A/N Sorry for the delay. I've agonized over the next 3 chapters and rewritten them about 50 times. I finally decided they weren't getting any better with re-writes and to just take the plunge. I hope they are NOT too bad. Thanks for hanging in with me.

Chapter Twenty Six

Jason was understandably on edge, his outward "borg" demeanor could not stop the waves of controlled aggression coming off him. Each of the men in the car accompanying him, and in the car following, was trying to control their own aggression. The closer they got to the safe house the more on edge Jason became. All of a sudden he moved and grabbed for his cell phone.

"Spinelli have you heard anything from Cody yet?" he asked apprehension rolling off him.

"About 5minutes ago he reported being 15minutes out, Stonecold."

"Okay"

"Umm Stonecold I regret to report that some of the surveillance has been disconnected the evil ones hideout. My ability to guide the brave ones through the grounds and house has been severely compromised."

"The camera's have been disconnected or your feed to them? Can you re-establish those cameras ?" Jason asked the tension palpable in his voice.

"I am attempting that now Stone Cold as I deem it important to the success of the uber large military one's mission. I had already counted 14men Stone Cold, far too many for his mission to be successful without sufficient technical support"

"14? Shit! Spinelli you tell him to give up and come straight to the safe house I don't want to waste anymore time and 14 men is to many." Jason ordered. "Forget it I'll call him and tell him myself." Jason ended the call and immediately dialed Cody's cell.

"Jason?"

"Forget about going to Alcazar's come straight to the safe house. Spinelli isn't getting accurate information from the surveillance camera's and I want you out of there now." Jason ordered

"Sure thing boss. We'll be there in about 20, 25 minutes" Cody replied

"Make it 15" Jason corrected him as he ended the call.

Jason snapped the cell phone shut as the car turned off the road and headed up the long sheltered drive to the safe house. Sonny, Max and Johnny watched as Jason physically relaxed.

He jumped out of the car before it had come to a complete stop and started to run up to the house. He stopped and turned abruptly to speak to the men as they all exited from the vehicles.

"One thing to remember guys as well as my fiancé, there are two small boys in the house, so no serious stuff in front of them. We try to stay calm and normal around them, joke and kid around even. If you have something of concern or that is serious to discuss we go to another room" Jason told them. As they all nodded Jason continued "Max and Johnny bring the men to the house as soon as you show them where to put their stuff, I want them to meet Elizabeth and the boys. They need to see who this is all about. We'll go through security after."

He turned and run up the steps to the house, opening the door of the safe house to find Elizabeth, Cameron and Jake kneeling on the floor working on their art projects and Francis seated in a chair by the window.

"Jason" Cam greeted.

"Jason" Jake copied his brother. Both boys jumped up from their kneeling position and ran at the legs of Jason who picked a boy up in each arm to squeeze them gently.

"Jakey and me drew pictures of your bike for you" Cam announced. Jake giggled and tucked a hand under Jason's chin to get his attention. Jason looked in to his sons eyes, so like his own and his grandmothers.

"Bike" Jake confirmed with a shy smile.

"It was supposed to be a surprise for you" Elizabeth informed him, her eyes bright as she attempted to smile but failed as she stood and moved close to him. Jason leaned in to kiss her, satisfied to see the tension in her frame slowly relax with the soft connection of their lips.

"Well thank you guys. Can I look yet? Or are you going to be like your mom and make me wait until you're finished" Jason asked, jiggling both boys in his arms.

"Have to wait until we finished" Cam confirmed.

"Yeap just like your mom" Jason smiled.

"Come on boys I'll help you out, Mommy wants to talk to Jason" Francis interrupted as Jason reluctantly put both boys on the floor and watched them toddle back to the coffee table. Jason looped an arm around Elizabeth's shoulders.

"Cody got us some good men, you'll meet them soon" Jason told her as Sonny came through the door at a leisurely pace.

"Sonny" Elizabeth extricated herself from Jason's arms to hug Sonny to her, her shock at seeing him evident. After an initial hesitation Sonny hugged her back. "You've come to help keep me and the boys safe?"

