Elizabeth watched as the numbers reached higher and higher in the elevator she was in. She knew that Jason was going to kill her for not checking in, she had just hoped that her gut feeling was right and Carly picked up the phone the moment Elizabeth was out of sight. If not, she might truly be dead.

She stepped off of the elevator and made a left, immediately colliding into Johnny, "Thank God you're alright."

"How's Max?" Elizabeth asked as she hugged him tightly, "Please tell me Jason at least had a doctor sent over to check on him."

"He's fine," Francis said coming up behind Johnny and sliding his arm around Elizabeth, "He has a good size bump on his head and an even bigger headache. He's with Alexis. We were all waiting to hear from you."

Elizabeth looked away from them guilty and jumped when she heard something crash against the wall of the penthouse. Her eyes found the bodyguards again, "What piece of furniture was that?"

"Probably the dining chairs," Francis said rubbing the back of his neck, "He was worried when he hadn't heard from you. Then Carly called…"

"I can just imagine how that conversation went," Elizabeth mused and then smiled sadly at the two men in front of her, "I'm so sorry that I didn't call. I didn't think about anything but Carly and once I left I just knew that she would pick up the phone. I needed to take the long way home; I needed to think some things through."

"We're glad that you're okay," Johnny said, "But you need to call us next time, right away. We had the guards scouring the city."

Elizabeth hesitated, "I can promise you that I will try. My first priority was getting to Carly and Michael. I couldn't think past that."

Francis nodded and then winced when he heard more wood splintering across the wall, "I'm not sure if…"

"We need a few minutes," Elizabeth said quietly as she squeezed Francis arm, "I'm sure Alexis is trying to bake Max cookies and I hope that you can check on her for me?"

"Take all the time you need," Johnny said as he let Elizabeth move past him, "JJ's not…"

"I know," Elizabeth said with her hand on the door knob, "Jason may lose his temper but he would never let his son witness it. Thank you both for caring so much."

She watched them disappear into the Alexis' penthouse, closing the door tightly behind them. She sighed and closed her eyes. She hated that she had to fight with Jason; it was all they seemed to do since he returned to town, but it was better than nothing. Four years ago she had to practically beat an emotion out of him.

Taking a deep breath she walked into the penthouse and saw the chaos that surrounded her. The dining room set was completely destroyed along with Sonny's desk chair. A mirror that hung on the wall had been shattered with pieces of glass falling onto the table that rested beneath it. Jason, looking haggard and worn out, was leaning against the arm of the couch, his arms folded across his chest, beads of sweating running from his forehead. When he looked up at her she saw it, the tortured look that she had seen all those years ago the morning after she told him they could no longer be friends.

Telling herself that she needed to be strong, reminding herself of the words Sam had carelessly thrown at her in the middle of the park, by that fountain, Elizabeth pulled the gun out from where it was resting at her waist and engaged the safety, placing it down on Sonny's desktop.

Jason laughed bitterly and looked away from her, "Did Sonny give you that last Christmas?"

Elizabeth started to undo the buttons on her coat, one at a time, reminding herself that they were both angry, words would be shared on both sides, "I'm sorry that I didn't call you. I knew that Carly would so I stayed out a bit longer. I needed the air."

"Carly shouldn't have been the one to call me in the first place, Elizabeth." Jason said quietly.

Elizabeth laid her coat on Sonny's desk and turned to face Jason, her arms at her sides, "I know that you were on a date with your girlfriend…"

"Sam is not my…"

"Don't," Elizabeth said advancing towards him, anger blazing in her eyes, "For the first time in this twisted relationship we've been having since you returned to town I actually have the right to be justifiably angry. Did I hurt you so bad Jason that you felt the need to go cry on a strangers shoulder? Were the wounds cut so deep that you forgot everything that you knew, everything that you learned and ran to the first thing that got your libido pumping? That's not the kind of man you are, Jason."

He smirked at her, his eyes becoming a little less brighter, "None of this is me."

