Chapter 8:Prepare to Pay
There are two ways of paying, when you get what you need or when you get what you deserve.
Jason woke up and found himself staring down at Elizabeth. Running his fingertips across her brow and down her cheek, he smiled softly when her lips parted. Lightly brushing his finger against her moist lower lip, he heard a gently ahem.
Finally noticing Tom standing at the foot of the bed, he slipped out from his soft comfortable spot next to the woman he loved. Following the older man out the door, he picked up his boots that he had removed before entering the room the previous evening.
"We need to talk. You can't be doing that. Elizabeth is in a very fragile state right now." warned Tom.
"I know, I didn't intend on staying, I just... I just have spent so much of my time leaving her, I couldn't." he said quietly before sitting down on the bar stool in the kitchen. Taking the offered cup of coffee from AJ, he said "So what now?"
"We have several things to talk about. While you and the boys are out today, I was hoping we could have a conversation." said AJ holding up the video from the night before.
"Fine, we can bring Zachara with us, he makes a pretty good nanny." said Jason seeing the Italian entering while yawning.
"You are just jealous that I relate to them on the same level." said the man as he took the offered cup of coffee gratefully. "Wait, where are we going?"
"I was thinking the ocean. The boys love boats and the ocean." said Jason only for AJ to grimace.
Tom made some breakfast while the three men got the boys going for the day. Once the house was emptied out, he woke up Elizabeth and they had another session. This one seemed to be touching on the beginning of her relationship with Jason. When Tom pressed her why she felt the need to save Lucky, to hurt Jason by asking him to let her loser ex-husband be his child's father, she seemed to get defensive.
Elizabeth stalked out to the patio, then turned to glare at her uncle. "You just don't understand. It wasn't really like that."
"Then tell me what it was like?" he asked knowing what the true problem was but needing her to face it herself.
It took two hours and lots of tears for Elizabeth to admit her fear of Jake being treated like Carolyn had treated her. "Does Jason normally act like your mother?"
It took another half hour for her to get angry which exactly what Tom wanted. He needed to get Jason and Elizabeth to argue, to finally verbally deal with their past. To get out their past hurts, then put them away. When Elizabeth admitted being angry with Jason over putting his relationship with Micheal, with Carly over Jake and how she felt pushed aside, she sat down stunned.
"Oh, my, god. I am acting like Carly." she said only for her uncle to correct her.
"No, you truly had the right to expect the father of your son to put him first. For his fiancee and even as just his girlfriend to put her first over his best friend."
"But I know what Carly means to him." she said. Tom signed, then pointed out she was back to being obedient.
"But..." Elizabeth thought about it then said "Your right. I mean I have faced that I was in the wrong with Lucky. Can he do the same? If we were working towards a future together what kind of future would it be if Carly and Michael came first?"
"Are you ready to deal with telling Lucky that when you go home?" he asked pointedly.
"I think so, I just worry about my habit of falling back into that pathetic sad person I had become." she said before yawning. "I should mention, I dreamed he was here last night."
"Lucky?" Tom asked a bit worried.
"No, Jason. I have such a feeling of dread, like I messed up, yet at the same time I am very very angry with Jason. To the point of loathing him." she admitted quietly.
When Elizabeth was back in her room, Tom sighed then knew he had to talk to Morgan about a face-to-face with Elizabeth, one before she learned the truth about his double in Port Charles. It was going to be important to her recover."
!!*!!
When Mac and Monica arrived at the Franklin Institute he had no idea how to even pronounce the name of the instrument. When the female guide showed it to them, he was disappointed to find no note, and that there was nothing around.
Working their way around the exhibit, Monica was growing frustrated when she saw what they had missed the first time. Walking over to the second display, she found the same guard and asked what had happened to the other instrument.
"We had to remove it for repairs." she said while Mac quickly found the note. On the steps, he ripped open the small paper and groaned. "I am too old for this crap."
