Song in Taggert & Portia Scene: Say Yes (Floetry)

This is a state of grace
This is the worthwhile fight
Love is a ruthless game
Unless you play it good and right
These are the hands of fate
You’re my Achilles heel
This is the golden age of something good and right and real
– State of Grace (Taylor’s Version), Taylor Swift

Saturday, February 14, 2004

 Ward House: Kitchen

Justus slid his cell phone into his pocket as he strode into the kitchen and grabbed his wife around the waist, swirling her into an impromptu waltz around the room. Kimi, secure in her booster chair, laughed and clapped her hands together.

“Someone’s in a good mood,” Tamika teased. “You get those reservations?”

“I got those reservations,” Justus confirmed, dipping her then tilting her back up for a long, sumptuous kiss. “Mmmmm…and I got us a babysitter.”

Tamika drew back, her brows raised. “Oh, really?”

“Bobbie’s looking after Michael and Morgan while Carly is out of town,” Justus said, stepping back from Tamika and heading for the coffee pot. “She said she’d be happy to take of Kimi for a few hours.”

“It won’t be too much? Three kids?”

“No, I think she said one of Felicia’s daughters is going to come over and hang out, and Lucas is upstairs.” Justus rolled his shoulders. “I’d forgotten how many people I had here,” he said, more to himself. “I went to Philly to be with family, but—”

“But Faith and Keesha have their own things going on, and you were too busy to make friends.” Tamika wrapped her arms around him from behind, resting her chin on his shoulder. “Where’s Carly going?”

Justus paused, then stirred sugar into his coffee. “I can’t say for sure,” he admitted. “Bobbie didn’t, and I’m not supposed to know, I think.”

“But you do.”

“Ned and Alexis are also heading out of town this weekend,” Justus said. He sipped his coffee. “To talk to AJ about ELQ.”

“And Alexis is Carly’s lawyer.” Tamika nodded. “I see.”

He smiled at her. “But today, that’s not our problem. I’m all yours tonight.”

“Looking forward to it.” She kissed him again. “Love you, baby.”

“Love you, too.”

Kelly’s: Diner

Maxie slumped onto the stool and made a face. “I blame you for this,” she called into the kitchen. Lulu emerged, her face scrunched into a scowl.

“Doesn’t everyone?” she demanded. “What else is new?”

Maxie didn’t notice Lulu’s lousy mood and continued to complain, shredding a napkin. “Kyle can’t get away. He’s got this stupid paper, and, like, by the time he drove here, he’d have to go to sleep and get up tomorrow to drive back.”

“And that’s my fault?” Lulu demanded.

“No. But when I said I was thinking about doing long-distance, you told me to go for it. Now, look at me. Alone on Valentine’s Day.” Maxie huffed.

“Then break up with him.”

“I don’t want to.”

“Then why—” Lulu growled and made a choking gesture with her hands. “Do you just want to complain about having a gorgeous, smart boyfriend?”

“No,” Maxie drawled, then it must have clicked. “Oh. You’re still in a funk over what happened with Dante.”

“In a funk, she says,” Lulu muttered. She disappeared into the kitchen, and Maxie followed. “I did what I always do, and you didn’t even bother to remember—”

“I remembered, I just didn’t think it was a big deal. Dante’s a nice guy. He’ll figure out you meant well.” Maxie shrugged and hopped onto a counter, dazzling DJ, the line cook, with a bright smile. “And if he doesn’t figure out, better to know now that he doesn’t deserve you than waste months figuring it out.”

Lulu peered at her. “What does that mean?”

“You did something dumb for the right reasons and someone who really knows you would get that. He was hurting, and he was gonna keep hurting until someone did something.” Maxie jumped back to the ground. “He’s just mad because whatever was picking at him, he had to tell his mother. Or at least maybe. You never said what the problem was.”

She looked at her best friend expectantly, but Lulu turned away and went back into the dining room. “Oh, he’s not talking to you, but I still don’t get the gossip? Ugh. He really doesn’t deserve you. How am I supposed to bitch about him with you if you won’t tell me what’s going on?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Lulu murmured. She looked over at the door as the bell over it jingled, and Dante came in with Cruz. Their eyes met, then Dante looked away, taking a seat with his back to the kitchen.

“I should make a list of ways to destroy him,” Maxie decided. “Because if he’s gonna dump you—”

“He didn’t dump me. You can’t be dumped if you’re not picked up.” Lulu took a deep breath. “It never really got started, Maxie, so just let it go.”

“I’ll let it go, but I won’t forget.”

New Orleans, Louisiana

 Garden District: Chestnut Street

The house was set back from the street by a tall, imposing black iron fence, the structure hidden by clusters of trees and flowers. Carly debated leaping from the car as the driver stopped briefly at the gate to request entrance.

But she didn’t. She’d traveled all the way to New Orleans to beg the one man who likely hated her more than anyone else in the world. She needed to try, needed to knock on every door to save her boys.

Her resolve lasted until she trailed after Ned towards the front of the house, and she saw something in a window. A curtain moving back into place. He was watching. AJ knew she was coming—he’d agreed to it.

What if he’d let her come all the way here only to refuse to listen?

“This was a mistake.”

Alexis caught Carly’s elbow as the blonde whirled around and started back down the path towards the circular driveway where their car was parked. “Carly—”

“She’s not wrong,” Ned said, leaning against the column at the top of the steps. Alexis glared at him, her grasp on Carly slipping.

“You are not helping.”

“You didn’t ask for help,” Ned reminded her. “You asked for a meeting.” He turned at the sound of the door opening.

AJ Quartermaine stepped out onto the porch, his blonde hair waving slightly over his forehead, his eyes clear. He slid his hands into the pockets of his tan trousers and came to stand next to his cousin, his mouth grim. “Change your mind, Carlybabes?”

Carly tensed at the reminder of that terrible time, of that year living with the Quartermaines, trying desperately to push AJ into divorcing her and giving her custody. She turned and faced her ex-husband, flinching at the hostility he didn’t bother to hide.

He was going to say no. Of course he was. He would take everything she told him about the situation and then file for custody. He would take Michael from her—

“I don’t have all day,” AJ continued. He flicked his eyes at Ned. “We still have a meeting of our own.”

“I know, Junior.” Ned paused, looked at Carly and Alexis, the lawyer whispering to the client. He lowered his own voice. “Look, I told you some of what’s going on back home—”

“Ned—”

“She came here with an olive branch,” he interrupted. “And if you play this right, kid, you have a shot at seeing Michael. A real shot this time. I’m asking you to give her a chance to explain things.”

“Why do you care?”

“I don’t,” Ned said after a moment. “But I won’t ever get a second chance with my daughter.” His throat tightened, and AJ’s eyes dipped. “I threw away a lot of chances to do right by Brooke. Michael needs you. Carly’s done terrible things, Junior. But none of us are shiny and brand new, are we?”

“No. No, we’re not.” AJ nodded. “All right. Fine.” He raised his voice. “Look, you might as well come in and talk about it, Carly.” He paused, flicked his eyes back to Ned. “We’ll negotiate what I want.”

“What you—” Carly approached the bottom of the steps. “You’re willing to help?”

“I’m open to it, but my help isn’t free, Carly.”

“Of course not.” Carly closed her eyes, took a deep breath. “All right. I’ll come in.”

Port Charles Park: Fountain

The snow crunched beneath his feet the way it had that night, and though the sun still shone in the sky, for just a moment, Lucky was back there. The bitter chill biting at his cheeks, his frustration, the quiet stillness of the night, the sound of the snow—

His irritation at silly little Lizzie Webber, lying about something stupid and worrying them all—

Then the whimper.

He’d turned and she’d been there. Just there. On her hands and knees, crawling out of the snow, her coat gone, her dress torn and dirty—

“I thought I’d find you here.”

Lucky turned now and found a different brunette standing just beyond the pathway, on the other side of the fountain, a bright red cap pulled over her hair, her hands in the pockets of her white coat. Kelsey met him halfway.  “Why?”

“Cruz said you had a look when you got off shift today.” Kelsey wound an arm through one of his and together they looked back at the bench. “He called,” she added. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” Lucky cleared his throat. “Yeah,” he repeated. “I couldn’t remember it the last few years. Not clearly. I tried to celebrate Valentine’s Day again with Elizabeth, and I think we did okay. But the day just hits different this year.”

“I know. I saw Scott at the office for a few hours this morning, and he brought it up. And of course—” Kelsey made a face. “The papers ran a story. I’m glad Elizabeth isn’t in town to see any of it.”

Lucky raised his eyes to the foliage that surrounded the area. “Six years ago,” he murmured. “I can’t believe I ever forgot that night. It hit me like a freight train when Dillon talked about what happened to Brooke. Looking at his face, the guilt, the worry, the anger—I felt all of it that night.”

“I know.”

“He was a customer,” he said softly. “A regular. So regular that I didn’t even remember him. How can someone walk in and out of your life and not register? He arrested us, Kelse. I didn’t even remember. He was the cop that grabbed me and Elizabeth when we went to my dad’s club. She never suspected.”

“It chills me,” Kelsey said. “To think that he was so close to her all of those times. To think that he kept trying to recreate it. I wonder if part of him was always coming back here. To her. Lucky, there was no way for any of us to know it. Not until we had the new cases. Until we had the new details.”

“Maybe. But we’ll never know for sure, will we?” Lucky cleared his throat. “How many more women are out there that never reported? Are there more like Brooke? Who couldn’t handle it and killed themselves?”

“We’re not going to know that.” She rubbed his arm. “We did the job. You got the evidence, and we got the plea. He’s in jail, and Elizabeth made sure that he was never going to get to do this to another woman. That’s all we can do.”

“Yeah.” Lucky forced a smile, then met her eyes. “Let’s get out of here. Dad got a great act from the city for tonight. You wanna go dancing with me?”

“Always.”

Lucky led her out of the clearing, away from the fountain, and out of the park where so many lives had been destroyed.

Chestnut Street: Study

AJ closed the door. If they were going to talk, it would be without her lawyer or his cousin standing over their shoulders. He turned to find Carly standing in the middle of the room. She’d shed the coat she’d worn, but her body was still braced as if she was ready to flee at any minute.

He hadn’t seen Carly in more than a year, not since he’d signed the divorce papers from Courtney and left Port Charles behind, not wanting to see his wife move on with his brother. The last time they’d been in the same room, Carly had been incandescent with rage because AJ had dared to speak to his own son on the docks. She’d treated AJ like he was some kind of monster who didn’t deserve to breathe.

“I don’t know how to start this,” Carly said after a long moment of tense silence. “I don’t know how to ask you for help.” She let her arms fall to her side for a moment, then crossed them again, as if she wasn’t sure what to do with them.

“Let’s start with something easy, then.” Ned’s words were still echoing in AJ’s mind — the sorrow at never having another chance with Brooke — AJ didn’t want those regrets. “I think until that night you fell, we can both agree I hadn’t really done anything to deserve the way you treated me.”

Carly’s face tightened, and she looked at the ground. “Until I lost my son.”

“Right.” His stomach twisted. “I can understand how you still blame me. I blame me. I didn’t push you. But I could have walked away. I chose not to.”

“That’s fair,” she managed. She lifted her eyes to his. “I know you didn’t push me. But it was easier to blame you. I couldn’t blame myself. I couldn’t admit—” The words broke off, and her voice broke. “I couldn’t.”

“If we’re ever going to be able to work together to help Michael,” he continued, “we need to let the past go. I don’t want to be Ned in fifteen years, wondering if I could have done more.”

“I—” She clutched a hand to her throat. “I don’t want that. The—it was horrible. What happened to Brooke. I—You know about the rapist case. That Elizabeth—”

“It was the same man, yeah. I know.”  AJ tilted his head. “I didn’t realize you were part of it. You and Elizabeth never got along.”

“We’re still not—” Carly sighed, looked away, her shoulders slumping. “It’s not fair to say we don’t now. I think we understand each other. After the panic room. She…worked really hard to rescue me. She almost died.” She closed her eyes. “And you know all of this because Ned and Emily—but I need to start there. With the panic room. Because it’s why I have to ask for help. Something—”

Her skin was pale, and she swayed slightly. AJ strode forward, braced a hand at the small of her back. “Sit down. Here—” He gestured at a small sofa behind them.

“I’m—” Carly began to protest but nodded. “Yes, all right. I’m sorry. It’s hard to talk about it sometimes. I was doing better for a long time, but all of this—it’s bringing it back.” AJ handed her a glass of water. “Thank you.”

“Ned told me that you’d had some trouble getting past what happened. That it created issues for you and Sonny,” AJ said. He sat in a chair near the sofa.

“Ned doesn’t know everything. And it matters. Not because I want you to feel sorry for me. I don’t. But it’s part of it. I had—” She closed her eyes. “Have,” she corrected softly. “I have Acute Stress Disorder, though I’m sure Kevin’s ready to call it PTSD since it’s still lingering. Panic attacks. Dissociative episodes. Though that hasn’t happened since December.”

AJ hadn’t known all of that, and it made him shift uncomfortably. He didn’t like to think of Carly vulnerable, as someone who could be hurt. “You’re doing better then.”

“I think so. I hope so.” She set the water aside. “After the panic room, I worked with Kevin to get most of my triggers under control. I was doing better. Then Scott offered Elizabeth and me a deal. With Ric. He was going to represent himself which meant we’d be cross-examined by the man—” Carly cleared her throat. “Anyway. Elizabeth and I wanted to testify. We thought it would help. Jason was on board because Elizabeth comes first for him.”

AJ’s fingers clenched. “But Sonny wasn’t.”

“No. He, ah, well, I’m sure you can imagine. Sonny wanted a deal so Ric could go to jail and have an accident. Jason stood up for us, and that was the end of it. But Sonny never forgave me. And he made threats against Scott. So I left. I couldn’t—I couldn’t stand it.” She paused. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to ramble. I just want you to understand what’s going on with Sonny. What Michael’s been going through.”

“It’s fine, Carly. I want to know whatever you think I need to know to help.” And he wanted to know what the hell had brought her so low she was here, asking him for that help.

“I left,” Carly repeated. “I wanted Sonny to understand that it wasn’t fair for him to keep taking what happened to me and making it about him. That he was out of control. But then Morgan was born, and I thought things were better. When Ric jumped bail, he wanted me to move back in for safety. I agreed. But he…” She rubbed her arms.

“Are you cold?”

“N-No, it’s just hard to talk about. Um, he fired Leticia and refused to give me a new guard or an access key to the elevator. I couldn’t get out of the penthouse. It was like being locked up again. I tried to explain it to him, but he couldn’t hear me.” She stared down at her hands. “Then the hearing. The federal one with the case. Ned told you about it, I’m sure.”

“The feds were trying to take over the case.”

“Yeah. Sonny and I went to support Elizabeth, and I was just—” Carly squeezed her eyes shut. “It doesn’t matter. I just—I wanted a change. So when we came back, I told Sonny I was leaving. And he locked me in the bedroom.”

“Locked you in the bedroom.” AJ was surprised to feel his hands fisting at his side. “He locked you in the bedroom.”

“I don’t really remember much after that.” Carly reached for the water again, but her hands were shaking. AJ reached forward to steady the glass, and she took another sip. “Um, that was the dissociative episode I mentioned. I just—I thought I was in the panic room again. Anyway, I got out of that, and I left again. I never went back.” Her voice was a bit stronger now. “That’s why I left him. I begged him to get help, but he’s just getting worse. He broke into the Brownstone and went after Lucas and his boyfriend. He’s screaming at Jason, treating Elizabeth terribly, and Michael’s seen some of it. Not that night in December,” she added quickly. “But he’s afraid of Sonny—” And this time, Carly’s voice broke, and the tears came with it. She covered her mouth with her hand. “I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry. I took him from you, and I had no right, and all I’ve done is hurt him—”

“You haven’t hurt him,” AJ said. He sat next to her, took her hand. “I’m not your biggest fan,” he added when her wide eyes met his. “So when I say that, you know I mean it. I don’t think you’ve ever done anything intending for Michael to get hurt. And it sounds like you tried to protect him. You left, didn’t you? You’re filing for divorce.”

“Don’t be nice to me.” She stared straight ahead, her lips trembling. “Don’t. I don’t deserve it. You were right earlier. You never did anything to deserve the things I did to you. I never gave you a chance with Michael, and then I used that fall to take him away for good. I’m the reason my baby died.”

“It was a tragedy, Carly, and it was no one’s fault. Yours or mine. Or if it was someone’s, it was both of us.” AJ had planned to hold on to his hostility and anger, but he had also expected to be doing battle with the woman who’d stormed into his home, convinced him to marry her, and then destroyed his life all over again.

He couldn’t hold up against this version of his ex-wife, this trembling, sobbing mess apologizing for all the wrongs. Maybe he was the biggest sucker in the world, but just maybe, they were both due for a second chance.

“And maybe I didn’t deserve what you did to me, but I definitely had some karma coming from the universe,” AJ said dryly. “I did terrible, selfish things before you came into my life, Carly. Let’s put it aside. You need me to sign on to that petition to revoke the adoption.”

“Y-yes.” Carly swiped at her eyes. “I know it means petitioning for your paternal rights to be reinstated. I’ll agree to that.”

“Good. Because that was first on the list.” AJ hesitated. “Ned’s down here to talk to me about ELQ,” he added. “Tracy’s in New York, and he can’t focus in Port Charles with being mayor. He’s stepping down, and I’m first in line to take over.”

“Oh.” Carly frowned at him. “But that’s good news.”

“It is. I’ll be moving back in a few months,” he continued. “And if I have my paternal rights, Carly, I don’t want it only on paper. I want my son.”

She closed her eyes. “I know.”

“But I’m willing to take this at your speed. Michael’s been through enough, and he doesn’t know me. Or if he does, it’s not kindly,” AJ said, and Carly flushed at the reminder. “We’ll take it slow because he comes first.”

“Okay. Okay. I can—” Carly swiped her cheeks. “I can do that. Um, we’ll sign papers. You’ll want that in writing. Alexis said you would, and I brought things. You can get a lawyer, too—”

“We’ll work all of that, Carly.” He rose to his feet. “Come on. You can go get washed up while Ned and I talk.”

“I—” Carly stopped him before they reached the doors. AJ turned back to her, and she swallowed hard. “Thank you. For listening. For helping.”

“Thank you for asking.” He squeezed her hand. “We’ll get Michael through this, Carly. Whatever he needs to be okay.”

Lucas & Felix’s Apartment: Living Room

“Hey, Mom—” Lucas tugged the door open, then went back to the table where he was shoving things into his backpack. “I was just around to run out. I’ve got an organic chem study group—”

“I won’t keep you.” Bobbie closed the door behind her, taking a moment to smile at her little boy, all grown up and living on his own — even if it was just upstairs. “I just talked to your father yesterday at work and he mentioned that you’d stopped by.”

Lucas stilled, then looked at her. “He did.”

“He didn’t get into the details, only asked me how Carly was. And he said it might be a good idea for me to touch base with you on how you’re feeling.” She tipped her head. “Don’t think I haven’t noticed how hard this last year has been for you—”

“Hardly,” he snorted, resuming his packing. “I met Felix, and I was able to come out without any real drama—”

“You came out after a friend of yours died,” Bobbie corrected, and Lucas sighed. “And I know you were scared for a long time. Plus, there was that tension with Georgie and Mac. And that’s not even talking about the elephant in the room with Carly and the boys—”

“The boys are fine,” Lucas said with a quick shake of his head. “I love them—”

“I know. You’re the best uncle they could ask for. And you’ve been an amazing brother to Carly. I just hope you haven’t felt pressured into it. If you’re really not ready—”

“I—” Lucas shook his head. “It’s not about that. It was just—I still have a lot of complicated feelings about her,” he admitted. “And some of that was just feeling like I was betraying Dad. He’s cleared that part of up, mostly. But it’s hard to let go of who she was when I was growing up. Feeling like she destroyed my family. I know she didn’t. At least not on her own,” he added when he saw Bobbie open her mouth. “But it’s easier for me to blame her than you or Dad.”

“I get that, baby. I do. I never meant for you to feel like I was choosing her—”

“A few years ago,” Lucas said slowly, “it did. It felt like Dad went crazy because he lost his real kid, and you’d forgotten about me because you had your real kid—”

“Oh, sweetheart—”

“And I was just in the middle, this adopted kid no one really had time for anymore—” He met his mother’s eyes. “I don’t feel that way now. I don’t, Mom. We all lost BJ, and it took us a while to reset. We’ve done that now, and I think we’re okay now. I’m glad you’re close with Carly. You’re a great mom, and she’s lucky to have you.”

“That means a lot to me, Lucas. It really does.”

“And I’m coming around on Carly. She’s different, I guess. Or maybe I’m different. I’m just—I seeing new sides to her. And maybe part of it is missing have a sister. I loved BJ.” His voice broke for just a moment and he swallowed hard. “I went from being a brother to an only child, and I didn’t like it. So I don’t know if it’s Carly I like or just that I like having someone. I had Maxie and Georgie, but it’s not the same.”

“I know it.”

“I’m sorting it through, Mom. Right now, Carly does need her family to stick by her, and I’m okay with being there. When this is done, when she’s on her feet again and things are—I don’t know—normal, we’ll see where we are. For now, this is okay.” He hoisted his backpack on his shoulder. “You don’t have to worry about me.”

“Maybe not, but it won’t stop me.”  Bobbie kissed her cheek and he smiled her. “I love you, baby.”

“I love you, too, Mom.”

Port Charles Hotel: Honeymoon Suite

Portia’s brows were raised as Marcus pushed open the door, revealing the sitting room to one of the hotel’s most luxurious suites. She eyed him over her shoulder as he closed the door behind him. “Something wrong with the Grille?”

“I wanted to have you all to myself,” Marcus said. He crossed over to a stereo and flicked one of the buttons.

There is only one for me

“Been a while since I had someone to spoil on Valentine’s Day.” He slid her coat off her shoulders. “Complaints?”

You have made that a possibility

“Now, I didn’t say that.”  She sighed as he disappeared from view for a moment, leaving to tuck their coats away, out of sight.

We could take that step to see

She wandered over to a table set with ruby red china and a set of wine glasses, a bottle chilling in a bucket to the left. There were red roses on the table, pink on the coffee table, white on each of the accent tables, and she had an idea she’d find more roses in the bedroom that was likely beyond the double doors.

If this is really gonna be

Her heart fluttered slightly when she heard his footsteps behind her, returning to the room. He’d removed his own coat in the other room, and now he wore a tuxedo, the clean, crisp white linen stark against his darker skin.

All you got to do is say yes

“You really went all out.” Portia straightened his lapels, sliding her fingers down his chest and smiling up at him. His jacket had already been perfect, but she’d wanted to touch him. To be sure he was real. “I only got you those cuff links—”

“I loved them, and I needed new ones. I’m in court more than I used to be,” Marcus assured her. He took her hand, slid the other around her waist, drawing her into a slow, lazy dance, gently swaying back and forth. “Gotta look right.”

All you got to do is say yes
Don’t deny what you feel, let me undress you, babe

“You always look right.” She tilted her head up, smiling when he flashed her another one of those rare grins. He was also so serious, always so focused on the job and doing every little thing right. She loved when he showed his other side. When he just let himself be Marcus, not Lieutenant Taggert.

Open up your mind and just rest
I’m about to let you know, you make me so

“I know it’s only been a few weeks,” Marcus murmured, drawing her closer so that his chin brushed her curls. He dipped his head down, his breath warm on her neck, her skin tingly. “But it’s been the best six weeks of my life. The night I met you—”

“I know.” She closed her eyes. “I never thought I’d believe it could hit like that. But bam. Like lightning.”

All you got to do is say yes
Don’t deny what you feel, let me undress you, babe

“Like someone slapped me upside the head with a hammer,” he told her, and Portia laughed. She drew back slightly to frame his face in her hands. His beloved face. Two months ago, she hadn’t known he existed, and now—

Loving you has taken time, take time

“I love you,” Portia said, the words tumbling out so fast that she almost didn’t believe she’d said them before they were out there, hanging in the air. In the universe. Where he could hear them.

But I always knew you could be mine

His eyes darkened, and a muscle twitched in his cheek as the humor slid out of his eyes, his body tensing beneath her fingers. Her heart was beating rapidly. Oh, God, it was too soon—she’d rushed it—

I-I recognize the butterflies inside me, ah

“I haven’t said those words to a woman that wasn’t my mother in a long time,” he finally said, his voice rough and a bit unsteady. “And I haven’t heard them in even longer.”

Her pulse picked up, but some of the nerves slid away as Portia leaned up to brush her lips against his. “I’ll say them as often as you want, but don’t leave me hanging here, Marcus.”

