A/N – Thanks for the comments! This chapter is intense. I can't believe that we have one more chapter left! It's been a great journey and I do hope you enjoyed it. I've written so many fics that it's really hard to be totally original, but I try. I decided to post two smaller ones after this. I thought posting a smaller one last time (even though you asked me to make it longer lol) was a good way to break things up. The first one you'll kind of be surprised by and then I'll post Anger girl.

Chapter 36 – This is War

AJ walked into the room and opened fire. He had Tracy in front of him and Jason stood up and ran towards Elizabeth who was now on the floor with Jax and Emily.

"Freeze," AJ yelled.

Jason stopped and looked at him. He was practically shaking with anger.

"AJ what the hell do you think you're doing?" Monica yelled.

"You know damned well what I'm doing," AJ said loudly. "Don't move, brother, or you'll die faster than I intended."

Tracy looked at Jason. He could see the fear in her eyes.

"It's me that you want, so leave them alone."

"Always the hero. This is my show and things will happen my way," he said icily.

Emily rolled Jax over and gasped as she saw the bullet wound in his chest. Elizabeth was scared to death but she totally went into nurse mode and got on her knees and put pressure on the wound.

Jax was gasping for air. "Love you." He felt for sure that he was a goner.

Emily was crying. "I love you too. Please don't leave me," she begged.

Jax's eyes filled with tears and he took one more breath before becoming really still.

"No," Emily screamed.

"Isn't this heartbreaking," AJ said pouting.

Elizabeth tried to give him CPR but he wasn't responding. She started to cry realizing there was nothing more they could do. Emily was hysterical. Liz tried to calm her but Emily's heart was broken. She stood up as tears poured down her face. "Are you happy now AJ? You asshole," she yelled as she walked towards him. "You killed him."

"Stop right there." AJ said.

"Fuck you AJ. I hate you. I tried so many times to be there for you but you always just spit in my face and kept being the loser that you are. You deserve to die. In fact, we are not leaving here until you are fucking dead even if I have to do it myself," she yelled.

AJ laughed. "You're such a drama queen. You always were. This isn't about you Emily. This is about what this family did to me and you will all pay for treating me like shit."

Emily laughed. "How old are you? You act like an overgrown toddler. AJ doesn't get his way and no one kissed his ass like he wanted them to, so you think you have the right to take people's lives?"

"Shut up," AJ yelled.

"I will not shut up," Emily screamed. "You're a fucking mental patient. Why don't you just put that gun in your mouth and pull the trigger because you're right AJ, nobody gives a shit about you right now. How could we love someone as disgusting and vile as you?"

He pointed the gun at Emily and Monica and Alan gasped.

"Go ahead AJ, pull the trigger. I dare you. You don't have the fucking balls to do it," she yelled.

Jason sucked his breath in. Emily was out of control and he was scared AJ would kill her.

"Do it," she screamed dropping to her knees. "I hate you so much," said sobbing. "Just do it!"

AJ watched her fall apart and returned the gun to Tracy's head. "Poor little Emily. Maybe now you'll know how it feels to be all alone like I was."

Emily's hair was stuck to her face which was covered with tears and she slowly lifted her eyes and fixed him with her stare. "But I'm not alone AJ. I have my family. You will always be alone, even in death," she said with a smirk.

AJ took the gun off of Tracy and pointed it at Jason. Elizabeth gasped.

"Please don't do this," Lila said loudly.

AJ looked over at her for a moment. "You never stopped them. You took their side so I don't give a shit what you have to say."

"Don't you disrespect her like that," Edward yelled.

"Oh shut it old man. You paid me off to go away like I never existed. Say another word and you die."

Monica's shoulders started to shake as she cried. It hurt so badly that her son had turned out this way.

"Any last words Jason?"

Emily and Elizabeth sucked in their breath.

Jax's body moved slightly and Liz's gaze met his and she realized he was still alive. She put her hand over the wound again and held it there. "Hang in there," she whispered.

"I love you Elizabeth. Don't be scared," Jason said looking over at her, wondering why she was leaning over Jax again.

"I love you too," she said loudly.

"Goodbye brother."

AJ fired off two shots as screams filled the room.

