Written in 68 minutes. Sorry, went over because the cat was being a pain and the first scene took a bit of extra time but I figure you won’t argue.

Jason opened his eyes, instantly awake. In the shadows of the room, lit by nothing more than the streetlights outside, he saw the white ceiling above him, not the popcorn ceiling of his room at the diner, and took a moment to orient himself.

He turned his head to the side, and saw Elizabeth curled on her side, both hands clasped and tucked under her chin, strands of her dark hair laying across her cheek, her eyes moving just slightly beneath her lids, indicating she was still in deep sleep. In the short stretches of time they’d had together, he’d only woken beside her a handful of times — and only once after spending an entire night together.

And yet, laying here, watching her sleep, her chest rising slightly, it seemed as natural as taking his own breath. It had been that way for them in the beginning, the night they’d met at the bar, and he wondered what it meant that after all they’d been through, after all the stops and starts, tears and angry words, the months of not seeing each other at all — that they could slip back into each other’s lives like no time had passed at all.

Now, he laid in her bed, with their sons asleep in various rooms along the hallway. Hers, his, and theirs. It was the first time Jason had slept under the same roof as Jake and Danny in years, and it was better than the handful of nights when he’d had them before. Better because this wouldn’t be a a visit — this would be forever. Even if they moved houses or Jake went back to Spain or Danny went away to college —

He looked back at Elizabeth, at the ring glinting in the shadows. It hadn’t even been two full days since that day at the other house, when he’d stood in an empty kitchen and asked her for just one more chance to show that he wanted to be with her, to renew those promises they’d made a life time ago — even laying here with her, it didn’t seem real. Too good to be true.

“I can feel you staring at me,” came her soft murmur, her eyes still closed. “You should sleep more. It’s early.”

“You haven’t even looked at a clock,” he teased, though she was right — it wasn’t even five.

“Mom superpower.” Her lashes fluttered, and her lips curved when she looked at him. “Can’t sleep?”

“I never need a lot of sleep. Not like you,” he teased, and her smile deepened.

She opened her eyes more fully, and lifted a hand to stroke his cheek. “But you didn’t sleep almost at all the other night.”

“I’m okay. But you should get a few more hours—” he started, but she was already sitting up, bracing her upper body on her elbow. “I didn’t meant to wake you up.”

“Well, you did, but you can make it up to me.” Elizabeth leaned down, brushed her lips gently against his. He cradled her jaw, then stroked the sides of her torso before sliding his fingers beneath the soft, stretchy fabric of her tank to the heated skin beneath.

It should have felt awkward, and strange after all these years of not touching her, but he’d know her anywhere, her voice, her scent, the way she felt, he’d be able to find her in a dark room, the way her breathing hitched when he cupped her breasts, stripping the tank over her head.

He rolled them so that she was on her back, and her hands were stroking his chest, across the scars she recognized, and the ones that she didn’t—her fingertips dancing across the tattoos he’d acquired in his travels—and then dipping below the waist of his sweatpants, using her legs to tug the material down his legs until they joined her shirt on the floor, then her shorts—

They were quiet, just soft whispers, words that barely made any sense or were even audible—he knew just where to touch, to stroke, to use his mouth to make her eyes roll back and her back arch from the bed, but so did she, and showed him with that wicked smile that he only saw in these moments, when there was nothing between them but skin, no tomorrow, no today, no yesterdays, just this moment and how much he needed her. Did she know? Could she know?

She curled up on his damp chest after, their bodies cooling in the chilled room, her nails lightly stroking at his collarbone. “Wasn’t how I planned to seduce you,” she murmured. “But it’ll do.”

He laughed, his arm curled around her waist, his heart thudding. “Yeah, not bad.”

“Now go back to sleep or I’ll do it again,” Elizabeth said, closing her eyes. He nearly laughed again, but didn’t want to disturb her. He tugged the sheet up from the bottom of the bed with his leg until he could reach it, then pulled it over them — more for her than him, closed his eyes, and slid back into a light doze.

—

Several hours later, across town, Kristina paced from the fireplace to the landing by the front door, then back again, trying very hard not to peer over her mother’s shoulder. “We should take a few days, Mom. To really think about this. Let’s let Danny’s charges get dismissed—”

“Kristina—” Alexis looked at her, then sighed. She turned back to the petition she was drafting — the petition to withdraw her custody suits against Jason and Drew. “All I wanted was to do right by Danny and Scout. I was wrong about what that was, but I’m making the right choice now—”

“But Jason—”

“Jason wouldn’t have been my choice, but he was your sister’s. And he’s Danny’s.” Alexis tapped the print command, then got to her feet. “I’m doing what’s right. If you can’t—or won’t—support it, then you don’t have to go with me to court. But this is happening.”

—

“I have to go to school?” Aiden dropped his spoon back in the cereal bowl. “Mom. Come on—why am I the only one—”

“You have to go to school because it’s the law,” Elizabeth said, setting down a glass of orange juice.

“And don’t smirk, Danny. I made an appointment with your guidance counselor tomorrow to find out about getting you caught up,” Jason said, and the smirk in question faded.

“Oh, come on, Dad. Don’t you think I’ve been through enough?” Danny grumbled, but picked up spoon. “I don’t want to go back there with this bruise—”

“We’re going to see about getting homeschooling approved until this is all figured out,” Jason said, “but, yeah, you’re going back.” His phone rang, and he tugged it out of his pocket. “I have to take this,” he said, looking at Elizabeth. He slid off the stool at the counter, and headed to the kichen.

“And hey, remember, we’re supposed to be pretending to be perfect kids,” Cameron reminded Danny. “You want Jason and my mom to get custody of your little sister, right? So  you gotta play the Webber way and make the honor roll. Mom goes easier on you when you bring home that little gold card.”

“I never made you get on the honor roll, Cameron,” Elizabeth protested. “I wouldn’t—you don’t need to do that,” she said to Danny hastily. “You’re going to make him think I’m strict—”

“But Cam’s right. If I get good grades and stay out of trouble, it looks better for you and Dad in court, and I want Scout to live here.”

“I’m always right,” Cameron said. “We’ll get along better when you figure that out.”

“If by always you mean never,” Jake retorted.

“Don’t start—” Elizabeth said, but stopped when Jason returned. “What’s up?”

“That was Molly. Uh—” Jason cleared his throat. “The DA’s office just dropped the charges against Danny.”

“Whoa—what?” Danny straightened, his eyes wide. “I don’t have to go back to jail?”

“That was fast—” Elizabeth said. “It’s not even eight — did she drop them last night, or — ”

“She got the call from Turner — apparently she did it first thing when she got in this morning. It still needs to go through the court process, but—” Jason released his first easy breath, looked at Danny. “It’s over.”

“That’s awesome, but I—I thought you said it might be a few days—” Danny said. He furrowed his brow. “How come they dropped them now and not today?”

“Maybe this is why.” Aiden slid his phone across the counter to his mother who snatched it up when she saw the headline on the social media post.

“Elizabeth?” Jason asked. “What is it?” He came around the counter, hoping to look over her shoulder.

“It’s the Sun. Front-page news — Congressman-elect accused of child abuse—” Elizabeth looked at Jason with wide eyes. “There’s pictures of Danny and Scout. With the bruises.”

—

The headlines had made their way around town, and by nine am, Curtis Ashford was in his office at Aurora, fielding calls from the media, national and local. “I hope you’re sure about this,” he said to Michael who was across the room, staring out the window at the street below. “Are you really prepared for this level of scrutiny?”

“Nothing you printed this morning was a lie,” Michael said.

Curtis opened his mouth to respond, but the office door crashed open, and Drew stalked in, a copy of the newspaper crumpled in his hand. He didn’t notice Michael right away, who took advantage of that to send a handful of texts.

“What the hell is the point of this? What were you thinking?” Drew demanded. “You’ve destroyed my career!”

“Not yet, he hasn’t,” Michael said, pressing send on the last text. Drew whirled around to face his nephew. “But if you don’t sign this—” He tossed a sheaf of legal papers towards Drew who caught them with one hand, and tossed the newspaper aside. “Then we’ll finish what we started.”

“You got a lot of nerve—” Drew looked down at it, snorted. “You’re insane if you think I’m signing over guardianship and custody of my daughter to Jason. There’s nothing you could do to me that would ever make me —”

“Sorry to hear that.” Michael looked at Curtis. “What do you think, digital today and print tomorrow?”

“Oh, yeah. We give it to the gossip sites first. TMZ is old reliable—” Curtis picked up his phone.

“What the hell are you talking about? What’s worse than this?” Drew shook the paper at them.

“Worse than abusing two minor children in your family?” Michael lifted his brows. “Not much. But I guarantee if there’s anyone left who wants to take your call, after Willow publishes her story, they won’t even remember your name.”

“Willow—” Drew went still. “What are you talking about?”

“You know, my wife whom you lured away from her job at the hospital, manipulated her into working for you—” Michael paused. “Then stalked and harassed her until she slept with you. You’re in the wrong party, Uncle Drew, if you want to get away with that kind of thing. But hey maybe the other guys will want to take your call.”

+43

Written in 59 minutes.

Molly peered through the peephole, then rested her forehead against the door, wishing she were anywhere else today. Or that TJ wasn’t working so that she’d have someone else in the room for this conversation.

“I can see the shadow on the ground, Molly. I know you’re in there,” came her father’s muffled voice.

She made a face, then reluctantly slid back the bolt and flicked off the chain before twisting the knob. She pulled the door open just a little, and lifted her brows. “This is as far as you get, Dad.”

Ric sighed, then nodded. “That’s fair. I just—I needed you to know that I’ve resigned from Drew’s case. Officially. You’ll be getting the notice tomorrow.”

“You took the case—”

“And you took Jason’s. Because we both thought your mother was out of line filing in the first place,” Ric interrupted, and she looked away. “My only mistake was trying to make a deal with Alexis to make Drew’s case go away—”

“You were with him in the station yesterday, Dad. You left with him—Even after you saw what he did to Danny—”

“I tried to get him to back down—sweetheart, please, can we just—” He gestured to the door, but Molly didn’t budge. “I wanted to make this go away—”

“You didn’t care about Danny or Scout or Drew, Dad. Don’t pretend that this wasn’t personal. Especially when you saw Elizabeth on Jason’s side. You’ve always hated him, and resented her for not marrying you again. Even though you were lying. Again.” Molly’s eyes burned. “You always do this. You make me think you’re here for me, but you never are. You take Ava’s case because it’s a poke at Sonny, and you take Drew’s case to stick it to Jason, but it’s never about me.”

“Molly—”

“I’m done. I’m just—I am so done.” And then she closed the door.

—

“Um—” Willow folded her arms nervously as Michael locked the front door to the gatehouse. “Thank you. For inviting me to dinner. It—it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. With…everything knowing. And for…not letting the kids know things are weird right now. It was good to be with them for bedtime.”

“Remind me to tell you some stories about my grandparents sometime, and you’ll understand,” Michael said dryly. He leaned against the door. “And I asked you to come home not because this is okay. Or that we’re okay. I don’t even know if I want it to be okay.”

“I get that. And…well, after what you said this morning, I don’t know if I want that either.” She exhaled, looked away. “Which sounds insane, I guess. To be angry that you cheated, too.   But I am.”

“I know.” Michael waited, but she didn’t say anything else, just looked awkwardly at the floor. “I’ll sleep in the guest room tonight, and we’ll figure out something. But first — ”

“First we deal with Drew.” Willow nodded. “Let’s go over the plan again.”

—

Cam wrinkled his nose at the double bed in Jake’s room. “You know, I’m the guest. I should get the bed, you should get the floor.”

“It’s share or the floor.” Jake sat on the bed cross-legged. “If you play your cards right, maybe we can get my dad’s credit card and not Mom’s, and we can actually do something with that place he bought that isn’t card tables and folding chairs.”

“Yeah, what’s all that about?” Cameron grunted, kicking off his sneakers. “How come Jason bought a house in the first place?”

“Before they decided to get married, me, Dad, and Danny were gonna live there.” Jake made a face. “Feels like forever ago we decided that, but it was really just, like a month. Back when Sonny dumped all that on me and Aiden, and Dad went nuclear on him.”

“Sorry I couldn’t tell you guys more.” Cameron twisted slightly to look at him. “Mom was really good about keeping most of that from me. And I was always at Gram’s back in the day anyway. When she had overnights, and Lucky, I guess, didn’t want to deal with me. So I couldn’t tell you when we moved out or back in. And I sort of remember living altogether at the big house, but that was like…five seconds. And I think I only remember from pictures. Mostly, I just remember the old house and Gram’s. Lucky wasn’t around much anyway. I don’t even remember calling him Dad.”

“Me either.” Jake waited as Cameron disappeared behind the closet door, then came back with his jeans and sweatshirt balled up, wearing basketball shorts and a t-shirt. “You didn’t say much about Mom getting married. I figured you’d have questions.”

“Not really. I mean, I guess the one thing I do remember from that time was Jason. He came around a lot. Or Mom ran into him a lot, too. More after you came along. And when you were…gone,” Cameron added, “before he got snatched, too, he was around. And you know whenever one of us had a problem, Mom was calling Jason.”

“Yeah, like when Cyrus kidnapped you that time, I don’t even think she called the police.”

“Nope.” Cameron crawled into the bed. “I guess maybe I’m surprised because Mom seemed pretty done with all of that after Franco died. Finn was obviously not the guy.” He wrinkled his nose. “I never liked him.”

“I tolerated him, but man, if Mom had wanted to marry him—” Jake wiggled his shoulders. “No, thanks. Especially since he turned out to be a drunk. Mom was right to drop kick him. And—Dad gave her backup for that.”

“See? Feels like it was kind of inevitable.” Cam shoved a pillow against the headboard, then sat back. “The real question is, how do we feel about our merry band of three becoming a quintet. Danny and Scout coming to live here full time?”

“It’s what needs to happen,” Jake said firmly. “Danny needs to be with Dad, and Scout deserves better than her asshole dad.”

“Crazy how all that’s played out,” Cameron mused. “There was a time Drew was solid, you know? When he was Jake Doe, when he was supposed to be Jason, and then even when he found out he was Drew — he was always there. But the way you’ve been telling it—”

“He said it was prison. That he took the heat for Joss’s mom, and figured out no one was ever gonna put him first. Maybe that’s true, but I also think he got his brains scrambled a few times too many and lost his damn mind. He almost went after Mom, Cam. I thought Dad was gonna put him through the wall. Or the harbor.”

“Yeah, Jason doesn’t fuck around when it comes to Mom.” Cameron looked at him. “You know, Jason and Drew are twins. And they were identical twins before Drew’s face got screwed up. So even though you and Scout are, like, cousins, you’re biologically siblings.”

“Yeah, so?”

