Note – This is very, VERY loosely based on the Mel Gibson and Helen Hunt movie, "What Women Want," in which Gibson's character

What Women Want

10 – I do not feel ashamed – 10

In the courtyard outside Kelly's, he'd been accosted first by Anna Devane and then Lainey Winters.

Anna had been feeling a little glum and was wondering, as she grew older and watched her adult daughter settle down with the man that could very well one day produce grandchildren for her, if she still had what made her a top agent for the World Security Bureau.

Jason got an idea of just how quickly the older woman's mind worked when she spotted him leaving Kelly's and in about 0.2 seconds decided that she'd try to pinch his wallet just to see if she still had it in her. The fact that he could read her thoughts was the only thing that saved him from embarrassment, and when Anna 'accidentally' bumped into him, he caught her wandering hand just one second before she found his wallet.

Anna grumbled something uncomplimentary under her breath and stalked away, but Jason knew that he had risen in her esteem just a little.

Lainey was reading a psychiatry journal at one of the tables outside and said hello, and Jason could tell from her thoughts that this woman didn't want to pick his pocket, she wanted to pick his brain. Before Lainey could ask any probing questions that would have given her a better look at his psyche – whatever the hell that meant – Jason curtly excused himself and walked away.

He'd checked almost all of Elizabeth's favorite hangouts in Port Charles and hadn't been able to find her, but he wasn't about to give up. Things were always so touch-and-go as far as the two of them were concerned and he was not at all above using his new abilities to finally have what might be their first open, explicit conversation in months. Since they slept together, really.

And this time, he knew that he wouldn't walk away until he knew exactly where he stood with Elizabeth, once and for all.

Well, it stood to reason that once he knew where he stood and if his standing was at all favorable, he wouldn't walk away, but Jason wasn't one to quibble with semantics.

He stuffed his hands in his pockets, trying not to think about what his newfound resolve meant for his relationship with Sam, and headed toward the park. Elizabeth liked to go there sometimes or just cut through it, and since she wasn't anywhere else, he had a good enough chance of running into her there.

There seemed to be something going on in the park, he saw as he drew closer. There were a couple of white vans parked by the gates, and there were people running around with buckets and files and perfectly cut vegetables.

Ah, he knew what was going on. He knew even before he slipped past the security guards that Amelia and Sam were filming an episode of Everyday Heroes and were using the park as an on-site location. Sure enough, as he turned the corner, there was Sam in a pair of black leggings and a low-cut tunic top, flipping through the script as Amelia talked to her producer.

They signaled the crew and called out to Sam, who quickly put down her water bottle and script and headed over to her mark. The sound guys scurried out of the way and lifted the boom mics, the director called out for quiet, and they were filming.

"Every year, anywhere from three to five thousand children are kidnapped by strangers in the state of New York alone," Sam started, speaking clearly and legibly and unlike how she usually spoke at home. "Five children were kidnapped last year from this very park that I'm standing in right now in Port Charles, New York."

Amelia was nodding along with each word, keeping time with Sam, and Jason stood off to the side and watched, not wanting to disturb them in any way.

"It is an appalling statistic, and I couldn't in good conscience let the opportunity of hosting a show like Everyday Heroes pass me by without making every effort to help all the innocent children out there."

Bitch, please.

Jason blinked and looked over at the tall redhead smiling pleasantly at Sam. That was Amelia's voice.

You want to help innocent children? Your hypocrisy is enough to make me vomit.

He had no idea what she meant by that and kept listening. Sam, on the other end of the camera, kept talking.

"We as Americans cannot allow these predators and criminals to take our children away from us."

You've done a fair share of that yourself, haven't you, slut?

Jason was watching Amelia carefully from the sidelines as she tore at his girlfriend and was able to see the corner of her mouth curl downward acerbically even as she pretended to smile with her eyes. What the hell was she talking about? She couldn't be talking about Sam – there had to be something he wasn't getting here, some sort of misunderstanding.

How you can stand there in front of the camera and spout off the lines that Cal wrote, all about children being innocent and how we have to protect them because it's our moral duty, after what you did?

Jason frowned. What did Sam do?

After you tricked almost a dozen men, men just like my father, and aborted their children.

He sucked in a quick breath. No. No – he had to have heard wrong. He heard wrong.

After you intentionally got pregnant with their children, had them paying to support you and the child, and then aborted and pretended to miscarry so they wouldn't cut you off cold.

It was like being sucker-punched in the gut. Jason leaned back, out of breath, careful now more than ever to stay hidden, out of sight as Sam recited those perfectly constructed lines.

"Children are our future, and we here at Everyday Heroes are committed to making sure they stay safe and sound with the ones they love."

You despicable, scheming whore.

Amelia flashed her a thumbs up sign when Sam broke for an emphatic pause before launching into the segue way.