"What?" she asked then reading the paper said "Do you have a rental car or should we arrange for one?"
"I can take care of it." he said "You get a map and then figure out what grave we have to find."
Checking out of the hotel, they were grateful that it hadn't been an early winter while they drove to Gettysburg. When they arrived, Monica stopped to pick up a brochure while Mac looked up their only clue.
"So, there was a Doctor Hardy who died at Gettysburg. I wonder if Steven knew?" asked Monica as they located the grave... Both felt the chill of the sacred battlefield seeping into their skin as they counted off rows and columns. "There it is." he said quietly bending down to find the note that was inside a plastic protective cover on the side of the grave.
"Here we go." he said grimly as they quickly returned to the rental car and drove away. Pulling into the nearest coffee shop, they ordered a warm drink and sat down to figure this mess out.
"We know we have to go to Washington, but I have no idea on the clue. I think we need to find a bookstore." he said.
"Mac, what is going on with my son? Why is he sending you to do this. Jason's usual MO is to do everything himself?" she pointed out.
"I have a feeling that whatever is going on, it's bigger than just a search hunt." he said. "Are you sure you are up to doing this?"
"I need to do something. I can't deal with the situation in Port Charles, I am sure you know about Michael." she said her voice breaking. "I can't help thinking how different his life would have been if..."
"Don't think like that, it doesn't do anyone any good." said Mac then explained he felt the same way about Maxie and the way her life was turning out. "Most of this is on Sonny, and of course Carly. I have never thought of that woman as stable."
"But if we hadn't pushed..." she said thinking about the history between her sons and that woman.
"No, Carly was not going to walk away from her meal ticket and her way to keep Jason around. Jason has always seen Carly through her version of things. I don't think that is the case anymore, because if it was, he would be in town saving Michael."
"Where do you think he is?" she asked.
"With Elizabeth's boys. At least I want to hope that is the truth. I have my own suspicions on a couple of things." he said then sighing told her what he knew about Jake's second kidnapping and Lucky and Sam's illegal investigation.
"So what you are saying is that my son ... that is why someone ... did she do it?"
"I don't know but I would dearly love for Sam McCall to face justice without Jason or Alexis backing her up. Alexis might be waking up, she called me asking for permission to access her daughter's criminal file. Something she has never done before."
"If she is behind this, I am going to press the full might of the Quartermaine name to have her sent to prison. We need to reach my son. I need to talk to him." she insisted.
"Then let's get on the road to Washington." he said. "We have a bunker to find."
A couple hundred miles into the drive, Mac swore and said "We are going to the wrong place."
With that, he got off the road heading southeast into Washington and took the road west. "I hope I am right about this."
!!*!!
While Johnny and the boys were splashing around in the water, Jason and AJ followed. "I have to tell you about something I did."
Looking at his brother, Jason said "Why do you look guilty?"
"I uh, used the money from that secret account, to take down Cassadine Enterprises." he admitted with a sideways look while tensing up.
"Why?" Jason asked without taking his eyes off Cam and Jake.
"I never did like that little shit Nikolas Cassadine. He should be finding out over the next couple of days that he is broke. I started with his biggest weakness, the shipping company, it still hasn't recovered from when he was sick, it wasn't that hard to do."
"What does he have left?" asked Jason wondering if Elizabeth would be angry with them for bankrupting her former lover.
"The Island in Port Charles and the entitled estate in Greece. Maybe a few hundred thousand dollars. He is going to have to sell General Hospital to us if he wants to stay solvent."
Jason felt a small bit of pleasure at the man who had taken advantage of Elizabeth's illness and confusion to get what he had wanted for years. Yet at the same time he couldn't help remembering his sister had once loved this man. "I wish you hadn't, but now that it is done... I would love to have GH out of his control if Elizabeth decides we move back."
"You don't think she would go back ..."
