A/N: And so the intensity and angst is begining. I spoiled you all with all of the fluff, but now it's getting good.
luvthemorgans- Glad you're liking it and I'm glad that I stumped you!
britchic- Everyone loves Journey in bed all day! And keep in mind- I am a mean person.
kaleymc- I'm glad you wanted to cry! I love when I move my readers to tears, however mean that may sound!
sexyt- I'm glad you like it. Remember though, I like to put lots of red herrings in my stories. So you may or may not be right.
journeyfan01- Glad you're liking it. Keep reading to find out who took her!
tydavislover- Wow, I managed to fool you twice. Guess I'm just that good. Lol, j/k.
Cait- Aww, you're not a goofball. Besides, I really did like the name Lily. And yes, I am perfectly aware of the fact that I'm cruel and I'm lovin it!
anon14- Hahaha! (That's supposed to be an evil laugh). I hope this update is soon enough for you!
Elvira- Sorry to dissapoint. But there will be plently of time for that. Right now, he needs to take care of Meg and protect her. Plus, he has no idea where Courtney is so he needs to do some research too. I hope you still love me even though you're mad! ; )
middiegurl08- I'm glad that I was able to suprise you. Suprises are always good. Right?
SuzieQ8487- See, this is what you're used to from me, right? The tear jerking chapters. Get used to them, I have a quite a few more sad ones. And thanks for the reviews from the last few chapters too.
Chapter 6- Midnight Meetings
It had been two days since Courtney's kidnapping, and Jason was going crazy. He didn't know what to do with himself. He spent all of his time looking for Courtney, or looking for a lead at least. Any other time was spent with Meg. Meg was feeling Courtney's disappearance, and Jason could tell. The little girl smiled less often, and her happy giggle was now rare. She hardly slept, and spent the nights crying her eyes out.
Jason had finally gotten her down for a nap. He sunk into the couch, putting his hands over his face. He hadn't gotten any sleep since Courtney's disappearance, unless you counted an hour or so here and there. Sonny tentatively pushed the Morgan penthouse door open and looked inside. He saw his best friend on the couch, looking completely miserable and out of it.
"Hey" said Jason softly when he saw Sonny.
"Hey yourself" said Sonny as he walked in. "Is Meg asleep?"
"Yeah, but who knows for how long" said Jason with a sigh. "She misses Courtney"
"We all do" said Sonny gently as he thought of his sister.
"I just hope whoever it is that has her is treating her ok" said Jason.
"I'm sure they are. If they know what's good for them they are" said Sonny, gaining his old resilient attitude at the end.
"Has anyone contacted you yet?" asked Jason.
"No, not yet" said Sonny.
"What the hell is taking them so long? Unless…" said Jason.
"Unless what?" asked Sonny.
"Unless they already…"
"No. They wouldn't. And you would be able to feel it if she was gone. And I would too. Courtney is alive and well. We just need to find her and bring her home" said Sonny.
"I hope your right" said Jason. "Have you spoken to Stan lately?"
"Yeah, just a little while ago. But he wasn't able to find anything but he said-"
Sonny was cut off by Meg's cries as she screamed louder than Sonny ever imagined a child could.
"She certainly has a set of lungs on her" said a taken aback Sonny.
Jason just glared at him before racing up the stairs to Meg's nursery. A few minutes later, he returned with the baby in his arms.
"Hey Meg" said Sonny, and the little girl just looked at him with her sweet blue eyes as a small fist came up and rubbed at the blue orbs, brushing sleep from her face.
She whimpered again and Jason held her tighter, gently rubbing her back and kissing her forehead.
"What were you saying about Stan?" asked Jason as he adjusted Meg in his arms so he could get a better view of Sonny.
"What? Oh, right, Stan" said Sonny coming out of his daze he was in as he looked at Meg and thought of his sister. "He hasn't found anything, but he has more contacts, and he has everyone he knows working on it. We will find her Jase" said Sonny.
"I know. But until we do…"
"We just all need to stay strong" said Sonny. "You know what; let me take Meg for the day. Carly can watch her. You need to get some sleep and relax a little"
"I can't sleep while Courtney's gone" said Jason.
