AN - some explanation is needed. This is set in the past, I'm thinking 98-99. definitely before the Sonny/Carly hate sex, a little AU (I've cobbled together both Carly new (the incident with the 'real' Carly's dad and the old (i.e.Virginia) pasts - as best as I could remember) and it's sort of Jason/Carly - my first, last & always OTP (one true pairing), but only slightly. I need serious work regarding everyone's else reactions, but I just couldn't get this idea out of my head, so I had to type it up over the past two days & unfortunately unbetaed.

Chapter 2 - Only The Beginning . . .

Walking back into the penthouse, Carly felt utterly drained. Despite her best intentions, she had said more than she had ever meant to and knew all too well that there was going to be one helluva of a fallout, one that she was not looking forward to. That last look of pity from Jason almost broke her. Pity was the last thing that she ever wanted from him and pretty much 86-ed her last chance that he'd wake up one day and realize that he was in love with her. From past experience, she knew all too well that guys never fell in love with someone with her kind of baggage.

If it wasn't for Michael, she would've packed up her stuff and gotten the fuck out of Port Charles because there really was no future left here for her, but she didn't have the heart to do that to Jason or Michael – they loved each other too much. So somehow and she didn't have a clue how she was going to do it, but she needed to find a way to make this work or else. Leticia came downstairs and after telling Carly that Michael had fallen asleep already, she left for the night, leaving Carly to crash out on the sofa, wondering why she had even bothered to open her mouth earlier.

When the door opened, she jumped to her feet expecting Jason, but instead got the unpleasant sight of Robin, her own personal nemeses. Before she could even get a word in edgewise, Carly flatly informed her that, "Jason's out. No I don't know when he'll be back, no you can't stay and yes, I'll tell him you came by? Good, ok. Now do me a favor and kindly get the fuck out, ok?"

Ignoring the obvious hostility radiating off of the other woman, Robin strolled into the room and as if invited in for tea, delicately sat herself on the very edge of the loveseat. "I don't think so, Carly. Jason has said that I am welcome in his home anytime and forgive me, if I don't trust you to tell him that I was here. I'll just wait for him, right here, thank you very much."

Her saccharine sweet voice combined with a simpering smile was almost enough to turn Carly's already unsteady stomach. "If Jason actually did say that, I'm sure he menat when he was here, but since he's not, I'd like you to get out. I live here too and having to deal with you tonight is more than anyone deserves. I said that I'd tell Jase and I'm sure you'll call him anyway to bitch about something, so either way he'll get the message. Now, if you don't mind that door is that way," she gestured impatiently towards the closed door.

"I'm not going anyway, Carly, so get used to it and if I were you, I wouldn't get too comfortable here. Let's get real, because everyone knows that it's only a matter of time, before Jason like everyone else in this town gets sick of your antics and kicks you to the curb." Robin smiled smugly. Outside the penthouse, Johnny had told her that although Jason was out, he'd be back shortly and Carly was so predictably. Pushed just a little further and she'd lose her temper, hopefully just in time for Jason to hear. The faster Jason faced the truth, the faster Carly Roberts would be out of their lives and the better off they all would be.

Carly rolled her eyes, Robin's threats loosing power from sheer repetition. "Don't you ever get sick of hearing yourself talk? Seriously, you just say the same things over and over again. Doesn't it ever get boring?"

Robin narrowed her eyes, glancing at the door briefly. "When Jason learns the truth about you . . .

Carly cut her off, laughing. "Learns the truth? Sweetheart, I hate to break it to you, but Jason knows all of my secrets and even if he's not thrilled with them, he'd not about to kick me out over them either. And secondly, learn? Like what, he's in high school or something? If so, then it's news to me. Jason knows the score about just about everything except you and soon or later he'll get over that blind spot and then we'll see who gets kicked to the curb." She smirked, speaking with far more confidence then she actually felt, but not about to let 'little miss innocent' over there know.

"No, not high school," she said condescendingly, "but you know as well as I do that Jason is brain-damaged and that you're just taking advantage of his weakness."

