The Jones Boys – Before Port Charles

Author's note: I started watching General Hospital faithfully when I was 9 years old. It was right when Frisco Jones arrived in Port Charles and immediately, I was hooked and obsessed with Frisco. Then Tony Jones arrived and the Jones brothers quickly became my favorites to watch. I recently found all the old GH eps on youtube and re-watched them all. Now watching as an adult, I appreciate even more the special relationship that existed between these two brothers and the amazing chemistry between the actors who played them.

Frisco and Tony talked about their past on a few occasions, but not in a whole lot of detail. We knew that Tony was the good son and Frisco was the "delinquent adolescent" (to use Tony's words). We know they had been close, but had a falling out when their mother died 4 years prior to Frisco's arrival in Port Charles. But we don't know a whole lot about what life was like prior to that.

So that is what this story is about. My take on the life of Jones boys before they arrived in Port Charles. I hope you enjoy and please feel free to leave comments.

San Francisco – June 20th 1976

Tony Jones groaned as he slumped into the arm chair in the corner of living room of his family home and scanned the scene before him. It was supposed to be a birthday party for his little brother Andrew, or "Andy" as Tony affectionately referred to him. He turned 14 today and he should have been celebrating with friends, like every teen boy wants to do. But instead, this party consisted of only adults, some of whom were family members, but most of whom were friends of his parents, the wealthy and well respected, Dr. Andrew Jones and his beautiful wife Cynthia.

Had Tony not felt so bad for his little brother, he would have skipped out on this shindig altogether. It's not like he didn't have better things to do. Like packing for his trip to San Diego. A post college graduation trip he and his best friend Jake were treating themselves to. They were leaving the following afternoon. One last hoorah before the start of medical school. But he didn't have the heart to leave Andy alone to celebrate his birthday with a bunch of boring adults he barely knew.

But Tony hadn't seen his little brother for a least an hour now. The little shit. Here he was, giving up his afternoon so that his brother wouldn't be alone…and he takes off! Now, Tony was stuck making small talk with relatives he barely knew and maybe saw once a year if he was lucky (or unlucky depending on how you looked at it).

"Anthony!" Tony looked up and saw his mother beckoning him from across the room where she sat on the sofa with one of her many cousins, whose name Tony couldn't remember for the life of him.

"Anthony! Come here sweetheart."

Tony sighed and made his way across the room.

Standing over his mother, with his arms folded across his chest, stood his father and he looked anything but happy. And it didn't take a brain surgeon to figure out what his problem was. Tony pretended not to notice as he took his place next to him.

"Yeah Ma?

"Anthony honey, do you know where your little brother is?"

Tony shrugged.

"No, I don't. Probably out in the neighborhood somewhere riding his new skateboard. He's been dying to try it out."

"Oh for cyin'out loud!" His father replied. "He has guests! I told him to stay in this house!"

"Now honey…" his mother began.

"Don't honey me! Some of these folks have travelled from out of state to see him and he takes off?"

"You mean to see you." Tony mumbled under his breath. "Andy barely knows these people."

"What was that?" His father snapped.

"Nothing."

"Oh Andrew. It's the boy's birthday! He's excited to try out his new gift. What's the big deal?" The cousin asked.

"The big deal, is that he is behaving like a spoiled brat and I am not raising a spoiled brat!"

Tony let out an audible sigh. His father gave him a side eye glance, but otherwise ignored the interruption as he continued…

"I should have taken the money he used for that foolish board and put it right into his college fund. Then we wouldn't be having this discussion."

"Yeah, I wouldn't be so sure about that." Tony replied, but was ignored once again as him mother, instead, addressed his father.

"Don't be ridiculous. That's not why my mother sent him that money. It was a birthday present. To be spent on what he wanted!"

"Well fine!" His father spat back. "But after this little stunt, he won't be riding the damn thing for a month because I'm taking it as punishment for his little disappearing act."

"Oh Andrew!" his mother huffed.

"Oh nothing! I'm going to make myself another drink!"

"Wonderful." Tony sneered. "Because that will make things so much more pleasant for the rest of us."

If his father heard him, he didn't reply. He just stormed off in the direction of the makeshift bar set up across the room.

Tony turned back to his mother.

"Can't you make him lay off Andy for once! That man is always on his case for something. The kid can't do anything!"

"I know. I know." His mother agreed. "I will try. But honey please…can you go see if you can find him? Before your father really loses it."

"Yeah alright." Tony acquiesced.

