Johnny heard Georgie gasp as Jason and he returned to the house. Seeing her eyes on the blood soaking his t-shirt he said "Its not mine."
"Thank god." she replied then looked at Jason who was speaking quietly to Elizabeth.
"What now, we have to get the kids to safety." Elizabeth was asking Jason how they were going to do that.
"The cars, Francis called, it looks like Johnny's cars out in the sheds are still operational. He is going to meet us there with Maxie and Marco." he said then he listened to the ear comm and then looked at them.
"Kurt and his team just got back from Louisville. They took out a team on the east side of the estate. They have Maxie, Marco and Francis with them." he said then looking at Georgie said. "Maxie is fine, they are on the way to the hospital, Francis was shot."
"Oh god." said Elizabeth, her eyes saw in Jason's that that wasn't all the news but from the way he was looking at Brook, he didn't want to say anything.
"Lets get a move on it." he said as they began the slow and cautious moves towards the sheds on the west and north side of the estate. Outside, they came under light fire, most of the gunmen having been taking out but Brook got turned around and ran, thinking she was following Jason only to end up with Maxie and Francis along with the extra guards.
Ten minutes earlier:
Maxie heard someone telling Marco that Sage and Diego made it safely to the farm and felt the man who was next to her relax just a bit. "Maxie, we should be able to move soon. Francis is on his way to take care of them."
Looking at the guard then the two men in the distance who luckily hadn't seen them yet, she said "I am sorry, if we had only left at the same time."
"No, no, we had to wait. We didn't want to get caught." he tried to reassure her that all would be fine, but he wasn't so sure of that himself. Things weren't adding up, someone had to spill how this place was set up. All that was commonly known had to have been told, because the ATV's hadn't been found or guarded nor had anyone known enough about the kids to be aware that they had had any self defense training.
"Maxie, by the way, it was great, the way you three hid under the beds." he said.
Smiling at him she said thanks then asked "Have you heard about anyone else?"
"Your sister is with Jason and Elizabeth." he told her. "Brook too. Lulu Spencer showed up, she is how they traced us."
"Damn her." she fumed. "I can't wait until we get out of here, she is such an idiot, those damn Spencer genes."
Marco didn't tell the blond that Lulu was dead, because he wasn't sure she could handle the news. "Dillon, it looks like he either escaped or ran away for some reason."
Maxie heard something and looked up in time to see a shadow coming around the corner. Taking her gun, she pointed it and making sure that the safety was off, shot at the person coming around the corner.
Marco quickly turned, glad to see that the blond had taken the man out, then swore as he heard the sound of gunfire. Shoving Maxie down, he was about to duck himself when he saw another shadow.
Firing from a kneeling position, he felt the bullets from across the meadow hitting him and saw Maxie was trying to help him. Stopping her, he saw the man he had shot go down, then more bullets hitting him as there was suddenly two shots that sounded like they were fired from a silencer.
Noticing Francis coming their, way, knowing it was too late for himself he told Maxie to run to Francis. "I can't leave you." she said in a shaky voice.
"Maxie, its too late. Go,please, don't make this be in vain." he said as blood began to poor out of his mouth.
"NO, no, please, god no." she was begging even as she felt her arm being grabbed, Looking up into Francis' eyes, she could barely see past her tears until she saw the man reaching to help her up.
"Maxie, we have to go." he said as gently as he could but before he could get her free, he felt a bullet hit him in the upper part of his now gushing arm.
The blond pulled her gun back out and fired, repeatedly and blindly thankfully taking out the man with the gun. "Francis?"
Looking at the man who looked shaky and starting to stagger, she saw the blood gushing and looked around for something to use to stop the bleeding. Seeing the soaked towel already on the arm, she got he had already been wounded and helped him sit onto the ground with his back to the nearby wall.
"Maxie, you need to run." he tried to get her to go.
"No," she said then looked at the bullet wound and hoped he didn't mind his dignity being crushed as she pulled out Sage's purse and ripped open the packaging then stuck the white stick into his arm, then looked at the bullet wound on the lower arm and repeated her movement.
"Maxie?" "Maxie Jones?" she heard and saw two of guards she knew coming around the corner. "We have to get you out of here."
"We need to get Francis to a hospital, plus Marco, Marco is dead." she said sobbing as she reached for the hand of the dead guard.
Kurt and Thomas told her that they had an SUV. "Where were you?"
"In town, running errands." said Kurt, clearly upset by that. "Ms. Jones, we have to go."
Hearing shouting, she saw Brook running their way and saw the guard tackling the brunette and making sure she saw he was someone she knew. "Ms. Ashton, where is everyone else?"
"I-I don't know. We got separated when we were heading to the cars." she said her confused mind on all the dead bodies and what she had heard the guards saying about her uncle. She was sure that they were wrong, there was no way, none that Dillon would abandon them.
Nodding at Brook who was being helped into the third seat, Maxie was soon in the car, putting her hand on Francis' neck to monitor his pulse while the two guards drove off quickly and to Louisville. There they met up with medics who took Francis and Maxie who refused to leave without Marco.
"Ms. Jones, the van here is for him." said the guard awkwardly as Brook was forced to go with the second medical team. Maxie was not leaving Marco, as they put him in a black bag, then pulled her hand out of the man's.
"Ms. Jones, lets go check on Francis." said Kurt, trying to get the girl to leave Marco, knowing he would want them to take care of the young woman.
In the pre op room, the doctor pulled the white strange bandage out and said "What the hell?"
"Tampons, sir." said the older nurse who then looked back down at the blood soaked item and said "They expanded in the wound."
"Whatever, they saved this man's life." said the surgeon as they began to take the man to be operated on. "Go talk to his family, let them know what is going on, also tell whoever did that, they saved his life."
Maxie nodded at the news, numb and beyond caring about the compliment as Kurt had her checked out then told her Brook had left. Maxie didn't care, she didn't want to know anything, she just wanted Francis to live.
In the chapel, she sat down, held her hands tightly and began to pray.
