March 2014
3 March – Lullabyes, a Scrubs prequel to Hand Me Down, will be posted. Already finished, just leaving it alone for a day or so to have a fresh eye for typos.
10 March – Shadows, Part 2. A few more scenes to finish, and then re-reading for typos.
17 March – Daughters, the first bulk of edited chapters will be posted. I’m reorganizing the scenes to make the flow better, and adjusting some early dialogue to better reflect ideas and characterization that sprang up later in the the story.
24 March – Daughters, second bulk of edited chapters
31 March – Daughers, the last of the edited chapters. My hope is while I am editing the chapters, I’ll be able to write the last few chapters and post them alongside, but if that doesn’t happen, updates for Daughters will resume at a date later specified.
April 2014 Tangle — I’m in the process now of rewriting the story (I’m already one chapter in). The changes are going to make the story a lot better and set up the sequels better than I thought they would be.
These Small Hours — Updates will resume. I’ve been working on the chapters that already exist, and they’re going to be reorganized slightly for better flow. Updates on this story will continue in April.
May 2014
In addition to Tangle and These Small Hours, updates will resume on Daughters, if it isn’t already completed. I also hope to start posting A Few Words Too Many, the rewrite of Poisonous Dreams. The changes in this story are going to be stark.
June 2014
At this point, I will have three or four stories actively in progress, so those stories will continue to be updated until completed. Daughters will be completed by the end of this month.
Other Stories To Be Eventually Worked Into Schedule Fallen From Grace
Life for Rent
Slide
Burn in Heaven (sequel to A Few Words Too Many)
I’m posting the first part of Shadows ahead of schedule. You can click here: Shadows, or click the image in the featured section. If you’re reading this post through an email, the address is:
I’m posting it today because I have two othe short stories that are nearly finished that I’ll be posting in March.
I’m really excited about this new Shadows, because I think it addresses the original situation much better than I did when I first wrote it, and I particularly like the Jason/Elizabeth stuff in here. I hope you guys enjoy it too. Please comment and let me know what you think.
1 Heaven bend to take my hand And lead me through the fire
Friday, March 12, 2004
Ric and Elizabeth Lansing’s Home: Living Room
Elizabeth Lansing laid on her back on her bed and stared at the ceiling. It was a Friday morning. Or at least she thought it was. It may have been Tuesday. Her days were all the same. She barely slept now, as she was in the third trimester. She spent the rest of the day shuffling through the rooms of her home, watching television or staring out the window. She had quit her job at Kelly’s and returned to the home she and Ric had rented at the beginning of their marriage, when they had been planning a wonderful life together.
Before the panic room.
Before getting pregnant.
Before the fire at the hotel.
Before…
She closed her eyes. She wanted to stop thinking about the night. About that moment. About the room.
Her son kicked her in the ribs, jarring Elizabeth out of her stupor. She was dully aware of hunger pangs. She should eat—she was eating for two now.
She should get out of bed. Shower. Put on some clothing. Eat. Leave the room.
Maybe even leave the house.
One her night stand, the cell phone vibrated, sliding a few centimeters towards the edge. She turned her head towards it, opening her eyes. The caller ID read Emily.
She ignored it. She didn’t want to talk to Emily. Not while Nikolas was still under suspicion for what had happened to Zander.
Ric talked about his cases at night, after he’d bring her home dinner from Kelly’s or another restaurant. He was working longer hours now that Scott Baldwin had abruptly resigned from the District Attorney’s office, and there were days Elizabeth would have to physically stop herself from remembering the reasons he was unqualified for the position.
The events of last summer was something else she had to stop remembering if she was ever going to regain her sanity, and she was no longer sure of the moral ground. What Ric had done was beyond thinking, beyond forgiveness.
But she was not innocent of any crime herself. How could she hold herself on some sort of pedestal?
2 Be the long awaited answer To a long and painful fight
Monday, March 15, 2004
Kelly’s Diner
Listlessly, Elizabeth swirled her spoon in her tea, her eyes focused on the sandwich on which she had only managed to nibble a few bites. She could not summon strength to feel hunger, to feel anything. If not for the doctor’s appointment with Dr. Meadows that Ric had scheduled on her behalf, she would still be lying in bed, pretending to watch daytime programming.
“It’s good you’re getting out of the house,” Ric said. His voice was too cheerful, because even he understood that something was not right, though Elizabeth knew he would never suspect.
It seemed fair. She had had no capacity to understand that he was capable of drugging her with birth controls and holding a pregnant woman hostage. She had believed that he may be damaged, but with her love, he could move on to a better life.
He had no capacity to understand that she would kill another human being. To him, she was still on a pedestal, innocent and naïve. Incapable of true cruelty.
Her marriage was not a real marriage. It had never been a real one, not the first time and not this time. She had married him in December to hold off the burgeoning fear that she was alone in the world, and had fooled herself that anyone was better no one.
And now, she just wanted to be left alone. To sit in her room and not look at anyone.
“I can go to my appointment alone,” she murmured. She raised her eyes to his. “I want to go alone.”
“Elizabeth, it’s no trouble, I can rearrange my schedule—“
“I want to go alone,” Elizabeth repeated. “I have the car.”
He hesitated, and she knew he was weighing her ability to drive when he was aware her sleeping habits were not normal and he had not seen her eat much. He was calculating the risk of allowing her to go alone versus the possible public argument that may tarnish his already bad image.
It was comforting. The sun would rise and set in the same direction every day, and Ric Lansing would always be calculating his next step.
“All right.” He reached into his jacket pocket and withdraw his wallet. “Elizabeth, I know you’re unhappy,” he said, his voice just above a whisper. “I would fix it if I could, but I want you to trust me.”
She looked at him, and wished that she could. She wanted to trust him more than anything in the world, because she thought she should able to do so. He was her husband. They had taken vows. If she could not trust him, who could she trust?
She certainly could not trust herself any longer.
“If I thought you could fix what was wrong,” Elizabeth said deliberately, “I would.” She set her spoon down with a resounding clink. “But maybe the problem is that I don’t trust you.” She stood and pulled on her coat, buttoning it over her belly. “I may never really trust you again.”
She tugged her hair from underneath the collar and picked up her purse. “Or maybe what’s wrong just cannot be fixed. I’m not even sure I know the answer anymore.”
She walked away from him, but did not go to the parking lot of her car. She did not want to go to the hospital, where her grandmother might be, with her worried looks and comforting hands. If she saw Audrey, she might say more than was safe.
She had a responsibility. She had a baby growing inside her, and somehow she had to find the strength to care for the baby, to bring it into the world, healthy and safe.
Maybe then, if she could bring a new piece of Zander Smith into the world, have him live on…
It might not matter so much that she caused him to leave it.
She stepped out onto the docks, stopping at the bottom of the stairs. She had been planning to sit on the bench for a few minutes, to look out over the water, and try to find a bit of peace.
Jason Morgan was at the far end of the docks, speaking with another man.
The last person she wanted to see was Jason.
She turned to start back up the stairs, but she heard his voice.
“Elizabeth?”
She turned back to him and forced a smile. “Jason. H-How are you?” But the words were stilted, she could hear it, and she saw his eyes narrow, concern stretching across his face. “I was going to sit for a few minutes,” she continued, wanting to fill the space, the silence, to keep him from speaking. She twisted the purse strap over her shoulder, her eyes darting from the water, to the planks of the docks behind him, but never meeting his eyes. “But I have a doctor’s appointment and I should go. I don’t want to be late.”
Elizabeth turned back and as quickly as she could when eight months pregnant, fled back up the stairs, hoping he had turned away and forgotten the encounter as quickly as it had happened.
3 Truth be told I’ve tried my best But somewhere along the way I got caught up in all there was to offer And the cost was so much more than I could bear
Lansing Home: Living Room
Elizabeth sat on the couch, staring down at the pamphlets Dr. Meadows had given her. Coping with stress, healthy eating. Positions to try for sleeping comfortable in the third trimester.
Pamphlets were one or two pages long and handed out as if the combination of them could solve the problems. Could solve the fact that her lack of eating, her lack of movement, her lack of sleeping had worried the doctor so much she had considered admitting Elizabeth for observation.
She had to start eating. She had to start sleeping again.
But she had no appetite. And every time she closed her eyes, she saw herself picking up the pipe and swinging it…
The guilt was crushing her. She was drowning in it and until today, she had been content to allow it to continue, maybe to let herself sink into the abyss. She only had six more weeks until the baby was here. She could deliver the baby, appoint a guardian—Emily or Lucky.
And then she could allow herself to…drift away.
But her blood pressure, the sluggishness of the baby in her ultrasound—she could not ignore what she was doing to her baby.
She no longer cared for herself, but her baby…
Her son kicked hard, nailing her in the ribs, and Elizabeth smiled, rubbing her belly. He didn’t kick so hard very often, which was probably another sign she had not been doing her job as a mother.
She was a mother now.
And things could not continue the way they had been.
When Ric came in that night, with takeout bags from Kelly’s, Elizabeth stood, lacing her fingers protectively over her son.
“Ric, I have to tell you something about the night of the fire.”
4 Though I’ve tried, I’ve fallen I have sunk so low
Saturday, March 20, 2004
Jason’s Penthouse
Jason leaned against his pool table and watched Michael Corinthos pace back and forth between the desk and the fireplace. He had arrived almost an hour ago from across the hall, having witnessed another argument between his parents. At just over thirteen years old, he had seen one too many of those arguments to be told that it would all be okay.
For Michael, it would never be okay again. Sonny and Carly, as a committed married couple, had finished, and all that was left were the children over whom the two would fight like dogs over a bone. Best interests of the children was not a phrase in either of their vocabularies.
“I’m just tired of it,” Michael said. He stopped abruptly and looked at his uncle, his jaw clenched “I don’t want to be around it anymore, I don’t want Morgan around it. It never changes—they say the same things over and over again. Why can’t they just agree on joint custody?”
Because neither wanted to cede the battle, to end the last connection between them. Because neither wanted to lose. Jason rubbed a hand over his face, as exhausted as his nephew. “I’m sorry, Michael.”
“It shouldn’t be like this.” Michael crossed his arms. “And I’m not going home tonight.”
“To your mother’s or the penthouse?”
“Either. Both.” Michael pressed his lips together. “And you can’t make me, Jason. I’ll go to Grandma Bobbie’s. Or…anywhere else. Because at Mom’s, she just talks about how awful Dad is, and Dad just says these things…” He shook his head. “Morgan asked me the other day what slut mean, Jason. I mean, Jesus.” He stared down at the floor, sullenly. “I hate every minute of it, and you know…I wonder…” He trailed off. “I wonder if it could have been different.”
“Well, Michael…” Jason hesitated, trying to find the right words. “Your parents…they…” He stopped. All he could offer were platitudes, and even worse, outright lies.
“No, I’m not talking about them—” Michael raised his eyes. “I know my dad isn’t…I mean, he’s not my real father. Not…by blood. I know I’m adopted.”
Jason shifted uncomfortably. “Michael, I’m shouldn’t say anything—”
“No, you’re the only person I can talk to about this.” Michael swallowed. “I saw AJ around town a few times before he moved away, and I guess he’s an alcoholic, or he was when I was born. I guess I just…I don’t see what’s so bad about him sometimes. Was he a lot worse when Mom was pregnant?”
Jason hesitated. The decision to keep AJ out of Michael’s life seemed a lifetime ago. “I…” No, Jason remembered. No, AJ had been sober after the one night stand that led to Michael’s conception. Had been living on his own, away from the Quartermaines, had been working at the hospital. Had turned his life around. “Your mother thought he might want custody…that the Quartermaines might take you from her.”
Michael frowned, his blue eyes bewildered. “So? I don’t get it. What was wrong with him?”
“I…” Jason began again, but somehow, after watching the sheer hell Michael had been going through in his life—from the many times Carly and Sonny had split up, watching them both move on with other people, only to come back to one another, then fight and split again….
“We were different people then,” he said finally. “The decisions we made back then…I wouldn’t…” He paused. “I wouldn’t trade the year I spent taking care of you for anything, but I don’t think, knowing what I know now, I would have supported your mother in keeping you from AJ. At least, not the way I did.”
Michael nodded. “What does it say about me?” he asked, “when I think I’d rather stay with the father I’ve barely even met then live with the parents who are supposed to love me?”
And what did it say about him, Jason wondered, that he wished like hell he could go back in time and change Michael’s life so that he could be spared this custody battle.
