Second Chances: Retribution
Jason slammed the door to his penthouse behind him with a resounding thud that reverberated throughout the large space. He hadn't felt anger like this since the early days after his accident when he wasn't able to give those people around him what they all so desperately needed and wanted. He was filled with a tidal wave of emotions. Sonny's backhanded words of thanks spun in Jason's mind. How had they gotten to that place? A place where Sonny would think that Jason would let their differences cloud his loyalty. A place where Sonny believed that Jason would let him burn to death. Jason felt his body begin to shake consumed by a rage he had never experienced before. How could his best friend even think those things for a mere second?
Jason clenched his jaw tight as short hard burst of air escaped his nostrils. He swallowed deliberately several times around the large lump in his throat trying to press the rage back into the place is was so frantically trying to flee from. He tightened his grip on the headrest of the supple leather chair in front of him until his knuckles grew white under the pressure. Before he could stop himself Jason saw the large black object sail across the room crashing into the solid surface of the white plaster wall. The simple action allowed the damn holding back his fury to break loose as he raked his arms across his desk sending the objects placed there flying in all directions. The desk was the next article that was toppled as Jason let out a growl from the back of his throat.
"Jason?" Elizabeth's soft voice immediately brought him to a stand still.
He turned and watched as she descended the staircase. He stared at her with a look of shame on his face. She continued down the stairs and went to where he stood among the rumble. Elizabeth reached out and stroked his face sensing the violent storm brewing inside him and wanting so much to calm it. Jason laid his hand across hers and expelled as ragged breath.
"Do you want to talk about it or would you rather break something else?" she asked in all seriousness wanting to give back to him what he had always given her – pure unadulterated acceptance.
Jason pulled her into his arms and held her firmly against his chest letting himself get lost in her vanilla scent. She laid her head on his chest and listened as his beating heart settled into an even steady rhythm. "What happened with Sonny," she finally asked pulling back to look at his face. Elizabeth was certain Sonny and their conversation was at the root of Jason's anger.
He led her over to the large brown sofa and she positioned herself in the corner waiting for him to say whatever he needed to. For a long time both sat in silence. Jason not knowing what to say and Elizabeth not wanting to press him. Eventually he began. "Sonny wanted to thank me."
"Okay," Elizabeth didn't quite understand the problem in that but didn't say anymore.
"He thought because we have been at odds over what to do about Ric that I would..." Jason faltered for a second not wanting to say aloud what Sonny had so blatantly alluded to earlier. "He thought that I wouldn't look for him. He thought that I would let him stay trapped in the warehouse as it burned down around him."
"What?" Elizabeth couldn't hide her disbelief. Instantly anger welled inside of her. After everything that Jason had ever done for Sonny it was unfathomable that he could really believe such things about a man who had given him not only his undying loyalty but his life as well.
"He said he knew it was my job. Doesn't he understand that it's never just been a job to me?" Jason asked but Elizabeth wasn't exactly sure the question was meant for her or if it held some elusive answer only Jason knew.
She moved next to him and held his face in her hands wishing she could take away the pain that she saw hiding behind his steely blue eyes. She wanted so badly to walk across the hall and tell Sonny exactly what she thought of him. Yet she knew that wasn't what Jason would have wanted but it still pained her to know how much he was hurting. "I'm sorry about what's happening with Sonny," she said.
"There's nothing for you to be sorry for."
"I'm sorry that you are at odds with him. I'm sorry that he can't see what's right in front of his face. I know how that feels though. I know what it's like to want to believe something so badly that you make it true even when it isn't."
"It's not the same," Jason said, knowing full well that she was speaking of how she blindly believed all of the lies Ric had fed her. "Sonny, knows what the threat is and it's only out of some misplaced loyalty to his mother that he can't do what needs to be done!" Jason felt his ire growing once more. "What more has to happen before he does what needs to be done? Does someone have to die for Sonny to open his eyes?"
"I don't know," she answered honestly. "I hope not," she said knowing that it could, as easily be Jason dead as anyone else. She reached for him holding him tightly not allowing those thoughts to consume her.
"Are we going to have to look over our shoulders forever waiting to see when and where Ric will strike next? Are you going to have to shadowed by guards for the rest of your life because Ric is a psycho who thinks he's above Sonny's wrath?"
