Written in 70 minutes.

Tuesday, September 24, 2024

Miller & Davis: Spinelli’s Office

Diane rapped on the open office door, and folded her arms. “I just heard from Michael’s lawyer.”

Spinelli rubbed his mouth and sighed. “The injunction was lifted.”

“Yes. Our only saving grace is that it’s raining again today,” Diane said, nodding to the window behind Spinelli where raindrops pounded the glass. “But the weather forecast is clear tomorrow.”

“Which means the FBI will be up here searching.” Spinelli pushed away from the desk and crossed over to his bulletin board, studying it as if it the answers would somehow highlight themselves when they hadn’t given him anything in more than a week. “It’s not the end of the world. There’s no guarantee they’ll find anything to help themselves. Especially with the rain over the last few weeks.”

“Three weeks is a long time for evidence to sit at a crime scene,” Diane agreed. “So no, the search itself isn’t the problem—”

“We’re running out of time to avoid a trial.” Spinelli grimaced, met Diane’s gaze. “If I could cut through of the red tape, we might have more. I’d already have the footage, the car data—”

“We’ve been over this, Spinelli. First, this conversation isn’t happening. And second, the feds aren’t really interested in the truth. They almost certainly know Elizabeth didn’t pull that trigger. They want Jason. They’ll ignore anything we turn up and point to any hint of illegality.”

“I know. I know.” Spinelli stared hard at the crime scene photo. “If this goes to trial—”

“I’m relatively confident that I have enough for reasonable doubt. The timing is too tight, the alibi from Michael is unchallenged. But juries are unpredictable,” Diane reminded him. “And I don’t exactly have a smoking gun. I can’t even prove the gun was planted.” She pressed her lips together, then took a deep breath. “But we have time. We likely won’t get the case dismissed next week, but a trial won’t happen for six months or longer. I can push it, keep Elizabeth out on bail.”

“Kick the can down the road,” Spinelli murmured. He looked at Diane. “Have you called them?”

“No. Elizabeth’s at work, and I wanted to tell you before I called Jason. But this isn’t anything we didn’t expect.”

“I know. All the same—if it’s all right, I’ll head down to the warehouse and tell him myself. Maybe pick his brain a little—not about my theory,” Spinelli added when Diane opened her mouth. “I want more weight on my side before I bring that up. The footage, the techstream data from the car—but it won’t hurt to talk to him about Cates. Maybe there’s something we’re missing.”

James M. Hanley Federal Building: Courtroom

Alexis rose to her feet, her reading glasses in one hand. “It’s all in my amended petition, Your Honor. Giglio and Franks made it very clear that any case whose foundation is investigative misconduct needs to be dismissed with prejudice.”

Reynolds shook his head. “Ms. Davis is misreading those cases, Your Honor. Our case against Ms. Corinthos Davis is not based only on Agent Cates’ affidavit. We have sworn testimony from Ava Jerome, the victim—”

“Alleged victim,” Alexis snapped. “It’s only on Agent Cates’ say-so that Ava Jerome was even a federal witness — I’ve still seen no records that prove that. And if she wasn’t, this case doesn’t fall under federal jurisdiction.”

Judge McAvoy lifted his brows, looked at the Assistant U.S. Attorney. “Can the Government provide additional evidence at this time outside of John Cates?”

Reynolds hesitated. “Not at the moment, but with further investigation—”

“That isn’t the standard,” Alexis interrupted. “John Cates’ credibility has come under serious attack with the forensics reports suggesting that he was willing to fabricate evidence to get what he wanted. He’s not available to be cross-examined. I might also add that I was not made aware of that forensics report by the U.S Attorney’s office, but by the local police department. Under Giglio, that alone is reason enough for a dismissal.”

“The forensics report was from an unrelated case,” Reynolds argued. “The delay is understandable—”

“But not permissible. I’m going to give you two choices, Mr. Reynolds,” the judge said. “Dismiss the charges on your own without prejudice to be presented at a time when you have the necessary evidence. Or I’ll dismiss them with prejudice right now. And this case dies today. What’s it going to be?”

Quartermaine Mansion: Kitchen

Brook Lynn huffed and picked up her phone, scrolling to her contacts. “What’s the point of having an influential name if we can’t pull strings?” she demanded.

Michael stirred sugar into his coffee, not responding to his cousin’s remarks. She was as disappointed as he was to learn the injunction had been dismissed. They’d known it was a long shot, but he’d wanted more time.

“It’s not that I don’t have faith in Chase,” Brook continued, sitting down at the table, continuing to flick though her phone. “But I really thought we’d have found something. It’s so obviously a setup! The FBI is basically calling you a liar! Isn’t anyone thinking about that?”

“I’m surprised,” Michael said a bit slowly, “they haven’t done more to challenge me. They really went after Jake and Danny. Going to the school, talking to Danny on his own — they tried really hard to break Jason’s alibi.”

“Exactly! It’s just proof that they don’t think Elizabeth really did it! This is just bananas. Obviously some crazy person was following Cates around, and we just happened to be the place where he lost control.” Brook made a face, looked at Michael. “What do we do next? What can we do to help?”

“Not much.” Michael sat at the table. “Neither of us have any real power. I might…” he hesitated. “I might try to talk to someone at the Sun. I wish Alexis were still working there.” He scratched his jaw. “Maybe I’ll find out if she has any connections. We could use more press on this.”

“I just hate it. We were having a perfectly nice family gathering, and some bastard had to come along to ruin it.” Brook scowled. “I guess we gave the FBI a headache, but I’m not satisfied. We have to do more.”

“I know. I’ll talk to Molly. Maybe she has some other ideas.” Michael paused. “But maybe I should call Diane. It has to mean something the FBI never came back to talk to me. I’m the alibi witness. Me and the kids. We all make it impossible for Elizabeth to have done this. That’s going to kill them at trial. Why don’t they care about that?”

“That’s a very good question.” Brook leaned forward. “They’re not expecting to go to trial, are they?”

“No. They’re not.” He tipped his head, considering that angle. “They still think Jason did this. They must think Jason will come forward or that Elizabeth will turn him in. That’s why they tried to break his alibi, and not hers.”

“That has to be some kind of misconduct or whatever, right? The feds prosecuting a case they don’t even believe in?” Brook pursed her lips. “How do we use that? That’s our next angle. Man, why don’t we own a newspaper or a media outlet? You should look into that.”

“I’ll get right on it, but I don’t think there’s enough time,” Michael said dryly. “I’m going to call Diane. Maybe she’ll have some ideas.”

Syracuse, NY: The York Restaurant

Sam lifted her glass. “To Alexis Davis, making her triumphant return to the courtroom and wiping the floor with anyone who gets in her way.”

“I’ll drink to that,” Kristina said, tapping her glass against her sister’s, then her mothers. They were both drinking iced tea as a show of support to their mother’s recovery. “And now that Mom has performed miracles in getting my case dropped, I’m sure we’ll see similar results tomorrow.”

“Not likely,” Sam said with a grimace. She set her glass down, picked up her fork. “Mom made it very clear I don’t have a shot in hell of winning.”

“That’s not precisely what I said,” Alexis said. “You’ll need to make some concessions, but I have every confidence we’ll be able to get visitation—’

“Supervised,” Sam said with a wrinkle of her nose. “Maybe. For Danny. But now that Drew knows about Saturday—”

“Drew?” Kristina frowned. “How did he find out? I thought Elizabeth wasn’t pressing charges.”

“She’s not. It would make her look awful for her case,” Sam said, “so we both agreed to just let it go, I guess. But the cops made it a problem—”

“They had no choice,” Alexis reminded Sam gently. “Once they saw the footage, they had to write a report. I imagine word of mouth got to Drew. He’s not backing down on custody.”

“It’s for his stupid campaign. So he looks like a family man.” Her appetite gone, Sam pushed her plate away. “I can’t believe this is happening.”

“So that’s just it?” Kristina demanded, looking at their mother. “Sam loses custody of her kids because she made one mistake?”

“A trio of very mistakes,” Alexis corrected gently. “Leaving Danny at the police station, refusing consent to treat, and then beginning a physical altercation—I’m sorry, Sam. You know if I thought we had an angle to fight this, I would—”

“But you had a good reason for all of that,” Kristina said to her sister. “You know you did. Danny was perfectly awful to you! He’d been getting worse. And then he pulled that stunt! Why not leave him with his father? And so what if you hesitated in putting him therapy? You were right to worry that Elizabeth was trying to get influence over Danny—”

“None of that matters in court. They’re not going to care that Elizabeth manipulating my son,” Sam bit out. “Are they, Mom?”

Alexis hesitated when both her daughters turned their gazes on her. “If the manipulation is that Elizabeth convinced Danny to get therapy, found him a well-regarded doctor in the field, and then tried to help him reach out to you to participate in that therapy — no, I don’t think so.”

“So you’re taking her side in all of this?” Kristina wanted to know. “Mom!”

“I’m not taking anyone’s side. I’m laying out the facts as Diane wrote them in her petition. The history between you and Elizabeth — we can work that in, I suppose. But it’s not going to help very much. The court isn’t going to care that the two of you have been locked in this competition for twenty years.”

“No, they never care about what really matters.” Kristina huffed, turned to Sam. “We’re going to get your kids back. Now that my case is over, I’m going to do whatever I can to help. I won’t let this happen to you without a fight.”

Corinthos & Morgan Warehouse: Office

Jason rubbed the side of his face, grimacing. “I guess it was too much to hope that we’d get a break,” he told Spinelli, closing the door. “When’s the search?”

“Tomorrow, probably.” Spinelli leaned against the desk, facing his mentor and friend. “They’re going to be looking for the missing bullet — they only recovered three and couldn’t match them. The fourth — if they find it undamaged, they’ll be able to match it.”

“Because of course they will,” Jason muttered, pacing to the end of the office, then turning back to Spinelli. “And there’s nothing we can do to stop any of this.”

“Not legally. Not yet. Not before the dismissal hearing,” Spinelli admitted. “Everything Diane has will help at trial. Michael came by a little while ago to talk about his alibi. Everything Caldwell did to investigate — he tried to break your alibi. He went after your kids. He never talked to Michael or any of the other witnesses who saw Elizabeth leave with him. They didn’t care about breaking her alibi—”

“Because they know she didn’t do it,” Jason cut in sharply, then exhaled. “I’m sorry. I’m not frustrated with you—I know you’re doing everything you can, and I know we have to stay inside the lines on this, but damn it—the Feds are going after her to get to me.”

“I know, but it’s not going to work — because you didn’t do this—”

“No, but they don’t give a damn. They don’t care that they’re destroying Elizabeth’s life to get to me.” He stared at the window that looked out over the warehouse floor, though there was no view with the blinds drawn. “It’s always been that way. Someone using her, hurting her, to get to me. From the day we met.  Nothing I’ve ever done can stop it.”