5 I messed up Better I should know So don’t come round here And tell me I told you so
Thursday, March 25, 2003
Port Charles Police Department: Commissioner’s Office
“The closure rate in Port Charles is in the toilet,” Mayor Steven Floyd snarled. “Every day the paper prints another article about the ineptitude of the PCPD.” He fisted his hands at side. “When are you going to stop making me look like a joke?”
“When the city council starts giving me the money I need to hire new officers, upgrade the labs…” Mac Scorpio shoved the paper back at him. “I don’t know—when everyone stops pretending Port Charles is just going through a rough patch. We have mob wars every five seconds, and that’s just the expected crime. I don’t have the resources—”
“Why should we give you more money?” Floyd demanded. “You can’t even close simple murders. The one they’re talking about there…Zander Smith from the hotel fire. How hard can that be?”
Mac raised his eyebrows. “You mean the body that was so burned that we had to wait for DNA to come back? Yeah, we know he was hit with something before the fire, but it’s not like we have much of a crime scene—”
“So? Investigate anyway. Question some people. What the hell did people do before crime labs and fingerprints?”
“Didn’t solve much, I imagine.” Mac leaned back in his chair. “So what, you want me to make a show at it so you can tout progress in the papers? I can’t imagine anything more useless—”
“Since when did you think this job would be easy?” the mayor interrupted. “Maybe you get a confession. Maybe you get evidence. How the hell should I know? But not investigating—”
“Who said we’re not investigating?” Mac demanded. “I questioned his ex-wife and her new boyfriend. Nikolas Cassadine is a viable suspect, but the fire was such a clusterfuck, there’s no way to tell when Smith was hit, and whether Cassadine has an alibi, and let’s face it, Zander Smith had a lot of enemies. Sonny Corinthos and Jason Morgan aren’t too sorry to see the last of him. Our own district attorney probably doesn’t mind him out of the picture, since his wife got knocked up by him—”
“Then it sounds like you’ve got a good list of people to examine.” Floyd pulled on his coat. “I expect to see some progress in the next few weeks, Commissioner. On this and other cases.” He opened the door, so that officers outside might be able to hear him. “Or I’ll find someone else who can do this job.”
He slammed the door behind him. Mac scrubbed a hand over his face. “There are days I wish I were still running a restaurant,” he muttered.
6 We all begin with good intent Love was raw and young
Friday, March 26, 2003
Port Charles Docks
Ric had been sitting on this bench for more than twenty minutes, conscious of the fact that his lunch break from the office was nearly over and he could not see himself returning to the office, not for another round of questioning from the police commissioner on Zander Smith. Two weeks ago, the renewed inquiry would not have bothered him—he would have assumed Nikolas Cassadine had done it to get the bastard out of his life.
Now…he knew better.
He had known Elizabeth had been withdrawn, had been falling into some sort of depression since the fire, but Ric had attributed to other factors. She was pregnant after all, and he thought some women had issues like this, but he was lying to himself if he said he hadn’t worried. He had begun to believe she was regretting her decision to let him back in her life, to trust him again. He had thought if he just said nothing, just attempted to establish a sense of normalcy that had been lacking the year before…she would come around.
She would remember that she loved him.
Instead she had been punishing herself for having killed the father of her child. He knew Zander had had to have done something—said something—to drive the relatively peaceful Elizabeth into doing something like that, but he was cognizant of how it would look. Elizabeth was newly married to another man, eager to have Zander out of her baby’s life permanently, and had not once come forward. Self-defense would be difficult to prove, and Ric was not at all sanguine as to whether he could prevent charges from being filed.
They had to keep the truth covered up—he had to protect Elizabeth from the new investigations. Mac had started the inquiry due to orders from the mayor, but the parentage of Elizabeth’s child was common knowledge, and he was sure Mac would show up on their doorstep any day, and Elizabeth was feeling so desperate and guilty, she might confess.
As Ric turned towards the stairs, he saw a figure on the far side of the docks emerge from the Corinthos & Morgan Coffeehouse. Jason.
There were few men Ric loathed more than his brother—but Jason Morgan might be next in line, if for no other reason than the relationship his wife had once shared with Jason. But maybe it was that relationship Ric could use to protect Elizabeth.
Ric could not spirit Elizabeth out of town. If he set her up in an apartment or a house anywhere but Port Charles, it would look like he was hiding something. But if Elizabeth left town on her own accord, facilitated by someone Mac might not think to look at…
He would rather people think Elizabeth had left him than watch her be charged for a murder of man who was better off dead.
7 We believed that we could change ourselves The past could be undone
Jason’s Penthouse
Carly leaned against Jason’s desk and closed her eyes. “The look on his face in the court room, Jase…” She tilted her head back, her blonde hair falling down her back. “The judge asked him who he wanted to live with and he was so angry at having to choose…”
Jason set his pen down and pushed away the ledgers for the warehouse. “I’m not sure what you want me to say, Carly. You know this isn’t fair to Michael.”
“I know.” She swiped at her eyes. “I want to make it stop. After the last two court hearings, I’ve begged Sonny to settle it between us, to do something with joint custody. I don’t want to have to bring in his job because there’s all the things I’ve done…” Carly hesitated. “And if I bring Sonny’s work into it, it opens you up—”
“I know.” Jason stood and walked across the room to his balcony, overlooking the harbor. “Michael asked me about AJ.”
Carly straightened. “What?”
“He wanted to know what was so wrong with AJ that he was better off with you and Sonny.” Jason turned back to her. “And I couldn’t answer him.”
Carly bit her lip and looked away. “All the things AJ has done—”
“What has he done really?” Jason pressed. “Nothing that you and Sonny aren’t doing to Michael now. But back when you got pregnant, Carly, you know he was sober.”
“I do.” Carly looked away, remembering that she and AJ had been friends once. “And you know, at first, I just didn’t want Tony to know. And then I did all those awful things to him…there was no going back after that.”
“I know.” Jason folded his arms across his chest. “But AJ is a third option to the problems you’re having with Sonny. He’s the biological father who signed his rights away under duress.”
Carly frowned. “You mean the meat locker? Yeah…” She pursed her lips. “But Zander was there, and he’s dead now. There aren’t any witnesses.”
Jason was silent for a long moment. “If you could get AJ to testify in front of the judge that he was afraid Sonny might kill him if he didn’t sign, you know a judge would listen.”
“But if I go to AJ and ask for this, he’ll take Michael from me for good.” Carly planted her hands on her hips. “And how would that be better?”
“Carly.” Jason shook his head. “If you keep putting Michael and Morgan through this, keep making them choose…you’re going to lose Michael anyway. Sonny is in a bad place right now and he’s angry. If you get custody of Michael, you’ll get Morgan as well. And then Sonny will have to negotiate. He’ll agree to joint custody if you end up with full.”
“I have to think about this,” Carly said after a moment. “I don’t know if going to AJ is the best decision and I just…I have to think about this.”
8 But we carry on our backs the burden Time always reveals In the lonely light of morning In the wound that would not heal It’s the bitter taste of losing everything That I’ve held so dear
Monday, March 29, 2004
The Docks
When Jason came down the steps towards the warehouse, Ric sprang up from the bench where he had been waiting. “Morgan.”
Jason stopped and turned. “You know the deal, Ric. Lawyer before questioning—”
“It’s not about the fire or what happened to Capelli—”
“We have nothing else to talk about.” Jason turned away and Ric bit back a swear. He hated this, hated having to feel like he was begging this man he hated more than anything in this world.
But he wasn’t the man he’d been the year before. He was trying to be better and Jason would help Elizabeth.
“It’s about Elizabeth.” And just like that, Jason stopped walking. He turned and looked at him, his face impassive.
“What about her?”
Ric dragged his fingers through his hair. “I don’t know if you’ve seen her around town lately,” he began, “but she’s not well. She’s depressed, withdrawn, and her health is suffering.”
Jason hesitated, as if he wanted to say something sarcastic but couldn’t. After all, it was Elizabeth they were discussing. “I’ve seen her.”
“She feels guilty about…” Ric paused and stepped closer, lowering his voice. “She did something the night of the fire. To protect her child. In self defense. I can’t be any more specific in public.”
“The night of the fire,” Jason repeated, looking away. “Zander was the father of her baby, wasn’t he?” he asked quietly.
“He was.” Satisfied that Jason was not as thick as Ric had always believed him to be, he pressed on. “The mayor is pressing Mac to look into particular murder cases and get them resolved. I don’t want Elizabeth here. Before Mac can get the investigation moving, I want her to leave town.”
“So send her out of town,” Jason replied. “You have money and resources—”
“And as the DA, if I do that, we both look guilty.” Ric hesitated. “It would be better if looked like I had nothing to do with it, as if maybe Elizabeth left me.”
Jason’s face didn’t change, but Ric could see the muscles twitch around his eyes. He was surprised. “You want people to think your wife came to me for help to get away from you.”
Ric took a deep breath. “It’s not the ideal solution, and I know you don’t believe me. Hell, Elizabeth barely believes me, but I love her. I didn’t put her first last year and I did things that…” he swallowed when Jason’s eyes narrowed. “I did things that make me sick to my stomach. No one will be surprised if she leaves me, if she decides she can’t trust me.” He hesitated. “And you can understand loving someone more than you love being with them, that for their own sanity and safety, they need to be as far as away from certain situations. From you.”
Jason looked away. “And what does Elizabeth want?”
“Talk to her.” Ric took another step towards him. “She’s…not doing well. She only told me what happened because the doctor told her that the depression was compromising the baby, but I’m…” He swallowed hard. “I’m afraid I’m not enough to pull her out of this, and whether I like it or not, she trusts you. More than she trusts me.” He closed his eyes. “Please, Jason. I know you would crawl through fire before doing me a favor, but Elizabeth…she’s better than both of us and we both know she doesn’t deserve to live with this guilt.”
Jason cleared his throat and looked away. “I’m not making any promises until I talk to her. If she wants my help, I’ll give it. Because you’re right…” He looked back at Ric. “I would rather see you dead for what you did to Carly. To Elizabeth. But…” He expressed a slow breath. “So I’ll do this for her.”
9 I’ve fallen I have sunk so low I messed up Better I should know So don’t come round here And tell me I told you so
Lansing Home: Living Room
Elizabeth paged through her pregnancy journals, doing some of the exercises the doctor had recommended to get excited about the baby. Dr. Meadows thought Elizabeth was depressed because she wasn’t ready to become a mother.
Joke was on her—the baby was the only reason Elizabeth was getting out of bed in the morning and forcing herself. In the two weeks since she had told Ric the truth, she had started to feel better physically. The more she ate, the more her appetite returned and her skin didn’t look as pale.
The doorbell rang, interrupting her as she made a list of baby names to consider. She stood and went to answer it. “Jason?” She tilted her head to the side, confused. “Why are you here?”
“Can I come in?” he asked. She nodded and stepped back, watching him curiously as he entered and tried to look away from the wall that had held the panic room. “How can you live here?” he asked in a low voice. “Knowing…”
“I try not to think about it,” Elizabeth murmured. “The panic room is gone now, and I think we’re supposed to pretend it didn’t happen.” She closed the door and pressed her forehead against it. Another reason to feel like the lowest human being—to be living in the home where his pregnant best friend had been held against her will for months.
“Is that why you came?” she asked dully. “To remind me what a horrible person I am for coming back here? For marrying Ric again? It won’t be news to me.”
Jason didn’t answer her, so she finally turned and looked at him, and saw his forehead wrinkled in concern. “Jason, why—”
“Do you think you’re horrible person for doing those things?” he interrupted. “For giving Ric another chance to prove himself?” He hesitated. “Or do you think that it’s what you deserve because you killed Zander.”
Elizabeth opened her mouth, and then closed it again. She looked away. “I suppose Ric told you, though I can’t understand why. He hasn’t wanted to talk about it since I told him, and I thought that if I told him, we could do something about it, so that I could…” She shook her head, her features pained, tears sliding down her cheeks. “So that maybe I could wake up in the morning and not wish I hadn’t.” She hesitated. “That’s not why I married him again, Jason, but maybe that’s why I’m still with him.”
“Then why did you marry him again?” Jason pressed. “You know, more than anyone else save Carly, what he did.” He exhaled slowly. “I’m not here to argue, I want to help you, but I don’t know how because you don’t seem to want to it.”
“I married him again because I was pregnant.” Elizabeth pressed a hand to her belly, and looked down. “Because I wanted to believe that someone loved me, and I thought that if Sonny could…let Ric walk around free, then there had to be a reason…I don’t know what you want me to say, Jason. There aren’t any good reasons. Because I was afraid to be alone, maybe.” She hesitated. “Ric went to you so you could help me?”
