Title: Sometimes Wishes Come True

Author: Leanna R.

Feedback: Cookiecrazyy85@yahoo.com

Rating: PG13- R

Category: Work In Progress

Type: Romance/Drama/Angst

Summary: Courtney and Jason are desperate for a baby.  What if they manage to get one, although not in the most conventional way?  How does having a baby affect their lives?

(Chapters 6-8)

Chapter 6- Midnight Meetings

It had been two days since Courtney’s kidnapping, and Jason was going crazy. He didn’t know what to do with himself. He spent all of his time looking for Courtney, or looking for a lead at least. Any other time was spent with Meg. Meg was feeling Courtney’s disappearance, and Jason could tell. The little girl smiled less often, and her happy giggle was now rare. She hardly slept, and spent the nights crying her eyes out.

Jason had finally gotten her down for a nap. He sunk into the couch, putting his hands over his face. He hadn’t gotten any sleep since Courtney’s disappearance, unless you counted an hour or so here and there. Sonny tentatively pushed the Morgan penthouse door open and looked inside. He saw his best friend on the couch, looking completely miserable and out of it.

“Hey” said Jason softly when he saw Sonny.

“Hey yourself” said Sonny as he walked in. “Is Meg asleep?”

“Yeah, but who knows for how long” said Jason with a sigh. “She misses Courtney”

“We all do” said Sonny gently as he thought of his sister.

“I just hope whoever it is that has her is treating her ok” said Jason.

“I’m sure they are. If they know what’s good for them they are” said Sonny, gaining his old resilient attitude at the end.

“Has anyone contacted you yet?” asked Jason.

“No, not yet” said Sonny.

“What the hell is taking them so long? Unless…” said Jason.

“Unless what?” asked Sonny.

“Unless they already…”

“No. They wouldn’t. And you would be able to feel it if she was gone. And I would too. Courtney is alive and well. We just need to find her and bring her home” said Sonny.

“I hope your right” said Jason. “Have you spoken to Stan lately?”

“Yeah, just a little while ago. But he wasn’t able to find anything but he said-“

Sonny was cut off by Meg’s cries as she screamed louder than Sonny ever imagined a child could.

“She certainly has a set of lungs on her” said a taken aback Sonny.

Jason just glared at him before racing up the stairs to Meg’s nursery. A few minutes later, he returned with the baby in his arms.

“Hey Meg” said Sonny, and the little girl just looked at him with her sweet blue eyes as a small fist came up and rubbed at the blue orbs, brushing sleep from her face.

She whimpered again and Jason held her tighter, gently rubbing her back and kissing her forehead.

“What were you saying about Stan?” asked Jason as he adjusted Meg in his arms so he could get a better view of Sonny.

“What? Oh, right, Stan” said Sonny coming out of his daze he was in as he looked at Meg and thought of his sister. “He hasn’t found anything, but he has more contacts, and he has everyone he knows working on it. We will find her Jase” said Sonny.

“I know. But until we do…”

“We just all need to stay strong” said Sonny. “You know what; let me take Meg for the day. Carly can watch her. You need to get some sleep and relax a little”

“I can’t sleep while Courtney’s gone” said Jason.

“Well, you can’t look for her while you’re this wired either” said Sonny.

“I’m not wired. I’m just a little out of it” said Jason as he defended himself.

“Seriously Jason, I am ordering you to relax” said Sonny, a mock stern look on his face.

“I’d rather just keep Meg with me” said Jason. “You know, so I can keep an eye on her” said Jason.

“Jason Morgan, do you not trust me” said Carly as she entered the penthouse, her hands on her hips.

“Carly, I trust you. It’s the people who took Courtney who I don’t trust”

“Jase, come on. It’s me. I can watch her just fine and keep her safe” said Carly with a roll of her eyes.

“Carly, just leave him alone” said Sonny as he tried to pull Carly out of the penthouse.

“Sorry, can’t do that. I care about Courtney, and I want my best friend to come home safe. And in order to do that, my other best friend needs to get some rest so he can find her” said Carly. “So really, I’m doing this for Courtney. And a little bit for myself” she added.

“Fine” said Jason as he looked at Meg as she was still waking up from her short-lived nap. “You’re going to spend some time with Aunt Carly, ok?” said Jason as he looked at Meg. “I know that she’s crazy, and I know that she’s weird, but you’ll be safe. And I’ll be right across the hall” Jason explained.

“Hahaha. That is so funny Jason” said Carly as she rolled her eyes. “It’s true what they say, you can’t crack a joke” said Carly as she took the baby from Jason’s arms. “We are going to have so much fun Meggie. We ladies gotta band together against the real crazies- the men like your dad and Uncle Sonny. We can read fashion magazines!” exclaimed Carly.

“Keep in mind, she’s only a few months old” warned Sonny.

“It’s never too early to start to learn about what to wear and what not to wear” said Carly. “I am teaching her valuable life lessons”

“Oh boy” said Sonny as he rolled his eyes, and Jason even cracked a small smile.

