A/N: I am sorry about the confusion. This story is alternate history in some ways. Johnny Z never came to Port Charles. He and Liz met while she was at art school in NYC right after high school and developed a relationship. His whole faking his death and how Jason was involved will be explained as the story continues. Jason's friendship with Liz started to grow after Johnny O's supposed death but it was a push pull. Lucky is not really in the story, but he was married to Liz for a short while and helped raise the boys even after they divorced until he disappeared after Jake's death. She was never married to Ric. No affair with Nik ever happened, only a close friendship. A lot of the history has been altered but I think it should clear up as the story continues, but if too confusing just ask and I will try to answer.

Thank you for all the reviews! Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 4

Sam was sitting inside Kelly's eating lunch when Monica stormed inside with Alexis. Both woman were pale and shaking. Looking up in confusion, Sam watched as Alexis tossed the newspaper on the table. Reading the headline, she gasped and grabbed the paper up.

"This has to be that witch! I cannot believe that she is this low to make up these lies!" Monica raged, completely denying any possibility that Sam was guilty of all the misdeeds and crimes listed in the article. There was no way that she was going to lose the chance to be a grandmother to Jason's newest child by believing anything against the mother.

Meeting Alexis' wide eyes, Sam only nodded. "Of course it is all lies, Monica. I can't believe that Elizabeth would stoop this low!"

Hearing someone snort, the entire table turned and looked at the dead woman standing there with a smirk. Emily held up her hand and backed away when Monica shouted her name and started over towards her.

"Monica, you need to stop right there. I have no desire to be pulled into your insanity. The way you have been treating Elizabeth just made my mind up for me." Her grin widened as she looked over at Sam. "As for the newspaper article, Sammy, they were sent in copies of all the files that Francis and Johnny have accumulated. You can't sue over the truth, sweetheart."

"Em, where have you been? Please, let me explain. You have no idea what your so called best friend did," Monica protested.

"Actually, I know everything. More than you do." Emily turned toward Johnny who had picked up the take-out while she was talking to the delusional people at the table. "Are we ready, O'Brien?"

"Yep, everything is all here." He moved his hard eyes over the group of women, noticing that he had caught Alexis' attention. "I am so disappointed with you, Miss. Davis. The attorney that I always protected was smarter than to get taken in by a con. Not even a very good one, by the way. Geez, Alexis, a simple DNA test would have solved this headache for you years ago."

Sam sneered at the handsome stranger. "My daughter saved hers because we are related."

"Actually, Mrs. Morgan, it was because they were both Sonny's illegitimate kids," Johnny sneered. "Maybe instead of buying boobs, you should have paid for an education." His gaze hardened and his expression became fierce. "I am extending all of you a warning as of this moment. Stay away from Elizabeth and Cameron. No more free passes at her. Any moves made against them by anyone will be treated as any enemy attack. Corinthos-Morgan was issued the same warning last night and it will be reinforced after their meeting tonight with families." Glancing back at Emily, he smiled. "Let's get out of here, kiddo."

Emily smiled wickedly and blew a kiss at the table.

Monica started to cry. "My baby girl hates me over that slut!" she moaned.

She snuggled closer to him, wondering how life could be so great. She would have never dreamed when she went away for college that she would have found him. He brushed the dark tress from her face and she smiled up at him.

"What are you thinking, Lizabeth? You are awfully quiet?"

"I was just thinking. Are you coming back to Port Charles with me?"

"I can't right now. I have to deal with some important things before I join you there." He squeezed her to him gently, careful not to put too much pressure on her stomach, still in awe over the pregnancy that she had announced last night. "I have to see my father. I need to make it safe for us to leave."

Elizabeth kissed him softly. "I love you, John. Just be careful."

"I will, sweetie. Just remember to stick close to Corelli and O'Brien until I get back. With the Zacchara Organization getting ready to move in and take Port Charles, you will be in danger. Francis already started training his replacement to take his spot in the Corinthos stronghold. After he is free, we are moving in." He lightly caressed her face. "When I get there we will tell everyone that we are engaged. Ok?"

She studied the diamond on her finger and laughed. "I love you, John. Are you sure that you need to move into Port Charles though?"

His eyes searched hers, seeking acceptance. "Absolutely. Sonny Corinthos said he wanted a deal. It is the best for both organizations after I take care of my father and Claudia."

