And the story continues... Happy thanksgiving!
Part 7
C for Compromised
Elizabeth and Jason boarded their plane back to Port Charles early that morning and could not have hoped for a better outcome. They had found Zander Smith, he had opened up about a potentially very damaging piece of evidence against his former employer and Elizabeth had managed to convince Mac to get him into the witness protection program. They were both very glad of the turn of events but what preoccupied their minds that morning wasn't the C case, but the kiss they had shared the night before.
A flight attendant leaned over the two of them and spoke to Jason. "You and your girlfriend are seating on an exit row, are you familiar with what you need to do in case of emergency."
"Oh it's not… she is not… we are not…" Both Elizabeth and Jason tried to express at the same time.
"My mistake." The young woman told them.
Elizabeth spoke again. "No harm done… and yes we've read the instructions." She said picking up the pamphlet in front of her.
The flight attendant smiled at them and turned to advise the other side.
Elizabeth then placed the pamphlet back and began fidgeting in her seat as if she was looking for something before turning to Jason. "I think you're seating on half of my seatbelt."
Jason lifted up to let her pull the belt from under him. "Sorry." He said then fastened his.
They sat next to each other silently as the plane took off. Elizabeth, who was lost in her thoughts, stared at the moving clouds pensively, as she wondered what the moment they had shared in Jason's hotel room had meant for them.
A long and awkward hour passed, as the two young people who usually were never out of things to say to each other remained dead quiet, until Jason finally decided to break the uncomfortable silence. "Should we… should we talk about yesterday?" he suddenly said, rubbing his chin.
Elizabeth turned to look at him. "Umm… sure, now that I've briefed the ops team, Smith will get contacted and whisked away somewhere safe where no one will be able to find him until-"
Jason interrupted her. "I wasn't really talking about the case."
"Oh…" Elizabeth who felt her cheeks warming let out.
Jason who could sense her discomposure said. "We don't really have to talk about it, after all it was… just a kiss right?"
"Right… just a kiss." Elizabeth repeated but couldn't help but feel a sting of disappointment that this was all it seemed to mean to him.
"I don't want things to get weird between us." He added. "I'm sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable, I just…" He stopped mid sentence, but he just hadn't been able to resist the urge to kiss her as he was developing feelings for her.
"You didn't, and I don't want things to get weird either. We still have so much work to do before Sonny Corinthos is stopped and this is what we should focus on." Elizabeth said then cleared her throat.
"Right." Jason said himself slightly disappointed Elizabeth was making it clear the case should remain their number one priority.
Elizabeth and Jason arrived back in Port Charles full of hope that very soon the case against Sonny Corinthos would be hefty enough to put him behind bars. The flash drive Zander had told them about most likely contained a goldmine of information that would undeniably link Corinthos to his illegal activities and getting a hold of it would be the only way to drag him to court and get him convicted.
Elizabeth was full of hope but couldn't help but feel uneasy at the fact that she wouldn't be able to see the operation through. She arrived home from the airport and was only able to drop her bag on the floor when she heard a knock at her door. She really hoped for his own sake that Lucky wasn't the one behind that door.
She swung it opened and saw Patrick standing in front of her. "Hey you, what brings you here?" She told her friend.
"I was in the neighborhood and thought I would try and see if you were home." The doctor said then walked in. "Are you going somewhere?" He then asked noticing her piece of luggage.
"Actually I just got back." She told him.
"What did I miss, where did u go?" He asked curious.
"I can't really say, it was part of my investigation but what I can tell you is that I've come across incredible information, for the first time in months I have something concrete to focus on." Elizabeth said excited.
"That's great to hear, I know how important this case is to you." Her friend told her.
"So that's why I had to take off so quickly…"
"Oh, I see… Me who thought you were going on vacation, with an attractive man you know, what you actually should be doing." Patrick teased her.
She shook her head. "I was not on vacation but definitely with an attractive man."
"No way! Who?" The young man asked his curiosity peaked.
"Long story short… you remember when I told you someone showed up and reignited this investigation? Well someone who wants Corinthos out of the streets as much as I do came to my help and we've been working together on the case."
"Okay... that sounds promising" Patrick said, attentively listening.
She continued. "Well we actually have been working really well together, I mean so well that we seem to have developed some kind of attraction to each other too."
"I see…" Patrick said. "And you are worried about how this will affect you working together?"
"Not so much worried but I feel like maybe I should be cautious, I haven't felt anything like this in a very long time and maybe its just the thrill of working together… and when this is all over he will be out of my life." Elizabeth tried to make sense of the feelings she felt towards Jason.
"Then enjoy him now!" Patrick matter-of-factly advised her.
