Samsonlove- Maxie, as it is often stated both in the story and in the show, often lashes out and does the most idiotic things that she can think of. Sometimes it involves having sex with random people, like she's done before, and sometimes it involves doing something self destructive. Other times, like evident by her actions, it involves doing something that she knows is wrong but she just can't help it. Thus is the curse of Maxie Jones.

Port Charles Police Department-

There was the normal hustle and bustle of calls that were coming in throughout the day. Small things. Petty theft, maybe an assault. As hard as it was for most of the members of the Port Charles Police staff to admit, they were rather happy about what was going on. True, they would be happier if nothing had happened at all, but that was an unrealistic dream, they each understood that. But, based on the things that could happen around Port Charles: murders, explosions, shootouts… the list went on and on, the problems that they were dealing with at that particular moment seemed to be little more than a cakewalk.

Each and every time something big happened, the PCPD did try their hardest to find some way of solving the problem before it got too big, but it never worked. They were never able to do what they wanted to do. They were never able to keep their streets clean of the sick people who ran around Port Charles. Each time they felt that they had something that they could use against people, like Sonny Corinthos and Jason Morgan, something ended up happening that would completely destroy any chances that they had at making the charges stick. Time and time again the same fate had befallen them. Mac may have been their commissioner, and he was a damned good one at that, but even he couldn't hope to keep the quickly diminishing spirits of his squad up in the face of each and every defeat that, by all accounts, should have been theirs.

In an office inside the Port Charles Police Department, Ric Lansing worked diligently at trying to devise a way to do what he had said he was going to do: help his brother out. The urge to betray Sonny was there, it really was, and it only got stronger the more he thought about it, and then he remembered that throughout it all the only thing that Ric truly wanted was some sort of respect from Sonny. Some sort of acknowledgement that they were family, aside from the obvious times where they had to admit it to each other. Ric and Sonny may have been brothers, but they certainly didn't feel like brothers, and Ric wanted that, he wanted to feel like he could depend on his big brother for things. Before, when he was younger, it was the simple things: teaching him how to throw a nice curve ball, beating up a bully at school who was giving him a hard time, teaching him about girls. Those were all things Ric no longer needed Sonny to do for him, but what Ric now needed Sonny to do was admit that he cared, admit that he wanted Ric in his life. The whole time that Ric wanted to demolish Sonny and his life it was all because of the fact that Ric had been denied something that he had been trying to get his entire life: respect from his mother's side of the family. With Adella gone, the only other person who could give it to him was Sonny.

It was with that in mind, that yearning for something more than what he had, that Ric understood that he couldn't go back to his old tactics, because they didn't work. The reason why Sonny hated him so much was because of everything that he did, all the lying, all the pain that he caused Sonny and his family, especially his family. Ric's family as well, and now that he further realized that they were in fact his family, he just felt worse and worse about all the torment that he put them through. He remembered the first time he saw Carly hold Morgan in her arms. She didn't know that he was there, and it was better that way because she probably would have said or done something that would have crushed him, but he remembered thinking how right it felt, and how much pain he could have brought upon all of them for taking the baby away. Yes, in the end the plan wouldn't have worked, but for those moments, it would have been disastrous.

What was he thinking back then? Why was he that kind of person? Didn't he realize that it wouldn't have mattered in the end? That Elizabeth would have known that something was wrong, that she wouldn't have accepted the baby, and it probably would have pushed her so far away that he wouldn't even have what he had now? That second chance at happiness? Ric was determined now to not ruin what he had been blessed with, in any way, shape, or form. And it wasn't just Elizabeth that he was thinking about. Far from it. He had a chance to bring his importance to his big brother up. Ric had a chance to do something for Sonny that nobody else could do, not even the fabled Jason Morgan, and he was determined not to screw it up, no matter how hard it was on him.

Lucky knocked on the door. Each time he looked at the sign that said 'Ric Lansing, District Attorney,' he felt a small chill run down his spine. After everything that Ric had done to Carly and Sonny, Lucky's family, he certainly couldn't just forgive the man for his actions. And, to make matters worse, Ric was now once again married to Elizabeth, Lucky's first love, and one of his dearest friends. Lucky had seen the change, seen the way that Ric had softened around the all too jagged edges that once made up his being, but, for Lucky at least, it wasn't enough, because he thought that, at any second, things could go back to the way that they were and that he would be back to the person that he was, destroying lives in the process. Elizabeth had sacrificed so much of herself the first time, and it took her a long time to build herself back up. To have it happen again… Lucky wasn't certain that she would be able to survive it a second time.

"Come in," Ric shouted from the other side of the door, his eyes focused on the papers in front of him. There really wasn't anything that he could do about Durant at that point in time. He hadn't overstepped his boundaries as they were written, yet. And there was no law that prohibited someone from coming to a town just for a visit, even if that visit wasn't really a visit and more of a vendetta. There was also no rule against Durant hanging around the PCPD as often as he was, because it was a public building. Ric may have been a lawyer, and he may have understood why things were the way that they were, why the laws were up, but sometimes the laws just weren't very easy to accept.

Lucky walked into the office and shut the door softly. He lingered for a moment, watching as Ric seemed so entirely focused on one thing and one thing only: the papers that he was reading. Was there some case that Lucky wasn't aware of? Sometimes he felt that people tended to keep him out of the loop because of his connections to Sonny and Carly. It was entirely unfounded. Lucky was an officer of the law, and people just needed to respect that. It wasn't his fault that he had familial connections to the mob boss, he didn't ask for them. Besides, Ric was his brother, and he was involved in something? "What are you looking at?"

