As always warning for language and adult situations (to be on the safe side) Hope you all enjoy and will let me know what you think. One more chapter after this, and another stories sees completion.

Chapter Eleven

Elizabeth was ready to vibrate out of her skin and she had to pee so badly, she felt like she was in jeopardy of floating away. Not to mention, she was missing Jason and was scared their plan was going to back fire and she'd lose her husband.

"Marco, it's been…"

No sooner had she spoken than she felt a jerk of the vehicle.

She felt the jerk again but before she could even for an idea of what it was, their vehicle was swinging side to side. She watched in horrified fascination as Marco tried to bring it back under control but it was obvious from her point of view, he was going to lose this battle.

Two things flashed through her mind as the SUV cantered at an unnatural angel. 'Baby, you need to live' and 'Jason, I love you.'

She managed to get one of her hands beneath the seatbelt over her abdomen, and braced another against the dashboard.

As the vehicle rolled for the second time, Elizabeth's hold slipped and her head connected hard with the passenger window.

XxXxX

"Is this where we quake in our boots and cry like little girls?"

"Your sense of humor has been vastly underestimated Mr. Morgan."

"So I've been told. I'm sure your daughter didn't wish for us to converse when you got your hands on me, so what exactly is going on?"

"Are you always this impatient or do you have someone waiting for you?"

Jason kept his cool demeanor in place but a trickle of fear was working its way into his heart.

"Why would anyone being expecting me, I wasn't exactly planning on being kidnapped and beaten."

"Perhaps, but I think my daughter has vastly underestimated you and your ability at subterfuge. Can you just imagine what she'd do if you married the little nurse and were expecting?" Durant asked.

Durant's eyes were positively twinkling, what the twinkle meant, Jason didn't know, but that worm of fear was growing by leaps and bounds.

Saying anything at this point was only going to cause more problems and even though Jason itched to have a gun firmly in his hands, the truth of the matter was, he was, for lack of a better word, toothless.

"Cat got your tongue?"

"Get on with it already. You obviously have something planned; otherwise, I wouldn't still be standing."

"I do have something planned, but…" Durant said and then looked at his watch. "We still have some time before…shall we say, the fireworks to begin."

"Xavier, how does it feel to be a proud papa?"

"Wanting to know, since you could never say proud and your daughter in the same sentence or is it something more?"

"You do realize I am the one holding the gun, right?"

"I do, but I've never had to rely on a weapon to get what I want. When my daughter learns of me, she won't have to ask if I was sure I am her father, because her mother was with so many men, pardon me, Johns at the time. I may not have been in Elizabeth's life but I know who her mother was and I know we didn't lose her because of a lack of love."

"You are mighty self-righteous for a man who is going to die."

"Say what you like, however this ends, I will go with the knowledge that my daughter is a woman of worth, that even if we died today, I never had to buy her love. You've over played your hand John. So as Jason said, get on with it. You are too smug and too interested in my daughter to not have her, so let me, us, see her."

"Answer me this then, if you loved Elizabeth and her mother so much, why were you not in their lives?"

Jason saw the contemplative look on Xavier's face and wondered that himself.

"To satisfy your curiosity," Xavier said with a sneer. "My Aine was the epitome of grace and beauty. Even though her parents were harsh and cruel, she maintained her innocence. When we discovered that she was pregnant, we'd been too passive in our duties of hiding and her father found out, he kidnapped my wife and unborn child. I looked for years but when I came upon a little house that we had often frequented in our youth and found it burning…the cries of a woman and child…I thought they were my family…"

"Don't stop there, I wish to know more."

"To what end?" Xavier asked, wanting to know the significance of his desires. "I was wrong in my assumptions, I did lose my wife, but my daughter somehow escaped. It wasn't until two years ago that I found evidence of such. Does that satisfy your curiosity?"

"Not entirely, though I do find it kismet that your son-in-law is now in your shoes, how does it feel Mr. Morgan?"

Jason's retort died on his lips as Elizabeth was escorted into the clearing, by a bloodied Marco.

"What the hell is this?" Jason demanded, his eyes cataloguing each and every mar on her beautiful body that he could see.

He felt it rather than saw it, when Xavier took a step closer and in front of him. His eyes could only see Elizabeth, his heart beating three times as fast as moments before.

"Marco, you are early, I haven't yet had the chance to give Mr. Morgan his ultimatum."

"Yes, well…unforeseen happenings left me little choice."

Jason watched as Elizabeth struggled in Marco's arms the moment she heard his voice. When their eyes connected, it felt like his whole body breathed a sigh of relief and then he saw the moment she saw the man standing with him. Her eyes got big and even though he saw that it caused her pain, her mouth dropped open in a large 'O'.

He'd swear she recognized her father with a single look. Which then made him wonder if his child would be able to do so, when he or she arrived, although Elizabeth swore every which way, it was a girl; he was a smarter man and knew not to argue.

