Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with General Hospital or anything related to GH.

Chapter 11: Caught

Brenda moaned in the darkness of the unusually cold room. She felt pain as she breathed while her wrists felt like they had been slashed. Her eyes flickered but suddenly shot wide open. Brenda let out a large gasp, fear growing rapidly inside her. She felt her eye lids against her brow bone, but darkness still enveloped her. Her pupils attempted to adjust and try to configure as to where she was. But no ounce of light was visible. Her body tried to stand up, but failed as the chains cuffed on her wrists prevented her from doing so.

"Jason?! Jason?!" Brenda asked, terror in her voice. A single candle barely lit up the room as Brenda noticed a shadow approaching her. As the figure neared, Brenda's insides knotted tighter.

"Nice to see you awake, Brenda."

"JC?" Brenda asked, squinting her eyes to try and make out the man.

"Sleep well?" he asked sarcastically, switching on the electricity.

"Where am I? What did you do to me?" Brenda asked forcefully. She looked up at her wrists, swollen and red, attached to the bed that she was laying on. Her heart raced in terror at the thoughts going through her mind.

~~~~~~~~~~ flashback

"They turned off the heat," Jason observed as he caressed Brenda's arms.

"Not between us I hope," She commented playfully. She could stay in his arms forever. She never believed something as incredible as what had happened could ever occur between her and Jason. Fate was a funny thing – that is, if she believed in fate.

"What?" she asked, concerned when his fingers abruptly stopped.

"Do you smell that?" Jason asked, as he slowly stood up from their position on the floor. Brenda's eyes wandered around the sauna as her nose tried to sense what Jason was perceiving. Her eyes froze at the sight of a foul smelling gas entering the sauna. "Oh my god."

~~~~~~~~~~

"Where's Robin? What did you do with her?" Brenda screamed back after shaking her head back into reality. She inched away from him as he sat on the bed she occupied.

"She's fine, for now," JC replied, touching Brenda's legs. She kicked his arm out of the way, causing him to jump off.

"Where's Jason?" she asked sternly. Her eyes were now like ice, fury beginning to build up in her.

"You never told me you were married to him." JC commented nonchalantly as he removed the thick drapes from the window.

"Where's Jason?" Brenda repeated, not taking her eyes away from the sick man.

"But of course it didn't work out. Tell me, Brenda, why do all the men in your life always seem to leave you?" JC asked as he turned back to face Brenda. His menacing eyes piercing hers.

"He never left me and you know nothing about my life before France," she insisted. There was no way he could have found out about her. She gave him a different identity, one that did not exist, or at least that had not existed for nearly two years. He laughed at her comment, causing the fear to grow once again in her. Why would he investigate her?

"Brenda, Brenda, Brenda. You're life has indeed amused me. I would have thought the little princess would have found her prince by now." JC's sinister face sent chills down Brenda's spine.

"What the hell are you talking about?" she asked uneasily.

"Let's just say I've done my homework." JC walked towards the thick metal door.

"You are not going to lock me in here alone." Brenda yelled back.

"I know you hate being imprisoned, but I have no other choice." JC slammed the door behind him and did not look back.

"Arghhhh! Come back here JC! Don't do this!" Brenda screamed back. Panic tried to shake the cuffs that restrained her wrists. But doing so only caused more physical pain. She stared out the window, dusk just beginning. Tears began rolling down her cheeks. All she could think about was where Jason could be. She knew he wasn't dead yet, she could still feel him. She could still feel the fire inside of her, the fire she felt that night.

* * * * *

A young Brenda Barett and Jason Quartermaine talked quietly outside of the crowded gym. Their Valentine's Day dates, the people they believed they loved, had just run off together, leaving their dates alone. Brenda cursed Karen for taking Jagger away from her, as did Jason to Jagger.

"So, you promise?" the dark haired beauty asked her friend. They had promised to stay by each other and stay friends forever. That was what they desired from each other. They did not want what had happened between Brenda and Jagger (and Karen and Jason) to happen to the both of them. They needed each other.

"I promise," he smiled. The couple, still a little hurt from the events, walked arm in arm back to the Quartermaine mansion.

"Brenda?" Jason's blue eyes opened immediately; it was just a dream, another dream. The cell was dim, a single light bulb providing the small amount of light in the room. His eyes wandered around and noticed that there were no windows, but only a single door, with a small barred window. He failed to notice the tiny figure in the corner; the figure that had been watching him the past ten minutes. He noticed the metal cuffs around his wrists, chained against the wall. "What the hell?" he shook his wrists violently, attempting to pull the chains from the wall. The pain surged through his body, but he did not care. All he cared about was finding Brenda.

"Don't force it, you'll just hurt yourself. They wanted to make sure you wouldn't escape again." A soft voice alerted Jason's ears. The tiny figure emerged into the dim light. Jason's eyes widened. He had not seen her in years, but she was certainly not as he remembered.

"Robin?" he asked cautiously.

"Hey Jase," she smiled as she walked up closer to him.

"You know, if it weren't for me, they would have killed you last night," Robin informed, touching his bruised face, the bruises that he had not been aware of till that moment. His mind flashed back memories of fighting masked men from imprisoning him and an unconscious Brenda. Robin's sleeve rolled down, revealing a few black and blue marks.

"Are you ok? Did he hurt you?" Jason implored. He noticed another small bruise by her collarbone.

"Nothing major, but I've been better."

"Brenda?" he asked with greater concern. Robin's eyes widened just as Jason's did a few moments earlier.

"You mean she's not out there getting help?" Robin asked with dread and terror in her voice. "Jase, I told you that I didn't want her to-"

"There were complications," he interrupted as the moments of the bomb and fire floated in his mind.

"What do you mean?" she croaked.

"Look, I promise you that I will get you and Brenda out of here." Jason said as he stared into her dismal eyes. Robin wiped a single tear from her cheek and nodded to Jason's pledge. How could she have not known that Brenda would have accompanied Jason, thus getting caught like him? How could she have known that this whole mess would have been her fault? If she never bothered to say hi to the poor guy, this never would have unraveled.

"Jason, I just…I never got to tell you," she whispered with deep regret and sorrow, "I'm so sorry, I didn't know…"

"It doesn't matter, shhh." He rested his forehead against hers, she was now close enough for him to place a tiny kiss on the top of her head, "It's ok, we'll figure something out."

"I have to go, before he finds me here." Robin opened the heavy door slowly, her strength diminishing. "Thanks for coming," she smiled just before the door locked Jason in dark loneliness.

A/N: Ok, just to inform you guys, the next couple of chapters will be mostly action stuff, so not much brazen romance going yet. Ok hope you enjoyed this chapter! Thanks again for your reviews, I really appreciate them!