Journeylove- I gots the love! The love! Yay! Anyway, I'm glad you were shocked by that, it was planned from the beginning. I hope that the others who read this were equally alarmed, since I want it to be a shocker. Let's hope, yes?

Story-

Lorenzo was a broken man. He had lost the love of his life, the one thing that allowed him to maintain a certain level of sanity in his existence. He had always hoped beyond hope that Carly would realize that he was the right person for him, but it was painfully obvious that she was never going to actually think the same of him as he thought of her. It was all that twit Al's fault. If he had never botched up the mission that he was sent with, things would have been different. Damian would have been dead, he wouldn't have been made some hero simply because he saved Carly's darling son's life. Lorenzo couldn't blame Carly for being so angry at him and being so much warmer towards Damian. Lorenzo knew that Carly's love would always side with that of her children. Putting Michael or Morgan in danger was the easiest way to spurn Carly's affections. Lorenzo had thought about making it appear that Sonny had done that very thing to his own children on more than one occasion but always knew that Carly wouldn't buy it. She was a believer in the fact that Sonny would always work for the safety of his children, regardless of how foolish that may have been.

He couldn't go back to the apartment, he knew that she would always look for him there. But he had many other places that he could hide out. He wasn't going to leave Port Charles anytime soon. He had been crushed by the sheer fact that Damian Zuniga existed. If it weren't for that boy coming into the picture, everything would have been so much different, so much better. Lorenzo was going to make Sonny suffer, he was going to give Carly the thing that she still wanted. Once she got over the fact that Damian had saved Michael's life she would go back to hating him. He would prove himself to her... he would.

He opened the door to one of his various safe-houses in the immediate area, still in Port Charles. They were all purchased under different names, different aliases to conceal his true identity from his enemies. This particular one was by the lake. It was a beautiful home, one that he had hoped he would take Carly to when they were finally together. They would be together, there was nothing that was going to stop him.

Lorenzo's cheek throbbed like it had been hit with a brick. Carly had a very powerful slap, he knew that from prior experiences, before he fell for her the way that he did. Maybe it wasn't that which caused his pain. Lorenzo had been in his fair share of brawls during his life. He knew he could take a hit better than that. It wasn't his face that was wounded. It was his pride. His ego. He had never thought it would escalate to the level that it had.

Lorenzo thought back to his past love. His Sophie. She had been his everything. The woman that had allowed him to stay the good natured man he once was. He thought, if he had Carly to himself, that he could reclaim that innocence. He should have known better. He should have known that it would never go back to the way that it was. Carly was lost to him forever in the same way that his lost innocence could never be reclaimed. It was sad. It was all Damian Zuniga's fault...

Lorenzo picked up his phone and dialed. He used a secure line, not wanting to risk the same problem that had happened because of the cell phone mishap. "I want every single man that is in the area to the lake house immediately. Yes, tonight!" Lorenzo slammed his phone down. "You've caused me a great deal of pain, Zuniga. You and that father of yours. I will see to it that you both suffer because of Carly's pain!"

A half hour later every single man that Lorenzo Alcazar employed in the immediate area was waiting around in the lake house for his orders. Lorenzo had come out of his room, looking at old pictures... of a time long past. He stood in front of them all, "I have a mission that must be completed tonight. There will be no questions asked until I am finished. You will listen." Lorenzo began to pace, "I am a man of power. You all know this. I could end your lives right here without any trouble and I would not even be punished for it, but that will not happen. I need you now. Even with all my power, there is one way that I have not been victorious in my life, that is with the woman of my desire: Carly Corinthos. She is not the target of this plan, though. I will win Carly without forcing myself on her. No, you will capture a young man and you will bring him here, to me. His name is Damian Zuniga, he is in General Hospital as we speak. He is Sonny Corinthos's son. Do whatever it takes, but you will bring him to me before the night is over. If you do not, I will see to it that you join Al in the abyss." Lorenzo looked at them all, "Go!' The men all piled out of the house in a hurry. They had their instructions. Lorenzo paid them beyond their wildest dreams to follow those orders exactly as they were said. They would not fail him. There was no way that a cadre that large could fail him.

General Hospital, 3 AM-

Courtney couldn't do it. She couldn't stay awake the entire time. But she knew how to force herself awake if she heard anything, the slightest sound that sounded foreign to her ears. The hospital was barely filled with anyone, getting in and out wouldn't be a problem as long as the security cameras could be avoided.

A squad of five men, cloaked in stolen doctors clothing that they had gotten from the few remaining workers, came into the room.

