Written in 66 minutes.

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Corinthos Penthouse: Living Room

The inside of Sonny’s home looked mostly the same, and Jason realized now that he’d been expecting to find furniture turned over, chairs broken, the mini bar shattered—he’d expected to find destruction. But other than the thin layer of dust that suggested no one had been in to clean, the room was unchanged.

Other than the man sprawled out in the armchair in front of the fireplace, the hearth cold and dark. Sonny was slumped over, one arm stretched along the chair, the other holding his forehead. Jason hesitated, not prepared to find his friend downstairs at all.

At his entrance, Sonny glanced over briefly, his disheveled hair falling across his forehead in curls. “I wondered when you’d get to me.”

Jason didn’t draw any closer. “What do you mean?”

“I woke up this morning,” Sonny said in a strangely even, but lifeless tone, “and I knew were I was. Who I was. When I was.” He finally turned his full gaze on Jason, and there was clarity in his expression. Lucidity. Something Jason hadn’t been expecting. “I’ve been drugged. I know what it feels like after it’s done.”

“We had no choice,” Jason said slowly, taking one step closer. “You were out of control. In the middle of some kind of break.”  He cleared his throat. “What—what do you remember?”

“Not as much as I should, more than I want to. I—” Sonny’s hand fell away from his forehead, into his lap but he still didn’t stir from the chair. Jason came over to the area now, sat on the edge of the sofa. “I remember being here. Needing to talk to you. Looking for Carly. I went out. I don’t—” He furrowed his brow. “I don’t know why I was at Kelly’s.”

Jason stilled. “Kelly’s.”

“Maybe I thought—you were the night before. I thought maybe you’d be there again. Maybe that’s why. All I know—” Sonny rubbed his mouth, looked at Jason again. “I remember Ric. I remember Carly. And—and Elizabeth. And he was hurting them.” He squinted. “I thought he was hurting them. Scaring. So I—” He made a gesture with his hand, and Jason’s stomach rolled. “I don’t remember deciding to shoot — I—there was screaming. And blood.”

“What did you do then?” Jason said, his mind racing. Sonny had been the shooter, but then— “What did you do with the gun?”

“Threw it away somewhere,” Sonny murmured. “Couldn’t look at it anymore. Blood on my hands.” He stared at his clean hands. “Blood everywhere. All I do. All I am. It’s all I bring. Blood. Death. I killed them.” He focused on Jason again. “And now you’re here to kill me. Good. Good. I deserve it. Make it quick. Make it over.”

Morgan Penthouse: Living Room

Elizabeth was too restless to sit or lay down, so she paced the room, taking in the changes made since she’d left—almost exactly a year ago, she realized. The furniture was different, she thought, sliding her finger across the fabric sofa. There was more of it, too. Knick knacks. Dust collectors, her mother had always called them.

Evidence of Courtney was everywhere, Elizabeth thought. There were photos on the mantel of Carly and Courtney, of Jason and Courtney. Courtney with the boys. She traced the smile on Jason’s face in his. He really had been happy with her, she thought, and wondered how he was feeling now. She didn’t doubt his decision to break up with Courtney or to come back to Elizabeth — but that didn’t mean his emotions had been erased.

Something caught her eye, a glint, and she turned to see something shining, wedged beneath the pool table. She crouched down, picked it up. A diamond ring. The same one Courtney had flashed over and over again during those long weeks. She must have thrown it across the room at some point, Elizabeth thought. She grimaced, climbing back to her feet.

She looked around again, seeing the penthouse with new eyes. The remnants of a life cut short. Of a woman who hadn’t been perfect or maybe even good, but one who’d been loved. Would Sonny be clear enough to find out about his sister? Carly, who had felt so betrayed — there’d never be a chance to resolve any of it. Mike, who’d already lost so much time—

And Jason, who had planned a life with her.

Elizabeth set the engagement ring on the mantel by the photo of Jason and Courtney in happier days. Courtney had chosen a terrible path as her relationship with Jason faltered, choosing to ally herself with an evil man, likely thinking the ends would justify the means, the betrayal. Or maybe hoping no one would ever find out. But did those final few weeks erase a lifetime? They’d been friendly once, maybe on the verge of something deeper.

