Betrayal, Loyalty and Love by iletudrive

[JRK Archiver]

Authors Note: This story is a POV fic. In any given scene you will only know what is going on with one of the people in the scene. This fic features a lot of the cast and is set in August of 2001. Sorel is alive and in the hospital it's right after the bombing, so is Stavros, the two Luke's thing is going on, Angel is around, Sonny and Carly are separated, Nikolas is pretending to be with Helena and has ended his relationship with Gia, Emily is away at a rehabilitation center, Lucky is still under Helena's control, Alexis has just seen her mother's necklace, Skye is in town with secrets of her own, etc.

I'm going to post the first three chapters to see if there is interest in this story. Some readers like my stories better when I don't just focus on Jason and Elizabeth, and although they are in this one, the story takes precedence over any one potential couple in this one. So if you want to read more please let me know. The first couple of chapters may move a little slow, but it picks up and I had more characters in as we go.

So let me know what you think.


Chapter 1

Warehouse

Sonny Corinthos was sitting behind his desk at his temporary office in the warehouse. He had files open on his desk, files that had needed his attention for weeks, files that he was still ignoring. He had let business slide in the last month and it still was. He couldn't concentrate on work, either the legitimate side or the illegitimate side and that was dangerous.

Getting up from his chair he moved to look out the small window. If he were honest with himself he'd have to admit that he'd been letting things slide for longer than a few weeks. He'd been unfocused since the shooting last winter. Bringing his foot up to the edge of the table he put his elbow on his knee, and rested his chin on his hand. His thinker pose is what Carly called it. He tried to banish her from his thoughts, but she was never far away from them especially now.

"I'm pregnant Sonny, you're going to be a daddy."

Seeing her at the hospital earlier tonight, surrounded by the newborns in the nursery, he'd felt both pain and hope. She was trying to give him the one thing he wanted most in the world, and at the same time terrified him the most too … a baby.

Sighing heavily he moved back to the desk to sit in his chair. This pregnancy if in fact she was pregnant, was starting out the same, as the first one had. He would be having a baby with a woman he didn't respect, or even like.

The first time around he had been drawn to Carly, but now when he looked at her, he only felt the anger of looking at another woman who had betrayed him. It seemed that the women he loved always betrayed him, only they said they did it because they loved him.

"Don't you understand Sonny?" Brenda pleaded, tears streaming down her face. "You wouldn't talk to me, you kept lying to me, and I just wanted to hear the truth. I needed you to be honest with me."

"Me be honest?" Sonny demanded. "You wore a wire to make me so honest that you could send me to jail." He was trying to control his anger, but he hadn't been this mad at someone since Deke, and the depth of his anger worried him.

"No, that's why I made sure that I would get the tape not the police. I would have never given it to them, I just wanted to know the truth. Sonny I love you."

"You love me?" Sonny repeated in disgust, turning away from her, pulling her clothes out of the dresser and flinging them at her. "You don't know what love is."

"Please Sonny," Brenda begged touching his back.

He whirled around grabbing her by the arms. "I let you in Brenda," he told her roughly. "Farther than anyone ever before, and you betrayed me," he shook her by the shoulders. "It's over." He let her go and she sank to the floor, he quickly turned to leave, afraid of what would happen if he would stay. He heard her call his name but he kept walking away from the one woman he'd ever loved, the woman who had betrayed him.

Sonny shook the memory away. Carly and him had started during a betrayal themselves, somehow it was only fitting that they end the same way. The night he'd betrayed Jason by sleeping with Carly he had been dealing with the hurt another woman had caused him.

Hannah. He couldn't help but shake his head in disgust at the memory of his onetime girlfriend. She was someone he had convinced himself he was in love with. She looked like Lily, and sometimes she acted like Brenda, and if he concentrated real hard, he could make himself believe that he was in love with her. He never had been, but he had cared about her, and trusted her, and in the end, the only reason she was there was to arrest him. When she found out he knew the truth about her, she said she wasn't going to turn him in, because she loved him too much. Love he snorted in disbelief.

He'd been reeling over Hannah and in so much pain that night, that he'd had an instant of clarity. He wanted to get everyone out of his life, that way no one could hurt him in the name of love again. But he knew that there was no way Jason would leave him. Then Carly had arrived, her normal abrasive self, she had started goading him, reeling herself over seeing Jason with Elizabeth. Suddenly he knew then, that there was a way to push Jason out of his life. He pushed Carly back and when she offered he took it. In that moment he didn't really want her, and she didn't want him, they just wanted to stop the pain they both felt and at the same time, inflict some unearned pain on the one person they loved the most…Jason.

God he had been so stupid. They had made a baby that night, one formed in anger and pain, but a baby. Now there may be another baby, this one conceived in love, but also by trickery and betrayal. Did betrayal equal love in the minds of women? Because it sure seemed like it to him.

"Yeah?" Sonny called when a knock sounded on the door.

Johnny opened the door. "Elizabeth Webber is here to see you."

Sonny nodded and got to his feet, while Johnny stepped aside letting her in. He hadn't seen her in weeks, and was surprised by the changes he saw in her. "Elizabeth."

"Thanks for seeing me Sonny," she crossed to the desk.

"What can I do for you?"

"Well," she stopped glancing back towards Johnny.

"No interruptions," Sonny told Johnny in dismissal. "Please sit." He studied her while she did. She had lost weight, weight she couldn't afford to lose. She'd tried to hide it with make-up but the dark circles under her eyes, showed the strain she was obviously under. Aware of his scrutiny, she started fiddling with the strap of a large black bag. "Are you okay Elizabeth?"

"Now that I'm here, I don't know what to say," she admitted.

"Have you had any problems with Sorel's men?" He tried to keep an eye on her because Jason asked him too. But he didn't have a guard on her full time, she had promised to come to him, if Jason wasn't in town, but he hadn't been reachable lately.

"No I think he's forgotten about me. He hasn't tried to talk to me for over a year." Elizabeth said quickly. "Besides with him in the hospital, I was hoping he wouldn't cause you anymore problems."

"He won't," Sonny said simply. He wasn't going to let things slide with Sorel anymore. Far too many people had been hurt, because he'd refused to finish things with Sorel. He looked at Elizabeth, she would've been Sorel's first victim if Jason hadn't gotten to her when he did. She would have also been his last, because Jason would have killed him immediately.

"I was at the hospital when you came in after the explosion," Elizabeth told him. "I was going to see how you were, but Carly was there and I didn't want to cause any more problems for you. Are you okay?" she gestured to the cut on his forehead.

"I'm fine, this is nothing," He dismissed her concern with a wave of his hand. He had a feeling she was working up to something, and since he had always respected and liked her, he was willing to give her all the time she needed.

"I'm glad," she took a deep breath. "I owe you an apology."

"Why?"

She looked him in the eye. "Because you were hurt, Emily was hurt, Zander was shot, Alexis and Carly were held hostage, because of Sorel, and I'm partially to blame for that."

Sonny moved around the desk to lean against it in front of her. "I'm confused. How is what Sorel did your fault?"

"The only reason Sorel was able to attack you, was because, he escaped from jail when Lucky set the fire," she admitted. "I knew Lucky was sick, but I wanted to help him, so I didn't think of the consequences."

"Lucky set the fire?" He was surprised that she'd admit that to him.

"Yes," Elizabeth sighed heavily then went on. "He's still under Helena's control. I knew that, I knew that he was capable of anything, but I agreed to keep it a secret." She got to her feet, to move around the small office. "It occurred to me tonight, that if we hadn't kept it a secret, Lucky would've been watched, and he wouldn't have been able to set the fire, so Sorel would still be in jail," she stopped behind the chair and looked at him. "So I'm sorry, I know it's not enough, but I am."

Sonny crossed his arms over his chest and thought about what she'd said. She hadn't said who the we were, but he was pretty sure one of them was Luke. He couldn't really blame her for being loyal to the Spencers', after all they were her family in a sense. "You didn't know what would happen, so it wasn't your fault. You were just trying to help someone you loved."

"That's it? You're not mad?"

"No," he smiled then showing off his dimples. "Like I said you were just trying to help Lucky. I don't agree with the way you did it, but I can understand your loyalty."

"I have to help him, I owe him so much," she went on softly. "But if someone had gotten killed and I could have prevented it…"

"Elizabeth," he interrupted her. "You didn't know what he was going to do, you didn't know he'd be that out of control."

"That's just it Sonny, I did know." She moved around the chair to sit again. "Lucky has been sliding more and more out of control for months now. At first, I wrote his irrational behavior off as jealousy over my relationship with Jason, because it was Jason that set him off the most. But after he attacked Jason on the docks with a knife, I realized that it was more."

"I thought you didn't believe Jason?" Sonny commented, remembering his own conversation with Jason.

March 21, 2001

Sonny waited until Carly disappeared upstairs before speaking. "What happened?"

Jason sat down slowly at the table. "Lucky Spencer came after me with a knife."

Sonny shook his head running a hand over his chin, this, was all he needed. "So did you take care of him?"

"Yeah but Elizabeth saw me."

"How'd that happen?" Sonny demanded. The last thing he could afford to happen was Jason going to jail.

"I-I don't know," he paused. "She was there, she was at the docks, she yelled my name and I stopped."

"Well that's good," Sonny got up from the table and headed to the bar.

"But the way she looked at me," Jason went on.

He could hear the pain in Jason's voice and blocked it out. "Lucky in the hospital?"

"Probably."

"All right," Sonny headed back to the table with a drink. "Have somebody call.

Jason looked at him in surprise. "But she thinks I went after him."

Sonny sat wearily, he didn't have time for this, not now. "If Lucky pulled a knife on you…"

"Lucky did pull a knife on me." Jason snapped.

"Listen to me," Sonny ordered. "No woman should see this, but no harm was done outside of that right?"

Jason shook his head. "I'm not sure."

Sonny heard the doubt in his voice and that worried him. "I don't need you distracted right now."

"She looked at me like she didn't even know me." Jason went on softly, as if not hearing Sonny at all.

"Jason," Sonny snapped. He waited until Jason looked at him, before going on. "You need to focus. That package Sorel sent could have been a bomb right?" He couldn't believe he had to explain where the real danger was to Jason of all people. That Sorel was more important than some kid and his girlfriend.

"Yes I got that."

Sonny was glad that Jason seemed to be listening to him again. Now they could focus on the real problem, which was Sorel. He ignored the blood on Jason's hands and went on.

Remembering that conversation now, Sonny felt anger and disgust with himself. He had been a total bastard to Jason, something his friend hadn't deserved. Jason had come to him, to talk to him as a friend, and for the first time in years, he had treated him like an employee. He'd ignored Jason's problems, concern, and pain, to concentrate on his own. He shook his head with a frown. Why did Jason put up with him?

"I don't know if you'll believe this," Elizabeth was saying. "But a part of me knew all along that Jason didn't attack Lucky. That the fight happened just the way Jason said it did. I just couldn't admit that out loud. If I admitted it, I would also have to admit that Lucky was in trouble, that he'd changed, and I wasn't ready to see that."

Sonny shrugged.

"Like I said, I don't expect you to believe me. I mean why should you? You're Jason's best friend so I'm sure you know how awful I was to him before he left." She stopped and began to twist the strap of the purse in her hands.

Sonny thought about it, if Jason had tried to talk to him, he had probably blown him off. From her actions, it must have been pretty bad, and as usual he hadn't listened.

"But haven't you ever wanted something to be true, even if it hurt, because if it wasn't true it would hurt so much more?"

"I'm pregnant."

Carly's claim entered his head. "Yeah," He agreed moving to the window again.

"I had to believe Lucky even though doubting Jason hurt like hell. Because if not and Lucky really did attack Jason with a knife, everything would have changed."

"So you decided to betray Jason instead," Sonny said coldly, he could hear her sharp intake of breath at his words, but it was too late to call them back. Out of everyone in Jason's life, he had been hoping that she would be the one person who wouldn't hurt him deliberately, and now she had.

Elizabeth was quiet for a long time. "You won't understand this, you don't know what Lucky did for me. He basically gave me back my life, I had to believe in him."

Sonny kept his back to her. He had no right to be mad at her for letting Jason down, for choosing someone else, he was a lot of things but a hypocrite wasn't one of them, at least he hoped he wasn't. "Whatever. You chose to believe the boy you were in love with, over a man who never lied to you, or hurt you."

"I-I," she paused and when she went on her voice was so soft that he could barely hear it. "I do love Lucky, and so I tried to believe him. I had to because I owe him, I owe him because, when I was fifteen I was raped."

Sonny turned around to face her, surprised by her admission, but she wasn't looking at him.

"Lucky found me after it happened, and he basically put me back together again. When I was afraid to sleep, he'd sleep on my floor. When I needed to have blood tests, he would be there for me," she kept her eyes on her hands. "I didn't go to the police like I should have, I felt dirty and ashamed. But Lucky kept telling me I didn't do anything wrong, he kept coming around, helping me."

He moved back to the desk but didn't say anything. He hated what had happened to her, she was so small, and so young when it happened, he couldn't help but feeling angry over it. He also couldn't help but think of his mother, Adela, he knew there were times that Deke had raped her, but she had never said the words. To her it was her wifely duty, whether she wanted to or not. But rape was still rape.

"I didn't realize how much I had built my life around Lucky until he was gone." A tear slipped down her cheek. "I realized that all the friends I had, were Lucky's too, and they missed him as well. Suddenly I was alone, I had to walk by myself again, go to places by myself, all the decisions about where I would go to school and what classes to take, were all mine," she looked up at him. "It's not that he told me what to do, because he didn't, not then. He would make suggestions but leave the decisions to me, and would support me no matter what I decided. I normally agreed with him so it was never an issue. But suddenly he was gone and I was drowning in the loss of him."

"So you replaced him with Jason?"

Her eyes flashed in anger at that remark. "No I never did that. Jason and I became friends at first, because I was missing Lucky, and he was missing Michael and Robin. In a lot of ways we were in the same place. I can't tell you the number of times I would have a fight with someone, normally Nikolas, and find out later, that he'd had a similar fight with either you or Carly, sometimes both. He was my first friend in Port Charles that was totally outside of Lucky. So that made it safe for me to really talk to him about Lucky. He would just listen and wouldn't try to make me feel better, but in the end he always did."

"Jason's like that," Sonny agreed. "You feel like you can tell him anything."

"I think it's his face, the way he looks at you when you talk, and you know that he is really listening," Elizabeth said softly. "For that minute while you're talking to him nothing else matters to him, but what you say."

He saw her expression soften, when she spoke about Jason, some of the worry seemed to disappear, from her eyes, only to be replaced by regret.

"When he was shot, he needed me, and for the first time I felt like I was giving something back to our friendship. I had been letting go of Lucky, slowly, but I had been, but Jason pulled me out of my grief because I had to focus on him. By the time he was better and I looked around at the world again, I realized that I had crossed a line inside of myself. Even though I would always love and miss Lucky, I had put him in the past. I'd let him go without realizing it."

"But then Lucky came back and you didn't need Jason anymore," Sonny observed. He didn't know why he was pushing her, what he was hoping to get out of her, but he couldn't seem to stop it.

"No," she snapped. "Jason had left town, before Lucky ever returned."

Sonny nodded feeling the sting of her unspoken words. Jason had left because of what you and Carly did to him. "I'm sorry."

She sighed. "Lucky came back and all was right with the world, only it wasn't."

"The brainwashing?"

"Partly, also because he had been dead for over a year, and we changed during our time apart. For him the change wasn't as drastic, except for the brainwashing, because he knew I was alive. But I thought he was dead, so it was different for me."

"And now you know he's still brainwashed."

"Yes, and it's hard to know what he will do. Luke, Nikolas, Laura and I are trying to help him, but it's been hard." She explained.

"I still don't know why you're telling me this. Did you need my help, or Jason's?" It was the only reason he could think of that she would seek him out.

"No. Jason is the last person who should help," she said adamantly. "But he is why I'm here."

"What about him?"

"I overheard Carly tonight, she was saying that once Jason came back to town, he would make you understand and you would forgive her."

Sonny rubbed his forehead, she never quit. "That's just Carly, but why should it matter to you, if Jason comes back, you're engaged to Lucky."

She flinched but went on. "Jason can't come back to Port Charles. That's why I'm here, to ask you to keep Jason away."

Sonny looked at her in surprise.

"Wait," Elizabeth held up her hand before he could speak. "But first I need you to tell me something. I don't need to know where he is or anything, I just need to know if he's alive. When he didn't come back after Emily was hurt, I figured he was doing something to help you. I don't need you to tell me if I'm right or wrong, I just need to know if he's alright."

"He's fine."

She closed her eyes and he could see some of the tension disappear from her face. He should have realized she'd be worried when Jason didn't come back when Emily got hurt.

"Thank you for telling me. So will you keep him away?"

"Why should I? This is his hometown, how can you ask me to do that to him?" Sonny asked, he hated to think he had been wrong about her.

"I don't want too, don't you know I'd like nothing more in this world than to see him? I'm a selfish person Sonny, I would love for him to be back, so I could lean on him through all of this with Lucky. And he'd let me, too, he'd let me hurt him again and again. For once I'm trying not to be selfish, because he'd want more from me, and I couldn't give it to him even though I'd wa…" Her voice trailed off.

"Because you're in love with Lucky?" Sonny pressed he caught her slip of the tongue before she stopped herself, and wondered what it could mean for Jason. Looking at things again, he knew Jason was in love with her. He only wished he knew how she felt about him, because, it could change everything.

"Yes because I love Lucky." Her hesitation was brief but he noticed it. "Also Jason sets Lucky off. He's close to the edge as it is, seeing Jason again, there's no telling what he might do," she paused as if debating with herself before going on. "Tonight he ended things with me, because he thinks he's going to hurt me."

"Has he hurt you?" Sonny demanded.

"No, he finally realizes that he has been doing some bad things, but he can't remember what they are. He wants me away from him, to protect me," she tucked her hair behind her ear. "But it won't work."

"Elizabeth if he is dangerous you should stay away from him." Sonny told her.

"I can't," she argued. "I tried to explain things to you. That I have to help him because I owe him, because of what he did for me. Even though he ended things tonight, he'll still come to me, he can't help himself. So I have to help him when he does."

She looked so tired then, he knew she wasn't much more than twenty but at that moment she looked so much older. He realized then that he was staring at loyalty. And wasn't loyalty the one thing he prided over everything else?

"Jason brings out his anger. I know that Jason can take care of himself, and he could handle Lucky. But Lucky isn't alone in this, Helena is controlling him and there is no telling what he will do. Luke has disappeared, and a part of Lucky thinks he did something to him. I know him and Luke had issues, but he loved Luke, and he hurt him anyway. If he sees Jason though," she stopped wearily.

"So you're just trying to help protect the man you love."

She looked up at him, her eyes locking on his. The look she gave him was firm and strong. "I would do anything to protect the man I'm in love with."

Sonny leaned back in his chair, her determination seemed different then, almost as if. "Jason comes and goes as he pleases, I can't stop him if he wants to come home."

"Please," she twisted the purse strap in her hands. "I'm probably worried about nothing, he probably won't come back, and even if he does, he won't want to see me."

"I thought you said you were worried about leaning on him," Sonny told her.

"Ego," she smiled slightly. "He asked me to go away with him, and I had to say no. I found out later that he left that same night."

Sonny hid his surprise at her words, thinking back to his birthday. Jason had looked upset when he arrived, even before he found out about the bomb. He pushed the memory away, trying to concentrate on what she was saying, he was missing something.

"For the first time, he didn't say goodbye to me, or leave me a message, so I guess our friendship is over now."

He could hear the sadness in her voice and felt guilty. He knew Jason didn't have the opportunity to tell her goodbye because he had went after Sorel's men immediately. He knew that, but he couldn't tell her that.

"I just don't want anyone getting hurt."

Sonny nodded. "I want you to come to me, at the first sign of trouble, promise me that you will."

"So you'll keep him safe? I mean away?" Elizabeth ignored his demand. "I couldn't handle it if something happened to him."

Again he had the feeling that sometimes when she was speaking she was talking about Jason, but letting him believe it was Lucky. "To who Lucky or Jason?"

"To either one," She picked up her purse.

"Because you love him."

"Yes I love him," she turned towards the door. "Thanks for seeing me."

Again her hesitation was brief, and in that instant all her little slips, during their conversation came back to him. Her hesitation when he asked about being in love with Lucky, the way she always said she loved him, she owed him. When she had said Jason would want more from her, and she had stopped herself from saying she wanted more too. She had said that she had to turn Jason down when he asked her to leave with him. Had too, not wanted too. The way she had opened herself up to him, not knowing if he would be mad at her over Sorel's escape, just to have him keep Jason away. The way she tried to explain her reasoning to get him to help her. "You'd do anything to keep him safe wouldn't you? Even staying away from him if you had too."

"I told you I'm in love with him," Her hand was on the doorknob.

"I was talking about Jason," Sonny pushed again.

Elizabeth turned around, the tears evident in her eyes, tears, she was refusing to let fall. "So was I," she said and then left.

Sonny sat back in his chair, surprised that she had admitted that to him. He was surprised that she had come to him at all. He could read her sincerity, she had resigned herself to staying with Lucky in repayment of a debt, she owed a boy, who didn't seem to exist anymore. Yet at the same time she was being loyal to Jason by trying to keep him safe.

She had betrayed Jason and his love, to keep him safe.

"Sonny I just wanted Sorel gone, I know I did it wrong, but you have to know I was trying to protect you, to protect our family. I love you."

He could remember Carly begging him to understand why she had turned him in. Was what she did, that much different than what Elizabeth was trying to do for Jason? Both women were trying to protect the man they loved, from being hurt, and had hurt them themselves in the process. How was it he could understand Elizabeth's choice and not Carly's? Was it because Elizabeth had done it to Jason and not him, or was it because she truly thought she had no choice but to do it, while Carly decided to betray him on her own?

He shoved that question away, why she did it didn't matter, she had done it. Elizabeth was walking a tightrope, and he wondered how good her balance was. He remembered how tired she already looked and was worried. "Johnny."

"Yeah Boss?" Johnny asked opening the door.

"Put Francis on Elizabeth, have him be discreet, she's not to know. Tell him to keep a close eye on her if Lucky Spencer is around her." Sonny ordered.

"Right away." Johnny backed out of the room.

Sonny moved to the window again, trying to decide what to do next. He knew exactly where Jason was now, he had finished with Sorel's men, so Sorel was alone now. The last time they had spoken, Jason had been angry with him, because of what had happened to Emily. But if he called him and told him to come home, Jason would.

He glanced at the phone, but should he? He knew how Jason felt about Elizabeth, and he now knew she felt the same about him, but did that really change anything? She was determined to help Lucky, and protect Jason, and for her to do that, they needed to be in separate towns. But who would protect her? He could keep her safe through guards, but could he help her heart?

"Everyone at 66 Harborview Road always tried to make my decisions for me, then Robin tried to make my decisions for me, you were the one person in my life who thought I could make my own decisions."

Jason's words from years ago came back to him. Now it was Elizabeth who was making a decision for him. She had admitted, not in so many words, but she had admitted that if Jason came back, she would turn to him. Sonny knew that no matter what she thought, Jason wouldn't turn her away either.

When she admitted to him that she was in love with Jason, she had put the whole decision of what to do on him. It didn't seem right that the only person who wasn't going to have a say in this decision was Jason.

Moving back to the desk he sat down. He could keep the truth from Jason, and keep him in the dark. Or he could risk him being hurt, and let him know what was going on and that Elizabeth needed him.

His hand hesitated over the receiver.

[JRK Archiver]

Chapter 2

Warehouse

Sonny picked up the phone and began to dial. He had to let Jason make up his own mind, and for him to really do that, he needed all the information. He was punching in the last number when a knock sounded on the door. "Yeah?" He called without looking up.

Johnny opened the door slightly, "It's Carly."

Sonny sighed but before he could answer, Carly pushed by Johnny and into the room. The phone began to ring in his ear, while he looked at his wife.

"Sonny," Carly said with a small smile.

Sonny nodded wearily at Johnny and hung up the phone. "Did you get the test results back yet?"

"What no hello?" Carly asked grouchily sitting on the metal folding chair across from him.

Leaning back in the chair he studied his wife. She was still beautiful and abrasive, loud and neurotic, needy and stubborn. Once he had finally admitted to himself that he loved her, those traits of hers became frustratingly appealable to him. Now, however, they bothered him all over again.

"Sonny?" Carly snapped her fingers bringing his focus back to her. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine Carly, I'm just waiting to hear what the Doctor told you." He pressed on, trying to quell that little bit of hope that sprung inside of him, while he awaited her response.

She was quiet for a very long time, while she studied him, finally her eyes filled with tears. "You know I walked in here, ready to lie to you. Ready to lie to save us," she took a breath. "But after seeing you in the nursery tonight, seeing the longing in your eyes, longing that you won't allow yourself to say aloud, I realized I can't lie to you. Not about this, it's too important. No I'm not pregnant."

Disappointment crashed into him like a wave, as soon as she spoke, it hit, and hit, like it was high tide, and each wave, hurt more and more. He wasn't aware how much he had let himself hope, until the possibility was taken from him. He wanted a child, and yet he didn't. He wanted a baby with her, and yet he didn't. He felt a loss so sharp the likes of which he hadn't felt in over a year.

"I really thought I was pregnant. I had all the symptoms I had with Michael and our baby. But it was more than that. I could feel a life that we had made inside of me. I wanted that life so much." Her teary brown eyes locked on his, begging him to understand.

"But you're not pregnant, and there is no life," he said roughly.

"There could be."

"Carly," Sonny interrupted her in warning. "Don't do this again," he got to his feet and moved to the small window.

"Do you know what last Tuesday would have been?" Carly asked. She went on when he made no reply. "According to the Doctor that was the day our baby was due, so our baby would have been a year old last week."

He knew that, of course he knew that, a day hadn't gone by that he hadn't thought about the children, he'd never been allowed to hold. First it was his and Lily's child, then his and Carly's little boy. When he closed his eyes and dreamed, sometimes he thought he could see the boys in a sunny garden with Lily. He liked the idea of her taking care of his boys. He clung to that idea because it was the only way it made the loss bearable to him.

"So I started feeling those things, I felt when I was pregnant, and I just knew that I was, that I was pregnant," Carly was saying. "But I'm not, and it hurts so much. I never even got to hold him Sonny, I miss him so much and I never even got to hold him." Her voice broke.

He couldn't fight the pain in her voice, crossing to her, he crouched down beside her, to hold her while she cried. "I never even got to hold him," she repeated, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"I know baby," Sonny whispered running a hand over her hair. "I miss him too."

Studio

Elizabeth let herself in the darkened studio, yet made no effort to turn on the light, she pushed at the door, to close it and moved to her cluttered table. She was tired, so very tired. Glancing at her answering machine, she was relieved that the red light was solid, instead of blinking, she wasn't up to talking to anyone.

She pushed herself away from the table, not noticing that the door hadn't closed behind her, she let her purse fall to the floor, while she moved through the dark to the couch. Since Nikolas had "kicked" her and Lucky out of the cottage, she had been staying here, while Lucky had moved back to Kelly's. That was actually one part of this plan that she liked, she could finally be alone again, and free. Well not free, but she could breathe. Lucky wasn't happy that she chose to live here, yet he didn't press her on it, although Nikolas did, thankfully he kept getting interrupted whenever he tried to talk to her.

Collapsing wearily on the couch she kicked off her shoes. She didn't even have the energy to put on the shorts, that she normally slept in, even though her brain was telling her that she should. The studio was stifling. It had no air conditioning and the heat and humidity of early August was on Port Charles like the plague. She knew she should at least get up and turn on the fans, and open the windows, but movement seemed to be too hard for her at the moment.

Instead she curled in a ball on the couch, for once she didn't even notice the lumpy spring that jutted against her hip. She closed her eyes, hoping the numbness would stay and she could finally get some sleep, but it wasn't working, reality and conversations were seeping in again.

"I told you. I'm in love with him."

"I was talking about Jason."

"So was I."

So was I, the words echoed around and around in her head. How could she have said that to Sonny? She certainly hadn't planned on saying it to him. She had never planned on telling anyone that she loved Jason, not even Jason. In fact when she said it aloud tonight, it was the first time she had even came close to saying the words out loud.

She could tell by the stunned look on Sonny's face that she had surprised him, hell she had surprised herself. It was just she had felt so comfortable talking to him, even though he wasn't making it easy on her. The way he kept calling her on her treatment of Jason should have made her shut down, and instead it made her speak the truth. A little of the guilt she had been feeling eased inside of her, because someone finally called her on her behavior.

She hadn't gone to him to talk specifically about Jason, she had only wanted to apologize, and ask a favor.

"Admit it Elizabeth," her voice sounded harsh to her ears in the dark of the room. "Admit the truth."

Laughing mirthlessly she pulled a pillow to her chest, to hold. The truth was she had gone to Sonny to find out about Jason. The worry and fear she had been feeling for him, ever since he'd failed to return after Emily's accident, had become too much for her to ignore anymore, and so she went to Sonny. A part of her had been afraid that Lucky had done something to him. He had attacked Jason before, and Lucky was capable of anything these days. She hated to think that, but the way Jason had disappeared, she couldn't help but wonder.

She had never spoken truer words, then when she told Sonny she was selfish. She had proved it again tonight, by dropping the truth in Sonny's lap before she left. She knew Sonny was a good man, and he considered Jason his family, so there was a good chance he would tell Jason about her visit.

"Isn't that what you wanted Elizabeth?"

A big part of her wanted Jason back, so she could see him again, even if he was mad at her, so he could be her strength again. Somehow, during the course of their relationship, he had helped her regain her strength, without even trying too, and she needed that now. But another part of her knew that if he did come back, things would only get worse. She would only hurt him again, and she didn't think she could stand it if she hurt him again. So she couldn't let him come back no matter what.

Tomorrow she would go to Sonny and tell him… tell him…. She sighed, how was she supposed to fix this for everyone else, when she couldn't even fix it for herself?

"Be true to yourself." The words Lucky used to say to her went through her mind. "Stop thinking and feel." Jason's plea followed it.

She was just so tired, maybe it would be clearer in her head in the morning, maybe tomorrow when she woke up she would have an idea how to make this right for everyone, maybe she wouldn't hurt anymore, maybe… She closed her eyes, the tears that leaked from her closed eyelids, mixed with the perspiration on her face. Maybe…

West Coast

"You're still here."

Jason turned around from the window and smiled at her. "I said I would be."

Emily wheeled herself far enough in the room that the door swung closed behind her. "I know what you said, but I also know how much you hate hospitals."

Jason leaned against the windowsill. "This place isn't so bad."

"Tell me that after you've been here for three weeks," she muttered trying to angle her chair by the bed, but she kept catching it on the table by the bed. Swallowing a curse, she backed up and tried it again, and again and had the same result. Frustration grew inside of her, so did the anger that she was feeling a lot lately.

"Do you want some help?"

"No, I'm not a fucking cripple, I can do it. I don't need your pity," she yelled, backing the chair up to try again, and again it didn't work. She bent her head so he wouldn't see her tears. She tried so hard to be positive, to keep her spirits up, but sometimes she just couldn't. Sometimes the doubt and the fear got to be too much, and she lashed out. She had been here for almost a month and all she could do was wiggle her right foot, and flex the toes on her left foot. At this point she would dance with Zander again at her 80th birthday party.

She blinked when a box of Kleenex was shoved under her nose and couldn't help but smile when she took the box from his hand. "Thanks."

"No problem," he squatted down beside her chair. "Do you want some help now, or do you want to yell some more?"

She lifted her watery eyes to his but didn't say anything.

"It doesn't mean you're giving up, or that you can't do it on your own, if you let someone help you Emily," Jason said softly. "It just means you're tired."

"Will you help me?" She asked finally.

Jason got to his feet and picked her out of the wheelchair carefully, pushing the chair back from the bed with his foot, before setting her on the bed. "How close does this need to be for you to take your midnight stroll later on?" He asked moving back to the wheelchair.

"How did you know I did that?" She had been so careful, she thought no one knew.

He just looked at her. "How close?"

"It's easier when it's against the bed, on the left side," she told him reluctantly. "Don't forget to lock the wheels, I forgot one night, and the bruises still haven't faded."

Jason sighed but he didn't say anything. He moved the chair in position and locked the wheels. Then he moved over to the dresser and brought back a bag, with the most amazing smells coming out of it. "You're normally hungry after PT so I brought you some food." He sat the bag on the tray table over her bed, and rolled it up, so she could dig in the bags.

"Chinese." Emily practically squealed. "I have been dying for Chinese."

"I figured," he grinned then helped her open the cartons.

While they ate Emily used the time to study her brother. She had been surprised, and then again she hadn't been, when she came back from PT one day and he'd been waiting for her. That was two weeks ago, and he had been here several times a day since then. She had been so glad to see him at first, that she never even questioned it. She had been so alone here, and all of her sudden, her big brother, her hero, had shown up and she didn't feel so afraid anymore.

