A/N – Thanks for the comments! Glad that you liked the action! KLJLizFan – rofl I hated the way she only pronounced his name differently. Maybe I'm just a hater because I can't roll my r's like that. Lol re: kids. * kikimoo – Carlos is in a car. He switched with someone and that person went into the lake. * lrobinson01 – Don't forget Carlos is using some kind of protection against magic.

Chapter 9 - Aftermath

Johnny looked over at Elizabeth. "Jason wants you to stay here for a little while longer so they don't have to see anything,"

"Okay," Liz said. She understood and definitely didn't want the girls to see any dead bodies.

"We have a crew coming over to clean everything up and we're moving the men to the barn until they can be removed. It's actually quieter down here."

"I trust you," she said.

He kissed Addie on the top of her head. "I have to go check on Jason. Be good for your mommy."

Addie nodded and hugged Johnny before stepping back. Lily dove back into his arms and hugged him again.

Johnny stood up and left.

IiIiIiIiIiIiIiIiIi

Jason looked over at Johnny, noting that he looked more exhausted now than he did before he went down there. "How are they?"

"The kids are scared you're leaving them like their dad did."

Jason sighed. The last thing he wanted to do was upset them like that. He couldn't imagine how hard it was for them to cope with losing their father. And then he realized that he was just as attached to them as they were to him.

"I talked to them. I think they'll be fine once they see you."

"You should go to the hospital," the EMT said.

"I can't do that right now. Can't you just patch me up?" Jason asked.

"You lost a lot of blood and you need stitches."

Jason groaned.

Mac cleared his throat. "You're going to the hospital. Johnny can stay here with the girls. We can take the helicopter. That's an order by the way."

Jason sighed. "Alright, but can you clean me up so I can go downstairs and see the girls please?" He wasn't going anywhere until he made sure they knew he was okay.

The man bandaged him up and Jason stood and wobbled.

Johnny grabbed him. "Take it easy there slugger."

"Just help me get downstairs."

Johnny walked him over to the steps. "I'll go first, you hold onto my shoulder."

"I can walk just fine," Jason muttered.

"Just shut it and do it."

Jason followed him down and Johnny pointed to the couch. "Sit."

He knocked on the panic room door and said the code word.

Liz opened it up.

"He's sitting on the couch. They want him to go to hospital but he wanted to see the girls first."

She nodded and turned. "Come on girls," she said.

They got off the cots and rushed towards their mom and followed her into the game room.

When the girls saw Jason they squealed and ran towards him making him smile.

"Be careful of his arm," Liz warned.

They both slowed down and looked at the bandage. Jason's shirtsleeve was cut off and his wound was still bleeding. Their eyes filled up with tears and Lily's lip began to quiver.

"Come here," he said as his heart broke a little.

Lily climbed up on his lap and hugged him tightly. Addie went to his side and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"I'm okay," Jason said softly. "I just have to go see the doctor and I'll be back. I promise."

He looked up to find Liz standing there. "Are you okay?" he asked.

She nodded and sat down and he held her hand.

"I'm going with you," Alexis said.

Jason looked over at her. "You don't have to do that."

"Yes, I do. I think it would make the girls feel better too," she said.

Addie pulled back. "Aunt Alexis will make sure that you are okay but you have to listen to her or you'll get put on a time out."

Jason smiled. "Okay, then she can go but she has to go in a helicopter."

"Dear God," Alexis muttered.

"Are you scared?" Jason asked.

Alexis bit her lip. "Hopefully, I won't have an anxiety attack."

"Just bend over and breathe if you do," Lily said. They were used to them. "You can do it."

Alexis slightly smiled. "Alright, Auntie will be brave because Jason needs my help."

"Girls, Jason needs to go," Liz said as she looked at his bandage turn redder by the minute.

"I'll be back soon," Jason said. "I promise."

Addie gave him a kiss on the cheek and then got down and Lily looked up at him. "Promise you won't leave me," she said painfully.

"I promise," Jason said before kissing her on the head.

Diane took Lily's hand and she slipped off his lap.

Johnny helped Jason stand and Elizabeth gave him a hug, "Be careful."

"I'll see you later."

"You can stay in here. Turn on a movie to distract them. They'll be cleaning upstairs," Johnny said.

"Okay," Elizabeth said before gathering the girls into her arms.

Diane grabbed the remote and they picked a movie to watch.

IiIiIiIiIiIiIiIiIi

Alexis followed Jason and Johnny to the helicopter.

"Visit my girl for me," Johnny said. He needed to stay back in case Carlos returned.

"I will," Jason said.

Mac helped Alexis inside and sat next to her and Johnny helped Jason and they were on their way.

Alexis started to grow pale and Mac grabbed her hand and squeezed and she buried her head in his shoulder making Jason smirk.

