"Why would we take the help of a co-conspirator?" Jason stepped in the man's path, blocking his approach.
Shoulders squaring, Brent met the icy gaze of the man in obvious protection mode, and he remembered why. Jason Morgan would kill for Sam Morgan! Pointing around him to the evidence to that effect, he tried making amends with initiative.
"I was a pawn who thought we fell in love, but she was only using me, from the start. I didn't even know I had been hypnotized until that night…I thought she loved me. It was never my intention to harm anyone…least of all, Sam."
"No?" Refusing to give him the tiniest room to cause Sam anymore pain, Jason took a threatening step that sent Brent taking one backwards. "You hired people who tried to kill her - was that a coincidence?" Thinking how very close he'd come to losing her this time still shorted his breath with dread. "I should shoot you right here."
Hearing a resurge of quiet anger, Sam touched Jason lightly on the arm and inclined her head to Brent, "Why are you here?"
Clearing a thankful throat at her insertion into a tense situation that was growing lethal, Brent nodded in appreciation of the PI's calm disposition, seeing the evident effect she had on the man ready to slit his throat.
"I owe you. None of this was my idea but I was used to hurt your family…let me make it up to you by doing what I do…I can clean this up."
"So can I!" Snapping out his irritation at the unwelcome attempt at camaraderie, Jason relayed his displeasure clearly, "I don't need your help!"
Squeezing lightly at the arm she still braced, Sam kept her eyes at the apologetic man before them as she spoke to her stubborn companion, "Yes, you do." Facing his rising objection she gestured to the scene, "There's a lot of cleanup to do and the police are more than likely enroute. There were a lot of shots - somebody called that in by now."
"We don't need to clean anything up - I turned the corner and saw her about to shoot you, so I shot her first - end of story."
"Jason, this is the PCPD we're talking about here - they'll lock you up first and ask questions later."
"It's the middle of the day, on the pier, Sam…there are too many witnesses and too many loose ends to be able to tidy this one neatly. I'll let the police handle it."
Brent tried again, "I agree…" Stretching an open palm to Jason, "…give me the gun - I'll tell them I did it."
Shaking his head at the audacity of the offer, Jason snapped again, "Like I said - I throw out my own trash!"
Only an idiot would've missed the real meaning behind that threat and judging from the dawning look of the man before them, Sam could tell he got the full picture finally. When he nodded and left towards Sonny's warehouse, she turned back to Jason.
"You still think he's dirty?"
"Every part of him…but he's Sonny's problem."
Surprised, she raised a brow and crossed arms before her. "You've never turned a blind eye on anything concerning Sonny and Carly, Jason - what gives?"
With a shrug, Jason allowed his eyes to tell his heart what it needed to calm down, its still erratic race indicative of his inner dread at just how close he'd really just been to losing her. If he'd been delayed - if he hadn't shown up right when he did…even with Captain's teeth at her throat, Robin still might have gotten a shot off in the right direction. With a shiver, he forced his thoughts back on the present. She was okay. She was standing right before him.
"Carly and Sonny survived for years without me, Sam…they can run their own lives. If Sonny chooses to have him around, with what he knows, that's his business. He can handle the fallout too."
Surprise growing, Sam listened in awe. "What's brought this on? You've always taken your promise to them so seriously…always took care of them."
"I did…and I've always looked out for Michael like he was my own. But even he's a grown man now…he has to make his own mistakes and live his own life…in spite of what I think. His parents can certainly do the same." His eyes narrowed at her puzzled expression, "What?"
"It's just surprising, that's all." She fell silent for a minute, before finishing her thought, "I just never thought I'd see the day."
The faint sound of approaching sirens announced the impending arrival of the police. Stepping to the side of her, Jason looked down at the former friend who'd threatened everything he loved.
"It had to come sometime…even children grow up and learn to fend for themselves…why not two grown adults, who never listen to anything that goes against what they really want to do, until it blows up in their faces?"
"Indeed." Watching his own words take root in his mind, Sam waited for the moment he'd retract, as soon as it dawned that Sonny and Carly will forever be grown children always in need of saving from themselves.
