Babble: The only way I get paid is if people reply. So please pay me… lol
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One of Those Days
Part III
~The Wild Blue Yonder~
It felt stranger then she'd thought it would feel, to fly. Or, she corrected herself to fall through the air. Her mind kept replaying an old cartoon she had once seen.
"I fly?"
"No you fall."
Elizabeth would much rather be the one flying then falling. Her arms were locked around Jason's neck, her feet hooked at her ankles around his hips, and her face was buried in his neck. She couldn't quite bring herself to open her eyes, but she knew she had too. She had to pull the ripcord or they really would die.
"You can't fly. It's falling with style."
She really needed to stop watching cartoons.
Elizabeth shook her head and turned to the right and opened her eyes looking for the horseshoe like handle. It seemed a lot farther away then it had been when they had been on the plane. "God." The word barely reached her ears. The wind stole the word as soon as it came out of her mouth.
Reluctantly she let go of Jason and reached out with her right hand towards the handle. During the few seconds it took her to grab the handle her brain had plenty of time to play out worse case scenarios in her head. The chute wouldn't open and they would die. She wouldn't be able to hold on with the chute opened and she would go splat while Jason fell at a much slower rate.
In the end Elizabeth didn't have a choice, she tightened her grip, closed her eyes and yanked on the cord. She was anticipating a hard jerk and she wasn't disappointed. Jason's body stopped its freefall abruptly and skyrocketed upward as the chute expanded, and thankfully she went along for the ride.
After the initial shock of being alive wore off, she gradually realized that the pressure of the wind wasn't as strong as it had been. She felt a strange pressure at her back that was propelling her even closer to Jason. It was hard to breathe, but at least they had stopped freefalling.
As they drifted the compulsion to open her eyes was growing inside of her and she finally gave into temptation and opened her eyes. The sky was a brilliant blue, she looked at Jason but he was still out, she couldn't believe he was missing this. She wondered if he would even believe her when she told him what happened. Feeling braver Elizabeth looked down.
"Oh man." It was unnerving to see the ground below her, with nothing between her and it, especially thousands of feet. It was unsettling but not as scary as she'd thought it would be. She relaxed slightly deciding she might as well enjoy the ride, because it looked like they were going to survive it. She would feel a lot better if Jason's arms were wrapped around her, and helping to support her weight. She still felt a bit precarious, like she could fall.
As if she had spoken the words aloud a sudden gust of wind came from underneath them and caught her off-guard. Elizabeth screamed and tightened her arms around his neck, when her foot jerked and slipped free of his hips. She tried to wrap her legs around him again, but it was hard to move against the force of the wind. Another blast of wind came from the side and without someone to control the parachute, and move it with the wind, the chute began to twist.
Elizabeth tried hard to hold on but the spiraling they were doing kept increasing and her arms were getting tired of holding her up. Without her legs to help support some of the weight she was beginning to slip.
"Jason wake up." Elizabeth screamed for help as they were buffeted by the wind again and her hands slipped farther apart. Another rotation, and her hands broke loose of each other and slipped from his neck.
Elizabeth managed to catch herself by grabbing his hips. "Wake up." The wind rocked them again and again she slipped. Gravity began to work and her body slid down his, until she was gripping his right leg around his thigh, her legs were kicking out trying to propel her back up.
Her strength was going, and she couldn't help but look down again. The ground was a lot closer then it had been, but it still seemed to be too far away to live if she fell. But gravity was an unforgiving thing. You couldn't beg with it, or trick it, in the end it would win. Elizabeth slid further down his leg until she was holding onto his boot.
Tears slipped from her eyes and she tried to lever herself back up his body. The wind whipped them again and tore her free. "Jason." Elizabeth screamed as she began her freefall into nothing.
~Port Charles Underground Lab~
Nikolas looked through the glass at his dead father and tried not to get sick. He'd always known that his grandmother was ruthless, but until this point he hadn't known that she was insane as well. Insanity was the only way he could explain her actions. No rational person would freeze someone for 20 years, the idea of it sounded like the stupid plot of some asinine soap opera.
He looked around the lab, grateful that Helena had let him alone after her disclosure. He didn't know if he could act like he knew he was supposed too. There was no way for him to prepare himself for this revelation. He had thought she had reached her pinnacle of cruelty when she had ordered him to kill Elizabeth, but to freeze her own son and then propose to unthaw him after twenty years was truly idiotic.
