Oh, dear, you look so lost
Your eyes are red when tears are shed
The world you must have crossed, you said
You don’t know me, you don’t even care
Oh yeah, you said
You don’t know me, and you don’t wear my chains
Oh yeah
– Boston, Augustana

---

Wednesday, December 3, 2003

Morgan Penthouse: Master Bedroom

Jason drew his brows together in concern when he saw Elizabeth pull out a pair of sweats and a t-shirt. “You’re not going out today?”

She blinked at him, then shook her head. “No. I just feel like staying in. It’s getting colder, and I’m—” Elizabeth pulled her hair from beneath the collar of the shirt. “I’m feeling a bit tired.”

Jason hesitated, his boots in his hand. “I can stay home if you want—”

“No, no.” Elizabeth smiled at him, but it was a thin one that barely lifted the corners of her mouth. “I think I just want to lay on the sofa, watch some daytime TV, and relax. I’ve been so busy, you know—and with the holidays coming up—” She shrugged, sitting down on the bed to pull on a thick pair of wool socks.

It seemed plausible to him, and Jason should have been relieved to see Elizabeth taking a minute, resting, and not going a hundred miles an hour. But he knew her better than that—he knew she wasn’t okay.

She had been shaken by the transcript Taggert had shown them—and still, nearly twenty-four hours later, refused to talk about it.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Elizabeth said. She looked up at him, scowling. “I’m fine, Jason. I just want a little time to myself—”

“Okay,” he said, putting a hand up. “I’m sorry. I can’t help if I’m worried.” He kissed her forehead, lingering. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.” She grabbed his t-shirt with her fist to hold him in place. “I’ll see you when you come home.”

“I’ll call you to pick up something for dinner.” He kissed her again, then left—looking over his shoulder one more time, still not sure he should be leaving her alone.

Kelly’s: Diner

Kelsey slowly set the transcript down on the table, then shoved it across the table. “Christ. They’re going to play that at the hearing? It’s going to be in the media?”

“Yeah.” Lucky picked it up, stared at the words again. “Taggert showed copies to Elizabeth and Brooke’s parents yesterday. He said it went as well as it could be expected.” He hesitated. “Mac is letting me go down to Syracuse. All three of us, actually.”

“Really? That’s basically the entire squad, except for Beaudry.” Kelsey wrinkled her nose. “But I guess if Elizabeth is supposed to be testifying about the good guys, it’ll help to have you and Cruz in the audience. And Taggert and Mac have to go in case the other side calls them.” Her mouth twisted. “I can’t believe he might get away with this—”

“He’s not going to—”

“No, he shouldn’t. But that doesn’t mean he won’t. You know the system, Lucky. You know how it can eat people up—destroy them—” Kelsey leaned back in her chair. “He nearly killed me, and he’s going to go argue to a federal court that the department framed him—it’s bullshit, but it’s dumb enough to work.”

“Hey. We haven’t really—we haven’t talked about this lately.” Lucky tipped his head down, trying to catch her eyes. “Kelse—you know, even if we lose next week, it’s not over. Buffalo is right there. And they’ve got a case that isn’t tainted—”

“I just—my mother was so scared—she doesn’t have anyone else. It’s just me and her, and he nearly took me away from her. If those stairs had been a little more steep—if I had fallen another way—”

Lucky’s stomach rolled as he nodded. “Yeah, I know—”

“He traumatized all of those women—he interviewed his own victims, Lucky—and he gets to stand up in federal court in front of the national press—” She stopped. “I just hate it. And I hate that he keeps getting to do this. If he loses there, it just starts all over again in Buffalo.”

“I can’t think about that right now,” Lucky said after a long moment. “Scott seems convinced that Elizabeth’s testimony will do most of the damage—and Dante—this tape—he’s done, Kelse. No judge on the planet could let this go—”

“I hope you’re right.” She tucked her hair behind her ears. “I need to get to work. I’ll talk to you later.” She brushed a kiss against his mouth. “Call me when you get off shift.”

“I will.”

The Cellar: Carly’s Office

“Well, there’s my baby!”

Carly smiled as she lifted Morgan out of the portable bassinet she’d set up in her office. “Hey, Mama. I thought you were working today—”

“I am—” Bobbie kissed Carly’s cheek, then took the baby from her. “But I’m on my lunch break, and I thought I’d zip over to see how you’re doing.” She wrinkled her nose. “I didn’t see a guard—”

“Don’t tell Sonny,” Carly said quickly. “Jason drove me here, and he’s picking me up. I’m still waiting on Sonny to bring a guard home—it’s a long story—”

“Carly—”

“Mama, you don’t have a long break, and I don’t think we should waste your Morgan time by listening to my problems.” Carly returned to her desk and started to sort through her paperwork. “It’s no big deal. No one except you and Jason knows I’m here today, and it’s only for a few hours. Plus—Jason doesn’t seem to think I’m in danger during the day. It’s almost the lunch rush, and most of their guys come to Kelly’s—”

“Carly, I’m not judging your security. If Jason says you’re safe for a few hours, then I believe him. I just—” Bobbie sat on the sofa and gently rocked Morgan again. “I just don’t know why I’m hearing his name and not Sonny’s.”

Carly’s hand stilled in the process of signing her name, then she sighed. “Because Sonny is still not entirely on board with me coming back to work. He let Leticia go—and then never told me he couldn’t get her back.”

“Carly—”

“I’m handling it, Mama. Sonny—he’s just—this is so hard for him. And it’s hard for me, too,” she added when her mother’s eyes flashed. “But I told you last week — I just—I have to figure out how to do this—”

“Is he doing any of the figuring?” Bobbie said coolly. “What did he say when you went back to work on Monday—”

“Mama—”

“Don’t Mama me, Caroline.” Bobbie got to her feet and put her grandson back in his bassinet. “You told me that moving back into the penthouse was a good idea, but I knew it wasn’t. And then last week, you told me you were unhappy, and I told you to come home to me—and now—”

“I love him,” Carly said simply. “And he’s hurting. This thing with Ric—losing control last summer—not being able to protect me—it’s weighing on him, and yes, asking for the trial—it’s made things worse. Sonny isn’t doing well. I left in September because I was worried that he was going to hurt someone. But he didn’t. He’s only hurt himself. In sickness and in health. For better or worse.”

Bobbie gritted her teeth. “I understand, Carly—”

“Sonny and I are—we’re trying. As soon as Ric is out of the picture, it’ll be better. It’ll be like it was last year. We were good last year, you know that—after Brenda and all that happened—we were finally clicking and happy—why is it so wrong to want that back?”

“It’s not wrong to want it, baby.” Bobbie sighed. “It’s just—there’s no going back, Carly. You can’t turn back time. These last six months—it’s happened. It exists. Maybe you and Sonny can be happy again—but it won’t be like it was.”

“I still think I can make it work. I think—” Carly’s voice trembled. “I think I can still reach him.”

“Do you really?”

Carly closed her eyes. No. She didn’t believe it. Not deep down where it mattered. Not after Monday and the panic attack — she just knew she could never tell her mother she was staying because she was afraid of what would happen to Sonny if she left.

“Yes,” Carly said instead. “I do believe it. But I love you for pushing me. For making me think. Please just try to understand—”

“I can’t, but you will always have my support.” Bobbie kissed her forehead. “I love you, and I have to get back to work. Let me know if you need anything.”

Morgan Penthouse: Living Room

Lois attempted a smile when Elizabeth opened the door early that afternoon. “Hey, thanks for letting me up—” She paused as she took in the younger woman’s pale face and tired eyes. “Are you feeling all right? I can go—”

“No, no…” Elizabeth stepped back and let Lois in, dragging a hand absently through her hair. “No. It’s fine. I was just—I didn’t sleep well last night.” She looked blankly towards the kitchen. “Did you want something to drink? Or—”

“No, I just wanted to check on you. I was worried yesterday,” Lois told her. “That—it was a lot,” she added. “Reading what he said, knowing there’s a tape out there—”

“I can’t—” Elizabeth closed her eyes, scrubbed her hands over her face. “I can’t think about it. I really can’t.”

Lois bit her lip. “I feel the same way, but I think maybe I need to think about it. Because next week—it’ll be everywhere. I can—I can go rant at Ned. He’s used to it by now, and just—find a way to be okay with everyone else hearing—” She stopped. “I’m sorry. You don’t need me going on and on about any of this—”

“It’s okay.” Elizabeth bit her lip. “I get it. I just—” She looked towards the stairs. “Come upstairs for a minute?”

“Okay,” Lois drawled. She followed Elizabeth to the second floor and down the hall to the bedroom—then stopped, seeing the pile of clothes in the middle of the floor.

“That what I was doing when Wally called to tell me you were here.” Elizabeth went over to the closet to drag out another red t-shirt off a hanger and throw it on the pile. “I can’t think about it. But I also can’t—”

Lois realized once the new t-shirt hit the floor—that all of the clothes were red. Different shades—and some just had pieces of red along with other colors. She picked up a red and white sweater. “Elizabeth—”

“I didn’t remember about the hair until almost two years later. I cut it back then—” She touched the ends of her hair. “It’s taking forever to grow out, but it’s finally—I didn’t dye it. I thought it would make people ask too many questions—”

She tossed a dress on the pile—a white dress with red, purple, and yellow flowers. “I still don’t walk in the park at night alone.”

Another sweater—this one with barely any red except for some lettering—hit the pile. “I don’t wear bright red anymore. Not like I did before. But I could wear other shades. Patterns and prints, they didn’t bother me—I love dark red lipstick—”

“Elizabeth—”

“I came in here to change my shirt—” She looked at Lois, and for the first time, Lois saw a juice stain on the t-shirt Elizabeth wore. “And I just—I saw all this red—”

She turned away from the closet, stared at the pile. “How could I own so much of this color? How could I just forget—”

Elizabeth sank onto the edge of the bed. “I can’t do it,” she said dully. “I thought I could. I thought I was okay. But I can’t testify next week.” She met Lois’s eyes. “I’m sorry. I just—I can’t.”

“All right.” Lois sat next to her. “Dante’s testimony should be okay, I think. We can call Scott—”

“It won’t be enough—” Elizabeth choked back a sob. “Scott needs me to—he needs me to set the story because the tape can’t be direct evidence—there’s—it has to be me, but it can’t be. I can’t see him again—I can’t look at him—” She buried her face in her hands, her shoulders shaking as she cried.

Lois put an arm around Elizabeth’s shoulder, gingerly. “Why don’t I call Jason?”

“No, no—I told him I was okay—and he just—he has so much else to worry about—I just—” Elizabeth drew in a shaky breath. “I can’t—it’s all my fault. All of it. All the girls who came after me—he was trying to rape me every time—and he hurt so many people—and he thinks—he thinks he’s my soul mate?” the final word was bit out on a bitter note as Elizabeth met Lois’s gaze.

“Because there’s something wrong with him,” Lois told her firmly. “He’s wrong in the head. He doesn’t know what real love is, Elizabeth. You know that. It’s a sick, twisted obsession that had nothing to do with you. Tell me you know that. You were just a baby when he did this—you did nothing to deserve it.”

“I just—I can’t stand it—it was supposed to be over, and it never ends. It just keeps on coming—”

“This will make it over,” Lois said, fervently. “Look at me, Elizabeth.” She brushed Elizabeth’s tears from her cheek. “If you go into that hearing next week with half the dignity and strength you showed in that press conference, you will have those attorneys shaking in their boots. You can do this. You already faced him once, Elizabeth. One on one, with nothing more than your courage and a baseball bat—and you took him out. No one else did.”

Elizabeth closed her eyes. “I wouldn’t be alone in the courtroom,” she murmured. “I guess. I don’t know. Will you—” She bit her lip. “If I can’t—I don’t want to let you and Ned down. I know how important it is. I want to fight for Brooke—”

“That is not your job, sweetheart. It’s not,” Lois said when Elizabeth grimaced. “Your job is to take care of you. To put you and your child first. Not my daughter. She’s—” Lois closed her eyes. “She’s gone. She’s—God, I hope she’s at peace. I can’t have you thinkin’ any of this is your responsibility.”

“I want to be strong,” Elizabeth said. She roughly wiped at her eyes. “I just—I don’t know if I can testify.”

“If you can’t, Scott will figure something else out. There’s always Buffalo, and there are other cases. Other DNA matches. You worry about you, Elizabeth. Let the system worry about itself.”

She hesitated. “You sure you don’t want me to call Jason?”

“No.” Elizabeth looked around the room. “No,” she repeated. “He’s dealing with enough. I just need to clean this up. I’ll talk to him when he comes home. Thank you for stopping by Lois. I’m —I’m just sorry I can’t be stronger.”

Kelly’s: Diner

Dante slid onto a stool at the counter, reaching for a menu.

“Like you’re not just going to order a burger.”

He set the menu down to find Lulu in front of him, already putting a glass of soda down. “I could change.”

“Sure. But you won’t.” Lulu gave him a set of utensils, then hesitated. “Lucky and Kelsey were here earlier, talking about the transcript of some tape.” She tipped her head. “So, I guess you went through with it.”

“Yeah. I’m testifying next week.” Dante picked up a straw, slowly peeling the wrapper back. “Taggert gave the transcripts to Ned and Lois yesterday. And to Elizabeth.” He crumpled the wrapper up. “I’m not great company, Lu. Maybe you should just put in the order.”

“I will, but I just want to say something first—” Lulu leaned over the counter. “You did the right thing. I know there’s things on the tape no one should ever have to hear, and I’m sure it’ll cause pain. But if it gets him off the streets for good—then I think Brooke would be proud of you, too.”

“Maybe. I just—” Dante rubbed his cheek. “That’s not how Ned and Lois should have found out about Brooke. She—I knew,” he said slowly. “She never came out to me officially, but I knew. And Vinnie knew it, too. That’s part of the reason he went after her. He wanted to show her—” His stomach rolled.

A bit pale, Lulu leaned back. “I’m sorry, Dante. I really am. For Brooke, for you, and for her parents.”

“Yeah, well, it’ll be all over the news next week,” Dante muttered.

“And that sucks, too. Especially since Brooke hasn’t been given one ounce of privacy since the moment it happened. But I think she did tell some people. Lucas, my cousin, he came out to us right after Brooke died. In fact, he brought Felix to her memorial. He was the one that invited her out. I just—I think maybe she did tell him.”

Dante squinted at her. “Why does that matter?”

“Maybe it doesn’t. I guess—it’s just nice to think of her as not being completely alone with it,” Lulu said with a shrug. “I think that would be the worst part of having a secret like that in a new town. I hope she did tell him. I hope she felt safe enough.”

“That’s—you’re right. That does—I hope she did, too. Maybe I’ll ask Lucas or something.” He flashed a half smile at her. “Thanks, Lu.”

“No problem. You want that burger now?”

Gatehouse: Living Room

Ned stepped back to let Lois into the room, frowning as he closed the door behind her. “I wasn’t expecting you, was I? I thought we were moving into the offices tomorrow—”

“What? Oh. No.” Lois blinked at him. “No, I was just coming—I couldn’t stop thinking about yesterday.”

“At the PCPD?” Ned nodded. “Yeah, me either. It’s—” He exhaled in a rush. “It’s a lot,” he admitted. “Knowing that there’s a tape of that scum saying that crap—it’s almost too much. Taggert’s right. Maybe we shouldn’t listen—”

“I went to see Elizabeth.”

Ned tipped his head slightly. “Elizabeth? Why?”

“Well, she just was—she was so upset, and I know—” Lois spread her hands out the side. “I was just worried about her. Ned—she’s thinking about not testifying.”

Ned gently closed his eyes, let the news settle, then nodded. “I can see how this would shake her. She doesn’t have to listen to the tape, so maybe she can just leave after—”

“It’s the sitting in the courtroom, looking at him—” Lois brushed at the tears on her cheeks. “She doesn’t think she can after reading that transcript.” She sat on the sofa. “And I just—she was ripping all the red clothes out of her closet—and she was so upset, Ned.”

“She’s dealing with a lot right now,” Ned admitted. He sat next to her. “She’ll come around—”

“When is it enough?” Lois demanded. “She’s just a baby, Ned—”

“Lois—”

“She’s twenty-three. Did you know that? That’s it. Four years older than our Brooke. I watched that press conference from Bensonhurst. I watched her stand up there and—” Lois closed her eyes. “I don’t know if Brooke meant to die. It haunts me, Ned. We were out of the house, arguing while she was struggling.”

“I know that—”

“I’ll never know if she meant to take her own life or if she just wanted a moment away from all of this and took too many pills. I’ll never know if she knew it was Vinnie. If she knew the man who destroyed her life was someone who knew her—she had a moment of weakness—she couldn’t handle it—and I can’t—”

“We’re not the ones putting the pressure on Elizabeth,” Ned told Lois softly. “And I know it’s been difficult for her since Ric Lansing jumped bail. But it’s not good for you to get this involved—”

“Well, someone should! Someone be putting her first—we didn’t put our baby first! Where are her parents? Where is Jason? Why isn’t someone stopping this?” Lois shoved herself to her feet and started to pace the room. “To keep asking her over and over again to relive this—the investigation, the attack—the hearing—and now this transcript—”

“Lois, if Elizabeth doesn’t testify, Scott will have to call Taggert and Mac. We might lose. And then the plea deal is gone. Buffalo might not go after him. He might go free. You want it over? The hearing next week is our best chance—”

“I just— I missed all the chances to help our baby—”

Ned took Lois in his arms, gently rocked her back and forth. “Elizabeth has people who care about her. Jason will look after her. I’ll call him myself and check in a day or two.”

“I just—I want Brooke back.” Lois fisted her hands against his chest. “I want that moment back—I just want one more chance to get it right!”

Ned pressed his lips to her dark hair, squeezing his eyes shut as Lois sobbed. “I know. I want it, too.”

Morgan Penthouse: Living Room

Jason dismissed Cody for the night, then closed the door behind him, dropping their dinner from the Grille on his desk. “Elizabeth?” he called, removing his leather jacket and hanging it up in the closet.

He frowned when she didn’t call back— “Elizabeth?” His heart began to beat just a bit faster as he went into the kitchen, found nothing, then took the stairs two at a time, almost running by the time he reached their bedroom —

Jason didn’t realize how much he’d really expected to find her unconscious, sprawled out somewhere until he finally saw her. She was sitting on the floor, her back against the bed, her knees drawn up to her chest, staring blankly at the massive pile of clothes in front of her.

“Elizabeth?”

She looked up at him, her eyes bloodshot, and her cheeks stained with tears. “I’m sorry.”

“Are you okay?” Jason slid next to her on the floor, reached for her arm, placing two fingers over her wrist. “What’s wrong?”

“I can’t. I can’t do it. I’m not—” She looked at him, her eyes so tired and worn out but dry as if she’d cried all the tears she could. “I’m not strong enough.”

Satisfied her pulse rate was normal, Jason pressed her hand to his chest. “Strong enough for what?”

“I can’t testify.” She turned away from him, looked at the clothing. “I thought if I just ignored it, if I just—pretended it wasn’t happening—I could do it. I really just wanted to sit and relax today. I—I spilled some juice, and I came upstairs—I went into the closet—and I just—”

Elizabeth closed her eyes. “There’s so much red.”

Jason leaned forehead, pressed his lips to her forehead. He couldn’t speak. Didn’t know how to force the words out. He’d read the transcript, too.

“Elizabeth—”

“I’ve been lying to myself. I keep saying I’m strong, that I can do anything, but I can’t, and I can’t do it. I can’t talk about what he did to me while he’s looking at me—” Her words tumbled out so fast, she nearly tripped over them. “I can’t.”

“Okay.” Jason got to his feet, lifted her into his arms, then set her against the pillows on the bed. “Okay,” he repeated as she just looked at him. “Then you don’t have to testify. Let Baldwin fix this on his own. The cops screwed up the case, it’s their problem.”

Elizabeth sighed, leaned back against the pillow, stared at the ceiling. “He’ll get away with it.”

“Not if you don’t want him to.”

She met his eyes and clearly understood what he was saying. She smiled faintly, but he was encouraged by the curve in her lips. “I’m such a hypocrite. I started that support group, pretending I had it all together. But I don’t.”

“That doesn’t make you a hypocrite, Elizabeth. It makes you human. I hate that this tape exists. That it has to be put it into evidence—that anyone else gets to see or hear what’s on it. If you don’t want to testify, I’ll tell Baldwin myself. You won’t even have to see him.”

“It would be easy to let you do that,” she murmured. She closed her eyes. “It would be easy to stay in this room, to throw out all those clothes, and let you fight all my battles.”

“Just say the word.”

Elizabeth opened her eyes, and her smile was bigger this time. And even reached her eyes. “I really love you, you know. I know we say that a lot to each other, and I’m glad we do. It’s important. But I mean it. I love you. I love that you would let me just walk away from this.”

“It’s not about letting you do anything—I just—I’ll support whatever you want. Whatever you need. So just tell me to go ahead, and I’ll call Baldwin right now—”

She exhaled slowly, then sat up. “I have to testify. Not just because the case needs it—our case could be thrown out—the Buffalo case might take another year—Vinnie might even make bail on that —all of that is true. But I have to testify.” Elizabeth met his eyes. “Because all these years later, and it can still shake me. If I don’t testify, he wins. He still has power over me. I can’t—I can’t let him have that power.”

Jason pressed his lips together. “Okay. Then you’ll testify. What do you need from me? Do you want to bag this stuff up—”

“No.” Elizabeth turned, setting her feet on the floor. “No—it’s just—it’s just a color. We can put them back—” She pressed a hand to her stomach just as he heard a rumble. Her cheeks flushed. “I haven’t really eaten all day. Did—did you bring home dinner?”

“I stopped at the Grille. Let’s go heat it up and get something to eat.” Jason stood, then pulled her to her feet. “I love you,” he told her, tipping her face up to his and kissing her, then leaned his forehead against hers. “In court next week, just keep your eyes on me. And we’ll get through it.”

“I know we will.” She kissed him again, and then they went down to have dinner.

Because these things will change
Can you feel it now?
These walls that they put up to hold us back will fall down
It’s a revolution, the time will come
For us to finally win
And we’ll sing hallelujah, we’ll sing hallelujah
– Changes, Taylor Swift

---

Tuesday, December 9, 2003

Morgan Penthouse: Master Bedroom

Elizabeth stared at her collection of dresses that still fit and pursed her lips. “I should have bought something new. Emily was right. I’m going to be sitting up there, worrying about how fat I look because everything is too tight.” She glared down at her abdomen, which seemed to have grown overnight.

Jason stepped up behind her, knotting his tie. “We have time if you want to stop by Wyndham’s,” he offered. “You could change at the courthouse.”

“No, I hate shopping. I’ll just take too long, we’ll miss the entire hearing—and this is stupid to worry about—” She walked away from the closet and sat on the edge of the bed. “No one cares what I wear. I just—God—” She dipped her head, took a deep breath. “The only thing that remotely fits is the dark red.”

Jason glanced over at the closet, saw the dress in question, but didn’t ask why she wouldn’t wear it. He knew. They’d hung all the clothes back up last week, and neither of them had spoken about her closet binge since. He still wasn’t sure if she was really up to this, but she’d made the choice a week ago and hadn’t backed down again. Jason was just here to do whatever she needed to get through it.

“I should wear it.” Elizabeth got to her feet, walked over to the closet, and took the dress off the hanger. “He likes me in this color. He said so. The judge—he should see Vinnie thinking about that.”

“Elizabeth—”

She looked at him, her eyes a little wild, her breathing just slightly faster. If he checked her pulse right now, it would be racing. “I know he can’t use that as evidence, but before he takes this case away from Scott—before he dismisses the case—he should see who Vinnie is. Who he’s helping.”

Jason took the dress from her, tossed it on the bed, then took her hands in his. “Elizabeth—”

“I’m fine,” she told him, her teeth clenched, yanking them back. “Stop—” Elizabeth closed her eyes, tried to take a deep breath, but choked on it as tears started to slide down her face. “Oh, God. I’m sorry. I’m sorry—”

“Hey.” Jason drew her into his arms, his chest aching. He hated that he couldn’t do anything more—that he couldn’t make this case go away—that he couldn’t make any of this stop. “Just take a deep breath.”

“I’m t-trying—”

He led her over to the side of the bed and took out of the portable oxygen tank they still kept on hand. She hadn’t had had a panic attack in a few months, but that terrible night when she’d almost passed out after they’d made love the first time was seared into his brain.

He couldn’t just stand here and listen to her struggle to breathe.

Elizabeth fitted the tube over her nose and switched it on. Then closed her eyes as she concentrated on her breathing. He held her hand, counted through the breaths with her, his fingers to her wrist. Jason’s own tension started to ease as her breaths gradually became deeper, her pulse slowed down.

“It sneaks up on me sometimes,” she admitted a few minutes later. Elizabeth met his eyes, and she smiled at him—tired, but genuine. “You’ve got this whole thing down to a science.”

“I can’t breathe for you,” Jason told her. He pressed his lips to her forehead, lingering for a moment. “This is the best I can do.”

“We’ll take the tank with us,” she told him. “I don’t want to risk anything so far away from Kelly and Monica. I—I’m doing so well, you know?” Elizabeth removed the mask, and Jason found the bag they had traveled with earlier that summer when she’d needed it more often.

She stood up and removed her robe, then reached for the dress and stepped into it. “Can you zip it?” she asked, pulling her hair to one side.

“Are you sure you want to wear this?” Jason asked as he grasped the metal tag and slowly drew it up her back. Elizabeth turned to look at him, and he was relieved to see her expression was calmer than it had been. Stronger.

“I look great in this color,” Elizabeth told him. “I have a lipstick that matches, and I’m not—” She rested her hand on his chest, leaning up to kiss him briefly. “I’m not letting him steal that from me. I like my hair color, I like wearing it long, and I look amazing in red.”

“Yeah, you do.” Jason smiled down at her, tucking her hair behind her ears. “You’re going to do great today.”

“As long as you’re with me.” She squeezed his hand and then over to her vanity to apply her makeup. She picked up the tube of lipstick, twisted off the top, and smiled at the shade.

She was going to make sure the whole world know exactly how much Vinnie Esposito liked seeing her in red.

Syracuse, New York

James F. Hanley Federal Building: Hallway

Dante’s steps slowed when he turned a corner and saw a small crowd outside of Court Room B where the hearing would be held today. A crowd of Quartermaines.

He swallowed hard and felt his mother next to him squeeze his hand as Ned and Lois broke away from the family and approached them. It was the first time Dante had seen Brooke’s parents since Taggert had given them the transcripts.

“Dante.” Lois stepped forward, then embraced him tightly, leaving her hands at his shoulders when she stepped away. “I just want you to know that I love you. I know none of this has been easy on you. That it’s going to get even worse, but I—” She looked at her ex-husband for a moment before focusing on Dante again. “I’m so proud of the man you grew up to be.”

“Couldn’t have done it without you and Ma,” Dante told her. He looked at Ned. “I’m just—I’m sorry we couldn’t see it earlier. Couldn’t do more.”

“What you’re doing today is enough,” Ned told him. “I just—” He hesitated. “I want you to know that I appreciate you giving us some warning about the tape—the transcript—it was…”

Lois slid her arm through his, her other hand squeezing his bicep tightly. “It was tough to hear,” she said, finishing Ned’s statement. “We’ll always regret that Brooke didn’t feel ready to talk to us about it, but it doesn’t change my mind about my little girl at all.”

“I’m glad,” Dante said. He looked at Ned. “Lu Spencer told me—she’d heard about the transcript from Lucky—and it circulated with Lucas and the others. Lucas—she talked to him about it. He knew. He said—he said now that it was in the open if you want to talk him—”

“Maybe we will. Once we put this away inside.” Lois lifted her chin. “We’re going to win today, Dante, but I know—”

She trailed off, focusing behind him. Dante turned and swallowed hard when he saw his grandmother and aunt—Vinnie’s mother—glaring at Lois as they walked past. When Marta Falconieri and her daughter, Francesca Esposito, saw Lois’s mother, Gloria, standing with Edward and Tracy Quartermaine, their eyes narrowed.

“Oh, shit,” Olivia murmured.

“Uh—” Ned turned, narrowing his eyes but then saw his mother step in front of Gloria Cerullo, fold her arms, and raise a brow. “Is there enough security?”

But Marta and Fran must have thought twice about saying anything before the hearing, not wanting to be barred from the room. Instead, they simply went inside. Lois exhaled, relieved.

“I’d better go over and talk Ma out of ripping Frannie’s hair out,” Lois said.

“And we should go in and make sure they’ve saved seats for Elizabeth and her support group,” Ned told Dante and Olivia. “We need at least two rows.”

“Almost time,” Oliva said to Dante as they followed Ned inside the courtroom, ignoring the Falconieri family on the other side of the room. “Whatever happens today, baby, you’re doing the right thing. Never forget that.”

Hanley Courthouse: Court Room B

Elizabeth flashed a hesitant smile at Lois in the front row before looking back at the group of women that had arrived just after they had. Their seats were in the second row. She gestured for Renee, Veronica, Dana, and Wendy to go in front of her. She made sure to sit next to Renee, taking her hand in hers for another squeeze.

“It’ll be okay,” Elizabeth murmured. “You can do this.”

“All I have to do is sit here and not throw up.” Renee squared her shoulders. “No problem.”

Jason settled in a seat next to her, Sonny, Carly, and Bobbie filing into the row behind them. A minute later, Lucas and Felix joined them. Lucas leaned forward. “Hey. Protest is still going strong. Maxie said the RAINN coordinator says there might be five hundred people.”

“Five hundred—” Elizabeth exhaled slowly. “It felt like thousands when we came up the stairs—” She twisted in her chair to look at Lucas and his boyfriend. “Thank you. Tell Maxie and the others the same. No matter what happens here today.”

In front of her, Ned and Lois had taken the front row with Taggert, Mac, and Dante. Behind the and in front of Elizabeth’s row, Edward, Tracy, Gloria Cerullo, and two other people Elizabeth didn’t recognize were seated. Their side of the courtroom was packed.

Behind the defense table, there was a cluster of reporters and the Falconieri family. Elizabeth was gratified to see there weren’t many people in support of Vinnie.

He didn’t deserve it.

A few minutes later, the judge called the court to order and asked for the defendant to be brought in. Elizabeth tightened her grip around Renee’s hand on one side, and Jason on the other, as Vinnie Esposito walked into the room.

She hadn’t seen him since that terrible day in September when he’d lied his way into the penthouse. He looked at her—their eyes met—and then his eyes dropped down, taking in the color of his dress. When Vinnie met her eyes again, he was grinning.

Her stomach rolled, and bile rose in her throat. She forced it back down. Elizabeth arched a brow at him as if to say you are nothing. His smile faded, and she waited — she didn’t care how long it would take —

Finally — Vinnie looked away first, his lawyer poking him in the shoulder.

She felt Jason’s muscles tense under her hand, and his hand squeezed hers even harder. She almost winced, but when she looked at Jason, his face was expressionless. The look she knew had earned him the nickname of Borg from Taggert years ago.

“He doesn’t scare me,” Elizabeth murmured. Jason glanced at her, but his face didn’t change. “He can’t ever scare me again. I promise.” She looked down her row, saw the other survivors with their hands clenched. Renee was looking down into her lap. “We’re okay,” she told her. “We’re stronger together.”

“It doesn’t feel that way right now,” Renee managed on a shaky breath. “But okay.”

The judge called the courtroom to order, and Elizabeth tried to concentrate as both attorneys gave their opening remarks—she knew one of the men at the defense table was the United States Attorney who had signed on to support Vinnie’s petition, but Vinnie’s lawyer was the one making the arguments.

The lawyer didn’t say anything Elizabeth wasn’t expecting. The PCPD was corrupt, blah, blah, the system was prejudicial, blah, blah—scapegoat, framed—all the things Scott had told them to expect.

Scott’s opening held no surprises either. He referred to Elizabeth’s testimony and the DNA evidence, only briefly mentioning Vinnie’s own statements.

“Almost time,” Elizabeth murmured to Jason. He squeezed her hand in response.

“I wish I could be up there with you,” he admitted under his breath. Their eyes met, and she smiled at him.

“You will be. I’ll be looking at you and remembering that I’m strong. He can’t break me.”

“The state calls Elizabeth Webber to the stand,” Scott said. He turned to her, and Elizabeth knew he wanted her to look at him as she walked to the front of the courtroom—to focus only on him—but Elizabeth wasn’t going to let Vinnie think for one moment that he would win today.

Elizabeth smiled at Jason, at the survivors, released Jason and Renee’s hand, then slowly stood. As she walked towards the front of the room, she looked directly at Vinnie, then lifted her chin, then looked away.