The foursome had just arrived at the shed when Jason was given the news about Brook and saw that the person following wasn't who they thought and fired upon them. Seeing the man go down, he moved closer and saw the thin geeky looking guy carrying a gun. "What the hell is someone like this doing here?"
"Jason, may I see his computer?" asked Georgie when he had yanked the dead body to where they were to keep it hidden and to protect their location.
"Georgie he doesn't..." he watched as the brunette took an odd square looking thing from his hands. "What is that?"
"A blackberry, it has technology to access the Internet. Its like a small computerize phone." she said then typed a few words then a few more. "Its protected by a passcode. We don't want to try to guess too many times it might erase itself but we need to track back to the laptop or PC he is using to direct this."
Looking with respect at the younger girl he asked her if she knew how to do that.
"No, not really." she said. "You need a computer expert like Stan Johnson."
Handing her his phone, he said speed dial six. The young woman waited until they were in the garage and made the call, then the young man with the dread locks and computer skills went to work, connecting to her and then said "He has a line to a computer in Cleveland."
Handing the phone to Jason, Georgie looked around then smirked when she saw the black hatchback with the tinted windows and what she was sure was a supped up engine. "Taggert would kill to see that car."
Elizabeth had moved to the key rack and was looking to see which cars had enough gas to get them to a station and then handed a pair to Johnny and then another to Jason as she looked around for anything that might help them.
Finding the maps and adding them to her growing pile, she spread them out and asked Jason where they were going?
"According to Stan, someone needs to go to Cleveland, he needs that computer. The geek by the way is a college freshman who calls himself the Jackel but his real name is Damien."
Elizabeth said "We should head that way."
"No, I need to make a stop first and it is east. Johnny, Georgie seems to know more about computers than the rest of us. If we split up, can you follow whatever protocol your father has for these situations and meet us in New York City."
Nodding he said "Where?"
Jason looked at Elizabeth who had no idea, then at Georgie who said "The Staten Island Ferry midnight in four days."
Seeing them all look at her, she said muttering "Maxie and Sage were watching sex in the City and it was a rendezvous in an episode."
"Well that is definitely not a normal meeting spot for the family's." said Johnny who saw Jason's lips twitching as he looked at Elizabeth who just said. "Here, take the map."
Looking at it, they saw there was a sliver of Kentucky but that most of it was Ohio. "What about you?"
Johnny who was moving to the pile Elizabeth had gathered saw the t-shirt and quickly change into it and then tossed his old one onto the table and washed his hands with the wet wipes. Nodding in thanks as they continued discussing the maps, he listened to what Jason was telling them.
"We have to stop in Washington." said Jason grimly. "We will head that way, through West Virginia. Don't rush, don't take chances and Johnny a word."
Walking off a bit, he said "Emotions are a bit riled right now, don't do anything Georgie might regret later on, okay?"
Nodding, not telling the man their pact of waiting until home in Port Charles before taking that final step, Johnny asked one question. "Who betrayed you?"
"I think I know, but I want to be sure." he replied then saw Georgie and Elizabeth were talking. Getting out his phone, he quickly called and was given the good news. "Francis will be fine. He is being operated on right now."
"What about Marco and Maxie?" asked Elizabeth. "And Brook?"
"Brook took a taxi, Kurt said the guard on her followed her to the Greyhound station, she bought a ticket to New York. Maxie is fine." he said then suggested they get going.
Georgie saw the way he avoided saying anything about Marco and knew that the friendly guard was dead. Her mind on how nice he had been, she was lead to the car they were taking, leaning against it until they were given the cue to get moving, she wiped the tear that slid down her check, then saw Elizabeth doing the same.
Elizabeth reached out for Jason's hand and held onto it tightly, needing to feel his strength, his warmth as she prayed for all of them and that god would take care of the wonderful Italian who had often been one of her protectors.
Getting into the passenger seat of the Porsche 911 Johnny saw Georgie's hand was on the steering wheel and knew that if it was anyone else he would have insisted on driving but he had taken Jason's advise and knew that letting her drive so he could fire a gun if it became necessary was a good idea.
Across the way, Elizabeth was grimly agreeing to Jason's request she drive, understanding that this was why Marco had given her so many driving lessons. She might not be able to pull a fancy j turn and make smoke come out of the tires like the guards, but she did have no problems driving fast which right now was more important.
Pulling the seat up and fastening the seat belt, so she was comfortable, she looked around the black Chevy Corvette and then reached for the gear shift. Hearing Jason saying start the car, she started the engine, then waited for the next order knowing that they had to wait for Georgie and Johnny to pull out first, she looked at Jason who was standing at the double doors, ready to push them open.
Georgie was worried, what if she hit the gas too quickly, what if she ran down Jason... Hearing the words go from the blond man, she put her foot down on the gas petal and put the car into first gear then when they were twenty feet out saw that they had hit sixty and floored it, moving quickly through the gears as she drove fast and straight towards the black topped road a half mile away.
Elizabeth waited, impatiently as Jason got in the open door then pulled out, amazed at how fast the Vette was, but looking up saw only distant headlights and got that the Porsche was even faster.
"Jason, I love this car." was all she had to say when she took a left turn out the drive less than twenty seconds later and took the road that would lead to the I-64 and Lexington, Kentucky.
Seeing the headlights of the Porsche as they slowed down once on the roads, she saw that they were pulling into a gas station and looking at Jason who said "Find the next one. When we get to the other side of town, we will prepaid cell phones. Johnny knows where to go."
Brook's hands were shaking as she looked down at the scrubs she was helped into. "Ms. Ashton, is there someone we can reach for you."
"No, can you call me a taxi though." she said her mind on what she had to do. She had almost died tonight and for the first time faced that she didn't want to die as the person she had become over the last few years.
Seeing the yellow car outside, then looking at the purse she was holding, she opened it, glad to see that Sage had cash, not a bad amount but not enough to fly home. Knowing that trains ran at odd times she knew what she had to do.
Climbing in she said "Greyhound station."
Paying for the next bus leaving heading east, she went into the small convenience store next to the station and grabbed some drinks and batteries hoping that whatever Sage had on her iPod would drown out the voices screaming in her head.
