Chapter 2

Thank you to the Guest reviewers for their comments. Thank you to Trini12180 for her comments on a different perspective. These early "What Ifs" are based on the specific events/timelines that "if" other choices were made, things might have been different. Later, "What If's" will delve further into the future of Liason relationship.

This chapter has some sexual elements.

What If: 1/30/01. What if they made different choices when Jason hid in Elizabeth's studio?

This "what if" will diverge from actual events. Elizabeth's frustration with Lucky's behavior from the brainwashing and latent feelings for Jason kept her from fully committing to Lucky sexually.

A solitary figure walks silently through Elizabeth's studio. He reaches to brush his hands around the painting's frame. He bends over, searching for one that belongs to him. She promised to keep it safe for him. Elizabeth shuffles up the stairs to her studio, carrying a cup of hot chocolate from Kelly's. Jason hears the key in the door and hides. Elizabeth shuts the door behind her and turns on the lights. Jason softly says, "Elizabeth."

Elizabeth jumps at the sound. She turns, smiles, and hugs her old friend. "Jason."

He returns the smile, "It's good to see you."

Elizabeth catches her breath. She's surprised, happy to see him, but still surprised. She didn't bother asking him how he got into her place. Either he kept the key she gave him December a year ago or picked the lock. He knew how. "What are you doing here? Where are you staying?"

"I hope to stay here, but no one else can know where I am."

Elizabeth thinks of Lucky, who has been trying to redeem himself from the ass he was since his return from the dead. His family and friends discovered Helena Cassidine brainwashed him to push Elizabeth to his brother Nikolas. When they thought he was free from Helena's clutches, he reverted back to wanting Elizabeth, at least the Elizabeth he remembered before his 'demise,' only she wasn't sure she still wanted him. Elizabeth says, "Lucky is on his way here. He made up his mind he wants me back."

Jason drops his smile and replies, "Please, it has to be a secret from now. You remember how he was the last time I was here. He told me to stay away from you. If you want to be with him, at least let me stay here. I'll stay hidden."

Elizabeth opens her mouth, about to say, "I don't want to be with him," but she is interrupted by Lucky's loud boots on the stairs. Elizabeth whispers, "It's Lucky." Jason implores Elizabeth with his eyes. Elizabeth says, "Fine, follow me, but I want an explanation later." She leads him to the storage closet. "Now, wait here."

Lucky pounds on the door. In a sing-song voice, he says, "El-iz-abeth, it's me, Lucky. Come on, unlock the door. I don't understand why you won't give me a key."

She rolls her eyes, looks behind her, counts to ten, and says, "One moment." Elizabeth opens the door. "I'm about to begin sketching. Whey don't I meet you at Kelly's in an hour?"

Lucky pulls her to him. He says, "Are you still upset about the photo shoot? I know a way to make you feel better." Lucky tries to kiss Elizabeth, but she turns her head and gets wet lips on her ear.

Lucky continues, "Kelly's can wait; I can't. I've been patient, but it's time for us to be together." Jason freezes. He is about to say screw hiding and giving his plan on keeping his arrival in PC a secret, but he discovers that Elizabeth doesn't need his help.

Elizabeth pushes Lucky away from her and replies, "No, it's not. I told you I wasn't ready and I wanted to wait. You keep telling me I owe you. That I need to be grateful you saved me after my rape, that if it weren't for you, I'd be broken. Lucky, I survived the rape. Yes, you did help me through that, but so did Emily, Nikolas, Bobbie, my therapist, and eventually my Gram. I survived the fire when everyone thought you had died. I did that. I had friends for that. I am stronger than you think. I was there to help break you free from Helena. That's what your loved ones did for you. It wasn't because I felt I owed you. I once thought I survived because of you, but it was because of me." Elizabeth doesn't mention the bike rides with Jason helped because she would have survived either way. Jason only helped clear the clutter in her mind. "Lucky, the sooner I sketch, the sooner I'll make it to Kelly's."

Leaving, he grimaces. "Soon, Elizabeth, you will be mine," he thinks.

Elizabeth lifts the window shade and peers under it. She watches Lucky leave and waits until he is out of view. "Okay, you can come out. You can stay, but I want to know why now. Why me?"

Jason explains the warehouse, and only Sonny knows, no one else. "Thank you for letting me stay. I need to be able to see who comes and goes."

Elizabeth-"You are going to stay. I'll tell people I'm painting. I'll make sure you have food and bring your newspapers."

Jason smiles, "Thank you." He thinks, "Wow! You are so beautiful."

Elizabeth is momentarily lost, sinking into his beautiful blue eyes, and replies, "You can count on me."

Jason asks, "I thought things were better with Lucky out of Helena's control."

"They are. Once Lucky stopped pushing me to Nikolas, I thought things could 'finally' go back to how they used to be. But I found out I loved Lucky the boy, not Lucky the man, who is controlling. He gave up on his control for me to be with Nikolas, but he still wants to control my life. Take this modeling thing. Deception is looking for a new 'Face.' Laura wants me, and Carly wants Gia Campbell."

