"Who does?" Sonny cocked his head sideways and studied her reaction to the question; she was clearly caught off guard by it.
"It's funny you know ... not ha, ha funny, but funny nonetheless, you've built your life on being alone, you told me once you liked being alone, you thought better."
"Yeah, Yeah, " Sonny nodded his head slowly," but if memory serves correct, I told you later that even though I thought I could live my life alone, that I didn't need anyone ... that maybe I'd been wrong."
"Yeah? Well, maybe I don't need it anymore. I used to think living alone, being alone, was the price I'd pay for this life and the things that I do. I believed that my life was too dangerous to let anybody in."
"Maybe it is."
Alexis cut him off before he could bring up their past conversation, the stirrings he'd awakened in her heart that night, she tried shifting the conversation away from them, "Your not alone Sonny, you have your family, and your friends."
Sonny laughed bitterly, "Don't you mean friend, Alexis?" When she didn't reply he continued to speak, resting his head against the cool, steel bars hoping for some relief from the anxiety gripping him.
"Seems Jason is my only Ally, I tend to destroy anything valuable or good in my life, I push away the people that truly matter to me."
"You have a place in my life. Look, I know that I assume a lot and I take advantage of you living here. And I'll back off. If you want me to back off, I'll back off. Whatever you want, just tell me what it is."
"I appreciate that."
"I trust you."
"And that costs me. Do you understand that?"
"Well, maybe it's too much. Look, you know, I'm not saying that you're wrong because you want to move out of here. I'm just saying that if I lose you, then, you know – if I push you away, it costs me, too, ok? Maybe more than I thought."
"But then who cares right?" Sonny replied lazily, shrugging his left shoulder, "You certainly don't ... this is what you wanted, well here I am Alexis."
"You seem to be under the assumption that by your being here, I am being entertained by your obvious torment ... it's not true."
"Then why come here?" Sonny's voice cracked, and he choked back the sob that so desperately wanted to be released, "you walked away, you walked out on me, out of my life without even looking back and now your here, we said what he had to months ago Alexis, go live your life."
"I may of walked away Sonny, but at least I didn't check out, " Alexis retorted, temper flaring, his eyes shot up to hers, boring into hers with darkening orbs that read what, she couldn't tell, but she continued, " you might've said your peace three months ago when you barged into my hospital room uninvited and decided to throw your weight around, having the audacity to work with Edward Quartermaine and his twisted little schemes... I never really knew how much you hated me until that moment, the eyes that I looked to for understanding were void of any warmth and replaced with ice, the smile I had once sought out for comfort had transformed into a cruel, twisted, frown... I mean I understand why you hate me Sonny, after everything I said to you ... but I just never knew..."
Her voice faltered, tears breaking the surface, Alexis turned away cursing silently and took a few steps away.
All Sonny saw was Alexis leaving him again, a single tear slid down his cheek, " For your information Alexis, I never hated you... I understood your grief, your anger... I was feeling it right along with you," his voice cracked and he blinked back the offspring of tears blurring his vision, "to see someone I cared for suffering such pain, you may choose to believe I'm some heartless bastard, but hate has never been an issue regarding my feelings for you."
Alexis shifted on her feet, and looked over her shoulder at him, she saw that he'd been crying, the hint of tears glistening on his long dark lashes, " I believe you... I don't know why, but I do ... yet when you tell me you belong behind bars I know your lying."
"What did you mean when you said, at least I didn't check out?"
"Ah, avoiding the subject at hand." Alexis replied
"I learned from the master." Sonny said, giving her a knowing look.
"Do we really need to analyze it, Sonny?"
"Yeah, we do ... maybe I want to know why you hate me so much... I think we both know it's deeper than your willing to admit."
"Sonny, things got tense after Carly's accident ... you were out of sorts, one minute you were all dimples, the next you were giving Jason orders to teach Zander a lesson, a lesson to beat him within an inch of his life."
"That's who I am." Sonny admitted, the shame washing over him yet again for his actions.
"Oh, I know that now... I see how you turn on people you supposedly care about."
"I did what I had to do, betrayal can't be ignored."
"You know, you really should think about embroidering that on something." Alexis replied sarcastically, stepping closer to the cell once again, "It seems to be your mantra, instead of home sweet home, you can have "I did what I had to do, above your doorway."
