Notes - - -

Yes, I'm still here. Sorry for the ridiculous breaks with my stories lately. I'm trying to get my motor running again on these, hope it's okay this is a shorter one. I figure, better some than none. :o)

I don't own GH or the characters, just my little story.

Making a Memory

Chapter 54

Elizabeth sat at the kitchen table drinking a cup of tea after she put the children to bed. It was not soothing or relaxing as the box promised.

It had been hours since she'd seen Jason and she couldn't stop the feeling of dread that sat like a stone in her stomach. He hadn't given any particular time when he'd be back, but she still expected him before it got very dark out.

The earlier part of her day hadn't been as bad because she'd had company for some of it. Carly and Skye had come back from the hospital for a while in the middle of the day and gave Elizabeth a report on Sonny's condition.

The doctor said he had burns on thirty percent of his body, which in some cases could be fatal. But he wasn't close enough to the epicenter of the blast to do that sort of damage. The burns were only first degree and were expected to heal well without much scarring thanks to the excellent care of the General Hospital Burn Unit.

The injury causing the most worry at the moment was the one to Sonny's head when he was knocked back by the force of the explosion. An MRI showed he had multiple contusions to the brain that caused some swelling. Dr. Drake, the neurosurgeon on the case, was cautiously optimistic that given some time the swelling would go down on its own and he would wake up.

Carly and Skye looked drained when they'd gotten back. Carly had collected her things and gone back to her house to tell her sons about their father; a task she clearly dreaded. Skye had come to be with her daughter. Although Elizabeth could see that she needed the time together more than the baby did.

She almost stayed after Carly left, but Elizabeth saw how much she wanted to go back and be with Sonny and offered to continue to watch Lila.

"Are you sure three little ones isn't too much for you?" she'd asked.

"Not at all," Elizabeth replied. "Lila's an angel. You go and be with Sonny for as long as you need."

Skye had taken her hand and thanked her so sincerely, it almost made Elizabeth cry. She knew what it was to have the man you love hurt, and want nothing more than to be with him. Carly, Max, and Milo had made that possible for her; she was glad to be able to do it for someone else.

There was also the fact that caring for three children under the age of four kept her sufficiently busy so that she wouldn't constantly worry about her husband. But now that they were asleep and the house was quiet, she had nothing to do but worry.

Of course Jason was more than capable of taking care of himself in any circumstance, but he was still recovering from a gunshot wound. She prayed it wouldn't slow him down should he need to get away quickly, or hinder his ability to protect himself.

She swept her hair from her face and took another sip of her tea. There was no way she was going to be able to sleep until she knew he was safe. Restlessness had her tapping her foot on the floor and the tick of the clock on the wall was driving her crazy. She swallowed the rest of the tepid liquid and put the cup in the sink.

Coming into the living room she wondered what she might do to pass the time. Her gaze drifted to the door that led to the terrace. She walked over to it and looked up at the night sky full of stars. Hoping a bit of air might clear her mind, she opened the glass door and took a deep breath of the brisk air. It felt good on her face and skin and drew her over to the waist high stone wall that separated the terrace from the backyard.

The stars were out and looked brighter away from the city. She closed her eyes and imagined Jason there with her, his arms wrapped around her keeping her warm. Hugging herself tighter she attempted to keep the vision alive, but was interrupted by a resounding click coming from somewhere behind her.

Elizabeth's eyes popped open at the sound and stayed wide and focused out into the darkened backyard. She knew that sound. How she wished she didn't, but it was one she'd heard far too often recently.

The last time it had been Jason standing behind her with a gun aimed at her back. Unfortunately, she could tell she wasn't as lucky this time.


Jason had woken up on the floor with a throbbing head. He'd been disoriented briefly before remembering what happened. Since then he'd just been mad.

It had to have been at least a couple hours since then and no one came to tell him anything or to take him anywhere. He wondered what they were playing at. Then he realized what might be happening. With him and Sonny out of commission, it would be an ideal time for Zacarra to make his move.

