AN - some explanation is needed. This is set in the past, I'm thinking 98-99. Definitely before the Sonny/Carly hate sex, a little AU (I've cobbled together both Carly new (the incident with the 'real' Carly's dad and the old (i.e. Virginia) pasts - as best as I could remember) and it's Jason/Carly - my first, last & always OTP (one true pairing).
I know this chapter is a bit late, but I had serious family issues & then the chapter never really wanted to seem to end, so it's a bit longer than usual to make up for the delay.
Chapter 12 – Explosive
Emily sat on one of the steps leading into the boxcar and watching Lucky pace back and forth in front of her. "Look Lucky, you asked me to come down here, so here I am. Are you actually going to talk to me or just try and make me dizzy?"
She paused, but when he still refused to respond, she stood up. "If you're just going to ignore me, then I'll take off. Call me when you feel like actually talking, ok?"
It took a few moments before her words actually penetrated through to him and startled, Lucky glanced up only see her walking away.
"Come on, Emily, wait up a minute will you?" He called out as he took off after her.
"What is the point, Lucky? If all you're going to do is pace around and ignore me, then you can do that on your own time. I snuck out the house to hang out with you and I'm not going to risk getting busted if you're not even going to talk to me," she tossed over her shoulder as she continued walking.
"Of course I'll talk to you . . . don't be like this, Em."
She slowed down a bit and allowed him to catch up to her. Lucky, walked up until he faced her and rested his forehead against her for a moment.
"I'm sorry, you're right. I was acting like an ass. It's just been a rough day, ok?"
She stood stiffly under his hands until she looked up into his eyes and saw the obvious pain there and softened slightly.
"Ok, Lucky, but I can't help you if won't tell me what's going on."
"Yeah, I know." He shrugged ruefully, before grabbing her hand and leading her back to the boxcar.
"Nik just drives me crazy sometimes."
"Well, he is your brother, I'm pretty sure that it's in the job description somewhere. And you know, it could always be worse, you know. Wanna trade Nik for AJ or Jason?" She smirked in satisfaction, seeing a faint smile light up his face.
"AJ, you can keep, but I'd definitely trade you Nik for Jason."
"Yeah?" She pretended to debate it for a minute, before quickly adding, "Nah, I think I'll keep him, sorry."
Once they reached the boxcar, she sat back down again, dragging Lucky along with her. "So give it up, what did Nik do now?" She demanded.
Lucky stared off into the setting sun for a long moment. "Well, it all started off, when I got a call from Jake's, where apparently Nikolas was working on getting smashed."
"Nikolas getting drunk?" Emily repeated in confusion.
"Yeah," Lucky laughed bitterly. "The 'good' brother, who would have thought, right?" He shrugged. "He got caught up in Carly drama, apparently she picked a fight with Sonny for only god knows why and he broke it up. Then he bumped into Laura and she told him everything you told him and that sent him off on a bender."
"Whoa back up a minute," Emily turned to him with a look of disbelief. "You're going to have to explain all of that."
"Well, I'm not too clear on the details myself, I mean, he was pretty wasted by the time I showed up. But what I could get from him was that he was walking past Ruby's when he saw them fighting and reasons known only to himself, he decided to get involved."
"Afterwards he walked her back to the towers and then wind up getting all the gory details from Laura, which set him off in a major way. And then when I finally did get a hold of him, he was talking crazy, Em, like really out of nowhere shit."
Lucky's head fell forward into his hands, elbows propped up on his knees. Frustrated didn't even begin to come close to how he was feeling. He was just so fucking pissed off.
Pissed off at Carly for being so stupid, pissed off at Sonny for putting so much as a godamned hand on her, pissed at his mother for turning traitor, pissed off at his dad because Nikolas' bs actually got to him, pissed off at Nik for getting drunk and spouting bullshit in the first fucking place, pissed off at Johnny and Jason for letting Carly out of their sight when they both knew better and mostly pissed off at himself for being in the wrong place at the wrong time and taking it out on the only person he wasn't pissed off at.
