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The Flame of Franco

Therapy...

"How are you doing today?" asked Dr. Winters towards Sam from across the room. The therapist looked over the rims of her glasses, studying Sam's face waiting for her answers. It had been a rocking start for the two of them. Sam had never wanted to come in the first place to therapy but Robin had convinced her that it would help her get through what she had been through. For she had no one she could really talk to about what had happened.

Sam just looked at the doctor for a brief moment, debating how to answer. Today wasn't really a good day for her. Since the christening a few days ago, she had not been able to sleep. She found herself not being able to concentrate on anything going on around her. Hearing Franco's voice had brought it all back to her. And now she found that it wouldn't leave her; his voice forever in her ear.

"I have been better," replied Sam, coldly; her dark eyes staring into those of her doctor. She had not wanted to come today but Jason had given her no real choice. He wanted her to get help. He was afraid that all the progress she had made in the last couple of weeks would go to waste since Franco had made his presence known yet again.

"Is there anything you want to talk about?" asked Dr. Winters, as she folded her hands in her lap. She knew about Franco's latest message. And since she had last seen her, she did look a little better. She was acting like her old cold self towards her. Sam had been in a bad shape that day that Jason had brought her in to see her.

Sam's brown eyes stared at the doctor. No there wasn't anything she wanted to talk about. She knew that she should be talking with Dr. Winters about Franco but she didn't have the words to say what she was feeling. She honestly just wanted to go back to bed. She just simple shrugged her shoulders in response, looking away from the doctor and out the window.

It was going to be a long appointment.

Sam coming out of her train of thought looked towards Dr. Winters, who was looking at her patiently, waiting for her to say something. This was how most of their appointments had gone so far. Sam wasn't much of a talker around Dr. Winters. She only wanted to talk about the things that Sam was trying to forget.

"Have you ever thought about dying?" asked Sam towards the woman, who was now looking at Sam with her full attention.

"No, I honestly can't say I have," replied the doctor towards her patient. She wasn't surprised by her question. Most rape patients she had dealt with in the past have often though about death as away to end the suffering. "Have you Sam? Is that what you're thinking about now?"

Sam just looked at her for a moment, before shrugging her shoulders and turning her attention back towards the window. Death had been on her mind numerous times throughout of her life. She had been on her death bed more times then she could count it seemed. Of course death had passed through her thought before. There had been a time after the death of her daughter, that that was all she could think about. Wondering if there was such thing as heaven or God? If there was an afterlife or when you died, that was it, the end. For her own sake she had told herself that there was a heaven, that every soul continued on after their time on earth was over.

Suddenly, she found herself talking. She wasn't sure what caused her to do it but she was soon spilling out her secrets to the doctor. "I have," she stated, "not in a suicidal way, just in a, what if sort away you know?" she asked out loud but did not wait for the doctor to reply. "I don't know, there was one time when I was fourteen I thought about ending my life but that lasted for about five minutes. I don't really remember why I thought ending my life would be a good idea. I think it was over some boy that I had met during that summer. Me and my dad had sailed to Hawaii and were there for a good two months before my dad business deal had gone up or what not. And he announced suddenly that we were leaving. I was so angry I remember. I told him that I wasn't going. He didn't like that and told me I was going with him whether I liked it or not. He needed me for his next con job. If, I remember right, we left the next day. He had started the boat, which was our home early in the morning when I had still been sleeping. So I awoke to being on open water. I remember yelling at him, begging him to go back so I could at least tell the boy, the love of my life at the time goodbye. He wouldn't go back. I could not live without seeing this beautiful boy of mine. I thought of killing myself, thinking it would be some tragic romance story like Juliet and Romeo. That somehow the boy would find out that I had killed myself and end his life too, not being able to live without me."

"However, that only lasted for about an hour. I had decided that I was going to cut myself on my bed and my dad would find me and feel so badly of how he had treated me all my life," Sam couldn't help but laugh at her teenage self and how dramatic she was. "But after making one cut on my wrist, I decided it wasn't worth it. It finally setting in on me that suicide was permanent. I think that's when I realized love wasn't worth dying for, "Except for now thought Sam to herself. She would dye any day for Jason. Just like she knew he would do the same for her.