“So you know how Mom tells us that half doesn’t mean anything, and the only time she ever got really mad at me as when I said something about Aiden only being half my brother, so I didn’t have to play with him — ” Cameron shook his head. “Feared for my life that day. You were still dead,” he added. “Anyway,” he continued when Jake rolled his eyes. “I just mean that Scout’s basically your sister anyway. And any sibling of yours — they’re mine, too. And Aiden’s. Plus, this whole thing gets me a house of my own—”

“Which we’re supposed to share after I go back to school and come home on break,” Jake reminded him, whacking him with a pillow. “It’ll be cool for Mom, you know, to have a girl around. She’s always been so outnumbered, and the only girly thing any of us have ever liked was baking—ow—” He winced when Cameron whipped the pillow at him. “Hey!”

“Baking’s not girly, and you don’t say that shit where Aiden can hear you,” Cameron threatened. “And you like watercolors, so who’s the girl now asshole?” He ducked the first return throw from Jake, but couldn’t escape the second. And then it was war.

—

Elizabeth stood in the doorway of her room for another minute, listening to thuds and whacks coming from down the hall, and closed her eyes, savoring it.

“You’re not worried they’re going to kill each other?”

She turned to find Jason sitting on the bed — perched on the edge, as if ready to take flight, and her smile deepened. She closed the door, leaned against it. “Do you know how many times I’ve dreamed about this moment?”

“Listening to your kids attempt murder?” he asked, but there was a line of amusement threading through the words.

“Well, yeah, a little bit of that, but—” she opened her eyes, tipped her head. “Having all my boys under one roof — and you in the same house. Danny’s a new addition to the dream, but I’m already adjusting to it.”

“You’re sure it’s a good idea for me to be in here tonight?” he rose to his feet and crossed to her. “I could have done the sofa again—”

She laid her hands on his shoulders, across the thin fabric of the t-shirt he’d changed into. “I think it’s important that we begin on the right note. This is Danny’s first night here, and I want him to feel at home. He was so uncomfortable taking Cam’s room with Cam here — I don’t him to feel like his dad is a guest here, too.”

“You’re right, and I want to be here—” He touched her chin, stroking the soft skin with his thumb. “I just—this is all happening so fast—”

“Well, this being the first night we’ve ever spent under the same roof together with our seventeen-year-old son, some might suggest it’s not  fast enough,” she teased, and she was rewarded with his smile. “And hey, we shared our first apartment four months after we met—”

“Is that how we’re describing recovering from a gunshot in your studio with no heat in December?” he asked dryly.

“It was cozy, and you loved it. Until Bobbie guilted you into leaving.” She leaned up to press her lips briefly to his, but he slid his hands up to cup her jaw and held her against him longer, deepening the embrace until her senses spun, and she gripped his shoulders to stay up right.

“One of my favorite places to be was that firetrap,” he murmured against her mouth, and she laughed, and he kissed her forehead when she started to pull back. “I just don’t want the boys to be uncomfortable with it.”

“And if they were younger, maybe we’d have a different conversation. But they’ll get used to it. Don’t worry,” she said, kissing his chin, “all I have in mind tonight is sleep. I’m not planning to seduce you.”

“You wouldn’t have try very hard.” He kissed the inside of her palm, then held her hand a little longer. “But—”

“But the timing isn’t right,” she said and he nodded. “We do suck at that most of the time. But I think our luck is beginning to change.”

“I hope so. We’ve…made a lot of promises to the boys. To Scout.” Some of the amusement faded. “I know we told them it might not work, but I don’t think they’re prepared for any outcome where we lose.”

“We’re going to do everything we can, and if Michael’s plan works—by Christmas, this will all be over.”

—

It had a been a long, excruciating, and irritating day — that had begun with just a little bit of promise but had ended with a tense meeting with her boss.

Robert Scorpio had not been happy with her trip to family court this morning.

Still smarting from his rebuke—and from the judge’s attitude, Justine Turner closed the door to her condo, kicked off her heels, and mentally began to pour herself a drink.

And then the light switched on. She hissed, whirled around and stopped in her tracks.

Sitting on her sofa sat Sonny Corinthos, his hand still on the lamp he’d turned on.

“ADA Turner. I was wondering when you’d get home. You work very late,” he said with a lift of his brows. “It’s hard work building a prosecution against a teenager, I suppose.”

Justine fished in her purse. “You are insane — out of your mind — you and your partner. I’ll have you arrested—”

“Oh. I wouldn’t do that. Not if you want Mommy Dearest to remain in that five star nursing home you’ve mortgaged your condo to pay for. And how are those student loans doing, Justine? Struggling to make ends meet?”

Her fingers stilled on the phone, and then she lifted her eyes to the mobster. “What?”

“You and I should do each other a favor. I’ll make your life easier, and in exchange, you drop the charges against Danny Morgan.” Sonny’s lips curved into a smile, the dimples winking. “And then we pretend this never happened.”

Her hand tightened around the phone, and for a long beat, they just considered each other. Then she sighed, the sound escaping with an exasperated huff. She tossed the phone on the sofa. “I don’t like family court anyway. Pour me a drink, and let’s make a deal.”

+40

Written in 63 minutes. Sorry, I just went a little overboard writing the teens. You know I love to write teen dialogue.

Jason raised his hand hesitantly to knock at the front door, then reminded himself he didn’t have to do that anymore. He lowered his hand, twisted the door knob, and came in to find all three boys in the living room having a heated argument over a controller and something on the television screen.

“I called it, I get to go first!” Aiden grimaced, jerking the controller from Jake only to lose when Jake tried to put it behind his back and Danny snagged it.

“Hey!”

“I might go to jail forever, I should get to play first—”

“He doesn’t get to use that! That’s not fair!”

Jason considered intervening, but noticed that Elizabeth was in the kitchen, ignoring the entire scene and decided that she likely knew better than he did what was serious and what was…ridiculous.

He met her in the kitchen, then jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “Should we be worried?”

“No.” A smile twitched on her lips as she listened to the boys bicker. “Path to Exile 2 came out today, and it just finished downloading onto the console. I’ve missed listening to the boys argue about games since Jake went to Spain.”

None of those words made any sense to Jason, but he let it go. “Fair enough.”

“How did it go with Alexis?” Elizabeth asked. She turned back to the cabinet and leaned up to reach for a stack of paper plates. “Is she going to be a problem?”

“No.” Jason brushed her aside to retrieve the plates more easily, then handed them to her. “Alexis is on board. She wants the kids to stay together, and doesn’t want to fight anymore.”

“Oh.” Elizabeth furrowed her brow, bit her lip. “I wasn’t expecting that honestly. She fought so hard and seemed so sure — you said you went to see her the other day and it was like talking to a brick wall.”

“Having Danny hauled out of her house in cuffs and watching Drew put his hands on Scout—” Jason grimaced, set the plates on the counter. “She’s withdrawing her case and will cooperate with us.”

“Well, that’s good.” Elizabeth smiled when a new sound came from the living room, a swell of music. “They must have decided or one of them knocked the third one out. There’s only two controllers,” she added when Jason looked mystified. She went to the doorway to check. “Danny and Aiden. Jake is sulking in the corner of the sofa.” She turned back to the counter to find Jason watching her. “What?”

“Nothing. I just—” He tipped his head. “You make all this look easy. You always did, you know. When they were younger. Now. I get why Alexis thought you’d be the linchpin for her case.” He looked back to the living room. “I don’t know what to say to Danny half the time, and it’s a miracle Jake is even talking to me—”

“You got a little out of practice.” Elizabeth slid onto one of the stools. “But you were always so good with Michael. And look how you handled Jake after Sonny dropped that horrible bomb on him. This stuff—” She shrugged. “You’ll get used to it.”

“That’s the plan.” He reached for her hand, rubbed his thumb across the stone. “I’m sorry. So much of these last few weeks—this last week—you’ve had to put your whole life on hold to deal with this. Everything with Lucky and Sonny—that started because of me—”

“—because of Sonny—” she interrupted, but he continued as if she hadn’t cut in.

“—the deposition, court—”

“Just like I told Danny earlier today — I would still be worried about those kids even if you hadn’t come home. They’re Jake’s family. They’re your family. It’s just fortunate that you did come home, and I get to help.”

He started to respond but the door opened again behind them, and before he could turn around fully to see who had come through, Elizabeth was off the stool like she’d been shot from the cannon.

“Cameron! What are you doing here?” she demanded with a laughing grin, hugging her oldest son tightly, even before he’d fully come through the door.

Cameron hugged her back, then looked around the room. “Well, Jake called me yesterday and I got the idea that I might be needed at home.” He looked at his mother, lifting his brows the same way she always did to ask a question. “Am I too late?”

—

“There’s got to be someone who wants to make some damn money,” Drew muttered, tossing his phone aside after yet another attorney declined to take his case. He scrubbed his hands down his face. “What the hell.”

There was a light knock at his door, and he looked up—then jerked to his feet. “Come crawling back?” Drew asked with some derision.

“No. Just dropping off a copy of the official withdrawal from the case.” Ric set it on his desk. “And as my last act — a copy of something that was filed in your case. For your next lawyer—”

Drew snatched the papers from him, read through the first paragraph, hissed. “The Qs think they can steal my daughter? What the hell—”

“They know the right people, Drew, and you don’t. You might think about finding a way out of this. Before it hits the papers full force.”

“And why should I listen to you?” Drew demanded. “You don’t give a damn about me. Or my daughter. Or anyone but yourself.”

“You don’t want to take my advice? Suit yourself. But don’t blame me when you don’t even have your political career to fall back on.”

—

Cameron shed his jacket, handing it to his mother. “Jake said something about needing your favorite and best son at home—”

“You wish,” his brother sneered, but looked at his mother. “I thought he could get here in time, but I didn’t say anything when he couldn’t find a flight.  You know, a pre-med Stanford soccer star to show off your mom skills. We might still need you, so are you okay to stay a few days?”

“I thought we needed to get Danny out of the clink.” Cameron nodded at the boy in question. “Hey, Danny. Heard you decked a Congressman.” He winced. “But it looks like you took a pretty bad hit. How come he’s the one who got charged?” he asked his mother.

“World is stupid,” Jake offered. “We need to keep Danny out of jail, but the plan’s changed—”

“Whoa, wait. Let’s just—” Elizabeth hissed when there was another knock at the door. “Grand Central Station tonight,” she muttered, turning to look out the window. “Oh, that’s dinner—”

“I’ll get it,” Jason told  her, stepping behind her and opening the door.

“What did Jake tell you? Other than Danny?” Elizabeth wanted to know.

“Did he tell you about Lucky?”

“Lucky?” Cameron turned his younger brother. “No. Why?”

“That’s for later,” Jake interrupted before Aiden could speak again.

Bewildered, Cameron shrugged. He edged out of the way as Jason came back in the door with several plastic bags and headed for the kitchen. “Okay, we’ll follow up on that later, I guess. All Jake told me was that Danny decked Drew and got arrested, Jason and you are getting married, Danny’s coming to live here, and we need to make Drew disappear.” Cameron frowned. “I’m mostly confused on the Drew part. Didn’t we like him?”

“That was before he gave Danny a black eye,” Aiden supplied.

“And slept with Michael’s wife,” Jake said.

“And hurt my sister,” Danny finished.

Cameron looked at them, then back at his mother. “Okay, so we should probably start at the beginning. Oh, is that Mama Mangione’s? Hell, yeah.” He kissed his mother’s cheek. “Yo, Jason, let me get some of that garlic bread.”

—

Brook Lynn was waiting when Michael returned from Nina’s and handed him a tumbler of bourbon as soon as he came in the room. “Figured you might want that no matter how the situation went.”

“You’re not wrong,” Michael muttered, taking a sip. “Where’s the rest of the family?”

“Told them to give you some space. It’s been nothing but chaos here for days, and you’ve been at the center of it. I’m sorry,” Brook Lynn added when he just sighed. “This really sucks.”

“Yeah.” Michael made a face. “I told Willow about Scout. About the conversation Jake had with her on Thanksgiving about what she saw in the nursery. And how Drew handled it.”

“Gaslighting piece of garbage,” Brook Lynn muttered. “Telling his own kid she didn’t see what she saw and playin’ her like a violin. Nasty—”

“Willow confirmed it happened. She never saw Scout. Drew came to her that day at the hospital — Elizabeth saw them. He tried to get her to leave me. She refused, and he tried again later.” He stared into the dark liquor. “Claimed Scout was at school. Didn’t know or care that she wasn’t. Willow was mortified.”

“She should be. Sleeping with her uncle. I’m sorry, Michael, I support whatever you end up doing about her, but I gotta tell you, even for the Qs, this is pretty twisted. At least my dad didn’t know who Aunt Monica was before they slept together.”

Michael pressed the heel of his palm against his forehead. “Brook—”

“Sorry. Sorry. I just get so heated thinking about poor Scout. She’s got bruises on her arm, and she thinks her daddy hates her, but, like it’s just worse because maybe he doesn’t even give a damn about her. You know, Sam told me last year Drew was up in arms about sending her off to boarding school and only backed down when Sam was like, fuck that—” Brook Lynn took a deep breath. “It’s just awful who Drew turned out to be. If you got a kid, you gotta do whatever you can to keep them safe. To give them their best life. Even if it hurts you or might want something else. That kid has got to come first—” She paused when the door started to open. “Oh, hey, Gio.”

“Sorry, sorry, just forgot my case in here earlier—” Gio scooped up the case in question. “Oh, and hey, good luck doing whatever you’re doing with Drew. I hope you win.”

“So do we,” Brook said with a smile. When he was gone, she looked back at Michael. “Okay, so back to what we were talking about before I started ranting. What did Willow say? I mean, is she in?”

“Yeah. She’s in.”

—

Cameron scooped another forkful of spaghetti on to his garlic bread. “Okay, so really all I have to do is show up in court, look awesome, and make you look good,” he said to his mother. “I can handle that.”

“I know you can,” Elizabeth said, passing behind him. Jason couldn’t help but notice she seemed to have a new bounce in her step — and realized it was the first time she’d had all her boys at home in more than a year.

“I,  um, I put my stuff in your room,” Danny said a bit nervously, and Cam looked at him. “I didn’t know you were coming back today. I can do the sofa—”

“See, this is why I told you we had to figure out the rooms,” Aiden said, looking a little smug. Then he winced. “Ow!” He leaned over, rubbed his shin. “That hurt!”

“Bring up rooms again, see what happens,” Jake threatened.

“I’m cool on the sofa, Danny,” Cameron said with a shrug. “Or I can call some friends and bunk with them—”

“Oh, no, we can can figure something out—” Elizabeth said. “What about—”

“I think Aiden’s right,” Jason said, and Aiden stuck his tongue out at Jake. “We should probably have a conversation. Especially with what we’ve talked about earlier. I was going to talk to you tonight—” he told Elizabeth. “Run it past you first—”

“We’ve always decided things together,” Elizabeth said, taking her seat again. “And I don’t mind saying no in front of them.”

“She’s ruthless,” Cameron said, with a shake of his head. “Cuts a dream to shreds.”

