I don't own ABC, General Hospital or Kiss the Girls. Or the characters therein.

15.) Life As He Knows It

Jason walked through the doors of Sonny's foyer at Greystone Manor. He was a man on a mission.

"I don't care what it takes Diane. I have the results from Mercy here. Elizabeth is my kid. I need to set up an account for her and my grandson. We have Elizabeth under our protection but we still need to get Cameron here under our protection," Sonny said as he paced around his living room.

"Sonny, I think you should tread carefully. We don't know what provisions that Justus has set up for Elizabeth to protect young Cameron. Perhaps, you should talk to Elizabeth first before you storm into her life. She doesn't exactly trust you. You could push her away," Diane wisely advised.

Jason walked in. He noted that Carly was thankfully upstairs, "Sam is definitely hiding something. Diane, can your nerd track Sam's phone? I want to use someone that she won't see coming."

"You sure, Jase?" Sonny asked knowing how his enforcer felt about his brief but former flame.

Jason nodded his head, "I just left my penthouse. Sam was nervous. She looked scared when I brought up that we know that Angela Monroe planted Elizabeth's prints. I wanted to see if there was a reaction, and there was. I want to know who she's communicating with. I want everything your guy can dig up on her," Jason stated.

"I'll have Spinelli take a look and see what he can find. There is another matter, which I obviously stalled but now that you have time to think about it, what do you want to offer Elizabeth so we can settle your divorce in a way that is fair to her," Diane asked.

"I don't know. I don't think we should move the paperwork through quite yet. I think we should wait. We need to work out custody and right now Elizabeth is reasonably cagey. She has no faith in me, and I hope she won't do something drastic to keep me away from Cameron."

"She'll come around I think, Jase. She's been through a lot. She just needs time to realize that we aren't going to hurt her or Cameron. Quite the opposite in fact," Sonny said.

"I don't think you understand. Elizabeth is a good person, but she's a good person with a long memory and she remembers all the slights. She won't allow Cameron to come here if Carly is here," Jason said.

"But I don't understand she saved Carly," Sonny replied as he crinkled his forehead in confusion.

Jason shook his head in disagreement, "She saved her little brother. She didn't do it for Carly. Elizabeth feels that Carly is her enemy. I don't think she'd ever go after Carly but she wouldn't spare her a second thought either. Carly treated her horribly after we were married, she even slapped her during dinner. Elizabeth was pregnant at the time, though none of us knew that information. Remember the night that we thought that Elizabeth broke my framed photo of Michael. That was Anthony Zacchara. He beat Elizabeth that night and threatened her to keep quiet about the beating. Then she was forced to eat dinner with us. You remember that during the course of the diner Courtney spilled the wine on her and when Elizabeth walked to the door Carly slapped her so hard she crashed into the wall near the elevator," Jason said.

"Why am I just learning about this slap and when did you learn about this beating?" Sonny asked upset. He hadn't seen it and no one bothered to tell him at the time.

"We thought Elizabeth was a threat at the time, and Carly was being Carly. The night that Elizabeth was kidnapped Reginald explained what actually happened regarding the beating. Elizabeth is not just going to let us in, and I hate to say it but Carly is only a small part of the problem. There's also the fact that Elizabeth for whatever reason still cares about me. I need to tread carefully here. I obviously don't want to hurt her, but I'm not in love with her. I don't want to confuse her with the respect that I have for her and what she's been through, with romantic feelings. She's been through enough."

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…er the Hospital….

"I can see that we misjudged you Elizabeth. Thank you for providing this valuable information. Are you sure you want to go through with this? Opening this up will invite scrutiny."

"I think it will help those women and could expose who's behind the abductions," Elizabeth replied.

"You're a very brave woman," Mac replied as he headed toward the door.

"I'm a very tired woman," Elizabeth said, "Just get in touch with Justus. He's going to set it up in the lobby for me."

Mac looked back, "Are you coming Dr. Winters?"

"I will be along in a second," Alec replied.

"Dr. Winters is there something further that you need from me?" Elizabeth asked as she offered up a warm smile.

