Authors Note: Okay this is my new story. I'm really excited about it because it's mostly mapped out already. I'm going to try really hard to update it frequently. Please let me know what you think!
Pair: Johnny and Maxie, a little Jason and Sam, possibly Nadine and Spinelli.
Timeline: Right in the middle of the current crisis. Maxie is looking for Spinelli in the fire and Johnny went in after her.
This Crown Of Thorns
Chapter One: Beautiful Liar
Johnny Zaccharra had always been a good liar, maybe even a great one. But he'd come to learn that in the presence of Maxie Jones, he was nothing short of mediocre. He'd seen some spectacular liars and he'd told some incredible lies. But Maxie Jones was in a league all her own. Looking back it's obvious that he'd truly underestimated her, to be honest no one ever gave the girl enough credit. She was smart and charming, and about a million other dangerous qualities that would take too long to mention. Most people felt like those other things didn't really matter much because above all else, Maxie Jones was a beautiful liar. Ultimately it was this combination, of being too beautiful and too good a liar, that ruined the already damaged young girl. And in the process, the web of poisonous lies damn near killed the mob prince himself, Johnny Zaccharra. When it was all over, the two of them stood up stubbornly; battered, beaten and broken. Looking outwards they saw nothing but destruction and heartache, a tangled mess that they had woven. But his hand was in hers, and maybe there was still something to breath for…
February 13, 2009
"I can't believe I'm going to die in a freakin' hospital! I'm going to burn and rot and die in this stupid building and my shoes won't even make it out in one piece. What the fuck!" With an attitude rivaling even the largest flames, Maxie Jones stomped her way through the smoke and ash garnishing the halls of General Hospital.
"I just had to be stupid, didn't I? I couldn't let the trained professionals do their job, oh no I had to go play super hero. God, I really need to stop hanging out around Lulu, the little dim-wit is rubbing off on me. Ew." Wrinkling her nose in disgust Maxie peered around a corned just in time to see a tall pillar come swooping down. Moving as quick as her ridiculous heels would allow, the blonde fashion guru evaded death. The loud crash sprang through the empty walls of the burning hospital and pulled Maxie's attention to a hole in the tarnished floor. Black, fiery, and large; the hole was standing directly in the path of Maxie's escape route. Behind her she saw fire, broken glass and a virtual dead end. In front of her she saw a hole. A big gaping hole with no way around it.
"Seriously?" She whispered. "SERIOUSLY!" She repeated, this time screaming loudly. Another loud crash sounded, following her out burst and she ducked to avoid being impaled by a large falling object.
"Spinelli!" She shouted. "Anyone?" With no answer Maxie looked around to survey her options. After a few short moments she came to the conclusion that she had no real options. Other than death that is. The windows were covered in fire and her only way out was blocked by that stupid hole.
"I hate hospitals!" She muttered angrily before stomping around to look for something sharp. There was no way in hell that Maxie would let herself burn to death. She would die on her own terms, no matter what.
"Here we go." She whispered, picking up a sharp piece of glass from some sort of window or door. Grasping it tightly in her hands she took a deep breath…
"Maxie!" A voice rang out through the thick despair like a song. Squinting to see through the smoke Maxie saw the face of Johnny Zaccharra. And what a beautiful face it was.
"Johnny!" She cried in desperation, dropping the glass at once. Later she would wonder why the idea of taking her own life had entered her mind so easily as a quick fix. But for now she left those thoughts behind and allowed a shred of hope creep into her heart.
"Maxie are you okay? Just stay there I'm going to come get you." He yelled over the roaring of the movie - like flames.
"No wait! That pole fell down and the floor is unstable. The rest of it could let go at any minute." She told him, her hope fading away just as quickly as it had appeared.
"Maxie-"
"Just get out of here Johnny."
"I'm not leaving with out you!" He yelled back, promise lacing each word. Before she could protest yet again the dark haired bad boy was out of sight.
"What are you doing?" She yelled after hearing banging noises in the distance. In only a few moments Johnny reappeared with a long wooden plank.
"Oh no. No way Johnny." Shaking her head the blonde backed away. She knew exactly what Johnny was thinking and there was just no way she was going to…
"Climb across it, like a bridge." He explain as though she didn't already know.
"Are you insane?"
"Maxie this is your only chance. Come on, just trust me." His voice was quiet under the panic and hysteria filling Maxie's head. With searching eyes she looked around hoping to see a magical solution. She only found a pair of bottomless brown orbs.
"Okay just, just give me a minute here." She breathed.
"Maxie I promise you, we will get out of this. You'll get to take over the fashion world and find your prince charming. This is not the end." He told her with as much conviction as anyone could muster in a situation so terrible.
"No prince charming." She corrected. He couldn't help but smile at her words. Her disgustingly honest words. How could someone be so brutally honest in one sense but the embodiment of lies in another?
"Fine, no prince charming. Just get your little but over here before I decide to do something stupid like go get you myself." He warned playfully, though she knew it was only barley a joke.
"Okay, okay… I'll do it." Taking a deep breath she stepped onto the shaky plank with her pointed heals.
"You can do this." He encourage.
"Shut up okay? I don't do well with a pep squad so just, just shut up." She hissed glaring at him dangerously. Putting his hands up in surrender Johnny motioned for her to continue.
"Bet you're rethinking those shoe right now." He teased, understanding that this is what she needed. She need normalcy and banter to get across that plank in one piece.