The sirens that had been getting louder and louder, fell silent, replaced by hastening footsteps in their direction. With an assuring squeeze at her elbow, Jason turned from Sam to greet the arriving officers and started to calmly explain the grizzly scene.
To Sam's surprise, they were allowed to leave after giving statements to the detective, who advised them against leaving town and he'd be in touch with followup questions, once he'd had a chance to interview nearby witnesses. Not wasting any time, she steered Jason and Captain towards their offices to wrap up the harrowing day.
But when all he did was pace the floors with long, slender fingers flexing and curling again and again, Sam shut down the computers to call it a wrap.
"Okay…" walking up behind him as he turned for the hundredth stroll across the room, she reached upstretched arms to grab his shoulders, essentially stopping the march, then kneaded the tightness she found there. Guiding him to the chair before her desk, she pressed and pushed downward, "…please sit - you're extremely tense."
With a sigh, Jason took the offered chair, then closed tired eyes to the glorious feel of her fingers working the knot in his neck.
"That feels good."
"Wish I could say the same for your shoulders." Working her hands outwards, Sam rubbed the tightness then repeated the same back in towards his neck, easing his head forward as she stroked out his worries. "What's bothering you?"
With another sigh, head kept bent and neck loosening, Jason tried to let the frustration go.
"It's nothing - I just…"
Not letting up on releasing the knots tying him, Sam offered her own thoughts on his current state of mind. "Let me guess…not running after Carly and Sonny to clean up the mess isn't as easy as you thought it was going to be?"
"It shouldn't be this hard - I haven't done it in a long time."
"You didn't remember them - now you do. It's not so easy to watch people you love in trouble and not help."
"They're not in trouble."
"Maybe not yet…but you sense they will be. Same thing."
"But what can I do about it, Sam? I already warned him - he's not listening to me. Carly never listens to anybody."
"Exactly. You already know how stubborn they are - especially when they're wrong."
Turning in the chair to find her, Jason searched the face of the woman he loved.
"I thought you'd be happy with this…I finally put down a task I should've handed off years ago…which means I'll have plenty more time for us, for our family, our business…how come you're questioning it?"
Palming a cheek on his puzzled face, Sam imparted a loving smile to her lifeline, "I don't care about any of that, Jason…you've always made time for us and I know that won't change. I just don't want you to do something rash that will make you miserable."
"It's not rash, Sam. I think it's a natural progression that had to happen some time…why not now? Look at Michael - he was just a baby when I made the pledge to always be there, and I kept it like a parent, even though he's not mine, and even he doesn't need me as much anymore."
"Michael is your brother's child, and despite how you felt about AJ, family has always meant a great deal to you. You didn't claim him just because he was Carly's…he's also your nephew…whom you do love like a son."
"I always will…but I have to let him grow up." Moving to the window, he looked to the far horizon shimmering with the reflective lights of the setting sun, "Hell, he already did - while I wasn't watching."
Rubbing his back slowly, Sam sidled next to him and followed his gaze out to sea, "You didn't leave because you wanted to."
"I know."
But it still hurt, all the time he'd lost with them. She knew how much that still killed him.
"Are you sure you don't want to see this through to the end with Sonny and Carly?"
A long, silent minute ensued where they both watched the waves, then Jason faced her again. "I came home to find alot changed in my absence, and as much as I hate that I couldn't remember everything at first, that memory loss probably saved me too."
"How do you mean?"
"Everything was so different when I awoke from that accident…you thought I'd died and left you alone, so you'd moved on from me…Danny had no idea who I was…Sonny killed my mother's son without proof he was the one who killed Kate…Carly, my best friend and biggest champion - next to you - got close enough to the pig who hurt you and had her son raped, to believe she was in love with him…" a huge sigh escaped on a shake of his head, "…I don't know if I could've handled all that with my memories intact back then."