“Your dream was to get a tattoo, dude. Of Joss’s name. Mom called that one,” Jake reminded him and Cameron scowled. “Hey, I’m not the one with bad ideas.”

Cameron opened his mouth to likely list at least a dozen examples, but a glare from his mother had him hunching his shoulders.

“What was your idea?” Elizabeth asked, ignoring her sons.

“The house. It’s still—I mean, it’s two blocks over. Pretty close. There’s nothing in it now,” Jason continued. “But I thought maybe Cam might want to use it. He’s been on his own for a while now. He’d still be close,” he hurried when Elizabeth hesitated, but Cameron’s eyes had already lit up — which is why he’d planned to bring it up later.

“See—this is why you’re my favorite.” Cameron stabbed a fork at Jason. “Best ideas.”

“Didn’t you try to shoot him once?” Aiden asked.

“You tried to shoot my dad?” Danny furrowed her brow. “Wait—”

Cameron scowled, dropped his fork to the table. “Hey, if we start talking about all the dumb things people at this table have done, I’ll start with—”

“And to think I wanted them to come home,” Elizabeth said, with a groan as the boys started to argue. She put her fingers to her temples.

“Sorry,” Jason said. “I should have waited to suggest this to you later—”

“No, your idea is perfect. Cameron absolutely should have some independence. And space. And I can see Jake wanting some, too, later. After he goes back to school next fall.” Elizabeth squeezed his hand. “It’s a great idea. And he’ll be really close.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yes. Yes,” she repeated when he still looked a little hesitant. “Let me get them back under control before you think I raised a bunch of heathens.” She turned back to the table, and raising her voice, said, “Okay, before Jason and Danny run from this house to escape you lunatics—Jake, Aiden, stop messing with your brother. Cam, stop giving them reasons.”

She took a deep breath. “It’s a great idea, Cam. And for tonight, you and Jake can share. Danny’s just getting settled—”

“But then Danny and I will share,” Jake said. “Because Scout’s a girl and she’ll need her own room.” He looked at his parents. “Right? Isn’t that what you and Danny’s grandma talked about? We’re gonna get, Scout, aren’t?”

“Yeah.” Jason took Elizabeth’s hand again, looked at her, then looked at the boys. “Yeah, we are.”

+40

Written in 61 minutes. See you tomorrow!

Elizabeth knocked lightly on Cameron’s open bedroom door where Danny was dumping out his duffel bag. She leaned against the door frame, folding her arms. “Anything you want for dinner? We usually order from Mama Mangione.”

“I’m not hungry,” Danny muttered, dropping onto the bed and staring down at the carpet, his shoulders hunched. “I won’t mess anything up in Cam’s room. So don’t worry—”

“I’m not.” Elizabeth bit her lip. “Your dad left for your grandmother’s, so it’s just us for a while. I can bring up a menu—”

“I’m not hungry,” Danny repeated, finally looking at her, his mouth pinched in a familiar expression — his mother’s, Elizabeth thought. “You don’t have to worry about me.”

“Danny, I know we talked a little at the Quartermaine’s, but maybe you and I should have a conversation, just you and me. Can I come in?”

“It’s your house.” Danny jerked a shoulder, dropped his gaze to the carpet again.

Deciding that would have to be enough, Elizabeth turned Cameron’s desk chair around, perched on the edge. “I know the last few months have been unfair, and you’ve been asked to deal with more than any kid your age should be—”

“I’m not a kid,” Danny muttered.

“You are,” Elizabeth said gently. “And I’m sorry that the adults in your life — that we haven’t done a better job of protecting you so that you get to stay that way a little while longer. I know you think I’m just here because of your dad—”

“Aren’t you? Didn’t you do all of this so he could win in court?” Danny asked, lifting his gaze to hers. “Mom used to say all you wanted was to marry my dad.”

Elizabeth pressed her lips together, counted to ten in her head. “I would worry about you regardless of your father. Because you’re Jake’s brother, and he loves you. It’s okay if you don’t believe me. It’s okay if you don’t like me—”

“I didn’t—” Danny took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. I—you’ve always been nice to me. And I shouldn’t have said that about my mom. She stopped saying things like that a long time ago, I guess—” He made a face. “And I’m making you ask to get custody of my sister, so it’s not fair to be a dick—”

“You’re not making me do anything. Jason and I were already discussing with the rest of the family how to handle your sister’s situation. None of us want her with Drew. We just hadn’t considered that the right choice might be with us — mostly because we’ve only been an us for about—” She leaned over to get a glimpse of Cameron’s clock on the nightstand. “About twenty hours now.”

“Oh.” Danny paused, considered that information. “I’m just…it’s stupid to be mad because you didn’t do anything wrong. You’re not the reason my mother isn’t here. But if you and Dad get married, and we get Scout, you get to…you get to be the one who’s here. And I don’t remember a lot from before I was seven. Maybe Scout won’t remember my mom.”

“We’ll do everything we can to make sure Scout remembers her. There’s pictures, and you and your dad will tell her stories. Your grandmother, your aunts —” Elizabeth rose and went to Cameron’s dresser where a jumble of framed photos were scattered. He’d taken a few with him to California, but —

She sat next to him, held out the framed photo Danny. “Do you know who this is?”

Danny took the cheap plastic frame, studied it. “That’s my Aunt Emily. I never met her, but Mom and Uncle Drew named Scout for her.”

“She was my best friend in the whole world,” Elizabeth said. “And she loved my boys. She spoiled Cameron rotten, and that’s a photo of them at his last birthday party. She gave him a firetruck that lights up and makes the most annoying sounds. We passed it on to Jake —” Before the accident. “And then to Aiden. Jake doesn’t remember her. She died when he was a baby. And Cameron—oh, he doesn’t really remember her either now. She’s just—a warm feeling. When he thinks about her, he remembers the love, but not her face.”

“I don’t want it to be like that for Scout. For me. What if I start to forget her?” Danny asked. He gave her back the photo. “What if I like it here? You’re a good mom. Scout already likes you. She might call you Mom one day. Because she doesn’t remember ours.”

“Well, I hope you like it here. And I hope your sister gets to come with us, too. But Danny — you are never going to forget your mother. She loved you so much, you know. She didn’t know she’d be able to have kids for a long time. That was really tough on her, thinking that dream was over. But then you came along, and then your sister. I don’t want to replace her. I couldn’t.”

“I’m sorry for being an ass,” Danny said, though he dropped his eyes to the carpet. “I keep telling myself not to do it—”

“And the words leave your mouth anyway, and all you want to do is drag them back in?” Elizabeth finished. He offered her a weak smile. “I’ve raised three teenage boys, Danny. Don’t worry about me. And give yourself a break.” She got to her feet, set the photo back in its place, then looked back at Danny. “You know, your father once said something to me, a long time ago. You’ve been through so much these last few weeks, Danny, and everything is happening so fast, you can barely keep up. Things happen fast, and you have to live through them slow.”

“Sounds like something he’d say,” Danny said, flopping back on the bed, staring at the ceiling. “All mysterious and riddles.”

She smiled. “It just means, Danny, that all we can ever do is control our reaction to what happens to us. We take life one step at a time. I can’t slow down the world, but I can look after my corner of it which includes you, your dad, and your sister. So, I’m bringing you the menu, because if there’s something else I know about teenage boys, it’s how much you eat.”

—

Nina opened the door, smiling grimly at Michael and stepping aside so that he could come in. “You came fast,” she said. She looked over at Willow. “I’m going to head into the office, call me—call me if you need anything.”

“Thanks.” Willow rose to her feet, lacing her fingers together nervously. “You, um, didn’t argue when I asked you to come over.”

Michael combed his hand through his hair, shifting uncomfortably. “Well, I was gonna call you. Not about—not about you and me. Just—about something else. But—” He paused. “I’m sorry,” he said. “About how things happened at the PCPD. I should have told you a long time ago what I knew.”

“I wish you had,” Willow said. “Not because it would have changed anything, I guess. But I just—less time to think of how humiliated I feel would have been nice, though not your problem to solve. And we—we have to figure all of that out. We will.” She waited a beat. “But that’s not why I asked you to come over. Drew…he can’t get away with what he wants to do. The judge sounded like he didn’t like the charges against Danny, and I know Jason and your family are going to fight hard for him. I want to help — but I also — there’s Scout. If he could hurt Danny—”

“He left bruises on her the day he took her from Alexis’s,” Michael finished, and Willow closed her eyes. “You don’t have to worry about her. My family has emergency custody of her, and—well, Brooke and Chase were going to petition for guardianship, but then Jason and Elizabeth decided they wanted to.”

“Oh. Oh that makes such sense,” Willow said, sighing in relief. “They would get to stay together, and Elizabeth would be so good for them. But—Drew—he’ll fight.”

“Yeah, that’s why I thought—why I wanted to know if you’d be willing to help.” He met her gaze. “Because I have a plan to force him to walk away from Scout. It just—I need you to pull it off.”

“My answer is yes, but maybe you should start from the beginning and tell me exactly what you want me to do.”

—

“How’s Danny?” Molly asked, pulling the door open wider so Jason could come in. “Is he all right?”

“Handling it,” Jason said, then looked across the room to find Alexis waiting by the fireplace. Kristina sat on the sofa, her arms tightly folded, her eyes trained on the ground. “He’s with Elizabeth and the boys, so this is going to have to be quick.” He stepped down into the living room proper. “Before you start — ” he held up a hand when Alexis opened her mouth. “I want to make a few things clear. Elizabeth and I are getting married, and Danny will live with us. Molly, I want you to get started on a petition to award us guardianship of Scout. Monica has emergency custody, but it probably won’t hold us with her as the guardian.”

“No, not with her health. Um—” Molly bit her lip, looked at her mother, then back at Jason. “This—you guys decided this after court?”

“We had other plans, but Danny and Scout asked for this. Scout doesn’t want to be with her father—” He retrieved his phone from his pocket, scrolled to the right photo and handed it Molly who inhaled sharply. “I don’t know if this will give us enough to keep her, but it’s a start.” He looked back to Alexis who had remained silent. “So if you have anything to say that isn’t an offer to cooperate so that the kids stay with me, I don’t want to hear it.”

“Who do you think you are?” Kristina demanded, jumping to her feet. Molly threw her a dirty look. “No, he has no right to talk to us like that—”

“He does,” Alexis said finally, and Kristina looked at her mother, startled. “I—” She closed her eyes, pressed her hands to her face. “You came to me. You wanted to find a resolution. And you warned me Drew would come here. I just—I never—”

“Mom, you have nothing to apologize for,” Kristina said, stepping up to her mother. “We just wanted what was best for the kids—”

“Stop it. Just—” Alexis curled her hand into a fist. “What you showed Molly—it’s Scout. Drew hurt her. And the cops just let him. He dragged her out of here yesterday—” She turned away, her voice faltering. “I should have stopped him. I tried to, but he’d already hit Danny, and I was so worried Danny would get up and go after him again, especially when his sister started to cry—I thought I was doing the right thing, I thought—” She looked at Jason. “All I did was make everything worse.”

Jason exhaled slowly. Though he’d come here prepared for whatever Alexis might try, he hadn’t expected this. “Neither of us thought it would escalate this way. Even after the penthouse. I never thought he’d hurt the kids. I don’t blame you for yesterday. I blame Drew. And I blame the system who let this happen to Danny.  I don’t want to fight, Alexis. Not with you. The kids need you. They need all of you,” he said, looking at Kristina who pursed her lips, but dropped her gaze. “They need us to be a team, Alexis. With one goal. Keeping them safe and happy. I think that Elizabeth and I can make a good home for them, and you agree — or you wouldn’t have tried to turn Elizabeth into your witness.”

Alexis laughed, the sound little more than a broken sob mixed with a bite of sour humor. “Oh, yeah. She saw right through me, didn’t she?”

“Alexis—”

“Whatever you need me to do. Whatever you need the girls to do. All that matters is Danny and Scout. And stopping Drew.”

—

The door to Sonny’s office opened so fast, the door bounced off the wall and came flying back. Carly slapped her hand to keep it from hitting her, scowling at Sonny who’d barely blinked at her dramatic entrance. “I’m done sitting back and letting you destroy my friendship with Jason—”

“Oh, is that what I’m doing?” Sonny said with a smirk, leaning back. “I haven’t even spoken to him—”

“The hearing didn’t go well,” Carly said, and Sonny frowned at her. “Sure, Danny was released, but maybe you didn’t hear which illustrious member of the district attorney’s office picked up the case.”

Sonny exhaled slowly. “Who?”

“Justine Turner. And from the way Michael described it—” Carly lifted her brows. “Turner’s ready to throw the book at Danny, probably to twist the knife against Jason. Or get Jason on something to make Danny’s charges go away.”

“That’s bullshit.” Sonny scowled. “We can’t let that happen—”

“No, we can’t.” Carly paused. “Jason’s stood up for us, for our kids at every turn. Every time we needed him, he was there. At the cost of his own life, his own freedom, his time with his kids. I may not like what he did with the FBI and taking the hit for me, but he did it for me and the kids without even blinking. He did that for you, too. I don’t know how, Sonny, but God damn it, it’s our turn to do something for him. So get your ass out of that chair and do something good for once.”

+46

Sorry, went over a bit. The cat kept moving positions on the desk and I had to keep moving the keyboard, lol. I also had a little trouble with the ending, but it’s good enough 😛 See you tomorrow!

“So either we come to live with you together or I don’t wanna come at all.”

Elizabeth looked at Jason with a hint of panic in her expression. Neither of them had had a lot of time to talk about what the next step looked like — Danny’s arrest had consumed every action and thought since the phone had rung — and now Danny was threatening to torpedo even the basic plan they’d scrabbled together.

He dragged a hand down his face, looked at the children gathered around him. Jake, leaning against the banister, his mother’s worry reflected back in his expression. Danny stood on the steps, both hands fisted at his side, one of his eyes nearly swollen shut from the hit he’d taken to the face, and Scout curled up next to Elizabeth a few steps below, cheeks tear stained and eyes red. How was he supposed to fix this? Where did he even begin?

Not in the Quartermaine foyer, that was for sure.

“Let’s talk about this somewhere we won’t be interrupted,” Jason said. He held a hand out to Scout, hoping she’d take it, but she just burrowed into Elizabeth’s side.

“Why, so you can tell us no and we’re just kids so we don’t get a say?” Danny demanded. He folded his arms, dropped to sit down. “No. You can do that here.”

“Danny,” Jake said. “That’s not fair—”

“We’re going to talk about this somewhere we won’t be interrupted,” Jason repeated, feeling a bit firmer in that choice. He looked at Jake. “Can you go get Aiden? Tell him to meet us in the living room.”

“Aiden?” Jake echoed.

“Yeah. Whatever we decide has to include him. I think he’s still in the kitchen with Sasha.”

“All right,” his son agreed, drawing out the word, then taking a few steps backwards before turning and heading down the hallway.

“C’mon, sweetheart,” Elizabeth murmured, rubbing Scout’s back. “Let’s go sit somewhere more comfortable, and we can talk about what’s going to happen.” She stood, pulling Scout up with her, who reluctantly let Elizabeth lead her towards the living room, her head bowed, her steps heavy.

