A/N – Thanks for the comments! Glad you liked the verbal smackdowns! Guest – Thank for pointing out my timeline error. It's so hard keeping it all straight. I fixed it! * LiasonLuv – It's hard for me, given how Liz has been written on the show, to see her as a brawler. If she could kill people with her raised brow bitch face, she'd be dangerous lol. * Guest2 – Interesting re: the fact Liz forgave Sam first than Lucky so Jason followed suit. Never thought of it that way. Very whacked! * chicki'62 – rofl poor hubby.

Sorry that I'm late. My co-workers took me out for a b-day lunch (it's actually tomorrow). Now, I think I'm in a carb coma lol.

Chapter 6 - Awake

Two hours later, Dylan began to stir and Liz stood up so she could get closer. Nikki stood beside her. His eyes flickered open and he slightly smiled. "Hey."

Liz grinned. "It's good to have you back."

"I guess Patrick didn't scramble my brain."

Nikki smiled. "He knew better."

"You look tired."

"That's because I was worried about you," Nikki said.

"I'm fine."

"How's my patient?" Patrick said walking into the room.

Nikki and Liz stepped back.

"Groggy."

Patrick did a quick exam. "Do you have a headache?"

"Not right now."

"If you get one and it's unbearable, please let the nurse know."

"Okay.

Patrick smirked. "You're being way more agreeable than usual."

Jason frowned. "Did you tweak something in there?"

He chuckled. "As tempting as that was, no. Alright, I'll be back to check on you later."

"I'm going to go get Paul."

Dylan watched her leave. "How are you holding up?"

"I'm okay."

"You don't look it. Did someone upset you?"

"It's nothing I want to worry you about. Besides, I can fend for myself."

Carly walked in. "Hey."

Dylan slightly smiled. "Hello Carly."

"Do you remember me yet?"

"No, but I'm sure it will be any moment now."

Carly smirked. "Sarcasm, I like it."

"How's Michael?"

"I'm not going to lie. He's not doing so well Jase. I'll explain when you get your memory back."

Dylan wasn't sure he wanted his memory back at this point. These people were high maintenance.

Rick walked into the room.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"Well, we have a lot of unsolved crimes since Jason went "missing", I thought I'd get a jump on things."

An officer walked through the door with some finger printing supplies.

"You have got to be kidding me," Liz said.

"Relax, if it's him you'll know faster than a DNA test."

"Like I'd believe you. We already submitted a DNA test."

Rick smiled. "Oh Elizabeth, even when your being one in a long line of women in Jason's harem, you're still beautiful."

Dylan glared at him.

"Actually, that glare was pretty good. That should be proof enough."

"Should I call Diane?" Liz asked Carly.

"It's alright. Let him do the test. They obviously had my prints on file. We'll get answers faster."

Rick frowned. "Maybe you're not Jason. That was way too agreeable."

"Shut it Rick. Just take them and get out," Carly said.

The officer took Dylan's fingerprints and then packed everything up.

"I'll be in touch within the next half hour."

Neither woman acknowledged him so he left.

"Maybe I'm glad I don't remember him."

"Trust me, there will probably be a long line."

Paul walked into the room. "How are you feeling?"

"Surprisingly okay."

"I'm glad to hear that. I was getting worried that it was taking so long."

Dylan smirked. "It's because I have a hard head."

Paul smiled. "I'm not even gonna touch that."

"Did Avery go home?"

"No. She's still here."

Dylan sighed. "I don't understand why she's hanging around."

"She loved you. And besides that, if Jake is Dylan that will probably mess with her head a little."

"I guess."

"I'm going to let you get some rest and go check in at the hotel."

Paul squeezed his hand and then left the room.

"He seems really nice," Liz said.

"He is."

Avery appeared in the doorway. "I was going to catch a ride with Paul. I just wanted to say goodbye."

"Thanks."

She looked sad and pathetic and none of it made him feel any differently towards her. If he was Jason Morgan, she would be one thing he was free of.

A few minutes later, Elizabeth's phone rang. "It's Rick. Hello?"

"I have the results."

"Okay."

Rick sighed. The last thing he wanted was to admit the truth, but he couldn't lie because he knew they were doing blood tests and he didn't want to give Elizabeth one more reason to hate him. "It's Jason."

Liz breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you for calling," she said ending the call before Rick could respond.

Carly walked closer. "Well?"

Liz slightly smiled. "He's Jason."

Carly grinned. "Best news ever. I'll go spread the news."

When Carly reached the waiting room and told everyone the good news, there were definitely mixed reactions.

For the Genoa City crowd, they were stunned and hoped that Jake would turn out to be Dylan. Nikki wasn't willing to face the possibility that Dylan would be lost to her again.

Sam was elated as was Sonny. Jake felt like the world as he knew it had ended. It was bad enough not to have your memories but now, it was possible that he could lose Elizabeth.

