Note-

For a while there I wasn't sure there were still that many people interested in this, and my Muse went to other stories, but now that some readers have reviewed it has made me want to keep working on this. So thank you! I'll try to update more often now.

The Longest Night

This chapter takes place on February 8th in the city of Port Charles, New York between the hour of 1 am and 2 am.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

The Eighth Hour- Part Four

1:47 am

Maxie hurried to conference room B, praying that Milo had not lied to her. The last thing she could handle was losing Spinelli from her world in any way. She just had to manage who he was to her in a way she could deal best with....letting him mean just enough so she could still breathe, think, and cope. But in moments like this that was a real battle.

She spotted Milo nervously bouncing from foot to foot in the hallway and asked him "Okay, how did you two mess up whatever you were trying to do?"

"Well, we...um...didn't really technically mess up. Max would probably say I did by listening to Spinelli over Jason but Spinelli was right...Jason is busy seeing to Mrs. C...that's Carly, not Claudia..."

"Spit it out already so I can figure out a way to clean up whatever mess you managed to make. I will not lose Spinelli to prison. He would be eaten alive in there."

Milo pulled a key ring out of his pocket that only had two keys on it.

Maxie squealed loudly "Did you steal that from-?"

Milo clamped his hand over her mouth. She spoke against his hand, as she jerked it away from her lips.

"Gentleman, my ass," she told him.

"I'm truly sorry but you will get us arrested if you-"

"No, you will get your own dumb self arrested with your stupidity. Cruz is gonna realize what you did and send up you the river or down the river or wherever it is the river goes. And I'll tell you what, you are taking the fall alone. Don't even think about dragging Spinelli down or else you will make an enemy for life out of me. Do you want to see that happen?"

"No, ma'am.....Maxie!" he quickly changed it to, after seeing her expression at the term ma'am. "I was hoping you could get this back in his pocket and then he would be none the wiser. It would save me the trouble of figuring out how else to get out of this mess before Jason finds out that we acted first and thought later."

"Lucky for you I just happen to be a pro at scheming. Hand it over." She held out her hand.

"I would get this back in his pocket myself but it would make him suspicious if I bump into him again. Detective Rodriguez is right inside there....checking on his date, I think. I peeked inside a minute ago. But if you don't think you can pull this off..."

She rolled her eyes and grabbed the key ring from him. "I swear to God, you wear out my nerves, Giambetti. How Sonny ever hired you I will never figure out. Nepotism at its best, I suppose."

"Nepa...what?" Milo whispered as Maxie pushed open the door of the conference room and glided inside.

Oh man, oh man, oh man, Milo thought. Max will kick my ass when he hears about this.

XXXXXXXXX

1:52 am

Marty had just returned from his break when up walked Johnny Zacchara. Marty tensed. Just what he needed after a night from Hell, a visit from a mob punk. Johnny was even worst than the snotty rich brat asshole Barrington kids.

Freaking fantastic.

"Yes, sir, can I help you? I'm afraid we are out of rooms for the night due to the inclement weather."

Johnny pulled out a stack of bills. His eyes were dark with a maniac sort of energy that made shivers shoot down Marty's spine. Johnny tossed the bills on the counter. "What room is Dara Jensen in?"

"That information is confidential, sir. It would be against the law and hotel policy for me to divulge a guest whereabouts to someone unauthorized."

"And it would be a damn shame if you pissed off a guest so much that you made him take desperate measures. That wouldn't be very good customer service, now would it?"

"The Metro Court does strive to provide our guests with exemplary service."

"Look everyone's been through enough stress tonight, don't you think? You don't want this lobby flooded with more people who are all screaming their heads off about the fire, do you?"

"The fire, sir?"

"Aren't there alarms in every hallway of this building?"

"Yes, sir."

"Sometimes, when I get frustrated because a simple question doesn't get answered to my satisfaction fast enough, I get the urge to....destroy things and people. Or cause chaos in some way. Like pulling fire alarms. It's a bad, bad, fault of mine. Another one I have? I hold grudges."

"I see, sir."

"Type, Martin."

Marty tapped on the keyboard and then said "It looks like she did luck into a room. 345. Anything else I can help you with tonight, sir?"

"I'll let you know." With a smirk, Johnny walked off, with Marty stared at the security gaurds at the door, shooting daggers at them for being so useless. All the two men did was shrug back.

They knew who the Zaccaharas were and ten bucks an hour was not enough to take one of them on.

XXXXXXXX

1: 54 am

Milo peeked through the slightly cracked door of the conference room. He watched Maxie chatting with Lucas Jones. A few feet away, Cruz was crouched down next to Lainey's cot.

Just drop the keys near him, Milo silently told Maxie, and then pretend to notice that they fell out of his pocket. Come on...its easy....

His cell vibrated. He pulled it out of his pocket, saw the name on the screen and straightened up quickly. "Mr. Morgan."

"Any luck with tracking down the DVD yet?"

"Well...um....yes...some luck." Milo stared at Maxie. She started toward Cruz.

"Where is it being kept at? It didn't get sent down to the station already, did it?"

"No, sir."

"Good. So where it is then?"

"That's the good news, sir," Milo whispered "I have it on me right now."

"What? I told Spinelli I would handle it myself."

"But doesn't Carly need you?"

"Let me worry about what Carly needs! Where did you steal it from? Did anyone see you?"

"Absolutely not, sir. I'm sure of that much." Milo watched as Maxie started to talk to Cruz. She slid very close to him, making Lainey tense up and glare at her.

Jason ordered Milo "Tell me what happened. And don't leave a thing out."

Milo started to explain, while whispering softly, knowing he should walk away from the door but he was entranced by Maxie, dying to know if she would get caught trying to slip the keys back in Cruz's pocket.

