The Claudia Zacchara Collective

Gunpowder and Lead

February 2008

Rated R- for extremely harsh language.

Part Three

Claudia was driving home from The Recovery Room when she passed Jason walking down a country road. She stopped her car, and looked at him in the rearview mirror getting closer to her. She reached into her purse and wrapped her fingers around her gun. Though if this was a set-up, it was a damn odd way to do it.

Still Morgan was known for getting the drop on way too many made men for her to not be cautious.

He walked up to her car, and then past it, as if she wasn't even there. Claudia climbed out, and stood behind the door with the gun in her hand. "Hey! You need a ride or something?"

"No."

The man of many words, she thought to herself. It only made her more intrigued that he was so hard to get a straight answer out of- or maybe it was just the opposite. All he gave were straight answers, no embellishments, leaving her to fill in all the blanks herself.

"Your car break down or what?" she had to practically scream cause he was steadily getting farther away.

At the sound of her loud question, he slowly turned around. "My bike."

"So you do need a ride then? Get in."

"I'll walk."

Stubborn jackass, she thought. If he wasn't so hot, he would surely be single for life.

"Its twenty miles back to Port Charles. What did you do? Get lost on your way home? You were in town already."

"No."

"No, you weren't in town? I was there. Try a new story."

"No, I didn't get lost. I was taking a ride."

"To clear your head?"

He didn't answer.

Claudia said "Oh, that's right. Only essential information shall pass over your lips. So lets see? Maybe I can guess. You are having trouble with your woman, right?"

"Night." He turned around and started walking away.

Claudia jumped behind the driver's seat and sped up to him, then rolled next to him and spoke out the window. "Okay, there is a thing called prudent and then there's downright idiotic. Hate to tell you but you're crossing the line this time, buddy."

"We aren't buddies."

"Hell, can you ever just talk to me!"

"I am talking to you. Mainly because you won't go away."

"No, you are talking at me. Talk to me. There's a difference. You might as well get used to me. We're going to be getting much closer before we are through with each other."

He stopped walking.

That got his attention, she thought. She pressed down the brake and idled next to him.

Jason asked "How do you figure?"

"Cause I can't work with Sonny. I've tried it already. Been by his little office in the coffee shop several times already. By the way...that's real cute...nice set-up you two got there. I would have had my office in the warehouse but that's just me."

Jason stared at her.

Claudia said "You know its true. About me and you. Sonny is just as irrational as my father. You and I are the cool headed ones. We can make a truce work. We just need to talk details."

"You want details?"

"Well, I was thinking we could meet at The No Name, after the Five Families meeting, and hammer something out. Contingent on how far you are willing to bend over the issue of the docks. You have a stranglehold on dock 52 but we have the piers near the cannery. There has to be a way we can both bring shipments in without hostilities exploding. I was thinking that you guys could overlook any incidental usage of your shipping lanes by my family if we were to overlook your traveling through our territory every time you need to get a truck to Canada. But, like I said, lets work this out over a dinner...nice and easy. I promise it won't hurt a bit...unless you like that sort of thing."

"Here's your details. The Zaccharas stay out of Port Charles. Period." He started to walk away again.

Claudia spit out a curse word. Jason Morgan was bound to drive her out of her ever loving mind soon if she didn't figure out how to get him to be reasonable. It looked like she was going to have to use the one weapon no man could refuse...hopefully he would be a good lay.

XXXXXXXXX

Her idea wasn't half bad, Jason thought as he walked away.

But to negotiate would give the Zaccharas the idea that they had some right to part of Port Charles, when they didn't. Crimson Point was there home turf. They wanted to expand, they'd have to do it elsewhere.

Her car started rolling toward him again. Jason got ready to pull out his gun. Just in case she got any ideas about solving her issues with him in a more violent way.

Right before Claudia reached him, another car came barreling toward them, driving slightly erratic. Jason moved off the road. The car skidded to a stop. "STONE COLD!"

Jason tried to hold back his chuckle. Spinelli was hanging out the window, looking all hyper and proud of himself.

Spinelli said "Your chariot awaits! The Jackal flew with the superluminal speed to the location of your GPS and thankfully you have not departed from the road on which your chick magnet motorcycle of seduction came upon its unfortunate mechanical difficulties."

Claudia pulled up next to Spinelli and said "Hey, there."

Spinelli jerked back, as if he was overcome by her beauty. Jason definitely could see how that could happen. Claudia wasn't average hot. She was more like smoking, pure fire, look for oxygen hot.

"I'm Claudia and you are?"

"Let's go," Jason said, as he climbed into the SUV.

Spinelli was simply too stunned to move. His mouth opened and closed and opened, but no words came out.

"Drive," Jason said.

Spinelli looked at him, helplessly.

Jason pounded the dashboard. "Drive!"

Claudia said "Please tell me you aren't like your buddy. The silent type?"

Spinelli finally said "No...no...no...The Jackal is...uh,..."

Jason told Claudia "Leave him alone."

"Look here, Morgan, I don't take orders from you. You might think you run the whole world, but you don't run me."

She licked her lips. Jason's gut clenched. Between her fiery words, and her sexy way of making everything sound like Take me to bed, even when she was saying I hate your guts, his body was starting to turn on him- wanting what it couldn't have.

"Jack," Claudia said to Spinelli "it's so good to meet you. "

"No...no...no...its Spinelli...Damien...The Jackal is merely my cyber assassin of the internet persona, Vixenella."

"No, honey, its Claudia."

"I shall call you Vixenella for you are as gorgeous as any vixen to our grace the cover of a comic book."

Jason waited to see her reaction. The way someone treated Spinelli said a lot to him. The ones that treated him bad lost Jason's respect fast.

Claudia raised an eyebrow but smiled. "Sounds good to me." Then she said to Jason "So The No Name, right? Friday after the meeting? Its easier to give in to me now than have us do our little dance another time before then...unless you miss me when I'm not around. Should I drop by tomorrow for brunch?"

Spinelli grinned. "Our humble abode is located in Harborview Towers Penthouse 2."

"Spinelli! What the hell?"

Great, Jason thought. She'll probably be by first thing in the morning to tell me her next big plan for brokering peace between our families when all they have to do is stay in Crimson Point...problem solved.

Claudia said to Spinelli "That's so nice of you to invite me. I appreciate that, really. And you're so adorable. Much nicer than your friend there. Good hair too."

Jason said to Claudia "Don't play him."

"I'm not! Can't you get through one day without insulting me?"

"The best way to make that happen would be if you don't come back into Port Charles."

"Or maybe if I just drop off the face of the planet? One less Zacchara for you to destroy. Sorry I'm not making it that easy. I'll be out of your life, Morgan, when I say I'm out of your life."

With that, she slammed on the gas and took off.

Spinelli stammered "She's...she's...like manna from heaven...she's more delicious than orange soda and barbecue chips...if not for the fact that The Jackal's heart is already spoken for Vixenella would be The Jackal's ideal mate."

"She's pure trouble."

Spinelli looked at him. "But worth every bit of it, Stone Cold...worth every bit of it, The Jackal is positive."