To those hoping for the demise of Courtney, just hold on a second. I'm not finished with her yet. Carly will be telling the truth when it suits her purposes, while she is a slightly kinder version, she is still CARLY. Those of you enjoying Lizzie will be seeing her soon, as well. Plus things have been way too easy for Jason and Liz. That won't be lasting too long.

Switching Places

Chapter 8

Elizabeth was yawning as she let herself into Kelly's. Seeing a shadow on the wall, Francis who had insisted on checking the empty diner, grabbed the man and crashed him into the wall next to the jukebox. Elizabeth moved back only to realize that her bodyguard was holding Lucky.

"Lucky! What are you doing?" She asked as Francis made his reluctance to let the man go clear.

"I wanted to talk, but Morgan's thug here attacked me." He said rubbing his arm. "So he has thugs around to keep you from talking to your friends, can't you see he is trying to keep you from realizing that you are making a mistake."

"Since Jason offered to fly me out to see Emily, I would say he isn't keeping me from my friends, as for making a mistake that was what I did when I walked away from the man I loved to save you last year. Now either let me get the diner opened or do it yourself. Either way I don't really care what you want."

"See you are already acting like I don't matter." He said starting to move in closer when Francis made it clear he had better back off.

"Lucky, you don't. Your opinion on my life means nothing. I think that should have been made perfectly clear by now."

As she went to make coffee and start opening for the day, she could hear Lucky making a call and she went to make one of her own. Calling Bobbie who she knew had just worked the night shift, she told her that Lucky was harassing her and could Mike or Summer work this morning.

When the door opened Elizabeth expected to see her boss not Nik. The Prince came in and walked over to her saying Lucky called. "Don't even start Nik; we both know that you owe Jason your life. Also that if it weren't for me your brother would still be obeying that nice shiny rock that Helena had. So don't even think you have a right to tell me how to live my life."

"I learned my lesson last time, but Elizabeth if you ever need me, just know that I'm there for you."

"Why?" She asked baldly.

"You were my friend long before I came to care for my brother. Your being with Jason doesn't change that. I wish you were seeing someone else, but I won't tell you not to. Zander was correct; I have been treating you like Helena treated me."

"Good, now go tell you brother that."

"He could but unfortunately my son has turned into Scott Baldwin." Said an entering Laura with Bobbie.

"Nik go get your brother, tell him I want to talk to him immediately." Said Laura as Luke entered looking rumbled and slightly hung over.

"Why am I here?" He asked after thanking Liz for the cup of coffee she handed him.

When Laura saw Lucky coming down the stairs, she ordered him to sit and said "We are having a quick Spencer family meeting. Lucky, don't you roll your eyes at me."

Bobbie sat on one of the counter chairs and said "Lucky if I ever hear about you annoying Elizabeth when she is here again; I will kick your rear out of here. Got it?"

"She is sleeping with Morgan, how can you-"

"Lucky, I don't care if you walked into the kitchen and found them having sex on the grill, it is their business, not yours. Got it. Now I would suggest that you take a good look in the mirror and realize that this jealous of Morgan is stupid."

Glaring at Elizabeth, he stormed up the stairs to get ready for work, followed by Nik telling him to stop before he loses Elizabeth's friendship.

"Elizabeth, honey. I called Mike he was rather eager to come in and work. He said he actually enjoyed working the last few days. Courtney is supposed to return to work tomorrow so he was rather glad to finish up the week."

"Thanks, Bobbie. I'm sorry to have called you, but Lucky just kept pushing it."

"Elizabeth, I hope this won't stop you from coming to our wedding?" Asked Laura.

"You can even bring the walking cement wall." Said Luke who just laughed as she glared at him.

When Mike arrived, Elizabeth called and let Jason know she was going to work at the studio for a while. After grabbing breakfast for Francis and her she started out the door only to run into AJ talking to Mike in the courtyard as he sat up the outside tables.

"Elizabeth, have you seen Courtney?" Asked Jason's brother.

"Not since the night she was at Sonny's. Why?"

"Her clothes were at the apartment but she never came home. There was a message saying she was visiting Carly. I called over there and Lucas said she wasn't there and that Carly just left alone. Since she has Rosie with her, I'm not too worried."

Elizabeth thought about some things, and turned to AJ and said "I think Courtney is upset about something." She said lamely.

"Mike, if you see her, tell her to call me." The older man was well aware that Courtney had more than likely thrown a snit. She had been happy when she thought she would move into the large mansion on the other side of town and when they had moved into that one bedroom apartment she had told her father that she could have had that in Atlantic City. He had been expecting her to leave AJ any day.

