Note: Sorry about yesterday. Net was down all day. Thankfully it came back today, right? I'm quite happy.

Story-

Corinthos Household, Morning-

If it weren't for the fact that giving blood was such an emotionally and physically draining task, Damian probably would have gotten no sleep the night before. He struggled to stay up, wondering if he fell asleep that they would call again and he would be too induced in his slumber to wake up. He'd almost missed the chance to save Morgan once, he sincerely doubted that fate would shine upon him a second time if the chance occurred. But even the most steadfast of determination could not quell the Sandman, who claimed the young man almost as quickly as he closed his eyes.

But that was the night before. The first thing Damian did when his eyes opened up the next morning was look at the cell phone that was placed mere inches away from his ear. The worry that was built up from wonderment ended up being entirely unjustified. He missed no calls.

Sitting up, Damian once more found his eyes directed toward the vision of his mother, her likeness, her beauty, forever captured in a picture. How could he not think of her? Did she help him? When he needed everything that he could cling on in an effort to hopefully turn the tide of mortality against Morgan, did she heed his beckon? "Mom…" his voice was hoarse, breathless as the word echoed softly out of his mouth.

He knew that he was still dressed in the clothes that he had left the house in the day before, and he didn't care. He'd shower, briefly per instructions and procedures, and change later. There were things more important than hygiene and looking good. Even Sonny Corinthos, who constantly topped the Herald's best dressed list, would concede that fact. Sonny was probably still in the same clothes, would people think less of him? Of course not.

The door to his room opened as he poked his head out. It was odd, somehow being ostracized from the rooms upstairs, yet fitting. He was a member of the family, but there was always that distance. He didn't mind, it made getting out of the house easier if he didn't have to run down the stairs, and midnight snacks were also quick within reach.

Although he did not initially feel the penetrating gaze of Jason Morgan's eyes, it was there. Jason had stayed the whole night, not at the request of anyone, simply because he felt that it was his duty to make sure that those members of his family that were inside Sonny's house were kept safe or had someone to talk with. Courtney might have stayed at the hospital with Carly, or maybe she went back to their own penthouse. Whatever the case, Jason wasn't going to leave unless something came up.

"How are you feeling?" Jason asked, genuinely concerned. He never wanted any harm to befall Damian, no matter what the boy did.

"Physically? Fine…"

"I know that giving blood can take a big toll on a person. I don't usually give blood, but I've lost plenty in my time…"

"I don't doubt that."

"Do you need something?"

"No…" whatever he needed was not something that anyone could provide, not his father, not Jason, not even Maxie. "Actually… there is something that you can do for me…"

"What is it?"

"Stay with Michael. I mean, if you can't… that's fine. I just don't want him to be alone…"

"You don't need to go back to the hospital, Damian. Nobody has called, and they would call if something was wrong."

"I'm glad that he's doing okay, Uncle Jason, but that's not it… I might stop by later, if he's not already back here by then… but I have something that I need to take care of, alone."

"Sonny's going to ask questions if you're not here," Jason knew his best friend well enough to hear Sonny's voice, the exact way that he would wonder about the whereabouts to his son. "Right now his mind isn't in the best of places. If I tell him that you're somewhere, but I don't even know where, he's going to worry."

"Just tell him that I said I needed to do something on my own," the response was simple. "It's not dangerous, I promise… I'll be fine."

"The fact that you say that only makes me wonder more, and he's going to take it even worse than me…"

"I can't tell you," Damian hated the need to be so secretive, but it was something that was entirely private. His burden to bear, nobody else needed to have the weight on their shoulders just to help him. "Look, I know that you have no reason to trust me, but I'm begging you to do this for me. It's really important that I just have some time to myself… I'm not asking for a miracle, I'm just asking for you to do this one thing for me."

"If Sonny gets worried, you know that you can't hide from him, especially if you're in Port Charles… and I'm not going to try and stop him from looking for you. Even if I wanted to try I wouldn't be able to do it. When Sonny worries about his children… that's it."

"But you'll stay here… and tell dad that I said I would be fine?"

It was easy to see that the boy wanted whatever it was that he was searching for, maybe he didn't even know. Jason knew full well about having things that only he could deal with himself. Everyone had that… who was he to rob another person of the right to figure things out for themselves? "Yeah… I'll stick around."

"Thank you."

Before another word could be spoken by either party, they heard Michael running down the stairs into the living room. He saw his brother and for the first time in many days it was easy to see that Michael was happy to see that Damian was there. "I thought I heard your voice… it was why I came down here."

Although there was a shared look between Damian and Jason as to what they were talking about before Michael intervened, the look was all that was exchanged. As he had done many times in the past for the sake of his younger brother, Damian kept his worries inside, putting on a smile that was mixed with both sincerity and deceit. "I would have come to tell you that I was home, but Uncle Jason and Aunt Courtney said you were asleep, I didn't want to wake you up."

"I wouldn't have minded…"

"Well I'm sure Uncle Jason would have… because then he would have needed to try and get you to go back to sleep at one in the morning. It was better that you slept through the whole thing, Michael."

