Chapter 7
Carly and Courtney were both in a coma for almost a week, the quiet created by the two blonds being out of it allowed some of the mess to settle down.
Mac had found out that the Pet Store had been visited by Courtney, who had expressed no interest in the snake but was seen on their security camera later that day with an unknown male. Unknown at least on the surface, but Jason had noticed something peculiar in his walk. The same odd lope he had seen while watching Diego Sanchez.
Unfortunately Sonny had heard Carly and was almost certain she had had no idea how dangerous the snake was, not that it mattered to Jason, he just wanted her dealt with but it had to Sonny who was feeling intense guilt about making such a drastic decision for his wife.
Jason had vowed to find a way to make her pay without exposing himself to jail time. He had just gotten his family back there was no way he was going to lose that kind of time with them.
Looking up as Max let Dillon into the office; he gestured for his cousin to take a seat then watched as the boy nervously kept tapping his hand on his knee. "Why am I here?"
"I need your help with a few things." he replied then was astonished when the younger blond confessed to his part in the Luke forcing Tracy to marry him scan. "I know that Georgie was right, but Luke is my friend. Mom did take his money."
Now getting what the calls from Alan had been about, Jason said "I will take care of that, but I was more interested in Diego Sanchez. What do you know about him?"
"His sister was deported then he learned the truth, that she was actually his mother. He has no family left and is in a group home since Courtney wasn't capable of keeping him." he recited. "He is fun, a bit intense but I think he likes Brooklyn."
"Does he have some interest in photography?" asked Jason then was told they were planning on taking the same class at school in it. Hearing a knock, he saw Ned's daughter entering and when he asked her about Diego got the same answers, other than a slight twitch when he asked about photography.
Finding an excuse to get rid of Dillon for a few minutes, Jason bluntly asked "Have you gotten any strange photos of yourself?"
When she tried to lie, he said "You are not the only one and I can't help if you continue to lie to me."
Stuttering as she told him about the pictures then said "But I doubt that Diego had anything to do with them, there were a few versions of Sage Alcazar singing with them, he didn't know her."
"Okay, but do me a favor, if he should ask, just mention I saw him with a camera the other day." he replied then watched her leave. Hesitating, he thought about her living in those college dorms and called his cousin. "Ned, we need to talk."
"Jason?" asked the record producer. Getting the story, he said grimly "I will get her into the city, but she isn't going to want to stay. Things have been bad between her mother and her."
"Just ask Lois what is more important her daughter's life or her needing to relive her dreams through her kid." he snapped.
Heading home after a little talk with a now very pissed off Luke Spencer who had been told his marriage no longer existed; Jason arrived just as Elizabeth returned from the hospital pushing Cameron in his stroller. Seeing how beat she was, he offered to get take out then had both Cam and her relaxing with him as they enjoyed the newly renovated penthouse.
"How come you are so tense?" she asked then said "If you can tell me?"
"It's the Diego situation, Brooklynn was also getting photos then there is Dillon and his blind ignorance to how the real world works." he said telling her all he knew.
"What are you going to do? Can you help Tracy?" she asked.
"Yeah, Francis took care of it after I left, our people contacted someone in Vegas. By tomorrow morning, Luke will have moved on to harassing someone else." he said with a sigh. "I am coming with you tomorrow when you are to testify."
"DA Stallworth will love that." she said with a laugh as she explained how he had gone from being rather distant and condescending to her to trying to kiss up. He had been a bit put off when she had suggested he just do his job and stop catering to whoever he thought had more influence.
Hearing a knock on the door, Jason saw Cam's guard standing in front and then took the package from a silent Brooklynn who looked a bit upset when she saw Jason handed them off to Elizabeth. She opened them and after a few minutes closed her eyes saying "They are the same as the others."
"Elizabeth are you...?" trailed the brunette.
"No, nothing like that; Jason just felt you would be more comfortable with me looking at them than him. Brooklynn, you are not the only one receiving these. We know of at least two other women."
There was an opening in the door and another teenager slipped in. Handing Jason an envelope, she said "They are addressed to Maxie."
Elizabeth saw they were the same then the last item and said "Okay, Georgie call your sister, Jason, I hate to say it but you need to go through a certain blonde's stuff and see what you can find. If there is a connection other than the one we already suspect."
Nodding he went over to where Cam was sleeping and then started over to Elizabeth but the two younger girls were already there discussing things with her. Their eyes met over the two scared teenagers and then he quietly walked out the door.
Seeing Sonny leaving the other penthouse, he had to keep from reminding him about their concerns regarding Sam. Since Carly's miscarriage and surgery, the other man was spending a lot of time with the woman who was carrying his child, giving her thoughts of a future that she most definitely wasn't going to have with him.
Max followed his two bosses into the elevator, wondering about the tension he was feeling then saw Jason's glance his way. "Sir?"
"Max, not right now, but the three of us need to discuss how Carly is able to get so much information from you. It shouldn't have happened and if you had been any other guard, or less trusted, you would be dead." he stated as clearly as possible.
Seeing Sonny's frown, Max said "Mrs. C is the bosses wife, I -"
"His wife who almost killed Elizabeth and my son." he pointed out fiercely. "And it wasn't the first time she tried. Your priorities need straightened up, the rest of the guards were warned, you and those you are protecting are not to be let within fifty feet of my family. My family is to be protected just as much as his and that you can't seem to do that is starting to make me wonder if your loyalty is to Sonny or to his wife."
Max flushed, wondering if Jason was aware of his crush on Carly. "I was told that I was to protect Mr. C and his wife above all others."
His lips now pressed together, Jason hissed "So if Carly walked up to my family with a gun, you would let her shoot Elizabeth rather than harm her, is that what you are saying?"
"Yeah." he said slightly confused. "You were the one who told us that they came above all others."
"NOT IF THEY ARE THE ONES CAUSING THE HARM." shouted Jason as the doors slid open. Looking at Sonny who hadn't said a word, he snapped "This is why I am bringing in my OWN people, I can't trust you guards. Oh and Max, the day that you let my family get hurt, is the day I kill you, do you understand me?"
Leaving Jason never saw Sonny's frown as they got in the limo. Looking at Max, he said "I haven't forgotten you were the guard on Carly when she went to the FBI that you came to me immediately but right now, it is very close to being forgotten. You know that Carly is a loose cannon, and I have seen how you sometimes look to her before responding to my orders. Jason is right; your loyalty seems to be to Carly over the rest of my family."
"What does this mean, Mr. C?" he asked worried about his job and his life.
"Just that for now on, I think you should stay at the hospital keeping an eye on Carly. That seems to be the best place for you." With a sigh, Sonny thought about it then winced at all Jason had almost lost yet again.
AT GH the next morning, Courtney had woken up, but she couldn't move. Nothing on her was working but her eyes. Struggling to get someone's attention, anyone's, she heard the sound of a nurse in the room. Finding hope, she saw the person taking her stats then turn to leave.
Elizabeth stopped at the door and said "Oh, I know you are awake, Courtney. This, what you are living with, you created. This was what you meant to happen to me or to my son. This living death. You will remain like this locked away in some facility until your body deteriorates. And with all the medical miracles going on, that is going to be years and years of boredom, of watching as the rest of the people you know have lives."
The tears flowing had Elizabeth turn around and walk back. Picking up the small cloth on the table, she dried her eyes then said "You poor dumb blond... you screwed yourself good this time. Oh, your pal Carly, she miscarried. Will never have more children. Oh, one more thing, since you can't tell anyone. Sam McCall her kid, it's Sonny's. Yeah, your best friend is going to find herself out on her ass, he has already been over to visit with Sam daily since Carly lost the kid...yeah, you get what that means." she said taunting the blond as she lightly laughed walking out the door.
Outside, she leaned against the door, sick with anger at herself. She loathed this woman, knew that she had intended this fate for her or even worse death, yet she felt guilty about tormenting her. Yet at the same time, she felt she owed it to Cameron, she wanted to hurt the blond for her plans to kill her son. She wanted her to give up, wanted her to just let herself die.
Lucky was led into the courtroom where his family was waiting. Not seeing Nik, he said "When is Nik coming, I need his help with getting to talk to Elizabeth, they won't let me and she needs to know that..."
"Mr. Spencer, you won't be talking to witnesses and if any member of your family should even attempt it I will add intimidating a witness charges to your counts and arrest them. Do you understand me." said Stallworth while Scott just yanked Lucky into the defendants chair and told him to shut up.
As first the 911 operator testified regarding the call, then the two responding officers told their story before Emily was called to testify the Spencers were confused as she explained her history with both of them, then her view of their past until the DA started asking about Elizabeth's dunking into the river and visit to GH.
"Your honor, what could an incident caused by someone other than my client have to do with this trial?"
"Mr. Stallworth, do you have an explanation?" asked the judge.
"Your honor, we are trying to prove that Mr. Spencer has an unreasonable view of his non relationship with Elizabeth Webber. Ms Quartermaine had a conversation with Mr. Spencer that day that points directly to what led up to these charges and refutes Mr. Spencer's version of events."
"Okay, I will allow you some leeway, but don't push it."
"Lucky showed up at GH, he had been one of the officers at the incident, he wanted to know how Elizabeth was. I answered him then asked if it was true that Carly Corinthos had pushed her in." stated Emily. To most of them it was pretty innocuous, they had no idea she was going to be saying soon.
"He said yes then said that it was Elizabeth's fault her son had ended up in the water. That she shouldn't have been down there with the stroller. That when they had their own kids, he would have to insist she stop going there. That what if instead of Cam it had been their child." The jury was now looking at Lucky not sure what to think.
"Since I had been there when Elizabeth told him they weren't going to be getting together just the day before I sarcastically asked him when they had started seeing each other. He looked at me and said when she returned from Napa. Now, I knew Elizabeth was not interested in revisiting their past but what Lucky said next was what freaked me out."
"Objection." called out Scott complaining about her using the phrase freaked out. The judge overruled the objection and told Emily to continue, after tell Scott he could address the subject on cross.
"Lucky said "I can just see us, years from now sitting in rockers on the front porch of Mama's house with our children around us, our own Luke and Laura and their children. She will be knitting. I interrupted him at that point and asked where Cam was in this picture."
The DA hid his smile as to him this gave him proof that Spencer was obsessed with Elizabeth. "What was his response?"
"He said Cam who?" There was a whispering in the galley and the jury was now looking at Lucky with a slightly affronted expression on their faces. "I replied exactly and walked away because Elizabeth and I had talked about it and we knew that engaging Lucky just creates more drama."