Frowning into her box of Moo Goo Gai Pan, she couldn't help but remember a discussion she'd had with Zander right before she left. It was when she was trying to convince him not to go after Sorel. She had brought up Jason, and the fact that he was someone who had killed, who was used too and very good at violence. Even though she loved him more than almost anyone in her life, she knew what he did was wrong.

It was easier for her to think things like that about him, when he wasn't here, face to face with her. When she did see him, it was easier to look past his job, because she knew his heart. But the truth was he was a killer, and as much as she loved him, she didn't want Zander to follow in his footsteps.

"Emily."

She blinked at him in confusion. "What?"

"Are you done?" He gestured to the box in her hands.

She looked down and realized she had been shredding the box, while she was thinking. "Oh yes," she set the box on the tray.

"Where did you go?" He asked clearing the table.

"Oh," Emily stalled for time. "I just was wondering how long you were going to be here."

"For as long as you need me," Jason settled at the foot of the bed, bringing his boots up to rest beside her waist, while he leaned against he piece of wood, at the end of the bed. "I told you that."

"Then you'll never leave." Emily was only half kidding.

"I got nowhere to be," he replied easily.

"Come on Jason, I know how much you hate hospitals, how trapped they make you feel, yet you're here for hours everyday."

"Emily this is different, I know I can walk out of here anytime I want to," his eyes went dark. "Should I not have said that?"

She shrugged. "I knew what you meant."

"Good," Jason moved the table so it was between them again. "So you ready to lose some more?"

"I'm not going to lose." Emily retorted haughtily, reaching for the deck of cards, and score sheet on the nightstand. "I've been toying with you."

Jason pulled the score sheet from her hand and glanced at it. "That's why you owe me enough that I could go to any Ivy League school."

"Anytime you want to raise the stakes," she told him with a grin.

"I don't need to take your trust fund away from you Emily, and if we raise the stakes, I will," he warned her, dealing out the cards.

Her eyes widened and she opened her mouth to retort, when the chirp of Jason's cell phone sounded. He tensed for a second, then relaxed, it rang three times, before it stopped, yet he made no move to answer it.

"Your lead," he told her picking up his own hand of cards.

Emily picked up the cards and tried to sort them for a minute before closing them in her hand. "You know you could have answered that."

"If I wanted to answer it, I would have."

Her eyes turned serious, he looked tired and tense. His eyes were sad, the way they had been, when he'd first lost Michael. She knew him better than most people, and she knew him well enough to know that he was hurting. "You know you can talk to me, it's not like I can out run you."

"I do talk to you," he kept his attention on his cards.

"You know you once told me that I was the smartest person you knew, the most patient, and loving," she threw out a Jack. "So that means you can talk to me."

Jason shook his head. "Leave it alone Emily." He picked up the Jack and played a 7.

"Are you mad at Sonny?" she frowned at the seven before picking it up and trashing a 10. "Is that why you didn't answer the phone?"

Jason ignored her, drew a card, and trashed a 5.

"Because you shouldn't be mad at him, he didn't cause my bus to get hit by a train, neither did Sorel," she told him grabbing the 5 and trashing an Ace.

"Why were you running Emily?" Jason asked taking the Ace.

"Well…"

"Because Sorel was loose, after Zander, and you had no idea where or how to reach Sonny." The words were delivered briskly like they were shot out of a gun.

"Well I couldn't reach you either." Emily retorted picking up the 7 he discarded. "So don't get snotty with me."

"Snotty?" Jason repeated a look akin to shock on his face.

"Come to think of it, I'm the one who should be mad." Emily cried letting some of the anger she had been feeling out. "You're the one who left in the middle of the night, like usual. Only this time you didn't even bother to call to say goodbye. For as much as I seemed to matter to you then, I could have been A.J. or Grandfather. Because you left without a look back, at least that's what it felt like to me."

"I had to go…"

"You know what you say that a lot Jason. You tell me you'll always be there for me, and then you leave and I don't know when or if I'm ever going to see you again." Tears slipped from her eyes, and she brushed them away angrily. "Sporadic postcards don't make the grade Jason. So don't sit there and be a hypocrite towards Sonny just because he followed your lead and left in the middle of the night without a word to anyone."

"You're really mad," he reached for her hand.

"You know what I am mad. I'm mad at you, I'm mad at Sonny, I'm mad at Zander, Sorel and everyone else in my life. Does that shock you? Am I not supposed to care that you come and go as you please and never even think about the people you leave behind? Should I not care that my boyfriend, is so angry over what happened to me that he wants to pick up a gun and go after Sorel himself?" She gripped the cards tightly in her hands, she could see the surprise in Jason's face but didn't stop. "Should I not be terrified that he might end up like you? Someone who does horrendous things to other people, but because I love him, it shouldn't matter? The fact that I'm stuck in a wheelchair, in a bed, thousands of miles away from the people I love, shouldn't matter to me is that it?"

"Emily calm down, you're getting upset," Jason caught her hands.

"You know what maybe I will shut up, because if I keep going, I'll say something you don't want to hear, and maybe I'll become one of those people you cut out of your life," she yanked her hands out of his. "But maybe that would be a good thing, if you cut me out of your life, then it won't hurt so bad when you treat me like I don't even exist."

"I have never done that." Jason snapped.

She threw the cards at him, for once she wasn't going to censor herself, for once she was going to say what she was thinking, whether he wanted to hear it or not. "You know you haven't even asked about her. Not once since you've seen me, have you even said her name. What did she do that was so horrible that you act like she doesn't exist? Tell me so I know what not to do around you, or maybe what I should do, to push you away."

"Who…" He began shifting on the bed.

"Elizabeth," she yelled, frustration spurred her and she gave into the temptation. Without a conscious thought she kicked with her right foot, stunning them both into silence.

"J-jason," she whispered in shock.

"Do it again," Jason ordered. "Don't think about it just do it. Try to kick me like I know you're dying too."

Emily did as he said her right leg bent at the knee and her foot connected with his hip. "I did it."

Jason had tears in his eyes when he looked up at her. "Yeah you did."

Emily pulled him into a hug and let the tears fall. "I'm going to walk again."

Warehouse

Carly's tears had stopped but he hadn't let go of her yet. She tilted her head and he felt her lips press against his throat, then his jaw, giving into temptation he turned towards her and let his lips meet hers. The familiar desire was there like it always was, mixed with the longing that she awoke in him. But what was there too, was the taste of loss and betrayal and it was stronger than the need. He broke the kiss and stood up.

Carly let go reluctantly, and was quiet for once, when she looked up at him. He sighed and ran a hand softly over her cheek in farewell. And it was farewell. He couldn't forgive her this time. He knew deep in his soul that he would never be able too. Because this time her actions had almost destroyed not only him, but also the people he cared for, the people that trusted him, and the sad fact was she didn't seem to realize that was the issue. He lowered his hand, and moved behind the desk. "So that's it then."

"No it's not Sonny," Carly argued. "We can get past this and try again. You love me I know you do."

Sonny closed his eyes, hardening his heart against her plea. "Love isn't enough Carly, the love between you and I will never be enough to last."

"How can you say that? We made vows, before God Sonny, you can't throw that away."

"Yes and you broke them Carly, you broke them when you broke my trust. When you broke my trust for the hundredth time," he sighed wearily. "I can't keep doing this with you Carly, I can't keep letting you wreck my life."

"I only did that because I was scared, you know how I get when I'm scared, I don't think. I just wanted my family to be safe," she leaned across the desk trying to take his hand.

"I'm not Jason Carly, I won't sit by and forgive you every time you mess up," he snapped. "Did you even consider what would have happened to Jason if I had done what you asked?"

She sat back and began to fidget nervously. "What do you mean?"

"Carly the Feds wanted names, they wanted everybody's names. But the name they wanted most was Jason's," he leaned over the desk. "I always believed that you loved him in your own way, but you were willing to put him in jail, Johnny in jail, Francis, Max, Adam, Benny, all of them would have went to jail, and you didn't care." By the time he finished speaking the venom was all but pouring from his mouth.

She looked shocked at his words, and it caused him to realize that she had never even considered Jason or the others. Instead of making him madder, the realization drained the temper from him. They really were over, it wasn't even worth fighting with her anymore. "I'll have Alexis start the paperwork in the morning."

"Y-you can't mean that," she whispered. "You love me, I can fix this if you just give me some time. Please give me another chance to make this up to you."

"Carly it's done, there's nothing left anymore," he said coldly. "Johnny," he yelled at the door.

"Yes?" Johnny stuck his head in the door.

"Carly's leaving now, so make sure Max has the car ready."

Carly got to her feet, brushing back the tears while she glared at him. "This isn't over Sonny, you and me, will never be over," she said in warning before leaving.

Studio

Francis moved down the hallway, he had counted three burnt out light bulbs on the stairs and two more in the hallway leading to her door. He made a mental note to replace them in the morning. Glancing towards the door, he came to full alert when he saw the door was ajar, and the room was dark.

Pulling his gun from the shoulder holster he moved to the side of the door, he pressed on it lightly, exposing the darkened studio slowly. There was enough light coming from the windows, that he could see that there was no sign of violence in the room.

Stepping from the doorway into the room he immediately felt a blast of heat. The room was an oven, his attention was drawn to the couch, when a small sound caught his ear. He moved carefully through the room, until he was close enough to recognize Elizabeth asleep on the couch. Even in the pale moonlight he could see her face was flushed, no doubt because of the heat.

Francis thought about it for a minute before crossing to the windows and opening them quietly. The breeze was coming off the water, and felt refreshing on his face, and it slowly worked its way inside the room. He saw a fan pointed at the couch, and briefly entertained the idea of turning it on, but he was supposed to protect without her knowing about it, so he let it go.

He moved back through the room and out the door, making sure the door closed tightly behind him. The lock she had on the door, made it impossible for him to lock it from the inside and pull the door closed. He didn't have his lockpicks with him, so he moved to a spot down the hall and settled on the floor, to wait for his relief. There were a lot of changes he needed to make in the morning.

West Coast

Emily leaned wearily against the pillows, the last hour had been nothing but a frenzy of activity that had left her exhausted. The doctors had run so many tests that she had wanted to scream. It had been amusing at one point, when one of the doctors had suggested that Jason should leave for the night, Jason had just looked at the doctor, and the doctor had left instead.

She couldn't help but shift her leg every few minutes to make sure she still could. She had finally had a breakthrough, and all it took was her screaming at Jason. At that thought she came crashing back to earth with a thud.

"Are you tired?" Jason moved over and straddled a straight back chair by the bed.

"A little," she admitted, "and a little embarrassed."

"Why?"

"Because of the way I went off on you. You didn't deserve it, I mean you're here, I shouldn't attack you for it."

He waited a minute before speaking. "It had obviously been building in you for a long time, you needed to say it, and you needed to say it to me."

"So you're not mad?"

"At you? Never," he told her with a grin, before turning serious. "About some of the stuff you said."

"You don't need to…" she tried to stop him, she didn't want him to feel like he owed her something.

"I want to," he rubbed at the back of his neck. "This last time, when I left, things had happened, things I can't tell you about, but things that gave me no choice but to leave immediately. I didn't even go back to Jake's to get my stuff. But you have to know that I never ever considered not telling you because you weren't important to me." His eyes locked on hers at that. "I needed a head start, to get out of town, before anyone realized I was gone. Emily you told me yourself that you get sad when I leave, if I had told you, and someone was watching you, they would know that I had left town, and I couldn't afford that."

It was the first time he had explained something to her, in a very long time, the mere fact that he was doing so, meant she had hurt him. She knew she should feel bad for hurting him, but she was relieved instead, because now that she knew why he left the way he did, it was much easier to understand. "I see."

"Does it really bother you that much when I leave?"

She turned her head away from his probing blue eyes and shrugged. "I don't know how to answer that without hurting you."

"I wish you would tell me the truth."

"I know you have your own life, that you're old enough to come and go as you please," she began haltingly. "And it's not fair to expect you to be there just because I need you. But I do. In a lot of ways you're my anchor." She looked at him then. "You know how Grandfather is, A.J. has so many problems of his own, Ned seems to distance himself further and further from the family every day. Mom and Dad argue all the time about Skye, and with her, I don't even want to turn my back on her. Reggie is with Grandmother, whom I love dearly, but I can't lay this on her. So that leaves you. Even though you've been gone more than you've been here the last few years, you're still the one I count on," she ran a hand through her hair. "If this were a normal situation, and you lived out of town, there would be a way for me to contact you. But this isn't a normal situation, I can't just pick up the phone and call you. I know you tell me to go to Sonny if I need something, but how am I supposed to tell him, that I just want to hear your voice, and know that you're okay?"

"I don't know how I'm supposed to answer that." Jason said softly after a few minutes of silence. "I didn't realize what I was doing to you."

"I didn't want to tell you because I didn't want you to feel guilty," she said immediately. "It's not your fault I feel this way, I just have to learn not to count on you so much."

Jason flinched.

"I'm sorry," Emily sat up immediately in concern. "That didn't come out right."

"It's okay."

"Do you want to know about her?" She asked after a minute.

He didn't even try to pretend this time. "If you want to talk about Elizabeth go ahead, but you don't have to for me."

Warehouse

Sonny sat behind his desk for a long time after Carly left, his mind was running through the highlights and the lowlights of their tempestuous relationship. Losing her would be hard, but staying with her would be even harder. Promises or no, it would be healthier to end it now, before the feelings between them hardened into hate. He closed a file on his desk, and the light glinted off his wedding band.

"With this ring I thee wed."

He frowned at the ring for a long time, before slowly pulling it off his finger and dropping it in his desk, he reached for the phone, while he closed the drawer. "Alexis, I need you to draw up those papers we discussed, and serve Carly with them in the morning." He left the message on her machine and dropped the phone in the cradle.

Getting up from the desk he stretched, work was definitely out tonight, his eye was caught by a bright piece of fabric on the floor. Frowning he bent down and pulled out a blue scarf that was hidden partially by the desk. Carly had been in red, so it wasn't hers, but Elizabeth had been wearing blue.

"Jesus I forgot again," he cursed under his breath and reached for the phone. It was time to bring Jason home.

Studio

Elizabeth jerked upright running from something in her dream. She glanced around the darkened studio waiting for her heart to settle. The dreams were coming more frequently, sometimes several a night. She never remembered them, she only remembered the feeling they produced in her…terror.

The phone shrilled, eliciting a cry from her and sending her heart racing again. She looked at the phone, yet made no effort to pick it up. Her answering machine clicked on and she heard her own voice. Had she ever sounded that carefree? That full of life? The beep sounded and she listened for the message. The sound of breathing came through the machine, but no one spoke.

Closing her eyes she eased back on the cushions, she knew it was Lucky, she knew she should try to speak to him, to help him, but she couldn't. Tonight she was selfish, she just couldn't deal with him again, not tonight. She pulled a pillow over her head to block the sound when the breathing turned into tears.

West Coast

"I hadn't seen very much of her before the accident," Emily watched him closely, but as usual his face remained impassive. "I know you didn't want me to be mad at her but I was. I knew she had hurt you so I froze her out."

"Emily I told you Elizabeth gets to do what she wants to do."

"You're wrong Jason, I don't think she can do what she wants to do, not anymore," she countered. "She's shut down, she barely leaves Lucky's side, she even moved in with Nikolas and Gia when Lucky asked her too, and she hate's Gia." She'd had a lot of time to think while she tried to recover and she'd realized that she had missed a lot of things while she had been wrapped up in Zander. "Did you know her and Lucky got engaged?"

Jason got to his feet and moved to look out the window.

"That he was arrested for attacking Stefan Cassadine? That Dr. Collins thinks he's still being brainwashed?" Emily continued addressing his stiff back. "I did, and yet at the same time I didn't. The closeness I once had with Elizabeth, Lucky and Nikolas seemed to vanish. Before the accident, I couldn't even tell you the last time I saw her."

"She's been a good friend to you Emily, you shouldn't end it just because of what happened with me."

He finally admitted something had happened with Elizabeth, she wondered what else he would let slip out. "I was there, well actually, I'm the one who told her you left." She blew out a breath sending a strand of hair flying. "Actually I didn't tell her, I more or less blamed her for making you leave." When he turned to face her she went on. "Okay so maybe it was more, and maybe it was an attack when I did."

Jason frowned and rubbed at his eyes. "Emily…"

"I didn't know why you left, but I knew she played a role in it and it bothered me. It may seem like I don't see past the end of my nose, but I knew you had feelings for her, and I saw that she had feelings for you too. So when she got engaged to Lucky a few weeks after you left, I went off on her." Emily finished grumpily crossing her arms over her chest. "And you won't make me feel guilty about it."

"You can't change what happened, but I hope you know better now." He moved by the bed again. "She didn't deserve that Emily."

Emily averted her eyes, if he didn't like that he was going to hate what happened next. "There's more," she paused a beat while he settled in the chair again, then went on reluctantly. "One time after my accident I woke up and she was crying by my bed. I couldn't understand what she said at first but I gradually made out the words."

"I'm so sorry Em, this is all my fault," Elizabeth whispered through her tears. "If I could undo this or take your place in this bed I would."

"Why are you sorry?" Emily asked groggily.

Elizabeth jerked. "Em I didn't know you were awake. Do you need anything?"

"Why?" Emily blinked hard trying to make herself alert. "What's your fault?"

"Get out."

Elizabeth turned to face the door. "Zander she just woke up."

"Get out of here Elizabeth and don't come back." Zander ordered moving to the bed.

"Zander why are you saying that?" Emily asked in confusion. She hated the drugs that held the pain at bay, because they also confused her mind.

Elizabeth got to her feet. "I didn't want to cause trouble, I just wanted to see how she was doing."

"You wanted to check your handiwork?" Zander asked, flipping the covers down, exposing Emily's legs. "She's paralyzed no thanks to you. All those warnings you gave her about me being bad for her, and she's here because of you and her other so-called friends."

Elizabeth flinched at his words, her eyes filled with tears, but didn't fall. "Take care Emily, remember that I love you," she said before leaving.

"Why the hell did Zander go off on her like that?" Jason snapped.

Emily could all but feel the temper radiating off of him. "I don't really know. I fell asleep before I could find out, and then everything went haywire. I never saw her again before I left. Nikolas and Lucky never even bothered to come by at all," she shrugged, trying to show that it hadn't hurt, but failed. "So much for the four musketeers. The point is, she stood there and took it, both when I went off on her, and when Zander did, it was like she thought she deserved it, and that's not Elizabeth."

Jason frowned. "No it's not."

The chirp of Jason's cell brought them out of their thoughts. "Are you going to answer that?" Emily asked after the 4th ring.

"You're not supposed to use cell phones in hospitals." Jason said after a minute before turning it off.

[JRK Archiver]

Chapter 3

Limousine

Sonny frowned at the phone in his hand, before turning his attention to the night visible through the limousine window. Jason still wasn't answering his phone and that surprised and concerned him. Jason always answered that phone. It was the only secure way they could communicate when Jason was out of town. Jason knew he was the only person that had the number, so for Jason not to answer was strange.

Sighing he tucked the phone back in his pocket, he knew Jason had been angry with him over what had happened to Emily, but he hadn't expected this reaction. Closing his eyes he let himself remember what had happened during their last conversation.

Two Weeks Before

Sonny was startled when his phone began to chirp. It had been so long since it had rang that he had forgotten he still carried it. He pulled out the phone to answer it, but the phone kept ringing. Suddenly uneasy he realized it was his other phone that was ringing. The secure phone, the phone that only one other person had the number too, in other words it was Jason. Sighing heavily he pulled out the small phone. He had been dreading this call. "Yeah?"

"Sonny it's me," Jason's strong voice came over the line.

"Hey it's been awhile. How are you doing?" Sonny got to his feet and headed for the window.

"I'm okay. I finally tracked down that part I've been looking for. It was the last part so my search is over."

"So you're ready to build your bike then?" The code was ridiculous but on the off chance that the line was tapped it was innocuous enough, that no one could prove anything. The part was one of Sorel's men, since he said it was the last part, it meant it was the last man. The request he had made of Jason was now finished.

"I can do whatever I want now," Jason agreed.

Sonny thought it was a little ironic that they were discussing the fact that Jason had killed Sorel's people and yet he was phrasing the questions in a way, that Jason didn't have to lie. The fact that Jason still didn't like to lie was another idiosyncrasy that made Jason unique. "That's good."

"I think I'll just travel for awhile though."

Sonny took a breath, he knew what he had to do. He had been preparing himself for this discussion ever since he had first found out about Emily. Now that it was finally time to have it, he wanted more time. "You might want to rethink that."

"Why did something happen?" Jason's tone changed to one of concern.

"Yes," he sighed then decided to be blunt, knowing that's what Jason would prefer. "The night of the Nurse's Ball there was an accident. A bus was struck by a train, Emily was on the bus."

"Was she hurt?" Jason's voice was sharp.

"Yes, she injured her back, and the injury caused paralysis."

He heard Jason's sharp inhalation of breath and swallowed hard. He hadn't even gotten to the difficult part yet.

"Is it permanent?"

"The doctor's are optimistic, before she left town she was able to move her right foot a little bit," Sonny tried to sound hopeful.

"Left town? Why did she leave Port Charles? What was she doing on a bus?" Jason's questions were fast, one on top of the other.

"She had to leave," he paused and braced himself. "Because she wasn't safe here, she was on the bus because she was leaving town with Zander."

"Why wasn't she safe?"

Jason's voice was quiet, almost devoid of emotion, and that worried him. "Sorel escaped from jail, and was coming after Zander. They were running away from him. Even after the accident Sorel made a move on her in the hospital. Her family moved her to an undisclosed rehab, both to help and protect her."

"Why didn't she come to you? She knows to come to you if I'm not in town. Why didn't she?"

"They tried, but I was unavailable. They either got tired of waiting or grew too scared, so they took off on their own," he answered honestly.

"How could you be unavailable for her?" The accusation was apparent in Jason's voice.

Sonny flinched as the words cut him. He could tell Jason that he was unavailable because Sorel had stabbed him and left him for dead. That as a result he had been out of it for days. He could tell him that he had been so hurt by Carly's betrayal that he had just wanted to shut down for a while and block the world out. That Angel at the very least had provided that for him, a place where he could process everything, and he had chosen to remain there instead of going back to his life and facing Carly again. He could tell Jason that, but it wouldn't make a difference. In the end it came down to the fact that he hadn't been there for Emily and as a result she had gotten hurt.

"Sonny?"

"I had a little trouble with the Feds, but that doesn't matter, I should have been here for her," he said finally. There was no need to tell Jason that the trouble was caused by Carly and as a result he was ending his marriage. Jason would find out about that eventually but what was going on between him and Carly wasn't important right now.

"Are you still in trouble?" Jason asked after a minute.

Sonny was surprised at the question and then realized he shouldn't have been. Jason might be angry with him, but he wouldn't turn his back on him. "Alexis handled it."

"Good. You said she was moved. Do you know where?"

"No. Apparently the family moved her, even Zander doesn't know where she is."

"The family is still trying to control her."

Sonny could hear the disgust in Jason's voice and corrected him. "Not this time, Zander told them not to tell him. If he knew where she was, he would be tempted to go see her. If he did that Sorel could get a line on her, and he didn't want that. So he convinced the Quartermaines' to move her, it didn't take much."

Jason was quiet for a long time while he digested that. "Do you know if she's okay?"

"I would have heard from the family if she wasn't," he sighed and sat at the table. "I haven't looked for her. Sorel is still loose, I didn't want to take the chance of leading him to her." It may be too late, but he was trying to protect her.

"You said this happened the night of the Nurse's Ball. That was in June."

Sonny could hear the anger in Jason's voice, this is what he had been dreading. "Yes it happened in June."

This time the silence between the two friends was deafening. He had agonized for weeks over whether to tell Jason or not. He had even picked up the phone dozens of times to call him, and yet in the end he always hung up. Since Emily's injuries weren't life threatening he had rationalized that there would be nothing for Jason to do, if he did come back. But if he stayed away and kept hunting Sorel's men, he could accomplish something. In his altruistic moments he believed that was why he had never called Jason. But in his selfish moments, he was afraid that Jason would have come back to Port Charles and left the job incomplete, and he couldn't afford that. But now he wondered if he could afford what would happen if Jason didn't understand his actions.

"You should have told me."

Sonny sighed heavily, feeling a deep sense of loss inside him when he heard those five words. Jason's voice had been cold, remote, and he wondered if this was the end of their friendship. "Maybe," he conceded. "What are you going to do now?"

"What should have been done months ago."

"If you mean Sorel, I have him covered," for once he didn't care if someone was listening in. He wanted to make this right for Jason. "You should concentrate on your sister right now."

"Sonny I don't think you should tell me what to do right now," Jason shot back before sighing heavily. "I can't talk to you right now."

"Do what's right for you," Sonny was still reeling from Jason's retort. It was the first time he had spoken to him like that.

"I'll be in touch."

Sonny had respected his wishes and hadn't tried to contact him, not until tonight. He knew Jason was probably with Emily since he hadn't shown up here. He knew Jason didn't hold grudges, so he wasn't punishing him by not answering the phone. He was probably just still angry with him. He would give him another twenty-four hours, if he didn't reach Jason by then, he'd do some checking.

Nodding to Johnny Sonny headed for the elevator that led to the penthouse, the day had been long, and the night was shaping up to be even longer. A noise on his left caught his attention when he stepped off the elevator. Both him and Johnny tensed, even though they knew Sorel was in the hospital, he turned and then relaxed when he recognized Alexis.

"God," Alexis dropped to her knees and started picking up things that had fallen from her purse.

"Are you okay?" Sonny crouched beside her to help. With her arm in a sling her movements were limited.

"I'm fine. Don't I look fine?" Alexis demanded, yanking a brush from his hand and shoving it in her purse. "It's just this door," she got to her feet and pointed to the door. "The lock on it is tricky. Not like my old lock on my old door. But I don't have my old door anymore do I? No I am stuck with this door and this lock that doesn't like me, because you decided to play hero with a bomb strapped to your chest. Do you even know how crazy that was? Do you even care that you could have killed us all? Or were you too damn busy showing Sorel that you were so much tougher than him, that you didn't even care?"

Her voice was getting louder and louder. "Breathe Alexis," Sonny interrupted her tirade. Her eyes looked desperate, and as much as he might deserve her anger, he had a feeling that he was a substitute for the real person who had set her off."

"Stop telling me that," she snapped. "You don't have to coach me on my breathing, I was doing it," she trailed off and began to gasp. "For years," she gasped again, "before I met you."

"Breathe Alexis," he interrupted her again.

Closing her eyes she leaned back against the wall, he watched her fight for control, and was startled when she jerked upright again.

"I need your help."

Her eyes were still desperate but her breathing was under control again. "Okay what do you need from me?"

"I need a man, maybe two. They have to be good at what they do, and discreet," she began to pace as she thought. "They will need to know about alarms, and probably scaling 20 story buildings," she stopped pacing. "Jason. I need Jason, he would be perfect for this," she touched his arm. "Will you get me Jason?"

Sonny frowned as he processed her request, it sounded like she was up to something illegal. "Why do you need Jason?"

She looked him right in the eye. "I need him to steal my necklace."

West Coast

Jason let himself into his darkened hotel room, habit had him checking the markers he had left behind to see if someone had been in the room. They weren't disturbed, he would have been surprised if they had been. He wasn't expecting trouble, if he was he wouldn't be anywhere near Emily.

Emily. He smiled in the dark when he thought about his sister. She had finally had a breakthrough today, he sighed in relief just thinking about it. They hadn't talked about it much, but he knew her lack of progress had really discouraged her. He had also been feeling helpless and that was frustrating. He wasn't used to feeling helpless, it brought him back in time, to when he first woke up in the hospital, and he absolutely hated that.

Pulling the gun from his boot he put it in the bedside table, then he crossed to the patio door, and stepped outside on the small balcony, so he could hear the ocean. Emily had once told him that him and Ned were the 'actors' or the doer's in the family. When they had a problem they dealt with it right away, and didn't try to hide from it. Whereas her and A.J. were reactors, when faced with a problem they would sit back and watch, or hide, and just let things happen to them. He hated to admit it, but her description was pretty accurate. Or it once had been. But Emily had begun to take charge of her life, to act more, at least she had been until this had happened to her.

He climbed up and sat on the rail, resting his back against the wall of his room, his eyes staring out unseeingly into the night. When he had first arrived here, he could see how tired she was. She had been trying to stay positive but he could see the situation was wearing on her. The fact that she was alone here didn't help. Sonny really should have told him sooner. Even if he didn't go see her right away, he would have found a way to get a message to her. From the shock and hurt he'd seen in her eyes when she'd first seen him, he realized that she had felt abandoned by him. The things she had said to him tonight, only confirmed that for him. She had obviously been angry with him for a long time, and he was glad that she had finally let it out, but now he couldn't help but feel guilty.

Guilt wasn't an emotion he was real familiar with. He had felt a little guilty when he asked Robin to keep a secret about Michael, a secret she didn't want to keep. But since that was for Michael's own good, the guilt he'd felt was small. The guilt he had felt when he gave Michael up though, was huge and all consuming. He had promised that little boy that he would always be there for him and suddenly he wasn't. The guilt had clung to him for a while. He was only able to let it go because he believed he was doing the best thing for Michael.

But this guilt, he sighed, couldn't be explained away. He had never thought about what the people he left behind felt when he disappeared the way he did. He'd always tried to let the important people know he was leaving, but he normally did that by phone, so he never saw their faces, when he told them.

He had never wanted a family, and the Quartermaines' were never that to him. But Robin had taught him the idea of family, and then showed it to him. And now he did have a family. Sonny, Emily, Carly, Michael, Lila, Monica, and… Elizabeth.

"I don't want to be free, I want to be with Lucky."

He still got a bitter taste in his mouth when he thought about her words. He knew that words had the power to hurt, and those had cut him deep. Maybe it would have been easier for him to accept if he knew that she meant them with her whole heart, but he knew she didn't. She had never been able to lie to him, not once, not even that awful night. He had heard the resignation in her voice when she had said them, and he had also seen the determination in her eyes, a determination to back up her vow.

Rubbing tiredly at the knots at the back of his neck, he hated to look back, because there was nothing he could do to change things. But talking about her with Emily tonight had brought the memories back to him. The memory that he hadn't pressed her for the truth, because of the determination he had seen in her eyes, because he knew she wouldn't admit the truth. She had taken a big step by telling him that she wanted more from him, and then telling Lucky the same thing. But when Lucky reacted badly, she had backtracked and hid. She went back to what was safe and normal for her, she had slipped back into being a reactor again.

Jumping down from the railing he leaned against it, looking down at the water far below him. He only wanted her to be happy, he had told her that, and it was true. But he couldn't force her to be happy. He couldn't seem to make her realize that she would never be happy unless she lived her life for herself, and not someone else. He had spent months trying to make her realize that. Trying to make her realize that there was life after Lucky, but in the end she had refused to see it.

"Did you know her and Lucky got engaged?"

Emily's question had surprised him. A part of him had hoped that she would be more willing to take control of her life, if he wasn't around. But it didn't look that way. He let out a snort, or maybe everything he was thinking was just wishful thinking on his part, and she was in fact deliriously happy with Lucky and planning her wedding.

"I don't think she can do what she wants to do, not anymore."

He frowned when he remembered that. He hoped Emily was wrong, he wanted Elizabeth to be happy, and if Lucky was who she needed for that, he wished her well.

Moving back inside the room, his eye fell on the phone he had laid on the table. He probably should turn it back on, but he wasn't ready to talk to Sonny yet. Besides if Sonny was calling him it was probably to tell him to do something and he didn't want to leave Emily.

Something had happened to change Sonny. The last time he had been back, Sonny had been different. Their friendship that had once been so strong seemed to have been forgotten. Sonny only seemed to want to talk to him when he was giving orders. Sonny had the right to tell him what to do, but always before he had framed the order more as a request and explained why he had needed it done. But not in these last few months, Sonny had taken a hard line with everyone and he didn't like it. He knew Sonny had been under pressure, but that couldn't excuse everything.

If Sonny did expect him to leave, and it wasn't an emergency concerning either Carly or Michael, he wasn't going to do it. He couldn't help but wonder how Sonny would react to that. At one time his best friend would have understood, but now he wasn't so sure.

There were only two things that he did know for sure. One was the fact he was going to stay with Emily for as long as she wanted him too. The other thing was, he wasn't going to go to Port Charles anytime soon.

"Did you know her and Lucky got engaged?"

For the first time in almost two years he had no desire to see Elizabeth again.

Penthouse

"Because I want the guy to be discreet Jason will be perfect. A lot of the time no one even knows when he is in town. So if we can sneak him into town, he could get the necklace and leave before anyone is the wiser."

Sonny kept quiet and opened the door to his penthouse, letting her precede him inside while she spoke. He paused and spoke quietly to Johnny. "Don't let anyone in."

