RedDragen: Thanks!! Sorry it took so friggin' long!

ravenj84: Nope- it sure seemed like it though! Thanks and I'm glad you're diggin' it!

poeticgrace: Thanks!! I love Glo too! Is your fic up on ? I'll definitely be checking it out if it is!

QUEENADDEK: Thanks! And I'm not a huge Lulu fan either. She was fun at first but there was too huge of a dose of her. She got old, fast and Johnny is totally wasted on her.

Average Everyday Sane Psycho: Thanks so much!! I am definitely checking your Glo fics out this week when my project for school is done! I hope they're up on this site! And thanks for the recommendation! I love Spixie! They get a little darker in this chapter but the Spixie fun will continue and there's more of them in the next few chapters then there has been. They have a lot of scenes with Dillon..

lily94: It's good to be back so thanks! And I hope it makes sense since that is exactly what I'm going for! I like my characters flawed. Thanks so much!!!

TSJorSydPip: thanks!!! I might put Lucky in for a few chapters since he can relate to Georgie AND I do love me some Lucky. That's a good idea, thanks! I appreciate the feedback and the suggestion!

Candymen: Thanks so much!!! It's actually a little difficult to write Georgie dark, she's one of the few characters I have trouble doing that to so I really appreciate that you're liking her this way. She's a bit lighter in this chapter (it can't rain all the time, haha) and I hope you like that just as well! Yup, the next few chapters are Georgie/Johnny stuck together as are Mac/Dillon/Maxie/Spin

Liz9: Thanks!!! I like Georgie and Johnny a lot, I wish she was still on the show so they could have them interact!

starbright: Wow! Thanks! Where can I find this fanfiction board? I love to read ff, so I'm always interested in new places to find it! The next few chapters are Georgie/Johnny but soon she's going to be interacting more with her family, including Robin and especially Mac/Maxie. Thanks again!!!

Chapter Five

Johnny woke to the smell of bacon.

He wasn't used to waking to the smell of anything but the cheap perfume of the girl next to him, sometimes the liquor he fell asleep drinking or both.

He didn't remember much of the night before. Johnny grumbled about the painful ramifications of tequila and turned over in his bed, pulling the blanket over his head. He poked his head out quickly and took a whiff, eggs too, probably some other delicious breakfast food. His stomach rumbled ravenously. He stumbled out of bed, tripping as he went and realized he hadn't quite sobered up yet. How had he gotten in bed anyway?

He managed to walk down the hallway, still not dressed sans his favorite black cotton boxers and spotted Anna at the kitchen table of the apartment he 'lived' in above the club.

Her long brown hair was piled up atop her head. She was wearing one of his black wife-beaters and a pair of his gray sweat pants that were held up with the black strap from his robe. "You were surprisingly stocked up on food," she said without looking up from the toast she was buttering, "and I really, really wanted a decent breakfast. So I made some, there's enough here for both of us. I hope you don't mind."

"Mind?" He asked with a chuckle, "I think I may just ask you to marry me."

"You should probably taste it first," she warned with mock seriousness, finally looking up at him and her cheeks colored before she whirled around to the stove, picking up another plate and shoveling scrambled eggs onto it. "You wouldn't want to marry a bad cook."

He nodded, taking the plate out of her hands and setting it on the table, enjoying the fact that she was keeping her eyes carefully averted from his less-than-clothed person. She placed the second plate on the table and then moved towards the refrigerator. "You even have orange juice."

"My sister sent someone to shop for me when she heard there was going to be a blizzard." He answered, "I'm glad she did now." Then he stopped and looked at Anna as she poured them both glasses of orange juice, "you realize that you can't go home, right? We're going to be stuck in here together for days."

"I know."

"Days." He repeated.

"Is that an issue for you?"

He shook his head, "no- is it for you?"

"Nope." Anna sat down across from him, keeping her eyes fixed only on his face. "We discussed this last night."

"We did." He was nodding, trying to make it seem like he knew exactly what she was talking about.

Her eyes widened, "you don't remember last night." She took a drink from her orange juice and leaned back in the chair. "You don't. Not even a little? What was the last thing you remember?"

