Babble of Gratitude: Wow thanks for all the nice replies for the last part, it's nice to know I do still have readers, and as your reward here is the next part. Hint Hint.
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Quagmire
Part VII
~General Hospital~
"Look Nikolas the only reason I'm talking to you at all is because Elizabeth wanted you included. I'm not asking for your advice, I'm informing you of things," Jason explained shortly.
"And the only reason I'm talking to you at all is because of Elizabeth," Nikolas retorted. "I didn't press her last night because she was so shaken and she wanted you there, so I backed off. But when I talked to Elizabeth this morning it was a different story. She wanted to see me so I'm here. Deal with it."
Patience was something he had developed in his work over time, but that was in his work, and this was personal, so he had a hard time trying to find his patience at the moment. Sighing Jason ignored the man walking next to him and concentrated on moving up the stairs back to the 6th floor. A quick look at his watch told him that his conversation with Benny had taken him longer than he had intended. His run in with the Cassadine Prince wasn't improving his already foul mood.
"Ignoring me isn't going to make me go away," Nikolas prodded him and didn't react when Jason turned to glare at him. "I still say Elizabeth needs to leave town."
"She doesn't want to go anywhere," Jason reminded Nikolas and opened the door that led to the lobby of the 6th floor.
"Elizabeth isn't thinking all that clearly at the moment. She's scared, she's reliving her worst nightmare, and whoever is doing this to her isn't just focusing on her. He's focusing on the people she cares about. You know how Elizabeth is, you know how guilty she is feeling at the moment. She needs to get away," Nikolas hesitated, swallowing his distaste he went on. "If you tell her she should leave, I think she'll listen to you."
Surprised Jason turned to look at him.
"She listens to you, and even though she's mad at you, I still think she'll listen," Nikolas said in a rush.
"That must have been hard for you to say," Jason commented.
"You have no idea," Nikolas moved past Jason into the alcove. "Will you suggest it to her?"
"It's her life, if she wants to stay it's her decision," Jason sighed. "I'm not going to tell her she has to leave."
"Jesus how does she stand you?" Nikolas shot back. "Don't you think your taking this live your own life philosophy a bit too far? Some deranged man is obsessed with Elizabeth, I tell you that you may be the only person who can convince her to leave to protect herself, and you answer me with some sort of evasion. I never liked you, but you had managed to convince me that you cared for her, apparently I was wrong."
"I'm not going to tell her what to do," Jason snapped.
"Fine then if the next box of chocolates finds it's way into her hands it's your problem," Nikolas informed him coldly and stepped closer when Jason turned on him. "You don't like that thought do you?"
Pounding on Nikolas no matter how much of short-term release it would provide him, was not worth it in the long run. Elizabeth would no doubt be very angry with him if he put Nikolas in the hospital, so Jason turned away and headed down the hall that led to Elizabeth.
"Woo hoo, Jason," a dark haired nurse darted out from behind the nurse's station and intercepted him. "Jason Morgan right?"
"Yes," Jason nodded.
"If your looking for Elizabeth Webber she's not there anymore," the nurse chirped and was unprepared for the cold look that came into Jason's eyes.
"What do you mean? Where is she?" Jason demanded stepping closer.
"I-I…"
"Back off Jason you're scaring her," Nikolas stepped up beside Jason and smiled charmingly at the nurse. "Do you know where Elizabeth is? It's important that we find her."
"I gave her a note from Audrey Hardy and she went to meet her, she wanted me to tell Jason that she'd be right back," the nurse kept her focus on the dark-eyed man. He was cute as well and not nearly as scary as the man in the leather jacket.
"How long ago was that?" Jason asked sharply.
Glaring at Jason Nikolas reached out and took the nurse by the arm and led her away from a volatile Jason when she jolted. "Don't mind him, he's better at breaking things, than he is at talking to people. All brawn, no brain," Nikolas glared at Jason in warning before turning his focus on the nurse again. "Now do you know about how long ago she left?"
"Maybe twenty minutes." The farther away she got from the glaring man in the leather jacket the easier she breathed.
"Thanks," Nikolas smiled at her again.
"Audrey Hardy didn't work today," Jason informed Nikolas quietly.
Nikolas nodded and his teasing expression vanished from his face. "Do you happen to know where Elizabeth was meeting Mrs. Hardy?"
"That's what strange," the nurse commented before moving back behind the desk.
Jason tried to smother a groan but failed, and Nikolas glared at him again. "What's strange?"
