Written in 59 minutes. This scene did not cooperate the way I planned it, lol, but I like it so much better than I had it planned. But it also went 3x as long as it should have. Story of my life 😛

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Thursday, September 26, 2024

Davis House: Living Room

Sam nearly leapt off the sofa when her mother stepped through the front door, then to one side revealing Danny coming in behind her.

It had been nearly a week since she’d seen her son — and now she  didn’t quite know what to do now that they were in the same room. She was suddenly very aware that the last time he’d seen her, she’d been screaming at Elizabeth, demanding that someone arrest her for kidnapping.

Her feelings and convictions about Elizabeth aside — Sam swallowed. It had obviously been a terrible idea to confront her in the lobby.

Alexis hung up her purse and keys, then came down the few steps into the living room proper to rub Sam’s shoulder. “I was thinking maybe asking your sister to stop at Bobbie’s to pick up dinner. What do you think, Danny? Your usual?”

“Uh, yeah, thanks.” Danny dropped his back pack on the ground. “I have to do homework before I go ho—back,” he said, fumbling slightly.

Sam forced words past the lump in her throat, knowing it would be better to ignore the fact he’d nearly called Elizabeth’s house home. “Oh? Any  subject I can help with?”

“Not really. I, um, have to do some make up assignments to fix my grades.” Danny remained where he was, only steps from the front door. “Jake’s been helping me, though. And Dad’s pretty good at algebra.”

“He always was good with that kind of thing,” Sam managed. “And we’re really long past the days when you brought home work I understood.” Especially since she’d barely managed to scrape her GED. She looked at her mother, a little bit helpless.

What could she say? How did she even act?

Alexis picked up her phone. “I’m just going to, uh, text Kristina the order. Sam, I picked Danny up from a therapy session.” She lifted her brows. “You might ask how that’s going.”

“Oh. I didn’t know—” Sam bit her lip, looked back at Danny. “I didn’t know if I should—I mean, did you want to talk about it?”

“We can, I guess.” Danny finally moved from his spot, heading for the armchair by the sofa — choosing that so that Sam couldn’t really be next to him, she thought, but shoved it down.

It was only fair that it was awkward and uncomfortable. Sam was trying to be on her best behavior, and even if the supervision was her mom, she knew Danny could tell his attorney if she messed up. For once, she was going to have to think about what she would say.

“Do you…do you like your doctor?” Sam asked, sitting gingerly on the sofa, perching near the edge, her hands clasped together.

“Yeah. Um, more than I thought.” Danny was staring at the floor. “He kind of just…asks questions, you know. And lets me talk. I thought it’d be the opposite.”

“That’s good. Um, I know you’d asked me to go to some sessions. I don’t know if you still want that—”

“I do—” Danny lifted his head. “But…” He tensed, and averted his gaze again. “I guess it has to be when Elizabeth doesn’t go. Since Dad said you can’t go near her. That’s what the court said, right?”

Sam pressed her lips together, swallowed hard. “Yes. It’s…for the best we don’t talk or see each other right now. I’m…I’m very sorry. About what happened, Danny. I know that…I know it was a mistake. I wish I hadn’t gone downstairs.”

“Me, too.”

Sam clenched her jaw. “I don’t know…what else you’ve been told about any of this, but it’s complicated. It’s not just about you—”

“I know that.” Danny met her eyes, and there was a flicker of that old resentment. “It’s about Dad. And Jake. You hate them both. You blame Elizabeth for Jake existing. That’s fine. You don’t have to like any of them. Or Elizabeth. That’s what I talked about at the doctor today. Being okay with how much everyone hates each other. Jake doesn’t like you either.” His mouth curved slightly into a mocking smile. “Neither does Elizabeth. And you’re not on Dad’s good list either.”

Sam furrowed her brow, trying to determine if Danny was trying to bait her. “Divorce is difficult,” she said after a moment. “And there’s often a lot of friction. But your dad and I need to do better—”

“No, Dad doesn’t need to do anything—” Danny shook his head. “You just don’t get it, Mom. You never will.”

“Danny—” Alexis came to sit next to Sam. “Your mother is just trying to make peace—”

“No, she wants to pretend like she’s not the one to blame, and I’m not gonna let her do it. Look, I screwed up. And I’m dealing with how bad it was. I was a jerk to you, I know that, and I guess I’m sorry for it. And Dad leaving the way he did, that was messed up, and he knows that. But you made it harder. Dad didn’t fight you because he didn’t want this. And you figured he never would.”

