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Chapter 97

~Spinelli's Apartment~

The Jackal was not used to failure. He was used to manipulating cyberspace to his will and discovering all the answers, no matter how deep people tried to bury them. He was the master and he was able to break encryptions, get past security features and passwords and government files were nothing he could not handle. His search for information on James Craig was putting a serious test on his title as Master of Cyberspace and he was not sure he would succeed.

They needed to find out who this man was and what he was doing. He was a threat to the Jackal's new employer and that made him a threat to Spinelli. Jason Morgan could have killed the hacker for invading his privacy and that of Mr. Corinthos, Sir. By working for their enemy, he could have easily found himself suffering the same fate as Ric. He'd been spared, and that made him determined to succeed for the man who had granted him a reprieve. He needed to find out who James Craig was.

That was why Spinelli was ever-searching for any nugget of information he could find on the mysterious man. Any new find could help Jason get ahead of the man who was coming after them all. Because the only track they had to try was James Craig meeting with Jasper Jacks while in Canada. Spinelli had widened his search to see if the two men had met any time before their encounter in Montreal.

The Australian tycoon was an easy man to follow. His credit cards were easily hacked, the FAA records of his private jet downloaded without breaking a sweat and his history was a veritable open book. It was a little harder trying to track him close to James Craig because the aliased man had only surfaced a few years prior. However, Spinelli had found a thread that he was following and while he was only finding hits every couple of months, he was finding information.

He now had to compare all his findings to see if there was any overlap in the men's travels. If the Stone Cold Acting-Mob Boss had to confront his ex-wife's new paramour, then he would have every piece of information the Jackal could provide him with. And if Jasper Jacks had been meeting with the mysterious James Craig and was somehow working with him, then Spinelli would uncover it.

Confident that his search was set and would run, Spinelli stretched and planned to get some rest. While orange soda and bar-b-que chips were the nectar and food of the gods and could keep him going for hours, there were times he needed to recharge his batteries with a little sleep. Any finds would be flagged and he would be able to review them when he woke up. With fresh eyes, he was confident he would be able to piece things together.

He checked his laptop one last time just to insure he had everything set up properly and nearly dropped the device as he was walking to his couch. A file had been flagged and as he scanned it to see whether it was anything interesting or just more scattered dates and names that he would need to try to piece together once he was thinking clearly. What he read made him realize that he would not be going to sleep any time soon.

With a sigh, he went into the kitchen, started a pot of coffee and grabbed an orange soda from the refrigerator. Then he picked up the phone and called the man he'd been told to call if he found anything. He would have preferred to call the Bernificent One simply because the older man was less hostile towards him, but he knew that calling Max cut out a middle man. If he wanted to keep working for Jason Morgan, then he had to follow the rules the man put in place.

"M-Max," he stuttered out when the older man answered. "It is I...the Jackal."

"What do you want, kid?" Max asked. "Did you find something?"

"I did," the younger man confirmed. "I found something on James Craig that I think you should see...right away."

There was only the briefest moment of a pause before the acting enforcer said, "I'll be there as soon as I can. I want to see what you found, kid. You're the one getting us our information and we're eager to see what you got."

He hung up and Spinelli stared at his phone in shock. That was almost complimentary. Was Max beginning to like him, or were they that desperate for information that the man was being kind instead of sarcastic? Whatever it was, it meant Max was coming to Spinelli instead of demanding the computer hacker come to him. It was shocking, but the Jackal was determined to make sure he explained the information clearly and kept searching for more.

~Car~

He was living in a car now. With the money he took from his old man, he paid cash for a car that couldn't be traced back to him. He needed a non-descript vehicle so he could follow Morgan's men and gather information on the organization without being spotted. He didn't believe Sonny was alive; Jason had killed him so he could grab the power for himself. Elizabeth would lie for Jason because she had in the past; she would do anything for him including undermining Lucky on his job.

She was so firmly in Jason's camp now that Lucky was disgusted with her. She was no longer the girl that he'd once loved. Elizabeth was a liar, just like she'd been when she first came to Port Charles. While she had once looked up to Lucky and trusted him, it had all changed when she became friends with Jason. That was why he'd tried to keep her away from the mobster. She became secretive and lied and Lucky used to believe that it was merely because she was young and deceived by the older man.

Now, he knew it was different. Elizabeth was so firmly on Jason's side and just like him; Lucky could see no hint of the person he'd once thought was special and an angel just like his mother. She was a criminal now, lying to the police all to protect her lover and that meant she just like any other man in Jason's organization.

Lucky felt that while Morgan was sure to have guards following Elizabeth, they wouldn't be looking for him. They would be watching for the next Manny Ruiz, and they would expect the former cop to be watching the coffee warehouse and the shipping lanes. But Lucky knew that Jason would use Elizabeth to his advantage. She was living with him and she would know things; Lucky needed to talk to her and get what she knew out of her.

He'd been following her, keeping track of her movements for several days now. She had gone to a long meeting with Ned and Lois yesterday, but then she stopped at a furniture store on the way home. She was back today, doing more shopping. Elizabeth was not someone who liked the latest and most expensive furnishings, but she was now shopping at the most exclusive and pricey store in town. That wasn't Elizabeth, and Lucky was sure that Jason was somehow putting her up to it. He just needed to figure out why.

Stepping out of his car, Lucky planned to use a couple of people to distract Elizabeth's guards so that he could get close to her. He knew that if he gave people enough money they would help him out. As he reached into pocket and then looked down to count off some bills he'd just pulled out, he ran into someone. More specifically, he ran into someone's fist.

He staggered back, reaching behind him for the gun he'd taken from his father, found himself tackled back and slammed into the side of a building. "Stop, Cowboy!"

Blinking to clear his head, he looked at his father and demanded, "What are you doing here?!"

"Trying to stop you," the old man admitted.

Lucky pushed at him, trying to swing at him and get away from the interfering, untrusting traitor. "Get away from me! I didn't ask for your help and I don't need you getting involved in this."

"I know you didn't ask for my help and I wouldn't help you go after Morgan anyways," his father spit at him. "You're not thinking and you're acting stupid. Not only are you going after Morgan, but now you're sitting here watching Elizabeth and her guards. What are you thinking, Lucky? What were you going to do?"

"I was going to talk to her," he defended his actions. "She's in deep and she knows things."

"And you think she would tell you?" his father scoffed. "If she's in that deep, do you honestly think that she would say anything to you? She knows you're trying to take down Morgan; she knows you hate him and you're obsessed with him. What did you think was going to happen? You could trick her into saying something, or she'd give you information for old time's sake? She's not going to give you anything."

"I would have figured something out," the younger man insisted. "But I never even got a chance thanks to you."

The old man hadn't released Lucky and he kept him pinned to the wall as his father scrutinized him. With a disgusted shake of his head, the old man's voice was incredulous as he asked, "Would you have grabbed her? Would you have taken her and...and thought Morgan would bargain for her?"

He didn't answer; he pushed at his father, managing to get his hand up and give a quick jab at the old man's jaw. His father swung at him again, but Lucky managed to turn his head and the blow only glanced off. They fought until Luke got a sucker punch in and snapped Lucky's head back into the wall.

"Don't be stupid," the old man shouted at him. "Morgan's got every excuse in the world to come after you and the cops know that. If you turn up dead, Mac and every stooge you used to work with knows his lawyer could make a really good case of justifiable homicide. He could probably walk up to you and shoot you in cold blood, lie and claim it was self-defense and he'd probably get away with it. Is that what you want? You want your grandmother and sister to go to your funeral again?"

Lucky pushed against his father, but couldn't get free. "Don't act like you care about Lulu or Lesley. You just don't want people to know your son deserved to die and he was too stupid to be a Spencer."

"This isn't about me not liking your or your choices," the older man insisted. "I'm trying to keep you alive."

Shaking his head his head, "I don't want your pity. I want Jason Morgan behind bars."

"You aren't going to give up are you?" his father said on a sigh. "This isn't about thinking you can't do it or that you're worthless...this is about getting you away until you can think straight. Because we both know you don't want him behind bars, you want him dead...and out of Elizabeth's life."

"I'm not going anywhere with you," Lucky shouted at him. "Because you don't know anything about me."

"Yeah," the other man said regretfully. "I was afraid you'd say that."

Then Lucky saw it coming, but couldn't dodge the heavy blow that connected with him. His vision dimmed, and then the world went black.

~Alley~

Lucky slumped forward and Luke caught him under his arms, groaning as he braced his legs to bear the weight. He shook his head as he maneuvered the dead weight of his kid. His son was a fool; there was no way he could go against Jason Morgan and win, but Lucky refused to see it. He was angry because of Emily's death and hearing that Elizabeth had finally started a relationship with Jason, and the former cop just wasn't thinking clearly.

Luke had called Morgan's men to let them know Lucky was coming after them and was armed. It wasn't that he was throwing his son to the wolves, but that he hoped by warning the men they wouldn't just react hastily if he ambushed them. What Luke wanted to do was keep Morgan's men on alert so that Lucky would not be able to sneak up on them. If his boy knew that they were keeping a close watch on things, then he would take a few extra days to plot before he moved.

Luke had planned to use those extra days to get things into place. His boy might get angry with him, but he was not going to stand back and watch his son get killed. Lucky was obsessed and not thinking and he'd end up committing suicide by mob if somebody didn't stop him. Nikolas was too consumed with his family, so Luke was going to have to step in. If Laura ever woke up, she would never forgive him if he let their son die and didn't try to step in and stop it.

Finding Lucky was easy. Despite the beat-up car his kid purchased trying to be incognito, he stood out like a turkey among swans. It also appeared that Luke had arrived just in time. His son was about to do something stupid and Morgan's men would have taken any means necessary to take him down and protect Elizabeth.

"Everything okay?"

Luke turned towards the suit and grunted. "Yeah."

"He's been watching Ms. Webber for a while," the guard stated, a bit of a growl in his voice. "Mr. Morgan's aware of him; he gave us clear orders what to do if he approached her."

Finally getting the door open, Luke maneuvered his son into the car. The guard didn't step forward to help and once he got Lucky's feet in the vehicle, he slammed the door shut and then turned to face the other man.

"I've got him now."

The younger man crossed his arms over his beefy chest and said, "I saw him get out of his car. You're lucky you got here when you did."

Looking in at his unconscious son, the weary father nodded. "Yeah. Well you can let Morgan know I'm taking him out of the country."

"Good," the man said. "Just know...if he ever comes back, and comes after Mr. Morgan or Miss Webber, we won't hesitate to take him down."

Then the guard walked away without another word. Luke got in his kid's car and headed out of the alley. Driving straight to the airport, he could only hope that Lucky remained unconscious until he got him on the airplane. He didn't want to get into another fight with his son; he just wanted to get on the plane and get out of town. Because he was going to keep Lucky from dying at Morgan's hand.

~Spinelli's Apartment~

While the young man was a geek, Max had to admit the kid was good. He didn't understand a fraction of the techno-babble the kid used to describe how he stumbled upon the information, but the acting enforcer didn't care. What mattered is that they had a break about James Craig. Because of that, Max would give Spinelli his thanks and give him a break.

After hearing what the young man had discovered, Max had called Jason and Bernie. The kid was going to need some help and the organization's fact-finder would be the man to give it. Besides, Bernie had the ability to tolerate the techno, high-strung ramble and he wouldn't mind doing some research of his own and overseeing Spinelli's search as well. Because the young man was probably going to crash once everyone else left.

For now, he was doing his best to stay awake and answer Jason's questions.

"So you traced him to Europe?" Jason asked.

"Yes," the younger man nodded vigorously. "We already knew the Aliased One has been in Europe but I got a hit that he had been in a specific town that just so happens to be where one Dr. Ian Devlin, a talented, but highly unscrupulous plastic surgeon also is based. Dr. Devlin is an American who relocated to Europe after running into some troubles in his previous town and getting in rather deep in debt."

"So he fled to Europe?" the acting boss questioned. "Why not South America?"

"Because shortly after he relocated to Europe," Bernie took up the narrative, "his debts were paid. Once Max and Mr. Spinelli told me what he'd discovered, I made some calls of my own. His debts also included a substantial marker to a loan shark. When I asked about repayment, I found out that Rudolph Tenaglia paid it off."

"Tenaglia?" Max raised his eyebrows. He hadn't been apprised of that piece of information. "He's based in Italy; my old man's mentioned him."

"Yes," the accountant confirmed. "He has a connection to New York. His sister was Anthony Zacharra's first wife, and Zacharra's daughter Claudia lives in Italy under her uncle's protection and in his circles. I've instructed Mr. Spinelli to include her in his search and look for any connection between her, Dr. Devlin and James Craig."

Jason let out a weary sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Zacharra from up in Crimson Point?"

"Yes," Bernie confirmed.

"He's the crazy guy?" Max asked.

"He's a little unstable," Jason said with understatement. "And completely ruthless. He wipes out entire families when he goes after someone."

"There's something more," the older man brought up. "I was updating our information on Anthony Zacharra after learning of the connection. His lawyer's been handling a lot of meetings lately; rumor is the orders are coming from him and not Zacharra. His lawyer," he said and then paused, "is Trevor Lansing. He's Ric Lansing's father."

The acting boss swore and scrubbed his hand over his face. "How did we not make that connection?"

"Anthony Zacharra has never moved against our territories, so we kept abreast of him but did not keep a close watch on his every activity. With the problems with the Alcazars and the Ruiz family, our focus was there."

Jason sighed and nodded. "Yeah. I know. You can't cover everyone. But now..."

"I'm checking out everything on the Zacharras and the Tenaglias."

"Is there any indication that they're moving on Port Charles?" the acting boss asked, his tone indicating he was concerned. The look on everyone's face indicated they were worried as well.

"We haven't heard anything," Max answered. "But we're checking and we'll let you know as soon as we hear anything."

"Okay," he nodded and then stood. "Good work, everyone. Let me know when you find anything out."

"We will," Max assured him and stood as well. He looked at Bernie and the older man nodded.

"I'm going to stay and continue on here," the accountant said.

Looking at Spinelli he said, "Make sure to get some rest, kid. Won't do us any good if you fall over exhausted."

Then he called out, "Hey, Jason, wait up a second."

The other man turned and waited. Max opened the door and they stepped into the hallway. Jason looked at him and raised his brow in question.

"Miss Webber's secondary guard called," he began. "Lucky Spencer was watching her again, but he didn't approach her. He did get out of his car and Vince thought there was going to be a problem, but Luke showed up. He knocked his kid out and promised he'd get him out of the country...that Lucky wouldn't be a problem anymore. Vince said if Spencer came back and started anything we'd take him out."

"You follow Spencer?" he asked.

"Yeah," the guard answered. "He put his boy on a plane and we got a copy of the flight manifest. We contacted someone and they're going to keep an eye on both of them."

"Okay," Jason nodded and let out a breath. "With everything else, it'll be good to not have to worry about Spencer."

"Yeah. I just wanted to let you and Miss Webber know," Max told him. "I'll keep monitoring it, though."

Jason put his hand on Max's shoulder and said, "I appreciate all you're doing, Max. There's a lot happening and it helps to have you on top of everything. Whenever Sonny's ready to come back, we need to talk about having you do more than stand outside a door all day."

