Fringe Benefits
Johnny was sitting on a bench outside of General Hospital. He held a newspaper in his hands; his body seemed relaxed, but his eyes were anything but. They swept the area continuously, checking out everything and everybody who passed by. Seeing Alexis come out, he stood up to meet her.
"How did the thing with the doctor go?"
"It was just a check up. Blood pressure, fine, breathing, fine. Nothing turned up." Johnny looked at her expectantly. "Okay, Monica Quartemaine took the usual tests of my bodily fluids and promised to call me with the results. Happy?"
Johnny's expression never changed. "Ecstatic. Can't you tell?"
"You don't have to worry about me, you know. It isn't part of your job."
"Think of it as a fringe benefit." Johnny said. They walked towards the parking lot in a friendly enough silence. After a few moments, something nagged at Alexis as a feeling of unease came over her. It was strange. She wasn't feeling as though it was about her, but the threat was beyond her somehow… It had happened the first time when she was first arriving at GH. She'd managed to put it from her mind while she went through the motions of her exam with Monica, but now here it was again. This time, she gave into it a little, trying to figure it out. This time Alexis found herself feeling stifled, almost claustrophobic and she didn't known why she was feeling this way.
And now, it came back again, stronger than ever and she couldn't, wouldn't ignore it any longer.
All of a sudden, Alexis knew what she was feeling and why. As crazy as it was, she didn't question it. Alexis hesitated for just a moment, then spoke. "I am worried about Sonny, Johnny. Can you tell me anything about what he planned to do today?"
Johnny's answer was to continue to walk towards their cars, eyes straight ahead. Alexis stopped walking, forcing him to stop as well. He turned to look at her. It was clear in his face that he knew that she knew better than to ask about Sonny's business affairs. If Sonny wanted to tell her, then that was fine, but Johnny's first loyalty was to his boss. Alexis knew it, hated even thinking about asking Johnny, but something in her wouldn't let her let it go.
"Johnny, you know I would never pry into Sonny's affairs unless it was absolutely necessary. I only want to know if this has anything to do with Stefan. If it is, then I'm involved and I need to know."
Johnny looked away, clearly conflicted.
"Johnny, please." Alexis said. She reached out and touched him on the arm. "Everyone is trying to take care of me; I get that. But who is taking care of Sonny? Who else can take care of him the way I can?" That question brought Johnny's eyes around to meet hers, albeit unwillingly. "Who, Johnny? That's why I have to know."
Johnny couldn't deny the heartfelt plea in her voice or eyes. He exhaled slowly. "He was going down to the PCPD this afternoon." Under her gaze, he gave her more. "I talked to him on his cell while you were inside. He's there now."
Alexis looked at him for a moment longer, then began walking so quickly towards her car that Johnny had to hurry to catch up with her. "Alexis, wait."
But she was already dialing on her cell phone. "Let me talk to Commissioner Scorpio." he heard her say.
At least he knew where they were headed next.
Sonny felt like he was going to scream. Being in this drab grey room for so long was working on his nerves overtime. It wasn't a small place, but the walls felt like they were about to close in on him anyway. Were the cops hoping that he would crack under the strain of being in here for so long? Well, he wasn't about to give them the satisfaction. He mastered his discomfort, raising defiant eyes to his adversaries.
So in answer to their questions… He had been in a meeting with coffee exporters from Hawaii…He gave them their names and phone numbers, as well as the hotels they'd stayed at and the restaurants where they had eaten. If necessary, he could provide credit card bills to show where and when the meal they had shared had taken place….No, he'd had no reason for any antagonism towards Stefan Cassadine, and no, as far as he knew Stefan Cassadine had had no reason to have any animosity towards him.
That last part was a lie, of course. He remembered Stefan's face when he'd come in and found he and Alexis together in the bungalow. He had hid most of it behind his well-schooled, ever polite demeanor, but the disapproval had been clear to see in his eyes. But had it been animosity? Had Stefan truly hated him for daring to love Alexis?
It was a sobering thought.
But anything that kept his mind off of the walls threatening to close in on his soul was a good thing.
Johnny never felt good about coming near a police station. Call it professional caution. Today he felt even worse abut it. He knew that Sonny was not going to be thrilled to see Alexis here. He wasn't too sure how happy he was feeling about it, either. Say what she might about being okay, Johnny had seen how pale she'd looked at the penthouse. It was one reason why he hadn't argued with that Jacks guy when he'd insisted on taking Alexis out into the fresh air and why he had assigned two shadows to her, so she could be seen without it being known. He'd wanted her to enjoy a meal in peace.
Not that that had worked anyways.
But yeah, he was liking this even less. She didn't look like she was at one hundred percent.
As they arrived at the PCPD, Alexis turned to Johnny. "I don't want him to know about my stopover at GH."
"You mean your nearly passing out this morning?" Johnny asked. "Or the fact that you agreed to get a check-up?"