If his Dad didn't kill Andy, Tony was pretty sure he was going to. Not for taking off and abandoning his own birthday celebration. Tony certainly couldn't fault him for that. But he could have at least clued Tony in on his plans. Or better yet…. taken him with him.

In his frustration, Tony shoved the swinging door to the kitchen open with such force it nearly snapped off it's hinges before swinging back three or four times after Tony made his way through. He was halfway to the back door to find his brother, when Andy entered, dressed in his usual worn blue jeans and t-shirt. He had his head down and his long sandy brown hair hung over his face so he didn't see his brother approaching him from the other direction as he made his way toward the refrigerator.

"Where the hell have you been?" Tony demanded to know, not caring at all that he clearly scared the shit out of the boy, who nearly jumped out of his skin at the sound of his brother's voice. Andy whipped his head up, flipping the hair from his eyes and it was only then, that Tony notice his little brother was holding onto his left arm and his eyes were rimmed with tears.

"Not now Tony. Leave me alone." His said as he attempted to maneuver his way around his older brother.

"Hold on. What's wrong?" Tony asked.

"I wiped out. That's what's wrong."

"What?"

"I think I broke my wrist."

"Oh great. Let me see."

Andrew held his arm up and Tony gently placed one hand under his elbow and the other under his fingertips.

"Well, it's starting to swell a little bit. But it may not be broken. Can you move your hand at all?"

"Not much." Andrew replied, wincing in pain as he attempted to move it.

"You may have just sprained it." Tony informed him as he opened the freezer and scanned its contents for something he could use as an icepack. He found a bag of frozen peas that would do nicely and after smashing it on the kitchen counter a few times to break it up inside, he wrapped it in a dishtowel and gently pressed it on his brothers ever swelling wrist.

"You really need that X-rayed though. I'm gonna get Dad."

"Great." The boy whimpered as he wiped his eyes with the back of his good hand.

"What's going on in here?"

This time, both boys jumped at the sound of their father's voice.

"Oh Dad. I was just coming to get you." Tony replied.

"Andrew, where the hell have you been? We have guests! Guests that are here for your birthday."

Tony could feel his face reddening as his anger consumed him. Any normal father would have noticed the ice pack on the wrist and the tears in his son's eyes by now and expressed some concern. But not his old man.

"Will you just lay off the kid for one minute? Can't you see he's hurt himself!" Tony exclaimed, pointing out the obvious. Before he could explain further though, his father cut him off.

"Let me guess. You fell off that foolish skateboard."

He was speaking directly to Andrew now.

Andy, who had immediately hung his head in defeat when his father started in on him, just nodded.

"And you hurt your wrist."

Andy nodded again and wiped his eyes once more with the back of his hand.

"Well, stop your sniffling and let me take a look."

Andrew did as he was instructed and peeled back the make shift icepack from his wrist. If anything, it looked worse now. Not only was it swollen, but had started to turn a dark reddish blue in color.

"Yeah…that looks broken." Tony chimed in before his father could utter a word.

"Really? Is that your professional opinion Dr. Jones?" His father snapped back sarcastically.

Tony took a breath, trying to calm himself so he wouldn't make the situation worse for his little brother.

"I'm just saying…it looks pretty bad."

"Yeah well, sometimes sprains are pretty bad. Doesn't mean it's broken." His father informed him before turning his attention back to Andrew.

"Just keep the ice on it and if the swelling hasn't gone down by the end of the party, we'll take you for some x-rays."

And with that, he gave Andrew what could almost be construed as an affectionate pat on the shoulder and then turned and started to make his way back toward the living room.

"Are you fuckin kidding me right now!" Tony shouted at his father's back, stopping the man dead in his tracks.

The outburst even surprised Andy. He rarely heard his brother curse and never at, or around, his father.

"What did you just say to me?" His father shot back, rushing back toward his son.

"You heard me." Tony spat, getting right up in his father's face. "Your son is agony and you're going to make him sit through this sorry excuse for a party? For what? To teach him a lesson?"

"So, what if I am?" His father replied. "It's about damn time that boy learned some respect! He should never have been on that skateboard to begin with! I told him to STAY IN THIS HOUSE!"

"It's his birthday! He doesn't want to be cooped up in the house with a bunch of adults he barely knows!"

He would have continued, but the conversation was interrupt by one of his father's colleagues who had heard the commotion and come in to investigate.

"Hey, what's going on in here? We can hear you two yelling from the other room!"

"Nothing! Andy and I were just leaving." Tony replied.