Sighing, Emily stared at him for a long moment, seeing the visible tension in him. As much as she wanted more details about Carly and Laura, she hadn't spent the past few years living with the Q's and being Lucky's best friend, without learning when and when and when not to push something. She inched closer to him and wrapped one arm across his shoulders. "Ok, Lucky, so what did Nik say that has you so upset?"
When he continued to stare aimlessly at the ground, she sighed again louder this time. "Ok, don't tell me, but you know that I will figure it out, right? Either you'll break down and tell me, or I'll make Nik tell me, but either way, I will figure it out."
One hand reached up to play with his hair, "Of course, if you tell me now, then you get the benefit of my all-knowing knowledge and experience," she tempted him in a light voice.
"All-knowing knowledge and experience, huh?" He finally forced himself to respond, with a teasing smirk, twisting his head to look up at her. "I'm almost afraid to ask what you know that I didn't teach you."
With a faint shake of her head, Emily subtly let him know that although she was going to drop it for now, this subject wasn't over yet, before she got more into the spirit of the conversation.
"Well aside from shopping, which by the way your cousin has given me one helluva a crash course in shopping along the way and of course the glory that is purple popsicles, which I do believe that I taught to you, Mr Know It All, there is always my personal favorite – the best way to cure a brooding Lucas Lorenzo Spencer Jr."
"Umm, who's that again?" He asked in mock confusion.
Emily smirked. "You are such a brat, you know that?" She teased him back, before reaching out to brush his longish blonde hair out of his eyes and tilted his face up to hers, before she leaned in for a long kiss.
Eventually, Nikolas dragged himself back home for lack of anywhere to go. Truthfully, he didn't want to see anyone, least of all Stefan, but when he heard his father calling out his name, he knew that once again, he was going to get much of a choice in the matter.
"I don't suppose we can do this sometime tomorrow?" He responded tiredly.
"No, we cannot." Stefan's clipped tone had Nikolas opening his eyes wider to see his father's flinty stare.
With an overly exaggerated sigh, he stumbled around the large furniture in the drawing room, before he was able to seat himself.
"Drunk, are we?" Stefan's voice was all but dripping with obvious disapproval.
"Well, I did try, but it seems doomed to interference lately," Nikolas commented laconically.
Stefan glared at him momentarily, before abruptly changing the subject. "Why did you not immediately inform of the fight that transpired between your sister and Corinthos? I had thought we were united on this point."
"I had every intention of telling you." Nikolas sat up straighter now, visibly more aware. "Under the circumstances, I thought it best to escort Carly back home to the penthouse and was on my way to speak to you, when I ran into my mother . . ." His voice trailed as he met his father's eyes, with more than a trace of accusation.
"Why did you not inform me of Carly's history?" He twisted Stefan's words into his own demand.
Stefan's face took on a painfully frustrated expression as he leaned back. "So she told you then?" He asked rhetorically.
"Oh, she couldn't wait to tell me," Nikolas scoffed bitterly.
"It wasn't that I deliberately kept it from you, Nikolas," he began reluctantly.
"The details, as I'm sure you learned, are ugly and to be honest I'm having trouble accepting them myself, under the circumstances. I had every intention of telling you soon, but felt that I had already burdened you with enough information, without adding to it. I just wanted to give you a chance to come to the terms with that fact that you suddenly had an older sister, before explaining her painful history."
"I had the right to know!" He lashed out angrily.
"And you think I didn't?" Stefan retorted just as furiously.
He abruptly stood up and began pacing. "Caroline might be your half-sister, but do not forget that she is my daughter and not only was I denied any role in her life, I wasn't even told of her existence. If Barbara and that bastard brother of hers were unwilling to provide for and protect her, for whatever despicable reasons they may have had then that was their choice, but there was no reason justifiable enough to refuse me the right to protect my only daughter."
