Second Chances: The Fallout
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Jason looked around the coffee warehouse shaking his head. The drugs he found in the latest shipment were an obvious plant by Faith. In her need to seek revenge on Sonny for her husband's untimely demise, she was getting sloppy. That was actually to his and Sonny's advantage. It was just that Jason had grown tired of Ms. Roscoe's childish games. He just wanted to be rid of her already. Much like he wanted to be rid of Ric Lansing.
That idea brought forth Max's earlier call into Jason's thoughts. Ric Lansing was far too arrogant for his own good and Jason knew like Faith that would be his greatest undoing. Jason's only concern was would he harm Elizabeth in the process. He pulled out his phone from his back pocket and started to dial Max for an update.
"Mr. Morgan." A voice came from across the warehouse floor. "Over here. We found more."
"Damn!" Jason tucked the phone back in his pocket and head to the other side of the warehouse.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Elizabeth rode quietly alongside Max on their way to Harbor View Towers. She was still trying to discern if it had been Sonny or Jason who had requested she be followed. She had tried to ask Max for that answer but of course he was silent as always.
Jason had told her that Sonny didn't blame her for what Ric did to Carly but maybe he had been wrong. It certainly appeared to Elizabeth that Carly blamed her or at least thought she was rather stupid not knowing what was going on right under her nose. For once she and Carly Corinthos agreed on something. She could have almost laughed if it all hadn't been so twisted.
Elizabeth gave Max a sideways glance and wondered if Ric wasn't just playing her again. Had she let him talk her into believing something that wasn't even true? It wasn't like Max hadn't ever eaten at Kelly's before. So why couldn't he have been doing that when she found him outside the diner?
Max parked the car in its appropriate spot in the garage and led Elizabeth to the bank of elevators that would lead them to the top floor penthouses. Suddenly she felt silly and wished she hadn't let Ric bait her once again, the only good thing she saw coming out of all of this is that she would get to see Jason - something she had wanted to do but had been too afraid to admit.
As they exited the elevator the sight of Sonny talking Johnny came into view. He was going over with the man some sort of food Carly was craving that needed to be picked up at the market.
"Why are you having me followed?" Elizabeth asked without warning.
"What?" Sonny turned and looked between the young woman and his employee.
"Why are you having Max following me?" she asked again.
"I'm not." Sonny glanced at Max and knew the answer to his question without it even being asked. It was Jason's orders Max was adhering to.
"I know what Ric did to Carly was horrendous but I assure you that I didn't know anything..."
"Elizabeth," Sonny cut her off, "I know you aren't to blame."
She was stunned. In her heart she had wanted to believe what Jason had told her but hearing it come directly from Sonny made it all the more true. A little bit of the burden she had been carrying for months now had been lifted.
"You don't?"
"No. Ric is the only one I blame. You're as much his victim as Carly."
"I can't believe..."
"Believe me. You have long proved your loyalty to me and to Jason. I would never once thought that you would have been in on what Ric was planning."
"Thank you," she whispered. "I am sorry though. I wish I would.."
"Stop worrying." Sonny smiled.
"So if it wasn't you having me followed? It was..." Elizabeth averted her eyes toward Jason's penthouse door.
"You'll have to ask him yourself." Sonny had to wonder how the hell Jason was going to get out of this one.
"He's not there," Johnny said as Elizabeth went toward the penthouse that she had once called home. "There was some trouble at the warehouse he went to take care of."
"I'll wait," Elizabeth said firmly as her ire grew.
Max opened the door and let her into the penthouse. "Do you need anything Miss Webber?"
"No Max, I'm fine."
"Okay, well I'll be right outside if you do." With that he closed the door and Elizabeth felt as though she had just traveled back several months in time.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Morgan," Jason said into his cell.
"Boss we got a problem," Max said hesitantly.
Jason's mind raced as it had done the day Francis called him saying something very similar. "What? Is she okay? What the hell did he do now?" Jason couldn't imagine even Ric having the nerve to do something in the middle of Kelly's lunch rush.
"She's sitting in your penthouse at the moment."
"What? Why?" Horrible thoughts immediately sprung to Jason's mind. "How could you let him get close enough to hurt her?" he spat thinking that would be the only reason that she would now be at his place. A place she vowed to never return to.