“Hey look at that, you’re smiling” said Carly as she pointed to Jason’s mouth.

“No I’m not” he said as he wiped the grin off his face.

“Whatever you say Jase” said Carly as she walked out with Meg in her arms.

Jason watched them go, his eyes trained on Meg as she left. Jason had become so attached to that little girl. Sonny followed his friend’s gaze and gave a bittersweet smile as he realized what was wrong.

“Jase, don’t worry. She’ll be fine” said Sonny.

"Which ‘she’ are you referring to?” asked Jason.

“Both of them. Both Courtney and Meg will be safe in your arms very soon” said Sonny.

“I need to find my wife” said Jason, the tears welling up in his eyes again.

“And we will find her” said Sonny. “She’s my sister, and I love her. I’m not about to let anything happen to her” soothed Sonny.

“Your right. You wouldn’t” said Jason as he tried to bring himself back down to reality and calm down about Courtney. “I just worry about her”

“Get some rest man” said Sonny, giving him an affectionate shoulder pat before walking out of Jason’s penthouse, leaving him all alone.

Jason tried to take Sonny’s advice. He lied down on the couch and closed his eyes, begging for sleep to overtake him. But it didn’t work. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw a scared Courtney. Or sometimes, he saw a crying Meg. He saw his family hurt and afraid. Jason didn’t know what it meant to feel fear. But he knew that what he was experiencing right now was pretty terrifying. He sighed before giving up on sleep. Instead, he walked over to the doors leading to the terrace and walked out, standing on the balcony. He looked up at the sky and saw that it was the start of sunset. Soon, it would be night. And night meant being alone in his bed. Of course, Jason would give up on staying in that big bed alone pretty early in the night. He would usually be so concerned about Meg that he would stay in the rocking chair in her bedroom.

Jason couldn’t take it anymore. He grabbed his keys and leather jacket and left the penthouse. He walked down to the building’s parking lot and retrieved his bike. Jason just needed a ride to clear his mind. To get his focus back. And right now, he needed to focus on getting back his wife.

Jason was at Vista Point, just trying to clear his mind when he was disrupted by the sound of his cell phone looking. The caller ID said the number was restricted, and Jason glanced at it in confusion before answering the call with his usual greeting.

“Morgan”

“Mr. Morgan” said an icy voice.

“Who the hell is this?” he asked.

“I have a business proposition for you” said the voice on the other end. “And your wife’s life depends on it”

“Tell me who the hell this is” he growled into the phone.

“I make the demands Mr. Morgan”

"What do you want?” asked Jason.

“I want a meeting. You and your boss. On the docks at midnight. Come alone” he warned.

“We’ll be there” said Jason. “But I want to talk to her”

“That can’t happen Mr. Morgan”

“How do I know that you didn’t hurt her? Or that she’s not dead already?” asked Jason, although he was just bluffing. He knew that Courtney was ok. He could feel it.

“You’re just going to have to trust me Mr. Morgan” said the voice. “Midnight. Docks. Just you and Corinthos”

“Wait!” yelled Jason into the phone but it was too late. Whoever was on the other end had hung up. “Dammit” he yelled, desperate to punch something, but seeing nothing around.

“SONNY!” yelled Jason as he ran into his best friend and brother-in-law’s penthouse.

“What is it? You’re going to wake the kids” Sonny scolded as he walked out of the kitchen and into the living room.

“I got a call. From the kidnapper. He wants to meet us at the docks, tonight at midnight.”

Sonny glanced at his watch before saying “we don’t have much time to prepare”

Jason looked down at the ground, kicking a rock off of the dock and into the water. He watched as it bounced before landing with barely a splash. Sonny took a deep breath next to him as the two waited for their meeting to start.

“He’s late” said Sonny as he glanced at his watch.

Jason rubbed his face with his hands.

“He’s probably hurting my wife right now” said Jason with a heavy heart as he sat down on the ground, his knees up with his head buried in them.

“Jason, we can’t think like that” said Sonny. “We need to stay positive for Courtney’s sake”

“How the hell do you expect me to do that Sonny?” asked Jason. “My wife is missing. My daughter is feeling the emotional turmoil that causes, as am I”

“Come on, let’s talk about something good. How’s Meg?” asked Sonny. “You know, other than these past few days?”

“Courtney and I have gotten attached. Maybe a little too attached. We forget that she’s not our daughter sometimes. It’s hard. We know in the back of our minds that we are going to have to give her back eventually”

“Not necessarily” said Sonny.

“What do you mean?” asked Jason.

“I mean that maybe her mother won’t be found”

“And then in that case she goes into foster care and into the system”

“Children slip through the cracks in the system all of the time”

“What are you suggesting?” asked Jason as he looked up at Sonny with his brow furrowed and his blue eyes even more piercing than usual.

“I just mean…” said Sonny, “what if we did everything in our power to prevent Meg from being taken from you”

“Courtney would never go for the illegal stuff”

“Even if it meant saving your baby?” asked Sonny with one eyebrow raised.

