Jason didn’t like to dance. He was never good at it, he didn’t
think. As Elizabeth brought him out
onto the dance floor, he didn’t know exactly what he should do. Dancing required coordination, which he had;
it required rhythm, which he thought he had; but in the end, Jason imagined
that he looked stiff and like a robot.
How many times had AJ or anyone else called him that?
“Jason?” Elizabeth waved her hand in front of
him. “Are you going to dance with me or
what?”
He pushed the earlier thoughts and doubts out of
his head. Jason wouldn’t be extremely
good at it, but he couldn’t be any worse than half the other dancers in the
club. It was a fast hip-hop beat, which
Jason didn’t like listening to, in fact, he hardly listened to music. He was always on the job and didn’t have
time for frivolities like music.
Jason watched Elizabeth move in time with the
music. Her slender body moved from side
to side, her arms raised and eyes closed.
He smiled at the picture. Jason
had never seen her dance like this.
Suddenly Elizabeth looked up at him and made a
funny face. “What? Am I a horrible dancer?” she yelled as she
leaned closely to him.
Jason shook his head. “You’re nothing close to horrible, “ he replied.
Unexpectedly the music changed as quickly as the
last beat of the song to a slow, almost jazz-flavored rhythm. Jason much preferred the slow songs to the
upbeat ones. “Can I have this dance?”
he asked, bowing like in the old movies.
Elizabeth smiled. “Of course.”
Jason wrapped his arms around her waist as her
hands rested on his chest. Her hair
smelled of rose petals with a slight hint of a morning mist. Elizabeth pulled away slightly so that she
could see his face. “Thanks for taking
me out Jason.”
He nodded.
“I’m glad you came. I probably
would have just said hello to Carly and left,” Jason explained. “But I’m glad I could give you that dance we
missed.”
The memory of Elizabeth in her gown, slowly
descending down the staircase, was etched in Jason’s mind. “You look great tonight,” he complimented
Elizabeth nervously.
Elizabeth smiled, the blood rushed to her face,
causing a rosy glow within her cheeks.
She didn’t reply, but instead, rested her forehead against his
chest. Jason pulled her closer to him
and closed his eyes, hoping it would last forever.
Then as Jason felt Elizabeth pulling away, he
realized the music had changed to a faster beat again. Elizabeth smiled up at him and with his hand
in hers, pulled him down so that she could talk to him above the music. “I’m kind of tired of dancing. Do you want to go for a ride?”
Jason smiled.
He was glad Elizabeth wanted to leave this crowded room of people. Jason nodded and scanned the crowd for the
owner of the popular club. He spotted
her by the door. “Let’s go!” he yelled.
He maneuvered through the crowd of dancers to the
entrance of the club. Carly smiled and
grabbed his hand. “Having fun? Isn’t it great?” she asked excitedly.
Jason nodded.
“Yeah. Look Elizabeth and I are
going to leave now.” He tugged on
Elizabeth’s hand until she stood beside him.
Carly rolled her eyes. “Why is it getting past your bedtime Lizzie?”
Jason looked at her seriously, both knowing that
he was telling her to back off. “You’re
doing great Carly. It’s good,” he
reassured her.
Carly fixed her gaze on Jason. “You really like it?”
Jason nodded.
“I’m not exactly a regular to these clubs, but from what I can see,
you’re doing an amazing job.”
The words of confidence and reassurance Carly
received from her best friend made her blush.
“Well, have a good night!” Carly said accepting the early
departure. “Don’t do anything I
wouldn’t do.”
Jason looked over at Elizabeth who seemed to bite
back an easy retort. He led her to his
bike and handed her the helmet. “So
where to?” he asked knowingly.
“The cliff roads of course!” Elizabeth laughed as
she slipped the helmet over her head.
~~~
When Jaime finished her shift, she was still
shaken from her encounter with Rosco.
It was making her jumpy at the slightest noise and she had this eerie
feeling that she was being watched. She
made her way down the docks and was heading back to Kelly’s. Jaime was tired and confused at the
evening’s events.
He wanted an answer from her.
She didn’t know what he meant. Or did she?
Jaime slowly made her way over the bench that overlooked the docks. Did he come back for her?
The whole situation was a nightmare. She didn’t want any of this. More importantly, Jaime didn’t know what she
wanted. How was she supposed to know
what her feelings for Rosco were?
Jaime let out a yell of frustration. This was much too complicated and confusing
than she’d ever dreamed it would be.
“What am I supposed to do?” she yelled into the night air. “I don’t know what you want!”