Dr. Winter nodded her head in reply to Sam's story. This had been the most she had opened up to her so far. Taking a moment to write something down in her notebook, Dr. Winters asked, "Do you think about killing yourself now?"

Sam did not say anything at first to this. She was afraid to admit that the thought had crossed her mind in the past few days. She had never been in such a low point in her life before it seemed until now. She had thought about killing herself, ending all the pain she was going through. For she didn't really know if she could get better. Franco had messed her up good, even just hearing his voice caused her to freak out. She didn't know how long she could go on before she had another setback.

As Jason waited for Sam to call him to pick her up from her appointment, he was over at McCall and Jackal's. He had needed to get out of the house. He was there with Spinelli. The two of them were discussing Franco and the DVD.

"Does Stone Cold think that the Twisted One sent the DVD himself?" asked Spinelli to his roommate and friend as he typed away on his computer.

"I don't know," replied Jason running a hand through his hair. He was tired and stressed out. He had a lot on his plate to deal with at the moment from Sonny's arrest to Michael. There was a lot on his mind nowadays. He didn't know where to look anymore.

"Well by watching the DVD, it looks like the Twisted One was at his studio when he filmed it taking in the background around the artist. Leaving the Jackal to assume that Franco had made it either sometime before kidnapping Faire Samantha or during, since you had burned down the building shortly after confronting him," went on to explain Spinelli, looking briefly up from his computer screen.

Jason nodded his head at this.

"So leaving us to ponder if the Twisted One is alive or that the DVD was sent by another party, in request of Franco before his death," continued on the computer hacker as he took a break from typing to take a drink from his bottle of orange soda.

"Well, Franco's body was never found. And I don't think that should be ignored. Franco is defiantly alive and hiding. This DVD is just a message, letting me know that," added on Jason, who had begun to pace around the small office, "I don't think that Franco sent it himself. I believe he got someone else to send it for him. Spinelli I want you to find out who is agent it. I have a feeling it came from there, or that might give us some answers on where this sicko is hiding."

Spinelli nodded his head in reply at this, "the Jackal shall not let Stone Cold or Faire Samantha down!"

"Thanks," replied Jason, he was grateful for having him around.

Just then his phone went off, pulling it out of his pocket. He looked down at the display screen. It was Sam. Her appointment was done and she was ready to be picked up. Texting her back that he would be there in ten, he signal to Spinelli that he was leaving.

"I shall, call Stone Cold when I have news," spoke Spinelli, waving goodbye to Jason as he stepped out of the office.

"Are you hungry?" He asked towards her as they stepped into the penthouse.

Sam shook her head as she took of her jacket and placed it on the back of the chair, before taking a seat on the couch.

A concerned looked crossed Jason's face at this but he did not push her as placed his keys and phone onto the desk, before taking off his own jacket. The car journey home had been a quiet one. Sam seemed to talk little now. He didn't like it. He also found that she was retreating back to her old ways of putting up walls. He was having a difficult time reading her. Usual he could tell what was bothering her. Now he couldn't tell.

"You don't have to look at me like that," she spoke quietly to him, her brown eyes looking over at him. "I'm fine Jason. I'm just not hungry at the moment. That's it. I'm not going to starve myself to death," she snapped at him as she stood up and moved a crossed the room to the fireplace, Turning her back to him.

Jason was taken aback by her sudden outburst. He hadn't meant to upset her. He was just worried about her. Shoving his hands into his pockets of his jeans, he took a small step towards her. He now stood by the edge of the couch. His blue eyes looking onto her back, how he wished that she would turn around and tell him what was on her mind. He knew that wouldn't happen though.

