Do not own General Hospital or any of the characters.
The Flame of Franco
Flashback
Sam watched as the sun rose over the buildings of Port Charles. She was seated at a bench in the park. It was early in the morning, but she could not sleep. It had been a day since her and Jason had come back from the Island on Sonny's orders. Michael was still there though being watched by Max and Milo now. It was early March, spring was on it's way. There were only small traces of snow left on the ground. Wrapping her leather jacket further around her body, she felt her cell phone vibrate against her pocket. She didn't have to look at the caller display, she knew who it was already as she pulled it out of her pocket and answer it.
"Hi," spoke Sam softly into the phone. She already knew who it was.
"Sam, where are you?" asked Jason, his tone was calm but there was an edge to it. He had woken up to find Sam's side of the bed empty. He had panicked and thought the worse when he could find her no where in the Penthouse.
"I couldn't sleep," she whispered her voice filling with sudden emotion.
"Sam, where are you?" he asked again in a panic. He needed to know that she was safe.
"I'm in the park. I needed to go for a walk," she mumbled feeling bad that she didn't leave him a note explaining where she had gone. she had just needed to get away for a while.
"I'm coming to get you," spoke Jason in a rush.
"Okay," she whispered back before hanging up. Placing her phone on the bench, she buried her face into her hands. She didn't understand why she was crying all the sudden. She just wanted this to be over with.
"How are you feeling today?" asked Dr. Winters towards Sam. Today they were having their session at the Penthouse, instead of at the hospital. Dr. Winters thought that the change in scenery would do some good.
"I'm okay," murmured Sam towards the doctor. She was okay nowadays it seemed. But that was it. Never good or great. Just okay. Her brown eyes looked blankly at her doctor, who was seat across from her on the plush leather chair.
"Is there anything you want to talk about?"
Sam just shook her head dully at her doctor. And from there the appointment dragged on. Sam would talk but she didn't feel like she was getting anywhere. Everything was just the same as it always was.
As the appointment went on, Jason was upstairs in the bedroom talking on the phone with Carly. They were discussing the trial and Claire Welsh.
"She's a piece of work," stated Carly on the phone, her voice dripping in hatred. "She has it out for Michael! She wants him to testify against Sonny."
"Well she can't do anything. Michael is safe on the Island with Max and Milo. And I just sent Bernie down for backup!" explained Jason to his friend. His voice was cool and calm. He had faith in the plan to keep Michael away until the trial was over.
"I don't know Jason. You know he is going to be a hand full," replied Carly, thinking of her eldest Son and how stubborn he could be. She wasn't so sure of the plan as Jason was. " You know he isn't going want to be there when the trial starts!"
"I know," agreed Jason to her. He already knew that Michael wasn't happy being away from Port Charles. "Hopefully, he will come around and understand that it's for the best. That sitting tight and keeping his mouth shut during Sonny's trial, is for the best!" He knew as he spoke these words that it wasn't true. Michael wasn't going to come around to the idea of Sonny taking the blame for him. He had already made that clear.
"I don't want him anywhere near this Welsh woman," spoke Carly. She didn't like the lawyer one bite. "You should have seen her with Sonny. He was trying to pretend that she wasn't getting to him but I could tell that she was. He is in such a conflict over Dante and she won't hesitate to use that against him!"
After finishing his phone call with Carly, Jason decided to give Sonny a call. He hadn't really spoken to his Boss since coming back from the Island. He would go and see him but he didn't want to leave Sam. Taking a seat on the edge of the bed, Jason dial Sonny's home number. It rang five times before someone picked up.
"Corinthos," answered Sonny. He sounded exhausted.
"Sonny, it's me!" spoke Jason into the phone.
"How is everything?" he asked to his enforcer. He had talked briefly with Jason over the last couple of days. But he wanted a full report on Michael and how his son was doing.
After giving Sonny a full description of how Michael was becoming more and more harder to control, Jason asked what had happened since he was gone. Sonny then began to tell him how Dante was continuing to come over to the house and bother him about Michael. Trying to convince him that Michael needed to testify at the trial, that he needed to come forward. Dante didn't know that it was Michael who killed Claudia, he just thought that he had seen Sonny kill Claudia and that they were making him stay quiet. Dante wanted Michael to come forward.
"Why is he coming around to the house?" asked Jason confused.
"Because I told him that he was welcome to at anytime," explained Sonny sadly, "He is still my son, Jason."
Jason didn't reply to this. He knew that Sonny wanted a relationship with his son. But he didn't seem to see that he was still a cop. He was still the enemy.
