Author's Notes: Remember to read the notes on the Prologue it will explain the timing and other details of this fic. But a quick reminder. If the flashback has a specific date to it, it's from the show. If it just has a month and a year it's my creation. Also anything after April 20, 2001 is also my creation.

Distribution: Ask first I will more then likely say yes.

Begging: I hate to do this, but if you want more of this story you need to let me know what you think. Thank you so much for all the replies I've received so far, they really make the writing process go faster.

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Her Greatest Mistake

Chapter 5

~Elm Street~

Mike Corbin was whistling. He'd had a string of luck the likes of which he hadn't seen in years. He glanced at his watch, 4:30 a.m. He'd been playing cards for 12 hours and could have easily gone another 12. He'd walked to the table with $50 to his name and had gotten as low as $5 but right now he had $5,500 in his pocket.

"Luck be a lady tonight." He sang off key this time his luck would hold. One of the guys at the table had given him a sure thing on the #5 horse in the 5th race in the morning, everything was coming up roses for him. It was destiny, he wasn't going to bet it all, but enough that he would be flush for a long time to come. Once that happened he would get Tammy that necklace he knew she wanted and then, he could finally approach Sonny again. This time the gift he would buy him, would be from his own money and not a loan shark.

He jogged across the street towards the docks, to take the shortcut to his apartment on Courtland Street. A few more nights like tonight and he would be able to get new digs. Yes his luck was finally changing, and this time Sonny would have to be proud. He was so busy envisioning the proud look on Sonny's face that he went flying to the ground when he tripped over something hard and unyielding on the pavement.

He turned back to see what had tripped him. "Jesus." Mike studied the unconscious man, he was lying partially on his side, face down on the pavement. In the dim streetlight, the blood that was on the back of the man's blonde head gave off the illusion of being green. He crawled back beside the man to check for a pulse. He sighed in relief when he finally found it, it was weak but it was there. "Hold on buddy, I'm going to get you some help."

He patted the man's pockets hoping to find a phone, he did and called 911.

"911. What is the nature of your emergency?"

"I need an ambulance, I just found a man he's unconscious, and bleeding from the back of the head, his pulse is real weak too."

"Where are you sir?"

Mike looked around. "I'm on Elm near the Charles cross street, just off the dock exit." He was beginning to feel sick, the beer he had consumed during the card game was coming back to haunt him. "Hurry."

"Sir can you tell where he is bleeding from? If so can you apply some pressure around the room to try to stop the bleeding?"

"I'll check." He propped the phone between his head and shoulder, swallowed his distaste, and touched the man's head. He could feel the deformation of the skull, and knew that wasn't good. At his touch the man slumped farther down on the ground, his head now resting on his side exposing his face.

Mike swallowed hard when he recognized the man, it was Cal one of Sonny's guards. He was in Luke's every week playing cards. He looked around belatedly checking for other victims or sign of violence, fear of seeing Sonny lying on the ground coursed through him. But Cal was the only person there. "Please be alone Cal."

"What did you say sir? Do you know the victim? Could you tell me your name please?"

"My name is Mike, Mike Corbin." He hesitated. "It's hard to say if I know him, there's blood on his face." He heard the faint sounds of sirens drawing nearer. He wasn't going to say anything more until he talked to Sonny. A thought crossed his mind while he hung up on the operator. He checked Cal's pockets again, easing back the jacket to display the empty holster. His gun was missing.

~Kellys~

"Come on Jason sit down." Sonny ordered pulling Jason over to the bed. He was unnerved by Jason's question and the desperate look he could see in his eyes.

Jason obeyed mutely, his eyes still on the red glass in his hand. It didn't look vibrant or vivid anymore, now it looked broken, broken and dull.

"Johnny find something to bandage his hand with, a washcloth something." Sonny ordered, pulling the clear glove off of Jason's hand, pulling the glass with it.

"Okay." Johnny disappeared into the bathroom.

"I thought she'd like it. It was so bright and full of life like her." Jason mumbled. "She always hated the color red, ever since that night." He looked up at Sonny. "I tried to show her that the color red could be beautiful too, not just violent."

Sonny didn't understand what Jason was trying to tell him, but he tried to comfort him anyway. "I bet she loved it."

He nodded. "She did." He looked back at his hand. "But she was right nothing good ever comes from red."

Johnny walked out of the bathroom with a large, flat First Aid box. "I knew she had this, I just had to find it." He told them, setting the box on the bed by Jason.

