Jason was careful not to scrape his motorcycle boots along the gravel that lay on top of the roof of the Morgan-Corinthos warehouse. It was Labor Day weekend and instead of taking Elizabeth to see the fireworks in the park he was crouched down in a corner looking for any signs of a man entering the building he was guarding. He was also paired up with Sly Eckert.

The investigation as to who was after Sly had been an easy one. It was a middle man in the Boston organization looking to make his way up in the mafia world. He thought that by going after the Port Charles syndicate he could do that, apparently he hadn't done his homework. He researched Eckert and all the information the enforcer in training had, but the man slipped up when it came to Sonny Corinthos' right hand man. He didn't bother looking into Jason Morgan at all.

Sonny had set up a meeting so that he could introduce himself to the person that wished to be the next head of the Boston Mafia. He had arranged it so that Johnny was his guard and while Sonny didn't expect anything to go down he wanted to have Sly and Jason on guard as well. Jason was always happy to watch Sonny's back after everything the man had done for him, but he was sore about the fact that he had to baby-sit Eckert and make sure the kid didn't get into any trouble. He also had to make sure that no one realized he was the one that held the key to the east coast organizations.

Looking away from the dark street and over his shoulder Jason saw Sly on alert, his eyes taking in everything in the area that surrounded him. He hated to admit it but the kid was learning things, absorbing them like a sponge and making conscious decisions lately that didn't get any of them shot at. He was also keeping his distance from Elizabeth and that made Jason curious. Not that he minded it, the less time he spent with Elizabeth, the better but Sly was making excuses and spending more time in his small room at Kelly's. Jason was beginning to think he had a girlfriend on the side that he didn't want anyone to know about.

Standing up and stretching his sore muscles, Jason looked down at his watch and noticed the meeting was set to start in another fifteen minutes. They expected two men to arrive: the man causing all the trouble and the guard that he was going to bring with him. If anyone else were to show up or follow, that was where Jason and Sly would step in. Normally Jason would be able to handle the situation on his own but Sonny insisted that Sly partake in it so he could learn more about the eastern organizations. Jason also knew that he was trying to mend fences between the bickering men for the sake of his adoptive daughter. Smirking Jason realized that hell was more likely to freeze over before he became friends with Eckert.

He looked down when a stone kicked his foot and then back up to see Sly approaching him, "Anything wrong?"

Sly shook his head, "I just wanted to let you know that I'm going to take one more walk around the parameter of the roof before the meeting begins. I have a good view but," he shrugged his shoulders, "You can never be too careful right?"

Right, Jason knew that, he hated that Sly knew it too but he had to give the kid credit. He was turning out to be a better employee than Jason thought he would ever be. Ever since he realized there was a hit on his life he calmed down, listened more and kept that quick temper in check.

"It's a good idea," Jason nodded, "Keep your eyes and ears open and make sure that you're back in position when the meeting time starts. I don't want anyone in danger because one of us wasn't paying attention."

Sly nodded and watched as Jason resumed his previous position. He knew that comment was directed at him but he chose to ignore it. Jason was the person he worked with but Sonny was the person that he worked for and lately the don was giving him compliments on the progress he had made. Sonny told him he could see Sly maturing in his eyes and he was glad that it was happening. Sly knew that he had Sonny to thank for that, as well as a few other people.

He started his walk around the rooftop and turned slightly to make sure that Jason's attention was diverted. He slid his phone off of his belt loop and pressed a button, holding it tightly towards his mouth and lowering his voice significantly.

"He's still in one piece," he said with a small smile on his face, "And I am too."

Elizabeth looked away from the windows in Sonny's penthouse when she heard the familiar chirp of the Nextel phone. Emily stood a few feet from her, a phone pressed against her ear and a small sigh slipping from her lips. Jason's sister had been doing that for the past few hours, every since the men had left home to make sure everything was prepared at the warehouse. Sonny assured Lily that once everything was clear he would call her. Jason told Elizabeth that he'd be home as soon as he could. Johnny met up with them on the docks because Lu insisted on staying home by herself. Emily was getting chirped, every half hour on the dot, but due to the privacy button Elizabeth couldn't hear what about or by whom. She had a gut feeling though and she wasn't sure if she liked it or not.