Nikolas stared at his father, the last vestiges of alcohol quickly metabolizing through his system.
It had been years since he had seen Stefan in such a state of cold rage and it had been only once, directed towards Helena.
He vividly remembered being so afraid that his beloved uncle, - no, he mentally corrected himself, his father – was going to kill his grandmother and she just barely escaped with her life, but she never again dared to raise a hand to Nikolas. To this day, he was convinced that the only reason Stefan had relented was because as evil as Helena was, she was still Stefan's mother, but Barbara and Luke would have no protection, save being related to Carly.
As outraged and angry as he was because of their actions, he remembered his discussion with Carly and didn't think that she would appreciate their deaths – and even thinking along those lines was enough to make him take pause. Nikolas refused to acknowledge that his father might go that far, but it was more than obvious that he was planning something.
"What are you planning?" He bluntly asked.
"Because as angry as you are, you can't forget that they are in Carly's life now and considering her relationship with Michael's birth father, she may be more sympathetic to Bobbie than you would expect."
"AQ Quatermaine?" Stefan scoffed, shaking his head derisively.
"It is two completely different situations. AQ was trying to take the child from his mother and after that entire debacle with Tony Jones's kidnapping my grandson, who would blame your sister for fearing him? Not that Barbara or Spenser have done much for Caroline, in either regard - they stood by as if they were completely disinterested parties. Yet another grievance to add to my many against them at this point."
Stefan turned back to Nikolas with a disgusted expression on his face. "It is ironic that out of this entire debacle, the one person I end up being grateful to is Jason Morgan, since despite his many flaws and being little more than a street thug, he alone has provided any amount of protection to Caroline and her child from the Quatermaines, the law and psychiatric hospitals alike."
"What am I planning, you ask? All I want is justice for our family, Nikolas. Timoria, in the truest sense of the word, for those who have or would stand against us – that includes the Quatermaines, Tony Jones, Corinthos, the Spensers, my mother should she prove to be an enemy and even Jason Morgan, should he be exposed as an interference."
Nikolas eyes widened . . . . this was going to be worse than even he thought.
Walking up though the door, Robin ran forward to embrace Sonny
"Sonny, I am so sorry." At his quizzical look, Robin was quick to add, "about Carly, I mean. Liz called me earlier and told me all about how she was all over you like that. How disgusting . . ."
Robin rolled her eyes. "Have you told Jason yet?" She asked eagerly.
"Ah . . . no, not quite yet actually." He slowly responded, looking at her warily.
She frowned up at him, "But why not?" Robin pulled back from him slightly. "Telling Jason about how she came on to you would have been the perfect opportunity to prove to him that she is nothing more than a slut."
"First she shows up out of nowhere and sleeps with her own mother's husband, than sinks her claws into Jason, regardless of the fact that she is taking blatant advantage of his condition," her voice lowers slightly before picking up speed again," or the fact that he was a girlfriend, then cheats on Jason and Tony to have a drunken one-night stand with Jason's own brother and now she tried to cheat on him again with you . . ."
"The way she has got him believing every lie she tells is so sick," Robin grimaced, before her expression brightened as she smirked. "We should go over and tell him right now."
Sonny felt a sudden impulse to throw something across the room in frustration, but instead settled for pouring himself a stiff shot of tequila and a slow but deep pull off of it. He had no intention of going over to Jason's tonight for the same reason, he hadn't spoken to him since his encounter with Carly - it wasn't that he was afraid of Jason, so much as he was worried that little bitch had poisoned his protégé against him.
Unfortunately, he'd seen it a lot in the business, made guys who rose up through the ranks together and fell out over some broad who couldn't keep her legs shut and he had no intention of letting that happen between him and Jason. The idle though of at least not yet continued that unspoken sentence, but he quickly pushed it out of his mind.
Jason was his underboss and in some ways, even more powerful in the organization than he was and until he got that back under control, Sonny wasn't about to risk a full-blown confrontation. And definitely not over this bitch . . .
