A/N: Well, it's been a rough week. I've been taking a bit of a social media break since Tuesday, and to be honest, I thought about taking a break from this too. There just seems like there are so many more important things to focus on right now. And then I realized, that's even MORE reason to keep writing and posting. Now more than ever, we need an escape, something to take our minds of the harsh realities we face, regardless of where your loyalties lay. And if I can help take your mind off the fear, hate, anger, or sadness in any small way, then I want to do that. And I hope that I can.

This isn't exactly a light, fluffy chapter though, so for those of you looking for a laugh, I'm so sorry. Unfortunately, this is the chapter that I'm on, and it's a dark, violent, and action-packed chapter. It's needed to move the story forward, but I understand if some of you can't deal with that right now. I try to look at it like I'd rather focus on fiction than reality at the moment.

Thank you as always for your incredible reviews of the last chapter. I am so grateful for the time you take to let me know what you loved. I know some of you still hated that Jace talked Michael into going into the wedding. I would just say to that not to judge him too harshly. He could never have guessed what Franco did or how Michael was affected by it. He was just looking out for someone who had been kind to him.

A few of you pointed out how much that hug between Jace and Carly meant. I loved writing that small moment for them. It was so reminiscent of Jasam. Whenever one of them was hurting, they would just walk into each other's arms and hold on. I always loved that.

Sidenote: You will recognize a lot of the beginning of this chapter from the show. I thought this particular interaction worked well, so I just made some changes to fit my story. But a lot of the script in this first half is actually from the show. :p

Please continue to review; let me know what you think.

Happy Reading :)

Jen

buttercup0303

Chapter 18

"Franco! Franco, where are you?" Carly shouted, slamming her front door behind her.

"In here, schnookums!" Franco called back from the living room. Teeth bared, Carly stormed into the living room only to screech to a halt.

Michael stood in front of the TV, staring at it with horror, while Franco sat by a roaring fire, grinning at her.

"Michael? What are you doing here?"

Michael's head turned towards her slowly, and Carly was shocked to see tears in his eyes, his face pale with devastation.

"Mom? Is this true?" His voice was shaking.

Carly shook her head, lost.

"Baby, what's wrong? What is it? What did you do to him, you bastard?" She spit at Franco. Franco grinned.

"Aww, let's catch your dear old Mom up, huh?" He said conspiratorially to Michael. He pointed the remote to the TV and the video rewound. He clicked a button and it began to play again.

Sonny: It haunts me to this day. I got to live with that guilt. I'm the one who put AJ in that grave. I'm the one who took Michael's father away from him when I shot that bastard.

Franco paused the tape again and just grinned at Carly.

"You bastard! You son of a bitch!" Carly screamed, running up and shoving Franco.

"Mom, that's not- that's not true, right?" Michael asked again, his eyes damp. His hand was shaking as he pointed at the television, the video frozen on Sonny's face.

"Michael, please, let's just get out of here and go somewhere we can talk." Carly pleaded, tears in her eyes as she watched her son fall to pieces.

"Carly, why don't you stop lying to your son? Michael, now you know what I've known for months. The man who your whore of a mother has been screwing behind my back? Your dear old daddy, Sonny? He killed your other father." Franco said gleefully.

"You swore! You swore you'd never tell him!" Carly screeched, panic at the thought of losing her son making her irrational.

Franco held his hands up.

"Hey, I'm not the liar here. I swore he wouldn't hear it from me and he didn't. He heard it straight from that murderous son of bitch Sonny's mouth instead." Franco smirked.

"Besides, why should I keep your secrets, huh? You couldn't wait to turn me in to Detective Falconeri today?"

Carly shook her head in confusion.

"What? How...how did you know that? And how did you even get that video? Do have cameras in my son's apartment?" She asked in disgust.

"No, silly goose. The camera was in your necklace."

Carly's hand automatically went to the place her necklace had been in.

"You've been spying on me?" She gasped.

"How else was I going to prove that I wasn't going crazy? You and Sonny have been trying to convince me that I was imagining things but I knew. I knew exactly who and what you were and now your son does too."

Carly spun back to Michael, who was just standing there numbly, his eyes locked on his father's face. She walked up to him slowly, reaching out to him.

"Baby, please listen to me-."

"Don't touch me! Just stay the hell away from me!" Michael suddenly shouted, yanking his arm away from her.

"Just tell me the truth! Dad killed AJ and you knew?" His voice broke and he swallowed thickly.

Just then the door burst open and Sam and Dante rushed in.

"Oh, now it's a party!" Franco cooed, sitting back on the couch, his legs up on the table.

"Carly, are you alright?" Sam said quickly, rushing over.

Carly looked between them and Michael, shaking her head.