“I don’t know Sonny. Right now, it doesn’t even matter. Because Courtney is gone. And where the hell is this guy?” asked Jason. “It’s nearly one in the morning”

“I dunno, let’s wait a little longer” said Sonny.

“You need to call Carly?” asked Jason.

“Probably. She must be worried out of her mind” said Sonny with a small smile.

“So you two are on track again” said Jason.

“Things between Carly and I are surprisingly smooth”

“That’s a change” said Jason with a smirk of is own.

“Yes, it is. Forget it, this guy isn’t coming. This was probably just him messing with our minds” said Sonny.

‘Easy for him to say. He just wants to get home to his wife’ thought Jason with a scowl.

Jason cast one last longing glance back towards the docks. If he couldn’t be with Courtney, he would at least go home to Meg. She was having a hard enough time without her mother there. The last thing she needed was to be separated from her father as well.

Sonny and Jason walked into Sonny’s penthouse a little after one in the morning.

“I’ll just take Meg and go back across the hall” whispered Jason to Sonny.

“Alright man. Try to get some rest” said Sonny. “Even if it’s in the rocking chair in Meg’s room” he said with an all-knowing smile.

“Got it” said a very tired Jason.

Jason had barely put a foot on the stairs when an ear piercing shriek ripped through the penthouse.

Chapter 7- As Lucky Would Have It

Jason raced up the stairs quicker than imaginable.

“Carly!” he called, fear racing through him as Sonny ran past him, looking for his wife.

“Oh my god. Jason, come quick” yelled Sonny from the spare bedroom.

Jason ran in to see Carly out cold on the floor, a trickle of blood running down her forehead. Sonny was standing over her, cradling her body in his arms as he tried to revive her. As much as Jason loved Carly, she wasn’t his main concern. He stepped over her and Sonny and his heart broke. The occupant of the room was gone. The cradle holding Meg was empty.

“Sonny, Meg’s gone” said Jason, trying once again to hold back his tears. “The meeting was a fake tonight. It was meant to get us out of the house so that they could take Meg”

“Meg?” questioned Carly as she began to come to.

“Thank god. Carly, are you ok?” asked Sonny.

“I think so” she said softly as she put one hand to her head.

“Did you see who took her?” asked Sonny as Jason kneeled down beside her.

“I couldn’t see his face. I’m so sorry Jason. I tried to fight the guy off, but he must have knocked me out” said Carly as the tears ran down her face.

“Hey, it’s ok. I don’t blame you” said Jason in an attempt to comfort her.

“Come on, I want to take you to the hospital” said Sonny.

“What about Mikey and Morgan?” asked Carly.

Before anything else was said, Jason darted from the room. He returned moments later with a sleepy Morgan in his arms.

“Where’s Michael?” asked Carly as she became hysterical.

“He’s fine. He’s still asleep though. Morgan, however, was awake, so I figured you would want to see him” said Jason as he handed her the baby.

She and Sonny cuddled the baby to themselves and Jason watched Sonny jealously. His wife and child were kidnapped by some psychopath somewhere.

“I’m going to take Carly to GH now” started Sonny.

“I’ll stay with the boys” said Jason, finishing Sonny’s sentence for him.

“Thanks man” said Sonny as he helped Carly stand up. “We’ll find them both” said Sonny softly in Jason’s ear and Jason could only muster up a weak half of a smile.

“I hope so” he said as Carly handed him Morgan.

“We will” she said as she gave him a kiss on the cheek.

“Feel better” said Jason.

“Thanks” she said, her hand absentmindedly flying up to the gash on her head.

Jason walked down to the living room and sat with Morgan on the couch. He looked at the little baby and smiled in spite of himself. Morgan and Michael always brought smiles to his face. He just wished he had Meg there to complete the perfect picture. And having Courtney with him wouldn’t hurt either. Jason had only been sitting with Morgan for a few minutes, desperately trying to get the baby back to sleep, when Michael came running down the stairs.

“Uncle Jason! Where’s dad? Where’s mom?” he asked in a panic.

“Hey, come here, its ok. Calm down” he said, motioning over to the couch where the little boy joined him, a look of terror on his face at waking up with his parents gone in the middle of the night. “Mom and Dad needed to go out for a little bit”

“Are they ok?” he asked.

“They’re ok” he soothed.

“So you’re going to stay with me?” asked Michael.

“Yes, until Mom and Dad come home. Ok?” he asked.

“Ok” said Michael.

“How bout we all go back up to bed?” asked Jason to the two little boys.

Morgan gave him a little smile and then shook his head no before he started saying the word.

“With a mother like Carly, I should have figured one of your first words would be ‘no’” mumbled Jason.

“I think Morgan speaks for us both” said Michael with a cocky grin similar to Sonny’s.

“Alright” said Jason, not having the heart to fight with them. “Let’s just watch TV” he said as he flipped it on.

“Hey Uncle Jason?” asked Michael.

