Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to these characters. TIIC of GH do. They just chose not to use them in an interesting capacity so I am trying too.

Feedback: Would be greatly appreciated. Like it or hate it let me know.

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Web of Deceit

Part II

~Jail~

Elizabeth knew that if she spent one more minute staring at the drab gray walls she would go insane, but another minute passed, and then another, and so on. They had taken her watch so she had no idea what time it was, it felt like hours since she had been put in her cell, her biggest fear was that in reality only minutes had passed.

Her cell. God, that was a strange thought. This wasn't the drunk tank, or a holding pen, it was a cell, and for the foreseeable future it was her home. It was hers because she couldn't remember what had happened to her the night before.

She closed her eyes and tried to force the memories again. Flashes had been coming to her. Flashes like arguing with Gia, laughing with Gia, food, screams, then nothing until she became fully alert in the hospital.

"Elizabeth?"

Startled she jumped off the cot and turned to look at the person on the other side of the bars. "Zander?"

"Hey," Zander saw the stunned look on her face and wasn't surprised. She wasn't the only one who was surprised that he was here to see her.

"What are you doing here?" As grateful as she was to see him, to see anyone, she couldn't help questioning him.

"I heard what happened to you. I wanted to see if you were okay."

Elizabeth moved closer and studied the fading bruises on his face. "Is what happened on the news?"

"Yeah," Zander shrugged. "Gia's a minor celebrity." And Attler was a publicity hound running for DA.

She closed her eyes and nodded weakly, she knew it would be, but it still hurt. "Do you know anything more about her injuries?"

"No." He glanced around uncomfortable at being back in the jail, although the place was quiet at the moment, he knew that could change in an instant. His flight instinct was already raging in him, yet he stayed.

"Why are you here? I mean I wouldn't exactly call us friends." She'd had time to think, and count her friends. She was a bit surprised that she could count all the people she considered friends on two hands and have a lot of fingers left over.

"I'm here because of Emily," he admitted finally. "You're her best friend, and she would be here for you, if she could," he shrugged. "Even though we're not together anymore I still felt like I should come. Besides it seems like you haven't been aiming all those looks of disapproval in my direction anymore, at least not as much, since you came back."

"Don't you mean since I was humiliated at my non-wedding?" She gripped the bars separating them.

"Well," he shuffled his feet and didn't reply.

She shook her head and swayed on her feet.

"Take it easy," Zander told her in concern. Her eyes flew open and he recognized the look in them. "It's the last of the drug working it's way out of your system. I bet your head feels cloudy at the moment, that's why it does, it should pass soon."

Elizabeth recoiled at his words. "I'm not on drugs."

Zander was a little surprised at her anger. "You don't have to yell. I'm just trying to help."

"I told you I'm not on drugs. I have never taken drugs and I would never take them," she paced away, only to stop and turn on him. "That's not true I have had drugs before," she advanced on him. "But not by choice. They were forced on me. By you."

Zander ran a hand through his hair yet met her gaze, they were long overdue for this conversation. "I was a different person then. I'm sorry I did that to you. The guy I was then doesn't exist anymore. I changed thanks to Emily."

"What would have happened that night, if I hadn't left with Lucky? To this day I don't remember a thing after I left with him."

"Nothing," he said shortly and at her raised eyebrow of disbelief he went on. "I'd seen you with Gia and I knew she had information on me. I also knew she was lying to me. I wanted to find out how much you knew, and who else knew, the drugs would loosen your tongue. I wasn't going to take advantage of you. I never gave a girl drugs to take advantage of them."

Elizabeth studied him for a long time looking for a lie, finally she sighed and moved back to the cot. "Is it hard to drug someone?"

"No. All you need is a second for their attention to be distracted. They look away, and the pills are in their drink before they can look back."

"Their drink? So it's best to put them in liquid."

"Yeah," he leaned against the bars. "What are you getting at?"

"I'm trying to figure out who drugged me and when," she closed her eyes again.

"Drug…"

He trailed off when she held up her hand. A faint memory was dancing on the edge of her brain.

A toast for the road.