Looking back Elizabeth realized that Sonny had set John up to be murdered. For eight years she had thought that he was dead, and to learn that he had faked his death hurt. She had almost lost their son because of her grief. It was something that she did not know if she could forgive him for. While Elizabeth was thrilled that he was alive and would get to see his son, the love she had felt for him had diminished throughout the years. He had been her first love after Lucky had supposedly perished in the fire.

She had went away to college and been on a downward spiral. Meeting John Zacchara had helped rescue her from the self destruction course that she had started. The months that they had spent together was wonderful until his family business had intruded on their happiness.

Sighing restlessly, Elizabeth started back toward the house from where she had been sitting in the shade under the maple tree in her back yard. Seeing Johnny O'Brien walking out the back door made her smile. She could not remember a time since John's deaths that Johnny had not been there until Jason had tried to kill him. He had even went to California with her when she had left to give birth. When he had returned earlier this week it was like a switch had been thrown and time had went backwards. It felt like they had not been separated at all.

"Em and I got breakfast. Francis and Zander went to check out the new school that Cam will be starting next week. Nik took Cam out to the island to ride." He ushered her in and handed her the to go container of eggs and sausage.

"Nik looked good and back to his old self. He said that he was happy that we were all here again."

Shaking her head, Elizabeth laughed. "I cannot believe that he knew last year that you were alive and did not tell me."

"We swore him to secrecy, Liz. No one could know what we were doing, but we needed somewhere safe while in town. Spoon Island is so big with all the tunnels that it was the perfect spot to hide while getting everything set up for this when we left the island."

Johnny watched as the two friends ate and discussed the past. He noticed that Elizabeth was looking better than the day that they had arrived, but still looked haunted in the eyes. He knew that learning John was alive was starting to hit her hard. Add in dealing with the crap that Jason had allowed his new wife to pull, Sonny's deception, and Jake's death and it had to be torture for her. It was sad when the only people from the past that had been decent to her since Jake's death was Carly and Nik. That Carly had been friendly still astounded Francis and him.

Francis stormed in the room, looking irate. "Get on the phone and get more men here. Sonny is ignoring the warnings and looking for a hitter."

Elizabeth and Emily gasped. "What? On me or Cam?"

Grimacing, he wished that he had waited until he got Johnny alone. "I am sorry, Lizbits. I could have handled that better."

"Don't you dare try to change the subject, Frannie. Who is he wanting dead?"

"You and Cam. You are not go anywhere without me or Johnny along with another guard until this is taken care of. Zander and Enzo are on their way to get Cam." He watched as her eyes flashed. "We are taking care of things. I promise that we will protect you guys."

"What about Jason? Is he in on it?" Emily demanded.

Francis shook his head. "He refused to kill either of them. However, he is currently dealing an upset skank who made the newspapers."

Despite the news that he had just delivered, Elizabeth chuckled. "I don't know why he would care. He already knew everything in the files."

Johnny shook his head, amused at her thinking. "Yeah, but not the entire town did. The limits on some of the crimes are not up either. With the proof out there in black and white, Alexis will not be able to save Sam this time from jail."

Zander and Enzo entered the house along with Cam who ran straight into his mother's arms. Everyone watched as Elizabeth pulled the brown haired imp into her lap and hugged him tightly. "Did you have fun, sweetie?"

"Yep. Nik let me ride Sheba. It was awesome!" he announced with enthusiasm.

Emily laughed. "That sounds like fun."

Francis watched as Cam left his mother's embrace and raced off to play video games in his room. Seeing Elizabeth's eyes wander to Johnny's, he mentally sighed. These two were going to go right back to old patterns and it scared him how John was going to react. He already wanted Jason's head. Francis didn't think that Elizabeth would forgive him if he harmed O'Brien.

Jason and Sonny were meeting at the warehouse and both were in foul moods. "How could you not realize that Elizabeth had these connections, Jason! You could have married the twit and had all the power."

Swallowing his pain at the mention of marrying Elizabeth, Jason shook his head. "You did everything to break us apart, Sonny. Don't you dare blame this on me!"

"I need those shipping lanes! O'Brien will ruin us! How could you mess up that hit? I told you to kill him years ago!"

"I thought I did! I wanted him dead as much as you did! He was getting way too close to Liz!" Jason spat out without thinking, outing the reason that he had wanted Johnny taken out. He had wanted her all those years ago and knew that her and Johnny were slowly starting to become more than friends.

Sonny huffed in exasperation. "Well, even if you had killed him like I ordered, you still would not have gotten the angel saint. She didn't like her place in your life. You even left your son unprotected and that worthless woman let him get killed."

