Kayla- We all want the people to be happy, alas, such things are never likely in Port Charles, nor is the chance of Damian getting a break. Sad, but true.

Story-

As the tape played the conversation between Scott Baldwin and Lorenzo Alcazar, one thing was made very apparent: The operation was a set-up. Of course, they had all known that even before the evidence was found, but hearing Scott's voice, hearing Alcazar's name, it all made everything make sense.

"I want my client released, now," Justus ordered.

"Hold on a second, Justus," Ric said.

Justus shook his head, "I should have known that you, of all people, would want to keep him in even after he'd been found innocent. You almost had people believing that you could do something that would benefit everyone involved, Ric. Too bad you blew it."

"Would you just listen to me for a second instead of jumping to unfounded conclusions?" Ric hated that he was being second guessed. It wasn't unexpected, though. And, if Justus was doing it, odds were high that Lucky and Mac were feeling the exact same way. One look at their faces showed that he was right. Everyone was second guessing him. He wanted to help, and he was going to do it regardless of how any of them felt. The only ones that mattered were the people that cared about him, and one of them was the person in question. They were silent, which meant that they were at least willing to give him a minute. "We can't just let him go. If Scott comes into the office tomorrow morning and sees that Damian is gone he's going to know that we realized what was going on." Ric gave his statement a moment to sink in before he continued, "If we keep Damian here until sometime tomorrow we can pressure Baldwin into admitting everything."

"We've got all the proof we need," Lucky said.

"Don't you want to see Baldwin crack under the pressure?" Ric asked. "Wouldn't it make it even more compelling for Damian's case if it was made public that the District Attorney in fact couldn't go through with his plan because he was so wracked with grief over his choices?"

"You're saying that we should let Damian stay in here for one more night just so he can look better?" Mac rolled his eyes. "That's..."

"Actually a pretty good idea," Justus cut Mac off. "He's right, as much as I hate to admit it. The easiest way to clear Damian and keep the doubt of what happened off of him is to show that he was nothing but the victim. It would be extremely easy to show that if Baldwin were to, as Ric put it, crack under the pressure."

"See?" Ric was almost bragging.

"However," Justus again spoke, "I will not allow this to go into action unless I have the consent of various parties."

"You're going to call Sonny, aren't you?" Ric wondered. "Why bother? Damian's an adult, he's capable of making his own decisions without having to have input from his father."

"Unlike you, Damian actually values his father's opinion," Justus grinned. "I'll be right back." Justus walked outside.

Mac looked at Ric, "You know, as much as I don't want to admit it as well, maybe you're actually capable of doing something nice for someone other than Elizabeth for a change."

"I protect the people that I care about," Ric countered. "The same as you would do for your daughters and friends. Don't ever question my moral integrity when it comes to those that I actually value in my life."

"You sure you don't stand to have something in this little operation for yourself?" Lucky had dealt with or knew of the shady methods that Ric took in just about everything he did. He knew that there was probably something that Ric looked at getting through everything in the operation. He just didn't know what yet.

"A member of my family is going to get acquitted of everything that he's being accused of, none of which he did." Ric still didn't like the fact that everyone was constantly second guessing him, although he wasn't surprised that they were. He didn't give them any reason at all to trust him. He wanted to change that, but he might not ever be able to. If he couldn't, it was his own fault. He'd made too many mistakes in his past. "Lucky, I'm sure that you can relate to how much you would want that. Isn't that the entire reason why you're here?"

Lucky couldn't refute that, because it was pure truth. He wasn't going to let Ric off the hook that easily, though. He had hurt Elizabeth too many times in the past. While she may have been able to forgive him for his past mistakes, Lucky wasn't nearly as forgiving.

Ric, on the other hand, knew that he had won a victory against Lucky. A small one, but important nonetheless. Elizabeth still looked to him for support, even though they were no longer together. At least, unlike with Ric himself, the two of them managed to stay friends after their relationship had ended. But, unlike Lucky, Ric was getting a second chance. A second chance that he didn't deserve but was very thankful for regardless.

