A/N – Thanks for the comments! Liasonfan50 – In case you don't see my PM, I think you might have skipped chapter 19 by accident. I'm posting MWF.

I'm slowly giving Jason a backbone. It's about time.

Chapter 21

Jason strolled on the docks with a lot on his mind.

Alexis moves toward him. "I was wondering when we'd finally run into each other. Jason?"

"It's me. I finally got proof."

"So, then why are you here?"

"I needed to think. What about you?"

"I'm just a glutton for punishment. Does Sam know?"

"Yeah."

"Where is she?"

"She's with my brother."

Alexis sighed. "I would be lying if I didn't say I was relieved to hear that."

Jason tries not to reveal how much that hurt.

"The night you disappeared; she was a wreck. Maybe you don't know this, but she actually got in the water to look for you after they called off the search. She couldn't find you."

"I hate that she had to go through that."

"I know you wouldn't do anything to hurt her, so you need to think about the fact that she survived and worked hard to put the darkness and danger behind her."

Despite himself, Jason teared up. He hates how everyone suffered because of his life. Monica could barely look at him with tears in her eyes.

"She has a great life now with a loving husband and her children. So, please don't make her give that up."

Jason moved toward her.

"I know what she means to you, but you put her life in danger all the time."

"Sam was always okay with that life."

"Not anymore, because she has moved on from it and I'm relieved that she is now loved, secure, and safe."

Jason turned away. "I understand."

"I will never understand why you chose the violence, but I do know that you love her. So, love her by not calling or showing up. Just leave her be."

Jason shut his eyes for a second. "You know, in the past, I would just let you stand there and treat me like some brain-dead criminal whose feelings don't matter, but I'm sick of your hypocrisy!" His voice rose making her jump back. "After all you have done in your personal life; the bad men you have chosen, you have no right to try to make your daughter's choices. If Sam is done with me, then I will walk away, but I will not stand here and listen to another hypocritical word leave your lips. I will not stand here and let you treat me like I am dirt. Walk away, Alexis because we are done!"

She is stunned but quickly goes in the opposite direction.

Jason moved a little further away. What Alexis had said had hurt him, not because she thinks so lowly of him, that he has never cared about. She had purposely tried to hurt and manipulate him dismissing his feelings and he is done letting anyone do that to him.

IiIiIiIiIiIiIiIiIiIi

Liz yawned as she made some coffee.

"You look nice," Francis said.

She is wearing a skirt, a frilly white blouse, and blue stilettos. "I wasn't sure if I had to meet with anyone today, so I figured I'd be prepared. I called up one of my favorite shops and they are going to drop some more suits off for me later."

"That's a good plan."

"What do I need to do first?"

"We have a meeting with Carlos and several lieutenants."

She is nonplussed. "What do I need to know?"

He is almost taken aback by her confidence level. "Why do you seem so different?"

She stirred her coffee. "You were the one that said I need to channel my former self, so I am."

"Okay."

"What did you do with Elizabeth? Was there bloodshed?" Johnny asked.

"Very funny… I'm just changing the way I'm thinking. I have a great bitch face, so I'm bringing it back."

"That will work."

Francis motioned for her to sit.

She grabbed the cup and took a seat.

"Channel your inner Stone Cold. I know it will be hard to not be facially expressive, but it will keep them guessing—just stare."

"I spent most of my teenage life just staring as a form of rebellion. I think I can handle that."

Francis smiled. "Good. They will give us reports on what's going on and we'll have to problem solve. We're going to keep it as short as possible. Johnny will do a lot of the talking, so let him. However, if you feel you have a good suggestion, then go for it. If they mock you in any way, there is a gun under the desk. Feel free to shoot them. There is always a cleanup crew."

Liz smirked. "I'll keep them in mind. I truly wish I had access to a clean-up crew with three young boys. They would have come in handy."

Johnny chuckled.

Francis laid a picture on the table of a group. "These are the guys." He pointed to the shortest of the men who has brown hair and a beard. "That's Frankie. He has a temper, but that has always worked in Maximus's favor. He always gets the job done and because he has been around the longest, the guys respect him." His finger landed on a taller, thin man with blondish hair. "This is Gio. He's cocky and a smart ass like Johnny."

Johnny rolled his eyes.

"Sometimes, he doesn't know when to shut his mouth. Maximus used to threaten him a lot, but the young man has a knack for business and his expertise is why Maximus has such a huge presence in Naples. That's the only reason Maximus hasn't ripped his tongue out. He can be fun sometimes, but he's a pain in the ass."

