Carly, with the statue clutched to her chest, peeks around the corner, her head making quick motions forward, then jerking back. Sonny is keeping watch behind them, making sure no one sneaks up on them. Not seeing anyone, she whispers, "Okay, let's go."
She steps out into the hall, but jumps back when she sees a gun turning the corner further down the corridor. "Shit. Get back." She whispers urgently.
Sonny pushes her behind him, his back pressing her into the wall. He grabs the statue from her, raising it over his head as they wait for someone to come around the corner.
Suddenly, she hears a whispered, "Stone Cold, wait."
"Jase?" She whispers, then tugging on Sonny's suit, she says, "That's Spinelli. And he's talking to Jason." She tries to go around him, but he pushes her back by pressing his back more firmly against her so she can't. "Sonny, it's Jason."
"Will you just wait?! You don't know that." He argues back at her, never lowering the statue.
She pretends to agree, but when he relaxes, she sneaks out and around him. "Carly! Dammit, Carly."
She peeks around the corner, seeing Jason with a gun pointed in her direction. She calls out in a voice barely above a whisper, "Jase, it's me. Me and Sonny."
He lowers the gun, and she runs to him. He has to brace himself as she slams into him, her arms nearly strangling his neck. With tears in her voice, she admits, "I was so scared, but I told them you were coming for me."
He holds her just as tightly to him, feeling relief that she's alive and in his arms. With her heart beating against his, her warmth pressed against him, he feels like he can breathe again. He tells her in a strained voice, "I came as soon as I could. Thank God you're okay. I thought…" He cuts off, not willing to put his nightmare into words. Her fingers run soothingly over his scalp, as she feels the desperation in his hold.
"I'm okay. We're okay." She promises him over and over. Gathering himself together, knowing he doesn't have time to break down, he pulls back, giving her a hard kiss, a little salty from tears on both their faces.
He wipes his hand down his face, getting rid of his tears. Then, he gives her a teasing smile, "Finally figured out the lock, huh?"
She smacks his chest lightly, "Hey, buddy, you better be careful. The only emotion I accept at the moment is you being proud of me. Do you know how long it's been since you taught me how to do that? And those locks are tricky."
He kisses her forehead, and tells her with a grin, "I am very proud of you. You did good. I am especially proud that you threw up all over Jerry."
She gives him a bright smile, "Our daughter really doesn't like Jerry. She must take after you because she's already protecting me from inside the womb."
He puts his hand on her belly, saying, "Good job, kid."
"We must make haste." Spinelli tells them anxiously, looking down at a gadget in his hand. "We don't know when the blackguards are going to make their presence known."
Jason gives him a tight nod, then turning his attention to Sonny, he asks, "You okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." Sonny says, shifting his shoulders in a sort of macho shrug that has Carly rolling her eyes. "Looks worse than it is."
With a nod, Jason reaches down to his ankle holster, pulling out his spare gun and handing it to Sonny. "We're heading to the lobby. Carly, I need you to take Spinelli down to the control room."
"No. Jase, we aren't splitting up," she tells him with anxiety in her voice. "What if we run into one of the gunmen. Who is going to subdue him? Am I supposed to do it unarmed or will Spinelli?" The young man lets out a squeak, making her point. "And you gave Sonny a gun; where's mine?"
"Carly…" Jason starts with the tone that says he's getting a headache. She puts her hands on her hips, and narrows her eyes.
Spinelli steps up to her, holding out the gun Jason had given him between two fingers and as far from his body as possible, as though it was poisonous and ready to bite. "Here, you can have this one. I intensely prefer not to carry a lethal weapon at the risk of..."
"Thank you, Spinelli. I'm glad someone trusts me." Carly cuts him off with a look at Jason.
He shakes his head, giving Spinelli a look of his own, causing the younger man to smile ruefully and give a shrug of his shoulders.
Turning his attention, Jason urgently tells Carly, "I trust you, but now is not the time for this discussion. Can we please move?"
"That depends, are you going to leave me and Spinelli to fend for ourselves?" She asks with a stubborn tilt to her chin.
Growling at her intractable stance, and needing to get her moving, he gives in, "Come on. Let's get you to the control room."
She gives him a triumphant grin. "Thank you." She leans up and gives him a quick peck, "Hurry up! What are we waiting for?"
Jason shakes his head, but has a grin on his face. He's so thankful she's still around to give him headaches. He takes the lead, his gun leading them forward, and Sonny takes up the rear, making sure they're covered from behind, while Carly and Spinelli are protected in the middle. She follows so closely behind Jason, she keeps her hand gripping the back of his shirt; the other hand gripping the gun, pointed toward the ground.
