Written in 72 minutes. Went over because I sort of over-planned this part, lol, but I didn’t want to leave you guys hanging if I don’t get back to update tonight.

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Tuesday, September 3, 2024

Webber House: Living Room

It was a morning for confusion, Elizabeth decided, when she pulled open the door and found Kristina Corinthos-Davis on her front step. She’d only just confirmed plans with Jason to talk more about the Pikeman investigation, and he’d offered to pick her up on the bike rather than just coming by and sitting in her house. She didn’t really know what to think about that — and now Sonny’s daughter was on her front step.

Elizabeth stepped back. “Um, come in. How are you?”

Kristina smiled, and breezed past her, her fingers wrapped around the strap of a large black purse slung over her shoulder. She turned back to face Elizabeth who closed the door, leaned against it. “You’re probably thinking — what is Kristina doing in my living room?”

“Well—” Elizabeth made a face. “Yeah, actually. Sorry, it’s just—”

“No, it’s all right. We’ve sorted…” Kristina gestured. “Floated past each other. We know all the same people, but—” She took a deep breath. “Anyway. That’s kind of why I’m here. I talked to Sam today—” She gestured at Elizabeth. “And now you’re thinking is she here to make my day worse?”

“Sorry. Sorry. I didn’t—” Elizabeth came away from the door. “Sam and I usually get along these days, but—”

“But it’s been harder later. Yeah, Sam is—she was still really mad this morning. And I did tell her I thought she was being unreasonable. To all of you, but definitely. And I just—” Kristina sighed. “I really love my nephew, and Danny loves his brother. I want them to be okay.”

“Well, that’s…that’s nice of you.” Still a little bewildered, but oddly touched, Elizabeth came forward, passing Kristina, and went to the sofa where she busied herself straightening pillows and throw blanket. She didn’t notice Kristina’s quick sweep of the room — or how they landed on her keys by the door, sitting next to Elizabeth’s purse. “I know you’re dealing with a lot, so I appreciate you even being interested.”

“Well, that’s part of it, I guess,” Kristina said, clasping her hands together. “It’s so hard right now for all of us, and Sam’s under so much stress. Between worrying about Danny, she feels like she’s in the middle between me and Molly, and I think she’s taking it out on you.”

Elizabeth nodded, folded her arms. “I only have maybe ten or fifteen minutes because I’m going out in a little bit, but I would absolutely love to figure this out. I know last night was upsetting. Believe me, the last thing I wanted was for Jake or Danny to end up at the PCPD. You have to know what it’s like, being Sonny’s daughter. They see the last name or they know who your father is, and it’s all they need.”

“No, and I definitely said as much to Sam. I mean, Jason and my dad are great, but being in their lives — it carries a lot of weight. You get targeted for no reason other than who contributed DNA.” Kristina shook her head. “I mean, that’s what I’m going through now which is making things worse for Sam. Agent Cates arrested me just so he could harass my father. When Sam factors that in, and how much extra stress it’s putting on me, on my mom, and then she remembers that Cates was part of everything with Jason being gone—”

Elizabeth furrowed her brow, and Kristina pressed her hand to her mouth. “Oh. You didn’t know? That Jason was an informant for the FBI?”

“No, I knew. I just—I didn’t realize that you did, too.” Elizabeth didn’t continue right away. “Like I said, I appreciate that Sam’s under a lot of stress. I really do. What you’re all going through—it’s awful, and just getting a taste of being targeted that way last night — ”

“Exactly. And it’s not making it easy — yesterday, Mom and I were talking about my case, and Molly just—she’s really not handling this well, either. We’re all a mess, Elizabeth. And Sam was trying to fix things, but Molly basically threw her out. We’re just—losing a child. It’s—” Kristina looked away, tears shimmering in her eyes, and Elizabeth softened.

“It’s the worst experience in the world. I know. And I’m so sorry. I don’t know if I said so before. But my heart goes out to you and your sister. For what you’ve faced. I know how hard it can be to breathe some days—”

Kristina swallowed hard, looking away. “Yeah, well, it’s different for us. Jake came home, didn’t he? Adela never will.”

Elizabeth jolted. “Oh. Well, yeah, but I didn’t know—I didn’t know it then—” She frowned. “I thought—I thought the baby’s name was Irene.”

