Chapter Ten

Over the next few weeks leading up to Thanksgiving, things seemed to calm down but that was only the surface, underneath things were bubbling up.

Lucky's trial and come and gone just as quickly, Scott's defense of mental incapacity being shot down by the prosecution, his next defense, trying to blame the serial killer hadn't gone too well either when the Judge had denied his being able to call Miguel a drug trafficker, nor could he bring up anything other than Luke's death.

That might have worked as a defense but Mitch Williams had done his research and had countered every glowing character reference by tearing into the various opinions of Lucky Spencer. Then of Luke himself including what he had done to his wife.

When the defense had rested, Mitch called rebuttal witnesses, which included Kevin Collins who bluntly stated Lucky reacted to things then thought of excuses. Then Mitch had called several of his former colleagues and then the piece de resistance, Sarah Webber of all people.

Her testimony had the juries wondering if this missing Elizabeth Webber thought so well of her ex-boyfriend like the girls grandmother said, where was she, why wasn't she in court?

Scott knew he had to get Elizabeth on the stand, but Nik had warned him not to, telling him all that was going on. "But surely, she would want to help Lucky."

"No, she has made it very clear that she will do nothing to help Lucky." said Nik whose own testimony might have done more harm than good. Emily's had been equally ambiguous.

Scott sat at home, going over his notes and knew, he knew that Lucky's only hope was the Webber girl. Deciding to subpena her, he wasn't happy when five minutes before he was to begin questioning her to be told what she would say.

Swearing, he released her from his list and looked around the courtroom. Finally, looking at his client, he called Lucky Spencer to the stand. By time he was finished speaking, the jury was pissed with him, but when Mitch Williams was finished, Lucky might have just thrown away the key to his cell himself.

"We the jury in the above action find Lucas Lorenzo Spencer Junior guilty of second degree manslaughter." announced the foreman.

The Ruiz family stood, nodded and walked out of the courtroom. "Make the call."

Leaving the courthouse, Javier who was still a little weak from his heart attack, said "We need a meet with Corinthos, then we leave town."

In the courtroom, Lucky was sitting in stunned disbelief as the bailiff slipped on the cuffs. Nik was standing silently behind him, not sure what to do for his brother. He had been sure that it was a case of self-defense, but the evidence and the jury hadn't agreed.

"You, you have to get me out of here." he said to his brother, harshly. "Nik, you owe me."

Nik went home with Emily, while drinking his afternoon tea, he said "I can't let Lucky go to prison. I have to get him out of there. Maybe go to Sonny..."

Emily didn't think that was such a good idea and tried to speak to him, but Nik was determined as he took the shuttle back across the harbor. While he didn't agree with how Lucky was reacting when it came to Elizabeth, he was still his brother, he owed him.

At Sonny's early the next day, he was not happy to be entertaining the Ruiz family but he knew better than to refuse them. "Mr. Corinthos, we didn't speak because I know of your friendship with the late Mr. Spencer. I understand you lost a friend. Out of respect for that, I stayed away until his son was found guilty, not I expect that same respect to be extended to me."

Sonny had no idea what he was speaking about until the man said "If Lucky Spencer should find himself out of a jail cell before he has served his time, there will be business repercussions."

"I understand." he replied. When the man had left, Sonny gritted his teeth then called Jason who had only seen him at his office; outside he had ignored all requests to stop in at his house.

"Morgan." said tense voice.

"We need to talk, Javier Ruiz just stopped in to see me." he reported all the while looking at Max.

"I will see you at the warehouse." he replied.

"That isn't convenient to me, I need you..." Sonny gritted his teeth, he needed Jason to come to his house for this to work. It would give him more time.

"If it is business, we meet at the warehouse." with that, Jason hung up and drove over to the office. When Sonny came in, fuming he said "What was said?"

"Don't you ever hang up on me again." snapped the Cuban as he thought about what had to happen. Now he was beginning to think it might need to be a more permanent solution.

"What did Javier want?" he repeated more slowly. When Sonny didn't answer, Jason said "How about I tell you. He wanted to warn us against helping Lucky Spencer escape jail."

Seeing Sonny now paying attention, Jason looked at his partner and said "Yeah, it isn't very hard to guess what he wanted. What is the big deal, its not like we were planning on doing so anyhow."