"Damaged?" Carly exclaimed, getting pissed off. "Where the fuck do you come off, little girl? You waved that word around like a goddamned banner," gesturing in the air, "never letting anyone, especially Jason forget. He may think differently but that is far from being damaged. And weak . . . Jason? Are we even talking about the same person? How can you claim to love him, when you don't even know who he is? And as taking advantage of him? Look in the mirror, because that's your game not mine. I don't manipulate Jason, I don't need to. For some reason, I don't understand he lets you get away with it, but the way you treat him. . . I can't seem him tolerating it forever."

"Are you threatening me?" Robin demanded standing up.

"If I was threatening you, believe me when I say that you would know it without a doubt."

"You are, aren't you? Oh, you just wait until I tell Jason, Carly. He'll take care of you!" She retorted defensively. If anything was going to send the boyfriend stealing bitch over the edge, this would be it.

Carly gaped at her for a moment, shaking her head in amazement, almost waiting for her to stomp her foot like a child having a temper tantrum, unable to quite comprehend how the little twit had come to that conclusion. "Whatever. I bet you were the kid in school who always ran to the teacher tattle telling on everyone. That is the difference between you and me, you know. I don't need anyone to fight my battles for me. So go ahead and run to Jason, tell him how mean and nasty Carly threatened you."

Abruptly letting the door shut loudly behind him, Jason asked, "Tell me what?"

Hearing his voice, Carly froze, a sick feeling nearly overwhelming her. If Jason had just walked in and heard her . . . that wasit. After everything that had happened tonight, he'd never believe her now.

Smiling broadly in satisfaction, Robin walked towards him. "Carly here first tried to kick me out, when all I wanted was to wait for you, and when that didn't work, she actually threatened me Jason," artfully shivering a little as if in remembrance.

Jason deftly avoiding her waiting arms, not missing the disingenuous pout and almost reproachful look she gave him, but focused more on Carly's tense and apprehensive expression. He sighed heavily. This confrontation had been a long time in coming and while he had made his mind awhile ago, Carly's earlier comments and the portion of their argument that he had overheard had made it more than obvious that he couldn't put it off any longer.

"What's wrong Luke?" Bobbie's voice grew more serious in reaction to the heavy undertones she heard over the phone line from him.

"I know that you don't want to talk about it, but I just learned something tonight about Caroline that you need to know," he began, having to decided to try and broach the subject delicately.

"Oh, what has that girl done now, hmmm? Slept with Sonny now or was it Allen this time? You know, don't even bother Luke, I don't want to know. I have completely washed my hand of her. Other than my grandson, she could drop off the face of –"

Wincing at the beginning of what he knew from past experience would turn into a long drawn-out rant and wanting to stop her before she said anything more that she might regret he cut her off. "Barbara Jean, I love you dearly, but you really need to shut up right now and listen to what I have to say. You need to hear this and its best that you hear from me, ok?"

Bobbie sighed, eyes falling shut, wondering what it could possibly be now. "I'm going to come over now, don't go anywhere until I get there."

"Can't this wait until tomorrow? I was supposed to go out to meet Jerry in an hour?" She complained, displeased to have another night possibly ruined by her brat of a daughter. "I've already put Lucas to bed, gotten ready to go out and the babysitter just showed up."

Running his hand through his already mussed hair, Luke offered. "Ok, why don't you come by the club then?"

She rolled her eyes. "Fine, I'll be there in ten minutes Luke, but I'm not happy about this, Luke. I'm really not."

"Neither am I, Bobbie. Neither am I." He hung up the phone and looked around at the ruins of his office. He was in no mood to clean up, not did he have the time. After a moment or two, he picked up the phone to make another phone to make another call. Not liking what he heard, he got up and dug his baseball bat out of the closet. Hell, he might as well get a few more good shots in while he could.

Just after ten minutes, Bobbie walked through the door, her jaw dropping as she surveyed the damage. Picking up a chair, she gingerly sat down, half expecting it to collapse underneath her slight weight. "So go ahead and ruin my night." She waved a hand at him. "Carly must have really done something this time to warrant this kind of mass destruction."