Sonny knew that Carly would had already run crying to Jason and the kid was just too naïve to know better. After all, Sonny had taught him everything he knew about loyalty and never bothered to warn him about manipulative sluts like Carly, because when Jason had been with Robin there was no need. He blamed himself for the situation, Jason had done such an excellent job business wise, while he'd been away that he'd left the day to day work up to the kid, but he regretted not taking action against Carlybabes sooner.
"Yeah, I hear what you're saying, but I don't think it's the right time," he blurted out, after realizing that he had gotten caught up in his thoughts and Robin was staring at him.
When it looked like she was going to argue with him, he held up a hand and added, "Robin, you know she's going to over there, crying about how horrible I was to her and her usual pack of lies. If we go over there it's just going to turn into an ugly screaming match that's not going to do us any good. It's better to give Jason some time to cool down and catch him when he's not with her, telling him more lies."
"Nah, it's just not worth it now and it might make things worse. Once he see the truth about her, it's gonna be hard enough for him, without angry words between us."
Robin's mouth formed a downward moue of displeasure, but she reluctantly nodded in agreement.
"Now, come on," Sonny smiled. "Let's not let Carlybabes spoil our night. We got reservations for the best Italian food in Port Charles waiting on us."
He tossed back the dregs of his shot and walked towards the door, waiting for her to follow.
Jason was remarkably calm about the whole thing in retrospect . . . far too calm for Carly's liking. In sharp comparison to Johnny's outburst of creative cursing and Luke's loud ranting, Jase was as low-spoken as ever. She paced around her room, unable to lie down as he had suggested. Never mind the dim light coming through the window, how was she supposed to sleep under the circumstances. Carly couldn't help but feel like the victim, Luke had made her sound like and it was pissing her off. Cowering behind any man, even her uncle, Johnny or Jason went against the entire way she had lived her life and she wasn't going to start now. And if they seriously thought she was going to play the little lady, to their "big strong men," then they were out of their collective mind.
Her mind made up, Carly slipped out of the bedroom and silently crept towards the staircase, making sure to stay out of sight and eavesdropped.
"So what did you get from the little prince?" Luke demanded. "Because I know what I got from Ruby and I didn't like it one damned bit and she only caught the tail end of the fight."
Johnny shrugged, "Then you probably know more than I do, because I didn't hear about any of it until Carly gave her version of the story."
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Luke fumed, turning on Jason. "This is the protection," his thumb angrily angled toward Johnny, "that you have in place for my niece?"
"Yeah, it is," Jason shortly replied, trying to rein in his temper.
"You know Carly as well as anyone, Luke, and you know if that if she wants to slip her security then she's going to do it. Besides before you get on your Spenser high horse, remember that it wasn't all that long ago that you were threatening your niece's life too, so keep that in mind before you jump down my guy's throat."
"Johnny fucked up, but he knows it and it won't be happening again, right, Johnny?" His voice brooked no disagreement and Johnny was quick to nod silently.
Luke opened his mouth to retort, but before he got the chance there was a quick knock at the door and Lucky walked through it.
Glancing at the angry faces in front of him, Lucky himself grimaced.
"Guess that means you guys already heard about Sonny roughing up Carly then?"
"Yeah, Cowboy, but who you'd hear it from?" Luke switched gears, his eyes widening slightly as he took in the familiar smell of whiskey.
Lucky stared his father down for a moment, Nik's accusations still lingering in his mind before he shook the memory off, and directed his response to Jason.
"I bumped into a very drunk Nikolas, who was just full of interesting stories about Carly. Is she ok?"
Jason cut in. "She's got a nasty bruise and was more shaken up then she was letting on, but claims she's fine now."
He shrugged, as if to say 'that's Carly for you,' looking as frustrated as he felt. "What did Cassadine have to say?"
"Well, he was more pissed off then I've seen him in awhile, in the process of pushing Carly's buttons, Sonny also must've pushed a few of his."