He considered it, tilting his head to the side and trying to focus. He recalled holding her as she cried, how right it felt and then briefly compared it to how right she looked in his clothing, in his kitchen, then he tried to remember more of the night before. "Tequila," he decided on it, "yeah, I remember you getting the tequila out."

She moved her eggs with her fork, a strand of hair falling messily into her face, "and that's it?"

He nodded.

"You don't remember kissing me?"

His head snapped up, "what?"

"Taking my clothes off?"

He put both hands on the table and pushed his chair back, searching his memory. He would have remembered that, he knew he would have remembered that. There was no way that he would have forgot sleeping with Anna, no way, no amount of liquor could wipe it from his memory. "No we didn't."

She was smiling, "how about dancing with a tutu? Do you remember that? You sang 'I'm a Little Teapot."

He sighed in relief, "you're horrible."

She clapped her hands together and laughed, "You should have seen the look on your face- you were terrified. Haha!"

He shoveled eggs into his mouth, glaring at her. Then took another bite before digging into his bacon. "You're lucky you're a good cook or I would kick you out into the blizzard after that little game." He told her after swallowing some orange juice to rinse down the food. "Of course, now we're getting married for sure. You have to make an honest man out of me- you know, since you took advantage of my drunken state."

She nodded solemnly, "I have to. It's the only right thing to do. I just hope you're not pregnant."

"You and me both." He agreed, smiling. "So, Anna, are we going to actually talk about last night?"

"What about it?" She asked innocently, shifting her eggs across her plate and then back again before looking up at him. "I was drunk and babbling, it was all just nonsense."

He bit back a groan of frustration, "okay then, tell me about who you were before this, before whatever happened to make you drunkenly break down and spew this so-called nonsense."

She pushed her plate away and met his gaze. "I was a nice girl."

He noted the bitterness but didn't articulate it. Instead he just quietly ate her breakfast and waited for her to continue. "I was a nice girl," she repeated, "most of the time. I had my moments of jealousy, of stupidity. It lead to someone getting killed and to me eventually being kidnapped. Lets just say, after that, I didn't act before thinking for a good long time."

Kidnapped. Johnny wanted to ask but kept his silence, he didn't want her to stop explaining.

"I was a good student. I was a good sister. I was a good daughter. I did the right thing. I gave good, sound advice. I didn't push people. I didn't talk out of turn." She continued, still mashing her food and not eating it as she stared listlessly down at her plate. "I was going to take a semester in Europe and then backpack through it in the summer with a girlfriend of mine. I wasn't planning on coming back."

He was surprised by that, "you weren't?"

She shook her head, "I had a crush on a guy but he really- he just saw me as a friend. Which was okay- I wasn't angry or anything I just didn't want to pine. So Europe it was. I had big plans of being seduced by a charming European who was set on tainting my prudish ways."

"You're a dreamer." He asserted.

"Was." She responded curtly, "I was the girl who dreamed of the bad boy but was too smart to actually go for it- for the most part."

"I like that." He said sincerely, "you're still too smart to date the bad boy, I assume."

She nodded, "I'm actually far smarter then I ever was before."

"So you were a good girl, hmm? I bet you never drank, either. When you say a good student, I'm certain you meant brilliant and if you were a dreamer, I'll suppose you were a writer too. PI for a mom, cop for a dad? I'll go with journalist."

Both eyebrows flew up, "I…I…yes, actually, I did want to be a journalist."

"You talked about being kidnapped like it was nothing." He went on, "so you forgave him…or her…I'm guessing him. "

"I killed his cousin, well, someone else killed his cousin but it was my fault." She explained, her voice soft, ridden with guilt. "my fault. And then he hurt a lot of people, a lot of people all because of that, including my friends, my family. And it got worse. It just kept getting worse and that was my fault too. So…yes, I forgave him."

"But not yourself."

"It's not something I talk about- ever. Actually, I've never told anyone why I really forgave him besides you, right now."

"I like keeping your secrets." He replied, "because we're friends."

She nodded, "looks like."

