Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. The powers that be at General Hospital do. They just don't use them very well. There are some original characters in here as well.

Feedback: Is greatly appreciated. If you like it tell me why, if you don't, please tell me what you don't like. It's how I learn.

Author's notes: A lot of the characters on GH will be in this fic, if you don't see them right away give me time. I like fic's with a lot of characters in them, so that is how I write them.

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What If…

Chapter 4

~Warehouse~

Sonny was on the phone when Jason walked into the office. "Just do it and get back to me Benny." He interrupted hanging up the phone. He held out his hand to Jason and they shook, smiling at each other.

"You look like hell Jason."

Jason shifted on his feet, "Yeah well it's been an interesting 24 hours," he began, "So how's Michael and Carly?"

"Their fine, Carly's busy with Deception and Michael, well he's growing like a weed."

"Good, I'll go by later and see them," Jason answered dropping in a chair, "You want to fill me in on why you needed me here now?"

Sonny sat back behind the desk and studied his friend, he saw an impatience in him that normally wasn't there. Interesting he thought before he began, "Well you know that Sorel was convicted thanks to your sister's boyfriend," Sonny grinned when he saw Jason's grimace, "Anyway Zander got Sorel, and things have been quiet here, I've got everything solidified."

Jason nodded, waiting for Sonny to continue, Sonny's voice and the discussion was having a calming effect on him, he felt the tension begin to ease, he was feeling in control again.

"Puerto Rico is still a problem. I thought when we took out Carlos in December, I also eliminated all the rats in the organization down there." Sonny said getting up to pace to the window and back, "But lately, I've been hearing things."

Jason nodded, "Yeah, I've heard some rumblings myself."

Sonny smiled, he knew there wasn't much that got past Jason, especially where business was concerned. That was exactly why he needed his friend here right now. A bonus to that was the fact he had missed him.

"Do you want me to go to Puerto Rico again and check it out?" Jason's question interrupted Sonny's thoughts.

"No Jason that is the last thing that I want you to do. I need you here in Port Charles, and I want you to get yourself noticed in a big way."

Jason looked surprised and opened his mouth to question, when the door to the office was suddenly thrown open and a whirlwind entered.

"Jason." Carly screamed when she caught sight of her best friend and ran inside the room to him.

Jason stood and caught her in his arms; it was good to see her again. He had really missed her and Sonny. Gradually he became aware that she was talking to him, no actually she was yelling at Sonny. Some things never changed he thought with a grin shaking his head.

"How come you didn't tell me he was coming home?" Carly demanded of her husband. "And don't give me that, it was business crap, Jason is my best friend."

"Carly, Jason just got in to town last night, he wasn't hiding from you, he just hadn't had time to find you yet." Sonny answered with a sigh, "I didn't even know he was here until he walked through the door."

She looked from her husband to Jason for confirmation. Jason looked at her and smiled, but he didn't say a word. She decided to believe Sonny, anyway she would find out what was going on later, so she smiled back at Jason.

"This is so great, I've missed you so much, and so has Michael. You'll be staying around this time right? You can stay in your old penthouse, it's available again, since that twit Alexis got remarried and took her skanky ass out of the building." Carly's wheels were already turning. She was thinking up a plan to keep Jason in town permanently. She missed her best friend, and she knew how much Sonny missed him. She figured getting him to stay in his penthouse would be a good start.

"No, Jakes will be fine for u..me," Jason caught himself before he said us. Carly didn't know about Rory and he knew she would most likely go ballistic when she found out. Even though she was totally in love with Sonny, Jason knew she was very possessive of him.

Thankfully Carly didn't catch the slip. "Jakes, well at least you can play pool whenever you want to." She broke off when she heard her cell phone ring.

"Hello." She said pulling it out of her bag, "Elton, take a breath and calm down, now what is the problem. Gia what? No, no I'll handle it, I'm on my way in now." Carly closed the phone with a snap, glaring at it. "Give someone a break and they try to walk all over you."

Carly went to Sonny and kissed him, "Later baby." Then she went to Jason and gave him a hug, "I'll find you at Jakes." And with that she stormed out of the door as quickly as she had come.

Jason looked after her shaking his head, "She never changes."

"No, but I'm used to her. You were right about her all along," Sonny answered looking past him to the door his wife had just stormed through. Turning to Jason he shot him a smile "So you didn't come back alone after all."