On the East side of Louisville, Jason saw Johnny coming out of the Walmart and carrying a couple of bags. Nodding at Jason, he passed right by and then went the the other shopping center where he went inside to meet up with Georgie who was in Target.
"Okay, are you ready for breakfast?" he asked a bit worried since he could see the dark circles under her eyes from lack of sleep.
"Where are we eating?" she asked.
"IHOP." he said as they left, explaining there would be a lot of out of state cars and they could run into Jason and Liz without catching anyone's eye unless they knew where to look.
Jason saw Elizabeth in the Marshalls store, then saw the clothes she had gotten for them. Seeing her look at the travel pillows, he said quietly "No, we can't draw attention to the idea of us traveling."
Nodding that she understood, she paid for the clothes then met him at the door and they hurried to the pancake house. Ordering, they were soon joined by Johnny and Georgie then numbers was written on napkins, words were exchanged then the younger two watched the older couple get into their car and head towards Lexington and onwards towards Ashland while they were taking a turn north towards Cincinnati.
Dillon pulled into the gas station as the motorcycle sputtered out. Parking it, he went to a phone and called the mansion. "Alice, I need to speak to my mother."
"Ms. Tracy isn't here, she is at Sonny's house. I will let them know you are okay. What about Ms. Brook, how is she?" asked the maid.
Dillon felt his breath catch, he was almost positive that Brook was dead, that they were all dead. "Alice, can you please have someone send me some money. I am at the Go Mart on the corner of Fifth and Vine in Ashland, Kentucky."
"I will take care of it, Mr. Hornsby." she said softly. She could hear how broken the young man was and didn't want to add to whatever was going on. "Do you have identification?"
"I have my wallet." he said then went inside and five minutes later, he was given five thousand dollars. He had no idea how to get home, except Jason's bike and he knew he couldn't handle it for that many miles. Leaving it by the building, the reporting it to the police so it would be safe, he went back inside and was soon on his way to the airport across the river in Ironton Ohio.
Jason stretched his muscles, then looked over at a sleeping Elizabeth in the passenger seat and smiled at how beautiful she looked. Brushing her hair off her face, he regretted having to wake her up. They had already driven through Lexington Ky, and Charleston WV. They were still in West Virginia and they both needed to eat.
"Jason, where are we?" she asked when he had gently shaken her away.
"A few miles west of the Virginia border." he said showing her that it was almost two thirty. Eating was a quiet affair then once Elizabeth was back behind the wheel he gave her the news.
"Mac and Lorenzo are on their way there. Diego and Sage have joined Maxie at the hospital. They are fine. Dillon called home, they sent him the money to fly the rest of the way. He reported my bike stolen so that the police have it in the impound yard."
Seeing her surprise, he said "Its the only thing the kid got right all day. It will turn up as owned by a corporation that doesn't trace back to Sonny or to me. I have an attorney who will arrange for it to be picked up and that is all there is to that."
"Francis?" she asked.
"Fine, I talked to Kurt, we do have one bit of good news. We took out everyone but Vasily." he then said "I am sure you have figured out, Marco didn't make it. Lulu didn't either."
"Oh damn, the Spencers will blame this on us." she said feeling a bit guilty and annoyed at the same time.
"Lucky is being taken out of the country by Nik who spoke to Emily but Sonny didn't know what was said. Scott Baldwin agreed to help take Laura to Switzerland to a treatment center there because she lost it."
"She has been on the edge for years." said Elizabeth. "Have we heard from Georgie or Johnny?"
"No, we shouldn't until tonight unless there is a problem." he said. "Johnny was planning on stopping in Columbus for the night, so they were fresh in Cleveland but he didn't want anyone to suspect that they were there for any thing other than a meal so they intend to arrive at lunchtime tomorrow."
Jason looked at her then said "Somehow they knew way too much about the house but not any of the improvements nor that you had a generator installed."
Looking down then back at the road, she whispered "I think I know who did it."
"Carly." he said then seeing her surprise added "Sonny said whoever it was from the sounds of things only saw the blue prints before the changes. He told me about your run in with Carly while you were remodeling the place long distance for him. That she ripped them out of your hands at the diner."
"I shouldn't have had them there." she said feeling guilty.
"And AJ and Justus should have searched the office including under the desks and out the window ledge before speaking about this place." he said. Seeing her arguing, he said "The point is, you are no more at fault then they were. This Vasily just needed an address to go with the information Carly sold the Lansings, Lulu gave him that, maybe unintentionally but she did. Thanks to Brook this wasn't as bad as it could have been."
Elizabeth paid the toll and they were now heading north towards Manassas their minds on two very different things. Elizabeth's on all they had lost that day and how bad it could have been if she had lost Jason because of the Spencer family. Jason's was speculative as he watched her driving towards the nations capital.
He was thinking that he didn't want to wait until they got home to finally get to ask the question that he had been thinking about since the day in the park when she had stayed to shed her obligation to Lucky Spencer.
He knew now wasn't the best time to be asking, but all he could think was that he wanted nothing more than for Elizabeth to be his wife. To finally be his and for the
world to know it.
Taking out his phone, he changed their reservations from the hotel he usually used in the capital and went looking through his mind for names of hotels he had read about in the travel guides for someplace not fancy but with a romantic view and better beds than you would get at your average Motel six.
In Port Charles, Nik was watching as his staff unloaded a sleeping Lucky. He felt a sense of annoyance as he felt the yoke of obligation sliding around his neck in regards to his worthless, nere do well brother. Thank god, the DNA tests had proven that the Aussie not be Luke's, lord knows if he had the patience to deal with yet another of THAT man's offspring.
His mind then moved to Laura, to his mother. A woman clearly in the need of mental health care but the idea of Scott Baldwin the man he had long heard his family blame for their rocky start being the right person to get her help bothered him.
"Mr. Cassadine, we checked, I have arranged for your sister's body to released to our people. Is there anything I can do for you?"