Scott hid a smirk as she calmly walked to the stand, was sworn in, then sat down, her eyes on his. He offered her a reassuring smile. “Good morning, Elizabeth. It’s okay if I call you that, right?”

“Yes,” Elizabeth said.

“Please state your name and address for the record.”

“Elizabeth Imogene Webber, 122 Harborview Drive, Port Charles, New York. Penthouse Four.” She folded her hands in her lap, found Jason’s eyes in the audience, and felt herself settle.

She could do this.

“Elizabeth, today, we’re going to be very brief,” Scott told her. “On September 24 of this year, do you remember where you were?”

“Yes, I was at home.”

“By yourself?”

“Yes.”

“Did you have any visitors?” Scott asked.

“I wasn’t expecting anyone, but the front desk called to tell me that Detective Vincent Esposito was waiting to question me.” Elizabeth flicked her eyes over to Vinnie, then focused on Scott.

“Do you see Vincent Esposito in the courtroom today?”

“Yes. He’s sitting there at the defense table.”

“Let the record reflect that the witness identified the defendant,” Scott said. Returning his attention to Elizabeth, he continued, “What happened when you received the call?”

“I agreed to speak with him, and the desk sent him up.”

“Did you know the defendant? Had you met him before?”

“I didn’t remember him,” Elizabeth told Scott. She looked at the judge, found him focused on her. She looked at Lucky, sitting in the back row with Cruz. Let her eyes drift to the support group, particularly Renee. “But once I saw him, I realized I had met him before. He’d questioned me a few times over the years.”

“Can you describe those encounters?” Scott said, scratching his temple.

Elizabeth did so, recalling the shooting at Luke’s and her fall at Rice Plaza. “If there were other times, I don’t remember.”

“Thank you,” Scott said. He held up a sheaf of documents. “I’d like to enter into evidence police reports corroborating Miss Webber’s statement, as well as six other police reports detailing incidents involving the defendant and Miss Webber.”

“Noted.” The judge took the reports. “Continue.”

“Elizabeth,” Scott said. “You said you didn’t know the detective at first. Why did you let him upstairs?”

“I knew Lieutenant Taggert was busy out of town that day,” Elizabeth said. “And I’d been working closely with other members of the PCPD. I knew his name was familiar. I—” She hesitated. “I trusted the PCPD.”

“The defense suggests that you had reasons to resent the PCPD,” Scott said. “Is that true?”

“Objection, leading the witness—”

“Sustained.”

Scott pressed a hand to his chest, his face apologetic though Elizabeth knew they’d planned every word of her testimony in preparation. “Forgive me, I’ll rephrase. Miss Webber, how would you characterize your relationship with the PCPD?”

“When I reported my rape five years ago, Detective Alex Garcia was very kind to me,” Elizabeth said. “As was the ADA assigned at the time, Dara Jensen. When Lieutenant Taggert—I’m sorry, Lieutenant,” she corrected. “He was a detective back then—when he took over my case, he was also very kind. I never had a reason to suspect I shouldn’t trust the PCPD.”

“What about this summer? Did the PCPD do anything to change your mind?”

“Not the department themselves, but a few officers let me down,” Elizabeth said, slowly. “I was married to a man suspected of kidnapping Carly Corinthos. Ric Lansing. The lieutenant offered me a way out—he said if I wanted to go, he’d make sure I was safe. But I was afraid of what would happen if I left the house—of my husband,” she added quickly. “I was sure he was guilty, and I wanted to find Carly.”

She hesitated. “The Lieutenant assigned a guard for me. Not to watch the house or my husband—but a patrol car sat outside the house every day to watch me. On the day we found Carly locked in a panic room, when I had a pulmonary embolism and nearly died, Officer Rodriguez was inside with me, helping me look. Officers Spencer and Falconieri were also on patrol and involved in the case. They made me feel safe, and that feeling made it possible for me to still have access to the house so that Carly was found and came home safely.”

She looked at Lucky in the back. “I couldn’t have done that without the PCPD’s help.” Elizabeth bit her lip. “Unfortunately, earlier that same day, a report was made in the Port Charles Sun—and the Herald—accusing me of having an affair. Of letting Carly’s best friend into the house every day while Ric was gone. The PCPD—they knew we were looking for Carly, but Detective Capelli leaked an affair to the tabloids anyway, hoping Ric would make a mistake.”

She clenched her hands in her lap, remembering the terror of that morning. “Ric was furious—he attacked me, threw me across the room—I got away from him—I think I might have been okay—but I don’t know for sure.”

“That sounds like a good reason to hate the police department,” Scott offered with a half smile. “Withdrawn—” he said, waving his hand before Vinnie’s lawyer could stand. “Did that change your mind about the department?”

“No. It might have,” she admitted, “except Lieutenant Taggert saw the paper, and he was worried. He sent Officer Rodriguez in to make a welfare check and came himself. And the commissioner immediately admitted fault. They never tried to cover up for Detective Capelli. He was suspended the same day.” Elizabeth met Mac’s eyes. “They’re not perfect, but they did their best. And I would never blame the department for the actions of one or two officers.”

“In September of this year, did you give a press conference about the PCPD?”

“Yes. I had learned some information about the investigation of my rape in 1998,” Elizabeth said. “I found out that I had been lied to—that my rape kit had never been sent for testing. The man I thought had attacked me—his DNA should have been compared to my kit. He would have been excluded—”

“Objection, calls for facts in not evidence—”

“Oh, here are the DNA results that corroborate that statement,” Scott said, cutting Vinnie’s lawyer off. He set them in front in front of the judge. “That report excludes Tom Baker from matching DNA extracted from the dress Miss Webber wore the night of her attack. DNA that matched six other women.” Scott’s smile was thin. “DNA that also matches the defendant.”

“Your Honor, Elizabeth Webber’s DNA results should be excluded based on the evidence tampering—”

The judge cut off the other lawyer. “That sounds like an argument that ought to be made in pre-trial hearings.” He looked at Scott. “Report is in evidence. Anything else?”

“Just a few more questions,” Scott said to Elizabeth. “On the afternoon of September 24, 2003, what statements, if any, did Vincent Esposito make about your rape?”

“He said—” Elizabeth took a deep breath, found Jason’s eyes in the audience, and she felt herself settle again. She looked at Vinnie, met his eyes head on. “He told me that they knew that I had been the first. That there was something special about the first.”

Vinnie’s lips curved into a smile, and her stomach rolled. She’d been right—he couldn’t help himself. Without looking away from him, Elizabeth continued, “He reminded me that he’d questioned me in December 1997. He told me that I had been the first, but not the only.”

“Elizabeth,” Scott said softly when she said nothing else. Elizabeth blinked, then looked at Scott. With kind eyes, he continued, “What else?”

“He asked me if I knew why there had been other women.” Her voice trembled—just slightly. “He said that he’d tried to find someone like me. But they were never me.”

A tear slid down her cheek—she’d tried to hold it back. Scott stepped closer to her. “What did you think he was talking about?”

“I knew he was talking about himself. I knew that he’d raped me. He kept talking. I was trying to think about how to escape, but he kept talking. He said that he’d followed the signs—they’d looked like me, they’d gone to the movies like me, they’d stopped like me—”

Elizabeth took a deep breath, then focused on Scott again. “I tried to run, but he grabbed me before I could reach the door. He threw me on the couch. He was angry.”

“Why?”

“Because they—the other women—weren’t right. Because none of them were ever right.” Her breath was a little more rapid now, and she couldn’t look at Jason, couldn’t think about him. She kept her eyes on Scott. “He told me he didn’t want to hurt me. That he’d was sorry. He knew I hadn’t liked it. I tried to tell him I didn’t want it, but he didn’t care. He slapped me—he wanted me to look at him—but—”

Elizabeth closed her eyes. “I kicked him. I kicked him in the groin, and I managed to get away—just—just long enough to run upstairs. I knew I couldn’t unlock the door, I couldn’t get out, but I could go upstairs. There was another phone up there—” Her breathing was more shallow now, and she could feel the burning in her lungs.

She saw Jason lean forward in the audience—Oh, God. Not now. Not now. “I need—I need a minute.”

“Do you want a break, Elizabeth?” Scott asked softly. “Can I get her some water—”

“No. No, I can—” She shook her head. “I can do this. I just—” Had to remember it was over. It was over. That even if Vinnie got free somehow, it would still be over. Jason would make sure of it.

And with that in her mind, Elizabeth looked at Scott, and her breathing relaxed. She cleared her throat. “I ran upstairs to my bedroom and locked the door. I keep a baseball bat under the bed, and I grabbed it. Then I waited for him. He busted down the door, and I hit him in the knees. I swung hard, and I hit him. He must have hit the edge of the bed. I don’t know. I didn’t stop. I ran. When I got downstairs, Lieutenant Taggert and Jason were there. Then more cops—it all seemed to happen at once.”

Elizabeth flicked one more glance at Vinnie. “But he admitted to raping me when I was sixteen. He admitted to raping other women in the park who looked like me, and then he tried to rape me again. And it doesn’t matter what anyone thinks about the PCPD, that will always be true. You admitted it,” she said softly, speaking directly to Vinnie. “And you know it.”

“Please don’t speak directly to the defendant,” the judge said with a grimace. Elizabeth didn’t apologize. She just looked at Scott again.

“The PCPD made mistakes with my case, but they tried to make them right. The Commissioner admitted those mistakes, but they don’t change the evidence. They don’t change what Vincent Esposito said to me or what he did to me when I was sixteen or tried to do again in September.”

“No further questions,” Scott said after a long moment. “Can we take a brief recess so that Miss Webber can get some water?”

“Do you have any questions for this witness?” the judge asked Vinnie’s lawyer. The man hesitated for a long moment, then shook his head.

“No, Your Honor.” Elizabeth blinked at him in surprise. Scott had prepped her for that — she was ready — and he was just going to let her testimony go unchallenged? What did that even mean? She closed her eyes, trying to focus on her breathing, but her lungs were starting to burn—and she couldn’t quite drag in a full breath.

“We’ll recess for twenty minutes.”

---

As soon as the judge had called the recess, Jason had gotten to his feet, intending to come forward and help Elizabeth—but a bailiff held him back until Vinnie had been led from the room.

Jason didn’t even spare Vinnie Esposito a second glance—Elizabeth had done what needed to be done, and Jason wasn’t going to think about him again unless the system screwed this up.

By the time the bailiff let Jason go, Scott had walked Elizabeth over to him. “Do you need the oxygen?” he asked, worried because the security guard hadn’t let them bring her portable tank upstairs without a doctor’s note.

“No.” Elizabeth squeezed his hand, but her face was pale, and he could hear her breath—it was short, and her fists were clenched. “I think I just need some water.”

“I’ll get you a room.” Scott strode off to confer with the bailiff while Bobbie hurried over to check on Elizabeth.

“What can I do?” Edward demanded.

“Nothing—nothing, I just—” Elizabeth took a deep breath, but her vision was starting to swim— “I need some air—”

“We can use a conference room,” Scott told them, shoving through the crowd. Jason lifted Elizabeth into his arms and followed the DA through the front of the courtroom into a back room. He locked eyes with Bobbie, who nodded and hurried away.

“I’m okay,” she managed as Scott shoved open the door. Jason put her on her feet just long enough to drag out a chair and help her sit down. “Just water. And some air. So many people—”

“I’ll get the water,” Scott told them. “You don’t have to come back, Elizabeth. We got everything,” He left them in the room as Jason knelt in front of her, taking her wrist in his, feeling for her pulse.

“Jason—”

“Just wait—”

Bobbie came in then, with both a portable oxygen tank she must have gotten from somewhere and a glass of water, Scott hovering in the background. “Elizabeth, I can call Monica—we can get you to a hospital or I—”

“I’m fine,” Elizabeth said, her teeth clenched, fighting the urge to yank her hand away. “I just—water. Please.”

“Bobbie, let’s give them a minute,” Scott told her, softly. “Come on—” He touched her shoulder. “Let’s go check on Ned and Lois.”

“But I just—”

“I’ve got it, Bobbie. Thanks for the oxygen,” Jason told her, and Scott was able to direct the well-meaning redhead from the room.

“Your pulse is fast, but not too bad,” Jason told her as he fitted the mask over her face and checked the gauge. “Just—just humor me, okay?”

Elizabeth rolled her eyes but had to admit the oxygen helped. She sipped the water, closed her eyes, and felt herself her body begin to relax, and soon she could take a true, deep breath, expanding her lungs fully. It had been silly to reject it. After another moment, she took the mask off and reached for her water.

“I was afraid you’d jump out of your seat,” she admitted with a smile after she’d drained the glass and set it aside.

“Thought about it.” Jason leaned against the table. “But you got it under control. You did—” He met her eyes. “You did amazing. I knew you would, but—” he shook his head slightly. “You reminded me all over again how brave you are.”

“I wish I didn’t have to be,” Elizabeth admitted. “But I could see the others in the audience—I could see Renee, Dana—they seemed to get stronger the more I talked. I’m glad I could do this, and they didn’t have to.” She played the hem of her dress. “I was right about wearing this.”

“I didn’t—” Jason’s voice was tight. “I didn’t look at him. I wasn’t sure I would—” He trailed off, looked away. “You didn’t—we never really talked about that day in the penthouse. The words.”

“I knew I might have to testify about them in a sentencing hearing one day, and I didn’t want to say them more than once,” Elizabeth said softly. “I wrote them for my statement to Taggert. And Scott didn’t push me to say it when we prepped.” She grimaced. “I probably should have.”

“You did great,” he repeated. “And if Baldwin thought you needed to practice, he would have told you that. Dante will play the tape, and it’ll be over.”

“Kind of glad the other lawyer didn’t ask me anything,” Elizabeth told him. She managed a smile. “I was afraid he’d ask me about Capelli. About the tabloids. Kind of hard to say it was a lie now, huh?” she asked, touching her belly.

Jason covered her hand with his, his fingers longer than hers. The baby fluttered slightly, and Elizabeth smiled. “I can’t wait until he’s kicking hard enough for you to feel him too.” She leaned forward, kissed him lightly. He returned the brief caress, lingering.

“He?” Jason repeated. “Did you have an ultrasound I wasn’t invited to?”

“No, I just—” Elizabeth shrugged. “I just have a feeling. We’ll find out next week. Just in time for Christmas.”

There was a light knock, and Bobbie stepped in. “Hey. The judge is giving a two minute warning. Scott said you don’t have to come back for Dante’s testimony—”

“No, I want to.” She put a hand on Jason’s arm as she stood up. “I’m okay. Thank you. I didn’t even realize I’d need the oxygen.” She kissed Bobbie’s cheek. “I’m lucky to have you.”

“Feeling is mutual.” Bobbie hugged her briefly, then smiled. “Let’s get this over with.”

Hanley Courthouse: Courtroom B

It wasn’t as bad as Dante thought it would be. He waited while Scott and Vinnie’s lawyer waged a brief, but bitter, battle over the admissibility of his tape and testimony. Dante wasn’t entirely sure if he followed it all, but he knew that Scott had won when the district attorney had waved him forward to take the stand.

He was sworn in, and Scott took him through the prepared part of his testimony. His relationship with Vinnie, his work on the case, and the decision to visit him in jail. No, no one had known he was going. No, his superiors hadn’t asked. No—he’d just wanted to know why Vinnie had attacked Brooke.

He’d needed to understand.

When Dante arrived at that part of the testimony, he looked at Vinnie and his family for the first time. Aunt Fran was scowling, his grandmother’s face was blank, but Vinnie—God, he was smiling.

As if he couldn’t wait for everyone to hear what he’d said. Christ.

A shiver danced down Dante’s spine as Scott brought out the tape recorder and hit play.

He’d heard the tape several times, had helped with the transcript, but Dante still couldn’t stop himself from feeling nauseous as Vinnie’s words floated out.

In the audience, Elizabeth closed her eyes, squeezed Jason’s hand as she heard Vinnie talk about her.

“High cut shorts, low cut tops. Oh, man. She had a way of smiling at you…that slutty red dress…”

She’d thought she was ready to hear him say it—she’d seen those words in her nightmares a thousand times since Taggert had shown them the transcripts—

But everyone had been right.

Playing the tape was so much worse.

But, God, he’d sounded so…excited…it had aroused him remembering that night—

Elizabeth swallowed hard, knowing it would get even worse. Knowing there was more filth to sit through—more for Brooke’s family to hear—

“…And I knew I’d be her first. That would make it special. Like it was with Elizabeth.”

In front of her, she saw Tracy Quartermaine press a fist to her mouth, Gloria Cerullo was crying. She couldn’t see Ned or Lois’s face. They were two rows up, staring directly ahead.

“She was a lesbo. Never drove stick, you know? Maybe part of me wanted to make her understand what she’d been missing—”

Lois lurched out of her seat, ran up the aisle, and out of the courtroom, gagging. Ned twisted to look after her, his expression anguished.

“It needed to be her.”

“So that’s why you went back. Why you went after Elizabeth Webber.”

“She’s my soulmate. She doesn’t understand that yet. But she will. One day.”

Bile rose in her throat, and Elizabeth couldn’t do it. God, Scott had been right—she didn’t need to hear this. Unsteadily, she forced herself to her feet and followed Lois out, hearing Jason’s steps after her.

On the stand, Dante’s eyes were burning with tears of his own as he watched his godmother run out of the room, followed by Elizabeth and Jason. Ned hesitantly followed them as the tape drew to a close.

“Sorry about Brooke. I should have figured it out a long time ago. That’s on me.”

“Yeah. Yeah, that’s on you.”

The tape clicked off as Scott looked at Dante, then at the judge. “No further questions, Your Honor. The state rests.”

The judge cleared his throat. “Let’s, uh, take a short recess before the defense presents their case.” He banged the gavel.

Scott turned to look at Bobbie, who was already hurrying out the door, followed by Carly. He briefly locked eyes with Sonny, who had remained seated. That didn’t surprise him. Corinthos had always been a selfish bastard.

“DA Baldwin?”

Scott frowned, then looked over to find the federal attorney that had been sitting at the other table. “Uh, yeah?”

“Let’s talk.”

Hanley Courthouse B: Restroom

Elizabeth stumbled into the ladies’ room, then into one of the stalls where she vomited. She threw up until her throat was raw until her eyes were watering and throbbing—

And then she slumped against the wall, the door still partially open. She closed her eyes and just sat there, her hands dangling limply at her side.

She heard the door swing open, then Lois’s quiet, but a ragged voice. “Elizabeth? Are—are you okay?”

“Yeah,” she said faintly, then looked up when Lois appeared in the stall doorway, her eyes red. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be—” Lois swallowed hard. “I thought I could do it. I read those words, I thought I could do it—but—” She clenched her hand into a fist and punched the stall, wincing. “He was so excited on that fucking tape—like he was a goddamn frat boy—”

Elizabeth’s chest heaved, and she started to cry again. She couldn’t do it. She didn’t want to live with this anymore. Why couldn’t it ever be over—

“—don’t give a shit what anyone—” Jason’s angry voice faded in, then out again as the door swung open, then closed. Elizabeth frowned as Bobbie appeared in the doorway, pale.

“Jason is going to get arrested in about five minutes,” she said dryly, her eyes red as well. “Come on. Let’s just go home. Scott can call us when the decision comes back—”

“N-no—” Elizabeth tried to stand up, then Lois and Bobbie both grasped her elbows, helping her to her feet. “No,” she said. She pressed her hands to her face, looked over at the mirror, and winced. “Oh, damn. Jason’s going to take me to the nearest hospital.”

“Maybe he should,” Lois said, a bit nervous. She brushed at Elizabeth’s dress. “You don’t look okay—”

“I—” Elizabeth shook her head, then walked over to wash out her mouth. Bobbie handed her some gum, “I’ll be fine. I just—you’re right,” she told Lois. “We shouldn’t have listened. If they let him go after that or if the U.S. Attorney still thinks he should take over the case—” She grimaced, then splashed some water on her face. She reached for a paper towel to blot at her makeup. Her eye makeup was smeared slightly, but she was able to clean it up. She could fix it later.

“Then we’ll just have to hope Buffalo can do better,” she said, turning back to the women. “Let’s go back out there before Jason does get arrested.”

She walked towards the entrance, and after a minute, Bobbie and Lois followed.

The hearing must have ended because there were a lot of people milling about in the hallway. Jason, Carly, and Ned were both just outside the bathroom, Jason glaring at a bailiff who was clearly stopping him from going inside. She could see Sonny sitting on a bench across the hall.

“I’m okay,” she told him as he came over to her, took her face in his hands. “Don’t kiss me,” she warned. “I threw up.”

Jason laughed, his voice slightly rusty as he wrapped her in his arms. She clung to him, thanking the universe for putting him in her life.

“You okay?” Ned murmured to Lois, touching the small of her back. “I’m sorry—”

“If they let him go, Ned,” Lois said under her breath, “if somehow—he gets out of this, I’m going to make him disappear. I know people.”

“We know the same people,” Ned reminded her, then kissed her forehead. “But agreed. He’s not going to get away with this.”

Lois sighed when the bailiff called them in. “Okay. Let’s get this over with.” She squeezed Ned’s hand and then followed the rest of the crowd into the courtroom.

Hanley Courthouse: Hallway

Carly walked out of the courtroom for the second time that day, anxious. “Vinnie’s lawyer didn’t even put on a case,” she said to Jason as he walked Elizabeth over to a bench. Carly looked at her mother, then at Sonny. “That’s good, right?”

“I hope so.” Elizabeth rubbed her eyes. She looked at Jason. “Hey, I want to go down to the gift shop. I need some toothpaste.”

“I’ll get it for you—” he started to offer, but Elizabeth shook her head.

“I need to walk, to move around.”

“We’ll wait up here in case the judge comes back,” Carly told them as Jason tugged Elizabeth back to her feet. She made eye contact with her mother.

“I’ll go with you. I want to get something to drink,” Bobbie said, following the pair.

“We could head home if you want,” Sonny said when they were gone. “Judge might not be back for a few hours.” He sat down on the bench, stretched his legs. “Might as well grab some dinner on the way back.”

Carly frowned at him. “I want to wait—”

“I mean, what’s the point? Elizabeth testified and got through it. She did good. But the rest of it is out of our hands—” Sonny shrugged. “What else can we do?”

“We can sit there and support—” Carly closed her eyes. “This is important to Jason, and it’s important to Elizabeth. Jason is my best friend, and I want to be here for him. You can go if you want. But I’m staying. I can get a ride back with Mama and Lucas—”

“Fine, fine.” Sonny put up his hands. “I’ll stay.”

Carly sat down, crossed her legs at the ankle, and stared straight ahead, blindly, barely seeing the other side of the hallway. Elizabeth’s testimony, like the press conference a few months ago, it had just proved to Carly once again that she wasn’t getting better. Not like Elizabeth was. She was recovering from two terrible things at once and could still stand up in front of the man who’d raped her and face him down—

Elizabeth was getting better, and Carly wasn’t. And the only difference between them was Carly had Sonny, not Jason.

And for a brief moment, Carly hated Elizabeth for having someone who loved her, who put her first. Who wanted to see her get better.

It was a brief flicker of that old resentment, and Carly forced it down. It wasn’t fair to blame Elizabeth for Sonny’s failures, for Carly’s blindness.

If Carly didn’t like the way her life was going, it was up to her to change it.

Hanley Courthouse: Court Room B

Scott had hoped the decision wouldn’t take more than an hour, but he’d acknowledged they might not hear back that day or even the next. Sometimes these things took weeks, he’d warned them.

It took less than a half hour.

The bailiff called them back into the courtroom, and Elizabeth frowned—realizing that the U.S. Attorney that had been sitting at Vinnie’s defense table was no longer there.

Ned had noticed the same thing and leaned forward to talk to Scott. Scott smiled, turned back to Elizabeth, with a thumb sticking up in the air. He thought it was a good sign.

“All rise,” the bailiff said.

Elizabeth and Jason stood as the judge came back in and called the court to order. She held Jason’s hand and reached for Renee with the other, flashing the teenager a hopeful smile.

Then looked forward to wait for the judge’s decision.

Stop and stare
I think I’m moving but I go nowhere
Yeah, I know that everyone gets scared
But I’ve become what I can’t be, oh
Stop and stare
You start to wonder why you’re here not there
And you’d give anything to get what’s fair
But fair ain’t what you really need
Oh, you don’t need
— Stop and Stare, OneRepublic

Tuesday, December 2, 2003

Corinthos Penthouse: Living Room

When Sonny came downstairs the next morning, he had trouble focusing—his eyes still felt gritty and his head foggy from a restless sleep. Carly had slept down the hall in a guest room—he’d been alone in the room.

He found his wife sitting at the table by the windows, sipping coffee with a bowl of cereal in front of her. Sonny winced slightly to see brightly colored flakes in the spoon she lifted to her lips. When Carly pulled out the sugary cereal he pretended not to notice in the pantry, he knew she was unhappy.

“Michael?” Sonny asked, slowly pulling out a chair and taking a seat. “He get to school okay?”

“Max drove him,” Carly said. She leaned back in her chair. Stared at him. “How are you feeling?”

“Not great,” Sonny admitted. “I, um—” He scratched his temple. “I don’t really know what happened—I mean, I think—” He squinted at her. “I came home. You weren’t here. And I—” He dipped his head. “I couldn’t find you,” he murmured. He didn’t mention Lily. Or his mother.

He couldn’t bring himself to admit that he’d lost control so badly that he’d hallucinated—that he’d seen and spoken to the dead again. Jason would tie him up in a straitjacket and toss him off the pier.

He had to get himself under control, or he was going to lose everything. Don’t be weak. Have to get it together.

“No, I went to work. Like we agreed.” Carly wiped her mouth. “December 1, Sonny. You didn’t arrange a driver for me. You didn’t tell me Leticia wasn’t returning to work.” She crossed one leg over the other, folded her arms. “So, please, tell me. What am I supposed to do?”

“Carly—”

“I left in September because of this—because you were not only not listening or respecting me—but because you were out of control. You made a threat against Scott. Do you remember that?”

“I do, but—”

“And you’ve done nothing to fix that, Sonny. You asked me to move back in. You wanted me to be safe while you searched for Ric. Well, it’s been nearly a month. And nothing has changed. We are exactly where we were in September, except now—” Carly took a deep breath. “You’ve tried to trap me in this penthouse. If it hadn’t been for Jason yesterday—”

“I don’t want to hear about Jason—” Sonny growled, baring his teeth.

“That’s too bad. Because he let Elizabeth’s guard take me to work. He watched our son. And he gave me his elevator key. A key I’ve been begging you for since the system was installed. I shouldn’t have had to even ask.” Carly hesitated. “I know you’re angry at Jason. Because Ric is still alive. If Elizabeth and I hadn’t wanted—”

“If she hadn’t talked you into this—” Sonny began.

“So, I can’t make decisions on my own?” Carly said with a lift of her brow. “You think I’m gullible? Weak? If I had wanted Ric dead, it’d be done, Sonny. You know why? Because Elizabeth told me that she wanted what I wanted. It was enough for her that Jason supported her. I’m the one with the final decision—”

“But she put the thought in your head—”

Carly’s scowl deepened, and she got to her feet, stalking across the room to the desk where her purse was sitting. “There’s no talking to you about this. You’re determined to put all the blame on her—Why? Why can’t you believe that this is what I want? That it has nothing to do with Elizabeth Webber?”

“Because you know how this life works!” Sonny roared, lunging to his feet and gesturing with one arm towards her. “You know it! You know you don’t get a say! You never would have asked!”

Carly stared at him—and he knew, God, he knew that was the wrong answer. But he couldn’t stand it—he couldn’t stand listening to her trying to protect Elizabeth—this was her fault—her idea—and Jason’s for being so damn weak—

“Maybe you’re right,” Carly said slowly. “Maybe I never would have asked for it. Even though I need it.” She stared at the floor for a long moment. “So, okay, yeah, maybe Elizabeth gave me the courage to ask. To demand it.”

“Exactly—”

“But that doesn’t mean the decision isn’t still mine.” Carly shook her head. “I never dreamed I could ask for it. Until Elizabeth told Jason what she needed to be okay, and he just—” Her voice trembled. “He just agreed, because it was more important to him for her to be okay than it was for him to look strong—Why don’t I get that, Sonny? Why can’t I have that?”

“Have what? You got your way! The bastard is alive out there—planning his next attack—”

“And I’m locked up here. No guard. No driver. No nanny to care for Morgan, so I can’t leave unless I take him with me. No one to pick up Michael from school because you’re not going to do it—” Carly clenched her hands into fists at her side. “You promised me that I could have my life back yesterday, and you lied to me, Sonny.”

“I—” Sonny licked his lips. “I forgot,” he managed. “I just—when we found out about Caracas—I—I forgot. I sent everyone. I wanted him gone—I forgot,” he repeated. “And I thought—I thought I told you about Leticia.”

Carly stared at him for a long moment, then nodded. “All right. Today, I want you to pick up the phone and call someone home. I can’t keep borrowing Elizabeth’s guard. She has a life to live, and they can’t watch Morgan every day. You bring someone home, and you get me a list of nannies that I can hire to replace Leticia. I deserve to have a life, Sonny. If you don’t want to do either of those things, then you tell me now. I will call my mother, and she can come help me pack.”

Sonny nodded slowly. “All right. All right. I’ll—I’ll take care of it.”

“Fine. I’m going to check on Morgan.” Carly walked past him—then stopped at the bottom of the stairs. “It’s easier for you to blame Elizabeth because you know deep down, you can’t put me first. And you’re angry that Jason can do that for her. You can’t stand to look weak, Sonny, but I don’t think you know what it means to be strong.”

And without another word, she walked up the stairs.

Morgan Penthouse: Master Bedroom

Elizabeth wrinkled her nose as she fastened her necklace, meeting Jason’s eyes in the mirror of her vanity table. “I’m really not looking forward to the prep with Scott later,” she told him. “I wish I could skip it.”

Jason sat on the edge of the bed to put on his shoes. “Tell him you want to reschedule.”

She sighed, sorting through her collection of lipsticks. “I can’t. The hearing is next week, and Scott wants to take me through it at least twice. I told him I can’t do it—” Elizabeth hesitated. “I mean, there are a few things—I only want to say it once.”

She frowned at the bright red lipstick in her hand. She rarely ever wore this shade—and wasn’t entirely sure why she owned it.

“You okay?” Jason put his hands on her shoulders, his thumbs gently rubbing circles. “Tell Baldwin you’ll come another day—”

“I guess I’m just not—I know it’s important. I know I have to do a good enough job that the other attorney won’t call Mac or Taggert, but I just—” She sighed, tossing the red aside and reaching for a nude shade. “I wish it weren’t just me.”

“I’ll testify to what Baker told me,” Jason told her. “Tell Baldwin I don’t care—”

“No—” She turned on her stool and reached for his hand. “No. I love you, but that opens up a whole door that he doesn’t want. And the last thing you need is to testify in a federal hearing.”

“I don’t care about me—”

“I do.” She got to her feet, sliding her arms around his waist. “I’ll be fine. I’ll go to the appointment, and Scott will take care of everything. I trust him. With this, anyway.”

He kissed her forehead. “Well, I guess testifying would be hard to explain it to Sonny,” Jason admitted. “And I already have to talk to him about last night.”

“What are you going to say?” Elizabeth asked. She went over to the closet to tug out a pair of black flats. “I know he was struggling last summer—he was losing track of time a lot, but I thought you said it was better.”

“I thought it was.” Jason folded his arms. “Sonny doesn’t like to be weak. Or even for anyone to think he looks like he’s lost control. His whole life has been about building power. The only time he’s ever walked away from it was—”

“When he left Brenda at the altar,” Elizabeth finished. “I remember. She was so beautiful that day. And…devastated.” She grimaced. “Sorry, I know that’s not—I know that’s not a good memory for you.”

Jason shook his head, looked away. “I didn’t want to tell her like that. In front of everyone. She didn’t give me a choice.”

“She was just so sure of Sonny. I remember sitting in the pew with Lucky and his family, and Luke could tell something was wrong,” Elizabeth said. “But Brenda was just convinced Sonny would be there.” She sat on the bed. “Jason, if Sonny is having panic attacks—he thought Carly would be at the penthouse. Even after ignoring her calls all day — he was so sure that she’d be there. And when she wasn’t—he didn’t call her, Jason. Didn’t listen to her voicemails — or couldn’t remember anything she’d said to him. How do we deal with that?”

