Title: The Man I've Become
Summary: Morgan recalls the night everything changed as he and Ava make an announcement.
Disclaimer: I do not own GH or its characters. I am not making any money off of this.
/
Port Charles, New York
Pozzulo's Ristorante
December 24, 2017
/
"Are you sure this is where you want to be tonight, Morgan?" Ava Jerome asked her young lover.
Sitting together in the back of their black limousine, Morgan simply nodded his head. He knew why she was asking. Four years previous they had been sitting in the back of the same limo. On that Christmas Eve, Julian, Alexis, Sam and Lucas had been with them. They went to Pozzulo's that night as well. It was the night everything had changed.
/
Port Charles, New York
Pozzulo's Ristorante
December 24, 2013
/
Carlos stepped out of the limo first and looked around, dark eyes alert and extremely observant. Once he gave the all clear, the Jerome family stepped from the limo; Julian first, who then helped Alexis and Sam, followed by Lucas and then Morgan who reached out a hand for Ava.
"I can already smell the prime rib," Morgan said as he inhaled deeply.
Ava had her arm looped through Morgan's, snuggling close to him to keep warm in the deep winter cold. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and had just pressed a kiss to her temple when he and Julian heard the squeal of the tires.
A van came barreling around the corner. Julian saw the side door open. Lucas recognized the muzzle flash.
"Shooters!" Carlos screamed. "Get down!"
Morgan pushed Ava down and covered her body with his. Julian threw himself over Alexis while Lucas dove to the ground, shielding his sister.
Morgan watched as innocent people fell, their blood mixing with freshly fallen snow. Shattering glass mixed with the sounds of Ava, Sam and Alexis' screams.
/
"Maybe we should go somewhere else," Kristina suggested to her younger brother.
Morgan sighed. "Look, I…I appreciate what you're both trying to do, but…I can't avoid this place forever. I can't avoid what happened here four years ago."
Ava rubbed her thumb over the rough skin of Morgan's hand. "We're not asking you to avoid it. We just want to be sure you're okay."
Morgan wondered at that word. Okay. What did it mean? Did it mean he had made peace with the shooting? Did it mean he had forgotten what he'd lost that night? Did it mean he didn't miss what had been taken? Who had been taken?
/
The gunfire stopped as quickly as it had started. Lucas was the first up once he heard Carlos call the all clear. He looked first at his sister. Sam seemed to be fine, just shaken up. Morgan and Ava were stirring, but he quickly noticed that his father hadn't moved an inch.
"Julian?" Lucas called as he knelt down next to his father.
Morgan helped Ava up and that's when he saw it. In the doorway of the entrance to the restaurant, menu held tightly in impossibly still fingers was his brother, Michael.
Dead.
Morgan saw the wound to his head. He didn't remember moving, but he was next to his brother in an instant. Tears fell down his cheeks as he cradled Michael's lifeless body to his. Ava watched, tears falling down her own cheeks as she watched the boy, man she had come to love mourn his brother.
"Yeah, this is Lucas Jones," Lucas began his call to 911. "I'm outside Pozzulo's. There's been a shooting. We have multiple fatalities."
Morgan's head turned when he suddenly heard Lucas say the words multiple fatalities. He caught sight of it then.
Sam and Lucas were both crouched over Julian, their father. Julian wasn't moving, and neither was Alexis. There was a pool of blood beneath them both.
/
The limo stopped in front of the restaurant and Carlos stepped out first. Once he gave the all clear, Morgan, Ava, Kristina, Sam and Lucas stepped from the limo.
Ava clung to Morgan, her memories of that night as fresh as if it had been yesterday. They moved quickly into the restaurant.
"Ah, Mr. Jerome, welcome back to Pozzulo's," the host greeted Morgan. "Would you like your usual table?"
Morgan only nodded. His mind was stuck in the past and speech was beyond him.
/
Sirens could be heard in the distance. Lucas had carefully rolled Julian off his Alexis and both were lying side by side on the sidewalk. Alexis was breathing, but it was shallow and she was losing a lot of blood. She had a gunshot wound to her upper left chest. As near as Lucas could tell, the bullet had hit Julian in the back, passed through his body and into Alexis.
Julian was gasping for air. He was bleeding out and if the ambulance didn't get there soon, Lucas knew he and Sam would lose the father they'd only just met.
"What the hell happened here?" an EMT asked as they arrived on the scene.
Carlos stepped up. "There was a shooting. Black van came around the corner and opened fire. Look, just help them, they've been shot."
Lucas pulled Sam back as she cried for both of her parents. The paramedics worked on them both and within moments it seemed they were being readied for transport via the helicopter that had just landed in the middle of the road.
