"She's on her way up?" Jason asked into the cell phone. He waited for Andrew's response before he clicked the phone off. He tossed it back on her bed and listened as Elizabeth entered the penthouse a moment later.

"Jason!" she called.

"I'm up here," he answered her. Jason glanced back at his black leather bag sitting in the chair and couldn't help but remember the day he left her. It was almost exactly like this one.

"Jason," she said, entering the room. Elizabeth's gaze swung up when she saw the bag, "What's going on?"

He stood and went to her. "I need to talk to you."

"Jason?" she asked, almost frantic, her face pale, "What's going on? Is it Isabelle? Jason, where's she at?"

"She down stairs taking a nap. Isabelle's fine, Elizabeth."

"Then what is it?" she asked him. "Why is your bag packed?"

"Sonny and I are going to Chicago–"

"You're going after Stryker," she finished for him.

"No," he shook his head, "I'm not going after Stryker. I'm going to get Abby."

"Abby?" she asked hopefully. "She's in Chicago? You didn't tell me that."

Jason soothed his hands down her arms. "I know and I'm sorry. Sonny and I talked last night and decided it'd be best to go get her now."

"You're coming back?" she asked immediately. "I mean you're not going to send her back with Sonny and then disappear into the sunset again, are you?"

Her words stung. Jason was sure it couldn't have hurt more if she'd punched him. "I wouldn't do that to you, Elizabeth. Don't you know that?"

She looked up at him with wide eyes, searching his. "I'm trying Jason, that's all I can promise you."

"I know," he whispered. Jason ran the back of his hand along the side of her face. "I'm bringing her back," he promised.

"Okay."

"And then…" he trailed off, "Maybe you and I can sit down and work this out."

"Work what out?" she asked.

Jason lifted the hand where his wedding band sat. "This." Instead of dropping his hand, he reached inside of his jacket box and pulled something out. "But first, I want you to have this."

Elizabeth looked at the ring box and immediately shook her head. "You didn't have to buy me anything Jason."

"I didn't," he told her. Jason opened the box and pulled out a silver chain. Her wedding band hung from it proudly. "I want you to have this, while I'm gone…in case," Jason searched for the words he needed to say to her. Deciding to go down a different route, he changed his tone, "Elizabeth you know this is going to be dangerous, right?"

Her eyes widened as she understood his meaning. "Then don't go," she pleaded with him. "Let someone else, Jason. Anyone else."

"I can't," he choked out.

"You can," she insisted. "You and Sonny run the local mob, you can do anything you want to do." Elizabeth pulled back from him and watched as he fisted the necklace in his hand. "Please don't go, Jason."

"I have to, Elizabeth." No you don't, the voice inside of his head cried. You can send Johnny, Francis, a thousand other men, Morgan. You don't have to do anything. Stay with her. Jason pushed the thoughts away, "Elizabeth–"

"Don't go," she pleaded with him again. Elizabeth closed the space between them again and closed her arms around his waist. She pressed her face into his cotton t-shirt and felt herself begin to fall apart. "I can't live without you, Jason. Not again."

His arms came up to hold her as she cried. It broke his heart to listen to her pleas. "I don't deserve this," he whispered brokenly. "I don't deserve you." His hands involuntarily caressed her back as he continued to speak. "I hurt you, I leave you, and when I come back, I'm a complete ass. I don't understand, Elizabeth, why do you even love me?"

His words seemed to break into her reverie. Elizabeth pulled back like he'd hit her. "Why do I love you?" she repeated. "It's a little late to ask something like that, don't you think? I mean, that's a right-before-we're-about-to-be-married question, don'tcha think? Definitely not a we've-been-married-for-four-years-out-of-the-blue type of question?" Elizabeth glared up at him, "That's a hell of question to ask, Jason."

"Tell me," he requested again. Jason reached out to push her hair behind her arm, but caught himself. "Why do you love me, Elizabeth?"

"Because it's easy!" she yelled at him. "It's the easiest thing I've ever done, Jason Morgan. Don't you think I've tried to not love you!?" she cried. Elizabeth wiped her tears away with the back of her hand. "For two years, I've tried to not love you. I wanted to hate you. I wanted to blame you for Abby's death, but I couldn't," she whispered. "I couldn't."

