Disclaimer – I don't own any Part of General Hospital or it's characters, I don't even work for ABC...kinda wish I did though cause the storylines suck at the moment.
Author's Note – I'm sorry this took me so long to post...I miss placed my hand written copy when I helped my sister move in with her dad so I didn't get it typed till just a little bit ago, as for the original story Aftermath, it got to the point that since I was writing without a direction in mind I wrote myself into a corner. Hopefully this version will have better content as well.
Now this story starts in June of 2003 on the night that Jason placed the cameras in Ric and Elizabeth's house and Carly caused the power to go out. However there are a few things beyond the main story that are going to be different:
Ric knew that Faith had caused Elizabeth's miscarriage but didn't ever mention it because by blaming Sonny he could rationalize holding Carly and taking her child.
Emily does not have cancer, but she is back in town...and is dating Zander
Lydia and Nikolas have been friends since early childhood, she came to PC to visit to get away from her family and ended up falling for Lucky (I'll explain more about her in the story)
Taggart, Scott and Mac are all still in town and Felicia is back as well.
No Sam or Capelli and No Dobson
No love triangle involving Sonny, Carly and Alcazar...
In the Aftermath of a Tragedy
Chapter 1
From where she sat upon the docks Elizabeth Webber watched the light play upon the ever moving surface of the water. Looking out she tried to still her thoughts, to distance herself from the pain of her memories, but even concentrating on the soothing sound and sight of the water it was a task she couldn't quite master.
For all the pain she has lived through in her twenty two years, Elizabeth couldn't decide which hurt worse, the loss of her child or finding out that her husband had been lying to her since the day then had gotten married, if not before. Ric Lansing, Attorney, has been nothing but slime, something that everyone else has seen. But she had only seen the illusion of a good person and had gone so far as to turn her back on the one person who had always told her the truth, because he had tried to tell her what slime Ric was.
He had come to Port Charles looking for Sonny Corinthos, knowing that they were brothers. He had come to destroy Sonny for the wrongs, as Ric saw it, of his past and she had been nothing more than a means to an end.
Looking back at her relationship with him, Elizabeth could see it now, but that did nothing to ease the pain of betrayal. She had opened her heart to Ric and he had used her feelings to his advantage. But then did everyone always say, "Everything is always clearer in hind sight." And now she could truly understand.
Shifting her focus from the water in front of the docks to the people walking along them, she kept trying to get her mind off of what had happened, but an overheard bit of conversation brought everything back, swamping her in the memories.
Flash back –
Hearing the door click shut Elizabeth let out a shaky breath and allowed her arms to drop to her sides. Looking down at her right hand she couldn't really process the sight of the gun in her hand or her actions only moments before. Moving to the couch she sank down onto a cushion before setting the gun down on the table before her. Even in the house's darkened interior she saw the glint of light off the metal and shuttered.
Looking down at the gun Elizabeth was horrified at her actions. She had held a gun on Jason Morgan. True they hadn't had a conversation that hadn't resulted in an argument in months, but that didn't mean that their friendship had ceased to exist.
Resting her head in her hands Elizabeth tried to figure out when her life had spiraled so out of control. With no answer forth coming she stood and began to pace. It took a few moments, but eventually the darkened state of the house penetrated her thoughts. Looking around she couldn't help but be confused. She had left the living room lights on when she had gone out to meet her Gram for Dinner. Forehead crinkled in thought she moved over to the light switch, but found that the lights were on. Looking around the room for the first time she realized that nothing was on, even the stereo was dark. As comprehension came she was already pulling out her cell phone and dialing.
As she waited for the operator to connect her to the power company she tried the lights in the kitchen hoping that it was nothing, but a blown fuse. By the time she was finished talking to the power company, Elizabeth had a feeling that something was seriously wrong.
Hearing the door knob jingle as the door opened Elizabeth spun around uneasy. As the door swung open she let out a small nervous giggle that was little more than a gasp. Though her husband stood in the doorway it did little to ease her nerves, if anything Ric's presence actually made them worse.
Shaking her head she moved to the door, kissing Ric on the cheek, before she resumed pacing. Lost again in her thoughts she jumped when there was a knock announcing the arrival of the power company repairman. As she waited for power to return Elizabeth couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong, nor did the feeling fade when power returned, flooding the house with light.
So distracted by the feeling of wrongness she barely hear Ric when he suggested she go wait for him at Kelly's while he made sure the house was safe. In a daze she walked out to her car, oblivious to the fact that she had her purse but not her car keys.
It wasn't until she's dumped the contents of her purse onto the passenger seat that Elizabeth remembered leaving her keys on the small table by the front door. Looking at the house, no brightly light against the shadows of dusk, she was tempted to just grab her spare key and go. But a nagging feeling that something was wrong inside the house sent her running back up the walk.
The sight that greeted her was not something she could have imagined; where before there had been a solid and complete wall, there was now a large space. Creeping forward Elizabeth was not sure whether to be resigned or surprised when she heard Ric's voice. Listening to his words, she could only shake her head, beyond surprise in that instant.
As Ric tried to assess the state of Carly's health Elizabeth inched into the kitchen, to the phone hanging on the wall there. Dialing quickly she alerted the PCPD of Carly's whereabouts, asking them to send an ambulance before moving back to the living room.
Listening to her husband's desperate tone Elizabeth's gaze was caught by the gun she had left lying on the coffee table. Moving across the living room quickly and quietly she said a small thank you to Luke. The gun felt awkward in her hand, heavy and clumsy, but it also gave her a feeling of power.
When Ric emerged from the panic room, she was there to greet him, the gun pointed at his forehead. Looking at him, his many lies now apparent, she felt desperation gnaw at her, but pushed it away to deal with the situation before her.
"Put Carly down Ric."
"Or what you'll shoot me Elizabeth? I doubt it; your love for me is too strong to allow that. Besides don't you see, with this baby we'll be a family."
"See what Ric? That you've done nothing but lie to me? That you're so mentally unstable that you think kidnapping a pregnant woman and holding her hostage while you wait for her to give birth so that you can take her child and pretend it's your own, is the only way to have a family? I miscarried Ric, yes I was pushed down a flight of stairs, but that doesn't matter, I LOST MY CHILD, due to the actions of another! And you want to give me a child to raise, that has been taken from its mother as mine was taken from me? Put Carly down Ric, this ends now."
For a moment it seemed as if Ric would peacefully put Carly down and end the lie that he had been living. But as Elizabeth has seen more often than once appearances are all that they're cracked up to be, after setting Carly down he lunged at her, desperate to get the gun out of her hands. Equally determined that Ric would not gain control of the weapon, and subsequently her life, she struggled for all she was worth, stopping only at the sound of a gunshot.
Stepping away, the gun still in her hand, Elizabeth watched as Ric fell to the floor bleeding from a gunshot wound to the chest. She could do little more than watch as the gun fell from her hand to hit the floor with a thud. She didn't notice Detective Marcus Taggart in the doorway or Carly laying on the floor only feet away, all she could see was the bloodstain on Ric's shirt spreading.