You thought you were so smart, didn't you? You thought that no one would find out. Well, you didn't think about Old Bill's daughter, did you, Angela Monroe?

The name was said with such perfect vehemence, and Jason could only assume it was one of Sam's aliases. One that he and Sonny had somehow not been able to dig up.

Sam McCall. Angela Monroe. Olivia Cornwell. Laci Jenkins. Heidi Banks. You've got quite a resume there, you skank.

Okay, so maybe there were a couple of aliases he and Sonny had been unable to dig up.

Jason was still reeling from the discovery, still trying to figure out whether it was real or not, but Amelia was unaware of this and didn't give him a second to catch his breath.

Your next mark was Sonny Corinthos. I've met the man, I'm not surprised. He's exactly the sort. The bumbling, pseudo-important, can't-keep-it-in-his-pants guy that would be all too willing to conceive your love child out of wedlock. Too bad for you that his wife wasn't willing to let his cheating ass off the hook that easily. She really fucked up your plans, didn't she?

Amelia shook her head, the movement almost imperceptible but to Jason's watchful gaze.

So you found Jason Morgan. I wasn't expecting that. But it worked out so well for you, didn't it? You couldn't believe how good you had it. There you were, all ready to call it a bust and abort the baby because your latest gold-digging scheme didn't work, and there was this handsome, rich, gallant guy who wouldn't let you do it. And you thought, wow, I actually found a putz that's willing to love another man's child as his own.

Her smile grew as she watched Sam talk to the camera, but it wasn't the warm, happy kind of smile.

And you figured that he was the kind of guy who not only would raise another man's bastard child with you, the mistress, but would want to have children of his own with you. Oh, you couldn't have found a better idiot, an obscenely rich guy who couldn't find a use for his own balls and would happily sign them over to you. That was all you ever wanted.

He was going to be sick. Jason had absolutely no doubt that he was going to be sick, right here, all over these bushes.

But your plan didn't work out so well, did it, Sam? Angela? You lost the brat. Your uterus broke, over-used organ that it was. And now that you don't have a fucking prayer of having a baby, it's all you want. How ironic. How poetic. How fucking just.

"Always keep your child in your direct line of view. Don't ever let him or her out of your sight, because all it takes is one second, and they're gone."

I would almost feel bad for your sugar daddy, but he brought it all on himself with his stupidity. Pity, because he's a nice guy. The last sort you'd ever be able to snare if he knew your true colors. He wants to have a baby with your rent-by-the-minute ass, doesn't he, Angela? Well, that's never going to happen, is it? Karma's a bitch, but we love her for it.

"Just one second, one second and one bad choice and that's all it takes. They're gone."

And you tell yourself you're okay with it. You try like hell to get Jason in your bed and squeeze one last breath out of that abused womb, praying to every higher power out there that this time it'll stick, and you swear that you'll actually keep it, but deep down inside, you know it's a lost cause. So you tell yourself that it's all right. You have Jason. And you know he'll never cut you out of his life – or his bank account – because of the child you two lost together. You'll have his money for the rest of your life. And it doesn't matter that you don't have any children or any real friends, because you have Jason's money and his penthouse and this show, and you think you have a friend in me.

Amelia prowled closer as she watched and as he watched her, pointing the toe of her blood red pointed shoes right at Sam, and folded her arms tightly over her chest.

But I'm going to take you down, Angela. My father found out that you were planning to abort his child and when he tried to stop you, when he tried to save an innocent life, you killed him. You killed him in cold blood and made up a story about how he was alcoholic and abusive and a cheater. You were the first woman he dated after my mother died twenty years ago, and he only drank one glass of wine a week with dinner and he never, ever raised his hand against a woman. You ruined his reputation, you ruined his life when he was in his grave. And I will take you down for it. I will show the world that you're the real abuser, of men and money, that you're the real cheater, that you're the real killer. And I'm going to do it on this show, and when I pull out all the proof I have of what you did, not even that idiot Jason Morgan will stand by you.

"And that's a wrap. Great job, Sam."

"Yeah, great job," Amelia beamed, walking forward to take Sam's hand. "You were perfect. Nailed it as usual."

"Ms. Joffe? Phone call for you."

"Whoops. Hang on a sec, okay? Take a breather, I'll be right back." Jason watched Amelia smile broadly at Sam before she hurried away to where her assistant was standing.

His girlfriend remained by the camera, looking visibly troubled.

"Just one second, one second and one bad choice and that's all it takes. They're gone."

One of the crew members was watching her repeat the line and frowned. "You all right, Ms. McCall?"

Jason watched Sam force a smile, and felt nothing.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just…thinking."

"Heavy subject matter today," the guy agreed. "No one ever wants to think about innocent children getting hurt."

Sam shook her head slowly. "No. Not at all."