Jason watched before his eyes as she folded like cardboard. It was the same as the night he'd left, she'd just collapsed in their bedroom. He went to her and sat down. Jason gently pulled her into his lap as she burrowed into his warmth. "Shhh," he tried to soothe her. His hand was running down her back again, "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I'm so sorry, Elizabeth. I'm a fool, an idiot, there's no word for what kind of low I am…" he rambled on, trying to quiet her cries. Something inside of him broke each time he saw her like this.

"Don't leave me," she asked in a small voice. Elizabeth didn't have the strength to pull away from him. Instead, she fisted his shirt in her hands and tried to pull him closer. "I can't lose you again, Jason. I won't be able to do it."

"Yes you would," he refuted. "You wouldn't just survive either, it wouldn't just be going through the motions, you'd live like you always have. That's the reason that I love you, honey." Jason's arms tightened around her again and he dropped a kiss on her forehead. "Not that you have to worry about me leaving you ever again," he assured her. "You're so full of life. The whole room seems to explode with light when you walk in and it fills me too, Elizabeth. I remember the exact moment I fell in love with you—we were at the boxcar and you were begging me to live. It didn't matter that I told you to leave, that I swore Sonny's men were coming, you didn't give up on me. You didn't walk away. And I've never had that before. I knew in those moments that there would never be another you."

"I still haven't given up on you," she whispered. "God knows I tried. And I wanted to." Elizabeth raised her head then so she could look in his eyes. She released his shirt so she could touch his face. "But the truth is, you're still my hero. I could never walk away from you."

Jason closed his eyes as her words washed over his soul. He tightened his fist and the metal of her wedding band cut into his skin. The truth was, he would never tire of Elizabeth confessing her love for him. "Don't you know?" he asked when he found his voice again, "I never wanted to be your hero, I only wanted to be your husband."

Tears leaked from her eyes again as she stared at him. "I think that's the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me," she said finally.

"It's the truth," he reassured her. "After we have Abby back, all I want to do is be your husband and their father. I've messed up so much, Elizabeth. And you'll never know how sorry I really am, but I want another chance at life."

"You are life," Elizabeth whispered. "I told you once before: I was born the day you kissed me."

Jason was surprised when she reached up to wipe away his tears. He hadn't even realized he was crying. The diamond she wore caught the light and he remembered the gift he had for her. Jason dangled the necklace from his finger and said, "Before I leave, I want you to have this. I'm not asking you to wear it—not on your finger anyway, I bought the necklace so you'd have it with you always. I want you to keep the ring close to your heart and know that you'll always be in mine. I broke the promise I made to you when we were married, I wasn't the best husband I knew how to be. I was a coward and I couldn't deal with my own grief, much less yours, so I left. I've apologized for that already a thousand times, but with each apology, my love for you grows more." Jason slipped the necklace over her head and tucked the ring inside of her shirt. When it fell completely, he saw the lump it formed over her heart. He pressed his hand against and looked into her eyes. "I'll bring her home," he vowed.

Elizabeth couldn't speak. She didn't know what to say or how to form the words. She'd never heard anything more beautiful in her life. And she'd never loved him more. But as he gazed into her eyes and kept his hand over her heart, she knew he understood what she felt. He could hear the words in her head that she couldn't say.

Jason leaned in and kissed her once. It was light and sweet and full of love. When he pulled back, his eyes were brimming with tears again. He closed them and sighed, willing the emotions away. When she saw blue again, it was full of promise and love. Jason trailed the back of his hand down her cheek before he shifted her on his lap and stood. He crossed to the armchair and deposited her there.

As she gazed up at him, the emotions threatened to take him again. Not wanting to seem weak in front of her, he turned away and exhaled loudly. Jason pinched the bridge of his nose willing all of this to go away and come back some other time. He was sure his emotions were fully under control when he turned back to her. "Johnny and Francis are going with us to Chicago," he said, his voice taking on the business tone.

"Us?" she questioned. "Sonny's going too?" Then she remembered he'd already told her that. "Duh, Elizabeth. Of course Sonny's going," she said to herself.

"Andrew and Don are staying here with you and the other guards will be around too." Jason went over the list he'd mentally made of the things he needed to tell her. "If you need anything, and I mean anything call Benny."

"I know, I know," she said. Elizabeth looked up at him and smiled. "We've only done this about five hundred times. I know the drill, Morgan."

