Prompt – Bow to no one.

3

Johnny Zacchara had secured the piers.

Sonny had no idea how the little rat bastard did it, but he did it. He got the piers, signed for ownership, and had everything notarized and transferred before any of the other buyers even got wind of it. And Sonny had taken his frustration out on all the barware he owned.

He stared at the grass that littered the floor of his office. His breathing was erratic, his hair was curly and mussed, and he had a sprinkling of cuts on his palms, but he didn't feel anything. All he knew was that Johnny Zacchara had gone against the wishes of his family, which was halfway to legitimate now, and bought the piers.

But worse, he bought the piers right out from under Sonny, and he wasn't about to have that. Something needed to be done to make sure that Johnny Zacchara knew that this wouldn't be tolerated.

"Johnny's missing. Trevor wants answers."

Sonny looked up from his newspaper as Jason burst into his office. "What? Johnny's missing?"

His enforcer nodded. "Word is that he was grabbed last night from his house. Our men on the inside say that Elizabeth is a mess and Trevor's on the warpath."

Sonny snorted. "Well, even his 'warpath' won't scare very many people now that he's 'legitimate.'"

Jason shook his head. "He should have known this would happen. I don't know what he was thinking, buying the piers when his sister and Trevor made it clear that they were changing the business from the ground up."

"He's a stupid kid," his best friend shrugged. "That's all there is to it."

"He had to have known that this would happen," Jason continued. "He bought the piers knowing that you, me, Jerry, Moreau, Sandoval, Tagliati, and the Ruiz family wanted them. Any one of them could have made a strike against him."

Sonny remained silent, and something clicked in Jason's head.

"Did you do it?"

He looked up, surprised. "What?"

"Did you do it?" Jason repeated. "Did you have Johnny kidnapped?"

Sonny heaved a heavy sigh and turned back to his paper. "Jason, I think that little shit got what was coming to him. He wanted to play with the big boys and someone took him down. It's his own damn fault. After he got away with shooting Kate-"

"You don't know that he shot Kate," Jason fired back. "Even Kate doesn't know that he shot Kate."

"He shot Kate!" Sonny yelled back. "He did it and you wouldn't let me kill him for it! Now? He finally got what he deserved and honestly? I don't give a shit about him and I'm not going to talk about this anymore."

Jason scowled and turned around. "I'm going to tell Trevor I'll help him search for Johnny."

Sonny stared at him. "What? What the hell for?!"

"Because, legitimate or not, the Zaccharas are a powerful family," he ground out. "And if they go fully legitimate, it would be very good for us to have an alliance with them as a better front than the coffee business. Or as an expansion of the coffee business. And since they own the piers now, if we partner with them we can use the property for coffee at the very least, even if for nothing else. It would be smart to join them in this."

"They're the enemy!"

Jason rolled his eyes and reached for the door. "I'll be back later."

"Jason! You can't offer them anything! Do you hear me? THEY'RE THE ENEMY!"

"They're your enemies," Jason corrected. "They're your enemies because you want them to be. Trevor doesn't care enough. Johnny doesn't want to start a war with us. It's all you. They're your enemies because you're still mad that Trevor fucked Kate before you had a chance to."

And with that, Jason left the office.

Johnny had been found.

It was like the iron fist that threatened to clamp down around her heart had melted away, and Elizabeth could breathe again. Her brother was safe and sound and would soon be down. And she credited it all to her men.

Naturally, that asshole Sonny Corinthos had tried to get some of his men on the inside of their family and organization. When that failed, he enticed a couple of her men to become turncoats. The men had known Elizabeth's position and played with Sonny for a while before finally accepting. They knew that they were allowed to accept the money Sonny offered and they conferred at great length with Johnny, Trevor, and Elizabeth as to what information they were to disclose to the enemy. They kept Jason and Sonny regaled for a long time with tales of the specific (but nonexistent) measures the family was taking to become legitimate.

They told him all sorts of things about how Elizabeth stopped eating, how she cried non-stop for her little brother and begged Trevor to find him at all cost. The men pretending to be turncoats weren't thought of highly enough to be told specific, damning information about the Morgan-Corinthos organization, but they could get close enough to bug certain people and certain rooms.

