Chapter 5: Awakenings
There is something that has within us that has the power to awaken us to the truth
Johnny took over driving just outside of Paris, while Jason moved to the passenger seat. As they skirted the city, they heard a gasp from the back seat as Cam unhooked his child safety seat to look out the window better. "Wow, it is really pretty."
"Pull in at the Eiffel Tower," Jason said quietly then saw Cam turn and look at him with excitement, the blond mobster barely able to restrain the excited youngster.
"JASON!!!!" he shouted excited. "You are here? Why's you here?"
"We are taking you to your Mommy." he said looking at his son. "She is going to be worried about you."
"Why's we stopping?" he asked as they pulled in front of the pretty tower with all the lights.
"I thought we would travel to the top, if you want." he said quietly.
"YES,, wake up, Jakey, we's going to go explorin'." he announced when the blond raised his head from the side of his booster.
Johnny stood back a little watching Jason with the two boys and had to admit that whatever else had been going on, he did love them. It made him wonder even more why he hadn't told the people in his life to go to hell and ran off with his family. He could still recall the night of the ball and Jason embracing Elizabeth as they hurried into the barn.
He loved the woman, adored the boys, yet stayed at the beck and call of people who treated her like crap and had as long Johnny had been in town.
When Jake and Cam had looked their full, they slowly headed back to the car, as Cam kept staring around at everything. "Why is the cars going so fast?"
!!*!!
Mac had arrived in town and found his way to the Library hotel like the note recommended, when he found the room he had been assigned he was not amused to be in the Geography and Travel room. Sitting down on the bed, he took out the note then went to find a travel guide for New York City. Finding several, he tossed down the two Frommer's guides, the Fodor's travel guide as well as the Insider's guide.
Shaking his head, he sat down and started to read hoping to find a connection to the clue. Tossing it down, he looked at the note again. Between Patience and Fortitude stand the bronze portals to the gift of knowledge. When you have received your membership card, the knowledge you gain will last a lifetime, or TWO.
Trying to let it go for the moment, Mac went to find an electronics store. Purchasing a laptop, he added a carrying case and a few other purchases before calling Felicia. "Have you tried to talk to Maxie?"
"I did, but she is insisting on staying there. Mac, what is going on, why do you want Maxie out of town?" she asked suspiciously.
"Nothing concrete, but with Morgan down, his pal Spinelli might have a target on his back for his mob enemies. We know that we can't rely on Sonny to protect anyone."
"I was talking to Bobbie, after Maxie refused to come visit. Sonny had a heart attack last night. The police are swarming around because one of their undercover men is missing and there is a rumor that Sonny killed him while Michael watched."
Mac wished he could say he didn't see it coming, but he had for a very long time. Michael Corinthos Jr was going to be just like his adoptive father. "I have to make a call."
"Keep me informed, please." she asked before hanging up. Mac made a quick call to Port Charles, and heard from his replacement that everything Felicia had told him was true.
"Thanks for the recommendation to the Governor, I do have to ask, how long am I going to be here?" asked Abbott bluntly.
"I am honestly not sure. Just protect your rear, things have a way of disappearing from the station when investigating Corinthos." he warned. "Can you tell me what you have?"
"Officer Falconari had a meeting with Corinthos yesterday out at a bridge, supposedly he never showed up. Since he refused to wear a wire, we have no idea what went down but last night, Lulu Spencer was asked if she had seen the man in question. An hour later, Corinthos visited his ex-fiancee Kate Howard, who apparently confirmed that Olivia Falconari, her cousin was our officer's mother."
"Corinthos keeled over, at the private hospital, Miss Falconari and Ms Howard indicated that they believed Mr. Corinthos was behind the disappearance and more than likely death of Dante. Mr. Corinthos Jr, left the hospital and then tried to order his father's men around. Our contact inside said that Mr. Giambetti, the elder took the blond to an emergency meeting of the families where if by the way things are falling out around here, he was told he wasn't in charge of his father's organization and for him to step down and let Mr. Giambetti run things."
"How do you know that?" asked Mac.
"The Italian is the one giving orders for the protection detail they have on Corinthos and according to the man I have following him there was a huge argument with the Corinthos/Morgan attorney."