The heavenly hosts sparkled in the constancy,
their ruling master appearing in the ebony sky half hidden. Jaime stared at the sky for what seemed like
hours. Her thoughts were running
around, and her heart racing from the anxiety of it all.
She couldn’t possibly fall for Rosco, could she?
~~~
Elizabeth loved the feeling of adrenaline rushing
through her body. It made everything
seem more real, more vibrant. Jason’s
dangerous style of navigating the cliff roads always excited her and set her
free from the conventions of Port Charles’ idea of ‘Elizabeth Webber’.
“Do we have to go back?” Elizabeth had pouted as
Jason had handed her the helmet she had worn.
They had only been up at the end of the cliff
road for a few minutes, conversing about nothing and about everything. Jason had suddenly received a call on his
cell phone and told her that they had to leave. Elizabeth had been somewhat disappointed.
“Please, just a few more minutes here?”
Jason smiled and shook his head. “I’m sorry.
Sonny said something’s up and I have to get back,” he apologized.
Elizabeth looked wryly at Jason. “If we go, next time I get to drive!” she
offered.
Jason looked at her smirked. “You know you can’t handle this bike!”
Elizabeth folded her arms across her chest and
tapped her right foot. “Jason Morgan,
you know I can drive it! You’ve let me
do it before!”
“And I seem to remember having to take control
after a mile or two,” he teased.
She rolled her eyes. “Details, details. You
still let me steer!” Elizabeth exclaimed.
Jason straddled the black motorcycle and motioned
for her to get on the back. “Come on!”
he coaxed. “I’ll give you a maybe on
the driving.”
Elizabeth pursed her lips and pretended to weigh
her options. “All right,” she huffed. “But you’d better really think about
it!” With that, Elizabeth hopped onto
the back of the bike, wrapping her arms tightly around his waist.
Jason pressed down on the starter and the
motorcycle roared to life. “Are you
ready?”
Elizabeth nodded with the heavy helmet on her
head.
~ * ~
Elizabeth walked toward the stairs to the docks
as she headed towards her studio. Jason
followed behind her to make sure she got safely home. “You know you’re going to have to let me drive sometime!”
Elizabeth teased.
Suddenly she felt Jason pull her back as they
almost rounded the corner. Elizabeth
looked over her shoulder at Jason, wondering why he stopped her. “What is…”
Jason put his finger to his lips signaling for
her to be quiet. He pointed down to the
docks, where Elizabeth saw Jaime sitting on the bench. “Why are we stopping?” she whispered
perplexed. “It’s just Jaime!”
Elizabeth followed Jason’s finger as he pointed
to a shadow in the corner of their line of vision. “There’s someone there with her,” he whispered.
“So?” Elizabeth shrugged. “It’s not like it’s Rosco or anything.”
Elizabeth waited for Jason’s confirmation, but
received none. “You think it’s Rosco?”
she choked.
When she tried to peer around the corner and
maybe catch a glimpse of the stranger, Jason pulled her back. “I need you to go to Bobby’s and stay
there,” he instructed.
Elizabeth furrowed her brow and shook her head
vehemently. “No!” she whispered
intensely. “I’m not leaving you here
with Rosco. You could get shot!”
Jason took her by the shoulders and looked at her
gravely. “You have to listen to
me. I don’t want you to get caught in
the middle,” he warned. “It’s bad
enough that Jaime’s there with him in the first place, if it is him, but I
don’t want you to get hurt. Now go!”
Elizabeth felt Jason push her in the direction of
Brownstone. She stopped and pointed her
finger at him menacingly. “Don’t you
dare get hurt Jason, or I’ll…”
Elizabeth couldn’t finish her thought. A wave of apprehension flowed over her as Elizabeth
watched Jason make his way down the stairs.
~~~
Rosco didn’t mean to bump into Jaime on the
docks. He’d planned on meeting his men
there to discuss further plans. As he
approached the docks from Kelly’s, Rosco saw Jaime hunched over on the bench
mumbling to herself.
“Thinking about me?” he whispered in a deep
voice.
He loved teasing her and seeing her
flustered. But this time her reaction
wasn’t the norm. When she raised her
head to meet his gaze, there were tears streaming down her cheeks. It unsettled him.
She remained quiet and distant, caught up in her
own thoughts. However her demeanor
changed when he approached her. Her
body stiffened as he walked towards her.
She stood up slowly, seemingly ready to bolt at the first sign of contact. “What do you want?” Jaime choked. “Can’t you just leave me alone?”
Rosco took a deep breath. He didn’t expect this sort of reaction from
her. She seemed so strong willed and
defiant. However, the image of her
sobbing in his arms after the ‘attack’ haunted him at that moment. “I’m sorry,” he apologized sincerely.
