I know this chapter isn't overly long, but in between everything else that is going on, finding time to write is harder than I thought it would be. Nevertheless, I am going to continue to write something everyday, whether it gets posted or not all depends on whether the internet wants to play nicely with me. Hope you guys enjoy this latest update and thank you for all your wonderful feedback from the previous chapters.

Chapter Forty-Eight

Sonny drove with a single thought pounding in his mind, Jason… His best friend, who was more like a brother, was in mortal danger, and while Sonny knew Jason was capable of dealing with anything and everything that the world threw at him, this was different. Madness of the kind that Lucky Spencer suffered from, could not be understood or combated like the evil that Jason was used to, everything that Jason was used to was in all essence small potatoes compared to the darkness that lurked in Lucky. Sonny knew the darkness and the madness, because he too suffered from a sometimes debilitating condition. Madness perhaps wasn't the right word for it, but when he slipped from that small ledge where he forever balanced, life was chaotic and insane. So yes, Sonny knew at least on some level what Lucky was going through, but so far, Sonny had never descended quiet so low…

Sonny knew his destination but it seemed like it was taking forever to get there, every turn he made and every time he had to stop, made him grind his teeth in anger and wonder when life was going to play fair. He had gone into his line of work, knowing what he was getting into but at the same time, not really knowing. He knew the world had fangs and at any moment it could bite you, and while he knew he was risking anyone who dared love him, especially children, he was in this life, for better or worse, till the very end.

When Jason became a part of his business, he had been young, truly a child. All experiences had been lost with his injury. Sonny could no longer lie to himself and believe that Jason had known everything when he had entered into this lifestyle. And while Sonny would forever be grateful for the protection that Jason offered, he knew that bring him into this life was wrong, although if it wasn't for Jason's abilities, Sonny would already be dead...

Now that he was planning on marrying Elizabeth, Sonny wondered if there was any way for Jason to get out of the business. The man, his friend, wouldn't ask it, but as his child was welcomed into the world and Elizabeth was made his wife, it would only be natural for Jason to wonder if the job he had made a career out of, was safe enough, to raise such a family.

Never before had he thought so long or so hard on this subject. Sonny had walked into the business with his eyes relatively open, so there was no choice, if he wanted a family, and of course he did, he had to be willing to put his family's life on the line, and while that prospect didn't sit well with him, it was the life he had chosen, there was no escaping this life.

Sonny pulled to a screeching halt, a car wreck lay ahead of him, another thing to cause a delay, just what he didn't need. What he needed was to reach the little cottage that Elizabeth was renting, but instead, here he was, trapped behind what must have been a gravel truck and the remains of a small compact car, rather gruesomely Sonny thought, "even more compact now." He wasn't proud for the way his mind sometimes worked, but it was a fact of life, at least a fact of HIS life.

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Elizabeth wanted nothing more than to scream, but in the face of everything she loathed about Lucky, a small flicker of pity swelled within, quickly to be replaced with a look of abject horror and scorn. Elizabeth was always going to be a loving, caring person, and her large heart tried to go out towards her ex, however, after everything he had done and the current condition of her fiancé, well that was enough to banish any warm and pitying thoughts.

Of course the lack of clothing on her part brought all the facts back with a resounding snap. One moment she had been lying in bed, enjoying the company of her fiancé and his amazing hands and other extremities. She had fallen asleep with his hand protecting the life they had created, the life that had been a surprise, but a joy nonetheless. Now she was standing before a man she now loathed, In her birthday suit, while Jason was tied to the bed, and while, in her current state, (the pregnancy one,) that was rather, hot…She would have to remember it for a later time, maybe convince Jason to use silk scarves or something.

But besides that, Elizabeth understood that she should be feeling fear or something more tangible that anger, but for some reason, Lucky inspired pity, anger and animosity, perhaps because of that, she was able to do what needed to be done. Or rather do what she needed to do. She raised her hand high in the air, and before either she or Lucky knew what was going to happen, her hand connected solidly with Lucky's face. The resounding sound of the smack was bittersweet, almost perfect, except even as she heard the noise, she was surprised and shocked to see the small drop of blood blossom on his lip.

She saw it with her minds eyes, no sooner did she see the drop of blood, than she was slipping gracelessly to the floor….

"Elizabeth…'" Jason's voice was what brought Lucky back from his stupefied silence, the anguish and horror that resounded in the room seemed to knock a small amount of sense back into Lucky's head.

He looked at the crumpled figure on the floor, a strange look passing over his face, and even though Jason couldn't see Lucky's face well, he could almost, not quite, but almost believe that it was a brief look of compassion. But no sooner did he glimpse it than it was gone.