To men. Who the hell needs them?

I do. It gets lonely in bed without them.

"Oh my god," Elizabeth whispered when the voices faded from her mind.

"Are you okay? Do you need a doctor?" Zander stepped back to call a guard.

"Sonny I need to see Sonny. Can you get him that message?" she hurried to the bars. "Please it's really important that I see him."

"Sure. Are you saying someone deliberately drugged you?"

"Yes, and I think I remember who."

"I'll get him," Zander looked away when a loud yell came from one of the cells down the hall, followed by a crash. "I'm sure Sonny was going to come see you anyway."

Elizabeth jolted when the sound of screams and fighting sounded from down the hall.

Zander could see the naked fear in her eyes. "Look at me," he waited until she complied. "When it gets loud and crazy in here, when the walls begin to close in on you, close your eyes. Close them and picture something else. Your favorite memory, your favorite thing to do, your favorite place, your favorite person, concentrate on that so hard, until you can see everything just like a picture. When you can do that you don't hear anything else."

"Will that work?"

"It helped me when I was stuck here. It's hard, but you have to hold on to that." Zander turned when the guard behind him opened the door.

"Times up."

"I have to go Elizabeth."

Elizabeth jolted when she saw him leaving, at the moment he was her lifeline. "Zander thanks for coming."

Zander nodded. "I'll get Sonny."

The metallic sound of the doors closing rang out and she moved wearily back to her cot. The sound of cursing filled the air and she wrapped her arms around her knees and pressed her face into her thighs. She tried desperately to think of a good memory, but all she could do was wonder. Why had Zander come to see her, when none of her friends had?

~GH~

"Is there a surgical procedure I can have? I mean later on once my skin has healed some. Can you repair the damage then?" Gia asked softly.

"I'm sorry Gia. As of right now the technology necessary to repair the nerve hasn't been designed yet. The glass severed part of your optic nerve. You will be partially blind in your right eye." Dr. Tony Jones explained as gently as he could.

Gia heard the words but barely reacted to them. "I meant about my face. I'm a model. Is the scarring permanent?"

"We'll have to wait until the skin has healed some, to see if the nerve endings there will regenerate on their own. Surgery could be one option, but I need to caution you that even with reconstructive surgery there will be some scarring that can't be healed." Tony got to his feet. "Try not to think too much about that yet. We'll need time, before we can even find out if surgery is a viable option for you." He nodded to the others in the room. "If you have any further questions please let me know."

Gia looked over at her mother the minute he left. "Is this the part where you tell me I told you so?"

Aghast Florence got to her feet and moved to her daughter's side. "Of course not baby. Why would you ever think that?"

"You were the one that always told me I shouldn't model. That I shouldn't rely on my looks, because they would fade with time," she moved the facial muscles she could into a frown. "I knew it would happen eventually. I just didn't know it would happen this soon, and when it did, it would turn me into a freak."

"You are not a freak." Marcus Taggert joined his mother by the bed. "Gia you will always be a beautiful woman. You light up from the inside."

"Spare me the pep talk." Gia snapped and closed her eyes. "I want to be alone."

"Gia you need to concentrate on the most important thing. And that is that you're alive. Baby you could have died." Florence pressed.

"Please mom."

"Mom let's go." Marcus took her arm and led her to the door. "We'll be back later."

Gia kept her eyes closed even when she felt the mattress depress near her hip. "I want to be alone Nikolas."

Nikolas took her hand and brought it to his lips. "You'll never be alone Gia. We're in this together, we're in everything together from now on. Remember we promised that."

She tried to pull her hand away. "Please Nikolas I can't do this with you right now."

He kept a hold of her hand and pulled her engagement ring, the nurse had given him, from his pocket. "I wanted to return this to you." He slipped it on her finger and her eyes opened. "You don't get to take it off again."

Gia's eyes filled but she didn't say anything. He leaned forward to kiss her, and had to settle for touching her uninjured cheek, when she turned away.

"I love you Gia." He hesitated waiting for her to reply but she was silent. With a sigh he turned and left.

There was someone he needed to see.