"I was scared…"

"We all were, buddy," Jason knew how sensitive Michael was. Everyone did. They all did their best to keep him from seeing the truths of the world, of his life, but Jason believed that he did the most work out of everyone else, and it wasn't something that most people would have argued with. "But your parents didn't call at all last night to tell us that anything had changed for the worse, so that means that Morgan's getting better."

"Because of you, right?" Michael looked directly at Damian.

"Not entirely," Damian replied. "Michael… I did something that helped Morgan get better, but Morgan's the one who did most of the work. We've got a strong baby brother who knows how much we all love him and he doesn't want to lose us anytime soon."

"But you helped, I know it… you're not even a doctor yet and you're already saving lives."

Damian grinned. It was a nice compliment. One that only a child could give. "Why don't I make you something to eat?"

"I've never seen you cook before…"

"You also never saw me play the piano until dad bought me one, just because you haven't seen me do something doesn't mean I can't do it."

"Are you a good cook, like daddy?"

"I'm not like dad, no… but I'm better than Carly or Uncle Jason."

Jason didn't mind his cooking skills being the subject of scorn, it was the truth. He couldn't cook at all. Microwavable goods were his friend. However, there was one cardinal rule in the Corinthos household, and Jason felt the need to express it. "Sonny's not going to like it if you mess up his kitchen…"

"Right now do you think dad would even notice something in the kitchen after everything that's gone on?" The argument was valid. If Sonny cared that much about his cooking ware, then it would shock everyone. "Besides, I'm not lying… I can make some food… I'll prove it to you."

"You're not going to just pour some cereal in a bowl like mommy does, are you?" Michael didn't want his dreams of a homemade breakfast from someone other than his father dashed.

"I can promise you that cereal won't be a part of this menu, come on…"

Although he had been in the kitchen many times in the few months that he had been living in the house, he'd never so much as touched the pots and pans. Various plates and bowls, yes, but he was going into uncharted territory, with no fear. He knew he could do something simple, and he wanted to. He needed to eat more than anyone else in the house because of the donation.

"What are you going to make?" Michael asked curiously as he sat at the table.

"Scrambled eggs," start with something simple. Even Carly and Jason could mix eggs in a bowl, although they might have to worry about a few of the shells getting inside. "But I'm going to put some spices in there, too."

"Did your mom know how to cook?"

He was silent for a moment as he let the memories of his mother in front of the stove pass through his mind. "She wasn't like dad, but she wasn't horrible at it like your mom." He had to admit, it was fun, poking harmlessly at Carly, insulting a well noted character flaw that even she wouldn't mind making fun of herself. "There were a few things that she could make really well. Most of the time my grandmother did the cooking." He had the strong urge to call her, but it was early in the morning in Los Angeles. He knew that he could call at any time, but she didn't need to be woken up just so he could hear her voice. It might have been harder for him to deal with everything if he did hear her voice.

"Do you think she would have liked me?"

"Michael… she would have loved you." His mother wasn't like him. She loved children. Every time he had a new cousin born she was always willing to baby sit, watch over the newest addition to her family. Maybe it was to compensate for the fact that she somehow knew she would never have another child.

"Why don't you talk about her more?"

"Michael, you shouldn't be asking something like that." Jason had heard the conversation. He knew that Michael asked a lot of questions, but sometimes he asked questions without wondering what kind of impact the question would have.

The boy quickly realized that he had done something that was insensitive, "I'm sorry, Damian."

"It's all right," Damian didn't mind the questions so much, but he wasn't going to say that the safe wasn't taken with some degree of gratitude.

"Do you think I can go see Morgan today?" He changed the subject to something that he knew wouldn't be as taboo. "I'm worried about him."

"Morgan's probably going to come home sometime today, so you don't need to go and see him." Damian finished beating the eggs and placed them in the oiled pan. "But if he doesn't come home today I'm sure someone will take you."

"We can go together…"

He stopped his search for the spices that he was looking for on the rack to turn his head over his shoulder, "Michael… I'm going to be busy today. After I eat, I'm going to be gone. Uncle Jason's going to stay with you."

"You're not going to see Morgan?" Michael was puzzled. Was Damian angry at something?

"Maybe later on tonight, but for most of the day I'm going to be doing something alone. Tell you what, if Morgan's still at the hospital and you haven't seen him at all when I get back, we'll go together."

"Promise?"

"I promise. Go wash your hands, breakfast is going to be ready soon…"

Jason watched Michael run towards the bathroom. It was close by, so he kept his voice low. "You didn't have to tell him anything about what you were going to do."

"I didn't want him to think that I was ignoring him… he's barely gotten back to the point where he can stand having me in the same room. Thanks for the save, by the way. You didn't need to do that."

"Are you sure you want to do this, whatever it is, alone?"

"Yeah…" it wasn't the entire truth. He wasn't sure he wanted to do it. But he knew that it was something that he had to do.