Tamara- Thank you for the review, as you can see, I put both Courtney and Jason in to appease the all consuming need for Journey, but that's it… at least for the rest of the story.

Note: I couldn't end the story without one more Damian and Michael chapter. It just felt wrong. So, here we go.

Story-

Corinthos Household-

He never was the type of person who got dressed in pajamas abnormally early. Even though it was nighttime in Port Charles, he didn't switch from the suit of death to more comfortable sweatpants and a crewcut shirt, instead going with the old and always reliable jeans and a t-shirt. It sure as hell beat the suit, though, that much was certain. They really should have put labels on those things, 'will cause significant amounts of chaffing in short time.' The warning wouldn't sell many shirts, but it would be honest. But since when was advertising honest?

Damian walked up the stairs towards Michael's room. The door was halfway open, he gave the door a gentle knock, poking his head inside. The boy was hard at work on his bed, looking at books and writing things on a pad of paper. Michael was a scholar waiting to happen, most children his age didn't have any sort of study habits. If they were blood, Damian would have said it came from him, but it probably came from the Quartermaine's… not all of their gifts were as horrible as people wanted them to seem. The boy didn't look up at the knock, perhaps he was so engrossed in his activity that nothing else mattered, but everyone needed a break from time to time. "Michael," he spoke softly, "can I come in?"

"If you want."

Damian took the invitation and walked inside the room, looking around at all of the things that Michael had accumulated. Christmas had been kind to the boy, and why wouldn't it have been? Michael deserved everything that he received and more… nobody his age should have been expected to put up with everything that Michael was expected to put up with. The constant questions and brushings off by the adults. It would have driven Damian insane, and while Michael obviously didn't care for the methods that the adults utilized he also didn't let it break him. "I half expected you to be playing your new video game and using one of those books to cover it up from dad or Carly."

"School's starting tomorrow… this project is due at the end of the week."

"Uncle Jason said that he helped you pick a country."

"Uncle Jason always helps me when I need him."

"That's because you mean a lot to him," Damian walked over, looking at the book. "So, what country did you pick?"

"Switzerland."

"They make good cocoa."

Michael looked up at him, an eyebrow raised, "What are you talking about?"

The young man gave an uneasy chuckle, "You know, the cocoa in Switzerland, the hot chocolate, it's supposed to be the best. That's why they have that Swiss Mix stuff at the… oh, forget it." Obviously, his attempts at humor had fallen on deaf ears.

"I would have asked you for some help… but I didn't want to bother you."

"Michael… you can always come to me for help on your homework, you know that. You should have gone to Uncle Jason for this assignment, though… I'm not very good with geography."

"You don't have time for me anymore."

"What makes you say that?"

Michael looked at him, putting the pencil down on the pad, "You don't! I know you don't… you don't spend any time with me anymore, you're always with Maxie, or with Dillon or someone else, but never me."

"I try and spend time with you…"

"Well you're not trying hard enough! When you came here you were always spending time with me… even when you weren't living here anymore you took the time to be with me because you said you cared about me."

"I do!"

"Then why don't you do things with me anymore, Damian?" Michael asked, tears of frustration beginning to well up in his eyes, "Are you mad at me or something?"

"No… of course not."

"Then what is it?"

"Michael… I don't know what to tell you. You still mean so much to me, you always will, but I'm not always going to be around when you want me to be."

"You're never around anymore, that's the problem."

"I wish I could do something to help make it better, kid, but I can't… its part of who I am."

"I just want to spend time with my big brother…"

"Hey," Damian finally sat on the bed next to Michael, "I'm right here, and I'm not going to be going anywhere unless you want me to go or something happens. I'm so sorry that you feel that I don't spend enough time with you, but you have to believe that it doesn't mean that I don't care about you. You're my little brother, Michael, you're the reason why I'm even here right now…"

"Really?"