~Jakes~

Rory dropped the bottle, moving her hands to her face to protect herself when a black object, launched itself out of the dark at her. She stumbled back, cursing, glaring at the cat in front of her.

"You know, you have nine lives, I only have the one, so don't do that again furface." She ordered the cat placing a hand over her still racing heart trying to catch her breath.

"You okay?" A voice asked from behind her.

"Jesus." Rory cried whirling around to face a very amused Jake, "Next time just shoot me, believe me I'll thank you for it."

Jake smiled and walked past Rory to the cat, "Sorry, it looks like Zeus and I both gave you a fright."

"Zeus huh?" Rory asked reaching out her hand to pet him, she snatched it back quickly when he snarled and scratched at her. "Not too friendly is he?"

"Oh, he's an alley cat, they always fight first and introduce themselves later." Jake said walking behind the bar to the cash register. "Here Jason said to give you a key."

"Thanks, I noticed he took the other one. Do you know where Kelly's is? I'm starving and Jason's mentioned the food there is good."

"Yeah Kelly's is about six blocks East, it's right off the docks on Main. There's a bus stop at the end of the street, the number 9 will take you there and let you off just half block from Kelly's."

"Thanks but I have my car." She broke off seeing Jake's look, "What don't people drive here?"

"Yes its just most girls in this town seem to take the bus or are driven everywhere."

"Well I'm not like most girls." Rory replied.

No I don't think you are, Jake thought to herself as she went back to work.

"I'm sorry about last night."

"Why you didn't start it. Jason gave me money for the damages, it wasn't the first fight in this place and it won't be the last." Jake said with a shrug.

"That man Lucky, is he always like that?" Rory asked.

"No, he normally just drinks himself into a stupor, but he's real quiet about it. Not a whiff of trouble, hell half the time I don't think he even knows anyone else is around. His brother picks him up a lot, or I'll call him a cab. Last night was a definite first."

Damn, Rory thought to herself, she was trying to convince herself that this was his normal behavior, "So he doesn't see dead people every time he drinks," smooth one she thought pressing for more information.

"No I knew he lost someone, but he has never accosted anyone, claiming they were her. You must have really reminded him of her, to set him off like that. Not to many people go after Jason like that." Jake answered, wiping off the bar counter, "I really need to get moving."

"Yeah thanks Jake." Rory replied walking to the door and letting herself outside. Something about me set him off, the same something that also set off Emily and that other guy. Something like my face I guess. Rory shook her head and walked to the car. To many thoughts on an empty stomach, she thought wryly. She got behind the wheel of the mustang and took off with a roar. She was so busy thinking about food, she failed to notice the car that pulled out behind hers.

~Warehouse~

"I did come back alone," Jason countered defensively. Sonny raised his eyebrows and waited. "Rory decided to surprise me."

Sonny smiled broadly, now Jason's look and behavior was making sense. "That's good, I'd like to get to know her better." Sonny said keeping his tone bland, but in truth he was dying to get to know the woman who had Jason turned inside out. The mere fact that she was here with him, was a major change in his friend's life.

"You will, she's not exactly the shy type." Jason said pacing to the window to stare blindly at the docks, his mind replaying the night before when she had decked Lucky. "When you met her in Puerto Rico did she remind you of anybody?"

"Well I was only around her for about 15 hair raising minutes Jason, it's hard to get an impression in that short amount of time, especially considering the situation we were in at the time." Sonny answered noticing the tension radiating from Jason. Something was definitely up.

"Did you know Elizabeth Webber?"

If Jason's question surprised Sonny, he didn't show it, "Yes I knew her. Why?"

Jason turned to face Sonny, "Do you think Rory looks like Elizabeth?"

Now Sonny let the surprise show, "Jason I don't know. Like I said the only time I saw Rory it was for about 15 minutes and from the back seat of a car, that she was driving around at about 100 mph trying to shake Carlos's men. Besides she was wearing a wig and sunglasses as well, she had nice legs though," Sonny finished with a laugh that died abruptly when he looked at Jason's face. "Why?"

Jason rested one hand on his hip, rubbing his eyes with the other one and sighed heavily, "Lucky Spencer was at Jakes last night. He was convinced that Rory was Elizabeth. He was so adamant about it, he grabbed Rory and wouldn't let her go."

"Is she alright?" Sonny asked tensing up.

