Author's Note: This story is a sequel to Deeper Blue, as it was requested by a number of people and my best friend managed to FINALLY convince me to actually give it a shot LoL. A few things that should be known about this story... a) The role of Carly Corinthos is being played by Tamara Braun. I refuse to write anything with JB's Carl anywhere near Lorenzo Alcazar. b) I can't promise that this will be updated every single day. Inspiration comes and goes, and I'm working on a number of stories at the moment besides this one. I'll try at least for twice a week, possibly more at times. c) This story contains the following pairings. Please do not beg me to put Jason with Courtney or Sonny with Carly or any other mixtures, because it's just not gonna happen. These are the main couples in this story and that's that:

Brenda and Luis
Carly and Lorenzo
Jason and Sam
Jax and Courtney
Sonny and Reese

Now that we've gotten that taken care of, enjoy the story.

The first drop fell and Brenda Barrett couldn't help but laugh. This was absolutely rich. Of all the times that the sky should open up, none would be more apropos than this. She couldn't remember one good experience she had with Sonny Corinthos when it rained. For as long as they were together, for as long as they were in one another's lives, there had to be at least one but that time wasn't the one that held the memory. That one elusive good time wasn't the one that haunted her whenever it rained.

At that moment, their last time in the rain was the one that she remembered most vividly. Closing her eyes, she was back there, walking slowly towards the large wooden doors of the church. Even then, the situation and location had been enough to induce minor giggles. She was there to save his life at the very place that he had ruined hers. This was where he hadn't even had the decency to say goodbye to her face, where he pretended to be thinking of her best interests while he waited outside to see the outcome of his paranoia. This was the place that began what became a long and tumultuous breakdown, leaving her locked in a padded cell and sending her back into the arms of the other man who'd never really done anything positive for her.

She touched the knobs, gripping both tightly. She took in a deep breath and slowly pulled the doors open. She stepped out with her face upturned. The rain was cold and shocking, and yet somehow, it had seemed comforting. She let her chin fall and as she opened her eyes, she saw him. He stared at her as though he'd seen a ghost, and as far as he was concerned, he had. The same expression she would later give to Luis Alcazar was given her by the man who had first captured her heart. But, he hadn't cried the way she later would. He just stared, and then his body racked and he dropped to the ground.

Brenda opened her eyes and blinked past the rain that fell on and through her eyelashes. The ground was clear. There was no sign that a person had ever laid there. No sign that first she, then Carly, had knelt beside him, touching his face, screaming that he was dead. She wasn't even in front of the church, but in the split second past a dream's end, every sidewalk in the rain looked exactly the same. They all looked like the site of what was probably the worst mistake of her life.

She stood outside of Kelly's, to the left of the doorway. She had seen him go in there, and he couldn't be there long. Brenda was unsure if he were alone or would come out with someone, and she really didn't care. All she wanted was his reaction. All she wanted was him to see her and know that this was not the woman that walked away over a year prior. She'd left Port Charles in defeat, but her return was not as a defeated woman and Sonny needed to see that. Jax needed to see that, as well, but first things first. She could only hurt one of them at a time.

For a second, Brenda thought she would turn and walk away. As she stood shivering in the rain, she thought that maybe this wasn't so good of an idea, after all. As it were, she was going on an assumption that Sonny would even care, or that the rain held as much weight for him that it did for her. There was also chunks of the old Brenda within her, telling her that she didn't want this. She wasn't a ruthless person. She wasn't a vengeful person. This was mean, and Brenda Barrett was not mean.

Was it mean, though? Was it truly evil of her to taunt Sonny this way? To let him know that not only was she back in town, but she had returned with one of his more formidable enemies, alive and well? That she was back in town with the man who had tried to kill him before, the man she had previously rescued him from?

Brenda didn't think it was necessarily bad. Granted, it wasn't a pleasant way to reintroduce herself to Port Charles. Nor was it the nicest way to come back into Sonny's life. However, it was a bit of turnabout for him. How long had he been using women and throwing them away? In truth, that was the one thing about Sonny where Jax had been correct. Of course, he did the same thing, so it was really turnabout for him, too. It was time that they learned that their actions hurt. It was time for them to learn that they couldn't have what they wanted, when they wanted, and throw everyone in the trash when they were done or didn't get their way.

The door to Kelly's opened and she saw an arm covered from shoulder to just below the wrist in a heavy black cloth. Brenda stepped forward and began to spin. As she cleared the entranceway and stepped more towards the small diner's patio, Brenda stretched her arms to either side as though she would fly. She spun faster, laughing as the rain fell harder onto her body. She looked up into the rain, letting the water fall on her face. Then, she stopped abruptly. Her arms fell to her sides. Her chin dropped to touch her chest, then rose slowly. Her eyes opened and there he was.

Sonny looked at her just as he had done before. He stared at her in shock, and at the surprise in his eyes, Brenda felt a touch of offense. He had reason to be so shocked to see her last time. He had spent four years under the belief that she were dead. This time, however, he knew full well that she was alive. His own best friend had seen her off, and Jason Morgan was sure to have told him that she was as close to fine as one who'd just been left at the altar could have been.

Did he think that she was so weak that she'd never come back to town? Did he truly see her as this little waif that was tossed around by men and shattered when her heart was broken? Yes, she had floated for some time, but he should have had more belief in her than that. She'd been strong enough to turn against her previous benefactor, risked her life, to make sure that he was alive, hadn't she? Brenda may not have been completely dependent and she had her weaker moments, but she had always built herself back up. No one should have known that more than Sonny, since he was the one that had broken her down most often.

Brenda smiled at him, but it was unlike any she had ever given him. She hadn't known that there were so many variations on a smile until she remembered all the time she spent with Sonny. She'd given him sympathetic smiles, teasing grins, loving uplifts, shines of relief… But this one, this one that she flashed at him was pure "how does it feel" smirk. It said that this moment in time was more than the two of them in the rain. This time, the rain didn't mean the end. It was just the beginning of everything that he deserved.

She felt the presence behind her before his arms wrapped around her waist. Brenda leaned back against Luis Alcazar, cupping her hands over the knot that his hands made at her stomach. Her smirk stretched into a small grin, widened into a bright smile, then erupted as she burst into laughter. She turned in Luis's arms, her bare mid-drift sliding against his soaking clothes. She threw her arms around his neck and pulled him down. Her lips crushed his. She held on and jumped up, wrapping her legs around his waist.

She knew Sonny was watching and that made it all the better. Everything else in her life had been for him for so long, there was no reason that this shouldn't be for him, too. Let him see that she'd gone back to Luis, that she loved Luis, that she wanted him more than she could ever want Sonny again. This show was for his benefit, because the shows for Luis's benefit were much more intimate and, if possible, ten times as passionate.

Brenda slid from Luis's body, her hands still resting on his face, drifting down to tap her fingers against his jaw and further down to rest on his neck. She looked back over her shoulder and smirked. Sonny still looked confused, but he also looked hurt. She winked and turned back to Luis. She tapped his neck with her fingertips, then they turned and walked away.