Brenda smiled at Max as she stepped off the elevator, "Max - hi," Brenda said.
"Mrs. - Ms. Barrett," Max said. "I wasn't aware you'd be visiting."
"Yeah - me either," Brenda said. Her trip was spur of the moment and she wasn't sure how receptive Jason would be to presence once he found out the reason she was there. "Is he home?" Of course he was home, it was daytime. Jason was always home in the daytime.
Max hesitated before answering, "Yeah - but - " Max paused, not really wanting to be the one to divulge Jason's current living situation to Brenda. If he remembered one thing about Brenda - Max shook his head. Jason was a grown man and could deal with his ex-wife on his own. Both of them had volatile tempers, but he'd rather take his chances with Jason than Brenda. At least with Jason, he could pull a gun or something - with Brenda he couldn't. "Yeah, he's home. Let me announce you."
Brenda laughed, "Max, I used to live here. You don't have to announce me," Brenda said. "Don't worry, I'm just here to ask Jason a favor." Brenda smiled at the guard again and placed her hand on the knob and opened the door. She saw Jason leaning over his desk and smiled. Some things never changed, Jason was a complete workaholic.
Jason turned when he heard the door open and shook his head when he saw Brenda standing in the doorway. Max wouldn't let the pizza guy in without checking him for weapons, but somehow Brenda was always able to sweet talk her way past his guards.
"Miss me?" Brenda asked as she shrugged off her jacket. It had been almost two years since she'd last seen Jason and she strangely missed him. She wasn't really sure why, he was one of the most frustrating men on the planet - but there was something about Jason that made him special to her.
"What are you doing here?" Jason asked, avoiding Brenda's question. He had missed her, but there wasn't any way that he was going to actually admit it to her. If he admitted he missed her, she'd turn it into him pining away for her.
"Come on Jason, is that any way to greet your favorite ex-wife?" Brenda asked. "Can I get a hug or at least a hello?"
Jason stood up and gave Brenda a hug, "Hi. Now what are you doing here?" Jason asked. Despite all the animosity he had towards her when they were married, he didn't hate her the way that he used to. He'd learned a lot about her during the trial and they both ended up with a mutual respect for one another.
Brenda pulled away and laughed, "I'm here to ask a favor," Brenda said. "A really important favor." Jason just had to say yes, she didn't know what she'd do if he said no.
"I can't marry you again," Jason said.
"Eww," Brenda said. "I'm not here to ask you to marry me. We tried that once - it didn't work out. Unless - you don't want to marry me, do you?" She'd always suspected that Jason liked her a little more than he was willing to admit. It was almost as if he was protesting too much. Not that she was interested, or available for that matter. That was part of the reason why she was there.
"No," Jason quickly said. "That was an experience that I'm not really looking forward to reliving. I married you and ended up in jail."
"Well, the same could be said for you," Brenda said. She didn't have the greatest track record as far as marriages went, but her marriage to Jason was the only one that landed her in jail. Hopefully, her luck was changing. "I was married twice - well, more like once before and the only time that I - "
"Stop trying to change the subject. What do you want?" Jason asked and glanced upstairs.
"Jason Morgan, if I didn't know better, I'd swear - " Brenda began and groaned as she looked upstairs.
"What are you doing here?" Carly asked as she walked downstairs. She thought Brenda was living in London. Why couldn't she stay there? What was she doing in Port Charles?
"I could ask you the same thing, don't you live across the hall?" Brenda asked. She didn't know Carly was going to be there. If she had known, she would've called Jason and had him meet her somewhere.
"No," Carly said. "I live here - Sonny's available if you're interested."
"I'm not," Brenda said. Sonny was a closed chapter in her life and one she definitely wasn't going to reopen. "What do you mean, you live here? Jason lives here."
Carly smiled and walked over to Jason, "I know," Carly said and wrapped her arms around Jason's waist from behind, resting her head on his shoulder. "Makes it convenient - considering that we're married."
"You married her?" Brenda asked and glanced at Carly's left hand for confirmation. The stunning diamond wedding set was the only confirmation she needed. Brenda groaned, she knew that Carly meant a lot to Jason, but she never even considered the possibility that he'd marry her. Carly was married to Sonny and - "You hypocrite! You married me to keep me away from Sonny but neglected to mention that you had the hots for his wife!"
"My wife," Jason said and pinched the bridge of his nose. He could feel a headache coming on. To say that Carly and Brenda didn't get along was an understatement. It was a miracle that the two hadn't strangled each other when they both lived in Harborview.
"What about that speech you gave me?" Brenda asked. She didn't know how many times she had to listen to Jason tell her that Sonny and Carly were a family and it wasn't her place to interfere. "About Sonny and Carly - being a family and all that other garbage? Did that just apply to me?"
