Bensonhurst, New York
November 1984

Nightfall, he sits on the rocking chair with his baby sister, reading an old fairytale to her as she gets ready for bedtime. He could hear the argument taking place on the other side of the door, but he promised his mother that he wouldn't interfere, needing him to take care of the little angel.

As her eyelids slide shut, he closes the book, setting it to the side before lifting her up into his arms and carrying her to bed. Gently laying her down, he pulls the blanket over her, tucking her in nice and snug before placing a gentle kiss upon her forehead, almost wishing he could find the peace that she claims so easily.

"Sweet dreams, niña," he whispers. "May the angels watch over you always."

"Is she asleep?" his mother's voice pulls his attention to the doorway.

"Yeah," he replies simply, turning on her nightlight before walking over to turn out the light. "We should let her rest."

"Right," his mother agrees, following him out to the living room. "He got called away. Should be gone for the night."

"Small miracles, I guess," he voice sourly. "I don't know how you could ask me to leave. What about her?"

"She's his daughter, she's safe," she insists. "It's your life that's at stake here. Please, trust me enough to know I'm right."

"Okay," he concedes despite his misgivings. "I'll do it."

"I love you, mijo," his mother frames his face with her hands, placing a lingering kiss on his forehead before pulling him into a hug. "Never forget that."

"I love you, too, mama," he says with a heavy heart, clinging to her for as long as she allows. "I hope you're right about this."

Taking the duffel bag that she packed for him, he takes in a deep breath before rising to his feet, knowing that she needs this from him. More than anything, he wanted to stay and protect them from the bastard, but he's not strong enough, not yet. One day, he'll get strong enough, he'll have the power to put an end to the torment that is that bastard, one day. Walking to his sister's bedroom, he takes one last look at her before closing the door and taking his leave. He'll come back for her one day, for the both of them, that's a promise.

...

April 1987

Stuffed animal in hand, he makes his way to the house, wanting to see his sister while the bastard was on shift. He was about to walk up the steps to the house when he notices the door is wide open, fear creeping into his heart as he pulls the gun from the small of his back, not liking the look of things at all.

Clearing room after room, he makes his way to his sister's room, finding it empty. Trying to keep the faith, he makes his way to the master bedroom, his heart sinking tenfold at the sight of his mother beaten and bloody on the floor. Rushing to her side, he stores his gun before calling for an ambulance, lifting her head onto his lap as he does.

"Mama, can you hear me?" he voices once he tosses the cellphone to the side, trying to get her conscious. "Mama?!"

"Mijo," she whispers as her eyes connect with his. "You came back..."

"Where's niña?" he questions seriously. "I checked the whole house. I couldn't find her anywhere."

"I...I don't know," she says groggily, trying to piece together what happened. "You have to find her. You have to..."

"I will, mama, I promise," he says wholeheartedly, the subtle sound of sirens filling the air. "Help's coming. Just hang on. You're going to be okay."

The moment the paramedics get there, he rushes out of the house, needing to track down the bastard. Hitting all his usual stomping grounds, he shakes down anyone that he could think of, anyone that would help him in desperate times, but no one could tell him where the bastard went.

As far as anyone knew, the bastard was on an extended personal vacation, leaving no clue as to where he was or where he was going. With no other choice, he turns to the man that took him in two years ago, knowing that if anyone could track down the bastard it would be him.

"Tell me you found them," he says to his boss as they stand outside the hospital weeks later. "Please."

"Sorry, kid," his boss shakes his head. "The guy charted a private plane heading to Canada. There was some technical malfunction with the motor or something..."

"What are you saying?"

"The plane went down over the Hudson," his boss explains. "They were able to pull the wreckage and found his body in the pilot's seat, but no sign of the girl. Rescue thinks she was washed out during the crash. They're dragging the river, but it's a long shot."

"There has to be some mistake..." he chokes out. "She can't be...she..."

"I'm sorry, kid," his boss says sincerely. "What about your ma?"

