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Thank you all so much for the comments on the first chapter of this fic! It truly blew me away. I am having a lot of fun with this one and plan on Johnny giving Jason quite the run for his money, LOL! Oh, how I wish Johnny O were still on the show! Still wanting to try to get a banner made for this, hopefully I will be able to soon.

Again, Kayla, thank you for the inspiration. I hope you all enjoy! As always, thank you so much for all the feedback and comments!

Tammy

All Fics/Back Chapters: http://tammysfanfic.proboards.com/index.cgi?

Chapter 2: Enlightening

Elizabeth fell into her couch and rolled her eyes to the ceiling,"Em, I'm telling you, this isn't going to work! "

Emily fell down next to Elizabeth and gave her a pleading hopeful look, "It will, trust me!"

"Trust you?" Elizabeth laughed, "How many times have I gotten into hot water when I trusted you? I see this ending bad, Em!"

Emily leaned her head to rest on Elizabeth's shoulder, "Please, Elizabeth? I promise it will be okay. Johnny is going to be here in a minute and we will tell him the plan and then he can convince you that this could work!"

Elizabeth leaned her head down to rest on Em's and closed her eyes, the visions of Jason and their one night of passion flowing through her mind, "I'm not so sure, Em," she hesitantly confessed, "I don't like the idea of lying to Jason."

Emily shot her head up to look into Elizabeth's startled face, "You don't-" she took in a deep breath, trying to read Elizabeth's expression, "You don't still have feelings for Jason, do you? Because if you do, Elizabeth, I would never ask-"

Elizabeth brought her hand up to stop Emily's ramble, "Jason and I are just friends," she said, her heart breaking all over again, "He has made that very clear and I have accepted that. But," Elizabeth eyed Emily wearily, "that doesn't mean I think it is right to lie to him!"

"It's not lying…exactly," Emily stood up and started pacing. Elizabeth laughed at her friend's attempt to convince herself. Emily whirled around and smirked at Elizabeth bringing her right thumb and forefinger just slightly apart in front of her face, "It's just…a little white lie, that's all."

"Oh, well!" Elizabeth stood up and flamboyantly waved her arms to the side, "If you put it that way!" Rolling her eyes once more, she giggled, "I'm going to check on the brownies."

"You'll see!" Emily called after her, "Just wait! Everything will be…" she smiled at the thought of Johnny's arms around her, "perfect for the first time in a long time."

Lost in her thoughts, Emily jumped slightly when a loud knock broke her thoughts. She peeked quickly in the mirror and smoothed her hair before running up to the door.

Johnny was leaning against the door frame, his smile widening at the sight his beautiful girlfriend. Slowly, he drawled out, "Hello, beautiful!" Before Emily could speak, Johnny grabbed her by the waist and pushed her gently backwards while he kicked his foot back to close the door behind him. Emily was giggling as he said quietly, "So, are you babysitting? Because I know we aren't house sitting again!"

Emily was still giggling, but shot him a confused look, "And just how do you know that we aren't house sitting?"

Johnny's eyes darted to the front door for a moment, but he quickly covered and crashed his lips on hers for a teasing kiss before replying, "Because I hear Jake breathing heavily in the monitor!"

Emily turned and walked towards the mantle, "Oh, do you think he is awake?" Once her back was turned, Johnny breathed out a sigh of relief that she didn't catch onto his little snafu.

Taking two long strides, Johnny wrapped his arms around Emily's waist and in one move turned her completely around to face him, "No, he's sleeping. Where is Cam?"

"He is at Audrey's, " Emily smiled widely, "But I should warn you-"

"Warn me later," Johnny growled, pulling her hard into him and capturing her lips passionately with his own.

Elizabeth was half laughing/half teasing when she came out from the kitchen and greeted, "Hi, Johnny!"

Within a half second, Johnny had Emily unlocked from his lips and pushed slightly away. Looking over at Elizabeth with a shocked expression, he choked out, "Elizabeth! Uh….." Johnny dropped his hands from Emily's waist and put them on his own, looked down at Emily's amused expression, and raised his eyebrows, saying with mocked irritation, "what a surprise!"

"Surprise, indeed," Elizabeth joked, walking over to place a large plate of brownies on the table, "Like finding out that there were actually two people house sitting for me a few weeks ago!"

"Yeah," Johnny reasoned, tapping his gun holster, "but you have to admit, you probably had the most well protected house in the neighborhood!" Johnny laughed as he made his way over to the plate of brownies, "So," he said, taking a huge bite out of the warm cake as he sat down on the couch, "I'm taking a wild guess here…you know about me and Em."