"What do you want from me Alexis, I've never lied about who I am or what I'm about ... you still agreed to represent me, you became my close friend, and then you became more..."
"Haven't we had this conversation before? I think I told you then not to remind me of how you sucked me in and used my principles against me."
"Oh, Oh, so now it's my fault for your decisions, damn I must be better than I thought ... and busy! Four years of sucking you in, says a lot doesn't it?"
"I take full responsibility for my lack of better judgment, I should've made a break of it after you lied to me about Zander the first time."
"I didn't lie Alexis, I withheld information, that could've hurt your career."
"And we certainly couldn't have that, now could we? You needed me to get your sorry butt out of jail on a regular basis."
"I admit willingly that I was selfish, I was looking out for myself because you were the best ... but, you were also my friend Alexis and I didn't want to see you lose your career over my actions."
"But risking Sorel's trial was Okay?"
"Why are we even talking about this, dredging up the past, we made our peace about that along time ago ... or did we?" Sonny was frustrated, she was reverting to the past to avoid the subject of her feelings for him now, and he didn't like it, he sensed her hatred was deeper than he'd imagined.
"I'm trying to understand how the man I knew and trusted, who told me he was proud of Zander ... could so viciously turn on him."
"He gave information to Roscoe!" Sonny whispered loudly, " Alexis, he turned on me and to my enemy, do you understand the risk he put us under?"
"Us?" Alexis asked incredulously.
"That's right Alexis, Roscoe knew who you were, do you think it was a coincidence he approached you that night at the Grille, he was trying to get to me through you."
"Well, thanks a whole hell of a lot Sonny, are you taking lessons from Carly in the insults department?" Alexis shot back, her ego bruised, in fact it was damaged beyond repair because of him," I can't believe how conceited you are ... he might of offered me a job that night Sonny, but what you didn't know is he offered me a whole lot more than that!"
"So why didn't you take him up on it, obviously you thought about it!" Sonny again shouted a little above a whisper, he knew it was ridiculous to be angry about Roscoe now, the man was no longer a threat, but the feeling was primal and possessive ... he was jealous.
"This is pointless," Alexis sighed, her shoulders sagging," we are running rings around what's going on now."
"Say what you came to say then." Sonny shrugged, trying his best to act unaffected.
"I'm still waiting for you to tell me why your here, why are you choosing to do this?"
"Choosing to do what?" Sonny asked, starting to pace again, he began to unbutton the collar of his prison uniform, "There was a situation, I handled it, end of story."
"Noooo, you're hiding something." Alexis pushed on, rewarded by an irritated glance from her counterpart.
"I'm hiding nothing ... leave it alone." Sonny warned.
"Sorry, can't do that ... and by the way when have you ever left anything alone... I don't think you know the meaning ... and well, neither do I." Alexis said defiantly crossing her arms over her chest.
"Al-ex-is," Sonny let her name roll off his tongue slowly, like he'd done so many times in the past, he loved saying her name, even when he was ready to throttle her, "I'll say this one more time and then this conversation is over and so is your involvement in this ... stay out of it."
"That's it? You, think I'm going to let your weak attempt to order me around stop me ... don't snarl at me Mister." Alexis warned pointing her manicured finger in the direction of the fuming mobster.
"Let Jason and my men handle it."
"Now why would I do that? When they didn't handle it before and Alkazar was freed to walk Port Charles, it's not my style to let..."
"Alexis don't complicate things anymore than they already are."
"Whoever your covering for, no matter how important they are to you, they shouldn't let you take the fall."
Sonny stood still, gripping the bars, "Yes, they should."
"Why? Why is their life more important that yours Sonny? Sacrificing yourself to let the guilty part free while you're holed up here surrounded by concrete and steel, well it's not the answer and it's not acceptable... I won't let you do it, it's not right, I'm going to go talk to Scotty and Taggert right now."
Alexis hadn't realized how close she'd gotten to Sonny, until she turned to leave, his hand snared out grabbing her wrist and pulling her close to the bars.
"I won't let you do it Alexis, "Sonny growled, " I won't see you go to prison ... let me handle it."
"Prison? Why on earth would I go too..." Alexis eyes widened, "exactly what are you getting at Sonny?"
"I know Alexis, it's okay, everything will be okay."