"What about now?" She faced him and grabbed fistfuls of his dark t-shirt as questioning eyes bored his, "You and I are back where we belong, our son is on cloud nine to have you back - just as I am - and Carly, Sonny, and Michael are your family…you chose them to be, and wrong or right, good or bad…they're still your family. It would only hurt you if you turned your back now, because you do have your memory back and we may have all grown up since then, Jason, but we haven't changed."
"Yes, we have, Sam."
"Okay, maybe we have - but not fundamentally, where it matters. Not deep down."
"Deep down, I honestly can't understand how Carly could have allowed Franco anywhere near her. Even if she managed to overlook what he did to you…I don't know how my best friend could stomach a piece of shit who hurt the woman she knew to be my heart…but even if she did - how could she ever forgive what he did to Michael?"
"Not easily."
Captain lifted his head from where he sprawled in one corner, then lowered it in relaxation again following the soft words from the open doorway that had brought Jason and Sam to see Carly, who had stopped just inside, open palms pressed at her thighs against the blue, sleeveless sheath dress as she faltered, then entered the room fully, stopping just in front of Jason to tuck the bouncy blonde curls behind one ear and glance sadly at Sam, then lowered her head to the disapproving scowl of her best friend.
"I knew one day I'd have to answer to you for that, and I've been dreading it since the moment your DNA test was confirmed."
"I just don't get it, Carly. How could that have possibly happened?"
Head hung in deserved shame, Carly struggled as she dug for the explanation she'd always known she'd one day need to give.
"He was so different from the monster you knew, Jason. The doctors said it was the tumor that had caused all of it, that he wasn't really evil, and for a while there we thought he was the only one who could help Danny - and I would've done anything to save your little boy - anything."
"So it was about Danny?"
"No." The vigorous shaking of her head held all the confidence she didn't have to face his disappointed eyes. "I was so lost without you. Even since before you'd disappeared, when you'd let me know I was no longer first with you…that since you and Sam got engaged I had to get used to doing things on my own and not rely on you like I always had, for every little thing. And then you died, and I didn't have you at all and I didn't know what to do. I covered for Sonny when he lied to Michael, and he cut me off every bit as easily as he did Sonny…and you weren't here to help us find our way back. We were all such a mess without you to guide us, me especially." She picked at invisible chips at her nails. "He was kind to me. He listened to me the way you used to - he was there for me…and I needed that at the time, Jason. I needed you and you weren't there…but he was."
Turning away from her, Jason looked briefly to where Sam had edged back to the desk to give them privacy, then shook his head as he rubbed the back of his neck that was no longer as loose as Sam's touch had left it. With a low scoff, he returned to the window.
"Do you know what I remember? Aside from that animal strapping you to a chair, where he would've tied a bomb to you if I hadn't shown up so quickly - aside from him threatening your baby daughter - even aside from me having to scrape my shattered new bride off the wet floor of our honeymoon shower…or your traumatized teenage son from the confines of his mind when he struggled month after month, to cope with what had been done to him…besides all the grief, I remember pleading with you to leave Dante to me, and you refusing, roaring full speed ahead to wreck his life…why? Because of the part he played in Michael ending up in jail in the first place. You were gunning to ruin his life and make him pay for hurting Michael - so for me to hear that you not only forgave the filth directly responsible for setting that pig on him in the first place, but to actually be with him?" His head shook with the incredulity of the words he spoke and the images they conjured. "The Carly I know would've fed him his balls and watch him choke them down before she ever let that happen."
"I know - I know, you're right!" The words spluttered through pained anguish at the disappointment ringing his words. "That's just how lost I was without you, Jason. I kept digging hole after hole and nobody else was there to bail me out, like you always did. I couldn't function without you there to talk me down - to come get me. I just couldn't."
"That's a cop out, Carly. Next to Sam, I don't know anyone stronger...and it's a far cry from forgiving injuries against you, to forgiving them against your child and forgetting them. If you had to forgive him for your peace of mind, then so be it - but to insist on making him Michael's stepfather? Part of his life day in, day out - after what he did? What the hell, Carly?"
"Jason, I know - believe me, I see it all clearly now and it sickens me to think about...but back then...I just wasn't myself. I'm sorry, Jase - I'm so sorry."