He nodded, "If dad wouldn't have had you I wouldn't have stuck around. Morgan's a baby, Michael, he wouldn't have had enough time to even make any sort of connection to me if I had stayed away, but you… you knew who was, what I was to you, and you accepted that I was a member of your family before anyone else did… and I accepted that you were a part of my family, too. I never had a little brother before you, but I've always known how important it is that the little brother have someone to look up to… and since you got stuck with me… well, that's why I stayed."

"So… you stayed because of me?" Michael had been altogether unaware of his part in keeping Damian around, but now that he knew he was very happy about it. Yes, his brother had taken time to himself, time that he didn't spend with Michael, and it did hurt, but Michael still looked up to Damian, still loved him.

"I stayed because of you."

"I didn't know that."

"You don't understand how important you are to the people around you yet, Michael, but you are very important to all of us. Just don't use it as a way to get yourself any new toys or video games and you should be fine."

"When can we do something again?"

He shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know… you know how I'm going to start working at the hospital tomorrow?"

"Daddy said something about it, I knew you would be a doctor."

"I'm not a doctor yet, but I'm going to be working with them a lot… and when I do that I have to stay at the hospital for days at a time, I can't even come home to sleep in my bed."

"Why?"

"Part of the process… they try and see which of us isn't strong enough to handle it."

"Are you strong enough?"

"I don't know… I hope so." It would have been really horrible if he spent all those years trying to be a doctor only to crash and burn because he couldn't hang with the procedures.

"I think you're strong enough."

Damian smiled, "Thanks… that means a lot coming from you." Now he had motivation. Michael wanted him to succeed, and if he failed it would have an adverse impact not only on Damian, but on Michael as well. The boy was still young enough to believe that his big brother was something of a god, infallible and strong.

"Can I come see you while you're working?"

"As long as you're not actually sick… yeah."

"When?"

"I don't know, whenever I have a break… assuming I have a break." 72 hours of nonstop work didn't seem possible, they had to let him sleep and eat sometimes, right? Bobbie would save him from killing himself… wouldn't she?

"Does Maxie know that you'll be busy so long?"

"Yes, she does, but she works at the hospital too, remember? So we'll be together sometimes… not that I'll be able to focus on her all the time, or much…"

"She'll get lonely without you."

"She knows how much I care about her, Michael, but she also knows how important this is to me, just like you do. I'm going to be working at a very good hospital, and it might be really stressful, but as long as I have people like you and dad and everyone else looking out for me I'm pretty sure I can do it."

"What if you can't?"

"Then I can't."

"That's it?" Michael didn't understand how he could be so blunt about it. "If you can't do this you just stop and nothing else happens?"

"You can always start doing something new with your life, Michael," Damian didn't want to do anything else, but being a doctor in actuality was something that was considerably different from being a doctor in his dreams. "I don't know what I would do, but I would find something else to keep myself going."

"You could play the piano."

"I'm not good enough to play the piano as a professional." He never was good enough, but if he had any chance of doing it that chance was gone after his mother died and he gave up doing it.

"I think you're good."

"Why don't you try it while I'm at the hospital?" Damian suggested. "Just don't break any of the keys or something…"

"Could you help me with something?"

"Yeah… sure. What?"

Michael handed him the book that he was looking at. "I don't get what this sentence is telling me…"

Damian looked at the sentence, it used works like economics and importation, words that Michael probably, and apparently, didn't understand. "It's saying that Switzerland makes a lot of money by importing things like watches… and cocoa."

"You were right about the cocoa?"

"According to this book? Yes, I was."

"That sounds good right now…"

"It does, doesn't it?" Maybe not cocoa from Switzerland, but would Michael really know the difference? "You want some?"

"Do we have any?"

"Only one way to find out, and if we don't, we'll go to Kelly's and get some… if you want."

"I'll go check the kitchen!"

"Don't make a mess!" Damian called out as the boy darted away. Yes, he was distracting his little brother from doing his schoolwork, and yes, that was irresponsible, but Michael was just a little boy, he had his whole life ahead of him, and hopefully Damian would be able to help him grow up into a good person, the person that Damian knew Michael could be.