Written in 64 minutes. I need to go over a little, sorry 😛

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Port Charles Police Department: Squad Room

He’d introduced himself as Special Supervisory Agent Edward Caldwell, but Jake hadn’t heard much after that — he’d been too busy worrying if they were waiting to talk to Danny or if his younger brother was in another room being questioned. Danny knew to be quiet, but he was also impulsive, and he had a temper. Would he handle this or would he crumble?

And how pissed was his mom going to be when she found out Jake had been hauled down to the station in the back of a squad car—

“Are you listening, young man?”

Jake blinked, focused on the man with the shiny bald head and sour expression sitting across from him. “Is my mom here yet?”

“Your mom can’t help you.” Caldwell leaned forward, his eyes dark, intense. “It’s a crime to lie to the FBI. To obstruct the investigation into the murder of a federal agent.”

Jake folded his arms on the table, leaned forward until their eyes met. “Cool story, dude. Is. My. Mother. Here. Yet.”

Caldwell clenched his jaw. “You think this is a game?”

“I think I asked if my mother was here yet.”

“Mr. Morgan—”

“My name is Jacob Webber. I don’t have my father’s name. Not that it matters to you. If you’re going to hold me against my will, you can at least address me properly. Can I get a soda or something while I’m waiting for my mom?”

“Ah, some tension between you and your father. Did he not want to give you his name—”

Jake rolled his eyes, leaned back. “Oh, man. If this is the best you can do, no wonder you’re wasting your time with me.”

“You think you’re smart, young man? Offering me nothing but attitude—”  Caldwell broke off when he heard something outside the door. Raised voices.

Jake grinned. “I think you’re about to meet my mother.”  He leaned back. “She does not like when people mess with her kids.”

“I can handle your mother—” Caldwell retorted, but then the door flung open, and Jake’s mother stormed in, the carefully coifed curls of the late morning disheveled, her cheeks flushed, and — was she wearing sneakers?  Behind her, Jake could just make out his father and Diane arguing with a couple of uniforms.

“Sorry, sir—” An agent rushed up behind Elizabeth, reached for her but the heat in her eyes had him lowering his hand. “She, uh, ducked underneath my arm and I couldn’t catch her.”

“Short but feisty,” Jake said. He got to his feet. “Hey, Mom.”

“Jake.” Elizabeth lifted her chin when Caldwell also rose, taking a step towards her. The man naturally towered her, but Elizabeth didn’t back up even a centimeter. “Let’s go, Jake. We’re leaving.”

“I’m not finished with him yet. Now go and wait outside before I have you arrested—”

“You’re not finished with him? He’s not free to go? Great.” Elizabeth looked back to the squad room. “Diane, Jake’s in custody. He needs you.” She turned back to Caldwell. “If you’ve arrested my son, then he has the right to remain silent and the right to an attorney. We’re invoking it, aren’t we, Jake?”

“You bet.” Jake shoved his hands in his pockets, enjoying the way the federal agent swallowed hard, as if biting back something nasty.

“He’s not under arrest, but—”

“Then he’s free to go. Jake, we’re leaving.” Elizabeth gestured to Jake who started across the room, but Caldwell stepped between them. “Get out of his way and let us leave. Or you and I will leave this room so Jake can speak to his attorney alone. I know my rights.”

Caldwell reluctantly stepped aside, grimacing. “Mr. Webber, you’re free to go.”

“Don’t I know it.” Jake looked at his mother. “Danny?”

“Where’s Danny Morgan?” Elizabeth wanted to know.

“Daniel Morgan is not your son—”

“But he is mine,” his father said, stepping up behind Elizabeth. Diane wedged in between Elizabeth and the door. “And you’re getting him right now.”

“Unless he’s under arrest—”

“Simmons!” Caldwell bit out, interrupting Elizabeth. The agent who had tried to stop his mother came back to the door. “Fetch the other kid. They’re leaving.”

“Uh, okay, sir.”