"She is insane." Nikolas admitted, focusing on his father again. It was strange to look at him, his only exposure he could ever remember having with his father was through portraits and photographs. Now here he was, he looked the same as he had in the photographs, but it was still different. "You were insane as well, so I hear. I have to wonder if it runs in the family," he sighed. "I hope Laura's genes are the dominant ones."
"I won't let her win. I won't let her continue to use, threaten, and kill people all in the name of her endless request for power and domination." Nikolas rested his hands on the glass. "So I will do whatever I have to do, to convince her that I support her. If that means I tell her I can't wait for her to resuscitate you, I'll do it." He lowered his voice. "But hear me father, if you are truly in there, if she is successful. And for some ungodly reason she manages to bring you back, I will do whatever I have too to destroy you and her. I hate you both for what you've done, both now and in the past."
Stavros' face remained impassive but inside he seethed. This was not the Nikolas he had expected.
Feeling a little more in control, Nikolas shifted so he was leaning against the chamber, and pulled his phone from his pocket. After this he needed a feeling a normalcy. The first message was from Stefan. He pressed the volume up on the control pad trying to hear what his uncle said. If he needed another reason to hate Helena, Stefan had just provided it.
Stefan was in jail for the murder of Chloe and he'd had no choice but to leave him in there. For that alone he could kill Helena. His musings were broken off when a loud feminine voice came over the receiver. He pulled the phone away from his ear and lowered the volume.
"Nikolas it's me Elizabeth. I know I'm not supposed to call…"
Nikolas pressed the phone to his ear and listened to the rest of her message. Fear clutched at him when he heard her swear and then the line go dead. According to the memory she had called at 4:18 p.m., he looked at his watch it was 5:40 now. He needed to get out of here. He put the phone away and headed for the door.
"Nikolas where are you going?"
He wiped the concern from his face and carefully stripped all emotion from his eyes before turning to face Helena. "I was ready to leave. I have no desire to be around my father. He is dead after all."
Helena moved further into the room. "But what if he wasn't? Surely you've considered how wonderful that would be. You have missed your father your whole life. What if I could give him back to you?"
Nikolas looked her in the eyes and had no qualms in lying to her. "I can't allow myself to dream of that grandmother. I have no desire to be disappointed. You are correct I have dreamed of meeting my father, but I will not get my hopes up for something that will never be."
"Oh my darling Nikolas." Helena paused by Stavros, she was thrilled with his reply, she readied herself to fulfill his dream. "You see…" she glanced down at Stavros and trailed off when he opened his eyes and shook his head.
"Grandmother I really do need some time alone." Nikolas turned back to the door. "I'll see you later."
Stavros pushed the glass up as soon as Nikolas closed the door.
"Stavros why did you stop me from telling him?" Helena stepped back so he could get out of the container.
"Not now mother. For now he doesn't need to know." Stavros ordered in dismissal before heading out the door and following his son.
~Splat~
Elizabeth's scream was cut off when she hit the water at full speed. The force she was traveling was so fast that it propelled her deep under the water. The impact stunned her, her breath was gone, her mouth open, and the suddenness of her stop stunned her so she did nothing for a second. Pain entered her body along with the water and that propelled her to move. She began to kick, trying to fight her way to the surface. Her lungs were burning, when she finally broke the water and found the daylight again. She sucked in air and floated in the water. It was hard to force air back in her lungs. Fear was still clogging her throat, making it difficult to breathe.
Elizabeth focused on the shore, which was about 10 yards away and forced herself to move towards it. After an eternity her feet touched the ground and she staggered the rest of the way out of the water and collapsed on the sand. The contact with the sand finally broke her fear and reaction began to set in. Her shaking intensified as she coughed up water.
She had done it, she'd jumped out of an airplane without a parachute and she had survived. She laid there for a few minutes longer trying to let that fact sink in. Jason's image suddenly entered her head and compelled her to move. She struggled to her feet and looked around hoping to see a parachute.
Her eyes widened as she finally took in her surroundings. She was at the edge of a small lagoon. There were cliffs on three sides of it, the only way out was through the shore and to the trees visible behind it. The beach she was on was only about 25 yards long.