"No, no it's not like that." Max heard his boss let out what to him sounded like a sigh of relief. He had to wonder if he would feel that way in another minute once he told him what was really going on.
"What then?"
"Miss Webber, she caught me lurking around outside of Kelly's. I tried to cover but she wasn't buying it. She said that was going to where ever you were to find out what was really going on."
"Damn!"
"I'm sorry. I just thought it was better to bring her to you rather than let her go find you herself."
"It's fine Max. I'll be there as soon as I can."
"Okay. Well I told her I was there is she needed anything."
"Good."
Jason dropped the phone to his side and covered his face with his other hand. "Damn" he said again. He could only imagine what might be going through her mind right then. Earlier he hadn't wanted to risk Max being revealed when he didn't let him just enter Kelly's casually but now Jason was wishing he had. It would have made things a lot simpler.
He knew he couldn't lie to her even by omission. That had been their downfall before. And he wasn't ashamed to be having her followed. Ric Lansing had proved time and time again to be a threat. He was one even more so now given the fact that Elizabeth had filed for divorce. Lansing wasn't one to give up without a fight. He had met his match for that in Jason Morgan though. Now all Jason had to do was convince Elizabeth of that.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Elizabeth walked around Jason's penthouse as she had done when she stayed there months before. Nothing was really any different until she spied the lone frame resting on the desk next to the phone. She picked it up and instantly recalled the day that it was taken. Elizabeth could hear Emily badgering Jason to take the picture with them. He hadn't wanted to but somehow Emily had gotten her way with her big brother. Elizabeth smiled as she looked at Jason between the two of them. She remembered how it felt to have his arm draped around her when Reginald said he needed them to be closer. The mere thought of it now sent a chill down her back.
"Stop it," she said out loud. "You're supposed to be angry with him." She scolded herself for letting down her resolve so quickly. Her fingers trailed along the outer edge of the pool table as she walked beside it. She was flooded with memories of her and Jason's times together. Absently she racked the balls and eyed the cue ball as she attempted to break.
Jason heard the loud crash of pool balls as he turned the knob. "You're breaks have gotten better," he said as he laid his jacket over the arm of the creamy brown leather sofa. "Up for a game?" He wasn't anxious to have the conversation he knew was coming.
"Sure." She nodded and handed him his favorite cue stick thinking to herself old habits die-hard.
They played pool for the next half-hour barely speaking. The tension in the room was noticeable but neither wanted to acknowledge it. It came down to Elizabeth's final shot. It was a bank shot one that she had never made before yet that afternoon the eight ball fell into the pocket as though there were no other place for it to go.
"You must have been practicing," Jason remarked with a hint of jealousy in his voice. He didn't want to imagine Ric and Elizabeth playing pool together. That had been their thing just as the rides they took were.
"No, just lucky I guess. Aren't you going to ask me why I'm here?" she questioned as she placed her cue stick into its spot in the rack hanging on the wall.
"You aren't going to tell me?" he countered.
Elizabeth looked him square in the eye knowing full well that Max had alerted him of her presence. He would have had to. "I want to know what Max was doing at Kelly's today." She cut to the chase.
"He was watching you."
Stunned for a moment Elizabeth just stared at him. She had actually thought that he might even attempt to deny it, but secretly was glad he hadn't.
"Why?"
"Because I told him to."
"Well that much I gathered. Especially when Sonny knew nothing about it."
"You talked to Sonny?" Jason was surprised. "You thought that he was the one?"
"Yes.no.I didn't know what to think. Ric was going on about how you lie too. That you had a man following me for weeks.then Max gave me some lame excuse. I was just so angry that when I got off the elevator and Sonny was standing there I just blurted it out." Jason smiled as she rambled on as she always did when she was nervous or upset. "Why Jason? Why are you having me guarded?"
"I thought it was necessary."
"Is Faith Roscoe that much of a threat?" Elizabeth knew that she had tried to poison her and had made various threats against her but since she had left Ric those had all but died.
"Not Faith, Ric."
"Ric?" She shouldn't have sounded surprised but she was.