Elizabeth went to the studio, shaking her head. Seeing AJ following her, Francis glared at the man. "Elizabeth do you have a few minutes? Look I am sure that you are aware that my wife is interest in my brother, she has made her feeling rather obvious."

"AJ, Jason and I are together. Courtney has to have seen that fact. She is more than likely visiting someone to deal with it. I'm sorry, I know that you do love her."

"I did, but I have no urge to have another Carly in my life. If you see her, tell her to call me." He said.

Once she was settled, Elizabeth started to paint the picture of the kittens on Jason's pool table. When she needed more Kelly green, she went to ask Francis if they could run to the paint store only to realize it was almost two thirty and that she had to get to the post office.

Grabbing the caricatures that she had drawn for Emily, she picked up the envelope and rushed to the door. "Francis, I'm so sorry, I lost track of time. Can we make it to the post office before three, I promised to send these to Emily and then I will buy you lunch."

"Don't worry about the lunch, Miss Webber. Max brought some over earlier when I let Jason know about AJ."

"I can't believe that I painted through all that." She said as they drove to the post office.

Once the package was in the mail, they went to the paint store where she ran into Felecia Jones purchasing some poster board. As she told the older woman about the kittens she saw the sign making material.

"This is just perfect. You could make the signs better than I can. This morning the girls found a dog wandering around the park, he looked half-starved, but had a collar on. We are planning on making signs to find the owner."

"Where is the dog?"

"At the Brownstone. Do you think you could come over and draw a picture of the dog?"

Walking in she saw Maxie taking a steak out of a take out box and placing it in the microwave as Carly entered. "That is my steak." She said to the young blond.

"But the dog is starving; Michael would give it to him if he were here." She said.

"Then it's a good thing that Michael has classes today." She said as Maxie pivoted and ran off with the steak.

"Felicia she just took my lunch, do something." Ordered Carly. "Stop laughing muffin, this isn't funny."

"Yes, it is. Carly would you actually eat leftovers?"

Glaring at the artist she said "It's the principle of the thing. It's mine."

"It's going for a good cause. Now let me go and draw this thing so they can find its owner."

Hearing a splash, Carly had a bad feeling, which was proven true when Rosie came crashing into the kitchen with soap all over her wet body. Hopping up onto the counter she watched as Rosie pinned Elizabeth to the ground and licked her face as she shook her body dried.

"Help me!" Elizabeth called out to Carly, wishing that Francis had come into the house when the laughing blond just sat there with her legs on the counter.

"No way! That thing slobbers and these shoes are new."

"So help me Carly, when I get up I'm going to beat you with those shoes."

Georgie entered and helped get Rosie off of Elizabeth, once the younger girl had taken the dog into the other room, Carly got down and took a wash cloth, and warming it she tossed it at the artist saying she had dog drool on her chin.

"You are evil, you do know that don't you?" Asked Elizabeth as she glared at the laughing blond.

"Sorry, but it was hilarious from my point of view." She said pulling a nail file out and fixing a ragged nail.

"What was Rosie doing wandering in the park without Courtney?"

"Lucas told me AJ was looking for her earlier."

"I have to over to the Quartermaines to take something to Lila, if you hear anything let me know." Said Elizabeth as she walked out the door even more rumpled then when she entered.

"Francis, I have to run to my grandmothers then to the Quartermaines." Elizabeth placed the box in the trunk, after refusing to let Francis carry it. Seeing the neat and pressed outfit she had changed into they went to the mansion to see Lila.

"My dear, how nice to see you." She was greeted by the elderly lady and handed her a package. "What is this my dear?"

"Open it." She said.

Lila opened the flat package and laughed softly when she saw the black and white pen drawing of Jason and the kittens at the pool table. "This is lovely my dear. Where did the kittens come from?"

Elizabeth told her the tale of the Jones girls and then mentioned Rosie. "So Courtney lost her dog. She must be looking for it today. That must be why no one can find the girl. Have you found a home for the kittens yet? I would love one."

"They are rather mischievous." Elizabeth warned.

"They are kittens, my dear. It also sounds like they would fit in well with the Quartermaines. My dear, could you please run into Edwards's study and get me the photo album that is in there."

As she walked up to Edwards private study, she could hear the older man talking on the phone to someone, she listened for a few minutes then knocking on the door, to get the album, she told Lila she had to go and went outside to call Alexis.

