As Tom walked back and forth in the diner, contemplating his next move, Elizabeth remained hidden from his view in the kitchen.

Moments after Courtney's exit, Elizabeth had planned her course of action. But she was still stuck on the first step, confronting Tom. She knew that by doing this she was putting herself in danger. Not just physical danger, but the danger that she might endure mentally. She never wanted to relive the time in her life where she had to depend on Lucky to survive.

She knew she was stronger than she use to be. The Elizabeth this man had attacked was a naïve girl, and she was a woman now. He was the coward, the one who attacked people in the dark so he would not have to face up to his crimes.

But he was going to face her and this time she was going to make sure that he'd pay for hurting her. Sure, he had paid before, being convicted and sent to Pentonville. But it was Emily that put him there; he had only been convicted of what he'd done to her.

Tom had yet to pay for what he'd done to Elizabeth.

She picked up her boots and put them back on. If she was going to stand up to him, she wasn't going to sneak up; she was determined to make her presence known.

He heard the clicking of her heals against the floor as she approached. He knew someone was coming but he hadn't known it would be her. He paused in mid-stride; convinced it was all in his head.

Convinced that the figure before him, clad in a deep red halter midriff- bearing leather top, black leather skirt, and knee-high black leather boots, was just a figment of his sick mind, provoked him to pinch himself.

She didn't disappear. She was there, before him, his to enjoy. He inspected her closer, her deep red-painted lips and blue eyes exaggerated by dark shadow and eyeliner, and her porcelain skin that was still just as he remembered. He licked his lips in anticipation.

She began, "I spent too long trying to erase the memory of what you did to me. I spent too long stopping my life from moving forward and letting what you did control me. But I got over that. I am over that. You no longer have power over me because I'm here, still standing, stronger. You forced me to become strong, to fight. When I'm thru with you, you will wish you never laid a hand on me."

~*~*~*~

Taggart and Jason barely had the chance to leave the police station before being bombarded by Zander.

"Where the hell is she?" He demanded.

"So, you've caught on Mr. Smith. Congratulations." Taggart said, mockingly.

Zander ignored his comment, "Where did you take her?"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Jason asked, frustrated with Zander.

"Courtney told me you showed up at Kelly's and took off with Elizabeth."

Taggart looked at him, "When was this?"

"This morning."

"She was at Kelly's?" Taggart asked.

"Yes."

"So you didn't bother to check where she worked Morgan before you took me out on this goose hunt?" Taggart asked.

Jason thought about it. Why would Courtney say he took Elizabeth? He couldn't think of an answer but knew that if anyone could shed some light, it would be Courtney.

"I haven't gone to Kelly's today. But if Courtney saw her this morning, she might know where she went." Jason offered to Taggart.

Taggart, confused, silently agreed and they started out towards Kelly's.

They left Zander standing there even more confused. But he already knew what he had to do. He took off in the opposite direction.

~*~*~*~

Lucky and Nikolas hesitated at the door of the old house.

"Maybe we should get Taggart to do this." Lucky suggested, remembering what had happened the last time they had decided against police involvement.

Nikolas turned to look around and could see Audrey's house. It angered him to know that all along Tom had been this close.

"Lucky, if you can't do this, it's understandable. You know better than anyone how Elizabeth was affected by her rape. How for months we searched to no avail. And then to have him just fall into our laps while trying to help Emily. If he is hurting her again, this time we know who he is and we can bring him to justice. Elizabeth deserves at least that. God, she deserves so much more. But if we can do this for her, let's."

"If he is hurting her . . ." Lucky started, ready to pounce.

But an older woman coming up the porch stairs interrupted him.

"What are you hooligans doing hanging around my porch?"

Lucky and Nikolas turned towards the woman. Nikolas was the first to speak, "We were wondering if your son Tom was home."

"Haven't seen him since he got out. He just forgot about his old mama and is probably off doing something stupid. What do you want him for?"

"We were just trying to find out where he was."

She opened her door, "Wait here."

She came back out a second later with a large cardboard box.

"When you find that ungrateful son of mine, give him this and tell him he's not welcome at his mama's house." She said, shoving it at Nikolas.

He took it and the old woman went inside and slammed her door.

Nikolas and Lucky went back to the car and started sorting through the stuff. It was Lucky who laid his hands on the black mask. As soon as he laid his hands on it he wanted to find Tom and kill him. He threw it back in the box.

Nikolas saw it and suddenly got an idea, "That could be evidence."

"I can't do this! I can go rummaging through his stuff. Everything I touch reminds me of what he did to her, and to Emily, and it makes me want to kill him even more."

