Port Charles Police Department-
Sonny tried to never go into the PCPD without a good reason. He didn't like being around the cells, they made him nervous, they made his claustrophobia return with a vengeance. Even at that very moment, Sonny Corinthos was fighting back the feeling that everything was closing in on him, but Sonny was good at hiding his weaknesses, while his insides may have been twisting and turning, on the outside Sonny looked like he had always looked: cool, calm, confident. The only times when Sonny lost the stigma that made him so feared and respected was when things were crumbling in around him. He didn't have to worry about that, at least not yet. Sonny hoped that it would never come to be, another time when he had to worry about the safety of someone that he cared about.
He heard the clamoring of the people in the cells. They were looking at him, telling him things that he didn't want to hear, telling him how they weren't anywhere near as bad as him, that he was the one who needed to be locked up and that they should have been free. Sonny just gave them the cold look that had often silenced so many others, but the prisoners continued to talk, they had nothing else to lose and figured that they could taunt Sonny while they were already in custody, they were safe there. Sonny got an inward smirk at the fact that they didn't know just how dangerous it was for them no matter where they were.
An officer, a female officer, placed her baton against the railing and told the people to quiet down. She gave Sonny the same look that all the police officers in Port Charles did. She didn't think that he deserved to be free either, but she knew that there was nothing they could do to prove that he needed to be behind bars. Sonny was a free man, they all just needed to bide their time and wait for the moment when Sonny finally slipped up. It hadn't happened to a point where they could put him away for good yet, but nobody was that lucky, not even Sonny Corinthos.
Ric had heard the commotion from his office. He didn't pay any attention to it, figuring that someone would quickly quell the more anxious members of their incarcerated club, but it wasn't until the mumblings continued that Ric finally got up, leaving his files on his desk and walked out into the open. "I'll add an extra few months to the time anyone who doesn't shut up…" it was then that Ric saw his big brother, who was looking directly at him. "Sonny?"
"Should have known you'd be here…"
"There are some who claim that you should be here, too…"
"Like you?"
Ric managed to stay as collected as he could. Sonny knew how to push his buttons too well, but Ric was trying to better himself as a person. Elizabeth wouldn't accept him if he continued to unleash plan after plan in hopes that he could finally destroy Sonny's life. "I don't think that any of your people have been arrested… certainly not Jason. I think I would know…"
"Because you love obsessing about my 'operations' right, little brother?" Sonny put an emphasis on the world 'operations,' his public face demanding that he deny the truth, even when he was around people who knew better. Ric knew the truth, but Ric couldn't do anything about it. "Really, I didn't think that the coffee business could be so interesting to you, didn't you pick up on any sort of hobbies over at that Ivy League school where you got your degree?"
"The only hobby I picked up was finding a way to put people away who abuse the law."
"And kidnapping a pregnant woman, holding her hostage, doesn't count as abusing the law because?"
"Why are you here, Sonny?" Ric balled his hand into a fist, the tension causing his entire body to shake. If they were actually brothers by bond instead of just by blood, if they had grown up together, odds were high that they would be best friends, or they would have killed each other. As it stood it was nearly impossible for the two of them not to kill each other every time they spent more than five minutes together. It was only the memory of their mother, Adella, that kept them from doing the final fatal deed. Ric could get away with keeping Sonny in prison, he would still be alive… Sonny wasn't so lucky. In that respect, it was Ric who had the leverage.
"I need to speak with someone…"
"Someone?"
"It isn't you, Ric," Sonny said snidely, "so I don't think that you should worry yourself about it in any way."
"Sonny… is everything all right?"
"Why do you care?"
"Because we're brothers, Sonny. We might not like each other, we might try and hurt each other far too often, but we still share a mother. She might be gone now…"
"Don't talk about her!" Sonny snapped. "You never earned the right to even acknowledge her being alive! She's not your mother, Ric… she's mine."
"You can't deny me the right to think of her as my mother, Sonny… she didn't raise me because she couldn't give you up… she thought she could keep you happy… she was wrong."
"I'd punch you, but this isn't the time or the place."
"Just leave, Sonny…"
"I'm not leaving until I talk to Mac."
Mac? Why did Sonny want to talk with Mac? Ric would have asked if he thought that he had any chance of actually getting an answer, but he knew that Sonny wouldn't even tell him anything, and more than that, Ric just wanted Sonny to get out of his face. Ric was hurt by Sonny's words, by the denial that Sonny placed on their mother. It pained Ric to think that he had never met his mother, not even once… he might have seen her a few times, but he was too young and the memories were long gone. He didn't even have pictures of her. "He's in his office," Ric said with gritted teeth.
"Do me a favor, Ric, don't follow me…"
"Wouldn't dream of it, big brother," Ric's title for Sonny was almost always filled with spite, it was no different at that moment. He watched Sonny walk away, lowering his head. He had fathomed for a brief second actually trying to tell Sonny about the wedding, even inviting him to be a part of it, but Sonny started to attack him with almost no provocation, and Ric didn't need anything tarnishing the day that he wanted to be one of the happiest in his life. It was their last encounter of the year, and it stung just as much as the others.