Ric turned his brown eyes up and placed the papers down on the desk, "I'm just trying to see what I can do in order to rid ourselves of the pest problem that we've managed to acquire over the past few days…"

"You're speaking about Durant, aren't you?"

"Is it that obvious?"

"Only to someone like me," Lucky replied, smiling softly. At least they could be united in their hatred of Durant. It was nice to know that they weren't completely at odds, because sometimes it felt like they were. "Your brother must be shaking in his boots."

"Sonny doesn't wear boots…"

"You went to Yale, and they didn't teach you figures of speech?"

Ric shook his head, "No, I was just trying to lighten the mood. I've been so focused on trying to find a way to get him out of Port Charles that I haven't had enough time to do anything else, aside from spend time with my wife."

"How's she handling all of this anyway?"

"What do you mean?"

Since the door was closed, Lucky felt that he could speak with Ric privately, even so, he kept his voice as quiet as possible, to avoid anyone from listening in if they were just by the door. "The other day, Elizabeth asked me if I could watch over Durant. She seems to think that he's going to take apart every single person that he can get his hands on in order to destroy Sonny's life."

"Why would she care…" Ric asked, wondering why Elizabeth hadn't spoken to him about the same thing, why she had gone to Lucky. But they were good friends, and in some ways, Lucky understood Elizabeth more than he could ever hope to understand her. And then it hit him, the common connection, "Damian?"

He nodded softly, "Elizabeth doesn't think that Durant will just stop with Sonny, or that he won't try and bring down everyone associated with him…"

"Neither would I. He's already made threats against my office. He wants to take over here, Lucky. He wants to take the job that I worked hard for, the job that I want to keep."

"Sonny's certainly gotten us into a mess again, hasn't he?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You know what it means, Ric. If Sonny wasn't who he is, then we wouldn't even have to worry about being a blip on the radar in John Durant's eyes. Do you think he even thinks about small places like Port Charles if he doesn't have something worth bringing his attention our way? This is Sonny's fault…"

"Sonny didn't bring this on us because he wanted to, Lucky. Say what you will about my brother, but, when it isn't necessary, he doesn't like to be flashy about himself and the things that he does." They couldn't speak of the things that he did because they didn't 'know.' They did know, of course, but nothing had been proven. Just another way that the law tended to favor people who could get away with their crimes. Not exactly something worth looking forward to.

"So we're being forced to defend him again?"

"Everyone is entitled to being able to live their life without fear of being prosecuted, Lucky, even my brother. Besides, you said it yourself, if we don't do something about Durant right now, he's just going to find some way to destroy everyone who gets in his way, and that includes the two of us. I don't want to sound insulting, but I can find a way to make a living, I can still practice law, what about you? You worked so hard for this position, if he took it away from you with just a snap of his fingers…"

"He wouldn't…"

"You're Carly's cousin, Lucky, that makes you connected to Sonny in some roundabout way. If he's going after my nephew, for no apparent reason…"

"What if there is a reason?"

"I refuse to believe that Damian's involved with Sonny in more ways than just being his child. You know him, Lucky… you've seen him with his friends…"

"I've also seen Sonny with his friends and with his family, well, everyone except for you…"

"Thanks for pointing that out."

"What I'm trying to say is that people can hide who they really are from the people around them and bring it out at the worst possible time. You, of all people, should know about that, Ric. After all, Elizabeth didn't…"

"Elizabeth didn't what?"

Lucky got up out of his seat, "Elizabeth didn't think that you would do what you did to her and to the people that you hurt before when she met you. She thought that she could help you deal with your anger, and she couldn't."

"I lost my child, Lucky… I wasn't thinking correctly. Are you trying to tell me that you still think that I'm capable of doing the things that I did before? Because, I can assure you that I'm not that person anymore, I've learned my lesson, I've seen what it cost me, and I have no desire to make that same mistake twice."

"Ric, I don't want to think that he's a bad person, honestly, I don't. I want to believe that he's as good a person as we all think he is, but, if he isn't, if he does something… we'll have to do what we have to do."

"I understand. In the meantime, we should keep our focus on Durant…"

"I agree."

"Good. You can see yourself out, I'm sure…"

"Yeah, I can," Lucky walked out of the room and shut the door behind him, leaning against the wall. Why did Elizabeth marry him again? Why did she want to take that chance a second time? He wanted to trust Elizabeth's judgment, truly, he did, but it was hard when she did things that he saw as huge mistakes. Lucky wanted her to be happy, but could she really be happy with Ric? He wasn't so sure. Lucky had promised that he would watch over Damian and make sure that Durant didn't bring him down for just being who he was, but he was now going to watch Ric as well, and make sure that Ric didn't do anything that could bring Elizabeth down as well.

Inside the office, Ric stared at the faded glass window. He could see the faint outline of Lucky from it, and he felt Lucky's penetrating stare, even if he couldn't tell if Lucky was truly looking at him. Was this what Durant was supposed to do? Break them apart? They had a barely cohesive relationship, and now it was ripping apart at the seems. "I don't know where you are, Durant, but wherever you are, damn you for what you're doing to us…"

Elsewhere-

The empty room was all that a person would see if they walked in, well, that and a partially opened window, the cold wind blowing through the room of the hotel. There was another item that was impacted by the blowing wind, a photograph album, many black and white pictures that had been taken throughout the ages rested on the table. The cold wind was brought up once more, flipping the picture to a familiar sight, but not in the way that a person would expect. A familiar face to all who had been in Port Charles for even a short time.

One of the hotel staff knocked on the door, "Mr. Durant? Your food is ready… Mr. Durant?" There was no answer from behind the door, for Durant had left, a more pressing matter had come up.