A couple of things: This plot sketch is not something I go back and check for spelling or typos, so they’re messy by nature.

This is what I sent to Cora for outline thoughts.

Set October 2006. Elizabeth and Jason have had the initial paternity test discussion in which he asks her to marry him regardless of the results. She has rebuffed him. Lucky is away in rehab, she has contemplated filing for divorce but has not yet done it Jason and Sam are not together, have not broached such a subject.

Elizabeth takes the test at Mercy hospital, worried that the Quartermaines or someone else she know would have access to the results. Two weeks until the test results come in. A day or so later, Epiphany informs Elizabeth she’s been suspended due to suspicion that she funneled drugs to Lucky — meds are missing after all. Elizabeth is horrified, but is confronted by Ric in the parking garage. If she wants this suspension and possible termination to go away, she needs to testify at a grand jury he’s empaneling to investigate Jason and Sonny. She refuses, and then Ric insinuates that not only will she lose her job, but possibly face legal repercussions for stealing the meds. Maybe she might lose custody of Cameron.

Horrified, Elizabeth sits in her car for a long time. She knows she has to tell Jason about the threats but worried that contacting him would be an admission of guilt, so she goes to the Quartermaines to visit Emily. She begs to borrow Emily’s phone, knowing a call to her brother would be relatively routine. Emily balks at first, wanting to know why she’s so upset, but Elizabeth isn’t explaining. Emily agrees, and Elizabeth calls Jason, arranging to meet out at Vista Point.

Emily still presses her, particularly on the suspension, trying to remind Elizabeth Jason’s having problems of his own with Sonny’s illness and the breakup with Sam. Elizabeth fends her off and heads out for the meeting.

She tells Jason about Ric’s threat. She’s pretty terrified if they force her to testify, there’s a lot of little things she probably knows that might be the nail in his coffin. They’ve known each other nearly a decade, after all. Lucky used to work for him as a courier. She’d been kidnapped and accosted by men like Sorel and Roscoe, even Manny. Jason recognizes the threat—they don’t know particularly what fishing expedition Ric might be on, but the net is wide considering how much Elizabeth has, even accidentally, been privy to. He’s also worried about the missing file from that summer—he doesn’t want her to have to answer any question about it. If she doesn’t testify, Ric might be able to railroad her into taking the fall for Lucky and his pills. She suspects Maxie but there’s no evidence. God knows, Elizabeth has a history of covering for Lucky and his issues, going back to the brainwashing.

Jason agrees it’s a problem. How long did Ric give her? A week. He asks her for one day to talk to Diane, to figure out options. He’s not going to let her end up in trouble for him. They’ll figure out what to do next.

The next day, he calls her from a different cell number so it’s not immediately traced to him. They meet again at Vista Point. After discussion the generalities with Diane, the best way to keep Elizabeth from being compelled to testify is if they fly to the Dominican Republic, where she can have a divorce from Lucky in twenty-fours, and they can get married. He starts to explain they’d need Lucky’s consent for it be valid in New York, but she’s still mostly stuck on step two of the plan. Get married? Haven’t they already been down this road before?

Jason eventually convinces her, and already has the paperwork Lucky will need to sign. She’s not sure how she’s supposed to get that dealt with, but since it’s already Saturday, and she only has until Friday morning, she agrees to let him know as soon as she can get it signed so they can go. Kind of dumbstruck and still not entirely convinced, Elizabeth goes home, but Ric is waiting is waiting at her apartment when she gets home. He just wants to remind her that Cameron’s safety is at stake here. If Elizabeth is proved to have provided her husband with the meds, why would they leave a small child with her? Add to the fact that she has yet to file for divorce—

Elizabeth tells him to get out or she’s going to call the police. Once inside her home, she calls Nikolas. She wants his help to go to the rehab tomorrow so she can get paperwork signed for an uncontested divorce. She’s hoping with Nikolas’s encouragement, Lucky will sign it and not realize she’s having the divorce done in the DR. She figures it’s best to present as a fait accompli.

Nikolas agrees to help her, but wishes she would give Lucky a chance. Elizabeth explains that the hospital has suspended her, pending investigation into the loss meds, ommiting Ric’s involvement. This is her best chance to retain her job and health insurance. She has a son and one on the way to worry about. He gets it, and suggests they frame it to Lucky that way — surely he’ll understand that she needs to cut ties with him for the moment.

Lucky is having a good day and readily agrees to the divorce. He’s full of apologies, he hates what he did, he had no idea Maxie would steal the drugs. Elizabeth doesn’t necessarily want Maxie involved, but appreciates the offer to sign an affidavit that Elizabeth has nothing to do with it. She’s confident she’ll be exonerated.

