Journey Online

Summary: In one second all you knew can change, all you have can slip away and what’s left might be the best thing that has ever happened to you. That’s what Courtney learns when her and Jason are forced to go on the run.

Her blue eyes swept over the scenery, exhaling she wondered how she had ended up here. The sun’s rays bore down on her, while sand and dust were picked up by the growing wind. The deserted gas station was rusty, paint chipped off the small building where a mechanic sat on the steps, watching them. It had been their first stop in over 10 hours and exhaustion slowly crept into Courtney’s body. The endless road stretched beyond her and her throat was dry from the heat. Through it all he went about like a robot, he filled the motor cycle up without wincing as the sun bore down on his black clad body.

Jason handed some money to the cashier inside grabbing a bottle of water from a busted fridge that felt hotter then outside. Fans circled around them warm air encircling them rather then the intended cold. They made their way back to the motorcycle in silence avoiding the situation that loomed around them, maybe if they denied it had happened it would go away. Jason knew though, how it worked there would be a warrant for her arrest, she would be front-page news by morning, if she wasn’t already.

Port Charles ate up these sorts of stories; the sweet and innocent sister of a mob boss finally pulled the trigger. Finally proving she was no better then her brother. As much as the town loved innocence they craved being able to blame someone for the it’s supposed destruction. Old ladies would sit on balcony’s reminiscing of the days before Sonny Corinthos, before the mob.

Courtney’s gaze grew colder as she remembered the night, the one she was running from. The gun had felt so heavy in her hands, when Jason went down her fingers gripped the trigger, and before she could stop it, it went off. She felt the bullet ripped from the object in her hands and she froze, watching the woman’s body fall to the ground. She hadn’t even seen the her, Skye, her sister in law was lying in a pool of blood while the stalker watched on. Courtney shut her eyes tightly pushing back the tears that were ready to fall as the memories swept through her mind.

Jason recovered quickly removing the gun from her hands, tears began to pour down her cheeks, her eyes fixed on the body. Neither attentive to the stalker slipping out behind them. He didn’t need to check for a pulse the bullet was deadly accurate, piercing Skye’s heart, he could tell by the wound. Jason pulled Courtney from the scene counting the minutes in his head until the sirens would wail in the quiet streets surrounding the apartment. He knew they would have to leave or she would go to jail it wasn’t self defense, Courtney had murdered an innocent by stander with his gun.

So here they were Courtney Quartermaine and Jason Morgan, in the middle of nowhere with nothing but what they were wearing, some cash and his motor cycle. Jason turned to face Courtney, observing her trance like state; he could see the fear and the coldness that came with knowing how it felt to kill someone. Jason knew that feeling but he never wanted that for her, she had so much life to live, now what was left?

“We better get going the sun will be down soon, we should find a motel” He spoke calmly returning to the bike.

“What are we going to do” Courtney couldn’t help the fear that caressed her words.

“I don’t know but I promise you won’t go to jail ” Jason stated placing his helmet on and taking a seat at the front his bike. Courtney did the same wrapping her arms around his back, her wedding bad glinted in the sun and she paused. A.J was probably worried, maybe even panicking, and where was she his wife but with the man he despised most. She closed her eyes, letting the wind sweep through her hair, this wasn’t about A.J, it was about saving herself. She couldn’t go to jail and she wouldn’t let Jason go down with her either. Her arms tightened around his chest as she thought of how messed up things were, everything was spiraling out of control but she trusted him, for some reason all the fear she had was ebbing away. She knew though it was not close to being over, what scared her most was it had only just begun.

Taggert surveyed the scene, the body of Skye Quartermaine cold as ice. The blood had already dried onto the floor proving she had been there for hours. It was a sloppy crime, he could tell, it looked unplanned. She was probably in the wrong place at the wrong time.

“Lieutenant, the landlady said she heard shots around eleven last night, right after Courtney Matthews got home, with Jason Morgan”

Courtney opened her eyes as the sun began to shine through the thin curtains that covered the window in front of her. It took her a minute to register what was going on, especially whose arms were tightly wrapped around her waist. The blonde's gaze finally recognized Jason’s sleeping form. If she did not know better she would have thought that he was a different person, he looked so innocent almost like a little boy or what Jason before Sonny would have looked like. Her hand reached up to gently caress his cheek. Her wedding band, once again, catching her attention. Courtney pulled her hand back rising from the bed silently. She pulled herself up onto the kitchen counter letting her eyes observe the scenery from behind the smudged glass. She tried to push away the feeling of dread that settled into her stomach every time her marriage to A.J crossed her mind. He was the man she was supposed to love, she promised to care for him in sickness and in health, but she couldn’t help wishing that she had listened to all the warnings. Courtney tried to focus on the good things A.J had done for her but her last encounter with her loving husband haunted her.

Courtney watched as the sun grew brighter and she could feel her fists clenching and unclenching as she fought back the anger she felt from that day. She could not help wishing it were A.J who had stood in front of that gun. Then she would know she killed someone whose ultimate goal was to make her feel worthless. His words still stung like ice, the vows meant nothing, not after all he had done to destroy her spirit.