"No, Tanner, just keep your men around to help my aunt." he said then went to get ready to leave. Then stopping, he looked around. "Can you arrange for someone to get my brother's things from wherever he is living now?"
Johnny woke up, feeling Georgie moving. Worried she was having a nightmare, he found instead she was awake. "You need sleep."
"Its fine. I just want to take a shower." she said in a sleepy tone. "Besides, I am hungry. You go ahead and sleep in."
"No, that's fine." he said stretching as she went to gather her things for her shower. Imagining all the fun they could be having together in the very nice bathroom he had explored earlier, he was drifting back to sleep when he realized that they were going to have to leave the hotel for a meal.
They had already gotten a few odd looks at checkin, in spite of them placing the various items they had bought into the two suitcases Georgie had gotten on the trip to Target.
He didn't want them running the credit card too much, it was a good one, but just to be safe, he decided to find out what was nearby in regards to restaurants. Finding a barbeque spot, knowing she liked ribs, they were soon off to eat as they discussed what to do about the computer.
It was almost time to call Jason as they returned to the hotel and were soon ensconced in their bed as Johnny took out the phone and called Jason. A quick call to let him know they were fine and the couple were curled up reading the books they had gotten about New York both tired and aware that so far they had had it easy.
Edward listened to what Alice was telling them and wanted to protest their helping that little shit. He had a damn good idea what the Spencer girl was doing at the safe house and that his grandson had let himself be lead with his privates, not his common sense.
If his great granddaughter had one hair on her head disturbed, he would make him pay and pay dearly for all the pain his family was now suffering. Looking at his Lila, he sighed, worried about his wife and how pale she was.
"When is he to arrive?" he asked then ordered the chauffeur to go to the air port and pick the kid up. "Then make arrangements for him to meet me in my office."
"No father, Dillon is my son, I will deal with him." Tracy announced while Emily and her parents sat there, leaving them to deal with this. "Ned has gone to New York."
Jeff was silent as he watched Anthony Zachara and Sonny Corinthos talking about who had to have given the gunmen help. "Giambetti?"
"No, we know that he went to Claudia, she is rather busy dealing with Bobbie Jones." Jeff winced, his mind on what they had been told and how calmly the shorter mobster was taking that Carly might be his daughter.
Bobbie hung up the phone, stunned at what she had been told. First, that Lulu was dead, killed by Helena's henchmen. Then that Laura had left Port Charles to a secure medical facility with Scott Baldwin. That bothered her, Laura was her brother's widow, she needed help, fine it should be Luke's family that took care of her.
"Ms. Jones, please follow me."
Entering the large ornate room where Claudia Zachara was sitting and looked at the other woman who was claiming that Carly wasn't her daughter. "Ms. Zachara."
"Please have a seat." said the cold voice looking at the woman she was positive was her mother. "I know that you were given some facts by Mr. Corinthos, but I as a rule, don't trust others to relay my messages."
"So, why am I here, because I assure you, Carly is my daughter." she said.
"That is the one thing I am sure of; woman you know as Caroline Benson is your child unlike what I originally believed." she said. "I supervised the tests myself, it was why I was unavailable. She isn't however the daughter of the man I suspected."
"Excuse me?" asked Bobbie feeling nervous. "What are you talking about?"
"Trevor Lansing, yet another man in your long list of tricks." she said looking coldly at her. "I was convinced she was his daughter, since he paid such attention to getting his son close to her. Trevor is sick enough to not warn Ric that he was bedding his sister."
"Then who is Carly's father?" she asked. "My brother always said that John paid him..."
"Your brother is a rapist, a man who then married his victim and that I am in any way related to him makes my skin crawl even before finding out the rest." she said icily.
Seeing Bobbie's eyes widen she said "Oh, and I am a Zachara, but you are my biological mother."
"No, that isn't possible." she said protesting. "I only gave birth to one child."
"Wrong, you gave birth to two." she said coldly. "We weren't identical twins."
"That isn't possible." said Bobbie. "You look nothing like Carly, who looks like her only possible father."
"What, you really think you remember every single client who paid to fuck you all those years ago. You are that certain that it was what, some boyfriend who didn't mind you turning tricks for a living." she said still glaring at the woman.
"No, but the father of my child was a man by the name of John Durant." she said looking at Claudia. "My only child."
Scoffing, Claudia pulled out the old trick book she had paid a fortune for. Tossing it at the red head, she saw the moment that Bobbie saw the name on it. "Look inside, at the date of my conception, if you remember."
Bobbie did, stunned to see that while she had been entertaining John, she had also entertained five clients in those two days. One of which was a Tony Zachara, a man she had had several bouts of unprotected sex with for two sessions and had been paid extra money for it.
Looking at the woman, she saw that the hardness was still in her eyes. "This changes nothing, Ms. Jones. I just refused to let that manipulative bitch, that mewling whining bitch destroy what belongs to me."
Seeing Bobbie's eyes soften as she looked at her, Claudia scoffed then said "Don't. This is the only meeting between us. When you walk out that door, I will forget you exist. You are here to be told don't interfere in what I have planned for my sister."
Bobbie was dazed as a man came in the room, took her arm and led her away. "Wait, I need to speak to my daughter."
"I am not interested in anything you have to say." said Claudia who flinched when Bobbie said "Carly, where is Carly?"
"None of your business. Your daughter crossed me, she shouldn't have done that. If I don't take her out, I guarantee my father does. Her nastiness, her obsession with this Jason Morgan, it is costing me too much. I gave her chance, told her over the phone who and what Trevor and Ric Lansing were. She still went into business with him, set up a young woman to be raped by that disgusting pig."
"You don't know what you are talking about." Bobbie protested hotly. "If this is about what Lansing did to Elizabeth, she had nothing to do with it, I asked Carly, she said she had no idea none."
"You are a fool." she said caustically. "Carly not only knew, she was early anticipating what was to happen. Here, listen."
Bobbie froze as she heard Carly talking to Ric Lansing about how Elizabeth had been raped before and then what had happened with Zander. "Zander was a fool, he didn't think she would put up a fight."
"Trust me, I won't make that mistake." said the voice on the machine. "That is what this little vial is for."