The paperwork in hand, Elizabeth grabs Cameron and tells her grandmother she’s leaving town for a few days to take a breather. Audrey agrees. She arrives at the airstrip to learn Sonny has become involved. He wants this to look as good as possible for all their sakes — Robin is coming along as maid of honor, he’ll be best man. After the divorce is final, they’ll head to the island for a private beach wedding. Elizabeth is extremely uncomfortable with that, but agrees.

Robin tells her that Sonny didn’t ask Emily because of the connection to Lucky. In private, Elizabeth fills Robin in completely — Lucky and Maxie, the one night with Jason. The possible baby. Robin is concerned. Have they even discussed what might happen if Lucky turns out the father? Elizabeth isn’t sure. Mostly because, she’s hoping it will be Jason’s child. He’s the better father all around. Robin agrees, but they should address the situation.

Once Elizabeth attains her divorce, Sonny surprises them with that beach wedding, down to outfits and photographers. Jason doesn’t seem to argue with it, and Elizabeth suppose it’s all for the appearance, but shortly before the ceremony Jason tells her he knows this is overwhelming, and wants to make sure she’s okay with everything. They haven’t really settled any details for what comes after. She acknowledges she’s a little apprehensive. What if the baby is Lucky’s, for one thing? Jason is less sure about that, but promises if she wants him to, he raise the child as his own. Elizabeth is not on board with that—Jason doesn’t deserve that to happen to him again. It doesn’t bother him—but it bothers her. If Lucky stays clean, and she hopes he will, she doesn’t want to cut him out of his child’s life. Jason can understand that and they agree to table that for now. She feels better that they’re at least talking about what’s next.

The wedding itself is actually really nice, and Sonny has timed it for just before sunset. Robin tells Sonny later if she hadn’t known they were both in serious relationships, she would have thought the ceremony was real. Sonny agrees.

There’s an awkward tension in the villa they’re sharing, but Elizabeth decides to go for it. They’re married, she tells him. They were both free before and it’s not like they’re not attracted to one another. They sleep together and it’s kind of acknowledging their marriage is going to be real.

Once they return to PC, it’s Thursday. The next day, Elizabeth is due to receive the results of the paternity test and it’s also Ric’s deadline. Sonny had their apartment packed and moved into Jason’s penthouse, something that did not go unnoticed by Nikolas and Emily. They confer on it and Nikolas reveals Elizabeth’s quick divorce. Emily has a feeling she knows what’s up, but doesn’t say anything to Nikolas.

Elizabeth doesn’t seek Ric out, knowing Sonny put a wedding announcement in the paper scheduled to run that morning. Instead, she goes to pick up the results, resolving not to read them until she and Jason are together. She runs into Emily who’s waiting outside Cam’s preschool and has seen the paper. She had suspected it, but wonders why her friend didn’t tell her. Elizabeth really isn’t in the mood, particularly since Emily had continually encouraged her to stay with Lucky and give him chances. After ditching Emily, she grabs the results and heads back to the penthouse.

Where she finds Sam shaking the newspaper in Jason’s face and crying. Elizabeth attempts to just get out of the room so Jason can deal with it, but Sam begins to light into her as well with some choices names, causing Jason to step in and tell her to knock it off.

They’re in the middle of this when Cody announces Ric is on his way up with a detective. Great timing. Luckily, Sam doesn’t really care for Ric so she decides to hide out in the kitchen. Ric comes in and snarks at Elizabeth about her decision — this is how she’s going to shore up losing her job by marrying money? Elizabeth remains silent while Jason tersely tells him that if he has anything else to add, he should contact Diane. Ric storms out, obviously annoyed with being thwarted.

Sam comes back in from the kitchen, slightly more calm. She apologizes, she thought they had continued their affair, but obviously they’re just protecting Jason. When she leaves, Jason apologizes for her behavior and that she left with the wrong impression of the situation, he just didn’t want to make things worse. She ignores that for now because she’s not really sure she wants to know what he thinks the right impression would be, so she changes the subject and pulls out the test results. She’s scared and Jason finally asks her what does she want it to say. Of course she wants him to be the father, Elizabeth replies as if it should be understand. After surviving the summer with Lucky, who put her son in such danger with his drug habit, she knows Jason is the better father and even before this complication, she wanted to give him a child, because she remembers how much he loved Michael.

And it goes without saying, it would be easier if the man she was married to would be the biological father of the child she was carrying. With that in mind, she hands him the envelope. Jason takes it and reads it out loud, pausing at the news that he is declared the father with a 99.93 certainty. They’re both more relieved than either had realized and reach for each other. Looks like their marriage of convenience is convenient for a lot of reasons.

Afterwards, Elizabeth asks if maybe they could pick Cameron up from preschool and grab lunch at Kelly’s. It would probably be good to be out in public, she tells him, and she wants Cam to be comfortable with. Jason agrees, and while in the car after picking up Cam, Jason receives a phone call from Sonny. He has an inkling of Ric’s next move and wants to meet with him. Jason tells him he’ll be there after lunch with Liz and Cam. Sonny tells him he’ll join them.

