Authors Note: As I promised those of you who stuck it out for both Shadows of the Past and Woe, I would continue the ongoing saga of the citizens of Port Charles after a break to gain my bearings and rest. The story that I wanted to tell has yet to be told, and, until that story has been told, rest assured that my days and nights spent writing stories such as these will not end. That said, thank you all for returning to my work, it does me great joy to know that people read it, and now, with the function I have available to me, I can check how many hits a story has, and contrast it with the reviews. That is not a threat, although, truth be told, the review ration between Shadows and Woe was rather large… but, I'm here to write, and hopefully entertain, to demand reviews from you, my readers, would pervert the art of writing, something that I simply will not do. If you want to review, and, god willing, you do, then please do so, if you do not, then more power to you.

For those of you who are reading this and going 'what the hell is this guy (and yes, I am a guy) talking about?' I give you the simple explanation. Since December 2003, I have been writing General Hospital related fanfiction. I did not expect it to get nearly as large as it has gotten, but it did, and I'm not upset about it. The first two stories, three, in a way, are still on the site, just click on my user name and you will see all my other works. The General Hospital ones are the ones listed at the top. I will NOT, I repeat NOT be held responsible for the scarring that may come to you if you choose to continue to go down that list. I keep those stories for the hell of it, not because I love them or anything. That said, you should probably avoid them… they likely hold little interest to you. Is it critical that you read those two stories? In a way, yes, because one of the central characters, of my own creation, is introduced during the first part, and fleshed out throughout both. But is it necessary? No. If you have questions, you can always ask about them in a review and I will answer them when I do the next update. Generally, barring some unforeseen circumstances outside of my control, I give one five page chapter a day, sometimes it can change, sometimes the chapters are about five full pages on word and a section of the sixth, but you can expect almost a daily dose of my story, if you want it. As a seldom reader of fanfiction on this site, I absolutely abhor the long waits that could come when people keep on stalling and stalling for the next section, and try and keep my readers from feeling the same pain, so, I make sure to have a lead before I start posting. As of right now, I'm on page 105 of the story, while you are merely getting up to page five. So, that should give you an idea as to how able I am to update according to my schedule.

Now, for some of the technical whatnot: I've tweaked a lot of the storyline for my purposes. Since this was originally written in 2003, any coupling is from that time, which means, CarSon, Journey, LiRic, GQ, and anything else that may or may not pop up. For those that want to know, Carly is portrayed as the beloved Tamara Braun, and Maxie is still Robyn Richards. Also, as it has only recently been revealed that Dillon and Georgie are not the same age, which I was almost certain they were, within the context of this story, they are both seniors in high school, the same age, so is Brook. Which leads me to my next point: despite being written in 2003, if I see characters that I wish to incorporate, and can incorporate in this story, I will. So far Lois, Brook and Durant have all made appearances despite not being introduced until after I started the original story, and more may well come. Also, I cannot, seriously, cannot work with every character who has been on the canvas, and I won't try to. This is a very focused story, it is not all encompassing, a lot of characters don't even get a mention, and that is because I simply do not have the time to work with everyone. I won't say that they will never show up, because it is possible, but the likelihood of Jax, Emily, Alexis, Nikolas, Helena and so on making appearances here in the story are pretty slim. Forgive me, for I am nothing but human and I have only so much ability inside of me. Not even that much, yet I keep on trucking.

Finally, I really do love the feedback that I can get from you, the readers. If you want to suggest things for me to do, you can. I will not guarantee them, but I will comment on them, and, if they fit the overall tone of the story, I will probably put them in. Please do not suggest that Sonny find out about Kristina, though. While I thought it was an excellent story on the show, and would indeed make for a good read here, I don't feel like throwing another child into the mix. Just a personal reference.

Also, I do not own these characters, save a few, who you should know because you've either been reading and know that they are mine, or you're asking that 'who the hell is this?' question. Yeah, I own them. Mine, all mine. But I still don't make profit from this, this is all for fun, and for the enjoyment of myself and of the rest of you. Without further ado, let us begin this storyline!

Story-

General Hospital-

He looked at the paperwork that was in front of his face on the clipboard intently. No matter how big or how small the problem was it ended up being his job to help the person and his or her family and friends, cope with what was gone. That was one of the most important parts of being a doctor, a part that he feared most people overlooked. It wasn't about telling them what was happening, it was about making them feel like they could beat what was wrong with them, or, in the case that there was something that they couldn't beat, find a way to cope with it. Luckily for the young intern there had yet to be a case where he was forced to deal with the latter option. Everyone that he had seen he had found a way to cure, sometimes it was as simple as giving out a prescription for a pill, other times it required sending them to one of the more experienced doctors, such as Monica Quartermaine, for more intensive care than he could provide at the point he was at in his career.