Carly gleefully laughed and said "That should work, get rid of little miss muffin once and for all."
Claudia hit end, then looked at the green tinged skin of the woman in front of her. "Still want to claim she is innocent. That woman, the Webber girl and those others who were hiding from Helena Cassadine, Carly sold out all she knew about every single safe house that her ex-husband owns."
Bobbie didn't get it, making Claudia well aware that her own secret paternity had to remain hidden, lord help her if anyone ever learned she wasn't Anthony's daughter because her bio father was as big an idiot as this woman.
"She sold Sonny out to Lansing. Lansing put the information she had out to the highest bidder. Including layouts and guard rotations. While most of us change up the basics, we get into patterns with our guards."
"Are you trying to say that Carly knew what was going to happen last night, that isn't possible, she is being held on the island for safety by Sonny out of honor for her being the mother of Michael."
Scoffing, Claudia said coldly "No, she was being held so she can't screw anything up too bad it is too late. You lost a niece last night, didn't you? How do you think that the gun men knew to follow Lulu, Bobbie."
"Helena, Helena told them before she died." she said ignoring the sick feeling in her stomach.
"Wrong, Carly told Courtney Matthews who spilled her guts for a few dollars that didn't go in Sonny's sister's pocket, no it went in your daughters. Even stuck in the middle of the ocean she managed to do damage. In the end, the only person outside of guards dead, is Lulu Spencer."
"No, you are wrong, Carly loves her cousin." said Bobbie shaking her head no.
"Carly loves Carly." she sneered then said "Sonny by the way, knows what I am about to tell you. Carly had an offer of marriage from another family. In exchange for AJ being given her share of custody of Michael, he turned her over. Carly was married yesterday morning."
"Sonny would never do that, not to Carly." she said her hands wrung together. "Even if he would, Jason wouldn't allow that, not after all he went through to protect Michael from the Quartermaines."
Claudia said "Wrong, he did do that and as for your Mr. Morgan, I don't know one way or another. All I do know is that if Carly tries to get a divorce, or tries to even leave her husband, she ends up dead."
When Bobbie started to talk, Claudia said "I will kill her myself if she embarrasses our family."
"Y-you, you would kill your own sister?" asked Bobbie. "No, people don't do things like that."
"Hell I have Uncle Luke genes running through me, a man that would turn his own sister out on the streets as a hooker and work as her pimp rather than getting an honest job." her lip curling as she spoke.
Bobbie was beyond shock when Claudia said "As for you, You will go home, stay out of trouble and I will stay out of your life, cross me and you, well you will find out that I am not a nice person. What niceness that there ever was, was scrapped out of me when my rapist hired a backstreet abortionist to kill my child and make it so I couldn't ever have more. That very same day, offered me up like a piece of meat to his son."
Standing, Claudia moved to stand over her mother then put her hands on either side of the woman's chair and said "That is why I will never be your daughter, you set up Laura Webber Baldwin to be raped by your brother, then became his biggest apologist. Your daughter Carly followed in your footsteps. Both of you are beneath pond scum. Barbara Jean Spencer, you had a chance, went to nursing school but then you fell back to your Spencer ways when the man you wanted didn't want you. You are nothing, your family is nothing and when your brother died, well this planet became a better place. Now get the hell out of my office and remember what I told you."
With that, Bobbie was grabbed by her arm and escorted to the door. "Take her back to Port Charles and make sure she stays there."
"Certainly, Ms. Zachara." said the guard.
While it was early afternoon in Italy, the dawn was breaking the next morning as Jason and Elizabeth arrived in Washington. There had been a car crash on the interstate near a construction site and they were now delayed arriving. Jason had pulled off and found a small hotel, they had slept for a few hours and were soon back on the road as he planned to spend some extra time in the city.
Seeing the building where he had to speak to his contact, he knew that before he did, he had to have a long talk with Elizabeth and depending on her reaction, a long talk with Sonny.
"Elizabeth, lets take a walk to the park." he said then once there sat her down on a bench and gave her the news. Seeing her surprise, he said "Sonny, Lorenzo both know. Lorenzo set it up when we were taking Luis down."
"But Jason... how?" she asked in shock at the idea of his working for any form of the government.
"It was only to take out Trevor and Ric." he said. "Then it ended. Sonny doesn't know but they were close to busting him for something that Carly did."
Seeing her shock at what he saw saying, Jason continued. "In exchange for fixing it, I helped them take down a company that was stealing itself blind. I can't say anymore. Are you okay with that?"
"Were you in any danger?" she asked.
"Only of getting a paper cut." he said then told her the rest. Seeing her jaw drop, then look at him, he said "I was always very good at the money side of things."
"You must get that from Edward." she said muttering, not sounding happy about that. Seeing him looking at her she said "Edward is a pain in the rear when he used to stop into Kelly's. The man acted like not being able to add four and half percent tax without writing it down was a crime."
His lips twitching, he said "I am nothing like that old man."
"That is what you think." she muttered then said "Wait, did you wear a suit and everything?"
Nodding, he saw her frown then asked what was wrong.
"Do you have any idea how good you look in a suit. How many women must have drooled all over you." she said glaring at him for a bit then laughing at her own insanity.
"I only wanted one woman and I was only there a month." he said then asked "So I look good in a suit?"
"Don't do that, you know you look good in everything." she said swatting his arm at his grin. Then she asked "Was that the end of it?"
"For me, yes. They did send me to training before putting me undercover in Texas. It where I got the idea of running a security company." he told her. "I told Sonny about it, he liked the idea and has slowly been making sure I was out."
"Oh Jason. Are you sure that is what you want?" she asked looking intently at him.
"Yes, because I want a hell of a lot more than to be sitting down to dinner with the police knocking at my door to arrest me with my children sitting there watching." he replied.
Seeing his contact coming his way, Jason asked her to stay in his line of sight then moved to the man in the suit. "What did you find out?"
"Helena Cassadine was looking for the heir because Cassadine cut her off. She never found him. This man working for her, the hired gun, he got his deposit, we traced it back."
