Carly stood in the hallway glaring at Johnny. “Let me in.”

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Corinthos. Sonny said no one was coming in.” Johnny shifted. Staring down the boss’s wife was almost as dangerous as guarding the boss.

“I’m not just anyone,” Carly gritted her teeth, her eyes narrowed. “I am his wife. That is my home.”

“Please, Mrs. Corinthos. He said it wouldn’t be long.” Johnny fidgeted. Carly heard the elevator ding and a few moments later, Elizabeth appeared around the corner.

“Hey, Johnny. I’ve got some information for Sonny,” she said. Johnny stepped aside to open the door. Carly smacked him in the arm.

“If I don’t go in, she doesn’t.”

Elizabeth smirked. “Johnny, open the door.”

Johnny stared between the two women. The boss’s wife. The boss’s sister. Good lord. He’d rather take a bullet.

“Johnny, let me in,” Elizabeth repeated. “Sonny needs this information.”

“I need to go in and take a long bath. I am exhausted,” Carly whined. “You let her in; you won’t be able to keep me out. ”

Elizabeth rolled her eyes and knocked on the door. “You could have knocked, Johnny.” She turned to Carly. “How long have you been waiting?”

“Too long,” Carly muttered.

“Oh, and you and me need to have a serious talk,” Elizabeth said. “But it’ll have to wait.”

Sonny jerked the door open. “Damn it, Johnny-” He stopped. “Oh, Liz. Come in.”

Carly barged in before Elizabeth. “Don’t mind me, just going upstairs. See ya later.”

Elizabeth moved past Sonny and waited until he closed the door. She took a deep breath. “The contacts in Florida agree with me. It’s more than likely Verruchio moving in.”

Sonny nodded. “Why?”

“Well, I found out that that Chosky wanted Verruchio taken care of because he tried to take over the territory there. He moved in the dealers first, then prostitutes. He got as far as trying to plant drugs in one of their warehouses before Chosky put out the hit. But it went wrong and Verruchio went underground. He showed up here before Sorel was arrested and he was running the territory there briefly, but after Sorel went to Death Row, we took over the territory. Which is probably why Verruchio’s back.”

Sonny nodded. “Makes sense. So we can expect prostitution next?”

Elizabeth nodded. “Oh, and just before I left the warehouse, Chosky called personally. He says if we get a hold of Verruchio, he’d like to fly up and witness whatever happens.”

“Not a problem,” Sonny agreed. “Chosky’s been good to us, keeps the island safe.”

Elizabeth nodded. “I’ll call him back and let him know.” She hesitated. “What else do you need?”

“I want to you get all of Verruchio’s financial records. Find out where he might be vulnerable. I want to eliminate him before he makes any real trouble.”

“I’ll head back to the warehouse now,” Elizabeth said. “Could you tell Carly to call me later? We have something we need to discuss.”

“I’ll give you a ride back.” Jason took a step forward.

“No, I’m fine, really,” Elizabeth said, smiling. “Thanks. I’ll call you if I find anything.” She walked out of the penthouse.

Sonny eyed Jason strangely. “Things certainly have changed.”

Jason immediately went on the defensive. “What? I don’t want her walking around the docks.”

Sonny nodded. “Mmm-hmm…just remember…she’s my sister.”

“I know that.”

“And I want her to be happy.”

“Of course you do,” Jason replied, a little unsure where this conversation was heading.

“And you know I think the world of you.”

“All right.” Suddenly, Jason had a pretty good idea.

“And I want you to be happy too.”

“Okay, Sonny, stop right-”

“And I think Liz is just the girl to make that happen.”

Jason just shook his head. “Well, I don’t think that’s going to happen.”

“Why? Did you already make a move on her?” Sonny demanded, switching into big brother mode. “What did you do?”

“Hey, I didn’t do anything. Carly’s trying to set us up and we figured it out at the warehouse today. She’s the one who told me it wouldn’t work.”

“Oh.” Sonny nodded. “Well, all right then.”

“Okay,” Jason said, slightly confused. “I think I’m going to go now. I’m going to go check in with Emily.”

Before he reached the door, Carly flew down the steps, “Oh, Jason! You’re still here!” she said, grinning. “I need to talk to you.” She eyed Sonny, “Privately.”

Jason and Sonny exchanged looks before Jason shrugged, “All right. Come over to my apartment.”

She followed him across the hall and into the penthouse. Once the door was closed, she pounced. “How do you feel about Liz?”

Jason groaned, “Carly-”

“No avoiding the question. We’re friends. I love Sonny. So, you know how I feel about him. How do you feel about Liz?” Carly repeated.

Jason shook his head. “I knew how you felt about Sonny and I’m not telling you anything.”

Carly crossed her arms. “I thought we were friends.”

“We are.”

“Then why don’t you trust me?” Carly asked, carefully injecting a note of hurt into her voice. “I always tell you everything. I just want to help.”

Jason sighed and sat on the couch. “Do you really want to know?”

She grinned and flopped on the couch next to him. “Yes.”

He leaned in. “None of your business.”

Carly swore and smacked him with a pillow. “Come on, Jason.”

He let his head fall against the couch. “Can I trust you to keep this to yourself?”

Carly bit her lip. That didn’t bode well for the plan – but hell, she was curious! “Yes.”

Jason was silent for a few minutes. Carly knew this was typical Jason behavior and did her best not to fidget. She’d keep the details to herself—of course. But she would let Emily know if their plan had a pray of working. She had a sneaking suspicion Liz may be on them.

“I care about her,” Jason said finally. “It’s not that I feel sorry for her – because of what happened at the hospital. I mean, I do feel sorry for her. Whatever she’s going through has got to be difficult, but that’s not it either. She came to me the night she had the panic attack and apologized for the way we’d been acting towards each other. She just blamed herself, said it was her fault. I disagree. Yeah, she’d shoot the first remark out, but I gave as good as I got.”

Carly cracked her knuckles. “Liz apologized?” she asked, skeptical.

“She said it was because before the accident, she and Jason Quartermaine related on a sarcastic level and that she’d been doing the same with me. That apparently I didn’t have the sense of humor – and she’s right. I don’t. So we agreed to try and be friends the normal way.”

“And then she had the attack,” Carly said, prompting him to continue.

“Yeah, I still don’t know what’s going on and she says she doesn’t want me to help like I did before. That she couldn’t handle losing me again. I don’t know how to tell her that I’m not leaving. That I want her to trust me and I want to help.”

Carly covered his hand with hers. “You can’t make her believe that. You helped her once, right, before the accident?”

“Yeah. But she won’t tell me why. I mean, I know she used to sneak into my room, but I just feel like there’s something I’m missing. She’ll tell me bits and pieces but I’m missing the thing that connects them.”

“I think – and I’m only speculating because I know less than you do – that she let herself depend on you a lot. I mean, the fact that she asked for you at the hospital tells you that you were her support system. I also don’t think Emily knew anything and I know for a fact Sonny has no clue, which means you were the only person she trusted. And when you didn’t remember after the accident, she had to learn to deal with it by herself.” Carly sighed and ran a hand through her hair. “And she probably just tried to pretend nothing was happening. I know Liz. She’s good at hiding things. She also probably got used to pretending by herself.”

“And here I come, offering to help again,” Jason said. He eyed Carly. “I’m going about this all wrong. I know it. But I know that somewhere inside my mind, I have the answers. I can feel it like it’s just there, within reach but I’ll never get it. Do you have an idea how frustrating that is?”

Carly frowned. “No. But I’ll try to imagine for your sake. I know you’re frustrated. But be patient with her. Maybe she’ll keep telling you little things and one day, the truth will hit you.”

Jason shook his head. “I just feel like something’s wrong. You know, Emily told me that Jason Quartermaine liked her – had worked up the courage for months to ask her to the senior prom.”

Carly smiled. “That’s so sweet.” Her eyes gleamed. “Do you think you still have those feelings?”

Jason shook his head. “Not the same ones. It’s all weird, you know? Two days ago, we were fighting in the hallway and now I’m trying to get her to confide in me. I’m probably rushing it and I know I shouldn’t.”

“Jason,” Carly began carefully, “do you think you could care about her again that way?”

Jason didn’t answer at first. He stared straight ahead the wall for a long time. Carly did begin to fidget this time – this was the answer she’d needed all night. This was the answer that was going to make or break their plan. And damn it, after all the people she and Emily had recruited, it better make the plan.

“Yeah,” he said finally. He turned to look at her. “I think I’m probably already on my way. But it wouldn’t work.”

Carly’s moment of elation conked out almost as soon as it started. “Why?” she asked disappointed.