Elizabeth gestured for Jake to follow them, and he gratefully exited the interrogation room. “We’ll talk outside,” she murmured to him, taking his arm, squeezing it. “But you’re okay?”

“Yeah, I wasn’t in there more than a few minutes. And I mostly just gave him a headache.”

“That’s my boy,” Elizabeth said, looking back to the doorway of the room where Jason and Diane were still waiting. Jake exhaled in relief when Danny appeared a moment later, still looking bewildered.

“And Agent Caldwell—” Diane turned, smiled at him sweetly. “In addition to not speaking with Danny and Jake again without notifying me in advance, you should also consider their parents off limits.”

“Ms. Miller,” the agent said flatly.

Jason and Elizabeth hustled both boys into the parking lot, and Jake was dying to debrief the whole situation, find out what Danny was up to, reassure his parents he’d kept his mouth shut other than being a smart ass—

But they’d no sooner reached the exterior steps of the police station then Danny made a face. “Oh, damn it. Dad, it’s been nice knowing you—”

He’d spotted his mother charging towards them before anyone else, and with her flushed cheeks and glittering eyes, furious didn’t even begin to describe it. “What the hell is going on? Why were you dragged into the PCPD?”

She met them at the bottom of the steps, snagged Danny by the elbow and pulled him away from the group, towards her. “What the hell is going on, Jason? I let you take our son for one day, and you’ve got him arrested—”

“They weren’t arrested,” Diane began, but Sam silenced her with one glare.

“Mom, Dad didn’t even do anything,” Danny began.

“This wasn’t about me—” Jason said at the same time.

“You might not give a damn if our son spends time in a squad car, but I sure as hell do! I don’t want him to make the same mistakes you did and end up with a felony record,” Sam broke in. “You can’t even handle Danny with supervision, though I don’t know what I expected—didn’t Cameron get arrested?” she snarled at Elizabeth. Jake bristled but his mother just rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, and I got immunity for kidnapping a few years ago—no one’s a saint here.”

“I mean, I am,” Jake said, and Elizabeth pinched. “Ow, well I am! This was my first arrest—well, fake arrest. But Danny, this is like your third trip in a squad car, yeah? Didn’t you get busted a bunch of times last year for curfew?”

Danny brightened. “Yes, yes I did. Before Dad came home,” he finished in a mumble when his mother turned her glare on him. “Well, you can’t blame him for that—”

“We’re going home, and this is the last time—”

Jason stepped in front of Sam before she could drag Danny to the parking lot. “That’s enough. I’ve done everything you’ve wanted since I got home. I’ve limited my time with my son, I’ve even let you push Jake and Elizabeth in the middle of this by agreeing to these supervised visits. I’ve done everything you’ve asked—”

“Do you want a cookie or something—”

“Nothing about today is my fault. I didn’t kill that man, and I sure as hell didn’t want the boys to be taken in for questioning—”

“What did you think would happen when the FBI found out they could question Jason Morgan’s sons?” Sam retorted. She stepped towards him. “You make their lives worse just by existing. And you know it. Elizabeth can do whatever the hell she wants with her kid, but you’re done ruining Danny’s life—”

“Mom, come on!” Danny protested. “This is so unfair! Dad wasn’t even there! He was inside—”

“Wherever he goes, violence follows. We’re done here.”

“Danny, it’s okay. For tonight,” he added when Danny looked at him, hurt. “We’ll fight about this later. Not in front of the PCPD.”

“Okay. I—they never got to talk to me, Dad,” Danny called as Sam started to drag him towards the parking lot.

Elizabeth exhaled slowly, folding her arms. “She’s lost her damn mind,” she muttered. “Jason—”

“Let’s just go,” Jason said, and started for the car. Elizabeth looked at Jake, who felt pretty awful now. His dad hadn’t done anything wrong, and Danny’s mom had just suggested it would have been better off if he’d stayed gone.

If he’d stayed dead to them.