Jason shook his head no, then said "He gets that ability to guilt people from Laura, just like Lucky and Lulu. I want him to have no chance to press his case. He isn't going to back down."
"Well now that we have discusses that, what do we do about Michael?" asked AJ.
"I owe you an apology for that." said Jason thinking that if he hadn't been so sure that Sonny would be a great father, but at the same time he couldn't help thinking that part of that was guilt about Lily dying.
"No, you don't. I think we are all responsible for his ending up with Sonny and Carly. But the way he turned out, Jason you are not the one who let him think that killing is fine. That was his parents. That was Carly and Sonny who he saw scheme and cheat and lie to get whatever they want and whoever they want."
"I can't help it, if I had done things differently, who knows. If I had given into Carly, stayed with her..." he said only for his brother to roughly grab his arm and turn his body in the direction of his head.
"So what you are saying is you regret that little boy, you regret falling in love with his mother? Do you really think things would have been so different?"
Jason said "No, but.."
"No f-ing but. You, you are right, you are at fault. Not for Carly. But because maybe just maybe if you had taken your head out of Corinthos' ass, you might have realized what you lost earlier and you and Elizabeth might have been able to save him together. But as long as you acted like Carly could do no wrong... like you owed them something, they owned you. I told you what I learned about Courtney, yet my guess is that you still feel guilty. Why the hell are you letting them have this much control?" he shouted then seeing the fear in the boys eyes walked away.
Jason felt ashamed but knew that AJ was right, but the problem was if his brother was correct, then it meant he had lost years because of his stupidity. It meant that there really was brain damage. Looking at the two boys seeking comfort from Johnny, he felt it eat at him that they didn't feel safe enough to come to him.
With his head down, he sat down on the hard packed sand and felt sorry for himself. "Jason, come play with us!" he heard the hesitant voice say.
Looking up at Cameron and Jake, Jason swallowed the lump in his throat and took the little boys' offered hands. When they were on their way back home, Johnny waited until it was almost nightfall to track Jason down on the patio. "Remember asking about those others in your life, there is one you forgot to ask about."
"Who?" he said still staring at the water in the distance.
"Yourself. You are not a bad guy Jason. But unlike others in our world, you feel guilt at what you do. It's why you let the users in and why you pushed Elizabeth away. Courtney, Sam and Carly were all the same. Whores who allowed you to keep a part of yourself to yourself. Unlike Elizabeth who my guess got in too deep in your heart."
Jason wanted to protest but knew the younger man was right. "What made you so smart when it comes to love."
"Only this. We are in the same boat. Lulu, may not have been like that yet, but she clearly is in training. Olivia was hard, deep down. She had to be. The father of her son loved her cousin, slept with her because she was available and Kate wasn't. I knew that softness and vulnerability were a bad idea. I am broken, I think you feel the same way."
Jason looked over at Johnny with new eyes, "So what do you do now?"
With a bitter chuckle, Johnny said "I stopped all contact with the only person who stood a chance of winning my heart and your burning down Crimson Point took care of the rest. The letters went up in flames. Maybe that is good, I will keep searching for someone who lets me feel half alive, but I know... I know that my one chance of being with someone true and loving is gone."
"Maybe not." said Jason. "I thought that Elizabeth and I were over so many times. I don't know for sure that we will end up with each other at the end of this, I would love for that to happen but I had a plan and something went wrong. She is never going to believe me since I made a similar mistake before."
"Well, why don't you go talk to her?" asked AJ. "She just went into Jake and Cameron's rooms."
"No, Tom asked me to stay away, at least until Elizabeth is up to talking to me." he said with a heavy sigh. "I need to figure out what went wrong. How Johnny ended up doing what he did first. It doesn't matter that it was him sleeping with Sam, she thought it was me."
No one saw the beautiful brunette who had been angrily stalking their way, stop cover her mouth like she was ready to toss her cookies and rush away. Arriving in her bathroom, Elizabeth's stomach revolted as what Jason said swam through her brain.