Gia waited for the door to close before opening her eyes and looking at her ring. It was superficial of her, and she knew it must make her look like the vainest person in the world, but she was more concerned with the scars on her face then with her partial loss of sight.

She had always been the pretty one. The beautiful unattainable girl, the Face, and she had taken that for granted. And now it was gone.

She hadn't seen her face yet. They wouldn't give her a mirror, it was too soon for her to see the damage. But she could feel her face. She could feel the muscles that she could no longer control. The scarring was bad, she didn't need a mirror to tell her that. She felt like she had lost part of her identity when they wrapped her face in bandages. She didn't know if she would ever get it back either, and with that realization the tears began to fall.

~Jail~

Elizabeth studied her hands. She had already flicked off all of the nail polish on one of her hands and was down to two fingers on her other. Then they would be bare. She barely remembered what it was like to have bare nails. She always took one color off and immediately put another back on.

While her fingers were busy doing this mindless chore, her mind kept reliving the memories. Memories that were slowly coming to her, memories of last night. They were disjointed but they were coming. She just had to put them together. Once she found them all, the puzzle would be complete, she just needed to be patient.

"Need a manicurist?"

Startled Elizabeth looked over and saw Nikolas leaning against the bars watching her. Thrilled to see her friend she leapt from the cot and hurried over to him. "God Nikolas, its so good to see you. I've been going crazy in here."

Nikolas looked past her into the cold gray cell. "I can imagine."

Confused at his cool tone, she gripped the bars. "How is Gia?"

"Gia?" he repeated the name and focused on her. "She'll live. No doubt to your dismay."

"What?"

"You must be disappointed. You tried to kill her after all. You tried and failed, she's alive and you're stuck here. You must really hate that."

"Nikolas you can't believe that," her eyes pleaded with her old friend. "You know I would never try to kill anyone."

"You didn't?" His hands covered hers on the bars. "That's not what the police say. It's not what the eyewitness at the restaurant says. Hell it's not even what you say in your journals."

"My," she shook her head in confusion. "I don't understand. No one has told me anything yet."

"You were always so jealous of her. When I think of all the times I got mad at Gia because of the way she treated you. And all along it was you who was in the wrong." He tightened his grip on her he hands and she winced.

"Nikolas…"

"You were jealous because she was named the Face of Deception, not you. You knew that the only reason you were even considered was because you were Lucky's girlfriend at the time." Fear and anger had him by the throat and the words flew out of his mouth. "I knew you could be calculating, but I never knew how much you could hate someone."

"You're hurting me," Elizabeth cried trying to wrench her hands free.

"I'm hurting you?" He cried out. "I can't hurt you. You have to feel in order to be hurt and you don't feel. You manipulate. I watched you manipulate Lucky for months when Jason was in town. And I saw first hand how calculating you could be when you came up with this plan to fool Helena…"

"It was your plan."

"But what I don't get is why Gia? Why do you hate her enough that you tried to kill her?"

"I didn't," Elizabeth hissed feeling afraid of Nikolas for the first time ever. "Let me explain."

"Explain what Elizabeth? Listen to you as you explain away the drugs in your studio. While you explain away what the valet overheard you saying, that you were going to kill the bitch tonight. Explain away the fact that an eyewitness said you deliberately aimed for the tree you hit last night. Listen while you try to explain the pictures of Gia you had in your studio. Pictures that show how you stalked her since the night of your wedding. How in those photos you crossed her face out in every one."

"I didn't do any of that," Elizabeth yelled then groaned when Nikolas increased the pressure on her hands. "Stop it."

"I don't believe you." Moving quickly he caught her off guard and shifted his grip from her hands to her biceps. "You are going to jail Elizabeth and you are going to rot there. No excuses that you try to come up will work. I'll see to that. You will be punished for trying to kill my fiancé," he shook her causing her to cry out. "For the damage you did do to her."

Tears slipped from her eyes she couldn't even recognize her friend in the furious mask of the man in front of her. "Please Nikolas."