"I don't think I would have told him the truth," murmured on Sonny, lost in his own thoughts.
"What do you meant you DON'T THINK?" cried Jason harshly into the phone. It was rare for him to raise his voice to his boss. But he was frustrated as hell with this whole situation.
"GOD JASON!" cried back Sonny, "I'm not sure what's right anymore!" He confuessed, dropping his cool attitude. He had never felt so lost before. This all thing was a mess.
"What's right is protecting Michael!" stated Jason clearly. "To be committed to Michael, that's what's right!" Dante had only been Sonny's son for 2 minutes where Michael had been Sonny's son for so much longer.
"There's another Son in the mix Jason," stated Sonny, "I can't just ignore that! It's a fact! Dante is my son! He is not just some detached cop! He had general concern for Michael, Morgan and Kristina! His siblings! I'm sure he would be compassionate and understanding as to why I was covering all this time!"
Jason didn't reply right away at this. He didn't want to argue with Sonny over this matter. He knew that Sonny was in a hard place and didn't know really what to do. But they needed to stick to their original plan. To protect Michael. "I think you don't want Dante to believe that you could just beat down a woman. Even if she was as crazy as Claudia was!" spoke Jason softly after a moment had passed. The conversation then went on to discuss Sonny's childhood and stepfather. Jason was half listening to Sonny now as he went on to describe his stepfather. Jason was thinking of Franco, as he describe his hatred for man who could beat woman senseless. Franco had beat Sam with out a second thought. Hatred immediately built up in his body as he turned out Sonny and could only think of Franco and what he had done. Jason's eyes turned dark as cold as he clench his hands into fists. He was trying to hold back from throwing the phone against the wall.
He soon was brought back to reality, as he heard his name being spoken by Sonny. "Jason, are you still there?" he asked.
"Sorry," mumbled Jason, through clench teeth. He couldn't let Franco get to him. "What were you saying?"
"I was saying, how I wish I could mention to Dante how I am not like Deek, like he thinks I am." explained Sonny.
"Sonny, you know you can't tell Dane the truth, no matter how much you want too. You know that he would use it against Michael. Michael could go to prison," he explained this very slowly to Sonny over the phone. He wanted Sonny to understand what he was saying. That it was not possible to have a relationship with Dante, that he wanted. "Please, don't get carried away. I know you wished things were different but do not put Dante before Michael."
"I hear what you are saying," whispered Sonny, after a moment of silence, letting Jason's words sink in. Michael came first. And with that, the two friends hung up.
Sighing, Jason placed his phone back into his pocket. He couldn't wait for the trial to be over and that he could go back focusing on Sam. He hoped that whatever happened after this trial, that things could go back to normal somehow. That he could for once focus on his own life and finding Franco. He stayed sitting there for a few minutes longer before heading back downstairs. Sam session was soon to be over.
Deciding that they both needed to get away from the Penthouse, they decided to go out for dinner. "You look beautiful," whispered Jason into Sam's ear as they stepped off the elevator and proceed into dining room of the Metro Court.
"Thank you," blushed back Sam, looking up at Jason. She was wearing a plum silk shift dress. Her hair was in loose curls. She hadn't thought much of what she was wearing. She had just wanted to be covered up. She was nervous for some reason. This was her first time going out at night with Jason. She wasn't use to being around people anymore it seemed. She had gotten use to her own company over the past couple of months.
Kissing her on the cheek, he placed a hand on the small of her back as they were lead to their table.
The evening went off with a hitch. They were only interrupted once by Carly, who was more then thrilled to see the couple out for dinner. However, as they were leaving, something stopped Sam in her tracks.
"What? what is it?" asked Jason with concern towards Sam.
"Look," spoke Sam, pointing towards the bar.
Jason gave her a puzzled look as he followed her gaze. He didn't see anything strange about it. Just a young women having a drink. Except it wasn't just any young woman. After a moment of looking on at this young woman, it dawn on him who it was. "Is that..."
"Yes, it's Krissy!" replied Sam, looking up at Jason briefly. She was just as shocked as he was too see her little sister at the Metro Court. "Give me a moment," she added, before walking over to the bar. She didn't wait for his answer. This was something that she needed to do.
Kristina had her back towards her sister, so she didn't see her approach. "I will have a Cosmo please," asked Kristina to the young bartender.
"Hahaha, I don't think so," commented Sam as she approached the bar. "She will have a Shirley Temple."
"SAM!" cried Kristina in shock as she looked over at her older sister.
"What are you doing Krissy?" hissed Sam towards her younger sister. Her brown eyes blazed into hers. "Does Mom know you are here?"