"Yes, I got him away from her and the next thing I know, he's charging me starting a fight. It was so strange. This was not the Lucky I used to know."

"Well Lucky's changed since….well since Elizabeth's death. In a lot of ways I think he's worse now that ever. Last summer when you were here during that mess with Emily, that was really the last time that Lucky seemed to be like Lucky. Recently I hear that he's been liking the bottle a little too much. I wouldn't let him worry you to much, he was probably just drunk."

"It wasn't just him."

"What?" Sonny asked looking up from his desk.

"Nikolas Cassadine and Emily came in while we were fighting, and they both thought Rory was Elizabeth. She spooked Emily so much that she fainted." Jason finished with a sigh, he didn't like remembering Emily lying lifeless on the floor.

"Is she okay?" Sonny asked quickly relieved when Jason nodded. Sonny was quiet taking in Jason's words. "Did you ever meet Elizabeth Webber?" he asked finally.

"No." Jason answered.

~Kelly's~

"Nikolas, I need to get going soon, I've already missed one appointment. Carly's going to kill me." Gia said walking to the door.

"I just want to see if he's here in his room, then I'll take you to Deception," Nikolas replied opening the door.

He crossed over to Tammy "Have you seen Lucky?"

"No he hasn't come through today." Tammy answered taking some dirty plates into the kitchen.

Nikolas turned to look at Gia, "I hope to hell he didn't go looking for her."

~Jakes~

Jake turned when she heard the door open she frowned, recognizing Lucky. "Bar's closed."

"I don't want a drink Jake, I want to talk to her." Lucky said moving past her heading for the stairs.

"She's already left."

He turned with a panicked look on his face. She couldn't be gone, "Where." He demanded.

"I don't think you need to know." Jake replied moving behind the bar.

"Please, I've got to see her."

"Lucky I saw what happened last night, and I saw the bruises you put on her, this morning. The last thing she wants or needs is to see you again. Besides Jason doesn't want you anywhere near her." Jake finished with a glare.

Bruises, he hadn't hurt her had he? A lot of the previous night was a blur, the only clear images were of her. This time when he took his mind through the previous night, he looked past her face and into her actions. He remembered her look of pain and exclamation when he grabbed her. He had hurt Elizabeth, Lucky felt the shame enter his blood. He couldn't believe he had hurt her.

"P-please Jake." His voice broke and he took a deep breath before continuing, "I want to apologize to her. I'm not usually like that. You know me. I just want to tell her I'm sorry."

Jake sized him up. He did seem awfully contrite, sighing she made her decision "She was saying she was hungry and asked me for directions to Kellys." She had barely finished speaking when Lucky shot out of the bar, yelling a distracted thanks over his shoulder.

"Well Zeus, I hope I didn't just step in it." Jake said to the cat, who hissed at her.

~Kellys~

"Nikolas, I'm sure he's fine," Gia said anxious to be gone, she brushed a piece of lint off of her new skirt, "Come on I need to get to work."

Nikolas stared at her and then turned to look as the door opened and Emily walked in. Nikolas quickly went over to her, leaving Gia fuming at the counter. "Are you okay?" He asked giving Emily a quick hug, before pulling back to study her.

"Yes I'm fine." She answered quickly, averting her eyes from his probing gaze. "Hey Gia,"

Gia ignored her taking a seat at the counter.

"How are you and Lucky doing?" Emily asked sitting down at a table.

"I'm fine, I can't find Lucky."

Her eyes widened, "You don't think, he went looking for her do you? Jason made it clear that he doesn't want Lucky anywhere near her."

"I know, I know, I brought him back to the cottage last night and calmed him down before he passed out. When I woke up this morning he was gone. I've been looking everywhere for him. I'm afraid he did go after her." He said, locking his worried eyes on her soft brown ones.

"We better find him, before he finds her or worse he finds Jason," Emily said taking his hand in hers. Gia noticed this from her seat at the counter and glared at the pair. Time to break this up she thought, getting to her feet.

Tammy walked out from the kitchen carrying a tray of food, when she heard the bell over the door ring. She glanced at the door to see who the new arrival was. The tray clattered to the floor and she let out a scream pointing to the door, "Oh my god Elizabeth."

Rory paused just inside the door, when everyone's eyes focused on her. "And here we go again," she muttered letting the door slam behind her.