"You've been slacking, Barker."
Jeremy shook his head, shifting from foot to foot as his eyes darted around the alley. "Look man, I'm doing the best I can. This is difficult."
The other man crossed his arms over his head. "That's unacceptable. Mr. Sorel needs your job to be completed ASAP."
"This is hard, ok? It's not everyday I'm asked to ruin some girl's life. I don't even understand why I'm doing this."
The man glared and Jeremy took a step back. "You're doing this because you've been told to."
Jeremy sighed. "But WHY? Why are were torturing this girl? What does Sorel want with her, huh? She's just a little college student."
The other man rolled his eyes. "How many times do you have to be told this?" The man spoke slowly and internally, Jeremy groaned. He was being spoken to as if he were twelve.
"If you hurt Elizabeth Webber, that hurts Jason Morgan AND Sonny Corinthos. Hurt both of them, and they are less likely to be worried about Mr. Sorel."
Jeremy shook his head. This whole thing was out of hand. "What does Elizabeth Webber have to do with Sonny and Jason, huh? I've never seen her around them."
"Then obviously you weren't looking good enough. Corinthos has one of his best guards on her! She is important to both of them, and that means she's important to us."
Rubbing his hands through his hair, Jeremy sighed. "I know you're all trying to get Sorel out of jail and everything, but isn't there another way? Why do you have to hurt Elizabeth?"
The man shook his head. "It's already been decided. This is the way it's going down. Now get more information on Webber's past and USE it against her. Jason Morgan needs to be distracted if we're going to get the boss out of jail."
Jeremy sighed in defeat. There was too much at stake. He was in too deep and now there was nothing he could do about it. "Fine, fine… I'll get more info tomorrow…"
"You'd better not mess up, Barker."
Jeremy watched as the man strolled out of the alley and he leaned against the brick wall. "I won't… I can't…"
(The next morning)
The light was just beginning to peek in through the blinds and Elizabeth shifted, her arm covering her face in an attempt to stay asleep. Rolling over onto her side, she froze when she felt her hand brush up against something hard.
Something warm and hard.
Tired, she kept her eyes closed as she ran her hand along the object, trying to figure out what it was.
Straightening in the chair, Jason smirked as he watched Elizabeth's sleep hand moved slowly over his knee. There was a frown on her face from not knowing what she was touching, but she stubbornly kept her eyes shut.
Letting out a frustrated groan, Elizabeth finally opened her eyes, rubbing the back of her hand against them to get the sleep out. When her eyes finally focused, she froze, not able to look away from the jean-covered knee cap in front of her.
Jason's jean-covered knee cap.
A warm blush rushed to her cheeks and Elizabeth let her face fall forward on the bed when she heard Jason's amused chuckle.
"Did you sleep well?"
She could hear the smile in his voice and it just made her feel even more embarrassed. Elizabeth pushed her face deeper in the pillows, muffling her voice slightly when she finally spoke. "Ugh… can we turn back time and take back those last few minutes? Please?"
She could hear Jason laugh and she felt him move out of the chair. "You can't go back in time."
Elizabeth groaned again. "I'm so embarrassed."
Jason looked over at the bed. Her body was covered with the blankets and her face was shoved into the pillows. "It was just my knee."
Elizabeth head jerked up off the pillows, and if possible, her blush intensified. Jason caught her eye and smiled. He didn't seem phased by her little exploration of his knee cap, so she let out a small laugh.
Sitting up, she pushed the blankets off, tucking her legs under herself. "Thank you… for staying."
"You asked me to," he said simply.
Elizabeth looked down for a second before looking back at him. "I know… but I didn't expect you to stay the whole night."
"Are you upset that I did?"
His gaze was intense again but Elizabeth couldn't look away. "No."
Keeping his eyes locked on hers, Jason walked over to the bed, kneeling down. With their height difference, his kneeling brought them to the same level. One of his hands reached out, pushing some of her hair out of her face and his gaze tracked his movements. "Your hair's messy."
Elizabeth blushed again. "Bed head," she said, reaching up to try to tame her unruly locks. Jason blocked her, pushing her hands back down. He reached around her head, his fingers running through her hair.
Holding her breath, Elizabeth closed her eyes, concentrating on the feeling of Jason's hands against her scalp and the gentle motion he used as he ran his fingers through, from root to end.
When she opened her eyes, she realized that they were much closer. He had pulled her closer to the edge of the bed without her even noticing. Elizabeth's breath caught in her throat as Jason's hands moved to rest on the sides of her face.
"Jason," she whispered as his face moved closer to her own.