Quartermaine Estate: Family Room

 Michael approached the double entrance, then nearly made a u-turn back to the kitchen when he realized Drew and Willow were talking about his political campaign. Again.  But Willow noticed him, smiled and gestured for him to join them.

“Hey.” She came over to him, kissing his cheek immediately which was a little strange, and her smile seemed a little forced now she was closer. “We were just talking about yesterday. Drew was asking if he thought he’d get some heat for putting out a poll.”

“About what?” Michael asked. “Yesterday? It’s Port Charles, Drew. People have already moved on—”

“Well, maybe yesterday was a regular Monday to you,” Drew said, coming to his feet and holding out that day’s newspaper. FBI AGENT MURDERED; MINOR WITNESSES REFUSE TO COOPERATE. “They didn’t print Jake and Danny’s name because Curtis held it back—”

“Because they’re minors and you’re not allowed to.” Michael tilted his head. “And you literally lived as my uncle Jason for over a year, Drew. I don’t think you get to pretend yesterday was shocking and upsetting.”

Drew lifted his brows. “I only meant that we have to think about the rest of the family. Which Jason never does. I know that because I used to be him, and still remember a lot of it.” He shook the paper in his hand. “Why wouldn’t Jake and Danny just tell the truth? Why didn’t you go to the station with them?”

“I would have, but I barely had time to toss Elizabeth’s bag in the window before Jason peeled out of the driveway.” Michael folded his arms. “And all they needed was Diane. Drew, they dragged two teenagers into the PCPD to intimidate them. They weren’t interested in the truth. They just wanted Jason.”

“Well, if they’d cooperated, this would already be over and they’d be on to the next suspect.” Drew tossed the paper on the table. “It’s gonna come back to haunt all of us.” On that parting shot, he left the room, and Michael scowled.

“I hate the way he’s been since he decided to run for office,” he muttered, dragging a hand through his hair. “Like he’s above us.”

“I don’t think that’s what he’s doing. But he’s not wrong, Michael. I get why Jake and Danny didn’t stay to give statements, but it’s going to make it worse.”

He wanted to argue with her, tell her she was wrong, but — he couldn’t. He knew it wasn’t over, he just didn’t know where the danger would come from.”

Webber House: Living Room

Kristina bristled. “Well, that’s what TJ and Molly put on the paperwork, but it wasn’t my choice.” When Elizabeth pursed her lips — judging her, obviously, Kristina went on. “I lived with that baby for eight months, you know. I just—I called her that in my head sometimes.”

“Oh.” Elizabeth pressed her lips together. “I was a surrogate once,” she said softly, “and all the literature, all the prep — they suggested anything that created a connection like that would make it harder.”

“When were you a surrogate?” Kristina asked, folding her arms. “I never heard anything about that.”

“You wouldn’t have, I guess. You were young. Jax and Courtney — I miscarried In the first trimester. But—”

“Well, that’s different then,” Kristina retorted. “My daughter was almost full-term. She died. She wasn’t just a clump of cells my body rejected.”

Elizabeth stiffened, and her eyes went cold. “And she wasn’t your daughter. As long as we’re correcting each other.”

Shit, shit. Kristina forced to dial back her own irritation because wow, Elizabeth was really being a bitch right now, but if she kicked her out before Kristina had a plan to get those damn keys — she held up her hands, took a deep breath, worked up some tears. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. You’re right. A-And I know she wasn’t. It’s j-just so hard.”

Elizabeth looked away, and sighed, rubbing her forehead. “Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring up a sore subject. I just—it’s awful what you’re all going through, and I guess there’s no easy way to handle it. Let’s just—let’s get back to what you came here for.” She checked her phone. “Because I only have about five minutes before Jason comes to pick me up.”

“Oh.” She wasn’t going to be using her car? Interesting. Could that work? How could she get the damn key fob from the keychain without Elizabeth knowing? “I was thinking maybe if we could find a way to get everyone in the same room, but now that I’m considering it — maybe that would make things worse.”

“Probably—” There was a beep from her phone and Elizabeth made a face. “The washer’s done. I need to change over the laundry before I go. I’ll be right back.” She went into the kitchen, and Kristina heard the basement door a few seconds later. When it closed, Kristina  snapped into action.