"You think I killed him?" Alexis asked, knowing the question came out sounding more like an accusation that anything else, she tried pulling out of his hand, but he remained firm.
Sonny noticed his tight grip on her wrist and loosened it a bit, but not enough to let her go, this was the closest he'd been to her in months, his eyes softened and he smiled inwardly, the scent of Gardenia was only meant for his Alexis, she wore it so very well, he leaned in close to her ear.
"I was there Alexis, I saw you go into Alkazar's building."
Alexis smiled bitterly, and her voice dripped with faux sweetness, "I hate to burst your bubble Sonny, but you might've seen me go into Alkazar's building that night, but what you failed to notice when you decided to play hero, is that I chickened out and left before I ever saw him... I didn't kill Alkazar."
Sonny's face paled, "Then who did?"
"Well, well, well, if it isn't Ms Davis and her ex client, just how did you manage to get past the guards, you aren't Mr. Corinthos counsel anymore, so am I safe to assume that Scott Baldwin's earlier accusations about you two are true?"
Alexis and Sonny had both been caught off guard by the appearance of Taggert, Sonny realizing he was still holding Alexis by the wrist, shoved it away abruptly.
"Get her out of here Taggert, she just came down here to make the same empty threats you do so well."
Catching on quickly to Sonny's sudden coldness, she took her cue when the game shifted in her court, straightening her suit jacket, she eyed Taggert. "I just wanted to make it clear to Mr. Corinthos, that though Alkazar was a menace to Port Charles, his playing the dark knight doesn't make up for the fact he is still in fact working for the wrong side of the law, and there will be no exceptions, I will see to it he's put away for a very long time."
"So why slip past the guards?" Taggert, was hesitant to believe either of them, even he'd seen the sparks in their relationship the last few years, and her devotion to Corinthos had run deep, but maybe her sisters death had really turned her against him.
"Would you have allowed me to come here and say what I had too?" Alexis asked.
"I don't know, I think I might've enjoyed watching you put Sonnyboy here in his place, watching the smug smile he's worn for the last four years wiped clean off his face, after he realized that the ace in his pocket has finally dealt him a bad hand."
"Why don't you both get out of here, I don't need this." Sonny shouted, he didn't want Alexis to leave but he knew there was no way around it; he was in definite trouble now.
"Fine by me," Alexis sneered, " I'll be on my way."
Taggert crossed his arms and shifted his weight to one leg; giving Sonny a cocky grin, "Seems your partner in crime Morgan found you some legal representation, he'll be here tomorrow morning."
"Does he have a name?" Sonny's asked with sarcasm, his eyes shifted to Alexis who had stopped at the door, listening curiously and then went back to Taggert.
"Some goofball from Pine Valley, goes by the name of Trevor Dillon." Taggert rolled his eyes, he knew enough about the guy, to know he wasn't going to like him.
Alexis walked around coming face to face with Taggert, " Trevor Dillon happens to be one of the best attorneys in the country, he hasn't lost a case and he used to be a detective for the Pine Valley Police Department, probably could give you a few tips Taggert."
"He a friend of yours Ms. Davis, or are you happy that Slick Rick over here has weaseled himself another attorney that will get him out of his latest crime?"
"Trevor Dillon does happen to be a friend of mine, as for Mr. Corinthos it just means that Scott Baldwin is going to have to work twice as hard to make the charges stick."
"Oh, they'll stick all right, we have his signed confession."
"Didn't you learn anything!" Alexis shouted to the person behind her, swinging round to glare at Sonny.
Sonny saw the sudden panic set across her face, realizing that Taggert would question her. "Learn anything about what?" Sonny asked.
"Never mind, if you'll excuse me I suddenly feel nauseous." Heading back upstairs, Alexis leaned against the door before making her way out of the precinct, she walked slowly to her car, pulling her overcoat snuggly around her to block out the chill of the late December air and reached for her phone dialing.
"Morgan here."
"I just came from seeing Sonny."
"I thought we agreed..."
"We agreed to nothing, and he has no idea that I'm involved with this, other than being nosy... I did however get him to admit he wasn't responsible for Alkazar's death."
Jason took in a large breath, he knew there must be more to the story, but his only question was," Who's he covering for then?"
Alexis reached her car, unlocked it and then stood still, " Me."
