Do not own General Hospital or any of the characters.

The Flame of Franco

A Shell...

"What in god's name are YOU DOING HERE?" cried Maxie as Jason walked into the penthouse. The blonde fashionista rose to her feet and placed her hands on her hips, staring down at the mobster. She had been seated beside Spinelli on the couch, who was still dressed in his tux.

"What?" asked Jason in confusion at Maxie as he closed the door behind him?

"Why aren't you out finding Franco and bringing back SAM!" cried Maxie once again. She who had found out from Spinelli that Sam had disappeared had been in a fit of nerves. Sam was one of her best and only friends. She didn't know what she would do without her. And feared what Franco would do to her. Maxie knew firsthand what a sicko Franco was and what he could do to a woman. She had slept with Franco voluntarily and it still gave her the creeps to think about it. She didn't want to image what Franco would do with Sam. He was that twisted.

Jason frowned at Maxie for a brief second before shaking his head from side to side and ignoring her completely; looking over at Spinelli. "Tell me you have something?"

"Unfortunately Stone Cold, the Jackal is having no such luck on finding the where about of Fair Samantha," explained Spinelli as he stopped typing and looked up from his laptop towards his roommate and beloved friend. "I was able to find surveillance footage of the Deranged Picasso carrying the Faire One onto the elevator but that is it. I know this does not help Stone Cold in his search for we already know that Samantha was taken by the artist already. I am now looking into possible places that Franco has been within town- where he had left his tag, narrowing down on a possible location on where he had taken Faire Samantha."

"Well you can cross off his studio," commented Jason as he stripped off his leather jacket and threw it onto the desk, taking a deep breath as he did so. He then went on to explain to Spinelli on how he had visited Franco's studio to find Ronnie there. He also told the young computer genius about the message that Franco had left for him.

"The Jackal does not like the sound of this at all," replied Spinelli in feared. His eyes then fell onto his beloved Maximista.

"I don't either," spoke Jason. "This is all part of his game. He is threatening who is close to me. He is seeing how far I will go to kill, that is his plan. He wants to prove how we are alike. Taking Sam was just the beginning. He is showing me how he has the upper hand. He wants me to play along, play by the rules or else. That is what he is trying to tell me. Now he is going to make me choose between Sam and someone else."

"Well obviously you are going to pick Sam," commented Maxie. "You guys would do anything for each other. Jason loves Sam, if he had a choose he would always pick her!"

"Yes, I agree with you Maximista but Franco knows that as well. He had been tracking Stone Cold for months now, even before the Deranged Picasso's art show. The Deranged probably knows how important Faire Samantha is to Stone Cold and would make it so that he would have to choose between the love of his life and someone just as important; making the decision harder on Stone Cold. The Deranged Picasso would not make it easy. Whoever the next hostage is, will be someone of equal importance in Stone Cold's life as Fair Samantha…" Spinelli's voice trailed off as he stood up and met Jason's eye.

"I want you and Maxie to get out of town," spoke Jason as he looked at the couple before him. His mind was going a mile a minute as he made a mental list of all the people that where close to him that Franco knew about.

"Excuse me," replied Maxie in confusion.

"Yes Stone Cold, I don't think that me and Maxie going out of town at this moment will be of any help to him at this moment of terror," began Spinelli.

"No Spinelli, it would be of help to me. I know I need you here but I rather see you live then have to face having to choose between you and Sam. It would be better if you got out of town and took Maxie with you. By staying here, you will be in the hands of Franco. I need you away," explained Jason as he turned on his heel and began to open a drawer on the desk. He pulled out a black safe from the bottom drawer. Jason placed it onto the desk and began to fumble with the lock on it. Once it was open, he pulled out a wad of cash. "Here," he spoke holding out a wad of 100 bills to them.

Glancing at Spinelli, Maxie took the money. "This is crazy," she whispered. She had never seen Jason really act like this before. He was always so cool and calm. He was calm now but there was an edge of fear in his voice. He was worried, she could tell. He was so worried that he wanted Spinelli out of the city.

"Stone Cold, are you sure?" asked Spinelli slowly taking the money from Maxie and taking a step towards his roommate.

