Written in 63 minutes. Went over because Sam kept talking, and then all of a sudden, I had that scene and there’s no room for that, so I had to shove in a Liason scene to resolve it, lol.  Worth it, I think.

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Morgan Penthouse: Living Room

“The Jackal does not understand why he must read such drivel,” Spinelli muttered, trotting down the stairs, jamming a copy of Moby Dick into his satchel, then looping the strap over his shoulder to lay across his chest. “Stone Cold—”

“I don’t care how much I pay for you for tech,” Jason said, glancing up only briefly as he wrestled a squirming Cameron into a t-shirt. “You’re finishing college—Cameron—”

“Don’t need clothes!” Cameron wiggled and finally escaped Jason’s grip, dashing across the room in nothing but a blue t-shirt and a pair of Spiderman underwear.

“Little Dude has the strength of six men,” Spinelli said sagely. “Stone Cold—”

“It’s a good book, Spinelli, and it won’t kill you to read something that isn’t on a screen.” Jason waited until Cameron made a lap around the sofa, and scooped him up. “Do you want to go meet Mommy for lunch?”

“Can I get ice cream?”

“This—” Jason frowned. “This isn’t a negotiation.”

“What’s goat-shin?” Cameron screwed up his face. “Does it have ice cream?”

Spinelli snickered. It truly was an experience to watch the infamous enforcer be laid low by a toddler. He should sell tickets.

As Jason tried to explain why little boys couldn’t go to Kelly’s in their underwear, Spinelli snagged the ringing phone from the base. “Hello, ’tis the Jackal. You’ve reached the residence of the Stone Colds.”

“Hey, Spinelli. We got Mrs. C in the lobby. Can she come up?” the front desk guard asked.

“Uno momento, kind sir.” Spinelli looked at Jason. “Stone Cold, the Valkyrie is in the building, requesting admission.”

Jason grimaced as Cameron took off again. “She’s got kids,” he said. “Yeah, let her up. Maybe she can get him dressed.”

Spinelli cackled as he gave the agreement and hung up. “The Jackal counts himself blessed to have a front row seat to the parenting of the great Stone Cold.”

Jason glared at him. “Go to class.”

“Arrivederci, Stone Cold. Adios, Little Dude.”

“Bye, Snelli!” Cameron reappeared around the pool table and Jason snatched him up again. He giggled and squirmed. “No pants!”

“Yes pants,” Jason grumbled, trying to hold him with one hand but he couldn’t get either leg in — “Cameron.”

“Yes.” Cameron grinned at him, and Jason just sighed, finding it impossible to be actually annoyed. Maybe it was because he’d never quite be able to stop remembering the tear-stained cheeks and the quiet that day in the park, where even snuggles with Mom, orange soda, and pepperoni pizza hadn’t been able to put the sparkle back in his eyes.

“You need to get dressed. Your mom only has so much time for—”  There was a knock on the door, so Jason just tucked Cameron under his arm and crossed the living room, Cam giggling maniacally.

He pulled the door open to find Carly on the other side. She immediately burst into laughter. “You planning to go for a touchdown?”

“What? No.” He held out Cameron out to her. “Do you know how to get him into pants?”

“Two options.” Carly breezed past him to scoop up the pair of blue jeans Jason had discarded by the pool table. “You pin him down like a wrestler and force it or you bribe them. If there’s a third way, I haven’t found it.”

Jason sighed, looked at Cameron. He didn’t have the heart to pin the kid down.  “If I promise you ice cream at lunch, will you put on the pants? We can’t go out until you’re dressed.”

“Ice cream and shake.” Cameron cuddled into Jason’s arms. “Ice cream for pants. Shake for shoes. Cam good boy.”

“Oh, damn,” Carly said. “He’s good.” Jason shot her a dirty look, then just sighed.

“Okay. Fine. Ice cream and a milkshake,” he muttered. He took the pants from Carly and knelt down to help Cameron step into the jeans. “Your mother is going to kill me.”

“No. Cam say not to.” He kissed the tip of Jason’s nose. “I get shoe.” He raced off to the basket across the room where they kept shoes and boots for him.

“That is going to be the highlight of my entire week,” Carly decided. “Is it always like this? Can we film it?”

“What do you want, Carly?” Jason asked. “No, Cam, they have to be the same shoes,” he called out as Cameron took out a sneaker with velcro straps and a rain boot. “Match them.”

“Well, Sonny told me you were going to be…” she glanced over at Cameron who had dumped out the entire basket of shoes. “Adopting Cam,” she continued, lowering her voice so he didn’t hear her. “And I was thinking maybe he and Morgan can spend more time together.”

Jason folded his arms. “What’s the catch?”