Sonny nodded self consciously, realizing her question came from a place of surprise. He mentally smacked himself in the back of the head. What had he done to their friendship over the years that she would be surprised he'd want to help protect her and the boys? He wasn't much of a shot anymore, but Jason was his best friend, his partner and he was family and he was determined to help him to protect their family.

"You are looking good Elizabeth and yes, I'm here to help if I can" Sonny told her.

"How are Carly and Alexis? Have you heard from them?" Elizabeth asked. It had been on her mind that Helena being back was a threat to a lot more people than just herself. She was the first target, but more than likely not the only one. She may not particularly like Carly but knowing she helped bring Jason back to her, however reluctantly it was done, was important to Elizabeth. She also knew that when all this was over she wanted to try and live a peaceful life, which would mean finding a way to coexist with Carly.

"Yeah they're safe I sent them to the island with the kids and Jax and Jerry are with them" he replied.

"Jerry?" She questioned, eyebrows raised, to which Sonny chuckled. She was obviously thinking the same thing he and Jason had, that Jerry couldn't be trusted.

"Yeah I figured here we couldn't trust him but down there he has his brother to keep him in check and just enough loyalty to Jax and Alexis that he won't throw in with the enemy" Sonny said.

"Hmm I think you are right" Elizabeth looked up as the door to the Safe house opened. Max and Johnny filed in and following them was 5 men.

"Spinelli" Jason yelled. Spinelli came bumbling in from the communications to see the room filled with big men.

"OH" Spinelli mumbled completely intimidated as the room shrank when accommodating the new men. "Does the large military-esque one not know men of normal stature?" he mumbled.

"Alright I'll make the introductions." Jason took charge. "On this side of the room we have my son's Cameron and Jake" unable to contain his pride as he gestured to and announced their names, Jason's voice cracked on Jake's name. He cleared his throat to continue "their body guard Francis Corelli and my tech guy Damien Spinelli' He then turned to Elizabeth with a proud smile "and this is my sons mother and my fiancé Elizabeth Webber" Elizabeth stepped forward and then as each man was introduced stuck her hand out to shake each hand.

"Well I'm very pleased to meet you all and I'm very grateful that you are here to help Jason." she smiled.

Mumbled words of your welcome were spoken in response. She turned concerned eyes to Jason "Where is Cody and Vinnie? Didn't they go with you?"

"Cody and Vinnie are on their way here with one more of Cody's men you have to meet." Jason replied. As she nodded and mumbled "okay". It was all so overwhelming that these men would all come to help protect herself and her sons and may even die.

"I can speak on behalf of everyone Ms Webber" Shawn started only to be robbed of speech by when Elizabeth smiled directly at him.

"Oh please call me Elizabeth" she asked.

"Sure" croaked Shawn and then promptly forgot what he was going to say. Everyone looked at him expectantly until Johnny started to chuckle.

"Don't worry Shawn everyone falls a little bit in love with Elizabeth when they are protecting her." Johnny O'Brien informed the now embarrassed Shawn. "But a few scowls, growls and death stares from Jason cures it" Johnny smirked.

"WHAT?" Jason demanded quietly and Johnny shrugged. "Is that true Francis?" Jason turned to ask Francis.

"Oh don't act like an infant Jason you know it is. You have been giving death stares and "do not touch my perfect woman" looks to anyone who looks even remotely interested in Elizabeth since you met her" Francis replied enjoying the slightly lightened atmosphere.

"My mommy is the most beautiful girl" Cam announced moving across the room to grasp at her hand. Not wanting to be out done Jake toddled over to his mother.

"UP" he demanded, burrowing his head in to her neck "My mommy" he declared offering every man in the room a replica of Jason's death glares.

"I meant do all the guards fall in love with Elizabeth?" Jason asked, amused by Cameron and Jakes possessiveness.

