What If…

Chapter 24

~Jake's~

Marin let himself in Rory's room and immediately realized he wasn't alone. Years of training kicked in and he reacted immediately, shoving hard at the door and driving it into the person hidden behind the door.

Cal let out an oof when the door handle connected with his gut causing him to bend over in pain. Marin was a blur in motion, pulling Cal from behind the door and throwing him across the room.

The loud music coming through the floor masked the noise Cal made when he fell heavily into the bedside table, and breaking it before collapsing on the floor.

Marin was on him immediately, he delivered a blow to the temple knocking him unconscious. He backed off and glanced around the room, it was empty of all their belongings. He stood and moved to the headboard, feeling around for the bug he had planted there, it was gone. He moved to the phone, quickly unscrewing it, the bug was gone.

He frowned and glanced at the unconscious man on the floor. He recognized him as the man who had been with Francis. It was a pity it wasn't Francis he could have tied up that loose end right now. He crossed to the man and pulled out his wallet, "Well Mr. Calvert Rogers, if I ever need to find you again I know where to look." He studied the driver's license photo again, "it really doesn't do you justice." He shoved the wallet back where he found it and left.

He waited until he was a few miles from Jake's before he made the call. "It's Marin, we might have a problem."

"Another problem already Mr. Marin?"

The voice held a hint of amusement, but Marin knew better than to think the client was pleased. "Morgan had their stuff moved from Jake's. The bugs are gone as well."

"Disappointing but not unexpected. I do believe we need to slow him down a bit though. Perhaps a red herring would be appropriate."

"What would you like me to do?" Marin asked after a long pause.

"Mr. Morgan works with Mr. Corinthos, and they are both criminals. It shouldn't be that hard to plant a trail, bringing the accidents and bugs back to their line of work. It doesn't have to last for long, but just keep them looking in the wrong direction for a while." Pause, "Do you think you can handle that?"

"Yes." Marin was insulted by the mocking question. He wasn't used to anyone questioning his ability.

"I certainly hope so Mr. Marin, for your sake."

Marin frowned and ended the call. If a mob war was what the client wanted then that's what would happen. He smirked, in fact, it might be fun. He hadn't started a street war since that time in Israel a few years ago, he grinned remembering how well that had turned out. It wouldn't be that hard to fool Morgan, after all he was only a thug, and a brain damaged one at that. How hard could it be?

~GH 6th Floor~

Don't give him the chance to arrest you, he only wants you to react, don't do it. The words were in Jason's mind, even while the temper worked it's way through his body. He kept his face impassive and stared at Taggert.

"Since you supposedly don't lie, and you're quiet, that must mean I'm right." Taggert inched closer, "that's an interesting bandage on your forehead. Did you have an accident?"

Jason ignore him, he could hear the muted sounds of Bobbie speaking to Rory inside the room. The thought of her lying in the bed, waiting for him, kept him calm. He tilted his head as if confused as to what Taggert was saying and waited for him to go on.

"It seems I caught you on one of those days again." Taggert smirked, "you know one of those days that you can't seem to understand things? Then again maybe those are the only kind of days you have."

"Do you have a point Taggert?" Jason moved to let a nurse walk out of Rory's room.

Taggert glanced through the little window in the door to look at Rory. "She had a rough morning, it seems she had an accident too," he turned back to Jason. "Hers involved a cliff. Did yours?"

Jason just headed for the door, he wasn't in the mood for Taggert's crap today.

Taggert put his hand on Jason's chest and shoved him back a step. "I asked you a question Morgan. You can either answer it here, or at the station."

Jason looked down at Taggert's hand on his chest and then back up at him. Normally what Taggert said amused him, occasionally it frustrated him, but today it was making him angry. "What do you want Taggert?"

Taggert hid a smirk, pleased that he had finally got a reaction from Morgan. "Did you get your injury at the same place Rory got hers?"

Jason just looked at him, knowing better than to speak at the moment.

Taggert knew that Morgan hadn't been anywhere near the cliff. He knew everything about the man he was speaking too, including his shoe size, which wasn't a size 10. But he did see an edge in Morgan that he hadn't seen in years. It seemed that his hunch of yesterday was correct, Rory was his Achilles. If he played it right maybe he could use that to get Morgan. "Still not talking? Okay let's try a simpler question then. Where were you this morning between the hours of 10:00 and 12:30?"

"I was at work Taggert." Jason said shortly.