The woman said she would bring the blond to the studio. Elizabeth then went to find Zander. As she knocked on the door of his seedy hotel room, she was grabbed by Johnny and dragged into his hotel room along with Francis.

"Why are you here?"

"We are looking for Zander. Why?"

"You need to leave now. As for Zander he never returned last night. Go now. I will let you know if I see him."

Once back at the studio, Elizabeth waited for the other two women to do what she had asked. When she heard the knocking on the door, she let them in. "Carly, I think that Courtney was kidnapped in my place. AJ hasn't seen her for a few days; Rosie looks like hasn't been feed in days. Edward was telling someone that AJ had someone call him pretending to kidnap Courtney for money. What if it wasn't a pretense?"

"Someone would have noticed she was missing Elizabeth," said Alexis.

"Not really, she was suspended from work, AJ thought she was visiting Carly, Sonny thought she went home to AJ. I think Zander knew something about this. That is what I think his visit was about."

"What do we do?"

"Jason is out of reach doing something for Sonny this afternoon, so we have to go to Sonny with this."

"No." echoed from both sides of the room. Looking at Carly and Alexis, she said we have to tell them that Courtney has been kidnapped.

"What are we going to say that I knew she was kidnapped and where she is being held because you were supposed to be the one kidnapped. Sonny will laugh us out of the penthouse. We have to do this ourselves."

Chapter 9

Courtney woke up holding onto Zander; she was cold and scared. The two of them had sat up most of the night talking to keep from being scared of what was going to happen to them. "Zander we have to try and get out of here before they kill us."

"I know, give me your flashlight, I'm going to bang on the walls until we find a weak spot."

Elizabeth knew this was a bad idea, but found herself following Alexis and Carly to the old cemetery on the outskirts of town. Francis had no idea why they were here. He called for reinforcements just to be safe.

"So where did this happen Carly?"

"I don't recall, just that you were being held here."

"Great so all we can do is wandering around looking for some kind of clue. I'm not Nancy Drew." Said Alexis.

"No, she was younger; you are more like the old Woman from Murder She Wrote," replied Carly.

Elizabeth tried not to laugh, but found herself chuckling in spite of herself, just as they were going to give up they could hear a pounding on the wall of a crypt. Looking up Carly said "How did I forget that? I knew there was something about ELQ."

Francis came over and saw the lock and said "It's new, I'll be right back with a crowbar."

The two men watched as the guard walked away towards the car, "You deal with him, I will take care of our visitors. We might have a way to keep Morgan in line after all."

The second man knocked out Francis, then joined his cohort. "Now what?"

Elizabeth walked around the abandoned cemetery picking up a large log she went over and tried to use it to get the attention of Courtney by hitting the side of the building. "Come around to the front and join your friends." She heard. Turning she saw the man standing there with a gun pointed at her.

Not fighting, she came around the corner and saw another man holding a gun on Carly and Alexis. "Who are you?" She asked.

"No one that needs to concern you. My; oh my, Jason Morgan's girlfriend, waltz's right into my hands my boss will be so happy."

"I doubt that." She said seeing Francis creeping up with Max.

"I think I that you are wrong." He said just as Francis knocked him out, Max was having a tougher time, as the other kidnapper was much larger. Seeing that Francis was restraining his man, she went to help Max, picking up the log she hit the man on the head, knocking him out.

"Thanks, Miss Webber. His head was a lot harder than it looks."

Francis started to open the lock, when Max told him to stop. Sniffing the air, he said for the women to run that they would get Courtney out. "That smell is gas. GO!"

Francis finished unlocking the door, seeing Courtney and an unconscious Zander they grabbed the two of them and rushed away as fast as they could. Just as they hit the edge of the fencing, the whole thing exploded.

Five minutes later they could hear the sirens, Taggert soon arrived with the fire trucks and ambulances that took Zander away along with the two would be kidnappers. "Well, well. What do we have here?"

Courtney looked at Elizabeth, glaring at the brunette and plotted revenge. The medic had said that there was a very good chance Zander would die and he was the only one who would tell the truth. She knew that Carly would back her up the blond hated Elizabeth even more than she did.

"What we have is Elizabeth Webber trying to finish me off after kidnapping me. She was planning on killing me because she knew that I'm in love with Jason. Ask Carly, she has been threatening me."

Carly felt her mouth fall open at what had come out of Courtney's mouth. Why would she do this?

"Mrs. Quartermaine those are some rather serious charges, I would ask that you think about what you are saying before telling them again." Cautioned Taggert. He had known Elizabeth since she was fifteen and while her choice in friends was criminal there was no way she would kidnap anyone.

