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.
sorry for the extended delay, I've been having serious family issues lately, so even though, i'm not terribly thrilled with this chapter, I'm posting it, because it's as good as I can get it at this moment.
Chapter10 – Town Hellion
Nicholas shook his head, for the third time in as many nights Stefan was holed up in his office, surrounded by photos, paperwork and on the phone yet again. Leaning against the doorframe, he broodingly studied the older man, his father, he reminded himself, who remained seemingly oblivious to his presence, which was out of character to say the least. As distasteful as it was, he didn't see much of a choice anymore.
Backing silently out of the room, he pulled out his cell phone and began dialing.
Lucky heard the phone long before he blearily opened one eye and promptly winced when he saw his clock blinking 4:45 in angry red neon lights. He was really going to have to start disconnecting his phone if everyone insisted on calling him so damn early in the morning. Reaching over he picked the phone up only to immediately hang it up – whoever it was could at least wait until the sun was up, he decided, burying his head back into his pillow. When it simply began ringing again, he swore loudly, before picking it up.
"Someone had seriously better be dead . . . " He muttered into the phone, pulling himself to a seated position.
"Dead? Not to my knowledge, at least not at the moment . . ." a familiar and wry voice responded.
"Nikolas? Man, what the fuck? Don't they have clocks on that island or what?" Lucky grumbled, raking a hand through his hair.
His brother rolled his eyes, refusing to even dignify that question with an answer. "Look, you were the one who wanted to know if anything strange was going on with Stefan . . . so now I want some answers. What the hell your cousin is up to?"
Lucky's eyes widened. Although he had told Jason that he'd hit up Nikolas for answers, he hadn't actually expected his distrustful brother to spill any info and the fact that Carly had somehow wound up in the mix, definitely caught his attention and he countered with his own demand. "Why, what's Stefan up to?"
Tempted into the knee-jerk response of, "I asked first," Nikolas took a deep breath. Now was not the time to descend into juvenile one-up-man-ship. Someone was going to have to give ground somewhere and based on Lucky's unusual protectiveness of Carly lately, it looked like he would have to take the plunge if he wanted to start figuring this thing out.
"Fine. He's been obsessively going over pictures of Carly and Michael for the past few days and doing an extensive background check, although as far as I can tell he's hitting massive roadblocks. Whatever Carly's into, Lucky, it's big and her history is practically non-existent."
"What? Ok, that doesn't make any sense." Lucky turned on his bedside lamp, as if the light would help him think better. "Why the hell is he investigating Carly?"
"You tell me. You're the one who asked if he was behaving oddly, well for my father, this definitely qualifies as odd and since you brought it up, you have to know more than you're saying, so tell me what you know!" Despite himself, nearly a weeks worth of frustration and worry came through his voice. "If that little bitch is - "
"Whoa, man . . . you do not want to go there," Lucky's voice cut him off, with a dangerously soft note that even over the phone chilled Nikolas. "You're pissed off, man, I get that, but that's my cousin, you're talking about . . . " His voice faded slightly, delivering the unspoken threat with every bit of intensity as Nikolas half-uttered one.
"Fine," Nikolas bit off the word, roughly exhaling. "But I want to know what is going on, Lucky."
"Yeah, join the fucking club," came the sarcastic reply.
Lucky stared at the shadows playing across his wall, debating what to say, not that he knew much in the first place. Bobbie wasn't telling anyone anything as far as he could tell, his dad had immediately gone into bunker mode which was pretty much par for course whenever the 'Cassadine threat' loomed, Carly didn't know a damn thing and now he had Jason and his brother on his case. . . All in all, it wasn't much of a fun week, so far and he had a sneaking suspicion that it was going to get worse, before it got better.
"You're stalling, Spencer," Nikolas accused in the drawn out silence.
"Thinking, not stalling. Honestly, man, I don't know what's going on." Lucky made his decision. "Bobbie's been freaking out about your dad, something about him being a threat to Carly and Michael, which went over about as well as you can imagine, but hasn't told anyone why, other than the usual Cassadine-Spencer war bullshit."
"Bobbie?" The disbelief in his voice was clearly audible. Nikolas was more confused by that than ever, of all the Spencers, he would have expected her to be more open-minded. He still remembered that brief period of time when she had been his step-mother.
"Yep."
"But that doesn't make any sense. Stefan has no reason to come after Carly unless she did something to him and as far as starting up the vendetta . . . If Stefan had wanted that, he would have done it years ago."