But why not kill him then? Why not make sure he had no chance of coming back against him? Then again, it had to have been one of Zacarra's subordinates who'd knocked him out, and guys like that knew not to make a move that major without the boss's say so.

He thought Zacarra probably wanted the honor of doing it himself after the way he acted at the meeting; going off the deep end about Jason being the reason for Sam's betrayal and then having the object of his scorn shoot him into the bargain.

Jason lay on the floor in the same position he woke in. His wrists and ankles were shackled together behind his back and attached to a pipe that came up from the floor. He'd tried to move and think of ways to undo the cuffs, but all he got for his trouble was an aching shoulder and raw skin where the metal rubbed against him.

His mind automatically went to Elizabeth and what she'd been through. She'd survived and come back to him and he had to do the same. He didn't want to think about her and the boys being vulnerable to Zacarra or anyone else.

There was nothing nearby he could get to that would help and yelling would do no good in enemy territory. Every person in that house, and he was fairly certain he was still in the same house, was loyal to one man. Those not necessarily loyal were at the very least deathly afraid of Zacarra and wouldn't dare to go against him.

That brought his mind back to the woman he'd met earlier. Anicka. If that was even her real name. He couldn't believe he'd fallen for her sob story. She'd seemed sincere when he spoke to her, but it was likely she'd set him up to be caught. It might have been a combination of truth and lies; which usually made a lie more believable. Maybe what she said about her grandmother was true, but she'd been too afraid of Zacarra to take the chance to betray him and work with his enemy.

His head rested on the floor as he tried to think of anything that would get him out of there. It was then that he heard it. A series of squeaks and a light whirring, so faint at first he thought he was imagining things. The sounds were like a wheel that needed to be oiled and a fan. They gradually got closer and closer until he was able to pinpoint where the noise came from. It seemed to be in a wall somewhere behind him.

How it could be in a wall he didn't know, but when the sound stopped he heard the scrape of metal on metal. It stopped after a second, then continued little by little until there was a slight scuff against the floor.

Jason couldn't tell what he was listening to, and whatever it was he had no way of defending against it if he needed to. Still he found his body tensing readying for action on instinct. One thing he knew was whatever happened, he wasn't going down without a fight.

The scuffing on the floor came around the top of his head and suddenly he was looking a pair of worn black shoes. As his eyes moved up he saw jeans and then the figure dropped down before him to complete the picture.

It was Anicka.

"Are you alright?" she asked in a whisper. "I'm sorry it took so long for me to get to you, but I had to finish my shift first so no one got suspicious when I wasn't where I was supposed to be."

Jason looked at her with a bit of suspicion. "What do you mean 'took so long'? What are you doing here? Did they send you to get information with more of your sad eyed story?"

She looked at him in shock. "What are you talking about? I came to help you" When his words sank in she realized what his problem was. "You can't think I did this?!"

He heard the amazement in her voice even though she was careful to keep it low. "What the hell else am I supposed to think? You're the only one who knew I was in the house."

Anicka felt insulted by the accusation, even though logically she knew they didn't know each other and had no real reason to trust anything the other said. Still she couldn't help but have her back up.

"Maybe you're just a bad cat burglar! Ever think of that?"

She took a breath and tried to calm down. This man was still her best hope of staying clear of Zacarra and she had to get them both out of there without getting caught.

"Look, I didn't tell anyone about you, okay? I was passing through the upstairs hall when I saw you being dragged away by one of the guards. You were unconscious. I couldn't follow him without being seen, but it looked like he was taking you to the basement. So I tried to think of a way to get to you without going through the guards, and that's when I thought of the dumbwaiter."

"You got another member of the staff to help you?" he asked in confusion.

