Title: Life Left to Go
Word Count: 3,317
Pairings: Dante Falconeri / Leslie Lu Spencer , Johnny Zacchara / Leslie Lu Spencer
Rating: PG-13 for the language.
Warnings/Spoilers: Here's where it gets complicated. The carnival happened, Johnny was shot. Carly nearly lost the baby. AU from the point that Claudia knows that Dante is Sonny's son BUT she doesn't know that Dominic is Dante.
Summary: There's no pain you feel that I know love can't heal.

Official Disclaimer: All General Hospital characters and plots belong to ABC. I do not hold stock the company. Leslie Lu Spencer, Dante Falconeri, and any other character featured are NOT mine. The title comes from SafetySuit's Life Left to Go. I don't own that either.


Laura Spencer had had dozens upon dozens of conversations with her youngest child over the course of the last year. They had spoken about love and sex and romance, Maxie and Spinelli's almost not wedding, and her child's devastating break up with John Zacchara. Lulu had called her every morning for a week to discuss Ethan and his new place in their lives when the DNA test came back and then Rebecca Shaw and how Nikolas seemed to be besotted with her. But never in those phone calls had she ever mentioned the young man who was now standing in front of her. She didn't want to think why not.

"I'm sorry if I'm intruding." He said quickly, running a hand over his chin and trying his hardest not to look at the bed. "I saw Ethan duck out and I thought I could get a minute with her before he came back to kick me out." Over the last few weeks he had learned that honesty was always the best policy with Lulu and he was going to make it a point to be as honest as he could with her mother as well. Well, as honest as he could for an undercover detective anyway. He watched Laura watch him and shrunk back a little. "I could always come back later."

She didn't have to ask why Ethan didn't like him. The way he was standing there in his khaki's and button down meant that he was either one the far right of the law, or Sonny's side. He didn't even seem fazed that he was sneaking around the hospital at four in the morning, which prompted her to think that his was a less then admirable profession. But the look he kept sparing to her daughter's bed did make her wonder. "Misery loves company." She said at last, dropping back into the chair and waving her hand toward the bed. "She's not going to wake up any time soon, so I don't see what harm a visit would do."

Dante allowed his eyes to fully take in Lulu's appearance then, from the sheer whiteness of her skin to the tube running from the corner of her lips. He had been to Johnny's hospital room less than two days after the guy had taken a bullet for Spinelli, and even he didn't look that bad. Hell, from the look of it Zacchara had gotten off easy. "Do they know who did this?" He asked the room softly, running a hand down the arm that wasn't covered in tubes from her IV.

"Not yet." Laura answered. "But from what I've been told by her brother both the PCPD and Jason Morgan are looking into it."

"Violence begets violence." Dante whispered, leaning down to run his fingers down her cheek. Although they had gotten closer in the last few weeks, once Lulu woke up he knew for a fact that he wouldn't be able to get this close to her. He reveled in it while he could. "I'm hoping the PCPD catches this guy before Jason does." He admitted, louder this time.

"A mobster rooting for the police," Laura allowed herself to smile wryly at the thought. "Something I haven't seen in a while."

He laughed, turning away from Lulu at last to finally study her mother. They would have been identical, standing next to each other, with the same color hair and sardonic smiles. If he were to guess he would say that Laura had more practice with the joyful turn of the lips then her daughter did. Lulu's eyes were her grandmother's though, something he had picked up from the tail end of a conversation with Maxie that he was sure that he wasn't supposed to overhear. He nodded to himself. "Lulu talks about you a lot." He said without thinking, watching Laura's eyes widen.

"That's funny." She countered, crossing her arms against her chest and throwing him the same look Lulu always did when she was skeptical. "She hasn't mentioned you once."

His hand came up to his chest and he winced. "That hurts." He laughed. "It really does. And here I thought that she was warming up to me."

"Lulu doesn't need to warm up to you." Ethan said from the doorway, a drink holder in one hand with two lattes balanced precariously and a paper bag in his other hand. "What she needs is for you to leave."

"That's my cue." Dante smiled back at Laura before turning and running his fingers over Lulu's arm again. He could hear Ethan huffing from behind him, and he took his time, memorizing the look on her face and sending up a quick prayer that she would be back to being annoyed by him soon enough. He threw a glance over his shoulder, smiling at Ethan before holding his hand out for Laura a second time. "It was nice to meet you Mrs. Spencer."

Laura knew she shouldn't be encouraging him. If Ethan couldn't stand him, she was willing to bet that her sons couldn't either and the last thing she wanted to do was start an argument that none of them would win. "You too, Dominic." She said at last, watching him shove his hands in his pockets and slide out the door, pulling it closed behind him.


They had acquired another chair sometime in the passing of the next three hours. She wasn't sure where it had come from, and quite frankly, she didn't want to ask Ethan how it had gotten to Lulu's room, but when she had gotten back from one of her bathroom breaks, Ethan was sitting with his feet propped up on the edge of the bed. They also didn't talk. Not about anything less superficial than how cute he thought the night nurse was and what the weather was going to be like the next day. When he caught Laura staring at his sister with tears in her eyes he pulled the deck of cards from his pocket and waved them in front of her, challenging her to a game of Texas Hold 'Em.