“He wants you to leave town because the PCPD is apparently ramping up its investigation into Zander’s death, and he wants you gone before it becomes suspicious. He thinks if he helps you go, it’ll make people wonder, but if I help you…”
“It will be like I left him.” Elizabeth tucked her hair behind her ears. “Jason, I…killed him. Why shouldn’t I be arrested for it?”
“Then why didn’t you turn yourself in?” Jason asked. He put his hands in the pockets of his open leather jacket, his gaze sweeping over her hollowed eyes with the black circles. “You’re making yourself sick with the guilt, Elizabeth. I can take you to the police station if that’s what you want.”
“I…” Elizabeth pressed her lips together. “I should say yes.”
“But you’re not saying it.” Jason nodded. “Elizabeth, whatever you think about what you did, you know it had to be self-defense. I don’t believe you’d be capable of anything else.”
Elizbeth twisted her fingers together and stared at the floor. “He’d stolen the custody papers from Ric’s office,” she murmured. “The ones terminating his paternity rights, and he’d only give them to me if I convinced Emily to come to him. He was so angry…” Her voice broke. “I told him I couldn’t…that I would rather fight him in court because I would win, and he laughed at me because maybe he wouldn’t get custody, but any judge in the world would take my baby from me, too.”
Jason stepped closer to her. “Elizabeth—”
“He was right. I can let myself ignore the truth all I want, but a judge would just have to hear that I married a man who tried to kill Sonny twice, who kidnapped Carly and hid her in a panic room so we could raise her child…” The tears were sliding down her face. “A man who drugged me with birth control pills so we wouldn’t have our own baby, and nearly killed me…” She turned away from him. “What kind of mother would I be…staying with a man like that?”
Jason didn’t say anything, and for a horrible moment, she thought he agreed with her. Instead, he stepped forward and pulled her into a tight hug, and Elizabeth buried her face in his chest, letting the tears fall. “Elizabeth, I’ll do whatever you ask me to do. Whatever you need from me.” He paused. “Tell me what happened next with Zander.”
“I wanted to leave,” she whispered against his shirt. “I turned to leave, but he grabbed my arm and he pulled me back to him. He told me it was Emily or my baby, I had to choose. I kept trying to pull away from him, and he was saying all the these things…about what a…”
“What did he say?”
Elizabeth pulled away from him and turned to look out the front window. “He said I was a slut, that I only slept with him when I couldn’t have who I really wanted, that Ric was just you in a suit…” Her voice broke. “And he told me I deserved Ric, because we were both selfish, disgusting people that only thought about ourselves.” She scrubbed her hands over her eyes. “I guess I panicked. I didn’t know if he was going to let me go, and maybe I just wanted him to stop talking, to stop being this man I didn’t know anymore…somehow the pipe was in my hand and I hit him with it.”
She turned back to look at him. “So if I left out the things Zander said to me that were personal, I could claim self-defense, I know that, but there are moments when I think I hit him to make him stop talking, so I could stop remembering that I had slept with him, that he was the father of my child.” Her lips twisted into grimaced smile. “So do you still want to help me?”
She watched Jason take a deep breath and knew if he walked out the door, after she told him things about that night that she hadn’t even said to Ric, she knew she would never come out on the other side of this with her sanity intact.
Instead, he said, “Yes. Elizabeth…he knew where to hit you the hardest…what to say to you.” Jason cupped her cheek. “So he said what he thought would make you want him to go away, to go get Emily and leave him in peace. He knew how you felt deep down about yourself, because you think those things are true.”
“Aren’t they?” Elizabeth closed her eyes. “I did sleep with Zander the first time when I wanted to be with you, and I threw him in your face because you wouldn’t give me what I wanted. I did date Ric because he reminded me of you, and I did demand Zander give up his child without even giving him a chance to turn his life around. Aren’t I a selfish tr—”
“Stop it.” Jason shook his head. “Stop it, Elizabeth. You know that it’s more complicated than that. People, they do things they’re not proud of, and they would take them back if they could.” He stepped back. “I want to take you out of town, to a place where you could move on with a new life if you wanted to, and I want you to find a therapist or someone to talk to…who isn’t…” He hesitated. “Elizabeth, you obviously believe the things Zander said to you, and I don’t know if there’s anything I can say to you to change your mind, to see you the way I see you.”
“You want me to start my life over somewhere else?” Elizabeth frowned. “But…I’m married…” she looked down at her feet. “You think I should leave Ric.”
“I want you as far away from that son of a bitch as I can get you,” Jason answered starkly. “I think you’re staying with him now to punish yourself, and you deserve better than that, but until you believe that, there’s not much I can do. But yes, you need to appear to be starting a new life if Ric’s plan is going to work.”
Elizabeth walked past him and sank onto the sofa, silent for a long time. “You’re right,” she murmured. “I do believe what he said, but if you don’t…” She looked up at him. “And you would have the right to believe the worst in me…I pulled a gun on you when you tried to search my home for Carly, I fought you every inch of the way last summer. I should have let you rip the walls out.” She looked over at the wall that had once held the panic room. “I hate myself for not believing you. I should have. I don’t know how Carly can look at me without wanting me on the other side of the planet—”
“Elizabeth—”
“So, yes, I hate myself,” Elizabeth continued, “but if you don’t think I should…then I can accept…” She smoothed her hand over the cover of her pregnancy journal with the list of baby names. “I can accept the possibility that I deserve better. That I have a right to be a mother, and keep my freedom.” She looked up at him. “Where would I go?”
10 Heaven bend to take my hand Nowhere left to turn I’m lost to those I thought were friends To everyone I know
Monday, March 25, 2004
Jason’s Penthouse
Carly pushed open Jason’s door. “I came as soon as you called—” She stopped, seeing Jason at his desk, flipping through travel brochures. “What are those?” She closed the door and set her purse on the desk next to him. “You going out of town?”
“Yeah.” Jason set the papers down. “I’m doing a favor for a friend. I need to get someone out of town and do it without suspicion.” He hesitated. “And I was thinking I could take…them to New Orleans.”
Carly frowned and folded her arms across her chest. “New Orleans.” She tilted her head to the side. “AJ’s there, isn’t he? Ned got him a job down there.”
“He is.” Jason leaned against the desk. “I could use this opportunity to see him, if he’s sober. If he’d be open to a custody arrangement with you.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “You and the boys can’t keep going on like this. If nothing else, you could get Sonny to back down—”
“Jase…” Carly shook her head. “I haven’t even really thought about this—you’re asking me to let AJ in Michael’s life….as if we’re not going through enough.” She looked at the ceiling. “You think Sonny would back down if I told him I was going to AJ? Because maybe the threat could be enough, and I wouldn’t even have to get AJ involved.”
“I think…” Jason hesitated and considered his best friend’s behavior regarding Carly and the boys since they had been separated. “It’s a possibility threatening it…letting Sonny know what you’re doing, would be enough to convince him to keep fighting for full custody. He’s not rational about AJ.”
“Jase, what are you doing? You’re suggesting I ask AJ, the man who stalked Courtney, to be involved in my son’s life?” Carly pressed. “This is…it’s insanity—”
“I hate him for that,” Jason interrupted. “I hate him for the fear he brought into her life, for terrorizing her and making her afraid to be in her own skin….but…” He looked at her. “You drugged him and made him think he was drinking again. I slept with his wife before she could change the locks after he moved out. Sonny hung him from a meat hook and threatened to kill him to get him to give up his rights. Are any of us innocent?”
Carly looked away. “This is the problem with being friends with you. You make the impossible sound rational and down right logical.” She exhaled slowly. “If I said no, I’d only be delaying the inevitable, because Michael’s asking questions about him and he’s made it as clear to me as he did to you that he finds AJ the far better option right now, and I suppose I don’t blame him.” She picked up her purse. “All right. Go talk to him. See what you can do.”
11 Oh they turn their heads embarrassed Pretend that they don’t see But it’s one missed step One slip before you know it And there doesn’t seem a way to be redeemed
Thursday, April 1, 2004
New Orleans, Lousiana, Garden District: Chestnut Street House
Elizabeth walked up the walk of a beautiful Victorian home that much too large for just one person. She paused at the steps up to the porch and turned back to Jason. “This isn’t where I’m staying the entire time, is it? It’s a hotel or something.”
“I had a reason to come to New Orleans, so we were able to get out without causing suspicion,” Jason said patiently, “and I wanted to find you something in a quiet neighborhood where people mind their own business. You get tourists walking past to look at it, but it’s not like Port Charles where everyone knows everything.”
She sighed and thought about arguing further, but he had that implacable look on his face so she just went to the porch and waited for him to open the door. He signaled to the two guards carrying her bags to follow them. “Are they going to be around all the time?” she asked. She tucked her hair behind her ears. “I—”
“One is for the day shift, and the other for evening,” Jason said. “They’ll just be on the door. It’s just a precaution.” He turned to them. “Cody, Oliver, put Mrs. Lansing’s bags in the master bedroom, it should already be ready—it’ll be the only one with furniture. You know your assignments.”
“But—” Elizabeth protested, but obeyed as Jason steered her into the sitting room. “This is too much for one person, Jason. I thought I was going to get an apartment in New York or something.” She hesitated. “Not that I’m not grateful—”
“I needed to come to New Orleans and if things work out the way I think they might, I’ll be coming back a few times, so I can check on you without anyone back home raising an eyebrow.” Jason eyed the room, which was decorated a bit more ornately than the realtor had indicated.
“I guess you’re right.” She sank onto the couch and looked out the large bay windows to the garden in the front yard. “I feel lighter here,” she admitted. “Without seeing the docks or the hospital, or just…memories of everything that went wrong.” She looked up at him. “Are you leaving right away?”
“No.” Jason sat across from her.. “No, I’m going to stay for a few days to make sure you have everything you need. And…” he grimaced. “I have to talk to AJ about Michael.”
Elizabeth raised her eyebrows. “AJ?”
“To end this standoff between Carly and Sonny,” Jason continued. He leaned back, looking exhausted. “They’re suing each for full custody, making Michael testify in court, asking him to choose which parent he wants to live with, arguing in front of them…it’s just a mess.”
Elizabeth rested her hand on her belly. “And you think adding AJ to the mix will make it better?” she asked skeptically.
“I think…” Jason hesitated. “Michael is already asking questions about him, and if we try to put him off for much longer, he might just go to Edward for AJ’s contact information himself. He knows AJ is his biological father.”
“Natural that he’s curious.” She bit her lip. “I hope it works out for Michael. It seems a shame that everything you went through to give him a good life seems to have been for nothing.”
Jason exhaled slowly. “Yeah…” He stood. “I’m going to do a walk around the house to make sure everything is the way the realtor said it would be.”
He left the room, and Elizabeth sighed. She was out of practice at being a good friend and good listener, that much was clear. After what Jason had done for her so far this week, she just wished she could offer him some encouragement in return.
She still felt the oppressive guilt of having killed the father of her child, but Jason’s calm and steady belief that it was self-defense had gone a long way towards helping her sleep at night. Jason didn’t appear to hold Carly’s imprisonment against her—had only been bewildered and concerned that Elizabeth would give Ric a second chance.
She could hold on to his faith in her, and let that be the first step in building a new life for herself and her child.
12 Though I’ve tried, I’ve fallen I have sunk so low I messed up Better I should know
Friday, April 2, 2004
New Orleans, Uptown District: AJ Quartermaine’s Apartment
AJ Quartermaine frowned and pulled the door open wider. “Jason…?” He stepped back to allow the other man entry. “Why are…” He hesitated. “Did something happen to Mom or Emily?”
Jason stepped into the room, casting his eyes quickly around, taking in the well-decorated and tidy living space. He turned to face AJ. “No. I’m here about Michael.”
AJ’s mouth tightened, color faded from his cheeks. “Is he…did something…” He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Is he all right?”
“Yeah.” Jason shifted, shoved his hands in his pockets and looked away. “Sonny and Carly are getting a divorce, but it’s pretty bitter. They’ve dragged the boys into a custody battle, and Michael’s been asked to choose which parent…” He shook his head. “He’s not doing so well.”
AJ exhaled roughly. “Well, I can’t say I’m surprised, but I’m not sure what it has to do with me.” He crossed the room to stand by the window, looking out over the Mississippi River.
“Michael’s been asking about you,” Jason said after a long moment. “And he asked me what was so bad about you that living with Sonny and Carly was the better option.”
