Chapter Two
(My Idea of Superwoman Is One Who Scrubs Her Own Floors.)
The next couple of months flew quickly as Jason dealt with the Ruiz family. They were in town for a meeting under a white flag when someone had fired and killed Javier Jr bringing the force of the entire family on both organizations.
Sonny had lost several men, strangely enough Ric had saved Sonny's life in one incident that had caused Lucky Spencer to get shot in the back. He had spent a month in the hospital, and was now resting at his aunt's Brownstone after a huge fight with Elizabeth Webber.
He had seen her leaving with Patrick Drake, unaware they were meeting Robin Scorpio who was helping with Elizabeth's studying. Lucky had accused Elizabeth of being involved with the playboy, then had demanded she stop cheating on him.
When the nurse had pointed out they were not dating, he had said yes they were, he was just letting her have some time off since she was clearly confused. That had annoyed Elizabeth but his going around telling doctors and nurses he wouldn't need any home health care since Elizabeth would be taking care of him when he moved in with her, had been the last straw.
She had waited until he had pissed her off yet again, then had at the right moment walked over to the blond coming off the elevator and kissed the man. Jax had been stunned but not resisting a chance to mess with Spencer, he leaned her backwards and returned the kiss.
There was some whooping from Robin and Emily while an angry Lucky stormed off. "Good riddance."
"You know, I am feeling used." said the amused blond as he returned her to the upright position laughing hysterically. "Now, that you have had your way with me, Nurse Webber could you please direct me to where I can find your boss."
"If you are planning on reporting my nurse for sexual harassment..." Epiphany asked glaring at Elizabeth and the others.
"No, no, nothing like that, but Elizabeth, I do have to ask, what did Spencer do to piss you off that badly." he said with a smirk. "No, Dr. Quartermaine called me, asked me here for a meeting."
"Oh." Elizabeth felt bad, she had a feeling she knew what the meeting was about and directed him to the conference hall where Nik was already and where the tall blond woman was glaring at him and asking in a wounded tone. "How could you, when we are here to discuss my late son."
"Get over it, Courtney. Jax and Elizabeth are free to kiss whomever they want." snapped Nik.
When Alan came in with Kelly Lee, he said "Let's all be seated."
"Okay, Nik, your grandmother did have something to do with the tests. We reran them, here and at another location. The baby that died, he was Jasper Jacks son. Not yours."
"Well at least we now know what my grandmother as hinting at." said Nik who stood then said "Courtney, I have to head to Greece, find out what she is up to."
"But-" she got no where as he left quickly, wanting to be away from the whole mess. Seeing Emily he was about to speak to her when he saw her talking to a man who was asking her to lunch. Knowing their time had passed, he just continued on, regretting once again his mistakes.
Meanwhile another man was regretting his mistakes. Lorenzo Alcazar had shipped his wife out of town to protect her from the violence but within days he had received pictures of Skye heavily pregnant with their child.
Wishing he dare trust Morgan or Corinthos, all he could do was hope and pray his plans worked out as he lived with the fear that his new family would die. He had been certain it was Corinthos who had taken out Javier, only for his inside man to inform him, that no, it hadn't been the Cuban.
Sonny was dealing with the mess, when Jason got the call. Sighing the blond hung up and said "Continue."
"Is everything okay?" asked Sonny.
"Yes, it was just more nonsense involving Sam." he replied with a sigh.
Seeing Ric Lansing entering, he frowned, knowing that Sonny was grateful that his brother had saved his life but he wasn't so sure that the other man didn't have a different motive.
When Morgan had left, Ric discussed Kristina and left, he was talking to his brother, mainly for his daughter's sake. Alexis could barely function at times, the littlest thing setting her off since Molly's death. He felt pushed away and would have left the uptight woman expect for the little girl who now owned his heart.
At GH, Elizabeth was working the ER when she heard the call. Calling up, she let Dr. Quartermaine know. "Sir, a cooking class, we are expecting at least eight victims. The fireman said someone threw oil onto a burner thinking it was water."
Shaking his head at the sheer stupidity of some people, he hurried down. Getting the burn victims taken care of, he was glad to see that most were only superficial expect for the teacher who was threatening to sue a student.
"But I didn't know..." whined the woman.
"Ms. McCall, surely you aren't that stupid." sneered the man. "Truly, how on earth have you managed to live this long. Either way, you are done and I will be warning the other cooking classes. I should have listened to Adolph, he warned me, but I thought, no one, but no one could be that bad."
The dark haired woman was checked out, told to keep her burn covered for a few days, then released. Seeing Elizabeth talking to her friends, she saw Jason approaching and was beaming until he stopped to talk to the trio.