Completely surprised by the acting boss' words, Max could only stand there in shocked silence as Jason got on the elevator and went upstairs to see Miss Webber and her son. Max hadn't been expecting that at all, he was just glad to have the opportunity to work beside Jason for a while. Hopefully whenever Sonny came back, he would agree. While it was important to guard the boss, Max couldn't deny that he liked doing more than standing outside a door.

Chapter 98

~Alexis' House~

When Alexis fled Port Charles, desperate to escape Ric Lansing because she feared him divulging the fact that Sonny Corinthos was Kristina's father, she never thought beyond escaping what she perceived as the immediate threat. She never thought beyond that or what her day to day life would really be like. She hadn't envisioned having to move every few days or weeks to keep ahead of first Ric, and then Sonny.

Nikolas had asked her if that was the kind of life she really wanted to live or that she wanted for Kristina. At the time, she refused to think about it. She was so sure in her righteous certainty that it was better to keep Kristina away from the dangers inherent in Sonny's world that the ends justified the means. And anything was acceptable so long as she never had to share her daughter.

Now that she was trapped inside her house, fearing for her life and her daughter's - not because of some madman looking to use her child against Sonny, but because of her family - she realized how foolish she had been. She had been so focused on being in control and being right that she never considered anything else. Now she was forced to think about what all of this would truly do to her child. She had to stop thinking in a her-against-the-world mentality and decide what would be in Kristina's best interest.

The fact of the matter was that Kristina would be in constant danger because of who both her parents were. Helena was mad and she loved to toy and play with people. She lived to torment Alexis and as long as she remained alive she would do the same thing to Kristina. Sonny's world was dangerous and violence could strike at any time and without warning. Alexis had seen it herself when Sonny was shot right in front of her outside the police station. Yet, her life had been defined at an early age by Helena slitting Alexis' mother's throat right in front of her.

While Alexis knew that Kristina would always be in danger from her father's world, she honestly believed that the greater threat came from Helena. It wasn't just because her stepmother was threatening them right now, it was because when Helena became obsessed she was erratic and scary and downright murderous. Sonny would provide guards and security measures and while there were no guarantees, it had to be better than pretending Sonny was the only boogeyman out there.

Between Jason and Sonny, they had protected Michael; his kidnapping was because Tony Jones went mad with grief at the lies and deceptions Carly had perpetuated and inflicted on him. Yes, the boy had had restrictions and his life wasn't like a normal child's, but Sonny and Jason had done their best to protect him. They would do the same for Morgan, Sam's daughter and Elizabeth's son. Elizabeth's child hadn't been born into the life, but she trusted Jason to protect her son.

Alexis could not act like Kristina was not Sonny's daughter. While there was still a part of her that desperately hoped to limit contact between Kristina and Sonny in the future, that was something she would have face and focus on later. Right now, she had keep Helena from killing her and her daughter.

~Sonny's Apartment~

Elizabeth had once again proven she was an amazingly kind and thoughtful woman. Much like the time when she brought brownies to his penthouse and apologized for making Jason leave, or sat with him while Carly lost their baby even though she herself was injured and in the hospital, she had once again surprised Sonny with her kindness and generosity. He had not expected the beauty of the new apartment's décor, but it was so completely her to make it like this.

Sonny had told her to get just the bare requirements for an apartment, but she hadn't given him functionality. She had given him comfort and a richness in comfort and made it something for him. The couch and chairs were in his preferred colors and textures, yet they were treated so that the children wouldn't leave stains on them. His bedroom set felt comfortable and familiar, even though it was brand new. She had created a play area for Morgan and Sophia so that they could visit him and be entertained when they were with him. And she had ordered gourmet cookware and top of the line utensils because she knew he would want a fully stocked kitchen. As soon as he was done unpacking the groceries she had ordered to be delivered for him, Sonny was going to create a feast for her and Jason.

His partner, and especially Elizabeth, deserved a romantic, catered dinner with all their favorites. He was sure Sam and Leticia would agree to watch Cameron for the couple for a night. Jason had stepped in, and stepped up, to cover for Sonny and had dealt with so many threats and did his best to protect the business and the people most important to them. He had done all that Sonny could have asked or even expected him to. And the boss wanted to let his friend know his actions were appreciated.

Sonny also wanted to let Elizabeth know that he was grateful to her as well. She could have held the past against him and refused to help him, but she had gone above what he'd asked for her in an effort to make him comfortable. But beyond what Elizabeth had done for him was what she had done for Jason. After years of dancing around one another for years, the two had finally gotten together and the change in Jason was discernable. The younger man had changed, but instead of feeling threatened by it, Sonny was able to see the positives in it.

Instead of being a distraction and dividing Jason's loyalty away from him, Sonny now saw that she gave the acting boss a purpose. She also gave the younger man an escape. Elizabeth was a place away from the ugliness of this life, and Sonny had learned how important that was. His problem was that he would let that escape consume him and he wouldn't give proper focus to the threats and concerns and then it would erupt into a crisis. The older man didn't believe that Jason would be like that, and so he no longer desired to keep his friend alone.

Not that Jason was emotionless, it was simply that he had never been plagued with the same demons that Sonny had. But he needed to have someone who would give him a reprieve and something to look forward to. Sonny also knew that it was important to have someone to look forward to. When Jason talked about Elizabeth and her son, Sonny saw how his friend looked happier and lighter even beneath all the pressures he was under. Sonny would not be surprised at all if Jason asked her to marry him and made her son officially his.

That was why Sonny wanted to show his support for the couple. Jason needed to know that he did not have to fight against Sonny to be able to have a life of his own. He was going to do what he could to show friend that...and a special dinner would be his way of doing it.

The dinner preparations, though, would have to wait until Jason and Max came and filled him in what they'd discovered. His doctor was having several sessions a day with Sonny to get familiar with his case, and also to help him with the adjustment in returning to Port Charles. She wanted to keep him focused on his recovery and not get lost in trying to get control of the business again. So she also limited the time he spent with his men.

The restrictions chafed, but he knew it was important because it would force him to keep focused on his treatment. He could not keep one foot in the business right now no matter how much this town and this building made him want to. As much as he wanted to believe it wasn't necessary to stay away, when he was forced to be honest he knew he wasn't yet ready to be in control again. He could probably handle it for a little while, but he would eventually fall back into his worst habits and Jason would have to come along and take over again and save the organization from Sonny's blunders.

A knock on the door was followed by his guard looking in to announce, "Mr. Morgan and Max are here."

"Let them in," he directed.

The two men walked in and Sonny stood, looking at them in question. "What's happened?"

"Our new computer guy found some information on this James Craig guy," Jason answered, and now Sonny understood why they had insisted upon seeing him.

He had never met this new computer tech, but Jason seemed to trust his work. Sonny wasn't sure how that could be possible considering the kid had worked for Ric, but the older man trusted Jason. If he felt they could use this young guy to do research for their organization and that he would not betray them, then Sonny would put his faith in Jason. He was no doubt overseeing the hacker, so the mobster would believe in his friend.

"What did he find?" he asked.

"We think we may have a clue about Craig," Max cautiously offered. "He was rumored to be a patient of an unscrupulous plastic surgeon. He may have changed his face; Bernie and Spinelli are researching it."

"There's more," Jason said hesitantly. "This doctor might have ties to Rudy Tenaglia, who was the brother of Anthony Zacharra's first wife."

"Zacharra?" he asked, his brow raised in surprise.

"And there's more," his friend said again. "The Zacharras consigliore is Trevor Lansing. Ric's father."

Sonny clenched his hand into fists at his side as he remembered the slime who had preyed on his mother and hated Sonny's mere existence. "Do you..."

"We don't know what his plan is," Jason confessed uneasily when he trailed off. "But Bernie is checking on it now that we've found two connections between the Zacharra organization and ours. We'll find out what's happening."

He wanted to rage at the younger men, deride them for not having all the answers for him that he wanted. But he didn't because he knew that they were doing their best to get information, and things like that took time. He knew that and so he was going to allow the men the time to research and dig and not make them have to place him and deal with his demands.

"We felt you should know," Jason told him. "We'll let you know as soon as we find anything."

Nodding, Sonny knew that was all that could be done. They would search, and he would have to be patient. If only that were easy.

~Jason's Penthouse~

A groan of frustration sounded in the room as Elizabeth harshly scribbled over the page she was working on before she dropped her pencil. Driving her fingers through her hair, she tugged on it in annoyance, relishing slightly in the pain. With a harsh shake of her head, she ripped the paper off her pad and crumpled it up. This idea was not working and it didn't work no matter what she tried. The harder she tried, the less it worked and the less she was inspired.

Ned and Lois were very understanding about her work and her schedule but today that was of little comfort. Lois was not a fan of Elizabeth's deepening connection to Jason and the mob, but she liked the artist's work. Ned was supportive of Elizabeth, but it was also clear he was not a fan of his cousin's lifestyle or his connection to Sonny. While they never made her feel like her job was in jeopardy, Elizabeth did not feel as comfortable working with them as she first had.

Elizabeth loved Jason and her loyalty was to him. While Emily had been generous to Elizabeth in her will, it was hard to forget all the cruel words she had said. While Ned had gone against his cousin's wishes and told her and Jason about Emily's illness, it was sometimes hard not to wonder if he would try to use her against Jason somehow on behalf of the Quartermaines. Then she would feel guilty for immediately jumping to conclusions when there was no real proof. She was merely being sensitive because of Lois' actions regarding Lorenzo Alcazar; taking his money while she'd worked to get Sonny's money out of her record company. Ned had helped keep Sonny from his daughter, supposedly coming up with the idea and doctoring the paternity test. Despite her own actions towards Zander, it was hard not to feel upset on Sonny's behalf and she felt like a hypocrite for caring about something that wasn't any of her business.

"Arrggh!" she once again growled and angrily scribbled over the blank page in front of her because she was focusing on such thoughts as if it somehow justified her lack of vision.

The thin pencil line was not satisfying at all and so she dug through her supplies until she found a black marker. Ripping the cap off with her teeth she made thick, harsh strokes all over the page, just venting her frustration on the rapidly dirtying page.

Now feeling ridiculous for her outburst, she tossed the notebook aside and made sure to cap the marker before she tossed it away as well. No sense staining the rug just because she was in a pique. Flopping back onto the couch flung her arms up and huffed out, "Gah!"

"E-Elizabeth?" Jason's voice was hesitant as she startled at his unexpected appearance and sat up guiltily as he asked, "Are...are you okay?"

She let out a breath and nodded, even though she didn't look over at him. He let out a heavy breath of his own and then she heard footsteps as he approached the couch. Sitting down beside her he brushed his hand over her shoulder, twining his fingers in her hair.

"What's wrong?" he asked gently.

"Artist's block," she shook her head, knowing he wasn't going to let this go even though a part of her wanted him to simply so she didn't have to try to put into logical sense what she was feeling.

His hand rubbed over her shoulder softly as he said, "You know you don't have to hide from me. What's going on?"

She looked over at him slightly and said, "the project I'm working on...just isn't coming for me. I...I'm grateful to Ned and Lois for giving me a job I technically wasn't trained for. They helped me because I was a cheaper hire than someone who had graphic arts training, and they've been nice...but I just don't know."

He turned to face her more, tugging on her shoulder to encourage her to do the same and asked, "Don't know what? Do you not like your job anymore?"

"I don't know," she shrugged with a sigh. "I like doing art."

"You like doing your art," he corrected. "You get to create, but you have to meet their vision. You're not doing anything you want to do because you say you don't have time for it."

"I feel like I'm missing enough time with Cameron because of my work," she said. "I want to spend time with him and you."

Jason was quiet, but definitely pensive for a moment, before he cautiously said, "You don't have to work, Elizabeth."

Now it was her turn to be quiet. She didn't want to offend him, but she was not the kind of person who quit working just because she was with someone who had money. When she was married to Ric she hadn't sat at home and lived off his money. She was the kind of person who needed to be active and doing things, for herself as well as the money. While Jason owned the penthouse outright, she was not going to rely on him to buy things for her and Cameron or expect it from him just because she was living here.

"I know you don't need money for the penthouse," she began, looking at him. "But I have to buy Cameron clothes and other things, as well as for me. I...I know you could pay...but I can't take advantage of you that way."

"That's not who you are; I know that," he told her, caressing her cheek lovingly, almost reverently. "You have always been independent and have never just taken my money, even when you were buying food for me when I was recovering. I know that."

"That's why I work," Elizabeth continued, knowing he would understand her feelings of independence. She hadn't wanted alimony from Ric when they divorced because she hadn't wanted that tie or feeling of dependence on him. It was still sitting in an account along with the money Emily left her; Elizabeth felt like she must earn her own way, even though she knew that she didn't have to work at hard or relentlessly as she once did.

Jason let out a breath and then looked at her imploringly, "I want to take care of him. I want to take care of you. I know you take care of yourself and Emily left you money that you could use even if you're reluctant to. But I love you, Elizabeth. I want to be with you; I consider you my family. I don't expect my family to work when they're frustrated or unhappy with their job, not when I know it's in my power to help them. If working for Ned and Lois makes you happy, I will fully support you. But if it makes you unhappy, then nobody says you have to stay there just because. Why not paint what you want to and try to sell them?"

She licked her lips, unsure of what to say. Partly because she was unsure of what he was saying. He called her and Cam his family, but what exactly did he mean by that? Was it what she thought?"

"I...I'm not sure what you mean, Jason," she confessed hesitantly, trying not to push or sound desperate. But she knew this was not the time to be coy or pretend.

He took her hands in his and drew in a deep breath through his nose. Letting it out he then said, "I love you and Cameron and I know you love me. You're my family...and I want to make it official. I want to marry you, Elizabeth."

Swallowing, he asked, "Will-will you marry me? Will you...will you let me be your husband? Will you be my wife? Will you let me be the father to Cameron that I want to be? I already consider him my son because he's you son but I want it to be official...if-if you'll let me."

Tears were now streaming down her face as she looked at the love and tenderness on his face while he spoke. She thought this might be what he was going to ask her, but there was still no way to prepare for the actual words. To describe how it actually felt to hear him ask her to marry him. When she began dating Jason and moved in with him, she thought they might end up at this point some day, but no fleeting thoughts could have compared with the actual moment.

"Do-do you...are you sure?" she couldn't help asking. "This is what you really want? You're not just trying-"

He leaned forward and cut the rest of her question off by crashing his lips down on hers. He pulled her to him, bringing her onto his lap as he tried to get as close to her as he possibly could. His hands tangled in her hair, drinking her in and taking possession of her senses.

Finally he pulled back, pushing her hair away from her face and staring into her eyes as they looked at each other. "I'm sure," he whispered to her thickly. "I want to marry you. Not just to get you to let me take care of you and I think this is the only way you'll agree. I'm asking you because I love you."

"I love you, too," Elizabeth told him, her fingers playing with the hair above his neck.

"I wanted to ask you, but I wanted to make it special for you. I didn't want it to be in between me running off to meetings or dealing with someone threatening us. I...I want to marry you, Elizabeth. I want to raise Cameron with you, and maybe even have more children. I want you with me forever."

"Yes," she nodded, smiling at his words and the sincerity she felt. This wasn't just to make her accept his money...this was about family and love.

"Yes?" he asked, a smile forming on his face.

Her lips curved into a wide grin and she nodded eagerly. "Yes. Yes, yes, yes."

He kissed her and she met his frenetic excitement. Pulling her close, Jason spread his broad hand on her back and then slipped it beneath her shirt, heat warming her skin and her entire body.