“I don’t know.” He sat next to her, took her hand in his, and squeezed it. “But I’ll make it clear to him. Carly gets a guard and a driver. And I’ll figure something out for Michael—” He frowned when he saw Elizabeth’s face. “What?”

“I know how much you love Michael. And I hope you know that I love him, too,” she added. “But if you keep digging Sonny—and Carly—out of these situations—they’re never going to stop expecting you to. Talk to Sonny, that’s fine. But—” Elizabeth bit her lip. “Never mind—”

“No—hey—” Jason turned her face towards him when she looked away from him. “Talk to me. What are you thinking?”

“What Sonny and Carly are arguing about—it’s the same argument they’ve been having since September. And nothing has changed. I just—I don’t know what good it’s going to do any of us for you to keep stepping into the middle of their marriage to mediate. I don’t blame Carly—Sonny is clearly not listening to her. Not respecting her. But that’s not something you can fix at the end of the day. If they can’t solve their problems on their own—” Elizabeth shrugged a shoulder. “Then what’s the point?”

Jason frowned slightly, then shook his head. “I’m not trying to fix their problems—”

“Carly asked Sonny to make sure she had everything she needed to go back to work yesterday. And he couldn’t—or wouldn’t—do it,” Elizabeth told him. “You and I stepped in to help because that’s what friends do. But nothing we do is ever going to fix what’s wrong. I just—I feel like you keep putting bandages on Sonny, keeping him moving until the next time he falls apart—”

“That’s not—” Jason stood up, his nostrils flaring, his mouth pinched. “That’s not what I’m doing—”

Elizabeth got to her feet. Shrugged. “Okay.”

“Elizabeth—”

“There’s no point in arguing with you about this,” she told him. “Whatever it is with Sonny and Carly—you’ve been doing it for years. And I guess it works for you.” She met his eyes. “So, okay. Fine.”

“I’m not arguing with you—”

“You asked me what I was thinking, then you got mad at me. You’re the one that told me that Sonny gets like this every few months. You’re the one that told me that Sonny getting like this last year—” She pressed her lips together. “It’s why you lied to me.”

Jason cleared his throat. “Things are different now—”

“Are they?” When he scowled, Elizabeth sighed. “I’m sorry. That’s not—that’s not fair. I know things are different. For you and me. But not for Sonny. Because it’s the same thing over and over again.”

“Sonny will get past this,” Jason told her. “We just have to—I just have to pay more attention—”

Since he wasn’t going to listen to her, Elizabeth nodded. “Okay—” Her cell phone began to vibrate. She walked over to the nightstand where her phone was charging, unplugged it, then flipped it open, grateful to have a reason to stop having this conversation. “Detective Taggert?”

“Elizabeth, hey. I know you’re meeting with Scott later today to prep for next week,” Taggert began. “I was wondering if you’d come over to the station afterward. There are a couple of things we need to go over.”

Elizabeth scratched her temple. “Yeah, sure. No problem. I don’t know how long the prep will be—”

“No worries. I’m here all day. Just give me a call when you’re done with Baldwin.”

“What does he want?” Jason asked as Elizabeth closed the phone and looked at him. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah, um—” She wrinkled her nose. “He wants me to stop by the PCPD after I meet with Scott. It’s probably some paperwork or something. I know Scott is making sure everything is in order before we go next week.”

“You want me to go with you?”

“No. It’s—it’s better if I do the prep alone,” Elizabeth told him. “And, like I said, it’s just paperwork. I need to get going anyway. I’m having breakfast with Gail before Scott’s meeting.” She kissed him lightly. “I’ll see you tonight when you get home—”

“Elizabeth—”

“I’m not getting in the middle of you, Sonny, and Carly,” she said when he gently held her back. “You know what I think, but they’re your family, and you know them better than I do. So—I’m sure you’ll do what they need you to.” She kissed him again. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

Gatehouse: Living Room

“Jax said the board almost had a collective heart attack when he gave them the leave of absence paperwork,” Alexis said with a snort as she sat down and opened up a folder. “And my partners have also agreed to let me out of the partnership to work with you—”

“I can’t thank you enough, Alexis, for doing this. You and Jax. Giving up your careers—” Ned said.

“Putting them on hold,” Alexis reminded him. “We’ll reassess in a year. You might honestly be ready for new faces by then. But we’re happy to pitch in for now. Oh—” She handed him a set of contracts. “Here’s Anna’s contract. She came to my office over the weekend.”

“Kind of symbolic that Mac’s last day is also Vinnie’s hearing,” Ned murmured as he took the contract, flipped through it.

“You know if Scott wins, there’s still another month before the deal can be executed—Vinnie probably won’t be sentenced until after Christmas—”

“As long as he stays in jail here and goes away for at least twenty-five years—” Ned scowled. “I can live with that. I’m just so angry that the federal court is entertaining this motion—that Elizabeth has to put all of this on her shoulders after what she went through—”

He glanced up at the sound of a knock on his door. “Come in!” he called, then frowned when Lois stepped in. Ned got to his feet. “Lois. I wasn’t expecting you—”

“Maybe I should have called,” Lois said with a sigh. “But when Taggert called—”

“Taggert?” Alexis got to her feet. “Is everything okay?”

“He wants to see us,” Lois told him. Her blue eyes darted back and forth. “I think it’s about the case. He said Elizabeth is coming in, too. But he wouldn’t tell me anything else—and he only told me that much because I badgered him.”

“Hey, I’m sure it’s okay.” Ned put an arm around her shoulder. “We’ll go in, and it’ll be fine.”

“I’m just really sick of meeting about this,” Lois muttered. She pressed her forehead to his chest. “I just want it over.”

Corinthos & Morgan Warehouse: Sonny’s Office

Jason was still troubled by the argument he and Elizabeth had had that morning. It was their first real argument in months, he realized, and he wasn’t satisfied by how it had ended. She’d just stopped arguing, and nothing had been resolved.

By the time Jason went into Sonny’s office to go over the reports from the clubs, he was still irritated—with himself and her for letting Sonny and Carly’s problems get between them.

Jason sat tensely through the meeting with Bernie and Tommy, tapping his fingers on the arm of the chair, contributing little. The clubs made money as fronts for gambling and bookies, and Tommy had been running them without fail for years.

In fact, very little of Jason’s job required him to be on site every day. He could have been with Elizabeth at her testimony prep or going with her to meet with Taggert. He hated her going through any of that alone—

“I’m sorry, are we boring you?” Sonny demanded, bringing Jason’s focus back to the meeting. “Or do you have somewhere else to be?”

“No. Was there anything you needed from me?” Jason asked Tommy, ignoring Sonny’s scowl. “Sounds like everything is fine.”

“It is. Uh—” Tommy flicked his eyes between Sonny and Jason, then got to his feet. “I’ll head over to the club. Talk to you later—”

“I need to meet with Justus about some customs snaggles.” Bernie got to his feet and also made his escape.

“What’s your problem?” Sonny demanded as Jason stood. “You didn’t show yesterday—”

“Yesterday, I was babysitting your kid because you fired Leticia,” Jason said flatly. “Or were you expecting me to abandon Carly, too?” He winced inwardly—that was more hostile than he’d planned to be about this whole thing, but Sonny was just sitting there like nothing had happened—

Like he always did after one of his breakdowns. Sonny hated losing control and always overcompensated when it was over—and Jason let him do it because he’d be fine for a while. It was how things got back to normal.

Jason exhaled slowly. Because Elizabeth was right. He just covered for Sonny until the next time.

“You’re telling me you’d be happy if Elizabeth went back to work eight seconds after having the kid?” Sonny got to his feet, started for the minibar—then stopped himself—maybe remembering it was barely ten in the morning. He went over to the fridge instead and pulled out a bottle of water.

“If the baby was healthy and she wanted to, why not? You think Carly loves Morgan less because she wanted to go back to the club?” Jason shook his head. “That’s not fair, Sonny. And if that’s why you did this—”

“I didn’t do it on purpose,” Sonny muttered. “I just—I thought I told her about Leticia. A-and I forgot. About the guards. I’m getting someone back from Caracas.” He looked over at him. “I bet Elizabeth is off doing whatever she wants—”

“She’s at the DA’s office going over her testimony for next week,” Jason said tightly. “I think she’d rather be at home.”

Sonny looked down. “I’m sorry. Carly told me about the hearing. I—I’m sorry,” he repeated, looking up. “I know it’ll be tough to watch her deal with that. To testify. Carly wants to go, show her support.”

“I’m sure Elizabeth will appreciate that. Sonny—Carly will be safe,” Jason told him. “She just wants to go to the club. The Cellar’s security system is state of the art. We made sure of that last year when she opened it. She’ll have a guard. You can’t keep her safe by locking her in that penthouse. Without an elevator key.”

“Look—you and Elizabeth—you get to make your own choices, okay? What works for you—what risks you want her to take—” Sonny shrugged. “That’s up to you. I just wish Elizabeth would stop making Carly think she can have things that she can’t—”

Jason scowled. “What? Like freedom? Are you serious—”

“Carly told me this morning—admitted it—that it was Elizabeth’s fucking idea to let Ric live—that Carly never would have asked if Elizabeth hadn’t done it first—” Sonny shook her head. “I told you—I told you all along that Elizabeth put it in her head—”

Jason closed his eyes, then dipped his head down, trying to fight the urge to snap back. He was tired of this argument—tired of saying the same things over and over again. To keep hearing Elizabeth blamed for all of this—

“Elizabeth never asked for it, Sonny.” Jason raised his head, met his eyes. “She didn’t—”

“Bullshit—then how did—”

“She told me she thought it would help her get past things, but that if it couldn’t happen, she’d understand. And if Carly didn’t want it—she’d do whatever Carly needed. It was up to me. If I hadn’t told Elizabeth it was possible, she would have understood. And yeah, I believe that Carly never would have asked for it first. I don’t know why you think that’s a good thing—”

“Because I told you last year that Elizabeth doesn’t understand this life,” Sonny retorted. “She left because of the lies you had to tell her—”

Jason clenched his fists, forcing himself to take another breath. “The lies you made me—” He shook his head. “No. The lies you told me to tell her. I shouldn’t have listened to you. She deserved better. From the both of us. She nearly got herself killed to save Carly’s life. To save Morgan’s life. And all she asked was that Ric rot in prison for what he did to her—”

“And how did that turn out for us?” Sonny demanded. “That lunatic is out there, and you’re still taking her side—”

“I will always take her side—” Jason looked up at the ceiling. “I’m not doing this anymore, Sonny. We’re not having this argument. It’s over. Carly wants to go back to work. I’m going to contact Francis myself to arrange a driver. If no one is available tomorrow, I’ll send Cody with her—”

“This isn’t your business to get in the middle of! She’s my wife—”

“And she’s my friend. I’m not going to let you lock her up.” Jason shook her head. “Not again. I risked everything to get her out of that panic room. The penthouse might have windows and doors, but you made it so she can’t use them. How the hell are you better than Ric?”

He stormed out of the office, slamming the door behind him.

PCPD: Squad Room

Elizabeth frowned when she saw Ned and Lois waiting by Taggert’s desk, and her steps slowed. How could this just be paperwork if they were here, too?

“Elizabeth—” Ned walked over to her, took her hands in his. “How was the prep with Scott?”

“Fine.” Terrible. She’d refused to go into detail about what had happened after Vinnie had attacked her, and Scott hadn’t pushed, but of course, it was back in her head. And now—now Taggert wanted to see them all—

“Do you know what this is about?” Lois asked. “Taggert wouldn’t tell us—”

“He wouldn’t tell me either—” Her eyes stung. Oh, God, what if there was something wrong with her case? With the whole case? What if Vinnie was going to go free now? What if he could come back—

“Jason—I was wondering where you were.”

Elizabeth blinked at Ned’s words and then turned to see Jason walking towards her. Relief flooded her veins as she blinked back tears. “Hey. I thought—I thought you were at work—”

“I was, but I was worried.” Jason put an arm around her shoulders, tugged her close. “You okay? What happened?”

“Nothing. I just got here, but I didn’t—” She looked at Ned and Lois. “I didn’t know they’d be here—”

“Hey, guys. Sorry—” Taggert strode down the hallway that connected the commissioner’s office to the squad room. “I’m running a minute or two late. Come on into the interrogation room—”

“Just tell us out here,” Lois demanded. “Why you puttin’ us through this—”

“I’m sorry—” Taggert hesitated. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset or worry anyone. The hearing is going forward—that’s still the plan. Elizabeth is still testifying. This is—please, just come in. Let’s talk.”

Elizabeth sighed but followed Ned and Lois into the room, squeezing Jason’s hand as they walked in. Elizabeth and Lois took two of the chairs while Ned and Jason remained standing. Taggert sat across from them, setting some papers on the table.

“I wanted to let you know in advance that Scott is calling a second witness,” he told them. “Dante Falconieri.”

Lois took a deep breath. “Why is he testifying?”

“Because after the arrest, Dante went to see him in lockup. And taped their conversation.”

“What?” Ned blinked. “And he didn’t tell anyone—”

“I think you’ll understand why Dante kept it to himself when you see—” Taggert paused. “It can’t be used as direct evidence because Vinnie had lawyered up. But it can be used to discredit any claim that Vinnie is being framed, which will help argue against civil rights violations. That’s how Scott is going to get it admitted into evidence.”

“Did he confess?” Elizabeth asked faintly. Oh, God—

“And then some. Now, since the hearing is public—and you and Brooke were both named publicly as victims—” Taggert leaned back. “The transcript might hit the media unedited—because it’s going into evidence that way. Scott and I—we wanted you to see the transcript in case that happens—”

“Why not play us the tape?” Ned demanded. “How bad is it?”

Taggert looked at him, met his eyes. “Trust me, Ned, you don’t want this in your head more than once. In fact, I don’t think any of you should be in the courtroom when this tape gets played. But it’ll be in the world, and I don’t want you to be surprised.”

He slid two sets of papers across the table, one to Lois and the other to Elizabeth. “You can read it or not, it’s up to you. But I wanted the choice to be yours.”

Elizabeth stared down at the paper, then slowly turned it over. She scanned the first few lines—

Why Brooke—

I thought it’d be like the first time—

Elizabeth shoved the paper away, putting her head in her hands. Oh, God. Oh, God—Her lungs started to burn as her breath became choppy.

“Elizabeth—” Jason knelt next to her, turning her chair out from the table. “Taggert—water—”

“Got it—”

“I can’t—” Elizabeth squeezed her eyes shut. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m okay. I just—I heard his voice in my head—five years, and I never knew what it really sounded like, but now I do—”

“Oh, God, Ned—” Lois’s voice was trembling. “He picked her because he knew—he knew her. Because he knew her. He’d watched her grow up, and that was—” She pressed a fist to her mouth, and Ned reached for the transcript as Taggert came back in, glasses of water in his hand. He set them in front of Lois and Elizabeth.

“He knew,” Lois said, shattered. “Oh, God, he knew she was—” She looked at Ned. “He knew our little girl—she hadn’t told me or you—but I knew—” She put her head on the table and just began to weep.

Jason handed Elizabeth the water, then reached for the transcript. She knew when he reached the section where Vinnie had talked about her because his fingers clenched around the paper, and his face went carefully blank.

High cut shorts, low cut—slutty red dress—

Jason finished the transcript, then set down the paper, slowly, calmly. But she could see his fingers trembling just slightly. “And this is going to be played in open court?” Jason asked Taggert. “Baldwin is going to let that—he’s going to let that—” He couldn’t continue speaking.

“If there’s any chance of keeping it admissible and on the record, Scott doesn’t want to put too many obstacles in his way.” Taggert met Jason’s eyes. “No one is happy about this, Morgan. But at the end of the day—”

“It corroborates my testimony,” Elizabeth said faintly. “He told me I was special. And he told Dante—” Her eyes burned as she turned away again. “He t-told him the same.”

Soul mate. He’d said the word soul mate.

“He targeted my daughter because he thought if he knew the woman—it would make it better—” Ned, ashen, leaned against the wall, looking for support. “Because he knew she was a lesbian. Knew she’d never been with a boy.”

“He wanted to make sure she was a virgin,” Elizabeth said, closing her eyes. “God—”

“How long was he planning it? Did he just—did he keep following her until she went to the park?” Lois demanded. “Or was it—”

“He must have been so happy when she went to that fountain,” Elizabeth said numbly. “Petite brunette that he was familiar with—a virgin—going to that same fountain—God, it was the closest he was going to get—” Her stomach rolled. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry—”

“It’s okay, sweetie.” Lois turned to her, taking Elizabeth’s hands in hers. “I know you never wanted this for anyone. He’s sick, and don’t you pay any attention to any of that trash he said about you—or my baby. He’s nothing. Do you hear me?”

Elizabeth nodded but couldn’t speak. She looked at Jason, met his eyes, and he straightened. “We’re going,” he told Taggert. “Is there anything else?”

“No,” Taggert said. “No. I’m sorry—”

“I appreciate the warning,” Lois said as she stood up. She put out her hands as if reaching for Elizabeth—to help her stand, to support her, but Jason already had it under control. He put an arm around her waist to steady her. They walked out of the room, leaving her copy of the transcript on the table.

Taggert watched them go, then turned back to Ned and Lois. “I’m sorry,” he repeated. “Not for—but that he said those things. And that the world gets to know them. If this is how you found out about Brooke’s sexuality—”

“I knew,” Lois repeated. “I was just waiting for her to tell me. But she never did. And now—” She pressed a fist to her chest. “Now, she never will.”

“If Scott has to play this next week, then he damn well better win. My daughter is dead. This animal traumatized her so much she couldn’t live with herself,” Ned bit out. “And I am done watching him get the chance to torment Elizabeth.” He put an arm around Lois. “Let’s get out of here.”

Morgan Penthouse: Living Room

“I’m okay,” Elizabeth told Jason again as she handed him her coat. “It was just—the shock of the transcript—the words—”

Jason wasn’t convinced—her face was still pale, her hands still shaking. “Maybe I should call Monica—”

“Jason—” Elizabeth’s tone turned impatient. “I’m okay. I wasn’t expecting it, but—” She took a deep breath. “I just need a minute. Okay? I’m home. I’m safe. Why don’t you go talk to Carly? I didn’t get the chance to check on her today, and I know she wasn’t going to work.”

Jason pressed his lips together, remembering her criticism that morning about getting between Sonny and Carly. He didn’t want to go take care of them when she clearly needed him — “Elizabeth—”

Elizabeth leaned up to kiss him briefly, her lips trembling against his. “I love you. And thank you for being there today. I don’t think I could have done it without you. But I really just need a minute, okay?”

“Okay.” Jason cupped her chin, kissed her one more time. “I’ll be back.”

He found Carly upstairs in Morgan’s room, rocking the baby to sleep. “Hey,” Carly said, with a smile for him, her voice pitched slightly softer. “You’re home early.”

“Elizabeth had to go to the PCPD,” Jason said, leaning against the door frame. “There’s a new witness—on Scott’s side,” he added when Carly’s eyes widened. “Vinnie’s cousin works for the department—Dante Falconieri—he was one of the cops that worked your case, but I don’t know if you remember him.”

“The name is familiar—”

“He taped a conversation with Vinnie after the arrest. It was—” Jason exhaled slowly, feeling the helpless rage flood his veins again. “It was graphic.”

Carly wrinkled her nose. “Oh, man—”

“Taggert wanted to warn Elizabeth, Ned, and Lois because they’re playing the tape next week. We didn’t listen to the tape—the transcript was enough.”

“I’m surprised you’re not with Elizabeth.” Carly got to her feet to lay Morgan down in his bassinet. “Was she okay?”

Jason followed her down the hallway to the stairs. “Yeah,” he said. “But she wanted to be alone for a while.”

Carly sat on the sofa, putting her elbow on the back of the sofa, and resting her head in her hand. “And she sent you over to check on me?”

“I talked to Sonny this morning.”

“Me too.” Carly sighed, pressed the heel of her hand against her eyes. “It was like talking to a brick wall. He doesn’t get it, Jason.”

“He doesn’t want to get it.” Jason leaned back against the sofa, staring straight ahead. “We’re still having the same argument about letting Ric live, and it’s—it’s not the point. Yeah, if Ric were dead, we wouldn’t be in this position. But he’s not.”

“I’m sorry,” Carly said. “I think I got Elizabeth in more trouble this morning—he wanted to blame her—he’s always blamed her for this whole thing with the trial—and I gave him ammunition. I didn’t mean it—” She winced when Jason just looked at her. “Which I guess Sonny already used against you. I don’t—it’s not like she made me want the same thing—”

“Carly, I get it,” Jason told her gently. “And I told you in the hospital—Elizabeth has always said if it can’t happen that way, she would understand. But I don’t want her to have to understand something like this. She went through—” He shook his head. “Months of being drugged. Of being manipulated. He attacked her, nearly killed her—” He exhaled on a long breath. “And you were trapped in a room, in the dark, for over a week. Threatened with death every day—screaming for us to find you—”

Jason stopped for a minute, then looked at Carly. “Elizabeth still has nightmares. Not as much as she did in the beginning. But she still has them. Do you?”

“Yes,” Carly admitted softly. “More now since he disappeared. Jason, I told Sonny he had one more chance to let me live my life—to get back to work—but I’m not—” She stared at her rings. “I think if he hadn’t had that panic attack, I would have packed up and left last night.”

“I know.”

“We’ve been doing this for years,” she continued softly. “Patching him up, getting over a rough spot—but all it’s doing is pushing the problem down the road. And here we are—again—talking about how Sonny just doesn’t get it. He either can’t or won’t try to see it from my point of view.”

Carly sat up. “Elizabeth came over the day she found out about the hearing. I could tell she was upset, but she’d already figured out how to fight back. She’s been fighting back since this happened. Going to therapy—” Carly looked at him. “That press conference—it was hard to see her as the same woman I watched on the screens in the panic room.”

“She’s worked hard—”

“And I know that’s true, but I also think—” Carly bit her lip. “I think she’s closer to being past this than I am. And I don’t think that’s just because our traumas were different or that hers lasted longer. Not only did she deal with Ric, but her rapist attacked her—again—and she’s still out there. Leading a damn support group—and she can do that—she can go out there and keep fighting because of you.”

“That’s not—”

“Because she has someone she can count on. Who gets her. Who listens. Who values her.” Carly closed her eyes, took a deep breath. “She can fall apart and be honest about what’s messing her up, about her nightmares, about her worries and fears—she could tell you that she is so scared that Sonny’s right—that Ric is out there, and he might come back and—”

Carly wiped at her tears. “I can’t tell Sonny how scared I am. There’s no room for me. For my fears. He is swallowing me whole, Jason. And I don’t know how to stop it. Because if I leave him, I’m not sure he’ll be okay. With Ric out there like this—I think leaving would make things worse.”

“Carly, I don’t want you to worry about any of that—” Jason took her hand. “If you want to go, I’ll take care of it—”

“I still love him,” Carly told Jason. “I just—I think sometimes he’s so scared of being powerless, of being that little boy in the closet—there’s no room for anyone else. If I left and he did something to hurt himself or someone else, I’d never forgive myself.”

Jason waited a long moment, then nodded. “Okay. But if you change your mind—”

“You’ll be my first call.”

Morgan Penthouse: Studio

“Hey.”

Elizabeth glanced up from her charcoal sketch to find Jason in the doorway of the room they’d recently finished converting to a studio. “Hey. How’s Carly?”

“Not great.” Jason crossed over to the small sofa under the windows and sat on the arm, watching her work. “Was I gone long enough?”

“Yeah. Sorry.” She bit her lip, set the charcoal down, and twisted on her stool. “If it’s okay, I don’t really want to talk about it tonight.”

“Okay,” he said simply. He stared at her for a long moment until Elizabeth wrinkled her nose.

“What? Did I get something on my face—”

“No—I just—” Jason shook his head. “This morning. You were right. Carly and I just keep patching Sonny up for the next time. Because there’s always a next time.” He looked out the window. “She’s not ready to give up yet, but I told her when she is—”

“That’s all I guess we can do.” Elizabeth tipped her head to the side. “Did you talk to Sonny today?”

“Yeah. He’s—he’s not going to listen to me right now. He blames me for all of it. For letting Ric live, for taking Carly’s side—” Jason got to his feet, then cupped her jaw in his hand. “I’m sorry. I should have listened to you this morning—”

“You did,” Elizabeth told him. “You just didn’t want to agree with me. That’s okay. We’re going to fight sometimes. I’m just—” She smiled, even though she didn’t really feel like it. “I’m not going to pack up and leave, and you’re not going to let me.”

“No.” He tipped his head. “It’s still early—if you’re feeling okay—you want to take the bike out?”

Her smile was more genuine this time. “Yeah. That sounds great. Might as well since I won’t be able to much longer. Let me just wash my hands.”

Standing in a crowded room and I can’t see your face
Put your arms around me, tell me everything’s okay
In my mind, I’m running round a cold and empty space
Just put your arms around me, tell me everything’s okay
Break my bones but you won’t see me fall
The rising tide will rise against them all
– Hold My Hand, Jesse Glynne

---

Monday, December 1, 2003

Corinthos Penthouse: Living Room

“I don’t know where Leticia could be,” Carly said. She switched her phone from one ear to the other as she slid her feet into her flats. “Mama—”

“I can see if Lucas can come over to watch the boys,” Bobbie said, but her tone was doubtful as Carly grimaced, looking around the penthouse. Sonny had already left for the warehouse before she woke up, which meant Max wasn’t on the door.

“No, it’s okay. He said at Thanksgiving he had finals starting this week, and I don’t want him to hate me more than he already does. I’ll figure something out. Maybe I can take Morgan with me today.” She wasn’t really set up for that yet, but she could make it work if she needed to.

“Let me know if you need anything.”

Carly hung up her phone and tried Leticia’s number again—still no answer. Wondering if maybe she was stuck in traffic, she decided to go ask Jason who Sonny had assigned to her.

She fought the urge to scowl when Jason let her into the penthouse because they were having the kind of morning she’d once enjoyed with Sonny. Last spring before it had all crumbled to dust. Elizabeth was lounging on the sofa, her legs up with a plate of food in her lap. Jason’s coffee was on the table, so he’d been sitting with her.

She could really learn to hate the two of them.

“Hey, Carly,” Elizabeth said as Jason closed the door. “What’s up—”

“I only have a minute,” Carly said. She gestured at the monitor in her hand. “Morgan is still sleeping, but Leticia didn’t show, and she’s not answering her phone.”

“I’ll come over to your place,” Jason told her.

“I’ll come with you,” Elizabeth said, getting to her feet.

Irritated that her first morning back in the real world wasn’t going according to her plan, Carly returned to the other penthouse, Jason, and Elizabeth on her heels.

“I came over to find out who Sonny arranged to drive me today. He said Rocco was reassigned, and I didn’t need a new one until today. I called down, but they didn’t know what I was talking about.” She looked at Jason, who frowned at her. Over the monitor, she heard Morgan stirring.

Damn it.

“I’ve got him,” Elizabeth promised. “You guys get this sorted out.”

She disappeared up the stairs while Carly looked at Jason and asked the question that had been lurking in her mind since she’d woken up to find that Sonny had already left.

“He never hired her back, did he?” she asked softly.

“I don’t—” Jason winced. “I don’t know. I meant to check, but then—I thought—” He sighed. “I can track her down—”

“And the guards downstairs don’t know what I’m talking about because Sonny never arranged new security.” She bit her lip, folded her arms, and looked down at the ground, tears stinging her eyes.

This was supposed to be her first day at work, her first day leaving the penthouse in nearly a month. Hadn’t she sacrificed enough already? She kept giving and giving, hoping it would be enough, but it never was—

And now she was trapped in this room again. Locked up. Unable to leave. Sonny had never given her a key to the elevator. Everyone else had one, but it wouldn’t move without the key. She couldn’t leave without one unless she took the stairs.

Fifteen flights.

Trapped. She was trapped. Just like before.

Just like—

“Carly—” Jason said softly, breaking into her thoughts. “I’ll make some calls—”

“Sonny will just get mad at you,” Carly said, her voice breaking. “I don’t want—I don’t want to cause any more problems.” She looked around at the penthouse. “He never meant to keep his promise, did he?”

“I don’t know,” Jason admitted. “I guess I just assumed—” He took a deep breath and went across to the landline. He picked it up, dialed. “Hey. Mike, who do we have that can take Carly today? She’s going back to work—” He waited, then winced. “Okay. Yeah, thanks.” He put the phone back on the hook, looked back at her. “Sonny, ah, sent a few extra guards to Puerto Rico over the weekend.”

“A few?” Carly asked.

“Anyone who wasn’t assigned here,” Jason said. “He didn’t—” He looked away. “He didn’t tell me.”

“I can’t leave without a key anyway,” Carly said. She closed her eyes. Trapped. Never getting out. Never leaving—

“She can take Cody,” Elizabeth said from the bottom of the stairs, Morgan cradled against her chest. She walked towards them. “Cody has a key,” she told Carly. “And Jason will get you one. Won’t you?” Elizabeth turned to Jason, who didn’t even hesitate.

“By the time you come home.”

“Won’t you need Cody?” Carly asked, her spirits slightly buoyed. “Won’t—Sonny made sure I couldn’t go—won’t he be mad—”

“Cody is my guard, isn’t he?” Elizabeth hesitated. “If it’s okay with him, I’ll take the heat. I will,” she insisted when Jason just frowned at her. “I can just say you didn’t know, and I didn’t think it’d be an issue. Because it’s not—”

“You’re not going to lie to Sonny, Elizabeth,” Jason said, a little exasperated. “I don’t need to be protected.”

“But—” Carly began.

“I was staying in today anyway,” Elizabeth said. “And I’ll watch Morgan if you want. I need the practice anyway.” She bounced the infant slightly. “We’ll have one of these in five months.”

Jason stared at Morgan as if the thought had just occurred to him. “Uh—”

“Go to work, Carly,” Elizabeth told her. “Jason will help me get whatever Morgan needs, and we’ll get something set up at the penthouse. He’ll pick up Michael.” She looked at Jason. “Go tell Cody.”

He frowned at her but couldn’t find a reason to argue, so he left the penthouse. Carly cleared her throat. “Thanks. I mean, for—for offering to cover with Sonny. I really don’t want to make things worse, and I know Jason and Sonny are already arguing all the time about this stuff—”

“Some things are worth the argument. Jason just doesn’t want me to get in a yelling match with Sonny.” Elizabeth looked at Carly. “Are you okay?” she asked softly. “You look pale, and your breathing—it’s a little shallow. Are you—” She hesitated. “Are you having an episode?”

Carly wanted to snap at her, wanted to scream—but she knew Elizabeth was asking from a place of experience. Knew that Elizabeth had also battled acute stress disorder and could likely recognize the signs.

“I don’t want to,” Carly said, not willing to say yes. “It’s over. I made it over. I fixed it. I’m okay. This isn’t the same.”

“No, it’s not the same.” Elizabeth reached out with her free hand to gently squeeze Carly’s hand. “And you’re leaving in a minute. Jason will make it okay.”

“He always makes it okay.” Her lungs expanded, and Carly drew in her first easy breath as Jason returned with Cody in tow. He handed Carly a key. “This is my copy of the elevator key,” he told her as Carly accepted it. “I’m staying in with Elizabeth—”

“You have work—” Elizabeth protested.

“And you just gave your guard to Carly,” Jason reminded her simply. He looked back at Carly. “Cody has a key, but now you have one of your own. You can leave at any time.”

Because she knew Jason saw more than she wanted him to, Carly just nodded and looked at the guard behind Jason. “Thank you. I promise you won’t get into any trouble for this.”

“Not a problem, Mrs. C. Jason said it was all squared away. You heading over to The Cellar?” Cody asked.

“Yes.” Carly smiled, even it was a tremulous one. She clenched her hand around the key in her hand, clutching it the way she might cling to a piece of wood in the middle of the ocean. “I’m going to work.”

PCPD: Interrogation Room

“Hey, man, what’s up?” Cruz looked around the room, confused. “Why are we meeting here?”

“Because I wanted to just talk with the three of you,” Taggert said entering the room behind Cruz and closing the door behind him. He nodded at Cruz, and at Dante and Lucky already seated at the table. “We’re going to Syracuse next week for the hearing. Mac will be with us.”

“All of us can go?” Cruz asked, furrowing his brow. “Is that okay?”

“For a few hours, yes. Mac wants to make sure the PCPD’s best and brightest are in the room when U.S. Attorney argues we’re corrupt. Mac has been subpoenaed, and I’m on Scott’s list.” Taggert hesitated. “But hopefully I won’t have to testify. Because Scott’s got two witnesses that should shut everything down.”

“Two?” Lucky repeated, with a frown. He looked at Dante who was staring at the table. “Dante?”

