Chapter 10

Jason was by himself in his penthouse. Courtney and Carly went shopping, like they always went on Wednesdays. They said it was the perfect day to go, because it wasn't near the weekend, it was in the middle of the week, so they would get done sooner. Sooner. Sooner was about an hour after sunset. The thing was, they always only came home with one bag, if that. He laughed to himself wondering why the just couldn't say they wanted to hang out instead of pretending they were getting towels, bed sheets, or a new item for the family room. He didn't know about them sometimes.

His thoughts shifted as he looked around the room and spotted a picture of the other woman in his life. Emily.

It had been a couple of days since the musketeer dinner. Nikolas thought he hit a chord about Patrick. He just couldn't tell what keys. Thinking that Jason perhaps was more observant, he decided to head over there and see what he could find out.

Jason was so proud of Emily. His little sister finished high school and college with a 4.0 gpa, got a good job, and was starting medical school. Sometimes he wished she didn't work. She seemed so stressed out lately. The Quartermaine's had money, he had money, but she refused to take anybody's money. She wanted to earn her living. Jason was proud of her for that. She was so sweet and stubborn at the same time. She wanted to hold her own, and as far as he could tell, she was doing a good job.

Until lately.

She seemed to go into her own little world when she was in a group of three or more. It was like she hoped to disappear and only came back from where ever she was to assure those surrounding here. She hardly came by and her room, hell, it was probably filled with dust now, and she always had a reason to leave or excuse herself from coming over or when they went out.

It was something he had to figure out. Until he could, Jason decided to put guards on her and report back to him. Hopefully they could tell him something Emily didn't.

Jason picked up the phone but quickly put it down when he heard someone knock on the door. He opened the door when he heard Nikolas' voice.

"Hey Jason."

"Nikolas."

"Do you have a minute?"

"Yeah." Jason motioned for Nikolas to come in but didn't ask him to sit down. It wasn't that he didn't like Nikolas, it was just that he never went out of his way to seem cordial. If he wanted to sit down Jason figured, he would.

"I just wanted to ask you about Emily. Lately…"

Just then there was another knock at the door. Jason wasn't going to answer the door because Emily more important. He told Nikolas to continue until he heard someone open the door. He reached for his gun but put it away when he realized it was Sonny.

"Hey Sonny."

"Hey Jase, do you…" Sonny didn't finish his question after he looked up and saw Nikolas standing in front of Jason. "Should I leave?"

"No. Whatever Nikolas has to say, he can say it to both of us."

Thinking if it was a good idea for him to come to Jason, he decided not to sit down. Not now. The thought of him sitting down and Sonny and Jason looking down on him was not an option. He thought it was for the sake of Emily so he would do what he had to do. Considering he had tried to move in on Robin a couple of years back, Jason wasn't that bad to him.

"Ok. Well, I don't know what's wrong with Emily, and wanted to know if you know what it is or have even noticed anything different."

Jason didn't say anything. He was waiting for Nikolas to continue.

"A couple of days ago she left early when Lucky, Liz, and I were at Kelly's. She said it was about Patrick. Earlier last week she was crying at the docks about something and claimed it was about her test scores. I don't think it was. At least not the whole reason she was crying. She didn't used to cry about school. But then again she never did poorly."

"Anything else you think we should know?" Sonny asked.

"I don't know how to explain it. She's just… different now. She seems to just keep to herself. This year Emily and I got closer and…"

Nikolas thought he'd seen all of Jason's facial expressions concerning Emily. He was wrong. He looked like he wanted to tell Nikolas never to hurt Emily, but no one could be sure with Jason.

Sensing the hostility Sonny decided to calm Jason. "Jase, let him finish. You never know."

Jason didn't break his stance but his face relaxed a bit.

"Not in the way you think. When Lucky died, we sort of become best friends. When Patrick entered the picture, things just changed. I don't know the exact connection though. That's when I hoped you could come in and help me."