"I want to hurt him too, Lucky. But if we do this wrong, he'll just go free again." He said, but stopped mid-thought when his hand landed on a small metal box.

He pulled it out and opened it, "My God . . ."

Lucky walked over and looked inside, "That bastard!"

Nikolas closed the box, "Let's get all this to the police station."

They both jumped in Nikolas' car and drove off.

~*~*~*~

The first place Courtney had gone after leaving the diner was the pay phone on the docks. She dialed Jason's number but only got his answering service.

"Jason! This is important, as soon as you get this you have to go straight to ." She started, but was cut off by the beep.

"Shit!" She muttered to no one, considering her next move.

She considered running towards Harborview Towers, hoping she would find Sonny or Jason there. It was too far to get to the police station on foot and she wasn't about to wait for a cab.

Before she could do anything, the phone rang. She ran to it instinctively, thinking it was Jason. She was wrong.

"Jason! Thank God-"

"This isn't Jason, Daisy." The man said, sounding out of breath.

"Leave me the hell alone!" She said, and then slammed the phone down in the cartridge.

She started towards Harborview Towers but did not see the man emerge from behind her. He took his gun and put it against the small of her back.

"Don't turn around. Don't scream. Don't think about running. This gun is loaded. I have no intention of using it unless you don't follow my instructions."

"Why me?" She asked, horrified.

"Don't you see? It was never about you. It's always been about Jason."

She recognized the voice but could not place it. She wanted to keep him talking.

"What did Jason do?"

Still holding the gun on her back, the man held in front of her a blindfold.

"Put this on."

She did as she was told, not wanting to anger her assailant.

When he was sure the blindfold was on, he took her by the arm and started dragging her with him.

"Don't make this harder than it has to be. I don't want to hurt you." He said, almost sounding sincere.

She started moving forward willingly, hoping her cooperation would help her down the road.

"Where are you taking me?" She asked, hopeful for a slip-up.

"The last place anyone will ever come looking." He said, giving her no hope.

~*~*~*~

Tom started to laugh, trying to unnerve Elizabeth.

"You put up a fight last time too."

Elizabeth held fast to the sprayer bottle out of his view.

"You're not going to get away with anything this time."

"You're still the same small, fragile, girlie I broke years ago. I can easily do that again." He said, with a sinister smile.

He moved closer to her. Before she had the chance to react he knocked the sprayer bottle out of her hand. She got loose of his grip and ran to the back of the diner, into the kitchen. She grabbed the pot of water and hurled it at him.

She had hurled it too soon and it missed him and just coated the floor. He smiled, realizing her preparation had done her no good.

She ran back into the diner and tried to get the sprayer bottle. But she slipped and fell, landing in the hot water. Her skin instantly began to burn and she was thankful when he pulled her up out of the water.

He took her hands and pulled them behind her back. He grabbed the rope off of the floor and tied her wrists together.

"Not feeling too LUCKY now, are we?" He began, "You're little boyfriend came late last time to."

She began to squirm to try and free herself from the ropes and his grip to no avail.

He pulled her behind the counter and threw her too the floor. She was motionless as he stood over her a moment, smiling sinisterly.

"Been practicing since last time?" He asked, mockingly.

"Did you let Lucky get lucky?" He asked, before laughing sinisterly.

He knelt down before her and unzipped each boot and slipped them off.

"Please don't . . ." She begged, the words slipping out like a whisper.

"Don't say a word." He said, the words triggering memories from their last encounter.

She shivered, momentarily being reduced to that naïve girl once again. But she did not allow herself to slip that far back. She pulled herself back and knew that she could outsmart him. She had the advantage of knowing Kelly's inside and out.

But her problem was overpowering him.

He began to unzip her top, a sinister smile on his face growing more grotesque by the second.

He leaned forward and started kissing her neck. His kisses traveled to her collarbone and she wanted to gag.

With all her strength, she shifted her legs underneath him and kneed him in the groin. He grimaced in pain and in reflex bit down into her flesh.

Then she remembered that there was a first aid kit underneath the counter, where she might be able to reach. The first aid kit had scissors in it for cutting bandages.

She tried to block out what he was doing and focused on rescuing herself. She could see the box and knew if her arms were free she could easily reach. But with her arms tied, there was a problem.

She tried to turn but his weight made it difficult.

A noise was heard at the door, a sound like someone was trying to force open the door.

Tom took notice and stopped. He moved slightly so he could see the doorway. It gave Elizabeth enough momentary freedom to attempt to get the first aid kit.

She knocked the kit from the shelf but her act had not gone unnoticed.

"Say anything, make one noise, and you're dead." He threatened; making it obvious that someone was at the door.

