Update Link: Signs of Life – Part 10
Monthly Archives: July 2021
Written in 66 minutes.
January 1, 1999
Corinthos Penthouse: Living Room
“Isn’t this a little early?” Jason asked Sonny as Max closed the door behind him, stifling a yawn. “It’s barely six—”
“Some of us haven’t been to bed yet,” Sonny muttered. He stalked towards the kitchen. “I need coffee. You want some?”
“Yeah, but—”
“Heard from Roscoe a few hours ago,” Sonny said, dumping some beans into the grinder. “He says Sorel is denying the bomb was on him.”
Jason scowled. “He told Elizabeth it was—”
“A voice on the phone only she heard—” Sonny held up a hand when Jason glared at him. “I’m not saying I don’t believe her. I’m saying this complicates things. Because he might be telling the truth. It might not be Sorel.”
“Sonny—”
“It could be guys who worked for Moreno wanting us to take Sorel out.” And at that, Jason fell silent. Sorel’s takeover of Moreno’s organization wasn’t a done deal, and he knew there had been issues. Shipments that didn’t make it to port, guys going missing —
And if it was true—if it hadn’t been Sorel ordering the bomb, then it put Elizabeth in the middle of a civil war with another organization. That was the worst possible scenario. “Damn it—”
“I spent half the night with the guys tracking down everything. Paulie went to our explosives contact with the bomb. He can’t tag the maker from it — it’s generic.”
Jason grimaced. A bomb that couldn’t be traced made it harder to pin this on Sorel. “So we don’t know anything.”
“Well, we know that Sorel and his guys know about you being targeted by the PCPD, and that Elizabeth is part of the whole thing. That Christmas party—it put you two on the map,” Sonny continued. “No one knew where you’d been in those weeks, but Nikolas Cassadine made it very clear. Apparently, after we left, Stefan confronted him and Nikolas told him—in front of witnesses—he’d caught you at the studio.”
Jason exhaled slowly, then leaned back against the counter. “Am I supposed to keep Elizabeth locked up in the penthouse until we do know—”
“We need this PCPD crap to go away. I think Elizabeth should take herself out of this by coming clean about the whole thing. You were right to make sure she didn’t alibi you. She needs to tell them she saw you and then you left. She doesn’t know where you were the rest of the night. Sorel’s guys can’t go after her for what she doesn’t know.” Sonny poured the coffee, avoiding Jason’s eyes. “The thing is—”
“If she does that, Taggert’s coming right at me. I dropped out of sight when Moreno did. He’ll know Elizabeth is involved in that, thanks to Cassadine.” Jason took the cup of coffee from Sonny but set it on the counter. “We have another problem.”
“Of course we do,” Sonny muttered. “What is it?”
“Carly.”
Sonny’s hand fumbled slightly as he spooned sugar into his cup. “What about her?” he said evenly.
“She’s making noise about telling the cops I was shot. She does that and Elizabeth makes sure the PCPD know I have no alibi—”
“Why the hell—” Sonny whirled on him. “Why is she doing that?”
“She wants me to get her out of town with Michael.” Jason scrubbed a hand down his face. “She’s insisting I go with them. I told her no, and I don’t care if she goes to the PCPD about me, but—”
“But Cassadine has put Elizabeth with you in the same time period you’d be recovering. She’s on the hook as an accomplice. It’s circumstantial, but it’s a distraction we don’t need with all of this—”
“I talked to Alexis—she’s worried they might come after Elizabeth with drug charges. For the pain medication,” Jason admitted. “I’ve been thinking about it—Carly made Bobbie come to the studio one day and Bobbie and I talked about it. I said I’d only used pain meds the first day, but that Elizabeth flushed the rest.”
Sonny stared him for a long moment, then nodded. “Well, there you go. All Taggert has to do is hear that, charge Elizabeth with distribution which carries like twenty years if they want to be bitchy about it. She’ll have to flip on you to save her own skin, but somehow I doubt she’d go that way without kicking and screaming—”
“Sonny—”
“The only way to make this go away is to get one of you out of town.” Sonny paused. “Or both of you, but that will just make it harder for you to come back. At least if it just one disappears before things are charged, we got a shot of this going cold.”
Jason said nothing. He knew Sonny was right. To keep Elizabeth from being used by Carly and Sorel’s organization, Jason needed to remove himself from the situation.
“I know this isn’t what you want,” Sonny said slowly. “And I’m sorry. I should have taken the meeting—”
“I don’t want to talk about it,” Jason said flatly. He could do this job if he didn’t think about that morning. If he didn’t remember how it had felt to watch Carly coming down the stairs in Sonny’s shirt or the way Sonny had tried to spin it like he was doing Jason a favor—
He’d been thinking about leaving town before his relationship with Elizabeth had changed, but now—
“Jason—”
“I gotta think about it,” he said. “It’s not that easy.”
“No, I know—” Sonny closed his mouth.
“I need to go. Elizabeth needs to go to work, and I want her to get some things from the studio. If I—” He hesitated. “If I go, I want her to stay here. At least until you know it’s safe. She might argue, but I’ll figure that out—”
“I’ll make sure she’s safe, Jason. She’s in this because of me—”
“I said I don’t want to talk about it.” And with that, Jason left the kitchen wondering how the hell he was going to explain to Elizabeth he needed to leave Port Charles, probably for good.
Quartermaine Mansion: Bathroom
Carly dipped her hands into the cool water streaming from the faucet, then splashed the water over her face.
She hadn’t heard a word from Jason.
She would have thought he’d get the picture pretty quick. Either Jason went with Carly, or the little bitch was going to pay the price. How was he going to argue with that?
He was angry at her now, Carly considered as she looked at her reflection in the mirror over the sink, but once she had him to herself — once they were away and they had Michael with them—
He’d remember that he loved her. Hadn’t he told her that only weeks ago? Elizabeth Webber was a distraction, Carly assured herself. Jason was only a man, and the waif probably made him feel better after the year he’d had. Carly had even meant what she’d said to her the day before — she really did feel sorry that the girl had been raped so young.
Not that there was ever a good age for it, Carly decided as she went back into the bedroom and wandered over to the walk in closet. But to be violated that way before you even got a chance to experience how good sex could be?
Carly didn’t mind if the waitress used Jason to get back out there, but her generosity only went so far. Jason was hers. He’d forgotten that for a little while, but she could remind him. When it was just the two of them, she’d lure him back to bed.