"Where's Cameron?" he asked, glancing over his shoulder at the stairs before kissing his way down her neck and concentrating on her pulse point.

"A-at Sa...Sam's," she managed to answer. "Play...playing."

Elizabeth felt his smile against her skin, and she knew he was very happy with that answer.

Chapter 99

~Jason's Penthouse~

He really hadn't meant to propose this soon or this way, but the time had felt right. Elizabeth had agreed to marry him, and really that's all that mattered to him. They would marry and be a family; he wanted to adopt Cameron and prove to them both just how much he loved them.

He and Elizabeth were resting on the couch; not sleeping, but relaxed. She was circling her fingertips on his chest as he rubbed her bare shoulder. Letting out a soft breath, Elizabeth kissed his chest and snuggled closer to his side.

"I love you," she whispered into the quiet afternoon.

"I love you, too," he replied, pulling her up so he could kiss her lips.

"This really happened, right?" she grinned at him while she adjusted the blanket over them. "Did we really get engaged?"

Picking up her left hand he rubbed his thumb over her bare finger and apologized, "I'm sorry I don't have a ring for you. I hadn't had a chance to look for anything yet."

She shook her head, her eyes kind. "I don't mind. It's not about the ring."

"I know," he grinned, still concentrating on her hand. "I think you're going to be the only woman I know that I'm going to have to convince to take my money."

"That's not why I love you," she insisted.

"I know," he agreed. "But I have more money than I could ever possibly need or use. So please don't feel like you're using me. You're not like Carly; you have always worked hard, but now...you have options now."

Elizabeth rested her head against his shoulder and said, "I-I'll think about it. It's not that I don't like working for Ned or Lois, and they were very nice to me when I really needed a job. It's just...sometimes I feel uncomfortable...because of Emily and because I always wonder if your family is going to try to get me to convince you to come back to them."

He frowned at her slightly, "Ned wouldn't do that, and if Edward tried he would stop the old man."

"I know," she agreed, her brow furrowed. "I just...maybe it's that I really don't want to work there and I'm just trying to find excuses. They're accommodating, and Lois has taught me a lot, but...but I know she's not exactly thrilled her graphic artist is dating the acting mob boss."

"You also don't like working under deadlines al the time," Jason said in understanding of all she was trying to convey but wasn't saying. "Now you can decide if you want to keep doing it."

His fiancée shrugged slightly, "I'll have to think about it."

Jason sensed she didn't want to talk about it anymore, so he let the subject drop. He hoped she would really would think about it and decide to do what made her happy instead of what she felt she should so that people didn't talk, but he would support her in whatever she decided. So instead, he turned the conversation back to other topics.

"So what kind of ring do you want?" he asked, his finger still tracing her bare ring finger where he soon hoped a ring would rest.

She looked down at their hands and then said, "I don't know. I...I really don't care, to be honest. Just not something too big."

She looked at him hesitantly as if she were afraid of offending him with her request. "Okay?"

He nodded, bringing her hand up and placing a kiss on it. "No, nothing too big," he agreed. "It would look wrong on your hands. They're small and delicate, even though they're strong. They would be overwhelmed by a big ring."

No, nothing too big for her, but it would be flawless and beautiful.

"Do you want to pick it out?" he asked.

Before he was finished with the words she was shaking her head. "No, no...you pick it out."

She gave him an almost shy smile as she said, "I...I want you to pick it out."

He gave a brief dip of his head, in immediate agreement. If that was the only thing she was asking for, he would do it. He wasn't sure when he'd find a chance to get Elizabeth a ring, but he would do it. And soon. Because now that she had agreed to marry him, he was going to put a ring on her finger so everyone would know. They were bound together and would be forever.

He lowered his head, kissing her and intending to show her just what these thoughts had done to him. Instead, he heard his phone ringing from somewhere on the floor. He groaned at the interruption, but was amazed at how much time they'd managed to have together before they were interrupted. Elizabeth sat up and wrapped the blanket around her, then reached down and found his pants. She handed them to him with a slight shrug as if to show she wasn't upset, and then she headed upstairs to give him some privacy.

Scrubbing his hand over his face after retrieving his phone, he took a breath to calm himself down and then answered. "Morgan."

"Jason," Max said, his voice high and anxious. Something had clearly happened. "Get down to the warehouse. We need to talk. Now."

His eyes widened at the strong tone and Jason cleared his throat gruffly. "Okay. I-I'll be right there."

He reached for his clothes and quickly dressed, then he went upstairs to find Elizabeth. Pushing open the door to their room he regretted that their interlude was over and she was dressed now, but he knew it would be even harder to leave her if she was still wrapped in the blanket. She looked up when he entered and he frowned at her in regret.

"I'm sorry," he apologized. "I need to go."

She nodded as she said, "I know. I should probably get Cam. Sam was watching him so I could get some work done."

"Think about it, Elizabeth," he encouraged her. Talk to Ned and Lois. Ned's fair most of the time; he is with you."

"I will," she agreed. "But...I know you need to go. So be safe. We'll talk about this later."

Lifting up on her toes, Elizabeth kissed him and he wrapped his arms around her. With a sigh he tore himself away from his fiancée and stepped back. "I'm not sure how late I'll be. Give Cam a kiss for me if I'm not back when he goes to bed. And I'll see you later."

"I love you," she told him before giving him another kiss.

"I love you, too," he told her fiercely, brushing his knuckles over her cheek. He kissed her one last time, then went downstairs where he gathered his gun and his keys. By the time he reached the elevator, he forced his mind on business and did not look over at Sonny's penthouse where his son was playing. This was the time to focus on business; in order to return to his family he could not allow himself to be distracted.

~Sonny's Penthouse~

Elizabeth gave herself several minutes before she followed Jason downstairs. She knew, of course, that he was already gone, but she liked the wording of her thoughts. She brought the blanket down and returned it to the back of the couch and gathered up her scattered clothes and then ran them upstairs. After cleaning up her art supplies, she headed the hall to get her son. Even though he would be too young to understand, she was eager to tell him what was going to happen in their life. She smiled at the guard as he knocked on the door and then her smile grew when Sam opened it.

"Hello," Sam greeted her brightly. "Come on in."

"Thanks," she said as she stepped inside. "How was Cameron?"

"He was great," the other woman assured her. "He had a little nap and he had a snack. He and Morgan played together without any tears so I suppose that's good."

Elizabeth laughed in agreement. "No tears, no hitting and no biting is always good."

"Morgan definitely likes playing with Cameron better than Sophia. She's just barely starting to sit up somewhat; Cameron can crawl after him." Sam grinned as she slipped her hands into her back pockets. "He seems like he's going to start walking soon."

With a sigh, the artist grimaced slightly. "He's started trying to push himself up. If we set him on his feet by the couch or hold his hands, then he tries to take a few steps. I don't know if he'll be walking by his birthday, but it will be close."

Looking at the stairs, the new mother said, "The boys are upstairs with Leticia, do you want to go get Cameron?"

"In a moment," she said, pausing by the couch. "I-I wanted to tell you something."

Sam looked at her curiously and asked, "Is something wrong?"

"No," she shook her head, though a bit hesitantly. She didn't want to be insensitive to Sam's situation with Sonny, but she felt that the other woman would be happy for them and she didn't want Sam to feel that Elizabeth was hiding this from her, either. "Actually...it's good."

A smile started to form on Sam's face. "For you and Jason?"

"Yeah," Elizabeth nodded, her own smile blooming. "Jason asked me to marry him."

The other woman's eyes went wide. "Really? That's-that's wonderful. I'm happy for you."

"I know this might be hard because of you and Sonny," she said.

"No," Sam shook her head immediately. "I know that there's no Sonny and me right now and maybe there never will be. But there is a you and Jason and I am happy for you. I watched you down on the island and thought this might happen. I really am happy for both of you."

"Thank you," Elizabeth said, feeling relieved she hadn't hurt the other woman. She knew that Sam cared for Sonny, but their situation was going to take a while to see if it was ever resolved.

"I think there are very few people who are going to be genuinely happy for us," the newly engaged woman said. "My grandmother will be furious and take it as a personal insult; my brother will say it's my choice but I know he'll be embarrassed his sister is marrying a mobster. Jason's family will try and use me to bring back to the family."

Elizabeth lifted her brows and her shoulders. "I wanted to tell someone who might actually be happy for us."

"You two deserve that," Sam told her sincerely. "You've become a friend to me and have listened to me ramble on and on about Sonny... I'm not mad or jealous...I'm happy for you."

Elizabeth could sense that, but she also sensed a sadness in Sam. She herself had felt that before when she'd felt that everyone else was happy and getting what they wanted from life while she was still pining after something or someone. It was always hard to take to be happy and supportive when she felt unhappy, but she'd tried to be because it wasn't fair to others to drag them down and ruin their moments. Yet her real friends had understood her sometimes melancholy moments and didn't expect her to be happy and cheerful all the time.

So she felt that Sam was sincere in wishing her and Jason well, yet Elizabeth knew it was also hard to hear of someone else's engagement when one's own situation was looking rather dismal. Licking her lips she asked, "How are you doing...with everyone being back here?"

Sam let out a sigh and then shrugged. "Morgan seems to enjoy being back here, and he likes seeing Sonny more. Sophia doesn't remember being here or even really that we left the island. She likes her toys and her favorite blanket and when she has those...she feels content."

Leaning against the back of the couch, Elizabeth tucked her hands into her front pockets while crossing her ankles. Tilting her head to the side she asked, "And you?"

"Me?" the other mother let out a breath. "I think it's a good thing to be back here. The island was...like a fantasy. Me, Sophie, Morgan...it could be so easy to believe we were just waiting for Sonny to return. Here...maybe I'll be able to keep perspective."

Then she shrugged, "But it might be easier if Sophie and I were back in our apartment. I just don't want to upset her because she does like having Morgan around, and I don't want him to feel like he's been abandoned again. I have to think about them, and not just what's easiest for me."

"After Manny was gone, I wondered if I should move back to my apartment," Elizabeth admitted. "I didn't want to confuse Cameron...but would it be worse if I left? It was a dream living with Jason...but what if our relationship wasn't going where I thought it was or where I wanted it to go? I understand how you feel torn right now; self preservation or what's best for your child? In your case, you also have to think about Morgan who lost his mother and brother and Sonny can't be with him all the time right now. You've become a part of his life...a rather big part right now."

"Yeah," Sam admitted, leaning her hip against the couch, and crossing her arms over her chest.

"Jason isn't ignoring your request," she said. When the other mother tilted her head, Elizabeth clarified. "Your request to talk to a doctor of your own. He told me and he wants to find someone because you've asked him to. It's just..."

"Busy right now," Sam filled in. "He's dealing with so many things...I know. I've heard just a thing or two from the guards or Sonny...I imagine you know a bit more. They want to protect us, but it's not hard to pick up on when they're tense or gone a lot. Things are like that right now. So my request is low on the list."

"I'm sorry," Elizabeth said. "But yeah...probably."

"It is how it is," the other woman said, letting out a breath. "I knew it wouldn't be easy loving Sonny. Now I just need to decide if I want to keep hoping...or if I should protect myself and my daughter and try to figure out something else to do with my life."

"Only you can say for sure," she told Sam. "And I know it's not easy, so...I'll just say good luck. And take your time. There's no reason to rush, but when it feels right...grab it and don't let anyone else talk you out of it. Ultimately, only you can decide what's best for you and your daughter."

"Thank you, Elizabeth," the other woman said softly.

"You're welcome," she said with a nod. Then shifting gears and her face lighting with a smile she said, "I'm going to get Cam. We have a lot to talk about."

~Corinthos-Morgan Warehouse~

"What happened?" Jason demanded as he walked into the warehouse office.

Max looked over at Milo and let out a breath. The two brothers, along with the lieutenants, were doing all they could to help Jason out. He carried so much for Sonny, and he knew he would need people helping him out when he took over. Every man had stepped up, knowing that working with Jason would be different from working for Sonny; they had all accepted their roles and agreed to do all they could for him and the organization.

After pulling the acting boss away early this morning to deal with the information Spinelli found, Max hated having to call him again. But there were things that came up that had to be dealt with immediately by the man in charge. They hated to break into his time with Miss Webber and her boy, because the boss deserved to relax and not have everyone pulling for his attention and time. But it had to be done.

"One of our shipments disappeared," Max told him, knowing that Jason would become all business and they would focus on the problem at hand.

"Where?" the boss asked, sitting down and grabbing the manifests.

"We tracked it past the Carolinas and Outer Banks, but we lost it after that," the second-in-command said, getting the information out clean and quick. "We're checking it out, but so far our ship's gone."

"How do you lose an entire ship?" Jason growled. Max knew it was just frustration at the situation; he wasn't mad at them. "It's not a truck you can hide in a building...it's a ship on an ocean. Unless someone sunk it we have to be able to find it."

"We're on it, Jason," Milo told him. Max knew his brother wasn't placating or defending, he was simply stating what they were doing.

Letting out a breath, their boss nodded and passed his hand over his face. "I know. Okay, tell me what we know. Any indication on who might have done this or do we think it was natural causes or some mechanical problem?"

"Weather and seas were good last night," Max shook his head, so that's unlikely. Could have been mechanical and if it was, it'll be hard to find him even checking in from his last point of contact. We're also looking in to see what ships were in the area around the time. I called Spinelli and told him to get down here; this takes precedence over his other research."

Jason nodded. "Good...good."

He was quiet for a moment and then asked, "Could it have been James Craig or the Zacharras?"

"I've got Bernie checking our contacts," Max told him. "It was my first thought as well. Maybe it's wrong, but after learning of Craig's possible connection to the Zacharras... And considering Trevor's Lansing's connection to Sonny and the Zacharras and the rumors going around that he's running the organization..."

"We need to find out," Jason commanded unnecessarily. The men were already searching for answers, but it always helped to have an order from the boss. "And the ship. We cannot afford an attack on the organization now."

"We're searching, Jason," Max assured him. Jason was a fair man; it was simply a matter of saying something because it was expected of him.

"There's something else," Jason told them, his voice changing slightly. Max glanced at his brother wondering what was going on. "We need to set a meeting with the Families."

"Why?" Max asked, trying not to sound like he was challenging his boss, but he was certainly curious why the need for the meeting that carried in the other man's voice.

"Because it's common courtesy for me to inform them of my engagement personally," he answered.

The acting enforcer's eyes went wide and then he smiled. "You and Miss Webber? Congratulations, Jason. That's great."

"Yeah," Milo nodded with a smile of his own. "Congratulations, Jason. Miss Webber's a wonderful lady."

A smile curved Jason's lips and his face softened slightly, just as he always did around Miss Webber. Or when he talked about her, or was going to meet her. But he never lost perspective like Mr. C. often did. He kept the balance needed, and probably would unless something happened to Miss Webber or her son. But then it would understandable if Jason lost his fine control for a moment.

But nobody wanted anything to happen to her or her little boy. Everyone would step up, guarding her for the man they respected and who was doing all he could to keep them safe from reckless wars. The men would protect Jason's family just like they protected Mr. Corinthos', because the men were loyal to Jason. As much, or maybe even more, than they were to Sonny.

The ringing phone sobered all three men instantly and Max was only half-aware of Bernie and Spinelli entering the office as he leaned forward and grabbed the receiver to answer, "Yeah?"