“Well, no, because despite what you think, Stone Cold, you don’t control the world.”

Jason scowled, turned to face the younger man. “What?”

Spinelli didn’t even flinch at the fury in Jason’s voice. “I used to think you were right, you know. When you told me all the reasons you couldn’t be with Little Stone Cold and Fair Elizabeth. I thought you were the smartest man I knew, and that you were doing the right thing, even though you were clearly miserable.”

“Spinelli—”

“Then I became a father myself and Maxie nearly talked me out of keeping our daughter,” Spinelli continued, and Jason closed his mouth. “It’s complicated, and we don’t really have time for the backstory, but I remembered you and how much I believed you when you said mothers have that right. That they go through the hell of pregnancy and labor, and that gives them some special power. And then Maxie wanted me to give up Georgie because she was trying to be noble—and I realized it was bullshit. Sure, moms are amazing, and there’s money in the world you could pay me to do what they do. But I got to hold my little girl, and I knew that you were wrong. That she was wrong. The world is dumb, and it’s awful, and sometimes it’s evil. You kept trying to leave your family to protect them.” Spinelli straightened. “You were an idiot not to realize the best way to protect them was to be right next to them.”

Jason was quiet for a beat, then nodded. “I know that—”

“No, you don’t. Obviously. Because you still thought it was a good idea to let everyone think you were dead for over two years.”

Jason looked away, scrubbed a hand through his hair. “No, but once I made that decision, I should have seen it through. I should have done all of it better. Should have stayed off the radar after Dante got shot. And blowing the whole thing by letting Anna tip off Valentin—if I hadn’t done that, none of this would be happening. Cates would have his guy, and he might have gone away—”

“You’re still an idiot.”

Jason closed his mouth, furrowed his brow. “What?”

“Arresting Pikeman was never your job. Yeah, you were an idiot to let Anna Devane talk you into giving Valentin a chance to flee. But you did what you said you were gonna do. You gave up your life and your freedom to get that name. You gave it to Cates. It was never your job to finish.” Spinelli lifted his brows. “And now the FBI is taking their incompetence out on you. They think you killed Cates to get rid of him. But they don’t know you. Because if they did, they’d know you’d never involve Elizabeth with a gun in her car.” Spinelli stopped. “Listen, I get you’re frustrated. I am, too. Because I want this to be over. I want you and Fair Elizabeth to ride off into the sunset like you should have decades ago. But you better stop planning that I think you’re planning.”

Jason folded his arms. “And what’s that?”

“Turning yourself in to get the target off Elizabeth’s back.” When Jason looked away, Spinelli nodded. “You know that would be a mistake.”

“I’m not letting her go to jail. That’s not an option—”

“I’m going to find out what happened,” Spinelli promised. “I’ll find the answers, and I’ll find them the right way. Diane’s right. We need to do this by the book.”

“I’m not saying I’d do it tomorrow,” Jason said slowly, “but—”

“But nothing. Trust me. Have I ever you down?” Spinelli wanted to know.

“No. No. And I do trust you—I just—” Jason sat down in the wooden chair in front of the desk, stared at the floor. “You didn’t see Jake and Aiden when Elizabeth was in jail. Or talk to Cameron on the phone. They need her—”

“And they have her. We got her out of there, didn’t we? Because we played the right cards. Let’s keep doing it, Stone Cold. The Jackal is on the case, and I’m not giving up until it’s over.”

+17

Written in 63 minutes.

Monday, September 23, 2024

Penthouse: Living Room

Sam was curled up in an armchair when he finally came home that afternoon. She didn’t get up or even look at him when he came through the door or when he dropped his keys on the desk with plink of metal hitting the ceramic dish next to the phone.

They stood there for a long moment, the silence suffocating the oxygen in the air. The room felt small, the walls closer and closer. When had it changed? Dante wondered. When had they changed? When had they lost sight of each other and the life they’d built together?

He crossed to the other chair, sitting across from Sam, sat on the arm, every muscle in his body tensed — for flight or fight, he didn’t know. Just that he wanted to be ready for whatever came next.

“I’m not fighting tomorrow,” Sam said finally, her voice sounding dull, almost rusted. Huskier than normal. She lifted her tired dark eyes to his. “At the hearing. Mom made it pretty clear that any chance I had to win was over on Saturday.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Why? You told me.” Sam let her legs drop to the ground, but she kept her arms wrapped tightly around her torso. “You told me I had to get my head on straight, that I had to stop creating problems for myself. Starting fights with Jason, going after Elizabeth—” She closed her eyes. “Doesn’t matter that I’m right, does it? That Jason had no right to come back after two years and get angry with me because I was trying to protect Danny. Or that Elizabeth’s doing everything she can to steal my son.”

“Sam—”

“Doesn’t matter that I’m right. The court doesn’t care about the truth.” She exhaled slowly, opened her eyes and met his gaze. “Mom said if I don’t fight it, if I accept anger management, maybe I get them back by Christmas.”

“Your mom’s always had your back, Sam. If that’s what she’s saying—” Dante paused. “I know this is gonna feel like I’m piling on, and I don’t want it to be like that. But Rocco—”

“She told me. There was a fight at school.” She got to her feet, crossed to the terrace and watched the rain cascading down the glass. “Danny and Rocco. I think Jake got involved?”

“Tried to break it up. But Rocco—he’s got—I didn’t know he…I didn’t know he was unhappy here.”

“Neither of us saw it,” Sam murmured. “Both the boys hid so much of what they were thinking. Feeling. We were patting ourselves on the back for how perfect our family was. How very Brady Bunch we were. And the boys were miserable. No matter how much I want to blame Jason for coming home — Danny was drinking before that.” She looked at him, and the distance between them felt like a thousand feet. “They both were.”

“I don’t know how to fix it except it’s…a choice. Rocco can’t—he doesn’t want to be here. Maybe he’s more messed up about his mom than I thought. But I can’t—I can’t force him to live here when he hates it. And I don’t want to be separated—”

“You’ve got to put him first,” Sam finished. She exhaled in a slow breath. “Yeah.”

Dante crossed to her now, stepping behind her and drew her back against him. She relaxed into his embrace, and he kissed the side of her head. “I love you. I know it hasn’t been easy, but that hasn’t changed.”

“I love you, too,” she murmured.

“But—”

“But right now you have to put Rocco first.” She turned in his arms, stroked her hands down his biceps to his elbows, then back up. “And I have to put everything into getting my kids back where they belong.”

“You know, whatever I can do to make that happen—”

“I know.”

He kissed her forehead, and she tightened her grip on his shoulders, neither one wanting to let go — and both knowing they had no other choice.

Silver Water: Hallway

Rocco trudged down the hallway behind his grandmother, his hands shoved in his pockets, and his eye throbbing like a motherfucker.

“I don’t know why we have to come here,” Rocco muttered as they approached his mother’s room, where Laura turned to face her grandson. “You think you’re gonna tell my mother what an asshole I am, and she’ll rise from the dead?”

“I think,” Laura said, tilting her head, “that you’d be surprised what gets through. I spent years locked in a catatonic state, did you know that?”

He jerked a shoulder. He’d heard something about that, but had never really dug into it.

“In fact, I missed most of your mother’s teen years. Just like she’s missing yours. Oh, it breaks my heart,” Laura murmured, and Rocco looked at her, feeling a bit ashamed of himself now for being so irritated by this visit. “She’s missed so much time with you and your sister, and it’s an ache, a guilt that you never let go. I’ve never forgiven myself for not being there when my babies needed me.”

“You woke up,” Rocco muttered, looking down at the floor, concentrating on the lines of tile. “But she’s not going to.”

“The doctors said that about me, you know. That I’d be locked away forever. But I wasn’t. Lulu came to see me, and she needed me, and I found the strength to come back.” Laura touched her grandson’s shoulder. “I’m not saying it’ll work for you. That if you just keep asking, she’ll wake up. But I am asking to find a way to make peace with the situation as it is. You know that if she could be here, she would. She never, ever wanted to be without you.”

He bit down hard on his lip when it trembled. “I have made peace with it—”

“Have you? Or have you ignored it? Hid it down deep, found ways to make it go away until you couldn’t ignore it anymore?” Laura pushed the door open, and Rocco reluctantly looked inside. At the hospital bed, with the machines beeping, and the woman laying prone in the bed.

Four years since the explosion at the Floating Rib. Four years since she’d gone out, leaving him at home. He didn’t even know if he’d said goodbye or hugged her. Probably not. He’d probably thought it was cringe.

“You don’t come to see her very much, do you?” His grandmother asked softly, and Rocco shook his head.

“There’s no point. She can’t even hear me,” Rocco managed, but he took a few steps inside the room. His mother’s long blonde hair was neatly brushed, laying in golden waves around her head. Her face was clean, but lax from someone who was sleeping but not really.

Her hands were folded over her abdomen, the way a body would be posed in a coffin, he thought. And that was all she was, wasn’t it? A living corpse with nothing inside?

“Your mother loves you so much, Rocco. It’s hard to remember that right now,” Laura said, resting a hand on his shoulder. “But she wanted to be a mother so badly, and she went through such hell to make it happen. Maybe one day, I’ll tell you more. But she’d always tell me it was worth it just to have you in her life. With your sweet smile, and your daddy’s eyes. Your Spencer impulsiveness, your Falconieri temper. She used to worry about that combination, and I’d always tell her—I’d tell her that we’d be here to make sure you didn’t take any wrong turns. That we’d love you so much you’d never need to be angry at the world.”

He wanted to speak, but he couldn’t. His mom had always said he didn’t think before he spoke, that it would get him in trouble, but she’d usually laugh and promise to tell him all the stories about how they were exactly like. But she’d never get to tell him those stories now, would she?

“I came to see her last year,” Rocco said suddenly, surprising himself and his grandmother. “It was three years. I thought three years was long enough, and I came here, and I told her she needed to wake up because this was just stupid because if she wasn’t going to wake up, then maybe she should die already because then at least it’d be over.”

He heard his grandmother draw in an unsteady breath, but Laura didn’t say anything, so Rocco kept talking. “And then I heard myself, you know. I realized I was wishing my mother was dead, so I left and I went to a party, and when someone gave me a beer, I drank the whole thing and I forgot that I said it. And I felt better.” Now he looked at Laura. “So I kept drinking. And when that stopped working, I started getting high. And then doing both. And that worked. Because I wish my mother was here, and she’s not. She’s not dead, but she might as well be because this? Being stuck in between, not living but breathing? It’s stupid and I hate her for not dying, I hate you for keeping her alive, and I hate my dad for leaving and if he’d never left, she’d never have been out on a date with that guy. I hate myself for feeling that way. So I make sure I don’t think about it.”

He shrugged off Laura’s hand, and stalked out of the room, promising himself he’d never go back.