“I’m testifying,” Dante said, grimly. He took a deep breath, looked at his fellow rookies. “Elizabeth and me.”

“You? How—why?” Cruz shook his head. “That doesn’t make sense. About what?”

“Play it for them,” Taggert said softly, so Dante took out his audio recorder, set it on the table, then pressed play.

“Hey, cuz. Bad day?”

“Go to hell.”

Lucky stared at the machine. “Is that you—and—”

“Just found out my cousin is a dirty cop who brutally raped seven women that we know of, so I don’t know, I kind of think I’m already there. Why Brooke?”

“What? What?”

“You knew her. You went to her Communion. Her birthday parties. She and the Cerullos—they’re family. Why Brooke?”

“You really wanna know? I mean, Dante, if you really wanna know, I’ll tell you.”

“Yeah, Vin. I really wanna know.”

“I thought it would be like the first time.” Vinnie’s voice turned slightly wistful. “You know the first time you’re with a girl, and it’s everything you pictured? Everything you fantasized about? I kept trying to figure out why it was never right.”

“That’s what you always told them. It was never right.”

“You didn’t know Elizabeth back then. You should get some pictures.” Vinnie laughed, a slow, smooth chuckle like they were trading stories in a bar. “She was hot. I saw her when she first moved here that summer. High cut shorts, low cut tops. Oh, man. She had a way of smiling at you—”

“She was sixteen, you fucking piece of—” Lucky broke off, shoved out of his chair as the tape continued.

“Why didn’t you just ask her out?”

“Thought about it. But I figured her old bat of a grandmother wouldn’t like it. Would tell her no. I’m not that much older than her, but you know how some bitches are about that shit.”

“That doesn’t explain Brooke—”

“For months, I followed her around, waiting for an opening. Hoping she’d look at me, that she’d give me that smile—but that night at the movies—I saw her dress. She wanted it, man. Dressed in that slutty red dress, mmm….”

“Get to Brooke—”

“I thought about going after Elizabeth again. Followed her a couple of times, but she never went anywhere alone at dark again.”

“You were right,” Cruz breathed, looking at Lucky’s grim, pale face. “He did stalk her.”

“So, I tried to find someone else. Someone who looked like her. I followed them, just like her. They had her hair—and you know, if they stopped at the fountain—it was a sign that it was meant to be.”

Vinnie sighed, almost sadly. “But it was never right. They never smelled right. Their hair never felt right against my skin. I thought…I thought maybe I had to know her. I had to want her. When I saw Brooke at the theater, I saw her go into the park, and man, I just knew it would be right. I knew it would feel good. And I knew I’d be her first. That would make it special. Like it was with Elizabeth.”

“How’d you know—How’d you know you’d be—”

“I caught her once with the Graziano girl. She was a lesbo. Never drove stick, you know? Maybe part of me wanted to make her understand what she’d been missing—”

Cruz’s head snapped over to Dante. “What?”

“I read her statement, Vinnie. You beat her. Like the others.”

“Brooke—I figured out what I’d been doing wrong with Brooke. All those girls—it didn’t matter if they were virgins. If they stopped at the fountain. If they were young or brunette. Valentine’s Day didn’t work. Even if I knew them. It would never be right. It would never be as good as the first time. It needed to be her.”

“So that’s why you went back. Why you went after Elizabeth Webber.”

“She’s my soul mate.” Vinnie sighed happily. “She doesn’t understand that yet. But she will. One day. Sorry about Brooke. I should have figured it out a long time ago. That’s on me.”

“Yeah.” Dante’s voice was barely above a whisper. “Yeah, that’s on you.”

The tape clicked to a stop as Cruz let his head drop to the table, trying to take it in while Lucky, across the room, had his fists clenched. “When did you make that tape?” he demanded.

“After the plea agreement, before he was moved to the County lockup.” Dante looked at his best friend. “I didn’t—I couldn’t say anything. I couldn’t think about it. I didn’t want to. I just wanted him to disappear. No one needed to hear it. He’d made the deal—”

“Is this even admissible?” Cruz asked dully. He lifted his head, focused on Taggert. “He had a lawyer—”

“Vinnie never invoked. He kept talking, and you’ll note that Dante didn’t push beyond a few questions, and the entire conversation sounds like two people who know each other. Dante walked in there as Vinnie’s cousin, Brooke’s friend.”

“Still—”

“It’s not being used as evidence of his guilt, but evidence that he wasn’t framed. Scott intends to use it to impeach any statement made to suggest the PCPD wanted to scapegoat Vinnie.” Taggert met Dante’s eyes. “Because that tape makes it very clear no one wanted it to be Vinnie Esposito. And he freely admitted his crimes. He was proud of them.”

“Brooke’s parents,” Cruz asked. He cleared his throat. “Do they know?”

“About the statement or Brooke?” Dante asked. “Neither. I don’t think. My mother thinks Lois suspected.” He looked at Lucky. “Elizabeth doesn’t know either.”

“I’ll warn her,” Taggert said. “She shouldn’t hear that for the first time in open court. And I’ll get in contact with Ned and Lois.”

Dante sighed. “I’m sorry for not telling you guys—”

“I don’t care about that,” Lucky bit out. “I’m sorry you had to live with it. I’m sorry that he’s your cousin, and that you have to testify, but damn it—” He met Dante’s eyes. “I’m glad you did it. He can’t run from this. And—” He swallowed. “We wanted to know why. Now we know.”

“Now we know,” Dante repeated.

Morgan Penthouse: Living Room

Jason placed the phone back on the hook and looked at Elizabeth as she lifted Morgan from the sofa after changing his diaper. “Carly’s on her way up—”

“Oh, man—” Michael scowled from his position sprawled on his stomach, a Playstation controller in his hands. “I don’t wanna stop playing—tell Mommy I’m not going home yet—”

Elizabeth smirked and walked over to Jason at the desk, handing him the baby. “I guess that answers my question about why we have a collection of video games.”

“Sonny doesn’t like them, so Carly keeps them here,” Jason said simply. He adjusted Morgan in his arms, holding him higher against his chest. “You still got time, buddy,” he told Michael. “Mommy and I have to talk about some things when she gets here.”

Michael pumped his fist in the air and returned his attention to his game. Elizabeth leaned against the desk, folding her arms. “I’m surprised Sonny didn’t call all day,” she said.

“I’m not.” Jason started to walk towards the sofa, then turned and walked back towards the door, the slow, steady movement soothing Morgan as he drifted into another light doze. She smiled, watching him. He glanced over. “What?”

“Nothing. Just like watching you with him. Why aren’t you surprised?” she asked.

“Because Sonny knows what I’d say to him.” Jason paused. “Carly said she called him a few times this morning—before and after she went to work. He never picked up.”

Elizabeth exhaled slowly. “What do you think she’s going to do? I mean, she moved back in to make Sonny’s life easier. To make your life easier. And—” She glanced over at Michael, lowering her voice a bit more. “This morning—she just seemed so sad.”

“I know.” Jason was quiet for a moment. “Whatever she needs, I’ll make it happen.”

“I know you will.”

There was a light knock on the door, then Carly pushed it open. “Hey.” She stepped inside. “Where are my guys?”

“Mommy!” Michael paused his game, then ran over to hug her tightly. “Uncle Jason picked me up today! Can he pick me up every day?”

“Probably not, Mr. Man, but maybe we can do another day sometime.” Carly kissed the top of his head, then gratefully took Morgan from Jason. “Hey, baby boy. How was he?”

“Good as gold,” Elizabeth said. “Thanks for letting him hang out with us all day. Um, Jason and I were gonna do pizza or something for dinner. Do you want to hang out? Michael can get more video time in.”

“Sure, yeah. Um, I’m not really looking forward to Sonny coming home,” Carly said. She smiled grimly. “And I guess we should talk about it,” she said to Jason.

“Yeah. We’ll go upstairs,” Jason told Elizabeth. “Get whatever you want from the pizzeria.” He gestured with his head for Carly to follow him. She handed the baby back to Elizabeth, who went over to the sofa with Michael.

“Thank you again for today,” Carly said when they reached the top of the stairs. “Not just watching the boys—Michael loves being with you, so that was great. But just—for Cody and the key—” She turned to face him in the hallway. “I don’t know what I would have done.”

“Carly—”

“Have you guys picked what room you want for the baby?” Carly asked. She walked down the hallway again, glancing into some of the open guest rooms. “Or are you just going to use the room across the hall from the master?”

“Across from ours,” Jason said as she went into the room. “Carly—”

“It’s got a great view of the harbor—I like our penthouse, but I wish we had this corner of the building sometimes. To see out over the lake—” Carly stood at the window, looking out. The room was still bare—Jason had never put any furniture in here, and the windows had no curtains.

The sun had already started to dip below the horizon, but the view of Lake Ontario stretched out, disappearing into the distance. “Carly,” he tried again. “I think we need to talk about what happened.”

“I think the view of downtown makes me feel confined,” Carly said as if he’d never spoken. “The Brownstone—my room there is on the first floor in the back—you know, Mama’s got a great yard, and there’s a lot of trees—” She closed her eyes. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do,” she said finally. She turned to look at him. “We had an agreement. I’d go back to work. I’d get my life back. He had three weeks to find Ric while I stayed inside.” She paused. “Were you able to find out about Leticia?”

“Yeah. I made some calls. She—she took another job. She said she was sorry to leave, but she’d already signed a contract—Sonny tried to get her back, Carly. But it was too late.”

“I guess it was too much to hope.” Carly rubbed her arm lightly. “Okay. Well, I’ll—I’ll figure something out. Thanks.” She met his eyes. “I don’t know what I’m going to do. I’ll talk to Sonny and see what happens.”

Corinthos Penthouse: Living Room

It was almost five before Sonny finally ventured home that day. He’d ignored Carly’s calls all day, knowing if something was wrong that Jason would have called him. He was sure that Carly would be angry, but he could deal with her anger. He just wanted her to be safe. He wanted her where he could always find her.

They’d get Ric soon, Sonny was sure of it, and then they could talk about life afterward, but Sonny wasn’t going to be weak like Jason. Wasn’t going to let a woman tell him how to do the job. Carly was in danger, and he was going to protect her.

He’d failed her once. He wouldn’t do it again.

He walked inside the penthouse, bracing himself. “Carly?” he called. “I’m home.”

There was no callback, no angry yell, no huffing or exasperated wife. No sounds of his children at all.

A strange feeling crawled up Sonny’s back as he stepped towards the stairs. “Carly?” he called, raising his voice even louder. “Michael? Hey—let’s—” Panic licked at the back of his throat. Still no answer. Carly might be giving him the silent treatment, but Michael wouldn’t.

He wouldn’t do that.

Sonny jogged up the stairs, telling himself that Michael was playing a game, that Carly was just angry. “Let’s order pizza for dinner, buddy!” he called, shoving open Michael’s door.

His room was empty, the bed made that morning, and his toys spilling out of the box in the corner. “Michael?” he repeated.

He was striding more quickly now, towards Morgan’s nursery. Surely his infant son was sleeping. Maybe Carly and Michael were with him in his room—maybe it’d be okay—that was it. They were all quiet in Morgan’s room because he was sleeping, and Sonny didn’t want to wake him up either.

He shoved open the door to the nursery.

No wife sitting in the rocking chair. No child playing on the floor. No baby in the crib.

“Lose something?”

Beads of sweat breaking out on his forehead, Sonny whirled around, and his heart seized. In the shadows of the hallway, just outside the master bedroom, leaning against the door in that pink dress she’d worn that night…

Lily smiled at him, tipping her head to the side. “Lose your wife again?”

Morgan Penthouse: Living Room

“Hey, ‘Lizabeth, is there more pizza?” Michael asked as he abandoned his Playstation controller on the ground and leaned over the coffee table, peering into the box. “Do we gots pepperoni?”

“Have,” Carly corrected. “You can have one more slice—”

“Two,” Michael said, flashing his mother a grin. “Uncle Lucas says men work up appetites playing games.”

“Uncle Lucas,” Carly muttered as Michael nipped both slices out of the box and slapped them on his plate. Then he settled himself on the floor again.

Elizabeth wrinkled her nose when Jason emerged from the kitchen, a glass of water in one hand while the other was clenched into a fist. “Already?” she sighed as Jason handed her the glass, then dropped two pills into her hand.

“Every night, same time,” Jason reminded her. He sat next to them on the sofa and took the last slice of cheese.

“They taste like chalk,” she muttered, but she slipped them between her lips, then drank the water.

Carly opened her mouth to ask, but Michael beat her to it. “You sick, ‘Lizabeth?” he asked. “Why you got pills?”

“I have to take pills every day to make sure my lungs don’t get clogged up again,” Elizabeth told him. “They keep my blood healthy.”

“Oh. Good.” Not interested in anymore, Michael immersed himself in his game and pizza.

“You’re still on blood thinners?” Carly frowned. “How long do you have to take those?”

“Well, most of the time, you can stop them after three months—which would have been in October, but with the baby—” Elizabeth settled her hand over the curve of her belly, which was slightly larger now than it had been a few weeks ago. “Kelly and Monica are concerned about clots.”

“Oh. Yeah, I guess—I forgot.” Carly glanced at Jason, whose expression was pinched. “But things are fine, right?”

“Yeah,” Elizabeth said. “Everything looks great.” She looked over at Jason, tapped his cheek with her index finger. “Kelly and Monica said everything looked great last month, remember? And Monica just saw me on Thanksgiving. She made me do my blood pressure right after dinner.”

“It was high,” Jason muttered.

“At the high end of the normal range,” Elizabeth said. Carly lifted her brows—it was the first time she’d seem them do anything even close to argue, and she wondered if Elizabeth was being too glib or if Jason was too worried.

“Well, I’m glad you’re feeling better—” Carly said. She grimaced, looking at the clock. “I should probably get the boys home. Thanks for dinner.”

“Any time. We had fun with them today,” Elizabeth told her.

“And thank you for tracking Leticia down,” Carly said to Jason. “I’m sorry that she took another job, but at least I can contact her and apologize.” She looked at Michael. “You almost ready to go?”

“Not yet, Mom, I gotta kill the boss, and I still gots pizza—” Michael scowled. “I died. Damn it.”

“Michael!” Carly hissed. She glared at Jason. “Where did he hear that language?”

“Have you met you?” Jason asked with a squint.

Carly poked him in the arm, then looked at Michael. “Fine, Michael, but we’re leaving in ten minutes.”

Corinthos Penthouse: Upstairs Hallway

Sonny shook his head. “Not here. You’re not—” He cleared his throat. “You’re not here.”

Lily’s smile faded, and her lips curved into a pout instead. “You don’t want me here? You never wanted me. You didn’t love me.”

“No, that’s not—” Sonny reached out to touch her, to reassure her, but then he fell into the door, blinking.

He turned around. She wasn’t behind him. She wasn’t anywhere.

Sonny took a deep breath. She wasn’t there. She was dead, and he was fine. And Carly was inside. Of course she was. All three of them. Maybe taking a nap.

He pushed open the bedroom door, quietly this time. This was the last place they could be, and he knew he didn’t want to wake them—

But the bedroom was empty, the bed neatly made. Sonny stared at it, as if not computing the scene in front of him. Carly wasn’t here. But she had to be here. She couldn’t leave. He’d made sure she couldn’t leave. He’d done everything right to keep her safe.

No nanny. No driver. No key. Carly couldn’t go somewhere and get hurt because Sonny had made it impossible for her to leave. She was safe.

He just—he hadn’t looked everywhere.

The kitchen! They were in the kitchen! That had to be it. Maybe they were planning a surprise—Carly loved surprises—Of course!

Sonny rushed down the hallway, his breath ragged, his hair falling into his eyes as he started down the stairs. He tripped and stumbled down the last few stairs, hitting the wall against the landing with a hard thud.

He stumbled to his feet, but then almost fell down the second flight of stairs, all but limping by the time he reached the kitchen. “Carly! Carly! Michael!”

But the lights were off, the counters clear, the stove cold.

Sonny stood in the dark, then swallowed, flipping the light switch. On the island in the middle of the kitchen sat Lily, his dead wife, perched on the edge, one leg over the other, her pink dress taunting him.

“Not here either,” Lily told him with a sigh. “Poor Sonny. Lost his family all over again.” She wagged a finger at him. “You’re not allowed to have a family. Can’t protect them.”

Sonny closed his eyes. “Not here. Not here. Not crazy,” he told himself. “Not crazy.”

“Couldn’t protect me,” Lily’s voice floated through his consciousness. “Let me die. Let our baby die. How many children did you try until you got a living one? Third time’s the charm? Guess not!”

He opened his eyes, and to his dizzying relief, she was gone. He was alone in the kitchen. Alone.

“Mi hija.”

Sonny turned, his heart thudding so loudly in his ears he could hear it. Sweat trickled down his back, beneath his suit. Behind him stood the first woman he’d ever loved, the first one he’d lost—

The first one he’d hallucinated.

Adela Woods, with her soft, dark hair and sad eyes. “Mi hija. Are you lost?”

“Mami,” he managed. “You’re not—”

“They’re lost,” Adela said softly. “Always lost. I thought you’d do better this time. You always let me down.”

“Mami, no—” Sonny darted forward, but Adela was gone in a blink. His family was gone. He was alone.

Breathing hard, confused, and not sure what was real, Sonny lurched out of the kitchen and shoved his way into the living room, out into the hallway.

“Mr. C! What’s wrong?” Max said as Sonny lurched around the corner, saw Cody standing there.

He shoved at Jason’s door, shoved it open. “Carly’s gone, can’t find her,” he panted, and then fell on the ground, fell to his knees.

“Sonny—”

“Daddy!”

“Give him some room—”

Jason was already out of his seat, springing across the room as Elizabeth grabbed Michael before he could run for his father. Sonny was on his hands and knees, staring up at the floor, gasping for air.

Carly was pale, standing next to Elizabeth, clutching Morgan to her chest, her brown eyes wide with confusion and worry. “What’s wrong—”

“Jason—” Sonny clutched as Jason’s hand as he knelt next to him. “Can’t find them. Lost them. Lost them all—”

“It’s okay.” Jason pulled Sonny into a seated position. “Take a deep breath, Sonny. They’re here. They’re all here. They came here for dinner.” He looked at Elizabeth and Carly as if to warn them not to talk about Carly going to work that day. “They were here, okay? Come on, let’s look at them—”

“Daddy,” Michael said in a tiny voice, ducking behind Elizabeth.

“M-Michael.” Sonny took a deep breath, focused on him. Then on Carly, on Morgan in her arms. “You’re…you’re okay. I couldn’t find you. I looked—they said—but you’re here.” He struggled to his feet, closing his eyes. “I’m sorry.”

He shook his head as Jason and Carly traded looks that Elizabeth didn’t quite understand.

“I’m sorry,” Sonny repeated. “I panicked.”

“It’s okay,” Carly said, taking a deep breath, forcing a smile. “We were getting ready to come home. Michael, we scared Daddy. We should have left him a note.”

“I’m sorry, Daddy,” Michael managed. He sniffled, then crept forward until he was in front of his father. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“I’m okay,” Sonny told him, his breath hitching slightly. He looked at Jason. “I’m—I’m sorry.”

“No harm done,” Elizabeth said brightly. “Carly, why don’t you take the boys home? Sonny, Michael had a great day at school. Why don’t you tell him about it?”

“Okay, Daddy. We’ll go home, and I’ll show you my test,” Michael said, slipping his hand into his father’s hand.

“I’ll walk you guys over,” Jason said, flashing Elizabeth a grateful smile as he pulled open the penthouse door. “I’ll be right back.”

“Elizabeth—” Carly looked at her, letting her anxiety show. “What am I going to do?”

“I don’t know,” Elizabeth admitted, exhaling slowly. “We’ll figure that out. Let’s just get through this. Go on, take Morgan home. We’ll get him calmed down and—we’ll figure it out,” she repeated.

She remained behind as Carly left, Cody pulling the door closed behind her. Elizabeth busied herself cleaning up the remains of the dinner, putting together anything that needed to go across the hall.

It was nearly twenty minutes before Jason returned from the other penthouse. He came in, then leaned against the door, closing his eyes.

Elizabeth walked over to him, slid her arms around his waist, and rested her head against his chest. “What can I do?” she asked softly. His arms came around her shoulders, and he dropped his chin on her head.

“Nothing tonight,” he admitted. “I told Sonny that he must have forgotten Carly was supposed to back to work today, so I arranged for a driver tomorrow. He didn’t argue.”

“How long is that going to last?” she asked.

“I don’t know.” Jason kept his arm around her shoulders as they walked over to the sofa and sat down. “But he said he didn’t—he just had a panic attack. That it wasn’t like before. He seemed a bit embarrassed.”

“I’m glad it was just a panic attack.” She squeezed his hand, waited for Jason to meet her eyes. “We’ll find Ric, and it’ll be over. Right?”

“Right.” Jason drew her against him, knowing that neither of them believed it.

Sometimes it feels like they wanna remind me
Send all those villains after me
I’m not their hero
But that doesn’t mean that I wasn’t brave
I never walked the party line
Doesn’t mean that I was never afraid
I’m not your hero
But that doesn’t mean we’re not one and the same
– I’m Not Your Hero, Tegan and Sara

---

Thursday, November 27, 2003

Corinthos & Morgan Warehouse: Sonny’s Office

“Is this going to take long?” Justus asked Jason as they filed into Sonny’s office. “Tamika will kill me if I leave her alone at the Quartermaines too long.”

“I don’t know,” Jason said. He’d been unhappy when Sonny had insisted they all come to the warehouse today—he’d argued that they could meet at Sonny’s place, or even at Jason’s, but Sonny didn’t want either Carly or Elizabeth to overhear anything—and Jason wasn’t in the mood for that argument again.

“Johnny called,” Bernie told them as he nodded at Sonny. “Late last night. One of Michelena’s men saw Ric in Caracas.”

Jason exhaled, some of the tension bleeding from his shoulders. The first sign of Ric since he’d gone missing three weeks earlier, and he’d surfaced thousands of miles away. “So he’s out of the country. That’s—” He looked at Sonny, and some of his optimism dissipated when he saw Sonny’s expression. “That’s good.”

“Good?” Sonny scowled. “How did he get out of the country without anyone knowing? How do we know it’s him?”

“Johnny already sent two of his guys to verify and to see if we can bring Ric in,” Bernie told him. “He’ll report back as soon as possible.”

“Bring him in?” Sonny said. His eyes snapped, and he whipped his head to look at Jason, who was in the middle of a wince. “What the fuck—”

“If Ric just disappears,” Jason said, as Bernie offered him an apologetic glance behind Sonny’s back, “none of us win. The PCPD will still be breathing down our backs. And Capelli’s dumb enough to try another raid. Eventually, a warrant is going to get through. We don’t need that. We bring Ric in, we deal with him—”

“And leave him for the vultures to pick apart,” Sonny bit out. “The PCPD can take fucking crime scene photos—we’re not doing this—” He whirled back around, jabbing a finger at Bernie. “You call Johnny back. Shoot to kill, you got it?”

“Got it, Boss.”

Sonny stalked out of the office, slamming the door behind him as Bernie and Justus looked at Jason, their brows raised.

Jason had to tread lightly. He’d meant every word of his argument to Sonny—if they could just dump Ric on the PCPD or the FBI, the heat would be off them, but he also wanted to keep his promise to Carly and Elizabeth.

Especially if Elizabeth might not be able to get justice in her rape case—he was sure as hell going to make sure she got to see Ric rot behind bars.

“Jase?” Justus asked. He rested his hands on the back of a chair, his brows lifting. “Does Bernie make that call?”

“No,” Jason said with regret. “No. I’ll talk to Johnny myself. Bringing in Ric alive is—it’s the best solution for all of us. You can tell him Johnny got the message.”

“All right, but if this blows up on us, you’re taking the hit,” Bernie told him. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a football game I’d like to watch.”

He left the office, but Jason could see Justus wasn’t convinced. “Go ahead,” he told his cousin. “Say it.”

“I’m wondering if this is a fight you want to have with Sonny,” Justus admitted. “You know he’s at the end of his rope. Three weeks—this is the first sign of life we’ve had from Lansing—Sonny is driving Carly crazy. Every time I go over to their place, she looks miserable—”

“She’s going back to work on Monday,” Jason told him. “That was their deal—” He shook his head. “I’m not wrong. If we can’t bring him in alive, fine. But I don’t want anyone wondering where he went. I want this case closed.”

“Look, you know, I’m not comfortable with this side of the business,” Justus told him. “But it’s Lansing. It feels different to me. It feels like revenge, going after him this way.” He tipped his head to the side. “I know I want him brought in alive, and I’d prefer it’d be the FBI, so our hands were clean.”

“I—” Jason exhaled slowly. “I promised—” He looked at Justus. “I promised Elizabeth he’d go to trial and rot in prison. It’s what she wants, what Carly wants. I don’t care. I just want him gone. He can go to prison. You’re right. What Sonny wants is revenge.”

“There are ways to make sure it gets done your way,” Justus told him. “I just don’t know if you’re ready to take that leap.” He straightened. “We’re about to have Thanksgiving dinner with our cousin, Ned, who also happens to be the mayor.”

“It’s crossed my mind,” Jason said. He felt an itch between his shoulders. “But it’s—it’s not how we do things.”

“No, it’s not how Sonny does things. He taught you everything you know about this business, and I get where he’s coming from. I’m asking you—how do you want this done?” Justus walked towards the office door but turned back to look at him briefly before he opened it. “And what are you willing to do to keep that promise?”

Scorpio House: Living Room

“Hey, Uncle Mac?”

Mac looked up from the classified section and squinted at his niece as she stood in the doorway to the kitchen, a plastic container in her hands. “Yeah?”

“Mom wants to know if you want to leave for Felicia’s in ten minutes or so?” Robin Scorpio sniffed the plastic. “And what is this?”

Mac frowned, considered it. “Um, I think it might be soup—” He got to his feet and crossed to her. “What are you doing?”

“Cleaning out the fridge,” Robin said simply as she returned the kitchen where her mother, Anna Devane, was drinking a glass of water. “It looks like you haven’t done it in months—”

“You don’t need to—” He took the container from her and tossed it in the sink. “You don’t need to do any of that.”

“Yeah, but—” Robin shrugged. “I want to. Did you want to leave in about ten minutes?”

“Yeah, yeah, that sounds fine—”

“Great.” Robin kissed his cheek. “I need to go grab some things from my room. I’ll be right back—”

Mac sighed as his niece left the room, then turned back to Anna. “Every time she comes to see me, she cleans something.”

“She’s always horrified by the state of my pantry,” Anna offered. “Apparently, one isn’t supposed to live entirely on wine.” She tipped her head to the side. “We haven’t had a moment to speak—not really—about my coming to Port Charles—”

Mac held up a hand. “It’s fine,” he told her. “I know the department will be in good hands for you, and I’ve been preparing to be fired since Ned announced he was running.” He hesitated. “I was surprised you accepted. I thought you were happy living in Pine Valley—”

“I was,” Anna said slowly. “But after losing Leora last winter…” She pressed her lips together, looked away as Mac remained silent. Anna’s daughter with David Hayward had been stillborn the previous January. “She was supposed to be my chance to get right,” she murmured. “After losing so much time with Robin, after losing that baby with Duke—” She forced a smile. “I needed to change something. When Ned contacted me, I honestly didn’t think twice. I’m sure I should have—”

Mac shook his head, leaned against the counter. “Anna, really—”

“Mac, come now. We’re still family. You raised my little girl—she’s so perfect, so bright and beautiful—and you did what Robert and I couldn’t.” Anna set her water glass in the sink, then folded her arms. “You can be honest with me.”

“I wasn’t…” Mac waited. “I wasn’t thrilled,” he finally said. “I knew I was getting fired. I’d convinced myself it—it was what I deserved—that Ned had every right to fire me. I just—I never thought a lot about who would come after me. And even though I know how capable you are—I think—”

Anna simply waited, with that familiar patient look in her eyes. Mac continued, “It feels a bit like I’m being replaced by my brother. And I know that’s not fair—I know how good you were at this job. How capable and devoted you are. But I can’t help but think Ned picked you deliberately. Maybe that’s wrong—and I know it sounds selfish—but—” He shrugged a shoulder. “You asked.”

“Yes, I did. Robert loved you very much, Mac. By the end,” she clarified when Mac just raised his brows. “And perhaps you’re right. Perhaps Ned did have an ulterior motive seeking me out. I’m sorry for that, Mac. I truly am—”

“All the same, Anna, if I have to be replaced, I think I can live with it being you. You won’t make the mistakes I did.” He paused. “Listen, about dinner with Felicia and her girls—Maxie isn’t really speaking to me at the moment. I just wanted to warn you.”

“What—”

“Are you guys ready?” Robin asked, coming to the door. “I don’t want to be late. I haven’t seen the girls in forever!”

Quartermaine Mansion: Family Room

Elizabeth was chatting with Lila, arranged in her customary position next to the sofa in her wheelchair, while various members of the Quartermaines wandered in and out of the room, grabbing appetizers, refilling drinks.

“Here, my dear.” Edward offered Elizabeth a plate with a few canapes arranged, then sat next to her on the sofa. “I wasn’t sure what’d you like, so I hope it’s okay—”

“It looks delicious,” Elizabeth assured him. “Thank you. You didn’t have to—”

“Nonsense. You’re carrying the Quartermaine heir. You need your strength.”

“He says that like I’m not right here,” Dillon offered as he passed by them with a roll of his eyes. Edward waved him away as Elizabeth grinned.

“How are you feeling, dearest?” Lila asked. “I’m surprised Jason isn’t with you today.”

Elizabeth managed a thin smile. “There was a last minute thing that came up at work. He promised he’d be here for dinner.” She looked over at Edward who had opened his mouth, probably to complain. “You know how work can be. I’m sure you missed a few dinners.”

“Well, naturally, but—” Edward hesitated, caught Lila’s warning glare. “Of course, some things can’t wait. I was fortunate enough to find a woman who understood.”

“I’m actually excited to be invited this year,” Elizabeth told them. “Emily and I have a bet going on whether we get turkey or pizza.”

“Well, we do have the local pizzeria on standby,” Ned admitted with a grin as he passed by, a flute of champagne in his hand. “But maybe—”

“This family,” Edward muttered. “You never said how you’re feeling.” He furrowed his brow. “Lois said you were dizzy a few weeks ago. Is that reprobate not taking care of you?”

“Edward,” Lila said, pleasantly. “No.”

“But—”

“No.”

“I’m fine,” Elizabeth assured them both. “I’ve been tired a lot lately, but that’s normal. I’m actually going to have an ultrasound in a few weeks, and my blood pressure is in the normal range.” On the high end of the normal range, she thought, but Edward and Lila didn’t need to worry. “Jason makes sure I take care of myself, I promise.”

“What about the future?” Edward demanded gruffly. “Are you going to just—” He gestured with his hands. “Live in sin forever?”

“Live in sin.” Dillon plopped down next to Edward on the sofa. “I’m sorry, Elizabeth, do you mind? I just need to listen to Grandfather talk about sin. It’s like a movie out of the fifties.”

Elizabeth smirked. “Actually, Jason and I haven’t talked about it,” she told Edward. “I’m still technically married to someone else. My divorce isn’t final until January 27.”

“So, we’ll plan a ceremony for January 28?”

“Edward,” Lila admonished. “Elizabeth might not be in a rush to get married again. Darling, don’t listen to him—”

“It’s okay. I know it comes from a place of love,” Elizabeth assured her. She looked at Edward. “And I know my grandparents would be asking the same question. Jason and I haven’t talked about it. I’m sure we will one of these days, but we seem to keep running from one disaster to another.”

She set her plate on the coffee table. “Actually, that’s something I wanted to talk to you about.” Elizabeth bit her lip. “You know there’s a hearing in two weeks.”

“I do,” Edward offered with a scowl. “And I am livid. All that money I’ve donated and these damn politicians can’t get one thing right—”

“You have a lot of friends in high places,” Elizabeth said. She touched his arm. “Maybe you’ve already done it, but I was wondering if you might make a few phone calls.”

Edward hesitated. “Well, I didn’t want—” He flushed slightly. “I was worried I’d mess things up—”

“Maxie said that Hilary Clinton called the PCPD after what happened to Brooke,” Dillon said, and the three of them looked at the teenager. He shrugged. “She said it freaked Mac and Floyd out.”

“Exactly. With Emily’s case, you leaned on Floyd, who is…” Elizabeth searched for a word that was appropriate to use with Edward and Lila.

“An asshole,” Lila offered delicately.