"I don't have friends." He said thoughtfully, "just Claudia- you know? Other then that I had some acquaintances, people I got in trouble with as a kid. I mean, there was Lulu I guess but I don't consider her…a friend. So no one I trusted, no real friend. Until now. Until you."

When he looked into her eyes they were warm.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Oh hey, Georgie called, Maxie." Mac told her as he came down the stairs with a snow shovel in his hands, he smirked as he watched his blonde daughter roll over onto Spinelli and look up groggily. They were nestled in a pile of material and junk food. On the couch beside them was Dillon, half of it, mouth agape, sleeping peacefully. It had been a good night and it was obvious a lot of fun was had. Mac liked that. He liked seeing his daughter with a smile on her face, groggily sleeping to someone who was somewhat respectable now that his mob ties were lost. "She had to stay at her friend's but she is doing well, she wanted me to tell you."

Maxie nodded before falling back into the pile, Spinelli shifted in his sleep so that they were spooning and immediately they were both sound asleep.

He wondered when Maxie was going to wake up and realize her own feelings. He knew it was best not to interfere, despite his desperate wanting to. Spinelli was a far better choice then her usual boyfriends and he wanted someone who was going to do well for his daughter. Spinelli was a PI, that would keep some adventure in the relationship so she wouldn't get bored, something she was wont to do and he was a nice guy who would never hurt her.

And the kid was head over heels, unbelievable, undeniably, irrevocably in love with her.

Mac smiled, remembering what it was like to feel that way.

"You're staring." Dillon murmured from the couch, smiling a little. Mac chuckled, "yeah, well…they look happy."

"I wonder when she'll notice that." Dillon replied, looking down at them, "but Georgie always said Maxie was like Felicia, very stubborn."

Mac nodded, "yeah, there's a lot of her mother in there."

"And in Georgie?" Dillon asked, "who do you think she takes after?"

Mac chuckled, "Robin and Georgie are a lot alike but a lot different. All my girls are there own person, I'm just lucky to have them all back."

Dillon smiled again, working his way off the couch and through the mess below him so that he could follow Mac into the kitchen. "I couldn't believe it, you know? She's really here, she's really alive."

"And safe." Mac added with a relieved sigh, "all three of my girls are safe and sound."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Breakfast was amazing." Johnny told her, taking to rinse them off and put them in the dishwasher, "and you seem lighter today."

She shrugged, "I like snow."

"This much snow?" He asked, shutting the door of the machine, turning around and leaning against it as he stared at her, arms crossed. She turned around in her chair, straddling it, elbows on the back, propping her chin with her hands. "It's a blizzard out there. Who knows how long we'll be trapped here."

"Your sister bought enough food to last an army for three months." Anna responded, "so it's not like we'll starve."

"But I'm sure there's somewhere else you'd rather be." He pressed on. She shook her head, "somewhere you're avoiding?"

"Well jeez, aren't you curious this morning?" She asked with a laugh as she drew her leg over the chair and finished her orange juice in a standing position. It was funny but he felt more at home then he ever had, like this was right somehow, sitting in the kitchen with this girl he barely knew wearing his clothes, finishing clean up after a nice breakfast. He dismissed the thought as cabin fever. He was not the homebody type.

"You're a mystery. I'm trying to solve you." He replied honestly, "that guy you were with…at the bar that first night…who was he?"

"So you do care who he is to me." She pointed out mockingly. "Are you trying to protect my honor?"

"Oh, my intentions are always honorable, I assure you." He said with exaggerated emphasis. "Especially when considering the fairer sex."

"If by fairer you mean superior, I accept the compliment with the satisfaction of knowing it's the truth."

He smirked, "so who was he? Your boyfriend?"

She sighed, "no, he's not my boyfriend. And in case you don't believe me? His boyfriend's name is Jordan. They met online."

"How did you meet him?"

"Seriously, enough with the questions, I feel like I should have a light fixed on me and you should be talking funny and holding a cigarette. I'm really not that exciting."

"You're trying to stay a mystery, aren't you?"

"I'm not that hard to figure out." Her words were soft. She shook her head, "lets go check out some cartoons, we'll make it a nice light, trouble free morning."