That fledgling friendship had disappeared when Courtney had moved on with Jason, and the bitterness had spread between them, poisoning any chance for something else. Now Courtney was dead, a casualty of whatever war was being waged against Jason, and her murderer was still out there, likely planning another attack.

Elizabeth looked back towards the door, wondering what was happening across the hall, and hoping she had the strength to face whatever happened next.

Corinthos Penthouse: Living Room

 

Jason exhaled slowly, then shook his head. “I’m not here to do anything but help you,” he told his friend. Sonny scowled, lunged to his feet. Jason rose quickly in response, then was startled when Sonny gripped Jason by the shirt, dragged him close, his dark eyes burning.

“I am nothing but death and destruction,” Sonny growled. “Blood and pain and misery. I kill everything and everyone I touch—”

Jason covered Sonny’s hands with his own, gently pushing him back. “Elizabeth and Carly are alive.”

“W-What—” His hand trembling, Sonny dragged it through his hair. “But—”

“Elizabeth—she was—” Jason touched his shoulder. “She had surgery, and she’s been discharged. She’s across the hall, safe. I promise. And Carly—she’s still in the hospital,” he said, “but you didn’t kill her. The baby is safe.”

“I thought—” Sonny staggered back, looked away from, staring unseeing at the cold, dark fireplace. “I woke up, and I remembered blood.”

“They were hurt, yes. You need help, Sonny. You need more than I can give you. You know that.”

“Not dead. But hurt. Injured. Blood—” Sonny spread his hands out again. “On my hands. Always on my hands. You can’t see it—” He turned to Jason, holding them out. “Since I was fourteen. My mother. I killed her.”

“You didn’t do that, your stepfather—”

“If I stayed around, if I gave Deke someone to beat on—” Sonny wiped his mouth, shaking. “He never would have touched her. It starts with her. It always starts with her. I see her sometimes—” He closed his eyes, dropped back on the chair. “I see her and I see Lily and I see the son I could have had and the—” He licked his lips. “My mother. My mother was—I see the baby. It should have been hers, but I stole it from her.”

Jason grimaced. He was losing Sonny again, had to pull him back. “Hey. Sonny. Sonny—” He crouched in front of his friend. “You need to stay with me. Here and now. Lily has been gone for a long time. Your mother even longer.”

“I’m not—” Sonny closed his eyes. “I never told you, did I? Couldn’t. Couldn’t bring myself to say it. To admit just what I’ve done—my mother. When I see her, it’s always with the baby. I never—she never told us if it was a boy or girl—”

Mixing up Adela’s pregnancy with Ric, Jason thought, and sighed. “Okay, I need to make a call—”

“The doctor said they couldn’t save her. Couldn’t save the baby, couldn’t save my mother. And Deke—you know—he just smiled.” Sonny closed his eyes. “I couldn’t let him get away it. It was the smile that did it. I had to get rid of him. Had to make him pay for what he’d done.”

Jason frowned, tipped his head slightly. “Your mother was pregnant when she was died?” Sonny had blamed himself for not doing more to get his mother away from his stepfather for years—but if his mother had been pregnant—

“Yeah. Yeah.” Sonny closed his eyes. “I’m tired. I don’t want to do this anymore.”

“Okay.” Jason got to his feet. He’d sort out what all of this meant later. One step at a time. “I’m going to make a call. You need more than I can give you, Sonny. Will you let me help you? Will you let me make this okay?”

“Is that even possible?” Sonny asked dully.

“I don’t know,” Jason admitted. “But we’re going to try.”

General Hospital: Carly’s Room

Bobbie tucked the blanket more tightly around Carly, then settled back to watch her daughter’s face, looking for any evidence that she was regaining consciousness. If she could tell them what happened — who had done this—

The door squeaked behind her, and she turned to find Scott creeping in. With disdain, Bobbie faced Carly again. “You’re not welcome here.”

“I get that. I just—”

She heard his footsteps come closer, but wouldn’t look at him.