“Uh—” Elizabeth blinked at her. “Yes. I don’t know if you could get someone like Hilary Clinton again, but—I don’t know. The federal government is threatening to derail the prosecution of a serial rapist responsible for at least seven rapes in Port Charles and three more in Buffalo. How is this something that isn’t making national news?”

“We’re all coming down to Syracuse,” Dillon told Elizabeth. “Lucas organized a bunch of the college students to go and protest outside. He and Maxie have been volunteering at RAINN and at some of those hotlines. I did a few shifts last August, and I’m going back over break. But Maxie’s been trying to get that organization and a few others interested in the protest.”

Edward peered at his grandson. “That’s—that’s very—I’m surprised. And proud.” He looked at Elizabeth. “Lois told us that you’d also done some organizing.”

“All of the women who filed police reports—the attacks Vinnie are charged with—they’ll be in the audience. Scott was able to get us reserved seating. The women from Buffalo are also coming.”

“I’m so sorry, darling, that you have to do any of this,” Lila said. “Edward, isn’t there someone—”

“I’ll make phone calls this weekend,” Edward promised. He squeezed Elizabeth’s hand. “Your grandparents would be so proud of you. I’m very proud of you. What you’ve been through, young lady, it boggles the mind that you’re still standing much less…” He gestured. “Everything you’re doing. I didn’t want to get in the way.” His voice was more gruff. “I will never forgive myself for what happened—”

“You wanted Emily to have justice,” Elizabeth assured him. “I will never blame you. The only reason Mac panicked and created that false report was because you called them after what happened in court. You tried to get me justice, and they lied to you. Don’t blame yourself. Let’s just use that power for all the women Floyd and Mac threw away. They deserve someone in their corner as much as Emily and I did.”

Morgan Penthouse: Kitchen

“You know, I can do this without you,” Bobbie said idly as she leaned down to check the pie in the oven. Sonny hadn’t wanted anyone else in his kitchen while he cooked dinner, so Jason and Elizabeth had offered their place for Bobbie to warm her pies.

Carly had followed, and Bobbie couldn’t help but notice that her daughter was sticking close to her. Lucas had reluctantly come to dinner—and also elected to use the Morgan penthouse to hide out from Sonny. He and Felix were in the living room, watching the football game.

“I know. I just—” Carly forced a smile, then picked at the hem of her shirt. “I just wanted to help.”

“Carly—” Bobbie closed the oven, turned to her, and sighed. “How are things? You haven’t been by the Brownstone in a few weeks—”

“I’ve been sticking close to home,” Carly said. “You know, with Morgan. And Leticia’s on vacation—which she deserves—”

“I know Sonny tried to fire her,” Bobbie said bluntly. Carly stared at her. “Please don’t be angry, but Elizabeth told me. She wasn’t sure if you would, and she was worried.”

Carly sighed, then sat at the table. “He wants me to stay at home,” she murmured. “He hinted at it first—other women take two months, but some take six—and I just—I don’t see why I should have to wait to go back to work. I can take Morgan with me most of the time. Isn’t that the best of both worlds?”

“It would be. Sonny doesn’t want that?”

“He can’t decide what he wants,” Carly muttered. “I think he liked it better when he thought I was playing at having a job. The way I played with Deception. I treated that like a toy, but the club—The Cellar—that’s my baby. I know he gave me the start up money, but I made it work. I made it a success.”

“I know you did—”

Carly folded her arms. “He just doesn’t seem to…hear me.” She looked towards the window. “Nothing’s changed, Mama. I thought it had. I thought—well, our problems are over. I left because of what happened with Ric. Because Sonny wouldn’t even think about what I needed.” And because Sonny had made a threat against Scott’s life, but she didn’t want to bring that up with her mother, who was quasi-dating Scott. “He needed the wake up call. I thought he’d listened, but he’s still—he’s still not thinking about me.”

She cleared her throat. “Sonny says that me staying here until Ric is found—it’s what he needs to focus. Like—he’s too scared if I’m out in the world and I—I wanted to help him. I love him, and I didn’t want him to spiral like he did last time. When he hallucinated. I really thought if I just…gave him a little…he’d appreciate it.”

“But he doesn’t.”

“No. He just—wants more. And—” She looked around the penthouse. “I’m watching Elizabeth live her life like Ric isn’t a factor. Because, for her, he’s not. She trusts Jason’s security, and he loves her enough to give her what she needs. They worked together so they could both be happy. Sonny tells me we’re not Jason and Elizabeth, but—”

Bobbie said nothing as Carly struggled to put her thoughts into words. “I don’t want to be them,” she said finally. “We can’t be. I know that. But they have respect for each other. And I think—I think that I do deserve that.”

“Of course you do.” Bobbie scowled. “Carly—”

“I’ve tried so hard not to be that woman anymore—the one who just thought the world revolved around her. I thought my pain was always the most important, that my trauma, my happiness—that I had the right to hurt other people to get what I wanted.” She looked at her mother. “I hurt you. I hurt Tony. I hurt Lucas. I know I’ve hurt Michael, and despite everything, I don’t think AJ deserved everything I did to him. And of course—Jason. I’ve hurt a lot of people, Mama. I just wanted to do better. I didn’t want to be selfish.”

“Well, that’s—” Bobbie hesitated. “That’s a good thing. And you have—you’ve grown up so much these last few years, Carly. These last six months—not being selfish—Carly, that’s a good goal. Please tell me you don’t think you’re selfish for expecting Sonny to respect your wants and needs?”

“I don’t know. He’s not giving me what I want or need, which is usually the time when I decide to make someone pay. I don’t want that, Mama. And hurting him—I don’t want that either. I just—” She sighed. “I just don’t know what I’m doing.”

“Then come back to the Brownstone. Come home,” Bobbie told her softly. “You’re not happy—”

“I can’t. Not—” Carly got to her feet. “Not right now. You know, I need to—I promised Sonny I’d do this his way until December 1. I gave in, and he promised he’d give a little. So, on Monday, we’ll—” She pressed her lips together. “We’ll see what happens.”

Quartermaine Mansion: Foyer

After dinner, Elizabeth took Jason’s arm and led him away from the male members of the Quartermaine family. He’d arrived just before they sat down to dinner, and having made it through an actual meal without catastrophe or arguments, Elizabeth didn’t want to take any chances with Jason spending too much time with Edward or Alan.

Jason’s eyes almost lit up when he realized she was leading him towards the entrance and coat closet. “We’re leaving?” he asked.

“You know, it’s a little sad how happy you look right now.” Elizabeth tossed him his leather jacket before retrieving her white winter coat. “No, but I want to take a walk in Lila’s garden, and it’s too cold without jackets.”

Jason grimaced slightly but put the jacket on without another argument and willingly let her take his hand again and walk towards the back terrace. “I wasn’t going to fight with anyone,” he promised her as they stepped outside. The sun was just dipping below the horizon as Jason and Elizabeth meandered down the pathway in the rose garden, the outdoor lamps lighting their way.

“No, you did very good,” Elizabeth said, winding her arm around his. “But I haven’t seen you all day, and I wasn’t sure if Edward was going to behave himself once Lila went to rest.”

Jason was quiet for a long moment before nodding. “Yeah, she looked a bit more tired than when I saw her last,” he admitted. “I—I think I forget that she’s almost ninety. She—and Edward,” he added, “both seem so much younger.”

“I’m glad you came today,” Elizabeth said. “I—I was thinking the same thing about Lila when we had lunch last week, and I remember wishing I’d spent more time with my grandmother before she died.”

“I never—” Jason stopped as they reached one of the gazebos that dotted the property. He took both her hands in his. “I never had the chance to tell you I was sorry.” Their eyes met. “I didn’t know she’d passed away until Monica told me last June. I—I missed it.”

“Your trial for Alcazar’s murder started that same week, Jason. And you and I—” Elizabeth bit her lip. “We weren’t exactly close. Not to mention, Gram wasn’t your biggest fan.” She slid her arm around his waist, and they started walking again. “It’s okay.”

Neither one of them commented on the fact that it had been Audrey’s sudden passing and Jason’s absence from the scene that had given Ric the opening to grow closer to Elizabeth—helping her with Audrey’s estate, with the memorial—

He’d drugged her that night for the first time.

If Jason hadn’t been on trial, he might have known. He hoped he would have gone to see her, to talk to her. But maybe he wouldn’t have. Maybe he would have seen her with Ric and decided to leave it alone. And thinking of Ric, Jason decided now was as good a time as any to tell Elizabeth about the sighting in Caracas.

“Hey, let’s sit for a minute,” he told her, drawing her over to one of the wrought iron benches. “About my meeting this morning—”

“You don’t have to apologize again,” Elizabeth told him. She shook her head. “I know things come up, and you made it to dinner—”

“I’m glad you understood—” Jason brought her chilled fingers to his lips, marveling again just how well she did understand the way he had to live his life and wondered how he’d ever thought for a single minute that she wouldn’t. “But it’s not that. It’s what happened at the meeting.”

Elizabeth swallowed, looked down at their joined hands between them. “Ric.”

“Yeah. One of Johnny’s contacts finally got word. We think he’s in Venezuela.”

“Venezuela—” Elizabeth lifted her head, her eyes wide. “Really? He—he’s gone? He really did leave the country?” Her shoulders slumped. “Oh. Wow. I guess I didn’t even realize that I—I think I expected the worst. Sonny’s had me anxious, too,” she admitted. “He was so sure Ric would try something.”

“I didn’t—” Jason pressed his lips together. “I didn’t realize you were worried. I should have—”

“No, no—” She squeezed his hands. “No,” Elizabeth said more firmly. “I didn’t even think I was, either, Jason. Until I knew for sure he wasn’t in the country—hearing it—it just lifted this weight off my shoulders. I thought—God, there’s been so much else rolling around in my brain these last few weeks—”

She laughed weakly. “I feel so much better. Are they sure? You said you think he’s there,” Elizabeth said. “What—what happens next? I mean, if I can ask that.”

“Well,” Jason said carefully, “Johnny sent some men to Caracas to verify and, if he can, to bring him in. Alive.” He met Elizabeth’s eyes, shadowed in the dim lights of the garden. “So, we can turn him in.”

“So he can go to trial,” Elizabeth said, her eyes searching his. “Sonny—he agreed to that? Carly will be—Oh.” She must have seen his answer in his expression because she sighed, then wrinkled her nose. “Of course not.”

“Sonny wants him shot on sight,” Jason admitted. “Bernie was supposed to call Johnny with that order. He didn’t. Because I told him not to.”

“Jason—” Elizabeth tipped her head to the side. “You didn’t have to do that. I know this is an issue for Sonny, that it’s making things worse between you two. Carly and I have talked about it. We understand—”

“Ric isn’t going to get away with this,” Jason told her. “Just letting someone take care of it, thousands of miles away, just to—” He looked away, not wanting to see her face with such darkness in his head. He didn’t want her to have those visions in her mind either. “It’s not what you and Carly said you wanted or needed. It’s too easy.”

“Jason—”

“Have you changed your mind about wanting a trial? Wanting him to rot in prison for what he did?” Jason asked. He looked back at her. “I told you. This is up to you and Carly. Not me and Sonny.”

Elizabeth didn’t answer him right away, and he grimaced. “Don’t just tell me what you think will be easier for me or for Sonny.”

“What if that’s important to me, too, Jason? I love you. And I’m worried about Sonny. I don’t want to hurt either of you by asking for something that I can’t have—”

“I need you to be okay,” he interrupted with a quick shake of his head. “Sonny can, and will, take care of himself. You’re what matters. And Carly,” he added. “What he did to you—to both of you—you have the right to end this on your terms.”

“I’m over that, Jason. I can’t speak for Carly, but that’s all over—”

“Is it?” he asked, his voice quiet but firm, and Elizabeth fell silent. “Elizabeth, every time we go to the doctor, it comes back for you. I can see it. Do you think I can’t?”

“I—I’m trying very hard to be over it,” Elizabeth admitted. “But, yes, when we go to see Kelly, and she tells my blood pressure is high, and I worry about every little thing—I had a dizzy spell a few weeks ago, and I know it’s normal. But I also know it could mean a thousand things.” Her voice trembled slightly. “Because of what he did to me, I couldn’t even find out we were having a baby without being terrified. God, Jason, we had to consider abortion.”

“I know.” And he’d been the one to bring it up. He’d had to make it part of the conversation—

“So, okay, I’m not—” Elizabeth’s voice faltered. “I’m not over it. And yes, I still want him to pay for what he did. You’re right—having someone put a bullet in him two thousand miles away—that’s not enough. It will never be enough. If anyone gets to shoot him, it should be—” She shoved herself to her feet, stalked away a few feet, then turned around to face him.

“If I can’t be the one put him away, then I want to be the one that kills him,” Elizabeth said. “That’s how I really feel, Jason. If Sonny is so bent on ending Ric’s life, then fine. But I want to do it. That’s the only way it’ll feel fair. I want to end him the way he tried to end me—”

“Elizabeth—” Stunned, and even a bit shaken, Jason got to his feet. “That’s—”

“And I hate him for making me feel this way—” She curled her hands into fists at her side. “I hate him for every minute he’s stolen from my life, from all the minutes he gets to have from me in the future. Every minute he’s out there, running free, living his life—”

Jason took her into his arms as she started to cry, her shoulders shaking. He held her tightly against him, pressing his lips to her hair. “I’m sorry,” he murmured. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have pushed—”

“I’m trying so h-hard to be okay,” Elizabeth managed, her words punctuated by harsh breaths as she attempted to get herself under control. “I don’t want him to win. He can’t.”

“He won’t.” Jason drew back from her slightly so he could tip her face up, so their eyes could meet. “He hasn’t. Look where we are. Look at who you are,” he said even more forcefully. “What’ve you done in these last few months. How strong you’ve been—not just for you and Carly—but for all the others—for Brooke, and Ned and Lois. For the women in your support group—”

“I don’t feel very strong,” Elizabeth admitted. “I just—I keep just thinking about it being over, but it doesn’t ever get to be over. There’s always one more thing. We have to go to Syracuse in two weeks because, God forbid, a serial rapist pay for his crimes without making his victims do all the damn work—and Ric was supposed to be done—the trial should be over—I should be starting next year with none of that in my life, and it’s still here, still happening—”

Elizabeth gripped the sides of his jacket, tightly as if she needed to hold on to him to keep standing. “Edward asked me today if we were getting married.”

Jason grimaced. “I’ll talk to him—”

“No, that’s—” She sighed. “And I told him we’d never talked about it. How could we? When would we have had the time? I should be able to just be with you and not think about anything else. To think about our future. And we can’t do that.”

Jason hesitated, looked at her, searching her eyes. “We could,” he said slowly. “If you want to talk about it. We can.”

“I—” She bit her lip, then shook her head. “No. He’s not stealing this from me either. If we—if we have that conversation, Jason, if you ask me that question, I don’t want to be crying—I don’t want you to be worried about me. I don’t want him to take that from me, too.”

“Okay.” Jason tucked her hair behind her ear. “Okay. We’ll put it away for now. Come on, it’s getting colder, and it’s the first time the Quartermaines have made it to dessert in living memory. Let’s go back inside.”

Dante & Cruz’s Apartment: Living Room

“Thanks for making dinner, Mrs. Falconieri,” Cruz said as he emerged from the kitchen, the last of the dishes in the dishwasher. “Thanks for saving me from Chinese food.”

“Any time,” Olivia told him with a smile. “I’m sorry you couldn’t get home to your family.” She kissed his cheek. “You and Taggert be careful tonight on patrol. Lots of crazies out there.”

“Thanks for doing the dishes, man,” Dante told Cruz as his roommate shrugged into his uniform jacket. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

When Cruz had left, Dante followed his mother into the kitchen to pour himself another cup of coffee. “Hey, Ma.”

“What’s up?” Olivia asked. She cut herself another slice of pumpkin pie and carried it to the table. She waited for him to sit down. “I can tell something has been bothering you all night. You worried about the case? About what might happen at the hearing?”

“No. Well, yes. No.” Dante hesitated. “I—I wanted you to know I’m testifying. After Elizabeth.”

Olivia furrowed her brow. “You—” She set her fork down. “Why?”

“Because I have evidence that I need to give.” Dante pressed his lips together, set a tape recorder on the table. “Baldwin has the original. I gave it to him a few weeks ago when I decided I couldn’t sit back. And since Grandma and Aunt Fran are going to be at the hearing—”

“Dante—”

“I wasn’t sure if it would be admissible,” Dante admitted, “and Baldwin says it might get thrown out, but Vinnie had already signed his statement at that point, and he’d agree to see me. I went there as family, but I had access as a cop. So he said we’ll see what we’ll see. It might never make it into a trial, but it might be okay at a hearing.”

“Baby.” Olivia reached over to squeeze his hand. “You shouldn’t have gone alone—”

“I needed to know why.” Dante cleared his throat. “I needed to understand how someone I knew—someone with my blood—how he could do this—and I needed to know why Brooke.”

“What’s on the tape?” Olivia asked quietly. “Is—how bad is it?”

“What’s on this tape—” He took a deep breath. “It’s bad, Ma. He brags about it. He talks about how he thinks Elizabeth is his soul mate, and none of the others were right. He said he followed her a lot—he wanted to rape her again, Ma, but she was never alone at night again.”

“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph,” Olivia murmured. “Dante—”

“And he realized none of the others were right because he didn’t know them. He picked Brooke because he knew her. And because he knew—” Dante swallowed hard. “Because he knew she didn’t like men.” He looked at his mother. “She—she never came out to her parents, Ma. They might not know.”

Olivia pressed her lips together. “I doubt Ned would have known, but Lois…wondered. So this might not surprise her. Baby, they’re not going to think any less of her—”

“But it was Brooke’s secret to tell. Brooke should be here to tell it, and it’s his fault she’s not—” He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. I want to protect her, but it’s not as important as making sure she gets justice. So I just—I needed to warn you.”

“I understand.” Olivia looked at the recorder, and her face all but turned green. “I’d rather not listen to it. Until the hearing. I can’t—I don’t want to have it in my head twice.”

She squeezed his hand. “Whatever happens after this, Dante, I’m proud of you. You’re standing up for Brooke, and you’re doing the right thing.”

Quartermaine Mansion: Foyer

Jason saw his chance to speak with Ned alone when Elizabeth was distracted by Tamika, Emily, and Monica, asking her about a baby shower. He ducked out of the family room to catch Ned as he was walking Lois out the door.

Ned closed the door and turned, frowning slightly when he saw Jason standing there. “Oh. I didn’t—I didn’t hear you. Are you and Elizabeth leaving?”

Not as soon as Jason would like. “No, not yet. She’s, ah,” Jason glanced over his shoulder towards the room where the last of the family were enjoying drinks and dessert. “Elizabeth is still having a good time.”

“Oh, yeah. It’s nice to see it,” Ned said as he came closer to Jason. “She’s been working so hard with the support group, organizing for the hearing. I’m sure you’re happy to see her relaxing for a change.” He slid his hands into his pockets. “Ah, you okay? Did you need something?”

“Yeah.” Jason had listened carefully to Justus’s warnings earlier about turning Ric over to the authorities, but the image of Elizabeth’s tear-stained face in the garden had made up his mind. “About Ric Lansing.”

“Well, I don’t start work until Monday—” Ned grimaced as he gestured for Jason to follow him in the front parlor. He closed the door behind them. “I’ve been in contact with Mac. No one seems to know anything.” He shrugged. “You’d be more likely to know than me.”

“I know. That’s why I’m—” Jason rubbed the back of his neck. “This is—this is off the record. You—”

“Jason,” Ned said, holding up a hand. “You and I both know that I was lucky to be elected considering I have my own history with Ric—and Faith Roscoe,” he added with a wince. “I’m not a choir boy, either.”

Surprised Ned had brought up his association with Ric but relieved because it would help to smooth the way, Jason nodded. “Fine. I’m sure it won’t surprise you that Sonny and I had plans for Ric initially.”

“It would not,” Ned said slowly. “The fact that Ric was still alive to make bail was…noted.” He raised his brows. “I assumed, at the time, you and Sonny didn’t want the heat, but then the months passed, and he was still alive.”

“Scott offered a deal to Carly and Elizabeth to make it go away. Sonny liked it. He thought it would make it over faster, and we could—” Jason stopped because what could be done was implied.

“But they didn’t want the deal. Scott told me that. He said Carly and Elizabeth wanted to testify. He was right, wasn’t he? That you and Sonny agreed to let Ric make it to trial?”

“I promised Elizabeth that Ric would live so that she could testify,” Jason confirmed. “And later, Carly said she wanted the same thing. I promised her, too. They not only wanted to testify—they wanted Ric to rot in prison.”

“Rot—” Ned repeated. “You mean—”

“Yes,” Jason said simply. “Sonny doesn’t like it. And he doesn’t mean to bring Ric in alive.” He took a deep breath. “But Elizabeth still needs this. She’s trying to be okay with it not happening, but if I can—if I can do this for her, I can—”

He could forgive himself for not being the man she deserved a year ago.

“I can’t work within my world to make it happen,” Jason admitted. “Not entirely. Sonny just—it’s not going to happen.” He exhaled slowly. He met Ned’s eyes. “One of our men saw Ric in Caracas, Venezuela two days ago. We sent a team to verify it. Those men have orders to bring Ric in alive. If they do, I’ll arrange for Ric to be turned over to the authorities. If this doesn’t pan out—I’ll—” He grimaced, looked away. “I’ll share any future information with you.”

“With me.” Ned exhaled slowly. “You’re offering to be an informant to the PCPD because you made Elizabeth a promise.”

“No, I’m passing information to my cousin,” Jason said firmly. “You told me what I needed to know about Ric once. I’m just returning the favor.”

Ned rubbed his chest, still looking a bit bemused. “I, uh, I’m not sure what to say. This isn’t really—it’s not how I planned to spend Thanksgiving.” He hesitated. “Elizabeth must really…she must really need this if you’re going to this trouble.”

Jason said nothing. Ned didn’t need any further information on his life. “Agreed?” he pressed.

“Elizabeth has been nothing but supportive since the moment I asked for her help last July,” Ned said. He crossed the room to a photo of his daughter, sitting on a table clustered with others. He picked it up. “She’d been out of the hospital a handful of days and never hesitated. And she stood up for me when I ran for mayor even though I made the call to Floyd that ended any chance that her case would be investigated properly.”

Jason waited, and finally, Ned turned back to him. “Does she know that I was involved with Ric, too?” he asked. “That I gave him money and support—things he used to torment and traumatize her?”

“I don’t know. We never talked about it. Ned—”

“Yeah, yeah, give me all the information you can about Ric when you can get it. I’ll make it work.” Ned set the photo down. “Whatever I can do for you and Elizabeth, just let me know.”

Beat down on me, beat down like a waterfall
‘Cause I can take on so much more than I had ever dreamed
So beat down on me, beat down like a waterfall
‘Cause baby, I am ready to be free
– Invincible, Kelly Clarkson

---

Thursday, November 13, 2003

Harborview Towers: Hallway

“Uh, Mrs. C? No one’s home over there—”

Carly stopped and looked back at Max, who had followed her around the corner as she’d walked towards Jason’s penthouse. “What? Where—”

“Jason is at the warehouse, I think, and it’s Thursday, so Miss Webber has a meeting at the hospital.” Max hesitated. “Do you need something?”

Carly pursed her lips, then nodded. “Okay. No, I’m fine. Thanks, Max.”

She stalked back into the penthouse and closed the door behind, finding her husband precisely where she’d left him—at the dining table, perusing a newspaper. “Sonny.”

“Yeah?” Sonny glanced up, squinted at her. “Did you go somewhere?”

She exhaled slowly. “Yeah, I need you to tell Max that it’s okay if I go out again. Who’s available to drive me to the club?”

“It’s only been a week, Carly.” Sonny closed the newspaper, carefully folded it. “Not just since Morgan was born, but since Ric went missing. He could make his move at any time—”

“And that’s why I’ll take a guard,” Carly cut in. “Is Milo around? Or Rocco. He was my guard before. Did you reassign him?”

Sonny clenched his jaw, got to his feet. “Carly, we’ve talked about this. I asked you to stick close to home—”

“No, you asked me to stay here while you looked for Ric. Every time I step out the door, Max tells me there’s no guard to take me anywhere. I find that extremely hard to believe.” She folded her arms. “Admit it, Sonny. Admit what you’re doing.”

“Fine.” Sonny shrugged. “I gave orders that you’re not to leave the penthouse level unless I’m with you.”

She’d known it—she’d sensed it—but knowing it and hearing Sonny admit to essentially locking her up in these walls—

Her lungs seized, and Carly struggled for a moment to breathe.

It’s not like before. It’s not like before.

You’re safe.

“Elizabeth gets to live her life, and Ric was more obsessed with her than me. Why is it safe for her?” Carly demanded. She knew the answer, but damn it, she wanted to hear Sonny say it out loud.

“I’m not in charge of her security,” Sonny bit out. “If Jason is comfortable letting her risk her life and their child—that’s on him.”

“You can’t stop me from leaving, Sonny. If there’s no one to drive me, then I’ll call a cab. I’ll have my mother come get me—” Carly’s words tumbled over one another as she sought to reassure herself that she could leave.

She wasn’t trapped.

“You could. But you’re not taking the baby out without a car seat. Do you have one of those?” Sonny said pleasantly. “And I let Leticia go so you can’t leave the boys alone.”

“You—” Carly’s voice trembled. “You let Leticia go.” Her son’s nanny, who had been with Michael almost since birth. “You didn’t hire her—”

“No, but I pay her. You’re at home, so you don’t need a nanny.” Sonny picked up the paper and his cup of coffee. “This is to keep you safe, Carly. I told you—”

“This isn’t—” Carly clenched her hands into fists at her side. “This isn’t fair—”

“Neither is abandoning your son a week after he was born. I’m not Jason,” Sonny said tightly. “I’m not going to let you walk away from another kid because it’s convenient. You’re going to do the work this time—”

“What did you just say to me?” Carly demanded, but Sonny continued as if she hadn’t spoken.

“—and you’re going to stay here and safe until Ric is caught. You promised me—”

“No, you’re not Jason,” Carly said softly. He stopped speaking, and she just stared at him, then swallowed hard. “I can fight this. You know that. All I have to do is call Jason. He’ll help me get the boys out of here—I’ll go to my mother’s, and I won’t come back—”

“I’m sorry if you disagree with me, Carly.” Sonny sauntered past her to toss the newspaper on his desk. He placed his coffee next to it.

She turned to face him. “Sonny, you’re trapping me in this penthouse. You’re using my kids against me. That’s—that’s not a lot better—”

“I’m asking you to stay at home a few weeks while we sort things out with Ric.” His eyes burned into hers, revealing the depth of his anger even as his tone remained calm. “You can go across the hall whenever you want. You just had Elizabeth over for lunch. Your mother can come here. I don’t really see the problem.”

“No, I guess you wouldn’t.” Carly closed her eyes, took a deep breath. It wasn’t the same. Wasn’t the same.

It wasn’t a small room with no windows. It wasn’t soundproof. If someone heard her scream—they’d come get her—someone would stop it—

Wasn’t the same. Sonny wasn’t Ric. He loved her. She knew he loved her. She just had to—she had to work this out. She couldn’t go back to her mother, ask Bobbie to bail her out again—

“December 1,” Carly said finally. She swallowed hard, looked at him. “Morgan will be nearly a month old. After that, Sonny—I’m going back to work. I want you to call Leticia, apologize, and ask her to return after Thanksgiving.”

“I—”

“I know you’re scared,” Carly said, her chest slowly easing. She could do this. She could work this out. “I know this isn’t about me. Not really. I know you’re trying to protect yourself. I know that, Sonny. I know what happened last summer—it scared you.”

His mouth tightened, and he looked away. “I can’t be weak again,” he muttered.

“And I can’t be locked up.”

His eyes swung back to her, startled. “I’m not—that’s not what this—I would never—” Sonny dragged his hands through his hair, then closed his eyes. “You’re right. You’re right. That’s what I’m doing. I don’t—I just didn’t—I need you to be okay, so I can think.”

“And I’m willing to give you the time to get this sorted, Sonny. Because I love you. But you do not own me.” Her throat felt thick, and she forced the words out over the lump that had risen. “I am in charge of my life. My freedom. I am asking you to show me some respect.”

When he just stared at her, her eyes burned. “I’m not screaming at you. I’m not throwing a tantrum. I’m not even calling Jason. But Elizabeth is fine. She’s living her life—and I deserve nothing less than that.”

“I—I’m trying to find him—”

“I know you are. And you—you get this month. As long as you hire Leticia back and you agree that December 1—this ends.” Carly stared at him. “Promise me, Sonny. December 1, I get my life back.”

“December 1,” Sonny said with a reluctant nod. “Unless—”

“No. No unless. I get my life back. You don’t put conditions on my freedom. I get to do that.” She pressed her hand flat against her chest. “That’s the deal—”

“Fine,” Sonny bit out. “I have to get to work.”

General Hospital: Hallway

“Thank you,” Elizabeth was saying to Renee as she saw Lois striding down the hallway towards her. “I’m glad you agreed.”

“I’m scared,” Renee admitted. “But I’m ready—if you’ll do all the speaking.”

“Of course.” Elizabeth looked at Lois with a slight frown. “Did—did you need something?” she asked Brooke’s mother as she hung back slightly.

“I—I was hoping to catch you after one of your meetings,” Lois admitted. She cleared her throat. “I’m sorry. I must have gotten the time wrong—”

“You didn’t. I’m just walking—”

“You’re Brooke’s mother,” Renee said softly. “I saw you on the news. And in the papers. I—” She took a deep breath. “I’m Renee. I was—it happened to me in May.”

Lois’s face paled slightly as she nodded. “I—I read—I’m sorry. I’m so sorry—are you—” She looked at Elizabeth. “I’m sorry to interrupt—”

“It’s okay,” Renee told her. “Elizabeth started these meetings for us, so we could work through it together. And we’re going to be there in Syracuse when she testifies.”

“You—” Lois pressed her lips together. “You’ll be there?”

“We can’t give statements,” Renee continued. “But we’ll be in the audience.” She flicked a smile at Elizabeth. “We want to be part of it. We want to help put him away.”

“That’s—that’s very brave. Thank you.”

“I’ll see you next week,” Elizabeth told Renee. The teenager waved at Elizabeth as she walked down the hall and turned a corner. “Are you okay?”

“Yes. I just—” Lois looked after Renee. “She’s the youngest, isn’t she?”

“Yes, she’s sixteen.” Elizabeth gestured for Lois to follow her into the meeting room. “I have the room for another twenty minutes. I always overbook in case someone wants to stay.”

“Edward said you were volunteering here,” Lois said as Elizabeth offered her a seat. “You were—” She paused. “You were the same age.”

“You want some water?” Elizabeth asked. She poured out two glasses and handed one to Lois. “Yeah, I turned sixteen on November 1, and then four months later—” She took a deep breath. “A few months younger than Renee.”

“Brooke was nineteen.” Lois’s hand gripped the glass tightly as she stared into the clear liquid. “She would have been twenty last month.” She closed her eyes. “I just wish I knew what I could have done differently so that she’d be here at these meetings with you. I know—I know you talked to her before. She called you.”

“I missed the call,” Elizabeth said softly. “And it—it haunted me for a while afterward. What if I had picked up—” She shook her head. “I’m so sorry.”

“No, no. Please. Don’t apologize. I listened to the message. The tape you had Lucas make for Ned. He couldn’t. But I did. She passed out during that call to you. And it gives me hope—it gives me hope that it wasn’t something she meant to do. Or if she did—she wanted to take it back. She didn’t want to die.” Lois took a deep breath. “She was trying to reach out. She wanted help. It helps me sleep at night. ”

Lois swiped at her cheeks, set the glass aside. “That’s not why I came here. And you don’t need my issues—”

“No, but I’ll listen if you want me to,” Elizabeth offered. “We—you know, we should have a group for families. Like we do for families of alcoholics or drug addicts. It was hard for me to tell my family, and they didn’t know how to help me. My sister and I drifted apart after that, and my grandmother never—they meant well. But sometimes I felt like I was spending so much time trying to help them cope that I couldn’t deal with myself.”

“Ned and I—we divorced when she was a baby,” Lois told her. “You know that, I’m sure. And then we spent her entire life arguing. She woke up to us, arguing in the hospital. She asked us to leave that day because all we did was argue.” She looked away, her eyes distant. “It’s crazy, but I don’t even remember what we were arguing about that day.”

