Previously On General Hospital…

Elizabeth opens a door. The camera pans to the bed where Lucky is lying on his back, a blonde straddling him. “Oh my God!” she gasps and backs out.

—

Patrick hastily steps back from Robin. “We can’t sleep together.”

—

“Dillon, there’s something I have to tell you,” Lulu begins.

“I know how that goes,” Dillon interrupts. “And let me just save you some time. I won’t believe a word that comes out of your mouth.”

—

“Why do I always get stuck in elevators with you?” Alexis mutters, pressing the button for the lobby repeatedly.

Carly smirks. “Must be karma.”

—

“The immediate downtown and waterfront area is experiencing a brownout. Authorities are unsure when power will be back in those areas. Residents are advised to stay where they are as the streetlights and traffic lights are also out. This is Neena Stevens with WKPC.”

PART ONE

Let’s rearrange
I wish you were a stranger I could disengage
Just say that we agree and then never change
Soften a bit until we all just get along
But that’s disregard
Find another friend and you discard
As you lose the argument in a cable car
Hanging above as the canyon comes between
— Over My Head, The Fray

August 14, 2006

Harborview Towers: Jason Morgan’s Penthouse – 7:54 P.M.

Elizabeth Spencer paced the area in front of the window restless, every once in a while staring out as if trying to will the power back on herself. She’d come for support, for a shoulder to cry on, for something to distract her from what she’d seen only an hour ago and instead, she’d found Jason, reeling from an unpleasant sight all his own.

And now with this brownout, Elizabeth was stuck here. With a silent and brooding mob enforcer making a lot of clacking noise with the pool table. The elevators were out and so were the emergency lights in the stairwell. She was not about to risk thirty flights of stairs in pitch black darkness.

Ready to jump out of her skin, she whirled around. “Are blondes really sexier?” she demanded.

Jason’s pool cue slipped and one of the balls went flying, smacking the side of the table loudly. “What?” he asked, bewildered.

“Blondes,” Elizabeth repeated. “Are blondes all that much better in bed?”

“Ah…” Jason furrowed his brow and she realized he was actually thinking the question over.

“No, I don’t really want to know.” She tossed her hands up in surrender. “I’m afraid of the answer.”

“Okay,” Jason nodded, glad not to have to answer a question that seemed ripe with traps. “I might regret this but what makes you ask in the first place?”

“Well, Lucky slept with Sarah, you left me for Courtney, Ric pretended to sleep with Carly and actually slept with Faith and then Lucky sleeps with Maxie and you know what all these women have in common?” Elizabeth demanded, her voice rising. “They’re all blonde! So tell me, why do men always leave the brunette for the blonde?”

“There’s no way to answer that, Elizabeth,” Jason replied. He set his pool cue down. “But–”

“Maybe it’s not blondes, maybe it’s just me,” she said glumly dropping onto the arm of the couch. “I’m probably bad in bed and don’t even know it.”

Jason frowned. “You weren’t drinking before you came over here, were you?”

“I should have stuck with Zander. Sure, he was a criminal but at least he liked brunettes.”

“Maybe you should drink some coffee.”

Elizabeth raised her eyes. “But you know, you didn’t sleep with me, so you wouldn’t know. And you left me anyway so maybe it’s not the bedroom.”

Jason hesitated. “Elizabeth–you left me.”

“Maybe I just suck as a girlfriend and a wife,” Elizabeth sighed, ignoring Jason’s commentary.

“Maybe your taste in men is what sucks,” Jason said, irritated with hearing her put herself down. “You did everything you could do with Lucky. You stuck by him and you supported him when he needed you. And Ric–you gave him more chances than he needed. More than he deserved.” He stepped towards her. “Elizabeth, there’s nothing wrong with you.”

“So how come you didn’t want me?” she demanded. She got to her feet and planted her fists on her hips. “You would rather have guarded Brenda and Courtney than be in the same room with me, so really–you have no room to disparage the men in my life.” She huffed and walked towards the fireplace where she studied photos of Carly, Sonny, Emily and the boys.

“You deserved better than that,” Jason said, honestly at a loss for words. “And I’m sorry if I made you feel like I didn’t want you here, with me.”

“Well, it’s four years too late for apologies,” Elizabeth muttered. “You know, I almost wish I hadbeen having some sort of wild affair with Patrick Drake. At least he brings me flowers.”

General Hospital: Elevator Shaft B – 8:02 P.M.

Patrick Drake was not having a wild affair with anyone and that would be the way of things until January. He’d decided that it was irresponsible to expose anyone else to what could possibly be end-stage AIDS. If January came and he was still negative, well then he’d celebrate. He’d take whatever woman looked appealing to the nearest room with a bed and have his way with her.

But he was going to do the responsible and grown-up thing and that meant turning Robin Scorpio down for elevator sex. It didn’t matter if they were stuck in here for the next eight hours or that she kept removing clothes because the air conditioning was out or that other women couldn’t make sweaty look half as sexy as she did. None of that mattered, he was going to do the right thing.

