Alison stood in the kitchen absently stirring the eggs in the cast iron skillet as Jake's announcement from days before still rattling around in her head. An announcement that would put him right back in the thick of things – right back where she hadn't wanted him to be. He wanted to go to North Carolina – wanted to go to the track to watch Jason's upcoming race. She shuddered at the very thought.

Part of her wasn't at all surprised. In the weeks Jake had been with her in Texas what time he hadn't spent on his rehab had been spent combing every NASCAR magazine he could get his greedy little hands on not to mention checking the racing stats in the sports section of the daily paper. Suddenly she felt like she was living with Erik all over again and she was torn by that thought. She loved Erik Morgan more than her own life perhaps that's why Alison still hadn't found a way to live without him.

She had spent many mornings like this one when they, herself, Erik, Jason and Jake, all had been a family living in North Carolina. She'd stand by the stove making a mountain of scrambled eggs and a mile high stack of hot cakes while the boys were out tinkering with one part or another on Erik's race car until she called them all to breakfast. They'd come traipsing in with greasy smudges on various parts of their bodies making enough noise to wake the dead. Alison tried to shrug off those memories. Memories of much better times in her life – times when she still had a husband and a son.

"Morning," Jake said as he filled his mug with coffee. Even though he was strictly a black coffee kind of guy, the dark French roast Alison insisted on buying had him toning down its harsh taste with a bit of cream.

"Morning," she returned diverting her eyes back to the large black pan. Ever since Jake declared his intentions of returning to North Carolina for Jason's next race the tension between them was obvious. They milled around her home barely speaking and honestly Alison did her best to avoid him since he was known for his badgering nature when there was something he wanted.

"Have you called the airlines yet?" he asked flipping through the assorted sections of the newspaper in search of the sports.

"No I haven't," she stated placing his breakfast plate before him.

Jake raised his eyes to meet hers. It wasn't hard to see the irritation in his stare. He wasn't about to be treated like a child or an invalid for that matter. If he wanted to go to Jason's race he was damn well going. "Then I guess I will be making the call myself. I assume I will be purchasing only one ticket," he said more of a statement than a question he expected her to answer.

"I'd rather you didn't buy any," she remarked.

"That's not going to happen," he announced. "I'm going to North Carolina."

"I don't think that's a good idea. You've only just started your rehab," she said exasperated to be again having the same argument.

"And I've been doing really well with that," he retorted. "I've been making great progress. I don't think one tiny trip to North Carolina to watch a race is going to hurt."

"You can't be serious can you?"

"Of course I am."

"Jake, did you forget who you are talking to?"

"No," he said incredulously.

"Then how can you really think that I could allow you to go to track – in the pits no doubt and not believe that you won't have yourself completely stressed out?"

"I'll be sitting in the stands," he countered.

"And how long with that last – a dozen laps maybe?" Alison eyed him almost all knowingly. "I know you. You will end up all excited and in the pits. I can't in good conscious let you go."

"Don't you think I am a little old for you to try to be my mother?" Jake regretted his remark the minute it left his mouth as he watched Alison wince knowing how much he had just sounded like Jason.

"I'm only trying to do what's best for you and your health," she said squaring her shoulders trying to hold back the quiver in her voice.

"I get that," he relented just a bit. "But Ali, I'm a grown man. I don't need you looking out for me. I know what's best for me and it's being at that race to watch Jason cross the finish line with the checkered flag waving over his hood."

"So you're giving up your rehab here and going back to North Carolina?" she questioned.

"No, I'm going to watch one race and then I will fly back and continue with my therapy until the doc says I'm completely healed. The last thing Jason needs is a gimpy crew chief. He needs one that's 100 percent and I know I will achieve that goal much faster out here."

"Who says your doctor is even going to allow you to take a trip?" Alison stated it almost sounding like a dare.

"Guess we'll never know until we ask him huh?" Jake said jumping to the challenge.

"So ask him."

"I think I will this afternoon when we finish my session."

"Fine, you do that."

