The Ripple Effect
Chapter 10
~Port Charles Hotel: Penthouse~
"Yes I'm aware of that." V Ardnowski spoke into the phone being careful to keep all emotion from her voice. It wouldn't be kosher to appear too eager, especially given the circumstances.
"You can understand my haste in wanting results. It has been over 6 weeks now, and we've still heard nothing."
"In cases like this, it takes a lot of time to chase down all the leads." V drummed her fingers on the desk. Her inherent need to be honest was warring with her desire for the job, and as usual honesty won out. "I can assure you ma'am that the police have spent countless man hours chasing down leads. No lead would have been considered too small to investigate."
There was silence on the other end of the line and V wondered if her loyalty to the police force had cost her the job, before she even had a chance to start it. She closed her eyes and began to hit her forehead on the desk quietly, but quite painfully.
"Your desire to stick up for your former employers even after the way you left the PCPD further convinces me that I've made the right choice in hiring you."
V sat up in surprise and a smile danced across her features causing them to light. She strove to sound serious when she spoke. "You won't be disappointed." Her honestly kicked in again. "Ms. Wyatt I can't promise you the results you so desperately want, but I can promise to give you everything I can."
"I know you will V, and please call me Lisa."
V got up from the desk and opened the door waving Alexis in the room before turning her attention back to the phone. "Okay Lisa I'll get started immediately and will update you weekly on what I find."
"Good I've transferred your retainer and first weeks expenses into your account." Lisa paused. "V I need you to know how serious this is."
Smile gone V's voice was just as serious. "Believe me Lisa as a former police officer, I know exactly how important this is."
"Thank you."
V's frown stayed on her face for a moment longer while she hung up the phone. With a sigh she turned, her eye fell on the curious face of her best friend, and she let out a yell. "I did it Alexis."
"Did what?" Alexis winced slightly at the bone-jarring hug V was giving her.
"That new job I was telling you about, it came through." Too excited to sit V paced around the sofa first one and then the other, and then kept moving.
"V you're going to need to back up I got called away before you finished telling me what was going on." Alexis reminded her.
"Oh that's right." V turned away from the window and ran a hand through her hair.
Alexis couldn't help but feel envious when the hair plopped back into place right where it had been before V had ruffled it. If she tried that she would end up looking like she had a birds nest on her head. She blinked the thought away and forced herself to concentrate on what V was saying.
"So because of that I knew I couldn't go back to the force, and I also knew I didn't want to be a personal assistant." V made a face and dropped down on one of the couches. "L&B was fun but it didn't give me the kind of challenge that I crave. So this was the only alternative as I saw it."
"What was?" Alexis took a seat facing the tall redhead.
"My own security firm, specializing in consulting work, private investigations, bounty hunting, kind of like your one stop security store." V's eyes were shining when she went on. "I've always toyed at designing security systems, now it will be more then just a hobby, I'll be able to make my living from it."
"That sounds great." Alexis' first response was to be happy for her friend. She knew how unhappy V had been when she wasn't working, but then the lawyer side of her kicked in again. "Not to be negative, but where are you going to find the funding to open your own company?"
"Remember the money I gave to Jax when he was trying to win back his fortune?" V asked.
Alexis nodded.
"Well he insisted on paying me back with interest several times over. So I have enough to start my own company." V couldn't help but smile again. She had barely let herself dream of owning her own company. The practical side of her normally won out, and ended the dreams before they started. But this time it was no dream, it was real, and whether she lasted or not, she was going to go for it.
"It sounds like you've given this some thought."
"Oh I have believe me, I first started the paperwork and got certified not long after I left the PCPD, before I went to L&B. I took the last of the tests before I went to Alaska, and I got all the paperwork back yesterday. You should have seen Taggert's face when I went in to file my licenses with the police department." Her laughter rang out and was so infectious that Alexis joined in. "He looked at me like I was nuts and then started in on me about coming back to the station, anything but going private. Most cops consider privates as only slightly above lawyers on the food chain."
"Charming." Alexis murmured.
"Yeah well you haven't heard the best part." V leaned closer so enraptured in her news she failed to notice the penthouse door opening. "I already have my first case."
"Well don't keep me in suspense."
"I've been hired to find out where Ted Wilson is, and if he's dead bring his killers to justice."
"Over my dead body." Jax announced his presence with a slam of the door.
~Kelly's~
"Stop it Nikolas." Emily said on a gasp, she had laughed so hard her sides were aching. "You have to be making that up."
"I'm not." Nikolas protested with a grin of his own. "Stefan's pants split down the seam the instant he bowed to the Countess."
"Oh God," she brushed the tears from her eyes. "What did he do?"
"Well I have never seen my uncle move backwards that fast before." Nikolas shook his head at the fond memory. It felt good remembering the good times he'd had with his uncle, especially now.
As if a cloud had covered the sun, Nikolas' smile faded and his good mood evaporated. It was hard for him to believe that his uncle might be dead.
Emily sensed the change in him and immediately stopped laughing, she covered his hand to offer comfort. "Has there been any news?"
"No." He admitted with a sigh of frustration. "Everyone believes that he is dead, even the investigators that I've hired have found no trace of him. When Mac arrested Luke for his murder, most people stopped looking for him."