Jason thought about what he said for a minute. He would have to deal with this on his own.

"Okay. Well, there's nothing I can tell you except that I'll deal with it. When it's handled I'll let you know."

"What do you mean handled? All I wanted…"

"Look Nikolas, I know you wanted to help, and you did. But, if I need your help, don't worry. I won't hesitate to ask."

Chapter 11

Nikolas was in the living room at Wyndermere thinking about what happened. He had gone to see Jason thinking he could shed some light on the situation, but was instead told that it would be handled. He wondered what exactly that meant, but had a vague idea that didn't look pretty.

Determined to figure it out on his own and help Emily in any way she needed him, he began to go over everything in his head that might point somewhere, no matter how minute the detail.

Emily lay in her living room basking in the glow of having the house to herself and not waiting for Patrick to come home. He wouldn't be home for at least a couple of days and she planned to do a lot of things she wanted to do before, but couldn't. She decided to stay over at Jason's as long as she could, and would leave when Patrick said he was on his way.

She also looked forward to dinner with her friends. Maybe they could even do something afterwards. It was such a beautiful sunny day in Port Charles, only with light wind that made the scene perfect. Emily had bought an outfit a few months back that Patrick didn't know about. She probably would really get it if he ever knew. 'This would be the perfect time' thought Emily as she began to undress. 'I could wear it and…'

Emily looked in the mirror and saw her reflection. She was so surprised she almost tripped over the chair beside the mirror. She never really looked at herself. It was horrible. She was so used to covering up she forgot why. 'How could I forget why?' thought Emily. The freakin bruises hurt all the time. Forget my butt.' Looking at herself with disgust, she put the dress away and put on the normal cover up. I'm gonna melt. It's too freakin hot. Oh well, this is the price one pays for falling for the wrong man and then finding out who he really his. You sure know how to pick 'em Em. You sure do.' With that, Emily decided to take a nap so she would be ready to spend the next few days doing what she wanted to do.

Emily took a nap and decided she would head over to Jason's when she woke up.

Carly returned from shopping early. Sonny was at the warehouse, so she decided to over and hang with Jason.

She slowly opened the door and knocked while entering. "Jase? It's Carly, are you here? Hey! Jase! Uwo! Where are you!"

"Hey, hey, hey. Right here. Can you give anybody five seconds to get down the stairs?"

"You know me. Patience is not one of my virtues."

"Yeah, I think we all got that one," Jason joked as Carly gave him a hug and then plopped on the couch. 'This girl always has so much energy. I don't know how Sonny does this on a regular basis.' Jason smirked to himself.

"What? What was that look for?" Carly pleaded with searching, nosy eyes. "What's funny?"

"You are Carly. You're very… high maintenance. But again, you already knew that."

"Well yes, yes I do. But that's why you love me."

"Really…" Jason responded playfully.

"You know Jase, some people will never see this side of you. I think only five people in the whole world will have that privilege."

"And who might those people be?"

"Well, of course there's me, I'm number one, well, besides Courtney, because she's your wife, so, I guess she should be first, or is first, depending on which…"

"Carly! Please, just finish the list."

"Oh yeah, okay, so then there's…"

"Sorry, but Courtney's at work right?"

"Hello! She told you that about four times before we left. Otherwise why would we be home so early? And yes, I saw her go into the diner."

"I don't know why she insists on working, I told her, you know being her husband…"

"My turn. It's called INDEPENDCE. You should know all about it Mr. Morgan. ANYWAYS, you trust and love me, Courtney, Sonny, Lila, Emily, and oh yeah, the kids. So, I guess that's about six people. But still, you know what I mean."

"Yeah, I guess I…"

"Speaking of Emily, have you seen her, or at least…"

"At least what?" Emily interrupted playfully. "Talking about me huh? I knew I was special, but what an honor."

