Do not own General Hospital or any of the characters.

The Flame of Franco

Attacked Again...

Sam was seated in her office when the phone call had came in. It had been her first time stepping into her PI office since the attack. After talking it over with Dr. Winters and seeing Kristina come home yesterday from the hospital. She realized she needed to move on with her life as well. She kept on telling her little sister to keep herself busy and try to get back into a normal routine. And she soon realized she needed to take her own advice. So she had decided to come to work that morning. She had barely been there an hour, looking over the new cases that Spinelli had taken on when her phone had gone off.

"Hello?" she spoke into the phone.

"Sam," spoke a small voice on the other line.

"Molly?!" asked Sam, in confusion. "What's wrong?" she asked suddenly in a panic, noting the distress in her little sister's voice. Something was wrong, she could sense it

"It's Kristina, she been attacked...again," the young teen come barely get the sentence out without breaking down into sobs.

Sam was quiet as the pit of her stomach dropped. She suddenly felt nausea. She couldn't seem to wrap her mind around what she had just been told. She stared blankly into her office as she held the phone to her ear.

"Sam?" asked a small voice on the other line.

"I'm here." she stated, coming back to reality. "I coming," she whispered before clicking off the phone. She didn't want her little sister to hear the break in voice as a wave of emotion hit her. Tears immediately filled her eyes that she didn't attempt to brush away. They fell one by one down her cheeks like rain. A pitter patter of sorts but quickly spilling into a heavy shower. She clenched her fist and brought it to her lips. Muffling the scream that had suddenly risen at the back of her throat, threatening to come out. Placing the phone onto her desk, she slumped back into her chair. Sobbing into her chest, she just sat there.

It didn't seem to matter what she did now. The haunting just came back. A wound never fully healed.

she didn't know how long she stayed there before angrily wiping the tears away with the back of her hand. Standing up she grabbed her phone and purse off of the desk and stormed out of the office. Her little sister needed her.

The Penthouse was quiet as she entered it. There was no sound to be heard as she closed the door behind her, and placed her purse and keys on the desk. Stripping off her leather jacket, she threw it on the couch before kicking off her heels. She had just come back from the hospital, were she had visited her sister for the second time since being beaten to a pulp. This time it had been her boyfriend, Kiefer and not Ethan, like everyone had thought and believed in the beginning. Jason was not home yet. She was alone.

Walking to the stereo system, she put on a CD. A moment later the room was filled with the sound of Alicia Keys's song, Fallin'. Letting the music talk over for a moment, she just stood there before moving into the kitchen. She was in need of a drink. Opening up the fridge she pulled out an already open bottle of red wine. Taking a sip from the bottle, she leaned against the kitchen counter. Being in that room had been hard for her. Seeing her sister like that had been hard. Last time it had happened, she had put on a bright face and smiled. But this time had been different. It had been harder. All those things she had told Kristina previously had gone out the window. How things got easier. That her wound would heal and that she would move on. But she had never told her that the second time around was even harder to heal from then the first.

That your old wounds, the first one would become reopen and that you would have to deal with those ones as well as the fresh new ones. She had never told Kristina that the bastard would come back. That he would hit her again. This time worse then before. That it was an evil cycle that continue to repeat until either you gave up fighting back or the bastard got tired of you and left.

Well for Kristina's case, the bastard had died shortly after she had been admitted into the hospital. Someone had hit the poor bastard with their car. There was no evidence on who had done it. Not yet. Sam was thankful who ever the lucky person was who had done it. It saved her from doing it herself.

Taking another gulp from the wine bottle she made her way back into the living room. Hot tears rolled down her cheeks as she placed the bottle onto the dining room table and gathered her hair into a messy top knot. She didn't know how to feel. Both rage and sadness filled her tiny body. She didn't know what to do anymore. She just wanted to be numb. Letting the tears fall, she continued to drink from the bottle until it was almost empty.

