Chapter Seven

Courtney looked at him skeptically, as if to say 'oh really'. The look behind his eyes told her that he meant it, but she didn't care. "Excuse me?"

"You're not going. You're telling me I should go, so I'm going to. But, you're not coming with me."

She set her jaw and visually issued him a challenge. He saw her blue eyes flash with anger and knew that his first assumptions were right; this discussion was going to involve and argument. But, he didn't think that this was what they would be arguing over. "Jason, they are my friends too. I want to be there for them, among other reasons."

He shook his head. "No. It's too dangerous and I don't want to have to worry about you and Abri on top of Carly and the boys. You need to stay here where you're safe and I will come back as soon as Sonny or Nico are out of the hospital. There's no reason to take Abri all the way to Port Charles and then bring her back soon after. It'll confuse her." Jason got up from the couch, hoping that Courtney would just take that answer and let the matter be settled, a quick end to a disagreement. But, he knew that she wasn't going to let it go that quickly. he walked into the kitchen and refilled his glass with water.

"I'm not letting you go back there alone. It's just as dangerous for you asit is for Carly and would be for me and Abri."

The glass in his hand was set on the counter with a resounding, harsh thump. He usually didn't lose his patience this easily, but the fact that he wasn't thrilled about going back, and staring down whaever danger was there, was weighing on his mind. This shows how much has changed, doesn't it? "Courtney! I am not going to be alone! Carly, Max, Marco, Juan, all of them are going to be up there!"

"Okay, since what I'm trying to tell you without being blunt is going over your head right now, I'll be blunt. Can you guarantee me, can you swear on your daughter's life that you will not get shot, a bomb won't blow up when you're walking up to one of the warehouses or that you won't die while protecting them up there?" Her voice raised an octave and cracked. She had told him to go, but when she had, she meant with his wife and daughter with him. Otherwise, if she had known that he meant alone, she wouldn't have told him to. Courtney knew the dangers of going back, and that was exactly why she was going to go with him.

The spiky haired man clenched his strong jaw and stared at her, hearing her challenge loud and clear. He only wish that he could tell her that he could, but that battle was lost. "You know I can't do that! That's why you can't go!"

She got up from the couch and stood to her feet, walking until she stood barely more than and arm's length away from him, firy blew eyes locked on her husband. "No, that's exactly why I have to go." Jason when to speak, but she stopped him. "Wait, listen to me. I'm tired of arguing already, so let me sawy what I havet o say and then you can refute it.

First of all, being completely honest and straightforward, you could die when you're up there. So could I. Things can happen, I know this, Jason. I saw the least of it before we left, but I know. If you go up there to 'help out' until one of those two are out of the hospital, there's still a good chance that you won't come back. I accept that, I'm telling youj to go anyway, but I am not going to take the chance if that means that I've got to stay on this island alone with your daughter while you do it. It would confused the hell out of her if her daddy, who she adores, left one day and never came back. It would be better for her to see you every single day and then have that happen, if the occasion came. I would rather see you and be there with you than have a call come, saying you were hurt, or worse, as opposed to not seeing you for days or weeks, expecting you to come back and then get the call. I would rather be close to you than thousands of miles away."

Tears were streaming down the smooth skin of her face, over her cheek bones and all the way downt o her jaw. She wiped them away with her hand as Jason stared down at the counter top. her words were biting into both of them, perfectly straightforward and to the point. Always in the business, almost like some common law, people never said that a person could die, they found ways to sugar coat it or talk their way around it while still getting the message across effectively. That had been thrown out teh window as she blonde spoke and Jason even found himself wince at the first time she said it. But, it didn't change his stance.

She wasn't finished, he found out seconds later. "Second, this is about you and me. The entire time we've been together, our decisions that affected us have been made by both, not just one. All of them. On top of that, I've stuck by you, I listened to your side, you listened to mine and then we made our decision. Our decision. But right now, you're not listening to me at all. You're dead set against me going no matter what, and you know what else? You're against me sticking by you and helping you, which I have always done. Always. Every little thing, I've been right there. Months ago, when you were sick? I was right there. Sonny fired you last year before we came here and got married and where was I? You've done the same for me on numerous occasions; the most prominant; when I was pregnant with Abri. You were right there with me the entire time and when I got closer to giving birth, you dind't even go to the casino at all. We've always been there for each other, never had a problem with it, but now you're denying me that right to support you, even if it's just by being there at night when you come home."