"And just where the hell do you think you're going?" His father asked.

"To the emergency room! Andy, let's go!"

"Oh no you're not! He's not going anywhere except right into that living room." The elder Jones shot back, grabbing his youngest son by his good arm and jerking him toward the living room door.

The sudden movement sent a wave of searing pain up the boys injured arm and he cried out causing his father to immediately release his grip.

Hearing his little brother cry out in such pain was too much for Tony, who flew across the room in a rage. He shoved his father into the nearest wall and easily pinned him there with one arm across the back of his neck.

"Go ahead old man! Touch him again! I dare you!"

Before things could escalate further, his father's friend grabbed Tony from behind and pulled him back.

"Anthony! Calm down! Everybody just calm down!" the man pleaded.

"Come on Andy!" Tony said, turning to face his brother. "We're leaving."

The younger boy whimpered unsure of what to do. He was shaking at this point. Whether that was from pain, fear, or both Tony had no idea.

"It's alright Andy." Tony said, placing a protective arm around his little brother's shoulders. "I'm taking you to the hospital and he's not going to stop us. Are you father?"

Tony gave his father a look as if daring him to try.

"You do what you want." His father spat. "I've had enough of the both of you."

He stormed out of the room, leaving his confused and concerned colleague behind. The man turned to Tony.

"Anthony what is going on?" Then, turning his attention to Andy he asked. "What happened?"

It didn't dawn on Tony until later, that due to the fight he walked in on, this man very possibly may have believed his father was responsible for Andrew's injury. Luckily, Andy cleared up the confusion pretty quick.

"I'm alright. I just fell of my skateboard."

"Oh buddy." he replied, reaching out and gently placing a hand on the boy's shoulder. "That's a hell of a thing to happen on your birthday. Listen, do you boys want me to go with you to the hospital. Because I will. It's no problem. I can get you in and out of there in no time."

Tony knew the man was telling the truth. Like his father, he was a respected physician in the community. And unlike his father, he genuinely seemed to care about Andy. But Tony also knew that allowing the man to accompany them would only infuriate his father more.

"No, thank you Dr. Burns. I can handle it. Really. Can you just let my Mom know where we went and we'll be back as soon as we can?"

The man smiled and nodded.

"Sure. No problem.

Two Hours later – local hospital.

"I got us a coke to split. You thirsty?" Tony asked as he returned to his brother's bedside in the emergency room.

They had been in the ER for almost two hours and had just returned from having Andy's arm X-rayed, when Tony had spotted the vending machine outside the entrance to ER.

Andy, who was lying on his back, cradling his injured on his stomach, just shook his head. The attending doctor had given him some medication and Tony could clearly see it was starting to make him drowsy.

"You doing alright? Does it still hurt real bad?" He asked, placing the unopened can down on a table beside the bed.

Andy shook his head once again.

"Nah. I'm just sleepy."

Tony smiled.

"That's because they gave you the good drugs." he replied, reaching forward to brush back the hair that fallen into his brother's face, partially obscuring his eyes.

This time, Andy smiled.

"What would Saint Anthony know about good drugs?"

"You know I don't like it when you call me that." Tony replied, but smiled to let his brother know he really wasn't mad.

Normally he would be. But this time he knew his little brother was just joking around and not saying it to be nasty. And for a little kid, Andy could sure be nasty and miserable when he wanted to be. He hated the fact that their Dad was always comparing them and telling him to be more like his older brother. It pissed him off and he took his anger out on Tony. Probably because he knew, short of occasionally yelling back at him, Tony wouldn't do anything about it. If he had said some of the things to his father that he had said to Tony in the past, he would have received a backhand across the face and been grounded for months.

"Tony. Why does Dad hate me so much?" Andy asked. His eyes were filling with tears once again and his chin quivered as he tried to fight the urge to cry.

"Oh buddy. He doesn't hate you."

"Yes, he does." Andy insisted. "He's always yelling at me. I don't even know what it is I'm doing wrong half the time."

"That's because half the time you're not doing anything wrong. You're just being a typical thirteen-year-old."

"Fourteen-year-old." Andy reminded him.

"Fourteen-year-old." Tony repeated. "Listen, Dad just isn't good with kids. Especially teenagers. Never has been. He was the same with me, you just don't remember because you were so young."

Now this was a lie. Their father had never treated Tony the way he treated Andy, but Tony had to say something to make his brother feel better.

"The Doctor should be back in a little bit with those X-ray results. In the meantime, why don't you try to get some rest." Tony suggested as he reached out and wiped the tear that had manage to escape and trickle down his brother's cheek. "You definitely look like your fighting a losing battle against those pain meds."