"Afraid not . . . not this time anyway." Luke rolled his neck slightly, before tossing the bat into a far corner. He pulled up a chair to set across from his baby sister, ignoring the crash of a glass vase that used to sit on top of a filing cabinet. Slumping into the chair, his head fell to rest against his chest as he fell silent.

On edge and not sure why, Bobbieimpatiently snapped her fingersin front of his face. "Hello . . . some of us have plans tonight. Can we get this over it, please?"

He looked up at her, eyes filled a bleakness she hadn't seen since the day he confessed exactly what had happened between him and Laura on the floor of the disco and she felt a dark premonition. She was ready to walk out when he finally spoke, his voice heavy with repressed emotion. "Has Caroline ever told you anything about her past, before she got to Port Charles?"

"Nothing but lies," she responded with a forced lightness that wasn't enough to mask her disturbed and suddenly frazzled nerves. Bobbie knew with a certainty she didn't dare question that whatever he had to say, she didn't want to hear. "Is that what this is all about? She's got a new 'woe is me' sob story now? Because if it is, I'm out of here, Luke, I swear it." Her voice rose slightly, veering off into near, but not quite, hysteria. The feeling of apprehensiviness she had felt since Luke's call, only growing stronger.

"No," he shook his head slowly, dropping it as if unable to look her in the eyes. "It's not a story this time. Too much of it fits and the way she told it, Barbara Jean. . . " His voice drifted off as he shook his head. "It's the truth this time."

"I don't want to hear it, I told you." She leaped out of her chair and turned, only to be held back by Luke's implacable grip on her arm. "Let me go, dammit!"

"Can't do that, darling. You've gotta to hear, you've gotta know." From the determined note in his voice, she knew he wasn't going to let her go until she listened and resigned, sat back done.

"Fine. Tell me if you must, but I'm not going to change my mind. After all, considering our childhood, how bad could it really be, right?" She threw back, somewhat hopefully, a faint smile cracking her lips.

A smile that quickly disappeared when he sighed.

"Considering that I don't even know all of it? Pretty bad."

When he was finished, she looked as sick as he felt.

"And you're sure this is the truth and not merely a ploy to gain sympathy?" Bobbie demanded, wanting him to tell her that was just a bad dream or another underhanded scheme.

"I wish, but like I said it all fits. The report I had on her mentioned some sort scandal in high school that the police got involved in, a car accident a few months later and then she dropped off the radar until just before coming to Port Charles. Her high schools records and work history are forgeries, not bad actually, but enough so that I could trace them back to the guy who did it and sure enough he's based in Miami. And you have to admit, it explains a hell of a lot."

"She still could be lying . . . "

Luke winced, hoping that she'd accept what he said at face value, but he knew better. " 'Fraid Not, Bobbie. While you were on your way here, I made one other call to Caroline's home town police department, who reluctantly confirmed the details of the rape, pregnancy and the real Carly's death and every detail matched up perfectly."

"Oh God, Luke. How this could have happened? Virgina was so nice, she was good people. Why didn't she let us know?"

"People change, Barbara Jean. We did. Some change for the better and some for the worse. Caroline said her husband left when Carly was only four." He shrugged, "Who knows what that did do her?"

Closing her eyes, Bobby rubbed her forehead with the heel of her hand. "And Miami?"

"Don't know. She didn't say much about it, but you and I both know how hard it is to live on the streets especially as a pretty girl on her own. We had each other and Ruby, but Carly had no one."

Abruptly opening her eyes to meet his, visions of the past – faces of nameless Johns ran through her mind. "Oh, God, Luke. What did we do?"

He didn't know how to answer the ghost of questions he saw in her eyes. "I don't know. The real question is what do we do now? Or better yet, what will she let us do?"

"So . . . " Emily looked down at the ground awkwardly, at a loss of words.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. That was . . . not what I had expected." Lucky smiled half-heartedly.

Pursing her lips, she sighed. "Do you believe her?"

