Written in 48 minutes. I didn’t think I’d be able to start and finish the next scene in 12 minutes so I just stopped writing here since it was a good place. Checked for spelling but not typos.

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Luke shot to his feet when Jason opened the door to the small room on the plane where Lucky was being kept. The younger man was slumped in chair, his hands shacked in a pair of cuffs attached to one of the chairs, and then both his feet were individually cuffed to the bottom. Lucky’s head lolled to the side, his face still bruised and bloody from whatever fight he’d been in with Robert and Luke who had dragged him away earlier that day—

Had it only been that morning?

“How’s Elizabeth?” Luke asked, stepping between his son and Jason. “Cowboy’s still out of it—“

“When he wakes up,” Jason said evenly, “you’re going to take him out of the country, and I never want to see him again. Elizabeth never has to see him again. He’s done.”

Luke swallowed hard. “Aiden—“

“Aiden doesn’t know him. If Elizabeth wants that to change one day, that’ll be up to her, but right now?” Jason arched a brow. “You want him to keep breathing, Luke? You’ll get him away me and my family.”

“It wasn’t supposed to be like this,” Luke said, his voice tinged with desperation as Jason turned away. “I wanted Laura and Elizabeth to help me save him. To save Jake—“

“You wanted them to do the work because you knew you couldn’t,” Jason retorted. “You know, people talk a lot about the hero you used to be. But I’ve never met the man who saved the world from Mikkos Cassadine. I’ve never met the man who took down Frank Smith. The only man I’ve ever known is the coward who couldn’t support his wife after she’d been raped and tortured at the hands of the Cassadines and made a teen aged girl responsible for his son.”

Luke swallowed hard. “I never was a hero,” he admitted in a low voice. “That was always Laura. She thought I was a good man. I wanted to be the man I saw in her eyes. I was for a little while. You know about that, Morgan. About the love of a woman who thinks you’re better than you are.”

Jason stared at him, then nodded. “I do.”

“Sometimes you can be,” Luke continued. “But it’s not in me. Luke and Lulu—they’re all the good I ever did in the world. My boy—“ He turned to look at Lucky, his eyes anguished. “You knew him once. You knew what I was trying to save. What would you do for your boy? For Jake? For Michael?” His mouth firmed and then Luke faced Jason. “What lines would you cross to save them?”

Jason took that in, then nodded. “All of them,” he admitted. “But Elizabeth wasn’t just a person, Luke. She’s not someone you should have been able to sacrifice. After everything she’s done for your family—you kept Jake from us. After what you did to him—“

“I needed her to save Lucky,” Luke said simply. “And you don’t get to stand there in judgment of me, Morgan, when I know your crimes aren’t better than mine. You hurt Elizabeth more than I ever did—“ He paused when Jason clenched his jaw. “I’m not talking about the accident. Not that. But everything else. You left your family, Morgan. Just like I did. You’re no better.”

There was enough truth in those words that Jason couldn’t find it in himself to argue. “You take him out of the country,” Jason repeated. “And the next time I see you or him will be because Elizabeth wants it.”

“Yeah, okay.” Luke exhaled slowly. “Can I finish the job?” he asked. “Laura will want to know about Nikolas. She deserves that—“

“If Laura wants your help, she can have it.” Jason opened the door and started away again—but Luke’s words stopped him.

“I wanted to be the man Laura saw when she looked at me, but I couldn’t do it. I wasn’t strong enough. I walked out on my family a long time before she got sick. Don’t make my mistake, Morgan. Be the man Elizabeth already thinks you are. She deserves it.”

—

Laura folded her arms, then brought her fingers to her mouth, her eyes intent on the satellite images as Spinelli scanned the island again for heat signatures. For any signs of life. It had been nearly three hours since the explosion—they were flying over France, and would be coming closer to the Atlantic.

And she still didn’t know if her son was alive.

“He might have gotten off the island,” Robert reminded her. Laura nodded absently. “Robin says it was the plan after all.”