"But Luke was only arrested for a couple of hours before Felicia came forward and cleared him. Why wouldn't the police keep looking?"
"I don't know. I know Mac went after Luke because of a personal grudge, but once he did that, it was like the police agreed that Stefan is dead. That he's lying dead somewhere and they just haven't found him yet." Nikolas rubbed wearily at the knot of tension at the back of his neck. That knot seemed to form every time he thought about his uncle.
"I'm sorry Nikolas. You've been so busy trying to help me with my problems, when all these questions about your uncle must be ripping you up." Emily flushed guiltily.
"Don't," his hand tightened on hers and his voice was sharp cutting off her recriminations. "You are my friend and there is no place that I would rather be then here helping you. In fact it's nice to focus on this instead of Stefan at times."
"That's what Lucky said." Emily spoke without thinking.
"What do you mean?"
"Oh," she looked startled for a minute then went on. "I went to tell Jason what was going on yesterday and Lucky caught me. He said he needed to do this, that the only time he felt normal was when he was helping me."
Nikolas leaned over the table and lowered his voice. "I thought we decided not to tell Jason."
"I know what we decided, but I also know my brother." Emily explained wearily, she wasn't really up for another fight about her brother. "I know you don't like him, but you have to admit he can make this whole problem disappear. I'm tired of having this hanging over my head, over everybody's heads. It's even harder now that Jason is in town, because he knows something is going on, and all he wants to do is help, no questions asked." She glanced down at her purse. "But instead of talking to my brother I'm avoiding him and his calls, all because I want to help Lucky."
Nikolas could see the truth in her words and made an effort to battle back the anger he always felt at the mention of Jason's name. Emily was right he didn't like her brother and probably never would. But she was also right when she said Jason could make their problem disappear. "Is that why you decided not to tell Jason, because Lucky asked you not too?"
Emily studied her hands and absently noted that her polish was beginning to chip. "Yes, Lucky doesn't feel like he can control anything in his life. If I went to Jason for help, instead of relying on Lucky, I don't think he would be able to handle that rejection."
"Is he that close to the edg…" Nikolas trailed off when he spotted the bruises on her arms and answered his own question. "Then that's another reason for me to talk to him as soon as possible."
"What about telling Jason?" She focused on him again.
He met her eyes reluctantly. He really didn't want to work with Jason, but it might be their only choice. In the end the only important thing was ending this nightmare for everyone involved. "I guess…"
"Emily I'm glad I found you." Juan's voice cut Nikolas off and Juan took the seat next to Emily.
Nikolas couldn't help but grimace at the boy. What Emily ever saw in Juan was beyond him. Juan was a walking, always talking, loudmouth who seemed to think the more people he could make angry, would make him a bigger man. Nikolas always wanted to tell him that all it did was make him look like that much more of an idiot.
Emily couldn't help but sigh and tense when Juan moved his chair closer to her. Lately it seemed like being around Juan, took more energy then she had. If she were honest with herself she would have to admit that their problems had started long before the rave. "Juan what are you doing here?"
Juan frowned at her less then enthusiastic response to his presence. Then turned his eyes on a disapproving Nikolas, no doubt this was his influence. "I found out some stuff about the rave."
Disapproval turned to interest. "What?" Nikolas asked.
"It's set for tomorrow night, but no one seems to know where. They're trying to keep it quiet so it won't get busted and only a few people know in advance. Allison isn't one of those people."
Emily couldn't help the little flash of anger she felt when she heard Allison's name. A part of her blamed the chipmunk voiced blonde for getting her into this mess. But then again if Juan hadn't kissed Allison in the first place she never would have started drinking that night.
"We need to know as soon as possible." Nikolas was saying. "We will need time to get everything set up. You need to find out where it is Juan."
"I don't see you doing much to help, except for sitting on your ass that is." Always quick to fight Juan fired back hotly.
"Please don't." Emily spoke quickly trying to stop the fight, her dark eyes pleaded with Nikolas.
Nikolas bit back his retort and took a breath before trying again. "I'm just saying that we need the information as soon as we can get it Juan. We will need time to move the bod…" He trailed off and focused on the man behind Juan. "Lieutenant Taggert."
Emily jerked at the mention of his name and her knee hit the table leg jostling their drinks. Nikolas gave her a warning look and she tried to calm down.
"Nikolas." Taggert nodded at him while dropping his hand on Juan's shoulder. "Have you forgotten what your supposed to do today?"
"No." Juan put a cocky smile on his face and tried to bluff.
Taggert just shook his head. "You need to clean the apartment today."
"Right, I'll get right on that." Juan agreed immediately trying to get rid of him.
Little warning bells went off at Juan's easy acquiescence. Normally he had to browbeat Juan into doing anything, before he could pursue it though Tammy called to him from the counter.
"Taggert your order's ready."
"Thanks." Taggert took another look at the people at the table. Something had been going on with Juan for weeks now but he hadn't been able to find out what. He had a feeling it was more then just the breakup with Emily. "See you later then." He said finally before touching Emily's shoulder. "Emily."
"Goodbye Lieutenant." Emily tried for breezy but her voice came out stilted.
"That was close." Nikolas groaned in relief when Taggert headed for the counter.
"Too close." Emily agreed.
"Let's get out of here." Nikolas suggested and Emily began to gather her stuff.