“Well, because I don’t think she sees me that way,” Jason replied. “She said so tonight, which reminds me, she knows what you’re trying to do.”

Carly gulped. “You know, sometimes I think Liz scares me more than half the guys Sonny goes up against. I think he’s making a mistake not letting her into the business. She’s got some good intimidation techniques.”

Jason looked at her oddly. “Why do you say he won’t let her in?”

Carly shrugged. “I’m only assuming. Personally, I think she’d do a great job. Anyway, you think you could try to explain to her that I love her very dearly and I only want the best for her and that right now I think you’re the best?” she asked weakly.

Jason just shook his head. “Uh uh. You’re dealing with her, not me. I just got on her good side. You think I’m in any hurry to get my head bitten off?”

“Wussy,” Carly muttered. She brightened. “But you did say you cared about her.”

“Yeah,” Jason said, warily.

“What do you like about her?” Carly asked.

Jason shook his head. “You’d better not use this conversation against me at a later date.”

Carly pretended to be hurt. “Who, me?”

“Yeah, you.” Jason took a deep breath. “You’re lucky I’m in a mood to talk – and you know that’s rare.”

Carly nodded. “The last time that happened…” she paused. “I can’t remember. Anyway, you were saying?”

“She’s not afraid of the bike,” Jason stated. She grinned. “I’m serious. She loves to go fast. I told her if she was trouble sleeping, just to call me and I’ll take her on the cliff roads.”

“That’s why you like her?” Carly said, disappointed. “You have some low standards.”

“She’s also strong,” Jason said quietly. “She could have broken down at any time and told me the truth. But she’s determined to do this on her own and I have to respect that even if I don’t agree. She cares about people. You should see the desk at the warehouse – it’s covered with pictures of her and her friends. ”

Desk at the warehouse? Carly frowned slightly. “What kinds of pictures?”

“Mostly of all of us growing up…she has this one of the two of going to Homecoming my senior year.” Jason shook his head. “She gave me some story for why we went together…but didn’t sound right. If I had been waiting for months to ask her and the accident happened in April, I must have at least been attracted to her. So why wouldn’t I just ask her?”

Carly mentally cheered herself and Emily. They had struck gold – at least with Jason. The boy he’d been had been in love with her and the man he was now was falling for her. Now if only Emily could get some similar information. She concentrated on the conversation. For some reason, Jason completely trusted her with his feelings. It had never happened before – but she liked it.

“Maybe she’s afraid if she tells what you really happened, you won’t let it go.” She shrugged. “I love Liz, but I can’t claim to know what she’s thinking. You need to ask her.”

“She wouldn’t tell me. I know that. She says she trusts me, but I doubt she really does.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that. I think she trusts you – but I also think she doesn’t want to.” Carly bit her lip. My, she was sounding philosophical tonight.

“Why wouldn’t she?” Jason asked, bewildered.

“Well, the more she trusts you, the more she wants to let you in. See, that I do understand. See, four years ago I knew this arrogant son of bitch who thought he knew everything – especially about me. You remember me at the time. Loud, obnoxious, manipulative…” Carly trailed off.

“You had your reasons, Carly,” Jason said quietly.

“Well, a bad childhood doesn’t give me the excuse for the way I treated you, but Sonny seemed to understand. God, I thought he was being condescending until he told me about him. See, he wanted me to trust him too, to tell him everything. I thought he just wanted me to spill my guts and satisfy his curiosity when all he really wanted to do is help.”

“You think Elizabeth doesn’t want to tell me because she thinks I just want to know?” Jason asked.

Carly shrugged. “I also remember it took me a year to tell Sonny.”

Jason swore and she tried to hide her smile. Oh, yeah, he had it bad.

“But, in the end, I trusted him,” Carly reminded him. “And you’ve got an easier fight on your hands then Sonny did.”

“How do you figure?”

“Well, she already trusts you. She wants to tell you – she begins to tell you and stops herself. A person can only fight themselves for so long. She’s giving you bits and pieces right now. And maybe part of her is hoping you just connect the dots.” Carly sighed. “But, Jase, if and when she does let you in, don’t ever make her regret it.”

—-

“All right,” AJ straightened his shoulders. “Wish me luck.”

“Where are you going?” Courtney asked, amused.

“To see Jason,” AJ checked himself in the mirror next to the door. “Do I look okay?”

Courtney and Emily traded looks. “For a guy going to see his brother,” Courtney replied.

“What’s wrong with you, AJ?” Emily asked curiously.

AJ took a deep breath. “Look, every time I see him, I wonder if he’s changed his mind, if he hates me and especially so this time. Because that accident didn’t only hurt him, he just found out it somehow destroyed Liz. I can’t help if it I always feel apprehensive about it.”

“Oh, sweetheart,” Courtney stood and handed Kyle to Emily. She wrapped her arms loosely around AJ’s neck. “We just saw Jason two weeks ago at home, remember?”

“Yeah,” AJ replied.

“And didn’t you guys sit out in the backyard, barbecuing? You made chicken, hot dogs, hamburgers and we all sat out there and talked for hours. I went inside and four hours later, the two of you were still out there talking. Jason does not hate you.”

“And he never will,” Emily said firmly.

Courtney gave AJ a light kiss on the lips. “Now, go see your brother.”

“I’m going,” AJ said. He pulled out of Courtney’s embrace and opened the door. He closed it behind him.

“You’re good to him,” Emily said.

“You say that every time you see me,” Courtney said. “But it means a lot to me anyway. You are not only his sister, you’re one of his closest friends. Your opinion means a lot to me.” She smiled at her sister-in-law. “I think the kids need a nap.”

“We can put them in my room. I want to try and get a hold of Sonny so he can get some rooms at the hotel. The four of you will never last with me and Beth. We keep odd hours.”

“Plus, there’s your boyfriend,” Courtney replied. She picked up Melanie and Emily got Kyle.

“Oh, crap. I forgot to call him today. I’ve been so caught up in this thing with Beth and Jase that I completely forgot.” They entered Emily’s and got the kids settled. After leaving, Emily headed right for the phone. She dialed Nikolas. “Hey…I’m sorry. Things have been crazy here…All right…I’ll meet you at Kelly’s in ten minutes. Love you.” She put the phone down and turned to Courtney. “If Carly calls, tell her that I had to put my love life in front of Beth’s for an evening. I’ll call her at Deception tomorrow.”

“Not a problem.”

“And I’ll stop by Sonny’s before I come home,” Emily said. She grabbed her purse, and left.

—-

Emily slid into the seat across from Nikolas. “I’m sorry about not calling. It’s been crazy.”

“You said so on the phone,” Nikolas replied. He gestured for the waitress. “It’s okay. I understand.”

Emily smiled, relieved. “Good. Then we’re on for the show tomorrow?” she asked, hopefully. As important as Elizabeth was to her, Nikolas was too. And their routine was important to her, too. She’d missed arguing with him the past two days.

“Of course,” Nikolas replied, grinning. The waitress appeared. “I’ll have a number three.”

“Number seven,” Emily said. “Thanks.”

“So, how’s Liz been?” Nikolas asked, “You and Carly still scheming?”

Emily sighed. “I don’t know how Beth is. She opened up to me that day before the panic attack, but she’s closed back down. She’s not letting anyone in.”

“Well, you just have to keep trying,” Nikolas replied quietly. “She’s in a rough place. I can see that much without knowing any details.”

Emily nodded. “As for me and Carly, it seems Beth and Jason are doing the job by themselves. Carly hinted that Beth was going to walk to the warehouse by herself today and Jason showed up to ride her there on his bike. And Beth accepted. They’re getting along better. Whatever’s happened between them has obviously helped their relationship.”

“Any signs that you’re succeeding?” Nikolas asked.

Emily nodded. “Jason’s worried about her. And he wants to help. I’ve told you about Jason liking Beth before the accident right?”

He nodded. “Something about the senior prom.”

“Well…the way Jason was talking about her yesterday…it reminded me of the way he used to talk about her.”

“So you think you’re succeeding where he’s concerned.”

“Honestly? I really think he’s doing it by himself.” Emily smiled. “I don’t care how they get together, as long as they’re happy. And I think they could be happy together.” She shook her head. “I’m a hopeless romantic.”

Nikolas reached across the table and took her hand in his. “Nah. You just want everyone to be as insanely happy as we are.”

She sighed happily. “You really are the best, Nik. I’ll always be grateful to Lucky for introducing us.”

“The best thing my brother ever did for me,” Nikolas replied.

“How is he?” Emily asked. “Have you heard anything?”