"She asked me how she could get to LL2 and I told her that she could only get there using that elevator," the nurse gestured. "But then I looked at my chart, and I saw that the only thing on LL2 is the morgue, who would want to meet in the morgue?" Desperate for details the nurse leaned closer.
Moving for the elevator Jason reached for his phone.
"You can't use that in here," the nurse called after him.
Jason hesitated then put the phone in his pocket, he hit the button before turning on the nurse. "Call the police, ask for a Lt. Taggert, and tell him that the stalker has Elizabeth in the morgue."
"Stalker," the nurse's eyes grew wide.
"Just do it," Jason bellowed.
"You're willingly calling the police?" Nikolas couldn't help but question.
Jason didn't bother to explain that the police station was closer than any of his people were, so he was relying on Taggert, nor did he bother to answer Nikolas at all. He just hit the button again.
~Morgue~
For a minute all Elizabeth could do was stare at her coat in surprise. Comprehension was slow in coming, but the sound drifting to her from the hall she just left spurred her into moving. Turning away from the elevator she ran through a set of swinging doors in the opposite direction. Even as she ran the sounds of muted music followed her, and she knew it wasn't the only thing that was following her.
Doors lined the darkened hall and she wasted no time in crossing to one of them, finding it locked, she moved on to the next, but it was locked. Breathing hard Elizabeth quickly darted back and forth across the hall, trying door after door, but all of them were locked. She soon found herself at the end of the hall and in front of another swinging set of doors. She put her hand on the door and risked a look over her shoulder back down the hall, so far no one had entered the hall. Relieved she turned back to the door and her hand slipped from it when she read the sign on the door. Morgue: No Unaccompanied Visitors Beyond This Point.
"Oh god," she whispered, taking a deep breath she made herself walk through the doors.
The room was darker than the hall, but there was still enough light that she could see stainless steel reflected back at her. She knew from television that the handles, on the little doors against the wall were for individual freezers. And each little freezer held a body waiting for an autopsy.
The faint sound of a swinging door reached her ear and she realized that her stalker had entered the hall behind her. Forcing her eye from the freezers she raced to the door of an office on the left but the door was locked. She grabbed for the phone on the wall, but didn't get a dial tone. The door next to the office opened relieved she started to enter it before realizing that it was a closet, and worse it had no lock at all. Backing out of the closet, she closed it quietly and turned around.
A door on the far side of the room caught her attention and she raced for it the same time she heard someone call her name. She pushed through the door and tried to stop, but her boots slipped on the cold floor and off-balanced she slid farther into the room until she hit a gurney. It took everything she had not to scream when a hand slipped out from under the sheet that was covering the gurney.
Terrified eyes swept the room, and to her horror she saw several bodies in the room, thankfully all were covered by sheets, but it was still a lot to handle. Covering her mouth when her stomach began to revolt she tried to even her breathing. The cold in the room made her look like a chain smoker, as her frozen breath escaped in quick little gasps.
Wrenching her eyes from the bodies she looked for another way out of the cold room. A door on the far side caught her attention and she raced to it. Yanking it open, it led to another hall, relieved she ran down the hall and the only door that was in it. She hit the bar on the door with all her weight, but it didn't budge. Frantic she stepped back and hit it again, and still the door refused to budge. Her eye fell on a lock box to the left of the door and the keypad there, the keypad that was keeping her locked in the morgue.
Adrenaline was fading and fear was rapidly taking its place. The hall was a dead end in more ways than one. The only other door was the one to the freezer that she'd just left, the freezer with all the bodies in it. She didn't want to go back into that room, but if she stayed where she was he would catch her.
Tears slipped from her eyes, and she absently dashed them away. Taking a deep breath she moved back down the hall as quickly as she could make herself. She had to be hidden inside the room before he entered it, or it would be pointless going inside at all. Standing on her tiptoes she peered through the small frost covered window and tried to search the waiting freezer. The frost and darkness made it impossible for her to see anything so finally she just had to open the door.
Elizabeth pushed the door open cautiously, trying to look in every direction at once, when she was reassured that no one was in the room besides the bodies she finally moved inside of it. Looking around she tried to find someplace she could hide. Her breath was frigid air but she didn't feel the cold. She felt sick to her stomach when she realized where she was going to have to hide.