Jason's fingers lightly moved over skin and Elizabeth felt her own hands coming up to grip his wrists. Jason moved closer until the tip of his nose brushed against hers. He felt her shudder slightly, but she didn't pull away so he didn't stop.
With his thumb, he pulled lightly on her chin, slightly separating her lips. His head tilted to the side slightly and he moved closer.
Before his lips reached hers, the alarm clock on the nightstand rang out, causing both of them to jump in surprise. Elizabeth was dazed for a moment, but she quickly snapped out of it, crawling across the bed to turn the alarm off. Nervously, she pushed her hair out of her face, freezing for a second when she realized that it was her hair that had started it all.
Part of her wanted to grab a hair tie and pull her short locks up and out of her face, but another part wanted to mess it up so that Jason could fix it again.
Confused, Elizabeth slowly moved towards the center of the bed, watching out of the corner of her eye as Jason stood, rubbing his hands over his face.
"Jason?"
"I'm sorry, Elizabeth."
He sighed. He should have known better. She just broke up with her Lucky, and he knew how hard it was for her… and here he was, unable to stop himself when he was around her. Elizabeth needed him and the last thing he wanted was for him to do something that would make her feel uncomfortable… no matter how much he wanted it.
She took a deep breath. "You didn't do anything wrong."
Jason turned towards the bed and his gaze locked on her. "Are you sure?"
Elizabeth held his stare strongly, but her voice came out as only a whisper. "Yes." She looked down when his look became to intense and cleared her throat. "You… I… we both wanted that just now."
For a moment, no one spoke. Finally, Jason walked back towards the bed. "Are you ok?"
When Elizabeth looked up at him, Jason saw tears in her eyes. "I can't do this right now. With… with these notes I keep getting, and Lucky and… it wouldn't be fair to you."
"You don't get to say what's fair for me."
"Then it wouldn't be fair for me." Elizabeth took a deep breath. "Jason, I'm so confused."
Stepping closer, Jason lifted his hand to touch her but froze for a second before putting his hand back down. "I just want you happy again. If it's with me, great. If it's with Lucky or someone else, I can deal with that… I just want you happy."
"A part of me loves Lucky," Elizabeth said. "And that part is… is dying because Lucky and I broke up… But another part of me wants… wants to see the wind again."
Elizabeth wiped at her face with both of her hands. "I asked you once if you'd seen the wind in a lot of places, Jason, remember that?"
Jason nodded. "I told you I only see the wind with you. And it was the truth."
"Well I only see the wind with you too."
Elizabeth sighed. "I need time, Jason. I'm so confused."
Jason caught her eye. "I can give you that… I can wait. We'll find who's leaving you these reminders and we can deal with… with the rest later." Jason took a deep breath, turning away from her as he made his way towards the door. "We need to go to Kelly's so you can tell me exactly what happened when you got all of the reminders."
Elizabeth stiffened. "Jason, I don't want to go there. I only get the reminders there and I don't… I can't…"
Turning, Jason stared at her. "I'll be right there… I won't let anything happen to you."
Elizabeth took a deep breath before nodding. "Ok… I'll get ready and then we can go. I guess the sooner we go, the sooner we can figure all those out, huh."
Jason nodded, giving her a small smile before walking out the door. Elizabeth followed his with his eyes until he closed the door behind him. Falling back on the bed, Elizabeth sighed.
Life was so confusing.
The metal door to the Pentonville visiting phone cubbies slid open, the small alarm above the door ringing like it did every time the door was opened.
Jeremy hated the phone cubbies. It was so odd talking to someone on the phone while at the same time, looking at them through a thick piece of glass. It was odd, but he knew the cubbies were for the protection of the visitors.
"Who are you here to see," the guard asked.
Jeremy sighed, running his hand through his hair. "Tom Baker."
The guard nodded, nodding towards the first cubby before flipping through his clipboard and walking out. Pulling back the chair, Jeremy sat down and waited for Tom to be brought to the other side.
He hated doing this, and he didn't want to be there, but he had to. He needed more information on Elizabeth Webber.
Jeremy sighed when Elizabeth's face popped into his head. He didn't want to hurt her, but he had no choice. If he didn't do what he was told, Sorel would go after him, or even his family.
He hated this.
Jeremy looked up when he saw motion in front of him. Tom was pushed down into the seat on the other side of the glass and both men stared at each other for a few minutes.
Finally, Jeremy picked up the phone receiver to his right, watching as Tom did the same. He took a deep breath before speaking.
"Hi Dad."