Hey my fantastic, lovely readers! I am so, so, so sorry for not updating for so long. I've had a lack of inspiration lately and I was trying to figure out the best way to churn this chapter out. I can't make any guarantees on when the next chapter is going to be. Given the new happenings in the show, I'm not sure if the events written about are applicable any longer. If any of you have suggestions for what to do with the story, I would greatly appreciate it. Maybe I'll transform it into oneshots based on requests. Suggestions are always welcome. Thank you so much for waiting. Happy reading! Love you all!

-Jess

"Everybody get down!" Ric yelled after he shot the gun into the ceiling. Jason and Michael quickly overturned their table to create a sort of barrier between themselves and Ric. Kiki and Elizabeth hid with them in safety.

A few screams were heard from the other patrons.

"Please don't kill us, my daughter's birthday is today." One woman begged.

Ric's hateful gaze turned sharply toward the hysterical woman with a disdainful sneer. "Do you honestly think that I give a damn what your plans are? No. Now sit down, listen up, and close your damn mouth."

Elizabeth's eyes widened slightly when she heard the horrible razor edge to Ric's voice. "I've never seen him this angry." She murmured softly.

Jason raised his eyebrows at her questioningly.

"Okay, okay, I may have seen him like this once or twice, but it's never been quite this bad."

Michael shook his head and gently rubbed a frightened Kiki's back as she quivered beside him. "Kiki, listen to me. It's all going to be okay."

"How can you possibly know that?"

"Because I will die before I let anything happen to you." Michael whispered to her. He looked up at Jason as he did so and saw the admirable nod his uncle sent his way. It would be best to keep her quiet and predictable.

"Now," Ric said, his usually neatly gelled hair starting to come loose in an unnatural disarray. "Would everyone like to know why we are here?"

"Hell yeah!" Said a wily young man bracing himself under a table.

"You can blame Carly Corinthos Jax and Elizabeth Weber for this."

"Are you kidding me, Ric? Really?" Elizabeth asked, springing up beside Jason before he was able to convince her not to. "You are not going to hold an entire restaurant full of people hostage at gunpoint simply because I dumped you are you?"

Ric's eyes softened when they happened on Elizabeth's face. "E-Elizabeth, I had no idea you were here. Sweetheart, please, this can all go away if you just agree to be mine again."

Jason rolled his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "He never quits does he?" Jason asked Michael who was running a hand through his hair.

"Ric, this is not the way to deal with your problems. I understand that you're heartbroken, but the best way to move on is to actually move on. I have and its time that you do. Why not with Hayden Barnes?"

Ric groaned and shook his head vigorously, causing more of his hair to fall loose from its hold. "Liz, that relationship was strictly professional. No chemistry there. I love you."

"And she loves me." Jason said, finally frustrated. "Face it, Ric, you've lost her. She's not yours, she's mine and I don't like to share. I love Elizabeth and I'm not going to let you hurt her."

"Me? How about all the times that you've hurt her? Jason, the life you lead isn't safe for Elizabeth or for her kids."

"The life I lead? Get your facts straight, you dumb prick, I'm not leading a dangerous life. I lost two years of my life because I was in a fucking cryogenic tank, and when I finally was able to get back, I lost my memory because of Ava Jerome. Now, I have my memory back and I've learned from my mistakes. One of them is allowing you to continually hurt Elizabeth. That's a mistake I can guarantee you I won't make again." Jason said as he slowly stalked forward and to the side.

Meanwhile, Olivia and Carly as well as the police were watching the entire scene play out. Carly thanked god every day that she had updated the security system so that she had both audio and video and back up footage for everything.

"It looks like Jason's up to something." Dante commented, running a hand over his face and taking a sip of his coffee. "Do you know what could have brought this on? Besides losing Elizabeth."

"Well, I kicked him out of his hotel room this morning," Carly admitted with a smirk. Despite the situation at hand, Olivia smiled, too.