"Please, I can walk better in heals than I can in sneakers." She smirked taking a handful of expertly balanced steps. By this point she was halfway across and making it look easy.
"Impressive."
"I'm a rarity." She muttered looking down and concentrating on her steps.
"You certainly are." He whispered, mostly to himself. His eyes stayed glued to her liquidly moving form as she neared him. Crack!
"Johnny!" She looked up in fear, the board beneath her was cracking under the heat and pressure, with it her chance of safety and life.
"Run! Maxie run!" He yelled hurrying forward and catching her in his arms as she leapt across the remaining length of the plank. He pulled her close to his body and breathed the scent of her hair; a soft lavender below a mask of smoke.
"Johnny." She murmured, sounding scared and fearless all at the same time. A contradiction he would never fully understand.
"You're okay. I've got you." He whispered looking over her shoulder to see the rumble and fired that lay where she had been only moments before. He held her closer.
00000 00000 00000
The Roof of General Hospital, 8:03 PM
Jason Morgan was a calm man. He could look death right in the eye with out ever blinking. Years and years of practice had groomed him into the perfect weapon of violence and destruction. And through out all of it he would remain calm because, above all else Jason Morgan was a calm man.
"What the hell happened?" But on this particular night, the robotic hit man was anything but calm. Everywhere he looked he saw fire spread, bodies collapse and people in danger. People he loved despite his best efforts not to. He had yet to find Anthony, which was his first priority at the moment. He had seen a look-alike of his dead sister. He'd even been forced to confront a slightly manic Sonny. All in all, Jason Morgan was having a bad day.
"Trevor- the toxin- over the roof." The reply came from the slightly disheveled Sam McCall. Jason's ex-fiancé a few times over, enemy, and currently his right hand woman. No one had been as much help as Sam in this situation. This fact of course lead to the resurfacing of old feelings, feelings that Jason had thought were dead and buried. But then again, Jason was having a bad day.
"Sam just, just slow down. What happen with Trevor? How did you get the vial and end up hanging from the roof?" He questioned her in a false calm manor.
"Trevor had the vial, he was going to use it as leverage with the Zaccharra's. He, he wants to take over or escape or something. I don't know Jason, he just kept mentioning Johnny. Johnny and him were gonna be okay if they had this vial. He was talking like a crazy person. I could tell that there was no reasoning with him so we started to struggle." She explained the situation as quickly as she possibly could, knowing that time was scarce.
"Okay then what happened?"
"Well what do you think happened Jason? We were struggling next to this ledge. We both went over, I grabbed the vial, and that's where you found me." Her face was more relaxed now, the events were finally working themselves out.
"So you're saying, Trevor fell over the ledge?" Jason question to make sure he'd heard everything right.
"No. I'm saying I pushed him over the ledge." She corrected coldly before heading for the door to leave the roof. Jason stood still for a moment. He'd forgotten how she was in a crisis. Her survivors instinct would kick in and take over. She could be cold, calculating and lethal. The same way he was…
"Have you seen Anthony at all?" He asked running to catch up with her. She shook her head and made her way down the stairs expertly.
"We need to find him." Jason reiterated sternly.
"Well then, let's hurry up because this place is going up fast." With those final words the two partners flew down the stairs and made their way to a somewhat safe look section of the hospital.
"Damn it, he could be anywhere." Sam muttered as she looked around the halls of the burning building. It was then that a scream rang out. It was loud and high, a terrified voice.
"That was Maxie." Sam decided easily. She would know her friends panic laced scream anywhere.
"Maxie wasn't even here." Jason reminded her, although he too recognized the scream as his favorite blonde annoyance.
"Jason it's Maxie." The brunette calmly leveled with him. Their eyes met and with in seconds they were sprinting towards the scream. It had come from one floor down so it took a while for them to find a staircase that was usable. Five to ten minutes later they were rounding the corner to see none other than Maxie Jones and Johnny Zaccharra in a tight embrace.
"Maxie!" Sam yelled causing the pair to break apart. Johnny's hand still remained firm on Maxie's forearm.
"Oh thank god, Sam. Where's Spinelli?" Maxie questioned immediately, causing both Jason and Sam to let worry creep onto their features.
"He should be evacuated by now. And what the hell are you doing here?" Jason questioned Johnny looking anything but friendly.
"Spinelli is still in here." Maxie interrupted. "I came in to find him and Johnny came in after me."
"Why can't people just stay put?" Jason muttered under his breath. "Look, Sam why don't you help these two get out of here and I'll go find Spinelli."
"No way." Maxie argued.
"I don't have time for this Maxie! I can't sit here and argue with you. I need to find Spinelli and I need to find Anthony." Jason said the last part while avoiding Johnny's eyes.
"Wait my father's still here?"
"Yes, so just take Maxie back-"
"No."
"Would everyone just listen to me!" Jason yelled in frustration.
"Jason look, you can't do this alone. There's no way you have the time. Why don't we just split up in two groups. I'll go with you and Johnny can take Maxie." Sam tried to reason.
"It's not safe." Jason said shaking his head.
"You honestly think I would let anything happen to this girl?" Johnny exclaimed looking at Jason and then at Maxie. And then, as if things couldn't get any worst… there was another CRASH.
"Look out!"
"Sam, get down!"
"Johnny!"
"Maxie?"
"Maxie?"
"Maxie…"