The Bodyguard

Rating: PG

Disclaimer: I don't own General Hospital. If I did Jason would be with either Brenda or Sam. Logan Hayes would not exist. Lorenzo Alcazar would have never died. Oh and Jerry Jacks would get way more air time.

Author's Note: It was really hard for me to start this chapter. I wasn't sure where to begin. Once I got it started though it didn't take that long to finish. I hope you like it. I'm sorry I made you wait so long for the update. At the end let me know what you think. Thanks so much for reading.

The Bodyguard Chapter Three

Maxie had often found herself musing that living with Cooper Barrett was a lot like living with a really hot mime. Rarely did he say more than the usual polite banter you'd share with any stranger like good morning, hey, or thanks. Whenever she found herself glancing at him out of the corner of her eye he'd often be off in his own world. The only time he really became animated was when he was with Ava and Mason. There was something about those two that just made him "come alive". Sometimes Maxie thought about starting conversations in an effort to find out more about him, but he just made her so damn jumpy. There was something about him that made her uncharacteristically nervous. Occasionally when the two did talk it was often about trivial things like the weather and even then she did most of the talking. To fill the silence they often listened to music or watched television. While they disagreed on music, he strangely enough was a fan of rap and hip hop just like Jesse had been she was more into rock music and all of its various genres. They did happen to agree on television and movies. For the first time since the show aired she had someone to watch "The Office" with who actually got it. No matter how much she loved Mason or how gifted she was, he just didn't understand Dwight's humor. All in all living with Cooper had proved to be easier than she could have ever possibly imagined. Even if she knew more about his laundry than she did about him.

Cooper ended every night with a silent prayer that tomorrow would go as smoothly as today. He spent most of his time quietly pondering how his life could have changed so much in such a short period of time or playing with Mason and Ava which proved to be quite entertaining. But then there were the moments when Mason was across the hall and it was just him and Maxie in the penthouse. She'd be cooking in the kitchen and he would be sitting in the living room fighting the urge to say something to her that could eventually make him hate her. Normally when it came to girls Cooper was calm, cool, and collected, but except for their first meeting Maxie made him tongue tied. He had a feeling she thought he was mentally handicapped due to his constant silence. Sure he had things to say, smart things, but he knew that once he started to say them they would come out sounding like complete and utter gibberish. The only time he ever really felt comfortable with her was when they were watching television or movies. The only time he ever really talked around her was when they were watching movies like "Anchorman". He could quote "Anchorman" until the cows came home. Despite being pretty sure that she thought he was handicapped, he thoroughly enjoyed living with her. He just wished that he could let her know that without making a total ass out of himself.

Mason, Brenda, Ava, and Jason had found this situation exhausting or in the case of Mason and Ava more like confusing. It was obvious the two were attracted to one another. A person would need to be deaf, dumb, and blind to miss it. While Mason and Jason were willing to wait for the duo to come around Brenda and Ava had sunk to scheming. Two weeks, nine ideas, and one chipped nail Brenda finally came up with the perfect and completely unoriginal plan that she knew would force the two to do more than awkwardly coexist. "The solution is so simple that we should be very upset with ourselves Ava…I mean it took a passed out picture of Lindsay to inspire me." Brenda started and then explained that they would simply Parent Trap the twosome. After expressing their intentions to Mason and Jason and getting their consent Operation Lindsay Lohan was born.

Cooper walked into the Metro Court hotel feeling very uncomfortable in the Ralph Lauren suit Brenda had forced on him. He wasn't even sure why he was there. He understood that she missed him, but he hadn't realized she needed to do a dinner just the two of them. He fidgeted with his tie for what seemed like the millionth time as he waited rather impatiently for Brenda to make her entrance.

Maxie groaned as she glanced at her small silver watch only to realize that she was running late to meet Brenda and Kate Howard. When Brenda had asked her to join them she'd been shocked. Sure she knew her job was mostly to act as a mediator and to keep Brenda from threatening Kate. Having a husband who also just happened to be quite handy with a gun could lead a woman to do dangerous things. Maxie knew first hand what it was like to want to threaten an enemy's life. She walked into the Metro Court and walked straight into a tall, hard, and broad chest. Just as she almost hit the ground two very strong arms caught her and put her back on her feet. She looked up and found herself staring into the eyes of none other than Cooper Barrett. "We've been Parent Trapped."

"What?" Cooper looked at her rather curiously.

Maxie should have known better. "Let me guess you're here to meet Brenda."

"Yeah, how'd you -. Oh. Shit."

"Yep, like I said Parent Trapped. How I missed Brenda's shadiness is beyond me." Maxie joked.

Cooper shrugged. "Sometimes she can be stealth. Just like sometimes she can make government interrogators seem like total amateurs. It's all part of the reality television show known as Brenda Barrett."

"And we're just the supporting cast."

"So since they went to all this trouble to ask you put "Parent Trap" us, the least we can do is eat a good meal maybe share a decent conversation." Cooper suggested as smoothly as possible. If her hand had been on his heart she would have felt it pounding.

"So I've got to thank you for being so good to Mason. It's great to have a guy to you know wear him out sometimes." Maxie told him Cooper once they had ordered in an effort to keep their friendly banter going.

Cooper shrugged sheepishly and waved the compliment off. "It's no big deal. He's a great kid. You've done an amazing job raising him. He's really lucky to have you."

"I'm lucky to have him. After Jesse died, well I was in a pretty bad situation but Mason pulled me out of it. Well him and Ava."

"Ava?"