"Jason." She yelled and her voice echoed back to her. "That makes a lot of sense Webber, calling for a man who is unconscious." Elizabeth shook her head and began to walk towards the trees, wringing the dripping water from her hair as she did.
~*~
"Jason, great now I'm back to screaming again." Elizabeth muttered as she walked through another set of tress. She had been looking for Jason for almost a half an hour now and it was getting harder and harder to battle back the fear.
What if he had landed in some water too? If he was still unconscious, and the parachute covered him, he could drown. Or what if he continued to ride the wind, he could have landed miles away from her. She didn't even know if she was heading in the right direction.
"I'm trying to stay positive here Jason." She announced to the squirrel on the ground beside her, startling it so it took off running. She had discovered it was easier for her to go on if she talked. "But I left all my positive pills in Port Charles, so I'm existing on reality here. And reality is scary as hell for me." She entered a small clearing and couldn't help but notice how dark the sky was getting. She had to find him before night fell.
"Suck it up Webber." She ordered and plunged into the next grove of trees. She had learned the hard way that she needed to watch her step if she didn't want to fall. She was so busy watching the ground that she let out a scream when something went brushing by her head.
"Jesus." Elizabeth cried, jerking backward, her hands automatically going to her head to protect it. She focused on the area around her and was stunned when she saw a pair of boots hanging there a little above eye level. "Jason?"
She took her first easy breath in hours when she realized that he was still inside the boots. The smile faded when she realized he was still unconscious. "Why a tree Jason? With everyplace you could have landed, why did you have to pick a tree?" She demanded putting her hands on her hips. "And a tall tree to boot?"
Elizabeth studied the tree he was hanging from, there were several limbs low enough that she climb them if she had too. There was also a branch a little over his head that went out far enough that she could probably reach his harness. The only thing was, she couldn't help but remember the last time she had climbed a tree. That time she had found the ground rather rudely and ended up with a broken arm. That had been her last tree climbing experience. When she used to sneak out of Audrey's she had thanked god for the trellis on the side of the house, otherwise she would have never went anywhere.
"I suppose I could just let you hang there, the main thing is that I found you and I know you're okay." Elizabeth moved back over and took up a position underneath him and looked up at him. "What you have no opinion?" Even when he was unconscious she couldn't help but tease. She knew that most of it was born out of relief that they were both still alive, but still it felt good to be around him again. Her eyes caught a smear of blood on his forehead and her relief faded. She touched his boot, turning him so she could see his face clearer in the dim light.
That slash of red made up her mind for her and she headed for the tree. She rubbed her hands on her still damp pants before jumping up and grabbing the lowest limb. "Oh nuts." She grumbled when her already sore muscles wept at that move.
~Docks~
"Sonny." Nikolas stepped out of the shadows when he recognized the man heading his way.
"Nikolas." Sonny stopped n surprise and looked around. "We shouldn't be seen talking."
"We don't have a choice," Nikolas kept his voice low, and his eyes trained on the man in the suit. "I got a voicemail from Elizabeth. She said Jason was kidnapped and she followed the kidnappers to an airport."
"What?" Sonny shook his head automatically. Jason was too good to be caught off-guard, especially if Elizabeth was around him. "That's impossible."
"Is he with Elizabeth?" Nikolas demanded and when Sonny didn't answer he went on. "Then its possible. Elizabeth sounded scared on the phone and she was cutoff rather abruptly." He was trying to block out the memory of how the call had ended.
"Did she say how many?" Sonny nodded at Johnny for him to come into hearing range.
"She said it was a redheaded woman and two men. She also mentioned that Jason had to be alive on delivery but that was it." Nikolas ran a hand through his short dark hair. He had hoped by sending Elizabeth away that he was getting her out of danger, now it seemed like he was sending her into it. He could tell from Sonny's expression that he had no idea that this had happened, or that it was even a possibility, and that concerned him. Sonny had never struck him as the type to be caught off-guard. "Look Sonny she was talking on the phone and then she sort of screamed and it went dead. They might have her now too, you know where she is, so help her."
"I will." Sonny snapped, trying to think. "She said they were at an airport?"
"Yes."