She’d get pregnant, Carly decided. She’d find out when she was fertile—maybe some of those ovulation tests or—
And just like that—her brain skittered to a stop.
It was January 1.
And she was late.
“Oh, God. Please, God, no.” Carly closed her eyes, pressed her hands against her face. “Oh, no. No. No.”
Kelly’s: Kitchen
“Hey, DJ. Table ten is still waiting on their order,” Elizabeth said as she untied her apron. She tossed it on the hook. “Penny’s taking over my section, but—”
“I got you, Lizzie,” the cook said affably. “You look better today. Must have been one of those bugs going around.”
“Yeah, must have,” Elizabeth said with a weak smile. She wasn’t sure she shared DJ’s optimistic outlook — she and Jason seemed to have resolved the issue of their non-existent sex life, but he’d been strange when he’d come back to Sonny’s that morning.
He’d been quiet, Elizabeth remembered as she cashed out her receipts and separated her tips. Not that Jason was every much of a talker, she considered, but there was quiet and then there was quiet.
When she went out into the alley, she realized she was almost surprised to see Jason there, the engine on the bike idling. She’d half thought he’d make an excuse and send her home with Francis.
“Hey.” She accepted the helmet from him, but didn’t put it on right away.
“Hey,” he said, returning the greeting with a half smile. There it was again—that flicker of something in his eyes. She didn’t know him well enough yet to know what it was—but she could tell something was not okay.
Elizabeth chewed on her bottom lip, then pulled on the helmet. She’d try to get it sorted out when they got back to his place. Maybe he’d just had a bad day.
Morgan Penthouse: Living Room
Jason dumped the keys on the desk when he came in, Elizabeth trailing behind him. “We need to talk,” he said finally after he’d taken her jacket from her and hung it up with his. Anything to stall and keep his mind away from the conversation they needed to have.
He didn’t want to do this, he realized now as he looked at her standing in his living room. This place was too big for him and he’d only come to stay there because the cottage had been too painful. Too many memories of Michael. But he liked seeing Elizabeth in this room—in his bedroom.
He’d wanted more of that, not to be telling her he needed to leave Port Charles, likely for good.
“Okay.” She folded her arms. “Um, what’s going on?”
“A lot,” he admitted. “I don’t really know where to start.” Jason paused. “I guess with the most important part — we don’t know for sure that Sorel put the bomb in your studio. I know the guy said it was him—” he said when she opened her mouth, “but it could also be—it’s complicated. Long story short, we need to get you off Sorel’s radar.”
“Okay, but I don’t know how that—” Elizabeth stopped, swallowed hard. “Off his radar,” she replied softly. “I would imagine there’s really only way to do that.”
“Yeah.” Jason looked away from her, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “You need to go to the PCPD and tell them that I dropped you off around midnight. You didn’t see me the rest of the night.”
Elizabeth drew her brows together, puzzled. “I don’t understand. That gives you no alibi. How does that get me off the radar—”
“It will because the PCPD won’t be coming after you for a statement anymore,” Jason continued.
“But they’ll go after you—”
“I know, but you won’t be something Sorel or his guys can use. He can’t scare you into not giving me an alibi if I’m telling you to do the same thing.”
“Oh. Well, that doesn’t sound great for you,” Elizabeth said slowly, “but that doesn’t sound so bad. You had me—” Then she closed her mouth. “That’s not everything, is it?”
“No,” Jason admitted. Uncomfortable, he walked over to sit on the arm of the sofa. “Carly gave me an ultimatum yesterday. I turned it down,” he continued, “which is why she went to you. But I can’t ignore the threats. They’re about you. And Bobbie.”
“About us?” Elizabeth blinked. “What was—Jason, I wish you’d just tell me what’s going on. You’re making me nervous. Are you breaking up with me? Is this what’s happening? Is that what she threatened—”
“She wants to disappear with Michael. She’s demanding that I go with her,” Jason continued. “If I don’t do it, she’s going to tell the PCPD that I was shot—and turn you and Bobbie in as accomplices.”
Elizabeth’s eyes widened. “Are you kidding me? She’s going to throw her own mother under the bus? I can’t—” She pressed her hand to her chest. “Oh, God. If she tells the PCPD that you were shot and I make sure they know about you not having an alibi—Jason—that’s bad. For you. I can’t go to the PCPD—”
“You have to,” Jason told her. “And you need to tell them everything. You need to tell them that I threatened you.”
“Wait—”
“Because Carly is going to tell them that you gave me pain meds. She knows you did. She might not remember it, but if she makes this statement, Taggert will make sure she goes over every detail. Bobbie and I talked about it when she was in the room. So you need to tell them I threatened you—”
“There’s no way in hell—first of all, I made you go to my studio, and I went to Sonny—” Elizabeth shook her head. “I am not going to testify against you—”
“I won’t be here to go on trial.”
She stumbled to a stop. “What the hell does that mean?”
“I’m going to leave,” Jason said. “Before any of this happens. With any luck, if I’m not here to go after, Sorel’s men will back down on the alibi, and Carly—”
“Let me get this straight,” Elizabeth said, clenching her jaw. “You think these are our choices? One, you stay and I throw you under the bus to save myself and you end up in jail, or two, you leave Port Charles, and Carly will somehow not take that out on me?”
“Wait, what?” Jason shook his head. “No—”
“Yes,” Elizabeth cut in, slicing her hand through the air. “You’ll leave, and Carly will know you did it to get away from her. She won’t blame herself, she’ll blame me. And maybe even Bobbie, but mostly me. And she’ll be furious at you. Carly’s going to do this thing whether you’re here or not, Jason. Only if you’re not here—” Tears stung her eyes and he just stared at her in shock. “Why are you giving up?”
“I’m not—”
“This happened last night! And you’re already—you’re probably half-packed, aren’t you?” Elizabeth accused.
“Elizabeth—”
“You’re going to run away and leave me and Bobbie to deal with Carly? How is that fair?”
He hadn’t thought about it that way—he’d just thought if he took himself out of it— “Elizabeth—”
Her voice faltered. “You have to leave me, too. Or doesn’t that matter? Is it that easy to walk away from me?”