Jason looked at Danny who kept his head bowed. “Danny—”

“It’s not fair,” Danny muttered. “You’re just going to say no and make me go with you and I won’t have any choices, and I never have any choices—”

“We’re going to make some choices now. And I will do my best to give you what you want. But I’m just one person, Danny, and I don’t even get to make all the decisions.”

His son sighed, then reached up for the bannister, pulling himself to his feet. “Fine. Let’s get this over with.”  He slunk towards the living room, and Jason waited another beat, hoping that words to make all of this work would find him before he went through the doors.

—

“Did you see his face?” Willow demanded. She paced behind her mother’s sofa, wringing her hands. “He hit him! In the face—” She pressed a fist to her mouth. “How could any of that have happened—”

“Willow, I wish you’d eat something. You haven’t—” Nina’s hands fluttered to the side as Willow passed her again. “Honey.”

Willow halted, closed her eyes, and folded her arms around her middle. “I’m feeling sorry for myself again. Making it about me. I can’t stand this. Can’t stand any of this—” She turned, looked at Nina. “What matters is Danny. Making this go away.”

“Of course, and I know his family are doing everything they can—”

“I’m part of the family—or I was before—” Willow closed her eyes. “I’m part of that family. I have to find a way to help. To fix this. You still have friends at the Sun, don’t you? I know you’re not editing there anymore, but—”

Nina lifted her brows. “What are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking that this is what it took for me to see who Drew really is.” Willow lifted her chin. “I think it’s time that everyone else gets to see it, too. He shouldn’t be able to run from this.”

—

By the time Jake had retrieved Aiden and joined them in the living room, Danny was sulking on the sofa, leaning back in the corner; Scout next to him, sitting her hands and staring at the floor while Elizabeth and Jason stood somewhat uncomfortably on the other side of the table.

Jake saw that his father had pulled the double doors closed, and reached back to do the same through the back door he and Aiden had used. And hoped his father had a plan.

“Let’s start with something simple,” Jason said, finally. He sat on the edge of the coffee table. “About something you said, Scout. About Danny getting a new family.”

She lifted her eyes, dark and miserable, tears threatening at any minute. “I’ll be all alone.”

“You won’t because I’m not going anywhere,” Danny muttered. Scout sniffled, swiping at her eyes.

“There’s no new family here,” Jason said. “Nothing is changing except where we live. I know—” He held out a hand when Danny opened his mouth, his eyes flashing. “I know, that’s a big thing, and we’ll get there.” He looked at Scout again. “Yes, when Elizabeth and I get married, she would be his stepmother. But that’s not a replacement. No one could ever replace your mother.”

“B-but—” Scout took a shaky breath. “Danny still gets his daddy all the time and his brother, and he gets a new one—and I don’t get anyone, and I don’t wanna leave, I wanna stay—why can’t Mommy come back like you did?” she said. “Y-you were dead, and you weren’t. Mommy died, so maybe she can come back, too?”

Jason hesitated. “I wish she could. I do. I know how important mothers are, and yours deserved to be here. I’m sorry she can’t be. I’m sorry for all of this, Scout. I’ve tried really hard to keep you and Danny together as long as I could. Didn’t I?” he asked, looking at Danny.

Danny grimaced, then reluctantly nodded. “Dad told me a few weeks ago,” he told Scout. “And he’s had the house for like a week. I could have moved in then, I guess. And Dad’s the one that let Grandma take us to her house last weekend.” He made a face. “It’s my fault that I can’t stay here anymore—”

“You did nothing wrong,” Elizabeth cut in, and Danny looked at her, surprised. “You did exactly what you should have done. You’ve protected your sister, just like your mother would have wanted. None of the blame for any of this is on you, Danny. Not a single ounce.”

“I swung first,” Danny said weakly. “If I hadn’t—”

“An adult hit you,” Jason said, forcing his tone to remain even though just the reminder of how Danny had obtained the black made him want to shove something—or someone—through a window. “No one could — or should have — predicted that.”

“Maybe, but it still doesn’t change anything. I can’t stay here because the judge said I could go home because of Elizabeth.” Danny cleared his throat. “I didn’t mean it. About not going with you. I know I don’t have a choice—”

Elizabeth came up behind Jason, touched his shoulder in solidarity. “For right now, Danny. Just until we get these charges dealt with it. All of this happening so fast, it’s all right to be upset. To be angry. I’m angry, too. None of this is fair. And we’re asking you and your sister to be more mature than some of the adults in this situation have managed.”

“But why can’t you and Dad just, like, ask the court to give you Scout, too?” Jake asked, and Jason looked at him. “I know they might say no, but you could ask.”

“Yeah.” Danny sat up. “You said  Grandma and Aunt Tracy made it so Drew can’t take her with him, but how come that means she has to be here? Why can’t she be with us? We could be together. And you won’t have to do anything. I’ll do laundry or I don’t know how to cook,” he muttered. “But I could learn—”

“I would be really good,” Scout said, sniffling. “I can be really quiet. I can stay in my room all the time—”

“Honey.” Elizabeth sank onto the sofa next to her, stroked her hair. “I appreciate that you and your brother want to do anything you can to stay together. Believe me, that’s something your uncle has been agonizing over for weeks. But it’s not a matter of us wanting you—”

“The court has to agree,” Jason said, and Scout sighed.

“I don’t like them. They took Danny away, too. They’re mean.” She folded her arms.

“But you’ll ask?” Aiden asked, leaning forward. “Mom, you told me if you don’t ask, the answer is always no.”

“Well—” Jason hesitated, then met Elizabeth’s eyes. She lifted her brows, and he nodded. Why not, right? If there was a chance Chase and Brook Lynn could get custody, why not them?

“Well, if Aiden’s suggesting it and not asking about room assignments,” Elizabeth said, smiling when her youngest’s cheeks flushed. “Then I know he’s serious. If that’s something you both want us to do—but Scout, sweetheart. Are you sure about this? It’s a big thing, you know. Your daddy isn’t going to say yes, so we’re going to have depend on the judge to say yes, too. It might be hard for you.”

Scout was quiet for a long moment, then slid her pink sweater up her arm, revealing ugly bruises on her forearm, in a familiar finger-shaped pattern. Jason tensed, then laid a hand on Danny’s knee, recognizing the rage boiling in his son’s expression.

“Daddy doesn’t talk to me. Or know when I’m there. And he’s mad at me all the time. I don’t like when he grabs me and makes me do things.”

“Well—” Elizabeth’s voice was slightly strangled as she continued. “That settles that. Jake, can you get my phone? We should take some pictures of your arm. So we can give it to the judge, okay?” she asked Scout.

Scout nodded. “I can pack, too. I can be faster than Danny. You can take me home today—”

“We can’t, not yet,” Jason interrupted, and she looked at him, her lower lip trembling. “Not because we don’t want to, but we have to follow all the rules so the judge will say yes. And right now, you have to stay here, and Danny has to come with us. Just for a little while. Is that okay?”

Scout bit her lip, made a face. “Okay. I can do that. I can be strong, like Mommy. She would want me to be, right? I don’t want her to ever be mad or sad at me,” Scout told Jason.

“There’s nothing you could ever do that would have made your mother sad,” Jason reassured her. “I know she’s watching over you, and she’s really proud of you.”

Scout furrowed her brow. “Daddy told me Mommy would be sad if I lied. So I promise not to lie—” she looked at Jake with big eyes. “But I lied to him. I told Daddy I wouldn’t tell, and I told you—”

“It’s okay.” Jake leaned over the back of the sofa. “I found out what you told me was true from someone else who already knew. So you saw exactly what you thought. Your dad is the one who lied.”

“Oh.” Scout seemed relieved for a moment, then Jake’s words sank in. “But if I—if I saw Daddy kissing Aunt Willow, then he lied to me. Why did he do that?”

Because her father was a raging asshole who needed to be dropped in the harbor with a block of cement around his feet, Jason thought darkly. “Because he was wrong. But don’t worry about him, Scout. I’ll make sure he knows he was wrong, and if I can stop it, he won’t ever do it again.”

+46

Written in 68 minutes. Went a bit over because I ended up adding some stuff with Danny I wasn’t planning, but I’m happy with it, sooo….

See you on Monday!

Danny fidgeted as they approached the front entrance of the Quartermaine mansion, and looked back at his father. “You’re sure he’s not here?”

“I’m sure,” Jason repeated, reaching around Danny and pushing the door open. “Tracy wouldn’t let him through the door—”

He stopped when he realized the foyer wasn’t empty and that the double doors to the living room were open where more people were waiting. He glanced back at Elizabeth, Jake and Aiden. “Did Michael say something to you?”

“No, but I’m not surprised—”

“It’s about time you got here,” Tracy said sauntering forward, one hand on her hip. “We need to talk strategy.”

“Be afraid,” Michael warned coming from the hallway behind the staircase, Amelia in his arms. “Grandma gave her free reign.”

Dante ignored all of this and came forward to hug Danny. “Hey kiddo, you okay?” He ruffled Danny’s hair. “Chase and Mac took good care of you?”

“Yeah. Yeah. It wasn’t so bad. I was a little—” Danny made a face when Lois appeared at Dante’s side and turned his face to the side.

“That’s one hell of a shiner you’ve got there. Drew thinks he can get away with goin’ after you, he’s lost his mind—”

“Ma, you’re crowding him,” Brook Lynn said, trying to tug her mother back.

Jason swallowed the urge to turn around and leave, the memories of how overwhelming this family could be rising up. He felt a hand on his shoulders, and looked down to find Elizabeth at his side.

“On the bright side, every single person in this room hates Drew as much as we do,” she said. Then she made eye contact with Michael, lifted her brows meaningfully.

“Right. Right.” He handed Amelia to whoever was standing next to him — it happened to be Gio, then came to the center of the foyer. “Okay, I know everyone wants to show Danny our support, and to figure out what to do next, but we really don’t need everyone for this.” He folded his arms. “Danny, why don’t you and the rest of the kids head upstairs. Scout’s upstairs in the nursery with Wiley.”

“But this is about me—” Danny started to protest.

“We’ll catch you up,” Jason promised. “But we need to get your things. Drew is probably filing an injunction against that order right now, and if that happens before your charges are dropped, you can’t come back.”

“And I can’t see Scout.” Danny nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, okay.”

“Good.” Michael looked at the rest of the crowd. “And honestly, while everyone’s opinion and input is important, the only people who need to be involved in this are Jason, Elizabeth, Dante, and Aunt Tracy—”

“And you,” Jason said to Michael. “You said you and Brook Lynn were going to try to keep custody of Scout if the judge didn’t want to leave her in Monica’s care.”

“Right. Then, I guess Brook and I should stay.”

“But—” Lois began.

“I really think I could be helpful,” Ned said at the same time.

“If we’re talking about character witnesses—” Olivia added.

“I think I could add some insight,” Chase argued.

“Michael’s right,” Gio said, hitching Amelia higher in his arms. “The fewer voices in this, the better for everyone. I, for one, am going to bother Sasha in the kitchen for some snacks for the kids upstairs. Amelia, you wanna help?” he asked the toddler, not waiting for her answer as they headed back down the hallway towards the kitchen.

“I’ll go help them in the kitchen,” Aiden said. “Sasha said she had a baklava recipe she wanted give me anyway.”

“The only ones with any sense around here aren’t even related to this family. What is this world coming to?” Tracy muttered, turning and heading for the living room.

Jason just shook his head, took Elizabeth’s head, and reluctantly followed. Danny, Jake, and Rocco jogged up the stairs, their heavy thudding footsteps rumbling through the room.

“I did not miss the sound of teenagers in this house,” Tracy grumbled. She gestured at her granddaughter. “Make yourself useful and get me a martini.”

Brook Lynn rolled her eyes, and obeyed as Michael pulled the doors shut.

“I saw Alexis pull you over after the hearing,” Michael said to Jason. “What did she say?”

“She wanted to talk to me, but I told her getting Danny settled was more important. I don’t know if she’s changing her mind about me, but I expect her to double down on getting custody of Scout from Drew.”

“You’d think that would work in our favor,” Tracy said, taking a seat on the sofa and accepting the martini. She sipped it. “But I don’t trust her. And you shouldn’t, either. Look at how she turned on you after everything you did for that guttersnipe daughter of hers—”

“Granny, is that really necessary?” Brook Lynn demanded. “The woman’s dead.”

“And I popped the champagne out of the sight of the children. I’m not a monster,” Tracy said with a snort. Dante scowled.

Jason grimaced, then rubbed his temple. “Look, I don’t know what the point of any of this is. Alexis isn’t going to win in family court. Not with Danny.  He’s made it clear to her where he wants to live, and—”

“And you and Liz are pretending to be engaged, which is only going to strengthen your case,” Michael added.

“Pretending to be what?” Tracy got back to her feet. “When did this happen?”

“That’s risky, don’t you think?” Dante asked. “You don’t think a judge is gonna figure it out?”

“No, because we’re not pretending,” Jason said.

“Wait, you’re actually engaged?” Brook Lynn demanded. “Holy crap.” She whacked Dante’s chest. “I told you!”

“Never going to let this go,” he muttered, casting his eyes to the ceiling. He removed his wallet from his pocket, flicked out a ten. “Yeah, yeah. You win.”

“Should have bet double—”

“Can we please get back on topic?” Elizabeth interrupted. “As much as I hate to agree with Tracy—and I do,” she added when Tracy just raised her martini glass. “I don’t think we should bank on Alexis changing her mind. We’ve thought she’d see reason after what happened at the penthouse, and nothing changed. And Drew is going to fight the order.”

“And he’ll win if we can’t convince him to let Scout stay with us. Grandma isn’t…her health isn’t what it used to be,” Michael admitted. “She’s resting today. And Aunt Tracy—well, she might work, but we have to be ready.”

“We’ve got two offers on the table,” Brook Lynn told Jason. “One is obviously to just award emergency custody to Michael on his own, but we’re worried, ah, that the rumors about Willow will sour that situation. Sorry,” she added with a wince.

“Which is why Brook Lynn and Chase are a good substitute. Our first choice was Dante since he’s been her stepfather for the better part of two years, but—”

“But I’m not a blood relation,” Dante said, his voice a bit rough. “Sam and I…we were engaged for maybe an hour. I don’t think that’d help us in court.”

“I think Brook Lynn and Chase are a really good idea,” Elizabeth said. “You guys were so wonderful with Violet, and you already know Scout. I’d be happy to say so in any affidavit supporting the petition.”

“Good, that’s settled. Scout will stay here where she belongs.” Tracy sipped her martini. “Now. How do we destroy that pathetic excuse of a man she calls a father?”

—

Danny felt like he was moving at half speed, bunching up clothes and shoving them in a duffel bag. He’d barely brought anything here in the first place, and now he was packing them up again to go somewhere new.