The DA said "I have no more questions."
Scott listened to a whispering Lucky then told his client he would call her back later with no intentions of doing so. He would quietly release Emily at the end of the day but for now said "I have no questions for this witness at this time but reserve the right to call her back to the stand at a later date."
After what one of Lucky's oldest friends had just testified to, Scott was not looking forward to the next witness who was Georgie Jones. "Your honor, may we break for lunch now?"
The judge looked at the clock then at the DA and asked "How many more witnesses do you have lined up for today?"
"Two your honor." he replied.
"Well, lets get your part done, we can go on break before the cross." Scott moaned but watched as Georgie Jones came into the courtroom wearing an age appropriate skirt and shirt. He had hoped she would have suddenly turned into a goth chick or dressed inappropriately but no, she had to be the same sensible girl he had known most of her life.
His only hope had been that she would not be credible but as the DA ran her through what had happened the day she was babysitting Cameron Webber, he began to face that Laura's son was going to jail for a very long time unless he tripped her up on cross, he was well aware she didn't like Lucky.
When she blushed while saying that Lucky had said he had to get rid of the little cock blocker, the jury ate it up while Luke cringed as he got how badly things were about to become.
"I called the police and told them I heard an intruder, I just didn't tell them it was Lucky." she confessed.
"Why not?" he asked.
"Because I knew that if they thought I was in danger they would hurry over since my dad is their boss." she stated. "Lucky has been scaring me for weeks, the way he looks at my teenager sister... the way he..."
Scott objected but the DA saw the looks on the juries faces when they saw Georgie look at her sister who was in court for moral support. Georgie was told to move on but even Scott knew her comment wouldn't be forgotten.
"The police arrived and they took Cameron to safety but he wanted his binkie so I returned to grab it and saw them arresting Lucky."
"According to Officer Garcia when you heard them telling Lucky to wash his hands and pull his pants up, you stopped them why?"
"I had been taking a summer forensics class at PCU, I knew they should have gotten proof that he had er... well...uh... you..."
"Is Ms Jones going to answer or are we going to be here all night?" sneered Scott. The teenager glared at Serena's dad then turned blood red as she spat out that he had ejaculated.
The DA felt bad for the teenager but gleeful at the mistake; a now contrite Scott looked up and mumbled he was sorry. "Anyhow, they now wanted plastic gloves and I had some so I ran downstairs and put on my sunglasses so I didn't have to er... you know and took them to them."
Mac had slipped into the courtroom in time to hear his daughter's testimony and winced while considering talking to all his officers about proper police procedure and always have a kit on them. But when the DA finished talking Scott said "Your honor, I only have a couple of questions."
"What happened to wanting to the long questioning you mentioned before?" asked the judge once both attorneys were at the bench.
"May I just get on with it?" he asked wearily. Getting permission he asked "But that wasn't the end of your interaction with Mr. Spencer was it. You made a comment that didn't end up in the official report. Why is that?"
"It has no bearing on the case, but if you want I can tell you what was said." she retorted then looking towards the jury with a smirk "What Mr. Baldwin is talking about is that I said "I don't want to be scarred for life, hey Lucky, when you were told size doesn't matter by every woman you dated, they lied."
"Do you feel that was an appropriate remark to make?" he asked. "I mean, are you sure you are qualified to judge the size of Mr. Spencer. I mean just how many have you seen?"
Scott needed to toss some dirt on the witness but knew he was going to pay in the end when he saw her smile at him.
"I don't feel this is an appropriate question for one of my friends fathers' to ask however as to the remark, yeah. It was just as appropriate as the remark your client made at our mutual Aunt Bobbie's when he said that the size of my breasts would be a wonderful handful to our cousin."
Scott was now sweating but Georgie didn't let him interrupt when she continued on by saying. "I also have read medical textbooks and know that the average male is around four inches flaccid and 6 erect. Since Lucky was rather straight at the time I made the comment after all he was less than that four inches, yeah, I would say I can judge. And for the record, Scott, unlike Serena I am still a virgin."
The DA had taken a sip of water trying to hide his smile as the intelligent teenager tore through the defense attorney but the ending was beyond even his wildest explanations as Scott started to choke and then sat down while suffering from a mild case of shock as he said "No more questions for this witness."
When the judge announced a recess for lunch, the courtroom emptied rather quickly. The jury now would be focusing during lunch on the last witness's testimony and more than a few of the woman found themselves taking a look as Lucky was led from the courtroom.
Mac walked up to Scott and snapped "You went too far with Georgie, have you lost your mind?"
Luke was almost convinced that Scott was tanking the case it was going so bad for his son, but realized he had no other choice but to continue and then if Lucky was convicted get it overturned. With a heavy sigh, he pushed past Scorpio and said "Who are they putting on next?"
"Elizabeth Webber." said Scott as he walked away well aware they had no chance to impeach the young woman. He saw the red head talking to the DA and knew that she was representing Elizabeth in the case as a result of Alexis Davis' connections to the Spencers.
Elizabeth showered and changed, then went to where Jason was sitting reading files in the waiting room. "You really don't have to be there for this."
"Yes I do." he said firmly then stuck the files in the hands of the nearby guard and said "Take those back to Elizabeth's penthouse. Oh, and check with Bernie make sure that he give the McCall woman the right ones, this time."
Seeing Elizabeth's expression he said "Sonny is buying her a house for after the baby is born, she saw some I was looking at and made the mistake of thinking they were for her."
"Oh." she said not sure why it bothered her he was planning on moving out. "We should get going."
Nodding at his parents, Jason started to put his hand on her back only to withdrawal it when he saw her tense up. The ride to the courthouse was quick but neither spoke a word to one another as she mentally strengthened her defenses for what she knew was to come.
Seeing her attorney, she was drawn off to the side then gave a quick chuckle then said "Poor Georgie..."
"She was fine; she left here with her father and sister. I think that is one very tough young woman. Now are you up to this?"
Nodding she said "Thank you Miss Miller, I know this is a long way to come..."
"Not really, I had been looking forward to using that prick Richard Lansing for target practice but now it looks like his father's employer took out both father and son." she said a bit mournfully.
Elizabeth had heard in passing about Ric's death but she hadn't wanted to think about how he got the way. She hadn't wanted to feel guilty if Jason had done it and yet she had been looking forward to skinning him in the legal arena until all that was left was bone.
Scott held his breath as Elizabeth Webber testified. He brought up Ric Lansing, but all that had done was bring up how Ric had refused to get a restraining order against Lucky. Finally getting her off the stand, he was grateful when Stallworth rested his case.
Calling his first witness, Scott was annoyed when Lucky screwed up the name of Elizabeth's son, yet again. He then blamed Audrey Hardy for Elizabeth not dropping the charges. "She had the nerve to tell me that I had no right to be there, that what I did was wrong."
The DA didn't even cross examine him, just let the words that had flew out of Spencer' own mouth convict him. Deciding to call the psychiatrist in spite of Luke's protests, it didn't go over well since Lucky protested what the woman was saying. "I am not brain-damaged."
Scott just got Luke's attention then sent a note to the DA who frowned then wrote back "NO DEAL."
Resting his case, well aware that all that was happening was digging Lucky an even deeper hole, he asked that they give closing statements the next day. Luke waited until they were back at the station then went to arrange for what had to be done.
Breaking into Tracy's office at ELQ, he growled when he found nothing. Stopping at the new hotel, he was pissed to find that Jax had nothing in his safe either. Same with Corinthos, just papers, no money. Then recalling the rumors about a missing Lorenzo Alcazar, he went to his estate and found fifty thousand dollars. "Alkie, why do I think this isn't your primary safe?"
Breaking into the police station, he got Lucky out of his cell and announced. "Cowboy, we have to make a break for it."
Two hours later, they caught the first boat leaving not realizing it was a Corinthos smuggling ship.
The next day Mac explained to a furious judge about the two guards now patients at GH and the one who might not make it. "We are tracking them, but it looks like his father broke him out of jail."
Turning to Scott, the judge said "Your client was a fool. WE proceed with closing statements. Bring in the jury."
An hour later, they went to the deliberation room and came back just as quickly with a verdict of guilty. "Lucas Lorenzo Spencer the second is now an escaped prisoner. Please inform the US Marshals office that we believe he fled the country."
Calling Elizabeth who was at the hospital, Mac gave her the news then said "I know that Morgan has guards on you, but still, be careful."
Hanging up, she frowned then looked around to figure out who the guard was. She knew they were there and were men that Jason considered loyal only to him after all that was going on with Max. Seeing him finally, she waved him over and gave him the news.
When he didn't react she said "Why is this not a surprise to you?"
"Can't answer that ma'am." he said then grimaced and said "Elizabeth."
When she blinked he said with a slight grin "Uh, Francis warned me, not to call you anything else."
Walking back to the hub after saying an absentminded thank you, she heard the news that Carly had woken up and had had to be sedated when she was given the news. Seeing Sonny walking down the hall, looking like a broken man, she just looked at him then went back to work. She felt some pity but at the same time couldn't help thinking that if there were any two people who shouldn't be parents it was those two, at least together.
Meanwhile, Emily went to visit her patient she gave special attention to, every single day since she had been brought in. "Hello, how are you doing today?"
Looking into the eyes, she said "Yeah, you are still in there. You know, the Hippocratic oath, says I should first do no harm. I thought about this, last night and I don't see what I am doing as anything other than well... I guess you could say community service."
Pulling up a chair, she said cheerfully. "Okay, where were we. Oh, I know. Jason and Elizabeth when he returned to save me. I could see that my brother..."
By the end of the half hour visit, Emily was feeling much better and her patient, well she wasn't. Leaving she stopped at the doorway then said "Tomorrow, we will be up to where you worked your wiles and tricked my brother into believing your sorry ass was a loving caring person, poor AJ."
Courtney had been told by her doctor she would never move, that they would be no improvement in spite of the painful physical therapy. As she lay there crying, she heard her brother's voice then Jason's and felt a sense of hope.
When they entered, she tried to move, tried to let them know she was still in the shell of a body but they didn't seem to care. "What do you want to about Sam?"
"If Carly finds out the baby is mine, damn. This is going to get ugly." he moaned. "I got the file, that kid, Dante Falconari, he is mine. Shit, this just keeps getting worse and worse."
"Why do you care?" asked Jason annoyed. "You know what Carly and Courtney did." He was not thrilled with his boss, now Sonny was making plans to head to Bensonhurst to talk to this Falconari woman.