Sonny backed off a step. "How did you know?"

"I saw her at Surman's Drug Store a little over a week ago she was buying this." Johnny explained.

"How did she look?" Jason demanded focusing on Johnny.

"She looked fine." Johnny paused trying to remember, he'd had a headache, and so he really wasn't paying that much attention. "I looked up and…"

"Ms. Webber how are you?" Johnny asked recognizing the petite brunette who had paused next to him.

Elizabeth jolted slightly before smiling. "Hello Johnny."

"Headache," he held up the bottle of Advil. "And you?"

"I need a First Aid kit."

"Are you hurt?" He asked in concern.

"No." She shook her head immediately. "But you never know when you might need one." She bent down and pulled a large box off the bottom shelf.

He took the box from her when he heard a soft groan. "Here let me. Is this all you need?"

"Yes thank you." She headed for the check out grabbing a few extra rolls of bandages as she passed them.

"Why are you walking so strange? Are you sure you're okay?" He couldn't help but notice how stiff and awkward her movements were.

She stuttered a step but kept her back to him. "Well now that you've noticed I guess I'll have to let you in on my secret." She said placing the bandages on the counter. "I'm a terrible klutz. I fell rollerblading." She took the box from him and put it on the belt. "Now you know why I need the biggest First Aid kit I can find."

"Elizabeth are you ready?" Lucky asked appearing at her side.

"Yes." She said immediately dropping some bills on the counter. "Thanks for your help."

"Sure." Johnny nodded absently, his focus was on the sports magazine that was by the counter. "Don't worry your secret is safe with me." He called after her with a smile.

"I didn't really think much about it then, but when I said that to her, she went real pale and looked at Lucky. They practically ran out of the store." Johnny said in reflection. "She never looked me in the eye, and as soon as Lucky appeared her movements got jittery like she was real nervous."

The room was quiet for a minute while they digested Johnny's words.

"She lied." Jason said suddenly. "She's not clumsy, not when it comes to skates."

~December 1999~

"I tell you Jason Quartermaine sounds like the perfect match for my sister Sarah." Elizabeth said shaking her head, sending her ponytail flying. "They would have been so sweet together they'd keep a dentist busy for years."

Jason smirked. "You're one of the few, that I've talked to Jason Quartermaine about that thinks that way."

"Well I have to admit I understand A.J. a lot better now." She told him bending slightly to touch up a spot on the canvas she was painting.

He shifted on the couch slowly, his wound was throbbing again, a gift from his unnecessary trip outside thanks to Carly, and his scuffle with Nikolas. "You're much better than A.J. you don't wallow in self pity."

She laughed. "That's because you know me now. You wouldn't have said that if you knew me a couple of years ago. I could do nothing right." She sighed loudly. "To my family I guess I still can't, but back then it bothered me a lot more. No matter what I said or did, it was never good enough to compete with the rest of the Webbers especially Sarah."

"Come on there must be something you did better than your sister." He found it hard to believe that her parents could be disappointed in her. Then he thought about the Quartermaines and the abuse and pressure they put on one another. Maybe all families were like that. He briefly let himself think of Michael growing up in that environment, before cutting it off. It hurt too much to think of Michael.

Elizabeth had gone back to her painting and he thought she wasn't going to answer him. He was sorry he brought up a bad memory for her. He watched her work, she had gotten used to him, now when he watched her work it never bothered her. It was either that or the fact that he could never quite figure out what she was doing without help, so she didn't care if he watched.

"There was one thing I could do better than Sarah, better than Steve, heck better than most people I know." She said suddenly.

"What paint?"

"No Sarah never even tried to paint." She turned to face him. "I can skate."

"Skate?" He repeated. "What like roller skate or what do they call it, roller blade?"

"Yes that too, but first and foremost it was ice skating." Her eyes seemed to light up while she talked. "Sarah had been taking lessons, and Steven played in an ice hockey league, and I finally got to go too." She paused. "I didn't want to go at first, but then I got on the ice, and I loved it."

He could tell. "How old were you?"

"Seven. I was a natural, my coach said I had a lot of raw talent. There was nothing I couldn't do on the ice." She moved towards him. "I was doing doubles within a few weeks then on to triples. Figure skating was fun, the jumps were a thrill, but sometimes I would just love to race around the rink. I just loved to fly."

He could see it in her face while she relived the memory, it looked a lot like it did after a ride on his bike. "You were addicted to speed even then."

