A/N: Aren't you excited? I finished this chapter sooner than I anticipated – probably because we had a few days of mid-semester break. Thanks for all your support and feedback!

Chapter 36

New York

Lucky couldn't believe his bad luck. He was sitting in the NYPD station house – he wasn't even sure what precinct it was – and he was trying to persuade the stubborn cops he was talking to that he was legitimately on a case. They wanted to call his supervisor in Seattle to confirm that, but Lucky had realized halfway here that he couldn't let them do that.

If Mac got wind of this, he was in deep, deep shit.

He had stalled by telling them that his supervisor was never available at this time of day, because he would be at the daily shift briefing. They were planning to call in half an hour, so Lucky needed to think fast. Unfortunately, his brain was stuck in panic mode – and not just because of Mac. Instead, he was also concerned because he was supposed to check in with his partner two hours ago. He had already been procrastinating when the cops had approached him because he didn't have the news she wanted to hear, but now, she would be getting antsy and impatient, which was never a good thing.

As he had the thought, his phone rang. Sighing, he asked the shorter cop, who was sitting across from him, "Is it okay if I answer this?" The man looked like he was about to refuse, but Lucky quickly added the first thing he could think of that might sway the answer in his favor. "Look, my wife is pregnant and I just want to make sure she's okay."

The man gave a terse nod and said, "Make it quick."

Relieved, he pulled the phone out and flipped it open. "Honey, is everything okay? The baby's all right?"

She snapped, "Why didn't you call me? And what do you mean, the baby? What baby?"

"Well, sweetie, I'm glad everything's all right. I'm here at the police station – they need to check things out to make sure I'm really on a case and not just some stalker following our witness around. So I'm gonna have to call you back in a little while."

"You got arrested?" She did not sound happy. "Do I need to come and bail you out?"

"No, not arrested, just asked to hang out here until they confirm what I told them. Now, I don't want you to worry. Just relax and I'll call you when it's all straightened out. Now, I gotta go. Don't worry, okay?"

"You better straighten this out, Lucky. This better not ruin all our plans. It better not."

She disconnected without saying goodbye, but he spoke again anyway, "Okay, sweetie, I'll talk to you later. Bye, now." He turned to Short Cop and said, "Thanks, she was worried because I usually check in with her every couple hours."

"No problem. Now, what time did you say the shift briefing is usually over?"

Lucky glanced at the clock. "It might be over by now. Do you want to call or do you want me to call and then put you on?"

"What's the number? I'll call."

Fortunately, Lucky's conversation had given him an idea. Cruz should be at his desk about now, and hopefully he wouldn't say anything to blow Lucky's story before he realized Lucky needed him to cover for him. Crossing his fingers, he gave Short Cop the number and waited.

Port Charles

After dropping off Elizabeth, Maxie, and Johnny, Jason headed back to the penthouse. He needed to talk to Sonny in order to head off the problem that was looming if Elizabeth had to give her insurance information to the hospital.

It wasn't just that Spencer might track Elizabeth through the use of the insurance. Rather, it was that he would also possibly discover that Elizabeth was pregnant, and then it would be that much harder to get him to agree to the divorce.

Unfortunately, Jason suspected that Elizabeth wouldn't allow him to pay for her medical bills, not even if she knew he was probably the baby's biological father. He would be lying to himself if he didn't admit that he was concerned about how she might react to that information. He would have told her earlier, had Maxie not interrupted them, because given the content of the conversation, he felt it would have been dishonest not to tell her.

Still, he was kind of relieved that he hadn't had the chance. He had a feeling that Elizabeth was going to be really angry – especially if she realized how he had discovered the information – and he was afraid that if she found out before she was really settled here, she would leave. And that wouldn't be any good for anyone, least of all her.

As he stepped off the elevator, his phone rang. He pulled it out and glanced, but didn't recognize the number. However, the area code was 212 – New York City – so he answered it. "Morgan."

"Mr. Morgan," a hushed voice said on the other end, "This is – a friend – from the Big Apple. I understand you wanted information regarding the whereabouts of a certain Seattle cop?"