"Anything else?"
"The kid, he has been seen at the hospital supporting his mother who hasn't left his father's bedside. Thing is, I thought she was married to Jacks and just had a kid with him."
"She is, she did, but that is Carly for you. Her next move is going to be to cling to Morgan. How is he doing?"
"Under the knife even as we speak. One thing though, the surgeon, we have him bugged. He had a call from London yesterday, from a face doctor there, call seemed coded. Then when we checked it out, we found the real doctor in Switzerland attending a convention."
"What do you think is up?"
"I don't know, I have men working on the code, but since we can't use a computer so as to prevent Morgan's geek from getting the information, we are finding it a slow go. How did you figure out that he had a worm in your computer."
"A hunch, be careful there, my daughter will do stupid things to help him. And she knows her way around the department."
"Like we promised, unless she is implicated in murder or a class A felony, she will go free." said Abbott. "Raynor is back in town, by the way, acting rather smug."
"Let him be, he will fall on his face, they all do." said a tired Mac. "I need to get some sleep, can you keep me informed on Corinthos and his kid?"
!!*!!
AJ was asleep on the sofa when he heard the screaming. Seeing Tom rushing in to where Elizabeth was having a nightmare, he moved to the doorway in case he was needed. Watching as her uncle tried to calm the small brunette, AJ realized she was reliving the nightmare of her rape. Quickly and quietly, he left them alone. Elizabeth didn't need to have him there witnessing her dealing with this.
Tom tried waking Elizabeth, but was getting no where's when her eyes suddenly popped open. Reaching out for her uncle, she pulled him into an adrenaline fueled hug. After a crying bout, she took the offered towel and with a bowed head accepted his offer to talk about what had happened.
"There isn't much to talk about, at least not that you want to hear." she said quietly.
"Talk to me, Elizabeth. For once believe that someone is going to be here for you without wanting something from you in exchange." he replied.
"It's, it's just difficult. The thoughts are all jumbled in my head. Anger at my rapist, anger at grams, at Sarah, Lucky... and then it seems like they want me to be grateful for the help they gave me."
"What do you mean?" he asked sitting back a little.
"My rapist, the man who hurt me, I don't remember who he is." she said. "Was he ever caught?"
"Yes, he went to prison, not for the rape, but he did end up in prison, he died there."
"Good." she said in a vicious hard tone. "He took something from me. I am not just talking about my innocence, more like... what little confidence I had gained since leaving Boulder."
Hugging her, he asked "What did the others want?"
"Sarah wanted it to go away, she kept saying I was acting out. Grams, she didn't want to face her past, so she refused to believe me." Elizabeth felt like she was describing someone else's life, but found it soothing as she faced up to her problems.
"Do you think they felt guilty, that they didn't do something to prevent this from happening to you?" he asked trying for a clinical tone.
"Grams, maybe, I felt so guilty about her bracelet from Grandpa Steve. She kept saying it didn't matter, but I knew that she was upset about losing it. Then there is Lucky. I knew he didn't like me that way, but I wanted to fool myself into believing he wanted to date me."
"Then afterwords, he was there for me. I fell in love with him for that. For caring for me." Elizabeth had begun to realize that that love had come with strings, ones she was still tied to because of her own insecurities.
"But in the end, didn't you end up supporting him when he dealt with learning his mother's past?"
"Yes, but at the time, it seemed like he was the only one who believe me, who cared about me." she said softly. "Dad and Mom didn't. Everyone else just stared at me. I couldn't handle it and Lucky seemed to act as a buffer for me."
"At the time..." Tom had the feeling his niece had had a major breakthrough.
"Yes, it was a what do you call it, extreme circumstances, I should have given myself time, but I just wanted someone to love me for me. But Lucky, he loved the rape victim the person who needed help." she slowly stuttered as she realized that thought had been at the back of her mind for years.
Tom just left her talk, and then when she started crying again, he said "There are people who love you for you. I wish I had been there, god, I wish I had known. Mom, she loves you, from what we talked about, she was horrified, that bracelet, to her it became a symbol of what she considered her neglect of you."
