Part 11 - Snow White & Rose Red

"I need you to find someone for me."

Sonny felt anger creeping up like fire along his skin. "Why?"

Luke mumbled something on the other end of the phone, something with 'smart ass' in his tone. A moment later he'd recovered his 'good ol' boy tone.' "What's a favor between friends, Corinthos?"

"When," Sonny challenged, "did we become friends, Luke?" Sonny poured himself a drink from a nearby cut-crystal decanter. "Last I recall you were calling me a bastard and a worthless asshole."

"You were going to kill my son!" Luke's composure was cracking. Sonny could hear it in his voice and he was glad. It wasn't good to ever let Luke think he had the upper hand in anything.

"I gave Lucky a job because you asked me to, Luke." Sonny took a long sip and enjoyed the fire that trailed down his throat. "Then the little shit betrayed me… BETRAYED ME, Luke… better men have died for less." He downed the rest of the drink and closed his eyes as the alcohol seeped into the lining of his stomach. "I let him live in a moment of weakness."

"You let him live because we're friends." Luke's tone was little more than that of a petulant child and Sonny enjoyed the childish sound.

"So, if I did, it was the last thing I did for you because of our friendship." Sonny lifted the top of the decanter off again and poured another serving into his glass. "From now on I owe you nothing."

There was a hesitance to the silence that fell between them. And Sonny began to wonder if there wasn't something to this request. He gave it another thought and bit out his words. "If," he paused, and then repeated himself, "if, I were interested in helping you to collect another marker from you for the future… who do you want me to find?"

He could almost hear Luke smirk. "Just someone that my boy's been seeing… she got herself in some trouble." Luke almost choked on the words. "Elizabeth Webber."

Sonny thought about it for a moment. "I'll see what I can do."


Francis' knock startled Jason, who looked up at his friend from the near dark room. "Jason?" You have a minute?"

A quick look told him that Elizabeth was still sound asleep. Jason got up from his chair and crossed to the door. Johnny lounged outside the room in a chair.

"Why don't you too get me some coffee while you're makin' some chit chat about our little friend in there." He jerked his thumb at the hospital room.

Jason raised an eyebrow at his friend. "You like living dangerously?"

Johnny grinned right back. "Yeah… is there any other way to live?"

Francis shook his head and started down the hallway toward the coffee vending machine. He waited until Jason was in step with him. "We got a copy of Taggert's files on Elizabeth's attack." He handed a few pieces of paper to Jason and while his friend read the report he paid for a few coffees from the machine.

Jason was a fast reader. Francis, knowing what was on the paper could easily guess where and what Jason was reading when subtle changes began in Jason's expression. It was a unique thing to see Jason so affected by anything.. especially violence, but there was a cold edge to the look in Jason's eyes that Francis couldn't help but worry.

"Is this it?"

Francis nodded. "So far, but Taggert has already gone to Mercy a few times to question Lucky. The doctor keeps saying he is too sick to question, but he thinks that the doctor is avoiding the issue for some reason."

Jason took a cup of coffee from Francis but didn't drink it. "Luke. I bet his father has something to do with it." He looked back down at the paper. "They said it was definitely a stab wound?"

"Yeah… Elizabeth was really lu- fortunate. The blade missed anything that would be fatal, but it's going to be awhile before she gets full use of her arm and shoulder."

Jason nodded. "And the report mentioned blood on Lucky's hands?"

"He was covered in dry blood, but there were two different DNA profiles. One was Elizabeth."

"That would be enough for me. Why haven't they arrested him?"

Francis continued. "There's another person's blood on his hands. One theory, that Scott Baldwin is suggesting, is that Lucky fought the attacker after they stabbed Elizabeth and he hurt the attacker, mingling blood on his arms."

Jason shook his head. "I don't buy it."

"Neither do I," Francis reassured him. "He always was a little ass… when Sonny gave him that courier job it was only a day or two before I was begging to put him down for good. He was everything we didn't want in a courier. He was loud and obvious, drew attention to himself and the business. How he avoided death is beyond me."

Jason didn't explain to Francis. He didn't need to. He knew that Luke had called in a favor or something like that. "So what are we doing?"

I'm meeting with someone down on the docks later. One of our informants mentioned overhearing some kind of phone call that he overheard on Luke's end. He thinks there's something going on."

"Business?"

Francis paused, thinking it through. "I'll let you know once I talk to him… it could be nothing."

"With Luke?" Jason scoffed. "He's always neck deep in something stupid to make money"

"True." Francis couldn't argue. They'd seen Luke go through crazy schemes before.


When Jason returned to the room, Johnny swung the door open for him, telling him that everything was quiet. Jason closed the door behind him while Francis was giving Johnny his coffee.

Inside, Elizabeth looked peaceful enough, but the heart rate numbers on the read out above her head were climbing. Her respiration speeding up. Dropping his coffee cup into the trash can by the door, Jason was at her side in a moment, watching her carefully he saw the subtle trembling of her jaw, the flare of her nostrils as she struggled with something he couldn't see.

An indrawn breath, a mumbled plea. Jason didn't know if he should wake her or leave her alone. Then, she answered his question. Elizabeth bolted upright in bed, her eyes wide with abject fear, her good hand tried to grab her shoulder.

Jason stopped her in the nick of time, but he didn't stop her plaintive cry. "Please… don't!" She fought Jason with a fierce determination that startled him, enough that she dug her fingers into his wrist. "Stop… you're hurting me!"

The clatter of metal outside the door came only a moment after the monitor alarms blared. The door flung open and would have bounced off of the wall if not for the rubber stopper on the back of it, but while he heard the footsteps of several people pushing into the room, Jason was focused on Elizabeth.

He gently cupped his palm against her cheek, murmuring words to her as she loosened her hold on Jason's arm.

Jason didn't turn to see who was walking up behind him. Johnny would have stopped anyone that meant harm. Instead he continued to speak to Elizabeth and soothe her while he heard his father speak.

"She's still asleep."

Nodding, Jason continued what he was doing and gently stroked his fingertips over the back of her hand, helping to relax her fingers. A few moments later, Elizabeth's body shook slightly and a relieved sigh burst from her lips. A moment later she slumped, pitching forward as if she were a puppet who'd just had her strings cut.

Jason moved forward, letting her collapse against his chest.

Alan spoke again. "You've got good reflexes."

Waiting until his father raised up the back part of Elizabeth's hospital bed Jason laid her back against her pillows with the help of his father. "I couldn't let her down."

"She's lucky to have you."

"I'm glad I found her in the snow before-" he couldn't seem to utter the words. Instead, Jason let it drop in favor of another topic. "Why hasn't Emily come to see her friend? I would have thought she'd be the first one in line for visiting hours."

The soft cough of sound didn't turn Jason's head, but it got his attention. "Emily and Elizabeth had a falling out awhile back. I asked Em about it," his dad huffed out a sigh, "but she just told me to mind my own business."

Jason nodded. "What do you think caused it?"

Alan shrugged. "I'm not expert on the subject of teenaged girls, but I have a sneaking suspicion that it's about Lucky Spencer."