Taggert inched closer deciding to push him a little bit. "Too bad you weren't with your girlfriend. She could have used someone when she was hanging on the side of a cliff, wondering if she would get out of the car, before it dropped 300 feet into the water below." He paused for effect, "but it seems you're never around when your girlfriends have problems with their cars. First there was that nasty little bomb in Robin Scorpio's and now we have a cliff problem with Rory…"

Jason was reaching for him when Bobbie opened the door and stepped between them. "Jason I need you inside now."

Jason immediately focused on her, "Is something wrong?"

"It's Rory she's becoming agitated again."

Taggert forgotten Jason moved for the door only to stop when Taggert stepped in front of him.

"We're not finished here Morgan."

Jason simply shoved Taggert out of the way and moved inside the room, he could see Rory moving wildly on the bed.

"Morgan that's called assault and that means your ass is mine." Taggert entered the room behind him heading for the bed.

"No more please stop," Rory moaned on the bed.

"You need to leave Taggert." Bobbie stopped his forward progress. "I need Jason to calm her down, and my needs come before yours."

"Rory it's okay," Jason ignored the conversation behind him, took her hand, and crouched by the bed. "You're okay, I'm here with you, you're in a hospital.

"No more," Rory moved trying to pull her hand away.

"Bobbie you saw him shove me, so I'll need to get a statement from you as well." Taggert said, "come on Morgan."

Bobbie glanced towards the bed and saw Jason whispering to Rory, trying to calm her down, she hesitated for a second then turned back to Taggert. "The only thing I saw was Jason coming in to help my patient, after I asked him too."

Taggert was stunned, he frowned at her for a minute before trying again, "Bobbie…"

"Enough Taggert, you need to leave, now." Bobbie snapped when she heard Rory cry out again.

"Not without Morgan."

"Is this man bothering you?" An out of breath Alexis Davis asked from the doorway.

Taggert managed to hide the winch when he heard her voice, but couldn't stop the frown on his face, when he turned to face her.

Alexis entered the room, followed by Sonny and an equally out of breath Carly. "Taggert you heard her, you need to leave."

"Fine but Morgan goes with me."

"No." Rory cried from the bed, getting the attention of everybody in the room, "no more, please stop."

"That's it everybody but Jason out of the room now." Bobbie ordered, grabbing Taggert by the arm and dragging him to the door.

"We'll be outside Jase," Carly called before heading out after Taggert and Sonny.

Alexis moved towards the bed, she glanced at the door to make sure Taggert was out of it before speaking. "Jason I know this is bad timing, but I need to know if the car is registered in your name or in Rory's.

Jason didn't even look at her, "It's Rory's car, her name is on the title." His eyes searched Rory's but he could see no recognition in them.

"Okay." Alexis moved closer to the bed, "Does she have an attorney? Or do you have her durable power of attorney as well? It would help me get rid of Taggert quicker, if I could represent her."

"No only her medical power of attorney."

Rory turned her head towards Alexis, she looked past her, then back at Alexis. "You're hired," she said with a wink before turning back to Jason.

Alexis couldn't help but smile at Jason's stunned expression. "I'll just go deal with Taggert." She schooled her features into a frown before heading out of the room.

"Is he gone?" She whispered after a while. She kept her eyes closed but even through the pain and the drugs, she could feel the weight of Jason's frown.

"Yes," he tiredly pinched his nose. "Don't do that to me."

She could hear the weariness in his voice and opened her eyes, "Jason I heard him talking to you. I know you, you were about to lose it, I didn't want you to get into trouble because of me."

He carefully brushed some hair out of her face, he could see the pain in her eyes, and she fought through it because she was worried about him. "You scared me today, I'm not used to that."

She reached up with her right hand and touched his face, "I'm okay."

His hand covered hers on his face and he moved it to his mouth to drop a kiss in her palm before moving it back to the bed. "You will be," he vowed.

~Elevator~

"Nikolas this really isn't a good time to do this. Besides there's nothing to talk about." Emily went on nervously after his silent look.

"If there was nothing to talk about, then you wouldn't be so nervous around me." Nikolas countered speaking loudly to be heard over the alarm.

"I'm not nervous, I'm worried about Rory, Jason, and Lucky." She stepped towards the control panel only to jerk to a halt when he moved in front of her.

"You're upset about what happened last night, what happened between us."

"What happened?" She leaned back against the railing and tried to look unconcerned.

