** A/N: Thanks for the reviews!

Never Again

Chapter 3

"Alright Barbara Jean, what is going on with that crazy niece of mine?" Luke drawled as he walked into the Brownstone kitchen.

"Carly? What do you mean? Did something happen?" Bobbie looked up from her coffee with a confused sigh.

"What happened was the girl said 'Thank You'... she even sounded- polite." Luke shivered dramatically."The time before that she only cut me down once. ONCE."

Bobbie rolled her eyes at his antics, "Maybe she is just tired of fighting with you all the time. Did you ever stop and think about that?"

"Nope. No way. Sweet Caroline would never give up like that. Fighting is what we do- other people hide behind politeness and false-sentiment. We fight. That's just how we work... So you haven't noticed anything wrong?"

"She seems a little distracted, but I think it's just taking her some time to adjust to being married and not having Jason around..."

"What do you mean not having Jason around? Did Morgan finally come to his senses?" Luke joked.

"I think they had some kind of fight. Carly won't talk about it. I've tried to bring Jason up a few times, but she gets terribly upset."

Luke is busy thinking about this and mutters to himself, "Maybe I should go and talk to Morgan..."

At Luke's

"Ah! Jason Morgan, just the mobster I wanted to see!" Luke waved Jason back into his office and sat comfortably behind his desk.

"What's going on Luke? You wanted to talk to me?" Jason stood in the doorway hoping that this "meeting" wouldn't take long.

"I was, uh, wondering when the last time you talked to that hellion niece of mine."

"Carly? This is about Carly," Jason pinched the bridge of his nose in agitation, "You pulled me away from work to ask me about the niece you don't even claim?"

"Hey- I am not claiming her or anything, I just wanted to know what was going on with her." Luke pulled out a cigar and stuck it between his teeth.

"I don't know, ask her." Jason turned to walk out the door.

"Look, I get your put out because she's living up at the big house and married to Junior..."

"Luke, Carly is a big girl. She made her choice and now we are all living with it." Jason interrupted impatiently and with more than a little bitterness in his tone.

"Don't get your holster all in a twist... I just thought you might now why she's been acting so out-of-character lately."

"Don't know, don't care. She's not my problem..." Turning to walk at the door, Jason was stopped by Luke's next words.

"You say that, but are you going to be able to forgive yourself if something is wrong and I warned you and you did nothing to help?"

"What do you want me to do?"

The plan had originally been for Jason to try and talk to Carly, but despite all of Luke's pestering Jason had remained firm. He would not purposely seek her out and confront her.

So after an hour of brain-storming Luke had finally gotten the idea to have his sister bring Carly to Luke's for a night out.

Jason would watch Carly and then if he noticed something was off- then he would approach her.

Telling the older man to call him when the details were worked out, Jason left to go to the warehouse.

Luke waited impatiently for Barbara Jean to call him and let him know if Carly had agreed.

When the phone rang he picked up quickly, "Barbara Jean?"

"Luke, before you asked me to call Carly, I was thinking you were paranoid... but now, I am not sure that you aren't right. Carly actually told me that she would have to ask A.J. for permission to go out and even then she was doubtful that he would let her go out without him. She didn't even sound mad or like she was going to fight to get her way... nothing. She sounded resigned... it's like she has accepted defeat and allowed A.J. to call the shots."

"Well, if Junior won't let her out of the house for good behavior then get her to bring him... maybe we can watch them both and get a clue on why sweet Caroline has decided to play nice."

Hanging up the phone Luke called Jason to let him know of the latest development.

The object of everyone's concern was standing outside the GH pharmacy not knowing that her secret was going to be blown wide open soon.

Carly was hoping that she wouldn't run into anyone she recognized today. A. J. would be livid if he knew she was still taking birth control behind his back. He was determined to impregnate her and she was just as determined for that not to happen.

"Mrs. Quartermaine? Here's a 3 month supply of your birth control pills. After you finish these you will need to schedule a physical with your doctor and she can renew your prescription."

Carly thanked the man quietly and was turning when she heard a familiar voice.

"You BITCH!" Emily had been standing behind with Elizabeth and she had heard what the pharmacist had said, "You are going behind A.J.'s back aren't you? You just sat there and listened to him go on and on about how excited he was to be trying for a baby. How could you?"

Taking a deep breath Carly tried to control her temper, "What I do is none of your business. You need to keep your nose out of it and your mouth shut."

Emily laughed, "Why should I? I think A.J. has a right to know what's going on."

Elizabeth just stood there with a smug look on her face and nodded in agreement.

Carly felt a panic rise as she heard Emily's threat, "Please... please Emily. Don't say anything to A.J. Please, I know you hate me, but I am begging you to not say anything. Please."

"Wow! You really must be desperate. I don't think I have ever heard you say "Please" before," Emily sneered, "Fine. I'll keep your secret for now, but if you don't come clean to A.J. by the end of the month, I can't guarentee anything."

Taking a deep breath Carly muttered her thanks and rushed away in a agitated state.

"That's so like Carly... uh, I just wish that she would go away sometimes. I mean, both A.J. and Michael would be so much better off without her around." Elizabeth snickered.

"No kidding." Emily watched Carly leave the building with a speculative look on her face.

A/N: Working away on this... deep thoughts and all that : )