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.”

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