Lucky stalked off to the nearest couch, before flinging himself into it, his feet braced on the floor.
"Well, Sonny didn't pull his punches that's for sure, but then again, neither did Carly."
"And that means?" Johnny dryly asked.
Lucky smirked. "According to Nik she sucker-punched Corinthos, but," his expression darkened, "of course that was only after Nik got into between them and stopped Sonny from hitting her."
"That goddamned sonovabitch . . ." Luke cursed.
"Yeah, apparently Nik saw Sonny grab her through the window and by the time he got inside, Carly had broken free, but Sonny had caught up with her again and was dragging her around. He was cursing her out and started threatening both of them."
Luke turned back to Jason, "So what are you going to do about him Morgan? I am not going to sit by while he threatens and manhandles Carly," the older man snarled.
"What and you think I am?" Jason sharply retorted.
"Believe me, Sonny is more than going to get what is coming to him before I'm through with him, but don't forget that we've got other problems here too."
He focused back on Lucky. "You know Cassadine the best, Lucky . . . Why would he even get involved?"
"Damned if I know." Lucky shook his head. "It's weird. Nikolas doesn't put himself out for anybody he doesn't know and not even then sometimes."
"He's usually tight with Robin and we all know how she feels about Carly and Sonny, not to mention that he isn't exactly a big fan of yours after that whole drive-by shooting deal. If anything I would have expected him to walk by without a second glance or to even come in on Sonny's side."
He paused, looking up at Jason seriously. "But then it gets even stranger. After he brought Carly back here, he bumped into our mother and between her and Sonny, I'm not sure who he was more pissed off at when I found him."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, normally, Nik goes out of his way to try and make Laura happy, but he was talking crazy . . . None of it really made any sense to me."
He glared at his father for a moment, torn between asking his about what Nik had blurted out and denying the slightest possibility of it being true, because of course it wasn't. It couldn't be, end of story.
"Yeah, so what did the little prince say about your mother?" Luke demanded in the sudden silence. He wasn't sure what was going on, but he didn't like the vibes he was getting off of his kid.
Lucky shook his head again, pushing it out of his mind. "Well, from what he said, Laura is definitely not keeping what she heard from Em a secret and he was really pissed about that – both what he heard and the fact that she told him. Which again makes no sense, since he doesn't even know Carly, so why would he even care?"
"And when you add that into Stefan's sudden interest in Carly and Bobbie's freak out . . . I don't know what the hell any of it means."
"It means that somebody had better tell me what the fuck is going on!"
Carly's flat demand had everyone's head turning to the staircase as she stood in the landing, beyond pissed.
Nikolas was even more concerned when Alexis showed up. While Stefan had always had a soft spot for her, there was also the fact that she had unknowingly defended the kidnapper of her own grand-nephew, but Nikolas hoped that Stefan wasn't planning to hold that against her, under the circumstances.
"So what is the big emergency this time?" She questioned somewhat flippantly, her annoyance clearing showing at being abruptly summoned to Wyndmere at this late hour.
She placed her briefcase at her feet as she sat down. "Has Helena suddenly reappeared?"
"As a matter of fact, she has, but that isn't my primary concern at this moment," Stefan replied in a low and restrained voice.
Alexis looked up at him, startled for a moment, before glancing over at Nikolas seated across from her.
His shrug and blank expression gave her no further information, so she waited anxiously for whatever bomb her brother had to drop.
"I have recently come into some troubling information and I need your particular knowledge and skills to begin to right a long injustice. As this is an intimately family concern, I trust that you will assure me it will go no further than this room until I am ready to go public with it."
Stefan restlessly paced in front of her, each step as tightly controlled as the next, as he waited for her agreement.
"Of course, Stefan, whatever you need," was her rushed reply.
Alexis had no idea what he was talking about, but after the debacle of Katherine Bell, she would take whatever opportunity was offered to mend the breach between her and her family.