"What if I get attached, you know how hard for me it is to let people in, because I just can't bear losing them." Elizabeth said then looked away. Losing both her parents as a teenager had made her feel like anyone she ever cared about would eventually disappear. She let out a loud breath. "On top of that there is the case, I can't do anything that might put this investigation in jeopardy. " She explained. "He could even end up being a witness and you can imagine how that would look like."
"But going by what you said, you two get along very well and seeing how excited you look just talking about him I doubt you will be able to wait until the case is done to take the next step so… just go for it." Patrick encouraged her.
"But I tend to be really bad at this relationship thing, you know that… and mixing it with work is a recipe for disaster." Elizabeth stamped her hand on her forehead as she spoke.
"Don't overthink it Elizabeth. And look at me I've been with my share of women at the hospital and can still be professional when I need to be and have fun on my personal time."
"But I'm not you Patrick... Anyway, I'm not even sure he's interested in something more, all we did was share a kiss." Elizabeth shrugged.
"Oh please, don't try to tell me that this guy whoever he is, can be insensitive to you… You're beautiful, you're smart and confident, he won't be able to resist that for very long… and I'm talking from experience." Her one time date turned best friend said.
Elizabeth shook her head then smiled at the compliment.
"So when do I get to meet this hunk of a partner of yours?" Patrick asked.
"Once we're all done with our investigation…" Elizabeth told him before changing the subject. "Why did you come over anyway?"
"Well I wanted a woman's perspective about something… it's about Robin, she seems to be ignoring me now." Patrick explained. "I'm usually the one who ignores people not the other way around so I don't know what went wrong, we were getting along quite well and I thought we were going somewhere."
"What did you do?" Elizabeth asked.
"What? Why do you assume I did something wrong?"
"I'm not assuming, I know. Could she have seen you flirting with a nurse and got upset?" Elizabeth guessed.
"Well… flirting is a strong word, I get along with all the nurses; they call me McDreamy you know." Patrick grinned profusely.
"Ok Patrick well you might want to tone that down a little if you want a real shot with Robin or she's not going to take you seriously."
"You women are so complicated, I can't even be nice to other women anymore." Patrick said crossing his arms.
"Oh you can be nice… but not too nice if I'm making any sense."
"Alright… I get it and will try." Patrick said, glad his friend was able to clarify the situation for him. "Alright, I'll let you unpack. I'll see you later!" He kissed Elizabeth on the cheek and left for the hospital.
Jason was walking down Elm Street Pier, on his way to meet Elizabeth at her studio to discuss what they should do with the newly uncovered information about the mysterious flash drive. But most of all, his mind couldn't help but drift away to Elizabeth and how soft her skin was and how hypnotic it had been to taste her lips. The young man realized how difficult it would be to work with her without being drawn in to her and feel the desire to kiss and touch her again, but he would have to try and keep his cool, at least until they were done with the investigation.
He let out a sigh as he stopped in front of the water to clear his mind.
"Jason right?" he heard from behind and saw Carly standing up on the stairs.
She walked down towards him. "It's nice to see you again." The blond woman said once standing next to him. "And you don't have to run away from me this time Jason. I'm sorry if I came off to you the wrong way the other day but all I want from you is a friendship, I'm married."
"Yes, to my boss, Mr. Corinthos, so I don't think it would be such a great idea for me to be friends with you." Jason told her.
"Oh why not? I am friends with a lot of Sonny's men, Max, Milo, Johnny… I get along with all of them really." She said then pointed out. "But you."
"I have no problem with you." Jason pretended then crossed his arms, his body language saying the complete opposite thing his mouth was.
Carly couldn't help a chuckle as she wondered why Jason Morgan was so cold to her; she usually had a different effect on men. She stared the frowning man down looking for what would make a man like this tick but she couldn't read him, something was just off she thought.
"You know, you remind me of someone." Carly suddenly said eyeing the man further. "Someone I knew a few years ago. Someone I was very close to for a time but well, our lives took different directions." The woman pensively said.
Jason who was afraid she would recognize him as A.J.'s brother decided it was time to leave. "I should get going, I'm meeting someone."
"Of course." She told him. "And Jason, it was nice talking to you."
The young man nodded and left quickly, fearing for his cover.
Elizabeth and Jason met again at her studio. They had agreed to very maturely deal about the kiss they had shared at the hotel the day before by simply ignoring it happened, for the time being and focusing on the investigation. They would have plenty of time to discuss their feelings at a later time.
"So how are we supposed to get our hands on this flash drive?" Jason asked for the next phase of their plan.
"I don't know, we have to think of something, but with the kind of security Corinthos has, it's almost impossible for us to get anywhere close to his study."
