A/N Wow, nice spike in readership with the last chapter! Thanks! I guess the idea of this pairing does appeal to some of you. My all time favorite characters on this show have been Brenda and, now, Dante. So I couldn't resist imagining a pairing. I have to confess though, that despite whatever comes up in this story, I'm still a pretty hardcore SnB fan. But this is an alternative universe is many ways, that included. Now that Brenda is back on screen, this story is veering into being more about her. And I want to give her material she's not getting (and probably won't be getting) on screen. Maybe "Dante's Skin" should have the subtitle "Brenda's Hair". LOL. This particular chapter is one where Dante has a day off (and we get a wee bit of both Brazen and Liason). :) Anonymous reviews are welcome. I really would love to hear what you all think! So hit that review button at the bottom and tell me!

Chapter 13

Momentarily catching her reflection on a computer monitor in the hospital hallway, Brenda stopped to look at herself. She reached up to adjust the cap on her head. She ran her fingers through the hair not covered by the cap and frowned at her image reflected on the screen. It had been a week since Robin and Patrick had given her the news about her prognosis. She had agreed to the surgery and surreptitiously gotten the entire thing over with as soon as possible, getting assurances from Robin and Patrick that her treatment would remain confidential. Brenda knew, however, that in this hospital no one's health issues stayed secret for long. So she steeled herself for going out into the fray, preparing for the onslaught of well-wishers, bitterly realizing too late that Port Charles was the wrong destination for a person who wanted nothing more than to be left alone. As she turned a corner to walk towards the nurse's hub, she caught sight of a child, a little boy with spiky blond hair, standing alone in the hallway.

Brenda stooped down to speak to the boy. "Hi there. Are you lost?" She smiled brightly with eyes full of concern. The boy stared blankly at her and blinked. Brenda continued to look quizzically at the boy and, realizing he wasn't going to respond to her, she rose from her kneeled position to look for someone at the nurses' station to help. Everyone in the hub was busy at their computers or flipping through charts. But behind the hub she saw someone dressed in scrubs running towards them. She immediately recognized the running figure as Elizabeth Webber.

"Jakey, here you are! What did Mommy say about running away in public places?" Liz breathlessly took the boy in her arms and examined him from head to toe. She then looked up at Brenda. "Oh, hello, Brenda. I don't know if you remember me? Elizabeth Webber?"

"Of course I remember you! Lizzie the artist. Lucky's girl," Brenda beamed a smile at Liz and then looked down at the little boy. "Is he yours? He's adorable."

Liz returned Brenda's smile, but Brenda could tell she'd hit a sore spot, perhaps reminding Liz of two features of her younger self that she'd lost somewhere since the last time Brenda was in town. "Well, I'm a nurse now. Yes, this is Jake."

Brenda gazed down at the boy, and waved. "Hi, Jake!" When she looked back up, her eyes went to something behind Liz. Jason was exiting the elevator. He caught Brenda's eye and hesitated a few feet away, visibly wary of getting closer. Brenda's smile changed to a look of puzzlement as she saw Jason standing frozen. She looked down at Jake, scanning his face, noting his eyes, the spiky blonde hair. Then her eyes went to Liz, who had turned around to see Jason. Brenda was confounded by the changes in body language in both Liz and Jason. It was as if a serpent had been released in the room and everyone had to stand tense, still, not even allowing their breath to move. She looked quizzically again at Jason and at Liz, and finally rested her eyes back on Jake. She gasped a rapid intake of breath as if something had dawned on her.

Jason stepped closer and he and Elizabeth exchanged mumbled hellos. He then looked down at Jake and his eyes became liquid soft and a quiet smile pulled at his face. "Hey, Jakey," he said. "Look how big you're getting."

Elizabeth cupped a hand over the boy's head and tucked him closer to her. She then looked at Brenda and said, "It was good running into you Brenda. I'm so sorry about…" Liz's voice drifted off as her eyes shifted between Brenda and Jason. "…well, you know. I guess we'll be seeing more of you around here? Doctor Drake gave me a heads up on what to expect."

Brenda, who had been gazing at Jake the entire time, was jolted out of her thoughts and hurriedly said, "Yes, yes, of course. I'll see you later, Liz."

Jason and Brenda both watched as Elizabeth walked away with Jake's hand firmly gripped in hers. Brenda then quickly turned to Jason, grabbed his wrist and pulled him to the sitting area away from the hub. He struggled a bit, but she held tight to his arm. Through gritted teeth she said, "Come on. I don't have the strength right now, Jason. Just come here where I can talk to you. Now!"

Once they were a safe distance away, Brenda leaned in close to Jason and hissed, "He's yours, isn't he. That little boy. That sweet spiky-haired blue-eyed little boy. He's yours, Jason?"