Elizabeth laughed. "I guess so. Anyway I kept getting better and better, and Sarah never did. Eventually she quit taking lessons altogether, of course she said she wanted to focus on cheerleading, but I knew it bugged her that for once, I excelled and she didn't." She smiled wickedly. "My rubbing it in all the time probably didn't help either."

Jason laughed.

"I was at the rink every minute I could be. I felt so free when I was on the ice, so in control, at least out there I was good enough." She sat on the back of the sofa. "Off the ice I would roller blade everywhere, just to keep practicing. I started entering local competitions and I started to win them."

"Until?" He asked, he could tell something had happened.

Her brown eyes seemed to fill with pain for a minute before she went on. "My coach was pushing me to increase my training, he thought I was good enough, that with more coaching I could compete nationally, maybe even the Olympics one day. I remember I raced home after he told me that to tell my parents. I just knew that this would make them proud of me."

She shrugged. "I guess I should've known better. They said no, that my coach was just trying to get more money out of them, and that I wasn't really that good." A tear slipped unnoticed down her cheek. "My grades, which were never that great had slipped, so they were going to cancel my lessons anyway."

Jason reached up and took her hand to offer her comfort.

"Back then, I still thought I could change their minds, so I worked hard. I paid for my lessons with my savings, I haunted the rink, brought my grades up, anything to try to get them to change their minds." She focused on him. "But it didn't work. So eventually I quit trying, I stopped begging and pleading, I stopped caring. Instead I started rebelling. I figured since I couldn't get what I wanted as a reward, maybe if I was bad enough they would give in. So I started smoking, cutting class, staying out late, anything to make them mad."

She got up from the couch and moved to the window. "It probably wouldn't have worked, but before I could find out, the Bosnia trip came up. I was left in Colorado and eventually I made my way here." She turned back smiling slightly. "You know that solid wood border that rings the docks on the water side?" He nodded. "I was planning on shooting that one day on blades."

"Did you?" That sounded like something he would have done.

"No." She answered softly.

"Why not?"

"Valentines Day happened, then Lucky became my world, and I guess I lost my nerve." She shrugged, before going on wistfully. "I don't skate anymore."

"Maybe you should." He said after a minute.

"Maybe." She moved back to the sofa. "But you'll have to go ice skating with me."

"No." Jason said quickly.

She laughed. "Yes you will. Don't worry I'll catch you if you fall." She teased. "We wouldn't want to damage your 'I can handle anything' reputation."

"No." He repeated firmly. "I am not going skating. But I will watch you fly."

"Oh you'll go Jason." She leaned over the edge of the sofa towards him, her eyes glinting in an amused warning. "Remember I'm a brat who likes to get her way."

"Jason?" Sonny touched his shoulder. He had zoned out on them for a minute. "What did you mean?"

"She was an ice skater. She wasn't a klutz." He said slowly still caught up in the memory, if he had stayed around she probably would have got him on the ice. "She loved to fly on her skates."

Johnny opened the First Aid kit and swallowed an oath.

Jason heard him anyway and looked down at the opened kit. "I thought you said this was new a week ago,"

"It was." Johnny said softly.

The box had obviously been used a lot in the past week. There were two empty packages of bandages loose in the kit, there was still some gauze left but most of it was already gone, so was the tape that held the bandages in place. The bottle of hydrogen peroxide was almost empty, and the ointment tubes had been rolled up almost to the top. There were traces of blood in the box, as well as some dirty used bandages.

"God Elizabeth." Jason whispered focusing on a bloody fingerprint on the inside of the kit.

~Ambulance~

"It's okay Cal." Mike said reassuringly. He had been allowed to ride along in the ambulance. "We're almost at the hospital now and they'll fix you right up."

Cal's body twitched suddenly causing Mike to jolt in surprise. Frank the paramedic who was on the other side immediately went to work checking Cal's blood pressure and pulse again. "Pressures dropping, Steve, you need to step on it, we're losing him."

Cal gurgled on the stretcher his eyes opened, but were glazed over in shock, or pain, a trickle of blood escaped the corner of his mouth.

"Talk to him." Frank ordered Mike. "Let him know he's not alone."

Mike looked at Frank, he could read the truth in the other man's eyes, and it didn't look good. He shifted closer and took Cal's unresponsive hand in his. "You're going to be fine, you'll be back at Luke's trying to draw to inside straight again before you know it."