The tears that fell froze to her cheeks, but again she didn't feel it. Without realizing it she had made her way to the gurney that was nearest to the door to the autopsy room. Her hand shook when she reached out for the sheet, and she quickly lowered it. The light was switched on in the other room, and filtered through the small window and she knew she was running out of time. Swallowing her distaste she picked up the hand and placed it back on the gurney, then pushed the gurney until it was against the wall. She pulled on the sheet, until enough of it was off the body that it hid the bottom of the gurney. Being careful to make sure the body was still covered, Elizabeth worked her way under the sheet, and straddled the metal bars that led to the wheels of the gurney.
Ignoring the body that was lying above her and the awkwardness of her position Elizabeth kept her eyes trained on the door and began to pray. She had barely finished her first when the door opened. Holding her breath she watched his feet step over the threshold of the door, then pause there while he looked around. Finally he took another step inside the room and let the door swing closed behind him.
Now they were the only live people in a room of death.
~*~*~*~*~
"What?" Nikolas asked when Jason stopped immediately after getting off the elevator.
"Its Elizabeth's coat," Jason held it up for an instant before dropping it on the ground.
"Which way?" Nikolas asked and pointedly ignored the gun that had magically appeared in Jason's hand.
Jason looked both ways, before turning to the right, where the light and music was coming from. Not waiting to see if Nikolas agreed he moved quickly for the door.
Nikolas took one look at the other direction then decided to follow the man with the gun. His hesitation brief though it was, was enough that Jason was halfway down the hall by the time Nikolas entered the hall. Putting on speed he caught up in time for Jason to glare at him in warning. Jason hesitated at the only open door, the one with light and music spilling out of it. Firming his grip on the gun he crouched and turned into the doorway.
"Elizabeth?" Nikolas called when he stepped up behind Jason.
"She isn't here," Jason moved into room and he picked up one of the roses from the table, and crushed the delicate bud in his hand.
"We need to check the other hall," Nikolas decided.
~*~*~*~*~
Elizabeth's lungs were burning but she was scared to take a breath. If there was the slightest chance he could hear her, or would see her breath she couldn't risk it. His feet had moved out of her visual range but she could still hear him moving around the freezer. She hadn't figured out what she would do if he found her. There were no weapons that she could see anywhere that she could use. Her hands seemed to be frozen on the bars of the gurney and she was uncertain she could grip a weapon in her frozen hands if she did find one. He needed to leave the room. As soon as he did she was going to make a run for it, but so far he hadn't left the freezer.
"Elizabeth."
Numbness kept her from reacting to the sound of her name.
"Are you playing again? I told you how much I loved to hunt."
Closing her eyes she tried to block the sound of his voice, but almost immediately forced them open again. She couldn't hide, she needed to keep an eye out for him.
Humming filled the freezer.
Desperate Elizabeth sucked in a breath then froze when the humming stopped.
"El-iza-beth," came the call again.
Finally she heard the sound she had been waiting for. The sound of the door on the far side opening. She began to move only to freeze. What if he hadn't left at all? What if he was still in the room just waiting to see if she showed herself? Indecision wracked her, but ultimately she had no choice. If she stayed in this room he would find her. If he had left the room, he would soon return, once he found out there was no way she could have gotten through the door at the end of the hall. Scrambling out from under the gurney the sheet slipped off the body and almost tripped her, but she ignored both the sheet and the body and hurried out of the freezer.
She was halfway across the lighted room when she remembered the elevator, and the fact that there was no way for her to escape on it, unless she had a key. The phone was dead. She had no idea what was at the other end of the hall, except for that room that he had wanted her in, in the first place. Who was to say she could find a way out that way?
All the thoughts raced through her brain in a span of seconds. If she could hide someplace someone who worked in the morgue would be here soon. Jason would be looking for her, he probably already was, she just needed to find someplace to hide. Turning in circle she desperately looked for someplace to hide.
~*~*~*~*~
"She wouldn't be in here would she?" Nikolas asked when he saw the sign for the morgue. "God I hope not."
"If she's not in here that means he has her," Jason pointed out and pushed open the door to the autopsy room. He was relying on his memories of being in the morgue when Dr. Dorman had been murdered to familiarize him with the layout of the place. But he could already tell there had been a lot of changes made. The gym that Carly used to work in was no longer on the floor, and the morgue had been enlarged.
His eyes swept the autopsy room but it was empty. Habit had him checking the small office door but it was locked.
"The phone's off the hook, do you think she tried to call?" Nikolas asked.