"Emily can I talk to you?" Juan lowered his voice. He hated to grovel, especially in front of other people, but he knew he was losing her. "Please."
"I don't want to fight."
"Neither do I." Juan took a chance and touched her hand. "Please Em."
Nikolas watched the indecision move over her face and smothered another groan. Here was a guy who was supposed to be in love with her and he hadn't even noticed the bruises on her arms. Say no Emily. Cut him out of your life once and for all. He willed the courage to her, but wasn't surprised by her reply.
Emily dropped reluctantly back in her chair. "Okay."
Nikolas put some money on the table. "I'll just go and talk to Lucky."
"Be care…" She trailed off not wanting to give anything away to Juan and also in surprise because her first instinct was that Lucky might react irrationally. "See you later?"
"Yes." Nikolas nodded at her, ignored Juan entirely and headed out the door.
Nikolas stepped out into the deserted courtyard and took a deep breath, trying to dispel the last of the irritation that Juan brought out in him. Unfortunately all he could smell was the fish being offloaded on the nearby docks. He turned and headed for his car.
"Nikolas wait."
He scrubbed a hand over his eyes, this day just kept getting better and better. He turned around slowly. "Hello Gia."
Gia couldn't help but notice his cool response and that irked her. She knew she wasn't perfect but she was getting tired of always being hated on sight. "Don't sound so thrilled to see me."
Nikolas smiled slightly as he studied the girl in front of him. As was her norm she was dressed in the height of fashion with her pencil thin dark skirt and her boots that went over her calf. He felt a reluctant attraction to her as he studied her. "What did you need?"
"You know you could treat me a little nicer. I am putting myself on the line here just like the rest of you." She put her hands on her hips, stretching the tight white shirt over her chest and glared at him.
There went the attraction, he hid a grin at that realization. He was attracted until she opened her mouth and out came something that Juan would say. "And you are being well compensated for your risks Gia."
Gia smiled reluctantly, he was the only one who seemed to have an answer for everything she tossed at him. "Are you placing a price on my life?"
"No you do that yourself." He crossed his arms over his chest and waited for her next jab.
"And you pay it." She taunted.
"Gia as fascinating as this is, I do have places to be, so is there a point to this?"
Gia stepped closer to him, she had spent a worrisome couple of hours after her run-in with Zander, trying to decide what to do. In the end she knew she had to let the others know that Zander was very interested in Elizabeth and that he seemed to recognize this Jason, no one wanted her to meet. She was dreading having to talk to Elizabeth. The girl with her superior attitude was enough to make her gag. When she spotted Nikolas she knew she had an out. Of all the people she was now tied up with he was the only one she even remotely liked.
"Gia is there a point?"
Nikolas' question drew her out of her reverie, of course he was still a pain. "Yes I needed to tell you that…" she trailed off and her eyes went wide.
"What's wrong?"
Gia didn't even try to answer, moving quickly she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled his mouth down to hers.
Nikolas' eyes widened in surprise but he moved willingly enough when she turned his body, so he was leaning against her and pressing her against the building. He was vaguely aware of the door opening beside them and someone walking out of the building.
Gia kept her eyes open and watched Taggert walk away before closing her eyes and letting the kiss continue. He sure did know how to kiss.
He pulled back after another minute and grinned at her. "You seem to do that an awful lot."
Gia pushed him away from her. "Like you're complaining."
"I was raised not to fight with women, so if you feel the need to maul me every now and then…"
"Maul you?" Gia was outraged.
"Yes maul. This is the third time you've wrapped yourself around me out of the blue, when I have done nothing to encourage you." He couldn't help but tease, the anger shooting out of her dark eyes amused him.
"Encourage?" For a second Gia could only gasp in anger. "Listen to me Princey, I hate to burst your delusions of grandeur, but you have been into me ever since we met."
"Really?" Nikolas' eyes raked over her. "Then why are you always the one that kisses me, while I'm always the one who walks away?" He shot her another grin and then left the courtyard before she had time to reply.
~Penthouse~
V shot off the couch like someone was shooting at her. "Jax I didn't hear you come in."
"Apparently not." He moved further into the room, taking time to nod at Alexis before focusing on the woman in his life. "Were you even going to tell me about this?"
"Of course I was," V flushed guiltily. "It's just everything sort of fell together today, and I haven't seen you yet to tell you."
"Come on now V, I know you, you don't just leap into things. You must have been thinking about this for a while now. What I want to know is why didn't you tell me?" He turned to look at Alexis who was doing her best to blend into the couch. "Did you know what she was planning?"
Alexis looked up at him and answered diplomatically. "I know she's been unhappy being unemployed."
"That's obvious Alexis," he snapped. "The question is did you know what she was going to do about her boredom? That she was going to be a private investigator?"
"I prefer security specialist." V chimed in.
"And what is so special about tracking down a cop that is more then likely dead?" Jax turned on her.
"You know I think I should probably be going." Alexis interjected, before things got really ugly.
"Don't you see that because he is a cop this case is so much more special?" V shot back. "It could have been anyone of us."
"You're not a cop anymore V."
"My look at the time I'm going to be late for Court." Alexis tried again, but was still ignored.
"I know that." The hurt flashed in V's eyes. "You're the reason I'm not."
Jax saw the hurt and the anger evaporated, but the fear remained. "I know and I'm sorry about that. I never wanted you to quit because of me."
