A/N – Thanks for the comments! * kikimoo – Claudia didn't take any risk until she refused to let them take Liz. Elizabeth was already going to the Metro Court to say goodbye to her parents. She just tagged along really. There were several guards. They were outgunned. It happens. Thanks!

Chapter 30 - Bittersweet

Elizabeth held Claudia's hand tightly as the driver sped down the road. She was sick over the sight of the dead guards outside who had died trying to protect her. She was also scared of what Anthony would do once he found out Claudia was alive and wished that Claudia hadn't insisted she be taken too. She glanced over at her and Claudia tried to give her a reassuring look. There was no way in hell she intended on letting her father get away with this.

About a half hour later, they pulled into a long driveway and the driver parked in front of a house. The door flung open and they were hustled out of the car and into the house. They pulled and pushed until they made their way down to the basement. There was a room with two beds in it. They were pushed inside and then the door was locked.

Liz pulled Claudia over to the bed and whispered in her ear. "He's watching us."

"I know. He'll be here soon. He likes all the drama."

She nodded and they sat side by side holding hands.

"Stay by me if you can. I have a gun strapped to my shin." Clauda whispered.

Liz looked at her with surprise. "Be careful Claudia. You know if you pull that out you won't have more than one chance to hit him."

"I know. I've gone over this in my mind for the last ten years."

Liz jumped when the door was flung open.

"Elizabeth, how nice of you to join me." Anthony said smiling. "Who is your friend?"

"I'm her sister Sarah." Claudia said slightly disguising her voice.

Claudia rolled her eyes. They needed to buy some time so Shawn could get to them.

"Well, I wasn't expecting you and you're a little thin for my tastes…..Ronnie would have loved you though." He looked over at the guard. "Speaking of which, did you find him?" He asked turning to a guard.

"Sorry boss."

Looking at the girls he sneered. "It's no use being all stressed out. No one will find this place. As soon as we locate Johnny, we can get this show on the road."

"What are you planning to do?" Liz asked.

"You're getting married. Don't worry, I have the perfect dress for you. John will love you in it. Of course, we can't have any witnesses that could say you were under duress, so your sister dies." He said pointing his gun at Claudia.

"I can't marry Johnny." Elizabeth blurted out as she quickly stood up trying to avert his attention.

"Elizabeth what are you doing?" Claudia whispered.

"Listen to your sister Elizabeth. I'm not in a joking mood."

She walked a few steps towards him and a guard yelled at her to freeze. Elizabeth looked Anthony in the eye. "I can't marry Johnny because I'm not really a Corinthos." She said quickly.

"I don't believe you."

"It's true. I'm an FBI agent. Right now, they are listening in and you'll never make it out of this building alive."

"I don't know what game you are playing but I have no reason to keep you alive if you can't marry my Johnny and I get my buildings." Anthony said holding his gun up to her. "So, tell me the truth or you die right where you stand."

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Stan sent some interference to the houses video surveillance. The guards at the house started to panic when the screens suddenly went blank.

"Move in." Stan said loudly.

Jason signaled James to follow him and they drove down the driveway and stopped before it went around a curve. They all got out and Jason put on a Kevlar vest and they all moved forward through the trees. They all lined up and trained their guns on the guards around the front and sides of the house. "On the count of three." Jason said quietly. He slowly counted and they all started to shoot and take out the guards. "Move." Jason said standing up and running towards the house. They split up and James and another agent stuck with Jason, OB, and Johnny. They ran towards the back and paused to peek around the house. There were two men talking at the back step. Jason paused for a second and then said. "Go." He came around the corner and took both men out.

"Nice shooting." James said.

Jason went up the steps and went into the house with OB flanking him. That was when they heard Claudia yell and then gunshots rang out in the basement.

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Liz sighed. "It's all true. I was trying to bring down Sonny." She said softly.

Anthony glared at her. "Maybe you're not good enough for my Johnny. I hate liars." He sneered. Claudia stood up and quickly moved behind Liz. The guard moved toward them and grabbed Elizabeth and she struggled against him.