"And?" he asked when he saw the man was holding something back. "What did you find?"
"Trevor Lansing was a sick bastard but we already knew that." he said. "He was also a clever one. He had a computer geek, a young man by the name of Damien Spinelli. Kid is good, but likes to run his mouth. Anyhow, we sent an agent in, kid gave it all up, then told her he was taking part in a big deal event."
"Yeah, the death of everyone at my compound." said Jason darkly "Wait, why bring him?"
"The man working for Cassadine, he needed the kid kept quiet, there is a blond who gave up your location's blueprints. He was the contact in Port Charles and the kid went looking for something else, more than likely bored."
"What aren't you telling me?" he asked again.
"The paternity mess, Trevor was about to unravel it, he made a payout of a huge sum looking for the last clue. The money..." the man smirked then said "Traces back to an old Cassadine account. One that gives Alexis Davis her inheritance from her father, an account that tracks back to the WSB and a rogue agent in the 80's who once owned Spoon Island."
"Ask Alexis Davis who the father of her son is. Because once you unravel that mess, lets just say the Spencers will be done. Spencer sold out a friend, a couple of friends who supposedly died as a result."
Jason didn't know the answers but then asked "How is Alexis involved?"
"Lets just say that her baby daddy is a lot closer than she knows." he said. "And while long gone from Port Charles, when the truth comes out, there is going to be trouble. Mainly because there is money and we all know when money is involved people get a little nervous if they think they are going to lose any."
"One more thing, the daddy, he isn't connected to the mess except for as a name used by Spencer to hide his ill gotten games from an old enemy. A man you know of." Jason thought back then got the connection had to be Cesar Faison. Swearing because he knew for sure the man was dead, he got that whatever was going on, that Alexis might not even know the answer herself.
Checking into the new hotel near Delaware, Jason showed Elizabeth around the room then asked her if she was interested in exploring. After spending an hour touring, not finding anything close to perfect, Jason decided to wait until New York to propose, feeling a bit disappointed at the wait.
Dinner was quiet as they talked still feeling a bit drained from their night with very little sleep, they hurried back to the hotel, Elizabeth trying to figure out why it felt like Jason was closing down on her.
Standing in the window, her white silk nightgown skimming her ankles as she turned to see Jason leaving the bathroom in his new sweats. The terror of the night before suddenly hitting him, he found himself reaching for her, needing her touch to assure himself that they were alive, that they were unharmed by the danger in spite of knowing they were fine.
"Elizabeth." Her mouth met his as he tilt her face up. Her tongue is hot and wet, and the feel of it triggers a need to own, to mark her as his, his life... his dream ...
Hearing her gasp, Jason shifted her in his arms, holding her off the floor and against him. He reminded himself that he didn't want to scare her, but he wasn't sure he could do soft and gentle with her this time in spite of knowing that it was more than likely what was needed then.
Tearing his lips from hers and lowering her to the bed, he helped spread her hair across the pillow. All he could think was how much he loved her, loved finally being free to be with her.
She is stroking her hands across Jason's chest and shoulders, staring up at him her eyes are wide and deep, and Jason could feel himself falling into them. "What's wrong, Jason?"
"Nothing, its just I could have lost you yesterday before we truly had a life together." Brush a lock of hair from her cheek. Jason could only think how much he wanted to show her what he meant.
Her lips are warm and moist as he capture them for another kiss, this one lighter than the others. It coaxed a slower response from her, and she held onto Jason's shoulders moving down his back and then up to his nape, over and over again.
Jason slid his hands under the tiny straps of white silk that rest just outside her collarbones. She could feel his hesitation, then saw the love in his eyes and shyly came up with a plan to show him what she felt.
Sliding out from under him, standing next to the bed, she pulls those thin silk straps from her shoulders and lets her nightgown drop to the floor. She steps out of it, leaving it in a silken heap at her feet.
She's not wearing anything underneath it and seeing Jason's reaction and knew she had made the right choice. "Do you have any idea what you're doing to me, Elizabeth?" He asks as she climbs back onto the bed, straddling him.
Instead of answering him she grins leaning over and letting her hair brush over his chest and six pack stomach while he grabs her hips to halt her movement towards his feet.
"We have to get you out of those sweats." she said removing his hands and then using her own to slide the gray material down his legs and off of him, her grin telling him she had noticed he wasn't wearing anything underneath, not that there wasn't proof jutting up insistently demanding attention.
Elizabeth's eyes were a pool of blue as she reached out and touched his erection, making a soft giggle when his cock twitches at the contact before their eyes met and Jason's body reached by tensing up in anticipation as she leans down and gently encircles his tip with her warm moist lips.
He felt unable to move, knowing he had to keep control while Elizabeth did the one thing … well one of things that she knew made him lose control with her. As she teased tempted and tormented him by slowly showing him all she had leaned over the last few nights, Jason dreamed of having this, of having her with him forever.
Just as his body took over, his mind couldn't stop his heart from asking the one thing it shouldn't at a time like this... as his body gave into his need, the words, guttural in tone came out, way to fast for him to stop it.
"I love you, Elizabeth. Marry me?" She froze, her eyes met his and at the very wrong time as he came all over the front of her. "Oh god, I am so sorry."
Before she could even respond to either comment, Jason had removed himself from her hands and gone to the bathroom, the door closing behind him.
Elizabeth looked down at the mess on her chest, then sat there blinking as she looked at the bathroom door unsure what to do next. Should she tell him she loved him too and yes she wanted to marry him or should she get cleaned up as the shower could be heard starting or should she ignore the situation and let him explain.
Before she could decide, a flushed Jason had returned and was ushering her into the shower where he joined her and without another word between them, soon was soaping her up and cleaning her off before leaning down to kiss her.
Drying her with a briskness that was at odds with all that had just happened, he soon had her wrapped up in the hotel bathrobe and had set her on the chair beside the bed.
Sitting across from her in the matching chair, he buried his head in his hand and apologized. "I am so sorry. That wasn't when I wanted to ask this. I wanted it to be perfect, to be... god."
