Chapter Four
"You don't look so good."
"Thanks for the pep talk, Dad," Patrick grunted as he pulled off his scrubs top and tossed it aside.
"If you want a pep talk, I can give you a pep talk. Tell you about how you did all you could do for your girlfriend's foster father. How you're still the greatest surgeon in this hospital just behind me," Noah said in an off-hand manner as he opened his locker.
"You're not better," Patrick grumbled as he pulled off his scrubs pants and tossed them into the pile with his shirt and socks.
"I'm not the one who fucked up today," Noah said as he began to undress.
"I didn't fuck up!" Patrick yelled and slammed his locker shut. He turned and glared at his father who was continuing unperturbed to change into one of his ever-present rock t-shirts and worn jeans.
"Glad you know that much." Noah turned his head and looked at his son who was quivering with rage beside him. "You might want to get dressed before you go outside. Not that the nurses and a few doctors would mind."
Patrick covered his eyes with his hands. "I survived just fine without the fatherly head games for a long time, Dad." He took his hand down and began to turn the combination of his locker.
"I have a lot of time to make up for." Noah pushed his wallet into the back of his jeans and walked up to Patrick. "Where you are right now really stinks, Patrick."
"Standing half-naked with my father in a locker room? Got that right."
"Patrick," Noah sighed.
"Dad, I know you want to help, but there is nothing you can do."
"I lost your mother on the table, Patrick. I've been where you are and I can see where you might be heading."
"I'm not going to throw away my career and start drinking, all right?" Patrick rolled his eyes and began buttoning his blue shirt.
"Not because you lost Mac, but what about if you lose Robin?"
Patrick frowned as he straightened the cuffs on his shirt and reached into his locker for his jeans. He pulled on his jeans and looked at his father in exasperation as Noah was still standing there watching him. "I'm not going to lose Robin, okay! She doesn't blame me."
"No, the rational part of her brain knows there was nothing you or Monica could do. Just as the rational part of your brain knows that. It's the emotions that can get the best of both you." Noah paused and licked his lips. "As a doctor I know there was nothing I could have done for your mother, but as a husband, she died under my hands."
Patrick unconsciously mimicked his father's mannerism and licked his own lips. "I didn't blame you for losing her, just for not telling me and deserting me when I needed you." Patrick cleared his throat.
"Is that really true or did my actions afterwards just lend a good cover for those other feelings?"
"Maybe. Does it really matter?" He shrugged one shoulder and looked away.
"No, it doesn't matter. I just want you to go into the minefield prepared and to know that I'm here for cover if you need it."
Patrick's dark eyes deepened in color. "Thanks, Dad."
"I love you, Son." Noah clapped his hand on his son's shoulder.
"I was coming back here to apologize to you, brother. I had no idea I would be too late." Robert Scorpio pulled the sheet off his brother's face.
A quick hack into the records room computer has told him which drawer to find the body of his brother. When Mac's still, peaceful face was revealed, Robert let out a deep sigh. "You shouldn't have been on that pier. You wouldn't have been if I had gone faster. If they had decided faster."
"There's a lot of things you wouldn't have been doing if you weren't still trying to make up for killing our parents and Lily. Some I'll forever be grateful to you for, some you never should have tried. I was coming back here to tell you that being Police Commissioner was one of those things. There were things you were good at, not being a pilot obviously," Robert paused to wince at his own bluntness. "But you were a good con artist, a creative sailor, and the Outback, that was a good idea, it suited you. I don't know what happened after that. Someone told you the Scorpio name made you qualified for Police Commissioner. Someone convinced you it would be the redemption you kept seeking."
"Even if I hadn't seen the evidence myself it wasn't hard to figure out that it was a crooked politician in the pocket of the local mafia. What I don't get is why you didn't quit, why you kept trying to do a job that you had no hope of succeeding at. Too many of your officers, the DA's office and the judges. Hell, practically everyone around you was in the pocket of the local mob. Some of who don't even realize that they themselves are in the pocket of an organization you were nowhere near equipped to deal with."
Robert ran his fingers through the back of his hair before pulling something out of his pocket.
"But that's always been you, whatever happened you didn't quit. I guess that was the quality Robin needed most after her mother and I were gone. I know you did your best to protect her." He opened his hand to reveal a medallion.