“Hmm…” AJ offered a slight smile. “To be thirteen again and sure the people who raised you were your worst enemy.” He hesitated. “But I guess you don’t know what I mean by that.” When Jason said nothing, AJ just shrugged. “So you give him the list of my sins? That I destroyed your life and tried to let Ned take the rap? That I’m a worthless drunk who pushed Carly down the stairs and stalked his own wife?”
“I didn’t have an answer,” Jason said after another moment. “Because at the time I claimed paternity, the only thing that was true was that you were a worthless drunk who crashed a car, and it didn’t seem fair to unload the rest of it on him.”
AJ considered him, remaining silent until finally, “Jason, I don’t understand why you’re here. Are you apologizing for claiming paternity of my son? What’s going on?”
“I think…” Jason said, slowly, “that if you were to testify that you signed your rights away because you were afraid for your life, the judge would award Carly full custody of the boys, which means Sonny would be forced to accept joint. Right now, he wants her out of their lives entirely. He’s being unreasonable, and I didn’t…” He looked up and cleared his throat. “I didn’t give Michael up so he could be put through this.”
“And if I testify…” AJ folded his arms across his chest. “If I testified to help Carly get custody, where would that leave me? What’s the point of helping her retain custody of the boys when all she’s ever done is keep me from my own son?”
“I don’t have all the answers,” Jason said after a long pause. “I just know Michael is asking questions about you, and even if he learns all the things you’ve done, he’s not going to understand why that’s bad enough to keep you two apart, especially since Sonny is…who he is.” He looked at the floor. “I told Carly that if she keeps refusing to answer Michael’s question, one day, he’s just going to come to you, and if the only side Michael gets is yours, it’s just going to make everything worse. He needs the truth. Whatever that is. She’ll lose Michael, otherwise.”
AJ blinked. “You’re…standing there…telling me that Carly has agreed I should…I should be in Michael’s life. And you engineered it.” He laughed harshly. “I’d say this is a joke, but it’s not like you’re one for humor.”
“I told Carly that I would come down here, and see how you were. If you were…in a better place than you were in Port Charles.” Jason shifted the weight from one foot to another. “I guess you are. You look sober.”
“I am.” AJ hesitated. “What I did to Courtney, even sober, made me realize that living in Port Charles was the reason I couldn’t get anywhere in life. I was always going to feel second, or even worthless there.” He paused. “I know you don’t believe me, but I loved my wife. It just…drove me insane that she always turned to you.” He looked away. “I’ve been sober for fourteen months. I go to AA meetings once a week, and when it gets bad, which it does around the anniversary of the accident or in the summer, when my drinking caused Courtney to…” He shook his head. “I go every day. I have a sponsor, if you want to meet him for confirmation. I work for subsidiary of ELQ, and I do relatively well for myself. But I won’t promise you I won’t ever take another a drink. I don’t make promises I can’t guarantee.”
“Okay.” Jason nodded. “I’ll let Carly know.” He turned towards the door, but stepped back. “AJ, I’m sorry…about Courtney. I shouldn’t have…”
AJ shrugged. “We married for the wrong reasons and neither of us loved the other enough to go the distance. I know that now. I hope she’s happier with you.”
Jason left, not bothering to tell him that his own marriage to the same woman had lasted roughly the same amount of time. He had other things on his mind.
I messed up Better I should know So don’t come round here And tell me I told you so
If I Don’t Try With You
In 2008, moments after they become engaged, Jason and Elizabeth learn that Michael has been shot. What if she refuses to give up on their future? How does Carly let her little boy go? And can anyone control the fallout? Status: Complete
Lullabyes
In 2008, Patrick prepares to become a father, one of life’s more terrifying experiences. Status: Complete
End of the Beginning
Set in 2009-13. After a one night stand leaves Nadine pregnant, Johnny and Nadine begin to plan a future together, one that includes their beloved daughter, Amalia. But Johnny Zacchara doesn’t do happy very well.
You Should Know Better
Set 2010-2014. Lucky and Sam married before Elizabeth disappeared. They try to create a life together, even a family with the birth of their daughter, Chloe. But Lucky and Sam know that they’ve settled, and she believes she might now have a chance with her soulmate with his wife out of the picture. Lucky wonders if he’ll ever find happiness.
As Your Lies Crumble
Set in 2019. Leyla Mir married Pete Marquez because she was pregnant and wanted to have the family all her friends had found. Now, pregnant with her second child, she knows that she must leave him before their unhappiness destroys them both.
Is Forever Enough?
Set in 2019. Patrick and Robin learn she’s pregnant, a surprise third child neither had planned. In the wake of their losses, they look towards a brighter future.
Main Stories, Beginning in 2024
Tangle In 2010, Elizabeth Morgan disappeared, leaving most of her loved ones to presume her dead. Those who loved her best have never given up the search. Status: Being Revised
When September Ends Lucky Spencer gets the shock of a lifetime on his doorstep — a revelation that will send shockwaves through many families in Port Charles. Status: Unposted
Bed of Lies Armed with the secret of Michael’s shooting, Amalia Zacchara seeks to gain control of her father’s business and to settle the score for those who have done her wrong in life. Status: Unposted
Sins of the Father A devastating paternity reveal destroy a marriage and the lives of the children involved. Status: Unposted
Shattered Glass Another generation of Port Charles faces their future and deal with the fall out of their parents’ choices. The more things change in Port Charles, the more they stay the same. Status: Unposted
This page includes character information that offers the backstory to the character to take you from 2008 until the opening of Tangle, in June 2024, although there will be prequels and short stories to fill in some of those blanks as well.
The Morgan Family
Steve Burton as Jason Morgan
After Sonny and Michael died in 2008, Jason took over the business and married Elizabeth later that year. He adopted Cameron, and together with Juliet (born 2010), he and Elizabeth were blissfully happy. After her disappearance, Jason struggled to raise the kids on his own while never giving up hope that she would come home.
Rebecca Herbst as Elizabeth Morgan/Corinne Markham
Elizabeth married Jason in 2008, and gave birth to her third child, Juliet, shortly before she vanished in the fall of 2010.
Corinne Markham is a woman who escaped a serial killer, and has experienced retrograde amnesia. She’s built a new life for herself, and has stopped asking questions about her past.
Justin Bruening as Cameron Steven Morgan
Cameron was adopted by Jason shortly after the wedding. He’s grown up secure in his father’s love, and the only Morgan child who remembers his mother. After graduating from PC High, he went to Boston University to study law. He’s a junior in 2024.
Benjamin McKenzie as Jacob Martin Morgan
Jake has never forgotten the events surrounding his paternity, and though he’s grown up with his father, has always felt the lack of a mother in his life. He is a senior at PC High.
Miley Cyrus as Juliet Emily Morgan
Juliet was six months old when her mother vanished, and Jules has spent her entire life trying to solve the mystery because her mother’s absence has left a void that can never be filled. She’s a sophomore at PC High.
Brooklyn Rae Silzer as Isla Elizabeth Markham
Isla is the daughter of Corinne Markham, born in 2016. Her mother is a single woman, and she’s never had a father figure in her life.
The Spencer/Cassadine/Lansing Family
Nancy Lee Grahn as Alexis Davis
After her divorce from Ric, Alexis has struggled to raise her three girls on her own. She has a law practice with Diane Miller, and feels relatively successful in her family.
Rick Hearst as Richard ‘Ric’ Lansing
Ric moved to New York in 2008 to get away from the memories of Port Charles, after the death of his brother, Sonny. He keeps in touch with Molly and Kristina, and has never let Kristina feel the lack of a father in her life.
Bethany Joy Lenz as Kristina Adela Davis
Kristina is the respectable child, the dutiful daughter who graduated high school with honors and went on to Harvard to study law, to honor her stepfather, Ric.
Rachel Bilson as Molly Robin Lansing
Molly is the wild child who has never found a rule she doesn’t want to break. She graduated from PC High without any plans and works at Kelly’s, to the annoyance of her mother.
Tyler Christopher as Nikolas Cassadine
After struggling to live in Port Charles without Emily, Nikolas finally moved to London permanently with Spencer. He visits family in PC from time to time, including Nadine, who encouraged him to move on with his life.
Tom Welling as Spencer Misha Cassadine
Spencer, the son of Nikolas and Courtney, has grown up away from PC for the most part, and barely knows his cousins, and they barely know him.
Greg Vaughan as Lucky Spencer
Lucky reunited with Sam and they dated for some time until Sam learned she was pregnant with their daughter, Chloe. They married, but made each other miserable. They divorced in 2013, but have remained close.
Kelly Monaco as Samantha McCall-Spencer
Sam’s relationship with Lucky, while close, has always been difficult particularly after Elizabeth disappeared in 2010. Sam has always felt drawn to Jason, never able to close her heart to him, but she was never able to help move past his grief. Though she might like to.
G Hannelius as Chloe Leigh Spencer
Chloe is the eleven year old daughter of Sam and Lucky, who loves her parents even though they drive her nuts. Her best friend in the whole world is Anna Drake.
Emme Rylan as Lulu Spencer
Lulu split from Port Charles in late 2008, and other than a disastrous visit in 2013, she rarely comes home. She’s followed in the footsteps of her father, Luke Spencer, without roots or ties.
The Corinthos/Jacks Family
Laura Wright as Carly Corinthos-Jacks
Carly remained married to Jax after the deaths of Sonny and Michael in April 2008, though her heart was shattered. She was frozen in grief until she learned she was pregnant with Cecily, and managed to climb back out. She began to devote herself to life even more when Elizabeth disappeared and Jason needed her help to keep his family together. She owns a string of hotels with Jax that are successful and popular.
Ingo Rademacher as Jasper ‘Jax’ Jacks
Jax is happy in his marriage with Carly, though he knows part of her heart has never recovered from losing Michael and never knowing what happened to him. He has become a devoted stepfather to Morgan, and loves his daughter Cecily to pieces. He co-owns the Metro Court hotel franchise with Carly.
Adam Brody as Morgan Stone Corinthos
Morgan barely remembers his brother or father, but has always understood that he is all his mother has left of those times. He is a junior at Boston University with Cam Morgan, his best friend, and plans to go on to medical school.
Kristen Alderson as Cecily Jane Jacks
Cecily is a bright and popular fifteen year old who drives her parents insane, because after all, she’s Carly’s daughter. To Carly’s eternal horror, one of Cece’s favorite people is Mal Drake, son of Robin Scorpio.
The Zacchara Family
Brandon Barash as Johnny Zacchara
After killing Sonny in self-defense and losing Lulu, Johnny Zacchara had a one night stand with Nadine Crowell that resulted in her pregnancy. They eventually fell in love and married, only to divorce in 2013 after Lulu returned to town. He’s been married two more times since their bitter divorce, both marriages short and unhappy. He resides in Crimson Pointe most of the time, and is business partners with Jason Morgan.
Claire Coffee as Nadine Crowell Zacchara
Nadine testified in Johnny’s self-defense trial for killing Sonny, and their one-night stand resulted in their daughter, Amalia. After their bitter divorce, Nadine has remained single. She’s the head nurse at the hospital and remains close with Nikolas.
Mila Kunis as Amalia Isa Zacchara
Amalia has grown up knowing she was a mistake that ruined her parents life. In order to hurt and damage one another, Johnny and Nadine drag Amalia into court from time to time in order to battle over custody and alimony, which doesn’t help her self-esteem. Amalia is a sophomore at PC High, her best friend is Juliet Morgan and she’s head over heels for Jake Morgan, who thinks she’s too young for him.
The Drake Family
Jason Thompson as Patrick Drake
Patrick is the chief of surgery at General Hospital, and still sometimes wonders how he ended up in the suburbs with three kids, a dog and a minivan, but he loves the crap out of his wife and kids, so mostly it’s okay.
Kimberly McCullough as Robin Scorpio-Drake
Robin is deliriously happy that her only problem in life is dealing with her son’s relationship with Carly’s daughter. She’s a respected doctor at General Hospital.
Chad Duell as Malcolm ‘Mal’ Robert Drake
Mal has the best of both his parents — his father’s wild good looks, his mother’s relative good sense…and his entire family’s charming ways. He’s a bit of a scape grace, but he means well. Mal is a junior at PC High, and hangs out with Jake and Cece.
Abigail Breslin as Anne Mae Drake
Anna is eleven years old and all she can think about is dancing. She hasn’t decided between dancing and singing on Broadway or ballet, but she figures she can do both. She’s a sixth grader and her best friend is Chloe Spencer.