Frowning a bit, then moving closer, she was glad to hear him talking to Emily, the other women were too busy teasing Elizabeth about the romantic kiss downstairs.
Thinking on Lucky Spencer, Sam had to say she didn't think he had that in him, before walking off, annoyed that she was letting something Courtney Matthews said get to her.
Carly was putting together her party, planning on hosting it on May 1st when she heard her name being called, turning she saw Jasper Jacks and found herself listening to what he had to say. "I am sorry Jax, is there anything I can do?"
"Explain why she would do this?" he asked bleakly. First it was Helena, then Courtney, thanks to those two women, his son had been buried with the wrong name.
Carly watched with a calculating expression on her face as she watched the blond crossing the lobby toward the long hall where his office was, she had planned her party at the Metrocourt so that she would have another excuse to get close to the Aussie, now thanks to her friend she had had yet another bonding session with him.
The Ruiz brothers were getting the feeling they were set up to take the fall when nothing turned out to show that neither Port Charles organization were involved in Javier's death.
They truly didn't like to be made a fool of and were looking for who had set them up when they saw the idiot cop talking to a dealer. "Wait, we need information, right?"
"Yeah." said the other brother.
"That is our in. Right there. Detective Lucky Spencer." he replied as they followed the blond man who entered an apartment building and left twenty minutes later escorted from the building by two of his fellow officers and warned off.
"We need to know who he is visiting." said the Spaniard.
Elizabeth was finding time to work with her grandmother as the elderly woman announced her plans to retire. GH was going to have a party celebrating her time with the hospital and at the same time Audrey was going through attics, garages and spare rooms before deciding what she was going to take to Arizona with her.
Jason meanwhile was a bit lonely living alone and found himself spending time with his sister who sometimes had Elizabeth's son when she was working night shifts. He knew he had to bide his time and seriously think on things before moving forward, his memories weren't complete, but as he spent more time away from those who kept his time full and occupied with themselves, he was slowly coming to recall more and more.
Watching Jason with Cam was giving Emily ideas, she knew that between bad timing, selfish friends and family and their own insecurities Jason and Elizabeth had lost a chance to be together years ago, now, looking back, Emily had regrets...
She had decided that the best thing for Jason, for Elizabeth was that the two of them finally explored the feelings they had once had and maybe find the happiness they had spent too long looking for in other people.
If only she knew the torture she was putting her brother through to be so close to his dreams yet so far away...
Sam meanwhile had crossed cooking lessons off her list, she had tried to register for a class in Interior design but had been told she needed a high school degree, same thing with her other attempts to improve herself.
A chance run in with Dr. Alan Quartermaine had her making plans to get a job, with ELQ, to show Jason she could be a bridge between him and his family.
Getting the interview, she was upset when the woman condescendingly said she had to have at least a high school diploma for the job of runner but that if she was serious about wanting work, they were hiring for the nighttime cleaning crew.
Leaving, Sam went to find out what she needed to do to get her GED. Taking the test, she was told where she had to improve and was given the course work.
At home, in her new apartment, she sat there not understanding half the words, she was about to give up when she stopped into Kelly's and overheard Georgie Jones talking to her sister about Lulu Spencer borrowing her dictionary, and decided to get one of her own.
At the end of her shift, Georgie groaned when she saw the snow, she had to head out to pick up supplies for her car. Mac had been angry to find out she had forgotten to put oil in her car and had told her she had to pick it up so he could put it in. Then had given her a fifteen minute lecture on car maintenance.
Seeing a familiar looking hot rod, she hurried in and grabbed her oil. Standing in the long line, she looked around, then almost dropped the quarts.
"Here." said the man in front of her. Taking them, he stacked them to the side of the current customer. "What kind of car do you have?"
"An '04 Jeep Liberty."
"You really don't need that much oil, trust me." he said with a smile.
"My dad told me to get a couple of extra so that next time he can fill it without having to remind me. I forgot he told me I was a low a month ago."
"Not good." said the man taking a mental step back. He had thought she was a little young and from the sounds of it, he was right.
"I know but I have been busy. Between work, school, writing, candy striping then there is keeping my boyfriend's step sister out of his bed... I am too busy." When she flushed, then said "I uh... I shouldn't have told you that."
"Hey, it's not like I will tell anyone." he said. "Though, if he is going to fall so easily, why are you still worried. Let him go, any man that cheats with his stepsister, uh, he isn't that great to begin with."