He begrudgingly nodded, grabbed a bag of Doritos and headed towards his bedroom. She followed and he turned the television on, hopping into his bed and under the covers. She stood awkwardly in the doorway. "Come on, it's cold." He told her, "lets get under the covers and watch some cartoons. There's a ton of old ones to pick from on demand."

She looked at the bed reluctantly one more time before crawling in next to him and pulling the covers up back against the headboard. "I finally got you in bed."

She glared at him as he turned the cartoons on with a triumphant smile on his face.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Maxie finished up her last design and smiled at her creation, already imagining the material and colors to go with the picture in her head. It was going to be her best design yet and no doubt earn her some attention in the fashion world. Kate owed her big and she was going to cash in on it. Maxie turned, pinning the design on her door and then taking a step back, tilting her head to the side. The door opened and she was about to bark at Mac for not knocking. Spinelli poked his head through the door, sporting his impish, goofy grin. "Brazen Blonde One, I think I figured out a way to get rid of the Film Guy and keep Lulu from coming to town." She perked up, "you mean you're going to fix your failure?" "My epic failure," he replied, nodding. "and you're going to love this one!" She clasped her hands together and surged forward. "tell me, tell me, tell me." "First, we'll take Georgie and we'll lock her in a tower." He told her conspiratorially, "and then we'll keep her there forever!"

Maxie threw her arms around his neck and squealed excitedly. "Yes! YES! And we'll make Logan build the whole tower by himself." Her addition came out with glee and she pulled back from Spinelli and then stopped, looking into his eyes. Her eyes dropped to his lips and settled there, confused by the tug inside her. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath and when she opened them he was already touching her lips with his, capturing her mouth softly. Responding she wrapped her arms around his neck, finger wrapped around a lock of the hair from the back of his head. He pulled her closer and she chuckled into his mouth.

Happy.

Maxie jerked upwards and looked at Spinelli beside her, still sound asleep. She shook her head and tried to clear the dream away. When she glanced sideways she caught Dillon looking at her. "What?"

"Bad dream," he asked, annoyingly smug from the couch. He had a book in his hands and the blanket draped over his lap.

"As a matter of fact," she said haughtily, "I was dreaming that you were going away. So no, it was a fabulous dream."

"So how are things between you and Jackal?" That smarmy smile needed to be punched off his face.

She smiled sweetly back, "we've been planning on how to get him to go out with Georgie, actually." She shot back delightedly. "You know how she had that huge crush on him before she went away? Well it's time that her dreams come true. They'll have the life they always wanted, it'll be perfect. I can't think of two people who deserve happiness more. And Georgie, she'll be thrilled."

He leaned back on the couch, "is this you're 'subtle' way of telling me to not pursue your sister romantically?" Dillon muttered using air quotes. His face was a mask of irritation, "did you ever consider I came here as her friend?"

She laughed, "right, like a loser like you wouldn't pine after my amazing sister. I'm not stupid. Lulu was a dud, no other girl compared…I knew that was going to be the outcome." She sighed loudly, "but you already screwed that up and Georgie does not really forgive you. I mean how could she? Sure, she's nice, she tried to. But honestly, deep down, every single time she looks at you she's going to see you having sex with Lulu when you were supposed to be loving her."

Dillon pushed the blanket off and shook his head, "still the same old pleasant, Maxie." With one last glare he started toward the kitchen, very annoyed.

She looked down at Spinelli, her heart sinking. "Oh yeah, some things never change."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"You can't honestly be defending the Socratic argument that you have a social contract with the state because you agreed to live there. John," Anna stared incredulously at him from beside him on the bed, "you're a criminal."

He looked forward, arms crossed over his chest, "I didn't say I followed it, I said he has a valid point. If you stay in the country you are- when you are freely allowed to leave at any point- then you're agreeing to their laws."

"Yes, I know what you're saying." She pulled her legs up and situated herself into an Indian style position. The cartoon they had been watching was long forgotten, having accidentally sprung a debate over whether or not it was fair of Jerry to put Tom through so much pain, then it escalated to Tom breaking the law, then the debate raged on until they were knee deep in Plato. "But you're a criminal."

"I'm a club owner, actually. I'm rehabilitated. I went to therapy."