Webber House: Living Room

“I’m home,” Elizabeth called, looping her purse over a hook by the door and tossing her keys in the dish on the table.

She went to the kitchen, then leaned against doorframe, folding her arms and smirking. “I’m never going to get used to this.”

Jason, stirring something in a pot at the stove, turned to look at her, lifting his brows in question. He reached for the dishtowel over his shoulder to wipe his hands. “What?”

“You, in my kitchen. Being domestic.” She crossed the room to slide her arms around his waist and lifting her face for a kiss. “Or that,” she murmured against his lips.

“You know I can cook.” He rested his hands at her hips.

“Oh, I definitely remember that.” Elizabeth drew back slightly so that their eyes met. “The omelette you made me after—well, after we made Jake,” she teased, and he grinned. “You swore me to secrecy.”

“I think we’ve kept too many secrets,” he replied, and she sighed, letting her head fall against his chest. He kissed her hair, then stroked her back. “You worked all day, I didn’t. Why shouldn’t I make dinner?”

“I have no idea.” She kissed him again, then went to the fridge to get a bottle of water. “Where are the boys?”

“Jake and Danny are grounded in their rooms for the night. I told them we’d come up with the rest of their punishment later,” Jason added. “And Aiden’s in his room by choice. I think he said something about a cooking show he wanted to watch.”

“I’m still getting used to this stage of parenting,” Elizabeth said, sliding onto the stool at the island. “Where they’re in the house, but I don’t have to chase after them.” She played with the cap on her water. “Sometimes I miss when they were little, and I couldn’t let them out of my sight. Back when they had problems I could solve in a minute or less.”

“I wish I hadn’t missed all of that time,” Jason admitted. “Missing Jake — and Danny’s—childhoods—it’s a regret I’m going to carry with me.”

“But you’re here now, and that’s going to matter. I promise you. Carly didn’t find Bobbie until she was older than Jake and Danny, and you know that didn’t stop them from being close.” She bit her lip. “Did you talk to them at all? Because I’m still not sure what to do with them after today. What could have gotten into them? Danny throwing punches, Jake mouthing off to his principal? Every time I think they’ve got an ounce of common sense—” She made a face.

“Yeah, I talked to them. I…told them about my accident. About after. How learning how to control my impulses was important. And that sometimes, it was more effective to not let someone know they were pissing you off.” Jason grimaced. “I think it got through to them, but like you said — every time it feels like we’ve made some progress—”

“Two steps forward, eight steps back,” she finished, and he nodded. “You should give them lessons on how you used to make Taggert lose his temper all the time. You’d just stare at him with that blank face—oh, he’d make me so mad,” Elizabeth muttered. “He talked to you like you were garbage, defective, and you’d just have that stone face, and I’d always ruin it for you—” She stopped. “I think we know where Jake gets some of his mouth from.”

“He never bothered me until he started going after you,” Jason told her. He came around, tugged her to her feet. “And then Taggert realized that I’d take whatever he threw at me about me—but going after you—” He stroked her arms. “Jake gets it from both of us.”

Elizabeth smiled wistfully. “Sometimes I think about that girl, you know? Who I used to be, who you used to be, and I imagine going back in time and telling her how the story ends. Can you imagine telling those versions of us that one day we’d be talking about our son and which of our worst traits he inherited?” She laughed.

“I don’t know. I don’t think it’d be that surprising,” Jason said, and Elizabeth looked at him, surprised. “Not to me. I knew how I felt about you.”

“I thought maybe I was reading the signals wrong,” she said softly. “We were so young, and I didn’t know how to trust what I was feeling, much less that it was even possible you might feel the same way. Maybe you’re right. Maybe where we ended up wouldn’t be such a surprise.”

“I like where we are,” he said, kissing her forehead. She lifted her head, the way she’d wanted to on that long ago day in January and kissed him.

“Diane called,” she said, and he sighed, stroking her back again. “She expects the injunction to be lifted any day now. The FBI will be searching the Quartermaines again. The motion to dismiss is next week.”

“I know.”

“If it’s okay, maybe we don’t talk about it unless we have to. I want to pretend, just a little while longer, that the only thing we have to worry about is our teen-aged boys making stupid decisions.”

“It’s going to be okay. I’m not going to let anything happen to you,” Jason told her, and she sighed. “I promise.”

She didn’t respond — what could she say? It wasn’t in his power to do anything about the situation. If it was, it would have already been over.

All she could do was hold on to the precious little normal they’d managed to carve out and hope for the best.

+41

Written in 52 minutes. There were supposed to be two more scenes, and I probably could have written one more — but I didn’t want to be left with one scene for this day because then I either cut it or have to come up with more scenes to pad out the next part. This way, I just need, like, one more scene instead of 2-4. ANYWAY. See you tomorrow.

Monday, September 23, 2024

Penthouse: Living Room

“You don’t look like you have bad news,” Sam said, stepping back to allow her mother entrance into the penthouse. “Is the custody case or Kristina’s hearing tomorrow?”

Alexis set her briefcase on the desk, then turned to look at her daughter. “Danny was in a fight in school today.”

Sam jolted, shook her head. “No, that’s not—no one called me—” She looked at the landline, then at her mother. “Diane’s very thorough, isn’t she? As soon as Jason got that custody order, she made sure the school knew. That’s why they didn’t call me—”

“Yes, but honey, Diane’s required to do that notification. I know you don’t like this—”

“Gee, Mom, am I supposed to be happy that my two loser ex-husbands are using this opportunity to pretend they’re some kind of perfect fathers?” Sam demanded. She stalked past Alexis, returning to the sofa and coffee table where she picked up a glass of water, took a sip. “How bad was the fight?”

“Bumps and bruises, Diane said. No real injuries. Sam, Danny started the fight, and it was with Rocco.”

“Rocco—” Sam set the glass back down on the table with a thud. “That can’t be. They’re best friends—”

“Not right now. Rocco’s angry that Danny gave up his location on Friday, and I guess it just went from there—Sam, if it had been anyone but Rocco, we might have been able to use this to our advantage on Wednesday. If Danny’s still acting out, still getting into trouble when he’s with Jason, then Diane can’t argue your home is a danger — and you’ve signed the consent form so we’d be in clear.”

“But it was with Rocco. And it doesn’t matter that Rocco’s not here right now.” Sam sank onto the sofa, clasped her hands together, resting her elbows on her thighs. “I can just see it now. My home is dangerously unstable because Rocco had weed on the premises, and now he and Danny are violently arguing.”

“When you add that together with Saturday—” Alexis perched on the edge of the armchair. “Sam, it’s my job to make sure you’re prepared for this hearing. Based on this fact pattern, there’s a more than good chance that the custody order will be made permanent, that you’ll be ordered to attend anger management, with Danny to continue in therapy.”

Sam pressed her clasped hands against her forehead, squeezing her eyes closed. “And visitation?”

“Supervised. Whether we can get the court to allow Jason to choose the supervision or they order family services—I don’t think Jason’s doing this to hurt you—”

“Yeah, well, you didn’t see him on Saturday. He’s decided our entire relationship was a mistake, and Christ, he’s right. From the start. Just one massive mistake with Danny the only good that ever came of it.”

“Sam—”

“Supervised visitation. Anger management. For how long? How long can he keep my son from me?”

“We can ask them to reconsider in six weeks, but it’ll be more likely three months. It depends on if Diane will add parental alienation to the petition or bring it up.”

“Parental—” Sam’s head snapped up, and she scowled. “Are you kidding me?”

“Sam—”

“Because  he came back from the dead—a choice  he made to let his boys think he was dead—and I didn’t immediately let Danny move in with him, I’m going to take the heat for that? That’s bullshit, Mom, bullshit.”

“I agree. But the official story is that Jason was working undercover for the FBI. You’re not going to get very far with that. And I wouldn’t recommend pushing Diane on this. We both know she has an opposition file on you dating back decades.”

“So this is what it’s come to. After fifteen years of taking care of Danny almost entirely on my own, they’re going to pretend I’m a bad mother because he drank and got high on my watch, and I slugged the woman trying to take my place. This is bullshit, Mom. You have to fight this—”

“And we will. But, honey, the facts are not on our side. I told you last week — if you forced Jason to go to the courts to get the consent to treat on therapy, it was going to start a fight we could not win.”

“That’s your answer?’ Sam demanded, shooting to her feet. “‘I told you so?'”

“In this case? Yes. I did. I warned you. And you decided to play with fire. Are you ready to take my advice this time or are we going to have this conversation again in a few months?”

Sam scrubbed her hands down her face. “What’s the advice?”

“Agree to anger management. Agree to supervised visitation with a custodian that Jason chooses. Don’t fight either order, and maybe we’ll get this back on the docket before the holidays.”

“And for Drew? I’m supposed to just let him waltz in here and take my daughter? Mom.”

“I lost custody of Kristina for almost the entirety of her first year,” Alexis said. “I won’t pretend not to understand how terrible this is. But we are where we are, Sam. Drew’s custody situation hearing will likely go the same way.”

Sam didn’t answer right away, just looked at her mother for a moment, then reluctantly nodded. “All right. Fine. Fine. It can’t get much worse than this.”

“I’m sorry, Sam. I am—”

“I know. It’s not like I haven’t had to deal with the consequences of my actions before,” Sam muttered. “You told me to stop going after Shiloh, and I lost them for six months. At least I won’t be in prison this time.”

“See? You’re already talking sense.” Alexis put an arm around her daughter’s shoulders, kissed the top of her head, hugging her lightly. “Tell you what. Get your mind off of all this. Kristina and I are going to Syracuse for her dismissal hearing. Come with us.”

“All right. It’ll be nice to see someone win for a change.”

General Hospital: Locker Room

Elizabeth closed her locker, then let out a startled gasp when Willow was revealed to be standing right behind her. “You scared the crap out of me.” She dropped onto the bench to tie her sneakers. “Done for the day?”

“I have a few more hours, but I saw that you were clocking out and I wanted to talk to you for a minute.” Willow dipped her fingertips into the pockets in her scrub top. “I was wondering if you could tell me what happened on Saturday. With you and Sam.”

Elizabeth jerked her head up to meet the younger woman’s gaze. “What?”

“If you were trying to keep it quiet, it didn’t work. Rocco told Laura, and she came over to talk to Monica — and Monica and Tracy were—”

“I get it.” Elizabeth pressed her lips together, then released a huff of air. “What version did you end up with?”

“That you were at the penthouse, and Sam didn’t want you there so she hit you.”

“Not—” Elizabeth pursed her lips. “Not entirely what happened.” She squinted. “You asking out of curiosity or looking for intel to slip to Drew?”

“Does it matter?”

“A little bit. I’m not interested in helping Drew’s bogus custody case—” Elizabeth got to her feet, sliding her purse over her shoulder.