Johnny nodded and pulled the door closed. Tonight seemed to be a night for Sonny to deal with emotional women. He was glad it was Sonny and not him.

Alexis hadn't even paused for breath. "So if Taggert is watching any of your men, he will miss Jason entirely," she turned to face him. "So when do you think he can get here?"

"Alexis I need you to answer some questions for me first." Out of habit he moved to the wet bar only to stop when he remembered it was gone. All of the furniture that had once been in the penthouse had been lost when the bomb had went off.

"What do you need to know? It's my necklace and I want it back."

"Okay we'll start with that. If it is your necklace why do you need someone to steal it?"

"It is my necklace, it was my mothers, and now it belongs to me. My father gave it to my mother when she told him she was pregnant with me," her eyes were watering but her voice remained strong.

Sonny moved and sat on the exposed part of the stairs, he gestured for her to sit beside him. "Who has it now?"

"Helena, she's going to auction it off in a couple of days," she snorted in disgust. "To show how giving the Cassadines' are. But she can't do that because it is mine."

"Can't Nikolas get it back for you then? Isn't he the one who owns everything?" Sonny asked her when she sat beside him.

"Nikolas," his name came out on a sob and she took a breath before going on. "I told him it was mine, that Helena had stolen it after she killed my mom, but he went along with Helena. He couldn't even look me in the eye while he ripped my heart out. I never thought he would do that to me."

Sonny could heart he pain in her voice and he understood it. She had been distancing herself from the Cassadines' in the past several years, but she had remained close to Nikolas. For him to side with Helena over her on something this important must have been brutal for her. "Did he say why?"

"No. He's not acting like Nikolas. He's moved onto the yacht with Helena, he's kicked Gia, Laura, even Lucky out of his life. He parrots Helena, even Stefan can't reach him, and tonight neither could I," a tear slipped unnoticed down her cheek.

"Luke, Nikolas, Laura and I are trying to help him, but it's been hard." Elizabeth's words from earlier came back to him, and he wondered if Nikolas getting close to Helena was all part of Luke's plan. He frowned, wondering if he should tell Alexis, that her nephew probably hadn't turned his back on her at all.

"I told him that it was my mothers. I don't have very much of hers. I don't have that many memories of her either. I had blocked a lot out, because it hurt so much to remember," she turned to look at him then. "Do you know I have Luke to thank for giving my mother back to me?"

"No. That doesn't really sound like Luke." He knew Alexis and Luke had a strange relationship, one that seemed to be based on uneasy respect, but he really couldn't see Luke doing that for her.

"Well he had his reasons. It wasn't done out of the goodness of his heart. In fact he only did it so he could blackmail me into working with him," she waved that away. "But he did give me something that I can never repay. My mother was an opera singer and he tracked down some of her recordings and gave them to me. He gave me back her voice."

Her voice was quiet and her focus on the room, but Sonny knew she wasn't seeing the paint cans, the ladders, or the sawhorses scattered throughout the room. She was focused on the past. He had been trapped by memories before and knew that you could only ride them out.

"Her voice brought back more memories and of course Luke had found out what had happened to her, but by then I was remembering on my own. I was four when she died. I remember waking up from a nightmare, into a nightmare. I called for her, but she never came so I went looking for her. I heard voices downstairs and crept down to the landing, and looked through the railing into the salon," she shivered slightly. "I remember the hard wood floor was cold, it was winter and the house was drafty."

"My mom was in the salon, she was tied to a chair, there were some men in the room, and a woman," she smiled bitterly. "Helena, although I didn't know it then. My mother looked so scared and that scared me. Even now I can't remember what was said, I just remember my mother's face. Even though she was scared, she was so beautiful."

"I'm sure she was," Sonny spoke quietly but it didn't seem to matter she didn't even hear him.

"My mother saw me on the stairs and I opened my mouth to call to her, and she shook her head stopping me. Do you know how many times I've wondered what would have happened if I had spoken?"

Sonny recognized that type of question, he had several similar ones in his head. What if he had told people what was going on with Deke. Would someone had believed him and stopped Deke? What if he'd called Lily's father and told him he was going to be a Grandfather, that night, instead of waiting for the morning, would the hit have been called off? Would Lily and his child be alive? What if he had married Brenda like he had planned, would she still be alive? What if he hadn't taken Carly to the Quartermaines' that day would his son still be alive? These were questions that haunted him. Questions that chased him into the blackness that was always there waiting for him. He knew the danger that these types of questions could awake in a person.

"She was wearing the necklace, and had on an evening dress," he voice had softened in memory. "I remember seeing the sparkles, she must have been out that night, but I don't remember," she got to her feet to prowl the room, as if unable to sit while finishing her story. "I sat on those steps and watched Helena slit my mother's throat, while my mother looked at me."

Sonny couldn't help but flinch at those words, he knew Helena had killed her mother, but he didn't know that she had seen it. He didn't know that her death had been so brutal. No wonder she had blocked out the memories. How could a four-year-old bear to remember that?

"Luke found out that my father, Mikkos," she went on disgust in her voice. "Had arrived not long after that, and before Helena could do anything to me, he took me away. We left my mother there and I became Alexis Davidovitch and I forgot her, I even forgot that Mikkos was my father for awhile."

"You were just protecting yourself," Sonny countered.

"It doesn't matter. I remember her now. I remember my mother, I remember playing with the necklace, I remember my mother telling me that one day it would be mine," her voice trailed off. "And tonight I saw that necklace for the first time in 30 years. It was sitting on a table, with other treasures, waiting to be cleaned, displayed, and then sold," she shook her head. "I can't let that happen. I have to get it back."

"Does Helena know that you know about it?" Sonny asked getting to his feet.

"Yes. Nikolas had to pull me away from her," she answered quickly, her voice rising, trying to make her point. "I told you he agrees with Helena."

"So if it goes missing she'll know that you have it," he frowned at that. That would be a bad situation for her. If she hadn't tipped Helena, getting away with stealing it would be easier.

"Yes, but I don't care if she knows. I just want it."

"It's not that simple Alexis," he sighed. "If Helena goes to the police their first stop will be you. I don't think you know what you're asking here."

"Of course I know," she snapped. "If the police come to me I'll handle it. If Jason does his job right they'll never be able to prove anything," she turned away from him. "Besides Helena would never go to the police, they would just get in her way."

"And that's supposed to make me feel better?"

She whirled around again the desperation evident in her eyes. "I don't care, I want it. I would be able to look at when I wanted too, or even if I had to hide it someplace that would be fine too, it would be mine again, not hers."

"I'll buy it at the auction for you," he offered her a compromise.

She recoiled from him like he had hit her. "If Deke was selling one of your mother's necklaces would you buy it from him? Would you give him money to purchase something that was your mothers and should be yours?"

Sonny felt the words hit and realized exactly what she was feeling. There was no way he would ever give Deke money. So how could he expect Alexis to be okay with something, when he wouldn't be? "No."

"No, you wouldn't," her tears started again. "I can't do this alone. I know we haven't gotten along recently and that has been my fault. I have said some pretty awful things to you. I am sorry for that, I realize that you were trying to protect everybody and you did do the right thing by taking Zander like that. But I had been so worried and I lashed out at you. It wasn't fair to you. In the end even Zander and Emily understood why you did it. So there was no reason for me not too, but I wish you would have told me."

"I didn't tell you because you needed to be kept in the dark so you could do your best work. You were killing yourself trying to find Zander and also trying to figure out a way to convict Sorel, if Zander was gone," he was glad she was finally listening to him. He had missed talking to her. "Sorel was watching you, if he saw you let up, he would know that I had Zander. He could have gone after him, Emily, or even you. But when you reacted the way you did, it helped convince him that Zander had taken off."

"Why didn't you tell me that?" she demanded. "Sonny you just stood there and let me yell at you."

"You had a right to be mad," he sighed then went on. "You do your best work when you don't know about certain aspects of what I do. That's what makes you so good Alexis."

"I just wanted to let you know that I was sorry. And you need to know that I was sorry before I ever found out about the necklace. I'm not apologizing just to get your help."

"I know," he offered a smile.

"So will you help me?" she asked finally.

He searched her dark eyes for the conviction he knew he would find there, he knew that even if he turned her down, she wouldn't quit. He could understand her need to do this, but he didn't like it. "Yes, I'll help you," he said finally.

She staggered back slightly in relief. "Thank you."

"I'll get you the necklace," he vowed. "No matter what it takes."

Alexis began to shake and the tears started in earnest.

Sonny moved slowly, and cautiously put his arms around her shaking shoulders pulling her closer to him. She went stiff in his arms, and he just waited, until she finally sagged against him and cried.

Studio A.M.

Elizabeth set the makeup down in disgust. It wasn't even 9:30 in the morning and it was already sweltering. The makeup was running as soon as she put it on. She sighed and gave up. Today the world would just have to see both her pale face, and the dark circles under her eyes. She shook her head slightly, at least now she had an excuse to look like hell. Lucky had broken up with her, so she was allowed, even expected to look sad. Before last night she wasn't supposed to show her sadness. She moved back to the couch and sat on the corner where the fan could hit her.

She had to let Nikolas know what had happened last night. She also had to find out if Lucky had done something to Luke. Sometime during the long night she had come to a decision. If Luke was hurt she was going to stop the charade and tell people about Lucky and Helena. She would do that to try to force Lucky to get help, and also to protect other people from Lucky.

Frowning she tucked some of her hair behind her ear. She knew Nikolas wouldn't approve of her decision, she sighed, and Laura probably wouldn't either. Lucky might approve though, especially now that he was starting to realize something was wrong with him. She wanted to help Lucky but she wouldn't allow anybody else to be hurt, in trying to help him. Her Lucky would never want that. He would want her to put other people before him. She was going to try to do what was right for everybody from now on, not just what was best for Lucky.

A knock sounded on her door and she moved slowly towards it, trying to center herself. She had a feeling she knew who it was. She opened the door and forced a smile. "Hi Nikolas."

"Elizabeth," he gave her a hug and stepped into the studio.

She took a deep breath and closed the door. "I thought we were meeting later on."

"Helena scheduled a meeting for later, so I wanted to catch you before you went to work."

"Okay," she trailed him to the couch. "But I thought you were going to meet with Luke this morning."

"I was," Nikolas unbuttoned the top button of his shirt, and frowned at the fan. "But he didn't show, he probably overslept. I wasn't going to go to the club to check it out though."

"He wasn't there?" she sank down on the couch. God what if Lucky had hurt Luke?

"No. Elizabeth how can you stand to stay here? It's so hot."

"I like it," she answered absently. "Has Luke missed a meeting with you before?"

"Yes," he turned to look at her then. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I didn't sleep very well last night," she took a breath. "There's something you need to know."

"Did something happen?"

"Yes. Lucky broke up with me last night," she bit her lip and waited for his response.

"What?" he looked shocked.

"He told me he's afraid that he would hurt me, like he hurt Luke."

"What do you mean hurt Luke?"

"Lucky doesn't remember anything for sure, but he thinks he hurt him," she shifted on the couch to face him.

"But he doesn't know for sure right?" he pressed.

"No. But now Luke is missing."

"We don't know that. You know how Luke is, he does what he wants to, when he wants too. Just because he wasn't there this morning," he went on sharply as if trying to convince himself. "It doesn't mean that something happened to him."

"Come on Nikolas. Luke wouldn't blow you off, not when it comes to Lucky," she touched his hand. "Besides all of this was his idea."

He ignored that, "Lucky would never hurt you."

"We don't know what Lucky is capable of," she shot back. "That's why we're doing this, because we don't know what he's capable of."

Nikolas got to his feet. "I still know he wouldn't hurt you," he paused to look at her. "You know that don't you?"

Did she? The Lucky she once knew wouldn't do most of the things he had done in the year and a half since he had come back. This Lucky was so unpredictable it was hard to know what he would do. She knew Nikolas was waiting for an answer and she didn't have one for him, not one that he would like anyway, so she just shrugged.

"Elizabeth," he looked aghast at her actions. "You have to know that."

"A part of me, still believes that Lucky would never hurt me, or anyone else. That is the part of me that is fighting so hard to save him," she struggled to find the words to make him understand. "But there is also a part of me, that looks at what he has already done and I'm scared that he hurt Luke, I'm scared that we'll never get Lucky back."

He crouched in front of her and took her hands. "You have to believe we will."

Her eyes searched his dark ones. "But at what cost? I can't take the chance that someone else will be hurt while we are trying to help him. I don't want anymore guilt."

"Guilt?" he repeated, his eyes shifting away from her. "I don't know what you mean. No one has gotten hurt."

"Nikolas," she dropped his hands. "You know that's not true."

He got to his feet and nervously tucked his hands in his pockets. "What do you mean?"

"Emily," she cried angrily, "Zander, Alexis, Carly, Sonny, do I need to go on?"

Nikolas turned away from her and moved to the window. "What about Emily? She's not even in town anymore."

"And why is that Nikolas?" Incensed she trailed him to the window and jerked him around to face her. "She's in a hospital because of what we did. She's paralyzed, because of what we did. Jesus Nikolas. Do you even think of her? Do you ever regret not going to the police?" Her eyes searched his. "Because I do. The few hours a night I can sleep, I'm haunted by the memory, that we knew where Sorel was, and we didn't say anything. And because of that Emily was hurt. So I ask again Nikolas, do you ever even think about your friend? Or is she expendable because of your need to help Lucky?"

Nikolas recoiled from her words and didn't answer.

[JRK Archiver]

Authors Note: Remember this is POV. So in any given situation only one person's thought's will be "heard." Also I'm loosely following highlights/lowlights of the storyline at this time. I.E., Angel, Sorel, the brainwashing, Alexis' necklace, Gia and Nik being broken up, Stavros, 2 Luke's but there is a twist with each of them. So keep reading I'm going to factor in a LOT of characters. There's also a surprise in this chapter, let's see if you notice it.

Chapter 4

Studio

Did he ever think about Emily? Not if he could help it. It hurt too much to think of his friend, lying all alone in a hospital bed. Nikolas turned away from Elizabeth's accusing eyes. "Yes, I think about her."

"Look at me," Elizabeth demanded.

He sighed and did as she asked, and for once he let the guilt that he carried with him show in his eyes, and in his face.

"Nikolas I'm sorry," she touched his arm. "I shouldn't have accused you of not caring like that. I know you care about Emily."

"I do. But I can't let myself think about her," he covered her hand with his. "If I do I start to feel so bad, and so guilty that I can't function. So I block her out, I try to forget all the years that she's been the perfect friend to me. Instead I pretend she isn't that important. It's the only was I can get through the day."

"I know what you mean," she moved closer and hugged him. "But Nikolas we need to be honest with each other. I can't keep this façade up if I can't be honest with someone. I don't think you will be able to either. And we will never get past this if we don't talk to each other."

Pulling her closer he felt her words wash over him. She was right, they were in this together, they couldn't keep hiding things from each other. "Then let's talk," he let her go and moved back to the couch.

"Did you even go see her after she was hurt?"

Her words followed him and he was grateful that he had his back to her so she couldn't see him flinch. "No," he sat down wearily. "I tried to, I got as far as the corridor that led to her room, but I always left before I made it any farther. I couldn't look into her face, into those soft brown eyes of hers that were no doubt confused and in pain, and lie to her," he shifted to face her when Elizabeth sat beside him. "Because I was partially to blame for her being in the hospital."

"I did go," her words were quiet barely audible.

"You did? You didn't tell me."

"I didn't know how you would react," she shrugged. "I couldn't stay away after I found out."

"How was she?" He was dying for information on her. He couldn't ask Zander, the one time he had approached her parents they were cold to him. Even Bobbie wouldn't answer his questions.

"She was so still, so pale, she seemed to fade into the sheets. She was asleep when I went in, so I just sat by her bed and held her hand," her voice was full of emotion. "I told her I was sorry that if I could trade places with her, that I would. She woke up then and asked me why I was sorry."

"What did you tell her?"

"Nothing. Before I had a chance to say anything Zander came in I think he knows or suspects something because he was angry with me," she shuddered slightly. "He accused me of being there to check out my handiwork. When he said that he flipped the covers down to show her paralyzed legs."

"God," he just shook his head that had to have been so hard on her.

"It's funny all those times we warned her that being with him would get her hurt, and in the end we were the ones who hurt her."

He agreed with her statement, but the mere fact that Zander accused her, made him worry. "Do you think he knows what happened with Sorel?"

"I think he suspects something. But if he knew for sure he would have shown up here, or went after you or Lucky. You know how he gets."

"Yeah he's a hothead." Rubbing a hand over his chin he tilted his head to look at her when she sighed again. How long had it been since he allowed himself to really look at her? Weeks? Months? Over a year? For so long he had looked at her and seen only what he had wanted to see. He wanted her to be happy and in love with Lucky so that was all he allowed himself to see. He ignored the fact that her smile never seemed to reach her eyes. That she stopped talking about her dreams for the future. That she had been willing to model, something she hated, just so she didn't upset Lucky. That she had shut down, closed off her emotions so much that she couldn't even paint anymore.

But in the bright sunlight of this hot and sunny day he finally opened his eyes and looked at her. She had lost so much weight that her skin was tight over her bones. Her eyes were sunk far in her head, and he could see the dark circles under them. Her eyes which had once sparkled in laughter, or shone in love, were dull now, dull and guarded. She had sacrificed a lot to help Lucky, maybe too much.

"Why are you staring at me like that?"

"I was just wondering if you're okay," he admitted.

She averted her eyes. "I'm fine."

"Elizabeth," he touched her chin to make her look at him. "You said it yourself we have to be honest with each other."

"You haven't wanted me to be honest for a long time now Nikolas."

"I want you to be now," he paused. He felt so alone now, without Gia, Stefan, Lucky, Emily, that he could only imagine that she must feel the same.

"Do you mean that?" her eyes searched his. "Because I really would like to have my friend back."

"I'm here, I've been here."

"That's not true Nikolas. Ever since Lucky came back home, you really haven't been my friend. When you looked at me all you seemed to see was an extension of Lucky. I wasn't your friend Elizabeth anymore, I was just Lucky's girlfriend," her mouth twisted into a bitter smile. "You weren't the only one who saw me like that. But you were one of the few that really hurt me when you did."

Nikolas felt the words hit home and knew that she was only speaking the truth. He hadn't meant to do that to her, but he had slotted her into the role of Lucky's girlfriend and he wouldn't let her be anything else. He wished he could explain to her that he had done that originally to protect her, and himself.

When Lucky first returned home, Nikolas had been in love with Elizabeth. He knew she didn't feel the same way, and that she never would feel that way about him. But that didn't matter to him he still loved her. You couldn't help whom you fell in love with. Lives would be so much easier if you could.

He had been in love with her, she hadn't been in love with him, but there was a status quo in their relationship. He could delude himself with the dream of one day being with her, and she was oblivious to that. It was fine with him, until the day Lucky came back. When Lucky returned he knew that he couldn't have those feelings about her anymore. That it was wrong to think of her like that because despite what Lucky said to the contrary he was still in love with her.

So he had to make himself stop feeling that way, stop looking at her and hoping for a future that would never come. The only way he could do that was to stop seeing her as Elizabeth. Instead he trained himself to see her as only Lucky's girlfriend. He had taught himself to do that so well that he had never stopped. Even after the love he'd had for her changed back into that of friendship, he still treated her as Lucky's girlfriend. Was it any wonder that she was looking at him with wary eyes? Why should she believe that he would listen to her and not tell her what to do or how to feel for once? After all he had spent over a year telling her things instead of listening to her.

He sighed and shook his head that had to stop. "I am sorry, for hurting you like I have. I have no excuse for my behavior, or none that would make sense. But I would really like for you to let me be your friend again. I want you to talk to me. I would want that even if we weren't stuck in this situation."

"What if you don't like what I say?"

"Then I won't," he smiled slightly. "Being friends doesn't mean we have to agree on everything."

She looked at him for a long time as if trying to see if she believed what he said. He met her gaze without flinching, hoping she would see the sincerity in his eyes.

Finally she started to speak, slowly at first but then the words sped up. "I'm tired Nikolas, I'm just really tired. I'm tired of watching everything I say and do, of trying to remember what lie I told what person. I'm tired of distancing myself and giving up people I care about, even love, because I'm not allowed to think or feel for anyone else besides Lucky," she sighed. "I know he needs help, that if the situations were reversed he would help me. But sometimes Nikolas it's just so hard."

"I know what you mean. I'm tired too. Every time I see Gia all I want to do is take her in my arms, hold her, and never let her go. And instead I hurt her, I push her away, I push Stefan away. All I seem to do his hurt people, and every time I think it can't get any worse, someone else comes along and I have to blindside them," an image of Alexis entered his head. "I hate that."

"What happened?"

"Last night I had to hurt Alexis. I had to say the words that broke her heart," he could still remember the shock and devastation he had seen in his aunt's eyes before the anger arrived. "Helena was so proud of me," he said mockingly. "She was happy that I hurt her. Pleased that I put the bastard child in her place, I saw her standing there, laughing at Alexis' pain and it was all I could do not to hit her."

"I am not a violent person," he looked down at his hands and realized that they were closed into fists, and he quickly opened his hands. "But the more time I spend with Helena, the more she tempts me into becoming violent. I'm so afraid that one day I'll give in and become the Cassadine that she so longs for me to be."

"Nikolas," Elizabeth tugged on his arm until he looked at her. "You can't let Helena win. If she turns you into that person, then she's done that. Don't let her do that. Do whatever you have to do to protect yourself from her."

"It's hard, the more I'm around her the angrier I get."

"Then leave."

"But Lucky…"

"To hell with Lucky," she yelled shocking them both.

"Elizabeth what are you saying?" he looked at her in shock.

"Nikolas remember our Lucky, the real Lucky. The one who used to call you the Cassa-creep and didn't want to be around you at all, until he got to know you. The one that kept hanging around you at times, even when he didn't know why, because he was drawn to you, because you were his brother. The one who let you sleep on his floor, when the stuff about Stefan and your mom came out, remember him. He wouldn't want you to lose yourself, not even to save him. In fact he would be angry at you for even considering becoming one of those Cassadines' just to help him."

"But I need to help him," he got to his feet and began to pace the room. "Don't you see one of the reasons that Helena messed with his head was because of me, because I had feelings for you and she wanted to help me get you?"

"Nikolas don't flatter yourself or me," she retorted getting to her feet. "Helena went after Lucky because he was a Spencer pure and simple. She was upping the ante in the sick game her and Luke have been playing for years. Did she throw in a little bonus for you? Yes. But don't forget how much she must have loved making Lucky deny his feelings for me, and making himself miserable in the process. Nikolas, even as much as she says she loves you, you are secondary to her vendetta with Luke."

"I know that but I can't help but feel guilty," and that was the main reason he couldn't let it go. He had wanted to stay here and get close to his family instead of returning to Europe after Helena had arrived. If he had left, Helena would have followed him and maybe, just maybe she would have left Lucky alone.

"Then you need to go and find Gia and tell the truth. I don't know what you see in her, but you can't help who you love. So if you love her, then find her and talk to her. If she is this great person you've always told me she was, she will support you and keep the secret. You have to trust her with the truth or you will lose her," tears were in her eyes. "Don't give up someone you love over this. Because believe me you will regret it. You will feel so empty and cold inside that all you can do is wonder why," she choked back a sob. "So find her and don't let her go."

Nikolas opened his arms to her. Elizabeth brushed at the tears on her face for a minute more then moved into his embrace. "Don't cry, you'll get him back."

"No I won't. I hurt him too badly this time. He's gone for good, and I don't blame him."

He frowned over her head, that didn't make sense, Lucky wasn't gone. He could hear the quiet despair in her voice, felt her hot tears soaking his shirt and his eye fell on a portrait on her easel. All of her art supplies and canvas' had been neatly packed up and rested in the corner, all but this one. He stared at it for a minute, before he placed it. He remembered a cold day on the docks, when he had seen her talking to Jason. She had been showing him a painting that she had made for him. This painting. At the time he had been angry and frustrated that she had been with him again, but now he only felt a bitter understanding. She wasn't talking about losing Lucky at all, she was talking about losing Jason.

"What if you don't like what I have to say?"

Her worried question came back to haunt him. You can't help whom you love. He sighed and shook his head. "He'll be back Elizabeth, Jason always comes back."

"Not this time," her words were muffled by his shirt. "I hurt him too bad this tim…" she trailed off and pulled back to look at him. "Jason?"

"That is who were talking about isn't it?"

Nodding slowly she bit her lip. "Is this the part that you get mad at me and yell at me for not meaning Lucky?"

"No," he shook his head. "This is the part when I become your friend again. And tell you how sorry I am for being such an ass and not seeing how much pain you have been in before today."

Her smile was watery, "I've missed you," she said before hugging her friend again.

West Coast

Jason let himself in his room after his run on the beach and looked at the clock. 7:30 he wanted to be at the hospital by 8:30 and have breakfast with Emily. Pulling the towel from around his neck he wiped at the sweat on his face, before heading for the shower. He paused by the table when the phone on it caught his eye. He still hadn't turned it on.

Letting out a breath he reached down and turned it on, if Sonny wanted to talk he would listen. He had only taken a step away from it when it rang. Burying his face in the towel he stifled a groan before turning around and picking it up. "Morgan."

"Jason I'm glad I finally caught you," Sonny's voice came over the line. "I've been trying to reach you since last night."

"I turned my phone off," it was the only explanation he offered. He didn't feel the same anger he had felt the last time he had spoken with Sonny but he still felt the disappointment.

"How is she?"

He could hear the concern in Sonny's voice and sighed heavily, he knew Sonny cared about Emily. "She had a breakthrough last night, so her spirit's have improved."

"That's great," Sonny's voice was full of relief. "I bet she's glad your there."

"What did you need Sonny?" Jason cut him off, he wasn't ready to discuss Emily with Sonny yet.

After a pause Sonny spoke again. "I'm sorry to do this to you but, something has come up here, and I need your help. I need you to come back to Port Charles."

Jason bowed his head, and pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers, he knew this was coming. Today was the day he would find out what sort of relationship Sonny and him really had. "Are you in physical danger? Or in legal trouble again?"

"No."

"Is Carly or Michael in danger?"

"No…their fine."

Jason heard the hesitation before Sonny completed his answer but let it go. He knew Sonny would tell him if they were in trouble. "Then I don't see a reason for me to come back right now."

Sonny was quiet then. It was strange being on the receiving end of silence. It made him feel uneasy, so much so, it compelled him to speak. "I don't want to leave Emily."

"I see," Sonny paused. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"What more do you expect from me Sonny?" Jason demanded anger breaking through making his voice rougher. "I have done everything that you've asked of me for years. I even followed the orders you gave me in the last few months. Even when I didn't agree with them, I followed them. I have been your perfect soldier," some of the bitterness he felt came out. "The one thing I asked of you in return was to protect the people I care about, and be there for them if they need help."

"And I let you down, I know that. There isn't a minute that goes by that I don't regret that."

"I know, I know your sorry, that's what makes this harder," unable to stand still he moved outside to feel the breeze. "You didn't mean to let me down, to let Emily down, but you did. And you did it more than once, you hate it when other people let you down, yet you do it yourself," he cleared his throat and evened his tone out. "When I got here she was surprised to see me, but she was also hurt. She thought I had abandoned her."

"What can I say to make this right?"

"I don't know," he didn't like being at odds with Sonny. It didn't feel right to him, for so many years Sonny had been his hero. Sonny had fallen from that pedestal after what happened with Carly, but that had been a good thing. It made Sonny seem more human to him.

"So where does that leave us?" Sonny asked.

"I don't know. I just need some more time. I have been so wrapped up in trying to help Emily that I can't think about anything else. She has to be my priority for a change, I have to help her."

"I understand that and if it matters at all, I agree."

He leaned against the rail, loyalty that was such a part of him had him asking, "This job, am I the only one who can do it for you?"

"No I can find someone else," he admitted. "I just thought of you first."

"Then get someone else, I'm not ready to go back to Port Charles, and I won't be for awhile," Jason told him heading back inside.

"There's something else," Sonny spoke quickly. "I had a visitor last night, Elizabeth came to see me."

That stopped him in his tracks. "Was she okay? Did Sorel make a move on her?"

"No she's fine. I'm keeping a close eye on her," Sonny hesitated. "She asked about you."

Jason closed his eyes two distinct needs raging a battle inside of him. One was a need to demand that Sonny tell him everything she said and did. The other was the need to tell Sonny to shut up, that he had no desire to hear about her. Which need was stronger?

"Jason do you want to hear about her?"

Sonny's question brought his attention back to the phone. He realized he must have been quiet too long. "No I really don't," he sighed heavily. "If she gets in trouble or needs something I want you to help her, but I don't need to hear about it." The need to protect himself from her had won out.

"Okay I'll be there for her."

Jason heard the disappointment in Sonny's voice but chose to ignore it then his loyalty kicked in again. "If something serious happens and you need me, I'll be there. That hasn't changed and it won't change, you're still my family."

"I'll remember that," the relief was evident in Sonny's voice. "Watch your back."

Jason slowly closed the phone, set it on the table and then forced himself to turn the chair he was gripping loose. That hadn't been pleasant but it had been necessary. He had learned something from talking with Sonny, he learned that eventually they would get past this. They just needed some more time before that happened. And for that he was relieved.

He continued on into the bathroom, he hadn't been prepared to hear about Elizabeth. Sighing he looked at his reflection in the mirror. A part of him already felt guilty for cutting Sonny off before he could tell him what she had wanted. She probably had a reason for going to Sonny, but he just didn't want to hear it. He knew Sonny would help her and watch out for her, especially since he still felt guilty over what happened to Emily. But he was surprised how strong the pull was to go back and see what she needed himself.

"Did you know her and Lucky got engaged?"

That was the reason he couldn't go back now, it was the reason it was time to let her go. She would always be his friend, and he would always owe her for saving his life, but he couldn't be her crutch anymore. It hurt too bad and he didn't want to go back to that. Decision made he stripped and got into the shower.

"You matter to me, were clear on that right?"

Elizabeth's words came back to him, and he groaned then stuck his head under the water, he needed to let her go.

Studio

"So what's the next step?" Elizabeth asked after a while.

"I guess we need to check on Luke." It pained him to say that. he didn't even want to think that Lucky may have hurt his own father. He wanted to believe in his brother, believe that no matter what Helena told him to do, that there were some lines that Lucky wouldn't cross no matter what. But he needed to be realistic, Elizabeth had said it earlier, they didn't know what Lucky was capable of.

"I can do that, I'll go by the club. That way if Helena is watching the place she won't see you," he opened his mouth to object and she hurried on. "Besides it makes more sense for me to do it, Luke is Lucky's dad after all."

"All right, I'll keep getting close to Helena," he said reluctantly.

She opened the door and waited for him to exit. "If Luke has been hurt, we have to tell people about Lucky. We can't let anyone else be hurt."

"I know, if Lucky did hurt his father, there's no telling who else he might hurt," the admission hurt him, but it was accurate.

She looked at him in surprise. "I'm glad you agree with me, I figured I would have to fight you on that."

"No more fighting, this is hard enough as it is."

"Are you going to go see Gia?"

"I don't know," he shrugged. "Keeping her out of the loop might be the best thing I could do for her. Helena is convinced that she doesn't mean anything to me anymore, but that could change. Gia would want to help, or see me, I don't want risk Helena finding out."

"Okay then promise me if it starts to get crazy, and you start feeling out of control, come to me," Elizabeth caught his hand. "Promise me."

"Are you trying to save the world?" Nikolas asked, sometimes her strength surprised him. She looked like a stiff wind would knock her over, but her determination still shone in her eyes.

"Only the people I care about, and you're one of those people. I'll come by later and tell you what I found out about Luke."

"How are you going to explain that?"

"You kicked Lucky out of your life not me," she locked the door. "If Lucky reports back to Helena about breaking up with me, she'll wonder why I didn't come to you."

"That's true, I should be there around," he stopped when he realized she wasn't beside him, turning around he found her frowning at the ceiling. "What's wrong?"

"The janitor finally changed the lights," she explained her eyes still on the lights.

"Isn't that what he is supposed to do?"

"Yeah, but they've been out for three months," she shook her head and flicked the hall light out. "No need to run it during the day. So what were you saying?"

"Be careful at Luke's if you're right and Lucky did do something to him, Helena might have people there to make sure no one gets curious," Nikolas caught her arm before she could start down the stairs. "And make sure I'm on the yacht before you come by, Helena doesn't like you, you shouldn't be alone with her."

"The feeling is mutual believe me."

He frowned at her flippant remark, "I'm serious Elizabeth."

"I know," she sobered. "I'm just really glad to have my friend back."

"Me too," he gave her another hug then hurried down the stairs. "Elizabeth," he paused at the bottom of the landing. "Don't give up on your dreams, not any of them," it was the best he could offer her. He saw her smile and knew it was good enough.

Francis waited until she started down the stairs before stepping out of the vacant room across the hall from the studio and trailing her.