Courtney opened her eyes, "Is something wrong?" She asked, seeing the men in the garbs of doctors.

"No, there's nothing wrong... or there won't be in a moment," One of the men went towards her and tried to slap her.

Courtney saw the attack coming and put her arm up, effectively blocking before she kicked the man in the knee. He yelled out in pain, a shrill shriek that woke Damian up in an instance.

"What's going on?" He asked, trying to decipher the events.

"Damian... can you move?" Courtney asked as she tried to fight off the men.

"I can't walk... it hurts too much," Damian replied.

Courtney didn't know what she was going to do. There were too many. She tried to keep on fighting, but aside from the first man, there were too many that were active. They surrounded her. Courtney still managed to get a few blows in, but eventually one of them got a punch to the back of her head that knocked her unconscious.

"Aunt Courtney!" Damian saw his aunt's slender figure drop to the ground. Damian tried to press his call button.

One of the men laughed, "Do you think we're too stupid to know that we have to disconnect that thing?"

"What are you doing..."

"My job," One of the men replied as he kicked Damian in the head, knocking him out as well.

"What do we do about the girl?" Another asked.

"Kill her!" The injured one ordered.

"Wait, that's Courtney Morgan," Another observed. "She's Jason Morgan's wife, and Carly's best friend!"

"I don't care who she is!" This again came from the man that had been injured by Courtney.

"The boss does," The man who was now carrying Damian in his arms commented. "Courtney is Carly's best friend, he doesn't want to hurt Carly, so doing something to Courtney would only irk him."

"But she saw us..."

"Fine, bring her with us," The one carrying Damian said. "We could always use her as a hostage."

"Stupid kung-fu bitch," The injured man hobbled up as another grabbed Courtney.

"Let's get out of here," One opened the door and they all piled out.

Lake House-

Lorenzo waited until the doors burst open. He saw not one, but two bodies being carried. He knew one of them belonged to Courtney. "What are you doing with Courtney Morgan?"

"She was watching him," The one carrying Courtney explained. "She would have said something."

"I wanted her dead," The injured one added.

"Only a fool would have allowed Courtney to die," Lorenzo muttered. "Jason Morgan would hunt every single person down and kill them himself."

"Told you," The one carrying Damian said sarcastically.

"Tie him to the bed in the guest room," Lorenzo said.

"Yes, sir!" The man carrying Damian ran into the guest room.

"What about her?" Someone asked, regarding Courtney.

"I can't have her telling everyone about what had happened. You're sure that nobody saw you?"

"Our tech expert managed to hack into the hospital computer system and shut down all the cameras in the hospital for a good ten minutes. We were in and out within 5. The staff was all detained. There was no way that we could have been spotted."

"Good," Lorenzo said. "I will make sure that you all are handsomely compensated for this mission of which you have done for me. Tie Courtney to the chair and leave her in the living room. Make sure she is blindfolded. The only one I want to see me is Zuniga himself." Lorenzo walked away into the room that Damian was in. "Now all I do is wait for you to come around."

Dawn-

Damian opened his eyes and moaned. His head was killing him. What had happened? He couldn't remember anything. The last thing he remembered was... Courtney! He looked around and saw that he wasn't in the hospital anymore. Where was he?

"I'm glad to see that you've woken up," Lorenzo said.

"What... Alcazar?"

"You've ruined my life, Damian. I'm going to ruin yours and your father's as a payment."

"What are you talking about?"

"Carly no longer sees me as a desirable person because of what happened with Michael."

"You're the one who almost had him hit, aren't you?" Damian asked, angered. "You're twisted."

"That wasn't my intention, Damian," Lorenzo replied. "I would never try to hurt Michael. He means too much to Carly. You, however, mean nothing to her."

"What?"

"You didn't know?" Lorenzo smiled. "Carly wanted you out of the picture. She wanted any measures to be taken to get rid of you."

"You're lying?"

"Am I?" Lorenzo wondered. "I guess you'll never know."

"What are you going to do?" Damian asked, struggling and feeling his ribs scream out in pain.

"I wouldn't think about moving if I were you," Lorenzo said sadistically. "You should be thankful that I'm keeping you alive..."

"What happened to my aunt?" Damian looked around. "If you killed her..."

"Please, I would never hurt Courtney."

"You cost her the baby that she was carrying..."

"That was a sad occurrence in my life," Lorenzo muttered. "She is safe, you can be sure of that."

"Why am I here?"

"Because I'm going to kill you in front of your father and then I'm going to kill him," Lorenzo said bluntly. "Enjoy the wait."