Robert pulled the sheet down further and slipped the medallion into Mac's hand. "I'm not here to lay blame for my little girl getting HIV and you letting her live with a mobster hit man. It's too late for that and I know how stubborn she is. What I'm here to say is that I'm ready to pick up my own slack. I just wish I could have done it sooner." Robert squeezed Mac's hand. "I should have protected your life over your pride. For that I'm sorry."
Robert pulled the sheet up and held it hovering above Mac's face.
"There's another father here who's ready to pick up his own slack, too. We'll make it up to you. Your killer will be brought to justice. I promise you that." Robert dropped the sheet. Before he could push the drawer closed he heard a sound behind him. His hand reached for his gun and he spun around to face the intruder.
"Oh, it's you," Robert said disdainfully and put the gun back in its holster.
"I don't know whether to be relieved or insulted," Dr. Noah Drake said as he walked into the morgue. "Robin went back to Mac's house with her cousins and Anna."
"I know." Robert and Noah stood watching each other warily. "Are you going to berate me for not being here sooner, because I think my ex-wife wants that job?"
"I'm hardly one to talk." Noah shrugged.
"That never stops Anna."
"I'm not getting in the middle of you two." Noah held his hands palms up. "Let me help you." Noah walked past Robert and with a sober look on their faces the two men closed the drawer.
"I'm sorry for your loss," Noah said as Robert stuck his hands into the pocket of his brown wool coat.
"Of my wife or my brother."
Noah shook his head and chuckled. "Leave it to you to bring that up now."
"I'm crafty that way." Robert studied his nails innocently. "Speaking of crafty, has Anna found the guts to tell her daughter she's dating her boyfriend's father?"
"She hasn't found the right time." Noah looked uncomfortable with that fact.
"Meanwhile, Patrick is supposed to keep it from Robin. That's going to backfire on all of you."
"You're keeping the secret, too," Noah said. "Among others."
At that Robert looked up and his expression got serious again. "You shouldn't get involved, mate."
"I already am involved, whether you like it or not."
"Sleeping with…"
"Don't go there, Robert. I've known you a long time and I don't want to mess up my hands, but I'm not above some good ass kicking," Noah warned. "I live here, too, Robert. I helped save your daughter and your skin. I'm in this whether you like it or not."
"I appreciate that you got to dress up and start romancing my wife and parade around like some too-skinny drunk singer."
"Ex-wife."
Robert waved his hand dismissively. "Step back, Drake. We don't need you involved in this."
"In what exactly?" Noah paused and tilted his head. "It's not over is it? What happened to Robin is still going on here in Port Charles. Is she in danger? Is Patrick?"
"No more danger than any other citizen of Port Charles."
"I don't find that very comforting given the events of the past twenty-four hours."
"I'm not here to comfort you, Drake. Just keep your nose out of it." Robert walked past Noah, stopping in the doorway. "I'm counting on you to keep an eye on Robin and Anna for me."
Noah frowned, but before he could ask why Robert couldn't do it himself the man was gone. Noah put his hand on his hips and licked his bottom lip thoughtfully.
"Hey, you." Robin lowered herself into her Uncle Mac's favorite recliner and closed her eyes, happy to hear his voice. At peace for the first time since Patrick had uttered those words of condolence she felt surrounded by the two men she loved most.
"Hey, how are you doing?" Patrick asked, his worry coming through over the telephone.
"I miss him, Patrick. He's only been gone for a few hours and already I miss him like crazy. Leaving him and my family for all of those years seems so ridiculous now."
"You did what you thought was best, not to mention there was a certain Jason Morgan involved in forcing your hand." There was more than a little bitterness in the accusation.
"Patrick-"
"And you accomplished great things in Paris, Robin."
"Yeah, like distorted fear…" Robin closed her eyes. "I really don't want to talk about real life right now. Where are you?"
Patrick cradled his cell phone with his neck as he pulled the keys out of his pocket. "I'm just about to walk into the apartment. I figured I could run home and shower and then come over, if you wanted." He swung the door open, closed it with his hip and toed off his shoes, all in one swift movement.
"Hey, mate."
Patrick dropped the phone at the sound of the man's voice behind him.
"Patrick? Patrick?" Robin's voice sounded tiny from the cell phone on the floor.
"Jeez, Patrick. Jumpy?" At Aidan's familiar British lilt Patrick spun around.