When Nikolas stormed into the room, he saw Ethan first, holding his hand of cards close to his chest and making exaggerated poker faces. Laura had told him earlier that he played poker like his sister, which caused a whole new set of jokes to emerge. Nikolas had to stop himself from pulling his half-brother's half-brother to his feet and throttling him for playing cards while their sister was lying helpless in the bed.

"Nikolas!" Laura shouted over the argument that had begun just by her oldest child entering the room.

He looked shocked, almost scared when he turned and realized that his mother was truly in the room. "You're here?" He asked quickly, pulling Laura into a hug and kissing her cheek. "They called you? What happened?"

"Lulu ran into Zacchara outside of Kelly's." Ethan announced, somewhat grateful that he was able to provide the information. Although he knew it wouldn't make a difference, he had had something to contribute to the conversation after all. "We've been trying to get in touch with you since eight last night, mate. You might want to try answering pages with the numbers 911 in front of them."

"Investors…" He said nervously, not too sure if his mother would believe him. "I was getting ready for bed when Alfred told me that there had been an accident." Then he finally noticed the bed. "Oh God."

Laura's hands were around her son's shoulders in an instant. "The prognosis is good." She told him first."They were able to retrieve all three bullets." She didn't want to tell him that his sister's lung had collapsed. Had they not been able to suture the hole she would most likely be telling her son that his sister was dead by now. "Dr. Hunter said that they want to keep her sedated for a few days to make sure her body starts repairing itself properly."

He watched his mother take a deep breath, and copied her, just to have something to do. "She's going to be all right?" He asked tentively.

"She's going to be just fine." Laura told him softly, pulling him into another hug. "I've sent Lucky home to get a few hours sleep, but if you'd like we can see if we can find another chair?"

She looked pointedly over at Ethan, who cocked a sideways grin at her and shrugged. "Here, take mine." He pushed the wooden contraption in Nikolas's direction. "I'll go flirt with the duty nurse and steal another one from the waiting room." When Laura's smile became genuine, his did too. He watched the blonde woman settle her oldest into the chair and then turned to leave.

He had no sooner made it to the door before it opened again. "Your sister's been in the hospital for ten hours already and I'm just hearing about this now?" Tracy shoved Ethan back into the room and almost slammed the door, her finger not leaving Ethan's chest. "With that useless lout of a father out roaming the planet I would have hoped that you would have had the decency to call."

"We didn't want to worry you unnecessarily." Ethan's smile was once again forced, and he looked over to Laura as if to ask for help.

"And one would think with my daughter's life on the line, that they would have had more important things on their mind." Tracy's back straightened and she turned to follow the voice. Laura didn't flinch as she addressed her ex-husband's new wife. "Hello Tracy."

Ethan suddenly forgotten, Tracy forced a smile onto her lips. Her step-family couldn't spare a moment to call her and inform her that Lulu had been shot three times in the chest, but they seemed to have managed to get Laura across the ocean. "Laura." She spit out. "How long have you been here?"

"Long enough." She said shortly, she looked to Ethan and tried to smile reassuringly at him. She may have only known the man for a few short hours, but she had heard more than enough from her daughter about the way Tracy felt about him. "Why don't you go see about that other chair?" She pressed gently. After Ethan left the room she looked from her son to Tracy.

"Do they know how it happened yet?" Tracy barked instead of the snide comment about catatonia that she had at the tip of her tongue. She knew from personal experience that if and when Luke came back to town, he would undoubtedly take his ex-wife's side about any conflict they had.

Laura nodded. "Apparently Lesley Lu ran into John Zacchara earlier tonight and managed to get hit with a bullet that they think was meant for him." It wasn't the absolute truth, seeing as though Ethan told her that Sonny and his men still weren't sure that John was the target, but it was as close as she had. And the sooner she gave Tracy all of the answers she was looking for, the sooner the woman would leave. "She spent a little over seven hours in surgery and after a few days of sedated rest she'll be better than ever."

"You're not going to tell me any more than that, are you?" Tracy readjusted her purse on her arm as Laura crossed her arms against her chest.

"I hear Dr. Long is the doctor on rotation at the moment." She said in lieu of a 'no' and dropped her arms. "And Doctor Hunter will be back soon after lunch."

She smiled, cold and calculating and already plotting to send some of her retainers out to find her husband. "Then I thank you for appreciating my concern for your daughter." She spat out sarcastically, hitching her purse further up her arm and turning around.

"Thank you." Laura slammed the door behind Tracy, before turning around and looking at her daughter. "Sorry baby." She said softly as she moved back across the room.

Nikolas chuckled. "I don't think she noticed." He told his mother softly. When Laura laughed, he smiled. "She's most likely going to try to find Luke now."

"Somehow I don't think his appearance is going to help my attitude towards her." She said after a moment, scooting her chair closer to the bed and taking the hand that wasn't laden with tubes. "And she's going to be fine, so I don't see what he's going to have to say about it."

