Jason jogged down the stairs and turned to make his way down the long hallway. He had been looking for Elizabeth for the past twenty minutes. He managed to check the locker room without incident and skirt past Crystal's wandering hands when he was inquiring about her backstage. All the rooms upstairs were unattended so he just hoped that she was in his office.

He shifted the books in his hand and opened the door, the sight before him brought a smile to his face. Elizabeth was curled up in the office chair, her blue velvet robe around her, flipping through a motorcycle magazine. When she heard him enter she looked up, her eyes smiling at him.

"Hey," she said softly.

"Hey yourself," Jason said stepping into the office and closing the door behind him, "I've been looking all over for you."

"I've been here the whole time," she smiled as he approached her, "I told Johnny I was going to be hanging back here."

"Johnny was a little preoccupied," Jason said as he bent forward to kiss her, groaning when she slid her nails into his hair, depending the kiss.

"That is how you should say hello," Elizabeth whispered when he pulled back.

"It's a damn shame I don't have time to stay and finish this," he growled as he placed the books on the desk in front of her, "I need a favor."

"Where are you going?" she frowned, "You were gone all day," she bit her lip and looked at him worried, "I'm sorry, I'm not trying to sound like shrew. I just got very use to having you around."

"And I got use to being around," he said as he leaned against the desk beside her, "I stopped hating this job so much."

"So where are you going?" she asked as she leaned back in the chair.

"Sonny's starting to put me back into my real job," Jason said as he crossed his arms across his chest, "And I'm kind of glad because I hate being cooped up here, however I am glad that I was cooped up with you."

"Uh huh," she said eyeing him warily, "What's the favor?"

He smiled as he lifted the books in front of him, "Payroll is due tomorrow. The checks have already been pre-stamped but I need someone to write them out. I also need the books to be balanced and since you've watched me do it hundreds of times and seem to have some experience…"

"I should get paid more for this," she said pulling the book towards her as Jason leaned down and kissed her hair, "This could take the rest of my night."

"I'm sorry about that," he smiled.

"No you're not," she said slapping his thigh, "You're happy to be keeping me off stage and I'm sure that Sonny had a hand in this."

"I just happened to mention that it looked like you were aware of the foundations on how to run a club," Jason said shrugging innocently.

"There's an 'and' in there somewhere," Elizabeth said as she pushed the books away from her.

"And we're going to need a new manager when I return to my other job full time."

"What?" Elizabeth asked, "Jason you cannot be serious."

"Elizabeth, as much as I hate it, you know this business. You know what it takes to run it, you're good at figuring at numbers quickly and you can keep the girls in line," Jason said, "You're the perfect person for the job."

"Hello? I have no qualifications Jason. Yes, I can add, but as for the girls?" she laughed, "This is why I'm back here. They are avoiding me like the plague because I'm screwing you."

"I thought they didn't…"

"When was the last time I actually slept in my bed?" she asked with raised eyebrows.

"That's another thing…"

"No!" she said pushing on his hip, pushing him away from the desk, "I'm doing the books for tonight, everything else is giving me a headache."

"Does that include me?" he asked.

"You are my biggest headache," she said as she unfolded her legs and came to stand in front of him, "When do I get to see you again?"

"Come to my place tonight," he said, his hands naturally finding her hips, "I don't know what time I'll be home but it'd be nice coming home to you."

Elizabeth looked up at him, saw the way he was smiling down at her, like she was beautiful and precious and one of the best things that ever happened to him. She hated it and she knew that by now she should've been long gone. That was why she had to turn him down, she couldn't come to his place tonight, she couldn't stay over again. No, absolutely not.

"I'll be there as soon as I'm done the books," she said and leaned up on her toes to kiss him, "You want me to make you…" she scrunched up her nose, "I'll pick up food at Kelly's."

He laughed, "I really did have to buy a new frying pan."

She growled at him as he moved away from her and headed towards the door, "It's a damn shame you can't take it out of my pay check."

Jason laughed as he said goodbye and pulled the door closed behind him. Elizabeth frowned and plopped back down in his leather chair.

Manager, he wanted her to be manager of the club. There was no way. She hadn't even graduated from high school and she had yet to tell him that. Just because he put a few pieces together and realized she had her hand in it before didn't mean that she wanted to do it again. Being a manager meant she was going on salary, it meant that people would be depending on her, it meant that she was going to have to stick around.

She put her head in her hands and screamed. She should've walked away the moment she laid eyes on him. She knew that he was trouble, those blue eyes and that leather jacket were enough for her to know that once she wrapped herself around him there was no turning back. And she did, she wrapped her body around his and he wrapped himself around her heart.

She hated it, hated the fact that she still had to leave, hated the fact that she simply couldn't, but she knew that one day she would have to. They could come looking for her and Elizabeth refused to put Jason's life at risk.

But still, until they were here, until she could sense them around her she had to stay, she had to enjoy these few moments in her life when she was actually happy. It had been so long since she had laughed or cried tears of joy, she didn't want to relinquish that and she wasn't going to let that bastard who was looking for her take it away.