Nikolas shrugged. “He’s still on some mission for the WSB. I swear, he’s not happy if he’s not undercover.”

“I miss him,” Emily said. “But at least he’s got Luke with him. Laura’s the most understanding person I know. To have her husband and her son on these adventures all the time, doing god knows what. Never knowing if they’re coming back…” she sighed. “Nutty.”

“Well, my mother’s strong. She’s also used to it where they’re concerned,” Nikolas reminded her. “Not only that, but I think Carly keeps her occupied. Those two always fight.”

Emily grinned. “Yeah, I know. Carly’s always complaining to me or Beth. The only thing they’ve agreed on is Gia Campbell for the Face of Deception.” She wrinkled her nose. “She’s beautiful but she’s also snobby as hell. She’ll make a perfect model.”

The waitress brought their food and they dug in. Emily was grateful Nikolas understood why she hadn’t called. The fact that he trusted her and that he was that understanding were only two of the reasons she loved him. Was it wrong to want the same thing for Elizabeth and Jason?

Jason pulled the bike to a stop in the Harborview Towers parking garage. Elizabeth got off the back of the bike and pulled the helmet off.

“Wow, that was amazing!” she said, grinning. He turned the engine off and turned to smile at her.

“You think so?”

She nodded. “Everything was going so fast, I could hardly think.” She tucked her wild hair behind her ears. “That’s something I really needed.”

He got off the bike. “You think that was great?” Jason shook his head. “I like the cliff road. It’s got a lot of twisting turns.”

“Could you take me sometime?” she asked, eagerly.

“Sure.” He shrugged. “Any time. Tell you what, the next time you have trouble sleeping, call me and we’ll go.”

“Really?” Elizabeth asked, unsure. “What if it’s 4 in the morning?”

“I’m a light sleeper. I always keep the cell phone nearby in case Sonny calls.”

She had a sudden flash of a fifteen year old Jason telling her that if she couldn’t sleep, she should just knock his window – at any time of night. He was a light sleeper. She bit her lip and looked down.

“Did I say something wrong again?” Jason asked.

She looked up. “No…I just remembered something.” Elizabeth shrugged. “Well, I’d better get upstairs. Thanks for the ride.” She turned towards the elevators and then turned back, “And for everything else.”

“Anytime.”

Elizabeth gave him a weak smile and headed for the elevators. Jason put the helmet on the back of the bike and leaned against it. Was it only yesterday that they’d still been arguing? It was strange how she’d start to confide in him about the nightmares and then pull back before he learned anything new. The only thing he’d been able to discover was that he’d let her sleep in his room when things were bad at home. But what could that mean? Did her parents fight a lot? Did she hate her siblings?

Jason frowned. He felt like it was right in the forefront of his memory – like if he just pushed enough, he might even remember little bits and pieces. That happened a lot. He’d gotten memory flashes a lot at first. Mainly of the gardens and of his family, but they had faded over the years. It was obvious he had remembered all that he was capable of, but that didn’t stop him from thinking that somewhere inside his brain he held the answers he was seeking. He had a feeling it was bad – and he didn’t want her to go through it alone. Which she would if he didn’t find out.

—-

Elizabeth crept quietly into the apartment, not wanting to wake Emily. She opened her bedroom door and closed it behind her. She dropped the file on her bureau and changed for bed.

It had felt odd to talk to Jason like she had tonight. It’d been years since they’d related on any level other than arguing and for the accident to be the first topic – it was just strange. Every time he’d brought up the nightmares, she’d tried to change the topic. She’d meant what she said – she had no intention of telling him. Elizabeth had told him once before and ended up depending on him to get through the day. Her world revolved around him and it had destroyed her when he didn’t remember. She wasn’t willing to let him in again only to have it destroyed a second time when he took off.

Which he would. Elizabeth was well aware of his arrangement with Sonny. Jason was the active partner that she couldn’t be until she graduated. Once she stepped up, Jason would more than likely become restless. There just wasn’t enough for three equal partners to do. He’d take off and she’d be left alone again.

She wasn’t going to take that chance. She’d meant what she said when she told Jason she wanted to be friends. She did – he’d once been one of the best friends she’d ever had and Elizabeth wouldn’t mind having him in her life again. But she had to face reality.

Jason Quartermaine was long gone and he wasn’t ever coming back. No matter how much he wanted to help, Jason Morgan could never understand what she’d gone through. Jason Q had lived through some the horrors. He’d been there when her father grabbed her arm that day in the garden, when he’d showed up at the mansion one night that Elizabeth was staying over and practically dragged her away… or the morning she’d been caught sneaking back into her bedroom.

She’d overslept one morning after sneaking into Jason’s room. They both had. By the time she’d woken up, there was no way her parents wouldn’t realize she’d been gone. Jason insisted on walking her back – he was worried her father would catch her. She’d been fifteen at the time and it was maybe a month or so before the accident. It had been getting more and more tense when she was in his room. She knew she was falling for him and he’d admitted that he was attracted to her. He’d been seventeen at the time, and if they weren’t careful their hormones would get the best of them. They hadn’t even kissed at the time, but it was apparent to both of them that it was only a matter of time.

She’d tried to talk Jason out of it—convince him to stay home. If they were both caught, it would only make the situation worse. But he was adamant. He wasn’t going to let her face the firing squad alone.

They’d managed to get across the Quartermaine grounds without problems, but it was as Elizabeth was climbing the trellis that it happened…

She was halfway up the trellis when she heard her father’s voice.

“Elizabeth Webber, get down here now.”

She froze. She’d rather throw herself off the trellis and be injured than climb down and face her father of her own free will. But Elizabeth remembered – Jason was down there. He’d protect her. He always did.

She took a deep breath and began climbing down. The second she was firmly on the ground, Jeff grabbed her arm and backhanded across the face.

“Hey!” Jason said, stepping forward.

“You little whore. Only fifteen and already sleeping around,” Jeff growled. He glared at Jason. “You’d better get home before I call Alan or Monica.”

“I don’t care,” Jason stated defiantly. “Let her go.”

Jeff threw Elizabeth against the side of the house. “It’s none of your damn business how I punish Lizzie. Now get off my property.”

“Jason, just go,” Elizabeth pleaded.

Jason stepped right up to Jeff’s face. He’d shot up in the past year and had a good two inches on Jeff. He glared at him. “If you ever lay a hand on her again, I swear you won’t live to regret it.”

Jeff didn’t even flinch. He reached out and jerked Elizabeth to her feet. He twisted her wrist and she cried out. He smirked in Jason’s direction. “You think he can really protect you, Lizzie? He’s just a boy and once you stop putting out, he won’t care anymore.”

Jason grabbed Jeff’s arm. “Let her go,” he repeated. Jeff just twisted her wrist further. Elizabeth heard the bones pop and winced. She didn’t want to make any sound. She was afraid Jason might do something crazy and she’d never be able to see him again.

Jason noticed her look of pain and with his free hand, he hauled off and punched Jeff in the jaw. Jeff was stunned and stepped back, releasing Elizabeth’s wrist. “I told you not to touch her.”

Jeff lunged for the younger man, but Jason stepped out of the way easily, and Jeff crashed into the trellis. Blood spurted from his nose. “You little son of a bitch-”

Jason grabbed the back of his head and slammed it into the trellis. “How does it feel?” he demanded. “Do you like being beaten?”

“Jason, please,” Elizabeth put a hand on his forearm. “Let him go. He’s not worth it.”

Jason glanced at her and gritted his teeth. He pushed Jeff’s head into the trellis again and then let him fall to the ground. “If I find out you’ve laid even a finger on her, I won’t stop next time,” he warned. He turned to Elizabeth. “Come on. We might as well go through the front door now.”

He took her by the other hand and led her through the house. Sarah and Steven were nowhere in sight and neither was her mother. Elizabeth felt some small relief – but she was still mortified. It was one thing to confide in Jason about her father. It was quite another for him to witness the humiliation first hand.

He led her into her room and sat her on the bed. “Is your wrist okay?” he asked, sitting next to her. He took the swollen wrist in his hands.

She nodded. “He just sprained it probably. It should be all right in a few days. It usually is.” Elizabeth pulled her hand out of his grasp and leaned over to open her bottom nightstand drawer. She took out an Ace bandage and started to wrap it.

“Here,” he said. “Let me. It’ll be easier for me with two hands.” He started winding the cloth around her wrist. “I wish you’d go to someone.”

“I am,” Elizabeth said softly. “I go to you.”

Jason shook his head not taking his attention from the wrist. “No. I mean someone who can stop him for good. I only knocked him out.”