Sense is gonna be made tonight, tonight

“I love you,” he said, the words more of a breath than audible speech, but they slid inside of her, warming her from the tips of her toes to the marrow in her bones. “I love you,” he repeated, a bit louder now, and she gripped him by the lapels of that gorgeous tuxedo.

“I hope dinner’s not going to get cold.” Then she pushed the jacket off his shoulders and took hold of the bow tie around his neck, leading him to those double doors, his grin only spreading.

All you got to do is say yes

Lake House: Kitchen

Jason put the last dinner plate in the drying rack, then reached for a dishtowel. He heard Elizabeth in the living room, then the television. Part of their evening routine—dinner, then dozing in front of the television, one of her seemingly endless reality shows in the background. He didn’t mind the noise — he always brought a book or something to read, and he liked to listen to her laugh, the warmth of her against him reassuring.

Quiet nights like these were rare at home, and they only had one more before they drove home on Monday.

A commercial filtered in, and Jason blinked, turning towards the living room. He tossed the towel aside and wandered towards the doorway, frowning at the screen. A candy company was advertising their special, limited edition Valentine’s chocolate.

He hadn’t even thought of it as Valentine’s Day. The days had melded together over the last two weeks, and he’d lost track of the date. She’d never mentioned it. Was she angry that he hadn’t done anything?

Or maybe this year—

Jason sat next to her, surprised when the commercial ended and a movie came on instead of one of the shows. “What’s this?”

“Oh—” Elizabeth smiled at him, her eyes a bit heavy as she curled into his side, tucking her head into his shoulder. “I wanted something different. To get my mind off things. Why?”

“I—I heard the commercial. It’s Valentine’s Day.” As soon as he said it, he wanted to pull the words back. Her body tensed, but she didn’t move. “I didn’t think about it.”

“No, I guess not.” Elizabeth straightened and muted the television. “I didn’t really think about it, either—that’s not right. I didn’t want to think about it,” she corrected. “So I put it out of my head.”

“I’m sorry—I didn’t—”

“No, I should get it out of my head. I’ve been avoiding thinking about it mostly because—” Elizabeth turned slightly to face him. “I mean, there’s the obvious. It’s different this year,” she added.

“Okay.” Jason waited, and after a long moment, she continued.

“I mean, it’s a silly holiday anyway. You know, I don’t need a day to tell you I love you. It’s not a big deal. It’s just a date on a calendar.” She jerked a shoulder, then tucked herself back into his side, switching the sound back on.

They sat there for a little while, the movie playing in the background. She might have been paying attention, but he wasn’t. He liked sitting here, his mind drifting, listening to the sound of her breathing. It was still a bit shallow, but it was better and less labored than it’d been when they’d arrived, so he was all right with it for now.

“I was such a silly girl,” she murmured. “So excited for a date with the boy I liked. So sure that when he saw me in my pretty red dress, he’d be happy he was with me.” Jason tightened his arm around her, his chest tight as he stared straight ahead. “Gram was convinced Lucky would fall head over heels for me, you know. We spent over an hour looking for just the right dress, and she lent me a bracelet Gramps had given her.”

He stroked her shoulder, pressed his lips to the top of her head. And still said nothing. “Sometimes, I have dreams. Really vivid ones. I’m sitting there on the sofa, the box in my lap, so excited—and Lucky comes to tell me about Sarah. And I stop myself from lying about that stupid date. I tell him that it’s not okay to break plans with me. Or I go to the dance anyway, and I meet someone else, and I don’t go to the movies, and I don’t go to the park.”

Her breath hitched, but her words continued. “And then I wake up, and I wake up back in this body, in this life. Knowing I lied, knowing about the park, and it’s like it’s happening again, and I get so angry at that stupid girl for lying.”

“It wasn’t her fault,” Jason said softly, but he tightened his hold on her.

“I k-know that, but sometimes—” Elizabeth paused. “It’s a silly stupid holiday that we don’t need because we love each other, and we say it all the time, but I get so angry that I don’t get to have it. I tried to take it back, and I thought I did. I really did. But this year, it’s just—it’s in my head, and it’s worse. Because it wasn’t random. I was a stupid silly girl who didn’t even recognize the monster who raped me. For years, Jason. Years. I served him coffee. He arrested me!”

Elizabeth sat up, her breath still shaky, but it didn’t sound labored. Jason searched her eyes, waiting for a cue for what she needed. “And he raped those other girls in Buffalo on the same date. They called him the Valentine Rapist in the Buffalo papers. Did you see that?”

“I know they did.”

“He stole that day from all those girls. And it doesn’t matter that it’s a stupid, commercial holiday, okay? I never even got to have one with someone I loved before he ruined it forever—”

“We can pick another day,” Jason cut in, unable to handle her pain anymore. “Any other day. We’ll make it ours.”

She smiled then, but tears were sliding down her cheeks. “I know. I know we can do that. And maybe we will. But this year, I know what happened. I know it in a way I never did before. He targeted me, Jason. And he was still raping me every time he attacked someone else. Knowing he’s in prison for the rest of his life, if we’re lucky—it doesn’t take that away. Nothing ever will.”

Elizabeth sighed, then leaned back against him. He slid his fingers through her hair. “Next year,” she said, her voice stronger. “I know we’re not making a lot of plans, but I want this one. Next year, I want this day back. Even if we never celebrate it again or whatever. I want this day.”

“Then that’s what we’ll do.”

“I don’t want to think about it anymore. He’s stolen too many days from me. Too many nights.” She tightened her arm around his waist, snuggling closer. “We don’t have a lot of time before we have to go home and face everything we ran away from. I don’t want to think about him anymore.”

“Then we won’t.”

+6

‘Cause we are broken
What must we do to restore
Our innocence
And all the promise we adored?
Give us life again
‘Cause we just wanna be whole
– We Are Broken, Paramore

Thursday, February 12, 2004

Lake House: Living Room

Elizabeth rolled her arm, wincing as Jason removed the blood pressure cuff. “Well? It’s lower, isn’t? I can feel a difference this morning—”

“Yeah.” Jason took his first easy breath in days. “It’s 121 over 81. That’s the closest it’s been to normal in weeks.”

“I could feel it when I woke up, you know? My head felt clearer, and I’m not as tired.” She sighed happily. “I almost feel normal.” Then she winced as Cameron kicked hard at her ribs. “Well, except for the soccer player.” She reached for Jason’s hand and he grinned. “See? Even he knows I’m feeling better.”

“I’m glad.” He kissed her, lingering with his forehead resting against hers. “This is what I wanted for you. You needed the rest.”

“Monica also said things could ebb and flow, remember?” She squeezed his hand. “I might have days like yesterday again, too. I want more days like today, but it’s not guaranteed.”

“I know.” He hesitated. “Maybe we should stay until Monday.”

“Jason—”

“If you’re feeing better today, another few days could only help,” he pointed out.

“And they might not make a difference. I had good days at home, even with everything else going on.” She curled into his side. “I’m not saying no, Jason. I just—I’ll be worried if we stay just for me—”

“I wanted time away. Just the two of us. We haven’t been alone this much in months.”

“Or ever,” she admitted. “It’s been nice, just us. I’m glad you made this happen.” She kissed his jaw. “I don’t want you to think if we go home early, I’ll feel like you’re choosing Carly over me. You know I want her to be okay, too.”

“I know you do.”

“And it’s not just Carly. Bobbie’s in the middle of it, too. So is Justus. If us being at home makes it slightly easier for everyone, then I’ll be better for it. Plus, you know Monica will feel a lot better if she can nag me in person every day.”

“Yeah, that’s true.” Jason slowly rubbed circles over her belly, and Cameron rolled a few times before settling down. “But you asked me to make sure we give Cam his best chance. A few more days here might be better for him.”

She wrinkled her nose. “You think you’re clever, don’t you?”

“I have my moments.”

Elizabeth sighed dramatically, pleased when her lungs only mildly protested. “All right. We’ll see what Justus says, and if you think we can stay, we will.” She rested her head in the crook of his shoulder, closed her eyes, and just let herself drift. Having her husband all to herself wasn’t the worst thing in the world, after all.

Blue Moon: Office

“I’m surprised you let me through the front door,” Luke said as Tommy Marcheski ambled over for a casual, quick handshake. “Last time you saw me, you threatened to put a bullet in my backside.”

Tommy shrugged. “I’m sure you deserved it, but—” He squinted. “I can’t really remember why I wanted to kill you.”

“Me either.” Luke shoved his hands in his pockets. “I’ve been dipping my toe back in—not permanent-like because my kid is a cop now—”

Tommy winced. “I hated to see it. Your boy had a quick mind and nimble fingers. What we could have done with him—”

“Well, you know kids. They never do what you expect. I heard yours is a prosecutor—”

“Hey, hey—” Tommy shut the door and glared at Luke. “He’s in Los Angeles, okay? You don’t need to be telling people that.” His scowl deepened. “If you’re here to argue for Sonny—”

“I’m here as his wife’s uncle, not his friend.” Luke paused. “I’ve heard stuff at my place, Tommy. Rumors. Complaints. The men aren’t happy, and having seen Sonny lately, I think I got a good idea why.”

The other man exhaled slowly and returned to his desk. “Sonny hasn’t been doing jackshit for months,” he muttered. “Doesn’t take meetings, doesn’t do anything except yell at Morgan and anyone who gets in his way.”

“Jason asked me to keep an eye on my niece while he was out of town.” Luke raised his brows. “What are your thoughts on him taking this long, extended honeymoon in the middle of all of this?”

“I wasn’t happy,” Tommy said slowly, “but I’ve met his wife, and she’s a good kid. She’s been through hell, and there’s some health things going on. With the baby.” His mouth took on a pinched look. “He’s picked his family over all of this, and I can’t blame him. Loyalty’s never been his problem.”

Luke’s chest eased a bit. “I’m glad to hear it. Jason’s an old friend, but Elizabeth was like a daughter to me. He’s done what he can to keep things stable while he’s gone, but—”

“I have no problem with the wife,” Tommy repeated. “Or your niece. I like both of them, and it’s out of respect for them and the heavy load Morgan’s carrying that I gave him time.”

And that’s what Luke had been afraid of. He sat down and met Tommy’s gaze. “I need to know everything.”

Kelly’s: Dining Room

“You’ve barely touched your breakfast.”

Lulu glanced over at the table where Dante was sitting with his mother, Olivia, and frowned, watching as the older woman gestured at Dante’s mostly untouched omelet.

“Ma, stop worrying—”

Lulu didn’t intend to eavesdrop, she really didn’t. She remembered what she and Dante had talked about a few days ago—that he was dealing with something related to Sonny Corinthos—

But she also remembered what else they’d talked about—Lulu’s habit of telling people things they didn’t want to hear, even when they were the truth. And how that made people hate her.

So she kept working, waiting on her tables, refilling coffees, and keeping one ear on Olivia and Dante.

“I know things have been hard these last few months,” Olivia said. “I was hoping you’d feel better once the hearing and all the legal crap was done, but—”

“Ma—”

“Is it me?” Olivia asked. “Are you upset that I’ve stayed in Port Charles? That I’m living here now? I know you wanted to get away from me—”

“No, I came here for a job.” Dante’s smile was sour. “Vinnie recommended the academy up here, remember? Fast track to detective. You came here for Aunt Lois and Brooke. I don’t blame you for sticking after things went down the way they did. It’s not any of that—”

“Then why do I gotta use the guilt to get you to meet me for a meal?” Olivia demanded. “Why do you look like you’re gonna vomit—”

“Ma—”

Lulu might have stayed quiet—she really might have managed it, but she’d passed their table just as Olivia had gone down that road, and she could see the tears in the older woman’s eyes, the distress in thinking Dante was angry with her.

She thought of her own mother, constantly swallowing terrible things and closing off from the traumas of her life—and then escaping to the safety of her own mind, then getting trapped there.

“It’s about Sonny Corinthos,” Lulu blurted out, startling both Dante and Olivia, who stared up at her. “That’s what he’s upset about. Not you.”

“Damn it, Lu—” Dante growled. “What the hell—”

“Sonny?” Olivia repeated. “Dante—”

Dante shoved himself to his feet, tossing down some money with jerky movements. “You know, maybe Dillon had a point,” he snapped at her. “Some good fucking listener you are.”

Then he stalked out of the dining room, leaving Lu shaken and ashamed of herself, wishing she could drag the words back. She turned to Olivia, but Dante’s mother was already rushing out after her son.

Port Charles Municipal Building: Mayor’s Office

Lois strode into Ned’s office with a scowl on her face. Ned set down the phone he’d just been picking up. “Uh oh, I know that face. What disaster are we facing—”

She furrowed her brow. “What? Oh. No. I was just talking to Julia, and she said you’d cleared this weekend because you were going out of town. I didn’t know about any trip—”

“It’s just a quick overnight trip down to New Orleans,” Ned said. He gestured for her to take a seat. “I’m leaving Saturday morning and coming back Sunday.”

“New Orleans? What’s down there?”

Ned made a face and picked up a pen to twirl with his fingers. “My cousin. AJ,” he added. “Alexis asked me to arrange a meeting, and once I did that, I started to think about how he could be useful.”

Lois snorted, crossing her legs. “AJ hasn’t been useful since 1993.” Then she sighed. “I’m sorry. That’s not fair—”

“It’s also not wrong.” Ned got to his feet. “Alexis is representing Carly in her divorce case. I’m warning you in case that comes up later with the media. Once she files—”

“The media is going to eat that up. Why is she taking that risk? I didn’t think she liked Carly.”

Ned hesitated. Here was his chance to come clean. To bring Lois into the circle of people who knew about Kristina. He opened his mouth, then closed it. Telling Lois that the daughter he had left wasn’t even his —seemed unfair somehow. To Alexis, who had trusted him, and Lois, who had already suggested over the summer Ned had been too distracted by Kristina to pay attention to Brooke. It was an uncomfortable situation, and he wasn’t ready to address it yet.

“Carly’s been through a lot this year,” Ned said, wandering over to the window. “I think Alexis is just trying to help. And she’s always had a soft spot for Michael, from back when Jason was still involved, and she was representing him.”

“I suppose that makes sense.” Lois made a note in her portfolio. “I’ll probably use that spin. Children and whatnot. Let’s hope it’s not needed. Does she think it’ll be an acrimonious split, or—” She paused. “Wait, you said Alexis is the one that asked for the meeting.”

“Yes—”

“Which means Carly is doing something with custody.” Lois shook her head but made another note. “Bringing AJ into what will already be a volatile situation. That should be interesting. And with AJ’s connection to you, Alexis to the city — I’ll be surprised if the media doesn’t pick it up. There’s nothing you can do to convince Alexis to pass on the case?”

“No. I tried,” Ned added, “but she’s pretty set on it, and I’m not opposed to AJ getting another chance with his kid.” He gripped the back of his office chair, the grief sweeping over him. He closed his eyes. “We can’t get one with our little girl, so I’m maybe feeling a bit too invested in this.”

“I understand, and you’ll probably be a good buffer—”

“I’m going to ask him to take over ELQ here at home. Mother can’t handle New York and Port Charles. She offered to come here, but then we’d just need someone to replace her.”

“This makes sense,” Lois said, “and if we can spin the kid angle—Alexis is involved because of her connection to Michael and your connection to AJ—” She nodded. “Sonny’s not as popular as he used to be. We put another one of those polls out to see if we’re starting to rebound. Sonny still beats Floyd and the PCPD—”

Ned winced. “Great—”

“But,” Lois continued with a half smile. “The mayor’s office is more popular than Jason. Elizabeth still wins the day, and I know Carly has a great deal of sympathy from the PCPD mess.” She folded her arms. “Thanks for the heads up. I’ll get in touch with some sources at the Sun and the Herald when she’s ready to file to keep the focus on Sonny. We get lucky, and Elizabeth supports Carly, we’re golden.”

Ned forced a smile, wishing he felt as confident as his ex-wife. He didn’t care if they tore apart Sonny in the press as long as Kristina’s paternity remained a secret.

Corinthos Penthouse: Living Room

The conversation he’d had with Luke yesterday was still rolling around in his head. What did Luke think he was doing?

Luke was soft. Luke was out of this world, and he had some damn nerve dragging up old business.

That was done. That was before. If Spencer knew what was good for him—

Sonny dragged his hands down his face. He just had to keep himself focused on the goal. He had to find Lansing, murder him in his sleep, and get his kids back. If he could convince Carly to give him another chance, fine.

But he was going to get his damn kids back.

“Yo, Mr. C, Justus is here.”

Sonny turned to find his lawyer striding in and Max pulling the door closed. “You need to talk him about letting just anyone upstairs.”

“I’ll put it on my list,” Justus said calmly, setting his briefcase on the desk. “Carly’s hired a lawyer, Sonny.”

Sonny took a deep breath, accepted that. “I figured she would after last week,” he muttered. He poured himself a bourbon, frowning when he needed to shake the last drops of the bottle to fill the tumbler. Hadn’t he just put out a new one a day ago?

“She hired the lawyer last week,” Justus said carefully. “We need to talk about what she might be putting in the petition.”

Kelly’s: Parking Lot

Dante tried to fit his key into the door of his car, but he was shaking. From rage, from worry, from nerves—he didn’t really know what he was feeling.

How could Lulu have done that to him? He’d thought she was on his side—he’d started to think that—

It didn’t matter what he thought. Not anymore.

“Dante—”

He shook his head even as his mother appeared in the corner of his eye. “I’m not talking about it, Ma—”

“What did that girl mean, it’s about Sonny? What about him? Dante Angelo Falconieri, you look at me right now, and tell me—”

“I know, okay?” Dante hissed. He glared at his mother, who had gone as pale as the snow around them. “Grandma told me months ago. I know he’s my father—”

“Dante—” Olivia swallowed. “When? How? Why—”

“After the hearing, when she slapped me. She told me I wasn’t any better than my father. It’s true, isn’t it?” he demanded.

Olivia closed her eyes. “Yes. Yes, it’s true, but—”

“I don’t want to talk about it. I didn’t tell anyone—”

“But that waitress—”

“She’s no one,” Dante cut in. He saw a movement near the gate that led from the parking lot to the diner and saw Lulu. “No one,” he repeated, meeting her eyes. Lulu flinched then disappeared back into the courtyard.

“Dante—”

“I said I don’t want to talk about it.” This time, when he put the key into the door, it unlocked. He slid into the car, and Olivia stepped out of the way. Dante started the engine and peeled out of the parking lot, wishing he could drive away from everything else as easily.

General Hospital: Tony Jones’ Office

His father beamed when Lucas pushed open the door. “This is a surprise!”

“Hey. I hope it’s okay to just pop up,” Lucas said, a bit unsure. He leaned against the door frame. “Kelly said you didn’t have anything scheduled for a little bit—”

“No, no. It’s a light day.” Tony Jones got to his feet and hugged Lucas. “How’s school? I haven’t seen you in a few weeks.”

“Yeah, sorry. The new semester is killing me, and I’ve, uh, been sticking close to home.” Lucas shoved his hands in his pockets, waiting for his father to sit back down. “It’s kind of why I’m here.”

“Is everything okay? You and Felix?”

“No, that’s great. Um, I told you at Christmas we were moving in together. That’s good so far. We’re in some of the same classes.” Lucas shifted. “It’s good,” he repeated. “Thanks for helping him with the nursing program next year.”

Tony held up his hand. “Felix had great credentials, and he charmed the recruitment officer on his own. All your mother and I did was make a call. General Hospital is the lucky one.” He tipped his head. “But that’s not why you’re here.”

“No.” Lucas rubbed his hand against his chest. “I’ve been sticking close to home for the last few weeks. Months really. Since Carly came back.”

“Ah.” Tony leaned back. “I knew she was at the Brownstone with the boys.”

“Yeah. And I don’t know if Mom’s talked to you or anything about how things are—um, I mean with Carly and Sonny. Not that you care, but—”

“She hasn’t mentioned much, but I hear things in the grapevine. I know Carly’s been having some issues since last summer. Are you having problems with her?”

“No. No.” God, why was this so hard? Why couldn’t he just— “The thing is, the kids, they’re um, I mean they’re technically—”

“They’re your nephews,” Tony murmured. “You’ve been spending time with them?”

“Michael especially,” Lucas added, his chest tightening. He remembered a time when he’d thought Michael would be his brother, not his nephew. When Tony was supposed to be there. “The thing is, Dad, I feel like, um—” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t know. Lately, at least since December, it’s sort of feeling like she’s…my family. Like she’s my sister. I mean, she always was, but—”

“But now you feel it,” Tony said, his eyes a bit somber. “You’re getting closer to her?”

“I guess. I mean, it’s not like—she’s not the sister I wanted,” Lucas said, a bit miserably. “That’ll always be BJ, but—”

“Did you think you had to apologize for that?”

Lucas stumbled to a stop, then frowned at him. “No. I mean, yes. I mean, it feels wrong. To like, include Carly in anything. She’s just always been there. Taking up Mom’s time. And I guess that’s still true. But it doesn’t feel like I’m supposed to care about her. I don’t want to.”

“What happened between me and Carly was years ago,” Tony said. “And it’s not a time I’m proud of. I hurt a lot of people, Lucas. Including you—”

“So did she—”

“It would be easy to blame it all on her,” his father continued with that soft, kind tone Lucas knew so well. “To blame the affair, the way you got in the middle, the grief I felt over the baby, and how badly things went for a few years after—but all I had to do was say no.” Tony got to his feet. “You’re a good kid, Lucas, and you’re growing into a wonderful young man. I’m proud to call you my son. In the last year, Carly was kidnapped and traumatized. Her marriage fell apart. She’s someone your mother loves. If you’ve accepted even a part of her into your heart, Lucas, despite the past, that says a great deal about the man you’re going to be.”

His throat was tightened. “You’re not mad.”

“Not even a little.” Tony came over and hugged him again. “I didn’t handle losing BJ well. Neither did your mother. And you got lost in the middle. Don’t think I don’t know how we failed you—”

“Dad—”

“But instead of becoming bitter, instead of holding it against us, you’ve forgiven us.” Tony smiled at him.

Lucas felt the weight lift from his shoulders as he absorbed his father’s words. “Thanks, Dad.” He embraced his father one more time, holding him tight. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

Brownstone: Kitchen

“We’re seeing a lot of you around here lately,” Bobbie said as she led her brother into the kitchen where Carly was looking over paperwork for the club.

“Yeah, well, can’t be a deadbeat forever. Caroline, how’s tricks?” Luke asked.

“Luke.” Carly sat back, setting down her pen. “Is this going to be about Sonny?”

“I won’t stay long. I gotta get to the club.” Luke drew out the chair across from Carly and sat down. “I wasn’t happy when Lucky told me Sonny didn’t listen to him—”

“I didn’t think it would work, but—” Carly rubbed her temple. “I wanted to try everything I could other than filing charges. I figure that’s the last thing Jason needs when he’s out of town.”

“I know. The thing is, I went up to see Sonny myself yesterday, and he was mostly his old self,” Luke told her. “I know you’ve been worried about his state of mind, losing track of time and place—but he and I had a real conversation about the old days, about today, and everything in between.”

“And because he was having a good day, I should change my mind about the divorce?” Carly retorted. “Luke—”

“Actually, I want the opposite. The fact of the matter is that it makes me more nervous that he was having himself a good day and he was still as angry as ever. He understands perfectly fine what’s going on. Always has.”

Bobbie frowned. “I don’t understand what you’re getting at.”

“According to you and Morgan, this all went south when Lansing jumped bail and Sonny got twitchy about protection. He basically locked you in the penthouse with no keys, guards, or access to access to the outside world. This was all before the bedroom.”

“Yes.”

“The man who did that? He’d do it again. I saw that in him today. I know that man. I’ve always known him.” Luke waited a beat. “Lansing still breathing makes Sonny feel weak. And knowing what I know about the organization, it makes him look weak—”

“Damn it—”

“No, no, let me finish. I made some calls, and the thing is—all of this isn’t going unnoticed. Morgan doesn’t play politics, he never needed to. Even when he was a kid in over his head, he never paid attention to the petty bullshit. Everyone knows Ric Lansing is alive because you and Elizabeth wanted to testify against him. No one in a position to do damage has a problem with that.”

“What are you getting at?”

“Everyone knows there’s something rotten going on. Morgan’s running things behind the scenes, but he’s on a deadline to make it permanent or some guys are gonna do it for him.”

Carly stared at her uncle. “A deadline.”

“He asked for time. April.” Luke tipped his head. “None of us know what’s going on with Elizabeth and the baby, but we all know something ain’t right. April is her due date. There’s no going back.” He took a deep breath. “Sonny’s about to go through a power struggle he hasn’t dealt with since Frank Smith was around. You do not want to be in this when that starts. You need to get this divorce, Caroline. And you need to be away from Sonny when this explodes.”

