault." Jason choked out against the pain. Sonny was going to be blaming himself. Anyone who knew Sonny knew that and he didn't want Sonny going to that dark place over him. There was no real way to stop it, but it didn't mean he wasn't going to try.

"Yes, it is, but that doesn't matter right now. Don't talk. Just focus on breathing." Sonny ordered. He didn't want to think about that right now. He had been sitting there with Jason for only a few minutes but that didn't seem to register with him. It felt like much longer.

The door to the church opened up and a priest ran out. "I called the hospital." He said as he got there.

Sonny closed his eyes. That was not a good thing. The priest was talking and for once in his life, Sonny wasn't listening. He kept himself focused on his friend. "Hey, hey man. It's okay."

"Sonny..." Jason started to say, but his eyes closed and his head fell back. Sonny let go of the jacket and pressed his fingers to Jason's neck to find a pulse.

There wasn't one.

Sonny stared at Jason. Brenda's crying stopped instantly and she turned her gaze to Sonny. His eyes were wide and tears were leaking out now.

Jason was dead.

Francis ran up to them "I have the car." Seeing the looks on everyone's face he looked down at Jason. He knew what had happened. He had been too late.

"Take Brenda." Sonny ordered. His eyes never left Jason's face.

Brenda turned to look at him. "Sonny, I want to stay with you." She whispered to him. This was not the time for him to be alone. She knew him. He needed someone.

Her words didn't even seem to register with Sonny. "Francis, take her to a safe house." His words were calm and unemotional. His eyes still stayed trained on Jason's unmoving face. Jason wasn't ever going to move again. The thought struck Sonny like a ton of bricks. Jason was wild, full of life - always on the move. It was so alien to see Jason so still.

Francis stood up and went to Brenda. "Come on, Miss Barrett."

"No." She said and wrenched her arm from the guards grasp. Francis wasn't about to let Sonny down again, though. He picked Brenda up and ran to the car.

"Sonny!" she called out for him. "He should not be alone now. His best friend is dead. He needs someone." She said to Francis, but he ignored her and said nothing.

The door to the limo closed and Francis drove off. Brenda could hear the police and ambulance coming.

Sonny seemed oblivious to everything. He couldn't believe it. Jason was dead - after everything he had been through. It was all over. His friend was dead.

He heard a voice behind him. "Well, well, well. Corinthos. So, who died at your hand tonight?" Taggert's voice said as he walked up to the scene. He looked down at the person Sonny was sitting next to.

Jason Morgan.

So maybe it wasn't at Sonny's hand after all.

"I'll be damned." Taggert whispered.


I hope everyone enjoyed (well, maybe enjoyed would be stretch) the chapter. Please review!