Monica was beyond happy.

Word was spreading that Jason Morgan was back and there were people who really weren't happy with the news.

IiIiIiIiIiIiIiIiIi

Elizabeth held Jason's hand. He was worried because she was so quiet.

"Talk to me."

She looked up at him. "I'm just lost in thought. I'm fine."

"No you're not. You're worried."

"Really Jason, I'll be fine. Is it okay if I call you Jason now?"

He nodded. "That's fine. I guess I'm going to have to get used to it anyway."

Jake walked into the doorway with Cameron.

Liz smiled and got up and gave him a hug. "How was Spoon Island?"

Cameron shrugged. "It was okay. Is that Jason?"

"It is but he lost his memory."

Cameron frowned. "I thought he died."

"We all thought so but he was found. Do you want to say hi?"

"Sure."

Cameron walked into the room. Jason hadn't changed that much since he had see him. He just looked tired. "Hi Jason."

Jason slightly smiled. "Hello Cameron. You've gotten a lot taller."

"You've been gone for a long time."

"True."

"Does your head hurt?" Cam asked.

"Just a little."

"Do you still have a motorcycle?"

Jason smiled. "I don't remember having one."

"It was really cool. Mom said you would take her for rides to Vista Point."

"I hope that someday I remember that."

Jake interrupted. "Do you want me to take him home? We can stop off and eat at Kelly's."

Cameron smiled. "Can I mom?"

"Sure."

Cameron followed Jake out.

"He's a good kid."

"I'm glad that you remember him."

"Me too."

Liz sighed. She wished Jake was here. Every time she looked at Jason, she thought of son.

"Where did you just go?"

"I was thinking about Jake."

"I think I have a memory of him. Did he play with a motorcycle?"

Liz smiled. "Yes."

"Why did you ask me to give him up?"

Liz's eyes filled with tears. "I was a coward. I didn't want to hurt Lucky's feelings but I guess I didn't think twice about hurting yours. You do have a dangerous life but there were other times I was willing to risk it. I guess I just didn't have enough faith in us. I didn't want to be the cause of you not being with Sam or for Lucky trashing his life further. If it makes any difference, I'm sorry. I wish I hadn't."

"Well, I could have said no. If I would have fought you, would you have backed down?"

"Probably."

"Then it looks like both of us failed."

Liz nodded.

"It sounds like we let our insecurities get in the way."

Jason couldn't imagine walking away from his child. He just didn't understand how he could have made that decision, danger or no danger. God he wished he could remember.

"We did. Look, I need to get home to Cam. Are you going to be alright here?"

Jason nodded. "Yes. Will you come see me tomorrow?"

"Of course."

She got up and leaned over and kissed him. "Sweet dreams."

He watched her leave and a few minutes later, Sam walked in.

"Hey. I just wanted to check on you before I went home to Danny."

"Thanks. So, did you move on after I disappeared?"

Sam sat down. "Eventually. I was dating someone named Silas and ironically, his wife who had been in a coma for over twenty years woke up so that went down the drain. And now, I just moved in with Patrick."

Jason was a little surprised. Patrick didn't seem like her type. "Do you love him?"

"Yes, but it's nothing like the love we felt for each other. You are the love of my life."

Jason pressed on. "Well, I'm glad that you're happy Sam."

"We were happy Jason. I'm sorry but I'm not going to let you just ride off into the sunset with Elizabeth. I'm going to fight for our marriage. She took Jake away from you and when we were having problems she lied and manipulated the situation so we wouldn't get back together."

"Did I know?"

"Yes."

"Did I forgive her?"

Sam rolled her eyes. "Yes."

"And have you done anything you've regretted?"

"Yes. Why is that important?" she asked frustratedly.

Jason's eyes slammed shut. He remembered threatening to kill her if she went after Jake again. His eyes snapped open. "Did you do something to Jake?"

"Why are you asking me that? Did Elizabeth say something?"

"No. I just had a memory that I threatened to kill you. For me to do something like that, you must have done something really bad."

Sam took a languid breath. "Let me explain."

"I'm listening Sam."

"We met under different circumstances. I was pregnant with your boss's child and you didn't want it to ruin his marriage, so you offered to marry me and pretend the baby was yours. We grew closer and I lost the baby in childbirth. We were devastated and we helped each other grieve. After that we grew closer and fell in love. You were hugging me on a balcony, and one of your enemies shot me. As a result, they told me that I couldn't ever have children. I was devastated and even more so when you broke up with me while I was in hospital."

"Why?"