While at Kelly’s, Elizabeth is a little annoyed Sonny is going to join them, but understands it. It’s a good show of solidarity. Sonny tells them that source in the DA’s office has heard rumblings about a grand jury being empaneled even though Elizabeth would not be a voluntary witness. She’s confused—wasn’t the marriage supposed to protect them? Sonny responds that he’s setting up a meeting with Diane on Monday to discuss options. There’s no way a grand jury can be summoned fast, so they’ve got time to see what might be happening. He chats for a bit with Cam, suggests maybe hooking him up with a playdate with Kristina, Morgan, and Michael before leaving.

Elizabeth decides she doesn’t want to deal with any the drama over the weekend. She just wants to settle into their new home and into their new life. Jason agrees since he knows it might be the last bit of downtime they get. The weekend is relatively light though Elizabeth does get an annoyed phone call from Emily, doesn’t appreciate being avoided, and an angry one from Lucky who threatens to contest the DR divorce. Elizabeth ignores both for the moment — Emily is always annoyed, and she’s sure Diane’s paperwork for the divorce was good.

On Monday, they drop Cam at preschool before meeting Sonny at Diane’s office. Diane has done some digging and has some rough news for them. Yes, marital privilege applies — but only to what what is said between them. Elizabeth can still be compelled to testify since the matters Ric may be referring apply to before the marriage. Most of the time, prosecutors elect not to press it as it can get dicey and depends usually on the judge to apply it. In that case, communications may be privileged but what she saw or did is not protected.

So Diane needs an accounting of what Elizabeth may have told Ric at any time about Jason or Sonny. Elizabeth says almost nothing. Looking back, she figured Ric initially targeted her because of that connection, but he was subtle. She wasn’t really that receptive but things with Lucky and Jason were difficult and then things with Courtney had blown up, so she’d gone ahead and started to date. But Ric’s questions were just…what normal people ask. About previous relationships. It really came up when Ric started working for Sonny, because Elizabeth mentioned she knew Sonny, and Ric referred to hearing a rumor about her dating Jason. But she never told him anything specific, much less anything that might incriminate them.

Sonny’s patience is wearing thin and he kind of snaps at her. Even when you were demanding I leave him alone? When you were protecting him while Carly was his hostage? You never talked about the things she’d seen. Elizabeth is annoyed by this, but Jason tells Sonny to back off. Elizabeth says that she had come forward when she realized Carly was in the house. It’s hardly her fault if Sonny never had Ric arrested for kidnapping or taken out. Diane hates that term, but Sonny just retorts well she married him despite all that, so what the hell.

Elizabeth is truly pissed off. She tells Sonny that even though he mostly forgot her existence when she wasn’t doing him a favor or useful to him, she took her friendship honestly, and fuck it, she had too much going on in her life to give a damn about him. She’d had a miscarriage, her marriage was never stable for a minute, her blood pressure was through the roof by the time she left Ric. Diane calls for a time out. She honestly feels Ric is going to go on a fishing expedition, which is why he’s not bringing general charges. He’ll keep badgering Elizabeth with the very little he does know until maybe something slips.

Jason wants to know their options, he doesn’t want to hear about the past anymore. He’s confident Elizabeth never said a word to Ric, even if Sonny isn’t. Sonny apologizes and Elizabeth accepts. Diane says her first move is to get Ric taken off any case relating to Sonny, Elizabeth . Being the ex-husband, it’s a huge conflict of interest. With any luck, that will be the end of the matter. Sonny again apologizes, more sincerely. He’s just angry about the situation, that Elizabeth is being targeted again by Ric simply because of her relationship with Jason. He’d hoped it would go away. Elizabeth responds more sincerely as well. Ric is a lousy human being who’s been terrorizing them all just a little too long in her her opinion.

After they give Cam dinner and put him to bed, Elizabeth admits she’s worried Diane won’t be able to stop Ric from putting her in front of a grand jury. Because she thinks he might contact other people who might give him information, particularly people who’ve known them forever and might not be happy with them. Like Lucky. She thinks even Emily might be forced to testify. If Diane can’t get Ric off the case, there’s no telling the damage he might do. Jason recognizes the risk, and they’ll do what they can to minimize it, but it’s not good to think about things that might not happen at all. She agrees, and they table it. Yet another thing they’re procrastinating about.

Nikolas visits Lucky in rehab and learns his brother is pissed about the ruse Elizabeth pulled. Nikolas, realizing Elizabeth had also duped him, doesn’t feel much better. Lucky begins to make threats about Elizabeth’s child, not having made the connection that the marriage might put the paternity in jeopardy. He confers with Emily, who thinks maybe that’s why the marriage was hurried for the sake of the baby. They wonder whether to intimate that to Lucky, but decide it would affect his recovery.