"What do you want?" Jason asks.

"I want to make Laura happy. She's been good to me. God, I just heard what I said. I want to make her happy, just like I wanted to make Lucky happy, grateful for what he did for me at 15, nothing about what makes me happy." Jason stares at her, waiting for her to continue. "What I want is to feel good about saying no. Carly calls me 'muffin-face,' and giving up the job to Gia means I agree with Carly, and I never want to agree with Carly on anything", Elizabeth half-laughs.

Jason reaches his hand to Elizabeth's face and says, "Carly will never want to admit you are beautiful." He leans in and kisses her forehead. Elizabeth blushes and stammers about stretching canvas on her frames. Distracted, she winces as she realizes she has a splinter. "What's wrong?" Jason looks concerned.

Elizabeth sucks on her finger. "I got a splinter. That's what I get for being upset about what Carly thinks of me."

Jason reaches into the closet where Elizabeth keeps her supplies. Since she took care of him when he was shot over a year ago, he made sure her first aid kit was fully stocked. A splinter was nothing compared to a bullet wound, but he didn't like to see her in pain. He carefully removed the splinter, amused to see her blush.

Jason is intent, looking out the window when Elizabeth stops by with a food order. His heart skips when she enters her studio. "You are supposed to be staying away."

"Disappointed? I thought you might be hungry. Tomorrow is Valentine's Day, and I'm worried Lucky might have something planned. A year after my rape, Lucky, Emly, and Nikolas planned something special to help erase that awful day. We had a vow renewal pledging our love. He helped me like Valentine's Day again. He called it a 'Permanent Lock'. But now it's two years later, and Lucky thinks that Permanent Lock still exists since he saved me. That boy in the church is not Lucky the man today. I don't recognize that person anymore. What about you? Other than staring out my window, do you have plans for the 14th?"

Jason shows her what he is looking at from her window. She realizes he has a clear view of Sonny's warehouse. "So that's why you wanted to stay in my studio is because of the warehouse."

Jason glances into her eyes; her hair smells like vanilla. As his heart skips, he softly says, "That is one of the reasons." Jason looks away. He can't tell her the other reason is he wants to be near her. He changes the subject and confesses that he left to gather blackmail evidence against AJ so Carly and Sonny could maintain custody of Michael. That is his Valentine's present to them. Elizabeth laughs. She's not surprised or upset that Jason would do something criminal. He was doing it for people he loved, and she was flattered he trusted her with the truth, and she wouldn't tell anyone.

She pulls from her bag a box of her homemade fudge. "It's my Valentine's Day fudge. I hope you like it."

"Thank you. I have something for you." Jason pulls out a beautiful red glass. Jason explains he found it when he was in Italy. Elizabeth protests, thinking he should keep it. It's important to him, but he says, "It's not a ruby; it's a hunk of glass. I want you to have it. Happy Valentine's Day." They look at the glass in the sky's light, and neither has the words they genuinely want to express. Elizabeth sets the glass on a shelf where she can see it when she paints. Behind them is a loud explosion, and they look outside.

"Oh my god, Jason. The warehouse is on fire!"

"Elizabeth, call 911!" Elizabeth calls while Jason prays for Sonny to exit the building. Elizabeth gives the address to the operator, and Jason rushes outside towards the fire. She locks up behind her and follows. The crowd grows, watching the fire, and a few men exit the building. Carly argues with Jason, begging him to go in and find her husband. Lucky startles Elizabeth from behind and presents her with a dozen white roses. She barely acknowledges them, watching Jason rush into the fire to save his best friend.

Lucky tries pulling Elizabeth away. He gave her flowers; why does she care about Morgan? It's Valentine's Day; he has it all planned out for them, he laments. Through the smoke appear two figures. Carly runs into her husband's arms, and Jason looks into the crowd…searching. He locks eyes with Elizabeth; relief flushes over her. The roses fall from her arms, dropping into the ground. Lucky reaches to pick them up, and without looking behind her, she walks to Jason and helps him up from the snow.

Carly and Sonny are too wrapped up in each other to notice anyone else. Jason wraps his arm around Elizabeth, and they return to her studio. Lucky holds the five roses he picked up, shouting out Elizabeth's name, but the fire engines and water dousing out the flames muffle the sound of his voice.

Elizabeth removes Jason's jacket and helps Jason out of his t-shirt. She fills the basin with water and soaks a washcloth. She wipes the soot off his face, rinses, and repeats until his face and body are scrubbed clean. Elizabeth turns to rinse the cloth again, and Jason stops her. He stands and pulls her to him. He leans in and kisses her gently. Elizabeth responds, sinking into him. She leads Jason to the couch, and he pulls her sweater over her head. Their lips never parting, she deftly unclasps her bra with one hand. He pulls off his jeans as she removes hers. Before he can pull her back down to the couch, she lunges for the door to ensure it is locked. She returns to join him, straddling him; she falls forward, kissing him. He lifts her and flips position with him on top. They explore each other's bodies with their eyes and hands.