“Is it so bogus?” Willow called, stopping Elizabeth from turning away towards the door. “Maybe Drew started this because of the campaign and the optics. Fine. But can you honestly that say that little girl should be in that household right now?”

Elizabeth bit her lip, dropped her gaze, then sighed. “I don’t know. I don’t,” she insisted when Willow scoffed. “It’s different. I was with Danny in the lobby, and Sam and I have a very long, very bad history with each other. I think if I’d been anyone else, she wouldn’t have started that fight—”

“So she started it.”

“Technically, I guess. But I went there, didn’t I? I stayed in the lobby, and I told myself that if Danny went upstairs alone, then it wasn’t a problem. But I knew Sam didn’t want me anywhere near the penthouse. Or her son. I already knew she thought I was trying to—I don’t know—take her place as Danny’s mother. I’m not, but I knew she was insecure and angry.”

“And she didn’t care Danny was there. Or that Danny cares about you,” Willow challenged. “Because she’s possessive about Danny. You don’t think she’d be just the same way with Scout?’

“I don’t know.”

“I know you don’t like Drew, and that’s fine. But if Danny shouldn’t be there, why should an eight-year-old have to be in the middle of all that? I’m just asking — if Drew wanted you to be a witness for his case—”

Elizabeth wrinkled her nose. “If he forced me to come in, I would testify honestly, Willow. That’s all I can promise. But I’m asking him not to do that. Jason’s hearing is first. He’s asking for full custody with supervised visitation and anger management, with an option to revisit the situation in two months. If he gets any of that, Drew’s case gets easier, doesn’t it? He could get the same deal as Jason. The kids love their mother. They’re supposed to come first. Jason gets that. I don’t know if Drew does.”

Webber House: Kitchen

Danny slunk into the kitchen where his father was putting a pot of water on to boil. “I’m sorry,” he muttered, sliding onto the stool and staring down at the counter top.

“For what?” Jason asked.

“For you know—” Danny gestured at his face. “Breaking Rocco’s face or whatever. I shouldn’t have done it.”

“Looks like we had the same idea,” Jake said, slipping onto the next stool. “Mom seemed pretty steamed at me, and I’m guessing you’re not happy either.”

“You’re applying for colleges, Jake. Do you think getting suspended helps?” Jason wanted to know.

Jake made a face. “Since when do you know or care about any of that?”

His father scowled. “Why do you think I wouldn’t? You wanted to go to that program in Spain. Your mom and I have talked about it. I remember Cameron applying to schools—she was worried when he got into trouble for the weed that it might screw things up. You think I can’t care about things that aren’t important to you because I never went to college?”

“Well, you did,” Danny said, and Jason looked at him. “You just don’t remember it, but Grandma showed pictures and stuff. You were in medical school when the accident happened.”

“Yeah, and Mom told me about that time you sliced Uncle Nikolas’s neck open so he could breathe, so you know stuff.” Jake paused. “And you’re right. I need a clean record, and I messed up today. Mr. Bryan just ticks me off, and you know, I don’t think.”

“Well, you need to. Both of you do.” Jason folded his arms, leaned back against the counter. “Look, you know about my accident. When I woke up, I had a vicious temper and zero ability to control it. I didn’t think about how harsh some of the things I said were because I figured they were the truth. I said what I wanted when I wanted to who I wanted. And I punched anyone who I thought had it coming.”

Jake folded his arms, leaned forward. “I know. Mom always tells me that not every situation requires my opinion, and sure, she’s right, but it’s not fun to always keep my mouth closed.”

“And some people do need punching,” Danny muttered. “Especially when they don’t keep their mouth closed.”

“Here’s something I had to learn — people are always going to bait you. You said Rocco wouldn’t shut up about your mom, and I get defending her. Even when things aren’t great right now, she’s still your mom. And if you’d gone to a park or a backyard and slugged him, I’d shrug and tell Rocco to suck it up,” Jason said. “But you weren’t in the park. You were at school. Where there’s a different discipline code. Rocco wanted attention, and he probably wanted you in as much trouble as he’s in. And guess what?”

“Shit.” Danny made a face. “He won, didn’t he? God damn it.”

“People want a reaction from you. They want to see you lose your cool,”  Jason continued. “I thought it was satisfying to give them what they wanted. And it was.”

“In the moment,” Danny said. “Liz said something about that, you know. When she and Mom had their fight — Liz said the fight felt good, but all the stuff that came after — it wasn’t worth it, I guess.”

“Exactly. Yeah, Rocco opened his mouth and disrespected your mother. But you gave  him what he wanted. How much more crazy would he have been if you’d just ignored him? Gotten him worked up and annoyed? Maybe he throws the first punch,” Jason said, and Jake grinned.

“Bait him into making it self-defense. Diabolical.”

“I like that better,” Danny agreed.

“Or don’t give him what he wants and he goes away. Stops trying. Because he knows he can’t get to you. You can’t control other people,” Jason told them. “They’re gonna do what they’re gonna do. But you can and should be able to control yourself. That’s what I expect from both of you. Especially when it comes to school. You were  both raised better than that.”

“I guess that’s fair.” Danny touched his bruised eye slightly. “And that really works? Not giving in?”

“Most of the time.”

“What do you do when it doesn’t?” Jake wanted to know.

“Nice try,” Jason said dryly. “Go do your homework.”

+41

Written in 60 minutes.

Monday, September 23, 2024

 Port Charles High: Main Office

Elizabeth tugged open one of the double doors leading into the high school’s main office and stopped when she saw Jake slouched in a chair outside the assistant principal’s office, an ice pack pressed to his lip. Next to him, Danny had an identical pack of ice against his cheek, and his right eye was starting to bruise.

“Hey, Mom.” Jake straightened. “Look, we match.” He removed the pack and gestured to his split lip. Elizabeth folded her arms, narrowed her eyes, and her son sighed, slouching back down. “Tough crowd—ow.”

“Mr. Bryan will be right with you,” the secretary said. “He’s talking to the third boy and his father—” She stopped talking, looking behind Elizabeth who turned to find Jason entering through the same door. “And I suppose that’s Mr. Morgan. I’ll let Mr. Bryan know all the parents are accounted for.”

Danny scowled. “Rocco’s probably blaming me, and okay, I started it, but he really—”

“Stop talking,” Jason ordered, coming up next to Elizabeth.

“It’s not the interrogation room, Dad. Relax. Danny and Rocco will get a vacation, not a prison sentence—” Jake closed his mouth when his father shot him a dark look. “Shutting up.”

“Mr. Morgan, Ms. Webber—” a tall man who seemed to be a decade younger than Elizabeth stepped up to the doorway. “Why don’t we all come inside and have a conversation? That is, if our younger Mr. Morgan can handle himself.”

“Hey, tell younger Mr. Falconieri not to say shit about my mother, and I’ll handle myself just fine,” Danny retorted, getting to his feet. The principal’s expression darkened. “Oh, right. Language. Sorry. Not really, but I can’t get in any more trouble, can I?”

“Let’s not find out,” Mr. Bryan said, stepping to the side so that the quartet could file in. Dante was standing by Rocco who was sprawled in a chair of his own by the principal’s desk, holding a towel to his nose, his cheek and lip already swollen. “We have a zero tolerance policy with violence, so Rocco and Daniel will be suspended. I’m afraid that’s not open to debate.”

“And Jake?” Elizabeth wanted to know.

“The teacher says it appears Jake was trying to break up the fight and received his injuries as a result. Still, as he became physically involved, he’ll also be serving a suspension—”

“Oh, come on. That’s bullshit,” Jake snapped, shifting his ice pack. “Ronnie Stinson groped a girl and didn’t even get a detention. I’m sorry I don’t play for the goddamn football team, but I actually got these idiots to stop trying to kill each other. You’re welcome, by the way.” He slapped the pack against his mouth again.

Elizabeth cleared her throat, folded her arms, and looked at the principal who seemed a little taken aback. “I understand you have a policy, but Jake has a point. He was trying to help, and since this happened in their industrial arts class — there were so many dangerous tools—”

“I wasn’t gonna actually shove his hand in the scroll saw,” Rocco muttered. “I just threatened to. He deserves it. Snitch.”

“Asshole.” Danny’s leg shot out and snagged Rocco in the shins, and Rocco started to lunge forward — probably to start the fight again, but Dante grabbed the back of his shirt and stopped him in motion.

“I think maybe you can decide Jake’s punishment later,” Dante said, his tone tight. “I don’t think it’s a good idea for these two idiots to be in the same room much longer. You move again, and you’ll be sorry,” he told Rocco who rolled his eyes.

Jason rolled his shoulders, clearly frustrated with the entire situation. “How long will he be suspended?”

“Since Daniel threw the first punch, we’re recommending ten days, and five for Rocco as he was responding.” Mr. Bryan eyed Jake with pursed lips. “I suppose since this is Jacob’s first offense, we can live with a one-day suspension and another of in-school when he returns.” He got to his feet. “And we’ll expect to have a discussion when Daniel returns about keeping them in the same elective. We can’t have this kind of behavior in that classroom.”

“Understood.” Dante tugged on Rocco’s arm. “Get up and start moving.”

“Off to grandmother’s house we go,” Rocco responded in a tone that had Dante’s expression turn positively thunderous.

Outside the school entrance, Elizabeth stopped to face her son who was still wincing., then looked at Danny. “I don’t even actually have the words for the behavior the two of you demonstrated in there. You know better than to speak to authority figures that way,” she told Jake who pressed his lips together. “I don’t care if he was wrong or unfair. And Danny—”

“Any chance you had of not getting double Rocco’s time was out the door the second you kicked him in front of the principal,” Jason bit out and Danny dipped his head. “I thought you were smarter than that.” He looked at Elizabeth. “I know you have to get back to work. I’ll take them home.”

“Okay.” She reached over, squeezed his hand. “I’ll see you when I’m done.” Tossing another disappointed look at both boys, she headed for her car, grateful she’d have time to cool off before she had to handle that situation — and didn’t envy Jason even a little bit.

“Dad,” Danny began but Jason just pointed at the car, and shook his head. “I’m sorry, does that matter?”

“Not right now. Go.” When Danny had started his trudge across the parking lot, Jason looked at his eldest son. “Your mom’s right. We might have avoided suspension at all if you’d kept quiet.”

“True, but I am my mother’s son. And my father’s son. So really, the choices were punching or using my smart mouth. I think we should all be grateful I let the maternal genes win.” Jake tried to smile, but Jason just stared at him. “Okay, maybe we’ll be in the mood to laugh about this later. Much later, obviously.”

District Attorney’s Suite: Robert’s Office

Robert smiled when Molly appeared in his doorway. “There’s a lovely smile to start the day. Have a seat—” He gestured at the seat across from him at the conference table. “What brings you by?”

“Not a particularly happy visit.” She slid into the chair, took a deep breath. “I know that I started this whole thing, and I stand by that decision — and my choice to ask Dante to join the investigation. But I had a conversation with Chase on Friday, and I think you would agree that it might be best if we both recused ourselves. Myself and Dante,” she added.