“No!” He didn’t know how to walk this back, how to fix this. It had seemed so simple when he and Sonny had talked about it. If Jason wasn’t here—the situation would cool down. “No, I don’t want to leave you. If it weren’t for you—” He’d be dead right now. She dragged him back into the world of living—how couldn’t she— “I’m doing this protect you. To keep you safe—”
“Safe.” Elizabeth laughed, a jagged, harsh sound he didn’t recognize from her. “Sure. Okay. Tell yourself that. Fine.”
“There’s no other way—” He stopped because to say that to her was a lie. There was another way that might work, but — “Anything else — it’s a risk and it just keeps you in the middle of it—”
“So there is another way and you’d rather leave? How am I supposed to take that, Jason?”
“It’s—I mean it, it’s asking too much—”
“You don’t get to decide what’s asking too much. If it keeps both us in Port Charles, out of jail, and together—” Her eyes burned into his. “Or isn’t that important to you?”
“It is,” he insisted. He took her hands and pulled her towards him. “You know it is. I just—” Jason paused. “There’s no guarantee it would work, and we might be right where we started.”
“Then at least we’ll say we tried everything. Jason—”
“If we were married, we couldn’t testify against each other.”
July 6, 2021
Written in 56 minutes.
Morgan House: Kitchen
Elizabeth glanced over her shoulder as she opened the fridge and frowned when she caught Cameron’s eye again. Her eldest son immediately broke eye contact and slumped over his cereal, scooping up the Lucky Charms like it was the most important thing in his life.
It was the third time she’d caught him looking at her—maybe even the fourth. She rolled her shoulders and retrieved the juices she needed for Aiden’s lunch box and went over to the counter to continue packing his lunch. “Everything okay?” she asked Cameron.
“What?” Cameron blinked at her. “Yeah, why?”
She pursed her lips. “No reason.”
“I don’t care what Rocco Falconieri is doing,” Jason said as he walked into the kitchen behind a sullen Aiden. “You’re not going.”
“You act like I’m a baby,” he muttered, starting to climb onto the stool next to Cameron. He glared at Jason as his father rounded the counter and reached for a bowl to pour cereal for him.
“You still got your baby teeth?” Jake wanted to know from the other side of Cameron. “Because I think that’s how it works. You start losing those, you level up.”
Aiden scowled — because of course, he hadn’t lost any of his teeth yet. The bottom center tooth was loose but it refused to come out. “If it comes out, can I go?”
“It’s a school night—”
“That is not how it works,” Elizabeth said at the same time. Jake just grinned at her, his mission of agitation completed for the morning. “No one goes anyone on school nights.”
“But Rocco is family,” Aiden pointed out. “You said we gotta do for family.”
“When they’re in trouble. Not when they have a game system in their room and you’re trying to get around the rules.” Elizabeth zipped his lunch box shut, then looked at Cameron. He was usually in the middle of these morning clashes — whether he teaming up with Jake against who ever the target was that day or he was taking his parents’s side just to be contrary.
Instead, he sat between his brothers, his attention focused on the bowl of cereal like it had all the answers.
“Cameron gets to go places all the time,” Aiden muttered. “He gets to stay at Grandma Laura’s longer and he goes to the hospital by himself. I get locked up like a criminal.”
“Aiden, cool it,” Cameron said, his spoon clinking against the bowl as he glared at his little brother. “No one is locking you up.”
“Yeah, I know what that’s like,” Jake offered helpfully. “You’re not on a island, you got your own room, no crazy person is telling you he’s your dad and you’re gonna help him rule the world—” He was ticking these items off on his fingers as Elizabeth’s mouth dropped and Jason stilled next to him.
Aiden’s eyes were as round as saucers. “Whoa. Is that what it was like with the Cassadines? Do they really rule the world? Is that why Spencer is a giant—”
“Eat your cereal,” Jason said, shoving the bowl in front of Aiden. “Jake—” He didn’t even really know what to say. Jake had been so young when they’d rescued him from the Cassadines, and he rarely spoke about the two long years he’d spent locked up with Stavros playing his father.
“I didn’t know you remembered that much,” Elizabeth said finally. “Do you need—um, Grandma can talk to Kevin—”
“No, it’s cool.” Jake shrugged. “Aiden just doesn’t get it. That’s why he’s the baby.”
Aiden’s eyes narrowed into little slits. “I am not—”
“Here’s his lunch,” Elizabeth said to Jason in a rush as she shoved the box towards her husband. “Cam, Jake, let’s go. I’ll drop you off at school.”
“It’s not like he can hurt me,” Jake said, confidently hopping off the stool. “He kicks like a fly—”
Jason quickly put an arm out to lock Aiden in place. “Jake—”
“Someone has to make up for Cam since he’s all quiet.” Jake sauntered out towards the living room.
“It’s not fair,” Aiden muttered.
“One day, you’ll get to do all the things Cam does,” Elizabeth assured him. “Right, Cam?”
Cameron blinked at her. “Uh. Yeah. Sure. I didn’t even tie anyone up until I was eleven, so you got time, Aiden.” He slurped up his cereal. “I’ll go get my jacket and bookbag.”
“Not the help I was looking for,” she muttered as she followed him out, hearing Aiden ask Jason who Cameron had tied up.
Corinthos & Morgan Warehouse: Office
Jason usually hated to be interrupted when he was working on the books, but he was glad when Sonny knocked on the door late that morning. He hadn’t been able to concentrate on the numbers or the invoices.
“You know, Spinelli could set you up with a program that would do this for you,” Sonny said, nodding to the pile of paper and pencils on the desk. “What does he always say? Something about it being the twenty-first century—”
“Programs can be hacked,” Jason said. “I like double checking. I thought you were at the restaurant today—”
“Yeah, I’m headed over there, but—uh, Brick said you left here yesterday like things were on fire. He was worried and called me.” Sonny sat down in the rickety chair, wincing. “I’m too old for this,” he muttered.
“It’s fine—” Jason shook his head and reached for the pencil.
“I figure it wasn’t too serious since you didn’t call me, but I still wanted to check in.” Sonny paused. “You didn’t come back either, according to Brick—”
“I didn’t know he was watching me—” Jason bit back the irritated remark. “There was something at the hospital. Elizabeth—” He stared down at the pencil, twisting the yellow wood in his fingers. “Tom Baker was released from prison.”
Sonny squinted. “Tom Baker,” he repeated. “Do I know that name?”
