Unexpected Enemies
"I've had a ton of calls from both Kristina and Nikolas. Neither one of them were expecting Alexis." Jax told Sonny. The two men had gone their separate ways after their meeting that morning, then agreed to meet again before noon. The meeting place was at the Bistro park, the last place Alexis had been seen with Mason Lane.
To the casual passerby, it would have appeared that the two men had accidentally run into each other. That is, until they'd seen the looks in their eyes.
"Did you tell them to stay put?"
"Yes. But it wasn't easy to convince them that they could do more harm than good in rushing back here. Kristina especially. I finally managed to get Nikolas to understand that it was in Alexis' best interest that the two of them go on as though nothing had happened, and that they knew nothing out of the ordinary was going on." He looked at Sonny. "So what now?"
Sonny looked down at the benches surrounding the memory garden. He could almost see Alexis as she had looked sitting here, the bright flowers a background for her dark beauty. His blood began to boil and with a visible effort, he reined it in. "We pay a little visit to AJ."
AJ opened his apartment door and his jaw dropped as he looked from Jax to Sonny. "Now here's a sight I thought I'd never see." he said. "Okay, what's going on? Am I being Punked?" AJ poked his head out the doorway and looked up and down the hall. "Oh, come right in and make yourselves comfortable." he said sarcastically as they brushed past him.
AJ shut the door and turned to face them. "By the way, Courtney isn't home at the moment. She's out shopping."
"Good." Sonny said. "Then she won't have to witness this."
"Whatever, Sonny. So let's forget the usual un-pleasantries; to what do I owe the displeasure of your company?"
"We heard you had words with Alexis recently." Jax said.
"And you're both here to defend her honor. I'm sure she must be touched by such devotion. Or just touched period, especially since she chooses to associate with you Sonny. And Jax, I'm surprised to see you stooping so low as to be associating with - this thug in Armani." His gaze went over Sonny contemptuously. "Still protecting damsels in distress, I see. But with Sonny? Which of you is the hero and which gets to be the sidekick?"
"Forget you, AJ. Just tell us what the argument about."
"What argument?" AJ looked at the both of them as though they had grown two heads.
"So you're going to deny that you spoke with Alexis at all in the last few days?" Sonny took a menacing step forward. Jax put out a hand to restrain him, then looked at AJ, his own gaze bright and hard and full of meaning. The wrong answer, and Jax might let Sonny do as he wished. His next words confirmed it.
"Right now, I'd like nothing better than to watch Sonny smear you from one end of this place to the other. Hell, I might even feel the need to get a shot or two in myself before all is said and done. But that it won't give us the answers that we need." Jax stepped nearer to AJ, his own anger clear in his eyes and voice. "But let me warn you, my patience is wearing thin very quickly."
"And mine was gone five seconds after we got here." Sonny said, his voice roughened with an angry growl.
"Down boys." AJ answered them both. He gave Sonny a contemptuous glance and then turned the same onto Jax. "Put a muzzle on him, Jax. I don't know what answers you're looking for, but trying to intimidate me ain't gonna get them for you."
"I already know what a vindictive mean-spirited S.O.B. you can be, AJ." Sonny said angrily. "But you've stepped over the line one time too many..."
"Enough with the threats!" AJ interrupted him impatiently. " What is it I'm supposed to have allegedly done this time?" He smirked at them. "Notice the lawyer-speak? I'm sure Alexis would appreciate it…"
Her name on AJ's lips was more than Sonny could take.
"Enough!" The last of Sonny's patience shredded into nothingness. He jerked free from Jax and reached out for AJ, grabbing him by the collar. "Cut the crap! You and Alexis had an argument. What about! And what did you do to get back at her!" He jerked AJ's body as he ended each sentence, his voice rising with each movement until he was shouting in the other man's face.
AJ's hands surged up, clutching at Sonny's as he tried to free himself. "You're crazy, Sonny! I always knew it, but now you're certifiable! You've always looked for a reason to come after me, any reason and now you've gone and made up one!" The two men wrestled with each other, Sonny's hands twisting tighter into AJ's collar, trying his best to choke the truth out of him. Each of them pushed and shoved at the other as they tried to get an advantage.
For a moment, Jax stood still, stunned by the sudden eruption of violence. Then he jumped in. Sonny's grip was unbreakable, and AJ wrestled back with just as much determination. It was several minutes before Jax succeeded in breaking Sonny's stranglehold on AJ's shirt collar and forcing the two men apart.
AJ's face was flushed with anger and lack of air; his breath coming hard and fast. He glared at Sonny, who, standing a few paces away, stared right back.
"I didn't come up with anything." Sonny spoke from between clenched teeth. "So save your lies for somebody else." He took a step back towards AJ, who didn't flinch.
"I'm tired of this!" AJ exploded. "I don't know who's been feeding you lies, Sonny, and I don't much care – but here's a new flash: I never had an argument with Alexis!"
"Liar!" Sonny shouted.
"I wouldn't waste my time lying to you!" AJ shouted back. "A couple of days ago, yeah I talked to Alexis. TALKED. Or to tell the truth, she talked and I listened. And guess what? She told me what a fool I'd be if I let a chance for true love pass me by, just so I could get some sort of revenge against you. I thought she was trying to play me at first, get me to let my guard down so she could get something she could run straight back to you with and you could use against me. But then something in her voice, her eyes told me that she speaking straight from the heart."
"Alexis usually does." Jax said quietly.
"Yeah, well I don't know her like that." AJ said. "Anyways, surprise surprise, I heard what she said. I mean, really heard it. And then I went home to my wife." AJ's eyes went to Sonny's, his defiance plain and open to see. "I went home to my wife and told her I loved her."
"And we should believe you?" Sonny's dark eyes were hooded and his voice still skeptical.
"Ask me do I care, Sonny." AJ answered with a searing flippancy. "We both know I don't. So here's the deal and I'm only going to tell it to you once. Alexis and I ran into each other in the park over on Sheffield Avenue, across the street from LaLuna Bistro. I was just passing through and she was sitting on a bench beside a flower garden. I don't remember why I stopped, but I did. She talked to me and made me see who it was I'd really be hurting if I played games with Courtney's heart. Not you - as much as we both know I'd like that. But Courtney, Michael, and most of all, myself. I could choose that path, or I could choose to reach out and let love give me a second chance. The last I saw of Alexis, she was still sitting there when your friend came," AJ gestured to Jax. "and the last I saw of her, Alexis was talking to him."
"My friend?" Jax asked, with a suddenly sinking feeling. "Who?"
"Carly's newest victim. That Lane guy."