He didn’t know where it had come from, but the
words just slipped out of his mouth.
His gaze lingered on her lips, which were red from chewing on them. Rosco had noticed whenever she had something
on her mind; Jaime would chew on her bottom lip.
“You know my father’s in town?” she said
nervously.
He didn’t know whether she was warning him or
threatening him. Rosco nodded. “I know,” he answered solemnly. “I just wanted to know…”
Suddenly the sound of rushed footsteps came up
from behind him and as he looked up, Rosco saw Nam standing behind his
daughter. He studied Jaime, debating
whether this had been all a trap. She
looked as bewildered and shocked as he felt.
Nam’s men pushed him from behind. The solid circular point that jabbed into
the small of his back confirmed that they were armed. He walked towards Jaime and Nam.
Just when Rosco was a couple of feet from Jaime, Nam put up his hand and
one of his guards put his hand on Rosco’s shoulder and stopped him from going
any further.
“I told you I would find you Rosco.” Nam smirked. “I thought you were clever, running while you had the
chance. In fact I thought maybe I would
never find you.” His beady eyes were
locked on Rosco’s.
Rosco stood up to the full extent of his height,
a look of disdain on his face. He
couldn’t believe he had been so careless.
As he glanced over at Jaime who seemed to still be in shock, Rosco knew
deep down why he’d been so careless. He
couldn’t stay away from her.
“So you’re going to kill me in front of your
daughter?” he asked defiantly.
Lee Nam laughed maniacally. “Of course not. I have a suitable place to talk with you alone. We have a lot to sort out before we settle
unfinished business.”
Jaime suddenly awakened from her dream like
state. “No. You’re not,” she scowled at her father.
Rosco hadn’t expected it, and had to stifle a
smirk that was forming on his lips. She
really had a fire in her. He didn’t
know what she saw in him, if she saw anything.
Nothing had spoken about - not their kisses, or their feelings, nothing.
“Jaime, stay out of this. We’ll handle it from here,” Nam warned.
She shook her head. “You’re not doing anything.
And if you even try to hurt him I will scream bloody murder!”
Nam looked at his daughter curiously and then
laughed. “You really don’t know what
you’re talking about Jaime. Lien, take
her out of here,” commanded Nam.
A large Asian man in his 30’s stepped up behind
her and grabbed her elbow. Jaime pulled
away and hit the man. “Don’t you ever
do that again!” Jaime threatened.
Rosco would have been quite entertained if his
life weren’t hanging by a thread at this point. “Jaime, you should stay out of it,” he heard himself say.
Jaime turned around laughed. “What?
You want to get killed?” she asked incredulously. “Well in that case…” Jaime stepped aside.
Rosco sighed at her sarcasm. “Well I certainly don’t need you to defend
me,” he growled.
Just then Nam’s men behind him pushed him forward,
away from the narrow dock. “What do you
want Mr. Nam?” one of the lackey’s asked the older man.
“He wants you to let him go,” Jaime jumped in and
extracted Rosco from the armed men’s grasp.
In response, the men pushed her aside.
But as she stumbled backwards, she tripped on a loose board and fell
back.
~~~
“Are you okay?” Jason called, bounding down the
stairs just as Jaime hit the ground.
Lee’s men turned their attention to the blonde
stranger in a leather jacket, guns aimed at him. Jason slowed down his pace and kept his hands in the air. When he finally got to Jaime, Jason knelt
down beside her and helped her up.
Jaime looked up at Jason fearfully. “You’ve got to get him out of this Jason,”
hissed Jaime. “I don’t want him
killed.”
Jason nodded.
“I know,” he whispered into her ear as they embraced.
As he surveyed the situation, Jason noted the two
men on his right and one large man on his left, standing behind Mr. Nam. All were armed and seemed adept at using
their weapons. Rosco was in the middle,
between Jaime and Nam.
Jason couldn’t strategize a plan that would
enable him to extract Rosco without gunfire.
Tentatively, Jason moved towards Rosco.
Nam stared intently at him. “And
what are you doing here Mr. Morgan?”
Jason swallowed.
“I saw Jaime down here and it looked like she needed a bit of
help.” He glanced back at Jaime who
seemed alert and ready to move.
“Well I’ve got it well under control as you can
see,” Nam replied politely. “I think
you can take Jaime and leave now. I’ve
got what I want.”
Jason looked over at Rosco. The man made his skin crawl. Jaime came up from behind him and grasped
his left hand. “If you’re going to do
something Jason,” she said through gritted teeth and a smile. “You’d better do it now!”