She threw a pillow at him, "you did not."

"That is an act of civil disobedience. Anna, you should be ashamed." He threw it back at her.

"Ah! Ah! Retaliation is harm against me, and no one should do harm, ever."

He got to his knees and threw another pillow at her. "I lied, Socrates was a hack! Plato was a self-righteous circle-talker."

She laughed and collapsed back on the bed. "But still, you gotta feel bad for Tom."

"True. There's been a lot of anvils," he agreed jokingly. Then he stopped, "wow, that was almost normal, huh?"

She chuckled, "and who knew you were all book-learned," she teased, "I just figured you were a pretty face with an attitude." She dodged another pillow flying at her head, "and you watch cartoons. I'm telling every single girl at the bar that you had a crush on Jessica Rabbit. I'll put it on the news!"

"That's the last deep dark secret I let you in on."

She rolled her eyes, "fine, fine, fine- I promise, even with threat of death, I will never reveal your fetish for cartoon babes, okay?" Anna replied with her right hand raised solemnly.

He nodded. "Besides, if you tell anyone I'll just have you fitted for cement shoes."

Laughing, she leaned back against the headboard and turned her gaze to the ceiling. "God, I feel good for a change, you know? Like…a real person or something." Her brown eyes were glowing, he noted and her voice changed, it was a little louder, more confident then it usually was. He found himself puzzled by the change.

"Anna- don't take this the wrong way but sometimes…I wonder if you are real. I mean, it's almost like your two different people, one is this lonely, broken being who seems only half here and the rest is in some other world. Then there's…this you, quirky, smart and…really fun. My question is- which is you?"

"Would you believe me if I said that they both are?" She asked, finally bringing her gaze to his. "I'd be telling the truth."

He tried to read her expression and found that he couldn't. It was somewhere between guilt and sincerity- but the two didn't correlate in his mind. Johnny sighed, "I like it."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Is the Brazen Blonde One okay?" Spinelli asked sweetly.

Maxie didn't glance back at him as she continued staring at her fabric. She had been staring at the same two pieces half the day, avoiding he and Dillon as though they carried the plague. "Yeah, Sure. Why?"

"You've been unusually quiet. Of course I'm concerned."

"I'm just a little tired."

"You slept in." Spinelli responded.

She frowned, "I didn't sleep well though."

"Bad dreams?"

She shrugged, "it depends on your perspective, I guess." She turned to look at him, blue eyes narrowed. "Lets pretend we're Georgie." She closed her eyes, "okay, I'm Georgie- now lets say I want something…but if someone I really loved deserved it more, what would I do? Would I take this 'something' or would I give it to the more deserving individual?"

Spinelli made a face, "The Jackal has no idea why The Brazen Blonde One would want to be like her sister." He stopped and shook his head, "aren't you happy with who you are?"

Maxie just gave him 'the look', as Mac often called it. It was his nice way of translating what Dillon used to call her 'what, are you stupid?'glare. Spinelli thought the latter was a more accurate description while the former was just easier to say. "Spin, I'm morally ambiguous. I was just trying to figure out what the right thing would be. I don't want to be a carbon copy of my sister. I mean, she can't dress for one." Maxie stopped, "nevermind, whatever. I know the answer anyway, I was just hoping for a way out."

"How can I have known you so long and yet you still remain a mystery?" He replied wistfully.

Maxie adjusted the fabric one last time. "I'm not that hard to figure out."

Spinelli took a step back, "of course, The Jackal only meant that your gender as a whole are very complicated creatures and wasn't at all trying to infer that the Brazen Blonde One was the only complex one out there." He hedged uncertainly and then gave up. "No, That was a lie. The Brazen Blonde One is very, very, very hard to understand sometimes."

Maxie shrugged, "at least I'm not dull then."

"The Fashionista is many things," Spinelli agreed while nodding, "but dull is not one of them."

A knock came on the door and Maxie casually called out to come in. Dillon stepped in, "Mac wants you, Maxie. I think he's having trouble with a recipe?"

Maxie grinned, "I love that he has to come to me with me about that." With a jaunty little prance she left the room, tossing her hair just as she exited.

