Note: Fabled chapter 100 is fast approaching. I wonder, do I have to start a new story when I get to that? Never gotten this far before. Hmm. Questions.

Story-

"I was wondering how long I'd have to wait in here," Damian muttered as he eyed Ric cautiously. Uncle or not, Damian didn't trust Ric. He had very little reason to actually trust Ric. That didn't mean he wasn't family, of course. Damian didn't trust any of his other Uncle's back in Los Angeles, either.

"You have to understand that this whole thing has put us in a bit of a pickle," Ric sat down in the chair across from Damian. "You're the only link to the massacre that took place earlier today, Damian. You were the one that we have identification on."

"I dropped my wallet, Uncle Ric. People do that all the time."

"People don't drop their wallets when people are lying dead or dying on the floor ten feet away from them," Ric countered. "Look, I want to help you."

"You do?"

"Yes, Damian, I do."

"Do I want your help?" Damian asked. "I've heard many stories about you and none of them are particularly pleasant."

"You're right, I've done some horrid things in my past. But those things are going to remain in my past. I'm not going to kidnap Carly and hold her in the panic room again."

"Because she doesn't have a baby for you to steal anymore."

"That's not something you should even be concerning yourself with right now, you know," Ric mentioned. "You could be prosecuted and you could go to Prison for a very long time if they don't just kill you."

"I didn't kill any of those people."

"The evidence suggests that you were at the scene of the crime."

"I could have dropped that wallet at any time of the day," Damian stated. "The docks are, after all, a public place that hundreds of people go across on a daily basis."

"Not many of those people have blood connections to Sonny Corinthos. Your father is a known criminal."

"He's never been convicted of anything."

Ric laughed, "My big brother has a way of getting himself around the law, Damian. Just like he has a way of getting around any sort of parental obligations he had to you when you were growing up. Simply because he got away with those things doesn't mean he didn't do them."

"Don't compare my relationship with my dad to the activities that he may or may not have done," Damian made his voice as blank as possible. "He didn't have any idea that I was even born, let alone his child."

"You think that if he did know he would have gone to your side? Been the dutiful father that would take you to baseball games and teach you about the finer things in life?" Ric shook his head. "You've seen the way he leads his life. You've seen the way he controls Michael's every move. Michael barely ever gets out of that fortress that Sonny built for him. He has almost no friends because Sonny doesn't let him actually go out and build relationships with other children. He's never going to be the ideal father, Damian!"

"I never expected my father to be the sort of American typecast loving father, Uncle Ric! No one is that perfect. Dad has his flaws, but he's a good father to Michael and Morgan."

"What about to you?" Ric asked.

"I don't need a father like they do," Damian stated. "I'm an adult. I can make my own choices."

"You're twenty-one and you're living at home with your father."

"I want to build a good relationship with my family. I can do that a whole lot better if I'm living with them than if I'm living above Kelly's."

"I know you're hiding something from me, Damian," Ric sighed. "I've seen Sonny do this to so many people. He makes himself look too trustworthy so easily and then people will all but ruin their own lives in order to protect his name, which is already tarnished to the point of no return. I really didn't think that you would be added to that list."

"I didn't do anything wrong. I wasn't involved in that event."

"But do you know who was?" Ric asked. "The only way that you can save yourself is if you tell me who was there, what you saw."

Damian stared at Ric, trying to read his face. It wasn't all that successful. Ric was good at keeping his emotions hidden if he felt it was needed. It was one of the reasons that he was able to stay around Sonny for so long before he revealed the fact that they were brothers. "I don't have to tell you anything, do I?"

Ric shook his head, "You can demand to speak with your attorney and that would basically stop the whole process."

"I told you before, I don't have an attorney."

"Then what have you got to lose?" Ric made the offer sound as good as possible. If he could bust Sonny and Jason he would. It wasn't an all consuming quest these days, but it was still a rather high point on his daily agenda.

"Everything," Damian answered. "But you don't seem to have anything to lose, do you? If I tell you what you want to hear, which may or may not be what actually happened, you can use it to put my father and my Uncle Jason away for a very long time. That would make you a very happy man."

"Yes, it would."

"But even if I don't tell you what you want, you still get paid for doing this little talk, and you lose no sleep."

"I don't like seeing you in here for something that I know you didn't do."

"Then let me out," Damian was already fed up with the conversation. "It doesn't seem like it would be that hard."

"Things are a lot more complicated in this business than you are willing to allow yourself to believe. It doesn't work like that." Ric got out of the seat, "I need to console with some people."

Outside-

Scott smiled as he made the statements to the varied members of the press that were outside. They asked him the typical questions: What had happened? How many were dead? Who was involved? When would action be taken? Scott had played this game many times in his life, he knew what answers to give them in order to satisfy their needs. As he was nearing the close of his speech, he saw Sonny and Carly walking up. Knowing that he could use the moment, he did. "This is just another incident in the long line of horrid and violent attacks that have taken place in our small town. I have managed to do what I can, but until common criminals like Sonny Corinthos and his brood are placed in custody without chance of leaving there is no true way to rid Port Charles of the demons that plague it."

Sonny pushed past the press, Carly holding his hand. He said nothing as they asked him questions, but he did look at Scott.

"Your son is a chip off the old block, Corinthos," Scott stated. "Barely been in town a month and he's already amassed a kill count that rivals yours. You should be proud."

Sonny was going to say something, and Carly knew that it wouldn't have been worth it. She grabbed his shoulder and shook her head, "Sonny, it isn't worth it. He's not worth it."

"My son had nothing to do with this," Sonny whispered as he walked past. He meant every word.

Ric walked up to Elizabeth, "Just like we thought, he's not talking."

"You can't do anything?" Elizabeth was almost pleading.

"Honey, if I could get past the fact that it was his wallet, I would. If we had anything else to go with, I would toss it out. But we don't. This is the only thing that we have."

"It isn't enough to keep my boy, Ric," Sonny said as he and Carly walked up.

"I was wondering when you were going to get here, big brother," Ric stated with a light groan.

"Let Damian out of that room so I can take him home. Now."

"If I don't do what you're asking I suppose you're going to threaten to throw another lawsuit against the department."

"Maybe I'll just throw the lawsuit against you," Sonny countered. "You've got enough money from the shady deals you make."

"Not nearly as much as you," Ric snapped back.

"Are you going to let him out?" Sonny pushed the issue further. "Or are you going to try my patience? You know what happens to people that don't give me what I want."

"They disappear."

"And reappear in little pieces."

"Sonny, stop," Carly said, tugging on him gently. "We came to get Damian out of here and take him home. This isn't the place to take on Ric."

"If you even try to get this in court, Ric, I'll get the best people that money can buy to defend my son. You know that I can do it."

"I've learned that I should never underestimate you, Sonny," Ric opened the door to the interrogation room and turned his attentions to Damian, "You're free to go." As Damian walked past him, Ric made another comment, "I suppose it's safe to assume that you won't disappear from the country unannounced while the investigation into your involvement is still pending?"

"I've got nothing to hide, Uncle Ric."

Ric snickered a bit while he cautiously eyed Sonny, "Why don't I believe that?"

"Don't say anything to him, Damian," Sonny advised. "From now on the only talking you do to these people will be through my attorneys. Come on."

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