A/N – Thanks for the comments! – Guest – You're not butting in. I agree. Guest – re; my logic. I seriously try to leave all emotions out and just go by dialogue and what I saw. I guess we all see what we want, but I do try to be objective and neutral as possible especially since so much of Liason fanfiction blames Jason for everything and gives Liz a pass, but I'm not perfect. I just did some research and I thought Liz admitted to Monica that she was the one who told Jason not to tell her, but when Monica confronted her, she lied and just said it wasn't her place. My bad. Monica felt cheated because she had lost so much. She was mad and lashed out at Jason brutally. I cringed, but she eventually let it go with him. Monica was over the top about warning Liz to stay away from Jason after she was hallucinating. She admitted to Lulu she should apologize, but I don't know if that ever happened. When Aidan had the bruising her attitude while talking to Steven was ridiculous too. It was typical Monica and part of the reason I've never liked her. She was mad at both and rightfully so, but she just took it too far. Liz lying about Jakeson and how it hurt Monica…well, that's all on Liz. * Ghfan51184 – Liz on the show doesn't seem to mind Jasam or get mad about them though; no matter how much we want her to.

Leeleelayla5 – lol I think I may have jinxed Liz. Ava was trying to break up Liz and Franco which is why she brought up Liz's chronic cheating. She was using Liz's past to do that. Technically, I think Liz has cheated 2 times. The first time with Jason would still be considered cheating even though she caught Lucky with Maxie because she was married and hadn't broken up with Lucky. The second was with Nikolas when she was with Lucky. What constitutes chronic? Sonny is more the poster child for that, if you cheat more than twice would that be chronic? I'm seriously asking what people think. NOTE: I originally thought she cheated 3 times because I was rushing out the door and the site I had looked at for confirmation said Liz was married to Ric and they had a fight before she slept with Zander, but you guys are saying they weren't married. Yes, they did talk about reconciling, but it didn't happen at that time, so I fixed the post.

Chapter 34

Jake moved closer. "You can if you stay. Having you here, it's like a hole in my heart has closed. Please don't leave me. I'm begging you to put me first. Please…"

"Jake, you don't have to beg. I think I need to be here too. I'll make it happen. I need to go back to Port Charles and talk to the five families and deal with Carly and Peter. After that, I'm not planning on leaving until you kick me out. It should only take a few weeks."

Jake sat again and held his dad's hand as tears pricked his eyes. "Thank you. I won't ever kick you out."

That warmed Jason's heart. "I know you think that somehow I am the answer you need, but Jake, I think you should talk to someone who specializes in trauma and PTSD."

"Dad…"

"Don't you want to move forward so you can find love and stop running?"

"I'm not running."

"Yes, you are because you haven't stopped since you came home. If someone can help you deal with all the damage Helena did, you owe it to yourself to let them help you."

"Did you do that?"

"No. I was angry and frustrated. I had no memories, and everyone wanted me to be someone I wasn't. I could see the pity and neediness in their eyes every time they look at me, so I ran, and unfortunately, it was straight into Sonny's arms. He said all the right things and look where that ended. You are lucky you found Maximus because he is truly looking out for your best interests. He'd let you go right now if you wanted. He wouldn't guilt you about loyalty."

"I don't want to leave, I can't."

"Because you are traumatized and think this is the only way to protect everyone. You don't have to be in the mob to protect them. You can have a good structure around you without it being provided by organized crime."

Jake sighed. "Are you going to not respect my choice?"

"No. I'm just trying to show you that there are other options. I couldn't see that. I thought I was brain-damaged and didn't have them. I didn't see that I could be good at anything else."

"It must have sucked for you."

"It did, but I met someone at the time who accepted me for who I was beside Sonny."

"Robin?"

"Yes. She showed me that I could feel love when all I knew was anger. I hope you let Sophie in because she can help you see things from another perspective and she's not emotionally attached to you the way I am. It's like someone seeing your world with a new set of eyes."

"Did my mom do that for you?"

"Yes. When I met her, I was a mess. I had been shot and Carly and Sonny had betrayed me. My heart was hardened, and she wormed her way in."