"I don't know."
"Well I do! I don't want you to have to live like that Elizabeth. You deserve so much more than that. You deserve to be free. You can't ever be that if Ric is still breathing." Jason clenched his fists tightly in his lap.
Elizabeth forced his hands open and placed hers against them. She kissed him sweetly on the lips. "Thank you for wanting so much for me, but as long as I have you in my life I have everything I need. Besides Max isn't so bad you know," she smiled jokingly.
Jason felt a smile of his own tugging at the corners of his mouth when she said that. "So Max isn't so bad huh?"
"No I am beginning to like having him around. He's not you of course," she grinned seductively. "But he'll do in a pinch."
"Oh will he now huh?"
"Uh-huh." She laughed.
"Well then I guess you should see if he'll take you for a ride then," Jason said pushing her shoulder.
Elizabeth had to chuckle at the image of Max on a motorcycle. She just couldn't picture it. "I'd rather stick with you if that's alright?"
"That's more than fine with me. How about tonight? You want to go for a ride? I think I could use the deafening sound of the wind rushing passed me. What about you?"
"I'd love it!" she squealed glad that Jason finally had a motorcycle again.
"I'll pick you up after your shift."
"I'll be waiting. I better get going before I'm late. Are you sure you're okay?" she inquired reaching for her purse that sat on the glass top table.
"I'm good. Keep Max close," Jason said placing a kiss on her full lips. He still didn't want to take any chances when it came to Ric Lansing and his need to make Elizabeth his once more.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Ric had diligently tried to erase the recollection of the images of Jason and Elizabeth's naked bodies making love that paraded across his mind like a never ending slide show. Yet he couldn't do a single thing to make them stop. They assaulted him to the point of madness. He had stood outside Elizabeth's studio for hours after she and Jason had left. It was like he couldn't bring himself to move. He stayed there to torture himself with the mental pictures of Jason's hands caressing every inch of her body and of Elizabeth pleasuring a man that wasn't him. The longer he stayed the strong his conviction of vengeance grew. To the point now that he wanted them both to so badly pay.
Ric paced the floor of his living room fighting with the warring voices in his head. He looked at the picture of Elizabeth that he held in his hand and deep down knew he didn't want to hurt her. Yet the voice that taunted him with all the ways she had betrayed and made a fool of him was relentless to the point that it had been successful in drowning out any slight reason that Ric's warped brain could muster.
He knew there was no other way for this to work. He was certain that she had left him with no other choice than to do what he was about to. He had done it once and he could do it again. He picked up the rope and duct tape and placed them in his black duffel bag. Ric stuffed the white cotton rag and bottle of chloroform in his pocket and finally he pulled open the middle drawer of the desk and retrieved his pistol tucking it neatly into the waistband of his jeans.
"I love you, Elizabeth," he stated to the pictured of his wife that looked lovingly back at him. "I know you can love me again. All I have to do is remove the distractions from your life and you will see what I have always known – that you and I are meant for one another." He kissed the photo lightly before exiting his house.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
At the sound of the bell ringing overhead Elizabeth looked up to see Carly entering Kelly's with Johnny following close behind. "Hey," she said as the blonde positioned herself at the counter.
Elizabeth couldn't help but think about all the times they had been in these same positions and how each and every one of them had ended up in an argument about either Sonny or Jason and sometimes about both of them. But this time she could see that while Carly was clearly upset it had nothing to do with her. "Are you okay?"
"I was about to ask you the same thing," Carly said.
"I'm good. But distinctly you're not. What's going on?"
"Where the hell do I even start?"
"Anywhere would be fine," Elizabeth smiled.
"Well Sonny being a complete ass pretty much sums it up." Carly circled the rim of the cup that Elizabeth had put in front of her. "He's so bull headed some times," she huffed. "When's he going to see that Jason is right?"
Elizabeth leaned her elbows against the counter feeling that Sonny had alienated the two people that meant the most to him in one fail swoop. "What happened Carly?"
"Sonny was just being Sonny."
"Well I got that," Elizabeth smiled.
"He's acting like Jason is one of his men that he can order around. He's treating him like he hasn't been more than a hired gun. He's forgotten so much because he can't see passed his loyalty to his mother's memory. What about Jason's loyalty?" Carly cried. "Shouldn't that mean something?"
