Author's notes: I've had the stuff with Faith in my mind since I started this, she has nothing to do with the lovely psycho Faith on the show. Just now realized they were starting out in similar directions, lol. ;) Kelli, jasonlover, goblz, and Brandy- thanks!


"What's all this, Mom?" Michael asked, uninterestedly flipping through the books and files Carly had piled around her.

"Homework," she answered with a sigh.

The boy's eyes were wide with disbelief. "Homework for your job?"

She nodded. "Yep. It's all stuff Andrew thinks I need to know."

"Why can't he just tell you all this?"

"I don't know," she replied, shrugging. "I guess he's too busy."

"Andrew's a busy guy, isn't he?"

"Very busy."

"I like Andrew. He's cool," he said, smiling.

She looked up and smiled at her young son. "I'm glad you like him. I know he likes you, too."

Michael fidgeted unsurely. "Are you going to marry him, Mom?"

The phone rang, saving Carly from any further questions. "I think it's a little early to think about that, Mr. Man," she told him, going to answer it. She picked up the receiver. "Hello?"

"Hi!"

Carly smiled at the sound of her mother's voice. "How are you, Mama? How's Lucas?"

"We're just fine. Lucas sends his love."

"Tell him I miss him, too."

"How's your job?"

"It's been, um, interesting." Carly told her mother about the incident with Braden.

"You hit him?" Bobbie asked incredulously.

"He grabbed me!" Carly replied defensively.

"What did your boyfriend say?"

She rolled her eyes, knowing her mother would ask that question. "Andrew is not my boyfriend. We just started dating, Mama."

"Well, excuse me!" she said, her amusement carried through the phone line. "What'd he say?"

"He wished he could've been there."

"I take it Mr. Sticky Hands isn't very popular."

"Uh, no. I'm not even the first to hit him."

"So you're working for someone else now?"

"Well, I was with the next guy three days and I didn't even last a day with the last guy," she said sheepishly.

"What did you do, Carly?" Bobbie asked knowingly.

"I didn't do anything!" she defended herself. "Except yell a little bit," she added quietly.

"Oh, Carly," the redhead sighed.

"He deserved it, the misogynic bastard," she grumbled.

"You're going to get fired if you don't watch it."

"I know, Mama," Carly replied with a sigh. "You're not going to believe who they assigned me to now."

"Who?"

"Andrew."

"No way! How are things going with him?"

Carly couldn't help smiling. "Things are going pretty well."

"How's Michael handling it?"

"Michael just loves him. Andrew went to see his daughters and apparently they didn't want to see him. We were talking about it and Michael comes in to tell him that the girls are pretty dumb if they don't want to see him because he thinks Andrew is pretty cool. How sweet was that?"

"That's great, sweetie. Sounds like you found yourself a keeper."

"Mama!" Carly scolded, rolling her eyes.

"How is everything else? Do like where you're living?"

"We like it. We've both made some friends. Michael is enjoying school. I think I'm going to like my job. Andrew's giving me more responsibility than the others would. And it's safe here. The whole area belongs to the WSB. Sonny can't touch us here without getting caught by a bunch of people who give their right arm to take him down."

"That's great, Carly. All I want is for you to be happy. If Andrew and this job makes you happy, then I'm completely behind you."

"I know, Mama. We'll just have to see about Andrew and the job. But so far I'm happy and Michael's happy."

"Then I'm happy, too. Oh honey, I've got to go! The ER just beeped me. Talk to you in a few weeks! Give Michael a kiss for me! Bye!" Bobbie said in a hurry. She hung up before Carly could even get a word in.

Carly stared at the phone in her hand. "Bye, Mama," she said, somewhat dejectedly, as she hung up the phone. She leaned against the wall tiredly. She enjoyed the infrequent calls with her mother. It was the only the connection to her family she had left. She reminded herself to thank Tony again. After Sonny had found her through Bobbie's phone records shortly after she'd left, Tony had offered his office to them, saying Sonny wouldn't be able to trace the call if it went through the hospital switchboard. Despite everything she had done to him in the past, Tony had still been kind enough to try and help her. A kindness she swore she would find a way to repay one day.

A knock on the door startled her. She rolled her eyes and sighed. At this rate, she was never going to get through all that reading. "Coming!" she yelled.

She opened the door to find a tearful Faith on the other side. "I hope you don't mind me stopping by," the blonde said, smiling sadly.

"No, not at all," Carly said, motioning her inside. "What's wrong, Faith?"

"Oh nothing's wrong," she answered. She followed the other woman into the kitchen, stopping only for Carly to look in on Michael. "I just didn't want to be alone today."

They sat at the table, pushing the books and files out of the way. "Why?" Carly asked sympathetically.

The nearly always present smile disappeared from her face. "It's the anniversary of my husband's death. Three years."

Carly's heart went out to the blonde. She still remembered all the nights she didn't sleep worrying about Sonny and Jason. "I'm sorry," she said, reaching out to touch her.

The Texan smiled again and squeezed her hand. "Oh, it's okay, honey. I just hate this day."

"How did he die? If you don't mind me asking."

"He was undercover and his cover was blown. The crime boss he was investigating had him murdered. That's why I left Miami and transferred here."

Carly's blood ran cold. He's a fed. Tell DiLucca I want him eliminated, Jason. Sonny's voice rang through her mind. She had a bad feeling Faith's husband was the fed Roy had caught, the one she happened to overhear Sonny ordering a hit on. "Who was he investigating?" she asked apprehensively.

"A mob boss named Corinthos. Why?"

She closed her eyes. "I know who killed him," she admitted quietly.

"I'm sure Corinthos ordered it. I don't really care who pulled the trigger." Faith narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "How do you know Joe's killer?"

"He was my mother's fiancé." Carly looked away from her friend. She couldn't look the other woman in the eye. "Sonny Corinthos is my ex-husband."

"The ex you're running from is Sonny?" she asked in angry disbelief. "You're Carly Corinthos?"

Carly just nodded her head. Faith stood up and walked a few feet away, her face in her hands.

"Faith, I'm so sorry."

"Don't be. You didn't do anything." Faith wiped away the tears that had begun to fall. "I need to go." She made a hasty exit from the room, heading for the door.

"Faith!" Carly, called rushing after the blonde. She made it into the hall in time to see the front door close. "Damn it," she groaned, resting her head on the doorframe. Faith was one of her few friends and her life with Sonny had just isolated her again. God, she had never felt like killing her ex-husband more in her life.