"More than I'd like to, unfortunately, which pretty much shoots my hating Carly plan down. I mean Carly's a good liar, don't get me wrong, but that?" He shook his head. "You?"

"Yeah, I do. The worse part is I think that she really believes it was her fault." Emily looked up at him, seriously. "I mean, she was only fourteen, Lucky. That's younger than us. I couldn't image going through something like that."

"You won't ever have to. Trust me," he reached out and pulled her into a tight and reassuring hug.

"Yeah, but what now?" She pulled free to look him in the eyes. "I've never been a huge fan of Carly's and what she went through doesn't excuse everything she's done, but it does put it in a new light. I just feel like such a bitch, Lucky." She closed her eyes, wrapping her arms around herself.

"That bit at the end, what she said about Michael. I told her that. I told her that he'd be better off without and that he'd grow up to hate her. What kind of a person does that make me?"

"Oh, Em, it's not your fault. You didn't know, none of us did."

"Than whose fault is it, Lucky? I mean, ok, I know that I'm not the first person she'd confide in, but how come no one knew? How did we all miss it?" Emily was nearly in tears now. "Everything we said and did just made it worse."

"You know that I've spent time at the teen hotline, I've heard stories like this before. Hell I was trained to recognize the symptoms of rape victims and I didn't have a clue. And in retrospect, Carly exhibits all the classic signs. She'd just so in denial, I don't even think she understand that it was rape. You heard her, she all but said that she let that girl run her down because she deserved it! Deserved it, Lucky.

He tried to stop her, but she kept talking right over him.

"And, I mean, did you see the way she pulled away from Jason? Jason's my brother and I'll always love him, but . . . I don't know. Since the accident, he has no experience with something like this and she needs serious counseling. I don't know if she loves him, but other than Michael, she cares about him more than anyone and if says the wrong thing now . . . Lucky, it would be absolutely devastating for her. We all thought she was unstable before?" She scoffed mockingly.

"Em . . . Emily." Lucky reached out and held her by the shoulders, shaking her gently but firmly. "Look, first and foremost, Carly is a survivor. Yes, she went through hell, but she is a Spenser by blood, if nothing else. I have no idea where this is going to go, but it's not going to fall apart tonight. Tomorrow . . . I don't know. I'm sure my dad and Bobbie are probably working on something already and as far as Jason? He's a little smarter than you give him credit for it."

"If he didn't give a damn about Carly, he wouldn't have been taking care of her like he has all this time. He's not going to do anything to send her over the edge now. And while he may not know all the right things to say, he knows and understands Carly better than anyone of us. Going over there tonight wouldn't do any good now, so we've just got to trust that he knows what he's doing. " He sighed, letting go of her with one hand, to run it through his hair in frustration.

"I wanna do something as much as you do, but I don't think there's anything to do right now. I'm going to check with my dad and see what'd happening on his end and tomorrow, we'll figure something out."

"Jason's my brother and Michael is my nephew, so whatever you're planning on Lucky Spenser, you'd better believe that I want in." She demanded, showing a little more of that spirit he loved so much in her.

"As if you'd let me get away with cutting you out?" He grinned back at her, a little less brighter than usual.

"Better not," she teased him back, feeling slightly better than before. The idea of having a plan was like a restorative balm to her nerves. She and Carly may never be the best of friends, but Emily was determined to make amends at the very least. This not time, not just for the sake of family but because Carly was mistaken in believing what she deserved. After her mother died, the Quatermaines adopted her, giving her a second chance, because who knew what might have happened otherwise. Carly deserved a second chance and she decided to help bring that about anyway she could.

"Carly threatened you?" Jason repeated to Robin, while watching Carly close further in on herself – arms wrapped tightly around her chest, a shuttered expression crossing across her eyes.

"Oh yes, didn't you hear?" She asked, shooting a victorious glance to Carly.

"If you really believe that Jason than you seriously deserve her." She scoffed, clinging to her tattered sense of pride, refusing to give Robin any more to gloat over. Rolling her eyes, she turned towards the staircase to walk away. "I'll just leave you two lovebirds to yourselves. " The disdain in her voice clearly hit her targets. Robin's eyes flared open at the blatant disrespect and Jason moved quickly to stop her from leaving the room.