The distant sound of voices reached their ears and all three men tensed. "You need to leave." Sonny ordered Nikolas.
Nikolas wanted to protest but knew Sonny was right. "You have to keep me informed."
Sonny nodded and Nikolas hurried away.
"Johnny contact Manny and have him check out the house. He should still be there, he wasn't supposed to leave until Jason checked in with him." Sonny began as he headed down the docks towards his waiting limo. "Then get Francis to the penthouse, he's going down there. Have Benny start checking, this sounded like a professional grab. Since they didn't' kill him there, it is probably a bounty shot. Find out who wants Jason, I don't like this." His eyes flashed angrily, someone was going to pay.
Stavros waited until he couldn't hear their voices anymore before he stepped out of the shadows. So Elizabeth Webber was not only alive, she was with Jason Morgan. He frowned in the direction his son had disappeared. His son was working with the mob against Helena. The white of his teeth flashed in the dark as he gave a feral smile. There was so much of him in his son, he began to whistle under his breath as he headed back to the lab.
~The Woods~
"Oh God, I'm sorry Jason." Elizabeth called to him as she dropped down from the tree and hurried over to where Jason was lying in a heap on the ground. "I didn't think you'd fall quite so hard. Please be okay."
She crouched beside him, and pulled on his shoulder until his head was resting on her knees. "Jason?" She whispered his name, while running a hand over his face. The blood on his forehead, that had scared her so, was already dried. She felt the scratch, along his hairline that had caused the blood, next she checked his pulse and sighed in relief when she found the steady beat of it.
Elizabeth shifted so she was sitting on the ground and tugged on his shoulders so his head and shoulders were on her lap. Night had almost fully claimed them and the trees around them were beginning to come alive with their night noises.
"So this is fun." She spoke nervously. She enjoyed the outdoors, but little miss nature girl she was not, and truth be told she would much rather look at the sky then dark tree limbs.
Elizabeth glanced at Jason whose eyes were still closed. She sighed and touched his face, at least while he was unconscious he couldn't be cold to her, so for that she was relieved. But it was rapidly coming to a point that she would rather have him awake and stiff with her, then asleep leaving her all alone.
"Well I think I'll go explore a bit, and see if I can't find a better place for us to rest." She put his head back on the ground and got to her feet. "Don't go anywhere." She shook her head, man she needed help.
~Penthouse~
"Mr. Corinthos." Manny spoke nervously, knowing his boss wasn't going to like his report.
"What did you find?"
"When I got to the house the front door was wide open, there was a radio left on in the room Miss Webber was using, and her curling iron was still on in the bathroom. Jason had definitely been here, it looks like he was working on his bike, some parts are still spread out on the drive." Manny paused and shook his head in confusion. "I even found an umbrella from the house, on the ground next to some oil bottles, but it hasn't rained here in weeks. But there is no one here."
"Damn." It was looking more and more like what Nikolas had told him was correct and Jason had been grabbed. "Elizabeth said she trailed them to an airport. There are only three airports on the island, one commercial and two private ones. I want you to check them out carefully." Sonny warned him. "I don't want to tip anyone to the fact that we know he's gone. And I don't want anyone else to find out about this."
"There's more on the ground I found a dart, it's very small, like it would fit a gun."
"That would explain how they got Jason without a struggle." Sonny waved Francis and Johnny in the room when the penthouse door opened.
"After you check the airports call me back. Francis will be on the next flight, he should be there in about 5 hours. You'll follow his lead when he arrives." Sonny ordered and hung up before Manny had a chance to reply.
Sonny faced the new arrivals. "It looks like what the Cassadine kid said is true. Jason was at the house and now both of them are missing. I haven't been able to reach Jason on his cell either, and that's a first."
"I've got Benny checking around." Johnny offered. "So far nothing."
Sonny poured himself a scotch, he was trying to keep his focus on tow levels, both as a concerned friend, and as a worried partner in a dangerous business. "We need to find him and Elizabeth, and we need to find them now." He focused on Francis. "I don't need to tell you how important this is, do I?"
"No." Everyone knew Sonny considered Jason as is family, and he probably knew better then anyone just how much respect Sonny had for Elizabeth.
"We need to keep this as quiet as possible. If word gets out that Jason Morgan is missing or dead, things will get much worse." Sonny reached in his desk, retrieved a phone and tossed it to Francis. "Use that for communicating with me, and give it to Jason when you find him."
