Banner (remove spaces then c&p into your addy bar. It has a picture of Zack in it. Played by Jeff Branson
Zachary Drake, Patrick's estranged, hot-headed younger brother, comes to town with a chip on his shoulder. Feeling abandoned by his father and Patrick after Maddie died, he went off the deep end. So much so that Patrick has never even told Robin about him. When Robin finds out can their relationship survive his secrets? And if it does can it survive Zack's interest in Georgie Jones, Robin's beloved little cousin? Meanwhile Mac's other girl, Maxie Jones, has her hands full with Coop! Mac is certain Coop is no good and Maxie is tired of him butting into her life so she concocts a plan to get Mac a life of his own. Will her plan backfire as she tries to juggle her father's affairs…and her own all at the same time? With all the madness it's no surprise Georgie's strange behavior has been overlooked…has her family done her a disservice by not paying her much attention and if they have can she escape the danger she's been delving into?
Prologue
I light your cigarettes
I bring you apples from the vine
How quickly you forget
I run the bath and pour the wine
I bring you everything that floats into your mind
But you don't bring me anything but down
You don't bring me anything but down
You don't bring me anything but down
When you come 'round
You are a raging sea
I pull myself out everyday
I plea insanity
Cause I can't leave but I can't stay
You say, won't you come find me and yes is what I say
Georgie Jones woke to the sound of Sheryl Crow blasting from her clock radio. Not one to lag around, she dragged herself out of bed and into the bathroom. It had been a long night but Lulu had begged for her to take the early shift and she hadn't the heart to refuse, something she regretted at that particular moment especially since Lulu was one of the bigger causes for her break up with Dillon. It wasn't that she actively wanted him back, she was not one of those girls who believed they always needed a boyfriend, it was just he had been her first love and sometimes she believed her only love. It's not like guys were breaking down doors to get to her like they did Lulu and even if they were she didn't feel ready for another relationship. Not with the chaos that had enveloped her very existence.
Having showered only a few hours before, Georgie just washed her face and neck thoroughly, spraying some water on her hair and then drying it straight so she didn't have to really style it. Toweling herself dry Georgie looked into the mirror. Who was looking back at her anyway? Who was that girl with the perfect grades and the great temperament and the 'don't rock the boat' mentality? "A doormat. You're a walking, talking doormat." She told her reflection unhappily. But it wasn't always that way, no, she had found quite a satisfying way to spend her weekends that swept those doormat tendencies away. Part of her wanted to share it…but people would only worry and then her special world would be tainted and she couldn't have that.
A knock came at her door and she opened it to see Maxie, her golden locks piled into a messy bun on top of her head, her make up was heavier then usual and she was awake unusually early. "Coop and I got into a fight." She grabbed her sister's hand and then flounced past her own room to Georgie's. She plopped down on the bed dramatically. "Oh, Dillon's downstairs, he says he has something for you."
But you don't bring me anything but down.
You don't bring me anything but down
You don't bring me anything but down
When you come 'round
"Don't go, Georgie. If Mac hadn't told him you were here I would have told him you were still asleep."
"What did you and Coop fight about?" Georgie asked, shutting the door. Dillon could wait a few minutes. It was probably about Lulu anyway. "Was it bad?"
"It was whatever. No one understands me, Georgie." She flipped over onto her stomach and propped her face up with her hands, calves swinging in the air. "He bailed. They always bail."
Georgie raised her eyebrows, "Maybe it's not so bad, it was only one fight."
"The point is I thought Coop might finally be the one who, you know, gets me, but nope. Of course not." Maxie hopped up and turned the stereo off. "Georgie, don't, don't go downstairs. Dillon is a loser who is totally hung up on that bitch Lulu. You deserve so much better."
Wetting her lips, Georgie glanced nervously at the door, "he might have brought his notes for that writing class I asked for. I mean, we are still friends, right?" Friends. Right. Stifling a sigh and then squashing the hope that Dillon wanted her back she forced a smile.
"Whatever, if you say so." Maxie groaned and trudged towards the door, then spun around. "You're way too nice, sis. Way. Too. Nice."
Georgie followed Maxie out then suddenly caught the tail of her sister's pajama top. "hey, Robin wanted me to keep an eye on you about Coop anyway, she says Sonny told her he might not be such a nice guy, like a criminal or something."
"Sonny Corinthos whining that someone is a criminal?" Maxie snorted and shook her head, "only in Port Charles, right?"
"Is it true Maxie?" Georgie wanted to know, eying her sister curiously, the smirk Maxie wore told her enough. "We need to talk about that, Maxie. Maybe it's good that the two of you had a fight."