"Yeah. Whaddya have?"

"He got pulled in on a stalking complaint over at the 2-5. They haven't arrested him – word is they're trying to call his captain on account of him saying he's trying to locate a witness."

"Who filed the complaint?"

"Lemme see … looks like it was phoned in by one Georgiana Jones. She's a student at NYU and said she noticed him following her for the past couple days." Georgiana Jones … Jason realized that this must be Maxie's sister Georgie.

"Okay, anything else?"

"Nah, not yet, but if you want I can call back when they get it straightened out one way or the other."

"Yeah, that would be good. And if they release him, can you get someone to keep an eye on him and let me know if he leaves town?"

"Yeah, sure thing, Mr. Morgan."

"Good. Listen, I owe you one. Anytime you wanna collect, call me from the phone you're on now."

"Yeah, thanks, Mr. Morgan. Glad I can help. I'll be in touch." The man disconnected, and Jason stood for a moment, considering the implications of this development. Apparently, Lucky had not yet figured out where Elizabeth had gone, but he suspected she might be with Maxie. Otherwise, why would he be tailing Maxie's sister?

The question was what to do about it. The fact that Spencer was getting close made it more imperative to get Elizabeth free of him quickly, which made the trip to New York more urgent. On the other hand, he didn't want Maxie or Elizabeth anywhere near Georgie as long as Spencer was tailing her.

He decided to talk to Sonny about it. But first, he called Johnny. When the other man came on the line, Jason said, "Spencer's still in New York – he just got pulled in on a stalking complaint by Maxie's sister. We got someone inside keeping an eye on things, but don't let Maxie make firm plans to see her sister until we decide how to handle this."

"Okay, sure thing, boss. I don't think Spinelli's gotten her the phone number yet, anyway."

"Good, call him and tell him to stall a little longer."

"Will do." Johnny paused. "I assume we still want to be watching in case he slips his tail?"

"Yeah. I'll let you know when we figure out our next move. I'm heading in to see Sonny now."

"Okay."

They disconnected, and Jason knocked on the penthouse door and let himself in.

Seeing his friend sitting at his desk, Jason said, "Sonny, I need to run something by you. Got a minute?"

"Sure, Jason, whatever you need. Want some coffee?"

XXXXXXXXXX

Elizabeth looked around the dinner table. This was the first dinner with only those who were staying at the Webber-Quartermaine house, and she was amazed at how comfortable it seemed. The children were delightful, with Paige asking a seemingly endless stream of questions about everything from Maxie's hairstyle to Elizabeth's baby to what Seattle was like, and Jack laughing delightedly at everything his big sister said, whether it was actually funny or not.

Steven was indulgently amused as he told Elizabeth and Maxie that they could call a timeout on the questions anytime they wanted to focus on eating. Emily went a step further, admonishing Paige to hold the rest of her questions until after dessert was finished. Elizabeth, however, insisted she didn't mind, and kept patiently answering whatever questions she could.

Johnny was outside on the porch, keeping watch. Emily had invited him inside for dinner, but he had declined, insisting that he couldn't keep watch quite as effectively if he was inside. Emily had acquiesced, but insisted on bringing him a dinner plate.

As much as she hated to admit it, Elizabeth really did feel safer with Johnny there. She had spent so long denying her own instincts about Lucky that defending him seemed to come automatically whenever anyone suggested anything negative about him. But to herself, she had to admit that she really had no idea what he would do – she had thought he would forget all about her, but that didn't seem to be the case, so she didn't know what to think.

When dinner was finished, Elizabeth stood to help clear the table, but Steven said, "Elizabeth, why don't you let Emily and Maxie handle that while we go get the kids ready for bed. You ladies don't mind, do you?"

They insisted they didn't mind, so Elizabeth continued answering Paige's questions through an entire bedtime ritual – bath, bedtime stories, and all. Finally, when the kids were settled, Steven said, "I've been wanting to talk to you since you got here, so why don't we go into the den?"