"I'm telling the truth, she called me at Sonny's and asked me to come over to her studio the other night, There were two men there, they knocked me out and I woke up here. They said that this was all Elizabeth's fault."

Alexis was wondering if insanity was the result of being kidnapped. Why else would Courtney be saying these things. "Do you have any proof?" She asked.

"Yes, I do. How else did she know where to find me?"

"Elizabeth, just what were you doing here?" Asked Taggert.

"Elizabeth, don't answer that. As your attorney, I'm advising you to not answer any questions." Said Alexis, She wanted Elizabeth arrested and knew that if she refused to answer Taggert would take her down to the station. This could help solve the Courtney problem. One thing would never change, she knew that Sonny might not be related to Elizabeth by blood but he had always thought of the brunette as family.

"Alexis, you know Elizabeth didn't kidnap her, so just let her answer the question." Said Taggert getting the feeling that something was going on that he didn't know.

Carly had figured out that Alexis was trying to do, wincing at the end of her friendship with Courtney and said "No way, we are not going to let you twist this Taggert."

"Elizabeth, I'm sorry about this, but I need to bring you down to the station."

"I'm riding with my client." Stated Alexis.

"Fine." Turning Taggert ordered the two uniformed officers to take the women straight to the station, then told Courtney she had to come down for questioning as well.

"Can't that wait?" She whined.

"No, otherwise, I have to let Elizabeth go as well. Do you want your kidnapper walking around?" He mocked. Elizabeth Webber no more kidnapped the dumb blond than Lila Quartermaine did. Thinking on it, Taggert thought, well Mrs. Lila would be more likely to do it, since it would get her out of AJ's life.

Francis called Sonny and told the mobster what was going on, Sonny went straight to the station.

Mac took the call from Taggert and called looking for Audrey Hardy only to find out she was having tea with Lila and Gail. Stopping at the Quartermaine mansion on the way to the station, he informed the nurse what was going on.

Edward listened to the man talking and went straight to his office, there was no way he was letting that blond she-devil do this. She was after Jason's money and he would not let her get her hooks into another one of his grandsons. Calling AJ he ordered the younger man to the police station, saying it was about his wife.

Jason pulled out his phone and turned it back on, feeling the need for a shower. They were halfway back from Atlantic City with Milo when he heard his phone chirp. Hearing the message he called Sonny's phone and got his voicemail. Cursing, he told Milo to step on it that Elizabeth had been arrested.

Sitting in interrogation room one, Elizabeth watched as Carly slipped into the room. "Has Courtney always been a drama queen or is this something new? You won't believe the story she is trying to give them."

Looking at Alexis, Elizabeth smirked and said "You just didn't notice because you the other you is one as well."

"I have a plan."

"NO, please Carly I beg of you, no plan. Let me deal with this." Said Alexis.

"It's a good one." She said earnestly.

"Oh god, I'm going to prison." Moaned Elizabeth as Carly kept saying she would take care of things.

Taggert opened the door and said "Ladies; we have several inconsistencies in these stories how about we take care of this now?"

"Elizabeth, don't say a word." Said Justus as he entered the room followed by Edward who was saying Don't worry my dear, I won't let that greedy wench tell any more lies.

"Edward, I'm more than capable of arranging for an attorney for my granddaughter. My poor little one, I called Lee, he is on his way. This is what happens, when you hang around with Jason. I know he has you believing that he--"

Elizabeth shook her head as her grandmother was drowned out by Nik and Lucky shouting at Scott to let her go that he had to know she didn't do this.

Sonny walked into the station, shocked at the complete bedlam. Turning to the person standing next to him he asked what was going on?"

AJ looked at him in amazement then saw the moment Sonny realized who he was talking to. "I have no idea what is going on here. Edward just called and said that Courtney was here."

Luke walked into the station responding to a call from Lucky. Laughing his head off as he got the gist of the story, he sidled into the crowded room where Elizabeth was sitting staring at everyone. Walking over he whispered "It almost makes you want to confess just to get away doesn't it."

Elizabeth closed her eyes and placed her hands over her ears when she heard the last thing she ever expected, Carly stood on a chair and yelling "Will everyone please shut up. We all know the muffin didn't do this. Now just give Alexis a change to prove it." The room quieted down, as everyone turned to stare at the blond like she had confessed.

Opening her eyes at the silence, Elizabeth looked across the room and sapphire eyes meet azure blue ones.

TBC