"I do, but she was carrying my child. I can't just walk away like that." he said frustrated. "Why can't you just let it go for now?"
"And what? Wait until she lulls us into submission then makes another attack on Elizabeth." he said harshly. "I don't think so."
Looking at Courtney, Sonny said "I am sending Courtney to that clinic, the one in New York."
"Fine, she can live out the rest of her life there." stated a clearly hostile Jason who then said "Elizabeth thinks that this is a worse punishment for her than death... I just want you to know, if she gets better..."
"I know and I wish I could say I objected." he said then looking at his sister asked "Did we do this?"
"No, Carly and she were masters of their own fates. I felt bad when the car accident happened, like if I hadn't lied to Courtney about my feelings for Elizabeth, if I had just fought for the one I really wanted, that things would be different but you heard Carly, she would have just tried to get rid of her, no matter what."
Sonny wanted to protest then asked "How are things going with Cam?"
"He is so innocent. I come back to the penthouse at night and he is there, asleep. I sat there the other night in his bedroom, and all I could think was the time I lost with him... but then I remember getting to feel his first kick... I am there when he wakes in the middle of the night; I am there when we bathe him."
Turning his back on his sister, feeling slightly guilty for wanting Jason and Elizabeth to work things out, he asked "And Elizabeth?"
"She let me be there for her, yesterday during the trial. We are working on things, but it is going to take time. A lot of damage was done, on both sides... we both acknowledged that. We talk about things, but when the tensions get high, we back off."
"You need to just air this stuff, Jason." he said. "You need to let her know how you feel as well."
"I do, I am. Like I said we working on it. What about Max?"
"I haven't decided. I am thinking about promoting him to the Casino." he said with a grimace. "He might not have been responsible for what happened, but I won't take the chance. You are right; he would let Carly do whatever she wanted."
Carly was wheeling herself down to Courtney's hospital room, needing to see for herself that her best girl friend was really that serious. "Mrs. Corinthos, what do you think you are doing?"
Looking at the dark haired nurse she said scornfully "I am going to see my sister-in-law, Courtney Morgan."
"No, can do. You are restricted to your room and we have no patient by that name." she snapped. The man slipping down the hallway gave a smirk and thought to himself how right she was, technically it was still Courtney Quartermaine but she didn't know it.
While Carly was ordered back to her room and Max threatened if she didn't stay there, AJ pulled on the lab coat and entered his wife's room. "Hello Courtney."
At home, enjoying her evening off, Elizabeth listened as Steven and Emily talked about Sam McCall. "I would feel sorry for her since she is clearly deluded but then I recall her file." said the student doctor.
"I don't." replied a cold Steven. Seeing her expression he said "She is looking out for number one. I have had to repeatedly cancel or remove Chinese food from her possession, she had a bottle of tequila in her room, this after I had Milo search it."
"Yeah, but with Sonny-" she started to protest then heard the knock on the door.
When Elizabeth opened the door, Sam stood there with her hands on her hips and said "Where is Jason?"
"Not here. Why?" Steven asked as she looked at him then shifted her eyes away.
"I have a problem." she admitted. "My stepfather Cody called; he wants me to let him up here and is not happy that I can't."
Making a call, Elizabeth listened to what the guard in the lobby had to say then made the call. Telling Jason what was going on, he just grimaced. This was one of the problems with Sonny, now he had to go and deal with this con artist who thought he had found a way to collect from his stepdaughter.
"Keep her upstairs, do not let her leave." he stated before adding "I was already on my way home."
About fifteen minutes later, he said "Send her down to the lobby, I just arrived."
Sam gave a triumphant grin then went to the elevator. Elizabeth let it go down, then saw Steven's expression and asked them to stay with Cam. Edgar came inside and her brother whispered in her ear before watching as Elizabeth took the freight elevator to the lobby.
Once down there, she saw that Jason was waiting with a dark haired middle aged man wearing jeans and a flannel shirt. Eavesdropping she got that he thought Sam had killed her mother and that were charges pending in North Carolina. "If you don't want to give birth to that brat in jail, I want money, lots of it."
Looking at Jason, he said "I don't know who you are, I do know who that Corinthos guy is, so don't try to mess with me, I can go straight to the cops, your boss wouldn't like that now, would he?"
"No, Sonny would be unhappy." he said then seeing Elizabeth out of the corner of his eye said "I will take your deal to him. How much?"
"A million sounds about right." he said arrogantly before leaving the building. Elizabeth watched as Sam threw herself into Jason's arms and began to weep. "Jason, you have to help me, I can't go to jail, I can't give birth to my little girl in jail, please."
"We will take care of it." he said his eyes meeting Elizabeth's. "I have to go talk to Sonny."
"NO!" she yelled desperately. "You can't tell him, if you do, there is no saying how he will react. Just kill him, just get rid of him."
"Sam, I can't do that." He said as she grasped him tightly seeming to be hysterical. "Look, go back upstairs; I need to take care of this situation."
"I just hate that I have no one to rely on, Sonny is busy with his sons, that doctor is so mean to me and I thought that girl, well I thought we would be friends but she acts like she is better than me." Sam pouted, pressing against Jason and mentally thanking Cody for his greed.
Rubbing her back, he said "I have to head out to take care of this, if you want me to deal with him, I have to leave, Sam."
Thinking she was getting what she wanted, she gave him a tremulous smile and wiped the tears away and said with a slight sob, "Please, just come back home to me, so that I know what happened."
Nodding he watched her head to the elevator then looked at Elizabeth. "Would you tell Steven to keep an eye on her tonight? I don't know if she was faking or if she was really upset but I am not going to take any chances on this being a set up."
Without another word, he left before Elizabeth got a chance to tell him to be careful as she hurried back upstairs just in time to see Sam smirking as she entered the other penthouse. Hesitating, Elizabeth decided to see if her brother and Emily would help her with a small plan of her own.
After a weird glance at one another, Steven said "I am up for it. What about your, Emily?"
"Sure, but are you sure that this is going to work?" asked the doubtful intern. "I think we might be better off going to Sonny and telling him what she is attempting."
"That is Jason's responsibility and with Carly miscarrying, I think that Sonny is dealing with a lot of guilt, besides, I think that Ms Samantha McCall might be in for the shock of her life."
Jason tracked down Cody McCall to a small flea trap of a motel on the outer edges on Port Charles. Calling Stan he asked him how hard it would be to get a tap on the phone.
"I already have one, and from the looks of things, he doesn't have a cell so this might just work." Sure enough, two hours later after listening to the man watch bad reality television, Jason overheard the call he had been expecting.
"Yeah, it worked. Morgan bought it. You just do your part and I will disappear as soon as I get that money." He sneered then said something that Jason's couldn't catch.
When the man hung up, Stan called him and said "She called the number then told him that he had done a good job and she would arrange for him to get something extra for attacking her tomorrow."
"What did he say back?" asked Jason.
"Just that he wasn't so sure about causing the miscarriage, that he really thought she was in over her head by playing games with the mob. She said she wasn't too worried that you were an easy mark."
"I want three men here tonight, I have to go and see Sonny as soon as they arrive." Stated Jason. Leaving soon after, he warned the men that they were to watch but not engage the man. "I want to know everyone he talks to, everyone he meets and most importantly where he goes."
Stopping to see his boss, Sonny shook his head at the news then said "I really am not surprised. I am going to offer her money when the baby is born, if she doesn't leave, well then I will use this to get custody of the kid. She is clearly not capable of being a mother. Whatever else, you have to say about Carly, at least she is a good one."
Jason walked out in disbelief at the words coming out of his bosses mouth. Now that Carly couldn't have kids anymore, she had been practically raised to Sainthood and he was not happy about that at all. Making a call, he said "I need you to arrange for Dante Falconari and his mother to come to town."
"I don't know, just find a way. And I want you to arrange for the guard to keep an eye on Courtney while Carly is visiting. I am sure that she will do some talking to her and I don't trust Max to tell me what is said."
Francis agreed then said "Sonny was meeting with that woman, we could use that."
"Fine, but then you make sure that this Howard/Falconari woman is kept an eye on." Said Jason even as he cursed at idiocy of his boss. As if he didn't have enough troubles with the women in his life, he had to go out and chase down yet another one.
Heading to the safe house, he saw that the lights were on and hurried in. "How is he?"
"Fine, but how much longer am I going to keep this a secret, Mr. Morgan?" glared the coffee skinned woman.
Looking at Lorenzo Alcazar and seeing he was looking a bit better he said "Just a bit longer. I have to find out if I was right about who tried to take him out."
"Then why don't you ask me." Snarled the man lying there in pain. Grimacing as he struggled to sit up, he said "It was Zachara's second in command. My best guess is that he wants to take over. He heard us discussing my deal with the old man and now…"
"Esposito is dead, there is a newly dug grave on the property." He said then asked "Do you want to contact him?"
"No, just this daughter of his. Claudia has a tendency to go off half cocked like your ex-pal Mrs. Corinthos, without the obsession over multiple men. Why did you save me?"
"I didn't, my man Francis Corelli did. He was looking into something regarding your niece and that new kid Diego Sanchez who is stalking a few women here in town."
Swearing he said "He came to me wanting a job, I turned him down, he said he would prove himself to me, take care of a problem I missed. I told him I didn't miss problems that if it wasn't taken care of it was for a reason."
Telling him all he knew he saw Lorenzo tense up then ask for a phone. Making a call he said "Take care of that Sanchez kid. Immediately."
Jason was home soon after, checking in, he was a bit surprised to see that Cam wasn't in his crib, but that turned to worry when Elizabeth wasn't in her bed. Hurrying over to the other penthouse, he saw that she was sitting up talking to the dark haired woman who looked a bit annoyed to have her there.
"Oh, hello Jason. I was waiting up with Sam, "Steven and Emily were called in for an emergency at the hospital so you are going to have to spend the night here." She said with a slight smirk when she saw his wide eyed look."
"Steven heard she was pretty upset after her visit and I know how hard it can be to sleep after dealing with something traumatic like that. So, we are going to head off to bed now."
"Do you want me to carry Cam for you?" he asked with a smile when he saw the little boy wearing the onesie with the motorcycles.
"I was going to leave him down here, if you were planning on spending the night." She said standing and stretching. She was amused to see his eyes following her every movement while beside her Sam's eyes narrowed a bit.
Sam said hastily "Well, maybe you should take your little boy home for the night. I am sure that I won't be sleeping that heavily and if he should cry, it might disturb my sleep and you know how important it is for a pregnant woman to get her sleep."