Morgan was in shock. His brother was dead. His surrogate father was as good as dead. His surrogate mother; the same.
Ava reached for his shoulders but he turned away and walked over to Carlos. "We need to know who did this. I want…"
"What do you want, Morgan?" Carlos asked.
He knew this night would be a turning point for Morgan Corinthos. He had chosen his side already, now it was time for him to choose his destiny.
"I want to know who did this and I want them dead," Morgan said in a clear voice. "I want them dead before sunrise."
Sam reached her surrogate little brother and wrapped her arms around him. "Morgan, you know who did this."
Ava pressed her body against Morgan's back as she and her niece both hugged him tightly. The young man, just past his twentieth birthday, nodded.
"Sonny," he said the name with all the venom he had. "Sonny did this."
/
They were seated in the back of the restaurant, away from the majority of the others patrons. It was the way Morgan liked it. He still had a view of the front of the restaurant so he could see who entered and exited.
"I haven't been here since…" Lucas trailed off.
Sam grasped her brother's hand and squeezed. "Me neither."
He'd been a young doctor then, in his very first year as an emergency medicine intern. He'd seen some badly injured people, but nothing like what he'd experienced that cold Christmas Eve.
Morgan took a sip of his bourbon and nodded. He'd been back to Pozzulo's; the very next morning in fact.
/
Dressed in jeans, boots and a dark leather jacket and with Carlos by his side, Morgan stood across the street from Pozzulo's.
"Is he in there?" Morgan asked Julian's enforcer.
Carlos nodded. "He, Max and Shawn are all in there. From what Rocco and I gathered overnight, Sonny still isn't aware that Michael was killed. The cops haven't released any names and the press hasn't either. Michael wasn't even supposed to be at Pozzulo's last night."
Morgan nodded. That was good. He'd have the pleasure of letting his father know that he'd managed to kill his own son in the hit the night before.
"Let's go," Morgan said.
Carlos nodded. "There are two guards in the front. Other than that, just your pops and his muscle."
Hidden by the trees, Morgan and Carlos both added silencers to their guns before tucking them into the waistbands of their jeans. They quicly crossed the street and approached the guards outside the restaurant.
They both recognized Morgan. Since discovering Morgan's betrayal the month before, Sonny had told them to be wary of his youngest son, but not overly concerned. Neither guard drew a weapon. That was their first mistake; also their last.
Together, Morgan and Carlos pulled their weapons and Sonny's guards were both felled by shot to the head.
Carlos kicked open the front doors and they were met instantly by Shawn and Max. Carlos raised his arm and fired at Max, hitting the burly guard in the chest three times.
Morgan fired at Shawn in rapid succession, hitting the muscled former military man square in the head before Shawn could dive for cover. Shawn was dead before he hit the floor.
Sonny came running into the hallway when he was met by the raised guns of Carlos and Morgan.
"Morgan?"
Morgan smirked at his father. "Hi, Dad."
Sonny eyed them both carefully. "What the hell are you doing?"
Morgan continued to walk towards Sonny, backing the older man up into his office. Carlos closed the door behind them.
"What am I doing here?" Morgan repeated as Carlos hung back.
This was Morgan's coming-of-age moment and Carlos wasn't about to stop him. This was the final step; the final choice that would make Morgan Corinthos into the man Julian had known he could be.
"I'm here because of the hit you ordered last night."
Sonny's eyes widened. "I didn't…"
Morgan pointed the gun right between Sonny's eyes. "Don't lie to me, Dad. You knew I was with them last night. You knew I could be hit, but you didn't care. You never care, not about me. But I know you care about Michael. Sweet, innocent, misunderstood Michael; he was always your favorite."
"Morgan, you know that's not true," Sonny implored his youngest.
"It is true!" Morgan yelled. "But guess what, Dad? Guess what your hit did last night? You hit Julian in the back. He's critical, but I'm guessing you knew that already."
Carlos didn't miss Sonny's smirk. He'd known about Julian, just as Morgan had guessed.
"You also hit Alexis," he informed his father. "Bullet went right through Julian and into Alexis. She's critical, too. They're both probably going to die. But, that's what you wanted, so who cares, right?"
"Alexis," Sonny whispered. "No."
Morgan didn't even hear him. "You know who else, Dad? Do you want to know who else got hit last night?"
Sonny looked up. "Who?"
Morgan turned and nodded to Carlos. They had talked about this earlier. Morgan wanted Sonny to see where it had happened. He moved around the desk and grabbed Sonny and pushed him ahead, out of the office and to the entrance of the restaurant.