“I know, but—“ Laura sighed. “Jason was right. If Stavros caught up to them that fast, then it’s likely—“ She closed her eyes. “How will I ever explain this to Spencer?”

“Spencer knew that his father was helping Jake,” Jason said as he rejoined them. “When we caught them trying to get Jax’s plan, Elizabeth told Spencer that Nikolas was trying to make things right.”

“If Nikolas doesn’t come home from this,” Sonny added, “then you tell Spencer his father gave his life to make sure the worst evil this world has ever known couldn’t come back again. You make him a hero, Laura.”

“It won’t be enough,” Laura murmured. “But it’ll be something.” She turned to Jason. “What did Luke say?” She paused. “What are you going to do about Lucky?”

“You can do whatever you want with them,” Jason said. “But Elizabeth doesn’t ever have to deal with either of them again if she doesn’t want to. She’ll decide how to handle things with Aiden, but he’s done with Cam and Jake. They’re mine.”

“I know,” Laura said softly. “And thank you. For letting him live when I know—I know it’s not what you want.”

“It’s not up to me,” Jason muttered. “And it’s not—there’s a chance it’s not all his fault,” he added with an irritated growl. “If Helena’s still brainwashing him—“

Laura’s breath released in a rush of air. “Thank you.”

“But you don’t ask Elizabeth for a single piece of help. She’s going to wake up,” Jason said, firmly, “and then we’re going home. If she wants to offer it later, that will be her decision. Luke already knows not to ask. She loves you, Laura. Don’t ask her.”

“I won’t. She’s going to wake up,” Laura said, with a nod. “And you’ll bring Jake to her. She’s done enough for the Spencers. I started this a long time ago. It’s on me to end it.”

Jason started back the hallway towards the room where Elizabeth was resting, when Sonny snagged his elbow. “You know there’s not a chance in hell Elizabeth is going to let Laura deal with alone.”

“No, and I’m not done with the Cassadines either,” Jason told Sonny in a low voice. “They took Jake from us and they put Elizabeth through hell for years. I’m not going to rest until every single one of them is dead. But Luke and Laura don’t need to know that yet.”

Sonny smirked, released Jason, then stepped back. “Letting them twist a bit. Good. They deserve it. Go sit with Elizabeth. Jake is resting. When he wakes up, I’ll come get you.”

“Thanks.”

—

He knew she would wake up. From the moment he’d realized that she was still breathing, Jason had known that Elizabeth would be okay. That she would make it to New York where he could get her to a hospital — but he’d never doubted her.

Two hours after he’d gone to sit with her, her lashes fluttered slightly and her head slowly moved—turning towards him. “What….” Her voice drifted in and out, the word rusty and nearly inaudible.

Jason took Elizabeth’s hand more tightly in his, leaning forward. “Elizabeth. Hey. Can you look at me? Please. Open your eyes. That’s all I need.”

Her lids drifted up slightly, just a sliver of those beautiful blue eyes peeking out before they disappeared. Her tongue darted out, the tip touching her dry lips. “What…happ…”

“Jake. We got him off the island. He’s safe. You’re okay. We got away,” Jason told her. “Elizabeth—“

Her eyes opened again, and this time she managed to hold them. “Jake. Jake. Not…not a dream. Oh—“ Elizabeth squeezed her eyes. “Oh, everything hurts.”

“You need something. I’ll get Patrick and Robin.” Jason kissed the palm of her hand. “I’ll get them. And then Jake. He wants you. He asked for you.”

“He asked…” A tear slid down her cheek. “He asked…”

“He did. I’ll get Patrick—“

Not wanting to be more than a few feet away from her, Jason went to the open doorway and called for Elizabeth’s best friend. Patrick came less than minute later, his wild hair and eyes matching Jason’s as he all but lunged to Elizabeth’s side. He reached for Elizabeth’s wrist to check her pulse.

“Patrick…” Elizabeth licked her lips. “On fire.”