Jason was watching him closely, trying to get a glimmer of the conversation and he frowned when Max gasped, "Are you sure?"

He waited for the response and then said, "I'm sending Milo and a couple of men. Containing the scene and let's hope we caught a break and nobody called the cops."

"Max?" Jason demanded when the receiver was placed in the cradle.

"Milo, get some men and get out to Miss Davis' house," he barked out immediately. As his brother scrambled for the door he looked at Jason and said, "She just decided to tangle with Helena and it was a blow-out."

Chapter 100

~Alexis' House~

Mac Scorpio could only stare at the scene before him and sigh. This town always seemed to be on the verge of catastrophe and as usual it seemed to be centered around people connected to Sonny Corinthos. Corinthos' wife was killed, Mac's girl and their friends were threatened because they'd seen the murderer flee the scene, Corinthos' warehouse was destroyed and then his brother was killed while supposedly off on vacation. While Sonny had not been directly involved in those actions, it was his overwhelming presence that brought danger to the innocent people in town.

Now, that violence and danger had spread to the latest person shown to have a connection to Sonny. While everyone had known Alexis once served as the mobster's lawyer, she had severed ties to him years ago. There had been some questions about her daughter's paternity, but the town had thought her former fiancé Ned Ashton was the father. Only several months ago had the truth come out that Ned had lied, and that explained why Alexis and her daughter fled town several months prior. Kristina Davis was Sonny Corinthos' daughter, and therefore in great danger.

So it was not surprising that the police had been called out to Alexis' house tonight. Knowing of the lawyer's connection to Sonny, Mac had come to the scene himself. Even though he'd heard a few pieces of information over the scanner, it was still shocking to see the smoke rising up from her house and the flashing lights of the fire trucks that surrounded the structure. Obviously someone had come after Alexis and Kristina as a way to get to Sonny.

Climbing out of his car, he scowled at the men in not-so-cheap suits that stood out of the way, but were anxiously watching the scene. They were having a rather intense looking conversation which quickly ended as he approached them. He crossed his arms over his chest as he stopped in front of them and glared.

"Why am I not surprised to find you here?" he said, not bothering to hide his disgust. It was Sonny Corinthos' presence that had brought the Alcazars into town. Because of them, Sage Alcazar was here to be a threat to his girls after they realized she shot Sonny's wife. "Truth comes out about Kristina Davis being Sonny's daughter and now she's been threatened and the house set on fire."

The men didn't react to his taunt, so after letting out a sigh he asked, "So which one of Corinthos' enemies is responsible for this?"

Max Giambetti stepped forward and said, "This was Helena Cassadine. We were here to keep Ms. Davis and her daughter safe."

"Didn't do a very good job," he said gruffly, trying to cover his shock over hearing Helena's name.

"Helena did not get past us and slip into Alexis' house," the man said, verbally pushing back. "Ms. Davis disregarded our suggestions to keep her and her daughter safe. She insisted on acting and she was the one who lured Helena here. She sent her guards off on a false trail and well..."

He gestured to the house where smoke still rose into the night. "This was the result. When our men discovered they'd been tricked by Alexis into leaving, they hurried back and they called 911 to get the fire trucks here. They looked for Helena to see if Ms. Davis and her daughter were still in danger."

Crossing his arms over his chest the burly man continued, "When the cops arrived they ordered the guards to stop looking...and our men complied. They held the guards here, and me and Milo when we arrived to find out what happened. Ms. Davis asked Mr. Morgan for help, she invited us and approved us to be here on her property because she was worried about Helena Cassadine. How are we breaking laws that warrant us being held?"

Mac began to feel uncomfortable as the mobster argued with him and calmly refuted the police commissioner's immediate judgment. That feeling did not improve when a car arrived and Diane Miller stepped out, scanned the area and then headed straight for him and the men she represented. He knew his night was about to get a lot worse.

"Commissioner," she greeted him coolly. Then she looked at Max. "Mr. Giambetti. What exactly is going on here?"

When the guards remained silent she turned a shrewd look on Mac and asked, "Commissioner Scorpio?"

"I'm trying to figure it out," he stated, resisting the urge to tug on his tie that felt like a noose around his neck.

"By detaining men who have Ms. Davis' permission to be here?" she wondered, her eyebrow lifting. "By keeping them from guarding the woman who asked for their help?"

She looked around and asked the question Mac was sure she already knew the answer to but was disdainfully proving her point. "Where is Ms. Davis?"

"She's at the hospital with her daughter," Max answered before Mac could. The police officer had been apprised of that over the radio and he didn't like them acting as if he was incompetent.

"I know where Alexis is," he stated tersely. "I wanted to know why they were here."

"Was someone sent to guard Ms. Davis and her daughter?" Ms. Miller asked, surprising Mac by the unexpected question.

"What?"

"Was someone sent to guard Ms. Davis and her daughter?" the lawyer repeated. "Since you detained their bodyguards, did the PCPD provide guards for their personal safety?"

When he stared at her she lifted both her brows and said, "I guess not. Well, then let's get through your questions. But perhaps Mr. Giambetti could arrange for protection for the Misses Davis unless your department plans to safeguard them."

"I didn't know Helena Cassadine was in town," Mac shook his head.

"We told that to the first officers who arrived," one of the guards stated. "We said Ms. Davis was in danger from Helena Cassadine before she and her daughter were taken to the hospital."

"Were you made aware of that, Commissioner?" Ms. Miller asked.

"They didn't pass that along," he answered.

"They told us to shut up or they'd arrest us," the guard continued. "They thought we were responsible for this and refused to believe us when we tried to tell them about Helena Cassadine."

As Diane Miller began to rail at him and his officers for their rush to judgment and their endangerment of a young child and her mother, he knew that even if there might have been something off about Corinthos and Morgan's men being here and their actions, it would be difficult to prove now or deal with. Morgan's lawyer was now on a tear about the police not listening to the guards and their obvious bias and immediate rush to blame the mob for everything. If it was true that Alexis was in danger because of Helena, then it would be impossible to prove or find the older woman. And Alexis would probably side with the mob since she'd asked them to protect her and she would work to keep the guards out of jail.

Mac looked over at the smoldering house and sighed. Yeah, this was going to be a messy case to deal with and he didn't see any room for great improvement.

~Corinthos-Morgan Warehouse~

While Max and Milo left to go see what happened at Alexis' house, Jason stayed at the warehouse to work on finding their missing ship. Bernie had arrived to help him and brought Spinelli along. Jason found the younger man tolerable when there were people there as a buffer because he could be a bit overwhelming. However, Bernie seemed to have found a way to deal with the other man and their computer tech wasn't quite so over-the-top when the accountant was around.

The three of them were searching for any sign of what happened to the shipment. They were looking into anything they could find about the Zacharras and Trevor Lansing to see if they were responsible. Spinelli was searching to see if James Craig had somehow gone after the ship. Jason was forced to call his contacts and cash in markers he'd gained, instead of being out there searching for information. It was his lot as boss; he had to stay and wait instead of being out there searching.

They were still searching, and hadn't really found anything when Max and Milo returned and Diane came in with them. The trio did not look particularly happy and Jason sighed, knowing that whatever happened at Alexis' house had not been good. It was hard to hang onto the happiness he'd had only hours before when Elizabeth agreed to marry him.

"So?" he asked, rubbing the back of his neck wearily. "What happened?"

"Alexis and Kristina are in the hospital," Max stated.

Slamming his hand down on the desk and standing, Jason angrily demanded, "What?! How did Helena get past our guards and get close enough to hurt them? We're supposed to keep them safe!"

"Alexis lured Helena there herself and set up a distraction to get the guards away from the house," Max quickly said. "She wanted Helena there and wanted us away from there so the old lady could come. We don't know all what happened. All we know is that when our guards realized they were tricked and got back to the house, there was a fire; Alexis was hurt and so was Kristina. Helena was missing, but there was blood on the floor. More than we think could have come from Alexis."

"Does she have a guard at the hospital?" he asked. "If Helena's hurt and angry she could go after Alexis and Kristina again."

"Ms. Davis and her daughter now have protection," Diane stated. "The responding officers believed the guards provided to Alexis were responsible for what happened and so detained them at the scene. Commissioner Scorpio was slow to catch up, but finally came to believe that Helena Cassadine is in town and threatening Alexis. Of course, it finally took a call to Nikolas for our esteemed commissioner to believe it. So now your men were able to go to the hospital and speak with security there. The police say they 'will cooperate'."

Jason sighed and rolled his neck. He was going to have to tell Sonny about this, which was going to be hard for his friend to hear. He also needed to talk to Nikolas, and if Alexis was not too badly hurt, he was going to have to talk to her.

First, though, he thanked his employees for dealing with the PCPD. It was not in their nature to work with the cops, and it wasn't surprising the police didn't trust them or believe them. Still, whenever his employees had to face the cops and their harassment, he owed it to them to thank them for their efforts.

"I found it!"

Everyone turned to look at Spinelli who had previously been working quietly in the corner but now had his arms raised in triumph. He looked up at all of them and grinned broadly. "I found the ship!"

"Where is it?" Max asked, immediately moving to look over the computer tech's shoulder and peered at the screen.

"Right next to a ship registered to Anthony Zacharra," he announced. "It's out in the Atlantic Ocean in an area that doesn't get as much coverage by satellites. But I...appropriated a few and temporarily redirected them."

He flourished his hands towards the screen. "And there it is."

"Well, now we know Zacharra's coming after us," Max stated.

"But is it because the old man's greedy as well as crazy?" Milo asked. "Or because of Trevor Lansing's connection to Sonny? Or is James Craig connected to them?"

Bernie looked at Jason as he vowed, "We'll figure it out, Mr. Morgan."

"For now," Max said, "We'll get the ship back and find out what happened to the product."

"Sink Zacharra's ship," Jason ordered. "We will not tolerate this; so send the message."

"You mean this all hypothetically, of course," Diane said, entering the conversation once more. "I believe I should go and let you gentlemen discuss things further. Call me if the police give any of you any more trouble."

"We will," Jason nodded to her as she gathered her attaché case and left.

Max and Bernie had begun to make phone calls and Milo was now speaking with Spinelli and writing down information. The acting mob boss was grateful to the men for getting right to work. Just as he was about to look at the map on Spinelli's computer and see whether he could make sense of it, his phone rang.

"Morgan," he answered.

"Jason, it's Nikolas," the man said without preamble. "I've got a problem."

"I know that Alexis and Kristina are in the hospital," he said. "My guards are now over there to protect her. I'm going to try to talk to her today."

He was not going to be blamed for Alexis' actions. If Nikolas began to suggest he or his men were somehow responsible for this, then he would stop that quickly.

"That's not why I'm calling," the other man said insistently. "I need your help. I think Helena is here...at Wyndemere. I saw some blood in a corridor, coming from an entrance to the tunnels. The blood trail disappeared into another tunnel."

"Don't you have men?" Jason wondered.

"Quite frankly, I don't trust them against her as I do your men," the prince admitted. "Look, if you don't want to come, send some men, please."

He paused for a moment and then said, "I'll bring a man with me. We'll be there soon."

Hanging up, he looked over at Max and Bernie who were watching him with obvious curiosity. "Nikolas thinks Helena is out at Wyndemere and bleeding. Alexis might have wounded her. I'm going to take a man and go out there."

"You want me to go?" Max offered.

Shaking his head he said, "I need you to stay here and deal with the ship and the Zacharras. We need to handle that."

"You need someone watching you," his second insisted. "We can't afford you to get hurt. So Milo and another guard are going."

Looking over at his brother, the acting enforcer commanded, "Go get a guard and call down to the dock; we're not taking Cassadine's launch."

The younger man left immediately and Max looked over at Jason as if to challenge him to fight him on it. The acting boss chose not to because he wanted to get over to Spoon Island. If Helena was there and wounded and there was a way to end this tonight, then he would. He was not Luke Spencer and he would not play games for years or take chances with people's safety merely for sport.

~Spoon Island~

"I've never liked this place," Paul stated as the boat approached the island's dock. "This island sitting out in the middle of the harbor; all the stories of the crazy family."

Milo had never really liked it either, but they were just stories and Helena Cassadine was just a woman. A crazy, ruthless and murderous old woman, but still just a woman. She did not have miraculous powers and he was not going to cower in fear over her or her family's home.

"They're just stories," he told the other guard. "Pay attention because there are a lot of tunnels here and Helena may have realized Nikolas saw evidence of her and called someone and she could be lying in wait."

Jason pulled out his gun, pointing it down at the ground and Milo and Paul followed suit. Milo turned on a flashlight and aimed it up the path in front of them. "A few lights would kill them?" he grumbled as they began climbing the stairs in near total darkness.

They were cautious as they climbed the stairs up from the docks, but they also knew that if Helena was watching, there was no way they could hide. There were too many vantage points of the house for her to hide and observe them as they made their way up from the stairs and approached, and there was nothing they could do about it. If she knew they were here, there was nothing they could do about it.

When they finally reached the house, Milo was a bit surprised to see Nikolas standing outside. Clearly the prince was waiting for them and not willing to let them finally reach him. Or perhaps he did not want them to actually come inside. With all of the tunnels on the property, perhaps he wanted to come in the house through one of them.

"What's going on?" Jason asked as they approached.

"I wanted to come in from a different way," Nikolas said. "It's away from where I saw the blood. The blood was in a seldom-used area and she may think she's safe there. But I want to come in from a side entrance, not from the main house."

"How did you spot the blood?" the boss wondered.

"I've been checking the tunnels and the corridors," the other man answered. "I know she's in town, I know she was here. She knows I'm not going to support her, but she knows the house and I thought she might come back here thinking she could hide and we wouldn't spot her."

The men nodded and Milo was glad that the prince had been active and hadn't left everything to Jason and the rest of them. They had enough to do without the Cassadine family expecting the mob to kill Helena to protect them while they did nothing. They would gladly protect Kristina because she was Sonny's daughter, but fighting the crazy old woman while they were already dealing with a crazy man trying to destroy the business and them personally.

With just a touch of impatience, Jason gestured for Nikolas to lead the way, and Milo and Paul brought up the rear. The two guards had their guns out, checking over their shoulders as they went. While Helena was just a woman and Milo had faced down tough enemies, he did find himself falling prey to expecting her to swoop down like Dracula or something and suck their blood. He needed to treat this like any other mission and concentrate on finding and eliminating the enemy.

Slowly, the group made their way through the tunnels into the house. Milo had seen the house from the docks and knew that it was big, but it wasn't until he was inside that he realized just how huge it actually was. He could see how people got lost out here, which surely added to the mystique of the place.

"Here," Nikolas pointed out as he slowed. "Blood."

"Is there a room she usually uses?" Jason asked.

"I've never known her to ever come to this part," the younger man shook his head. "These are old, musty, small rooms with little furnishings. She always tried to fix this area and did not come here."

"Do you want to stay here until we secure the area?" the boss asked, and Milo knew that was what Jason would prefer.

When the prince nodded, the three men continued on, following the blood trail deeper into the area. They checked all the rooms as they passed them, even when the blood continued on. They were not going to allow her to come up behind them and catch them unawares. Finally, they reached a room they were fairly sure Helena was in. The blood drops on the floor were bigger and they led straight to this door and went no further.

Jason gave them a look, warning them to be careful. When he and Paul nodded, Jason opened the door. They looked in cautiously and slowly entered, and then Milo pushed Jason down as a shot rang out.