Shrugging Jason picked up the handle and hit the cradle button, but didn't hear a dial tone. "If she tried it didn't help," he slowly hung up the phone.
"What's through there?" Nikolas pointed to a door.
"Probably the freezer," Jason moved for the door.
Swallowing his distaste Nikolas followed. Jason moved inside the freezer and Nikolas slowly moved after him. "God," he hissed when he saw the body of a naked man immediately to his right.
"He shouldn't be uncovered," Jason commented.
"I don't even want to know why you know that," Nikolas murmured.
They both looked up when the door on the far side was pushed open. Nikolas had the brief image of a figure in the doorway before he turned around and ran. Jason immediately began to run after him, his foot slipped on the iced floor and Jason went crashing to the ground.
Moving past him Nikolas raced after the fleeing figure, barely managing to keep his balance he crashed hard into the door, before opening it. He ran out into the hall and turned just in time to see someone run through door at the end of the hall. Racing down the hall he tried to catch the door before it closed all the way but couldn't. He pushed on the bar but the door wouldn't open.
"Did he get away?" Jason asked.
"Yes," Nikolas hit the lockbox in frustration. "You need a code to open the door."
"Was anyone with him?"
"I don't think so," Nikolas shrugged. "It was so quick, I didn't even get a look at him, all I saw was his clothes, and they were black."
"Damn'it," Jason turned around and stalked back through the freezer, and stormed into the autopsy room.
"What now?" Nikolas asked when he got in the room.
"I don't know," frustration had Jason flipping over a tray of instruments.
The more upset Jason got, the more worried Nikolas became.
"Do you think he has her?"
Ignoring the question Jason forced himself to move.
"Where are you going?" Nikolas caught his arm and Jason turned on him fist raised. "You going to hit me now?"
"Just be quiet," Jason hissed and lowered his fist.
"No," Nikolas shot back.
Forcing himself to walk away was hard but Jason tried to do that. Of course Nikolas was too stupid to let him go. Nikolas reached out to stop him again and Jason merely reacted. Turning he shoved Nikolas away as hard as he could until he crashed into the freezers on the back wall.
Furious Nikolas staggered towards Jason. But Jason held up a hand to ward him off.
"What the hell…"
"Be quiet," Jason ordered and moved past an infuriated Nikolas to freezers. "Did you hear that?"
"Hear what?" Irritated and angry Nikolas turned as well.
"When you hit the freezer it sounded like someone screamed," Jason reached out and began opening the freezer doors.
"Jason the freezers are for dead people," Nikolas reminded him.
"What the hell is going on here?" Lieutenant Taggert entered the autopsy room followed by some of his officers.
Ignoring him Jason kept opening the doors.
"Jason's listening to dead people, and Elizabeth is missing," Nikolas explained shortly.
Jason had no problem tuning Nikolas and Taggert out, he knew what he'd heard when Nikolas hit the freezers. Reaching out he opened the next freezer and his heart stopped. "Elizabeth," he managed to whisper her name when he saw her lying immobile on the empty tray. His hand shook when he reached out for her. He was vaguely aware of the noise behind him, but his focus remained on the woman that he'd just discovered he loved.
When his hand brushed her hair Elizabeth flinched and jerked away, and he took his first easy breath in minutes. "It's okay, you're okay," Jason reassured her, reaching inside the small freezer he pulled the tray and her out.
"J-jason." Her teeth were chattering so hard it was difficult for her to speak, and she wondered if she could trust her eyes.
Seeing the fear in her eyes, he held up a hand to stop Nikolas and the others. "It's me, you're safe now." He slowly reached out and brought his hand up to her frozen cheek. Elizabeth's hand was shaking but she brought it up until she covered his hand with hers.
"Y-you … here," shivering she held out her arms, and Jason quickly moved closer and picked her up.
Relief and forgotten prayers, coursed through him when he took her shivering form in his arms. "You're safe. I got you and you're safe now."
~Penthouse~
"Elizabeth already told you everything she knows, there's no point in you hanging around here to question her again."
Amused in spite of the situation, because of Jason's obvious displeasure, Taggert merely smiled at him and settled himself more comfortably on the couch. "I'll wait."
As much as he liked the idea of Taggert making Jason uncomfortable, Nikolas was more concerned with Elizabeth. "I agree with Jason, Elizabeth told you everything. She never saw his face, all she saw were black sneakers. I don't think she needs to be upset anymore."