Jason sighed deeply, trying to get rid of the tension in his body. He looked up at her and ran a strong hand over his facial features. He hadn't expected her to go off like this, but now there was no way she was going to stop. He had to wait.

Courtney stepped forward and placed ehr hand at the edge of the counter, leaning into it. "You know, you and Sonny are lucky. You've both go a wife who loves you and will stand and fight with you. There are some men, especially the men in a business like Sonny's, who don't have that. Their wives or girlfriends, fiances, whatever, say that they can handle it but run at the first hint of trouble. They're not loyal. but you ahve what those men wish they had, love and loyalty, and you don't even seem to realize it." It was her turn to sigh. "If you can be stubborn, so can I I'll let you pick your preference, though, so this can be a sort of 'joint decision'. Either we fly to Port Charles with you, on the same flight, or I'll get seats on the flight after yours. Take a pick."

He squinted at her, maintaining his position. he'd heard and been touched by her heartfelt monologue, but it didn't change anything. He couldn't put them in danger. "Neither. You're staying here."

She chuckled scornfully. "Wrong answer. If you don't choose, I will."

"What if I bar you from the airport and tell them not to give you a ticket. Will that make you stay?" He was growing more frustrated with her, now willing to do something like that to keep her from following him. Jason wasn't going to let her put herself or their baby in danger.

Courtney looked at him, issuing him a new challenge: to actually do what he'd said. She spoke softly. "You do that, you might as well prepare yourself to sign divorce papers when you come back."

"What?" he asked, incredulous at her statement.

She turned to the couch again and grabbed the huge throw blanket off the back of it. She was done with this discussion, she didn't want it to truly get nasty. "I would check into the hotel and when you came back, you would have divorce papers sitting on that counter. Physically keeping me and your daughter away from you, no, that doesn't cut it and I won't be with you if that's what you want to pull. If you want to get that upset to keep me away from you when we're together just because I'm being your wife and standing by you...no. You decide what you want to do. The ball's in your court."

The brown haired man looked at her skeptically. he could see that she was erious about it, but he could barely believe it. "You would divorce em because I wanted to keep you and our daughter safe? Courtney, how is that logical?"

The blonde shook her head. That wasn't what she was doing at all, and that wasn't the reason why. That would be as ridiculous as she thought his actions were. "No, Jason. I would be divorcing you because you would be keeping me and Abri prisoner on this island against my wishes and not giving me a choice in the matter. For once, you'd be telling me to do something, ordering me around, forcing me to do it, and people aren't going to do that to me, least of all my husband. Especially now. I won't be married to someoen who insists on keeping his best friend's family safe while leaving his own, and I won't be married to someoen who thinks they can tell me what to do then force me into it."

"When we were in Port Charles, you had to stay locked in the penthouse! How is this any different?"

"You asked me to stay at the penthouse, not ordered me, and I agreed. That's one different. Another, you weren't thousands of miles away and I knew you were close."

"What if I died up there? You can't guarantee I'd come home anymore than I can?"

Inwardly, Courtney flinched. She knew that, but it was all the more reason to go. "Exactly. I would rather be in the same city with you than all the way down here if it were to happen." She looked outside. The sun was just beginning to set, giving the sky tons of purple, pink and orange. "I'm not going to argue anymore, Jason. I can't. There are a ton of choices and you seem to be determined to make them on your own, so youd o that and let me know when I can be included."

Chapter Eight

It had been five minutes since she decided to end the argument and walk out the door, throw blanket in her arms. Now, he stood in his daughter's vacant bedroom, instead of walking out onto the patio, just in case she were to look back at the house and see him.

She sat just feet from the edge of the water, and he could see the waves reaching almost to the tips of her toes. The blanket was wrapped tightly around the rest of her body and she just stared straight in front of her at the horizon, as the sun's descent into the ocean continued. Her body was tense, a sign that told him what he already knew, that she was upset and angry.

He couldn't really say if he blamed her for being angry about it, since she had been the one who told him to go. But, he did understand, since he didn't want to leave her or their daughter, either. He wasn't interested in going back to Port Charles, and he wouldn't if Carly and the boys weren't wide open and susceptible to danger. He didn't want to be away from them at all, but it would be selfish to allow her to go with him and the risk they would be taking would be completely unnecessary.