"Not so fast Carly. We need to get this over with, once and for all."

She tried to shake his hand free, but it was a futile effort at best and sighing heavily, she allowed herself to be returned to the room, like a recalcitrant child, she thought resentfully, unwilling to put on any more of a show for the bitch.

"Sit down . . . please, Carly?" At the sincere note in his voice, she felt herself begin to soften and breathing deeply, she deliberately stiffened against him. Jason resisted the impulse to sigh. Carly would drive him crazy if he gave her half a chance. Leaning in slightly, he murmured in her ear. "Come on, trust me here for a minute, ok?" As soon as the words crossed his lips, he flinched internally, his face revealing nothing more than a brief flicker of darkness in his eyes. Under the circumstances, he wondered wearily if he could have possibly chosen a worse wys to phrase that question, unable to blame her if she walked out without another word.

She eyed him warily for a long moment and he unconsciously held his breath, waiting to see how she'd react. The light pressure of his touch stirred memories inside of her and almost unwillingly, she relented and nodding at him hesitantly sat down. Sitting on the arm rest of the couch, Jason made sure to stay in physical contact with her, even as he gestured to Robin that she too should sit.

The petulant expression on Robin's face was almost enough to coax a reluctant smile from Carly, but she was still far too anxious to really relax. Jason was acting . . . oddly, even considering everything that happened tonight. And while she was reasonable certain that he wasn't going to kick her out, she didn't have a clue what he had to say to little miss pixie over there that required her presence.

"So Carly . . . Did you threaten her or not?" Jason asked her softly, keeping one hand on her shoulder, which proved to be an astute call, as she abruptly tried to shoot out of her seat.

Held down, although there was no malicious intent that she could sense, she was still pissed off as hell. Glaring at him, she made a useless attempt to pry his hand loose. "Don't do this to me, Jase . . ."

"Carly, just answer the question, ok?" She silently cursed him in her mind, not sure what pissed her off more – the fact that he was doing this or that look in his eyes still had such an impact on her.

Shrugging carelessly, she wondered why she even bothered. "Yeah, sure, I did. Why not, you're not going to believe me anyway. Whatever you want me to say, I'm too tired, Jase, I just don't care anymore." She turned her head to stare at the wall, teeth creeping out to bite her lower lip.

"Wow . . . actually admitted that you did something wrong? Is the world coming to the end or something?" Robin sanctimoniously jeered and was taken aback by the narrowing of Jason's eyes as he shot her a look that had her all but squirming in her seat.

"Ok, that's enough. Robin, you need to back off of Carly and stop disrespecting her in her home. She lives here and that isn't going to change anytime soon." His voice was flat, delivered with a faint undercurrent of repressed violence.

"But Jason, you heard her. She admitted to threaten-"

"I heard Carly being Carly." He cut her off without missing a beat, the anger in his voice now clearly audible. "What do you want from her? You knew that I wasn't here, but instead of waiting for me to get back to you, you instead come in here and go off on her. I may be 'damaged,' Robin, but I'm not stupid. I heard more than enough before I walked in to know exactly what you were doing."

Robin stared at him, realization beginning to dawn in her eyes and Carly turned back to him with a smile on her face wider than he could remember seeing in a long time.

"Busted . . . " She snickered at the flabbergasted girl. When Jason tilted his head towards, one eyebrow arched, she started laughing. Hands held palm upwards, she swallowed her laughter a bit. "Hey man, you said it yourself, I'm innocent this time." Shaking his head, his lips curving into a small smile, and with one hair tucked a tendril of hair behind her ear.

"Robin, this isn't working out. I can't have you and Carly at each others throats and when you come here deliberately baiting her. . . I just can't do this anymore." He paused thoughtfully for a moment, his tone losing a little of its heat but none of its intensity.

"What are you saying?" Robin demanded, her voice higher-pitched than normal and wavering slightly.

"You know what I'm saying. Carly is a part of my life – "

"Because she won't go away . . ."