"I've changed my mind. Kill her." Anthony demanded. They couldn't find Johnny anyway and if she was FBI, he needed to get the hell out of there immediately.

Liz kneed the guard in the groan and then he brought his gun down and struck her on the head and she went down.

"Elizabeth." Claudia yelled. She caught the man off guard and rushed him causing him to trip. And to her astonishment, he fell on his gun and accidentally shot himself.

"Idiot." Anthony yelled.

Claudia kneeled down next to Liz and checked her injury. "If she is hurt badly old man, I will make you suffer."

Anthony frowned as he held the gun on her. Claudia ripped off the wig and Anthony gasped. "What the fuck? You're dead. It can't be you. The house burned down."

Claudia smirked as she slowly reached for her gun. "I wasn't in the house daddy dearest. Uncle Richie rescued me and Johnny came to get me."

"No, Johnny wouldn't betray me like that. You are nothing but a liar like you always were. This ends now."

She whipped out her gun and Anthony fired at her and she returned it. She gasped as the bullet ripped through her body. Anthony sunk to his knees and then collapsed. The bullet had traveled right into his heart. Claudia began to cry. He was finally dead. It was over. Liz stirred and grimaced as she felt the pain radiating throughout her head. The room finally came into focus and she saw Anthony's body and jerked to a sitting position. She looked to her left and saw Claudia fall onto her side. "Claudia." She yelled. She moved towards her and pulled her onto her back. "Oh my God." She said as she saw blood everywhere. "Claudia, talk to me." She said ripping at her clothing. She saw the wound in her side and pulled off her shirt, glad that she was dressed in layers and still had on a tank top. She pushed it onto the wound and tried to apply pressure.

"I'm free. Tell Johnny that I love him so much." Claudia said as she cried. "He's dead."

Liz started to cry. "You're going to be fine. You can tell him yourself."

"Take my gun. You have to get out of here." She said weakly.

Liz took it but she wasn't planning on leaving Claudia there. The door burst open and she pointed the gun as Claudia's blood dripped off of her hand.

Jason froze. "Elizabeth."

"Jason." She whispered as she put the gun down and went back to trying to help Claudia. "Call an ambulance. She's dying."

James called 911 and gave them the address. Johnny ran in the room and rushed over to his sister. "Claudia."

"Johnny….love you." She said softly before passing out.

"No….no….. Somebody help her."

"Dammit Claudia." Liz yelled. "We have to stop the bleeding."

Jason moved her hands away and then started to press down taking her place. James went into the bathroom and grabbed some towels and handed one to Jason and then tried to wipe the blood off of Liz's hands. "She can't die." Liz said tearing up. "She just can't."

Five minutes later, the EMT's arrived. They had to use a defibrillator on Claudia but they got her back. "Are you hurt?" One of them asked Liz.

"She was hit on the head." Jason said.

"She should come with us." He said helping Liz stand. She wobbled and Jason picked her up and followed them outside. "I'll follow you there." He told her. "I love you Elizabeth. It's going to be okay."

She looked up at him as tears flowed down her face. "I love you too."

He kissed her briefly before handing her off to one of the EMT's. Johnny, OB, and Jason jumped back in the car and Shawn and Cody stayed with James.

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Elizabeth passed out halfway to the hospital. The driver couldn't stop so he just drove as fast as he could and kept an eye on her. When they pulled up, he jumped out and went to her door and opened it and undid her seatbelt and then carried her inside. Epiphany was waiting with a gurney. They had already taken Claudia to get prepped for surgery.

Jason ran inside and went up to the nurse's desk. "Elizabeth Webber, where is she?"

Epiphany walked out of one of the exam rooms. "Mr. Morgan, she's in here."

He nodded and ran inside. Francis followed and stood outside. He was worried sick about Elizabeth and was so upset that he wasn't able to stop Anthony's men earlier.

"Where is my sister Claudia." Johnny asked slightly out of breath.

"She's about to be taken in surgery. Have a seat and I'll try to get an update for you but it will probably be awhile."