"You finally got that dirty rotten piece of slime out of our establishment? Finally, one less problem on our hands."

"Anyway, that may be something, but I feel like something else is going on here." Dante mused.

"According to the footage, it doesn't seem like there is anything else." Olivia interjected.

"Thugs like Lansing don't always show all their cards at the first draw. I mean he showed his obvious cards, but I feel like he's keeping his key cards closer to chest."

"What do you mean? What else could he be angry about?"

"Maybe he's still angry at Sonny, possibly an inferiority complex, or it may be something that we haven't ever seen from him that is a new thing to deal with."

"Well you could never say that living in Port Charles is dull." Carly said with a small chuckle. "Now, what are we going to do about this? Both my son and my best friend are trapped inside. We need to get this over with as quickly as possible."

"I agree," Dante said solemnly.

Meanwhile, back in the restaurant, Jason and Michael were having a silent communication as they both warily watched the gun-wielding madman.

Jason was slowly getting closer to being able to perform a move that would unarm Ric, but it would require careful precision and speed.

"Kiki, are you alright?" Elizabeth asked Kiki who had grown silent as the minutes wore on.

Kiki looked at her with a faint smile. "Trust me, Liz, I'm fine. I was a bit frightened at first, but I've been in difficult situations before. I need to stay calm, cool, and collected."

Elizabeth smiled at her bravery and patted her hand. This one would do just fine. Although Michael lead a very safe life, being Sonny's son had its dangers, and the fact that Kiki would be able to stay calm in difficult situations was comforting to say the least.

Jason studied Ric carefully, every breath, every movement, every eye twitch. While Ric knew how to hold a gun, it was obvious that it wasn't a natural accessory for him. The gun wasn't like a part of him and therefore he wouldn't be as efficient as he needed to be. This was a completely different situation from when Jerry Jax took the lobby hostage. It was only one man and he wasn't a trained killer. He was a deranged, psychopathic attorney.

Jason saw Ric look away for one moment and that was all it took. Jason lunged forward and tackled Ric to the ground, sending the gun clattering to the ground. When it hit the ground, it shot off a round. Everyone scattered.

Jason picked Ric up by the lapels of his coat and held him against the wall by his neck. "Now, not so tough without your gun now are you?"

"Let him go," Jason heard Dante demand as the police swarmed the lobby.

"I will let him go when you get closer. The last thing we need is for him to get loose."

Nathan rushed forward and in a quick movement turned Ric around and handcuffed him.

"Ric Lansing, you are under arrest. Anything you say can and will be used against in you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford one, one will be provided for you. Do you understand these rights as I've explained them to you?"

"I know what my rights are, detective." Ric spit with a sneer. "Now before you waste any more of my time let's go."

"We need an ambulance," Elizabeth screamed, pressing cloth against the gunshot wound near Michael's shoulder.

"Michael, honey, everything's going to be okay." Kiki said, wiping away the tears that were spilling down her cheeks. She clenched his hand hard with one hand while assisting Elizabeth with the wound with the other.

Jason rushed over to where Elizabeth was kneeling. "Oh god, Michael, I'm so sorry. I promised myself after I we got out of prison that I would never let anything happen to you ever again. I'm so sorry that I broke that promise."

"I-it's okay, Jason. I'm just glad that you guys are here with me. Please, don't blame yourself. I couldn't bear it."

"If I had just been more careful with the gun…I mean I've handled so many in my time."

Michael shook his head, wincing from the pain as the paramedics moved him onto a stretcher. "You had to do what you had to do. If you hadn't, Ric could have done worse. You saw your opportunity to take him down and you took it. You didn't let anyone else get hurt. You didn't know that the gun would go off. Jason, this isn't your fault."

"He's right, it isn't." Kiki said, determination in her eyes. "But I will make you one promise, the fucking bastard that caused all of this is going to rot in prison in a cage where a rabid animal like him belongs."

Elizabeth flinched the tiniest bit at her word choice as she knew that she was the reason that Ric had caused this whole catastrophe.

