Note: FF.net is predictably being a stupid whore. It's not letting me log in, so if I don't end up posting on the 3rd of March, worry not. I will post two chapters on the 4th to make up for it. Also, I would have responded to reviews sooner, but I didn't get them because, again, the site was being a whore. Nonetheless, I will respond to them now.

Joy- You're not the only one who is behind *glares at the site*, but it shouldn't take that long to play catch up, I hope. Yeah, Carly's apathy is very much a plot device. Of course, it's most certainly not out of her character to be this mean for this long, but there are plenty of reasons why she is doing it. Least of all being the fact that it's just fun to write the two of them engaging in banter. I wasn't expecting the little smile bit to get such a reaction, thanks for sharing.

I have seen parts of Crazy/Beautiful. My roommate owns it and he was watching it once and I came in during something, but I think it was mostly during the special features on the dvd or whatever. Nonetheless, I don't know very much about what happened in that story, although I'm sure that if you believe that there are such strong parallels between the two characters then it must be true. Again I point out that Damian really doesn't have religious beliefs anymore, but his morals do stem from what was one a very religious lifestyle. Yeah, Mac has seen the light. It's about time, too. He realized that someone who would turn down sex (especially a young man... because honestly, how bad are they when it comes to sex?) based on moral principals alone couldn't be all that bad. Dillon he kind of liked already, and was tolerating a lot more than he tolerated Damian, so he bunched them up together to make his daughters happy. I could see Sonny trying to eat a rib and trying not to stain his nice business suit with the sauce. Oh, the comedy.

Exploring relationships is what I do. Even more importantly, it's what soaps do. If there weren't such deep character relationships, do you think soaps would last as long as they do? The funny thing about Damian was that even when he wasn't calling Sonny 'dad,' he would have still been there for him, because he understands that they have that tie that can't be broken. Now he's just trying to assert himself into his father's life more because he wants to be there for Sonny when he needs it.

I think it's very nice that you thought of me when you were watching those scenes. I find myself putting Damian into the stories on the show, but I don't think anyone would ever think of me while they were watching something. It's great. Yes, they were adorable. I want to see more flashbacks of when Jason was raising Michael. It was really odd to see how different he was. Everything about him was different, even his tone of voice. Yeah, the Damian/Courtney relationship is a very strong one indeed. I don't know, I have a lot of close relationships like that with some of my aunts, so it didn't make it seem very odd. Besides, how could you not have a close relationship with Courtney? She's so nice and whatnot. The situation with the docks is something you need to read further into, heh heh heh.

Kayla- I would update soon, I really would, but the site is being evil. Blame it on the site! I'm glad you liked the most recent 'big' plot development. It will be fun to see where it goes, won't it?

Story-

Corinthos Household-

There was nothing that was said between the three men as they hurried back to the penthouse. Jason wasn't as injured as they first thought, although he was still bleeding considerably from the wound that he had taken for Sonny. When they got back to the penthouse they propped Jason on the couch, putting his leg on the table.

Sonny hollered, "Carly!"

"You okay?" Damian asked as he looked at the wound, which had stained Jason's pant leg an odd shade of crimson.

"I've had better days," Jason remarked as he winced, one of the first showings that he was actually in pain.

Carly came down as soon as she heard her husband's voice. She was about to ask what was wrong when she saw Jason's leg. "Oh my god, Jase!" Carly pushed passed Sonny and sat next to her dearest friend. "What happened?"

"We were ambushed," Sonny said. "We got lucky, the people weren't as good as they thought they were. Jason took a bullet for me."

"Just in the leg?" Carly asked.

"Don't worry about me, Carly," Jason ordered. "I'll be fine."

"You can keep on telling yourself that, Jase, but I know that you're feeling a world of hurt right now and I want to make sure that you're safe!" Carly looked at Sonny again, "Why aren't you taking him to the hospital?"

"Because they're going to be waiting at the hospital for anyone that appeared to be in a gun fight, Carly." Sonny looked at his son, "How trained in these situations are you?"

"You're going to let him do it?" Carly sneered, "He's not even a doctor!"

"She's right, dad," Damian concurred with Carly, although he didn't enjoy the fact that he needed to do it. "I'm really not qualified to do anything. Uncle Jason's best chance is getting to a hospital. I don't think the wound if fatal, but it could still cause some complications if it isn't treated correctly."

"I told you that wasn't an option!"

"Sonny... you need to think about Jason's safety right now," Carly said softly.

"I am! I don't want Jason to go to jail, Carly!" He eyed his son again, "Do what you know you can do!"

"Sonny..."

"Keep Michael upstairs," Sonny ordered. "I don't want him to see Jason like this, it will scare him."

Carly got up, "It scares me." She was talking about more than just Jason's injury. She was also talking about how much she didn't trust her step-son's abilities to do the job that Sonny felt he could do. If she lost Jason... she'd never be able to survive being without him. Never. "Damian, if you don't help Jason you're going to be answering to me."

"Don't worry about me, Carly," Jason said.

"You worry about me all the time, Jase." She kissed him softly on the cheek. She didn't really care what Sonny thought about it. She knew that he knew that Jason was someone that was very precious to her. She loved him, but it wasn't like the love that she had for Sonny. "Now it's my turn."

"Just make sure that Michael doesn't see anything, okay?" Jason asked.

"Remember what I said," Carly told Damian.

"You know that making me worry about my own safety when I should be worrying about someone else's isn't really a very good thing to be doing, Carly," Damian headed towards the bathroom in order to get the supplies that he would need. It would require bandages, peroxide, pliers and other such tools in order to get the bullet lodged out. Damian only hoped that it didn't go through any bone, because that would prove to be a lot harder and more painful. There was nothing in the house that would help numb Jason to the pain.