“Yeah Buddy?”

“Where’s Meg?” he asked, a confused look on his face.

‘I wish I knew’ Jason thought. “She’s somewhere safe” said Jason, praying that he wasn’t making himself a liar.

Courtney awoke from her not so peaceful sleep to the sound of the door opening. She immediately jumped up and was surprised to find some of the usual guards bringing in some baby things. Courtney’s heart caught in her chest. She knew what that meant. They had gotten Meg. Sure enough, her captor soon walked in to the room, Meg screaming her head off in his arms.

“Hello Mrs. Morgan. I have a rather loud surprise for you” said the man with a smirk.

“Give me my baby” she snapped, snatching Meg from his arms.

Meg calmed down almost immediately as Courtney held her close to herself.

“You’re a sick freak, you know that?” she asked.

“Courtney, Courtney, Courtney. Don’t bite the hand that feeds” taunted the man.

“How’d you get her?” asked Courtney. “Hmm? Who’d you have to hurt?”

“Just your little sister-in-law”

“What the hell did you do to Carly?” asked Courtney in fear.

“It’s just a little bump on the head, I wouldn’t worry” sneered the man. “I don’t know why you’re so bitter” he said with a sarcastic smile. “I think I’ve been treating you rather well” said the man.

“Treating me well would be releasing me and my baby” she bit back.

“Not until your precious husband gives me what I want” said her captor. “It’s late. You should get some sleep. Sweet dreams” he scorned as he left her and Meg alone again, a single tear slipping down Courtney’s face.

Courtney adjusted Meg in her arms, looking down at her baby.

“It’s ok Meg” she soothed. “Come on, let’s go to sleep” she said, bending over the crib that had been brought into the room and putting Meg inside.

She pushed the crib closer to the bed and made sure that she could see Meg at all times and that Meg could see her. Courtney lied down in the bed and let her thoughts immediately wander over to Jason, as usual. She was sure that he was wreck by now. His wife and daughter missing would certainly be taking its toll on him. She wished that there was some way that she could let him know that she was ok. She wished that there was someway that he could just find her and Meg.

Sonny and Carly came back from the hospital at around 3 in the morning. Carly didn’t need stitches or anything, and the bleeding was stopped rather easily. She would just have a little cut on her head for a few days. As they walked into the penthouse, they couldn’t help but smile at the sight in front of them. Jason was curled up on the couch with Michael and Morgan, the three fast asleep as the TV blared on. Their smiles faded though when Jason suddenly woke up with a gasp. They knew what he was dreaming of. He was dreaming of having a missing wife and child.

“Hey, its ok man” said Sonny as he went over to Jason on the couch.

Jason rubbed his face with his hands and took a deep breath, followed by a sigh.

“How do you feel Carly?” he asked.

“I’m fine” she answered in a whisper as to not wake the children.

“That’s good” said Jason, looking at the two kids asleep on top of him.

“We better put these two in their beds” said Sonny, leaning over and taking a still sleeping Morgan in his arms.

Jason stood up and picked up Michael. The two carried the boys up the stairs and put them in their respective beds before heading back downstairs where Carly was waiting for them on the couch.

“You ok?” she asked Jason, getting up to give him a hug.

“I don’t know” he answered truthfully. “I just want to find them both and make whoever took them pay”

“We will” said Sonny. “For now, go get some sleep. You’re going to need it”

“I’ll try” said Jason as he left the Corinthos penthouse and headed to his own.

But as hard as Jason tried, sleep didn’t come until the early hours of the morning. Jason was barely asleep for two hours when he was startled awake by a crass knocking on the front door. Stumbling out of bed, Jason stole a glance at the clock to see that it was hardly 7 o’clock. Pulling on a pair of jeans over the boxers he had slept in, he walked down to the door and opened it without looking at who was on the other side.

“Lucky?” he asked in confusion.

“Jason” he said with a little nod at the man in front of him. “Is Courtney here?” he asked.

“She’s out” said Jason.

“Out?” questioned Lucky. “At 7 in the morning?”

“Yup” said Jason, unable to say more. He couldn’t lie, and as long as he didn’t give away the whole truth, he was ok.

“Jason, what’s going on? Where’s Courtney?” asked Lucky. But Jason didn’t answer him. “Alright, fine. Where’s Meg? I need to check up on her, make sure she’s ok. I’ve had pressure from Mac about finding the baby’s mother soon. He’s not happy that this little girl is staying with a mobster”

“Meg’s out too” said Jason.

“She’s with Courtney?” questioned a confused Lucky who once again, received only a glare. “Did you and Courtney get into a fight? Did she leave you and take the baby?”

“Nope, no fight. Bye Lucky” said Jason as he closed the door on Lucky’s face.

Lucky was about to leave when he saw Sonny Corinthos come out of his penthouse. The man strode purposefully to Jason’s door and knocked. Lucky hid around the corner, carefully listening in.