She shook her head. “And you shouldn’t have done that. What if he tells your parents you were here?” She bit her lip. “They might get the wrong idea.”

“So what?” Jason asked. He tucked the end of the bandage underneath to keep it wrapped. He looked up and met her eyes. “You know I care about you, Elizabeth. So what if my parents know?” His jaw clenched. “Besides, what was I supposed to do? Sit there and watch him hit you?”

She looked down. “I don’t know.”

“Let me take you to the police, someone who can help,” Jason pleaded. He took her chin in his hand and lifted it so he could see her eyes. “Please. I can’t stand seeing you like this.”

“They won’t believe me,” Elizabeth said, quietly. “It’ll be my word against Jeff Webber and you know how this town sees him. He’s this great guy who gives to charities, has a perfect family. They’ll never believe me.”

Jason smirked. “They’ll believe me. Edward Quartermaine’s my grandfather and you know that name carries more weight than Webber.”

She rolled her eyes. “There you go, being full of yourself again,” she cracked. She gave him a tiny smile. “It’s only three more years. I’ll be eighteen and I’ll never have to see them again.”

“It’s getting worse, Elizabeth. When was the last time you spent the night in your room?”

She looked away. “If you don’t want me to sneaking into your room anymore, all you have to do is tell me,” she said, stiffly.

“That’s not it. You know I don’t mind that. But you have to admit, he’s getting worse. I hate to think of what would have happened if I hadn’t been with you today. You’re having nightmares more and more frequently. And your grades are going back down. What happens when he gets that angry again and I’m not here to protect you?” Jason demanded. “He could really hurt you or worse-”

“Don’t say it,” Elizabeth cut in. “As long I don’t have to think about that, I can still survive in this house. I can’t go to the police. Don’t you see? That will make him go off. And no one will stop him then. He could buy a dozen judges and get me sent off to some school and I’ll never see you again.” She shook her head. “You’re the only thing that keeps me going. If I lose you, I’d probably go insane.”

“You won’t lose me, I promise,” Jason said. He stroked her hair. “Let’s compromise. I turn eighteen in August. Let me take you away then. We’ll leave Port Charles. I get control of my trust fund. We’ll leave the country and go somewhere where Jeff Webber can’t find us.”

She stared at him, stunned. “You’d really leave Port Charles to protect me?” she asked.

“I’d do anything to protect you,” he said quietly.

“What about your family or Emily and AJ?” Elizabeth asked. “They need us here. AJ’s drinking’s getting worse and I’d hate to leave Emily dealing with that.”

“We’ll take them with us,” Jason shrugged. “Drop AJ off at rehab center.”

She smiled. “It’s not that easy, Jason.”

“Look, let’s not worry about them right now. Maybe AJ won’t be drinking in August. All I’m asking is for you to let me to take you out of this house. Please.”

She sighed. “All right, in August, if we haven’t come up with a better solution.”

“I’d better go before my parents start to worry,” Jason said. He stood up and went over to the window. “Your dad’s gone.”

She sprang up from the bed and rushed over to the window. “Oh, no. He’s probably on his way up here!”

Jason crossed his arms. “I’m not leaving then.”

“No, you have to go,” she said desperately. “He’ll hurt you!”

“Elizabeth-“

“Please.”

He exhaled slowly. “All right.” He put his hands on her shoulders and leaned down. She thought at first he was going to kiss on the cheek like he always had. But instead he brushed her lips. It was over before Elizabeth had a chance to respond. He pulled away. “Call me, all right? Otherwise I’ll worry all day.”

She nodded wordlessly and watched as he climbed down the trellis…

That was the only time Jason had seen Jeff lay a hand on her. Luckily, Jeff hadn’t been on his way up after all. In fact, he’d avoided her for a few days. It didn’t change the fact that she still couldn’t sleep at night, but he hadn’t hit her until he’d dragged her home from the hospital a month later.

No matter how much Jason wanted to help now, he could never really understand. Elizabeth sighed and curled up on her bed. The last month before his accident was ironically the happiest of her life. Jeff was staying away and she and Jason were unofficially together. He’d wanted to tell people, but Elizabeth convinced him that they couldn’t. That Jeff would only send her away – especially after that morning beneath her window. She was looking forward to the end of the summer when Jason turned eighteen. She was beginning to think that running away was her only option.

But in the middle of April, Jason had had his accident and all of their plans were forgotten and she was alone. She couldn’t do that again.

Because she was still in love with Jason Quartermaine and she was beginning to think that he and Jason Morgan weren’t as different as people thought.

—-

Emily had called Jason five times and he wasn’t answering. She didn’t have his cell number or she would have tried that. She glanced at the clock. She was going to miss Elizabeth. She sighed. Well, it wasn’t really Jason’s fault. He couldn’t help if he’d messed up their plan.

Emily grabbed the phone and dialed Carly’s private office line so that Elizabeth wouldn’t have to transfer her in.

“Hello?”

“It’s me. I can’t get a hold of Jason.”

“Shit. Well, we’ll have to come up with something else.” Carly sighed. “All right, we need to find out how they’re getting along now. We’re working from the last time we were in the same room with them and they were arguing at that time. Maybe they’re already friends again. Oooh, wait. Hold on a second.”

Emily waited a few minutes impatiently. Honestly, Carly could get distracted so easily. Finally, Carly came back to the line.

“You still there, Em?”

“Yep.”

“You’re never going to believe this. Elizabeth was getting ready to leave for the warehouse when Jason showed up. He offered her a ride!” There was pause. “I didn’t think he’d show.”

“What are you talking about?” Emily asked.

“Well, I figured it was possible you wouldn’t get a hold of him, so I called him and dropped the hint that Liz was walking to the warehouse by herself. I guess he took the bait.”

“Seriously?” Emily squealed. “Did she take it?”

“Hold on…Yes! She’s walking down the hall with him!”

“You’re not leaning out your office door are you Carly?”

“Um….”

“Nevermind. How do they look? ”

“They’re talking…oooh, she just laughed.”

“They’re not fighting? How far apart are they?” Emily demanded.

“A few inches…”

“This is good. All right, get in your office. We have some serious planning to do.”

“I’m in. So, it looks like they’re getting closer. Do you think they still need our help?”

“We’re not helping, per se. We’re ….uh, nudging them slightly. Listen, I’ll try to talk to her about Jason tonight and you pry some information from Jason. You’re good at that.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment. Let me know when AJ gets in.”

“All right.”

“Later.”

—-

Elizabeth slipped the helmet off her head and handed it to Jason. “Thanks again for the ride.”

Jason got off the bike and put the helmet on the back. “It’s not a problem. I was heading here anyway.”

Elizabeth nodded. “What brought you to Deception anyway?” she asked as they headed towards the warehouse.

“Actually…Carly called and told me you were leaving. She didn’t want you walking to warehouse.”

“In broad daylight?” Elizabeth asked, skeptically. She stopped. “Oh, don’t tell me…”

Jason stopped walking and turned around. “What?”

She rubbed her eyes. “I’m going to murder her.” Elizabeth shook her head. “You do see what Carly’s trying to do?”

“What?” He looked at her confused.

“She’s trying to fix us up,” Elizabeth explained. “See, most people would just send their friends on a date. No, I get the psychotic sister-in-law who bends over backwards trying to make us like each other.” She swore under her breath.

“I’m sure Carly didn’t mean any harm,” Jason said, uncomfortably. He should have known Carly wouldn’t have given up just because she found out that he and Elizabeth didn’t get along. That fact alone was enough reason for Carly to try and get them together. He stared at the petite brunette and for some insane reason…he wondered if it would be a bad idea.

“I know,” Elizabeth said quietly. She sighed and looked away. Carly’s heart was in the right place, but Elizabeth couldn’t do this to herself. To let Jason in again would only serve to hurt her in the end. She bit her lip and looked down. “Look, Jason, don’t take this the wrong way, but it….it would never work.”

Jason wanted to agree – probably would have made it easier on the both of them. He didn’t think that Elizabeth’s reasons were all that concrete. He suspected it had more to do with the fact that she’d felt abandoned after he’d lost his memory and was in no hurry to do that again. Well, they’d already made incredible progress as friends in the past day and a half. He was going to be around for a while. Maybe he’d even get the truth from her.

“If that’s the way you feel,” he said finally.

“It is,” Elizabeth stated firmly. She hesitated and an awkward silence descended. Finally, she said, “We’d better get inside.”

“Yeah.”

“Hey, Liz, Jason,” Sonny said, looking up. “How did it go last night?”