“That is—” Sam bit back her first reaction when Alexis squeezed her knee. “Okay, that’s true. I knew your dad didn’t want to go to court. But that doesn’t mean what’s happening now is the right choice—”

“Mom. You punched Elizabeth in the face and tried to have her arrested when she drove me over to see you. She wanted to help. And I know, I know, she’s just trying to make herself look good, right? That’s what you’re gonna say. That’s why she let me come stay at her house, and why she found me a doctor — she’s trying to prove she’s better than you. That’s what you’re gonna say right? That’s what you told the court, my attorney said so.”

Sam opened her mouth, then closed it. “There’s just no winning with you, is there, Danny?”

“What do you want me to say, Mom? Hey, thanks for giving Elizabeth a black eye and nearly getting her bail revoked so she’d go back to jail.” Danny got to his feet. “This is stupid. So what if Elizabeth is trying to prove something? It doesn’t change what happened. She still drove me to see you. Because I wanted to see you. I wanted to fix things.”

“Danny—” Sam and Alexis both got to their feet.

“No, I’m sick of this. Because you’ve been doing this for months. You don’t care what I want. You just care about you. I have to have perfect grades because you screwed up your life and I’m supposed to be better than you. I can’t see my dad because he’s made stupid choices, like all yours are so fucking fantastic, and my brother’s mom is a bitch because she’s nice to me and only wants to make you look bad —” His face was flushed and there were tears glimmering at the corner of his eyes. “Dad made sure that Grandma or Aunt Kristina was our supervision, right? And said he didn’t care how often I could see you. But he’s still the asshole, right?”

Sam fisted both hands her hair, squeezed her eyes closed. “Danny. Can you just let me talk—”

“No, how does it feel? Huh? To be told how to feel, and how to act, and how think? How does it feel to have someone else trying to control your life?”

“Danny, let’s just take a step back—” Alexis came around Sam and put a hand up. “Okay, honey. Your mother isn’t blameless and she knows it.” She threw Sam a look, then returned her focus to Danny. “So let’s just take a deep breath.”

“What’s the point?”

“Because I think there’s progress to be made here. You’re upset, and you should be.” Alexis turned slightly, her back now to Sam, her attention fully on her grandson. “I know how awful Saturday was. I’ve seen the video. I can’t imagine how it felt to be there.”

“It was my idea,” Danny said, his voice breaking slightly. “Okay? I wanted to fix things so Scout could come home. We were trying to fix things for Mom. I knew I messed up with the drinking and the weed, and Dad was going to talk to Grandma Monica, and Elizabeth was just going to sit in the lobby. I don’t understand how it’s so bad. She wanted to help, Mom. And you were going to have her arrested. They would have put her in jail and the FBI is awful. They would have put her back in that jail hours away. Jake and Aiden and Cam would all lose their mom. Is that what you wanted? Because I was with Dad, you figured Elizabeth should lose her kids, too?”

“No!” Sam said forcefully. “Is that what she said? That’s such bullshit!”

“No. That’s what I think. What Jake thinks. And probably his brothers. But, hey, you can’t pass up the chance to blame Elizabeth for something else, huh? I told you,” he said, looking at his grandmother. “She can’t stop thinking about anyone but herself. She never will.”

“Danny—”

“Dad said these visits last as long as I want them to. Well, I don’t want any more today.” He jerked out his phone.

“Danny, please, just—” Sam held out both hands. “Please. Okay, you’re right. You’re right! I hate Elizabeth so much that it blots everything else out, and I can’t think straight? Is that what you want to hear?” she demanded.

Danny lowered the phone, looked at his mother. “Only if it’s true.”

“Sam—” Alexis began, but Sam shook off her mother’s hand.

“No, he wants the truth, right? Well, fine. He can have it. I hate Elizabeth Webber, and I have since she decided to have an affair with my fiance,” Sam bit out. “She took advantage of Jason when he was upset, when we were broken up—”

“So not an affair, then.”