"Dead," he voices as he drops down onto the bench, his legs no longer able to hold him up. "Internal bleeding. They...they couldn't save her."

Dropping his head into his hands, he shuts his eyes tightly against the tears, cursing the world for making this his reality. He was almost there. Just a couple more years and he would have had enough money to get them out. Just a couple of years and they would have been free from the bastard. This wasn't supposed to happen! This wasn't supposed to be their reality.

...

Port Charles, New York
Present Day

"Sonny?" a soft voice calls out to him, pulling him from thoughts of the past and back to the moment before him. "Hey, you okay?"

"Yeah," he replies, smiling his signature dimpled smile, knowing he must have spaced out for too long if they have found a reason for concern. "I guess I just found myself reminiscing. I'm okay."

"You sure?" Jason Morgan, his right hand and best friend, questions with an arched eyebrow. "I know you said you didn't want to celebrate your birthday..."

"I'm sure," he says sincerely. "It's just been one hell of a year."

"You're not wrong," Robin Scorpio voices with a soft smile. "If you really don't want to celebrate, we understand, Sonny, really."

"I appreciate that, but I'm okay," he assures before rising to his feet. "Just give me a minute. I'll be right back and we can continue the celebrations."

"Sonny," Jason says with concern.

"I'm okay," he repeats with a nod. "I'll just be a minute."

Making his way to the restroom, he locks the door before turning on the faucet and splashing water on his face, hoping to wash away the remnants of the past that lingers. For most of the year, he can box it up and leave it in the back of his mind, but the past always seems to haunt him around his birthday. The day he found out that he had lost them both.

It won't last forever, he knows that, soon enough the memories will recede back to the box he stores them in and he'll continue on with his life as always. The pain and the weight of the memories drown him in the past for the days surrounding his birthday, but it never lasts for long. He just has to get past the next few days and things will go back to normal. He just has to hold out long enough for it to happen.

Drying off, Sonny places his smile back on his face, knowing how much celebrating his birthday means to the two of them. Pulling himself together for the next few hours, Sonny found himself actually letting loose at times, finding himself blessed to have these two in his life. As strange as their little group may seem to outsiders, he can't imagine his life without them.

"It looks like he's having a good time," Robin says to Jason when Sonny steps away to take a call. "What do you think?"

"I think he appreciates it," Jason answers honestly. "And that he'd appreciate time alone."

"Yeah," Robin sighs, knowing he was right. "I just couldn't let his birthday pass again without acknowledging it. No one deserves to have their birthday ignored."

"I'd agree if I knew why he ignores it," Jason admits. "But we don't know his reasons."

"You think I should have left things as they were?"

"I think you did what you thought was right," Jason says gently. "Sonny knows you love him and that's why you did this."

"I hope so," Robin sighs, fitting herself into his arms. "He just does so much for everyone..."

"Hey, sorry about that," Sonny says as he walks back over to them. "Something's come up. I have to take off, but you guys stay. No sense in letting the place go to waste."

"I'll, uh, go see about getting more ice," Robin says when Jason gives her that familiar look. "Give you guys a chance to talk."

"What's going on?" Jason questions once they're alone.

"That was Giambetti," Sonny explains. "A situation has bled over into our turf and he has asked if we could lend some assistance to his kids while they're in town."

"Why doesn't he just let us handle it?"

"We've got more than enough on our own plate," Sonny reminds him. "I'm just going to meet them at the airstrip and set them up with what they need. Giambetti assures me that there will be no violence on our streets. They just need a couple of weeks at most."

"When are they landing?"

"An hour from now," he concedes. "That's just enough time to get things in order."

"I'll do it," Jason says simply, rising to his feet as he grabs his jacket. "Just do me a favor and drop Robin off at her uncle's."

"Or you can drop her and I can handle the Giambettis."

"It's your birthday," Jason reminds him. "And stuff like this is my job."

"Yeah, okay," Sonny accepts, knowing that he was right. "Just make sure they have everything they need."

