Author's Note: Reviews! Yay! :D

starbright: Thanks for the support! Hopefully it'll work out okay, this story is a lot of fun, especially since the chapters a so much shorter and therefore easier to write :D

ghjourneybabe; You've asked me to put Journey in fast after only the first chapter. tsk tsk, didn't even wait for the second, lol. I'm just kidding, here's your wish granted and thanks for reading :)

Always Rosalind: The movie is amazing. It's my official new favorite, and my movie favorites is a pretty exclusive club, lol. And yes, randomly, the wedding was gorgeous :D I loved it. And even better is the ongoing honeymoon, which, despite the frequent interruptions, is so cute! I'll e-mail ya as soon as I get to the dancing portion of this story, and thanks so much for the offer for help! Ballet is one thing you can't make up, lol. Thanks for reading too :)

tydavislover: LOL! Right there with me, I watched it three times, too, and then went out and bought it! Thanks so much for reading!

abc: How's this for ASAP? 3 days. This has to be some kind of record for me, lol. Thanks for reading, and I'm sorry I didn't get your review for TF (wonderful initials, don't you agree?) until I uploaded...suffice it to say, yes, the chapters are veeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrry long :p

To the LNers: You guys are amazing, and I can't believe I got so many reviews from you for the prologue and chapter one alone! Why am I saying this here? The P.S. explains :p

EVERYONE: I'm carrying a routine over from The Fallout: no more than 2 weeks between updates unless the sky falls or there's a huge power outage or some such disaster that would keep me from my beloved computer.

Reflection

Chapter Two ~ The Docks

Courtney stepped out of the alley and onto the stairs, staring out at the water lapping the docks. It filled her with tranquility. Courtney wrapped her arms around herself. Night was falling and the temperature was growing increasingly colder. She was going to have to find someplace to stay and soon.

She wondered where her mom was now. She believed in God and heaven, but had she and her mom been good enough, said their prayers often enough, for her to get in there?

Yeah, they had, Courtney decided. She couldn't deal with thinking any other way. God loved them; her mom had died trying to do something she thought was right. He wouldn't punish her for that.

Courtney, however, couldn't find a happy medium. She could neither accept her mother's death or what she had done. How could she have lied about her dad? She needed to know why.

She slipped her backpack from her shoulders and pulled the paperwork out of her parka, a cheap department store markdown that didn't make her much warmer than she would have been without it. She began paging through the papers, looking for some clue as to where exactly in Port Charles her father lived. She'd gone over it extensively the night before, but she hadn't found his address. She had, however, found a page with a corner torn out. Had his address been on that corner? Had her mom torn it up, burned it in order to make sure her daughter never found him?

Just then, a brisk breeze tore the papers from her hands. She desperately snatched for them as the spread apart, fluttering in all directions. She had to catch them before they fell into the water!

Thank God, the wind stopped blowing, and the papers scattered across the wooden deck. Breathing a sigh of relief, she went to gather them up.

From her position crouched on the docks, she saw a leather-gloved hand reach down to pick up one of her papers...

Courtney grabbed the first thing that could serve as a weapon—a two-by-four from a pile next to a bench, probably there waiting for some lazy guy to fix a broken railing. "Get away from me!" she said. You couldn't be too careful, a young woman out alone at night. Her mom had taught her that.

He let the paper lie, straightening and holding his hands up either as a show of defeat or backing off. "I was just trying to help you pick these up..." He frowned as he said it, obviously confused by her reaction.

Jason didn't understand why she had reacted like that. Had he done something wrong?

Courtney saw nothing but sincerity in his intense blue gaze. She took a moment to look him over. Tall, handsome, in shape, dressed in biker boots, jeans, a T-shirt, and a leather jacket that looked pretty warm, or at least warmer than what she was wearing. Spiky brownish hair, and the eyes...she could get lost in those eyes. He was a good guy, she decided, despite the biker image he gave off, and not at all like those pimps on the mean streets of Atlantic City. Blowing out a breath, she lowered the board and rubbed her forehead. "I'm sorry."

He nodded and stooped to once again help her gather her papers. When he passed them over to her, their hands brushed and their eyes met. Courtney looked away hastily, feeling a blush creep into her cheeks. "Thanks." She shoved the paperwork into her pocket.

"It's not a problem," he replied, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "So...are you new in town?"

Courtney glanced up quickly, her knee-jerk reaction to be defensive. "Why would you ask that?"

He shrugged. "I know most people around here and I haven't seen you before."

Courtney went over to the bench and sat down. After a moment, he followed her, watching her intently, not in a perverted way, but as if he was really interested in what she had to say. She couldn't recall a guy ever looking at her like that before, except for her dad when she was really little. "Yeah, I just got here. I'm sort of looking for someone." When he didn't say anything, she added, "My dad, actually. It's a really long story. I thought he was dead, but after my mom died I found out he wasn't. Ugh." Why was she being so honest with him? He was a complete stranger!