Warehouse

Sonny stared at his phone for a long time after he said goodbye to Jason. He felt both unsettled and relieved after talking with Jason. He was actually relieved that Jason had let some of his anger he felt towards him out. Jason closed off when he was hurt, he didn't let Sonny see the anger that was there a lot of times. He was glad that Jason seemed willing to let it out this time.

The last time he had hurt Jason like this was over Carly. When that had happened other than a brief discussion in the boxcar the next day Jason had refused to talk to him about what happened. Instead he had recuperated from the gunshot wound and the betrayal alone. No, he corrected himself, not alone Elizabeth had been with him.

Jason had left town not long after that, but before he did he had told Sonny that he had forgiven him, and in fact considered him his surrogate father, but things were still awkward between them. He had been starting to believe things were getting back on track between them, when the mess with Sorel began.

Getting to his feet he moved to the window to stare at the docks. Looking back now, he knew he had been out of control in the last few months, especially with Jason. After he was shot he seemed to develop tunnel vision, he tried to get past the memory of what Sorel had done, but it followed him everywhere. The anger inside him built and built in him, finding out about Carlos had added to it, but what truly sent him over the edge had been Rick's betrayal.

He had trusted Rick to guard Carly and Michael, and it turned out he was working with Sorel against him. When that happened, somewhere deep inside of him, something had turned cold. He would smile at the right times, talk to people, he even got married again, but he was cold, on edge. He couldn't let Carly see it, he couldn't let the men see it, but he could let Jason. He could take out his fear on Jason, because Jason would never let anyone else know, and would just take it.

So he forgot the friendship at times, and instead almost every time they talked he turned it around so it was about his life and his needs and that had never been their relationship. From the beginning he hadn't seen Jason as just an employee, originally it was because of Robin, but Jason soon proved himself to be special without Robin. To his surprise they became friends, he'd recently lost Stone the brother of his heart, and Jason didn't fill that void left by Stone, but he had become another brother to him and more. Jason was his best friend, his partner, his brother, and his successor all in one. Stone was never going to go into the business, Stone didn't want too, and he would never have let him. But Jason seemed to have been born for this life, he quickly became the only successor he would ever want, they were Corinthos/Morgan and that was more of a partnership then anyone thought.

But in the last few months that had changed. He had begun to treat Jason as just another employee and Jason had let him do it. That wasn't good. So he was glad that Jason was still angry with him. That he had stood up to him and said no on the phone just now. It meant that Jason was trying to put their partnership back on more equal footing. Jason would always follow his lead when it came to the business, but now he was back to questioning things at times, and for that he was relieved. He also felt that though it would take time eventually they would get their friendship back on track as well.

Moving back to the desk he dropped heavily in his chair, his eye falling on the blue scarf there, he still had the question of Elizabeth to deal with though. He had wanted to tell Jason what she had said, but Jason had cut him off. It was true that he could have pushed, but he couldn't blame Jason for wanting to protect himself. She had admitted that she had hurt Jason very badly before he left, and that if he returned she would probably hurt him again. It seemed Jason had finally learned the art of self-protection, and how to use it when it came to people, who hurt him, he had learned it the hard way but it seemed he was finally using it.

Sonny put the scarf in a drawer, he would do what Jason had asked and keep a close eye on her. He wouldn't let her get hurt. If something happened that he didn't like he would call Jason again, but for now he would respect Jason's wishes and leave it alone. "Yeah," he called when someone knocked on the door.

"Ms. Davis is here," Johnny announced.

Sonny nodded.

Alexis walked into the room, her glasses were slipping down her nose, and she was digging in her briefcase for papers, but she was already talking. "I got your message about starting the divorce action. I already had the papers drawn up with the terms we previously discussed, concerning Carly's allowance and a trust for Michael. I also prepared a visitation request for Michael," she looked up at him then. "I realize you had originally said you didn't want visitation rights, but I strongly feel you should reconsider that. Michael has lived with you for close to two years now, if you vanish from his life you will only confuse and hurt the boy. I know it will be difficult with Carly, but I spent some time with her, while you were missing, and I believe she would have no problem letting you see Michael. So will you let me file them both?"

Sonny leaned back against his chair and grinned up at her. "How did you say that all in one breath?"

She glared at him. "Quit trying to change the subject. Do you want me to file the visitation papers or not?"

Sonny rubbed a hand over his chin and thought about it. He knew that if he continued to keep Michael in his life, Carly would use every opportunity she could to try to get him to change his mind and take her back. She would even use Michael if she had to, she had done that with Jason in the past so she wasn't above it. He wanted to avoid that, so he had decided to let Michael go. But he couldn't help but remember how he had felt when Mike had disappeared from his life. He couldn't do that to Michael, he loved that little boy too much. "File both sets of papers."

"Good," she smiled briefly and held out some papers. "I just need you to sign these."

Sonny took them and then opened his desk drawer to get a pen, the first thing he saw was his wedding ring glinting in the light. He frowned down at that ring for a long moment, before removing a pen and closing the drawer.

Alexis put her hand over the papers before he could sign them. "Are you sure about this?"

He looked up at her. "Yes. I've spent weeks thinking about this, there's no going back, and there's no way I can move forward with Carly," he pulled the papers out from under her hand. "It's over."

"You realize of course that she doesn't agree, and will no doubt fight the divorce action."

"I know," he looked down at the line reading Petitioner and quickly signed his name. "But you can get the ball rolling."

"I'll file and serve Carly today," Alexis took the papers and put them in her briefcase then stood there, fiddling with the clasp on the case.

"Did you need something else?"

"Are you still willing to get my necklace back?" She asked quietly.

"I said I would get it back for you before the auction next week and I meant that."

Sighing she sat down on the chair across from him. "I'm glad to hear that, I was afraid you might have changed your mind."

"No," he pressed the tips of his fingers together and studied Alexis who was avoiding his eyes. "Can you handle the implications of asking someone to break the law?"

She snorted. "Sonny my ethics are strange and fickle things. I once plotted a murder, did you know that?"

"No," he shook his head but didn't show the surprise he felt.

"It's true," she nodded her head and smiled slightly. "Everything that could go wrong did, a different person, then the intended victim was the one who almost ended up dead, but I planned it, I executed it, and I had no problems being a lawyer after that," she hesitated. "But…"

He leaned over the desk, resting his arms on it, so he could hear her. "But?" he prompted.

"I am having ethical problems with what happened last night."

"I thought you didn't want to talk about that. In fact you told me you never wanted us to mention that again," he shifted in his seat. He wasn't ready to talk about last night, so he had been relieved at her demand that they didn't discuss it.

"I know what I said," she got to her feet and pulled her glasses off her face. "But that was at 6:00 this morning. That was hours ago I've had plenty of time to think about what happened," she sighed heavily. "I know it's stupid. Here I have no problem plotting a murder, asking you to steal something for me, or defending you against charges when I know some of them are based in fact. But I'm having a real hard time with the fact that I slept with you. I don't sleep with my clients, that was one rule I made in law school and I kept it until last night."

"But I'm also your friend," he explained.

"I know that makes it worse," she dropped wearily back in the chair. "I know neither one of us meant for it to happen, but it did and it was wrong," she hesitated. "Maybe you should get another attorney."

"Alexis, we both had a bad night, last night we were two friends comforting each other, being there for each other, and we just went a little farther then we planned. But that doesn't mean that anything has to change between us," he argued. He didn't want any more changes in his life right now. Last night had been unexpected but he wasn't willing to pay the prices she seemed to need to pay in order to get past it. "Did what happened last night effect your ability to draw up these papers?"

"No."

"Do you have this uncontrollable urge to ravish me every time you see me now?" he asked with a grin.

"Don't flatter yourself Corinthos," she snapped back, her eyes firing in anger.

"Then I don't see the problem, we already agreed that it would never happen again. We agreed to go back to the way it was before we slept together. Why don't we see if that works before you decide to quit on me?" He knew she would hate that last line and that's what he wanted. He wanted her angry, in this situation if she thought things through logically he could be in trouble, but when she got angry, and it was personal, she tended to leap sometimes before looking.

"I wasn't just going to quit," she retorted hotly. "I was just saying I was having problems with what happened between us."

"So are you my attorney or not?"

She leveled a glare at him then got to her feet and headed for the door. "I have to go file some papers."

Sonny hid the grin as the door slammed. He was hoping what had happened between them wouldn't ruin their friendship. Judging from what just happened, it didn't look like it, and for that he was glad.

Luke's

"Luke are you here?" Elizabeth let herself inside the dark club, using the key Lucky had once given her. She looked around the dim club, it always looked so different to her when it was closed. The life this place always seemed to have, seemed to be missing in the bright light of the day. Luke's was a place for the night, and it suited Luke perfectly. She moved down the hallway towards his office, hoping that she would find him passed out at his desk.

She didn't see a light below the door, and sighed before pushing the door open slightly, "Luke?" She stepped in the doorway, but the office was dim and empty. She shook her head and turned to head for the stairs that led to the second floor and the two apartments that were up there. She was so busy bracing herself to talk to Lucky in case he was still here that she didn't hear the office door open and close behind her, and someone move into the hallway and begin to follow her up the stairs.

[JRK Archiver]

Authors Note: The only time I turned into GH during this awful set of storylines was the day the 2 Luke's made his ungodly appearance. Guess what? The 2 Luke's are here as well. To make it sort of less confusing, if Luke speaks it's the bad Luke, if he's only thinking it's the real Luke.

Chapter 5

Luke's

"Is someone there?"

Her voice drifted down to him and he paused on the stairs. It was no use tipping her off before he was ready. He waited where he was, one foot hovering above the next riser, barely breathing, until he heard her footsteps begin again, and move away from him. He waited another minute before moving again, being careful to step over the stair that always squeaked. He could hear her by the door, the sounds of jangling keys caught his ear and made him smile in the dim light.

"Lucky, Luke are you here?"

Her voice was muffled and he knew that she was in the apartment, so he stepped clear of the stairs and moved to the doorway. And there she was, her back was to him, but she looked very pretty in her sky blue sundress with its spaghetti straps. Her brown hair was piled high on her head, in deference to the heat no doubt, but those few loose tendrils framed her neck nicely.

"Now this is a nice surprise." He spoke at the same time he slammed the door behind him, closing them inside the cluttered apartment.

Elizabeth whirled around her hand on her throat, she let out a cry of fright that turned into a nervous laugh of recognition. "Luke you startled me."

"You're going to need to work on your breaking and entering skills sweet thing, if you want to have a job in the field." He kept his hands on the doorknob behind him and never hesitated before locking it.

"I still have the key Lucky gave me." Elizabeth explained holding up the key.

"So what brings you into this den of inequity sweet thing?" He moved away from the door.

Elizabeth looked at him oddly for a second before speaking. "I was looking for you. Nikolas said you didn't show up this morning."

"Doing the bidding of the Cassa-pup huh?" He edged closer. "And I had such high hopes for you."

"I was worried about you Luke."

He preened at that and touched her arm. "I've been okay, but I'm better now that you're here."

She shifted back slightly, breaking contact. "I have something to tell you."

"Why is it that all you women ever seem to want to do is talk?" He asked stepping closer to her. "Whatever happened to taking the time to smell the roses?" He closed his eyes and smelled her hair. "Or smell you. You smell good sweet thing."

Elizabeth stiffened and stepped away from him. "Are you okay Luke?"

Stop it you're scaring her. You know her history, she isn't Felicia back off. Luke's subconscious was screaming the words. "I'm just fine," he said with a slow smile.

Elizabeth eyed him warily and sat down on the couch. "I need to tell you about Lucky."

"What did the Cowboy do now?" He sat down beside her.

"He thinks he hurt you," Elizabeth explained. "He thinks he might have even killed you."

"Well I'm right here." He shifted closer on the couch and picked up her hand. "Can't you feel me?" Luke watched the wariness enter Elizabeth's eyes and felt sick. He didn't want to say these things to her. He had never even considered saying anything at all like this to her. But the words were coming out of his mouth anyway, and he hated it. Whatever had been in that shot Lucky had given him, was coming to life, and it sickened him.

Elizabeth nervously pulled her hand free of him and pressed herself farther into the arm of the couch. "Still he thinks he did, so he broke up with me last night. He's afraid he might hurt me."

"My son must be crazy to walk away from you." He shifted closer still until he could feel the heat coming off of her body. "Do you need a shoulder to cry on?" Don't you touch her, don't you dare touch her. He brought his hand up to her bare shoulder and wrapped a lock of her hair around his finger. "Because I'm here for you sweet thing."

"I-I'm okay Luke." She turned to look at him.

Luke could see the trace of fear in her eyes and it disgusted him. He hadn't seen those eyes from her since the rape had first happened, and then later when she had found out what he had done to Laura all of those years ago. "Lucky will come back to you." His index finger had slipped free of her hair and slipped under the thin strap on her shoulder. "He won't be able to stay away from you for long, sweet thing, there's too much Spencer in him for that."

Elizabeth shot to her feet and backed away from him.

"Problems?" He stayed where he was on the couch his face the picture of concern. Luke saw the confusion and doubt enter Elizabeth's eyes and it hurt him to see it. Stop playing mind games with her.

"Yes, it will be even harder to keep an eye on him now. Nikolas can't, you can't, Laura's out of town, and now I can't." She nervously twisted the strap of her purse in her hands. "This is going to set our plan back."

"Oh the plan." He got to his feet and waved her concerns off. "I have everything under control."

"Have you found something out that can help Lucky?"

Stavros is alive and him and the old bat are controlling Lucky, get him out of town, get yourself out of town. "I'll help my son." He began to move around the back of the couch while he spoke.

"How? Nikolas and I…"

"Stop." Luke threw a lamp against the wall. "Don't ever mention the name Cassadine in this house again."

Elizabeth jolted in surprise, her eyes whipped to broken glass on the floor. "Luke what's wrong with you?"

"There's nothing wrong with me and there's nothing wrong with my son either. Especially now that he's seen the light about you, and he now sees you for the lying slut you are." Shut up don't do this to her, Luke was screaming in his head.

"Luke?" She focused on him again her eyes filling with tears.

"Don't waste them crocodile tears on me baby, they don't do a damn thing for me." He smirked. "It is going to be so nice to tell you what I really think of you."

"I-I don't understand."

"You don't understand?" He jeered moving into her space. "What? Did you think that no one saw how you played Lucky? That no one would notice that you've been lying to him for months. That you have kept him dancing on a string while you were off with Morgan every chance you got."

"I did…"

"Save it little girl. I watched you disappear for several hours a night, every couple of nights, and I know you were with Jason, the King of Understatements. And that was when my son wasn't even cold in his grave. But of course no one else saw that. You knew just how to play it, your eyes," he gestured to her face, "would fill up on cue. Your bottom lip would start to quiver, the neediness you projected would come off in waves. And until the Cassa-freak opened his big mouth, no one even had a clue what you were doing." He leaned closer until he felt her breath on his cheek. "No one knew that you'd been spreading your legs for Jason for months."

Elizabeth closed her eyes and covered her mouth. "I never did that Luke, I loved Lucky."

SHUT UP. Don't do this to her. She doesn't deserve it, especially when it's not true. Don't hurt her. "Spare me from the love of a fickle woman. You and Lucky were having problems a few months ago, and you were spending all your time with Morgan." He touched her arm and she brushed his hand away. "Then the moment Morgan leaves town you cozied up to my son, like nothing bad had ever been said between you, like you hadn't been lying to him for months. You probably couldn't wait to get him back in your bed and under your spell."

"You don't know anything Luke." Elizabeth cried and headed for the door only to come up short when the handle wouldn't turn.

"Oh I know you sweet thing." He was behind her quickly, crowding her against the door, his hands once again on the bare skin of her shoulders. "I married one of you, a faithless woman who lied to all the men in her life. A woman who was so desperate to be loved and so needy for it, she would hang on to someone she didn't really love, so she wouldn't have to be alone." Luke could feel her shoulders shake under his hands and tried to make himself move them off of her, but instead they began to caress her skin. He began to do something he hadn't done since Lulu had gotten sick. He began to pray. He prayed that he would regain control of his body and his mouth, before he did something truly horrible.

"Why are you saying these things?"

Luke could hear the pain and tears in her voice and it broke his heart. "What's the matter does the truth hurt?"

She fumbled with the lock on the door.

"Don't leave sweet thing." He bent down so his breath was against her ear. "I've been looking forward to spending some time with you." I'm begging you stop this now. He pressed against her. "You feel so good."

Elizabeth let out a sob and tugged on the door, the lock finally gave and she turned the handle.

He grabbed her by the shoulders and turned her around to face him, she cowered back against the door. Luke was disgusted with himself when he saw the terror and betrayal in her eyes. His mind went back to another pair of blue pain filled eyes that had once looked at him like that. He raised his finger in warning. "You stay the hell away from my son. You tell the Cassa-pup that too. If I see either one of you near him." He ran his finger down her cheek then moved it in a slicing motion over her throat.

Elizabeth moved quickly shoving hard at his chest, the movement caught him off guard and he staggered back a step. She twisted the door handle and wrenched the door open, and let out a cry of fright when she saw Lucky on the other side of the door.

"Elizabeth?" Lucky's voice rose in surprise and recognition. "Are you okay?"

"She's fine Cowboy, she's just upset. She told me how the two of you broke up." Luke thought desperately trying to think of a way to warn his son, about the minefield he was walking into. "I tried to explain that sometimes things like this happen, that sometimes love can't always be enough."

Elizabeth brushed the tears from her face. "I need to go."

"Yes you should go." Luke spoke from behind her. "My son and I need to talk."

She stepped past Lucky and into the hall.

"Elizabeth don't come back here."

"Dad." Lucky turned on his father in surprise.

"Do you want her showing up here every five minutes? Remember the young mafia don isn't in town anymore, she has no one else to bother."

Lucky's face closed off at the mention of Jason. "He's right Elizabeth. You better give me back your key." He held out his hand for it.

Elizabeth hesitated then worked the key off of her key chain, she held it out to him, but her hand was shaking so badly she dropped it on the floor. "I'm sorry to bother you." With those words she turned and hurried towards the stairs. The clatter of her high-heeled sandals spoke at how quickly she was moving.

"Women." Luke snorted in disgust and stepped back inside the apartment.

P.C. Grille

Alexis sipped at her coffee and tried to focus on the open file in front of her, but it was no use, she couldn't make sense of the words, even though it was a document she had written herself. Giving up for now she pulled off her glasses and leaned back against her chair.

The past 24 hours had been so confusing and draining for her. First seeing the necklace, then Nikolas' betrayal, reliving her mother's final moments, then the comforting from Sonny that had turned into so much more. It was no surprise that she was confused. What was a surprise was that she was thinking at all.

Alexis smiled wryly at that thought, it really shouldn't surprise her, thinking was what she did best. She was in her element when her mind was attacking a problem. She would focus on a problem, break it down, until she found its weakness and knew how to beat it. Logic was her greatest weapon, unfortunately her feelings were her biggest weakness.

Whenever she had tried to follow her heart in the past she had been let down and hurt. She had learned how to keep a part of herself in reserve, never fully committing to anyone completely. That had drove Ned crazy and it was one of the reasons that they had broken up again.

She shifted in her seat and stared blindly out of the terrace doors, the last thing she felt like doing was to think about Ned. She reached for the brochure that was hidden by the file on the table. She needed to focus on this, the necklace was what was important in her life right now.

The brochure was new, only a day old, but the page that held the picture of her necklace was already careworn. The tip of the page was ripped, and the page itself was stiff as a result of her tears. But the necklace was still visible, still beautiful, and she had no trouble picturing it on the smooth graceful column of her mother's neck.

Her mother had been the only one in her life to love her unconditionally. She had been so young when her mother had died, but she could remember that love, and the loss of it, when she died, still haunted her. A part of her had always searched for that acceptance and love in other people but she had never found it. She doubted that she ever would.

She traced the necklace with her finger, she just needed to wait a little longer. Sonny had promised her he would get it for her and she believed him. Even if she could never hold it in her hand, she wanted it, she needed it. If Sonny couldn't get it for her, she would find another way, because she would never let Helena keep it, or ever buy it from her, even if she had to kill Helena to get it, she would do it.

"That is one gorgeous necklace."

Alexis jolted in alarm, her hands tightened on the brochure, while she looked at the man who had taken the seat across from her. "Is this one of the days that we're talking Ned?"

"I hope we always talk Alexis." Ned smiled winningly at her.

"Lately its more like we argue everyday." Alexis corrected tucking the brochure in her file.

"I don't want it to be that way Alexis, it's just you…"

"Stop Ned I don't want to fight with you today. I'm tired, I have to get to Court and I'm not in the mood for a lecture of how my association with Sonny and Zander will ruin me." She began to put her files in her briefcase. "So let's just skip all of that and get to the ending where one of us stalks off in a huff. I nominate me for a change."

"Wait Alexis." Ned got to his feet when she did. "I really don't want to fight with you. I will always lo…care about you. Or am I supposed to stop that too?"

She could see the truth in his eyes and it made her feel guilty. Guilty for going off on him like that, and also guilty for what had happened with Sonny. There really wasn't a reason for that though, her and Ned had been over for months now, but she still felt it. "I'm sorry I had a bad night and I'm taking it out on you. Now I really do have to go."

"Wait." Ned moved quickly and caught her arm before she could get out of the room. Alexis jerked her arm away and he looked at her in surprise. "What's wrong Alexis? Please tell me, let me help you."

"I can't." She whispered looking straight ahead. "I can't talk to you Ned. Not about this."

"Alexis please."

"No I'm sorry Ned." She stepped away from him. "I just can't."

"Alexis." He called after her but she never even looked back.

GH ICU

"Sonny."

Sonny turned away from the window when he heard his name. "Zander." He crossed quickly to the bed. "I'm glad you're awake."

Zander closed his eyes and shifted slightly, it was hard to move even though the pain was deadened because of the drugs, his chest still felt like it was on fire. "Been here long?"

"No. How you doing man?"

"I'll live." Zander managed a small smile. "Unfortunately I hear Sorel's alive too."

"I don't want you think about Sorel." Sonny's eyes went cold. "He won't be a problem for you anymore."

Zander shook his head, Sorel had always been a problem for him. It was true, that thanks to Sorel he had met Emily but everything else Sorel had done was evil. He hated Sorel more then he thought was possible. "I don't care if he comes after me, as long as he stays away from Emily. She can't be hurt anymore."

"She won't be, she's safe."

Zander heard the certainty in Sonny's voice and focused on him. "How do you know that? Do you know where she is?" A part of him hoped he did know, because then he might be able to find out where she was. But another part of him hoped Sonny didn't know. Sonny had been making some mistakes lately, so if Sonny knew there was a chance that Sorel did too.

"No I don't know where she is." Sonny rested his elbow on the bed. "But she's not alone."

Jason. Zander shook his head in relief, he was glad that her brother was there for her. As long as he was nothing else would happen to Emily and for that he was grateful. "I'm glad she's safe."

"She is, apparently she had a breakthrough last night." Sonny rested his chin on his hand. "How would she feel about knowing you aren't trying as hard as she is?"

"What do you mean?"

"Zander you knew Sorel was armed, you knew he had Carly and Alexis, and yet you went in there, with nothing more then a crowbar. What were you thinking?"

"I don't know." Zander looked away from his probing gaze. "When I heard Alexis' voice coming from your Penthouse, then Sorel's I just lost it. Next to Emily, Alexis is the most important person to me. Sorel had already hurt Emily I couldn't let him hurt Alexis too." He forgot himself and leaned forward, letting out a groan when the pain ripped through him.

"Take it easy." Sonny pushed on his shoulders lightly to ease him back down.

Zander closed his eyes to battle back the worst of the pain. "I just needed to…"

"I know, he pushed you too far and it was time to push back." Sonny interrupted. "And you felt like you had nothing left to lose."

"Yeah kind of like you I guess." Zander saw Sonny's look of surprise and went on. "A bomb strapped to your chest, you weren't wrapped too tightly yourself."

Sonny got to his feet and moved to look out the window again. This time his focus was the ICU room that was visible across the hall.

Zander could see the uniform of a cop across the hall and knew that was where Sorel was. Anger was back inside of him and he tried to control it. "Is he still critical?"

"I told you, you don't have to worry about Sorel anymore." Sonny kept his back to him.

"I will worry as long as he is alive." Zander's voice hardened. "He won't leave this hospital."

Sonny turned and moved back towards him until he stood at the foot of the bed. "Listen to me, Zander, because I'm only going to say this once. I will handle Sorel. You just need to concentrate on getting out of here."

"Excuse me." Nurse Amy Vining spoke from the doorway. "I need to examine Zander."

"I was just going." Sonny patted Zander's foot. "You remember what I said Zander."

Zander waited until Sonny had reached the door. "And you remember what I said."

Sonny hesitated briefly then kept walking. His eyes flicked automatically to the cop standing guard in front of Sorel's door. Zander had sounded so determined he was worried. Zander was a hothead but the kid had some good instincts. He was going to have to keep a close eye on him. Neither, Alexis or Emily would ever forgive him if he let something else happen to Zander. Hell he would never forgive himself if Zander did something stupid trying to get Sorel.

"Boss."

Johnny's voice caught his attention and he began to walk towards the elevator. "Yeah Johnny?"

"Adam let me know that Francis called while you were in ICU."

He lowered his voice and focused on Johnny. "Did something happen to Elizabeth?" He demanded as the elevator doors closed.

Luke's

"So what can I do for you Cowboy?" Luke asked when Lucky closed the door.

"Dad." Seeing his father overwhelmed him. Instead of the anger he normally felt when he looked at Luke, he felt relief, he really had thought he had hurt him. He moved in closer and surprised his father by hugging him.

"Well what's all this?" Luke hugged him back.

"I thought you were hurt." Lucky could feel the tears building behind his eyes. "I thought I hurt you."

"Hurt me?" Luke pulled away and cupped Lucky's face in his hands. "Lucky you could never hurt me."

Lucky sighed in relief, if his father was okay, then maybe he was only dreaming. If that was the case then there was no reason for him to stay away from Elizabeth anymore.

"Lucky what has that girl done to you?" Luke asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Elizabeth. What has she done to you?" Luke crossed to the desk and began to search the drawers.

"Elizabeth?" He asked in confusion. "She didn't do anything."

"Lucky that's not true, she's been playing you for months now." Luke pulled a cigar out of the drawer. "Now she's convinced you that you tried to hurt me. You don't hurt people."

"She di…"

"It's like she wants to have you all to herself. She's jealous of anyone else you let in your life." Luke began to roll the cigar in his hands. "I mean when was the last time you saw your sister?"

"I was going to see her a few weeks ago." Lucky started. "But…" he trailed off.

"But who stopped you from seeing her?" Luke asked.

Lucky was quiet while he thought about that, Elizabeth had kept him from seeing Lulu, and now Lulu was out of town.

"I see you realize it too." Luke began to fiddle with his lighter. "Isn't it strange that Elizabeth began to cling about the same time Jason Morgan left town."

Jason, even now just hearing his name could make him mad. "She loves me."

"Lucky you know better then that." Luke paused to light his cigar. "I'm sorry to say this son, but you need to hear it. The only reason she is here with you is because Morgan left town. Everyone knows it, that's why she's so desperate to keep you away from everyone else, so no one tells you how she's been playing you."

"I realize that I have feelings for Jason too."

Her words from that awful day came back to Lucky.

Luke puffed on his cigar. "Why else would she try to convince you that you hurt me? If not to keep you away from me?"

Did she do that? Lucky was getting confused, he ran his hand through his hair trying to think.

"It's better that you cut her off." Luke puffed smoke rings in Lucky's direction. "Besides Morgan will be back. He always comes back. Do you really want to go through that hell again when he does?"

"I never stopped caring for Jason."

"No." Lucky snapped that was one thing he was sure about. He wouldn't let Jason dictate his life again.

Luke smiled proudly. "That's my boy. Besides if she's cheated once she'll do it again, just ask the Cassa-pup."

Lucky turned to look at him. "What about Nikolas?"

"You can't tell me that you don't know how much time they spend together. How she visits him on the yacht and he comes to her studio. The studio she didn't want you to stay in." Luke flicked his ashes on the carpet. "And didn't he dump Gia because he had feelings for Elizabeth?"

"Yes." Lucky frowned when he remembered the time he had walked in on them in the bathroom. Nikolas was in the shower and she was in a towel. "Yes he did."

"You're well rid of her and the Cassa-freak." Luke's smirk turned evil "Right?"

"Yeah." Lucky agreed quietly, but his hands were clenched in fists of rage.

West Coast

"So Sergei doesn't have a clue what happened. He just thinks we're ignoring him, and he's getting more and more upset. And the whole time he's talking we're laughing because Dana put a bulls eye on his ass." Emily giggled.

Jason smiled he loved to hear her laugh. Her eyes were sparkling and she kept shifting on the bed. It was the best mood he had seen her in since he had gotten here. He would listen to her stories forever if it meant she would keep smiling.

"So anyway Dana's always doing stuff like that, she's so funny." Emily reached for her soda. "She's been here the longest and her PT is going so slowly but if doesn't seem to phase her. But whatever you do don't mention hockey around her, she's a rabid fan."

"I'll remember that." He took her empty can from her, and threw it in the trashcan by the dresser.

"Nice shot, two points."

Jason just nodded. "So how are you doing today?"

"I'm doing good. No," she corrected herself. "I'm great. I only wish they would let me work longer in therapy."

"Emily you can't rush things, you heard the doctor, if you try too much too fast, you could backslide."

"I know," Emily huffed out a breath. "It's just so hard to be patient. I want to keep working, it finally seems like it's paying off."

He touched her hand. "I'm not trying to bring you down but, you have a ways to go."

"I hate it when you're logical, in other words I hate that about you a lot." Emily grinned and changed the subject. "Have you turned your phone on yet?"

"Yes."

"Have you heard anything?"

He heard the anxiety in her voice and leaned closer to the bed. "I'm not going anywhere Emily. I already told you that." He could see her shoulders sag in relief and he knew he made the right choice.

"I just thought since I was getting better, you might want to leave." Emily fiddled with the blanket. "I don't want you to put your life on hold for me."

"I'm not, I'm here because I want to be here." Jason broke off and focused on the door when it opened.

"Mail call." The cheery voice came from a young woman in a wheelchair.

"What did you do Dana? Mug the nurses again?" Emily teased.

"I'm helping." Dana replied sweetly. "You are so distrustful," she wheeled herself further into the room. "Be nice or no mail," she looked pointedly at Jason who got to his feet.

"Dana this is my brother Jason, Jason this is the girl I was warning you about."

"Traitor." Dana hissed holding out her hand. "Nice to meet you finally. Emily has spoken about you often."

Jason shook her hand and smiled down at her. "I've heard a lot about you too."

"Dana where are you?"

The call came from the hallway and Dana flinched. "Nurse Ratchett approaches." She shoved some envelopes in his hand and turned the chair towards the door. "Remember you've never seen me, I was never here."

"See what I mean?" Emily asked taking the two envelopes from him.

He couldn't help but notice when her face fell. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." She smiled brightly at him.

"Emily."

"I was hoping to hear from Zander. I haven't gotten anything from him in a few days and I'm a little worried."

"I thought he doesn't know where you are?" Jason perched on the bed.

"He doesn't, he gives the letters to Skye and she forwards them on with Mom's and Grandmother's, she also delivers my letters to him."

"Is there any reason for you to think that she would stop doing that?" He didn't know very much about Skye. He just knew Emily didn't really like her, but other then that Emily hadn't said much about her.

"No she'll do it, she knows what will happen if she doesn't." Emily said ominously. "Are you even curious about her?"

"Not really," he shrugged. "She's just another person to me."

"Well you're not missing much." Emily looked out the window for a long time before speaking again. "Do you think you can find out if Zander's okay?"

"Emily, Sonny would have told me," he stopped himself. He really hadn't given Sonny a chance to tell him anything, and he couldn't say for sure that Sonny wouldn't hold that information back.

"I guess you're right." Her smile was weak. "I think I'll get some sleep before my next session."

He could see the sadness that she couldn't hide, but he didn't call her on it. He kissed her cheek and ran a hand over her hair. "I'll see you later."

"Yeah." Emily hugged the letters to her chest and closed her eyes.

Jason pulled the door closed behind him and moved slowly down the hall. He didn't like Zander and he may never like him. But how he felt about Zander wasn't important, how Emily felt about him was what mattered. And it was very clear that she loved him and needed him in her life. He pushed open the door and stepped out into the bright sunlight. It was time to check out what was going on in Port Charles. He needed to ease Emily's mind.

Docks

"What happened Francis?" Sonny asked quietly.

"Something happened at Luke's." Francis kept one eye on Elizabeth who was standing by the water's edge. "She'd been in a good mood, but then she ran out of Luke's in tears," he focused on Sonny again. "She looked scared, she kept running, even in those high heeled shoes of hers. She finally wound up here. I thought you would want to know."

Sonny nodded but his focus was on Elizabeth. "Do you know who was in Luke's with her?"