Staring into her eyes, Jason asks, "Elizabeth, are you sure?" She bites her lower lips and nods. In rhythm, they climax together.

Laughing, Elizabeth traces Jason's face with her finger. He follows her finger as it runs down his chest towards his waist. "Since I've known you, I've seen every part of your body except for that…until now. It was worth the wait."

He chuckles, "No regrets?"

"Uh uh, none. You?"

"Nope!" he grins.

Curled up against Jason, Elizabeth relaxes for the first time in months. Suddenly, there is a pounding on her door. "Elizabeth, come on, I thought you'd be at my place by now. Why the fuck did you help Jason up from the fire. Playing good samaritan time is over. Are you in there?" There is more pounding before Lucky gives up.

Elizabeth props herself up to face Jason. "What's next?"

"Well, I hope you know this isn't a one-time thing; at least, I don't want it to be."

Elizabeth blushes, "I don't either."

Jason kisses her neck, sighs, and says, "I don't want to leave, but I should check on Carly and Sonny. I will try to get my Penthouse back, but until then, I have a room above Jake's."

"I must shower and check on a course I'm taking. I'll see you later? Elizabeth raises her eyebrows in question."

Jason pecks her lips, "I look forward to it." He dresses and leaves. Elizabeth uses a shower down the hall and sneaks out, hoping Lucky isn't lurking somewhere.

Elizabeth walks into Jake's, hoping to find Jason. She smiles, "Hi!"

"Hi, how is your day?"

"Good, you?" Elizabeth snags a fry off Jason's plate.

"I'm great. Are you hungry? Do you want my fries?"

She takes another fry and replies, "No, the food here is terrible."

Jason grins as she continues to eat off his plate. "How was your class?"

"I have an assignment to sketch a figure in motion. Suggestions?" Elizabeth looks around the room and lands on an idea. 'Can I sketch you playing pool?" She coyly asks.

Jason is unable to say no to the beautiful artist. After getting the basics on paper and filling in the lines, Jason says, "Take a break and join me in a game."

"I don't know how to play."

Jason invites her to the table and helps her line up a shot. He wraps his arms around her, holding her arms, and as she pulls back the cue, he gets a whiff of her scented shampoo. He breathes deeply. Elizabeth gets excited as she sinks the ball in it's pocket. Neither Jason nor Elizabeth notices Lucky glaring at them from the bar. After another ball lands in the pocket, Lucky approaches and says, "I thought I told you to stay away from Jason."

"Lucky! You have no cause to be obsessive! I am not your property. I will hang around Jason as long as he wants me to."

"I also told Jason to keep away from you. He doesn't deserve you."

Jason ignores Lucky and asks, "Elizabeth, do you want to go for a ride?"

"I thought you'd never ask."

After a day in the park, Lucky approaches the couple, and Elizabeth says, "Lucky, every time I turn around, you are up in my face. Stop stalking me."

Lucky replies, "Elizabeth, we have this permanent lock. You freed me from Helena, but now we belong together."

"No, we don't."

Jason says, "Lucky, I think you should leave." Lucky takes a swing at Jason and misses. He tries to push Jason, but Jason won't budge. He yanks Elizabeth's arm, and Jason smacks Lucky in the jaw. He wrenches Lucky's arm behind his back and throws him to the ground. "Lucky you won't win a fight with me. Leave Elizabeth alone."

Jason asks Elizabeth if she is okay, and she nods. She gets behind him on his bike, and they take the Cliff Roads to the edge of nowhere. "Elizabeth, I need to leave Port Charles for a while. Will you come with me?"

"Where?"

"Business first, and then anywhere you want to go."

She hesitates briefly and says, "Yes. I need to pack a few things."

"Elizabeth, whatever you need, we can get along the way."

"I need three things from the studio." They stop off, and Elizabeth collects her passport, the red glass, and the jacket Jason gave her for Christmas in 1999. They ride away. Jason takes care of some business issues for Sonny, and two weeks later, they are in Europe.

Jason and Elizabeth settle in Italy. While away, Jason helps Elizabeth celebrate her 20th birthday. They learn the language, and Elizabeth paints. They correspond with Emily and discover that Lucky was arrested and convicted of abuse of a petite brunette waitress at Kelly's. Jason receives a letter from Sonny requesting his return home. Jason consults with Elizabeth before agreeing to return. Almost a year to the day they left Port Charles, Elizabeth and Jason returned home.

The End of What If Possibility #2.

What If

5/29/02

Elizabeth and Lucky are together when Jason returns. What if when Elizabeth sees Lucky having sex with her sister Sarah (Jason and Elizabeth), their choices and actions are different?