"I'm sorry," Jason said, and he meant it. "That must have been hard for you."

That was why. Because he spoke so quietly, listened so attentively. "It's no big deal." She hugged herself again, starting to shiver. Man, it was chilly out here.

Jason noticed. "Are you cold?" he asked, shrugging out of his jacket.

She glanced over at him. "Oh, no, I'm fine. I can't let you do that."

He wrapped it around her shoulders. "No, it's fine. I'm not cold. That better?"

She smiled. She would never have thought such a complete stranger could be so sincerely kind and generous. "Much."

He smiled back at her, but not with his mouth. With his eyes. They just softened and lit up a little.

"Well, isn't this sweet?"

Courtney and her companion both jumped at the unexpected voice. Courtney leaped to he feet after him, looking at the petite brunette standing behind them, her arms crossed over her chest.

The girl continued, "Cuddling on the docks, where everyone can see you. Tell me, Jason, did you lie about her, too? Have you been involved with her the whole time you were pretending you wanted something more with me? Are sleeping with her?"

Courtney's companion frowned. "What are you talking about?"

The girl's eyes flashed angrily. "You know exactly what I'm talking about! You ruined any chance we had of being together and you don't even care! And you've already moved on, with this blond bimbo. You know, now that I think of it, she looks a lot like Carly."

It was a dig, and Jason knew it. It was a roundabout way of asking if he had told this girl the truth like he had told Carly and not Elizabeth.

Courtney stepped forward, enraged. She didn't like that this girl who had never met her had just called her a bimbo, and she especially didn't like the accusations she was throwing around. And there was another thing—she felt a need to defend this man she hardly even knew. "Look, I don't know who you are or what your problem is, but I dropped some important papers and all he did was help me pick them up before they could blow away."

The girl threw her a disgusted expression, tucking her hair behind her ears. "You expect me to believe that? Isn't that Jason's jacket you're wearing?"

Courtney looked down at herself and the crinkled leather jacket that was keeping her warm.

"Look, Elizabeth," Jason began, "I know you're hurt and you're angry, but I told you there were things I couldn't tell you. And I'm not going to apologize for what I did because it had to be done. Because if it happened again, I'd do the same thing."

"Our trust meant nothing to you?"

Jason didn't say anything. He couldn't apologize to her because he wasn't sorry. He'd told her that over and over again and she just didn't seem able to understand or accept that this was his job, and he had to do what he had to do. Elizabeth had told him that they could never work out; she was right."

The silence seemed a good enough answer to this Elizabeth, who just shook her head and threw up her hands. "You know what? I don't care anymore. Keep your secrets for Sonny, do whatever you want with her. I don't want to think about it and I don't want to beat myself up for thinking you were ever my friend or that you and I could have had something real. You can both go to hell for all I care." Delivering the last part threateningly, she turned around and stomped up the stairs.

Courtney watched her retreating back and as soon as she rounded the corner, she whirled around to face Jason, unable to help being furious about what had just been said. "Okay, not that it's any of my business, but what is her problem?"

He shrugged again. "I kept something from Elizabeth and she found out. She's mad and I can't really blame her."

"Is she your girlfriend or something?" Courtney asked, not trying to be nosy, just trying to understand.

"Not exactly. We were friends and I thought we could be something more, but I was wrong."

He didn't sound hurt or disappointed. The way he spoke was matter-of-fact. Like he accepted that whatever had happened had happened and he couldn't change it. She wished she could feel that way. After a long moment, she slid his coat from her shoulders and held it out with a smile. "Thanks for the jacket."

Once he took it, Courtney turned to walk away but then she paused, her hand resting on the railing. She pondered it for a moment and then thought why not? and turned back to him. "I'm Courtney."

His intense gaze had not strayed from her even for a moment. One side of his mouth twitched slightly, forming a brief and very sexy smile. "Jason. Jason Morgan."

Jason Morgan. She tried it a few times in her head. The two names just rolled through her thoughts, fitting perfectly. She loved how they sounded together. And somehow she knew, just knew, this Jason Morgan was going to change her life.

She threw him a dazzling smile. "Bye, Jason." With that, she finished climbing the stairs.

Jason stared at her retreating back until she was out of sight and then he stared at the place she'd disappeared from view. He didn't know what it was, but there was something about her smile...

And for the second time that day, the side of his mouth twitched upward Her smile made him want to smile. He didn't know what role she was going to play in his life, but he'd known the moment she'd turned back to tell him her name she was going to have a part in it. There was something about her, and whatever it was, he liked it.

Shaking out of his thoughts, he sprinted up the stairs opposite the set she had gone up minutes before.

~*~

P.S. Anyone from JourneyIntoTheLoveNest: I'm having a lot of problems with my account over there, and until that gets cleared up, I can't update because I can't even read the boards [face_cry] I think I accidentally got ISP banned. Anyway, love you guys. Hope problem gets fixed soon, I'm dying without ya. :(