Emily's mouth dropped open when she saw Jason fall to the floor and Elizabeth went totally pale. Jerry crawled over to her and caught her as she fell backwards and laid her down gently. He saw Jax look at him and he quickly took Elizabeth's place applying pressure.

Screams filled the room as chaos erupted. Emily growled and stood up and started to charge AJ. He held up the gun and pointed it at her, and from the floor Jason grabbed his gun and lifted his arm. It shook a little at first, but then he held his breath and tried to steady it. Tracy's mouth dropped open and she closed her eyes as Jason pulled the trigger and shot AJ in the head. His body fell backwards as he took Tracy with him.

Jason's gun clattered to the floor and everything started to blur. He could feel that someone was above him, talking to him, but he couldn't hear what they said and then he quickly lost consciousness.

IiIiIiIiIiIiIiIiIiIiI

Johnny and Kristen went into her room and she started to strip. He sat on the couch and watched her, making sure his hand wasn't far from his gun. "Do you like what you see?" she asked.

He smirked. "Nice stems."

"Thank you. Why don't we go into the bedroom?" she asked.

He nodded and stood up and followed her. Just a little longer and he would end the bitch. "Get on the bed," he demanded.

"I like a man that takes charge," Kristen said as a shudder went through her body. Johnny looked all kinds of hot.

He watched her sit on the bed and then he was on her. His left hand went around her neck as Kristen's eyes widened.

"Do you like it rough?"

A small smile crept onto her face.

"I wouldn't stick my dick in you if you were the last woman on earth," he said angrily.

Her face registered the shock of knowing that he was on to her.

"You fucking bitch. Did you really think that you would get away with this?"

"Can't….breathe," she said gasped out as Johnny tightened his grip.

"You're going to die now Kristen so you breathing, doesn't matter."

She tried to plead with him and then Johnny took out his gun and pressed it against the side of her head. He stared at her lethally for a long moment as tried to no avail to struggle against him.

"This is for Susan and Elizabeth," he said before letting her go and stepping back. She sat up and gulped in air right before the force of the gunshot threw her body back onto the bed in a heap.

Johnny walked up to her. "Right between the eyes," he muttered before turning away. Making sure he wiped everything he touched clean, he called a crew and told them to get up to the room.

IiIiIiIiIiIiIiIiIiIiI

The room downstairs was in chaos. Mac, Robert, and Anna burst inside and their mouths dropped open when they saw the carnage.

Seeing that AJ was dead, they waved the EMT's in and they started working on Jason, Jax, and Elizabeth. Emily was staring at Jax's blood on her hands and then tried to wipe it off on her clothing. Tracy was having problems catching her breath and the rest of the people in the room were stunned to say the least.

Edward watched as Jax was pushed out of the room. Jason was next and then Elizabeth. Lila noticed his hand was shaking.

"Edward darling, they'll be okay."

"I don't think any of us will be okay after this," he said softly.

Anna knelt down next to Emily. "Come on sweetie. You need to get checked out."

Emily didn't respond.

Anna looked up at Mac. "She's in shock Mac."

Monica sat down next to Emily. "Emily, Jax is still alive. We need to go to the hospital."

Emily shook her head. "No. AJ killed him. He's dead."

"Emily, he's not. I swear to you. Will you come with me?" Monica asked touching her daughter who flinched away.

Johnny ran into the room and sucked in a breath. He saw AJ, but noticed that Jason and Elizabeth weren't there. Mac filled him.

Emily's eyes rose and found Johnny's and her bottom lip trembled. Johnny thought his heart was going to break. He walked over to her and held out his hand. "Let me help you Emily," he said softly.

"They're all dead," she muttered.

Johnny knelt down and took her face in his hands. "Have I ever lied to you?"

"No."

"I need you to listen to me. Jason and Jax aren't dead. You're going to get up and come to the hospital with me. That's an order," he said firmly. "Okay?"

She nodded as her eyes filled with tears.

Johnny helped her stand and then picked her up and carried her out of the room. Edward stayed behind while they gave Tracy oxygen and Monica, Alan, and Jerry headed to the hospital.

IiIiIiIiIiIiIiIiIiIiI

Monica and Alan rushed into the emergency room. "How is he?" she asked Leyla.

She slightly smiled confusing them for a moment. "He had a Kevlar vest on."

Monica let out a huge sigh of relief. "Thank God."