Cal's grip suddenly tightened on Mike's hand. He took a labored breath that sounded raspy to Mike. "Spencer." He spit out finally.

"That's right Luke's." Mike told him. The beeping of the heart monitor was beginning to slow and that worried him.

"No." Cal gasped trying hard to be understood. The pain had receded, in fact he could barely feel it anymore. Everything was numb, and peaceful, he just wanted to close his eyes and drift, but something wouldn't let him. His promise refused to let him go. "Listen."

Blood started to come out of Cal's ears. "Frank do something." Mike ordered.

Frank injected another shot in the I.V. bag, but there was not much more he could do, Cal was slowly hemorrhaging to death, and even emergency surgery might not be enough to save him.

"Listen." Cal's grip tightened on Mike's hand until it turned painful. He gasped out finally, his voice was so low that Mike had to hover over his mouth to hear him. "It…Spencer." His hold on Mike went lax as soon as he spoke.

"Steve he's coding." Frank yelled, while Mike slumped back against his seat.

Mike half watched Frank perform CPR on Cal, trying to bring the man back. Did Cal mean Luke had done this to him? That didn't make any sense Luke had gone out of town weeks ago and no one knew where he was. He shook his head, watching Cal's body jerk in reaction when Frank used the paddles on him trying to get him back.

Cal's eyes were open in the empty look of death, and the heart monitor continued its monotonous squeal, indicating the futility of Frank's efforts.

~Kelly's~

Johnny taped the last of the bandage and then handed Jason a new glove to protect against fingerprints, he carefully put the refuse in his pocket then moved in the bathroom to put the case back where he found it.

Sonny had been exploring her room, trying not to linger too long on the photos she had on her dresser, photos of her and Emily, Emily and Nikolas, and one of her and Lucky. He couldn't help but look at that one, he could tell right away that it was taken before the fire. Her eyes were glowing like they always had back then.

He remembered the night of the fire when she realized that Lucky wasn't coming out, she seemed to go boneless and he had caught her in his arms. He couldn't remember seeing anyone look that devastated and lost in a very long time. He kept a hold of her, afraid she might try to run in the fire. She had loved Lucky that much. He shook the memory away and opened a jewelry box.

It had a figure skater on the dais, and it played a hauntingly familiar tune that he couldn't place at the moment. He saw a small jewelry bag at the bottom and pulled it out. Curious he opened it and pulled out a wad of tissue paper, he opened the tissue paper. "Why would she wrap a quarter?" Sonny asked turning to hold it out to Jason.

Jason walked over to him to take the quarter. It was dated 1999, so it wasn't like it was valuable or anything, there was no need to take such care to protect it. He started to put it away when the memory caught him.

~November 5, 1999~

"Hey, oh this is perfect." Elizabeth called with a grin.

"What is?" Jason asked a little cautiously. He'd gotten to know her pretty well in the past couple of months, and he recognized that look, she was up to something.

"Running into you, maybe it's a sign." She explained.

Jason scratched his chin. "Of what?"

"Or maybe it's a sign that you'll give me a sign." He looked at her in confusion and she went on in a rush. "Let me ask you something if there was only one painting of Lucky in the world would it be a painting of him here?" She gestured at the docks. "Or of him playing his guitar?"

"Why can there only be one in the world?" He asked trying to figure out where this was heading.

"Because." She glared at him slightly. "I only have one midterm art project and I talked my professor into letting it be a portrait. You know painting Lucky was the reason I got into the art academy in New York."

"Oh well." It was really important to her then he shoved his hands in his pockets and thought about it. "I don't know. The docks are bigger, but guitars actually look harder to draw."

Her face fell. "That's no help, I need a decision."

"Why from me?" He asked what he thought was a reasonable question.

"Because you're here." She snapped pacing away. "You knew Lucky." She came to a stop again with a groan. "And I'm tired of thinking about it."

"Alright." He pulled out a quarter. "Heads for the docks, tails for the guitar, okay?"

She moved closer a relieved smile on her face. "Okay do it." He flipped the coin in the air, and she grabbed it before he could catch it. "Guitar."

He snorted. "I'm glad I could be so helpful."

"You were." She told him touching his arm briefly. "Thank you."

He shook his head smiling down at her.

"You can think its funny all you want." She bent down and picked up her bag. "But you did help. I didn't know what I wanted until there was a chance that I might have to do something else. So thank you." She smiled again and began to walk away.