"I had a visit from Cassadine, he is willing to offer up the Canneries in exchange for helping free his brother." said Sonny. "I shook hands on it. I need you to get..."

Chuckling, Jason said "Minor problem, Sonny. Yeah, Cassadine bought the Canneries, but only the actual factory, the warehouse and docks, they belong to old man Zachara. And what is to stop Cassadine from betraying us when Lucky is out, or for Lucky to not to open his mouth?"

With a smug grin, Sonny said "Because of Elizabeth, I am going to arrange for her to go with him. After all, Lucky will be grateful if he has the woman he loves with him."

Freezing, Jason looked at the man across from him. "My guess, Cassadine doesn't know this part of the deal, does he? Sonny we don't kidnap women, we don't endanger kids and we both know the Ruiz family will go after Spencer."

"So, if she chooses to stay with him..." he said shrugging. Sonny was not letting Jason's complaints bother him, after all he wouldn't be able to do anything about it.

Standing, Jason looked at him then at Max who was standing in the doorway looking very, very nervous. "You, what did you do?"

"I know everything. I gave an order. I told everyone Elizabeth Webber gets no favors from us. You broke that, for what? What, did she finally give you a piece of ass?" scorned Sonny. "Once she is gone, I expect you to fix things, to deal with Sam, if you don't... well I wonder what Emily would feel if Nik were to go to prison and she knew you could have prevented it."

With that, Milo shot Jason with the tranquilizer dart like his brother had given him. He wasn't so sure about this and was still shaking as they put Jason in the trunk of one of the limos.

Driving out to a safe house, Max and Milo carried the blond enforcer into the room, not realizing that he was awake. "Max, are you sure about this?"

"Yeah, come on Milo. Sonny is our boss and Jason betrayed him, for what, a woman who was married to a man who held Mrs. C in a panic room. Do you really thing she didn't know? Mr. C doesn't." he said. Max didn't like the way Jason had been acting, he didn't like the way he was brushing off the blond.

Jason waited until Max had started out the door, then rose up from the bed and had Milo by the scruff of the neck. "2.2 pounds of pressure, Max. With that I can break his neck. Will it be worth it, will betraying me be worth your brothers life?"

Max froze, then said"You wouldn't do that. Not for her."

"Wrong Max, I would do anything, kill anyone for Elizabeth and her son. You went too far."with that, Jason got a hold of Milo's gun and shot the traitor. Looking at Milo after he shoved him on the bed and smashed his cell phone. "Get out of the country now. Tell your father what happened and tell him I will be sending Max home in his best suit."

Getting what that meant, Milo swallowed hard, "Mr. C..."

"Oh, I have plans for Sonny." he said in a harsh tone. Jason had very painful plans for Sonny when he got a chance to kill that man. Taking the keys to the SUV he grimaced when he realized how far away he was from Elizabeth.

Too bad it was too late, Sonny was standing in Elizabeth's living room, holding a gun on her."You will be going with me."

Elizabeth looked at Sonny then at the three men with him, then at Lucky and found herself laughing. "Uh, sure, what ever you say."

"Where is the kid?"asked the mobster noticing how quiet it was.

"With my brother."she said not telling him that Steven was on his way to GH and told not to return until he heard directly from Jason or her. She had seen the news about Lucky escaping and had known that Cam had to be away from her, just in case as she had tried to call Jason.

Nor did she mention that Georgie Jones had rushed out the moment she had realized what was going on. Nor did she mention the young man Georgie had brought over to meet her. That young man was nodding at Mac Scorpio and his armed detective as they surrounded the house. "Corinthos, Kurt, and two other guards I don't know and Spencer."

"That idiot, did Spencer really think I wouldn't have him tagged." said Mac scowling at the house. "Georgie what room are they in?"

"The front passage."she said. "Why?"

"Taggert, there is a second entrance, off the parlor. Go through that door and try not to kill Corinthos. I want to see him in one of my jail cells, a little wounding, well I am fine with that." Mac said pulling the bald detective off a bit.

With a cold grin, the cop did as ordered while Johnny who had stayed inside realized he could take out the one guard with a quick grab. Meanwhile Elizabeth was slowly pulling on her boots, hoping she got in at least one swift kick or shot when the time came as she tucked the gun from just inside the gun case into her pocket and grabbed her coat holding it in front of her.

