Chapter Two:
Count Your Lucky Stars
Trudging into her room, running a hot bath and lowering bruised and beaten body into it, Elizabeth knew that she was lucky to be alive and she thanked heaven for that. It was bad enough that she helped her brother escape the trappings of their father for as long as he could stay off the radar, but she had to add helping an enemy escape. She thought for sure that her father would end her life right there, but he seemed to take Johnny's feelings into consideration. He knew that Johnny would surely find a way to kill the old man if he were to kill her. It didn't stop him from having his goons beat her pretty good. Letting the warm water do its magic, Elizabeth reaches over to the phone on her stand, dialling up Robin's number in Paris.
"Doctor Robin Scorpio speaking." she answers.
"Its me." Elizabeth says, wincing as she moves her legs. "He's out."
"Oh, thank god." Robin let out a sigh of relief. "I'll never be able to thank you for doing this, Liz."
"You don't have to thank me." Elizabeth says as she lays her head back against the tub. "I just wanted you to know that he's not a prisoner anymore."
"How're you doing?" Robin asks carefully. "What did they do to you?"
"I'm fine." Elizabeth says plainly. "I have to go, but I'll call you again soon."
"Elizabeth, please." Robin says almost pleadingly. "What did they do to you?"
"Nothing I'm not used to." Elizabeth sighs, her body aching. "I love you, Robin. Just let it be."
Ending the call, Elizabeth hung it up before sinking completely under the water. The sad truth was that she really was used to this. She pretty much expected it. Many years was spent in nothing but pain and anger, doing everything she could to ensure that Johnny wasn't affected. Sitting back up, Elizabeth brushed her hair back with both hands. As much as she expected this, she knew that it was only the start. Her father will find a way to make her continuously pay for helping the enemy, the question wasn't if, but when and what.
Jason's venture home was relatively uneventful. Finally hitting city limits, he drove as fast as he possibly could to get to Sonny's estate. Once the engine was off, Jason booked it up the steps, bypassing guards along the way until he hit Sonny's office. Finding his partner inside, Jason closed the door behind him, prompting the other man to stand up in greeting.
"How're things here?" Jason questions, certain that Sonny would know what he meant.
"Sam and Lily are safe." Sonny assures. "I have a whole slate of guards on them at any given moment. Emily has had her own guards as well."
"Nothing I should know about?"
"No. Other than taking you, they haven't made a move yet." Sonny says with conviction. "We'll be ready for them."
"I'm not so sure about that." Jason concedes, pouring himself something strong, his body aching and his face throbbing from the beating he suffered. "Our men are stretched thin as it is."
"We'll figure it out." Sonny says seriously. "This isn't the first time we've had someone trying to take our territory."
"But it is the first time we're facing someone without a weakness." Jason counters, downing the glass of whiskey before pouring another. "We, on the other hand, have too many."
"So what should we do?" Sonny questions, pouring himself water. "You want to just hand over our territory because we have weaknesses?"
"No." Jason shakes his head firmly. "I'm just saying that we're in for one hell of a fight."
Downing the drink, Jason puts the glass down before taking a deep breath and walking out. He had to make sure for himself that everyone he loved was safe. Making his way to Sam's house, Jason stands by the window, looking in as she plays with her three year old daughter. Placing one hand on the glass, Jason takes refuge in the fact that they are safe and able to just have moments like this. Staring in at them for a moment, Jason silently makes his way back off the porch. They're safe. That's all that mattered.
"Hey, its me." Jason says into his phone, standing outside of Kelly's. "I'm back."
"Oh, thank god." his sister exclaims. "Are you okay? You've been gone a while."
"I'm okay." Jason assures. "Turn around."
Emily turns quickly, looking through the glass door at her brother. Jumping up from her seat, ignoring Nikolas and Lucky, she runs out of the diner and right into his arms. She had been so worried about him when Sonny told her that he had gone missing. Emily had been so happy to have him back that she barely noticed Jason wincing.
"Oh, Jason." Emily pulls away, taking in his appearance. "I'm so sorry. Are you okay?"