"Maybe it's more of a crush" Johnny corrected "cause she is never any trouble, she's pleasant to be around, friendly, she never ignores us and always includes us when she bakes brownies"

Not wanting to be left out and wanting to relieve some of Shawn's embarrassment, Sonny couldn't resist adding his own observations with a dimply smile "Plus she's got a killer smile"

Jason growled in earnest. Elizabeth blushed beet red dipping her eyes and nuzzled Jakes head. "OKAY enough of embarrassing me, and put those dimples away Sonny. Now that I've met everyone I'm going to keep the boys occupied while you guys do what you have to do"

Jason paused to look in to her eyes and noticed the shimmer of fear. It made him gasp silently, she was so good at covering her feelings, but she was scared he could see it. His eyes focused in to hers sending her his love and strength. She nodded and graced him with a smile as she turned her attention to the task of distracting the boys.

"Okay enough. Lets go through to the communications room" Jason muttered.

Jason spent the next 20 minutes going over the layout of the house and surrounding buildings and the security cameras set up around property. He was explaining the basement panic room when Cody, Vinnie and Lee arrived. Cody had filled Lee in on the way and it only took Lee a few minutes to familiarize himself with the maps of the property. As Jason was talking he noted that two of the men Ray and Keith were distracted and kept looking out the window of the room and then back to a particular spot on the maps spread out in front of them. Their distraction was noticed by Shawn who looked at Jason and then back to the men.

"What is it? What do you see?" Jason asked knowing these guys were Special Forces and had probably picked up something Jason and Max had missed or from sheer instinct could sense something.

Ray and Keith looked at each other and Ray nodded for Keith to speak knowing they both had the same concerns.

"That hill!" Keith nodded toward the window where the hill could be viewed "behind us. It bothers me. What's on the other side? Any access roads? These maps don't seem to have that detail"

Cody stepped forward with Max who spoke up "There is a ravine, very steep and not accessible by vehicle, it's very rocky to a point and then it's just lots of vegetation. There is no other access to the property. There used to be a river but it was dammed further up stream and it now runs dry"

Keith nodded in understanding and turned to Cody "You checked it out at all? The hill and the other side?"

"No' Cody replied starting to get a bad feeling.

"Jason asked you a question Keith. What are you thinking?" Shawn asked.

Keith winced and asked "Does this old lady have access to a helicopter?"

Cody shook his head the feeling of dread that he and Max had screwed up starting to take control. Jason jumped in before Cody had a chance to answer.

"We have to assume she has access to ANYTHING and everything. The Cassadine's have more money than God"

Keith frowned again "Hill's like that with dense vegetation can act as a kind of noise protection. If a chopper approached from the front, the way the house is situated and with the acoustics out there we'd hear it a good 20 minutes maybe more before it arrived."

"But it's possible if a chopper approached from the other side of the hill it could only be heard once it had crested from behind the hill…meaning we'd have 3-5 minutes warning" Ray finished off.

"In all honesty Jason if I was running the old lady's attack I'd bring my men in that way, dump a bunch on the other side of the hill then land the rest in your back yard. It would give me 2 waves of attack." Keith added "I guess it depends on how many men she actually has though and who is planning her attack." He looked at Jason.

"14 last count" Jason ground out.

"Jason I'm sorry I screwed up" Cody muttered

'Hey not yet Cody man" Ray slapped him on the back "This is what Keith and I do best" he smiled at Jason.

"Yeah that's right." Keith agreed "Ray and I will head out now and check out the other side of that hill. If we think it's a good staging area we'll wait. That way we can warn you and once the attack starts we should be able to take a few out on our way back down here to help you. If we don't we'll head on back and strategize with you." Both men stalked over to the backpacks they'd brought in to the house.

"Do you have everything you need? Ammo, guns?" Jason asked following.

Ray looked up and smiled as both he and Keith opened their backpacks to pull out large curved knife to strap to their legs.

"FUCK what is that?" Johnny exclaimed.

"My Kukri" Ray smiled.

"You're what?" Johnny gasped looking at the lethal knife.