Sitting with her back to the door, she kept her angry sobs to herself as she pulled her knees in and just let the hot tears fall. What had she done? What had she allowed to happen?
A while later, her butt numb from sitting on the cold tiled floor, she got up and stripped, needing to take a shower. Soaping up, she tried to get her skin clean, but nothing seemed to be working. When the hot water had run out and her skin felt like it was on fire, she wrapped herself up in a towel and ruthlessly brushed the tangles out of her hair.
Johnny went back into the hallway to growl at the others. "Who used up all the hot water?"
"We have a hundred gallon tank, it is pretty much impossible to use that much water." said Jason standing while Tom looked up from the riddle they couldn't figure out.
Walking down the hallway, he knocked on Elizabeth's locked door. Getting no answer, he asked Jason to get them into the room. Picking the lock, Jason stepped back and let the doctor enter first only to hear him swearing.
Rushing into the bathroom, he saw Elizabeth who was lying unconscious with skin that was tomato red. Bending to pick her up, he heard Tom bark for AJ to get the first aid kit then tell Johnny to take the keys and find a pharmacy. "I need burn ointment. Lots of it."
"We need to take her to a hospital." insisted Jason.
"No." snapped Tom. "It's not that bad but she is going to be in pain. What the hell happened here?"
"I don't know." said Jason as he eased down the terry cloth robe while the woman on the bed whimpered in pain. Feeling it to his soul, Jason asked Tom what would help for now.
AJ came in while Tom held the sheet over Elizabeth without it touching her. "Leave that. Look, call the number in my book, tell Steven to get on a plane and get here now."
!!*!!
It was early the next morning when Sam woke up to the sound of loud music. "Spinelli. Spinelli. SPINELLI!!! TURN THAT SHIT DOWN!"
"Goddess, I have nothing on. The horrendous sounds are coming from the interloper staying in Stone Cold's abode."
Sam didn't bother dressing before going to bang on the door. When Carly opened the door, Michael stood behind his mother in case she needed his support. "Turn that shit down."
"I don't think so. In fact I think it needs to go louder." said Carly over the music. Heading over to the stereo, she turned it up as loud as it would go. The walls were thumping and things were shaking on the mantle.
Sam tried to push her way in when she saw Harper getting off the elevator. Turning to Carly she smirked and said "Well, I guess you will be turning it down now."
Detective Harper came over and asked Carly to turn it down at least for a couple of minutes. Starting to refuse she saw the name on the legal writ in the man's hand and told Michael to do as the man requested.
There was blissful silence then Spinelli entered the hallway. "Thank you, protector of the night."
"During daylight hours between eight am and ten pm there is no law that states she has to turn it down. I am here on another matter." he said. Turning to Sam he stated "You need to come down to the station with me. Go get dressed."
"On what grounds?" asked Sam.
Handing her the papers, he said "Suspicion of altering hospital records. Mr. Spinelli, you are required as well."
Still protesting they were joined by Maxie who was very snottily informed by Harper that her daddy was no longer the commissioner and that she could no longer order around cops like they were her personal servants.
Carly got ready to head out for the day, hoping to see Jason at some point. Leaving the stereo on, she escorted Micheal to Sonny's estate and went to deal with her hotel. Arriving she saw Jax talking to a couple of lawyer sorts. When he shook their hands and said "Good luck."
She moved in and said "What was that about?"
Looking her over, he said "The judge wants us in chamber this morning, until then stay away from me."
"But I need to arrange for a visit so that damn social worker can come and watch me with my own kids because of this nonsense you started." she protested. "I was thinking at none, today. I have nothing no on then."
"Morgan will be at school." he said fuming that her children had to be scheduled around Jason Morgan and Michael.
"He can be let out for a couple of hours, It won't hurt anything. We used to do it with Michael all the time." she said only to see Jax turn and wave at someone ignoring her. "Hey, I am talking to you."