Jason rubbed his face with his hands as he heard the knock on the door again. He didn’t think he could handle dealing with Lucky right now. If Lucky found out Courtney and Meg were missing, it would be big trouble. The police would get involved and screw everything up. Plus, Meg would be taken from them without a doubt. Jason just needed to handle things on his own.

“Jase, open up” called Sonny from the other side of the door.

Realizing that it was his best friend and not the cop, Jason got up and answered the door, glad to see Sonny.

“I got a call from the kidnappers” said Sonny once Jason answered.

“Did they say anything about Meg’s disappearance, or just Courtney’s?” questioned Jason.

“Meg and Courtney were kidnapped?” asked Lucky in disbelief as he rounded the corner, coming face to face with the two mobsters.

“What the hell are you doing here Lucky?” asked Sonny.

“I came to check on Meg. Because if anything happens to that little girl, my ass is on the line. And now I find out that she’s been kidnapped!” yelled Lucky.

“Lucky, you need to keep your mouth shut and stay out of this” warned Sonny.

“I’m an officer of the law. It’s my duty to alert the precinct and get officers looking for Meg and Courtney. I knew it. I knew it was a bad idea to let Meg come live with you. I mean, Courtney’s fine, but you’re a mobster. Anyone who touches you gets kidnapped, or hurt, or even killed. It’s your fault that both Courtney and Meg’s lives are on the line” sneered Lucky.

Jason snapped. He grabbed Lucky and threw him against the wall, holding him there by the neck.

“Jason, stop, come on, let him down!” yelled Sonny as he tried to get in the middle of the two men. “Jason, come on. Easy does it. There you go” said Sonny as he tried to pry Jason off of Lucky.

Jason released Lucky and he started gasping for air, massaging his sore neck. Jason glared at him, as if warning him that he would snap again at any moment.

“Jason, go inside. Go inside and wait. I’ll be in there in a few minutes” said Sonny as Jason walked back into the penthouse, still angrily glaring at Lucky.

“I should really press charges you know” said Lucky once Jason was inside.

“Look, you’re Luke’s son, and I respect that. I respect you for that. But there is no way in hell that you can come into my home and into Jason’s home and threaten him like that. There is no way that you can belittle him, and say what you said. Now, here’s the thing Lucky. You will be quiet about Meg and Courtney’s little ‘disappearance’. Got it?”

“Are you threatening me Sonny? I’m a cop, remember?” spat Lucky.

“Lucky, go home to Liz. For all you know, Courtney and Meg are home safe with Jason. No one else will find out about this, and no one will know that you were here. Do we have an understanding?” asked Sonny.

“But-“

“Remember. Only because you’re Luke’s son. Do we have an understanding?” asked Sonny one more time.

“Fine” said Lucky, massaging his neck a little more as he stalked off, his eyes narrow and staring at the door to Jason’s penthouse.

Sonny sighed and walked into the Morgan penthouse, knowing that he needed to keep his anger under control. He wanted to yell at Jason for being stupid and attacking a cop, but he understood why he would do it. Plus, if he was Jason, he definitely would have done the same thing. His wife and child were missing, and Sonny was going to do everything in his power to help his best friend and bring his family home.

“Jase?” questioned Sonny as he walked into the empty penthouse.

“Coming” he said as he tore down the steps, a shirt covering his once bare chest.

“What happened?” asked Sonny, referring to the incident with Lucky.

“He came here, demanding to see Meg and Courtney. I couldn’t lie to him, but I told him that they weren’t here. And then, you saw the rest. He hid until he heard us talking. Sonny, we can’t let the cops get involved. They’ll screw it all up, and then they’ll take Meg away from us” said Jason. “I need to focus on getting my wife and daughter back for good”.

“And we will. Don’t worry about Lucky. I took care of it. He won’t go blabbing to anyone about the kidnapping.”

“Good” said Jason. “Now you said the kidnapper called you?”

“Yeah. We were right about last night being a distraction for him to take Meg. He wants to set up another meeting to negotiate their release tonight at midnight again”

“Does he think we’re stupid?” asked Jason.

“No, he thinks we’re desperate. Which is true” said Sonny.

“We can’t go” said Jason.

“What do you mean?”

“What if it’s just another trap? What if he goes for Carly or the boys this time?”

“We’ll have extra protection put on them. We have to go to this meeting. Unfortunately, he’s the one with the bargaining chips. We stand to lose a lot more than he does, and he knows that. So, we need to go to this meeting and do everything we can to get Courtney and Meg back” said Sonny.

“Alright, tonight at midnight” said Jason with a sigh.

“It’ll be ok” said Sonny.

Jason just sighed again and shrugged his shoulders, knowing that it in fact wouldn’t be ok.

Chapter 8- The Ultimate Sacrifice

Midnight had once again come, and Jason was once again finding himself waiting desperately on the docks with hopes of seeing his family again. He couldn’t help but think that this was all just a trap. There was so much at stake here. So much to lose. There was everything to lose.