"Kukri" repeated Spinelli in awe "it is a close combat weapon favored by the Gurkha's".

At Johnny's clueless expression Spinelli went on to explain "The Gurkha's? Nepalese men who fought with the British in many wars. It is lethal"

Ray smiled at Spinelli "Lethal is right. The silent kill. If you can sneak up on your enemy, the curve makes it perfect for slitting the throat or severing the spinal chord. Keith and I trained with Gurkha's and they are silent and deadly, they can sneak up on you and you don't know they are there until they touch you on the shoulder"

The rest of the men in the room stood silently as they watched them get ready.

"Okay we have cell phones we'll stay in contact and let you know what we find" Keith said as he and Ray moved out. Jason and Shawn followed them out of the kitchen and past where Elizabeth and the boys were working on their drawings.

"See you later boys" Keith and Ray chimed as they walked past them and headed for the door of the cabin "Later Ms Webber". Elizabeth watched them go with troubled eyes. Jason and Shawn followed close behind. Once on the porch they stopped and watched the two men head up towards the hill.

"What do you think?" Jason asked Shawn. His voice soft, but his tone and body language demanding the truth.

"We could be vulnerable and they know it." Shawn replied. "Come on I need to know how many men we have and we need to set up some kind of defense"

"Damn it" Jason muttered. "I shouldn't have brought them here, I'm gonna get them killed".

"No you aren't. You did what you thought was right and we'll make it work" Shawn assured him, his admiration for Jason increasing by the minute. "Look Jason we can't plan for what we don't know. But we can estimate and plan based on what we do know. Give Keith and Ray some time to find out what is over that hill. We'll go from there" Shawn told him. Jason raised concerned eyes and nodded. "How many men do we have?"

"Counting you and your guys, me, Sonny and Francis we have 24 men. It's not enough." Jason replied.

"It will have to be, we just need to plan right." Shawn replied. "Look Jason as soldiers, we're used to fighting for faceless and nameless people without question. This is different, we know them now, Elizabeth and your sons. We know who we are fighting for. " Shawn observed. "You have a beautiful family, you're a lucky man"

"I know" Jason looked towards Shawn "and we can't loose. She is everything to me, and those boys are everything to both of us."

For the next 20 minutes Jason, Shawn and Cody worked on a plan to strategically place the men in the grounds of the house. Francis, Sonny and Spinelli were to remain inside the house with Elizabeth and the boys and take them in to the safety of the panic room when the need arose. Keith and Ray had not reported in but Jason knew that they would be soon and they could be counted on. Jason had decided on a position outside the house that allowed him to defend the house and if need be get inside it quickly, Shawn would be along side him. Each man was assigned a position by Shawn and each man was aware that they were defending the occupants of the house at all costs. They were all in the process of checking weapons and ammunition getting ready to take their positions. Elizabeth had started making sandwiches and getting coffee for everyone when Shawn's cell phone rang.

"What have you got?" Shawn asked as he switched the cell to speaker.

"Big trouble man. We are staying put, it's the perfect approach" Ray replied.

"Damn it" swore Jason, Cody and Max collectively.

"If you get attacked from the front let us know and we'll head back" Ray promised as he disconnected the call.

Elizabeth moved to Jason's side, her arms encircling him "I think you and the boys should go down in to the panic room" he sighed not looking at her.

"We will just not yet" She squeezed him. "Cameron! Jake! Come on we have to go and decide what toys we are taking to the clubhouse" she called out.

Jason stopped her as she went to walk away "The Clubhouse?" he questioned.

"I don't want them to be scared so I told them you had a clubhouse in the basement and we'd play a game there" she smiled weakly. He smiled leaned in and kissed her hard and quick.

"Everything will be fine" He promised. Elizabeth glanced around the room at all the men.

"I hope so" she smiled and moved away only to stop abruptly as Shawn's cell phone rung again.

"Talk to me" Shawn announced as he pressed the speaker.

"They're coming Cap. About 15minutes out I'd say, I can hear it coming" Ray replied.