Elizabeth took a step back and folded her arms across her chest, "No, I suppose its not," she smiled sadly at him, "You always make references to the 'Elizabeth you knew' well I finally get to make my own reference. The Jason that I knew would never betray a trust…"

He threw his hands up in the air and pushed himself away from the couch, "What the hell are you talking about, Elizabeth? Just because I had breakfast with Sam doesn't…"

"She knew about the night that we…that JJ was conceived," she stumbled as she tried to blink away the tears, "She referred to it as a one night stand."

"I never…" Jason said walking towards her.

"And Sonny?" she laughed quietly, "She knew that I was screwing you best friend."

"The papers…"

"She knew about the rape, Jason."

Jason froze and he swore his heart stopped beating when his blue eyes met Elizabeth's. The disappointment that he read in them made him want to stop breathing. She couldn't possibly think that he would go that far.

"That is where I found her," she whispered as her hands came up to her face, wiping away the tears, "I found her in the park, on that bench, by that fountain," she sniffled as she looked away from him, "When it comes to this life Jason I was told to believe that there are no coincidences."

Jason wanted to take her into his arms, he wanted to wipe away the tears and tell her that she was beautiful, that she was strong, that he admired her more than he had admired any other woman in that moment. Elizabeth had returned to the scene where she was violated at such a young age and it didn't seem like this was the first time. He wanted to know how she let go of the anger, of the hate; he wanted her to teach him how to do it.

"I need you to listen to me," he said quietly as he put his finger under her chin and propped her face up so she could look at him, "I have talked to Sam but I never implied that JJ was a result of a one night stand nor did I tell her about your relationship with Sonny," he took her hand in his and squeezed it gently, "What you told me that night at Jake's all those years ago was between you and me. I would never tell anyone that you were raped. That isn't my place."

Elizabeth nodded and pulled away from him, "I know. I know that you wouldn't tell her about the rape which is why I think that something else is going on, something more. Sam hasn't been in Port Charles too long and neither has Lorenzo Alcazar."

"Lorenzo Alcazar?" Jason asked with raised eyebrows, "Is he the one who hit Max? Did he approach you, Elizabeth?"

"Lorenzo and I had a nice conversation," Elizabeth said as her fingers reached over and grazed her gun, "He claims that he's the brother of Luis and that he means us no harm."

"I'm going to…"

"Claims he wanted to deal with me first because you would shoot first, ask questions later," she smiled slightly, "I don't know where he would have gotten that idea, Jason."

"You can't tell me that you actually believe…"

"I intend to have Max run a background check on Lorenzo Alcazar," Elizabeth said as she turned towards her, her back resting against the desk, "Just as he did Sam McCall."

"You ran a check on Sam?" he asked surprised.

"Someone had to," she replied, "You aren't thinking with the right head and I'm not putting our son in danger because you want to get back at me for screwing Sonny."

"Is that why I'm with her?" he asked with a laugh, "To get back at you? Oddly enough, Elizabeth, the world doesn't revolve around you and I'm tired of hearing about you and Sonny. The real reason I'm so damn angry is because you kept my son from me. If I wanted to get back at you for anything it would be for that and I would've taken full custody the moment I came into town." He stepped towards her, leaving only a few feet between them, "I didn't do that, Elizabeth. I didn't make that move. You tell me, who is trying to get back at who here?"

Elizabeth pushed herself away from the desk and walked around him, her eyes trying to take in the mess she knew she would have to clean up later.

"Sam's easy to talk to," Jason said, "She's funny; she's beautiful, she likes bikes…"

She bent down as to pull off one of her high heels and threw it across the room, causing it to land with a thud at the bottom of the stairs, "Sonny was smart and he was handsome and he protected me like no other," she said and tossed the other shoe, "And he was my best friend." She smiled at him, "If at any time in the future you want me to be able to accept Sam McCall you better make sure that you can accept the fact that I was engaged to Sonny Corinthos."

"He's dead," Jason said, "Have you accepted that?"

Elizabeth stood there, frozen in time for a minute before she turned and walked over to the book case, pulling books off by the arm full and then tossing them to the floor, a heaping pile quickly growing.

"What are you doing?" Jason asked, walking towards her and grabbing her hands.