She watched her place the phone down on the table and run her fingers through her hair before wrapping her arms around her waist and making her way towards the windows where Elizabeth stood. Lily was upstairs, tucking her children in for the night and reading them stories. Morgan and Adella were sharing a room for the night, pretending that it was a sleep over, while baby Elisa, Jason and Elizabeth's goddaughter, was sleeping soundly in her new nursery. Elizabeth was left downstairs, watching Emily grow pale by the hour, while her own nerves grew taunt as she tried to remind herself that she had been through this before and she was going to go threw it again.

"Are you in love with him?"

Elizabeth was startled out of her musings and turned towards Emily with wide eyes. She wasn't sure Emily was aware of the relationship that Elizabeth had with her brother. They kept their close contact for behind the penthouse doors but Elizabeth knew that there were times when they were out when the longing couldn't be replaced in either one of their eyes. She had opened her mouth to respond to Jason's sister when Elizabeth saw the question in Emily's brown eyes and she realized that Emily wasn't talking about Jason at all.

She smiled softly, "I'm not in love with him."

"Were you? I mean, does he know that?" Emily asked quietly, "Because he's still in love with you and I think maybe if he knew that you didn't return those feeling's he'd be able to…"

Elizabeth reached out and pressed her hand over Emily's arms, "Sly's not in love with me. I can assure you of that."

"I see the way he looks at you," Emily said, "Those looks aren't those that are reserved for friends. I know…" she cleared her throat, "I know there's something there and…it's not that I'm interested in him, I just, I'm looking out for him, as a friend, I care about him."

"I care about him too," Elizabeth said, "As a friend. Sly and I use to go out; we use to date, when I first started high school back in California. I'm not sure if he told you about that."

"He didn't tell me about his time before Port Charles," Emily said, "I asked him once but he didn't want to talk about it and I didn't want to push. I know what it's like to loose both of your parents and I didn't want to open up any wounds that had begun to heal."

"You are a good friend," Elizabeth said firmly, "And I'm grateful that Sly finally has someone that cares about him as deeply as you do. At one point in my life I thought I was in love with Sly but I think it was puppy love. I was so young when I met him I don't think it could be considered anything but that. I have, however, grown to love him more and more each day. We have this connection, we can't deny that, but it's just a friendly connection. I think he's my soul mate," she shook her head when she heard Emily gasp, "Let me finish. I also think that Jason's my soul mate. I think that people are destined to have more than one soul mate. Sly is my friend soul mate. He understands me when Jason doesn't or absolutely refuses to," she smiled when Emily laughed softly, "We've been through so much together that there's always going to be that connection between us, but I can assure you that it will never affect any future relationship that Sly has with a woman."

Elizabeth smiled again at Emily, "Sly thought a few months ago that he was in love with me but if you ask him now I'm sure that the answer he gives you will be the same one that I have. Sly and I love each other, we always will, but we will never be more than friends. We both know that."

"Because of Jason."

"No it's not…"

"You and Sly have a connection," Emily grinned, "You and Jason set the room on fire."

Elizabeth laughed softly as she tucked a curl behind her ear, "We certainly don't mean to but…" she rolled her eyes, "You're Jason's sister, I'm not going to lie to you, I'm in love with him and if I have anything to say about it he's going to be spending the rest of his life with me."

"Whether he likes it or not?" Emily asked laughing.