There was a long silence that followed them both chasing the thoughts running rampant through them, and when Carly sniffled and rubbed her nose with the back of one hand, Jason sighed and stepped forward to take the other.
"It is what it is - we can't change anything that happened in the past."
"Does that mean that you forgive me?"
"There's nothing for me to forgive."
"Yes, there is. You're disappointed in me and you have a right to be."
"Maybe I'm more surprised than anything else. It's definitely not what I expected to hear about the Carly who kicked the life out of Nico to save Sam and her unborn baby from him - who hated Sam but knew her safety was important to me…who fights like a tigress to protect her children - always."
"I know, Jason and I'd take it back if I could. I'd take everything about that miserable mistake back."
"We can't go back." He squeezed the hand he held in reassurance. "We can only live today…and today, I have a family who needs me - and I need them."
Something didn't sound right. His words forgave her but left her also. "What are you trying to say?"
"That we cannot change the past and we cannot go back. I have to give my family everything they deserve…I have to be here like I haven't been, until now."
"Meaning what?" The dread in her gut told her she already knew.
"That I can't be there to clean up every mess you and Sonny make without thinking. That I'll never turn my back if I see you've fallen…but that I really hope you'll be falling a whole lot less, because my attention needs to be on raising Danny and rebuilding my life with Sam."
Sam gnawed on the eraser of the pencil held in one hand as she leaned back in the swivel chair and watched the awe-producing scene unfold across the room that never in her lifetime had she thought to behold. Jason loving her had meant everything, but she honestly never ever expected to be put truly first with him. From the very beginning, she'd seen the importance of the people in his life, and she'd seamlessly fallen into place as the woman he loved who fiercely loved him just as he was, without any demands to a change in ranking - never needing one, since he always showed up when she needed him. Always. Yet, here he was, mere feet away from her, doing something she never thought to witness. Okay, so he'd said it before, but she'd never put much stock in that since she knew he'd keep on doing what came naturally, and she really didn't mind, as long as he came home to her. But this was different. It had been months since he'd woken up and remembered his entire life, yet he hadn't gone running back to the status quo. He hadn't gone back to work with Sonny like before, and even though Carly was still his best friend and he obviously loved her very much, he had drawn invisible boundaries and had stuck to them, devoting his time to family first, and the rest second. And now he'd actually put it into words. Wow!
When both sets of eyes turned her way, Sam startled and yanked her feet from the desk, sitting upright as the pencil clattered to the ground. Clearing her throat, she bridled at being caught staring, then gestured to an ear, "Occupational hazard…to listen without even meaning to." She cleared her throat again when they approached the desk, Jason wearing that knowing smirk that would forgive her anything, melting her insides with its sexy - Carly, smiling through the lightness that arose to spell the air had finally been cleared.
"It's okay, Sam…we're all family here…there's nothing said you couldn't hear." Pursing then unpursing her lips, Carly looked between the two, "Truthfully, you deserved an explanation as well."
Surprised, Sam stopped fidgeting to eye the blonde, "Why?"
"Because you and I have become very close friends, so I owed it to you to explain why I could love someone who'd done that to you."
"I never thought you loved him, Carly…not really. I mean, how could you - when you loved Jason so much."
"I do, you know?" She looked to Jason then back to the astute PI who's friendship had surprisingly grown to mean so much. "I love you both - and I need you to know I never really loved him. I was confused and spiraling without purpose, without filter…without my safety net. I'm sorry I forced you to have to deal with that. Thank goodness you don't have to ever again." She eyed the couple again, catching the quick look that passed between them. "Everybody's been talking about how suddenly he left town. Some think he blew up on that boat, others believe he just pulled one of his infamous disappearing acts. Me…I get the feeling he finally reaped a little bit more than he bargained for and found himself on a highway that ran out of road, and I say - good riddance."
Sliding onto the edge of the desk, Jason looked to the beautiful face of his fiancé and smiled. "I think it's high time for some happiness around here again - don't you?"