"Do you blame me after the last few months?" Patrick asked as he bent over to pick up the phone. "I'm fine," he said to Robin. "Your secret agent cousin just surprised me."
"Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that I told Aidan he could crash with us."
"You give him your key?"
"No."
Patrick looked over at Aidan who waved a slim, silver rod. "You really need to get better locks. These took me about 5 seconds to break." Aidan said.
Patrick turned his back to Aidan and whispered into the phone. "Have I told you lately how much your family scares me?"
"You know I can hear you," Aidan said.
"What are you talking about? From what I've seen and heard you're like a super spy in training," Robin said. "My Uncle Mac says that you…" Robin stopped and closed her eyes.
Patrick rubbed his head and sat on the couch. "Hey, Robin? You still there?" Aidan waved his hands and mouthed over to him that he was going to the kitchen to make a sandwich.
Robin sniffed, wiping at her tears. "Yeah, I'm sorry. I can't seem to go longer than 30 seconds before it hits me really hard that he's not coming back." She tried to laugh but it came out more like a hiccup. "He won't be around to make fun of your spy skills anymore."
"He was that impressed by me?" Patrick tried to make light, tried to make Robin laugh.
"He was plenty impressed by you. As a man. As the man who loved his niece with his whole heart," Robin whispered, then she choked out a laugh. "But your lock picking skills were brought into question."
Patrick closed his eyes, his heart breaking at the pain in Robin's voice. "Why don't I shower and head over there. You can tell me more stories about your Uncle, or we can sit quietly and I can hold your hand."
"Patrick, no. You need to get some rest," Robin picked at the fabric of the armrest. "You were in the OR for 15 hours straight. Get some sleep and come by tomorrow."
"I don't want you to be alone-"
"I'm far from alone. I've got my mom, Tiffany, Maxie and Georgie with me. We go from complete silence to Maxie and Georgie screaming at each other. It's definitely not boring."
"You know this is the first night we've been apart since you got back."
"I know. I'm sorry."
"No, Robin, don't be sorry. It's just that I promised you I wasn't going to let you out of my sight for the next 6 months, so I'm kinda breaking my vow here." Patrick glanced up as Aidan entered the living room with a plate overflowing with a giant sub.
"I miss you too. It's just that the girls are grieving and they're taking it out on each other and my mother isn't exactly equipped to handle sibling rivalry. Tiffany doesn't know what to do with the girls except offer to take them for manis and pedis. They need me."
"This Tiffany sounds like an older blonde version of Brenda," Patrick said. "Speaking of whom, have you called her yet?" Out of the corner of his eye he could see Aidan try not to look like he was listening in.
Robin let out a sigh. "Yeah, but she wasn't home so I left her a message to call me back." At the sound of a crash, Robin turned to look towards the kitchen.
"What was that?"
"I have no idea but it came from the kitchen and my mom is in there so it can't be good," Robin said. "I better go make sure she hasn't blown up anything. Get some sleep and call me when you get up, okay?"
"You got it. I love you." Patrick hung up the phone and threw it on the couch beside him.
"Brenda heading back to Port Chuck?" Aidan asked through a mouth full of food.
Patrick shook his head. "You are so transparent, even I can see what you're up to."
"What?"
"You got here pretty quick from Pine Valley."
"Yeah, sure," Aidan murmured, finding sudden interest in the remains of his sandwich.
"You were already here, weren't you?"
"I'm usually a better liar." Aidan sighed and rubbed his hand over his mouth. "Patrick, you really don't want to get involved in this."
"Aidan, if this has anything to do with Robin or your family, it's too late. I'm already involved."
"Let me put it this way, I don't want you involved."
"That bad?"
"Nothing for you to worry about. You continue with your brain surgeries and I'll take care of this."
"I don't know whether to be comforted or insulted," Patrick growled.
"What are they talking about in the kitchen?" Georgie asked.
"They're just organizing all the food that the neighbors and friends have dropped by," Maxie said disinterestedly. "What I don't understand is why we have to sit here all day."
"Because people are dropping by to pay their respects," Robin said.
"She just wants to go see Lucky, even though he hasn't technically moved out of his wife's house," Georgie said.
"Shut up. At least I didn't have a Kentucky-cousins wedding."
"Yeah, it's so much better that you're sleeping with a married man!"
"He's only technically married."
"And not to you!"