"Don't waste your tears on me. They won't work, not anymore." He yanked on her arms puling her forward until she hit the bars and cried out in pain. A part of his mind was screaming at him in horrified shock, begging him to stop hurting her and listen to her. But another part of him, the part that had been surfacing more and more lately, didn't feel a thing when he saw her tears.

"Nikolas let her go." Lucky grabbed his brother from behind and pulled him away from the bars, forcing him to let go of her. "What are you doing?"

Nikolas shoved him back a step. "I was just getting things straight with Elizabeth."

"How by pounding them into her?" Lucky cried. "You need to leave man."

"Are you trying to defend her?" Nikolas demanded. "You've seen the evidence. You've heard Taggert. She deliberately tried to kill Gia, and you are standing there defending her?"

"I didn't say that," Lucky hedged.

Elizabeth's eyes widened as she stared at her former fiancé. Why wasn't he defending her? He knew her, he knew she wasn't capable of this. At one point he knew her better than anyone else. So why was he acting like he believed what Nikolas was saying about her?

Nikolas stepped closer to his brother. "You're going to have too choose Lucky. Because this time you can't have it both ways," he looked past him to Elizabeth. "Either you're with me, your family, or you are against me."

"Nikolas." Lucky called after him but it was too late, he was gone. He sighed heavily and turned to face Elizabeth. "Are you okay?"

"I can't believe he did that."

"He's upset. He's been at the hospital all night with Gia. It's been a stressful night for him, and everybody there," Lucky explained wearily.

Unpleasant thoughts and feelings were coming to her, while she stood there, rubbing at the bruises given to her by Nikolas, and listened to Lucky trying to excuse his actions. She didn't like what she was thinking so she interrupted him. "You know what Lucky? I had a rough night too. You see I spent my night in jail, and I'm still here, in case you hadn't noticed."

Lucky flushed at her rebuke. "I know."

"I thought you might have come to see me before now. Or at least come to my hearing this morning." Her head felt remarkably clear at the moment. She focused on Lucky and for once she studied him through eyes that weren't clouded by love, guilt, regret, or hope.

He flinched and shuffled closer to the bars. "I wanted to come, but we had a meeting with Dr. Jones then. He was telling us about Gia's condition. I had to be there for Nikolas."

"Oh." She felt stung and without even thinking about it she fired back. "I hope I didn't inconvenience you too much then, I'm glad you had time to drop by."

"Don't be like this Elizabeth," he pleaded. "I spoke to your Grandmother. I wouldn't have been able to see you much before now anyway."

Elizabeth nodded but didn't say anything. Standing there watching Lucky she felt like it was the first time she had really seen him in years, and she didn't like what she saw.

"I did want to talk to you," Lucky tugged on the back of his neck trying to figure out how to say this. "I wish you would have told me how you were feeling. I mean I would have been there for you more, if I knew how desperate things had become with you. I would have helped you."

She pressed a hand to her stomach, which was suddenly rolling. "Helped me?"

"Yes I knew you hadn't been acting like yourself. I knew that when you called off the wedding for no reason, and then kept drawing away from me. But I had no idea you felt so bad that you turned to drugs. Why didn't talk to me? I could have saved you, helped you."

"You think…" she trailed off in shock. Who was this guy in front of her? Because he was not the Lucky Spencer she once loved. "You think I'm doing drugs?"

"You can't hide it anymore Elizabeth. Now that everyone knows, its easy to see the signs we all missed," Lucky rocked on the balls of his feet and pressed his head against the bars. "I know drugs can make a person feel out of control. I don't know why you focused on Gia though. Was it because she told you about me the night of our wedding? Did you hate her for that? Because I don't blame you I was pretty mad at her too."

"Maybe I'm brainwashed." Elizabeth said causing him to look at her in surprise. "After all isn't that the excuse you always used? You used it when you attacked people and tried to kill them. You used it when you pushed me at Nikolas. Isn't that right?" she moved closer to the bars. "When you tried to kill Jason, Luke, Stefan, it was never really your fault because of the brainwashing. So maybe I'm brainwashed too. Did you ever think of that?"