“Luke, are saying Carly’s in danger from—”

“Not from the organization. The guys I’m talking to—there’s no quarrel with you or Elizabeth. Everyone blames Sonny for it. If he’d taken care of Lansing last year, none of this would be happening. I’m saying if you’re anywhere around Sonny when he realizes that he’s about to lose everything—locking you in the bedroom is gonna look like a favor.”

Lake House: Front Porch

Jason closed the door behind him, leaving Elizabeth in the living room with one of her shows, then dialed Justus’s number.

“Hey, man. I didn’t think you’d call back tonight,” his cousin said. “How’s Elizabeth?”

“Having a good day.” Jason stared out over the frozen waters of Lake Seneca. “You left me a message?”

There was silence on the other side of the phone, and Jason braced himself. “Justus—”

“I don’t know anything for certain yet, just rumors.” Another pause. “Mikki and I had dinner at the mansion last night, and AJ came up.”

“AJ,” Jason repeated. “Why?”

“Ned and Alexis are flying down to New Orleans to talk to him. The official reason is ELQ. Ned has resigned from the company, and Tracy and Edward are getting on in age, so it’s a good cover.”

“But the timing,” Jason said, “is suspicious.”

“Yeah. I think Carly’s going to pull AJ into the custody battle.”

Jason rubbed the back of his neck. “Oh, man. Sonny is going to go ballistic. Did you tell him?”

“Absolutely fucking not. I’m not insane,” Justus said. “And I’m under no legal obligation to, though I’m riding close to the line on this one. All I told him was that Carly’s probably going full custody.”

“What did he say?”

“Sonny flipped out. He’s ready to go nuclear and destroy her. Dragging out that paternity crap with Tony Jones, the shooting, her time in Ferncliffe—just throwing everything at her.”

Jason turned and looked at Elizabeth, visible through the windows. She laughed at something on her show. He said nothing to Justus.

“I can keep things under control here until you get back on Monday. This is bad, but I think I’ve convinced Sonny that if he goes to the Brownstone, it will make his case worse. I don’t think he believes she’ll actually file. He’s angry and sliding out of control, but I can probably—” Justus hesitated. “I can string him along by prepping opposition against Carly. I don’t really want to,” he added, “but it should buy you the last three days.”

Justus might be right, but it also might backfire. Sonny might just get fueled by the reminders of Carly’s perceived crimes and go after her anyway. “Let me call you back.”

Jason went back into the living room, locking the door behind him. He settled himself on the sofa. Elizabeth offered him her bowl of popcorn, and he wordlessly took a handful.

“It’s a marathon of last year’s Road Rules,” she said as if he’d asked her a question. “They’re in the South Pacific.”

“That’s the one where they travel in an RV, right?” Jason said, squinting.

“Yeah. You had to sit through a marathon last October.” She curled into his side and tugged the throw blanket up to her shoulders. “When I was on bed rest after everything happened. You liked it because it’s basically a travel show.”

“I remember.”

They finished the episode in relatively comfortable silence, but when the credits rolled, she turned her head, resting her chin on his shoulder. “It’s bad, isn’t it?”

Jason tensed. “Yeah.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“No. Not really. But I guess I should.” He rubbed a hand down one side of his face.

“Justus thinks Carly is going full custody and might drag in AJ,” he admitted. “He thinks he can keep a handle on it for a few more days, but it might—it could blow up any minute if Sonny finds out Carly is talking to AJ.”

“Okay.” She waited. “What do you want to do? Should we go home? Will it help if we do? Because we can leave in the morning.”

He considered the question. Would Sonny have stormed the Brownstone if Jason had been there for him to yell at? Probably not, but there was still a chance—

And if Sonny finds out about AJ, he might find it easier to cross the hall first. He’d blow up, but he’d blow up at Jason.

And if Elizabeth was in the room—

“No,” Jason said finally. “I don’t think us being there will make it better or worse. It will just give Sonny someone else to scream at, and I don’t want you in the middle of it.” In fact, he almost hoped Sonny did lose it before they got back.

“Jason—”

“Luke is doing what I asked him to do. He’s staying on top of things. Carly told me she can handle it.” He waited a beat. “I need to trust her. And Justus. They’re telling me they can give us a few more days.”  He met her eyes. “So we’re going to take it. It’ll be the last quiet we have for a long time.”

“Okay,” she said finally. “I trust you.”

“Okay.” He kissed her forehead. “What do you want for dinner? We’ve some food left in the fridge.”

“You should go get us another pizza. Cam wants pepperoni.”

Despite the worry lingering in the back of his head, Jason found himself smiling. He recognized that look in her eyes. She would try to get his mind off what was happening, and he decided to let her. “He does, does he?”

“Yep. And it’s your job as his dad to get him what he wants. After this episode.” She stifled a yawn. “Because you’re comfy, and I want to take a nap.”

“Sounds like a plan.” He listened to her slightly shallow breathing as it slowed, then felt her head slump as she slid into slumber. No matter what was happening back home, staying here was worth the risk.

If she was determined to give their son more time, it was up to Jason to make sure Elizabeth had her best chance to come out on the other side.

+7

When you feel all alone
And a loyal friend is hard to find
You’re caught in a one-way street
With the monsters in your head
When hopes and dreams are far away
And you feel like you can’t face the day
– Crash and Burn, Lifehouse

Wednesday, February 11, 2004

Lake House: Master Bedroom

Just a few days ago, she’d been able to argue with her husband, raising her voice, insisting she was fine. Today, Elizabeth could barely lift her arm to block out the sunlight streaming through the muster.

The fatigue had settled into her bones, and even though she was lying still, Elizabeth felt almost dead. This morning, her eyes had fluttered open, and that seemed to be all the energy she could manage.

She drew in a breath, wincing when her lungs refused to expand fully, then forced herself into a sitting position. She was pressing shaky fingers to her wrist when Jason came in.

“Hey, I wanted—” he stopped in the doorway, a cup of tea in hand. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m so tired,” she said softly. “Can you check…” She couldn’t even gesture at the drawer, but he understood.

Jason set the tea down, then jerked open the drawer. “Here—” He fit the mask over her face, then wrapped the cuff around her bicep.

She hated this. She hated every inch of this. Why couldn’t it be over? Why did it have to be so hard—She winced as the cuff expanded and squeezed her arm.

He exhaled slowly. “It’s higher than Monday,” he told her, “and you’re nearly at the top end of the range Monica said was normal.” Jason put the cuff back. “Elizabeth—”

“Not right now. Please.” She closed her eyes.

“I know you don’t want to hear this—”

“Jason—”

“It’s twenty-nine weeks now. You’ve given the baby seven more days—”

Even though a piece of her knew he was right, she still couldn’t do it. “I read the complications at all the weeks. It’s not good enough. Maybe I’m just more tired than usual today. Pregnant women get tired—”

“Not tired enough that they can barely open their eyes and with the CTEPH—” Jason cut himself off, his tone so aggravated that she opened her eyes. “I don’t want to argue about this again, but—”

“My blood pressure, my pulse, it’s all normal. I don’t even use the oxygen much. Monica said—”

“Monica wanted you to deliver last week. When we go back, do you really think that’s going to change?” Jason handed her the tea. “I’ll go get you some water and your meds.”

“Do you think I want this?” she asked, putting her hand on his arm, stopping his exit from the room. “Do you think this is how I want to spend the first few weeks of our marriage? To have this conversation over and over again?”

“No.” Jason cleared his throat and repeated it in a more gentle tone. “No, I know you don’t want this. I just—”

“I can’t take a single day from his life to make myself more comfortable. I can’t. You wouldn’t either, you know you wouldn’t.”

“And if the positions were reversed, would you be happy seeing me get sicker?”

She pressed her lips together. “No.” She switched off the oxygen and removed the tubes. “I would hate it, and I’d argue with you, too. But I couldn’t—” She pressed a hand to her belly, feeling a kick against her palm. “I couldn’t protect my baby last year. Even if Faith hadn’t shoved me down the stairs, there’s no telling what might have happened with the pills Ric was feeding me. If he would have stopped at Valium—”

“Elizabeth—” He sank onto the bed. “I know—”

“I did that. I married him even though I knew he’d done terrible things, and I put my child at risk—”

“If you’d known about the pills, you wouldn’t have stayed—”

“I lost that baby. I couldn’t protect it—” Her breath faltered. “Please. Please let me protect Cameron for as long as I can.”

Jason drew her against him, tucking her head into the crook of his shoulder. “Promise me one thing.”

“What?”

“When we go to see Monica and Kelly next week, if they still want you to push up the delivery date, you’ll consider it more seriously.”

“I will.” Elizabeth squeezed his hand. “I promise.”

Port Charles Municipal Building: City Attorney’s Office

“I think this is a mistake.”

Alexis wrinkled her nose as she handed the file to the messenger. “Make sure it’s filed by the end of business today,” she told him. “Thank you.”

“Right away, Ms. Davis.”

When the messenger had left, Alexis turned back to Ned with a sigh. “You’ve said the same thing for days, Ned. You’re not changing my mind—”

“If you step outside of city business to defend Carly in what will be a very bitter divorce fight, people are going to wonder.” Ned leaned against her desk. “I don’t understand why you feel obligated—”

“Carly has suspected the truth about Kristina since the beginning and said nothing.” When Ned rolled his eyes, Alexis scowled. “Don’t dismiss that. Yes, she kept the secret for her own reasons, but she still kept it, Ned. Think about it — Sonny is out there, desperate to protect his kids from the specter of Ric Lansing and God knows what else. Carly could have turned him away from herself at any point.”

Ned frowned. “I don’t understand—”

“If she’d told Sonny about Kristina last fall, Sonny would have focused on me. Do you think you’d be mayor right now? She could have done it while I was suspended last year — would we even have Kristina right now if she had?” Alexis continued. “I don’t care why Carly kept it secret. I care that she did even when it might have helped her to divulge it.” She went over to the window to stare out over the vastness of the Port Charles park.

She’d never look at it the same after the horrors of the previous year. “She protected my daughter. She’s asking me to help her protect her boys. How can I turn away from that?”

“Alexis—”

“And she’s right. The evidence she needs to get Sonny out of her life for good — I would need it for my own custody case. The truth is going to come out one day, Ned,” she said softly. “I’m not arrogant enough to think we can keep it forever. I just—I need more time for Kristina to grow up. To be her own person. We need to protect her until she’s old enough to make her own decisions. Carly’s giving me the fuel to do that. She’s promised to testify in a custody hearing if I need it—”

“And you trust Carly to keep that promise?”

“A year ago, no. But Carly is not the same person she was once, Ned. You know that. You’re closer to the situation than I am,” she told him. “Am I that insane for trusting her?”

Ned stroked his chin. “No,” he said finally. “No, I don’t think so. I just—Kristina’s the only daughter I have left,” he said softly. “Maybe it’s just me being selfish. And scared. If the truth comes out, then I can’t keep her.”

“I will never forget who stood by me when I needed it the most. She will always be yours,” Alexis promised. She straightened the lapels of his suit and met his eyes. “I can’t tell you what Carly and I have talked about, you know that, but I want you to know that I am convinced that she’s going through with this divorce. The only way Sonny will see those boys is if he gets help with that anger. Last week, at the Brownstone? That never would have happened to the Sonny I knew once.”

“What if he gets it together?” Ned demanded roughly. “What if he turns back into that Sonny, and Carly starts to feel guilty about his not knowing?”

“Well, now I have a new thing to worry about,” Alexis admitted. “We’ll cross that bridge if it comes to it. Ned, I wanted my daughter away from the very darkness that Carly is trying to escape. My feeling and history with Carly aside — how could I ever forgive myself if something happened to those boys and I didn’t help?”

“You wouldn’t. And I wouldn’t forgive myself either for talking you out of it.” He kissed her forehead. “What can I do to help?”

“I’m glad you asked.” She smiled brightly at him. “You know how to get in touch with your AJ, don’t you?”

Ned lifted his brows. “The recovering alcoholic and Carly’s ex-husband? That AJ?”

“Yes.” Alexis waited. “We need him to help with the custody petitions. If he’d agree to meet with Carly, that would be great.”

“Oh, sure, piece of cake,” Ned muttered. “I’ll set that up and then go solve world peace.” When Alexis just glared at him, he added, “As long as we’re talking about miracles, why not?”

Brownstone: Lucas & Felix’s Apartment

Lucas dumped his organic chemistry book on the table, then dropped down to the table to dig into his homework. He had a quiz in the next class, and somehow, the professor was already talking about midterms. He wanted to be a doctor, but did he have to master six types of chemistry to get there?

“Hey.” The door behind him opened, and Felix came in, tossing aside his own bag. “You starting organic already?”

“Yeah, we’ll probably be at it until late, so maybe a pizza tonight?” Felix tapped his shoulder, and Lucas dragged his face out of his books to find his boyfriend arching a brow. “What?”

“Nothing. Just wanted to see if it’d work.” Felix curled a hand around Lucas’s neck and drew him into a soft kiss.

There was something really great about being fully out that Lucas could and would never take for granted. Since he and Felix had moved in together a few months ago, it almost felt like he was finally allowed to be normal. To have what other people. To wake up beside someone he loved, who loved him in return. A year ago, he’d been terrified to tell his parents he was gay. Now he and his boyfriend rented an apartment from his mother, and his father had arranged for Felix to get into the nursing program at General Hospital next year.

Life was pretty good right now, except—

“What’s that face about?” Felix asked. He disappeared into the kitchen, then emerged a minute or two later with their usual stash of study fuel — Gatorade and Doritos. He dumped it on the table. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, just thinking about how good things are for me right now. I mean, other than organic chem.” He exhaled slowly. “But then I thought about Michael and how much everything sucks for him.”

“And for your sister.” Felix sat down and flipped open his book, searching for the right chapter. “I’ve never been through a divorce, but I know what it’s like to have your family turn into strangers right in front of you.”

“Felix—” Lucas winced. As wonderful as his parents had been, Felix’s family hadn’t taken it as well. He’d been out to them since high school, but the DuBois had decided to treat it like a phase and kept referring to Lucas as that roommate. “I’m sorry—”

“It’s their loss, not mine. And I got a whole bunch of people who like me just the way I am.” Felix smiled, and though it was genuine, it didn’t light up his face the way it usually did. “I got you, don’t I? And your mom is awesome. And your friends and cousins all decided I’m okay, so I’ve got people. That matters.”

“I think Maxie likes you better than me. She said if we break up, you get her.” Felix laughed, which made Lucas feel a lot better. “Your family will come around.”

“Maybe. Maybe not. I can’t let it get me down. And anyway, we were talking about your sister and her kids—” Felix paused. “You’re making that face again. Should I not call her that?”

“No—” Lucas leaned back. “No, it’s fine. It’s just—when you say it, I keep thinking of BJ. Carly’s not exactly the big sister I had in mind.” He ripped open the Doritos, not interested in pursuing the topic.

“No, but she’s the big sister you’ve got. And you’ve done right by her, so I hope you’re not worried about that.”

“I’m not concerned with her,” Lucas muttered. “I just like her kids.” That wasn’t entirely correct, though, was it? He had been worried about her these last few weeks. The last few months. Since she’d come back in December. She was different from the brash and irritating bitch who had broken up his parents’ marriage or the selfish brat who always sucked up his mother’s attention and energy.

“Lucas?”

“It feels wrong,” he admitted, “to call Carly my sister. Like—” He sighed. “Like I’m betraying my dad. He never really got over BJ. Even for me. I knew he and my mom were having issues before that. They were separated when I was a kid after she died. Then they got back together for a while. Then Carly happened.” His chest tightened. “Dad just walked away from us. He still had visitation and stuff, but he was excited for the kid he thought he was having. His own biological kid. Another chance, he used to say. A fresh start.”

“Oh, man—”

“He didn’t mean it the way I took it back then,” Lucas hurried when Felix winced. “And I’m older now, so I get what he meant. But that kid he wanted so bad was Michael, and he wanted to have that with Carly. So maybe it’s not sitting with me right for her to just be part of the family. He was really messed up after all that. Even worse than BJ. And I always blamed her.”

“Do you think he’d be mad you’re hanging with her and the kids?” Felix asked. “Because Doc Jones doesn’t seem like that kind of guy—”

“No, he’s the best. He’s all the back, you know? He got himself together a few years ago, and it’s been okay since. And we’re closer now than we ever were. I was scared to tell him about you and me, I mean—gay was one thing—but by the time I told everyone—” Lucas shrugged. “I don’t know. We were already kind of serious. It felt like a lot. But Dad barely even blinked. He was happy for me. And he likes you. Don’t think I don’t know exactly how good I have with my family, Felix. I’ll never take that for granted.”

“I know. Do you really think your dad is gonna be mad at you because you’re taking care of your nephews? Because you feel bad about what Carly’s going through? Look, I know the whole back story, so I’m not gonna tell you that you’re wrong to resent her. Or that you have to forgive her. That’s for you to figure out.”

“I think—” Lucas pressed his lips together, then met Felix’s eyes. “Maybe it’s bothering me because I already did. I don’t resent her anymore. How can I? I keep seeing her face from last week—her husband pushing her around, terrorizing her and her kids—I was so angry at him for coming after her when she clearly couldn’t deal with it—” He sighed. “I didn’t want her to be my sister, man, but I think maybe she is, and I don’t know if that’s okay.”

“Talk to your dad,” Felix suggested. “And if it feels like he’s not okay with it, well, then you can work with that.”

“Maybe.” Lucas picked up his pencil. “Until then, let’s try not to fail that quiz tomorrow.”

Kelly’s: Dining Room

Portia Robinson wrinkled her nose and set aside the newspaper. “You’d think they’d run out of things to write about.” She sipped her coffee. “A whole week of this, and they still got nothing new to say.”

Taggert glanced at the story she’d been reading, analyzing the PCPD’s refusal to press charges against Sonny for the Brownstone. “They know why we didn’t arrest him.”

“Yeah, but following the law and listening to victims doesn’t sell papers.” Portia snorted. “Vultures. I get that he’s the local godfather, but aren’t they tired of him yet?”

“Sonny Corinthos has been selling papers in this city longer than I’ve lived here.” Taggert picked up the story and scanned the particulars. “Yeah, I’m not surprised. They think we’re weak after last year.”

“Mikki said a few things,” Portia said. “You guys got some bad press with the kidnapping and park rapist cases.”

“Yeah, they were my cases.” Taggert sighed, grimacing when he saw his transfer mentioned. “The Lansing case is how I ended up in Major Crimes. Burnt out on Corinthos and his crap. Now, he’s shoving his face into my squad all over again.”

She lifted a brow. “But Jason Morgan works for him, and you went to the wedding.”

“Under extreme duress. I told you that then. I went for the bride.”

“Right, right, the papers talked about her being the center of all that last year.” She tipped her head. “Why didn’t you force Carly or Felix to file charges? You could have. She wanted a report for her divorce lawyer. Charges could have been part of it.”

“A year ago—” Taggert squinted. “A year ago, I would have. I wouldn’t have cared what Carly needed—I would have just seen the cuffs slapping on Corinthos for something I could prove. But then…” He shook his head, picked up his coffee.

“Then what?”

“Then Lansing happened. And I focused on Corinthos. I thought there was a mob tie, and I wasted time following that lead. I didn’t see Capelli and Mac behind my back, thinking Elizabeth was involved. They planted a story about Elizabeth and Morgan—he’d been going to the house  all week. Searching for Carly, mostly. But he was worried about Elizabeth being around Lansing. They made it seem like it was an affair.”

“Well, six months later, they’re married with a baby on the way—”

“It wasn’t that simple,” Taggert argued, “and either way—we had a guy accused of kidnapping a pregnant woman, and we suspected him of drugging his wife to hide it. We don’t hand him more ammunition—” He stared down at his half-eaten breakfast. “Lansing attacked Elizabeth. I got there, and there were scratches and bruises—and this was before we knew he was dosing her with birth control pills that nearly killed her.”

“Marcus.” Portia reached across the table to squeeze his hand. “You don’t blame yourself, do you?”

“No. No, not all the way. But I could have done a better job. I could have done better by Elizabeth—and Carly. They were what mattered. Focusing on Corinthos—it was turning me into those cops I hated growing up. The ones that would frisk you just for walking down the street—” He stopped. “This is ancient history, Portia. No point in getting into it.”

“It’s your history, and that means it matters.” But she smiled at him. “Hopefully, someone will come along and give the Herald something to write about so we can all move on from Sonny Corinthos.”

Quartermaine Estate: Family Room

“Grandfather,” Ned said, strolling into the room later that evening. “Just the man I was looking for.”

“Whatever your mother says, I didn’t do it,” Edward said immediately, making a face. He looked at Lila. “I didn’t.”

Ned scowled. “What’s that supposed to mean? What are the two of you up to?”

“Nothing, nothing—”

“Edward,” Lila said, a warning clear in her tone. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing.” Edward smiled brightly. “You said you were looking for me? What’s on your mind? How can I help?”

Still suspicious, Ned took a seat and decided to let it go. He could spend his entire life chasing his grandfather and his shenanigans, but he only had so much time. “I’m going to New Orleans this weekend.”

“New Orleans? Oh, to see AJ?” Lila beamed. “How is he? He hasn’t called in a few days.”

“Reprobate,” Edward muttered. “Has he screwed something up? I haven’t looked into—”

“On the contrary.” Ned was already exhausted by the extremes in the conversation. Lila would always believe the best about everyone, while Edward thought people were rotten, dirty bastards. How they’d managed to sustain a marriage lasting more than a half-century was beyond him— “The latest reports suggest AJ is managing well. Profits are up twenty percent. Being away from this family suits him,” he added dryly.

Edward narrowed his eyes. “If he’s doing well, then why are you going?”

There was no way Ned would mention Carly was considering letting AJ back into Michael’s life. If Edward sniffed that out, Carly would change her mind so fast that their heads would be spinning. “I’ve mostly left ELQ to the managers and Mother. But she’s concentrating on New York, and you’re semi-retired.”

“I’d like to see him actually retired,” Lila said, glancing at her husband. “Is ELQ faltering?”

“No, but it’s not as strong as it could be with a full-time CEO here in Port Charles. I’m flying down to feel AJ out. He may say no,” Ned said quickly as Edward opened his mouth. “But I wanted to see how he’d feel about it. I think he’s ready, Grandfather, and I think he’s owed this chance.”

“Owed,” Edward muttered but then sighed when he saw Lila’s face. Maybe he thought the same as Ned. Their beloved Lila was fading, and so much of the family had scattered over the years. She’d perk up with more of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren to enjoy. “All right. Put out the feelers. Let me know what you think.”

Kelly’s: Diner

“Hey, Lu,” Carly said. She set down her purse and took a seat at the table. “Mama said she wanted me to pick up her receipts and paperwork.”

“Oh, okay, I’ll get it together for you,” Lulu replied. “You want your usual?”

Carly nodded as she took out her phone and saw that Alexis had left a voicemail. She listened, taking a deep breath when she learned Ned had arranged for a trip to New Orleans to meet with AJ.

She glanced up when a shadow fell over her table and frowned slightly. “Uh, hey. Laura.”

Laura offered Carly a smile. “Lulu’s finishing up her shift in a bit, so I came to pick her up. You mind if I sit down?”

“Uh, okay.” Carly’s frown only deepened as the other woman sat down. “Are you..um, you okay? Did you need something?”

“Well, I saw you sitting here, and it occurred to me that you and I don’t know each other very well.”

“Uh…” Her brain felt like it was on the fritz. “No. We, ah, don’t.”

Laura’s smile deepened. “And you can’t imagine why I care.”

“No.” A little relieved that Laura had said so, Carly nodded, “No, I honestly can’t. I mean, I know Mama and Luke are close, but—”

“Bobbie’s always been an excellent aunt to my children, including Nikolas. I’d like to do the same with her kids.” Laura hesitated. “I wanted to tell you that I was thinking about what you’ve been through.”

Carly hesitated. “Look, Laura—”

“Last year, I spent most of my time sitting in a chair, unable to get outside of my own head,” Laura told her. “I’d been through so many terrible things that I’d kept pressing down and pushing away. When I came home, I promised myself that I wouldn’t let that happen again. That’d I deal with things head on.”

Carly tilted her head, studied Laura for a long moment. “What was it like? Being locked inside your head? Do you remember any of it?”

“Not really,” Laura admitted. “But every once in a while, I’d come out of it, and I’d be scared. I didn’t know where I was, what was going on—and for a while, by the time I was starting to get oriented, I’d fade out again. It was months before I could stay awake longer than an hour. But  I made it back home.”