"Yes," Elizabeth smiled and nodded with a giggle, "and not just because of the hot and heavy lip lock action in my living room! I had a suspicion about you two last night."

Johnny didn't even look like he heard Elizabeth's reply. His eyes danced as he licked his lips, "Man! Those are the best brownies I've ever had in my life!"

Emily sat down beside Johnny and gave him a mocked stern glare, "Umm…sweetheart? Can we focus here?"

"Focus?," Johnny asked before shoving another bite into his mouth to give an almost inaudible, "on what?"

Emily grinned, "I have a plan!"

Johnny gulped slowly as he took in Emily's expression, "Plan?"

"Yes," Emily nodded, "To give us time to figure out how to tell Jason."

"I thought we were doing pretty well," Johnny smiled widely, "Sneaking around is kind of a turn on!"

Elizabeth interjected on behalf of her friend, "Yes, but I think Emily is worried about Jason figuring this whole thing out," She laughed under her breath as she added, "and I don't blame her after seeing you two together. Jason is smart. It's not going to be long before he figures this whole thing out, Johnny."

"Well," Johnny chuckled, leaning back to look between the two friends, "I say we just tell him then!"

"No!" Both Emily and Elizabeth yelled in unison, their eyes instantly going wide.

"Okay, Okay!" Johnny laughed at their expressions, "So, what's the plan, ladies?"

"You pretend to date Elizabeth," Emily said, moving closer beside him.

"I haven't agreed to this yet, by the way," Elizabeth sighed.

"So," Johnny breathed out, grabbing another brownie and putting his free arm around Emily, "What makes you think Jason is going to like me dating Elizabeth any more than he is going to like me dating you, sweetness?"

"Exactly!" Elizabeth chimed in behind him, glad to hear Johnny shared her thoughts.

"Because," Emily reasoned, "Elizabeth is not his sister. They are just friends."

Johnny looked over at Elizabeth's nervous expression and stared for a long moment, as if contemplating Emily's words. Elizabeth shifted under his gaze, uncomfortable at the silence. As he popped the last of the brownie in his mouth, a humored chuckle exited from deep within Johnny's chest as his eyes crinkled up in his laughter. "You know what? I think I like this idea!"

Elizabeth was shocked at Johnny's response, "What?"

"Yeah," Johnny nodded, grabbing yet another brownie, "I think this could work."

"Yes!" Emily exclaimed, reaching over to cup Johnny's face and plant a kiss on his chocolate covered lips, "Now all we need," she turned to face her friend, "Is Elizabeth to finally agree to our plan!"

Elizabeth immediately jumped up and walked around the couch, "You have both lost your minds!"

Johnny watched as Elizabeth anxiously began rearranging the pictures on her side table and patted Emily on the shoulder, giving her a little wink, "Sweetness, why don't you go get some milk to go with these awesome brownies?"

Emily quickly caught onto the hint and sweetly replied, "Great idea!"

As she got up to leave, Johnny grabbed Emily's arm and playfully pulled her back into him, "Oh, and babe?" he whispered.

"What?" Emily returned the quiet exchange.

"No eavesdropping," Johnny smiled, taking the tip of his finger and tapping her lightly on the nose.

Emily's mouth formed into a pout, "Very funny!" she objected.

"I love you, Emily Quartermaine," Johnny huskily replied.

Emily's pout instantly melted into a smile, "I love you too, Johnny O'Brien. So much so that I even promise not to eavesdrop."

After Emily walked into the kitchen, Johnny turned his attention to Elizabeth, "So, I don't blame you for being reluctant with Em's plan."

Elizabeth stopped her manic redecoration on the table to turn back to face Johnny, "I just-I just don't think I can lie to him like that, Johnny."

"Like I said, I understand. You and Jason-you care about each other," Johnny slyly nodded, "That has been pretty obvious since the day he met you."

"No," Elizabeth protested, "It's-It's not like that!"

"Really?" Johnny said with feigned shock, "Hmmm…." Standing up, he casually walked up to Elizabeth and reached behind her to grab a picture of Jake, bringing it around and looking at it with a grin, "I think Jake here proves that there is much more to your relationship than either of you are willing to admit."

Elizabeth's face fell in shock as her throat went completely dry, "You-You know about Jake?"

"Pretty hard not to, Elizabeth," Johnny said softly, "Jake looks just like Jason! I'm really surprised Em hasn't figured it out yet."

"She doesn't know?" Elizabeth asked, a slight relief in her tone.