“Damn it, Danny—”

“Do you think I don’t know how to do math, Mom? I know from the pictures that you and Dad were together before Jake was born. And after. Dad told me that you guys were broken up for a while and that’s where Jake comes in. But I guess that’s part of you hating Elizabeth so much you can’t see straight, think straight, or even tell the truth.”

Sam exhaled slowly. “You’ll understand when you’re older. They were absolutely having an emotional affair. I absolutely get to hate the woman who destroyed my relationship with your father and ruined any chance we ever had to be a family—”

“Except we were a family, Mom. You threw Dad out after the Floating Rib explosion,” Danny retorted, and Sam scowled. “You started dating Dante before Dad ever went to Greece.”

“Okay, this conversation is going nowhere—” Alexis started.

“No, I think we learned something really important. At least I did.” Danny lifted his chin, glaring at his mother. “You said it yourself. You hate Elizabeth so much that no one else matters. Especially not me.”

“Danny—”

“You told me over and over again that I’m supposed to do better than you, that I need to make better choices than you, that I shouldn’t make your mistakes — that’s all I am to you. Your miracle baby that’s supposed to be some kind of evidence that you’re a better person. You don’t care about me.”

“That is not true—” Sam lunged forward as Danny headed for the door, but Alexis blocked her.

“Give me a second. Let me go talk to him, Sam.”

Alexis followed Danny out the door, found him on the porch, his phone in hand. “Danny—”

“I’m not going back in there—”

“I’m not asking you to.”

Danny grimaced, looked at his grandmother, tears still glinting in his eyes. “Don’t tell me to let this go.”

“I’m not asking that either.” She closed the door so that it was just the two of them. “I’m not really sure what I should say because everything that’s coming to mind will sound like a defense of your mother to you, and I think you’d probably just start running.”

Danny looked away, towards the woods and the road. But he remained in one place, so Alexis continued. “I don’t deny that your mother has put a lot of pressure on you. Grades, behavior, all of that. And I know she’s worried that you’ll make the same choices she did. Or your father.”

“Grandma—”

“And it’s natural for you to rebel. To push back. And to pick fights to avoid uncomfortable conversations,” Alexis continued. “You might not have meant for it to get this bad, but you can’t stand there and tell me you weren’t pushing her buttons.”

Danny grimaced. “So what if I was? I wanted her to admit what she did. She still probably thinks what happened last weekend is Elizabeth’s fault. Elizabeth shouldn’t have hit her back, she told me that. And she thinks she should have left, and let Dad come and handle it.”

Alexis rubbed her temple. “And I suppose Elizabeth took accountability the same day, so listening to your mother make excuses a week later isn’t exactly helping.”

“It’s like Mom can’t believe Elizabeth might give a damn about me. Like I’m not worth caring about—”

“Danny—”

“Because it’s how she feels about my brother. She knows if the situation was reversed, she’d have told Jake to kick rocks,” Danny retorted, and Alexis closed her mouth. “That’s why she can’t believe Elizabeth wants to help me. She knows she’d never be that nice to Jake. So it must be a lie. It must be a trick.”

“There is…” Alexis pursed her lips. “Some truth to that statement, Danny. It’s a long, complicated history — a lot of bad blood between them—”

“And Mom’s the only one who makes it my problem. What am I supposed to do with that?”

“I don’t know.” Alexis folded her arms. “I don’t know. I promise you, I’m going to do whatever I can to help. Your mother loves you, Danny.” Danny scoffed, and she bit her lip. “Is your father coming to get you?”

“No, Jake is. Unless you think Mom’s going to throw rocks at his car and accuse him of kidnapping me,” Danny said.

“No, I think you’re safe.” She paused. “How are you doing? Honestly. And just between us,” she added when he sighed.

“Fine, I guess.  I like living with Dad,” he said, looking at her, a bit of challenge in his eyes, as if daring her to disagree. “And Jake. But not just them. I like living with Elizabeth and Aiden. And Cameron’s coming home this weekend because he’s worried about his mom. I like it. Dad helps me with homework, and I started to understand it when he explained it.”

“That’s good. I mean it. Jason was always a good father, and I’m not surprised that you’re enjoying more time with him. And your brother.” Alexis tipped her head. “The therapy? Is that helping?”