"Would you let her in again?" Jason's bewildered expression makes Jake chuckle. "You haven't thought about it?"

"To be honest, no. I'm still trying to work through missing seven years of my life and that Sonny and Carly betrayed me again, not to mention everything else I lost."

"That's a lot, but at some point, you might have to look at what is right in front of you."

Jason smirked. "I always see your mother, but I don't think she wants more than friends right now either."

Jake rolled her eyes. "And you trust her judgment?"

Jason chuckled. "That's another thing, I wouldn't want to be yet another bad choice."

"And why would you be?"

"Did you miss the part about me being a mess?" It's more than that, but it's not something he'd discuss with his son.

Jake grinned. "No, but no offense, you've been a mess since the car accident. If you wait until you're not, you'll be too old to care."

Jason laughed. "How did you get to be so smart?"

"I have no idea."

They cracked up.

Jason suddenly tensed and sucked in a breath making Jake go for the call button.

"What's wrong?"

Pain sliced through his body and then the light from the room got smaller until Jason was unconscious.

Emergency staff rushed into the room and Jake was pushed into the hallway. The guard on duty made a call to Johnny to let him know something was going and Johnny drove like a madman to get to the hospital, calling Liz's guard to bring her there.

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Liz gripped her son. "Jake, what happened?"

"We had a good talk and were laughing when he just tensed, and I could tell he was in pain. I called for the nurse and he passed out. They kicked me out after that."

She rubbed his back. "He'll be alright. He has to be."

Cam and Drew joined them, and Liz filled them in. His brother is hanging on by a thread, and he prays that Jason will be okay.

The doctor joined them. "I wish that I could fully explain what happened, but we believe that it's because of the drugs Mr. Moore had been on and the liver damage. It was a sharp pain like a stabbing sensation, and it radiated, affecting his wound. He is sleeping." It's going to take a while for Jason's liver to repair itself if it ever does completely.

"What now?" Cam asked.

"We'll keep him as comfortable as possible. When the wound is healed, I believe the liver issues will lessen to a degree. When your body is traumatized, everything wrong is elevated. I will check on him in a few hours."

"Thank you, doctor," Liz said.

He nodded and left, and they made their way back inside once the emergency staff left.

"This is driving me crazy," Jake said.

"I know. It's hard to watch him be in so much pain, but we'll take care of him."

"He agreed to stay here for me."

Liz is surprised. "That's good. We can watch over him and make sure he listens to the doctors."

"Good luck with that," Johnny said.

"Oh, I'll make him listen," Liz said making them smile.

"You were always good at taking care of him," Drew said. "I'll sit with him if you need me to."

Liz nodded. "I left brownies in the oven. Alessa turned it off, but I need to clean up the mess, and then I'll come back."

"Did any of them survive?"

She smiled. "Yes."

"Can you bring them?"

She is met with a sea of smiles as she shook her head. "How am I supposed to make a profit if you eat it all?"

"We're good for it," Cam said.

Liz rolled her eyes. "I'll be right back."

Drew eyed the boys. "I have to leave soon."

"You want to go back and talk to the doctor?"

"Yes, and I need to see Alana and Danny."

"We understand," Jake said.

"Can we talk?"

They nodded and took a seat.

"I love you guys and still want to be a part of your lives. I don't know what that means yet, but I hope you'll let me."

"You were good to us, but we're not kids anymore," Cam said.

"I know, but it's important to me that you know that I won't walk away like you didn't exist. You deserve more than that. Jason and I want a relationship, so I'll be in your life. I'm willing to be a friend or anything you like."

"You're family," Jake said. "We don't want you to feel guilty. You didn't do anything wrong."

"Thank you for saying that."

"Maybe you can face chat here and there. I can say hi to Danny," Jake said.

"He loves and looks up to you."

Jake is a little embarrassed.

"He'll probably want to visit with you and your dad."

They hugged it out.

"When are you leaving?"

"I'm thinking in two days. I want to make sure Jason is stable before I go."