"I didn't quit because of you." Incensed that she had let that slip out, she tried to backtrack. "I quit because of the way the department handled things. Their treatment of you was just the final straw."
"So I'll be going." Alexis got to her feet and slung her purse over her shoulder.
"Wait Alexis." Jax's voice stopped her before she took a step. "Talk to her, reason with her."
"Jax I'm a lawyer, who says I know how to reason?" Alexis tried to joke. She knew better then to be drawn into personal fights.
"Alexis tell him that this what I'm trained for." V glared at him.
"Well you see…"
"You're trained to work within the rules and with a partner, not to go out alone." Jax interrupted.
There was a knock on the door but Alexis was the only one who seemed to notice.
"Jax you make it sound like I'm going to be walking into hell, without a hope for survival."
"I'll just get that." Alexis moved to the door. "Elizabeth," she cried in relief and pulled her into the room.
"Alexis hi, I needed to get a signature from Jax, is he here?" Elizabeth held up a manila envelope.
"V you know as well as I do, that the reason that no one has found Ted Wilson is because he was taken out by the mob." Jax yelled.
Elizabeth dropped the envelope on the floor, spilling the papers, she quickly crouched down and began to pick them up. Why were they talking about Ted Wilson?
"We don't know that for sure Jax." V argued. "I've been hired to find out where he is, and if he is dead to bring his killers to justice."
Elizabeth gasped then managed a weak smile for Alexis who was helping her gather her papers.
"What else could it be V?" Jax moved closer and took her hand. "Wilson was working undercover at the raves trying to track the drug flow into the city. The only people who run drugs in Port Charles are either in Sorel's or Corinthos' mob family. So one of those two had him killed."
"But we don't know that for sure, it could have been some junkie, for all we know." V pleaded with him to understand. "Don't you see that the not knowing what happened is worse then knowing that he's dead? Right now Ted Wilson's family and friends are going crazy because they don't know. Did you know that he was getting married in October?" She demanded. "His fiancée is so worried that she's the one who hired me, she can't move on with her life until she knows what happened to him."
"And don't you see that I don't want to lose you?" Jax kept hold of her hand when she tried to pull away. "If you investigate this, you're more then likely going to be investigating the mob. They don't like that. When you were a cop it afforded you some protection, but you're not a cop anymore. And it seems like they wouldn't care even if you were, someone has killed once, and they're not above doing it again. You will be all alone in this."
Elizabeth was feeling extremely guilty, she had purposefully focused on Emily and what would happen to her if people found out about Ted. She hadn't allowed herself to think about what Ted Wilson's family was going through. Now that V had spelled it out for her, she felt even worse. She got slowly to her feet and put the papers back in order.
"Jax I'll be careful. You know that."
"I know how determined and tenacious you can be." Jax corrected. "That's what scares me, you won't quit until you find him, and whoever killed him."
Elizabeth gulped.
"Are you okay Elizabeth?" Alexis touched her arm in concern when she saw the girl's paleness.
"Maybe I should go, this seems to be a bad time."
A shrill whistle startled three of the occupants in the room, and they looked at the fourth in surprise.
"Alright now that I have your attention," Alexis smoothed her skirt down and ignored the surprised looks she was getting. "Elizabeth here needs a moment of your time Jax, and I really need to be going, so go to your neutral corners until we leave."
"Sorry Elizabeth." Jax took a breath and crossed over to her with a smile on his face.
Elizabeth couldn't help but blink at the metamorphosis. "No problem, Chloe needs your signature on these contracts right away."
"Chloe," V snorted and stalked over to the window. Now they couldn't even have an argument without having the perfect little blonde's name show up in it.
Jax looked warily at V, who seemed to be even madder, before taking the papers from Elizabeth.
"If you need to read them, I can come back." Elizabeth offered, she really wanted to get out of here.
"No I trust Chloe."
That time V's snort was audible to the whole room.
"Thanks for bringing these by Elizabeth," Jax signed his name with a flourish, before heading for the door. "How are things going with Lucky? I bet your glad to have your boyfriend back."
"Well…" She trailed off and headed out the door.
Alexis paused in the doorway. "Tread lightly Jax, if you try to control her, you'll lose her." She kissed his cheek and then followed Elizabeth to the elevator.
Jax closed the door and turned to face V who was glaring at him from behind the couch. The setting sun was drifting through the window behind her, and set off her hair like a blazing sunset. Judging from the expression on her face, blazing was an apt description. "Where were we?"
"We were just about to say that if you can trust Chloe and you can't trust me, then maybe Chloe should be the one you date and not me." V fired back hotly.
~Elevator~
Elizabeth was doing her best not to think of the implications of V looking for Ted Wilson, when the elevator suddenly lurched to a halt, catching her off guard and nearly sending her to her knees.
Alexis gripped the handrail to remain upright. "What was that?"
"I think were stuck." Elizabeth admitted after hitting a button on the control panel and nothing happened.
"This day just keeps getting better," Alexis murmured reaching past her and opening the little door exposing the phone.
~Kelly's~
"So what did you want to talk about?" Emily asked after a few minutes of silence.
"About you and me." Juan admitted.
"There is no you and me," Emily corrected studying her hands again. "We broke up remember."
