Chapter Three

Moaning at the light streaming through the curtains, she uncovered her eyes and pushed herself into a sitting position on the bed. Swinging her legs over the side of the bed, she stood and looked at the clock. Gasping at the late hour, she hurriedly made her way down the stairs.

"Hey, sleepyhead. Are you hungry?"

Confused, she looked at Johnny and blinked. "Johnny? What are you doing here?"

The amused man tossed his newspaper onto the table in front of him. "Watching over your sleepy behind, Lizbits. Since you slept passed noon, you have to starving. Do you want me to order something from Kelly's?"

When her stomach rumbled at the thought of food, she grimaced as Johnny only laughed. "Um, why don't I change and we can head over there."

"Not a good idea," he immediately countered. "Sonny wants you, Carly, and Courtney to stay in today."

Her sapphire eyes widen with concern, but she knew that she would get no more details. After all, she remembered living in this life before. "Okay. Where is Zander?"

"He had a meeting with Sonny. He will be back soon since he is actually working tonight at the warehouse." He paused as she flinched, seeing the pain flash in her eyes. "Liz, what is wrong?" he asked quickly as he stood.

"Just a small cramp," she reassured the freaked out man, biting her lip to keep from laughing at the terror in his eyes. "I am going to change. Just order me a club sandwich, a side salad, onion rings, and don't forget.."

"The double chocolate fudge brownie with peanutbutter icing," Johnny finished with a smirk as he shooed her away. "I see that your sweet tooth is still just as active."

"It never stops," she admitted as she made her way back upstairs to change.

Looking up as the door opened and Carly and Zander walked in, Johnny raised an eyebrow.

"I know, but Zander explained that her blood pressure is high. She needs to stop this foolishness of blaming herself for what Ric did. Elizabeth is a victim of his too. I don't want her thinking that either Sonny or I blame her," Carly quickly explained at noticing the worry the guard had at seeing her. "I could see her on the monitors, O'Brien. He played her, manipulated her every single day."

Amazed by the sincerity in the Carly's voice, he looked at Zander who only shrugged. "I am willing to try anything at this point. I know that she holds in the guilt, but is there. It eats at her, along with her family turning their backs on her. Since I can't help with her family, I decided that Carly talking to her might ease some of the stress."

"And I kind of bullied him," she replied sassily with a wink.

Stopping on the steps, Elizabeth darted her eyes to Zander and then to Carly. "Um, hi."

Seeing the exhaustion and dark circles under her eyes, Carly winced. The young woman was obviously stressed and she knew from being pregnany, that it would wear on you both physically and mentally. "Elizabeth, I would like to talk to you."

Standing, Johnny looked at his watch. "I will go get your lunch, Liz. Zander?"

"No thanks, man. I ate earlier."

Heart aching, Elizabeth looked at the woman that her ex had held captive for over a month. While she could see no anger, malice, or retribution on her face, she knew that Carly could hid her feeling well. "What did you need, Carly?"

Zander motioned for Carly to sit while he guided Elizabeth to the couch. "I will be upstairs. Yell if you need me." He patted her hand before bounding up the stairs.

"I must admit, he is taking to impending fatherhood way better than I ever imagined," Carly confessed with a tone filled with wonder. "But that is not why I am here. I know that Sonny already told you, but I thought that it might help to hear it from me. You are not to blame for what Ric did, Elizabeth. He is a sick freak that used you too. You came to Sonny as soon as you realized what was happening." She reached out and grabbed the younger woman's hand. "You helped to save me."

Tears fell slowly from her eyes, unnoticed. "But I should have known! What kind of person am I that I had no idea that you were chained up in a room in my house. I married a freaking monster, Carly! He was going to steal your baby, Morgan, from you."

"Yes, HE was. NOT YOU. Stop blaming yourself for other's actions." Pointedly looking at her enlarged stomach, Carly's eyes softened. "You have way more important things to focus on, such as yours and your little boy's health."

Possessively rubbing her belly, Elizabeth gave a watery laugh. "I know. I just thought that you would hate me, blame me."