"I will see you in court, Carly." with that he joined his new assistant.
Fuming Carly called Jason only to reach voice mail. "Jason, your ex-tramp of a girl friend has moved into Sonny's old place. I need your help in getting her out."
Johnny listened to "Jason's" messages and just gave a low chuckle as he went into the safe house. Locating the hidden cell phone, he charged it up and went through the other items in the box that Jason had told him about. Finding the letter to Elizabeth, he knew it was wrong but sat down and read it.
Swearing softly as the guilt ate at him, Johnny looked at the phone sick at heart. Jason HAD learned from his previous mistakes, but thanks to Jerry Jacks shooting him and his injury, Johnny hadn't managed to remember the box or note.
Thinking about the hurt expressions he had seen on her face over the last several months and what she had been doing, Johnny got how clearly he had screwed things up for the man who had saved his life. Sitting there, his head resting on the sofa back, he knew that Jason was going to kill him and that he deserved it.
The woman Jason loved had died believing that Jason had abandoned her for the woman who had hurt their sons and her. Johnny hadn't been flaunting that he was screwing Sam, but he knew that those around him had had their own agendas. He knew that this time thanks to him there was no fixing things as he drank the last of the beer in the house and fell asleep waiting for the agreed upon call-in time hoping someone would be calling.
!!*!!
Lucky saw Maxie smirking as Spinelli and Sam were allowed to leave the station. Walking over to the blond he asked what was going on. "They thought that Spinelli altered the records that proved the truth. That Elizabeth was a lying about who Jake's father is. Have you had any luck tracking down your son?"
"None, Elizabeth's family cleared her bank account to keep me from finding Jake. They know that there is no way I am going to be separated from him again. Luckily, I have a friend who has been willing to help."
Spinelli said "If you need any help, just let the Jackal know." He knew that Maxie would expect him to offer that, but in truth, he needed to make sure that Jake was never found again. If he returned to Port Charles, his biology would prove that Spinelli had jackaled the tests. He heard a beep and told Sam to stop. "I found Jason."
"Where?" she asked.
"A safe house, he never told me about it. It was apparently kept a secret so my guess is bad things went down there. I tagged Stone Cold's truck." he said with a grin. "Here you go. Now get our friend back, before the ghost of the bad maternal one consumes him."
Glaring at Spinelli for even thinking it was a possibility, it was one thing for her to think that inside her head, for the geek to vocalize it, was traitorous in her mind. Driving out to the house, she slipped out of her clothes and put her coat back on.
Seeing the fireplace lit, and the beer sitting on the table, Sam closed the door loudly only to hear footsteps that sounded too light to be Jason.
"Well, well, well. Too late, Sammy. Jason just left." said Carly as she did up the buttons on her shirt. "You know, he was really starving for it. You really need to learn how to give a good blow job, men enjoy that, so much."
"With your big mouth, I would expect you were an expert at it." she snapped at Carly who just laughed.
"I told you, he would be back in my bed, you, you are just a bad memory." said Carly going to pick up the beer on the table. Draining it, she said "Now if you will excuse me, I have an appointment to get my kids back. Then we will be one happy family."
"Jason, you and your kids by three different daddies. Dream on Carly, you don't stand a chance with Jason. This was no more than a one off. He will forgive me for sleeping with someone else, he always does." she said then followed the blond out.
Ethan listened as the blond and geek talked while walking to the docks. He was getting no place on who the father of Sam's kid was. He had eliminated a few people, but was still no closer than yesterday.
"Ethan!" Hearing his name he turned to Nik getting of the launch from Spoon Island, "Do you know where Lucky is?"
"No, what is going on?" he asked. The usually immaculate prince looked a bit worse for wear with his hair on end and a wild look in his eyes.
"I need to find Lucky." was all he snapped before heading to GH. Entering his office, he called Alexis who said she would be right there. Sighing she closed Sam's file and went to see her nephew.