"He's bruised but he's stable. He had a flesh wound on his arm but it went through."

Alan hugged Monica into him. "What about Elizabeth?"

"Her blood pressure is high but once she found out he would be okay, she settled down a little."

"What about Jax?" Jerry asked.

Leyla sighed. "He's in surgery. Patrick and Steven are working on him. They lost him once but got him right back."

Jerry closed his eyes and Bobby put her arm around his waist.

Johnny walked towards them. "They had to sedate Emily. She's a wreck. I think once she sees that Jax and Jason are alive for herself, it will help."

"Thank you for helping her," Monica said gripping his arm.

Edward walked into the room with a pale Tracy by his side. They had sent Alice home with Lila. Monica gave him an update and they all sat down.

Leyla came and got them several minutes later and took Monica and Alan back to see Jason.

Monica rushed into the room. "I'm so glad that you're okay," she said before kissing his hand.

"I hurt but I'll be fine."

Alan slightly smiled. "I'm glad you wore the vest."

"Me too. I need you to help me see Elizabeth," he said.

"I'll go check on her in a minute," Monica promised.

"How's Emily?" he asked.

"I think she needs to see you for herself," Alan said.

Jason nodded. He understood completely. It had been horrible watching her fall apart like that. He just hoped that Jax would pull through.

Monica slipped away and Alan sat down. He was tired and everything that happened took a toll on him as much as he tried to hide it.

"Maybe you should get checked out," Jason said.

Tracy walked into the room. "He's right."

Alan looked up at her. "I'm fine."

Tracy rolled her eyes. "None of us are fine."

Jason studied his aunt.

"Thank you for saving me," she said softly.

"I couldn't let him hurt you or Emily," Jason replied.

"I still can't believe he did all of that," Tracy said wiping a tear away.

They were all silent and then Jason was shocked when Monica appeared in the doorway, pushing Elizabeth in a wheelchair.

Liz burst into tears when she saw him and Monica pushed her to the bed.

"I'm okay," he said looking her up and down.

"I'm fine and the baby is fine," Elizabeth said standing up. "We just need you."

"You've got me," Jason said softly. "Come here."

She climbed into the bed and kissed him and then carefully laid next to him. Monica covered them up.

Leo walked in. "Your chest x-rays show some swelling. Even though you had the vest on, he practically shot you point blank. You'll have some deep bruising which will be painful. We want you to stay overnight."

"Other than that he's fine?" Monica asked.

"Yes. You're a lucky man. The other bullet just grazed your arm so we patched it up and I'll give you some antibiotics."

"Thank God," Alan muttered.

"I'm going to go check on Emily," Leo said walking out.

Monica followed him and the rest stayed put. Edward walked in and patted Jason on the leg. "I'm glad you're okay."

"Me too. How are you holding up?" Jason asked.

"I'm as okay as I can be."

"I think you should take Alan and go home," Jason suggested.

"I'll go after I know Emily will be okay," Alan said.

Edward noticed that Jason didn't seem to like that. "Monica is here and I'm sure she'll call. Jason is right. We need to rest. That means you too Tracy."

Tracy nodded. "I'm ready to go."

Alan stood up and squeezed Jason's hand and then looked at Elizabeth. "Take care of him for me."

She smiled. "I will."

They left and Johnny walked into the room.

"Hey. What happened?" Jason asked.

"She's taken care of," Johnny said quietly.

"Good," Elizabeth added.

"You have like nine lives," Johnny said looking at Jason who smirked.

"I think I need like twenty to live in Port Charles," Jason quipped.

Johnny chuckled. "Hopefully, things will be quiet for a long time."

"Amen," Liz muttered.

IiIiIiIiIiIiIiIiIiIiI

Patrick walked into Emily's room. She was still out but Monica was awake.

"How is he?" she asked.

"He's in I.C.U. He made it but he has a long road ahead of him," Patrick said.

"How much damage?" Monica asked.

Patrick chuckled and shook his head. "He's the luckiest man on earth. It just nicked his left lung but missed everything else and exited. I cleaned him up. He lost a lot of blood so we had to do a transfusion but he made it."

Monica smiled. "That's the best news ever."

"When she wakes up, we'll have her talk to Lainey and then maybe take her to see Jason first. She needs to be a bit more stable before we let her see Jax."