Not a word was added then Elizabeth knelt in front of him and pried his hands away from his face and saw his misery and shame. With a soft smile she asked "I only want to know one thing. Did you mean it? Do you love me and do you want to get married?"
"Yes, I do." he said then looked down. "Not exactly what I had planned."
"And not anything we want to have to explain to our children some day." she said with a sudden laugh then she said "How about this, at some point, before we get home, how about I propose to you. Then we can pretend this didn't happen for any future children we have."
"But it did happen." he said groaning. "Wait, you don't mind having children with me?"
"Why else would I marry you." she said. "After all, Dillon stole your bike and there is no guarantee you will get it back. I mean lets look at it sensibly. You are related to the Quartermaines, who are completely insane. Your best friend has a tendency to show up at my place and force feed me enough food to feed families of four."
He felt his smile growing as she stood and began to tick off reasons not to marry him. "Your other friends, well other than Johnny all refused to sit for me when I needed to do a nude for school. They acted like I had the plague when I asked or something." she said frowning at him while Jason was steaming inside and determined to find out exactly what that had been about and who did O'Brien think he was even to consider doing it."
"Your sister, well she is okay. Emily will however go overboard at the idea of us being sisters." she said frowning for a second. "But on the plus side, I like your grandmother, I am living in your penthouse that I decorated and I really like it. You make me scream in bed, plus I can actually see our future children..."
Standing, stalking her, his arms going around her waist in the thick terry road he asked "Does that mean the answer is yes."
Suddenly something occurred to her as she frowned and said "Oh damn, no, I can't marry you. I already promised to marry someone else."
"WHAT!" he asked now getting nervous then a bit upset only to see her trying to hide a smile. "What are you smiling about."
"OH, I was just imagining you explaining to the very determined man who I agreed to marry in twenty years why it can't happen." Seeing him stalking her as she backed up to the door. "I mean, seriously Jason, how can you disappoint your own nephew."
"Huh?" he asked now looking confused. Then his eyes narrowed as he pressed his body into hers and snarled in her ear. "Michael can get his own damn wife, you are mine. Besides I will just tell him you are too old for him and that I am doing him a favor by marrying you."
Elizabeth's laughter could be heard turning into a gasp as Jason untied her belt and spread open her robe and proceeded to show her that he was not going to wait, that she was his and he was claiming every single part of her, starting with a kiss.
In the middle of the ocean, Carly woke up from sedation after eight days, her head aching as she saw she was naked in a bed. Stretching, remembering the incredible night she had unaware it was all a dream, she went to the closet and found a closet full of absolutely her favorite designers.
Touched that Jason had known, she went to take a shower, then frowned as she realized she had to have been too tired the night before to consummate their marriage.
Showering finding once again her favorites, she dressed, went to the bedside table where she found her wedding ring and slipped it on before opening the door. Finding the guard there, she asked "Where is my husband?"
"In a meeting." she was told, then when she demanded to be taken to him, the guard agreed.
The tall man was a bit surprised by the excitement in the blond's eyes, he had been told she might be a handful, that she wouldn't be happy about the marriage.
Instead she asked where they were heading and being told the Med and a private island, the woman had squealed with excitement at the idea of staying there just the two of them.
"There will be guards there, too Signora." said the man only for Carly to shrug and say that they were of no consequence.
"Strange attitude for a woman whose husband started out as a guard." said the man giving her an assessing look.
"How dare you talk to me that way." she sneered. "Who do you think you are, you are my guard, nothing more."
"Ah, I see there is a communication issue here, I am not a guard, Signora." said the man. "I am the legal attorney for the Guiliani crime family. Before you step foot on the island, certain arrangements had to be made to deal with those you left behind. That was my responsibility."
"Whatever it is is of no consequence." she said shrugging as she said "When two people love each other as much as my husband and I do, nothing else matters."
"I was under the impression that this was more about protecting you from your mistakes." he replied as neutrally as possible in spite of disliking this woman already.
The door opened and Carly rushed in eager to see Jason and instead saw a fat man sitting back smoking a cigar and that the guard had evaporated. "Who are you?"
"Sit down." she was told. Seeing she ignored his order, Maximus looked at his son who had entered and said "Make her sit down."
"Carly, please sit down." said Milo looking at the woman.
Turning to the lowly guard who used to protect her son, Carly sneered and said "Matthew, who the hell do you think you are talking to. Do you know who my husband is, he won't let you treat me this way."
"Carly, sit down before you embarrass yourself." said the former guard even as he grabbed her arm and escorted her to the chair. His father nodded approvingly but then Carly started to mouth off.
"On Sicily a woman who talks like you is referred to as a fish wife." said the fat disgusting man. Carly sneered and said "Fuck you."
"Words like that would get your tongue cut out. Is that what you are aiming for, Carolina." he asked idly "I am quite certain any of my men would be glad to take care of that for me, for my family."
"Jason won't let you talk to his wife that way." she protested, thinking he was one of their many business associates. "As his wife I am a full partner in every single part of his life."
"Sit down, Carolina." the man said, his voice getting lower while hitting the button so his son would hear all of this.
"Carly, please, just sit." said Milo wishing he had taken a migraine pill. First they had dealt with Max, who had been horrified at his father's plan, at what he was going to lose. He had thought it would all blow over, then he had been confronted by Claudia Zachara and her damn tapes.
Now Max was resigned, understanding what he had given up to make Carly his wife. He had gone back to his room, a broken man as he had faced his life was going to be a long one on a rather backward island owned by his father. One where they knew all of his dishonorable deed and one where Carly would not be happy, thereby making him miserable.
Still protesting, she turned when she thought she heard Max's voice and saw the tape, "what the hell is that."
"One more word like that, and I will cut out that tongue." said Maximus dangerously.
Carly sank into her chair, her eyes never leaving the screen as she saw herself marrying Max, Max? Of all people. "This is faked, I would never marry Max. I would never lower myself that much as to marry a guard."