He shook his head in displeasure. "I need your word, Natasha, because what I am about to tell cannot go further than between you, Nikolas and myself. You can't breathe a word of it to anyone and that includes your misalliances," he sneered the word, "with both Luke Spencer as well as Edward Ashton."
She jerked back in response to that unwavering declaration. "What does that mean?" She asked unsteadily.
"Just what it sounds like, sister of mine. What I have learned will affect them both either directly or indirectly, and I need to know for certain whether you are truly loyal to your family or if you will choose to betray both myself and Nikolas. This is your last opportunity to make such amends," he spoke in the same resolute tone he began with.
As the seconds passed, Alexis knew Stefan was deadly serious, but how could she possibly make such a decision with so little information. Based as much as what Stefan had said, as well as what he hadn't bothered to, she knew this was the crucial moment, where she would determine the lot of her life – either thrown in with the Cassadines for life or with the friends and relationships she had made outside. She directed her attention on Nikolas, trying to get some sense of what this was about, but his expression gave nothing away.
"Do not look to Nikolas for support," Stefan dryly cut into her thoughts with icy directness. "He is fully aware of what is at stake in this matter and will stand next to me as family should in doing what needs to be done. My patience with you grows shorter by the moment, make your decision and give your word or walk out of her tonight, completely on your own in the world."
Her eyes stayed focused on Nikolas, who after an ever so slight pause, reluctantly nodded his head in agreement. And Alexis felt her heart sink to somewhere in her stomach.
Praying that she was making the right choice, she deeply swallowed, before quietly whispering, "Ok, then. If it's my word you need to prove myself to you, then it is my word that you have."
Stefan stared at her for a long moment and as she finally met his eyes, Alexis could feel him sifting through her soul, before he slowly nodded in satisfaction. "Very well, then, just remember, Natasha, betray me in this matter and you'd better pray that Helena finds you before I do, because I'm sure that even she would be more merciful," he warned her menacingly.
His pacing came to a gradually stop in front of her and she stared up, wondering if she had made a fatal error, when his next demands took her by surprise.
"First I need you to sign over your shares in ELQ to me, you may set the price at whatever you think fair and then I need you to tell me everything you remember about Caroline Spenser. I am particularly interested in the details of Jones case and the recent meeting you had with Caroline, Jason Morgan & AJ Quatermaine."
Across the street from the No Name, two familiar figures stood in the shadow of a building, nearly invisible in the dark. They had chosen their location carefully in accordance to Madame Cassadine's orders. Not only would the car bomb take out Corinthos, but the public spectacle in the heart of a Mafia-owned property would go far in incriminating Jason Morgan.
The taller of the two smiled in satisfaction as he watched Corinthos and his piece of fluff walk towards the car.
"This had better work," the shorter man spoke nervously, pulling his coat closer in the chill air.
"Just watch," the taller man confidently replied. "If there is one thing I know, and know well, it's explosives. That car will definitely detonate as soon as the ignition is started. It's fool-proof."
"For both of our sakes, I hope so."
The second man waved off his more uncertain companion as he watched Corinthos open the door for the dark-haired girl, before walking around to the other side, even as the driver slid behind the wheel, with a small grin of satisfaction.
At that moment, a man hurried from the entrance, calling Corinthos back.
The taller man's mouth opened in a mute denial as the car's engine turned a split-second before the car ignited in a fiery explosion.
"Ok, now, we're just fucked," the other man commented prosaically.
Still watching the ensuing fallout, the taller man scoffed in disbelief as he saw their target haltingly stagger to his feet. "You think?"
"Maybe we should just finish him off here?" The other man asked hopefully.
"Yeah, us and what army?" The taller man demanded as they watched the parking lot was rapidly filling up with wise guys and all the women not married to them.
"We get any closer, packing heat and we're dead men for sure. Nevermind all the witnesses that we don't have enough bullets to cover, these guys see us pull a weapon and we're done."