Lucky goggled at her. "Elizabeth you know that I never meant to do those things, this is different you…"

She reached through the bars and shoved him back a step. The anger she had for him, the anger she had been pushing aside and burying for almost two years wouldn't be denied anymore. "You're saying I chose to do drugs, because I was so upset that you didn't love me anymore? You're saying I chose to try to kill Gia, because she had the balls to stop me from making the worst mistake of my life? Is that what your saying?"

Lucky looked at her in confusion when she put it like that, it did sound bad, but that was what the evidence said. And it would also explain why she was suddenly pushing him away after she had 'died' for him. No other reason made sense to him, at least not until it came out that she was on drugs. "I know you must be really confused Elizabeth and hurting, but you need to know I'm here for you. I will help you just like you helped me. Together we can beat this thing."

Elizabeth just shook her head. "Get out Lucky, you make me sick."

"What…"

"It's obvious that not only do you not remember loving me, you don't remember knowing me. Because if you did, if you knew me at all, you would know the truth without asking me. You would know the truth, even if someone had a videotape of me shooting up. You would know it from your heart." She finally closed the door in her heart that was labeled first love. "But you don't, because the Lucky I once knew and loved doesn't exist anymore, you're just a shell that wears his face sometimes."

Tears filled his eyes and he backed away from her words. "You don't mean that Elizabeth."

She turned her back on him and moved to the cot. "Goodbye Lucky."

"This isn't over Elizabeth." Lucky cried out. "It isn't over."

"It's been over since 1999, I just finally let it go," she whispered.

~*~*~*~

"Get up." The matron opened the cell door with a slam startling Elizabeth out of her fitful sleep.

"What?" Groggily she obeyed. Her eyes opened wide when she felt the cool snap of metal around her wrists.

"You got another visitor," the matron explained while she hooked the cuffs around her ankles. "So move it Princess, you get the big room for this visit."

Elizabeth shuffled forward awkwardly. The length of chain between the cuffs on her ankles and her wrists was too short, and she was forced to hunch over and sort of shuffle. Apparently she didn't shuffle fast enough because the guard felt the need to prod her from behind with the nightstick, by jabbing her ribs. She had already learned not to complain, especially not with this particular guard. For some reason she seemed to almost hate her. She did her best to hurry up trying to avoid more jabs. But she was fighting tears when she reached a door, and waited for the guard to open it. The tears almost fell when she saw who was sitting there.

Sonny Corinthos looked up when she moved in the room, and he burned inside when he saw the way she was cuffed, like she was a dangerous criminal. She was pale enough, and slight enough that a strong breeze would knock her over, yet she was chained like she was an animal. He didn't say anything, just watched as the guard shoved Elizabeth into a chair with more force then was necessary, and then hooked her cuffs around a bolt in the table.

Elizabeth watched the guard leave before focusing on Sonny. "Thank you for coming."

"Of course I would come." He kept his voice low. "I would have come to the hearing but I knew my presence wouldn't have helped you. I tried to get Alexis to go, but she was out of town, and when they moved the hearing up, there wasn't time to get another lawyer there, to help you. It was only an arraignment, when Alexis starts on your case, I'm sure she will be able to get bail for you."

Elizabeth could have wept in relief. "You mean you believe I didn't do this?"

"I've been around people on drugs Elizabeth, your not on them, I know that." Sonny explained simply.

"Thank god, no one else seems to believe me. Even people I thought knew me." She shifted and her wrists moved against the too tight cuffs and she flinched.

Sonny focused on her wrists and could see a thin red line of blood and a welt forming there. "Why did she put them on so tight?"

"She doesn't like me," she shrugged. "It doesn't hurt too bad."

Sonny glanced at the closed door the matron had disappeared through. Elizabeth was going to need some protection while she was in here.

"The reason I wanted Zander to get you right away is because I want to know how Courtney is. And ask you why she hasn't come forward yet?"

Sonny focused on her again in surprise. "Courtney? What about her?"

Elizabeth blinked in surprise at the question. "She was there last night. In fact she was the one driving. Gia was in the passenger seat, and I was in the back seat."