"Wait." He called after her, putting a stern expression on his face. "Hold on what about my quarter?"

Elizabeth turned her smile wider than he'd ever seen it. She held up the quarter in her gloved hand. "This isn't a quarter." She shook her head. "It's a good luck charm, and I'm keeping it."

Jason shook his head and watched her walk away. She always managed to make him smile even when she wasn't trying too.

It couldn't be the same quarter, there was no real reason for her to keep it. "It's a good luck charm and I'm keeping it." He carefully wrapped the quarter and put it back where Sonny had found it. He glanced around her room, what other surprises would trigger his memory, and how many memories could he handle?

~Jake's~

Lucky dug in his pocket for his lock picks, but he didn't have them with him. He looked around, he didn't see Jason's motorcycle but that didn't mean he wasn't there, he had to get inside. He moved back and looked at the window, he could break it. He glanced back to the street, the bar was close enough to the road that someone might see the broken window and call the cops. He didn't want the cops here, he wanted Jason all to himself, it was the only way he would be able to find Elizabeth. He moved around the side of the bar to the back alley entrance and tried the door but it was locked.

Lucky pulled the gun from his waistband and brought it up to rest on the lock, and fired. The loud noise ricocheted around the partially enclosed alley. A cat that had been sleeping under the trash bin, let out a yowl and took off out of the alley, several dogs began to bark in the distance but he heard nothing. The lock had broken, he pulled the door open and moved inside Jakes.

The bar was eerily quiet and dark, the smell of smoke and alcohol was so much stronger now, when there were no people around to dilute it. He moved further inside the main room, his eyes adjusted to the dark, and he could make out the faint outline of the pool table.

His gut twisted in remembrance of that night last spring when he'd walked in here and saw Jason wrapped around Elizabeth while she was bent over the table. He moved towards the table, his hand closing over the white ball that glowed slightly even in the dimness of the bar. Anger and jealousy had coursed through him, when he saw how comfortable they were with each other, the way she let Jason touch her.

The anger only intensified when she chose to stay with Jason after he told her to leave with him. Even back then Jason was trying to come between them, trying to get Elizabeth for himself. But he hadn't won, Elizabeth had come back to him that night, just like she always did, in the end she always chose him.

"I never stopped caring for Jason."

"Shut up." Lucky snapped throwing the cue ball at the bar, breaking the mirror behind it.

He panted heavily trying to force the anger back, to get control of himself again. Finally he turned and headed for the stairs. It was time to stop Jason from interfering once and for all. He paused on the steps, he had to be quiet, Jason was probably armed. The smell of smoke wasn't as strong back here, and he started to move stealthily up the stairs.

He paused sniffing the air again, in fact the scent that was the strongest was perfume. He knew that scent, it was Elizabeth's. He gasped in relief, she was here, he had found her. The relief faded and anger returned she was here and she was here with Jason. "No." He snapped. He couldn't believe that, Elizabeth and him were permanent, Jason must have brought her here, but she didn't want to be here, she was probably waiting for him to find her, and rescue her from Jason.

He turned down the dark hallway heading for the room, that Jake always kept empty for Jason. The door was partially open, and now he could smell the faint vanilla scent of her shampoo. His hand went to the gun and he drew it out slowly, he'd found her and he wasn't ever letting her go again.

~Penthouse~

"Hello." Carly said groggily into the phone.

"Carly I need to talk to Sonny."

"Mike is that you?" She sat up and switched on the light to look at the clock.

"Yes. Carly put him on, it's important." He had to talk to Sonny before the police questioned him.

"Mike he doesn't want to talk to you." Carly yawned loudly. "And I got to tell you, calling at 4:45 in the morning really isn't the best way to get on his good side."

"Damn'it Carly." Mike snapped. "Put him on the phone."

"Are you in trouble again? Because so help me Mike if you are…" Carly began sharply in warning.

"I don't have time for this, let me talk to him." He interrupted her watching a policeman head his way.

"He's not here."

"Oh God, is he okay?" Mike demanded fear for his son, overrode the approaching cop. "He wasn't with Cal was he?"

"No Johnny." She could hear the fear in his voice and she could hear something familiar in the background as well. "Mike what's wrong?"

"Carly I need to talk to him as soon as possible, something's happened and it's bad. I'll call back, but you need to get a hold of him." Mike finished in a rush hanging up the pay phone.