Andy nodded and closed his eyes and within minutes he was fast and deeply asleep. He didn't even wake when the doctor returned to put the cast on his arm, which was in fact, fractured.

Half an hour later, their father decided to show up, much to Tony's chagrin.

"What are you doing here?" Tony asked when his father farther appeared in the emergency room at the foot of the bed his brother lay in, still fast asleep.

"Your mother was worried." His father replied. "She sent me down here to get you."

Tony paused and waited for his father to say something else. He didn't.

"Andy's fine by the way." Tony snapped at him sarcastically. "Thanks for asking."

"I know he's fine. I spoke with the doctor when I came in." His father replied calmly. "Now, if you don't mind." He took a step toward the bed and reached for his son. Tony quickly grabbed his arm.

"What are you doing?"

"What does it look like? I'm waking him up. It's time to go."

"Don't wake him up. He's exhausted. Just leave him alone."

"Anthony. This is a hospital not a hotel."

"I'm aware of that. But look around. The place is dead at the moment. It's not hurting anyone to just let him a rest here a little while longer."

His father shook his head and began to reply but Tony cut him off…

"In fact, it was the Doctor's idea. Go ahead and ask him if you don't believe me."

"Fine!" His father snapped back. "But if he's not up in 30 minutes you are to wake him up. I want you both home in an hour."

"I was going to stop and get him something to eat. He hasn't eaten all day." Tony reminded him.

"There will be plenty of leftovers from the party for him to eat."

"Shrimp cocktail, caviar and finger sandwiches really aren't Andy's thing."

Tony was pushing his luck and he knew it. But he just couldn't help himself. His father just scowled at him.

"One hour, Anthony. I mean it."

The hour came and went and of course the boys were not at home. In fact, they had just arrived at the Andy's favorite pizza place. Tony was hoping that a slice or two of his favorite food would cheer his brother up. But a half hour after they had arrived, Andy was still aimlessly poking at his first piece with a plastic fork.

"Look, I don't want to rush you or anything, but we were supposed to be home a half hour ago." Tony said.

Andy frowned and tossed his fork onto his plate.

"Sorry. I guess I'm just not hungry."

Tony sighed and settled back in his chair.

"I'm really sorry your birthday turned out this way Andy."

Andy shrugged.

"It's OK. It's not your fault."

"It's not your fault either." Tony reminded him. "But I think I know something that might cheer you up."

"I highly doubt it."

Tony pushed, the paper plate in front of him aside and leaned on the table.

"How would you like to go to San Diego with me and Jake tomorrow?" He asked, flashing his brother a wicked grin.

Andy furrowed his brow in confusion.

"I'm sorry…what?"

Tony laughed.

"How would you…like to go with me…to San Diego?"

"You're teasing me." Andy replied.

"No, I'm not." Tony insisted. "I talked to Mom while you were asleep and she said it was fine."

"Yeah, and what about Jake? I highly doubt he wants to spend his vacation with a stupid kid."

"Well, you're right about that." Tony agreed, settling back in his chair.

Andy frowned, he knew his brother was teasing him.

"So, it's good thing we're taking you and not some stupid kid." Tony said, smiling at his brother

Andy gave his brother another look of disbelief.

"I already talked to him Andy. He totally fine with it. In fact, he already took care of getting your plane ticket. Fortunately, it's not a full flight so he didn't have any trouble."

"Jeez! How the heck long was I asleep?"

"Long enough!" Tony laughed. "So, what do you say? You want to come with us or not."

"For the entire week?" Andy asked, still not quite believing it.

"No, we thought we'd ship you back after a day." Tony replied rolling his eyes. "Of course, for the week!"

"Dad will never let me go."

"You just leave Dad to me. OK?"

Andy thought about it a moment and then nodded.

"I love you Tony."

Tony smiled, reach across the table and gently squeezed his brother's good arm.

"I love you too. Now would you please eat something! The longer we're gone the angrier Dad is going to be."

Andy smirked.

"Kinda makes we want to eat even slower" he admitted.

"Well, you know, that's fine with me." Tony replied, settling back in his chair and folding his arms across his chest. "I was going to run interference for you once we got home, but if you want to make him even more pissed than he already is, your free to handle it on your own."

"Never mind. I'm eating." Andy said, picking up his pizza and taking a bite.

"Yeah." Tony replied smiling. "That's what I thought.

To be continued…