A convent in Central America.
Sam still couldn't believe this was where Coleman had decided to stash her. A convent. With...nuns and priests and Mass was held nine times a day...
And the worst part was--Sam actually liked it there. It was just so...peaceful, so serene. And all the people here were so kind to her. They didn't judge her for having a baby out of wedlock. They gave her advice and tried to calm her down and make her feel better.
And Sam had actually managed to come to a realization.
She actually wanted this child.
It was insane, it was completely illogical--but she wanted it anyway. She wanted to hold her child in her arms every night. She wanted to pick out baby clothes, put together a crib. She wanted to be there for first steps, first words. To put band-aids on skinned knees.
Sam knew nothing about children. Her mother hadn't been a mother at all. Her father was a criminal who had looked at her as a partner-in-crime instead of a daughter. Sam's life was currently a mess. She had no home, no stable job--there were a million reasons not to keep this child.
But she wanted to anyway.
And...maybe she could do it right. Maybe. There were lots of single moms out there, right? And there were millions of books about babies, about child-rearing...there was always Dr. Phil...and you know, maybe living in the suburbs wouldn't be absolute hell...
And almost before she realized it, she'd made her decision. And, it wasn't even that hard. It was like...all she'd needed to do was get to a place where she could really think, where she didn't have to worry about Jason, about Corinthos, where she didn't need to think about the treasure...a place where she felt safe and secure.
Come to think of it, that was probably the reason Coleman had sent her here in the first place. Sam smiled at the thought, hoping he was enjoying that sunken treasure.
"Hello, Samantha," Sister Agnes said.
Sam looked up from her paperwork. "Hello, Sister."
"What are you doing?"
Sam said ruefully, "Figuring out how much money I have. There's a bit in my own accounts, and my dad left me some...I mean, babies are really expensive and..." She trailed off as she noticed the look on Sister Agnes's face. "What's wrong?"
The nun sighed. "Samantha...there are two American men asking for you. They...they match the description of the men you told me about..."
Sam stared at her. "You're kidding."
Sister Agnes shook her head ruefully. "I am not kidding."
Sam couldn't believe it. "They're really here? How? I'm in Costa Rica, for God's sake!"
"Do you want me to get rid of them?" Sister Agnes offered. "Because I would enjoy that. The little one is rather obnoxious."
"Oh, please do."
As Sister Agnes was happily tearing a strip off both Jason and Corinthos, Sam was pacing in another part of the convent. This place was her favorite part of the convent, the stained glass throwing colored light onto her, and it was dark enough that if anyone came in, they hopefully wouldn't notice her.
Was this what her life was going to be like from now on? Running from place to place, hoping Jason didn't find her? It had only taken him, what, three weeks to track her down to Costa Rica? Could she really be expected to keep him away forever?
Okay, so if Sam really wanted to keep this child and give it a stable life, then she'd have to work something out with Jason. Maybe visitation--supervised visitation? Would he agree to that? Would she have to go all the way to court? What sane judge would give him custody? Sam's past was far from perfect, of course, but really--then, he could bribe the judge--oh, boy.
Sam was starting to hyperventilate again. This would make one hell of a Sunday school lesson. Don't have one-night-stands, because then you could get pregnant with the child of a brain-damaged, amnesic mob enforcer.
She was screwed. Utterly and completely screwed beyond belief. Sam rubbed her belly unconciously.
"Ms. McCall?"
Sam whirled around. Jesus. There were two huge men in suits coming towards her. Corinthos's men. Automatically, she turned to run down the stairs, and her shoe caught on something, and then...
...she was falling through the air, and then there was darkness.
To say that Sister Agnes was upset would be a major understatement.
"Look what you've done!" the nun raged. "You came here for your own selfish purposes, and just look at what has happened now!"
Everything was sort of fuzzy for Sam. She was barely aware of the people in white coats...the men in dark suits...all she was aware of was Sister Agnes's angry voice...and the fingers threading gently through her hair.
The baby.
"Uhh...the baby," she moaned, finally snapping out of it. "What's wrong with the baby?"
Jason's face appeared before her, his concern obvious. "The baby's okay, Sam." His fingers were still in her hair, and Sam didn't even mind. "You've got a mild concussion, but the baby's fine--"
"No thanks to you lot," Sister Agnes put in.
Jason turned to her. "Hey, I did not send them after her, all right?"
"Where am I?" Sam put in.
He turned back to her. "You're at the hospital. You fell down the staris, and we rushed you to the hospital...but you're fine now."
"Well, if you didn't send them after her, then who did?" the nun demanded, not letting go.
"Uhh..." Sonny Corinthos stepped out of the shadows, looking slightly abashed. "I, uh, might have told the guys to...you know, keep their eyes open."
Sister Agnes threw up her hands. "I knew it."