Robert’s smile faded and he sighed, rubbing the edge of his brow. “Yes, I’d considered asking that after I spoke to Detective Chase. We could seal off those avenues of investigation, keep you and Dante from knowing anything, but it would be simpler to remove you both. I’m willing to take point and I think Chase will be able to handle the investigation from here.” He tipped his head. “We won’t be able to tell you what evidence we develop—if any.”

“I know. But you’ll also be able to interview us, and we can serve as witnesses.” Molly folded her hands on the table, stared down at the wood grain. “I don’t know if they’re involved, but I can’t say for sure they’re not. And that troubles me. My sister — I could see her doing this. The murder. Acting on impulse. She’s a lot like her father — she sees herself as the main character in every story. All roads lead back to her. And she only really cares about herself.”

“Molly—”

“My mother will cover up anything for Kristina. She’s always run interference and held Kristina’s hand. And I wanted to say that I don’t think they’d frame anyone — but that’s just—” Molly faltered. “My mother sat by while Jason was arrested, tried, and convicted for the death of Luis Alcazar — a crime that she later plead not guilty to be reason of insanity.”

Robert sat back. “We’ve pulled the Alcazar case. There was an attempt to frame Jason and Brenda — but it came from other sources. At worst, your mother just didn’t come forward. This — this planting of a gun — that is a very different crime—”

“I know. And it’s what I’m clinging to, you know? I don’t think either of them would go to this lengths, but I also—” Molly exhaled slowly. “I also never thought my sister would draw up custody papers to take away the daughter she begged to carry for me. Or that my mother would help her. At the end of the day, what do we really know about one another?”

Laura & Kevin’s Condo: Living Room

“Ah, home sweet home,” Rocco said, dropping his backpack on the ground and sprawling back on the sofa. “Thanks for the ride.”

“Sit up,” Dante said flatly, kicking his son’s feet off the sofa. “You think this is funny?”

“It sure as shit ain’t sad.” Rocco folded his arms, hunched his shoulders. “Why don’t you go back to your crazy girlfriend? I heard she slugged Aunt Elizabeth in the face.” His smile was malicious. “I hope Aunt Liz kicked her ass.”

Dante scrubbed his hands down his face, sat on the armchair catty-corner to the sofa. “What do you want from me, Rocco? What am I supposed to do? Let you run around, smoking, drinking, getting in fights — you and Danny are best friends—”

“Not anymore.”

“Rocco.”

“I don’t want anything from you, Dad. You can’t give me what I want, anyway, so this conversation is just stupid. You gave my house to Maxie, so I can’t have that. Mom’s in a coma—” He hesitated, stared down at the floor. “And it’s probably not fair to ask you to break up with Sam or whatever.”

His father didn’t answer right, so Rocco lifted his gaze. “Dad?”

“You really don’t like her? Has it always been this way?” Dante tilted his head. “Was I that blind? Did I really miss something so big?”

Rocco grimaced, shifted on the sofa. “It wasn’t so bad at first,” he admitted. “But it got worse when Sam and Danny started fighting all the time. She was always on him, telling him he was her miracle, that it was, like, his duty to be better, to do better. And then he gets this—he gets a real miracle. He gets his dad back, and Sam makes it a miserable experience for him. If Mom came home, and you made it hard for me to see her, if you bitched about her all the time, I’d hate you, too.” He looked away, staring hard at the dark fireplace. “The first time we got drunk, Danny forgot about all of that for a little while. So we started doing it more. Every time you guys would start in on him about his grades or whatever — it was something we could that, like, was just ours. Aiden came along sometimes but it wasn’t his thing, I knew that. And when he didn’t want to, I didn’t make him or make fun of him or whatever. That’s shitty. But—” Rocco shrugged. “We were living a secret life you didn’t know anything about. And you didn’t notice. So we kept going bigger and stupider, I guess.”

“To see how much you could get away with,” Dante said, and Rocco jerked one shoulder up in a half-hearted shrug. “Okay. Well—” He waited. “I haven’t been happy with how Sam handled Jason’s return either. Maybe because I know something about thinking you have to go off and do something and leave your family to do it. I’m sorry that I didn’t see how much it affected you or Danny. That’s on me, and I can’t change it. All I can do is apologize.”

“Yeah, whatever.”

“For what it’s worth, Sam and I have discussed temporarily separating for your sake,” Dante said, and Rocco blinked at him. “It’s hard because she’s going through something really awful, Rocco, losing her kids. And I feel guilty leaving someone I love in a situation like that. She’d be alone.”

“So? It’s her own fault. It is,” Rocco insisted. “You begged her to go easy on Jason, and Jason basically did everything she wanted for weeks, and it was never enough. She walked out on Danny, Dad! And, like, me and Danny were getting high down the hall from Scout! You were at work, okay, but Sam wasn’t. She works out of the penthouse. How come she never noticed what either of us were doing? We were coming home with blood shot eyes, and she never even looked at us. I’m not blaming just her, okay, I’m not. Because you suck, too. But it’s her fault, too. And, dude, Dad, she attacked Aunt Liz! She deserves what she gets. Danny’s better off with his dad.”

Dante lifted his brows. “I thought you and Danny weren’t friends anymore.”

Rocco scowled. “Don’t try to trick me. I’m right. You know I’m right.”

“All I know for sure is there are no easy answers, Rocco. No matter what I do, someone gets hurt. But if you tell me that you don’t want to live with Sam anymore, okay. We can find a place for you and me. But do you need me to break up with her? Is that what we’re talking about?”

Rocco opened his mouth, then closed it. “No, I guess not. You wanna date crazy, do it. But I don’t want to live with her anymore. I’m sorry. But like, I’m not either. You know?”

“Yeah. I do.” Dante got to his feet. “I’ll talk to your grandmother — you’re not going to be relaxing while you’re suspended. This isn’t a vacation. You’ve been acting like a moron, Rocco. And it stops now.”

Hanley Federal Building: U.S Attorney’s Offices

Gia knocked on Reynolds’ door, a file in her hand. “What is this analysis I’m reading of John Cates’ computer?”

Reynolds pushed away from his computer, furrowed his brow. “What?”

“John Cates. He was fabricating evidence against Jason Morgan — he was planning to set him up for an assault?” Gia scowled. “What the hell is this? He was a dirty agent?”

“We don’t know what he was intending to do with that voicemail,” Reynolds said carefully. “And keep your voice down—”

“Don’t tell me to keep my voice down. You knew the contents of his internet search history—how were you going to let me sign on a second chair without telling me that we had a compromised agent?” Gia slapped the file on his desk. “Do you have any idea what a headache this is going to be for the bureau when it gets out? All his cases are going to challenged — he was searching for the best ways to bruise yourself, Noah!”

Reynolds winced. “I know, but he was desperate. This was case was different—”

“No. No. No case is different enough that you forge evidence. And you damn well know it.” Gia shook her head. “I don’t like it. And I don’t like that you didn’t just tell me.”

“You’re right. You’re right.” Reynolds got to his feet, lifted his hand in mock surrender. “This has already started to get out — I’ve got a hearing in court tomorrow on another one of Cates’ cases, and that analysis was given to the attorney there by the local cops in Port Charles. I’m probably going to get my ass kicked on that case. ”

“Good. You should. This kind of agent gives us all a bad name.” Gia paused. “Wait. I thought  the Quartermaines’ injunction was due to be heard tomorrow—am I supposed to handle that?”

“Yes. And as a peace offering — your fresh eyes will be good. Caldwell is putting together an FBI search as soon as he can to go over property again. Why don’t you supervise?”

Gia hesitated, then nodded. “All right.” She started for the door, then turned back. “Is there anything else about this case I should know?”

“No.” Reynolds shook his head. “Not a single thing.”

“That better be true.”

+34

Written in 56 minutes. I wanted to do more in this part, but the Liason scene in the beginning took a little bit of extra time, so I wanted to work through it and make sure it was right. See you tomorrow!

Monday, September 23, 2024

Webber House: Master Bathroom

Elizabeth ignored the sting in her split lip, and continued to swirl the toothbrush in her mouth, keeping one eye on Jason in the bedroom sifting through the laundry basket of clean clothes. The weight of her ankle monitor was a stark reminder that this situation wasn’t just moving together and trying to figure out how to blend their lives together. If it weren’t for her case, would she and Jason be anywhere near living together?

Probably not. But then again — they’d have those plans the day she’d been arrested, and that was a bolstering thought. She and Jason might be speed running this stage of the relationship, but they had been traveling down that road again.

She twisted the faucet and spit out the remaining toothpaste. “There’s a dresser in the basement. We should get it out this week.”

Jason stepped up behind her, reached for his own tooth brush. “I don’t really have a lot. Probably no more than two drawers. If that. No point in going to the trouble.”

She pursed her lips, tilted her head to look at him, and he lifted his brows in return. “What?”

“Do you plan to live out of a duffel bag and laundry basket forever?”

“No, but—”

“I mean, don’t you think a judge is going to ask you about this situation?” Elizabeth continued, not even listening to his answer. She left the bathroom, went to her closet. “You’re asking for permanent custody, Jason. I remember when Lucky and I were getting divorced the second time, and I’d just moved into the house. I had to pull out all these payment histories and open a vein to prove that I could run the house — and support the boys. I mean it ended up not going anywhere because Lucky and I settled out of court—” She turned to find him standing in the doorway. “The judge is going to want to know how stable this is.”

Jason opened his mouth, then closed it and shook his head, disappearing back into the bathroom. She made a face and went to the doorway. “What? You wanted to say something. Just say it.”

Jason rinsed the toothbrush, set it back in the holder, then looked at her. “Yeah, the judge is probably gonna ask, and it’ll be relevant that I’ve been living here since you were arrested — and that I was originally going back to my room at the diner before I realized Danny needed to get out of the penthouse. None of that is news to Diane, by the way, and she would have already anticipated that. But it’s not the only reason you’re asking.”

Elizabeth wrinkled her nose, then folded her arms. “I know that if it was just about Danny needing a place to sleep, he could have shared Aiden or Jake’s room and you could have Cameron’s room. And I was literally just reassuring myself that it’s not why—I just—”

Jason came forward, laid his hands on her shoulders, stroked down to her elbows, then back up again until he was cupping her face. “You want some evidence that I’m planning to stay.”

“Yes.” She sighed, let her head fall forward, and felt him kiss the top of her head. “It’s stupid. We have so many more important things to worry about—”

“This is important, too.” He gently tugged on her arms until she unfolded them and pulled her forward into his arms. “More important. Because this case against you can’t last forever, and neither will this custody issue. But you and me, all of this—I want it to be still be where when all of that is done.”