"Pretty much," Elizabeth agreed with her own laugh before reaching out and taking Emily's hand, "You don't have to worry about me and Sly but I think there's something that you do need to worry about. If you chose to pursue a relationship with him, you need to know that he and Jason don't…"

"That's obvious," Emily said, "And I'm pretty sure I know the reason why Jason doesn't like Sly but I'm not going to get into that conversation with my brother. I'm not saying that I'm going to pursue anything with Sly. I was just curious as to where you stand with him," Emily rolled her eyes at Elizabeth's raised eyebrow, "Okay, I'd love to pursue a relationship with Sly but I have no idea how he feels about me and I don't want to rock the boat. For the first time in my life I have someone who understands everything that I've been through. When my mother's birthday comes around or the anniversary of her death, I'm not going to have to talk about how I feel or why I'm moody that day, all I'm going to have to do is call up Sly and ask him to take me out for a ride in that fancy car of his."

"Great car isn't it?" Elizabeth grinned.

"Oh yeah," Emily smiled, "I don't want to ruin that with something he might not be ready for."

Elizabeth looked at the phone that now lay silent on the table and then back at Emily. "I think you might be surprised as to what Sly has to say about that."

"Girl talk?" Lily smiled as she came down the stairs, "With all these kids I don't have time for that anymore," she sighed, "And the rest of the town is afraid to say anything to me because of the fear that my husband will put a hit on them."

Elizabeth laughed as she moved away from the windows, "Are the kids asleep?"

Lily nodded, "I checked on Elisa last. She started to fuss and I was afraid she was going to wake up again but thankfully she just sighed and went right back to sleep. Sonny says that at times she just as difficult as her namesake," Lily laughed when Elizabeth gasped, "But we adore the both of you just the same. So," she said settling down on the couch, "Were we discussing the boys?"

"Talking about them has made me worry even more," Emily said as she sat down in a chair, "It's different now. I never knew when Jason was going out or what he was doing, but now that I've been spending more time with you and Elizabeth I feel like I've become part of the family that he's always telling me about," she smiled sadly, "Lu is an incredibly strong woman because I could not imagine sitting at home going through this all alone."

Lily nodded as Elizabeth sat on the corner of the couch, "I've gone through this numerous times with my father and my husband and it still doesn't get any easier. You find it nearly impossible to breathe until they walk back through that door."

"It's different for me now," Elizabeth said quietly, "I use to wish that my husband didn't walk back through that door. Now, it's so much harder…"

"Your husband?" Emily asked.

Lily reached over and squeezed Elizabeth's hand, "That's a long story and I'm not sure if…"

"It's alright," Elizabeth smiled as she slid from the arm of the couch to a small cushion, "I have a very sordid and unbelievable past. I was sold into the mob life at the age of fourteen by my father. I became a stripper by the age of fourteen and a half. I was married at the age of sixteen and I was a widow less than a week after my seventeenth birthday."

Emily looked at her horrified and shook her head, "Thanks to Jason."

"No," Elizabeth said as her sapphire eyes met Emily's chocolate ones, "Jason…and Sly."

"Only a few people know about Elizabeth's past," Lily said, "It's easier for people to believe that she was a long lost relative of Sonny's whom we chose to adopt. We've been lucky that no one has yet to recognize her from the club."

Emily shook her head confused, "The club?"

Elizabeth laughed softly, "That's how Jason and I met. I blew into town one night and asked for a job as a stripper at the new club titled Lily's."

"Lily's use to be a strip club?" Emily asked more puzzled, "What the hell did I miss while I was in Europe?"

Elizabeth laughed as she stood up, "I think this conversation calls for some hot chocolate. I'm going to make some and then I'll let you in on the story that I will one day turn into a trashy novel that will sell millions of copies." She stopped when the door opened to the penthouse and all heads turned towards it.

"It's just me," Lu sighed and nodded towards the bodyguard, "Thanks Adam. And I've been doing that all night," she said pointing to the three women in the room with her, "Every time I heard a noise or footsteps I jumped up and ran to the door or the window, hoping that it was Johnny. Do you know how many people are at Kelly's right now? I haven't sat down all night."

"That'll be four cups of hot chocolate," Elizabeth smiled, "Have a seat Lu. Lily's going to help me tell my life story."