A few days pass and there’s no developments. Emily catches Elizabeth at Kelly’s and asks, tentatively about the status of her job. Elizabeth hasn’t thought much about it, she’s been unpacking and dealing with things at the penthouse, particularly refining th/e security detail on herself, the apartment and Cam. As far as she knows, the investigation is still ongoing. Relieved Elizabeth isn’t blowing her off, Emily asks how she’s feeling, re the baby and all. Elizabeth tells her as well as can be expected. And then Emily goes and asks is the baby the reason they got married? Elizabeth decides she might as well come clean and admits yes. She’s not sure if or how to tell Lucky. She hadn’t intended on telling him about the baby at all until things were settled, but matters forced her hands. Emily agrees waiting would be best, but with the marriage to Jason, it might not be feasible. Elizabeth figures she might be right.

Almost two weeks after the meeting with Diane, she calls Jason and Elizabeth back to her office. She has filed a motion to recuse Ric from all matters relating to Sonny, Jason and Elizabeth. Scott Baldwin has been appointed special prosecutor in his stead. Though Sonny has a complicated past with Sonny due to his daughter, Karen, it’s tenuous at best. Elizabeth feels slightly better — she doesn’t even know Scott that well so he likely won’t harass her. Diane wants to have her optimism but isn’t feeling it.

Lucky’s sixty day rehab is up and he goes home to apartment, seething that Cam and Elizabeth’s things are gone. He’s lost his job, wife and son, but he’s going to keep his kid. He storms over to the penthouse, demanding entrance. Elizabeth, bolstered by the fact Jason and Sonny are across the hall in an office talking about business, allows him in. He starts ranting about her abandoning him and that he’s going to sue for custody of Cam and the new baby, she won’t keep him out of their lives. If she fights, he’ll tell anyone who will listen Elizabeth stole pills for him.

Any thought of trying to ease into the truth flies out the window. Elizabeth tells him the baby is Jason’s, and that he never legally adopted Cam so he can go to hell. She tries to kick him out, but he doesn’t go right away. The guard on the door interferes and there’s a scuffle, which draws Jason and Sonny from across the hall. Sonny decides what the hell, and calls the police. The guard finally gets the upper hand and Lucky is arrested for assault and trespassing. Once he’s gone and Sonny and the guard go to file the charges, Jason lights into Elizabeth for letting him in the penthouse. She’s really not in the mood and storms out, angry Jason thinks he can control her.

While Elizabeth is blowing off steam, Diane calls Jason. She’s finally got a lead on what Scott is planning and says to get Elizabeth home. She’ll be right over.

Elizabeth returns and things are still tense when Diane arrives. She says that the investigation into Jason’s missing police files from the summer has been reopened. She fears that this, in addition to the pill charges, is the leverage over Elizabeth to flip on Jason and Sonny. Elizabeth is now legitimately scared — the pills are a bogus charge, but she and Jason both know she’s guilty of stealing and destroying Jason’s file. Does Diane know what evidence they have for either charge? Diane isn’t sure, but Scott would have to show his hand if he thought he had the pressure. She’ll keep them informed, but she’s not sure where this is going.

Once she leaves, Elizabeth tries to talk about what they’re going to do. Jason is pissed that the authorities intend to go after his pregnant wife to get to him, but he’s not sure if they need to act at the moment. If they’d had any evidence Elizabeth destroyed that file, they would not have waited all this time to use the charges. He again tells her not to get stressed over something that might not happen. She blows up because she’s tired of not stressing about things that might not happen. He didn’t want to talk about how to tell Lucky and then hated how she handled the situation, he doesn’t want to talk about how to get rid of their legal troubles and they sure as hell aren’t talking about the baby and their future together. Why bother since she’ll probably be giving birth in jail?

Kind of stunned at this new explosion, Jason doesn’t immediately follow when Elizabeth flees, but sends a guard. She picks Cam up at preschool and checks into a hotel. She’s just…frustrated and wants a moment. She’s not thinking how it’ll look.

While Elizabeth is gone, Sam shows up. She wants to talk about getting back together now that Ric has been removed as prosecutor. Surely whatever he was doing to Elizabeth is a moot point. Maybe they can do something, and Jason is kind of annoyed because he didn’t think he’d have to have this conversation. He tells Sam that Elizabeth is pregnant, that its his child and that they’re actually married. She’s kind of…slow to understand what he means by that final thing, and just thinks it’s for the baby, which she gets, but—and then it hits her. She demands to know if they’re sharing a room. Jason doesn’t understand why she’s pushing this. They broke up almost six months ago and she slept with her stepfather, so…Sam tells him it was mistake, but he really doesn’t want to hear it. He thinks she should leave before Elizabeth gets home. She’s truly pissed now and storms out.