"You did what?" Jason said, clearly upset. "Sonny--"
"Jason, I was doing what I thought was right--"
Jason slid off the bed, the tension and anger apparent in the set of his shoulders. "Hallway. Now." And without another word, Corinthos and his goons followed.
Sam blinked. "Huh."
"Are you all right, dear?" Sister Agnes asked gently.
"No, no, I'm fine." She rubbed her stomach, staring down at it. "Boy, you're one tough cookie, huh?" she said to the baby...fetus...child.
Her child. Her child who was safe, though some apparent miracle...or just the McCall toughness.
"That's the thing about us McCalls, Sammie-girl. Sure, we can break, but the thing is, we're never broken."
Sam made Cody's raspy voice fade away, and focused on the reality of this moment. "So, I see you met Jason."
"Yes, and I'm not impressed."
Sam couldn't help but laugh. She laughed because otherwise she would cry, because apparently traveling all the way to Costa Rica hadn't cured her from this bizarre need to believe Jason. To trust him. One look into those clear blue eyes, and she was right back where she was before. Having a strange sort of faith in him despite everything.
Sam heard the rumble of voices outside, and strained to hear.
"It wasn't like we pushed her down the stairs..."
"You came after her, that's all that matters....dammit, it was hard enough trying to get her to trust me before, and now it's going to be even harder."
"Jason, no matter what happens with her, that is still your child. You have rights." Corinthos's voice was confident. "I know you don't want to go to court, but you might not have a choice..."
"Don't listen to them, Samantha," Sister Agnes counseled, her voice urgent.
Sister Agnes was probably right. It could be staged, something to make her believe in Jason, think he was on her side in this. But he had his own agenda that didn't match up with her own, and she needed to remember that.
Sister Agnes patted her hand. "It will be all right, Samantha. Don't worry. Close your eyes and get some rest."
Sam obediently closed her eyes, and she worried.
the hotel door just burst open, and there was dad, covered in blood, his face mottled with bruises.
"dad? daddy?" sam rushed over to her father's side as he collasped on the floor.
"hey, sammie," dad wheezed. "it's all right, it's all right."
"kid." sam looked up and there were two big men in dark suits. the same men that had showed up yesterday. "listen, kid. in fifteen minutes, i want you to call 911. fifteen minutes, got that?"
sam was too scared to speak, so she just nodded.
"don't come back here, cody," the other one ordered. And then they left.
sobbing, sam turned back to her father. "daddy?"
cody mccall gingerly rolled over onto his back. "it's okay, sammie girl."
"who were they?"
her father sighed. "bad guys, sam. they were bad guys who work for an even worse man."
sam didn't understand. "i don't get it. what were you doing with them?" she was hysterical, and dad had always taught her to keep a cool head, but she couldn't think right now.
"making a mistake," dad said softly. "if there's one thing i'm gonna teach you, sammie, it's to stay away from the mob, any mob. hear me?"
sam nodded. "okay."
"that's my girl."
Sam slowly opened her eyes, and blinked. There was a hand in her hair. As she stirred, the hand was removed, and Sam turned her head.
It was Jason. "Did I wake you?" he asked.
"No," Sam said. She looked at him. "Why do you keep coming after me?"
"Well, why do you keep running?" Jason asked.
"I don't have much of a choice," Sam shot back, sitting up. "What do you expect me to do?"
Jason sighed. "Look, just come back to Port Charles with me and we can work something out."
"No way."
Jason stared at her. "Are you always this stubborn?" he asked after a moment.
"Yeah, I am," Sam said. "I'll agree to supervised visitation, but that's it."
"No way in hell," he said promptly.
Sam leaned back against the pillows. "So, what, we go to court to settle this?"
His eyes widened. "No. No, no. I've been through custody battles before, and they suck. For everyone involved." He paused. "Besides, do you even have the money to hire a lawyer?"
He had a point. Damn him. "Go away."
"You keep telling me to do that, and it's not going to happen. I'm not going to turn my back on my child or its mother."
Sam squeezed her eyes shut. God...he actually meant that. He was telling the truth. "You work for the mob," she said hoarsely, not opening her eyes.
"Yes. I do. But that part of my life won't touch you or the baby."
She laughed, opening her eyes. "Liar."
"I don't lie."
"What, is that part of the brain damage?" Jason bowed his head, and Sam wished she hadn't said that. "I'm sorry," she muttered. "I don't--I don't know what to do here. I mean, I don't even know you. And here you are, saying all the right things, and I want to believe that you're sincere--but I can't."
He nodded, like he understood. "Because I'm in the mob."
"Well, yeah, and because I don't trust you. Or anyone, really. Ever."
"Not much of a way to live," Jason said gently.
He was right, but that was simply the way it had always been for Sam. Cody had taught her to be a cynical, independant bitch, and when she realized she couldn't even trust her own father, she had turned into even more of a cynical, independant bitch. "I don't have much of a choice."
