Written in 71 minutes.

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Saturday, September 28, 2024

Webber House: Stairwell

are we all set

On the third floor, Cameron sat on the top step, and sent the text, hoping that it wasn’t too early. Then again, this was Trina who was usually up by dawn—

operation reunification is officially on but you gotta be here before 10 drew’s supposed to have new nanny interviews at 1 and i promised to have scout back up at the house do not get me evicted.

please everyone in that house hates that man they’ll probably throw you a parade.

Trina didn’t reply with words, but sent him an emoji that had him grinning. At least there were some people in Port Charles he could still count on. She’d worked her magic to steal Scout away from the main house for a few hours — and Cameron had his excuse to head over to the Quartermaines.

He had his own reasons for wanting to help Danny, though he mostly did want to see the kid reunite with his sister. He knew what it was like to be apart from his brother, and those years without Jake couldn’t be easily fixed.

He responded to Trina’s emoji, then started to stand — but then heard a door on the floor below him open and close — and voices that weren’t Aiden’s heading towards the stairs.

“I don’t know what else we can do,” his mother was saying, and Cameron had to edge closer to the railing to hear the rumble of Jason’s voice responding — he didn’t have years of eavesdropping to rely on where Jason was concerned.

“I’m going to….Spinelli.”

“I thought you called him last night.”

Cameron crept down one step, careful to keep close to the wall so that he’d remain out of view of his mother and Jason, but might be able to hear them better.

“I did,” Jason replied. “And he didn’t really have anything. But maybe—”

“I know you’ve been trying to keep your distance, but maybe—there’s nothing Sonny knows?”

There was some silence, and Cameron crept down another step. What was the deal with Sonny, he wondered, and had Jason really stopped working for the guy? It seemed almost impossible.

“I haven’t talked to him since this started. He didn’t know anything then—but maybe—”

“I don’t want you to do anything you don’t want to do—”

“No, no. You’re right. Spinelli needs to stay clean. I can’t just sit around and wait for Tuesday.”

The voices moved and Cameron realized they were going downstairs. He nearly followed them, but he felt glued to the step, the wood seeping through the sweatpants he’d worn to sleep.

Tuesday was his mother’s next court date. The motion to dismiss that didn’t seem like it was going to dismiss anything. And his mother’s tone had seemed a bit more…anxious than the last time she’d spoken about any of this.

But maybe his mother had been doing what she’d always done best. Put on a brave  front to pretend everything was just fine.

What were they so worried about on Tuesday?

Penthouse: Living Room

“You’re the last person I expected today,” Sam said, stepping back to let Dante into the living room. “I thought…unless—” she closed the door, then turned to face him with dread. “Are you here to pick up more of your things?”

“No. I mean, not unless—” Dante folded his arms, then sat on the arm of the sofa. “I thought we should talk after taking a few days to….sort things out.”

Sam tipped her head, squinted her eyes. “Sort things out? Is that what we were doing?”

“I don’t know. I’m not really sure how to describe anything that’s happened in the last few weeks. The last few months.” Dante scrubbed a hand through his hair. “I know what happened between Rocco and Danny screwed things up for you in court—”

“I’d done myself no favors going into those hearings, and you know that. I…” Sam pressed her lips together. “I knew I was falling into those old, awful habits — into that mindset where I had to compete with Elizabeth to be the best—” She blew out a frustrated breath. “It was like watching a horror movie, and starring in it all at the same time. I could see myself going over the edge, and losing it, and not being able to stop it. Even now, knowing that’s what I was doing —” She made a face. “As long as Danny’s in her house, I’m not even sure I’ll be able to stop myself now.”

“I understand that—”

Sam just shook her head. “You say that, but we both know you don’t. I don’t even understand it. I don’t need to compete with her. She doesn’t have anything I want.  I need you to believe me when I say that — I don’t want to be with Jason. I don’t love him anymore, and I don’t miss the person I was with him. The live we had together. I don’t, Dante.”

“I do believe you—”

“And I don’t—” She pressed her lips together. “I don’t know. Maybe she’s a better mother than me—”

“She’s been a mother longer than you, Sam. Cameron is almost ten years older than Danny. She’s had three teenagers. You’ve just had Danny. I’ve only had Rocco,” Dante reminded her, and Sam smiled faintly. “It’s experience. She’s got it, and we don’t.”

