Notes: I missed Brian's death. WHY DO YOU HATE ME SO MUCH!?!?! Why. I
should have been there to watch as the life came out of that man!!!! It is
law.
Rosa- Yes, Zander may have been Faith's bitch, but no longer! Zander showed that he has a heart and will not betray the people that he cares about for anyone. Hopefully, Joy will finally like how I wrote Zander. Like I said before, it was all planned in the long run. At least that part for Zander was. Everything that happened to Damian showed him that those people are his family, his Nana helped him realize that, but he would have realized it without her. Plus, she told him that he couldn't call Sonny 'Sonny' anymore, and no good Mexican boy would EVER go against the word of the all mighty Nana. Everything in the second chapter was supposed to cool down the uber angst that had riddled the preceding couple, especially the four before. I enjoyed having Damian call Jason 'Uncle Jason,' mostly because I think I did Jason's reaction right. There will still be some cliffhangers down the line, one that will probably be worse than the one with the gunshot going off. Foreshadowing? Me? You bet!
Story-
Port Charles Airport-
They landed without any problems. People in Port Charles knew better than to inspect the plane that was marked with Sonny's specific markings anyway. At least if they wanted to avoid any trouble that one of Port Charles's most prominent citizens could bring if he felt that his rights as a citizen were unfairly stomped upon. Sonny had played the legal game plenty of times, and won most of them. He knew how to get around just about anything that any of the members of the PCPD could throw at him. And if he didn't know how to avoid it right away, he'd find a way eventually.
Maxie walked out of the plane first, Damian close behind her. Damian turned behind him, "I'll stop by later, dad."
Sonny cocked an eyebrow, "I would have thought you would want to see Michael. You know how worried about you he was."
"It can wait for a couple minutes while I walk Maxie home, can't it?" Damian asked. "I promise, once I get finished making sure that she's home fine I will rush straight over to the penthouse and show Michael that I'm okay. Is that fine with you?"
Sonny didn't see any point in arguing with his son. He somehow doubted that even if he had argued Damian would comply with him. They might have had a closer relationship now, but he was still an independent person. Add in the fact that he loved Maxie and was probably still more than a bit afraid that something bad might happen to her again and Sonny was faced with a situation that he couldn't win. At the very least it was a situation that wasn't dire, no lives were at stake. He could handle being without his son for a few minutes, at least he knew that Faith wouldn't be coming after him again anytime soon. "Fine, when you're ready to come back to the house I'll let the guards know you're coming."
Maxie looked at Sonny, "Thank you, Mister Corinthos. Thank you for everything."
"It's Sonny, Maxie," Sonny corrected her. "Please, call me Sonny."
She smiled uneasily, she'd rather not call him anything. She owed him her life, at least partly, but that didn't mean that she was comfortable being around someone that her father often listed as a very dangerous individual who she should avoid at all costs. Old habits died hard for Maxie Jones. Still, she could stomach calling him by his first name, "Okay, Sonny."
Sonny watched as Damian and Maxie walked away, holding hands. It was unlikely that they would let go of one another until they got Maxie home safely. Sonny admitted that there were a few times that he wasn't going to let Carly out of his sight until he knew that she was safe. He was happy to know that his son was in a relationship that was already very strong. But, he was still a father, and he was still Sonny Corinthos. "Jason!" He called out.
Jason got out of the plane and dashed down the stairs, "What is it, Sonny?"
"Follow Damian and Maxie. Make sure that she makes it home fine and that nobody does anything to hurt my son."
Jason gave a slight nod, "On it."
"Thanks." Old habits also died hard for Sonny Corinthos.
Lorenzo's Home-
The phone rang in the home of Port Charles's other crime lord's home. He picked it up, "Yes?"
"We didn't need to use any tactics to prevent Faith Rosco from harming Damian Zuniga, sir."
"Is he unharmed?" Lorenzo asked the voice on the other end. It was one of his West Coast agents. He had known of Faith's power play to use Damian as a pawn in her quest for power and, unknown to Sonny himself, Lorenzo had taken the steps to make sure it never happened.
"Sonny Corinthos managed to stop anything from befalling him or his girlfriend."
