A/N: Well, it certainly took me long enough, didn't it (and this update isn't exactly 'War and Peace')? I really do like where this story is going… I've even got the third installment mapped out. I just need to buckle down and write, write, write. My muse as of late, though, has been worthless. I need to look into a new one… Anyways, here's the long overdue next chapter. Just don't expect the updates to be regular, please. My brain is overtaxed at the moment… What will be, will be… :)
Admiral Carly Corinthos – thank you for taking the time to tell me you like the piece. And so your soul is at rest, I could never leave Luke out. I love that man… Let me know how this next part is!
ZoeLuv80 – Hi! I'm glad you liked the story and I like the comparison as well. GH is just a study in recurring history… sadly. But that gives me hope for both Carly/Jason as well as CarLo. Hope you like this next part.
Rach6 – I'm glad you think I'm doing "What If I Can't?" justice. I've got a plan for this story and the third installment I want to do. People will probably have a love/hate relationship with me once it's all said and done, but it's the way my muse is going… Hope you like the update!
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Dillon was walking along the docks when a familiar, sultry voice called to him.
"Dillon!" Sage Alcazar's voice rang out. With a heavy sigh, the young Quartermaine turned to watch the dark-haired girl approach.
"What do you want, Sage?" he asked. This night had gone from good, to bad, to ugly. Sage was a nice enough girl, but he was getting tired of her attempts to make nice with him.
"Hey, I just wanted to talk to you," she said, a frown marring her usually perfect face. Putting his hands in his pockets – most likely to restrain himself from strangling her – he leaned against the dock railings.
"So… talk," he prompted. The girl stepped up next to him.
"Where are you off to?" she asked.
"I'm just walking," he answered.
"Oh?" she asked. Sage knew perfectly well where he was going… or to whom. "Anywhere in particular?" Dillon rolled his eyes.
"Was this supposed to be a meaningful conversation?" he asked. Sage pouted.
"That's a rude question," she said. With a sigh, he straightened.
"I don't mean to be rude, or short, or whatever. I've had a bad night, and I just wanted some time to myself," he told her. Sage's eyes went to his face.
"Oh? Fight with Georgie?" she asked with faux innocence.
"None of your business."
"Ah, well I disagree. You are my friend, and anyone hurts my friend they have to deal with me," she said. Dillon let out a little laugh.
"Wow. You must be really desperate for friends," he said. "A few weeks of baby-sitting and all of a sudden you're my best friend…" Sage grinned as she stepped closer to him, one of her slim fingers running down the sleeve of his shirt.
"Best friend? I'm flattered, Dillon," she said sweetly. Dillon rolled his eyes again and gripped her wrist to remove her hand. He stilled in his movements when he heard approaching footsteps. His instincts told him that it wasn't anything above board, so he gripped Sage's wrist harder and pulled her after him, hiding both of them in the shadow of the stairs.
"Ow! Dillon, you're hurting me!" Sage hissed. Dillon glared at her.
"Shut up, Sage…" he ground out before he fell silent. Two men stood just above them on the docks.
"… so far Morgan's been quiet. He doesn't seem to suspect anything. His guy, Johnny, has been with him most of the week, but according to Raul, that's normal. Alcazar hasn't been making any moves and Corinthos has mainly been working out of his warehouse. It seems to be business as usual for them…" one voice said.
"That sounds promising. Please tell Ms. Roscoe that her information won't go unrewarded. My boss will be most pleased to hear that all is quiet in Port Charles," the other voice said. Dillon's eyes went wide at the mention of Faith. I knew something was up with her 'truce'…
"What about Spencer?" the last voice asked.
"For all purposes, he seems to be grounded… retired. He just works his bar. He hasn't been in contact with any of his people for over a year now," the other man answered.
"Good. I will inform my boss that the next step can be taken." With that, the two men departed in separate directions. Dillon waited a minute to make sure the coast was clear and then stepped out of the shadows, Sage stepping behind him.
"What was that about, Dillon? Why were those men talking about Uncle Lorenzo?" she asked, fear for her only family evident in her face. Dillon shook his head.
"I don't know. But it doesn't sound good. And it seems that he and the others are walking into a trap…" he said. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed the familiar number.
"Mr. Alcazar? Are you at home?" he asked. After a second, he nodded to himself. "Good. Sage and I are on our way…" After hanging up, Dillon grabbed the brunette's wrist again and started pulling her after him.
"Are we going to see Uncle Lorenzo?" she asked. Dillon nodded an affirmative as she lengthened her stride to step next to him.
