Jason glanced into the Quartermaine home through the glass doors that lead into the living room. Once he saw that he cost was clear he opened the unlocked doors and walked into the room, shutting the doors behind him as quietly as possible. He crossed the room towards the doorway that led into the foyer but stopped short at the sight of Monica. She saw him and did the same.

"Jason." She said, simply, her voice barely above a whisper.

He smiled awkwardly, "Hey."

"Is everything okay?" She asked, a hint of concern in her voice.

She had expected him to come eventually. After filling him in the day before about what she had seen and knowing how the news must have been eating away at him, she knew he would come. She wouldn't dare to say that she knew her son. The man before her was still, after all this time, more of a stranger to her than anything. But she did know that when it came to Michael that Jason wore his heart on his sleeve.

"I came to see Emily," He began, causing Monica's eyes to fall only briefly before he continued, "But I'm glad I ran into you."

Her eyes lit up and she glanced behind her into the foyer. She turned back to her son and sighed, "Let's talk in Lila's study."

He nodded and followed her wordlessly. When they were finally behind closed doors, he combed his fingers through his hair and sighed.

"No one is going to find out about what Michael did."

"Did you tell Sonny?"

He nodded in affirmation.

"Are you going to--" She paused, hesitantly, "cover it up?"

He did not want to say the words. He knew that they would hurt her. He knew, despite what people thought, that he had hurt her enough already. The way he lived, the choices he had made, his distance all hurt her. He admired his mother's strength.

"It's a high profile case. Planting evidence or setting some one up to confess is risky—unless they are already a suspect or have known motive."

Her eyes grew wide and suddenly she knew what he was going to say. She carefully placed a hand on Jason's shoulder and squeezed gently, "No, Jason."

For a moment he was surprised. He let his eyes linger to where she held onto him steadfastly and finally let them meet hers.

"I have too." His excuse seeming vacant to her.

"Did Sonny order—" She stopped herself. She gazed into his eyes and read the answer within them. He had volunteered.

Her hand dropped off of his arm and fell limply to her side. Her gaze left his and drifted to a spot on the wall behind him.

"You've lost so much already, Jason…" She started, but stopped again.

Once upon a time he might have been mad at her for saying such things. But not now. He had let go of his anger at her and she had learned to accept that Jason Quartermaine was no more. He was no longer angry at her missing him. To him, the man she once knew was someone else and someone he didn't know or care to.

"When?" She finally asked, breaking the long silence between them.

"Soon," He said, stolidly, watching her carefully, "I-I'm sorry."

She looked up to meet his eyes and felt tears within her own. Her marriage was essentially over. Her eldest son had perished in a vein attempt to find a family for himself. And Jason Morgan, this stranger before her, once her pride and joy, was leaving her again. Her family was falling apart and she was defenseless against it.

She reached out and grabbed his hand and squeezed tightly. Their eyes met and soon she was enveloped in his arms.

"I-" She began, but did not know if she could say it.

She pulled away and looked at him for a long while. She took her hands and held his face, her eyes memorizing him. Their eyes met again.

Finally she spoke, "I'm proud of you."

He swallowed the lump in his throat that had not been there a second ago. She let her hands fall from his face. Her left hand fell to her side limply. With her right hand she brushed at the tears that threatened to fall.

She cleared her throat and sighed, "I know that you came to see Emily," She paused, "And that you'd have no desire to see Alan, or Edward for that matter. But I know that they'd appreciate it."

He sighed, "Is Alan still at the hospital?"

She nodded.

"Is he—doing okay?"

Her eyes lit up at his inquiry, "He should make a full recovery."

"I-I'll consider it." He said, nonchalantly, causing a shadow of a smile to pull at her lips briefly before slipping away.

"Take care of yourself." He added simply, pausing at the doorway.

She nodded and watched him walk away. The tears still came down as his footfalls disappeared until she no longer hears them. She sat down in a plush chair and let out a breath she had not known she was holding.

Emily's voice filtered down the hallway as he made his way towards her bedroom. He could not make out all the words, but what did come through clearly did not make much sense to him.

"Okay, okay, their fine…nothing at all…quack, quack…damnit, sorry… God, your mom…you won't tell?"

He pushed open her bedroom door and found the room empty.

"Emily?" He called, hearing splashing coming from the bathroom.

"Jason?" She answered, surprise evident in her voice.

"Uh, is this a bad time?"

"No," She called from the bathroom, "But you'll have to come to me."

He crossed the room and walked into her adjoining bathroom finding her standing beside the sink with a baby. She looked more than stressed.

"Okay," She muttered to herself, "Remind me never to believe Elizabeth. Especially when she says that Cameron is an easy baby to take care of! Or maybe I just bring out the worse in him…Kristina was so much easier to baby sit. This has to be a guy thing. You all try to screw with us women the second you are born…"

If his sister had not been so obviously frazzled, Jason would have laughed at the sight of her. She was barefoot, her hair was half falling out of a ponytail, and there was a questionable stain on her pink blouse.

"What happened?" He asked, seeing the mess that had been made in the bathroom.

Cameron was currently sitting in the filled shallow sink with a rubber toy duck keeping him occupied. In the twin sink beside him there was what appeared to be his clothes soaking in soapy water. A spilled bottle was stuck behind one of the faucets and a little Tupper Maid container filled with cheerios had spilled and were scattered on the marble sink surface as well as the floor.

"I had to feed him lunch and afterwards I tried to burp him like Elizabeth showed me and he barfed all over me and his clothes. Elizabeth gave me a bag with a change of clothes and all his stuff and I think I left it somewhere…" She muttered as she furiously scrubbed at the little boy's clothes in the sink.

Jason looked down at Cameron and saw that the little boy had stuck his plastic duck in his mouth and was gurgling happily around it. He grabbed a towel and took Cameron out of the room temperature water and dried him off.

"Are you sure everything else is okay, Emily?"

"I am so tired of everyone asking—" She started to yell when she was interrupted by her cell phone ringing.

"Thank God!" She muttered, finding her purse and pulling out her cell phone as quick as possible.

"Hello?" She answered it frantically.

Jason watched his sister listen to the person on the other end as her face turned pale.

"I'm on my way." She said and hesitated for a moment before putting her phone back in her purse and looking around for something.

Jason grabbed Emily's arm, "Hold on a minute, Em. What happened? Who was on the phone?"

"It was Skye," She paused, "Luke, Lucky, and Elizabeth were setting a trap for Helena and it didn't work. Luke's gone off after Helena again, Skye is at the police station making a statement, and Lucky and Elizabeth are at the hospital."

"What happened?" He asked, concerned.

"Skye didn't give me all specifics. But I have to go the hospital."

Without even hesitating, Jason offered, "I'm coming with you."

A/N: I'm sorry this was so short.I promise Liason interaction next chapter.