"She's still…Maxie. It's funny, I thought she would have changed a little."

"She has." Spinelli told him seriously, "The Brazen Blonde One is still as tactless as ever- but she's nicer then she used to be and a little more…hesitant about giving her heart out." He stared at the door she left from with a little pang in his heart. He had watched her date boy after boy for two years, never really looking his way, never really thinking of him as more then a friend or them as more then a lay. Sometimes he was just ready to give up.

Dillon followed his gaze and gave him a quizzical look, "so when are you going to ask Georgie out?"

"Huh? No, no I'm not." He shook his head, "The Wise One is in far too a vulnerable a state for that. Besides, I believe her feelings for the Jackal passed with…her passing…" He stumbled over the words then spilled over with a whole new thought, "The Wise One should really be seeing someone, I think, perhaps a doctor. Someone who can help her through this adjustment to freedom. I can see how she would be leery of the head shrinkers though- sometimes they aren't very just or fair in their accusations."

"Is she…having problems?" Dillon asked with an arched brow, his hands went into his pockets, seeming to purposely ignore the last part of Spinelli's word-vomit. Spinelli was glad, he didn't really feel like explaining why he hated psychiatrists.

"She's barely seen, always out…visiting with old friends."

"Like right now?"

Spinelli nodded, "exactly."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Is everything alright, Johnny?"

Standing with the phone between his ear and shoulder as he buttered bread for their lunch, Johnny gave his sister Claudia an affirmative, assuring her that he was in no way in danger from the blizzard.

"I don't just mean the blizzard, Johnny. Is Trevor still sniffing around?"

"Not that I know of," He answered honestly, putting the bread on the skillet before adding the cheese and starting on the other pieces. "He's been….quiet. Which is suspicious in and of itself."

"I think I should come visit."

Johnny fought to keep his tone neutral, "Oh no, Claudia, that's not necessary." He arched his neck to see Anna in the living room, reading one of the books she had taken from his shelf in his office. "Everything is very peaceful out here, you know? Calm. Nothing is happening at all."

Anna turned the page, her lips quirking upwards.

"You're seeing someone and you think I will react the way I did with Lulu."

"No, no, no- I'm not seeing anyone- well, I mean I am seeing lots of girls but none regularly. I'm not a part of a couple or anything like that." He answered vaguely and turned his attention back to his cooking. "I just don't think you should uproot yourself right now, not when everything is going so well."

"So who is she?"

"There's no she, Claud."

"Is that girl from the bar- that Anna girl? Is she with you now? Is that why you haven't called me out of boredom like fifty times?"

Johnny cursed silently that his sister knew him so well. "Anna is just a friend, Claudia."

"Oh, right. But she's there, snowed in with you, right?"

"Yes."

"Is she pretty?"

"Claudia, stop. I checked in and now I'm checking out. You take care, okay?"

"You too, little brother."

Johnny hung the phone up and then proceeded to finish preparing the grilled cheese sandwiches for he and Anna. He turned to look at her, she was still smiling, her attention completely focused on the book in front of her. Her head rested on the back of the black leather couch and she had one knee up with her elbow resting on it while the other leg was dangling. She looked comfortable.

On his couch.

In his clothes.

That possessiveness he knew she would be afraid of reared its ugly head. He wanted to explain it to her, that he didn't want to own her but like all things in his life he wanted to protect her. That meant he needed her to tell him who hurt her so he could make sure they never did it again.

He could guess what they did from the way she acted- or at least he had a vague idea that rape was involved somehow and he knew that it had happened at least two years before. Also, he deduced that she was nowhere near over it. Johnny had seen his share of broken people, heard his share of tragic stories and he knew the signs.

So he was going to have to keep his territorial nature at bay.

Not as easy as it seemed and he knew that.

Is she pretty? Johnny fixed his eyes on her face- her perfect, flawless skin, her deep brown eyes, on the way she moved with such grace and had a certain kindness that reflected in her expression. No, she wasn't pretty. She was drop-dead-gorgeous.

"Oh, hey…is something burning?" Anna asked, looking up just as he was turning away.

He swore loudly and turned the burner off.