Hearing the scolding tone in his voice, Alexis flushed slightly. "Both. Sonny has enough on his mind without needing to have one more worry about me."
"Somehow, I don't think he'd agree."
"You could wait in the car, you know."
"No, ma'am, Miss Davis. Where you go, I go."
They went on up the stairs and stepped inside. Johnny stopped just inside the door and Alexis put her own worries and concerns aside. She put on her game face, and walked forward.
"Commissioner." Her voice was quiet yet it carried across the loud hum of conversation filling the room.
Mac Scorpio, deep in conversation with a younger man, turned at the sound of her voice. Alexis quickly looked over his companion. Young. Serious, suited. DA office. That kicked the stakes up a notch. It wasn't like they'd sent over a heavy hitter, but the DA's office was clearly making its interest known. Another lawyer might have been intimidated. Or gotten tricked into going on the defensive in hopes of gaining the mental advantage and even perhaps learning more than a client would wish to be known. A classic textbook tactic. Another lawyer might panic and fall for it.
But Alexis wasn't just another lawyer.
"I understand that Sonny Corinthos has volunteered himself for questioning in the matter of the explosion at his warehouse?" Best to stick to the plain facts of the matter.
"Yes, that's right. I can't say that he's been as cooperative as we would have liked." Mac had the decency to follow her lead. The ADA did not.
"I'm David Cohen, from the District Attorney's office." He introduced himself importantly. "Considering that there's a very good chance of him facing a murder charge, or at the very least manslaughter, for the death of Stefan Cassadine." Cohen announced a shade dramatically. He expected this woman lawyer to launch a belligerent defense of her client or else to begin the bargaining process that would give Sonny Corinthos into his hands. Cohen could already see he headlines lauding him as the man who took down the reputed Crime Boss of Port Charles.
"Mr. Corinthos was very much the uncooperative defendant. Perhaps you could make him see the error in his ways and we could continue this questioning with a more positive outcome than what we've already experienced."
Alexis found that his arrogance – and his blatant ambition - was past annoying.
"That's supposing that there was any errors in 'his ways'." Alexis said. "Defendant? Mr. Corinthos is in no way a defendant in this matter. Was there a warrant issued for his arrest? I don't think so. In fact I know so. You asked the questions. He answered them. If you feel dissatisfied with his answers, if you feel he was being less than truthful to you, if in fact, you feel that you have any evidence that gives the lie to the information he has already graciously provided, then charge him with a crime." She leveled a hard stare Cohen. "Murder? Manslaughter? Do you have anything besides your unfounded suspicions to substantiate your charges? Or shall I ask Mr. Corinthos if he feels a defamation suit is n order."
"There..there aren't any charges." Cohen spluttered. He couldn't press charges. They wouldn't get past the preliminary hearing and he'd be laughed out of court by any judge on the bench. He looked to Mac for support, but the Commissioner stayed silent. In his arrogance, the ADA had overstepped his bounds legally and Mac knew it. He wasn't going to compromise his office by getting dragged into a verbal war he knew he couldn't win. There was no proof of Corinthos doing anything criminal and they all knew it. Cohen had tried to bluff the wrong lawyer.
"Why is that? Is there no evidence linking Mr. Corinthos to this crime?" Alexis asked.
Cohen shook his head. "Not at this time…" he began.
"This time is all that I am interested in." Alexis cut him off in mid-sentence. "And if that's the case- that there is no case, then there will be no more questioning at this time. Mr. Corinthos came down here to be cooperative, not to be harassed."
"There was no harassment going on here, Ms. Davis." Mac said. "We asked him to come down in hopes that he could shed some light on the events that would help us in our investigation. I am sorry about your brother, Alexis. You know that I will do everything in my power to find out who is responsible."
"Thank you, Mac. I appreciate that." Alexis thawed momentarily. But then as she faced the ADA, Alexis was all lawyer again. "However, I'm sure Sonny did his best to provide whatever information he has. " Alexis told him. "It's just a hunch for now, Commissioner, but I think that the line between questioning and harassment has been drawn pretty thin. In fact, I think I'd like to speak with Mr. Corinthos now, so that I can be reassured that he has not been harassed." Alexis turned her attention back to Cohen. "If he says that he has, we'll be speaking again. Very soon." And her tone suggested that if they did, the conversation would definitely not bode well for him.
"I'm sure that it won't be necessary." Cohen said stiffly. He couldn't resist a parting shot, however. "At least for now."
"Again, for now, is all I'm concerned with." Alexis said. She turned her attention to Mac, dismissing the ADA. "May I see him now?"
A few minutes later, Alexis was shown into an interrogation room. She summoned up a smile for Sonny's sake as he looked up and saw her. To anyone else's eyes, he looked fine, but Alexis saw the barely visible lines of strain in his face. She knew how much sitting in this closed room had cost him.
