The groan behind them made the women stop. Almost overboard, dressed in black, Carly and Sam each stopped with a leg over the railing. Carly's foot touched the top rung of the ladder that led to the small boat that hovered beside the yacht. Sam's foot hit against the side of the yacht. The cold air blew against their faces, pushing black and mahogany hair against reddening cheeks.

"I knew you two were up to something."

Sam looked at Jason and sighed. There wasn't enough time for this. The sun would be coming up soon, and they couldn't sneak onto the mainland with light pushing against the winter clouds. The last she saw Jason, he'd been asleep. Or pretending to be asleep. She had kissed him gently on the lips, and he hadn't moved a muscle. When she wiped sweat from his forehead, he hadn't opened his eyes. It was the only chance she would have to get off the yacht.

Carly looked at Sam for a second, then turned her eyes to Jason. If she had to choose someone to go out there and find out what was going on, it would have been him. Not that she didn't trust Lorenzo to find her boys or the real kidnappers, but she knew he wouldn't have done it personally. He'd have sent people off to do the work while he stayed a safe distance away. Jason, however, would be the direct hero. But, he was hurt, and he couldn't do it. He shouldn't have even been standing there.

Sam and Carly had come to a conclusion. In the wee hours of the morning, they knew this would only be settled if the real kidnapper were found. Sonny and Agent Marshall were too busy trying to find Sam. Lorenzo was concentrating on finding Michael and Morgan. Jason was hurt. That only left them. They were the only two who remained able-bodied and determined enough to get out there and do what needed to be done. Sam had to clear her name. Carly had to be reunited with her sons.

"You're supposed to be asleep," Sam said with a sigh.

"So are you." He limped forward, his hand clutching his side. Jason's chest was bare, and the cold air caused him to shiver. His steps faltered for a second, then he moved on. "Both of you should be."

"We've got things to do." Carly threw her other leg over and steadied herself on the ladder. "We have to do this, Jase."

"You don't have to do anything." Blood seeped through the bandage on his stomach and grew sticky against his hand. "You have to get back up here and let us handle it."

"You can't do anything, Jase." The wind blew and Carly held on tightly. The last thing she needed was to go over the side of the yacht. Pneumonia didn't figure into her plan. "All you can do is go back to bed. As long as I know you're alright, I can do what I have to do."

Sam looked from Jason to Carly. She saw the blood starting to ooze and wanted to run to him. But, she couldn't abandon Carly as she hung over the side of the ship. With the luck they were having lately, the second she left, Carly would fall off and hit the water. That would all lead to the destruction of any trust the two women had with each other. They were under no illusions that they were helping one another out of the goodness of their hearts, anymore. Now, they both had something to gain from it. Both of their lives were on the line. Leaving the side of the ship would give Carly the idea that she couldn't trust Sam, that she was only in it for her own selfish reasons, and that wouldn't help either of them.

"Jason, please, just go back to bed." Sam sighed and let her head fall. The wind blew her hair into her face and with black gloved hands, she pushed it back behind her ear. "Let us do this, Jason. I know you want to help us, but right now… You can't do that. Alcazar can't help, either."

"We're not children, you know." Carly grunted in disgust. "We've gotten ourselves into and out of a lot of worse stuff than this, Jase. You know that. We can handle this."

"Alcazar doesn't know you're doing this, does he?" Jason managed to reach the side of the yacht, though it took some effort. He leaned against the railing, then almost jumped back. The metal was cold against his bare skin, but he wasn't going to be able to stand up on his own. He leaned again, this time slower. "I don't like the guy, and damned if I trust him, but… He wouldn't let you do this."

"No," Carly told him, "he wouldn't, which is why we waited until both of you were asleep. And even if you decide to tell him, there's no way you can move that fast. We'll already be ashore by the time you get back below deck and wake him up."

"Carly…"

"She's right, Jason." Sam sighed, then shuddered. "And believe me, you have no idea how much I hate saying that…"

"And I like admitting you're right?"

