The "Journey" is Over

A General Hospital fanfiction

Chapter Two

Carly recognized the look on Courtney's face...it was desperation. A look that meant that at any given moment everything she held dear would disappear in an instant and she would do anything to prevent that from happening. Carly recognized it because she had been in the same situation so many times it was ridiculous, so she instinctively knew what Courtney was feeling, even if she wasn't sure what was causing it.

Carly joined Courtney on the couch. "What's going on, Courtney?"

Courtney looked up at her sister-in-law with a tear-stained face. It was apparent that she had been crying but now he face was stony. "Greg's back," she said quietly.

Carly frowned. "Greg who? Sonny's accountant Greg? That's impossible," she said, shaking her head.

"No, Carly, Greg," she said with emphasis.

Carly was confused then suddenly realization hit. Her eyes widened. "What? Are you telling me your ex-husband is here?" she exclaimed.

**********

Meanwhile, Jason walked into Kelly's Diner.  Elizabeth was behind the counter.  She looked up and smiled at him.  "Hi Jason."

"Hi Elizabeth," Jason greeted her with a smile.  They had come a long way to being friends again.  "How are you doing?"  Elizabeth had just announced that she was pregnant.

"I'm good," Elizabeth told him, "what can I get for you?"

"Two big bowls of Ruby's chili and lots of crackers, please," he ordered.  "Thanks Elizabeth."

"Sure, no problem, be right back," Elizabeth said, as she walked into the kitchen to fill his order while Jason took a seat at the counter. 

"Hey, how are you doing?"  Jason turned to the man seated two seats to his right.   "I'm Greg," he said, extending his hand to Jason, "I'm new in town."

Jason was leery of anyone who introduced themselves to him.  He thought they were up to something.  It was a pretty safe theory for someone in Jason's line of work, so he made no attempt to shake Greg's hand. 

Greg seemingly was oblivious to Jason's disdain.  He dropped his hand nonchalantly and continued talking.  "You know of any work nearby?" he asked, indicating the want ads he had been circling.

Jason shook his head.  "Can't help you."

"Ah, no worries, I'll find something," Greg smirked, "if nothing else, I can always find work on the docks, you know?  I just have to find something so I can support my wife."

Elizabeth walked out of the kitchen carrying a large to-go bag.  "Here you go, Jason," she said, extending the bag toward him.  "That'll be $8.50."

Jason took the bag in one hand and gave her the money with the other.  "Thanks Elizabeth.  I'll see you later."

As he turned to go, Greg called out, "nice talking to you, man."

Jason grunted in reply and walked out of the diner.

When he was gone, Greg whistled to himself while he rolled up the paper and stuck it under his arm.  He had been waiting for the perfect opportunity to bump into Jason and now that the moment arose, Greg was a happy man.  Things were going well, he thought.  Jason will never see me coming, he thought.

Tossing some money on the counter for his coffee, Greg strolled out of the diner, tossing the paper in the outside trash can as he passed.

**********

"Your ex-husband is here in town?" Carly shrieked.

Courtney nodded. "Yeah, and by the way, he says he's not my ex-husband, but my husband. By some freak of nature, we're still married."

"What? How did that happen?" Carly exclaimed again.

"I have no idea."

"Well, what did he want?" Carly asked.

"$1 million."

Carly's eyes bugged out again. "What?"

"I know, where am I going to get that kind of money?" Courtney sighed. "Unless..."

Carly knew what she was going to say. "I'm sorry, Courtney," she began, "I'd love to help but I can't ask Sonny for that kind of money. I mean, not without telling him what it's for. And I won't tell him," she promised.

"What about the club?" Courtney asked. "Can you get some money out of the accounts?"

"You want me to embezzle money from my club?" Carly asked. "Courtney, I can't do that....again. You don't know what I almost lost the last time I did that. I can't do it again."

Courtney sighed. "It's okay, Carly, I understand." She started crying again. "It's just.....what am I going to do now? Greg's threatened to go to not only Jason but Sonny too."