"So, what's wrong with me?" The middle-aged man asked as he put his shirt on. One of the less pleasant aspects of being a doctor was being forced to look at people without clothes on. Sometimes they needed it. Yes, it was a petty little complaint, but, despite claims to the contrary, Port Charles, New York was not solely populated by the pretty people.

"I'm afraid, Mr. Anderson, that you have streptococcus."

"Excuse me?"

Damian smiled. A perk of the job was using the big words that people wouldn't understand. He'd never do it when it was something that couldn't be a little humorous. "Strep throat, Mr. Anderson. You have strep throat."

"Oh…"

Monica Quartermaine, the aforementioned exalted doctor, was walking passed the exam room where Damian and his patient were. She had been watching him, like she watched all the interns, but Damian Zuniga-Corinthos was something special. The son of the wealthy and very powerful mobster, Sonny Corinthos, Damian had more going against him than he could ever have going for him. It was hard for Monica at times as well, to look at him, to hear his name in her head and to not think about what could have been. The elderly woman had lost much to Sonny and his sphere of influence. She had lost a son and a grandson, who had now happily embraced Damian as his big brother. Monica had seen Damian with Michael, and she knew that he loved the boy as if he truly were a little brother.

But there were times when Monica could see Damian for who he was, not a reflection of Sonny, or of Michael, or of anyone else, just as the young man driven to the calling by a horrible tragedy that had befallen him at a young age. Plenty of people wanted to become doctors after they felt a loss like Damian had, but very few of them actually managed to do it. Damian was one of them.

"It's a very common malady, Mr. Anderson," Damian put the clipboard down and looked at the man in the eyes. Some doctors would talk while looking at the charts, that made them seem impersonal. Damian remembered what that was like. The doctors that tried to help his mother's last days a little less uncomfortable were like that. They rarely looked the family in the eyes. It could have been because they didn't want to see the pain that had befallen the Zuniga clan, losing Ana-Maria Zuniga was like losing a part of their soul. Damian, despite being her only child, could never be the type of person that his mother was. She united people left and right, Damian loved his family dearly, always would, but he wasn't the type who was big on the hugs and reunions. "You don't need to worry about anything bad happening to you. You don't need to be afraid. It's contagious right now, so you should probably avoid contact with as many people as possible, but in a few days it will clear up."

The word contagious didn't make the man feel very good about it. "What about work?"

"Unless you want to get your coworkers sick, it would be advised that you don't go into work for a few days. Getting people sick, especially with something like this, isn't exactly the best way to get friends, or keep the ones that you have. You have sick days available do you, do you not?"

"Well… yeah…"

"Then spend the next few days catching up on 'The Price Is Right' and sitting around the house in your pajamas all day. In some ways, this is a blessing in disguise. You're going to be fine, Mr. Anderson, but if you feel like something is wrong, like you're not getting any better, you can come in again."

"Can I… ask you something?"

"I'm your doctor," Damian said confidently, as if he needed to hear it just as much as his patient. "You can ask me anything."

"How… old are you?"

The young man snickered under his breath. It was a common question. Although he had only been interning for two weeks, the question came up more times than he would care to state. And each time he would do the same thing, laugh. "I'm twenty-one, Mr. Anderson." It was odd for someone of his age to be an intern, he was well aware of that, but he was also well aware of the fact that he was capable of doing what people expected of him. Besides, he was only a year and a half younger than most of the other interns that were running around the hospital with him. It wasn't like he was still some acne-ridden teenager who was telling people how to take care of themselves. But, he knew what he was getting into when he took the offer, he knew that people would second guess him. He'd even had a few patients who refused to listen to his advice without the opinion of another, more 'capable' doctor. He took offense to that, how could he not, but he was sympathetic towards them. If the situation was reversed he would do the same thing. Then again, doctors made the worst patients.

"Maybe I should…"

Monica walked in at that moment. She had seen more than enough people belittle Damian's advice. He may have been taking it well, but she wasn't. It was on her suggestion that they took in someone who was considerably younger than most of the interns that they would take in. If Damian went down, Monica and Alan, as well as Bobbie, would go down with her. She would hate to have such a failure happen because of something so petty as age. "I can assure you that anything that Doctor Zuniga-Corinthos suggested is made with the utmost consideration."

"Why thank you, Doctor Quartermaine." Damian was prepared to page another doctor, usually it ended up being Monica, but he didn't need to do that. "Are there any more questions, Mr. Anderson?"

Mr. Anderson knew well and good the reputation of the Quartermaine family. They were the people who essentially owned the hospital. Alan and Monica Quartermaine were two of the most respected doctors on the east coast. If one of them, obviously Monica, said that the kid was giving him the right diagnostic, then the kid was giving him the right diagnostic. "Not at all. I'll follow your orders to the letter, Doctor."