As the door shut behind her, she moved to the table and sat opposite him. They were both all too aware of the wall of mirrored glass behind them and conducted themselves accordingly. They didn't dare touch, but had to satisfy themselves with looking deep into one another's eyes. They didn't need anything else for the moment. It was lucky that they were alone. The trust and sharing that flowed between them was almost palpable.
"Why didn't you tell me you were coming down here.?" Alexis said, after she had gotten her full of looking at him.
"Hey, I hang around some pretty smart legal types. I knew they had nothing on me, so I did it to keep them from coming around to the penthouse and being annoying. You need the peace and quiet."
"I needed for you to be honest with me."
"What? Did I lie?" Sonny asked, the first hint of a twinkle coming back into his eyes.
"A lie of omission, maybe."
"Maybe." Alexis could hear the grin in his voice, even if he kept it from his face. "But from the look in your eyes…"
"And what look would that be?"
"Like the cat that ate the canary. I hope Cohen was tasty. And like I was saying, from the look in your eyes, all I want to know is what're we doing wasting our time here? " Sonny asked, standing up. "Let's blow the mickey mouse operation."
"With pleasure." Alexis went to the door and knocked. When the uniformed officer answered it, she asked if there was anything else the Commissioner wanted from her or Mr. Corinthos.
"No, ma'am." She was told. "The Commissioner spoke with the DA's office direct and Mr. Corinthos is free to go."
They walked through the precinct room, Alexis first, with Sonny close behind her. Cohen was still there, standing at the door to Mac's office, getting what seemed to be a pretty stern reprimand from him. His eyes flicked over to them; Sonny stilled an urge to grin in the man's face.
He frowned as his eyes swept the station. "You came here alone?"
"No. Johnny escorted me. Or should I say, first he had me shadowed, and then he escorted me." Alexis answered him as they exited through the doors. Once outside, she paused on the steps. "And might I add, that was another lie of omission, not letting me know that you had guards put on me."
"You couldn't have been surprised, Alexis." Sonny said. He took her elbow and walked her down the stairs, enjoying this little excuse to touch her. "I'll apologize for not telling you about my coming down to the PCPD, but I'm not going to apologize for doing whatever I can to keep you safe."
"What am I going to do with you?" Alexis asked, smiling at him in spite of the stern tone she tried to take with him.
"Anything you want to Councilor," Sonny answered, his voice softening in spite of himself.. "Anything at all…."
At the open invitation in his voice, Alexis wanted nothing more at the moment then to feel his arms around her. Sonny still held her by the elbow. She settled for allowing her arm to drop and letting her hand brush against his; her fingers and his found one another's and briefly entwined.
Sonny allowed himself to get lost in Alexis' eyes for a second time, but it was all too brief. He'd seen Max by his car, along with Johnny. Both of them were alert and watching the street. But even as he noticed them, he saw Johnny react as his cell phone rang. He spoke briefly into it for a few minutes, then looked up at Sonny. With a sigh, he beckoned him over.
"News for me?" Sonny asked.
Johnny nodded. "The call came in that you were expecting. They're ready to meet with you."
"I'll call them back in the car." Sonny turned back to Alexis. "I'm sorry..I got..stuff.. I gotta take care of. It's important."
But he couldn't tell her what it was about. She knew it would be like this going in, Alexis thought to herself with a sigh. But even so, it hurt. Johnny looked from Sonny to Alexis, then he dropped his eyes and stepped away, giving Sonny and Alexis some obviously needed privacy.
Sonny saw the hurt in her eyes too, no matter how quickly she tried to mask it."Hey…hey, I don't have to go…"
"Nonsense. Is it important? Of course it is. I saw your face." Alexis asked and answered her own question. "Yu go and do what it is you have to do."
"Are you sure?" Sonny looked at Alexis again. He hadn't noticed it before, but she did look a little worn out. She'd probably tired herself out. "Maybe I should just take you home and take care of you instead of business."
"No." Alexis shook her head and smiled at Sonny. "You have business to take care of, and as a matter of fact, so do I. I have a clue as to what Helena might have been up to lately that I want to follow up on, and I'll need to go out to Wyndemere to look over the Cassadine financial records to find out what I want to know. It's going to take a few hours at least.
"So what do you say to the plan that you take care of your business, I'll take care of mine, whoever is done first will call the other and then we'll see what we can do about taking care of each other." Alexis said. "You worry about me; well, I know that sitting in the PCPD was no walk in the park for you, no matter how hard you try and pretend otherwise, so just for the record, let it be said that I worry about you too."
Sonny saw past her gentle joking to her concern. "You don't have to worry about me."
"Let's just say I want to."
"Can I state for the record that I'm not complaining? And, your idea sounds like a plan, Councilor. Let's shoot for a late dinner." He turned to Johnny, who was still hovering a few steps away. "Johnny – you stay with Alexis, keep an eye on things till she gets home." Before Alexis could protest, he turned back to her. "He's one of my best and you get nothing but my best." He said, stopping the argument before it was begun.