Johnny sat down and then called Gia. She was with Elizabeth's family at the Towers. He explained what happened and she told him they'd be right there.

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Jason watched Monica clean the wound on Elizabeth's forehead. "It will bruise but she doesn't need stitches."

"What about the blood?" Jason asked.

"Head wounds bleed more. She'll be fine Jason. I want to keep her overnight though. She lost consciousness. It could have been from the shock but I don't want to take any chances."

He nodded. "Thank you for taking care of her."

"I know how much she means to you."

"I love her." Jason whispered.

Monica smiled. "I know. It's written all over your face."

Jason gave her a slight smile and then focused his attention on Liz. A few minutes later, Jeff and Andrea burst into the room. "How is she?" Andrea asked Monica.

"She's doing okay. She was hit on the head but it didn't need stitches."

"How long has she been knocked out?" Jeff asked.

"About forty-five minutes." Jason said. "I'm sorry I didn't protect her."

Andrea moved forward and placed a hand on Jason's back. "It's not your fault Jason. We're not blaming you. From what we were told, the man was crazy."

Monica looked up at Jeff. "Has Elizabeth had any prior head injuries?"

"No, she's pretty healthy."

"Good. We'll know what we're looking at when she wakes up." Monica said.

"She's probably exhausted." Andrea said.

Jason stepped back so Andrea could get closer. Jeff could tell that he was beating himself up over it. "Jason, take a deep breath." He said quietly.

Jason tried to calm himself. He just needed her to wake up. She was his heart.

Liz began to stir and Monica moved closer to her. "Elizabeth, you're in the hospital. You're okay."

She sprung up into a sitting position yelling Claudia's name. She panted as she looked up into her mother's eyes. "Mom?"

"You're in the hospital baby."

"Claudia?" She asked quietly.

"She's in surgery." Monica added.

Jason grabbed her hand. "Elizabeth lay back."

She looked into his eyes and did as he said. "She has to be okay."

Andrea brushed her hair out of her face. "The surgery will take a while. Epiphany said she'd check on her soon and let us know what's happening. You need to rest until then."

"Okay." Liz said softly closing her eyes. "Jason…."

"Yes."

"Don't leave me."

He squeezed her hand. "I won't."

Monica slipped out of the room and ran into Alan.

"How is she?"

"She'll be okay. I need to go check on Claudia. Liz will have to stay overnight."

Alan nodded and peeked into the room after Monica walked away. He was glad that Elizabeth was going to fine. AJ walked up to him. "How is she?"

"She has a concussion and will have to stay the night. But, she's going to be fine."

AJ sighed. "Thank God. I'll go let Sarah know."

Aj went back to the waiting room to give Sarah the good news.

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Sarah reached over and grabbed Johnny's hand. "You have to have faith."

He looked over at her and nodded.

"I guess we haven't officially met. I'm Sarah."

"Johnny."

"From what Francis said, your sister protected Elizabeth and I will be forever grateful." Sarah said.

"I hope you get to tell her that yourself." Johnny said softly.

"Me too."

AJ walked up and Sarah stood. "How is she?"

"It's just a concussion. She has to stay overnight but Alan said she'll be fine."

Johnny was relieved. "I'm happy for you."

AJ looked over at him. "I hope we get some more good news soon."

"Thanks."

Jeff walked towards them. "They're going to move Elizabeth to a room in a few minutes."

"Can I see her really quick?"

Jeff nodded and Johnny followed him to the room.

"Have you heard anything?" Jason asked him.

"Not yet."

Elizabeth's eyes opened. "Johnny?"

"Hey. How are you feeling?"

Her eyes filled with tears. "Scared."

He squeezed her hand. "I need you to rest. Claudia's a drama queen so I'm going to need you to help me take care of her."

Liz gave him a slight smile. "Nice try."

He kissed her hand. "She's going to make it. She didn't come this far to die on me."

"Hang in there okay?"

He nodded and then walked out and went to the chapel to say a prayer. And that is where Gia found him a few minutes later.