"We go back to that bitch and tell her that we fucked up and we're still dead," his companion shrugged.
"Personally, I'd rather take our odds here."
"Yeah, well we did get his piece of fluff so that should be worth something and with any luck he'll go after Morgan, so we'll be in the clear," the taller man commented as he opened the driver's side door.
The shorter man laughed, leaning against his side of the car. "You think it'll be that easy? Look, you're not from around here, so lemme lay it out for you."
"That 'piece of fluff' we just wacked was the police commissioner's daughter and if that wasn't bad enough, if this does turn into a gang war, not only are the police gonna be all over this, but that Carly chick and her kid that the crazy Russian bitch is so interested in are going to be target number one."
He sobered up as he heard the distant sound of sirens. "Face it, man, we're fucked."
Carly stood there and stared down them all down, before she strolled downstairs, as lithe as a huntress stalked her prey. Dark brown eyes searching any possible vulnerability, before she chose her target. She moved past the three standing men to sit down next to her cousin.
"So, Lucky, now what was it you were saying about Bobbie?"
"Oh . . . Fuck," was the collective first thought on everyone's mind, but only Lucky actually spoke it as he glanced over at his furious cousin.
"Now it isn't what you're thinking, Carly," Luke tried to interject, only to be cut down by an incendiary glare.
"Don't believe that I was talking to you, Uncle Luke, so shut the fuck up and let me and Lucky talk, ok?" She bit out, centering her attention back onto her cousin.
"So now, you were saying, Lucky," she encouraged him enthusiastically, seemingly oblivious to the note of steel running through her words, but whatever he might have said was interrupted by the sudden ring of a cell phone.
Jason swore quietly as he dug his phone out of his pocket, even as Johnny glanced at him, just before his cell phone went off. Without a word, they separated, Johnny moved towards the door, while Jason moved off to the kitchen area, his gaze squarely focused on Carly.
Very aware of the rising tension in the room, Luke tried to distract Carly, but instead she stared down Jason from across the room, watching his growing agitation with concern.
He gave short monosyllabic responses, before snapping the phone shut a moment later, in sharp contrast to Johnny's explosive cursing and demands for more information.
Jason stood very still for a moment, before turning to the small end table now in front of him. One arm abruptly swung out, sending a small collection of Waterford crystal shattering to the floor. Carly's eyes suddenly widened as she jumped to her feet and rushed over to him, wrapping her arms tightly around his waist and pressing against his back, her head resting on his shoulder.
Jason turned in her arms, even as he turned them both in a forty-five degree angle, so no one other than Carly could see his expression. His eyes flickered open for a brief moment and the devastated expression in them stole her breath away . . . Everything else in her life fell away to the wayside in that second and she pulled his head down to her shoulder even as she held him even closer to her.
One hand rose higher on his back, rubbing in small circles the way she would comfort Michael late in the night. "Oh baby . . ." She breathed into his ear, her voice only audible to the two of them. "What happened, Jase?"
He didn't respond, merely shaking his head against her shoulder, pulling her in almost unbearably tighter.
Lucky and Luke didn't have a clue as to what had just happened, but they both knew it wasn't good.
Already on edge from before he had arrived, the sudden phone calls and Jason's uncharacteristic response, Lucky tensed up further with dread growing in his stomach. He had opened his mouth to demand to know if this was about Emily, when Johnny hung his phone up and glancing over at Jason, deliberately coughed loudly.
And like the signal it was, it brought Jason's full attention back.
Taking a deep breath and catching a whiff of Carly's perfume, he ground his teeth as he stepped back away from her and focused his attention entirely on Johnny. He maintained a gentle, but tight grip on Carly's wrist as he demanded a status report and number count.
"Frances is going to keep an eye on him, until we decide what to do or he shows up here, whatever comes first, but it looks like he's going to the hospital with Scorpio's daughter." Johnny ran a hand through his hair as he spoke, clearly rattled.