Footsteps echoed throughout the docks and Jason’s head shot up, looking at the man who was approaching. Sonny took a step forward as he and Jason glared at the man. The two didn’t recognize him. He was a man who they had never met before, and who they had never heard of either.

“Who the hell are you?” asked Sonny.

“Mr. Corinthos, Mr. Morgan, I am so glad you made it to my little party”

“Who the hell are you?” Sonny repeated.

“My name is of little importance right now. Let’s just talk business. I move whatever I want through your territory, Mr. Morgan here gets his wife and that little baby back, completely unharmed. If not, I make them suffer, and then I kill them. The choice is yours” said the man. “I don’t want you thinking I’m as dumb as some of the other idiots in your past. I know what works with you two and I know what doesn’t. I wasn’t stupid enough to do something like contaminate one of your shipments. That doesn’t do anything but alert you to my presence. Now, you have no idea of who I am, and I have the right bargaining chips. And I am not afraid to kill them. I would enjoy it actually. So watch your step” said the man.

“Give us a second” said Sonny as he considered the man’s speech.

Pulling Jason aside, the two bent down in conversation as the man watched with an amused smile. He twirled the gun that he had in his hand around his fingers, a gleeful look still plastered on his face. Finally, the two grave men broke apart and faced the man again, stern looks on their faces.

“You don’t have to do this Jason” said Sonny softly.

“Yes, I do” answered Jason. “We need more time to think” said Jason to the man. “We need time to plan”

“Understandable. You have 24 hours, and then the blonde dies. If I don’t get an answer after 48 hours, the little girl is dead. Do we have an understanding?” asked the man.

“Not acceptable” said Jason.

“Oh really, and what do you suggest?” asked the man as his lip curled into a sneer.

“You let them both go. And take me instead” said Jason as he looked the man right in the eye.

“And so the tables turn…” said the man with a smile. “Alright, I can do that. Your sister and the baby will be returned here in 15 minutes. But after 24 hours Mr. Corinthos, your best friend is dead” he said before motioning to a bunch of guards that appeared from behind him.

Jason took a deep breath and then walked over to them, and stood still and allowed one of the men to clock him over the head with the butt of his gun. Sonny watched as his friend sacrificed himself. He watched Jason fall to the floor unconscious. Marco, who had been hiding in the shadows, grabbed Sonny and pulled him away before he could do something stupid. Sonny tried to fight him to help his friend, but the men just picked up Jason and threw him in the trunk of one of their cars, speeding off into the night.

Sonny gave an aggravated sigh. He hadn’t wanted that. He hadn’t wanted his best friend and most trusted employee sacrificing himself. But it was important to get Meg and Courtney back. Jason could handle himself as a captive. But the idea of his sister and niece in captivity tortured Sonny. He knew that they must be petrified. Now, he just needed to wait at the docks for the man to bring him back his family. And then, he could get to work on finding out who it was that was causing them so much trouble and beat them before a full out mob war began.

Jason couldn’t see very clearly as he was lifted up. His arms were twisted awkwardly behind his back as two big burly guards held him up. Another guard walked over to him and backhanded him across the face. Jason felt his cheekbone sting with the pain but he refused to cry out. He felt a fist connect with his stomach, and then another with the side of his head. His chest was beaten on like a drum by the man’s heavy fists, and Jason could feel his ribs buckling as they took the hits. The man moved to his face, hitting him with such force in the nose that it began to bleed profusely and Jason wondered if it was broken. His face received more hits and Jason was moaning and groaning as the beating continued. Hit after hit connected with his body, and he felt himself start to break. The pain was intense, and it felt like he wasn’t even connected to himself anymore. He was like an outsider looking in. But every blow he felt and every smack stung. Finally, the men dropped his arms and he fell to the ground, his knees buckling and his legs unable to support himself. His body landed on the ground with a thud and the men stood back with sickly smiles on their faces to admire their handiwork. They each gave a few good hard kicks to his broken and crumbled body on the floor, their shoes scraping through his thin t-shirt, decorating his previously unharmed back with some wounds of its own. Finally, they left the room, leaving Jason to moan and groan on the floor.

The man from the docks walked back in and gave Jason a mock sympathetic smile.

“That looks like it hurts” he said.

“Have Courtney and Meg been released?” he asked through gritted teeth.

“See, there’s a funny thing about that. I figured, why bother myself with that when I can have three hostages for myself. After all, three is better then two. Have a nice night Mr. Morgan” he sneered as Jason seared angrily on the floor, wishing that he was strong enough to lunge at the man. “Oh, and one more thing” said the man as he walked back over to Jason. Kneeling down on the floor, he pulled back his arm and punched Jason hard on the side of the head. The enforcer’s head bent back with the force, and he felt the world around him go black as he slipped out of consciousness.

“Where are they? It’s been twenty minutes already” growled Sonny as he looked down at his watch for the umpteenth time.

“I dunno Boss” said Marco, unsure of what else to say to calm down Sonny.