"I wanted you to know that more than likely your abductor will be in the crowd when you make your address to the public. Just be mindful of the impact you want to make," Alec advised.

"Will you be there, Alec? When I make my statement I mean," Elizabeth asked shyly.

"Yes," Alec stood up. "I'm going to back to the station with Mac. I will be back this evening for your big debut."

"It'll be a comfort to know that you'll be there. I've never done something like this before. I've never had a voice, at least one I'm willing to use. I've never been advocate before," Elizabeth said looking for reassurance.

"You'll do fine. I'll be at the back of the room observing. If you get nervous just look for me," Alec said smiling.

"Thank you, Alec." Elizabeth said.

"Thank you for your bravery Elizabeth."

Meanwhile in the lobby of General Hospital.

"I think you should review the video on the thumb drive, Mac. I think you'll find it illuminating," Justus stated to Mac, "It should give plenty of ammunition against Lansing, Roscoe, and pay particular attention to the woman that goes by the name Angela Monroe. I think you'll find that she's a familiar face. Elizabeth has never seen this. Don't show it to her unless you have to. It could give her a setback."

Mac nodded understanding Justus' concern for Elizabeth's wellbeing, "I'll do my best to use discretion."

"I'm sure that you will," Justus said.

"You sure a statement like this is the best thing for Elizabeth given everything that's happened?" Mac asked.

"To be honest, no, but from what I know of Elizabeth she's very stubborn. It's not in her to give up."

Back in Elizabeth's Room at the Hospital…

"Hey," Elizabeth said to her trusted friend.

"Hey, what can I do to help you Elizabeth?"

"I need you to take Cameron to Palermo. Give them the evidence. The blood samples. Let them test it. Get Cameron to safety. By the end of today, I will be a bigger target. I need Cameron out of here. Take Piph with you. Please," Elizabeth begged.

"I'll do it. Are you sure you don't want to go with them?"

"I need to finish this. It ends here," Elizabeth said with more strength than she felt in a long time.

"As you wish," Francis said.

Meanwhile at the Penthouse…

"What do you mean when you say that I'm on my own, Ric? You brought me into this and now you're hanging me out to dry," Sam complained into her cellphone.

"You should've taken care of her when you had the chance, Angela," Ric replied.

"And how many chances did you have? I can't afford to lose Jason. We're meant to be, and now he's refusing to actually file the divorce to Elizabeth until he makes it right with her," Sam yelled.

"You were supposed to swindle Sonny not end up with his enforcer. You've more than outlived your usefulness to me," Ric replied.

"You bastard. I'm going to expose you," Sam replied.

"Fool. You expose yourself if you expose me," Ric said.

"I'll tell them that you made me do it. That you made me target Sonny. Jason knows my feelings for him are real. Jason loves me. He will believe me," Sam said as she walked around the penthouse.

"Maybe they will at first, but you forget that you went after Elizabeth on my orders last year. You better hope she doesn't remember you," Ric advised.

"I wore a wig. She won't remember me and even if she did, they don't trust her. They're not going to take her word over mine," Sam said sure of herself.

"You do that Angela. I don't think it's going to work out for you the way that you think it will work out. I'm as good as caught, and so are. I wouldn't get too comfortable," Ric advised.

"You're wrong Ric, and with Elizabeth in town Jason will pursue his son and we can raise him together," Sam said.

Ric laughed, "If you say so. Elizabeth is more important that you realize. If I were you, I would exit Port Charles quickly. Once, people figure out who Elizabeth is you're as good as dead Angela, and you're never going to get to her son Cameron."

"Elizabeth will not deprive Jason of his son. By the time I'm done with her she won't even be memory for that little boy," Sam boasted.

"If you say so. I don't time for your delusions Angela, but don't say I didn't warn you," Ric said hanging up the phone.

Sam shrieked throughout the penthouse. 'This can't be happening. I finally have everything I want.'

Meanwhile back at Greystone Manor.

"Well, I finally got Michael settled," as Carly walked down the stairs and plopped herself on the couch. Sonny smiled happy to have his wife back.