"Mike…" Carly glared at the phone for a second before hanging up. She had finally identified the noise in the background, it was pages for doctors. She got out of bed and began to get dressed, Mike was at the hospital, Sonny may not admit it but he did need his dad, she had to check on Mike.

~Kelly's~

Jason was still fighting off the latest memory when he moved over to Johnny who was thumbing through some books on small bookshelf. He saw lots of books on painting, a few mysteries even a romance one.

Johnny pulled one out and handed it to him. "This looks like something you would read."

"Johnny come here." Sonny called from the door.

Jason looked down at the book it was about Egypt. He had time to take a quick breath before another memory slammed into him.

~December 12, 1999~

Elizabeth pulled on her coat. "What else would you like?"

Jason moved slowly on the couch trying to find a comfortable position. "A pool table and a travel book."

She paused in buttoning her coat to smile at him. "Ok, I'll stop by the library." She picked up her bag. "And with that travel book where would you like to go?"

He thought about it for a minute. "Egypt."

"Egypt?" she paused in the doorway.

"Mm-hmm."

"That could be arranged." She said cheekily.

He looked at the book again, he had read this one before, but that didn't mean it was the same copy. Why would she have kept it? Especially when she got mad at him about it.

~December 22, 1999~

Elizabeth turned around. "What are you doing?"

Jason paused in his exercises. "I'm trying to get the strength back in my arm." He pumped the book up and down again.

"You have a wound that's trying to heal without stitches." She told him stalking over to him. "You think you can wait a while before you start working out?"

"I'm being careful." He said defensively.

She put her hands on her hips and glared up at him. "No. No. No. You need to take it easy." She huffed out a breath in exasperation. "You promised Bobbie, you promised me."

Jason shifted guiltily, while he looked down into her soft brown eyes. "I feel much better."

"Well that's because you're letting yourself heal." She moved closer. "You start pushing yourself and you're going to feel rotten again real fast."

He could see the concern in her eyes and hated the fact that he had put it there. "Whatever you say."

She grinned. "Then I say it's time for lunch." She stepped away to get her coat. "What do you want from Kellys?"

"Anything but soup." He didn't even try to suppress the grimace at the thought of eating soup again.

"Ah the appetite returns." She laughed. "That's an excellent sign." She moved towards him again as if to study him, to see if he really was feeling better. "You up for your old usual?"

He caught a whiff of her perfume, it was soft and sweet, just like her. The worry was gone from her eyes, a teasing light that he was getting used to seeing was there instead. He blinked realizing she was waiting on his reply. "Yeah that would be fine."

"Okay, I'll just get Egypt out of the way for you." She reached out to take the book from him and her fingers brushed his.

Jason felt an awareness shoot through him at that brief contact. For a moment all he could do was look in her eyes, he thought he saw the same awareness reflected back in her eyes. He forced his mind back to the conversation. "No you can leave it."

Elizabeth let go slowly, almost as if she didn't want to, her fingers brushed his slightly in a light caress when she released the book. "As long as you don't use it as a free weight."

"I promise." He watched her walk to the door, she paused and looked back at him. He felt another jolt of awareness, and he felt a sense of awkwardness, that hadn't been there between them before.

"If you feel ravenous while I'm out." She gestured to a bowl of fruit she was sketching. "Feel free to eat some fruit."

He knew then that she had felt the awkwardness too, and that was her attempt to alleviate it. "No thanks I don't eat art."

He turned the book over in his hand, and flipped open the inside front cover. PROPERTY OF THE PORT CHARLES PUBLIC LIBRARY. It still didn't mean it was the same copy. He turned the page, the date due said December 29, 1999.

He snapped the book closed, it was the same book, and that probably was the same quarter, she had been keeping a history of their relationship. That meant she had been feeling the same things, he had been feeling even back then. That day in her studio a line had been crossed inside of him. He had stopped thinking of her as Lucky's girlfriend, or Emily's friend, he began to see her as Elizabeth Webber a woman and his friend, and he had begun to think about her a lot.

A feeling of uneasiness washed over him again, he needed to find her and soon, for some reason he felt time was running out.

~Powell House~

Jenna Powell checked her clock for the 5th time in the past 15 minutes. It was 4:50 a.m. and her daughter Amy still wasn't at home. She knew that the girl was only visiting, and that she was over 21 but damn'it this was still her house and Amy had to follow the rules.