Scout was sitting cross-legged on the bed, watching him with quiet, dark eyes, while Jake lingered by the window, one hand in his pocket.

“What was all of that in court?” he finally asked, drawing Jake’s attention. “I know what Dad said at the police station, but, like, are they serious? Are they actually getting married?”

“Who’s getting married?” Scout wanted to know.

Jake sighed. “Yeah, Aiden and I had questions last night. They told us it’s for real. That it’s something they’d been talking about, and I guess I’m not that surprised. I mean, you used to say it all the time, that I couldn’t get away with anything because my parents check with each other on everything.”

“I guess. I just—I’m gonna live with you guys? Like all the time? Even after you go back t Spain?”

“Danny’s supposed to come back here,” Scout said, her voice small. “I thought he was going to stay overnight. Y-you’re going away again?” Her eyes glimmered.

“I don’t have a choice, Scout. Your dad wants me to go to jail, so the judge only let me out if I go stay with Jake’s mom. Because they’re getting married and she’s supposed to be my stepmother.”

Scout’s lower lip trembled. “You…you’re gonna live with Jake and Aiden and ‘Lizabeth? You’re gonna have a new mom?”

“No!” Danny said forcefully. “It’s just for right now, okay? Dad bought a house, and we’re gonna live there. And Elizabeth isn’t my mother. She won’t ever be my mother.”

“Hey, come on—” Jake came closer. “I don’t know what’s gonna happen when this all cools off, but I think my parents are serious about the getting married thing. I don’t think living with Dad is gonna happen — not the way we talked about. But it’ll be okay. You like my mom—”

“I liked my mom—” Danny threw off the hand his brother tried to put on his shoulder. “This isn’t what we talked about! This isn’t fair! You guys are changing everything!”

“Hey, calm down—” Jake grimaced when Danny shoved him again. “Hey, dickhead, my mom stayed up half the night worried about your dumb ass, and Dad only, like, slept for ten minutes. All they could talk about was bringing you home—”

“It’s not my home! Scout won’t be there, will she?” Danny demanded, gesturing at his sister. “Rocco and Dante and my mom! They’re not there. So it’s not my home!”

“Fine, it’s not your home! But you’re the idiot who took a swing at a Congressman, not me! And all anyone can talk about is how to clean up the mess you made—”

“Shut up—” Danny shoved Jake again, and Jake pushed back, sending his brother towards the post of the bed.

“Stop stop stop stop stop stop!” Scout  scrambled off the bed, tears streaming down her cheeks. “Stop fighting! Stop fighting!”

Gio appeared in the open doorway, frowning. “Uh, we can hear you down the hall—whoa—” he backed up as Scout flew past him. “What’s going on?”

“You happy?” Jake demanded, shoving Danny again, then taking off after his cousin.

Danny’s chest was heaving, his eye was burning, and his lip stung like a mother fucker. He swiped at his eyes, his shoulders hitching, and the sob that crawled up his throat couldn’t be swallowed. He crumbled to the side of the bed, drew his legs up to his chest.

—

Ric knocked at the door, and had to act fast to stop Alexis from slamming it in his face. “Give me five minutes—”

“I wouldn’t give you five seconds, you filthy son of a bitch—”

“I withdrew as his lawyer,” Ric interrupted, and Alexis closed her mouth. She didn’t shut the door — but didn’t hold it open more than a foot. “I tried to get him to drop the charges last night, and I couldn’t convince him. And this morning—well, I can’t get into a lot of it. But I realized if I stayed on this case, if I helped him even a little—Molly would never forgive me.”

“That’s if she forgives you for taking the case in the first place,” Alexis said flatly. “After you took Ava’s—”

“Ava is innocent,” Ric added, and Alexis rolled her eyes. “But that’s not what I’m here to do. I just—I want to see my daughter. She’s not at home, or answering my calls. Is she here?”

—

“Hey man…” Gio’s voice was closer now, and Danny peered out of his one good eye to see that Gio was crouched down next to him. “Not having a great twenty-four hours, huh?”

“What do you know?” Danny said sullenly. “You just play the violin and smile all the damn time.”

Gio grinned then sat down, stretching his legs out. “My mom died, you know that, right?”

Danny grimaced. “Shit, I forgot—”

“You’re good, dude. It’s not easy, I get it. You have this world that seems perfect, you know? Especially when you got a good mom, like me. We were a team. Me and her against the world.” Gio hesitated. “Then she got sick, and the world stopped making sense. We thought she was gonna get better, and then she just—” He gestured with his hand in a descending motion. “It went bad, like, overnight, or at least that’s how it felt to me. I was twelve. A little younger than you,” he added. “And I had to leave everything. One second, I had a mom, and a life, and room, and a world. And then the next, I was living with Aunt Lois and Aunt Gloria, tryin’ to figure out a whole new situation. And none of it was fair.”

Danny sniffled, rested his forehead against his knees. “I like Jake’s mom. I just don’t want her to be mine.”

“Felt like Aunt Lois was trying to be my mom when I first came to live with them. She still hovers too much, and smothers me. But no one is ever gonna be your mom, Danny, except your mom.”

“It’s happening too fast. Too much. Mom was here, and then she wasn’t, and now I gotta move again, and m-maybe I-I gotta go to jail—” his breathing hitched again.

“You won’t go to jail. I overheard the last part of what your brother said. His mom up worrying all night with your dad? So was everyone here. You got a lot of people in your corner, Danny. Except the one person you want the most in the world because she’s gone. It sucks. And it never stops sucking, I’m sorry about that.”

Danny swiped at his eyes, wincing when he hit the bruised skin. “I know everyone just wants to help. I should—I should have been the one to go after my sister. It’s my job to take care of her.”

“Yeah, but you’re not the only one who can do that. It’s okay to let someone else clock in on that job. It’s okay not to be okay, Danny.” Gio got to his feet, held out his hand. Danny took it, let Gio pull him to his feet. “You can sit up here and keep sulking, or you can go down to check on your sister.”

—

“I can’t come back to this house for at least a week,” Jason muttered, folding his arms at the bottom of the stairs, tossing another dark glare at the closed double doors.

“Yeah, they’re a lot on a good day. And today—” Elizabeth sighed. “Today is not a good day.” She stroked his biceps. “But they’re on your side right now. We can avoid them later.”

“Yeah. And Michael’s plan is crazy enough to work, I just—I don’t know what Alexis is gonna want to do—” Jason stopped when they heard footsteps above them. They both looked towards the staircases in time to see Scout hurtling herself down the steps, Jake hot on her heels.

“Whoa, whoa—” Elizabeth met them at the bottom of the stairs, snagging Scout’s shoulder as she came past. “What happened? Are you okay?” The little girl’s face was swollen from crying, and Elizabeth snapped her fingers at her son who sighed and trotted over to fetch a box of tissues. “Scout, what happened?”

“D-Danny and J-Jake were f-fighting, and I wanted them to stop, and I want Danny to stay, and I don’t wanna go to DC, and you can’t make me! Danny’s getting a whole new family and a n-new mommy, and I don’t have a mommy anymore, and he has a daddy who likes him, and mine h-hates me—” the words poured out in a jumbled mess that ended on a wail, and Elizabeth instinctively pulled Scout into her arms, looking at Jason with alarm.

“Jake?” Jason prompted. “You and your brother were fighting?”

Jake grimaced. “I should have kept my cool, but I was tired, and he was being a jackass—it’s just a lot, Dad, you know? Getting arrested, in jail, and then finding out about you and Mom, then he has to go live with us—I know you guys didn’t want it this way, and he’ll get that it when he has a chance to cool off, but Scout’s…” He looked down at his cousin with a grim expression. “She’s getting a shitty end of the stick, you know? At least Danny’s got you on his side. Her dad sucks ass.”

Jason exhaled slowly, put an arm around Jake’s shoulders. “I know. We’re working on all of that—”

“Why can’t she come with us?” Jake wanted to know. “I mean, Scout’s not wrong. Her dad’s awful to her. And if Grandma Monica can get emergency custody, why can’t you and Mom? So Danny and Scout can stay together?”

Scout looked up, her breathing hitched. “C-Can you do that?” she asked Elizabeth. “I wanna stay with D-Danny. I don’t wanna go to DC, I wanna stay home. I w-want my mommy. Please don’t make me go! Please!”

There was another set of footsteps and Jason lifted his eyes to find Danny at the top. He shuffled down slowly, stopping a few steps above Scout, sitting down. “I know you’re all doing this because of me and what happened with Uncle Drew. But I don’t wanna come live with you. Not without Scout. You said I could stay with her until she went to DC.”

“Danny—”

“And I know you said things have changed, but not the one thing that should. Scout needs to be here. With me and people who love her. She needs to be with us.” Danny lifted his chin. “So either we come to live with you together or I don’t wanna come at all.”

+37

Written in 58 minutes.

Molly breathed a sigh of relief when the elevator doors slid open and Jason emerged, stepping to the side and holding the door open so that Elizabeth and her sons could follow him out. Elizabeth stopped and straightened the tie her youngest son wore, even as Aiden made a face, and Jake snickered behind his back. Behind them, Jason tugged at his own tie, then stood obediently when Elizabeth, satisfied that both boys looked presentable, turned her attention to him and fixed the lapels of his suit jacket.

If anyone else had been looking at the quartet, it would be hard to guess that a week ago, there’d been no engagement, no hint that anything permanent would form though Molly knew enough about her sister’s ex-husband to know Elizabeth Webber had always lurked in the wings — even if it was just the memory of something Sam couldn’t erase.

She didn’t know how she felt about Danny being absorbed into that picture — being another boy that Elizabeth would dote on, gently molding and pushing him towards adulthood. That it might be Elizabeth at the important moments — graduations, weddings, the birth of children — when it should have been Sam.

Molly fisted her hand against her middle, the swell of grief rising so sharply that she had to look away. It should be Sam, she told herself, but it couldn’t be. It wouldn’t be. And all that mattered, all that should ever matter was the best interest of Sam’s kids. And there was no argument that Elizabeth was an excellent mother with whom Danny would thrive.

Resolved, she forced herself to smile and approach the four of them. “I’m so glad you changed your mind and brought Jake and Aiden. You both are a huge part of the petition I filed,” she told the teenagers. “I don’t think he will, but are you both all right answering questions if the judge has any?”

“Whatever you need to get Danny home,” Jake said. He elbowed his brother. “Right?”

“Well, what if he asks about the living situation? Room assignments,” Aiden added when Molly frowned. “I tried to get that sorted last night, but everyone said it wasn’t important—ow—” He winced when Jake flicked him. “What? It might come up—”

“Ignore them. They know how to act normal when they have to,” Elizabeth said, silencing both boys with a lethal glare. She looked to Molly. “And the room situation isn’t an issue. We have Cam’s empty room. He’s not due home for another week or so, and that will give us time to make final decisions. Unless you think the judge—”

“No, as long as we have space for him, that should be enough.” Molly stopped when the elevators opened again and Drew stepped up, followed by another man she didn’t recognize. She tensed and didn’t miss how Elizabeth subtle shifted so that she stood between Drew and Jason.

Drew adjusted his tie, arched a brow in their direction, then headed for the court room. Molly followed his progress, noticing the other man followed him. Where was her father?

“We should get inside. I think everyone else is already here, and I don’t want to keep the judge waiting,” she said, shaking off her concern. All that mattered was Danny and getting him out of here. She’d worry about her father later.

—

Michael shifted on the hard courtroom bench, then got to his feet when he saw his uncle arrive with Molly, Elizabeth and the boys. “Hey. Hey.” He came out of the row,  and hugged Jason. “I’m sorry about last night—”

“No explanations needed,” Jason told him. “Is—is everything okay?”

“That depends on your definition—” he paused when he saw Willow come into the courtroom, followed by her mother. They locked eyes for a moment, then Willow and Nina sat in the final row. “I told Mom to stay home. I hope that was the right choice.”

“And she listened?” Jason asked, surprised.

“So far. We’ll see if she pops up. Uh—” he gestured at the row behind where Brook Lynn was seated with Dante and Gio. “Drew came to the mansion last night. Tried to pick up Scout. But Grandma and Aunt Tracy had already been cooking up a plan. She slapped with an order of protection.”

“An order—” Molly blinked. “Against Drew?”

“Yeah. Grandma has temporary custody, pending the investigation by CPS. I don’t have all the details yet, but Drew will challenge it. Definitely because of Grandma’s health, but Brook and I—we’re gonna try and see if one or both of us can get custody instead. At least for right now. But I know Danny worried—and I’m sure you did, too,” he said to Molly.

“I did. I’m…stunned,” she admitted. “But relieved. If Drew can’t go back to the Qs, and he doesn’t have Scout, that makes things a little easier for Danny if we can get him out of here today.” She saw her mother lingering in the doorway, looking uncertain. Molly nearly waved her forward to join them, but then Kristina appeared at her side, whispered something in Alexis’s ear, and they went to sit near Willow and Nina.

The door behind the judge’s bench opened, and a bailiff led Danny in. Overnight, the bruise had bloomed into a sickening black and purple mark that crawled up most of his cheek, with a deep cut on his bottom lip.

Molly made a sound, and Jason tensed up, glaring at Drew who had taken a seat on the other side of the court room. The other man made a show of examining his tie, keeping his eyes from meeting anyone’s.

Elizabeth touched Jason’s arm. “He doesn’t have a scratch on him,” she said to him softly. “And yet he’s trying to claim self-defense. This can only help us. He wants you to react.”

“We’d better take our seats,” Molly said, moving aside so that Jason, Elizabeth, and the boys could take their seats in the front row, directly behind the table where the bailiff had led her nephew. Michael slid into his seat next to his cousin.

“I believe in the law, I believe in the law,” Dante muttered, and Brook Lyn squeezed his hand.

“His day is gonna come, Dante. You heard what Liz said to Jason. Drew wants us to react. Our only shot at keeping those kids away from him and where they belong is show him we’re better than that.”

“At least for now,” Michael muttered, leveling another dark glare at the man who’d torn through the family like a one-man wrecking crew.

Molly embraced her nephew, then touched the bruise on his cheek. “Hey, baby. You doing okay?”

“I guess.” Danny looked impossibly small in the clothes they’d given him — the juvenile detention kids wore an ugly shade of gray and they’d given him a jump suit that was one size too big. He was fourteen, and taller than his aunt, but somehow he seemed like the little boy with a gap-toothed smile asking for another hug.

“We’re going to get you out of here today.” Molly gestured at the row behind them, and Jason was on his feet, hugging Danny over the bench, and Jake managed to get one in before the bailiff cleared his throat. “You let me handle everything,” she told Danny, then turned—stopping when she realized who was sitting at the other table.

Justine Turner had a pair of reading glasses on, examining a brief. The ambitious ADA who everyone knew planned to challenge Robert in the next election. She only worked high-profile felony cases. Not family court or juvenile offenses.