"We kissed Emily." He snapped.

She crossed her arms over her chest, "Oh that. I forgot all about it." She replied nonchalantly.

Nikolas glared at her, "Then why did you run away from me this morning?"

"I had to get to school," she pitched her voice to be heard over the alarm.

"Then why aren't you there now?"

"Because I needed to talk to Rory about…" she trailed off. "It's none of your business Nikolas, I don't have to explain my actions to you, you're not my family or my boyfriend."

"I'm your friend Emily." Nikolas argued moving closer to her.

Friend. That was the problem she wanted more than that from him and he didn't want it from her. She felt dizzy for a second and one of the reasons why she needed to stay away from him hit her. He knew her so well, that she had to stay away to protect her secret from him. "Maybe we shouldn't be friends." She yelled at the same time the alarm cut off. Her words seemed to echo in the elevator, causing Nikolas to pale.

"What?" He whispered, before clearing his throat and going on in his normal tone of voice. "We settled this last night we will always be friends."

"You know there are a lot of things about last night, that I don't want to remember. Most of them involve you." Emily lashed out stunning Nikolas again. She moved past him and hit a button on the elevator control pad and sent the car moving again.

"Emily what is going on with you? Why are you pushing me away?"

Emily kept her back to him and hardened her heart to the plea she heard in his voice. "I'm not hiding anything Nikolas. And as for pushing you away, it's just people change, and sometimes you grow apart from them." She blinked hard forcing the tears away before looking back at him. "We really need to concentrate on finding Lucky right now."

The doors opened on the fourth floor and Emily hurriedly got off the elevator and away from him. She had to leave before she gave into temptation and either burst into tears, or throw herself in his arms. She didn't know what she wanted to do most, she only knew that she couldn't do either one.

~6th Floor~

"You want to tell me what you were trying to do in there Taggert?" Alexis closed the door behind her.

"I was in the process of arresting Jason Morgan for assault." Taggert shot back.

"And who did he allegedly assault?" Alexis demanded putting on her glasses, and reaching in her briefcase for a pen.

"Me."

Carly snorted, "If he assaulted you Taggert you wouldn't be upright."

"Carly." Sonny tried to sound stern, but it was hard when he agreed with her.

"Bobbie was a witness," Taggert shot a warning look at Carly before focusing on Bobbie. "Weren't you?"

"I told you the only thing I saw was Jason trying to help my patient like I asked him too," Bobbie snapped, before turning away. "Speaking of which I need to get her some medication," she stopped a few steps away and faced Taggert again. "You are not allowed in that room Taggert, she is not to be upset."

"He won't get near her." Alexis told her before facing Taggert again.

"You don't tell me how to conduct an investigation, I will speak with Morgan and Rory when I choose to." Taggert went on cockily, "You have no control over me."

"Taggert how many times do I have to correct you?" Alexis shook her head briefly. "Number one you do not have the authority to question Rory, because you do not have the medical clearance to do so. Secondly Rory Nichols is my client, therefore you cannot question her without me being there." She glanced at her watch, "and since I am due in Court in half an hour, you will have to wait." She allowed herself a small smile, "Now why do you want to question my other client Jason Morgan?"

Sonny smirked Alexis was on a roll.

"Because I want to find out his role in what happened to Rory." Taggert came out swinging.

"His role? What makes you think he has a role? Are you suggesting that Ms. Nichols' accident wasn't an accident? That Mr. Morgan was somehow involved in foul play regarding her vehicle?" She paused for a response and received none. "I'm glad that you aren't that stupid. Now was the car registered in his name or in Rory Nichols' name?"

"Well…"

"That's right it was Ms. Nichols' car." Alexis took a breath. "Do you have any evidence to confirm that Mr. Morgan was in the car with Ms. Nichols at the time of her accident?"

Taggert opened his mouth, but Alexis steam-rolled right over him. "I doubt that you do since at the time of the accident my client was at his place of business with over 35 people who can verify his presence. So again I must ask you why do you want to speak with my client, when it is obvious he can give you no insight into the accident?"

Taggert looked past her to a grinning Sonny then down at Sonny's dress shoes.

"What you are on is what I would call a fishing expedition Taggert. A lot of police investigators use them, it's nothing new, however in your case, it's a problem. Given your predilection for harassing my clients, I don't believe it would be that hard to convince a judge that you are on another warrantless witch hunt."