The lyrical tune she spoke conveyed her
anxiousness. He smiled and nodded. “Just hang on,” he whispered.
Unexpectedly Jason felt Jaime raise the back of
his leather jacket and rest her hand on his waist. She fumbled around, while Jason tried to keep Nam’s attention on
someone else than his daughter. “Do I
get a chance at him?” Jason asked casually.
“I did happen to find Jaime. He
and I have a few things to settle too.”
Nam looked sternly at Jason. “I’m sorry Mr. Morgan. But that’s just impossible. I have a schedule to keep.”
Jason felt the hard heavy piece of metal in the
waist of his jeans lift up from its home and slip into his hand, which formerly
held Jaime’s hand. Jaime pressed up
beside him to hide the weapon. He
glanced down at Jaime who seemed to have her own plan forming in her mind and
intent on pulling it off.
As if in slow motion, suddenly Jaime’s eyebrows
rose as if a signal, and she lunged forward at the two gunmen behind Rosco,
pushing behind towards Jason. Rosco
made his way up the stairs as Jason saw the large man in the corner of his eye
un-holster his gun and point it at Rosco, who stopped in his tracks. Jason dropped to his knee and taking aim
shot the man’s hand, making him drop the weapon.
Jaime had taken one of the gunmen out, standing
over him and kicking the gun out of his grasp.
Meanwhile Jason put the safety on his gun and placed it back in the
waistband of his jeans. And just as the
other gunman was about to grab Jaime, Jason kneed him in the stomach and
disarmed the man, throwing the gun into the water.
“That is enough!” Mr. Nam yelled, catching the
attention of all the participants.
Jason looked up and saw Mr. Nam with his arm
raised, a gun pointed at the sweating Rosco.
Jaime moved towards the stairs.
“Don’t do it,” Jaime pleaded.
“Please Daddy.”
Mr. Nam’s face seemed to soften at the
words. “I’m sorry Jaime. He’s hurt you too much and he’ll do it
again. Why do you think he is here?”
Jaime shook her head, moving towards her
father. “Daddy, you don’t have to do
this for me. He’s not going to hurt
me. I promise.”
Rosco nodded his head wearily. “I’ll leave town,” he said out loud.
Nam looked at Rosco and then his daughter. “I…”
Suddenly the large brute Jason had shot stood up
with his gun in hand. “You don’t have
to do this Mr. Nam. I’ll take care of
it.”
Mr. Nam turned and looked over at his
bodyguard. “Wait Lien,” he commanded,
lowering his gun.
“He could have his men coming sir,” Lien warned.
Jaime looked over at Jason wide-eyed. ‘Help’, she mouthed.
Jason lunged at Lien, hoping he’d get there
before his finger pulled the trigger.
Jaime ran backward towards Rosco, trying to push him out of the line of
fire and Mr. Nam could only watch in horror as the gunshot rang in the cool
evening air.
“Jaime?” Mr. Nam called in terror as he rushed to
her side.
She was slumped over Rosco, who also was lying on
the ground stunned. Mr. Nam approached
his daughter in shock. And as he
arrived, Rosco sat up and cradled her limp body; her cream-colored blouse
wetted with blood.
~~~
The short burst sounded through the night air
before Elizabeth had made it to the Brownstone. Elizabeth stopped in her tracks, knowing in her gut that it had
been gunfire. Swallowing hard, she ran
back to the docks and stopped mid-stride as she found men’s bodies strewn
across the dock.
To her left, she found Jason struggling with a
large Asian man, and to her far right, there were two men lying on the dock,
who seemed to be unconscious. She
wanted to cry out Jason’s name, but nothing would come out.
Elizabeth watched Jason finally knock out the
large man he was wrestling with, with an upper cut. She was about to race down the stairs to get to Jason when
Elizabeth found a large man holding a petite figure in his arms. Elizabeth was shocked to find Mr. Nam
kneeling before the two.
As Elizabeth pressed her body against the
building wall, she made her way down the stairs, trying her best not to step on
the man holding the small figure.
Suddenly she frowned. Where was
Jaime?
Her eyes widened and her heart caught in her
throat. As she passed the man,
Elizabeth peered down to see the doll-like figure, cradled in the man’s
arms. “Oh please no,” gasped Elizabeth,
unable to look at her face.
Jason hurried over to join the small crowd. Elizabeth glanced up at him, who had a
pained look in his face. “Jaime,” he
whispered.
Then Elizabeth knew it was Jaime lying in that
man’s arms; covered in a river of crimson.