Luck is on their side, and they don't run into any of the bad guys on the way to the control room in the basement of the hotel. However, when they reach the room, a masked gunman is guarding it. Hiding in a hallway just out of sight, Sonny and Jason have a silent conversation. Sonny then takes off stealthily in one direction, while Jason focuses on Carly and Spinelli.
So quietly, only the barest sound comes out, Jason tells her, "Stay here."
She and Spinelli both nod their understanding. Then, Jason is gone, following a different path than Sonny. Her hands are shaking and her stomach is queasy as she waits. After several minutes, which feels like hours, and some scuffling and grunting, she hears Jason tell them, "It's safe. You can come out."
She looks around the corner to see the gunman knocked out on the floor with his hands zip-tied together. Jason has the bad guy's gun tucked into his pants, and is in the process of taking off his mask as she walks towards him. He then puts the mask in his back pocket, before opening the door for Carly and Spinelli. The computer whiz immediately goes to the controls, and begins taking over the system.
Jason tells them, "When I give you the signal, I need you to take down the lights and the security system, so the cops and our guys can get in without detection." Picking up three of the walkie talkies sitting on chargers by the door, he switches to the frequency being used by the police. He tucks one into his pants, then hands one to Sonny and one to Carly, telling her, "When the security system is offline, use this to let the police know they can get in. Don't use it until the system is down in case they are listening to the same frequency."
Stepping right up to Jason, so close his breath wafts across her lips, she pleads with him in a teary voice, "You have to promise me you are coming back to us. You have a little girl who needs you," she rests her hand on her belly, "and I need you, so you have to stay safe. Promise me."
He wipes away the tear that escapes down her cheek. Then, pulls her to him until there's no space between them, his hands gently cupping her face, his forehead resting against hers. He promises, "I will come back to you and our little bean. I swear, I will always come back to you."
He closes the distance, kissing her passionately, desperately trying to convince them both that they will survive this ordeal. When he pulls back, Carly chases his lips, stealing another kiss. Both of them are breathing heavier when the kiss finally ends. Sonny has left the control room already, and Spinelli is making an effort to look anywhere but at them.
Tucking her hair behind her ears, he tells her tenderly, "I love you and our family, and I will do absolutely everything to get back to you. I promise."
A tear leaks down her cheek, as she says, "I love you too." She puts her hand over her abdomen, "We both do, so you better." Then, she wraps him tightly in a hug. After a minute, she forces her arms to let him go. "Go, while I can let you."
With one more kiss on her forehead, he heads out the door. Carly wraps her arms tightly around herself, tears leaking out of her eyes, as she watches him leave. She sends up a prayer to keep him safe.
"He will be okay." Spinelli says quietly, "These scoundrels cannot defeat your noble love, the indestructible Stone Cold. He will be triumphant."
She gives him a smile, walking over to stand behind him. "I pray you're right." Focusing on the screens in front of him, she asks, "Can you show me Jason and Sonny?"
He turns a monitor towards her with multiple surveillance views on the screen, including the hallway Jason and Sonny are quickly, but carefully moving through and the lobby with all the hostages. Spinelli informs her with a grin, "You can see everything."
Jason pats Sonny's arm, a signal to pause in the employee entrance to the lobby behind the front desk. Sonny raises his brow in question. Leaning in, Jason whispers in a voice barely audible, "Keep to the edges and keep out of sight. I've got a plan."
Sonny gives a nod, then sneaks out, keeping low and close to the wall. Jason takes the mask out of his back pocket, pulling it over his face. He tucks his gun back in its holster hidden by his black jacket, pulls out the gun from the man outside the control room, and simply walks out like he's one of the hostage takers.
Walking into the lobby, he holds his breath when he passes one of the masked figures, but they just give him a nod of the head and move on. No one pays him any attention as he walks into the room with all the hostages. He studies the three other masked men in the lobby, trying to find Jerry. It's hard to tell with the masks, but none of them look like him. He clenches his fist in frustration. Where the hell is he?
Looking around, he sees Diane, Lulu, and Maxi sitting with the guards. Lulu is holding a bloody cloth napkin to Milo's head, while Diane is holding one on Tommy's shoulder. Several women, including Elizabeth, Robin, and Sam, are sitting back against a wall, slightly hidden by a sofa, opposite the guards.