Carly smirked openly at the disgust on Taggert's face. She may not like Alexis but she had to admit that she knew her law. For that alone she was willing to tolerate Alexis' continued presence in her life.

"I'm trying to do my job here." Taggert wasn't going to go quietly.

"And I will let you do your job as long as you don't walk all over my clients rights to do so." Alexis glanced at her watch again. "It's almost 3:00 now, I will call you later in the day, after I have spoken with her doctors and my client, and I will advise you when it will be convenient for you to speak with Ms. Nichols. We will of course provide you with all the assistance you need to conduct your investigation." She smiled at him, "as for Mr. Morgan. If you can gave me concrete factual evidence as to why you need to question him, I'm sure he will be happy to speak with you, at a time and place that is convenient to him." She paused for breath, "I think that cover's everything Taggert."

Taggert shot her a look but didn't move.

"If you would prefer I can contact your superiors and inform them of the situation here. Of course that will lead to me filing another complaint against you," Alexis pulled off her glasses. "How many more complaints can your jacket hold before further disciplinary action is taken against you?"

Taggert knew that he was beat and moved reluctantly towards the elevator, pausing briefly by Sonny. "We'll be speaking soon Counselor, with your clientele it's only a matter of time." He glanced down one more time then left.

Sonny frowned down at his black shoes. "Good work Alexis."

"What's wrong Sonny?" Carly touched his arm when he continued to examine his shoes.

"Why did he keep staring at my shoes?"

"Excuse me," Bobbie walked past them with a syringe in her hand.

"Bobbie when do you think Rory will be cleared to answer questions?" Alexis asked catching the nurse before she moved inside.

"The concussion was pretty severe, probably not until tomorrow morning at the earliest."

"I warned Taggert not to come back until she's cleared and I'm here." Alexis went on pulling out a business card. "Will you note my number on her chart, that way I can be notified if he shows up again?"

Bobbie took the card and disappeared inside the room.

"I really do need to get to Court, can you let Jason and Rory know what happened?" Alexis shoved her glasses up into her hair, and began the process of looking for her carkeys.

"Yes, and thanks again Alexis." Sonny said with a smile, gently elbowing Carly in the ribs, and jerking his head to Alexis.

Carly shot him a glare, "What? She just did her job."

Alexis ignored her, "Call me if something else happens," she moved past them without another word. Besting Taggert was always fun, not as fun as beating Dara, but it still was an entertaining way to spend a few minutes of the day.

Sonny shook his head, turning when he heard someone behind him. He saw Francis and Johnny heading towards them. He saw a confused look on Johnny's face. "What's wrong?"

"Taggert just asked us what size of shoes we wear?" Johnny explained, "I think he's finally lost it."

~Room 617~

"There." Bobbie pulled the syringe out of the IV bottle. "That should kick in right away. It should take the pain back almost immediately." She smiled down at Rory, "If you're still hurting in about 15 minutes press the call button and I'll see about giving you something stronger."

"Thanks Bobbie, but I'm sure this will be enough." Rory was lying through her teeth, but she was trying not to make Jason worry anymore than he already was.

"Yeah thanks Bobbie." He looked up at her to let her know that he meant what she had done for him with Taggert as well as what she was doing for Rory.

"You're family Jason, you know that, there's no reason to thank me." Bobbie headed for the door.

Jason shifted so he was sitting on the bed next to her right hip, he took her hand in his. "You don't need to pretend with me Rory, I know you're hurting I can see it in your eyes."

"Maybe," she squirmed when she met his eyes. "Alright so right now I would pay to have my head and arm removed, but other than that I'm just fine."

"I'm sorry you're hurting," he brushed her hair away from the bandage on her head, examining it.

"Why? It wasn't your fault. I may not know how I ended up here, but I know for sure that you had nothing to do with it." She felt his finger lightly trace the bruise on her cheek, "I'm sorry you're hurting."

He frowned down at her, "I'm not."

"Your head must be." She felt the pain in her shoulder begin to lessen, and realized the drugs were finally kicking in. Thank god for medicine. "How did you hurt your head anyway?"

"Accident at work."

"That seems to be going around," she started to yawn and quickly smothered it.

"You can let yourself sleep Rory, I'll be here when you wake up."

"No I don't want to sleep," she told him firmly. "Since you are here, and I'm here, and it's only the middle of the day, I would rather talk."