Elizabeth sighed and headed straight for her desk. Pushing the start button, she said, “Not well. I got a quarter of the way through the list and didn’t come up with anything, but I’m going to keep trying.”

“I checked with the informants,” Jason said. “None of them have any names for us. But I made it clear that any information they get comes straight to me.”

Sonny nodded. “Good. I want the word spread. Dealers will not be tolerated. I’ve got a meeting with some of the other bosses. See if they’re having any of the same trouble. Liz, I want you to keep researching. Jason, keep your ears open.”

Jason nodded. “Do you need anything else?”

Sonny closed some folders. “I’m going home for lunch. Keep Liz company until I get back. Maybe she’ll find something you can use.”

Elizabeth narrowed her eyes. “I don’t need baby-sitting.”

“I didn’t say that, Liz,” Sonny said. “It’ll be easier if Jason’s here when you come up with something. He’ll be able to get the information instantly and use it.”

“But what if I don’t find anything?” Elizabeth asked, irritated.

“Then his afternoon will have been wasted,” Sonny said, shrugging. “Unless you have somewhere you need to be?” he asked Jason.

Jason shook his head, “Nope.”

“Figures,” Elizabeth muttered. She pulled up a program and began working. She heard Sonny leave and vaguely realized Jason had pulled a chair up in front of her desk. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched him pick up one of the frames.

“When was this taken?” he asked. She rolled her eyes, another trip down memory lane.

“Which one is it?” Elizabeth asked. He turned the picture so she could see it. She sat back and sighed. It was a homecoming picture. “That’s the two of us, your senior Homecoming dance, my sophomore one.”

“We went together?” Jason asked, surprised. Emily had told him that Jason Quartermaine had tried to get the courage up for months to ask her to the senior prom, but the accident happened before he could. Why go through all that if they’d already gone to a dance together?

Elizabeth sighed. That dance was one of her more memorable evenings. They’d planned to go together all along, but since they pretended that nothing had changed between them in public, they needed a plausible cover story. Jason asked Karen Wexler the day before the dance, knowing she was dating Jagger Cates and embarrassed himself further by admitting to her that he’d waited that long because he’d been nervous. Therefore, the reason he’d gone with Elizabeth appeared to be that she was his last resort.

She took the picture from him and looked at it more closely. She and Emily had shopped forever for the perfect dresses. Emily had scored a date with a friend of theirs, Lucky Spencer, Nikolas’s half-brother. That date led to her meeting Nikolas in the first place. Elizabeth had ended up buying a lavender halter dress made of silk that came to her knees. She’d loved the dress. Jason had looked amazing in his black dress pants and white dress shirt. She bit her lip. At that time, she’d thought he looked amazing in anything.

The dance had been perfect. Jason, of course, was named Homecoming King while Brenda Barrett won Homecoming Queen. Emily had been elected the Sophomore Spirit Princess. They’d danced all night and went bowling afterwards. They’d been having so much fun they lost track of time. Elizabeth had gotten home an hour late. She frowned. She’d had to throw the dress out after that. It had ended up ripped and a little bloody.

She looked up to find Jason staring at her intently. Flushing, Elizabeth put the picture back in place. “Yeah, you got turned down by the only girl you wanted to go with and by the time you’d asked her, everyone else had dates. So I was your last resort,” Elizabeth said. She returned to the computer screen.

“Did I actually say that?” Jason asked, surprised.

Elizabeth bit her lip. If she confirmed it, she’d be lying. If she denied it, she’d have to make up something anyway. Go for the easy lie. “Um, yeah, I guess. Why?”

“I must have been a bastard. Why would you go with me?” Jason asked, suspiciously. Last resort? If what Emily said was accurate, he must have at least been attracted to Elizabeth at that time. Something wasn’t right.

Elizabeth shrugged. “You were popular, and most girls would have pulled their teeth out to go with you. Trust me, it wasn’t a hard decision. I wasn’t going to have a date otherwise.”

Jason shrugged. “I would have punched me,” he said simply.

Elizabeth shook her head and kept scrolling through the information on the screen. Something caught her eye and she scrolled back up. Her eyes gleamed as she read the information. “I think I’ve got something.”

Jason leaned forward, all business now. “What?”

“Up until two years ago, Frank Verruchio was Albert Chosky’s right hand man in South Florida. He and Chosky had a falling out and Verruchio disappeared from the area. Most people assumed he was dead.” Elizabeth scrolled down. “I knew I’d seen his name before. He was working under Sorel before Sorel was executed.”

“Do you think it’s him?”

Elizabeth nodded. “Possible. I’ll talk to some of our contacts in South Florida. We’ve got a shipping contract with Chosky and we’re on good terms, so information should be relatively easy.”

“All right, so, we’ve got a lead. I’m gonna go tell Sonny.” Jason stood. “You staying here?”

“Yeah. I’m gonna keep going through this in case something else turns up.”

Once he was gone, she sat back in her seat and rubbed her eyes. Not telling Jason the truth was one thing, but lying to him was something else different. She hated it.

She also didn’t see any other way.

—-

Emily paced her apartment, biting her nails. AJ, Courtney and the kids were supposed to show up any second. She eyed the apartment. She didn’t know if all four of them would fit. Maybe Sonny would arrange some rooms at the Port Charles Hotel.

A knock on the door broke Emily’s thoughts. She opened the door and threw herself into her brother’s arms.

“Hey, baby sis!” AJ laughed. “Let me through the door!”

Emily giggled and moved back. AJ entered, along with his pretty blonde wife, Courtney. Courtney had Kyle in her arms and was leading Melanie by the hand. They were pretty young, only about ten months apart.

Emily gave Courtney a hug – well as best as she could. “Hey!”

“Hey,” Courtney greeted. She set Kyle on the couch and pulled Melanie up to sit next to her. She turned and gave her sister-in-law a better hug, “How are things?”

“Better now that you’re all here,” Emily said.

“What’s up, Em?” AJ asked concerned.

“I just think the fearsome foursome needs a reunion in the worst way,” Emily said honestly.

“That’s just I had in mind,” AJ grinned.

It was late afternoon when Elizabeth entered the warehouse. She stopped just inside Sonny’s office, seeing Jason and Sonny sitting inside. She felt her face flush and she looked at her hands.

She didn’t remember a lot of the previous night, only waking up at the hospital this morning. She’d gotten the idea that it’d been a bad nightmare and she couldn’t calm herself down afterwards. That she’d asked for Jason. And she remembered Jason being there, comforting her, but she’d imagined that a lot after waking from the nightmares. Sometimes, pretending Jason was there was the only way she could go back to sleep.

“Hi,” she said softly catching their attention. They both sprang from their chairs.

“Liz,” Sonny said, coming from behind his desk. “Hey, how are you?”

She tucked her hair behind her ears and smiled. “I’m feeling better. I’m sorry if I worried you last night.” She glanced at Jason, “Any of you. I just had a nightmare and I guess it was really bad.”

Sonny sighed. “You know you can trust me right?”

Elizabeth nodded, “Of course.”

Sonny looked up at the ceiling and then back at her. “I won’t push you for answers because I know that I wouldn’t get them. But, if you need to talk, I’ll be here.”

Elizabeth nodded. “I know.”

Sonny checked his watch. “I have to go. A shipment’s coming in and it needs my personal attention. Jason can let you know what I need.” He kissed her on the cheek and left.

Elizabeth walked forward. “So, what’s up?”

Jason stared at her. “You know that I was at the hospital last night, right?”

She flushed. “Oh.” Oh, lord, how mortifying! She hadn’t been pretending last night – Jason had calmed her down. “Um, I hope I didn’t worry you.”

“Elizabeth…” He lowered his voice, the tone gentle. “You told me that I’d once helped you through a difficult time. Did that have anything to do with last night?”

She sighed. He sounded so much like Jason Quartermaine. She closed her eyes and blinked back the tears. He’s not Jason Quartermaine anymore. He’s Jason Morgan now, and the only reason he’s asking is because you confused the hell out of him last night.

She took a deep breath and opened her eyes. “I don’t know. I can never remember my dreams.”

He took a step back. She was lying to him. He could tell it just from the tears in her eyes and the way she was standing. He narrowed his eyes. “Then what about what you told me last night? That you used to climb in my window.”

Elizabeth bit her lip, “Um, yeah. That’s true.”

“Why?” He crossed his arms. He could hear her words in his head about Jason Quartermaine and how he’d keep pushing until she confessed. Well, maybe the guy had a point. “Why couldn’t you stay at home?”

She rubbed her arms. “Uh, I couldn’t sleep and when I would, I’d have horrible nightmares. You knew and you told me that when it got to be too much, I could knock on your window and one night, I did.”