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How was she going to start this conversation?
"Hey, Dillon. I know you like working for Jason, and I want to support you in it," she said to no one in particular as she began walking towards the Quartermaine mansion. Georgie shook her head.
"No… he'd be suspicious. A few hours ago I was pissed at him for it…" she dismissed out loud.
"I was upset before, Dillon, because I don't want anything to happen to you. I know the stories of what's happened to Jason and Mr. Corinthos and even Mr. Alcazar. I don't want any of that happening to you. But… I know that this is a part of your life and… No! It sounds too rehearsed," Georgie said and dismissed all in the same breath. She fell silent for a few seconds as she tried to piece together words that would make sense.
"Why does this have to be so hard?" she asked herself, hugging her coat closer to her as the evening breeze became chilly. "Dillon… I know that working for Jason and Alcazar makes you happy. And if you're happy, then I'm happy. I just want you to be careful…" Georgie smiled to herself when she realized she'd just hit upon what she wanted to say. Her step lightened as she quickened her pace towards her boyfriend's home.
A well-dressed man stepped into her path from the docks, causing Georgie to stumble in order to avoid hitting him. He reached out and steadied her.
"Sorry, miss," he said before stepping out of her way and continuing on. Georgie rolled her eyes and gave the retreating man a look before resuming her walk. She stopped in her tracks when she saw two forms that could only be Dillon and Sage run quickly away from the docks, Dillon holding on to the brunette with a determined grip. The look on Sage's face was a mix between a smile and a frown. Georgie wasn't sure what to make of it, but she could only imagine what the brown-haired temptress was up to now… and it worried her. A determined frown suddenly set itself on Georgie's brow. Sage Alcazar was after Dillon and she was not going to win. Oh yes, Georgie Jones was going to put up a hell of a fight. She was going to fight Carly-style if necessary… This was war…
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"You heard these guys say that the information was from Faith Roscoe?" Lorenzo asked the two standing in front of him. Dillon nodded.
"Yes, sir. They were talking about how Mr. Morgan wasn't doing anything and how things were really quiet. They even mentioned you and Mr. Corinthos," he said. Sage sat huddled on the couch, her face was slightly pale.
"And Sage heard this as well?" Lorenzo asked. The girl in question nodded as she shifted in her seat.
"I did, Uncle Lorenzo," she said, looking up at him. "They're going to come after me now, aren't they?" Lorenzo sat down next to the girl and put an arm around her.
"They didn't know you were there. You have nothing to worry about," he said. Dillon was going to confirm what he had said, but his cell phone rang, cutting off his thought. Lorenzo nodded to him.
"You'd better take that. I've got a call of my own to make," he said as he stood up and went to his desk.
"Hello?" Dillon said. He smiled at Georgie's greeting, but quickly frowned. "What's wrong? Well, I can't right now. I'm at Alcazar's. It's work related… Yeah. That's fine. I'll meet you at the mansion in an hour… Bye…" Just as he hung up, the penthouse door opened and Carly walked in, Michael and Leigh in tow. At the look on Dillon and Sage's face and the fact that her husband was deep into a serious telephone conversation, she immediately took the children up to their rooms.
"Do what you have to Morgan, but make sure Faith's goons have a tail," Lorenzo said before hanging up the phone with more force than necessary.
"What's Jason going to do?" Dillon asked, his eyes going back to the stairs as Carly descended them.
"Morgan's still planning on going through with the truce. He says, and Sonny agrees, that it's better to have Faith close where they can watch her," he said with a sigh.
"A truce? With Faith Roscoe? How come I'm imagining a million things wrong with that?" Carly said as she crossed the room to where Lorenzo stood.
"Faith Roscoe? Isn't she that blond woman everyone in town hates?" Sage asked, confused. Carly grinned shamelessly.
"In the past, that description usually meant me, but in this case you're absolutely right," she answered. Lorenzo reached out an arm and wrapped it around Carly's waist.
"You should probably lay low for a while with the kids. From the sound of it, whoever it is has it in for Morgan - which, naturally, means they have it in for Corinthos and myself as well – wouldn't hesitate to use you for leverage. It would be better for you to stick close to the penthouse until their game is uncovered," he said. Carly gave him a look.
"You know that I rarely stay where I'm put, Lorenzo," she said in a way that made Dillon grin. Lorenzo let out a sigh, but smiled.