Carly, having been informed Elizabeth booked a room, goes to see her. She wants to know what the hell the problem is but stops before freaking out completely because Elizabeth is exhausted and Cameron is whining. She picks Cam up, and cuddles the three year old on her lap, showing him how to color in a book he had thrown. Once Cam is calmed down, she takes pity on Elizabeth, who is too tired to fight. She tells Carly about the last few months, including why she and Jason are married, and their possible legal troubles. Carly says she was stupid to destroy that file, but hell she probably would have done the same thing if given the opportunity. She can appreciate why Elizabeth blew up. Pregnancy and all that, but walking out is the wrong way to deal with it. Jason’s partially right — there isn’t much they can do until Scott shows his hand, but don’t let him dismiss her concerns.

Elizabeth takes Cam home and apologizes to Jason for blowing up, and he admits they’re not handling the situation well. He didn’t think things through — figuring that spousal privilege had protected Sonny and Carly all those years before, and it had protected him and Brenda after Alcazar’s murder. He didn’t know the ins and outs of it, didn’t realize how things could get complicated. She asks if he’s sorry, if he wishes they weren’t married. He immediately rejects that. One, he doesn’t like to think about what ifs, and two, he’s satisfied with how things are. Satisfied is such an anemic word but Elizabeth lets it go for the moment. He’s a good father, and he’s a good husband. He wouldn’t cheat on her or take pills. Her standards are low these days. If sometimes she wished they were in love, well, that was a fantasy for a woman who wasn’t about to become a mother again. She tells him to have Sonny drop the charges against Lucky. Christmas is in a few weeks, and she just…wants to pretend things are normal. He agrees.

Christmas Day passes peacefully. Jason and Elizabeth decorate and try to make the day special for Cameron. He’s happy in his school, happy in his situation, and really starting to be attached to Jason and to the idea of being a big brother. They go to Sonny’s for dinner, where he’s been allowed to have all three of his children for a change and the three of them completely avoid any talk of legal troubles though they know, in this case, no news is probably bad news.

Shortly after the beginning of the new year, Diane calls. Scott would like to sit down with Elizabeth and Jason to discuss a few matters. They can refuse, but this is their opportunity to see what’s up his sleeve.

Scott begins the interview by stating that they intend to charge Elizabeth with possession of narcotics and intent to distribute and obstruction of justice in tampering with evidence—the latter of which may be upgraded to a federal charge. Diane tells Scott this is all nonsense, but Scott thinks a jury will buy that Elizabeth kept her husband drugged up, hoping he wouldn’t notice her affair with the local mob enforcer, whom she protected from jail by destroying crucial evidence. The pills went missing on her floor, on her shifts, her husband acknowledged an addiction for which he’d been fired, and Elizabeth was in the squad room when the evidence went missing. Coupled with her hasty divorce and remarriage, Scott is confident a jury would connect the dots.

Diane snarkily asks if he’s so sure, what the hell are they doing there. Elizabeth is sheet-white and Jason is stone silent. Scott admits it’s not Elizabeth he wants and certainly doesn’t relish putting her in jail. Elizabeth begins to stay something, but Diane quiets her. What exactly does Scott want? Scott doesn’t want Elizabeth to flip on Jason. No, he wants Jason to flip on Sonny. If Jason agrees to testify and provide evidence against his boss, then his wife and unborn child will be spared the stress of an arrest and trial.

Elizabeth is horrified. Of course that’s not going to happen, but Diane again quickly quiets her. Diane tells Scott he has no case, and shames him for attempting to scare the bejesus out of a woman who had already suffered two miscarriages. Scott tells them that he’s not in a hurry. He’s confident when Jason has time to think it over, he’ll come to the the right decision. After all, isn’t Elizabeth in this position because of him?

Diane hustles her clients out into the car, and explodes. Of all the nerve. Jason quietly asks Diane what exactly the options are this point now that Scott has shown his hand. Diane’s not sure. She would petition for discovery, to learn exactly what evidence Scott has, but that wasn’t possible until charges had been filed. Elizabeth is upset that she’s put Jason into this position. They married so she would be protected from Ric, and now her own actions, her own previous marriage threatened to jeopardize Jason. This was not what she wanted.

Diane tells them she’s going to keep working, hoping to get more information about Scott and his sources. She’s not going down without a fight.

Once at home, they table conversation until Cam is in bed. Elizabeth is very scared now. The way Scott laid out the charges, she’s worried a jury would convict her without strong evidence, and hell she was actually guilty. Jason tells her not to worry. She did it to protect him ,and he’s not going to let her be punished for that.

Emily and Nikolas have lunch and reflect on the fact they’re so far apart from Elizabeth. Emily is sure something is going on, but Elizabeth is just not talking. She knew Robin knew something, but the other doctor had remained mum and Elizabeth hadn’t really been keeping in touch, the investigation at GH still being conducted. Nikolas is frustated because he’s pretty sure Lucky is using again but he can’t prove it.