"Franco-he-I..." Carly stammered, unable to speak.

Dante stepped forward, his eyes on Michael.

"Michael, buddy. You all right? Sam called and said she thought your mom might be in danger. What about you?"

Michael shook his head still staring at Carly. He didn't register the newcomers.

"Tell me the truth! Did you know that Dad killed AJ?"

Sam gasped. Dante's eyes shot between Carly and Michael.

"Michael, please. You can't listen to Franco. He's sick. Everyone's been warning me but I didn't want to listen. I thought he changed but he hasn't. He's the one who ran down Jace. He's a psycho! You can't trust him."

"Now, that hurts." Franco pouted. "Here, Michael. I'll make this easier for you." He pointed the remote and clicked play. Carly dove towards him but it was too late.

Carly leaned forward.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry I threw in your face what happened with AJ. You know me. When I'm wrong and I'm cornered, I lash out."

Sonny nodded.

"It's fine."

Carly shook her head.

"Besides, I'm complicit in all of this. I've been helping you cover it up so Michael would never know the truth. I mean, I've been lying to him as much as you have, and I'm just struggling with all the guilt and everything that's going on."

"There you have it, from the whore's, oops, I mean horse's mouth."

"Shut up, Franco!" Sam spat, glaring at him. He shrugged and looked away. She turned towards Michael and Carly. Hearing that it was Sonny who'd killed AJ and Carly had known was shocking and then again it wasn't. Sonny and Carly had hated AJ for years, and with good reason. But she knew how close Michael had been getting to AJ. This had to be destroying Michael.

"That video is real. That's not some Franco trick. So what? You helped Dad kill my father?" Michael asked, stumbling away from Carly.

She stepped closer, her hands out, imploring him to listen.

"No, of course not! That is not what happened, Michael."

"You hated AJ, just like Dad did! Ever since I was a baby, you tried to keep me away from him even though he was my father."

"Sonny is your father and that was a very long time ago, Michael." Carly insisted.

"No?! Then how was it? Just stop lying! Stop avoiding! Stop changing the subject! For God's sake, tell me what happened! How did you find out Sonny killed AJ?"

Carly sighed and looked down, shaking her head.

"AJ told me." She whispered.

Michael shook his head in confusion.

"AJ told you... that Dad shot him? How is that even possible?" Michael let out a shuddering breath as realization struck.

"Oh, my God. In the hospital, right before he died, that's - that's when he told you, isn't it? You told me... he said he loved me."

Franco giggled in the background. "Yeah, well, we all know Carly lies."

Michael twisted towards him and shouted, "SHUT UP!" at the same time as Carly, Sam, and Dante. Franco grinned and held his hands up.

Michael turned back to Carly.

"I want to know exactly what he said. Did he mention me...at all? Did he say he loves me? "

Carly sniffled. "No."

"So, all this time, I've been telling myself, "At least he was thinking of me. Maybe that gave him some comfort," but that's all a lie."

Carly stepped towards Michael.

"Baby, it was so much more complicated than that."

"No, he told you that Sonny shot him, and then he died." His voice was hard now.

Carly's clasped her hands together in front of her.

"Yes. But AJ loved you so much." She reached out and grabbed Michael's hands.

"Who are you to tell me what AJ felt for me?! Okay, he came to Port Charles for me. He sacrificed everything for me. He faced down you and Sonny for me. But he told me over and over again how proud he was of me, how much he loved me, how much he respected me." Michael exploded, knocking Carly's hands off of him.

"Too bad I can't say the same about you and Sonny."

"Michael, please, you know your parents love you." Sam interjected, trying to stop this before it got worse but Michael turned on her.

"Don't defend them, Sam! You would have never done something like this to Danny! Because you put your child first, unlike my parents." He said, shaking his head.

"Michael, stop. Baby, you know how much I love you."

Franco scoffed.

"Please. You and Sonny don't know what love is. You only care about yourselves."

Carly glared at him.

"That is not true."

Michael shook his head sadly.

"He's right. My whole life …you served Sonny when you weren't serving yourself."

Carly covered her face with her hands and then looked up at Michael with pleading eyes.

"You had already lost one father. I couldn't let you lose another. So I lied. I lied. I lied for you. I lied to spare you more pain. Please tell me you understand that.

Michael scoffed in disgust.

"Can I understand what you did? You heard my father's dying words, found out that Sonny shot him and left him on Ava's floor to die like some piece of garbage. And you helped Sonny cover it up, and then you helped me bury AJ."

Carly shook her head.

"It wasn't calculated, Michael. It wasn't that –."

Michael leaned forward menacingly.