At least, not for a few more days.

A few more days turned into another week, then two and Elizabeth knew that she would soon be getting the results back from her HIV test. She told herself that was what she was waiting for, once she had those papers in her hand she would skedaddle and make her way down to Florida with the funds she had piling up in the side pocket of her black bag. She was picking them up tomorrow at the hospital, after her lunch date with Lily and now she was backstage, ready to go on, knowing this might be the last time she ever performed for the citizens of Port Charles.

She hated the tears that stabbed at her eyes, hated that she got so attached to a man it made her want to choke, hated that she knew she wasn't leaving, it was impossible. She loved Jason Morgan; she loved him with everything that she had and everything that she was ever going to be. She wanted to be in his life, wake up to him every morning, fall asleep in his arms. She wanted to have children with him like Adella and Morgan, get married on some private beach with the sun disappearing into the ocean. She wanted to tell him everything there ever was to know about Elizabeth Webber and have him accept her, no questions asked.

She laughed as she checked on her make up. That last part was a joke, if Jason ever found out some of the things she still kept hidden he would boot her out of this city so fast she wouldn't even know what hit her. And she was sure he was checking up on her, that was his job; he was Sonny's enforcer, that's what was whispered about in the back. She just kept holding her breath when they walked back to his penthouse every night together, hand in hand, and no new information was brought forth.

She was waiting for the other shoe to fall, right on top of her head.

Sighing she nodded when the music started up and she hurried up the few stairs that led to the stage. She shrugged out of her robe and left it hanging on one of the hooks by the curtain. She then made her entrance, starting one thigh at a time, before pulling aside the velvet material and standing in the spotlight, clad in a purple lace bra and matching purple lingerie skirt with clear heels that light up with purple lights when she moved.

One thing she was very grateful for, she thought as she winked at the customers and started to slide down one bra strap, Sonny had kept Jason so damn busy lately that he hadn't been in the club since the night he asked her to be manager. That made the boys act just a little more wildly and the money flowed a little more quickly.

"What's got the crowd so rowdy tonight?"

Johnny choked on his beer as Jason slapped him on his back. He wasn't expecting Jason to show up tonight, the man had disappeared for two weeks, no one was expecting him tonight, including Elizabeth. Even before he went back to his main role of Sonny's enforcer Jason had kept himself locked up in his office when Elizabeth set foot on stage.

Out of sight, out of mind, at least the visions of her stripping for strangers.

And now she was dancing in her most revealing outfit, her bra already being unhooked and twirling around her fingers before it was tossed into the roaring audience. He felt Jason tense up behind him before the man started growling.

"I thought that…"

"Had I known you were here I would have warned you," Johnny said as he watched Jason wrap a powerful fist around the beer bottle in his hand, "Jason, she didn't…"

Jason stood there, his eyes fixed upon Elizabeth, her creamy breasts bared for the whole world to see and he felt this incredible ache inside of his body, on the upper left side of his chest, he didn't know what it was. He just knew that it was too painful to watch her do this, it was too painful to see her diminish herself in front of all these men, for what, a few dollars, a way to get out quicker? Was it really worth that much to her?

He wanted to step forward, he wanted to throw her over his shoulder and storm right on out of this place, right back to his penthouse where he would keep her forever and let her be whatever she wanted to be. He wanted to rescue her but he knew that he couldn't. Elizabeth asked to do this on her own so he would let her but he had to stay; he had to make sure that she was okay.

He took a sip from his beer bottle which he still had a death grip on.

Elizabeth could feel the blue eyes piecing her naked back before she actually saw him. She had no idea he would be there and she hated it, hated that he was watching her, it made her feel horrible, feel cheap, but she couldn't stop.

She almost did, when she saw him start to move away from the bar, she moved too, further down the stage to another poll, wrapping her leg around it and swinging her body. She watched him stop, compose himself and then take a long drink.

He was letting her be, letting her do it her way and he was still standing there instead of storming back into the office. God she hated that she loved this man so much.

Walking back towards the center of the stage she started to pull down her skirt, smiling seductively as she bent over, revealing that she was wearing nothing underneath. Slowly standing back up she started to tug at the sides, pulling it down lower on her hips.

The men were cheering, some were hooting and hollering but one in the front row was becoming a little impatient. He stood up and waved his beer at her, cursing her for being a tease.

"Take it off you slut."

She wanted to, for the sake of shutting the damn fool up but she heard something break and looked up to see Jason hopping over the bar and starting to push his way through the crowd. She could tell the way his eyes were darkening that he was seeing nothing but red.

She squeaked when she realized that the man had his hands on her skirt and pulled it down for her, the purple lace pooling around her heels. He was grinning as he started to tug on her ankle, pulling her forward so he could caress her calve.

"That's it baby, so beautiful, nice and smooth…"

Elizabeth gasped when she saw Jason's bloody fist connect with the man's face and it didn't stop connecting until the man collapsed on the floor, struggling to breathe. Johnny and Francis appeared by his side, pulling the man to his feet and hurling him out the door, slapping him in the head and face along the way.