Marco took a deep breath. He didn’t like this. He didn’t like that Jason had just sacrificed himself. He couldn’t believe that Sonny had allowed it. This was just dumb. This man was completely untrustworthy. It wasn’t guaranteed that he would release Courtney and Meg anyway. He looked at Sonny who was staring at the water with dark eyes.

Flashback

“Sonny, we can’t just give into this guy like this. If we do, it’ll make us open for attack. It’ll make us seem vulnerable. And we can’t afford that” hissed Jason as the two men stood on the docks, talking about what the man had just offered them in exchange for Courtney and Meg.

“So what do you suggest, we let him kill Courtney and Meg?” asked Sonny with a sneer of his own.

Jason’s eyes looked pained, and his chest constricted painfully. He didn’t want to even think about that. Swallowing and taking a deep breath, he spoke again.

“We need to find out who he is, get the necessary information, and then strike back” said Jason.

“How do we know he won’t hurt them?” asked Sonny.

“Because they won’t be his prisoners anymore” said Jason as he prepared himself to make a bold but necessary move.

“What are you talking about?” asked Sonny, not in the mood for games, especially from a man who never played them anyway.

“We make a trade. Me for them” said Jason, his blue eyes now shining with determination.

“Are you crazy! No way! For starters, we don’t know if this guy will actually return them to us. Second of all, I need you. I need your help with finding out who this guy is”

“You can do that without me. You have a pretty confident staff. And what choice do we have, we need to trust that this guy won’t violate the rules. He knows that he’s opening himself up for heavy retaliation if he goes against his word and doesn’t return them. And not just from us. From other associations as well. From other families.”

“I won’t let this happen” said Sonny.

“Sonny, I am just an employee. I’m disposable. And I signed on to protect you and your family. And Courtney and Meg are your family”

“Yeah, but so are you. You are my best friend, and my brother-in-law. You are more than just an employee and you know that. I need you”

“You can do this without me. I need to make sure that Courtney and Meg are ok. They mean the world to me. And if, god forbid, something happens to them, I won’t be able to live with myself. And I wont have any reason to live anyway” said Jason.

“Are you sure about this?” asked Sonny, seriously doubting the whole situation.

“I’m sure” said Jason as they broke out of their little huddle.

End Flashback

Sonny glanced at his watch once more before looking up at the sound of tires screeching. The black car slowed to a stop and Sonny waited eagerly to see his sister and niece’s face again. The window rolled down and a hand reached out, brandishing a gun. Marco reacted, pulling Sonny down to the ground as gunshots rang out. After what felt like hours but was only seconds, the bullets stopped flying and the car sped off into the night. Marco got off of Sonny and was glad to see that both he and his boss were unharmed. Sonny angrily got up, cursing as he did, flinging his fists into the air around him.

“The son of a bitch double fucking crossed me!” he yelled into the night.

Courtney sat on the bed with Meg in her arms. The little girl had just finished a bottle and was getting sleepy. Her eyes were closing and her breathing was getting heavier. As Courtney looked down at the little girl, she thought back to the first night that she and Jason had Meg. How they had fed her together. She missed Jason terribly, and she wanted nothing more than to be held in his arms. Courtney cuddled Meg to her body as she got up from the bed. Placing the bottle down on the table, she walked over to the crib and placed the slumbering baby inside. Leaning against the bars of it, she stared at Meg for a bit. Brushing the soft blonde curls off of her daughter’s forehead, she sat back down on the bed, ready to just put her head in her hands and cry. But at that point, the door of the room was jerked open. Standing up, Courtney walked over to Meg’s crib, ready to defend her from whoever was there. But before Courtney could bend down to pick up her daughter, two guards walked into the room dragging a lifeless body behind them. Courtney gasped when she saw just whose lifeless body it was. It was her husband’s. Leaving Meg in the crib, she ran over to Jason as the guards dropped him, locking the door behind them. She cradled his body in her arms, tears prickling at her eyes and then falling freely down her cheeks as she looked at the man before her. He looked so bruised and broken, and she knew that she needed to wake him up immediately. He could have a head injury. Courtney tried to shake him awake lightly, but that didn’t work, and she dared not try harder for fear of hurting him. She called his name repeatedly, but that was useless too. Bending down her head, she began to kiss him all over to wake him. She planted the kisses all over his body but when she got to his lips, she cherished the resulting sweet kiss. Jason woke up as he felt the kiss on his lips, and his eyes widened in shock as he saw her there before him.

“Thank god you’re awake” she exclaimed.

“Courtney” he whispered before pulling her into a tight hug, not caring how painful it was. He needed to hold her in his arms. He needed to have her there with him.

“I can’t believe they took you too” she said softly as she began to gingerly finger some of the wounds on his face. “And on top of that, they beat you” she said as tears sprung to her eyes again.

“Shh, it’s ok” he soothed. “It’s not that bad. And they didn’t take me” he said.

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“I made a deal with the kidnapper. You and Meg were supposed to be released and he would get me in return”

“Jason, why would you do that?” she exclaimed.