"Yeah, that's what I said, except that I know Carly hasn't done a damn thing to Stefan or you. And before Bobbie got on this kick, I don't even think Carly even knew about the war."
"Sure," scoffed the Cassadine.
"Hey, I'm serious. It not like anyone handed her a copy of the damn cliff notes or something."
"Lucky, everyone in this entire town knows."
"True, but most of them were around to watch it happening. Carly only got here two years and was busy pulling her own shit, doing her damn best to avoid the family entirely. And at this point, if everything did blow up again, I wouldn't put it past her to throw in with Stefan just to piss off Bobbie and Luke, at least temporarily anyway."
"That bad?"
"Nik, you have no idea . . . "
Nikolas fell quiet for a moment, thinking over everything Lucky had said, until an idea suddenly occurred to him. "You don't think that she's working with Helena do you?"
"Helena's back in town?" Lucky's voice sharpened with alertness,
"Not sure, but the way my father is acting, I wouldn't be surprised."
"Fuck!" Lucky violently swore, throwing his legs over the side as he searched out a pair of jeans. "You couldn't have me told this before?"
"Like I said, I'm not sure," Nikolas replied defensively, he paused before adding, "but it would make sense if she was working with Carly."
"No way, man. Carly might be pissed off and even a little crazy, but she's not that insane. Luke's already indoctrinated her about Helena. Stefan might be the Prince of Darkness as far as my dad is concerned but that's entirely different that your bitch of a grandmother . . . no offense, Nik."
"None taken," he commented wryly. "You did say she was pissed off though. . ."
"Pissed off is one thing, hell even Bobbie threw in with Stefan to jerk my dad's chain, but getting involved with Helena? Not even Carly is that homicidal or suicidal, for that matter. Besides, she wouldn't have had the time or opportunity. Jason's guys are always with her and now he's got her all distracted with going after ELQ and the Quatermaines anyway."
"The Quatermaines? How's Emily feel about that?"
"Disturbingly enough, Em's right there with her . . . " Lucky knelt down to find his sneakers. Yep, under the bed, as usual. "Look, I don't know what your dad's deal with Carly is, but it isn't coming from my end, which means it's a Cassadine scheme and puts it back in your court.
"But it's not logical, Lucky!" Nikolas was growing increasingly frustrated.
"Logical, come on, man. You're a Cassadine talking to a Spencer here, you should know by now that we don't do logic. What can I say? Figure it out and fast. Bobbie's got my dad and Jason up in arms as it is, Stefan makes the wrong move and they're going to be all over him."
"Can't you do something, Lucky?"
"Like what exactly? You know how paranoid my dad is and Jason's twice as worse. Gimmie something to work with and I'll see what I can do, but I can't promise anything if Stefan starts something."
Cynically, Nikolas nodded to himself. He knew from past experience where this was going. "And if something does happen are you going to turn on me too, brother . . . ?" His voice was deceptively quiet, even as his question had all the impact of a sudden punch to the gut.
Lucky pulled the phone away from his ear for a moment, sighing heavily as he took a minute to calm himself down.
"Don't do this, man. You're my brother but . . . "
"Family is family, yes, I understand that all too well, even if you seem to have a loose definition of family. You'd rather side with . . . Carly," he spat out her name, "simply because she's suddenly been embraced as a Spencer, then your own brother."
"Dammit, Nik!" Lucky hissed back. "It's not like that. There is shit going on that you know nothing about!"
"Then by all means, please enlighten me." His bitterly, sarcastic tone just pissed off his brother even more.
"You know I can't do that!"
"Oh, right, because I'm not really family. Then so be it, take care of your family as you see fit, Lucky, but never doubt that I will also be taking care of my family." Nikolas's voice was very coolly precise, before he abruptly hung up.
"Fan-fucking-tastic, Spencer. Nothing like winning friends and influencing people . . ." Lucky shook his head, before angrily tossing the phone. He stared at the slight dent it in the wall it made. "Sonofabitch . . ." Lucky glanced at his clock; it was just after 5 AM. There was no going to sleep after that conversation and it was too early to even consider waking up his dad or Luke, so grabbing a jacket, he walked out, maybe a long stroll would get his head clear.