"Yes - I agree!" A high-pitched shriek caught Jason and Sam off guard when Carly grabbed the hand Sam had just extended to get the waterbottle from her desk. "Speaking of!" Stomping her feet, she brimmed the brightest smile and yanked Sam into a bear hug, "OhMyGod, why didn't you say anything?"
When she was finally released so Carly could drag her hand for a closer look at the sparkling diamond, Sam rubbed an offended ear and pinched one eye shut, "I would, if I wasn't deaf in one ear."
"I'm sorry - I'm just so happy for you guys. Finally!" She slapped Jason's arm with her free hand, "OhMyGod, I thought you'd never get there - what took you so long?"
Finding the eyes of the woman he loved, Jason could feel the energy in the room had completely changed, "Took a while to lock her down. Turns out she's a little skittish about forever."
Smiling at the sudden leap of her heart at the delightfully fulfilling prospect, Sam winked at the man she loved. "Not with you." Watching the charged look that swept his beautiful blue eyes knocked her windless and shook her to the knees. Forever with Jason Morgan…please God, sign her up!
Feeling his heart leap in the familiar dance that synced the rhythm of its mate, he gave a silent thanks to the universe aligning to once again place him in heaven, "So you'll marry me, today?" Had the pain-filled life he'd endured, marred by conflict and losses, spearheaded with the interspersed occasional detour from her, all been preparing him to love her in this breath-depriving, ultimate and consuming form? Had it all been guiding him to the reward at the end so sweet? How was it that the force of what he felt for her left him feeling like he'd never loved before her? Nothing he'd ever felt consumed him the way her shining brown eyes, or mischievous smile left him a constant resident on cloud nine.
The flush of reddening cheeks announced the pitter patter heart-racing pulsations through her, blue eyes killing her softly with enamored depths that drowned her soul in fulfillment. Did everyone in love feel like this? Was this man sculpted for her from the start? Was the long, arduous, tedious journey all the while leading her to this heaven found in loving him?
Carly looked from one to the other of her friends, acutely aware that she'd been forgotten in their midst, as she watched them, feet apart and not a single surface touching, yet electrifying each other and everything around them. Burned by the charge they emitted, her heart filled with joy for their happiness, and she knew immediately what she needed to do.
"Ooh, I have a great idea! Let me do it - let me plan your wedding - please?"
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Sonny snapped the lighter open and closed as he sank back into the Italian leather of the oversized office chair, his mind boggled by what he'd learned moments before. Robin, dead? And for real this time? Memories of the sweet young girl who'd stayed faithful and true to his dying friend, who'd battled demons and disease to come out victorious year after year - one unfortunate circumstance after the other, had surprised the hell out of him with her jaunt on the darkside…and now there was no longer time for redemption.
Earlier, he'd been at the hospital when Patric Drake was wheeled in, found by a colleague slumped over in his car in the hospital parking garage, suffering from a gunshot wound. He'd chastised himself when his gut had wondered if it was her, and then he heard about Sam and he knew he'd been right. She had embarked on a killing spree that ended with her as a victim and he still couldn't believe it.
With the lighter snapping open and shut, open and shut in an outstretched hand on the dark oak desk, he watched the man across the room going over shipping routes, and that tiny, uneasy feeling in the back of his head grew another inch. He was no doubt very skilled and knowledgeable in ways that had proven beneficial to Sonny, but was it all too good to be true? Though he'd given him leeway and room to navigate so he could prove himself - and he had, he'd kept hidden scrutiny of every move made, but found nothing so far. The henchmen he'd hired at Robin's insistence had been with Sonny's blessing, since he'd brought it to him first. Why not - he'd thought to prove to his little sister that he still trusted and loved her - a move that almost cost him dearly. But Brent had been forthcoming with the request, so he couldn't justly lay blame at his feet. But was that the plan all along? Had he known what was to happen and had merely covered his ass before shit hit the fan?
His eyes fell on the lighter that snapped open and closed, and he missed the days when he had his brother to bounce these problems off. Bounce off, pass onto - with one phonecall to Jason he could've considered the entire thing handled and forgotten. But not anymore. His problems were his to handle - that was clear now. Did he even remember how?