“No catch.” Carly held up her hands. “Promise. Elizabeth will absolutely never be my favorite person, but you’re happy. You’ve got Jake in your life which is the most important part. And Sonny says Cam and Morgan get along when they’re around each other. Not a lot of parents want Morgan around, you know.” Carly studied Cam. “And he’d be good for Morgan, I think. He’s so…Morgan’s quiet. I want to see him break out of that.”

Jason nodded. “Okay. Yeah. That sounds good.”

“Great.” Carly bit her lip as she watched Cameron shove rain boots on his feet. “You want me to help him get shoes that are weather appropriate?”

“No, I’ve got to figure it out sometime. I’ll see you later, Carly.”

“Have fun.”

PCPD: Squad Room

Lulu searched the squad room for some sign of her brother, rising on the tips of her toes to see over the cluster of uniforms that had gathered by the entry way. She ducked around them and found Lucky at his desk, scribbling something.

“Hey.”

Lucky glanced up. “Lu. What’s up?”

She dropped into the wooden chair next to his desk. “Are you still mad at me? It’s been a week.”

“I wasn’t mad in the first place,” he said almost absently, reaching for a folder on the edge of his desk. “You did what you had to do.”

She nibbled on her bottom lip. “I was really proud of you. I know it wasn’t easy to step back like that—and I’m sorry because I know you’re hurting.”

Lucky sighed, rubbed the back of his neck. “It was the right thing to do. Did you have something you wanted to talk about Lu that isn’t about my personal life? Because I’m busy—”

“Oh. Well, yeah. Kind of. Um, Dillon came home for the holidays — he’s staying until Christmas,” she added. “And there’s supposed to be a party on campus at the Kappa Sigma House on Wednesday for Halloween.” She picked at the edge of her thumbnail. “We were going to go—me, Dillon, and Spinelli, but I wasn’t sure if it was safe. I mean, the campus.”

Lucky sat back in his chair, looked at her fully. “Because of Georgie and Chelsea.”

“Yeah. It’s been weird on campus this semester,” Lu confessed. “They canceled all the parties and did a curfew — which no one argued about — but they lifted that last week, so this is the first big one, and they wouldn’t have done that if they thought there was any danger, right?”

“There’s nothing that we can point to no,” Lucky said, almost reluctantly. “But I can’t promise that. So I need you to do two things for me. Please.”

“Whatever you need.”

“Don’t walk across campus. Drive to the party,” he said. “And stay with Dillon and Spinelli the whole night. Not that either of them are great for security—”

“But if we drive together, go in together, and leave together, you’ll feel better.”

“Yes.”

Lulu nodded. “I promise. I’ll do exactly what you ask. I keep thinking about how awful it is for their families. I don’t know Chelsea’s family—she wasn’t from here. But everyone else is so broken up. Maxie — I don’t like her — but she’s really messed up. She wasn’t even that stable to begin with. And Dillon’s just trying to be normal, we all are. But it’s like we’re faking it, you know? And I don’t even know if I have a right to feel bad because I was mean to Georgie—”

“Not being friends with someone, Lu, doesn’t mean you want anything to happen to them. You and Georgie had your issues, but that doesn’t mean you can’t grieve for her. You knew her all your life.”

“Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. So, um, thanks. And I know you’re going to get this guy. I just know it.” She embraced him quickly, kissing his cheek, then left.

Lucky watched her go, unsure and worried. There was no reason to think there was still a threat on campus, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that no one should be walking anywhere after dark.

Kelly’s: Courtyard

Elizabeth flicked her wrist to check the time, then sighed. She should probably grab a table and order — she didn’t want to be late getting back to work. She craned her neck to check the parking lot, hoping to see the SUV pull in.

“Waiting for someone?”

She turned at the question, her eyes already narrowing at the sight of Sam strolling into the courtyard from the sidewalk entrance. “We have nothing to say to each other—”

“Oh, maybe you have nothing for me,” Sam retorted. “But I got plenty for you—”

“I really don’t want to do this—” Not when Jason and the boys would be here any minute. “You need to get a grip and move on—”

“Why?” Sam snagged Elizabeth as she started towards the door of the diner. Her fingers wrapped tightly around Elizabeth’s wrist, holding her in place. “So you can swoop in and steal something else from me?”

“I didn’t steal anything from you—”

“The hell you didn’t! You stole the child I wanted to have with Jason, and now you have him—”

“Oh, screw you,” Elizabeth cut in, yanking her arm away from Sam. “I didn’t do either of those things. You sure like to forget that the only reason Jake exists is because Jason saw you on the floor with your mother’s husband—”

“And he was drunk when he slept with—”

“He’s not drunk now,” Elizabeth tossed back. She folded her arms. “If he wanted you, Sam, he’d have you. You know that. He knew for months Jake was his son, and he stayed with you, so please, spare me this narrative. You know the reason you’re not together—”

“I only did it because I was angry!” Sam hurled back. “It was a moment of weakness—”

Elizabeth frowned. What the hell was Sam talking about? What had she done? Was she talking about Ric? “A moment of weakness? Please. More like a moment of selfish, callous—”

“I just wanted him to disappear!” Sam exploded. “If he didn’t exist, Jason wouldn’t want you!”