"Because you blamed yourself and were scared that I'd be hurt again—that your lifestyle had cost me too much. I spun out of control. I went crazy. You wouldn't take make me back and I was shattered and started acting out. I ended up sleeping with someone you hated, Ric Lansing who was married to my mother at the time. She was sick and it was a horrible thing to do but I was being self-destructive. Elizabeth showed up on your doorstep the same night that you saw me with him. You slept with her and got her pregnant. Later, we reconciled but there was a hostage situation at a hotel and you rescued Liz and she admitted the child was yours. I overheard your secret and everything unraveled. I had really hard time dealing with her pregnancy and the fact that you lied to me. There was a woman in the park, she took Jake. She was despondent after losing her child and I watched it and did nothing. I broke up with you and things got out of control. She had the baby that we should have had together. I lashed out bitterly. I ended up sleeping with Lucky after he found out Liz had lied to him and his world fell apart too. I went crazy."

"Sam…."

She wiped a tear away. "Let me finish. You eventually found Jake and heard what I had done. Then I did something even worse. I wanted to scare Elizabeth so you wouldn't stay together and I hired some men to pretend to try and scare her. They had guns and the boys were both there. They didn't hurt them, but it did scare her. You found out about that too. You threatened me."

Jason frowned. "So, after all of that, we got back together and got married?"

"Yes. I regretted what I had done and even helped save Jake when the Russian's took him. I tried to make amends and you understood that I had changed. Jason, we loved each other deeply. You told me that you had never loved anyone like you loved me. You forgave me and we moved on together?"

"It's just hard to believe that I would forgive something like that."

"You forgave Elizabeth for asking you to give up your son when your father had just died. You forgave her keeping us apart right before you died. You forgave her for always choosing Lucky over you. She was not the love of your life Jason. You told me that I was. I get you don't remember and that you think she was some great love, but she wasn't."

Jason didn't want to hear that. To him, Sam didn't seem like the kind of person he would even want to get involved with. He needed to know more and he would ask Elizabeth the next time he saw her. He already hated himself for not claiming Jake and then being with a woman who used his child to try to manipulate him and punish Liz was just too much. It made him sick to his stomach. "I don't want to talk about this anymore. Can you please leave?"

Sam started to cry harder. "I will leave, but Jason please know that I still love you. We were a family. Think about that before you throw it all away for someone who never truly chose you."

He watched her leave. He had a headache and pushed his call button so he could get some medicine as he tried to process everything Sam said.

IiIiIiIiIiIiIiIiIi

Elizabeth walked into her house and smiled when she saw Jake and Cam playing a video game.

Cam looked over his shoulder and smiled. "Before you say anything, my homework is done."

Liz smiled. "Good to know. Who's winning?"

Cam ginned. "Me of course."

"He's a shark."

Cam laughed. "Don't be a sore loser."

Liz plopped down next to them. "I get the winner."

"Then prepare to lose mom."

Jake shook his head. After he lost, Elizabeth took his place and he watched them play with a smile on his face. God she was beautiful. When they finished, Cam went upstairs and they ventured into the kitchen so Elizabeth could eat something.

"You okay?"

Liz nodded. "Yes. It's just really hard to be around him. Things were painful for me before he died. I did some things I really regret."

"Are you scared that he won't forgive you?"

"He already has. It's just, he went back to Sam and I get why, but it hurts none the less."

"Do you want him back Elizabeth?"

"I'd be lying if I didn't say that part of me wanted him back. I also really like what is happening between us too. I hate being in a situation like this and usually, I manage to screw it up. I've loved Jason since I was a teenager. I wasn't in love with him that whole time but I think you get what I'm saying."

"I do. I just don't want you to over romanticize it. You have a chance with me, someone you don't have all this baggage with. We're good together and there is no way I'm letting you go without a fight."

Liz's eyes teared up. "I don't think anyone has really fought for me in a non-psycho kind of way. There were times Lucky seemed to fight for me, but I don't think he really was in love with me when he did. Ric was a manipulative asshole, and Jason—"

"—was too scared to be with you in the end."

"He did choose me a few times, and vice versa, but something always got in the way. We never really had a full out real relationship and allowed ourselves to dive in head first. I think it's still unresolved inside of me because I want that chance. We lost Jake and so much has happened that we can't take back. And yes, it would be easier starting over with you because I think we're good together. I enjoy being with you and it's not twisty."

He pulled her onto his lap. "Then let us happen and see where it takes us. Give me a chance Elizabeth. I know you think you have this great love for Jason but there's a lot of hurt and pain mixed in there too. I want to be there for you and be your biggest defender. I want to love you and make you smile because it's just wrong when you're sad. Let me love you like you deserve. Please."

She grabbed his face and kissed him torridly. She did want him. He just made it so easy, but in her mind, she didn't believe that love could be easy. Somehow, this man had a piece of her heart and she wanted so badly to just give in and let him love her but there were so many unresolved feelings for Jason.

Pulling back, she leaned her forehead against his and tried to calm her breathing and wished this wasn't so hard.