The blood stains were still there. Michael's blood still lingered.
"You see that?" Morgan asked, pointing his gun at the floor. "See that blood?"
Sonny nodded.
"It's Michael's," he whispered as he leaned over to his father.
Sonny's eyes widened. "No, no Michael wasn't…"
"Yes!" Morgan yelled. "He was here, Dad! He was here and now he's not! He's dead! Your hit killed your son!"
Sonny shook his head. He didn't believe it. He didn't want to believe it. Michael was safe. He was with Kiki last night. They were privately celebrating her pregnancy. Michael wasn't dead. It was impossible.
"Where is he then, Dad?" Morgan asked as if reading Sonny's thoughts. "Why isn't he here this morning? Why won't he answer his phone? Why is his car still parked out back?"
Tears began falling down Sonny's tanned cheeks. His son was dead. His baby Michael was gone…and it was his fault.
He fell to his knees in the doorway as Carlos closed up the doors and drew the shades.
Morgan knelt down next to his father. "I looked up to you as a kid. I wanted to be like you. But then you gave in and let Mom send me to military school. You tried to kill Jax. You pretty much abandoned Kristina and you think Dante is beneath you because he's a cop. As for me, you never really thought about me at all. It was always about Michael. Sainted Michael could do no wrong, even when he did."
Sonny continued to cry. "Morgan, please…"
"Please what, Dad?" Morgan wondered. "Please kill me? Please don't, perhaps? What do you want me to do, Dad? See, I can tell what you're thinking. You think I'm here to avenge Michael's death."
Sonny nodded a little.
"I'm not," Morgan informed him. "Michael made his choice, just like I did. He got caught in the crossfire and he's dead. I can't change that. No, I'm here for someone else. I'm here for Julian and Alexis. They've become my parents, my family. I'm here because you tried to kill them."
Sonny was nearly sobbing, shaking his head back and forth.
"I want you to know that this wasn't a difficult decision for me, Sonny," Morgan said.
"I'm your father," Sonny said through his tears.
Morgan shook his head. "No, you aren't. Not anymore. However mad I was before, I still always considered you my father. But last night, you changed that. You knew what you were risking when you ordered the hit. Today, you pay for that choice. Stand up."
Sonny stood. He squared his shoulders and smirked. "You won't kill me. You don't have the guts. You were never as brave as your brother. Michael was always…"
Morgan raised his arm and fired a shot right between Sonny's eyes. He fell instantly, dead before he hit the floor. Blood flowed from his head, mingling with the stains left from Michael's death.
Morgan knelt down by his father and rested his hand on his chest. "I am what you made me, Sonny. Your neglect, your indifference, your outright callousness; you made me the man I've become. You made me Morgan Jerome."
"Boss," a strangled voice was heard a few feet away.
Carlos walked over and saw that somehow Max was still alive. He raised his gun and fired a shot into Max's head.
Morgan heard sirens then in the distance. "Come on. Someone has seen the dead guards by now."
Morgan and Carlos went out the back of the restaurant and hustled over the fence. They were long gone by the time the cops arrived.
/
"We had to come back," Morgan said. "We can't be scared in our own city."
Ava nodded. "I agree. This is a fantastic restaurant and there is no reason we should stay away."
Kristina shrugged. "I guess I just feel weird being here. I mean, Dad died here. So did Michael, Julian and…and Mom."
"Both my parents," Sam whispered as she held Kristina's hand.
Morgan reached across the table and took his elder sister and Sam's hands hand. "I know you miss them. I do too. But it's time we make new memories of this place. Michael loved this restaurant. We honor him by being here now. Julian and Alexis, they were so happy that night. They'd finally come together."
Ava looked at her lover and wondered when the sweet kid she'd met had become the cold-blooded killer and unremorseful liar he was now. She'd never been able to prove it, but she'd always had a feeling that it had been Morgan who'd killed Sonny. His body had been found the morning after the hit in the entranceway of Pozzulo's. He'd avenged Julian and Alexis' deaths.
Lucas nodded and raised his wine glass. "To Michael, Julian and Alexis."
"To Michael, Julian and Alexis," everyone echoed and drank.
"On to other business," Morgan called. "The real reason I invited you all here was because Ava and I have news."
"We're getting married," Ava said as she held out her hand.
Kristina grabbed her hand and inspected the ring. "Good job, little brother."
Morgan laughed. "Thanks."
He leaned over and placed a gentle kiss on Ava's lips. They pulled away smiling, knowing not everything was perfect in their world. It couldn't be with everything they'd both lost, but it was close.
The family laughed as they dined that night. They drank, they shared stories and they remembered those they had lost.