Chapter 3:

Fifteen minutes crept by without an answer. The District Attorney didn't know why she was waiting, considering how many other things she had on her agenda today. Important things. Putting criminals behind bars and protecting the rights of the fair citizens of Port Charles important. Standing outside a Pent House door on the fifteenth floor of a building notorious for its criminal occupants didn't rank high compared to the meeting with the mayor she was currently pretending to forget about.

She sighed heavily and rapped her knuckles fist the door again, feeling as if the skin on her knuckles was peeling with the veneer. On most days she would have just wandered away, figuring the couple on the other side were pulling their regular convenient disappearing act from the law. But today wasn't like most days. For one, the playful sign on the door suggested that Sam, at least, was home and waiting. Then there was the noise she had heard inside after her first knock.

When she arrived she heard movement inside, which was quickly stifled after she knocked. Five minutes of knocking and calling later and the sounds had completely vanished. All Alexis Davis wanted was for Sam to open the door. She didn't even need to go inside: their business could have been quick and painless. Done before Jason got home. But of course that was too difficult for Sam. She had inherited a stubborn streak that none could match, not even her own mother.

Alexis didn't know if she only had herself to blame for it, or if Sam went and developed her obstinance on her own. Either way, it was now perfected to a level not even Alexis, known for her strength of will and defiant nature, could hope to defeat.

That didn't mean she was just going to give up.

She kept up her vigilant knocking, calling persistently on her eldest daughter. She could just imagine Sam sitting inside, comfortably leaning back in the sofa with some sort of food or beverage to keep her content in hand, staring at the door with a slight smirk. The mother-daughter duo weren't on good terms after Alexis accused and arrested Jason of a crime that he, in a one in a million fluke, hadn't actually committed the week before. Not a word had been exchanged between the women since.

"Sam, really, this is childish and I have something important to discuss with you, okay?" She said, her voice teetering on the edge of defeat, "Just open the door: I'm not going to conduct business with you from out here."

"What are you doing here?" A smooth, cold voice inquired from behind her. Alexis jumped at the sound, instantly recognizing it but taking no comfort in the fact. She turned to face Jason Morgan, opening her mouth in surprise before she had a reply. Jason moved past her impolitely, turning the key in the lock before noticing the note staring at him at perfect eye level. He read it, glanced furtively at Alexis and then pulled it from the door. He went inside with no intention of inviting her to follow.

She did anyway.

"I'm sorry," she said, unable to hide the smile that lit up her face. She loved romance, and the room she was staring at certainly fell under that category, "I didn't realize you had an evening planned…"

"We didn't. This is all Sam…" He smiled vaguely, looking around. The letter waiting on the desk, framed in flowers with a candle sitting near by, did not escape his eye. Carefully picking it up, he opened the envelope and instantly become immersed in the words written there.

Alexis wandered towards the center table. She looked at the note resting there, her natural curiosity overcoming decorum without much of a battle. Grinning, she looked up at Jason, a comment about how cute this all was on her lips. The Enforcer's expression, however, stopped her cold.

He looked as if he had just been punched, his eyes scanning and rescanning a specific part of the letter. His shoulders were tense, his forehead creased in a scary expression somewhere between loathing and fear. Alexis had seen him worried before, but this was something entirely new. He balled the paper in his fist suddenly, coming from his trance, and then charged up the stairs, dropping it carelessly in his wake.

Knowing better, but doing it anyway, Alexis recovered the letter, smoothing it out against her thigh before trying to read it. The first two thirds of the paper was written in a fine, albeit hurried script. She recognized Sam's penmanship and, as she absorbed the words, her voice.

Jason-

I don't really know how to say this, much less where to begin. I know you're probably laughing, or at least giving this that smile of yours that is deeper in your eyes than on your face. Which is fine, because I love that smile. I think the easiest place to start is by saying that I love you completely. I'm so devoted to you, it's hard for me to get through my day without seeing you at least once every hour. And I don't care if it's selfish to want to keep you with me all the time, but I know I can't. So I think about you when you're working, and sometimes I get these weird little ideas. Like tonight. I thought it would be romantic to surprise you and this is my best effort. So don't tease me if something goes wrong. It's really difficult to put love into words, so maybe tonight I can figure out some other way to let you know just how much you mean to me.

-Sam

Alexis chewed on her lip, noticing the stark change in handwriting at the bottom of the page. She continued to read with caution, dreading what was inevitably waiting.

Isn't that sweet? You know, as sappy as it is, it almost works as a goodbye note. Which is good, because when I'm done with her she won't be in any condition to write anything. Good luck finding her. Enjoy the rest of your night.

I know I will.

Alexis had to force herself to breath, her involuntary muscles shutting down unexpectedly as she reeled in shock. Her heart skipped more beats than she thought she could live through as a heavy hand, Jason's, fell on her shoulder.

"How long were you outside?" He demanded, his voice dangerously edged, like a sheathed sword.

"Ten, fifteen minutes," she shifted gears from Worried Parent to Professional Lawyer. Right now she needed rational thinking and the ability to focus, not blinding, mind numbing anxiety, "When I arrived I heard noises, but I thought it was just Sam moving around in here. When I knocked they stopped. Since we were fighting I assumed she was just being petulant and shutting me out."

"You probably surprised him." Jason turned thoughtfully, then went to the balcony door. It was unlocked and slightly ajar, but there was no sign of a struggle or of forced entry. It was like he had gone out this way, but had entered some other way. There was no way Sam would have opened the door for him, which meant he had surprised her.

"You know…?"

"Manny," he said without hesitation as he returned to her, holding out his hand for the letter she was hugging tightly to her chest. She handed it over with a shake of her head, feeling battered and bewildered.

Jason drew a deep breath in through his teeth, his expression frozen. Though he looked absolutely serious and, ultimately, deadly, Alexis could feel how utterly useless he considered himself. He was blaming himself for not being here for her, for not killing Manny when all those chances had presented themselves. Alexis could relate. Sam's words resonated within her, not just in her mind but echoing throughout her entire being. It was her fault Manny was not in jail, where he belonged. A servant of the state, successfully defending a man who killed not only for a living, but for the hell of it.

She knew she was even more of a monster than he was.

"Jason…" she began, her apology manifesting at the end of his name. She had no time to complete that sentence, however. Jason was in motioned before she had time to comprehend the urgency in his shout. His arms wrapped around her frame and pulled her close as they both crashed to the floor, his body acting as a shield to a threat she didn't even know existed.

The room got hot. Blisteringly hot. There was an impossible sound, like a hundred claps of thunder erupting at once, and a light that was more than blinding. All sense was destroyed, time and consciousness imploding into each other. Then there was darkness and confusion.

And then there was nothing at all.