Lucky scooped Elizabeth up in his arms, no gentleness in his touch, and dropped her in a heap on the bed. His gaze traveled slowly over the plane of her face, slowing steadily as he drifted lower down her body. He bestowed a withering glare upon Jason, and then left the room.

His body moved in a stumbling manner, a slow gait that seemed forced and awkward. He slipped once, stumbling against the hallway wall, seemingly not noticing, he continued on his set path, where ever that was. And for the moment, Jason didn't care.

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Sonny had been sitting in front of the car wreck for over an hour now. When he had first pulled up he had tried to offer his help, but it seemed like everything was more or less under control. That is to say that there really wasn't anything he could do to help. The car was such a mess, and the amount of blood pooling below the vehicle suggested that there was at the very least going to be a fatality and maybe more than one.

He had been unable to ascertain anything concerning the people in the car; the jaws of life were going to be needed to get to those in the car. Sonny checked for leaks in and around the gas tank, wanting to make sure that there wasn't going to be an explosion, once he discovered that the gas tank seemed to still be intact, at least for the time being, but the driver of the other vehicle was mostly lucid and seemed to have only superficial injuries, at least as far as Sonny's eyes could tell, however he seemed to have taken a pretty good whack to the head. A large purple knob was rising steadily, surely large enough to cause continuous pain for sometime. But perhaps not, the stench of the driver, if it was any indication, guaranteed that the man wouldn't suffer for long, considering his enjoyment of all things pertaining to beer and the like.

As soon the emergency service vehicles showed up, Sonny went back to his own car. He had dealt with cops from many different countries and many different cities, and the less he had to deal with them, when he was the prime suspect, the better. Even when he wasn't the prime suspect, the cops seemed to sense the vibe that he threw off, being an Alpha male was or so it seemed a key choice for everyone to place the blame.

The cops had been on the scene for over an hour now, which meant that Sonny had had more than enough time to worry and wonder what else could go wrong this night. He wanted more than anything to get to Jason and Elizabeth and for once be the one to save the day, it had nothing to do with his ego, it would just make him feel like he was offering something more to Jason, than a mere dangerous life, full of many ups and even more downs.

It would be nice to finally be the one to offer the comfort, to prove that even though different blood flows through their veins, that they were like brothers in every way that matters. And as Sonny was older than Jason, it should be Sonny who stepped up to the plate, who did the protecting, at least every once in awhile it would be nice, but if Sonny was honest, he was a lousy brother, Jason was always there for him, but he was always too busy to hear anything, perhaps that is why Jason remained so quiet, he never did get a word in edge wise.

Sonny was about to brave the wrath of the cops, if for no other reason than to find out when the road would be passable, but no sooner did his hand close over the door handle than a tow truck pulled up to the scenes.

Sonny was rather shocked to see that they were preparing to move the totaled car; he hadn't seen any medical workers or firemen working on the vehicle. He stared harder into the vapor lights, disconcerted by the lively shadows that danced and swirled around the area. His eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness, off on the side of the road paramedics worked diligently, what it looked like to Sonny was that they were trying to resuscitate, but from his position and the poor lighting, he couldn't be sure. He glanced quickly at the dashboard clock, his eyes noting the time, but not really grasping it, at least not until his eyes once more strayed to the clock. A whistle of air was sucked between his lips as he refocused his attention, but for a moment, his mind couldn't comprehend what his eyes were seeing. It hadn't been an hour he had been sitting there, three hours had passed, and soon the darkness would be relenting for another night. Something didn't seem right though, he couldn't remember losing time like this before, but it must have happened; now he just wondered where the time went and what he did!

A knocking on his window pulled him from his thoughts, a look of distaste passed over his face, but he quickly hid it with his annoyed yet patient look.

"Can I help you officer?" Sonny asked.

"Should be another fifteen minutes and then you will be able to get on your way. I am curious though; did you happen to see how this happened?" The officer asked, looking unfriendly, yet competent.

"Sorry officer, I arrived shortly after the accident, I didn't see anything happen, but I did try to offer assistance to those who needed it. Is there anything else officer, I really need to be going!" Sonny replied, keeping his animosity to a bare minimum.

The cop gave Sonny a withering glare, then nodded his head and headed back to his patrol car; seemingly indifferent to the older mans needs.

Which suited Sonny just fine, there was enough things rolling around in his head, he didn't need to think about what could possibly be going wrong with Jason and Elizabeth. However, his traitorous mind decided it could fathom what could be going on, and served up a few decidedly horrible and gruesome images. A wet, meaty hiccup echoed in the confines of the car, the images his mind seemed to draw from the pits of the darkest and most disturbed psyche, revolted his stomach, threatening to spill his last meal all over the inside of the vehicle. After many long minutes, Sonny managed to keep his meal down.