Elizabeth gave her a sweet grin then said "You know, you might be right. So maybe we should both head up to bed and let Jason keep Cam."
"Wouldn't it be easier for you to take care of your own son? After all he isn't Jason's responsibility." Sam was trying not to create a scene but what did it take for this chick to get that they weren't her babysitters. "Besides, I have something to talk to Jason about, alone."
"Fine." Said Elizabeth as she went to the stairs then said "Jason, the center room."
Hiding that he was a bit stunned, he said "Yeah, did you want to have Cam's portable crib brought up or is he sleeping with us."
"I think maybe you should bring it up when you come up to bed. I am going to borrow a t-shirt." She said as she went up the stairs to the shock of the pregnant woman who turned to Jason and saw him checking on the annoying little bastard.
"Why can't she go to her own house? Wasn't that why she kicked Carly out of the penthouse, so she wouldn't be here intruding on us." She snapped. "And seriously, expecting you to take care of her kid so she can sleep, I mean, really what kind of person does that? Besides, I need to talk to you; I need to know what you did to my stepfather."
Not really sure what was going on, but gathering that Elizabeth did, Jason just played along with whatever she was up to, especially if it allowed him a chance to hold her while she slept.
"Sam, what I did or didn't do to your stepfather it is better off you don't know." He warned then said "As for Cam, he is my son. So yeah, Elizabeth knows that I will keep him tonight, like I do every night. She takes care of the daily feeding and I do the night time ones."
A bit flummoxed, Sam said "Your son?"
"Yes, Cameron is my son. Now, I would suggest you head up to bed and get some sleep. I will be staying down here because Cam likes to eat in about fifteen minutes, then I will be taking him up to his mother, like I do every night and we will soon be fast asleep together." He said not sure why she was acting so shocked.
Sam had hit a wall and didn't know what to think. Soon upstairs in her room, she went to her secret hiding place then cursed when she saw it was empty. Hearing the sound of liquid splashing she saw Elizabeth standing there holding the bottle of vodka. "Looking for this?"
"Give me that." She snapped. "How dare you, get the hell out of my bedroom."
"No, now the nice thing about these penthouses is that they are soundproof, so sit down, Ms. McCall. We need to have a woman to woman talk." When Sam just glared, Elizabeth said "NOW!"
Sam sat down and looked at the annoying nurse. "What?"
"The rules from here on out. You don't go to Jason with your phony made up problems, you don't go to him with your backaches, your stomach aches, your complaints regarding anything. I was insecure enough to let one version of you come between us, well not again. So, stop trying to get him into your bed. You are here because that kid you are carrying is Sonny's not Jason's."
When Sam started to talk, Elizabeth said "Uh huh. Jason isn't sent texts and reminders of your appointments, he isn't sent copies of the ultrasound, he isn't sent anything but reports regarding your safety. Now, I could have just let you keep this up because I trust Jason, you however are embarrassing yourself and frankly the pitiful way you have been acting well… like my brother said You are going to deserve it when Sonny goes for custody of this kid and you are out of his or her life."
"That won't happen, he promised me so." She said smugly.
"Sam, Carly whatever else I think of her, the one thing I know, is that Sonny does love her in his own perverse way. And now that she can't have anymore kids, she is going to be despondent. Eventually the truth regarding your child's paternity is going to come out, what do you think she is going to say and ask her now guilty husband?"
"No, he promised, there is no way I am giving up my kid. No way in hell." She insisted.
"Good, because I don't think either Carly or you are really qualified to be a parent but I also don't believe in taking a child away from it's natural parent unless there is no other choice. So here is what we are going to do."
"WE?" she asked doubtfully.
"We…" Elizabeth said firmly. "You are going to start obeying the dietary requirements, you are going to go to parenting classes and I think at least one AA meeting a month. I am going to work with you on how to be a good mother however if you just once try another plan regarding Jason or even make the mistake of suddenly seeing my brother as fresh meat, I will destroy you."
Sam looked at the woman she had thought as spineless and said "Why should I be scared of you?"
"Because you underestimated me." She said with a slight snarl. "Sam, I am not a fool, nor am I stupid or naive. What I am is a woman protecting her family and you are a threat to that, oh not to Jason, but that you doing something foolish might create more problems than he can handle at the moment."
"So what do I get for being a good girl?" she asked.
"Nothing more than what Sonny originally offered you. I am just trying to keep him from taking your child away and giving it to the one person on this earth I will do anything to keep from screwing up yet another child."
Meanwhile, Steven and Emily were at the Quartermaine mansion, discussing Sonny and his growing family of children. "So, what do you think of Elizabeth's plan?"
"I am mainly worried about Michael. Morgan is young enough that it shouldn't make a difference but Michael, well he has been through a lot." Replied Emily as she sat down and explained unaware that her eldest brother was hiding out in the other room and listening.
"Courtney will be sent to the NYC convalesce home, good riddance to bad rubbish. Carly will be here raising cain but hopefully with our help she won't be able to guilt Sonny into handing over that baby to her."
"What about the other kid?"
"Oh, he is a teenager. I don't think we have too much to worry about there." She said while her mind went to what Elizabeth had said regarding Kristina, she wasn't too happy with the lies but if Ned knew, she couldn't complain about it.
"So the plan is Carly out this Olivia in, but what is the difference?" asked Steven.
"According to what Bernie dug up, she is graduated from City College, made it on her own as a single mother, this Dante is attending the same school and looks to be studying the law. Now compare that to social climbing, made it on her back, seriously obsessed Carly and who would you prefer."
"Got it. But what do we do about her, she isn't going to just go away."
"May I make a suggestion?" asked the voice from the dark end of the room. Emily saw AJ and glared at her brother before saying "What are you doing here and you stay out of this, I am not going to let you ruin this."
"I came back to town when I got some news. By the Way, the family's money is back in the bank. I just wanted to screw with you all when I thought everyone was suddenly so happy for the golden boy, then I learned the truth. I just didn't tell Edward."
Looking at AJ, Steven said "Just what did you learn?"
Telling them about his little foray into Atlantic City, he then smirked and said "And one more thing, turns out Courtney is a bigamist. Ric Lansing was incompetent and never filed our divorce papers."
"So she is still your wife?" asked Emily as she imagined the blonde's reaction to learning this even if she couldn't express it.
"Yup, I told her today when I stopped in to visit her. Then I let her know that I am filing the paperwork in the morning as soon as I have visited Jason." Seeing her reaction he said "Don't worry, I have no issues with the golden boy. I just want to be the one to tell him that his marriage was never legal."
"Who knew, AJ Quartermaine making his brother's day." Said Emily with a slight giggle.
"I know, but if I had known then… you know what… I think that Sonny might have been saying he didn't want them together but…" AJ didn't finish his statement before sorrowfully adding. "I screwed up and this time I have no more of a chance to be near my son."
Steven had heard the whole story and wasn't so sure about that, he wasn't that found of any of the participants of this mess other than his sister but truly thought that the world might be a lot better place if Carly and Courtney didn't exist.
Across town, Mac Scorpio was woken up by a call from Detective Garcia. "Sir, that Diego Sanchez kid just sped away from a police roadblock and crashed his car into the Vista Point Ravine."
Swearing softly, he got dressed and went to check on his daughters before heading out. Arriving at the scene he was told the boy's body had been found. "Why did he speed away like that?"
"Uh, sir that is the reason I woke you up." Said Garcia showing him the envelopes with the names on them. Mac took a pair of gloves and pried them open, swearing when he saw both of his daughters, Brooklynn Ashton who had suddenly gone out of town. "How did he get these ones?"
Then stopping Garcia asked "The road block, what was it for?"
"Rumor was that Esposito was seen at the Cold Keg, I sent two officers to question the owner and he confirmed that he had seen him there."
Mac wondered about that one, he had heard that it was a hangout for the Zachara men but he wasn't so sure… "Have you gone out to the Zachara estate?"
"Yeah, his new attorney won't let anyone get close to the nut case." He groaned then added "But the officer I have parked on the drive nearby reported a huge amount of traffic in and out the last couple of days, like company was coming."
Jason woke up first, looking down at the woman who was now curled up against him. Hugging her, he heard their son waking up and slid out from underneath her. When he had fed Cam his bottle and burped him, he said with a soft whisper as the little boy cuddled closer "Your mommy did that last night. And want to know a secret, I am going to make sure she does that for the rest of our life."
Elizabeth had been awake, watching as Jason fed their son, but now, she just drifted back to sleep, secure that Jason would take care of their son.
Sonny answered the door that morning and said to the woman standing there "Thank you for coming."
"Why am I here and don't act like I wanted to come." Snapped the dark haired woman. "What is going on Sonny?"
"Look, Olivia, I know about Dante and I think we need to talk." Seeing her expression, he was beginning to think that having his other guest here for this talk was not going to go over well. When they entered the study, Olivia saw Kate/Connie and called her a bitch and said "How could you betray me this way?"
"Don't blame her, blame the reporter who came to me asking questions, I think we need to talk ladies." He said then sat down and for the first time in his life was honest with the first two women he had betrayed.
There was almost a cat fight but in the end, Kate and her cousin walked away while a stunned Sonny just sat there smirking as he was checking his body for singed hair. Meanwhile, Carly was sitting across from the new gynecologist and was a bit confused. "I never had a DNA test run, I knew who the father of my child was."
"I am sorry, Mrs. Corinthos, but my paperwork shows a test proving your husband was the father." Said Dr. Lee as she suddenly saw the name in the corner and realized that the temp had put the wrong paperwork in the wrong file. "Er, I am sorry, it looks like there was a mix up."
Carly yanked the papers from the desk and read the name. Swearing she stood then landed back in the chair. Grabbing the nearby phone, she made a call and said "Get to GH, now. That bitch Sam McCall is pregnant with Sonny's kid and if you don't tell me what is going on, I am going to make your life a living hell."
Jason couldn't believe that Carly had had the nerve to call Elizabeth, let alone threaten her. Seeing her closing her phone, he said "I will take care of this one. It is way past time that my so called friend got a dose of truth. I need you to do something for me, tell Sonny."
Grimacing she said "Georgie is due in a few minutes, I will have to wait until Steven comes back for Sam though."
"No, I will stay here." said the brunette in question with a heavy sigh. Looking at Elizabeth, she said "I will take your offer. If you are right about this, you might be my only hope of keeping my child safe."
