Elizabeth paced the length of the hallway stopping on occasion resting her hand on the large wooden door that led to the outside. She checked her watch again. The race was already half over and she knew it. If she could just bide her time a little longer it would be finished and she could stop fighting with herself to not jump in her car and head out to the track. So once again she made her trek down and back the long tiled hall yet her urge to be at the track didn't dissipate. If anything over the last few weeks it had gotten stronger – to the point that it was driving her crazy. Her resolved to leave the racing circuit behind when she had Billy was steadily crumbling and she didn't know why. Actually she did yet Elizabeth wasn't willing to admit to it at least not out loud anyhow.

Finally she slumped down in the overstuffed leather couch that sat in the middle of the living room and let out a heavy sigh. She felt like her life was out of her control. And for Elizabeth control was everything or at least the semblance of control. Elizabeth of all people knew that control was just some illusion people chose to create for themselves. If anything from early on life had shown her there was no such thing as control. The death of her mother before Colleen Ryan had even gotten to hold her baby girl was the first thing in a long line of things that showed how little control a person wielded over their own life.

Elizabeth tried to push the thoughts of her mother from her head. It did little if any good to dwell on a past she couldn't change – a past she barely knew anything about even. Her heart ached sometimes for the mother she had lost. A woman she would never know and what hurt even more was that her father was so unwilling to share his memories of her with his daughter. Elizabeth wasn't sure if that's how her need to prove something to her father all began yet it had snowballed into her steam rolling headlong into her father's world and eventually loving it.

Her eyes were drawn to the 'wall of fame' as she used to call it when she was a kid. The back wall of the living room was filled with her father's racing trophies, pictures and more memorabilia than a person had a right to. She looked at many of the large photos there that showcased her at her father's side. Some of them were of her as a teenager and others as she was today – a young woman. She felt a silent tear trickle onto her soft cheek. She loved her father even through all of his faults. He was all she had and it pained her to realize that if she didn't fit into his idea of her that she suddenly didn't fit at all.

Wiping away the tears from her cheeks, Elizabeth stood up and began circling the large room. Again her urges to be at the track were all consuming. Part of her wanted to be convince herself that her need to be there was completely tied to her father – to the relationship that that place had allowed them to build together. Yet the image of Jason Morgan was the one that wound its way through her brain. Ever since it had been made known to her that Jason was now part of her father's team Elizabeth found herself looking for almost any excuse or reason to be at the Ryan practice track. It unnerved her. Secretly she stood in the shadows watching Jason and Leo talking or Jason and Tom working on his car. Whenever Jason would smile or laugh she found herself unexplainably excited or with a goofy grin of her own plastered on her face.

Elizabeth covered her face with her hands and let out a frustrated groan agitated with herself. What on earth was she thinking anyhow? Hadn't getting involved with one of her father's drivers been enough? Hadn't she learned her lesson the first time around? Elizabeth almost laughed at herself for those thoughts. There she was acting as if she and Jason Morgan were on the verge of being an item when in all truthfulness they barely spoke to one another. Yet no matter how hard she tried not to Elizabeth still felt herself drawn to the blonde driver with crystal blue eyes and disarming smile. Once more she let out an irritated moan and headed back the hall to her bedroom and a closet in much need of a good cleaning.

Jason's eyes had adjusted to the blackness around him as he sat quietly in the garage next to his car. He rested his hand against the hood and could still feel a tiny bit of warmth radiating off the engine. Normally after a race he would have been going over all of the particulars with Jake and Tom but neither of them was around and really for Jason that was okay at the moment.

He appreciated Leo's efforts in making him feel better about the outcome of the race but that didn't take away his anger at himself for how poorly he performed and finished. It wasn't like him to be so off the mark. Not even in his amateur days had he felt so out of it behind the wheel. Yet this was the first race ever that Jake hadn't been by his side. Deep down Jason knew that that was the true reason for his lack luster execution.

Jake had been so worried about Jason's career stalling if he were to wait on his recovery but now Jason was wondering if racing without Jake would do just as much damage to his career. If he had a few more finishes like this one what was the use of racing at all? He certainly wouldn't be topping the points standing — that was for sure.

Jason looked around the deserted garage and wished again that he had never agreed to any of this. Who was he kidding thinking that he could do this without Jake by his side? Deep down he knew that he couldn't but he had let Jake talk him into it just the same. Suddenly Jason was overcome by a wave of sheer unadulterated anger at not only Jake for pushing him to be there but at himself for failing Jake and even his father so miserably. He felt like some scared first grader who couldn't seem to get out from behind his mother's skirt or in this case Jake's greasy coveralls. Before Jason realized it the wrench in his hand went sailing across the open garage whizzing passed Elizabeth Ryan's head as she entered.