"Reynardo & Max are on Emily and your grandmother, respectively. I told you earlier Sonny reassigned Rick on Carly and Michael, but you know I don't trust that bastard as far as I can throw him, so I rearranged my shift to cover him. He's gonna have to go. As far everybody else, we've got 103 for sure, leaving 5 guys who could go either way and 19 that are either loyal to Sonny or in bed with either PCPD, the Feds or Moreno – take your pick. And while I hate the timing on this, the groundwork we've laid with the Commission frees us up on that score, but we're going to need move fast on this, otherwise it's gonna get real ugly, real fucking fast."
Jason nodded and was about to say something, when Luke totally cut him off darkly demanding, "Wanna explain to the rest of us what the hell is going on, Morgan?"
Glaring coldly at Luke, Jason bit out, "There was an attempted hit on Sonny at the No-Name, car bomb, he survived it clean, but Robin is on her the way to the hospital."
Luke stepped back with an impressed expression on his face . . . "You move damn fast, man. Just a minute ago, I was afraid that you were going to let this slide. But that's just damn fast . . ." He shook his head admiringly. Luke's eyes traveled over to see Carly's pale face and his expression darkened as he thought over the implications of Jason 'moving damn fast.'
Jason's eyes went even colder. "Yeah, that would've been fast, if I'd ordered the hit."
The impact of that statement hit everyone in the room not a Spencer like a punch, even as he continued to fire off orders.
"Lucky, you got a piece with you?"
At the kid's shake of his head, Jason nodded to Johnny, who pulled out a Glock and handed it over.
"You stay here with Carly and Michael. Emily will be over in under fifteen. No one but me or Johnny comes through that door otherwise. Trust me, it won't come to that," he nodded to the gun held awkwardly in Lucky hands," I'm going to put more guys on the door and head off Sonny."
He stared into Lucky's eyes, knowing what kind of burden he laying on the kid, and hating it every second, but he knew that he could trust the kid absolutely to protect the three most people important to him. Beside him, he could feel Carly shaking slightly.
This was the last fucking thing he needed and at the worst possible time, but as much as he wanted to, he knew that he couldn't stay – not when all hell was breaking loose and he didn't have a clue where it was coming from.
"Luke – stay or go, I don't give a fuck, but if you leave, you're not getting back in until I've got a handle on this." He didn't even bother to glance at the other man as he turned to Carly and held her gently by the shoulders.
"I've got to go."
"No, no way." She shook her head almost dumbly, her voice taunt with tension. "They went after Sonny, you know that means they're going to come after you too . . . No way in hell."
"They can try, but I've got too much waiting for me here."
"It's too risky."
"And if I don't go, Carly? You know what kind of message that sends – to Moreno, Sonny and the other families. I need you to listen to me and trust me. I am coming back, but for now, I've got to go. Stay here and wait for me . . . Try not to drive your cousin, my sister or our kid crazy, ok?"
He leaned in and dropped a deep kiss that left her legs trembling, before forcing himself to let her go.
Jason walked out the door without a backward glance, Johnny offered Carly a grimace masquerading as a smile before following him out.
And as the door shut, Carly desperately reached out behind her to grab hold of the table to keep her steady of her feet.
Lucky cursed loudly as he tossed the gun on the seat next to him and was there to support help in three long strides. He led her to the couch and sat back across from her, while Luke stared at the now closed door in disbelief.
TBC
Well, I've some dedicated reviewers & I love them dearly, lol. anyone else out there want to say something . . . anything . . . & thanks again for your patience.
It's now official - this story has gone very AU, hopefully, you still are enjoying my take on GH. (although I'm sure it must be making a little more sense now, lol).
This is more along the lines of how I expected Carly's paternity to be resolved and a far more deserving one that the writers chose to give us. Now that we & Stefan know the truth, it should be fun to see how the rest of Port Charles reacts. I've got lots of ideas for this story so if you've gotten this far, leave me a review. It's good karma, you know :D