“That—” Sam brushed her fingertips against her mouth. “I hadn’t really thought about it that way. It doesn’t feel like I’ve done everything right with Danny. Every word, every choice, every idea we tried, it felt like the wrong one. And with Rocco—”

“We were in trouble before we even knew it. But that’s why I’m here. Rocco’s—he wants to come back.”

“Here?” Sam asked, her brows lifting. “You’re joking. He ran away from here—”

“It wasn’t about you. Not really. I mean, a little bit. But it was mostly me. I—I should have done more to help him get through what’s happened with Lulu. He’s messed up about that. And he resented you for keeping Danny from his dad when he sees Jason coming back as the miracle he doesn’t get to have with his mother. It just—it got out of control.” Dante got to his feet and came a few feet towards her. “But I think if we work together, we can get this back on track.”

“I just…” Sam bit her lip, shifted her weight from one foot to the other. “I don’t know. I don’t trust any choice I make right now. And the last thing I want to do is upset Rocco more.” Her eyes filled. “But I miss you. I miss all of you, and the life we thought we had. I don’t know if we can get it back, but God, I want to try. Can we please—can we please try?”

Dante’s thumb brushed her jaw as he cradled her face. “We’re going to have something better. I promise. I’m not letting go of you or the family I know we can have.”

Quartermaine Estate: Garage Apartment

Trina pulled the door open even as Danny raised his hand to knock, and then a small body barreled past her.

“Danny!” Scout clung to her brother, and Danny dropped to his knees to hug her more tightly.

“Okay, maybe we get through the doorway so we can keep this quiet,” Cameron said, edging around the pair. He flashed a grin at Trina. “Still the best friend a guy could ask for.”

“You know me,” she said, hugging him. “I’d do anything for you. Even if it’s slightly illegal.”

“Thank you,” Danny said, standing up, and holding his sister’s hand, gripping it tightly. “This is really—” He dropped his eyes, but his voice sounded a little thick. “This is seriously the best. I needed—” He stopped, shook his head.

Scout leaned against her brother. “I missed you,” she told him. “I want to go home. Can we go home now?”

“Not yet,” Danny said. He led her over to the sofa, helped her to sit down. “I got into some trouble, and it got a little crazy. So we can’t go home yet. But I promise you. We’ll figure out how to see each other more.”

Still by the door, Trina looked at Cameron with slightly worried eyes. “I’m not sure I can make this happen a lot. If Drew caught me—”

“He can’t do anything to you—”

“You think that, but he’s running for political office. And he’s, like, winning in the polls for some reason,” she added. “You might not think that carries weight, but it might. We might need to think of other ways. Or maybe a lawyer. Can’t there be some kind of demand for visitation? It seems so crazy they can just separate siblings like this.”

“I thought about talking to Drew,” Cameron admitted, “but Jake told me he’s like a different man. Not the guy we knew when we were younger.”

“He’s cold. And harsh. Unforgiving. Which is why I wanted to help you get Danny and Scout in the same room.” Trina looked back at the pair. “I don’t have siblings, but I’d like to think if someone was trying to keep me apart from them, I’d do whatever I could to stop it.” She returned her gaze to Cameron. “You’d never let Drew stop you from seeing your brothers.”

“No, I wouldn’t. We’ll think of something, Treen.” He hesitated. “I’ll be back in a little bit. There’s something I wanted to take care of while I was here. You’re okay with them?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll text you if we need to do a quick get away.”

Harborview Towers: Corinthos Penthouse

Carly made a face as she breezed through the front door. “Have I ever told you I hate what you’ve done with this place?”

“Repeatedly.” Sonny turned away from the windows and sighed. “You know, I have guards for a reason—”

“Please.” Carly tossed her bag on the sofa, and folded her arms. “I want to know what you’re doing to get this stupid case dismissed.”

“Case?” Sonny tilted his head. “What case?”

“No, don’t do that—” Carly pointed a finger at him. “Don’t pretend that I’m stupid. I’m doing everything I can to help Jason, but he’s not asking me for very much, so I need you to give me something to do or at least tell me you’ve got something that will help—”

“Uh, I hate to disappoint you—well, that’s not true,” Sonny corrected. “It’s my favorite hobby—”

“Sonny.”