“Me, too.” She lifted her face to his, and he kissed her, softly, lingering until she sighed and relaxed against him. “I don’t want to miss any steps, you know? I don’t want you to wake up in six months, and realize this isn’t where you want to be.”

“Impossible.” He stroked back of her cheek with his knuckles. “This is where I’ve always wanted to be. And I’m not letting it — or you — go again.”

Port Charles High: Industrial Arts

“I guess he’s not coming,” Danny said, twisting away from the door to look at Jake glumly. “He won’t talk to me.”

“No, I guess not.” Jake tapped a few keys on his school laptop, then looked at his brother. “Stop worrying about it, and let’s just get moving on this project. I’ll even let you run the scroll saw—”

The door to the classroom swung open and Rocco came in then, a green late slip in his hand. He shoved it at their teacher and made his way over to their work station, dropping into the seat next to Jake — instead of his usual one next to Danny.

“Nice of you to show up. Here—” Jake shoved the instruction paper at Rocco. “You can read the steps—”

“Don’t bother. I’m switching classes,” Rocco bit out. “Just as soon as I get Dad to call the school. He doesn’t want me around you anymore,” he said to Danny, and then he added, sneering, “And I don’t want to be around you either.”

Danny swallowed hard, then lifted his chin defiantly. “Good. I can’t stand your nasty ass anyway.” He shoved away from the bench and went over to the scroll saw.

Jake rolled his eyes. “Yeah, okay, I changed my mind — no saws when you’re pissed. I bring you home without fingers and it’ll be my fault.” He followed Danny, leaving Rocco alone. “And he’s just mad he got caught, Danny. Don’t pay attention to him.”

“I’m not. I don’t even care about him,” Danny adjusted the strap on his goggles.

“That makes two of us,” Rocco said, swaggering over to join them. Man, I wish I’d seen your mom kick the shit out of Sam. I bet it felt good—”

“You know what, maybe you just stop talking,” Jake suggested. “Or I’ll get Mr. Orlando to, like, give you a new group until you—”

But neither boy was listening to him, because Danny threw down the goggles. “Don’t talk about my mom—”

“Oh, so you’re the only one allowed to call your mom a lunatic? Nah, you had it right. She’s a crazy bitch who’s ruining my life and my dad’s life. Why are you mad that I’m agreeing with you?”

Danny’s face went red, and Jake craned his neck to look for their teacher — across the workshop with another group of students. He took a step towards them, thinking he’d grab their attention and get Rocco away from Danny before—

“Or maybe you’re worried you’re going to end up as crazy and stupid as her? I already know you’re a no-good lying snitch—”

Jake had taken two steps towards their teacher when he heard a crash and grunt behind him. He whirled around to find that Danny had charged Rocco, shoving him hard against their work bench and now the two morons were rolling around on the ground, kicking and punching.

“Fantastic,” Jake muttered as the kids around them started cheering and pulling out phones, crowding around and blocking their teacher’s approach.

He tried to get Danny’s arm to pull him out, but instead Rocco’s fist swung out and caught Jake on the lip, knocking him off balance.

“Son of a bitch—”

Miller & Davis: Diane’s Office

“It’s okay if you want to hand this off to another lawyer,” Jason told Diane again as the older woman sorted through files. “I told you — Elizabeth’s case is the priority—”

“And I’m playing a waiting game on that. Nothing new is coming in until we  get the security footage. The subpoenas are winding their way through the system, and I have to get them through discovery — and you know the government isn’t moving fast—” Diane flicked through another stack of folders. “And even when the injunction at the crime scene gets lifted this week, I still can’t do anything. Maybe, maybe, they’ll let me be present for it so I can get head start on any evidence, but who really knows—I know I have this report somewhere—” she looked at Jason. “Honestly, Jason, we’re spinning our wheels for a while. Even with the hearing to dismiss next week. I’ve prepped my legal arguments, and it’s just a matter of delivering them. I’m looking toward to something that’s not as difficult —” she winced as she sat down at her desk, having located the report she’d been seeking.

“Not that what’s going on with Danny or Scout is a good thing—”

“I didn’t think you meant that.”

“Good. Now—” Diane slid on her reading glasses. “I hope you stopped by the DMV and the post office to do those official changes of address I recommended. The judge won’t just want your say so that your residence is at Elizabeth’s. We’ll need proof.”

“I’m picking them up after this. Diane—”

“But other than that minor quibble, Jason, this is the slammest of dunks you could get in a custody case. Rocco and Danny were living under Sam’s supervision for a year, and apparently getting high and drunk with a minor in the residence. We have ample evidence that Sam has gone out of her way to alienate you from Danny since you came home, and since your official story for being gone is working undercover for the FBI, she’s not going to get a lot of sympathy for that. You’ve been credited with bringing down an international criminal — though he might be in the wind, it’s not really your fault. Furthermore, there are police reports and witnesses that Sam abandoned Danny to your custody last week in the PCPD—”

“The drugs, though — that’s not in the official report.”

“No, officially, it’s not on paper. And what happens in family court is sealed, so I don’t see the government getting any of that information without breaking that seal. So Elizabeth and Aiden aren’t in the records. Not that they did anything wrong, but—” Diane flipped through the pages in her file. “And finally, we have Sam’s antics since walking out on Danny — I have witnesses from the hospital that overheard her loudly confronting Elizabeth — thank you  hospital gossip — and the refusal to sign treatment papers. And all of that is before Sam physically assaulted Elizabeth in front of Danny.”

Jason rubbed his temple. “That’s…it sounds worse when you lay it out like that,” he admitted. “I guess I hadn’t really wrapped it all together like that. I don’t—I don’t blame her for not knowing before they were caught.”

“Why? Because Elizabeth didn’t see it with Aiden?” Diane asked with a half smile. “Rocco and Danny have admitted to doing it more often than Aiden has. And doing it in the home and during the week. They might have masked the smell on their breath, but probably not the clothes. Not every single time. A year is a very long time not to know that two children in your home are regularly getting drunk and high. Particularly when one of the adults in the home is a cop.”

“Okay, but—”

“Jason, I know you don’t like conflict. I know you’ve done everything you can to avoid the vicious battles I’ve seen in Sonny and Carly’s records. But Danny is not safe in Sam’s home. Not right now.”

“I know that. I know—and I started this. I know that I have to make the situation permanent — to make sure Danny isn’t forced back into Sam’s custody until he’s ready — until she’s—I don’t know. Until she fixes herself,” Jason said. “I know this is the right choice. But it’s not one I ever wanted to take.”

“I know—” Diane paused when Jason’s phone rang. He dug it out of his pocket, frowning when he saw the notification screen. “What is it?”

“It’s the high school—” He answered the call. “Yeah, this is Jason Morgan—” His expression went grim, and he met Diane’s eyes. “Yeah. Okay, I understand. Yes, I’ll be right there. Thank you.”

“What’s wrong?” Diane asked as Jason rose, shoving his phone back in his pocket.

“Danny and Rocco got into a fight at school. I have to go down there—”

As soon as he’d gone, Diane sighed and picked up her pencil to make a change in the petition — minor in physical danger in the home.

+35

Written in 72 minutes.

Saturday, September 21, 2024

Penthouse: Living Room

Dante forced his expression to relax before pulling the door open to reveal a pair of familiar uniformed cops, Dex Heller and his partner—damn it what was her name?—  “Hey, Dex. Uh, come in—” He stepped to the side, shot Sam a warning glance, hoping she’d remember to let him handle everything.

“Hey, Dante. Sam. You remember my partner, Erica Williams,” he said, and the other cop just made a face. Not a great start, Dante thought. “Uh, we just took statements from the security in the lobby.” Dex stopped by the desk. “So we’re gonna talk to you, and then head over to Elizabeth Webber.”

“That’s not—” Dante looked to Sam again before turning his attention to the cops. “That’s not necessary. It’s just a custody thing that got out of hand, you know? I don’t think anyone’s pressing charges—”

“With all due respect, Detective Falconieri,” Erica Williams said, “that’s not up to you.”

“I’m not pressing charges either,” Sam said, her voice a bit rusty. She approached hesitantly. “Like Dante said, tempers are high right now. I’m sure you’ve seen your fair share of domestic situations—”

“Ma’am, I understand, but from what we saw on the security footage, it’s not something we can just walk away from.”

And considering Dante had already pulled enough strings to get the weed mentions deleted from their report barely a week ago, he wasn’t going to be able to do it twice. So he was going to have to go on the defense. “Sam, you want to call your mom?”

Sam pressed her lips together. “You saw the footage. You know it was mutual. I don’t need lawyer. I’m not pressing charges. If she wants to, whatever. That’s her problem. I don’t have anything to say.”

Dex cleared his throat. “You, uh, don’t want to tell us how it started?”

“We already told you. A custody dispute. If you need more than that — if charges are going to be filed, then, yeah, I think I’m gonna need my lawyer.”

“Fair enough. We’ll, uh, head over to the Webbers. See what the situation is. We’ll be in touch if we need to.”

“All right. Thanks.”

After Dante had closed the door, he exhaled slowly and then turned to look at Sam. “I hope it was worth it.”

Sam flexed her fingers, the skin at the knuckles broken. Her cheek was already starting to bruise and the red marks at her throat where Elizabeth’s nails had scraped the skin were still visible. “Elizabeth isn’t going to press charges. She doesn’t want cops involved anymore than I do—”

“I’m not listening to this anymore.” Dante snatched up his keys. “I’m going to Laura’s to talk to Rocco. To figure out what the hell to do. You think about how stupid this all is.”

And then the door slammed behind him.

Webber House: Cameron/Danny’s Room

Danny sat up when Elizabeth lightly knocked on the open door. She’d cleaned up since they’d gotten home—tied back her disheveled hair and cleaned the cut on her face that was bruising, but it was hard to ignore the swelling in her split upper lip from where his mother had landed the first blow.

“Hey, Mom,” Jake said, sitting up with Danny. “You, uh, look better.”

“Thanks,” Elizabeth said dryly.  “Go take a ride with your dad to pick up Aiden, okay? I want to talk to Danny — ” she paused lightly. “If that’s okay with him.”

Jake looked to his brother. “You good?”

“No, but you can go,” Danny muttered.

Jake rolled off the bed and a few minutes later, they heard his footsteps thudding down the steps. Elizabeth remained in the doorway, her arms folded loosely across her chest. “I’m sorry about what happened. I should have left and let your Dad handle the situation.”

“It’s okay—”

“It’s not. ” Elizabeth came in and perched on the edge of the bed, keeping her distance from Danny. “I also didn’t have to hit her back—”

“She hit you first. You get to defend yourself—”

“Maybe. But not at your expense. I’ve tried really hard not to let how your mom and I feel about each other affect you and Jake, and I didn’t do a good job today—”

“She didn’t care.” Danny let his head fall back against the headboard, keeping his gaze from meeting  Elizabeth’s. “I knew she didn’t like you. She used to be better at pretending, but like, Jake and I always knew. She thinks you’re trying to like steal me from her, and it’s stupid. You’re not my mom. I know that.”

