A/N: grrrr....work and school and work and school, if someone reading this have a life tell me: what's that like? I forgot. Anyway, I've got time so HERE I GO AGAIN ON MY OWN. haven't heard that song in a long time........oops off topic. sorry, here for real.

Ch. 6 From the Shadows

"Well, my phone's no good." Sonny announced holding up what appeared to be the remains of the device.

"Mine was in my purse. We could look for it, I mean it's worth the chance right? If it can get us out of here?"

The dark haired man nodded and made sure his employee was comfortable in case he woke up. They began digging through the wreckage desperately searching for the navy blue bag.

"So how much did the jet cost anyway?" she asked jokingly.

"A lot." he chuckled." I have others, if we can get a hold of him, Jason would be down here on another in a few hours."

"I don't know if I'd get on another plane with you after this."

They continued with the teasing while they searched. Keeping the talk light with jokes in an attempt to keep from dwelling on the seriousness of their situation. After looking for some time, neither one had found anything.

"If I remember right, Anders, the other pilot, carried a satellite phone with him." the man informed.

"Yeah but he's no where to be found."

He sighed heavily, letting the situation finally sink in. It was getting dark and no one was coming tonight.

"Maybe we'll have better luck tomorrow. Come on lets go." he explained. They began to walk and he stopped when she started cough. "Are you ok?"

"For the last time, I'm fine. I just inhaled some dust or something."

"I'm just worried. Isn't that how big brothers are supposed to act?"

"Wouldn't know." she replied honestly. "Never had a big brother before. You're my first."

"So it's going to be like trial and error thing, right? I can deal with that." She smiled slightly before the small breeze caused her to shiver.

"Ok, first trial: as the strong big brother you're going to have to make us a fire."

"Let me guess, still no word?" she tossed at the blue eyed man who entered her home.

"It doesn't mean anything." he soothed. " It's only been a couple hours." He put his hands on her shoulders but she shrugged them off and pulled away.

"Now it's only been a couple hours Jason. What happens if it turns into a couple days or weeks or even months? What do I tell Michael? Or Mike? All because I had a stupid plan!"

"It's not your fault."

"I lied about Michael being sick and pushed them to go."

"But if you hadn't lied you would have been there, too. It would've been you, me, Courtney and Sonny on the plane. But we're not, we're here and able to look for them." he reasoned trying to get through to her.

She wiped at the tears on her face and picked up the photo of her, Michael and Sonny. Jason's words were barely heard by her ears as she stayed focused on the picture.

"I think you should try and get some sleep."

Mindlessly she nodded and hugged the picture close to her heart as she climbed the stairs.

Jason returned to his penthouse and embraced the solitude. Not that he was alone, he would be allowed to feel what he truly did. Even now he was still hiding his feelings from one of the most important people in his life.

'What if they really are gone? If she's really gone? Should I even bother to tell Carly?' he thought and answered his own question out loud.

"No. Don't think like that! She's alive. They both are. We're going to find them and bring them home. When we do, we'll tell everyone. Together."

After his self-lecture, he sat on the leather couch. Closing his eyes he replayed the last time he'd seen her smile. Freezing the picture in his mind, he memorized her features. Every inch stored away in his memory.

Soon he let sleep take over.

Courtney moved all sorts of sticks and rocks around, making a small spot to sleep near the fire. He watched her do so and snickered from his simple self made bed of his jacket balled under his head. If it were someone else they would have hated to see such a good suit get ruined but in his case he had so many that it didn't seem to matter.

"Are you laughing at me again?"

"I thought you were this sporty, outdoor girl. Have you never been camping?" he asked interested.

"Yes, I've been camping." she stated matter of factly. "It's just been a long time."

"How long?"

"I think I was seven or eight when me and Dad went. I don't remember another time growing up when I was having that much fun or feeling that happy. It was the last real father daughter thing we did. A few weeks later my mom told me...well you know."

"I'm sorry." he said sincerely.

"Don't be. Turns out he wasn't dead, just a dead beat. Why be sorry, right?" she tried to laugh it away but the sad expression lingered on her face.

He felt for her. At least Sonny had grown up with the knowledge that his father took off. At the time he hated knowing it, but it seemed welcome over what she dealt with. She mourned for him. And lived her life think he was a good father who had no choice but to leave. Instead after idolizing him for so long, she finds out he chose to stay away. It seemed to be the deepest cut they had in common was that the man who fathered them was also the one to abandon and forget about them.

Sonny opened his mouth to say something but closed it when a noise from behind him caught his attention. In a swift motion he reached into the shadowed area that had been at his back and pulled out the intruder.

"Mr. Corinthos. It's me." he cried.

"Anders?"