"Yes Ric. He's capable of just about anything. He's already proven that. I wasn't about to take any chances with you." He let a indication of what he felt for her show through in his tone.
"He just can't accept that I don't love him." Elizabeth stated.
"Exactly. He couldn't accept that you lost your child and look what he did. Are you telling me that you think he's not above reproach?"
"No.no," she sighed. She knew that Jason was right but hated the thoughts of having Max, or any of the men, shadowing her.
"You said Ric told you I lied to you. That he knew that one of my guys had been following you for weeks. How would he know that if he hadn't been following you himself?"
"I don't know," she admitted as she thought to the day at the cemetery. That day Ric had admitted openly that he had followed her.
"So Ric told you I lied to you?" Jason said again. "Do you think I lied, Elizabeth?" He needed to know where he stood with her.
She faltered for just a moment, enough for Jason to find himself holding his breath. "No you didn't exactly lie to me, but you weren't exactly honest either."
"Maybe not." He agreed. "What would you have said if I had told you about Max?" he asked full well knowing her answer.
"I would have told you no.never again."
"See why I didn't mention it?" Jason half smiled attempting to gauge her reaction to it all. "I know how you feel about having Max, Johnny or any of the guys around but I can't call them off. Especially not now, if Ric knows about them then he has to have been trailing you himself. I won't debate this with you Elizabeth."
She saw the resolve in Jason's features and knew that she wasn't going to change his mind. There was a part of her elated by this knowledge. It gave her hope for what they could be to one another again. But the thought of having Max breathing down her neck made her leery. "I have one condition."
"What's that?"
"They need to keep their distance."
"Fine. And I have one," he said.
"And?"
"That you don't try to lose them."
Elizabeth smiled broadly. "Deal."
"You want to play another game?" Jason asked motioning toward the pool table.
"Sure...oh no wait.I left Penny at Kelly's alone. I have to go back."
"I'll take you." He offered.
"No Max?" she questioned.
"No Max."
Max watched as the pair exited the penthouse smiling. He hadn't heard the yelling that he had expected to hear. He was glad. He knew how much Elizabeth Webber meant to the enforcer and it was good to see him smile again.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Jason looked around the coffee warehouse shaking his head. The drugs he found in the latest shipment were an obvious plant by Faith. In her need to seek revenge on Sonny for her husband's untimely demise, she was getting sloppy. That was actually to his and Sonny's advantage. It was just that Jason had grown tired of Ms. Roscoe's childish games. He just wanted to be rid of her already. Much like he wanted to be rid of Ric Lansing.
That idea brought forth Max's earlier call into Jason's thoughts. Ric Lansing was far too arrogant for his own good and Jason knew like Faith that would be his greatest undoing. Jason's only concern was would he harm Elizabeth in the process. He pulled out his phone from his back pocket and started to dial Max for an update.
"Mr. Morgan." A voice came from across the warehouse floor. "Over here. We found more."
"Damn!" Jason tucked the phone back in his pocket and head to the other side of the warehouse.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Elizabeth rode quietly alongside Max on their way to Harbor View Towers. She was still trying to discern if it had been Sonny or Jason who had requested she be followed. She had tried to ask Max for that answer but of course he was silent as always.
Jason had told her that Sonny didn't blame her for what Ric did to Carly but maybe he had been wrong. It certainly appeared to Elizabeth that Carly blamed her or at least thought she was rather stupid not knowing what was going on right under her nose. For once she and Carly Corinthos agreed on something. She could have almost laughed if it all hadn't been so twisted.
Elizabeth gave Max a sideways glance and wondered if Ric wasn't just playing her again. Had she let him talk her into believing something that wasn't even true? It wasn't like Max hadn't ever eaten at Kelly's before. So why couldn't he have been doing that when she found him outside the diner?
Max parked the car in its appropriate spot in the garage and led Elizabeth to the bank of elevators that would lead them to the top floor penthouses. Suddenly she felt silly and wished she hadn't let Ric bait her once again, the only good thing she saw coming out of all of this is that she would get to see Jason - something she had wanted to do but had been too afraid to admit.
As they exited the elevator the sight of Sonny talking Johnny came into view. He was going over with the man some sort of food Carly was craving that needed to be picked up at the market.