"I'm not going to upset her," Taggert informed him coldly.
Jason just shook his head. "Why don't you do something useful and talk to the nurse who gave Elizabeth the fake message from her grandmother."
The idea of leaving Elizabeth alone with two men he despised was unconscionable to Taggert, but unfortunately that was what he was going to have to do. Elizabeth had barely let go of Jason since he'd pulled her out of the freezer. He'd only gotten the story out of her, because of Jason's presence by her side. As much as he wanted to hate Jason, he couldn't fault him for his support of Elizabeth. He was going to have to correct her misguided support of Jason, but he'd wait to do that for another time. The last thing Elizabeth needed was for him to start questioning Jason in front of her, so he'd bide his time, no matter how much he hated it.
"Look Taggert, you saw how upset she was, if she comes downstairs and sees you still here she's going to get upset again," Nikolas prodded. "There's nothing else you can do here, none of us saw his face. We can't even give you a guess on his height. There's nothing else here for you."
Taggert got reluctantly to his feet. "I'll check at the hospital and get back to her," he paused beside Jason. "She better be here when I get back."
Jason ignored the warning.
"I mean it Morgan."
"Enough Taggert," Nikolas snapped.
"Shut up Nikolas, no bag full of cash will help Elizabeth so I don't know why you're even here," Taggert retorted.
Nikolas felt the dart hit home and ignored it. His relationship with Gia's brother was never going to be better than antagonistic, and he knew that. He had gotten out of control when it came to Taggert over the summer, and now he was paying for it, he accepted that.
Jason was curious by Taggert's remarks but didn't show it. It seemed he wasn't the only person that Taggert couldn't stand.
"I'll be back," Taggert reminded them both then stalked out of the penthouse.
"There's no point in you staying either," Jason looked at Nikolas.
"I have a very good reason to be here. She's upstairs in the shower," Nikolas reminded him.
"You heard her yourself she's tired, give her some space."
"I'll leave if you talk to her about leaving town," Nikolas offered. "He got too close to her today, she needs to leave town."
"Don't start that again," Jason responded.
"You can't be serious," Nikolas cried. "I would think that you of everybody would be more concerned about her well-being then telling her what to do. Or do you only reserve your concern for Sonny and everyone else is on their own?"
"Don't push me," Jason warned him.
"You know she would be safer out of town. And you know that she would listen to you over everybody else. Do the right thing by her for a change and get her someplace safe."
"I will protect Elizabeth and I will find out who is doing this to her," Jason countered.
Nikolas eyes narrowed in speculation. "Do you know who is doing this?"
Jason sighed wearily and moved to the door. "Leave."
"You have an idea. Tell me who."
"Fine," Jason turned around. "Spoke to your brother lately?"
"No," Nikolas shook his head immediately. "Lucky wouldn't do this to Elizabeth. Besides he's out of the country."
"How do you know that?"
"I talked to him."
"You called the clinic and they got him on the phone for you? Or did you call the clinic, leave a message and he called you back eventually?" Jason questioned.
Nikolas shifted on his feet and he had his answer.
"You can't say for sure that Lucky is there, I know my people haven't seen him there," Jason continued.
"You sent people there?" Nikolas repeated. "You don't trust anybody do you?"
"When it comes to Elizabeth, I'm not taking any chances," Jason explained.
"I'm surprised you're not investigating me," Nikolas griped then studied Jason. "You are aren't you?"
"Since you were with me when someone was chasing her through the morgue, your off my short list," Jason answered coolly and opened the door. "Now leave."
Nikolas was quiet when he moved into the hall, ignoring the guard he turned back to Jason. "You don't really think its Lucky do you?"
Jason didn't answer he just brought his hand up to his throat, then closed the door.
The action was enough for Nikolas to remember the time Lucky had attacked Jason with a knife. Sighing heavily he turned and moved to the elevator. It was time to prove Lucky was out of the country, if not he needed to find him before Jason did, or before Lucky did something crazy.
~*~*~*~*~
"You think its Lucky?" Elizabeth asked from the stairs.
Wincing slightly at the tone in her voice Jason turned around and shrugged. "I don't know, I'm not crossing anybody off my list yet."
Sighing Elizabeth rubbed her arms and moved to the couch.
"I know you don't want that to be the case," Jason joined her.
"Right now I wouldn't mind, because then at least I would know who is doing this to me," she admitted quietly. "But five minutes from now, I won't want it to be him. Don't tell Nikolas."