“Aunt Molly?” Danny asked. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Yeah.” She looked at him, flashed a smile that she didn’t really feel. She looked back at the front row, and saw Jason looking at the prosecutor’s table, too, his brow furrowed. Did he also realize who Turner was? Did he know that things had just taken a very nasty turn?

“Order, order. All rise,” the bailiff barked, ripping Molly’s attention back to the front of the room. She swallowed hard. Whether she was ready or not — they were out of time.

—

“What’s wrong?” Elizabeth murmured, feeling Jason’s forearm behind her hand tense so tightly, he might as well as have been made out of stone.

“The ADA.” He looked at her, and she saw a flash of fear in his eyes. “She works felonies.”

Elizabeth inhaled sharply, then looked at the judge, shuffling through paperwork. An ADA who worked felonies handling a juvenile misdemeanor assault? No. She was here to prosecute the son of Jason Morgan. The crime didn’t matter.

The judge, an older man with a thick cap of white hair, slid his glasses down his nose to peer at the those gathered. “Whose representing the minor?”

Molly got to her feet. “Molly Lansing-Davis, representing Daniel Edward Morgan, Your Honor.”

“Justine Turner for the city, Your Honor.”

“Ms. Turner?” The judge’s brows lifted. “I don’t recall ever seeing you in my courtroom before. Did you lose your way? The press office is on the first floor.”

Justine’s lips parted in surprise, and Elizabeth drew in her first easy breath. She squeezed Jason’s hand. The judge didn’t seem happy to see the ADA, and maybe it would work in their favor.

“Your Honor, the case might seem minor, but the victim is Congressman-elect Andrew Quartermaine—”

“Yes, I’m familiar with him. Saw his all his commercials and posters. Former Navy SEAL and devoted father.” The judge lifted a brow. “I see you’ve joined us today, Congressman-elect.”

“Yes, Your Honor.” Drew rose, buttoning his suit jacket. “I appreciate your support.”

The judge pursed his lips. “Are your injuries documented? I didn’t see any in the file. Just, ah, the assailant’s bruises.” He looked at Danny,  then looked back at Drew. “Do you have some where we can’t see them?”

“Your Honor, I don’t think that’s pertinent to this hearing,” Justine said, flashing a tight smile. “This is merely a bail hearing. Whether the Congressman has any visible injures, there are more than a few witness statements—including the accused—who say the first punch was thrown by the minor. That is assault.”

“Yes, I’m familiar with the charge, ADA Turner.” The judge adjusted his glasses, then picked up a petition. “You’re asking to deny bail and to hold young Mr. Morgan in a juvenile detention center pending the outcome of trial. You don’t think that’s a little harsh considering the circumstances and his clean record?”

“No. I don’t. Daniel Morgan has a family with vast resources who can transport him somewhere extradition treaties won’t reach. And there’s a history in his family of disappearing off the face of the Earth with no trace—”

“Your Honor, if I may—” Molly interrupted, earning a dirty look from Justine. “Daniel has no criminal history whatsoever. Until October, he lived in a home with a decorated PCPD detective acting as stepfather. We ask that you release him on his own recognizance into the custody his father and his future stepmother.”

“And that would be who you described in this petition?” the judge asked. “Jason Morgan, whose, ah, history is colorful and long, and Elizabeth Webber?”

“Exactly, Your Honor. Ms. Lansing-Davis would have you return this child to the man who inspired this kind of behavior. Since the return of Jason Morgan from God knows where, Daniel Morgan has had an unstable living situation with no legal address—”

“Daniel Morgan’s mother died five weeks ago,” Molly snapped, then flushed when the judge lifted his brows at her. “Samantha McCall died from complications of a liver donation surgery. At that time, Mr. Morgan was ready, willing, and able to step up and take full custody of his son. But it was agreed by everyone involved what was best for Daniel and his sister was to remain with his younger sister for as long as he could. The Congressman intends to take his daughter to DC at the beginning of the year. He lives in the family home, where Mr. Morgan was raised, and where he is a frequent visitor. The home is filled with relatives who adore Daniel and his sister. The only instability has come from the so-called victim in this case.”

Molly didn’t even wait for the judge to take a breath before she continued. “Mr. Morgan is engaged to Elizabeth Webber, and plans to make a permanent home for Danny with her. She has three sons, one of whom she shares with Mr. Morgan. She is an excellent mother. Her oldest son is a Stanford pre-med student on a scholarship where he plays soccer. It’s one of the best teams in the country, and Cameron Webber—”

“Your son is Cameron Webber?” the judge interrupted, and Molly turned to find Elizabeth blinking in surprise.

“Ah, yes. He’s…in his junior year at Stanford—”

“I remember Mr. Webber. He had a little trouble a few years ago. Silliness,” the judge added. “He was trying to help a friend with cancer?”

“Yes,” Elizabeth said. “He was young, impulsive, and he took the punishment the court gave him. Fortunately, it didn’t hurt his chances at Stanford.”

“Always thought it was an overreach. Just as this is,” the judge said, switching his attention back to ADA Turner.

“Your Honor, perhaps you should recuse yourself—”

“ADA Turner, maybe you don’t know how things work here in family court. You ought to have asked a colleague before taking this case. You’ve got a young boy, grieving the loss of his mother with bruises on his face, and an adult pressing charges of assault. I’d think very carefully before you push this forward.”

“Your Honor—” Turner tried again.

“I’m releasing Daniel Morgan into the custody of his father and his fiancee. And Congressman—I hope you weren’t looking to be re-elected once this hits the papers. Court is adjourned.”

+46

Went a little over 🙂

The role of Michael Corinthos is now being played by the scrumptious Rory Gibson.

With a trembling hand, Willow twisted her key in the lock, and released the breath she hadn’t known she’d been holding when it turned easily. Michael hadn’t changed the locks. Maybe he hadn’t thought of it, maybe he hadn’t been able to get anyone out on such short notice, but Willow would take it as a small sign that she hadn’t completely destroyed her marriage.

Though it was on life support and fading fast.

The living room was silent, shades still drawn to block out even the weakest of the December light gradually spreading across the estate as the sun rose higher in the sky. Wiley was usually awake by now, getting ready for school, begging to go to the main house for Sasha’s cooking rather than the basic cereal and fruit he’d happily eaten before she’d taken the job as the Quartermaine cook.

But there was no small, boisterous boy bouncing around with that bottomless well of energy that only children seemed able to tap into. And if not for the small rustling from the kitchen, Willow might have thought no one was home at all.

She set her purse on the table next to the door, laid her keys next to it, the metallic clinking making her wince though surely Michael — if it was Michael in the kitchen — would have heard the door.

He was at the counter, leaning back against it, a mug of coffee in his hand. One that Willow had given him last summer for Father’s Day. She could remember making it with their son, having Wiley draw a picture for his father, with Amelia’s scribbling, and her neat hand writing proclaiming World’s Best Dad, then sending it away to be placed on the mug.

Had that only been a few months ago?

She stood in the threshold of the kitchen, and he said nothing, just looked at her. Watched her with a careful expression. His shoulders tensed — just the slightest movement beneath the white button-down shirt he wore, and a muscle in his jaw clenched.

Finally Michael broke eye contact, set the mug on the counter, cleared his throat. “How’s Drew?”

Willow inhaled a shaky breath, because why wouldn’t he think that? Why wouldn’t he believe she’d run from him to the man she’d broken their vows with?

“I don’t know. I was with my mother.” She folded her arms tightly across her middle, heat crawling up her neck. “I don’t know what to say. Don’t how to act. How to look at you and not…I don’t know what happened. I can’t explain it. I-I’m s-sorry.” She lifted her gaze to his. “I’m so ashamed, Michael. That— that doesn’t even begin to describe it, but it’s the b-best I can do right now.” She dragged a hand through her hair, rumbled from a sleepless night. “I don’t know how it started or how it—I don’t understand.”

“I’m sure you don’t.” He picked up the mug again, but didn’t drink. He stared down at it, his thumb rubbing against the Amelia’s purple scraggly lines. “He’s my uncle, Willow.”

“I-I k-know. I know that it makes it s-so much worse, and I can’t—” She squeezed her eyes shut. “He was sleeping with my mother.”

If she’d been looking at him, she would have seen the first real reaction — Michael nearly dropped the coffee, catching it at the last minute, but the liquid sloshed over the sides, burning his skin. He hissed and set it down, reaching the faucet and twisting it on to cold water.

Her eyes flew open. “Oh—did—” She came forward, then stopped, when he flashed her a warning look not to come closer. “Can I get something—cream or—”

“It’s fine,” he bit out. He yanked the dishtowel from the hook to dry his hand. “What did you just say?”

“Nina—she told me last night. I—I didn’t know I could feel worse, you know? That there was something lower than how I felt. The man I thought he was — I made him up in my head. The whole time I thought—he was sleeping with Nina. And God, that would be bad enough, but what he did to Danny—I don’t understand. I don’t know how I didn’t see it.” Her voice broke. “How did I throw us away for something that doesn’t exist?”

Michael tossed the towel aside. “I don’t know. And I don’t really have time to talk about any of it. I have to go to family court.”

“Oh, Danny—” Willow stepped aside as he came closer. “What happened? Is he all right?”

“He spent the night in the PCPD lockup, Willow. And there’s a small chance that the judge won’t release him to Elizabeth’s custody today.” He stopped when they were little more than a foot apart. “Weeks I’ve known what you did that night. And it’s been days since I found out Drew was forcing Scout to lie and trying to blackmail Jake into keeping quiet—”

Willow pressed a fist to her mouth. “Oh, God—”

“I didn’t act. I didn’t do anything to protect my cousins, because I thought protecting my kids was the right choice. But I was just—” He pressed his lips together. “I was just protecting myself. From this moment. From what has to be said.” He met her eyes. “The night I found about you and Drew—the first time—the kiss—before Sam died. I went to the bar. And I slept with someone.”

Willow flinched, dropped her eyes to the tiled floor. She said nothing, could say nothing. The flash of anger had to be swallowed. Because she’d started this, hadn’t she? She’d cracked her marriage first. “I don’t know what to say.”

“Yeah, me either.”

And then he left, the gatehouse front door slamming a few beats later.

—

Jake stifled a yawn as he came down the steps, trying to step lightly, knowing—hoping—his father had managed to get some sleep on the sofa, though he couldn’t imagine how. Jake had tossed and turned, only dozing off a few times but always being jerked away at the thought of his brother being behind bars.

He stopped at the landing, where he could see that his father was still sitting up, his legs stretched out, but Jason’s head was tipped to the side, his eyes closed. Jake’s mother was curled up next to him, his father’s arm around her shoulder,  her head on his chest. Neither of them stirred at the sound of his footsteps, and he didn’t know what to do. Continue to the kitchen to get something to eat? Wake up them for court?

He thought of his father’s words the night before, remembering that as his parents had tried to explain their sudden engagement, that he’d said something unexpected, something else that had kept Jake up throughout the night.

“I don’t think it’s that much of a surprise. Not to me. And if you think about some of the things we’ve talked about, Jake, it’s probably not to you. Yes, the custody case has sped up something that would have happened later. But I want to make it very clear that it’s not why.”

His dad had talked about regrets a lot the last few weeks, Jake remembered. Especially when they’d talked about his childhood and when he’d been born, and he’d mostly thought that Jason meant he regretted not being more present for Jake, not stepping up as his father.

“I made a mistake. I was too scared to hold on, and your mother was tired of waiting. And by the time I realized it—she hadn’t put her life on hold. So I tried to move on. I did for a long time. I’m not sorry I married Sam because I have Danny, and I love him. But I will regret for the rest of my life that I was too scared to hold on to you. That we lost all those years.”

Jake had just figured we was him and his dad, but maybe it was his mother, too. And what if that was true? What if his dad regretted both choices? What would it be like if they were really married? Any maybe—maybe it wouldn’t be that different, Jake thought. After all, hadn’t he told Jason that his parents were like most divorced parents who had co-parent? They’d always been a team when it came to him—and pretty much in general. Always defending his each other, looking out for each other—

Maybe most things wouldn’t change, Jake thought, except his dad would live with them and so would Danny. And everyone might be happier.

It was something to think about. But first—

Jake crept back upstairs, stood at the top for a moment, then came back down in his usual fashion, thundering down them so fast he was almost skipping a few by the time he reached a bottom, and this time when he reached the landing, his parents were awake, sitting up, his mother stifling a yawn.

First, they had to bring Danny home.

—

With an uncharacteristic heavy heart, Ric knocked lightly on the open office door with Drew’s name emblazoned the name plate, above the word CEO. Behind the desk, Drew sat scribbling something on a yellow legal pad. “I came as soon as I got your message.”

Drew glanced up, then got to his feet, his mouth pinched. “How long will it take to get Tracy’s order of protection thrown out? I want to get my daughter out of there before they can poison her more—”

“I imagine,” Ric said slowly, “I could probably file an injunction pending the outcome of the CPS investigation. The right judge would probably grant it, so maybe two days.” He paused. “But you’ll have to find another lawyer.”

Drew scowled, came around the side of the desk. “I thought we were on the same page. I thought we understood each other.”

“I understood that you hated Jason Morgan nearly as much I as I do.” Ric tipped his head. “And until yesterday, I let that be enough for me.”

“I know—” Drew put up his hands, his expression easing. “I know that was difficult, and believe me, I didn’t enjoy it. I love Jake and Danny—”

“Hard to see it,” Ric said dryly. “And I don’t think anyone in that room would believe it either.”

“Jake’s a good kid. An excellent one. Elizabeth—you know I think the world of her, I do. And under other circumstances, if Jason weren’t in the picture, hell, I might even let her take point on Scout when I’m DC. I loved her once, too—”

“You threatened to throw Jake in jail last night, Drew. Danny spent the night in lockup, and with the wrong judge today, he’ll be sent to juvenile detention.” Ric exhaled slowly. “It was one thing to champion you when this whole idea was academic. When the kids were just pawns on the chess board, but safe at the Quartermaines or with Alexis. The only reason I took your case if because you told me you wanted to destroy Jason’s case so you could have both kids with Alexis. Now you’re playing damage control, trying to butter me up by singing Elizabeth’s praises, but I was there last night, Drew.”

“You think I wanted any of this?” Drew demanded, the sneer returning to his mouth. “You think I wanted Sam to be dead, to have those kids be used this way? She should be alive, damn it. And with her kids. But I don’t get to have things the way I want them. I don’t get to have any of it the way it should be. I can’t go back and not get on that damn plane, okay? Or to take that stupid plea deal for Carly and lose more time—”

“Well, if you’d called me back then, I’d have told you that was pretty dumb,” Ric muttered. “Never sacrifice for Carly. Always ends badly.”