Elizabeth said nothing, just remained quiet as Lois gathered herself and her thoughts. “I came here because I wanted to work on the hearing. To thank you for standing up for my daughter and all the others. I wanted to make sure you had everything you needed, and you’re—you’re already one step ahead of me.”

“I was in the right place at the right time,” Elizabeth replied. “Gail had asked me to lead a meeting as part of my own recovery, and it just—it just made sense to organize one for Vinnie’s survivors. To put out a call for anyone who wasn’t ready to make a report. Today, I told them about the hearing, and some want to sit in the courtroom as a united front.”

“I’m sure you can’t tell me, but—but have any women shown up who weren’t—” Lois met her eyes. “Are there girls we don’t know about officially?”

“Yes,” Elizabeth said with a tremble in her voice. “Two showed up today. They’re not ready to go forward.”

“God—we thought there were only seven here, but there were more—”

“At least two more. One was only a month after my attack,” Elizabeth told Lois. “I wanted to call Taggert, to get some more police reports and check Vinnie’s whereabouts. I have the girl’s permission to share details, just not their names. The day after I made my first report, someone was grabbed from the movie theater. Not the park. He raped her in the alley.”

Lois choked back a sob. “Oh, God. Oh, God. That poor baby. How old?”

“She was nineteen. Fits the profile. She’s not sure if it’s Vinnie, and it’s too late to test for anything. But she’s petite, brunette, and was walking home from the movie theater.”

“The other?”

“About after Tom Baker was arrested, he must have felt safe to go back to the park,” Elizabeth admitted. “Seventeen this time. He attacked her near the North fountain on her way home from the park. Neither of them were hurt as badly as everyone who came after.”

Lois closed her eyes. “And they didn’t report.”

“I didn’t report right away either. I nearly didn’t save the dress. I wanted it to go away. I was desperate to make it go away.”

“Brooke wanted it that way, too. She wanted it not to have happened, but Floyd leaking her name meant she never had the chance to escape it.” Lois cleared her throat. “I wonder if at the end—if the reason she took those pain pills—if she remembered and she wanted to forget.” She bit her lip. “And I can’t decide what I want to have happened.”

Elizabeth reached over to squeeze Lois’s hands. “I don’t know, Lois. I’m sorry.”

Lois bowed her head, took another deep breath. When she raised her head again, met Elizabeth’s eyes, she seemed to have gotten herself under control. “Thank you. For sitting with me.”

“Any time. I mean that, Lois, any time. I wasn’t—” Elizabeth hesitated. “I wasn’t in the frame of mind to help Brooke the way she needed—no, I don’t blame myself—” she said quickly when Lois shook her head. “I mean that I was processing everything that had happened to me with Ric. With the panic room, with my embolism. I couldn’t make room for what happened to Brooke. I meant to check on her. I didn’t. That will haunt me for a long time, Lois. I could have done more.”

“All we can do,” Lois said, tightening her grip on Elizabeth’s hand, “is do right by her now. So, I’m glad that you’re organizing the other survivors. Let me know if you need transportation or anything else.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

They got to their feet, and Elizabeth’s head spun for a second. She put a hand on the back of the chair to keep herself upright. Lois braced her elbow.

“You okay?”

“Yeah. Yeah. I just—I stood up too quickly,” Elizabeth told her, closing her eyes as the vertigo passed. “I’m okay. Sometimes I forget to slow down.”

“I fainted a few times with Brooke,” Lois said. “Do you need me to call anyone—”

“Oh, no, I don’t drive myself anymore. Cody is down the hall at the elevators. He’ll take me home.” She smiled at Lois. “Thanks.”

“Any time. Call me if you need anything before the hearing.”

“I will.”

Jones House: Georgie’s Bedroom

Maxie knocked on her sister’s door frame. “Hey, Georgie, do you have an extra straightener I can borrow?” she asked, bouncing into Georgie’s room and flopping across her bed. “Mine broke, and, like, I can’t live with the floofy hair—”

Georgie glanced over from her computer with a frown. “I just have mine—did you come all the way from campus to ask me that?”

“Well, I guess I could have just bought a new one,” Maxie allowed, “but, uh, I might have spent all my money for this month.”

“Already?” Georgie rolled her eyes. “Maxie—that’s supposed—” She shook her head. “I won’t even bother explaining the concept of a budget to you. It’ll be lost.”

“Ugh, I’ll just have to live like this until Dad sends next month’s allowance. It’s, like, literally the only good thing the jackass has ever done.” Maxie grimaced as Georgie sighed and looked back at her work. “Georgie, look, I just wanted to apologize.”

“For what?” Georgie asked, continuing to type.

“For being a bitch the last few months. For making fun of you for voting for Floyd. I—it was really mean, and I’m trying to be less mean.”

Georgie turned back to her. “Did Mom talk to you or something?” she asked flatly. “I told her not to—”

“Georgie, do you remember that night? When you and I were driving the streets that surrounded the park?” Maxie asked. She sat up, folding her legs. “And we kept thinking — kept telling each other — we’ll turn this corner, and she’ll be right there. I really thought she’d be at the bus stop, you know? And we did that loop twice—and I kept telling myself—”

Maxie stared at her hands. “Because if she’d only just left—if we’d just missed her walking away for a minute or two, she wouldn’t have been able to get that far ahead.”

“I know. I try to tell myself that I’m somehow better than everyone because I did notice—but—” Georgie smiled grimly. “I didn’t notice soon enough. I know—I know it’s not our fault—”

“And I know it’s not really Mac’s fault either,” Maxie admitted. “But I liked having someone to blame that wasn’t me. And, like, I know we can blame Vinnie Esposito, but I feel—” She bit her lip. “I feel like it’s important not to let any of us off the hook. We have to take care of each other. So that no one ever feels so alone that they walk away, and we don’t see them.”

“That might be the smartest thing you’ve ever said.”

“Right?” Maxie said, brightening. “Listen, can you write it down, so I don’t forget, and then tell everyone that I’m super wise, because—”

Georgie groaned and turned back to her homework.

Morgan & Corinthos Warehouse: Jason’s Office

Jason was finishing the last signature on customs paperwork when Sonny shoved open the office door and stormed in. “We have a problem.”

Jason frowned, looked over at Bernie, who looked mystified. “What’s wrong? Did you hear from Johnny?” He looked at the clock on his desk. Johnny would have only just landed in Puerto Rico.

“No, but your security is crap,” Sonny said. “Where is Elizabeth right now?” he demanded.

Jason got to his feet. “What happened? Do I need to call her—”

“You didn’t answer my question. Do you even know where she is?” Sonny pushed.

Jason blinked at him, realizing he didn’t have a firm answer to that question. With a sour taste in his mouth, he said, “I—I’m not sure. She had a few meetings at the hospital this morning, but then I think she was going to try to see Lila for lunch.”

“What about after that?”

“I don’t know, Sonny. I think she hadn’t planned anything, so she’ll probably go home—” Jason scowled at him. “What’s going on? Is it Ric? Tagliatti? Vega?”

“None of that. But it doesn’t feel good not to know, does it? You remember when she was kidnapped? You nearly sold us down the river to get her back last year—”

Jason’s worry and panic swiftly turned to anger as he realized Sonny was just trying to make a point. “You came in here like something was wrong—”

Sonny glowered. “Ric is still missing—”

“Damn it—”

“You’re letting Elizabeth flit all over the place, and Carly seems to think she should get to do the same. You need to get your girlfriend under control—”

“I’m going to go,” Bernie said. He cleared his throat. “I’ll—I’ll come back for those invoices.” He hurried out, closing the door behind him.

“I don’t let Elizabeth do anything,” Jason said, clenching his jaw. “She’s an adult, Sonny. Cody drives her, so she’s always got a guard.”

“You don’t even know where she is, damn it!”

“No, not exactly,” Jason retorted, defensive. “She told me this morning—” He put up his hands. “I don’t have to defend myself to you. Elizabeth is fine. She’s safe—”

“I don’t give a damn about that—” Sonny bit off the rest of the statement. He took a deep breath. “That’s not what I mean. You know I didn’t mean it that way.”

“Then what is this about, Sonny? Carly’s at the penthouse. She’s safe—” Jason stopped, remembering Elizabeth’s worry a few nights earlier. “Sonny, there’s no evidence that Ric is making a move. If we knew where he was—if we knew he was in the country, then I don’t know—maybe I would be asking Elizabeth to stay at home more.”

“Carly seems to think I don’t respect her,” Sonny growled. “Because I don’t let her gallivant off where she wants to go five minutes after she had a baby. If she didn’t see Elizabeth doing whatever she wants, I wouldn’t have this problem—”

“I don’t let Elizabeth do anything,” Jason repeated, fighting the urge to roll his eyes. “She’s not my property, Sonny. She’s not a dog, and she’s not a child. She can take care of herself—”

“Really? Because she got herself mixed up with Ric Lansing the second you let her out of your sight,” Sonny reminded him.

Jason scowled. “Don’t make this about me and Elizabeth. We’re fine. You’re having problems because Carly won’t let you control her. Good for her.”

“You would take her side,” Sonny said, dismissing him with a frustrated wave of his hand. He stalked over to the window to glare out over the front of the warehouse. At the trucks driving in and out, the men moving around by the vehicle loading dock. “You’re telling me that nothing about the way you’re handling Elizabeth’s security right now is about making sure she doesn’t leave you like last year?”

Jason shook his head. “What are you talking about? She didn’t leave me last year because of the job—”

“No? The lies? The long hours?” Sonny lifted his brows. “All I know is I’m handling things the way I normally would in a crisis, and you’re not backing me up—”

Jason bit back the protest that Sonny wasn’t handling anything right now. “You handle your family, Sonny, I’ll take care of mine.”

“Fine. But don’t make me say I told you so when it all blows up in your face,” Sonny snarled as he stormed out of the office.

Jason exhaled slowly, shook his head, and sat down. He took out his phone and stared at it for a minute before pressing the number two on the speed dial and holding it down.

“Hey!” Elizabeth’s voice was warm but surprised. “I thought you were working all day.”

“I am. I just—” Had let Sonny in his head. “Wanted to check on you.”

“Oh. Well, I’m actually here with Lila and Edward. We’re talking about Thanksgiving—I’ll ask him,” she said to someone in the room with her, laughter in her voice. “Lila wants us to come over for Thanksgiving dinner.”

He hesitated, and it was long enough that Elizabeth picked up on it. “We’ll talk about it when I see you tonight. I’m gonna get dinner on the way home, okay?” He heard his grandfather’s gruff voice in the background—and Jason was pretty sure the “boy” Edward was cursing was him.

“Let me get dinner,” he told her. “Eli’s?”

“Yes. I was thinking of ribs—wait a second—” He heard rustling, and then a door. “I came into the foyer for a minute. Are you okay? You don’t normally call to check on me.”

“I know. I just—” He looked at the office door. “You were right to be irked.”

“Oh, no. I’ll check on Carly when I get home. I’m finishing lunch here, and then I was going to the book store with Emily. I’ll be home after that.” She hesitated. “That’s what you wanted to know, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah. Yeah,” Jason admitted. “We’ll talk tonight. I love you.”

“I love you.”

He closed his phone and tossed it on the desk, irritated with himself for checking on her, and with Sonny for making him worry in the first place.

Kelly’s: Dining Room

Lulu set an order of burger and fries in front of Dante. “You want a refill on that soda?” she asked, nodding at his glass.

“Oh.” Dante blinked at it, then at her. “Sure. Thanks.”

When she’d refilled the soda, she got busy for a few minutes, taking orders to other tables and delivering checks. When she returned to the counter, Lulu frowned. “You haven’t touched your food. You okay?”

Dante looked at her, his eyes clearing as if it was the first time he was seeing her. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m okay. Just—my head is—I don’t know. All over the place.”

“Lucky told me yesterday about the hearing next month,” Lulu said. She bit her lip. “You don’t have to say anything, but I’m sorry. I’m sure this is rough on your family.”

“It’s…something.” Dante picked up a fry, then used it to push the others around on the plate. “To be honest, I haven’t really checked in with them. Except when Ma and I drove down to talk to them when it first happened. My grandmother is in denial, so is my aunt.” He grimaced. “The rest of the family is reserving judgment, but it’s really just me and my ma right now who are convinced. And my Uncle Frankie, but he hates my Aunt Fran, so sometimes he’s just an asshole.”

“I used to think it’d be nice to be from a huge family, you know?” Lulu shrugged. “It’s really just my parents, my brothers, and me. And my Grandma Lesley. And my Aunt Amy. That’s it. You have all these cousins and aunts and uncles, but they sound like a pain.”

“Yeah. Yeah.” Dante’s smile was faint when he looked at her. “Yeah, they are. But I’m just—I’m still processing that my cousin—my blood did this—” His lips tightened, and the humor faded from his eyes. “Now, a federal court might let him get away with it because the PCPD is filled with dumbasses.”

“It sucks, but Lucky thinks Scott has a good plan.” Lulu tried to catch his eye, but Dante just looked away. “What? You don’t think it’ll work?”

“No, it might. Elizabeth gave a good press conference, and she’s done a lot of interviews since. I’m sure she’ll be fine. I just—” He shook his head. “Never mind.”

“No, hey—something’s bothering you.” She touched his arm lightly, then pulled back when he frowned at her. “I know we don’t really know each other—”

“It’s just—” Dante sighed, then met her eyes. “I think I could help.”

Lulu furrowed her brow. “How? Like as a character witness?”

“I—” He cleared his throat. “I went to see Vinnie after he was arrested, and I asked him—” His voice was almost inaudible. “I asked him how he could do this to Brooke.”

Lulu stared at him. “He admitted it to you? But—but hadn’t he asked for a lawyer? Isn’t that against the law?”

“I think I can get around it. I’m his cousin. And he’d already negotiated with Scott. He’d already given a statement. Maybe you’re right. Maybe I can’t use it in court—”

“Use it—” Lulu shot out her hand, touched his sleeve. “What do you mean? Oh, my God. You taped him.”

“Yeah.” Dante swallowed hard. “He doesn’t have the right to privacy in the jail, you know. And I went as his family. I think—I think Scott can use the tape if Vinnie tries to claim he was framed. There’s—” He scratched his head. “I don’t know if it can be direct evidence, but—”

“Do you not—” Lulu tried to understand, tried to think her way through it. “Do you not want to be the reason Vinnie goes to jail?” she asked, frowning. “I mean—are you worried your family will blame you?”

“Yeah. And there’s stuff—things he said about Brooke that Ned and Lois don’t need to hear.” Dante pressed his lips together. “I don’t know,” he admitted. “I guess—I guess I just don’t know if anyone should hear that shit he said. The way he talked about those women, about Brooke—God, Elizabeth doesn’t need to know he followed her back then, that he thinks of her as his soul mate—”

Lulu’s stomach turned just thinking it. “Do you think they’d rather Vinnie went free? Dante, c’mon.” She waited for him to look at her. “How you gonna feel if it gets moved to federal court and he cuts a deal better than the one he got here? What if—what if his case gets thrown out because of the cover-up? How are you gonna sleep at night if you don’t do it?”

Dante exhaled slowly. “I know. I just—I was hoping it wouldn’t come to this.” He sighed. “I should talk to my mom. Warn her.” He got to his feet, went for his wallet, but she stopped him.

“You barely ate,” she told him. “It’s on me. I’m sorry, Dante. I just—this sucks.”

“Yeah. Yeah, it does.”

Luke’s: Bar

Kelsey smiled hesitantly as she stepped up to the bar, tightening her fingers around her purse strap. “Um, hey, Mr. Spencer. I’m supposed to meet Lucky here—”

Luke tossed the towel over his shoulder and leaned on the bar. “Well, he’s running late, I guess, Darlin’. You want something while you’re waiting? And, come on, call me Luke.”

Kelsey wrinkled her nose but set her purse on the bar and climbed onto the stool. “Gin and tonic. I’ll try, but it’s weird. You’re kind of infamous,” she told him. “I mean, for the Cassadines and the stuff you did with Robert Scorpio—”

“Oh, well, I was younger and dumber back then,” Luke said with a grin. “And someone had to keep Robert out of trouble.” His smile faded slightly. “It’s just not right that he’s gone. He was the hero, not me.” He cleared his throat. “Your dad probably told you lots of stories about Robert Scorpio.”

“He did, actually.” Kelsey smiled at the memory. “He loved to tell me stories about the Quartermaines and the Cassadines—and the Spencers. He used to tell me the stories before bed—Mom thought they’d scare me, but I liked them. The Ice Princess was my favorite.”

“One of my finer moments.” Luke hesitated, then nodded. “I knew your dad a bit. He did the books and legal stuff for a club I was managing back then. The Campus Disco.”

“Really?” Kelsey frowned, shook her head a little. “Lucky told me the Campus Disco was run by Frank Smith, but—” She sat back a bit as Luke set her drink in front of her. “Do you mean my dad worked for the mob?”

“Oh, no, no—Ollie wasn’t like that—” He paused as Kelsey dipped her head, took a deep breath. “You okay, kid?”

“No, it’s just—um, people don’t talk about my dad a lot,” she admitted. “When Mrs. Spencer—Laura—” she corrected when Luke lifted his brows. “When she called him Ollie—it’s just—it’s been a long time since I’d heard that name. Mom doesn’t—it still hurts.”

“I’m sure it does.” Luke was quiet for a moment. “Ollie never liked me, mind you. Because I sort of broke up Scott’s marriage to Laura. But he was always above board. Guys like Smith always need someone on the up and up to make them look good. That was your dad. Smith paid good, and I think your dad said something about wanting to put away money.”

“I just know he was a lawyer. We moved away from Port Charles really fast after he died,” Kelsey told him. “That August, actually, and no one in Buffalo knew him. When Scott told me there was a position in his office open—I thought maybe I could feel closer to him.”

“He was a good guy,” Luke repeated. “And I think he’d be highly amused that Laura’s boy ended up with his little girl. I’m sure he’d be very proud of you.”

“Thanks—”

“Hey!” Lucky was a bit breathless when he arrived. He frowned when he saw the tears in Kelsey’s eyes. “What’s wrong?” He glared at his father. “What did you do?”

“Innocent as a baby lamb, Cowboy—” Luke said, holding his hands up.

“No, no, I’m fine.” Kelsey cleared her throat. “Your dad—he knew my father, too. And we were just talking about him.” She looked back at Luke. “Maybe you can tell me some more stories someday.”

“Maybe.” Luke smiled at her. “You guys go grab a table, and I’ll make sure Claude isn’t gonna poison anyone.”

“You sure you’re okay?” Lucky asked as Kelsey grabbed her drink, and they went over to a table. “Dad sometimes doesn’t think—”

“No, no. I, um, I guess he didn’t want to get into it at dinner,” Kelsey said. “But Dad worked at the Campus Disco with Luke. He did the business stuff. It’s just—you know, I told you I don’t get to see a lot of people who knew my dad. Your parents—knowing him—knowing him well enough to call him Ollie—it’s nice.”

“Okay—” Lucky hesitated, then nodded. “Sorry I’m late. We, ah, we had some last minute reports to take.” He tapped his fingers on the table. “Elizabeth started that support group for Vinnie’s survivors—she put an ad in the paper—”

“Oh—” Kelsey winced. “She was right, wasn’t she? Some new women came forward.”

“Yeah. She encouraged them to report, so they came in today. We can’t do much with the cases—they’re both old,” he clarified. “No clothing, no evidence. Just the statements, but I told Taggert I’d take the cases.”

“How old? Within the statutes—”

“No, they ran out this year. They were both over eighteen, so the clock didn’t stop,” Lucky added. “The first was March 1998—around the time Elizabeth came in to report her attack. Vinnie set up the meeting with Dara and Garcia.”

Kelsey scowled. “God, he’s everywhere—what about the other attack?”

“That fall. October 1998, the day after Baker was arrested, we were at the PCPD giving the reports.” Lucky exhaled, looked away. “Vinnie was one of the responding officers that day. He heard Elizabeth accuse Baker.” He paused. “Neither of them was as badly—they could walk away.”

“So they walked away, then didn’t report.” Kelsey leaned back in her chair. “Five attacks in that first round. And God knows how many more women here and in Buffalo that didn’t report.”

“Or in New York City. He grew up there—went home for holidays—” Lucky jerked a shoulder. “He deserves to rot in hell.”

“Soon, Lucky.” She reached across the table, squeezed his hand. “It’ll be over soon.”

Morgan Penthouse: Living Room

Elizabeth’s face was grim when Jason came home that night, the takeout bag in his hands. He sighed, standing there for a minute, remembering that she’d planned to talk to Carly. He braced himself. “How bad?”

She sighed, then attempted a smile. “I’ll tell you everything, but you really need to feed me.” She set her hand on the curve of her stomach. “Actually, you need to feed the both of us. I am starving.”

He grinned at that, and they avoided talking about Sonny or Carly until he’d set them both up with a plate of ribs, a side of fries, and the chocolate-strawberry milkshake she’d left him a message about.

“I almost thought about asking for some vanilla,” Elizabeth confessed. “You know, a Neopolitan ice cream milkshake.” She pursed her lips. “Next time.”

“What did Carly say?”

“Sonny gave orders to all the guards that she’s not to leave the penthouse level without him.” Jason muttered something as she continued. “And he fired Leticia—”

“Leticia?” Jason cut in sharply. “Why—” He grimaced. “Because then Carly can’t just leave or go to work. Damn him—”

“Carly apparently stood her ground and offered a compromise—she gets her life back on December 1—including Leticia—she’ll follow his rules. Otherwise, she’ll leave. By the way, she volunteered you to help her pack, just so you know.”

Jason made a face. He wasn’t looking forward to that possibility, but if it came down to it—he’d hold Sonny down while Carly made her escape. He hadn’t risked everything—including Elizabeth’s life—to get Carly out of a panic room only for Sonny to lock her in a larger cage.

“Is she okay?” Jason asked. He looked towards the door, then shook his head. “Sonny’s home. I can’t check on her—”

“I told her you’d try to come by when Sonny is at work,” Elizabeth assured him. “She’s managing. I thought about offering her Cody and staying home one day, but she said she’d like to save that for something important since Sonny’s head would explode, and he’d yell at you—” She sighed when Jason just looked down at his food. “Oh, God, he’s already yelled at you. That’s why you called.”

“I shouldn’t have—” Jason muttered something under his breath, then looked at her. “I’m sorry. You don’t need to tell me where you are all the time, and I shouldn’t check on you. You don’t do that to me—”

“Because I can’t,” Elizabeth told him. “I know that. You can’t always answer my calls, and I don’t always get to know why. Don’t think I wouldn’t be calling you every hour if I could.” She shook her head. “Don’t worry about it—”

“No, I don’t own you, and you don’t answer to me. It’s enough that you take a guard everywhere, that you’re not driving yourself, and you tell me where you are most of the time—” Jason hesitated. “It’s just—Sonny came in, and he looked worried—he asked if I knew where you were, and I just—” He shook his head. “I couldn’t shake the feeling because I didn’t know. Not for sure.”

“Do you remember that time you didn’t kick me dragging and screaming from Ric’s house that first night?” Elizabeth asked, almost conversationally as she licked sauce from her thumb. “You know, the night you saw that I was drugged out of my mind?”

“Yeah—” He squinted at her. “Why?”

“You didn’t make me leave. Then the next morning—because it seemed like a good idea at the time—I ate all the food he put in front of me, then overdosed and almost died. You didn’t want me to go back, and I insisted—and I drank my weight in birth control pills because I thought it was safe.”

His mouth tightened as he looked away, remembering all the times he’d seen her drinking tap water to keep herself from feeling hungry—not even thinking about the ice she took from the freezer trays.

“Then you wanted me to go with you to the real estate agent, and I refused—and then I literally had my heart stop on the floor of that house twice.”

“Elizabeth—”

“The point is—” She set her plate aside for a minute to take one of his hands in hers. “I’ve almost died a lot this year. That’s just the times I almost died. I’m not even counting the times I’ve been attacked.” She waited for him to meet her eyes. “If there’s anyone in the world who gets to check on me for the hell of it, it’s you. Okay?”

A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth, despite himself. “Yeah. Okay.”

“I’m also sorry for springing Thanksgiving on you like that. It’s just—” Elizabeth bit her lip. “It’s the first year without my grandmother. It’s okay if you don’t want to go, but I’d like to. Emily is going to try to get off work, at least part of the day, and I want to be there for Ned and Lois. It’s their first year without Brooke, and with this hearing—”

“I’ll go,” Jason told her. He leaned forward, brushed his lips against hers, then lightly licked at the corner of her mouth, at a small smear of sauce. “Just don’t expect me to stay all night.”

“I’ll be happy with ten minutes,” she told him. Elizabeth beamed at him, and he decided that he would do whatever it took to make sure she was always that happy.

Open your eyes
And look outside
Find the reasons why
You’ve been rejected
And now you can’t find
What you left behind
Be strong, be strong now
Too many, too many problems
Don’t know where she belongs
Where she belongs
– Nobody’s Home, Avril Lavigne

---

Tuesday, November 11, 2003

Corinthos Penthouse: Living Room

When Sonny strode out from the kitchen after cleaning up breakfast, he found Carly seated at his desk, the phone at her ear, and a pen in her hand.

“I’m sorry, Jen, but I’m not okay with that cost—no, you tell David Harris that we can buy our liquor from a thousand people. If he wants our business, he’s not raising our prices. Not right before the holiday season—”

Carly smiled at him, but she was distracted, turned away from him. Sonny frowned and went over to pour himself another cup of coffee from the pitcher they’d left warming on the side table.

“Okay. Let me know. Don’t worry—this won’t be your job much longer. I’ll be back before you know it. Yeah, okay—see you later.” Carly hung up the phone and crossed over to him, gracing him with a looser smile than he’d seen in a few days. She poured herself the last of the orange juice and joined him at the table. “Sorry. I guess I can’t turn off work.”

“I thought you’d turned The Cellar over to a manager while you were out on maternity leave,” Sonny said. He furrowed his brow. “Aren’t you taking a few months?”

“Oh, no. That’s the best thing about being my own boss,” Carly told him. “I get to pick my hours. Morgan can nap in my office while I work, and I can build my schedule around him. At least for the first few months, and Leticia will take over whenever—” Her smile faded. “You don’t look happy.”

“I—” Sonny shrugged lightly. “No, I guess I just didn’t think about you going back to work. You don’t have to—”

“I like the club,” Carly said with a frown. “You know, with Jax taking a sabbatical from his company to work with Ned in the mayor’s office, he offered to sell me Club 101.”

“You don’t have the funds to do that,” Sonny said shortly, his shoulders tensing at the suggestion of his wife doing business with Jasper Jacks.

Carly exhaled slowly. “I guess I don’t have the cash on hand to do it outright,” she murmured. “But The Cellar is doing really well. I can easily get a business loan, and I’m sure Jax will work something out. He only pushed me out of the club when we got back together. He didn’t want to be in business with you.”

“And that’s changed?” Sonny demanded.

“No,” Carly drawled. “But he’s seen what I’ve done at The Cellar, and he’s impressed by how I launched it. We draw an older crowd there, and 101 is more for younger—” She sat back. “Sonny, just say it. You don’t want me to work.”

“Don’t say it like that. I’ve always supported you,” Sonny said, but Carly shook her head.

“No, you liked it when I asked you for things. You forced Laura to let me into Deception, and you gave me the money for The Cellar. I did the work, but I know the backing came from you. Is it just that you don’t like that I’m doing well at it?” She squinted at him. “That maybe I could do Club 101 on my own? Without you?”

“No. I just—” Sonny grimaced. “I’m sorry. I just didn’t think you’d be going back to work already. Morgan’s barely a week old—”

“You went back to work the next day,” Carly said softly. She focused on him. “I like my job, Sonny. I’m good at it. And I’m happy to be more than a wife and mother. I never thought I’d be good at something like this.”

“I’m glad, but—you should just—” Sonny shook his head. “You should stop hanging out with Elizabeth,” he muttered.

Carly did a double take, widening her eyes. “What—What are you even talking about? Elizabeth and I don’t hang out—and she’s not even working right now—”

“She’s volunteering at the hospital,” Sonny told her. “Jason told me she’s planning to do that right up until she has the baby—and then she’s going to school to get better at it.” He shook his head. “And you—Morgan barely knows who you are and you want to leave him with a nanny—”

“Ah.” Carly smiled at him—a sickly, sweet smile. “You didn’t mind giving me a little help to go to work, so I wouldn’t irritate you at home. Michael was at school already, and you wanted to keep me out of trouble. But now that I have an infant, I need to be occupied all the damn time.” She jerked out of her seat and stalked away towards the kitchen. “I never knew you were so damn sexist—”

“I’m not sexist. Women can do whatever the hell they want,” Sonny retorted as he followed her. He arrived in the kitchen just as she tossed the rest of the orange juice down the drain. “All I said was you didn’t have to work—”

“And then got angry because I said I wanted to. In fact, Sonny, Morgan’s birth was so relatively easy that I could go back in another week,” Carly tossed back at him. “I never thought you’d be like this—”

“You can’t go back to work until we find Ric.”

Carly stared at him for a long moment, then closed her eyes. Then she looked at him, her hand braced on the counter. “Speaking of Ric, how is that going? You haven’t said.”

“We haven’t found him. That’s all you need to know.”

Clearly, that was the wrong answer because his wife just stared at him, her lips pursed. “What?” Sonny demanded defensively. “I’m sorry. We’re doing the best we can—”

“Don’t bother. I’ll just ask Elizabeth,” Carly snarled. She shoved past him. “I can’t believe nothing has changed—”

“What does that mean, you’ll ask Elizabeth?” Sonny followed her as she stalked towards the stairs. “She doesn’t know anything either!”

Carly stopped on the landing, whirling around to glare daggers at him. “She knows more than I do. Because Jason respects her. He tells her things—and I bet when she told him that she wanted to go back to work, he just asked what the hell he could do to help!”

Sonny’s scowl deepened as he charged up the stairs at her, catching her just before entering the master bedroom. “We’re not Jason and Elizabeth,” he retorted.

She glared at him from just over the threshold. “No shit.”

Then she slammed the door.

Municipal Building: Scott’s Office

For the second time in as many weeks, Elizabeth allowed Scott to usher her into his office, where Ned and Lois were waiting.

Lois’s mouth tightened when she saw Elizabeth. “Oh, it’s bad news, isn’t it?” she murmured, looking at Scott. “You never would have asked Elizabeth to come in if it wasn’t.”

“Uh, it’s not that it’s bad news,” Scott said. He gestured for them to take a seat. “It’s just that it’s surprising news—”

“Unless you’re telling someone shanked the bastard in prison, everything else is bad news,” Ned bit out as he pulled out chairs for Lois and Elizabeth. He sat on the other side of the conference table. “Don’t try to sugar coat this, Scott. What’s going on?”

“It seems Vinnie’s lawyer has been playing a few cards we didn’t see coming,” Scott admitted. “Heed the U.S. Attorney’s office in Syracuse asking them to support a petition to the federal court. He’s arguing that the PCPD violated his civil rights by framing him—the way Mac framed Tom Baker with the false lab report.”

Elizabeth exhaled slowly, looked at Lois, then at Scott. “I don’t understand. Vinnie—you said he made a deal—this was over. He just needed to be sentenced—”

“That was the situation in October when this all went down,” Scott told them. “I didn’t expect it to change. With the attack on Elizabeth and the DNA results, I honestly thought we’d closed the book on him.”

“But you seem worried,” Lois murmured, her eyes filled with worry. Without thinking, she reached next to her to squeeze Elizabeth’s hand. They exchanged a tense look—the horror of Vinnie beating these charges was almost too much for either of them to bear.

“The evidence is still there, isn’t it? The DNA tests—my testimony,” Elizabeth said. “Why do you think making this a federal case will be a problem?”

“Because I think there’s a reason Syracuse is interested in this,” Scott told them. “Otherwise, there’s no point in getting involved with a serial rapist case with evidence like ours. The feds are looking to prove they take allegations of police abuse seriously.”

“And that might be enough for them to screw over six women?” Ned demanded. “Six victims, Scott!”

“Nine,” Elizabeth corrected softly. “Three more in Buffalo. Lucky told me those DNA results came back positive for DNA. And God knows how many others.” She took a deep breath as the others focused on her. “I’ve been thinking about it—about the gaps in the original attacks. The ones that began with me in 1998. I can’t believe he’d wait a year.”

Ned frowned her, then exhaled on a swear. “That fall with the Baker trial. You had contact with the PCPD.”

“Not even just that fall,” Elizabeth said. “If you’re right, and Vinnie was triggered to attack someone when I was at the PCPD—I had a lot of involvement that first year. My first report—when Lucky and I were dragged in for being runaways before the Tom Baker case. All of that was before the garage fire.”

