Journeylove- I can't say how the truth will impact their relationship, because that would be too much of a spoiler, but the truth is just one of the many events that will shake their foundation. John has a part to play in the story, he's essentially the central villain of the piece, and he will also have an impact on a lot of people's lives and how they act around the people that they love.

Story-

The Docks-

"What are we doing here?" Jason inquired as he and Sonny stood around, waiting for someone. Since Jason was no longer the one in charge of the empire, he had once more given control over most of the business to Sonny, acting as he had once acted: the enforcer instead of the mastermind. That was not to say that Jason was not capable at the task that he had once been asked to do after Carly had been shot because of Sonny's errors, but, truth be told, Jason was more comfortable doing what he knew how to do best instead of doing what Sonny had been doing for years.

"I wish I knew…"

Jason was alarmed by Sonny's cryptic answer. It never sat well with the man when Sonny, who tended to be one of the more coherent and capable people that he had ever met, didn't know what was going on. Yes, Sonny was prone to fits of sheer and utter randomness, and it was during those times when Jason truly worried about the wellbeing of his best friend and the rest of his family… no, their family. "What do you mean, you don't know?

"I got a message from Armando Sandoval to meet him here, at this location, at this time…"

"Since when do you start taking orders from Sandoval?"

Sonny cast a cold glare into the azure-hued eyes of his best friend and right hand man. There were times when Sonny needed Jason to be distant from everything, times when Sonny needed Jason to be overly critical, because Sonny often tried to cloud his own eyes with occurrences that were, on the whole, chipper and happy instead of dealing with the reality. Truly, being a father to a child who was old enough to actually understand the concepts, and the danger, of Sonny's life had changed Sonny, although he was not aware of if it happened to be for the better or for the worse. "I don't take orders from anyone, Jason, you know that, or at least you should…"

"I just want to know why you're doing something like this, Sonny. You know how this works, we don't meet with the competition in the open, we don't come here with just the two of us. Why didn't you bring any other people? You think that Sandoval is just going to come by himself?"

"That would be a foolish mistake, Mr. Morgan," Armando Sandoval, one of the more prominent crime lords in the Northeast, walked down the steps of the Port Charles Docks. He was a man that was somewhat older than Sonny, although, much like Corinthos, he didn't show his age all that much. True, there was the beginnings of gray hair that formed on various parts of his face, but other than that, he was as spry as a man that was Jason's age. "And, I think it is safe to assume that none of us got where we were by making foolish mistakes."

"Why are you here?" Jason asked, immediately taking up the defensive stance. His cold blue eyes looked around, trying to decide just how many guards Sandoval had brought with him. Oddly enough, Armando chose to keep the meeting small, with only three people, not counting himself. That still meant that he and Sonny were outnumbered two to one, and that was only under the assumption that Sandoval did not have more people that he was hiding in places that Jason couldn't see. He may have been a man who could defy nearly impossible odds, but, as Jason had pointed out many times in the passed, he wasn't invincible. In fact, the docks had become one of the least favorite places for him, as it was the location where he had been shot in the knee trying to protect Sonny from something that Sonny should have been prepared for. Jason didn't want to be forced to sit around docile again, he hated it before.

"Now is that any way to talk to a fellow businessman?"

"Don't try and do the small talk with us, Armando," Sonny backed Jason up. Although people around him would never say it, Armando Sandoval, powerful though he was, was not in the league that Sonny himself was in, and probably never would be. "You called us out, on our property, without much information, and we came in good faith… it would be highly unprofessional of you to do something that would betray that faith."

"I would never dream of such a thing, Sonny," Armando dug into his pocket and saw the way that Jason moved, "Stay your hand, Mr. Morgan, I seek only to offer yet another display of good faith." It was at that moment that Armando pulled out his own gun and took out the clip that held the bullets, tossing it into the sea that was nearby. He turned his head over his shoulder, "Do the same," he demanded of his men. Not a single one of them balked at the command, instead, all that could be heard was the echoing of the guns being emptied, and then the splashing sound as the clips hit the ocean surface. Armando again looked at Sonny and Jason, "Good faith mandates that you do the same does it not?"

Sonny was silent, wondering if it was all just a trick, but he didn't want to appear like he was being overly cautious, or even weak. He didn't turn to Jason, his eyes continued to stay glued on Armando and his men, but he did speak, "Do it, Jason." Sonny pulled his own gun out and repeated the action that the other men did, as did Jason. With everyone's guns, presumably, no longer of any use, Sonny felt a little safer, or maybe he was just a little more worried and fooling himself into a false sense of security, "We've done as you've asked, now, if you could…"

Armando nodded and smiled, "I am sorry that it has taken this long to meet with you after the death of Lorenzo Alcazar. When we heard of his demise, we all assumed that it was you who managed to do him in. Who else could it possibly be, after all? You have a very public feud with the man, or, rather, you did, once."

"That sick bastard is dead," Sonny commented, "that's all that matters. Unless you wanted me to send out celebratory fruit baskets or some other trinket, I don't see what the point is."

"Such hostility…"

"I just hate games."

"Very well," Armando did not wish to irk Sonny Corinthos, even if his visit was entirely of good will, there was no telling how it would end up when all was said and done. "His territory in the immediate area… it hasn't been claimed yet."

"I'm aware of that," Sonny knew that nobody had claimed Lorenzo's land as their own, and he didn't really give it much thought. "Do you want it?"

"I do," Armando said with a slight nod, "but that is not how it works out in our business, Sonny, you know that as well as I do. We do not merely claim vacant land, it belongs to the person who killed the previous owner. You killed Alcazar, therefore, the land is yours, by the rules of our business."

