{Just so you know I wasn't sure about what God went with what mythology so I made up names that sounded good. Sorry about that.}

Chapter Two: Death and Rebirth

The next morning…

She awoke with a pounding headache and a sore throat. She was in someone's bed that wasn't her own. Where the hell was she? She looked down and thanked God that she still had all her clothes on. She got up and walked over to the window and saw that it was just coming over the horizon. It was the most amazing sight she had ever seen. She simply stood there watching. She crossed her arms over her chest and hugged herself tightly as she began to remember the events of last night. She sighed. The first rays of light lit up the sky, killing the night and with it her life with A.J. Quartermaine.

Jason stood watching as the night disappeared into the oncoming dawn and he sighed. Last night had gone better than he thought it would. He had taken her out of the rain and back to his penthouse. She was soaking wet and chilled to the bone but she refused to change, so he turned the heat all the way up and prayed that she didn't get sick. She watched him for almost half the night neither crying nor speaking just watching. Sometimes she wouldn't even watch him but the rain outside and sometimes she would just stare off into space. It was almost as if he weren't there at all. He would sit there and let her be thinking that she didn't even notice him and then he would feel her staring at him and he would look up but she never spoke. Finally she drifted off to sleep and he took her up to the master bedroom and there she was now. And he was still downstairs standing at the window looking at the disappearing night and the birth of day.

He heard her soft padded feet on the stairs and he turned to her. She stood on the last step looking at him.

"Hey." He whispered.

"I was just doing that."

"What?"

"Watching the sunrise." She replied. "I've watched since I was a little girl. When I got older I was fascinated by the Greek mythical story of Osiris and his brother… do you know it?"

He shook his head. "No."

"Osiris God of the Sun kills his brother every morning and Remus kills his brother every night. It's this ongoing cycle that is suppose to explain the course of the day and the seasons." She said tiredly taking a seat on the bottom step and watching as he came to sit beside her.

He nodded and she smiled. "I know you don't care." She replied rolling her eyes. "I always wondered why they couldn't just live together you know? Day and night exist side by side." She shrugged.

"Sometimes brothers are too different." He whispered and she looked up and stared into his blue eyes. The deeper meaning understood by the both of them. She nodded and furrowed her brow when she saw all the brown cardboard boxes spread out across the living room..

"Brenda's stuff?" She asked softly trying not to be hurt..

He shook his head. "No, it's yours. I had them ship your boxes that you had sent over to your new apartment here."

She looked at him surprised. "You didn't have to do that." I was going to…" She trailed off as Rosie came bounding from the kitchen.

"And how were you going to do that?"

She sighed. "I don't know… but I would have thought of something." She patted the dog's ear who rubbed her head against Jason's leg.

"It's only until you decide where you want to stay. I mean you can stay here as long as you want. I've got an extra bedroom."

She gave him a hesitant smile. "I don't want to impose." She began but he stopped her.

"You won't be." He replied. "You could never impose on me Courtney besides I kind of gotten used to Rosie anyeway." He stated and she shook her head.

"And what about Brenda? Shouldn't you ask your wife about this? I mean you guys are newlyweds. I don't want to cause any problems."

He raised his eyebrows. "Like what kind of problems?" He asked.

She shook her head. "I don't know."

"All right then you can stay here until you find someplace else." He said with a definitive tone. She smiled.

"You're too good to me you know that? How did I ever get so lucky?" She asked taking his hand into hers. "Thank you Jason." She whispered laying an innocent kiss on his cheek. She pulled back brushing the kiss off his cheek with her fingertips absently before taking a stand. "I'm going to go and change. Where's your bathroom?" She asked.

"Down the hall second door on your right." She pulled open one of the boxes and retrieved some clothes. As she brushed past him he grabbed her hand and she stopped to look down at him. "Are you sure that you're okay?" He asked. For a split second he saw the pain and vulnerability before she closed up again.

"I will be." She whispered. "Brenda's a really lucky girl." She stared at his hand holding hers. He dropped it and she nodded before going upstairs.

She was up there for at least an hour before coming back down her hair still damp. He stood over his pool table as she came down.

"What are you doing?"

"Playing pool. You wanna play with me?" He asked.

She shook her head. "No. I don't like pool." She responded.

He raised his eyebrows questioningly. "You don't like it, or you don't know how to play?" He asked.

She shrugged. "Busted." She smiled.

"Come here, I'll show you how to play it's not hard." She walked over and he placed the pool stick in her hands. Guiding her fingertips around it properly he leaned over behind her. "Okay here we go. You just hold it like this. Make sure that you're supporting it with these two fingers and controlling it with the opposite hand…"

"Like this?" She asked and he nodded. "Okay now what?"

"Now you place the cue stick, that's this thing in your hands." He joked. "Ha! Ha! Very funny Jason." She mocked.

"Okay, now you just line up the cue stick with the white ball and aim for what ball you want to sink into the hole. Let's say that you're playing for solids, then you would want to shoot for the six because it's possibly the easiest shot on the table." He whispered into her ear. "You pull back just a little because too much force and you might scratch the felt. So here we go." He led her through the motions as they pulled the stick back together and took the shot. She watched as the white ball hit the six and sent it across the table into the far-left hole.

She smiled. "Look at that! And I thought that you said you didn't know how to play."

"It was all you. I just followed your lead." She turned around and felt how close they were. She stared up into his blue eyes and swore that he had to be holding the secret to Heaven in those crystal orbs. She tried to back up a little but the table had her blocked in. "I should… I should go." She stammered.

He nodded. "Where?"

She walked around him as he backed up a little. "I have to go and get a job. I'm hoping that I could get my job back at Kelly's." She replied.

"Do you need money?" He asked and she shook her head.

"No Jason. Just because I'm staying here doesn't mean that I'm going to mooch off of you while I'm here." She replied slipping into a thick green sweatshirt. "I think that I should be able to get it back and then when I get back you and I can go over what I'm going to pay for rent." She said resolutely.

"Rent? I pay rent." He stated.

"And now that I'm staying here so do I. Hey don't argue with me on this. I'm serious." She said firmly.

He smiled. "We'll talk when you get back. Do you need a ride?"

"No I think I'm going to walk. It's been a really long time since I could do that and not be scared that someone was lurking around every other corner." She stared off into the distance not seeing him. The vulnerability was back unmasked. He went to reach out to her when she backed up with a jolt. "I'll be okay." She whispered and then left.

He watched her leave and stared at the closed door for a long moment after she was gone. Slowly he reached up and touched his cheek and smiled.