"I agree," Monica said.

Two hours later, Jason's eyes flickered open and he saw Emily and Monica walk into the room. Emily gasped as she watched her brother smile at her.

"It's okay Emily. I'm going to be fine. You really didn't think I'd leave you did you?"

"I saw you get shot," she said emotionally.

"I had on a Kevlar vest," he explained.

She started to cry and then moved over to the bed. Jason wished he could hug her. She went to the other side of the bed and leaned over and kissed his head. "Monica said you saved me."

"Always," Jason said softly. "I love you Emily."

"I love you too," she said giving him a watery smile.

"You feel a little better now?" Monica asked.

Emily shut her eyes and took a languid breath. "Yes. I'm ready to see Jax now."

Monica nodded.

"I'll come see you in the morning," Emily said squeezing his hand.

'Okay," Jason said.

He watched them walk out and then shut his eyes and went back to sleep.

IiIiIiIiIiIiIiIiIiIiI

The next morning, Elizabeth quietly got out of the bed and went to the bathroom. When she came back, she noticed that Jason was in pain.

"I'll go get the doctor."

"No, I can call the nurse."

He could tell she was really worried so he pressed the call button and soon Epiphany walked into the room.

"I know you missed me Jason, but you didn't have to get admitted again," she said playfully.

He smirked. "I thought I'd give Patrick some competition."

Sarah clucked as she walked into the room. "Seriously Epiphany, your milkshake brings all the boys to the yard."

Epiphany chuckled. "And how are you and the baby?"

Liz smiled. "Good. She's been kicking up a storm this morning."

"She's probably hungry."

Johnny walked in with a bag. "Well if my baby is hungry then her godfather has to do something about that."

Liz grinned. "I knew I could depend on you."

Jason rolled his eyes.

Johnny put down some fruit and an omelet with toast from Kelly's.

"Yum," Elizabeth said.

Food was the last thing on Jason's mind.

Kelly walked in and chuckled as Liz had already started to inhale the eggs. "How are you feeling?"

Liz nodded as she chewed.

"I'll take that as good," Kelly said before looking over at Johnny who gave her a quick peck. "When you finish eating, I'm going to take you to get an exam."

"Okay," Elizabeth said in between bites.

Jason smiled as he watched her eat and when she was done, Johnny got her situated in the wheelchair and pushed her over to Kelly's office.

IiIiIiIiIiIiIiIiIiIiI

Jax's eyes fluttered open and he looked around and saw Emily asleep on a cot. They had taken out the tube earlier and he had fallen right back asleep. He was tired and his chest ached but he was alive.

"Good morning brother," Jerry said smiling.

"Morning."

"You look like shit."

Jax slightly smiled, "Is that your medical opinion?"

Jerry chuckled.

"How is she?" he asked softly. His throat was still sore.

"A mess. She broke down completely and even dared AJ to shoot her."

Jax's eyes grew wide.

"We all thought you were dead."

"I think I was for a minute."

Jax couldn't even imagine if the shoe were on the other foot. He would have lost his mind if he thought he had watched Emily die. Her eyes fluttered open and when she saw his blue eyes she shot up. "Jax."

"Slow down," he said smiling.

Jerry reached out to steady her.

"I just love you so much," she said emotionally.

"I love you too."

She leaned over and kissed him softly. "Are you in pain?"

"It hurts. Is AJ dead?"

"Yes. He was going to shoot me but Jason shot him first."

Jax frowned. "Where is he?"

"He was shot too but luckily, he had a vest on," Emily explained.

"Jesus," Jax muttered. "I'm glad that you're okay."

"By tomorrow, you should be moved out of here into a regular room."

Jerry cleared his throat. "Mom is on the way."

Emily and Jerry laughed at the expression on his face.

"Now you know that there is no way that Lady Jane would not hop on a plane after she heard what had happened," Jerry said smirking. "She'll probably want to stay and take care of you."

Jax moaned. "I'll need more pain meds."

Emily grinned. It was good seeing him talk. She had lost it the night before and never had felt so out of control. Lainey offered to talk to her more and she was going to take her up on it. She still needed to talk things through and get her head on straight. Hopefully, she'd never have to go through anything like that again.

Christmas was coming and they all had something to be thankful for.