“He was the photographer who blackmailed my sister and held her hostage in the photography studio,” Jason said.
“Then he’s also the garbage that raped Elizabeth. I remember they were the same person,” Sonny added when Jason blinked at him. “I just never took in the name. I figured you’d handled that. I didn’t know he was still alive.”
“Emily—” Jason rubbed his face. “She wanted it that way. Baker grabbed her and Elizabeth, shoved them into the dark room. Lucky and Nikolas got them out, but Baker confronted them. There was a fight, and Elizabeth got her hands on the gun.” He hated thinking of his sister going through that alone, of Elizabeth being shoved into a room by the same man who’d terrorized her— “Emily said Elizabeth was brave in facing him down. Confronting him. Elizabeth wanted him to get arrested. To get justice. She put down the gun.”
“But now he’s out—”
“Baker never got charged with the rape,” Jason said bluntly. “He’s out and he’s working at the hospital. Elizabeth didn’t know and ran into him. She, uh, had a pretty bad panic attack.”
“Wouldn’t be hard to get rid of him now,” Sonny said after a long moment. “Make him look like he split town. Spinelli could handle setting a trail—”
“She doesn’t want that.”
His best friend absorbed that, nodded. “Okay. I guess I can understand that—”
“She doesn’t want the PCPD to look at me. I’d be the primary suspect even if he just disappeared.”
“She should know you better. Like you’d get caught,” Sonny scoffed, but Jason shook his head.
“It’s not that. She just doesn’t want to take any chances. Not with—we just finalized the adoption for Aiden, and we’re—” A smile tugged at the corner of his lips. “We’re having another baby. Due in May or June We’re not sure—”
“Oh, man—” Sonny’s eyes lit up. “That’s great news. I knew you were thinking about it, but—okay, okay, that tracks. Elizabeth doesn’t want the old stuff coming back. Not when you got so much going right.” He tipped his head. “You’re okay with him being at the hospital, though?”
“I don’t want him breathing the same air as her, much less in the same building,” Jason bit out. “But it’s not my call.”
“No, I guess it’s not.” Sonny tapped his fingers on his thigh. “How many guys we got working at GH now?”
“Uh, three orderlys and a few of the security guards are ours. I got two more in when Cam started volunteering,” Jason admitted.
“Grab one and assign him to Baker. Just to keep an eye out,” Sonny suggested. “You’re not doing anything but it might help you sleep at night. We can toss someone on him when he’s not in the hospital.”
“Yeah. Maybe. I’ll talk to Elizabeth.”
Sonny got to his feet. “It’s a hell of a thing,” he said. “Special place in hell for rapists.”
General Hospital: Pediatric Wing
Emma folded her arms and followed Cameron off the elevator. “Are you really not going to talk about it?” she asked him as they headed for the nurse’s station on the floor. “You just went inside last night—”
“Emma—” Cameron just shook his head. “No. I really don’t want to talk about it. Let’s just get this shift over with.”
She sighed and they turned a corner. She scowled, then swallowed her protest at seeing Joss Jacks standing by Spencer Cassadine at the nurse’s station. A few feet away, Trina was glaring daggers at the blonde—
“No one said she was working today,” Trina said as Cameron and Emma joined her. “They really just take anyone in this program—”
“Hey, my dad paid for this program!” Joss said, planting her hands on her hips. “Tell her, Spencer!”
“Not a chance in hell,” Spencer said politely. “Dig your own grave.”
“Do you know how long it took my stylist to get that blue crap out of my hair?” Joss demanded. She turned her wounded eyes on Cameron who stared at the linoleum. “I thought we were friends!”
“We are,” Cameron said, dully. “I’m sorry—”
“Sorry?”
“Hey, cool it, Cujo,” Trina snarled. “You started this and you know it! You told Oscar Nero that I had head lice!”
“Well, you—”
“And that I don’t shower or wash my hair because of my braids—”
Joss’s cheeks were stained with red. “Okay, that was out of line—”
“Out of line? Out of line? I should have acid, you spoiled bitch—”
Before Trina could launch herself at Joss and finish this for good, Cameron suddenly turned and stalked off in the opposite direction.
Trina and Joss both stopped dead in their tracks at his departure. “What’s his problem?” Joss tossed her hair over her shoulder. “I’m the victim!”
“All your life,” Trina said sweetly and Joss glared at her. Emma ignored them both and took after her boyfriend.
She knew what this was about, and honestly should have dragged him in the opposite direction when she saw Trina and Joss sharing the same oxygen. They had been like oil and water since kindergarten and it was just getting worse. They’d been bickering over Oscar for almost a month, and eventually someone was going to get really hurt.
Emma turned a corner and stumbled, her toe catching on the edge of a custodian’s cart. She nearly face planted on the floor, but a hand snagged her elbow and righted her.
“You okay, little girl?”
“I’m fine,” Emma said, automatically pasting a polite smile on her face as she faced the custodian behind the cart. But the man was smiling at her already, his dark eyes fixed on her in a way that made her feel vaguely dirty. She cleared her throat. “I’m sorry. I should watch where I’m going. Um, thank you.”
She edged around the man and continued down the hall, feeling an itch between her shoulders as she turned another corner and disappeared.
Tom Baker straightened out the cart and smiled to himself as he continued on his rounds. He’d missed the sight of a pretty young girl flying through life, bright eyes and smiles. This one had long legs and a delicate build. Long brown hair. He’d always been partial to brunettes.
He found the puddle he’d been sent to clean and got started, then started to whistle. Oh, yeah, it was good to be free.
July 4, 2021
Went a bit over. Written in 64 minutes. No spellcheck.
December 31, 1999
Morgan Penthouse: Living Room
Jason just stared at Elizabeth as she stalked across the room, her back to him. Fragile and damaged. If that’s what Elizabeth had taken from the confrontation with Carly, it meant that somehow, Carly had thrown Elizabeth’s rape in her face and used it to make her feel less.
He exhaled slowly. “Elizabeth,” he began, not having the slightest clue what words he would use to follow that.
“Let’s just not talk about it,” she muttered. “I don’t want to.”
“I get that.” He waited. “So let me talk and then we can drop it, okay? You don’t even have to look at me.”
“I won’t.”