A knot formed in her stomach, but Elizabeth managed to nod. He gestured for her to go first, so she preceded him down the hall. She decided she didn't really want to hear him say the awful things that she had always suspected he really thought, despite how nice he had been for the last few days, so when they got to the den, she said, "You really don't have to worry, Steven. I can go to a hotel until I figure out something else –"

"Whoa, whoa," he interrupted. "Why would you leave when you just got here?"

"Well," she said, confused, "I know you don't like me and I appreciate that you were willing to let me stay for a few days. That was really decent of you, considering how you feel about me."

His frown looked confused rather than angry, and his tone sounded surprised when he said, "Elizabeth, I hardly know you. Did you think I brought you in here to kick you out?"

"Um … well, yeah, I guess … um … didn't you?"

"No, I didn't," he said firmly. "So let's get that out of the way right now. I don't want you to leave. I want you to stay with us as long as you want to, because I want a chance to get to know you. I'd really like to see if we can develop a brother-sister relationship – or, if that's too much, I'd at least like us to be friendly with each other. And before you ask, it's not just because it will make Emily happy – although that does happen to be a nice side benefit. But it is true that Emily made me realize some important things. She pointed out how awful I would feel if Paige were ever stuck and didn't feel like she could count on her family, because of some mistakes she made as a child."

Elizabeth was stunned. "That's – that's really good of you, Steven. I don't really know what to say."

"Well, let me finish first, okay? The thing is, looking back, I don't think the mistakes were just yours. I mean, I can't help thinking that if Sarah and I hadn't excluded you all the time, maybe you wouldn't have wound up marrying her ex-boyfriend. And based on what I've been hearing about him lately, I also wonder if maybe he took advantage of your youth and inexperience and loneliness. So I'm sorry that the way I – and the rest of the family – treated you left you vulnerable to a jerk like that." For a moment, he seemed concerned that his comment about Lucky would annoy her, but when she didn't respond, he took a breath, then added, "What I'd really like is if we could put the past behind us and take this as an opportunity to start fresh. Do you think we could do that?"

She stared at him for a long moment before answering. "I – I can't believe you're saying this. I mean, it wasn't your fault, not really. As you said, I was young and stupid –"

"I didn't say stupid," he protested, but she continued as though he hadn't interrupted.

"—and I was lonely, that's all true. But you and Sarah were closer in age, so it's only natural that you would be closer to her than to me. And that doesn't change the fact that I was so jealous of Sarah that I couldn't see straight – which is proven by the fact that I hero-worshipped Lucky for years, even though I had no idea who he really was. So you have nothing to be sorry for." She felt tears sting her eyes. "But I do. I'm sorry I was such a bad sister. And I would really love a chance to start fresh. Maybe I can make it up to you somehow."

He stepped closer and looked her straight in the eye as he said, "Let's agree on this – no more apologies. We both made mistakes, and we're both sorry for them." She started to protest, but he said, "To the extent that you feel you need to apologize, I forgive you because I don't think you did anything you need to apologize for, and anyway, it seems to me that the person who got hurt most was you." He held out a hand and as she took it, he said, "Starting now, the past is past, and we're focused on the future, okay?" She nodded slowly. "And I promise that from now on, you can count on me whenever you need me, okay?"

"O – okay, that sounds great. Thank you."

"You're welcome." He smiled suddenly and said, "Come on, this deserves a hug, don't you think?"

She gave a watery smile and said, "Definitely."

As she felt her brother's arms close around her, she realized she had really found her family at last.

XXXXXXXXXXX

"Well, where does he hang out?" Sam asked, frustrated. Jerry wasn't really coming up with anything specific, so she was starting to think she would have to go in blind after all. She supposed she could always start with "innocent damsel in distress" and, if that failed, she could move on to "sex kitten". One or both of those usually worked on most men. Now, she said as much to Jerry. "Does he have a rescue complex or a sex god complex?"