"Go get Nikolas!"

Chapter 101

~General Hospital~

Alan sighed as he walked down the hall to his office and was relieved when he could make it inside the room without being accosted by anyone else. He was not really seeing patients, he'd taken some time off after Emily's death, but he couldn't step away from his responsibilities as Chief of Staff. There were things that had to be done, and tonight was no different. It was just that tonight was a little harder because the issue he was forced to settle involved his son. Alexis Davis and her daughter had been admitted to the hospital tonight, but the rumors were that it was not because of Sonny Corinthos.

For as much as it seemed that Alan did not like Jason and looked down on him, that simply wasn't true. He loved his son, and there were moments when he greatly regretted all that he had done that led Jason to his current situation. Not having the best example of fatherhood himself, he'd made a lot of mistakes when Jason woke up from his coma. Mistakes Alan wished he could change.

His own father had wanted him to take over the family business and had berated and belittled Alan's choice to go into medicine. That had just made him even more determined to become a doctor and follow his own path. He had perpetuated the Quartermaine legacy by not accepting the fact that the Jason who woke up from his coma was not the man he'd been. Alan had pushed his son to be who he was before, and in the process he'd pushed his boy right out the door where he was vulnerable to Sonny Corinthos.

Looking at it now, Alan could see why things had happened the way they did. Sonny Corinthos had no knowledge of Jason Quartermaine and he simply accepted Jason for who he was. He didn't treat Jason as if he were damaged or incapable. It was no wonder Jason turned to that kind of acceptance. The family had failed Jason, and continued to fail him when they fought against him at every turn.

It was simply that it was hard for them to know that Jason had become a criminal and a killer. Alan believed he could have come to accept that his son was not going to be a doctor and was different, that he had forgotten everything. But no parent would be happy to know that their child routinely broke the law and murdered for a living. However, that disapproval over his job and his association with Sonny had come across as disapproval of Jason and Alan regretted it.

It was what had caused him to allow Jason's guard to station themselves outside Alexis and Kristina's rooms. Because for as angered as he was to learn that Kristina was Sonny's child and not Ned's, he did know that she needed to be protected. Even though A.J. had finally gotten custody of Michael, Alan knew that the little boy's safety was still being taken care of by his estranged son. When A.J. discovered that people were watching them, he'd become enraged and it was one of the few times he'd called to speak to the family. He was certain that Jason or Sonny were going to try to steal Michael away from him. However, Monica had been the voice of reason in the face of his angry rant. She said that if someone was determined to hurt Sonny or Jason, then they wouldn't hesitate to come after the little boy. Just because A.J. now had custody of him didn't mean that the two men wouldn't care for Michael any less, and she was glad to know they were still working to keep him safe.

That was why Jason's men were in the hospital, despite the police being upset about it. Because Jason did care about children and he did what he could to protect them. Helena Cassadine was the immediate threat to Alexis and Kristina and would have been, even if Ned had been the little girl's father. Now, with Jason and his men watching out for mother and daughter, they might have a chance of survival.

However, Alan wasn't allowing the guards to stay in the hospital so that Jason would be appreciative of him or somehow feel indebted to him. He was doing this because it was important to his son, and in matters of safety and protection Alan trusted Jason. So the guards would stay as long as Alexis and Kristina were here and he was Chief of Staff.

He just really, really hoped that the violence of the Cassadine war did not come to the halls of his hospital.

~Jason's Penthouse~

As Sonny stepped out of the elevator, he looked over at his penthouse and nodded at Daniel who stood outside the door. The guard nodded in return and stepped forward to assist him, but Sonny shook his head. His own guard followed him off the elevator, and then they turned towards Jason's home. Marco straightened and looked at him awaiting instructions.

"Are they in?" he asked.

"Only Miss Webber and her son," Marco shook his head. "Mr. Morgan had to go to the warehouse."

Sonny was curious as to what took the younger man down to their warehouse, but he knew he had to tamp it down. He was focused on his sessions with his new doctor and was encouraged by her responses and positive feedback. He wanted to get better and get to a place where he felt he could handle his life without having to talk about everything with a therapist. This wasn't just about regaining control of the business again, although he couldn't deny that he did want that. He liked being involved, and, he had to admit, he liked the power. He just needed to balance it better.

However, for now, he needed to not worry about what had taken Jason to their warehouse. His friend would tell him if there was something he felt Sonny should know. So, for now, he would take the meal he'd prepared and leave it with Elizabeth. Knowing the nature of this business, he had fixed foods that could be stored easily and would still be delicious when they were reheated. And of course, for Elizabeth, there was plenty of dessert that would store and keep even after the dinner he made was gone.

Giving the guard a nod, he stood there while Marco knocked. They heard Elizabeth call out, and the younger man opened the door. She was sitting on the floor while Cameron crawled all over her, laughing along with him. She was trying to stand up, but her son was making it difficult. Sonny smiled once she was finally on her feet and holding Cameron on her hip. The little boy shook his toy motorcycle and babbled animatedly while smiling brightly at him and Elizabeth.

"Hi, Sonny," she greeted him warmly, turning her head to keep Cameron from hitting her with the toy. "Jason's not here right now, but you're welcome to stay if you want. Cam and I were just playing."

"No," he shook his head. "I just wanted to bring you something."

He motioned his guard in and the man carried in the bags with containers of food. He took them into the kitchen and Elizabeth watched him go curiously before looking back over at Sonny with a question. "What's all this?" she wondered.

"A little something special," he smiled. He was surprised when her face contorted slightly and her eyes became moist. He was concerned and stepped towards her, "Elizabeth? Are you okay, sweetheart?"

"You didn't have to do this, Sonny," she told him. "I'm just sorry Jason wasn't here. I guess he called you after he left this afternoon."

Frowning slightly in confusion, he felt as if he was missing something. "I didn't talk to Jason...not since this morning. I made you guys dinner to say thank you for all you did in getting the things for my apartment. And I wanted to do something nice for the two of you because you both deserve it."

"Oh," she laughed slightly, looking as if she was somehow embarrassed. Then she said, "That's very nice of you. I'm sure Jason will appreciate it when he gets home."

"Why did you think he called me?" Sonny asked curiously. "You thought I was bringing you dinner because he called me?"

She shrugged and said, "I thought he might have told you. I'm sure he will; he's probably just taking care of whatever Max called him about."

Elizabeth seemed to be trying to backpedal and not reveal something, but she wasn't being mean or overly secretive about it. It was almost as if she wanted to say something, but was going to let Jason tell him first. It suddenly struck him and he smiled.

"Did you think he told me you were engaged?" Sonny guessed, and knew he was correct when Elizabeth gasped.

"You are?" he pressed for clarification. When she nodded, biting her lip as she smiled, he grinned broadly at her and stepped closer.

"Congratulations, Elizabeth," he said, giving her a hug. "I'm very happy for both of you."

When Cameron squirmed between them, Sonny pulled back and laughed. "I'm very happy for all of you."

"Thank you, Sonny," she replied. Then she tilted her head curiously and asked, "Did you know he was planning to ask?"

"No," he shook his head, watching as she stooped slightly and placed her squirming son on the floor so he could crawl. "I just knew that Jason loves you and your son very much. You've been friends for a long time and I've seen him...he's happy to have you in his life. When you thought he'd told me something, I took a guess. I figured it would happen sooner or later that he'd ask you."

Elizabeth blushed and looked down, and Sonny wondered if that was part of the reason it took the couple so long to get together. Neither seemed to think the other wanted them, or that they deserved the other person. They didn't pursue each other, but they finally seemed to have worked it out, and Sonny was happy for them.

"Well," he said, slipping his hands into his pockets. "I hadn't meant to stay long; I'd hoped Jason would be here so you two could spend the evening together. I was going to offer to take Cameron over to Sam's with me because I made dinner for them as well."

"He actually played with Morgan earlier today," she said. "And since Jason's gone I'll just keep him with me for now."

"Of course," Sonny nodded. "I just wrote up some simple instructions for reheating, so whenever Jason comes home the two of you can eat."

He smiled at her warmly and hugged her once more. "Congratulations again, Elizabeth."

"I'll tell Jason you were here and I'm sure he'll call you as soon as he can," she said as she hugged him back. "And you thank you so much for everything."

"You're welcome," he told her as he stepped back. He bent down to ruffle Cameron's hair. "See you later, Cam. And you too, Elizabeth."

She said good-bye as he headed out to the door and went across the hall to see his family.

~Wyndemere~

As Nikolas had regained memories from before his accident, he'd been grateful for the lack of emotions that accompanied them. He could interact with people and take care of business and family affairs without becoming bogged down by sentiment or other emotions that made him weak. When he did begin to recall some emotions accompanying the memories, he had been glad when the emotions were anger or bitterness. He could control those emotions better, harnessing them and using them in his daily activities.

When he stood outside the church during Emily's funeral, he was able to remember some of their time together and that it wasn't all lies. But he forced those feelings and emotions down; focusing on the lies and manipulations she'd engaged in after his accident. He latched onto those and that helped other memories and their accompanying emotions surfaced. Many of his feelings that he'd remembered were directed towards Jason Morgan.

Nikolas remembered when he was hit by a bullet outside his stepfather's club and how it had occurred simply because he was standing in the hit man's vicinity. He also remembered that his brother had died in a fire at the older man's building and how everyone had believed it was Jason's enemies that caused it. And the prince remembered his feelings at the belief that the mobster was sleeping with Elizabeth that winter after Lucky's death and taking advantage of his friend. He knew that the older man was dangerous, ruthless and would do anything, no matter how amoral or illegal.

That was part of the reason Nikolas had been insistent that his aunt contact Jason to protect her and Kristina from Helena. Not only would he protect his boss's daughter - for he had done plenty to protect Michael, including lying about the boy's paternity - but the enforcer might just finally rid the world of Nikolas' grandmother.

Alexis had asked him if that was the reason he wanted her to contact Jason; that he wanted Jason to kill Helena. At the time he claimed it was merely for the safety of his aunt and cousin, but now he could acknowledge he had a deeper motive. He wanted to be free of his overbearing and nefarious grandmother, but he couldn't bring himself to be ruthless enough. He'd just exile her, knowing she would eventually escape because she was willing to do whatever it took to reach her goals. He wanted her gone, and Jason Morgan would not toy with her like Luke did.

As he stood waiting for Jason and his men to search the rooms looking for Helena, he let the dark corner of his soul finally admit that he hoped it ended tonight. Either she was already dead following her encounter with Alexis, or Morgan and his men would eliminate her like they did their other enemies. He jumped when he heard a shot, and then others follow rapidly. He heard someone shout and then footsteps running towards him.

One of the guards Jason had brought with him came rushing at him and impatiently commanded, "Come with me now!"

Without thinking to object or ask questions, he ran after the other man. He had no idea what he'd find, but he followed because he was commanded and despite all he felt that made him dislike Jason Morgan, he still trusted the man. As he reached the end of the hallway he slowed because the guard did. Entering the room his grandmother had been hiding in, he stopped short and stared in shock at the scene before him.

"What happened?" he breathed out.

"We need a first aid kid," Jason ordered as he looked up from he was applying pressure to the wound of his guard. He looked like he'd been wounded himself, but the other man was seriously injured. "Then call Mac. We need paramedics and the cops need to know we found Helena."

Nikolas wanted to look over at his grandmother, but he knew that the injured man needed his attention more. He stepped out of the room and contacted Alfred by phone and ordered his butler to summon the authorities and bring help. Then he returned to the room to see how he could help. Jason and his other guard were tending to the injured man, and after he told them that Alfred would be here soon, he seemed to only be the way and hindering more than he was helping.

With nothing else to do, he turned to look at Helena and couldn't really feel any emotion as he observed her. She had clearly been injured during her altercation with Alexis, but she was still determined to be deadly. The gun by her hand had no doubt shot Jason's guard, and possibly even Jason himself. Nikolas wondered, though, who it was that shot her.

Once Alfred arrived and began to help, Jason stood and approached Nikolas. "She was ready to shoot the moment we walked in. Milo pushed me out of the way and caught the bullet."

Looking over at the injured man the prince asked, "Will he be alright?"

"I think so," Jason nodded. "Your butler said they're sending a Medivac helicopter."

"Who shot her?" Nikolas asked, looking back at Helena.

"I don't know," the mobster shook his head. "Milo pushed me and I shot after I fell. But Paul was behind us and he may have been in a better position since I was on the ground."

Then looked at the younger man and arched his brow. "Does it matter?"

Letting out a breath, the head of the Cassadine family shook his head. "No. No, she...she has terrorized people, this town...for years. She hated Alexis...and now we're all finally free from her."

"That's why you wanted Alexis to have guards," Jason stated coldly. "You knew we would kill her because you wouldn't. We were your thugs since that all we are, right?"

Nikolas looked down and the mob boss let out a harsh breath. Or maybe it was a groan of pain. "We protected Sonny's daughter and we will continue to. We weren't out to kill your grandmother."

Turning to look at the younger man Jason said, "Don't ever use me or my men to solve your personal problems. I don't care if you wanted her dead; like you said, she hurt a lot of people. But don't lie and use my men. Be honest."

Then he turned and walked away. He paused and looked back at Nikolas before saying, "The cops will want to know why you didn't call them. We shot her because she shot at us first. We came here because you called and we knew she'd come after Alexis and Kristina earlier in the evening. You'll have to answer why you called us; we won't take the fall for you."

Then he returned to Milo's side to see how the man was. Nikolas watched them and then looked at Helena. Jason was right; the cops wouldn't be happy that he'd called Jason instead of them. They'd have questions and Alexis wasn't available to help him at the moment. Letting out a breath and firming his shoulders he was determined to face whatever questions or anger the cops had. He would be fine.

Would anybody really care that Helena was dead? They'd bluster about it for a while, but Nikolas knew no charges would be filed against him or Jason. He would make sure Morgan didn't take the fall; he at least owed the older man that. And if the cops got particularly troublesome towards him, then Nikolas would simply head to the Cassadine island. Now that Helena was dead, he didn't really need to stay away, and the Greek government would aid him now that she was gone.

As he heard the sound of the approaching helicopter, he knew he'd have to come up with his explanation soon. Mac was sure to be on the helicopter and would be demanding answers.

Chapter 102

Jason let out a breath as he quietly entered his penthouse. It was late and he knew that more than likely Elizabeth and Cameron would be asleep and he didn't want to disturb them in case they'd fallen asleep downstairs. Sometimes they watched a movie Cameron like, or read a book together, and after a full and busy day, they would sometimes drift off on the couch. Cameron would be snuggled up against Elizabeth, a blanket over him, she would be curled up on the couch holding him protectively, and they always looked so peaceful together and he would always feel such love as he gazed on them.

He wished he could have been with them tonight, to read to Cameron before the little boy went off to bed. He'd hated to leave Elizabeth after asking her to marry him and loving her so completely, but there had been no choice. There had been things he had to take care of, and if felt like Elizabeth had accepted it, even if she'd been a bit disappointed by the turn of events. Jason had hated feeling like he let her down, and he could only hope now that Helena Cassadine was dead he would have more time for his family.

Of course, the Zacharras and James Craig were still a heavy presence looming over them, but one immediate threat was gone. He had worried about having to battle Helena endlessly as others had done and having her turn her focus away from Alexis and Kristina to come after Elizabeth. Or, expanding her focus and still threatening Sonny's child while also coming after the woman who had tangled with her before and took poison to trick the old woman.