“Maybe. I don’t know. It’s only been two sessions. I told him about Mom and the fight, and—” Danny shook his head. “I don’t like making Mom unhappy, okay? I hate that Scout’s with her dick father, and he’s not letting me see her either. I know Rocco’s being an ass, and I’m not trying to make it worse, I’m not. But I’m just angry all the time, Grandma. I used to hide it by getting high or drunk. I’m not allowed to do that anymore.”

“Come here.” Alexis tugged on his sleeve, and he reluctantly went into her arms, then relaxed against her. This was his grandmother after all, and he’d known her all his life. “I love you so much, sweetheart. All I want is for you to safe, healthy, and happy.” She pulled away, then held his head in her hands. “I’m going to work on your mother, and we’ll figure out a way to do these visits that isn’t going to make you both miserable. But that’s not your problem to fix. It’s mine. You take care of yourself, all right?”

“All right,” Danny said. He heard a car pull into the drive. “Thanks, Grandma. I…I love you, too.” He stepped back, picked up his back pack. “Um, tell Mom I’m sorry I guess. We’ll try again some other day.”

Alexis waved at the car as Danny jogged towards the passenger side, and Jake waved back at her somewhat hesitantly.

As her grandson pulled away with his brother, Alexis turned back to the house, took a deep breath, and went inside.

Written in 56 minutes. Both scenes ended up a little longer than I planned, so there’s only two. See you tomorrow!

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Thursday, September 26, 2024

Metro Court Hotel: Restaurant

Carly beamed when Jason slid into the chair across the table. “I can’t believe you actually showed up. I figured you’d be too busy.”

Jason frowned, picking up the menu and skimming it even though he didn’t really care. “I said I would.”

“I know, but—never mind.” Carly gestured for the server to take their orders. “I don’t want any interruptions.”

That didn’t exactly bode well, but Jason didn’t say anything. Once the server had left, Carly folded her arms on the table and leaned forward. “I doubt Spinelli told you this, but I went to see him yesterday—”

Jason lifted his brows. “Is this going to ruin my day?”

“No. Because you already know the details. I mean you know what I’m going to say, I just don’t know if you know that I know. Except I talked to Elizabeth and maybe she brought it up—”

“Carly.”

“Right. Sorry.” She cleared her throat. “I know Gia Campbell is on the case.” When Jason’s head snapped up, she continued. “Michael recognized her name when he saw the warrant, but couldn’t remember anything other than she’d worked for me. Which makes sense, he’d been really young when she was around. And I don’t even know if she was around, but I definitely talked about her a lot at home—right, getting to the point,” she said when she saw Jason’s expression. “I know Gia’s on the case. I talked to Elizabeth and Spinelli, and they both seemed to think this was under control. I did get Spinelli to say he’d look into it, but I doubt he can make it a priority—”

“And he shouldn’t. Diane knows. We’re following her advice—”

“Jason. Please don’t tell me you think it’s a coincidence that Gia Campbell shows up out of nowhere as second chair on Elizabeth’s case. We both know that’s not how this works. She’s here to make trouble.”

“Maybe,” Jason allowed, shifting slightly. “But she’s limited in what she can do—”

“I can’t really tell you what Gia can do, but I can tell you if she’s anything like she was then, she’ll be ruthless and take every opportunity to go after Elizabeth. She did in that competition. She played dirty.”

“I know—”

“You don’t, but that’s not my point either. Maybe you’re right. Maybe legally, she can’t offer much. But I’ve been thinking about nothing else for the last twenty-four hours—”

“That’s terrifying to hear.”

“Jason.” Carly tipped her head. “The FBI doesn’t want Elizabeth. They want you.”

Jason exhaled slowly, then nodded. “I know that. We’ve known that all along—”

“Gia knows exactly how far Elizabeth would go to protect you. I went home last night, and I pulled out everything I have from Deception, and I talked to Maxie—”

“Carly—”

“Just listen. I asked Maxie to pull out the Face of Deception records, anything she could find which wasn’t much, but I think I’d forgotten exactly when all of that was. Or what else was going on. Until I saw the date. February 2001. The warehouse fire. Do you remember?”

Jason nodded slowly. “I do—”

“You came home that winter to help Sonny deal with something in the business. I don’t remember if I ever know more than that. But I also remember that no one even knew you were in town at that point. It came out later you’d been staying with Elizabeth, right? Keeping your return quiet. And she’d lied to Lucky.”

