Rated: M

Disclaimer: I don't own them, I just like writing about them

Chapter Two

"I thought you loved me. I thought that it was just you and me. But it was a lie, Sam. Just a fucking lie."

"I'm sorry," Sam moaned, and then jerked awake, breathing harshly as the last of the dream faded.

"Whoa, now." A masculine voice said, as a hand pushed her back against the pillow. "Take it easy."

Sam took deep breaths trying to regain control. She looked all around realizing that she was in her bedroom. The man in front of her had a kind smile. "What happened?"

"You fainted. Your housekeeper said that you haven't been eating or sleeping so it's no wonder your body just gave out on you."

It took a moment, but then everything came flooding back to her, Robbie. The men from Intact in her apartment. Thinking she had seen Jason. It seemed she was getting delusional. "You're Ric Lansing right?"

"That's right. You remember what happened?"

"Justus brought you over, to discuss Robbie's kidnapping."

"That's right." He nodded, "Anything else."

"No, that's all right?" Of course she hadn't seen Jason. That was impossible.

The door swung open, and proved her wrong. "I'm going crazy," she whimpered softly.

Jason walked in carrying a tray, "The housekeeper said we should get her to eat something." He set the tray down on the bedside table and put his hands on his waist. He stared down at her just like she was a stranger.

"Jason?"

"Yeah, that's right. Jason Morgan. How are you feeling Mrs. Jacks?"

What the hell was going on here? "Jason why are you acting this way? Why are you calling yourself Jason Morgan? You're Jason Quartermaine."

Ric looked from Jason's blank face to Sam's tortured one and decided that maybe these two needed a moment alone before they discussed business. Besides if what everyone thought was true, these two had past history and Jason had a kid that he'd never known. He wanted to feel sympathetic toward the woman laying on the bed, and in a way he did. It had to be hell to have someone steal your kid. But his loyalty was to Hunter. That was all.

"I'll be down stairs with the team, come down when you're ready."

Jason nodded and waited until Ric closed the door behind him. He took another look at the woman on the bed. Long dark hair, eyes you could drown in. Yeah he could see why he would have had sex with her, but damned if he could forgive not knowing about his kid.

"Jason, I don't understand." She shook her head, "How are you alive?"

"Tell me what you know." The cold response wasn't a question but an order. He could tell it immediately got her back up, but that wasn't his problem.

"You were in a car accident and your brother was driving drunk. You were in a coma, the doctors said that you would probably never regain consciousness and if you did, you would most likely exist in a vegetative state for the rest of your life."

"Seems the doctors were wrong." He walked over to the very feminine desk and picked up the picture of Jasper, Samantha and Robbie Jacks. They were all wearing what looked like ski gear and smiling. Robbie looked a little younger than the picture he'd seen of him.

His son. Even without knowing who this beautiful woman was, or having actual confirmation, he knew that this was his child. He carefully set the picture down, feeling rage simmer inside him. "How did we meet?"

"This is wrong." She stared at him, a tumble of thoughts flashing over her face. Confusion, distrust, sadness. Jason found himself wondering what she looked like when she was happy. He already knew there wasn't a picture taken that did her stunning face justice. He needed answers and she was the only one who could give them to him. Then he had to search through the words she told him to find the truth.

"You come to my home after ten years and you expect me to carry on a conversation as if nothing is wrong."

"I'm here with Intact to help you locate Robert Campbell Jacks. The fact that we have a past may or may not be connected to this kidnapping. Considering I don't remember our history, don't you think we should discuss it?"

Sam looked at the cold stranger before her. "You don't remember?"

"I guess when you heard that I was going to be a vegetable you didn't bother to check on my progress any more."

Sam flushed guiltily, that wasn't true. She called the hospital in the beginning, but every day there was no change. When she found out she was pregnant, she stopped calling. She couldn't keep holding on to a miracle, she had a child to think about. That didn't change what had happened between them, nothing would ever repair the damage she'd caused. Instead of answering him, she focused in on what he did say. "What do you mean our past history may be the reason why Robbie was kidnapped?"

"I have a dangerous job and I've made enemies. You only have to look at Robbie to know he's mine."

She didn't bother denying the truth. Jax tried to pretend that Robbie was his. They both had the blondish brown hair and blue eyes. But Jax had seen Jason, so that's all it ever could be, a pretense. "So my son's in danger because of you?"

His expression was a mask of stone, "Our son."

"My son, damn it!" She swung her feet off the bed and stormed over to face him. Her rage, at the situation, at her helplessness and guilt and most especially the challenge in his voice finally snapped. "He's mine! And if what you say is true, then I'll do everything in my power to make you pay for this."