"That - that - that what? That savage? That monstrous? Completely lacking in humanity, in decency, in mercy?! No, no, no, you're right. I don't understand. You lied to me over and over again. You made me believe that you and Sonny love me."

Carly let out a broken sob.

"We do love you. We're your parents. We love you so much."

Michael reared back.

"Oh, no, no, no, you're not my parents. My only parent is dead."

Carly paled.

"You don't mean that."

"God, forgive me. It took AJ dying for me to finally see you and Sonny for what you really are. You're dead to me." His face cold and eyes full of rage and pain, he stormed out of the house.

Carly stumbled after him, crying.

"Michael. Michael, come back here!"

Sam put a hand on her arm.

"Carly, let him go. Just give him time."

Dante turned to Sam.

"I'm gonna go after him. You gonna be okay here?"

Sam nodded.

"Go. He needs you right now."

Dante turned and glared at Carly.

"I'm coming back here, and when I do, it's going to be with a warrant for your arrest. And then I'm going after Sonny." With a final fulminating glare, Dante ran after Michael.

"Michael! Bro, wait up!"

Carly fell to her knees, sobbing.

"Michael!" She cried brokenly.

Franco started to clap.

"Bravo, Carly. Way to play the victim."

Sam spun towards him, fury slapping off her in waves.

"You bastard! Go ahead and laugh now, because come tomorrow your sadistic ass will be in jail! We know you ran down Jace, and now the cops do too! You're finally going to get what's coming to you, you son of a bitch!"

Franco shrugged.

"I don't know. It's not like any one knows who Jace is." He sneered, placing a weird emphasis on Jace's name that had her wondering if he knew something she didn't. "But I like my odds. I mean I do have proof that Sonny Corinthos murdered AJ Quartermaine in my possession. That gives me something to bargain with." He said smugly, holding up a flash drive.

Before she knew what she was doing, Sam was flying towards him and swinging her arm back with all her strength. Her hand crashed into his face, the sound of the slap echoing across the room.

The flash drive flew out of Franco's hands and slid across the floor. Carly sprung into action too, leaping towards the DVD player and ejecting the disc. She snapped it in half just as Sam picked up the flash drive.

The moment her hands closed around the USB, Franco grabbed her from behind.

"You stupid bitch! Give that to me! That's my only leverage!" He shouted, yanking her backwards and lifting her into the air.

...

Jace was pacing the length of his room slowly, alarm bells ringing. He looked at Spinelli, who waited with him.

"Something's wrong. I know it."

Spinelli stared at him, wide-eyed. He couldn't deny he was anxious too, but had to believe that they were okay.

"Detective Falconeri is with them. I'm sure they're fine."

Jace shook his head impatiently.

"No. We should have heard from them by now. I'm telling you, Sam is in trouble." He insisted, struggling to contain the desperate need to get to Sam. But the urge just grew stronger inside of him until he looked at Spinelli.

"Take me to Carly's."

Spinelli stared at him in surprise.

"But, but, Injured One, you cannot just leave the hospital-." He started, but Jace cut him off furiously.

"Spinelli! Sam needs me! I feel it, right here." He said, slamming his hand against his chest twice. He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself.

"Look, please. Just take me to Carly's. I need to know Sam and Carly are okay."

Spinelli hesitated but worry over his dearest friends won over caution. He nodded.

"Let's go."

...

"Get off of her!" Carly screamed, launching herself at Franco. She landed on his back and fisting her hands in his hair, yanked his head backwards. Franco shouted and tried to pull Carly off him and Sam twisted free, scrambling away from him. She ran towards the fireplace and tossed the flash drive into the roaring fire.

"NO!" Franco bellowed, finally succeeding in throwing Carly off of him. His eyes shot to his laptop and Carly realized with dread that he could have more copies on there. She leapt forward and threw her arms around Franco's legs, causing him to go crashing to the ground.

"Sam! The laptop!" Carly shouted, scrambling up Franco's body. She grabbed his hair again and started slamming his face down into the floor.

"Argh!" Franco's muffled shouts of pain filled the air as Sam climbed past them and grabbed his laptop. She spun around and raced towards the fireplace. Franco reached out and grabbed her ankle, sending her flying towards the ground. The laptop flew out of her hands and skidded to a stop in front of the fireplace.

Franco rolled over until he was on top of Carly.

"I loved you and you betrayed me! How could you?!" He shouted in a crazed rage that had fear shooting through Carly. His hands closed around her throat and he began to squeeze. Carly's nails dug for purchase on his hands, trying to pry them loose but unable to. Desperate for air, she raked her nails down his face, slapping at him and kicking furiously. Dots appeared in front of her eyes and darkness beckoned.

Sam climbed to her knees and crawled quickly towards the laptop, glancing over her shoulders.