Jason got up first and gave Emily a hug. It was a little too eager Emily thought. But she decided to act normal, since everything felt that way, at least for now.

Next in line was Carly. Emily hated to admit it, or truthfully, was getting used to the fact that when she liked you, she was one of the most loyal people (not even touching Jason of course), and actually one of the nicest and playful people Emily had ever met. Before Patrick, they were began to get close. They told each other why they didn't like each other in the first place, for Jason's sake, but then decided that those reasons weren't valid and decided to start over. It was like meeting two different people.

They all talked for awhile and this was the first time in a long time that Emily didn't zone out. She actually listened. It was mostly Carly talking about the kids and her day with Courtney.

"And now Courtney's at work and I'm here. That's that!"

Both Jason and Emily broke out in laughter. No matter how much time they spent with Carly, it was still amazing to them how much she could talk and her rationales. They had to give it to her though. She loved who she loved, especially her children.

"Well, I have to go and see the kids. I've spent six hours away already! See you guys later!" Carly left as they said goodbye to the sound of the door closing.

"She's very energetic," Emily chuckled. "No wonder she always has enough stamina for the kids. I think she runs them out."

"That's exactly what I said to her earlier. And you're probably right." Jason's thoughts drifted back to his conversation with Nikolas. He decided to try and get to the bottom of some stuff with Emily.

"Hey Jase, can I crash here for a couple of days? Just for awhile."

"You know you don't even have to ask. You have your own room. That means it's yours. Use it at your discretion."

"Cool, thanks Jase," Emily said enthusiastically as she hugged Jason.

"Where's your bag?"

"Oh, last time I left my stuff here. Plus, I always leave clothes and all that stuff here. The only thing I forgot last time was my watch." 'And believe me Jase, I know. I have the bruise to show for leaving my belongings behind.'

"I knew that but you usually have your excess beauty products, and you know you don't need them."

Emily smiled at Jason's comment. He always stuck something like that in his sentences, but never tried to change her decision for her.

"Well, I'm going to change. I'm gonna meet everyone at Kelly's in an hour."

"Hey Em, wait."

"Yeah Jase?"

"Is there anything you want to tell me?"

Emily wasn't quite sure how to proceed. She didn't want to sound alarmed or let the 'bingo' tone slip from her voice. She decided to go with the light reply that flowed with the previous conversation topic.

"Ummm… No. Not that I can think of at the moment!" Emily replied cheerfully. Just to make sure the t's were dotted, she decided to be rhetorical. "Is there anything you want to tell me?"

Jason knew she was dodging, so decided to go another way. "No, the usual is going on; getting shot at, going on business trips, explosions, you know, the usual."

"Umhmm. Yes, the usual, as usual!"

"Okay, I know you have to go, but one last question. How's Patrick?"

Jason stared intently at his sister's face. He didn't like what he saw.

Timidly at first but quick to convert, Emily paused as though she forgot who Patrick was.

Jason studied her as she spoke, obviously caught off guard.

"Oh, yeah, he said to tell you hi when I saw you… he's fine… he's out of town on business now, but he'll be back soon." Gathering her jacket and heading upstairs, she nervously tried to regroup and find some way to end the conversation.

Somewhat satisfied, Jason reminded her of her dinner. "Well, you don't want to keep them waiting."

"Them?" Emily nearly forgot she was supposed to go to Kelly's. "Oh! I have to change! I'll be back!"

Emily ran upstairs and left Jason to his thoughts. 'At least now I know it has to do with Patrick. Just what is the question. I don't like it whatever it is, but I'll find it out.' Jason called Myer and told him to double security as soon as Patrick came back into town.

"Myer, make sure they still don't notice the guards. I want to catch what happens when they're sure no one is watching. Same orders apply. Don't step in; just call me if anything happens. Keep me updated. I'll be in touch."

A/N: pdthgal & kaya333: )

Evil but friendly rival: thanks for the heads up (for the a/n separation)