"No, Robin!" He abruptly stood up, his frustration evident in every movement.

"Carly is here because I want her to be. I've never been anything less than straight to you about this, but you refuse to accept that fact, just like you refuse to accept me being in the business. It's like . . . like you have this idea of who I am and everything that doesn't fit, you try to ignore or make go away. Carly isn't going to go away, I don't want her to." He stared at her, as if willing her to understand, but whatever he was looking for he didn't seem to find it.

Watching the argument unfold before her, Carly felt more awkward than ever. On one hand, she was enjoying watching Jason dress her down, god knew it was a long time coming and part of her wanted to run and get some popcorn, but at the same time she felt guilty as hell. On some level, Jason seemed to need the normalcy that he got being with Robin, although she didn't fully understand it, it wasn't really up to her to tell him who he should be with.

For the first time it looked like he was choosing her, but Carly wanted him to make that choice because he really wanted to be with her, not because Robin goaded him into not choosing her, if that made any sense. She had imagined this scene playing out in her head so many times and now that it was actually happening it felt like nothing more than ashes. All of these hypotheticals on top of everything else was making her head and heart hurt, but most of all she was so sick of always being the also-ran or winner by default. Looking back on her history with Jason, Carly decided that in so many, countless, ways she had always been selfish with him and this time, however painful it might be, was the time to make the right choice.

"Jason," she began slowly drawing their attention and raising one hand when he would have interrupted her. "No, you wanted to hear me talk, so now I'm going to." She gave the barest ghost of smile, all the while feeling her heart breaking and kicking herself for being so damn stupid, even as she forced herself to continue. "You really don't have to do this and not over me. You've done so much for me already, so much more than I can ever begin to repay. It's ok, you don't have to worry about me. I'm fine. Really," she added as he continued to watch her, disbelief written across his face, her smile stretching painfully thin and stood up.

Watching her, he resisted his impulse to shake his head and although it was difficult, he let her say her piece. Carly, even when she tried to lie was so obvious to him. As usual she had misinterpreted the situation, jumped to the wrong conclusion and was now trying to follow through on yet another misguided plan. For someone so attuned to other people and him, in particular, it never failed to amaze him. Carly's greatest failing was her sense of insecurity and that was why no matter what stupid disaster she got herself into, he always understood and was able to forgive her.

How could he blame her for being afraid? He didn't feel fear, but it dominated her, dictating reactions that to anyone else seemed unreasonable at best, but it was through watching Carly that he was able to gain an understanding of the emotion. Sometimes, she even surprised him and he almost wished Luke or Bobbie was here to see this, Carly wasn't nearly as black and white as people all too often painted her.

"It's ok, Carly, I understand," he said gently not wanting to startle her into taking off. "Are you finished now?" He waited until she nodded in confusion. "Good, now listen to me for once."

"I know exactly what I'm doing and this is my choice, not because of anything anyone said or did." He directed his attention back to Robin who was alternating between rolling her eyes and twisting her hands anxiously. "Robin, you and I have shared a lot and you'll always be important to me, but whatever we had together is gone, if it ever really existed. You were missing Stone and I . . . I didn't really know who I was – "

All thoughts of trying to reason with him flew out of her head in that instant. She gasped loudly, caught between remembered grief and an intense rage. "How dare you, Jason Morgan? You're actually breaking up with me over that slut," she hissed the word, gesturing wildly in Carly's direction," and you have the nerve to bring my Stone into this? Over a piece of trash like her?" Robin shook her head as if unable to comprehend what had just happened. Her mouth shut into a furiously grim line. Her eyes viciously glared at each of them in turn, unsure of who she was angrier with. "Fine, keep the whore," the contempt all but dripping from her voice, but don't think for one damned minute that this is over."

And without a further word, she turned, stalking towards the door that slammed shut behind her.

TBC

Well, I've gotten one review . . . anyone else out there want to say something . . . anything . . . Bueller, Bueller? lol. I've got lots of ideas for this story so if you've gotten this far, leave me a review. It's good karma, you know :D