Jason interrupted him "Tell me you made a copy of the DVD and returned it to his trunk."

"A copy, sir?"

"You want him to start an investigation into who stole evidence? How long do you think it will take to pin the whole thing on you and Spinelli? A minute? Two? Bring me the DVD and the keys. I'll handle this."

"I'm afraid I can't, sir. The keys are currently on their way back to his pocket-"

"On their way?"

"Well, um...I asked Maxie to help me out."

"Fuck."

"I'll fix this, Mr. Morgan."

"Milo, don't do anything-"

Milo winced and made a garbled noise. "You're breaking up, sir," then hung up. He rushed into the conference room, jumping over cots and landing with a loud thud and a nervous smile next to Maxie, just in time to hear her say to Cruz. "Mac really wants me to join the force. Do you think you could take me shooting sometime and see if I have what it takes at the range?"

"Don't you think your Dad would be a better person to ask?" Cruz asked her, though he was smiling and obviously flattered by the attention, while also trying not to offend Lainey or piss off Maxie so that she told Mac he had been rude to her.

"Mac's way too busy to ever take me anymore these days and my skills are so rusty. I know I wouldn't be a very good candidate for the academy if I don't brush up. Mac would be very grateful. Let me see your phone," she reached in his pocket. "I'll give you my number so we can set up a time."

Lainey said "Excuse me do you think you can take your hands off my date? Thank you."

Milo pulled Maxie away from Cruz, making her drop the phone and keys on the ground. "Hey...hi....uh...um...Spinelli asked me to find you. We have to go."

"Leave go of me! God! I swear you have a crush on me. I swear! You keep touching me. Stop touching me, Giambetti, or else a restraining order is in your future."

"I'm really sorry. Really. But we have to go. I think you dropped something Maxie." Milo bent down to grab the keys.

Cruz said "Those are mine." He picked up the keys and phone, gave Milo another strange look and then turned to Lainey. "I got to get back to work. You sure you're gonna be okay in here? I can try to find you a room. We could shift some people around, I'm sure. Maybe double up or something."

"Its fine," Lainey said. "Don't pull strings for me."

"I'd love to pull strings for you," Cruz said.

Maxie rolled her eyes. "Since your girlfriend is so jealous of me just asking you for a little friendly help, Cruz, forget it. I don't think I can leave my career in fashion anyway, even if it would make Mac's year. It was a silly thought. See ya."

"Okay then," Cruz said, dragging the words out.

Milo and Maxie headed back in the hall, with Cruz right on their heels. They smiled tightly at him as he walked away. Maxie glared at Milo. "You suck."

"I'm sorry. What happened is-"

She threw her hand up, halting anymore words from him, and walked away.

Milo shook his head in misery. His cell vibrated again.

Spinelli said "Stone Cold is displeased. He requests our presence immediately in Penthouse Three."

"Damn. This is bad huh?"

"I am afraid it is not good, that is clear. Perhaps we should have went to Jason before we executed our plan?"

"You think?"

XXXXXXXX

1: 58 am

Jason pinched his nose. Spinelli working for him was really not working out. As much of a genius as he was on the computer it was everything else about mob life that tripped the young man up.

And every time Spinelli got in trouble, Jason felt guilty and desperate to fix it.

Sooner or later, push was gonna come to shove, and he would have to tell Spinelli the way it had to be. His life as a mobster needed to end- before he lost all the chances Jason had lost.

It would hurt Spinelli to hear but later on, when he had a wife and kids and a job that couldn't never land him in prison, he would see that Jason firing him had been a gift. Each person should make their own choices about their life but that didn't mean Jason could sit back and watch another young man lose his future...like Michael had.

That would not happen to another person Jason cared about. Not if he could help it. Time was running out on Spinelli living with him and working for him.

It was a conversation Jason dreaded but it had to happen.

"You'll fix this," Carly said.

"Yeah. This time. But what about the next time? He's not made for this life and we both know it."

"All he cares about is being a part of something. Its worth the risk to him."

"But its not worth it to me. Not anymore. I won't let him throw his life away while I do nothing."

"Are you going to tell him tonight?"

"No. But I'm gonna tell him. I have to."

Carly scooted close to Jason on the couch. "He won't hate you, I promise. He'll understand in time."

"He'll feel abandoned and rejected."

"Yeah. But he'll be alive and out of prison to feel those things, get over those feelings and move on. And that's all that matters."

Jason nodded. He didn't have to tell Carly what he was thinking or feeling. She knew by the look on his face. She knew everything about him. And when he kept things from her everything went wrong. But when he was able to talk honestly to her about what he was thinking it never took long before it all started to make sense again.

There was a time he denied himself this....letting her know the truth about what was in his head and heart. Not anymore though. He needed her too damn much to push her away another time.

But he was starting to play with fire. Because on this night they had come to a place in their lives when there was barely no one left between them....just Jax who wanted a divorce....and if Jax got his divorce....for the first time in years there would be no other person either had to be faithful to. The last excuse would be gone.

And then what?

A few years back that question would have left Jason worried, thinking they were sure to get in too deep again, because with them it would always be at full intensity or nothing, and soon they would somehow break each other....the pain would come quick for both of them. Just what he didn't want.

That imagined future pain stopped him dead in his tracks so many times over the years. The memory of how he hurt before, never wanting to hurt that way again.

But now he knew real pain intimately. A pain bigger than the one when he first lost Carly and the family they made. That pain used to be one he thought he could never overcome. Now the pain of knowing what the end of the story would be...Michael in a coma for life...dwarfed the rest. Looking back on all his years of being afraid he knew that he had wasted way too many good days he could have spent with her and their boys.

Never again.

Jason Morgan was done running scared from the only woman on earth who really had ever known him at all.