With a loud crash the heavy metal wrench made contact with the garage wall. Elizabeth turned and watched it fall to the concrete floor with a thud and then looked over to where Jason stood. She almost faltered for a moment wishing and wondering if maybe she should have just stayed home like she had unsuccessfully tried to convince herself to do. But she was there now and for her there was no turning back her heart wouldn't let her.

She walked over and reached down picking up the wrench before closing the distance between herself and Jason. "What'd this wrench ever do to you?" she asked trying to keep the mood light even though she could see it was anything but.

Reluctantly Jason reached for it their hands barely touching. "Sorry about that," he answered placing the tool on the rubber mat beside him. He chastised himself for not only losing his cool – something which he never did – and doing it in front of Pat Ryan's daughter of all people.

"It's not the first time a tool's been thrown around this place. I'm sure it's not the last either," Elizabeth smiled.

Jason stood there for a second taking in the picture of the petite jean clad brunette. He found himself starring at her from head to toe as if it was the first time he was really looking at her. She was undeniably beautiful. Her chestnut hair fell in soft waves framing her face. Jason resisted the sudden urge to reach out and push away the stray hair that inadvertently fell covering her deep blue eyes. He leaned against the side of his car trying not to be obvious with his gaze yet he couldn't tear his own blue eyes from her lean frame. The faded denim of her worn Levis hugged her curves and the short black tee shirt just barely covered her stomach. Jason found himself suddenly enthralled with her even though all of his senses were blaring danger ahead.

"I'm looking for Leo. He around?" Elizabeth said finally breaking the silence between them.

"I'm pretty sure he's gone by now," Jason answered as he went back to tools spread out next to his car. He needed the distraction of it all.

"Oh okay," she commented yet never moved. Part of her couldn't and another part didn't want to. So for the moment she stood there watching him as he watched her from the corner of his eye as well. "Need some help?" she asked as Jason began removing the hood pins. He pulled back and gave her an almost odd look. "Removing the hood?" she asked pulling out the last pin. Without waiting for an answer she placed her hands under the large piece of fiberglass and waited for him to do the same. Together the walked the hood off and place it against the wall.

Elizabeth leaned against the front fender and watched as Jason gave the engine a once over. He adjusted the values and pressure checked the system for fuel and oil leaks all the while she stood silently taking in the show before finally speaking. "Were you having oil pressure trouble during the race?"

"Huh?" He brought his eyes to meet hers.

"Were you getting a drop in oil pressure during the race?" she asked again.

In all honesty Jason didn't have an answer for her. Where he normally could tell you every gauge read out during the race that night he couldn't remember a single one of them. Hell he wasn't even sure if he had even looked at them during the race. "Why?" he said without truly answering her direct question.

"You have some seepage here where the line meets the gauge." Elizabeth reached over and ran her finger against the connection bringing it up to show him traces of black oil.

"Damn," he muttered.

"It's probably no big deal really. Leo's threads leak all the time. All you need is some Teflon tape. It does the trick every time." Jason again gave her an odd look and suddenly Elizabeth felt overly self conscious. "Sorry," she said wiping her hand on the nearest rag. "I'll mind my own business. This is your car." She should have known better in trying to tell a driver anything. She and Billy had had more than their share of fights because of her knowledge of not only engines but racing in general.

Jason picked his head up and their eyes met. Instantly he saw the weary expression on Elizabeth's face. It was the same look a child would wear after being scolded yet not knowing what for. He didn't like it or the fact that somehow he felt he was the cause of it. "Show me," he instructed her.

"What?" she countered more than a little stunned.

"Show me where you are talking about."

Elizabeth couldn't make heads or tails out of his request. If it had been Leo she would have known how to react. If anything she would have jumped right in wrench in hand disconnecting the line while he reached for the tape she mentioned. Yet with Jason she didn't know what she should do. "Right there," she said finally leaning in against the firewall of Jason's metallic blue machine. "See there," she pointed again to the connection. "where the line meets the back of the gauge. It's leaking a bit. I know that even that little bit of seepage can cause the pressure reading to be off."

Jason pulled back and stared at her again. He wasn't able to hide his shock and amazement. He wasn't at all accustomed to a woman being even the least bit interested in what was under the hood of a car much less knowledgeable on such things. "Thanks," he said as he used the rag in his other hand to wipe away the oil that accumulated. "I would have never noticed that," he admitted.

"It's easy to miss. I think Leo and I spent nearly an entire day trying to find out what was causing his. Now it's just second nature to look there first," she smiled recalling her memories of the good ole days.

"So you're a gear head?" Jason asked with an almost laugh.