When Georgie had taken Cam back to the other penthouse, Jason and Elizabeth headed down the elevator, he pulled the emergency stop and said "Do you think she believed us."
"Yeah, I do." she said with a grimace. "Is Francis watching."
"And Stan has her phone bugged, the house phone bugged and even the apartment. Cody McCall was taken care of last night. Elizabeth, are you sure you want to be a part of this?"
"For my brother, yeah. Jason, the epic mess between AJ, you and Carly doesn't even begin to compare the the hell that Heather Webber put my family through all those years ago. Steven is doing this because of her and because of how his little girl died. I don't trust Sam."
"Did you mean it when you said you trusted me?" he asked quietly.
"When it come to our son, to dealing with her, yeah and I am getting there on a friendship level. We, I well both of us still have a lot of work to do. Now, I am off to deal with your other friend while you deal with the banshee."
Jason muttered more like Medusa as he got into his SUV then watched as she drove out of the garage in her minivan. Driving toward GH, he thought about it and knew that this was going to get ugly but that it was way past time to clear the debris from his life that Carly had created all those years ago.
Meanwhile, Elizabeth pulled onto the drive for Graystone and was standing at the door when a dark haired teenager came to it and glared "Who are you?"
"Elizabeth Webber and you?" she asked then said 'Dante, nice to meet you."
Scoffing he said "Yeah right. Now if you will excuse me I have to rescue my mother from the devil."
Just then the dark haired mother of the teenager stormed out the door. "Dante what are you doing here?"
"That should be my question. Why would you be visiting this man?" he asked.
When Olivia started to explain, Elizabeth hesitated then said 'We don't know each other, but we need to talk. In town there is a diner, called Kelly's on the waterfront, if you wait for me there we can talk."
"Why would we?"
"Because Elizabeth doesn't like me at all." said Sonny then asked "Is something wrong with Sam?"
"No, but there soon will be. Carly knows." she said with a heavy sigh. Growling he asked "How?"
"I don't know but she called my cell phone, Jason is going to deal with her, but you might want to join him." Hearing the sound of footsteps, they saw Michael rushing to the steps. "Dad, what is she doing here?"
"Michael?" asked Elizabeth. A little over two years ago she had spent quite a bit of time with the boy and had thought he had at least enjoyed being around her.
"I know all about you, I know that you are the reason Uncle Jason isn't happy any more. I know that you made Aunt Courtney hit you with a car. I know everything and you need to leave my house." he ordered.
Elizabeth started to go, embarrassed by his behavior then stopped turned and walked over to where Sonny was standing and deliberately engaged him in conversation. "Hey, I told you to go."
"And you are barely nine, when your father asks me to leave, then I will do so. Until then I will ignore you like the rude little boy you are. When you eavesdrop on adult conversations, Mikey, you don't get the whole story. Now I heard how you treated your mother a few months ago, if you had been my son, I would have sent you to your room to think about your behavior. Clearly someone needs to."
Sonny stood there in shock as she scolded his son. He was starting to tell her to go when he saw the look on Micheal's face, the way he expected his father to back up his demands and said "I actually agree with Elizabeth. I think you need to go to your room and when I join you we will have a long talk about how this behavior is now at an end. Go, Michael, I won't tell you again."
Stomping away, he glared at Elizabeth then pouted as he sat on his bed with Leticia standing next to him. When his father finally joined him, Michael shouted at him. "How come you didn't back me up. Mom wouldn't have wanted her in her house, she is a tramp."
"Leticia, go down to the kitchen and get me the dish soap." Sonny said then glaring at the little boy said "Elizabeth Webber is nothing of the sort. Your mother resents her because she is a wonderful person who your Uncle knew long before you Aunt came into the picture. And you are a child, you don't dictate who can or cannot enter this house, do you hear me?"
"No." he said stubbornly. When Leticia returned, she had brought the soap to Sonny who showed it to his son then said "If I ever hear you use that word again, I will wash your mouth out with soap. Do you hear me little boy?"
"I am not a boy." he snapped.
"Actually you are. Your mother and I let you get away with too much because of our own bad behavior that stops now. Leticia I want you to supervise as he removes every single game cube from this room, I want them downstairs in my study. Michael until school starts in two weeks you are grounded from you games and then you will only get back those that are age appropriate."
Downstairs, Sonny sat down and compared his child who had just left to the one upstairs and knew he was creating the same sort of spoiled brat he had loathed when he was a kid, well no more.
At GH, Carly had just hung up from listening to what her son had had to say. Well she would just see about that, wait until Jason heard about how she was talking about his first born son. Standing, she paced back and forth, wanting to get out of here and return home where clearly things were out of control.
She had it all planned. Jason would help her get Sam's daughter to replace the child she had miscarried and she would help him take Cameron away from Elizabeth now that they knew the truth. They would go back to being one happy family with Courtney as his sleeping beauty wife, to be kept in glass and only admired by her distant husband.
Hearing footsteps that she knew oh so well, Carly smiled when Jason came into the room and closed the door. "I won't be so happy if I were you, Carly. We need to talk. I told you we would at some point and that you wouldn't be happy with the outcome. Well that day is now."
Chapter 8
Hearing footsteps that she knew oh so well, Carly smiled when Jason came into the room and closed the door. "I won't be so happy if I were you, Carly. We need to talk. I told you we would at some point and that you wouldn't be happy with the outcome. Well that day is now."
"Jason." she said with a huge smile on her face. "I could never be angry with you."
When she tried to hug him, he reached out and grabbed her upper arms, pushing her down into the wheelchair and said "No, you don't touch me. You don't smile at me. You should be considering yourself lucky to be alive because if it wasn't for Sonny you would be either dead or as still as your partner in crime down the hall."
Blinking a bit, she said "Huh?"
"Courtney, the woman who brought a poisonous snake to kill the woman I love and my son."
"He shouldn't be your son." she snapped. "You were tricked, Elizabeth did something and that is how that brat was created so he isn't real, he just wasn't suppose to li-ah, happen."
"Elizabeth did nothing, nothing Carly, that is all in your head." he snapped.
"She is a lying manipulative bitch and you refuse to see, Jason. She has done nothing but cause trouble since the day I heard her name." she said.
Staring at her he said "Seriously, do you hear yourself? Have you forgotten trying to trick Tony Jones into believing he was the father of your kid. A man you sent over the edge whose only crime before he met you was being married to your poor downtrodden mother. He was mourning the loss of his daughter when you stuck your hooks into him and yanked his heart out."
When she started to protest, he said "What part of that was a lie?"
She tried, but just found she could come back only with "But he kidnapped Michael, he hurt our-"
"He kidnapped AJ's and your son, yeah, he did. However he wasn't trying to kill him, he wasn't trying to get rid of him. Where as you, and Courtney, were. And Elizabeth, Elizabeth wouldn't have to trick me Carly, I would have gladly offered her any spot she wanted in my heart."
"No, that isn't true, you knew I didn't like her." she said desperately. "You knew that Courtney and you were meant to be, so we could all be together."
"No, Carly we weren't. Oh, and the night that Cameron was created, Elizabeth fell asleep while we were waiting for word regarding Emily, I picked her up and carried her to a bed, I kissed her, first, not the other way around. It was me who started things. I wanted her, I wanted that one chance, to take the chance... hell that night was the only reason I married Courtney. I woke up not remembering what had happened but feeling content, so I thought well, this is it. I have accepted I won't ever have Elizabeth, I finally did what you so desperately wanted, I married Courtney in spite..."
Jason sat there stunned. "Oh god, I never told you. You were kidnapped, and I never told you."
Carly was growing happy convinced everything was going to be fine but then Jason finished... "I was standing there at the alter, feeling sick to my stomach. Something was wrong, I knew it. Then we found out about you being missing. I was sure that was it... but then you were returned and I was out on my bike and it finally hit me. I was feeling sick because I knew I was making a mistake... that I didn't want to marry Courtney. Then everything happened... I watched my sister almost die, then Elizabeth was hit. I felt like hell forever after that, but then I realized that I wanted what I felt that morning after we found out Emily was fine so I married Courtney, thinking that was going to fix things... yet, doing so sent me even further away... from my heart, from Elizabeth and nothing felt right after that."
"No, that isn't true. You wouldn't do that. She is a little nothing. She can't satisfy you." Carly was trying desperately to convince him that she knew best.
Snorting in laughter at this point, Jason said "Carly, you have no clue, none. You still think I am the same 22 year old kid who screwed you. You know nothing about my sex life or wants."
"Yes I do, Courtney told me." she said making him sick with the idea of her wanting to know such things.
Shuddering, Jason said "Then you really know nothing about my wants. How many times do I have to tell you, things with Courtney weren't what they seemed. She was my way of rebelling against Sonny. And I was her escape from my brother. Then I just let things happen, I should have just told the truth, back then and walked away."
"No, I know all about it. I know that you romanced her, that your marriage proposal was so romantic." Carly could see it all in his head, his picking out the ring, the words he said...
"Uh, you planned that not me. Remember?" he asked a bit concerned for her very obviously long gone mental state. "Carly, my relationship with Elizabeth... well why don't we start back at the beginning, I have heard for years about our friendship from your point of view, time for you to hear it from mine."
Sitting back, Carly looked at him with interest as he said "We had sex, Carly. Looking back it wasn't even very good sex. It wasn't that I was new at it, it wasn't because of my love then for Robin, it was that it was tawdry and frankly forbidden that made it seem fun. Even then I knew at least exchanging names was required. Hell Courtney was more honest about it then you; at least she got that what we had was sex."
Shaken a bit, Carly just put that down as his being devastated the blond was now in a coma because that bitch Elizabeth changed the locks. "You knew I had feelings for Robin, yet you ruined that for me, and if you had truly loved me, wanting me to be happy, you wouldn't have done that."
"But, Jason, she would have never made you happy, she couldn't. She was just a little nothing, nobody important liked her." Carly was sure of it, after all, why would they.
Jason agreed with Carly that Robin wouldn't have made him happy, not in the long run but he wasn't going to tell her that, instead he just concentrated on the end of her statement. "Carly, Robin is and was very well liked, you are the only person who didn't like her."
"No, Max said the guards didn't like her very much. That she was always condescending and bossy towards them." she protested.
"Carly, I have been angry with Robin for years, but now, I have to say, she was right. AJ had a right to know he was Micheal's father." Jason thought about the time he had lost and felt guilty that he had had that stolen from him.
"No, you were Micheal's father, she took him away from you, from us." Carly had to make him see that what he believed was a lie.
