The dinner party long since over, Carly sits up by her son, her mind going over everything that has happened. She would soon get the call about Sonny, when she'll have to play to grieving wife, something she wasn't looking forward to.
Of course, it wouldn't be too hard because she was a grieving wife. She's grieving the man that she fell in love with. The man that somehow died along the way between them breaking up and getting back together again. Carly doesn't know what happened to the man she fell in love with, but she's certain that he's not the man that Jason killed.
The man she loves would never kill a woman. He would never call out a hit on a woman or child, let alone both. Sure, Elizabeth's child has not been born yet, but she was still pregnant with child. Not that Sonny knew about it - or maybe he did - there's not way to know for sure.
She didn't want to believe that he knew, though. She doesn't want to believe he'd ever kill a pregnant woman. With a sigh, she looks down at her son and - in that moment - she prays to god that Elizabeth makes it home alive. Jason deserves the chance to be a father.
Carly knows better than anyone that he'd never survive it if Elizabeth and their unborn child die. Jason would never move on from that. He wouldn't allow himself to live without them. If he lost them, the Jason she knows and loves would die to and she couldn't live with that.
So, for all their sakes, Carly prays to all the gods and goddesses, every last one of them in heaven, that she survives. That she makes it home with their child and that life moves on. She couldn't let herself think of the future, her heart still letting go of her past, but Carly could hope for one for Jason.
With Sam finally out of Jason's life, Sonny no longer a factor, Jason needs Elizabeth.
.
"Wasn't it Mr. Morgan that blew up the penthouse?" one of the guards question.
"Ask a question like that again and you won't live to find out." Francis snaps, having given out the orders to the men. "Get to work and report back to me! NOW! GO!"
Watching the men disperse, Francis makes his way to Jason's office. His mind stuck on what they've done. For Elizabeth, he would have strangled Sonny with his bare hands, but Jason was right. They had to make it seem like the rival family killed Sonny.
Shutting the door behind him, Francis thinks back to the past. All those days he had spent with Elizabeth. He knew that she needed him to keep her mind off of Jason and he didn't care. She had meant a lot to him, not that he ever let her know it before, but Francis always cared for her.
Usually a loner, Francis let her tag along whenever she asked. Soon enough he started looking forward to her. He started looking forward to her popping out of nowhere, calling him up out of the blue just to hang out, packing up a picnic and calling him to chill by the lake.
With her gone like this, Francis just couldn't process much of anything. He's snapping at the guards, he's losing his cool, Francis needs her back. He needs her around to keep him sane. If he lost her now, Francis wasn't sure what he'd do.
He wants to believe, just like Jason and Johnny, that she's still alive. That they will find her and bring her home, but he had his doubts. A place in his heart, he just feels like something's wrong, that - if she's alive - she's really sick. He just wants to find her. To bring her home. He should have been with her that day. He should have been her permanent guard.
.
Johnny's sitting with Emily on his lap, his mind travelling to what they've done. Francis should be giving the lower level guards their orders, sending them on a pointless search to keep face about Sonny's death. He couldn't keep face if he tried. He hates Sonny, hates him with a burning passion, and Johnny would never be able to feel bad that he's dead. Even to fake feeling the loss, Johnny would never be able to do it. So, by not being there, Johnny's making it seem like he's taking it hard.
"Hey." Emily touches his face softly, sensing something off with him. "Is everything okay?"
"Yeah." he says simply. "Everything's fine."
"As fine as it can be, right?" Emily counters. "I'm worried about her, too, Johnny. You don't have to fake it with me."
"I know, I'm sorry." Johnny sighs, laying his head against her shoulder, knowing that she was worried for him as well. "My mind's just all over the place right now."
"Why don't we talk about us then?" Emily suggests. "Maybe it'll take our mind off of Elizabeth, for now."
"Okay." he smiles slightly. "What do you want to talk about?"
"I was hoping we could finish our talk." she says carefully. "You know...the whole marriage thing."
"Ah." he looks at her curiously, tucking a few strands of hair behind her ear. "Well, like I said, I love you...I just don't know if I'm ready for that."
"I know its hard for you...being with me...it scares you because you don't want to lose me." Emily understands him better than anyone. "But there are no guarantees in life...we just have to take what we can get and make the most of it."
"I wish I had your confidence." Johnny says softly. "I suck at personal stuff, you know that. My work is the only thing I'm good at...this, between us, I'm the worst."
"I love you!" Emily says firmly. "And you love me...you're the only one that can love me the way you do...don't tell me your job is the only thing you're good at."
"I love you with all I've got in me...but love isn't always enough."
"Its enough for me!" Emily says seriously. "I don't need much from you, Johnny. All I need is for you to love me and for you to be here...that's it."
"I can't promise to always be here."
"But you're here now, right?"
"Right."
"Then its enough." Emily says with conviction. "I don't need you to make a million promises. I don't need you to make any promises. I just need you to love me."
"I'll always love you." Johnny says without hesitation. "You're my life, but marriage comes with kids and I want you to have that...I want to give that to you...I just..."