And that was how Elizabeth found out exactly where her little brother was being held: an old mental asylum along the docks, not too far from the Taylor building, and one of Sonny's waterfront properties.

She sent one of her men to pose as Sonny's and get closer to John. He managed to tell the youngest Zacchara that his sister and Trevor knew where he was and that they had a plan to get him out and put Sonny in his place once and for all. Now, all they had to do was wait for the right moment when everything was in place.

Trevor knocked on the door to her little parlor and let himself in. "Elizabeth? How are you holding up, sweetheart?"

She smiled at his little joke. "About as well as any bereaved sister, I suppose. Have you gathered the men I wish to speak to?"

Trevor nodded. "They're all waiting in the office, sweetheart. I had the room swept twice for bugs, and everything's clean. They're ready for your orders."

Elizabeth lowered her legs from the edge of her table and stood smoothly, tugging at the hem of her black dress. "All right. Let's do this."

Trevor waited for her to exit the room, then followed her out. Elizabeth moved smoothly, her gait loose and her stride determined, and her red stilettos clicked on the freshly polished floors. "Er, Elizabeth?"

"Yes?"

"Would it be too much for me to ask what you're planning?"

She smiled sweetly and patted his shoulder. "I'm afraid so, Trevor. And that's why I need you to wait elsewhere while I have this meeting. The more you know, the more someone can get out of you."

Trevor nodded. He expected her answer. "Very well. Call me if you need me. I have some contracts to finalize."

She watched him head off to the library and then turned and entered the office. A dozen of her men were waiting for her, and she closed the doors securely behind herself.

"I've called you all here because we need to rescue John and destroy Sonny Corinthos."

She sat at her desk in her little parlor, her legs up on the corner and her ankles crossed, waiting for phone calls from her men. Ten of them had already checked in and there were two left.

The phone buzzed and she scooped it up. "Yeah? Good. Get out of there and make sure you have an alibi. Don't go to Jake's – four others are there already. Try Kelly's or something else. Yeah."

No sooner had she hung up than it buzzed again: a call from her last man on the task. "Yeah? Good. You're the last one. Get out of there now. Okay. Great. No, it's you and Casey that are running the asylum mission. Get John out of there – I don't care who you have to mow down, got it? Okay."

A knock at the door revealed her butler, and Elizabeth quickly snapped her phone shut. "Miss Elizabeth?"

"Yes, Reivers?"

"There's a man here to see you. Mister Jason Morgan."

She stared at him. "…Are you sure?"

Reivers smiled slyly. "Afraid so, Miss. He seems very eager to see you. You'd better don the ugly duckling ensemble."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes and quickly lowered her legs to the floor. She pulled her hair, which was down in curls, into a ponytail and tied it up in a messy, haphazard bun. Her fake glasses were resting on the desk and she quickly put them on, then exchanged her stilettos for the black ballerina flats she always kept under her desk.

"All right. Send him in."

"Oh." Reivers mimed rubbing his eyes. "Your eyes, Miss."

"Right." Elizabeth took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes with the heels of her hand until they were red and slightly puffy. "Thank you. Send him in, please."

"Right away."

A few minutes later, Jason Morgan was shown into her office. Reivers purposefully left the door open, which made Elizabeth smile.

She sniffled and got up from her chair, padding around the desk and over to him. "What do you need, Jason?"

Glacial eyes met hers evenly. "I came about your brother."

Elizabeth gasped and abruptly reached out, taking his arms. "Johnny? Did you find him? Do you know where he is?"

Jason shook his head, gently taking her hands and removing them from his arms. "No. I came to let you and Trevor know that I'll help you find him."

Her lips parted in surprise and for once, Elizabeth wasn't faking it. "What? Why?"

"He's just a kid," Jason sighed. "He's in over his head and he needs help. I'm here to offer it."

Elizabeth's eyes narrowed. "What's the real reason you're doing this, Jason?"

He swallowed and frowned at her. She wasn't supposed to be this perceptive. "There's no other reason."

"Liar."

Or that frank. "Look, it's just…"

She was starting to put the pieces together. "What has John done for you, Jason? Why do you feel you owe him?"

He looked away and remained silent for so long that she was starting to doubt he'd reply. "Johnny did me a favor once. I want to repay it."

"What kind of favor?"

Jason growled under his breath and shoved his hands in his pockets. "It doesn't matter."