“Can I call her a bitch now or wait for you to be out of earshot?” Jake wanted to know. Elizabeth sighed, but he saw the hint of a smile.

“Come on. I want to get out of here as much as your father does.”

Davis House: Living Room

Alexis whirled around when the door opened, and she exhaled in relief when she saw Kristina coming in. “Oh, thank God. Your phone, you didn’t answer, and I realized you left it here—”

Kristina set her bag down, and rubbed her forehead. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have left the way I did. I was just upset. A-and—” Her eyes watered. “I went to the apartment. It…it was the first time since…and Ally’s stuff—” She closed her eyes, pressed her hands to her mouth. “It’s gone. I knew it would be, but—”

“Sweetheart.” Alexis came to her, embraced her. “I’m sorry. It’s been a lot, and God, I hate to add to it, but your sister got a call a little while ago—someone killed Cates. At the Quartermaine barbecue—”

Kristina jerked back, her eyes wide. “What? Oh my God! What was he doing there? Who did this? And oh—Sam got a call—did something happen to Dante or Danny—”

Alexis took Kristina’s hands. “Nothing. Nothing. They’re both fine. Except Danny apparently heard the gunshots, and the FBI is already involved. They went to take Danny in for questioning—”

Kristina gasped. “Oh my God! Why? Why? How could they get away with that—why aren’t you on your way to the station—”

“Jason had already called Diane, and I know she’ll get Danny out of there. And your sister was too angry to wait for me anyway.” Alexis pressed two fingers to her lips. “This is just awful. The feds will be asking you questions, they’ll be coming after me—and your father—Christ, who knows where he is—Sam said he wasn’t at the penthouse when she was looking for you earlier.”

“He’s—” Kristina stilled. “Mom, he would never do this. Not like this,” she insisted when Alexis shook her head. “I mean, the kids were there! Michael was there! He wouldn’t.”

“No, but that doesn’t mean they won’t look at him for this. That’s why they took in Jake and Danny. They apparently heard the gunshots — and then saw Jason coming out of the house. They’re his alibis.”

“Oh.” Kristina hesitated. “They’re never going to believe them. The Feds. They never believe anyone connected to the family.”

“No, they won’t. It’s such a mess—and to make it worse for Jason — Elizabeth and Michael found the body, and Jason was on the scene a few minutes later. Both of them have lied for Jason before, and would again.” Alexis combed her hands through her hair. “But I can’t think about this anymore. I can’t. I just need to hear from your sister that Danny is okay.”

“She’ll call any minute. It’ll be okay.” Kristina hugged her mother with one arm. “You said it yourself. Diane will take care of everything, and Danny will have a crazy story to tell at school.”

“God willing.”

SUV: Interior

The sun had completely set by the time they were back on the road, and Elizabeth sat in the passenger seat, her mind racing. Since the moment she’d heard the gunshot until right now, she’d been on a mad adrenaline rush, with very little downtime other than standing next to a dead body.

Now that it was over, that Jake was safe, and that they were all together again — she couldn’t shut down her thoughts. She picked up the phone, slid through the contacts until she found Laura. Waiting for the call to connect, she looked at Jason, his face almost completely in shadows, lit only by a passing street light.

What was he thinking? That horrible scene with Sam—

“Elizabeth, thank Heavens. Please tell me everything is okay!”

“Hey. We’re okay. We’ve got Jake—” Elizabeth rested her forehead on her palm. “Thank you for taking Aiden with you. I didn’t know how long things would be, and I didn’t even think about it until I saw your text—”

“No, honey, of course. You did exactly what you should have. Did you want me to run him home—”

“Can you—” She looked at Jason again, and he glanced at her, then faced forward again. Turning her attention back to Laura, she said, “Can you keep him tonight? We didn’t really have a chance to talk to Jake afterwards, and we really just want…we need to talk to him.”