“Why couldn’t you sleep?” Jason demanded.

She shook her head. “I don’t want to do this right now okay?” Her voice was thick and she was on the verge of hysteria. She couldn’t deal with this again. She’d already bared her soul yesterday. Doing it again would more than likely cause another night like the previous one. She didn’t think she could do that again and she wouldn’t go through that terror again just to satisfy his damn curiosity. She’d trusted him once and he’d left her. It may not have been his fault but he still left. “What did Sonny need me to do?”

Jason exhaled slowly. He’d gotten some information and he could see she was getting upset again. He turned his attention to the subject he and Sonny had been discussing before she’d arrived. “Uh, someone’s trying to move in on the territory.”

Elizabeth’s eyes hardened and she took a deep breath. “What’s been happening?”

“Sonny doesn’t have any concrete proof, but someone’s moving some men in and there’s evidence that there are few dealers in the area.” Jason grabbed a folder on the desk. “Sonny wanted to you run these names and get full background checks.”

She took the folder and headed to the desk across the room where she worked while at the warehouse. It had a high-speed computer and printer and a couple of picture frames. Other than that, it was completely bare. She sat down and booted the computer. “What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to check on some of the informants’ information. Sonny wants the dealers out of the territory before they can cause any real damage.” Jason watched her start keying some things into the computer. “So once you know anything you think can help, just call me.” He grabbed a piece of paper from Sonny’s desk and jotted his cell phone number. “Here.”

She took it from him, not looking up. “Not a problem. I’ll probably be here all night, so expect a call at any time.”

“I’ll be waiting.” He glanced at her again and left.

Once he was safely out of the room, she sighed and leaned back. Staying up all night to concentrate on background checks seemed like a good idea at that point. It would keep the nightmares at bay.

For one night at least.

—

Carly ushered Emily into the penthouse. “So have you seen her today?”

Emily nodded, “Yeah. She seems really tired but she’s not talking about last night at all. It’s like she’s trying to pretend it didn’t happen.”

Carly eyed her. “What did happen?”

“Just what I said,” Emily replied. “Look, let’s not get into that. I wouldn’t tell Jason and I’m not telling you.”

Carly nodded, “Fair enough. Um, I scheduled the launch party for June 20^th, which gives us about three weeks.”

Emily nodded. “They seem to be getting along better.”

Carly tapped her chin thoughtfully. “How does Liz feel about motorcycles?”

Emily shrugged. “I don’t think she has an opinion. Why?”

“Because Jason’s perfect woman needs to be able to handle a ride on his bike. He takes that thing everywhere. So we need to arrange a ride.”

Emily nodded. “Sounds like a good idea. And Beth would have to hold on to him.”

Carly grinned, “Definitely.” She wiggled her eyebrows. “And you’ve seen him. After feeling those muscles, she won’t be able to resist him.”

“You have a good point. So what else can we do?”

Carly bit her lip. “Well, we have to make sure they’re in situations together. We can’t let them avoid each other.”

Emily sat back and leaned her head against the back of the chair. “Beth is coming into Deception tomorrow right?”

Carly nodded. “She’s got a half day because she’s helping Sonny with something. I think she’s leaving for the warehouse around lunch.”

“So, I’ll tell Jason something like I need to see and I’ll ask for a ride there just as she’s leaving. And I’ll stop to talk to Beth, and she’ll mention she’s leaving and hopefully Jason will offer her a ride.”

Carly grinned. “Jason’s a white knight type of person. You know he will.”

Emily rubbed her hands together. “Oh, I forgot to mention. We have two new supporters, my brother and my grandmother.”

“Lila?” Carly clapped her hands together. “Oh, you know if you have her approval, we’re on the right track. She’s the one who introduced me to Sonny and she’s the reason AJ and Courtney are together…she has a knack for this. And you know Jason and Liz love her. And AJ can really help on the Jason end. He’s a guy. He knows how to relate to other guys.”

Emily nodded. “Looks like our little plan is going exactly the way we want.” She sighed. “And I hope we can help her out with what’s going on.”

Carly frowned. “You said Jason wants to know. Sonny came home today and all he would tell me is that she’d asked for Jason and he seemed able to calm her down.” She studied Emily carefully. “Did Jason Quartermaine help the same way?”

Emily bit her lip. “Let’s just say that Jason has always been good to her and getting them together can only help.”

—

Elizabeth rubbed her eyes and leaned back to take a quick break. It was nearly midnight and she barely had anything that would help. Personally, she’d rather be out doing some of the legwork.

She sipped the coffee and immediately made a face. It was disgusting. She tossed into the trash.

“Getting frustrated?”

Elizabeth looked up, startled. Jason was at the doorway. He had a bag and two cups of coffee.

“Hey, what are you doing here?” she asked.

He shrugged. “I checked with everyone, didn’t get anything useful.” He dropped the bag on her desk and handed her a cup. “So I stopped by Kelly’s. I figured you wouldn’t have eaten.”

“Thanks,” Elizabeth replied.

He grabbed a chair and put it in front of her desk. “Find anything?”

She shook her head. “But I’m only a quarter of the way through the list. Something will come up.” She sipped the coffee. “This was just what I needed.”

Jason took a Styrofoam box out of the bag and handed it to her. “I wasn’t sure what you liked, so I just got a bacon cheeseburger.”

She took the box. “It’s my favorite actually,” she said softly. “I always order it when I go there.”

Jason took another box out and opened it. “Did the four of us go there a lot?” he asked.

Elizabeth nodded, “Every day after school. The limo used to pick us up there. From the time I was seven until I graduated, I ate dinner at Kelly’s every school day. I hated eating with my family. It was always such a huge ordeal.” She wrinkled her nose and bit into the burger. “I preferred being at your house. Your family was great until…” she trailed off.

Jason’s face darkened, “Until they blamed AJ for the accident and threatened to have him arrested.” He shook his head. “I still don’t see them. I’m only close to Lila.”

Elizabeth nodded. “Lila’s great. I still go to see her all the time.” She sighed. “I remember all the fighting that went on when you were in the hospital. Edward and Alan were threatening to have AJ arrested, Ned was trying to get him off the hook by saying he was in the car and Monica wanted to put him in rehab.” She frowned. “I just think they handled the entire situation badly. And I’m glad you didn’t let what happened effect your relationship with AJ.”

Jason shrugged. “It’s not like he woke up one day and decided that he going to destroy my life. I’m sure I thought I was doing the right thing by getting in the car with him. He was drunk and I obviously knew that. Personally, I see it as my fault. I should have yanked him out of the car. Anyway, AJ went to rehab and got help. It’s not like he kept drinking. He’s been clean for four years now and he leads a good life. I’ve got no hard feelings.”

Elizabeth didn’t say anything and concentrated on eating her dinner. She would prefer not to think about before the accident anymore. The night Jason had had the accident was one of the nights that she’d snuck into his room. She’d waited for hours before hearing the screams downstairs. She’d snuck into the hallway and all she could make out were the words “AJ, Jason” and “hospital.” She went back into his room and climbed back down and went back to her house. She’d gotten dressed and called a cab to the hospital. Emily had been so thankful to see her that she hadn’t thought to ask how she knew. AJ had been in the hospital for three days with his injuries, but Jason had been in the coma for a week before waking up. Elizabeth and Emily had practically lived at the hospital. They’d taken turns visiting the brothers. Lila had visited early on, but was too upset to return. Edward, Alan, Monica and Ned were too busy arguing about AJ to visit. She and Emily hadn’t even gone to school.

Once AJ had gone home, he’d locked himself in his room to avoid the family. Emily and Elizabeth spent all their time waiting for Jason to wake up. Emily had gone to the cafeteria to get them something to eat when Jason had awakened. He’d been groggy and hadn’t known where he was. Elizabeth had left to get a nurse, but before she could go back in, her father had shown up and dragged her home. She couldn’t leave her room for nearly a week. For the first time, he’d hit in her the face and it was six days before makeup would hide it enough. The first chance she’d gotten, she’d returned to the hospital. AJ had agreed to go to rehab at that point and was saying goodbye to Jason. He was the first person Elizabeth had seen and told her the news. She hadn’t believed him and gone into the room. Jason vaguely recalled that she’d been in the room when he’d woken up, but other than he didn’t know her.

“You okay?”

Jason’s questions startled Elizabeth back to the present. She’d finished her burger by that point. She met his eyes and weakly smiled. “Sorry, I must have zoned out.”

“If you’re tired-”

She shook her head. “No. I don’t need a lot of sleep anyway.” She tossed the Styrofoam box into the trash. “I’d better get back to this.”