Elizabeth was quiet for a moment, then spoke. “I know she worries about being the second-choice, and as much I don’t understand a lot about her, I do understand that. As someone who grew up not feeling like I fit with my family, it’s awful to think that someone who is supposed to love you doesn’t. Even if it’s not true,” she added when Danny opened his mouth. “Your mom’s running on emotion, and she’s not thinking before she acts.”

“How can you defend her?”

“I’m—” Elizabeth smiled faintly. “I guess I am, huh? Your dad thinks I make too many excuses for people, and he’s not wrong. I just—I care about you, Danny. And I don’t think anyone wins if you and your mom are at war with each other. She’s a human who makes mistakes. Terrible, awful mistakes. But she’s human. And she’s terrified that she’s losing her kids. She’s not handling it well. At all, and for that, I won’t make excuses. But the root of it? I understand. I’d do anything for my boys.”

“Yeah, which is why you’re up here trying to be nice to me and make me feel better about my mother, but it just—” Danny hesitated, obviously unsure if he should keep going, but then after a beat, continued. “It makes me uncomfortable. Like it feels like a lie. You don’t like her. She hit you, and you hit her back, and neither one of you remembered I was there.”

Elizabeth tipped her head to the side. “You’re right. She hit me, and I stopped thinking about you. About my case, and how getting arrested for assault didn’t matter. I wanted to hurt her back, and I hit her back. And I kept going. Because in the heat of the moment, I wasn’t thinking about anything or anyone but myself.” She paused. “But that’s over now. The adrenaline’s faded, and while, yes, in the moment, it felt good to hit her — to cause her pain — I’m left with the consequences, Danny. Trying to understand how it happened — and how I can keep it from happening again. Just like you and Rocco, right? You guys made a terrible choice last Saturday. And the consequences keep coming. Rocco’s handling them in his way, and you’re doing yours.”

Danny absorbed all that, then lifted his eyes to meet hers finally. “Okay. That makes sense. I don’t want you and my mom to fight like that. I don’t want it to be like this with her. She’s—she’s my mom. I love her. And I miss my little sister. This all started because of me, you know? My grades and my attitude. And then — well, you know what me and Rocco were doing.” He sat up slightly, folding his legs. “I want it to go back the way it was before, except maybe I get to see Dad more. And I could, like, have these longer visits where I live with him sometimes.”

Elizabeth opened her mouth to respond, then got a notification from her phone. “Someone’s at the door—” She grimaced. “It’s the police. Probably here to take our statements.” She got to her feet. “I don’t think we can go back to how it was — but I promise, Danny, to try to make it better than it is now. It’s all I can do.”

Laura & Kevin’s Condo: Living Room

“I appreciate you letting him stay here this weekend,” Dante said, keeping his gaze on the steps to the second floor — where Rocco was hiding from him. “I don’t—I don’t know what to do. I tried it punishing him, but it just made it worse.”

“I’m a little at a loss myself,” Laura admitted, folding a leg beneath her and looking at Kevin with worry before returning her attention to Dante. “I keep thinking that if I’d handled things with Lucky differently when he was that age, oh, so many things would be different.”

“I didn’t—I didn’t realize he hated living at the penthouse. Or that leaving the house would feel like I was taking him from his mother. Stupid,” Dante muttered. “I should have seen that. I should have known.” He scrubbed a hand down his face. “But I don’t know how to fix it.”

“If I may — ” Kevin leaned forward. “I’ve never been in this situation, you understand. Starting a new relationship while my child was living in the house. But I will say — there’s a line between forcing a kid to face the reality of his mother not being here — and pushing him into things he isn’t ready for.”

“Yeah. Yeah. Sam and I are both—it’s not—we’re not—we can’t seem to get on the same page. She’s lost control,” Dante said with a shake of his head. “She’s so scared that Drew and Jason will win full custody — and I don’t think she understands that she’s actually making it happen. Walking out of the station last week with Danny, starting a fight with Elizabeth just before we’re supposed to go to court—I don’t want to leave her. To be one more person she’s losing. But I don’t know how to show Rocco that I’m hearing him, that I care what he thinks.”

“There are no easy answers here, Dante,” Kevin told him. “You’re in a situation where you’re being asked to choose between two people you love. But no mistake, there is a choice to be made here. All you can hope is that you’ll be able to live with what happens when you make it.”

Harborview Towers: Hallway

As soon as Jason had learned the cops had come to the house — and that Elizabeth had sent them away without pressing charges for Danny’s sake — he knew he had to take some kind of action. To get through Sam’s thick skull that she was the architect of her own misery.  It was time for a conversation where he wasn’t going to let her guilt him, to use his past against him.

He already knew he hadn’t been a good father, but his mother was right. He’d made those mistakes, and they were done now. He couldn’t keep letting that guilt drown him — or let Sam use it to get her away.

She swung the door open, her lips set in a mutinous line. “You know, the fact that those damn guards still work for you and don’t give a damn that I said not to let you up here—”

“You don’t like it, Sam, you can move,” Jason said flatly. “Your kids don’t live here anymore, you might as well.”

Her lips parted with surprise and she actually took a step back. “What the hell did you just say to me?”

“You heard me. I gave you the title to this place because it was Danny and Scout’s home,” Jason replied. “But if you don’t want it, sell it. Until you do, I don’t want to hear it.”

“And if you don’t want to hear it, you can leave—” Sam started to close the door, but he slapped his hand against it. “I don’t have to hear you—”

“Yeah, you do. Or I’ll have Elizabeth call Dex Heller back and file charges for assault. So either we have this conversation now, or you can spend the night in lock up. Up to you.”

Sam released her grip on the edge of the door, turned her back and stalked towards the sofa, whirling around when she heard him close the door. “She had no right to come here—”

“To sit in the lobby while Danny asked you to be part of his therapy? Yeah, she’s regretting that, believe me.”

“Don’t act like she’s trying to do me any favors. She never has—”

“Shut up.”

Sam closed her mouth, swallowed hard. Because she recognized that tone. “You don’t get to talk to me like this—”

“I’m done letting you hurt Danny. Don’t — ” He held up a hand when she started to speak again. “I’m done letting you pretend that you’re the better parent because you were here. That’s not going to work anymore. Danny was trying to reach out to you to day, trying to make peace. And he’s talked about wanting to come home, even for an overnight visit because he’s worried about you and about Scout. I  tried to fix things for you with your daughter. I asked Monica to work on getting Drew to drop this custody battle—”

Her dark eyes glimmered with angry tears. “Am I supposed to thank you? This is your fault—”

“Because that’s all that matters, right? Who gets the blame. That’s all you care about is making sure you look good. That someone’s holding your hand and making you feel better. You can’t get out of your own way. You never have—”

“Shut up—”

“I’m done letting you hurt my kids. With hurting my family. Elizabeth has done nothing to deserve the way you’ve treated her for weeks. Nothing but give a damn about our kid—”

“She’s so much better than me, right?”

“Yeah. She is.”

Sam hadn’t been expecting that answer because her eyes grew wide, and her lower lip trembled. “Well, at least you’ve finally said it.” She swiped at her eyes. “I wish I’d never met you. I wish I’d never married you or given you a son — I wish Danny weren’t your son—”

“And I wish Danny didn’t have you as a mother, as long as we’re saying what we really feel,” Jason said. “And believe me, I’m not sure he doesn’t feel the same right now. Especially with what I saw on that security footage. When you rewind this back, Sam, to figure out where you went wrong, getting on that damn elevator to confront Elizabeth — that’s the point of no return. For all of us. Because you know Danny will never forget it. He came to ask you for help, and you made his life worse. I won’t let you do it again. I should have done a better job protecting Jake from you, but I won’t make the same mistake with Danny.”

“Really? Protecting Jake? I didn’t even touch him—”

“No, you didn’t have to. You just let Maureen Harper do the dirty work. Or the guys you hired in the park to hold guns on toddlers,” Jake retorted, and Sam’s face went white. “I made you a promise then, do you remember it? I didn’t keep it then. I let myself believe you had changed. I won’t make that mistake again.”

“Are you threatening to kill me again, huh? Is that what this is about?” Sam demanded. “Because wow—”

“No. But I know how to get it done. Today was the last straw. Elizabeth isn’t pressing charges, but that’s not going to stop me from using it in court. I’m getting permanent custody of Danny. Try this again, Sam, and Drew gets a copy of that tape, too. That’s the promise I’m making you”

+44

Written in 66 minutes. Wanted to get the ending right. It’s not quite there, but it’s close enough.

Saturday, September 21, 2024

Harborview Towers: Lobby

Dante walked through the double door entrance to the building — and straight into chaos. He saw Danny first, standing off to the side, his cheeks flushed and stained with tears — then the security guards standing near the sofas, and two women on the ground —

Damn it.

Dante rushed forward and caught Sam around the waist just before his girlfriend could grab another chunk of Elizabeth’s hair. Sam’s legs were still kicking wildly as he lifted and shoved her behind him. She started forward again, trying to push past him, but he kept his grip on her tight.

“What the hell is going on?” he demanded, looking from her to Elizabeth, bewildered. “Are you insane?”

Elizabeth had a split lip and a cut just below her eye, already showing signs of bruising. She sat up, took a deep breath, then rolled to her feet, running her fingers through her hair. “Ask her that — she went after me!”

“We called the PCPD,” one of the security guards told him. “Couldn’t get them to separate—”

“Great. That’s just great,” Elizabeth bit out, her breathing still a bit fast. “Are you happy now, Sam? Is this what you wanted?”

“I wanted you to get out of my damn life! That’s all I’ve ever wanted!” Sam shot back. “Danny, go upstairs. I’m done with this game—”

Danny swallowed hard, swung his gaze to Elizabeth who grimaced. “You’d better go for now. Your dad’s on his way, and since I can’t take you with me without her screaming kidnapping —”

“What?” Dante demanded, returning his gaze back to Sam. “What the hell is going on here?”

“I came to talk to Mom, and Elizabeth drove me,” Danny said miserably. His shoulders were hunched, and he had both hands in his pockets. “She waited down here, but Mom figured it out, came down and then wouldn’t let us leave—”

“Damn it.” Dante scowled, focused on Sam. “What is wrong with you? Jason has custody—”

“Well, she’s not Jason, is she?” Sam spat. “Go ahead, walk out that door with my son. Find out what happens—you’d understand if you knew what I knew,” she told Dante. “She’s trying to turn Danny against me! She pushed him into therapy, and she’s going to the parent sessions!”

Dante scrubbed his hands down his face, took a deep breath, then looked at Danny. “Go with Elizabeth. I’ll handle the cops,” he told Elizabeth. “Sam might have thrown the first punch, but you should have known better than to show up here. What the hell were you thinking, bringing Danny here yourself?”