"Carly, please!" She sighed again. "Look, Jason, I know you want to help, but right now, you can't. Neither of you can do anything but let us do this. We both have raised some hell before, but now we have a purpose to do it. There are children involved, Jason. We can't just let the children be used. Sonny's using the boys against us all, and whoever kidnapped Kristina…"

Sam stopped and everything went still. Jason watched as her eyes went glossy, the only thing stopping the tears from falling being the arctic air that froze them before they could hit her cheeks. "If this is about Lila, Sam, you don't have to. We'll have another baby, our own baby."

"Jason, just… stop." She shook her head. "This is only about Lila because she's the reason Kristina is alive. Whoever took her knew that I'd be the number one suspect and on some level, it does make sense. But, I didn't take her, and I have to prove that."

"You wanted us to get along, didn't you, Jase?" Carly gave a nervous chuckle. "Well, what better way for us to give it a shot than go on a psycho mission together?" She bit her bottom lip and tried to grin. The effort wasn't infectious, because Jason continued to look at her with hard eyes. "She's gotta prove she's innocent. I have to get my boys back. Lorenzo can't get close enough, and you aren't physically capable. That leaves Sam and me."

"I don't like it," Jason said with a groan.

"But, there's nothing you can do about it." Carly's words were final and more harsh than she'd ever used with Jason. "Just… Tell Lorenzo not to come looking for us. Tell him to just let us do what we have to do."

"And how do you even know what you're looking for? How do you know where to look?"

"We have copies of all of Alcazar's information," Sam told him. "Anything he's dug up, we have, and we'll use it." She tapped the strap of a black leather bag that crossed her chest. "And anything else, we can get from this laptop. We've got our leads, and thanks to Sonny and Reese's idea about taking me back to the house, we've got a place to start."

"It had to be an inside job, Jase. One of Sonny's men had to be in on it, otherwise, the system would have never gone down like that. We just have to follow the trail."

"We can do this, Jason. You just have to let us do it. We have the power and the resources. And if we need anything, we've got cell phones. We'll check in and let you know what's going on, but you have to stay here. You have to get well, just in case we need back-up later on."

"Tell Lorenzo…" Carly sighed and shook her head. "Talk to Lorenzo, Jase. He won't understand. He'll say he does, but in the end, he won't, and I know that you always will. You know I have to do this."

Carly looked at him hard and Jason sighed. His head dropped as he muttered, "Yeah."

"So, let me do this."

Carly tucked her head down and started to move down the ladder. Sam slid to the side, throwing her other leg over. Jason inched towards her, putting his hand over hers on the railing. "Sam…" She looked up into his aching eyes and wished that she could give him what he wanted. She wished she could stay there with him, let him hold her and reassure him that he was her hero. But, right then, he couldn't do anything. At that moment, only she and Carly were capable of doing what was necessary.

Sam leaned towards him and kissed him lightly. "I love you," she whispered, then headed down the ladder. She didn't look back up, knowing that she might change her mind if she saw Jason's face again. She knew that, no matter how much this needed to be done, she was a selfish person at the core. She could have been safe, on her way to some obscure island somewhere, waiting with Jason until everything had been solved. She could have said the hell with Carly and her children and just let Alcazar fulfill the part of the deal that he had signed up for. She knew she could do it all, and she would do it easily, but…

But, she didn't want to. And so, she couldn't look at Jason, because for the first time, he'd have made her do something that she didn't want to do.

Sam landed in the boat and looked at Carly. She wouldn't look at Jason, either. She couldn't look at him and see the pain there… Pain because he couldn't do anything. Pain because he couldn't keep up his end of the bargain. This time, for the first time, he couldn't protect her. He had to let her go on her own, do what he would have done for her in a heartbeat. She had to stand on her own, and he would have preferred that she leaned against him.

"Okay," Sam said, taking a seat across from Carly. "How long do you think we have before Jason gets downstairs and tells Alcazar where we're going?"

"He won't," Carly said softly. "Not just yet." She turned up and, as she had expected, Jason was still standing there, looking down at them. "We'll have just enough time to paddle to shore. He won't move from that spot until we're out of his sight."

"Out of his sight." Sam's voice was soft. That was one place that she suddenly didn't want to be, but knew she had to be. She shook her head and sighed. She pushed them away from the side of the yacht, then picked up an oar. "We can't think about Jason right now, or Alcazar. We just have to find Kristina, which means…"

"That we go to the first name on our list. We pay Royal a little visit and see what he has to say."