“She—yeah.”

“Jason, everyone knew that. You know that, right? Including Gia. Gia knew that she’d lied to her boyfriend to keep you safe. That’s not something in those PCPD files, is it?”

“I don’t see why that matters—”

“The feds are going after Elizabeth to get to you. They either think she’s going to turn on you, which I doubt she would even if she had something to offer—which is the nicest thing I’ve ever said about her honestly. Or they think you’re going to confess to get her off the hook. And Gia knows enough to make sure they believe that. You can guarantee that Nikolas whined to her about you and how you took advantage of her that first time in her studio. Do you know if he knows you were shot then?”

“I don’t—” Jason squinted. “Carly, I’m not sure why any of this matters.”

“Gia’s not going to do damage in the court room, I trust Diane to handle that. But if Gia tells that Reynolds guy everything she knows or might know— including that Elizabeth will and has broken laws to protect you—she did that when she was a eighteen-year-old kid, Jason. Do you think they’ll ever believe she wouldn’t now, twenty-five years later when the two of you have this history, a child, and a relationship now?”

Jason absorbed that, but still shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. They already think she’s hiding something—”

“I don’t care about them.”

“Then what are we doing here—”

“I care about you and what you are planning to do. Because the FBI isn’t going away. Even if the PCPD finds out who really killed John Cates — they don’t care. Do you think Cates was the only one pissed about  how the Pikeman investigation fell out?”

“No, but—”

“Jason. Can you really sit there and tell me you don’t have an endgame in mind?”

Jason looked away. “No.”

“That’s why it bothers me this woman is on the case. Because she can give them more ammunition. More conviction that Elizabeth would protect you at risk to herself. They’re not going to give up. If Diane doesn’t win at this hearing, then we’re talking about a trial. And a jury.”

“I know.” Jason waited a beat. “I don’t want you to worry about any of this, Carly.”

“Okay, well, now you’re just being stupid. Because who better than me knows what kind of suicidal mission you’ve got in your head? You gave up two years of your life to protect me, which I never asked for. And I’m still pissed about,” she added. “You give up what’s left of your life to protect Elizabeth from a crime she didn’t commit, she’s going to be just as angry.”

“She can be angry and free,” Jason said finally. “Just like you—”

“What’s stopping me from telling Elizabeth about this conversation? About what you’re obviously planning if this starts to go south?”

Jason looked at her, and Carly fidgeted, but didn’t break the gaze. “You can tell her. It won’t change anything.”

“Except piss her off. You want to live with that over your head?”

“Carly.” Jason stopped, unsure exactly how to proceed. “It’s not something I want to  do, okay? And it’s not like I’m thinking about it today. Or next week. Just—it’s an option.”

“It’s a stupid option.”

“Your opinion is noted—”

“And the second I think you’re going to put this stupid plan into action, you’d better believe I’m going to tell Elizabeth. And she’ll kick your ass.”

“Can we be done with this conversation now?”

“For now.” Carly sat back as the server approached with their lunch orders. “But not forever.”

Chase’s Apartment: Living Room

“Is there a reason we’re meeting at your residence?” Gia asked, her eyes skimming the entire room, including the whiteboard with the details of the case displayed. Except for suspects, she noted. The basic details, witness statements—but nothing about who had done this except a list at the corner with those who had been eliminated.

“You said we needed to be discreet.” Chase closed the door. “This is discreet.”

“I’m not doing anything wrong,” Gia said, turning back to face him. “I’m allowed to talk to the investigators, local and federal.” She slid the strap of her bag off her shoulder and set it on the table. “But this isn’t a conversation I think my boss would appreciate me having.” She tipped her head. “And why are you working here?”

“You never know who’s listening.” Chase folded his arms. “You asked for this meeting. Why?”

Gia was quiet for a moment then unzipped the bag she’d set down to extract a manila folder. “To deliver the preliminary report. Diane Miller isn’t getting that until at least Monday, so if you could keep it to yourself or make sure it doesn’t get back to my superiors — that would be great.”

Chase took the folder, but didn’t open it. “Why are you giving me a preview?”

“Because I have doubts about this case, and so far — neither Caldwell or Reynolds seem all that interested.” She paused. “I took this case because I used to live in Port Charles. Because I knew some of the participants twenty years ago. I knew Elizabeth.”