"Glad to hear it," Damian ripped away a pad of paper, signing it. "Take this to a pharmacy, either here at the hospital or somewhere else, it's your prescription. Instructions will be on the bottle when you receive it. Have a nice day."

Monica watched the man leave. She was still marginally upset at the way that he had treated his doctor. The woman looked over and saw that it was actually distressing Damian, who normally took it in spades. "You know… if I had to go through the same thing that you did when I was an intern, I think I would have quit."

"The thought has crossed my mind. Sometimes I wonder if I should just wait till I'm a little older. Or grow some facial hair to keep this youthful look at bay."

"Damian," Monica shook her head, putting a hand on his shoulder, "I'm saying this completely objectively, not because of the fact that I've taken a special interest in you… but you're good at this. You're really good at this. Better than you should be at your age."

"Thank you, Monica."

"And you're better with the patients than most of the full time doctors here. You're sympathetic, you make them feel like they're important to you."

"They are important to me," he said with a shy smile. "How could they not be? They're depending on me to help make them better. They're trusting me with their fate. I can't take that lightly."

"You sound a lot like Emily when you say something like that. Or… how Jason used to sound."

"Monica…" the young man knew that it was a sore spot for her, to talk about the son that she lost. She would look at Jason Morgan and she couldn't help but see Jason Quartermaine in his stead, but then came the realization that she would never be able to get that person back. Her son was lost to her, and he was into something that could end his life because of Damian's father.

"I'm sorry," she wiped away the beginnings of tears from her eyes before they could roll down her face. "How much longer do you have before your shift is over?"

"Six hours." Another less than pleasant aspect of his job was the long hours. As an intern he was expected to stay in the hospital for days at a time. The beds in the hospital weren't nearly as comfortable as his bed at the penthouse. "I was actually going to take my lunch break… is that all right?"

"You're entitled to it by law. Besides, we're not slave drivers here…"

"You obviously don't spend that much time in the locker room listening to some of the other people complain, do you?" He and Monica shared a laugh as they left the examination room, closing the door behind them.

Port Charles Docks-

Sonny Corinthos looked at the ocean from the edge of the docks. As a young boy he would often look at the ocean and dream the dreams of a child, dreams of being rich and powerful, being able to give his family everything that they wanted, everything that he never had. Now, as an adult, Sonny had done that. But he had paid a horrible price for it. His soul had been tainted. There was no doubt about it. He could delude himself into thinking that he was just a person who did things for a reason, for a good reason, but the fact was that he still did things that God wouldn't approve of for any reason, and yet he still depended on the lord to help him through the hardest times of his life, and somehow, the lord still gave him the will to survive.

It didn't matter how hard Sonny tried, there was never a way for him to get out of the business for good. He had attempted it, with marginal degrees of success. He really thought that the last time, after that bullet went through his wife's head and almost killed her, he would have snapped out of it, and he was doing well, but the cold slap of reality once more took hold of Sonny and his life. Damian came into his life, and Damian was put in danger because Sonny was trying to pass himself off as legit, and in the end it put the boy in danger. It almost cost him the son that he loved dearly. At that time they barely had a relationship… and he would have lost any and all chances of having a relationship with him. Like it or not, no matter what, Sonny needed the lifestyle that he led. He couldn't do without it.

"Sonny?" Jason Morgan walked down the stairs. Sonny apparently didn't hear him, which wasn't that surprising, since, when Sonny was brooding, as he frequently did, he found a way to tune out the world around him. It was something that Jason wished that he could do. He was good at having a blank stare, even when he was nervous, but he was horrid at channeling out people. Jason listened to everything. He called out to his partner, one of his best friends a second time, "Sonny?"

"Did you ever think that it would all come down like this?"

"What do you mean?"

"Did you think that your life would turn out the way that it did? Working with me, doing what we do? Having the life that we have?" Sonny looked over his shoulder at Jason's unique eyes. It was easy to see why Courtney fell in love with Jason. But he was quick to realize what his question meant, especially to someone like Jason. "Sorry, I guess I shouldn't be asking you that question."

"Are you all right?" Jason knew that when Sonny started to be introspective it was the time when there was something going on.

"Just thinking."

"That's what's scaring me."

"Don't worry, Jase," Sonny said firmly. "I'm fine. I was just looking and thinking about my life. Even with everything that's happened, all the things that I wish never happened, there is so much more that I'm very thankful did happen. I'm glad that I met you, for example, I'm glad that I have the family that I do. I just wish that I didn't have to worry about you and everyone else so much."

"I can take care of myself…"

"I don't doubt that, but what about everyone else? What about Carly and Courtney? What about my children? What about Dillon?"

"We protect them."

"And what if we can't protect them enough? What happens when we fail in protecting them? Like when I failed Lily? Or when I failed Carly and we lost our first baby? Life's good right now, Jason… but whenever life gets good, especially my life, something happens to screw it up. I guess I'm just waiting for it."