However, if he didn’t get out of here soon or find some clothe to wrap her in, other parts of his body might take over the decision making. That would be wrong. No matter right it was suddenly starting to feel.

He tapped his fingers restless against the denim of his jeans and kept his eyes on the ceiling of the elevator car. And ignored the woman in the tank top across from him.

“I think I’m going to take stairs from now on,” Patrick decided. “Stairs are reliable. Stairs do not get stuck between the seventh and eighth floors. They never let you down.”

Robin smirked. “Except for those emergency lights which are currently off, so if you’d been on the stairs, you might have tripped and scarred that pretty face.” She chewed her lip. “I hope there weren’t any patients on the elevators.”

“This is why we need solar power,” Patrick said, eager to keep the mindless conversation going. If they were silent, he would think of other ways he’d seen Robin silent before and almost all of those ways ended with them in a bed, and her writhing–

God damn it.

“Yeah, solar power’s great except–what’re you going to do at night?” Robin shifted, the movement causing her short flowery skirt to move up her thigh.

He thought he might have actually whimpered but he fought the urge to slide his fingers up the newly revealed skin. It was a hard battle and he nearly lost in the end, but somehow he kept his fingers at his sides.

Clenched tightly in fists, but they were still behaving themselves. He was beginning to think this business of being mature and responsible was overrated.

He was acting like a horny teenager, he berated himself. And being a teenager was not something he wanted to revert to right now. So he cleared his throat. “So, ah, how’s your cousin doing?” he asked.

Robin smiled faintly. “Which one? The one consorting with a convicted sex offender or the one who’s committing adultery with Elizabeth’s husband?”

Patrick frowned. “Ah. Both. Either. I don’t care. Just talk.”

“And to think you used to tell me to shut up,” Robin sighed, somewhat amused and very aware of Patrick fighting his inner urges. It was sweet, if not somewhat frustrating. “I must be losing my touch.” She shifted again and he glared at her.

She was doing it on purpose.

General Hospital: Roof – 8:15 P.M.

“I cannot believe we’re stuck up here,” Dillon Quartermaine muttered, yanking at the door that remained firmly locked. “Did you do this on purpose?”

Lulu Spencer sighed and rolled her eyes. “Yes, because every thing bad that happens to you is my fault,” she muttered. She picked at a loose thread in the hem of her hot pink tank top. She’d have to put clothing like this away, she thought idly. Mothers did not wear revealing or funky clothes, they wore pastels and shopped at the Gap.

She wrinkled her nose. She really hated the Gap.

“Well, you tricked me up here,” Dillon pointed out. He scrubbed his hands through his hair. “I was supposed to meet Georgie for dinner but now here I am, stuck with you.”

“Well, don’t worry–you won’t have to be stuck with me forever,” Lulu snarled. She’d decided that she was going to take a page from her father’s book. She was going to take the money she’d saved and take off. She didn’t need Port Charles, she didn’t need her screwed up family or her useless excuses for friends. She didn’t anyone, she never had.

She leaned against the wall of the hospital and stared out over the landscape–the dark landscape and anyone with half a brain could see that the town was experiencing another brownout, though this one seemed much larger and longer than the rest. But as soon as it was over, she was going back to the mansion, she was packing her things and lighting out. Screw doing the right thing and telling the father of her baby. Because then Dillon would be stuck with her forever and she’d be damned if anyone else was going to feel that way. Her family already did but she would slit her wrists before the guy she loved felt that way for longer than the period of time they were locked out on this hospital roof.

She didn’t deserve that. And her baby didn’t deserve that either. Lulu braced a hand on her still flat tummy and reminded herself that soon she’d have someone to love and someone who would love her and never leave her.

Besides, even if she did tell Dillon, he’d just accuse her of lying and she didn’t think she could take that. She did feel bad for what she’d done, for how she’d lied to him about Georgie and Diego but she’d tried to tell him the truth, right? She’d tried to tell him she was selfish but he wouldn’t listen to her.

But now that he knew for sure that she was lying, he’d never believe another word out of her mouth. He’d call her a liar and he’d probably come up with a few other mean things to say because he’d watched enough movies to store up some good zingers. But then he’d find out it was true (in a few more months it would be unavoidable) and he’d feel bad and he’d apologize but she’d always know how he really felt.

Besides, there was no point in ruining both their lives. He was going to get Georgie back, that was all he wanted and she could handle this on her own.

She was getting really good at doing things on her own.

“What did you want to tell me anyway?” Dillon said finally. “What was so important?”

“Nothing,” Lulu replied quietly. “Nothing at all.” She wondered what Carly would say if she found out. Probably that hey–at least Lulu knew who the father was. Not every mother in Port Charles could claim that.

Port Charles Courthouse: Elevator – 8:20 P.M.