"Okay." Jason agreed and moved on the bed so he was sitting beside her, being careful not to jostle her too much. Rory move automatically so she was leaning against her chest. He moved his left arm down so it rested below her sling. It wasn't the most comfortable position in the world, but he just wanted to hold her. He knew that she wanted that connection as well. Even while he held himself stiff so he wouldn't hurt her, he could feel her relax against him more and more. "What do you want to talk about?"

"Whatever you choose." The rumble the words caused in his chest was soothing to Rory, she shifted slightly so her head was resting over his heart. She couldn't remember what had happened, but she knew that she had been afraid. Afraid of dying, but more importantly afraid that she would never see him again. So lying there next to him, with his arms around her, and listening to the steady beat of his heart was reassuring to her.

"Whatever I choose? You normally don't give me that much leeway." He could hear the sleepiness in her voice and knew it wouldn't be much longer until she was out. As if reading his mind she jerked suddenly, and he knew she'd caught herself before she fell asleep.

"Talk Jason." Rory blinked her eyes open.

"There is something I wanted to talk about, something I promised myself we would discuss when I was looking for you earlier." He took her good hand in his.

"That sound's ominous."

"It's not a bad thing, it's just a talk that we're long overdue for." He went on seriously.

Suddenly uneasy Rory tensed again, she didn't know if she wanted to know what he was talking about. She searched for a way to change the subject and wrinkled her nose. "Jesus Morgan, it's bad enough you drink the stuff, but do you have to bathe in coffee too?"

Jason frowned and sniffed, he could smell the aroma of French Vanilla coming from his clothes. "I told you I had an accident."

"What you accidentally tried to swim in the beans instead of grinding them?" She settled against him again, the smell wasn't that bad, in fact it was kind of nice, but it was still coffee.

"Quit trying to distract me." Jason ordered.

"Bossy much?" The words didn't pack much punch, she was too comfortable to argue with him, instead she closed her eyes and rested against him.

Jason counted to ten in his head before going on. "When I realized that you were missing, I didn't know what to do. It was different when Emily was kidnapped, I knew who had her and could go after her, but you were just gone," he paused. "You had vanished just like Michael had vanished, it was only for a while but I still hadn't felt that helpless since Michael was kidnapped."

"I'm sorry." As strong as he was, she knew that for him to feel helpless hurt him far worse than any beating he could ever get.

"I knew something was wrong, before I could confirm it. I just felt it, that was new to me." It was also unsettling, he was used to having instincts when it came to people, and in work situations, but this was different. This time he had felt uneasy for no concrete reason, at least none that he knew of, until he heard she was in the hospital. He had never felt that connected to another person before.

She sighed and snuggled a little further into him, "But I'm okay, and so are you, I guess we both have hard heads."

"I guess." He dropped a kiss into her hair, before going on. "I went everywhere I could think of looking for you, one of the stops was Jake's, I saw the dress you wore last night hanging on the door. Did I tell you how good you looked?"

"You always do," she murmured.

"No I don't, I hardly ever say the words, I'm sorry about that, it just doesn't occur to me to tell you how beautiful you are, because I would have to tell you that all the time. There's probably been lots of times, that I hurt you because I didn't pick up on something that you wanted me to notice, I'm sorry for that." He stared at the far wall, trying to find the words to keep going. "There is a chance that you are in this hospital bed right now because of me, and because of that I really should find a way to let you go. You deserve so much better than what I can give you, but at the same time I'm selfish enough that I want you to stay with me. I know the words scare you, that the idea of anything permanent scares you, but we've been permanent since I walked in that bar and you picked my pocket. It's time I admit the truth, I love you, and I'm not going anywhere." Silence greeted his words. Silence was better than he had hoped for. "I know you're probably mad at me for telling you, but you had to know how I felt long before now. I just want you to get used to me saying that to you, and someday maybe you'll feel comfortable enough to say them back to me." He paused again but she still didn't speak. "Rory?"

"Rory?" He asked again tilting his head to look down at her face, she was asleep. He rubbed the knot of tension that had formed in the back of his neck, they really had to work on their timing.

~Records~

Lucky let himself out of the office and headed for the fire stairs when he heard the elevator ding at the end of the hall. He had already found out some stuff about Rory/Elizabeth, and thanks to the program he had rigged on the admissions computers, he would soon be able to find out even more. Once he had all the information he would make his move, and get Elizabeth back home where she belonged.