I wish I could talk to her." Tom didn't know how Audrey would react if she knew the truth, but knew that Elizabeth's mental health was more important than the secret. Calling Boulder, he asked Steven to go someplace private.
"Elizabeth is alive. We brought her to safety, you can't tell anyone except Audrey if you think she can keep the secret." he bluntly told his nephew.
Shaking slightly, Steven sat down and said "Is she okay?"
"Physically, yes. Emotionally, no. She has been having a huge PTSD episode, I still don't know how all of you missed it. She went into mental lock-down mode. Right now she is dealing with her rape again, and I think that she needs to talk to Mother."
"Give me an hour, then call back." said Steven. "Uncle Tom, do you have the boys?"
"No, but we found them. They are on their way here with the person who set this up."
"Thank god." he said before going to find Audrey. The elderly woman was sitting in Elizabeth's old bedroom looking through one of her sketchbooks. "She is pretty good, isn't she."
"Yes, she was. I spent so much time discouraging her from drawing, from living life the way she wanted. Why?" She asked closing the book and putting her hand on the cover.
"You might want to figure that answer out after I tell you my news. First, the boys are safe. Tom says they are on the way to wherever he is."
With a grateful thanks to the gods, Audrey said "What else?"
"Turns out, Elizabeth is alive. She was hurt badly, but wherever Tom is, so is she." Filling his grandmother in, he explained that his uncle thought it might be safer if they didn't come to them.
"B-but she is going to need us. The boys too. If she is stuck at age 15..."
Setting the older woman back down, Steven said "We know that Lucky has been trailing us, having that geek of Morgan's keep an eye on us. Let's not draw attention to Elizabeth while she is vulnerable."
"I understand, but I need to see her, let her know..." with a forlorn laugh, Audrey said "I was going to say let her know that I have known for a while about Jason being Jake's father. That I was keeping the secret for what? Because in truth, I have no real idea why I kept it a secret."
"Then just let her ask you what she needs. Let Uncle Tom help her heal."
Audrey took the phone from Steven when Tom called, "Grams, do you hate me for the bracelet?"
With tears running down her face, Audrey said "God, no. I never hated you. I should have taken better care of you. I should have stood by you, not let others do it. You shouldn't have had to rely on Lucky Spencer to be your support, when you had nightmares, you should have have been able to trust me to deal with your pain. I let you down so many ways, Lizzie."
Elizabeth used the back of her hand to wipe the tears off her face as she and her grams talked long into the morning in Europe and night in Boulder. When they hung up, Audrey went to wash her face then sat down and made a list.
"Grams, what are you doing?" asked Steven after he finished talking to Tom.
"Making a list of all the things I did stupidly in the past and how I am going to change them in the future." she vowed then looking at her grandson, said "You know, you and Elizabeth, I always had to try harder with the two of you. Sarah was easier, all she wanted was pretty sparkly things and she would say she loved whomever bought them for her. You two, your love couldn't be bought."
Hugging the woman, he said "We need to head up to bed soon, I might have an idea of how to help with Spencer and the computer geek."
!!*!!
Jason woke up just as they arrived in Lyon. "Where to now?" asked Johnny as he stood and stretched at the rest stop. As they took the boys inside, Jason said "I have to arrange a boat once we arrive in Nice."
"Please tell me we aren't going to Italy." he said.
"Yes, it was important that Elizabeth recover in Italy." he said quietly thinking about a couple of broken promises.
"Fine, but can't we take a train?" he said.
"A boat would be faster." replied Jason then said "I think that I saw a McDonalds up the street."
Cam and Jake cheered one of their favorite words while Jason got on the phone. Johnny soon had lunch for all of them, weirded out by ordering french fries in French. Checking them into the Campanile, he said quietly, "I don't want us to be recognized."
Once they were in the two connecting room, Johnny set up the small DVD player for the boys and opened up the bag with their toys. "You take the first break. When do you want to be woke up?"
Jason looked at the younger man and then the boys, he had to believe that Zachara was honestly not going to run, he needed sleep having gone several days without any and he knew that things would be difficult when they arrived back at the compound.
"I am not running or stealing the boys." vowed the younger man.
!!*!!