It took ten minutes to get to G.H. and they landed on the roof.

There was a gurney waiting for Jason which he wasn't happy about but he got on.

Mac helped a wobbly Alexis into the elevator.

Jason looked over at her. "Maybe you should give her the oxygen."

"Shut it," Alexis said trying to catch her breath. She just had to keep reminding herself that she was back on the ground.

Jason and Mac chuckled.

They took Jason to a room and Alexis waited with Mac.

"You feel better?" he asked.

She nodded. "Are we taking it back?"

"Probably, I know Jason wants to get back to the girls."

She let out a groan.

"It will be fine," he said grinning.

About an hour later, Jason walked towards them.

"What's the verdict?" Mac asked.

"I have to take it easy and try not to move it or lift anything heavy for a while. I have stitches and they made me wear a sling."

"Which will probably only last until you get home," Mac said which made Jason smirk.

"And he has to take a pill tonight to help him rest," the nurse said handing a bag to Alexis. "Make sure that happens. There are also supplies in there to change the bandage twice a day for three days. We gave him a shot but if it starts to look infected, he needs to see a doctor again."

Alexis nodded. "I'll watch him take the pill myself."

Jason muttered under his breath. "I'm going to see Evangeline so we can get out of here."

Mac nodded. "We'll go with you."

IiIiIiIiIiIiIiIiIi

Jason walked into Evangeline's room. He was surprised that she didn't have the tube in.

"She woke up unexpectedly and we took it out," the nurse explained. "She's stable and has been sleeping."

Jason nodded and stood beside the bed and grimaced when he saw the bruises on her face. He touched her hand and Evangeline's eyes snapped open.

"Hey. I'm sorry I woke you up."

She squeezed his hand as her eyes focused. "What happened?"

"To you or me?" Jason asked.

"You."

"One of Carlos's men."

Her eyes grew big.

"It's okay. I was the only one hurt. The Webber family is fine."

"Thank God."

"I'm more worried about you," he said softly.

"I'll be fine eventually," she said softly. "How's Johnny?"

"Going nuts being away from you. He found you and was a wreck afterwards but he got you help. He demanded that I check up on you but I would have regardless."

"Did you get him?" she asked.

Jason knew what she meant. "No, but Johnny shot him in the torso. He won't be in any shape to come after us for a while. Hopefully we'll find him before then." He squeezed her hand. "You need to rest and I need to get back to the girls."

"Tell Johnny to come see me tomorrow. Tonight, he should stay with you. You're in no condition to fight," she said.

"I still have my good hand," he said waving at her.

She gave him a slight smile, "Men."

Jason smiled. "Get some rest. I'm glad that you're okay. And Evangeline…"

She looked up at him curiously.

"I'm sorry I didn't protect you. It won't happen again."

"Thank you but it's not your fault."

Jason grabbed her hand and squeezed it again and then left the room.

IiIiIiIiIiIiIiIiIi

To Alexis, the helicopter ride home was just as bad as the ride there. She almost kissed the ground when she got out.

Johnny met them at the door.

"How is Evangeline?" he asked.

"I spoke to her. They took the tube out and she asked for you."

"She looked bad didn't she?"

Jason nodded. "Yes, but she'll heal. She's tough. She said to come see her tomorrow, since apparently I'm incapacitated and can't protect myself without you."

"You did get shot loser," Johnny said smirking.

Jason shook his head.

Alexis went and grabbed a water bottle from the kitchen that didn't have holes in it. There was a lot of work to be done in the house but at least she noticed that some of the bloodstains were gone.

"Are the kids in bed?" he asked.

"Yes. Elizabeth and Diane are in the basement."

Alexis nodded. "I'm going to take Jason upstairs and get him settled and drugged."

She followed Jason to his room. "Sit," she said.

"Yes mom."

Alexis quirked a brow at him. "Don't get testy," she said studying him. "How are we getting your shirt off?"

"Why Alexis…" Jason said smirking.

Alexis rolled her eyes. "It has dried blood on it."

"There's probably some scissors in the drawer over there."

She found them and walked back over to the bed.

"Can you help me out of the sling?"

Alexis took it off and then carefully cut the shirt off. "Nice abs."

Jason gave her a look.

"Do you have a button up shirt you could wear to bed? We do have little girls running around."

Dear Lord the man was cut. It was enough to make her hyperventilate.

"I doubt it. Just grab one of my dress shirts in the closet."

She found a short-sleeved shirt and sat it on the bed. "Do you own sweat pants?"

"Bottom drawer."

She grabbed a pair. "Alright, should I go get Johnny for this part?"

Jason made a face and unbuckled his belt. "I can do it." There was no way in hell Johnny was helping him take off his pants.