"Well actually, I checked in at work today and they told me it was slow because Sonny is away for the week, in South America I think they said."
"Okay…" Elizabeth wondered how that changed anything.
"When Corinthos is away, security is a also more relaxed so if there is a time to try and get in, it's definitely now."
"Well, that's risky, we'll really need to plan this correctly." Elizabeth's buzzing phone interrupted their strategizing. "Sorry, it's my boss I got to take this."
She got off her old sofa and answered the phone. "Webber?"
"Elizabeth, bad news, the ops team arrived at Zander Smith's place to move him to a safe house but it was too late… he's dead."
"What? How?" She let out in complete shock.
"I don't know. I guess Corinthos got to him before us." Mac said over the phone.
She hung up the phone livid. Leaving Jason to ask what was wrong.
"They got him, they killed him before we were able to offer him the protection I told him we would give him." Elizabeth explained.
"Dammit…" Jason let out looking to the side then said. "There goes your proof that someone on your side is working with Corinthos."
"I swear if Spencer is behind messing up this operation I'm going to kill him with my bare hands." Elizabeth warned then grabbed her jacket and left to find Lucky.
Elizabeth spotted Lucky Spencer entering the Port Charles FBI field office and called him out right before he was about to get inside the building. "Lucky wait!"
A caught off guard Lucky turned to face a visibly enraged Elizabeth. "Oh Elizabeth, if I knew vacation for you meant walking all over my investigation-"
She cut him off, not even listening to what he began saying. "You messed everything up! I had done all the work and all you had to do was interrogate Zander Smith and set him up as a protected witness and you failed!"
"First of all calm down, it's not my fault if the guy is dead, I followed every single protocol to the letter… but you cannot say the same." He threw at her.
"Me? I found Smith and now he's gone because you couldn't do your damn job!" Elizabeth said, her index finger in his face.
"I did my job just fine, I sent the ops team and was about to fly there myself when I got the call he was dead. Believe me, I am as pissed at you we lost a major witness."
"You know what, that just sounds too convenient for Corinthos that Smith, who he's been looking for all this time turns up dead as soon as the FBI finds him." Elizabeth insinuated.
"And how could he have heard about this ugh? Mac told me personally about it and the only other person I shared this intel with was Rodriguez, and the ops team nobody else! So before you start pointing fingers at us maybe you should look in the mirror. Maybe you led Corinthos to Zander Smith, or maybe your boy toy is to blame, as it seems you are mixing business with pleasure these days… but this was definitely not on me!" Lucky snapped back irritated Elizabeth who had broken every rule in the book was pointing fingers at him and his team.
"Someone is talking to Corinthos, now I'm sure of it and until this is resolved we will never get him so you might want to start your investigation there!" Elizabeth said then turned around to leave but stopped in her tracks and faced Spencer one more time. "If you have anything to do with this I will find out and when I do you'll be finished!"
She stormed away; even angrier than she was when she arrived.
Jason watched Elizabeth barge back inside the studio, take her jacket off and throw it next to him. He didn't dare ask her how her confrontation with Spencer went and instead kept watching her as she sought out the screenshot of the mysterious visitor Spinelli had printed for them. "Who the hell is this?" She said out loud, incapable of recognizing who the man on the picture was. It was someone from the bureau, she was certain of that now, someone with access to classified information, or someone with ears at the right place and conceivably even Lucky.
"Elizabeth you will figure out who the mole is, it's just a matter of time. Now we just know that no one can be trusted but us." Jason said.
"I promised this guy, I told him we would keep him safe…" She shook her head. "Instead I practically served him up to Corinthos. I'm responsible for this."
Jason approached her, wanting to take her in his arms but decided against it. "Don't blame yourself. You didn't know that would happen."
"I should have known!" She looked at him in the eyes. "We already suspected that someone on my side was dirty; I never should have let Mac hand it to Spencer. Ugh! What was I thinking? Now we lost our only witness!"
Jason placed his hand on her shoulder and stroked her arm gently to comfort her. "This is one more reason Corinthos needs to be stopped. And I know, it's terrible he died like this but at least he told us about the flash drive before they got to him."
Elizabeth took another look at the mystery man screenshot then lifted her eyes from the picture and looked at Jason. "Let's do it, let's look for the flash drive tonight. You'll have to get it, Spinelli and I will be right outside providing you with tech support but you're already on the inside, you can get close to the study."
"Tonight? Are you sure we're ready for that?" Jason said doubting they were prepared for such an operation.
"We don't have any more time to waste, we can't count on no one but Spinelli and if we wait too long word of us might end up getting to Corinthos and then we're done. It's now or never Jason." Elizabeth determinedly said.
He let out a deep breath and stared in her eyes. "Ok, let's do it."