"You came to Port Charles to tell me about rules that I already knew?" Sonny sighed, "This really wasn't necessary…"

"I came to inquire as to why you did not decide to take the territory for yourself as soon as Alcazar took his last breath. True, Lorenzo had more power in the international community, which you do not wish to involve yourself with that much, but the seat of power he held in New England was still quite respectable."

"I didn't kill him," Sonny said, his voice low, but he couldn't deny that he was not the one who ended Lorenzo's life, although he wished beyond every possible part of his being that it was him. "The land isn't mine, because I wasn't the one who killed him."

"Interesting…"

"But the person who did… is under my protection, Armando. Do you understand me?" Sonny's voice quickly switched over to that protective nature that he held dormant inside of his small frame, especially when it came to his children. "I will not tell you who it is, but if you should ever find out, if you go after them, you'll answer to me. Stay away from that land, and there will be no trouble between the two of us, between our factions."

"If that is how you want it, Corinthos, then that is how it shall be." Armando turned around and started to walk up the stairs, "Although, I can't help but wonder who this person is that managed to do something so profound, yet stay hidden. No doubt, the rumor mill will begin to churn once word gets out that you were not the one who slaughtered Lorenzo. Are you truly prepared for that?"

"I am," Sonny replied calmly.

"Let us hope that your bravado is not simply that… good day to you, Corinthos, Mr. Morgan, let us hope that, should we meet again, it is not under such unpleasant circumstances."

Jason and Sonny waited around for a few minutes. Jason, upon being asked, did an immediate sweep of the area, both for bugs and for people who may have been standing around. Although he wasn't positive, Jason was still able to give with a certain degree of assurance the statement, "It seems clear…"

"Good," although comforted by the fact that they were not being spied on, the guilt that Sonny had on his shoulders did not diminish. In fact, it only went up. "I was hoping that nobody would ever realize that nobody claimed Alcazar's territory… I was hoping that I wouldn't have to deal with this…"

"You can still do something about it, Sonny…"

"Like what?"

"Tell him…"

Sonny let out a sarcastic laugh, "Tell my son, my innocent son, my son who hates everything about this business, that he now owns a considerable part of the operations in this part of the country? Tell him that he doesn't need to do any more school, because he can make enough money to keep himself happy for the rest of his life simply by standing around and doing nothing? I can't, Jason… he can't know."

Kelly's-

"I didn't want him to take it like that," Damian admitted.

"How did you expect him to take it, honey?" Courtney asked. "I know you haven't known your father for very long, but you should know that when it comes to things like this, Sonny doesn't exactly take it very lightly."

"He took it like I was attacking him, though, and that hurt me, Aunt Courtney. I didn't want him to know that I was feeling like I was smothered, because I knew that it would end up making him feel like I was pushing him out of my life. I blame Maxie…"

"Why do you blame Maxie?"

"Because it was her idea that I talk to dad about it. She swore that he would understand. I should have realized that she was going to be wrong." He wasn't really mad at Maxie, she was doing what she thought was best for him, and because of that, he loved her. Damian just hated it when things that he wanted to go well ended up blowing up in his face. Then again, who did enjoy having things blow up in people's faces? Jokey smurf aside, of course.

It was at that moment that Elizabeth hovered by, coffee pot in hand, "I'm sure that Maxie was just looking out for your best interests, Damian. She does that, she does it because she cares about you a lot." Elizabeth was reminded of Maxie's antics the day before, in some small way she was starting to become alarmed. Yes, she knew that the two of them loved each other, but they loved each other so much that it could destroy them if something happened to ruin that love.

"I know, Aunt Elizabeth," the title was stated without any question in his mind, although, once it was said, he didn't regret it, merely took note of it. Still didn't sound 'right,' or rather, it just sounded odd now that he was calling his first friend his 'aunt.' "I just… after everything that's happened… things were finally starting to have some sense of stability… I was happy about it."

"Things aren't as torn apart as you want to think that they are, Damian," Courtney tried to assure Damian of the fact that everything was going to be okay, even though she didn't necessarily believe it herself. She'd been around Sonny and Jason too long to think that there would never be a problem.

"You know, when you say that, I almost believe you… almost." Unable to leave in higher spirits, the boy nonetheless had to take his leave, "I should get to class, after everything that happened here, a refresher on surgical procedures couldn't hurt my mind. If anything else, it'll keep me distracted." He slipped his bag over his shoulders and walked over to Courtney, "Thanks for breakfast, I know it doesn't seem like it, but you really did help me out. I'll see you later," he gently gripped her hand, dragging it with him only slightly before letting go just before his reach gave out. A casual wave was given to Elizabeth, and then he was gone.

"Aunt Elizabeth?" Courtney glanced playfully at Elizabeth. "I know that you and Ric got married again, but I didn't expect him to…"

"Yeah, but that's just the way he is…"

"Did it surprise you, the first time he called you that?"

Elizabeth nodded, "I guess I wasn't surprised, so much as touched that he really thought of me as a part of his family. I'm sure that Jason was actually the one that was surprised."

Courtney giggled, "I would have paid to see the look on Jason's face the first time that Damian ever called him Uncle Jason."

The laughter was returned, "It would have been something worth seeing." Elizabeth's mind flashed back to the look of sadness that was in the young man's eyes. She could almost always read his eyes. "In all seriousness, though…"

"You're worried about him, too?"

Elizabeth turned her glance down, "Yeah… I am."