She hadn't meant to snap at him like that. She knew that he was only trying to help her. She was just upset over what had happened during her appointment. She hadn't wanted to talk about death and suicide but it was on her mind. She couldn't seem to get away from it. Shaking her head slightly at herself, she bit down on her lower lip as sudden tears appeared in her eyes. She didn't want Jason to hear her cry. She could feel his eyes on her but she did not make a move to turn around. She hated the emotional wreck she had become. She hated how she was pushing Jason away. She didn't mean to, it was just easier then letting him into the darkness that had become her world.

Jason let out a deep breath, debating whether to go to her or not. He would never have thought twice about it before, wrapping his arms around her, pulling her in to him. But now he wasn't sure what to do. Sometimes she let him in, others she pushed him away. He would wait for her to come to him but that didn't always happen. They stayed like this for a moment before Jason decided just to do it. Walking slowly in enclosed the space between them. "I'm going to hug you," he whispered coming up behind her. He wanted to warn her, not giving her any sudden surprises.

Sam looked over her shoulder at him at this. She couldn't help but smile a little at his thoughtfulness. She couldn't remember him ever telling her out loud what he was going to do to her, only in a sexual way.

"What?" asked Jason confused as he placed his hands softly on her hips, and looked down at her. He couldn't believe how beautiful she looked even when crying. She was managed to take his breath away.

"You're so cute," she whispered, her eyes sudden coming to life as she wrapped her arms around her neck. It still amazed her how, one look in his eyes could seem to make all her troubles go away for a brief moment. Her thoughts on death quickly going away. Even if Franco was still out there, she still had Jason. Someone who was still there for her every step of the way. Killing herself was the easy way out, she thought to herself. It would be like surrendering to Franco in the game he was playing. She was above that. She was stronger than that. She needed to get through this and she knew she could.

Jason smiled back at this as he pulled her closer to him. "You're so cute," he whispered to her as he leaned in and kissed her softly on the lips. And it was like in that brief moment all their troubles were gone; that there was no Franco, no rape, and no problems. Just the two of them.

However, everything good didn't last forever. Just as the kiss had begun to deepen, there came a loud knock at the door.

"POLICE, OPEN UP!" cried a voice on the other hand.

Jason swore loudly under his breath as they pulled away from one another. He knew that the police would be paying him a visit; he just wished it wasn't when Sam was finally in a good mood. Sam looked up at Jason confused; she didn't know what was really going on. He had told her briefly about Sonny but she didn't know all the details. "Why are the police here?" she whispered over at him in worry.

"It's nothing Sam," he replied, trying to reassure her that he wasn't getting arrested or anything. "There here about Sonny," he added as he pulled her once again to him and kissed her lightly on the forehead before answering the door.

"Jason Morgan we have a warrant to search your apartment," spoke Detective Ronnie as he stepped passed Jason and entered the penthouse, followed by two other officers.

"You're a cop too," commented Jason as he closed the door behind him and looked over at the detective. He was surprised to see him here.

"Yes, I am, "replied Ronnie, a sly smile appearing on his face. He had come to search Jason's apartment after the gun that Sonny had shot Dante with had gone missing from the evidence room. He hated Jason and Sonny and was determined to bring them down.

Taking a step towards the officer, Jason looked at him coldly. "Let me see the warrant," he snarled at the detective. He wasn't scared by him.

Handing him over the warrant, he began to explain he was here to search for evidence that had suddenly gone missing.

Quickly reading over the warrant, Jason handed it back to Ronnie. "Find, go ahead and look. You won't find anything," cried Jason, at the detective. He had no idea what happened to the gun but it wasn't his fault. He had only gone to visit Sonny once or twice since his arrest. "I have no idea what happened to the gun. Maybe you should check around the police department instead of charging into other people's homes like that."

Ronnie just looked over at Jason before dryly laughing, "You're a funny one, Morgan!" He then turned his attention away from the mobsters and over to his men, giving them orders to search the place top to bottom. He looked over at Ronnie for a moment before shifting his attention onto Sam, who was seated on the couch. The lightness in her eyes was gone. She was once again lost in her own world. He wanted to badly to go over to her and kiss her passionately on the lips and tell her everything would be okay. But it wasn't going to happen while the penthouse was being torn apart by the feds.

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