Fair enough. Okay, so now what? “Carly has an idea of who I am,” he said finally. “Based on how we met. It was only a few months after my accident, and I was still—I don’t know. I was understanding how things worked. She thinks that because I had sex with her while I was interested in Robin that it gave her power over me—and Robin.” And it was humiliating to recount that, to remember how Carly had used that knowledge to try to lure him back into her bed. How she had used it to hurt Robin.
And he remembered that Robin had forgiven him even when he hadn’t really deserved it.
“I don’t know why she still thinks that’s true now,” Jason continued. “Robin always knew I couldn’t be Michael’s father because Carly and I haven’t been together that way in three years.” He paused again. “Yeah, I like sex, Elizabeth. That’s not something to be ashamed about.”
“I didn’t mean—” Elizabeth turned to him now, her voice quiet. “I didn’t mean you should be—”
“I know that.” Relieved that she was looking at him now even though she was still across the room, Jason took a step towards her. “You’re not fragile or damaged—”
“Really? You’re not living in my head, Jason, okay? I know—” Elizabeth wrapped her arms around her torso. “I know what goes through my mind when we’re together.”
“You’re right. I can’t tell you how to feel about yourself.” And knowing she felt both of those things—that Carly had forced them on her again just to get herself out of trouble—it left a sour taste in his mouth. “I can only tell you how I feel about you. I know you’re—I know you haven’t been with anyone. You told me that about Lucky—”
“I mean technically—”
“Technically doesn’t count,” Jason said with a shake of his head. “And I’m sure I’m not the first person to tell you that.”
“No. Bobbie told me that. And I’ve been to therapy. I get it. But knowing it and feeling it—” She rubbed the side of her face. “I don’t think about it all the time,” she offered. “Days go by, and I don’t. But lately, now we’re—” Elizabeth bit her lip. “I knew it would come up—”
He took another step towards her. “What scares you about it?” he asked. “I mean, if you can or want to—”
“I don’t know. That I won’t like any of it,” Elizabeth admitted. She twisted her fingers together in front of her, staring at them. “Or maybe worse. That I will, and then there will be a moment, and then I’ll be back there. It’s the hardest part of it, you know. You never know what’s going to trigger it. Um, sometimes people say something or, once, DJ—the cook at Kelly’s—he just bumped into me in the kitchen and I thought he was grabbing me—” Her throat closed. “I’m scared that if we try—If I try—then it’ll put me back in that night and it’ll ruin everything—”
Her eyes met his, tears still glistening in her lashes. “It’s not about trusting you. I wish it was that simple. I trust you. I trusted Lucky. It’s about trusting myself, and I’m not there yet. I’m sorry.”
“Why are you sorry?” he demanded, wincing when he heard the roughness of his tone. She flinched. “I didn’t—I just meant this isn’t something you did to yourself, Elizabeth. It was done to you.”
Elizabeth swiped at her tears. “I know. I’ve been in therapy. It’s not my fault. None of it is. But it still feels like there’s something wrong with me.”
Jason had been slowly crossing the room and now he was just in front of her. “You said you trust me.”
“Yeah, but—”
“Do you trust me when I tell you that I don’t care if or when we sleep together?” he asked.
Elizabeth made a face. “Jason—” She took a deep, watery breath. “See, I know you meant that to help, but now—”
“What?” he reached for her hands, stopping her from twisting them. “Do you think because I don’t care that it means I don’t want to?” he asked and from the flush in her cheeks, he knew he was right. “I’ve been scared,” he admitted in a low voice, “to show you how much I do want you. Maybe saying I don’t care isn’t the right way. Because I do care,” he continued, “and I hope one day you’re ready. But it’s not a dealbreaker. I just like being around you.”
“Jason—” She squeezed her eyes shut. “It’s so frustrating,” Elizabeth muttered.
“What is?”
“Because most of me wants to—” She sighed. “I think maybe I didn’t really believe you were—I mean, that you wanted to have—you know, this is ridiculous. It’s frustrating,” Elizabeth repeated, meeting his eyes and now he saw the flare of irritation, “because if you want me, and I definitely want you, that I don’t get to have that, you know? It shouldn’t be this hard—”
“It’s been less than a week,” Jason cut in. He cupped one of her cheeks, letting his thumb slide over the tear-stained skin. “I can be patient.”
“Yeah, well, patience has never been one of my virtues.” But some of the sadness had dissipated and he knew that he’d managed to reassure her. She smiled at him. “This has been a really weird day.”
“Yeah, and it’s not over yet.” Sensing the storm had passed, he leaned forward to kiss her, but she put her hands on his chest. “I’m sorry—”
“No, no, I just realized—” Elizabeth narrowed her eyes. “You never told me how Carly threatened you. You said she had and that you’d turned her down so she came to me. What did she say to you?”
Jason winced because he really didn’t want to have this conversation since it just put that insane conversation with Alexis back in his head.
Fortunately for him, before Elizabeth could press further, there was a slight knock on the door and then Sonny pushed it open. “Hey, hope I’m not interrupting anything.”
“No.” Elizabeth cleared her throat and put some space between them. “Do you—um, should I go upstairs? Or whatever—”
“No, I think since the bomb was in your studio, you should at least get to know about it.” Sonny glanced at Jason. “Don’t you think?”
“Yeah. Yeah. The guys already looked?”
“Didn’t take long. The studio isn’t far from the warehouse.” Sonny rocked back on his heels. “Good news and bad news,” he continued. “Bad news, it was a live bomb. It should have detonated.”
Jason exhaled in a rush as he reflexively tightened his grip on Elizabeth’s hand. “But it didn’t.”
“No. Uh, Paulie said you might have made it out with minor injuries,” Sonny told her. “In the closet, I mean, but tough to know for sure. The thing is — there was a wire crossed. The bomb could count down but detonation couldn’t be triggered.”
Elizabeth squinted. “So, was that a mistake?” she asked. “Did he want the bomb to go off or did he just want to scare me?”
“It’s hard to say,” Sonny said slowly, and Jason could tell he was impressed that Elizabeth had made that leap. “The thing is—we don’t know. I’m getting a meeting together, so we’ll see tomorrow.” He hesitated. “You can’t go back to the studio.”
“No, I didn’t think I would. Um—” Elizabeth flicked her eyes to Jason. “I was gonna stay with Emily while you got the door and lock replaced, but I don’t feel—I mean, he could go after her, too.”