She scooped Elizabeth’s keys off the table, carefully detached the keyfob from the rest, keeping the metal circle intact. She set the rest of Elizabeth’s keys in her purse, making sure they were visible, so she’d see them. Since she wasn’t driving her car, she might not do more than check for them.

She slid the key fob into her bag just as Elizabeth came back. “Sorry about that,” she said. “But the boys are starting back and they never do their own laundry.”

“No problem. Um, you said Jason would be here soon, and I don’t want him to know I’m meddling. He hates when I do that, which is fair. I usually make things worse.” Kristina forced a smile. “And I’m sorry again. Really. It’s just—my family’s a mess. And I’m kind of at the top of it. I just really wanted to fix one thing.”

Elizabeth walked her to the door. “I get that. But you can’t fix something that’s been broken for a long time. We’ll have to trust Sam to calm down. Take care of yourself, Kristina.”

When she closed the door, leaving Kristina alone, she smiled. “I intend to.” Then went to wait in her car until Elizabeth was gone.

Vista Point: Observatory Deck

Jason curled a hand around the metal railing, chipping beneath his fingers, and turned to look at Elizabeth who was still combing her fingers through her hair, disheveled from the helmet. “I guess you’re wondering why I wanted to talk today.”

“Well, you said it was about Pikeman, and it’s been so long since we were out on the bike—I wasn’t gonna ask too many questions.” She leaned against the railing, looking out over the lake, to Spoon Island in the distance, then looked at him. “So what’s up?”

“I really didn’t think about you and Jake not knowing,” he said, and she made a face. “But once I realized it, last night wasn’t the time to get into everything. I just—other people know.”

“I know.” When he frowned, she continued, “Kristina came by today, and mentioned it. I guess she wanted to apologize for her sister, and talk about pressure Sam’s been under or something.”

“Kristina—” Jason grimaced, looked to the lake, searching for patience maybe. “I don’t know why Sam would have told her. And I only told Sam because she —” He stopped.

“Because she was keeping Danny from you.” Elizabeth tipped her head. “And I wasn’t keeping Jake from you, so no reason to tell me.”

“It sounds—” Cold. Flat. Transactional. “I guess that’s the way it was, but I didn’t think about it that way when it was happening.”

“Because you take things as they come. One step at a time. Jason, I’m not angry. I’m here for you tell me whatever you need to tell me. And if I decide to get mad, I’ll let you know.” She turned, leaning her back against the railing, folded her arms. “Sam knows. I’m going to guess Sonny knows because of what happened with Dante. I would imagine ‘I’m an informant’ would be the first thing you’d tell him.”

“Uh, yeah. Yeah—and—”

“Carly, for sure, knows. She’d have pried it out of you with an icepick if she had to.”

He exhaled. “Yes. But that’s it—well, Anna Devane knows,” he muttered. And Elizabeth looked amused for some reason, and he looked at her. “Why are you smiling?”

“Because you’re more angry with yourself for not telling me than I could ever be. Is that it?”

“I think so. I mean, if Kristina knows, I’m sure Sam told Dante and Alexis. So that’s—” He’d have to look into that. “But I think that’s it.”

“Okay.” Elizabeth waited. “So now I know I’m at the bottom of the list—” when he scowled, she laughed, gently tapping his chest. “That’s a joke, Jason. Seriously. Now that we’ve got that out of the way, what else should I know?”

“The why.” Jason looked at her, knowing that this would be the deal breaker. He braced himself. “What they had on me to force me into the deal at all.”

Elizabeth drew her brows together. “You mean, what the charges were? Jason, you really don’t have to—”

“They had Carly dead to rights on RICO charges.”

She closed her mouth, absorbed that information, and he tensed, waiting for her reaction. Elizabeth straightened, looked out to the horizon, then finally at him. “So you did this to protect Carly.”

Webber House: Street

 Kristina pulled her car to the curb, just behind Elizabeth’s silver sedan. She rustled in her bag for the gloves, pulled them on.  Then, with the key fob in her hand, and her purse over her shoulder, Kristina took a deep breath and got out of her feet. She clicked the trunk twice so it would pop open.

The trunk wasn’t as messy as she’d hoped for, but it would do. There was a large cardboard box pushed towards the back that looked as if it had been there for a long time. She tugged it out of place, drew out the lockbox she’d purchased that morning, then slid it to the back of the trunk, put the box back in place, then locked the car.