"Lucky showed up after she had been inside for about 20 minutes, but he was only inside with her for a few minutes before she ran out."

"Boss." Johnny hurried towards them a little out of breath. "Here you go."

Sonny took the scarf from Johnny. "You need to watch the rolls from Louie's bakery there Johnny, you're getting out of shape."

Johnny's mouth dropped open in shock and Francis snorted. Sonny ignored them both, moving down the docks towards her.

"Hello Elizabeth." He called out to her while he was still a few feet away from her, trying not to startle her. But it didn't work she jumped anyway.

"Sonny." Elizabeth whirled around. "You startled me," she turned away and brushed at the tears on her cheeks. "I didn't hear you."

"I've been accused of being sneaky," Sonny offered a grin but she didn't smile back. "I wanted to return something to you."

"What?" She turned back to look at him.

"Your scarf." Sonny held out the bright blue scarf.

"Thanks I would have been missing this." She reached out and took it from him.

Sonny used the opportunity to study her. She didn't have any color on her face, the trail the tears had left were evident on her cheeks. But it was her eyes that drew him, they looked haunted.

Aware of his scrutiny Elizabeth stepped past him, moving towards the bench, rubbing at the mascara under her eyes. "I must look like a fright. The day is so warm, and no woman likes to admit that she sweats, but I'm afraid its obvious with the way my makeup is running."

Sonny trailed her to the bench and decided to play along. "You're perspiring."

"That's it." She smiled weakly and tucked the scarf in her bag.

She looked so tired, he wished she would confide in him. He had to figure out a way for her to know that she wasn't alone. He just needed to be careful in how he broached the subject. The best way to start was with Jason. "I talked to Jason today." He watched her reaction closely.

Elizabeth froze in her movements. "Is he okay?"

"Yes." Sonny wasn't surprised that her first question was if he was okay. "I shouldn't be telling you this, and you can't let anyone else know, but he's with Emily."

"How is she? Is she doing any better?"

Her demanding questions were the first spark of life he had seen in her. "He said she had a breakthrough last night."

"Thank god," her eyes filled. "When she walks again maybe the guilt won't be so…" she trailed off.

Sonny waited a minute to see if she would continue but she had turned to look at the water again. "I told him that you had asked about him.'

"I wish you wouldn't have done that. I'm sorry I dumped everything on you last night, the way I did. I was going to find you today and tell you to forget what I said."

"I didn't tell him that you loved him." He reassured her quickly when her movements got agitated. "I just told him that you asked about him." He wondered if he should have mentioned Jason at all. What if she wanted to know what he had said? If he told her, it would only hurt her.

"What did he say to that?" She kept her eyes on her hands but her voice was firm.

"He wanted to know if you were okay. He was afraid Sorel had come after you." He could at least give her that much. "I told him you were fine."

Elizabeth tilted her head and studied him. "What else did he say?" She asked after a minute.

Sonny looked away from her gaze. "We didn't talk very long."

"Sonny it will be easier for me to hear the truth," she touched his arm. "I can handle the truth. Believe me it's better then what my imagination will say."

Her words were quiet but compelling. He didn't want to hurt her, but she was right, the truth no matter how bad, was better then the unknown. "I asked him if he wanted to hear about you," he turned back to face her. Her eyes were locked on him and he saw a slight glimmer of hope in them before she banked it.

"Please Sonny tell me."

"He said he didn't want to hear about you." He said finally.

Her eyes went flat, and if it was possible, she got even paler, but her eyes remained dry, and large in her stark face. "Thank you for telling me. I know you didn't want too, but I really did need to know the truth."

Her voice was perky and it wasn't hers, Sonny felt horrible. He reached out to take her hand, and she shied away from him and got to her feet.

"He told me to make sure I kept an eye on you, and if you ever needed anything that I was to help you." He addressed her stiff back hoping to make her feel better. If anything his words seemed to make it worse. She hunched her shoulders and wrapped her arms around her waist, she seemed to draw inside of herself, as if trying to make herself smaller.

"Thank you again Sonny. I know you will help if I need something." Elizabeth turned to face him. "But everything will be fine. I need to go now."

"Elizabeth wait," he quickly stepped in front of her, stalling her movements. He wanted to take her hand trying to offer comfort, but looking at her he knew he shouldn't. She seemed to be so brittle at the moment, that he was afraid if he touched her she would break. "He doesn't know you love him."

"And he will never know." She took another step away from him. "He's moved on and I can't fault him for that. All I ever seemed to do was hurt him so its good that he moved on. Please don't tell him what I said. I know he's your friend and your loyalty should be to him, but please don't tell him. He's a good man, he would feel bad, or uncomfortable and I don't want that for him." Her voice broke and she covered her mouth for a minute before going on. "Please don't." She began to hurry away.

"Elizabeth." Sonny took a chance and caught her arm. Her skin was like ice. It was 100 degrees and her skin was like ice. "I won't tell him."

"Thank you." She pulled loose and began to walk away.

With every step she took, Sonny felt worse and worse. She made it to the top of the stairs before she began to run.

Studio

Elizabeth walked into her studio and slowly closed the door behind her. The sunlight was streaming in through the windows but she didn't notice or care. She carefully set her purse on her table and checked for messages. Then walked over to her fan and turned it on and opened her windows, her movements were stiff and mechanical.

"He said he didn't want to hear about you."

The words came back to her and she shook her head, she didn't want to hear them, but they wouldn't leave her head. She walked over to the painting on her easel. The Wind. It was her best work, and the only one she had kept out, after she closed up all of her paints.

"You really matter to me. We're clear on that right?" Her eyes held his, and she let her real feelings show in them, feelings that she had been surprised to discover she had. "You helped me discover the wind."

Jason tucked his hands in his pockets. "You painted me a picture of it."

"Not a very good one." It was hard for her to walk away from him.

"It's the best one I've ever seen."

She traced the painting with her hand. But she had walked away from him. That seemed to be where it all started going wrong. She kept walking away from him.

"Do you ever think about it?" She bit her lip and waited for his response.

"All the time."

Again he made the overture and she had run away from him. She had run to him and away from him, so many time was there any surprise that he had started to get fed up with it?

"Jason we can't be friends anymore."

She snorted and picked up the painting. God she was such a bitch to him, she told him that, and then not more then 20 minutes later she had changed her tune again.

"You're the person I can go to when I want to be myself. No expectations, no pressures to be happy. I don't have to be in love all the time. If I want to laugh, great, but if I want to cry or kick and scream, that's fine, too. How do I tell Lucky that sometimes I need somebody else? Lucky thinks being in love means being everything to each other. He believes I'm myself when I'm with him, and I am. I am, just not all the time."

Elizabeth moved over and picked up some brown wrapping paper, she spread a large sheet out on the floor, and then took a final look at the painting before placing it face down on the paper. Her mind kept torturing her, by forcing her to look at conversations of the past.

"She gets to do what she wants to do. Same as you."

"I'm not doing what I want to do." Elizabeth told him honestly. It was so nice to be honest for a change.

"I know."

The tears dropped on the brown paper, but she kept her hands busy, letting them fall. Just a few more pieces of tape, and it would be done. She turned the painting over, got to her feet and picked up a marker. Property of Jason Morgan she wrote that on the paper and then moved it over to her wall and hid it behind some other paintings.

"Jason like I said before, I'm going to tell Lucky everything. That I came here after the photo shoot, and that I saw you today."

"I, I don't care what you tell Lucky."

She was stung by the weariness in his voice but she couldn't help but go on. "I love him and I need to be honest."

"Stop," his voice was sharp. "Stop it. Stop telling me how much you love Lucky."

He didn't understand, at that point she was only beginning to understand herself. The reason that she would tell him that, was because she needed to remind herself, that she was supposed to be in love with Lucky. The truth was the more time she spent with Lucky the less she loved him, and the more time she had spent with Jason, the more she had loved him. When she realized that it had scared her.

"You can't, you can't keep following me telling me how much you love someone else."

Her hands shook as she folded up the last of the easel and put it in its carrying case, she moved to set it by the wall, but it slipped from her shaking hand before she could put it down. The box clattered open and pieces of her easel slipped out of their spots in the box. She just shook her head and moved over to the couch. The fan hit her, and she felt chilled, but she stayed where she was.

"I saw it with my own eyes, you attacked him."

She began to rub her arms, as the breeze from the fan kept hitting her icy skin.

"I hope I never see you again." She pulled the red glass from her pocket and threw it against the wall. When it shattered, something inside of her shattered as well.

Words had the power to hurt and remembering those seem to cut her, she could only imagine how they had hurt him. "Oh God." Elizabeth choked out and shot to her feet.

Francis barely had time to close the door across the hall, when her door opened and Elizabeth ran out of it, he had a quick glimpse of her white face, before she was in the bathroom at the end of the hall.

Perspiration was on her face as she leaned over the toilet, but there was nothing inside of her to throw up. She was empty inside and in more ways then one.

"He said he didn't want to hear about you."

[JRK Archiver]

Chapter 6

General Hospital

Skye Chandler Quartermaine paused in her approach to ICU. Her eyes couldn't help but be drawn to the right and the uniformed policeman standing there. Looking past him her thoughts turned to the man in the room behind the guard. A man, who if there were a God, would already be dead. A frown marred her pretty features as her mind drifted into the past and him.

Joseph Sorel.

Even after all these years, the mention of his name still made her skin crawl, and the hate harden inside of her. The man was truly a bastard and she would only be too willing to tap-dance on his grave, if only the old bugger would die.

Feeling eyes on her she deliberately smoothed out her features giving the guard a cool disinterested smile she picked up her step and moved towards the ICU room directly across the hall. Unease of a different sort entered her system while she stood there studying the sleeping man on the bed. Seeing him now, at rest, with the only sound being the steady beep of the machines he was hooked up to, she could almost see his appeal. Almost. But then of course he had to open his eyes.

The dark eyes that fastened on her cleared instantly in recognition. The recognition quickly morphed into hope, then crystallized into hardness. Skye recognized all the emotions and hid her smile. He was so easy to control. Dismissing the coldness those dark eyes were reflecting back at her, she smiled brightly and moved closer to the bed. "Zander."

"What do you want?" Zander asked coldly.

"I have mail, from Emily, but if you're too busy…" Skye paused waiting for the hope and desperation to fill his eyes, before turning around as if to walk away.

"Wait, can I see it." In his eagerness Zander shifted on the bed and immediately groaned in pain.

"Take it easy," she ordered quickly, pushing him back on the bed. The last thing she needed was for him to have some sort of episode while she was here. Knowing she would be blamed for it if he did, genuine concern for the man shown on her face.

"Let me see it."

"Here," Skye handed him the letter still sealed in the envelope it had arrived him. Tempting as it had been for her to steam open the letter and see what Emily had said, she hadn't forgotten the threat her dear, sweet, baby sister had made. In that conversation she had finally realized that Emily had managed to learn the tricks of the Quartermaine family and she would use them if necessary. As such she wasn't going to push things with Emily, at least not yet.

Zander fumbled with the envelope, but it was soon evident that with only one partially mobile arm, it would be impossible for him to open it.

Skye could see the frustration in his face and in spite of her vow she felt herself bend a little. Her voice was soft when she held out her hand. "May I?"

Zander studied her for a long moment before finally relinquishing his prized letter. "Thanks."

She quickly opened the envelope, scanning the two-page letter quickly before beginning to read it aloud…

Zander,

I made it through another week here at camp, and you're right it didn't kill me. So add another 50 to the tally of what I owe you. Therapy has been a killer, but knowing that you're waiting for me makes it all bearable. Jason…

Skye arched an eyebrow and paused in her recitation at the mention of the half-brother she had never met, feeling his eyes on her she quickly went on.

Jason's still here, he says he isn't going to leave until I ask him too. Foolish man he should know by now that I won't ask him to go. Having him here, everyday, it really helps. The days don't seem quite as long now.

Having him here helps, but at the end of the day he's not you. And no one, not even Jason, can help me with how much I miss you. How much I miss touching your face, or holding your hand. How I miss the way your arms hold be so tight, when you kiss…

Uncomfortable at the direction the letter was taking Skye trailed off. Zander opened his eyes and focused on her. In that instant she could see all the guilt, love, longing, and grief in his eyes, and the compassion she tried not to show, welled up in her. "I think I'll let you read the rest of that part at another time. For now I'll just move ahead."

She turned to the next page, her sister either had quite an imagination, or she had quite the talented boyfriend. "Here we go…"

I hope you're listening to Alexis and haven't done anything crazy. I know how angry you are, but I don't want you hurt, so please remember your promise, and talk to Alexis before you go off half-cocked. I worry so much more, because I'm not there to talk you out of doing all those crazy thing that you want to do at times. Please keep your head.

I miss you so much that it's hard to breathe at times. I love you and I'll be back home, in your arms, soon.

Love,

Emily

Keeping her eyes on her hands, Skye carefully folded the letter and tucked it back in the envelope before laying it on the bed next to his hand.

"Thank you for bringing it," Zander cleared his throat. "And for reading it, I know you didn't want to."

"I didn't mind," she tried for a dismissive tone, but the emotion gave her away. Rising quickly she moved towards the door. "Let me know when you have a letter for her, and I'll send it out."

"Wait," Zander called out stopping her before she could reach the door. "Make sure no one tells Emily about what happened to me."

Surprised Skye turned to face him. "Why don't you want her to know?"

Zander looked at her strangely for a moment. "Why should she know? There's nothing she can do except worry about me. She needs to concentrate on her therapy and getting better. She's the important one here, not me."

"Oh," she nodded in feigned understanding and stepped out of the room. His words made no sense to her. If she were lying in a hospital bed after being shot and blown up she would want all the attention she could get, especially from someone who was in love with her.

Dismissing Zander from her thoughts she found herself drawn across the hall until she could peer through the window at an unconscious Sorel. The sight of the once powerful man, now being kept alive by machines, thrilled her. The old helpless bastard, being strapped to a bed, warmed her heart like nothing else.

"See something you like?"

The masculine voice jolted Skye from her thoughts, turning to see who had spoken she instantly went on alert. "What did you say Lieutenant Taggert?"

"You were smiling. I wondered what you saw that you liked so much." Taggert shifted his glance to look at Sorel.

"Was I smiling? I wouldn't know," she answered breezily.

"Oh I think you know Ms. Chandler-Quartermaine. I think you know quite well that you were smiling."

Skye eyed him coolly, the Lieutenant was far too arrogant for her liking. "What do you mean by that? I never even met the man."

"I'm just making an observation," Taggert replied easily. "You've taken an awfully big interest in someone you have never met. Calling ICU daily for updates, stopping to stare, whenever you happen by," he glanced in her direction. "It makes a person curious, especially when you say you've never met Sorel."

Controlling her nerves was an easy thing, she had spent years developing that talent, so her expression didn't change under the weight of his stare. "Sorel is indirectly responsible for my sister's injuries, and he is directly responsible for her having to leave town. Of course I'm interested in the man. I need to keep my family informed."

"Wouldn't the Doctors Quartermaine do that? After all they do work here." Taggert shifted so he was leaning against the glass and studying her.

That shot got passed her guards, and she felt her face tighten under his scrutiny, he was better then she had thought, but she was still better. "I keep my Grandmother informed, the Doctor's tend to shelter her, but she still likes to know what is going on," Skye glanced at her diamond-crusted watch. "I have a meeting Lieutenant."

"Ms. Chandler-Quartermaine," Taggert drawled before she moved far. "I must admit that I thought your interest might have something to do with the time you lived in New Jersey. Seems Sorel was living there for awhile at the same time."

Grateful that her back was to him, she took a moment to control her features, deliberately blanking the concern and fear that he knew that from her face, she turned around a practiced confused expression on her face. "Was he? I wouldn't know, New Jersey is a big state."

"But Atlantic City is a small town, especially when it comes to the mafia. You were married to a man who calls himself Ben Davidson about that time weren't you?"

He doesn't know anything for sure, he's just fishing, don't fall for it, her mind ordered, when she felt his shrewd eyes on her. "I wasn't aware of what my husband did or didn't do during that time."

"Really?"

She saw the disbelief in his eyes and it angered her. Taking a deep breath to steady her nerves she went on. "Yes really. As amusing as this is I really do need to leave," turning on her heel she moved away until his voice stopped her again.

"If not New Jersey, I thought you might have met him through your Aunt."

"Aunt Tracey?" Skye turned with a laugh. "What would she have to do with him, or me for that matter?"

"Tracey Quartermaine, or Tracey Solito, head of a powerful mafia family in upstate New York. I would think you two would have a lot to talk about."

"It must frustrate you so Lieutenant," Skye began condescendingly turning to face him. "Here you have me, a former wife of someone in the mob, according to you anyway. My aunt, who, again according to you, runs a crime family in New York, and my half-brother, apparently the lead enforcer for the mafia in your own hometown, and yet you can't seem to arrest any of us." She saw his expression change, and took a step closer. "In fact the one arrest you did make," she pointed in the direction of Sorel. "Escaped and was only caught, because the mob wanted him to be. If I were as connected as you seem to think I am, I would soon be running this town now wouldn't I?" She peered up at him a mocking expression on her face. "From the looks of it, you wouldn't be able to stop me. In fact I don't think you could stop jaywalking."

Skye smoothed the pencil thin skirt and brushed past him. "I'd say good luck Lieutenant, but I don't think a leprechaun could help you."

"You know what they say Ms. Quartermaine. Pride goeth before the fall," Taggert shot back with a sly grin. "You should be aware of that, how many times have you fallen?"

Faltering in her stride when she saw his grin, Skye glared at him then moved towards the elevator. She'd had him right up until the end. Damn'it she needed to figure out where she went wrong. But more importantly she was going to need to keep the Lieutenant from digging where he shouldn't.

Kelly's

Elizabeth sighed and looked at the clock on the wall. It had only managed to move five minutes since the last time she had looked. At this rate, she was never going to get off work and this awful day would never be over. Judging from the strange looks she had been getting ever since she had arrived, she wasn't looking too good either.

It wasn't surprising, not really, after today she was doing her best to stay upright, her appearance was the least of her worries. She had to admit she had moved to the restroom in concern after a visit from the Face of Deception. Gia, for once, had looked downright concerned when she had seen her. Of course the concern only lasted about 2 minutes, but it spooked her enough that she checked out her appearance.

The heat, the stress, the worry, her altercation with Luke had all taken their toll on her, but more then that, was her conversation with Sonny. That conversation was what had shaken her the most, what had caused her to get sick, and what damn near broke her. Yet here she was 3 hours later, at work, making conversation, and even earning some tips. Apparently she could still function with a shattered heart.

"Elizabeth."

Jolted Elizabeth set the coffee pot down with a thud when she recognized the voice. "Hi Gram."

Audrey Hardy smiled weakly at her granddaughter. "I was hoping your had a moment to talk."

Elizabeth glanced around the mostly empty restaurant, no one, it seemed, needed her at the moment. "Why don't you take a seat, I'll bring some tea."

Audrey nodded and moved to a table near the open doors. The air-conditioner was on the fritz again, so the doors were propped open in an effort to get some air inside, but unfortunately there wasn't a breath of air out only the late afternoon, early evening sun.

She dawdled as long as she could, pouring two glasses of tea and keeping her back to the room. She just needed a minute longer to gather her strength. Her and her grandmother hadn't talked much recently. The last time they had was when Elizabeth had told her about the engagement and she had seen the disappointment in Audrey's eyes. She rubbed at the headache forming in her temples then picked up the glasses and moved to join her Gram.

"You like tired Elizabeth, have you been sleeping okay?" Audrey asked taking the glass she was offered.

"Yes I've been sleeping, it was just hotter then normal last night."

"You know there is no reason for you to stay in the studio, I would love it if you came back to stay with me. Gatsby would like it as well."

Elizabeth rubbed at her temples again as she listened to the familiar plea. "I like the studio Gram, I like living on my own."

Audrey sighed heavily then began to dig in her bag. "This came to the house today. I didn't mean to open it, I just assumed it was mine, I didn't realize it was addressed to you until I began to read it," she explained holding out a letter.

Frowning in confusion Elizabeth took the letter, and almost groaned when she saw the return address. Office of Admissions, Port Charles University.

"We're you even going to tell me?" Audrey asked.

"I thought I had," Elizabeth answered quietly.

"Elizabeth."

"Honest Gram, with everything that's been going on, I thought I had told you," Elizabeth maintained.

"I would think I would remember a conversation in which you told me you lost your financial aid and flunked out of college," Audrey said sharply.

Closing her eyes when she heard the disappointment in her gram's voice, she realized why she hadn't told her Gram. She hadn't wanted to hear the disappointment in her Gram's voice. "I missed so much school last semester of last year, when Nikolas and I were looking for Lucky. Then again first semester of this term, when Lucky and I went after Emily, then last semester, with the Face of Deception competition, I just missed to much school, and my grades showed it."

"So you flunked out of college because of Lucky?"

"Not because of him, because I chose to put other people before school. I chose to do that Gram, no one else."

"Elizabeth you can't play with your future like this. Do you want to be a waitress for the rest of your life? I know you've never been particularly fond of school, but I at least thought you would work on your art. Now I see I've been misinformed."

"Gram please don't be angry," Elizabeth cried touching her hand. "You know that this past year and half have been crazy."

"I know what I see Elizabeth. I see you doing everything you can to help Lucky Spencer, and I don't see him doing anything in return," Audrey shook her head. "Now with these marriage plans…"

"We're not getting married," Elizabeth interrupted softly. "Lucky broke things off with me last night."

Audrey pursed her lips and studied her granddaughter for a long moment. "I can see how hurt you are because of that. But I hope you realize that he might have just done you the biggest favor of your life."

"What do you mean?"

"Elizabeth since the…" Audrey hesitated, looked around and lowered her voice. "Since you were hurt, you have devoted yourself to Lucky Spencer. At first I know it was because you felt he was the only one you could trust, but later on, you never let yourself get close to anyone, unless Lucky was close to them as well. When Lucky died, as awful as of a thing as that was, I was hoping you would use the time to finally grow on your own, without depending on anyone. I realize now you were too young to do that."

"You mean because I chose Jason as my friend?" Elizabeth asked coldly.

"Yes, but I know you only did that, because in some respect he must have reminded you of Lucky, however, that doesn't change the fact that he was and still is a dangerous man…"

"Gram you do not have the right to talk to me about Jason. You have only let yourself have what? Two conversations with him. And both I'm sure were filled with accusations by you, and orders to him, to stay away from me. You never talked too Jason. You never even gave him a chance. So you have no right to talk to me about him right now," Elizabeth informed her, her tone like ice.

Audrey looked taken aback both by the words and Elizabeth's demeanor. "Nevertheless, the one blessing that came out of Lucky's return was the ending of your relationship with Jason. However you soon slid back into only doing what Lucky wanted to do."

Elizabeth had no return to that statement. How could she deny it when it was true? Her whole world had been Lucky. She backed him even when it put other people's lives in danger.

"Now that relationship has cost you college, at least for now. You can reapply eventually, but Elizabeth, you need to get your head on straight. Lucky ending things can only be a blessing in disguise. I'm not blind, nor heartless," Audrey patted her hand. "I know you're hurting, but soon you will see how good this is. In fact, I think this would be a perfect time for you to go see your parents. A little time away would do you so much good, and I know they would love to see you."

"Would they?" Overwhelmed by the day Elizabeth forgot to censor herself. "Why would you say that Gram? I haven't talked to either one of them since Christmas. And that was only a brief 5-minute thank you for the savings bond conversation. What makes you think they would give a damn about seeing me?"

"They are your parents Elizabeth, they deserve your respect."

"Actually they deserve my contempt," Elizabeth retorted. "Where were they when Lucky died? Where were they when I graduated high school? Where were they when Lucky came back? Where were they when I was raped? Still can't say that word can you Gram?"

Audrey gripped her purse until her knuckles turned white. "They didn't know about the attack. You wouldn't let me tell them."

"Fair enough I'll give you that one, but the rest? They knew about Lucky, they knew when my birthday was, when Christmas was, when I graduated. They knew that and didn't care. And you want me to go see them? They are strangers to me."

"I can see there is no use in talking to you when you are like this. You are obviously too angry to realize the truth of what is going on here," Audrey said stiffly rising from her seat. "I had hoped you had outgrown your selfish stage…"

Elizabeth couldn't help but laugh. Her selfish stage? Didn't her Gram realize that she had pretty much ceased to exist, all so she could help someone else? She bit off the laugh, quickly not liking the near hysterical sound of it. "Thanks for bringing the letter Gram."

"Elizabeth you could do so much more with your life," Audrey said sadly. "But you're choosing to waste it."

"I know you don't have to say the words. You're disappointed in me," Elizabeth finished for her. "I see that every time you look at me."

"Elizabeth…" Audrey reached out her hand.

"Miss can I get some more coffee?"

Elizabeth jerked at the call, and stepped back from her Gram. "My career is calling," she tossed the words over her shoulder and moved towards the counter. Her hand shook as she reached for the coffeepot, but her eyes remained dry. That particular conversation was long overdue. And maybe by coming now, it was for the best. She knew her grandmother would stay away from her for a while now, and that would keep her safe.

But it still hurt.

Her Gram's disappointment still hurt. Battling the pain back she turned and almost dropped the pot, when she saw Luke and Lucky Spencer standing in the doorway.

West Coast

"You're telling me he went into the penthouse with a bomb strapped to his chest?" Jason repeated, wearily rubbing at his eyes.

"Yes." Benny replied.

"And him and Carly are divorcing because she turned him into the feds?" Jason pressed.

"Yes, it's not widely known among the men, but the higher-ups know that she turned him in."

"What about Zander?"

"Him and Sorel are still in ICU. It looks like Zander will make a full recovery, but they don't know about Sorel. He's under police guard."

"Thanks Benny." Jason quickly shut off the phone.

Jesus Christ.

Carly had turned Sonny into the Feds. He could almost hear Carly's words now. She didn't mean to do anything wrong, she just wanted to help, she was scared. As upset as he was about that, he was more worried about the bomb, and what that meant for Sonny. He didn't want to, but it looked like he needed to go back to Port Charles, and check on his family, at least briefly.

Opening his eyes he focused on the window that he knew was Emily's. He didn't want to break his promise to her, but he needed to check on Sonny, and the others. He also needed to tell her about Zander. He knew she wasn't going to react well to that. She might even want to come back to Port Charles with him.

As long as Sorel was alive, she couldn't return. He only hoped she would understand that. Sighing he tucked the phone in his pocket and headed inside and for her room. Going back to Port Charles, also meant there was a chance he would see Elizabeth as well.

Did you know her and Lucky got engaged?

If he was careful though, maybe he could get in and out of town without seeing her at all. The elevator doors opened and he made his way down the hall, his stride quickened when he saw nurses running into Emily's room.

Running the last few steps, he got to the door in time to see the nurses lift an unconscious Emily and lay her on a gurney.

"What the hell happened?" Jason demanded, his eyes searching his sister, for signs of violence.

"Move." An orderly hissed as he began to move the gurney.

"Tell me what the hell happened." Jason backed out of the doorway but kept pace with the gurney.

"Move her to O.R. 2 immediately, the team will be scrubbed and ready," the nurse ordered.

"Why are you taking her to surgery?" Jason yelled. "What the hell is wrong with her?"

Kelly's

"Do you want to stay Cowboy?" Luke asked loudly. "I didn't know she would be here."

Lucky's eyes never left Elizabeth as she filled the cup of a customer and moved back to the counter. "We can stay."

"You know she's going to be crying and whining, it's what she does best." Luke reminded him.

Elizabeth swallowed hard at Luke's words. She had never thought he would turn on her, but apparently he could, and had. She turned around slowly when she heard someone take a seat at the counter behind her. The nerves lessened when she recognized her customer. "Hi Francis."

"Elizabeth," the handsome man nodded at her. "It's hot out there today isn't it?"

"Yes," pathetically relieved that so far Luke and Lucky had stayed outside talking, she poured him a glass of water. "I bet you're glad you don't have to work today, the heat must make those suits you always wear brutal."

Francis glanced down at his casual clothes. "I am more comfortable dressing like this. I would rather dress like this all the time, but Sonny frowns on that."

"Does he ever go casual?" Elizabeth asked the question and only half listened to the reply. Catching the Spencer's approach she braced herself. "What can I get you?"

"I think you know what I want," Luke drawled.

Elizabeth swallowed hard and in spite of herself backed off a step. "W-what?" She had been hoping she had misread the signs earlier in the day. But looking in Luke's eyes now she could still see desire in them, and it sickened her.

"I want to play with you," Luke continued on, "your tools. I'm here to fix the AC."

Elizabeth almost cried out in relief. "I'll get the toolbox." She told him and disappeared in the kitchen.

Glancing around she realized that Don must be out in the alley, partaking in one of his many crap games. She spied the toolbox, on a rack just out of her reach. She stepped on the metal railing of the stand and reached up for the box. Her hand closed on the side of the gray metal box the same time she became aware of someone standing right behind her. His breath on her neck, confirmed his identity before he spoke.

"Need a hand sweet thing?" Luke asked leaning against her.

Swallowing a scream and her own revulsion, Elizabeth shook her head. "I have it."

Luke's hand closed over hers anyway, and at the movement his length pressed harder against her. "You still smell good."

Horrified Elizabeth dropped her hand and tried to turn around but his weight kept her pinned against the rack. "Let me go Luke."

"I'll let you go as long as you keep going. You're fired. Get out and don't ever come back." Luke informed her backing off a bit.

As soon as he shifted, Elizabeth turned and pushed at his chest, so she could move away from the rack. Searching his face she saw the face of a man she had been closer to her, then she her own father. His face hadn't changed but there was something different in his eyes, something that had never been there before, and they scared her. "Why are you doing this?"

"Doing what? Taking the trash out?" He reached out and caught her chin in a hard grip. "Because I can. Don't you know by now, that men always do what they want to, because they can?"

Elizabeth tried to jerk her head free but his grip was like iron. "I don't work for you, I work for Bobbie, she's the one who has to fire me." A part of her was screaming to run away from Luke and never look back. But her heart was telling her to fight for her friend. Something had to be wrong with Luke to make him act like this, and she owed it to him to help.

Luke tightened his grip. "Don't push me on this little girl," a strange glint came into his eyes. "Unless you'd miss me too much if you did leave." He stroked her jaw. "Is that it?"

Feeling sick to her stomach she tried to jerk her head away and couldn't. She knew all she had to do was scream. There were people in the front room that would help her. Francis was out there he would help her, all she had to do was scream. Yet she couldn't. This was Luke, a man she considered to be her father, and she couldn't comprehend what he was doing to her. "Let me go."

Luke moved closer until she could feel his breath on her upturned face. "You go near my son, and you will regret it."

"Excuse me Elizabeth." Francis spoke up from the doorway.

Elizabeth almost sobbed in relief when Luke let her go, tears were blinding her as she turned to focus on Francis. "Y-yes?"

"Sorry to bother you, but I needed to place an order to go," Francis explained his presence in the backroom.

"Better get to work darlin, customers are waiting." Luke said giving her butt a quick swat to propel her into motion.

Elizabeth gasped at the contact and all but ran for the entryway. "Sorry Francis," she moved past him and came to a dead halt when she saw Lucky watching her from his spot at the counter. His eyes held the same sort of madness that she had just seen in Luke's and in that moment it was too much for her. "Excuse me," she cried before running for the bathroom, leaving Francis and Lucky to stare after her.

Docks

Sonny frowned at the construction of his new building. Things were progressing, slowly, but they were moving. He knew he should be working, but the last place he felt like being was in his office. He wondered if Carly had received the divorce papers yet. She probably had, Alexis was nothing if not efficient.

He had expected to hear from her as soon as she had, but the phone hadn't rung, and Johnny hadn't been bowled over by her, in her haste to see him. A part of him wondered why she hadn't confronted him. Maybe he had finally gotten through to her, maybe she finally realized that they were in fact over.

And if she had realized that, why did that thought make his heart hurt a little bit?

Before he could answer that thought his cell phone began to chirp.

"Yes?"

"Sonny it's me."

"What's going on Francis?" Carly forgotten Sonny's expression turned serious. "Did something else happen to Elizabeth?"

"I'm not sure. It's strange to explain, I'm not sure I saw what I think I saw." Francis rambled.

"You're not making sense," and considering this was Francis that worried him. "What happened?"

"She made it to work, I stayed outside until I saw Luke and Lucky Spencer show up. I knew you wanted me to stay close if she was around Lucky so I went inside. She thinks I'm off duty, because I'm in casual clothes. She doesn't know I'm watching her."

"Did Lucky do something to her?" Sonny's gut clenched while he waited for the response.

"No, it was Luke. They were in the kitchen, and I couldn't hear what they were saying, but I could see her face, she looked scared to death so I checked on her." Francis hesitated. "Either Luke was coming on to her, or was threatening her, or both, but either way she looked terrified."

"Jesus," Sonny felt sick to his stomach. "Are you sure?"