He was relieved that Helena was dead; not because Sonny's daughter was safe, but because Elizabeth and Cameron would not be placed in danger by her. That wasn't why she'd been killed, though. They'd gone to Wyndamere because Nikolas had asked for help, and maybe in the back of his mind he thought they'd fight her and the prince wouldn't have to deal with the unstable older woman. But Helena was a threat to Kristina and others, and if she was wounded she'd be likely to strike out. Jason hadn't wanted more violence to erupt.

She'd opened fire as soon as he and his men had entered the room, clearly ready and anxious to fight out at anyone. Milo had been injured severely enough that he was in surgery, Jason had been grazed on the arm, and because of the shooting that had wounded them, he and Paul had returned fire simply because they were in immediate danger. When Mac arrived on the island he had not been happy with their presence, but he hadn't arrested them. They would have to go to the station to answer questions, but Jason knew that Diane would argue self-defense and he would gratefully pay her fees if she continued to push back at the PCPD. If it kept him out of jail so he could have time with his family, then he would gladly pay Diane's fees.

His employees were doing their best to keep him with his family and he appreciated it. He had planned to go to the hospital to check on Alexis and Kristina and especially Milo; the guard had been shot protecting him, after all. Max, however, told Jason to go home. His second told him that it was his job to check on everyone and report back to him, and he would be at the hospital anyways because Milo was his brother. While Max appreciated that Jason wanted to make sure Milo was okay, he insisted Jason needed to go home and be with Elizabeth and Cameron.

He'd had to leave after getting engaged, and while Elizabeth was a great woman doing her best to be understanding and supportive, Max told his boss to go be with his fiancée. Jason had been reluctant at first, wanting to check in personally on the man who had saved his life, but he knew that Milo would be in surgery for a while and all he'd be doing would be sitting around the hospital waiting room. He couldn't deny that deep down, he really wanted to be with his family. Even if they were asleep.

Normally when he was out late at night, Elizabeth would leave some dinner for him to heat up when he returned, but tonight Jason wasn't hungry. He turned the lights off that she had left on for him, making sure to lock the door even though there was a guard outside. Making his way upstairs, he first checked on Cameron. The nightlight in the little boy's room gave father plenty of illumination to see by and he walked over to the crib and looked down at the sleeping boy. Cameron's eyelids fluttered and his legs and arms twitched and Jason wondered if he was about to wake up, but then decided his son must have been dreaming when he settled back down. Brushing his hand lightly over the soft curls, Jason left and went to his room.

Elizabeth was curled on her side, her mouth pursed slightly as she slept. It always made him pause when he saw her lying on their bed or couch; he would always be moved by the fact that she loved him and was waiting there for him. He never felt that he deserved someone like her and her son, but he was going to do everything he could to keep them safe and with him. He loved the two of them and wanted them in his life and he could only hope things quieted down so he could spend some time with them.

He went into the bathroom to undress and brush his teeth and when he came out he was a little surprised to see Elizabeth awake and propped up on her elbow. She was peering at him and pushing her hair back sluggishly. Jason slipped into bed and gently pushed at her shoulder, trying to get her to lie back down. He'd come to discover that she sometimes partially woke, and sometimes would even try to talk to him, but wasn't fully awake and she never seemed to remember these moments afterwards.

Figuring he had partially woken her up when he came in, he knew that if she lay back down she would be asleep in no time. But she resisted when he tried to coax her back onto the mattress and grunted at him in displeasure. He rolled onto his side, wondering if she was awake or just not cooperative at the moment.

"Elizabeth?" he questioned softly.

"You're back," she replied sleepily.

"Yes," he nodded, shifting slightly as the bandage on his arm pulled on his skin.

"Sonny came by," she continued, finally resting back on her pillow. He expected her to drift back to sleep with a few mumbles and he smiled at the thought. "I thought you told him because he brought dinner for us. So now he knows."

She yawned and moved closer to him, nestling her head on the pillow. "I'm sorry you didn't get to tell him, but he was very happy for us."

Reaching out, she rested her hand on his arm and he brought up his own to cover it. "Sam was, too. And so was Cam...I could tell."

Jason smiled and chuckled as her voice slowed. "I'm sorry I wasn't here."

He looked over when she murmured, and he couldn't help chuckling again when he saw her eyes were closed once more. They'd talk in the morning; he would find out what she'd meant in her sleepy ramblings and he'd have to tell her about Helena and Milo. She'd fret over the fact that he'd been grazed by the bullet, even though she'd try to conceal her worry. However, he wouldn't really mind because he knew she did it because she loved him. All that, though, would come in the morning after he'd gotten some sleep, and he was glad for that. After the events of the day, he was actually exhausted tonight.

Her little boy was apparently deciding to imitate a rooster. Cameron woke up early and was ready to go, demanding to be fed and changed and then played with. Today had been no exception, even though Elizabeth would have liked to sleep in. She'd hoped Jason might get back at a fairly decent time last night, but eventually she was forced to give up and go to bed. She remembered waking up when he came in, but she must not have been able to stay awake to talk to him because the next thing she remembered was waking up to Cam's cries though the monitor letting her know he was awake.

Thankfully, this was one morning when Cam only wanted a bottle and a change and didn't fight going back to sleep. Elizabeth decided to take full advantage of her son's cooperation, and instead of going downstairs to work or fix breakfast, she opened the door to her bedroom with Jason. He was still asleep, and if she was lucky she would be able to get some more rest as well. As she lifted the covers to climb back into bed with her fiancé, Jason rolled and she froze halfway into the bed when she saw the bandage on his arm that hadn't been there yesterday.

It didn't look like the wound was too bad considering the small size of the covering, but she could tell it had been applied by a professional. It was too neat and tidy, too efficient to have been done quickly by a guard. She eased down onto the mattress, her eyes never leaving the gauze covering his arm. She didn't know what had happened last night, and she doubted Jason would say anything beyond the fact that he was fine. And if he was home, then obviously he was and she was grateful for that. She merely knew that she would never cease to be bothered when he acquired a new wound.

"I'm okay."

Jason's voice caused her to raise her gaze and she found him watching her trepidatiously. "I am," he told her. "It was just a graze."

"I knew you were okay since you were here," she said. "It's just that I'll always be concerned when you're hurt. I love you and I know that they're not all grazes."

His eyes softened and he raised his hand to brush his fingertips on her cheek. "I know."

She leaned closer to him, rising up on her elbow so she could kiss him. It was slow and languorous as they expressed their love and enjoyed being together. Pushing at him slightly, she forced back on the bed. Brushing her lips over his, she let them caress his face and body. She wanted to show him how much she loved him, but she also wanted to acknowledge his life and his past. Her lips traversed a slow and meandering path, pausing on each scar he'd accumulated in his life.

It wasn't that she liked thinking about how he'd received them, or that she reveled in his scars. He didn't wear them like a badge, but they were a part of him. They were a reminder of the dangers in his life and the times he could have died. She kissed them in grateful acknowledgement that he was here, he was alive and he was with her. He loved her and they were going to be a family. She could only hope he could sense what she felt and what she was trying to convey.

Jason must have understood, because there was a hushed, almost reverent tone in their room. He accepted her tender touches until the moment came when the time for gratitude was over and he went from being passive to an active participant. Thankfully, Cameron stayed asleep during that time, and then even let them sleep afterwards.

When Cameron whimpered, Jason woke and quickly got out of bed. He slipped on his pants and grabbed a shirt as he went across the hall, wanting to get the little boy before he fussed again and woke up Elizabeth. She had gotten up earlier with her son after staying up who knew how late; he wanted to let her sleep a bit more.

The little boy babbled excitedly as Jason entered the room, pulling himself up and bouncing on his feet as he held onto the crib. He smiled as Cam made noises that sounded like words, but which he hadn't yet figured out that 'mama' and 'dada' actually meant something. There was no denying that he and Elizabeth smiled and their eyes lit up whenever he made those sounds. One day, their son would make that connection and they all would be thrilled.

Hungry, Jason headed into the kitchen along with Cameron to find something to eat. When he opened the refrigerator, he saw it was filled with containers and he wondered what it was. He remembered Elizabeth's comments from last night and wondered if there was actual truth to it; Sonny had brought food for him and Elizabeth. It was a very touching gesture and he knew he needed to talk to his friend.

Cameron fussed and Jason looked down at him, bouncing him slightly on his hip. "Are you hungry?" he asked. "Is it time for a snack? I know Mom fed you breakfast, so do you want a bottle or should we find something else?"

"He might want some yogurt."

Spinning around, he saw Elizabeth walking into the kitchen towards them. He smiled down at Cam as he said, "There's Mom."

"There's my boys," she greeted them, wrapping her arm around Jason's waist and Cameron."

He kissed her and then said, "We thought you'd sleep longer."

"I tried," she admitted, swallowing a yawn. "But I heard you get up and then I couldn't go back to sleep. The more I tried, the more awake I became. So I got up."

After kissing Cameron on the cheek she asked, "Are you hungry?"

"I could eat," Jason said with a lift of his brow and a smile.

She grinned as she moved to the refrigerator and said, "Well, I think Sonny meant for all this food to be a romantic dinner for the two of us, but it looks really good. We can feed Cam something while we eat."

"So Sonny did come by," he said. "You said that last night, but sometimes you talk in your sleep and it doesn't always make sense."

Elizabeth tried to act affronted, but instead she just laughed. "Sometimes I remember when you come in, and sometimes I just wake up and you're there. I kind-of remember last night; I really wanted to tell you about Sonny. I know you probably wanted to tell him yourself about our engagement, but when he showed up with all the food I thought he already knew."

Resting his hands on her shoulders, Jason softly said, "I'm not mad. I did plan to tell him, and I still will talk to him. Last night was just one of those nights nobody likes."

Her brow furrowed as she asked, "What happened? I mean...in generalities, of course."

"Helena and Alexis had an...a fight...I don't know what happened before we got there," he shook his head. "Her house was on fire, but not burned down; Alexis and Kristina are in the hospital; then Nikolas called and said he thought Helena was on the island and wounded because he saw blood."

His fiancée froze, the refrigerator door wide open, and stared at him. "What happened?"

"Helena is dead," he told her, and saw a range of emotions cross Elizabeth's face. Hope, fear, wariness amongst them, and he could understand them all. The specter of Helena Cassadine had hung over the town and people for so long, and because Elizabeth had been connected to the Spencers, she had been more closely in battle with the old woman.

"Really?" she questioned as she closed the refrigerator door and leaned against it. "Really?"

Jason nodded, watching her carefully. "Are you okay?"

She nodded, her shoulders firming. "I am. It's...it's a shock. Listening to Luke and Lucky...dealing with her myself...she was a witch. She was evil and she always got away to come back and torment everyone again. It's...odd...to think that she's really dead. That she won't turn up like a bad penny and wreak havoc on everyone again."

He nodded to show he understood her evident mixed emotions. While he'd never had much contact with Helena, he'd heard the stories and knew the problems the older woman had caused. But no more. "She's dead," he assured her. "She was already injured from whatever happened with Alexis and when we found her out at Wyndemere she shot at us. We fired back."

"And you were grazed," she said thoughtfully. "What about the others with you?"

Jason let out a breath and then said, "Milo was hurt. He was taken into surgery last night. I was going to call Max after I got Cam something to eat."

She started the oven and placed some of Sonny's containers inside them to warm up. Then she came over to where he was sitting at the table with Cameron and reached for the spoon and container of yogurt. "Go call," she urged him. "Then maybe after we eat we can go visit him. I know you'll want to see for yourself how he's doing, and I'm grateful for your men; especially since you came home safe last night. I know it was because of them, and I will never take that for granted."

He gave her a smile as he stood, and then lowered his head to brush a kiss across her mouth. Elizabeth would, of course, feel that way. She had never treated the guards as her servants or looked down on them; it was only natural for her to be concerned about one of his men. Especially one who had been injured protecting him.

"I'll call," he said. "But I'll be back. Nothing will keep me from sharing breakfast with you and Cam, and the men will understand that I won't be there right away."

Then he gave her another kiss and left the kitchen to go make his call.

~General Hospital~

After sharing a late breakfast that stretched into an early lunch, Jason and Elizabeth left to go to the hospital. Maria came over to watch Cameron since they knew it was close to the little boy's naptime and it would be difficult to keep him happy for the visit. Elizabeth reveled in her fiancé's presence at her side as they stepped off the elevator. The simple pleasure of walking beside him, holding his hand, and feeling his love for her in little looks and touches far surpassed anything else.

It wasn't the ring that Jason wanted to buy her, the money he had, or the places he could afford to take her that he talked about. She was happiest when they could be together. Life would never be sedate or normal; they would live behind bulletproof glass and always have guards, and danger would be their constant companion. So she had learned to merely enjoy the moments they had; not worrying about when it would end, how long it would be until the next one came, or that Jason might have to leave for days at a time.

As they stepped off the elevator on Milo's floor, she knew people were looking at them. She knew people would whisper and judge her on her involvement with Jason and that it would get worse when they heard of the engagement. This was no longer merely two friends arriving at a hospital to visit a woman before she died, or two people living together who were showing up, they were now engaged and that would change everything for them and the people they encountered. Some would try to get her to change her mind, some would think she was only with Jason for his money, but she knew that nobody had ever understood her involvement with him. She used to try to explain it, or feel bad about other people's attitudes towards her, but she was beyond that. She loved Jason, and that was all that mattered to her.

Squeezing his hand, she and Jason turned towards the hall where Milo's room was. Max was standing outside his brother's door and straightened as they approached.

"Mr. Morgan," he greeted Jason rather formally. Then he looked at Elizabeth, "Miss Webber. Thank you for coming."

"How is he?" Jason asked, his concern for his employee clear in his voice.

"He'll be fine," Max stated. "Surgery removed the bullet and they stitched him up. They just want to keep him for another day or two."

"Can we go in?" Elizabeth asked.

"Sure," the man nodded, even though he seemed surprised by her asking.

"Thank you, Max," she told him, then slipped into Milo's room while Jason stayed behind to talk to his second.

The younger Giambetti brother looked at her in something between shock and terror when she walked into his room and stammered out, "Mi-Miss Webber."

"Don't move, Milo," she told him when she saw him trying to push himself up further in his bed. "You're recovering and you need to rest."

She brought the rolling tray closer and set a plate down that was wrapped in red cellophane. Smiling at him she said, "I know you'll say you were just doing your job, but thank you for keeping Jason safe last night."

Her eyes misted slightly as she continued, "Cam and I...we're grateful you were there. So I hope you like chocolate; I brought a few sweets to make your stay in the hospital a little more palatable."

The young guard seemed almost embarrassed as he thanked her. "It was my job, Miss Webber. But thank you. I understand why the boss is so happy; you're a good woman, Miss Webber. And congratulations to you."

"Thank you, Milo. Now...get better, okay?" Elizabeth said, forcing a smile onto her face. "We all want you with us."

"Yes," Jason said as he entered the room. "You're a good man and I'm glad you're alright. Thank you for last night."

Then he smiled slightly as he put his arm around Elizabeth's waist. "But there are better ways to get Elizabeth's brownies instead of ending up in the hospital. So next time, just ask, okay?"

"Yes, sir," Milo answered with a slightly nervous grin. "I'll keep that in mind."

