She loved diving deep into cool water, the serenity of being completely under the calmness, whether it was floating aimlessly or moving her body in sinuous, masterful movements as she went from one end of the Olympic sized pool to the other.
Normally, she swam at the Quartermaine pool, early in the morning, long before anyone else was up and about. The guards were well used to her vehicle or her bicycle entering the property from the West gates. One guard would dutifully watch her as she swam; part of the deal with Edward that Emily had made when she first began swimming alone. Huffing and puffing and growling until she relented to be silently observed by Quartermaine CCTV, instead of having a guard lurk poolside. It was part and parcel of being a Quartermaine child. She, like family members before her, simply found a way to be controlled from a tolerable distance.
Powerful stroke after powerful stroke, her muscles would pull and strain and work, her lungs filling and then expelling air as she completed length after length until her body trembled with exhaustion.
The hotel she and Thane were staying at had a pool that wasn’t nearly as big as what she was used to, but the chlorine wasn’t overpowering and at 6am in the morning, there were no young kiddies shrieking and bellowing as they frolicked in the pool. She’s swam near an older gentleman, watching his well trained breaststroke before diving in and moving quickly into her favorite, the backstroke. After 20 lengths, she moved into the forward crawl, her feet propelling her as her arms sliced out of and back into the water without too much splash.
She’d slipped out before Thane could wake up, give her a look and drag her back beneath him. Instead she’d left a note and a kiss that she’d return in an hour. Reaching the end, she twisted her body expertly, her feet finding the gravelly wall and pushed off once more.
It was time to go back, as lovely as the few days with Thane had been, she needed to talk to Gia and reassure her friend that there was nothing to forgive.
“Who am I to tell her who she can and can’t fall in love with?” She’d laid it out to Thane, who’d patiently listened, a flicker of something hard and cool passing over his eyes when she mentioned Jason being the man in Gia’s life. It wasn’t surprising and she wasn’t offended. Most people who learned that Jason Morgan was her brother took a measured step back, as though by being his sister, she was involved in that sordid, cruel world. She knew it didn’t mean anything.
“He’s my brother and I know there’s good in him. I’ve seen it,” she declared as Thane poured them both a coffee. She had turned her head out the window at that moment and hadn’t noticed the way his hand shook or that his jaw tensed.
“But?” he supplied, hearing the word at the end of her statement. She took the cup from him and smelled the brew.
“But, his life is dangerous. He could get her hurt and she’s my friend. It’s hard enough waiting for the call about Jason, for someone to tell me he’s dead. To add Gia to that? To know that if anything happened to her, because of someone trying to get to him, to hurt him through her?”
Emily blinked several times, her face downcast and upset. Thane had simply pulled her into his arms, his embrace a welcome relief to her growing, palpable fear. “It’s been like this since I was a girl, since when he first woke up,” she murmured, her breath whisking against his collarbone as she tucked her head against his shoulder.
“When he took Michael, he changed. I didn’t see it then, I was so desperate to hang on to him, that I just let him get away with what he was doing. He was good to me; he loved me and took care of me. He had rules and a code and I thought there was honor and dignity to it. It was so different from the yelling and backstabbing with the rest of the family.”
“But then you changed,” Thane filled in and Emily nodded, slowly, her heart thumping sadly against her chest.
“He was punishing AJ. You know, Michael was almost 10 before AJ got him back, before AJ really got Michael in his life? It took years for them to build up their relationship. YEARS.” Now anger seeped into her voice. Anger and shame.
“Jason would look at AJ and there was so much venom in his eyes and he worked so hard to help Carly and then Sonny, to keep Michael from AJ, to poison Michael against AJ.”
She looked up, guilt glittering in her deep brown orbs. Thane furrowed his own brow as she continued. “I should know, I helped them. I believed AJ being a recovering alcoholic made him dangerous. He’d already killed Jason Quartermaine.”
She pulled away then, letting out a shaky sigh. Thane watched her with careful eyes. Hearing people praise Jason Morgan was not unusual, especially not in Port Charles. Over the years, he’d seemingly cultivated an image of a decent man, blinding so many to the ugliness of what he did. It was rare to hear people speak of the darkness in Jason. He pressed his lips together; the sudden urge to tell Emily everything pressing at him, wanting release.
“Emily,” he said, his voice a croaky plea, but she had moved across the room and his voice hadn’t carried far enough.
“I was so stupid, so childish then,” Emily said with a growl of exasperation. “It didn’t change anything, it just made things worse and I hated how it made me feel.”
She turned to face Thane and offered a sad smile. “So I stopped. Jason didn’t.” She gave a short laugh and shook her head. “Look at me, babbling away about ancient stuff again.”
She walked back to Thane, a warm smile replacing the sad one. “Maybe Jason can change. Maybe the love of a good woman can change him for the better.”
She looked at Thane, suddenly aware that he’d gone silent, his face dissolved into one of open vulnerability. “Thane?” she asked, concern filling her voice. This time it was her arms that wrapped around him protectively.
“Maybe,” he said quietly and she gave him a confused look. He cupped her face in his hands, his dark eyes alive and heated, sending a pulse of electricity through her lithe frame. “Maybe what?”she asked softly.
“Maybe the love of a good woman can change a man for the better.”
She’d gotten the feeling that a change had come over Thane, he’d become quiet and thoughtful, agreeing that it was time to go back to the real world. A certain peace seemed to take over, and she never felt more adored by him than in those hours. He’d wanted to tell her something, but she hadn’t pressed him. Maybe after breakfast, she’d broach it again with him.
