Note – This story is so much fun for me. :) Also, just so we're clear, Johnny walked in just as Kate woke up from her coma for the first time. Sonny was already outside and didn't get a chance to talk to her, and she slipped back into a coma or whatever as Johnny left. Sonny has no clue about what transpired on the docks when Kate got shot.

The Right Girl 51

He kicked at a pebble, watching it skitter across the planks before falling into the water. The docks were quiet at night, and the sound echoed.

His girlfriend had lied to him and endangered several lies in the process. She willingly covered up an incident that landed a woman in the hospital, she allowed a little boy to run away from home and scare his parents to death in the process, she started a chain of events that led his sister to kidnap an innocent boy and his mother and go on some sort of suicide mission (although Claudia had always taken responsibility of her own actions and wouldn't have appreciated his attempt to attribute her stunt to Lulu Spencer) and she had been the reason that Sonny Corinthos took shots at him and landed two slugs in his side.

It was disgusting, and actually made his stomach turn.

He just couldn't wrap his head around it – couldn't figure out how the woman he laughed with, made love to, took care of, could turn around and do something so despicable. And for what? Her aim had been to call him, hysterical, and have him run to her rescue. Was that her way of ensuring that they stayed together? Was she really that threatened by Nadine, that scared that he would leave her for the nurse?

It certainly wasn't a competition at the moment, but if Johnny were honest with himself, he would have to admit that it had ceased being a competition some time ago. Somehow, along the way, he started reluctantly spending time with his girlfriend and eagerly looking forward to the time he could steal with Nadine. It wasn't fair to any of them, but he had been afraid to confront the situation and resolve it.

Claudia had been right about a lot of things. He had been stringing Nadine along, and she deserved better. It was just like how Lulu strung him along when she was still technically with Logan. She had him twisted up in knots, and it made Johnny sick to think that he had been doing the same to Nadine, the last person in the world he wanted to hurt.

And the main reason that he ended up doing so was because of his penchant for inaction. He was a wait and see kind of guy. A lot of that he attributed to his father and his hellish childhood. Anthony made all the decisions in their house, and his moods were so erratic that Johnny, Claudia, and their mothers had their hands full just trying to keep their heads above water when he was on his rampages. Johnny was so used to being the object of his father's actions throughout his life that he found he didn't quite know what to do when he was to be the agent of his own actions.

But it was time to outgrow the Hamlet complex. There was a lot at stake here, a lot on the line, and he stood to hurt too many people, some innocent, some not, if he didn't take charge and start making his own decisions and seeing them through. The only downside, on a psychological level, was that he realized that if he started making his own decisions and acting accordingly, he would have only himself to blame instead of a set of bad circumstances. He would be responsible for his own happiness and his own life, and nothing scared him more.

"Stop where you are."

His heart beat didn't quicken when Johnny looked up and found himself staring into the barrel of a gun as Sonny Corinthos stepped out of the shadows. He didn't start sweating. He didn't automatically start reciting a prayer. He just stared back at him, a little irritated, a little bored, and a little incredulous.

"Don't you have a girlfriend in the hospital?"

"Kate's still in a coma," Sonny growled, "and my son is still missing, and Jake and Elizabeth Webber were put through hell, and yet you're still walking around. You tell me, how is that fair?"

Johnny shrugged and arched a brow. "Life's not fair. We all deal. So put on your Big Boy pants and do the same."

"Always a smart-ass reply," he sneered, steadying the gun. "You got away last time, Crazy Boy, but you won't be anywhere near as lucky this time around. This one is for Kate and Michael."

"And this one's a freebie."

Johnny lunged at Sonny, using a strong armhold to latch onto his wrist and push the barrel of the gun away from him. He executed a quick but powerful jab to the kidney, kneed him in the stomach when Sonny lurched forward, and used a chop on his neck to knock him to the ground as he successfully pried the gun from his hand.

Breathing hard, Johnny tossed the gun to his right hand and held it steady on Sonny, who was on the ground now. The mob lord groaned and rolled over, face up now and propped up on his elbows, but stilled the second he saw the gun now pointing right between his eyes.

The corner of his mouth curved up, but the smile, if it could even be called that, came nowhere near close to reaching his eyes. To Johnny, this whole situation was pathetic. Corinthos was like a fucking child that kept whining for a cookie when the adults said no. It was no secret by now, and especially if what happened during the brief showdown earlier was any indication, that Jason was none too pleased with Sonny and was about at his wits' end with the man. Sonny certainly wasn't helping matters by being his usual fucknut self.

"You know, it's ironic," Johnny murmured, his hand perfectly steady as he curled his finger around the trigger, "a Corinthos…kneeling before a Zacchara…on the Alcazar piers. Funny, almost. The metaphorical precedes the inevitable."

His lips settled into a grim line as he glared down at Sonny, dead serious now. "Listen up, Sonny. I didn't shoot Kate. And I didn't make Michael disappear. But you're finally right in thinking that I know who did."

Sonny snarled and glowered up at him, powerless while the young man still held his gun. "All you have to do to find out who shot Kate is ask her. She gained consciousness and was somewhat lucid when I visited her in her room today. Oh, that's right, Sonny, I was there. With her. While you were out causing shit, the Zacchara family was getting some work done. As usual."