"Please, I don't need a lecture from my big sister at the moment," remarked Kristina, holding a hand up to Sam. The young girl just wanted to be left in peace. She had been through enough already that night.
"Okay," stated Sam, taken back by this. "We don't have too." She sensed that her sister was upset about something. She just didn't know what. She didn't want a fight. She just wanted to know why she was dressed up, ordering a drink.
"Why did you come looking for me?" asked Kristina as she took a seat on the barstool, and looked over at Sam, finally meeting her eye.
"I didn't"," answered Sam honestly. "I was here on a date with Jason," she added, pointing over to where Jason was waiting patiently by the elevators for her.
"Oh," stated Kristina, blushing slightly with embarrassment as she looked over her shoulder at Jason before letting her eyes fall onto the granite surface of the bar.
"We're about to leave, when I noticed you. I am surprised to see you here, dressed like this," she stated, gesturing to Kristina's outfit. The teen was wearing a tight black dress, that barely cover her butt. It was revealing, too revealing for a seventeen year old to be wearing. Kristina also was wearing a full face of makeup consisting of a purple Smokey eye and red lip. Her hair was curled and pulled up into a high pony tail. "And ordering a drink. What's up with you Krissy?" she asked softly. She didn't want to lecture her sister. "I thought you were suppose to go out with Kiefer tonight."
Kristina threw her sister a dirty look at this. Clearly something was up. "What did you two have a fight?" asked Sam, generally concerned for her little sister.
Kristina let out a slight sigh as she rolled her eyes at Sam. "I'm not really up for 20 questions at the moment," stated the teen, before standing up and beginning to walk away from her sister.
"Wait," called out Sam towards her sister as she noticed a weird looking mark on her arm. "Kristina!" spoke Sam, reaching out and pulling her sister hand, making her turn around and face her.
"Where did you get that?" asked Sam, with concern, pointing at the bruise on the teen's upper arm.
"I dunno," shrugged Kristina, glancing briefly at the mark. She didn't understand what the big deal was. It was just a bruise. "Maybe I bumped into something," suggested the teen, rolling her eyes once again at her sister's overbearing concern.
"No, someone grabbed you!" stated Sam, examining the bruise more closely. She knew what manhandling looked like. She had enough experience with it herself. "Who did this too you?" she asked, she tried to remain calm but struggled too. A million thoughts were racing through her head at what she was going to do to the bastard who marked up her little sister.
Looking up slowly, Kristina met Sam's eye. There were sudden tears in the teen's eyes. "It was Ethan," she whispered, trying to keep her emotions at bay.
"Ethan? Ethan did this too you!" cried Sam, her brown eyes widening in shock. She could not believe what she was hearing. She had talked to Ethan. She had thought that he had understood where she was coming from. That they had agreed that Kristina needed to stay away from him.
"Yes," admitted Kristina sadly to her sister, "I wanted to show him that I was more then some kid. This is all my fault!"
"No, don't say that! This is not your fault!" cried Sam. She hated that she was blaming herself for being grabbed by this jerk.
"But it is!" argued Kristina, shaking her head sadly from side to side. "I had emailed Ethan's date, Jennifer, pretending to be him. Making her think that he was blowing her off. "
"I don't care. It doesn't matter what you do. In NO situation is it okay for a guy to put his HANDS ON YOU! EVER!" she explained with anger. She was not mad at her sister. But at Ethan for taking advantage of her little sister. She knew what it was like to be taken advantage and she hated how it had happened to her sister.
"I am such an idiot!" replied Kristina, not hearing a word that Sam had just said to her.
"You are NOT an idiot!" stated Sam. "Hey, don't cry Krissy," she reached out and gently brushed away the tears that had suddenly began to fall down the teen's face. It pained her to see her sister like this. "Come, Me and Jason will give you a ride home." She then wrapped an arm around the teen's shoulder. The two sister then made their way over to where Jason stood.
After dropping Kristina safely off at the Lake House, Sam and Jason made their way home. "What are you thinking about?" asked Jason gently over at Sam as he drove down the empty road, making his way back into the city. He hated how quiet Sam was being. He knew that seeing her sister hurting like that had caused her to think about her own pass history with men. A history he didn't like to hear about.
"Nothing," mumbled Sam towards him. She was thinking about all the men who had ever hit and abused her in the past. And how like Kristina she had blamed herself. But she wasn't going to tell him that. She didn't want to upset him. She gave him a sad smile before turning her attention to the passing scenery. A sudden chill coming over her as she retrieved back into her dark place.
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