“Of course. Tell Jake I love him, and let him know if he needs anything, anything at all—”

“I will, thanks.” She clicked the phone off, laid it in her lap. “Jake—”

“I didn’t say anything to him,” her son interrupted. “Ned told us at the house not to say anything until we talked to him, and, you know, I know not to say anything without Diane. It’s just—we didn’t do anything. We were just standing on the terrace.”

“They know. Your father gave a statement back at the house. He heard the shots, came out to talk to you, and then left you there. I’m sorry—” Elizabeth looked at Jason again, but his profile was still, his hands tightly wrapped around the steering wheel.

“That guy—Caldwell—you should have seen his face when he found out who we were. Like a kid on Christmas,” Jake said bitterly. “Just because of our dad, he put us in squad cars, and put me in an interrogation room.”

“I’m sorry,” Jason said, speaking for the first time, his voice a bit rough, uneven. “I never—”

“I kept asking him for you, Mom, but it’s like he didn’t get it,” Jake went on. “And he tried to make me mad at you, Dad. Like, he called Mr. Morgan, and I corrected him because well, he’s an ass, but then he was like, oh, your dad didn’t love you enough to give you his name—”

“What?” Elizabeth twisted in the seat. “What?”

“Jake, that’s not—”

“Which is stupid,” Jake continued, interrupting them both. “I have Mom’s last name because she’s my mom and it was her last name. Why shouldn’t I have her name? I mean yours is fine, Dad, and I guess I don’t never thought about it. But if that’s the best he could do—”

Jason pulled the SUV up to the curb at Elizabeth’s house. “Jake—”

“I don’t care, Dad. About what he said. You should just know what he was trying to do.” Jake unsnapped his belt buckle, and slid out of the car, but his parents sat for another minute.

Elizabeth looked at Jason, her throat tight. “Jason—”

“Because of me, my sons were hauled into the station, and treated like criminals.” Jason fisted his hand, hit the steering wheel once, and then got out of the car.

Elizabeth reached for her bag, and got out as well. Jake had already unlocked the door, and Jason waited for her before he went in.  Once inside, she kicked off the uncomfortable sneakers, and tossed her bag on the chair.

Jake stopped by the sofa, looking at them both. “You told Grandma Laura that you wanted to talk. About what?”

“I—” Elizabeth bit her lip, looked at Jason who rubbed the back of his neck.

“I’m sorry about tonight,” Jason said. “All of that—you’re right. It’s my fault—”

“What? No it’s not.” Jake shoved his hands in his pockets. “Danny’s mom was way over the line with all that shit. You had nothing to do with what happened today. You were in the house.”

“I know that, and you know that,” Jason said, sounding pained, “but—”

“It doesn’t matter to them, and that’s crap. I want to tell them what I saw and I heard, and I should be able to do that, but I can’t because they don’t care. They already think they know everything, and it makes them stupid. First, you wouldn’t do what they said because it’s Grandma Monica’s house,” Jake said, “and second, me and Danny were right there, and Mom and Michael, too. Anyone who thinks all four of us have to be lying are just assholes, and if it wouldn’t give Mom a headache, I’d tell them that.”

Jason opened his mouth, but had nothing to say, so completely stunned by his son’s defense. “I—”

“Look, we got our problems, okay? I’m—” Jake looked away, and some of his bravado slipped. “We’ve got our problems,” he repeated, in a quiet voice. “But that doesn’t change the basic facts of who you are. I just think it’s shit that they don’t need anymore evidence other than you breathing the same air to accuse you. I mean, did you even really know the guy who got killed?””

“I—” Jason shook his head slightly, still thrown by the direction of the conversation, then looked at Elizabeth, who was smiling at her son, her eyes shimmering with tears. And realized he’d never told them anything about Cates. About why he’d be a suspect.

He’d never told them anything they deserved to know.

“There’s a reason they’ve put me on the list, and you—you both should have known a long time ago.” Jason paused. “The two years I was gone—I was working an informant for the FBI. And Cates was my handler.”

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