"You know what's funny? Robin seems to only talk to you when she needs you to keep an eye on me. Funny how that works, huh? Then again, I guess no one needs to keep an eye on you- since you're perfect and everything."
"I'm far from perfect." Georgie argued with a roll of her eyes, "I'm just….less…" She searched for a word then stopped at less. After all it seemed like an apt description of herself. Georgie Jones- Less. "Be careful with Coop, okay?"
"Life's too short to be careful." She scoffed, winking. "Maybe if you lived a little you'd actually smile again."
Georgie just shook her head.
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"Save me! Save me! Save me!" Lulu rushed behind the counter of Kelly's and ducked, looking pleadingly from her place on the ground to her Aunt Bobbie. "Robin wants me to help with the Nurse's Ball, she and Noah Drake are hosting it this year."
Bobbie raised her eyebrows, "really? I didn't know that! I'd love to help. Maybe I can be his dresser." She wriggled her eyebrows for effect.
Groaning, Lulu covered her face, "hormones in check now Aunt Bobbie. This is a matter of life and death. She wants me to do a number with Spinelli. Now I like Spinelli and all but…it's going to be really embarrassing."
"Alright, alright. I'll tell Robin your dad called for you, okay?"
Breathing a heavy sigh of relief, Lulu relaxed and leaned against the counter. Life was hard enough with three bachelors heatedly pursuing her and her mired in drama family, in addition complete humiliation might just drive her to disappear from Port Charles forever.
"Oh, hi Robin- where's your other half?"
"He's working," Came Robin's chipper voice, "I'm actually here to meet his father. We're hosting the Nurse's Ball this year- Lucy couldn't make it home."
"That's too bad. But who knows with Lucy, right? I mean she could just show up."
"Too true." Robin answered, "hey , did I see Lulu come in here a few moments ago? I have this brilliant number I'd like her to do with that Spinelli kid."
Lulu watched as Bobbie shrugged, "she was here but then she went out the kitchen door after her father called, if you hurry outside, maybe you can catch her!"
"Oh, thanks- but really quick. Lucas is still going to help with the ball, right? He emailed me from school and said he would but I just want to check."
"Sure is." Bobbie answered cheerfully, "he's excited to come home, I don't think he was too happy at school. Of course we're going to make his 'Welcome Home' party the best in Port Charles. You're coming right?"
"Oh yeah, wouldn't miss it. I'm going to go try and catch Lulu."
"Okay, she's gone." Bobbie muttered a few minutes later, "go upstairs in one of the rooms and hide."
Lulu leaped up and kissed her aunt on the cheek before barreling up the steps.
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"I swear to God, I saw him." Patrick argued with his father in a hushed voice. He had pulled Noah into one of the empty hospital room to tell him of the news. It was only a glance but Patrick knew for certain it was him. "He was walking down the street, plain as day. I don't think he saw me though."
"Patrick, your brother is not in town. There's no possible way. He knows we're here and so this is the last place he'd go." Noah sat down on the hospital bed, hands in the pockets of his white doctor's jacket. "He hates you more then you hated me."
"He hates you too," Patrick replied dryly, "just not as much."
"He hates the world."
Patrick sat down next to his father. It was hard to think about Zachary Drake. The last time he had seen his younger brother was Zack's eighteenth birthday. He had gone to visit him in Juvenile Hall. It had been like looking at a stranger, a colder version of their mother's eyes had stared back at him and drawn lips of a man twice his age were spread into a thin line. "When was the last time you saw him?"
"When he got out." Noah answered despondently, "he told me that he disowned me as a father and that…"
"That I was a lousy hypocrite, a ty brother and that I had no respect for the memory of our mother." Patrick finished for him, looking at his hands, "I remember. He called me a pig."
Noah put his face in his hands, "I failed you both…"
Tentatively, Patrick put a hand on the small of his father's back. They had many conversation regarding Zack and Patrick understood his father's intentions when it came to his younger brother. Anytime they had tried to make contact, even when in he was in Juvenile Hall, Zack had reacted badly, so badly that it would turn violent. Their mother's death had traumatized him in a way that may have even surpassed both he and Noah's. Zack had very much been their mother's son, bonding entirely to her as a child. "We both failed Zack." Patrick reminded his father, "and he should have been our first concern when Mom died…we were both too messed up to figure that out."
Noah looked sideways at him, "is that why you forgave me, Patrick? Because of Zack?"
"Partly." Patrick answered, "but more so Robin- I…I now get why you were so lost, why you couldn't handle it. If anything happened to Robin…" He trailed off, not even wanting to finish the thought, "does it really matter why though?"