Oh, God. All those children…

He watched her close her eyes and rub a hand over her forehead, and Jason knew before she even thought it.

All those babies I could have had…

All those children I…got rid of.

Bile rose at the back of his throat, an instinct so powerful he thought he was going to wretch right there, and Jason quickly turned on his heel. He had to get away from here, he had to put as much distance between himself and Amelia, between himself and the park, between…

…Himself and Sam.

At the overlook…

Jason gripped the stone ledge as hard as he could, figuring it was the only way to keep himself in the present, to keep himself there.

The news about Sam had been…devastating.

He'd already called Stan, knowing that Spinelli would be useless in this situation. His roommate wore blinders as far as Sam was concerned, and Stan was the one for the job. He'd given him the aliases he remembered Amelia listing and told him to get on it. He'd just gotten the first call about Angela Monroe and it checked out, just as Amelia said.

Twenty-four year old woman, married to a man almost thirty years her senior. While she was pregnant with his child, her husband came at her in an alcoholic rage and she shot and killed him in self-defense. The ordeal was so traumatic that she miscarried their child and left the town, never to be heard from again.

Poor fucking Angela Monroe.

He couldn't look at her again. He knew he couldn't. He couldn't look at her without hearing Amelia's words, without thinking of all those babies, without knowing that he and Sonny were just marks on her list and she was only in it for the money. That she effectively traded children for money.

Oh, God, he was going to be sick again.

His phone rang again.

He didn't bother to pick it up.

It rang a couple times in the course of the next ten minutes, and then he felt it buzz, indicating that he had a text message.

Checked out O. Cornwell. Young mother miscarried her child and abandoned her husband. Filed for divorce three months later. L. Jenkins, same thing. Who are these chicks?

It was Stan, and he hadn't told him anything that Jason didn't already know.

Amelia was right. Amelia was right about everything, and he never would have known if not for his abilities. He would have been as shocked as anyone else when he watched the live episode of Everyday Heroes in which Amelia purportedly planned to destroy Sam. He knew her plans, he knew exactly what she was going to do to Sam…and he was going to let her.

He wasn't going to say a word or lift a finger to save Sam. He was going to call the guards and have all of her things moved out of the penthouse. He was going to have her banned from the premises. He was going to tell Sonny the truth. It would ruin Amelia's plans and she deserved closure, but he hoped she'd be able to glean some sense of justice from the ordeal when Sam was prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. She'd have to.

Jason's mind was still spinning with possible courses of action – he wasn't above thinking of other ways to dispose of Sam – and he didn't hear the sound of soft footsteps up the walkway. He wouldn't have even noticed Elizabeth had she not hesitantly placed her hand on his arm.

"Hey." She smiled, and it was lop-sided and unsure. "I didn't think I'd run into you here."

Jason pushed himself away from the ledge and turned, slowly. He didn't say anything, and he belatedly realized that this flustered Elizabeth.

She hurriedly tucked a tendril of hair behind her ear, her eyes darting this way and that. "Actually, uh, I'm glad I found you. I've been looking for you all day, it was like you just disappeared."

He almost managed a smile.

"I know it probably feels that I've been following you around all over the place, and I'm sorry about that," Elizabeth continued quickly, "like I'm stalking you or something."

"You-" Jason shook his head. "You're not-"

"But I just feel – I just feel like…like we don't get to see each other very much, just the two of us." She was wringing her fingers together, looking nervous. "And I just – things feel kind of weird right now, and I just – Jason, I really needed to see you. I really need to talk to you."

He was gazing down into her eyes, not at all affected by how flustered she was or how quickly she was talking. That was the strangest thing about Elizabeth, that even when she was nervous or uneasy or excited, she had an almost unsettling way of calming him down.

Slowly, clarity – or some semblance of it – began to return and Jason blinked, aware that he was supposed to say something as she looked expectantly up at him.

"I've been trying to find you, too," he admitted.

She bit her lower lip. "And here we are."

"Here we are."

Elizabeth sucked in a deep breath, looking as if she really wanted to say something, and Jason belatedly remembered his new abilities. "Jason, I need to tell you something. It's about…"

Almost unconsciously, her hands drifted to her midsection and Jason's eyes widened.

"The baby?" He instinctively took a step closer. "Everything's okay with you and the baby, right?"

She nodded jerkily. "Yeah. That's, uh, that's actually kind of what I wanted to talk to you about. I – I really need to tell you something."

She kept saying that but it was obvious that it was difficult for her to get the words out. So Jason cheated and got just one step ahead of her, and was not at all prepared for what he heard next.

This baby is ours.

His lips parted. "This baby is ours."

Elizabeth gaped up at him and finally began to nod, wondering how on earth he could have guessed that from the look in her eyes alone. "Yeah."