Jason frowned. “Did I say something wrong?”

“What?” she asked, tilting her head to the side, “Why?”

“Well, we were having a civil conversation and you zoned out.” He hesitated, “Everything all right?”

Elizabeth bit her lip. “I was just thinking about the accident. The two weeks following it were crazy, you know. Emily and I skipped a week of school, AJ went to rehab, your family went to hell…” she trailed off and shrugged. “It was just a really bad time.”

Jason tossed his own box out. “You were the first person I saw when I woke up. I still remember that.”

“Emily and I spent that first week in the hospital,” Elizabeth replied quietly, “Literally. AJ was there the first three days, so we’d switch off. I’d spend an hour with AJ, she’d be with you. Then we’d trade.” She rubbed her eyes. “I don’t remember sleeping that much. A few hours a night, mainly on one of those really uncomfortable hospital chairs. The nurses kept telling us to go home, but if we had, you two would have been alone. Lila was too upset to come to hospital and Ned was spending a lot time trying to make sure AJ wasn’t going to get arrested. Edward, Alan and Monica were fighting constantly. They were barely at the hospital. So Em and I stayed.” She sighed. “AJ left and locked himself in his room. He promised us he wasn’t going to do anything stupid. He just needed to think. I guess it was good because he ended up deciding to go to rehab. Once he was gone, Emily tried to convince me to go home at night, saying if I went one night, she’d go the next. I didn’t want to go home.” She looked away.

“She went to the cafeteria to grab some lunch and I stayed with you. I was reading something and I felt your hand move.” Elizabeth smiled. “I’d never been so happy in my life than when you opened your eyes. I left to get a nurse but my father came to take me home before I could come back in.” She looked away. She hadn’t talked that much about the accident with anyone else but Emily.

“You didn’t come back for a long time,” Jason said. She met his eyes. “I kept asking where you were. Well, not you specifically. But the girl who’d been in the room when I woke up.”

She bit her lip. “I was being grounded. I had skipped school, hadn’t told my parents where I was and I hadn’t come home in a week. It was six days before I could come back.” She sighed. “Look, I really should try and get more done.”

“You look tired,” Jason observed. “Maybe you should head home.”

“I wouldn’t get much sleep,” Elizabeth said. “I’m better off trying to get work done.”

“You don’t want to go to sleep, do you?”

She looked at the desk and closed her eyes. “Jason-” Elizabeth shook her head. “You’re right. I don’t. I haven’t had a panic attack like that since I was thirteen and I’m not in any hurry to experience it again.”

He hesitated but forced himself to ask. “How did you calm down the first time?”

She opened her eyes and blinked back the tears. “You woke me up and calmed me down,” she admitted.

“You’re not going to tell me what happened are you?” he asked.

She shook her head and wiped her eyes with a napkin. “No. I can’t.”

He nodded, trying to hide his frustration. “You know I just want to help, right?”

Elizabeth didn’t answer at first. She started shutting down her computer. When the screen went black, she finally turned and met his eyes. “I know. But I can’t let you.”

“Why?” Jason asked. “You said you trusted me.”

“I do trust you.” She grabbed the printouts and put them into a folder. “I just can’t let you take care of this again. Because I would depend on you too much and I can’t do that again.” Elizabeth stood. “I’m going home.”

“I’ll give you a ride,” he said, standing. He put the chair back.

“On your bike?” Elizabeth asked.

“Yeah, is that a problem?” Jason replied.

She shrugged. “I’ve never been on a motorcycle.”

“Come on. There’s a first time for everything.”

Elizabeth smiled. “All right. Let’s go.”

Emily jumped up from her seat as Sonny, Carly and Jason rushed into the ER.

“What happened?” Sonny demanded.

Emily was in tears. “I don’t know. I was going to get a drink of water and I heard weird sounds coming from her r-room.” Emily swiped at her eyes. “I went into the room and God, Sonny, her eyes were bulging practically out of her and she couldn’t breathe. She looked so scared.”

“What would cause her to do that?” Carly asked. She looked between her husband and Emily frantically.

Emily shook her head. “I don’t know.”

A doctor came out then. “Elizabeth Webber’s family?”

“That’s us, Doctor,” Sonny said, striding forward.

“I’m Dr. Scanlon. Your sister?” Sonny nodded and Dr. Scanlon continued. “Elizabeth was having a panic attack. We’ve been able to stabilize her breathing, but she’s still very tense. The paramedics said she was calling for Jason. Is that you?”

Sonny seems stunned. He turned to look at Jason who looked confused. Emily gasped.

“Of course,” she whispered. Elizabeth had been talking about her father and the nightmares…she must have had one. Of course she’d call out for Jason. She probably always had. Emily’s eyes filled with tears.

“No,” Sonny said finally, his voice quiet. “Does she want to see Jason?”

Dr. Scanlon’s confused eyes swept the group, “Actually, yes, if he can calm her down.”

“Sonny,” Jason said. “I don’t know…”

“Jase,” Emily said quietly. She put a hand on his arm. “Please.”

Jason took a deep breath, “All right.”

—

Elizabeth was sleeping when Jason was shown into the section where they were keeping her. Her face was tense and it looked like she was having a bad dream. Jason felt kind of stupid, but sighed and took her hand.

“Hey, Elizabeth.”

“Jason?” she whispered. Her eyes were still closed and he could tell she was still sleeping. “He’s coming.”

Jason frowned. “Who’s coming?”

“He’s gonna hurt me.” Her voice was small and sounded scared. Jason was confused. “Stop him, Jason.”

“It’s okay,” he said, feeling more and more bewildered. Did this have anything to do with the difficult time he’d helped her with? “No one’s going to hurt you.”

“He said you weren’t going to help me anymore.” She whimpered. “He’s coming closer…”

Jason stroked her hair. “Shhh, I’m here. He can’t hurt you.”

Finally, Elizabeth’s forehead smoothed and she seemed to fall into a more relaxing sleep. Jason sighed and looked up. Sonny was standing at the edge.

“Who is she talking about?” Sonny asked tensely.

Jason shrugged. He tried to remove his hand from her grasp but she just tightened her grip. “I have no idea. She told me tonight that before the accident I’d helped her through something. I think this has something to do with it.”

“She’s holding to you like there’s no tomorrow,” Sonny observed.

“I just wish I knew how to help her. I mean, we just called a truce earlier and now…” Jason sighed, “I don’t know what to do, Sonny.”

“Well, until she lets go, you can’t do anything.” Sonny looked around. “I’ll go find some chairs. I think Liz owes us some explanations.”

Emily appeared behind the curtain. “Don’t push her, Sonny.”

Sonny turned. “You know what’s going on?”

Emily nodded miserably, “Yeah. And she doesn’t owe anyone anything. Don’t push her, Sonny. You wouldn’t want someone doing that to you.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Sonny replied. “I’m just worried. I didn’t know anything was wrong.”

“Neither did I until today,” Emily replied quietly. “She’s good at hiding things. The only person who ever saw through her was…” Emily trailed off, her gaze landing on Jason.

“Jason Quartermaine,” Jason finished. “I didn’t realize they were that close.”

“They were,” Emily said looking away. “Closer than I thought.”

“I’m going to find some chairs,” Sonny said. He turned to Emily, “Why don’t you take Carly back to the Towers?”

Emily sighed, “Yeah, I probably should.” She disappeared with Sonny, leaving Jason and Elizabeth alone.

He covered her hand with his other one. “I don’t know what’s going on, Elizabeth. But I wish you’d tell me. I want to help.”

—-

“….want to help…”

—-

“You know better than to talk back to your mother…you know what that means, Lizzie.”

—-

“Your mother seems to think you’re sneaking out. Where are you going, Lizzie?”

“Hey, Elizabeth. What’s wrong?”

“You t-told me if it got to be too much…”

“Come in. You’ll catch a cold sitting on the roof.”

—-

“You’re the only person who understands, Jason. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“Well, you’ll never have to find out.”

—

“You promise you won’t leave me?”

“I’ll never leave you.”

—

“Beth…Jason’s been in an accident.”

“Is he…is he okay?”

“He’s in a coma.”

—–

“What do you mean he doesn’t remember anything?”

“He doesn’t remember anything, Liz.”

“You’re joking, AJ. That’s so cruel. Tell me the truth.”

“He doesn’t remember us, Liz.”

—

“Hey, Jason.”

“Who are you?”

—

“You got another F, Lizzie. Why won’t you learn?”

Elizabeth jerked straight up and started gasping for air. Jason sat on the edge of the bed.

