Part IV

Jason let himself into Carly's house quietly. The house was dark, yet still he couldn't find the nerve in him to pull his gun. He knew that the possibility that Jax's brother was here was high, and he knew that the possibility that Michael and Morgan were here was low… but he could still see Carly falling to the floor and still hear her voice calling to him. It was hard enough knowing he'd put that look on Carly's face. He knew he wouldn't be able to take it if he put that look on her boys' faces. It would finish him off completely, if his pain over Carly didn't accomplish it first.

The single chirp of his cell phone pulled him from his thoughts. "What?"

"Stone Cold, this is the Jackal," Spinelli's voice came through. "Craig's phone is still at the airport. But I just heard DA Lansing say he's on his way to your place. I'm not sure how he got wind of the night's happenings, but he plans on charging you. He's already posted a guard on the Valkyrie's door." Jason closed his eyes and took a calming breath. When that didn't work, he even took his own often-given advice and counted to ten.

"Spinelli, I know that Luke and Bobbie won't say anything. I need you to tell Lulu when she comes by to keep her mouth shut. Make sure she doesn't tell Lansing anything, not even the time of day. Got it?" he asked.

"I will relay the message to the Blonde One. Fear not, Stone Cold." With that, Spinelli hung up. Jason let his hand run over his cheek as he thought over what to do next. He had hoped that he would have a day or so to slow down and figure something out. But somehow, word leaked. And he was pretty sure that the infamous Mr. Craig had done the leaking. How else to keep a hit man off your tail other than to inform the police? Jason knew he'd eventually see the inside of the interrogation room over this. Especially with Lansing at the reigns. It only meant he'd have to make tonight count if he wanted to get rid of Mr. Craig for good – Jerry Jacks be damned.

A noise outside alerted Jason to another presence. Taking out his gun, he went to hide in the next room. The front door to the house opened and closed. As the lights flipped on, Jason tightened his hand around the weapon.

"Jerry?" Jax's voice asked to the seemingly empty house. Jason relaxed as he stepped out into the other man's line of sight.

"Expecting him?" he asked. Jax let out a frustrated breath.

"Morgan, in case you haven't noticed, Carly isn't here," he said cruelly. Jason chose to ignore the barb.

"In case you haven't noticed, Jax, your brother is still on the run. I'm curious as to what your plan is. Because right now, all I can think is that you are harboring a fugitive and that you are very aware that you've pulled Carly – your wife - into it as well," he said instead. Jax pointed a finger at him with a disbelieving chuckle.

"Of all the people to lecture me on my relationship with Carly, you are among the least qualified. And to be lecturing me on what I've 'pulled her into', that's damned near hypocritical of you. My business with my brother is just that – my business. I don't tell you how to import coffee. Don't presume to tell me how to handle my brother!" Jax ended on a shout.

"Handle?" a new voice broke in. "Is this what we're labeling our dealings as now, little brother?" Jax and Jason both spun around to see Jerry standing in the doorway. Jason's arm pulled up and he aimed the gun at the newest addition. Jax stepped in front of the weapon, but still faced Jerry.

"What are you doing here, Jerry? You know the cops have a lookout for you," Jax warned. Jerry shook his head with a 'tsk, tsk' as he made his way further into the living room.

"Mr. Morgan, one would assume you knew the consequences of aiming a gun at the person you don't intend to shoot. More innocent bystanders may get harmed," he said with a small smirk.

Michael stood by his mother's bed in his pajamas, holding her hand. Lucky had brought him by to say goodnight. Bobbie stood behind the young redhead as he spoke to the unconscious Carly.

"Momma," he said, reminding his grandmother a lot of her daughter. "Momma, I would really like it if you would wake up tomorrow. Morgan misses you. And momma, I promise that when you do wake up, I will do a better job of making sure you are happy."

Bobbie's eyes softened as she looked at her grandson taking on a role that was decades older than his tender years.

"Michael, sweetie?" she asked. The boy turned to look at her, tears being barely held back.

"Yeah, Grandma?"

"Let's go find Lucky and get you back to bed. That way, you'll be all fresh and rested to come say 'good morning' to your momma," she said, reaching her hand out to him. Michael nodded as he took it. After she left the boy with her nephew, Bobbie returned to her vigil at her daughter's side. She reached out and let her hand run over Carly's forehead.

"Well, daughter of mine, you've got such a young man there. He's more of a man than a lot of the men I have met. And honey, Michael's too young to be a man. You need to wake up and let him be a little boy again. Please honey, just come back to us. I know we've asked that a lot of you. But this is your mother telling you to," Bobbie said with a little bit of bite in her voice, knowing that it was the tone that made Carly argue back. Then, with a sigh, she kissed her daughter's temple and made to leave the room. Just as she was about to close the door, there was a tiny moan from inside the room. Bobbie paused. There was another weak sound and she opened the door fully to listen again.

"Momma?" Carly's voice sounded softly in the dark room. With a gasp of her own, Bobbie rushed to the bedside and immediately took her daughter's hand.

"Carly!" she exclaimed with a smile. Carly's eyes didn't open yet, but she squeezed her mother's hand.

"Momma," she sighed.

"Oh, Carly. You had us all worried. But I must admit, you didn't keep us in such suspense like you did last time…" Bobbie joked. Carly let out a dry laugh.

"Always the joker, Momma," she said before letting out a cough. "God, I hurt all over…"

"Well, honey, you did just wake up," Bobbie said.

"How long was I out?"

"Not nearly as long as you probably would have liked." Carly let out a dry chuckle, but it turned into another cough. Bobbie helped her daughter get situated on the bed. "Sweetie, don't try so hard. You were in surgery less than 6 hours ago."

"Momma, if you think I'm staying in this place longer than tomorrow morning, you're insane," Carly growled. Bobbie just smiled.

"Rumor has it, darling, it's a Spencer trait anyway so it's not much of an admonishment," she said. Carly smiled. But it slipped off as she caught sight of who was in the doorway. Bobbie turned to look at the visitor as her daughter pulled the hospital sheet nearly to her chin.

"Carly…"


A/N: Sorry about the delay, folks. I'll be honest, I got lazy… :) Hope you enjoyed the update, even though it was fairly short. Next update coming a little quicker, I hope.