"Yeah, you do," Jason said, and she could hear the cautious hope in his voice.
She looked up at him. "What do you know about kids?"
He shrugged. "Some. I, uh, raised my nephew for a while, starting right after he was born."
"So...you know about babies."
He shrugged again. "Yeah."
"Huh." Sam considered it. A guy who actually knew about kids, who wanted to be a part of the child's life. He was pretty respectful, and seemed to care about her.
If he wasn't in the mob, she'd say it was a perfect situation.
"Okay," she said slowly. "Let's say, hypothetically, that I decided to come back to Port Charles with you. Would I have, like, protection?"
"Yeah," Jason said without hesitation. "The penthouse is incredibly secure, windows are bulletproof, and there'd be bodyguards." He paused. "You two would be safe."
"What, both of us? You--you want me to move in?"
"Yeah."
This was not happening. This could not be happening. "What makes you think I want to move in with you?" she demanded.
"Well, you don't have a home, right?" Jason said.
Sam couldn't believe it. "You--you did a background check on me?"
"Well, you did the same to me!" he shot back. "I don't remember telling you about the accident."
"This is crazy!" she yelled. "God, you--you barge in and complicate my life beyond belief--"
"Hey, it wasn't like I was planning for this either, all right?" Jason yelled right back. "Jesus, Sam, I just got divorced, I wasn't planning on becoming a father. But I am going to become a father, and you know what? I won't regret it. I won't regret being with you that night or coming after you now."
Sam felt a tear slip down her cheek. "Really?" she asked, choking up.
"Yeah," Jason said. "The only thing that I could ever regret is not making this work with you."
Sam was crying. Crying. She never cried, ever.
"Just, please, Sam. Trust me." And Jason's eyes were raw and open and honest, just like they had been that night in Jake's eight weeks ago.
And just like it had been back then, Sam couldn't say no.
"All right."
"You're out of your mind," Sister Agnes declared.
"Probably," Sam agreed readily as she packed her things.
"Then why do this?"
Sam turned to face her. "Because...I trust him. I know all the reasons why I shouldn't, believe me. But I trust him anyway."
Sister Agnes sighed. "Are you sure about this?"
"I'm not sure about anything," she replied.
Jason came in, knocking gently on the door. "You ready to go?"
"Yeah," Sam said, and started to pick up her bag, but Jason quickly came over and grabbed it for her.
"I got it," he said.
Sam raised an eyebrow, but didn't stop him. And out of the corner of her eye, she could see Sister Agnes shaking her head. As Jason hefted the suitcase out of the room, Sam started to follow him, but Sister Agnes gripped her by the hand suddenly. "Samantha...if you ever need to return...for any reason, you are always welcome here."
"Thanks," Sam said, touched. "And I really appreciate everything you've done for me."
Sister Agnes smiled. "May God be with you."
Sonny Corinthos was already on the plane by the time they entered. "Mr. Corinthos," Sam murmered as she sat down.
He smiled at her, dimples suddenly flashing in his cheeks. "Call me Sonny. You're family now."
"Okay," she replied, trying not to think exactly what he meant by "family".
Sonny spent most of his time talking to his wife on the phone. Jason was reading a travel book. Sam drummed her fingers on the table, stared out the window, and finally flipped through a magazine.
A half-hour into the flight, her stomach lurched. "Where's the bathroom?"
"In the back," Sonny said, pointing. Sam quickly got out of her seat and into the backroom, just in time.
While she was emptying out the contents of her stomach, Jason came in, kneeling down next to her. "You all right?"
Sam wearily lifted her head. "Why the hell do they call it morning sickness if it happens all the time?"
"I--I don't know," Jason said, rubbing her on the back.
"You--you didn't have to come in here--"
"I wanted to," he said simply.
Author's note: First off, I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed this, keep the feedback coming! I thought I'd take this time to just answer a few questions. First off, the first few chapters of this story (including this one) have been in Sam's POV entirely. But from now on, I'm writing this from EVERYONE's POV. That means anyone who is involved in this story is fair game. Jason, Lucky, the Quartermaines, Sonny, Carly, Coleman--anyone. Just think of these first four chapters as one really, really, really long prologue. Second, this is a Jason/Sam/Lucky romance. Yeah, I know Lucky and Sam haven't been together on the show. I don't think they've even had a scene together. Hey, this is an AU. I can do whatever I want. Plus, Greg Vaughan is HOT, okay? And as for whoever Sam ends up with...I don't have any more of an idea than you do. Seriously, I haven't made up my mind yet. Sometimes I think I'll go with Jason, other times I think it'll be Lucky, and hey, who knows, maybe I'll put her with Coleman! (Just kidding on the Coleman part. Maybe.) But there you go.