Jason meets with Sonny, but Sonny doesn’t have much to offer. It’s a shitty deal no matter what and they’re both worried about the stress on her pregnancy. Scott hasn’t made a move yet, but Jason doesn’t know how long he’ll have.

Elizabeth meets wih Diane separately. She wants to start guardian ship paperwork for Cameron in case the worst happens. Diane agrees, but wishes she’d have more faith. Elizabeth is just out of it.

After two weeks of radio silence, Scott makes another move. He contacts Diane to guage how Elizabeth is feeling. Would she be up to another meeting, by herself? Diane balks. Can’t flip on the best friend of the husband without the husband being there. She’s not even confident Scott’s case is good—

So Scott, as a courtesy, sends over copies of his files. Diane is troubled and calls Jason and Liz in for a conference. The pill charges are shaky — really just that the timing matches and Lucky’s addiction, but the evidence is much stronger against her in the file theft. Elizabeth signs in for the crucial ten minutes in the squad room and at least three detectives are willing to testify she was close enoug to Alexis to overhear the damning information. Hospital security files show her standing in front a shredder for nearly five minutes, though no idea what she’s doing. Diane remarks it’s possible she might have been on the computer, but it might be a tough sell. The PCPD isn’t thrilled, seeing her as abandoning a brother in blue for a criminal.

In other words, Elizabeth asks dully, Scott actually has a case. Diane admits he does. Elizabeth asks about a possible plea agreement—which Jason tries to veto immediately, but Diane says its not much of an option. She could get ten to fifteen years if convicted of both at trial, though she could, under normal circumstances, plead it down to a misdemeanor which might lead to a fine and suspended sentence. But Scott has hinted that he is not open to a plea agreement, and if she just plead guilty, she’d be at the mercy of a court.

A plea is completely out, Jason tells her. She is not having their child in prison, she’s not doing a damn minute of time. He’s the one who breaks the law, not her. He’s not letting her pay for his crimes. Elizabeth is almost hysterical since she’s actually being accused of at least one crime she did do, and she says she’d do it again to protect him. She doesn’t want to go to jail, but what’s the alternative? Diane leaves them to duke it out.

She’s so tired anymore, tired of waiting for the second shoe to drop and learning it’s an avil. What is the alternative? Jason can’t flip on Sonny, that’s not even on the table. Forget the friendship, it would be suicide from their enemies—Jason would always be labeled a snitch. It’s got to be her. Jason tells her they’ll keep dogging Diane for other options. He’s not letting her be the sacrificial lamb. They’re only going after her to get to him, and he’s not going to let it happen, no matter what he has to do. She’s too tired to continue to fight, so the topic gets shelved.

Jason meets with Diane. He wants to know if Scott would take a plea from him. He’d cop to something on his own, something mid-level. He would do the time. Diane thinks this is the dumbest idea in the history of world, but agrees to put the feelers out to Scott.

Emily visits Elizabeth, but is rejected at the door. Elizabeth is feeling ill, she’s told. Stung, she reports to Nikolas it’s like she doesn’t even know her friend anymore, the way she just abandoned Lucky. Nikolas thinks something else is happening.

Jason learns from Diane Scott isn’t interested in him. He wants Sonny. Sonny and Jason have been making calls of their own, and Sonny says that they should let Elizabeth go on trial, and they’ll just buy the jury. Jason isn’t so sure it’s worth the risk. Sonny remarks that Jason could probably get Witness Protection for him and his family if he were to flip completely on Sonny. Jason angrily tells him to fuck off. How dare he think he’d sacrifice Sonny’? Sonny tells him he’s going to have to make a choice.

In the midst of this drama, Jason and Elizabeth have an ultrasound and learn they’re having a boy. At home, Elizabeth tells Jason she’s drawn up guardianship papers for Cameron in case she ends up in prison after all, which only makes him angrier. Why can’t she trust him to make this go away? Because making it go away isn’t an option, isn’t that clear to him by now? And wouldn’t it just make his life so much damn easier? He wouldn’t be saddled down with a wife he didn’t want, just her kids. He could even get back together with Sam—

At this point, Jason is strung so tightly that he punches a hole in the wall with Elizabeth’s pronouncement. He knows this isn’t going away, and why the hell is she even bringing up Sam? She’s not even the radar. Elizabeth, their family, this life, it means everything to him and he’s not going to let Scott use her to break him apart. He admits he tried to plead guilty on his own, but Scott refused.

Mostly stunned by the last five minutes, Elizabeth focuses on that last part. What the hell, you bastard. How dare you think you going to jail can be the answer here? Doesn’t he know how much she needs him? How absolutely vital he is?