Jason's mouth opened but no words came out. So Brenda spoke for him. "He's yours and you gave him up to protect him. My God, Jason." Brenda's hands went to her temples and she had to sit down. She pulled Jason down on the couch next to her and continued, "You actually chose this life. This so-called life you live as Sonny's go-to boy, over that darling child? How, Jason? How is that even possible?"

"Look, Brenda, it's a long story. You don't know…" Jason started while Brenda spoke over him. "Sonny left me to protect me. He left me shattered, so he could go on with his life and not have to worry about my safety. That was bad, but this? This is far, far worse, Jason. So much infinitely worse. How can you give up your child, Jason?"

"Enough, Brenda," Jason stared sternly into Brenda's face. "You don't know what you're talking about. You have no idea. You don't know how hard we tried. Elizabeth and I tried to make it work. I set her up with the boys in a safe house. I wanted it desperately to work, Brenda. But it was too hard. On Liz, on her kids. She wanted more and she deserves more." He stopped to take a breath. Looking down at his hands, he quietly stated, "You have no idea how my heart breaks every time I run into him."

Brenda took Jason's hands and tears welled up in her eyes. "First Michael, who wasn't even yours, handed over for you to fall in love with and then snatched away just as unthinkingly, and now this. Oh, Jason." She sighed and continued. "So has it worked? Has Jake been safe and free from harm without you in his life?" Jason stared blankly into the distance, leaving Brenda to again guess his answer. "Yeah, I didn't think so. When is this madness going to end, Jason?"

Jason inhaled deeply and blew out a loud exhale. "I don't have an answer for that." He looked at Brenda, and, as if noting it for the first time since seeing her, pointed to the cap on her head. "Isn't it kind of warm for that?"

Brenda tugged at the cap self-consciously and said, "Since when do you have an opinion on my fashion choices?"

Jason smiled and looked earnestly at Brenda. "She didn't give me any details, but Robin called me and told me you could use a friend right now. And she told me you'd be here. I came here to see you Brenda. Do you want to tell me what's going on? There's something…different…about your face, your hair."

"I've been sick Jase, but, thanks to Robin and Patrick, I may be getting better," Brenda said quietly. "We're just waiting and watching at this point."

"Is there anything you need from me? Anything I can do to help you?" Jason asked.

Brenda giggled lightly and shook her head. "No Jason, this isn't something you can fix." She looked down at her hands and hesitated before saying, "You can tell Sonny, too. There's nothing I need from him either."

"Have you spoken to him?"

"Yeah, we had a nice chat," Brenda said sarcastically. "He told me…about Dante."

"So you know Dante is Sonny's son?"

"Yeah, I know." Brenda sighed. "Crazy, right?" Her back stiffened and she sat up straight, her face becoming tight and angry. "And I also know he shot Dante. In cold blood, looking him straight in the eyes, Sonny shot an unarmed cop."

Jason sighed and asked, "So have you been spending a lot of time with Dante?"

"Yeah, you could say that. We run into each other a lot at Kelly's." Brenda made motions to evade as much of Jason's questioning as she could.

Jason tried to follow Brenda's deflection and peered curiously at her. "And that's not all, is it? You're not just 'running into each other', are you." Jason stated his question as if it were a fact, and he had already determined the answer.

"Look, Jason. What I do or don't do with Dante is really none of your business," Brenda said. She started to gather herself up to rise off the couch. Jason held his hands up in exasperation and looked at her with disbelief. He started to say something, but was interrupted by his phone vibrating inside his pocket.

They both rose off the couch and Jason retrieved his phone and flipped it open. "Yeah, Spinelli. What is it?"

After listening for a bit, Jason's face twisted up in confusion. "Sam was researching who?" he asked. "Did she say why? Okay…alright…I'll be right there."

He turned back to Brenda and said gently, "Yeah, you're right, what you and Dante do is none of my business. I just want you to know…Brenda, you need to be with someone you can trust. No one knows better than me how badly you've been hurt in the past. By betrayal. You and Sonny both. Neither of you react well to being betrayed. I just want you to think about whether you can trust Dante. That's all."

Brenda frowned deeply and her mood shifted dramatically. She shook her head, baffled. "What are you talking about, Jason? Again, with the riddles. Me and Sonny both? What does that mean? No, no one reacts well to being betrayed. Since when is that some special thing Sonny and I have in common?" She sighed in exasperation and waved a hand around Jason's head. "I know things are scrambled up in there, but, man, you say the most confounding things sometimes."

Jason snorted derisively and turned his back on Brenda. As he walked away he waved back at her and said, "You have my number."

A/N Thanks for reading!