Title: Master Plan
Fandom: General Hospital
Characters: Tracy Quartermaine
Prompt: #5 Son
Word Count: 2,638 words
Rating: PG
Summary: Young Tracy and Alan discuss career plans.
Author's Notes: Past!fic. Set at the lake; Tracy is a very precocious 14 years old.

Tracy Quartermaine spread her legs in front of her, enjoying feel of the sunlight as she rubbed the tanning oil into her skin. She wasn't sure where Alan had gone off to--probably chasing that stupid blonde girl from Albany he'd met at dinner last night. She rolled her eyes as she remembered her older brother, all ears and face and not much else to notice, trying to impress Miss Sandra Dee herself.

It was positively comical.

Tracy knew a thing or two about women, and she knew that Alan didn't have what it took to snag a Betty like that. He was rich, but didn't show it. He was smart, but didn't act it. In other words, her dear brother knew nothing at all about life.

Tracy, on the other hand, was a veritable warehouse of information about people, what they wanted, what they were willing to give, and how to get them to give it to her. That boy over there on the other end of the pier, for instance, had a transistor radio. It caught the local rock and roll station and produced absolutely fantastic sound.

Tracy wanted that radio. And it was very apparent to her, after a few minutes of observation, that the boy was staring at her. A little smile, a crooked finger, an innocent request for help with rubbing the tanning oil on her back, and Tracy had managed to snag use of that transistor for the rest of the afternoon.

Not that the boy was going to get any farther with her. No, vacations boys, even those with kick-ass radios, were not part of Tracy Quartermaine's Master Plan. She cranked up the radio as she lay back on her towel. Elvis had a new song out. It was okay, but not as good as his early stuff.

She could feel the eyes on her as she lay there. It was good to be aware of how people saw you. And she knew most people thought she was awful. But most of the boys on the pier were not noticing her personality. Tracy smiled to herself. She was athletic, fit, and although she was woefully underdeveloped in the chest area, filled out a bathing suit quite nicely. It didn't hurt that she'd accidentally on purpose brought last year's suit, which was just a little too small, which pushed her in at all the right places and pushed her out at all the better places.

Daddy had been furious and forbid her to go swimming at all during their vacation.

Of course, he hadn't said anything at all about sunbathing.

The British group that replaced Elvis was young and hot and sexy. Tracy let the exciting beats surround her as she indulged in her favorite past-time. She looked ahead in her mind, to sixteen, to eighteen, to twenty-one. Tracy had her entire life planned out right down to the minute, and she loved to review and refine her plans as her needs and desires matured.

She'd graduate college early, of course, at 21. She hadn't decided on whether or not to get a master's degree. She'd need to be educated to run ELQ, but she didn't want to appear overeducated.

She'd have a penthouse in Manhattan, Park Avenue, of course, where she'd entertain her copious lovers in lavish style after a day of earning millions for the family. Mother and Daddy would visit on weekends, often, and she'd throw fabulous dinner parties for them. Everybody would attend--the elite of Broadway, politicians, artists, intellectuals, and of course the most successful businessmen on Wall Street.

She'd settle down at 25 or 26, find a nice man from a good family (older preferably, the man and his money). Her husband would understand from the getgo that her career came first. They'd have two children by her 30th birthday, a boy and a girl, who'd both be groomed to work at ELQ. If the man didn't have his own business, she'd set him up with a Vice-Presidency at the company. There was no way Tracy Quartermaine was going to put up with an idle husband, no matter how fabulously wealthy and sexy and smart he was. She pictured Tony Curtis, or maybe Gary Cooper, in the role of her husband. Handsome enough, but not prettier than she was.

She herself would be a force of nature. Admired, feared, and respected as a business leader. She would move ELQ up the Fortune 500, leaving little piddling companies like PepsiCo and Ma Bell in the dust as she did. Daddy would retire early, secure in the fact that his legacy was in good hands, and take Mother on wonderful vacations, all around the world.

"Earth to Princess Tracy."

There was a shadow falling over her. Tracy put her hand over her eyes, squinting up to see her older brother standing just in her way. "You're blocking my sunlight, goofball."

"Dad will kill you if he finds out you're out here in that suit." Alan nudged her waist with his big toe, and she slapped his foot in response.

"Daddy, for your information, had to drive into Manhattan for an emergency meeting. If you would ever actually pay attention, you'd know these things."