"I know, but for the sake of his family... I have to stop it from happening, you don't know Lulu." she said with a sigh. "I wish it wasn't on me, but when Brook died, I wasn't there for him... so, I have to protect him, protect Lulu even because it is all a disaster waiting to happen."
"Next!" called out the clerk. Stepping aside, the man said "Go ahead, clearly you have a lot on your plate."
When the girl had left, John saw the guards entering and paid for his parts. "I told you, I wasn't running. I needed some things."
"Your father told you we were to go for you." said the bigger man.
"Too bad, but I wouldn't trust you to pick up my dry cleaning let along the car parts for this baby." said John patting the hood of his 'Cudda. "Now, tell Trevor to get his lace panties out of the twist he has them knotted in and stay out of my way."
Sam spent most of the next couple of weeks reading the dictionary and her course books in preparation to astounding Jason with her smarts at Carly's party. Courtney meanwhile hadn't heart a word from Nik and was beginning to get worried, it had been a couple of weeks, and nothing.
Business went on, the Ruiz family finding out that the woman Spencer was stalking was his ex-fiance who they were aware of and they soon had him suspended from work.
They saw him with the other woman, exchanging time in bed for pills, they dismissed using the man, clearly he was a loose cannon but Manny didn't like the way he disrespected the lovely Elizabeth so they watched and waited.
Every time Lucky showed up to annoy the nurse, no matter where it was, Manny called the police, Mac finally had had enough and requested Elizabeth get a restraining order which she did. "I can't help it, who is letting the police know, I haven't called them."
"Maybe Jason assigned you a guard or something?" asked Emily. Asking her brother about the bald man with the tattoos she had seen around recently, she saw him turn white then high tail it out of her apartment.
"We need to talk, why are you following Elizabeth Webber?" he asked Manny when he caught up with the Spaniard.
"Ah, the bella signorina. I just don't like it when men push themselves on women who aren't interest." said one of the more dangerous men on the East coast. "The signorina is an innocent, a Madonna, one we protect, si?"
Jason didn't like the way the other man was speaking and moved in. "Elizabeth Webber, her family and her friends are under the Corinthos family's protection. Don't mess with us."
"If she is so protected, how has Mr. Spencer and the others been allowed to speak to her as they have." asked the painted man.
When Jason had no answer, Manny announced."I know your history with the lovely woman, I know that you let her down, cheated on her when she was living with you with your own brother's wife. You are not a man of honor, Mr. Morgan. So don't speak to me about protecting the lovely Ms. Webber or the Ruiz family will put her under our protection and you, as a person who has hurt her dreadfully, who is allowing Ric Lansing to walk around alive after hurting her, after his hurting your partner's wife... you will suffer the consequences."
Jason flushed, well aware that Ric Lansing being alive had cost Sonny, had cost him honor among the family in spite of what his partner thought.
"Ah, I see your failures are known to you." said the other man. "I wonder, Mr. Morgan... while a man such as myself am unfit for someone as lovely and fresh as she is, why a man like yourself who could walk away wouldn't for a woman such as she?"
Jason walked away, feeling like he had lost something by backing away from the other man. Arriving at his penthouse, tossing down his keys, he walked to the window, stood there and faced his demons.
Closing his eyes, trying to stop the memories, Jason just reminded himself that what he had lost in honor, in not having her love he had gained in knowing she was happy, in knowing she was living a good life, with good friends and that she was respected, liked by all. None of which would have happened if she had been tainted by his life more than she was.
Thinking on all he had given up, Jason went upstairs, to the safe only he knew about, opened it, read through what ripped his heart, closed it away and walked away, knowing that he had made the right choice for them, for his family.
The night of the gala, Carly was greeting guests standing next to Jax who was tense because Courtney had shown up, claiming since they were married when he opened the hotel she should be his hostess.
When she heard Courtney tear into Jax about kissing Elizabeth, she took the blond off. "What are you talking about?"
Getting the story, Carly said "You need to stop that, Jax is not interested in Elizabeth that way. Mama told me the whole thing was to get Lucky off her back. That is all."
"But-" Courtney shut up and went back to the other room. Seeing Lucky she made a beeline to the other man who pouted and told her that Carly was telling the truth. Seeing him grimacing, she asked what was wrong.
"I forgot my pain meds and my back is killing me. I only came because it was a chance to see Elizabeth." he lied. He had come here looking for the nurse who had felt sorry for him, but she wasn't here and he was out of his pain pills and needed more.
Courtney looked at Nik's brother then wanting to help said "I can get you something. There is a doctor who spends a lot of time here. Be right back."
Returning, the blond said "It's Oxy, so don't take as many as you usually do."