She slowed down her movements as she neared the edge of the pool. Reaching the ladder, she pulled off her goggles and cap, dunking her head in the water one last time. She pulled herself up on the first step and found her path blocked. Looking up, she saw a towel and a grim faced man that set her nerves on edge.
“Dr. Quartermaine.”
She swallowed her nervousness and placed herself firmly on the cement deck, taking the towel from his outstretched hand.
“Jack Bauer, what can I do for you?”
Jack considered her carefully selected words for a moment, the worry lines on his face plain to see. “I think it’s more about what you can do for Thane,” he replied firmly.
*~*
Gia Campbell had sat anxiously for nearly 15 minutes, willing the man sitting across from her, the brooding Sonny Corinthos, to leave the room. To go get coffee or stretch his legs or anything to get him away from the Cassadine family that occupied much of the space in the waiting room. She needed to speak to him, away from prying eyes and she needed to do it now.
Finally, the older man stood, said a few words to Alexis and headed out the door. Gia gripped her phone in her hand, seeing that Jason still hadn’t called or texted. After what seemed like a reasonable amount of time, she turned to her brother. “You want a Coke or something?” He shook his head and she extended a similar offer to Alexis, receiving the same response.
“I’m gonna get a hot chocolate,” she explained as she stood, her long, lean frame protesting as she stretched out her tense muscles. Walking as normally as she could, she briskly moved down the hallway, scanning every direction to find the man her brother openly despised. Rounding a corner, she saw a group of vending machines and hurried towards them, glancing down the hallways as she went. Around a third corner revealed an empty hallway. Feeling anxiety build, she hustled back to the original hallway, seeing no sign of Corinthos.
“Shit!” she hissed in frustration. She’d have to go the elevators and try the cafeteria. Slinging her purse strap over her shoulder, she glanced at her phone again, despite not feeling the vibrate she’d set her ringtone on.
“You really need to slow down when you’re looking for someone,” came a low, almost playful drawl. “You miss a lot when you rush like that.”
Gia’s breath hitched as she pivoted slowly, suddenly seeing a small alcove near the coffee machine. Sitting placidly, one leg over the other was Sonny Corinthos. She’d walked right past him.
Twice.
“I guess so,” she replied and he inclined his head. When she moved to the empty seat across from him, he tensed and she stilled. “Get yourself a drink first, don’t give people a reason to stare too long,” he suggested, holding up his own cup of steaming dark liquid, taking a small sip. Gia nodded and pulled her wallet from her purse. Once she had the hot cocoa cup securely in her hand, she gingerly perched on the empty chair.
“I need to ask you something,” she started, running her thumb along the lip of the cup. “It might be strange, but please listen.”
“I know about you and Jason.”
Gia’s head flew up, her eyes wide with surprise and without realizing it, she let out a gasp.
Serious dark eyes leveled her calmly. “Drink,” he said, as he took another small sip. She mirrored the movement, wincing as the cheap cocoa washed bitterness into her mouth.
“How long?”
His expression remained neutral as he glanced at the staff near the nurses’ station. “Long enough.”
Gia let out a huff of frustration. “That’s really not an answer. How long?”
Sonny’s brows rose at her remark. She really did look like her brother in that moment.
“Since Hong Kong.”
Gia sucked in a breath. “Impossible,” she replied tightly. Sonny’s eyes sharpened to blades. He didn’t like being challenged. Ever.
“People work for me,” he said slowly, enunciating each word. “Not Jason.” He took another swallow of the coffee. “So when I get a phone call from a doctor who just pulled a couple of slugs from Jason’s back? It’s because I pay him to do that.”
Gia gripped her phone tighter, her mounting fear rising in her throat. Tears pricked her eyes. Jason had warned her about Thane Bauer. He’d never said anything about Sonny Corinthos.
“And when he takes up with the woman who saved him? I know because I have people following his every move.”
“Did you kill him?” Gia’s voice was shaking, her body trembling as she regarded the picture of calmness in front of her.
Sonny blinked and gave her a frown. “No. I have no reason to do that.”
“So where is he?” She tried to quell her storm of emotions.
“Taking care of a problem,” Sonny replied, his voice almost a soothing reassurance.
Tears spilled down Gia’s cheeks, and a look of alarm passed over Sonny’s face. Someone would notice and notice fast.
“What the fuck is going on here?”
Too late.
The murderous frame of Marcus Taggert stepped into the alcove.
*~*
Thane woke to a tentative knock at the hotel room door. At the same time, the phone buzzed and with a groan he rose and glanced at the screen.
Jack.
Thane sighed and glanced around the bed. “Em?” he called. Rolling from the bed, he donned a pair of boxers and rubbed his face as he padded from the bedroom. On the kitchen counter was a propped up note, complimented with the lipstick kiss of a mouth he knew very well.
The door knocked again and his stomach rumbled. He grabbed the note, reading as he made his way to the door. It was nearly 7 and either she forgot her key, or the room service was here.
With any luck, it was both.
He swung open the door, realizing at the last second, that he hadn’t checked the peephole.
The next few seconds were flashes of movement. An arm swinging hard and fast, metal against his face, an explosion of pain, the floor rushing to meet him as he crashed into it.
But the first and most important image was the cold, icy stare of the man he despised.
The man who, in turn, despised him.
Jason Morgan.
Before he blacked out, one last thought flitted through his mind.
Thane had made a terrible mistake.
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