A/N: Sorry its taken so long to get out the next chapter…I promise I'll try and get better about updating! Real quick I just wanted to thank everyone who has reviewed! Sala, Noname, Angel1178, JC Morgan, Fairieangel, jade121, Unearthlyangel89, Michelle, Clairebear21, Lita2extreme, butterflyzdreamz, Liz, Marian Dicus and of course Jennifer whose idea created this story! Also a not to Sala…I don't actually have any spoilers for GH…from the beginning I was planning on having Charlotte play a major role even though technically she's dead…I had no idea that Reese would actually be Charlotte…I was just as surprised as all of you!

A/N 2: Last note I promise…This chapter is more of a transition than anything but please read and review! Thanks!

Chapter 9

"What's going on Carly?" Sonny asked, "What's got you so upset?"

"Its just that we haven't been this close in a long time and that scares me a little bit." Carly answered truthfully

"I promise you that things are going to be different." Sonny said honestly

"I don't think that you're really qualified to say that right now." Carly said sadly, "There are a lot of things that we need to discuss before we can move forward."

Sonny nodded determinedly, "I'm going to do whatever it takes to keep us together this time."

Carly nodded. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, "I --…" She broke off as the door burst opened and Jason came running in.

Sonny and Carly both shot up from the couch and turned to him, "What's going on?" Sonny asked

"We have to leave right now." Jason said urgently

"What happened?" Sonny asked

"Its Puerto Rico." Jason left it at that

Sonny's eyes grew wide, "Shit." He ran a hand over his eyes, "OK. Tell Johnny to have them get the jet ready. We'll leave in an hour."

Jason nodded and left quickly. Sonny turned to Carly, "I'm sorry but I have to go."

"I understand." Carly whispered. Secretly she was relieved that Sonny had to leave. That gave her some more time to figure out a way to tell him her secret.

After two long weeks of intense physical therapy Carly felt almost back to normal. Sonny would call once a day to check on her and Michael but the calls were always kept to less than 10 minutes. Carly felt guilty, as much as she missed Sonny she couldn't help but feel glad that he was gone. It didn't matter what she did now. She had missed her chance to tell Sonny the truth. Now it was only a matter of time before her cover was blown. Jason and Sonny didn't know when they would be back so Carly used their absence as an opportunity to get back to her real work. She worked out at the gym with Jeff everyday and next week she would start her next mission.

Carly sat on "her" bench at the Elm Street pier and watched as the sun set over the water. She couldn't stop thinking about the night that she had flat-lined. Carly didn't really remember what had happened but she could have sworn that she had seen Charlotte.

Courtney saw Carly sitting on the bench alone. She smiled and sat down next to her. "Long time no see."

Carly looked next to her and smiled, "Yeah, it has been a while."

Courtney nodded, "So how are you feeling?"

Carly raised an eyebrow at Courtney, "Don't you mean what secret am I hiding."

Courtney laughed, "You know me too well!" She glanced sideways at Carly, "So are you going to tell me?"

Carly sighed, "I want to."

"But…" Courtney finished for Carly

"But once I tell you then not only will you hate me but then I will have to tell Sonny and Jason and they will hate me also." Carly said sadly

"I won't hate you! You're my sister in-law and my best friend. I could never hate you." Courtney said fiercely

"Ex-sister in-law and believe me you could easily hate me." Carly responded

"Try me." Courtney said

Carly laughed, "I have to go away on business but when I get back we'll talk."

"Where are you going?" Courtney asked

"Europe." Carly answered vaguely , "Michael is going to stay with my mom but he really wants to see you so maybe he could spend the night one night."

"Sure no problem." Courtney said easily, "Does Sonny know you're leaving?"

"He doesn't know when he'll be back so hopefully I'll be there and back before he gets home. I'll leave a note just in case." Carly said

"He's gonna be pissed." Courtney said

"I know. But I don't get why. Its not like we are still married." Carly shrugged, "He already tricked me into living with him what more does he want?"

"I'm pretty sure he would like the name Corinthos attached to Caroline again." Courtney said smugly

"I doubt it." Carly said. "All right sweetie, I gotta hit the road. I'll be back soon!" She gave Courtney a hug and walked away quickly

Courtney stared at Carly's retreating form. Something was going on and sooner or later Courtney was going to find out. She pulled out her cell phone and quickly dialed Jason. He didn't answer but she left a hurried message, "Hey Jase its Courtney. Listen I just got dine talking with Carly and she said she is going out of town on business. She's not planning on telling Sonny but I know for sure something is going on. She admitted that she had a secret but she was afraid that I would hate her so she didn't want to tell me. Call me when you get this."

