A/N: Thank you so much for all of the reviews!

Chapter 6: Guns

Sam POV:

By the end of the night everything that I had listed had arrived. I was still in Jason's clothes, only I had added a pair of sweats that I found in the laundry room. They were really big and I thought I saw Jason laugh as I almost tripped on the oversized legs.

As I was going through the kitchen items I looked up to see Jason holding the Ramen noodles.

"What are these?"

"Ramen? Cheap goodness."

"I don't see anything with nutritional value."

"You have enough fruits and protein shakes, I have comfort food."

"Comfort food? Isn't that supposed to be like home cooked meals and mashed potatoes?"

"Yes. But I never had anyone making me anything homemade. My comfort food comes in boxes. Frozen pizzas, Ramen, Kraft mac and cheese, the occasional pizza from a restaurant, Cheetos. Some seafood on the salvage boat. That's about it."

"Salvage boat? I never asked what you did on the boat in Texas."

"Drove it. I was fixing the motor the day you came to Texas. The choke was acting up. I couldn't figure it out then, but last night I think I figured out it may have been a cracked distributor cap."

I look up to see Jason just staring.

"Is that bike yours?"

"Is that why you were checking out the plane? You know engines?"

"You have to know a little bit of something about a lot of things when you're Sam McCall. So, is the bike yours?"

"Yes. Are you drooling over the bike or the engine?"

"Possibly both."

Jason smiles and runs his fingers over his upper lip. "I never expected that. I guess I should have. I bet the men didn't know what to do with you on the boat."

I laugh. "I have a few stories."

"Who taught you how to work on engines?"

"Danny. He's kind of obsessed with bikes. When we were kids I had found this old bike. I would read and try to learn how to get old parts for it. A guy at the local shop taught me a little, he knew my home life sucked and would take time with me."

"Sounds like a good guy."

"He was okay. We had to move a lot. My foster mom took Danny and left, and when Cody wasn't coming up with some crime for me to commit I would try to work on a bike for Danny. I always promised him that eventually I would put one together for him."

I find Jason staring at me. Hard lines of his face clearly indicating he didn't like something I had said.

"What?"

"What kind of crimes?"

"Relax. It was pretty basic. He would run a con on people and use me as a prop. He had me selling candy bars and such. Shoplifting since I was small and underage. We didn't get as far as he would have liked. After Danny left I tried to run away a lot. He hated having to track me down. I'd pay for it, but for a few days the possibility of being free was pretty great. Each time he would catch me would be worse than before. I think he thought if the punishment was too bad I would just stay and help him sell whatever he was peddling."

Jason's hands are in fists. His jaw is clenched and I can see his face turning red. I'm guessing I've disgusted him. I wonder if I've worn out my welcome. Obviously he would never want to help someone like me. I look down at my hands.

"I'll just go now," I finally say.

Jason fists his hands repeatedly.

"Is Cody still alive?"

The question catches me off guard.

"I'm not sure. When Alexis found me I was fifteen. I had sported a black eye the night before she found me. She filed to have him removed as my guardian and threatened him about coming near me again. I went to Greece for a year. We stopped here once. It was a culture shock to come to somewhere clean, with all the mansions, where people looked like they didn't lock their doors at night. I thought I had seen you before, that day when you came to Texas."

"You had?"

"Yeah. I begged Alexis to let me go off of Spooky Island."

Jason laughs a little. "Spoon Island?"

"Yeah. It was spooky though. I spent days cracking codes to the passageways. I think she secretly knew what I was doing. I told Nikolas about a few in Greece when I got there. I don't think he knows about some of them. Being raised the way I was, I was always looking for escape routes. That castle was a playground for me. Anyways, one night Alexis said I could go to Port Charles. So she assigned me a guard who shuttled me over. I ended up at Kelly's. I really wanted a cheeseburger. I ordered and met the nicest lady named Ruby. The guy from the other day, he waited on me."

"Lucky?"

"Yeah, Lucky."

Jason nodded as though everything was coming together. "You thought you knew me because of Kelly's?"

"Yeah. I had ordered a cheeseburger and fries, with a chocolate milkshake. And oh, it was the best cheeseburger. It came with an onion ring and bacon. And these twins walked in. They looked like they were on a Juicy Fruit commercial. They were just all American."

"That's who Juicy Fruit was?"

"Oh yeah. I called you Juicy Fruit because I thought that was you. These two guys, one of them was drunk and was slurring his words. The other was trying to sober him up before his parents found out. The one who slurred had initials for a name and he attempted to hit on me. But the other, whose name was…."

I look at him then. Oh. It was him. "Go on?"

"His name was Jason. He tried to calm him down. Jason decided they would order what I had, and Ruby joked about it. When I went to pay the bill, Ruby told me that the two boys had picked up the tab. Only I knew it was the sober one. Ruby gave me apple pie, and as I left I thanked the Juicy Fruit guys. I wondered that night what it would be like to be that nice. To not know what fear was. I also wondered if even the Juicy Fruits of the world had secrets. I held onto that memory in times of darkness. I remembered not everyone was as screwed up as I had thought. It was just all I had known."

Jason is looking a little too closely and it kind of unnerves me.

"Jason, was that you? Did you remember me from before?"

"I didn't know you then."