She looked at him strangely and shook her head when she realized he misunderstood. "No, the dumbwaiter is a system that can move in the wall to transport things through the house, like laundry or cleaning supplies. Kind of a small elevator. That's how I got down here." Anicka glanced at the stairs and felt herself shiver at the possibility of being discovered. "Look, we can talk about this stuff later. We need to get out of here before they realize something's up, or one of them comes back to check on you."

"As you can see, I'm not exactly lying here by choice." Jason tugged on his shackles which made Anicka looked down at them.

"Oh. Um …" She began to move around the room to see if she could find something to unlock the handcuffs with.

Most people had a bunch of junk in their basement, since it tended to be the household catchall for things you didn't know what to do with. But this room was practically bare. She guessed since Zacarra and his wife had moved there so suddenly they didn't have any junk to put in it. Not that she could really imagine the man being the sentimental type who saved chotchkies and personal mementos of good times.

His good times were probably someone else's nightmares.

"There is nothing useful down here," she said in frustration when she came up empty.

"Don't you have a hair pin or something?"

"This isn't a movie," she said with a roll of her eyes. "No I don't just happen to have a hair pin you could use to pick the lock, and I left my MacGuyver survival kit at home."

"Being a smart ass isn't helping either," Jason said through gritted teeth. His shoulder was turning into a dull throb to add to the one in his head.

"Sorry," Anicka offered. She dropped back down next to him so he wouldn't have to keep craning his neck to look up at her. "I'm scared and jumpy okay? I don't do this often."

Jason sighed and put his head back down. What the hell were they supposed to do now?

He heard Anicka let out a breath and saw her reach up to brush her hair from her face. He noticed that she was wearing a wrist watch and had an idea.

"Your watch … is it a buckle or clasp?"

"Wha …" She looked at her wrist and answered absently. "Buckle. Why?"

Jason put his head down for a second, thinking they'd finally caught a break. "Take it off. We might be able to use the pin to unlock the cuffs."

Anicka's eyes brightened with relief as she quickly took off the watch.

"Get behind me and see if you can disengage the mechanism with it."

She got up and moved behind him to do as he said. At first she worried the pin might be too short to do any good. She rearranged it in her hand to get a better grip and tried again, jiggling it in the small hole until she heard a wonderful click.

"It worked!" She did the same to the cuff on his other wrist and he was able to untwist himself and sit upright. Claiming his hands were probably too big to get a good hold on it, he waited while she released his feet as well.

"We did it!" she said in amazement. Looking at her cheap watch that she'd gotten for ten bucks at a discount store, she shook her head. "Maybe I should've paid more attention to those MacGuyver reruns."

"Come on," Jason hastened once he'd stood and shaken as much feeling back in his shoulder as he could. "Where's this dumbwaiter?"

"Over here."

Anicka led him over to the opening she'd come from. It looked to him like a very deep cabinet with a wooden facade that helped it blend into the wall. Behind the wood was a metal door that slid back to reveal the metal interior of the dumbwaiter. There were buttons on the side that controlled it going up and down.

Jason looked at it warily. "Are you sure I can fit in that thing?"

"Let's see … it's this or wait for those guys to come and kill you. I'd take my chances with this," she said pointing at the contraption.

"It definitely can't take us both, so you go first."

Anicka lifted up and sat on the ledge to scoot back into the dumbwaiter. Once inside she reached out to push the button that would send her up.

Jason waited until the metal box was sent back down and got inside. It would be a miracle he thought if the thing didn't send him plummeting back to the bottom of the shaft. Amazingly enough he made it up to the top floor in one piece. Anicka was waiting for him and they left the spare bedroom they'd ended up in.

In the hall Jason heard a noise and backed around a corner, pushing Anicka behind him. When whomever it was passed, he made sure they quickly got downstairs. He didn't take time to be quite as careful as before when he'd been knocked out; it seemed he hadn't been as careful as he'd thought anyway. In this instance speed seemed more important. And the guards who'd taken him were occupied anyway, thinking he was still in the basement.