He freezes as he sees the expression on his sister's face. She's sitting on the floor looking anxiously at Alan, who seems to be clutching his chest. Feeling a new level of fear grip him, he knows he has to end this soon. And as much as he's got to find Jerry for this to truly be over, he's not risking his father's and Carly's safety by waiting.
Making his way behind his guards, he says quietly, "Don't react. It's Jason, we've got the cavalry coming." Pulling out his pocket knife, he drops it down into Lulu's lap. As she stealthily cuts Milo's cuffs, he asks his men, "I need your help taking down these guys. Are you up for this?"
Milo tilts his chin up, whispering, "Try and stop me boss."
"On my signal," Jason tells them, then moves away.
He walks across the room, seemingly watching over the hostages, but making his way as unobtrusively as possible to his father. When he's finally standing over him, Emily tenses up, "Do you have to stand over us? My father cannot continue handling this stress. Please."
Keeping his voice low, he says, "Em. Don't react. It's Jason. How is he?"
He sees her shoulders sag in relief, "He's having chest pains. We need to get him to the hospital immediately."
"Soon. I promise. Have you seen Jerry?"
"Jerry? Jerry Jax?" Emily asks, confused.
"The one in charge." He tells her.
"Son," Alan forces out, his words stilted and his breathing labored. "He went toward the stairwell."
Looking at his father, he promises, "I'll get you out of here. But, I need you to stay down, as close to the ground as possible."
They give brief nods, Emily ducking down near her father on the floor. Jason moves away, getting behind one of the gunmen. He sees Sonny's shadow outside the lobby, ready to act. As much as he wants to wait until he has sights on Jerry, his father needs help now, and they have to act. Looking to the guards, he gives them the hand signal to be ready, then turns his eyes to the camera and gives a thumbs up sign.
Suddenly the hotel goes dark. Jason jumps the guard in front of him, knocking him over the head with his gun. Behind him he hears scuffling, and then a shot. Turning around he sees Sonny standing over a falling guard who had a gun pointed at Jason. Milo is standing over another gunman, who is either unconscious or dead, though he's not sticking around to find out. With all the masked men in the lobby down, Jason looks at his father and Emily, telling them, "The police will be in shortly. I will find you at the hospital."
Hearing the police begin making entry, Jason takes off for the basement. Just slipping past the door as the room is charged. His gun drawn, Jason carefully makes his way through the dark halls looking for Jerry, and making his way to Carly. Thank God she's got a gun. The thought of that bastard getting his hands on her makes him homicidal.
He navigates the maze of hallways, slowly making his way ever closer to his love. Turning the corner that opens into the control room, he sees a masked figure creeping up to the door. He can't make out the two figures in the room, so hopefully they are both hiding.
Jason moves silently behind him, positioning himself so he has a clean shot. Just as the figure puts his hand on the door, Jason raises his gun as Carly emerges from the dark hallway with a gun drawn. They pull the trigger at the same time, making the body jerk and blood splatter across the hall. The body falls lifeless to the ground. Jason leans down and pulls off the mask, expecting to see Jerry. He's shocked to instead find Jax under the mask.
Carly lets out a cry as she sees her husband lying dead on the ground. She's suddenly filled with a blind rage. He was going to kill her, the cheating, sneaky bastard! She kicks his leg, yelling, "How could you?! You selfish, evil little…"
Jason comes behind her, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her back to his chest. She breaks down crying, turning into his arms and clinging to him tightly. "How could he hate me enough to do this? I can't…"
Pulling her into the control room, he holds her as she sobs, while also looking for his young roommate. "Spinelli?"
A tiny voice asks, "Jason? Is it safe?"
"Yes, you can come out now. I need your help. I don't know where Jerry went, and I need you to look through surveillance to find him for me." Spinelli goes back to the computer and begins scanning all the footage of the hotel.
When Carly's cries begin to ease, Jason pulls back to look at her, "He can never hurt you again. I'm proud of you. You came out of the darkness like a badass."
She gives a watery chuckle. Seeing a box of tissues on one of the desks, he grabs one and hands it to her. As she wipes her face, she asks, "Is everyone okay?"
Seeing his face tighten, she asks, "Jase?"
His voice breaks as he says, "My Dad… he's having chest pains. Emily's taking him to the hospital."
"Oh, Jase." It's her turn to soothe him, wrapping her arms around him and rubbing his back. "He'll be okay. Your sister is a good doctor, and she will make sure he's okay."
"I found him," Spinelli yells from behind them. "Oh… um, it appears that he has... what I mean to say is…"
"Spinelli, spit it out." Carly cuts in.
"He's gone."