Note – I misspoke last time. The reveal will be one chapter or so later than what I said before. I didn't notice a little comment/note when I was looking at my outline. At any rate, the reveal happens before we hit the Chapter 40 mark. Enjoy.

-Mean-

-35-

Lean on me

When you're not strong.

-- "Lean on Me," Various Artists

.: Alley behind Kelly's :.

Gravel bit into his cheek and Jason groaned, feeling two hands fist the lapels of his leather jacket. Everything was hot and cold at the same time, and the world was thick and blurry. The light hurt, sending a lance of fire straight into his head, so he kept his eyes closed. His leg felt cold and wet, meaning that either he'd tripped and fallen into a puddle, or that one of the bullets that had come whizzing at him actually hit its mark.

He groaned again when whoever it was that wanted him to get up, clearly not knowing how everything exploded in bursts of pain when he moved, tried to hoist him up. His head felt like a rock, so heavy, and he felt like he was fading in and out.

Jake snarled and half-propped him up, struggling to keep him upright. "Damn it, Jason, I said, can you hear me?"

Jason mumbled something incoherent, wincing and trying to squirm away when his son pressed a finger just under his left eye and pushed downward, trying to get a look at his pupil.

"You hit your head," he muttered, checking with Chase and Penn to make sure the coast was clear. He had been walking to the warehouse when he heard gunshots further down the docks and ran to investigate. It didn't take him long to find his father lying on the ground with a long tear in the sleeve of his leather jacket.

"Come on, we have to get you out of here."

"Where do we go?" Penn wanted to know, his gun engaged as he scanned the alleys and rooftops quickly. "We're completely exposed if we head that way."

"We could take the alleys to the warehouse," Chase suggested.

Jake shook his head and looked down at his father. "It'll take too long. Too much exertion for him. We have to find somewhere close. Jason. Jason! Damn it, just open your damn eyes and help me get you up."

Jason grimaced and tried to get his bearings. Jake took off the gray scarf he had around his neck and wrapped it loosely so that it shielded Jason's eyes from the moonlight and the lone streetlight close to the end of the alleyway. That helped considerably, and Jason was able to somewhat get his bearings and bear some of his own weight.

"Where…are we?"

"The docks," Jake replied, grunting as he rose to his feet, Jason's arm slung over his neck. He supported his father's weight as best he could while Chase and Penn flanked them. "Someone tried to waste you. We have to get out of here. There's nowhere to go but the warehouse, so you're going to have to hold on-"

"No," Jason got out. "I know a…place. That – way."

"Through there?" Jake looked at the guards, and Chase quickly moved forward to lead the way. "Okay, come on. Look, just – just lean on me. And for fuck's sake, stay conscious long enough to tell us where we're going."

"That way," he murmured, trying to ignore the fiery pain in his other arm as it moved while they walked. "That…building."

"This place?" Penn looked up and around. "These are just old apartments. The front door's on Elm."

"Back door – right there," Jason grunted. "Through…there."

"You sure?" Jake didn't look convinced. "It doesn't look like-"

"Safe place," his father interrupted. "Up there."

Somehow, the men managed to get him through the back door, which Penn easily jimmied open, and up three flights of stairs, and Jake still had Jason's arm wound securely around his neck as he helped him down the hall.

"You own one of these?"

"That one." Jason pointed. "Keys – have them-"

"Don't worry about it." Penn moved forward and tried to repeat the same trick even as Jason continued searching for his keys. "Damn it…"

"Here."

The guard turned and found Jason offering him the correct key. He took it sheepishly. "Damn steel barricade…"

Chase stayed outside as Penn shoved the heavy steel door open and helped Jake get Jason inside. They headed straight for the old couch by the wall and Jason practically collapsed onto it, groaning from the exertion. Jake sighed and pushed himself to his feet. When he looked at Penn, his loyal guard nodded and pulled out his phone, already turning to leave the room.

Jake looked around the dark, dingy studio apartment. "This your place or something?"

"Or something," Jason muttered, managing to lift a hand over his eyes. His injured arm was limp on the sofa. "Mmm…"

"Whoa." Jake was at his side in a flash and shook his shoulder. "Don't fall asleep. I think you might have hit your head when you fell – you might have a concussion or something. Stay awake."

He saw the dark spot on the maroon fabric and swore. "Shit, you're bleeding. There any medical supplies around here? Something I can cut your sleeve off with?"

"Call a doctor," Jason murmured, his eyes closing again. "Call…Elizabeth."

Jake's lips thinned. "Someone's on their way. You in a lot of pain? I don't know if I should give you anything with a concussion…"

His fingers twitched in the best dismissive wave he could manage. "S'fine. I'll be fine."

"I bet you always say that," Jake grumbled, pushing himself to his feet. He hated feeling useless, and thought there might be at least something he could do before help arrived. Maybe he could keep his father engaged and awake just in case he did have a concussion.