"Good," Lorenzo had a smile on his face. "You will of course still be paid for your services. Thank you for the update." Lorenzo hung up the phone. His plan was simple, keep Damian safe until he could destroy the boy or at least use the boy to destroy Sonny. It had been much like Faith's plan, but Lorenzo was much more cautious about his steps. And from the looks of it, Faith had been, at least temporarily, removed from the picture. That caused Lorenzo to smile again. He had grown weary of her ways and was more than a little bit pleased to know that she was gone for now. Of course, there was always the chance that she would make her return, but any time that she wasn't at his side causing trouble would be bliss to him. She tried to play the game and she lost. She should have just left it up to the master. She should have just left it up to Lorenzo. "Your error is my gain, Faith."
Outside the Scorpio Household-
Maxie and Damian walked up to the door. Maxie looked up at the home and almost cried. There was a time in the past twenty-four hours, actually, many times, that she feared she would never see the door to her home ever again. She had so many people to thank for her chance to see it one last time. Zander, Sonny, Jason, Damian. She could never hope to repay them. Damian had told her that Zander had made it to the hospital safely, but she was still worried about him. She didn't want him to die because he finally acted on his heart and saved her. She didn't want to be the cause of his death. It would eat her up inside. That thought caused a tear to fall down her cheek.
Damian had been watching his girlfriend and saw that she was still very shaken, "Do you want me to stay with you a little while longer? If nothing else I can call Michael and let him know that I'm okay. I'm sure my father would understand that I wanted to spend more time with you after everything you've been through."
"It never gets any easier," Maxie muttered.
"What doesn't?" Damian asked.
"Getting over that feeling that you're going to die. Knowing that you thought at some time that you would never see another sunrise, that you were never able to say goodbye to the people that you cared about. I've had a few times in my life where I thought that would happen to me, and now I've got another." Maxie laughed uneasily, "You'd think I would have become an expert at it by now."
"I never want you to feel that again," Damian hugged her tightly. "I never want you to be in danger because of me ever again, Maxie."
"That's a check that you could never cash even if you used all your fathers money," Mac had opened the door as quietly as possible when he heard Maxie's voice from his open window.
"Dad!" Maxie let go of Damian to hug her father.
"Do you have any idea how worried I was about you, Maxie?" Mac asked. "I had the entire police force looking for you! You didn't even call, you know better than that!"
"I'm sorry, dad," Maxie said. "I didn't have a choice. I couldn't call you."
"Why not?" Mac asked. "Was he making sure that you wouldn't talk to me so that I wouldn't find out where the two of you went for the weekend?" Mac looked at Damian, "If you've done anything to hurt my daughter, I swear to you that I will find a way to make you pay."
Damian turned away, "I wish the entire thing didn't happen, sir. But I had nothing to do with it. My life was in as much danger as Maxie's."
"Danger?" Mac's eyes grew wide. "Maxie, tell me what happened."
She told him the whole thing as quickly as she could. Being captured by Zander, being used by Faith as leverage against Damian and finishing with Zander getting shot to protect her. "And then Sonny took us back to Port Charles on his plane."
Mac glared at Damian, "I never want to see you around my daughter ever again. If I do, I will have you arrested!"
"I didn't have anything to do with what happened!" Damian defended himself.
"Like hell you didn't! You were the entire reason that this whole thing happened, Damian! Don't you see? Anytime you're around someone you're putting them at risk in addition to yourself. I will not let that happen to my daughter ever again." Mac pointed his finger out, "Go."
"Dad, don't!" Maxie cried out. "It isn't his fault!"
"Go to your room, Maxie," Mac ordered. "Say your goodbyes now, because I'm not going to stand by and let him hurt you anymore."
Maxie looked at Damian. He sighed, "You really should do what your father wants you to do right now, Maxie."
Maxie understood what Damian was saying. She knew that they would find a way to see each other again. She gave Mac a cold stare as she ran up the stairs into her room and slammed the door as hard as she could.
"I love your daughter, Mac," Damian said.
"If you love her as much as you say, you'll stay away from her. We both want her to be happy, don't we?"
"Of course."
"And you can't bring her the kind of happiness she deserves. You're a plague, Damian. You're only going to bring ruin to everyone that you come into contact with. You need to realize that now, while the kill count is still low enough." Mac shut the door and sighed. His daughter was safe, but for how long?
Georgie and Dillon had hid behind a tree, having just returned from a movie that Dillon had to drag Georgie to see, just to get her mind off of Maxie's disappearance for a few hours. Georgie sighed, "Poor Damian. I mean, I'm happy that Maxie's okay, but Mac shouldn't have been so hard on him."
"Damage control?" Dillon asked.