Jerry rolled his eyes. "Samantha, darling, we can afford to take our time here. I know you're impatient, but it's more important to get it right than to get it done fast. The baby isn't going anywhere, so that's always our trump card."

"Jerry, if I have to do some version of 'sex kitten,' it'll be a lot easier before I gain a ton of baby weight."

"Unless he has a thing for pregnant women," Jerry pointed out calmly. "And my guess is that you could pull off 'sex kitten' five minutes before delivering the baby, so stop worrying. We'll get our money, one way or another."

That sounded like a backhanded compliment to Sam, but rather than take offense, she stayed focused on the issue at hand. "Okay, Jerry, maybe I can – who knows, since I've never tried? But what's the point of waiting if we don't even have a plan to get more information?"

"But, darling, I do have a plan. My investigative firm will start a rotating schedule of surveillance on Mr. Morgan, and we'll soon know more about him."

"Wouldn't someone in his line of work notice surveillance?"

"Perhaps, but my investigators are very, very good."

"All right, we'll play it your way for now," Sam said reluctantly. "But if we don't seem to be making progress in a few days, we're gonna have to reevaluate."

Jerry seemed amused as he said, "You really must learn patience, darling."

"I tried patience with your brother, Jerry, and that got me exactly nowhere."

"But, darling, it got you here, didn't it?"

She rolled her eyes and decided not to respond to that. "I'm taking a bath and going to bed. Good night."

"Good night, Samantha."

The Island

AJ lay on his bed, staring at the whirring ceiling fan once again. He found its steady rhythm soothing, relaxing even. It helped him think clearly.

Courtney was obviously up to something. She apparently credited herself with far more acting talent than she actually had – and him with far fewer wits than he actually had.

He didn't think she realized he was suspicious, though. He assumed that if she had known, she would have dropped the syrupy sweet voice and reverted to the unapologetic bitch she had been until a few hours ago.

So what was she trying to accomplish that required persuading him that she suddenly liked him? No doubt, she was lulling him into a false sense of security in service of some ridiculous plan to … what?

He pondered the question. Ultimately, she wanted Jason back, although knowing Jason even to the slight degree that he did, AJ knew she was living in fantasy-land if she really believed that would ever happen. One thing Jason was not, was forgiving, especially of those he had no real use for to begin with.

So, whatever plan Courtney had was doomed to failure, anyway, and AJ didn't really have to do anything to derail her ultimate goal. But he assumed that, in the interim, she either planned to use him or discredit him, or worse. And she most certainly planned to get rid of his baby, one way or another.

He was glad he had gotten the alcohol out of the house – the simplest way to discredit him would be to slip him a drink and knock him off the wagon. But still, she could be planning to con her guard into getting some more for her, so AJ resolved not to eat or drink anything he hadn't opened or prepared for himself as long as she was around.

That would also take care of the likelihood that she might attempt to poison him, which meant he only needed to guard against the possibility that she would obtain some other type of weapon to use against him. At least his refusal to lose his temper since arriving would make it harder for her to convince people that he was a danger to her physically, so she would have a tough time persuading anyone that she had killed him in self-defense.

As for using him, AJ wasn't entirely sure there would be a good way to do that in pursuit of the relationship she wanted with Jason. The only thing he could think of was that perhaps she thought that getting along with him now would allow her to go back to Port Charles sooner, which would put her in closer proximity to Jason. She might also believe she would have a better chance of getting an abortion in Port Charles than here on a private island owned by her brother.

It wasn't a good plan, exactly, but it was all his poor, deluded wife had to work with. That, and whatever she could get her foolish young guard to do for her.

Looking at it from all angles, AJ just couldn't see any other possible reason for her attitude adjustment. Sighing, he considered what to do – should he allow her to continue thinking her plan was working? Take her back to Port Charles and let it play out there? Or should he keep her isolated here awhile longer?

AJ fell asleep before he reached a decision. His last thought was that perhaps, as much as he hated to do it, it might not be a bad idea to get Sonny's opinion on the best course of action. In this case, at least, he and his wife's brother were on the same side.