"No!" She screamed when she saw Franco on top of Carly. She changed course and scrambling to her feet, she ran over and swung her leg back, her booted foot crashing into Franco's jaw.

He went flying sideways and Carly immediately rolled to her side, clutching her throat and gasping for air. Sam dropped besides her, holding her.

"Carly, are you okay? Carly, come on get up. We need to get out of here." Sam said frantically. She was cursing herself for telling Dante to leave them. Despite never really believing the tumor excuse, Sam had fooled herself into thinking Franco wouldn't become violent. They'd all let themselves believe he was more about mind games and manipulation. They'd been very wrong.

"The...laptop…..." Carly rasped out, pointing. Nodding, Sam turned and grabbing it quickly, threw the laptop into the fire.

"Sam! Behind you!" Carly shouted hoarsely, struggling to her knees. Sam spun around just in time for Franco's closed fist to slam into her temple.

Pain exploded in her head as she crumpled to the ground, clutching her head. She could just make out Franco kneeling in front of the fire, reaching in to grab his laptop.

"Ow! Damn it!" He cursed, shaking his burnt hands as he dropped the scorched laptop on the ground. But it was too late. The fire had already done irreparable damage to the equipment. Franco turned rage filled eyes on Sam, who was struggling to stand.

"You! This is your fault!" He shouted! "You ruined my revenge on that whore and her scumbag ex-husband. I should have killed you when I had the chance." He stepped towards her menacingly and Sam stumbled backwards.

Her head throbbing, her vision doubled from the blow to the head, Sam knew she was in trouble. Her back hit Carly's side table and Sam sent in crashing to the ground in desperation. It slammed to the floor between her and Franco, but he just stepped over the wreckage. Sam turned to run but her dizziness got the better of her and her knees gave out, sending her slipping to the ground.

Only instead of hitting the ground, she was swept up into Franco's arms. He leered down at her.

"Hmm...I forgot how perfectly you fit in my arms, Samantha."

...

Jace sat in the car with Spinelli, his hands tapping against his knees, the urge to be active growing stronger and stronger. His mind on Sam, he felt a lurch in his stomach.

"Sam." He whispered.

"Spinelli, hurry!" He demanded, leaning forward. Spinelli glance at him, and sensing the urgency, he accelerated.

I'm coming, Sam.

...

Horror flashed in Sam's eyes as flickers of memories of Franco carrying her out of the shower washed through her.

"Noo!" She screamed, all reason gone as terror filled her. She fought frantically, desperate to get away from him. She managed to break free, her bones jarring as she slammed into the ground. Scrambling for purchase, she dragged herself away from him but Franco crashed on top of her.

"Send the police now! He's trying to kill us!" Carly was screaming into the phone. Franco's head shot up and he cursed, climbing off Sam. He hurtled towards Carly, slapping the phone out of her hands. Carly swung her fist towards him, punching him in the cheek. His head snapped to the side but he simply looked back at her. His eyes were weirdly empty, sending shivers of fear and revulsion down Carly's back. How could she have missed this...this monster inside of Franco?

Carly stared back at him defiantly, braced for a fight. But she didn't anticipate him snatching up the small stone statue on the nearby desk. Before she could react, he was bringing down the heavy statue and slamming it into her head.

Carly dropped like a sack, unconscious to the ground just as Sam reached them.

Sam watched Carly fall, fear flaring inside her. She spun towards Franco with an expression of hatred.

"You bastard!" She yelled, anger overtaking her fear. She swung her leg up and around in a vicious roundhouse kick, her foot connecting with the side of Franco's head. He grunted in pain as he stumbled to the side, bent over at the waist, gripping his throbbing head.

Sam stalked him like an avenging angel as she immediately followed it up with a knee to his jaw, sending him flying upright. She moved in for the kill, bringing her knee up to crush Franco's groin. With a high-pitched wheeze of agony, Franco dropped to his knees, dazed and breathless.

Sam didn't hesitate. She knew she couldn't leave Carly, but they had to get away from Franco. She had to buy them some time until the cops arrived. Her eyes flying everywhere, her gaze landed on a paperweight that rolled near the sofa after she'd flipped the side table. If she could knock Franco unconscious...

To avoid where Franco was curled up in pain, Sam ran around the long way and had just picked up the paperweight when she found herself yanked back by her hair. She yelped in pain as Franco wrapped her long hair around his fist, trapping her against him. He wrenched the paperweight out of her hand.

"I'm gonna enjoy this." Franco spat, raising his hand above his head while Sam fought like a wildcat to break free.

"No, don't!" She cried, her thoughts flying to Danny. I tried to fight, baby. I'm so sorry, she thought fleetingly as Franco's hand started to descend.