"That's what it looked like, Elizabeth bolted for the bathroom, and Luke is whistling in the kitchen. I don't like it Sonny, it doesn't feel right."

"I'm on my way." Sonny replied and closed the phone.

"Is there a problem?" Johnny asked moving to fall into step beside his boss.

"I think there is. Elizabeth is into something, and I think it's something bad," Sonny answered. "We need to get to Kelly's."

"Elizabeth Webber? What the hell are you doing with that skank? And what the hell are you doing sending me these?" Carly yelled from behind him.

Spencer House

You've reached the Spencer residence. Sorry we couldn't get to the phone. Leave a message and we'll call you back.

"Laura its Elizabeth. I need you to call me as soon as you check your messages. There's something wrong with Luke…"

At that, Stavros Cassadine sat up from the bed he had been lying on and peered at the phone.

"Lucky told me last night that he thought he had killed Luke, he didn't, but I do think he did something to him. He's not acting right. He's not Luke. I need you to come back to town. I can't keep an eye on him and Lucky at the same time. Luke needs you."

Stavros moved towards the phone, absently rubbing the silk of the negligee in his fingers as he listened to the girl on the machine.

"I think we need to rethink our plans, I'll talk to Nikolas but call me as soon as you get this. Bye."

The machine clicked off and Stavros frowned down at it, rubbing the soft material against his cheek. He wanted his Lasha home, but not to help Luke. He wasn't ready for her return yet. "I think not," he murmured reaching out and erasing the message.

His eye fell on a picture on the table, picking it up this time he studied the other person in the photograph. A pretty brunette with blue eyes. There was something about those eyes. Cocking his head he pulled out his cell phone. He pressed a number and waited while the number dialed automatically, humming under his breath he carried the picture and the negligee back to the bed and laid down on it.

"Yes?"

"Mother tell me about Elizabeth Webber." Stavros ordered.

"She is an insipid little creature that I am quite fed up with," Helena replied. "I only wish Nikolas was."

"He likes this girl? I thought he liked Gia Campbell, they are hardly similar types." Stavros thought briefly of the exotic looking Gia then glanced at the photo in his hand. Not similar at all.

"He has been interested in Elizabeth for years now. At one point I actually thought she might be worthy of a dalliance with Nikolas. So one of the early programmings I gave Lucky was to push her towards Nikolas. But the boy couldn't even do that correctly. Nikolas is still very protective of her. Even now he sees her, while he refuses to see Lucky."

"Interesting," wrapping the negligee around his neck he moved to the window to study the picture in the fading light. She was a pretty girl there was no denying that, but again he was drawn to something he saw in her eyes. "So she is close to the Spencer's?"

"Very, Luke was quite adamant that I stay away from her. I've been meaning to deal with her. Thanks to her, my involvement with Lucky Spencer was exposed long before I was ready for it to be, and it set my plans back."

"You sound very perturbed mother," Stavros said silkily. "She must have gotten to you."

"She's very spirited. I suppose she would be worthy of being a mistress for Nikolas. Definitely not suitable marriage material. But she is more worthy then Gia Campbell, to warm his bed and be seen with him as well, if need be. Her upbringing and family name are stronger, then Gia's."

"So in other word's Elizabeth is more like Kristin then Gia is," Stavros goaded his mother and waited for her response.

"Don't ever mention Kristin to me again. Her and her bastard child are not worthy of my time."

"Do not give me orders," he said icily, crumpling the negligee in his fist.

"Of course, I'm sorry my darling," Helena backtracked quickly. "I will handle Elizabeth Webber, she's been on my to do list for quite awhile now."

[JRK Archiver]

Chapter 7

Yacht

"Of course, I’m sorry my darling," Helena backtracked quickly. "I will handle Elizabeth Webber, she’s been on my to do list for quite awhile now."

Nikolas stayed where he was for a full minute after Helena, hung up the phone and moved to refill her glass. He’d been about to enter the Salon when her words had stalled him in his tracks. Now he was grateful that he had waited. Helena was going after Elizabeth and that wasn’t good. He’d always known that Helena didn’t like Elizabeth. That dislike had hardened when Elizabeth had helped to break Helena’s control over Lucky during the first round of brainwashing.

Still he had let himself believe that Helena wouldn’t do anything to harm Elizabeth because he had ordered her not too, on more then one occasion. He should have realized how stupid an assumption that was. Flashing briefly on her final words, he couldn’t help but wonder who she had been speaking too. Helena almost sounded subservient, and that was something she never was. Deciding to banish the thought until he could deal with it later, Nikolas knew it was time to leave.

Moving slowly he backed down the narrow hallway, waiting until he turned the corner before turning around. He needed to find Elizabeth right away, and they needed to come up with a plan to keep her safe from Helena. If he had too, he’d send her away whether she wanted to go or not. He wasn’t about to let Helena hurt her.

Pier 52

"How could you do this to me?" Carly demanded holding up the divorce papers. "How could you quit on me? On Michael? On us?"

"You can’t be surprised Carly. I told you last night that I was moving ahead with things." Sonny stated calmly.

"Moving ahead with things?" Carly repeated numbly. "Is that what you call ending a marriage Sonny? Moving ahead with things?"

"You know what I mean. We’ve been separated for months now, don’t tell me you’re surprised that I’ve finally decided to end it."

"Don’t try to dismiss me," she hissed shock making her face paler than usual. "You love me, you know you do. God Sonny you kissed me last night. So how can you talk about ending things today?"

Sighing wearily Sonny shook his head. "I don’t trust you. You’ve proven to me time and time again that I will never be able to trust you. You can’t have a marriage without trust."

Moving quickly she caught him off guard and managed to catch his hand. "I was wrong Sonny. I made a mistake, a horrible mistake. Don’t make an even bigger one by giving up on us. I got scared I screwed up I admit that," she argued desperately. She couldn’t lose him he was her world. "You know how I get when I get scared."

"Don’t," he tugged his hand free. "I told you last night, that I’m not Jason and I meant that. I won’t let you wreck my life again and again, and keep taking you back every time you do. I’ve already given you more chances then I’ve given anybone else in my life, and I can’t do that anymore."

"So that’s it? I mess up and you go running to Princess Purity?" Carly sniped. "What the hell do men see in the sanctimonious Elizabeth Webber?"

"I’m not going to argue with you Carly," Sonny turned away.

"Don’t walk away from me," she ordered moving around him quickly to block his path. "What about our family? What about Michael? Are you going to punish him because I messed up?"

"Don’t bring Michael into this, you know I love him."

"Then why are you throwing him out?" Carly pushed. A part of her hated using her son like this, but another part was screaming at her to use him. She had to use anything and anyone she could to keep her family together.

"I’m not throwing him out," Sonny snapped angrily. "I want to keep Michael in my life that’s why I filed the visitation papers."

"So you still want to see my son, you just don’t want to see me anymore is that it?" Incredibly hurt her dark eyes filled with tears of rejection. Rejection it seemed to be the story of her life. First it was Bobbie, who gave her away immediately. Then it was her adoptive father. She’d only been a few months old when he had rejected her and walked out on her and Virginia, neither one had ever seen him again.

That rejection seemed to start a pattern when it came to men, a pattern that continued to this day. Her boyfriends growing up had always tired of her before she was ready to let them go. Once she arrived in Port Charles it was the same when Jason ended things before she wanted. Even Tony had wanted out, and now it was Sonny who wanted to be gone. His decision to leave hurt worse than all the others. Why couldn’t a man love her for longer than a few months or years at a time? What was so wrong with her that they couldn’t or wouldn’t stay around?

"We’re not good together, not for the long haul." Sonny was speaking again pulling her from her reverie. "We don’t trust each other, all we do is fight, it’s not healthy. We’re not healthy."

"You’re just saying that because I messed up. I promise I won’t do it again. Sonny I love you," Carly pleaded tears falling from her eyes. "I know you love me."

Sonny stepped closer, taking her face in his hands. Her eyes searched his and she could see the love and hurt mixed in the dark eyes reflected back at her. "Son…"

Leaning forward he placed his lips on hers stilling her words. The kiss was bittersweet and quite chaste, and when he stepped back she felt like she was drowning in the wake of the loss.

"It’s because I love you that I’m letting you go." Sonny whispered before moving away. "Goodbye Carly."

"Sonny," she choked on his name and stared after him until the tears blurred her view. That final goodbye was so quiet, so strong, so unlike them. It hadn’t been said in anger or in the middle of a fight. He’d just said goodbye and walked away, taking a part of her soul when he did.

Feeling nauseous she wrapped her arms around her waist and made no effort to stop the tears from falling. He really meant it. He really wanted a divorce. She’d lost him, she’d lost her husband, and she only had herself to blame. Moaning her knees gave way and she slumped down on the unforgiving wood planks of the docks. Burying her face in her knees she felt her heart dissolve.

So intense was the pain she was feeling that she wasn’t aware of the hands on her shoulders. Dimly the noise of someone speaking came through her tears, but the words themselves didn’t register. Nothing registered to her because her world was over.

She didn’t struggle when someone picked her up, she barely even felt it. The next thing she knew she was sitting on the bench, sobbing uncontrollably in a man’s arms. She knew it wasn’t Sonny holding her, but at that moment she didn’t care who it was. They had offered her a lifeline when she was drowning and that was the most important thing.

West Coast

Jason had already paced the dingy waiting room outside of the O.R. enough times that a section of the threadbare carpet was covered with the black, coming off the soles of his boots.

Emily had been in surgery for 53 minutes now and he still knew next to nothing about her condition. He didn’t like to be kept waiting, especially when it was something as important as his sister. Catching the eye of the duty nurse she shrugged in his direction and went back to her charts. He’d tried to get information out of her but she’d been very tight-lipped. It wasn’t very often that people withstood his questioning. If she had worked for Sorel, he would still be hunting people.

Sorel.

His features hardened into a sneer. Sorel was to blame. He was the reason that Emily was in the hospital. He was the reason she couldn’t walk. He was the reason that she was now in surgery. He should have killed Sorel years ago. He should have done it the night Moreno had died. Or the night he placed the bomb in Elizabeth’s studio. Or the day he accosted her on the docks. Or when Sorel had arranged for Emily to be drugged and placed next to a dead cop. Or maybe when he’d sent the gunmen after Emily and Zander. Or even when he sent the bomb to Sonny.

Those were just a few of instances in which he should have killed Sorel. There were so many more missed chances. He hated to think of all the suffering he could have saved his sister, he could have saved everyone if he had just killed Sorel one of those other times. He should have taken him out the same night that he took care of Carlos and Rick. Instead he’d left him tied up on the dock like a gift for the P.C.P.D.

That was stupid on his part. By leaving him there, he’d only been doing what Sonny had wanted him to do. But even then he knew that was a mistake, he’d known it but he hadn’t confronted Sonny about it. He should have, he knew that now, but the realization had come too late to help Emily.

"Mr. Morgan?"

Jason’s head whipped up and he was next to the doctor in the blood stained scrubs instantly. "How is she?"

"She’s stable," the surgeon answered quickly. "We managed to relieve the pressure and the swelling is going down."

"What happened to her?" He wouldn’t let himself bend until he knew all the details.

"She had a blood clot. It caused swelling, convulsions and eventually unconsciousness. We got her in surgery just in time, a few minutes longer and she could have died." The doctor patted Jason on the arm. "She’s going to be in post-op for a few hours. It will be even longer than that before the anesthesia wears off."

"When can I see her?"

"You can see her when she’s out of recovery. Again she won’t be conscious for hours. Excuse me."

Nodding Jason stepped back and let the doctor pass. A simple blood clot had almost killed his sister. Anger and determination mixed inside of him until he knew what he had to do. Moving swiftly he headed for the stairwell only to come up short on the stairs. He needed to let them know.

Before he could change his mind Jason pulled out his cell and dialed a number as he continued down the stairs.

"General Hospital 4th Floor Nurse’s Station."

"I need to speak to Dr. Monica Quartermaine," Jason barked out.

"Just a minute please."

Jason moved out into the sunshine that was the signature weather of Northern California afternoons and headed for his bike.

"This is Dr. Quartermaine."

"Monica its Jason."

"Jason?" She repeated in shock. "It’s great to hear from you. Are you in town?"

He could hear the surprise and love in her voice and a small part of him felt guilty for what he was about to say. "No I’m with Emily. She had a setback today, I thought you should know."

"What happened?"

"She had a blood clot and needed surgery to relieve the pressure." He heard her sharp inhalation of breath and hurried on. "The doctor said they caught it in time, so she’ll be fine. But I wanted you to know."

"Thank you," Monica whispered. "I didn’t know you were with her."

"I came as soon as I heard, and been here ever since. I didn’t want her to be alone."

"I’m glad, that’s been the hardest part, thinking of her in the hospital all alone. Will you call me if there’s any change?"

"Yes," he could hear the pain in her voice and remembered the last time he’d seen her and what he had said to her. "I’ll keep in touch mom. Goodbye." He hung up quickly without giving her a chance to speak.

Climbing on his bike his next call was even quicker. "Benny I need you to arrange some flights for me. I have to be in Port Charles tonight. There’s something I need to take care of."

General Hospital

"Monica what’s wrong?" Dr. Alan Quartermaine questioned his distraught wife when he came upon her in ICU.

"Alan," throwing herself in his embrace Monica let his shirt dry her tears.

"What happened? Is there something wrong with a patient?" Alan asked.

"I heard from Jason," Monica admitted finally.

Stunned Alan drew back to look at his wife. His heart leapt, as it always did, at the mention of his youngest son. Then it crashed, again, like it always did, with the bitter reminder that the golden son he so fondly remembered didn’t exist anymore. Yet even with that knowledge he couldn’t help but be concerned. "Is he hurt?"

"No."

Breathing a little easier he tried again. "Is he in jail?"

"No," Monica shook her head. "Alan he’s with Emily he’s been with her for weeks."

Alan was surprised even though he knew he shouldn’t be. Jason had always made time for Emily, it was the rest of the family he could barely tolerate.

Monica moved out of the middle of the hallway pulling Alan with her. "Emily had a setback."

"Is she okay?"

"She had a blood clot and the doctors had to operate to relieve the pressure. Jason said she will be fine, but he wanted us to know right away. I’m sure Dr. Clement will call later to give us a full update, but I wanted to tell you now."

"Damn that bastard."

"Alan!"

"Not Jason," he shot back before gesturing across the hall. "Sorel. Why the hell won’t that bastard just die? We never should have worked so hard to save his life."

"We’re doctors Alan saving lives is what were supposed to do."

"We save human lives not monsters. And that’s what Sorel is, he’s a monster. He sucks the life out of everyone around him." Alan sniped belligerently.

"Calm down Alan remember your blood pressure."

"To hell with my blood pressure, that man almost killed my daughter. As it is he’s paralyzed her for months now, and she just had to have surgery because a blood clot nearly killed her." His voice was rising but he could care less. He hadn’t felt this sort of hatred for anyone since Pierce Dorman. Someone else had killed Dorman, but he’d dearly love to be the one to kill Sorel. "He deserves to die."

Monica tugged on his hands until he focused on her. "I agree with you, however I don’t think it’s something we should talk about when there’s a police officer standing five feet away from us listening to every word we say."

At her words he focused on the young looking officer who seemed to be very interested in them. Counting to 10 in his head he tried to let the worst of his anger go.

"What I want to know is if we should tell Zander? He’s been adamant about not letting Emily know that he’s hurt. Should we tell him about her?" Monica wondered aloud.

Shifting his focus to the young man asleep in the bed in the room next to where they were standing, Alan gave it some thought. He was never going to be Zander’s biggest supporter, nor would he ever believe that Zander was good enough for his daughter. But in the last several weeks he couldn’t help but be struck at how much Zander really seemed to love Emily.

It had been Zander that had gotten through to Emily and convinced her to go to rehab when no one else could. It was also Zander who had requested not to know where she was so he wouldn’t put her in danger. And when he had been hurt it was Zander who said that Emily didn’t need to know because she needed to concentrate on getting well not worrying about him.

No he was never going to be a Zander fan, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t see what the boy was going through. "I think we need to take a page from Zander’s book and not tell him. He needs to concentrate on getting well. If something else happens with Emily then we’ll tell him."

Monica nodded in agreement. "When Jason called, he called me mom."

Jealousy whipped through him so suddenly that he was caught unprepared for it. There were days that he’d gladly sell his soul to hear Jason call him dad again. Even though it was petty and mean spirited on his part, sometimes he hated the fact that Monica had somehow managed to forge a bond with this Jason, while all he did was fight with him.

Swallowing the bitter mixture of jealousy and anger Alan took a final look at Sorel’s room before following his wife down the hall. So intent on his own thoughts he never noticed Zander’s now open eyes focused on the same room.

Kelly’s

Sonny paused a long time in the small courtyard in front of the diner. Johnny seemed to sense his need to be alone, because he made himself scarce in the shadows of the building, watching everything yet focusing on nothing. It had taken a lot of his willpower not to turn around and walk back to Carly when he’d heard her tears. He hadn’t lied to her, he did still love her, he probably always would.

But what he told her was the truth. There was no way they could live together, stay together in a marriage and be healthy. If they stayed together eventually they would destroy each other. He didn’t want that. He didn’t want it for himself, and he didn’t want it for her. So he had to end it while there was still a chance they could be friends.

Still doing that to her had broken his heart.

The door opened in front of him, and a couple left the diner. Sucking up the memory of his conversation with Carly he pushed his feelings aside and moved toward the diner door. "Johnny, come inside and talk to Francis while I’m in here."

Johnny appeared at his side and held the door open for his boss.

His eyes swept the diner and he found Francis at once. His sometime bodyguard was parked at the counter glowering at an oblivious Lucky Spencer. He next found Elizabeth standing in the doorway to the kitchen. Her focus was on someone in the kitchen, and even from across the room he could see how uncomfortable she looked. Not only uncomfortable he realized after a longer study. She was afraid.

The door closing behind him got her attention and Elizabeth turned to look. Their eyes met and for an instant he thought he saw relief in them, before she blinked it away. Nodding at her he took a seat at a table, while Johnny moved on to the counter. Studying her approach through veiled lashes he could see the deep breath she took, in order to brace herself before she reached his table.

"Hi Sonny what can I get you?" Elizabeth asked brightly.

"I’ll take some coffee and a number 2," he flipped his cup over and noticed her jolt when Luke called out sharply from the kitchen.

"Elizabeth get in here."

"Excuse me a minute."

Sonny nodded and waited until she disappeared in the kitchen before motioning to Francis who immediately came over. "Anything else happen?"

"Just Luke yelling at her every 2 minutes,"" Francis snapped. "He keeps her in the kitchen unless she’s on the floor. I can’t hear what he’s saying, all I can see is her face when he talks and I don’t like it."

"Calm down Francis, I don’t want you losing it."

"Something’s not right with Luke. Something hasn’t been right with Lucky for months, and now they both seem to be taking it out on Elizabeth." Francis continued on angrily.

"Keep watching her and don’t let her know," Sonny ordered. "Talk to Johnny until you calm down, I’ll talk to Elizabeth."

Nodding Francis headed back to the counter the same time Elizabeth reappeared in the dining room even paler then she had been before. She paused long enough to grab the coffeepot before heading for his table.

"There you go."

"Do you have a minute?" Sonny asked.

Hesitating she glanced back at the kitchen before shaking her head. "I don’t think I better."

"Please Elizabeth give an old friend a minute," Sonny asked with a smile.

"I guess it will be okay for a minute," she sat down across from him. "What happened?"

"What makes you think something happened?"

"I may be tired but I still have my eyes. You look like you’ve been run over," Elizabeth answered softly.

"That’s an apt description," Sonny replied, a little surprised that even with everything she was going through she still cared enough to be concerned about him. "I just saw Carly."

"I take it things didn’t go well?"

"I had her served with divorce papers today. She wasn’t pleased." Sonny tried to shrug off his lingering feelings. "She knew it was coming, but I still hurt her."

"And yourself," Elizabeth observed quietly. "Are you sure a divorce is what you want? Is there a chance you two can work things out?"

Smirking slightly Sonny could only shake his head. "I can’t believe you’re encouraging me to stay with Carly. I know you two don’t get along."

"That’s true, I’m hardly her biggest fan. But I care about you, and you deserve to be happy. And you were happy with Carly. Maybe it’s foolish on my part, but I think you should do whatever you have too to be happy."

Kitchen

"What’s up Cowboy? You look like someone ran over skillethead." Luke offered from his perch under the back sink. "What did she do now?"

"She’s talking to Sonny," Lucky grumbled. "She’s barely said a word to me, but she’s out there talking to Sonny."

"Lucky welcome to the world of females and all the heartache they bring to the male race," Luke explained with a sneer. "She’s know your watching, she knows you kicked her out of your life, she’s trying to make you jealous. The Borg isn’t in town anymore so she’s relying on Don Corleone out there to do it. Don’t fall for it."

"You really think so?" Lucky shifted to look out the window into the dining room.

"I know so," Luke loomed up over Lucky’s shoulder to look at the girl in question. "She’ll use sex as a weapon, every time. You just need to be strong."

"Sex? You think she’s sleeping with Sonny?" Lucky asked.

Luke smiled at his son’s horrified expression. "If she isn’t yet she soon will be. Girls like that don’t like to be alone for very long. When you died, how long do you think she waited before she moved on to Cassadine, then on to Morgan? A week, a month," he leaned closer, "a day?"

"She didn’t either," Lucky shook his head in denial.

"If you want to believe that go ahead. All I know is you rarely saw Elizabeth in those months without either the Cassapup or Morgan with her. It made me sick the lack of respect she showed for you." For Christ sakes just shut the fuck up. Elizabeth doesn’t deserve this, neither does Lucky.

"Now she’s doing it all over again, only this time you’ll get to see it." He noticed Lucky’s clenched fists from the corner of his eyes and smiled widely.

Table

"We’d destroy each other if we stayed together," Sonny admitted. "But it hurts admitting you made a mistake."

"I know what you mean," she agreed on a sigh.

Noting the wistfulness in her eyes he decided to press her. "Elizabeth will you tell me what’s going on?"

"Nothing’s going on."

"That’s not true," he leaned closer and lowered his voice. "I know your planning something with Nikolas to help Lucky and I know it’s costing you. I want to help, but I can’t until you talk to me."

"There’s nothing you can do," she picked up her coffeepot and began to get to her feet. "I need to get back to work."

"What about helping you with Luke?" He took a shot, hoping his gut was right. From the way her hand began to shake he knew he was right. "Talk to me."

"Something isn’t right with…"

"Elizabeth," Luke’s voice coming from right behind her stopped her mid-word. "I don’t pay you to talk with the customers. I pay you to work. There’s dishes in the kitchen so get going."

"Right. Goodbye Sonny." Elizabeth turned to leave but Luke refused to move from her path. She backed up and walked around him giving him a wide-berth.

"Get a move on," Luke ordered, smacking her butt to get her moving quicker.

Even from his place at the table he could hear Elizabeth’s gasp of surprise and he could see the way she took off for the kitchen. Focusing on Luke again his dark eyes were cold. "What the hell game are you playing Luke?"

Luke pulled a chair from the table and turned it around so he could straddle it. "I’m playing whatever game I want to play, just like I always do."

"Why are you treating Elizabeth like that?"

"Like what? A whore?" Luke drawled pulling a cigar from his pocket. "You’d know all about whores wouldn’t you Sonny? After all you ran a strip club for years. You run the prostitution on the street. Hell you even married my niece. I figure you must be an expert on the subject."

It took a considerable amount of strength not to haul off and deck Luke right then and there, but somehow he managed not too. "I think you better be careful what you say Luke."

"Or what little man you going to kill me?" Luke blew a smoke ring in Sonny’s face. "I’ve taken out bugs that are bigger than you."

"I don’t know what your problem is Luke, but if you want to take it out on me, fine I’m here and ready. But you don’t attack Elizabeth, or Carly to get to me."

"Ever the defender," Luke looked pointedly at Sonny’s bare hand. "I notice your not wearing your leash anymore. Did my psycho niece get wise and dump you, or did you get tired of sloppy seconds, with her calling out Jason’s name every time you were in bed together."

"Here’s your sandwich," Elizabeth chose that minute to make her presence known. "Luke, Don needs your help in the kitchen."

"Don can wait," Luke snapped not even glancing in her direction.

"He said it was important." Elizabeth tried again.

Shooting quickly to his feet Luke put an arm around Elizabeth’s waist and drew her close before she had a chance to back away. "I think I’ve had just about enough of you telling me what to do Elizabeth." Keeping his arm around her waist he turned back to Sonny. "I hear your back in the strip club business. You own that nasty little club called Oasis over on Front St. don’t you? I might have found you a new act. Sweet thing here may be a little on the small side, but let me tell you she’s got some moves professionals could only dream about."

"That’s it," Elizabeth wrenched free of Luke. "You want me gone, fine I’m gone. To think I loved you like a father. You’re just a sick, dirty old man, and I don’t want you in my life anymore."

"I’ll send you your last check. But for now I think you should get out." Luke ordered coldly.

Moving quickly she headed for the counter and grabbed her purse only to pause in front of Lucky. "You need to get away from him too. Before his poison destroys you."

"You’re the poison here Elizabeth," Lucky whispered.

Nodding stiffly, Elizabeth turned and headed for the door. She didn’t even look in Luke’s or his direction. But Sonny noticed that even though her face was white, her eyes were dry.

"What the hell was that?" He exploded as soon as she disappeared out the door. His voice was louder then normal both because he was angry, and because he wanted to distract the attention from Francis who followed Elizabeth out the door.

Luke smirked. "Father? The girl is kinky isn’t she?"

Without even thinking about it, Sonny punched Luke soundly in the face. Catching the older man off-guard he staggered back, Johnny moved out of the way quickly so Luke crashed heavily into the counter.

"Elizabeth is under my protection. If either of you come near her you will answer to me." Sonny informed the Spencer’s coldly. "And if you even breathe in Carly or Michael’s direction I will hunt you down." With that final threat he turned and left.

In following Johnny tripped and fell heavily into Luke sending the already dazed man onto the floor headfirst. "Oops." Stepping hard on Luke’s hand, Johnny followed Sonny out the door.

"Dad are you okay?" Lucky cried racing to his father’s side.

Reaching for his still lit cigar, Luke put it in his mouth and took a deep hit from it. "See that’s the talent of a woman. She can get friends to turn on each other with a mere batting of an eyelash."

Docks

"Nikolas."

Recognizing her voice Nikolas came to an abrupt stop, and his heart jumped when he saw he standing on the steps watching him. "Gia I didn’t see you."

"Obviously."

He watched her saunter down the steps and move closer to him. He had missed her so much, that even her angry stalk walk was a sight for sore eyes. "I hear you moved."

"Yes."

"You didn’t have too. I hoped you would stay at the cottage, that’s why I signed it over to you."

"I didn’t want the token parting gift that you Cassadines seem to give to your women who’ve worn out their welcome," she replied caustically.

Stung at her casual dismissal of herself he moved closer. "You know that’s not what happened Gia."

"Then what did happen Nikolas?" Gia demanded. "One minute you said you loved me and needed me, and the next you told me it was over. What the hell am I supposed to think?" Moving closer her dark eyes pleaded with him. "You love me I know you do. So why are you doing this?"

The temptation to confide in her was strong. After his discussion with Elizabeth earlier in the day he had almost decided that he would. But now after overhearing Helena, he knew that the safest place for Gia was as far from him as she could get. But it still hurt. The hurt he could see in her eyes was nearly his undoing.

"You can’t deny it can you?" Gia moved closer. "You do still love me, you still want me."

"You’re a beautiful woman Gia, a man would have to be dead not to want you," his answer slipped out before he could think it through.

Gia cocked her head and studied him coolly. "So what your saying is that all I ever was to you was a beautiful bed partner?"

"That’s not what you were." In spite of his intentions to the contrary there was no way he could let her think that she was just a mistress to him.

"Sure feels like it. You dumped me real quick once you thought Elizabeth was available. What the hell you see in her I’ll never get." Crossing her arms over her chest she shifted away slightly. "It was my mistake for ever thinking you were over her in the first place."

In that moment he could see past her defenses to the hurt that was surrounding her and his heart broke. He instinctively moved closer wanting to comfort her. The distant sound of voices caught his attention and he shifted his focus to look past the woman he loved. Helena and her lackey were coming towards them.

Stepping back quickly he lowered the hand that had reached for her. "I’m sorry if I hurt you, that was never my intention. But I won’t apologize for going after someone I want."

Stunned Gia turned to look at him. "Nikolas?"

Hardening his heart to the hurt in her voice and her eyes, he turned away from her and saw Elizabeth moving towards them her head down, her focus was on her feet so he doubted that she’d seen them yet. An idea came to him suddenly and without giving it an instants thought he put it in action. Crossing over to her quickly he had a hold of her arms in seconds. Startled Elizabeth looked up, her mouth dropping open in surprise.

Never hesitating Nikolas lowered his head and kissed her. Elizabeth immediately tried to draw away but he kept a hold of her arms and shielded her struggles with his body. Breaking the kiss, but keeping his lips close to hers he took a chance and whispered a warning. "Play along."

This time when he kissed her she didn’t try to back away. She didn’t respond either, but with him shielding her no one could tell that she wasn’t exactly into the kiss.

"You really are a bastard Nikolas." Gia cried loudly from behind him.

His heart breaking he broke the kiss and turned to face her. "I’m sorry if that hurt but I knew of no other way to get my point across. We’re over for good Gia."

"You don’t know how I relieved I am to hear you say that. I’ve moved on as well Nikolas," Gia said through her tears. "I’ve met a man who listens to me, and more then that respects me."

Feeling his gut twist in jealousy Nikolas worked hard at keeping his expression bland. He took a small comfort from the show of support Elizabeth gave him by squeezing his hand. "Good then we shouldn’t have anymore of these awkward meetings now will we?"

"Goodbye Nikolas," Gia paused in front of Elizabeth. "You have no idea the misery you’re in for." Smiling wryly she went on. "You two deserve each other. You’ve both taken lying and betrayal and made it an artwork." With that she flounced away.

Nikolas kept his focus on the dock. He saw Helena still there no doubt enjoying the show. He nodded at her, then gripped Elizabeth’s arm to propel her in motion. "Come on."

Elizabeth kept quiet and let him lead her until they got clear of the docks, then she pulled her arm free and stopped in her tracks. "What the hell is going on?"

"I’m sorry I had no choice. I had to think fast and this was the only plan I could come up with."

"How does kissing me and hurting Gia fall under a plan?" Elizabeth demanded.

Looking around carefully he didn’t see anyone yet he kept his voice low. "I overheard Helena on the phone. What she said made me believe she plans on killing you."

Expecting shock, or maybe tears Nikolas was baffled when Elizabeth began to laugh.

"Did you hear me?" Concerned he reached out for her.

"This is just the perfect end to the day from hell. First Lucky being weird, then Luke freaking me out, finding out Jason wants absolutely nothing to do with me, Luke making a pass, me getting fired," her voice rose as she spit the words out over her laughter. "And now I find out that the Queen of the Damned is going to kill me. I tell you what all in all it’s been one hell of a day."

[JRK Archiver]

Chapter 8

Studio

Elizabeth was still laughing when Nikolas unlocked the door and ushered her inside her home. She knew she was scaring him, she was scaring herself, but she couldn't seem to make herself stop laughing. If she didn't laugh she may cry and she was sick to death of crying. A part of her was worried about the laughter though, it didn't sound right to her ears and judging from Nikolas' expression he didn't think it sounded right either.

Trying to sober herself, Elizabeth wrapped her arms around her ribs, that were beginning to hurt, and attempted to stop laughing. "S-sorry Nikolas."

"Are you okay?"

"You know I've heard that question more today than I have in my entire life." Shuddering at that implication Elizabeth kept herself busy by turning on the various fans scattered throughout the studio.

"There's a reason for that Elizabeth. You look like hell." Nikolas informed her bluntly.

"Ouch Nikolas, don't sugarcoat things for my benefit." Moving to the windows she began to open them trying to cool the stifling room.

"Elizabeth what happened today?"

"What happened?" She parroted as she struggled with the lock on her painted window. "It would be simpler if you asked me what didn't happen."

"Did you see Luke?" Nikolas moved behind her and reached past to try to open the window.

"I got it," she hissed, brushing his hands away from the window. "I saw Luke alright. Believe me I'll never forget him."

"What happened?" Nikolas repeated.

She could feel herself beginning to get upset again and was unnerved. The roller coaster of a day had drained her and she honestly didn't know if she could handle another ride on her crazy emotions. Trying to stem the feelings she concentrated on trying to open the window that seemed to have swollen because of the heat and humidity.

"Lucky didn't kill Luke like he feared," she answered finally. "But he did do something to Luke, or if not him someone did. I don't know what happened to Luke or who did it, but I know that the man I saw today was not Luke Spencer."

"What do you mean?" Nikolas asked the confusion evident on his face. "Are you saying Luke has a double?"