"No, she did what was right. I stole something from my brother, now that it was taken from me, I understand AJ's anger, his pain. You tried to steal my son away from me just like you did to my brother." Carly snored, yeah right, like he would want that little mewling brat that Elizabeth gave birth to.
"AJ isn't your brother, you don't love him." she replied taking on the less argumentative part of the statement.
He grabbed the back of the chair and said "Carly, you don't get to tell me how or what I feel, I am not some kid who needs to be led around. I am a grown man and you keep avoiding this, but you need to listen to me. I don't love you, I don't even like you most of the time. The promise I made to Michael, to always be there for him. Yeah, it will be true, but not at the expense of my own son, of my family."
"NO!" She yelled. "We, Michael and I are your family, we are the ones you love."
"Carly, where are Sonny and Morgan in this dream world you live in." Jason got the feeling they didn't even exist in her head.
Blinking she said "They are there, of course, they are. I just meant that you put us first, above all others. Like was meant to be."
"No, Carly, it wasn't meant to be, we aren't some star-crossed lovers, we were a one night and you just haven't gone away. I think the best way of doing that is to make you face reality. Carly, you of all people know that I have been in love with Elizabeth since I was shot."
"No, Jason, you don't." she said touching his arm. "Please, please just listen to me. You had just lost me in marriage to AJ, then I slept with Sonny. You were heartbroken, that is why you got shot that night. I broke you but instead of letting me fix things, you were trapped by that manipulative little bitch, Elizabeth."
Shaking his head, he scornfully said "Carly, you are conveniently forgetting I was shot before I saw you with Sonny. And Carly, I was heartbroken regarding Michael, not you. You were just the attachment that came along with the little boy I wanted before I knew better."
"Knew Better?" she asked dumbfounded.
"Better, what it was like to have your own child, to know that there is someone out there in this world who should never be taken from you. What I should have done, five years ago was grabbed Elizabeth, taken her away from here and helped her to accept that she didn't owe anyone anything."
"Why, let her family take care of her. Oops, that's right, they didn't want her did they." she snickered.
"Carly; did you forget why you grew up in that trailer park in Florida, did you forget your mother was a hooker, that your father was one of her johns. Elizabeth is the daughter of a doctor, was well loved by him, according to Alan, the man was a bit obsessed with saving the world, but he loved his little girl, Audrey Hardy is like a momma bear with her favorite granddaughter."
"Well, no one else likes her." Carly started to say the guards didn't, but then stopped frowning when she realized that Max had always avoided answering her when she asked.
"Carly, her brother Steven, he loves her, he moved across the country to be with her, My sister, my parents, Lila, they all like her." Jason knew he loved her, but he also knew that he had to tell her to her face before admitting it to anyone else.
"Lila likes everyone, she even likes me." said Carly smugly while Jason stared at her.
"Yeah, well not any more." he said then went on. "Elizabeth and I were broken apart by lies and games as well as our own trust issues, well no more. Carly, when I walk out of this room, you are to forget you have ever met me. I am nothing to you because you, you should be dead. If Sonny didn't want to protect your sons, you would be."
"But Jason..."
"Carly you are a bitch, simply a bitch who thinks that the world owes you something for what, god only knows. You are loud mouthed, crude, and have no, I mean no class. You think that I should give my life over to you, well so did I because of a promise I made while I was still forming. Well, I didn't make that promise to you, I made it to a motherless boy whose father wasn't capable of taking care of him. Now, he has a father, even if his mother is one of the most selfish, self destructive women I have ever meet."
"But Jason, that is why I need you in my life, why I need you to be there for me."
"Carly, I can see what you get out of that, but what do I get out of being your friend? Because all I see is a lifetime of you interfering in my family; of treating my children like they should be second to your son. A lifetime of being called a hundred times a day over stupid crap that only you care about. So, I am ending this nightmare and getting my life back."
"But Jason, we are your life."
"You know, that is what the Quartermaines said when I woke up, I didn't listen to them either. Carly, I am going home, to your old penthouse to the woman I should have been married to years ago, then I am going to put my son to bed and then curl up with his mother."
"NO! Jason, she will trick you again, then you will be stuck with her forever. I have a plan you see, you go for custody of your son and I talk Sonny into taking away that horrid Sam McCalls little girl. We raise them all together. Courtney can be your Sleeping Beauty, your unattainable true love and I will be there to help you, we will all live together..."
Jason looked at her then said "No way in hell. Carly, I wouldn't give you a gold fish, let alone another one's child. I regret giving you back Michael more and more every single day. You just don't get it. Elizabeth and I are going to be raising my son and any future children we have. As for Courtney, she is no more this sleeping beauty than you are."
"But Jase..."
Carly saw it in his eyes, the blow was coming but she still had hope, she would always have hope. After all, he was Jason, her best friend in the world.
"No, Carly I regret the moment I let you go up those stairs at Jake's. I regret ever meeting you, and you can beg all you want. I am done. Carly, I don't love you, I never did. Now before you start to make plans to 'fix things' between us, before you starting acting like a five year old on crack, know this, I won't be there to fix things never again. I have more important things to do. "
Walking out the door, he went to do what he said he would. "Jase?" she called out brokenly as she walked to the door. Outside in the hallway she watched him talking to his father then taking his son into his arms. "Let's go find your mommy, Cameron."
Settling down onto her bed, she heard footsteps then saw Sonny standing there. Glaring at him resentfully she spit out "What?"
"I told you, I tried to warn you. Now you are out of his life. I sometimes wish you were out of mine. I love you Carly, but sometimes you make doing so way too hard. Now, you have been cleared to leave in the morning. I will be back, we need to have a long talk."
"Are you going to explain about how you lied about Sam McCall's brat?" she asked coldly.
"No, because Carly, we weren't together when that child was created. You have no right to make any demands on me regarding my children with other women. Now, I have to go home, I have instituted some changes regarding the boys and I don't want to be late for dinner."
"The boys eat dinner without us all the time." she protested.
"That ends today. From now on, we are going to act like a family and if you want to join in, you need to act like an adult." he snarled then left. Calling Kate, he asked "Would you like to meet my sons?"
Mac took the call then said "When?"
Hanging up, he thought about it then pulled out the file. Calling the DA he said "Spencer and his father were caught in a cargo container in Singapore."
"File the paperwork to have them extradited." replied the man who then felt his eyes widen as he listened to what Mac had to say "Wait, can you send someone to confirm?"
"I have a contact in that part of the world. I will have him do so." replied Mac who called Anna Devane's nephew. Getting things taken care of while waiting for the call he went to talk to Garcia who said "We have had no luck finding this Esposito."
"He is Zachara's man, have you talked to him?"
Shaking his head in disbelief, the detective said "He talked to me for a few minutes, then kicked me out saying he was having a welcome home party. Turns out his kids just got back from Italy."
"Stick the file in the cold case." said Mac with a sigh. Garcia groaned then said "You think?"
"Yeah, papa bear cleared the way for his little bears to come home." he said. "And we know we won't get anything on him."
When his phone rang Mac listened then swore "How do they look?"
Calling the DA back he said "They were found in a case of kiddie porn being brought into the country. My contact says that Spencer Jr looks like crap, the father not too bad. And just file the extradition papers for when they get out of prison twenty years from now."
Calling the judge, Stallworth gave him the news, then calling Scott said "Your clients were caught in Singapore with kiddie porn."
Swearing since he knew how serious that was here, but that there is was an automatic jail sentence no trial, Scott made the call he was not looking forward to. After Leslie begged him to help, he regretfully explained the realities of life there. Calling Tracy he was surprised when she didn't seem concerned, but the hard boiled woman promised to not tell Lulu like Leslie had requested.
Jason was surprised at the call, setting Cam into his car seat, he called Sonny and said "Anthony Zachara wants a meeting, Lorenzo is going to be there."
Sonny had been hoping that Alcazar was dead, but just told Jason he would see him later before hanging up the phone and introducing Olivia and Kate who were barely talking to one another to his boys. When Dante entered and gave Sonny the cold shoulder, barely saying a word through the meal, Michael thought he had a partner in getting the women out of his father's life.
Looking at the little boy in disbelief, Dante said "No, and if you do anything to upset my mother, I will make your life a living hell. Got it. As for Auntie Kate, she is on her own. I won't help you, but other than warning her, I don't give a darn."
As they boys went to bed, Sonny talked about his two sons and Dante with his 'therapist', Kate and Olivia heading back to the small boutique hotel she had found in Hayes Landing and Dante went to find some trouble. Entering the small diner, he heard the two women arguing and looked around to see no customers.
Separating them, he said "What is the problem?"
"Lulu is delusional and upset that her pervert of a brother fled town to escape going to jail with the other pervs." snarked Maxie.
"Your bitch of sister is the reason..." said Lulu with her hands on her hips as she glared at the annoying blond.
"No, I would say jerking off using baby clothes is the reason he was found guilty, not my sister. Your brother is a pervert who likes to look at young girls. I heard him telling Lucas that about Georgie's breasts, and he has been lusting over me for months, EEEEWWW, like I would touch him." she sneered forgetting her teenage crush on him.
"Hey, I don't care about any of this, I just wanted a bowl of chili, a grilled cheese sandwich and a cup of coffee, do you think that one of you might be able to handle that." he snapped sitting down at the counter.
Lulu decided she would take care of, after all he was cute, not Dillon cute, but he would do. Seeing Georgie walking in with the man in question though, had her saying. "Maxie, you take care of him."
"No, I am going home." she protested. "My shift ended..."
When Georgie saw the man was getting up to leave she snapped "I will do it. Lulu, you are here to work, Maxie go home. Dillon like I said, I haven't any idea what was wrong with your friend. This town is full of nutcases, why don't you go ask one of them."
Dante was amused, while she had ordered the others about, she had poured him his coffee, given him cream and sugar, written up his order and stuck it in the window before picking up the phone. "Bobbie..."
Giving her aunt the lowdown, she said okay I will do that. Turning to Lulu she said "Your Aunt asked me to stay around until closing."
"Good, I can head home with Dillon." With that she and blond went in back to grab her things under the counter, Dillon because he was still smarting from the telling off he had gotten regarding Luke from Georgie as well as the way she had made it plain he was more than welcome to date Lulu.
"I said stick around, not do the work, Lulu. Now go ahead and st-" She growled when another person came in and Lulu had already flounced to the back. She was tired and had had plans to ask Maxie to just hang this evening and now she had to deal with this mess. Exhausted she asked "May I held you?"