Averting her eyes, Carly sighed before looking back at her. "Why we will probably never be best friends, I do know that you are not malicious or evil. You try to take on too much of other people's pain to help ease theirs. I know that you would never really harm anyone, Elizabeth. Zander also told me that you have been having nightmares about finding me, trying to get me out but Ric catching you. Stop torturing yourself. You are just as innocent in Ric's hatred of Sonny as I am. Neither one of us deserved what we went through."

Feeling a pressure lift from her shoulders, Elizabeth leaned forward and hugged the woman that she had fought with for years. "Thank you, Carly. It means so much to hear you saying that you don't blame me."

Surprised by the contact, she returned the hug and laughed when she felt the baby kick. Pulling away, she smiled softly. "We have our differences, I know. But I am not a completely unreasonable person, well most of the time," she added with a giggle. "Besides, I know that Zander is concerned about your health. Sonny and him were against this yesterday, until you woke him crying last night in your sleep. That convinced him that I may be able to help you move past this."

"He has been great, especially since my family turned their backs. Then even though they are not together anymore, I know that Emily is not real happy that I am having Zander's baby, but she is trying."

"That is her fault. She let him go to be with the prince," Carly scoffed. "Snatch him up and be happy."

Elizabeth blushed, her eyes widening. "It isn't like that. We are just friends that took comfort with one another. We care about each other, but not like that."

Standing, Carly arched an eyebrow. "Are you sure that is all there is to it? Because I can see that he adores you, Liz. We all can," she added as she slipped quietly from the apartment and met Max in the hallway where he was waiting to escort her home, leaving a confused Elizabeth biting her lip in silence.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~b~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Zander and Francis exchanged looks. So far the unloading was going according to plan, no major surprises. Happy that the night was going smoothly, Zander sighed and thought back to Elizabeth and how tense she had been when he had left.

He knew that she understood what his job was even if they never talked about it, but he hated that he had to leave her. He could tell that somehing had been wrong all day, and Johnny had even expressed concern about the occasional flinches that she was trying to hide from them.

"Zander, one last load and we should be done. How is Lizbits?" Francis asked as they supervised the men working around them.

"She says that she is fine, but I feel like something is off. I hope that it is just my over reactive soon to be father imagination."

Francis paused and met the younger man's dark eyes. "When I first heard that she was pregnant, I wanted to kill you. Hell, we all did," he confessed. "But I can see that you are treating her good and taking care of her. It means a lot, Zander."

"I was stunned, to say the least. But I do care about Liz, and I want our son to be loved. I am going to be the best father that I can be."

Happy with the responses and the truthfulness to them, Francis slapped his shoulder. "You both will be great parents. Liz has always been nuturing and caring, she will be an excellent mother. You kids will be fine."

Moving forward to help guide the crate down from the lift, Zander stopped at the unease that shot through him. Immediately turning, he caught Francis' eyes and saw that he was instantly alert too. They were both reaching for their weapons as gunfire erupted outside of the building, causing all the men to dive for cover.

"Shit! Ambush!" Francis growled as he pulled out his phone and sent the emergency text messages.

"Alcazar?" Zander muttered as the sounds of gunfire abruptly stopped.

Knowing that they were trapped, the older man nodded. "Probably. We have to get out of here. This is only coffee. They obviously don't know that we altered the real shipment."

"But the warehouse?"

"Is replaceable!" he snapped.

As the silence stretched on, Zander and Francis stood cautiously. Several of their men were down, but some were slowly moving toward the doors. Without talking, they followed the men. They had almost made it to the large double doors that were standing open when the blast erupted, knocking them all backwards.

Praying for Elizabeth and their unborn child, Zander lost consciousness as he hit the ground with a sickening thud.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~b~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Laughing at the face that Johnny made as she drank her blueberry milkshake and snacked on some pickles, Elizabeth stood to go grab another cookie when she staggered and doubled over. Hearing his bowl of popcorn hit the floor, she felt his arms lift her easily. Gripping his shirt with her hands so tightly that her knuckles turned white, she moaned as she met his worried green eyes. "Johnny!"

"It's okay, baby girl. We are going to the hospital now." Kicking the door, he stepped back as Ritchie pushed the door open. "Something is wrong. Get the car!" he snapped, causing the younger guard to take off down the stairs as Johnny boarded the elevator with a whimpering Elizabeth. "Calm down, Lizzie. We are going to the hospital now. It will be alright," he reassured the frantic mother-to-be.