"It matters to me," she replied firmly. "I want to know what sort of men my brother is associated with, and through what means."

Jason's lips thinned. This was a different side of the coy, awkward woman he met at the Zacchara ball. She was much the same, true, but he was beginning to see a sharper, stronger side of her when it came to her brother. "Someone tried to kill Johnny once."

Her eyes widened in horror, and Jason carefully neglected to mention the fact that it was Sonny.

"He thought that Sonny was responsible for it." He rolled his shoulders, trying to relieve the tension there. "He came to hunt him down and found me instead. He had a chance to kill me, but he didn't. He said it was because he knew that I personally had nothing to do with the attempt on his life, which I didn't."

"And you've wanted to repay him ever since," Elizabeth murmured. "So you would no longer want to be indebted to him."

"Something like that."

Elizabeth let out a tremulous sigh and leaned against the desk, trying to look the part of a worried and grieving sister. "What do you propose, Jason?"

"I know you have search efforts underway for Johnny," he replied. "I want to join them."

"You want to work with my men?"

"Not really. I want their information. I have a kid who works for me – Damien Spinelli – and he's good at finding people. If I put him on the case, I know we'll have answers."

"We've been looking non-stop and haven't come up with anything," Elizabeth admitted. "I don't know how this could have happened, how he could have vanished so completely. I don't know what I'd do if…"

Jason found himself reaching out to gently squeeze her shoulder. "I know. I've had people I cared about kidnapped because of my life and my business. And I'll help you find Johnny. You just make sure I get the information you have, and let me work. There's nothing you can do for him like this – let me handle it."

She shot him her most grateful look. "Thank you. I'll do that. I'll put you in touch with my men and-"

"I'd like to speak to only a couple," he interrupted. "The ones you trust the most."

Elizabeth's brows furrowed. "I don't understand how-"

"At this point, I'm starting to think that this was an inside job." Jason leaned against her desk as well and stared out into the hall through the door that the butler had conspicuously left ajar. "Someone on the inside who knew what Johnny did and knew how to take him down."

Elizabeth closed her eyes and bowed her head. "I don't even want to think about-"

"Then don't." Jason stared directly into her eyes, his tone as comforting as he knew how to make it. "Let me help."

She nodded. "Yes. Yes, of course. If you go out into the hall, you'll find my butler. He'll give you the contact information for Rainne O'Connor. He's worked closely with Trevor for years, and he's our most trusted man."

Jason nodded and pushed himself away from the desk. "Thanks. I'll be in touch."

Elizabeth smiled softly as he crossed the room. "You're not much like your partner, are you?"

Jason stopped and slowly turned. "What do you mean?"

"Sonny," Elizabeth repeated unnecessarily. "He's all pretty words and sentiments and smiles. You're not much for the social interaction, but you're a man of action."

He shrugged awkwardly. "I do what I can. What I have to."

She nodded and waited until he left the room before letting out a little sigh. "And for that, I'm sorry for your poor choice in friends."

Spinelli looked up as Jason entered the penthouse. "So? Did you do it? Did you talk to the Gentle Wallflower?"

He nodded. "I told her I would help, and I told her that it was probably an inside job."

"Do you really think so?"

"It has to be."

"So, did you…"

"Yeah, Spinelli, I bugged her office. And a fern in the foyer and the private study. I saw a couple of her men talking together about something the night of the party in those places, and it didn't look like they were on board with the Zacchara family's new plans. If there's dissension in the ranks, we'll know about it soon."

"I shall trace them immediately," Spinelli announced, pulling his laptop open. "By the way, I ordered dinner for us. It's a little too late to eat now but in case you're hungry…"

He spotted the Chinese take-out on the counter and already moved to grab it. "It's fine. Check the bug in the parlor first. East-most location in the house."

"Is this the Gentle Wallflower's private hang-out?"

"Yeah, I think so. If any of her guards were working against her, they'd know for sure that the family wouldn't bug Elizabeth's parlor and they might go there to talk."

"Excellent….Here we go." He turned up the volume and rotated the computer so it faced his mentor. "Can you hear okay?"

He nodded and pulled the balcony doors open. It was a warm night and his penthouse overlooked their properties on the harbor. In the distance, he could see the Alcazar properties owned by the still-missing Johnny Zacchara.