“I…that happened to me a little last summer,” Carly murmured. “After I was rescued. I’d see Michael—my little boy—and I’d remember that last night—when he’d been there, trying to stop Ric from—just looking at him brought back the terror, and I’d—” She took a deep breath. “I’d disappear.”

“I’m so sorry,” Laura said softly. “Are you doing better?”

“Most of the time. I’m okay with Michael now. I worked on that in therapy. I, uh, was diagnosed with acute stress disorder,” Carly clarified. “But—” She met Laura’s eyes again, and this time—didn’t see a stranger. “You know about December. What he put me through.”

“I do.”

A tear slid down her cheek. “When Sonny came to the Brownstone, I was so scared that it was happening again,” she admitted. “That it would be just like before, and this time I wouldn’t be able to stop it, and it would be starting all over again—and that I’d look at my son and—”

Laura slid a napkin across the table. “I have those moments, too. For all the work I put in, for all the support my family gave me, I’m terrified that I’ll lose myself again. And that next time, they won’t be able to bring me back.”

“That’s why I can’t go back,” Carly told Laura. “Sonny wants me to stay locked up until Ric is caught, but I can’t—I can’t. I can’t be locked away. Even for my own safety. Because it’ll just happen all over again. I have to protect myself.”

Laura nodded. “If you ever need to talk to someone, I’m here. I’ve been where you are, Carly. And I don’t want either of us to go back.”

“You lost months—” Carly shook her head. “It’s not the same. I wasn’t as bad—”

“It started small for me,” Laura replied. “I was still lucid, still talking. Even if I wasn’t always sure where I was, Luke or one of my children—they could look at me, and I’d be okay. I could snap out of it. Until the day I couldn’t. Until the horror of what I’d done—” She swallowed hard. “Until it broke me.”

Carly blinked back the tears. Oh, God, Laura really did understand. “I, um, I’m okay, but I appreciate—if—” She took a deep breath. “If I need someone, I’ll let you know.”

“You do that.” Laura squeezed her hand, and for a moment, Carly didn’t feel quite so alone.

Harborview Towers: Hallway

Max threw up his hands when he saw Luke step off the elevator. “Oh, come on, how’d you get past security?”

Luke smirked, though he didn’t feel very amused at the moment. “You know better than that, Giambetti.” He’d been around Sonny and the organization since the man had clawed to the top nearly a decade ago.

He knew more about Sonny’s rise to power than anyone else still living in Port Charles. There would always be a man or two left that owed a favor to Luke Spencer.

“I open the door for you, I’m gonna b sleeping with the fishes,” Max muttered, but he knocked on the door. “Yo, Mr. C?”

The door jerked open, and Sonny narrowed his eyes at his former partner. “What the hell do you want?” he demanded.

“Is that any way to talk to an old friend?” Luke said with a lift of his brows, “or are you still sore that I shoved you out of the club?”

Sonny scowled, dragged a hand through his disheveled hair, then stalked back into the penthouse. He left the door open, which Luke decided to treat as an open invitation. “And you were worried,” he said, lightly smacking Max in the abdomen. The guard winced, and Luke followed Sonny into the living room.

“If you’re here because you’re having issues with the club,” Sonny said, pouring himself a bourbon, “then you’re barking up the wrong tree. Tommy handles all of that.”

“Tommy’s still around?” Luke said. “I’d have thought you’d get tired of his pompous arrogance.” Sonny smirked, and Luke felt a bit of a relief. There was the old friend he’d known once. “No, that’s good to know, though. Haven’t been many issues since you shoved out Roscoe last year. Thanks for that, by the way. Bastard came around a few times trying to get protection.” He snorted. “Maybe he thought I’d gone soft.”

“Yeah, well, Roscoe was handled, and—” Sonny made a face. “Other than Alcazar and Lansing, things are good.”

“Yeah, like I said, no issues down where I am on the waterfront.”

“If it’s not about the club, why are you here? You wanted out of all of this.”

“I did, and I still do. You know the kid decided to go straight, and I was a crappy enough father when he was growing up — I owe it to him to keep my nose clean.” Luke shifted. “Hell of a thing, my kid a cop.”

“Lucky always had a sense of right and wrong,” Sonny murmured. “Thought he’d end up like Jason, but a cop doesn’t feel that far off.”

“Not a bad point. Cowboy is why I’m here. About his visit.”

“Don’t think I don’t know how he got upstairs,” Sonny said sourly. He sipped his bourbon. “Not many of the old guard left.”

“But enough.” Luke slipped his hands into his pockets. “I know you and Morgan are having your issues these days—”

“I don’t want to talk about it—”

“I get it, but I can’t have you coming over and harassing Barbara Jean—”

“I’m not,” Sonny bit out. “I’m talking to my wife—”

“Seems to me there’s a whole lot of talking going on and not a lot of listening.” Luke cleared his throat. “You really think Jason would take off for no reason and leave Carly and the kids if he thought this Lansing guy was a real threat?”

“Are you asking me about the business?” Sonny demanded. “You wanted to be out of it—”

“You know better than that, Corinthos,” Luke said softly. “As long as people that matter to me are tied up in it, I’ll never be out. Caroline is my niece—”

“Since when do you give a damn about that—”

“I’ve been distracted the last few years, Sonny, and you damn well know it. First, you took off and left the business to a kid who wasn’t ready to handle it, and then Lucky—” Luke’s chest tightened. “I had some issues there. And things fell apart with Laura. The Cassadines took my boy. By the time I looked up, you and I were too far apart. It didn’t matter that the fire wasn’t on you. I shoved you out of the club because that’s what Laura needed. But I never blamed you and Morgan.”

“It could have been us,” Sonny murmured. “We were going after Moreno to take back the clubs and the old territory Jason had sold off—” Suddenly, his old friend looked weary. “You’re right. I shouldn’t have left. He was too young to handle it, and he ran. Gave away everything I built.”

“He didn’t think he had a choice. Sonny—this Carly thing—you’re holding on too tight, and you’re choking her—”

“Don’t you think I know that?” Sonny growled, whirling to face Luke. “Don’t you think I—” He curled his hand into a fist. “But I have to protect her. I didn’t before. I let that bastard keep breathing because he came from my mother. He has her eyes. I couldn’t—I couldn’t kill him. Not then.”

“Sonny—”

“He’s still out there—” Sonny flung his hand out towards the penthouse windows overlooking downtown of Port Charles. “Still planning to come back and take everything—”

“The thing is, Sonny,” Luke said, waiting for the other man to meet his eyes, “when you feel threatened, you do terrible things—”

“I didn’t mean to lock her in the room like that—” Sonny began, his cheeks flushing, but Luke shook his head.

“I’m not talking about Carly and the bedroom a few months ago. I’m talking old and ancient business. I know you, Sonny, better than anyone else. You need to get this shit under control, let Carly live her damn life, and you need to fix things with Jason. He didn’t want the business seven years ago. He still doesn’t want the power. But that doesn’t mean he won’t take it if he has to. This time, he can handle it. Don’t push him, Sonny.”

Sonny stared down into his bourbon. “You didn’t want to be involved,” he said flatly. “Let’s keep it that way.”

He’d gotten as far as he could, so Luke nodded. “Fair enough. But you know where to find me if you need anything.”

Lake House: Master Bedroom

“You know what I’m going to miss when this is over?” Elizabeth asked as Jason lifted her dinner tray from her lap. “Being waited on hand and foot. A girl could get used to this.”

He managed a smile for her because he knew that was what she wanted, but he didn’t feel it. Could Elizabeth see how pale she was? How the circles under her eyes deepened every day? He stayed awake, listening to her breathe. He’d done that countless times since her embolism last summer, but now—

Now he was afraid to sleep at all, terrified she’d leave him in the middle of the night, and he’d wake—

“Jason?”

He cleared his throat, then turned back to her, careful to keep his worries hidden. What good would it do to upset her? She wasn’t going to change her mind, and he didn’t want to cause more stress with arguments that would only go in circles like this week. Nothing had changed. “I’m going to check my messages.”

“Oh, okay. Let me know if Emily or Bobbie left any.”

He carried the tray out into the kitchen and cleaned up from dinner before reaching for the burner phone. There were only two messages. One from Justus, letting him know he had a bad feeling about the divorce, but nothing specific. The second was Monica, checking in on Elizabeth and her health.

They weren’t supposed to go back to Port Charles until Monday morning. Four more days. For the first time, he thought that maybe Elizabeth was right. Maybe they should go home early. Her condition wasn’t getting much better here, despite the constant rest and lack of stress, and if staying away only created more stress for them when they returned—

Jason needed to talk to Carly again before she filed. Sonny would be even more distracted from the job, and while Jason knew that Justus was doing his best to hold things together—

Jason put the phone on the charger and went back to the bedroom. Elizabeth had switched on one of her reality shows, the audio down low. “What is it tonight?” he asked.

“Oh, it’s just a rerun of that new Donald Trump one where he fires people.” She wrinkled her nose. “He’s a terrible person, did you know that?”

“Yeah.” Jason climbed into bed next to her. “We had some run-ins with him, actually. Sonny has an interest in a few of the casinos in Atlantic City.” He squinted at the screen. “Why does he fire people?”

“For being bad at business or something. It’s not one I like, but it’s on, and sometimes that’s enough. He’s an idiot, though. Always firing people for stupid reasons. I hope it gets canceled.” She rested her head against his shoulder. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“You hate my shows, and you always make me feel like you’re interested when you ask questions. Don’t think I don’t notice.”

“I like when you explain things to me.” He reached for her hand, drawing it into his lap. “Justus has a bad feeling about the divorce and custody coming up.” Jason felt Elizabeth tense next to him. “And he’s probably right.”

“We could—”

“We might have to,” he said, anticipating what she was going to say.

“We almost made it two weeks, though. That’s good.”

“Justus said he’d call me when he finds out more. Right now, he just has a feeling.” He paused. “I’m going to tell Sonny about the CTEPH when we get back. He needs to know that he can’t come over and start fights anymore.”

“Okay. Em already knows, so I’ll tell Bobbie. And Nikolas,” she added. “You’ll tell Carly? She’ll want to hear it from you.”

“Yeah.” He waited a minute. “Are you okay with everyone knowing?”

“They already know something isn’t right, don’t they? Nikolas and Bobbie knew I was having tests. I’m sure Carly noticed something was up with you. I wanted the wedding be about us, and it was.”

Except for her run-in with Sonny and the crisis it had brought on. Jason grimaced. “It might not change anything with Sonny. He knew what Carly was dealing with, and he’s still acting the same way. I need you to do everything you can to avoid Sonny until you check in for delivery.”

“I will—”

“I mean it. If he comes in, you go upstairs. I’ll take you up and down otherwise, so save your one trip for him.”

“I promise,” Elizabeth stressed. “I know I haven’t always been good about that, but I really will try this time. I don’t feel up to a fight with him anyway.”

“Okay.” Jason wished they lived somewhere else, but it was too late in her pregnancy to go somewhere else. The Towers was secure—even more so since Vinnie Esposito had wiled his way into getting Elizabeth alone.

He’d have to find a way to keep Sonny from making things worse. Somehow.

+7

But am I the only one
Who wonders still about your days?
Did you find your sense of peace? Lord, please
I hope you’ve forgiven me
Couldn’t see you drowning
Sacrificed your sanity
Stole my silver lining
– Happy (In the End), Gabbie Hanna

Monday, February 9, 2004

 Lake House: Master Bedroom

Elizabeth had never been much of a morning person and relished the days when she could sleep until the sun was high in the sky. She wasn’t surprised to find the clock on the side table was past nine and that the other side of the bed was empty.

Jason was a morning person, and she considered it a fatal flaw in his character.

Elizabeth rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and pulled herself up, pressing a hand against her chest when her lungs felt tight. She breathed in, then breathed out. Did her counting exercises, and still—she couldn’t quite force out more than a series of shallow breaths.

“If I just get moving—” Elizabeth’s muscles felt heavy, and by the time she’d put her feet on the floor, she was nearly sweating from the exertion. She’d be better if she walked around the room a little, she reminded herself. It wasn’t the first morning she’d woken up like this, and she knew how to shake it off.

Bracing a hand on the side table, she got to her feet—then swayed slightly as her lungs began to burn and she couldn’t quite balance herself, the bulge of her belly throwing her off.

“It’s okay. I’m okay.” She caught the edge of the dresser with her other hand, waiting for the vertigo to pass. If she could just get to the end of the room and then back, she’d be better—

“Are you—” Jason’s question broke off as he scowled at her. “What are you doing? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing—” But the words had barely left her lips before Jason had scooped her off her feet and deposited her back on the bed. His back was turned then as he rummaged in the top dresser drawer for the two most hated items in Elizabeth’s luggage — the blood pressure cuff and the oxygen mask.

“I’m fine,” she said flatly, tipping her head away from him when he tried to fit the mask over her face. “I’m fine,” she repeated. And she was. The pressure on her lungs was already easing, just like it always did. “We don’t have to go through this every morning—” But he had that look on his face, so it was just easier to extend her arm so he could put on the cuff.

“I hate this,” she muttered, and didn’t even bother to hide the resentment in her eyes when she caught his gaze. “It’s my body, Jason, and I should get to decide if I want to start my morning by having my arm squeezed until I can’t feel anything—”

He ignored her, and that made her even more angry. She wasn’t a damn child! Why did everyone think she was trying to kill herself? “I’m fine,” she repeated.

Jason grimaced as he took in the reading. “They’re in the right range,” he said, loosening the cuff.

“I told you.” She lightly shoved him aside and pulled herself to her feet. “I wish you trusted me—”

“It’s not about trust—” Jason shook his head and returned the medical equipment to the drawer.

“Really? Then what is it?” She folded her arms. “One time. One time, I didn’t tell you everything Monica told me at a doctor’s appointment, and now every time you think there’s something wrong, I have to stop what I’m doing—” She broke off when he flinched. Tears stung the corner of her eyes. “And now I’m the bad guy, right? Because you’re just trying to take care of me and I’m being a bitch—”

“I know you’re frustrated,” he said, and that patient tone she usually adored made her want to set the entire house on fire.

“Oh, so not only can you tell me when I’m sick, you can tell me what I’m feeling?” The anger pounded in her veins like an adrenaline surge. She tugged on a robe and went past him, down the hallway towards the kitchen.

“Elizabeth—”

“I’m sick, Jason. Do you think I don’t know that?” She whirled around, hissing in frustration when her balance deserted her and she had to brace a hand on the wall. “No!” Elizabeth threw out of the other hand when he started forward, probably to drag her back to bed “I’m fine. I moved too fast, but there’s nothing wrong.”

“You’re pale,” he began, a muscle in his cheek beginning to twitch.

“I’m always pale,” she retorted. “And I’m hungry.” She attempted a deep breath, but couldn’t quite manage it. Still, she counted to ten. “I know you’re scared.” She met his eyes. “I’m scared, too. Okay? And I know you’re mad at me—”

“I’m not—”

“I’m too annoyed to find another word, so mad will do. I can’t do what you and Monica and Kelly and everyone want me to. I’m not going to apologize for it anymore. I’m taking care of myself, taking it easy, and I have done everything your mother has told me to do for the last six months—”

“I know you have—”

“I always feel like trash when I wake up,” Elizabeth said. “I always have to pull myself out of bed, and then I walk around, and I’m okay—”

“Until you’re not,” Jason cut in sharply, his eyes flashing. “You were fine that day in the house. I wanted you to call Monica, and you refused—”

“Don’t—”

“So it wasn’t just one time you ignored what Monica told you,” Jason continued. “You’re doing it right now—”

“That is not—” The tears slid down her cheeks, hot and angry. “I am not ignoring anything! I’m giving my child his best chance—” She pressed her hands to her face. Why couldn’t anyone understand? Why couldn’t they see this was the only way? How could she bring her precious son into this world and make him struggle for every breath? It was so damn selfish of everyone to expect her to just give up and not try to give Cameron as much time as she could.

“I’m not having this argument. It doesn’t change anything.” Jason shoved his hands into his pockets. “I won’t drag out the blood pressure cuff again,” he said. “Or the oxygen.”

Her lip trembled slightly but she bit down. He made it sound like he was doing her a favor, like she was some unruly child who was in the middle of a tantrum.

Elizabeth lifted her chin. “You think you’re the only person who gets to be scared?” she asked softly, and he frowned at her. “I’m sick. I know that. And I know that the condition I have could take my life. But I’m not the one who chose a life where the danger doesn’t go away with a surgery.”

His body tensed and he just stared at her, unblinking. “I’ve seen the scars, Jason,” she continued. “I’ve been part of the shootings, the bombs, and the explosions. I’ve patched up bruises, cleaned up blood, and watched you risk your life over and over again. Do you think it’s easy for me to let you walk out the door with everything that’s going on?”

“Elizabeth—”

“I don’t want to talk about this anymore.” She turned away and went into the kitchen. A few minutes later, she heard the front door slam.

Ward House: Living Room

“Kimi—” Justus stared at the mess his daughter had made in the living room, with toys and cushions strewn everywhere. “What is Mama going to say?”

Kimi screwed her face up into a thoughtful expression as she considered the disaster zone. “She be big mad.”

“Exactly.” Pleased she agreed, Justus nodded. “She will be.”

“You in big trouble.”

“Me?” Justus repeated, squinting. “I didn’t do this—”

Kimi shrugged. “You daddy, I’m the baby. You watch me.” She flashed him a grin and fluttered her eyelashes. “You in trouble.”

Justus considered this argument. “Okay, fair enough. But you’ll get yelled at, too.”

This hadn’t occurred to her, but it sank in now as Kimi’s eyes widened. “Oh, no. You and me big trouble.” She hurried over towards her toy box and threw open the top. “Help.”

The doorbell rang then, and Justus sighed. “You get started, baby. I’ll be back.”

“Hurry.”

Justus left his daughter and went to the foyer, then frowned when he peered through the windows. “Has hell frozen over?” he asked, pulling open the door to find Taggert on his front step.

“No,” the lieutenant muttered. “Can I come in for a minute?”

Intrigued, Justus stepped back. “Yeah, but I can’t stay long. Kimi and I gotta clean up before Mikki gets home.” He looked back into the living room. “Kimi, keep going, I’ll be there in a minute.”

“This won’t take along.” Taggert shoved his hands in his pockets. “Listen, this Sonny business landed on my desk because it’s domestic, not business.”

“Okay—Carly wasn’t pressing charges, so—”

“This time,” Taggert said, blocking Justus as the lawyer started to open the door. “I don’t care about Corinthos or Morgan. Don’t get this twisted. But Carly and her kids, Elizabeth, Bobbie—they’ve all been through too much—and every time Sonny does something like this, they all suffer.”

Justus turned back to the cop, irritated. “Why is that any of your business?”

“I made mistakes last summer,” Taggert said, “and I got tunnel vision. I could have done better by Carly. Maybe she didn’t have to spend all that time in that damn panic room. Maybe Lansing wouldn’t have been able to assault or nearly kill Elizabeth. I lost sight of why I was doing this job, Ward. I’m not going to do it again. I don’t give a rats ass what happens to Sonny, and if it were up to me, for what he did to Carly, I’d already have him in lockup. I know about December,” he added. “That he locked her in the bedroom. How can you still represent him knowing it?”

Justus grimaced, then looked back at the living room. At the center of his world, his precious baby girl. Then he looked back at Taggert. “Jason’s my cousin. Elizabeth is part of my family, too. And he needs someone to have his back. Right now, that means dealing with Sonny.”

Taggert hesitated. “Look, I came here because I want to spare Carly grief where I can, but as soon as that restraining order goes through, she loses the right to press charges. He violates it, I’m under orders to bring him in. And that makes things worse for everyone.”

Justus scrubbed his hands over his face. “Okay. Okay. Yeah, you’re right. The last thing we want is Sonny in lockup. Thanks for the heads up. I’ll do what I can.”  He opened the door. “Hey, about last year—”

Taggert turned. “What?”

“You weren’t the only one with tunnel vision. Who made mistakes,” Justus offered. “This is off the record, but that Zacchara connection — it threw us, too. And we missed things. It’s time we all let it go.”

“I can’t. I’m a better cop now for remembering it.” Taggert shifted his eyes past Justus, at the little girl who had come to the door and wrapped her arms around his leg. “Have a good day.”

“You, too,” Justus murmured, watching as the lieutenant retreated to his car. He looked down at Kimi. “Let’s go finish cleaning up, baby. Mama will be home soon.”

Seneca Lake

 Jason’s boots crunched over the icy snow as he walked towards the lake, heading for the pier that extended over the water. Though the temperature was below freezing, the lake’s strong currents had prevented it from freezing over.

Most of the time Jason was grateful he couldn’t feel the cold. He could make sure he was warm enough to survive because he could still freeze to death, but then he could be outside longer than most people. It was an asset in the life he’d chosen, the ability to outlast the patience and perseverance of everyone else.

But he wished for the cold now, for the numbness he knew would seep into his limps and make it harder to feel anything, to think.

He very much wanted to stop thinking.

I’m not the one who chose a life where the danger doesn’t go away with a surgery.

 …watched you risk your life over and over again…

 He shoved his hands into his pockets, exhaled a harsh breath, a puff of white air that lingered for a moment before dissipating. How could she even compare the two? It wasn’t the same. It wasn’t.

Except, he finally allowed himself to admit, it was.

He’d grown used to just reaching for her hand over the last six or seven months and checking her pulse. He made sure she took all her medication, even though she was capable of doing it. And he always made sure the oxygen masks and portable tank traveled with them, especially after Christmas.

And how many times had she not wanted it? How many times had she just sighed and let him take her pulse or shove the mask on her face to make him feel better?

Was this ball of fear, small and tight and unmovable inside, was this what she felt when he went out at night? When she knew he was taking risks and meeting with men who might want him dead? This neverending fear that if he didn’t pay attention, if he didn’t watch her like a hawk, she’d stop breathing in the middle of the night, and he’d lose her? Was this what she lived with?

Jason turned back to look at the house, nestled comfortably in a clearing of maple and evergreen trees. He’d insisted on a two week break from Port Charles, even though she’d repeatedly offered to cancel or go home early. And she’d given in because she wanted to make him happy. Because he’d made it about him. About what he needed.

He exhaled slowly, most of the anger and irritation burning away. He drew out the burner phone and pressed the speed dial.

“Hey, Jason. Everything okay?”

“Yeah.” Jason rubbed the side of his face. “I’m just checking in.”

“Business wise, things are going fine. Johnny’s doing about as good as we’d expect. The Star Lounge got raided again—”

Jason winced. “Tommy?”

“Handling it. I told him where you were, and he didn’t seem to expect Sonny this time. Cops didn’t find anything. I don’t know why they bother. Tommy knows how to cover his tracks better than anyone.” Justus paused. “Taggert stopped by my place this morning.”

“Taggert?” Jason echoed. “Why?”

“The PCPD is taking their reorganization very seriously,” Justus said with a sigh. “And any case that can’t be tied to organized crime isn’t going near Capelli. After that fight at the Brownstone, Felix didn’t press charges because Carly didn’t want it. But Taggert’s under orders — Sonny slips up again with Carly or anyone else on a domestic front, they’re hauling him in.”

“That’s the last thing we need.”

“Yeah, I know. I’m trying to tell him, but he’s not interested. Carly’s temporary restraining order is going to a hearing tomorrow. Sonny isn’t planning to go, which means they’ll grant it. That’s all the ammunition the PCPD needs.”

“Yeah.” Jason hesitated. “I know. Okay. Thanks. Is there anything else?”

“Well, Carly managed to convince Alexis to take her case. We got the notice when we were served with the restraining order.”

“Alexis?” Jason repeated. “I thought she left private practice—”

“She did. Which means she’s doing Carly a favor.”

He did not want to deal with that right now. Whatever Carly had done to get Alexis on her side—that was going to have to wait until Jason could talk to her in person. “Okay. Thanks.”

“How’s Elizabeth?”

“About the same.”

“Ah, well, give her my best. I’ll call you if we get any updates.”

“Thanks.” Jason slipped the phone back into his pocket and looked at the house again.

Brownstone: Kitchen

Carly set Morgan in his seat so that she could feed him while Alexis talked. “How is the petition shaping up?” she asked, swirling her spoon in the container of peaches.

Alexis slid on her glasses. “We’re still in the organization stage. I talked to Justus this morning about the hearing tomorrow. Sonny, at the moment, isn’t planning to contest the restraining order, so that will be granted for at least ninety days.”