"No. It was Luke but at the same time it wasn't. I know you don't like or trust Luke, but even you would realize that something was wrong with him. Something happened to Luke to change him. The man I saw today, the man who spoke to me that way, was not the Luke I've known for five years," she shuddered at the memory of those crazed eyes. "This man was different. He scared me."

"Are you okay?" Nikolas touched her shoulder in concern and she jerked away.

"There's that question again. I'm really beginning to hate it," she snapped angrily. Pulling hard at the window she snarled at it when it still didn't budge. The irritation, and frustration added to the unease she was already feeling and her stomach began to swirl again. "You know, no one ever used to ask me that question. Either they didn't care enough to want to know, or they already knew the answer because I had informed them how I felt, rather loudly and repeatedly. It was probably a mixture of both. I used to be a real selfish person, I still am I guess, but it's a different kind of selfish. Back in the day I was real bad. You remember how I was when we first met don't you?"

Turning to look in his direction she went on before he could answer her. "I didn't care about anything or anyone. I would use anyone I could if they could help me out. Did you know the only reason I ever began talking to Emily was because I knew she was a friend of Lucky's?"

"No I didn't know that," he admitted quietly.

Unnerved by the calm look in those dark eyes she went back to the window again. She had no idea where the words were coming from, but she could no more stop them than she could open the window. "It's true. You see even then my world revolved around Lucky. You might say that was the beginning of what has become my life's mission. Oh at that time, he was so wrapped up in Sarah he barely even knew I was in the room, unless I was spilling something on him, or threatening to spill something on him, or making Ruby mad. But did I let that fact stop me?"

Yanking hard on the metal bar trying to open the window, she almost screamed when it still didn't budge and her frustration grew. "Where was I? Oh yes Lizzie, see I was Lizzie the Terrible then, I didn't let anything or anyone stop me. I wanted Lucky and I was bound and determined to have him. So when I found out that Emily was one of his best friends, and overheard some kids giving her a hard time because she'd just gotten out of rehab, I got in their face about it. Did I really care about Emily at that point? Hell no, I just knew Lucky would hear about it, and I wanted to impress him." She turned to face him then, her eyes a little too wide and desperate. "Didn't know that did you?"

"No," Nikolas took a step in her direction only to stop when she went back to the window.

"But it doesn't surprise you does it? Not you. You were the one person who saw through me back then. You were suspicious of me from the beginning. God I hated that about you."

"Elizabeth what's going on?"

"When I was selfish like that the only person who could hurt me was me. But that all changed, I changed. Who would have believed that one frigid night in February could turn me into this?" Shaking her head she couldn't keep the bitter smile from her lips.

"What do you think you've been turned into?"

Giving up on the window and barely registering the concern on her friend's face Elizabeth began to roam the small studio, being unconsciously careful to stay out of his reach. "I never realized how much that night changed me. Oh sure some of the changes were obvious. Lizzie died that night and the Elizabeth that emerged was barely recognizable to anyone who knew Lizzie. But that Elizabeth didn't last too long either, she died as well. She died the night Lucky died." Coming to a halt she tried to puzzle something out. "Only he didn't really die after all, but Elizabeth still did."

The words began tumbling out faster and faster, one on top of the other and her movements began to take on a frantic tone.

"I tried to turn myself back into that Elizabeth, but I couldn't. And the Elizabeth that remained," she gave a harsh sounding laugh. "This Elizabeth is so fucked up all she knows how to do is hurt people."

"Elizabeth," Nikolas tried to interrupt.

"Who am I?" Blazing to life she picked up one of the completed canvas' that lined the wall and studied it with a critical eye. "Am I a sometime wannabe artist?" Shaking her head she snorted. "Get real. At best my talent was lukewarm, at worst it was sentimental and maudlin tripe. So no an artist is something I never was and never will be. I better brush up on my waitressing skills, that's where my true talent lies." To prove her point she brought the canvas down over her knee breaking it. She managed to destroy several other pieces before he reached her.

"No," Elizabeth twisted free of his grasp and picked up another painting throwing it as hard as she could. It crashed into her overcrowded table knocking several things off of it before falling to the ground.

"You need to calm down."

"I forgot about the other reason, I'm not now, nor will I ever be, an artist," she continued on like he hadn't even spoken. For every step he took towards her she took one back. "To be an artist you have to feel and I can't feel I'm not allowed too. At this point I don't think I know how to feel."

Her back hit the table and her mind flashed back to the afternoon when she had gotten sick. "I'm empty inside, I must already be dead," she whispered.

"What?"

Turning away from the concern she could see in his eyes her hands gripped the table, and her eyes darted around the room. She could feel her control beginning to slip. When his hands touched her shoulders she shifted and jerked hard on the table flipping it over, catching Nikolas off-guard she moved away again.

"It wasn't always like this. I used to be selfish. I used to be the only one who had that power to hurt me. But I got stupid. That frozen night made me stupid. I began to let people in. I let them in and they hurt me over and over, until they killed me."

"Don't say that. Don't ever say that," Nikolas ordered.

Agitation increasing, each breath began to come harder than the last, Elizabeth dodged away from Nikolas, picking up a cup here, a paintbrush there, only to throw them as hard as she could to see them break. It was nice to be the one breaking things, instead of being broken, for a change.

"They’re just words Nikolas. Word's can't hurt people, don't you know that?"

"Calm down." Nikolas managed to catch her wrist but when she yanked so hard he was afraid she would break her wrist trying to get free he let her go. "Elizabeth."

"Words like I'm a woman who was so desperate to be loved and so needy for it, that I would hang on to someone I didn’t really love, so I wouldn’t have to be alone, they don't matter do they?" She demanded as Luke's words echoed through her mind. Next came Audrey's, "Or the fact that I could do so much with my life but instead am choosing to waste it."

Breathing was becoming difficult but the words wouldn't stop coming, the memories of what had been said to her today wouldn’t stop coming. "That I'm nothing but trash or a whore, those words don't hurt. Or the fact that I'm poison, like Lucky thinks. But those are just words, so they don't count." Her eyes grew desperate as her breath kept coming in gasps. She knew she was getting close to breaking and this time she didn't know if she would be able to pick herself back up. "Or the words that he doesn't want to hear about you. They don't really matter do they?"

Elizabeth pulled away when Nikolas reached out for her and began backing away. "Now you tell me that Helena wants me dead and all I can say is so what?" She tried to yell but the words came out on a painful gasp.

"You need to calm down and breathe Elizabeth." Nikolas moved closer.

"No," clutching her stomach she backed away and stumbled over the case that held her easel, picking it up she turned around. "Don't you see that I'm empty inside Nikolas? Everyone figures that out eventually. That's why they all leave me in the end. That's why they don't want to hear about me. I have some sort of poison inside of me, and it kills the love that people once had for me."

"You are not poison," he argued.

"Yes I am." Elizabeth screamed, turning abruptly she let the case go and it crashed through the window that had refused to open, sending glass shards flying everywhere. "Leave before I poison you too."

"No."

"Y-yes," she began to gasp as her throat closed up on her. Shuddering as her body began to jerk she tried to take air into her suddenly closed off lungs.

Closing the distance quickly Nikolas caught her by the shoulders before she could fall. "Breath Elizabeth," he half begged, half ordered. Picking her up he carried her to the window hoping to catch some of the fresh air that was swirling there. "Just breathe that's all you have to do."

Elizabeth didn't want to listen, she just wanted to give up. Nikolas' words came to her over her ragged breathing, and she ignored them, a part of her looking forward to the growing darkness forming before her eyes. But then her eye landed on the partially rebuilt Corinthos/Morgan warehouse and a little of the desperation she was feeling began to fade.

"Just breathe Elizabeth."

General Hospital

Skye Chandler Quartermaine sat in her car and debated with herself. She had no idea why she was back at the hospital. She had no excuse to be here. If she ran into that bothersome Lieutenant again she would have no reply if he asked her why she was sitting in her car in the hospital parking lot. Her father had long since gotten off duty, visiting hours were over, so she had no excuse offer.

Her gaze shifted from her perfect manicure to her purse and the gun she knew was inside there. Smuggling the gun out of the mansion had been easy. Ever since she'd moved in she'd made it a point to find out where the keys were kept to every door and every locked case in the house. That included Edward's gun collection.

She was smart enough to choose a weapon that wasn't unique. The Colt .45 in her purse wasn't unique in any way. Edwards simply tried to have at least one of every kind of gun in his collection. She had discovered through her snooping that Edward had three Colt .45's so there was a good chance that no one would ever know that one of the extra ones was missing.

It wasn't the first time she'd taken a gun. One of her ex's Dr. Jonathan Kinder had discovered that the hard way. She still wasn't sure what she was going to do with the gun. But ever since Sorel had been admitted to the hospital, she'd taken to carrying the gun around with her everywhere she went.

The compulsion to take the gun out and shoot the evil reminder of a past she never wanted to remember crashed into her every time she saw Sorel. The compulsion was much like the urge she'd get to have a drink. Thus far she'd managed to hold off both compulsions but it was only a matter of time before she faltered.

"You know what they say Ms. Quartermaine. Pride goeth before the fall. You should be aware of that, how many times have you fallen?"

The Lieutenant's smirking words came back to her. He was smarter than she'd given him credit for. She would have to be very careful from here on out, and the tightrope she was already walking seemed to grow even smaller.

The world would be such a better place if only Sorel would die. Her focus moved to her purse again. If only Sorel would die.

Pier 52

Carly sniffled a final time then pulled out of the arms holding her. Turning her head, her watery eyes focused on the man who had been holding her, and opened wide in surprising recognition. "J-jax?"

"Are you okay?" The Australian asked in concern.

Smothering a groan. Carly stood and moved away from the bench. It was bad enough to lose it, but to lose it in front of Jasper Jax, one of her husband's worst enemies was awful. She began to feel embarrassed and she hated to feel embarrassed. Aware he was waiting for her response she forced some venom in her voice. "I'm fine."

"You know he's not worth your tears. You won't believe me now. But you are better off without him."

That was all it took to fire her temper. "As usual you don't have the first clue what you’re talking about. You've had what? Three conversations with me and now you think you know what is best for me."

"I may not know you but I am an expert on Sonny Corinthos," Jax stood and moved up behind her. "I've seen the devastation that man causes. I've seen the wreckage he brings to the women who make the mistake of trying to love him. You should consider yourself lucky, the last woman he destroyed he left broken in the rain, the woman before that died in an explosion."

Whirling around Carly swung out, but Jax caught her hand before it connected with his face. "I'm not Lily and I'm sure as hell not as fragile as Brenda." Taking advantage of the way his eyes closed in pain over the mention of his late fiancee's name she tugged her hand free. "I'm stronger than they were. Sonny won't break me, no man will ever break me."

"I hope your right for your sake and your sons."

"My son will be just fine, he has me and he has his father, Sonny," she deliberately drawled out his name.

"You both could do so much better."

"You don't have a clue." Irate Carly stalked away then back again. "You're jealous of Sonny, you always have been. You have no idea how good of a man Sonny is. You're not even fit to shine his shoes."

"Carly," Jax began in a reasonable tone of voice.

"I don't want to hear it Jax. My husband is a great man. And we're fine together we just had a minor setback, that's all."

"Really?" Jax held up the papers she'd thrown at Sonny. "To me it looks like he filed for divorce."

"You don't understand." Infuriated she jerked the papers from his hand. She could see the compassion in his eyes and the sight of that drove her crazy. She didn't need anyone's pity. "We just had a misunderstanding, that's all. Once I make Sonny understand what happened everything will be fine. He'll understand and we'll be back on track, my family will be back on track."

"It's funny how familiar those words sound," Jax murmured before holding out a handkerchief. "Here."

Angered at the tears she dashed them away with a frenzied wipe of her hands. She had to fix this, she knew she could, she just had to think of something. It wasn't her fault that she got so scared she'd reacted without thinking. "Sorel," she muttered her expression shifting into one of hate.

"What about Sorel?"

"It was all his fault," she whispered mainly to herself. Sorel was the reason that Sonny had been so distant, so worried. Sorel was the one who had shot Sonny trying to kill him, he was the one who had blown up the warehouse with Sonny in it, he was the one that had sent the bomb to the penthouse. He was the person responsible for her having a bomb in her living room where her son played every day. Sorel was the one that had driven her into reacting. He was the one that had scared her so much that she had reacted without thinking things through.

She never would have turned Sonny in if Sorel hadn't made her so crazy. It was all Sorel's fault that her life was in ruins. He was the reason that Sonny had kicked her out and was trying to end their marriage. Sorel was the reason Zander was in the hospital. Sorel was the reason Jason had to leave town. Sorel was the cause of it all, and it was time for him to pay.

"Where are you going?"

Hearing Jax's call Carly never even broke stride. "Don't worry Jax I'll make sure the Boy Scout's send you your merit badge for your good deed of the day."

Dock's

"Sonny?"

At the sound of his name Sonny paused and turned around. "Angel?" the dark-haired woman in white stood out on the dark docks like a beacon.

"I thought that was you," she smiled and moved down the steps towards him.

"What are you doing here?" Sonny asked not quite willing to keep the suspicion from his voice. It was true that the woman had saved his life and given him shelter at a time when his life was falling apart, but every now and then her presence made him uneasy.

There was something almost familiar about her and whatever it was, it was unsettling. When those moments happened he tried to convince himself it was just his suspicious nature, and that he was more than likely imagining things and yet, he couldn't help but be wary of her.

"Sonny?" Angel put her hand on his arm to get his attention. "Are you okay?"

Seeing the concern in her eyes Sonny tried to banish the lingering doubts he had about her. "I was thinking about something else. What did you say?"

"I was asking how you are. You were pretty upset the other night at the hospital and I guess old habits die-hard I wanted to check on you." She smiled at her reluctant admission and an answering grin flittered across his features.

"I'm fine," moving past her he focused on the half-built warehouse. He was going to have to put in a better sprinkler system, not to mention security system. This was the third time they had to rebuild the warehouse, it was getting a bit ridiculous.

Sonny worked up a smile when Angel joined him at the edge of the dock. "I forgot to ask you why you were at the hospital. Is anything wrong?"

"I'm fine I was just visiting someone."

"Nothing serious I hope," Sonny remarked casually.

"No nothing that won't soon be fixed," she smiled at him. "I was wondering if you'd like to get some dinner."

Again the feeling of unease washed over him and again he tried to battle it back. So far he'd refrained from having Benny investigate her. He hadn't wanted to repay her kindness with suspicion. But somehow he knew it was only a matter of time before he did investigate her. There was something about the way she kept showing up everywhere he was lately that didn't feel right.

"Sonny?" Again she touched his arm.

"Not tonight Angel." He turned her down as nicely as he could. "I had a long day, I don't think I'll be very good company." The excuse he gave her was an honest one. Between Alexis, Jason, Carly, Luke and Elizabeth he'd had a hell of a day.

"You don't have to entertain me Sonny. You don't even have to talk, I thought you knew that by now." She broke off when lightning lit up the sky around them illuminating the dock. "Looks like a storm is coming."

Looking up Sonny focused on the dark storm clouds that were moving in over the water. Already the wind had picked up and the sound of the waves hitting the docks had increased. "Looks like it's going to be a nasty one."

Alley

"Hey hold up Frank."

At the call Jason moved back into a doorway and waited for the speaker to pass the mouth of the alley. Lightning lit the sky, briefly illuminating the two men in uniform at the mouth of the alley.

"Since when do you read W Steve?" Frank Scanlon pointed to the magazine in his partner's hands.

"Since the lovely Gia Campbell has graced the cover," Steve Gray held up the magazine and opened it to a page that was already creased.

"Forget it man she's out of your league. Besides isn't she engaged?"

"Not anymore," Steve shot back. "Her and that Cassadine dude are over."

"Been reading the gossip pages again?"

"No I saw it with my own eyes. Remember that call we made the other day to the PC Hotel? I saw her going into a suite there, apparently she lives there now." The blonde paramedic went on with his explanation. "And this afternoon I saw proof positive that Cassadine has moved on as well."

"Really?" Frank frowned when the sky lit up again.

"Yes I saw him kissing another girl on the docks today. And my soon to be girlfriend Gia saw the whole thing as well."

"Come on we better get back to GH you can fill me in on the rest of your delusions on the way." Frank began moving to the waiting ambulance.

"I'm telling the truth that guy Cassadine was kissing that waitress that works at Kelly's. You know the cute brunette, I think her name is Elizabeth."

Opening the door Frank shot his partner a look. "Elizabeth is engaged to Lucky Spencer, he's Cassadine's brother."

"From the looks of the kiss I saw today I would say that relationship is over," shooting his partner a long look Steve lobbed his next shot. "Imagine a woman playing two brothers against each other, kinky."

Frank glared at the dig and started the ambulance with a roar.

Jason waited for the sound of the vehicle to fade before stepping clear of the alley. Elizabeth was kissing Nikolas and wasn't involved with Lucky anymore? He tried to shake the thought away but couldn't help but wonder what was going on. In fact his first instinct was to head to the left, towards the docks, Kelly's, and her studio, to find her and find out what was going on.

The other part of him was telling him to head to the right and the hospital and do what he'd come here to do. Elizabeth could take care of herself. She wasn't his responsibility, she never had been and never would be.

[JRK Archiver]

Chapter 9

Studio

Nikolas ran a hand over Elizabeth's hair then down her back in a continuing motion, then did it again, and again. The repetitive motion was calming for him, and once her breathing began to settle, it seemed to soothe her as well. The past half-hour had been the most nerve wracking of his life. Watching his friend work herself into such a state, and then having to watch her struggle to take a breath was the worst thing he'd ever seen. He never, ever wanted to feel that helpless again.

"Do you think I hit anyone?" Elizabeth asked quietly.

"When?" Nikolas looked down at the dark head that was resting on his legs.

"When I threw the case out the window. Do you think I hit anyone?"

Smirking slightly Nikolas couldn't help but hope that the worse had begun to pass. "I doubt it. They would have knocked on your door by now if you had."

"Okay." Elizabeth sat up and shifted until she was sitting beside him, her back to the wall.

"Watch out for the glass," he warned her, brushing a few pieces away.

"I'm sorry about before," she murmured.

"I'm not," he answered without thinking then tried to backtrack. "Don't get me wrong I can live without ever seeing you struggle to take a breath again. But I'm not sorry you said what you said. You needed to let things out, you kept them bottled up for far too long and they were obviously choking you."

"Still I'm sorry I lost it while you were here."

"I'm sorry you’re in so much pain."

"I can handle it. I'm not going to do anything stupid," she looked around her destroyed studio, "well anything stupider."

"I'm relieved to hear that." When her head came to rest on his shoulder and she sighed, he almost let his next question go. She seemed at peace so why bring up something that may upset her again? But he knew he had too. She was his friend and it was painfully obvious to him how much she needed him to be her friend again, especially now. "About what you said before."

Groaning Elizabeth got to her feet and moved away. "Can we just forget what I said? I was obviously hysterical, I doubt I made any sense at all."

"Elizabeth," getting to his feet he took her hand before she could move away. "I just need to know about one thing."

"It's late and I'm tired," she hedged trying to back away.

Ignoring her plea he pressed on. "You said he didn't want to hear about you. I take it you mean Jason?"

Elizabeth got very still, her attempts to pull away stopped, and she looked at her feet for a long time before nodding. "Sonny told me that. Jason," her voice began to break and she paused for a minute before going on. "He doesn't care about me anymore."

Hearing her defeated voice worried him and he reached out for her, but she moved away. "Elizabeth."

"It's for the best. I can't think about Jason right now anyway. Right now I have to focus on helping Lucky and Luke. And in spite of what it looked like an hour ago, I am capable of helping them."

"I know you are," he agreed quickly his heart breaking all over again for his friend. "We need to talk about things. Luke, Helena, Lucky, you, a lot of things have happened and we need to discuss them."

"I know we do but can't it wait?" Raising her head her eyes met his for the first time. "I'm really tired. I don't want to deal with anything else tonight."

Nikolas was torn. She did look exhausted, but he knew there was a lot that needed to be said.

"I'll be fine. I know this probably won't make any sense but me losing it the way I did, I think it helped. I don't have as much weighing on my mind. Finding out I still have my friend helped too. For the first time in a long time I think I might be able to sleep," she went on.

Searching her eyes for a hint of a lie Nikolas could see none. The evidence of her tears was still on her face, but it was true her eyes didn't seem as shadowed as they had been. Still he couldn't help but feel concerned. "I don't know."

"I'll be fine, I promise. I won't do anything stupid," she pressed.

At the sight of her weak, but genuine smile he caved. "I want you to call me if anything happens or if you want to talk. No matter what time it is, you call me."

"I will," she agreed immediately and took his hand to lead him to the door.

"I will be here first thing in the morning so we can discuss things. You won't be able to put me off then," when he saw her roll her eyes he smiled. Maybe her breakdown had been for the best. She seemed to be feeling better now.

Elizabeth opened the door and he saw her focus was on the door handle and knew she was embarrassed. He didn't want that. "I'm glad you trusted me enough to talk to me tonight."

Jolting she darted a look in his direction. "I don't think I gave you any choice in the matter."

"Trust is never easily given Elizabeth. I lost your trust for a long time, I'm glad I got it back. I'm glad you’re my friend. I love you and I've missed you." He told her honestly. His risk paid off when she opened her arms and let him hug her in farewell.

"I've missed you too," she whispered. "Now go," she ordered stepping back after a minute. "I got things to clean up and then sleep is calling my name."

Nikolas moved out into the hallway. "I'll see you soon."

Smiling briefly Elizabeth closed her door, turning she leaned against it, and closed her eyes. Opening them she focused on the wreckage and couldn't help but smile slightly. This time she'd actually done some damage when she decided to wreck her room. She didn't really feel like picking anything up at the moment, maybe what she told Nikolas was correct and she would be able to sleep.

Her couch seemed to be calling her and she moved towards it. She'd only taken two steps when the sound of thunder reverberated through her studio followed by a brilliant flash of lightning. Her lights flickered once, twice, then disappeared entirely. With a sigh she moved cautiously through the dark room until she reached the window that now had a gaping hole in it.

Looking up towards the sky and the dark clouds that were visible, she vaguely wondered if they’d finally get the rain they so desperately needed. Sighing, her focus shifted to the docks. When a figure caught her eye Elizabeth moved closer until her head was halfway out the window. "Oh my god."

Pulling back Elizabeth turned and ran for the door, stepping over the debris of her artwork in her haste. Opening the door a gust of wind caught it and it began to slam. Not wanting the glass to break she caught it automatically, closing it quietly, then hurried for the stairs desperate to get to the docks.

Francis opened the door slowly, seeing no one in the hall he opened it wider and stepped out into the hall. He heard the faint sound of a door closing off the stairwell and gave it a moment’s thought. Moving across the hall he put his ear next to the door trying to hear Elizabeth. When he heard nothing from within he stepped back. She’d probably decided to go to sleep the way she’d told Nikolas she was going to do.

He wasn’t sure what all had happened after Nikolas had brought her home. But he’d heard her yelling and things breaking. He’d been about ready to open the door, in spite of his orders to stay out of sight, to check on her, when he’d heard her crying and Nikolas comforting her.

Nikolas had grown up since the last time he’d guarded Elizabeth. And that was something he was glad to see. She needed a friend about now, he knew she needed a friend pretty badly, and from what he’d overheard, Nikolas was being her friend. Glancing at his watch he realized he hadn’t let Sonny know what he’d overheard yet. His relief would be here in about an hour, and then he’d go tell Sonny in person. His boss needed to know that it sounded like Helena Cassadine was planning on killing Elizabeth.

General Hospital

"You shouldn’t be here Melissa."

The blonde nurse turned and studied her boyfriend. "Neither should you Roy," she reminded him before looking back through the window at a sleeping Sorel.

"Come on," Roy took her arm to lead her away from the room and the nosy cop on the door.

"I really hate that man," Melissa muttered. "I know I’m a nurse. I’m dedicated to saving lives, but I could honestly say if Sorel coded I don’t know if I would be able to do what was necessary to bring him back to life."

"That’s why you’re not assigned to his room or this floor," he reminded her. He had his own problems with Sorel and would gladly see the man dead, but at the moment he was more concerned about her. He didn’t like the look she got in her eyes when she spoke of Sorel.

"I should get back to work," Melissa kissed his cheek. "We still on for later?"

"I’ll be here," Roy agreed and watched her walk away before turning to look back at Sorel’s room. Moving past Zander's room his eyes were drawn to the young man lying in the bed. He had a passing thought in going in and seeing how he was doing, but Zander's eyes were closed so he moved on.

Zander waited for the sound of the footsteps to fade before opening his eyes. He was tired of the way people could walk in and out of his room at will while he was stuck in bed, strapped to machines. His thoughts shifted to Sorel, as they always did, and he could hear the beep of the heart monitor began to pick up its rhythm, it doubled when his thoughts turned to Emily.

Emily was the one person in this world who deserved nothing but the best, and she was the person who was paying the heaviest price. Being stuck in this bed had finally paid off, he was able to eavesdrop on her parents and knew about her surgery. A little probing of the always talkative Nurse Amy Vining and he'd learned how close a blood clot had come to killing Emily.

Sonny had promised that he would take care of Sorel once and for all. But he didn't know if he believed him. Sonny had been making a lot of mistakes lately and because of that other people were paying the price. Emily's life was too important to risk. He'd caused her so much pain, the best present he could ever give her was to make sure that Sorel was never allowed near her again.

His eyes moved to the open door and he could see the shoulder of the police guard across the hall. Next they moved to his leash, the steadily beating heart monitor, and he began to plan.

Penthouse 4

"Elizabeth Webber is here to see you," Johnny opened the door after his boss had answered his knock.

"Send her in, then go ahead and leave. I’m in for the night," Sonny ordered.

Johnny nodded and stepped back to let Elizabeth in.

"Thanks," she murmured giving him a distracted smile. She waited for the door to close behind her before looking at Sonny. "Thanks for seeing me, I really needed to talk to you."

"No problem," he gestured with his arm. "Sorry about the mess, it’s still being repaired."

Looking around the Penthouse she could see the aftermath of the bomb. She’d only been here a couple of times but the changes and aftermath were easy to see. The scar marks on the ceiling had yet to be painted over. And even though the smell of fresh paint was strong, she could still smell a faint trace of the chemicals the firemen had used to put out the blaze. The room was empty except for sawhorses, paint pails, and coverings, no paintings or knick-knacks remained in sight. The room increased her guilt and hardened her resolve to get through her story and tell him the whole truth for once.

"Elizabeth?"

"What?" His voice caused her to break out of her thoughts and she saw the concern on his face.

"I said would you like something to drink?" Sonny repeated. "I have some water or some wine if you would prefer."

"No I’m fine." Taking a deep breath to prepare, she plunged in. "First of all I wanted to thank you for not only seeing me, but in helping me these last few years. I know you did it mainly for Jason’s benefit but you never made me feel like a burden and you’ve always been very nice to me so I wanted to thank you for that."

"I consider you a friend Elizabeth. As such I’ve never seen you as a burden, and I never will," he corrected her with a frown.

"I doubt you’ll feel the same after I’m done so I just wanted to say that to you now, so you’ll know how glad I am to have had you in my life for awhile." She moved away when she saw his frown grow.

"I need to tell you something. Something I should have told you a long time ago but didn’t. It’s going to be hard for me to say and even harder for you to hear," she turned to face him and noted his expression hadn’t changed, he was just watching her. The expression on his face reminded her of Jason and that caused her heart to leap. "So if you would let me finish before you ask any questions I’d appreciate it. Once I do explain everything and answer all your questions I promise I’ll never bother you again."

"Elizabeth it sounds like you think I’m going to turn my back on you. Don’t you know that there is nothing you can tell me that will ever make me turn my back on you?" Closing the distance between them he placed his hands on her shoulders. "I meant what I said. I consider you a friend and I don’t have very many of those, so believe me I’m not about to throw away any that I do have."

The words cheered her, a bright moment in her otherwise dark life, and they caused her to smile in sadness, if only they could be true. "Thanks. What you said means a lot, but I won’t you to them."

Frowning he started again. "Eliz…"

"Please let me do this," she cut him off and nodding he dropped his hands.

Picking a spot over his left shoulder she began the story that should have come out so long ago. "The night that Lucky and Sorel escaped from jail, Nikolas and I went looking for him. After a few hours I finally figured out where he could be, we went there, and I was right. He was at the boxcar. Lucky was there, but he wasn’t acting like himself, he was upset, agitated, even distraught I’d say. He wasn’t making much sense. We didn’t know it then, but Helena had paid him a visit in the jail and that’s what had made him run."

Stepping away she put a little distance between her and Sonny before beginning the next part of her story. "We tried to get him to turn himself in, but he refused, he got crazed at the suggestion. He broke an old bottle that was in the boxcar and put the glass to his throat hard enough it broke the skin and he began to bleed. He swore that if we made him go back, he’d be dead by morning. In that minute we believed him."

Blinking away the memory of Lucky’s madness she moved on. "Nikolas and I agreed to hide him, until he was calm. We were about to leave the boxcar when Sorel showed up."

She saw the way Sonny stiffened at the mention of Sorel and knew it was beginning.

"To make a long story short he threatened us, if we turned him in, he’d tell the cops that Lucky set up the escape with Nikolas and my help. I still wanted to turn him in and I guess he realized that, or he remembered me from before when Jason went after him. So he moved closer and touch…" she couldn’t help the shiver that went through her when Sorel had caressed her cheek. "Anyway he threatened to have Lucky killed once he was back in jail if we didn’t help him."

"All this time Lucky kept getting more and more agitated and Nikolas was having a hard time controlling him. I knew he’d kill Lucky and I also knew that if he didn’t, Lucky would kill himself if he was forced back in jail, so I finally agreed to help him."

Sonny had moved to the window and she could see and feel the tension and anger radiating from him, but he didn’t speak.

"After hiding Lucky, and leaving Nikolas I came here looking for you." She thought she saw him flinch at that remark and hurried on. "You see I knew if I told you, you would handle Sorel. But you were gone and the guard wouldn’t even take a message. I came back the next morning but you were still gone. So I had no choice I had to go back to the boxcar again."

"I was the one he chose to bring him meals. I was about to call out to let him know that I was coming, because he was armed, when I heard a woman’s voice. I heard Sorel ask her, why did you interfere? Why didn’t you just let him die?"

"The woman answered with, because I have so many plans for him. Trust me he doesn’t suspect a thing."

"I don’t know who they were talking about, but I knew I couldn’t get caught eavesdropping so I hurried back to the trees. I got there just in time, because Sorel emerged from the boxcar, then turned and helped the woman out. They talked for a while longer but I couldn’t hear what they were saying. All I know is when she eventually left, she called him Daddy."

That announcement caused Sonny to focus on her.

"I know I should have told you before now, I should have told you last night when you asked me if Sorel had threatened me again. But I guess that doesn’t matter now. The reason I am finally telling you is because I saw that woman again tonight. I saw her earlier, with you, on the docks. She has dark hair, and was dressed all in white, the woman you were talking too, she’s Sorel’s daughter." Taking a deep breath as the last of her burdens fell free she waited for his reaction.

Risking a glance at his face her heart fell when she saw the temper livid in his eyes, in his expression. She twisted her purse strap in her hands and anxiously waited for his accusations or questions but none came. "Do you want to know anything else?" She kept her eyes on her feet but asked the question after a few more silent moments had passed.

"Why didn’t you tell me this before?"

She could hear the coldness in his voice and tried not to flinch. "At first it was because I couldn’t find you. And then it was because people were getting hurt and it didn’t seem to matter, because Sorel wasn’t at the boxcar anymore. I wanted to tell Emily first but when I saw you with that woman I knew I couldn’t wait any longer."

"Did she see you? Or did Sorel know you overheard them?" Sonny demanded.

"No." Unconsciously she rubbed her arm where Sorely had grabbed her that day. "He asked, but I lied and he believed me."

"Did he hurt you?"

Both the soft question and the closeness over which it was uttered startled her enough that she looked up at him. Belatedly realizing that he had moved until he was directly in front of her, she instinctively moved back a step. "No he didn’t hurt me."

His dark eyes seemed to pin hers and she tried to look away but couldn’t. "He didn't, not really, he just tried to scare the truth out of me so he grabbed me and shook me. I told him I hadn’t seen anything and he let me go." The memory of his threats and taunts about Jason not being there to protect her this time replayed in her mind and unknowingly crossed her face.

She was amazed that Sonny had even bothered to ask. Standing here, in his wrecked home, he had to realize that if she had gone to the cops, all of this damage could have been avoided. Carly would never have been taken hostage, Emily wouldn’t have been on the bus, she wouldn’t have broken her back, Sonny wouldn’t have brought a bomb into his home to try to kill Sorel, if she had just spoken up sooner. She had to be misreading the concern she thought she saw in his dark eyes. There was no way he could still care not after all the damage she’d brought to his life.

"I’m glad you told me," Sonny informed her quietly.