She made him sit and then took off his shoes and socks and then arranged the sweatpants on the floor so he could just step into them. "Alright, I'll turn around."

Jason stood and dropped his jeans and then stepped into the sweats and pulled them up. "Done."

She turned back around and grabbed the short-sleeved shirt and helped him get into it and then buttoned it for him.

"Thanks," he said, glad that it was Alexis helping him and not Elizabeth because he wouldn't be able to keep his hands to himself.

She pulled down the covers and then helped him into bed. Grabbing the pill bottle, she fished one out and then put one in his mouth and handed him some water.

"Happy?" he asked after swallowing it.

She smiled. "Yes. I could have used one of those about two hours ago," she said thinking about the helicopter ride.

Jason smirked.

The door cracked open and Elizabeth came in.

Alexis picked up his dirty clothes and moved them out of the way.

"How are you feeling?"

"Fine. Alexis just drugged me though."

Alexis smiled. "I'll leave you two alone."

She left and Liz sat on the bed. "You had us worried."

"How are the girls?"

"They're rattled but they finally fell asleep."

"I'm sorry they were upset about Dante and me," he said.

"They aren't used to having guys around and you and Johnny have been really good to them."

Jason made a motion so she'd grab his hand.

"They want to draw Evangeline a feel better card tomorrow."

"She'd like that. I saw her. She looks bad but she'll be okay. She asked how you were."

"I feel like we brought all of this on everyone. Sarah's a mess and locked in her room. I know that she feels guilty."

"She didn't know that Carlos was a psycho," Jason said.

"My sister has a bad track record with men," Liz said. Seeing Jason's eyes unfocus a little, she let go of his hand and stood up. "You need to rest," she said before kissing him gently.

"Good night," he said as his eyelids became so heavy that he finally allowed them to close.

"Good night."

IiIiIiIiIiIiIiIiIi

Elizabeth got up and groaned. It felt like she had only sleep for five minutes. She had gotten up twice and checked on Jason. It had taken hours for the cleanup crew and police to leave. She went into the bathroom and took a quick shower, figuring the girls were probably up and hungry. When she peeked into their rooms, they weren't there so she went downstairs.

Alexis was sitting at the counter reading the paper.

"Where are the girls?"

"They aren't upstairs?"

Liz shook her head and ran into the basement and then up to the third floor. They met back on the second floor.

"No luck?" Alexis asked.

"No."

Alexis put a finger over her mouth and slowly opened Jason's door and smirked. Motioning for Elizabeth to look, they saw a knocked out Jason and two little arms thrown across his chest and smiled.

She closed the door again and they went downstairs.

"I can't believe those little sneaks."

"They probably went in there after we went to sleep," Alexis said smiling. "It's kind of cute."

Liz nodded. "I'm worried about them."

"Because they are so attached?"

"Yes."

"Elizabeth, what are you going to do about you and Jason? I can clearly see where this is headed. You're going to probably have to stay here for a while until Carlos is caught."

"You said you're. Are you and Diane going to leave?"

"We're thinking about it but not right now. I think the girls need us around, but I do miss my house."

Liz sighed. "I don't know. Part of me feels like it would be nice to start over in a new place. There are so many memories of Dante there."

"I know. You have some time to decide but what are we going to do about school?"

"I'll talk to Jason about it. I supposed we could enroll them here. But, I'm not sure about the safety aspect," Liz said.

"You hungry? The microwave was shot and killed by the way."

Liz chuckled. "There's one down in the basement."

"Good to know," Alexis said.

IiIiIiIiIiIiIiIiIi

Jason's eyes flickered open and he groaned, his arm was stiff and hurt and he was very uncomfortable. He blinked and looked down and saw two arms and then followed the trail to the two little bodies that were pushed up against him and smiled. He was surprised that they had crawled into bed with him but he never would imagine how good it felt that they cared so much. His career had always come first. Spending time with Michael and Morgan was a nice distraction, but it didn't happen often enough. Having a family was something he never allowed himself to think about. But being around the girls was something he was really enjoying.

Addie stirred and her eyes fluttered open and when she saw Jason was awake she smiled. "Hi."

"Hi."

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"I'm a little sore but I'm good," Jason said.

Lily lifted her head and rubbed her eyes. "Are you hungry?" she asked.

"A little bit," Jason said.

She smiled. "We're going to make you breakfast in bed," she said before darting off of the bed. Addie followed her out of the room and Jason smiled.

When the girls ran downstairs Elizabeth came upstairs to check on Jason and found him trying to get out of bed.

"What are you doing?"

"Going to the bathroom," he said.

She helped him untangle from the covers and stand. He was a little wobbly at first but she wrapped her arm around his waist and helped him inside.