"So you want to tell me why everyone is so concerned with Elizabeth all of the sudden, and why Jason said she was innocent," Carly asked.

"It's a long story. Elizabeth was the one who went to the police to get you set free from Ric's panic prison," Sonny explained.

"She did?" Carly asked and then thought about jumping to the wrong conclusion, "Wait- well how did she know that I was there?

"She was-," Sonny started to say, but Carly continued to rant.

"She was in on it wasn't she? How can you say that she was innocent when she was obviously working with Ric? That bitch," Carly asserted.

"Hey," Sonny shouted. "That's not what happened, Carly."

"What do you mean? How could she know where I was unless she was working with Ric?" Carly asked.

"Elizabeth knew where you were because Ric held her there first. She was abducted by him 3 years ago," Sonny stated.

"She was there first?" Carly asked, "I find that hard to believe. She was always obsessed with him, and Ric never cared about her."

"It's the other way around Carly. Ric was obsessed with her," Sonny said.

"But why?" Carly asked.

"Because it was a way to hurt me. We just didn't know it," Sonny explained. "He kidnapped you for similar reason. To hurt me."

"I don't understand. How would taking Elizabeth hurt you?" Carly asked.

"He knew something that we didn't. He knew that Elizabeth is actually my daughter," Sonny said.

"I'm sorry, say that again... your what?" Carly said back.

"Elizabeth…she's my daughter," Sonny said again.

Carly stood up and paced around the room, "How? You would have been in your teens when she was conceived."

"I was a teenager. I dated a few girls, one being Elizabeth's mother," Sonny explained.

"And you're sure that Elizabeth is your daughter? You're not just taking her word for it are you?" Carly asked really disliking the idea that they would be stuck with Elizabeth.

"No, there's a mountain of evidence that shows she's mine Carly, not to mention two separate DNA tests. One was ordered by Lila Quartermaine and the other I had Jason run when Elizabeth was brought in after her abduction," Sonny said.

"Lila?" Carly asked.

"Yeah, apparently Elizabeth and Lila grew close a few years ago. She helped Elizabeth when she needed it the most. I guess a DNA test was just a way to verify the truth," Sonny said.

"So now that you know Elizabeth is your kid what does that mean for us?" Carly asked selfishly.

"Honestly, I don't know how Elizabeth being my daughter would affect the relationship that you and I have. Michael is biologically yours and I've accepted him as mine and adopted him. I'm not asking you to adopt Elizabeth, but she is my daughter, and I would hope that you can accept that," Sonny asked.

"I don't know. I mean she manipulated her way into our lives before. I don't know if I can accept her," Carly said.

"She didn't. She was married to Jason under false pretenses. She thought it was a real marriage. She was told by Anthony that Jason was genuinely interested in her and to give him a chance. You remember that Jason did have to court her for a while. That was the agreement that Anthony and Trevor made. No one bothered to let Elizabeth know that it wasn't real. Given what we've learned, Elizabeth doesn't have a lot of experience in the dating world, and the fact that Jason showed her interest would have led her to believe that it was all real. Elizabeth had a career before Jason came along as a Nurse Practitioner. She'd just been accepted to Med-school when she was asked to place that on hold by Anthony to give Jason a chance. Can you imagine? I have a kid who went to college. No one in my family accomplished that, except Ric and he doesn't count."

"I don't know what to think. So everything they told us about her was a lie," Carly said.

"Yeah, and I'm not going to lie. From what Jason has said, Elizabeth doesn't trust you either. She doesn't like you. She remembers you slapping her and all your unkind remarks a few years back. She's not going to make it easy on us, but I really want you to at least understand that Elizabeth has been through a lot."

"Ric said there was a girl he was chasing. Was Elizabeth the girl?" Carly asked.

"Yes. She knows too much about what Ric has done to her. She also has something that Ric desperately wanted to obtain," Sonny said.

"What's that?" Carly asked. "What did Ric want so badly?"

"Jason's son with Elizabeth. His name is Cameron," Sonny revealed.

"Jason's son? That's not possible," Carly said shaking her had as Jason walked into the room.