"You're not ready." Emily finishes for him when he can't say it. "Its okay. I'm in no hurry."
"Em..."
"I'm serious." Emily cuts him off, knowing what he was going to say just by the tone of his voice. "I'm in no hurry for any of that...just knowing you want that too...its enough."
"I love you, beautiful!"
"I love you, too." Emily swears, kissing him soundly. "All I need is you...that's it. The rest will come if it comes...its you that I can't live without, Johnny. Just you."
.
Jason has let himself into Elizabeth's apartment, making his way to her bedroom, hoping to feel closer to her there. His whole world has come to a screeching halt since he found the note. Then finding that it wasn't from her, his entire body went numb. Nothing made sense without her.
Being her best friend, it wasn't that hard to put his feelings for her aside, her leaving helped a lot, too. He had always missed her, wishing she were with him, but the distance helped numb the love he felt. Now that he knows she felt the same way, Jason needs her there. He wants her there, always and forever.
With her gone, with some unknown person, Jason just couldn't think straight. He just couldn't feel anything because all he'd feel is pain. Knowing he hadn't protected her from the one person that proved the most dangerous, that he hadn't seen the threat Sonny became...Jason just couldn't stomach the thought.
Killing Sonny, looking him in the eye before he closed the door on him, Jason just never thought he'd see that day come true. For Sonny to have caused this much pain, Jason couldn't believe it. The man that had taught him so much, mostly about how to treat a woman, for him to call out a hit on Elizabeth...it was just too much to bear.
"Morgan." he answers his cellphone, picking up a framed picture of him and Elizabeth from years before.
"Its me." Johnny says, watching as Emily walks into the shower. "Where you at?"
"Liz's apartment." he admits, setting down the picture.
"I know you hate it when people ask this..."
"Then don't ask." Jason cuts him off. "Why are you even calling me right now? You should be with Emily."
"She's..uh, indisposed right now." Johnny concedes. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay."
"Stop worrying about me and focus on my sister." Jason says plainly, moving to sit up against the headboard, glancing around the room. "I'm fine."
"I'm here if you need to talk."
"I don't." Jason states. "Even if I did..."
"I know...Elizabeth is the only one you'd talk to." Johnny knew that before he even suggested it.
"I appreciate you calling, but I don't need you checking up on me." Jason says plainly. "Go be with my sister. I'll see you in the morning."
Ending the call before Johnny could say much more, Jason lays down, curled up in her blankets. Her scent was fading from the material, but he could still smell her within them. His heart ached worse than it ever did before. Knowing that she was out there somewhere, pregnant no less, it was killing him inside.
Talking to Carly didn't help anything. He felt bad for unloading Elizabeth's pregnancy on her. Jason knew that she was hurting over Sonny, the fact that he was no longer the man either of them loved, and adding Elizabeth being pregnant just wasn't fair. She had pushed him to it, though, asking so many damn questions.
Closing his eyes, Jason allowed himself to think of Elizabeth. To remember their first kiss...their first time together...all the times after that. He allowed himself to remember the first time they made love after she returned. The first time she allowed herself to want him. To need him.
"Morgan." he answers his cellphone, swearing that if its Johnny he'll kill him.
"Mr. Morgan, this is Madam Louise." a woman's voice greets him. "Elizabeth's boss."
"Of course." Jason sits upright. "Robin told me you had called...we haven't found her yet."
"I was told you had no leads." the woman says plainly. "Well, I have one for you."
"You do?" he asks, more than a little surprised.
"Robin told me about the explosion. Being the resourceful woman that I am, I pulled a few strings and had Elizabeth picture faxed through the hospitals in South America."
"I take it you got a hit."
"She was picked up by an ambulance in the small town of Santa Jose, Guatemala." she informs him, causing him to bolt out of bed. "A couple days later the hospital is shot up before being set on fire."
His heart tightens, she couldn't be dead, why would the woman call him for that?
"There were many casualties, but she was not one of them." the woman explains. "Apparently, she had been taken from the hospital moments before. I know its not much to go on, but I've sent you a picture of the man that took her from the hospital."
"Thank you for letting me know."
"I love that girl like family." she says fiercely, love seeping into her voice. "You find her, Mr. Morgan or I will use my resources to put you behind bars."
"If I don't find her...you can kill me for all I care." Jason says seriously. "Elizabeth is my life."
"Good. Now go find her."
He didn't have time to end the call because the line went dead. Sure enough, seconds later, a picture of the man pops up on his phone. He didn't want to get his hopes up, but they did regardless. His first real lead, not only a place, but a face to go with it. Guatemala. Well, then Guatemala is where he's headed. Calling up Johnny and Francis, he walks out of Elizabeth's apartment and gets into the SUV. He's going to find her. He has to. If she ends up being dead, Jason will gladly hand a gun over to her boss and demand she pulled the trigger. He's nothing without Elizabeth and he'll die before he lives without her.
A/N: Thank you for the reviews, we hope you keep up with them.
-ROCkER & The Jackal's Vixen-