Pulling back a bit, he looked at her then heard the chuckle of the man at the counter. Seeing her confusion, he said "Well if you really want, but don't you think we should be exchanging names before putting our hands on one another?"
When the cook rang the bell, Georgie automatically put the food down in front of the first man and then saw his face. "Is something wrong."
Bursting into laughter, he said "Sorry but you really don't know what you said, do you?"
When she just flushed and mumbled no he took pity and said "I think you meant to ask if he needed something, but what you said was you wanted to hold him."
Looking over at the man, she felt her jaw drop and her face was now aflame as she said "NO, that wasn't what I meant."
"So you really wanted to ask if you could hold me?" he asked enjoying her confusion. Then he through her a curve "May I have a strawberry milkshake and a burger with cheese."
Placing the order, she saw Lulu and Dillon leaving the back and before she could get her attention, Lulu had already fled the restaurant. Swearing silently she said "Some days it just doesn't pay to get out of bed in the morning."
The two men silently ate their food, watching as the girl filled salt and pepper shakers, collected ketchup bottles and generally wiped up a bit. At ten minutes to nine, they both froze and had the same reaction to the three clearly made men that came in and sat down.
"Hey, sweetie can we get a couple cups of coffee?" called out the one.
"Its' almost a hundred degrees still, your work at a coffee warehouse and you come to Kelly's and drink ours?" she called back in disbelief.
"Maybe we come for the pretty company." said the big guy who had seen Georgie grow up. In truth, Francis, Max as well as their bosses had made it pretty clear that when there was only one waitress at the diner, for there to be protection, especially on the younger Jones girl.
"Complements won't get you anywhere." she replied as she poured the coffee then returned to the counter where the two men looked springer puppies about ready to pounce. Seeing their nervousness, she was worried until the strawberry shake cutie waved her over.
Reading his note, she blinked then saw them both looking and said "How about we introduce ourselves here. I am Georgie Jones."
"Dante, Dante Falconari." said the one who saw her grin at something then the man on his right replied "John Zachara."
The tensions were back, this time on the other side of the diner. Feeling like she was negotiating a truce of epic proportions instead of trying to get a diner closed she said "And your reason for stopping here this evening?"
Deciding this was the strangest visit to get food he had ever had in his life, John said "Because I just got back from Milan, Italy where my dad shipped me and I missed a good burger. What about you?"
With a smirk, she said "I came in to see if my sister wanted to go to the movies with me. Princess Diaries part II. Now I have to go and talk to the other table.
"Wait, you didn't ask what he was doing here?" Johnny pointed to the other man.
"Well, I already know the answer to that one." she replied.
"Really, and what do you know about me, Ms. Jones?" asked Dante amused.
"Dante Falconari, son who doesn't want any connections to his father, Sonny. Mother's name is Olivia, you were supposed to start City College but lost your scholarship when the truth regarding your parentage became known. Now starting PCU and more than likely not happy about it. Oh, the reason you are here, Sonny's overly sauced Italian dishes probably gave you a yen for some real food."
"Would you care to explain?" he said not really happy she knew so much about him.
"The same reason those men are here and sticking around. I work for Elizabeth Webber and Jason Morgan. I am her part time assistant." she said with a chuckle then saw the disappointment on the other man's face. "Mr Zachara, you object to who I work for?"
"Only the male part because I think I finally got it. Those men, they are going to remain as long as I am in here, right?" he said nodding towards the guards.
"I don't know, I was about to ask them." she said with a smile. Walking over, she got confirmation and then looked at the two men now blatantly eavesdropping and said "I will be fine. Mr. Zachara isn't here for nefarious reasons and as for the other young man, he is Sonny's son, surely you don't find him a threat?"
"Mr. Morgan made it clear to protect you from even members of Sonny's family."
"Well next time Michael comes in and tosses a milkshake, please, I would love you to stop it, as for Dante... I will sic Maxie on him."
Standing, they asked "Are you sure, Miss Jones?"
Looking at the two men, she said "Yes, I am sure. Now go back to work. I will be fine."
Returning, she told them not to worry about paying but was handed the money by both parties and told to keep the change. With a sigh, she closed down and told the cook she was leaving. "Night."
"Night Miss Jones, I think Miss Spencer really went too far this time."
Not really caring, she had enjoyed the time working tonight, admiring the view. Her mind went back to her one disappointment, Dante was Sonny's son and even she had heard of Anthony Zachara and knew her dad would have a cow on her looking at the man.
Jason entered the meeting room and saw Lorenzo Alcazar sitting at a table while a silver haired man was talking to a female in the corner. Sonny joined them and sat down before saying "Why are we here?"
Anthony looked around then said "Mr. Morgan, please sit down. Claudia, leave."
Storming out, she looked over at her father and said "You wouldn't make Johnny leave."
"Johnny has the sense to know when to shut up and who not to disrespect." he snapped then when she had left looked around the room before asking Lorenzo if he was sure.
Smirking he said "What you object to, I don't find so offensive. She is going to be a handful, but I think we will do fine together."
Sonny got nervous only for Anthony to cackle and say "Calm down, Corinthos. I am done and this is my way of preventing a war."
Looking at the lunatic, he said "Going into partnership with Alcazar, in this territory, that won't keep a war from coming."
"Yes it will. He gains my docks for his arms, we are both into pharmaceuticals, not the hard stuff and the rest, goes to you with one simple agreement."
Stunned, Sonny said "What?"
"Johnny, my son is protected and under your man's wing. Not yours. No connections to the business just protection from Mr. Morgan."
"Why would I trust you?" asked Sonny. 'How do I know you aren't just putting a fox in my hen house."
"Because we are going to be working on getting me out. I made a mistake, I told some of the people I thought I could trust. They went for power, power that wasn't theirs to get. I am leaving the country, permanently. Moving to the land where my wife thrived."
Seeing their expression, he said "I have brain cancer. Inoperable."
Nodding, Corinthos got it, then said "I must talk to my partner, so I will let you know tomorrow."
The men nodded at one another, then Lorenzo stopped them from leaving when Zachara did. "What he didn't tell you, Lansing did damage. I am taking the docks, dumping the contacts onto the open market. I would take the lanes, and do the same if I were you."
Looking suspiciously at the man, Sonny asked "Why are you telling us this?"
Turning to Morgan he said "Diego Sanchez, he was a problem. They found pictures of Sage, I was not happy to know that his mother was a maid for our family. She told him I was his father. It wasn't possible, I was never intimate with her."
Nodding, he walked away then Jason and Sonny got into the limo. "What do you think?"
"He is being honest. What happens next?" asked Jason knowing that Sonny had had his own issues they needed to talk about.
"Crap, a year ago, six months ago, I would have taken the power and ran with it. Now... I just found out about Dante, Michael is acting out. Morgan spends more time with the nanny then his parents... then there is Sam. Carly, needs time in Shadybrook."
"What about the two women?" he asked wondering where his boss' head was.
"Kate and I are friends and that is all it will ever be. Like what I had with Alexis before I blew it out of the water. She is here to help me with Olivia who rightfully loathes me. Olivia and I used to fight then end up in bed together... I don't want to do that. I am talking to someone, not a doctor because we both know that doesn't go over well, but someone who used to be one."
"Really?" asked Jason.
"Yes. I heard what you said regarding Elizabeth and you, I saw what you meant regarding Brenda... it's too late for Brenda and I, but for my kids, I will get help. They are going to need me. Olivia, is a close second..."
Letting to go, not certain Sonny would truly ever get help, Jason said "What do we do?"
"I don't know, clearly we need to talk to the kid... what do we know about him?" asked Sonny as he tried to find an answer.
"Smart, went to Europe to escape from Trevor. Other than that only that he is about 19 or 20."
"I will call Bernie. I think if he isn't a hot head we bring him in, but what worries me, he wants you to provide the protection, not his future son-in-law, why?"
"The sister, she clearly wants to be at the table, he doesn't want her there." replied Jason as the limo arrived at the Towers, telling Sonny goodnight, he was pulling off his tie as he walked towards the elevator.
Seeing Francis, he gestured for him to come along and said "What did you find out?"
"Nothing good. Sam has been trying to reach her partner or whatever he was. She is obeying Elizabeth's list. She went to the class today. Didn't give Steven one bit of trouble regarding you not being there when she went to the hospital."
Francis continued. "Emily is waiting for you, Nicolas left the country last night, took Helena with him. She was expecting it, but now she is worried because well, Sonny will find out in the morning, but Courtney might be pregnant."
"This twin's kid?" he asked in disbelief. "I thought she couldn't get pregnant?"
"Yeah, that is what they think. Dr. Meadows described it as some miracle kid. Oh, our set up of Spencer, worked. He is going to spend the next few years in Singapore. You might have to warn Sonny about Bobbie coming to him for help."
"He won't give it. Not this time." said Jason who then told him what had happened at the meeting. Seeing his smirk he asked "What?"
Telling him about the incident at Kelly's, he said "Sonny's son and this Zachara kid, both were flirting with her. Georgie working for Elizabeth, might give the Zachara kid the inside track."
Shaking his head at the nonsense, he said "What about Alexis Davis, you said she was acting a bit off."
"Nothing more than a sick little girl. I let her know if she needs something to come to me." replied the guard. "Carly didn't stay at the hospital, she went home with her mother."
In the hallway between the penthouses, Jason said "I have to talk to Steven Webber, can you get him for a minute?"
Doing so, Francis saw Emily asleep in the man's bedroom and knew that Jason was not going to be happy about that.
Steven stood in the hallway, running his hand through his messy hair then said "She behaved, Emily is here."
"You and my sister." he asked surprised.
"No, not at this point. She is still hurting from the mess with Cassadine.' he said with a sigh. "Plus I am still not up to dealing with my loss, we are friends, working on more."
Jason went into the other penthouse and down the now familiar hallway to where Leticia's old room was only to find it empty. A bit concerned, he saw from the back stairs, a light in the upper part of the penthouse. Following it, he saw Cam sleeping for the first time in his now completely finished bedroom and then an open door where Elizabeth was fast asleep.
Entering, he removed his dress shirt, then kicked off his dress shoes and pants. Knowing he should go and get some sweats, he instead looked at the beautiful brunette and was soon curled up next to her. Kissing her arm, he felt her turn and rest her head against his shoulder. "Uhmmm,"
Falling asleep, Jason reminded himself to show her the houses in the morning.