Again Elizabeth felt as if she was being asked a question that she wasn't meant to answer but she tried just the same. "Yes it should. And I think it does on some level."
"I can't believe you are defending him after he basically told Jason that he expected him to leave him in the warehouse to burn to death!" Carly all of the sudden was rethinking Elizabeth's commitment to Jason.
Elizabeth decided against even trying to answer her question. She knew she couldn't. She was madder than hell at Sonny for how easily he could cast Jason off just because Jason wouldn't blindly obey him but feeding Carly's anger wouldn't serve any purpose at the moment.
"Carly, I know you're mad at Sonny. But the last thing that Jason would want right now is for you upsetting yourself over something that you can't change. Sonny's going to feel and do what he wants and Jason is going to have to the same. Nothing either of us does will change that. You need to think about you and your baby. I don't think Max and Johnny could take your going into labor again," Elizabeth laughed smiling widely at her now friend.
Carly looked over her shoulder at Johnny and smiled too. The way that both men had gone weak in the knees did make her want to laugh.
"You're angry with Sonny but deep down Carly you know how much a part of you he is. You love him faults and all. Just like he loves you the same way. Nobody's perfect Carly but that shouldn't stop you from grabbing love when you find it and holding on for dear life."
"Are you talking about me and Sonny or are you talking about you and Jason?"
"Both. I was lucky enough to get a second chance with Jason and I'm not going to waste it. Don't do the same with Sonny. Yeah so he's a control freak whom thinks only he knows what's right and wrong but he's your control freak and you love him. Don't you?"
"Yes," Carly said with a half smile.
"Then what are you doing here?"
"I just had to get out of the penthouse."
"Come on tell me the truth you just wanted an excuse to come here for a hot fudge sundae. How about I make you one to go?"
"Works for me."
"Why am I not surprised?" Elizabeth stated as she went about scooping ice cream into a to go cup.
"Elizabeth," Carly reached across the counter and rested her hand gently on the tiny brunette's arm. "Thanks. Who would have ever thought you would be giving me advice on my husband?"
"Not me," the younger woman chuckled and went back to finishing her work at hand."
Elizabeth looked at the clock behind the counter. She had a half- hour before it was closing time. She was anxious to get on the back of Jason's bike and go nowhere fast. She needed to get lost in the rushing wind and she knew that Jason did too. It was obvious to her that the ever- growing rift between him and Sonny was taking its toll on Jason even if he would never admit it.
She continued around the dining area wiping the empty tables, filling the condiments and doing all of the other things that had become second nature to her when she was the person closing up for the evening. The last thing she had to do was her least favorite – taking out the trash. She knew she could have waited for Jason and he would have done it for her but Elizabeth didn't want to waste one extra moment they could be out on the cliff road by asking him to do a job that was rightfully hers. So she picked up the heavy bag and drug it to the back door that led to the alley where the large dumpster sat.
Elizabeth hurled it over her shoulder and the large green bag dropped into the receptacle alongside a dozen more identical bags. Just as she turned to head back inside she felt an arm grab her by the waist from behind. Before she could even scream a thick cloth covered her nose and mouth and an intoxicatingly sweet smell filled her nostrils until the world around her went black.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Jason approached Kelly's helmet in hand. He couldn't wait to get out on the dirt roads into the crisp night air. He couldn't wait to feel Elizabeth's arms wrapped around him and hear her screams of delight when he took a curve too fast. He needed to not think and a ride was the best way to do that.
"Hey," he said when he reached Max. "You can go. Be back at the penthouse in the morning."
"We'll do boss. Night," Max said as he left his post for the evening.
Jason walked into Kelly's. The diner was empty and an eerie silence hung in the air. "Elizabeth," Jason called. He walked up to the counter and saw her purse tucked beside the register. "Elizabeth," he said again now heading for the kitchen. Maybe the water was running and she just couldn't hear him. "Elizabeth!" Jason heard the panic creeping into his voice when he found the kitchen empty as well. "Elizabeth!"
Jason felt as though he was standing outside of himself watching what was happening rather that actually doing it. Jason opened the back door hoping she was just outside but all the while knowing in his gut that she wouldn't be there. "ELIZABETH!!!!" His voice echoed off into the darkness of the night. She was gone.