“If you were there, yeah. He wanted you to refuse to alibi me,” Jason reminded her. “He doesn’t know you weren’t planning to.” He looked at Sonny. “Do you need anything else from me tonight? You’re doing the meeting.”
“No, no. You’re good to go. Uh, Happy New Year’s,” Sonny said, gesturing at the clock which had clicked over to midnight when they hadn’t realized. “Call me if you need anything.”
When Sonny was gone, Jason turned back to Elizabeth. “I know everything we just talked about, but—”
“You want me to stay here in the Towers which has better security,” she finished. “I figured.” Elizabeth bit her lip, glancing around the room with its spare furniture. “Um, I’m also guessing maybe the guest rooms aren’t furnished.”
Jason scratched the back of his neck. “Uh, no. Just the one bed. But you take that and I’ll take the sofa—”
“No, no.” Elizabeth took a deep breath. “When we were in the studio, you were on the sofa and I was on the floor. I know how to share a space with you Jason.” Her cheeks flushed. “I mean, if you want—”
“If you’re sure.” His skin felt like it was stretched too tight all of a sudden. He cleared his throat. “You can change your mind. Even in the middle of the night.”
“I know. I just—I trust you,” she said. She hesitated. “I guess we should—I mean, unless you don’t have—”
“No, we can—” Go to bed, he finished silently, but saying it out loud didn’t feel right. “Yeah.”
“Right.” Neither of them moved for a minute, then she laughed—with a mixture of embarrassment and nerves. “Can I borrow something to sleep in? I guess a t-shirt or—”
“Yeah. I’ll get you something,” he said immediately, starting for the stairs relieved to have a task. He heard her footsteps behind him and hoped like hell they weren’t making a mistake.
Maybe he should just take the sofa after all.
January 1, 2000
Morgan Penthouse: Bedroom
The sky behind the shades was still a grimy gray when her eyes drifted open the next morning. Blearily, she focused on the clock sitting on the table — it was just after six. Hmmm, maybe she should just go back to sleep.
She was so wonderfully warm and comfortable—not a sensation she was used to since she’d moved out of her grandmother’s house. The mattress was soft and plush, and she was wrapped in a cozy cocoon of comforter and—
Elizabeth’s eyes snapped wide open as she took in the feeling of weight behind her, and an arm slung over her waist, holding her against a furnace of heat. Jason. Jason was holding her against him, his hand resting loosely over her abdomen. She could feel all of him. Every single inch, and—
And she was fine. She was comfortable. She wasn’t scared. Elizabeth closed her eyes as a shudder slid through her and tears stung her eyes. She’d dreamed of this so often—first with Lucky, and more recently with Jason and now—
She felt him tense behind her and that hand started to jerk back. She reached for it, lacing her fingers with his. “No, um, not yet.”
“I’m sorry, I—” His voice was rough with sleep. “I didn’t mean—”
“I’m okay.” She released his hand and twisted until she was flat on her back and Jason was resting next to her. He sat up slightly, propping himself up on his elbow. “Really.”
His eyes searched hers, doubting. Or maybe just worried that she was covering it up. Elizabeth bit her lip, then slid her hand up his chest—over the soft cloth of the t-shirt he’d worn and she’d wondered if he was only doing that for her—to rest at his collarbone. There was a flicker in his eyes when her fingertips brushed his bare skin and she realized—
He hadn’t been lying the night before. He really did—he found her attractive. He liked when she touched him. And she liked knowing it.
Feeling brave, Elizabeth tugged his head down to kiss her. His legs were brushing hers under the comforter, so she slid one of hers over his hips and he tensed against her. She old even feel his heart pounding where their chests met. She’d done that to him.
Fragile and damaged her ass.
“Good morning,” she murmured when she pulled back, her cheeks flaming.
“Good morning,” he managed. “I guess you slept okay.”
Elizabeth laughed then. “Oh, yeah. You?”
“Yeah.” He kissed her again, lingering for another minute. “I hate to get up,” he admitted.
“Me either, but I have to work,” Elizabeth said with a grimace. “And I know you have stuff to do.”
He paused and she wondered if he was going to suggest they both blow things off for a few hours—she’d like to explore just how comfortable she really was—but then the cell phone on his side of the bed vibrated. With a scowl, Jason rolled away from her. “It’s Sonny,” he said with some surprise. “I need to—”
“I’ll get a shower. I need to stop by the studio before work to get clothes,” she reminded him as she moved towards the bathroom and left him alone with his phone call.
Maybe this would work after all.
July 2, 2021
Update Link: Scars – Part 4
Note: Long update blog. If you want to skip around
- P1 – Why I flaked on Wed.
- P2 – Mom & Sister health update
- P3 – Widget update
- P4 – Mad World started
- P5 – Vlog & Patreon Livestream
I hope everyone had a great week! I’m sorry for flaking out on Wednesday’s update to Signs of Life. I was so tired that morning, so I kept putting it off thinking my energy would bump up (I often feel a lot better in the afternoon), but it just didn’t and it hasn’t really in the last few days. I’m at the point where I really should be recovered from the school year, energy wise. My sleeping is better, I’ve been resting and recharging most of the time, but I’m still having some serious energy problems and my neck is still really sore. I made a doctor’s appointment to get blood work done because diabetes runs in the family and I want to make sure I’m not deficient in anything. That’s not until July 12 unfortunately, so we’re just going to have to muddle through.
Mom got the first results for her bone marrow biopsy, and, uh, they’re kind of mixed. It’s not the cancer they thought it was, but it’s a myeloproliferative disorder which is a type of blood cancer. We’re waiting on more firm results that give a final diagnosis as well as a prognosis. We don’t know which type of the disorder she has yet or how bad. Thanks to therapy, ironically, I’m been dealing with the stress and anxiety as well as could be expected. I can’t remember if I told you guys that my sister ended up with Covid a few weeks ago, but, uh, she did. Luckily, she got the very, very mild form and is already pretty much back to normal. June was just…it was a lot.
I did get started on Mad World, Book 4 yesterday. I updated the widgets on the side for July — I’ve added Book 4 to the writing section, moving it from drafting. I also added two in progress widgets — one just for CampNaNoWriMo and the other for the full book. We’re looking at a 200k word count which may or not not take me all of July & August. We’ll see. My July goal is at least 100k. That’s doable.