"It's very interesting," Emily nodded as Lu settled down in the chair across the room from her.

"Anything to get my mind off of tonight's mess," Lu sighed as she plopped down.

Elizabeth turned away from the scene just as Lily reached over and gave Lu a comforting hug. She never had the opportunity to worry about Sly because he had become an enforcer after she left Luis. She was use to this life, however, and she knew that when someone you loved walked out the door that night it didn't necessarily mean they came back home. She was doing her best to keep the familiar stone façade on her face but her insides were trembling. She didn't know how she was going to deal with this for the rest of her life, but she would because she loved Jason and neither of them knew any other way to live.

She made her way towards the long cabinet where Sonny kept the box of hot chocolate. Of course, when she first insisted on having hot chocolate in the house the master chef went out and bought real chocolate that was to be melted in a pot and then mixed with milk to make it authentic. She had to fight with him for the Swiss Miss with double marshmallows which he insisted weren't real.

Elizabeth reached for the box and pulled it out. Tonight was painful, with the worry and the fear, but she wouldn't trade this for anything else in the world. She loved living with Lily and Sonny, she enjoyed her growing friendships with Lu and Emily, she was grateful that Sly was still around and she wouldn't trade a minute of her life with Jason Morgan for anything else in his world. She would do it all again, including her life with Alcazar, if it brought her right back here.

Placing the box on the counter Elizabeth reached up for the mugs and was startled when she felt a sharp pain shoot through the left side of her body. She felt herself gasp for a breath and grip the edge of the counter top. Just as quickly as it had appeared, it went away and Elizabeth felt her brows furrow. She had no idea what that was but she did realize that her hands started to shake and as she looked down at them her eyes caught her watch. It had been fifty one minutes since the last time Emily's Nextel chirped.

Telling herself to remain calm, Elizabeth walked back into the living room with a smile on her face, "Lily, we're out of hot chocolate. I'm going to run over to Jason's apartment and get some more. He's always stocked up."

"Can't imagine why," Lily laughed softly, "I'll have to remember to put it on the list for this week."

"I'll be right back," Elizabeth said as she opened the door and nodded to Adam, the new guard who had to step up because Sonny took the seasoned ones with him tonight.

She made her way over to Jason's penthouse and locked the door behind her, taking a deep breath once she reached inside. She walked over to Jason's desk and pulled open the drawers until she found it, the silver box. Yanking it out and placing it on top of the desk she reached in her hair and pulled out a bobby pin, fiddling with the lock until it came open beneath her fingertips. She opened it and reached inside, pulling out the foam where he placed his silver Glock which he had on him tonight. Beneath the foam rested another gun, a nine millimeter that he kept as a spare.

Elizabeth picked the gun up in her hand and admired it, her finger easily curling around the trigger. He was going to kill her the moment she showed up at the warehouse but she had no other choice. She could no longer imagine her life without him.

Tucking the gun in the waistband of her pants, Elizabeth's hand reached for the doorknob and she took another deep breath. She had to make sure that she was quiet enough to reach the emergency exit that was on Jason's side. Adam could not see her or else he would alert Lily who would indeed stop her, no matter what her gut feelings were telling her about Jason needing her.

"Hang on," she whispered as she quietly pulled open the door, "I'm on my way, Morgan."

Sly panted as he ran around the corner of the alleyway with Jason close on his heels. The meeting had gone bad with Sonny and Johnny left holed up in the warehouse. There were more than two people that showed up and they showed up heavily armed. Jason and Sly decided that they had to provide the distraction to lure the men away from the meeting place. If Sonny and Johnny were left trapped inside they were like sitting ducks and that couldn't happen. Jason and Sly decided to make enough noise, make sure they were known members of the Corinthos' organization and then the chase was on.