Francis nodded and put the phone away. "I should get to the airport. My flight leaves in 45 minutes."
Sonny nodded and held out his hand in farewell, letting his eyes say what he couldn't bring himself to say. "Find them."
~Clearing~
"God Jason I think my couch is easier to move then you." Elizabeth grumbled and managed to drag Jason a few more feet before having to rest again. Luckily for her there had been a clearing on the other side of the trees she had found him in. This clearing even had a small stream and that was where she was aiming for.
If nothing else her adventures today had given her a new respect for gravity. There was an incline leading down into the clearing, but unfortunately for her, it stopped before reaching the stream. So she was back to the dragging method, and muscles she didn't know she had were screaming at her in revolt.
"I suppose I should tell you that I borrowed your bike." Elizabeth began conversationally as she reached under his shoulders again and tugged hard. "I didn't really have a choice," she huffed out a breath. "It's fine I'm sure you won't even notice that scratch on the right side."
She gave another hard tug and her feet slipped out from underneath her causing her to fall hard on her butt. She laid back on the ground in exhaustion, part of Jason's upper body was pinning her legs to the ground. She studied the sky, the first of the evening's stars were beginning to come to life, she was glad it was a clear night. Reluctantly she sat up, they were on a relatively flat patch of grass about 7ft. from the stream. "You know what, I think here is a good spot to rest."
Elizabeth shifted carefully and got to her feet heading for the stream. She knew there were probably a dozen good reasons why she shouldn't drink from the stream, but she was so thirsty that she couldn't think of one. Still she sipped in moderation, only enough to quench the worst of her thirst.
"I don't suppose you have a handkerchief?" She turned to face him. "I doubt you do." She studied his jeans. "And it probably wouldn't be a good idea for me to go looking in your pockets for one. It would be fun though." With a slight laugh she turned back to the water and dipped her arm in the cold spring.
She crossed back to him and used her now dripping sleeve to bathe his face, getting off the remains of the blood and the dirt. She also hoped that the coldness would awaken him, but Jason slept on. "You know I'm going to start calling you Rip if you keep this up."
Elizabeth sighed and sat on the ground next to him, the day had taken its toll on her, and exhaustion was seeping in. "I suppose I should keep watch, for what I have no idea, but that's what they always do when someone is lost in the woods." Her eyes widened. "Of course the other thing they do, is get chased by some crazed axe murderer. But lets not go there."
A screech sounded from the woods, and she shifted a little closer to Jason. "Are you cold?" She asked even though the night was still pretty humid. She rested her head on her knees, and her eyes began to drift shut. "I think I still have some of that drug in me, because I'm awfully tired."
Another screech sounded but she never even flinched, her sleepy eyes were locked on the steady rise and fall of Jason's chest. Once he woke up, things would change between them again, he would put the wall back up between them. The wall that she had helped him build. She hated that wall. She bit her lip and considered her options. This would probably be the last time, hell the only time that she could sleep with him.
"You wouldn't mind too much would you Jason?" And even if he did, she would have a memory to take with her. She shifted so she was lying beside him, then argued with herself for a half a minute before moving and laying her head over the steady beat of his heart. "I'll just close my eyes for a minu…"
~Lab~
"Stavros where did you disappear to this time?" Helena pounced as soon as he walked through the door.
Stavros paused and studied her coldly. "What has set you off this time?"
"It's that damn Webber girl. I searched her things for the ice princess and couldn't find it anywhere."
"I thought the Spencer boy threw it in the river." He commented stepping farther away from Helena as she pressed closer. He really loathed the perfume she insisted on bathing in.
"My sources tell me that she got it back. That was another reason I wanted Nikolas to kill her, so we could get the diamond back." Helena paced away, missing the look of craftiness that crossed Stavros face. "Now the girl is dead and I may never retrieve it."
"Don't worry mother, things have a way of working out." Stavros said with a smirk, before heading out the door.
"What do you mean by that?" Helena turned around but he was gone.
~Clearing~
The first thing he felt upon waking was the pain in his head. He hadn't had a headache this bad since he had woken up in the hospital the first time. The second thing he became aware of was a slight weight pressing on his chest. Jason opened his eyes and the work seemed to be out of focus, he closed his eyes and waited a second before trying again.