Elizabeth woke up with her legs tangled with the bare ones belonging to Jason. Smothering her moan of desire as she moved in anticipation of getting up, Elizabeth was wishing Jason had worn his usual sweats because the feel of his muscles from where they were so intimately tangled up, had her wishing things she knew they weren't ready for.
Soon sliding off the bed, she noticed she had caused the sheet to slip low on Jason and saw he was slowly hardening. Not sure she wanted to know the cause, Elizabeth quickly fled to the bathroom and the safety of the newly installed larger shower.
In the bedroom, Jason breathed a sigh of relief as he looked down at his waist then said ruefully, "Another cold shower."
Standing, he went to find out where his clothes were and soon found them in what was part of the master closet. Starting to head back through to the master bedroom, he saw the closet door and decided to see if that lead to a bedroom. Opening it, he stopped, unable to move as he saw a soapy Elizabeth using the shower head for something other than washing off.
When he heard her moaning, Jason felt his own body begging him to join her as he saw her knees start to give way. When she landed back on the narrow bench, Jason went to move forward when he saw her head come back against the glass wall then her legs widen as she began to pant.
Starting to touch himself, Jason almost lost it when he heard her breathlessly and quietly moan his name. His own legs wanted to give away as she started to move her hand lower then sudden came. The shower head slipped out of her hands and he could only watch as she touched herself for a few seconds more.
"Wow. Dammit, Jason, why do you have to do this to me?" Jason was in shock then figured out she wasn't actually talking to him as she reached down and went back to her normal showering routine. Backing away, Jason found the guest bathroom and did his own self satisfying before dressing knowing that he would never forget what he had just seen.
Joining Elizabeth in Cameron's room, he was flushing a bit, even more so when she didn't seem to even react to him. "Bobbie called me."
"Carly?" he asked wondering if he should bring up what he had just watched.
"Yeah, well no. Lucky was caught in Singapore and she wanted me to convince you to help." she said in shock. "I told her I wouldn't ask, that while I agreed it was wrong place, wrong time, I didn't want anyone to think it meant I would go back to rescuing Lucky."
As he updated her on what was going on, she said "This Zachara kid, why not move him in across the hall when Sam leaves? The marriage won't take place until November, right?"
Not wanting to admit that he hoped that none of them would be living there by the holiday season Jason heard the knock on the door and let in Georgie. Leaving for the day, he stood there amazed he hadn't had the courage to mention what he had seen.
AT the Quartermaine house, AJ was explaining to his parents what was going on. "So, anyhow, I talked to Cassadine, even when I finally get divorced for real from Courtney, the child won't inherit because of the marriage clause. This whole thing is a mess."
Leaving, he made sure to let them know where he was going, then drove out to Sonny's fancy estate. The guard stopped the entering SUV and Jason got out of the passenger side. "AJ, what are you doing here?"
"I need to talk to Sonny." he said "Regarding Courtney, and I guess you have to be there too."
Once inside, Sonny said that Michael was with Leticia. "Quartermaine what do you want?"
"That idiot, Lansing, never filed my divorce papers from Courtney." he said then tossed them down. "I didn't find out until I filed to get married. I need you to sign as her legal guardian so that I can get free of this mess."
Jason hid his laughter at the idea of his never having been legally married to the blond, then watched as Sonny took the papers and said "I will take them to your cousin, then return them."
"Fine, but could you do so soon. Cassadine has a vested interest because of the baby she is carrying." he replied then walked to the door then turning said "I would like to see my son, and Jason, dad told me what Carly did to you. How does it feel?"
When he had left, Jason saw Sonny's face and said quietly "He is right, you know."
"He isn't fit to be a parent." growled the man.
"Neither is Carly, there are some that would say the same about us." he pointed out then said "Who are we to judge?"
Sonny started to protest but knew that this was the one subject he and his partner would never agree on. "I got the file on that kid, he is actually been kept out of the family business, you know that he could still be a plant."
"I am meeting with him, seeing him face to face." replied Jason. "Then we need to talk about Alcazar's suggestion."
"No, there is something more we need to talk about." said Sonny. He had been thinking about this for days, maybe weeks, months, all he knew was that he had to do this, for his family. "I am considering retiring. Moving to the Island and raising my family in safety. You have run things before, and we can slowly ease out of..."
"I don't want to be in charge." said Jason firmly as he added "We need to consider making Francis an enforcer, then you and I can run things equally but no, Sonny. If I take over, you are out and I am stuck, this way we would both have a level of security."
Sonny wanted to say that he was out and that was that but then he stopped. "Sometimes I forget you have a family now, too. We will find another way. As for Francis, I agree. But we need to start bringing in some younger men."
Things started to go much smoother over the next month. Carly hung around looking wounded and was furious when Sonny restricted her access to their children but she was also hanging around at Jake's hoping that Jason would come to stop her.
Sam was playing by the rules, biding her time as she picked out a house from the groups of real estate files. Sonny and she were talking but he had made it clear she was one of many by introducing her one day to Olivia and their son Dante. She had listened in dismay as he had sat down with his attorney and they had pounded out an agreement regarding child support, security and the housing and child visitation agreements.
The few remaining Spencers had been shocked to be told that there was no helping out Luke or Lucky, not this time. Bobbie had even gone so far as to try to reach Sean Donnelly only to be told there was nothing he could do. Lulu was hanging on by a thread at the Quartermaine mansion, it had been suggested she move in with her aunt but she was slowly gaining ground with Dillon.
The Jones girls had quit working for Bobbie who now that half of the double mint twins wasn't hanging around, found her business was starting to pick up. She had hired Mike to help her revive the diner, from painting to remodeling the rooms upstairs. The hotel was to open at the end of the year and Maxie was helping the owner of the new fashion boutique while Georgie was only working for Elizabeth.
Courtney had slowly been losing what little hope she had with the daily visits from Emily and Carly. The blond thought she was helping her friend, she needed her well to get Jason back, unaware that the more she talked, the more Courtney faced that nothing in her past had been what she had thought. The day her divorce was actually final, she cried as AJ talked to the doctor who explained that Nik would be gaining custody of her child if it turned out he was a Cassadine.
Sonny was dealing with his baby's mamas and coming to an agreement with Jason regarding their new arrangements. With the three local men working together, things were quiet in business. Lorenzo seemed preoccupied with the woman he was marrying who seemed to enjoy his own view of life.
Her brother was slowly getting used to Port Charles. He had found a place to live, was considering taking classes or even open a garage like he had once dreamed. The man he had met that first night in the diner was also taking classes, they had both been rather disappointed to find that the waitress was still a high school student and more so that her father was the police commissioner.
School had started and within days Georgie was ready to string up Lulu who had been furious to find out that as a junior she couldn't drive to school. When she had pointed out that Georgie was only weeks older, but driving, Georgie had acidly pointed out she was a senior.
Brooklynn had returned from her visit with her parents. Dillon and she were freshmen in college and Georgie felt a distance begin between them as they went to college parties and she was still playing soccer, and working hard on her grades so she could get a scholarship.
It was the first of October while volunteering at GH when she next saw the handsome milkshake drinker from GH. "Hey, how are you?"
Looking up, she said "Fine, can I help you?"
Wistfully wishing she had asked to hold him again, he held up his hand and said "I cut myself."
"Here, let me get you a nurse." she said then went to find Elizabeth and Steven who were both working in the Emergency room that day. Steven stitched him up and gave him a tetanus shot. As he picked up his paperwork, he said "I saw you in the paper the other day. Congratulations."
Blushing a bit, she said "It's not a big deal."
"They seemed to think it was." he pointed out then said "See you around."
With a slight smile, she went back to working on updating Patient room numbers while hiding her blush. Elizabeth had seen them talking and moved over to the other side of the hub. "Anything you want to tell me?"
"No, we are just friends." she said with a sigh then watched as Emily came down to talk to her friend then saw her kiss Steven on the cheek. "Elizabeth, have you ever felt like the rest of the world is in love and you are on the sidelines?"
Nodding, the nurse hid her expression as she walked to take care of restocking the supply room. Once there she let go of the stone expression and thought about her morning where Jason had asked her opinion on the home where he planned to have Cam visiting but clearly not her. That had hurt because she had thought they were working towards a future.
Instead it looked like he was planning for after Sam McCall had given birth and they were all free to go back to their regular lives. When she was finished, she closed the door and was returning to the hub when she saw Jason coming her way carrying Cam while he pushed the empty stroller with his other. "Hey, are you free to get out of here soon?"
"About a half hour." she said then asked "I thought you were going to put Cam down for the night?"
"I was, but our son has other plans." he replied then said "I was thinking about something and knew that we need to have another talk."
Nodding, she went back to work, counting minutes before she got off. When she was relieved, Elizabeth grabbed her fall coat then stopping to make sure Georgie had a ride, she went with Jason to the parking lot. When they pulled off, she was surprised to realize she fell asleep.
Waking up as the car was turned off, she said "Jason, where are we?"
"Come with me, please?" he asked then led her into the unknown house. When she had sat down he said "I wanted to talk to you, about us. Where are we going?"
"I was hoping you would tell me." she said then looked around then thought of the house plan and said "Wait, isn't this..."
"Yeah, I was hoping you would consider moving in with me. Being a family?" he asked holding his breath. "Elizabeth, please say something."
"I just, what do you mean as a family?" she asked trying to postpone the inevitable.
"Us, Cam, you , me and hopefully when you are ready more children." he said softly unaware that he had make her heart stop. "Elizabeth, I know that we have had a lot to come back from, but do you think we are at a place where we can well... admit that we want more than just to be friends."
"Yes, I think we can." she said then asked "How much more?"
"I was thinking, we move in, keep things like they are at the penthouse, for now... but when you are ready maybe we could... consider... I just want us to try."
Seeing her flinch, Jason didn't know what the problem was but his phone rang before he could find out. Cursing he listened to what Anthony Zachara was telling him. "I will deal with it."
Standing, he said "I have to go, but Elizabeth, please consider trying. I want Cam and us to be a family."
Her lips trembling as she sat there, shocked to realize that one again what she wanted was much more than what Jason had in mind. Nodding, she was in a trance as he drove them to the Towers, just as she thought about telling him she wouldn't settle for half way, he walked them to the penthouse.
"I love you, I know you are not sure if you can trust me, but Elizabeth I just wanted you to know that."
Stunned, she stopped him from leaving. "Jason, I love you too."
Smiling at her, he leaned in and kissed her before saying. "Then all we have to do is work on the trust."
TBC