"I won't." Picking up an afghan from the chair he wrapped it around her form when she shivered. "Would you rather be upstairs in bed?"
"Too quiet," she whispered and pulled the blanket closer.
Jason watched her eyes flicker and settle more deeply against the cushions. "Why don't you try to get some sleep?"
Elizabeth nodded and closed her eyes. Adrenaline and fear had long since disappeared leaving her hollow and numb. Even after her showers, three, for good measure, she still shivered, every time she thought of the morgue.
"You're safe," Jason whispered and brushed the hair from her face.
"For how long?" Elizabeth asked and forced her eyes open.
"Say the word and we'll leave tonight," Jason offered and hoped she would take him up on it.
"It won't matter," her eyelids drifted down. "I can't run away from him, because he's always there. He's there every time I close my eyes."
Jason sighed but said nothing, and stroked her cheek until her breathing evened out and she slid into sleep. For her sake he hoped it was a dreamless sleep. But judging from her words it probably wouldn't be. His phone vibrated against his hip and he pulled it out. "Morgan." He paused to listen then checked his watch. "Set it up for tonight, I'll be there."
He picked the pill bottle off the table and read the instructions. He had about 6 hours before the pills wore off and she might wake up. He hated to leave her, but there was something he had to do, tonight. Standing he made sure the blankets were tight around her then kissed her forehead, and frowned when he found it still cold. When Elizabeth didn't stir he reluctantly stepped away from her and picked up his coat.
Francis turned around when the door opened behind him, and was surprised when Jason walked out closing the door. "What's going on?"
"I need to be somewhere," Jason explained. "You don't leave this door, I don't care if it's an earthquake you do not leave this door. If she wakes up before I get back, let her know I'll be here soon. If she wants Nikolas to come over that's fine, anyone else, you're in the room with them."
Francis nodded at his boss. "Are you sure you should leave? She looked pretty shaky. I don't want to overstep but if this is about work," he hesitated. "Can I handle it instead?"
"It's not work, I wouldn't leave her for that," Jason pressed the elevator call button. "It's about who is doing this to her."
The elevator doors opened but Jason hesitated in front of them. "I'm trusting you with her. Don't let me down."
"I won't," Francis promised.
Jason had no choice but to take the word of the man who had once trained him and reluctantly moved onto the elevator.
~*~*~*~*~
"Jason!" Elizabeth shot up from the couch in terror. Her feet got caught in the blankets and she staggered from the couch almost falling. "Jason."
Francis opened the door, startled Elizabeth screamed and stepped back. Seeing the room was empty except for the obviously terrified Elizabeth Francis shouldered his gun and stopped where he was. Holding his now empty hands out where she could see him he answered her. "Jason's not here right now."
"He left?" Confused Elizabeth looked around the room and when Francis took a step she backed up.
"He had too, he said he'd be right back," Francis replied.
"Gone?" The thought reverberated around her mind. He wasn't supposed to be gone, he was supposed to be here. He had promised her he would be here, but he was gone.
"Do you want me to call someone?" Francis asked.
"No," she shook her head and forced herself to move. "I'm going upstairs," she announced and ran up them as fast as she could. Not stopping until she was inside the spare bedroom. Out of breath she leaned against the closed door, for a minute before locking it, then moved towards the bed. Jason had brought her clothes over from the hotel. She wasn't going to try to prove a point by staying there again.
Her eye caught her reflection in the mirror and changing direction she moved to the dresser and the mirror over it. Desperate and almost unrecognizable eyes stared back at her, surprising her enough that she brought her hand up to touch her the cool glass of her reflection. If this was what she looked like it was no wonder Jason had left. Jolting at the thought Elizabeth turned away from her reflection and moved to the bed. Jason hadn't left for good, he would be back soon. But why had he left at all?
"Sonny," she whispered hoarsely and a very small part of her began to get angry. Even now, with everything she was going through his loyalty was still to Sonny. Collapsing on the bed she buried her head into the pillow. Sonny would always come first to Jason, she had to realize that. Once she did, she wouldn't get hurt like this anymore.
Unable to cry she turned on her side and curled into a ball. Jason would still help her that was going to have to be enough. She would just have to be very careful not to open herself up to Jason anymore. She would let him help her with the stalker, but other than that, nothing. That meant no personal conversations, no more hugs, just conversations about who was doing this to her.