Carefully placing the phone in its cradle, Nikolas rested his head against the wall. Truthfully the conversation had pretty much gone the way he had expected, because when it came down to family lines, while he was willing to back whoever was in the right, Lucky always choose the Spencers regardless, making it more than obvious where he stood. He sighed heavily, whatever the hell was going on, it was more than clear that he was on his own, but just once he wished that when it really mattered there would be someone on his side. Pushing himself off the wall, he turned slightly and made his way down back to Stefan's office, one way or another he was going to find out what was going on.
"Nikolas," Stefan looked up in surprise to see his son standing in the doorway.
"Father," Nikolas replied almost reproachfully. "You need to tell me what all this," his hand gestured to the pile of photos and documents carelessly strewn across the room, "is about, because if you're in trouble, then I want to help."
"Trouble . . . " Stefan laughed ruefully. "Well that's one way of putting it, I suppose. Please sit down and close the door, we have much to discuss and this has to be kept between you and I alone until certain measures have been set into motion."
Nikolas' eyes narrowed warily at the serious note in this father's voice. Pulling a chair up along side the desk, he sank into it slowly and forced himself to ask the question that he wasn't sure he really wanted answered. "Are we going to war with the Spencers?"
"War?" Stefan looked up as if startled by the question. He leaned back in his chair, studied Nikolas for a moment. "You've been talking to your brother, haven't you?" When Nikolas opened his mouth to deny it, Stefan shook his head, suddenly looking as tired as he felt.
"All of your life, I've sought to protect you from the Cassadine heritage and in particular the ongoing conflict with the Spencers." He sighed, his eyes falling shut as he tried to find the best way to explain. "I never wanted you involved, nor did I ever want to put you in the position where you might be forced to choose. Lucky and Lesley Lou are your siblings and I've always respected that bond and never wanted to be the one who endangered it . . . but that situation, through none of my doing I assure you, has changed, dramatically so."
And what exactly did that mean? It was now Nikolas' turn to scrutinize his father, noting with an ironic sense of acknowledgement that his father ignored the question entirely. Stefan was more intent on this seemingly hesitant explanation, which hadn't begun to explain how Carly fit into all of this. Biting the inside of his cheek, he merely arched an eyebrow questioningly and waited.
"After . . . Katherine, I promised you that I wouldn't deceive you again, and I want to keep that promise, but I need your word that what I'm about to tell will not leave this room I – no, we are ready."
Nikolas was just able to stop himself from flinching upon hearing that name and instead released an almost shuddering sigh. "You want me to promise to something like that unspoken? "
Stefan shrugged, giving nothing away.
"How can you of all people ask me to do something like that?"
Stefan sighed impatiently. "Nikolas, you have put me in an untenable position. On one hand, you demand to be treated as an adult, yet when I attempt to do so, you then appeal to me as your father. What exactly would you have me do?"
"Telling me the truth for just once would be a good start," Nikolas retorted, stung by the reproof he heard in Stefan's voice.
"That is what I am trying to do. However," he lifted a hand to forestall Nik's cynical rebuttal, "you are not the only one who will be affected by this particular truth. Nikolas, I know how much you despise secrecy, yet I have no other option but to either keep something from you or to share it with you, hoping you'll keep my confidence until the time is right to reveal it. I give you the choice, because I don't want to further damage our relationship, but if you are not certain . . ." His words drifted off. "Trust me or do not, the choice is yours."
Finally, Nikolas reluctantly nodded in assent and his father continued. "This is about your sister."
"Lesley Lou?"
"No. Your, older sister . . . Caroline. Although," and he gave Nikolas an unfathomable gaze, "I believe you know her better as Carly Benson."
Feeling an empty space next to him, Jason lazily opened one eye to see Carly lounging on a chair, long legs stretched out resting on the end table, phone in one hand, while the other was busy typing something out on a lap top. He propped himself up on one elbow watching her, seemingly intent on her conversation.
"Oh ye of little faith, Justus. I told you Lila would come through." She paused, looking down at the screen, "So combining that with Jax's shares, which you did get, right?" She glanced over and seeing Jason awake smiled at him, rolling her eyes slightly. "Ok, ok . . . whatever, as long as you got it. That should bring us up to, thirty-five percent, right?" Her smile broadened. "Sweet. I've nothing on the Katherine Bell front . . . Yeah, I know you warned me, but I've got another idea."