Jason slammed the door to his penthouse behind him with a resounding thud that reverberated throughout the large space. He hadn't felt anger like this since the early days after his accident when he wasn't able to give those people around him what they all so desperately needed and wanted. He was filled with a tidal wave of emotions. Sonny's backhanded words of thanks spun in Jason's mind. How had they gotten to that place? A place where Sonny would think that Jason would let their differences cloud his loyalty. A place where Sonny believed that Jason would let him burn to death. Jason felt his body begin to shake consumed by a rage he had never experienced before. How could his best friend even think those things for a mere second?
Jason clenched his jaw tight as short hard burst of air escaped his nostrils. He swallowed deliberately several times around the large lump in his throat trying to press the rage back into the place is was so frantically trying to flee from. He tightened his grip on the headrest of the supple leather chair in front of him until his knuckles grew white under the pressure. Before he could stop himself Jason saw the large black object sail across the room crashing into the solid surface of the white plaster wall. The simple action allowed the damn holding back his fury to break loose as he raked his arms across his desk sending the objects placed there flying in all directions. The desk was the next article that was toppled as Jason let out a growl from the back of his throat.
"Jason?" Elizabeth's soft voice immediately brought him to a stand still.
He turned and watched as she descended the staircase. He stared at her with a look of shame on his face. She continued down the stairs and went to where he stood among the rumble. Elizabeth reached out and stroked his face sensing the violent storm brewing inside him and wanting so much to calm it. Jason laid his hand across hers and expelled as ragged breath.
"Do you want to talk about it or would you rather break something else?" she asked in all seriousness wanting to give back to him what he had always given her – pure unadulterated acceptance.
Jason pulled her into his arms and held her firmly against his chest letting himself get lost in her vanilla scent. She laid her head on his chest and listened as his beating heart settled into an even steady rhythm. "What happened with Sonny," she finally asked pulling back to look at his face. Elizabeth was certain Sonny and their conversation was at the root of Jason's anger.
He led her over to the large brown sofa and she positioned herself in the corner waiting for him to say whatever he needed to. For a long time both sat in silence. Jason not knowing what to say and Elizabeth not wanting to press him. Eventually he began. "Sonny wanted to thank me."
"Okay," Elizabeth didn't quite understand the problem in that but didn't say anymore.
"He thought because we have been at odds over what to do about Ric that I would..." Jason faltered for a second not wanting to say aloud what Sonny had so blatantly alluded to earlier. "He thought that I wouldn't look for him. He thought that I would let him stay trapped in the warehouse as it burned down around him."
"What?" Elizabeth couldn't hide her disbelief. Instantly anger welled inside of her. After everything that Jason had ever done for Sonny it was unfathomable that he could really believe such things about a man who had given him not only his undying loyalty but his life as well.
"He said he knew it was my job. Doesn't he understand that it's never just been a job to me?" Jason asked but Elizabeth wasn't exactly sure the question was meant for her or if it held some elusive answer only Jason knew.
She moved next to him and held his face in her hands wishing she could take away the pain that she saw hiding behind his steely blue eyes. She wanted so badly to walk across the hall and tell Sonny exactly what she thought of him. Yet she knew that wasn't what Jason would have wanted but it still pained her to know how much he was hurting. "I'm sorry about what's happening with Sonny," she said.
"There's nothing for you to be sorry for."
"I'm sorry that you are at odds with him. I'm sorry that he can't see what's right in front of his face. I know how that feels though. I know what it's like to want to believe something so badly that you make it true even when it isn't."
"It's not the same," Jason said, knowing full well that she was speaking of how she blindly believed all of the lies Ric had fed her. "Sonny, knows what the threat is and it's only out of some misplaced loyalty to his mother that he can't do what needs to be done!" Jason felt his ire growing once more. "What more has to happen before he does what needs to be done? Does someone have to die for Sonny to open his eyes?"
"I don't know," she answered honestly. "I hope not," she said knowing that it could, as easily be Jason dead as anyone else. She reached for him holding him tightly not allowing those thoughts to consume her.
"Are we going to have to look over our shoulders forever waiting to see when and where Ric will strike next? Are you going to have to shadowed by guards for the rest of your life because Ric is a psycho who thinks he's above Sonny's wrath?"