That wasn't to say that his wife hadn't presented some valid points. She had, and he knew that now he had to make a choice. There were multiple options, including just having the boys and Carly come to the island so they could be protected there. She would just fight me tooth and nail, possibly put up a bigger fight than Courtney. It would be impossible to get her to leave Sonny while he's in the hospital, even if he told her to go. None of these choices were ideal. Hell, the situation isn't ideal so why should I expect the choices to be? He leaned his head against the pane of the window, looking down at the ground two stories away before making his way down the hall to their bedroom.

~*~

Courtney continued to watch as the great ball of gas moved closer to the edge of the water. Her jaw was clenched tightly, mainly because it was the only way to keep herself from taking her fist and beating it into the ground. She wasn't one to show her anger physically, beyond raising her voice and getting tense, but the whole situation was taking her to the brink.

That could have been the reason she finished the argument quickly, to keep from throwing or punching something. She didn't want to lose it, that would probably make everything ten times worse than they already were, and that would be opening up the opportunity for it to repeat itself in the future. I'm not going to do that, it only makes things that much more difficult. She replayed the entire ordeal in her head, everything that'd been said by either of them, all the way to her telling him he would be facing divorce papers when he came back if he barred her from following him.

Divorce. She hated that word and swore to herself, when she was a little girl, that she never would. And, the same had rung true since that. But then, she'd also been independant despite the hopeless romantic in her, and that took over. She would never allow anyone, especially a man and if he was her husband, to walk over her and tell her what she was going to do. If he remains in that postion, I will divorce him.

The blonde hadn't said it as a way to threaten him, that would have been wrong. She was just telling him how it would be and what she would do, and Courtney knew that Jason knew why she'd said it; it hadn't been as a threat. She would enver threaten him with something like that. I would never threaten him, period. She'd been honest and completely rational, whether or not he was acting or thinking as such.

~*~

Jason came out of their bedrom, dressed in board shorts and a white tank top. Clumsily, he walked down the staircase with bare feet and proceeded to make his way around the house. His head was still swimming with the prospet of making this decision. And, funnily enough, he didn't want to anymore.

Maybe it was her words that got to him, or his realization at how bad all of the choices were, but he didn't want to do it alone anymore. In fact, he could almost say that he was scared to. Uncomfortable would probably be the closest word to the feeling. He was uncomfortable with macking a decision about something like this without her, all of a sudden. And the fact that she'd told him he could wind up with a divorce had nothing to do with it.

He stopped walking aimlessly around and went back to the living room. Carefully, the patio door slipped back and he stepped out of it.

~*~

She didn't blame Carly for calling Jason. She wasn't even angry at Sonny, Nico or Alcazar, like most people would be. She wasn't angry at Jason, at least not for going back. He doesn't want to, I know that. But, she was angry with whoever had put the bomb in Sonny's limo, erupting their lives with this. We were, are, happy here, but then some moron has to do this. Courtney did wish that Sonn and Nico hadn't gotten hurt, that they had stayed behind a bit with Alcazar instead of moving a head of him. Then, we wouldn't be in this situation.

Courtney heard a faint squeak in the sand close behind her, indicating that her husband was there. She could feel him kneel down, the electricity from his body sparking her sense, and his hand was there on her back.

"Will you come for a walk with me?" he whispered.

Chapter Nine

His other hand reached around, outstretched, to the front of her. Courtney looked down at it, still trying to guess what he'd cosen to do, and then back over his shoulder at his chiseled face. She was reluctant to take his hand, but did so despite it. He stood up, and she followed as she intertwined her fingers in his.

Jason slowly rubbed his lips together, noting the somewhat tense atmosphere surrounding them, and hating it. He didn't quite know how to break it this time and wasn't sure if he should just yet. But, he knew the longer it went unresolved, the harder it could be to compromise. I just can't win with this, can I? He put one bare foot in front of the other as he started to walk down the beach, his wife beside him and closer to the water.

They walked in near silence for close to ten minuntes, moving further away from the blanket back in the sand. The blonde would sometimes remove her hand from her husband's and move a couple of feet into the water to wash the sand off. Finally, as she returned again to his side and took his hand, Jason stopped walking and turned towards her, ready to talk and get this over with.

Courtney didn't trust herself to speak right then, and she didn't think that she should be the first to do so. He had asked her to come with him, so he obviously had something to say first and she wanted to know the tone of the 'discussion', or whatever this was going to turn out to be. He blew a breath of air out to compose himself before he spoke.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have told you what you were going to do without us talking about it first." He watched as she nodded, not sure what to say at his words. "And, you know, you were right. Whatever we do about this should be a joint decision, not just mine or yours."