"I'm done, I'm packing my things, I'm packing this house up," she said as she pulled out book after book. "I was going to wait and talk to JJ. I was going to try and find the perfect house but I can't stay here, not another minute, not another night in this damn house." She shoved her hands at Jason's chest, "Look what we're doing to each other!"

"Elizabeth…" he said trying to grab her hands.

"I can't do it," she whispered as she felt tears fall from her eyes onto her shirt and her pretty gray dress pants, "I can't fight the demons that reside here anymore."

"Elizabeth," he said quietly, "The demons don't reside in this penthouse. They reside here," he said pointing to his heart, "And here," he said pointing to hers, "And here," he said motioning to her head and then his own.

Elizabeth nodded sadly and looked around, "Still…"

Jason agreed, "I'll make some time tomorrow so we can pack everything up, maybe move you into a temporary apartment until we find that perfect home for you and JJ."

"Can you help me start tonight?" she asked quietly as she started to pick up the books from the floor, "I need this…I need to start, I can't…" she sighed, "We have to get off this roller coaster as soon as possible, Jason, we're hurting each other too damn much just by hanging on."

Max groaned as he rolled his head back and forth, trying to cease the insisting knocking in it. When that failed he blinked his eyes, becoming familiar with his surroundings and realizing that he was still in Alexis' apartment. She and Johnny were nowhere to be found and he knew that Francis had left earlier because he was guarding Elizabeth tomorrow morning. He frowned and rubbed his head. It didn't hurt too badly anymore, so where was that noise coming from?

He looked to his right, it was the door.

Getting up gingerly, he shuffled over and looked through the peep hole, taking a deep breath when he noticed his boss Jason Morgan on the other side. He knew that this was coming; he had just hoped that Jason would at least wait until the morning.

Max pulled open the door and offered his best smile, "Hey boss, I…"

"You got a file on Sam McCall."

Max looked at him startled before he regained his composure, "Yes, Miss Webber asked me to…"

"Where is it?" Jason barked.

"It's at the office," Max said, "I gave it to her today to review but she I don't believe she ever got around to…"

"Thank you," Jason said and nodded at Max, "I think both Johnny and Francis have left for the evening so I would like you to keep an eye on the penthouse. Elizabeth is still there packing up some things."

"Yes sir," Max said.

"And after that I want you off for a week," Jason said, "You need to take care of that," he said motioning to the back of Max's head.

"Yes sir," Max said, "Is there anything else?"

"Yes," Jason said, turning slightly, his eyes directed at the closed penthouse door of Sonny Corinthos, "Guard the mother of my child with your life."

Elizabeth sighed as she hoisted another box and placed it on top of the growing pile by the door. It was nice of Jason to offer to help her with the boxes, it was really crappy of him to also offer to take JJ out to breakfast. He knew she wouldn't say no so he went to pick JJ up at Bobbie's and she was piling up the remainder of her very heavy art supplies.

She would get him back for this.

He had helped her a lot last night, sorting through things that were hers, that were Sonny's, things she simply didn't need anymore and they even created a donation toy pile for things that JJ didn't play with anymore. All of the furniture was going to stay in the penthouse with the exceptions of anything in JJ's room and the broken dinning room set that was still being swept up.

After the past few weeks she realized that she wasn't going to miss this place. She had the memories that she would take with her forever but it was time for her to move on, she couldn't continue to live in Sonny's world surrounded by Sonny's things. She tried that when she thought that Lucky Spencer had died and all that brought her was more misery, that and Jason Morgan.

She wasn't going to dwell on that. She picked up a box of JJ's toys and headed out of the penthouse in a pair of sweatpants and a tee shirt, bunny slippers on her feet. She stopped abruptly when she saw Johnny and Francis in the hallway, one of them physically restraining Lorenzo Alcazar, the other pointing a gun to his head.

"You must have a death wish," Elizabeth laughed as she dropped the box of toys by the others at the entrance to the elevator.

"Miss Webber," he smiled softly, "I came by to see how you were doing today. I'm afraid that I didn't leave on good times yesterday. I wanted to apologize."

Elizabeth stood there, not knowing whether to laugh or go back into the penthouse and let Johnny put a bullet in his head. She went with her gut instinct, doing what Elizabeth Webber would do.

"Let him in," she said and turned back towards the doorway.