Jason was beside her on stage, pulling off his shirt and tugging it over her body. He then wrapped his arm around her waist and tried to hurry her off, only to be stopped when she tripped over her heels. He growled and picked her up in his arms, hers instinctively wrapping around his neck as she buried her face against his shoulder.

"Shows are over for the night, stick to the floor," he growled as he pushed his way through the girls and stragglers of waitresses, making his way up the stairs to the rooms where the rest of the strippers lived.

He placed Elizabeth down on her feet in front of him, tried to wipe away a stain of blood that he saw on her cheek, only to make the smear worse. Elizabeth grabbed his hand and cried out, realizing that he had a few tiny cuts all around the inside of it.

"Jason, what the hell…"

"No more, I am sorry Elizabeth but no more," he said, "I get that you have a point, you don't want to be rescued, you want to make it on your own but god damn't do it somewhere else. Be a waitress, find a job at the mall, sell fucking newspapers if you have to."

"Jas…"

"But you are not working down there again do you hear me? I will not have the scum of the earth pawing on you like there are able to take you home and have their way with you. That's not going to happen."

"I'm use to it," she said quietly, "I'm use to them taking me ho…"

"I don't give a fuck what your use to!" he screamed as he slammed his fist against a table, causing a lamp to fall off and shatter against the floor, "You are better than this, Elizabeth, you are better than me and I will not…I will not have you…"

She looked up at him and before he turned away she was able to see his eyes shinning, with tears. In that moment, she broke and she wrapped her arms around him, burying her face into his bare chest.

There was no way in hell she was leaving now.

"I'm done, I'm through," she said. "I'll do…I'll be manager. If you still want me, I'll do the back office work, Jase."

Jason nodded as he slipped his hand in her hair and then pulled back, wincing as he looked at the blood, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean…"

"What happened to you?" she asked and frowned as she took his hand and picked out a few pieces of green colored glass from his palm.

"I…I broke a beer bottle in my hand," he said, "I guess my grip was too tight."

"It might scare the hell out of other women," she said as she walked over to her bed and struggled to pull her bag out from under it, "But your temper is one of your sexiest qualities." She fished around for a large band-aid and came back to him, placing it over his palm, "That will do until we can get you back downstairs to wash it."

He nodded, "I know that you don't want to lose your independence."

"I'm not," Elizabeth said, "And now I get to boss people around, which is going to be so much fun. Does that include Johnny and Francis?" she laughed as she made her way back over to her bag and pulled out a pair of underwear and a fresh pair of jeans. She yanked off her shoes and got dressed, pulling off Jason's tee shirt and throwing on a Dukes of Hazzard one.

"You can yell at them, sure," Jason smiled as she handed him his tee shirt back, "I wasn't in a hurry."

"I was," she said, "We need to get your hand cleaned up and…" she took a deep breath, "I don't want to stay here tonight, not another night. I'd like to stay with you. Then tomorrow, first thing; I'm going to find my own apartment."

Those were words she never thought would exit her mouth. Her own apartment in Port Charles required a lease, which was usually a year, which meant that she had to stick around. There was no question any longer, not when Jason treated her as if she were a goddess he was born to worship. For once in her life, she was going to be happy.

"No, you're not," Jason said with a small laugh as he zipped up her bag and pulled it over his shoulders, "Move in with me."

Elizabeth's mouth dropped open.

He laughed again as he shut it with a flick of his finger, "Is that a yes?"

"Jason, that means…"

"That you go to bed with me every night and wake up trying to make coffee in the morning," he said quietly, "It means we'll start to get together on normal hours and that I'll be able to order you food from Kelly's once in a while."

"Jase…"

"Adella and Morgan still break in every once in a while so you have to adjust to that."

She laughed as she threw her arms around him, "Uncle J is one of the sexiest men alive and I…" she pulled back and kissed him, "Its crazy but I'll do it. My whole life is right here," she said pointing to the bag he was holding, "Can we go now? No, no hand first."

"No," Jason said as he took her hand and brought it to his lips, kissing the back of it, "My hand will be fine until we go home."

"Home," she smiled softly, "That sounds so nice."

"It does," he said smiling, "Now let's go out the back way so we can avoid the crowd."

She nodded eagerly and held onto his hand tightly as he led her down the back stairs and out the door, to his bike. It was wonderful, being able to go home with Jason Morgan, being able to be in love with someone even if the other person wasn't aware of it. She felt giddy, ridiculous and she wouldn't trade this moment for anything in the world.

She was laughing as he struggled to tie her large bag to the back of his motorcycle and then handed her the black helmet. They both looked up when they heard a car back fire and Elizabeth realized it was something more when she felt something sear across her head, leaving a trail of warm liquid in its path.

She heard Jason call her name as she dropped the motorcycle helmet and turned towards him. He slammed into her, his body weight throwing her to the hard asphalt ground.

The last thing she remembered as the blackness surrounded her was that they had finally come. They had finally found Lizzie Webber and Jason Morgan would pay the price.