“This is just insane,” Alexis Davis muttered, jabbing the lobby button again. “Why isn’t this–” a spasm stole her breath and she braced a hand against the wall.

Carly Corinthos, leaning against the back wall, straightened and narrowed her eyes in confusion at the sight of Alexis Davis, gasping for air. “You can’t be claustrophobic; we’ve already done this before.”

“I’m–” Alexis coughed. “I’m fine.”

“Uh huh,” Carly nodded, unconvinced. “Well, I’d just as soon not catch your cold so can you just breathe the air over in that corner for a while?”

Alexis shot her a dirty look and fumbled in her bag for a bottle of water, which she gulped. Nothing in her life was going right, nothing was going the way she’d planned. Death sentences, husband sleeping with his stepdaughter, getting stuck in hot, stuffy elevator with the AntiChrist.

Was she ever going to get a break?

Feeling slightly dizzy, Alexis slowly lowered herself to the floor the of elevator, leaned her head against the wall and closed her eyes. She could feel the migraine coming and it was going to be a doozy. Of course, she’d left her pills in her office.

Carly studied her for a long time and shook her head. “It’s not a cold. You’re sick, Alexis. What’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong?” Alexis would have laughed if she’d remembered how it sounded. “What’s wrong, she asks? What’s right is the better question.” She slid a hand over her face, exhausted with the conversation, with the situation, with life in general. If she was going to die, why couldn’t she just die right now and get the misery over with?

Carly hesitated and tapped her fingers against the floor of the elevator car. She wasn’t a nice person, she would never claim to be one and generally, she enjoyed manipulating and scheming. It was her one of her…quirks. But there were moments where she wished she were a nice person, because she had a feeling Alexis needed a friend right now and well, the woman had lost a few recently, considering how Jax had left town and Nikolas was so busy with his own life.

So she took a bracing breath and dived in. “Kids are great, you know? I mean, I love my boys and I’d do anything for them. But there are days when you want to close the door and pretend they don’t exist.”

Alexis opened her eyes and looked at Carly oddly. “I’m sorry?”

“And husbands,” Carly continued. “I don’t have any use for them. They don’t tend to stick around and when they do, they drive you to nervous breakdown.” When Alexis’s expression only grew more baffled, Carly huffed. “When a woman looks as miserable as you do, it’s usually because a man or her kids are driving her crazy.”

“Hmph.” Alexis paused for a moment and finally, she felt the need to say it out loud. She hadn’t said, hadn’t really thought it past the moment but if she told Carly, well then, she wouldn’t be the only one who knew. And it definitely felt like one of those things that if one person had to know, someone else had to share in the misery.

“I found Ric in bed with another woman,” Alexis said, slowly. “I might have been able to get past it, I have before. I know that I’m not the easiest woman to live with, to be married to, I can accept that and maybe I could have lived with this. We could have seen a therapist, we have a daughter. We have a family, you can get past these things if you really want to.”

“And you don’t?” Carly asked, not at all surprised by the news. Ric had always been and would always be a slime ball.

“I could have dealt with it,” Alexis said. “But the woman was Sam.”

Carly stared at her for a long moment, waiting for the punch line. For the rest of it. For her to say it was Sam from Ric’s work, some unknown Sam that she’d never met. “Alexis…I am so…” she shook her head. “I don’t think sorry covers it.”

“I’ve been arguing with them a lot,” Alexis continued, realizing how fabulous it felt to shove this on someone else. “I’ve been cranky and I’ve been rude and I’ve been unreasonable.” She met Carly’s eyes. “I did this. I caused this, it’s my fault.”

“Unless you unzipped Ric’s pants for him, and arranged it so he’d trip and fall on that slut, then no, you didn’t cause it.” Carly exhaled impatiently. “People fight. Husbands and wives, they fight. Mothers and daughters, they fight. And Sam could have actually tried to seduce Ric, but you’re not to be blamed for what they chose to do with it.” She shook her head. “My mother and Tony. There was a crack in their marriage; it’d been there since BJ died. But my mother isn’t to blame for me seducing Tony or for him giving in. She’s the only person who is blameless and you are, too. I don’t care if you told them to go screw each other, Alexis. They didn’t have to do it.”

Alexis did laugh then, a long hysterical laugh and Carly recognized it as the laughter of someone who only laughed because she was afraid to cry. “Well, Carly, it gets worse.”

“I really can’t imagine now at this point,” Carly sighed. “Man, Sam’s been passed around this town almost as much as I have. But you know, I’ve lived here longer, so I have a better excuse.” She paused and attempted to count all the men she’d slept with since arriving in Port Charles. There was Jason, Tony, AJ, Sonny, Lorenzo, Jax and–well, she couldn’t count Patrick though she’d certainly given it her best shot. Only six. She laughed. “Well, damn if Sam isn’t catching up to me.”

“Carly, I’m dying,” Alexis blurted out, achieving something that few had. Rendering Carly Corinthos speechless.

| Chapter Two →