"I am well aware of that, Carly. But just promise me that you won't go anywhere without telling me or one of the guards. And if you do go somewhere you must take at least two guards with you. One for you and one for the kids," he said. Carly smiled at him before she leaned forward and pressed a gentle, acquiescing kiss to his lips.
"I love you," she said as she pulled back. "And because I love you and don't want you to worry, you know I promise." He smiled.
"Good," he said. He then turned to the two teenagers. "Thank you, Dillon for bringing Sage home safely and passing along the information you heard. Starting next week, we'll probably want you to keep a closer eye on Mrs. Roscoe. But I'm sure Jason will be getting in contact with you about that." Dillon nodded at the obvious dismissal.
"Good night Mr. Alcazar. Good night Sage, Carly," he said before going to the door.
"I want a rain check on that walk, Dillon," Sage's voice rang out just as he was walking through the door. He threw a look at the girl from over his shoulder and he could see Carly roll her eyes as Lorenzo guided her to the couch. God help him, but he was looking forward to Faith Roscoe's company, even if she was going to be unaware of it. Anything was better than Sage Alcazar.
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Georgie stood outside the mansion and waited patiently for her boyfriend to show up. He'd sounded upset on the phone. She'd had enough time in her wait to wonder about it. And her mind took her to interesting places. Was he upset because he had been with Sage and she'd interrupted them? Was he upset because of 'business'? Was he upset because Sage was being a pain in the ass? All were viable options… and Georgie liked the latter two much better than the first.
The sky was just beginning to get dark, and the early autumn wind was starting to get chilly as it entered September. She pulled her coat tighter around herself as she cursed herself for getting to the mansion so early. Dillon was all the way downtown. It would take him a while to get out to where the Quartermaine residence was. She stepped onto the Quartermaine grounds and quickly found the place that she and Dillon usually met up at. It was far enough away from the house that the two of them would have privacy from the loonies that lived there – Dillon excluded, of course.
"Hey!" his voice greeted. With a grin, she spun around and flung her arms enthusiastically around his neck. After a quick kiss, she stepped back to see Dillon's surprised expression.
"If I'd know that was the greeting I was going to get, I would have gotten here earlier," he said. Georgie rolled her eyes as she swatted his arm. He leaned in for another quick kiss. When he pulled back, she looked up at him.
"Well, you got here pretty quick regardless," Georgie commented. Dillon smiled as he took her hand.
"Yeah, well, I wanted to get out of Carly and Alcazar's hair… and swanky limos dropping me off a block away always help, too," he said. Georgie smiled, but couldn't help the disappointment that he didn't say he'd wanted to get away from Sage.
"Is everything alright?" she asked. The slight pause before he spoke told her what she needed to know.
"Yeah, everything's fine," he told her. Georgie let go of Dillon's hand and stopped walking.
"It's the business isn't it? Something's going to go down…" she said as she crossed her arms. Dillon let out a sigh as he turned to her.
"Georgie, I really don't want to have another fight about me quitting tonight, okay? I just want to spend some time with my girlfriend, whomI haven't been able to see for more than an hour at a time," he said.
"I'm not going to fight. I swear…" she said. Then, she took a big breath and started the speech she'd tried to rehearse earlier. "Dillon, I don't want you to quit anything you don't want to…"
"When did this happen?" he asked, but Georgie held up a hand.
"Let me finish, please. You know that I worry about you, especially working so closely with your cousin and his partners. I know we've fought about this quite a bit, so I want you to know that I'm still not on-board with it. I just want you to be happy and if working with Jason makes you happy, then I won't bring it up anymore. I just want you to promise me one thing," she said. Dillon stepped closer to her with a small smile.
"Anything," he said, taking her hand again.
"Please be careful. Don't take unnecessary risks, do anything stupid, or go all Hollywood on things," she said, her brown eyes pleading. Dillon leaned in and gave her a quick kiss.
"You know just as well as I do that Jason won't let me get into the big stuff. And you know that I'm careful," he said.
"Promise," Georgie demanded, gripping his hand hard. Dillon gave an upward roll of his eyes.
"Fine. I promise," he said. She smiled beautifully up at him before she gave him a return kiss.
"Thank you," she said. He wrapped an arm around her and they continued walking towards the mansion. But despite Dillon's best efforts to reassure her and to take her mind off of everything, Georgie still felt like all things were going to be blown sky high before long.
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A/N: Ya'll will probably hate me by the time this saga is all over (I can't warn you enough)… for that, I'm sorry, but I hope you will like it anyways… And it may be a while before it's actually over considering my penchant for not updating as quickly as ya'll (or me) would like!