“I came to update you—”

“Jason already told me about Courtney. Tell me, Scotty—” She twisted now, coming to her feet as she did so. “Would Courtney be dead if you’d never paid her a damn bit of attention? If you’d ignored her bullshit story? Would she still be alive now?”

“I don’t know. Maybe. I just—”

“Jason didn’t do this to my daughter. To Elizabeth. He was with me the entire time. You’re calling me a liar, and I can’t—I can’t understand—” Her eyes burned. “I know you never loved me, but you were my friend! How could  you hurt me, my family like this? Did I never matter at all?”

“I was trying to fix it, okay! I was trying to make up for what happened this summer—I thought if I could make Ric and Courtney tell me why they were lying, I could trap him somehow, and I could give you all of it—”

“You were playing us?” Bobbie shoved Scott, and he fell back a few steps. “You arrested Jason like that, put him out in the public as the shooter, to what? Force the real shooter to act? Well, he did, Scott! He did! He murdered another woman in a cold blood. Is that what you wanted?”

“No. No—”

“This is on you. You and Mac and anyone else who let their personal grudges blind themselves to reality, to justice. You might as well as have put the bullet in that girl by letting the world think you believed her! I am ashamed to know you, to ever thought I loved you!”

Scott dipped his head, took a deep breath, then lifted his gaze back to hers. “Well then I’ve got nothing to lose by telling you that Ric Lansing is missing. And we don’t know where he is or who took him.”

Morgan Penthouse: Living Room

Elizabeth was on the sofa, a remote in her hand, and something making noise on the television screen against the wall. She flicked it off quickly when Jason came in, closed the door.

“Don’t get up,” he cautioned her quickly, coming over to stop her before she started to stand. “We need—I need to stay here a little longer. To—wait for the doctor.”

“Oh.” Elizabeth winced, rubbed her shoulder. “He agreed.”

“Yeah. Yeah. I called the doctor. He’s coming with the paperwork and we’ll take Sonny to Rose Lawn. It’s—” Jason shook his head. “He was clear. Lucid. Whatever break from reality he was going through, it ended when he woke this morning.”

“Oh, well that’s a relief. It’ll be easier for him to accept help—” Elizabeth stopped, pressed her lips together. “But you don’t look relieved.”

“No. I’m not.” Jason dragged a hand down his face, then his expression fell on the mantel, on the photos. He swallowed hard, looked at Elizabeth. “Sonny was the shooter. It happened the way we thought.”

“But—” She faltered. “I don’t understand.”

“The time was so tight, and he didn’t have the gun when he came back. That’s—I clung to it. I didn’t want to be him,” Jason admitted. “But then Courtney—we found out about her—and I don’t understand why someone would go after her unless they were covering their tracks. But Sonny didn’t—he wouldn’t.”

“No, of course not.” Elizabeth managed to get to her feet, touched his arm. “I’m so sorry, Jason. And I’m sorry for what happened to Courtney. I was looking around, and I just—I just—I want you to know that you don’t have to hide how you felt about her. Not with me.”

Jason looked at her for a long moment, then leaned his forehead against hers, cupping her face with his hands. “I don’t know what I’m feeling,” he admitted. “I just don’t know what to do about any of this. How to—Sonny just told me that he sees his mother. Hallucinates her holding the baby she was pregnant with when Deke Woods beat her to death,” he bit out.

Elizabeth’s lips parted. “What?”

“Pregnant women,” Jason murmured. “I thought it was about Lily, and maybe it was. Maybe that stirred some of it. But losing Lily and the baby, then he and Carly lost their first child—the kidnapping and thinking he’d killed Carly—I don’t even want to think about what he’d do if he knew you were pregnant, too. But to find out that his mother died while pregnant? It just—it explains a lot of things,” he admitted. “I just—Sonny blames himself, and he sees his mother. He sees her holding the baby. He sees Lily and their son—”

“How terrible for him, for his mind to wage war like that when he’s not well.” Elizabeth curled into his side, and he pulled her against him, pressing his lips to his air. “I’m so sorry, Jason. But Sonny’s going to get help. You said the doctor is coming. A-and I believe Carly will wake up, and she’ll be okay.” She met his eyes. “We’ll find out what happened, and we’ll get through this. I’m not going anywhere.”

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