"You could say that. Who wouldn't be growing up around here? Hell you either are or you get left behind," she stated trying to hide the sarcasm and sadness in her voice.

"I know what you mean. I think I could change a tire before I could tie my own shoes," Jason remarked thinking about his own childhood experience with racing.

Elizabeth found herself smiling at his comment. "Here," she said handing the Teflon tape she had pulled from Leo's tool box.

"Thanks." Jason went about the work of correcting the problem she had so astutely found.

"So how are you liking it here?" she questioned as she made an awkward attempt at small talk. "I'm sure it's a big change."

"That's an understatement," he mumbled as he tightened the connection between the oil line and the gauge.

"I was listening to the race earlier. Third place is a good showing for your first time out under a new regime."

"You think?" Jason gave her a quizzical look not sure if she was serious or just trying to make him feel better.

"Yeah."

"Doesn't say much if you ask me."

Elizabeth watched him closely as he continued going over his engine with a fine tooth comb almost as though he wouldn't have to talk about what was really bothering him. "How's Jake?"

"Probably disappointed in me," he said before even realizing the words had left his mouth.

"What?"

"Nothing."

Elizabeth knew it was a far cry from nothing and against her better judgment – the judgment in her head screaming for her to leave it alone. "Jake isn't disappointed in you Jason."

"How would you know?" Jason snapped.

"I just do."

Jason snorted at her so confident attitude. "Give me a break okay? You don't know anything about Jake or me for that matter."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that. I know how much you mean to Jake and how much he means to you. That much is glaringly obvious. I know that Jake's opinion of you means everything to you. I know that you have to miss him terribly," she said softly touching his arm. "It's okay to miss him."

It was like suddenly Elizabeth saying those words gave Jason permission to admit them aloud. "I do miss him," he agreed. "I don't know what to do without him. It's like life as I knew it has been turned upside down."

"I can only imagine," she said. Yet in truth she did understand completely. Her own life had been turned upside and even though the circumstances for them were different the feeling it elicited was still very much the same. "Jake's not gone forever though."

"I know that but he's gone for the moment and he has such high expectations for me. I don't – well what if I ,"

"What if you can't live up to them?" Elizabeth completed his unfinished thought.

"Yeah," Jason said turning to stare at her. For the first time in he didn't know how long Jason felt like he could say anything without fear of how it would sound or how it would make him look. Something about Elizabeth Ryan made him want to bare his soul.

"What makes you think you aren't already what Jake wants you to be?" she asked. From where she had been standing it appeared that according to Jake Russell the sun rose and set on the shoulders of Jason Morgan. Looking at him now perhaps that was a tough weight to carry.

"He wanted more than third place," Jason grumbled.

"So you are telling me you never once came in third before?" Elizabeth arched her brow as she gave him an almost all knowing look.

"Well – no," Jason agreed.

"So what did Jake say then? Was he angry with you?" Jason looked at her again and he knew she was forcing him to think logically and rationally yet somehow his brain wasn't quite there yet. "What did he say to you then?" she pressed.

Jason thought hard about her question. What had Jake said to him on those rare occasions when he hadn't come in first? Anymore it seemed like they were few and far between he had almost forgotten the words. "He told me he was proud of me for doing my best," he said at last.

"So what makes you think today would have been any different?"

"It was completely different," Jason announced as he leaned back against his race car.

"Why?" Elizabeth asked inching closer to him.

"Cause I didn't do my best. Hell I was barely trying out there. It was like someone I didn't even know was behind the wheel of my car. Jake would have been reading me the riot act for all the missed opportunities today!"

"Maybe," Elizabeth conceded realizing that as soft as Jake had been with her he had a tough as nails façade when it came to things like racing. She knew he had to given the fact that he survived leaving her father's team. That had to take a thick skin. "Sure he may have been disappointed with your performance but I seriously doubt that would translate into disappointment in you," she stressed.

Jason let out a heavy sigh and crossed his arms over his chest. "I just miss him," he said again. "I want him here on my tail, screaming in my ear – I never thought I would miss that gruff voice beating my eardrum until it hurt during a race," he stated with a half smile that Elizabeth willingly returned.

"Not liking Benny's voice on the headset, are you?" she questioned.

"Nothing against the man," Jason began realizing once more that it was Pat Ryan's daughter standing in front of him.

"He's just not Jake, right?" she asked.

"Exactly," Jason sighed.

"Don't be so hard on yourself Jason." Elizabeth reached out touching his arm. "This was only your first race without Jake, without all the normalcy you are accustomed to. Hey take it from me Ryan Racing by far is anything from normal. You will find your niche."

"And if I don't?" he questioned seriously having his doubts that he ever would.