“I need to do whatever I can to save my family” he stressed.

“And you being taken and beaten within an inch of your life is hardly saving us” she said.

“He was supposed to let you go” said Jason bitterly.

“Let’s not think about this anymore. Let’s trust Sonny to find us and save us. In the meantime, we need to get you cleaned up and stop some of this bleeding” she said as she gave his body a once over. “Can you make it to the bed?” she asked as she started to help him up.

“I think so” he answered with a wince as he got up.

She led him over to the bed and he collapsed on to it, the pain wracking his body. Courtney gave him a sensual kiss before getting up and going into one of the rooms off of the main room. While she was gone, Jason turned his head to look at Meg while she slept.

“Hey beautiful. I missed you” he whispered as he looked at her.

Meg rolled over in her sleep, her thumb finding its way to her mouth. The mouth opened and Jason saw a flash of her little pink tongue before the thumb went in the hole as she sucked on the finger.

Courtney emerged and walked into the other room for a second before returning to the bed, ice, towels, and a large first aid kit in hand. She sighed as she looked at him again before she began to undress him.

She tried to pull the now raggedy t-shirt off of him, but he cried out in pain as she did and she couldn’t bear the idea of him being in so much pain that he actually cried out. Instead, she tried to rip at the material, hoping to get it off of his chest that way. Unfortunately, she wasn’t strong enough. Jason reached up his hands and gently removed hers from the shirt. Setting his jaw and gritting his teeth, he pulled on the material, causing it to rip and making it easier for Courtney to remove it from his body. She drew in shallow breaths as she looked at his chest. Sighing, she made her way to his jeans, fingering the waistband a bit before undoing the button and pulling down the fly. It was familiar for her, sliding off his jeans, but she usually did it in happier situations. Getting up, she walked over to the foot of the bed and removed his shoes before seizing the ends of the jeans. Pulling, the denim material slid off his legs. She folded them up and put them on the chair next to her. She yanked off his socks and put them on the chair as well. Now, he was lying there in just his boxers, giving her a clear view of his body. He looked like hell, and for once, Courtney didn’t notice his perfect shape, but rather the painful looking wounds and abrasions that covered him. Taking in another sharp breath, she started to work at the task at hand. Neither said anything as she soothed his skin, applied pressure to the big wounds to stop the bleeding, wrapped bandages around him, held ice on his aches and bruises, and just planted little kisses on each mark, welt, laceration, and wound on his body. Once she finished with the front side of him, she looked at all of the gauze that covered his body. Where there wasn’t gauze, there were deep purpling bruises. His chest was completely covered in them, as was his face. His legs had received some serious scrapes from when he was dragged around on the hard concrete floors, but other than that, the jeans had done a pretty good job of protecting him. Taking a deep breath, he flipped on to his stomach so that she could tend to the wounds on his back and take care of his badly bruised arms. He cocked his head to the side so that he could watch her instead of a pillow as she worked. The couple was still silent as she cleaned out the marks that the men’s shoes had left and then put bandages on them. Once she was done with both that and his arms, he flipped back over on to his back and stared at her. He reached up one sore arm and brushed back the hair that had fallen in front of his face, feeling the golden silk between his fingertips. She was perched on the side of his bed, staring into his sullen blue eyes. Finally, she couldn’t take it anymore. She burst into tears. He pulled her over to him so that she was lying down on the bed next to him and held her tightly to him, trying to sooth her and convince her that he was ok as she buried her head into his broken chest, looking desperately for the comfort that she always found there in his arms. He smoothed her hair down over her back, leaning his head down to kiss her bare shoulder.

“I’m ok” he assured her.

“How can you be ok Jason?” she asked, fingering a particularly large gash on the side of his head. “This guy made you into his own personal punching bag and you shouldn’t have been in that position in the first place. It’s all my fault” she sobbed.

“You’re kidding, right? How can you ever think that this is your fault” asked Jason with a smile at her.

“Because it is. You sacrificed yourself for me” she answered.

“No it’s not. You were only kidnapped in the first place because of my business” said Jason. “And my inability to protect you, and our daughter, once again”

“You protect us” said Courtney determinedly as she looked into his eyes, seeing the pained _expression that he held. “You’re here with us now, right? And I know that no one will hurt us as long as you’re here” she said as she snuggled deeper into his warm hold. “Let’s not play the blame game”

“Alright” he said with a sigh. “Get some sleep” he whispered.

“You too” she answered.

“Nah, I’m going to stay up. You know, keep guard” he answered.

“Jason, they won’t hurt me or Meg, believe me. They have never laid a finger on either of us”

“Yeah, but now that I’m in captivity, they may be a little less hesitant to”

“You need sleep. Especially because of your injuries”

“I am fine. Get some sleep, please. I want to just watch you tonight. And just hold you. I love you so much” he said as he buried his face into her hair.

“I love you too” she whispered as she fell into the deepest and most comfortable sleep she had gotten since this whole kidnapping mess had started.