"No, no, I guess it doesn't. I'm just thankful you did."
"I saw him. I know I saw him. Zack is in Port Charles." Patrick stood, running a hand through his hair, "I'm not crazy. He was walking down the street this morning with a huge shopping bag."
"What would he be doing here though?"
Patrick shrugged, "how should I know? doesn't he have a friend that lives here now or something? A Coop Barrett? You remember him, right? His friend from middle school."
Noah nodded, "well yeah but…"
"I'll look Coop up, okay? And we'll go from there." Patrick opened the door but stopped, "if he is here, I'm going to have to tell Robin…everything."
"Patrick-"
"I know, I know I promised not to ever tell anyone what Zack did but…I love Robin and I can't lose her because of this. Christ, she doesn't even know I have a brother."
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"I brought you those notes." Dillon held up the notebook as she descended the steps. "you know, for next semester…"
"Thanks." Georgie descended the last few steps and whipped the notebook from his hand, "these will help."
"I'm glad." He shifted from foot to foot, "do you work today?"
The pang in her chest got stronger. He was wearing the Reservoir Dogs shirt she had gotten him for his birthday beneath his button down gray over-shirt and the jeans he wore when they went to see the John Hughes Collection. "Yup. I do."
"I have some time, can I walk you?"
She raised her eyebrows, "well, sure. Let me go get my shoes on."
Georgie turned around on the steps and smiled to herself. It faded when she saw Maxie staring down at her, not pleased in the slightest. Georgie climbed the steps, "not a word, Maxie, not a word, okay? He's just walking me to work."
"He's walking both of us then."
"I don't need a chaperone."
"No, what you need is your head examined. How many times does that have to hurt you before you realize he just plains sucks." Maxie followed Georgie into her room as she put her shoes on. "Or are you just going to let he and Lulu walk all over you for the rest of your life? Who am I kidding? You let everyone walk all over you, Georgie."
Georgie quickly tied her shoes and stood straight, "I'm not going back to him, we're just going for a walk. I don't need a guy, remember?"
"And I'm just going with you."
"Fine."
Georgie brushed past her interfering sister, who, of all days decided to be overprotective, she had to pick the one that was most inconvenient, and stalked down the steps. Faking a smile she stated, "Maxie wants to come with us. She and Coop had a fight."
Dillon looked up at Maxie, "sorry to hear that."
"Yeah, whatever. Let's go."
Georgie shook her head at her sister's sarcastic response. It wasn't like she was just going to jump right into Dillon's open arms, no matter how much she wanted to. After all, she was Georgie Jones, she didn't need a guy. She was self-reliant, independent…and besides…love hurt too much.
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"Long time no see, friend." Coop reached a hand out and pulled Zachary Drake into a one armed, very short hug. They stood in front of each other for a moment, outside the no tell motel Zachary decided to stay in. "You look the same."
He definitely did. The same white t-shirt and stained jeans style that had become his trademark before ending up in the juvenile detention center was working for him and although he was taller, his blue eyes a little colder and there was a detailed tattoo of the Jack of spades, only instead of a J there was a Z on the four corners spanning his right forearm he looked very much the same boy that had helped him learn how to climb a tree so the older kids next door would stop making fun of him.
"Nice tat."
"Thanks."
Coop nodded, "so…how long are you staying?"
"Two weeks. I've got a temporary job here working for a guy. Two thousand, plus this place is ripe for the picking for this hustler."
"Careful. They have their own mob here."
"Corinthos or something, right? Nah, I'm doing some PI work for a spoiled rich kid." Zachary responded, unimpressed by the Corinthos name, "and if the mob spends time hustling for money at some local joint- then it isn't much of a mob, now is it? What have you been up to? I thought you were bringing your girl."
"We're fighting. Other then that, not much is going on. I have myself a nice, stand up job working security."
"Cleaning up your act?"
"Something like that."
"Come in." Coop followed Zachary into his room and then shut the door behind him. His old friend sat on the bed and frowned, "I ducked Patrick earlier today, I don't know if he saw me though."
"Are you going to talk to him?" Coop wanted to know.
Zachary shrugged, "who knows? I'm not mending fences, that's for sure. You know how I feel about those two."
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"Welcome back Detective Ardanowski." Mac extended his hand and the red head took it, grinning back at him. "When I heard you were coming back to the PCPD I was ecstatic. I can't think of a better detective besides Taggert."
"I can't say I was disappointed to see he wasn't on our team anymore," V joked, looking around the police station. "He was a good cop but we didn't follow the same rules. More to the point, I actually follow the rules."