He shook his head in denial. "Why haven't you mentioned this before?"

"I've been trying to remember what happened, and I finally am starting too, as near as I can tell Gia and I ran into Courtney when we were almost ready to leave. She joined us for a toast," Elizabeth's words came slower as she tried to remember. "I guess that was when someone put the drugs in the drink, because after that things get hazy again. But I remember Courtney saying she would drive, because she was more sober. So I agreed."

Sonny clenched his hands in anger. He did not like what he was hearing.

"I know she wasn't at the hospital with us. I don't know why not. Maybe she knows about the drugs too," Elizabeth focused on him again. "Can you ask her?"

"You're saying she gave you drugs?" Sonny asked coldly.

Elizabeth drew back from the cold tone. "I didn't say that, I don't know who gave me the drugs, but she was there."

"Why do you think that? Because of some memory you had while under the haze of alcohol and drugs?"

"Sonny she was there. I need her to tell the police what happened." Elizabeth tried to explain rationally, but his face kept growing colder and colder.

"You're trying to blame my sister, for some mess that you made?" He leaned over the table. "Maybe you were drugged. But my sister didn't drug you, and she sure as hell wouldn't let you take the blame if she was driving the car."

"I'm not lying."

"I can understand you wanting to find a way out of this mess, but I will not let you use my sister to do it. You better think of another story." Sonny warned her. "Because if you repeat this one…"

"Sonny listen to me. I'm telling you the truth. Courtney was there last night, she was driving when the car went off the road, not me. I'm sorry if this surprises or hurts you but you need to know the truth."

"The truth?" Sonny demanded. "Like the truths you used to tell Jason when you used him like a yo-yo?"

Stung Elizabeth's eyes filled. "Sonny you know me…"

"Wrong I knew a girl who was willing to place her life in danger in order to let other's know that her friendship with Jason wasn't a mistake." He studied her through cold eyes, "I don't you now. I look at you and all I see is a woman who will resort to lying about an innocent girl, accusing her of drugging people, all to get out of trouble of her own making."

"I've never lied to you," Elizabeth argued the tears slipping down her face. "I'm sorry if you don't want to hear it, but your sister is the reason I'm in here."

"Don't," he pointed a finger at her in warning. "Ever repeat that to anyone." He leaned closer to her and lowered his voice, his dark eyes flashed in anger. "I was willing to help you, to bail you out, to get Alexis to defend you, and instead you spit on my family. You lie about my sister. Do you really I will help you after that?"

"Ask her."

"I don't need to ask her," Sonny slammed his hand down on the table causing her to jolt. "I know her, I know what type of person she is."

"You know me," Elizabeth pressed. "God Sonny you've known me for years. Do you really think I'm lying to you?"

Sonny felt himself weakening and clenched his hands to retain his anger. "She's family Elizabeth, a concept you don't seem to be able to grasp. You don't threaten my family." He got to his feet. "I helped you once when I didn't want too, because of Jason. But that debt is paid, you will go no help from me. And if you go to Taggert with this accusation about my sister…" he trailed off and straightened his jacket. "You will be my enemy."

"Sonny please." Elizabeth tried to get to her feet but the chains on her wrist didn't let her.

"Goodbye Elizabeth." Sonny knocked on the door and waited for the guard.

"You know me, you may not want to admit that now, but you do. You know I didn't do this, you know I'm not lying about Courtney."

"Guard." Sonny yelled.

"Don't turn your back on me. Don't abandon me." Elizabeth cried. "Not when you know the truth.

The door opened and Sonny moved through it in relief. But her words followed him. He closed his eyes and allowed himself to sag in relief when the door closed behind him. She had to be lying, Courtney was an honest girl, in spite of her parents. She would never let Elizabeth take the blame for something she did. Would she?

~*~*~*~

Elizabeth was lying on her cot, her tears had had come and gone again and she curled on her side in a ball, when the noises of the jail started again. She was feeling very alone at the moment, alone and frightened. Who else was she going to lose out of her life before this nightmare was over?

"Elizabeth?"

She turned her head when someone said her name, and found herself looking into warm blue eyes.