Yesterday, I wrote a new scene and then started reworking some older pieces from last year. If you guys remember, the timeline for Book 4 was my original timeline for Book 3 (I was going to start with Liason’s wedding and finish off Ric but then I realized we just needed more of the Sonny/Carly story as well as more of a fallout with Book 2’s rape story.) So Book 4’s story got pushed. I did, however, write all of Book 4 at that point. Some of it is going to be useful — early on, some entire scenes can be reworked, and later it might just be pieces of dialogue. We’re at 8k so far, but I don’t think that’s going to be typical going forward.
I’ll be doing a vlog for MW later today that will go live at some point today or tomorrow. If you’re a Patreon, I’m doing a Livestream tonight at 6PM (EST), planning a deep dive into Mad World and Fool Me Twice (and any others that are asked about).
I’m going to try to make up for Signs of Life tomorrow on Saturday, but we might just skip it. I don’t know. We’ll see how it goes.
Written in 57 minutes. Did a spellcheck but not a reread.
Scorpio-Drake House: Kitchen
“Where’s Emma?” Patrick asked as he found Robin making a cup of herbal tea. “Did she load the dishwasher?”
“Yeah. I think she’s upstairs doing her homework.” Robin gently stirred her tea. “What happened earlier today? I heard Elizabeth went a little crazy.”
“Is that the gossip that reached the lab?” Patrick grimaced, leaned back against the counter. “She had a panic attack. A bad one.”
Robin furrowed her brow. “I didn’t know—she didn’t used to have those, did she?”
“Not in the time I’ve known her. A few times after Jake died,” Patrick corrected, “but nothing like today. It was almost like she didn’t know where she is. She was almost catatonic and then Griffin tried to help her up—she started kicking and screaming.” He folded his arms. ” He hesitated. “Tom Baker is working as a custodian at the hospital. Laura said the parole officer got him a job there.”
“Tom—” The spoon in her tea clattered to the floor as Robin stared at him with wide eyes. “Tom Baker. The man who—” She took a deep breath. “Tom Baker,” she murmured.
“Oh, right—I didn’t think about it. Laura said this all went down in ’98. You and Jason were together back then, weren’t you?”
“Yeah, that was at the end of things mostly, but—” Robin paused. “I remember when he went on trial. Emily asked Jason not to do anything. She wanted to testify against Baker. To be as strong as Elizabeth was when she confronted him about the rape.” She rubbed her arm. “Jason agreed because it was what Emily wanted and he needed her to be okay after everything that had happened.”
“All I knew was that Baker didn’t get charged with the attack,” Patrick said. “What the hell happened?”
“The usual, I think. My uncle might know more, but you know how sexual assault cases are handled by the police—and the DA. Baker denied the confession, and it was her word against his. The DA didn’t want to risk it, and the PCPD put her case in cold storage.” Robin picked up the spoon, a bit more steady now. “She saw him today.”
“Yeah. Elizabeth told me about this years ago,” Patrick added, “and it’s not like I’ve never seen or met a sexual assault survivor, but it was—it kills me that it can still hit her like this after all this time. It’s been eighteen years, Robin.”
“She was just sixteen,” Robin murmured. “Barely older than Emma. I remember her back then. Lucky worked for Jason and we ran into them once in a while.” She cleared her throat, focused on Patrick. “What does Laura say? Can we get him fired or let go? I mean, he attacked an employee—”
“Can’t fire him without cause, and he’s officially not guilty of anything against Elizabeth. If Emily were still around,” Patrick said with some regret, “we might have a shot. But he didn’t even get charged with holding Elizabeth hostage. They plead it down after the mistrial.”
“I knew that—I just didn’t realize Elizabeth’s charges were left off entirely—” Robin’s lips thinned as she pressed them together. “This system,” she muttered. “It never looks out for women. If that ever happened to our baby—God, Patrick, it terrifies me. I know men are out there, but Baker’s in the hospital. Maybe we should tell Emma she can’t volunteer there any more.”
“She’s never alone,” Patrick said after a minute. “She works with a group, and if we tell her she can’t, we have to tell her why.”
“And she’ll tell Cam. I don’t think the boys know.” Robin sighed. “Fine. But I reserve the right to change my mind.”
“Duly noted.”
The conversation slid into other topics about the day, so Emma — listening just outside the door as she often did after dinner because that was when her parents always talked about anything they didn’t want her to hear — slid away and went up the stairs.
She went for her phone and texted Cameron.
hey meet me tonite midnight
k i’ll let u know if i cant get out
Morgan Home: Kitchen
Across the street, Jason was loading the last plate into the dishwater as Elizabeth sat at the counter. “I thought it was Jake’s night to do that,” she said. “I thought we said we weren’t going to let him get away with forgetting.” Instead, Jason had sent the boys upstairs with the rare opportunity to play video games in Cameron’s room. He’d helped them unhook the game system.
Elizabeth didn’t argue because they’d made a pact not to do that in front of the boys, and she knew why he’d done it. With video games, they’d be less likely to pay attention to anything else.
Jason shrugged one shoulder, starting the dishwasher and turning back to her. “I thought maybe tonight we let it go.”
“I’m fine,” Elizabeth said as he opened his mouth. “I told you I would be. I had a freak out, but I got it under control, okay? Laura said she’d talk to the maintenance department and make sure we don’t get assigned to same floors or even the same shifts if she could avoid it.” She hesitated. “I don’t want you worrying about me.”
“Impossible.” He leaned back against the counter, folding his arms. “You worry about me when I leave the house.”
“That’s different,” she said dismissively. “You carry a gun.”
“And you’ve been through enough,” he said. “You just found out you had a sister—”
“And we don’t talk about Hayden,” Elizabeth said flatly. “She’s gone and I don’t like her. When your secret sibling pops up, you can handle that anyway you want. I’m choosing to ignore her existence.”
“Elizabeth—”
“Jason—”
“You like to pretend things are fine,” he interrupted her. “Sometimes that works. And then sometimes it just makes it worse when you realize things aren’t—”
“What do you want me to do?” Elizabeth demanded. “Quit my job? Hide in my room? I did all of that eighteen years ago. He stole nearly a year of my life.” She took a deep breath. “Longer,” she murmured. “And maybe I never really got it all back. I don’t know. Can you?” She met his eyes. “You’re right. It’s been a long year. And before that, worrying about the Cassadines—losing then getting Jake back—I can understand why you think something like is going to knock me back. I’m stronger than I look.”
