Just A Dream

"Suspect #2"

Staring at her television screen, Elizabeth watches intently as the news reporter goes into detail regarding the raiding of Sonny's most prized warehouse. Like she had predicted, the police have yet to divulge anything important about the raid, but that's beside the point.

Phase two has been completed, taking down more men than she had initially anticipated, likely a counter measure put into place by Sonny to ensure that his warehouse was secure. Among those arrested are none other than the ones that held her at gun point. Karma at its best.

Knock. Knock.

"Liz?" Cody sticks his head in tentatively. "You got a minute?"

"Sure." Elizabeth shakes her head, putting the television on mute before turning to him. "What's up?"

"The guys have been talking and...well, we're all wondering..." Cody sighed, knowing he was never good at asking for information, especially from the people he works for when its not given freely. "Could it possible? Could Jason really be alive?"

"Where did you hear that from?" Elizabeth looks at him seriously. "Only three people, beside myself, should know about that."

"Ritchie overheard Francis and Johnny." Cody admits while taking a couple steps back when she rises to her feet. "He didn't mean to..."

"Relax, I'm still me, Cody." Elizabeth shakes her head before gesturing for him to come and sit down. "I was going to share the information with the rest of you once I knew for certain...but, yes, its a real possibility that my husband is still alive."

"Killing Jason never made any sense to me." Cody voices as he sits down on the couch. "So, if Sonny didn't have him killed, why fake his death?"

"That's something I'm trying to figure out myself." Elizabeth explains. "For now, all I have is the receipt and a possible safe house that Sonny could have Jason. Stan still needs to narrow down the possibilities and that'll take another day or so."

"How are you doing with this?" Cody dares to ask. "I mean, it can't be easy not knowing if your husband's alive or not."

"Its not easy." she admits. "But I'm dealing with it. I'm okay."

"Of course." Cody smiles slightly, having anticipated her denial of vulnerability. "Well, if you find that you're not..."

"I'll let you know."

"Good." he accepts before rising to his feet. "Before I forget, the men wanted you to know that they're ready to implement phase three whenever you are."

"I'll be right there."

Waiting long enough for him to walk out of the room, Elizabeth turns the volume back up on the television just as footage of Sonny comes onto the screen. The look of pure anger on his face puts a proud smirk on hers. It had always been the plan, for years now, to take down Sonny's organization, but to see it in action now...its bitter sweet, for sure.

It was bad enough when she thought he killed her husband, now to think that he has him stored somewhere out of her reach, Elizabeth has begun to devise an endgame specifically designed for a torturous end. A plan fitting for a man like Sonny Corinthos.

Making her way out of the room, she meets up with the men in the garage, immediately looking over what they had before green lighting phase three. While they are out handling what needs to be handled, she had a little meeting to get to. None of this will work without this element. None of it.

"Elizabeth?" Francis stops her as she's about to get into one of the unmarked cars. "I know I can't stop you...so, just promise me you'll be safe."

"I will be." Elizabeth assures, slowly removing his hand from her arm. "Go with the men. If something goes wrong, they'll need your experience to get away clean."

"You know if Jason is alive, he'll kill me for letting you control things like this, right?"

"If my husband is alive, you can rest assured that I'll protect you." she smiles teasingly before kissing his cheek. "I'll see you when I get back. Keep them safe."

"Will do."

Getting into the car, she revs it into life and takes off to the local bar, needing to get this meeting over and done with before she continues her plans in taking Sonny done. The last thing she needs is retaliation in any shape or form. The sooner she handles this, the better off she and the rest of them will be. Of course, she hadn't expected to run into the number one blonde in her husband's life.

"Carly, really, I don't have time for another fight." Elizabeth says as she tries to make her way around the blonde. "Whatever you have to say, it'll have to wait until tomorrow."

"No! You have been avoiding me and I want to know why."

"Avoiding you?" Elizabeth had to stop and look at her now. "I wasn't aware we were on good enough terms to consider what I was doing avoidance."

"Fine, so, maybe not avoiding." Carly relents. "I know we were never on good terms while Jason was still alive, but I had assumed with his absence that we'd be able to put it aside and be there if need be."

"You need me?" she looks at her even more skeptically now. "What's up your sleeve, Carly?"

"Ugh, subtly sucks ass, anyway." Carly snaps before blurting out exactly what's on her mind. "I know you've taken Jason's place."

"Excuse me?" Elizabeth looked at her like she has lost her mind. "Am I supposed to know what you're talking about?"

"A few bottles of tequila and you can get Milo to confess just about anything." Carly says seriously. "What I want to know is why you'd throw your life away like this."

"Why do you care?"

"I care because I made a promise to Jason that if anything ever happened to him, I'd step up when it mattered." Carly snaps. "And right now it matters."

"I appreciate the sentiment, Carly, but you're better off sticking to your motto of looking out for number one." Elizabeth says seriously. "I'm not doing anything I can't handle."