"Things change," Jason said. A lot had changed in the two years that Brenda had been gone. She had no idea what had happened while she'd been gone.
"What sort of things?" Brenda suspiciously asked. She always suspected that Carly and Sonny would self-destruct, but she wondered how Jason played into it. If he had wanted Carly all these years, all he had to do was say the word - but it wasn't like Jason to interfere like that.
Carly took a deep breath and kissed Jason. As much as she hated Brenda, she knew that Jason was friends with her and that he'd give her an explanation. Carly was glad that she wasn't going to be here for the rehash of the events leading up to her and Sonny's breakup - those months of her life was not a time in her life she wanted to relive. "I'm going to pick up Michael and I want her gone by the time I get back," Carly said. "Bye." Carly waved to Jason and glared at Brenda before leaving.
"Things? What sort of things changed?" Brenda asked, wondering if the things Jason was referring to would help convince him to agree to her request. Jason was the most unbiased person that she knew, but she could use anything that would tip the scales in her favor.
"What about you?" Jason asked. "What about what you said to me at the airport? About me deserving to be happy? I thought you meant it."
"I did mean it!" Brenda exclaimed. "I just didn't - I never imagined - " Brenda sighed, putting down Carly definitely was not going to do anything to help plead her case. She wasn't here to pick a fight with Jason, she was here to ask for a favor. "I just didn't think that you'd marry Carly - " Of all people. "Considering - "
"Considering what?" Jason prompted. He could tell that Brenda was only saying half of what she wanted to say, and even that was a mouthful.
"Considering she's married to Sonny!" Brenda said.
"Was married to Sonny," Jason said.
"Are you going to explain or do I have to guess or - "
"Sit down," Jason said. He knew he'd be able to trust Brenda with the truth and he didn't want her asking questions about a subject that was better left forgotten. "Listen."
Brenda stared at Jason in disbelief as he finished explaining how he ended up married to Carly. She couldn't believe that Ric was Sonny's brother and that Sonny had actually chosen him over Carly. That was forgivable - considering how Sonny felt about family, and especially with Ric being Adela's son. But what Ric did to Carly was unforgivable. She couldn't believe that Sonny actually let Ric walkaway free and clear - not only with his life but with no punishment whatsoever. Carly lost the baby because of Ric and Lorenzo, she couldn't believe that Sonny would overlook that. "So that still doesn't explain - you know - you and Carly," Brenda said.
"Carly needed a place to recover - she didn't feel safe with Sonny and she moved in here," Jason said. Everything after that just happened. All the reasons why he and Carly couldn't be together before didn't exist anymore. There were no misunderstandings to throw things off track and he and Carly fell in love - again. "I think you can figure out the rest."
"So, I'm guessing it's safe to assume that Ric is gone," Brenda said. She didn't doubt for one second that Jason had killed him and she couldn't blame him. She didn't have to ask if Lorenzo was dead, that was a given. Jason nodded, confirming her suspicions. "And Sonny?" She wasn't completely sure that Jason would be able to separate enough to allow him to kill Sonny, but if there was one person that could ever come between them it would be Carly.
"He's gone too," Jason said and stood up. He walked to the kitchen and got himself a beer. He hadn't intended to kill Sonny but they'd gotten into an argument about Ric and Sonny accused him of being jealous of Ric and once the topic of conversation shifted to Carly, things got really heated.
"You killed him?" Brenda asked. She knew without asking that when he said that Ric was gone - Ric was dead, but she needed to hear Jason say that Sonny was dead in order for her to believe it.
"No," Jason said. "Almost." The only thing that had stopped him was Michael. He couldn't bear the thought of looking into Michael's face, knowing that he had killed the man Michael had called Dad for most of his life. "He's living on a tight leash in Puerto Rico."
"So you and Carly - you two are for real?" Brenda asked, even though she already knew the answer to that question. Anyone who took one look at Jason could tell how happy he looked - relaxed, comfortable and more importantly, in love.
"We're as real as it gets," Jason said. "So I told you what happened between Sonny and Carly - why are you here?"
Brenda took a deep breath, now that she was about to verbalize her request, she wasn't entirely sure of Jason's reaction. It did help that Jason and Sonny weren't close anymore, but she still wasn't sure how he was going to react. "I - " Brenda paused. There really was no easy way for her to say this, so she was just going to say it. "Johnny - you didn't kill him."
Jason waited for Brenda to continue and he searched her eyes trying to figure out what she wanted. The only way that Brenda could know that he hadn't killed Johnny on Sonny's order was if - "Brenda - "
"Jason, we ran into each other," Brenda said. She'd been doing some traveling in Italy and she'd been surprised when she'd run into Johnny. When she first saw Johnny she thought that something was going on and Jason sent over a guard. But after speaking with Johnny for a few minutes it was clear that Johnny was in Italy by Jason's decree but it had absolutely nothing to do with her. "And - well, you know that I've always had a soft spot for Johnny. He's always been really nice to me and - I've always kind of liked him - "
"And what?" Jason prompted.