Maxie paused and bit her lip. She wasn't sure how exactly to word what she was trying to say. She hardly talked about Jesse. It was so hard for her to put into words her feelings for him. He'd meant to much to her. He'd saved her from herself. "Yeah, Jesse was guard so it was his job to take her to school, to supervise her play dates. I always used to say he was her shadow. He could have had any job he wanted. He was basically to Jason's right hand man. Still he chose to work with Ava. Anyway they spent so much time together and sort of became best friends. If you wanted to know why Ava was upset ask Jesse. If you wanted to know what to buy Ava for Christmas ask Jesse. It was strange, but cute. It was unconventional, but then again so is our lifestyle. After Jesse died Ava was there for me. She helped me with Mason. She told me funny stories about Jesse. I guess she made me realize that Jesse was gone, but I'd always have parts of him." Maxie smiled, deciding that she wouldn't let herself be sad at a moment like this. "So it's your turn to tell me something personal about yourself."

Cooper laughed and leisurely rubbed the back of his neck as he tried to think of something. "When Brenda was ten all she wanted was a dog, but our other sister Julia was allergic. Brenda had it all figured out. She wanted a chocolate lab and she was going to name him Cooper. Instead she got a baby half brother. My mother, a supermodel who I haven't seen in decades, allowed Brenda to name me Cooper since the dog was a pipe dream. She's taken care of me ever since."

"Really? What about Jason?" Maxie was curious. She knew very little of Brenda's life before Extravagant Taste. Like how she'd ended up being married to one of the most notorious men in America.

Cooper grinned. "That's a bit more complicated. Brenda and Jason grew up together. He's a couple of years older. I guess when I was born he helped take care of me because that's what you do for your best friend. I was six when he had his accident. I can still remember the way Brenda's voice cracked when she told me that Jason had been hurt. Brenda used to take me to visit him everyday after school. People always say that Jason became a completely different man after the accident but I disagree. Our relationship stayed basically the same. It wasn't until I was in high school that Brenda told me how if it hadn't been for me she doubted her and Jason would have ended up together. I guess I forced us to remain a family without realizing it." Cooper could hardly remember Jason Q, so he guessed that the man he'd always looked up to like a father was Jason Morgan and he was okay with that. There were times when he heard people refer to Jason as a monster, a heartless killer, "Stone Cold" that he wanted to tell them about the man who read him bedtime stories, who helped him tie his tie for his first dance, who bought him his first motorcycle. He doubted that they'd think the man he was describing was a monster.

"No wonder you didn't talk to anyone in high school."

"What do you mean? I talked to people."

"Well from what I recall as a freshman in high school, the only people in our entire school that you talked to were Emily Quartermaine and Lucky Spencer."

"I guess they were only two people who didn't act like they were scared of me all the time. People treated me as if I was some sort of experiment like I was going to explode at any minute." Cooper explained. Rarely did he talk about his stint at Port Charles High School. He'd shown up, done enough, and graduated never looking back. "Maybe if you'd been an older you could have been my third person." Cooper suggested as he winked at her.

"I guess that means you aren't going to your ten year reunion."

"Yeah I'm going to go ahead and say no to that one. It'd take a lot to get me there."

"Well if you change your mind I'd gladly be your date." Maxie offered with a flirtatious grin.

"I'll have to keep that in mind."

She was about to make a joke about how strange it was that Emily, Lucky, and Cooper had been friends. Emily was the most respected surgeon in the region. Lucky was on the fast track to Police Chief. And then there was Cooper, who presently was working for his mobster brother in law. The joke would remain untold though because suddenly Logan Hayes was briskly making his way over to their table. She rolled her eyes. "Prepare to deal with an asshole."

Cooper looked over his shoulder and saw a gruff looking guy making his way towards them.

"Hey Maxie. Who's this?" Logan asked rather bluntly as he pulled a chair up to their table.

"Logan this is Cooper. Cooper this is Logan Hayes."

"Detective Logan Hayes." Logan corrected.

"Hi." Cooper hated guy like Hayes. They were far too impressed with themselves.

"Do you mind Logan? We're kind of in the middle of dinner."

"Oh so is this a date?" Logan asked rather expectantly.

"What business of that is yours?" Maxie hated that Mac never saw this side of Logan. The version of Logan who knew was a total kiss ass.

"Just wondering, so is it?"

"Yeah it is." Cooper wasn't sure what surprised him more. The fact that he'd said that or the fact that he'd said anything at all. In situations like this he usually pretended to be invisible.

"Oh."

"So make like a tree and leave Logan." Maxie motioned for him to move. "Or we'll have someone move you for us."

Logan stood up as if her impatience was unjustified. "Well I'll leave you two to converse then. Oh and Maxie call me and we can get together."

Maxie rolled her eyes and shooed him away. "I'm sorry about that. Thanks for saying this is a date."

"It's no big deal. It kind of is a date/setup/trap. So uh who is he?"

"That, my dear friend and bodyguard, is God's idea of a cruel joke. My father just happens to think he'd be the perfect Jesse replacement. You see Mac Scorpio was never a fan of Jesse. He thinks this way I can raise Mason in a "proper" home." Maxie snorted. "I'd rather raise Mason in a Jamaican slum than in a house with Logan."

Cooper wasn't sure what came over him but he let out a small sigh and smiled.

Sorry it took so long to update. I've been crazy busy. I go back to school this Sunday but hopefully I'll still be able to update weekly. Feedback is amazing. Thanks for reading. Be fabulous.