Jackson Brundage as Jeffrey Alan Drake
Jeff was the surprise child, long after Patrick and Robin had completed their family in 2013. Born in 2019, he’s the adorable prince of the family…with Patrick’s lethal charm.
Miscellaneous
Nazanin Boniadi as Leyla Mir-Marquez
Lonely after all her closest friends married, had children, disappeared or divorced, Leyla became pregnant with Pete Marquez’s son. They reluctantly married, but it was a complete disaster. After the birth of their second son, Leyla battled her beliefs and her family and fiiled for divorce. She works as head surgical nurse at GH.
Eddie Matos as Peter Marquez
Pete never wanted kids or a marriage and has very little to do with his two sons, PJ and Ryan. He teaches at PCU, and finds Patrick’s life to be hysterical.
Seamus Dever as Ian Devlin
Ian still works at GH and has remained single. No one ever discovered his connection to the warehouse shooting that resulted in Michael’s death, and Ian left that life behind him as a consequence. He’s the top plastic surgeon at General Hospital, and hopes his old life stays in the past.
The Basics
This alternate reality picks the show up after April 4, 2008, after Michael is shot and Jason asks Elizabeth to marry him. All subsequent events are explained in the flashbacks beginning in Tangle. Since for this story GH stops on that date, the following major events never happened:
– Jake did not die. This was an asinine storyline that broke my heart because I wrote him in my head.
– Rebecca Shaw never came to town, because dude…stupid.
– Jocelyn Jacks does not exist. Carly and Jax have a daughter named Cecily instead, born in May 2009 rather than November 2009.
– Claudia Zacchara is not dead. Because again…stupid.
– And naturally, Jason is not dead.
These are major differences that come to mind at the moment.
I don’t SORAS my characters, so in 2024, when the story begins, everyone is the age they would naturally be. For example, Molly is seventeen because she was born in 2006. Cameron is twenty, because he was born in 2004, etc. Morgan is twenty, because he was born in 2003 and hasn’t had his first twenty-first birthday. It helps me keep generations in line, so you don’t have Morgan, born before Cameron, being ten years older.
FAQ
1. Wasn’t Tangle almost finished in 2009?
Yes. But I hate it. It’s messy, there are issues because I didn’t sit down and plot it out until long after I started writing it, so characters don’t make sense, storylines don’t work. I’ve come up with a better plot line that is much more realistic in regards to Elizabeth’s disappearance, which is going to be the major difference. Also, my writing is much better than it was 2008-09, so if I want to write the next four stories, I need Tangle to be just right. There’s a reason it hasn’t been updated in five years and that would be it.
2. What’s with Michael, Starr and Emma playing different people?
The problem with my universe is that I started it when Dylan Cash was playing Michael in 2008, and he was the most insufferable character alive. Now, Chad Duell plays him and I love him, but since I killed Michael off in my world, and there’s just no room for him, I still wanted Chad in my head. Same goes for Brooklyn Rae Silzer (Emma) and Kristen Alderson (Starr/Kiki). I have issues.
3. So these prequels. Um…why?
So my first version of Tangle had each chapter open with a flashback intended to bridge the years between 2008-2024. I couldn’t figure out how to work them into my new outline, but some of them were important, particularly the Johnny/Nadine stuff. Plus, I was always kind of curious myself about those sixteen years, particularly how Jason and Elizabeth decided to stay together in the wake of the Michael shooting. I literally started Tangle the week after they became engaged, because despite knowing better, I thought they’d be engaged for longer than six seconds, so I kept them together. How could I know how much the show would screw them up in the next six years? Not that I’m…bitter. ANYWAY. I picked out some of the storylines I thought be interesting to play with, particularly with characters that were not heavily featured in Tangle, like Sam and Leyla, and planned backstories for them. There’s no hurry to post any of these, most won’t be done until after Tangle is, but I just sat down to figure out them because it was bugging me.
Jaded (Alternate Universe: Complete) and Waiting At Home (Fiction Graveyard: Alternate Universe) are moved over. I hope to have the rest of the Alternate Universe stories moved over soon, but I may slow down on moving things in order to concentrate on some papers and my dissertation, and of course, writing. I’ve done a lot of work on the in progress stories, and I still have some more things to do before I can start posting, which is why I staggered some of it.
Elizabeth was in the middle of packing Lex’s room when her doorbell rang. She abandoned the suitcase and carefully picked Lex up from the playpen, unwilling to leave her alone. Since Nikolas’s attempt to gain control over Lex, Elizabeth hadn’t let her daughter out of her sight.
She shifted Lex to one side and pulled the door open. “Luke, hey.”
Luke entered. “Hey, darlin. How’s my pretty little granddaughter?” he asked, kissing Lex on the forehead.
“You want to hold her?” Elizabeth asked. Luke accepted gratefully, a somber look on his face. Lex giggled in his arms and reached her chubby arms for the unlit cigar sticking out of Luke’s coat.
“Bubba stopped by the bar,” Luke said, taking Lex and sitting on the couch. Steeling herself for what was coming, Elizabeth curled up on the armchair across from him.
“Did he tell you I’m selling him and Felicia back the restaurant?” Elizabeth asked.
“He did.” Luke eyed her. “While I’d love to think it’s so you can come work at the bar, I know that’s not true.”
“It’s not,” Elizabeth agreed. “I’m uh…leaving town. I’ve been meaning to stop by and tell you, but–”
“I know,” Luke cut in. “I think it’s best if you and Laura don’t see one another for a while.”
“I just…there’s not much of a reason to stay around,” Elizabeth said softly, staring at her hands.
“The last time we talked–before the arrest–you seemed a little happy.” Luke leaned forward. “What’s changed?”
“Nothing,” Elizabeth lied. “I just…the arrest was too much–”
“Darlin’ don’t lie to me,” Luke said gently. “It was Morgan wasn’t it?”
“No,” Elizabeth said quickly. “Jason had nothing to do with this decision.”
“You can tell me,” Luke said. “I just hate to see you leave town because of Laura and Nikolas.”
“It’s partly because of that,” Elizabeth admitted. “I figure me and Lex…we need a fresh start. But…” she sighed. “It does concern Jason.”
Luke bit down his normal comment about tearing the man apart, and opted for a different choice. “What happened?”
Elizabeth bit her lip and looked at him, her blue eyes shining with tears. “He doesn’t want me.”
“Aww, honey,” Luke grumbled. He stood up and set Lex in the living room playpen and knelt in front of Elizabeth’s chair. “You know he’s brain damaged right?”
Elizabeth laughed a little through her tears. “Oh, Luke. It’s just…he won’t let me in. After Sonny, he’s got a wall up.”
“Yeah, I noticed,” Luke said. “You didn’t try to change his mind?”
“I did,” Elizabeth said, sucking in deep breath and blinking back the rest of her tears. “But I shouldn’t have to convince someone it’s all right to love me.”
“No, you shouldn’t,” Luke agreed.
“But what if I walk away from him…and I regret it for the rest of my life?” Elizabeth asked, her voice soft and faltering. “What if he’s the one Lucky was talking about?”
Luke frowned. “What?”
Elizabeth swiped at her eyes and took a deep breath. “After we were married, Lucky told me that he understood that I wasn’t in love with him–” she stopped. “Luke, I did love Lucky. It wasn’t the love I know you wanted for him, but I did love him.”
“I know, honey,” Luke said. He patted her knee. “Go on.”
“And he told me that if I ever found someone that I was in love with him, that I shouldn’t let our marriage stand in the way–or anything else.” Elizabeth shook her head. “I couldn’t understand why he’d tell his new wife that, but…he said he loved me and he only wanted me to be happy.”
Luke smiled at the thought of his son telling his new bride he wouldn’t stand in the way of true love. Lucky Spencer had been one hell of a kid. “Cowboy was like that–he only wanted the best for everyone.”
“What if Jason’s the right person and I walk away?” Elizabeth asked, intently. “What if I make the biggest mistake of my life?”
“Well, darlin’, I think you know what you have to do,” Luke said gently.
—-
Lily paced the living room of Jason’s penthouse, his eyes following her every move.
“Is there something wrong?” he asked, curiously.
She stopped and glared at him. If looks could kill… “No, I can’t possibly think of something that’s wrong,” she said sarcastically.
“Lily.”
“She’s leaving town,” Lily muttered. “And for the life of me I can’t come up with a single good reason to keep her here.”
“Who’s leaving town?” Jason asked, lunging to his feet. “Lily, who’s leaving?”
“Elizabeth,” Lily snapped. “She’s had enough of this town and I can’t really blame her.” She put her hands on her hips and was feeling satisfied at the pallor of Jason’s face. “Nikolas has left town, but Laura’s still here, so she doesn’t want to stick around for her mother-in-law to keep calling her a murderer.” She stalked forward and poked him in the chest. “And big bad Jason Morgan shoved her out of his life, so she doesn’t need to stay for you and she’s right–she shouldn’t have to convince that it’s all right to love her.”
“Lily, why can’t you just leave this alone?” he pleaded. “It’s better this way.”
“It’s not better this way!” Lily cried. “You’re going to let her walk out of your life and she’s more willing! I swear, I have never met two more stupid people in my life!”
Jason frowned. “Why is this so important to you?”
“I have watched you build a wall around yourself for three years,” Lily said, her voice deceptively calm. “Brick by brick, you shut people out. You shut out Sonny’s father, you shut out Emily, you shut out Robin, you don’t even talk to Lila anymore–and if I didn’t live across the hall and force you to talk to me, you would have done it to me, too. I’ll be damned if I let you spend the rest of your life blaming yourself for someone you couldn’t control!”
Before Jason could answer, Lily’s cell phone rang. “Hello?” she said.
“Lily, it’s me,” Elizabeth said.
“Hey, what’s up?” Lily asked.
“I need…I think you’re right,” Elizabeth replied, hesitantly. “I shouldn’t just walk away.”
Lily closed her eyes in relief. She turned away from Jason. “So what do you want to do?”
“Bring him to the bridge,” Elizabeth said. “In an hour. If it doesn’t work, I’m walking away, though, all right?”
“You got it.” Lily hung up and turned back to Jason. “I need a favor.”
“Anything,” Jason said automatically. His eyes narrowed. “Within reason.”
“I need you to go with me somewhere. You can’t ask questions,” Lily said automatically. “Just do it.”
“Lily–”
“If you do this, I won’t ask for another thing, I promise,” Lily said, her voice deadly serious.
“I just know I’m going to regret this,” Jason muttered.
—-
Elizabeth hung up the phone and turned to Luke. “Do you think I made the right decision?” he asked.
“I think you made the only decision you could have,” Luke said. He stood up from the couch and gave her a tight hug. “I’m going to miss you.”
“You take care of Laura,” Elizabeth said. “Take her on a cruise or something.”
“I just think time away from this town will do her good,” Luke said. “Good luck with Morgan. I think you’re going to need it.”
—–
Jason’s eyes narrowed as he recognized the car that was parked next to his and Lily’s in the clearing.
“Lily–”
“Get out of the car,” Lily ordered. She pushed her car door open and got out. Against his better judgment, he did what she said.
“Lily, what are we doing here?” he asked.
“You’re going to give her one last chance to talk to you,” Lily stated. “She’s leaving town and she wants to say goodbye.” One little white lie never hurt anyone. “After everything you’ve done to her, the least you can do is give her that courtesy.
“Damn it,” Jason growled. “I don’t–”
“I don’t ask for much,” Lily said. “I know I butt in sometimes, but I rarely ever ask for anything. And all I want is for you to give her a chance to say goodbye.”
Jason slammed the car door shut. “Fine,” he snarled, stalking towards the path to the bridge.
—-
Jason entered the clearing to see Elizabeth with her arms tightly crossed. He closed the distance. “What do you want?” he snapped.
“I’m leaving town,” Elizabeth said. “I thought you should know.”
Jason stared at her. He hadn’t thought Lily was serious–he thought it was a ploy to get him to talk to her. “Leaving? Why?” He shook his head. He wasn’t supposed to care–it’d be better if she left.
“There’s nothing left in Port Charles,” Elizabeth replied simply. “Now that I’ve been investigated for murder, the rumors around town are too much. Lex is getting older–she doesn’t need this.”
“What about the Spencers?”
She sighed. “Luke’s taking Laura on an extended vacation. They won’t be back for a while. And Laura still thinks I’m responsible, so I don’t even take Lex to see them anymore.”
“I’m sorry,” Jason said quietly. She looked at him–her eyes were cold.
“Are you?” she asked. “Are you sorry or are you just saying it?”
“I am sorry,” Jason snapped, defensively. “I don’t say things I don’t mean.”
