Prompt – Nerd.

Note – This is part of the SEMMFF treasury and is consolidated here. Elizabeth is Johnny Zacchara's older sister, Trevor's not a bad guy in the sense that he's not trying to start a mob war and he's not trying to manipulate Johnny or retain control of the Zacchara family's holdings, and Sonny's a frigging idiot (not different from the show, but it just bears repeating). Also, Elizabeth has never met any of the people in Port Charles. This is kind of how I would have liked to see Claudia introduced on the show. Maybe. I haven't decided yet.

1

"We have a problem." Jason didn't even bother to announce himself as he entered Sonny's office at the coffee shop. "Trevor's bringing someone in to replace Johnny."

"Replace Johnny as what?" Sonny wanted to know. "The resident pain in my ass?"

"The head of the Zacchara family."

The mobster snorted. "He finally realized that Johnny doesn't have two good ideas to rub together in his head. Who's he bringing in?"

"Spinelli came up with a name. She's Elizabeth Idony Zacchara. His older sister."

Sonny stared at him for a moment before bursting out in laughter. "His sister? Let me get this straight: Johnny needs his sister to come take care of things for him? What a pussy boy."

"I'm having him pull up everything he can on her," Jason continued impatiently. "You know, pictures, history, contacts, anything that we can use to get a better idea of who she is and what she's going to do next."

"I'm not worried," his best friend replied. "She's a damn girl. Even if she does know how to run the business, it'll be easy to distract her. I'm not worried."

"Alcazar's piers are still open," Jason reminded him. "I don't want to take any chances on that property being bought up by the Zaccharas."

Sonny shrugged. "There's nothing we can do about it now. Let me know if Spinelli comes up with something good. And what Trevor's next move is. He'll be the one running the organization now. He's the one we have to watch out for."

"The thing about that organization is that it's becoming increasingly vulnerable." Johnny hopped up onto the corner of her desk as Elizabeth organized the files Trevor had handed over to her. "It's run by Sonny Corinthos, and his enforcer Jason Morgan is his right hand man."

"Sounds tight."

"Not really," he shrugged. "Sonny's an overreactive, sniveling basket case who thinks with his dick and basically throws all business over for the next body to warm his bed. Jason Morgan is the one that takes over. He's cold, clinical, objective, and smart, and he's the real brains behind the organization. He's the one that knows this business from the ground up."

"Sonny is all bark and no bite," Trevor agreed, taking a stack of files from her and setting it on a corner table. "He's going to try to intimidate you at the party. In return, I want you to try not to laugh."

Elizabeth smiled at that. "Don't worry, I know exactly what I have to do. I've been doing it for the past ten years, and I've turned it into an art form. I'm no stranger to incompetent, swaggering men that are quick to underestimate a pretty face."

Trevor chucked her under the chin affectionately. "I have no reason to doubt that you'll handle this perfectly, Elizabeth. It helps that they know nothing about you – we were very careful to keep everything under wraps. As far as they know, you're the same shy, gangly seven-year old girl from the family photographs. They have no idea what you did while you were in Milan, and how you secured these assets for the family."

She moved around the desk, smoothing the fabric of her simple black dress. Being back in the Zacchara mausoleum felt good after all these years – better than she thought it would when Trevor and her father sent her away for her protection. As a child, her feelings for this house and everyone in it had always been associated with danger, violence, death, and foreboding. Her heart ached for her brother, then just an infant, who had no reasonable means of escape as the first son. This would all be his to inherit one day, and she remembered thanking God that the burden hadn't fallen on her shoulders instead.

As he grew older, though, John proved to defy the odds against him by holding on to many of his childhood dreams, the first and foremost being a life and world view untainted by the darkness of his family. He was strong, compassionate, generous, and worried about going mad like their father. She didn't think he had anything to worry about: under Trevor's caring but firm instruction, he grew shrewd and perceptive, almost clinical in his view of the family and the business.

It was John that had been the first to realize that if this family was going to gain a true stronghold in this area, it would have to control the docks formerly owned by the late Alcazar brothers. Sonny Corinthos had proven a challenge, and an irksome, foolhardy one at that, and so Trevor had finally decided that it was time to launch the surprise attack. The Corinthos-Morgan organization knew all about Johnny: they knew what made him tick, what made him sick, and how to push all his buttons. They didn't know a damn thing about her, and she was out to make sure that she kept her goals and her strengths hidden from everyone outside the family until the Zacchara organization was too strong to be stopped.

"And that's our ace in the hole," she replied smoothly, looking back and forth between her brother and her trusted attorney. "From what I understand, Sonny Corinthos is a stupid man. I won't have any trouble snowing him over."

At the Zacchara house, the ballroom…

"Ladies and gentleman," Trevor boomed, waiting for the throng of partygoers, almost all mob associates of his and Johnny's, to quiet down and turn to him. "First of all, the Zacchara family would like to thank all of you for gracing us with your presence this evening. It's a very happy occasion for John and myself, and we'd like to share it with the rest of you."

At Trevor's nod, Johnny stepped forward. "Most of you are aware that I am not an only child. I have an older sister that moved away when I was quite young. I visited her occasionally as a child, but due to family circumstances we could never stay together as a family."

"Here it comes," Sonny murmured to Jason. "The great white hope of the Zacchara family. Now we'll see who they were so determined to keep under wraps for so long."

"And what kind of threat she is to our organization," Jason agreed quietly.

"With my father currently undergoing medical care and not being in a position to be with us currently," Johnny continued, "my sister, Elizabeth Idony Zacchara, has only moments ago arrived from her home in Milan, and she is here to stay. She does not plan to be involved in the business, and that's not what matters here, anyway. All that matters tonight is that the Zacchara family is as complete as it needs to be."

"I'd like to introduce you all to a young woman that's like a daughter to me," Trevor smiled softly. "Please welcome Elizabeth Zacchara."

Sonny and Jason leaned forward just slightly, eager to see the competition, and were able to make out a petite feminine form behind Trevor. And as she moved fully into the light, both men could only stare in wonder.

Elizabeth Zacchara, as she was called, was a tiny little woman reaching a height of a mere five feet, two inches. She was noticeably thin with pale, pale skin, the wan glow of which was only enhanced by the bright lights of the ballroom. She blinked in their glare like a deer in the headlights, trying to get used to the ambience and her surroundings as the other guests tittered and smiled and awkwardly clapped.

Her hair was a mousy brown and very curly, and had been clipped back at her crown in order to free up her face. Her makeup was bare – as in barely there – and her long crimson dress fairly swallowed her up in silk. She wore glasses as well, as if all that wasn't bad enough, and was forever pushing them up her nose with her index finger. On her feet were a pair of very high, very sexy crimson stilettos that, unfortunately, did not at all match the picture the little brunette presented.

Sonny smirked as she wobbled slightly on her heels before regaining her balance with the help of Trevor's arm. "That's Elizabeth Zacchara."

Jason gruffly cleared his throat. "…Yeah."

Sonny's smile grew. "And you were worried."