She then began to unbutton the sheer black blouse she was wearing. Tugging on each button violently, not caring if she ripped the thin fabric. Letting the shirt fall to the floor, she then removed the tank top she had on, leaving her standing in her bra and jeans. But that only lasted for a moment before she began to removed her black skinny jeans. She now stood, wearing just her undergarments. Draining the rest of the bottle, she stumbled towards the liquor cabinet. Pulling out a bottle of Tequila, her drink of choice. She unscrewed the top and drank hungrily from the bottle. A hoarse cough escaped from the back of her throat as the bitter drink quenched her mouth as she choked on it. She had drank to quickly but she needed to get drunk quickly. Letting out a deep breath, she took another deep gulp from the bottle. gripping onto the neck of it for dear life, she began to make her way upstairs.

"Shit!" she swore under her breath as she stumbled into the bedroom spilling the bottle on the floor. It wasn't a lot but still enough to leave a stain on the carpet. However, she made no attempt to clean it up at that moment as she continued on her way to the bathroom. Flicking on the light, she blinked at the sudden brightness. Placing the bottle of Tequila onto the bathroom counter, she stared at her self for a brief second in the mirror. She looked like shit, she noted. Her makeup ruined. She looked like a racoon as she rubbed at the black eyeliner surrounding her eyes. This did not help matters much. Just seemed to make it worse, smudging it further into her skin then it already was. Her skin was pale against the dark make up. Turning away from her reflection, she looked towards the walk in shower. She needed to get clean, she thought suddenly. She needed to wash this day off of her. Like that would help everything.

Unhooking her bra and pulling down her lacy panties, she discarded them on the floor as she moved towards the shower. Turning on the water, she reached for the tequila bottle and drank heavily from it before slamming it back onto the tiled counter. Her vision was a little blurred as she stepped underneath the hot water. Steam filled the bathroom quickly, as she stood there, closing her eyes, breathing heavily. She was waiting for it all to wash away. Her pain. Her rage. Her anger. Her sorrow. She wanted it all just to wash away like her make up was. Turning the cleanness of the water a dirty grey colour. She wanted it all to disappear into the drain, never seeing it again. She wanted to emerge from the shower a clean, fresher verison of her self. Her old self. Before all this crap had happened with Franco. Before Jason could barely look at her with concerning eyes. Before everyone treated her like she was made out of glass. Before all this fucked up shit had happened!

Sam just stood there for a good hour, under the shower until the water turned lukewarm.

Turning off the water, she stepped out. Emerging as the same broken, fucked up person she was before this time only a little cleaner. Letting out a cold shiver, she reached for the towel that hung on the back of the bathroom door. Wrapping it around herself, she took a seat on the toilet before yet again taking the bottle into her hand. She then sat there, loathing in self- pity as she drank from the bottle.

She stayed like that until Jason found her. His blue eyes filled with concern and heart break as he took in the sight of her. He didn't know how to fix her anymore as he stood there in the threshold of the room, studying her.

Not a word was spoken between them as he came towards her. He knelt down in front of her, placing a hand on her knee before reaching out and taking the bottle from her. She did not protest as he put the half empty bottle on the floor, beside them. He did not say anything as he brushed a loose hair away from her face. Her skin was red and patchy from the crying and the heat of the water. He gently caressed the side of her face before standing up.

She looked up at him , finally meeting his eye as he towered over her. They held each other gaze for a second before she looked away. It hurt to much to look into his blue eyes. She only now saw her sad self reflecting back at her in the pale blue orbs. He whispered her name with tenderness as he leaned down and kissed each of her cheeks as tears suddenly began to fall. He then took her into his arms, pulling her up from her throne. she buried her face into his chest. Breathing in the familiar, comforting scent of him. A mixture of aftershave and soap. He held her close to him, resting his chin on top of her head. He too found himself holding back tears. He wanted her old self back too.

Okay I didn't expect this to be so angst but it has. Thanks for reading!