She looked away. “That’s a lie and we both know it.”
“I’ve never lied to you.”
“What about the day you kicked me out?” she demanded. “You told me that I didn’t belong in your world and that you didn’t belong in mine. That was a lie–you kicked me out of your life because you were scared!”
“You think because you have one conversation with Lily about Sonny you can possibly understand anything?” he asked, angrily. “You got her version–she’s too sympathetic to tell you the truth.”
She turned away and faced the creek. “You know…we have something in common,” she said, her tone changing. “We’ve both felt responsible for people dying that we couldn’t control. I couldn’t control that speeding driver–and you couldn’t control Sonny.”
“It was my job to protect him.” Jason swore under his breath. He didn’t want to have this conversation with her–couldn’t have this conversation. He needed to get away from her.
“It was your job to take orders,” Elizabeth corrected him.
“You don’t know a damn thing about my job.” Jason turned and started walking.
“Pushing me away didn’t help,” she called after him. He stopped and turned to look at her.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked, bewildered.
“I’m saying if you tried to push me away to prove that I didn’t mean anything–it didn’t work,” Elizabeth replied. “We both know why you pushed me away.”
“Oh really?” Jason asked. “Enlighten me.” He crossed his arms and glared at her.
“Because I got too close,” she replied softly. “Because you’re under the impression that because of what happened with Sonny, you don’t deserve someone.”
“That’s not it at all.” Jason drove his fingers through his hair. “Because of the life I lead–”
“It’s not your choice to make,” Elizabeth retorted.
“The hell it’s not!” Jason strode towards her, angry now. “I watched as my best friend blew up–I watched his wife grieve for him. I watched Robin walk away from me three times–if I decide that I don’t want to be with anyone, that is my choice.”
“You can’t shut people out because you’re scared,” she argued. “That’s not fair to the people who care about you.”
“The people who care about me?” Jason repeated. “What, Lily and Mike?”
“I care about you!” Elizabeth cried. “But the second you thought I was getting too close, you kicked me out, you dropped me. That’s not fair! You can’t make me think you care and then shut me out…” She took a step towards him. “Do you have any idea what this last week has been like?” she demanded. “I’ve been accused of murder–my home has been searched–my place of business. The only family I had in this town cut me off. The state threatened to take Lex away from me and I didn’t have anyone to turn to…do you know how that felt?”
He looked away. “You’re better off without me,” Jason said quietly. “You and Lily are still friends.”
Elizabeth stared at him, stunned. “B-b-better off without you?” she echoed, tears in her eyes. “What the hell right do you have to decide that?”
“Don’t you see? I’m hurting you,” Jason said quietly. “I didn’t want to do it like this.”
“Oh, but kissing me senseless and then doing it is so much better,” Elizabeth snapped sarcastically, angrily swiping the tears from her eyes. “You don’t hurt me by being with me–you hurt me when you push me away, don’t you see?”
Jason looked away. “Your daughter’s already lost her father–I don’t want to be the reason she’s an orphan.”
Elizabeth threw her hands up in the air. “Why do you insist on making choices for other people?” she cried. “I’m not better off and guess what? Lucky’s dead. He died because a stupid man was driving too fast. I could die tomorrow the same way. My house could burn down and I’d die of smoke inhalation. No one lives forever–and you’re a fool if you think that by pushing me away, you’re somehow ensuring I won’t die some day.”
Jason shifted his feet and sighed. “I can’t do this, Elizabeth.” He turned around again.
“If you leave Jason, I’m going to leave Port Charles and I’m never coming back!” she called. “Because you’re the only thing keeping me here!”
Jason stopped–but he didn’t turn around. She stared at his back–wishing desperately for him to turn around. His voice drifted back to her–“Goodbye, Elizabeth.”
And he kept on walking.
—-
Lily jumped off the hood of the car when she heard footsteps. When Jason emerged from the path, his head down and hands shoved in his pockets, she swore long and loudly. “What in the hell-”
Jason raised his eyes to meet hers. “Don’t ever do that again, Lily. You’re my friend–don’t make me push you away, too.”
“Why are you doing this?” Lily whispered, desperately. “Why do you shut out the very people who love you?”
Jason snorted. “Love doesn’t exist,” he muttered.
“That’s not true and you know it!” Lily wanted to strangle him. “Why are you so stubborn–you know you’re in love with her, why don’t you give it a chance?”
“She’s leaving town,” Jason said.
“And I know she made it clear that she feels that if you don’t want her, she’s got no reason to stay, and Jase, that’s giving you a lot of power,” Lily said. “She’s basically telling you that she wants you–why won’t you let yourself be happy?”
“Drop it, Lily,” Jason said. He headed to the car and jerked the passenger side open. Before he got in, Elizabeth emerged from the path.
Lily sighed, watching the two freeze. Why wouldn’t Jason just let himself be with her? Elizabeth was making it very clear how she felt–didn’t Jason realize what that cost her?
Elizabeth finally broke the silence. She looked at Lily. “Thanks for everything, Lily. I’m signing the papers tomorrow for The Outback and Lex and I are hitting the road after that.”
“I wish you’d stay,” Lily said, softly. She glanced at Jason who hadn’t moved.
Elizabeth bit her lip. “There’s nothing left to stay for,” she said quietly. “I can’t live the rest of my life–waiting for something that won’t happen.”
Lily looked at Jason again–desperate for him to say something–anything. But Jason’s jaw was clenched and he wasn’t moving. She did a very desperate thing then–something that might cost her both friendships. “Damn it, you’re both idiots!”
“Lily-” Jason started.
“You’re in love with her and she loves you,” Lily declared. “And you’re both throwing it away and that’s the stupidest fucking thing I’ve ever heard of!” She glared at Jason. “Do you know that there’s nothing I wouldn’t give for just one day with Sonny? I will never see him again–I’ll never hear his voice or feel his touch. Do you know how that feels?” She shook her head. “And for the last time, Jason, his death is not your fault. You wanted to check the car–you were halfway across the parking lot and you know it. But Sonny made the choice. He decided to get into the car. He disregarded the safety measures–he got into that car, Jason, he did it because he got too cocky. Don’t you get it–it’s not your fault!”
Jason looked at the ground. “It was my job to protect him.”
Lily was so frustrated that she wanted to scream–so she did. “Damn you, your job was to do what Sonny told you! He told you not to worry–he said don’t check the car. It’s fine. I’ll bring it–so damn it, stop blaming yourself. Do not throw away love because she’s walking away tomorrow, Jason and you won’t get this chance again. And you’re a son of a bitch if you let her leave this town.” Lily strode over and pushed him away from the car. “Don’t come near me, because I am just sick of you right now. You’re so wrapped up in yourself–so worried about protecting yourself from the world that you don’t see straight anymore and I can’t sit by and watch you do this anymore. You can walk.” She slammed the passenger side door shut and stormed to the other side of the car. She passed Elizabeth and paused. “And you’re a damn fool if you give up now.”
She jerked her car door open and got in. She turned the engine on and pealed out of the clearing and back onto the road. Soon all Jason could see was her taillights.
He stared after the car and it began to sink in that he might have pushed away the last person in the world that cared about him. He heard a twig snap and he turned, remembering Elizabeth’s presence.
“She’s right you know,” Elizabeth said softly. She walked over to her car and pulled her keys out of her pocket. “And when you’re all alone, Jason…” she looked up and met his eyes. “You’ll have no one to blame but yourself.”
She inserted the key in the lock and pulled the car door open. “I wish I could have been enough–I wish I could have been the person who made you understand that you can’t shut people out. But I’m not. Because I can’t wait forever–and I shouldn’t have to. I’m not giving up–I’m being realistic. I don’t know how to convince you that I love you and that you mean everything to me–and I don’t think I should have to.”
“Don’t go.”
She pulled her foot out of the car and looked at him. “What?”
“Don’t go,” Jason repeated. Elizabeth stared at him–wanting more. “Because I think I’ve just made a really big mistake here.”
“And that would be?” she asked, her heart in her throat.
Jason looked away. “I never thought I’d lose Lily. I guess I always thought she’d put up with me. But she didn’t.” He stared in the direction Lily’s car had gone. “I don’t know why I do what I do. I don’t know why I push people away–but I…” he met her eyes. “I love you, Elizabeth. Please…don’t go.”
She shut the door and stared at him. “Say that again,” she demanded gently.
“I love you.”
Elizabeth shifted her weight from one foot to another and bit her lip. “I don’t know if that’s enough,” she confessed. “Because that doesn’t tell me that you won’t take it back tomorrow. You don’t get infinite chances to hurt me–it won’t work like that. It can’t–I can’t be worrying about the next time you shut me out or push me away.”
Jason looked at the ground. “And I can’t give you that,” he said quietly. “Because I’ve been shutting people out for a while now–sometimes it just happens before I can help it.” He raised his eyes. “But I can promise you that I won’t tell you that my feelings have changed tomorrow. I won’t take it back.”
Elizabeth sighed. “I must be out of my mind,” she muttered. She rubbed her forehead. “All right. So, when you say don’t go…do you mean tonight…or tomorrow?” Elizabeth asked, needing to know exactly where they stood.
“Either. Both,” Jason answered. He took a step towards her. “Because I think I just pushed Lily away–and if she’s gone and you’re gone…then I’m alone. And as much as I try to push people away…I don’t want to be alone.”
She smiled a little. “Lily’s just pissed,” she said. “She knew she was taking a risk–took off before she either beat you senseless or you killed her. I’m sure everything will be all right tomorrow.”
“So are you going?” Jason asked hesitantly.
Elizabeth paused. She should go–every instinct in her body was telling her that it’d be a difficult and uphill battle making Jason trust her and be with her without shutting himself down or her out. She’d be smart if she took Lex and ran from Port Charles and never looked back.
She bit her lip and turned her eyes back to the path. For some reason, she remembered the second time she and Lucky had come to the bridge–on his birthday just three months before he died.
“I can’t believe we’re married,” Elizabeth said, leaning against the edge and letting her head hang back. She felt the wind rustle through her hair. “It’s just so much…”
Lucky grinned at her. “Well, we’re married.” She brought her head back up to return the smile. “Liz, there’s something we need to discuss.”
“What’s that?” Elizabeth asked. Lucky reached out and took her hand–the one he’d put a wedding ring on two days ago.
“This ring–we’re married, Liz. We’re going to have a child–but I’m not naïve enough to believe that you’re in love with me and wanted to spent the rest of your life with me.”
“Lucky-” Elizabeth stopped. He was right after all. She cared about him–and she thought she could learn to love him.
“No, really, it’s okay. But I want you to promise me something.”
“What?”
“If you find that person…that you love so desperately that you’ll do anything for them…don’t let them go because you’re married to me or because there’s some other problem. Because if you love him and he loves you…it has to work somehow. So, promise me…that when you find that love…fight for it.”
Elizabeth smiled sadly. “Why would you tell your new wife that?” she asked.
Lucky met her eyes and smiled–his smile was full of sadness and regret. “Because I love you, Liz. Desperately and I’d do anything for you.”
Looking into Jason’s eyes, she realized that she had found the love that Lucky spoken of. She loved him and she’d do anything for him. Including telling his best friend drag him to the middle of nowhere so he’d talk to her. And if it took her a hundred years, she was going to make Jason Morgan realize that just like everyone else in this world–he deserved someone to love him, too.
“Well…” Elizabeth said finally. “I’m going home, tonight.” She met his eyes and smiled. “You want a ride back to town? Maybe you could tell Lily your decision.”
“And tomorrow?” Jason pressed.
“And tomorrow…” Elizabeth hesitated. Before she could say anything, she felt a wind brush past her. Despite the time of year, it was a warm wind that made her smile. She knew Lucky was looking out for her. “Tomorrow,” Elizabeth repeated, “I’m going to tear up that contract to sell The Outback.” She smiled at him. “And the day after that…well, we’ll just see, won’t we?”
Jason looked at her for a few minutes, trying to discern what had happened but when he couldn’t, he decided to believe her. “You want to drop me off at the Towers?”
Elizabeth opened the door and slid in. She reached across the seat to open his door. When he got in, she closed her door and turned the engine. Before she pulled back onto the road, she gave the path to the bridge one last look.
Lily blinked. She hadn’t expected that question from Elizabeth–she hadn’t really wanted to get into it. She’d wanted Elizabeth to understand that what Jason was doing wasn’t something he really wanted to do–that it was something he felt he had to do. That he wasn’t just protecting her, he was protecting himself.