Nodding, he ignored her warning, his back was truly killing him. Within moments of popping the pill his pain went away. Thanking Courtney, he went to wait for Elizabeth to arrive so they could speak.
Robin and the four women entered, all trying to keep poor Maxie from being upset. It was her first time out since the death of Jesse. "Elizabeth, Lucky at three o'clock."
"Thanks for the warning." she said ducking out while Emily and Georgie moved in to cover her empty spot. Seeing Patrick, Elizabeth threaded her arm through his and said "So Casanova, want to be my date?"
"Need a Spencer repellent huh?" he asked with an amused grin.
Laughing as they avoided Lucky and joined the party, Elizabeth frowned when she saw Lulu glaring at Georgie who was greeting Dillon. Wondering what was up with that, she thanked Patrick and went to talk to her grams.
"My dear, you look lovely." she announced before talking to Edward who also told Elizabeth her grandmother was right, she was quite lovely in that dress. Elizabeth had picked up a vintage peach dress with a dropped waist and spaghetti straps which emphasized her ivory skin at the urging of Emily and Robin the week before.
Carly was pouting then figured out that Jason would want to avoid Courtney. Looking out on the terrace she was happy to see her best friend who she hadn't seen in a while. "Jason, I am so glad you came."
The man across the street, holding the rifle with the sniper scope looked through at the blond then at his picture. No, she wasn't the women he was looking for. When the blond went back inside taking the man with her, the sniper breathed a sigh of relief.
Jason was at the bar looking around, he saw Elizabeth talking to Robin and his sister, the three of them laughing and the way that Maxie Jones glared at them, he found himself smiling when he saw what had them so amused.
Someone who was wearing a powder blue tuxedo with a ruffled shirt was on his knees in front of her looking like he was speaking to her. When Maxie stood, then walked off with the kid, he could only wince on the kid's behalf because it was clear Maxie wasn't amused.
When he saw Elizabeth stand, then walk to the hallway, he swiftly followed. "Elizabeth, do you have a moment?"
"Sure, what is it?" she asked when they were off to the side.
"I hate to worry you, but there is a man keeping an eye on you. I don't think he is a threat to you, but..." Jason trailed off, he had debated telling her, he had checked into the Ruiz family, they weren't a threat but Jason didn't want that to change.
He knew Manny wouldn't be a worry for Elizabeth, but he knew he had to warn her. "Jason, what is going on?"
"When Lucky was bothering you, someone saw him and considered him a threat to you. He uh, he made it clear that he doesn't consider your protection from our family to be enough. He uh, he went to the Five families about it."
"Wait, what?" she asked. "Why would he care, why would they care and since when am I under your protection?"
"Elizabeth..." taking a deep breath, he said "You, you have been since the winter I was shot. They recently had a meeting, told us they were not happy with our way of protecting you. The Ruiz family has uh, there is no way to say this other than to just tell you. They have claimed the right to protect you, and a few others for the time being."
"Jason, okay, how do I stop this?" she asked.
"There is no stopping it." he said then added shamefaced. "He called me on not protecting you, and he is right. I know better, he called me on my lapses. Not only for you. There are a few others we have claimed to protect who we haven't done right by."
"Jason, I don't want your protection, any more than I want this mystery family's." she said annoyed. Walking away, she turned and said "Jason, I don't get it, we haven't really been friends in years, why would they do this, why would you not let that supposed protection go?"
Wincing when she stalked away, Jason returned to watching Sonny talking to Alexis who looked a bit peaked, then he saw Ric who wasn't happy as someone he couldn't see was talking to the attorney.
When he saw the other man with the salt and pepper hair leave, Jason was about to follow, curious as to why Ric looked so sick after talking to the man. Instead he felt a small hand on his arm. "Sam, what do you want?"
"Can we speak Jason, please?" she asked pleadingly.
On the terrace, Jason sighed then looked at Sam. For the last few weeks, she had left him alone, he had been convinced that she had finally gotten he wasn't taking her back. "What is it Sam?"
"I uh, I just wanted to speak to you. I miss talking to you, to my friend." Her words were echoing but his mind was responding to Elizabeth's questions. Looking at her, he felt a sense of sorrow.
Elizabeth, who he had walked away from, her son who he had walked away from, the idea had been to keep her safe. As he tried to pay attention to Sam, all he wanted to do was go track down Elizabeth, beg her for forgiveness but his lies, his big huge, unforgivable lie was still there, between them.
"Jason, please can we try again."
"Sam, no, I am sorry. I would be letting you come back because I was lonely not because I want you more than any other person on earth." he said.