Jason was keeping his eyes peeled for a place where he and Sly could find cover so they could start shooting at the bastards after them. Normally he wasn't a man who ran and he was sure that Sly wasn't either, but the warehouse was too close to Kelly's. The diner inhabitants would most likely call the police at the first sound of gun fire and they didn't need that at a time like this. It took one look between him and Sly to realize that they had to think on their feet. They were getting closer, Jason could hear their fancy shoes clicking against the pavement behind him. They had to find someplace soon or else bullets would start flying.

When he felt one whiz past his head he knew it was too late.

"Eckert!"

Sly turned around with gun in hand and started firing blindly at the shadows behind Jason. He heard someone cry out and he knew that one of his bullets had met a mark. He slowed his steps to round a narrow corner and found a dumpster where he quickly stepped behind, followed by Jason.

"How many are there?"

"Four," Jason said, "Three now, good shooting."

Jason pulled out his gun and disengaged the safety. He looked around the dumpster and saw the men appearing in the front of the alley. He shot a few rounds before he disappeared again behind the dumpster and saw Sly readying his gun.

"I'm not sure if I hit any of them," Jason said.

Sly poked his head out quickly and ducked back behind the dumpster when a bullet flew past him, "There's only two now so I'm saying that your shot is as good as mine."

Sly stepped out from behind the dumpster and fired off some more shots, aiming them at the arms and legs that were poking out from behind the wall that led into the alley. The men that were following them were smart enough to take cover and Sly quickly finished his first clip. He reached into his back pocket for his other one.

"Be careful!" Jason shouted as he stepped out beside Sly and started firing again.

Sly dropped his one clip and started to move back towards the cover of the dumpster when he heard another cry and looked up to see one more man fall to the ground then he saw stars.

Jason slightly turned when he heard the body crumple beside him. Sly had been hit. He ducked quickly behind the dumpster and pulled Sly's body out of the way. The bullet had skimmed along the younger man's skull and there was a generous amount of blood loss that didn't look good. He pulled him up and shook him.

"Eckert, can you hear me?" Jason watched as Sly's eyes fluttered but struggled to open, "God damn't Sly, wake up."

Sly groaned and reached up to touch the liquid that was running down the side of his face. He muttered a curse when he brought his hand up to his face and saw that there was blood, plenty of it, pouring from the left side of his face.

"Sorry about that, Morgan," Sly said, "I'll get a better shot next time."

Jason heard another bullet hit the dumpster, "Can you make it back to the penthouse? My penthouse, the girls will freak out if they see you like this."

"I'm not leaving you," Sly said, "I don't abandon men."

"You aren't abandoning me," Jason growled, "You're saving your own life and mine as well. Elizabeth will kill me when she finds out you are injured."

"I'll deal with Lizzie…ah," Sly cried out when his head fell back against the dumpster.

"I'll cover you," Jason said as he stood up and hoisted Sly to his feet, "Get out of here."

"Morgan…"

"Go!" Jason shouted as he stood out from the cover in the dumpster again and started shooting. He heard Sly start to scatter away from him, groaning, but he kept his eye focused on the man in front of him. He was taking cover by the wall in front of the alley, two bodies lay near him. Jason knew that he was taking him out, he just had to wait for the man to make a mistake.

Instead, Jason made one.

He turned when he heard another cry from behind him. He thought that it was Sly only to realize that it was a television set echoing from an open window. When Jason turned back the man he was shooting at was in front of him, a smirk on his face and the bastard's gun aimed between Jason's eyes.

"You just got me a promotion," the man laughed, "I now have bragging rights for being the man that took down Jason's Morgan," he took one more step towards Jason, "And I might even hang your head on my wall."

Jason watched his finger start to squeeze the trigger and his eyes stay focused on the gun. He hated that he was not going to be able to spend the rest of his life with Elizabeth and he was glad that he told her that he loved her when he walked out this evening. He knew that Sonny and Sly would take care of her and he also knew that he was going to die like a man. He didn't even blink when he heard the loud pop of the gun. He also didn't feel any pain.