“How many women might never have reported?” Lois said. “It’s horrible to think about.”

“Those long gaps only make sense if they never came forward. That’s—” She looked at Scott. “That’s one of the reasons I started the support group. I put an ad in the paper, and I did an interview on the news about it. I wanted to see if anyone would come forward.”

“Have they?” Scott asked, dreading her answer.

“Not yet, but we’ve only met once,” Elizabeth said. “But Ned’s point is true. Everyone knows if he raped nine women, he might as well have raped double that. What could he possibly offer that would get him a deal?”

“I don’t know,” Scott said. “I’m still trying to find out. It’s possible we might not know that unless the judge agrees the PCPD violated Vinnie’s civil rights. They could just order a change of venue—” Scott hesitated. “The judge could throw the entire case out. I’d like to say it’s not going to happen, but—”

“But the PCPD does have a history of falsifying evidence and burying cases,” Ned muttered. “And the Lansing case didn’t help matters. Well, I’ve already fired Mac. There’s nothing else I can do.”

“So we need to convince the judge Vinnie wasn’t framed,” Elizabeth said. She took a deep breath. “Okay. Let’s make that happen. How does the hearing work? Do you—do you just make arguments? Can you present witnesses?”

“It’s a preliminary hearing. His lawyer has to prove malfeasance. I’m sure Mac will be getting a subpoena any day now. Floyd as well,” Scott added.

“Then I’ll testify there,” Elizabeth said. Her smile was thin. “And the DNA evidence—Taggert said he sent that to an FBI lab for more advanced testing. That was why it took so long to come back in the first place. But if it’s my case and the lab report—” She closed her eyes. “You can drop my rape case. Go ahead with one of the other women.”

“No,” Ned snapped. He slapped his hand on the table. “Damn it. No. You are not sacrificing Elizabeth again,” he told Scott sharply.

“Ned,” Lois said softly. “Elizabeth might have a point. If this whole ploy is predicated on what Mac did with her rape kit—”

“I don’t care! She shouldn’t have to pay for this—haven’t we paid enough?” Ned demanded, his eyes burning into hers.

“Ned, it’s more important that we get justice for all of us,” Elizabeth told him. She reached across the table to put her hands around his fist before he could slam the table again. “Brooke can’t fight. I can. I’m okay as long as he goes to jail—”

“I appreciate that, Elizabeth,” Scott said, his voice oddly thick. He cleared his throat. “But that’s not—I agree with Ned. I’m not going to ask you to sacrifice yourself the way Mac and Floyd did. Tom Baker went to jail for blackmail because that was the easier case to prosecute. I’m aware that they might throw out your DNA results as an alternative to letting Vinnie go entirely. But that will be up to a court to decide.”

Elizabeth exhaled and leaned back. “Scott—”

“What I’m worried about is Taggert going on the stand to talk about what happened in Pentonville,” Scott admitted.

“Because Jason went with him,” Elizabeth said, “I—I can understand how that might affect things, make his statement look coerced—”

“I okayed it,” Scott stressed. “I knew there was a chance it might come back to bite us, but we needed to find out what Baker knew. I could call Baker in rebuttal—he’s being released on parole next month—”

“Call Lucky,” Lois suggested. “He broke the case at the same time. You can save Taggert for the trial here, if it ends up coming to that. But Lucky came to the same results. Kelsey was on her way to get a warrant, wasn’t she?”

Scott scrubbed his hands over his face. “I can, but he’s a rookie, and Taggert led the case. There might be a suggestion that Baker was lying—that’s what I mean about falsifying evidence. Coercing a confession—”

“Then call Baker to testify about the conversation,” Elizabeth said, desperation clawing at her. “Scott—”

“It will still come up,” Ned told her. “And knowing Jason—” The corner of his mouth lifted. “It might not be the only trip he made to Pentonville.”

“I’m sorry,” Elizabeth said to Scott, tears stinging her eyes. “I should have—I should have thought about it—”

Lois shook her head. “No, no, sweetheart.” She put an arm around Elizabeth’s shoulders. “Don’t you doubt yourself. Or Jason. Taggert came to you with this idea, not the other way around. And Scott said it himself—he wanted to get a lead. It was worth it—”

“Was it?” Elizabeth demanded. “If we can’t prove that Vinnie did it—if they throw out the DNA evidence—if Taggert can’t testify without getting him or Jason into trouble—”

Scott cleared his throat to get her attention. “Taggert doesn’t care about that,” he told her. “He said he’d take whatever came his way. And I’m sure we could figure out a way to downplay it. I just—” He shifted, uncomfortable. “If Vinnie’s lawyer subpoenas Jason, I might not be able to protect him.” His expression was slightly sour as he continued. “Here, in Port Charles, I could give him immunity—”

Elizabeth emitted a startled laugh, pressing her fingers to her lips. “I’m sorry. I just—I’m sorry. This is all just ridiculous.” She pressed her hands to her eyes, took a deep breath.

“Scott, what exactly is the end game here?” Ned asked. “You’re painting a pretty dark picture—”

“No, what I’m explaining is that—” Scott grimaced. “I’m not going to call Taggert. The defense will expect me to, and he’ll be on my list of witnesses. So will Jason and Mac. Just to cover my bases. I’ll give him a list that might keep him from issuing his own subpoenas.”

“And then you won’t call them,” Ned nodded, realization dawning.

“Because I’ll be testifying first,” Elizabeth said. “You’re—you’re telling me that’s the game plan. That—that my testimony will hopefully be enough to convince Vinnie’s attorney not to call anyone else other than maybe Mac and Floyd.”

“Yes,” Scott admitted. “I know that’s a lot of pressure to put on you, Elizabeth. Maybe too much. And believe me, Bobbie has made that very clear to me when we’ve talked about your testimony. I don’t want to do anything that might hurt you.”

Ned frowned, looked at Elizabeth. “Is everything okay? What’s—”

“No one said anything about you being sick,” Lois cut in. “Edward would have—”

“I’m fine,” Elizabeth assured them both. “I had an appointment last week, and the baby and I are fine. Scott’s just worried about my blood pressure because of blood clots and the embolism in my medical history. Thank you,” she told him. “I appreciate your concern. But you’re right. The best chance at keeping all of that out of the hearing is for my testimony to close the door. To preview what testimony I might give in a trial.”

“I have no doubt you’ll hit it out of the park, I just—I don’t like the situation it’s put you in.”

“I don’t either,” Elizabeth admitted. “But you still have the DNA evidence—and the lab tech can testify to that.” She smiled at him. “Let me take care of the rest. I won’t let you down.”

Kelly’s: Diner

 

“Good, you’re both already here.”

Maxie dumped her purse on the counter, climbed up on the stool, and looked at Lucas and Lulu intently. “We need to do some damage control.”

Lulu winced. She picked up a container of salt and refilled one of the shakers while Lucas just closed his eyes. “Oh, man,” Lucas muttered. “What did you do? Was it illegal? Because if we need to hide a body or something—”

Maxie glared at them. “How dare you suggest that when I say damage control, I mean about something I did! Why does everyone treat me like I’m a walking disaster?”

“Uh—” Lulu widened her eyes. “Life. Life is why. You remember when the Maximum Maxie thing hit the web? Deenie made a smart remark, and you tried to shove her off the porch—”

“It wasn’t that far off the ground,” Maxie said with a sniff.

“Oh, remember when you and Georgie snuck out of the Halloween Party last year?” Lucas asked. “You got kidnapped by Luis Alcazar—”

“Not my fault—”

“Oh, yeah, and then at my birthday party the year I turned twelve,” Lulu said, “you pulled Deenie’s hair, and when she told on you, you put laxatives in her milkshake—” She frowned. “Do you really not like Deenie or something?”

“Listen,” Maxie said testily. “This is—”

“Or that time she had a crush on your brother,” Lucas continued with his eyes sparkling. “And she flattened her own tire when she thought he’d be driving past that part of the road—”

Lulu squealed with laughter. “Oh my God! And she ended up stuck up at Vista Point overnight!”

“If you keep going,” Maxie said, tightly, “I am going to need to hide a body. Two of them—”

“Sorry, sorry. It’s just once we start talking about your greatest hits, we get carried away,” Lulu said without an ounce of regret.

“We could talk about the time you thought you saw Paul Walker get on a bus, and you and Georgie accidentally ended up in St. Paul,” Maxie said with a lift of her brows. “Or how about the time you shoved Deenie’s little sister in the sandbox, and then rubbed sand in her face until she almost choked—”

“Their entire family had it coming,” Lulu muttered. “And thanks, by the way, for helping me and Lucas get home from St. Paul without Mom and Aunt Bobbie finding out. Okay, okay. What’s the damage control?”

“Georgie,” Maxie said. “Mom said she’s not doing great.”

Lucas wrinkled his nose. “This sounds like a girl thing—”

Maxie grabbed his elbow before he could dance away. “Uh — not so fast, buddy. You can help us. Look, what happened last summer—” She focused on Lucas. “It was rough on all of us. But Georgie really did like Brooke by the end of it. You and Georgie were closer to her—other than Dillon. And then Georgie did something we didn’t like, and we cut her off.”

She looked at Lulu, who sighed. “And I started dating her boyfriend,” Lulu said with a nod. “Yeah. I know. Look, if it makes you feel better, I’m pretty sure it’s not true love—”

“What would make me feel better is if none of it ever happened,” Maxie cut in. “But that’s not an option. I guess—I mean, I can’t tell Dillon what to think about any of it. But the three of us—we can be nicer. And Felix and Kyle will do what we tell them to do,” she told Lucas.

“Now that the election is over and Vinnie is in jail…it does seem pointless to keep this going,” Lucas admitted. “Let’s just—the next time we see her—let’s just relax and maybe give her a chance to put it behind us. She’s working later, right?” he asked Lulu.

“Yeah, she’s taking over for Penny at four.”

“I’ll call Felix, ask him to come over after class. Maxie, you stick around. We’ll make it a point to be friendly. Let her know that we can just—we can move on. We might disagree on what happened, but it’s over. And she’s still my cousin,” Lucas said.

“Thanks. I appreciate it.” She looked at Lulu. “And if Deenie does comes in here, do you know where Bobbie keeps the laxatives? I still really hate her.”

PCPD: Squad Room

“This is some Grade A bullshit,” Lucky declared, leaning forward at his desk. He scowled at Taggert, then at Mac. “How can the feds screw us like this?”

Across from him, Dante struggled to absorb the news the commissioner and his lieutenant had just given them—

And the sinking feeling that he might have a way out of this.

“I’m sorry,” Mac said, his face deeply lined in shame. “I never—I never thought what I did—that it would come back like this.”

“It shouldn’t, though,” Cruz said, wrinkling his nose in confusion. “We didn’t falsify evidence in her case—I mean, yeah, there’s that lab report, but it never got entered into evidence. And it wasn’t actually run by a lab. The dress wasn’t contaminated. And—” He hesitated. “Well, I’m sorry, Commissioner, but you’ve been fired and admitted to what you did. How can it be this bad?”

“Apparently, the brief isn’t just using what Mac did—” Taggert shot Mac an irritated look. “But also what happened over the summer. There’s a suggestion that because the PCPD screwed up the Lansing case so badly, that we reopened Elizabeth’s rape to get out of a lawsuit—”

“That we solved her rape case to keep her from suing us?” Lucky huffed. “That is the dumbest shit—”

“She wasn’t going to sue,” Dante said, finally. “Was she? I mean—was that a real threat?”

“While her lawyer might have advised it, I doubt Elizabeth ever seriously considered it. But it gives us motive. Because I’m not sure I’d be able to say honestly that it wasn’t fuel for me to push with this case once I knew hers was connected.”

“Not to mention Lucky working the case,” Mac said. “His connection to Elizabeth was invaluable, but it might also be given the flavor of bias—”

“But it doesn’t make any sense,” Cruz insisted. “There’s DNA evidence in all the other cases, too. Vinnie was literally arrested attacking Elizabeth—”

“His story was initially that she flipped out and attacked him—that she was jumpy with everything that had happened to her and the case being reopened,” Taggert said. “I’m not saying this isn’t all stupid and insane, I’m just telling you what Baldwin is telling me. The system doesn’t always work the way we want it to.”

“Yeah, like a court giving Lansing a say over her medical treatment for twelve freaking hours,” Dante muttered. He scrubbed his hand over face, sat up. “Baldwin is going to call Elizabeth. Just her?”

“With the DNA results in evidence, her testimony should be able to link the cases. His deal was only for Elizabeth’s charges—the attack five years ago and the more recent one. He remains charged with the others.”

“And there’s Buffalo behind us,” Mac reminded them. “They’re holding off on charging him until we conclude here. They can always go after him, and they don’t have the same problem as we do—”

“We,” Dante muttered, and Mac nodded, accepting the censure.

“I thought I was doing the right thing,” he said slowly, “but it wasn’t. I should have done things differently, but Rodriguez is right. I’ve been fired, and the day of the hearing is my last day. We’re hoping that will help.”

“This just doesn’t seem fair,” Lucky said with a shake of his head. A few minutes later, their questions answered, Mac returned to his office, and Taggert and Cruz left on a follow-up interview for another case.

Lucky frowned at Dante across their desks. “You okay? You’ve been quiet.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m just—” Dante took a deep breath. “Just thinking of things we could do. I mean, this—he’s my family. My blood. I hate that he can keep putting Elizabeth Webber through this crap.”

“Yeah, I know. I’m not wild about it either. She’s pregnant, you know,” Lucky told him. Dante raised his brows. “It’s mostly being kept in the family, but I’m not happy that she’s being pushed to do this with that going on, too.”

“Pregnant,” Dante repeated. “That’s—isn’t that awfully quick after everything this summer?”

“It wasn’t planned, but Elizabeth decided to keep the baby. Not surprising.” Lucky shrugged, reached for a file. “But Emily and Nikolas are still concerned. They’re going to hit the roof when they find out about this.” He looked at Dante. “You have any ideas to make it easier?”

“Not exactly.” Dante hesitated. It was on the tip of his tongue to tell his partner about the visit he’d paid Vinnie—easily proved, he thought. His name was on the log, and there’d be a video of him.

And there was that audio recorder he’d had in his pocket—the audio he’d made of Vinnie confessing to all the rapes, particularly Brooke’s. His pride in himself for having done it. He’d made it, he’d told himself, in case of a situation like this. To protect the victims. To nail the coffin shut.

But he hadn’t expected to need it. And now—giving them that tape—he didn’t know if it was the right thing. Vinnie talked about Brooke’s sexuality, and he didn’t think Ned and Lois knew about that. And there were other details that weren’t fair—

His grandmother and aunt were already heartbroken, sure there was some mistake. Dante and his mother’s relationship with them had been strained since it had happened—Lois had fled Bensonhurst in the wake of it. If Dante helped convict his cousin—

He shook his head. “I have some thoughts, but I want—I want to think about them some more. We can’t let him get away with this.”

“We won’t,” Lucky promised him.

Corinthos Penthouse: Living Room

Elizabeth bounced Morgan lightly in her arms and looked over at Carly next to her on the sofa. “Thanks for letting me come over. I was hoping—” She sighed. “I was hoping that spending some time with a baby would get my mind off this morning.”

“I have him twenty-four seven, so have at it.” Carly leaned against the back of the sofa. “Are you okay? I mean—it’s bad enough Ric is—” She looked away.

“It’s hard,” Elizabeth said, slowly. “Last week—last week, I thought things were finally going right. The trial was going to start soon, and Vinnie had already made the deal—two of the worst things that ever happened to me—” She met Carly’s eyes. “And I was going to get justice in both of them.”

“And now, you might not have it in either.” Carly hesitated. “I’m surprised you came here,” she admitted. “I know you’re closer to Emily or Nikolas. Or even my mother—”

“Well, I wanted to see Morgan, but I also—” Elizabeth paused. “I thought maybe you’d understand.” She looked back at her. “I mean, you have your boys. Michael’s such a great kid, and look at this perfect little boy—” She sighed down at Morgan as the newborn’s eyes drifted close.

She stood up to place him in his bassinet. “I have Jason, and we’re—” Elizabeth rested her hand on her belly, over the slight curve. “We’re having a baby. Together. I can’t think of two things I want more. And I can’t—”

She looked back at Morgan, adjusted the edge of his sleeve, restless. “I can’t really be happy about it. Because Ric is out there. And now, my rapist—the man who brutalized so many other women after me—he might get away with it.”

“I try not to think about it,” Carly said slowly. She rose to her feet, crossed over to Elizabeth. “But, yeah, it’s always there. And the nightmares—they were mostly gone. I mean, I still have them from time to time—but I was really starting to think I was done with all of that. I haven’t had a panic attack in a few months.”

“And I’m wondering if I’d be a hypocrite—” Elizabeth closed her eyes. “If this hearing in Syracuse next month—if it goes wrong—”

“You’re thinking that maybe Jason could step in and get justice another way,” Carly finished.

“I asked him to leave Ric alone for the trial—to let him rot in prison.” Elizabeth brushed her hair out of her face, clenching her fingers in the strands briefly before letting her hand fall to her side. “But we had an agreement — if Ric weaseled out of trial—if he got acquitted or something—”

“Jason could do what he wants.” Carly tipped her head to the side. “You’re kind of casual about this. Last year—”

“I’ve always known who Jason is,” Elizabeth said. “Why do you think I had to ask Jason for the trial? You know it, too. You had to ask Sonny.”

“Ask.” Carly winced, looked away. “I didn’t bother asking him,” she admitted. “In fact, I was going to avoid the whole conversation. I knew he’d never give it to me in a million years.”

Elizabeth furrowed her brow. “But I thought—”

“The only reason Ric was alive to jump bail is because Jason promised you to leave him alive for trial,” Carly said, flatly. “And he extended that promise to me. Sonny never promised.”

“Oh. I guess—” Elizabeth bit her lip. “It’s different now. He jumped bail, and I guess that part of the agreement—I mean, I don’t expect a trial now.”

“Me either. But it would have been nice.” Carly rubbed her throat. “It would have been nice to look him in the eye and make sure he knew he hadn’t won. That I had my son and that no one could take him from me. That no one was going to lock me up again.”

“I wanted that moment, too,” Elizabeth admitted. “He thought I was weak, gullible—someone who could be controlled. But if I can’t have that—I guess I have to find a way to be okay with it.”

“How’s that going for you?” Carly asked.

“Not well.” Elizabeth flashed her a smile, then sat back on the sofa. “But maybe this hearing—maybe it can be the same thing. The whole thing is resting on me, so I get to—I get to tell the judge about what happened that day. All the things he said—” Her voice caught. “What he did.”

Carly sat next to her again. “Are you ready for that?”

“I have a month, so I guess I’ll have time to find out.” Elizabeth picked at the nail polish on her thumb. “Do you think Ric is in South America? Or planning to do something?”

“I don’t know. I don’t even know what’s going on.” Carly closed her eyes. “I asked Sonny this morning. And he said they didn’t know anything. That all I needed to know was that they haven’t found him.”

She opened her eyes to find Elizabeth looking at her. “And then I told him I’d just ask you what was going on because I’m sure Jason’s telling you everything.”

“Carly—” Elizabeth shook her head. “I—”

“And man, he really didn’t like being compared to Jason,” she muttered. “I guess it’s probably a sore spot. I just—I figured Jason—because he made you that promise—he doesn’t see this as business as usual. And Sonny does.”

“Oh. Well…Sonny’s not lying. They haven’t found him.” Elizabeth squinted. “He said something about using their network in South America—some of the other people they work with—so if Ric shows up somewhere, they’ll know. I think it’s still early—or that they’re still trying to find evidence of him getting out of the country.”

Carly nodded. “What does Jason think?”

“I don’t know. I think he’s been careful about telling me what he thinks,” Elizabeth replied. “He’s mostly in a wait-and-see frame of mind.”

“Okay. Okay.” Carly rubbed her hands back and forth on her thighs. “Thanks. I, uh, appreciate it. Um, if it’s okay—”

“I’ll pass on anything else Jason tells me,” Elizabeth told her before Carly could even ask. “Until Sonny changes his mind. I’m sure he’s trying, Carly—”

“He is. I just—” Carly shook her head. “Never mind.”

Elizabeth wanted to press her, but she and Carly weren’t really that close. Talking about Ric was one thing—prying into Carly’s marriage was another. “I should get home and grab some lunch. Thanks for letting me get some Morgan time in.”

“Well, you need to get ready,” Carly said as she followed Elizabeth to the door. “You’ll have one of your own in less than six months.”

Elizabeth grinned, her mood finally lifted. “That’s definitely something to look forward to.”

Kelly’s: Diner

Georgie pushed through the door and hesitated when she saw the group at the counter. Lulu was working that shift, and their usual crowd—Lulu’s usual crowd—was taking up all the stools. Dillon, Maxie, Lucas, and his boyfriend, Felix DuBois. The only one missing was Maxie’s boyfriend, Kyle Radcliffe, currently in his junior year at Princeton.

She took a deep breath and walked towards the back of the diner to grab her apron and get to work.

“Hey, Georgie,” Lulu said carefully as Georgie walked behind the counter, tying the ends of the green apron. “I forgot you were working today.”

“Yeah, I asked Bobbie for some extra shifts. Christmas and all.” Georgie bit her lip, picked up the order pad, scanned the restaurant—but the lunch rush had already ended, and it was the lull before dinner.

“How’s classes?” Felix asked, and she looked at him, his warm and friendly expression easing the ice in her veins.

“Oh, good. Interesting,” she said finally. “It’s, um, weird to get to just focus on things I like.”

“Yeah, but you like all of school,” Maxie told her. “You always made me look bad,” she said with a slurp of her milkshake.

“Yeah, but I don’t have to take any gen eds,” she reminded her. “I, uh, took a lot of that in high school. You know, AP and all that.”

“I knew there was a reason I hated you,” Lulu said, and Georgie looked at her, surprised by the lightness in her tone. “I hate college, and you’re like—halfway done.”

A smile played at her lips. “No, but I’ll have my BA a year early. Which is good, because it means I can get my Ph.D. sooner.”

“More school, ugh, where did I go wrong with you?” Maxie threw up her hands. “Lucas, fix her—”

“You’re appealing to Lucas, who’s signing up for medical school?” Dillon said, raising his brows. He shot Georgie a hesitant smile, and she wondered—

Would it be that easy? Could they just…move past the last few months?

“Don’t look at me,” Felix said as Maxie looked at him. “I’m in nursing school—and—” he leaned across Lucas, lowered his voice as if he were going to share a secret. “I like school, too.”

“Oh my God, I’m surrounded by nerds,” Maxie moaned.

“You’ve still got me,” Lulu said confidently. “I’m only going to college for a year to convince my parents it’s a terrible idea. Then I’m going to make my dad let me have the bar—”

“Or—” Dillon said. “You could take some business classes, so you don’t run it into the ground—” Lulu shot him a dirty look, and he put up his hands in mock surrender. “Just a thought.”

“I don’t have to listen to this,” Lulu said with a sniff. She put her nose in the air. “My shift is over, and I’m going home.”

She walked into the back, and Maxie raised her brows at Dillon. “Uh, do I need to smack someone? That almost looked like a real fight.”

“We’re not fighting,” Dillon muttered as he looked down at his burger.

“Uh huh,” Maxie drawled, clearly unconvinced. She turned to Georgie. “Guess what? Our cousin—” She paused to put her arm around Lucas. “Has lost his mind.”

“Hey, you’re dating Kyle, so you don’t get to have an opinion on the subject,” Lucas said, rolling his eyes.

“What’s going on?” Georgie asked. She smiled at him, hopeful that she was going to be included again. That they really could just move on. “Lucas?”

“We’re moving in together,” Lucas admitted with a sheepish grin. “Mom offered us one of the apartments at the Brownstone, so—” he shrugged and looked at Felix, who was grinning. “We’ve been together for a while, so it just seemed like a good time.”

“You were supposed to be my gay friend,” Maxie sighed. “We were going to scope out boys together—”

“You’re dating Kyle,” Georgie reminded her, and Maxie wrinkled her nose.

“Oh, right. Well, then I guess we both ruined my dreams.”

Lucas rolled his eyes at his melodramatic cousin, and they moved on to talk about something else.

Morgan Penthouse: Master Bedroom

 

Jason was not happy to hear that his visit to Pentonville was part of the reason Scott wasn’t calling Taggert to testify at the hearing.

She waited until they were getting ready for bed to tell him, hoping that she could make the whole thing sound routine—Elizabeth didn’t want him to worry about something he couldn’t control.

But his mouth tightened as he sat on the edge of the bed and stared at her as she sat at her vanity table, her brush clutched in her hand. “I shouldn’t have gone—”

“And Baker might not have told Taggert what he needed to know,” Elizabeth told him. “Scott didn’t think it would be an issue. He always figured if Taggert needed to testify about it, he could just give you immunity or something. He wasn’t wild about that either,” she added when Jason grimaced. “But it’s different now that it’s a federal case. I don’t want you called to testify either, Jason.”

“I don’t care about me,” he insisted. “I’ll testify—”

“And Scott knows that.” She bit her lip, set the brush down, and sat next to him on the bed. “He knows it’s not a question if you’d do it—and if it were just you, he might not be worried. He’s interrogated you,” she teased him, reminding him of his murder trial earlier that year for Alcazar’s murder. “He knows you can take care of yourself.”

“Then what’s the problem? Why is he putting all this pressure on you?” Jason demanded.

“Because it’s not just the visit to Pentonville. Taggert asked you go there to intimidate Baker and could probably be explained away, which is one thing on its own. But when you add it to what Mac did with my rape kit, what Vinnie got away with—and even what Capelli did this summer—” Elizabeth sighed. “It makes it look like the PCPD has a pattern of corruption.”

“They do—” Jason exhaled slowly. “Which is the point.”

“I know you hate this,” she told him. She leaned against him, resting her chin on his shoulder, taking his hand in hers. “I offered to make Scott’s life easier by dropping my case entirely. They could go forward on Brooke’s charges. Or any of the other women who had a DNA match.”

Jason scowled. “That’s not—”

“Ned felt the same way,” Elizabeth cut in as Jason shoved off the bed to stalk across the room, towards the fireplace. “Scott told me no. It was never on the table. He thinks my testimony alone will sway the judge.”

“I just—” Jason looked at her. “I hate this. I hate that they’re asking you to do more for them, after everything—”

“I’m not doing it for them,” she corrected. “I mean, yes, technically. But I’m doing it for me. I probably won’t get what I need by testifying against Ric. Thank you for that promise, but I’m not holding you to it—”

“I’m trying—”

She crossed to him, wrapping her arms around his waist, looking up at him. “I know you are. But I know it might not happen. I didn’t know if I’d even get to make an impact statement, you know? With Vinnie pleading guilty and all, they might not have allowed it. I can’t stand up to Ric. But I could—” She searched his eyes. “I can do this. It’s not enough that I bashed his knees with a bat—I want him to see me. To know that what he’s been deluding himself was special was nothing more than a nightmare to me. A nightmare that I am never going to have again. Because it’s over. And I get to end it.”

Jason sighed, then dropped his forehead against hers. “My life might be easier if you were less brave,” he admitted. “But I love you.”

“I love you, too.” She took his face in her hands, lifted it slightly so their lips could meet. “This is going to be over soon. And we’ll be able to get on with the rest of our lives, okay?”

“Okay.” Jason brushed her hair out of her face, letting the backs of his fingers trail down her cheek.

“By the way,” she murmured as he tugged her towards the bed. “We should probably keep our eye on Sonny and Carly.”

Jason groaned slightly, with one knee pressed into the mattress as he pulled her against him. “Why?” he asked. “What happened?”

Elizabeth winced, sliding her fingers through his hair, letting her fingertips dance over the smooth, bare skin of his neck and shoulders. “Nothing. But Sonny isn’t really telling Carly much about the search for Ric, and I just—” She hesitated. “There’s something about the way she told me—it irked me.”

“It irked you,” Jason repeated, frowning slightly at her.

“Yes,” she insisted. Elizabeth arched a brow. “You don’t think I can tell when something is wrong with her? I don’t know her as well as you do, but—”

“No, I’m just—” Jason grimaced. “I’m really not in the mood for another round with Sonny and Carly,” he admitted.

“No, me either. But that doesn’t change reality.” She grinned at him. “But I can tell you’re in the mood for something, so—um—” She kissed him lightly, nipping at his lips. He tightened his arms at her waist. “Let’s change the subject.” Elizabeth lightly pushed at his shoulders, and he fell back on the bed. She climbed on top of him, giggling when he gently pulled her down to him.

“Let’s stop talking at all,” he murmured as he rolled her beneath him.

Put to rest what you thought of me
While I clean this slate
With the hands of uncertainty
So let mercy come and wash away
What I’ve done
– What I’ve Done, Linkin Park

---

Monday, November 10, 2004

Jones House: Georgie’s Bedroom

Felicia paused by her youngest daughter’s ajar bedroom door and knocked lightly. “Georgie? What are you doing home?”

“Oh.” Georgie blinked at her mother, glancing up from her laptop. She shook her head as if clearing her thoughts. “I—”

“Your classes start at nine, don’t they?” Felicia looked pointedly at the clock on Georgie’s nightstand, which read 11:34 A.M. “Are you feeling okay?”

“Yeah, I just—I fell behind in some reading, and I…” Georgie tapped her fingers on the keys lightly, then shoved the laptop away. “I needed a day. I’m sorry—”

“No, don’t apologize.” Felicia sat on the edge of the bed, tilting her head to the side. “It’s my own fault for not looking in on you more since school started. We’ve just been busy at the agency. You know, it’s that time of year.”

Georgie smiled faintly. “The holidays. Everyone wants to do a background check or find out if their boyfriend is cheating before Christmas.” She rubbed her hands on her jeans. “Yeah, I know. I—school is fine.”

“It’s different than high school, isn’t it?”

“Yeah.” Georgie bit her lip. “I kind of wish I’d gone away to school. Started over.” She looked at the picture board above her bed, filled with photographs of herself through the years. Felicia followed her gaze and saw a group photo from Georgie’s high school graduation the previous June. Georgie had her arm around Dillon Quartermaine’s waist, and she was turning her head to smile at Lesley Lu Spencer, her childhood best friend.

“It’s been hard, I guess, since Dillon and Lulu started dating. I’m sorry, sweetheart.”

“I don’t blame them,” she muttered. She dug her toe into the peach carpet. “And Dillon and I—we only dated a few months. It wasn’t that serious. But—they don’t invite me places anymore.”

“Because of Lulu and Dillon?”

“No.” Georgie met her mother’s eyes. “Because of Brooke. And what happened with Mac.”

“Ah. I wondered. Maxie still isn’t speaking to him, and I’m sure that’s been hard for him.” Felicia folded her hands in her lap. “I was proud of you, you know, for standing up for him. Believing in him, even when your friends didn’t.”

“You were?” Georgie squinted. “But—but I know you agreed with Maxie and everyone else in town. Everyone abandoned Mac. Like one mistake, and that was it—”

“No one who matters has abandoned him,” Felicia corrected her. “I was disappointed, but I’m glad he owned up to it. He dealt with it and tried to make it right. Maxie’s young. She’ll get over it. I understand that people make mistakes.”

“But he—” Georgie hesitated. “What happened to Brooke—it wasn’t his fault. Everyone made it seem like he didn’t do anything, but that’s not true. The mayor wouldn’t let him. I read all the papers, Mom. He tried to get more security for the park, he tried to let people know. He warned me and Maxie.”

“I know—”

“All he did—all he did was one stupid thing. He closed one case, Mom. And they wouldn’t have found anyone even if he had sent Elizabeth’s kit away. Vinnie wasn’t in the system—”

“Sweetheart—”

“It’s not Mac’s fault! He didn’t make Vinnie like that, and he didn’t want Brooke to die—” Her voice trembled. “I liked her, too! And I was nice to her. I thought we could be friends. I liked her more than Maxie did—I was the one who realized she’d left—”

“Georgie—” Felicia leaned over towards the desk and pulled Georgie’s hands, pulled her daughter to sit next to her. “I know you did everything you could. I’m proud of how you handled that night—all of you. You did the best you could. And I know Mac did. But, sweetheart, if Mac had her case tested—they would have known it wasn’t the man in jail. They might have still been looking—”

“They still wouldn’t have tested the other cases,” Georgie said stubbornly. “Sure, Elizabeth would know the truth, but would it have it made it better? It’s just—” She huffed. “I was so mad at all of them, and then they got mad at me—”

She stared blindly at the wall. “And Mac got fired anyway. It didn’t even matter. Ned isn’t going to let him forget what happened. And now everyone thinks I’m a stupid silly girl who doesn’t understand anything.”