"Jason is there someone else in your life, someone who has taken my place?" she asked the tears flowing.
"No, look Sam... it's not like that. I need you to accept that we aren't meant to be together. Find someone who will love you." he said then went to return to the party.
Hearing the gunshot, he turned just as Sam fell into his arms. Calling for help, Jason heard someone coming in. "Emily, get someone to help Sam. She was shot."
The police rushed in, Lucky angry to be reminded that that he was on suspension. Mac looked at Lucky, the man's eyes were slightly glazed. Reminding himself to keep an eye on the officer, he asked Morgan what had happened.
"I don't know, Mac. Sam was standing at the banister, I was leaving when they fired." he replied.
"Were they firing at Sam or at you?" he asked furious that yet another innocent person might have been shot.
"I don't know." he replied. There was the sound of footsteps as the medics and his father were leading the gurney out.
"Mac, you need to see this." said Detective Cruz as he came in. Showing his boss the photo, he said "It looks like she was the intended victim, but the name, it's not Sam McCall, do you think that it was an accident."
Jason felt a sense of responsibility, Sam wouldn't have been on the terrace, she wouldn't have been shot at if she hadn't been speaking to him.
"Morgan, stay out of this." warned Mac as he turned to Alexis who was white. "Are you okay?"
"Sam, how is she?" she asked the guilt at not claiming her daughter weighing on her at the idea of Sam dying.
"It didn't look good, but for once they don't appear to be after Morgan. They found the sniper's nest. They were after Sam." he said showing her the picture both front and back.
Alexis drove to GH, listened as Alan told Jason that he was Sam's only chance. "We are over, I am sure there is someone else."
"No, no there isn't." he said then gave Jason the paperwork. Signing, he handed it back to his father. Leaving, wanting to know what had happened and why.
"Morgan, we need to talk." said Manny from the sidewalk. "You need to let this one go. That is all I can tell you."
"Someone took a shot at a woman I was involved with, one still under my protection." he said harshly. "I owe her, for all she has done for me, I walked away from her."
"Fine, that is your business, but you might want to know, that if you pursue this, there will be consequences. Are you sure you want to expose your family for a punta like Ms. McCall."
Jason walked away, ignoring the man who called out. "I know your secrets, your deepest darkest secrets, Morgan."
Shivering at the taunt, Jason thought to himself no, no your don't. No one knew his deepest secret. He was the only person in the world who knew.
Two weeks later, Alexis after yet another screaming match with Sam was glad she hadn't told the woman there was a chance she was her daughter. This woman had no class, no brains and all she wanted out of life was to spend it sitting on Jason's Morgan's sofa eating Chinese food.
She had no goals in life except to by the wife of a man who had made it very clear that he had made a mistake getting involved with her.
Georgie was back at Vista Point, the end of semester was approaching and she needed peace and quiet. She also had a deadline approaching and she was feeling incapable of getting her project done in time. "How did I know..."
Looking up, she said "I know you, don't I?"
"The Autozone Store." he said slightly amused at her frown. "So how goes the protecting of the boyfriend from the stepsister?"
Frowning, she said "None of your business."
"That doesn't sound good." he said. "What happened?"
"Lulu is slowly drawing him away, I am trying to help but at the same time, I have bigger things to worry about." she replied. "What are you doing up here?"
"Escaping from my family." he said honestly. "I had better head home, you need to be careful, Okay?"
Georgie dismissed the handsome man from her mind, returning to studying. Arriving home, she heard her father talking to Robin about Sam McCall.
"She will be fine, except losing the ability to have to have children." she replied. "I still can't believe Alexis offered to help her. She said she felt bad for Sam, I still think that she knows something more."
"Sam wasn't too happy when she found out Morgan wasn't coming." said Mac. "I am looking into the name on the picture. I haven't gotten any place yet. Felicia sent me all she from when she researched Sam for Carly's divorce last year."
"Hopefully you find something before she comes back from rehab." Robin said. She had had two weeks too much of Sam McCall. Between the loud sobs over Jason, her verbal attacks over Kelly Lee removing her uterus and then her jumpiness, Robin hated working on the woman's case.
Elizabeth was having dinner with Emily when she heard a knock on the door. Opening it, she saw a delivery man who handed her a box, told her the tip was taken care of.
"Elizabeth, who is the secret admirer?" asked Emily when she saw the large bouquet of irises.
Reading the card, she laughed then showed Emily that they were from her brother. They said Just Because I love you." He has been worried about me since Grams and I had that fight about marrying Lucky. He said he wanted me to know that I am never alone."