XxXxX

"Santa Merda…" Elizabeth whispered. She didn't know a lot of Italian yet, but she had been studying up, hoping that when life settled they would get to take the honeymoon they'd both been wanting.

When she turned her eyes back to Jason, she felt all the muscles tense in her already tense body.

Marco's grip wasn't very strong but the moment she tensed, she felt his begin to adjust, but he was too late. Elizabeth bolted the moment she felt his grip falter. One second she was standing beside a possible ally and then next Jason's strong embrace was engulfing her.

As soon as she was safe, she gave a longer look at the man beside her husband. Yes, even closer, those were her eyes, they were unmistakable. "You two need to explain yourselves when this is over, I am sure I'll have a hundred and one questions."

Even as she talked, she kept up a steady observation of their circumstances. She noticed the man with her eyes turn slightly away from her, offering her more of his back and that is when she saw it.

"So…what's it going to be? Hangings, bullets and or beatings? Will more people be joining us?"

"You are a little spitfire aren't you my darling Elizabeth?" Durant asked in a sickly sweet manner.

Mumbling under her breath, she said, "You have no idea."

One moment she was standing in Jason's embrace, the next she was beside the mystery man. Without thinking about it, she reached for the gun and took aim at John Durant.

"You do not know a single thing about me Mr. and you never will." Elizabeth said as she squeezed the trigger. Her aim had never been great but today it was true and hit her mark.

When silence returned to the clearing, all three were able to hear the encroaching footsteps.

"Morgan, you protect my baby girl with your life, get out of here, I'll take care of this and meet you back in Port Charles. Keep heading in a easterly direction and you will come across a vehicle I left there."

Elizabeth again looked at the man, and realized, this was the Xavier that Jason had been worried about. She didn't get another moment to absorb because within the next second, the gun in her hand was taken and Jason was scooping her up and running.

The air was rent with noise and gunshots echoed in the stillness. Even Jason's large strides didn't dampen the sound of fire fight behind them.

Elizabeth curled more fully into Jason's arms, hoping to make a smaller target should one of the men get by her…father. 'Yup, still odd to even think about that.'

She no sooner had the thought than Jason's stride slowed as a grunt was pulled from deep within. She glanced at his face, trying to discern the reason for the grunt, but her gaze was instantly pulled back down when she felt the moisture on her own skin.

It took maybe a second to see and think it all, when she heard the thunk of a bullet embedding in the tree a mere foot in front of them.

It had passed right through his shoulder, she thought in wonder, before the day's events were too much and darkness claimed her.

XxXxX

Jason felt the weight of her shift and knew she had succumbed to unconsciousness. In a way, he thought it was best. Her body had obviously taken a lot of abuse and needed to seek a respite of a sort. If they made it out of this, just maybe, so would their child.

The noise had begun to lessen even though his strides were no longer as quick or as sure. The weight of her body, although slight, was causing him immeasurable pain. Thankfully, it didn't feel like any major arteries had been hit but that didn't lessen his pain.

Not sure how long he'd been walking but sure the day was growing late, Jason was about to consider stopping when he saw a break in the trees. About five hundred yards from where he exited the forest, there was a black four door sedan.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Jason opened the backdoor carefully, trying not to jostle Elizabeth but she stirred nonetheless.

"Jas…Mmm…Jason, where are we?" Elizabeth asked, only a small whimper in pain escaping her lips.

"Honestly, I don't have a clue. How are you feeling?"

"Considering I was in a car crash and have been kidnapped and whatever else…not too bad. I'm sore, that is for sure, but I tried to protect our baby as much as possible during it, and I've had no cramping or anything, so we may have gotten lucky. Never mind me at the moment, how are you?"

"Another gunshot wound, go figure."

"That's right! I am so sorry; I should have been taking care of you not passing out." Elizabeth said in disgust.

"Relax, I'm okay. You and our baby are okay, we will get out of this."

"Jason, it is just one close call after another. Look at your face; you can't even open that eye, due to swelling…Check the trunk, let's see if there is anything in there to patch you up with."

"We need to get on the road…" Jason said, but saw the look he was getting and simply opened the truck and pulled the first aid kit from it. Xavier really had been prepared.

Even though the wound was clotting, Elizabeth felt it prudent to use the clotting powder to 'guarantee' a good clot. She had just attached the last strip of tape over the gauze padding when he heard the grating voice.

"Why do you continue to do this to me, to our son? I've tried to be understanding, I've tried to see things from your perspective, I've tried everything, even having her murdered and the stupid bitch just won't die! How can you continue to dally with someone like her, when you have someone so much more perfect for you, in me?"

"Oh goodie, she's jumped the slightly sane bus and boarded the completely crazy train."

"Shut up you ignorant bitch. You do not speak unless I give you leave to do so. This is my…" Carly screamed.

"Carly, would you please calm down. What are you doing and what do you mean you've tried to have her murdered?" Jason asked. His voice was calm but a storm waged behind his truculent blue eyes.