"But I still love you, and I know you still love me." Juan pressed for a response. "I know I messed up, but you have to know I love you."
She began to flick off some of the polish on her nails, anything so she didn't have to look him in the eye. "I don't know if we can go back, too much has happened."
"Don't say that." He took her hand, forcing her to look at him. "Do you still love me?"
She forced herself to study the face of the man she once thought she was in love with. Did she still love him? The answer to that was easy for her, no. Did she ever love him? That was the answer that was hard for her to bear, because it meant that most of the last year had been a lie.
"Emily?"
"No." She didn't mean to say it aloud, but out it slipped.
Juan jerked back like she had slapped him. "You don't mean that. It's your friends you've been listening to what they have to say about me."
"No Juan," Emily shook her head sadly, now that the words were out she wasn't going to backtrack. "I'm sorry but I don't love you, and we won't get back together."
Juan blinked hard at the tears in his eyes, forcing them back. "I see what brought this on, it's Nikolas isn't it. You'd rather hang on to your crush on him then move on in a real relationship."
Stung Emily could only stare at him.
"I hope you and your fantasy life are happy, because that is all it will ever be, a schoolgirl fantasy." Juan's parting words were cruel and he stormed from the diner.
Emily felt eyes on her and got slowly to her feet and walked outside, away from the curious onlookers. She didn't make it far, collapsing wearily onto a chair at one of the outside tables. She hadn't meant to hurt Juan, she had only just realized that she didn't love him. Once she knew that she couldn't pretend she did. But Juan had been wrong when he accused her of having a crush on Nikolas. She had learned to be smarter then that. But his words still hurt. The tears pricked the back of her eyes and knowing better then to think she could hold them back she hid her face in her hands and let them come.
"What's wrong Emily?"
The concerned voice forced her to look up at her brother through tear filled eyes. "It's just – I mean I can't – it's that he…"
Jason crouched beside her chair and pulled her head to his shoulder. "Just let it out."
~Elevator~
"I'm afraid that we're going to be here for awhile." Alexis announced when she hung up the phone. "Apparently a generator blew."
"Peachy." Elizabeth leaned back against the wall. "Have you ever had one of those days that has these moments of bliss in it, and then the next minute it totally sucks?"
"Frequently." Alexis smiled and shrugged out of her suit jacket. She had a feeling that the car was going to warm up. She studied Elizabeth's face. "Are you okay? I know that conversation in the penthouse must have upset you."
Elizabeth's eyes flew open, what did she mean? Oh god did Alexis know about Ted? Had she found the body? "W-what?"
"When Jax asked about you and Lucky." Alexis was busy folding her jacket so she missed Elizabeth's sag of relief. "He was trying to be charming when he asked that. Trying to show you that he knew something more about you then just your name."
"That's okay." Elizabeth slid down the wall to sit on the floor. "I'm getting used to it."
"Well in his defense, he can be a bit dense at times. He's full of charm and big gestures, but sometimes he misses the low key moments." She shook her head, he had better learn to see them, or he was going to lose V. "After all we are talking about a man, who didn't realize he was in love with someone until she tried to leave the country with another man."
"I know he didn't mean anything. But I get tired of hearing it. I'm not even with Lucky anymore and people still ask me about him all the time, or even call me Lucky's girlfriend." She sighed heavily. "You know what I can't remember is if it was always like that. If Lucky's girlfriend was all I ever was. I don't think it was, I think back then even when I was dating Lucky I was still Elizabeth. Or if it was, I guess I didn't notice it," she shrugged. "I guess you change from 16 to almost 19."
"I imagine you do." Alexis joined her on the floor.
"It's like I don't have an identity outside of being defined by someone else. First I was Jeff and Claire's daughter, Sarah's sister, Audrey's other granddaughter, Lucky's girlfriend, the girl who lost Lucky, the girl waiting for Lucky. No one seems to just see me for me." She frowned well a few people did, Jason of course, and Sonny seemed too.
"I can understand that." Alexis admitted, being called Eddie's Angel or the next Mrs. Ashton was a fear that she lived with daily. She liked just being known as Alexis Davis. "I hate to be defined by other people."
"I doubt you let that happen to you." Elizabeth commented. "I seem to have a problem sticking up for myself, in certain situations."
Alexis thought about Ned and her inability to voice her fears over the wedding to him. "Everybody has someone that they can't talk too."
"I guess, the reverse is true for me as well. I have someone in my life I can talk to about anything, it just doesn't happen to be the person that everybody thinks it should be." Elizabeth didn't know why she was talking about this, and with Alexis of all people. But she felt comfortable with her, even though they hadn't discussed their personal lives before.
"It's always a relief to have someone you can be yourself with," Alexis agreed. "For the longest time I didn't have someone like that, now that I do I can't imagine my life without him in it."
"I know it's special," Elizabeth frowned. "But what happens when that person is part of the problem you find yourself in?"
"What do you mean?"
"I don't know, I'm so confused, and the person I normally would talk too about what is confusing me, is the person who is making me confused so I can't. No one else would understand, or they would be upset because I was thinking about someone besides Lucky. And all I seem to do is get more and more confused, when I try to figure things out on my own."
Alexis followed the dizzying ramble easily enough. "So Jason is confusing you?"
Elizabeth looked over at her in surprise. "How do you know that?"