Carly wrinkled her nose. “He won’t care about it—”

“No, probably not, but violating it gives us more ammunition. Now, I know you don’t want to go too far back into Sonny’s past or business—”

“It’s important to me that Jason is untouched by any of this. I’m not going to use anything about that—”

“No, and I think we’re actually fine without it. You have a strong, personal case for the divorce and for custody,” Alexis continued. “At least for now. We’ll talk about how you moved home to reconcile after Morgan was born—”

“Do I have to talk about why I left in the first place?” Carly asked. “Because—”

“No, I don’t think Justus will challenge it—Sonny might want him to, but Justus knows better. You were having issues after the kidnapping, you and Sonny clashed over how to handle the recovery. You came back, and Sonny basically kept you a prisoner in the penthouse.” Alexis pursed her lips. “Now, we might have an issue with corroboration unless Jason or Elizabeth will testify.”

Carly paused. “I—”

“Because according to you, they both knew you didn’t have a key to the access elevator,” Alexis reminded her. “And they were both there when Sonny locked you out. Will they give statements?”

Carly said nothing for a long moment, just fed Morgan, enjoying his smile at the sweet taste of the fruit. She wiped his mouth when some of it slid free. Would Jason help her? Would Elizabeth? She needed this to be free. She needed this to move on.

“I think Elizabeth will,” Carly said, finally. “And Jason—yes. Yes. I think they both will.” She faced Alexis. “Jason has supported Elizabeth and me every step of the way since the panic room. Anything we needed to be okay—which included Ric going to trial. Sonny is the one that fought it. And Elizabeth gave me her key. She gave me her guard.”

“All right. For what it’s worth, I think you’re right. I’ll talk to them when they get back, but we might not need it for the initial petition,” Alexis said. “You’ll have your testimony, and if Sonny contests it, we can use them. Justus and the guards were there, but—”

“But Justus can’t testify and represent Sonny, and I’d never put Max or Cody in the middle.”

“We also have Lucas and Felix as witnesses and victims to the break-in last week, and Bobbie and Luke to the scene at the wedding when Sonny tried to scare you into returning.” Alexis tapped a pen against the table. “Your divorce petition is in good shape, and I think we can prove enough instability to handle full custody though Justus might win supervised visitation.”

“I can feel a but coming,” Carly said dryly.

“The revocation of the adoption,” Alexis said. “That’s a big ask for the court. I don’t think we have enough. At least right now.”

“Okay.” Carly spooned up the last of the peaches. “What do we need?”

“We have the fact that Michael hasn’t been Sonny’s legal son for more than two out of his six years, and of those two years, he’s only spent one year under Sonny’s roof. That’s a point for us.” Alexis paused. “What we need is for Michael to meet with a child psychologist who can prepare an affidavit for the court that argues this is in his best interests.”

“I hate putting Michael through any of that,” Carly sighed, “but okay.”

“And I think we need to talk about the other biological parent.”

Carly set down the peaches and stared at her lawyer. “What?”

“As far as the court is aware, AJ Quartermaine surrendered his parental rights because he hadn’t been in Michael’s life for nearly two years at that point and he thought it was in the best interest of his son.” Alexis lifted a brow. “I think we both know that’s not why AJ signed those papers.”

Her stomach twisted as she stared down at the table. “No, it’s not.”

“If AJ were to join the petition to revoke the adoption and reinstate his parental rights, it would strengthen your case.”

“I—” Carly shook her head. “No. No, absolutely not.” Her heart pounded. “No.”

“Listen to me, Carly. I know it’s a risk—”

“If I let AJ back in, he’ll take Michael from me. And what stops him from telling the court what happened?” Her hands started to shake. “I didn’t know what Sonny was going to do until it was done, okay? I didn’t know he was going to hurt him or force it—”

“AJ has been living and working in New Orleans for most of the year,” Alexis continued. “He’s sober, and has been for two years. He’s stronger now than he’s ever been. Carly, you understand that it’s very possible he’s aware of what’s happening here. What Michael has been through.”

Carly closed her eyes. “Yes—”

“Michael has been through a very difficult time. Watching you be kidnapped, shuttled back and forth, scared of his father—if AJ were to petition for his rights back on his own, he’d likely win. And then he could sue for sole custody.”

Oh, God. She hadn’t even thought— Her eyes flew open. “Wait—”

“I’m not saying it’s going to happen. I’m telling you that AJ is a chess piece. He can be on our team or he can work against us for his gain. This is entirely up to you.”

“He’ll never agree to help me—”

“He might,” Alexis argued. “AJ would have a faster and smoother road to getting his rights back if you were on his side. And we would have a much easier time removing Sonny. If that’s really what you want—”

“I need—” Carly took a deep breath. “I need to think about this. I can’t just—I can’t just decide this on a whim, Alexis. If I let AJ in, it’s not something I can undo later. Not this time.”

“All right. We can save that argument for another day. We’ll get the petition together, and I’ll write it with the assumption that we’ll be able to get statements from Jason and Elizabeth at a later point.” Alexis waited. “Carly, you’re not the woman you were two years ago. Or even six months ago. AJ will see that.”

“No, he won’t.” Sick to her stomach, Carly swallowed hard. “And he has no reason to trust me. So I’ll think about it, but I don’t think I can do it.”

Lake House: Living Room

Elizabeth stirred from a light doze when she felt the cushions at the end of the sofa move. She opened her eyes to find Jason lifting her feet so he could sit.  He set her feet in his lap. “Hey,” she said softly. “You came back.”

“I should have told you I was going into town,” he told her. He offered a half smile. “I thought Cam might be craving pizza.”

Elizabeth pursed her lips and rested her hand on her belly, feeling the soft kick. “Pepperoni?”

“Yeah.”

“Mmm…he might be in the mood.” She swung her legs down and Jason helped her turn so she was sitting up. “About this morning—”

“I’m sorry—”

“I shouldn’t have—” Elizabeth said at the same time and sighed when he broke off. “I shouldn’t have said that. About your job and the risks. I didn’t mean to throw it in your face—”

“That’s not what you did—”

“It’s exactly what I did,” she insisted. “Look, the job—it’s what you do, and I knew who you were before we were even friends. I don’t get to pull it out as a cheap shot when I know you’re worried about me.”

“It wasn’t a cheap shot,” Jason said. He slid closer and part of her body unclenched when he put his arm around her shoulders and drew her against him. “You never say anything, and I guess I don’t think about how you feel when I go to work—”

“It’s not all the time—”

“But it’s sometimes,” he finished. “And when I get called in the middle of the night—” He hesitated. “You never say anything,” he repeated. “You’re right. What you’re going through, if we’re lucky, the surgery will correct it and we’ll be able to put this behind us. Mostly. What I do—it isn’t going to change.” And was likely going to get worse if Sonny didn’t step up again and take control.

“Jason—”

“It’s not fair of me to keep reminding you of what happened last summer,” he continued over her protest. “I left you in that house to take care of Carly, and you nearly died.” He closed his eyes. “When I came back and you were laying on the floor—you were barely breathing and—” He held up her hand, tracing her palm with his fingertips. “You could barely hold my hand.”

“I don’t really remember,” Elizabeth admitted. “I remember pressing the button, hearing Carly screaming, and then it kind of fades in and out.” She laid a hand on his cheek. “I remember your voice. I remember thinking how much I just wanted you to say my name one more time. And then it just—” He took her hand from his face and pressed it against his lips. “It’s all gone until I woke up in the hospital and saw you.”

“I wake up in the middle of the night sometimes and watch you breathe,” he forced out. “And I try not to leave you alone for long. Even with someone else. It was hell when you were living at the condo and I couldn’t be with you all the time to make sure—”

“I know. I know,” she repeated. “And I hate that we’re dealing with this—”

“I didn’t even realize how much I was pushing you,” he added. “You never complain. Not when I take your pulse every five minutes or I—” He exhaled harshly, looking away. “I didn’t even let you be in charge of your own medicine—”

“Jason, I didn’t complain about any of that because I didn’t care. It cost me nothing to let you take my pulse, and you dealing with the pills means I don’t have to. You have a better memory for that kind of thing. I knew it was helping you feel better,” Elizabeth said. “And after that first night with the oxygen tank, I wanted that.”

“But you were right earlier. You’ve never lied to me about your health. When you’re not feeling well, you tell me. You know your body. You didn’t need that this morning.”

“No, I didn’t. But I also know I’m stubborn. I could have just sucked it up—”

“I need to listen to you,” Jason said. “And I will. I promise. If you tell me you don’t need it, I won’t force it.”

“All right.” She laid her head on his shoulder. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

Kelly’s: Dining Room

“Thanks for the assist,” Lulu said to Dante as he stacked the last set of chairs inside the diner. “Penny’s having boyfriend troubles again.”

“No problem,” he muttered. He stooped down to pick up a newspaper that had partially slid underneath the jukebox. He stilled.

“What is it?” Lulu came up behind him and scowled. “Oh, man. Not that story again. The Sun is being even more bitchy about the lack of charges.” She took the paper from him. “At least the Herald is pretending to be objective. This headline makes it sound like Sonny was foaming at the mouth.”

“Not far off,” Dante said. “You about done? I’ll give you a ride home.”

“I still have to close down the kitchen—” Lulu tipped her head. “You okay? Lucky said he went to see Sonny, and I guess you went with him since you’re partners.”

“I hate these domestic cases,” Dante said, brushing past her and heading into the kitchen. “What do you need in here?”

“I just need to wipe down the stove and finish loading the dishwasher. Dante, can I make an observation?”

“Can I stop you?”

When she didn’t say anything, not even a smart remark in return, Dante turned back from the load of dishes he was sorting to stack in the dishwasher. “Lu—”

“I know I’m pushy and opinionated,” she said. “I usually say it’s part of my charm, but I say it because if I don’t, everyone else will. And they don’t say it nicely, you know?”

“I didn’t mean anything—”

“I know you didn’t.” She started to wipe down the stove. “Dillon hated it which is funny since it’s what he used to like about me. He always said I never took shit from anyone and he could always depend on me to tell him the truth.”

Dante hesitated, knowing that while Lulu had done the breaking up in that situation, it was still a sore subject even six weeks later. “Is that what went wrong? You never said.”

“It was part of it,” she admitted. “He was always complaining about his screenplays not getting any respect, and I might have pointed out some critiques he didn’t want to hear.” She bit her lip and looked back at him. “But actually, I think it was an excuse. You ever date anyone and it just fades away? Like there’s no reason for it, you just wake up one day and you like that person a little less? Or maybe the things you used to love are just annoying now?”

“Yeah, sure. Sometimes the spark goes out. Lu—”

“Dillon used to love how I stood up for myself and called him on things, but it was different after the election, I think. We all started softening towards Georgie, and he was still really angry with her.” Lulu tossed the used rag into the sink. “I mean, it makes sense. They were dating, and he felt like she didn’t have his back. But Georgie was just handling it the best she could. Her stepfather did this, like, massively terrible thing, and everyone expected her—and Maxie—to just hate him.”

“It was hard,” Dante admitted, “thinking about what Mac and Floyd did. Knowing it made it harder to catch Vinnie. If they’d run that DNA back then, maybe Vinnie wouldn’t have kept going.”

Maybe Brooke would still be here.

“Anyway, Maxie and all of us started inviting Georgie to stuff again. We realized we were just holding her accountable for how guilty we all felt about what happened to Brooke. But Dillon—I guess he can’t forgive her.” Lulu pursed her lips. “Anyway. That’s part of the reason we were arguing. The other was that the spark was gone, and we didn’t want to admit it. He was really pissed about you.”

Dante scowled as Lulu handed him the last tub full of dishes. “What about me?”

“I don’t know. You texted me a few times and he saw it. He knew we were friends.” She jerked a shoulder. “He figured there was something going on.”

“There wasn’t—” He winced. “I mean, you knew that. But—”

Lulu smiled at him. “It’s okay. You didn’t do anything wrong, and I’m glad we got to be friends. I don’t regret it.” She went in the pantry and Dante stared after her, confused. How the hell had they gotten on that topic in the first place? He didn’t want to be the reason Lulu had broken up with her boyfriend—

Did he?

“What was the thing?” he asked when she returned. He flicked on the dishwasher. “You said you wanted to make an observation.”

“Not if you’re going to be cranky with me about it.”

“I won’t.” When she still looked hesitant, he flattened his hand against his chest. “Scout’s Honor.”

“Okay. Maybe I’m imagining it, but I feel like you get weird when Sonny Corinthos comes up.”

The hit him like a bullet, and he flinched. He turned away, stared out at the window that opened up into the rest of the dining room. “You’re not imagining it,” he finally said. “But I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Okay. But, like, I know I seem stupid. And silly. But I’m a good listener, so if you change your mind—”

“I know who to come to.” He tipped his head. “Come on. Let me give you a ride home.”

Luke’s: Bar

“Caroline.” Luke stepped up to his niece, edging Claude out of the way. “You slumming at the competition?”

“Hey.” Carly attempted a smile. “Sorry, I know you’re closing up soon.”

“Which makes me wonder what brings my sister’s kid out at one in the morning.” Luke said. He set tumbler in front of him and poured himself whiskey. “You want some?”

“I shouldn’t. I’m driving.” Carly sighed. “I don’t even know why I’m here. I just didn’t want to go home after I was done at the club.”

“Have a drink, Caroline. I’ll get you home.” He nodded at Claude who headed over to the phone to call up one of Morgan’s guards. He handed her the whiskey and poured himself another glass. “What’s going on?”

“You’ve done terrible things, haven’t you?” Carly asked. “I mean, things that people shouldn’t forgive you for?”

“Hasn’t everyone?” Luke said easily. He arched a brow. “You being haunted by old ghosts or something? My ex doc bro-in-law come by?”

“No, but he’d be right to haunt me. He’s just someone else I chewed up and spit out.” Carly sipped the whiskey. “I’m not a good person, Uncle Luke. I never wanted to be. I didn’t care if I was a good or moral. I just wanted what I was owed.” She squeezed her eyes shut. “What I deserved. And I didn’t care who I hurt.”

“I remember.” Luke tipped his head. “We all go through selfish phases, niece. And no one gets out of this life without drawing some blood. You drew more than your fair share,” he granted, “but that don’t make you more evil than the next person.”

“After what I did to my mother, to Tony, to AJ, and Jason, and whoever else I can claim as a victim—” Carly smirked, then stared into her drink. “Mama forgave me. She shouldn’t have, but she did.”

“She loves you.”

“And I’m lucky. I know that. And Tony has mostly…I don’t know. We ignore each other, which is the best I could hope for. Lucas has kind of gotten past what I did which is another minor miracle.”

“And clearly, Morgan has moved on.”

“Yeah. Yeah. I guess I should be grateful to Elizabeth,” Carly admitted. “She kind of came around the time I was really drawing blood with Jason, and maybe she helped him deal with it faster. I didn’t feel all that happy about it at the time,” she admitted, “but you know, I can be now.”

“So that just leaves AJ.” Luke folded his arms on the bar. “Has Junior showed up or something?”

“No, but Alexis wants me to contact him. To help with revoking Michael’s adoption.” Carly’s eyes were wet as she met his eyes. “How can I ask him for help, Luke? How can I turn to this man that I’ve repeatedly hurt and humiliated and ask him to take my side? What right do I have?”

“Probably none.”

Carly nodded, taking another sip of whiskey. “I had a chance to make a life with him. He was kind to me when I didn’t deserve it, and he offered me the world. All he wanted was my loyalty and to be Michael’s father.” Her breath hitched. “Why couldn’t I take it? Why couldn’t I let myself be satisfied with that?”

Luke said nothing. Carly’s breath was shaky as she exhaled. “I knew Jason didn’t love me. Not enough. And I didn’t love him. I thought I did. But we didn’t trust each other, and love without trust isn’t real. I know that.”

“Did you know it then?” Luke asked gently. Surprised, she met his eyes. “You did terrible things, Carly. Everyone does. Are you sorry for it?”

“Yes. What I did to Mama and Tony—that was terrible—but what I did to AJ—” Carly closed her eyes. “It was evil. He thought we were friends, but friends don’t do what I did. He told me if he started drinking again, he’d leave Port Charles. So I used that. I made him think he was drinking. I took his sobriety from him, and I knew—I knew what it meant to him. And then I cheated on him repeatedly, humiliated him, and drove him to burn down that warehouse.”

Luke arched a brow but Carly was on a roll. “And Jason helped me out of my marriage. Helped me get Michael away from AJ when AJ—he was a good father. Michael loved him, but I didn’t care, I didn’t care—” She pressed her hands to her face. “And then I blamed him for falling, I said he pushed me, but I knew he didn’t, I always knew it—”

“Caroline—”

“I ruined his life, Luke. And I never once apologized for it. I never once admitted it was wrong. And I don’t know that I ever thought it was.”

“Do you now?”

“So what?” Carly demanded. “Does it matter that I know now? Why couldn’t I know it then and not do it?” She threw back the last of the whiskey, and Luke winced. “If I go ask that man for help to keep my son away from Sonny, he’ll just laugh in my face and then he’ll use it to take Michael away, and I’m not sure he’d be wrong after everything I’ve done.”

Luke nodded. “That’s possible. He could also decide that he can put it behind him for the sake of the kid. You won’t know if you don’t ask, Caroline.”

“I shouldn’t have had to be kidnapped and tormented to be a better person,” Carly said softly. “Sonny locked me in that room, and I finally understood what it meant to be betrayed by someone you loved. Sonny’s fear is to be locked up, and he did it to me. My biggest fear? Someone taking my baby from me. And to keep Michael to myself, I stole him from AJ. I had no right.”

“No, you didn’t, darlin’. You can’t change the past. Believe me, if it could be done, I’d have traveled back in time already. All you can do is face the future. AJ might not help you, kid. But maybe you still need to talk to him. Maybe you still need to lay this ghost to rest.”

Carly held his eyes for a long moment, then nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, you’re right. I think I have to. I’ll tell Alexis to set it up. God help us all.”

+6

Seasons change and our love went cold
Feed the flame ’cause we can’t let go
Run away, but we’re running in circles
Run away, run away I dare you to do something
I’m waiting on you again
So I don’t take the blame
Run away, but we’re running in circles
Run away, run away, run away
– Circles, Of Monsters and Men

Thursday, February 5, 2004

 Lake House: Front Porch

Though the air was cold enough to see his breath, Jason didn’t want to take the chance that the call would wake up Elizabeth.

Her good day on Tuesday had cost her — she’d woken yesterday feeling sluggish. Then this morning, she’d needed the oxygen tank between the bed and the sofa. He’d left her dozing to call his mother.

“The vitals are still in the normal range?” Monica wanted to know as Jason related Elizabeth’s condition. “The oxygen resolved the problems?”

“Yeah, but—”

“Jason, we talked about this. We knew there would be days where she felt like her old self, and then days when she would be too tired to move,” his mother reminded him patiently. “I’m sure it’s upsetting to see her struggling for energy, but as long as her blood pressure doesn’t drop and she doesn’t lose consciousness, there’s nothing the hospital or a doctor can do.”

“I know that. I just—” Needed to hear it again? Wanted a different answer? Jason didn’t really know why he’d called Monica —

Or maybe he did. So few people knew how severe Elizabeth’s condition was—he needed to talk to someone who understood what he was dealing with.

He curled his hand into a fist, resting it against the side of the house. “How do we know if it’s a crisis? I mean, when should I be taking her in—”

“If you’re looking for something other than blood pressure, Jason, I don’t have it for you. We’re going to do a full exam when you come back. If her oxygen levels drop, we’ll have to change treatment.” She paused. “She isn’t talking about moving up delivery, is she?”

“It’s a nonstarter,” Jason muttered. He wasn’t sure Elizabeth would change her mind even if her condition changed. As long as the baby was still healthy—he sighed. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have bothered you.”

“Of course, you should,” Monica said staunchly. “That’s what I’m here for. You did the right thing keeping her out of Port Charles. She can rest and relax. Of course, now you have more time to worry about her and the baby.”

“Cameron,” Jason corrected softly.

“What’s that?”

“Elizabeth—and I—we picked his name. Cameron Hardy Morgan.”

“Cameron Hardy,” she repeated. “That’s a good name. Steve and Audrey would be pleased.”

“Sonny didn’t come back to the hospital, did he?” Jason asked. “After Tuesday, I mean?”

“No, at least, he hasn’t come back to me. If he’s tried Bobbie or Justus again, I wouldn’t know.” She paused. “I’d suggest you not worry about that, but I know it won’t do any good.”

“No, it won’t.” He said goodbye to her, then peered through the window—Elizabeth was still resting, her eyes closed, so Jason made another call.

“Jason?” Carly’s voice was surprised, and a bit worried. “What’s up?”

“I wanted to check in with you—”

“Jason, I told you, I wanted you to enjoy your honeymoon. Please don’t worry about me—”

“I’m not—” Jason took a deep breath. “I just wanted to know if anything happened. After Tuesday. With the PCPD. Justus said he didn’t know anything—”

“Oh. Nothing yet. Lucky said he’d go over to talk to Sonny, but he said it might be a few days because it’s unofficial. I’m not pressing charges, but I still wanted a report so I can use it—” She hesitated. “I’m going to file for divorce, Jason.”

Jason closed his eyes and let his forehead rest against the house. He’d known this was coming—he’d expected it a long time ago. “Okay.”

“Please don’t worry,” she repeated. “You’ve spent too many years cleaning up after me. You have a family now. I have Mama here, and Uncle Luke is sticking his nose in—actually, there he is right now.” She paused. “I love you, Jason. You’re happy, right? You’re not letting what happened on Tuesday mess things up for you?”

“No,” Jason said finally. “Tuesday isn’t messing things up.”

“Good. I’ll see you when you come home. Have a great time and give Elizabeth my best.” The phone went dead, and Jason stared down at it.

Carly was going to file for divorce. Jason had known it was coming eventually, but he’d fooled himself into thinking he had more time. Sonny was going to completely lose it, Jason realized. Carly might be ready — but Justus and Bernie—the organization—could it withstand another confrontation with Sonny?

“Hey.”

He blinked, looking back up to find Elizabeth in the doorway. “You shouldn’t be on your feet,” he said instantly. He shoved his phone in his pocket and strode forward.

“I’m feeling a bit better,” she promised but didn’t protest when he put an arm around her waist and steered her back towards the sofa. “You were on the phone. Everything okay back home?”

“Yeah. No news. I just wanted to check in while I had a minute.”

She stopped him just as he started to lift her legs onto the sofa. “I’m okay,” Elizabeth repeated. “I don’t feel out of breath, and I only feel a little bit tired. Probably from, you know—” She rested a hand on her belly. “I promise, Jason.”

“I know.” Jason sat down. “I’m sorry,” he said after a moment. “I just—”

“Can’t do anything about what’s going on in my lungs, so you’re going to try to fix everything outside of it. I know.” She reached for his hand. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

Brownstone: Living Room

Carly frowned when she entered the living room with Morgan perched on her hip. “Uncle Luke, what are you doing here?”

“He came over to check on the security,” Bobbie said. “I’ve been telling him that Jason was careful which guards he put on the house—”

“I know all that, Barbara Jean,” Luke cut in. “I know he picked guards that he thought were more loyal to him than Sonny, but that doesn’t mean a fresh eye can’t do you some good.”

“It’s not like he broke into the house,” Carly said, already exhausted by the conversation and people constantly checking in on her. It felt like she wasn’t capable of taking care of herself and her children on her own.

Then again, maybe they were right. Sonny hadn’t broken in, but she hadn’t really let him in either. And it certainly hadn’t been Carly who had made him leave— it had been her brother and his boyfriend. It hadn’t been Carly who had freed herself when Sonny had locked her up—that was Jason and Elizabeth.

Jason and her mother—and now Luke, Lucas, and Felix—were all running interference, protecting her. It had to stop.

“Carly—”

“Mama—” Carly fastened Morgan into his swing and turned it on. “Ever since I left the penthouse, I’ve just been—” Shoving her head into the sand, hoping it would all go away. “I’ve been drifting,” she continued. “Waiting for something to happen. For Jason to get through to Sonny or for Sonny to figure things out on his own—” She turned to face her mother and Luke. “I can’t do it anymore. I can’t pretend this isn’t happening. I have to make a change.”

“All right,” Bobbie said slowly, trading an uneasy look with Luke. “What change are you thinking about?”

“Jason just called me,” Carly continued. “With everything he’s dealing with—and I know there are health problems with Elizabeth or the baby he’s not telling us yet—with all of that, he called me from his honeymoon because he doesn’t think I can do this on my own.”

“I’m sure that’s not true—”

“No one thinks that—”

Carly sliced her hand through the air, cutting Bobbie and Luke off mid-sentence. “I didn’t think so either, so I don’t blame him. And in his defense, Jason has been taking care of me for a very long time. You’ve been taking care of me, too, Mama. Now I got Lucas, who doesn’t even like me—” She took a deep breath. “I’m stronger than this. I’m better than this. Sonny could go get help tomorrow, and it wouldn’t change anything. I can’t go back. I’m a mother, and I have to start putting Michael and Morgan first. So I’m going to contact a lawyer and file for divorce.”