She hurried up the drive, pulling at the metal ring until it was mishappen, so it would look as if it had come loose from her keychain as Elizabeth had left the house, then dropped it by the door.

By the time she pulled away from the curb, it had been less than ten minutes.

And now Kristina just had to wait to take the next step.

Vista Point: Observation Deck

 Elizabeth’s expression wasn’t giving him any clues, but she wasn’t flipping out, accusing him of anything, or storming off. She was quiet, watching him. Waiting. And with some relief, he realized he would get to explain.

“I know it seems that way, and I guess that’s how it starts,” Jason continued. “But RICO charges are about individuals.”‘

“No, they’re about conspiracy. It’s how they started prosecuting the mob in New York City,” Elizabeth said, and he frowned. “You think I’m not going to learn anything about the world my son’s father lives in?” she asked, folding her arms. “Okay. So Carly got herself in trouble, and the FBI was threatening RICO. What happened next?”

“That’s—that’s it. I didn’t need anything else. RICO—it’s—you said it yourself. It’s how they took apart families that had survived decades. It’s financial records and legal papers—everything gets scrutinized.” Jason grimaced, shook his head. “The warehouse and the coffee business — that’s gone. Any thing our money ever touched? Gone. The hospital could come under fire. Sonny’s donated so much money over the years. The hotel. They’d probably try to get into ELQ, which would kill Michael and Monica. And it would be everywhere. The boys—” Jason shook his head. “I couldn’t let that happen. I couldn’t—I couldn’t let everyone get destroyed. The hospital — it’s so important to you, and it’s where Emily and Alan and Monica—” He exhaled slowly. “If playing dead for a little while and getting this guy for the FBI was what it cost me to keep everything the people I love built safe, then it was an easy price to pay. And I’d do it again.”

He finally looked at her, and she was looking back at him, steady, her eyes soft. Not— “You’re not mad.”

“Not even a little bit. And anyone who thinks you would have made a different choice doesn’t know you very well.” She stepped towards him, setting a hand on his chest. “You’ve spent your entire life taking care of people, Jason. And the FBI handed you a way to take care of everyone at once. All you had to do was go away. I hate that we didn’t know. I hate we thought we’d lost you. Again. I hate every night you lost with your boys and with your mother. But when you weigh those two years against what we might have lost—I don’t see how anyone would expect you to do something different.”

He covered her hand with his, swallowing hard. “Thank you. That’s—Carly would have been the first domino. I did what I had to do. I found the name of Pikeman, and I handed it over. Cates — it wasn’t enough for him. He didn’t get the collar at the end of the job, and he had no leverage over me because the evidence against Carly disappeared.”

“And I’m guessing Agent Caldwell knows that.”

“Yeah, and he’s not exactly new to this. He investigated Shiloh’s murder. The one that put Sam in jail. I know he was angry about the sentence. He wanted her to go away long.” He grimaced, looked away. “And that he couldn’t rope me into it.”

“He’s going to have to get over it. You didn’t do anything, and there’s nothing they can do about that.”

“Yeah. Yeah. I know he’s not going away, but I can’t see how they pin this on me.” He squeezed her hand, and let it fall between them, so that he was still holding it. “I hate that this has set me back with Danny. I was close to convincing Sam to let me have more time, and I hate it. I don’t want Danny to feel like he has to choose between us, and I don’t know how it would go in court.”

“I mean, your criminal records would probably comparable,” she said dryly, and he managed a half smile. “But—”

“But there are those two years. I can’t really go around saying I was an informant. I just—” Jason shook his head. “I don’t know what to do. I don’t know if she’s just more upset because of what’s going on with her sisters. But…she and Spinelli were just hacking into the FBI to find out what the leverage was, so I don’t know why she’s insistent on keeping me from Danny.”

“She’s a hypocrite, Jason. But she has been since the day she decided you were too dangerous to be around Danny when she spent years convincing you the opposite.” Elizabeth made a face. “But I’m not going to let myself get in the middle of that.  For Danny — just keep making sure he knows you want to be in his life, the way you have for Jake. That’s all you can do right now.”

“I know. Thank you,” he added. He tipped his head towards the parking lot. “You ready to go?”

“Home? No. To take those turns really fast like we used to?” Elizabeth grinned. “Always.”

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