Sonny woke up in a hospital room, planning on making Olivia pay for betraying him that way, but first up was Kate. She had known, yet hadn't bothered to tell him. Seeing Carly sitting there, he swallowed hard and rasped out. "W-ater."
Helping him sit up, she gave him the glass with the straw and said "Thank god, you have no idea what has been going on since you collapsed."
"What- what day is it?" he asked as Leo Julian entered with Monica who glared at the man in the bed.
"Mr. Corinthos, I am glad you regained consciousness." said the doctor before asking Carly to leave the room. When she protested, Monica grabbed her arm and escorted her out.
"We need to talk." she told the blond. "I am taking Edward to Ireland, he can't take much more of losing people he cares about. Rumor or truth, you need to find out what Micheal did or didn't do. Stop relying on Sonny or Jason to fix your messes."
"How dare you?" said a pissed off Carly.
"Carly, your son is a suspect in a murder, his own brother's for god's sake. That he shot a woman is now public knowledge. You created this mess with your lies and pitting one of my son's against the other. Well now, AJ is dead and Jason, Jason can't help you solve this one, can he?" she said with a half grin.
"What is so funny?" she snapped as Jax walked up and said we need to talk.
"Not right now, Sonny just woke up." she retorted.
"Good, because if you ever want to see your daughter again, you need to come home right now. Otherwise I am filing for divorce and using Michael as the reason for you to not get custody. Commissioner Abbott just took him into custody and Diane is refusing to represent him."
"How dare she?" she said aghast at the woman's nerve.
"Do you want to know what Michael is under arrest for?" he bit out.
"I assumed this nonsense about Olivia's son. How dare she keep him away from his father. She is just like that bitch Elizabeth Webber." she snarled only for Jax to shake his head in disgust.
"Carly, your son walked into the No-Name and pulled out a gun and tried to shoot Max Giambetti in front of a room full of witnesses. Then when someone named No-neck Eddie removed the gun from his possession he told the other thugs he was trying to make his so name, so he could run his father's organization. Face facts, your son has no idea of right or wrong. Alexis went to help him for now, but she is refusing to be his attorney long term."
"Well that is Diane's job anyhow." she snapped then saw Monica making a call. "What do you think you are doing?"
"Trying to find an attorney, but that is all I can do for Michael. You acted like the Quartermaines were the worst people in the world to raise a kid, my god Carly, your son just tried to kill a man in a restaurant full of witnesses. Don't you get that this isn't normal eighteen year old behavior, don't you get that he needs to face justice for what he did?"
"Like AJ did for scrambling Jason's brains?" she snarked back.
Monica called in a favor and soon had an attorney on the way to the station. Then she turned and said to Jax. "If you decide to go for custody, make me your second call, I will be glad to testify on how rotten of a parent she is."
!!*!!
Carly and Jax argued and she went to see Jason. "Sam, has he woken up yet?"
Wiping her tears, the con woman said "No."
"I am sure he will soon. I-we need him. All of us." she said on her way to deal with her son.
Sam just sniffed the snot back into her nose, Raynor had called, he didn't need Sam or her information now that Sonny had stupidly killed a cop. She was up a creek without a paddle. She knew that with the surgery that Patrick had performed with Monica's permission, she was going to lose Jason.
She couldn't compete with the ghost that was Elizabeth. Trying to figure out a way to keep him, she was racking her brain for ideas when Kelly Lee entered the room to remind her she had an appointment that day.
"We are supposed to do an ultrasound if you are up to it." she said distantly.
Sam smiled then looked at the man in the bed. With Jake gone, she had the perfect way of keeping Jason. The baby she was carrying was a ticket to getting married. Following Dr. Lee into her office, she hurried up and got into the hospital gown.
"A girl." She was told and then handed a black and white photo. With a large grin, she went back to Jason's room and sat down thinking that life had come full circle. It had taken her first little girl only to give her one with the man she loved. Jason and her would finally have the family of her dreams.
Hearing the sound of someone coughing, she hit the call button and when Epiphany entered she said "Jason, is waking up."
When the doctors had all left, Sam sat down and quietly told him about their little girl. When the machines went insane, she took that as a sign he had heard and was happy about the information.