"I'm okay." Jason assures, adjusting to the slight pain in his side. "I just wanted to be sure you were."
"Yeah, I'm okay." Emily gestures for them to sit. "Have you been by to see Sam?"
"I saw her." Jason shakes his head. "I had to see them for myself."
"She must have been happy..." Emily let her sentence fall when she took in his expression. "She didn't see you, did she?"
"Its better this way." Jason says plainly. "There's too much going on right now."
"Jason, you love her." Emily says seriously. "How is any of this for the best?"
"They're safe." Jason states. "That's all that matters. As long as that's true, I can deal with it."
"You're not okay." Emily looks at him intently. "You deserve to be happy, Jason. Why can't you see that?"
"Its not about me." Jason wishes it were that easy, that he could claim them and that would be that, but its not. "I have to think of their safety first."
"What about their happiness?" Emily counters. "Doesn't that matter too?"
"They have to be alive to be happy." Jason stands up, prompting her to do so. "I love you for caring, but nothing can change. I'll see you later."
Emily reluctantly hugs him, watching him walk away, knowing that he deserved so much more than what he's allowing himself. As he gets to his penthouse, Jason locks the door behind him before grabbing a beer from his fridge and sitting on his couch. Checking the time, calculating the time difference, Jason dials up a number he hasn't used in such a long time. As it rings, Jason anticipates her voice coming on the other end and wonders how he'll feel once she speaks.
"Doctor Robin Scorpio." she answers, her voice making him realize that any anger from before was completely gone now and he just missed her.
"Its Jason." he replies, popping the top off his beer. "I wanted to thank you."
"I'm glad you're safe." Robin says sincerely, there's an edge to her voice that he doesn't understand. "I was really worried about you."
"I'm sorry about that."
"You're safe now." Robin says simply. "That's all that matters."
"Have you heard from her?" Jason didn't really know what to call her.
"Yeah, she's...she's okay." Robin knew that she couldn't really lie, but it wasn't really a lie since she doesn't really know how Elizabeth is.
"You must mean a lot to her if she was willing to help me." Jason comments, knowing that her friend was probably worse off than he is because Anthony Zacchara didn't have a soul.
"I know I do." Robin says with conviction. "Don't worry about her. She can handle herself."
"If you talk to her again, tell her I said thanks." Jason couldn't help but worry for the woman. "I'd never be able to thank her for what she did."
"I'll tell her." Robin assures, signing off on the medication protocol. "For what its worth, I'm glad your back home and safe."
"I know what it must have taken for you to ask her to help me...so thank you." Jason downs half his beer. "If you ever need anything..."
"I won't hesitate to call." Robin promises, taking a file from the nurse. "Just be more careful, okay?"
"I will." Jason says before ending the call, unable to shake the worry he feels over the woman that saved him.
Elizabeth pulled herself up out of the tub once the water turned cold, her body still aching from the beating she sustained, but not as severely. Making her way into her bedroom, Elizabeth dug out a few clothes from her luggage before throwing them on and calling up her brother's burn phone. She had a strange feeling of worry in the pit of her stomach and she wanted to be sure that he was safe.
"Hey." he answers. "How bad?"
"Usual." she says simply. "You okay?"
"I'm safe." Johnny assures. "I'm sorry I left you with the brunt of it."
"Trust me, I'm responsible for most of it." Elizabeth gently touches her stomach. "I helped his most recent prisoner escape."
"No way! I can't believe I missed that!" Johnny sighs, imagining what their father thought of that. "You must feel like hell right about now. I can come back..."
"Don't." she says quickly. "Stay out of this place for as long as you can."
"Lizzie..."
"I'd feel better knowing you've had a few weeks of peace." Elizabeth says seriously. "I'll find you when things mellow out over here."
"Are you sure?" Johnny questions. "I'm the one that asked you to come back."
"And I chose to." Elizabeth counters. "I'm going to be okay. I promise."
"I love you, Lizzie!" Johnny says with conviction. "If things get worse, you better call me."
"I will." Elizabeth promises. "Stay safe."
"I promise."
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