"I don't know."
"Well I do! I don't want you to have to live like that Elizabeth. You deserve so much more than that. You deserve to be free. You can't ever be that if Ric is still breathing." Jason clenched his fists tightly in his lap.
Elizabeth forced his hands open and placed hers against them. She kissed him sweetly on the lips. "Thank you for wanting so much for me, but as long as I have you in my life I have everything I need. Besides Max isn't so bad you know," she smiled jokingly.
Jason felt a smile of his own tugging at the corners of his mouth when she said that. "So Max isn't so bad huh?"
"No I am beginning to like having him around. He's not you of course," she grinned seductively. "But he'll do in a pinch."
"Oh will he now huh?"
"Uh-huh." She laughed.
"Well then I guess you should see if he'll take you for a ride then," Jason said pushing her shoulder.
Elizabeth had to chuckle at the image of Max on a motorcycle. She just couldn't picture it. "I'd rather stick with you if that's alright?"
"That's more than fine with me. How about tonight? You want to go for a ride? I think I could use the deafening sound of the wind rushing passed me. What about you?"
"I'd love it!" she squealed glad that Jason finally had a motorcycle again.
"I'll pick you up after your shift."
"I'll be waiting. I better get going before I'm late. Are you sure you're okay?" she inquired reaching for her purse that sat on the glass top table.
"I'm good. Keep Max close," Jason said placing a kiss on her full lips. He still didn't want to take any chances when it came to Ric Lansing and his need to make Elizabeth his once more.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Ric had diligently tried to erase the recollection of the images of Jason and Elizabeth's naked bodies making love that paraded across his mind like a never ending slide show. Yet he couldn't do a single thing to make them stop. They assaulted him to the point of madness. He had stood outside Elizabeth's studio for hours after she and Jason had left. It was like he couldn't bring himself to move. He stayed there to torture himself with the mental pictures of Jason's hands caressing every inch of her body and of Elizabeth pleasuring a man that wasn't him. The longer he stayed the strong his conviction of vengeance grew. To the point now that he wanted them both to so badly pay.
Ric paced the floor of his living room fighting with the warring voices in his head. He looked at the picture of Elizabeth that he held in his hand and deep down knew he didn't want to hurt her. Yet the voice that taunted him with all the ways she had betrayed and made a fool of him was relentless to the point that it had been successful in drowning out any slight reason that Ric's warped brain could muster.
He knew there was no other way for this to work. He was certain that she had left him with no other choice than to do what he was about to. He had done it once and he could do it again. He picked up the rope and duct tape and placed them in his black duffel bag. Ric stuffed the white cotton rag and bottle of chloroform in his pocket and finally he pulled open the middle drawer of the desk and retrieved his pistol tucking it neatly into the waistband of his jeans.
"I love you, Elizabeth," he stated to the pictured of his wife that looked lovingly back at him. "I know you can love me again. All I have to do is remove the distractions from your life and you will see what I have always known – that you and I are meant for one another." He kissed the photo lightly before exiting his house.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
At the sound of the bell ringing overhead Elizabeth looked up to see Carly entering Kelly's with Johnny following close behind. "Hey," she said as the blonde positioned herself at the counter.
Elizabeth couldn't help but think about all the times they had been in these same positions and how each and every one of them had ended up in an argument about either Sonny or Jason and sometimes about both of them. But this time she could see that while Carly was clearly upset it had nothing to do with her. "Are you okay?"
"I was about to ask you the same thing," Carly said.
"I'm good. But distinctly you're not. What's going on?"
"Where the hell do I even start?"
"Anywhere would be fine," Elizabeth smiled.
"Well Sonny being a complete ass pretty much sums it up." Carly circled the rim of the cup that Elizabeth had put in front of her. "He's so bull headed some times," she huffed. "When's he going to see that Jason is right?"
Elizabeth leaned her elbows against the counter feeling that Sonny had alienated the two people that meant the most to him in one fail swoop. "What happened Carly?"
"Sonny was just being Sonny."
"Well I got that," Elizabeth smiled.
"He's acting like Jason is one of his men that he can order around. He's treating him like he hasn't been more than a hired gun. He's forgotten so much because he can't see passed his loyalty to his mother's memory. What about Jason's loyalty?" Carly cried. "Shouldn't that mean something?"