Cutting off the pant leg at the knee hadn't been that hard, although Jason did look pretty strange with something that could be described as a half shorts half pants combination. Of course, given the fact that there were far more important things to be worrying about at that given moment, none of them cared much what anyone who happened to see Jason in his outfit would think.

They were all fortunate that Damian had been certified in first aid long before Jason was shot. It was one of the first things that he did when he decided to walk the path of medicine and become a doctor. While it would take many years for him to actually become certified he still had the basic skills that would be needed to do a variety of skills, such as stop bleeding and splint a broken bone. Dislodging a bullet wasn't a skill that Damian was trained in, but he was good at improvising. The wound was noticeable now that all the blood had been cleaned off of Jason's leg. "Telling you that this is probably going to hurt won't actually give you any comfort, will it?"

"Just get it done," Jason requested.

Damian saw the bullet and let out a heavy sigh of relief, "Good, I was worried that the bullet might have gone into your bone, which would have made this whole process a lot less pleasant than it already is." Damian, his hands gloved, took the pliers and moved them around the wound. It wasn't a pretty sight, but it was necessary so the appeal of how it looked was hardly on anyone's mind. He felt the metal of the pliers touch the metal of the bullet and he clamped down on the handle, feeling as they stopped going down when they got a firm grip on the bullet. Damian pulled it out and placed it on a napkin. "I got it."

"I told you," Sonny said. "I knew you wouldn't let me down."

"I thought I did by going back to the docks," Damian said softly as he cleaned the wound with a cold towel before bandaging it up. "I heard the guns, dad. I knew that something bad was going to happen and I couldn't live with myself if I went through the rest of my life knowing that I could have done something to help you and I didn't."

"We can take care of ourselves, Damian," Sonny said. "We've been doing it for years."

"Could you have gotten this bullet out of him?" Damian asked as he finished tending to Jason's wound.

"If I had to do it, I would have found a way," Sonny muttered. "But I'm glad you were here to help."

"I've done what I can," Damian focused on Jason. "You'll need to change the bandages for a few days while it heals and keep it from being infected."

Jason nodded, it was all the thanks he was going to give. He turned his attentions to Sonny, "I knew you'd be distracted."

"I should have been more careful but instead I was foolish and you ended up getting hurt because of it. I'm sorry."

"I told you that I could have handled everything."

"I know... I'll make sure I don't make the same mistake next time."

"You're going back out there?" Jason inquired.

"You heard Asp, Jason. He said that he thought I was weak, that I was broken down. If people like him are really thinking that then I need to make sure that I'm at the top of my game in order to stop people from second guessing me. The only way I can do that is if I'm out there during every transaction."

"Who was that guy you shot?" Damian wondered, throwing away the bloodied gloves and the bullet.

"One of the last remains of my past with Scully. Now he's dead, that's all that matters."

"Oh," Damian couldn't really think about anything else to say.

"You're not going to get all righteous on me?" Sonny asked. "You're not going to tell me how you're against the fact that I ended a man's life tonight and didn't think about it."

"He was going to kill you."

"But he didn't."

Damian nodded, "And that's what mattered. I'd much rather have you alive so that I can yell at you and give you some moral speech later." With a quick glance at Jason, "I'm going to plead with you both again to make it certain that I never have to do something like that again. It's hard enough looking at people I don't know and trying to fix them up, doing it for family... that'd be a whole different story. I'm sure telling you to stay off of your leg for a few days would just be a waste of breath, Uncle Jason, but I'm going to do it anyway."

"I'll take it into consideration," Jason remarked.

"That basically means that it went in one ear and out the other, doesn't it?" Damian asked Sonny.

"What can I say, he's a stubborn man."

"Got it from you, didn't he?"

"I suppose I could take a part in the credit for the situation."

Carly walked down. She had actually been keeping a close watch on the situation, but now that she knew everything was safe, she showed herself. "But Jason was always a stubborn person to begin with," She smiled as she hugged him. "I'm glad you're okay."

"I told you not to worry," He said.

"I can't help but worry when I see you hurt, Jase. You're like Superman. Nothing bad ever happens to you and when it does... it really scares me."

"How's Michael?" Sonny asked.

"Good," Carly grinned. "I don't think he even knows anything happened. I'm pretty sure he was busy playing a video game. He might already be in bed."

"Daddy," Michael hopped down the stairs.

"Or not." Carly looked over, "Shouldn't you be in bed, Mister Man?"

"It's the weekend, I don't have anything to do tomorrow!" Michael hugged his father's leg, "Besides, I just wanted to say goodnight to daddy, so I needed to wait for him." It was at that moment that he saw Jason's leg, "What happened, Uncle Jason?"

"I had an accident, buddy," Jason replied. For the most part it was true. "But everything's okay now."

There was a knock at the door. Damian, being closest, answered it. "Uncle Ric?"

Ric looked over at the gathered family, "You all look like you spent a nice day at home."

"Why are you here, Ric?" Sonny wondered.

"We've got a handful of dead mobsters on the pier. Fresh bodies. What can I say, big brother? My instinct tells me that you had something to do with it."

"You have any evidence linking me to their deaths, Ric?"

Ric shook his head, "Not you, no. Damian, I need to see your identification card for a moment, please."

Damian grabbed his jacket, "Sure." He went into the pocket and found that it wasn't there, "Funny... it was in there earlier."

"But it's in my hands now," Ric flashed the wallet. "And guess where I found it? At the scene of the crime..."