This time things came into focus, he realized he was staring up into a starry night. He tilted his head and looked down at his chest, frowning when he saw brown curls. He pushed past the headache and tried to remember. Sonny. Motorcycle. Beach. Elizabeth. Bike. Elizabeth. Woman. Gun. Elizabeth. The memories hit him quick and he sat up quickly, his arms tightening on Elizabeth automatically bringing her up with him. His eyes scanned the area, and he didn't recognize anything, but he had the feeling they were alone.
He frowned down at Elizabeth when she didn't stir at his movements. "Elizabeth?" He tilted her head by the chin, her eyes were closed, and he could feel her breath on his hand and sighed in relief, she didn't look hurt. He laid her back on the ground and got slowly to his feet. Besides the headache, is right knee was throbbing a bit. He ignored that and moved to the stream and drank. The longer he was awake the more sure he was, that they were alone in the middle of nowhere. He frowned back at Elizabeth. He needed some answers and he wanted them now.
"Elizabeth." He crossed back to her. "Wake up."
~Plane~
"Would you like a drink?" Deanna the perky blonde stewardess asked for the fifth time in 20 minutes and was disappointed when she got the same reply.
"No thank you." Francis barely even looked up from his magazine. He had learned the hard way about women like her. If you even looked at them, they never let go. Clingers are what Johnny called them, and that suited the woman to a tee.
Deanna couldn't quite stop the frown as she moved on to the other interesting male in first class. "Would you like some more champagne?"
"Yes of course." Stavros smiled at her. A little vapid but eye-candy nonetheless.
~Clearing~
"Elizabeth." Jason repeated her name again, and checked her pulse in concern. He had been trying unsuccessfully to wake her for a few minutes now.
"Just a little longer gram." Elizabeth mumbled and tried to turn on her side.
Jason smiled slightly and shook his head. "Elizabeth wake up."
Her eyes shot open at the tense command, it took her a second for her to place the voice, once she did she sat up quickly and catching Jason off-guard she wrapped her arms around his neck. "Thank god you're finally awake."
Jason's arms tightened automatically around her, he had missed holding her so much, that it felt so right having her back in his arms. The distance he was trying to keep between them, disappeared for a minute as he held her.
"I was so afraid you were never going to wake up." His neck muffled her words, but she was afraid to let go of him.
"I'm okay." Jason ran a hand over her back soothingly, his hand came in contact with her skin on her lower back, and it surprised him. That surprise forced him back into reality and he drew back from her.
Elizabeth let her arms drop reluctantly and was quiet as she studied him. There was a full moon, so there was plenty of light to see his face, only some of the angles were unreadable.
"Where are we?" Jason asked after a minute. "How did we get here?"
"I don't know where we are, and it's a complicated story." Elizabeth smothered a yawn.
Jason rubbed at his eyes and sat back on the ground, his knee was throbbing too much to keep crouching. "How?"
Elizabeth frowned at his withdrawal from her. Even after everything they had went through he still was pulling away from her. All the tension and stress of the day finally caught up with her and she let it out in a flash.
"I'll tell you how? It was the little redhead bitch you were flirting with, she shot you with something and let two of her goons throw you in a trunk and I had to follow you. And you know what? They took you on an airplane, so then I had to find out a way to get on the airplane." She sucked in a quick breath and then hurried on. "And I got hit by a hammer trying to do it, but did I let that stop me? No." She shook her head. "I got on the plane, and when Scarman tried to shoot you I stopped him, and we fought and then…" Warning sirens went off in her head and she moved on, she wasn't ready to deal with what she did to Scarman.
"Then the pilot was dead and no one could fly the plane and I couldn't wake you up, so we had to parachute." She pointed out him wearily. "God Jason you could stand to lose some weight or muscles, you're no picnic to move, let me tell you. So then we fell out of the plane and then of course you were still unconscious so I fell away from you and hit the water." She looked at her sweater, which had shrunk. "And this was new, now it's small, all because you wouldn't wake up. Then I had to find out where you landed and once again drag your ass down here, and why did all of this happen? Because you had to flirt with a fucking redhead."
Jason's mouth dropped open in surprise.