"It's my fault…" Elizabeth said, getting up, watching as the paramedics started to lift Michael.

Before anyone could protest her comment, Carly stormed onto the scene.

"Michael, oh my god honey, you're going to be alright. I'm here. I won't let anything else happen to you." Carly said, tears spilling out of her eyes as she clutched Michael's other hand and walked with the paramedics as they carefully took him away from the scene. The whole thing took less than three minutes. Jason was impressed.

Kiki's eyes never left Michael's as they left the scene and she and Carly rode with him to the hospital. Jason planned on meeting them there.

Perturbed by Elizabeth's earlier comment, Jason ran a hand through his hair and focused his attention on Elizabeth. "This isn't your fault. It's Ric's. Just because he took your break up hard and has some delusional sense of mind making him see himself as the victim does not mean that this is your fault in any way. Ric did what he did because Ric wanted to. He didn't do it because you told him to or because he thought you wanted him to. Ric did this because this is what Ric does when he loses. He lashes out."

Tears were spilling over Elizabeth's eyes as she listened to Jason's words. But how could it not be her fault? Ric had said it himself that he did this for her, because of her. But he also said that he was doing this because of Carly…but what did Carly have to do with anything?

Elizabeth took a deep breath, wiped away her tears and looked Jason straight in the eye. "Jason, the rational part of me realizes that what Ric did is not my fault, but it's because I broke up with him that he felt the need to stage a public spectacle. If I hadn't done that, he wouldn't have flown off the handle.

Jason took both of her hands in his and his blue eyes pierced into hers. "But then we wouldn't be together. Ric is in the wrong, plain and simple. He lied about his intentions, he broke us up over false pretenses, and he manipulated both of us. Elizabeth, I refuse to let you think such blasphemous things of yourself."

Elizabeth sighed, closed her eyes, tilted her head back, and nodded. "Okay. I'm sorry that I put the attention on myself when we really should be worrying about Michael and gone with him."

Jason released a grim chuckle. "Believe me, I'm very worried about Michael and now that you mention it, we should definitely get going. We can talk about this later?"

"No talk necessary, I was just having a bit of guilt over the situation. I understand where I was wrong."

Jason eyed her speculatively and knew that there was more to it, but he also knew that she wasn't going to budge, and anyway his attention needed to be focused on Michael.

Jason walked hurriedly out of the restaurant and pushed through the swarms of police officers in the lobby that were making their way up to the restaurant.

A few of them looked like they were going to make trouble but from the look Jason had, they thought better of it and continued to the scene of the crime.

Jason was running as he made way to his new mustang which was parked in the parking garage. Elizabeth had just barely made it in the car when Jason squealed out of the garage and in the general direction of the hospital.

"Jason, you need to slow down. Getting there safe is more important than speed. We don't want to have Michael stressed out if something happens to us as we are on our way to go see him."

Jason sighed and his shoulders dropped infinitesimally as the speed shown on the odometer slowly dropped.

"I know, Elizabeth, I'm just worried. Plus, have I ever gotten you in a crash? Have I ever gotten into a crash myself?"
Elizabeth shook her head. "Not that I recall."

"Right," Jason said and took a sharp turn into the hospital parking lot. As soon as the keys were out of the ignition, the door was slammed and Jason was running full tilt towards the entrance, with Elizabeth right on his heels.

Jason rushed into the lobby and found Carly immediately.

"Carly." Jason said as she rushed into his arms and her tears stained the shoulder of his tuxedo jacket. "Carly, it's going to be alright. Michael's strong, he'll get through this."

Carly nodded and clenched his torso tighter. Jason rested his cheek on the top of her head and soothingly rubbed her back.

Jason let her go when he saw Sonny step off the elevator. He headed straight to Carly and Jason passed her to him without hesitation.

Carly wiped her eyes and stood by his side, Sonny's arm around her waist.