“You—” Drew stabbed a finger at him. “You don’t get to stand there in any moral superiority. You chained her to a wall and threatened to take her kid—”

“And give her to Elizabeth, so let’s not pretend Morgan wouldn’t still be alive if I’d succeeded.” Ric ignored the roll of Drew’s eyes. “You don’t like the hand you’re dealt, fine. Me either, buddy. The stunt I pulled back on you with Hayden cost me the last chance I’ll ever have with Elizabeth—”

“And you certainly didn’t earn yourself any points for standing there with me last night,” Drew shot back. “We’re both in shit, Ric, so you can either work with me to dig out, or—”

“You’re right. I’m in the dog house not just with Elizabeth, where I’m pretty sure I’ll be living permanently, but with my daughter. Molly. The last person on the planet that gives a damn about me. And you know what, Drew? It’s going to be pretty easy to get myself out of trouble. I drop you and walk away. It’s called cutting your losses. Why don’t you try it?”

“Not when I’m almost where I need to be. Jason’s been around for five minutes, and both his kids took swings at me. Jason’s put me against a wall. It’s going to be a slam dunk keeping Danny away from him—”

“You’ll have to do without me.”

—

“I don’t remember the last time I wore one of these,” Jason said, reluctantly holding up his arm so that Elizabeth could button the cuffs at his wrist. “I hate this. What do my clothes have to do with what kind of person I am? It doesn’t make be a better father to put on ties—”

“No, but it means you understand how to follow rules. To respect authority.” She lifted her brows. “And you need all the help you can in that area, we both know that.” She smoothed a hand down his light blue shirt, then lifted the tie from her dresser, winding it around his neck and going to work on the knot.

He made a face, but it was impossible to argue with that logic. He had enough working against him today, and knew what Elizabeth hadn’t said — that no matter how amazing she was — there was still a chance the judge would see the son of Jason Morgan in front of him on assault charges and throw the book at him.

“I don’t want this for Danny or Jake.”

Elizabeth frowned, lifting her eyes to his, her hands still on the tie. “What? Suits?”

“This life. Going to court. Being arrested. I’ve—I’ve never cared about my record. Even when they were younger. I don’t care what people think about me. I never did. But I should have. I should have—” His throat felt tight. “It reflects on the people around me. How they’re treated. What if they don’t look at Danny? What if the district attorney and the judge, what if all they see is the last name? What if I’m the reason Danny can’t come home today?”

Elizabeth hesitated, dropped her eyes, and his stomach lurched when she didn’t immediately reassure him. She slid her hands down his chest, smoothing the shirt, then straightened his tie one more time, before moving away from him to find the jacket still on the hanger he’d tossed on her bed behind him.

“You were so young when you went to work for Sonny,” Elizabeth said, handing the jacket to him. “I know you weren’t thinking about the day, nearly thirty years later when you’d have to look at the consequences of that choice in the face.”

“I didn’t care about the future,” Jason muttered, whipping the jacket around, shrugging into it, grimacing at the way it didn’t stretch easily over his frame. “It didn’t exist for me. But I could have changed my mind at any point. We could have left Port Charles. I thought about it.”

She looked at him, tipping her head to the side, the ends of her hair carefully curled in the way that made him want to run his hands through them, straighten them and watch them curl back into position. “We’re not your only family, Jason. We weren’t then, and we aren’t now. Even with Michael in a coma, you would have worried about him. About Morgan. And Carly and Sonny—”

“I should have put my son first—”

“Jason.” She adjusted the lapels of his jacket, flicking away an errant piece of lint, then touched his temple. “Up here, you know Michael isn’t your son. Not biologically or legally. But here—” She pressed a hand against his heart. “He’s always been yours. And he loves you, too. You’ve been a steady constant for him when his world was chaos. You put your sons first in the only way that made sense to you. You knew Jake was safe with me, that I would guard him with my life, and love him with my whole heart. You knew Danny was safe with Sam, that she would do anything to keep him whole and happy.”

Her lips curved into a sad smile. “But we both know Michael has never had that guarantee, as much as Carly might wanted it. I regret the time we lost with Jake, the time we lost together, but I will never regret the time and love you’ve given to Michael. I’m so indebted to that little boy who taught you how to love with your whole heart, and I would never resent him for the love and attention you gave him. Look at who he grew up to be. What a wonderful father, son, brother—how can either of us look at Danny, Jake, or Michael, at who those boys grew up to be and think we could have done better?”

Jason wanted to speak, wanted to find the words to express what her words meant to him, the truth he wanted to believe so much, but he couldn’t speak past the tightness in his throat. He raised her hand to his lips, kissed the inside of her palm. “But today—”

“Today we’re going to court as a united front. You and I, with the future we’re planning. With the boys I’ve raised as an example of the home Danny can hope to live in, and with the full force and might of the Quartermaine name and ELQ behind Michael when he shows up. We’re going to bring Danny home today.”

And when she said it, he could believe it. “And then I’m going make Drew sorry he ever threatened my sons.”

“Oh, count on it. That’s step two today.” She smiled again, one that reached her eyes. “Let’s go bring Danny home.”

+45

Written in 69 minutes. Went way over, but I was at 58 minutes before I got to the last Liason scene, and well, I figure you won’t mind.

Drew sauntered up to the entrance of the mansion, flipping through his keys to locate the correct one. Though he’d been hoping for Jason to actually take a swing in the squad room earlier, having both boys try to attack him was a decent second place. A few more pushes, Jason would lose control, and he’d be in a position to make a deal with Alexis that would benefit them both.

It couldn’t have gone better if he’d planned it.

Just as he found the correct key to fit into the lock, the door swung open and Tracy stood there, one hand wrapped around the edge of the door, and the other holding a martini. “Oh, did you think you still lived here?” she asked with an arch of her brow.

Drew smiled thinly. “You can’t evict me without notice, Tracy—”

“You know what, you’re right.” Tracy turned to someone who wasn’t visible, traded her martini for legal petition. “I have something better. Well, I have a two for one special.”

He ripped the petition from her hand, then scowled, as he skimmed the action. “An order of protection—” Drew whipped his gaze up to hers. “What the hell?”

“That has been in the works for several days. Since you put your hands on Monica’s granddaughter.” Tracy reached out, and her martini reappeared in her hand. “Your things were already packed and they’re waiting for you at the Cosmopolitan Hotel. In the lobby. You’ll also have to get your own room. I can’t do everything for you.”

“This—” Drew clenched his jaw. “You can’t file on behalf of my daughter—”

“See—that’s where you’re wrong. Not a very bright boy, are you? It makes me nostalgic for AJ, honestly. At least he was quicker.” She sipped her martini. “Monica, as her grandmother, can do whatever she wants.”

“You can’t keep me from my daughter, Tracy—” Drew took a step forward, but then Tracy stepped away, and Drew saw who had been just out sight.

Dante stood just to the left the door, his arms crossed, and his jaw clenched. “Take one step over that threshold, I’m begging you,” he said. “Do me a favor and violate that order. I can’t wait to arrest you.”

Drew crumpled the petition in his hands. “I barely touched her—”

“Saturday, maybe. But that’s for a judge to decide. And we have more evidence of your violence against children. You see—” Tracy smiled, though the glint in her eyes was anything but humorous. “You punched a child today, and dragged Scout bodily out of a house, kicking and screaming. There were witnesses. A very helpful police report you insisted on so you could charge Danny with assault.”

Drew cleared his throat. “Tracy, there are things going on you don’t understand—”

“No, you don’t seem to understand.” Dante stepped up next to Tracy. “You might have won for the night, Drew. And maybe for a few days. But you’re not going against one man and his kid. Danny’s got a family who loves him.”

“And like it or not, Jason is a member of this family, and given the choice between the two of you?” Tracy shrugged. “I choose him. Now, will you leave willingly or you know what—Dante,” she said, looking at him. “I think I’d like him to try to come inside. Maybe he’ll resist arrest.” Her smile had disappeared when she focused on Drew again. “I’d like to see you with the same damage to your face.”

“This isn’t over, Tracy. I’ll be back for my daughter—”

“Please, make more threats, Drew. In front of the lovely detective.”

Drew hissed, then turned, stalking off towards the driveway, his footsteps crunching on the gravel.

Tracy swung the door closed, then turned to beam at Dante. “You played your part marvelously. It might be the first time I’m grateful that my son married your mother.”

Dante’s lips twitched, but then he went to the window, watched Drew’s headlights disappear down the drive. “He’s not wrong, Tracy. This isn’t over by a long shot.”

“Of course not. Our fun has just begun.” Tracy sipped her martini. “Shame he didn’t give you a reason to punch him.”

—

Elizabeth didn’t answer Jake right away, instead choosing to shed her coat and hang her purse on the hooks by the door. She held her hand out for Jason’s coat, and he reluctantly stripped it off, handed it over.

“Mom—” Jake made a face. “It’s not that I’m mad if it’s all a ploy to get Danny out, it’s just—”

“It’s not a ploy,” Elizabeth said, turning to face him, and her son fell silent, looked at his father, then back at her. “I told you at the station. It’s not the way we wanted any of you to know, especially you and Danny. But if it helps him home faster, I guess it’s worth whatever reaction you both have.”

Jake opened his mouth, then closed it, and looked at Aiden who looked down at the paper in his hands. “Okay, so I guess it’s my turn.” He squinted. “I can’t read your writing, so I’ll choose one of mine,” he told Jake. “Where are we going to live?” he said, lifting his eyes to his mother. “You bought a house and stuff. And Jake said it had three bedrooms, so it’s not big enough for all of us. Which I guess is related to another question — will we have to share rooms?”

“That’s your first question?” Jake demanded.

“I’ve never shared before, so it’s important—I have a lot of stuff, man! And so do you and Cam, where does it go?”

“Ridiculous—” Jake snatched the list from Aiden’s hand. “You’re not in charge of any of this anymore. So it’s real,” he said to his mother. “Fine. Let’s just say that’s true—”

“Jake,” Jason said, his voice low and a bit tense. “Pick another tone. Right now.” Elizabeth looked at him, startled, but then Jake swallowed hard.

“Okay, yeah, I know. I’m—I’m just—come on, this is all insane, right? You have to admit this wasn’t on the radar. At least not for me or for Aiden, and definitely not Danny—like, the timing of this—” Jake closed his mouth, furrowed his brow. “Is it for the custody case? Because—”

“It might feel like it came out of nowhere, and maybe for you, I guess that’s not wrong,” Elizabeth said. She folded her arms. “And okay, maybe the custody case is why it became a topic—” She stopped when Jason held up a hand.

“I don’t think it’s that much of a surprise,” Jason said. “Not to me. And if you think about some of the things we’ve talked about, Jake, it’s probably not to you. Yes, the custody case has sped up something that would have happened later. But I want to make it very clear that it’s not why.”

Jake didn’t seem to know what to say to that, and honestly, neither did Elizabeth. Aiden seized the opportunity to snatch back the list. “Okay, but I still didn’t get my turn. About the room situation—”

“We don’t have any of that worked out right now. Not longterm, I guess.” Elizabeth took a deep breath. “And we’d planned, I guess, we’d thought we’d have more time to make those decisions. But right now, Aiden, Danny will probably use Cam’s room. Because all that matters tonight, and tomorrow is getting him out of there.”

“Yeah, okay, I can get on board with that,” Jake said. “And obviously, Danny’s the priority. But—but there’s Scout. I don’t—Drew’s got her.”

“Not tonight he doesn’t,” Jason said. “We called after we left you, and Tracy said they’d pulled some strings. There’s an order of protection keeping Drew from taking Scout out of Monica’s custody. He’ll probably contest that, and it might not hold. But tonight, she’s safe.”

Jake visibly relaxed, nodded. “Okay. Good. Good. And Danny—”

“He’s okay for tonight. Not an ideal situation.” Elizabeth approached him, and was relieved when he let her slid an arm around his shoulders. “We’re going to fix this, Jake. No one is going to let Danny or Scout get hurt anymore than they already have.”

—

Willow paced in front of the window, her phone clutched in her hand. She looked at her mother. “He’s not answering my texts.”

Nina took the phone from her, replaced it with a glass of water. “Take a deep breath, and drink that. Of course he’s not answering tonight. You both need to take a minute. To take stock of what’s happened.”

Willow’s hands were trembling too hard, and she sat the glass down with a thud on the table, water sloshing over the edges. “What’s happened?” she demanded, her voicing climbing to a pitch that had her mother wincing. “What’s happening is I set my marriage on fire, okay? I had a man—a perfectly good man, a wonderful—” Her voice broke, and she pressed her hands to her mouth. “A wonderful father. And he loved me. I know he did.”

“He still does, honey. Or he would have said something weeks ago.” Nina put an arm around Willow’s shoulders, guided her to the sofa. “And you love him, or you would have left him.”

“He doesn’t love me now. Not after what he saw — after tonight—” She closed her eyes, squeezed her hands into fists in her lap. “I was still telling him Drew was a good man—I still wanted to believe it—” Her voice faltered again. “But he’s not, is he?”

“No.” Nina’s voice was heavy. “He’s not.”

“If…he put his hands on a child. Danny’s just a boy, really. You’ve—you’ve seen him. And Drew is—oh, God, he punched Danny, claiming Danny hit him first! Have you ever heard anything more vile?”

“Very little.”

“Danny’s fist would have felt like a fly—a-and—” Willow squeezed her eyes shut. “And they said Drew was dragging Scout out of her grandmother’s, as she was kicking and screaming, crying. This is the man I threw away my marriage for? How could I do that?” Tears streamed down her face, and she looked at her mother, begging her to find a way to explain the inexplicable. “How could I think we had a connection?”

“Oh, it’s my fault, baby. It’s my—” Nina turned away from her, pressing her fist to her mouth. “I should have told you ages ago, the moment you told me about the Fourth of July.”

Willow furrowed her brow. “I don’t understand.”

“I was so furious when you told me—” Her mother looked at her again, misery etched in every line of her face. “So humiliated. Because I’d just learned that the man I’d been sleeping with for months preferred my daughter.”

—

TJ winced when he saw Molly rip the top from another energy drink and reached to take it away before she could take a sip. Since they’d left the hospital and returned home, Molly had dove into her computer, into legal research, taking page after page of notes, the table by the window littered with yellow legal pages torn from the pad.

“Mols, you need some sleep. You have to let some of this wear off. You need to be your best self tomorrow,” he added when she started to protest. “Danny’s counting on you.”

“That’s not—that’s not fair. I just—I have to make sure I account for everything, a-and I know Tracy was able to get that order of protection, but Drew will contest it—”

“The Quartermaines have lawyers on retainer and will probably find the best family court attorneys in the state.” He plucked the pencil from her fingers. “Baby. Scout is safe. Danny will be safe tomorrow. And no one is served if you kill yourself trying to fix something you didn’t break.”

“I—”

“You took Jason’s case because it was the right thing to do. That’s it. Your mother—no doubt egged on by your sister,” he added with an edge to his tone that had her frowning. “Your mother started this. And for whatever reason, Drew has decided to escalate it. Creating that scene with Scout over the weekend, going after Jake and Danny today—it’s like he wants Jason to live up to his reputation—” He closed his mouth, looked at her as the realization dawned in her expression, too.

“He said he wanted to be on my mother’s side. My dad—my dad said Drew was willing to do whatever he had to do in order to get Danny away from Jason. Oh, God, is this what he meant?”