Mac was blissfully unaware of the fact that there were problems going on in his department. His door was closed as he spoke to someone on the phone. It wasn't Maxie. She was due for a checkup anytime, but she had yet to call. He wasn't worried. He had finally almost managed to bring himself to the point where he didn't think anything was going to happen between Damian and Maxie.
Those brief seconds of happiness were forever shattered when he saw Sonny Corinthos looking at him through the partially opened door. Mac glared at Sonny, trying not to make any sudden movements, provoke the man, speaking into the phone, "I'll call you back, I have something that I need to take care of."
Sonny watched Mac hang the phone up, "You could have finished the call, I would have waited."
"I'm sure whatever you have for me is more important than a phone call with an old friend… she was just wishing me happy New Year."
"If I did that, would you try and put me away?"
"Depends on if you had me dangling from a meat hook or something…" Mac didn't have the time for games, he didn't want to play with Sonny, he just wanted Sonny gone, but Sonny wouldn't leave until he said what he needed to say, Mac was certain of that. "Why are you here?"
"Our kids are in New York City together…"
"I'm aware of that."
"I'm assuming that you have Maxie checking in with you every so often…"
"That's none of your concern."
"When it involves my son it becomes my concern, Mac…"
"Yes, Sonny, Maxie's supposed to check in with me, she should be doing so soon. I expect her to be on her way back to Port Charles in a few hours." Mac looked over at the clock. She said she would be home before the night was done, and he was going to keep her to her word.
"Yeah… about that," Sonny knew that things weren't going to be great between him and Mac, but he was at least willing to give it a try because he actually was quite fond of Maxie and thought she was good for his kid. "My pilot called, the one who took them to New York… he said there is no way that he can take off any time tonight…"
Those were the last words that Mac wanted to hear. He didn't even want to think aboutg it, but he refused to give into the thoughts that were swirling in his mind. He wanted Sonny to tell him what was really going on. "What are you talking about?"
"Damian and Maxie are stuck in New York city tonight, Mac," Sonny laid it out, plain and simple, "because they can't move out of the city without risking their lives, and my pilot isn't an idiot, he wouldn't put their lives in danger…"
"But you would."
"I didn't come here to fight…"
"Then why did you come here, Sonny?" Mac asked, angry that his daughter was going to be spending more time with her boyfriend. "Did you come to gloat? To tell me that you were a better father than me simply because you're able to accept the fact that your son is dating the daughter of the commissioner and I can't accept the fact that my daughter is dating the son of a…"
"Coffee importer."
"Don't give me that," Mac growled. "We both know what you do, Sonny. I've seen the bodies… I've been to the crime scenes. You might be able to fool people into thinking that you're a good person, but you can't fool me."
"You want to know why I came here, Mac?" Sonny stood in front of Mac, who had a few inches on him, but Sonny wasn't going to be intimidated by anyone, especially an officer of the law. "I came out of respect for you as a father, as Maxie's father. I felt that since it was my plane that took them you should hear it from me…"
"That doesn't help make me feel any better."
"I bet you're blaming him for this, aren't you?"
"You're damn right I'm blaming your kid for this… it was his idea! I knew it was a bad one, but I didn't want Maxie to hate me…"
"Damian doesn't have control over the weather. He's not Meekos Cassadine!"
"I never said he did…"
"But you thought it," Sonny knew what Mac was thinking, Mac wasn't all that great at keeping his emotions hidden. Sometimes it helped, but more often than not it made Mac very unfit for the job. "I don't know what you have against my son…"
"You don't?" Mac laughed. "How dense are you, Sonny? Look around your life… look at everything that you have around you. You have bodyguards, bulletproof windows, you live in a penthouse that is how many feet up in the air?"
"He doesn't have anything to do with that…"
"He lives with you!" Mac slammed his file on the desk, scattering the papers everywhere. It didn't matter, there were things that were more important than getting the papers. "You put him in danger and by default he puts the people that he is around in danger… that includes both of my daughters, I'll have you know, but Maxie is the one in more immediate danger, she's already been kidnapped because of him!"
"My son is a better person than I could ever hope to be," Sonny didn't want to stand around and let Mac insult the integrity of his son, because Mac wouldn't be able to survive the encounter and Sonny didn't want him dead… yet. "Maxie's lucky to have him… he's lucky to have her. You need to actually look at their relationship without your blinders on, Mac… you could be a lot happier about it. I know I am."
Mac heard the door slam, his anger blinding him to the point where he couldn't really see anything. He sat in his chair, a dejected sigh coming from his lips as he looked up. Sonny was wrong… he was just protecting his son, but could Mac really blame him for that? Maybe… maybe not.