"Elizabeth, are you sure?" Francis asked.

"I'm sure that he's not armed," Elizabeth said as she ran her eyes up and down Lorenzo.

"A gentleman would never visit a lady carrying a loaded weapon," Lorenzo smiled and started to move forward, only to be stopped by Johnny's gun.

"And to prove that he'll let you search him," Elizabeth grinned, "Where's your guard?"

"He's downstairs, waiting in the lobby," Lorenzo said and sighed when Francis and Johnny opened his suit coat and made sure that he had no weapons on him. Johnny went so far as to pat him down and check his legs for any hidden firearms.

"Your goon is going to call you when Jason returns," Elizabeth said as she entered the penthouse with Lorenzo following her, "At least I know you have some common sense."

"Really, Miss Webber, oof."

Elizabeth grinned when the box came in contact with Lorenzo's stomach, "If you're going to be here talking you might as well help me pack."

"I wasn't aware that you were leaving town," Lorenzo said as he moved the boxes towards the other.

"I'm not," she said as she opened a blank marker and wrote 'Living Room' on the brown box, "So you can call off the search guards to try and find out my new location."

He sighed, "I assure you Miss Web…"

"And if you're going to keep visiting me," she said handing him another box, "Which I really don't think is good for your health you might as well call me Elizabeth."

"Elizabeth," he said letting it roll off of his tongue, "A beautiful name for a beautiful woman."

"I just lost someone very close to me, someone that I loved," she said, "I'm trying to form a relationship of some sort with the father of my child, I'm sure you know this all, so please stop flirting with me."

"I wasn't flirting with you."

"What do you call it then, Ren?" she asked with raised eyebrows.

Lorenzo looked at her startled, his own eyebrows rising, "No."

"No what?" she smiled as she crossed her arms across her chest.

"It's Lorenzo," he said and bowed slightly, "At your service."

"I like Ren," she smiled and walked over to the coffee table where she finished collecting her magazines, "And I don't like beating around the bush so why don't you tell me what you're really after. Is it revenge? Is it the territory? Or are you trying to get it all like Carly says?"

"You've spoken to Mrs. Corinthos?" he asked with a slight smile.

"She keeps me up to date with the Mafia code," Elizabeth said, "One can never know enough about the underworld."

"I don't know how else I can assure you that I'm really only here to make amends," Lorenzo said as he clasped his hands behind his back and walked towards her, "I'm only here short term to rectify the chaos my brother has caused on this town. I'm only sorry that it took me this long to do so."

"Your brother didn't harm me," Elizabeth said, "Physically anyway, so you might want to turn the charm on for other people. Try hunting down Brenda Barrett."

"The woman who caused all this mess," Lorenzo mused.

"It always is a woman, isn't it Ren?" she asked as she brushed some bangs out of her face and looked up at him, "I really have to finish this and I expect Jason home shortly. Is there anything else that I can humor you with before I have you thrown out?"

"Yes," Lorenzo said with a smile, "Since it seems that I'm going to have to stay in town long enough to convince you I'm not the spawn of Satan I'd like to make a request."

Elizabeth laughed, "You have some nerve but I'm very interested to hear what it is."

"I'd like to move in here," Lorenzo grinned.

Sam hurried back into her room and dug into her purse, grabbing her cell phone and turning it on quickly. She had yet to hear from Jason Morgan and she knew that couldn't possibly be a good sign. After Elizabeth had hit her in the park she knew the little miss would go running back to Jason and tell him everything that Sam had said to her. Sam knew that Jason would want to speak with her about those things but she never expected the silent treatment.

She had gotten carried away, seeing Elizabeth Webber up close and realizing how beautiful she was took Sam by surprise. She didn't want to lose Jason after she had just found him and she could tell in his voice every time he spoke about JJ's mother that he still cared deeply for her. It was as if she was revered.

Sighing Sam tossed her phone back on her bed. There were still no messages. She ran her fingers through her hair and turned to walk back over to the door, flicking on the light. She froze when she heard a familiar click and turned again to see Jason sitting in the corner of her room, leg crossed over another, gun in his hand, pointed directly at her.

"We need to talk."