Trying to wrap her head around that possibility, she missed the first knock on the door, but TJ heard the second one, and left the table to open the door.

Where her mother stood, her cheeks tear-stained. Molly got to her feet, wary. “Mom.”

“Molly. We need—we need to talk. We—” Alexis closed her eyes. “I need to fix this.”

—

Danny pressed the ice pack to his face, wincing as the chill hit his skin. “You don’t have to keep apologizing,” he said through the bars to Chase as the older man set up his own cot. “You didn’t punch me.”

“No, but I feel like we should have been able to come up with a better solution,” Chase muttered. He nodded at the tablet on Danny’s cot. “But you’ve got whatever streaming services you want. A-And I bet Mac could get a TV or something rolled in for a video game—”

“I just want my sister to be okay.” Danny dropped the ice pack to his lap, stared at it. “I don’t care about anything else.”

“Hey—” Chase’s voice was closer, and when Danny looked up, he found the detective perched on the edge of his cot. “I talked to Brooklyn. Scout’s okay. Brook calmed her down, and she had dinner. Wiley and Amelia are hanging out with her tonight, and you know she loves that.”

Danny’s lips curved into a tiny smile. “She gets to be the oldest.”

“Exactly. Everyone is on your side, Danny. You and Scout are the top priority. Your dad and Elizabeth are working with Molly to get you out of here tomorrow, and Tracy and your grandmother are working to keep Scout safe, too. We’re going to make this okay.”

He nodded. “Yeah, I— I know what everyone is trying to do, and I—I’m not trying to be, like, ungrateful, you know?” He sniffled, then dragged his forearm across his face to wipe his nose. “But everyone said my mom would be okay. They said it was okay, that they had it handled, and so I left. I took Scout and I—I never saw her again. I c-can’t ever talk to her a-again and maybe Drew won’t let me talk to Scout ever again either—”

He heard movement from Chase’s side, and the sliding of the bars a moment before a weight settled next to him. “I won’t promise you everything will turn out the way you want it to,” Chase said, and Danny looked at him. “You’re right. There’s a lot that could go wrong, and you know that more than anyone. But you’ve got people on your side, Danny. People who love you and that are going to fight for you. What would your mom say if she was here?”

“She’d say—” Danny paused, considered it, trying to bring his mother’s voice to his mind. “She’d tell me to take things one at a time. To not be like her and rush into everything without thinking.” He grimaced. “She’d probably be mad I ended up in here. She always worried I’d end up going to jail like my dad.” He paused. “Or like she did. She didn’t want me in here.”

“No parent would. But you stood up for your sister, and that’s what the family court is going to understand. But your mom would be right. We’re going to take this one thing at a time. First, sleep. And then, tomorrow—”

“Tomorrow, I should get to go home.” Danny exhaled. “Yeah, okay. Okay.”

—

Elizabeth dropped a folded blanket on the sofa next to Jason, the lights around the room dimmed. “I don’t know why I’m bothering with these,” she said, sitting on the sofa next to him. “You won’t use them.”

“My son’s in jail,” Jason muttered, though she knew the tone wasn’t directed at her. “I’m not going to sleep while he’s in a cell.”

“Fair enough.” Elizabeth kicked off her shoes, drew her legs up on the cushion. “I’ll keep you company.”

Jason looked at her, his eyes a bit softer now. “You don’t have to do that. One of us should get some sleep.”

“Oh, okay, I’ll skip up the stairs, and lay down in my bed, knowing you’re down here worrying.” She arched a brow. “Would you if the situation was reversed?”

“No.” Jason shook his head. “No. Of course not.” He reached for her hand, twisting the ring he’d placed on it a back and forth on her finger. “I’m sorry. That it’s…it’s like this again.”

“What, you mean, the second we get engaged, the phone rings and world falls apart?” She sighed, slid closer to him until she was curled into his side. He let his head tip to the side so that it touched hers. “It’s not the same at all. The situation is different, and…so are we. We made a deal, didn’t we? We’re in this together. Tonight, Danny needed us. If it had been Aiden or Cam, you’d have felt the same way, and we’d be on this sofa for them.”

He acknowledged that with a nod, bring her palm to his lips, pressing them against the soft skin. “How do you think Cam’s going to take this?”

“Oh. No way to tell with him.” She smiled, thinking of it. “He’ll either just go with the flow, or he’ll be like Aiden, making a list of questions. Just depends on we tell him.”

“We could call him. Tomorrow. After court. If—if it goes well.”

“That sounds like a great idea.” She sighed, then eased her head into the cradle of his shoulder, closing her eyes. “Four boys. God help us.” He laughed, and she could feel it rumble through his body. She smiled, and somehow slid into sleep.

Jason shifted her weight slightly, wrapped an arm around her shoulders so she was more comfortable, then sat back to wait for morning.

Daily M-F updates start next Wednesday, June 25! See you then!

+40

Written in 60 minutes.

The interior of the SUV was deathly quiet as the vehicle traversed the distance between the PCPD and waterfront neighborhood where the house Jason had bought was located. Elizabeth had left her car there, and she had an inkling that Jason planned to drop the trio of them there, then spend the night alone, brooding over the scene at the PCPD.

He didn’t know it yet, but she wasn’t going to let that happen.

They’d left a pale and terrified Danny in Mac’s care, with his reassurances he’d look after him, and then had gone out to the lobby where Aiden was waiting alone. He’d related the stunning developments between Michael and Willow — and had been disappointed that it was old news to the three of them.

Jason parked behind Elizabeth’s car, then shifted slightly to look at her. “Tomorrow—” he began, but she was already fishing in her purse for her keys.

“Jake, I want you to take my car and go home with your brother. He has school in the morning—”

“I don’t really have to go to that, do I? I mean, come on, Mom!”

“—and then Jason and I will be there in a little bit to answer whatever questions you have.” She turned, holding out the key ring to her middle son. “Does that work for you?”

“Yeah, I guess. You should have let me get arrested,” Jake muttered. “Then I could be with Danny, and make sure he’s okay—”

Elizabeth turned shifted again so that she could face Jake more directly, waited for her son to look at her. “Mac is putting him in the women’s section tonight where they don’t have anyone in lock-up and Chase is taking the cell next to him so he’s not alone. Everyone except Drew knows what a mistake this is.”

“Yeah, but—” Jake closed his mouth, looked out the window. “It doesn’t matter. If I got tagged now, you’d just be mad and I guess we don’t have time for me to get charges, too. Probably wouldn’t help get Danny out tomorrow.”

“No, it wouldn’t. We’ll be just behind you, okay?”

“Yeah, okay.” Jake reached for the door handle.

—

Jason watched the red taillights on Elizabeth’s car turn on the next block, then looked down at the quiet woman next to him, only to find her already studying him. “I thought maybe if I asked Mac again, he’d let me—”

“He’s already gone above and beyond, Jason, you know he’ll say no.” She tipped her head. “Come home with us tonight. You can have the sofa or Cam’s room for the night. But I don’t want you to sit alone and brood about this.”

“I don’t—” Jason closed his mouth when she just arched a brow. “I don’t brood,” he finished on a mutter. He exhaled slowly. “What if it doesn’t work? What if a judge says Danny has to stay, and Mac can’t stop family court from forcing a transfer—” He swallowed hard, looked out towards the end of the block. The street ended at the water front, and the sounds of the harbor could be heard faintly. Water lapping against wooden piers, horns of ships navigating the lake’s shipping lanes.

“You didn’t used to think about what ifs.” She touched his face, and he reluctantly looked back at her. “You taught me that. Looking forward to all the things you can’t control or looking back at what you can’t change — you said you wanted to find the pieces of your old self, right? Then let’s do that.”

“It was easier then. I didn’t—” His chest felt too tight, and it was a struggle to force the words through. “I didn’t know that much. It’s different when you can look back at decades of mistakes, and — what Michael went through at Pentonville—Elizabeth—” His voice faltered.

“It won’t happen to Danny. Not tonight. We can know that much, and I hope you find comfort in that. Chase is right there with him, and Danny knows him, doesn’t he? They live in the same house. And tomorrow, we’re going to tell that judge what Danny’s been through. I know it’s hard to trust the system. It’s not easy for me, either. I’ve seen it fail too many people, including Michael. But tonight? Tonight Danny is safe. Tomorrow—” She pressed her lips together. “If they don’t let us take him home, well, then we’ll talk about a country without an extradition order or something.”

The laugh that slipped out surprised them both, and he had to smile. He reached for her hand, touched the ring he’d given her only hours earlier. “I’m sorry. That’s not—that’s not how I wanted the kids to find out.”

“It’s okay. I didn’t want it that way either, but if it helps us bring Danny home sooner, then we can live with it. But that’s why I want you to come with me. Jake has questions, and we can practice some of our answers on him before Danny gets his turn.” She tugged on his hand, leading him towards the car. “We’ll stop at Bobbie’s, pick up a few things. And then face the music with Jake.”

He let her guide him to the driver’s side, but then stopped her before she went around to her side. “Hey.”

Elizabeth looked at him, her brows drawn together quizzically. “What? Did you leave something inside—”

He kissed her, cutting off the question. He could do that now, he thought. Any time the thought popped in his head, and for the first time in a long time, he wasn’t shoving his hands in his pockets to stop himself from touching her, sliding his hands through her silky hair, cupping the back of her head, tipping it back so he could deepen the kiss for just a brief moment, before drawing back.

“Thank you.”

She opened her eyes, then licked her lips. “For what?” Elizabeth asked.

“For reminding me why I never should have walked away from you in the first place.” He stroked her cheek with the back of his knuckles. “You keep me grounded. When I look at you, when you say it’ll be okay, I believe you.”

“We take turns at that.” She rested her forehead against his chest, and they stood there for another long moment, just listening to each other breathe, and he wondered at how easy it was to fall back into each other, into this moment, and why it didn’t feel awkward.

“The boys are waiting for us,” Jason said, pressing his lips to the top of her head. He rubbed her shoulders. “And it’s getting cold. We should get home.”

Elizabeth squeezed his hand, then headed around the SUV to the passenger side. “Let’s go.”

—

Michael stepped into the quiet foyer, all the primary lights dimmed indicating the family had gone to their rooms for the night. He looked around, wondering what to do. Though Willow had only left the PCPD moments before he had, she’d been gone when he reached the sidewalk, and she wasn’t at the car.

He’d driven home, almost trance-like, making turns and following traffic guidelines automatically.  How many times had he traveled between the Quartermaine estate and the PCPD? Too many. And he’d gone back to the main house, assuming the kids were up there since he and Willow had left them there.

But now he stood in the middle of this room, uncertain what to do. It wasn’t that late, but for Amelia and Wiley, they’d be long asleep by now. And if he went down to the gatehouse, he would just see Willow everywhere.

How had it gone so wrong? Where had it gone crazy? When had he lost his wife? Shouldn’t you know when your marriage shattered? How could that happen when you weren’t looking?

“Michael?”

He blinked, looked up and saw his cousin, saw Brooklyn standing in the entry to the sitting room. He cleared his throat. “Is—everyone—are they—”

“They went to bed. Not without a fight,” she added with a wry smile. “Granny had to nearly twist Aunt Monica’s arm, but it worked. And Scout—well, it helped to have Wiley and Amelia here. They’re upstairs, asleep. I figured you’d be okay with that.”

“Yeah.” He dragged a hand down his face, then went past her, heading for the mini bar. “Yeah. I, uh, I didn’t wait to see Jason at the PCPD after he saw Danny. How did that—are  they keeping him tonight?”

“They are, but Mac found a loophole to keep Danny at the station tonight, and Chase is taking the cell next to him. They also put Danny in the women’s section. He’s safe there.”

Michael’s hand bobbled a little as he poured the vodka. “Chase is….Chase is a great guy.”

“Don’t I know it.” Brook came up to him, but kept her distance. “Hey. Not that I care all that much, but…did Willow go to the gatehouse, or—”

“I don’t know where she is.” Michael tossed back the vodka, the burn of the liquor scorching a trail down his throat. “I don’t care.”

“Do I—do I get to ask why? You can say no—”

Michael looked at her, then poured another shot. “She wanted me to try and understand that Drew is a good man. That we could find a way to fix all of this. My little cousin—our little cousin—” he corrected, “— is in jail, and she’s defending the man who—” He closed his mouth. “I couldn’t stop myself. Couldn’t keep it in anymore.”

“Michael—”

“It wasn’t just one kiss.” Michael looked at Brook again. “They slept together. The night Sam died. In the nursery.”

“In the—” Brook stopped. “You better pour me one of those. And then start at the beginning.”

—

Willow hadn’t gone far after dashing out of the PCPD — had stumbled and sobbed the five b locks to her mother’s building, shakily begging over the intercom to be let into the building, then practically fell into Nina’s arms.

“Oh, God, oh, God, he knows, he knows—” Her breathing hitched and she hiccuped, dragging in a deep breath, trying to find control again, but she couldn’t. It was all breaking apart, jagged pieces raining down and pricking her skin — she was burning all over—

“Sit down, sweetheart—” Nina guided Willow to the nearest sofa. “Whatever it is, we can fix it—”

“N-No—” She looked at her mother, little more than a blurry mess. “No, we can’t. I slept with Drew. And Michael knows. Oh, God, he’s known all along—” Her stomach lurched, remembering the video, then she jumped up, and ran to the nearest bathroom, making it just in time to vomit.

—

TJ found Molly waiting on the roof of General Hospital, staring out over the city skyline, hugging herself. He was already dragging off his lab coat, intending to drape it over the thin long-sleeved she wore when Molly turned and he saw her swollen eyes, the tears staining her cheeks. “Mols. What happened—”

“My family—it’s—it’s so destroyed. So broken. Danny—oh, God, he’s in jail.” She reached for him, gripping the fabric of his scrubs, twisting it in her fingers. “Is this my fault? Did I start this? Did I make this happen? What do I do? What do I do?” And then she crumbled, falling against him, sobbing so hard that her body trembled from the force of it, sobbing harder than she had in weeks, months, maybe even years.

And all TJ could do was hold her tightly, and hope the storm would pass.

—

The lights were visible in the living room as Jason and Elizabeth approached the front door. She wrinkled her nose. “So much for hoping they’d fall sleep before we got here.”

Jason seemed steadier after their conversation, and she was rewarded with a slight smile. “I haven’t been around teenage boys as much as you have, and even I knew that wasn’t going to happen.”

“Time to face the music, I guess.” She pushed the door open, unsurprised when she found her sons on the sofa, a half-eaten pizza in a box on the coffee table. “Hey. Sorry, that took longer than we thought it would.”

“No problem.” Jake tossed his crust into the box, then got to his feet. “Aiden and I had time to think.”

“And make a list,” his brother added, a piece of paper in his hand. “You wanna start?”

“Yeah.” Jake lifted his chin, folded his arms. “Now that we’re not at the PCPD, are you pretending to be engaged to get Danny out, or is this, like, real?”

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