Alan dropped into a seating position next to her, his legs crossing easily beneath his lanky frame. "Yeah, well if you think he doesn't have people spying on you, you're nuts."

"Paranoid."

"Delusional." He grabbed the radio. "Where'd you get this?"

"It's a loaner," she said, turning towards the radio's owner and flashing him a smile and a little wave. The boy sat up to wave back, knocking over his bottle of strawberry Ne-Hi as he did. Tracy laughed airily. "He was very sweet to loan it to me, wasn't he?"

Alan frowned, handing her the radio as he stared bullets at the boy. "You'd better watch yourself, Kid Sister."

Tracy took the radio from him with a groan. For someone who hated her guts, Alan could sure be overprotective at times. "I know what I'm doing."

"You don't know anything," he said, grabbing a towel from the bag Tracy had brought with her and spreading it out next to her.

"Are you planning on staying there," Tracy asked incredulously. "Lemme guess, you struck out with Marilyn Monroe."

"She has a boyfriend in Schenectedy."

"I thought it was Albany."

"Does it matter?" Alan asked glumly. He reached into the little ice chest they shared and pulled out a Pepsi. "Want one?"

Tracy shook her head. "Too much sugar." As an afterthought, she added, "Sorry about Marilyn."

"It's okay. It's not like we could have made it work anyway. Not with me going off to school this fall."

Tracy drew in a deep breath, pulling the bottle from his hand to steal a sip. At his glare, she explained, "Just a sip. To wet my throat."

"Uh-huh."

"Have you told him yet?" Tracy laughed, a little cruel sound. "Oh, of course you haven't. The world hasn't exploded."

Alan shot her a nasty look, then sank back to lay looking upwards, his arms crossed over his face. He wasn't a bad looking guy at 17, Tracy noticed. For a big brother, he was okay. It was just this stupid ambition of his, oh and the fact that they fought like cats and dogs, that made him unbearable to her most of the time.

"You gotta tell him sooner or later, Alan," she said, placing his soda on the pier next to him, much lighter than when she'd taken it. "He's going to find out when they ask for tuition."

"It's got to be done right," her brother said, his voice muffled through the flesh of his arm. "I have to figure out the best approach."

"Uh, how about--Dad, I'm about to throw away all your dreams and hopes for me by going into medicine instead of business. You know that great business school I got accepted to? Well, it's not the only one I applied to, and this is the college I'm attending." Tracy mimed the act of handing him a brochure. "You'll note it has no business school to speak of, but wow! What a pre-med progam!" She laughed at his groan. "Can't wait to see what happens when you counter his threats not to pay with that full academic scholarship you won."

"I'm a dead man."

"Don't flatter yourself," she said, relaxing back onto her blanket. "You won't live long enough to be any sort of a man."

"You are altogether too happy about this."

"Why shouldn't I be?" she asked. "With you safely disinherited, there's nobody left but me to take over the reigns at ELQ."

Alan laughed now, an echo of the cruel sound she'd made earlier. "When pigs fly. I hate to break it to you, but Dad's never going to let a girl take over his company."

"That's bullshit."

"You'd better not let Mother hear you talking like that," her brother warned.

"Nobody is better suited to take over Daddy's company than me," she insisted. She'd never really discussed her plans with anybody before, and Alan's mocking tone infuriated her. "I'm smart, good in math, and I've been eavesdropping on his business conversations since I was six. I read his Wall Street Journal every day when he's done, cover to cover, even the stock quotes. I know who all the players are, and I know exactly where Daddy wants to take the company." She could feel her blood pounding in her veins, a fury inside of her that only grew when she turned to see the look of pity in her brother's face.

"Looks like Daddy's dreams are a bust…" he said. "He built this company to pass down to his son, not his trouble-maker daughter."

Tracy bit her lip, mainly to stop the tears that were forming behind her eyelids. They were tears of fury, no doubt, but tears were tears and she had no intention of letting her asshole brother see them. "You'll see," she seethed, sitting up and gathering her things quickly. It didn't matter any more that the boys were staring. They were idiot vacation boys who didn't know their asses from a hole in the ground. It didn't matter that her tan was nearly perfect. She didn't care how she looked.

"Hey, Trace, I'm sorry, but it's the truth. Dad's pretty adamant about his plans, and you know he doesn't like to be disappointed."