Jason watched as the man crumpled to the ground at his feet, a bullet wound in the back of his head and a pool of blood quickly forming around his body. He bent down to check his pulse and make sure that the man was dead and then he looked up when he heard the click of heels approaching him.

Elizabeth was coming towards him with a smoking gun in her hand.

"Elizabeth, what the hell…"

"Are you alright?" she asked, "Are Johnny and Sonny alright? I went to the warehouse but when I saw you and Sly being chased I followed you two. I wasn't able to check on them."

He blinked as he stared at her. She wasn't shaking. She wasn't upset. This woman's eyes resembled his own, there was no fear but there was worry for the people that she loved. He reached out and pulled her into his arms.

"I'm going to kill you for this later," he said quietly as he kissed her temple, "But right now I'm going to thank you for saving my life," he smiled as he stepped back and took the gun from her hand, "You have a habit of doing that."

"I'm only returning the favor," she said as she took the gun back and put the safety back on before stuffing it back in her pants, "After all you've saved mine."

Jason reached down and collected the weapons of the men who lay scattered in the alleyway around them. Elizabeth followed him out of the dark path and smiled slightly when he slid his hand through hers, tugging her back towards and open street where they would be seen with the general public and making their way back towards the warehouse.

"And besides," she said matching his step, "I have no plans of living my life without you."

Jason looked down at her, the woman who loved him more than he ever thought possible. He knew that he would never find another who would pick up a gun for him, step in front of a bullet for him, or kill for him. Elizabeth was truly one in a million and he had no plans of living his life without her either.

Emily was pacing in the middle of her brother's penthouse suite. They had realized a short time ago that Elizabeth had disappeared, a gun box found empty on Jason's desk and Adam having no clue of her whereabouts. Then the phone call came, Sonny telling Lily that something went wrong and Sly and Jason were missing. He was sure they were okay but he had lost all contact with them. That was when Emily had lost it.

She was unable to stay there and watch Lu receive reassurance from her boyfriend that he was okay, not when Sly and Jason were still out there, possibly fighting for their lives. She made a beeline for the door and then hid in Jason's penthouse, needing sometime to think and breath. She started to wonder what her life would be like with those two men missing from it and she also started to wonder when she started to fall for Sly Eckert.

Emily plopped down on Jason's coffee table with her head in her hands as she felt the tears start to come. She hated being weak and she hated crying but her emotions wouldn't let her do anything else. She jumped up startled when she heard the front door rattle and suddenly someone stumbled in. She gasped loudly and put her hand to her mouth when she saw the blood that was dripping from Sly's head to Jason's floor.

"Em?" Sly asked as he closed the door, "Em what are you doing here?" He saw her face and then he reached up to touch the wound that was still bleeding, "Emmy, I'm okay. You have to know that I couldn't go to the hospital."

Emily could barely breathe and she felt the need to be sick as she got a good look at him. He was breathing heavily and the whole left side of his head was matted with blood that poured down the side of his face and onto his clothes. She knew from her parents' positions as doctors at the hospital that head wounds, even the less serious ones, bled a lot. She kept repeating that to herself over and over as she watched him walk closer to her.

"I'm fine," Sly said, "We're all fine. We had to leave the warehouse. I'm sure that Jason is on his way there right now to meet up with Sonny and Johnny. They'll be back here and you can see for yourself that Jason is alright," she still stood there saying nothing and he was becoming worried, "Emmy."

Emily felt the tears continue to flow as she realized that she was more worried about the man in front of her than she was about her brother. She was terrified that she would never see Sly at Kelly's again, that he would never flirt with her or tease her again, that he would never insist she finish that muffin because she needed to put some weight on her or tell her that she was too fancy to be hanging around the likes of him. She was scared that she would never get a chance to tell this man how she really felt.

"Emmy…" he said softly.

Emily blinked and looked at him, really looked at the man with the dirty blond hair and blue eyes. She then smiled and closed the distance between them, reaching for him and pressing her warm lips to his.