"Yes, it is Carly," Jason said as he made his way to the room surprising Carly, "We consummated our marriage. Cameron is mine."

"Well where is he?" Carly asked.

"He's staying with Alcazar," Jason said.

"Alcazar?" Carly asked. "What in the world is he doing with him?"

"Lorenzo is Elizabeth's stepfather. He's been helping her the last few years. Keeping her safe and Cameron too," Jason said.

"This is all too much. I don't know what to think about all this, or how I'm supposed to accept this girl being your daughter, Sonny, or the mother of your child Jason," Carly said.

"Bottom line is that Elizabeth is my daughter and somehow you need to find a way to accept that," Sonny stated.

Jason's cell rang and he answered, "Yes, Marco?"

Jason nodded his head and turned on the TV shutting his phone in the process.

"That was Marco he said to turn on the news. Something's happening at the hospital," Jason said.

Carly, Jason and Sonny all sat down to watch.

"This is Gloria DuPree with News Channel 2, we're getting word that Elizabeth Morgan, estranged wife of Coffee Importer Jason Morgan is going to be making a statement,"

"-A statement?" Sonny said. "What is she doing?"

"There's Mac, let's hear what he has to say," Carly stated.

"I would like to thank local and national members of the Media who were able to make here on such short notice. As you know, Port Charles has been experiencing a recent rash of abductions of women from our area. We've created a task force aided by the FBI to help us in our pursuit of the individual or individuals involved. At this time, I would like to introduce you to a very brave young woman who managed to get away from the individual responsible for the recent uptick in abductions. She will not be taking questions at this time. She's going to make a simple statement and there will be no follow up. This investigation is still ongoing," Mac said as Elizabeth was wheeled in by one of the detectives.

Elizabeth slowly stood up and limped to the podium. Cameras were flashing from every direction. It was excessive, but she knew they would be. She lowered the mic so she could speak. She looked directly in to the Channel 2 camera. The photographers didn't let up and the flashes were invasive, but she continued to look in the camera. She took a deep breath, "H-hello I'm Elizabeth Morgan. First, I wish to address the family members of the other missing women. Please do not lose hope. There are other women where I was held against my will, and I believe in my heart that they're still alive. To the man who pulled me from the water and to the doctors and nurses and other medical staff that are taking such excellent care of me, and for the letters and well wishes from all across the United States, thank you."

"I think that's the most I've ever heard her say," Sonny said before Elizabeth continued as she looked pointedly to the camera. Her facial expression changed as she began, "And finally, to the man who calls himself Prince Charming. A man who broke into my prison cell, and placed me into another, and ultimately tried to kill me. I broke your rules. Just me," Elizabeth stated as she shook her head for added meaning, "None of those other women helped me escape, so if you're looking for someone to blame, then blame me."

Elizabeth looked at her audience, "Thank you for delivering my message to the family members of the missing women. I hope they're comforted a little." She stepped away, and limped to her wheelchair.

"Well that took guts," Carly said, "She basically just asked Prince Charming to come at her."

"What was she thinking? She has Cameron to think about," Jason said shaking his and clearly upset.

At that moment, Jason received a call from Milo, "Morgan."

"Sam was just arrested, boss. Detective Rodriguez served a warrant, she was arrested as co-conspirator in Elizabeth's original abduction by Ric. They have evidence."

"Thanks," Morgan said hanging up the phone.

"What's up Jase?" Sonny asked.

"Sam was just arrested as a co-conspirator in Ric's original kidnapping of Elizabeth. Milo says they have evidence," Jason replied.

"Well that begs the question, did she know that I was there the whole time as well?" Carly asked.

Jason and Sonny shared a look.

"Although, Ric never mentioned working with Sam by name. He mentioned Faith Roscoe, and a woman named Angela."

"Angela Monroe?" Jason asked.

"Yes, that was the name. I mentioned it other day when Mac visited me in the hospital, why?"

"That's one of Sam's alias'," Sonny said, "Get Diane on it. I want Sam released, and I want her released to me."

Jason only nodded. Life as he knew it with Sam was over.