"Someone's got to do it," Georgie agreed.
"I'm glad she's okay, too," Dillon said as he kissed Georgie. "Call you later."
Georgie walked into the house while Dillon chased after Damian.
Georgie knocked on the door, "Maxie, it's me. Please, let me in."
Maxie opened the door immediately and hugged her little sister. "I was so scared."
"I know, I heard everything," Georgie returned the hug. "I even heard Mac yelling at Damian."
"I'm so mad at him right now, Georgie!" Maxie exclaimed.
"Whom?" Georgie asked. "Mac or Damian?"
"Why would I be mad at Damian?" Maxie asked.
"Georgie, as much as I like the guy and I think he's right for you, Mac is right, too. He was the reason that Faith kidnapped you. He was the reason that you almost died."
"He didn't mean for that to happen!"
"But it still did happen, Maxie!" Georgie pointed out. "It doesn't matter that he had nothing to do with it, it still happened because of him."
"So you think I should just stop seeing him, too?" Maxie wondered.
Georgie shook her head, "Of course not. I know how much you love him and how much it would hurt you to be away from him. I'm just saying be careful from now on. We know that his father has a lot of enemies and any one of those people would be plenty happy to use you in the same way that Faith did."
"Mac shouldn't have yelled at him."
"No, he shouldn't have."
Up the block-
"Hey, Damian!" Dillon chased after his friend. "Wait up for a sec."
Damian stopped himself and turned around, looking at Dillon, "Sorry, I've got a lot on my mind."
"Look, don't let Mac get to you," Dillon said. "If I had to count the number of times Mac threatened to arrest me for getting near Georgie I'd still be counting in my grave. He's just full of empty threats."
"For you, maybe," Damian countered. "The Quatermaine's may be a less than stable family, but they're not as high risk as the Corinthos family. Dillon, my bloodline will always put people in danger. Maybe I should just stay away from her."
Dillon shook his head, "You know you don't want that."
"I don't want it!" Damian said. "But I want to keep Maxie safe, and I can't do that if I'm constantly putting her in danger."
"Damian," Dillon let his voice hang.
"Look, I've got to go see my little brothers. Sorry to burden you with my problems. See you another time, okay?"
"Yeah, sure," Dillon watched as Damian left, wondering if he and Maxie would last. He hoped that they would.
88
Rosa- Yes, Zander may have been Faith's bitch, but no longer! Zander showed that he has a heart and will not betray the people that he cares about for anyone. Hopefully, Joy will finally like how I wrote Zander. Like I said before, it was all planned in the long run. At least that part for Zander was. Everything that happened to Damian showed him that those people are his family, his Nana helped him realize that, but he would have realized it without her. Plus, she told him that he couldn't call Sonny 'Sonny' anymore, and no good Mexican boy would EVER go against the word of the all mighty Nana. Everything in the second chapter was supposed to cool down the uber angst that had riddled the preceding couple, especially the four before. I enjoyed having Damian call Jason 'Uncle Jason,' mostly because I think I did Jason's reaction right. There will still be some cliffhangers down the line, one that will probably be worse than the one with the gunshot going off. Foreshadowing? Me? You bet!
Story-
Port Charles Airport-
They landed without any problems. People in Port Charles knew better than to inspect the plane that was marked with Sonny's specific markings anyway. At least if they wanted to avoid any trouble that one of Port Charles's most prominent citizens could bring if he felt that his rights as a citizen were unfairly stomped upon. Sonny had played the legal game plenty of times, and won most of them. He knew how to get around just about anything that any of the members of the PCPD could throw at him. And if he didn't know how to avoid it right away, he'd find a way eventually.
Maxie walked out of the plane first, Damian close behind her. Damian turned behind him, "I'll stop by later, dad."
Sonny cocked an eyebrow, "I would have thought you would want to see Michael. You know how worried about you he was."
"It can wait for a couple minutes while I walk Maxie home, can't it?" Damian asked. "I promise, once I get finished making sure that she's home fine I will rush straight over to the penthouse and show Michael that I'm okay. Is that fine with you?"
Sonny didn't see any point in arguing with his son. He somehow doubted that even if he had argued Damian would comply with him. They might have had a closer relationship now, but he was still an independent person. Add in the fact that he loved Maxie and was probably still more than a bit afraid that something bad might happen to her again and Sonny was faced with a situation that he couldn't win. At the very least it was a situation that wasn't dire, no lives were at stake. He could handle being without his son for a few minutes, at least he knew that Faith wouldn't be coming after him again anytime soon. "Fine, when you're ready to come back to the house I'll let the guards know you're coming."