And of course, they both kind of stop because they know there’s nothing left to say. They’ve admitted the strength of their relationship, their connection and the impossibility of the situation. And there’s still no answer to this situation. Cam’s guard brings him home from school, so they stop dealing with it.

The next day, while Cam is at school and Elizabeth naps, Jason goes to Sonny. Sonny wonders if Jason is here to give him warning. Jason isn’t sure. He tells Sonny he tried to make his own deal, but Scott wants Sonny and no one else. He can’t let Elizabeth pay because she protected him, and she’s certainly not guilty of the drug charges. Sonny admits he’s not happy about things. Diane just dumped him as a client to prevent conflict. She can’t tell Elizabeth to tank another client, after all. And maybe Sonny should do time. Jason hates that option, he doesn’t want to turn on Sonny, but this is his wife, the mother of his children. Before the conversation can go further, Jason receives a frantic call from Diane. A source at the PCPD says Elizabeth there in a room with Scott and waived all privilege. Jason and Sonny rush to PCPD, where they’re prevented from stopping the interrogation.

Inside, Elizabeth tells Scott she’ll plead guilty to the evidence tampering, but not the drugs. She didn’t do that. Scott tells her there’s no plea agreement. She could do five years, at least for the charge. And he won’t pull any strings to delay her sentencing until after the baby’s birth. Elizabeth accepts that, and Scott tries to play her a bit. How it must feel to know her husband would let her go to jail rather than turning on a friend. How little she meant to him after everything she’d done for him. Elizabeth isn’t fooled. She knows how this is tormenting Jason and she’s worried Jason would end up choosing her. She did the crime. She’s not going to let Scott go after her husband when she’s guilty of that at least.

Scott is really annoyed. This is not the confession he wanted, not the defendant, and now he’s faced with actually putting a mother in jail. A woman with no history, into a prison with violent offenders.

She looks like Karen a little, with her fierce expression and the tilt of her chin.

Scott rips up the confession and tells her to get out. They’re done. She leaves the room, and Jason and Diane are frantic. Scott tells them all to get out.

Diane is satisfied with Elizabeth’s explanation — that she had gambled with a confession, knowing Scott didn’t really want her. Once he had walked away from her confession, he had tied his hands. He could never go after her again for those charges with explaining why he’d let her go.

When they return home, Jason is pretty livid that she risked everything without even talking to him. She apologizes but she knows he never would have allowed it. She knew that Jason was at Sonny’s possibly discussing Jason turning in Sonny. He admits they had begun to talk about the possibility. She would never forgive herself and any hope for a future would have been poisoned if he’d betrayed himself that way, turning on Sonny, particularly to protect her from something she had actually done. She thought this would give them their best chance. He’s relieved her gamble worked, but he doesn’t want her to take chances like this again. This is their life, and they’re in it together. Hard to argue with that.

Epilogue: Elizabeth gives birth to Jake, and it’s a special moment. Jason tells her how much he loves her, and their sons.

Cora responded with some thoughts and ideas:

Great setting for the story. Almost all the MOC stories I’ve read have taken place during the 2002/2003 time period so it’s nice to see one that is in the later half of Jason/Elizabeth. The timeline works well for the setting of the MOC.

I like that there is a semblance of a friendship between Sonny and Elizabeth. I always did enjoy the scenes where they are actually friends. I also like that they have a blowout scene where Liz gets to yell at him for being a jackass to her during the LiRic storyline.
I enjoy how you are using Carly in this storyline. It’s refreshing that she’s not Liz’s adversary but actually helps her.
I love the turn of events in the storyline (Scotty is going after Sonny and not Jason). It’s a new twist that not many people write about. I also like how the case is built up against Elizabeth. It’s completely logical and the character’s reactions to the events are on point. (Jason trying to make a deal with Scotty to get Elizabeth off the hook). I can easily picture this story playing out on the TV screen.
It’s nice that Sonny actually considers letting Jason flip on Sonny. It shows that Sonny cares for Jason and is willing to go down to protect Jason and his family after all the times Jason has protected Sonny’s family.
I like that they keep tabling the conversation about their problems. Classic Liason.
I think it’s a great plot point to have Elizabeth confess to Scotty and having him doubt his actions and think of Karen. I love any throwbacks to the past. haha. I don’t think you need to have the trial to make the story compelling. While it would be a good plot point to bring in other characters (Audrey, Robin, etc) it might drag the story out. On the other hand, if you do decide to write in the trial it could be a good way to resolve the Emily/Nikolas questions I mention below.
I wonder if you can bring in some flashbacks from Jason/Elizabeth’s conversations from their ONS/NOP in this story. For instance, they talk about how life always gets in the way and timing is everything and their’s suck. I believe it was 8/15/2006. You could use that perhaps in the scene where they realize the marriage of convenience is not just to protect each other from testify but it allows them to build a life together.
Several questions to consider:
How does Elizabeth agree to marry Jason? During the NOP and reiterated in Elizabeth’s scene with Cameron on 9/12/2006, Jason lives a dangerous life and she can’t bring her child into that world. I think a scene that explicitly shows Elizabeth considering this thought and changing her mind (and why she does) is needed. I understand she wants to be protected and protect Jason from Ric’s investigation but it seems a bit weird that she’s apprehensive about it but then decides a MOC is okay.
I’m interested to see how the wedding scene plays out. Do they discuss safety/security concerns for the family during these scenes before they consummate?