“They don’t—”

“Maxie said so—” Georgie’s eyes were lush with tears. “She said they all laughed because I voted for Floyd, but Mom, I knew he wasn’t going to win, and it was—I just wanted to feel like I was helping Mac.”

“I know you did, baby.” Felicia’s heart was sore for her little girl. “Come here.” She put an arm around her, tucking her into her embrace. “And I love you for it. He’s been so good to you. And I know he made the choice he did because he wanted to take care of you and Maxie. He’s a good man, and I’m sorry that people seem to forget that.”

“I just—I miss my friends. I stopped eating at school because I didn’t—I just sit in the library and pretend I’m studying all the time because they won’t sit with me, and I don’t know anyone—” Georgie raised her eyes and looked at Felicia. “I just wanted a day where I didn’t have to do that.”

“Then you take your day. And don’t—don’t worry about your sister and the others,” Felicia said. She tucked Georgie’s hair behind her ears. “For them—this was black and white. You saw the shades of gray, and you did your best. I’m proud of you for it. Sometimes doing what feels right to you feels wrong to everyone else. And it takes a lot of strength to stand against people, especially family and the boy you care about.”

“I was thinking about transferring after this year,” Georgie said. “Maybe another campus. Syracuse isn’t too far away.”

“It’s far enough,” Felicia said with a pained smile. “But let’s get through this first semester. Then we’ll talk about it over the holidays.”

Corinthos & Morgan Warehouse: Sonny’s Office

With a little trepidation and worry, Jason followed Bernie, Justus, and Johnny O’Brien into Sonny’s office. Sonny wanted daily updates on the search for Ric, but each day that passed with nothing to report only increased Sonny’s frustration.

He’d felt powerless to protect Carly six months earlier, and Jason knew that not dealing with Ric in a way that felt final was only making that worse. When Sonny felt powerless and helpless, it usually ended in disaster for all of them.

“Well?” Sonny barked as he faced the four of them behind his desk. “What’s the deal? What do we know?”

Because Johnny was scheduled to return to his normal post in Puerto Rico, he volunteered to come forward. He’d come up in the organization at the same time as Jason, but last year, Johnny had taken a promotion to look after Sonny’s Caribbean interests. Mostly to get away from the daily pressure of working with Sonny.

“Nothing,” Johnny said bluntly. “I talked to Roy DiLucca last night. He said Hector Ruiz agreed to pass information in exchange for a few favors—nothing I wouldn’t have done anyway,” he added quickly. “But I probably would have charged Hector more for some of the shipments. Between my contacts in Caracas and Hector’s connections in Bogotá, we have most of the region covered. If Ric Lansing makes a move, we’ll know it.”

“Didn’t Alcazar have connections in Argentina?” Sonny demanded. “What if Ric is there?”

“I’ve thought of that, Sonny,” Bernie told him. “I looked into the situation, and there’s a power vacuum in Argentina. Alcazar’s death threw his organization into turmoil, and another local boss died of natural causes. I made some overtures, but we don’t have a lot to offer.”

“Didn’t Alcazar have a brother?” Jason asked, knowing it was Sonny’s next question. “Where are we on Lorenzo Alcazar?”

“He’s still teaching literature at the university in Caracas,” Johnny told them. “He took custody of Luis’s kid, and doesn’t look like he’s in the business. If he wanted revenge, Jase, he’s pretty cold about it.”

“He’s been missing almost a week. How do we not know where he is?” Sonny scowled. “Maybe he hasn’t left the country yet. Anyone else hiding him?”

“Taking in Lansing would be a suicide mission,” Jason said shortly. “It would be making a move against us, and getting into bed with Anthony Zacchara. No one is dumb enough to do both. Zacchara can’t be trusted, and we’ve got a track record of taking out anyone else who comes after us.”

Sonny frowned, placated by this reminder of his tenure in Port Charles, and how powerful he’d grown in the last decade. He sat down. Nodded. “Okay. Okay. Johnny, I want eyes and ears throughout South America. Anywhere Ric might go—do what you need to get it done.”

“On it. I gotta get going if I’m going to make the flight back. Good luck,” he said, eying Jason as he left.

“I’ll be in my office if anyone needs me,” Justus said, always slightly uncomfortable in these meetings where illegal things were discussed. He didn’t mind being their lawyer for the legal parts of the business, but he’d never enjoyed this part of the job. But when Sonny commanded attendance—

“Yeah, yeah.” Sonny waved him and Bernie away, leaving him alone with Jason. “We should have killed him months ago.”

“We can’t go back, Sonny. It doesn’t do us any good to wish things had been different—”

“If you’d let me take care of him in Crimson Pointe—”

“We’re not having this argument again,” Jason said flatly. “I made Elizabeth a promise—”

“It wasn’t your place to promise anything,” Sonny retorted. “I’m in charge not you—”

“He went after Elizabeth because of me,” Jason snapped, really not in the mood for this again. “And this isn’t business. Ric didn’t target you because of that—”

“It’s always business! He used the business to come after me!”

“He used the business to get close to you,” Jason corrected. “He had a personal grudge, Sonny. No one—except maybe Zacchara—would have come at us the way Ric did. He went after our family. Carly, Elizabeth, Courtney—he tried to destroy the people who mattered. He never gave a damn about the warehouse or the shipments—he wanted to destroy you.”

“You think I don’t know that?” Sonny demanded. He stalked over to his mini bar and poured himself a bourbon, his hand trembling. “I let him live after Martha’s Vineyard. After what he did to Carly. To Courtney. If I had had the strength to do what was right, he never would have been alive to go after my family. Or Elizabeth,” he added as an afterthought.

“But he did. I know you hate that you didn’t protect Carly. I didn’t do much better with Elizabeth.” Jason should have tried harder to get through to her, to make her understand who Ric was—

Or he should have been more honest with her a year ago when it would have mattered.

“Sonny, it doesn’t matter. None of this matters—”

“No?” Sonny turned to face him. “Did you tell Elizabeth or Carly we’d bring Ric in alive? After all this?”

Jason hesitated. “I said we’d try.” Or that he would try. “I know you told Carly differently, and they both understand it might not be possible—”

“It’s not going to happen. I’ve given orders that he’s to be shot on sight. When we have confirmation,” Sonny continued, “when we know it’s him, he’s to be executed. No more pussyfooting around on this, Jase. When we find Ric Lansing, we’re going to finish this once and for all.”

PCPD: Commissioner’s Office

Marcus Taggert wasn’t having the best of days even before he met with Mac about his open cases. Two of his snitches had turned up as overdoses in a Courtland Street motel, and another witness was threatening to recant his testimony on a robbery.

So the last thing he really wanted to do was go to Mac’s office and tell him he didn’t have any leads into the disappearance of Ric Lansing.

“I’m not surprised,” Mac admitted. He taped a cardboard box closed and set it on the floor, next to two others. Taggert scowled.

“Why are you packing already? I thought you said your replacement isn’t starting until December 10. That’s a whole month—”

“I’m doing a little bit every day,” Mac said with a shrug. “I’ve been in this job for eight years. There’s a lot to go through.” He returned to his desk.

Taggert grimaced, then settled back in his chair. “Anyway,” he said. “I don’t know what to do about Lansing. None of the usual stuff is working, you know? I put a trace on his accounts, the APB is state-wide—best I can do. And nothing. He vanished into thin air.”

“The contact at the FBI called,” Mac told him. He dug through a pile on his desk and slid the memo over. “They’re having the same issues. They’ve had the Zaccharas under surveillance for the last year, and their guy didn’t see Ric leaving either.”

“This is just like Carly,” Taggert muttered. “They look for panic rooms? Hidden, secret pockets of space? If he made Carly vanish, he could try the same—”

“I thought of that and reminded the Crimson Pointe PD of the nature of the charges. They got a court order to see plans of the estate and brought in an expert. To the best of their knowledge, there isn’t any such place. Ric’s not on the estate.

Taggert sighed. He glanced at the report. “Says here the FBI can’t trace him out of the country either.”

“No. I asked Anna to make contact with Interpol to see if they could get something—and nothing. You’re right. This is exactly like last June.” Mac hesitated. “Have you considered that Corinthos and Morgan might have done something?”

Taggert pursed his lips, then nodded. “It’s on the list. But—” He sighed. “The thing is—and I know what this sounds like, Mac—I don’t think so. At first, I wondered. But Corinthos had Carly move back in—and for her to go back after all these weeks, she probably believes he’s alive.”

“Sonny could be lying.”

“He could,” Taggert allowed. He tossed the memo back on the desk. “But I got to know Morgan better through the Lansing and Esposito case. I still think he’s a criminal,” he clarified, “but on this Ric thing—I don’t know. Lansing survived to be let out on bail. He survived to get all the way here. There’s a reason.”

Mac nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, Ned said the same thing the day after Lansing split. He thinks Corinthos and Morgan made a deal with their women—Lansing could go on trial, and they could testify. They were probably arranging an accident after the trial and sentencing.”

“You know if I could put this at their feet, I would, Mac. Just because I left Organized Crime doesn’t mean I haven’t forgotten who they are. I might not be able to get Morgan,” he said. “He doesn’t tend to commit crimes that aren’t related to the business. But Sonny—”

“Sonny has more of a checkered history,” Mac replied. “He’s committed more violent crimes for dumber reasons. You had some sort of connection with him, didn’t you? Back in New York?”

“I never met him personally,” Taggert told him. “But I knew his stepfather, Deke Woods. Deke was a good cop. Good guy.” His mouth tightened. “Sonny had him killed. Deke was trying to prove Sonny killed his own mother—used to kick the shit out of Deke once he got old enough. He got on the streets with Joe Scully and turned rotten.”

Mac squinted, then frowned. “I never heard this story about Sonny. That he killed his own mother—”

“I’m sure it was an accident. Or he hit her harder than he meant to. But this was the same guy who drugged and slept with Karen Wexler, remember?” Taggert reminded him. “Put her on those pills, and made her strip at his club. There were other girls at the Paradise we probably didn’t even know about. Then the crap he put Lily and Brenda through. He grew up, figured out how to control his temper, but he’s still the same violent piece of shit.”

He got to his feet. “That’s why I don’t work cases involving him anymore,” he told Mac. “Because I can’t be sure anymore if I’m biased. Maybe Sonny’s cleaned up his act, but anyone who could do that kind of thing once—he’ll always be capable of it. Morgan doesn’t have that in him.”

“I never thought I’d hear you say anything nice about Jason Morgan,” Mac said dryly.

“Yeah, well, Jason Morgan has literally one good thing going for him right now—and that’s Elizabeth Webber.” He shrugged. “Morgan’s not going to show up in any of my cases, and I’m done with grudges. Life is too fucking short—”

The door banged open behind them as Scott Baldwin strode in, his face florid with fury. He was shaking a packet of paper in his hand. “Did you see this bullshit?” he demanded.

“Uh—do we look angry enough to have seen whatever it is?” Taggert asked.

“What’s wrong?” Mac asked.

Scott slapped the packet on Mac’s desk, and Taggert realized it was a legal motion. He squinted— “Is that from the U.S. Attorney’s Office?”

“Vinnie’s attorney,” Scott spat, “is arguing that his civil rights have been violated in Port Charles. That the PCPD is framing him, and the goddamn feds are joining the petition—”

“On what grounds?” Taggert demanded. Mac shot out of his chair.

“The nature of the crimes,” Scott retorted, “and the recent PCPD scandals suggest Vinnie might have been unfairly targeted and framed to make the smoke go away—”

“We had a deal, Scott.” Mac scowled. “This was supposed to be over—”

“Yeah, well—” Scott nodded at the motion. “I’ll set them on fire. No way in hell this gets taken from me—”

“Why would the U.S. Attorney’s office intercede on behalf of a serial rapist?” Taggert cut in. “What the hell could Vinnie have that they want?”

“I guess we’ll find out.” Scott exhaled slowly. “I have to tell them.”

“What?” Taggert shook his head, knowing immediately who Scott was talking about. “No. Why? You’re going to win—”

“Because the last thing I’m going to do to Elizabeth or Ned and Lois is let them hear this crap in the papers. And Elizabeth might be able to help me with the other survivors.” Scott shook his head. “Do you think I want to drag the three of them into my office? We just lost Ric Lansing—you think I want to tell that girl we might be losing the other asshole who assaulted her this year?”

Scott glared at the legal motion. “After I win this—and I will—I am going to salt the Earth with these motherfuckers. I am tired of these damned politicians pushing me around.”

Corinthos Penthouse: Living Room

Carly smiled as Michael dashed in and ran to hug her. “Mama, Mama, I got an A on my math test,” he told her with a toothy smile. He held out the test paper for her to see. “I can add stuff.”

“That makes one of us,” Carly quipped, kissing his cheek. She looked at her mother. “You didn’t have to pick him up. Rocco would have—”

“I wanted to. I’ve missed our drives home,” Bobbie said. She came over to them, ruffled Michael’s blond hair. “Go put that on the fridge, then start your homework.”

“Okay.”

Michael raced into the kitchen, then dragged his backpack to the stairs. When they heard his door close, Carly turned back to her mother with a lifted brow. “Well, I’m sure you sent him away for a reason.”

“I just wanted to check on you,” Bobbie said innocently. “Morgan napping?”

“Yeah, for another thirty minutes, maybe. Then he’ll want to be fed.” Carly leaned back against the sofa. “I’m fine, Mama. I had to come home sometime.”

“I don’t agree with you on that,” Bobbie remarked with a wrinkling of her nose. “But I wasn’t sure if things were…any tenser because of the reasons you came home.”

“Sonny isn’t in the best of moods,” Carly admitted. “But it’s hard to argue with it. He’s at the warehouse all day, trying to think of any way he can find Ric. And I don’t think they’re making any headway.”

“They’re not,” Bobbie said. She bent her head to look for her phone in her purse and missed Carly’s bewildered expression. “At least not the last time I talked to Elizabeth, so I was hoping you’d know more, but judging by the look on your face, you don’t. Carly, exactly what do you know about the search for Ric?”

“Only that it’s happening, I guess.” Carly cleared her throat. “I—I’ve been busy with Morgan, you know. He needs so much right now. And there’s Michael, of course. Plus, I’m not supposed to, but I’m trying to get caught on paperwork from the club—”

“Carly.”

“I asked once or twice,” Carly said. She met her mother’s eyes. “But Sonny told me not to ask about the business. And I haven’t. It never—I’m surprised Jason isn’t doing the same—” She stopped. “That’s not true,” she corrected, her voice quieter now. “Because Ric isn’t business for Jason. They might be using business methods to find him—but—”

She chewed on her bottom lip. “I honestly hadn’t thought about it. I keep thinking it’s like before. Sonny trusted me last year because he had to—he knew I’d never forgive him if he faked his death, but Elizabeth didn’t need to know. It wasn’t about her. So I—I never thought it would be different.”

“Well, I don’t know.” Bobbie shifted, slightly uncomfortable. She looked away. “It might also be that Jason and Elizabeth just fell into different habits. When you were missing—Sonny wasn’t really here. Justus and Bernie had only just started working. There weren’t a lot of people Jason could trust with everything that was going on.”

“And he told Elizabeth everything, not Courtney,” Carly said with a nod. “Yeah, Courtney said it was—it was like he’d replaced her almost from the minute she called the police.” When her mother’s eyes flashed, Carly added, “Not that I agree with her. I think it was more that her phone call put Courtney on a list of people who couldn’t be trusted. And Elizabeth staying—believing in him—gave him a reason to trust her. I’m glad he had that, Mama. That he and Elizabeth have found something that works for them.”

“But?”

“But Sonny and I aren’t them. We’ve been together longer,” Carly reminded her. “And we’ve been through more. Talk to me in a couple of years when Jason and Elizabeth have been tested the way Sonny and I have.” She nodded, feeling more resolute in her words.

“Okay.” Bobbie lifted her brows, still skeptical. “So, I guess you’re treating this more like you’re back to stay.”

“I’m—” Carly hesitated. “I think so. Sonny said he’d try to do better, and he is. And he’s right. Things are different now. I wanted Ric to go to trial, which can’t happen now. Not unless the authorities catch Ric.” She hesitated. “I can’t have my way in this, Mama.”

Bobbie pursed her lips, then got to her feet. “Well, you know I’ll support whatever you choose. I’ll go check on Michael, make sure he’s getting his homework done.”

Kelly’s: Diner

Felicia smiled brightly at her eldest daughter as she sat across the table from her, tossing her purse on one of the other empty chairs. “How’s school?”

Maxie Jones peered her at her suspiciously, narrowing her brilliant blue eyes. “Fine. I’m not failing yet, which is good since we’re going into midterms.” She arched a brow. “Is there a reason you insisted on making me meet you for dinner tonight? Because, like, I have a thousand things I could be doing—”

“I haven’t seen you in a few days, and since you live on campus, I didn’t think you’d want me harassing you in your dorm.” Felicia picked up a menu, smiled innocently at her. “Unless you want me to come by—”

“No, this is fine.” Maxie sipped her water, then leaned back with a wince. “Oh, Penny’s working tonight. Well, we’ll be here a while.”

“How’s Kyle? Have you talked to him much?”

“We try to call every day,” Maxie told her, with a shrug of her shoulder. “And email. He’s got crazy midterms right now, so…” She leaned forward. “Mom. You don’t like Kyle.”

“I don’t think you should be in a long-distance relationship at your age,” Felicia corrected. “Kyle doesn’t bother me. He seems like a nice kid. He’s just too far away—” She shook her head. “Never mind. Do you see Georgie on campus much?”

“Here we go.” Maxie rolled her eyes. “Are you mad because I’m not spending all my free time teaching Georgie how to be popular? Look, she was a nerd in high school, and she’s a disaster in college—she decided to live at home—”

“Mariah Maximilliana.”

Maxie pursed her lips. “You’re mad at me? Seriously? She’s the idiot who took Mac’s side—”

“You remember your father,” Felicia said softly. “She doesn’t. Mac is the only father she’s ever known.” And if her chest was tight at the reminder that Frisco had chosen the WSB over them so easily—she just put it away.

Maxie hesitated. “I just—I don’t understand how she can forget what happened—”

“She didn’t. Maxie, you know better than that. Mac took a lot of heat for this case—some of which was well-deserved,” Felicia added.

“Some?”

“At the end of the day, the only thing he didn’t do was send Elizabeth’s rape kit to the lab. That’s it. How would that have stopped what happened?”

“I—” Maxie hesitated. “They would have known—”

“None of the other cases were tested either. Because there was no suspect. That was departmental policy, and that’s not something Mac could change without financial and political support,” Felicia told her gently. “Knowing five years ago that Tom Baker was not guilty would have done exactly nothing to help Brooke Lynn.”

Maxie’s lip trembled. “I should have done more.”

“Maxie—”

“It’s my fault. Kyle and Lucas were arguing at the theater, and they got us kicked out. A-and we were all fighting—I was terrible and mean to Dillon, so he and I got into a fight—then Brooke left, and none of us noticed—”

A tear slid down her cheek, then another. “Mac told us not to go to the park at night. But we never told Brooke. We never thought about it. That’s all I could think—I was driving me and Georgie around—and we just—we just kept worrying because why would Mac say that—”

“Sweetheart—”

“Georgie noticed she was gone, Mom. Not me. Not Lucas. Not Dillon or Kyle. Georgie. We were all selfish and stupid, and I just—” She stared at her hands. “Maybe that’s why she could let it go better. Georgie was nicer to Brooke than we were. She was the reason we found her so quickly—because she noticed her.”

“It wasn’t your fault.”

“When Georgie stood by Mac—it just felt like a punch to the gut. It was so clear that he’d been wrong—but I don’t know—” Maxie looked away. “Maybe we’ve been too hard on her. I mean, Dillon—that’s fine. He was Brooke’s family. And her boyfriend. He probably had a right to expect her to be more supportive or whatever. But Lucas and I could have been nicer. Especially since this is her first year.”

“What about Lulu?”

“Oh—well, that’s just complicated because of Dillon,” Maxie said with a shrug. “Lu just took his side because she’s loyal like that.” She met her mother’s eyes. “Is Georgie okay? Is that why you brought it up?”

“She’s struggling a bit,” Felicia admitted. “It might be nice if you gave her a break. Your friends can do whatever they want, but you’re her sister.”

“I’ll talk to her, Mom,” Maxie promised. “And I’ll talk to Lucas and Lu about it.”

Spencer House: Living Room

Kelsey really should have given Lucky more credit about knowing his family. She’d been ridiculously worried that she wouldn’t measure up to his last serious girlfriend. Kelsey liked Elizabeth Webber and understood why she’d been well-liked not only by the Spencers but apparently the entire city since she’d single-handedly kicked Vinnie Esposito’s ass and saved herself.

But she’d been apprehensive that Laura Spencer might still want that girl for her son—that no one would ever really be able to replace her.

She shouldn’t have stressed herself out.

Laura was perfectly lovely—friendly, warm, and interested in everything Kelsey had to say. And Lucky’s father, the enigmatic Luke Spencer, had just looked so damn happy to have his wife home and herself again, that Kelsey could have been a stranger on the street, and Luke wouldn’t have cared.

“It’s so wonderful to see Ollie’s daughter, all grown up,” Laura told Kelsey as Lucky and Lulu cleared the dining room table. “I didn’t know your mother—he married after I—well, after we lost touch,” she said. Kelsey knew her parents hadn’t married until after Laura had mysteriously disappeared—kidnapped and held hostage in Greece by Nikolas’s family.

Port Charles was absolutely wild.

“It’s nice to know someone who remembers Dad. I mean, he grew up here and worked here until he died, but—” Kelsey sighed. “Scott doesn’t like to talk about him much.”

“It’s probably painful,” Laura told her. She reached over to squeeze her hand. “He and Ollie were like brothers from the day I met them. He’d be so proud of you, working at the DA’s office. I hadn’t heard that he died, but things were so crazy when we first moved back, I must have missed it.”

“Oh, well, it was just a car accident,” Kelsey replied. She hesitated when Luke frowned at her, then squinted his eyes. “June 1994,” she clarified. “I think Lucky said you’d only been back a few months, and I can’t imagine a car accident got a lot of newspaper coverage.”

“Car accident,” Luke repeated. “Uh, no, I guess not. Sorry to hear about it. I remember him a little, too,” he added. “Everyone in Port Charles runs into each other eventually.”

“How do you like working at the DA’s office?” Laura asked, drawing Kelsey’s attention away from Luke.

“Um, that’s a hard question to answer,” she admitted. She caught Lucky’s eye. “It’s not boring,” she said finally.

“Kelsey was injured in the Esposito case,” Nikolas told his mother as he set a cup of tea in front of her, then took a seat again. “She and Lucky had broken the case wide open, and Vinnie Esposito found out. He shoved her down the stairs to keep her from getting a warrant for his DNA.”

Laura’s eyes widened, and she looked at Kelsey. “I didn’t realize! I’m so sorry—”

“It’s really okay, and Lucky’s the one that figured it out. I just looked at some databases. Actually,” Kelsey said, looking at her boyfriend. “It was kind of crazy. We all solved it at once. Taggert and Jason had gone to Pentonville to interview Tom Baker—”

Luke held up a hand. “I’m sorry. Rewind that statement. Who went where?”

Kelsey laughed. “Yeah, that was the attitude at the PCPD, too, but Taggert figured Baker might be intimidated by Jason and finally come clean about what he knew. That was the same time Lucky got the receipts from Bobbie and remembered Vinnie being her regular.”

“Yeah, well, none of it was in time to stop him from nearly killing you and going after Elizabeth,” Lucky muttered. Kelsey put her hand over his, squeezing it lightly. He’d blamed himself for not remembering more of his past with Elizabeth sooner. The brainwashing that had erased his feelings for Elizabeth had left his memory looking like Swiss Cheese. He hadn’t remembered about Vinnie until it was almost too late.

“I’m okay,” she reminded him. “And that was his big mistake, remember? If he hadn’t gone after me, you wouldn’t have known to call Elizabeth. Or alert Taggert and Jason about her not picking up the phone. Elizabeth is okay.”

“Still.”

“Sounds like you did good work, Cowboy. My boy, showing up the PCPD his first few months on the job.” Luke pointed his fork at Lucky. “They should let you run the place.”

“Says the man who literally threw a hissy fit when Lucky applied to the academy,” Lulu offered with a snort. She handed Kelsey a slice of cheesecake. “Mom comes home, decides it’s the best thing that ever happened to Lucky, and Dad falls right in line.”

“Well, I know it hurts Luke’s soul to remember this, but other than a handful of times, he was usually on the side of good.” Laura arched her brow. “Or was it someone else who saved the world from Mikkos Cassadine?”

“I blame Robert for that. And you.” Luke grinned at her. “I’m useless without you.”

“Agreed,” Nikolas said with a grin.

“Watch it, Dark Prince.”

Laura rolled her eyes, but her joy in having her entire family at her table—all three of her children and her husband—was evident in her smile. “Well, I’m proud of Lucky for finding his passion.”

“He really is great at it,” Kelsey told her. She flashed Lucky her own proud smile. “He and some of the rookies who started with him are being fast-tracked to detective. For the Lansing and Esposito cases.”

“I didn’t do much for the Lansing case,” Lucky told his parents. “That was Cruz. I mean, we all patrolled the house to make sure Elizabeth was safe.” He saw Nikolas’s grimace. “Yeah, we didn’t manage that, but at least Cruz was there when she got sick.”

“It sounds like it’s been quite the year in Port Charles,” Laura said. Her smile dimmed slightly, then she took a deep breath. “I’m just glad my family is safe and happy.”

Lucky and Kelsey stayed another hour, lingering over coffee and cheesecake, but then Luke and Laura walked them to their car while Lulu and Nikolas argued over what to watch on television back at the house.

Laura watched Lucky back out of the driveway and sighed, folding her arms tightly around herself. Luke slipped an arm around her waist. “What do you think, Darlin’?”

“About Kelsey? She seems lovely. Can’t believe she’s Ollie’s little girl. I haven’t thought about him in decades. And it’s nice to see that she’s as proud of Lucky as he is of her. But mostly—he looks like our boy again.” She looked up at him. “You know? I almost feel like I was…that I was looking at the boy he would have grown up to be if Helena hadn’t stolen him.”

“He does seem more comfortable than he did when I left,” Luke admitted. “Can’t believe being a cop was an answer. Goes against everything I believe in—”

“When they were growing up, you always said Lu was mine, and that Lucky was yours. I agreed with you. But—now—” Laura smiled. “Now he reminds me of myself. And Lu—” She heard Lulu screech something at Nikolas. “That is definitely your child.”

“Let’s just hope she doesn’t make my mistakes,” Luke quipped as they went back inside.

Morgan Penthouse: Living Room

“I can’t believe I’m actually going to go back to school next year,” Elizabeth said, as she dug into her dinner that night. She poked at her Chinese food with her chopsticks and looked at Jason. “I mean, if it’s okay with you. You haven’t said much—”

Jason frowned, leaned back against the sofa, stretching his arm along the back. “In the ten minutes since you told me you’d decided to do it? I told you. Whatever you want—”

“Yeah, but I’m contemplating going back to school—graduate school—when we’ll have a six-month-old baby,” Elizabeth reminded him. “I mean, maybe that’s crazy to think about—”

“Why?” Jason shook his head. “A lot of women go back to work earlier than that. And I’ll be here.” He hesitated. “I don’t have a regular schedule, but I could make it work. And when we can’t, I don’t know, we could hire a nanny—” He paused when he saw her wince. “What?”

“I don’t know. I guess it’s fine for Carly. And I know Monica had a nanny for you guys growing up. But it feels strange to hire someone to take care of my baby, so I can go to classes. I could wait until the baby’s old enough to go to school—”

“You’d wait three or four years?” Jason shook his head. “No. I mean, if that’s what you want to do, then fine. But we could make it work, Elizabeth. If you don’t want to hire someone full-time, maybe we could just find baby-sitters. People like you.”

“Maybe.” Her excitement slightly dimmed as reality set in. “I was always terrible at school. I’ll probably just fail—”

“Hey.” Jason put his container on the table and leaned forward to take her chin in his hand. Waited until she met his gaze. “What are you doing right now?”

She smiled faintly. “Writing out a terrible ending to a story I didn’t even start yet.” She sighed. “Crazy. I thought I was past that, but every time I take on something new, there I go—raining on my own parade.”

“You weren’t a great student, we’ll have a baby—what other obstacles are you going to throw in front of this?” Jason asked her softly. “I know it’s scary. It’s one thing to volunteer at some meetings—you can always step back. But this would be different.”

“Three years of graduate school,” Elizabeth told him. “And then an internship. And then they’d give me real patients to talk to. It’s—I’m so messed up. Why do I think I can do this?”

“Your meeting last week—with the other survivors. You didn’t think you could do that either,” Jason said. “But how did that go?”

“Really well.” Elizabeth wrinkled her nose. “One of the women sent me an email and said she slept through the night over the weekend. For the first since it happened. She thanked me. She thinks coming to the group will really help.” She took a deep breath. “It really helped me, too, you know. When I was raped. I was scared when Gail suggested it, but she was right. She knew I had to see I wasn’t alone. That I would benefit from talking with other women who’d been through it. Even better—it would help to see women who were on the other side of it.”

She met his eyes. “The first meeting, afterward, I didn’t have a nightmare. I mean—I still had them, but there were less after the meeting. And that first night—I slept the whole night.”

“Why did Gail think you’d be good at this?” Jason asked, and she smiled at him, knowing what he was doing and loving him for it.

“Because I’d been where a lot of these women are, and I could be someone to give them hope. One of them—one of the cases from this year—when she found out I was pregnant, she told me it made her think that maybe she might have a future.” Elizabeth rested her hand on her abdomen, over the slight curve of her belly. “I remember asking Bobbie how I could ever trust someone to touch me, and she told me that there’d come a day when I’d be okay.”

Elizabeth exhaled slowly. “And I’m glad it was Lucky. For all the pain we caused each other, we really did love each other once. But—that’s not when I knew I’d be okay,” she told him. He tipped his head. “I always trusted Lucky. You know? Because of the way he found me. But I didn’t trust anyone else. Not even Nikolas. Not really. But in my studio, when I had to take care of you—”

She paused for a second, gathering her thoughts. “I could see how strong you were—I mean, I knew it—I’d seen it when you took that guy to the ground at Jake’s with just one arm—but in the studio, I realized that I’d never been afraid of you. That I never ever thought you’d use that strength against me.”

She slid over until she was next to him, and Jason put his arm around her shoulders, curling her into his side.

“You were the first man I trusted physically. And I knew then that I’d be okay. I didn’t really believe it until then.”

“And that’s why Gail wants you to get your license,” Jason told her quietly. He pressed his lips to the top of her head. “Because you care. And you know what they’re going through. You understand people, Elizabeth. And you know how to help them. You talk about that fall like you’re the only one who got anything out of our friendship—”

“Well, I know I saved your life,” Elizabeth teased, tipping her head up to him.

“You did,” Jason told her. “But you did that before December. I told you. I had nothing. And then you came into my life.” He traced his fingers down her cheek. “I’m sorry it took me so long to see it. To admit it. But I love you, and there’s nothing you can’t do. If counseling is something you really want to do, I’ll make it happen. No matter what it takes.”

Elizabeth tipped her head up and kissed him, sliding her hand to rest at the nape of his neck. She leaned back, drawing him over her, sinking into the cushions.

Her phone buzzed on the coffee table just as Elizabeth pulled his shirt out of his jeans. She sighed, turning her head towards it. “Ignore it,” she murmured.

Jason might have—except his eagle eye had seen the caller ID flash on the tiny screen. He sat up abruptly. “It’s Baldwin—”

Flushed, Elizabeth sat up as well, reaching for her phone. “Maybe they found Ric?” she asked, her eyes glimmering with hope. “Maybe it’s over.”

“Answer it—”

She flipped it open and put it to her ear. “Scott—no, don’t worry about it. It’s not that late—oh. Oh, okay. Yeah, um—” She dagged a hand through her hair, still a bit disoriented. “Yeah, tomorrow is fine. Nine? Okay.”

Her face had paled slightly as Elizabeth looked at Jason. “It’s not about Ric. Scott wants to meet with me, Ned, and Lois tomorrow.”

“Ned and Lois?” Jason repeated. He frowned. “But—”

“He said it’s about Vinnie’s case. There’s, ah, a hearing scheduled before he can be sentenced.” She took a deep breath. “It sounds—it sounds like there’s a chance his case might get dismissed.”