Chapter 15: Pitch Black

He had always been stealthy; sneaking up on his younger sister while he lived at home but when he started working with Sonny it became about survival not fun. His fingers itched to pull the trigger feel the bullet release into the body of the one woman who single handedly destroyed the life him and Courtney built. The fury within him began to eat away ever so slowly at the common sense he used, Jason was making this personal and no one would stop him. He finally entered the office building cloaked in a thick blanket of darkness, with no moonlight to shine through the doorway Jason continued with difficulty. One hand firmly gripping the gun behind his leather jacket he surveyed the area squinting to see further in. From what he could make out a row of metal, doors were to his right, all of them appearing the same dull silver, thick and bulky to protect the people on the other side. His heart hammering painfully within his chest he continued on, hoping through the blackness to make out a specific room. A guttural scream pierced the air shocking Jason into pulling his gun out, his pulse became more erratic, and he became distinctly aware of how little he knew his surroundings. Clawing noises followed him down the hall, each door he passed bearing a specific sound, making him stand taller and hold tighter to the gun clasped to his side. That is when he finally made out the distinct doorway, similar to all the others but it stood out in his mind as freshly as the first day he saw it.

"Jason, no please don't let this happen don't let them put me here" He remembered seeing the flash of a needle filled with some substance and then it had been over. Only now he could not get Courtney's sobs out of his mind, her body crumpled on the hospital bed crying out for his help for justice. He could twist her feelings whatever way but the real reason he now stood in front of the heavy unlocked door was because of hatred. Jason felt it towards A.J for hurting Courtney but was he much better, letting the woman who killed his unborn child rest incoherently but comfortably in some institution. His finger twitched right over the trigger, until he finally pushed the heavy door open light shining from the room into the hallway. It was the first patch of light he had seen in ages, forcing his eyes shut for a moment. That is when he saw her for the first time in nearly two years. Her brown hair was longer hanging limply around her taunt face, cheekbones clearly protruding beneath the sallow skin.  Jason felt no remorse, he just stood staring at the position she was curled into oblivious too his presence and trapped within a stark white straight jacket. He remembered how she struggled and screamed in an attempt to ward off the nurses trying to put it on. It gave him an odd sense of satisfaction at the memory of her pain, but as quickly, as it came it dissipated once again leaving him with the blinding hatred he had entered with.

"Elizabeth" He sounded like an executioner calling her forward but his voice was too distant even for him to recognize. She looked up, eyebrows knit in confusion, her blank unseeing stare observing him for a moment before she focused on twirling her hair absently. Jason felt his emotions well up fists clenching and unclenching at his side as just another way to hold it all, something becoming increasingly harder. He could feel the gun become heavy in his hand and then Liz looked up unaware her large eyes opening a little further at the site as if a memory flashed threw her mind. Terrified she drew back into the wall moaning something unintelligible beneath her breath all while Jason watched impassively.

"Who… who are you?" She sounded like a meek little girl not the woman who had plunged a knife into his wife's abdomen, not the woman forcing Courtney into the dank depths of depression. She struggled into a sitting position very much aware of her arms being bound behind her back.

"I'm Jason you know… knew me" He finished realizing again how badly he wanted to punish Elizabeth, but something inside him stirred. His conscious was telling him Elizabeth had endured much more pain that death could bring. Her body was useless pumped full of enough drugs to erase her mind and leave her floating far from reality. Jason finally loosened the grip on his gun, feeling more at ease within the room then the dank hallway.

"Why are you… here… here" Tongue tied and tripping over her words worse then ever Liz looked up expectantly resembling very much a little child. Somewhere inside the evil lived, she was the closest thing to soulless Jason had ever met, mobsters never made it personal, she had.

"I'm here to make you deal with what you did" She nodded unsure with what he meant but not being able invest much more in the situation. Jason knew there was nothing left to do and as much as his head screamed for him to grab the gun and watch her bleed he left never looking back but hearing soft humming, a haunting depressing tune that lingered in his head throughout the walk back to the hospital. 

Courtney looked out over the city, perched on the windowsill of her room, she watched with hawk eyes the pavement below. She sometimes admitted to herself she was watching for Elizabeth, just waiting for the maniacal laughter to pierce the still air again.

"You okay?" Courtney turned slightly, smiling as Sonny walked in looking pale and confused. The fear for Carly was obvious in his eyes, which kept moving about the room, and focusing again on the door knowing somewhere out there, doctors were diligently working on her.

"She'll be alright" Courtney managed distractedly her eyes remaining on the sidewalk.

"What about you?"

She looked up quickly regretting it once she met his worried gaze, knowing she could not lie to him.

"I'm pregnant" She said it so quickly he almost had trouble catching the words, once it sunk in he too took a seat by the window.

"Elizabeth won't hurt you not anymore"

Courtney managed another glance at him shaking her head " You can't promise that no one can"

"Elizabeth is gone"

She didn't seem surprised instead; she looked intrigued urging him to continue with a fleeting glance.