The ball was dropped on the Emily/Nikolas/Lucky aspects of the story. Does Emily/Nikolas ever find out what Elizabeth was keeping from them? What was their reaction to the fallout about what happens to Elizabeth? Did Lucky fall off the wagon? Is he back in rehab? Does Robin make any other appearances in the story?

Is their going to be a scene where Ric gets all huffy and puffy with Diane or another character for getting recused from the case?

And my responses to her:

I was thinking maybe of having Elizabeth explain her reasoning to come out during the conversation with Robin. I’ve always seen that part of the scene as a defensive tactic – Elizabeth walking away before Jason could. I’m not sure she would have been able to imagine Jason wanting to continue seeing her, so she said what she thought he might be thinking. So when Jason suggests this plan, she doesn’t quite jump at it, but she doesn’t pull away from it either. I remember that her refusal to that first proposal didn’t stem from the violence (in fact, at no point does that come out as a reason to hide the paternity until February — Elizabeth’s original reason for keepnig the scret was not to wreck Jason’s life). Elizabeth almost appeared to consider it until Jason didn’t really know what kind of marriage it would be. So I’m kind of working from that concept, but yeah I’ll definitely have to address that.
And I think there has to be an element of that in the scene before the wedding. Because everything’s been a blur up until that point, it’s been fear and desperation for her boys and that instinct of wanting to protect Jason ,but not sure she could and do what she needs for her own family. So Jason’s plan offers her a way to do that, she agrees, but then she actually has her quickie divorce in her hand that it’s starting to feel real. Sonny’s explaining this wedding plans, she sees the dress. She starts to freak because she’s starting to accept the fact that her love for Jason has just been buried, never gone and it’s there again, but what does that even mean? So I think she’ll instigate the conversation, because she’s having cold feet. What does this mean for the future? The paternity aside, there’s Cameron to deal with, and how long would something like this last. I want Jason to give her answers to reassure her, but nothing quite definitive, so I’d have to play with this.
As to the rest of it, it’s just a matter how much to put other characters in. I’m trying hard to write a straightforward story with main storyline almost in the the line of A Few Words, but that had some Sonny and Carly stuff in there, dealing with their guilt. I want to use other character to enhance it without taking away from it. So I know I have to put a bit more Robin in there. I want to do more Emily, but I also want it be about Elizabeth finally taking stock of her friendships. Emily was not all that supportive of Elizabeth during the drug storyline — and she, along with Nikolas, factored into the guilt I think Elizabeth felt about not really having her heart in her marriage, worried that her night with Jason would send Lucky over the edge again. Once she realizes how Lucky has put her at risk (through the drugs and being suspended). So while I have to deal with Emily/Nikolas, I do want a distance to be created.

As for Lucky, I don’t want him to be the villain. He’s angry initially because he feels like Elizabeth tricked him into the divorce, and maybe it could feed into his old insecurities about Jason — she’s leaving him for Jason like he always thought she would, and maybe it hadn’t been Patrick, but Jason. Elizabeth’s paternity test and pregnancy is not really well-known, but during that confrontation, when Elizabeth tells him the truth about the paternity and points out Cam hasn’t been adopted, I have to figure out if I want Lucky to just deal with it, be pissed, but walk away or still make trouble somehow. I really don’t want him to be the villain, because he’s going of going to be in Broken Girl, and I would rather not repeat myself more than I have to considering I’m dealing with the same time period.

I left in some hints for another story I’m working on set during the same timeframe 😛

So that’s the first approach at All We Are. I think, for the most, I kept most elements. Cora pushed me on Lucky/Emily/Nikolas, which I’m so happy about because I think the resolution of all three of those relationships with Elizabeth worked well.

I didn’t end up going with some of the Liason conflict I planned, though I wrote the scenes. I realized it didn’t need to be a conflict and it villanized Lucky more than I was comfortable with.

I also didn’t tie up all the loose threads — I never dealt with Elizabeth’s job at the hospital or whatever Ric might cook up to get them back. I did that on purpose. You never tie up loose ends in a soap opera 😛 You never know when you need them down the road for another story.

I hope you guys like the look at the plotting process. I take my writing very seriously which is why I often have trouble. I like to know what I’m going to do and why and utilizing the character backgrounds to drive more story.

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