Chapter 5: Under the Sea

Courtney crept down the stairs, trying not to be heard but wanting to hear more of what happened to Jason. Unfortunately, she was unsuccessful at both.

"Courtney, what are you doing here?" asked Sonny.

The subject of Jason was closed immediately as if Courtney was some delicate flower that could be stepped on at the mentioning of trouble or danger.

"I was wondering where the two of you were," she paused, mentally debating whether she should bring up the conversation she had just overheard.

"Well," Sonny announced, "I have some business to attend to. I'll see you two. Bye."

Carly seemed unsatisfied.

"Are you going to call Jason back?" Carly spoke; and Sonny gave her a sharp look that showed her she shouldn't have brought it up, but Carly ignored it.

"I'm going to try," Sonny ended up answering after a moment's hesitation.

"Then call him now. I want to know if he is alright!" Carly made a grab for Sonny's cell phone, but Sonny moved back, grabbing her arm firmly but gently at the same time.

"Carly, just settle down. I will handle this, everything is fine."

"Can you promise me that? Now Jason is in trouble, and you are just standing here! Do something!" Carly cried, starting to become hysterical.

"Just go home. I'll meet you there."

"Sonny, I…"

"Go home," Sonny ordered, more sternly now. "You too, Courtney. This doesn't need to affect you."

Before Courtney could protest, she found Sonny leading her and Carly out of the club, lecturing them on how this didn't have to affect them. That was Sonny's way. Don't let anything affect family.

****

Brenda forced her eyes shut as she felt the plane descend quickly. She felt like Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, but she knew that this story couldn't possibly have a happy ending.

"Do you remember what you are going to do?" she heard Jason ask, his arms still around her. Brenda managed a weak nod, praying that this too was just dream.

It wasn't a dream. It was a reality.

Surprisingly, during the entire ordeal, Jax, the person who was supposed to be the love of her life, never crossed her mind. She never worried about seeing him again. The only person she was focused on, besides herself, was Jason.

Slowly, she opened her eyes, and she saw Jason, his normal expression on his face: serious, a little bored, and not frightened at all.

She began to wheeze, knowing a few minutes, or seconds even, were left of being airborne. Her stomach churned furiously, and she began to cough.  She wished she hadn't opened her eyes.

She turned away, and the contents of her latest meal spilled onto the floor.

****

Courtney decided to walk home instead of taking a cab; it gave her more time to think. To her misfortune, Ric was walking near the same path that she was taking home.

"Courtney," he called to her when they crossed paths. "We never got to finish our conversation, did we?"

"No," Courtney mumbled. "We didn't."

Mentally, she thought, and there was good reason why.

"Now what exactly were we saying?" Ric asked, even though he knew the answer to his own question. He didn't wait for Courtney to answer.

"Oh, that's right!" He decided to act like he was clueless, which wasn't a very good look on Ric. "I was asking you about your relationship with Jason Morgan."

"You know, I didn't answer your question about Jason before; you should have taken the hint from then."

Courtney walked back to her apartment.

"Courtney!" he called after her.

"Fine," Ric said to himself. "I have other ways to answer my questions."

Ric strode off, in the direction of Kelly's.

****

"Brenda." Jason pulled her up off her knees. "Are you okay?" He didn't wait for an answer. "Brenda, get ready."

Brenda had no time to reply, or even think, because, only a few minutes later, the airplane hit the ice-cold waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

****

Ric walked into Kelly's for the second time that day, and, as he did before, he walked over to Elizabeth, who was just getting off her shift.

"Hey, you're back," she said.

"Hi, can I ask you a question?" Ric said, sitting down and gesturing for Elizabeth to do the same.

"Sure. What is it?"

"You mentioned something about Courtney and Jason last time we talked. What exactly did you mean by that?"

Elizabeth fiddled with a sweet-and-low packet, but, after a while, she threw it down and began to tell Ric the tale.

"Isn't it obvious? The way Courtney looks at Jason every time he walks by or the way Jason makes sure that harm never affects Courtney."

"So, they're together?"

"Of course they are! It's the classic love story!" Elizabeth spat out the word love. "She's the mobster's sister, and he's the mobster's hit man! How is it possible that they never had sex at least once?"

Elizabeth stood up and slammed the chair back into the table. She stormed off, muttering words of disgust.

Ric leaned back in his chair and only grinned.

****

The airplane sunk lower into the deep depths of the ocean. The icy water hit Brenda and she felt her body resist. She seemed to have forgotten all of the instructions that Jason had given.

She forgot everything she had planned for her survival.

Being under water was like a completely different world. Brenda adjusted to the temperature of the cool water, and she felt as if she could stay like this forever. It was only later that she began to feel sick to her stomach from not breathing.

Jason, who was already out of the plane and swimming upward, had already opened the emergency exit door. Brenda couldn't think straight.

Jason. Water. Drowning. Swim! Swim and save your life! Get out of the plane!

She began to lose control of her thoughts. Everything seemed like a blur. The watery inside of the plane was barely visible now. Brenda's entire world was turning upside down, and she felt herself go unconscious.

Her last image was Jason swimming towards her and the expression on his face filled with worry.

****

Sonny cursed. He tried dialing Jason's number again, but he only got the annoying automated voice that told him that the number he was calling was out of service and that he should try redialing.

What was wrong? Jason always had his cell phone charged and on. Nothing ever could have forced Jason turn his cell phone off.

During his thinking, Sonny's cell phone began to ring. He hastily placed it to his ear and immediately said,

"Jason?"

"No," said a voice on the other line. "It's not Jason…"

****

Ric began to pace as he waited for the person he was calling to pick up. The phone only rang once before they picked up. They spoke into the phone. Ric replied,

"No, it's not Jason, but I do have some information about his that might concern you…"

A/N Okay, I finally got my plot up and running, and let me warn you, this fic will probably be at least 20 chapters. That might change later, but as I plan it out now, it seems like it will be 20 or more. I will try and post a new chapter each day now on, but we'll have to wait and see if I really do.