"Okay."

"That is Ricardo."

She studies him for a moment. He's handsome, has dark hair, and is a little shorter than Gio but more muscular. "He's quiet and cunning. In ways, he reminds me of Jason because he's always aware of what is going on around him. He picks up a lot that way and uses it against people. The man's mind is like an encyclopedia, so he remembers everything and references it easily. I swear he gets more out of a quick glance than anyone I know."

Liz nodded.

"That leaves us with Joey." He is middle-aged, has a round belly and his hair is receding. "He has a ridiculous amount of connections—I'm talking from cops to garbage men. When shit goes down, he's usually the one to go to. That's why this kidnapping is so disturbing. No one is talking. That means Sal's hand extends further than we realized. He probably has something on most of our snitches, so they aren't talking." Revenge is a funny thing and makes you go to whatever lengths possible to get what you want.

"Let's go to the office," Johnny said.

Liz left her cup. She had enough to keep her alert for quite some time and she didn't want to appear jittery.

IiIiIiIiIiIiIiIiIiIi

Jason walked into Drew's office at Aurora. "Should we address the elephant in the room?"

"No." He just can't go there right now. While Sam is insisting that they will stay together, he's still not feeling confident about it.

"Okay. Sonny and I interrogated Faison's daughter."

"Is she still alive?"

"Do you really want to know?"

Drew fought a smirk. "Go on."

"He didn't know that I was still alive and didn't find out until about a month go."

"Really?"

Jason nodded. "I guess there was a traitor who undermined him, but he never said who."

"Do you believe her?"

"Yes."

Drew scratched his scalp. "What can we do next?"

Jason threw up his hands. "We need to keep digging. She thinks the traitor is in Port Charles. It makes me wonder if you ever saw the person. I just wish we could give you your memory back. We could both be a target right now and we'll never see it coming."

"Well, unfortunately, Andre isn't talking and even if I could remember, I may never get my life back."

Jason stood and headed to the door. "Thanks for listening." They are both in a tough situation.

"If you get a lead, I want to know about it."

"You will." The faster he can figure this out, the faster he can concentrate on finding his son and Elizabeth without a lot of distractions. He has already sent a text to Stan stating his intentions and that he'd be in contact soon with more information. Stan will start gathering it as well. Since Drew is being cooperative, they can put their heads together and figure out what they can do next and find a different angle. Unfortunately, there is not much to go on.

IiIiIiIiIiIiIiIiIiIi

Elizabeth looked up when Carlos walked through the door.

"Hello."

He has medium to long brown hair and eyes and is handsome. They hadn't ever met. Elizabeth had stayed away from the Giambetti's business activities as much as possible. Unlike Sonny, he didn't require his enforcer to be at his beck around the clock and they didn't hang out. Carlos handled business issues as needed and mostly kept to himself.

She stood. "Hello."

They shook hands.

"Can I have someone get you coffee?"

"No, I'm fine."

He studies her for a moment. She is beautiful with flawless skin and brown hair that is past her shoulders and lightly curled. He almost chuckles because the men won't know what to do or say. She doesn't look tough, but he knows better than to judge a book by the cover. He nods at Milo before sitting.

Jake breaks their stare. "Hey."

Carlos shakes his hand. "What's up?"

"Nothing much. I stayed up too late playing video games." Carlos is normally quiet because he's being observant, but there were times he let down his guard during training, usually, it was to make a point.

Carlos shook his head. Jake is young, which is easy to forget sometimes, but the kid is way more focused than he ever was at that age. The training had been interesting and somewhat easy. Jake knew when to shut up and took his responsibility seriously. Therefore, he had earned Carlos's respect, but this is the first time the pressure has involved the younger man's family, so it will be interesting to see if he's able to keep his cool.

Francis and Johnny moved into the room and four men followed. They each were mesmerized by the sight of Elizabeth. She is not what they were expecting Max to bring home.

"Gentlemen, I'm Elizabeth Giambetti and I figured I'd just get right to the point. Are you going to have a problem taking orders from me?"

Milo says a silent prayer that they won't be difficult. They are letting Liz take the lead so the guys will take her seriously. Johnny will be more vocal for the rest of the meeting.

Gio smirked. "I don't know yet."

Joey rolled his eyes. "We'll do what it takes to keep the business running until Maximus and Max return.