"I've seen you two together, I know that you're close."
"We are, he's my friend." Elizabeth said defensively.
"Elizabeth I'm not judging you, I'm just listening to you. I'm glad Jason's your friend and he's yours, he's a good man." Alexis said honestly, a man who had led her to her own best friend.
Elizabeth tried to relax but it was hard. "Everyone else seems to want to judge him, and my friendship with him. They love to tell me what to do, and who to do it with. They don't seem to hear me when I say something they don't want to hear. They don't seem to realize that it is my choice, who I want to spend time with and not theirs."
"That can be frustrating," Alexis stretched her legs out on the floor.
"It is, they feel free to stop me on the street and tell me how I need to be with Lucky. Like if they tell me something I will do it, and everyone seems to want me to be with Lucky."
"The reverse is true for me and Ned. Almost no one in his family or mine wants us to be together. In fact Edward has tried to buy me off on more then one occasion. And we won't go into what Helena has threatened Ned with. The only ones who seem to support us are some of our closest friends." The friends they had in common, the ones that seemed to want what was best for them as a couple instead of as individuals. She frowned at that thought, they meant well, but it was suffocating at times.
"My closest friends seem to only see me with Lucky, well except for Jason." Elizabeth sighed, "and that's where the problem comes in."
"It's funny how men have that ability to create problems." Her own mind began to replay the conversation she'd had with Sonny a few hours ago.
"He's only been back in town a few days, and everything has changed. Contrary to what people thought, he was just my friend last winter, I was helping him out of a jamb, there was nothing romantic going on."
"Then?" Alexis raised an eyebrow in question.
"What?" Elizabeth asked.
"There was nothing romantic going on then, is there now?"
"I don't know, that's the part that has me so confused." She wrapped her arms around her knees and tried to think about it. "Since he's been back, all these new feelings are waking up inside of me. But I don't see where they are coming from because we have always only been friends."
Alexis remembered when Sonny had touched her wrist earlier, it felt like his touch was seeping through her skin and into her blood. "Has anything happened between you two?" She tried to focus on Elizabeth's problem.
"Well we kissed." She admitted quietly.
"So where is the confusion?"
"Both times I kissed him, and I caught him by surprise both times. What if he doesn't feel the same way about me? What if he was just being nice by kissing me back? What if he is totally embarrassed because his little sister's best friend suddenly has a raging crush on him? What if he tells me that nothing will ever happen between us because he doesn't like me that way? What if he doesn't want to be my friend anymore, because I kept coming on to him? What if…"
"What if you take a breath?" Alexis interrupted Elizabeth's listing, she couldn't help but smile at the reversal. For once she was telling someone else to breathe.
Elizabeth sucked in a few hard breaths. "I don't want to lose him, I don't think I can handle that."
"I saw him yesterday morning when he dropped you off. I don't think you're going to lose him Elizabeth." Alexis tried to reassure her.
"I hope not, he's always been my friend, and I hope he always will be."
"I know he cares about you. I overheard him yesterday talking with Johnny about a door."
"He bought me a door." Elizabeth explained with a smile.
"Johnny kept telling him that he had tried to get you a new door several times, and you always refused, but Jason didn't listen to him, he said you needed one, and he was going to get you one."
"Johnny didn't explain it like Jason did." Elizabeth explained simply.
Alexis shook her head. "Anyway it is evident how much he cares about you."
"I know he cares, and that were friends. It's these new feelings that I get when I'm around him that make me unsure. I mean he's older and more experienced then me, he might not be feeling the same things I am."
"So what if he's older, my first love was older then me, and I thank god for that. He is one of the few memories of past loves that I actually cherish." Alexis saw the interest flash in Elizabeth's eyes and hurried on. "You can tell if someone is interested in you. Did he kiss you back? Yes. Did he ever try to kiss you?"
Elizabeth thought back to that first night she had seen him when they were on the couch. His hand was pulling her head towards his mouth, like he was going to kiss her, until the phone had rung.
"I can see by your face that he has."
"But what if I'm misreading things and I wreck the friendship? I need him too much to risk that." That was the truth of the matter, she didn't want to lose him.
Alexis flashed back to the night before in her doorway when it seemed like Sonny was going to kiss her, and she had realized that she wanted him too. If she had kissed him, would it have killed their friendship?
"He is so special that in some ways I can tell him anything." Elizabeth explained. "I don't want to lose that."
Alexis thought back to all the discussions she'd had with Sonny. "Maybe you're afraid of what would happen if he said he wanted more from you then friendship. Not if he said he didn't want more." She murmured quietly more to herself then to Elizabeth.
"Maybe he is here, and you just haven't realized it yet." Sonny's words rang in her ears.
"Maybe," Elizabeth conceded. "The things he makes me feel are a little scary. He touches my hand and my insides melt."
Alexis had thought she was immune to feeling butterflies until recently when she was around Sonny.
"But then there are moments when he's just Jason, my friend Jason, and I think I must be imagining things." Elizabeth noticed how Alexis' eyes had drifted off and decided to change the subject. "What about you?"
Alexis jolted. "What about me?"
"I've seen you. You change the subject if anyone mentions the wedding. You've postponed being fitted for your dress 8 times now. I've watched your eyes glaze over and you just nod at Ned when he starts talking about it."