He nodded, knowing his mother was right. If Tracy managed to find his step-father the chances of the old man coming back to Port Charles were slim to none. Lulu had made it out of surgery, and his presence would only serve to add to the anxiety. Luke was a lot of things, but he wasn't stupid. He would probably wait until Lulu was released before he resurfaced, if only to make sure the tensions wouldn't affect her. Luke had never been a hands on father, but he did care about his children. And no matter what he said, the soft spot in his heart for his daughter was probably the biggest.

The door opened again, and Ethan stuck his head in before pushing it open the rest of the way to carry a chair in. "Milo's replacement just showed up." He told the group as he set the chair down. "He wants to know if we need anything."

"My daughter to wake up." Laura said sourly, her hand still tracing circles in Lulu's palm.

Ethan nodded and turned to the door again. "Breakfast it is." He tried to be chipper.


He dropped his keys on the sideboard and flicked off the outside hall light, hoping that he didn't wake his mother up, and that she was sleeping alone. Then again, with the leash that Sonny was keeping on John, chances were likely that his mother's lover wouldn't be seeing the outside of Graystone Manor for the next few days. He wasn't entirely sure how his mother was going to explain away the fact that he was taking her guest room while the rooms at Kelly's were being repainted, but when she insisted that he stay with her, he stopped worrying about it.

The couch gave under his weight, and he pulled his button down over his head t-shirt style and threw it in the direction of the coffee table. Olivia would yell at him for it later in the morning, but he wasn't into caring, especially after what he had seen that day.

"Dante?" The living room light flickered on and he shifted on the couch, dropping one leg so his mother would have a place to sit. "What time is it?"

"A little after six." He wasn't going to explain where he had been, more for the fact that she would most likely question the fact that after visiting Lulu in the hospital he had gone back to the crime scene and then he'd snuck into the police department and practically threatened Mac into letting him see the preliminary report that the officer on scene had filled out before going to interview John and Sonny. "You don't have work today; you should be catching up on sleep."

Olivia pulled her hair out of her eyes and cinched her robe closer to her body. Although she enjoyed the fact that her son had been able to stay with her for the past week, but she had to admit that the hours he kept while working for Sonny were hell. "Who's the parent and who's the child?" She asked with a frown. When she noticed his shirt on the table and his shoes kicked haphazardly between the door and the couch she ran a hand over his head. "What's happened?"

He wanted to lie to her. Sonny had kept him on his sons protection detail well into the night before, there was no reason why his mother couldn't think that that was all there was to it. But he knew John. And he knew the second Claudia left him alone he was going to call his ma, and Olivia would turn him over her knee if she found out that he knew and didn't tell her. "There was a shooting tonight." He noticed her hand still and she held in a breath. "He's fine." He assured her, trying his hardest not to be bitter. "Lulu Spencer managed to take the bullets for him."

The relief that John Zacchara was all right was shattered at the fact that he had been the target, and that someone else had paid the price. "Is she okay?" She asked cautiously, hoping that her son wouldn't have yet another death to blame on the Corinthos Organization.

"After seven hours of surgery." Dante pulled himself into a sitting position, propping his feet up on the coffee table. He allowed a small chuckle at the fact that his mother was too distracted to fuss at him about it. "Punctured lung and a cracked rib, and they're keeping her on a ventilator for a few days, but they say she'll be fine." He rubbed his hands over his eyes, trying to force the vision of his vivacious if not somewhat reluctant verbal dance partner lying cold in the hospital bed. Making a mental note to call Ronnie later in the day and push for him to keep him in the loop on the investigation, he dropped his hand onto his lap again.

"How's John taking this?" Olivia asked without thinking. They had been keeping their secret relationship going on stolen moments and hushed conversation and the fact that she couldn't call him to check on him was killing her.

Dante laughed, pulling himself off of the couch and reaching for his shirt. "You know what Ma?" he asked none too gently. "I really don't care." He kissed her on the top of the head and turned. "I'm going to bed." He announced, knowing that the likelihood of him actually sleeping was slim to nil. Turning he left her on the couch.

Although sparsely decorated, the guest room was nice. It reminded him a lot of his bedroom in his Brooklyn apartment if he thought about it too long. Then again he suspected that his mother had done that on purpose. He threw his shirt in the direction of the laundry hamper and toed off his socks, leaving them wherever they landed. He pulled his jeans off, not really aiming as his sent them flying to the corner. His Ma would remind him that she raised him better than that when she came to check on him later in the morning, but he was well versed in not listening to her. Dropping himself onto the bed in nothing but his boxer briefs, he laughed harshly when he realized his head was at the foot of the bed. With his foot he managed to kick a pillow down to his hands and dropped it over his head instead of putting it behind. He didn't feel like getting up to turn off the light.

She was going to be fine. He kept telling himself, trying to stop the thoughts on loop that said she was going to die. He'd seen her himself and he sweet talked one of the night nurses into telling him at least that the prognosis was good. He understood gunshot wounds and he knew that she wasn't in the clear until she was released, but so far she was in the clear and that was all that mattered. For a brief second he wondered what it would be like to be allowed in her room, waiting with her mother for news that she was going to wake up sooner rather than later. With a smile he drifted off to sleep.