"Spinelli, you can communicate with me through cell and email. I want you still working on finding where Franco has taken Sam but having you stay at the penthouse like this is unsafe. Franco's knows where I live. Having you out of town will be better. You can also call Lucky and email him anything you come across," explained Jason as he ran his hands through his spiked hair and looked on at Spinelli and Maxie who were still looking at him in shock.

"Of course Stone Cold. The Jackal will do as he wishes. I will continued to help find where Fair Samantha and whatever other evidence comes up in the process," replied Spinelli.

"Thank you," replied Jason with a sigh.

"Well, where are I and Spinelli supposed to go on such short notice and for how long are we going to be out of town because you know I work for Kate Howard and….." Maxie's voice trailed off as she was cut off by Jason.

"MAXIE, PLEASE! There is a psychopath on the loose and all you can think about is work? I need you to go with Spinelli out of town. Tell Kate whatever you want…I just need you out of Port Charles by tonight! You might not think that you are in any real danger but I know Franco better then you. He has already taken Sam and you might not think that you are an important part of my life. But you are to Spinelli and he is important to me. Franco will not over look this," explained Jason as he looked on at a Maxie who had fallen silent.

Breathing heavily now, Jason reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone; he was going to call Sonny. He needed to borrow his plane.

Just as Jason hung up the phone, there was a knock at the door. Frowning at this, he made his way over to the door and opened it. However there was no one there, except for a brown envelope. His blue eyes scanned out around the hallway, it was empty. Pondering this, Jason leaned down and picked up the envelope before shutting the door behind him.

"What is it Stone Cold?" asked Spinelli with curiosity as he looked on at the envelope in Jason's hands.

"Another message from Franco," spoke Jason as he stared down at the envelope for a second before opening it and pulling out a black and white photo. It was of Sam, lying on her stomach, wearing nothing but except for a pair of bikini bottoms. There was a chalk outline around her body.

"Damn it," swore Jason as he through the photo across the room, kicking the side of the desk. Seeing that picture made his blood boil, it made his heart beat with fear. All this time he was worried about where Franco was keeping Sam and if he would kill her but now he was realizing that Franco could do much worth then just simply kill her. He was going to torture her, he realized.

Spinelli looked on at his mentor with fear as he walked around the couch and picked up the photo that had been discarded on the floor. "Oh my," he murmured as he looked down at the photo with shaking hands. This did not look good at all.

"Oh my god, that's Sam!" cried Maxie; she was standing over Spinelli's shoulder, looking down at the photo of Sam. The fashionista had her hand covering her mouth in shock. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. As her and Spinelli continued to stare down at the photo in shock, trying to figure what this meant, there was yet another knock on the door. Jason was quick on his feet this time, pulling his gun out of the back of his jeans; he moved towards the door. If it was Franco again, he was going to shoot him.

However it was not.

Opening the door, Jason lowered his gun as he noticed that it was not Franco at the door but Lucky.

"Hey Jason," greeted the officer, frowning at little as he noticed the gun. "What's with the gun?"

"I thought you were Franco," spoke Jason through his teeth as he held opened the door, allowing Lucky into the penthouse.

"You thought that Franco would just come to your house?" asked Lucky in confusion. Jason was usually smarter than this. This whole Franco thing was defiantly getting to him, thought Lucky to himself as he stepped passed Jason and over to the desk.

"No, just a few moments ago someone, maybe Franco dropped off another picture of Sam, I just thought that whoever it was, was showing their face again," explained Jason as he scratched the side of nose, putting his gun away.

"What? Franco sent you something else?" asked Lucky was surprise.

"Yeah, check it out for yourself," this time Maxie was the one to speak, handing over the photo that her and Spinelli had just been looking at.