"You see that?" Alexis was surprised she had thought she'd kept her feelings hidden. No one else besides Sonny seemed to have noticed her less then thrilled response to wedding plans.
"Maybe I see it because I pretend so much myself that I can recognize it when others do it." Elizabeth explained then worried she might have gone to far. "I'm sorry if I have overstepped."
"You haven't." Alexis sighed a little in relief, she felt comfortable talking to the younger woman. And it seemed like they were in the same boat. "Let's you and I make a pact." She turned to face Elizabeth. "You and I can tell each other anything, and all the other person has to do is just listen. We won't tell you what you think the other person wants to hear, or what you want for them. We will just be totally honest with each other, with no ulterior motives."
"That sounds good." The more Elizabeth thought about it the more she liked it. "So when everything starts going haywire in my life I can come to you?"
"And I'll come to you." V and Chloe were the best girlfriends she'd ever had, but they were also friends of Ned. That meant she couldn't really talk about her doubts with them. They also were so focused on what was best for her. That sometimes they didn't listen to her. She had a feeling that Elizabeth might be different.
"I like this idea." Elizabeth murmured. "So what you didn't say during my whole complaint about Jason, is that Sonny is to you what Jason is to me. A friend who keeps slipping into something more, and the thought of that is terrifying."
"Observant little thing aren't you." Alexis snapped embarrassed that it had been obvious.
Elizabeth nodded and grinned cheekily at her. "Give me your phone."
"Why?" Alexis began to dig in her purse for her phone.
"I have a feeling you are going to be calling before too long." Elizabeth took the phone and began to try to figure out how to program her number in the memory.
"I think you will have the same problem." Alexis picked up Elizabeth's phone, to do the same. "After all you seem to have the pressure of everyone in town telling you how you need to be with Lucky."
"And you have issues with Ned, and not to mention you have to deal with Carly on almost a daily basis."
Alexis frowned and got to her feet. Carly was another reason why she shouldn't be thinking of Sonny as anything more then a friend. "I think you need to talk to Jason, at least that way you'll know for sure."
Elizabeth got to her feet as well. "But what if I find out he doesn't want to be with me like that?"
"Then at least you'll know one way or the other. Another thing you seem to have figured out, is regardless of what happens with Jason, Lucky is out of the picture."
Elizabeth was quiet. Did she really know that? She still didn't know how she was supposed to deal with the fact that Lucky had just stopped loving her, for no reason at all. She decided to move along. "What about you? Are you going to talk to Sonny?"
The elevator gave a sudden lurch causing both women to stumble, before it started moving again. Elizabeth bent down and retrieved one of the phones that were on the floor.
Alexis picked up her briefcase and jacket. "It's been nice talking to you Elizabeth. I hope we do it again soon." That was her way of avoiding Elizabeth's question.
"Yeah but next time let's pick a place with a little more room." Elizabeth smiled and followed Alexis off the elevator when it finally opened.
~Docks~
"Sonny wait up." Elizabeth hurried down the docks when she recognized who was ahead of her.
Sonny and Johnny turned around at her call and waited for her to join them. "Hello Elizabeth."
"Hey." She said a little breathlessly she had been running since the bus stop a few blocks away. She couldn't wait to get a car. "I was hoping I would catch you."
"Well you got me." Sonny said with a grin. "We're you looking for Jason? Because I haven't seen him."
"No I'll see him later, actually I was looking for you." She grinned suddenly. "Hey with him back in town we don't have to talk in code around Carly anymore."
Sonny smirked. "I kind of liked that."
Johnny looked at them with confusion on his face.
"If I mentioned Jason around Carly it would set her off," Elizabeth explained. "So we made up this little code, every time he would come into the diner I would ask him if he'd been swimming lately. If he said no, I knew Jason was alright."
Johnny shook his head trying to disguise the smile.
"Go ahead and laugh O'Brien." Sonny warned him. "It kept Carly off my back."
"If you say so boss." Johnny agreed then stepped back to give them some privacy.
"I made up the code not him." Elizabeth explained.
"I hoped so." Johnny commented with a wry grin.
Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "He's such a snob at times."
"I know." Sonny agreed. "So what did you need?"
"There's something I need to know did you tell Jason about Sorel bothering me?"
Instantly serious Sonny stepped closer. "Is Sorel bothering you again?"
"No I haven't even seen him since last winter." Elizabeth spoke quickly. "I just wondered if Jason knew about when Sorel did bother me, and about Francis guarding me for awhile."
"No I never told him." Sonny sighed in relief. He was glad that Sorel was staying away from her.
"Good can you not tell him?" She saw the surprise in his face and hurried to explain. "Its just one time before he tried to stop seeing me, to try to protect me from Sorel. I'm afraid he might do it again, if he knows Sorel did come after me."
"Elizabeth I don't know, I really don't keep things from Jason."
"I know I'm not asking you to lie, but can you just not volunteer?" She asked. She had decided to take Alexis advice and talk to Jason about his feelings for her, but she wanted to make sure there weren't any obstacles when she did.
He saw the hopeful look in her eyes and couldn't refuse. "I won't bring it up."
"Good." She sagged in relief. "I doubt he'll mention it, I mean if he hasn't asked you before why would he now? He's home now so there's no need for him to question you about me anymore. He can just ask me directly."