"We're getting married," Brenda said. "And I want to come home and I know that Johnny does too, but - "
"He was working for Alcazar," Jason said. He still didn't understand how that had happened, but too many things had been going on at the time for him to figure out Johnny's motivations. "Did he tell you that?"
"Yes he told me that," Brenda defensively said. She knew exactly what happened, Johnny didn't keep secrets from her. He was completely honest with her - in a way that no other man she had been involved with was. "He told me everything. He also told me that Sonny ordered you to kill him but you didn't. Was that the first time you ever defied Sonny? Come on Jason, I know you - you had to have a good reason. You're not the heartless killer that everyone makes you out to me - you couldn't kill Johnny. Not just because he's your friend, but because you knew it was wrong."
"He was making Sonny think he was crazy," Jason said. "He can't be trusted."
"He can be trusted," Brenda insisted. "Have you considered things from his point of view? That by working for Lorenzo he could control the situation? That gaining Lorenzo's trust is what helped you find Carly?" She knew she could push Jason, but she could only push him so far. It went without saying that if Carly hadn't been kidnaped, she would still be with Sonny. And mentioning that would only aggravate Jason and that was something she wasn't deliberately trying to do. " Have you thought what would've happened if - "
"It doesn't matter what would've happened," Jason said. He couldn't allow his mind to travel to that place - to a place where Carly wasn't there. He had never been one to hope for anything, but he had hoped with all his heart that he'd find Carly. "Carly was held captive for months! I don't care who had her or how long they had her, the point is that she was gone! The stress nearly killed her and it killed the baby!"
"I'm sorry that the baby didn't make it," Brenda said. "Really, I am, but Jason - "
"No," Jason said.
"Jason!"
"Brenda - I said no!" Jason said. He glared at Brenda and pulled out his phone to answer it and shook his head when he saw the number. "What?"
"Is she there?" Johnny asked. This was the first time he'd spoken with Jason since Jason had ordered him to get out of town. He knew that if Jason wanted to kill him, he would've killed him but he'd never seen Jason on edge like that before and he didn't want to be there if Jason snapped, so he grabbed the first flight out of town.
"Yes," Jason said. He knew that Johnny hadn't sent Brenda to Port Charles to ask this. Maybe Johnny wasn't as loyal as he thought he was, but Johnny wasn't a coward. He'd never send a woman to fight his battles.
"Jason - I didn't know she was coming. I went to pick her up from work but she wasn't there - there was a note - " Johnny paused. He really hadn't wanted Brenda to come to Port Charles and plead his case. If anyone should handle it, it should be him - not her.
"What are you thinking?" Jason asked.
"That I love her," Johnny said. He knew without question that Jason was referring to his relationship with Brenda and not to his coming home. "And I want to marry her - and she's pregnant, so don't be too hard on her." He'd wanted Brenda from the first moment he saw her, but he'd never even considered pursuing her. She was involved with Sonny then Jax then she was gone. And when she came home again, she was married to Jason and regardless of how much of a farce that marriage was - that was a line he wasn't going to cross. And before he knew it, she left town again. But then, everything with Alcazar happened and he was banished to Europe. One day, he'd been sitting at a café and there she was, looking as beautiful as the first day he saw her.
Jason closed his eyes and glanced at Brenda, "You're pregnant?" Jason asked.
Brenda looked at Jason confused for a few seconds, wondering how he knew she was pregnant, then she smiled and reached for the phone, "Let me talk to him," Brenda said and grabbed the phone. "Hi."
"You're not supposed to be there," Johnny said. He and Brenda had agreed that when it was time for them to talk to Jason, he would do the talking.
"I know - don't be mad at me," Brenda quietly said. "I just want us to come home - for the baby to be born here and this was the only way I could think to make it work. Are you mad at me? If you are, just remember that I'm carrying your baby and it's wrong to be mad at the mother of your child. I had morning sickness for two months and my back hurts and - "
Johnny laughed softly, "No," Johnny said. He never could stay mad at Brenda for very long.
"I trust you, you know that right?" Brenda asked. "I just - " Brenda sighed. "Johnny, I'm sorry. I know I interfered and I said I wouldn't - I just wanted to try to work things out between you and Jason and - "
"Bren, it's okay," Johnny said. He knew that Brenda's intentions were good and that was what mattered. "Let me talk to Jason, okay?"
"I love you," Brenda whispered.
"Love you too," Johnny said.
"Is she telling the truth?" Jason asked as soon as Brenda handed him the phone.