“I’m not doing anything.” Sonny sat on the sofa. “Jason made it very clear that he needs any evidence to be completely clean and above board. I can’t get involved—”

“Oh, bullshit. Since when have you taken orders from Jason?” Carly erupted.

“About the same time you started listening when he tells you to stay out of his business. Looks like we’re both trying out some new ideas.”

She pressed her lips together, counted to ten, then planted her hands on her hips. “Do you understand that the FBI doesn’t want Elizabeth, they want Jason? Please tell me you know that.”

“I do. And they have no evidence against him—”

“No, they just have Elizabeth’s freedom dangling over him like a goddamn carrot. Just like they did with me. What dumb thing did Jason do to get me out of trouble even when I didn’t know or want him to?” Carly demanded. “The Feds want him to confess to get her out of this. They want Jason’s head on a pike. Just like whoever put that damn gun in her car.”

Sonny went still. “What?”

“Please,” Carly snorted. “No one wanted to frame Elizabeth Webber for murder. But Jason’s got a playbook with this sort of thing, you know? Michael went to jail, Jason confessed to protect him. I got himself into trouble, Jason played dead to work for the Feds. Everyone knows Jason sacrifices himself for the people around him. The Feds know it because they’ve already done it. So whoever did this to Elizabeth is after Jason. And we need to stop him before he does something stupid like confess to a crime he didn’t commit.”

Sonny exhaled slowly, then rose to his feet, looking a bit shaken. “You’re right. Who—whoever did this had to know Jason would sacrifice his own freedom to keep Elizabeth out of jail.” He scrubbed a hand over his face. “But that doesn’t change what you and I need to do.”

“What?” Carly’s hands fell to her sides. “Sonny—”

“Jason asked us to stay out of it. He’s trusting Diane, and we’ve never had a reason not to trust her either, have we?” he asked, pointedly. Carly grimaced, then shook her head. “So we stay out of it.”

“Oh, okay, easy for you to say. You didn’t even miss Jason when he was gone. You don’t even miss him now. But I did and I’m not going to sit around while someone is trying to destroy his life. Shame on you, Sonny, for not having Jason’s back when he needs you the most.”

She yanked up her bag, then stalked towards the door. When it slammed, Sonny released a shaky breath and shook his head.

Of course. Whoever had done this wanted it to go away quietly. And what was more quiet than a confession and a closed case?

But it couldn’t be — it couldn’t have happened the way he’d feared. It wasn’t possible.

It couldn’t be.

Quartermaine Estate: Boat House

How many times had he come to the lake, Cameron wondered, standing just beyond the door, staring at wood, still stained dark with the blood of the man his mother was accused of murdering.

They hadn’t done anything to remove the staining, and after nearly a month, it would be impossible. Maybe the Quartermaines would rip the deck out when this was all over—

“They released the crime scene this week.”

Cameron turned and saw Joss coming out of the woods, down the pathway from the garage house. He said nothing as she approached, climbed up the steps.

“They had tape here until the FBI came and searched again. I guess—” Joss folded her arms. “I guess they didn’t have a reason to hold on to it anymore.”

Cameron just shook his head and started to walk past her, but she caught his arm.

“Is it always going to be like this, Cam?”

He turned, looked at her, searching her eyes for any hint of the girl he’d grown up with, fallen in love with, the one who had broken him into bits and crushed them into the ground.

And found no evidence she’d ever existed. “What did you expect, Joss?”

She pressed her lips together. “I don’t know — but it’s been almost two years —”

“Yeah, it has.” He gently lifted her hand from his arm, then dropped it. “Which means I don’t think about you anymore. You should understand that better than anyone.”

She huffed. “What does that mean?”

“You stopped thinking about me a long time ago, Joss. At least I can say I waited until we broke up to get into bed with someone else.” He lifted his brows. “I don’t even think you bothered to shower between us.”

His head snapped hard to the side, his cheek stinging from where her hand had struck it.  He touched the skin, then looked at her, smiled faintly. “Nothing ever changes for you, does it, Josslyn? I come here to see the place that’s destroying my mother’s life and you’re looking for, what? Closure? Redemption?” He smirked. “You’re still the star of the show. But I’m done buying tickets.”

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