Even from where he was, Jason could hear Justus' sigh and he smirked, wanting to hear Carly's latest scheme. "Relax, Justus, this is going to be brilliant, divine retribution, even. I want you to try and get some of AJ's shares." Carly winced as she pulled the phone from her ear for a minute letting him rant. "Hey, you're the lawyer, man. Figure it out, use one of those holding companies or something." She laughed as she pulled the phone away from her ear again, before hearing the dial tone and hanging it up.
Carly glanced over at Jason, still laughing. "Don't you start in on me too, now."
"Do you really expect AJ to sell his shares?" Jason asked idly.
"Well, if he were to suddenly be in need of some cash, I would." She smirked at him, before focusing back on her computer program.
"What are you up to Carly?"
"What makes you think I'm up to anything?"
He laughed. "Because I know you, so are you going to tell or do I get to figure it out on my own?"
"Think you can?" She teased him, jerking her foot back a moment too late.
Holding an ankle in one hand, he raised an eyebrow at her. "Wanna tell me now?"
"Tickling would be cheating, Jase."
"And?" He moved closer to the edge of the bed.
"You better not, I've got a lap top here . . ."
"Yeah, I'd put that down, if I were you."
"You wouldn't!" Carly's eyes widened slightly.
"Wouldn't I?" He tugged just enough to prove his point.
"Jason Morgan," she warned him, quickly moving the computer to a more secure location, "you'd better not dare."
"Now, Carly, how could I resist a dare like that?" Jason quickly slid out of the bed and maintaining his hold on her ankle, scooped her up, ignoring her half-hearted attempt to evade him. Once he had her pinned beneath, one hands holding her hands above his head, the other playing with a strand of hair. "So you were going to tell about your new scheme?"
"No fair, Jase." She pouted, trying to buck him off of him.
"When have you known me to be fair? So tell me, 'cause you know you want to."
She shrugged beneath him. "Well . . . if you really want to know. Lucky and I are working on a thing."
"A thing?" He pushed himself back to look her directly in the eye. "I'm almost afraid to ask."
"Oh come on, this is AJ, whatever he gets, he deserves."
"Carly . . ." He drew out her name impatiently.
She huffed angrily. "Don't you trust me?"
Jason stared at her unblinkingly, waiting for her to crack. He didn't have to wait long.
"Fine," she sighed obviously annoyed with him for spoiling her surprise. "We're just . . . ummm," Carly smiled slyly, "liberating some of his funds and donating them to a better cause is all."
He continued to stare at her, before wincing as if in pain as her words registered.
"Oh Carly, tell me you aren't."
"See, I knew it! I knew you'd react this way!" She pounced on his reaction, her mood changing on a dime.
Sighing, Jason shook his head, before grabbing his phone. He cursed, getting only voice mail. "Lucky, when you get this, call me." Looking over at a belligerent Carly, he added, "We need to talk."
"Jason . . . " She began, moving onto a new tactic as she placed one and then another knee on the bed, slowly crawling along the bed towards him. "I know it sounds bad, but you need to look at the larger picture."
"The larger picture?" He asked skeptically, leaning back against the headboard, watching her approach. "The larger picture where you and Lucky get caught and possibly arrested? That larger picture?"
Reaching him, Carly settled herself astride him, her hands trailing a path up to his shoulders. "You're just seeing the negative side, and deliberately I might add."
"There's a positive side?" Jason steeled himself against her, determined to resist her until he had made his position very clear.
"Well, of course, Jase." She leaned into him, pressing herself flush against his chest. "Think about it . . . If AJ is low on cash, he won't," Carly dropped an open-mouthed kiss just above his collarbone, "fight for custody and," she left another in the hollow of his throat, "he might be looking to sell some of his stock." She pulled back enough to stare him in the eye. "Nothing but positives – a perfect plan," the words slipped free of her lips as she leaned in, only to be stopped an inch short of his lips.
"It's too risky, Carly, reckless and stupid." And although he spoke softly, he knew from the abrupt stiffening of her body that she heard every word. His hands rose to her upper arms, anchoring her in place, even as she tried to push herself off of him.
"Why?" She demanded to know. "Because it's my idea? I'm not stupid, you know, I covered my ass and checked with Lucky to be sure. AJ might suspect me, but he'll never be able to prove it! Besides, it's too late now. That money is long gone and no one is the wiser." She stared him down defiantly.
Jason closed his eyes as he shook his head in a familiar mixture of frustration and exasperation. "Where's the money, Carly?"
"I gave it to a save the whales fund."
"Whales?" His eyes opened in surprise.