"One? You think just one?" Shawn asked.

"Yeah a big one. I'll know for sure in about 10. I'll be able to see it in the distance" Ray reported.

"Okay! Call us back" Shawn told him and disconnected.

"Should we start taking position" Max asked.

"No" Jason replied and Shawn nodded in agreement.

"We'll have about 10minutes from the time Ray calls back, that's plenty of time to get you all in place. We each need to know approximately how many men we are up against' Shawn told him.

"I hate sitting around waiting, my finger gets itchy" Johnny muttered.

"There will be plenty to do in about 12minutes Johnny" Shawn assured him.

Shawn looked at Jason and with relief noticed he was calm and focused. His determination etched in every line of his body.

Jason looked around and noticed the difference between Shawn's men and his own. All were wearing a look of determination, yet where Shawn's men were calm and focused like he himself was, his own men were chomping at the bit to get out there and fight. Jason wondered if the combination was right, and which group of men would be more effective.

Shawn moved back to the maps of the property.

"Here" he pointed with a blunt finger "is the perfect place to land the chopper and stage their attack. That means the men here, here and here" he pointed to the map demonstrating the positions "will be defending, the rest of you will be attacking." Shawn looked up from the maps to Lee and Cody "I want you two to find a way to disable the chopper without compromising your positions or anyone else fighting. We can't have that chopper taking off to get more men"

"What will you need to do that?" Jason asked Cody and Lee.

"Depends on the type of chopper" Cody replied. "Don't worry Jason we'll handle it"

Jason nodded as Shawn's cell phone rang again, he hit speaker before answering.

"JesUS CHRIST Cap this ole bitch ain't messing around it's Sikorsky CH53 troop transport. So Keith and I are staying put, guaranteed we are about to get a few of them dropped right in front of us" Ray reported.

"Okay Ray. Follow them over and take out what you can" Shawn instructed.

"Will do Cap" Ray disconnected.

"How many troops does that thing transport?" Jason asked.

"Supposed to be 38 or 42 with crew." Shawn replied.

"FUCK" Jason swore.

"Easy! We have the advantage of being on the ground already and we know who and what is coming. They don't know what they are up against AND they still have to land that sucker."

"Is it armed? You know like a gunship" Milo asked.

"It can be." Shawn replied. Jason's head shot up. "So Cody and Lee are going to have to take those out first."

"What if they fire on the house first?" Max asked as Cody grabbed Lee and started to pull him towards the door.

"We have grenades we'll take the chopper out as soon as it lands" Cody said over his shoulder "we'll get them and take up our positions."

"You have grenades?" Shawn asked Jason quizzically.

Jason shrugged "I have anything and everything I need. Mob wars can be huge. Arm's dealers have access to all kinds of shit, you have to stay ahead of the game." he paused then added "Grenades come in handy"

The now familiar ring tone of Shawn's cell phone signaled another update from Ray.

"It's hovering and they've dropped 12ropes. Looks like Keith and I got 6 each to take care of"

"You do what you can and just get back here. One thing Ray do the guns on the chopper look armed for use?" Shawn asked.

"Hard to say Cap but if she went to the trouble of getting a Sikorsky chances are those guns are loaded and ready for use."

"Okay"

"Got to go Cap the men are down and spreading out. The chopper is moving off you got about 4minutes. Keith's already picked his first and wow yeah he got him. Later"

"Move out and take your positions." Jason ordered moving through the house with the rest of the men .

"Francis you need to move Sonny, Elizabeth and the boys down to the clubhouse now" he told him.

"Okay Jason" he replied as Jason knelt down, gathering both boys close and kissing each on the forehead. "Have fun with mommy in the clubhouse"

He straightened looking at both Sonny and Francis, then turning to Elizabeth who had moved close to him, he kissed her hard and said "No matter what you hear you and the boys stay down there until I come get you"

"Yes Jason" she tried to smile as Jason pushed her towards Francis and headed for the door after the rest of the men.