Alison watched Jake grab his coffee mug and the paper and head back the hallway to his room satisfied that she had won this argument even if Jake didn't have a clue she had. She just couldn't believe that any doctor in his right mind would sanction Jake's return, even for a few days, to the place that caused his condition in the first place.

Alison glanced at the mantle clock and knew that the rehab center van would be dropping Jake off at any time now. He had insisted on using the shuttle service as to not inconvenience her. She had fought him on it in the beginning wanting to be a part of every aspect of his recovery – wanting to basically take control of almost everything yet when Jake stood his ground she relented and didn't fight him on the shuttle.

She heard the outer door shut with a resounding thud. She tried to hide a self-assured smile that was fighting its way at the corners of her mouth. She was confident that Jake's idea of running back to North Carolina – to the track had to have been put to rest by the doctor and therapists at the center that afternoon. It was like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders and it gave her a new resolve to finally remove both Jake and Jason for the NASCAR scene – or at least die trying.

Alison draped the magazine she'd been reading over the arm on the overstuffed brown leather chair and went to greet Jake figuring he would need consoling. However she found him smiling from ear to ear rather than looking down in the mouth as she had fully expected him to. "Jake?" she questioned cautiously.

"Looks like I better start packing." It had taken a little twisting of the doctor's arm on his part but eventually Jake had gotten the man to agree to his request for a trip of a few days back to North Carolina.

"What?"

"I'm sure you heard me."

"You can't be serious. Dr. Fordham agreed to let you go to the race?" She was completely dumbfounded if not a little angry even. Was she ever going to catch a break?

"He sure did!" Jake beamed. "I better get moving if I want to be back on time."

"I don't believe you Jake," Alison said sounding like a mother of a four year old child known to tell a lie or two.

"Excuse me?" Jake stopped dead in his tracks and turned giving her a look of complete disbelief at her comment. "Are you calling me a liar? Perhaps you would like me to have the doc fax you over his written permission?" he spat in sarcastic tone.

"I just can't believe that he would allow you to go back to a place that had caused your condition in the first place. That doesn't make much sense and I have to say I am questioning his fitness as a physician."

"Racing and the track wasn't what caused my heart attack, Ali." Jake knew the cause to be more from his horrible eating habits and his penchant for a cigarette now and again that had been the real culprit but in typical Ali fashion racing was to blame for everything.

"I don't believe that," she said again. "It certainly didn't help matters, I'm sure."

"You know what I don't really have time to debate this with you. Doc said I could go and I am going," Jake stated matter of fact.

"Then I'm going with you."

"What?" Jake was more than a little surprised at the remark not to mention he was sure the last thing Jason needed was his mother lurking around stirring up all his hurtful memories.

"I'm going with you. I want to be sure you sit in the stands like any other spectator. There will be no pits for you. No talking to Jason on his radio – none of it. We watch the race and then we leave."

Having Jake in her house again reminded her of wonderful time in her life and it only exasperated how much she really missed Jason but the idea of sitting in the stands watching her son whirl around the track going hundreds of miles an hour too fast made her stomach ball into knots as visions of Erik's death came to haunt her again.

"Well then you better go get packed," he instructed choosing for now not to address the real reason she was joining him – Jason.

As Leo leaned over the front fender of his car, Elizabeth tip toed quietly behind him and taking the grease gun in her hand squeezed a thick glop of black sticky grease across the back of his neck.

"What the hell?" he shouted as his hand instantly returned filled with the tar like substance. "Elizabeth Ryan!"

He wanted to be mad at her but instead found himself grinning at her and shaking his head as she dissolved into a fit of the giggles. He stretched his arm out before him wiggling his grease encrusted fingers in the air and automatically Elizabeth caught the mischievous glint in his blue eyes and knew what he was about to do. Immediately she took off running knowing full well that with several strides of his long legs Leo would catch her.

"NO!" she shrieked as he wiped his dirty hand across her alabaster cheek.

"See now you won't have to spend your hard earned money on a facial," he joked a grin spread from ear to ear.