It wasn't long until they made it out of the house the same way he'd come in. He led the way to the SUV he'd come in, glad he'd done a good job of hiding it. The keys were where he'd left them under the wheel well and he and Anicka were soon on their way.

"Thank you," he said as he drove.

She looked over at him, her heart still racing from fear of getting caught at the house. "You're welcome."

"There's no way you can go back there now," he commented almost to himself. "They're going to wonder how I got away, and eventually they'll figure it out. I'll make sure you and your grandmother are safe like I promised."

"Thank you," she replied. Her hands automatically moved to a position of prayer to give thanks for the good fortune she had to meet this man who could help her.

It felt like she could breathe again. She been hopeful that he would keep his word, she'd made a heck of a gamble saving him on the chance he would, but there was always the possibility people would disappoint you. She was glad her instincts hadn't failed her in trusting him.

Jason reached for the phone he had in the glove compartment and dialed quickly. "Marco, how are you doing?" He was glad to hear the guard was released from the hospital already. "Good, good. I need you to meet me in front of Sonny's right now. I have an assignment for you." Marco said he was on his way before they both hung up.

"I have to take care of some things, but I'm going to leave you in good hands. A man I trust named Marco is going to take you to your grandmother. I want you both to pack a few things, just what you need immediately. I'm going to put you up in a safe house until I can make some arrangements for you to have new identities and get you out of Port Charles."

Anicka almost couldn't believe her ears. Her grandmother was going to be safe at last. It was all she wanted in the world.

"You won't have to worry about money to get settled with; I'll take care of that."

"I don't know what to say."

He glanced at her a second and saw tears in her eyes. "You don't have to say anything. Just tell your grandmother she doesn't have to be afraid anymore. And neither do you."

At the speed he went it wasn't long before they were at Sonny's house and Marco was there waiting outside by his car.

"Anicka, this is Marco." Jason watched as the two shook hands. "Marco, I want you to take her to her grandmother, wait for them to pack a few things and take them to the lakeside safe house. You are to keep them there and guard them until I call you with instructions."

"Got it Jason."

Marco went to start the car as Anicka put a hand out to Jason. "I can't thank you enough for this."

He gave her a half smile. "You saved me remember? I owe you."

She smiled a bit as well and looked her unknown benefactor in the eye. "I'd say we're even."

He reached into the SUV and got a pen and piece of paper from the console. He quickly scribbled a number on it and handed it to her.

"If you or your grandmother ever need anything, you call that number. They always know how to reach me."

Anicka looked at the paper and then wrapped it securely in her hands. "Can I ask one more thing of you?"

"Sure."

She laughed lightly at the absurdity of it being necessary after all they'd just been through together. "What's your name?"

He laughed back. "Jason. Jason Morgan."

"Anicka. Anicka Zovodny. Nice to meet you," she said with another smile.

With that she got into the car with Marco and they took off. Jason turned before they'd gotten onto the street and headed into the house. He still had Zacarra to handle, but right now he needed to see his wife; just to hold her for a second and reassure both of them he was alright.

He came upon Max at his post and stopped a moment. "Everything okay tonight?"

"It's been quiet. Mrs. C and Skye were here for a while earlier, but left not long after. Just Mrs. M and the three kids since then."

"Thanks Max."

Jason went in and headed immediately upstairs. He went into the children's rooms and found them fast asleep. A quick inventory of the upstairs bedrooms told him Elizabeth wasn't there. Figuring he must have missed her downstairs, he went through the living room to the kitchen. There he saw a tea cup in the sink and imagined she must have been there not long ago.

Something began to gnaw at his gut as he ran out of places to look. When he came back from the kitchen, he finally noticed the slightly open door to the terrace.

He cautiously went out and let his eyes take in the area. Even in the dim light he noticed it, sitting on the stone wall. It winked at him and he felt his heart stop.

It was Elizabeth's wedding ring.

To be continued …

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