Courtney hung up and walked back to her apartment.

Carly sat on the plane with Jeff staring out the window. For what felt like the millionth time she wondered what the hell she was doing. How could she find it so easy to lie to everyone, "Hey Jeff?" Carly asked

"Yeah?" He answered

"How do you do it?" She wondered

"What do mean?" Jeff asked

"How do you lie to everyone day in and day out. Your wife thinks you're retired from the police force and now you just travel for them making sure the operations are running smoothly. I mean I know you lie to her to protect her but doesn't it ever feel like the more you lie the more you hurt her instead of protect her." Carly asked

Jeff thought about it for a minute, "Everyday when I wake up and I see her sleeping next to me I know that I would die if something ever happened to her and that thought alone make me able to look her in the eyes and lie to her every single day." He sighed, "Its not like I enjoy lying to her but I feel like I have to." He paused again, "Remember when you and Charlotte first joined the FBI."

"Of course." Carly smiled

"Well you guys didn't tell anyone what you were doing right?" Jeff asked

"No." Carly answered, "After she died Bill told her parents and they assumed I knew. They confronted me and blamed me for her death and then they told my mother what we had been doing. It literally destroyed her and she died about a week later. After that I swore no one else would ever find out. I never actually thought I would come back to the FBI."

"Why not?" Jeff asked

"The night of my mama Virginia's funeral I drove straight through the night back to Manhattan and when I got to mine and Charlotte's apartment I couldn't stay there so I drove to Port Charles. I was pissed off so I went to see what kind of life my birth mother had. I saw her inside of Kelly's with Tony and she looked so happy. That pissed me off even more. I ended up at Jakes trying to put my revenge plan into action. That's when I met Jason." Carly sighed, "He quickly became my best friend and my rescuer. His boss and best friend Sonny hated me. In that week that I was in Port Charles Jason and I spent a lot of time together and I'm sure Sonny thought we were sleeping together and that made him mad. "

"Why would he be mad if he hated you?" Jeff asked

"He wanted me at the same time and also Jason had been dating this chick Robin and she was like the baby sister that Sonny never had."

"Isn't that Courtney girl Sonny's sister." He asked

"Yeah but Sonny didn't know he had a sister until like 3 years ago. It's a long story." Carly said

Jeff nodded, "Ok so then what happened."

"I planted the seeds of my evil plan." Carly laughed, "No, its really not funny. I enrolled in nursing school for the following year and told everyone that I used to be a design student but that being a designer was always a dream that my mother had and now that she was gone I didn't want to do it anymore. Essentially I made everyone pity me. I told Jason that I had to go back home and get my mother's affairs in order but I would be back the next year to start school."

"Then you came back to the city finished up your cases and left." Jeff questioned

"Pretty much." Carly said, "But what does all this have to do with lying to your wife?"

"Because we are in the same boat. Your lost Charlotte and I lost my partner." Jeff responded

"Mark?"

"Yeah. I felt like his death was my fault. I had to watch as his wife literally crumbled to the ground. She had to be sedated for like a week. She knew what he was and when he died it destroyed her. I watched as my best friend's wife died slowly inside. She still tells me to this day that I pulled her back from the edge. That's why I can't tell Lori. She already went through it once." Jeff said sadly

Carly's mouth dropped open, "Wait a minute, Mark's Lori is your Lori?"

"Yeah about 2 years after he died we got married." Jeff said, "She knew that I was Mark's friend but she didn't know that I was his partner. So I lied. I told her I had retired from active duty and that I just traveled to check on the missions."

"Wow. Its like a damn soap opera Jeff." Carly said

He laughed, "I know. When I met you and Charlotte you two reminded me so much of Mark and I. When she died it scared me a little bit because of the look in your eyes. I had never ever seen anyone look that way before. It was the deadliest, darkest look and I was so worried about you. I wanted to tell you about this then but when you left the field I new that it would work out for the best."

"I know that I have to tell them but I'm just so scared to lose them. Sonny and I can get divorced a million times but it won't change the fact that he loves me. But with this it really might destroy us and I don't know if I could deal with that." Carly said

"But you know you have to."

Carly nodded, "But I know I have to."

About an hour later Carly and Jeff got off the plane. "All right blondie its time to transform you into a vision on seduction." Jeff said

"Oh yippe." Carly said sarcastically, "Just don't make my boobs so big I can't see my feet."

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