Author's note: Faith and Sonny never struck a deal with the FEDS, and (amazingly) Faith has never heard mention of Alcazar in Port Charles…Sorry, this chapter might be kind of boring, but it's just so I can give the background and set the scene for this AU I've got going on here. Thanks for the feedback, and keep letting me know what you think!
Elizabeth turned the key in the door of her new apartment and sighed as she stepped inside. It was a tiny studio that took her about an hour to scrub top to bottom. Which she did, religiously, every Sunday. She had fallen into all sorts of routines since the summer, since she'd left her husband. Mondays were grocery shopping, Tuesdays she'd call Emily and her grandmother and check in for the week, and so on. Fridays were the day she'd get a cup of coffee before work, and take a nice long bubblebath afterwards.
She and Ric used to take baths together. They'd usually share a glass of wine or two, as well, but Elizabeth had not had any wine since her divorce. When she thought of all the times he'd slipped birth control pills, or sedatives into her drink, she'd get so sick to her stomach, it would sometimes send her wretching in the bathroom.
After her stroke, she honestly hadn't remembered seeing Carly in the panic room. That is, not until the police officer came to her hospital room and the image that she would never again forget came flooding back to her mind. So weak with grief, she'd nearly had another stroke right then and there.
And then Carly was missing again. It turned out that Alcazar had taken Carly onto his private jet to keep her away from Ric and get her back to Sonny. It was such a time for Elizabeth that she was floating in and out of consciousness for a few days, and when she finally came to, she thought she was dreaming when she saw Lorenzo standing in the doorway of her hospital room.
"What are you doing here?"
"I came to tell you, Mrs. Lansing, that it is safe for you to go home now."
"What did you do with Carly?"
"I returned her to her family."
"What do you mean, 'it's safe for me to go home now'?"
"I mean your husband won't hurt either of you anymore."
"Oh God…Did Sonny kill him?"
"No, his brother was merciful. But he is a weak, broken man now. He has no strength left in him to harm anyone."
And then she had burst into wailing, gasping sobs, and somehow found herself in his arms, being comforted. Elizabeth shuddered when she thought of how she had wept so pathetically against the strength and solid wall of his chest. She didn't know exactly why she was crying. Crying for the man she had loved, the man that had never really existed. Crying for the pain of Sonny and Carly and little Michael, and everyone who had been hurt by the devil she married. And crying for her own child who she lost before she could even get to know her.
Always, crying, for that child. Her little angel.
* * *
Ric Lansing was a mess. That was the only way to put it. The kindest thing anyone could ever say about him at this point was that he was someone to be pitied.
But she still loved him, with every cell in her twisted mind.
Faith Roscoe made it much more of a point to run into Ric and monopolize his time. Not that he'd been very busy. He was, of course, forbidden to practice law ever again. He'd given up his vendetta against Sonny for good, having lost all that could ever have been really important. More and more, Faith would just have to go to Jake's to find him drunk.
He didn't drink like some men she knew, getting loud and curious with his hands. No Ric would sit up straighter, even if his eyes did get a little bleary, and his self-loathing just grew with every swallow of gin. He was more tolerant of her these days, not like when he was married to that child he was so obsessed with. They had, in fact, become lovers, though Faith wouldn't kid herself into thinking he thought of it that way.
And this was the exact condition she found him in when she saw him at Jake's at the usual time on Friday night. He was sitting in his usual seat, and wearing his now-usual wrinkled shirt and jeans. Faith could remember how well Ric used to dress. Why would anyone let themselves go like this when their heart was broken?
"Hi," she purred in his ear. "Guess who."
Without looking at her, he answered, "What do you want, Faith?"
This was all routine. Despite his attitude, Faith knew he would be sharing her bed later.
"Come on, Ric, why don't you finish your drink and let's go have some fun," she was leaning close to him, whispering in his ear.
"You know, you have a one-track mind."
"When it comes to you."
Ric sighed. "I can think of someone else with a one-track mind."
Faith had to laugh out loud. "Coming from a heterosexual man who spent at least fifteen years obsessing over another man, I'd love to hear this one."
Ric looked at her, expressionless. "God, Faith, you're a ruthless woman. You remind me so much of Lorenzo Alcazar sometimes, it's scary."
The name closed around Faith's throat like large fingers, cutting off circulation. He was here. He had found her.