A/N: Good god! I'm having oodles of fun going to school AND work. (sarcasm if you cant tell) I'm working all weekend closing but at least I'll have Monday off from work and school so I can sleep! Anyway, that's enough out of me. This chapter is kinda long. Here you go!

Ch. 30 Familiar Sounds

Ric stood up and an instant later felt pain burn through his left shoulder. Faith rushed over to him, keeping a grip on her gun the entire time.

"Faith." he grunted.

"Yeah, I'm here." the concern was evident in her voice.

"Goodbye."

"Bye?" she asked confused. In a swift motion he shoved the blonde into his brother who was climbing to his feet. Catching him off guard the two went down once again and fled out the window.

Once outside he took off, running as fast as he could through the dark. Running for his life.

"Jason!" Sonny shouted.

Jason knew what he wanted. Sonny would never be able to kill his own family no matter how much he despised them. And he also knew that Sonny would die to protect Courtney, so he knew she would be safe. With out a word, he took off after him. He would find him and make him pay for everything.

Sonny pushed Faith away from him and went after the gun on the floor. But she got there first and kicked it away from him. Now standing in front of him she held her point blank at his head.

"Look at the all powerful Corinthos now. Going to beg for your life?"

"You know I won't." he answered.

"Come on. It's no fun if you don't beg!" she complained. "Fine. Ciao."

A breath later the blonde pulled the trigger.

'Where did he go?' Jason thought frustrated. He'd been chasing shadows outside, trying to find Ric. Creeping around the corner, Jason spotted the car they had arrived in earlier.

Jogging towards the vehicle, Jason decided that he better check on Carly. He opened the door and popped his head inside.

"Damn it." he whispered. "Where the hell did you go Carly?"

When he turned around he felt something come down hard over his head. He stumbled back, silently thanking God that it was not hard enough to knock him out. Jason's anger boiled and he hollered at the bastard that hit him.

"You'll be sorry you did that." Jason began to lunge at the figure and stopped.

"Jason! Wait, it's me!"

"Carly?" he questioned angrily.

"I'm so sorry I thought you were Ric."

"Carly. Why did you leave the car?"

"I had to. Besides I helped didn't I? The window?" she stated as a matter of fact.

"Fine. Thank you. Stay inside. I have to find Ric." she sighed in defeat and moved towards the car.

"Where's Sonny? Where's Courtney? Where is everybody?"

"Just stay inside." Jason waited until she was in and shut the door. Scanning his eagle eyes through the dark he searched. All that could be heard were the chirping of the crickets.

A loud noise sliced through the silence. A gunshot. Hoping it was just Sonny taking care of Faith, he made his way back to the house.

"Come on. It's no fun if you don't beg." she complained. "Fine. Ciao."

A breath later the blonde pulled the trigger.

Sonny squeezed his eyes shut tightly, his thoughts immediately went to his family. Time seemed to stop as he filed through his life and the most important people in it.

Jason. His best friend and the only man he would ever consider a brother to him. Courtney. They hadn't known each other very long but they were connected. So much of one in the other. Carly. God what could he say about her. She was a piece of him, the best piece, the only piece that ever mattered. She was a force to be reckoned with and he hated and loved it at the same time. It was indescribable. Michael and Morgan. His boys. Sonny had grown up without a father and he always swore that he would give them better then he had. He hoped that wherever he went or was sent when he died, that his sons would know how near he would always be.

Sonny heard the gun fire. A sound he'd grown so accustomed to in his life. He knew what it was to shoot and to be shot. This time was different. He'd seen Faith hold the gun on him, and he heard the shot. Where was the pain?

He didn't feel anything. Opening his eyes he look himself over. It took a second to realize he wasn't in pain because he hadn't been hit. Confused, he look at Faith whose expression mirrored his own.

Faith look away from his stare and Sonny followed her gaze. Looking down at her chest where the red stain spread through her shirt. She let out a gasp that sounded almost like a laugh. In shock, she turned around to take in the scene in front of her.