"What?" Carly demanded suspiciously. "I happen to like whales." In the silence that fell as he stared at her dumbfounded, she petulantly added, "They are an endangered species, after all."
"Whales?" He repeated in amazement, before laughing softly as his grip relaxed in a loose caress. "Only you, Carly, only you . . ."
"Oh no," she scoffed and pulling away from him. "Don't even think about it now, Jason Morgan."
"And what is it exactly that I'm thinking?"
"You know damn well what you're thinking! First it was all 'ooohhhh . . . Carly screwed up again and did something stupid' and now you're all . . ." She made a face at him and raised her hands in a gesture of surprise. "You keep saying that you want me to trust you, well maybe you need to trust me a little more. And don't even give me that look, because right now, you are not getting any from me."
Carly was proud of herself for keeping her voice so steady, despite the heat building inside of her, but when he slowly smiled at her like that, she knew she was in trouble. She had to get out of that room immediately before he changed her mind. "Make it up to me tonight and we'll take it from there," she threw over her shoulder as she quickly retreated out the door and more importantly out of his line of sight.
Closing his eyes, Jason let his head fall back against the wall, still laughing. Carly was nothing if not unpredictable and reluctantly acknowledging his abrupt hardness, occasionally frustrating. He could already tell that today was going to be far too long.
Sitting alone at a table in the Outback, Laura browsed through the menu, confident that she was concealing her awkwardness. When the waitress finally arrived, Laura made a mental not to talk to Felicia about the poor service, although she was really in the mood for a bloomin' onion, she ordered a soup and salad, keeping the calorie count in her head.
Normally of course, she'd stop by Kelly's for lunch, but at the moment, other than for Elizabeth, she was persona non grata there. When she'd stopped the other day, Ruby had given her the cold shoulder and that was better than she had gotten from the rest of her family.
Laura had no doubt whose fault it was. When this whole thing with Carly blew over, not only would she make sure the Bobbie's spawn was out of the picture, but something would have to be done about Emily Quatermaine. Lucky was far too attached to that willful brat, for her taste and besides Elizabeth was much more suitable of a choice. At least she was respectful and knew her place.
As far Emily was concerned, she almost made it too easy. Once Laura spoke to Monica, she was certain the Quatermaines would take care of the girl. Keeping Carly's dirty little secret was going to be a costly error and with a bit of luck, Monica might very well decide to send Emily off to that boarding school she'd been talking about earlier.
Thinking of Carly and Emily, Laura's face twisted into an ugly frown. Stefan had been his usual difficult self, leaving it up to her to inform the Quatermaines to the truth of that little slut. At first she couldn't believe that he'd actually refuse to help her, but then Amy had told that he's been sniffing around Bobbie again and it all made sense. She made a mental note to talk to Nikolas, because if anyone knew what going on between those two, it would be her other son. Of course, he was still avoiding her but being involved with Robin, she'd knew that she be able to bring him to heel soon enough.
Nikolas may like Bobbie, but once she explained the situation to him, Laura was certain that she could convince him that Stefan's involving himself again with that woman was nothing but a bad idea. That marriage was nothing but obvious reaction to her relationship with Luke, an insulting one at that, and Bobbie's usual desperate attempts to land herself a man, and there was no way she was going to stand for it again.
Looking at the bland salad and rapidly congealing soup, she made a moue of displeasure and pushed it away without so much of a bite. Instead, she busied herself by pulling out her day planner and idly flipping through it.
"Excuse me, Miss, but is this seat taken?"
Startled, Laura glanced up to see a smartly dressed and handsome stranger with an inquisitive smile gesturing to the empty chair across from her. She took a moment to survey the more than half empty restaurant, before giving the more than attractive man a faintly flirtatious smile.
"By all means. I was about to leave anyway."
"Oh please not on my account," he protested, his smile growing wider. "Surely such a lovely woman wouldn't abandon a stranger. Allow me to introduce myself; my name is Simon, Simon Vaughn. And may I be so privileged as to learn your name?"
"Laura Spenser, pleased to meet you." She extended a hand for him to shake, and a hint of color spread across her cheeks as he gently twisted her hand, before kissing the back of it. On a whim, she leaned back into her chair, she's got some time to kill and it never hurt to let someone stroke her ego for a change.