Maxie looked at Sonny, "Thank you, Mister Corinthos. Thank you for everything."
"It's Sonny, Maxie," Sonny corrected her. "Please, call me Sonny."
She smiled uneasily, she'd rather not call him anything. She owed him her life, at least partly, but that didn't mean that she was comfortable being around someone that her father often listed as a very dangerous individual who she should avoid at all costs. Old habits died hard for Maxie Jones. Still, she could stomach calling him by his first name, "Okay, Sonny."
Sonny watched as Damian and Maxie walked away, holding hands. It was unlikely that they would let go of one another until they got Maxie home safely. Sonny admitted that there were a few times that he wasn't going to let Carly out of his sight until he knew that she was safe. He was happy to know that his son was in a relationship that was already very strong. But, he was still a father, and he was still Sonny Corinthos. "Jason!" He called out.
Jason got out of the plane and dashed down the stairs, "What is it, Sonny?"
"Follow Damian and Maxie. Make sure that she makes it home fine and that nobody does anything to hurt my son."
Jason gave a slight nod, "On it."
"Thanks." Old habits also died hard for Sonny Corinthos.
Lorenzo's Home-
The phone rang in the home of Port Charles's other crime lord's home. He picked it up, "Yes?"
"We didn't need to use any tactics to prevent Faith Rosco from harming Damian Zuniga, sir."
"Is he unharmed?" Lorenzo asked the voice on the other end. It was one of his West Coast agents. He had known of Faith's power play to use Damian as a pawn in her quest for power and, unknown to Sonny himself, Lorenzo had taken the steps to make sure it never happened.
"Sonny Corinthos managed to stop anything from befalling him or his girlfriend."
"Good," Lorenzo had a smile on his face. "You will of course still be paid for your services. Thank you for the update." Lorenzo hung up the phone. His plan was simple, keep Damian safe until he could destroy the boy or at least use the boy to destroy Sonny. It had been much like Faith's plan, but Lorenzo was much more cautious about his steps. And from the looks of it, Faith had been, at least temporarily, removed from the picture. That caused Lorenzo to smile again. He had grown weary of her ways and was more than a little bit pleased to know that she was gone for now. Of course, there was always the chance that she would make her return, but any time that she wasn't at his side causing trouble would be bliss to him. She tried to play the game and she lost. She should have just left it up to the master. She should have just left it up to Lorenzo. "Your error is my gain, Faith."
Outside the Scorpio Household-
Maxie and Damian walked up to the door. Maxie looked up at the home and almost cried. There was a time in the past twenty-four hours, actually, many times, that she feared she would never see the door to her home ever again. She had so many people to thank for her chance to see it one last time. Zander, Sonny, Jason, Damian. She could never hope to repay them. Damian had told her that Zander had made it to the hospital safely, but she was still worried about him. She didn't want him to die because he finally acted on his heart and saved her. She didn't want to be the cause of his death. It would eat her up inside. That thought caused a tear to fall down her cheek.
Damian had been watching his girlfriend and saw that she was still very shaken, "Do you want me to stay with you a little while longer? If nothing else I can call Michael and let him know that I'm okay. I'm sure my father would understand that I wanted to spend more time with you after everything you've been through."
"It never gets any easier," Maxie muttered.
"What doesn't?" Damian asked.
"Getting over that feeling that you're going to die. Knowing that you thought at some time that you would never see another sunrise, that you were never able to say goodbye to the people that you cared about. I've had a few times in my life where I thought that would happen to me, and now I've got another." Maxie laughed uneasily, "You'd think I would have become an expert at it by now."
"I never want you to feel that again," Damian hugged her tightly. "I never want you to be in danger because of me ever again, Maxie."
"That's a check that you could never cash even if you used all your fathers money," Mac had opened the door as quietly as possible when he heard Maxie's voice from his open window.
"Dad!" Maxie let go of Damian to hug her father.
"Do you have any idea how worried I was about you, Maxie?" Mac asked. "I had the entire police force looking for you! You didn't even call, you know better than that!"
"I'm sorry, dad," Maxie said. "I didn't have a choice. I couldn't call you."
"Why not?" Mac asked. "Was he making sure that you wouldn't talk to me so that I wouldn't find out where the two of you went for the weekend?" Mac looked at Damian, "If you've done anything to hurt my daughter, I swear to you that I will find a way to make you pay."