"He never asked me about you." Sonny said without thinking.
"Oh." Elizabeth sucked in a breath and brought the pain with it. "I see."
Sonny saw the hurt in her eyes and began to curse himself. "Elizabeth let me explain."
"No it's okay," she said brightly. "I would appreciate you not telling him though, although I don't think it will matter." She had misread the signs, Jason wasn't interested in her that way.
"Of course it will matter." Sonny was desperate to bring back her smile but he didn't know how. Jason was the one that had made this mess. "Johnny tells me you have a new friend, what's his name? Zander?"
"Zander?" She laughed bitterly. "Oh yeah I always go for guys that drug me." She muttered to hurt to censor herself.
"What?" Sonny demanded.
Elizabeth's eyes widened. "I always go for guys who … hug me." She blurted out finally and looked at her watch. "I need to get going, I have to meet Emily. Don't worry about telling Jason anything I don't think it will matter to him one way or the other." She began to back up the steps. "Bye Johnny, Sonny."
"Elizabeth wait." Sonny called after her but she was gone. "Damn'it I feel like I just kicked a puppy."
"I know what you mean." Johnny moved closer. "Last night I let it slip that Jason kept in touch with me, apparently he didn't with her."
"Damn Jason what were you thinking?" Sonny rubbed at his eyes. "I hurt her. I didn't mean too, but I did."
"Someone needs to talk to Jason about that, and also about Zander." Johnny reminded him. "Did you catch her slip?"
"About him drugging her?" Sonny's eyes went cold. "Yeah I caught it and I don't like it. I think we need to have a talk with this Zander."
"Should we wait for Jason?" Johnny asked.
"I think we better, Jason has a big hole he needs to get out of, and he might need some help." Sonny headed towards the warehouse. "For now though see if anyone has heard of this kid Zander."
~Elm Street~
Elizabeth was so busy fighting back her tears that she didn't realize someone was in front of her until she ran into them. "I'm sorry."
"No harm done Elizabeth."
Her head whipped up and she focused on the man who had her by the arms. "Hi Zander."
"Are you okay?" He could see the tears in her eyes, and couldn't help but be concerned, even though he knew he shouldn't be.
"Yeah, I just got something in my contacts." Elizabeth lied easily and backed away, forcing him to drop his hands. "How are you?"
"I'm fine." He studied her through narrowed eyes, and this time he caught the nervousness and a hint of fear coming off of her. Damn she was playing him. "Are you coming to the rave tomorrow night?"
"I wouldn't miss it." Elizabeth smiled at him before looking at her watch. "I need to go right now I'm meeting someone."
"Okay," he stepped back and let her pass. "I'll see you then."
"Yes I'll see you tomorrow night." Elizabeth turned and looked over her shoulder at him one last time then hurried away.
"I doubt that." Zander muttered, it was time to get the hell out of town. He turned for his car and came up short in surprise. "Mr. Sorel."
Sorel looked past him to a disappearing Elizabeth. "You have such interesting friends Zander."
"She's just a girl." Zander shifted trying to block Sorel's view of Elizabeth.
"Oh she's more then that Zander." Sorel's eyes narrowed and he remembered the pain that girl had cost him. It had felt like Morgan was going to rip his arm out, the time he saw him talking to her. Then later when Sonny had put guards on her, and threatened him away from her. Elizabeth Webber was definitely more then just a girl.
"I guess." Zander shuffled his feet, he didn't like being around Sorel. His beady little eyes always made him feel like he couldn't keep anything from him. And he needed to keep a secret from Sorel. He was leaving town, and Sorel couldn't know that.
"So she's coming to the rave tomorrow night?" Sorel asked.
"Yeah I invited her. I hung out with her at another rave awhile ago." Zander admitted, he decided to play dumb about her connection to Jason Morgan. "She's a little square for my taste though."
"She's perfect for mine." Sorel focused on him. "And that's where you come in."
"What?" Zander asked warily.
"Once she's at the rave I want you to see that she leaves with you."
Zander shook his head. "I don't know she's just a girl, remember what happened last time."
"Yes about what happened last time." Sorel snapped. "I'm still waiting to find out about Officer Wilson and Emily Quartermaine." He smirked then. "What? Surprised I know the girls name? Did you really think I spared her life because you begged me too?" he shook his head. "Silly boy, I spared her life because she is Jason Morgan's sister, and I wanted her to suffer with the knowledge that she killed someone. I wanted Morgan to suffer as well. But that hasn't happened."
Zander kept quiet, this was news to him. He had truly believed Sorel was going to kill her that night.
"But now fate had handed me another opportunity to punish Morgan and Corinthos. You will drug Elizabeth Webber and bring her to me."
"I won't let you kill her." Zander warned him defiantly.
Sorel's guards grabbed Zander from behind and Sorel moved closer and gripped his chin. "You should be more concerned about what I'll do to you if you fail me. There's nowhere that you will be able to hide from me. I own you Zander. So you better keep me happy."
He stepped back from Zander. "And by that I mean, Elizabeth Webber is mine tomorrow night." He spoke to his guards. "Remind him of that."
One of the guards grinned as they drug a struggling Zander into the alley.
"Soon I'll have my revenge on Morgan, and then it will be Corinthos turn." Sorel spoke over the sounds of the beating going on behind him.