"Thanks," mumbled Lucky as he reached out and took the photo from Maxie. He gave her a slight smile before looking down at the photo. His blue eyes widened at what he saw. He knew that body anywhere, it was Sam. He could make out the scar of the bullet wound on the left side of her lower back clearly from the angle the picture was taken from. Sam had never talked about the scar with him but he knew it was from the bullet she had taken for Jason a couple of years ago back in 2006. Manny had been the shooter. It was from this bullet, that everything went sour that summer. Lucky who had been addicted to pain killers back then still remember it well like it was just yesterday. That summer had changed not only his and Elizabeth's relationship but Jason's and Sam's as well. It is what had happened during that summer that had brought them together in the first place. They had both bonded over the pain that had been caused to them by the ones they had loved. That wound on her back was something that had fascinated Lucky. He remembered focusing on that specific spot more then once when making love to Sam during their time as lovers.

"Franco is sick," spoke Lucky as he shook his head and looked over at Jason to see his reaction to all this.

"What happened with Elizabeth?" asked Jason after a moment of silence had passed between them in the penthouse.

"She and the boys are on their way to New York City as we speak. I also convinced Lulu to tag along with them for the journey. I don't she had to go for work but said she would help Liz with the boys," replied Lucky as he placed the photo down onto the desk.

"What Lulu's going out of town too? Kate is going to flip!" cried Maxie. There was no way that she could go out of town now last minute with Lulu out of the office too.

Lucky frowned at this. He did not know what Maxie meant by this.

"I'm making Spinelli and Maxie go out of town too. I arranged it all with Sonny, they will be heading out to the Island," explained Jason. "Franco has made it clear that he is out to get me," gesturing to the photo on the desk. "He has already taken Sam and I won't sit back and watch him take another person that I care about hostage, making me choose. Spinelli will be still be able to communicate with us through cell phone and email. Even know he will be out of town, he will still be helping us find where Franco has taken Sam."

"That's a smart idea," nodded Lucky looking over at Spinelli and Maxie who were now seated together on the couch.

"Spinelli call me as soon as you land," explained Jason to Spinelli as they stood in the foyer of the penthouse. Spinelli and Maxie were just about to leave for the airport. It had been less than an hour since Jason had come home and called Sonny up. As they had prepared for their leave; Maxie going home briefly to pack a small suitcase of designer clothes and getting all her work prepared as well. She was going to be still working while away. Like she said before, nothing stopped for Kate Howard. Jason had phoned up Carly, telling her to pack up the kids and go away for a while.

"Of course Stone Cold," nodded Spinelli, a slight smile appearing on his face as he looked on at his roommate. Spinelli had changed into jeans and a stripped hoodie, something a lot more comfortable then the tux he had been wearing earlier. "Not a moment will be wasted. It is the Jackal's main focus on to finding the ware about of his Partner in Crime."

"Thank you Spinelli," sighed Jason, his blue eyes staring into the face of his dear friend. "You and Maxie should leave soon, the car is waiting," he spoke as he looked away from Spinelli and ran a hand through his hair, staring over at the front door.

"I will do my best Stone Cold," murmured Spinelli, nodding his head as he headed towards the front door, Maxie following close behind him.

"You will find her Jason," whispered Maxie towards Jason as she stepped passed him. "She has faith in you." Their eyes then locked for a brief second together before Maxie looked away and stepped out into the hallway.

Spinelli looked over his shoulder for a moment, staring out at Jason before closing the door behind him.

The hum of the lights was all that could be heard as Sam lay on her back, staring up through the plexiglass to the ceiling of the warehouse. She was motionless. Her whole body was numb as she lay there. Silent tears ran down her cheeks and into the nape of her neck.

She didn't know the time or what day it was. She didn't know how long she had been locked up in this box for….time was all blended into one for her. She didn't know how long Franco had been gone for….she didn't know anything.

A numb shell.

It was by some miracle but Franco had been able to sneak into the house. It looked like they were about to leave somewhere, he thought to himself as he tiptoed down the hallway; disappearing into the room. A smile creeping across his sharp features as his eyes looked over the pink walls of the room, falling onto the white wooden crib which was in the middle of the room. A mobile hung down from it, filling the room with the soft melody of Mary Had a Little Lamb.

Franco slowly walked towards the crib, appearing down into it where a sleeping baby lay. "Hello Josslyne," he cooed in a soft whispered and he bend down and carefully picked the baby up into his arms.

More to come soon! Please review and thanks for reading!