"So you never told me how you knew about this place," he said loudly, lowering his voice just a little when Jason winced. "One of your safe houses? So wouldn't Morgan own it or something?"

Jason shook his head. "Belonged to…your mother when she was younger…than you."

Jake's eyes widened and he stared at him in disbelief. "My mother? My mother? She lived here?"

His heart sank as Jason nodded, and Jake swept a gaze around the room. The window was dirty and grimy, the kind of dirt and grime that never came off no matter how hard it was scrubbed. It wasn't installed correctly, either, and was letting the cold air seep in through the sides. The bricks were crumbling, there was a tiny hole in the wall that barely passed as a closet, there was barely room to turn around, and a rusty hot plate sat plugged in on the counter.

This was where his mother lived when she was a young woman. This was where she had to live.

Jason's eyes were starting to close, so he didn't see the heartbroken look on his son's place. "She let me…hide out here once."

"You hid out here?" There was no mistaking the edge to Jake's voice. "You were a mobster and you put her in danger like that? By hiding out here from your enemies?"

His voice was starting to slur again. "Twice. Got shot…once in the side…once in the leg. She hid me here."

Jake was at the sink, his back turned away from Jason, as he looked at the broken fixtures. He just couldn't picture his mother living here…probably because he didn't want to.

"She…hid me here when she was pregnant with you. I…didn't know…"

He closed his eyes. "Didn't know she was pregnant, or that I was yours?"

Jason's eyes opened a crack. "…What?"

"I said, you didn't know she was pregnant?"

They closed again wearily. "I knew. I…think I knew all along…felt it…wanted…"

He groaned and brought a hand to his injured arm. Jake crouched down beside him, not letting him see how bad it was.

"Just hang on," he repeated, clasping his father's hand and trying to rouse him. "Look, just hang on, okay? Help will be here real soon, and you'll be fine."

"Boss."

The door had opened a crack and Penn poked his head in. "He's here."

"Let him in," Jake ordered, still crouching by the side of the couch as his brother entered. "See, Jason, what did I-"

When he looked down at him, Jason's eyes were closed and he was silent.

"…Elizabeth?"

He looked up in surprise when Jason spoke, and his smile was gentle as he finished dressing the wound. "Cameron."

Jason's brows furrowed in confusion. "Cam…?"

"You're going to be just fine," he said, repeating Jake's words from earlier but with the added air of a physician. "You have a slight concussion, so you'll need to take it easy. I'd prescribe bed rest for a few days, but I know that's unlikely so I'll leave it at that. You had a nasty bump on 

your head from where you hit what was probably the edge of the dumpster from what Jake was saying, so I iced that a bit and the swelling's gone down. I have some acetaminophen that will help with the pain. And as for your arm…"

He fastened the bandage and made sure it was secure. "Flesh wound. The bandages need to be changed regularly and I'd like to fit you with a sling, but other than that, you'll be fine. Besides, I imagine this is something of a standard procedure for you anyway."

He didn't say it with any malice, and he certainly didn't intend any, but it was still strange for Jason to hear the man he'd known since he was a curly-haired little boy talking so easily about wounds and gunshots and all that.

"Jake?"

"He's not here," Cameron replied lightly, rising to his feet after a moment's hesitation. He made his way to the sink and began to carefully wash his hands. "He left not long after I got here. You lost consciousness. He said…"

He glanced over his shoulder at Jason. "He said that someone had obviously been trying to gauge your importance to the Corinthos-Webber organization and took shots at you. He went to deal with it."

The euphemism came so easily from him, and Jason could only blink. "He…went to deal with it?"

"Well, sure." Cameron filled a cup with cool tap water and walked back to his bag, drawing out a bottle of pain relievers. Jason, who hated taking pills, didn't put up a fuss as Elizabeth's oldest son shook two loose. Cameron set the water on the floor and slipped a hand under Jason's head, gently propping him up. He offered him the pills and held the cup to his lips, waiting until he'd had enough before letting him rest again.

"He's going to find out who was trying to take you out and deal with them," Cameron continued evenly. There was conviction in his voice and a hard glint in his eyes as he added, "Jake wouldn't let anything happen to you. Especially because of who you are to him."

His mind was fuzzy and his thoughts swam together, and Jason was almost positive he read too much into the young man's words. "Who I am?"

The doctor nodded. "Sure. You're the former head of the organization. He calls you the Lone Wolf."

This was new to him. "What?"

"The Lone Wolf," Cameron repeated. "From The Jungle Book by Kipling. Mom got me and Jake into that sort of thing, used to read to us from "Rikki Tikki Tavi" when we were kids. Akela was the Lone Wolf, the former leader of the pack. He was off-limits."