She set aside Whispers, the latest romance novel that she wasn't able to concentrate on, and moved to the window, looking out in the hopes of spotting her wayward daughter's car.

She was about to close the blinds again, when something caught her eye. The porch light on the Hardy house was flicking off and on. She knew that Audrey had installed a motion sensitive light, so she wondered why it was flicking like that. She opened the blind farther and squinted at the house across the street, trying to make out the porch.

"Oh my god." Jenna cried, racing for the door. She yanked it open and flew across the deserted street. "Audrey, are you okay?" She yelled when she got close.

Audrey was lying on the stairs, halfway on the driveway, once Jenna called to her the older woman stopped moving. Jenna crouched beside her. "Oh God, Audrey, hold on I'll get help." She told her when she saw the blood on the back of the woman's robe.

"Elizabeth…"

"Don't worry Audrey, I'll get her for you." Jenna said. "I need to get you help first." She glanced back at Audrey's open door, then decided to run home instead. She had seen one horror movie to many to go in a darkened house. "I'll be right back, don't move."

"Help Elizabeth." Audrey murmured weakly. "Don't let Lucky find her." She managed to get her warning out, before she slipped into unconsciousness again, but it was too late, Jenna was already gone. Her warning went unheard.

~Jake's~

Lucky tightened his grip on the gun. If Jason was in there with her, he was going to stop his interference once and for all. Elizabeth belonged to him and he was never going to let her go.

The anger was replaced by a familiar calmness, his eyes took on the vacant look, and he pushed the door open. He stood in the doorway for a second before flipping on the light and startling her, she whirled around in surprise. "Elizabeth." He said raising the gun. "I'm so disappointed in you." He walked in the room shutting the door behind him.

~Kelly's~

"Jason." Sonny touched his arm, speaking softly, he knew that Jason wasn't there. He had watched his friend drift off at various times while they searched the room. He knew Jason didn't daydream, so he must have been reliving memories of his time with Elizabeth. Each time Jason had come back from a memory, he looked more and more haunted. Sonny was afraid that if they didn't find something soon, Jason would never be the same.

Jason still hadn't responded to him, so he tried again. "Jason we need to go, Don will be here in a few minutes, we have to get out of here."

Jason made no effort to move, or to even acknowledge that he heard Sonny. "One of her suitcases is gone, she might have left town." Sonny said trying to get through to him. "We need to check the stations for her."

Jason nodded slowly and set the book down on the bookshelf. He looked at Sonny and saw the worry in his friend's eyes. "I'm okay."

"Let's go back to the penthouse." Sonny said. "We can check on some things, and then go out again, you can check on Emily." Maybe with some rest, Jason would be able to function better.

"No Sonny." Jason headed for the door. "We have to hurry."

Johnny entered the room again. "Lucky's room is clean and I do mean clean. There isn't even a speck of dirt or anything in his trash. Everything is ordered, with precision. You could bounce a quarter off his mattress. There were no papers of any sort, just some cameras, and a portfolio, of Gia. The only personal photos he seems to have are of Elizabeth, Emily, Nikolas and his little sister, other than that there isn't even any knickknacks anywhere." He kept the discovery of the weights he had found a secret. He didn't think Jason needed to know that Lucky had been working out.

Jason looked down the hall at Lucky's closed door, he knew enough to know, that if he went in that room, he would destroy everything. He glanced back at Sonny, Sonny must have known it too, and that was why he had sent Johnny. He turned away feeling an irrational sense of anger, he couldn't help his anger, Sonny had let him down, again.

Sonny saw the anger directed at him and smothered a sigh. He knew he deserved it, but he also knew, unless he pushed it Jason would never bring it up. At least the Jason he was used to dealing with wouldn't, this version he didn't know about.

"Let's go to the studio." Jason said abruptly. "Francis should be ready for us now."

Johnny looked towards Sonny and they both thought the same thing. If Jason had gotten this weird over seeing her room, what was he going to do when he saw the blood and destruction in her studio?

Jason caught the look between them. "It's bad isn't it?"

"Yes." Sonny said quietly. "It might be better if we wait a bit longer…"

"Do you think it won't bother me in a couple of hours?" Jason asked calmly. "That the destruction and blood that is more than likely there won't effect me later on?"

"No. But I think…"

"Sonny we need to get one thing straight. When it comes to Elizabeth and what is going on here, you don't the call shots." Jason told him. "Not anymore."

Sonny watched him walk down the stairs and wondered if he had lost his best friend.