"There are two men talking, Stone Cold." Spinelli turned up the volume. "I think you might have been right."

"All I'll say is that it's lucky for us that Corinthos is such a fucking dipshit. He gets some pussy and the only head he thinks with is the one between his legs."

Spinelli wrinkled his nose. "Graphic."

"That's Rainne," Jason frowned. "I talked to him earlier today. He's Trevor's right-hand man."

"Sonny's always been like that. How he hasn't been found in the gutter with two bullets between his eyes is beyond me."

Spinelli stared at the computer. "…That's Trevor. That's Trevor Lansing!"

"Shut up," Jason hissed, "let's hear this."

"You got everything ready?"

There was a pause.

"Just about. Keep your eye on the clock, Trevor. You'll know when it happens."

"We waiting for midnight?"

"Yup."

"Say, isn't Sonny moving a shipment across the river tonight?"

"Yup."

"Rainne…"

"Look, just wait for fucking midnight. And keep your eyes on the harbor. You'll know when it happens."

Spinelli and Jason exchanged glances, and Jason pulled his phone out of his pocket as the boy hopped over the back of the couch and joined him by the balcony.

"Sonny? It's me. Something's happening on the harbor tonight. I don't know – I don't know! Just get in touch with Logan, tell him to be ready if something goes wrong. If he can't unload it, send the ship down and back around. We'll keep it circling until morning."

"And…There we go. John's out. He's safe. Corinthos thought he was so smart, holding him hostage in one of his waterfront properties. Ass."

"How many of Corinthos's men were killed in getting John out?"

"About seven. It's a sketchy count, though. Could be more."

Spinelli's jaw dropped. "Mister Corinthos Sir was the one that kidnapped the Septic Son?!"

Jason was still processing that. "He held him in one of our warehouses?"

"Do me a favor. Set the record player to play."

"What have you got in here, Rainne? What is this?"

"1812 Overture. Turn it on. Good. And here we go…five…four…three…two…"

Spinelli and Jason leaned forward, their eyes trained on the harbor.

"One."

Pier 52 exploded in a spray of red, white, and orange, sending off sparks and flaming debris. Spinelli reeled back in shock, but that wasn't the end of it. It was just the beginning.

"Jesus Christ."

With the famous composition playing in the background, the waterfront warehouses exploded in perfect rhythm to the piece. Pier 50 was next, and before the debris could hit the ground Pier 48 went up in flames. It continued all down the line until the harbor was outlined in a half-ring of fire as the Corinthos-Morgan properties burned high and bright.

Spinelli had gone completely pale. "Oh, my God. Oh, my God, oh, my God."

Jason's phone was ringing, most likely a furious Sonny, but he didn't even have the presence of mind to answer it as he watched their hard-won piers dance and crackle in a wall of fire. "Fucking shit…"

"The ship! The ship on the river!"

Insult to injury – that was what it was. Their shipment, which was supposed to be safe and sound on the harbor, was lost when the boat was overturned under fire.

Jason closed his eyes, unable to believe what he had just seen. The 1812 Overture played on.

"Wow."

"Wasn't that something?"

"What I wouldn't give to be a fly on Sonny's wall right now."

"You said it, Trevor. I'm telling you, stuff like this…it really makes you glad to be in this line of work."

A sultry feminine laugh, a half-purr, really, caught Jason and Spinelli's attention, and it was the only thing that could have torn their gaze from the destroyed waterfront at that moment.

"Something funny, Elizabeth?"

"Terribly."

"Care to share?"

"I'm just really enjoying being 'legitimate,' Rainne, that's all."

"I'll bet you are, sweetheart."

"I'm sure you see now why pretending to go legit was such a brilliant idea, Trevor," they heard her say. "And to think, you tried to fight me on it."

"I should have known better, dear, I really should have. Especially after we heard about all the changes you made in Milan. Destroyed all the opposition and set up Anthony's empire there – brilliant."

"I got the call. John's just a few minutes from home. He'll be here shortly."

"Good. Think Sonny Corinthos got the message?"

"What? That if he fucks with the Zacchara family, he's as good as signing his own death warrant? Don't worry, Elizabeth. Your little show tonight should prove beyond the shadow of a doubt who really runs Port Charles now."

The End.