"Well, you can't look for her while you're this wired either" said Sonny.
"I'm not wired. I'm just a little out of it" said Jason as he defended himself.
"Seriously Jason, I am ordering you to relax" said Sonny, a mock stern look on his face.
"I'd rather just keep Meg with me" said Jason. "You know, so I can keep an eye on her" said Jason.
"Jason Morgan, do you not trust me" said Carly as she entered the penthouse, her hands on her hips.
"Carly, I trust you. It's the people who took Courtney who I don't trust"
"Jase, come on. It's me. I can watch her just fine and keep her safe" said Carly with a roll of her eyes.
"Carly, just leave him alone" said Sonny as he tried to pull Carly out of the penthouse.
"Sorry, can't do that. I care about Courtney, and I want my best friend to come home safe. And in order to do that, my other best friend needs to get some rest so he can find her" said Carly. "So really, I'm doing this for Courtney. And a little bit for myself" she added.
"Fine" said Jason as he looked at Meg as she was still waking up from her short-lived nap. "You're going to spend some time with Aunt Carly, ok?" said Jason as he looked at Meg. "I know that she's crazy, and I know that she's weird, but you'll be safe. And I'll be right across the hall" Jason explained.
"Hahaha. That is so funny Jason" said Carly as she rolled her eyes. "It's true what they say, you can't crack a joke" said Carly as she took the baby from Jason's arms. "We are going to have so much fun Meggie. We ladies gotta band together against the real crazies- the men like your dad and Uncle Sonny. We can read fashion magazines!" exclaimed Carly.
"Keep in mind, she's only a few months old" warned Sonny.
"It's never too early to start to learn about what to wear and what not to wear" said Carly. "I am teaching her valuable life lessons"
"Oh boy" said Sonny as he rolled his eyes, and Jason even cracked a small smile.
"Hey look at that, you're smiling" said Carly as she pointed to Jason's mouth.
"No I'm not" he said as he wiped the grin off his face.
"Whatever you say Jase" said Carly as she walked out with Meg in her arms.
Jason watched them go, his eyes trained on Meg as she left. Jason had become so attached to that little girl. Sonny followed his friend's gaze and gave a bittersweet smile as he realized what was wrong.
"Jase, don't worry. She'll be fine" said Sonny.
"Which 'she' are you referring to?" asked Jason.
"Both of them. Both Courtney and Meg will be safe in your arms very soon" said Sonny.
"I need to find my wife" said Jason, the tears welling up in his eyes again.
"And we will find her" said Sonny. "She's my sister, and I love her. I'm not about to let anything happen to her" soothed Sonny.
"Your right. You wouldn't" said Jason as he tried to bring himself back down to reality and calm down about Courtney. "I just worry about her"
"Get some rest man" said Sonny, giving him an affectionate shoulder pat before walking out of Jason's penthouse, leaving him all alone.
Jason tried to take Sonny's advice. He lied down on the couch and closed his eyes, begging for sleep to overtake him. But it didn't work. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw a scared Courtney. Or sometimes, he saw a crying Meg. He saw his family hurt and afraid. Jason didn't know what it meant to feel fear. But he knew that what he was experiencing right now was pretty terrifying. He sighed before giving up on sleep. Instead, he walked over to the doors leading to the terrace and walked out, standing on the balcony. He looked up at the sky and saw that it was the start of sunset. Soon, it would be night. And night meant being alone in his bed. Of course, Jason would give up on staying in that big bed alone pretty early in the night. He would usually be so concerned about Meg that he would stay in the rocking chair in her bedroom.
Jason couldn't take it anymore. He grabbed his keys and leather jacket and left the penthouse. He walked down to the building's parking lot and retrieved his bike. Jason just needed a ride to clear his mind. To get his focus back. And right now, he needed to focus on getting back his wife.
Jason was at Vista Point, just trying to clear his mind when he was disrupted by the sound of his cell phone looking. The caller ID said the number was restricted, and Jason glanced at it in confusion before answering the call with his usual greeting.
"Morgan"
"Mr. Morgan" said an icy voice.
"Who the hell is this?" he asked.