Max looked himself in the mirror, then down at his wedding ring as Carly began laughing, thinking all of this was a joke. Standing, knowing that by not being there he looked even weaker in his father's eyes, Max ducked his head in shame as Carly denigrated him even more.
"Let me introduce myself." said the fat man. "I am Mr. Giambetti and I believe you are acquainted with my sons. Milo is behind you,"
"So?" she asked "Do you work for Jason and Sonny."
"No, I run the Guiliani family. My sons were sent to America to be trained. The families arranged for them to work for Mr. Corinthos."
"Wait, are you the man who wanted to marry me?" she asked then sneered. "Not likely."
"No, you are the last woman on this earth I would chose to be the mother of any child, let alone my own." snarled Maximus. "No, you are unfortunately going to be the mother of my grandchildren."
"Not likely." she repeated looking scornfully at Milo even as she heard herself saying I do on the tape. "He isn't my type."
"Carolina, I would not disrespect Milo, as my heir he is one day going to lead the family. You owe him your respect about all else." warned Maximus who then said "You are the wife of my disinherited son."
"Like hell I am, I will be back in the states and getting this marriage annulled before you can say cat in the hat." she tossed out there.
"Giambetti marriages aren't annulled." said Max entering the room only for Carly to stand and slap him across the face. Grabbing her hands, he said in a warning tone. "Don't do that again. After what I gave up to save you, you will respect me, respect my family."
"Like hell." she said only to see a dark eyed woman entering. "Who the hell are you, his wife?"
Claudia looked Milo over with sexually heated eyes, then said "No, I would break him in bed. He needs a soft woman, one who he can give pleasure to, I prefer taking mine. Sit down, Carly and I will give you the news you missed while on this yacht. Maximus, I took care of my end."
Carly recognized the voice and said "Zachara, you are Claudia Zachara, Ric's partner. Did he put you up to this."
"You know that Lansing is dead." she stated. "No, I am here to ensure you don't dishonor my family. You will stay married to Max, you will live where Maximus tells you and you will be a good wife, or I will kill you, as painfully as possible."
Turning Claudia said "I would like to speak to her while taking a turn of the deck."
"Fine." said Maximus. Then looking off to the left, said "We should be arriving in twenty minutes."
Nodding at the man with respect, Claudia grabbed Carly's arm and took her up to the top deck. "Its like this, you do what I say or you will die. I know that you sold out your ex-husband trying to take down Elizabeth Webber, why? Because Jason Morgan is in love with her."
"No, he doesn't love her, he loves me." she said.
"Morgan doesn't give a shit, it was all about his nephew." said Claudia who was intrigued by the idea of this woman's insanity. Clearly she needed to know if it was an inherited Spencer trait or a Zachara one.
"His nephew?" she asked clearly not getting it.
"Michael, I believe his name is." she answered annoyed at the woman.
"Michael is his son." Carly insisted. "I made sure of that."
"No, his father is AJ Quartermaine, his adopted father is Sonny Corinthos, the Michael he is named for. You by the way, gave up all custody of your son." When Carly started to flip, Claudia slapped her and said "Enough, you don't give a damn about that boy except for his connection to Morgan."
Holding her hand to her cheek, Carly glared then said "Who the hell are you?"
"Oh, you don't remember sharing space with me?" she said with an evil grin. "I am your half twin sister, Carly. Bobbie was my mother too. Luke Spencer missed learning about me in his eagerness to sell you. I ended up going home with Domincia Zachara, there were two twins born that day."
"Two three girls one boy. My brother or not my brother, depending on the way you look at it, died when he was five leaving me the heir of a man who was married to a woman he didn't love. He wasn't even there the day I was born, the day a baby girl died and no one mourned her because the nurses were too afraid to tell Zachara that his daughter died, so they took me from a hooker, too bad, they had no idea how ironic it really was."
"He was with a hooker, since he didn't care about Dominica, he didn't honor or respect her. They were in South Florida, he tried to track down his favorite hooker at the whorehouse, but she was gone, off on maternity leave but he wasn't told that."
"What the hell are you telling me?" she asked.
"Carly, your father, was Anthony Zachara, who paid extra to sleep without condoms with his favorite whore Bobbie Spencer. She didn't mind his odd requests and just wanted more money to be taken that way."
"Don't talk about my mother that way."
"What way, like you were created by a business transaction, don't worry, I was too." she mocked. "See, Bobbie was a busy bee, I wonder if she even showered between men. Anyhow. She was also a fertile bee, got pregnant gave birth to fraternal twins. You and me. I was freaked when I found out that among her clients was my rapist, but thankfully he wasn't my father. Nope, my daddy was the only halfway decent man in her trick book. A Baptist minister's son who liked to rail against sin while fucking our mother."
Carly didn't give a shit about any of this, all she wanted was to go home to find Jason and to get away from this mess.
"Carly I can see the hamster wheel that passes as a brain moving in your head. You are going no where, you are staying right here. There is no get out of this free card. You reap what you sow."
With that Claudia said "Oh not that I think you give a damn, but that information you sold about the safe houses, a woman died."
Carly hid her smile at the idea of Elizabeth Webber being dead.
"Lulu Spencer." she said then walked to the gang plank that was being hooked up. "Carly, this is your life, I suggest you live it like there is no tomorrow, because if you step out of line, there won't be. Enjoy your marriage to Max, he gave up everything for you."
With that Claudia left and Maximus came to where Carly was standing. "We need to reach an understanding. If my son hadn't come for you against my wishes, they were going to kill you. No more games, no more smart ass remarks. You respect my sons and the natives on the island. You dress appropriately, you be a good wife and I will keep you alive. If not, then well there are ways of making you be a good wife."
"Rape, you would rape me?" she asked of Max who had since joined them.
Max took a long look then said. "I have never in my life laid a hand on a woman in anger nor hurt one that way except my mess with you where an innocent almost paid the price. NO, I wouldn't rape you. Hell I am not sure I want to ever have sex with you after what I heard on that tape but since you just became my only choice..."
Maximus looked at the bottle blond and said "There are other ways, Carly. Ones that you will learn because we both know you, you have no respect for anyone but yourself."