Liz nodded and then focused on Franky. "What about you?"

"I don't know you, so automatically giving trust away is not something that is done in this business. However, I will do what it takes."

"Thanks."

Her eyes focused on Ricardo.

"I'm here, that should say enough."

His response is a little frigid, but she understands. Welcoming her with open arms would be suspect.

"Thanks, I think."

Johnny took over. "What's going on out there?"

"It's tense," Joey said. "Everyone knows they are gone. There is a lot of people talking shit that we need to put in their places." He waited to see if that offended Liz, but she didn't bat an eye. Maximus has a potty mouth, so they are used to talking freely, but he could tell Francis didn't like it because his eyes had narrowed.

Gio rolled his eyes. "Sal has already undermined us. We had two shipments highjacked this morning. Someone is doing his bidding. We need to take them out as a show of force."

Liz started to say something and Gio cut her off and continued rambling.

Her head tilted as he went off about what happened, and the other men waited to see what Liz would do.

Calmly, she took the gun out from under the table and pointed it at Gio who stopped mid-sentence.

"What the fuck!"

"You interrupted me. Let me get some things straight. I am running things here, not you. Did you interrupt Maximus?"

"No," Gio practically growled.

"Then you don't interrupt me. Do you know who Jake's father is?"

Gio rolled his eyes.

"It's Jason Morgan. Do you know who taught me how to shoot?"

"Jason Morgan?"

"Exactly, don't fuck with me, Gio. Don't let my looks and size fool you. Jason taught me well."

Gio smirked. "Touche. I apologize."

Everyone let out the breath they were holding when Liz lowered the gun. She casually flicked the safety on. "It was off." She is slightly shaking, which they didn't seem to notice, so she put it down and put her hands on her lap.

Gio's eyes slightly widened and the other men laughed.

Johnny is so proud of her. "What did you want to say?"

"I was going to suggest that we fake a shipment. When they try to intercept it, we'll be prepared, and you can take them to wherever it is you torture people at and make them talk. It's the only way we're going to find out who is behind it."

Ricardo chuckled. "That's a great idea."

She is relieved.

"I agree," Joey said.

"I'll work on it," Gio replied.

Franky nodded. "I might need some more cash to pay people off."

Liz looked at Francis and nodded.

"I'll handle it."

"Thanks."

Liz has no idea what is coming next, but Johnny does. He'll grovel later.

Tess Buchanon marched into the room looking furious. "You bitch!"

Liz stood. "Excuse me?"

"Max was my man. Mine! Do you really think that you can march your skinny ass in here and take what is mine?"

Tess's eyes are red from crying. While she is truly upset that her man could be hurt, she was surprised when Johnny asked her to confront Elizabeth in front of the men and agreed to take one for the team.

"I don't know who you think you are, but you need to leave."

Tess started to rush Liz, who is still behind the desk, but Johnny grabbed her as she screamed all sorts of nasty words in Italian.

Much to the men's surprise, Elizabeth moved in front of the desk instead of hiding. They don't know the marriage to Max is fake.

Johnny sat Tess down and she raced around him and headed towards Liz, praying the woman doesn't hurt her too badly.

Elizabeth sidestepped her and tripped the other woman, sending her face-first onto the carpet and then sat on her back and fisted her hair. "Look, you bitch, don't make me hurt you. Max is my husband and you are not welcome in this house."

A scream of anger left Tess's lips and when she tried to buck Liz off, her head is slammed towards the floor and she pretended that it hit way harder than it did, something Liz noticed but went with. When Tess didn't move, Liz stood and brushed her hands together and returned to her seat. "Johnny…"

"Yes?"

"Take out the trash and this time, make sure she doesn't escape."

He groaned, making the other men chuckle and then picked up Tess and took her out of the room.

"Now, where were we?"

Jake wanted to laugh so badly. It was the same move Aidan fell for a few weeks ago when they were messing around outside.

Gio gave up all pretense and cracked up. "That was priceless."

"Who taught you to fight?" Joey asked.

"That would be me," Francis said.

Ricardo chuckled. "You sold me. I'm going to Rome today to chase down a lead. I'll try to get word to Carlos by midnight."

"Okay," Liz said.

He left and when Johnny returned, they talked about guard shifts and striking a few of Sal's warehouses. The war is on.

A/N - Next week - Jason is done, Faison's will produces a huge twist, Jason finds out about Maximus