“That’s a conflict of interest—”

“Says the man married to Jason Morgan’s cousin.”

“It’s not the same thing and you know it.” He lifted his brows. “And you’ll be out of luck at that hearing when Elizabeth sees you—”

“Do you think Diane Miller didn’t do a search on my name the moment she saw it on the docket? She knows I used to live here. My connection, as brief as it is, is public. I was engaged to Nikolas Cassadine, and Elizabeth and I competed against each other in a modeling competition. That alone would be enough to recuse me if Diane requested it. She hasn’t.” Gia paused. “I took this case because I knew Elizabeth, I know the kind of work Jason and Sonny are — or were — involved in. And I knew Elizabeth would do anything to protect Jason. I don’t think I ever thought she was the shooter, but I was almost positive Jason was.”

“Was?” Chase echoed.

“Your witness statements. It…I started to ask questions. And Reynolds wasn’t interested in the answers. He doesn’t care Elizabeth isn’t the shooter. And doesn’t care that Jason probably wasn’t either.” She sat on the arm of the sofa. “I think somewhere in their minds, they’ve convinced themselves that Jason hired someone or knows what happened. Maybe that’s true. But that’s not the facts he put in evidence. Or the argument he intends to make to a jury. And that bothers me.”

Chase opened the folder, skimmed it, then lifted his gaze back to the lawyer. “They found the fourth bullet?”

“Yes. And its condition is good enough to send for testing.”

“I expect it to match. Someone planted the car in Elizabeth’s trunk. They’re not doing that if it’s not the murder weapon.”

“You’re sure it was planted?” Gia asked as Chase went to his board, started to make some notes. “How do you know?”

“The tip that came in, pointing the feds in that direction — it was a fake.” Chase looked back at Gia. “Whoever created the tip used an AI generator to mimic a real nurse who works at the hospital, Amy Driscoll. She used to be a gossip columnist. You know the tip, right?”

“I do.”

“Elizabeth and Amy were never anywhere near each other the only day they both worked at the hospital. We have both their time covered from the beginning to the end of their day. Not only that — Jason never goes to the hospital. You have to sign in at the front desk. He’s not there or on any security footage that entire week. The tip is junk. Someone wanted us to look in that trunk.”

“Okay. That—I can follow that. Caldwell—there’s no follow investigation on the tip,” Gia admitted. “He took it, and ran with it. And I’m not sure he cares it’s false.” She nodded. “Okay, so the bullet doesn’t seem to be a problem.”

“The other item you noted — a broken heel. Several witnesses related that Elizabeth came back to the house with a broken sandal. They found out when they came back that Caldwell had grabbed the boys, and Elizabeth sent Michael for her sneakers that she’d brought with her. But they weren’t going to wait. Michael remembers throwing the sneakers through a window as they were pulling out.”

“She broke it running towards the gunshots. Reynolds plans to argue it was running to get to the spot in time — ” Gia winced. “I’m not supposed to tell you that.”

“The heel supports her story. And Michael isn’t the only member of the family that remembers this. One of the uniforms took my wife’s statement. She remembers the broken shoe clearly — because to get to the car and get over the gravel, Jason had to carry Elizabeth.” Chase smiled slightly. “Brook’s a romantic.”

“Okay. Okay.” Gia blew out a breath. “This is kind of crazy,” she admitted. “I got involved in this case because I was sure Elizabeth was involved. It seemed like the kind of stupid mess she’d get involved with because of Jason. I could tell you so many stories—” She smiled faintly. “And I’m sure Elizabeth thinks I got involved because of our past. That was part of it. I never really liked her. And maybe I wanted to be on the sidelines when she finally got what was coming to her.”

“But you’re here, having this conversation with me—”

“I became a lawyer because I wanted do something good with my life. To be better than I was before. I like the challenge. I don’t mind taking a case to trial even if it’s a longshot. But I’m a little funny — because I want my defendants to be guilty. There’s no victory in watching Elizabeth go down for something she didn’t do.” Gia got to her feet. “Just my luck. I finally get a chance for a little bit of revenge, and my conscience won’t let me enjoy it. Reynolds wants payback for the Pikeman investigation falling apart. He’s not going to quit until we force him to. Are you interested?”