"Sonny? Why would he go to Sonny?" Carly inquired.

"Greg has another secret he's threatening to tell," Courtney told her. "Something even bigger."

"What is it?" Carly could hardly control herself. She was a very curious person by nature...she had to know everything about everybody. She knew whatever Courtney was keeping secret had to be big so Carly's natural curiosity was piqued. She had to know what it was.

"I can't tell you," Courtney said, "it's too big."

"Courtney, you can tell me anything," Carly told her, "we're friends, right? Not just sisters."

"That's just it, Carly," Courtney said, tears glistening in her eyes, "we're not."

"We're not what, Courtney?" Carly insisted.

"Sisters, we're not sisters, Carly," Courtney blurted out, "I'm not your sister because Sonny isn't my brother."

Carly's jaw dropped.

Carly and Courtney were so wrapped up in their conversation that they didn't hear the front door open.

"I'm not your sister, Carly, because Sonny isn't my brother."

Carly's jaw dropped just as the the to-go bag from Kelly's dropped from Jason's hand.

"What?" Carly and Jason echoed.

Courtney turned her attention to Jason. Her eyes were wide, like a deer caught in the headlights. "Jason, I can explain," she said, as she came toward him.

Jason backed out of the door, leaving it open. Courtney followed him into the hallway. "Jason, wait, please," she sobbed, openly crying.

Jason ignored her, walked past Johnny and let himself into Sonny's penthouse. Sonny looked up. He became concerned when he saw Courtney rush in after Jason. "What's going on? What's wrong?" he asked Courtney, when he saw she was crying.

"Go ahead, tell him," Jason told her, sternly.

Sonny glanced at Jason briefly. Something was going on between them. Turning back to Courtney, Sonny placed his hands on her shoulders. "What's wrong?" he asked her gently.

"Sonny, let's leave Jason and Courtney alone for a minute," Carly told her husband. She had followed closely behind them into the penthouse.

"Carly, stay out of it," Jason told her, coldly.

Carly stared at Jason. Who was this man? she thought. When did he get so cold and judgmental? "Jason, talk to her," Carly urged him.

"Talk to her? You want me to talk to her? Okay, here I go," Jason acquiesced. He looked at Courtney. "Are you going to tell Sonny what you just told Carly and me, although, apparently, I wasn't your intended audience?"

"Jason," Courtney whispered. She couldn't go on. The tears just wouldn't stop.

"Fine, then I will," Jason told her.

"Jason, no," Carly said.

"Stay out of it, Carly!" Jason yelled.

"Will someone tell me what's going on?" Sonny demanded. "Why are you yelling at my wife, Jason? Your best friend?"

Jason sighed. "Because your wife and my wife have been lying to us, Sonny," he said. "I walked in on them talking just now."

"Talking about what?" Sonny asked, "what's going on?"

Before Jason could say anything, Courtney ran out of the room. "Follow her, Jason," Carly urged him, ignoring his glare.

"No, Jason's not going anywhere until he or someone tells me what's going on," Sonny said, emphatically. He was growing impatient and if someone didn't start talking he was going to go through the roof.

"Courtney's been lying, from the beginning, I'm guessing," Jason began, "I don't know how to tell you this, Sonny, so I'm just going to say it straight out. Keep in mind that I just found this out tonight, not more than five minutes ago." He paused, taking a breath. "Courtney is not your sister."

(a/n: thanks for all the reviews.  I'm glad you like it.  And I hope you like this latest chapter.

"liason" fans…sorry, but I can't possibly make this a Jason/Liz story. I'm a diehard Jason/Robin, so I can't do that to my girl. 

Stef, you know me well enough to know the answer to your question. LOL.  No way is this Carly "reformed".  In fact, I refuse to believe that she's even "reformed" on the show…she's just doing a very good job of conning everyone to believe that she is. Damn those writers! LOL.

Please keep reviewing.  That's the only way I know if anyone reads this stuff.)