“You were bleeding out from a stab wound and shot Stavros Cassadine in the head,” he reminded her. “I am the last person who is going to question how strong you are.”
“Then what—”
Jason hesitated. “A long time ago, Emily asked me to let Baker make it to trial,” he said, shifting uncomfortably because he’d never be at ease with discussing his job with her. “She wanted to testify against him. When he went to jail, she made me change that promise.”
Elizabeth frowned. “I don’t—”
“She wanted him to finish his sentence so he could rot in prison, but she said when he got out — she wanted him to finish paying for what he did to you. At the time, I didn’t really know you,” he reminded her. “So I agreed because it was what she wanted, and honestly, even without knowing you—” He cleared his throat. “But it’s different now. Emily’s gone.” He took a moment because admitting that never got any easier. “And I don’t know if that’s what you need. Or want.”
“It’s what you want to do, isn’t it?”
“What I want doesn’t matter,” he told her. “But yeah, I’d like to rip him into pieces and set him on fire. For what he did to you then. For what he did to my sister. For today. For all the days in between you’ve had to live with it.”
Elizabeth’s lips curved into a small smile. “Set him on fire?” she repeated. “That’s not your usual style.”
“Elizabeth—”
“What I want—what I need—is for Tom Baker not to be something or someone I think about,” she said softly. “Part of me wants to tell you to go ahead because you’re right. He never paid for what he did to me. Thank you for agreeing to it back when Emily asked it even though I didn’t matter to you.”
“But?” he prompted.
“But he’s been out of my life for a long time,” Elizabeth continued, “and it didn’t change anything for me. It still took me years to trust myself or anyone else physically. It didn’t change how it felt for Manny Ruiz to grab me the way he did when he kidnapped me.” A shadow slid over her face. “Or how it felt when you did it to find Sam—”
“Elizabeth—”
“I think that was the worst of it for me. Back then—Lucky would touch me and I couldn’t handle it. It didn’t matter that I knew he’d never hurt me. Then,” she added with a wry smile because she still carried the scar from when he’d shoved a knife into her three years earlier. “Then when you just wanted to jog my memory to find Sam—I knew you wouldn’t hurt me either, and it still made me think of Tom Baker. He’s taken that from me, Jason. And I don’t know if I’ll ever get it back.”
There was silence in the kitchen then, the sound of the dishwasher gently running in the background.
“There is no justice. No way of making him pay for what he did to me. It wouldn’t make me feel better. It wouldn’t make it stop. It would just be revenge.” She hesitated. “And maybe that would be enough. I might change my mind,” she admitted. “But here’s the thing about making him disappear now, Jason—” She waited for him to focus on her. “If you’d done it quietly while he was in prison, that would be one thing. The PCPD know what he did to me. What he did to Emily. He gets hurt or disappears now, you’re the first person they’re looking at.”
“I—”
“And before you tell me that doesn’t scare you, I know that. It scares me,” she said softly. “Because the one thing I won’t let him take from me is my family. We have three beautiful boys who love you, Jason. We have another baby on the way. We waited too long for all of this. He isn’t worth the risk.” She held her hands out across the counter, waited for him to take hers. “He’s not worth a single minute of my time. He spent seventeen years in prison for what he did to Emily. I’m going to make that enough for me.”
“All right,” he said after another minute. “But if you change your mind—”
“I know who to ask.” She smiled, then slid off the counter. She wrapped her arms around his waist, and he tugged her closer. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
Robinson House: Living Room
Portia held out her hand with a raise of her brows. “It’s eight,” she said.
“You know,” her daughter began hotly, “some mothers would trust their kids.”
“And some mothers,” Portia replied sweetly, “know better. Did you have to talk to Carly Corinthos about what you did to her kid? No, I did.”
Trina’s eyes widened into pools of innocence. “I didn’t—”
“What you and Emma convinced Cameron to do,” Portia corrected. “I’m not saying Joss Jacks doesn’t have that, and a whole lot more coming, but we don’t go low in this house.”
“I didn’t go low. There is no low enough for her,” Trina muttered as she slapped her phone against her mother’s palm. “You think you’re at rock bottom, and Cujo is right there with you, digging an even deeper level—”
“Trina—”
Trina stomped towards the stairs. “A little blue hair never killed anyone, God, you’d think I cut it off—”
“Don’t get any ideas—” her mother called after her, wincing when she heard her daughter’s door slam. “Just like her father,” she muttered.
As if on cue, Portia’s phone lit up with her ex-husband’s name. She reached for it. “Marcus?”
“What the hell was that voicemail?” Marcus Taggert demanded. “Baker is out? Why the hell didn’t I know?”
“I really feel like I am the wrong person to be asking that question, and don’t you take that tone with me,” Portia retorted. “Call Jordan Ashford, why don’t you?”
“Portia—”
“This isn’t my problem. That’s the beauty of being divorced. Hey, maybe you could return some phone calls sometime and you won’t get blindsided.”
“We’re not doing this—”
“No, we’re not. Maybe you could come ask these questions in person and while you’re at it, you can visit your kid. Until then, we have nothing to say to each other.” She clicked the phone off, thought about throwing it — then carefully set it back down.
She wasn’t going to let that man get the best of her. Not anymore.
Morgan House: Backyard
Keeping an ear out for his father, Cameron managed to get out of the house that night undetected. He shimmied up the tree to the house they’d built two years ago for Jake and Aiden to find Emma waiting for him.
“Hey.” He grinned as he always did when he saw her. She was so pretty and she was dating him even though Spencer had asked her first. He was the luckiest kid in their class because she was definitely the prettiest and smartest—
Then her face registered, and Cameron’s smile fell. “Emma…” He sat next to her, awkwardly putting an arm around her. He still hadn’t quite figured out how to touch her without making a fool of himself. “What’s wrong?”
“Did your parents say anything about your mom today?” Emma wanted to know. “About work?”
“No.” Confused, he slid away slightly. “What’s wrong?”
“Because mine were talking in the kitchen after dinner tonight, and I—” She fumbled with her flashlight. “I don’t know I should say anything but I feel like I have to. I feel like me knowing this and you maybe not knowing this—it breaks the rules or something—”
“Emma—”
“Did you know your mom was raped when she was sixteen?” Emma asked in a rush.