"Shut up," she said. Her foot hit the radio, toppling it onto its side. She didn't feel like returning it to its owner just now, so she picked it up and tossed it to Alan. "Make yourself useful and give this to Romeo over there. Tell him I'm fourteen and if he bothers me again, you'll have him arrested."

"Tracy, come on," Alan was following her now down the pier. "Look, it's just the way things are. It's nothing against you."

"I can't wait until Daddy disinherits you," she spat at him. "I've always wanted to be an only child."

Alan sighed, rolling his eyes. "You can be such a spoiled brat!"

"And you can be a complete jerk!" She tossed her bag at him, and ran all the way back to the cabin. Her mother was inside, on the phone making their dinner reservations. Tracy ran through the cabin into the room that she'd claimed for the western view and the big four-poster bed. She tossed herself on the bed, and started screaming into the pillow. It wasn't a loud scream, just enough to get it out of her system. Just enough to ease the pressure in her head, to let go of some of the rage that threatened to consume her more often than not.

He was wrong. Once he saw how unfit Alan was for the job, Daddy had to accept her as his successor at ELQ. It was all she wanted. The college, the penthouse, the kids and gorgeous husband, the fabulous parties and friends--these were nothing without ELQ. Nothing without the knowledge that she was going to keep Daddy's legacy alive, that she was going to be the one he loved and admired and appreciated when he retired.

There was a knock on her door. Tracy took a deep breath, calming herself. It wouldn't do to let Mother see her cry. Maybe she could tell her, maybe she knew the truth. Tracy thought for a moment she would ask, once and for all, knowing that her mother would never lie to her.

Does Daddy love me, even if I'm a daughter and not a son?

Will Daddy let me do what I'm supposed to do with my life?

Will Daddy ever accept me for who I am?

"Tracy," her mother said as she knocked on the door. "I need to speak with you."

"Come in," Tracy murmured. "I need to talk to you, too." She was going to do it. She was going to get the truth. She was going to find out, once and for all, whether Daddy didn't love her, just because she wasn't his son.

Lila walked into the room, her blonde hair swept up in an elegant curve atop her head. She was stunningly beautiful, Tracy thought, and just as sweet-tempered and kind-hearted as could be. "Tracy, I motioned for you to stop, but you flew through here so fast--"

"I'm sorry, Mother," Tracy whispered, sitting up on the bed, her confidence faltering. Maybe she wouldn't ask…

"I'm thinking of asking the Harrisons to join us for dinner, but that would mean we have to have an earlier reservation. I know you don't get along well with their daughter, so before I make special arrangements, I want your assurances that you will behave, and not taunt her the way you did last time."

Tracy's heart fell. Of all the times for her mother to bring up her bratty behavior. Didn't she know her daughter's entire future hung in the balance? Didn't she know that, before this vacation was over, everything would change?

Of course she didn't. Mother knew a lot, but about some things, she was perfectly clueless. "I'll be good, Mommy," she said softly. "I promise."

"Thank you, darling. Now, did you need to ask me something?"

Tracy looked into her mother's eyes, wanting so badly to trust her. Wanting so badly to tell her about her plans. But there was a flash in her mind, an image of Lila's face, saddened, worried, the sound of her words, her sweetly accented voice telling Tracy it could never happen. That her father loved her, in his own way, which was code she knew for not at all, but he had his plans, and well, you know how hard it is to change your father's mind once he's got it set on something….

She faltered, chickened out. "Uh, no, Mommy," she said. "It was nothing at all."

Lila smiled, chucking her on the cheek. "You've been a very good girl this vacation, Tracy," she said, looking down at the suit her daughter wore. "Although you'd probably better not let him catch you going out in that swimsuit."

Tracy sighed, nodding. "I'll change." And Tracy knew as she said it that she didn't mean her suit. She'd change herself. She'd do whatever it took to make her Daddy have faith in her. She'd get where she wanted to be, no matter what the cost. She had to. "I love you, Mother."

"I love you, too," Lila said, and for the first time in her life, Tracy wished she hadn't.

She wasn't the parent Tracy wanted to hear saying those words. "I'd better get changed," she said, and ushered her mother out of the room. She had a lot of thinking to do if she was going to revise her Master Plan.

The End

Written for the 100situations Challenge.