Chapter 103

~Sonny's Apartment~

Sonny let out a low breath and looked out the living room window. His new doctor was very different from Dr. Firth and didn't judge his involvement with Sam, or her because of the former con woman's past. She listened to Sonny and helped him continue to sort through his illness and put things into perspective. She'd also mentioned that perhaps it was time for Sonny to return to Port Charles; not to take full control of the business back from Jason, but no longer hide out in Harborview.

For as much as Sonny had looked forward to this moment, it was a bit unsettling to actually hear the words. Doubts suddenly hit him and he didn't like it; the don should not be a man plagued by doubts.

"Sonny?"

He turned back to face Dr. Curran, and she tilted her head to the side as she inquired, "Are you alright?"

"I-" He stopped, still struggling with the need to conceal his weaknesses and claim he was fine. Forcing out a breath and making his shoulders relax he said, "I was just thinking about returning."

"And what do you think?" she asked.

"I don't know," he said honestly. "I'm tired of hiding; I'm tired of being in a small apartment. I miss my children. I miss being involved. Yet...it also scares me."

"You've been away for a long time," the doctor noted.

Sonny nodded and then said, "I worry that I'll fall back into my old patterns and I'll spiral out of control again."

"The fact that you worry about that is a good sign," his doctor said. "You're not claiming you're all better and don't need any more help. You're admitting you have doubts, and that's why I know you're ready for this. I'm not leaving and we'll continue to talk through everything; I will help you and if you have any problems we'll get you through them."

Sonny began to relax slightly as she talked.

"That's why I suggested this," she told him. "So we just need to talk to Mr. Morgan."

"I'll call him," he said.

There was a knock on the door and the doctor smiled. "Perhaps you won't need to. Mr. Morgan has a habit of stopping by rather often."

The guard opened the door and quietly informed the room, "Mr. Morgan is here, but can come back if you're still meeting with Dr. Curran."

"No," she shook her head before Sonny could respond. "We're done. Actually...we'd like to talk to him."

Jay nodded and opened the door, allowing Jason inside. He looked at the doctor and then at Sonny. "I didn't mean to interrupt."

"You're not," he told his friend. "I was actually going to call you. Dr. Curran...Dr. Curran thinks I'm ready to come back to Port Charles. You would still be in charge, but I can start to get out...get involved more."

The younger man looked surprised, but also hopeful. "Really? Are you...do you want to do that? Do you think you're ready?"

"I've got concerns," he admitted, but then nodded. "But yeah...I think I'm ready. I actually...I've been thinking about some things. I'd...I'd like to get a house. Something behind a gate...secure...we can have guards on the property. I don't want to separate Morgan and Sophia...I don't want to make Sam feel like she and our daughter are less than Morgan and don't get to be with me. If...if we had a big house where we could all have our own space and rooms...then maybe that would help us as a family."

"Why do you say that, Sonny?" his doctor asked. He didn't feel she was judging him; she asked to help him talk through and order his thoughts.

"The penthouse has rooms, but not a lot of space to play. The children need that. They had that on the island and I've noticed that they seem to miss it here. Some of the rooms are downstairs in the penthouse, and I don't want Sam to feel like she and Sophia are below. It's also why I don't like them living in an apartment on this floor. If we had a house, we would have room to move around without feeling crowded, but we could still feel together. Morgan likes having them there, and why should Sophia not get to live with me?"

"Is this about keeping your children with you because they're yours?" Dr. Curran wondered. "Does this mean you want Alexis and your daughter to move in as well?"

"I don't want to upset Morgan or Sophia."

"Children are resilient," she stated. "You have to think about if that situation will be best for you and Sam. I know you're still confused about your feelings for her; you need to think about what cohabitation will do to you. That could be tough for you as you're still figuring things out."

She took a breath and then suggested, "Start with the penthouse, or even with Sam going back to her apartment and then see how you feel. I'm not saying that the house is entirely a bad idea, but hold off on it for a little while. Come back to Port Charles, take on that challenge first. Then we'll talk about other things."

Dr. Curran stood and said, "I'll let you and Mr. Morgan talk now. Remember, I'll still be here and we'll continue our sessions."

After saying goodbye to the two men, she left and Sonny turned to look at Jason. He smiled at his friend and said excitedly, "Engaged! Congratulations, man. I'm happy for you and Elizabeth."

"Thanks," Jason said, grinning like he always did when Elizabeth was mentioned. "I wanted to tell you yesterday, but something came up. Thank you for the meal, though."

His friend trailed off and looked down, embarrassment tinting his demeanor. Sonny laughed at the younger man in delight. "You ate it for breakfast, today, didn't you? Just proves she's the woman for you; gourmet meal for breakfast."

Jason chuckled. "Yeah. It was good, and appreciated. But there is something we need to discuss. Alexis tangled with Helena last night. I'm not sure of all that happened; she lured the guards away somehow with some fake emergency and when they got back the house was on fire."

Sonny's eyes flared and he demanded, "What happened?!"

"I don't know," the other man shook his head. "She and Kristina are in the hospital; smoke inhalation and a few scratches. Alan let their guards be at the hospital, and he told me they're doing okay. I tried to see her today when I went to see Milo but she was having some tests. I had to meet Diane at the police station so I couldn't stay."

"The station?" the mob boss asked. "Milo at the hospital? What happened, Jason?"

"Helena went out to Wyndemere," his friend explained. "She was wounded in the thing with Alexis; Nikolas spotted blood and called us, asking us to come out and help. When we found her, she was in bad shape; she fired when we entered the room. Milo got hurt protecting me and Helena was killed. Mac had questions for us."

"You're not being charged are you?" he asked in disbelief. "Cassadine called you to come out there."

"No," Jason shook his head. "They're calling it self-defense. Just the hassle of it all; dragging out all the questions just because they can."

"Milo's okay?" he questioned.

The younger man nodded. "Yeah. They operated to get the bullet out, and will keep him for another day or two, but he'll be fine."

Sonny let out a relieved breath. "Good. Maybe Alexis and Kristina being in the hospital could bring me home. I'd want to make sure they're okay."

The other man thought about it for a moment and then nodded. "I'll get it set up."

"Thank you, Jason," he told his friend. "For everything."

~Hardy House~

Elizabeth swallowed nervously as she knocked on her grandmother's door. She smiled at Cameron as he pushed on her cheek and then managed to hook his finger in the corner of her mouth. He babbled as he looked around, and then his gaze swung over as he heard the door open.

Her grandmother's eyes widened as she said, "Elizabeth, Cameron. This is a surprise."

"Hi, Grams," she smiled. "How are you doing?"

"I'm fine, darling," the older woman answered, still sounding a bit uncertain and confused by her presence, even though the younger woman had called about coming over and had called her brother as well. "Steven is here and he said you called him."

"Good," Elizabeth replied as she stepped inside. "I wanted to talk to both of you, so I'm glad your schedules were clear."

"Is everything alright, Elizabeth?" her grandmother asked, her brow furrowed slightly. She accepted Cameron from her granddaughter and smiled down at him as he cooed at her.

"Yes," she said, trying to assure the other woman, even though she knew her grandmother would not like the news she would eventually announce. "I wanted to see you and Steven because it's been a little while."

"You know you're always welcome here," her grandmother stated, giving her a pointed look.

"Yes," Elizabeth nodded. "And you and Steven are welcome at our home, too. You haven't stopped by to see Cam's new room, yet. We like it; Cam likes it a lot."

"Yes, well..." The older woman trailed off as she looked away. It was apparent that she felt she could criticize Elizabeth about not visiting, but wasn't happy to hear of her lack of visits.

"My, you are getting so big," she cooed at Cameron, effectively changing the subject. "I can't believe how much you've grown."

As the little boy smiled up at her, his great-grandmother said over brightly, "I think you may even have new teeth."

"He's really growing," Elizabeth agreed.

"He'll be one soon," Steven said as he walked into the room from the kitchen. "Are you planning a party for him?"

"I've thought about one," she said with a shrug. "Nothing real concrete yet."

Taking a breath she then said, "I'd like it you could come, but let me tell you something first before you agree or not. I'm not trying to be difficult, Gram, but you've always been perfectly clear on how you feel about Jason and my involvement with him."

"I only want what's best for you, Elizabeth," her grandmother stated. "Jason Morgan is a criminal who will get you and your son hurt or worse."

"I was raped before I ever met Jason," Elizabeth pointed out and her grandmother flinched at the reminder. "Helena Cassadine wanted me dead and I drank poison. I've suffered miscarriages and been in car accidents that had nothing to do with Jason. I've learned that life is dangerous and there are no guarantees. Jason loves me and my son and will do everything he can to protect us and care for us and show us just how he feels."

She paused and licked her lips before saying, "And that's why I said yes when he asked me to marry him."

Her grandmother gasped and Elizabeth knew that her response was not going to be good. The wrinkles around the other woman's eyes deeply narrowed and her lips pinched together. "Marry?" she asked. "You're going to marry Jason Morgan?"

"I am," Elizabeth nodded.

"Why?" the older woman demanded and Cameron stared up at her with wide eyes. "Why would you do that?"

"Because I love him," she answered. "We want to be a family."

"Are you pregnant?" her grandmother asked, her voice strongly disapproving. "Are you going to have another baby with another man?"

Elizabeth stepped back, stunned and hurt by the words from the woman who raised her. She wanted to snatch her son out of the old woman's arms but she couldn't seem to move. Her brother came beside her and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. He gave her a squeeze and she felt that whatever he might feel regarding her announcement, he at least wasn't going to judge her.

"Gram," he stated, "That was uncalled for and that is more than likely why she doesn't come to visit. I may not like what Jason Morgan does, but I've seen him with my sister and my nephew and I've seen how he treats them. That's how I want her treated; not abused by some high-profile lawyer that looks good."

"That's...that's not what I meant," their grandmother stammered. She looked truly contrite as she said, "Darling, that wasn't what I meant. It's just that he is a criminal."

"He has never been convicted of anything," Elizabeth grit out as she reached for her son. Tucking him to her side she nearly spat out, "And just for your information, I am not pregnant. I love Jason and he loves us. He supports us...and I don't mean financially. I am safe with him and never feel like a disappointment."

Reaching for the diaper bag she'd dropped on the couch she said, "I don't know why I keep doing this. I try to reach out to you, think that maybe you might love and support me because we're family and every time...every time it's just the same. Any time you don't like a choice I make I get lectures and disappointment and nothing but your open contempt and disapproval. I'm sorry you consider your great-grandson a bastard-"

"I never said that," her grandmother shook her head vigorously.

"Maybe not," she conceded, "but the inference was there. I'm tired of feeling like I'll never measure up to your standards no matter what I do and I will never subject Cameron to that. Jason never liked Zander, but I have never felt like he doesn't like my son; because of that I know with everything inside me that if we have more children he will never treat Cameron any differently. Can you say the same? Will you look at my children and only see that their father is a criminal?"

When her grandmother opened her mouth and then closed it, Elizabeth shook her head. "I guess it's a good thing Cameron is too young to realize what's happening. He won't remember you, and that will be on your head. Don't worry about trying to decide if you'll come to wedding or not; I won't trouble you with an invitation. I wanted to tell you in person...and now that I have, we'll be going."

Turning for the door, she faltered when she heard her brother call after her. "Elizabeth, don't go yet. I'll be out in a moment and we can talk."

Her grandmother remained silent as Elizabeth walked outside.

~Park~

He'd always loved coming to Port Charles because of this park. Right down the street from his grandparents' house, he could ride his bike to and around the park because everyone looked out for the kids in the neighborhood to keep them safe. It also meant that his grandparents knew when he'd run the little kid off the path or splashed another kid with mud before Steven even reached home. These days parents didn't let their kids go off alone, but it was close so that he could talk to his sister without it being on their grandmother's port, but also so that they didn't have to walk very far.

"I'm sorry about her, Elizabeth," he said as they walked towards a bench. Cam was heavy to hold and they hadn't taken the time to get his stroller out of the car.

"You don't need to apologize for her, Steven," his sister shook her head. "You didn't make her say anything. I knew she wouldn't be thrilled, but I at least hoped she'd stop treating me like I'm a huge disappointment. I'm so tired of fighting for her approval, and yet I feel bad if I ignore her. Like I'm a bad grandchild or something."

"You're not," he assured her, putting his arm around her after they sat down and drawing her close. "And if you're tired of fighting for her love, then stop. Sooner or later she'll realize that she misses you and you aren't going to play by her rules and that she might actually have to compromise.

"In the meantime," Steven told her, "you enjoy your time with your fiancé. The part of me that worked for the police does not like my little sister marrying a mob enforcer."

"Alleged," she cut in. Her head was down and he couldn't see the smile he suspected was there.

"Right," he nodded. "I may never like that and I don't know that I'll ever invite him out for a beer, but I will try not to be openly antagonistic towards him. Especially not in front of Cameron; because he doesn't need to see his father criticized by family."

Elizabeth sat up and looked at him and Steven tweaked her nose with a grin. "You love him, Lizbits, and you're tired of fighting everyone over him. I will try not to be one of the people you have to fight."

His sister flung her arms around him and held him close. "Thank you, Steven. I'm actually embarrassed now that I doubted you. You remember that bear you gave Cam when I told you and Gram that we were moving in with Jason?"

When he nodded she tucked her hair behind her ear and said, "I left it out on the balcony until Jason's tech guy swept it for bugs. Then I felt bad for even making him come when it turned out it was clean."

He chuckled and shook his head, "That's okay, Elizabeth. I understand why you did it. We didn't talk for years and I came to town with a connection to John Durrant; of course you'd be suspicious of our interaction. We still have to get to know each other, but I want to."

She smiled at him so brightly it reminded him of how she looked as a child when all she wanted to do was spend time with a much older brother who didn't want anything to do with his baby sister. "So do I."

"Then I would love to come over sometime and see Cam's room," Steven told her, bouncing his nephew on his knee. "And I'm very happy you have someone you love who makes you happy. You just tell me when the wedding is and I'll be there."

"Will you give me away?" his sister asked, lifting her brow in uncertain hope.

He smiled warmly at her and said, "I would be honored."

"Thank you, big brother," she smiled at him, her eyes taking on a misty quality.

"Anything for you. But now," he said, "I think this little guy looks ready for a nap. So, let's head back to Gram's, and this big guy here," he hooked his thumb over his shoulder at her guard, "can take you guys home."

"This is Paul," Elizabeth told him.

"Nice to meet you," he told the other man as Steven stood and settled Cameron against his shoulder for the walk back. "Thanks for looking out for my sister and nephew."

He felt weird thanking a man who carried a gun and worked for mobsters, but this was for his sister. After the way they'd all treated her, Steven was determined to do better. Which was why after his sister left he was going to talk to his grandmother. It was bad enough their parents ignored Elizabeth and made her feel worthless, but their grandmother had always been better than that. And he was going to make her see what she was doing to Elizabeth.

Chapter 104

~Spinelli's Apartment~

Max looked over at Jason as they stepped into the hacker's apartment and raised his brow. The place certainly hadn't looked like this before. When Bernie had called and asked if they could buy a few things for the kid, Max hadn't expected this. There were several tables and several computers on each table and all were up and running.

"What's this?" he asked.

"I needed more power," the younger man giggled. "And the Bernificent One got it for me."

"So this is all for the stuff you're doing for us?" the acting enforcer asked. "Won't people be suspicious about why you have so many computers?"