"Very funny!" she said sticking her tongue out at him.

"Hey you started it!" he stated sounding like he did when he was eight years and he and his brother had gotten into it as they always seemed to do. "Here." He offered her a clean rag as all she was doing with the one she had picked up from the workbench was successfully smearing more grease on her face.

"I could kill you Jorgenson!" she said trying to sound like she meant it but Leo knew better.

This was the way things used to be between them. Always a prank here or there or one of them trying to get one over on the other, Leo hadn't realized just how much he missed it until now. Elizabeth had been coming around a little more than she had been and in the back of his head Leo knew that Jason Morgan was largely the reason for it – even if she refused to admit it. He still was unsure of what might or might not happen with the two of them but he did know that it was nice to finally see a glimpse of the person she used to be. He really liked that.

Jason stopped short at the sound of Elizabeth's laughter and peaked through the doorway to see Leo chasing her around the garage floor easily catching her before smearing her face full of what looked like grease. He continued to look on while the twosome acted like a couple teenagers blissfully unaware that anyone is watching them. He wished he could squash the pang of jealousy that he felt creeping up inside of him. He knew there wasn't anything going on between Leo and Elizabeth – hell there wasn't anything going on between him and Elizabeth – but the easy going nature that surrounded them he envied it. He longed for it. There had been shades of that while they had been playing darts the other night but after he finished his talk with Jake Jason found himself pulling back again thinking better of even a friendship with Pat Ryan's daughter. It just was a bad idea. But now Jason found himself walking into the garage wanting to join in their escapades.

"Nice look," he said as he pointed to Elizabeth's face. "You missed a spot." Jason reached out and with his thumb rubbed at the prominent black streak on her forehead. The moment his flesh touched hers it was like a spark passed through them both.

"Thanks," she barely squeaked out as she brought the towel in her hand to her forehead.

"Hey man," Leo said nodding Jason's direction and immediately sensing the electricity surging through the room. He had to laugh wondering if the over head lights might explode from all the combustion.

"Hey," Jason returned. "You know the grease is supposed to go on the car," he informed them as if it was something they didn't already know.

"Oh really? Is that so?" Elizabeth smirked giving Leo naughty grin.

"Geez man and here I have been doing it wrong all this time," Leo said catching wind of Elizabeth's idea. It was scary to him that he knew just how her mind worked. "Why don't you come and show me how it's done?"

Before Jason knew what hit him Leo had his arms pinned behind his back and Elizabeth was drawing a smiley face in grease on both of Jason's cheeks.

"Ahh how cute," Leo cooed while Elizabeth stood in front of them both laughing her full head off. Jason found himself laughing too as he searched the garage for a clean rag of his own.

From opposites ends of the garage both Pat Ryan and Billy Weston watched as Jason, Leo and Elizabeth carried on like teenagers each man feeling a variety emotions about what they saw. Pat's feelings were truly mixed. There was a part of him that is thrilled to have even the slightest shades of his daughter back. To hear her laughing and see her carrying on gave him hope that maybe just maybe they could find a way back to even the tenuous place they had carved out with one another. Yet there was an irritating voice in the back of his head that he couldn't drown out no matter how hard he tried. It kept on about how the possibility of her presence had the ability to taint another one of his drivers – namely Jason. He couldn't have that happening again. Pat just didn't know what to do to stop it.

Billy gritted his teeth silently steaming as he stood there watching them goofing around. He had liked it when he had been able to put a sizable distance between Jorgenson and Elizabeth. He hated watching them together and adding Morgan to the mix well that only served to fuel Billy's already raging fire when it came to his rival. But what bothered or worried Billy the most was the fact that this wasn't the first time he'd seen Elizabeth hanging around the garage again. It seemed like lately she was there quite often and well that was something that he couldn't have. All he would need was for her to slip and spill the beans as to the true reason behind their break-up and he was sunk in more ways than one. He needed to come up with something and quick to make the track look uninviting to her once more.