"It's hard for me to imagine that you were identical," Cam said.

"He wishes he looks this good," Drew said making them laugh.

Jason groaned. "Must be having a nightmare…"

They cracked up as he slightly opened his eyes.

"Are you eavesdropping?"

"Yes. Only heard last part…"

"Let me finish that sentence for you, dad, stupid drugs."

Drew grinned. "It's your new motto."

"What was the old one?"

"My life is too dangerous," Jake deadpanned.

Jason eyed him. "Your mom is a bad influence."

"Tell us about it," Cam said grinning.

"Now, go to sleep or you're on a time out," Drew said.

Jason mumbled something but quickly fell asleep again.

"Alright, I need to get back to the books," Cam said.

"Later," Jake said.

"See ya," Drew added.

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Monica came to say goodbye. "Are you sure that you're okay? I can try and see if I can stay."

"I'll be okay."

She nodded.

"I wanted to talk to you about Elizabeth. Are you okay with her now?"

Monica thought for a moment. "I think we came to understanding and let our feelings out."

"Good. Taking most of your anger out on Liz wasn't fair."

She clasped her hands together. "I said some painful things to both of you. I was upset that after all the loss I had experienced, I never got to know him and I just didn't understand your logic. "

"It was more complicated then it seemed."

"I get that now, but then—I thought she made you feel like you couldn't be a part of Jake's life and I was so mad that you and I missed out on so much."

"Then be mad at me because it was my choice in the end."

"It is hard for me to understand where your head was at."

He sighed. "I said no at first, but I didn't want to hurt Sam and she didn't want to hurt Lucky, so we decided to keep the secret. There so many things I wish I could go back and change, but I can't. Elizabeth and I have owned up to our part in this whole mess. All we can do is move forward, but I do wish we had told you."

"I've made mistakes in the past. I get it. Emily would be so mad at me for lashing out the way I did. It's not something that I'm proud of." The way she had behaved when Elizabeth was hospitalized was atrocious.

He is glad to hear her remorse. "I want you to visit and I don't want you to feel awkward around each other."

"We won't. I'll be on my best behavior."

He smirked.

"Hush."

She stood. "I don't want to leave you."

He perused her. Almost losing him again probably put a lot of stress on her. "I'll be here and you can always call."

She leaned over and kissed his forehead. "I love you."

"I love you too."

She slightly smiled. "That never gets old."

"It took me a while to understand why, but I do." They had come very far from that angry man-child he was after the accident.

She patted his arm. "I'm going to go pack. Be good. I have eyes here."

He smiled. "Good to know…"

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Two days later, Drew headed home. Jason asked him not to confront Peter; that is his issue to deal with when he returns. From what Francis had told him, Peter is into Maxie who is grieving. If it gets more serious, he'll have to step in faster, but for now, Peter can wait and is being watched.

Francis sat next to him. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm staying awake longer, so I guess that's a good thing."

"You're an old man."

"I'm not that old."

"Keep telling yourself that. I got you some information."

Jason pushed the button to sit up a little more. "Okay."

"Anna isn't Peter's mother."

"Then who is?"

"Her twin—Alex."

Jason sighed. "But you think Anna thinks she had a son?"

"Well, that's where this gets twisted. I'm being told Anna isn't Anna."

"What the hell?"

"Exactly… Faison made the switch."

"Where is Anna?"

"Drew said something to me about his trip that gave me pause. We checked out the doctor he had questioned and did some snooping. Anna is in his clinic."

Jason's thoughts went to Robin. "We can't let him hurt her."

"I know. I'm making some arrangements to get her to a different clinic. We don't know what condition she's in."

"That's fine. By the time we recover, hopefully, I'll be able to go back to Port Charles with her and she can confront her sister. I can take care of Peter while I'm there."

"What about Carly?"

"I'm going to go home and pretend I don't know anything."

"Why?"

"I want to drive her insane. I need months to do that. She'll buy it that I have to leave again to help Sonny. I'll come back here and then a few months later when she's scared out of her mind, I will go to her and put the fear of Jason in her."

Francis grinned.

