Disclaimer: If you recognize it, I don't own it.

AN: Sorry for the wait everybody. Missed you all like nuts! Let me know what you think!

Chapter Twelve:

Carl joined Emma in their younger siblings' rooms, helping him throw clothes and toys into their suitcases. "The sooner we're gone, the better off we'll all be," she muttered under her breath, trying to forget the taste of Ryan's lips.

Emma smiled. He'd seen Seth run past and had gone to investigate, getting an eyeful of his sister in their cousin's arms. Well, technically, adopted second-cousin's arms. "You mean the better off 'you'll' be."

Carl's eyes flashed to where her brother stood, pulling Querida's play dresses from the dresser, before looking back down at the dresses that she was folding. "I don't know what you're talking about," she snapped.

One of Emma's hands came up and cupped her cheek, holding her still, allowing him to press a kiss to her cheek. Carl's eyes turned to look into Emma's, both of them standing inches away from each other for a moment. "I know you don't," he mumbled. Carl let her eyes slip closed as she leaned into his arms. He held her gently, his fingers playing through her hair. Since getting out of the Mob, Carl had become a beautiful woman. Personally, Emma would have labeled Ryan either stupid or blind if he hadn't noticed. "Everything'll work out, babygirl. I promise."

Carl nodded, pulling away and brushing away the single tears on her cheeks. "Thank you, Emma."

"You're welcome. Come on; we gotta hurry. Jason wants outta here. Like, twenty minutes ago."

An hour later, the Morgan family tossed their suitcases into Emma's trunk. Emma pulled on his driving gloves, watching the interaction between Carl and Ryan. Kirsten stood in the doorway, with Ryan leaning back against the doorjamb beside her. She could tell that something had happened between her oldest son and Jason's oldest daughter. The two had grown close during the Morgan's vacation, and now they couldn't even look at each other. So, either they'd fought or they'd kissed. Knowing Ryan, Kirsten was banking on the latter. Carl slipped into her jacket and pulled on her gloves, keeping her eyes focused on her task and not the blond boy on the front stoop. "Thank you, Mrs. Cohen, for letting us stay here. It was a wonderful vacation."

"You're welcome sweetie. I hope you guys come back."

"Oh, I'm sure we will," Carl reassured the woman, before turning toward Ryan. She knew that looking at him would be a big mistake, but she couldn't leave without looking into his eyes one last time. Sky clashed with earth, and she couldn't barely speak. Finally, she managed a faint, "Bye Ryan."

"Bye Carl," he mumbled, eyes sad as they watched her climb onto her motorcycle, rev the engine once and roar away from the house. Emma nodded once at the two, giving Ryan a small, reassuring smile, before sliding through the window into his Viper and racing off after her. Sam helped the younger children get settled in the limousine Kirsten was lending them, as Jason approached his bewildered cousin. She pulled the younger of the two close, hugging him tightly. Her eyes scrunched closed and she asked quietly, "Why Jase? You weren't supposed to leave for days."

"Ask your husband, K. We have to leave. Stay out of trouble, okay?"

She nodded, tightening her hug around his waist. "You too, cousin. I'll talk to you soon?"

He nodded. "I'd like that. See ya, K. It was a blast while it lasted."

She nodded and released him. Turning, he swung his leg over the Harley. As he turned the key, his petite wife climbed on behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist. "Bye, Kirsten. Ryan."

Ryan nodded once, before turning on his heel and going back inside, leaving Kirsten standing there alone. Jason waved at her, before the bike followed the limo away from the house and out of her life again.

Taking one last look at their backs, Kirsten went to find Sandy. She found him with Seth, both of them badgering her silent eldest to tell them what he knew. "What is going on in here?" she demanded, coming further into the room.

Only Ryan showed relief at her arrival. Unconsciously, she put herself between him and the other two. "I asked a question. I'd like an answer."

"Your precious cousin, Jason, is a killer!" Sandy burst out.

Kirsten only nodded solemnly. "I know."

Again Sandy was thrown off kilter by the reaction of one of the women who loved Jason Morgan. "You WHAT?" both he and Seth exploded.

"Jason is the enforcer for the Corinthos organization. It's a Quartermaine family secret."

"He kills people for a living," Sandy emphasized, confused by his wife's easygoing reaction to the news.

"He will do anything to protect his family. Jason's loyal like that."

"You said yourself that he hates the Quartermaines."

"Sonny, Carly and their sons became his family after the accident. The only Quartermaines he gets along with are his sister, Emily, and their mother, Monica. Everyone else won't even call him by his name. He died the instant AJ wrapped his car around the tree that took Jason's memory."

"He kills, Kirsten. How are you defending him?"

"He's family. And he's a good man. His job is negligible after that. I turn a blind eye and love him anyway. Just like Sam does. Just like Aunt Monica and Cousin Emily do."

"You're all delusional. How do you know he won't eventually turn on Sam? Or worse, on their children?"

"Jason would never do that! He loves his kids and he needs Sam more than I think he even realizes."

Ryan had been silent throughout the conversation, though he spoke up now. "Sam is Jason's heaven. Jason is Sam's shelter. It's the reason they work so well," he commented quietly.