"I have a business proposition for you" said the voice on the other end. "And your wife's life depends on it"
"Tell me who the hell this is" he growled into the phone.
"I make the demands Mr. Morgan"
"What do you want?" asked Jason.
"I want a meeting. You and your boss. On the docks at midnight. Come alone" he warned.
"We'll be there" said Jason. "But I want to talk to her"
"That can't happen Mr. Morgan"
"How do I know that you didn't hurt her? Or that she's not dead already?" asked Jason, although he was just bluffing. He knew that Courtney was ok. He could feel it.
"You're just going to have to trust me Mr. Morgan" said the voice. "Midnight. Docks. Just you and Corinthos"
"Wait!" yelled Jason into the phone but it was too late. Whoever was on the other end had hung up. "Dammit" he yelled, desperate to punch something, but seeing nothing around.
"SONNY!" yelled Jason as he ran into his best friend and brother-in-law's penthouse.
"What is it? You're going to wake the kids" Sonny scolded as he walked out of the kitchen and into the living room.
"I got a call. From the kidnapper. He wants to meet us at the docks, tonight at midnight."
Sonny glanced at his watch before saying "we don't have much time to prepare"
Jason looked down at the ground, kicking a rock off of the dock and into the water. He watched as it bounced before landing with barely a splash. Sonny took a deep breath next to him as the two waited for their meeting to start.
"He's late" said Sonny as he glanced at his watch.
Jason rubbed his face with his hands.
"He's probably hurting my wife right now" said Jason with a heavy heart as he sat down on the ground, his knees up with his head buried in them.
"Jason, we can't think like that" said Sonny. "We need to stay positive for Courtney's sake"
"How the hell do you expect me to do that Sonny?" asked Jason. "My wife is missing. My daughter is feeling the emotional turmoil that causes, as am I"
"Come on, let's talk about something good. How's Meg?" asked Sonny. "You know, other than these past few days?"
"Courtney and I have gotten attached. Maybe a little too attached. We forget that she's not our daughter sometimes. It's hard. We know in the back of our minds that we are going to have to give her back eventually"
"Not necessarily" said Sonny.
"What do you mean?" asked Jason.
"I mean that maybe her mother won't be found"
"And then in that case she goes into foster care and into the system"
"Children slip through the cracks in the system all of the time"
"What are you suggesting?" asked Jason as he looked up at Sonny with his brow furrowed and his blue eyes even more piercing than usual.
"I just mean…" said Sonny, "what if we did everything in our power to prevent Meg from being taken from you"
"Courtney would never go for the illegal stuff"
"Even if it meant saving your baby?" asked Sonny with one eyebrow raised.
"I don't know Sonny. Right now, it doesn't even matter. Because Courtney is gone. And where the hell is this guy?" asked Jason. "It's nearly one in the morning"
"I dunno, let's wait a little longer" said Sonny.
"You need to call Carly?" asked Jason.
"Probably. She must be worried out of her mind" said Sonny with a small smile.
"So you two are on track again" said Jason.
"Things between Carly and I are surprisingly smooth"
"That's a change" said Jason with a smirk of is own.
"Yes, it is. Forget it, this guy isn't coming. This was probably just him messing with our minds" said Sonny.
'Easy for him to say. He just wants to get home to his wife' thought Jason with a scowl.
Jason cast one last longing glance back towards the docks. If he couldn't be with Courtney, he would at least go home to Meg. She was having a hard enough time without her mother there. The last thing she needed was to be separated from her father as well.
Sonny and Jason walked into Sonny's penthouse a little after one in the morning.
"I'll just take Meg and go back across the hall" whispered Jason to Sonny.
"Alright man. Try to get some rest" said Sonny. "Even if it's in the rocking chair in Meg's room" he said with an all-knowing smile.
"Got it" said a very tired Jason.
Jason had barely put a foot on the stairs when an ear piercing shriek ripped through the penthouse.
A/N: What have I done now? Uh-oh, review to find out. You guys got skimpy with the reviews so I'm not updating until I get 15. Some of you are chosing not to review, and that makes me put on my angry eyes. Unfortunetly, I don't know how to make an angry eyes smiley on anything other than AIM so pertend like you can see my angry eyes!