Still slightly annoyed with Jason, Carly wound up hanging out at Kelly's to cool down, before he sweet talked her back into bed without so much as an apology. As much as she loved him, he could drive her crazy because even though she knew he was on her side, it always seemed like he was so focused on trying to manage her that he forgot she had taken care of herself for years without him. She wanted Jason in her life, but she didn't need him, at least not that way. Ditching Johnny to prove her point was childish, sure but at this moment she didn't really care.
She sighed in frustration, elbow propped on the table, her head resting in the palm of her hand. Times like this, she wished that she and Bobbie were on better terms or that she had a friend, someone who was just on her side. Emily and Lucky were both biased, they liked Jason and would side with him, Bobbie and Luke were useless because they'd both had their own agenda and that was pretty much the short list of people in this town who would give her so much as the time of day.
"Well, if it isn't Carlybabes, herself. . . . What happened, Jason got wise and finally kicked you out?"
Without even bothering to open her eyes, she bit out, "Aww, what's the matter, Sonny? Jealous that Jason's getting some and you aren't?"
"Little girl, we both know that if I wanted you, then you'd be on the floor with your legs spread," his hips pushed into her slightly as he smirked with an ugly expression on his face.
Tilting her head towards him, her mouth opened in shock at his crude intimidation tactic. She viciously glared at him, her quick temper easily igniting. "Never happening, pig!" She spat the words at him, standing up.
"Get real, Carlybabes. This whole town knows you're a slut and sooner or later, Jason will figure out it too and when that happens, you'll be begging me. If I feeling generous, maybe we'll go a round or two." He took a closer step, crowding her against the table, even as she tried unsuccessfully to avoid him.
More anxious that she'd like to admit, Carly decided that maybe ditching Johnny had been a mistake. She glanced around the empty restaurant. Elizabeth and Ruby were in the back doing whatever it was they did back there and wouldn't come unless out front unless they heard something – either the bell at the door or her screaming, which she didn't want to do. The thought of the smug expression on Liz's face would be too humiliating and unfortunately the lunch dinner rush wouldn't start for another two hours.
Narrowing her eyes, she mentally calculated the distance between her and the door. If she kicked him in the jewels, then she should be able to make it outside before he caught her and if worse came to worse . . . well, she figured that she had a better than average chance to take him . . . maybe and if worse came to worse, she bet he wouldn't try anything if she did scream for help and screaming loud was something she excelled at.
Sonny watched her eyes travel from him to the door and knew she was going to try and make a break for it. Stupid bitch, he thought to himself, realizing her intent. Who did she think she dealing with, some rich dumb fuck like AJ? He laughed slightly as he suddenly clamped a hand painfully on her arm, moving out of the way of her knee, even as he twisted her arm around her back, jerking her up against his chest while his other hand squeezed her throat hard enough to hold her still.
He leaned down to whisper menacingly in her ear, as she opened her mouth, "Don't even think about it, Carly." His hand tightened just enough to make his point. "I normally don't hurt women, but I'm think maybe you like it a little rough, eh?"
Trapped, Carly sneered back, "Or maybe this is how you get your kicks?" She squirmed slightly, testing his hold until she was sure that she couldn't get free, not without breaking her arm at least, so she switched tactics. "Jason will never forgive you if you hurt me, Sonny. You know that."
His low laughter sent chills down her spine. "Where's your guard, huh Carly? I say you ditched him so you could find me and hey it'd be your word against mine. Really, when it comes down to it, who do you think Jason will believe?" He pulled her tighter, molding her body against his.
Sonny's threat cut more deeply then he could've imagined, because while Carly believed in Jason, the fact was he didn't believe in her. No one ever did. The fight they had earlier only proved that again. Even if someone came in, they probably wouldn't believe her either. She felt herself grow limp in his hands as desperately tried to figure a way to get away - away from Sonny, Kelly's, Port Charles, hell her whole damn miserable life – then she felt it.
That sonofabitch was actually rubbing himself up against her! Outraged disgust suddenly replaced her hopelessness and instinctively she stomped his foot, as her free elbow slammed into his stomach, painfully wrenching her arm free. She was nearly out of his reach when he caught to her, retaliating by again grabbing her sore arm. His other arm swung out towards her face and Carly closed her eyes, bracing herself for the impact.
After a long and drawn out morning with Stefan, Nikolas found himself wandering the streets of Port Charles aimlessly. If Stefan was right and Nikolas believed his father was, then he had another sister and, of all people in the world, it was Carly Roberts. Lucky's suddenly embraced cousin, the bane of Robin's, his sometimes girlfriend when she was in the mood, girlfriend and his almost step-sister by marriage who actually was his half-sister. It boggled the mind and he had no idea how he felt about it.