“I don’t know, I guess I was thinking about what Danny needed,” Elizabeth snapped. “He wanted to talk to his damn mother! And Jason is over at the Quartermaines trying to talk Drew into dropping this custody bullshit with Scout, so excuse me for thinking that was just as important.”

Dante closed his mouth, pressed his lips together. “Don’t pretend you didn’t realize it would be an issue—”

“Which is why I stayed downstairs—you know what—” Elizabeth held up both hands, palms outward. “I’m not doing this. You want to blame me for this mess, you do whatever you want. I’m done.” She looked to Danny. “If you want to wait for your dad, you can do that.”

“I don’t want to make anything worse,” Danny said. “If I leave with you, won’t it mess things up for you?”

“Only if your mother tries to have me taken in for kidnapping,” Elizabeth replied. She stared at Sam. “Try it. See what skeletons I dig out of the closet to make your custody case harder. Drew says you’re an unfit parent. Whose side do you want me on?”

Sam’s head snapped up and she went still, then swallowed hard. “Jason will just take him later,” she forced out. “Go. If you want to be away from me so badly.” And then she turned, stalked towards the staircase doors, and shoved the door open.

Danny folded his arms. “I’m sorry. This is my fault. I shouldn’t have come here today—”

“This isn’t on you, Danny.” Dante came forward, put his hands on Danny’s shoulders. “The adults in your life are acting like idiots, and that makes it our fault. I’ll talk to your mother. She’s upset—” He looked over at Elizabeth. “You should both go before the PCPD gets here. I’ll handle it. Go,” he said again to Danny when the teen didn’t move.

“Come on. Let’s call your dad and tell him to meet us at home,” Elizabeth said, gesturing to Danny. “Before he gets here and makes this even worse. I’ll meet you outside,” she added when Danny passed her. Danny, still looking miserable, nodded, then shoved the doors open.

When Danny was gone, Elizabeth looked at Dante. “You want to blame me to make things easier for you, go right ahead. But I brought Danny here to ask Sam to go to those damn parent sessions. He wanted her to be part of them. Both of you. No one knows how to sabotage herself better than Sam.”

“Yeah, well—” Dante shook his head. “You know she’s insecure about you and Danny—you knew she was angry about all this therapy stuff and your involvement—”

“It’s not my job to hold her hand, and make her feel better about herself. But she’s the one that did this, Dante. She confronted me physically in front of Danny. She’s out of control, and as someone who’s seen what happens when she’s not reined in—” Elizabeth shook her head. “God help us all, but especially you.”

Penthouse: Living Room

Sam stalked from one end of the room to the other, her shoulders trembling, the adrenaline still coursing through her veins. She heard the click and turn of the tumblers a moment before the door opened and was already across the room when Dante came in. “What did you say to her? Why didn’t you come up right after me?”

“I wanted to talk to Danny,” Dante said, his expression grim. He closed the door, his hand laying flat against for a beat before it slid away. “Did you attack her first?”

“You’re taking her side, aren’t you—”

“Did you attack her first?” Dante repeated, louder, his cheeks flushed, and he turned to face her fully. “Damn it, Sam. Did you throw the first punch?”

Sam lifted her chin. “I grabbed her when she tried to leave with Danny, and yes, I did throw the first punch—but she was trying to take Danny—”

“Jason has custody of him right now. I know you hate that, but it’s the way it is. You made it this way, Sam, when you walked out of the station a week ago,” he continued as she flinched, and dropped her gaze.  “And then you refused to sign consent papers, so Jason went to the court. Legally, he had a right to give Elizabeth permission to take Danny anywhere he wanted to go. And she brought him here. To you. Is she right? Was Danny asking you to be part of his therapy?”

Now her mouth trembled. “Yes, but she’s going to be there, too! Like she’s important to him—”

“She is,” Dante said ruthlessly. “And that’s a situation you created. Remember? You said Jason could only see Danny when he was with Elizabeth and Jake. Supervised visitation. And you knew Jason was staying at her house when you walked out on him. What did you think would happen? No, don’t even bother trying to explain yourself,” he continued when Sam opened her mouth. “You can’t. You’re due in court on Monday, and all Drew has to do is find out about this mess today. You’ll look unhinged.”

Sam looked away, her vision blurred from tears. “And she’ll go right to him. You heard her. She’s only too happy to make this into a victory—”

“Maybe I think she was stupid for being the one to drive Danny here, but that doesn’t change how insane it was for you to attack her for it.”

She wrapped her arm tightly around her upper torso, embracing herself. “I can’t stand it. I can’t stand it. They took my kids from me, Dante. My kids. What am I supposed to do? Just let it happen—”

” I expect you to stop making it worse for you, for Danny, and for everyone around you. Otherwise, Sam, I don’t know how we come back from this. I’m still here because I love you,” he continued when tears continued unchecked down her cheeks. “But we’ve got a problem, and you refuse to see it. You’ve decided Elizabeth is the source of all these problems, and until you let go of this ridiculous jealousy, you’re going to keep losing.”

Webber House: Driveway

Elizabeth pulled her car into the parking spot just behind Jason’s SUV — whose brake lights were still lit, indicating he’d only just arrived, too.

The drive back from the Harborview had been silent — Elizabeth honestly hadn’t known what to say to Danny. Should she apologize? Explain things? She’d tried so hard to be neutral, even positive about Sam where Danny was concerned because it was the right thing to do. But to have Sam of all people threaten Elizabeth with kidnapping — and Sam had thrown the first punch —

Elizabeth had lost her mind, and the whole scene didn’t reflect well on either of them.

She switched off the engine, and Danny barreled out of the car, heading up the sidewalk at double speed. Ahead of them, Jake was out of the passenger side, chasing after his brother.

Elizabeth climbed out more slowly, rolling her shoulder, and Jason was coming towards her, wincing. “It looks worse than it is, I think,” she said when he reached her.

He took her chin in his hands, tipped it to the side. “You’re going to have a black eye.”

“Damn it. I hope I broke her goddamn nose,” Elizabeth muttered, and he sighed, making her feel worse. “I’m sorry. I didn’t start it, but I shouldn’t have tried to finish it either.”

“I’m sure Sam didn’t make it easy to walk away from her. Come on—” He put an arm around her shoulder, and she winced. “Did you hurt something else?”

“We rolled into the chairs, and I think I hit one of the posts—” She wrinkled her nose as they approached the door that Jake and Danny had left ajar in their haste to get inside. “Not my finest hour.”

“I threatened to make Drew disappear,” Jason told her and she stopped, looked at him with surprise. “I didn’t punch him. So you still win for worst day.”

“I don’t know why that makes me feel better,” Elizabeth said after a moment, “but it does.”

Webber House: Cameron/Danny’s Room

Danny didn’t stop until he hit the third floor and threw himself across the bed, burying his face in the pillow. He heard Jake’s footsteps thudding after him. “Go away.”

“Not a chance. Come on—”

Danny felt the bed dip, and he reluctantly rolled over to find Jake sitting on the edge. “They called the cops. Dante said he’ll fix it, but what if he can’t?”

“Yeah, I don’t know.” Jake exhaled slowly. “What happened? Mom’s not exactly one to lose her mind like that—”

“No, but mine is,” Danny muttered. He flopped back against the pillows, staring at the ceiling. “Mom said if Elizabeth tried to leave with me, she’d say it was kidnapping. And Mom grabbed her, punched her. Then your mom got mine by the throat, and it just—” he swallowed hard. “It was bad, Jake. Really bad.”

Jake sighed, laid back next to him, and they laid in silence, both staring at the same white ceiling paint. “Dante’s a good guy. He’ll get the cops to realize it’s not a big deal—”

“People will find out. And maybe Drew will use it to keep Scout away.” He forced himself to continue. “And maybe he should. I was…I was scared today. Of my mom. What she might do if she thinks someone trying to keep me away.” He twisted his head to look at Jake. “I don’t know what I supposed to do. She makes me feel like I’m doing something wrong by talking to your mom or like, I dunno, acting like she’s part of my family.”

“Then your mom is crazy.” Jake sat up, folded his legs. “I’m sorry, Danny, but it’s just the way it is. You’re my brother, which means we’re family. And Mom’s practically your step mom. How come it’s okay for Dante to be like your second dad? She’s a hypocrite.”

“I know. I just….” Danny rolled away, to lay on his side. “I hate it. I want it to stop. But it’s just going to get worse. I just know it.”

Webber House: Kitchen

Elizabeth winced when Jason pressed the ice pack against her cheek. “Ow—” She covered the pack with her own hand to hold it in place.

“Careful, hold still—” He reached for the towel he’d already dampened to blot at the cut in her lip. “I’m sorry. I should have taken Danny to the Towers.”

“Yeah, well, if she’d just stayed upstairs, we wouldn’t have this problem,” Elizabeth muttered. “God, I’m so sick of her acting like I’m the bad guy! It’s not like I stole Danny from her — not that it’s really about that. She still thinks I manipulated you twenty years ago, you know, and it’s so annoying because I was literally on her side the whole time. I told you over and over again to talk to her, didn’t I?”

“I know.” Jason crumpled up the towel, threw it in the trash can. “Dante will probably keep things quiet — this looks worse for her than it does for you,” he added when Elizabeth wrinkled her nose. “You’re not the one fighting a custody battle right now. And there are witnesses — you reacted in self-defense—”

“Do you really think the FBI is going to care?” Elizabeth wanted to know. “They’re going to get desperate, you know. We both know they only let me out on bail because they thought we’d make a mistake and lead them to evidence they can use against you. It has to be clear by now we won’t want to do that, so if they can revoke my bail, they will.”

Jason met her worried eyes, then dropped his back to washing his hands, and drying them. “The injunction Michael filed to keep them off the crime scene will probably be dismissed in a few days. And they’re going to go back to search for the missing bullet. They find that—” He shook his head. “It’s hard to sit on my hands and let everyone else look for answers. I’m over at the Quartermaines trying to help Sam, and she’s making all of this harder for everyone. For Danny, for your case—”

“You were trying to help Danny. Just like I was. We both thought the best thing to do was to help Sam win her case against Drew, but honestly, Jason—she was going to file kidnapping charges against me. Yes, they would have been dropped — but she didn’t even think—” Elizabeth looked away. “She never seems to remember how much patience I’ve shown her over the years. I kept a secret for twenty-four hours. She never would have said a word about Maureen Harper if she hadn’t been caught.”

“I blamed myself for creating the situation, so I believed her when she cried, when she claimed to regret it and begged to be forgiven her. But she was never sorry. She’s made that clear. She’s resented you since that summer, and Jake since he was born. You did what you did with Jake Doe and with that maternity test, but none of it comes close to what she did in the park. Either time. Maybe she needs to be reminded of that.”

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