She worked the rope around her wrists and got it loosened. She reached into the first aid kit and grabbed the scissors. She concealed them behind her.

Whatever threat at the door of the diner had ceased, so Tom turned back to her.

"No more interruptions this time." He said as he rubbed one of her legs.

~*~*~*~

Taggart tried the doors of the diner but they would not budge.

"Looks like nobody's home."

Jason could sense that Elizabeth was inside. He could sense that she was in trouble. He was not about to let a locked door stop him from helping her.

"There are two doors around back. One leads into the kitchen, the other into the basement." Jason informed Taggart.

Both men headed around back.

~*~*~*~

With her blindfold on, Courtney tried to figure how far from the docks her captor had taken her. She knew that they were not far away and that gave her hope that if she did escape she would be able to get away.

He stopped to unlock a door and threatened to shoot if she even blinked. The second the door was opened she could smell paint fumes.

He pushed her forward until her knees met the cushions of a couch.

"Sit down." He instructed.

She did as she was told, still frightened, but trying her best to remain calm and gather as much information about her surroundings as possible.

"What did Jason do to you for you to resort to this?"

"He stole my happiness. He stole my love away from me, twice."

"Why choose me?"

He laughed, "It's the only way I can get them to see him for who he truly is. "

"You said that you don't want to hurt me. I believe you. Could you take the blindfold off?"

None of this had been about her. He didn't really want to hurt her. He wanted her to cooperate. Maybe she would if she only understood.

He went behind her, "You must promise not to do anything stupid. I still have a gun."

"I promise."

He untied the blindfold and she turned around.

Shocked, "Zander?"

~*~*~*~

Elizabeth pulled out the scissors from behind her back and tried to stab Tom in the stomach. Her attempt was unsuccessful and Tom tried to wrestle the scissors out of her grip.

And suddenly a wave of emotion came over her. She felt safe. She felt protected. She knew that Jason was not far away.

Just as she was about to lose hold of the scissors, she heard the scraping and then felt the weight as the register crashed down on them. The weight of the register on Tom caused the scissors to break skin near his abdomen.

Tom wailed out in pain as the weight of the register pushed the scissors further. He could barely move underneath the weight of the antique register and thus could not free himself from the situation.

Elizabeth could not move from underneath the weight. One of her legs was trapped underneath Tom and the register.

Just then she saw Jason and Taggart emerge from the kitchen. They worked together to get the register off of Tom and Elizabeth. Both men pretended to ignore Tom's wails of pain as they focused their attention on Elizabeth's safety.

Taggart moved Tom after securing his wrists in handcuffs. As they moved him, the scissors that were still held in Elizabeth's hands were yanked out. He wailed again but no one seemed interested.

Tom's blood had leaked all over Elizabeth's bare stomach. But the only physical injury she had incurred was a broken leg.

She dropped the scissors to the floor once she saw that Tom was in custody.

Her eyes met Jason's and for a moment they just remained there, unsure how to react in such a situation. Jason hesitated momentarily before wrapping his leather jacket around her to keep her warm. It was the least he could do, he still wasn't sure how close she'd let him get.

She smiled slightly as if to thank him and she caught his eyes again. She could tell that he was blaming himself for the entire incident. She knew it had nothing to do with him. Tom had been out to get her long before Jason Morgan had ever entered her life.

"It's not your fault." She whispered, trying to get him to realize the weight of the world was not solely on his shoulders.

He said nothing, but as always, his eyes told her the answer. That no matter how many times she could tell him he would never truly believe it.

Taggart started pulling Tom out of the diner. But Tom remained uncooperative, and turned to stare at Elizabeth. She did not feel a cold shiver down her spine or scared, she just reveled in the fact that he would be going back to jail.

But the fact that Tom was looking at her made Jason instantly defensive, and he wrapped a protective arm around her. As he held onto her as Tom was taken away, she could feel how much Jason wanted to hurt Tom.

When Taggart and Tom were out of the diner, he turned to look at her as if to asses the damage the man had done.

She tried to lighten the mood, "This doesn't mean I forgive you for kissing Courtney."

She smiled slightly.

He looked at her amazed that after everything she'd been through, she still tried to make him feel better. This woman constantly amazed him. She had been through so much and yet she did not dwell on it, she tried to help someone else. And that moment, if he hadn't already loved her, he would have fallen all over again.

"Tell me how I can make it up to you." He offered.

She smiled.

"To start off, you could help me up. I think my leg might be sprained or broken because of the register." She stated.

But he didn't help her up. He picked her up and carried her outside. With the afternoon sun shining above them he felt as though a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. She was safe, and he, for the first time in a long while, felt whole with her in his arms.