"Why are you having me followed?" Elizabeth asked without warning.
"What?" Sonny turned and looked between the young woman and his employee.
"Why are you having Max following me?" she asked again.
"I'm not." Sonny glanced at Max and knew the answer to his question without it even being asked. It was Jason's orders Max was adhering to.
"I know what Ric did to Carly was horrendous but I assure you that I didn't know anything..."
"Elizabeth," Sonny cut her off, "I know you aren't to blame."
She was stunned. In her heart she had wanted to believe what Jason had told her but hearing it come directly from Sonny made it all the more true. A little bit of the burden she had been carrying for months now had been lifted.
"You don't?"
"No. Ric is the only one I blame. You're as much his victim as Carly."
"I can't believe..."
"Believe me. You have long proved your loyalty to me and to Jason. I would never once thought that you would have been in on what Ric was planning."
"Thank you," she whispered. "I am sorry though. I wish I would.."
"Stop worrying." Sonny smiled.
"So if it wasn't you having me followed? It was..." Elizabeth averted her eyes toward Jason's penthouse door.
"You'll have to ask him yourself." Sonny had to wonder how the hell Jason was going to get out of this one.
"He's not there," Johnny said as Elizabeth went toward the penthouse that she had once called home. "There was some trouble at the warehouse he went to take care of."
"I'll wait," Elizabeth said firmly as her ire grew.
Max opened the door and let her into the penthouse. "Do you need anything Miss Webber?"
"No Max, I'm fine."
"Okay, well I'll be right outside if you do." With that he closed the door and Elizabeth felt as though she had just traveled back several months in time.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Morgan," Jason said into his cell.
"Boss we got a problem," Max said hesitantly.
Jason's mind raced as it had done the day Francis called him saying something very similar. "What? Is she okay? What the hell did he do now?" Jason couldn't imagine even Ric having the nerve to do something in the middle of Kelly's lunch rush.
"She's sitting in your penthouse at the moment."
"What? Why?" Horrible thoughts immediately sprung to Jason's mind. "How could you let him get close enough to hurt her?" he spat thinking that would be the only reason that she would now be at his place. A place she vowed to never return to.
"No, no it's not like that." Max heard his boss let out what to him sounded like a sigh of relief. He had to wonder if he would feel that way in another minute once he told him what was really going on.
"What then?"
"Miss Webber, she caught me lurking around outside of Kelly's. I tried to cover but she wasn't buying it. She said that was going to where ever you were to find out what was really going on."
"Damn!"
"I'm sorry. I just thought it was better to bring her to you rather than let her go find you herself."
"It's fine Max. I'll be there as soon as I can."
"Okay. Well I told her I was there is she needed anything."
"Good."
Jason dropped the phone to his side and covered his face with his other hand. "Damn" he said again. He could only imagine what might be going through her mind right then. Earlier he hadn't wanted to risk Max being revealed when he didn't let him just enter Kelly's casually but now Jason was wishing he had. It would have made things a lot simpler.
He knew he couldn't lie to her even by omission. That had been their downfall before. And he wasn't ashamed to be having her followed. Ric Lansing had proved time and time again to be a threat. He was one even more so now given the fact that Elizabeth had filed for divorce. Lansing wasn't one to give up without a fight. He had met his match for that in Jason Morgan though. Now all Jason had to do was convince Elizabeth of that.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Elizabeth walked around Jason's penthouse as she had done when she stayed there months before. Nothing was really any different until she spied the lone frame resting on the desk next to the phone. She picked it up and instantly recalled the day that it was taken. Elizabeth could hear Emily badgering Jason to take the picture with them. He hadn't wanted to but somehow Emily had gotten her way with her big brother. Elizabeth smiled as she looked at Jason between the two of them. She remembered how it felt to have his arm draped around her when Reginald said he needed them to be closer. The mere thought of it now sent a chill down her back.
"Stop it," she said out loud. "You're supposed to be angry with him." She scolded herself for letting down her resolve so quickly. Her fingers trailed along the outer edge of the pool table as she walked beside it. She was flooded with memories of her and Jason's times together. Absently she racked the balls and eyed the cue ball as she attempted to break.