“Hey, Elizabeth., hey, it’s me, Jason. Hey, it’s okay. You’re okay. It’s just me.” Jason gripped her hands trying to make her focus on him. Her breathing started to even out and her eyes lost that glazed look.

“Jason?” she whispered. She looked around. “What’s going on?”

“Shhh, calm down, you’re at the hospital. You had a panic attack and they brought you here.”

Elizabeth flushed. “What are you doing here?”

“Well,” Jason hesitated. “You asked for me.”

“Oh.” She was mortified. She tried to take her hands from him. “Sorry.”

He kept a tight grip. “What’s going on Elizabeth?” He locked eyes with her. “Why did I know how to calm you down?”

“What?” she asked, confused.

“I knew just what to say. I didn’t even think about it. It just came out,” Jason said, mystified.

Elizabeth’s eyes teared, “You always did,” she whispered. She looked away.

“Have I done this before?” he asked.

She nodded. “I used to have nightmares every night,” she said softly. “They got so bad I was afraid to go sleep so I used to climb out my window and go to your house. You’d let me in and I’d stay with you.”

“What are the nightmares about?” Jason asked.

Elizabeth let out a little cry. “I can’t tell you,” she said, shaking her head. “I told you once, but you went away and you never came back. I know I’m gonna blink and this will all be over.”

“I’m not going to leave.”

She kept shaking her head. “You said that before and you left.” She started to cry and Jason wrapped his arms around her. “You left anyway and you never came back. This is all just a dream. You’re not back.” She hugged him anyway. She didn’t know the next time she’d dream about Jason Quartermaine being back and saving her from a nightmare and have it feel so real.

“Listen, Elizabeth. I helped you once and I want to again. Please, let me,” he whispered into her ear.

“I let you once, but when you left there was no one to protect me from the nightmares,” she whispered, clutching at the back of his shirt. “I’m not gonna do it again.”

“Hey, you know, you’re awake,” he said, pulling away to look in her eyes. “I’m not Jason Quartermaine, you know that?”

She clamped her lips together. “I know. You’re Jason Morgan and you hate me.”

“I think you’re getting yourself worked out,” Jason said gently. “I don’t hate you.”

“Yes you do.” She let go of him and hugged herself. “You love Emily and AJ. You let them back in but you kept me out. ”

“I’m sorry,” Jason said. “Please. You can trust me.”

She hugged her knees to her chest. “I only trusted one person and you don’t remember him, so-”

“I got the chairs,” Sonny said, reentering. “Hey, Liz you’re awake. Are you okay?”

Elizabeth curled up in a ball and kept crying. Sonny shot a look at Jason.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

Jason shrugged. “I don’t know. She woke up and I think she’s confused. She’s going between reality and the past right now. She can’t seem to decide if I’m Jason Quartermaine or Jason Morgan. Either way, I just want to help.”

“Well,” Sonny said, putting the chair down. “Sit. And we’ll wait for her to wake up.”

—

The next morning dawned. Elizabeth was expected to come home that afternoon. She’d slept the rest of the night peacefully and had woken up early that morning, feeling a little embarrassed. She’d apologized to Jason for her outburst and had refused to tell Jason or Sonny anything.

Emily showered and left the apartment after getting a call from Sonny. She headed for the Quartermaine mansion and didn’t even bother with the front door. She went straight to the rose garden where she knew Lila had breakfast every morning.

“Emily!” Lila said as Emily came into view.

“Grandmother,” Emily said, kissing her cheek. “How are you?”

“It’s lonely here, darling.” Lila sighed. “How I miss seeing you and Elizabeth sitting in the garden doing your homework.”

Emily’s eyes swept the garden. “Some of my best memories are out here with Beth, AJ and Jason,” she smiled, “and you or Reginald chasing after us with a camera.”

Lila laughed. “Darling, I have so many lovely memories myself. And Elizabeth is like family.”

Emily sighed. “Yeah, I know.”

“What’s wrong, dear?” Lila asked.

Emily smiled, “Can’t get anything past you.” She hesitated. “Do you remember when Beth was young…did her father seem….a little um…” Emily trailed off.

“Are you talking about the times when Elizabeth snuck in Jason’s window?” Lila asked.

Emily’s eyes widened. “How did you know about that?”

“Jason needed someone to talk to. He was so angry, darling, and he couldn’t let Elizabeth see that. He’d promised not to tell you or your brother. So he’d talk to me.”

“Beth told me yesterday,” Emily said. “And last night she had a panic attack and the only person that could calm her down was Jason.” She shook head. “How did I miss seeing Beth was in pain? I don’t understand how I didn’t see it.”

“She didn’t want you to, dear. And our Elizabeth is very good at hiding what she feels.” Lila sighed. “I’m only grateful she at least let Jason in.”

“And then she lost him,” Emily whispered. “I can’t imagine what’s been like these past few years, watching the person who’d been there for her forming new relationships with everyone but her.” She sighed. “Grandmother, I feel so helpless. Jason knew exactly what to say to her last night. Sonny told me on the phone that she woke up again last night, barely able to breathe and that Jason calmed her down in no time. Why couldn’t I do that?” Emily said, crossed her arms.

“Darling, I know that Jason doesn’t consciously remember helping Elizabeth, but I suppose part of him still does.”

Emily sighed. “I guess he did have a lot of practice. It must be second nature.”

“You know, there was a time when I thought that Elizabeth might fall for our Jason.”

Emily smiled. “Oh, Grandmother, that time is still very much in the present.”

Lila grinned, “Really, darling. Have you got a plan?”

Emily wanted to jump and down in excitement. “Does that mean you’d want to help?”

Lila took Emily’s hand, “Anything to make Elizabeth and Jason happy.”

—-

Emily stepped off the elevator, elated from her visit with her grandmother. That brought the total of supporters to five. As she neared her apartment, she paused. Jason was waiting out front – and he didn’t look happy.

“Hey,” she said. She noted the fact he was still wearing the same clothes from yesterday. “Did you spend the night at the hospital?”

“Yeah.” Jason ran a hand through his hair. “Em, I need some answers.”

Emily shook her head. “I can’t tell you anything, you know that.”

“Emily, she had a nightmare right there in the hospital and when she woke up, I knew exactly how to calm her down. Why? What happened that makes her so terrified to sleep?” Jason demanded.

Emily crossed her arms and looked away. “I can’t tell you, Jason. She doesn’t want you to know and she is the only person that can tell you.”

“She told me she used to sneak into my room at night,” Jason said. “That when it got too bad, she came to me. Now, I don’t remember that and I know that hurts her, but I can’t help if no one tells me what’s going on.”

Emily shook her head. “No. I won’t break her trust. It took her years to tell me. I want to tell you, believe me. But Jason, Beth-”

“Will never tell me,” Jason finished. He exhaled slowly, frustrated. “All right. Will you tell her that Sonny wants to her to come by the warehouse today?”

“He’s not gonna push her, is he?” Emily asked, warily.

Jason shook his head. “No. I think he wanted to talk about some project she’s doing. He’s going to wait for Elizabeth to come to him.”

“All right,” Emily agreed. “I’ll tell her. Go home, get a shower, all right?”

“Are you trying to tell me I smell?” Jason asked.

Emily grinned. “Can you take the hint?” she teased.

—

Carly flipped through her calendar. She was tired—she’d didn’t get any sleep after she and Emily had returned from the hospital. She’d tossed and turned all night trying to understand what was wrong with Elizabeth. She wished that Elizabeth had come to her.

It was obvious that there was something between Elizabeth and Jason. Carly wasn’t sure if it happened before the accident or after, but something was there. Elizabeth had asked for Jason – someone that she’d told Carly over and over that she couldn’t stand.

Carly rubbed her eyes. Well, the plan to make them be friends was more important now than ever. Elizabeth obviously needed Jason in her life and Carly loved Elizabeth like a sister and she’d do anything for her.

“Mrs. Corinthos, the Port Charles Hotel has called back. They’d like to set a date for the launch party,” her assistant Elton’s voice came through the intercom.

Carly took a deep breath and pressed the button. “Elton, tell them I need the next available day.”

“They said they have an opening in three weeks, on June 20.”

“Can we be ready in that amount of time?” Carly asked, the wheels in her head already turning.

“With me planning it? Of course, Mrs. Corinthos, shall I tell them to book us?”

“Yes, Elton. Tell them.” Carly sat back in her chair. The company was launching the new Face of Deception and Carly had a feeling the party could be the first step in making Elizabeth and Jason see each other as more than friends.

Which meant she, Emily and Nikolas had three weeks to help Jason and Elizabeth become friends.