Johnny shook his head from side to side, "No and I'm not planning on telling her. It's not my place. I figure you and Jason have reasons for why you don't want anyone to know. Unfortunately for you," he grinned again, "I'm trained to be observant. But, I'm also very discreet, so I haven't even told Jason I've figured it out yet."

"Oh," was all that Elizabeth could make escape her mouth as she forced herself to exhale her held breath, "So, if you know, how can you go along with Em's plan?"

"Well," Johnny sighed, "I figure it's a win-win scenario."

"A win-win?" Elizabeth echoed, "How can this possibly be a win-win?"

Johnny laughed softly, "You have to know how much Jason loves you, Elizabeth! And it's pretty obvious that you love him as well!"

"No," Elizabeth laughed and began pacing back towards her mantle, "I mean…yes, I have feelings for Jason, but he has made it very clear that he doesn't feel the same way."

Johnny followed close behind her, sarcastically joking "Really? Well, I mean Jason is the most open person I've ever met, so if he says he doesn't feel the same way…"

Elizabeth whirled to face Johnny once more and exasperation filled her voice, "Johnny! "

"Come on, Elizabeth!" Johnny returned, "You should have seen Jason after he asked you to marry him! I've never seen him so happy! And when he talks about Jake, the look on his face…you can't tell me that you don't see it."

Even though she tried to hide it, Elizabeth's internal heartache was evident, "He's a proud father, Johnny. That doesn't mean that he…loves me."

Johnny leaned in closer and gave Elizabeth a reassuring squeeze on her arm, "That man has loved you since that first night at Jakes, Elizabeth. There is no doubt in my mind about that. You two-you two belong together! And if you want additional proof of Jason's concern and love not only for Jake, but for you…."

Johnny walked over to the front window and pulled back the curtains very carefully just enough for he and Elizabeth to peek out, "When I pulled up, I spotted Marcos and Anthony staked out in the woods in front of your house. Now, last thing I was told, they were stationed at Sonny's Casino in the Caribbean. But, Jason obviously has them secretly keeping an eye on you and the boys."

"What?" Elizabeth exclaimed and ran over behind Johnny, "Where?"

"Careful!" Johnny softly warned, "If they tell Jason that you have found them out and I was here when you did, it's going to ruin everything! Besides, they are too smart to be close enough for you to see. Again, I'm observant remember?"

Hope filled Elizabeth's heart as she began to wonder if maybe Johnny was right, "So, I still don't see how this is a win-win situation, Johnny. You know as well as I do when Jason makes up his mind-"

"Ah, but Jason hasn't dealt with any real competition yet. I mean, really….Lucky?" Johnny laughed, then stopped instantly under Elizabeth's warning glare, holding his hands up in defense, "Okay, back to the matter at hand. Think about it! Me as the competition! Someone that Jason has to face at work every day."

"So, then he will be ready to kill BOTH of us!" Elizabeth argued, "This could backfire so easily, Johnny!"

"True," Johnny nodded and grinned, "But what do you have to lose? In fact, I will bet you twenty bucks that the boys outside have already called Jason and he will be here any minute!"

"Yeah, right!" Elizabeth laughed, just as they both heard a knock at the front door.

Johnny leaned in to give Elizabeth a sideways smile, whispering, "Told you!"

"No!" Elizabeth harshly whispered, her wide eyes staring shell-shocked at the door.

"Is that a knock?" Emily said, running out of the kitchen.

"Yep," Johnny laughed softly before looking between the girls, "Let the games begin, Ladies!"

Elizabeth swung her arm back to whack Johnny hard in the arm as she hurriedly went to her front door. When she opened it, Elizabeth found a very nervous Jason standing in front of her with his arm gripping the side of her door frame.

"Hi," she breathed, locked in his questioning gaze, "I'm-I'm surprised to see you! What-What are you doing here?"

Jason quickly shifted his eyes to Johnny, "I was just taking a ride on my bike and saw Johnny's and Emily's cars in your driveway. I wanted to make sure everything was alright."

"What?" Johnny ribbed, "I can't visit two beautiful women on my off time?"

Elizabeth moved to the side, "We're fine. Johnny was just….helping us," her voice trailed off as she tried to come up with a plausible excuse.

"Really?," Jason questioned as his gaze drifted back to Johnny, attempting to decipher the situation and quell the internal need to strangle the bodyguard where he stood.

"Yeah," Emily broke in, trying to break the tension by bringing Jason's attention towards her, "I called him. I'm sorry if I took him away from anything. See, Elizabeth and I…we needed help with…." Emily was also having difficulties coming up with a plausible excuse.