Luke lifted his brows as Bobbie bit her lip. “Are you sure you want to do start all of that with Jason out of town? What if Sonny gets wind of it?”

“This is the best time to do it,” Carly insisted. “He and Elizabeth are both out of firing range. Sonny can’t contact them. He can’t make this Jason’s problem, and neither can I. I don’t want you to worry about me. Either of you.”

“Well, that’s just impossible,” Bobbie declared, “but you’re making the right decision. Isn’t she, Luke?”

“Oh, yeah, no doubt about that.” Luke put his hands in his pockets and rocked back and forth on his heels, studying Carly. “Can I ask what kind of divorce you’re going for? He came here, spitting mad over the boys—”

“And I’m sure what I’m going to ask is not going to make things easier. I don’t want his money. I don’t need it. The clubs do fine, and I can make more money.” She paused. “But I’m asking for full custody of Morgan, and I’m going to revoke Michael’s adoption.”

Luke whistled low. “You’re playing with fire, Caroline—”

“I have repeatedly asked him to get help for his problems. Michael isn’t his biological son, and Sonny has really only been in his life for a few years.” Carly bit her lip. “I’m also hoping,” she admitted, “that doing this will shock Sonny. Taking the boys, refusing him access—it hasn’t gotten through to him. Taking Michael away—that’s the last card I have, Uncle Luke.” She looked at Bobbie. “Mama—”

“If you’re sure this is what you want to do,” Bobbie said, “then I’ll support you. Do you know who you’re going to contact?”

“Yeah, I do I just hope she’ll take my case.”

PCPD: Squad Room

“Am I reading this report right?” Detective Andy Capelli demanded as he approached Taggert’s desk. “You have Corinthos dead to rights on trespassing and assault? Why isn’t he in lock up?”

Lieutenant Marcus Taggert glanced up from his paperwork with a frown. “Why are you sniffing around my cases?” he retorted. He yanked the incident report from him. “How many times do we gotta do this—”

“How much is he paying you to sweep this under the rug?” Capelli shot back. “Everyone knows you’re Corinthos’s butt boy—”

“What did you just say to me?” Taggert demanded. “Listen, asshole—”

“Taggert, Capelli.”

The cold slice of the British accent from behind them had Taggert wincing. How many times was the commissioner going to catch him and Capelli going at it before one of them got written up?

He turned to face the irritated Anna Devane. “Anna—”

“You wanted proof Taggert was on Corinthos’ payroll, here it is.” Capelli snatched the report back and shoved it at Anna. “He’s covering up a felony—”

Anna didn’t bother to look at the report. “Detective Capelli, are you looking for another write-up?”

“But—”

“I am aware of this report.” Anna smoothed out the paper and handed it to Taggert. “Bobbie Spencer is a close, personal friend of mine,” she continued, “and I’ve spoken to her about this incident. You can be assured that the decision not to arrest Sonny Corinthos did not come from Taggert. If I were you, I would get out of his face before he writes you up for insubordination. He’s still your ranking officer.”

Seething, Capelli stalked out of the squad room. Anna sighed and looked at Taggert. “You can’t give in to him—”

“I wasn’t even on this call,” Taggert muttered. “Spencer and Falconieri both said Carly and Felix DuBois declined to press charges. It’s a mistake,” he continued, “but it’s theirs to make.”

“I know that.” Anna folded her arms. “I thought Spencer was going to talk to Sonny about this. They apparently have history.”

“Yeah, Lucky said he’s having trouble getting in to see him, but it’s unofficial, Anna, so his hands are tied. He’s trying to pull some favors. If Carly doesn’t want charges from this, I’m not forcing her hand.”

Anna picked up the report, scanned over the details, her brow furrowed. “Do we know how long Jason Morgan is supposed to be out of town? Doesn’t he usually keep Sonny on a pretty tight leash?”

“He does,” Taggert said, “but—” he paused. “Something is going on here. I don’t know what it is, but Sonny’s out there, running wild, breaking into houses, and creating chaos — and Morgan still isn’t back. I thought he would be when he heard about the Brownstone.”

“Well, didn’t you and the mayor tell me you were hoping there was finally some daylight between Corinthos and Morgan?” Anna asked. “He was willing to inform on Lansing to Ned. Perhaps he’s weary of cleaning up after his boss.”

“Maybe.” Still, it troubled Taggert. He knew something was up with Elizabeth—had seen something in her expression the day he and Scott had gone to see her about the wedding invitation. “I think Bobbie told me it’d be another week.”

“Well, at least someone is getting a break from this. Taggert, I respect Carly and Felix’s right to make this decision, but I also have to think about the big picture. The next time Sonny Corinthos commits a crime, you arrest him and sort it out later. Is that understood?”

“You don’t have to tell me twice.”

Corinthos & Morgan Warehouse: Justus’s Office

Justus kissed his wife’s cheek as he accepted the bag of food she’d brought him. “I don’t like you coming down here,” he complained.

“You told me it was safe.” Tamika Ward just lifted a brow. “You said so when we moved here. Safe enough for you, safe enough for me.” She pointed at the desk. “I needed a break from the store.”

“Or a break from Portia,” he muttered as he took his seat and started to unpack the containers of food.

“Don’t start. You love my sister. She’s got Kimi with her, which is why we can have a minute to ourselves.” Tamika removed the container from her soup and twirled a spoon. “How are things around here since…well, since.”

Justus sighed. “Not great,” he admitted. “Morale’s in the gutter. Sonny barely shows up except to yell at people. Johnny’s doing what he can, but honestly — Jason should be here.”

“Jason has a right to his honeymoon—” She pursed her lips. “Then again, I was surprised when Emily said it was for two weeks. That feels like a long time with everything going on.”

“I know—” Justus tipped his head. “He did that for Elizabeth.”

“I’m surprised she suggested it. She seemed to know what was going on with Sonny—”

“No, she—” He paused, shifting. “She’s sick, Mikki. It’s pretty bad.” He wiped his mouth, feeling his stomach swirl with nerves and worry. Every time he thought about what Elizabeth was going through, he thought of his own family. How would he have handled things if Tamika’s health had been so fragile—if there was a chance their precious daughter wouldn’t make it?

“Justus—”

“Last summer, she got these blood clots because of that asshole with the birth control,” he continued. “She ended up with this condition in her lungs — there was scar tissue in the blood vessels. They want her to deliver the baby early.”

Tamika stared at him. “Oh my God. How early?”

“If the doctors had their way, Jason said, this week or next. The kid would be in the NICU, probably with all kinds of complications. Elizabeth wants to wait as long as she can—”

“I’d do the same—”

“Right. But the longer she waits, the more stress it puts on her heart and lungs. Jason took her out of town to get her away from this circus. So, yeah, he should be here. He can’t. He made a choice between his family and this job. I’d make the same one.”

“Of course, you would, baby—”

“I’m just worried about what comes next. There’s another week before he gets back— and even when he does—what happens if Sonny lets loose on Elizabeth? He’s done it before, you know. Back in December. At the wedding—”

“Justus—”

“I can’t see a way out of this that doesn’t make it worse,” he continued. “And I’m afraid Elizabeth or the baby will pay the price.”

Harborview Towers: Hallway

It had taken Lucky nearly two days and all the favors he could manage to get admitted to the penthouse floor. He wasn’t entirely sure how his father had done it, but maybe Luke still had some friends in the organization after all these years.

“What are we even going to say to him?” Dante demanded, following Lucky out of the elevator. “Don’t harass your wife? Do you think we’re the first to say it—”

“No, but at least we can say we tried everything,” Lucky replied, wishing he had left his cranky partner in the patrol car. “Hey, Max.”

“Hey, Lucky.” The guard shifted uncomfortably. “Listen, Francis said he owed your old man for—” he slid a glance to Dante “—for something, but maybe you tell Mr. C I had no choice.”

“I got you, Max. Thanks.”

The guard knocked on the door then opened it. “Mr. C—”

“What the hell do you want?” Sonny demanded, shoving himself off the sofa. “Who let cops past the front desk?” he shot at Max.

“I told them that you either talk to me now unofficially,” Lucky said easily, unruffled by Sonny’s volatility, “or we’ll come back with an arrest warrant.”

“On what grounds—”

“Trespassing and assault,” Lucky cut in. “Carly and Felix didn’t press charges because I said I’d come to talk you. You throw me out, that changes things.”

Sonny clenched his jaw. “So talk, then get out.”

“You’re going to be served in the next day or two with a temporary restraining order. You can’t go back to the Brownstone, Sonny, or you’ll be arrested.”

“She should be arrested! How about that? I want to press charges against her!” Sonny said, striding towards them. Dante fell back a step, but Lucky didn’t.

“On what grounds?”

“Child endangerment! She refuses to let me protect the boys. I tried to keep her safe, but she didn’t want to listen—”

“I don’t think that’ll stand up in court,” Lucky said slowly, “but—”

Sonny grabbed him by the collar and dragged him forward. “You tell that bitch that if she doesn’t give me my kids—”

Lucky wrapped his hands around Sonny’s wrists and shoved him back. “I’m going to ignore that, okay? Stay away from Carly.” He jerked his head at Dante. “Let’s get out of here.”

“Don’t come back without a warrant!” Sonny called after them.

Lucky jabbed the button for the elevator and frowned at Dante. His partner looked pale and shaken — almost like he’d been the one that had been pushed around. “What’s up with you?”

“Nothing. Nothing. I just hate these domestic calls,” Dante muttered. “The guy always finds a way to blame the woman. It bites.”

“Yeah, okay.” Lucky wasn’t sure that was actually the issue, but he let it go. They had bigger problems to worry about because he didn’t think Sonny would take the restraining order seriously.

Port Charles Municipal Building: City Attorney’s Office

Carly folded her hands again and looked over at the secretary busy at her desk, trying to pretend Carly wasn’t there — which did not bode well for Carly getting through to the city attorney.

Alexis Davis was Carly’s only hope — one of the few women in Port Charles who would not only understand what Carly was going through but help get her to the other side. If only Alexis would let her through the door.

“How much longer?” Carly asked the other woman, who flashed her an absent smile.

“I don’t know. You know, Ms. Davis is very busy—”

Carly shifted uncomfortably. She didn’t want to force Alexis’s hand—she didn’t want this to feel like blackmail, but desperate times called for desperate measures. “Maybe it would help if you told her why I’m here,” she said. “I have some medical information for Kristina—about her father.”

The secretary peered at her curiously, then picked up the phone. “Can you let Ms. Davis know that Carly Corinthos is still here and says she has some information about Kristina’s father?” The woman’s eyes widened. “Ah, yes. I’ll send her right in.”

Carly nearly smiled but suppressed it. Some things would never change. She rose from the seat to head for the door, but it was yanked open before she reached it, and Alexis was there, glaring at her. “Get in here,” she hissed.

“Now that’s not very discreet,” Carly murmured as she passed Alexis and settled herself in the visitor’s chair. Alexis closed the door and rounded her desk, her jaw clenched.

“What do you want? Why are you here? How did you find out—”

“You know, I’m surprised you managed to keep the secret this long,” Carly said, forcing a casualness she didn’t really feel. “You’re not good at playing it cool. And you know how I found out.” She hesitated. “I never believed the story about Ned. Remember? I knew you were pregnant, and I told Sonny. He went to talk to you—”

“And I told him Kristina is Ned’s daughter—which she is—” Alexis paled. “You never—he didn’t—”

“Sonny believed you,” Carly assured her. “As far as I know, he still believes you. I doubt he’s thinking about Kristina right now anyway. He’s—he’s out of control. That’s why I came to you. Because I get it now. I get why you didn’t want Sonny to be involved—” She paused. “It wasn’t just the job.”

Alexis took a deep breath. “Carly, I don’t know what’s going on—”

“I’m filing for divorce,” Carly interrupted. “And I need custody of my kids. Sole custody. I’m not—” Her heart twisted. “If I win this, Alexis, if you win this case—it would help you do the same if the truth about Kristina came out.”

“Why would it?” Alexis returned to her desk, standing behind it as if it gave her some comfort or security. “No one would ever need to ask—”

“Because this is Port Charles, and the truth always comes out.”

“Carly, this is outside my practice right now—”

“You’re a good lawyer,” Carly darted in front of Alexis even as the other woman moved to the door as if to usher Carly out. “You got Jason visitation with Michael when that was a long shot, right?”

Alexis hesitated, curling her hand into a fist at her side. “Carly, I’m not in private practice right now. If I took your case, it would be suspicious—”

“I know, I know. I thought about that, and I just—” Carly spread her hands out at her side. “I don’t have an answer for you. I don’t know. I just—” She bit her lip. “You heard about the other day at the Brownstone.”

“Yes.” Alexis folded her arms. “But—”

“He’s out of control,” she repeated. “The other day, it was the Brownstone and forcing his way in, punching an innocent bystander. At the wedding, he and Jason nearly got into a fistfight—” She squeezed her eyes shut. “And last December, he had some sort of break and locked me in the bedroom.”

“He locked you—” Alexis took a step back. “In the bedroom.”

“He was suffocating me with security after Ric disappeared, and I tried to leave him. He locked me in that room, and I couldn’t get out. I begged him to get help, Alexis. I’ve tried everything, but it’s not working. I don’t know anyone else who would understand how much I need to protect my kids the way you would.”

“Carly, if you file this kind of case—it means you and Sonny in court, going after each other. You can’t take this back. You’ll be telling the world Sonny isn’t fit to be a father—”

“He isn’t. Not like this. He’s barely been around Morgan, and Michael is terrified of him.” Carly paused. “This isn’t blackmail, Alexis. If you turn me down, I’m not going to tell the world about Kristina.”

“What if I lose—”

“I’m trying to get my kids away from Sonny. Why would I ever put your daughter in danger? She won’t ever know Morgan,” Carly said, “but I know they’re family. I’m asking to you protect Kristina’s brother, and I promise you — I will protect Morgan’s sister.”

Alexis closed her eyes, took a deep breath. “All right. Let’s talk about what’s next.”

Lake House: Master Bedroom

“I just got off the phone with Justus,” Jason said that night as he came in and dumped the phone and his wallet onto the dresser. “Things are fine—”

“Are they, or is he just covering so he doesn’t worry you?” Elizabeth asked. She bit her lip. “Or are you trying not to worry me?”

“I wouldn’t—” Jason sat on the bed, then stared at the dresser, avoiding her eyes. “I told you Carly is filing for divorce, but that paperwork might not be ready right away—”

“These last few days have been great, and I’m glad we did this,” Elizabeth told him, “but I really think we should think about cutting the trip short—”

“No—”

“Jason, staying here isn’t going to change the fact that things are going to get worse back home. Maybe the divorce won’t be filed right away, but didn’t you say Carly was going to get a restraining order? Won’t that complicate things? And—look, I don’t want to ask about the warehouse,” Elizabeth continued, and he jerked his head around to look at her. “And I’m not, but I can’t imagine things are great there with Sonny the way he is and you not there—”

“You don’t have to worry about any of that—”

“Telling me that doesn’t change the fact that I do worry. I don’t want to make things worse by staying away another week—”

“Staying here isn’t making things worse,” Jason said shortly. “I don’t want to talk about this anymore. You need more rest and less stress. I told you, if I thought we could get away with not going back until the baby was born, we’d be doing that.”

He got to his feet and went over to a drawer to drag out a pair of sweats. “You wanted to wait until the last possible minute to have the baby. I’m just trying to make that happen.”

And at that, she closed her mouth. They were both right—things at home were probably falling apart faster and harder than they would if Jason were there. But as long as she refused to deliver early, she was adding to Jason’s problems, making him dig in his heels even harder about staying away.

“Okay,” she said softly. “I’m sorry.”

He exhaled slowly. “I’m doing the best I can,” Jason said, his voice low and pained. “I need you to trust me.”

“I do.” She pushed aside the comforter and padded over to put a hand on his back, wincing at the tight muscles. She wished like hell she could make this better for him, but she wasn’t willing to give up hope that their little boy would be born healthy. She couldn’t stand the idea of him struggling for breath in the NICU when Elizabeth could give him a better chance.

“You know what I really want to do right now?” she asked, pasting a smile on her face. “I mean, I can’t do what I actually want to do,” she continued, relieved when Jason’s lips curved into a slight smile, “but I love when you read to me. It helps me fall asleep.” She took his hand in hers and led him back to the bed.

+6

Lost my mind thinking it through
The light inside has left me too
Now I know what empty is
I’ve had enough, had enough of this
I’m tired of barely holding on
To something that’s already gone
I’m tired of being the one who’s in this all alone
– Had Enough, Lifehouse

Tuesday, February 3, 2004

Lake House: Living Room

Elizabeth set down a pair of books on the sofa, then lowered herself next to Jason. “We have work to do.”

Jason frowned at her, put aside his travel book. “We do?”

“The baby needs the name.” She picked up a book, Names Through the Ages. “We can start here. Go find some paper and something to write with. I’ll tell you all the names I like, and then we can narrow it down from there.”

Jason grinned, reached over to tug down the edge of the book so he could see her face. “We’re not seriously going to go through every page of this, are we?”

“Listen, it’s the middle of winter in upstate New York, we can’t go a lot of places, and I can only manage sex once a day,” Elizabeth told him with mock seriousness. “We can talk about baby names, or you can have sex. But choose wisely.”

“Well—” He made a show of looking at the clock on the wall. “It’s only about nine in the morning. Seems a little early if I only get to have sex once.”

“That’s what I thought.” She opened the book again. “Now, the reason I made Emily get this book is that it had all kinds of old names—”

“Elizabeth—”

“This is the name our kid is going to have the rest of his life—” She pretended to glare at him. “If you tell me names don’t matter, we’re gonna have our first fight.”

“Well, I know how much you like your middle name,” Jason said, reaching for the other book. “We’re naming our first daughter after you. Imogen Morgan.”

“Don’t even joke about that—” Elizabeth rolled her eyes. “My parents just wanted to make sure Great-Grandma Imogen Martin wouldn’t leave them out of the will. They tried to suck up at the end.”

“Did it work?”

“Nope. Which does, in hindsight, make me happy. Don’t distract me. We’re not doing daughters yet.” Elizabeth took a deep breath. “Boys.”

“These are all fine—”

“Jason Morgan—”

“I mean, what’s the difference between Brian and Mark?” Jason asked.

“Brian was a kid in my first grade class who tripped me. That’s why I have that scar on my knee.”

Jason nodded sagely. “Of course. That makes sense. Mark?”

“Sarah had a ridiculous crush on Marky Mark, and I’d never be able to look at our kid without thinking about it.” She snickered when Jason just stared at her with confusion. “Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch? Oh man, you know, you’re lucky to have that memory wiped. Anyway. Brian and Mark are out. So are…” She ran her fingers down a list. “Michael, Jeffrey, Alan, Edward—”

“Yeah, we only need one Edward,” Jason agreed.

“And it has to sound right with the rest of his name, okay? Because I have a middle name picked out.” She flipped a page. “Ooh, Scottish names.”

“What about…” He frowned. “Kevin—no. He was my doctor after the accident. And Carly’s.”

“See, that’s what I mean—”

“You did this to me,” he told her. “I never would have thought about it—”

“Right, until the day we had baby Kevin in the park and ran into adult Kevin, and then he’d be like, whoa, weird, you named your kid after me—” Elizabeth shook her head. “Nope. I am not setting my son up for failure.”

“This seems more complicated than it needs to be.” Jason sighed but now looked more closely at the book in front of him.

Elizabeth grinned at him, pleased. “This is why I love you.”

Jason looked at her, arching a brow. “Because I let you talk me into being ridiculous?”

“Yes.” She nodded. “Because you don’t mind when I talk circles around you and drag you into my silliness—”

“I just like seeing you like this,” he said. He leaned forward and kissed her. “Happy.”

“Me, too.” She sighed against his lips and let the book fall to the ground. Jason wrapped his arm around her waist and lowered her onto her back. “You know, today is a good day,” she murmured. “Maybe we can manage it twice.”

“Well…” Jason raised his head to meet her eyes, still dancing with laughter. “You could just lay back and let me do all the work.”

“You have the best ideas.”

Corinthos & Morgan Warehouse: Bernie’s Office

Bernie Abrams set down the phone staring at the hunk of black plastic, his brows drawn together before looking across the desk at Justus Ward “This doesn’t make any sense.”

“What’s up? What did Frank want?”

“Lansing passed through Atlanta a few days ago, but it was under the radar. He only found out about it from one of his boys during an accounting thing.”

“Lansing in Atlanta.” Justus cleared his throat. “He was supposed to have been in Miami last week.”

“And Puerto Rico before that.” Bernie grimaced. “I don’t know about this. These sightings—they’ve felt wrong from the start.”

“No one ever sees him in person, except Puerto Rico. That one seemed legit,” Justus admitted, “but it’s never anyone directly, you know? Someone is always telling someone else—”

“I know we put the syndicate on the alert,” Bernie said slowly, “but all of the sightings have been internal. On our side. Didn’t Jason tell you that the PCPD had the international authorities on this?”

“Yeah. That’s the part that doesn’t feel right. The FBI, the WSB, and Interpol haven’t had so much as a whiff of Lansing since he disappeared, but our guys are seeing him left and right?” Justus shook his head. “This feels like a setup.”

“Setup or not—” Bernie craned his head to the door. “I think we can both agree that we don’t need to take this to Sonny. When Jason calls today, you pass it on to him, but I don’t trust this any more than I trusted Javier Ruiz in Miami. None of this smells right. Everyone owes a favor to someone else—”

“Yeah, wasn’t something between his family and Manhattan?” Justus asked. “Maybe—”

The door behind them crashed open, and Sonny stalked in. Behind him, a red-faced and irritated Cody Paul followed, with Max at his side. Cody, usually Elizabeth’s guard, had been temporarily reassigned to the warehouse while she was out of town, and he didn’t look happy about Sonny forcing his way in.

“Sonny.” Warily, Bernie got to his feet, as did Justus. “I wasn’t expecting you in the offices today.”

“I bet,” Sonny snarled. “How long have you known about Atlanta?”

Justus saw the flare of surprise in Bernie’s eyes before the older man shut it down, and Sonny sneered. “You trying to hide it from me like Puerto Rico and Miami?” he demanded. “This is my business! My organization!”

“No one is keeping anything from you,” Justus said, stepping in front of Bernie. “We literally just got off the phone with Frank. We’re just surprised that you know already—”

“Yeah, well, I heard it directly from the Babe,” Sonny sneered. “At least he knows who’s in charge around here—”

“The Babe?” Justus echoed. Anthony “the Babe” Pellacosta was as old school as they came,  part of a branch of the Gambino family, transported to the south. “The Babe doesn’t call anyone—”  And he’d never given Sonny or Jason the time of day before. Why the hell was he calling Sonny personally?

Sonny shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. The bastard is back in the country and clearly making his way back to New York.” He held out his hand. “Give me the damn number.”

Neither Justus nor Bernie needed to ask which number Sonny was demanding.

“I’m not going to do that,” Justus said. “I’ll call Jason, but there’s nothing he can do where he is—”

“That’s not your call to make—”

“Jason made it my call,” Justus retorted, cutting Sonny off. “And if you don’t like it, take it up with him when he gets back. Bernie and I will send some guys down to Atlanta to look into it, but this is gonna be just like Venezuela and Puerto Rico. It’s going nowhere.”

“How the hell do you know that—”

“You don’t think it’s strange that someone is always mysteriously catching sight of Lansing without any damn proof?” Justus charged. “Either they’re screwing with us, or they’re trying to get you to give them favors—”

“What the hell do you know—”

“There’s nothing Jason can do here that we’re not already doing,” Bernie said, his tone softer, a bit more conciliatory. “We’ll send the guys. We’ll check over the security on the Towers and the Brownstone—”

“So you’re not giving me his number?” Sonny said to Justus, narrowing his eyes. “You’re going to disobey a direct order?”

“I don’t take orders from you, Sonny.”

Sonny looked like he clearly wanted to argue that, but then he huffed. “Fine. I’ll get it myself.” Then he stalked out, Max hurrying after him.

“I’m sorry,” Cody said. “I’m supposed to stop anyone coming in, but—”

“It’s fine. With Sonny, it’s better just to let him go. We’re not women he can push around,” Justus muttered. He reached for his phone. “Let me leave a voicemail for Jason and give him the heads up. He’ll let me know if there’s anything he wants handled.”