“I bet,” Patrick muttered. “Pulse is racing.” He pressed a hand to her cheek. “Burning up. I think infection is setting in—“

“What—“ Jason’s breath quickened. “But she woke up—“

“No, no—it’s—“ Patrick closed his eyes, took a deep breath. “It’s okay. We can—she’s running a fever to fight the infection. That’s good. We can work with that. We have—we have some things we can give her.” He looked at Elizabeth. “You gave me a hell of a scare, Webber. Don’t do that.”

“Sorry.” Elizabeth’s smile was faint. “Was it bad?”

“Bad enough,” Patrick said, “but you’re strong enough to run the fever. That’s good, Jason,” he told the enforcer. “The transfusion worked. She’ll make it to GH.”

“Jake’s out there?” Elizabeth asked. She winced, pressing her hands flat against the sheet, almost if she was trying to lift herself up. “Robin. I remember Robin. And Nikolas. Did they—“ She saw Jason’s face. “What happened?”

“Robin got out,” Jason assured her, as Patrick continued to search through his medical kit until he found a bottle of pills. “But there was an explosion after we reached the airport. We’re—there’s no sign of Nikolas.”

“Oh, God.” Elizabeth closed her eyes. “Oh, no.”

“We’ll sort that out. Here, take this.” Patrick slid two pills between her lips and brought a glass of water to her lip. “That’s an antibiotic and some pain meds. To take the edge off.”

“I want to see Jake. Can I see him? Will I scare him? He’s been through so much—“ Elizabeth reached for Jason’s hand. “But I just want to see my little boy—“

“He needs to see you, too,” Jason told her. He put his other hand on top of hers, engulfing her smaller one between his. He brought her fingertips to his lips again. “He talked to Cam. He was very impressed by the attempt to steal a plane to rescue him.”

Elizabeth laughed, then winced. “Oh, man.”

“I’ll go get Jake,” Patrick said, then left.

“The next time someone tries to stab me,” Jason told her roughly, “you let them. Do you understand me?”

“No problem,” Elizabeth said. She met his eyes. “Just as long as you agree that the next time someone tries to stab me, you let them.”

“That—“ Jason scowled. “That’s not the same.”

“Feels like it is.”

“Don’t—“

“Mommy!”

A burst of energy shot through the door and nearly launched himself onto the bed, but Jason caught the little boy before he could land his full weight on Elizabeth.

“Whoa, whoa,” Jason said, with a surprised burst of laughter, pulling Jake back into his lap. “Mommy just woke up and she’s still hurt. Let’s take a minute, okay?”

“Jake.” Elizabeth stared at him, then reached out a hand to trace the curve of his cheek. “You’re here.”

“Mommy, I was scared that you wouldn’t wake up. But you did, and Cam said you were awesome, and I’m gonna like my room—“ Jake’s voice wobbled slightly. “Uncle Nik isn’t here.”

“I know. Daddy told me.” Elizabeth reached for his hand. “But he brought you to us so we could get you away. He was so brave.”

“He said you wanted me to come home so much. That you cried all the time.” Jake sniffled, swiped his hand over his nose. “Did you get hurt helping me?”

“Sort of,” Elizabeth said. “But it’s okay. It’s worth it to see you. Oh, God, Jake—“ She leaned up, ignoring the pain in her side as she gathered Jake into her arms, and brought him down to lay beside her, tucked into her arms. “My baby.” She pressed her lips to his blond head. “My beautiful baby.”

“I saw pictures of you, Mommy,” Jake told her, his voice muffled where it was tucked into the crook of her neck. “You and Daddy with my brothers at Christmas. You were at a park in the snow. And you looked sad. Uncle Nik said it’s because you love Christmas but I wasn’t there.”

“We went to the tree lighting,” Jason told Jake, running a hand down his back, as Elizabeth just closed her eyes, tears sliding down her cheeks. “And we were remembering you. We have presents for you at home. Christmas and birthday.”

“Uncle Nik said he’d bring me home and we’d be a family, all of us. That you’d be okay when I came home.” Jake leaned up to look at his mother. “Are you okay now? I’m home.”

“Yeah,” Elizabeth managed. “Yeah, you’re home. I’m perfect.”

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