"A rat," Johnny quickly interrupted.

Jason's head immediately snapped in Johnny's direction, "A rat?"

"Yeah," Johnny laughed nonchalantly, "You should have heard them, man! Screaming and screeching. I thought somebody was dying over here!"

"Did you catch it?" Jason asked, looking at each them with a worried expression as he waited for a response.

"No," Johnny replied, "But I told Elizabeth I would go get her some traps and bring them back."

Jason's eyes darted back to Elizabeth, who stared back with a sheepish grin and shrugged, "You know how I hate rodents. Johnny was nice enough to rush over here and then offered to set up the traps for me."

"Well," Jason slowly answered, "Unfortunately, Sonny just called. He needs Johnny's assistance down at the docks." He couldn't help but pause a moment as he tried to slow his pounding heart, betraying him with its excitement to be standing next to the woman he loved. Taking a deep breath, he offered, "I can go get the traps and set them up for you, if you want."

"That would be great," Elizabeth's cheeks turned rosy and her tone shy, "Em and I were going to cook some dinner. Maybe you can take a break and eat before you go. I know the boys would love to see you."

"Alright," Jason smiled, suddenly forgetting about the two other people in the room, "I'll be back in a bit then."

"Okay," Elizabeth smiled.

Jason regained his senses and turned towards Johnny and Emily, "Time to go."

"I thought I was off tonight," Johnny objected.

"I just told you," Jason replied coldly, "Sonny needs you on the docks."

"Be nice, Jason," Emily broke in, "Johnny deserves some time off too, you know. You already have him pulling double duty watching me on top of all his other duties."

"Ah," Johnny waved his hand in the air and winked, "I don't mind. If the Boss needs me, he needs me. I'll see you ladies soon."

As he walked by the coffee table, Johnny looked down at the almost empty plate of brownies and got an idea. Reaching down he picked up the last two and smiled back at Elizabeth, "Maybe even sooner than you think. These brownies alone are worth the trip!" He smiled widely turning to Jason as he popped one in his mouth, "Have you tried these man?"

"Yes," Jason said in an irritated tone, "I have."

"Well," Johnny chided, "With this one….I am the winner!"

"The winner?" Jason asked, confused.

"Yep!" Johnny laughed and popped the last of the batch in his mouth, "Elizabeth bet me I couldn't eat the entire plate!"

Jason turned to look back at Elizabeth, who started to fidget nervously. "What was the bet?"

"Ummm…." Elizabeth froze under Jason's stare.

"A date!" Johnny chirped into Jason's ear.

It was all Jason could do to hold his fury in as he shot Johnny a warning glare. "What was the bet if you didn't eat them all?"

"Twenty bucks," Johnny quickly responded.

Jason dug into his pocket and took out a twenty, pushing it into Johnny's chest as Emily and Elizabeth watched and giggled, "Why don't we just call it even?"

Johnny laughed loudly, "Dude! I'm trying to take a beautiful woman to dinner here!" Jason's mounting anger did not escape Johnny's attention as he then backtracked, "Okay! Okay! Fine! I'll take the money! Geesh!"

Johnny was still laughing as he walked past Emily and Elizabeth, "Have a good night, Ladies!" He stopped to give Elizabeth a humored wink, "I'll see you later sweet Lizzie!"

Jason walked over and gave Johnny a slight shove towards the front door, "We really need to get going," he sternly said, his voice changing quickly to a softer tone as he looked back at Elizabeth, "but I'll be back in a little while with those traps."

"Thanks," Elizabeth said with a small smile.

Emily walked up from behind and sat her chin on Elizabeth's shoulder as the men walked out the door and closed it behind them. "Wow! That was awkward! Jason looked pretty irritated. You don't think he has any idea, do you?"

"I don't know," Elizabeth sighed heavily, "But he was definitely not thrilled Johnny was here."

Emily's worried tone turned doubtful, "So, do you think this will even work? Maybe it would be better to just tell Jason how I feel about Johnny."

Elizabeth shook her head slowly, remembering her conversation with Johnny, "No. Maybe this plan is the best way."

Emily voice filled with hope, "So, does that mean you are in?"

Elizabeth stared hard at the front door, a grin slowly forming across her face, "I'm seriously considering it."

As Emily gleefully squealed behind her, butterflies formed in Elizabeth's stomach as she wondered if this wouldn't only give Johnny and Emily what they wanted most in the world….but what she wanted most in the world as well.