When he braved a look in the cop's direction he noticed that the car had been removed and the cop was looking at him, a baffled look gracing his face, with a look of contempt, or so it seemed to Sonny. After several moments, Sonny realized why the cop was looking at him so intently, he was waving him through the blockade, a honking horn from behind him alerted him to the fact that the cop must have been trying to get his attention for some time. He popped the vehicle into gear and slowly proceeded to move around the debris that littered the ground.

It took fifteen minutes for him to reach the main intersecting highway and to be back up to reasonable cruising speeds. Breathing in a deep and hopefully cleansing breath, Sonny urged the vehicle to move a little faster, now that he was moving again, something inside him urged him to hurry, gut instinct perhaps, but whatever it was, Sonny knew he had to hurry up, for it seemed his instincts were telling him that time was running out.

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Jason watched the hallway and the retreating figure for as long as he possibly could, but it wasn't really that long before Lucky passed out of his line of sight, considering that he was bound to the bed, as soon as Lucky was gone, Jason began to talk in a quiet and soothing voice, trying to rouse Elizabeth, terrified something was wrong or was going wrong at that very minute. Minutes passed which felt like hours and still he got no response from Elizabeth with a frustrated and inarticulate cry of anger and desperation, Jason tested his bounds and flailed on the bed.

With his energy and strength zapped, he managed no more than a few bounces and yanks before he collapsed back on the bed, sweaty and panting.

Allowing himself a moment to catch his breath before trying again, Jason listened as intently as he possibly could, trying to hear Lucky, if for no other reason than trying to determine where Lucky was. At first, perhaps because he was concentrating so fully on hearing him, he heard nothing. But then his ears picked up the subtle sounds of water running below him, and the clinking of glass. He was about to begin testing the bindings when Elizabeth opened her eyes and looked at him, bestowing a heartbreakingly beautiful smile upon him.

She didn't allow him any time to speak; she quickly sat up, reaching for the headboard and the restraints there. As Jason watched, he saw a small sparkle of something in her hand, which he at first mistakenly took for her engagement ring, but as the bindings first became tighter, then fell away completely; he understood what she had done. In collapsing, she had managed to snag the scissors and was now freeing him. The little minx had thought quickly on her feet and managed to… hopefully, save them all. Jason's free hand snaked around her waist, delighting in the soft skin, needing to feel her skin, needing to feel that she was alive and well.

She finished removing the bonds on his left wrist, but just as she did so, Lucky stormed into the room, looking for all intents and purposes, baffled and livid. There was probably a better way to describe it, but that was what went through Jason's head as he saw Elizabeth yanked off the bed and out of the room. Jason wasn't sure if Lucky had noticed that only his legs were tied to the bed, but whatever he noticed or didn't notice was fine with Jason. And while Elizabeth was once again in danger, Jason was now in the position to rescue her.

He grabbed the scissors that had fallen from her hands as she was removed from the room. With haste, he quickly set to work removing the bonds holding his legs to the bed. It took him longer than it took her, the scissors were so small and he couldn't even fit his fingers into the holes, but with determination coursing through his veins, he persevered, it just took him a lot longer than it had her. Quickly he yanked the last rope free of his legs and dashed out of the room. No sooner did he reach the doorway that he heard a loud resounding crack from below him. His heart beating out a steady hammering in his chest, he fled the room, searching for Elizabeth and the source of the noise. His mind like Sonny's was capable of offering up many scenarios, but so long as Elizabeth was in danger, he wouldn't bother contemplating a single one of those, she needed him, as he needed her, and no matter what this night produced, he was going to save him family, one way or another, the only thing he wanted that was definite was Lucky's cold, dead body, on its way to the morgue.

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Elizabeth knew if she gave in to panic, she was dead, there was no way around it. She had to keep her head, and in doing so, she would save her child and the life she planned to build with Jason. Although thoughts of Jason normally instilled hope and calmness, at this moment, she wasn't sure whether she had managed to free him successfully enough or not.

Lucky's shoulder dug painfully into her abdomen, Elizabeth allowed her thoughts to drift to her child for a moment, but a moment was all she could spare, especially with Lucky's looming madness so up close and personal.

It didn't matter anyway; either Jason or herself would find a way out of this madness. No sooner did the thought occur to her than a resounding crack shattered the silence. Elizabeth looked in the direction of the sound, surprised to see a very wet and…grumpy Sonny standing in the doorway, glaring daggers at Lucky. She couldn't help but laugh, it was a strangled sound, but it felt good to hear it, it seemed or so she hoped that things were…..going to turn out okay.

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