Courtney glanced at her hand the faint scar still marred her palm as a memory of the choices she had made. She looked over at Jason the one man who put her needs above his own, though he had only known her for a month. A.J’s stories of a cold-blooded killer were only that of a jealous brother who knew he would never be half the man Jason was. Her blue eyes fell to the wedding band that still sat on her finger; it felt like A.J’s way of cursing her. The ring was his pledge, to never let her go. Slipping it off her finger she inspected the single gold band that at one time made her feel so lucky. Letting it slip from her hand she listened to the clanking sound it made as it fell down the drain.

She returned to the bed wrapping Jason’s arms around her as if she had never left. He stirred opening his eyes.

“You okay” he asked sleepily.

“Ya I will be” Courtney stated giving him a small smile, the first he had seen in days.

They were so close and he leaned in further looking into her eyes to see if this was what she really wanted, but they closed in anticipation. The shrill ring of Jason’s phone broke the moment and he resisted cursing as he grabbed the cellular from his coat pocket.

“Where the hell are you and what did you get my sister involved in?” Sonny yelled into the receiver causing Jason to wince.

A Port Charles warehouse

The blonde-haired woman flipped through the pictures in front of her handing them to her male companion. The two guards stood before her waiting patiently for her response to the new information they had provided.

“So Miss. Roscoe is this what you wanted?” The taller guard asked.

“Yes it is don’t you agree Mr. Tagliati?” She asked a slow grin spreading across her face.

Tagliati nodded handing the pictures of Courtney and Jason back to Faith.

“Keep following them, when we get them where we want them, we’ll do our civic duty and report their whereabouts to the police ” Faith stated shooing the guards from the room.

“Once we get Morgan and his girlfriend out of the way Sonny will be so busy trying to save them he won’t even notice he’s loosing everything” The blonde stated to Tagliati before rising and exiting the warehouse.

“Sonny, I… I, no I couldn’t …” Jason struggled to get his words out through Sonny’s ranting on the other end of the receiver. Courtney stayed motionless letting her eyes roam around the room and fall again on Jason’s tense form. He paced the length of the carpet trying each time to form a sentence only to have it shot down by Sonny. Courtney grew wary of the conversation; rising from the bed, she grabbed the phone from Jason’s grasp.

“Sonny… will you let me speak!” Courtney commanded louder then Jason expected.

“I killed her, I was in trouble so Jason helped me, and it’s not his fault” Her tone was calm and serious, despite the tears Jason saw her blink back.

“I’m sorry Courtney, I just, I am so worried about you, you’re the only sister I have and I don’t want to loose you” Courtney could swear she heard Sonny’s voice crack a bit, as he spoke.

“Your not going to loose me, Jason is taking good care of me, he always does” She smiled at Jason as she spoke.

“I know, he always takes care of the people I care about, I love you sis” Sonny stated softly.

“I love you too Sonny” Courtney handed the phone back to Jason with a proud smile.

With a few words, she had diffused a situation Jason would not have for hours.

The blonde headed toward the washroom avoiding letting her eyes sweep over the rusted and yellowing sink. She observed herself in the mirror as she tied her hair back. Her reflection slightly unsettling, she had never looked so worn. Her stomach ached from hunger as she realized she had not had anything but a candy bar for almost twelve hours.

Courtney returned to the living room as she heard Jason finish his conversation with Sonny. She stood awkwardly shifting her weight from side to side, glancing at Jason; she noticed he had been too involved in his own thoughts to acknowledge her re-entry. She walked to his side hesitantly placing a hand on his shoulder. He looked up into her eyes and she felt her heart speed up as she lost herself in his crystal blues.

“Sonny says he’s going to have a plane pick us up in Mexico and take us to some remote island” Jason stated quietly. Courtney nodded silently, leaning in closer until their fore heads touched. His arms wrapped around her waist and he finally let his lips descend upon hers. She felt like every nerve in her body was exploding, as their kiss turned from gentle to passionate, her arms wrapping around his neck tightly. As the kiss deepened, he pushed her back against the window taking support in the solid object behind them. When they finally pulled away to breathe, Courtney smiled her gaze meeting his, she could see the desire playing out on his features.

She went to kiss him again when a horrible pain ripped through her body almost knocking her off her feet but Jason held her up. Courtney tried to see through the tears that welled up in her eyes as the pain became sharper, her breathing was ragged and every breath was getting harder to take. Jason continued to hold her up, the only thing he had heard was the windowpane shattering in front of him. The shards of glass embedding themselves beneath his feet, sharp pains were coursing through his body, Jason could not feel it though. His focus was on the girl in his arms. The scene had played out so quickly he could not separate any of the events .He looked down at the blonde-haired woman in his arms and began to panic. She had become so pale and her body was loosing warmth quickly, he could see her struggle for breath and try to force her eyes from closing.

“Jason why am I bleeding” Courtney asked hoarsely before her eyes closed and her body went limp.

He blinked back tears, pulling his hand from behind her back. It was stained crimson.