Still holding the smoking gun, Courtney stared at Faith's shell shocked expression with one of pure contempt.

Faith always knew that she would probably end this way. Shot. But by her? It wasn't supposed to happen like that. Finally she found her voice.

"Bitch." it was one word, her last word. She fell toward the floor, dead before she hit the ground.

Courtney looked at the lifeless form in front of her. Normally, knowing that she had taken a life would have destroyed her. Even if it was Faith. But in this case it had come down to Faith or Sonny. Given the chance, she would make the same choice.

"Sonny? Are you ok?" she asked. He looked himself over once more before approaching her.

"Fine. I'm Fine. What about you?" he spoke as he wrapped her in a tight hug.

"I'll be better when these stupid things are off." she complained holding up her hands for him to see.

"Do you know where the key is?"

"Ric had it. I don't know if he dropped it before he went out the window." she gestured towards the window where her husband was entering.

"Jason. I missed you so much." she admitted looping her hands over his head so she could hold his closer. He didn't speak, just held on to her like it was all he knew how to do.

"Ric?" Sonny's voice broke through his focus.

"I lost him. Don't worry. He won't get far. I promise."

Sonny nodded and looked down at the floor. The last thing he needed was to watch his best friend and little sister kissing. Smiling in embarrassment, he cleared his throat as they seemed to forget he was in the room. Niether seemed to hear it, and he stood there invisible to them. Until he caught the metal glimmering and broke the got the couples attention once again.

"Hey." he bent over and retrieved the object and handed it to Jason.

He took the key and unlocked the restraints. Carefully he removed the metal bracelets and tenderly ran his fingers over the sore, red marks that were revealed. It was just a small gesture but it overflowed with intimacy and love.

"Can we go home?" she said never looking away from his eyes. He smiled and nodded.

Courtney was so glad to be back home. It felt like it had been years since she'd been there. Everyone had insisted she get checked out at GH first. Reluctantly she agreed, if she hadn't the three of them would have ganged up on her and forced her.

She wasn't sure what time they had finally gotten there. But she knew it was real late, or real early depending on how one looked at it. Either way she had never been so happy to see the penthouse. She yawned, finally realizing how exhausted she was. Jason noticed as well.

"Ready for bed?"

"Only if you're there with me." she snaked her arms around his neck and pulled him in for a kiss.

"Of course." he smiled and took her in his arms and made his way up the stairs.

It was hours later and Jason lay awake holding the dreaming beauty in his arms. He lay in the room, silent but for the sound of her breathing. At that moment it was the greatest sound he'd ever heard in his life.

Jason hated himself for letting Ric get away without paying. He would make sure that he got what he deserved. Thinking about him made Jason tense up with anger, and he regretted it when he saw her staring up at him from where her head lay against his bare chest.

"Did I wake you? I'm sorry."

"It's ok. How long have you been awake?" she asked.

"Since you fell asleep. I just don't want to take my eyes off you." he began to run his hands through her golden locks.

"That'd be nice if it were true." he looked at her with surprise written on his face.

"Of course it's true."

"Yeah, but it's not the whole truth." she began to trace his perfect abs with her fingertips. "You're thinking about Ric. Aren't you?"

Jason wasn't surprised that she could see through him so easily. It was one of the things he loved about her.

"Courtney, he hurt you. He hurt our family. It's not right that he gets away without paying." he confessed.

"I know. But I just want to think about us. And how good it feels being in your arms. Can we not think about anyone else for a while please?"

He smiled and kissed his wife on the forehead. Taking it as a yes, she snuggled deeper into his chest and in no time was asleep again. Jason knew that the sun would be up in a few hours and he couldn't keep his mind from wandering back to Ric.

But he knew that nothing would be done about it that night so he decided to think about the good things.

'My beautiful wife is back home where she belongs.' he thought happily.

Careful not to wake her, he stretched an arm to the bedside table and grabbed his cell phone. He turned it off and returned it to it's place.

"No wake up calls. Just you and me." he whispered before finally letting sleep overtake him.