"Have you not learnt anything from Jason's life?" Carly growls. "There is no handling it! If Jason couldn't survive this life, how the hell do you think you can?"

"I don't have time for this." Elizabeth takes a deep breath before staring her right in the eyes. "There's more to this than even you know. Now, unless, you are about to gag me and throw me in a padded cell for the rest of my life, I suggest you get out of my way and let me handle what needs to be handled."

"This isn't over." Carly says as she steps out of the way. "You can trust me on that."

"Whatever makes you sleep at night." Elizabeth says as she walks past her, turning to utter one last line before continuing on with her night. "Just keep one thing in mind, Carly, everything I do is for Jason. It always has been, it always will be."

Turning away from the blonde, she makes herself comfortable at the end of the bar, completely unaware of Carly making another drinking date with Milo. Whatever Elizabeth is up to, it was clear she wasn't going to get any answers out of the little muffin face. So, as much as she hates milking things out of Milo, it was time for another drinking binge to get a few answers.

"Is it done?" Elizabeth voices the moment Alcazar sits beside her at the bar.

"Nice to see you again, too, Mrs. Morgan." Alcazar responds. "Why, yes, I was having a pleasant day myself, as well."

"Sorry." she sighs. "Its nice to see you, Mr. Alcazar. I'm glad your day has gone well. Can we get done to business now?"

"Of course." he smiles slightly, gesturing for a round for each of them before continuing once it was placed in front of them. "I presented them with your case and they've agreed with your terms. Sonny's reign needs to come to an end. What happens to his territory once the dust settles will be up to the one that kills him."

"In other words, me."

"If indeed you are the one that pulls the proverbial trigger...yes. It will be entirely up to you."

"Good." she says before downing her shot and rising to her feet. "Your payment will be delivered as promised."

"Just out of curiosity, what do you plan to do with his estate once you've gotten your revenge?"

"I haven't decided." she says simply. "Either I run it or I burn it to the ground."

"You should definitely go with the first one." he says as matter of opinion. "With a woman like you running things, I doubt many will try to overthrow you."

"I appreciate the vote of confidence, but I have not made a decision either way." Elizabeth says simply. "Although, watching Sonny's hard work burn to the ground does have a rather delicious temptation that I might not be able to resist. Goodbye, Alcazar."

"If you do end up running things, try to keep me in mind when you decide to make alliances."

"Dully noted."

Tossing a couple bills onto the bar, she makes her way out of the building with one destination in mind, the hospital. There's a doctor there that specializes in natural poisons such as fugu. Though she'd never want to get on the man's bad side, he did come in handy in situations such as the one she has found herself in.

Hopefully he'll be able to give her an idea of the kind of skills that are needed to administer it correctly without leaving any lasting damage. While Stan is working on finding a location, she needs to learn as much as she can about the poison and the side effects once it leaves the system. As she's turning the corner to the doctor's office, however, she happens upon a conversation that leaves her a little curious about the young Dr. Scorpio.

"You know what, I don't even want to know what you've gotten yourself into." Dr. Drake voices to Robin, a serious look upon his face. "All I'll tell you is that the longer this patient is exposed to this particular drug combination, the worse things will be once the patient recovers."

"Is there any way I can counteract it?" Robin practically begs. "Please, Patrick, I can't just stand by and do nothing."

"There's no way to counteract it without compromising the patient's already fragile immune system." he states firmly. "If you want to save this patient, I suggest you get them out of whatever care they're currently under and into an actual medical facility."

"That's not possible." Robin says after a long moment. "Please, there has to be something I can do. You're the best neurosurgeon in the country. You have got to have some kind of idea..."

"I gave you my prognosis and the best course of treatment for your patient, pro bono, I might add." Patrick says plainly. "Its up to you to follow my advice or not. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a date to get to."

"Is another notch on your belt really worth the life of this patient?!"

"Goodnight, Dr. Scorpio." Patrick states. "And be grateful that I've chosen not to go to the medical board with this."

"Patrick, wait, please! Patrick!"

"Robin?" Elizabeth steps out from the spot she had been. "Everything okay?"

"Uh, yes...yes, everything's okay...fine." Robin shakes her head before composing herself. "Uh, what are you doing here? I thought you're on vacation?"

"I am." she confirms. "I was just here to speak to Dr. Nolan."

"Oh, well, he's in his office." Robin divulges. "He just finished his last appointment, so, he should be free to meet with you."

"Thanks." she keeps her eyes on her, trying to get a read on the woman. "You sure everything's okay?"

"Uh, yeah...sure." Robin says as she starts to move past Elizabeth. "I should get going. I hope Dr. Nolan will be able to help you."

Watching her walk away, Elizabeth picks up her cellphone to tell the guard she brought with her to tail Robin, her gut screaming that she was in this just as deep as Sonny. Turning away from where Robin walked out of sight, she makes her way to Dr. Nolan's office. She needs to know how to handle this before she gets her husband back. If its true and Robin is in this up to her neck, Elizabeth can't be certain she won't tear her down in the same way as Sonny.