"Girls, please," Robin growled and stepped between the two sisters as the doorbell rang. "Maxie, please go get the door."
Maxie shot her sister one more dirty look before turning and stomping towards the door.
"Georgie, I know you're upset about Uncle Mac, but swiping at your sister isn't going to make you feel better."
"She started it! I don't know why I'm expected to be the better behaved sibling."
Robin bit back an annoyed retort. She had been riding herd on the Jones' sisters all morning while Tiffany, Bobbie Spencer and Anna hid out in the kitchen. At least it was a distraction, she thought.
Maxie came walking back into the living room. "Georgie?" she said in a small voice.
"Who is it?" Georgie looked up at her sister, the moment's earlier animosity gone.
Before Maxie could answer Felicia Jones came walking up behind her daughter and put her hand on Maxie's shoulder. "I'm so sorry I didn't get here sooner. Hello, Robin. Georgie, are you going to say hello to your mother?" she asked her daughter who was standing stock still staring at her.
A moment later Georgie ran up to her mother and threw her arms around her and began to sob. Felicia gathered both girls in and they were sharing a good cry when Tiffany, Bobbie and Anna came walking out of the kitchen to check in on the commotion.
"Felicia!" Tiffany gasped and put her hands to her mouth.
Felicia looked up from her daughter's embrace and gave her old friend a teary smile.
Soon, all the women were hugging each other hello and murmuring words of condolence.
"He was a good man," Felicia said, her words lengthened by a drawl even though her Texas twang had disappeared years ago.
"The best," Anna agreed. "He did good by our girls."
"Yes, he did his best." Felicia nodded in agreement. "Do you need some help in the kitchen?"
"Actually, you may be the only one who can. We're both kind of helpless in that department," Tiffany said, her voice even more cultured by years of living in Boston.
Robin gave her mother a pleading look, which was pointedly ignored.
"Let's turn the television back on," Maxie whined when the older women had disappeared.
"Fine." Robin threw up her hands. They had turned it off earlier in upset with the non-ending coverage of Mac's murder and his legacy, which in the words of one local reporter, was one where crime flourished instead of being contained.
And in breaking news, we have a news conference from the steps of City Hall. It's unclear at this time who called it, the message calling the conference came from the Governor's Office in Albany.
Robin did a double-take as the camera focused in on the steps of City Hall and out came a force of police – both local and state – the Governor and someone who looked absurdly like Robert Scorpio. Robin frowned and directed Georgie to make the television louder.
"People of Port Charles," the Governor began. "The prayers and condolences of myself, my office, the Legislature and the people of New York are with the Scorpio family today…"
Oh, Robin leaned back. Robert must have been there as a representative of the Scorpio family. Some kind of political PR move. Meanwhile, behind her, alerted by the rising the volume of the television, the four women came out of the kitchen to watch.
"Ooh, there's Lucky. He looks cute," Maxie commented. Georgie rolled her eyes.
"There's Scotty!" Bobbie said in surprise, while Felicia and Anna shared a look.
"Under the powers granted to by the Constitution of the State of New York empowering the State government to be responsible for the health, safety and welfare of its citizens and related legislation, we have declared Port Charles to be under a state of police emergency. This unprecedented act is not taken lightly. Compelling evidence gathered by State and federal law enforcement agencies, including the Department of Justice, has shown me that this must be done. Therefore, we are overriding the powers of your local Mayor and have appointed an interim Police Commissioner to fill in the void left by Malcolm Scorpio's murder by persons heretofore unknown."
In addition, the Port Charles District Attorney's office is hereby placed under supervision of the State Attorney General's office and the current District Attorney is hereby removed from office. This action is being taken due to an analysis of the prosecutions made, refused, won and lost in the past five years that show a blatant disregard for the law, as well as the known conflicts of interest and criminal ties of the leaders of this important department. We have a court order approving this action and the City Council is at this time considering a measure to revise the qualifications for office and to hold a new election.
I now present to you the interim Police Commissioner, Robert Scorpio. Mr. Scorpio, a former WSB-agent, should be familiar to all of you as he once served in this role. Under his tenure Port Charles was a safe place to live. We expect that his actions will help restore order to this City. Similarly, we reappoint Scott Baldwin to the position of interim District Attorney until a new one can be elected by the people. Thank you.
END OF CHAPTER 4