"Awww, that is so sweet." she said then later at home, her mind on how sweet Liz's brother was took out her phone to called Jason. "Why haven't you ever sent me flowers?"
"Emily?" he said. "What is going on?"
Explaining, she said "You have never sent me flowers."
Jason hung up after he told her he had never sent a woman flowers, sister or not, then turned to Sonny. "We have to find this shooter."
Sonny frowned, then said "I can't figure out how they remained hidden. They must be getting help from someone locally."
"We know it's not the Ruiz family, nor was it Alcazar, he is too busy dealing with his wife miscarrying." Jason had no idea and he really didn't like the idea of someone getting that close to them, even if they weren't the target.
Jason sighed then said "Plus there is what Manny Ruiz said about exposing ourselves to danger if we protect Sam."
"Jason we owe Sam our help." he ordered. "Why is this such a problem for you?"
"It was what he said about leaving my family unprotected. I just don't like that open ended threat." He didn't tell Sonny that he got the feeling that Manny knew a hell of a lot more than he should.
"That piece of crap, going to the families claiming we are without honor because we let Ric live, he is my brother. I am honoring my mother."
Jason just sighed, he knew that they were worried about more than just that. It was about Carly disrespecting people, about her social climbing ways and about Courtney's behavior. It was about all the screw ups that Sonny had made over the years and those that Jason had made in his determination to not disrespect Sonny.
Mother's Day dawned brightly and a man who didn't know he had tail went to work like he did once a year, taking measurements, writing out plans for something that would never ever happen.
Calling in the work order to begin on Monday, he left the empty space, drove back to town and went on his way, acting like the holiday meant nothing to him, like he had no reason to care that it was Mother's Day.
Elizabeth was in bed when she gave a sigh, mother's day had passed, Cam via her grams had given her a locket with a picture of her and her son. Steven had sent her flowers yet again, also signing Cam's name. She sometimes worried about Cam not having a father, but knew that being without one was preferable to settle for a man like Lucky, a man like Ric.
Frowning as she thought about Ric, he had been around the hospital a lot, talking to her, asking questions about how she was feeling. There was this sense that he was up to something and after their past, she couldn't help wondering if he was.
Then there was the man with the tattoos who had been around General Hospital so often. He hadn't ever said much, had been extremely polite yet Elizabeth knew he was the man who had told Jason she was being protected.
Hearing Lucky's voice, she sighed as he argued with Emily over something. "Look, it's just until Nik returns, I promise, please, I need your help."
Lucky then stormed off when Emily yet again said no. "Emily, is something up?"
"No. I just... I need to speak to you." she said looking around. When they were in a small supply room, she asked "What would you think if I told you that I think... well that I think Lucky is sleeping with Courtney?"
"What?" she asked dazed. "Courtney, why?"
"Just something I saw down by Kelly's." she said frustrated. "I don't know what to do, do I tell Nik, do I keep my mouth shut, what should I do?"
"First, you say nothing until we find out for sure." said Elizabeth. She had her doubts, Courtney didn't fall for poor men and even if Lucky had gotten his badge back courtesy of Ric, that was not the kind of money she tended to think the blond chased after.
"Okay, okay, yeah, you're right. We do nothing without proof." she said walking to the door. Leaving, she looked back and said "I have to finish my shift what are you plans with Cam tonight."
"We have grand plans. I am going to try and get him to eat eggs tonight." she said "Then a nice bath, followed by story as I tuck him into bed. I live such an exciting life."
Emily smiled wistfully as she watched her friend leaving. If Elizabeth only knew how great her life sounded to her.
The month ended with Jason having an unwanted house guest as Sam was being stalked. She was not happy to be staying in the guest room, had rattled his door the night before, trying to get in.
Annoyed, he had talked to her the next morning, warning her to stop. "Jason, I am scared and I need the comfort only you can provide."
Getting away, he told the guard to keep Sam safe then went to find out what Manny knew. The mobster was nowhere to be found. Jason was at the end of his tether, between Carly who was fighting with Sonny, Sam causing drama. He had had enough.
He was going to get answers and he was not taking no for an answer. Stopping over at the Alcazar residence, he saw the photo of the man's late son. Diego had pissed off the wrong person and had ended up dead a few days before out near Crimson Point and no one knew why he had been there. "I am sorry for you loss."
Seeing the look on Lorenzo's face, Jason said "A child is something no parent should be separated from. Whether by death or by any other action."
Lorenzo looked at Morgan then said "Did you hear about Skye, she miscarried."
"Alan told me." he said awkwardly.