"Like the police?" the younger man wondered. He walked over to one of the tables and said, "Already ahead of you, Maximum Ride."

He pressed a button each keyboard and the screens changed from whatever had been on them to what looked like a paused video game. "All the computers are connected to one another," he explained. "It's one giant gaming system. The employees de Stone Cold come here to play multi-player games against each other. The dummy buttons bring up the game and without the right password, nobody will ever get back to the programs I'm running."

Max didn't understand how it worked, but he trusted the set-up because the geek was good. He found a lost ship, traced Stan's deception and more. While there was still some distrust because of the kid's work with Ric Lansing, it was diminishing. He was doing all he could to help them now, and doing a good job about it.

"So what's the real reason for all the extra computers?" Jason asked.

"My most venerated and dependable computing system was sadly not up the task of all Stone Cold needed me to research," the geek said regretfully as he gestured towards his laptop on the coffee table. "There is the research on James Craig, the Zacharras and Trevor Lansing, the possible connection between Craig and the Zacharras as well as Craig and Jasper Jacks. I also offered to help the Bernificent One set up a coded schedule to make things easier for him, and of course there is anything else that Stone Cold and Maximum Ride might assign the Jackal. I simply was unable to keep up with it all on one system no matter how powerful I have upgraded it to be."

Max let out a breath as his eyes widened slightly. He hadn't realized the full scope of all that Spinelli was doing and he felt tired just listening to it all. All of that information was important and everyone wanted it all right away. They said they understood there was only so much they could do at one time, but their impatience and annoyance hadn't been disguised well. It's no wonder the kid felt like he had to do more than he was.

The acting enforcer was actually impressed with the solution Spinelli came up with. The kid was probably in heaven with all the computers and would use some of them for gaming, something Max felt he was welcome to. And maybe some of the guards would like to come and play games sometimes. If the police ever did suspect what Spinelli did, it would be good to have a believable cover story instead of the guards sitting around not knowing what buttons to press.

"Okay," Jason nodded. "So what have you found? You told Max you had some information."

"Right," the younger man nodded immediately. His fingers flew over the various keyboards and the previous screens reappeared.

Gesturing to one computer he said, "Here I've been tracing all patterns that might link James Craig to Port Charles' own Jasper Jacks. On this one, I'm looking for any connection between the Bond One and the Zacharras. Over here," he pointed, "a complete history of Trevor Lansing is being compiled; focusing especially on him since he went to work for the Crazy One from Crimson Point. Those are my spares and all of the computers are networked into my laptop."

He sat in front of the slim computer and opened it up. "I've discovered some very interesting things regarding our mystery man and Jax."

"Like what?" Jason wondered, walking towards the couch.

"I've traced Craig's travel through all his different aliases, and I've tracked Jax's travel as well. Every couple of months they end up in towns near each other."

"Near?" Max asked. "Could be coincidence."

"I looked at Montreal...when we tracked Stan," Spinelli rushed to say. "We knew that Craig had booked a ticket there under his Brosnan alias, and Stan booked a ticket there, and Jax chartered his private plane there. That was the first time they all directly went to the same city."

"The first time?" Max asked.

"Many times, flight records bring our guy Craig into a different city than Jax flies to, and then he rents a car. It's usually unlimited mileage, and nothing in his mileage has ever tripped the rental companies as being too high. When he's in whatever city he's supposed to be in, there's only a hotel charge on his credit card, but nothing else."

"Nothing else?" the acting enforcer pondered. "It must mean he pays in cash so he can't be traced. Food, gas...maybe even another hotel room. He could be anywhere, but it looks like he's at the one hotel."

"So he could have been meeting with Jax," Jason said, putting the pieces together as well. Then his brow furrowed, "But why was Montreal different? Why not follow the same pattern that time?"

"Maybe there wasn't enough time," Max offered. "Maybe because he was meeting with Stan he didn't want to follow the same pattern as before. We know he met with Jax, and it didn't look like it was the first time they'd seen each other. They definitely had history together."

"But how do they know each other?" the acting boss wondered.

"I'm still working on that," the kid said regretfully, his body twitching as if he was about to launch himself off the couch to work on it immediately.

"No, no," Max said with a shake of his head, waving a hand to keep him seated. "You've given us a good lead. Have you found anything else?"

"I've uncovered some stuff on Trevor Lansing," he replied. "Some property purchases...some accounts. I don't understand all of it."

"Why don't you send it to Bernie or me," he suggested. "Let us look through it; we know what to look for."

The kid nodded uneasily and Max couldn't help saying, "Relax; you did okay. You've found some good stuff for us."

"He's right," Jason added. "It would have taken Bernie longer to find this, especially since he's got other stuff to do."

The two men stood and prepared to take their leave when Spinelli shot to his feet like a Jack-in-the-box and blurted out, "Maximum...Max, how...how is your...how is Milo?"

"He should be fine," he answered the younger man. "Probably will go home in a couple of days."

"If...if he wants...he can come here and use one of the computers," the hacker offered. "Or...Or I'll set up a laptop for him to use."

Max smiled, a little surprised, but touched by the offer and said, "I'll let Milo know. He hates watching TV and movies, so he may like that."

~Jason's Penthouse~

After leaving Spinelli's apartment and talking to Max about the plan for tonight, Jason headed back to his place. Sonny and the rest would return to town tonight, so Jason would need to be at the airport to meet them. A false flight plan had been filed, the plane was actually flying in, and Sonny, Sam and the rest would be seen stepping off the plane at the entrance of the private hangar before getting into the waiting limo and heading to the Towers.

He'd checked with the guards and found out that Elizabeth and Cameron were home, so he decided to spend time with his family before he was gone once again. When he opened the door, the smell of paint immediately reached him. He looked around, but didn't see Elizabeth. After checking upstairs, he found Cameron asleep in his room and the monitor was on, but Jason and Elizabeth's room was empty as was the spare bedroom. Maybe she was down in what would be considered the maid's room. Jason had some exercise equipment in there, but had moved it to the side so that Elizabeth would have some room as well for her paint supplies since the light in the spare bedroom wasn't right.

As he walked down the short hallway to the room, he began to wonder if, instead of Sonny, they should look into buying a house. Cameron was getting bigger and would be walking soon; he should have room to run around and especially be able to go outside and not always have to get packed up and taken to the park. Plus, it would be nice to give Elizabeth a proper studio and not make her feel like she was shoehorned into his existing space. Besides, if they had more children they might want a bigger layout than this.

Stopping in the open doorway, Jason paused and leaned against the doorjamb as he observed Elizabeth. She was lost in the moment, humming a song under her breath as she brought vibrant colors to life on the canvas. He didn't want to startle her so he waited until she went to switch brushes and then he gently knocked on the door. She startled slightly and spun around, and then smiled brightly at him.

"Jason." She abandoned her painting and moved to hug him. "I wasn't expecting to see you."

She clung to him tightly and he could sense a desperation in her, even though she seemed to be trying to hide it. His hand smoothed gently over her back and he asked, "Did you go to your grandmother's house today?"

She tensed, but remained silent and he asked, even though he suspected the answer. "How did it go?"

"As I expected," she answered. "I don't think she'll be at our wedding, but Steven may actually surprise me and show up."

Rubbing his hand over her back, Jason sighed. "I'm sorry, Elizabeth; this is because of me."

Pushing away from him, her eyes flashed angrily. "It is not your fault, Jason. She is the one who puts conditions on her love and refuses to accept that this is my life and my choices."

Elizabeth placed her hands on his cheeks and stared at him intently. "You are the person who loves me, who supports me, who gives me strength and makes me feel like I can do anything. Why would I give that up? I have let myself walk away before from what I really wanted because I was too afraid and foolishly sought acceptance from the wrong person and thinking I would get it by pleasing them. I love you, Jason, and if people can't understand that or accept it, then I can't change it. But I'm not walking away from you. Not ever again."

Reaching into his pocket, Jason pulled out the box he'd gone out earlier to get when she and Cameron had left. He had spent some time that he could have spent elsewhere, but he decided that nothing was more important than this. He had people who could handle the other issues and pressures, but nobody else could take care of this."

"I love you, too," Jason told her, lifting the box and catching her attention. Her hands fell away and her eyes widened as he clasped the box and poised to open it. "I can't believe that you came into my life again and that you want to share it because you love me."

He opened the box, but she didn't look at it. Her eyes stayed locked on his and he felt a smile curl his lips. He didn't know if she was afraid to look, didn't want to appear too eager, or whether it truly just wasn't important to her. Taking the ring out of the box, he then reached for her hand.

"When you agreed to marry me...that was my best day," he told her. "I can't wait to have more great days with you."

As he began to put the ring on her finger Elizabeth finally looked down and gasped. "Jason. It-it's beautiful."

The diamond wasn't large, but its color was clear and beautiful and the stone was flawless. He could afford to buy the finest diamond, no matter the size, and she deserved the best he could give her. Her hand shook slightly once the ring was in place and tears were in her eyes when she looked up at him.

"It's beautiful, Jason," she breathed out. "It's perfect. I love it...I love you."

"I love you, too," he said as he lowered his head to kiss her.

She clung to him just as desperately as he did to her, and he knew what would come. It was frantic, it was passion-fueled, and they never made it out of the room. Though slightly uncomfortable, the weight bench did come in handy. However, her painting was damaged; further emphasizing to Jason the need to look for a bigger place. Though perhaps Elizabeth would need a couch in her studio.

As they rested together afterwards, he brought up the subject by asking, "Have you thought about where we would live?"

"I thought we would live here," she answered somewhat surprised as she looked up at him. "This would be the safest to defend."

"That may be true," he agreed, "but it may not be the best place to raise our family. Cameron will be one soon and walking; he needs room to play. We can take him to the park, but a backyard would be even better. He needs to be a boy, not a prisoner to my life."

"He needs to be safe," Elizabeth stated. "If we're together as a family and we're safe, then that is the most important thing. Where we live doesn't make a family."

"I know," he smiled at her, brushing hair off her forehead and tucking it behind her ear. "But I think we should consider it. I want you to have a studio-"

"Why?" she asked with a teasing smile. "You don't want to share a room with me? I think today was a rather nice experience."

Jason shifted her to tuck her in tighter to his side as they leaned against the wall while sitting on the floor. "I'm not sure I'll look at my weight bench the same, but this isn't really that comfortable. But you need shelves and room to spread out."

"I don't need anything," she shook her head. He should have expected her reaction, and in a way he had because he wasn't surprised. She was always willing to make do, used to accepting what she had and not expecting or demanding more.

"I want you to have it," he told her.

"There's a spare bedroom upstairs," she pointed out.

He paused and then asked, "You said the light wasn't good, and I could move my exercise equipment, but...what if we have more children?"

Looking up at him, her eyes widened. "More children?"

"I love Cam and I want to adopt him, but I already consider him mine," he told her, his hand gently cupping her cheek. "Maybe one day we'll have more. I-I'd like more with you."

"Oh," his fiancée breathed out.

"That's why I'd like to look for a place," he said. "Someplace we can guard and keep safe, but will still be a home for us."

"I'd love to have a home, but I always thought it was a some day kinda thing," she told him.

"Then I'll get a search started," he promised her. "We'll take our time...there's no reason to rush a purchase."

"It could really happen," Elizabeth said, her voice taking on some excitement and awe.

"It could," Jason nodded. He dipped his head and kissed her.

A whimper and a rustle of fabric were heard through the monitor and both looked at it. "Sounds like he's waking up," she said.

"I'll get him," Jason offered. "I have to leave later tonight, so let me take him for a while. Maybe you can start on a new painting."

"I think I'll clean up in here," she shook her head, "and then I'll join you. I'd rather spend the time we have together."

He gave her a kiss just as they heard Cameron gurgle and blow a raspberry. She smiled against Jason's lips and he stood, then helped her up and left the room with a smile as he went upstairs to get his son.

~Airport~

It was a rather complicated process to officially come home, but Sam had learned to trust Sonny and Jason. If they believed this would convince everyone that the group had just returned from the island, then she would go along with it. They'd traveled to a different city, boarded the airplane when it made a brief stop, and then got off just a short time later in Port Charles. Nobody would comment on the fact that they'd come in from a different direction; approaches changed all the times to airports. Nobody would comment on the fact that they really hadn't reached cruising altitude, or didn't have their transponder on until they were within visual contact with the airport; the people who worked at the private airfield were paid handsomely by Sonny and Jason and they'd say whatever the men wanted them to say, instead of what actually happened.

Soon they were on their way back to the Towers and an order was called in to a restaurant for a late dinner. They were supposed to have been gone for months and realistically wouldn't have much food at the house. Plus, they'd be tired and just this once, Sonny would order take out rather than fix something. Of course, that would also help let people in town know they had returned, even if it was only just a guard who went in to get the food.

When they arrived at the penthouse, they ate a little, but weren't really hungry and then decided to put the kids to bed. Morgan and Sophia were tired, simply from the long drive and the brief flight, and they were dropping off and weren't really hungry. They fell asleep easily, but once they were in their room, Sam didn't find it easy to face Sonny or know what to say to him.

He was going to stay in the penthouse now so that nobody would wonder why he wasn't there. He would naturally take the master bedroom; nobody had taken that room because everyone expected Sonny to return soon. Morgan and Sophia shared a room and Sam and Leticia took the other two rooms upstairs. Nothing had really changed in the arrangement that they had established when they first arrived from the island, except that Sonny was now here.

He would not hear of Sam or Sophia returning to their apartment, and she didn't know how to press it without having to divulge everything. She just didn't think they needed to get into their relationship status right now. Sonny was going to have enough to deal with in his return to town and his therapy. She was determined not to add to the factors he was already going to face. But she wasn't sure how to make this work.

Once Morgan and Sophia were asleep, Sam picked up the toys that were spread out downstairs and then went into the kitchen to mix up a couple of bottles. Sophia still woke up at least once, and the last thing Sam wanted to do in the middle of the night was fix a bottle. It was much easier to simply put one already made up into the bottle warmer upstairs. When they were done, she set them aside and then put her cup in the dishwasher.

"What are you doing?" Sonny asked curiously as he walked into the kitchen.

"I made a couple of bottles for tonight and then was putting my glass away since I'm done for tonight."

He sounded surprised as he asked, "You're going to bed?"

"I'm tired," she answered. "I'll probably read or watch some TV. The nights are still disrupted by Sophie."

He looked slightly disappointed. "Oh. I...I was hoping we could talk."

She let out a breath and spoke honestly. "I'm not sure that's a good idea, Sonny. I think we need to get used to being together...but I think that tonight I'm just not up for a talk."

He didn't look entirely pleased, but he nodded. "Okay. Maybe another time."

"You're going to see Kristina and Alexis tomorrow, so tonight's probably not the best for a talk like this would be," she said softly, hoping he would understand and see the wisdom in her statement and not take it like she was just avoiding him. She gave him a brighter smile than she felt just so he wouldn't feel like she was blowing him off. "Maybe once we all get settled in."

He nodded again and said, "Okay, but you aren't going to put me off forever, Sam. I do want to talk, but we'll let things settle down."

Then he gave her a smile that made her wonder if he deliberately displayed his dimples to throw her off guard. "Have a good night, Sam; I'll see you tomorrow."

As he left the kitchen she sighed and rubbed her forehead. She wasn't exactly sure how she was going to keep her resolve to strong, but she knew she had to.

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