"You will!" she stressed with a smile as the cell phone on the workbench began calling out the 1812 Overture.

Jason made his way over and picked up his phone. "It's Jake," he said showing her this display.

"I'll let you talk to him in private," she said reluctantly turning her back to him.

"Hey," he called to her. "Thanks Elizabeth."

"You're welcome, Jason"

He brought the phone to his ear all the while never taking his eyes off her retreating form. The pull he felt toward her had just grown stronger. She seemed to have a way of making so many things fall into place. Maybe it was her years as a driver's daughter and the time she spent around all the racers on the Ryan team that gave her the knack for having the right words to calm a tense driver or perhaps there was more to it. Yet that wasn't something that he wanted to think about at the moment. It only served to complicate matters all the more. "Hey Jake," he said into the phone hoping to leave all thoughts of Elizabeth Ryan behind.

Elizabeth turned around once more to see Jason leaning against the workbench with his phone pressed to his ear. She knew that Jake's call had come at the right time for a couple of reasons. One being that Jason really needed to hear his voice – needed to hear the older man say that he wasn't upset or disappointed in him. And two being that if he hadn't interrupted them she wasn't quite sure where the rest of their conversation would have taken them. She could deny it all she wanted but she was drawn to Jason Morgan like a moth to a flame as much as she wished she wasn't. It pained her to see him being so hard on himself to the point that she would have done or said nearly anything to take his hurt away. That thought in and of itself frightened Elizabeth to her very core. Not even in her time with Billy had she felt such strong emotions. Elizabeth felt herself free falling and she feared this time it was without a parachute.

Pat stood in the darkened doorway listening to the entire exchange between his daughter and his newest driver. He had come back to the garage to finish up some paperwork when he found the pair standing next to Jason's car chatting like they were long time friends. He hung back silently intrigued by the interaction. Why was Elizabeth standing there talking to of all people Jason Morgan when she had made it abundantly clear that she wanted nothing more to do with racing? Her break up with Billy had been solely based on that fact or so Pat had been told.

He stood there watching the easy comfortable manner they seemed to have with one another and at one point Pat even saw shades of the daughter he had remembered. He was stymied by it all to say the least. He slipped into the hallway as Elizabeth made her way to the open door and as she passed by him he couldn't help but wonder if perhaps there were two sides to every story including the one involving his daughter and Billy Weston.

Tom pushed his empty beer bottle to the edge of the bar banging its butt end against the deep mahogany surface signaling his need of another. He had stacked up nearly a half a case of bottles in the several hours he had been sitting there. He was making a vain attempt at drowning out the image of Jason and Leo being so chummy however it wasn't working.

The loud roaring laughter from across the room caught Tom's attention even in his half drunken state. He leaned back off his stool to see Billy Weston and many of his adoring fans tying one on for his victory that afternoon. Tom swirled the golden liquid in his bottle and listened while those at the table sang Billy's praises and he gloated about his colossal win over Jason Morgan. Billy was laughing it up how Jason was touted as the next big thing. "What a joke!" Billy chuckled as the rest of the table joined him in the laugh.

Theresa shimmied her bare legs across Billy's lap. She always loved a good victory party. He was so much more fun when he was winning and his win against Jason Morgan that day had caused him to be almost giddy. She brought her shot glass full of tequila to meet Billy's as they clinked together for another toast to his great victory. Seductively she sucked on the lemon and licked the salt off of Billy's hand taking special care at suckling his fingers with enough force to draw his attention.

Quickly he pulled her hard onto his lap and she felt his erection through the tight fabric of her skirt. Easily she snaked her hand between herself and him giving his manhood a gentle but firm squeeze. He let out a muffled groan as he nipped at the nape of her neck with his teeth. "What do you say we get out of here?" she purred.

Tom felt his hand tighten around his beer and the other hand ball into a white knuckled fist as the insults against Jason flew from the corner table. That was his best friend they were making a joke out of and well Tom wasn't about to have any of it. Just a he saw Billy and some scantily clad girl about to leave Tom pushed his way toward their table. "Leaving so soon?" Tom questioned.

"What's it to you? Shouldn't you be back at the garage holding Morgan's hand?" Billy shot back when he finally recognized who the man before he was – Jason Morgan's mechanic. "Is the poor boy crying over his lousy finish?" Billy mocked.

Tom felt the hard bursts of air escape his from his noise like a bull getting ready to charge. "One win Weston doesn't mean anything!"

"The hell it doesn't! It means everything and only goes to show that there's only room for one star at Ryan Racing and that's me! Tell Morgan he's in over his head and the water's only going to get deeper. Come on baby we're out of here!" Billy said draping his arm over Theresa's shoulder leading her towards the door while Tom stood seething watching them leave.