She was abruptly woken by harsh movement on the bed, followed by a weight on her legs. She rolled to the side, then back to the center. Her eyes opened and all hse could see was a blur moving back and forth. Clothes fell onto her legs, thrown from the closet and bureau. She looked to the side of the bed and saw a large suitcase, halfway filled.

"Wha—What are you doing?"

"We have to leave. Get up and get your stuff together."

"You're kidding, right?"

"I wish. In less than twenty-four hours, the PCPD will be busting down the door."

"I can't just leave!" She bent forward and fell onto her knees. She crawled over the piles of clothes. "Robin needs me."

"I need you, dammit!" He sighed and his body slumped forward. His back bowed and when he looked up he was inches from her face. "I can't stay here. We can come back later, mariposa, but we have to be gone by the time the police arrive."

"You talk like it's so easy…" Her hand went to his face and she gently caressed the line of his jaw with her fingertips. She slid her hand upwards and tapped his cheekbone with the pad of her middle finger. "To just pick up and go. Nothing can be that easy."

"Anything is that easy. Haven't we proven that already?"

She didn't answer him. Instead, her head turned to the side and she whispered, "Stay here. Stay with me."

He grabbed her by the wrists so quickly that she barely breathed in that second. In an instant, she was on her back and he hovered over her. Buttons bit into her back and thighs. His shirt gaped open and her eyes focused on his chest, them moved to his face as he spoke. "You want me to go to jail? Did you call 'em on me? A last spiteful act 'cause of what I did?"

"You're insane, you know that? Why would I call the cops on you? I'm over it. It happened and now it's over. I'm asking you to stay with me, not go to jail."

"Sure."

He snorted… and then he kissed her hard enough to bruise.

Brenda Barrett was, at last, completely separated from the life that had caused her so much grief. Well… as much as possible. Each month, ten thousand dollars appeared in the business account for L&B Records. There was nothing she could do to stop it, and she had tried. The only thing she could do was look at her business partner, Lois Cerullo, and shake her head. She had tried, but their benefactor wasn't one to take "leave me alone" very easily.

Luis Alcazar was determined to keep the only connection he had left to Brenda. The way she would explain it, Luis had an issue with possessions. Brenda belonged to him, and he wasn't going to let her go completely, even if he were thousands of miles away in a location only disclosed to his brother. She hadn't heard anything from him since he left, so that was the only explanation she had for it.

She thought that maybe, after the crisis had abated, she would have gone if he'd sent for her. At the time, there was just too much going on. Stone Cates was dying, and there was no way she could leave behind one of her best friends, Robin Scorpio, to run from the law with Luis. At the same time, the record company was taking off, and if she'd have left Lois in a lurch, she'd have never heard the end of it. There was too much, and as much as she loved him, she just couldn't leave.

Stone died. L&B levelled off. The Quartermaines got on her nerves and Robin went off to college. There really wasn't much left for her after a while. That was when she wanted him to send for her. She knew it was selfish. He'd dropped everything and run while she stayed behind, unable to relinquish her life, but she didn't care. Luis knew she was selfish, anyway. But, he didn't send for her, and she had to push her life forward.

"All you have to do is give him this letter. Don't read it, don't paraphrase it. I know that you know where he is. I know you know how to get in touch with him, even if you don't know exactly where he is. Just give him this, Lorenzo, please."

"I'm sorry, Brenda, I can't."

"You…" She sighed and closed her eyes. She counted slowly to herself until she reached ten. Then, her eyes opened. "Do you hate me that much, Lorenzo? Do both of you hate me for not going with him?"

"Brenda, I don't hate you. I just can't take that. If I take that letter, then the cops will have reason to say I know where he is. They could put me away for aiding and abetting a fugitive."

"I won't tell anybody that you took it. And if he gets it and he knows… If he knows what I need him to know, no one will ever find out because I won't be here."

"I'm sorry, Brenda."

"Sorry… You're sorry." A bark came out of her throat that was a mixture of a laugh and a sob. Her eyes were leaking, but she didn't brush the tears away. "I was here to help you and Robin when Stone died. I watched you cry when your brother wasn't here to see it and when you wouldn't show it to anybody else, not even Lois. I gave up so many friends for him and because of what the two of you did… and now you're sorry. You owe me, Lorenzo. You owe me this one little thing. Just send him this letter. Or tell him to call me because I know… I know! You talk to him, and he asks, and I know you tell him I'm fine. Well, you tell him I'm not fine. And if he says he doesn't care…"

Brenda turned away and squeezed her eyes, hoping it would stop the tears from flowing. It only made them fall harder. She turned back to him with her face streaked with mascara. "If he says he doesn't care, then you tell him to stop putting money in the L&B accounts. And you tell him… Tell him to come back and get me!"

The envelope crunched as her hands balled up. She beat at Lorenzo's chest and it would have been just like the second time she broke up with Luis… except that Lorenzo grabbed her arms and pulled her close. Luis would have just grabbed her wrists, stepped back and laughed. Some others couldn't tell the Alcazar brothers apart, but she could, and she knew that this person holding her tiny shaking form was not Luis.

Brenda stepped back and let the envelope drop to the floor between them. "Just give him that letter, Lorenzo. Just tell him that I need him…"

Brenda shook her head and damned Luis's contributions to her company. She only thought about him when the influx of money came, and it lasted an entire week. The other three out of the month went along with very little thought of Luis Alcazar and how he made her feel.

Maybe she could leave a note with the bank. It had been over four years since he left, and she'd never thought to do that, but now… Now, she figured it was time. She could leave a note to be wired to the source of the other account and tell its owner that she wanted to buy him out. She was sure that she and Lois could handle themselves, and if they needed extra income, she was seeing someone who was more than capable and willing to invest in the music industry.

Jasper "Jax" Jacks was a businessman, and while it was only borderline legitimacy that he could claim, he was still one that Brenda wouldn't have to worry about running off in the middle of the night. He was a corporate raider, not a job that made him very many friends in the professional world, but somehow he had most of the people in Port Charles around his pinky. It was probably because he talked a very nice, very sweet game. He got Brenda Barrett because he played to her need to be taken care of, and that was something Jax did extremely well.

But, Jax wasn't Luis.

Her pen fell from her hand and she held back a scream. Damn him for making her think about him. Damn him for keeping that one little bit of connection that made him haunt her thoughts. Damn him for not coming back to get her when he had the chance, and damn Lorenzo for being so freaking difficult. He could have just told her where he was staying. He could have just sent her to him.

"The hell with it." Brenda picked up the remote control and turned the television on. She wasn't going to get any work done before she had to be at the studio, so there was no point in trying.

The channel played news and, just for a moment, she thought she was seeing a ghost. She thought that in the middle of the falling snow and bad reception, she saw Luis falling to the ground, twisting as a bullet caught him in the shoulder. She closed her eyes and shook her head. "Luis is gone," she muttered, then slowly opened her eyes as the reporter started to speak.

"This is footage taken by a group of college students working on a school project. The students just happened to be filming in the direction of the Port Charles Police Department at the time of the shooting. Once again, Lorenzo Alcazar and Jason Morgan were shot late last night outside of the police station. While Mr. Alcazar sustained only minor damage Jason Morgan…"

Brenda turned the television off and let her head fall onto the desk. Her forehead came crashing down on a pile of papers and she sighed. "Luis is gone," she muttered, again, "and in a week, he'll be totally forgotten… all over again."