!!*!!
Robin and Patrick were discussing what she thought was going on with Jason(?) "Are you sure that he was mistaken?" she asked.
"According to him, he was. He had somehow accessed old files." replied the brain surgeon. "So who was the man you thought was Jason anyhow?"
"That is the strange thing, a dead man. He was a guard who disappeared a few years before I came back. Johnny O'Brien. But you said you saw the true x-rays." she said shrugging.
"I still think we were on to something." replied Patrick. "Could you ask Sonny maybe?"
Robin stared at her husband and said "Just how was that to go. Sonny I know that the police are looking into an undercover cops death, one who is rumored to be your son, but I was hoping you could tell me something, Is Johnny O'Brien alive or did you have him killed?"
Elizabeth was sound asleep when Tom went in to check on her. As it was a deep natural sleep, he hoped that she had faced her first big hurdle. Hearing footsteps, he saw AJ holding his head. "Headache?"
"Yes. Plus another nightmare where the word liberty and freedom were repeated constantly." he said exhausted. "Has he called yet?"
"A ferry from Nice in two days." he replied before going to get AJ some thing stronger than aspirin. "Here."
"Thanks, I hope that Mac Scorpio is having better luck with the clues than we did." he said. "I only wish I knew why it was so important and why his is the only name I recall hearing besides those to damn words." with that the blond went back to bed.
Mac woke up early the next morning and checked his voice mail. Audrey Hardy had called letting him know that Monica had taken Edward to where Lila had been raised. Felicia had called to tell him that things had heated up again in Port Charles and Abbott had called giving him details.
Picking up the travel guide, he went down to breakfast and reread the Frommer's guide. Finding the clues, he said "Yes." and after paying went to check out. Purchasing the book, he left the hotel and went to Grand Central Station where he used a locker to check his duffel bag.
Looking at the subway map, he quickly figured out the correct train and was off to get his next clue.
!!*!!
Maxie saw the look on Sam's face and said "Congratulations on having a girl and Jason waking up. Has he said anything yet?"
"No, he has been in and out, but I can tell he is excited." she said then casually brought the conversation around to what she knew about Sonny and Michael.
"All I know is that Spinelli found out they have Dante's cell phone. It was sent to them in a package and that Max and Milo left town quickly."
"Who is running things?" she asked.
"I guess Cody." said Maxie with a shrug. The bald headed jerk had ordered Spinelli to stay out of things and they thought he was going to make a play for power. "Luke Spencer was sentenced this morning. Twenty five years to life. The rest got probation and if they stay clean their records expunged."
Sam didn't care about that. Lucky had been handy to have around when he was chasing Elizabeth or when he was a cop, but now she didn't need him. "I heard rumors that Jax and Carly had a huge fight."
"Yeah, it got ugly. He filed for emergency custody this morning. Of both Jocelyn and Morgan. Your mom represented him."
Groaning, Sam knew that Carly was going to blame her for this one. She was going to have to distance herself if she wanted to keep the blond on her side. "What about Michael?"
"He is on the tape the police have. They were planning on arresting Sonny this morning. Jason' had better get well soon or they are going to be coming for him next." said the blond.
"For what? He was here, I would say being in a coma is a perfect alibi." she said smugly. She only regretted one thing, that she had made the anonymous call to have her contact let Max know about Dante/Dominic way too early. She had intended for them to be long gone. Damn Sonny for jumping the gun.
!!*!!
Jason found that there was no direct route from Nice to the Tuscan countryside. Finding they could take the train, he called Tom who suggested doing so. "It might give me more time to help Elizabeth remember them."
"We will only be a couple of days." he said with a heavy sigh. He wanted to be there for Elizabeth, but at the same time being with the boys was being there for her. "You are right, besides, Cam has thing for trains as well as boats."
Tom gave a tired chuckle then said "I can't wait to meet my nephews."
"They are wonderful." Jason said watching the boys in question searching through the shop that Johnny had taken them into when they woke up. They seemed to be searching for something and when Cam picked up a post card, Jason could see the word Mommy from outside.
With a smile of remembrance, he went inside to help them pick out one just for her.
TBC