Thankfully no one expected her to be armed she saw when she stepped back from her coat closet. "Good, glad you aren't going to fight me on this."

"Sonny, I don't know who you are but you are not the man who I once knew." she said sadly. "You should be ashamed of yourself."

"You know nothing, I mean NOTHING about me." he hissed just as all hell broke loose. All three of Sonny's guards were shot, while Lucky turned planning on running but instead of freedom, he ran into John Zachara's fist.

When the man slid to the ground, Sonny reached out for Elizabeth and pulled her in front of him. Just as he went towards the door, he felt a burning sensation in his leg. Turning, he found himself shot yet again. This time in the knee.

"Drop your weapon Corinthos." snarled Taggert while Mac entered the room to see a dark haired man rubbing his hand. "Who are you?"

"Uh, daddy." Georgie turned white then said "Uh, he is a friend of mine. I was introducing him to Elizabeth."

"We will take about this later." he snapped then looked at Sonny who was screaming in pain as he held his right leg. Seeing both bullet wounds he looked at Taggert, "I only heard one shot."

"Sir, we can't find a gun on this one." said the entering rookie shoving in a guard, "But he was driving a limo in the drive."

"Nice subtle car there, Corinthos." said John as he moved in closer to Georgie who looked scared to death.

"Corinthos wasn't armed." reported new Officer Harper. "Sir, you shot an unarmed man."

Taggert looked at the cop then said "Then he should have armed himself. He had a hostage. That he was unarmed is his own stupidity."

"Mac." With that, Elizabeth pulled the small gun out of her coat pocket armed with a silencer. "The second wound, I gave him it."

Taking the gun, Taggert said "You were awfully close to his jewels, Elizabeth."

"I was aiming for them, I guess I am not that great of a shot." she said embarrassed which thankfully covered Taggert's laugh as the medics rushed in. Sonny was handcuffed to the gurney then taken to the hospital while Mac looked at Lucky who was regaining consciousness. "Haul Spencer back to his cell. And someone pick up Cassadine. Do these people really think we are that stupid."

Putting Elizabeth's gun in a evidence bag, Mac saw she was speaking to Taggert, explaining all she knew when he heard her phone ringing. Looking at the caller ID, he went to the hallway.

"Morgan, Elizabeth is fine." There was silence for a moment then Jason sounding a bit out of breath and ragged asked "Sonny?"

"With Spencer and three guards." he then said "Elizabeth shot him, upper thigh."

"I will be right there." he told the police commissioner. "Oh, Mac, the gun safe in the closet, it only opens to Liz's fingerprint and mine. Do you need me to show you it."

"No, no, go to the hospital. I will send her there. For now, keep things quiet like you have been." ordered Mac who then said "Steven Webber has Cameron."

"Mac, once again, thank you." he said quietly then said "Nik, he set this up but didn't know about Elizabeth and what Lucky and Sonny were planning."

"Thanks." said Mac who then went back into the other room. "Taggert, take a statement from Mr. Zachara, Georgie you need to speak to Officer Harper, while I calm down."

Taggert looked at the dark haired man, then at the younger Jones girl. First Mac's oldest began dating an undercover cop, now her youngest a former mobster heir. Listening to his story, he wrote it down then watched as Mac drove off with Elizabeth to where they had Cam.

A half hour later, the youngsters were on their own way to General Hospital, "I am so glad you were here." Georgie confessed.

"Grateful enough to go on an actual date with me?" he teased. "I mean we have progressed from coffee to lunch, now we have met for dinner but paid for our own. How about I actually get to pick you up, take you out and then drive you home with maybe a good night kiss."

Looking at him, she said"Maybe a date if you survived the interview with my dad, but the kiss... well I will have to think about that one."

Elizabeth entered the chapel and found her husband holding their son and talking quietly to her brother. "Jason."

Throwing herself into his arms, careful not to jostle their son, she said "I am so glad you are okay. Sonny said..."

"I am fine." he said gently as he held her close. Seeing Mac locking the door, he said"Mac, thank you."

"Hey, she was holding her own just fine." he said then told Jason about the gun. "What we need to do however is tell her what happened."

"Nik." she said calmly. Seeing all three of the men looking at her, she said "I saw him in the hallway on our way in here. He looked rather guilty about something. Then I saw him leaving quickly."