Stefan had all these plans to bring Carly and Michael (his nephew! And he shook his head at the thought) into the Cassadine family fold and away from any and everyone he viewed as a danger to them. Nikolas laughed in a curious confusion of horror and amazement, seeing the mire of problems entailed in that scheme. And Lucky was worried about Stefan going after Carly was going to restart the war between the Spencers and Cassadines? That was merely going to the icing on the cake.
No, this was going to going the whole damn town into chaos!
Not only would they be fighting the Spencers, because Nikolas was certain Luke was going to freak out, the Quatermaines were going to lose any chance of winning custody of Michael and then there was Jason and the whole mob contingent to take into consideration. This was insane and yet . . .
As impossible as his father seemed at times . . . ok, most of the time, Nikolas so rarely ever saw his father express real emotion and never once had he ever asked for Nikolas' help in anything, but this time . . . Stefan wanted Carly in his life, he wanted his daughter and he wanted Nikolas to help. Stefan had sacrificed so much for him; Nikolas didn't see how he could refuse. Nikolas could only try to make this work, but how? He didn't know how to begin to answer that question.
It was so strange. Growing up in Greece as a child, he had been desperate for a sense of family. He had been an orphan, loving his uncle, fearing his grandmother and believing all along that there had to be something more, before eventually snuffing out his dreams and resigning himself to austere life on the island. Years later he came to Port Charles with his uncle, who he learned was actually his biological father, discovered an aunt, found his reluctant mother and his half-brother and sister and now his family had expanded yet again.
His entire childhood had been a lie and he still had difficulty in accepting the how and whys of that fact. It was ironic; the one person who might be best able to relate to his experience was Carly, who was unknowingly still living a lie. Nikolas dealt with learning the truth . . . well, badly to say the least. Getting involved with Katherine had been disastrous and from what little he had knew of Carly, her involvement with Tony had been on the same level.
He smiled mirthlessly. They already had something in common, something other than blood at least. Of course other than that . . . who knows?
Nikolas knew her by sight, considering their overlapping social circles it was impossible not to, but struggled to remember if he had ever even spoken to Carly, before coming to the humbling realization that he never had. On the one or two occasions he might have had the opportunity, he had avoided her on Robin's admonishment. To be honest all he knew of Carly was what he had heard from everyone else and it all fell in one of two extremes.
He looked up to realize that he was approaching Kelly's and glanced through the windows as he walked by, hoping to see Lucky or maybe Em and stopped dead in his tracks. Before he was even able to think about it, Nikolas was through the door and holding Sonny's hand in a harshly implacable grip, more than ready to break his arm if necessary.
"Stay out of this Cassadine. Just turn around and walk out, before you find yourself in a world of hurt," Sonny sneered.
Nikolas' jaw tightened fractionally as he ignored Corinthos' empty threat and easily held the older man back. Carly's panicky eyes opened in stunned shock. He swallowed back his instinctive response, taking a deep breath as he fought to transform his fury into a calmer, cooler and more controlled rage.
"Don't you have anything better do than bully women?" As much as he wanted to rip into the mobster, this was neither the place nor the time to reveal the extent of his anger.
"This is none of your business, so get the fuck out!" Sonny roared, half turning towards the younger man, even as he dragged Carly around with him. His voice echoed through the small diner, drawing out Liz and Ruby and as both Sonny and Nikolas glanced behind the counter, Carly took her chance and viciously sucker punched Sonny.
Nikolas looked back as he felt Sonny stagger against him and he felt a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth as he watched Carly's victorious smirk that quickly faded when he caught sight of her arm. Four distinctly pale finger sized marks were quickly flushing out to an angry shade of red and his eyes darkened slightly in response.
"Elizabeth . . ." Sonny regained his breath, looked from Carly to her, standing next to Ruby, both of them staring at him equally horrified expressions on their faces. He breathed harshly for a moment, trying to find the best way to smooth this over. "I know what it looks like you saw, but just let me explain . . ." he began.
"I think you've explained yourself enough, Corinthos," Nikolas interrupted him, with a pointed glance towards Carly's arm.
And Carly, not really understanding why the Cassadine got involved was nonetheless quick to back him. "Yeah, don't you have some puppies to kick or cops to harass?"
