Disclaimer: I do not own General Hospital or the characters.

Summary: When Maxie is threatened by Karpov, there is only one man who can keep her safe.

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When It Rains

Chapter 1

"Please don't hurt me. I'm sorry—just let me go!" Maxie pleaded, struggling against the strong Russian men who held her. "You won't get away with this. My dad is the Police Commissioner and I'm friends with Jason Morgan. He will retaliate and start a mob war you don't want." She tried everything, but she knew the Russian mobster who had recently arrived in Port Charles didn't give a damn. He would kill her without remorse.

Maxie managed to get away and bolted towards the Coffee House where Jason's office was. By the time she got there, she was out of breath and sobbing, scared out of her mind from what had just happened. There was a target on her back and she didn't know what to do.

She didn't bother to knock before entering Jason's office. He looked up quickly before getting up and moving over to her, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"What happened?" He asked softly, pulling out the chair for her to sit in. He eased her down and moved over to a self where a box of tissues were and brought it over to her.

Jason had been in the middle of working on some business things, but since Spinelli was out of town visiting his grandmother, Maxie didn't have a friend to lean on. He took a deep breath and watched her. She was shaking.

"Maxie, you need to tell me what happened, okay?" He kept watching her, waiting for her to speak but she just kept crying. "Do you want me to call Spinelli?"

"No, no…I don't want him to worry." She wiped her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. She'd been through a lot in her life, but nothing had scared her more than what had happened with Karpov. Her life was in a good place at the moment and she didn't want it to end.

"Then you need to tell me what is going on, Maxie. I can't help you until I know what happened." Jason moved back over to his chair and sat down.

"Karpov…he...he wants to kill me…" Another sob escaped her and Jason sighed and ran his hands over his face.

"What did you do?"

Maxie made eye contact with him, her mouth open. Her fear about Karpov turned into anger towards Jason. Of course he would assume it was her fault. He never gave her the benefit of the doubt. She closed her mouth and glared at him through her tears.

"I was just at the pier…I overheard something and he saw me."

"What did you overhear, Maxie? I need to know how bad this is."

"I don't even know! I couldn't understand him, but he thought I knew something I shouldn't have. Then his men grabbed me." She took a deep breath and stopped for a moment to wipe her eyes once more and blow her nose. "He threatened to kill me and he wasn't joking Jason, I swear. I managed to get away and I came straight here."

Jason leaned forward on his forearms and laced his fingers together. "I'm sure it's nothing, okay? I don't think he would kill you. It wouldn't do him any good."

"You don't think he'd kill me? You weren't there, Jason! He was ready to kill me and he would have if I hadn't gotten away."

"So what do you want me to do? Go to your dad, Maxie, okay? Let him deal with it."

"No, you don't understand. You're the only one who can help me. I told him I was friends with you."

Jason sighed audibly and shook his head. "Maxie, why would you bring me into this?"

"I was scared and you know I ramble when I'm scared. Please Jason…" She whispered, her eyes brimming with tears once again.

Despite being a strong, unemotional man, Jason couldn't stand when women cried. He didn't want to get involved, but she was counting on him. Before Spinelli had gone away for the week, he had made Jason promise to watch out for Maxie and now, she needed him. He couldn't say no.

"You'll go to a safe house for a little while until I can figure out if this is something we need to worry about or not. I don't think it is, but just in case…"

Maxie nodded, grateful that he would help her. "When can we go?"

"I'll have Max set it up and he'll take you."

"Why won't you just do it?" Maxie didn't know why she wasn't very comfortable with that option. Max had always been nice to her, but she trusted Jason more.

Jason thought about it for a moment before he gave in and shrugged slightly. "Okay, I can do it." He knew that was what Spinelli would have wanted as well and that made it more important. Spinelli had become a trusted friend and Jason didn't want to let him down by letting Maxie down.

He called Max in and explained to him what was going on. Max left a few minutes later to check out the Karpov situation while Jason made the arrangements for a safe house outside of town.

Maxie sat in the chair and looked down at her hands that rested in her lap. She knew Jason would make things better. She trusted him with her life. That realization surprised her and she looked up, watching him for a moment as he talked on the phone. He was concerned about her and she figured it was only because Spinelli wouldn't be happy with him if he didn't help. But maybe, just maybe there was more to it.

A little boring...yes, I know. I promise it will get much better as the story goes on. Please R & R!! I'm open to ideas for future chapters and would love some feedback.

Melinda