Laughing, Mac motioned for her to follow him. "Let me show you to your desk, detective." He pulled a chair out after approaching the desk next to the interrogation room. "Actually, I'm sure you know Taggert's married now with a kid of his own. He's a commissioner himself."
"That's awesome. What about you, married yet?"
"Nah. I'm too busy for a wife with the girls…" He trailed off as she sat down. He positioned himself on the edge of the desk and folded his arms across his chest. "So I guess things didn't work out between you and Simon?"
"Nope. But I think it's best that way. Where's Felicia?"
"Texas." He answered, "with her mother."
V frowned, "she's not here with her girls? That's odd."
"Honestly, V? I don't know what happened to her. She's changed- I half-way think she's been brainwashed or something."
"In this town? Anything's possible."
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Robin checked her watch. Fifteen minutes late. It was unlike Dr. Noah Drake to be late…now that he was sober anyway. After a sip of her coffee, Robin stood to go outside, just for a breath of fresh air when Noah burst through the door, looking harried. "So sorry I'm late, Robin."
"Oh no, it's alright. I couldn't find Lulu though- so all we have are adult numbers."
"Edward?"
"Edward, Ned and Alan are all in." Robin smiled warmly, "and I'm this close to convincing Patrick." She held her hand up, pinching her thumb and forefinger together, "plus I know all of the nurse's are preparing an amazing performance that we're not even allowed to preview."
"Excellent." Noah beamed at her, "I'm sure you can talk Patrick into it, you have him wrapped around that sweet little finger of yours." He sat down and she joined him at the table. Penny came over, took their orders and then flounced off cheerfully. Very cheerfully. "Looks like a certain waitress is in love." Noah joked, leaning back in the chair. "Speaking of, how is love suiting you, Robin?"
"Do you even have to ask? I can't stop smiling."
"And neither can he."
"Hey Robin!" Georgie waved as she came through the door, followed closely behind her was Maxie who was glaring at Dillon walking beside her.
"Georgie, you're early." Penny remarked, "you still have a few minutes before your shift, do you want a chocolate milkshake? It's on me."
Passing Robin after patting her shoulder briefly then saying hello to Noah Georgie nodded at Penny, "looks like somebody is in a good mood."
"Oh, that's because she got her guy." Dillon answered, joining them. "Milo finally realized that Penny was hot stuff."
Noah stood, walking quickly over to the group crowded beside the counter, "Georgie, I actually wanted to see you. I was hoping you and your boyfriend here could do a number for the Nurse's Ball." Robin stood, completely surprised and feeling more then guilty for not having told Noah that Dillon was with Lulu…or was he with Lulu? Maybe she was with Spinelli…they just said Milo was with Penny so Lulu couldn't have been with him- and who was Georgie with? That Logan guy? As the uncomfortable silence grew Noah made a face, "did I say something wrong?"
Georgie wet her lips, "well, no, I mean- Dillon and I broke up. But…" She bit her lower lip, glancing at Dillon, "I'm sure I could…do something else for the ball."
"Or we could just do the number," Dillon offered.
"Like hell." Robin heard Maxie mutter under her breath.
Dillon was looking intently at Georgie, "I mean, we decided to be friends, right? And truly, I miss you, Georgie. I know it's completely selfish but I do."
"It could be fun," she glanced at Maxie who was shaking her head. "And it's for a good cause so…sure. We can do it, Dr. Drake."
"Great!" Noah turned to Robin, "now we just have to find Lulu and that Spinelli character."
Dillon and Penny began speaking at the same time.
"Lulu's doing the number with Spinelli?"
"Here's that milkshake!"
Georgie turned to get the milkshake and walked over to Maxie, her expression bore no cheerfulness. "Wanna share?"
"What I want to do is cut off that boy's head." Maxie muttered back but nodded.
Robin put a hand on the small of Georgie's back, "you really are such a good person, Georgie." She told her cousin warmly, still cursing herself for not telling Noah about the break up when he had mentioned them doing a number earlier. But she had been distracted- maybe too distracted. Georgie probably really needed her right after that break up but she had been so concerned with Maxie's destructive behavior that Georgie had gone unnoticed. Resolving herself to fix that Robin smiled at the two sisters. "I have a great idea, why don't the three of us do a number together?"
Maxie made a face, "I don't know."
Noah pulled up a chair and joined them at the table. "I think it would be amazing!"
Georgie was nodding, "yeah, Maxie. It'll be fun- Mac's three girls all working together. You'd definitely earn some bonus points, don't you think?"
"I'll buy you a new dress," Robin offered, "we'll even go to Paris to get it."
"I'm in."
Song Credit Anything But Down by Sheryl Crow