“I’m sorry if…that’s a painful question,” Elizabeth said when Lily didn’t answer. “I understand if you don’t want to say anything.”
Lily changed positions and folded her legs on the couch. “No. No. It’s just–I don’t really know how or where to start.” She didn’t say anything else for a few minutes, but finally, “We were at Luke’s celebrating. I had just found out I was pregnant. Jason was like a brother to Sonny, even though he’d only been working for Sonny a short time. He’d moved up the ranks pretty quickly–Sonny fully expected Jason to take over one day.” She looked down at her hands, where the slim gold wedding band still rested on the fourth finger of her left hand. “He just didn’t expect it so soon.”
“We were getting ready to leave…”
“I’ll get the car,” Lily volunteered. She started fishing in Sonny’s coat pockets for the keys. Sonny laughed and twisted away.
“Oh, no you don’t,” he chastised. “You’re pregnant. No more driving around for you.”
“I’m not dying, I’m just pregnant,” Lily replied, trying to reach around Sonny’s waist, but he kept pulling her out of reach.
“No, no. Stay here with Jason and Luke. I’ll get the car,” Sonny replied.
“Hold on,” Jason interjected. “Let me check it.”
“No, I’ll bring it,” Sonny replied, already stepping off the curb.
“Sonny, wait,” Jason protested. He started to follow but Sonny turned around.
“Don’t be such a worry wart, Jase. I can handle the car.” Sonny grinned his trademark smile–dimples and all–before turning back around and heading across the parking lot.
“One of these days, he’s gonna get himself killed being that careless,” Luke remarked. He twirled an unlit cigar in his hands.
“Not with Jason around,” Lily said, squeezing Jason’s arm. Jason didn’t join in on the light-hearted teasing–his eyes were trained on the car.
“Hey, how’s Miss Scorpio?” Luke asked.
Momentarily distracted, Jason tore his eyes from the car and turned to look at Luke. “She’s fine. She’s been applying–”
The force of the explosion knocked them all of their feet.
Elizabeth stared as the widow recounted the story of the day her husband died. “Jason was supposed to check the car–sweep it, you might say,” Lily finished. “And because he didn’t, he thinks he killed Sonny.”
“But Sonny told him not to worry,” Elizabeth protested weakly. “He said he could handle it.”
“I’ve been trying to tell Jason for three years that it wasn’t his fault,” Lily replied quietly. “That Sonny should have swept the car. But he won’t listen–he just sees it as the one time Sonny needed him and he couldn’t deliver.” Lily leaned forward, tears shining in her caramel eyes. “Jason Morgan is one of the best men I know. He might be pigheaded and a little stubborn, but you’ll never find anyone who loves more deeply, cares as much and does everything in power to make you feel safe and protected.”
“I know,” Elizabeth said. “I believe that.”
“It’s just…Sonny’s death rocked him. He lost one of the most important people in his life and he’s just not willing to let anyone in far enough again. He doesn’t want to go through that again and I can’t really blame him. I don’t want to fall in love again only to lose them either.”
“I understand,” Elizabeth said, sincerely. “Truly, I do. But you said yourself–you can’t even convince him it’s not your fault. If you, as Sonny’s wife, can’t do it, what makes you think I’d be any help?”
Lily hesitated. “I don’t know. But I’ve got such a strong feeling. Elizabeth, he’s known you for….what? Two weeks?” When Elizabeth nodded, she continued, “And he’s opened up to you so fast. He told you that Sonny died–he didn’t go into details, but he did admit how he pushed people away–he told you about Robin, he’s taken you on the bike–he’s let you in so far and I think it really scares him.” Lily shifted and leaned forward, her eyes locked on Elizabeth’s. “See, I don’t think he let himself fall in love with Robin. Sure, they both said they were in love, but they weren’t and I knew that. But he couldn’t help himself–he wanted to fall for you.”
“Could have fooled me,” Elizabeth whispered, her eyes wet with tears.
“Well, he did and he didn’t,” Lily tried to explain. “Subconsciously, he wants to be with you. But he won’t let himself. He’s pushing you away, doing everything he can to make you hate him.”
“I could never hate him,” Elizabeth said softly. “Never.”
Lily flashed a brief smile. “That’s good to hear. And since we know that, we can’t let him get away with it.”
“So,” Elizabeth asked, raising her eyebrows. “What do you have in mind?”
“First…let’s get these ridiculous charges dismissed,” Lily said. “And then…well, I’ve got a good idea.”
“You’re not going to tell me, are you?” Elizabeth asked.
“Well, it involves a slight felony,” Lily admitted.
Elizabeth’s eyes sparked with curiosity. “A felony?” she repeated.
“Something along the lines of kidnapping,” Lily replied.
Elizabeth’s lips curved into a smile. “I love the way you think.”
—-
“Your Honor,” Alexis began in chambers the next morning. “There is absolutely no evidence that links Jay Miller to my client.” Elizabeth sat next to her, dressed conservatively in a navy blue knee length skirt, matching blazer and white silk blouse. Her brown hair was clipped back, and her make up done in muted colors. Lily had told her that morning that it would make her look more like an ordinary and more importantly, innocent citizen.
Scott Baldwin wasn’t seated like Alexis. He was dressed in a casual black suit with his green shirt under the blazer opened a few buttons. He was leaning against the wall, one hand in his pocket, the other grasping his jaw. “We have his testimony.”
“Please,” Alexis couldn’t resist rolling her eyes. “The testimony of someone who waited a year to come forward–he can’t even recall Mrs. Spencer’s appearance, only her name. He can’t produce any physical evidence other than his word. It’s relatively his word against my client’s.”
“And his word–” Scott began.
The judge cut him off, “I have to agree with Ms. Davis. The testimony of someone who– if he’s telling the truth accepted money to stage a car accident that intended to kill the occupant in the other car–won’t hold up in court without corroborating evidence.”
“And since Miller’s testimony is the only evidence the state has against my client, I make a motion to have the charges dismissed,” Alexis said.
Before Scott could protest, the judge nodded. “Charges dismissed.”
—-
Outside the judge’s chambers, Lily waited anxiously with Michael sitting at her side and Lex in her arms. She was rocking her back and forth, hoping like hell the six-month-old girl wouldn’t start crying in the middle of the courthouse.
“There she is.”
At the sound of Nikolas Cassadine’s obnoxious and condescending voice, Lily grimaced. She looked up to see Nikolas striding towards her, a woman following on her heels.
The woman stopped in front of Lily. “My name is Nicole McCarthy from Children’s Services.”
Lily’s eyebrows shot up. “Children’s Services?” she repeated in disbelief.
“Mama?” Michael asked. “What’s going on?”
“Hold on, baby,” Lily murmured to her son, not taking her eyes off the duo in front of her. “Mama will take care of this.” Raising her voice to a normal tone, she said, “What can I do for you?”
“Is that Alexandria Mary Spencer?” Nicole asked, gesturing towards Lex.
“Yes,” Lily said, her voice firm and even. She glared at Nikolas. “Why?”
“We have a court order that places Alexandria in Laura Spencer’s care until her mother–” Nicole checked her paperwork, “–Elizabeth Imogene Spencer has been cleared of the charges.”
“You are not taking her anywhere,” Lily said. She glared at Nikolas. “You think you’ve pissed your aunt off with fabricating evidence? You just wait until she finds out you’re trying to have Lex taken away.”
Nikolas snorted. “Lex–what a ridiculous name for a girl.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Nicole interrupted briskly. She leaned forward to take Lex from Lily’s arms but Lily jerked away.
“Don’t touch her,” Lily warned. “Elizabeth Spencer and her lawyer are in the judge’s chambers now getting the charges dismissed. So, just stay away, you understand?”
“Has there been an official dismissal of the charges?” Nicole asked, her eyebrow raised in question.
“No,” Lily admitted. “But they’re not done yet.”
“I have to take Alexandria into my custody until that happens,” Nicole said. “Now, please, give me the child.”
“You’re not taking my child anywhere!”
Lily turned to see Elizabeth and Alexis exiting the judge’s chambers. Elizabeth stalked towards them, her face lit with fury, Alexis hot on her heels.
“What’s going on?” Elizabeth demanded, her brown hair coming loose from its clip.
“We have a court order that says Laura gets custody,” Nikolas said smugly.
“Until you’ve been cleared,” Nicole clarified, shooting Nikolas a dirty glance.
Alexis stepped forward. “Alexis Davis,” she introduced herself. “I’m Mrs. Spencer’s lawyer and she has been cleared.”
Nikolas glared at Alexis. “What?” he barked.
“You heard her,” Elizabeth snarled. “Your little scheme didn’t work. You can produce all the phony evidence you want, but since I’m innocent, it won’t work!”
“You little bitch,” Nikolas hissed, lunging for her. Elizabeth shoved him back before he could do any damage.
“Leave the pretty lady alone!” Michael warned, delivering a swift kick to Nikolas’s thigh, which was about all he could reach once he was standing on the bench.
“You little–”
“Stop right there,” Lily warned, her eyes flashing in warning. She handed Lex to Elizabeth and grabbed Michael’s hand. “Let’s go.”
They headed for the elevator. Nicole looked between the fuming man and the equally angry attorney. “Well, my work is done here. Bye.” She headed for the elevators as well.
“You are a sad, pathetic excuse for a human being,” Alexis spit out. “This is not how Stefan raised you–he raised you to be kind and caring and compassionate about other people.”
“Do not speak to me about my uncle!” Nikolas yelled. “He disowned you and you can’t stand it!”
“I chose to leave the family!” Alexis shot back. “And youcan be certain of one thing–Stefan will be learning of your recent behavior.” She shot Nikolas a dirty look before stalking towards the elevators.
—-
“I cannot believe he tried to have Lex taken away!” Elizabeth fumed as they entered Lily’s penthouse.
“Go play,” Lily directed Michael who took off towards his play room. “I did everything I could to stall until you and Alexis were done.”
Elizabeth deposited Lex in the bassinet she’d brought over. “Thank you,” she said, gratefully. “That means a lot to me.”
“So, now that this immediate business with Nikolas is over,” Lily began, flopping on the couch. “We should start planning Operating Felony.”
Elizabeth sighed and sat. “Lily, we need to talk.”
“Uh, oh,” Lily murmured. “This can’t be good.”
“I’ve been thinking–” Elizabeth rubbed her eyes. “I care about Jason, don’t get me wrong. But I just–I can’t stay in this town anymore.”
“Wait, you’re just going to give up?” Lily asked in disbelief. “You were all for this last night.”
“I know,” Elizabeth replied. “But I realized something today–Nikolas is never going to give up.”
“Well, yeah, but Jason can take care of it,” Lily replied, waving it away.
“That’s just it,” Elizabeth answered. “I don’t want him to take care of it. I want to do this myself and I think the best course of action is just to leave.”
“But–but what about Jason?” Lily asked.
“I’ll always care about him,” Elizabeth admitted. “But you said it yourself, he’s shutting me out and I don’t think he’s going to change his mind.”
“You’ll never know if you don’t even try!” Lily cried. “Come on, Elizabeth. The hard part is over! He’s in love with you. Now we’ve got to convince him to be okay with that.”
“It shouldn’t have to be like that,” Elizabeth said softly. “I shouldn’t have to convince someone that it’s okay for them to love me. I just–I can’t sit around and wait for something that might never happen. Lex is my number one priority and I don’t want to raise her here–not around Laura and Nikolas.”
“What if I could get Jason to change his mind?’ Lily asked desperately.
“You can’t, Lily,” Elizabeth replied. “He’s made up his mind and nothing we do can change it. You can kidnap him and force him into a room with me, but that won’t change the fact that he won’t want to be around me when we leave.”
“Elizabeth–” Lily protested.
“I’ll always be grateful for the way you’ve stood by me,” Elizabeth said. “But I can’t think about myself–I have to think about Lex.”
Lily sighed and looked away. “Just let me talk to him.”
“I’m not going to stop you,” Elizabeth said. “But you have to understand–I’m going to start making arrangements to leave.”
“I wish you’d reconsider,” Lily said quietly. “He’s in love with you, you know?”
“No,” Elizabeth said firmly. “I don’t know that and until he tells me, I can’t know that.” She stood. “I’m just…I’m just going to take Lex and go home. Thank you so much for letting me stay here.”
“Yeah…sure…” Lily sighed.
She had to convince he was wrong before Elizabeth left town. He’d never forgive himself otherwise.
She’d never be able to forgive herself if she let Elizabeth leave town without trying to stop her.