Kelly’s: Dining Room

Lucky Spencer couldn’t decide if finding his mother sitting at a table with his girlfriend was a good or bad thing. There were a lot of stories that he didn’t necessarily want Kelsey to hear from his mother.

His mother beamed when she saw him in the doorway. “Lucky! Come on over! I stopped in for some lunch, and I ran into Kelsey.”

Kelsey’s smile matched his mother’s. “She said she found some pictures of my dad from the old days.”

Kelsey’s father had died in a car accident when she was thirteen, and Lucky knew she’d been happy to learn that Oliver Joyce had once been friendly with Laura during her marriage to Scott Baldwin. In fact, Lucky had been surprised to learn that Luke had known him, too.

“After dinner a few months ago,” Laura said, “I just knew I had some things in the attic. I haven’t looked at some of that stuff in years.” She cleared her throat. “I brought over a lot of things when we first moved back to Port Charles,” she told Lucky. “Remember? Ruby had stored some of it for me.”

“Yeah. You went through it when Grandma came back,” Lucky said, which was a mild way to refer to Lesley Webber’s return from the dead after years of being hidden away by the Cassadines. “You found some things with her dad?”

“Photos from law school mostly. And, of course, Ollie was at the wedding.” Laura hesitated. “To Scott,” she added. “He was never much of a fan of Luke, though I can’t really blame him for that. He was such a cutie back then. You’ll have to come by the house, and I’ll give them to you.”

“Oh, but they’re your memories—”

“Lucky can scan them, can’t you?” Laura asked. “I’ll happily take the digital to save myself some space. I have those memories in my head, you should have the photos.” She squeezed Kelsey’s hand. “I wish Ollie and I hadn’t fallen out of touch after the divorce. He and your mother—they were happy?”

“To me, yeah. She couldn’t live here without him,” Kelsey continued, “and she’s never come back. It hurts too much, she says.” She shifted. “I went by our old house when I first moved here, and it brought back a lot of good memories. I think it might do her good to come back and be part of it.”

“Well,” Laura said, eying Lucky, who had a feeling he knew where this was going, “maybe she’ll have a good reason soon enough.”

Kelsey’s cheeks reddened, and she looked at Lucky, who quickly cleared his throat. “Let’s order,” he suggested. “I have to be back on duty in thirty.”

General Hospital: Nurse’s Station

“Oh, look at this one—” Bobbie sighed, pulling another picture out of the stack she’d had developed. “Look at how adorable Michael looks with Jason—”

“That’s one of my favorites,” Monica murmured. She didn’t really get to see Michael all that often, and the little boy barely knew her as his grandmother. But if Carly stayed away from Sonny—maybe Jason would see a way for her to be part of Michael’s life.

“Did you get one of Jason when Elizabeth started down the aisle?” Emily wanted to know. “I gave my camera to Lucky, but his thumb was in the way—”

“Lu grabbed a few—you can have one of my doubles.” Bobbie handed it to Emily. “It was such a beautiful wedding. You did a great job of planning it.”

“Well, it was Elizabeth’s vision. I just took care of the details. The food ended up being pretty good. Kelly’s should cater more often,” Emily said.

“It would have made Ruby proud to see her chili on the menu, but I wish I knew why Elizabeth did it at the last minute—” Bobbie caught the exchange of glances between mother and daughter. “Oh, is this related to those tests I’m not supposed to know about?”

“Worst kept secret,” Monica muttered. “Yes,” she admitted. “I’m sure it was. I think Elizabeth will fill everyone in when she and Jason get back. She just—”

“She wanted everyone to be happy at the wedding,” Emily added. “You know, concentrating on the good stuff. She didn’t want to leave you out, Bobbie, I practically forced it out of her—”

“I’m not mad,” Bobbie assured them. “I’m just worried. I’m glad Jason made time for a honeymoon, even if it is just a few hours away.”

Monica opened her mouth to respond, but the elevator doors slid open, and Sonny stalked out. She grimaced. “Here we go,” she muttered.

Bobbie quickly stowed the wedding photos. “Sonny—”

“I’m not here to argue, I’m not here to make trouble,” he said flatly. “I know Jason gave one of you his contact information. Give it to me, and I’ll go.”

Emily lifted her brows. “I thought Jason gave his number to Justus. Why didn’t you ask him for it?” She smirked when Sonny’s scowl deepened. “If Justus doesn’t think Jason needs to be called—” She shrugged, grabbed a chart, and sauntered off.

“Go to hell,” Monica said shortly and followed her daughter. Sonny’s eyes tracked after them before turning back to Bobbie.

“I need to talk to him—”

“I’m sure Justus will pass on anything he needs to know.” Bobbie picked up a chart of her own. “I don’t owe you anything, Sonny. You’ve traumatized my daughter and made her life a living hell for months. I’m not going to let you intrude on Jason and Elizabeth’s honeymoon.”

“Fine.” Sonny gritted his teeth, then went back to the elevators, jabbing the button. When he was gone, Bobbie sighed and pulled out her phone to leave a message for Justus just in case.

Brownstone: Living Room

“Hey, Michael—” Lucas sat next to his nephew and reached for his Playstation controller. “Felix and me are gonna play Silent Hill. You want to watch? You can help us with some of the puzzles.”

His seven-year-old nephew frowned, then put down his comic book. “Okay. Maybe I could try playing.”

When Lucas might have resisted because he’d been working on this game save for a good month, Felix elbowed him. Michael was a good kid in the middle of a nasty separation and divorce. Lucas knew all about that, didn’t he?

“Yeah, sure. We could try it.”

Lucas clicked through a few menus, and within a few minutes, they were all intently watching as his character walked through the dark, eerie streets of the video game world.

The doorbell rang, and Felix got up to go answer it. He looked through the peephole and winced. He turned to Lucas. “It’s Sonny.”

Michael flinched and curled up on the sofa, drawing his legs up under his chin and wrapping his arms around them. “Is he gonna try to make me go with him again?”

“No.” Lucas touched Michael’s shoulder. “Not a chance.” He ruffled Michael’s hair and got to his feet as Sonny pressed on the doorbell again, then started knocking. “Michael, do me a favor? Go find your mom, okay? Tell her your dad is here.”

Grateful to have a task, Michael rushed down the back hallway to his mother’s bedroom. Lucas took a deep breath and prepared to face his brother-in-law.

“Maybe we should wait,” Felix said, but Lucas shook his head and pulled open the door, angling himself so that Sonny would have to shove him out of the way to get through the door.

“What do you want, Sonny?” Lucas asked.

“Where’s my wife?” Sonny demanded. “My sons?”

“Does Carly know you’re coming?”

“I don’t need an appointment—” Sonny’s nostrils flared. “Who do you think you are?”

“Sonny, you need to call ahead—”

“I got this, Lucas,” Carly said quietly as she came up behind Lucas and Felix. She sent him a grateful look. “But thanks. Sonny, what do you want?”

“Lansing’s getting closer. They saw him in Atlanta a few days ago—he might already be here—”

“I have guards,” Carly said, even as her face leeched color. “We went over this at the wedding, Sonny. Jason checked the security on the Brownstone. Taggert lives upstairs, and Lucas and Felix have the apartment across the hall.”

Sonny glared past at her at Lucas and Felix, who hadn’t left the foyer. Lucas wasn’t particularly close to his sister, but she didn’t deserve to be left alone with a screaming maniac. “You think these two….” He wiggled his fingers. “You think they can take on Ric?”

Carly narrowed her eyes. “What, exactly, are you suggesting?” she demanded hotly. The knuckles her hand whitened as she clenched the door more tightly. “Is there some reason two men who are younger and stronger than Ric can’t kick his ass?”

“Wait, is he saying we can’t because we’re gay?” Felix hissed. “I—”

“—will stand down because he’s Sonny Corinthos,” Lucas muttered, tugging his boyfriend back.

“You know, I agree with Jason,” Carly said. “I don’t think there’s anything to worry about. This Atlanta thing is just like all the others, isn’t it? Some guy he doesn’t trust thinks he saw Ric — that’s been the story for six months, Sonny! I’m done! I am done letting Ric Lansing control my life! You either start accepting that or—”

“Or what?” Sonny retorted. He shoved the door back, and Carly jumped, startled by the sudden movement. “Where are the boys? I’m taking them with me now. You can do whatever the hell you want with your life, but my boys—”

“Get out, Sonny! Don’t make me call the police!” Carly shoved him back.

“Go ahead and try it! Those are my kids!” Sonny snarled. “Michael!” he called, raising his voice and starting for the foyer. Carly grabbed his arm and tried to drag him away—

Then Sonny shoved her away—Carly fell backward, hitting the column that separated the foyer from the living room. Her eyes were wide, her face even paler. Sonny didn’t even seem to notice—he just kept heading back towards the bedrooms—

“That’s it—” Lucas overtook Sonny before he could start throwing open doors. He shoved the mobster back. “Get out!”

“You’re going to stop me?” Sonny snorted. “What are you going to do?”

“He’s going to kick your ass if you put your hands on Carly again,” Felix said. Sonny turned to lift his brows at the other man. “And when he’s done, I’m next. No one is going to shove a woman around in front of me—”

“Guys—” Carly said weakly. “It’s—”

“Do you know who I am?” Sonny demanded, dismissing Lucas and glaring at Felix. “Do you know what I could do to you?”

“You think you scare me?” Felix retorted. He smirked. “You’re not even the scariest asshole I’ve met this week. I’m a gay, Black man dating a white boy. What are you gonna do to me that the rest of the world hasn’t tried?”

“Sonny, I’m calling the police,” Carly said. She grabbed the landline on the end table. “This is your last chance—”

“I’m not leaving without my kids!” Sonny shoved Lucas out of the way and started down the hallway. “Michael! Morgan!”

“You’re not getting near those kids!” Lucas charged after him. Carly nearly dropped the phone, but Felix snapped at her to finish the call and followed.

Lucas grabbed Sonny’s arm before he could open the first door. He yanked and swung the older man until Sonny slammed into the wall. Lucas pushed him back towards the living room. A baby’s shrill cry came from the back bedrooms.

Sonny swung at Lucas, who sidestepped him, letting Sonny crash into another wall. When Sonny went for Lucas again, Felix grabbed his arm and shoved him back, but then Felix tripped as he was trying to get out of the way, and Sonny’s next fist landed on Felix’s jaw. Felix sprawled back, hit Lucas, and both men went tumbling to the floor.

“The police are on their way!” Carly cried as she tried to wade in. “Sonny—”

Sonny scowled at Lucas and Felix, who got back up again to block him. Then, he whirled around on Carly. “You’re going to get them killed! Why can’t you just listen to me!”

“Carly, get out of the way,” Lucas said. “Go back into the living room—”

“I’m leaving,” Sonny retorted. “You think I’m gonna let you have me arrested? You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” He glared at Carly and just waited. Maybe for Carly to say something back, to go at him—

Instead, she stared at him like she’d never seen him before. When she continued to say nothing, Lucas shoved past Sonny and planted himself in front of his sister.

“Get out before Michael has to see you being arrested. You’ll be lucky if I don’t press charges for trespassing. Or maybe Felix can press charges for assault. We can pick the crime—”

“I’m out of here!” Sonny shoved past them both. A few minutes later, they heard the door slam shut.

Carly just stood there, the cordless phone clutched in her hand. She stared straight ahead at nothing at all.

Lucas ignored her for a minute, going to check on his boyfriend. “You okay?” Lucas asked. He touched Felix’s jaw.

“Yeah, he’s got a weak left hook,” Felix muttered. “Look, go take care of your sister. I’ll check on the kids, get them calmed down.”

Lucas grimaced — he’d rather switch the roles, but he turned back to Carly, who had started to breathe again. She met his eyes. “I’m sorry,” she said softly. “I’m just….” She took a deep breath—

Then her shoulders started to tremble as she dropped the phone and pressed her hands to her face. “I’m sorry,” she continued to repeat. “I’m sorry.”

“Okay—” Lucas took her by the shoulders and steered her towards the living room. “Sit down—”

“I freeze sometimes,” Carly said finally. She wrapped her arms around herself. “I—since the—since the panic room—sometimes—” She looked at him. “I’m sorry. I keep messing things up.”

Lucas frowned — because this was not the woman he’d known most of his life. This was not the woman who had waltzed into his life and destroyed his parents’ marriage, driving his father over the edge.

“Carly—”

“I’m okay.” Carly closed her eyes, took another deep breath. “I have to remember to breathe. I have to—”

“I’ll call my mom—”

They heard the police sirens outside. Carly winced. “Oh, God, what am I going to do?”

“We’ll deal with it,” Lucas told her. “Let’s just—” He got to his feet as Felix came out, cradling a calmed down Morgan, Michael trailing after him. “Hey.”

“Mommy, is Daddy gone?” Michael asked, his voice ragged from sobbing. “I don’t want to see him anymore.”

“He’s gone,” Lucas assured his nephew when Carly couldn’t answer. He took Morgan from Felix when the doorbell rang. “Go let them in.” He turned back to his sister, relieved to see color in her cheeks. Michael had crawled next to her on the sofa and burrowed into her side. “Carly,” he said, “do you want me to handle this?”

“I—” Carly bit her lip. “No.” She kissed Michael’s head. “No. But thank you. I—” She managed a thin smile for him. “I’m fortunate to have you. Both of you,” she told Felix as he returned to the living room, Lucky and Dante in tow. Carly stood up to greet them.

“Uh, hey,” Lucky said, his eyes sweeping the room. “What’s up?”

“Sonny came over,” Carly said, and Lucas frowned as he saw Dante flinch. “He forced his way inside even though I asked him to leave. Lucas and Felix tried to stop him, but he nearly got down the hallway to the kids.” She looked at Lucas. “Then—I don’t know—I was calling the police—”

“He took a swing at me, missed, and then the second time, he hit Felix. He left when he knew you guys were coming.”

Lucky exchanged a troubled look with his partner, grimacing and looking at the floor. “Okay, uh, do you—are you pressing charges?”

Felix looked at Lucas, who turned to Carly. “Do you want to press charges?” he asked her.

Carly looked down at Michael, who had also stood and was now clutching her waist. She ruffled his hair, then looked at Lucky. “It’s not that I want Sonny arrested,” she said after a long moment. “But I—I need a police report. For my lawyer. Can—” She shot Felix an apologetic look. “Unless—he hit you—”

“I’m not out to make this harder for you, Carly,” Felix told her. “Whatever you need.”

Carly scrubbed her hands over her face and then squared her shoulders. “I don’t want Sonny arrested. He wouldn’t—he wouldn’t do great in jail. Can we just—can I get a police report? And maybe, I don’t know—can someone talk to him?” She bit her lip. “I don’t know,” she repeated.

“We’ll write up an incident report,” Lucky said, frowning when Dante remained silent. “We’ll make it official, take all the statements. And I’ll go see him. I’ve known him forever. I’ll tell him you’re not pressing charges as long as he doesn’t come back.” He hesitated. “You might want to think about a restraining order.”

Carly smiled wanly. “Thank you.” She reached over to take Morgan from Lucas. “Let me know if you need anything else from me.”

She went down the hallway, followed by Michael.

“How bad was it really?” Lucky asked Lucas and Felix. “Was it—”

“Pretty bad. Sonny was trying to take the kids—he also shoved Carly, but I don’t think she’s registering that yet.” Lucas pressed his lips together, looked at Felix. “After the panic room last summer, Mom said she had some problems. Processing it all, I mean. And there was some other stuff before she came back here.”

“Sonny shoved her away from the door, then when she tried to stop him from going down the hall—” Felix shook his head. “You think a restraining order is going to help?”

“Will it stop him?” Lucky asked. “Probably not.” He looked at Dante. “What do you think?”

“What—” Dante blinked. “Oh. Yeah, well, no, most of the time, restraining orders are violated within twenty-four hours. But it makes it easier to arrest him. You can call the next time he shows up, and you won’t have to wait for him to commit assault or trespassing.” He cleared his throat. “I’ll, uh, go to the car and get the forms. To start their statements.”

Lucky looked after him frowning. Lucas raised his brows. “What’s his problem?”

“That’s a good question.”

Lake House: Bedroom

Elizabeth grinned as Jason walked in, his cell phone in hand. She spread out the baby name book in her lap. “I found it. The perfect name.”

“Yeah?” Jason climbed back into bed, stretching his legs out over the rumbled bedspread. “You sure?”

“Yep.” She hesitated, the smile dimming slightly as she took in his expression. “You checked the voicemails, didn’t you?”

“Yeah. Don’t worry about it right now. Tell me—”

“Jason.” She closed the book and set it aside. “What happened—”

“Nothing we can do from here,” Jason argued. “And I promised you—”

“You promised me that we’d have two weeks free from Sonny.” She leaned forward to kiss him. “And we’ve had a few days. Today was a good day, Jason. The first day in weeks I’ve felt like myself again.” She threaded her arms through his and leaned her head against his shoulder. “When was the last time we could spend the whole day in bed?”

“It’s been a while,” Jason admitted. He rested his hand on her knee, letting his fingertips drift up and down her thigh. “I’m glad you’re feeling better. And that’s because we’re keeping them out—”

“But the world is still turning. I won’t break, Jason, so tell me what’s going on.”

Jason nodded. “There was a call from Justus. Someone thinks they saw Lansing in Atlanta, but it’s not any different than the others. No proof. They’re going to send someone to look.”

“They don’t think it’s serious?” she asked, scrunching her nose. “But it’s the third one in the last month—”

“Yeah, but I don’t like the way they’re coming in,” he continued. “Bernie pointed out that the only people seeing Lansing are from our side. I don’t think much of law enforcement,” he admitted, “but they haven’t been able to pick up any trail. Not even once.”

“Okay. Well, if they’re not worried, and you’re not worried—” She paused, tilting her head. “Then why do you look like the world is still on fire? What else happened?”

“Bobbie and Monica both called,” Jason admitted. “Sonny found out about Atlanta, demanded my number. Justus refused to give it to him, so he went to the hospital. When Bobbie and Monica refused —”

“He went to the Brownstone,” Elizabeth murmured.

“Yeah.” Jason scrubbed a hand down his face. “He forced his way in, pushed Carly out of the way. Then he ended up in a physical fight with Lucas and his boyfriend because he was trying to get to the kids. The boyfriend ended up getting punched.”

Elizabeth closed her eyes. “Damn it.”

“Yeah, Carly called the police. She filled out a report but didn’t press the charges.” Jason exhaled slowly. “Bobbie says things are calmed down now, but Carly wants to call Kevin and schedule a session. And she wants Michael to talk to someone because he heard all of it.”

Elizabeth’s hand slid down to her belly where their son kicked firmly, her heart aching for the little boy that would always be a little bit Jason’s. “She hasn’t talked to Kevin in months.”

“Yeah, well, it’s a lot, Bobbie said.” He looked at her. “She’s okay—”

Elizabeth sat up and reached for the phone in his hand. He let her take it without a word. She pressed a speed dial then handed the phone to Jason. “You’ll feel better if you talk to her.”

Jason sighed but took the phone just as Carly answered, her voice a bit hesitant. “Hello?”

“It’s me,” Jason said, remembering that he was using a different phone and she wouldn’t have recognized the number.

“You aren’t supposed to be calling me,” Carly said, but Jason could hear the forced cheerfulness in her voice. “How’s the honeymoon?”

“Good,” Jason told her. “Uh, Elizabeth says hi.” He hesitated. “I listened to the messages—”

“Yeah, I figured you weren’t calling to chat.” Carly was quiet for a moment. “I’m okay,” she said. “I mean it. It was a bad day, but I was lucky. It turns out there are people I can rely on when you’re not around, and—well, you know, that wasn’t always true.”

“I know. But I just—I don’t know. I wanted to check on you for myself.” He looked at Elizabeth, and she smiled at him. He already looked a bit brighter. “Is there anything I can do?”

“I can handle it,” Carly told him. “The only thing I want you to do is to concentrate on your new wife, that baby she’s carrying, and having the time away from this you deserve. I’m glad that you weren’t home—that Elizabeth wasn’t across the hall.” She paused. “I’ll be okay. I promise.”

“I know.”

“I love you, Jase. Thanks for calling.” Carly hung up first, and Jason stared at the phone for a long moment.

“Everything okay?” Elizabeth asked.

“Yeah. Yeah.” He set the phone aside. “Thank you for making me call her—”

“She’s your best friend, and she’s been through hell. If it’s bad enough she’s reaching out to her therapist—” Elizabeth shook her head. “Then she needed to hear your voice. And you needed to hear hers.”

“Yeah.” He lifted his arm to put it around her shoulders so she could snuggle into his side. “So, before we talk about dinner, what were you saying about the perfect name?”

“Oh, I was thinking Cameron.” She beamed up at him. “Cameron Hardy Morgan. What do you think?”

“I think it sounds great.” He kissed her again. “You hungry?”

“Oh, yeah.” Elizabeth’s grin turned sly as he slid out of bed again. “We’ve worked up an appetite today.”

+7

You swore and said we are not
We are not shining stars
This I know
I never said we are
Though I’ve never been through hell like that
I’ve closed enough windows to know you can never look back
– Carry On, fun

Sunday, February 1, 2004

 Morgan Penthouse: Living Room

 Elizabeth Morgan studied the pile of luggage stacked at the bottom of the stairs, squinting before turning towards the man sipping his coffee on the sofa. “I think I overpacked.”

Jason Morgan, her husband of exactly sixteen hours and twenty minutes, stared at her for a long time. “I’m not taking any of it back upstairs.”

“Oh. No.” Elizabeth smiled brightly and sat down—wincing slightly as her lungs protested. She had woken that morning feeling better than she had the night before, almost like her old self. She had allowed herself to forget just for a moment why Jason was taking her out of town for two whole weeks despite the insanity going on around them.

“You okay?”

“Yeah, I just moved too fast,” she assured him. She reached for her tea, then wrinkled her nose when he kept his hand on her wrist, pressing two fingers against her pulse. “How many times do you think you’ve done that since July?”

He ignored that question. “It’s fine—”

“I told you—I just moved too fast. Sometimes I feel good. And I forget.” Elizabeth paused. “Monica said I might have a lot more good days than bad, remember? And so far, that’s been true. Before yesterday, I hadn’t needed the oxygen all week.”

Jason nodded. “I know,” he admitted, “but she also said that could change if we’re not careful. I hate that you’re dealing with this at all,” he added when she just sighed. “I wish we didn’t have to think about your health all the time—”

“I’m officially in week twenty-eight,” she reminded him. “We only have six more weeks—” Elizabeth scowled. “Don’t make that face, Jason. We talked about this—”

“Is that what we did?” He got to his feet to cross to the desk when the phone rang. “Yeah? Thanks, Wally. Send him up.” Jason turned back to Elizabeth. “Cody is downstairs. He’ll help me pack the car.”

“Don’t change the subject.” Elizabeth got to her feet, folded her arms. “You’re still mad, aren’t you? Kelly wanted me to have the baby next week—” To deliver at twenty-eight weeks with all the added complications and survival rate plummeting to eighty percent— “I don’t want the NICU, Jason—”

Jason said nothing, his lips thinning as he pressed them together. He took a deep breath. “I’m not mad—”

“Really?”

“I’m not,” he insisted. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything.”

Elizabeth bit the corner of her thumbnail, studying him. “But you’re thinking it.” When he said nothing, her stomach rolled. “You’re just not saying anything because you don’t want to upset me.”

“I think,” Jason said carefully, “that if you’ve made up your mind, then it doesn’t do us any good to talk about it. Not right now when you’re feeling okay, and Monica says everything is stable. I don’t want the baby in NICU either, Elizabeth. Michael had to have heart surgery when he was born, and I was terrified the entire time. That was before I knew anything about babies or being a father. I—” He hesitated. “I understand why you think it has to be this way.”

“Then—”

“And if it were me—” Jason crossed the room to take her hands in his. “If I were the one who was pregnant, I’d probably be doing the same thing.”

“Okay.” She closed her eyes in relief. “Thank you.”

“But if things change—”

“I know. Emily said the same thing,” Elizabeth said with a sigh, but she smiled and leaned up to kiss him. “I love you.”

“I love you—”

The door behind them burst open, and Jason spun around, instinctively spreading his arms out to protect Elizabeth. “What the—”

“You’re still going on this stupid trip?” Sonny Corinthos demanded, chest heaving, face flushed. “Max told me you’re leaving in thirty minutes—”

Standing behind Jason, Elizabeth could feel his muscles tensing, turning to stone. “You knew I was going—”

“Two weeks?” Sonny cut in. “With Ric back in the country? You don’t give a crap about Carly or my kids anymore? You got your own family, so mine can go to hell?”

“No,” Jason said shortly. “Johnny’s coming up to take over for me. Justus and Bernie are briefed on everything, and Justus has my contact information.” He paused. “I’m not taking my cell phone.”