"Morgan, I know why you are here, but, but I have no answers. All I know is that someone sent the Ruiz brothers after both of us, someone who had to be local. Someone who knows a lot of our secrets." he said. "Skye should have been safe, no one but my attorney knew of that safe house. No one."
"Lansing?" he asked meaning Ric.
"Yeah, I asked his son about it, but Ric said his father has no reason to come after me." he stated.
Jason had gained some knowledge, even if Lorenzo had unknowingly imparted it. "Do you have any idea who is after Sam?"
"No, I should tell you. I should be on your list. During the virus, she said she hoped my baby died." Walking to his door, Lorenzo said "Now if you will excuse me, Morgan, one more thing."
The blond turned towards the dark haired man. "Elizabeth Webber, the Ruiz family, they are truly taking her under their protection. You might want to ask yourself why. What did they learn that that makes them so interested in you? Why are they saying you have no honor."
Walking away, he was in his car, when his hands started shaking. He had covered his tracks, no one but no one knew his secret. His head was back against the head rest, counting to ten in his head, needing to regain control before he put his family in danger.
June came and went, with no more answers then before. Just more leads. Jason found out that Sam was adopted, looking into it, trying to find if there was a connection, he ran into dead end after dead end.
He had Sonny telling him to relax, just let things happen. "Man, you need to relax and hey, if she is willing what does it matter. You were happy with her before."
Glaring at Sonny, Jason walked out of the warehouse, Sonny was acting like he should just take Sam back, but he couldn't something was telling him that not to trust the woman he had living at his penthouse.
On a long drive, Father's day after spending time with Sonny in his glory with his children, all Jason wanted was time away, time to reflect, to deal with the pain, the loneliness he had created on by taking such a hard path when he went to work for Sonny.
He started to look at the hole in his heart, then slammed it shut, reminding himself that he didn't deserve pity, or the right to think about what he was. He had walked away, cut out a major part of his heart to keep it safe.
Now he could only watch, at a distance, a far distance as he ignored the text from Emily asking if he wanted to come over. That Liz was working and that she was babysitting Cam. Em had no idea, none how seeing that little boy ate at his very soul.
Elizabeth and the rest of the Tuesday night movie gang were watching A Touch of Mink and laughing at the ending.
"Sorry I don't see Cary Grant as anything special." Seeing their glares, Georgie said "I mean, yeah he can act but he was no stud muffin. No James Dean."
Robin sat up and crowed "Me thinks that Georgie likes a bad boy, deep down."
"That's why she is dating Mr. Boring and spends more time with me than him." reported Maxie as she snapped up the last of the jelly bellys.
"Georgie, dump the dead weight and find yourself a Porsche driving bad boy."
Georgie frowned at the mental image of the man with the hot rod popped into her head as he been doing recently, ruining her work, making her have to delete whole paragraphs, once even a whole chapter.
"Look at that face, so Georgie who is he and why are you still dating Dillon?" asked Emily eagerly.
"No one, there is no one. I love Dillon." she said and Elizabeth winced, she knew that tone, that face, she had been the queen of denial for years about loving the wrong man. By the time she had realized the truth it had been too late and he had moved on with another woman.
Emily stayed behind when the other women left, tonight had been a single movie, no double feature because the Jones girls had agreed to help with the carnival for the Independence Day celebrations.
"Em, what is it?" asked Elizabeth when they were back on the sofa.
"I was following Lucky, trying to see who he was with, instead I saw something else. Dillon, kissing Lulu. They were talking about how he couldn't hurt Georgie, how he had to stay away from Lulu, that she had to stay away from him."
"Dillon is cheating on Georgie?" she asked astonished.
"Yes, they kept talking, then both left, Lulu telling Dillon that she was going to fight for him, that she was the perfect woman for him. It reminded me of Carly and how she was back when she was obsessed with Jason."
"Greats, so another Scorpio/Jones girl is road kill on the Spencer highway." said Elizabeth, reminded of what had happened to Robin and Jason at the hands of Carly.
"True, its why I am hoping that there is someone else out there for Georgie, for after her heart heals." she said. There was silence then Emily said, "I have to show you something. I got it in the mail today."
Taking out the newspaper, she said "Ned sent it to me. He is on tour in Europe, and wanted to give me notice so I wouldn't be hurt when the news came out."
Reading the headline on what had to be the society page, the one word Elizabeth understood was Cassadine. "Wait, is Nik getting married?"
"No, Nik IS married." she said wanly. "He married an Irish girl who inherits her family's estate. Siobhan is her name. There was an Irish paper too, but I cried all over it for what might have been."
"Oh Em, I am so-so sorry." she said hugging her best friend.