Laying her on the backseat, he grabbed his cell as the not often heard ringtone sounded. Swallowing hard, he looked back at the scared woman in the backseat and slammed the door, ordering Ritchie to go now.

Dialing Sonny, he snapped as soon as the phone was picked up. "Get to the island! Now!"

Cursing, Sonny ushered the two woman toward the door that Marco had just burst through. Seeing Max and Milo running up the stairs and bringing Leticia and the boys down, he felt his heart rate accelerate. "Take Elizabeth and go someplace off the grid."

Wiping his brow, Johnny looked in the mirror. "As soon as she cleared by Dr. Lee. Something is wrong."

Muttering, Sonny slammed his hand against the hood of the armored limo that they were now in front of. "At least you are out of the Towers. Do you have the prearranged cards?" he demanded. Seeing Carly's face dawn with understanding, he gripped her hand tightly in his.

"Yes. Only you and Morgan will be able to trace us. But I am going with cash for the first part of the journey. Give me an extra couple days to reach the destination since she is having problems."

"Just get Elizabeth to safety, Johnny! If they can't get to me, Carly, Jason, or Courtney, she will be their goal because they know that she can't travel by plane being pregnant." Sonny stopped and thought about the woman that he had wanted to protect after his brother had almost destroyed her. "Zander and Francis?"

"I don't know," Johnny answered flatly. "No word since the first message came through. We were already getting in the car when I got it." Looking up at the lit entrance of the ER, he sighed in relief. "We are at GH. I will call you if we are unable to move tonight. Stay safe, boss."

"You too, O'Brien. Guard her with your life." Sonny snapped the phone shut and looked at his wife as they neared the airstrip that his plane was waiting at. "It will be okay."

"Jason?" Courtney shrieked. "Is he safe?"

Looking away, he sighed. "He should be, Courtney. He isn't here. You know that."

"Because you sent him away! He should be here, with me!"

"Shut up, Courtney!" Carly snapped. "We are all worried. Sonny, is Elizabeth alright?"

Before he could respond, Courtney snarled. "I hope that Alcazar and Ric got the bitch. She tries to take everything that I want!"

Hearing her place Ric in the same sentence of Alcazar, Sonny narrowed his eyes at his spaced out sister. Sick to his stomach, he listened as she rattled off how much Elizabeth had taken from her, trying to steal her life. Catching Carly's worried expression, he shook his head, wanting the woman that was suppose to be his family to babble out the entire plan that she thought would make her the focus of Jason's universe.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~b~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You are fine, Elizabeth. It was braxton-hicks contractions," Kelly Lee reassured the young mother with a smile. "Sometimes they are really strong. That is all that you felt."

Releasing a breath in relief, Johnny stepped up beside his charge. He took her small hand and she clung to his tightly, her eyes showing the worry that she was feeling. He hated that she aware that something was happening, but there had been no way to hid the conversation that he had had with Sonny on the way to GH. "Can I take her home? I am sure that she will rest better there."

"Sure. If the pain gets worse or it becomes regular, you need to get her back here immediately." Leaving the two alone, the Korean doctor went to get the discharge papers started, wondering about the hot looking male with the patient.

"Johnny," she whispered with despair. "What is going on? Where is Zander?"

Uncomfortable, not willing to tell her a lie, the Irish man wrapped an arm around her trembling shoulders. "I am not sure. The emergency text was sent, meaning that they were under fire. We haven't heard from them since." When she swayed and paled, he shook her gently. "Elizabeth, honey, you have to keep it together for your child. They could be fine and just getting somewhere safe. We have to go too. Sonny wants you out of Port Charles yesterday. They are already on the plane. We are all that is left."

"But..."

"Shh, stop. You know that Zander would expect you to go without him. I will keep you safe, I swear. Now get dressed so that we can get the hell out of here. I will turn my back, but I can't leave you, kid."

Flushing, she quickly pulled her clothes on. She was just slipping her shoes on when the doctor entered with the papers. Hastily signing them, she thanked the woman and let Johnny lead her silently from the ER.