Her smile was infectious and soon he was smiling too. Jason would never be sure what had happened in her bedroom that afternoon, but he knew they'd taken a major step towards reconciliation. "Just making sure, Morgan," he teased.

Elizabeth stood and went to stand in front of him. "You'll be okay?" she asked.

Jason looked down into her bright blue eyes and nodded. "I'll be more than okay. We have something they want, Elizabeth. Or else, they would have never told us they have Abby." He cupped her face in his hand and kissed her forehead. "I have to go," he whispered.

Elizabeth closed her eyes and nodded. "I know." She hugged him again, taking comfort in his strength. "This never gets easier, does it?"

"No," he answered her. Jason reluctantly pulled from her embrace. "I'll be back," he promised.

"I know," she whispered.

Jason kissed her once more on the forehead and then left her embrace entirely. He grabbed the bag he'd packed off of her bed and turned once more to face her. He smiled then. "Call Benny," he reminded her.

Elizabeth nodded. She wasn't going to cry again, she knew. Something deep inside of her knew he'd be back with Abby. It wouldn't be too long now before they were a family again. "Jason!" she shouted, suddenly.

He reappeared at the door. "Yeah?"

"I love you."

He nodded knowingly. "I love you too."

~*~



Jason watched as Port Charles disappeared below them. Johnny nodded at him from the pilot's seat and Francis was next to his oldest friend. He kept his eyes trained on Harborview Towers until he could no longer see the building.

Sonny studied his best friend and smiled inwardly. While he didn't know the details of the goodbye Jason and Elizabeth shared, he had a feeling that it was warm. "Are you okay?" he queried.

"What?" Jason asked. He looked back at the Towers again and nodded, "Yeah, I'm fine."

"You don't have to do this," Sonny told him. "We can still turn around and you can stay with her. We can more than handle this."

"No," Jason said firmly. "I have to do this."

"As long as you're sure."

"I'm sure," Jason insisted. "I just want Abby back, Sonny. For Elizabeth…for Isabelle…for us all."

"I know."

"What happens after that?" Francis asked from the co-pilots seat.

The four men exchanged glances and shrugged. "I guess life just goes back to normal," Johnny answered him.

"Normal?" Sonny snorted. "I don't know about you three, but I'm going on vacation."

Jason shot a questioning eyebrow up at his friend. "Vacation?"

"To the island," Sonny told him. "In fact, I might take those two," he motioned towards the front of the helicopter, "with me. Besides, I think you and Elizabeth need some time to figure things out. Alone."

Francis scratched his head. "Uhh, boss?"

"Yeah?"

"Wouldn't it be easier if Jason and Elizabeth went to the island? I mean, they'd definitely be alone then. Wouldn't it be easier for two rather than four."

"There are four of us," Jason reminded him.

"True," Sonny pointed out. Then he asked, "Is this your way of saying you don't want to go to the island, Francis? I'm sure someone else will go."

"No, no," the bodyguard hurried on. "I was just thinking–"

"That's your problem," Johnny interrupted him, "you're thinking."

The two bodyguards laughed at the joke as their bosses watched them. Jason turned and looked out the window, his thoughts drifting from Elizabeth, Abby, and Isabelle. He closed his eyes and in his mind conjured the last image of Elizabeth. Standing in her room, her eyes shining with her love for him, her feet were bare, her hair was a mess, and he'd never seen anything more beautiful.

"You'll work it out," Sonny told him in a low voice. He stole a glance at the guards and saw they were still chatting away. "She loves you and nothing will ever change that."

"I hope you're right."

"I am," Sonny reassured him.

Neither man said anything for the rest of the flight. The silence didn't hang around them, confining them, it was some what of a comfort. Sonny was relieved Jason hadn't questioned his trip to the island and he didn't want to explain wanting to leave Marie behind. And he knew the bodyguards could use a break too. He also knew the time with his family would do Jason good.

As the helicopter landed and the men climbed out of the machine, Jason turned to Sonny. His eyes were ice blue and focused, but at the same time, something hid behind them. Sonny didn't have to wonder what the emotion was, because he knew it was something he'd never understand. At least not until he was in the position Jason was in. Sonny prayed to God he was never in that place.

He turned to face Jason and nodded. He didn't know what to say, so he said the only thing he could think: "Let's go get your daughter."