The vows sounded hollow to her, and she knew it would be difficult for her to keep them, but she had to try. She could be destroyed in more than one way if she wasn't careful. Jason had the power to do that if she didn't take steps to protect herself.
Depressed and unsure Elizabeth closed her eyes. In spite of what she just promised herself she still wanted Jason here at this moment, she wanted his arms around her. She wanted him to hold her and tell her everything was going to be all right.
As if in answer to her prayers the bed depressed behind her with Jason's weight and he shifted until his arm was draped over her waist.
"Elizabeth."
Her eyes flew open when she heard the voice. It wasn't Jason holding her. Her scream was muffled when his hand covered her mouth instead.
~Pentonville~
Tom Baker continued his stretching even after the call of lights out, reverberated down the hall. On cue the overhead lights controlled by the guards went off, leaving the small lamp on the table by his bed as the only light in the narrow cell. Having the access to money had afforded him some privileges with the guards, one of which was the fact his cell was the last on the block, so he always had an additional 10 minutes before any guard reached him to make him shut off his light.
Stretching to the sky he was caught off guard when the bulb in his lamp suddenly exploded plunging the room into dimness. Confused Baker turned around to look and saw the silhouette of a man standing on the other side of the bars.
"You're going to replace that bulb," Tom informed him. Another benefit of having money was in having the prison's worst badasses as his personal bodyguard. In the near five years he'd been here, he'd never had a problem because of the badasses, so he felt no fear.
"I was going to wait to do this. I was going to let you serve your time and then meet up with you once you got out."
Tom was puzzled by the reply and stepped a little closer. The sight of blue jeans, and the familiar blue prison shirt, confirmed to him that it wasn't a guard, so his momentary concern vanished. "Go away."
"You see what I had planned for you was going to take a long time, and I didn't want to have to rush it during guard changes in prison. Besides I thought prison would be a real eye-opener for you."
Ignoring the man Tom crawled onto his bunk and closed his eyes.
"But you changed that, and now I'm going to have to take care of you sooner than I planned."
"You won't lay a finger on me. What are you? Fresh meat? You even breath in my direction and my boys will rip you open," Tom jeered.
"You're boys?" The man repeated. "You mean Vernon Aisles, and Joe DeMarco? I hate to break it to you but they're not your boys anymore."
For the first time Tom began to get a little concerned and sat up. "Who are you?"
"Jason Morgan," he shifted closer until his face was visible in the faint light.
Tom's mouth dropped open in surprise. Ever since he'd discovered who Emily Quartermaine's brother was, he had been expecting a visit from the famous Jason Morgan. But as the years passed and nothing had happened he has almost forgotten about Morgan entirely. He was beginning to feel panicked, but then realized that Jason was in prison clothes and was on the other side of the bars. That meant he couldn't get near him.
"You blackmailed and terrorized my sister. I was going to have you killed when I found out about that, but Emily convinced me not too. She wanted to send you to jail instead, so I agreed," Jason gripped the bars. "I knew you'd have to get out eventually and then I would deal with you."
"Deal with me? Look around you, you're in prison now, I don't think you'll deal with me."
"Do you really think I can't get to you in prison?" Jason asked. "On Tuesdays and Thursdays you work in the library. On Mondays and Friday you work on the prison newspaper, and on Wednesdays you work in the shop. You also have a nice sideline providing naked pictures, of either sex, to the prisoners, for money. You buy fifteen cartons of Marlboro a week and use them to make bribes, insuring your place in the food lines. You also pay Aisles and DeMarco $500 a week plus six cartons of cigarettes each to keep the sisters and the rest of the prisoners out of your face."
Tom swallowed hard at Jason's recitation of the facts.
"I was going to let you slide. I decided to let you think I wasn't going to do anything to you then come down on you when you got out. But not anymore. Now you're going to pay for what you did to Emily and for what you did to Elizabeth," Jason promised.
"Elizabeth?" Tom sputtered. "You mean the bitch from the park? You know her?"
Jason closed his eyes briefly. "I know her. She's the reason I'm here to talk to you."
"I never kiss and tell." Snorting with humor Tom laid back down on the narrow cot. "Now get lost. You can't get to me, all you're doing is ruining my sleep time. So go back to your own cell before I call a guard."
"You really have a lot to learn," Jason replied coldly and gave a soft whistle.
Confused by the whistle Tom opened his eyes and watched in horror as the door on his cell opened and Jason Morgan entered his cell.
"It's time I teach you," Jason moved for the cot.