"What is it?" she asked taking in the files on his desk and his wild expression.
"I have a problem. Someone is making a run on Cassadine Enterprises. I need to arrange a loan on GH. Can you make some arrangements for me." he asked handing her the financials from the hospital.
An hour later, she said "Got one. The interest is even doable, but they want the Island as collateral as well."
"Do it, I need to make payroll for the trading company and when I sell the goods I have in the warehouses, I will be fine after the Christmas season."
Alexis wasn't sure this was a good idea, but went ahead and made the arrangements. Giving him the information, she said "I have court this afternoon, but we need to discuss how this happened?"
"I am just a little tight right now and and one of my competitors saw an opportunity." he said. At the bank, he saw Alexis wasn't thrilled with the contract but signed it against her wishes. Taking the check, he went to his own bank and started authorizing payments to keep from losing everything.
!!*!!
AJ smiled coldly then told the banker in Port Charles "Give him three weeks, then call in the marker."
"What will you do with that Island?" asked their banker as he leaned back in the chair and stared at the phone like he could see him. His client had always been conservative with the funds, only the purchase of a Motorcycle company had been against his advice.
"Nothing, maybe turn it into a weigh station for ships." he said.
Monica saw they were driving into West Virginia and looked down at the paper again. The federal government set me up in the bowels of a classic retreat of the rich and famous in the event of war, but I was never used and am now a tourist attraction. Be sure to have tea in my world famous cafe and visit the falcons, before finding the clue on the crimson phone.
"Trust me, I am sure I am right." he said as they pulled onto the long drive way.
!!*!!
Olivia was waiting with Jax when Carly arrived. Moving closer to his soon to be ex-wife, he sniffed and said "You are drunk."
"No I had a beer, that is all." she insisted while glaring at Olivia. "What is SHE doing here?"
"I was testifying in regards to my lawsuit." she said coolly. "Have you heard the news. Sonny is going to jail, he took a deal. Twenty five years to life."
Shrugging Carly said "He did that for Micheal's sake."
When they left the courtroom, Alexis found herself feeling slightly sorry for Carly. She had lost custody of Morgan and Jocelyn and was under orders to apologize to the woman from Social Services. Carly had been shocked when the tape of her call to the woman had been played in court, costing her any chance of her children.
!!*!!
Jason woke up from the chair where he was sitting. Elizabeth was crying out in her sleep, the burns were cooling down, but it was clear that whatever was going on was in her head. Reaching out to grasp her hand, he felt her pull away and heard her begging someone for forgiveness.
"Elizabeth, there is nothing for you to ask forgiveness, for. Please, sweetheart, wake up. Even if you hate me, I can live with that, but please, whatever is hurting you, please let it go. I love you, please, come home to me."
When she seemed to relax, Jason laid down as close as he dared, hoping she would give him a chance.
Elizabeth was dreaming. Jason couldn't forgive her, her grams blamed her for lying and she was alone. Just like she deserved. She hadn't trusted Jason, instead she had let Lucky back in and had done the unforgivable, she had slept with Nik in an effort to get her heart to move on. Instead she had finally torn the bonds that had been frayed but never broken in the past.
As the tears slid down her face, she felt someone trying to comfort her, but knew there was no way anyone would ever forgive her for this one. She stood back, telling Jason to take the boys, that she was a terrible parent. Watching as he agreed, she saw Monica and Edward shaking their heads in disgust while Cam and Jake clung to Jason.
Waking up screaming, Elizabeth realized that it was dark and that she hurt all over. Feeling someone trying to reach out to her, she looked into those unforgettable eyes and said repeatedly. "I am so sorry, I am so sorry, I know I screwed up, I know you hate me. I am so sorry."
Jason tried to hug her, but she just kept backing away, until she was against the wall. Hearing her moan at the pain, Jason said "Please, Elizabeth, please sweetheart, let me help you."
TBC