His voice was low and tight. "I already asked Kate who shot her, and she answered me in front of not one but two witnesses. Kate will tell you what really happened, how your demon spawn son, Michael Corinthos III, shot her and then ran away, leaving her for dead without even calling the cops. Check with your boys in the PCPD, Sonny. Because I was the one that called them up and told them that a woman was injured and to get to the docks immediately. I was the one that tried to clean up the mess your deranged little son made."

He took a step closer, not even feeling the least bit bad for Sonny as the mobster stared up at him with wide, disbelieving eyes. "Michael's gone, it's true, but it's not because of me. Instead, it's because of you."

"No, no, it's-"

Johnny eased forward, tilting his head to the side in challenge. "You think that Anthony screwed me up? Definitely. But looking at Michael is like looking into a mirror because Michael is me for how fucked up he is thanks to his old man. You know, it's almost funny how much you hate me, because that means it's possible that one day, you'll hate Michael just as much for all the fucked up things he does – again, thanks to you."

"That's not true," Sonny spat. "I will never hate my son the way your crazy old man hated you. And Michael is nothing like you!"

He knew that Sonny loved his son, unlike Anthony who always kept him guessing, but Johnny was having way too much fun screwing with his head. "Michael is just like me: a product of a deranged, mentally unstable sociopath who thinks he's fucking invincible – wait a minute. What the fuck?"

Something had rolled out of Sonny's pocket and now rested on the planks, and Johnny kept the gun firmly trained on the older man while he reached down and snatched it up. It was a bottle of pills, and when he turned it over to look at the label, he actually grinned.

"Eskalith." His dark eyes flicked to Sonny's. "This is lithium carbonate."

When the old man didn't reply, Johnny's grin widened. "This is medication used to treat bi-polar disorders."

Sonny remained silent, and Johnny threw his head back and let out a hoot of laughter. "Oh, my God. Fuck me, you really are insane. I can't believe it!"

He jiggled the pills, enjoying torturing the man, and smirked cruelly. He was starting to remind himself of his sister, which was a slippery slope in itself, but it felt so good to finally have the upper hand over a man that had tortured him for so damn long.

"I don't fucking believe it," he repeated. "All this time, ever since I got to Port Charles, you've been hassling me at every turn, calling me crazy like my father, who even in his less than lucid state is much smarter than you on one of your good days, and this whole time, you're the one that's insane."

"I'm not insane!"

"That's just what an insane person would want me to think," he replied, feigning seriousness. "So, tell me, Sonny, do you hear voices? Do you see dead people? Is there a big, scary monster under your bed?" He scoffed and shook his head. "No wonder you're such a shitty mob boss. No wonder Jason has to clean up your messes-"

"Jason is my employee!" Sonny raged. "He does what I tell him to do!"

Johnny ignored him, knowing that it would only agitate him more in his precarious mental state as he got more and more worked up. "And no wonder that Jason has to pacify all the associates you piss off with your inexcusable stupidity."

The corner of his mouth curled up. "And no wonder Jason had to raise your family for so many years – since you're such a piss-poor father. Isn't there a law about that in this state? You ever considered just signing away your rights to your kids to their mothers and Jason now, before the state does it for you?"

"No one can take my children-"

"No," he cut in, pretending to consider it and agree, "because they don't have to. You do such a good job of running them off by yourself."

He smirked and backed away, leaving Sonny on the planks with no weapon in hand. "You know, everyone already knows that Jason is the one in charge. Think about that."

Johnny was already on the stairs, and he tucked Sonny's gun under his jacket and turned around, leaving the fallen mob lord where he was.


"He fucking attacked me," Sonny raged, pacing back and forth in front of the desk that Jason sat at. "He approached me on the docks, attacked me, and pulled a gun on me. That boy needs to be put out of his misery, Jason."

His partner nodded blandly, propping his head in his hand as he watched Sonny pace around their office at the Coffee Shop.

"How much slack are you going to cut him?" he demanded to know. "Are you waiting for him to walk up to you and point a gun in your face? Is that it? Damn it, Jason!"

A knock at the door saved Jason from having to reply. Max poked his head in, and they saw that he was carrying a box. "Uh, Boss, Jason. This just arrived for you."

Jason waved him in. "Bring it here, Max."

Sonny's dark eyes followed the guard as he walked over and set the box on Jason's desk. "You order something?"

He shook his head and carefully lifted the lid. "Nope. You?"

"No." He walked over and looked over his shoulder. "What is it?"

Even Max was interested in the contents of the box, and his brows lifted when Jason reached in and slowly pulled out a black Smith & Wesson. "Boss…that's yours."

He looked back and forth between his employers. "How did that – I thought you said that Johnny was the one that pulled his gun on you?"

Sonny scowled as Jason glared up at him. "You calling me a liar?"

Max wasn't listening. "Look, there's a note."

Jason frowned and set the gun down on the desk, away from Sonny. He reached into the box and pulled out the note, written on simple cardstock in neat block print.

Tell Crazy Man Corinthos that he's very lucky that I do not harm the mentally deficient, and that I am a far better man than he could ever hope to be.

Zacchara