Damian turned away, "I wish the entire thing didn't happen, sir. But I had nothing to do with it. My life was in as much danger as Maxie's."
"Danger?" Mac's eyes grew wide. "Maxie, tell me what happened."
She told him the whole thing as quickly as she could. Being captured by Zander, being used by Faith as leverage against Damian and finishing with Zander getting shot to protect her. "And then Sonny took us back to Port Charles on his plane."
Mac glared at Damian, "I never want to see you around my daughter ever again. If I do, I will have you arrested!"
"I didn't have anything to do with what happened!" Damian defended himself.
"Like hell you didn't! You were the entire reason that this whole thing happened, Damian! Don't you see? Anytime you're around someone you're putting them at risk in addition to yourself. I will not let that happen to my daughter ever again." Mac pointed his finger out, "Go."
"Dad, don't!" Maxie cried out. "It isn't his fault!"
"Go to your room, Maxie," Mac ordered. "Say your goodbyes now, because I'm not going to stand by and let him hurt you anymore."
Maxie looked at Damian. He sighed, "You really should do what your father wants you to do right now, Maxie."
Maxie understood what Damian was saying. She knew that they would find a way to see each other again. She gave Mac a cold stare as she ran up the stairs into her room and slammed the door as hard as she could.
"I love your daughter, Mac," Damian said.
"If you love her as much as you say, you'll stay away from her. We both want her to be happy, don't we?"
"Of course."
"And you can't bring her the kind of happiness she deserves. You're a plague, Damian. You're only going to bring ruin to everyone that you come into contact with. You need to realize that now, while the kill count is still low enough." Mac shut the door and sighed. His daughter was safe, but for how long?
Georgie and Dillon had hid behind a tree, having just returned from a movie that Dillon had to drag Georgie to see, just to get her mind off of Maxie's disappearance for a few hours. Georgie sighed, "Poor Damian. I mean, I'm happy that Maxie's okay, but Mac shouldn't have been so hard on him."
"Damage control?" Dillon asked.
"Someone's got to do it," Georgie agreed.
"I'm glad she's okay, too," Dillon said as he kissed Georgie. "Call you later."
Georgie walked into the house while Dillon chased after Damian.
Georgie knocked on the door, "Maxie, it's me. Please, let me in."
Maxie opened the door immediately and hugged her little sister. "I was so scared."
"I know, I heard everything," Georgie returned the hug. "I even heard Mac yelling at Damian."
"I'm so mad at him right now, Georgie!" Maxie exclaimed.
"Whom?" Georgie asked. "Mac or Damian?"
"Why would I be mad at Damian?" Maxie asked.
"Georgie, as much as I like the guy and I think he's right for you, Mac is right, too. He was the reason that Faith kidnapped you. He was the reason that you almost died."
"He didn't mean for that to happen!"
"But it still did happen, Maxie!" Georgie pointed out. "It doesn't matter that he had nothing to do with it, it still happened because of him."
"So you think I should just stop seeing him, too?" Maxie wondered.
Georgie shook her head, "Of course not. I know how much you love him and how much it would hurt you to be away from him. I'm just saying be careful from now on. We know that his father has a lot of enemies and any one of those people would be plenty happy to use you in the same way that Faith did."
"Mac shouldn't have yelled at him."
"No, he shouldn't have."
Up the block-
"Hey, Damian!" Dillon chased after his friend. "Wait up for a sec."
Damian stopped himself and turned around, looking at Dillon, "Sorry, I've got a lot on my mind."
"Look, don't let Mac get to you," Dillon said. "If I had to count the number of times Mac threatened to arrest me for getting near Georgie I'd still be counting in my grave. He's just full of empty threats."
"For you, maybe," Damian countered. "The Quatermaine's may be a less than stable family, but they're not as high risk as the Corinthos family. Dillon, my bloodline will always put people in danger. Maybe I should just stay away from her."
Dillon shook his head, "You know you don't want that."
"I don't want it!" Damian said. "But I want to keep Maxie safe, and I can't do that if I'm constantly putting her in danger."
"Damian," Dillon let his voice hang.
"Look, I've got to go see my little brothers. Sorry to burden you with my problems. See you another time, okay?"
"Yeah, sure," Dillon watched as Damian left, wondering if he and Maxie would last. He hoped that they would.
88