"See Jason, this just proves how much I love you. I've tried everything and when those idiots decided to think with the wrong heads and raped her first, they screwed up. Courtney almost hit her with her car, but the drugged out bitch couldn't even do that right. Ric tried for her again last month but the idiot is more useless than I had thought. Now answer me this, why, why do you continually choose her over me?"

"Carly, no one has been chosen over anyone…" Jason began, but suddenly Carly was in his arms and pawing him, forcing him to stop.

"You will back the hell up Carly or you will not leave here in one piece." Elizabeth said in a deceptively calm yet menacing voice.

"Aww, little Muffin, what are you going to do to me? Cry me to death?"

"No Carly, I am going to break each and every diseased finger you have on my husband, I am going to rip each and every bleach blonde lock of hair from your head."

Carly's laughter was loud to begin with but Elizabeth and Jason both, saw the moment that her words penetrated.

"Your husband?!" Carly screamed.

XxXxX

Elizabeth had been standing by the back door, while Jason was closer to the trunk, but as Carly brought up a gun and pointed not at her, like she'd suspected, the unwavering gun barrel was directed at Jason.

Knowing it was not a good idea to provoke her, Elizabeth still opened her mouth. "Is this the part where you say, 'if I can't be with you, no one will!'? Or is this the part where you bargain with me to save his life and say, 'If you love him, you'll walk away…' So Carly, what is the cliché you will be using today, since we both know, you live in a house constructed of clichés and barely there truths?"

Elizabeth knew she was 'poking the bear', but with Carly it was easier and possibly safer to keep her off balance than to show weakness.

"If you walk away right now, I won't hurt you or Jason. If you leave him and never return, he will get to have a long and happy life."

"And who is this happy life supposed to be with? You? Carly, he is my HUSBAND, you can dance and sing crazy all you want, it isn't going to change the fact that I am now and will always be, his wife. Would you really be so cruel as to pull another child out of his arms, before it is even born?"

It was a gamble mentioning their child but she didn't know what else to do. She only prayed that by speaking of her pregnancy, Carly's girl side would show…compassion.

"You BITCH, I'll kill your DEMON spawn before it ever breaths my air!" Carly howled, right before attacking her.

XxXxX

Jason pulled the small revolver from the trunk and was about to intercede when Elizabeth's fist struck Carly firmly in the nose. The crunch of cartilage was satisfying but his baby was pregnant and wrestling wasn't going to keep her that way, especially if Carly had anything to say about it.

Again he was moving to intercept but Elizabeth rolled out from under the crazed woman and managed to gain her feet.

"No bitch living or dead will give me an ultimatum about my husband or anyone else I love." Elizabeth said before delivering a beautiful roundhouse kick to Carly's head. "You messed with the wrong bitch, Bitch!"

"When did you get all scrappy?"

"I've wanted to deliver a beat down on her ass for years. Can you blame me?"

"Not at all, but in your condition, you need to take it easy." Jason said.

"When you put a bullet between her eyes, I'll take it easy but until then, if she draws breath, I can't promise you that."

She watched Jason, seeing if he would do it or not.

When his lips descended to hers, she lost all train of thought. It wasn't until the echo of the gun discharging that she came back to herself.

"Good choice baby! I want more kids, so castrating you wasn't high on my list."

"Good thing, I want more babies with you too."

"Time to go home?"

"Long past time."

"Okay, but a stop at the hospital for both of us…we need it." Elizabeth said as she kicked Carly's lifeless corpse as she climbed into the passenger side door.

"I'm glad you aren't going to fight me on that."

"Why would I, I have everything to live for."

"We both do." Jason said, laying a sweet kiss to her forehead before closing her door, walking around to his and starting the car.

"Don't think you are off the hook that easily Mr. You owe me an explanation about dear old dad back there."

"How?"

"I'm not Carly or any other dim-wits you've dated before. I have eyes and those eyes are the same as his. I love you and because of all of this, I don't even want to know how long you've known, just…give me the truth."

"I only found out today. Did you know it was a possibility?"

"Didn't have the foggiest idea. Can't say I'm shocked though, I always felt…a part from the Webbers."

"You haven't been a Webber for years and you won't be an Angelitto either, you are a Morgan, till time ends."

"I am more than okay with that. Let's get going before another big bad pops up. I'm tired, sore and so hungry…I could eat a horse, and that is scary."

"It really is. Home, that's where we will be soon, just not soon enough for my taste." Jason said as he pulled out on to the road and began the long journey back.

Elizabeth moved as close as she could and gently laid her head on his wounded shoulder. Holding hands was great, but she needed to feel and smell him, to know he was really there.

"There is more to talk about, but can we do that after everything else?" Elizabeth asked, already fighting a yawn.

"Absolutely, nothing and I do mean nothing, is more important that you and me, all the rest of the refuse can wait till we are safe and sound."

"I love you!"

"And I love you!"

XxXxX