"I wish you had told me." said Mac.

"Mac, he will turn himself in, he knows what he did was wrong." she said then admitted. "But facing Emily, well that will be worse for him than facing a judge."

"I have to go find out what is going on with my daughter and that boy." he snapped then gave a rueful laugh. "Be glad you had a boy."

Hugging his sister, Steven asked Jason what else is going on?

"Sonny, Max betrayed me to him about Elizabeth." he said. "I was watching him, but I wasn't expecting him to try and shoot me."

"What is going to happen to him?" asked soft-hearted Elizabeth.

"I am shipping him home to his father." Jason didn't say it would be in a pine box, that wasn't necessary. "Milo is going home too."

Steven went to the hallway and heard the gossip. "Steven is it true, did Sonny Corinthos try to help Lucky Spencer escape and were they caught at Elizabeth's house?"

Turning to Nadine, he said "Yeah, they were trying to kidnap her. She is fine, what about Corinthos?"

"He will live, you should know, Carly is here and so is her sister-in-law."

"Great, just great."with that he went back to the chapel to find Jason and Elizabeth in the same spot they were before he left. "The double mint twins are here."

Seeing Jason didn't get it, he said "Carly and Courtney."

Groaning, he said "I have ran into Courtney way too much over the past month and Carly, she went on a trip with Lorenzo so I had some peace and quiet but I guess that is over."

"Look, I want to get Elizabeth out of here, by now, someone has told Grams what is going on, and you know how she will react." said Steven. Looking at Elizabeth he said "She is still convinced that Lucky Spencer farts the sun out of his rear end."

"Take her to the pent... no, Sam is still there." said Jason in a frustrated tone. Hearing footsteps, he greeted John and Georgie. "Thank you, both of you."

"We heard you when we came in, I have an idea." said Johnny. Hesitating, he offered "How about they stay with me."

"Not a good idea." said Jason frowning.

"Not my father's place." he said then explained that he lived across from some Aussie bloke, that he had gotten a place in town for business.

"I will stay with her." said Georgie wanting to avoid her father. He had listened to her but hadn't been too thrilled with her keeping it a secret even after she explained that they weren't dating.

Slipping out the back of the hospital, Elizabeth was telling Jason what to bring for her and for Cam then kissed him. "See you later?"

"Yes."he said then pulled her closer and said "I am going to take care of this, then will be at John's."

Returning, Jason saw Carly searching the hospital and came up behind her and said "What are you doing?"

"Did you hear, that bitch Elizabeth shot Sonny."

"He was trying to kidnap her and her child, force her to leave with Lucky, so yeah, I heard and I wish I had been there, I would have shot him myself." he said coolly.

"How can you say that, you know she is lying, she was probably trying to escape with Lucky and was caught." she stated.

"Carly, Elizabeth isn't you." with that he said "Go home, why are you here. You are no longer married to Sonny. And what about your children, why aren't you concerned about them?"

"Jason, Jason, don't you see, Elizabeth took Sonny away from Michael, you have to fix this." she said urgently. "Please, you promised to protect him. You promised to always put him first."

"Carly either you go to Sonny's house and stay with the boys, or I will make alternative arrangements." he replied. Watching as she started to leave, then turned and came back he said "One... two..."

"I am not leaving here until you promise to give that bitch Elizabeth Webber, exactly what she deserves."

Jason looked at her, then said "Fine, I promise, by Christmas Elizabeth will get EXACTLY what she deserves, but if you so much as approach her, so much as speak her name, I won't hesitate to change my mind."

Watching her leave, Jason couldn't help thinking of what her reaction was going to be to learning the truth, to learning that what Elizabeth deserves was her husband home, not having to clean up after everyone else's messes.

Smugly smiling, she hurried to where Courtney was and said "Jason will take care of this. I have to go home. Why don't you go back to your loft?"

Courtney had been staring at a random poster, her mind whirling as something occurred to her. "No, no, I have someplace to be."

When her friend had left, Courtney went down to the ER and requested a pregnancy test. "When will I get the results?"

"Tomorrow someone will call you." said Epiphany Johnson.

"No, no, I will call and get the results. I need an appointment with Kelly Lee, just in case." she said weakly as she drove home and collapsed on her bed. Her eyes were dry as she tried to figure out what she was going to do if she was pregnant.

TBC