Confusion takes over. I want to ask questions but I've learned that Jason has a word count tolerance, and I think mine is up for the day. Anything more and we will be taking steps backward. He'll clam up. I don't ask. Whatever this is, he doesn't trust me enough yet. I get that. I may spill my story to him, but he could have found it out eventually.

"I didn't know you then either. But I can tell you that the Jason I met that night was really nice to a stranger. Knowing you now, I can say that the Juicy Fruit had nothing on you. I'll never be able to repay you for everything."

I think I've said too much. Jason is looking intently at his hands.

I go to leave the kitchen but stop when I hear his voice.

"Sam?"

I turn to look at him. Stone face with the bluest eyes.

"Just don't lie to me. You've given me no reason to doubt you, but just come to me when you need something. Trust me enough to not lie to me."

I look at him. He may never know that I'd throw myself in front of a bullet for him, but I know it.

"Jason, I don't think I could. Not that I'd want to."

I leave him in the kitchen, and I go upstairs where thoughts of the Juicy Fruit twins are replaced by images of Jason's smile.

%%

When I wake from my nap it is dark out. I go downstairs where the most amazing smell fills the air.

I follow my nose into the kitchen, where Jason stands in front of the stove. He looks up and smiles a small smile, but it's more than I've gotten yet. I smile back.

"Hey sleepyhead."

"What are you doing? What is that amazing smell?"

Jason pulls bread out of the oven. The image of him with an oven mitt on is something that needs to be captured.

"What? What's funny?"

"Just you with oven mitts. Who would have thought?"

Jason goes back to looking at the frying pan.

"What are you making?"

Jason doesn't turn around, but I almost choke on the bottled water when he answers.

"Comfort food."

%%%

It turns out comfort food is chicken alfredo with homemade sauce. It's amazing. We eat at the coffee table, and it may be the most fantastic meal I have ever eaten.

"That was amazing."

Jason smiles and nods. "I'll leave the leftovers in the fridge. Help yourself."

"You'll have to fight me for those. Where did you learn to cook like that?"

Jason is silent, and I momentarily kick myself. Did Courtney teach him?

"Sonny cooks a lot. I picked most of it up from him."

I silently feel relieved. I decide not to linger on that fact too much longer.

"Sam, I'm going to be gone for a few days. Work stuff."

"Okay."

"Milo will be here. Monica will come by. I'll leave her number if something happens with your stitches."

I nod. I'll be here by myself.

"Sam, can you use a gun?"

I look at him then. "Yes. I'm a pretty good shot."

Jason gets up. He opens the drawer at the desk. "There's one in here. It's a Glock. 9 millimeter. "

I nod and walk over to the drawer. I take it out and release the magazine. He watches as I check the chamber for a bullet.

"Wow. Okay. Tough girl. You know what you're doing then."

I place the magazine back in and lay the gun back in the drawer. I nod.

"Have you ever shot someone?"

The question comes from left field for me. This is the moment where I decide how much I trust him. One look into his blue eyes and I know he would know if I lied.

I nod yes to him.

Instead of judgement I see understanding. He doesn't ask me anything else.

"Come with me."

I follow him and he leads to the laundry room. He looks at me before pushing a panel open. I never saw anything out of place, and I prided myself on finding passageways. He points inside and I step through the open panel. Jason is behind me. He closes the panel. We are in a really tight space near the washer machine.

"Sonny doesn't even know this is here. I don't know that I ever showed anyone else this. No one."

I look up into his eyes, and even though it's dark and we are both using all the oxygen in the room, I feel the electric hum of his body. Jason grabs my hand and I feel like I could melt. He takes my hand in his and reaches to the top of the ceiling and then slides it down on the wall. In the middle I feel a curve. Jason pushes and slides the panel, and it opens into another hallway. It illuminates as the panel slides.

"If you follow this hallway, you will find another panel hidden by a plant. If you move the panel, you'll see the plant with the elevator beside it. There's only one way in the safe passage, and it's through the laundry room. If anyone ever comes in, don't think twice. Find your way out"

I nod. His eyes find mine. He slowly puts the panel back, and we walk out of the cramped quarters into the laundry room.

"One more."

I follow him up the stairs to his closet.

"Are you okay? Are you tired?"

"I'm fine Jason. Just excited."

Jason shakes his head as he leads me to the back of the closet. He moves a shoebox on the floor that reveals a keypad.

"4682. Repeat it."

"4682."

"Now type it."

I do and a room with cameras appears. There's a case of water. There's a phone that isn't turned on.

"You know what to do now if there is ever someone here. Don't open the door for anyone. Even if it sounds like me. I'll input the code."

I nod my head. Jason and I leave the closet and I notice the overnight bag on the bed. Jason grabs the bag and walks down the stairs.

He begins putting his wallet and keys in his pocket.

"I don't know how long it'll be. Milo is here. If you need me you call."

"I will."

Jason opens the bottom drawer below the gun. It has wads of cash in rubber bands.

"If something happens, or if you need something. Take some. "

"Jason. Thank you for everything."

"Sam, you're welcome."

I smile. "Even though you left me with dishes to do."

Jason almost smiles. He goes to leave and I can't help myself.

"Jason?"

He stops but doesn't turn around.

"Be safe?"

He nods his head and opens the door.

After he leaves the room feels empty. I can't help but miss him already.

It's then I know I'm in trouble.