"About?" Johnny asked.
"Alcazar," Jason said. He'd never given Johnny a chance to explain. He'd been so on edge with Carly missing that he hadn't even given Johnny a chance to explain. As much as he hated to admit it, what Brenda said made sense. Johnny was loyal, loyal to a fault and there was no way that he'd turn to the other side unless he had a plan.
"Yeah," Johnny said. "Jason - I was only trying to help. I thought that if I could work on Alcazar from the other end that maybe - "
"You'd be able to help find Carly," Jason finished. He sat down and sighed. "Johnny, I held a gun to your head and I was going to shoot - and you didn't say a word." He'd killed so many other people before and almost every one of them pleaded for their life or had some excuse, but not Johnny. He'd looked Jason straight in the eye, as if he'd was daring Jason to shoot him.
"In the back of my mind - I knew - I knew you couldn't do it," Johnny said. He knew Jason about as well as he knew himself, and Jason could kill without blinking an eye. But he also knew that Jason always trusted his instincts and that deep down, Jason wouldn't go against his instincts. "Besides, I kept the truth from you - in Sonny's eyes, that's a betrayal and I deserved whatever punishment I got for it."
"He's in Puerto Rico," Jason said. "He's never coming back. If he sets foot on the mainland again, I'll kill him."
Johnny took a deep breath, wondering what came between Sonny and Jason but knowing it had something to do with Carly. "What about me?" Johnny asked.
"Come collect your fiancee," Jason said. "And we'll figure the rest out from there. Need a job?"
"I could use a job," Johnny said. "We're not talking doors, though are we? Because you know Brenda - she spends a lot and I got a kid on the way and - "
"We're not talking doors," Jason said. "Come get her before Carly kills her."
"Carly?" Johnny asked. He knew that it wasn't his place to ask how the rest of that melodrama played out, but he had an idea and what he couldn't figure out Brenda would be able to fill in the blanks.
"Yeah - she's my wife," Jason said.
"Congratulations," Johnny said. "I know you two - the two of you have been to hell and back more times than I can count, and no one deserves to be happy more than the two of you."
"Thanks," Jason said. "But Brenda?"
"I'm in the room," Brenda interrupted.
"She's loyal," Johnny said. "You know that - probably better than anyone. She's strong and - Jase, I love her."
"Here," Jason said and handed his phone to Brenda.
The penthouse door opened and Michael ran in and stopped when he saw Brenda, "Dad - hi, what's Brenda doing here?" Michael asked.
"Jason, you said - " Carly began.
"Michael, she's using my phone. Go upstairs - start your homework," Jason said. "Carly - can we go in the kitchen for a second?"
"Jason, you promised - " Carly began as Jason gently shoved her in the kitchen.
Jason leaned against the counter and pulled Carly into his arms, "She's moving back to Port Charles," Jason said. "With Johnny."
"With Johnny? You mean with Johnny?" Carly asked. "How - I thought - "
"They ran into each other in Europe," Jason said. "They're getting married, she's having a baby and she came to ask me to let Johnny come home."
Carly nodded, "I love you, you know that right?" Carly asked. Sending away Sonny was something Jason had to do and he hadn't looked back once on his decision. But sending Johnny away had been really hard for Jason to do, but it would've been even harder for him to kill Johnny. "And I want you to be happy and for you to have your best friend back - even if - " Carly sighed. "Even if it means letting that woman back into our lives." Because she knew that from now on, Brenda and Johnny were a package deal. If she wanted to see Johnny, she'd have to put up with Brenda.
"She's not that bad," Jason said. "And Brenda will probably make Johnny move into the cottage so you don't have to see her everyday."
"Promise?" Carly asked.
"I promise," Jason said and kissed Carly. He pulled back when he heard Brenda clear her throat.
"Jason - I left your phone in the living room," Brenda said. "I'm going to head to the Port Charles Hotel and wait for Johnny. Thank you."
"You're welcome," Jason said.
"You know - what I said to you at the airport - I meant it," Brenda said. "Jason, I've known you longer than I've known just about anyone and this is the happiest I've ever seen you and - " Brenda paused, wondering if she should quit while she was ahead or just keep going. "And, if Carly makes you this happy then maybe - just maybe she can't be that bad." Brenda smiled, "So, I'm going to go grab a suite and take a nap. I'll see you around."
Jason nudged Carly and she sighed, "What?" Carly said. Jason squeezed her hand and she groaned, "All right. Brenda, there was a fire - the hotel burned down." Carly glanced at Jason again and sighed, "You're probably tired and can use some rest if you want - you can stay here until Johnny gets in."
Brenda hesitated before answering, "Yeah, that would be great," Brenda said. She was really tired and a nap sounded wonderful. "Just point Johnny in my direction when he gets here."
THE END