Her eyes widened even as she held her ground when he lurched suddenly towards her, but was stopped by Nikolas stepping in front of her, while Liz and Ruby stared on in a sort of awed disbelief. Glancing around he saw Liz's shocked expression and Ruby's more repressive one, before ignoring Nikolas and glaring at the Carly.
"This ain't over, Carlybabes, not by a fucking long shot!" He hissed out the words as he grudgingly stalking out of the restaurant, door slamming shut behind him.
Elizabeth in her uniform looked visibly torn and when Ruby reluctantly nodded, she yanked off her apron and ran to the door, stopping just long enough to get a shot in. "I can't believe you Carly, as if what you're doing with AJ and Jason isn't enough, you have to go after Sonny too? You have no shame and you can bet, I'll be telling Jason about this."
"Whatever Liz . . ." Carly muttered to herself as she smoothed back her tousled hair.
Even with back turned, Carly could feel Ruby starring at her, before the older woman loudly sighed. "I guess, I'll go and call Luke. Since Liz took off for god only knows how long, do me a favor and turn the sign to closed. Hopefully, she'll be back before the dinner crowd shows up." Ruby retreated to the back room, leaving Carly and Nikolas avoiding each other.
"And that's my cue to leave, "she commented in the abrupt silence, heading towards the door.
Nikolas was frozen for a moment, before he rushed after her. "Wait a minute, Carly." When she paused to face him, he scrambled to think of something to say, he just couldn't let her run off. Apparently, she was alone and Sonny could be anywhere waiting to pick up where he left off. "Don't you think you should wait for Luke?"
She shrugged at him. "Hey, man, if you want to hang around, then be my guest, but I am out of here." Carly opened the door and walked out and cursing, he followed her.
"Look it's not safe with Sonny running around and – "
"And what?" Carly asked skeptically, arching an eyebrow in challenge. "Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the help, but why bother? Isn't helping the blood enemy against the rules or something?"
"Blood enemy?" He repeated ironically, but it was easier that answering her first question.
"Yeah. You Cassadine, me Spencer – is this ringing a bell or anything?" Carly looked at him with a confused expression, taking a hesitant step backwards. As far as she understood it, Helena was the crazy one, but maybe it ran in the family.
Nikolas caught her trying to edge away from him and knew he had to think of something to say fast, before she took off on him, but knew he had to be careful. One way or another she was going to find out the truth and sooner than later if his, no, their father had his way and lying now might destroy their relationship before it ever had a chance to begin.
"Well, maybe that goes for Luke and some other members of my family, but Lucky's my brother and your cousin so . . ." he drifted off. "And besides I'm not all that fond of Corinthos anyway."
Carly eyed him suspiciously for a moment, staring him down, but Nikolas didn't crack and he seemed to telling the truth, but of course in this town who the hell who knew what anyone was up to? And besides it wasn't that far of a stretch that someone else wasn't a diehard Sonny fan . . . so maybe he was on the up an up. "You know," she started walking down the sidewalk, "you're not what I expected."
Falling in step with her, Nikolas countered, "How so?"
"I don't know." She shrugged. "For the Prince of Darkness' son and Robin's friend, you seem ok," clearly implying which she saw as being worse.
He swallowed back a startled burst of ironic laughter. "Thanks, I guess. You don't seem that bad either for being the town hellion."
Carly gave him a quick sideways glance, as if measuring him, before slyly smirking. "The town hellion? You know, I kinda like that one."
While he figured she wouldn't be that offended the fact that she instead seemed amused by it had him smiling, despite himself. Granted they'd only been actually talking for a few minutes, but much to his surprise, he was actually enjoying himself, something that rarely happened even among people he considered himself to be close to. Even Robin and Lucky, two people he considered his closest friends had this preconceived idea of who he was and how they should act around him that made spending time with them exhausting at times. Whereas, Carly who apparently been warned away from him, and he could guess who that might have been, just didn't see to care.
Maybe, just maybe having her as a sister might not be as miserable as an experience as he had feared.
TBC
Well, I've some dedicated reviewers & I love them dearly, lol. anyone else out there want to say something . . . anything . . . & thanks again for your patience.
It's now official - this storyhas gone very AU, hopefully, you still are enjoying my take on GH. (although I'm sure it must be making a little more sense now, lol).
This is more along the lines of how I expected Carly's paternity to be resolved anda far more deserving one that the writers chose to give us. Now that we & Stefan know the truth, it should be fun to see how the rest of Port Charles reacts. 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