"Will do," Jason assures, smiling softly when Robin rejoins them. "Hey."

"Everything okay?" Robin questions curiously.

"Yeah, I just have to go handle something," Jason says before kissing her softly. "Sonny's going to drop you off at Mac's."

"Be safe," Robin says softly. "See you after?"

"If it's not too late," Jason assures. "I'm gonna go."

Leaving the club, he straddles his motorcycle before placing a call to a couple of lieutenants, Johnny O'Brien and Francis Corelli, knowing they would be the two to help him get things ready in time. When it comes to efficient work, the three of them have come into a rhythm and something of this short notice requires their rhythm to ensure that things get done quickly. With them flying it like this, they are going to need a vehicle, a safe house to use as a home base, and possibly weapons if they weren't able to bring any on their flight.

"Any idea what situation has them on our turf?" Johnny questions as he leans against the SUV while they wait for the plane to come to a stop.

"No idea," Jason admits, finding himself curious about that, as well. "Just that they won't be here for long."

"Why doesn't that make me feel any better?" Johnny counters before shrugging. "Whatever. The faster they solve their situation the faster they leave."

"Our only concern is driving them to the safe house," Francis points out as the door to the plane opens up. "What happens after that is none of our concern as long as it doesn't become our problem."

"That's the part that worries me," Johnny replies seriously. "The last thing we need is to take on a Giambetti problem."

"Rest assured," a female voice startles Johnny, not having heard her approach. "Our problem is ours alone. We won't be in your town for longer than necessary."

"I...uh...don't believe we met," Johnny chokes out, stunned by the woman that stands before him, swearing he only remembers mention of sons where Giambetti is concerned.

"You always this...smooth?" she counters with a slight smirk before shaking her head and making introductions. "I'm Elizabeth. The big one's Max and the other's Milo. We know who you are, so, no need to introduce yourselves. If it's alright with you, however, we'd like to get off the streets before lurkers pass around that we've made it stateside."

"Yeah, sure," Johnny voices as she walks past him to the trunk. "No problem."

The guys stand back as Max takes the bag from Elizabeth before opening the door for her to climb in. From the dynamics, it's made clear that Elizabeth's the one in charge, a strange thing to see in their line of work. Watching the way they carry themselves, they all get the feeling that they are highly trained and that eased their worries slightly to know that they weren't a bunch of rookies playing thug.

Taking the driver's seat, Johnny trails behind Jason's sedan, making sure to keep an eye out for any tails. Feeling the awkward air in the SUV, Johnny tries to break the ice, finding talking to Jason a lot more fruitful than these three. Guess it's part of their training to keep other organizations at a distance. Makes the job easier if they ever find themselves on opposite sides.

The moment they get to the safe house, the two guys grab the bags and make their way inside, immediately getting to work setting up. Goal-oriented, they can respect that, if only their underlings could be as efficient when the time called for it. A part of Johnny wanted to tag along for their assignment, but knowing it wouldn't fly on either side.

"This will do nicely, thank you," Elizabeth says, pulling a thick envelope from her bag, feigning like she was deciding who to give it to before handing it to Jason. "I think that'll cover our costs. You'll get another envelope at the end to cover any damages that may occur."

"Sonny's doing this as a favor," Jason says plainly, holding the envelope out to her. "You don't have to pay us."

"My father may operate on favors, but I do not," Elizabeth counters with ease. "I don't intend to owe you or your organization. Thank your boss for the accommodations, we'll do our best to keep our intrusion as brief as possible."

"Okay," Jason concedes, sliding the envelope into his jacket pocket. "Armory is stocked if you need it."

"Appreciate it," Elizabeth replies. "I trust you can show yourselves out? Safe travels fellas."

Without another word, she walks away from them and down the hall, disappearing into one of the rooms. For a moment, the three of them look at each other, realizing that those three operate just as efficiently and swiftly as their father. Accepting their job there is done, they load into the sedan and head back to town.