Again Elizabeth felt as if she was being asked a question that she wasn't meant to answer but she tried just the same. "Yes it should. And I think it does on some level."
"I can't believe you are defending him after he basically told Jason that he expected him to leave him in the warehouse to burn to death!" Carly all of the sudden was rethinking Elizabeth's commitment to Jason.
Elizabeth decided against even trying to answer her question. She knew she couldn't. She was madder than hell at Sonny for how easily he could cast Jason off just because Jason wouldn't blindly obey him but feeding Carly's anger wouldn't serve any purpose at the moment.
"Carly, I know you're mad at Sonny. But the last thing that Jason would want right now is for you upsetting yourself over something that you can't change. Sonny's going to feel and do what he wants and Jason is going to have to the same. Nothing either of us does will change that. You need to think about you and your baby. I don't think Max and Johnny could take your going into labor again," Elizabeth laughed smiling widely at her now friend.
Carly looked over her shoulder at Johnny and smiled too. The way that both men had gone weak in the knees did make her want to laugh.
"You're angry with Sonny but deep down Carly you know how much a part of you he is. You love him faults and all. Just like he loves you the same way. Nobody's perfect Carly but that shouldn't stop you from grabbing love when you find it and holding on for dear life."
"Are you talking about me and Sonny or are you talking about you and Jason?"
"Both. I was lucky enough to get a second chance with Jason and I'm not going to waste it. Don't do the same with Sonny. Yeah so he's a control freak whom thinks only he knows what's right and wrong but he's your control freak and you love him. Don't you?"
"Yes," Carly said with a half smile.
"Then what are you doing here?"
"I just had to get out of the penthouse."
"Come on tell me the truth you just wanted an excuse to come here for a hot fudge sundae. How about I make you one to go?"
"Works for me."
"Why am I not surprised?" Elizabeth stated as she went about scooping ice cream into a to go cup.
"Elizabeth," Carly reached across the counter and rested her hand gently on the tiny brunette's arm. "Thanks. Who would have ever thought you would be giving me advice on my husband?"
"Not me," the younger woman chuckled and went back to finishing her work at hand."
Elizabeth looked at the clock behind the counter. She had a half- hour before it was closing time. She was anxious to get on the back of Jason's bike and go nowhere fast. She needed to get lost in the rushing wind and she knew that Jason did too. It was obvious to her that the ever- growing rift between him and Sonny was taking its toll on Jason even if he would never admit it.
She continued around the dining area wiping the empty tables, filling the condiments and doing all of the other things that had become second nature to her when she was the person closing up for the evening. The last thing she had to do was her least favorite – taking out the trash. She knew she could have waited for Jason and he would have done it for her but Elizabeth didn't want to waste one extra moment they could be out on the cliff road by asking him to do a job that was rightfully hers. So she picked up the heavy bag and drug it to the back door that led to the alley where the large dumpster sat.
Elizabeth hurled it over her shoulder and the large green bag dropped into the receptacle alongside a dozen more identical bags. Just as she turned to head back inside she felt an arm grab her by the waist from behind. Before she could even scream a thick cloth covered her nose and mouth and an intoxicatingly sweet smell filled her nostrils until the world around her went black.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Jason approached Kelly's helmet in hand. He couldn't wait to get out on the dirt roads into the crisp night air. He couldn't wait to feel Elizabeth's arms wrapped around him and hear her screams of delight when he took a curve too fast. He needed to not think and a ride was the best way to do that.
"Hey," he said when he reached Max. "You can go. Be back at the penthouse in the morning."
"We'll do boss. Night," Max said as he left his post for the evening.
Jason walked into Kelly's. The diner was empty and an eerie silence hung in the air. "Elizabeth," Jason called. He walked up to the counter and saw her purse tucked beside the register. "Elizabeth," he said again now heading for the kitchen. Maybe the water was running and she just couldn't hear him. "Elizabeth!" Jason heard the panic creeping into his voice when he found the kitchen empty as well. "Elizabeth!"
Jason felt as though he was standing outside of himself watching what was happening rather that actually doing it. Jason opened the back door hoping she was just outside but all the while knowing in his gut that she wouldn't be there. "ELIZABETH!!!!" His voice echoed off into the darkness of the night. She was gone.