Corinthos Household-

Sonny was looking through the paperwork that he had been given. Everything seemed to be in order in regards to his professional life. His personal life, however, was in shambles. That was how it often went in the life of Sonny Corinthos. It wasn't fair, but it was something that Sonny had gotten used to in his years of life. There had never been a time in his life that he could remember where he could say that everything was perfect. There was always something looming over him. It was his fate. Even with the love of the people in his life he'd still have that darkness that surrounded him. The darkness that would never go away no matter how hard he tried. He was lucky to have the people that he did have, and very thankful as well.

Jason was there as well, overjoyed that he could actually walk around without getting severe jolts of pain. The occasional sting happened every now and then, but overall it was a vast improvement. Of course, he still couldn't go out onto the field again, but he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. "Everything okay with the shipment?"

"Provided that we don't have some random person from my past coming up and trying to make a name for themselves again?" Sonny said, somewhat rhetorically. "Yeah, everything's in order."

"Sonny, you couldn't have known that Asp was going to sabotage that order."

"I should have known," Sonny said, more to himself than to his best friend. "I shouldn't have been caught so blind."

"One thing that's been hammered into me since that night, Sonny, is something that can be applied to you as well. You're not Superman. You can't do everything and anything to protect everyone, no matter how much you want to think otherwise." Jason never thought that he'd ever use that particular statement in his life, but if it worked he wasn't going to fight it.

"I don't need to hear something like that from you right now, Jason," Sonny stated, his temper flaring slightly. The phone rang. Sonny picked it up, "What?"

"Sonny?" Justus was on the other line, outside of the Police Station.

"Yeah, Justus? Sorry," Sonny apologized for his behavior. "What is it?"

Justus heard some static on the other end of the line, but it cleared up quickly so he paid it no mind. "We got him out."

"Bring him home, then," Sonny said, a moment of relief washing over him.

"Well, there's been a proposal made."

"Who made it?"

Justus was quiet for a moment. He answered with a certain level of animosity, "Ric."

"Any offer that is made by Ric is not worth anything, Justus. I would have expected you to do that."

"The offer is appealing, Sonny. It calls for Damian to stay in the cell for another day, just until tomorrow morning when Baldwin comes in. Since we have the evidence that is needed to get Damian off the hook we can do it regardless, but it would make it easier for the public to swallow if it was made apparent that Baldwin was the one specifically that was pulling the strings with Alcazar."

"Alcazar?" Sonny's voice seethed with anger. "What does that freak have to do with anything?"

"They were working together, Sonny," Justus said. "Baldwin and Alcazar were working together against your son."

"I'll kill him," Sonny felt the hatred that had never really gone away flare up again.

"No, Sonny, not today." Justus said. "You can't put Damian in any sort of scrutiny. How would it look if someone that you have a well known hatred for ended up dead the day before your son got let out?"

"Fine... he stays alive. For now."

"What do you want me to do?" Justus asked. "I told them that I would have to converse with you, as his father and the one who is fronting my legal fees."

"What do you think should be done, Justus?" Sonny inquired. He was a smart man, but he didn't understand every single aspect of the law like Justus did.

"I think it's a good idea, despite who it is coming from. Ric may be a bastard, but every now and then he's got something up his sleeve that can benefit more people than just himself. This is one of those cases."

"I don't want Damian staying in there..."

"It's one more night, Sonny. He's already been in there for over a week. Nothing is going to happen to him between tonight and tomorrow morning."

"You're damn right nothing is going to happen," Sonny already formulated something in his head. "I'm going to have people watching that building all night long until my son is able to walk out of there without worrying about anything happening to him."

"I'm assuming you don't want Ric, Lucky and Mac to be in on that particular operation."

"You know me too well..."

"Comes with the territory," Justus replied. "So, I will give them our acceptance of this plan."

"This had better work, Justus."

"I have a feeling it will," Justus ended the call, the static returning. "Bad reception," He mumbled before walking back into the police station.

The three saw him come in. He walked over, "Do what needs to be done, Ric, but don't mess it up."