A small smile crept across her lips, barely even noticeable. From the way he spoke, she knew that this wasn't him trying to persuade her to do as he asked. "I know you don't want us to go, and I understand the reasons why. But those are also my reasons for going, even though you're against it." she said, just a statement of where the situation and sicussion was going at that point.

It was his turn to nodd. "Yeah, and I understand your reasons, too." He scoffed pathetically. "We both udnerstand each other's reasons, but we disagree about the outcome and what we should do. Difficult, huh? How are we going to compromise?"

Courtney laughed quietly, a skeptic edge to her voice, as he took her hand and played with her fingers. "I don't know. Neither of us want to go back and deal with that or expose Abri to it, though."Could we get Carly to come down here with the boys? I mean, they usually do when stuff like this happens, don't they?"

"Yeah, usually. I thought of that, too. It's probably the best option of all of them, but the only problem is, we would literally ahve to drug her and keep her that way. If Sonny wasn't hurt, they would be down her already and she'd be cooperative. But, he is, and she won't be if she has to leave him there. I'd have to go up there and get her, anyway, Max won't touch her if she starts screaming at him. It'd be good if that was a real option, but it isn't. Carly would create even more chaos and Micheal and Morgan would wind up even more confused and scared."

He was right, she knew, and she didn't like that he was, since that left them with choices that neither like very much. Damn, this is hard to compromise. A few more minutes of silence and Courtney looked up to see that the sun was no more than a half hour above the water.

Jason pursed his ips together. He didn't like this, but it seemed like the most they would get in the way of meeting in the middle. "If I agree to let you go back to Port Charles with me, since nothing lelse looks possibly without either of us feeling completely controlled, would you be willing to do some things for me so I can keep you safe and not argue?"

His wife eyed him skeptically. "What would those be?"

"Well, we'd have to live in the penthouse, not the loft. It's bullet proof, it's easier to have guards nearby and it's harder to get into without being detected. Honestly, it would pretty much be house arrest, but it would be necessary since we don't know what's gonig on yet and who's behind all of it."

She thought about it. While she didn't like the sound of the amount of protection she and Abri would have to have, he felt that they would need it. He knows more about that than I do. It seemed to bas as close as they would get. She nodded slightly and wrapped her arms around his waist as she looked up at him. "Okay, I think we can do that. Obviously, I don't like it, but I can sacrifice if I can be there with you. But, I thought Nico was moving into your penthouse."

Jason shook his head. "No, he looked at it and said it was too big for him, since he was going to be living alone. He decided to take PH3, the one between ours and Sonny's, since it's a lot smaller."

"Okay, we'll do this. But on one condition."

"What's that?" He looked both tentative and confused at her statement. She removed her arms from arond his waist and wrapped them around his neck, grinning playfully.

"I get to redo the penthouse and spend as much of your money as I want on it." She pulled him with her as she stepped back towards the water.

"In other words, you want me to willingly let you drive us into bankruptcy."

Courtney stopped moving as she slipped her shirt over her head to reveal her white bikini and her shorts were thrown on the beach with it. Jason lifted his own over his head and his wife dove under the water as he did. He quickly followed her, wanting a response. She surfaced, the water up to her waist, after he disappeared under as well. She wiped what water she could from her eyes and Jason pulled her legs out from underneath her from below. Both appeared above and he picked her up, setting her body on his waist as she wrapped her legs around him.

He laughed at her with sparkling eyes and she scowled at him as she replaced her arms around his neck. "No, I'd be running you into the ground, not me. I said your money, not mine." she said after he asked again.

"That's not fair."

Courtney shrugged nonchalantly. "It's no fun spending your own money, that's why I said yours."

"You know you can redecorate anythuing you want without me disagreeing."

She splashed him in the face with some of the salty ocean water just as one of the small waves crashed into him from behind. "We usually don't disagree."

He nodded. They really didn't often, but there were still times when they did. This had been one of them, the first in awhile. "Yeah, I know."

She ran her hands through his wet hair, causing most of it to stand up again, looking at him in amusement. "I hate it when we do." Her lips slowly descending onto his, kissing him quickly.

She pulled away, and unwrapped him from her grasp, taking his hand and leading him back closer to the shoreline, near their blanket. As soon as they reached the much more shallow water, Jason had her in his arms again for a quick moment before laying her down in the wet sand and waves.

"I love you."

He can take me to heaven
That's why I need him, that's why I want him
There's no one I'd rather love

Song: My Way Home by Jessica Simpson