He shrugged. "Just like you. Jake wouldn't let any of your enemies take advantage of the fact that you no longer run the business. He wanted to put protection on you his first day, like he did with me and Mom, but he knew you always took your security on yourself so he didn't even try."

He rose to his feet, picking up the half-empty glass of water. "I want you to take it easy. Don't move that arm around much. I have to get back to the hospital before my 6:00 consult finds out I'm not there, but I'll be back by the end of my shift with a sling that will hopefully make you a little more comfortable. Jake said he'd be back as soon as possible, and he left one of his guards outside your doors. My guess is that he'll make sure you're back at Harborview Towers tonight and out of…this place."

Jason watched Cameron look around the tiny studio apartment, a sad little grimace making his lips curl.

"You know, I can't imagine my mother here," he said softly. "I really just don't want to see her here."

.: Penthouse 4, Harborview Towers :.

"Sonny, I'm trusting you with him."

The former mob lord would have been almost amused by Cameron's stern look, so reminiscent of the one Elizabeth used, if he wasn't so worried about Jason's condition.

"He's in no shape to be running around," Cameron continued as Jake helped his father onto the couch. Once Jason was seated, Jake carefully removed his leather jacket, adjusted the sling underneath, and tossed the jacket onto the back of the couch. "With his concussion, I want to put him on bed rest. A couple days of taking it easy, not exerting himself too much, and he'll be fine. That arm will take a little longer to heal, naturally, and you'll want to have someone on hand to change the bandages."

"I already made arrangements for that," Sonny assured him. "What else do I need to know?"

"These pills are for the pain." Cameron handed him the bottle. "The dosage should be fine, but, Jason, if you need more, you'll have to come to me so I can prescribe them. Get plenty of rest, drink plenty of fluids-"

"Does coffee count?" Spinelli wanted to know. Sonny had called him just as soon as Jake had called Sonny to explain the situation and let him know that Jason was on his way back to Harborview. "He drinks a lot of coffee."

Cameron shook his head as Jason scowled at his former roommate, already a little irritated with Sonny and Spinelli's hen-pecking ways when he was injured. "I want him to avoid coffee, tea, energy drinks, anything with that much sugar and caffeine. You can go back to drinking them after you're better, but I really do want you to avoid them for now."

It was hard for him to tell Jason anything in terms of direct orders, even though Cameron dealt with a multitude of different patients every day. It was probably something about the fact that this was Jake's dad, his own almost-father, and there was something just a little off about the whole situation.

Jason understood his discomfort and was quick to reassure him. "It's fine. I won't drink coffee. I don't drink any of that other stuff, anyway."

"Just water, plain old water," Spinelli affirmed, as if making a mental note. "Oh, and we have a fruit juice made from nineteen different fruits, including a rare Brazilian berry…"

Cameron arched a brow. "I don't know about rare Brazilian berries. Just keep him hydrated, that's all. And make sure you rest, Jason, I can't stress that enough. For your arm and your head."

He nodded. "Fine. Thanks, Cameron. Jake."

"Call me if there's a problem or if you have any questions," Cameron told the three men. "You have my cell. Goodnight, everyone."

Sonny shook his hand and Spinelli walked him out to the elevator, and then looked over at his best friend's son. "So, uh, about the situation…"

"It's been handled," Jake replied smoothly. "Or, rather, it's being handled. Just watch the news tomorrow morning."

Jason's eyes narrowed. "What did you do?"

He shrugged. "Obviously, someone was testing my good will toward you two. If it hadn't been you they took shots at, it would have been Sonny, just to see how valued you two are even though you're not a part of the business anymore."

Sonny bristled inwardly at that, but kept his mouth shut. There was hardly anything left to say anymore.

Jake slipped his hands into his pocket. "They thought they'd take out the man that preceded me in this business. So I took out that man…and all those that would stand to succeed him in his business."

He shrugged again, smirking. "Seemed fair enough. And with a smacking of Greek tragedy. You can't lose."

"Greek tragedy?"

"One of the Greek tragedies – can't remember which – it's said that if you're going to kill the father, you'd be stupid not to kill the son. Makes perfect sense to me."

He turned back to Jason. "You're going to do what Cam said, right?"

"I'll be fine," he replied, sick of repeating it over and over. "…Thank you. For everything."

"Great," Jake murmured, backing away and heading for the door. Sonny clapped him on the back as he passed. "Just get better. Oh."

He stopped and grabbed onto the doorjamb, poking his head back into the penthouse. "One last question. We telling Mom about this or what?"

Jason closed his eyes, smirking, and remembered the incident on the docks when his boy was just seventeen. Even though he never told Elizabeth about that particular event, he wasn't going to bother to try to hide this injury if they happened to meet. "You can go now."

Jake grinned. "Just wanted to make sure we got our stories straight. Goodnight."