"You can blame me if you like, if it helps you get through this, I could care less." His blue eyes pierced straight through her. Her emotions hadn't touched him at all. She had to remember that this man didn't remember everything that happened between them. This man was a stranger. It would be foolish to underestimate him.

Even as she thought this his voice hardened ruthlessly, "The situation remains, if Robbie was stolen by one of my enemies, then it needs to be dealt with. Your threats can wait until we bring him home."

"How did you get so cold? The Jason I knew was never this cold. He was kind and generous. He loved me." And she had loved him, with all her heart and soul.

"Jason Quartermaine is dead." He looked at her intently then strode to the bedroom door and stepped into the hall. He stopped mid-stride and turned back, his icy blue eyes chilling her down to the bone. "Let it go. I have."

God help her if this man ever found out the truth.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Never had he come so close to loosing control. It was the one thing he could count on. The months after he awakened from his coma had been filled with rage and wildness. He had tumbled toward the edge without a thought of what would come after simply because he couldn't remember. He had lost the most basic of things that people took for granted, family, friends, a connection to life. And the frustration almost drove him insane. It was dark place he had no intention of revisiting.

Nik stopped Jason before he entered the living room by placing a hand on his arm, "Yours?" He gave a short nod and Nik's face grew even more serious than usual.

"What do you need?"

"Time."

Nik watched as Jason strode to the door and left the condo. He knew what betrayal meant, and this was the worst of them all. Sonny and Ric looked up at his departure and then to him. He confirmed what they all had suspected. "It's true."

"Well I'll be damned. Hunter has a kid." Ric fell back against the couch his hands covering the frustration on his face.

"Situation has just changed. We need to look at all possibilities now." Sonny stood and walked over to the mantle and snatched down one of the pictures. "Ric, pull all of Jason's case files and everything we know about what he's been doing since joining Intact."

"I can't believe she didn't tell him." Ric's voice was full of anger.

"Maybe there were extenuating circumstances." Nik tried to be the voice of reason.

"Nothing excuses what she did." Sonny's voice was just as furious as Ric's.

"You don't know what went on between me and Jason. So you can keep your opinions to yourself." Her voice cut through the tension building in the room. Sam walked into the living room having heard what these men were saying. She didn't care about their judgments; there were more important things involved than Jason's feelings. "If my son was taken because of Jason then maybe I was right to keep him a secret."

Sam watched Nik, who had been the most open about her situation, as he took a step away from her and stood firmly beside the men in her living room. So be it then. "I don't need your help. I'll find Robbie on my own."

"We're not doing this for you." Sonny looked at her with disgust. "This is about Hunter."

"Who is hunter?"

"Jason Morgan. Alias Hunter," Ric glowered down at her. It seemed these men were closing ranks and now included her among the enemy.

"Why do you call him that?"

"Because it's what he does." Nik's voice was soft, but just as hard. "Search, Rescue and Recovery. By any means necessary. Hunt em' down, kill em' all."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Jasper Jacks sat in his office on the telephone sweating profusely. "I told you I would deliver the micro-chip. You didn't have to take my son."

"We told you that we weren't playing games with you Jax. You promised the hardware and we agreed upon payment. You tried to betray us, by approaching another buyer."

"I told you, they called me!" His caught his voice just before he shouted. He swiveled in the chair to face the window and lower his voice. "I came to the drop. You're the one who took Robbie."

"If what you say is true, then you will deliver the micro-chip as well as twenty million dollars and we will return your son."

"The same place?"

"No. We will call you with instructions."

Jax listened to the dial tone for a few seconds then flipped his cell closed. It was an untraceable line, one of those phones where you paid for minutes at one time. He stuffed it into his jacket pocket. He would destroy it when he got home.

This business deal was completely out of control. When he had bought the computer software company, he had no idea what he was walking into. All he wanted was the software for that damned virus he'd heard about. Being approached by the men who were interested in the virus had been exciting. If he could make a shit load of money off this sale, he didn't care who bought it. He hadn't counted on Robbie being kidnapped.

Now Sam wanted to call in some security team to look for Robbie. If she found out that he was responsible for Robbie being taken there wasn't a chance in hell of fixing their marriage. He loved her, and after everything they had been through he wasn't going to let her go. Yes, he made a mistake but men had affairs all the time and somehow their marriages survived.

So would his.

Maybe he could turn this situation to his advantage. If he were the one responsible for bringing Robbie home, Sam would be grateful. So grateful that perhaps she would be willing to give him a second chance. He could take them all on an extended vacation, maybe to Hawaii. Sam loved Hawaii. Then they could work on keeping their family together. This was a sound plan. He would be out of twenty million dollars, but that was easily recouped in another business deal.