—-
A few nights later, Elizabeth was working the late shift at the Outback. Lily, still her baby-sitter, had Lex for the night since Elizabeth was going to be working late and closing.
It was close to closing when Mac Scorpio entered.
“Hey, Scorpio,” Elizabeth said. “Not here to arrest me, I hope.”
“No,” Mac said, a tired smile on his face. “I got a call from Alexis. Did she tell you about Nikolas?”
Elizabeth smirked. “That Stefan stepped in and had him physically removed to Greece and sold Spoon Island?”
“Best news I’ve ever had. I’m even going to overlook the kidnapping thing,” Mac replied. “How are you, Spence?”
“Now that the shadow of Cassadine is gone?” Elizabeth asked. “Not much different.”
“Well, I wanted to apologize for that whole arrest thing,” Mac said.
Elizabeth shrugged. “You were doing your job. I understand. Don’t worry.”
“You sure?” Mac said, skeptically.
“I’m positive,” Elizabeth said, offering her former employer a warm smile. “Actually, I’m glad you stopped by.”
“Oh, really?” Mac asked. Why?”
“I was wondering if you know anyone who’d like to buy the Outback…”
Lily sat behind the defense table during the bail hearing. She was relieved to see Luke Spencer slip into a seat next to her–at least Elizabeth still had the man in her corner. She knew how much Luke meant to Elizabeth and it was a relief to know that Lucky’s father felt the same way.
“Did Morgan send you here?” he asked Lily just as the court was called into session.
“Yeah,” Lily admitted. “But I would have come anyway. Neither one of us wants her to spend a night in jail, so I’m going to bail her out.”
“No matter what the price?” Luke asked, curiously.
“No matter what,” Lily confirmed. Feeling the need to explain why Jason hadn’t shown up and deciding the truth wasn’t a good idea, she said, “Jason didn’t think his presence would help very much–he thought the judge would deny her bail.”
“Probably,” Luke agreed. “I hear Mac and Taggart were the two who arrested her. Mac’s a good guy–he probably didn’t even use the cuffs.”
Lily wrinkled her nose at the names of Port Charles’s two cops. Despite how nice they’d been to Elizabeth, they still hassled Jason every chance they got. Well, not Mac Scorpio. He seemed content to wait for actual evidence before hauling Jason in for questioning. “I hope not,” she finally said before returning her attention to the hearing.
“Your Honor, Elizabeth Spencer is an upstanding citizen,” Alexis was saying. “She has lived in Port Charles for nearly two years, has ties to the community–”
“A night club does not count,” Scott Baldwin cut in. Alexis glared at him.
“The Outback is a family restaurant,” Alexis corrected. “Which Mrs. Spencer has operated for a little over three months. She is close with the former owners, Police Commissioner Mac Scorpio and his wife, Felicia.” She gestured towards the back of the room where the two were seated. “They’re both willing to testify on her behalf. She is the daughter-in-law of former mayor, Luke Spencer, who will also testify.”
“Who knew that mayor thing would come in handy?” Luke muttered. Lily smiled.
“Elizabeth Spencer is also a known associate of Jason Morgan,” Scott cut in.
Elizabeth whispered something to Alexis then who looked at her oddly before saying, “Mrs. Spencer says that she and Mr. Morgan were acquaintances, having met through Lily Corinthos.”
“Widow of Sonny Corinthos,” Scott clarified.
“Widow being the operative word. Sonny Corinthos has been dead for three years,” Alexis argued. “He was never convicted of anything higher than a traffic ticket and neither has Jason Morgan.”
“She’s right, Baldwin,” the judge said. “Bail set for a hundred thousand dollars.”
Lily grimaced. “Definitely gonna have to use Jason’s checkbook for this.”
Alexis and Elizabeth noticed Lily then. “Lily,” she stated, the surprise evident on her face.
“Hey, girl,” Lily said, leaning over the barrier to pull the other woman into a hug. “How are you?”
“I-I’m fine,” Elizabeth murmured, hugging her back. “I didn’t expect to see you here.”
“As soon as Alexis called, I came down,” Lily said. She leaned closer to her so only Elizabeth would hear her next words. “I know what happened and he’s a jerk.”
Elizabeth tried to smile and instead, starting to cry. Luke frowned at the other woman. “You’re not supposed to make her cry, Corinthos.”
“Listen, I’m posting bail, and you and Lex are coming to stay with me, all right?” Lily said.
Elizabeth shook her head. “I couldn’t let you do that.”
“Don’t worry. The beast will stay in his own apartment, I promise.”
Elizabeth managed a teary smile. “Thanks, Lily.”
“And here’s some sweet justice…my bank account doesn’t have that amount in it right this second, so I have to use Jason’s checkbook.” Lily grinned. “I love spending his money.”
—-
“Alexis is pretty confident she can get the testimony thrown out,” Lily said later that night to Jason.
“That’s good,” Jason murmured. He looked up from the paperwork he was going over. “Is she….is she okay?”
“About arrest, yeah. She knew Nikolas wasn’t going to let up. About what happened earlier–”
“Lily.”
“–no, she’s not okay.” She leaned over the dining room table, her hands braced on the surface. “Alexis told me that Elizabeth was stunned when she agreed to come to the station. Seems she thought Alexis wouldn’t be her lawyer anymore.”
“Alexis likes Elizabeth,” Jason said. “She’s not limited to just working for me.”
“And she was positively surprised when I showed up in the courtroom. She thought she’d lose me too.”
“But she didn’t.”
“Damn it, Jason, you don’t understand–she’s been charged with murder. She feels like she’s hit rock bottom. Having you kick her out of your life was the last thing she needed today.”
“I didn’t know she was going to be arrested–you can’t blame that on me,” Jason argued.
“Oh, do not try and pass yourself off as innocent,” Lily fumed. “You are the one who dumped her, remember? For no other reason than your own stupidity.”
“Lily, I swear–”
Lily sighed and straightened. She pulled the chair out from the table and sat down. “I know you still feel guilty,” she began quietly. “And I don’t want you to think there’s a day that goes by when I don’t feel guilty either.”
“You have nothing to feel guilty about,” Jason said firmly.
“I was his wife,” Lily said. “And I will always feel guilty that he got into that car alone.” She looked away. “So I know how you feel. But you can’t think that because of Sonny’s stupid mistake…you can’t think that means you can’t have someone in your life.”
“It has nothing to do with Sonny,” Jason insisted.
“Right,” Lily replied. “It’s because you don’t want her hurt.”
“Right,” Jason agreed.
“And that’s bullshit.”
Jason muttered something under his breath before glaring at Lily. “Why don’t you leave this alone?”
“Because this is my fault,” Lily told him. “I’m the one who encouraged Elizabeth. And now that her heart’s been broken, I feel responsible. So I can’t let this go. Because I know you’re in love with her.”
“Lily, arguing with me is not going to change my mind.”
“You don’t even deny it.” Lily leaned forward. “I think she’s in love with you, too.”
“Stop it.”
“You don’t want to hear it, do you?” Lily accused. “Because then it makes it real–then you have to really think about what you’re giving up.”
Jason looked ready to strangle his friend but before he could, Johnny opened the door. “Mrs. Spencer would like to speak with Mrs. Corinthos.”
“Tell her to come in,” Lily said.
“Lily,” Jason hissed. Lily just raised her eyebrows and smirked at him. Elizabeth appeared around the edge of the open door to the penthouse. She avoided Jason entirely.
“Um, Michael’s asking for you,” Elizabeth said.
“I’ll be right over.” Lily stood and looked back at Jason. “Do you want to say goodnight to him?”
Jason glared at her. “No. I’ll see him tomorrow.”
“Fine,” Lily said. She deliberately took her time pushing the chair in and took great joy in the way Jason was shifting uncomfortably in his chair. As she walked away from the table, Jason looked up for some reason and met Elizabeth’s eyes.
She broke the contact almost immediately and crossed her arms tightly waiting for Lily to finish her slow walk across the room.
Finally, she’d reached the door and Elizabeth practically flew out. Lily turned back to look at Jason. “You think about what I said. Think about what you’re giving up.”
—-
Lily came down the steps from tucking her son into bed. Elizabeth had already put Lex down for the night and was sitting on the couch.
“Ariel called–the manager at the Outback,” Elizabeth said. “The police searched it, from top to bottom. She closed it for the night.”
“I really am sorry about all of this,” Lily said.
Elizabeth shrugged. “It’s not a big deal. I’m innocent, so I know Alexis can take care of this. I also know there’s almost no evidence against me except the driver.”
“Right.” Lily looked away. “But I meant I was sorry about Jason.”
“That’s not your fault. I made a bad judgment call,” Elizabeth said softly. “I read too much into things.”
“No,” Lily insisted. “You didn’t. He does care about you. He’s just…he’s scared.”
“Scared?” Elizabeth echoed. “What does he have to be scared about?”
Lily hesitated. “Did he ever say anything about my husband’s death?” she asked.
“He told me his best friend died three years ago,” Elizabeth replied. “And that he pushed everyone away. You, his sister, his family, and Robin.”
“Sonny’s death…it’s had…it’s had a bad effect on Jason,” Lily said quietly. “A very bad one. It’s changed him. Before Sonny died, Jason wasn’t all that open, but if you knew him, if you really knew him–he couldn’t hide what he was feeling. Robin used to love that. She used to say it like it was their little secret–that Jason really wore his heart on his sleeve if anyone ever cared enough to look.” Lily looked up to meet Elizabeth’s eyes. “Robin was good for him in the beginning. He was still struggling with the aftermath of the accident–”
“Accident?” Elizabeth asked. “What accident?”
Lily frowned. “You don’t know about the accident?”
Elizabeth shook her head. “No. I don’t. Tell me.”
“Well, about a year or so before Sonny’s death, Jason’s brother AJ got them both in a car accident. He was drunk, you know. Jason was in a coma and when he woke up, he couldn’t remember a thing. In fact, he had brain damage which prevented him from remembering his life. His family kept pushing for him to remember, but he couldn’t and when it got to be too much he left the house. He changed his name. He’s a completely different person now.”
“Oh.” Elizabeth looked away. “I had…I had no idea.”
Lily leaned forward. “Does this change the way you feel about him?”
“No,” Elizabeth said. “Not at all. It’s just sad.”
“It is. Well, Jason was still struggling with finding a new path in life, and Robin was good to him in the beginning. But after Sonny’s death, Jason was expected…to well…step up, you know.” Lily shifted and sighed. “And that’s when the second transformation took place. He closed off, stopped talking to most of the people he cared about. Emily, Robin, Sonny’s father, Mike…” Lily looked back to Elizabeth. “When I first met Jason, I was also a different person. I’d grown up in this business, the marriage to Sonny was originally a business deal. But I loved him and I think Sonny loved me too. Anyway, I was as sweet and quiet as they came–”
“You? Quiet?” Elizabeth couldn’t help but smile.
“Yep. I never spoke up, never tried to take charge. But after Sonny’s death, when Jason started pulling away, I just felt like I couldn’t let that happen. I knew he was hurting–and I was, too. I thought we could help each other. So I made the decision to not let Jason shove me out, too.”
“I guess it worked.”
“It was hard at first,” Lily admitted. “Because I was trying to be someone I wasn’t. Forcing myself on Jason. I knew Sonny had made Jason promise to take care of me if anything were to happen, and I used that promise. I practically guilt tripped him into this friendship, but in the end, it worked. I’m still the only person Jason didn’t force out and he couldn’t now if he tried. He’s my best friend and I want is for him to be happy.”
“He won’t let himself be happy,” Elizabeth said. She stared down at the couch.
“He doesn’t think he deserves to,” Lily confessed. “He’s never said it, but I just know it. He thinks that his life is too complicated for someone else to handle and I think personally, that you got way too close for his comfort. So he reacted on instinct. He shut down and shoved out.”
“I wish I could have changed his mind,” Elizabeth said quietly. She looked up at Lily. “He has such a nice smile and a good laugh. I wish he’d do both more often.”
“Me, too.” Lily leaned forward. “Don’t give up yet. He’ll come around. Like I said, he’s just scared. He needs some time to adjust to his feelings for you and with me around, he won’t have a choice.”
Elizabeth gave her a little smile. “Why do I suddenly feel sorry for Jason?”
Lily laughed. “Because with the ideas I’ve got, he’ll need sympathy by the time I’m done with him.” She grasped Elizabeth’s hands. “But no matter how that works out or whatever else happens, you’re not getting rid of me either.”
Elizabeth smiled gratefully. “Thanks, Lily.” She frowned. “Lily?”
