In the Aftermath
Head + Heart Series, Part Three
Sequel to lonely (too long)

Love is blindness
I don't want to see

-U2, Love is Blindness (Jack White cover)

Chapter Four

Two funerals and the year wasn't even half over.

This time Georgie was attending the memorial service of Lorenzo Alcazar, who died a week ago. Looking around her, she took in the somber but elegant setting of the Alcazar mansion as well as the elite members of the Port Charles mafia, who were milling around the room. She recognized all of them, but only knew Sonny Corinthos personally, though she had spoken to a couple of others on a few occasions.

Including the rather large man who stood in front of her in the line of people offering their condolences to Skye.

At that moment it occurred to her how strange it was that the daughter of the police commissioner, the biological daughter of a WSB agent, knew and interacted so naturally with as many members of the New York mob as she did.

Shaking her head she stepped forward and listened as the man in front of her apologized to Skye for the loss of her husband. Skye murmured something in return and he kissed her hand before moving on, leaving Georgie standing in front of a surprised redhead.

"Georgie, what are you doing here?" Skye asked her, genuine confusion lacing through her voice.

What was she doing here? Georgie thought to herself. But she didn't have an immediate answer and told her that.

"I don't know," she answered honestly. "I just felt like I should come."

Skye's cold hands enveloped her own and soon the older redhead was drawing Georgie into a brief embrace. "Thank you," she said.

"I..." Georgie started to say she was sorry, that she was sorry for Skye's loss, and she was sorry for Lorenzo's death, but looking into Skye's face she realized that was the wrong thing to say. Yes, Skye looked sad, but she also looked relieved, more relieved than anything else. She looked free. Taking a deep breath Georgie said, "I wanted to be here for you, I wanted to let you know that I'm here for you."

For the first time since seeing her, Skye actually looked like she might cry, instead she once again embraced Georgie and asked, "would you mind sitting with me?"

Tightening the hug briefly Georgie nodded and Skye let her go and motioning to one of the guards in the room she instructed him to seat Georgie in the front row, next to where she would be sitting. Letting the man lead the way, Georgie was extremely aware of the curious eyes watching her, wondering the same thing as Skye but for a different reason, what was the police commissioner's daughter doing there.

She was especially aware of Sonny and Carly's curious gazes as she was seated in the front row. The row that would be virtually empty, save for Skye and Georgie, once the service actually began.

Taking her seat, Georgie caught sight of the large portrait of Lorenzo placed at the front of the room. Seeing him made her think about him and her relationship with him and his family.

Once again she was struck by how bizarre her being there actually was. Once upon a time she and Maxie had been kidnapped by his brother, Luis, and while the other man didn't hurt them the experience should have caused her to be wary of Lorenzo. And she had been, especially after locking Sage in the freezer. An action that lead to the other girl's death. By all rights, according to the mob, Lorenzo should have killed her, or had her killed, but he hadn't.

Then there was everything that happened with Diego. It had been Lorenzo's apologies that had driven her to reach out to Diego in prison, which she still had mixed feelings about. Because, while she had been happy to get to know the real young man behind the troubled exterior, she also lamented his role in the breakup of her marriage to Dillon. Lorenzo, though, had been thankful to her for everything that she had done for his son and after his death he had told her that he had extended his protection to her. She hadn't known exactly what that meant but assumed it made her off limits.

For all that Lorenzo had been to other people, he had always been good to her.

Signing his name for the last time, Jason went over the stack of papers in front of him and satisfied that everything was in order he slid them back into the envelope and sealed it. It was an agreement over the division of Alcazar's territories, drawn up by Skye, and agreed upon by all of the families in Port Charles. Sonny had signed off earlier, but Jason, because of his role in Sonny's organization also needed to give his okay.

Surprisingly it had been amicable, mostly because while Alcazar had been a major player in the international arms scene in Port Charles his role had been minor.

Hearing the door open, Jason lifted his head and watched as Sonny entered the office wearing the same clothes he'd worn to Alcazar's memorial service that had taken place earlier in the day.

"How did it go?" Jason asked, getting up from Sonny's chair, allowing the other man to take his place at the desk.

Rubbing his hand over his face Sonny shrugged and leaned back. "All of the families were there, playing their roles, offering their condolences to Skye," Sonny said. "Who played the role of grieving widow perfectly," he added wryly.

Jason stood silently as he listened to Sonny's description of the memorial, making a mental note to check with Max, who had accompanied Sonny, to fill in any of the details.

"There was nothing out of the ordinary?" Jason asked, once Sonny was finished.

"No, well Georgie Jones was there. I thought that was a little strange," Sonny added. Had he been looking at Jason, Sonny would have witnessed the other man's stoic composure break momentarily.

Faltering for only a second Jason quickly gathered his thoughts and prompted Sonny. "Georgie Jones was there?"

"Yeah, she sat in the front row with Skye," Sonny elaborated. "I think she was still there when we left, too."

Jason's mind was racing as he tried to process what Sonny was telling him. Why was Georgie at the memorial service? Why? Why had she been there? And why did the thought of her being there scare him?

Sonny, however, didn't give it much more thought and changed the subject to Alcazar's territory and the papers. They discussed the matter for a few minutes before the phone rang and Sonny answered. Excusing himself Jason left the office and found Max. Handing him the envelope he asked him about the memorial and again the only thing the guard found strange was Georgie's presence.

By the time he'd finished talking with Max Jason was practically itching to find Georgie, but he couldn't understand why.

