The Journey is Over
A General Hospital fanfiction
Chapter ThreeSonny blinked at Jason. 'Did he hear him right?' "What did you say?" he asked Jason, regaining his speech.
Jason sighed. "I'm sorry to blurt it out like that, but it's true. Courtney is NOT your sister." He turned to Carly. "If you want more information, ask your wife."
Sonny turned to Carly. It wasn't beneath her to keep a secret like this from him and he knew it. "Is this true?" he asked her.
"Sonny," Carly began. For the first time in her life, she was speechless. "This is the first I've heard of this but I can't believe that Courtney's not your sister, there must be some mistake."
"I'm going to find her," Sonny said on his way to the door.
"Sonny, let Jason talk to her," Carly begged, "This is between them."
"No!" Sonny exclaimed. "This is between Courtney and me. I'm going to talk to her and I'm going to find out the truth. And so help me, Carly, if I find out you knew about this and didn't tell me..." He let the threat lie. Carly knew well enough that Sonny would not tolerate another one of her lies.
With Sonny gone, Carly turned to Jason. "What happened to you?" she asked, "When did you get so judgmental?"
"Judgmental?" he exclaimed, "what are you talking about, Carly? Don't you think I have the right to be judgmental? She LIED!"
"You don't know the whole story, Jason. Just talk to her."
"I tried to talk to her, Carly, but she ran out, remember?"
"That's because you were pushing her, you idiot!" Carly yelled. "I would have left too!"
Jason stared at her. "How much of this did you know, Carly?" he said calmly.
When she ran out of the penthouse, Courtney had no destination in mind. After walking aimlessly through town, she ended up on pier 52. It was not the safest of places to be after dark but she didn't care. She didn't want anyone to find her.
She took a seat on a bench and covered her face with her hands. So caught up in her troubles, she didn't hear someone walk up and sit down beside her.
"Do you have something to tell me, Courtney?"
Stricken, Courtney sat up and looked into Sonny's eyes. 'He knows,' she realized. "Sonny..." she began.
"Just tell me it's not true," Sonny whispered, "tell me you didn't lie to me and we'll forget this whole thing."
Courtney couldn't speak. Instead, she broke into tears. "I'm sorry, Sonny," she sobbed.
Sonny wrapped one arm around her shoulders as she cried. For some reason he didn't understand fully, he wasn't mad. It was as if a part of him already knew that she wasn't his sister.
"It's okay," he consoled her, "go ahead and cry."
When she was cried out, she looked up at him. "Why aren't you yelling at me?" she asked, curious.
Sonny grinned. "I guess because I always suspected the truth," he explained, "but Mike was so sure you were his daughter I didn't pay attention to my instincts." Mike. Sonny wondered about his father. "Does he know?"
Courtney closed her eyes and let out a breath. "Mike. No, he doesn't know. He thinks I am his daughter."
"So who are you really?" Sonny asked, point-blank.
"You know what, Sonny? I don't know anymore," Courtney sighed. "I've been doing this for so long, it's not like I forgot my real name, but I've been so many different people, I forgot who I really am."
Sonny remained silent. He knew she was dying to tell him everything so he wasn't going to interrupt her ramble.
"I've been conning people practically all my life," Courtney continued. "Janine taught me. And before you ask, no, Janine is not my mother. I don't know who my mother is. I've been on my own since I was fourteen and before that, I was in so many foster homes I can't even count. I met Janine in Atlantic City right after I ran away from the last home. She kind of looked after me but her main concern was how much we can con people out of." She paused to take a breath. "Anyway, our last mark was Edward Quartermaine. Janine had "met" him in A.C. Well, she didn't exactly meet him, she saw him in the casino where she worked and he looked rich. She decided to blackmail him, knowing that he would take the bait. I was sent in as the "good-girl" daughter who was appalled to find my mother blackmailing innocent people. She wanted me to marry into the family. AJ so willingly fell into our trap, except he was disowned. And then I met Jason...and suddenly the con wasn't so important anymore." She sniffled. Sonny handed her his handkerchief and she blew her nose. "I fell in love with him immediately and now I've lost him."
"Jason hates liars," Sonny said finally, reminding her, "but you know that already." He changed the subject. "When will you tell Mike the truth?"
Courtney was shocked. "Sonny, I can't tell Mike...this will hurt him."
"You can't NOT tell him, Courtney," Sonny insisted. "For whatever he is, Mike deserves to know the truth. Which reminds me, Mike was so accepting of you, which leads me to believe that he does have a daughter. Where is she?"
"I don't know," Courtney admitted, "Janine told me that she and Mike did have a daughter together. That's why it was so believable that I could be her. You see, from the time I came to stay with her, people always mistook us for mother/daughter, so eventually we stopped correcting them and became mother and daughter. When I saw Mike, I recognized him from pictures I had seen of him and Janine and when he mistook me for his daughter, I played along."
Sonny exhaled. He needed a drink after hearing this tale. His mind was reeling. So Courtney wasn't his sister but he did have a sister somewhere. Was she alive? And if she was, did she know who she was?
(A/N: Hi! I'm sorry it's taken me so long to update but this took me awhile to work out. I think this story has taken a twist. LOL. Hope you like where it's going. Thanks for the reviews.)