Getting dropped off at his bike, Jason instructs them to take the rest of the night off, straddling his bike soon after to head to Sonny's penthouse for the update. For as long as he's done this job, he's never seen a woman take on the job and that had him curious about the circumstances that could lead to it.

"I've gotta say I like her thinking," Sonny says as he runs his thumb over the bills in the envelope. "I heard rumors of a daughter, but I never put much merit in it. Not many that meet her live to talk about it."

"From the look of it, she's the one in charge."

"If she's as good as the rumors make her out to be, it makes sense to have her in charge," Sonny replies, finding himself intrigued by the aspect of a woman in charge. "I think I just might have to meet this woman."

"Right," Jason shakes his head. "Just remember that she's Giambetti's daughter."

"Give me some credit," Sonny throws back, feigning insult. "It's not every day you meet a high-ranking woman in our line of work."

"Whatever you say," Jason chuckles, downing the rest of his drink. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Making his way to his bike, he straddles it and takes off into the night, deciding that he could use a nice long ride to clear his head. It wasn't bad enough that Giambetti has business on their streets, but to find that he sent a woman to clean it up just has Jason twisted up. If they didn't have their own problems to deal with by way of a mole, Jason would look into what has them in their town, but - like Sonny said - they have their own problems. He can only hope that they are as efficient as they appear and handle their business quickly.

"You really think we can wrap this up in under two weeks?" Max questions as they sit down for a briefing after dinner. "The guy's a weasel."

"Every network has its pressure points," Elizabeth says simply. "We just gotta know where to apply the pressure. Someone will eventually rat out the weasel."

"I hope so," Max admits. "I don't want to be in this town longer than necessary."

"I don't know," Milo adds with a shrug, taking a seat across from Max. "The place looked pretty interesting, so did those guys, could be fun."

"No," Max says seriously. "You are not going to do this again."

"Do what?" Milo feigns ignorance.

"You're not going to rope us into hanging around after the job's done," Max says seriously. "Father was adamant that we only stay in town long enough for the job. That's it!"

"Father's always adamant," Elizabeth points out. "He's hardly ever serious when it comes down to it."

"Not you, too," Max groans. "Two weeks, Elizabeth, you promised."

"And you know I always keep my promises," Elizabeth replies sincerely before turning to Milo. "Guess we'll just have to wrap the job up in a week, huh, Milo? Gives a whole week to let loose."

"Works for me," Milo agrees, turning to Max as Elizabeth does. "What do you say, big guy?"

"You two will be the death of me one day," Max groans, leaning back in his seat. "Fine! If you really think you can get this job done that quickly, you can have the rest of the time, but our departure remains the same. Agreed?"

"Agreed," the two say in unison.

"Okay, don't go celebrating the win before we even start the job," Max voices when they high-five each other. "It's a big IF."

"Cheer up, Max, no one's saying you have to hang around once the job's done," Elizabeth points out. "I can schedule you a flight the moment we wrap things up."

"And leave you two in another family's territory unsupervised?" Max scoffs. "Yeah, no, keep dreaming."

"I must be hearing things," Elizabeth teases. "Because it just sounded like you don't trust us to behave."

"After that debacle in Chicago, you're damn right," Max throws back. "I still don't know how you got that car up there."

"Pure ingenuity," Elizabeth smirks. "But point made."

"Still one of my favorite moments," Milo voices as he remembers the look on Max's face when he saw where the car was. "Max looked like he was going to enter an entirely new level of conniption."

"Keep it up, wise guy," Max counters. "The estate's armory still needs to be cleaned out."

"Okay, settle down, boys," Elizabeth voices, knowing this will lead right into a grappling match. "We'll take the night to recharge and hit the ground running in the morning. The one thing we can all agree on is that this has to be resolved in this visit, so, rest up and make sure you're ready to get to work come morning."

Author's Note: Just something I'm playing around with. Not sure it'll be that long, but I'm finding myself intrigued with the storyline. Let me know what you think. Thanks.