Finding his way to the docks Jason thought over the places where Georgie might be, but instinctively he knew where he would find her.

Making his way back to his apartment Jason took the stairs rather than the elevator, trying to prolong the inevitable. Hesitating at his door he played with his keys for a moment before gripping them tightly in his fist and making his way through the unlocked door.

He spotted Georgie almost immediately. She was standing in front of the window wearing a black short sleeved dress, the late afternoon light pouring over her catching the lighter blonde highlights in her hair. Her arms were wrapped tightly around her stomach, almost defensively. She turned to face him as soon as she heard him close the door.

Dread filled his bones at the look on her face.

He didn't say anything to her, he only watched as she made her way toward the couch where she sat down at the very edge. Reaching out she picked up a book from the coffee table and held it up.

"Have you read it yet," she asked.

"No, not yet," he replied, moving to the kitchen where he let his keys fall on the table with a loud clang. The sound was harsh and only added to the palpable tension filling the air.

"Oh," she murmured before putting the copy of Jane Eyre back where it had been. Silence filled the room as Jason waited for her to say what she had come to say, steeling himself for whatever was about to come.

"You killed Lorenzo," she said, looking down at her hands briefly before finally lifting her gaze to meet his. "I know you did. I don't need or want you to deny it or acknowledge it, because I know you did."

He tried to read her face, her body language, her tone, but he couldn't, she was a blank slate giving nothing away. Instead he let her talk and tried to anticipate when the final blow, that because of his life style she couldn't be around him anymore, would come.

"Skye knows too," Georgie continued, looking away. "She knows that you killed him, but she isn't angry about it. She isn't vowing revenge. She has all of the Alcazar resources at her disposal but she isn't going to use them. I know she won't because not once did she mention justice for Lorenzo and I know, I know," she repeated, "that she doesn't want it. Something happened. Something I don't know about, something I don't want to know about, something only Skye and you and maybe Sonny knows, but it warranted his death."

She paused and took a deep breath before continuing. "I also know that in part it was revenge for Alan's death, the role Lorenzo played at the Metro Court. I know that much Jason," she said looking at him once again.

Jason thought to speak then but she wasn't finished. "And I don't blame you for that."

Surprised, Jason cocked his head to the side and stared at her in shocked confusion, waiting for her to continue.

"I think I would've done the same thing," she confessed. "You know the logical portion of my brain is telling me to leave. Leave and not look back. To go back to the way it was, before..." She trailed off. Shutting her eyes a flash of pain crossed over her face and Jason fought to recover from that blow and mentally he was almost begging her not to continue but she did. "But I can't and I don't want to. I won't, even though I know it would be the safest thing to do," she told him, her voice thick with unshed tears.

Jason gripped the back of the kitchen table chair and hunching over he let out the breath he had been holding. Relief coursed through his body. He wasn't going to lose her but looking back up and at her he realized that she was still trying to make peace with her decision. Tightening his grip on the chair he fought the urge to go to her, no matter how much he wanted to he knew it wasn't the right time.

Swiping at a tear that fell to her cheek, Georgie took a deep breath and continued. "I don't know everything you do," she said. "I have a vague idea of what this world, your world, Lorenzo and Diego's world is like. And I can't say that it doesn't scare me, because it does."

She paused, looking off at something he couldn't see, a confused look on her face. She started to say something but stopped. Finally she turned to him and said, "you know it's kind of strange but if things had been different between Diego and I, if he hadn't played his role in breaking up Dillon and I, and if I hadn't been with him just to get back at Dillon, I would have been part of this world anyway."

Jason's body stiffened with jealousy at the thought of her with Diego and he fought the urge to throw the chair he was still holding on to.

"But I don't think I could have accepted it. I would have fought him every step of the way, made demands of him," Georgie admitted. "But with you, it's different and I don't know why."

She looked at him almost as if he could give her an answer, but he couldn't.

"I just know that I can't lose you," she finished quietly.

Letting go of the chair that was serving to anchor him, Jason crossed to Georgie and crouched down in front of her. He wanted to touch her but didn't, instead he clasped his hands in front of him. Feeling her watchful gaze he fought to find the words he wanted to say to her.

"I can't lose you either," Jason finally said. "I don't know how or when but I've come to depend on you more than anyone else. I can't make any promises, but I need you to know that I will do everything I can to keep my business from touching you."

Georgie nodded but didn't say anything. Wringing her hands she looked at him searchingly and asked, "where do we go from here?"

Jason didn't answer her and silence enveloped the pair as they struggled to find the answer to her question. Where did they go from there?

Author's Notes:

I started writing this chapter before chapter three, which is why it's up so quickly. This chapter had a lot of angst in it for two reasons, 1. I love angst and 2. because this had to happen. I felt it would've been out of character if Georgie didn't question Jason about Lorenzo's death and for that matter didn't question herself. But in the end, love is blind. So yeah, this had to happen, but don't worry I'm not going to start their relationship from scratch. They're going to move forward from here.

There are 2/3 more chapters to this story then I'll be moving on to the next one in the series. I feel like I'm on a bit of a roll with this one so I hope to update more often, but I hope that you guys will bear with me.

I also wanted to extend my thanks and appreciation for all of the reviews, favorites, etc. Every time I post a new chapter/story you guys never cease to amaze me with your responses to this very unusual pair. So thank you.

AN Edit: To the guest reviewer asking about the age difference, it's 15 years. Georgie was born in 1988, Jason in 1973. Hope you see this!