They were thirty minutes outside of town before she finally cried herself to sleep. Ritchie looked in the review mirror and felt for the young woman. "She has been through so much already. I feel for her, ya know." Chancing a glance at the silent higher ranking man, he shook his head. "The Towers were bombed just as we left GH."

That snapped Johnny from his thoughts. "That means that they had inside help. That place is a fortress."

"I know," he agreed. "I also got a call while you were in the exam room with Elizabeth. It looks like all our men at the warehouse were killed by the explosion that they set off. No survivors have been heard from yet."

"Damn!" Johnny felt his heart constrict for Elizabeth, she had lost the father of her son tonight. He dreaded telling her. Add in that Francis was gone too, and he just wanted to strangle Alcazar. They had worked together for years and he felt that loss strongly.

When his phone beeped and showed a number that he knew was Bernie's, he got a real bad feeling. "What the hell is going on there? Did Sonny and the family make it to the plane?" he demanded.

The accountant paused before he coughed lightly. "They did, O'Brien. The plane is in the air now. But Courtney lost it. She confessed to helping Alcazar get past security at the Towers. She also told him that the shipment was coming in tonight."

Closing his eyes and wanting to scream, Johnny only counted to fifty. "I have Liz. We are heading to someplace safe. I haven't told her yet. Why in the hell would that blond bitch do that? She just got several men killed."

"She wanted them to take out Miss Webber. She seemed to believe that she was trying to steal her life."

Johnny snorted. "More like she wanted Elizabeth's life. I still think that she went after Morgan because she didn't want Liz to have him. Sonny needs to deal with her like he would anyone that sold information. Elizabeth now has lost the father of her child due to her paranoid, selfish delusions," Johnny spat, also thinking about all his friends that were now gone as well.

"God bless her, be strong for her, O'Brien. I called Morgan. He knows about the his wife and the warehouse. I have to let him know that Miss Webber is safe for now." He paused and debated before relying the rest, but knew that they needed all the information to be able to protect themselves. "Courtney told Ric about the safe houses that she knew about. She thought that if you would get her out, that you would go there."

"What?" he roughly barked, then winced as looked back to make sure that he had not woke Elizabeth.

"She lost it after you talked to Sonny and she knew that Elizabeth was not in the Towers. She admitted it all in a rage."

"She killed everyone because of a petty hatred?" he hissed, unable to comprehend it.

"I am afraid so. We do know that Alcazar was edging in anyway. But that woman gave him enough information to get pass security undetected."

"Where is Morgan now? I am going to need help keeping Liz safe. We are going to have to settle someplace as soon as possible. This pregnancy is not going easy on her."

"He wants you to head to the meeting place that was set up before he married Courtney and before Carly was married to Sonny. He wanted someplace that Courtney could not know of." Bernie stopped and Johnny could hear the man taking a drink. Hell, he wished he had a drink after all that had happened. "He said that he will be there in three days."

Remembering that Courtney was his wife, Johnny closed his eyes. "Is he dealing with all this? I don't want to take Elizabeth near him if he will be lashing out."

The older man chuckled sadly. "He is naturally angry, but he is focused on getting to you and Miss Webber. When I told him about the warehouse, he immediately wanted her moved to safety before I could mention everything else that was happening." The sound of pounding on the door stopped Bernie as he groaned. "Keep in touch on the prepaid phones. I have to go deal with PCPD finest."

"Better you than me. Be careful, Bernie." Hanging up the phone, he looked at Ritchie and could see that he knew that it was just them for now. "We need to stop, but I am worried about someone tracking us."

Scratching his neck as the nights events sunk in, Ritchie smiled sadly. "I was third shift. I can drive until morning and you can sleep. But we will need a new car soon. This is registered to Corinthos-Morgan."

"I will get us one in the morning. If Liz wakes up, don't tell her anything until I am up. I will talk to her after we get a room tomorrow evening."

Remembering the emotional rollercoaster of his sister when she was pregnant, Ritchie had no problem handing that particular job to Johnny. He also knew that the friendly brunette had been friends with Johnny before she had moved in with Zander, so he hoped that it helped her to have him near when she heard that Zander was dead.