"I am seriously considering becoming a lesbian. I can't take having my heart broke by any more men. What do you say, want to run off with me." she said as her tears started in earnest. "Elizabeth, what is wrong with me? Is this punishment for breaking poor Zander's heart?"
"No, Emily, I promise it isn't. Someday you will meet the perfect man, right now you just have to wade through all the toads and toadstools." she said. "Look at me, I haven't given up hope, I am not settling for a tool like Lucky, I truly believe that my soul mate is still out there. I just hope that I recognize him in time, that I don't realize after I lost him what I lost."
Jason had no leads, the only people around had been their men, yet somehow someone had managed to send Sam a huge bouquet of black withered roses with a note that read for your funeral just before a shot had hit the glass doors on his balcony.
"Sam, I don't think it is safe for you here, I am going to have you stay at Sonny's." he suggested.
"No, Jason, you wouldn't want to endanger Michael and Morgan would you?" she asked her hands on his arms. Jason sighed, she was right about the boys, yet the penthouse clearly wasn't safe.
"What about Hawaii, we can go to Hawaii." she suggested. When he seemed to be considering it, Sam was certain her plan had worked.
"No, I can't leave town, not now. Things are up in the air business wise."
"Sonny can handle it, he assured me that if I wanted to go, he would make sure it was fine for us to head out of town." she said confidently.
Frowning, not liking the implications of that, Jason just said "No, I won't leave my family exposed while we don't know what is going on."
"Sonny is quite capable of protecting his family." she said trying not to snap. "I think you should let him take care of Carly and the boys for once, I need you, Jason, please, I am scared."
"Sam, if you want to go to Hawaii, I will send you with some guards, but no, I am not leaving." he said. Walking away when he heard his phone ringing, he answered. "Morgan."
"Jason, we need to talk." said Stan. Reading the file, he said "I know who is after Sam and why. Leave her at the penthouse, she will be safe. I have the shooter on ice."
Jason breathed a sigh of relief then turned to his ex-lover and said "Sam, it's over. That was Stan, he has your stalker, you should be able to return to your place by the end of the day."
"But that isn't..." she started to say possible, after all Sonny had arranged for the latest shot, and with Jason as calm as he was, there was no way he knew that part. "...what I want. I want to stay here, just to be safe, Jason."
Walking away, he was at the safe house. "Stan what do you have?"
Showing him the man tied up, he said "Meet Ivan Sergeivich, gun for hire to the Russian mob. This isn't about what we thought. Helena Cassadine hired him, she thought Sam was Alexis' daughter."
"No, no, we know that isn't true, we ran tests." said Jason. Turning to the man, he said "How did you get the shot to fire on my penthouse today?"
That was the shot that worried Jason, it meant that his penthouse wasn't safe it meant he had been vulnerable all this time. That all those who had stayed there had been in danger when he had thought they were safe.
"What are you talking about?" asked Stan. "Jason, this guy didn't fire at the penthouse, our people had him all this time. I was just waiting for confirmation about who he is."
"Someone fired on the penthouse." he said while Stan sat down and started typing.
"That isn't possible. Jason, I think you need to take a look at this..." Turning the laptop, he showed Jason Milo on the rooftop, taking a shot at the penthouse. "What is going on?"
Jason thought back to all the times Sonny had spent pushing Sam on him this week, all the time off he had been given supposedly to support Sam and how his phone had barely rang unless it was a true emergency and didn't like where this was going.
He had questions, lots of them but for now, he would deal with the Russian who was smirking. "You need to let me go, see, I know things, things you don't want to get out. Someone offered them up to the highest bidder. My boss paid, you have secrets Mr. Morgan, a very special one, a living breathing secret that you thought no one knew about. However, secrets, they don't stay hidden long."
Jason felt a sense of dread, then took a deep breath, reminding himself that no one but him knew his deepest secret. Taking out his gun, he shot the man then called for a clean-up crew. Making a call to the penthouse, he said "Sam, its safe for you to go home, the man confessed to everything. I am going to be out of town for a couple of weeks, you are welcome to stay until I get back, but then you need to move back to your own place."
Across town, Sam called Sonny. "Sonny, it didn't work, he found the real guy. I can't lose him, I just can't. Not after I lost you, after I lost our daughter. He is the only good thing in my life."
Feeling guilty, Sonny hung up the phone. He was caught between a rock and a hard place. Between knowing by helping her he would anger Jason even if he eventually forgave him and the woman he had done wrong to. Thinking on his late daughter and how she had saved her sister, he thought about it, then made a call.
"Set up Sam McCall to be arrested, make it look like Ric, now that he is the DA set her up."
TBC