"What happened Jason? I was only told that Michael was shot at the metro court. Who's the son of a bitch that did this? I'll kill him with my bare hands." Sonny seethed, his eyes sparking with the intensity of his fury.

Carly and Jason exchanged a look which Sonny noticed.

"What? What aren't you telling me? I swear to god if somebody doesn't tell me something right…"

"It was Ric, Sonny. Your brother, Ric Lansing, shot our son. I told you he couldn't be trusted." Carly said, exasperated. "Did you listen to me? No. Despite the evidence I had proving that he couldn't be trusted."

Sonny's brow furrowed and he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Are you sure it was Ric, Carly?"

"I was there," Jason said. "He came out of the elevator, shot a round into the ceiling, and we all ducked for cover. Michael and I overturned a table to create a barrier between Kiki, Elizabeth, me and him, but things got heated."

"What do you mean?"

"He started saying that the fault wasn't on him but it was on Elizabeth and Carly."

Sonny glanced quickly at the two of them.

Jason shook his head. "It isn't their fault. Sonny, he's deranged, completely psychotic. He said if Elizabeth chose him, then the whole thing could end. You see where the problem lies."

"How is Carly involved?"

"Carly kicked him out of his hotel room."

Carly nodded with a smirk. "You bet I did. He is no longer welcome, ever again."

"How did Michael get shot?"

As Ric was ranting and raving, I was able to get closer to him without him noticing. Eventually, he had an opening, and I went for it. I tackled him and he dropped the gun. It hit the ground and shot off one round. I was able to secure him to the wall as the police barged in. They took over from there, but after that we found out where the second shot had gone. Into Michael."

Sonny nodded. "He's clearly lost grip of reality. Contact with him ends now. I'll break the news to Molly."

"You don't have to." Molly said walking up.

The group whirled around to face her. "Molly, you have to understand."

"I heard everything you just said. I love my dad, but something's clearly wrong with him. I know what he's done wrong in the past, and I should have listened to what I was warned about. I'm so sorry that Michael got shot."

"Honey, it isn't your fault." Carly said pulling Molly in for a hug.

Molly wiped her away her tears and nodded, hugging Carly back.

They broke apart when they heard Patrick clear his throat.

"Michael is stable, it seems that the bullet didn't hit any major organs and it missed his spine. We had to pull the bullet out, but it was a clean entry, and we were able to pull it out with minimal damage to the muscle it was lodged in."

"So, he's going to be fine?" Carly asked.

Patrick smiled and nodded. "He's going to be just fine. He'll be a bit sore. The muscle should heal."

"When do you think he'll be awake?" Sonny asked.

"Well, he's been sedated, but it should wear off relatively soon. We've got him on pain killers as well. You can visit him."

That was all the invitation they needed. The five of them entered the room Michael was in and saw a red eyed, puffy eyed Kiki by his bed side.

"Kiki honey, are you alright?" Elizabeth asked, walking toward her.

"I'm fine. It just seems so surreal. We were discussing our wedding and then that deranged asshole crashes in and all of a sudden everything changes."

"You were discussing your wedding?" Carly asked. "When this is all over and done, we should definitely talk about this."

Kiki smiled bleakly and nodded. "Did Michael tell you we have a date picked out? July 9."

"So soon? It's only what, June 13th?" Carly asked.

Jason nodded, confirming the date.

"We don't want to wait. We want to make our love official."

"Mom?" Michael groaned, his eyes fluttering open.

"Michael, honey, you're awake. Thank god." Kiki said, kissing his hand a dozen times.

"It's good to have you back, son." Sonny said, lightly patting his uninjured shoulder. Jason did the same while Carly clutched the hand that Kiki wasn't holding.

"Where is he?"

"Ric's been arrested. He's most likely being interrogated as we speak."

"As soon as possible, I want to talk to him." Michael said with a determined glint in his eye.

Kiki looked like she wanted to protests given the safety risk, but decided to let it go as Michael deserved this confrontation when the time came.

"You will," Jason promised.