Seth whirled on his older brother. "And you know more than you're telling!"

Ryan cocked a sardonic brow. "I always know more than I'm telling."

Kirsten fought to hide a smile. Though it had been meant to frustrate Seth, it was more than accurate. Seth looked mildly affronted and then switched to begging. "Come on, Ry."

"Carl told me what she told me in confidence. That means, 'don't tell anyone'."

Seeing that he wasn't going to get his desired result, Seth pouted. Kirsten looked between the three and shook her head. "My cousin is gone. Leave it at that. Ryan, why don't you move your stuff back into the pool house?"

Ryan's eyes flashed relief at her, before he retreated discreetly from the room. Kirsten turned toward her husband, eyes narrowed. "Leave them alone, Sandy. Ryan too. The Morgans are good people. Don't go looking for trouble."

Sandy moved to protest but his wife was already gone. She found Ryan in the pool house, unpacking his duffel. "You okay, honey?" Ryan looked at her and shook his head. Kirsten, concerned, came over to sit beside him as he dropped heavily onto the bed. "What's bothering you, sweetie?"

"I kissed Carl," Ryan confessed, flopping back onto his back, eyes fixed on the ceiling.

Kirsten leaned back onto her elbows, as she lay beside him. Lately, these kind of mother-to-son conversations had been picking up with greater frequency, as the two were at last comfortable with their easy intimacy. "Tell me everything, sweetie."

"She told me about her first kill. An Italian named Andreas Dante. It helped, you know, to have someone able to suffer with me, the way I suffered about Trey. And when Sandy confronted Sam about Jason, her first thought was that I'd told him about Dante."

"Understandable. You and I, Ryan, are the only ones who know what the Morgans are capable of. Individually, Jason and Sam are pretty dangerous. And you know it to look at them; they carry that sense of risk and excitement wherever they go. But when they're together? Those two are lethal and invincible. I have no doubt that their twins are just as treacherous as their parents. Carl especially."

Ryan rolled onto his side to look at Kirsten, tucking his arms under his head. "She's toxic, Kirsten. But she's also funny and sweet and sensitive and sexy…..and in a lot of ways, she reminds me of Theresa. But I never wanted Theresa the way I wanted Carl. Why?"

"I don't know, honey. Maybe, it's because there's something Carl is that Theresa will never be."

"What is that?"

"Theresa was safe. You've known each other since you were very young. Carl, on the other hand, is anything but safe. You said yourself, she's toxic and not a little dangerous. She's also volatile, unpredictable and a little bit of a loose cannon. Tack on a case of mild insanity and it makes sense that you're crazy about her." Kirsten paused, before heaving a deep sigh. "I see a lot of you in her. And vice versa."

"How do you mean?"

"Both of you are trying so hard to be model teenagers for parents who aren't your own and who you feel you owe enough that you have to be good. But some part of you, Ryan -some part of you both- is screaming to get out, let loose and be allowed to be bad."

Ryan sighed, before rolling onto his back with a sigh, "So….can I go to college out of state?"

"Absolutely. PCU?"

"Am I that obvious?" he asked with an amused chuckle.

"Only to those of us that have taken the time to practice reading you."

Ryan smiled at her, rolling up onto his elbow to kiss her cheek. "Thank you, Kirsten."

"You're welcome honey. Come on; let's go map out cost and expenses before we tell Sandy."

Ryan visibly cringed at the idea of telling his mentor. "Do we have to tell Sandy?"

"Yep. But don't worry about it, Ryan. I'll send you to PCU, with my mother's savings if I have to."

Ryan nodded, ducking his head to his foster mother's kiss.

Meanwhile, Carl was talking with Sam in the bedroom on the Quartermaine jet. Her foster mother hadn't been feeling well since early that morning, long before the whole Sandy encounter, and Jason had practically issued an executive order for her to go and get some rest. Ivory and Montana had insisted on keeping her company, and now both were napping in her arms, curled against her ribs. Carl was telling Sam all about her feelings for the elusive and reclusive Ryan Atwood. "Sam, he's amazing. Not to mention, he's spicy lookin'!"

"Spicy?" Sam laughed, teasing the younger woman.

Carl blushed at the blatantly teenage term. She felt comfortable talking to Sam about this, for one reason. She and Sam both knew that Sam treated her exactly like Jason treated Emily. Sam's feelings for Carl and Emma ran along the lines of her feelings for her brother, Danny, not along the lines of her feelings for Querida or her siblings. The two women had a sisterly relationship and both were content with that. Carl mock-glared at Sam, before challenging, "You don't think Jason's spicy looking?"

"No," Sam replied dryly, "I think Jason's merely hot."

Carl blushed again, the hue of her cheeks turning even rosier. Flopping forward, Carl laid her head on Sam's stomach. "Why do I feel like this, Sam?"

Sam's fingers ran lazily through Carl's hair as she inquired, "Feel like what?"

"Like I'm dizzy. The world started to spin when Ryan kissed me and it hasn't stopped yet."

Sam touched Carl's cheek, bringing her face up to look at her. "You wanna know a secret?" Carl looked puzzled by the question, but nodded anyway. Sam bent down and whispered in her ear, "Neither has mine."