Elizabeth’s eyes widened. “Jason—” she began, but he turned his head and shook it quickly. She closed her mouth.

“And why aren’t you going upstairs?” Sonny demanded. “We’re talking business—”

Elizabeth bit her lip, then picked up her lukewarm tea. “Uh, I can go into the kitchen, but—”

“Not good enough—”

“Not your business,” Jason interrupted. “And I didn’t ask you to come over, Sonny. Elizabeth isn’t going upstairs.”

Not when one of Monica’s most important recommendations was to climb the stairs only once a day. Elizabeth didn’t want to waste her energy here at the penthouse when she was feeling good enough to reclaim her wedding night.

But none of that was Sonny’s business since she knew Jason hadn’t told him about the CTEPH diagnosis, so Elizabeth wasn’t going to argue.

“I’ll go into the kitchen,” she repeated.

“How the hell can you leave without your cell phone?” Sonny’s voice echoed as she went into the kitchen, but she’d only just set the cup in the microwave when the door slammed.

A minute later, Jason came in, his mouth pinched. “I’m not taking my cell phone,” he said flatly. “And neither are you. I have a burner phone. Bobbie, Justus, and Monica have the number. That’s it.”

Elizabeth nodded. “Okay.” She waited a beat. “Jason, I understand why you’re insisting on two weeks, but I don’t know why your phone has to be an argument. Take it—”

“No. If Sonny can call me, he’ll be doing it every day,” Jason told her. “And if I don’t answer, he’ll call you. The whole point is to get you away from this for two weeks. I’ll check in with Justus. You’ll check in with Bobbie and Monica. You can call Emily, too,” he added.

Remembering how tired he’d looked the day he’d told her about this trip—knowing that she was already giving him enough to worry about, Elizabeth nodded. “Okay. If you think that’s the best way to handle it, we’ll do it. I just—” She chewed on her bottom lip. “I guess I’m worried about who Sonny’s going to yell at if we’re not here.”

“I know,” he admitted. “But I asked Luke to look in on Carly and Bobbie. I hope that’s enough.”

“Me, too.”

Spencer House: Living Room

 Luke Spencer intended to make sure that he would be enough to protect his sister and niece from the hostile and angry man he’d seen at the wedding.

No one in Port Charles had known Sonny Corinthos longer than Luke. He knew exactly what Sonny was capable of when thwarted from what he wanted for too long. Luke wasn’t about to let that be unleashed on his sister if he could stop it.

“I don’t understand,” Laura began, sitting down with a cup of tea in hand. “How exactly did Sonny end up locking Carly in the bedroom?”

“No one wanted to get into the gritty details, and I don’t really know what Caroline was up to this summer. I know about the kidnapping because of what Lucky and Kelsey have said,” he added. “But Sonny and I haven’t been close in years.”

“I know, and I’m sorry for it in some ways,” Laura admitted. “We broke over the garage fire, and it wasn’t even his fault.” She hesitated. “But Jason was your friend, too. He asked you for help.”

“He did—” Luke glanced over at the light knock, smiling when his sister came in. “Hey there, Barbara Jean. What brings you to our humble abode today?”

“Oh, Lulu left a few things in the car last night when Lucas dropped her off.” Bobbie set down a pair of shoes and a jacket. “I volunteered to drop them off.”

“Good. I was gonna make my way to your place, but this saves me the trip. You want some coffee?” Luke got to his feet, but Bobbie shook her head.

“No, and I’m sure I know why you were coming over, but Luke, it’s not my place—”

“Morgan asked me to look out for Carly while he’s gone,” Luke declared. “I haven’t been all that great at taking care of you these last few years—”

“I don’t need you—” Bobbie began hotly.

“But with Morgan taking Elizabeth out of town, that’s two less people for Sonny to scream at.

“Bobbie,” Laura began gently, “we just want to help. Would it hurt for Luke to know a few things? Just so he can be ready? Jason wouldn’t have asked him if he didn’t think it was necessary.”

“I’m sure he did that out of guilt.” Bobbie made a face. “He’s taking Elizabeth away for two weeks, and I think only a few people have the number. Something’s wrong,” she muttered, “but he won’t tell us.”

“The baby?” Laura asked. She rose to her feet. “Is this about last summer? Lucky said Elizabeth had been ill—”

“Never-ending complications from the birth control pills Ric Lansing repeatedly shoved down her throat,” Bobbie said bitterly. “First it was the embolism, then a heart attack, and now—I don’t know what it is now,” she continued, “but I’m sure it’s related. I know Sonny’s been a problem.” She hesitated. “Carly had difficulty recovering from the panic room. Mentally, I mean.”

“Of course. You don’t simply bounce back from that,” Laura said. “Sonny hasn’t been supportive?”

“He was until it interfered with what he wanted. Carly saw Kevin for a while to get a handle on it,” Bobbie said. “She was doing fine until Ric jumped bail. Then, Sonny lost his goddamn mind and never got it back. When she tried to leave him, he locked her in the bedroom.”

“Christ, that master bedroom doesn’t have windows. I’ll never understand why Sonny chose it with what he went through.” Luke grimaced. “How did she get out?”

“Carly was screaming so loud Jason and Elizabeth heard her. It’s part of the reason Sonny has taken so much out on Elizabeth,” Bobbie added. “He knows—” She paused. “Ric was alive to jump bail because Elizabeth and Carly wanted to testify against him. Jason supported them, but Sonny never did. He blames Elizabeth.”

“Of course he does,” Laura muttered. She folded her arms. “No wonder Jason wanted Elizabeth away from all of this. Luke, you said there’s some evidence this Ric Lansing is back in the country?”

“Some. Morgan isn’t really sure. He wouldn’t leave Carly if he thought there was a serious threat.” Luke slid his hands into his pockets. “If another one of these sightings comes along while Morgan’s gone, Sonny will head straight for Carly.”

“Jason put security at the Brownstone, and we have the guards. I don’t know what you think you can do about this, Luke, but I appreciate the thought.” She checked her watch. “I have to head in for a shift.”

Laura went to the window to watch as Bobbie returned to her car. “I don’t like this,” she declared, looking back to her husband. “It might not be enough to keep an eye on Carly.”

“I was thinking the same. I’ll try to talk some sense into Sonny if I can.” Luke paused. “Don’t be too worried about Elizabeth. You know Morgan has that covered.”

“She went through so much for us,” Laura murmured. “For Lucky, for Nikolas. I should been there more—”

“Laura—”

“But you’re right. Jason can be trusted to take care of her. I feel terrible for Carly. Being trapped in that room—” She paused. “It must have felt like being locked up in her own mind. I know what that’s like. How terrible that her own husband did that to her.”

Luke swallowed hard, looking away. He knew Laura didn’t blame him for her problems, but he sure as hell did. A lifetime of trauma, the doctors had said.

He’d inflicted some of that trauma, and he hadn’t done much to help with the rest of it. He would spend the rest of his life making amends for things that could never be forgiven.

Seneca Falls, New York

Lake House: Living Room

“That is the absolute last set of steps I want to tackle today,” Elizabeth said with a sigh. She touched her belly, absently rubbing it as she walked off the last of the cramp in her leg from sitting in the SUV.

“I’ll finish bringing in the luggage.” Jason kissed her and started to pull away, but she fisted her hand in his shirt to keep him close. “You okay?” he murmured. He brushed his knuckles down her cheek.

“Better than. It’s so beautiful here, and I’m glad we decided to get out of Port Charles for a while.” She kissed him again. “Go bring in our stuff, then get the blood pressure cuff. You’ll feel better if we take care of that. I’ll call Monica and let her know we got here.”

He handed her the burner phone. “You okay to walk around, or do you want to sit?”

“No, I want to stretch.”

She watched him as he left the cabin and headed through the thin crunchy layer of snow to their SUV. Elizabeth then wandered over to the large picture window overlooking Lake Seneca.

“Elizabeth, is everything okay?” Monica demanded. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to alarm you.” Elizabeth turned as the door opened, ushering in a gale of wind. Jason set down two of her suitcases, then went back for the last two — she had three, and of course, he only had one.

Men.

“I wanted to let you know Jason and I got to the lake all right. He’s getting our things from the car, but I didn’t want you to worry.”

“Oh.” Monica sighed. “I’m sorry. I’ll try not to act like an insane person when you call—”

“A few more weeks of this, and we can all stop assuming the worst,” Elizabeth told her. “Jason is going to take my blood pressure when he’s done, but I’m sure I’m fine. He stopped about a half-hour ago so I could stretch my legs. I didn’t sit for long.”

“I know you’re taking this seriously, so—” Monica hesitated. “Try not to think about it as much over the next few weeks. You’re away from the usual stressors. Just concentrate on each other and that baby.”

“That’s the plan.” She smiled as Jason set down the last of their bags. “Here’s Jason—” She held out the phone.

“Hey. Yeah, the view is—” He looked at Elizabeth. “I guess it’s okay. There’s a lake.”

Elizabeth rolled her eyes as she started to walk around again. She kicked off her shoes, sinking her toes into the plush carpet. Jason and Monica talked another minute or two before he handed the phone back.

“Thank you for suggesting we call her. She still sounds happy when I do,” Jason admitted.

She wound her arm through his, laying her head against his shoulder. “You’re not just letting the Quartermaines in because of me, are you?”

“Not just because of you, no.” Jason kissed the top of her head. “We’ve been through a lot since the summer. It just feels different.”  He frowned, looked down at her. “Why?”

“I just don’t want you to do things to make me happy, that’s all. I’m glad you’re doing better with them. They’ve been so kind to me these last few months.”

“Which makes me think better of them,” Jason told her. “Elizabeth—” He frowned, turning to face her fully. “What’s the problem?”

“Nothing, it’s just—” Elizabeth bit her lip. “We both know there’s a chance—a small one— that I—” She looked away. “Well, that something might happen to me. Even if we do everything right.”

“Elizabeth—”

“And with everything that’s going on with Sonny, I just want—I want to make sure you have people you can depend on. Who put you first. Carly might try, but she’s going through a lot—”

“I really don’t want to talk about this—”

“I know you don’t, but that’s why—” She scowled as Jason pulled away from her, went back to the luggage. “Jason—”

“I should put these away and take your blood pressure.” He looked back at her, met her eyes. “I’m sorry. I know you want to talk about what might happen. We will. I just—” He stopped, looked down at the ground, and said nothing else.

“We’ll talk about it some other time,” she said softly, not wanting to push it. Not today. “Let’s get unpacked and get some dinner. I’m starving.”

Kelly’s: Dining Room

Lulu Spencer tied on her apron and wrinkled her nose. “I don’t know why you think I’m going to be any good at planning a surprise party for Georgie,” she told Maxie Jones. “You usually hate my ideas.”

“That’s because your ideas are uncultured trash,” Maxie said with a bright smile. “But that’s okay. I’m the ideas person here.” She pointed at Lulu. “You’re the grunt work.”

Lulu rolled her eyes and went to check the coffee. “You’re just overcompensating because we were mean to Georgie for like three weeks.”

“Three months, but no, that’s not it.” Maxie rested her chin on her fist. “I just need to see how much your dad would charge to rent out Luke’s for the night. You know, because that’s where she was born.”

“Really?” At a table nearby, Cruz Rodriguez’s ears perked up. “Georgie was born at Luke’s?”

“How’d that happen?” Dante Falconieri wanted to know.

“Mom went into labor earlier than she thought and didn’t get to the hospital in time. I thought it might be fun to celebrate her birthday where it began. So, Lu, I need you find out how much your dad will charge me and then get it cut in half because I’m a college student with zero cash.”

“Oh, so this is me doing a favor for you.” Lulu folded her arms. “The last time I did that, I ended up in jail.”

“You’re being dramatic.” Maxie looked at Dante and Cruz. “We didn’t even get booked, and they only thought we were hookers until they saw my ID and realized Mac was my dad. You thought it was funny at the time,” she reminded Lulu.

“Not the point—”

“But you’ll do it, right?” Maxie batted her eyelashes. “My best friend in the whole wide world—”

“Maxie, your best friend is Lucas. You told me that the last time we had a fight—”

“Oh my God, do you remember everything? Ugh. Fine, I’ll do it myself.” Maxie huffed and went over to join Dante and Cruz at their table. Lulu just snorted and went into the kitchen. “So—”

“You want me to ask Lucky to rent the club to you at little to no cost,” Dante said.

“I like a man who doesn’t need directions.” Maxie beamed at him. “Yes. Will you?”

“I can ask, but, uh, you know Lu is going to do it, right? She’s just screwing with you.”

Maxie glanced back at the kitchen with slitted eyes. “Yeah, but she’s unpredictable. I need some reassurance.”

“She’s going to do it because it’s for Georgie, and she really does feel bad.” Dante picked up his coffee. “But, yeah, I’ll drop a word in with Lucky on it, too.”

“You’re the best.” Maxie pursed her lips. “When’s your birthday? I need to put it on the calendar so we can celebrate accordingly.”

“I think that might be the most terrifying thing you’ve ever said to me,” Dante said. “It’s April. But that’s all you’re getting.”

“See, now it’s a challenge.” Maxie looked at Cruz. “What about you? When’s yours? I can already bet Dante doesn’t like big parties—”

“Absolutely not—”

“But you—” Maxie pursed her lips. “You’re a mystery.”

“A mystery?” Cruz echoed. “How do you figure?”

“Well, you’re around and we like you but you never, ever talk about yourself. And before you say anything—” Maxie said, throwing Dante a warning glance. “I sometimes shut up about myself long enough to listen to other people.”

“This is why I like you,” Dante told her. “You handle both parts of the conversation.”

“Part of my charm.” Maxie preened, but then focused on Cruz again. “So, spill. When’s the birthday? How do you celebrate it? What did your family do back home—wait where are you from again?”

“It’s in June, and I don’t do much,” Cruz said. He cleared his throat. “We don’t need to acknowledge it.”

“Oh, but—” Maxie started but Dante kicked her lightly under the table and she frowned at him. “Okay, fine. Two mysteries to solve. You just wait until April, Dante Falconieri.” She flashed him a smile. “Now, for Georgie’s party — should I put you down for a plus one or are we going to stop pretending you’re not just biding your time until you ask out my best friend?”

“Lucas isn’t my type,” Dante said.

“Ha. I have a class or I would stay to annoy you more.” She stabbed a finger at Cruz. “Don’t think this is over. When I adopt people into my circle, they never get out.”

“Like a hostage situation?”

“Exactly.” Maxie got to her feet and went back to the counter for her coat and bag. “Stockholm Syndrome. Eventually, you all stop fighting it.” She flounced off, and they watched her go.

“She’s going to know my entire life history in about eight minutes, isn’t she?” Cruz asked, furrowing his brows. “Maybe she should be a cop.” Shrugging it off, he turned back to Dante.  “Didn’t Lucky already give you the green light on Lu?”

“I didn’t need—” Dante hesitated. “He did, I think. But—”

“Then what’s the problem? You’re not getting any younger.”

“Nothing.” Dante glanced over at the counter where Lulu had emerged, coffee carafe in hand. “Nothing. Just—biding my time.”

“You keep biding that time and she’ll be off the market.”

“First, she’s not a car, and second—” Dante studied Cruz. “You thinking about putting in a bid?”

“Oh, hell no.” Cruz wiggled his shoulders. “Definitely not my type. But you should go for it. Put us all out of our misery.”

He did like Lu—not just because she was hot, but she’d been a good friend to him and knew she’d taken some heat from Dillon over it. He wasn’t going to think about Sonny Corinthos being his father anymore. Only a handful of people knew, and Dante wanted to keep it that way.

Maybe it was time to start looking forward—and why not with Lulu Spencer?

Corinthos Penthouse: Living Room

When the knock came, Sonny barely looked up from the sofa, nursing a tumbler of bourbon. “Who is it?” he demanded.

“Uh, it’s Mr. Corbin,” the guard offered. Sonny frowned at that, twisting on the sofa to see his father walking in.

“Mike,” Sonny said, narrowing his eyes. “What do you want?” Probably here to ask for money or help from a bookie. “I thought you were in Buffalo.”

“Came in for the wedding,” Mike said. He tipped his head. “I saw you yesterday, but you didn’t stay at the reception long.”

Sonny snorted. “No point,” he muttered.

“Uh huh. It was nice to be invited.” Mike sat on the arm of the chair next to the sofa. “I thought Elizabeth looked beautiful.”

“You’re not even mad that he was supposed to be marrying my sister six months ago?”

“No, and neither are you, Michael.” Mike waited for Sonny to look at him. “I always had my doubts about Jason and Courtney, and this worked out for the best. Your sister’s doing well in Buffalo, not that you care. She’s dating again, too.” He paused. “I noticed some tension with you and Jason. Everything okay?”

“Don’t act like you care—”

“I’ve done my best to make you see that I do,” Mike cut in. “And I thought we’d come further than this. I don’t know what happened while I was in Buffalo, but you—” He paused. “What happened with Carly? Why are you and Jason at each other’s throats?”

“Mike—” Sonny got to his feet, ready to toss him a scathing set down. Over his father’s shoulders, he saw his mother and Lily. Adela. The woman Mike had abandoned to Deke Woods, and Lily, the woman who had died instead of Sonny. He closed his eyes.

They weren’t there. They weren’t real.

“Oh, mijo.” He felt his mother’s hand on his shoulder. Her light, gentle touch. “He’s your father.”

“No, he’s not,” Sonny retorted.

“That’s right,” Lily said with a tilt of her head. “He was there the night you killed me and our son. He’s the reason you didn’t join us. He stopped you. You should have died with us.”

“Michael?”

Sonny blinked, then looked around. Lily and Adela were gone. They hadn’t been there, he reminded himself.

They were dead.

Women who had died instead of him.

“Michael?” Mike repeated. “What’s going on—”

“Nothing.” Feeling a bit shaky, but more in the moment, Sonny took a deep breath. “Nothing,” he repeated. “Jason and I aren’t seeing eye to eye on handling Ric Lansing. Carly—” Another woman who was gone because of him. Not dead. Just gone. Couldn’t protect her if he couldn’t see her—couldn’t keep her safe if she wasn’t in the room why couldn’t she just see that why was everything a fight why did she make everything so hard—

“Michael,” Mike said sharply, and again Sonny snapped back.

“Carly took Jason’s side,” Sonny finished. “Thanks for stopping by, Mike. But I didn’t need you when I was a kid, and I don’t need you now.”

“Michael—”

“Max.” Sonny raised his voice until the guard opened the door. “See him out.”

And with that, Sonny went upstairs, putting his father out of his mind once again.

The Cellar: Bar

Carly Corinthos narrowed her eyes at the whiskey inventory behind the bar, then glanced at her list. “Hey, Frankie, we’re missing a bottle of Jim Beam. Can you do another count in the stock room?”

“Sure thing, Mrs. C.” She heard the bartender leave, then turned at the footsteps near the entrance.

“Hey there, Caroline.” Luke ambled over and sat at the counter. “Taking a look at my competition.” He glanced around, nodding. “Looks good in here.”

“We’re hardly competition,” Carly said but smiled at the thought. “My place is a bit more….”

“Sophisticated,” Luke offered. “I know it. And we do live music. Still, you did nice for yourself. Barbara Jean said you were going to buy back into Club 101.”

“Signing the papers next week. Starting my own empire.” Carly pursed her lips. “Is this a social call, Luke, or—”

“I can be friendly,” Luke said a bit defensively. “I’m a proud, adoring uncle—” When she just lifted a brow, he sighed. “Yeah, okay. I know Morgan’s out of town—”

“Luke—”

“He asked me to look in on you and my sister. After what I saw yesterday, I think it can’t hurt to have another body in on this. Especially since I think we both know he’s got a whole lot on his plate right now.”

Carly considered that, then nodded. “Yeah. I guess you’re right. I don’t mean to keep adding to it. I know that’s hard to believe because that’s all I’ve ever done—” She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. “I guess it’s just my lot in life to be someone people have to clean up after.”

“How do you figure that, darlin’?” Luke asked. “The way Barbara Jean tells it, you were clipping along just fine last year. You and Sonny were happy, expecting that baby. The club launched successfully. Did you ask for Ric Lansing to shove you into a panic room for a week?”

Carly closed her eyes. “No. But—”

“So we wanna blame anyone, we can blame him. Or we can blame Sonny for shoving you into another locked room.” He paused. “Your mother gave me some of the background. I’m not asking for details, Caroline. I’m just—I’m just trying to help. Morgan’s not here to turn to.”

“I appreciate it, Luke, I do. But I don’t know what you can offer at this point—”

His cell phone buzzed in his pocket, and Luke drew it out. “Well, let’s find out. Hey, Mike. How did it go?” He listened for a long moment, then nodded. “Yeah, I didn’t think it would work, but it was worth a shot. Thanks, man. I’ll keep you in the loop.”

“Mike? What did you have him do?”

Luke set the phone on the bar. “Just drop in on Sonny. He has a better excuse than I do,” he added, “since me and Sonny ain’t exactly copacetic these days.”

“Copacetic, huh?” Carly sighed. “Sonny isn’t going to tell Mike anything.”

“Didn’t go there for intel. Don’t need it. Just wanted to get a sense of Sonny’s mood since he blew up at the wedding, and I know he wasn’t thrilled about Morgan going AWOL for two weeks.” Luke paused. “He’s drinking, and Mike couldn’t tell if he was drunk or just drifting. You know what I’m saying, don’t you?”

Carly didn’t want to feel bad. Didn’t want to worry about him. “You’ve seen him in those moods before, I guess.”

“A time or two, yeah. But he’s gotten worse over the years. Losing Lily and that baby, then Brenda. Jilting her, her dying—don’t make no difference she’s not dead, you hear me? Then I cut him out, blaming him for that fire.”

“We lost our baby,” Carly murmured.

“Exactly. He’s getting worse. He’s pushing everyone away. I’ve seen him do it before.” Luke scratched his temple. “Trouble is we can’t force him to get help, so all we can do is minimize the collateral damage. He’ll hit rock bottom at some point.” He got to his feet. “I just don’t want his rock bottom to include my sister, you, those kids, or Elizabeth. So, you got my number. Call me if you need it.”

Lake House: Bedroom

Elizabeth sat on the edge of the bed to kick off her shoes, then looked down at her hands. At the wedding ring nestled next to the ruby engagement ring. It was just a simple plain gold band, similar to the wider one she’d slid on his finger the day before.

“You all right?”

She glanced up to find her husband walking into the room, setting the burner phone on the dresser. “Yeah, I was just looking at my ring.”

Jason hesitated. “It’s all right, isn’t it? Emily said—”

“It’s perfect.” She rose to her feet and crossed the room to him, sliding her arms around his waist. “I love that my engagement ring is what I see first.”

“Why?” Jason asked, his hands gently trailing up and down her back.

“Because, other than the leather jacket you got me that first Christmas,” she said, “that glass was the first present you ever gave me. And I—” She sighed, rested her head against his chest. “I broke it.”

“I know. You told me.” They stood there, swaying, nearly dancing to nothing more than the sound of their own breathing. “It’s all right.”

“It’s not. I knew you were telling the truth even when I said you were lying. You picked that ruby because I told you how sorry I was for not believing you. For breaking it.”

“I didn’t even buy that glass for you,” Jason reminded her. His cheek rested on top of her head—she could feel his breath rustling her hair. “I gave it to you because I had it, and I thought you’d like it. You don’t have to feel sorry about breaking it. I never blamed you.”

“I loved that shade of crimson,” Elizabeth murmured. She held out her hand, wiggling her fingers so that the ruby caught the dim light in the room. “The way it caught in the light and sparkled. I remember the day you gave it to me. When we stood at the window.”

“I remember that, too.” He closed his hand over hers and brought it to his mouth. “I wanted to kiss you that day. When you looked at me.”

“I wanted you to kiss me, too. Which scared the hell out of me,” she admitted. She drew back so that their eyes met. “So many times I wish you would have just done it, but now, I know why you didn’t, and it makes me love you more.”

“Yeah?” With his free hand, he tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, trailing his fingers down her jaw.

“It needed to be my decision, and I think you wanted it to be mine. You needed that from me, and I couldn’t do it. Not then. I wasn’t ready. You always found a way to put me first.”

“Not always.”

She shook her head. “We’re not going to do that, not tonight. I’m not even blaming myself for not being ready. I just wanted to tell you that I knew what you were doing and that I love you for it.”

“I love you, too.” He dipped his head down to brush his mouth against hers. Her hand fisted in his shirt. “We should go to bed.”

“We should, but first—” Elizabeth kissed him again, nipping at his lips as she drew back, then smiled at him. “I want my wedding night.”

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