Jason heard the loud crash of pool balls as he turned the knob. "You're breaks have gotten better," he said as he laid his jacket over the arm of the creamy brown leather sofa. "Up for a game?" He wasn't anxious to have the conversation he knew was coming.
"Sure." She nodded and handed him his favorite cue stick thinking to herself old habits die-hard.
They played pool for the next half-hour barely speaking. The tension in the room was noticeable but neither wanted to acknowledge it. It came down to Elizabeth's final shot. It was a bank shot one that she had never made before yet that afternoon the eight ball fell into the pocket as though there were no other place for it to go.
"You must have been practicing," Jason remarked with a hint of jealousy in his voice. He didn't want to imagine Ric and Elizabeth playing pool together. That had been their thing just as the rides they took were.
"No, just lucky I guess. Aren't you going to ask me why I'm here?" she questioned as she placed her cue stick into its spot in the rack hanging on the wall.
"You aren't going to tell me?" he countered.
Elizabeth looked him square in the eye knowing full well that Max had alerted him of her presence. He would have had to. "I want to know what Max was doing at Kelly's today." She cut to the chase.
"He was watching you."
Stunned for a moment Elizabeth just stared at him. She had actually thought that he might even attempt to deny it, but secretly was glad he hadn't.
"Why?"
"Because I told him to."
"Well that much I gathered. Especially when Sonny knew nothing about it."
"You talked to Sonny?" Jason was surprised. "You thought that he was the one?"
"Yes.no.I didn't know what to think. Ric was going on about how you lie too. That you had a man following me for weeks.then Max gave me some lame excuse. I was just so angry that when I got off the elevator and Sonny was standing there I just blurted it out." Jason smiled as she rambled on as she always did when she was nervous or upset. "Why Jason? Why are you having me guarded?"
"I thought it was necessary."
"Is Faith Roscoe that much of a threat?" Elizabeth knew that she had tried to poison her and had made various threats against her but since she had left Ric those had all but died.
"Not Faith, Ric."
"Ric?" She shouldn't have sounded surprised but she was.
"Yes Ric. He's capable of just about anything. He's already proven that. I wasn't about to take any chances with you." He let a indication of what he felt for her show through in his tone.
"He just can't accept that I don't love him." Elizabeth stated.
"Exactly. He couldn't accept that you lost your child and look what he did. Are you telling me that you think he's not above reproach?"
"No.no," she sighed. She knew that Jason was right but hated the thoughts of having Max, or any of the men, shadowing her.
"You said Ric told you I lied to you. That he knew that one of my guys had been following you for weeks. How would he know that if he hadn't been following you himself?"
"I don't know," she admitted as she thought to the day at the cemetery. That day Ric had admitted openly that he had followed her.
"So Ric told you I lied to you?" Jason said again. "Do you think I lied, Elizabeth?" He needed to know where he stood with her.
She faltered for just a moment, enough for Jason to find himself holding his breath. "No you didn't exactly lie to me, but you weren't exactly honest either."
"Maybe not." He agreed. "What would you have said if I had told you about Max?" he asked full well knowing her answer.
"I would have told you no.never again."
"See why I didn't mention it?" Jason half smiled attempting to gauge her reaction to it all. "I know how you feel about having Max, Johnny or any of the guys around but I can't call them off. Especially not now, if Ric knows about them then he has to have been trailing you himself. I won't debate this with you Elizabeth."
She saw the resolve in Jason's features and knew that she wasn't going to change his mind. There was a part of her elated by this knowledge. It gave her hope for what they could be to one another again. But the thought of having Max breathing down her neck made her leery. "I have one condition."
"What's that?"
"They need to keep their distance."
"Fine. And I have one," he said.
"And?"
"That you don't try to lose them."
Elizabeth smiled broadly. "Deal."
"You want to play another game?" Jason asked motioning toward the pool table.
"Sure...oh no wait.I left Penny at Kelly's alone. I have to go back."
"I'll take you." He offered.
"No Max?" she questioned.
"No Max."
Max watched as the pair exited the penthouse smiling. He hadn't heard the yelling that he had expected to hear. He was glad. He knew how much Elizabeth Webber meant to the enforcer and it was good to see him smile again.