"It was after you left, we sent her to a mental institution" Courtney found herself regretting that he didn't say she was lying in some ditch bullet holes marring her body. She placed a hand over her stomach tracing the outlines of the scar she knew still flawed her smooth skin; it took all she had to demand Sonny to kill Elizabeth.

"We couldn't kill her Scott was already sniffing around, but I would never let her hurt you again"

"I know" Courtney stated simply. The room became silent once again; darkness swallowing it whole, so all Courtney could do was listen to Sonny shuffle uncomfortably from side to side.

"I should go… ya" Gripping her shoulder he placed a kiss on the top of her head, light invading the room from the hallway as he left. Courtney glanced down at her hands narrowing her eyes to make them out; she did not need to see the band to feel its weight. The gold that shined so brightly beneath the Caribbean sun had lost its sparkle on the return to Port Charles. For a moment Courtney felt her stomach clench in anticipation of seeing Jason and their baby but then the cold dread set in causing her to turn back to the window.

Jason stood outside the door, shifting from side to side as if he was waiting to be aloud entrance. A few nurses smiled sadly at him causing a minute blush to tinge his cheeks at the attention. Only he could not seem to be able to force himself to make those few extra steps. The limber legs that got him out of harms very repeatedly felt like lead. So, he stood there aware of the looks and whispers preparing himself for what might be waiting for him inside.

"You know if you stand there much longer were going to start mistaking you for a statue" Brenda nudged his arm playfully, a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips. Despite the joking, her eyes remained filled with tears threatening to fall at any moment but somehow being held in.

"If you want you can go home and get some sleep"

"Nah long hospital waits are in this year, you'd know that if you picked up a vogue once and a while" Her good natured humour sounded less forced causing Jason to smile slightly in return but like all the emotions swimming inside him it didn't last long. She managed to notice his quick glances towards the door and then away again as if Courtney could see him through the thick wood and would become enraged at the intrusion. Brenda let out an odd warm chuckle " She won't bite, she's doing a lot better still a little shook up but I think she really wants to talk to you"

"Did she say that?"

"Not in so many words, I can just tell it's a woman thing"

"Go" She pushed him through the door way all at once shocking him with the fact her small frame could even muster enough strength to shove him. The shock value diminished once the door shut and he was alone in the dark, peering through thick blackness to find her.

"Hey" Courtney's soft voice emerged from deep within the room her blue eyes glittering slightly in the dark.

"Hey" He still had not reached her side his focus entirely on not tripping over himself on the way over. He could feel her close by as he finally lumbered into a sitting position in front of her, their eyes meeting in the darkness. The air seemed to thin in the room making breathing difficult, neither seemed to notice both more focused on what they needed to say.

Courtney launched herself into his arms with such force it nearly knocked him onto the floor, his arms immediately steadying them both.

"I love you" Courtney whispered desperately trying to pull him closer, Jason smiled for the first time in what felt like forever, it had been so long since he heard those words tumble from her peach lips.

"I missed you" Courtney pulled back slightly her hands still clutching his black shirt tightly.

"I didn't go anywhere" She replied closing her eyes as his hand found it's way through the length of her hair and to her cheek.

"I thought I was loosing you" Jason's voice was decidedly more timid then she had ever heard making her aware of how scared he must have been.

"Never"

Jason pulled her to his chest arms wrapping tightly around her, one hand absently stroking her stomach. Courtney could not help but giggle slightly startling Jason, who bolted upright in fear.

Laughing she pulled away taking his hand in hers and placing it on her stomach.

"We got our second chance at love and now we have our second chance of bringing a child into this world" Tears had clearly begun to fill her blue eyes but for once the were of joy not fear or anger. Jason had become a little stiller almost afraid to move, his mind still hadn't been able to process the past days, exhaustion slowly starting to set in all he could do was smile lazily.

" Really" Courtney nodded watching his hand trace lazy circles along her belly stopping every time at the scar that still marred her skin.

"Jason I need to see her"

"No" He sat up a little more, forcing himself awake.

"She can't hurt me anymore I need to know that, so I… so we can move on" Something inside her eyes hardened an undeniably sexy determination overcoming her, one he knew was no use fighting.

"Okay, but I'll be with you the whole time, I'm not going to let you get hurt"

"You know you're the second man to say that to me today, I have a fan club" Courtney's smile lit the dark room, as she slid beneath the covers of the hospital bed, waiting anxiously for Jason to do the same.

"I promise this baby is going to be safe with me until there born then the whole pack will be watching out for it" Jason chuckled eying his wife suspiciously for a moment before settling in and pulling her close.

"Did you just call our family a pack?"

"Hey, have you ever seen Carly without her morning coffee I love her and everything but she's the closest you'll get to a wolf in this town" Courtney mumbled into his shirt, feeling Jason's laughter pierce the air like a comfortable old sweater she had been longing to put on.

"I love you, Jase"

"I love you too, more then you could ever know" Then the silence returned, Courtney falling asleep instantly, while Jason stared at the ceiling thinking of all the ways his child would be unsafe in the world.

"Sleep, Hun we have nine months to worry about it all" He glanced down at Courtney half awake and staring at him knowingly. Kissing her forehead, he finally found sleep, never letting her hand slip from his grasp.