"Shut up, Sonny! You need to watch what you are saying! We may be over, but she was the mother of my child and deserves respect as such."

"Respect? Are you crazy? That bitch has the power to take us down. A war is coming because she has the spawn of the Zacchara boy. She holds a lot of power right now along with that traitor O'Brien. That is why I am taking care of everything since you are incapable of dealing with this mess."

Studying his partners dark expression, Jason started to worry. "What have you done?"

"Nothing you need to concern yourself with. Just take care of the shipment tonight and keep Sam under control. The backlash from the newspaper articles is going to be harsh."

Jason ran a hand down his face in frustration. "Sam will be fine. I will make sure of that."

"You better. She is having your child so you need to start damage control. The five families will not be happy when they see what all you protected her from after she harmed your other son. It makes you look weak, Jason." Sonny put his jacket on and motioned for Max to bring the car around. "We need to get to the meeting. I am hoping that I can use some connections tonight to delay O'Brien getting control of those lanes. If not, we will have to take care of the problem."

Jason snarled at the power hungry man in front of him. "We are not taking out Elizabeth or Cam, Sonny. No way!"

Sonny mentally shook his head. His younger partner did not need to know that he had already hired the job out. Jason still felt a connection to the Webber girl that had to be broken. There was no way that Sonny was letting Corinthos-Morgan lose control of Port Charles. He should have taken care of her years ago after learning that she was the biological daughter of Lorenzo Alcazar and that the man had left her everything even though she had no idea who he was. Thankfully Sonny had learned the secret and made sure that no one else would ever know that she was the rightful heir to that organization. He was glad that her adoptive parents had never told Elizabeth that she was not theirs. If anyone learned that she should be controlling all of Port Charles except for his once small slice of lanes, he was done. With connections to Alcazar and Zacchara, Elizabeth Webber was unknowingly the most powerful woman on the eastern seaboard.

Johnny gently picked her up from the couch without waking her and carried her up the stairs to her room. He kissed her softly before placing Elizabeth on the bed and watched as she snuggled into the pillows and murmured, settling back to sleep. She had been all that he had thought of over the last six years. He only wished that he had been with her sooner. If they had not waited as long as they had, maybe her youngest son would be alive.

Hearing someone clear their throat lightly, he turned and glared at Francis. After one more quick look at Elizabeth, he followed his friend down the stairs and into the kitchen. Ignoring the other man's looks, he poured himself a cup of coffee before joining him at the table. "Go ahead and spit it out. I can tell by your expression that you are pissed."

"Not pissed, concerned. She has been through hell, Johnny. Add in all the changes are not over yet. Zacchara will be here in less than a week and he will not be happy at all."

"I don't care that John will be upset. He made his choices and she gets to make hers. I am not pressuring her, Francis."

"I know that. I am just worried about Lizbits." Francis sighed and ran a hand through his blonde hair. "We can't find the hitter, but we are looking. The families made their stance clear tonight to Sonny, not that he will listen. Monica is backing Sam, along with Jason. Sonny is spiraling like we knew that he would. Things are moving fast."

"What does A.J. say?"

"He is wanting to return, but we can't risk him being seen. And Liz can't handle that now."

Johnny groaned. "We need to tell Elizabeth that he is on our side. He has connections that we can use. After all, it was him that called and told us about Jake and how bad she was doing. For some reason he is helping."

"I know, but she is not going to trust him and Jerry Jacks."

"Francis, they have been looking out for her since Lorenzo died. Granted, Jerry never let on, but he was the only protection that she had while we have gone after Jason left her unprotected. A.J. has been making sure that Jerry keeps tabs on her. " Johnny gave a wicked grin. "It is either Jerry and A.J. or I take out Sonny and the others. I would love to end everything now anyway."

"Fine," Francis grumbled. "I will call Nik and tell him to contact them. But you are going to explain this to her," he warned before picking up his phone.

Green eyes twinkled as Johnny smirked. "Jason and Sonny will freak to see A.J. I can't wait to see this. This town should really learn that nobody stays dead. Oh, and I talked with Taggart about an hour ago. He is currently with the FBI now. He received out files about Samantha McCall Morgan and will be in town tomorrow. Should be an interesting day."

Francis smiled at the thought of Marcus Taggart coming back into town. He had always been a thorn in their side, but he knew that he would pursue the information that he had been given. His relentlessness was why A.J. had convinced them to bring him in. The hatred of Corinthos-Morgan helped too, he thought to himself.