"I’m sorry I took so long." He turned his back on her and she knew it was time to leave. Moving quickly towards the door she took the handle in hand, but didn’t open it, there was still one thing she needed from him. Turning she looked back at him. "I realize I don’t have the right to ask you for any favors. But I’m going to anyway. I would like to be the one to tell Jason what I did."

"Why?" He asked turning to face her.

"Because if you tell him he’ll have a chance to close off the anger and hide it before he sees me again and that’s not healthy," she smiled wryly her own breakdown vivid in her mind. "He’ll probably censor himself, his anger, because he feels he owes me for saving his life. Which he doesn’t, he saved me far more than I ever saved him," sighing she ran a hand through her hair and forced herself to go on. "But if I tell him, he won’t have the time to close off, he’ll be able to let it out, at me, right away."

"What makes you say that?" Sonny asked. "Jason doesn’t really talk when someone he really cares about hurts him, he shuts down."

Amazingly dry-eyed she smiled sadly at Sonny and finally realized that there were parts of Jason that Sonny didn’t seem to know while she did. "He won’t this time. You see I didn’t just hurt him. I hurt Emily, I hurt Carly, I hurt you, he won’t be able to stop himself from being mad. He can understand any hurt that I might have caused him, but not the hurt I caused the people he loves. He never learned that kind of forgiveness."

Her hand tightened on the doorknob and she opened the door. "See it’ll be for the best if I tell him, that way if he has any leftover feelings for me, this will kill them and the break will be clean. A clean break is what’s best for him. A clean break is better for everyone. I do want you to know how sorry I am, I know it’s not enough, but it’s all I have left to offer. That and a promise not to bother you again."

With those words she smiled once more and was gone. Not bothering to wait for the elevator she ran for the stairwell. She made it down three levels before the burning in her sides made her stop. It was done. She was finally out of secrets and this one had the potential to cost her the most. The hall smelled of the chemical fire extinguishers, and her thoughts turned to Sorel. He had ruined so many lives, and yet he was still alive, somehow that didn’t seem right.

Sonny had been so lost in her words that it took him a minute to realize that she’d left. Frowning at the open door, he kicked it closed, he knew he should go after her, she was upset, and thought he was angry with her. But at that moment he needed to process all the information she’d given him. Francis was no doubt with her somewhere so she wasn’t alone.

Moving to the window he stared out into the night and the wild rain that was finally beginning to fall. Sorel had been trickier than he’d given him credit for. But he wasn’t his primary focus at the moment, Angel was. So she had plans for him. Smiling coldly at his reflection, Angel was about to realize what sort of plans he had for her, and her father.

Quartermaine Mansion

"Lila have you seen Alan?" Monica entered the Salon and immediately joined her mother-in-law on the settee.

"Not since dinner Monica," Lila looked up from her newspaper. "Is there something wrong?"

"No." Monica moved to the French doors and focused on the falling rain. "He was upset earlier. I wanted to talk to him."

"Upset," came a strident voice from the doorway. "Of course he was upset, he should be, and if you were any kind of mother you'd be upset as well."

Stifling a groan Monica rested her head on the windowpane. "What do you mean by that Edward?"

"Emily. You've left that poor darling girl alone for far too long. And now your trusting her care to a brain damaged criminal." Edward explained as he moved towards the wet bar.

"Oh Edward," Lila's voice was ripe with censure.

"Jason is not providing her healthcare. He is providing her support and I for one will not stand by and listen to you attack him for that." Monica's temper began to spike and she instantly slid into her defensive mother role.

"Harumph," Edward snorted.

"Edward be quiet," Lila ordered.

"No I will not Lila. I've held my tongue long enough." When Monica snorted at that remark he turned on her quickly. "It's bad enough that child had to be sent away from her family while she recovered from her injuries, while the delinquent who should be sent away has roamed around Port Charles without a care in the world…"

"Zander is in the hospital. I think he has a care," Monica pointed out tartly.

"But to give her whereabouts to another criminal. Not to mention working to save the life of the degenerate that caused her injury in the first place," he paused for breath. "It's a disgrace."

"Monica where are you going?" Lila asked in concern. "It's raining."

"I need some air Lila," she glared at Edward. "Suddenly I'm finding it hard to breathe in this house."

With that she moved out the door and away from the house. Moving along the path, that led to the drive, the rain fell hard on her Chanel suit but she didn't care, or even feel it. Edward, the bastard, had a point. She had worked to save Sorel's life when he had first been brought into GH.

She hadn't wanted to work on him, but he'd had shrapnel lodged near his aorta and she had been the only heart surgeon available. The temptation to just let him die had been strong, yet in the end the oath she'd taken to save lives had been stronger.

But now after hearing of Emily's latest setback she couldn't help but wonder if she'd made a mistake by letting Sorel live. Lightning lit the sky and when the flash died she realized something that made her uncomfortable. Alan's car wasn't in the drive.

ICU

Amy Vining paused around the corner from ICU and tugged on her shirt to straighten it then combed a hand through the snarls in her hair. When the lights flickered above her again, she shot them a warning look. They better not go off again, she had someone to impress. The guard assigned to Sorel’s room was awfully cute, and she was determined to snare him before that witch Gabriella did. She wasn't getting any younger and her biological clock was ticking far too loudly in her ear.

Pasting a smile on her face she turned the corner expecting to see him, the smile fell from her face when she realized he wasn’t there. Frowning at her chart she was puzzled, Sorel wasn’t scheduled for any tests so she wondered where he was. Grumbling under her breath she moved to Sorel’s room and opened the door.

"Oh my god."

The chart fell from her hand as she ran inside the room towards the guard who was lying unconscious on the floor next to the bed. She checked his pulse first of all then looked for a wound. Her expression was puzzled when she saw his open shirt, pulling on it she looked at the electrodes there. Electrode pads that should have been on Sorel’s chest. She could hear the steady beat of the heart monitor, and as strong as it was she knew the guard would be just fine.

Getting to her feet she transferred her attention to Sorel. The scalpel jutting out of his chest told her what had happened, to the mobster. Knowing it was already too late, she checked for a pulse anyway, and wasn’t surprised when she found none, her hand moved on to the phone. It looked like someone had decided that Sorel wasn’t entitled to live. As she dialed the phone her eyes narrowed in speculation.

Who killed Sorel?

[JRK Archiver]

Chapter 10

PCPD

Lieutenant Marcus Taggert slammed the file on his desk with a disgusted sigh. It had been almost 3 weeks and he was still no closer to finding out who had murdered Sorel, than he had been that rainy night that Nurse Amy Vining had discovered Sorel's body. Bleary eyes focused on the chalkboard of suspects with no alibis. There had been no end of a list of people who had wanted Sorel dead. It had taken weeks alone just to whittle down the list of possible suspects to probable suspects. The resulting names were on the short list because of prime motive and a lack of a credible alibi.

"You keep staring at that board like the secret of life is contained on it." Alex Garcia commented jokingly.

"It does contain a secret. Whoever killed Sorel is on this board," Taggert replied.

"So you think."

"So I know," Taggert maintained. Getting up from his desk he crossed to the chalkboard. "Sonny Corinthos was alone in his penthouse. And the only one who can verify that is his guard, and since Sonny pays the man I'm not putting much stock in that alibi."

"Good point."

"Next," Taggert moved his finger down to the next name on the list and tapped the board thoughtfully. "Jason Morgan. I haven't gotten confirmation that he was in town, yet, but this murder is definitely right up his alley."

"Morgan had to be pissed over what Sorel did to his boss, not to mention his sister," Garcia added.

"Yes Emily Quartermaine which brings us to the next name on the list. Zander Smith. With him being across the hall, from Sorel, he definitely had the best opportunity."

"Was the kid mobile enough?" Garcia wanted to know.

"Hate can make anyone mobile enough," Taggert replied seriously.

"Zander was on monitor's himself. The alarms would've went off if he unhooked them."

"You're forgetting the big helper in this murder, the weather," Taggert reminded him. "The electricity was going off and on all night long, and one of the backup generators that the hospital relied on was blown. All the reserve power was being filtered to those machines that were responsible for actually keeping patients alive. False alarms were going off all night according to Nurse Gabriella. Zander's machine went off three times, all of them false. Since he wasn't relying on the machines to live, the nurses didn't check on him right away when they went off."

"Nurse Gabriella?" Garcia raised a brow in question.

Knowing his partner was the biggest busybody on the force, Taggert ignored the question. "We know Sorel's alarm went off twice and both times he was checked immediately and okay. He was also okay at 10:05 when the duty nurse checked on him. But he was dead when Amy Vining found him at 11:00 p.m. That gives someone a window of only 55 minutes to knock out the guard, get in, move the monitors from Sorel to the guard, kill Sorel, and get out."

Garcia nodded. "I see you still have Carly Corinthos on the list. I thought she had an alibi."

"She does," Taggert admitted grudgingly. "But it's a shaky one and I don't buy it. I was questioning her when the alibi presented himself. She was more surprised than I was. Granted her surprise only lasted a second but it was enough to convince me that the alibi is bogus."

"That's a strong charge, can you prove it? Jasper Jax is an influential member of the community and since he barely knows Carly and hates her husband almost as much as you do, it hardly seems like he would lie," Garcia pointed out.

"My gut tells me that lying is exactly what he is doing. Carly was shaken when Jax interrupted my questioning of her with an alibi. She covered quickly and backed up what Jax said, but I don't buy it." Taggert didn't know why Jax was lying for the blonde, but he knew he was.

"With that short of a timeline you have to figure that the killer had to have pretty good working knowledge of the hospital, not to mention the machines Sorel was hooked up too. The machines that made their way to the guard," Garcia observed.

"I know and that brings me to my next few suspects. Alan Quartermaine as Emily's father had a strong motive in wanting to punish Sorel for his daughter's broken back and subsequent paralysis. Also, I've been doing some checking on the doctor's past, and I'm convinced if he wasn't a Quartermaine he would have been in jail for attempted murder a couple of attempts ago," Taggert couldn't believe what some people got away with.

"The guard on Sorel reported he overheard Alan making comments of malicious intent regarding Sorel just a few hours before Sorel turned up dead. He also has no alibi. Quartermaine claims he was en route to the hospital because someone there paged him, but there is no record of any page. Also the Quartermaine butler confirmed the last time anyone saw Alan Quartermaine was at 9:30. The next time I can find anyone who saw the doctor it is 11:25 at the hospital, when he showed up at the 5th floor nurses station."

"That's far too much time to drive from his house to the hospital," Garcia nodded. "Quartermaine would definitely know how to get in and out of the hospital without anyone seeing him."

"So would Monica Quartermaine," Taggert moved to the next name on the list. "She also has no alibi from 10:20 until 11:15 when she arrived at the hospital. Her window isn't as big as some of the others but she still had the time she would need to kill Sorel, and her motive is as strong as her husbands."

"Yeah but she worked on Sorel when he was originally brought in. She could have just refused to do that if she wanted him dead. From what I heard the only reason Sorel was alive to be killed was because of her impressive work in saving him," Garcia reminded him.

"You're forgetting the fact that she's not only a doctor, she's a surgeon, and also a Quartermaine, that means she's even more arrogant than most doctors. She would have opened herself up to a lawsuit if she refused to work on Sorel and he died because of it. She wouldn't want that on her record, and as a Quartermaine the penalty would be steep," Taggert smiled slightly. "But what if she pulled off the miraculous save of Sorel, one worthy of being written up in medical journals, and the whole time she was intending to kill him, when it couldn't be linked back to her?"

"Christ that's a cold theory."

Taggert shrugged perhaps he was letting his history with Monica Quartermaine color his opinion of her. He could vividly remember the way she'd turned the tables on him, when he'd pressured her to turn on her son. She had called what he was doing blackmail but he knew it was only his willingness to get the job done no matter what.

"What about Skye?" Garcia pointed to the next name on the list.

Garcia's question drew him out of his thoughts and for that he was grateful. He couldn't help but smile when he thought about the fiery redhead. "Skye Chandler-Quartermaine has an interesting story to tell. She was acquainted with Sorel when she was married to Ben Davidson, and living in New Jersey."

"How did you find that out?"

"I have my sources," he answered cryptically, not willing to admit it had been blind luck on his part. "Some people say Skye was involved with Sorel willingly, other's say she hated his guts and tried to kill him on more than one occasion. All I know for certain is that Sorel not only knew her, he kept tabs on her, the latest search of Sorel's home turned up a complete file he had on the latest member of the Quartermaine family."

"Are you thinking it was a love match gone bad?" Garcia expression was one of distaste.

"I don't think so. When I went to the hospital that day she was looking at Sorel with nothing but hate," Taggert sighed wearily and moved back to his desk. "I don't have all the history of what went down in New Jersey but I know whatever it was, it was ugly. And since Skye has no alibi, and she worked in a hospital previously, she stays on the list."

"What about our mystery guest?" Garcia asked about the last name on the list.

"You mean the woman, petite, with dark hair, that a half-drugged patient swears she saw leaving Sorel's room?" Taggert asked sarcastically.

"More than one person reported seeing a brunette woman racing down the stairs and out of the building," Garcia checked his notes. "No one above the 6th floor saw her, so that means her flight originated on the 5th floor where Sorel was."

"I know and I plan on identifying her, that's why she's still on the list."

"You do realize that Corinthos probably wouldn't have gotten his hands dirty, for that matter Morgan may not have either. Either one of them could have ordered the hit on Sorel," Garcia pointed out sagely.

"I know and if Sorel had been executed I know that would be what happened," he was well prepared for this argument. "But given the violence of Sorel's death, the blood, the overkill, he was stabbed twice before the scalpel got stuck in his ribcage. This signals hate to me. Someone wanted Sorel dead in a bad way, the kill was personal and full of hate, that means it was a hands on kill."

"Or the reverse could be," Garcia countered.

"Christ here we go again," Taggert grumbled, sometimes he hated the fact his partner had decided to go back to school. Since he had Garcia had been seeing layers and motives behind parking tickets.

Unperturbed by Taggert's expression, Garcia went on. "Corinthos and Morgan had to know that they would be at the top of the short list if Sorel turned up dead. They also knew that a kill like this, bloody, a little out of control, would more than likely get them off the hook. No one would believe that a mob boss and his chief enforcer would ever be so messy. The focus of the police would shift elsewhere because of this belief."

All right there were times his partner's overcrowded brain actually produced something useful. Taggert conceded his partner’s point. "Another reason to keep their names on the board."

"What's the point in leaving Morgan up? We can't find anyone who even says he was in town."

"I think he was in town, not only because of Sorel, but because of what happened the next night."

Garcia paused with his coffee cup halfway to his lips. "You don't mean the theft at the auction house do you?"

Taggert nodded.

"Don't tell me that you're buying what old lady Cassadine is selling," Garcia begged.

"Someone stole that necklace in 25 minutes. They stole it out from under the noses of 4-armed security guards and the latest in high tech security systems. It was there when the auction began but when it came up for bidding 25 minutes later it had vanished. Someone had to be pretty clever to pull that one off."

"I thought you always said Morgan was a brain damaged thug. Now you're saying he has the smarts to pull this job off?" Garcia needled his partner.

Taggert leveled a long glare at his partner. "Morgan has always been a pet monkey for Sonny. He follows orders very well, if Sonny told him to steal the necklace he would get Sonny the necklace."

"But why?"

"Alexis Davis," Taggert theorized. "She tried to steal the necklace earlier in the week. Don't you think Sonny would do anything he had too, to keep his mouthpiece happy and out of jail?"

"I disagree," Garcia shook his head. "I was at the auction house. I saw Alexis’ face when the necklace showed up missing. She lost it in a big way, screaming at both Helena and Nikolas that they were trying to keep her mother's legacy from her. It was the first time I'd seen any emotion from a Cassadine. If Nikolas hadn't stepped in between them I swear Alexis would have torn Helena apart, sling or no sling."

"Maybe," Taggert hadn’t been there, he hadn't seen her reaction, but he wasn't about to let his pet theory fall apart. "Maybe she's just a real good actress."

"You know I still think it's strange that Nikolas Cassadine is siding with Helena all of a sudden."

Taggert smiled coldly at the mention of his name. Gia being dumped by the Prince was the best thing that ever happened to her. She wasn't aware how lucky she was to escape the Cassadine viper nest.

"Taggert someone is here to see you," Officer Johnson called. "He says he has info on the Sorel murder."

Intrigued Taggert turned and his eyes took on a speculative gleam when he saw who was waiting to talk to him. This could be interesting.

Penthouse

"Sonny are they ever going to finish painting this place?" Alexis Davis asked when he opened the door and paint fumes began to overwhelm her, causing her stomach to roll.

"They just put the second coat on last night. It would have been done before now but I decided to have the wiring updated," Sonny explained. "So how are you doing today Katie?"

"I told you not to call me that," she reminded him sharply. Ever since, what he had deemed her Oscar winning performance, on the night of the auction, he'd been calling her Katie as in Katherine Hepburn. The only problem was every time she heard Katie she thought of Luke Spencer saying Katie Belle and the thought of Katherine Belle was enough to kill her sense of joy over out-maneuvering Helena.

"That was the last time I promise," Sonny offered magnanimously.

Alexis knew better than to trust him, with a put upon sigh she moved past him and took a seat on the new couch. She already liked this one better than the last one, it was a lot softer. "So what did you want to talk about? Carly's latest stall tactics or the purchase of those warehouse's on Waters and Front Streets?"

"Neither," Sonny paused at his new desk. "I have something for you."

Immediately uneasy she darted a look towards the door and escape. "I don't want anything. You're my client, as long as you pay my bill each month and the check's don't bounce I don't need anything else from you."

Sonny grinned, moved closer and held out a box, which she studied as though it contained a bomb.

"You can take it, it won't bite," he teased.

But she didn't want to take it. She didn't want to bind herself anymore to Sonny Corinthos than she already had. He was her client and somehow he had become her best friend, but that didn't mean she was comfortable with him. All right so she'd be a lot more comfortable around him if she hadn't slept with him. But she had and as much as she'd like to change that fact she couldn't. She only wished she could banish the memory of that night as easily as he seemed to be able too. For some reason the further removed that night was the more it took on a life of its own in her memory. She hated that, she hated feeling out of control. She refused to feel out of control. So she was going to refuse what was in the box, no matter what it was.

"Maybe I should open it, you don't seem to believe me when I say what's inside won't hurt you." Sonny pulled the ribbon off the box and taking her by surprise he set it on her lap.

Alexis eyed the box warily then looked back at him, but all she saw was amusement in her dark eyes, along with his dimpled grin. She'd never been able to resist that damn dimple. Cursing her weakness she gave in and opened the box. Confusion crossed her features when all she saw was tissue paper, sighing she dug in the box until she came up with an envelope.

"Open it," he urged.

Fighting her growing interest she strove to keep a banal expression on her face. It lasted until the photographs were pulled out of the envelope. "Oh," Alexis gasped, immediately emotional. "Mama's necklace."

"I thought you'd like to see that the necklace is in one piece and that it is secure," Sonny explained as she flipped through the photographs. "It's only temporary. Once I think that the heat has died down, and Helena's interest has moved on I'll smuggle it back in the country and it will be yours, just like it should have been years ago."

Alexis' eyes brimmed with unshed tears. The photo of the necklace inside a glass box in a safe, shouldn't reduce her to tears but it did. "I know you said you got it, but when you wouldn't give me any details," she swallowed a lump of emotion, "a part of me wondered if Helena had tricked me after all."

"I needed to keep you in the dark until Taggert's initial press was over. I told you, Alexis, you operate the best when you're kept in the dark about certain things," he explained seriously.

Not trusting her voice she nodded and thumbed through the photos again.

"I don't have to remind you to keep those someplace safe do I? There's no way anyone can tell the location from looking at them but you should still keep them out of sight of everyone, and that goes for Zander as well. I know he's recuperating at your place now, and you know how nosy he can be."

"I will," Alexis stood and feeling off-balanced she swayed slightly.

"Are you okay?" Sonny was instantly out of his chair trying to steady her.

"Paint fumes, no lunch, and seeing these photos, have wrecked my equilibrium," she explained with a soft smile and stepped back.

"You shouldn't neglect your health. You need to eat regular meals Alexis. Why don't you join me for supper, I'm making Veal Scarpetti."

It was an offer he'd made before, and one she used to have no problem taking him up on. But that was before her big mistake. "No."

Sonny's smile fell from his face and he searched her expression for so long she was afraid she had something on it. She was about to rub her nose when he spoke, his words were soft, his tone, sad.

"It's still between us, isn't it? That night?"

Uncomfortable Alexis took another slight step back. "Of course not. We agreed that what happened was a one-time thing, that only happened at all because we were both hurting. You over Carly and me because of what I had just found out. We're both adults here, we said it wouldn’t effect either our working relationship or our friendship and it hasn't," she argued. No one was more desperate to believe her words than she was.

"Then why do you go out of your way to avoid me these days?" Sonny pressed.

"I'm not avoiding you," she lied. Until Sonny was firmly in her brain as best friend, only, she wasn't going to spend anymore time with him then was absolutely necessary.

"Prove it," he dared. "Have dinner with me tonight."

"I can't I have plans," and seeing the disbelief in his eyes her own narrowed in anger. "I do, I'm meeting Ned."

"Ned?" Sonny's expression turned mocking. "Tell me you're not falling for his line all over again."

"What I do with Ned is none of your business," she huffed.

"How many times has he broken your heart? How many times has he told you he loved you only to demand that you change for him in order to keep the love?"

"Sonny you need to stay out of things that don’t concern you." She ignored his all too pointed, and accurate questions and stalked for the door. Opening it she turned to look back at him. "And that expressly means staying out of my love life," pivoting she turned and found herself face to face with her ex.

"I couldn't have said that any better," Jax applauded.

Feeling the tension in the room shoot up another ten notches and Alexis tried to ward it off. "We're you looking for me?"

"Yes," Jax nodded, ignoring the man behind her.

"What do you need?"

"Do I need a reason to visit my favorite ex-wife?" He asked with a grin.

Sonny snorted behind her and Alexis knew it was time to leave, before things got ugly. Taking Jax's arm she tried to turn him around. "We can talk at my place."

"Enjoy your date," Sonny called from behind them.

Grumbling under her breath Alexis stalked to her door and inserted the key, but as usual, it refused to move. Fed up she hit the door, hard. "Ow."

"Don't hurt yourself," Jax admonished and brushing her aside he tried to unlock the door himself.

Alexis shook out her throbbing hand and watched him have no success with the lock either. The sight of that vindicated her somewhat. It wasn't just her. That damn lock hated everyone.

"Excuse me," a voice whispered in her ear and she jolted in surprise.

Well the lock hated almost everyone.

"Move," Sonny said arrogantly.

Jax turned to look, then shifted slightly until he was leaning against he locked door. Alexis could read the expression on his face as one of cool derision. She thought about warning him but something made her keep quiet. As she had figured the lock popped under Sonny's hands. The door opened quickly sending an off-balanced Jax staggering side the room.

Alexis quickly covered her mouth to stop the laugh from escaping.

Sonny paused beside her. "Night Alexis," she managed a nod. "Candy boy," he jeered.

By the time Sonny's door had closed she had managed to smother the humor. Bracing herself she moved inside her penthouse to see what was going on in her friend's life.

Rehab

"Emily if you don’t calm down I think you’re going to break the bed," Jason cautioned his sister.

"I can’t calm down," Emily bounced on the bed. "I’m just so excited."

"I can tell." He couldn’t help but grin when he saw the smile on her face. It was the same one she had been sporting for days now. After seeing her so sad, for so long, he was thrilled to see the return of the sister he was used to seeing.

"Jason I’m going home tomorrow. After all of these months I’m finally going home," Emily pointed out cheerily. "And look," she wiggled her legs slightly. "I can move them so much easier now."

Jason nodded in appreciation she was gaining more strength in her legs every day. After the blood clot he’d been afraid that she would have a setback, both physically and emotionally. But she had surprised him. The day after surgery she’d been eager to start her therapy all over again. She had worked harder than he’d ever seen her work, and the results had come quickly.

The phone chose that moment to ring and Emily pounced on it, nearly falling out of bed when she did so. Jason reached out to pull her back on the bed but she saved herself before he could.

"Zander."

If possible her voice grew even more excited. Jason began moving to the door, he didn’t bother to wave, knowing she wouldn’t see it if she did. As much as he hated to admit it, Zander’s daily phone calls had been what had made the difference in Emily’s therapy. The best by product of Sorel finally dying was the fact Emily didn’t have to hide anymore. And that was why she was going home tomorrow.

Habit had him taking the stairs until he was on the first floor, then, outside. It may not be a regular hospital but there were enough doctors in the place to qualify. But more than that it was the smell of the place. The mixture of medicine, liniment, along with the overly sweet disinfectant cleaning smells, reeked of hospital to him. He took a deep breath, catching the faint scent of the ocean, some of the tension left him.

Sliding on the shades he headed for his bike, it was time to finalize a few last minute details. He wasn’t happy to be going back to Port Charles, he wasn’t ready to go back yet. But there was no way he’d let Emily go by herself. The plan of just dropping her back at the hospital and then leaving, had a shelf life of only 5 seconds. That was how long it took for her to look at him and ask him to stay with her even after she got home.

Faced with that there had been no way that he could refuse her, so he had agreed. He was going back to Port Charles and he had no desire to be there. Especially after what happened the last time he was in Port Charles. The memory of that night wasn’t a pleasant one.

"What?" Sonny Corinthos demanded when he yanked open the door, then stopped short. "Jason?"

Jason nodded and watched the surprise race over the older man’s face. "Can I come in?"

"Of course," Sonny stepped back. "Do you need a towel? I see you got caught in the rain."

"I’m okay." Jason shook his head sending water beads flying. He didn’t feel like wasting time. "A bomb?"

Sonny flinched and took a step where the wet bar should have been then stopped.

Jason recognized his actions and looked around the penthouse to see what other changes the bomb had brought. "What were you thinking?"

"Sorel had Carly, he had Alexis, hell he even had Zander. I didn’t have a lot of options," Sonny said defensively.

"Don’t give me that. I know you. I know what happens to you when you even hear about a bomb. So you want to explain to me why Benny told me that you walked into this place with a bomb strapped to your chest?" Jason kept his eye on his friend, trying to read his actions. "Do you want to tell me what you were thinking?"

"Does it matter?" Sonny asked finally.

Sighing in frustration Jason rubbed wearily at the kink forming in the back of his neck. "I know you kicked Carly out, Michael out, and you disappeared for awhile, does that matter?"

"There were a lot of things going on then, some are still going on," Sonny finally spoke after a few minutes of silence.

"I know how you get Sonny," Jason commented wearily. "I know how you act when you start sliding. You don’t care about things, but mostly you don’t care about yourself. You walked into this penthouse, prepared to die didn’t you?"

Sonny turned his back on Jason and moved to the window to stare out at the stormy night.

The long flight from the West Coast had given him plenty of time to think. And somewhere over Philadelphia he felt he’d figured it out. "I was with you in Puerto Rico after Lily died. And I know you went there to die. You were going to kill Rivera first but you never planned on leaving Puerto Rico. But something happened when you got in that room with Rivera, something changed and you decided to walk out of there."

"I could punish him more by living," Sonny whispered.

Jason could see the point of that and nodded. "Something happened that made you walk into this place with the intention of dying. And whatever it was, it was more than Carly turning you into the feds, and it was more than Sorel sending a bomb here wasn’t it?"

"Do the reasons really matter after all this time?" Sonny turned around. "Is there anything I can say that would explain things? Besides, since when do I explain my actions to you?"

"Since always," Jason shot back coldly and saw Sonny flinch. "I’ve just been letting you slide. I’m not doing that anymore, and if you don’t like it tell me now, and I’ll go back to what I let myself get turned into."

"What was that?"

"Nothing more than your enforcer, your employee, your expendable employee," bitterness coated his tone and more of it was self-directed than Sonny probably realized. "If that’s what you want me to be tell me."

"You were never just an employee," Sonny countered. "From the night you came here for dinner with Robin, and you took my job offer, you’ve never been just an employee."

"Until the last time I was here," Jason corrected him. "Earlier this year, you stopped talking to me as a friend. I let you do it, I didn’t press you when I should have, I just took it."

Sonny nodded slightly.

"I let it go, and look what happened," he gestured around the damaged penthouse. "I’m not going to do it anymore. I will always follow your lead when it comes to business, but I’m not going to do that anymore when it comes to our friendship," sighing he took one of the biggest risks he’d ever taken. "What I want to know is if you still want our friendship, or if I should stay as just an employee?"

Sonny never hesitated. "I want you to be my best friend again. I know I fucked up and I will again, but I still consider you my friend."

Sighing Jason got on his bike and started it up. It wasn’t much but it was a start. Now the hard part would be coming, now he was going to be in Port Charles for more than a night. So they’d have to see.

Penthouse

"Jax I still don’t understand why you’re lying for Carly," Alexis rubbed at her temples, in an effort to stem the headache she was rapidly developing.

"Who said I was lying for her?" Jax asked.

"Fine," she knew how the game was played. "In theory, if you were lying to provide an alibi for Carly you should be aware that you could be arrested for providing false information to the police. You could be charged with hindering an investigation, and if it turns out that Carly did in fact kill Sorel, you could be charged as an accessory after the fact."

"Then it’s probably a good thing that I’m not lying, isn’t it?" Jax asked with a grin.

Jax was spared her retort when Zander made his way slowly down the stairs. Spying him Alexis got to her feet. "Are you doing okay?"

Zander nodded then paused. "If you have a meeting I can go back upstairs."

"Don’t be ridiculous," Alexis took his arm gently and led him to the couch. "Move Jax."

Sighing Jax got to his feet. "We can finish our conversation another time," he paused beside her and kissed her cheek. "Take it easy Zander."

"Yeah," Zander grumbled and sank slowly on the couch.

"What’s with the frown, I thought you’d be flying," Alexis settled carefully on the couch next to her friend. "Did something happen with Emily?"

"No she’s fine, I just talked to her," a small smile drifted over his face then vanished. "She’s coming home tomorrow."

"I know, I thought we decided this was a good thing."

"It is, but," he hesitated.

"But?" Alexis prodded.

"She was hurt because of me, and I know she never blamed me, but…"

"But you blame yourself," she realized.

Zander shrugged then flinched.

"Don’t do that," she ordered sharply. "Emily never holds grudges, she is one of the few people in the world that never points her finger in blame at people. Especially not when it comes to someone she loves."

"I know she’s the best, and she deserves the best. Alexis I’m a runaway, a former drug dealer, I’ve been arrested several times, charged with murder, I’ve done things she doesn’t even know about, and should never know about. She deserves more than I can give her, in fact the only thing I can give her, is a break. That’s why I think I should leave."

"Zander you’re forgetting all of those things you’ve done are in the past. The person you once was doesn’t exist anymore," Alexis reasoned. "You’ve changed for the better."

"I could spend the rest of my life trying to undo the damage that I’ve done, but it would never be enough, to deserve Emily in my life," he bowed his head in disgust.

"Stop it," she snapped and caused his head to shoot up. "Emily loves you. You love Emily. You have no idea how rare that is. You have no idea how hard it is to find someone who accepts you for whom you are, and doesn’t put limits on you. You have no idea how lucky you are, for finding someone like this, when you’re still so young. Have you made mistakes? Yes. Does everyone? Yes. But the biggest mistake you will ever make in your life, is if you walk away from Emily using the excuse that you want what is best for her."

"You’re really upset."

"Yes I am. You, men, drive me crazy sometimes," Alexis got to her feet and rubbed at her throbbing temples. "You have this vision that women don’t deserve or can’t handle anything ugly in the world. Well guess what? We’re stronger than you think we are, and we can handle any problem that you think we’ll overwhelm us. If you decide to walk out on Emily at least be honest with yourself. Admit that you’re walking out on her because you’re afraid, not because you think she deserves better."

"Alexis…" Zander tried to get to his feet only to be pushed back to the couch.

"I have a headache Zander so please be quiet and think about what I just said. Like it or not, want it or not, she loves you, so what makes you think you leaving her will make her stop loving you? It won’t at least not for a long time, and she will always, always, carry that with her. She’ll take you leaving her like this, with her, into every relationship she has for the rest of her life," with that final warning Alexis stomped up the stairs.

"Alexis," Zander struggled to go after her but she was gone.

Alexis stormed into her bedroom, then on into her bathroom. "Stupid," she hissed at herself. She shouldn’t have said all that to Zander. She wasn’t Emily and Zander wasn’t… Shaking her head she tried to banish the memory. She’d apologize to Zander later, as soon as she could think again. Opening the cabinet over the sink she reached for the bottle of Advil and found it empty. Tossing it in the garbage, she bent down and opened the cabinet below the sink. The hand that was reaching for the bottle of Advil stopped suddenly when something else caught her eye.

An unopened box of Tampax was what she ended up pulling out of the cabinet. Standing up she looked at the box then at the mirror, and her dark eyes seemed larger than normal with shock. "Oh god," she paled at the implication of what the unopened box could mean.