"She won't be able to handle me turning my back on her."

"That's true."

"I'm hoping to do tear her down in public and get her committed."

"We can inject her with a psychotic to help her along with that if we need to."

"Sounds good."

"What about Michael?"

"Michael will have to learn to clean up his messes. I'm not going to abandon him, but he's not my responsibility."

"He's neck-deep with some crazy chick named Nelle."

"I don't even want to know about it. Joss will have Jax and Avery still has her mother. Dante…" He's not concerned about Sonny's oldest son who didn't want to have anything to do with him.

"And the business?"

"Unfortunately, I still own fifty-one percent."

"We'll get Sonny to sign something and turn everything back over to him if you don't want to deal with the five families."

"I'll have to deal with them regardless, but from what Johnny said, Vincenzo seems like he wants to keep everything."

"He does. I'm just not sure how the families feel about it."

"Maximus said that they are just glad it's not going to hell. Vincenzo is turning a profit."

"What if I sell my percentages to him now?"

"I'll talk to Maximus and see what he thinks, and we can get Vincenzo on the line later. His son would probably run the territory. He's running the one here while his dad is in Port Charles."

"That would work. From what I know about him, he's not a hothead."

"He's not, but he can be tough when he needs to be."

"Alright, let me know what Maximus says. If I can get out and move here, then I won't have to worry anything once Sonny is declared dead." He will always need guards, and depending on what Jake decides, he may have to get more involved in Maximus's business.

"What's the plan with that?"

"Eventually, we'll put his torso or whatever is left of him on the plane, and it will go down. Johnny will handle that."

"Sounds good."

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Johnny sharpened a knife as Sonny watched.

"What are you doing?"

"You'll find out soon enough."

"When Jason changes his mind and lets me go, you're a dead man."

Johnny grinned. "You think Jason would let you get away with killing me?"

"I'm family."

Laughter filled the room. "You don't fucking know what that word means. Jason doesn't give a shit about you."

Francis laid several folders on a table. Only the signature and initial lines are visible. "I need you to initial and sign." He placed a pen on top. Sonny has on handcuffs but they are in the front.

"No."

"I didn't ask."

"No."

Francis picked them up. "Johnny…"

Sonny flinched when Johnny moved forward. Francis held a gun to Sonny's head as Carlos placed Sonny's hands on the table.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?"

"I'm going to take a finger every time you say no. When you're ready to sign, then let me know."

A folding tray is opened and placed on the other side.

"You don't have the balls to do it."

"I've been waiting for years."

Sonny tried to struggle, but Carlos hit him so hard on the side of the head that the man is disoriented. His hand is pressed firmly on the table and Johnny sliced through Sonny's pinky so fast, there was a delay before Sonny yelled and cursed.

Johnny carefully sat the finger with the ring on a table behind him. "Are you ready for the second one?"

"No! I'll sign," Sonny said as the blood drained from him.

Francis put the papers on the table and watched as Sonny struggled not to cry. As soon as he finished the last one, the doctor moved forward and started treating him.

He was screaming so loud that they knocked him out just to shut him up. While the doctor sewed him up, Johnny took the finger with the ring and put it on ice. Carly will be abducted after receiving it the next day and the plan to bring her to her knees will begin. It had been decided that it would be better for Jason to sign the shares over so that he has no interest in the company. Sonny also signed paperwork selling his shares to Vincenzo. The money had already been transferred to Jason.

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Before Elizabeth went to bed, she made a call.

"Hello?" Drew said.

"Hey, it's me. We found out that a story will be released tomorrow in Port Charles involving everything that happened here." Someone leaked it and they are not sure who.

"Seriously?" He put Alana in her crib since she had fallen asleep.

"Yes. You might as well run one yourself."

He grinned. "Are you being devious?"

She smirked. "Is it bad I want all the haters there to squirm?"

"Not at all, Mob Princess."

She laughed. "I prefer Queen."

"If your scandalous butt had married Maximus, you would get to be Queen."

"Whatever…"

"Don't pout. I promise I'll do you proud."

"Thanks!"