Chapter 2

"And now I'm lookin' for the reasons why I'm alive

And now I've finally come to realize

I can't erase this feeling

I can't escape"

~ "I'm Breathing" by Jet Black Stare

The second door opened to the bathroom. Maxie immediately, instinctively, took a step back, her mouth gaping with horror. The wallpaper was old, easily dating back to the seventies. It was cracked and yellowed, peeling around the corners. There was a single sink with rust ringed around the drain, a toilet with a cracked lid, and the bathtub. The tiles on the floor were chipped and gone in places. The grout work was moldy in places and missing in others.

"I think I could get hepatitis C just by looking at this room," she muttered darkly.

Johnny snorted once, but didn't disagree as he ventured further into the room. He pulled on the mirror over the sink, revealing the medicine cabinet behind it. There were two toothbrushes inside, both thankfully still in their original packaging, and a tube of toothpaste. There was also a spare roll of toilet paper and a still wrapped bar of soap.

Maxie fisted her hand in Johnny's shirt, anchoring herself to him as she followed him in. Her nose wrinkled in disgust as she lifted the single bottle of shampoo from the edge of the sink.

"Generic shampoo?" She cringed inwardly.

Johnny glanced back at her, his face twisted into a smirk. "The accommodations not to your liking, Princess?"

She set the bottle down quickly and looked up at him, her expression grim. "They couldn't even spring for a bottle of generic conditioner to go with it?"

Johnny chuckled softly, closing the medicine cabinet. He tested the faucet, seeming pleased when the water came out clear and clean.

Maxie huffed, blowing her bangs out of her eyes. "Marcus is going to be so pissed."

Johnny turned then, arching an eyebrow at her. "Who's Marcus?"

Maxie barely blinked. "My hairdresser. If I don't deep condition at least once a week—"

"We've been kidnapped and you're worried about your hair?" he asked, incredulous. He snorted and looked away, shaking his head.

She looked down, sighing. "Look, I'm doing the best I can not to just completely freak out right now, and if worrying about my hair instead of the guys with the big guns helps me—"

"OK, OK," he cut in, placing his hands on her shoulders, "I get it. I'm sorry."

She shifted. "No, I'm sorry. Guess I'm not your first choice for a kidnapping buddy, huh?"

His lips curved back into that same self-assured smirk he wore with confidence. "You're not that bad."

"Still, I bet you'd rather be here with Lulu," Maxie said with a shrug.

His expression darkened and he dropped his hands suddenly. "Not really," he replied, his tone clipped. He turned on his heel and started out the bathroom.

She followed him out. "Well I wish you were here with Lulu."

Johnny turned, his back rigid. He ground his teeth together.

Maxie shrugged and held up her hands, surrendering. "What? All I'm saying is it might force you two to work out your issues."

"Maybe we just shouldn't talk about Lulu," he suggested coolly.

"Fine by me," Maxie agreed easily. She walked over to the bag that had been tossed at them. She glanced up at Johnny. "Food." She sank to her knees and started pulling out the contents of the bag.

He settled down next to her, watching as she divvied up the food from the bag. Two deli sandwiches, two bags of chips, two bottles of water, two thin towels and a blanket at the very bottom. Maxie even tipped the bag upside down to prove there was nothing else inside.

Making a face, she tossed the bag away and set the blanket on the edge of the mattress. She unscrewed the cap to her water and downed half of it, grateful for the liquid as it slid down her parched throat.

"So, tell me the truth: How bad is this?" Maxie asked after she had opened her bag of chips and popped one in her mouth.

Johnny chewed the bite of sandwich slowly, swallowing before answering. "I don't know."

She lowered the chip she was about to eat. "But you know this Calitri guy, right?"

He shifted, his focus suddenly on the sandwich in his hand. "Sort of. I think I might have met him once a few years back when I was visiting Claudia in Rome, but I don't really know him. I know of him."

"Clearly he knows of you, too," Maxie retorted. "So why are we sitting in a cramped little room being held against our will?"

"Not too sure," Johnny answered, intentionally vague. He finished the last of his sandwich.

"Is that mob speak for 'I'm not gonna tell you, so shut up, Maxie?' Because if it is…"

He cracked a slight smile. "It's not. I really don't get why Calitri would take me. Let alone you. Any business dealings we've had have been overseas, and he's never hinted at moving his enterprise to the States."

"Maybe Claudia did something?" Maxie suggested.

"Maybe," Johnny hedged. He snorted to himself; it would be very much like his sister to try something overseas where her new husband couldn't dominate or overrule her.

Sonny Corinthos was a local boy. Granted, he dabbled a bit in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean, but he had no clue how to manipulate and maneuver through the European syndicates. He stayed closed to his home state of New York and rarely ventured outside his territory. He spent more time defending his empire than building upon it.

It would be a classic Claudia move to defy him by making a power play in another country to keep Sonny on his toes. To try something in the country she grew up. A country far removed from the reach of her husband. She never seemed to think that other people might pay for her mistakes, though.

People like himself and Maxie.

Maxie snapped her fingers in front of Johnny's eyes, getting his attention.

"What?"

She huffed and blinked slowly. "Where'd you go?"

"Nowhere," he answered automatically. "Just thinking."

Maxie shivered then, and glanced up at the darkening windows. "Sun's going down."

He glanced at his watch and sighed loudly. The face of it was smashed. It had probably happened when they were taken. "Probably close to seven-thirty," he estimated aloud.

She glanced around the room and stood up swiftly, moving for the bathroom where she flicked on the light. No one had thought to put a lamp in their room, and the bathroom light barely afforded them any additional light. When she turned back around, Johnny had collected all their trash it put it back in the bag. He balled it up and tossed it into a far corner.

Maxie leaned against one wall, suddenly exhausted and ready to sleep for a week.

"Tired?" He looked up at her from where he sat on the floor.

"I wonder if my dad even knows I'm missing yet," she murmured softly.

"I'm sure he does."

She shrugged. "Maybe. He's so busy lately…"

"Even if he didn't? I'm sure Spinelli noticed and he has your dad and half the Port Charles police department out scouring the streets for you," Johnny offered with a small smile.

Her lips quirked into a sad smile. "You think so?"

His expression softened slightly as he looked at her. "Maxie, Spinelli adores you. I'm sure he's noticed you're gone by now."

"Even if he hasn't," she said with a sigh, moving back towards him, "I'm sure Claudia noticed."

"Depends on the day," he allowed with a sardonic smile. "If Claudia needed me for something, then I'm sure she's noticed and mobilized all the people she can to find me. If she hasn't needed me…" He trailed off with a shrug.

She sat down beside him, studiously ignoring the way the shadows were creeping out of the corners, slowly swallowing the room. She shuddered again and glanced at the mattress. "One bed," she said quietly, calmly.

Johnny nodded, not meeting her gaze. "I noticed that."

She nudged him with her shoulder, waiting for him to look up at her before she grinned. "Guess you're finally gonna get me in bed, huh?"