If he didn’t — “Are you talking about Jake? Are you talking about my son?” Elizabeth grabbed Sam by her elbows, shook her. “What the hell did you do to my son?”

“Nothing!” Sam snarled, shoving Elizabeth away. “You got him back, didn’t you? It doesn’t even matter!”

“Got him—” Her heart stopped for a moment. Oh, God. Oh. God. “You knew. You knew about Maureen Harper.”

“You act like I helped her! I just didn’t stop her, okay! That’s all! And you’re walking around like you’re innocent!”

Red flooded Elizabeth’s vision. “You fucking bitch!” She shoved Sam against the brick wall on the far side of the courtyard. She fisted her hands in Sam’s shirt. “You helped her! You came to me and you said nothing! You wanted me to think my son was dead!”

“Whoa, whoa—”

Elizabeth felt herself being dragged back, but she struggled against the hold. Sam started for her, but another set of hands pulled her away. Lucas Jones had a hand wrapped around Sam’s upper arm—

She shrugged out of the grasp of whoever was holding her, and saw Dillon Quartermaine. “Don’t touch me—”

“Hey, I don’t know what’s going on,” Dillon said, putting his hands up. “But your kid is in the parking lot—”

Elizabeth whipped her head around and saw that the SUV had arrived, and Jason was pulling Cameron out of the back seat.

She turned to Sam. “Jason knows what you did, doesn’t he?”

Sam’s lips curled into a smirk. “He sure does. But it looks like you didn’t. Isn’t that interesting? Enjoy your lunch, princess. The good times aren’t going to last.”

She sauntered out the way she came, as Elizabeth tried to process the scene in her head. Sam had witnessed Jake’s kidnapping. And Jason knew. How long—

She swallowed hard, looked at Lucas and Dillon. “Thank you. For—thank you.”

“Yeah, sure. She probably deserved it.” Lucas gestured towards his friend. “Let’s go inside.”

They disappeared just as Jason got to the courtyard, holding Cameron’s hand with Jake in his other arm. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Mommy?” Cameron said. “Your face is all red.”

“It’s fine. It’s fine.” She met Jason’s eyes. “But I ran into a friend of Jason’s. And we’ll talk about her later.”

Jason hesitated. “Elizabeth—”

“I can’t to hear all about Sam and Maureen Harper.”

General Hospital: Nurse’s Station

Emily flashed a concerned look at Robin as the doctor braced a hand against the counter, and took a deep breath. “I thought you were making an appointment with your doctor.”

“I am—”

“You told me that a week ago,” Emily said. She came around the side, reached for Robin’s wrist. “How often are you getting the vertigo?”

“Not often. Just when I stand up too long. Em—” Robin waited until her friend had finished taking her pulse. “Well?”

“It’s fine. But—”

“I need to sleep more. It’s the same thing as last week—”

“But—” Emily cut off her protest as Nikolas strode off the elevators. “Oh, man. Can you stay here?”

“Yeah, sure.”

“Emily, I was hoping we could take a minute.”

“Nope. I’m busy. Tell him, Robin.” Emily looked beseechingly at her friend. “Right?”

“Yep. Busy, busy.” Robin reached for a chart. “You want to go see that patient now—”

“You can’t avoid me forever,” Nikolas called as Emily started to follow Robin. Emily turned.

“Watch me.”

Morgan Penthouse: Master Bedroom

After a tense and awkward lunch, Jason had reluctantly returned the boys home to wait for Elizabeth to finish work. He’d wanted to find out exactly what happened in the courtyard before they’d arrived, and had even considered leaving the kids with Spinelli or calling Audrey to watch them so he could confront Sam.

Would he never be rid of her? He should have done more after the kidnapping, he realized that now. He should have known that she wouldn’t go quietly. Interfering with the custody hearing, showing up there—

When Elizabeth finally got home, she still wouldn’t talk to him. Not around the boys, she’d said in a clipped tone, and Jason was almost relieved. Because he didn’t really have the first clue what he’d say.

Finally, the boys were down for the night, and Spinelli was in his room, sweating over his literature homework.

Elizabeth went into the bedroom ahead of Jason, and he closed the door. “Let me explain—”

“She wanted Jake to disappear,” Elizabeth said flatly. He faced her, swallowed his words. “You knew that. I told you that weeks ago when she came to see me. She wanted me to think about Jake being dead. Because if he wasn’t around, you would stay with her. That’s what she believed.”

“Yes—”

“And when I told you that, you were angry. I could see it. But I didn’t really understand why.” She paused. “I do now. Because she’d fed you a sob story about standing by and watching Maureen Harper take Jake out of his stroller and walk away with him. She somehow found a way to make you keep quiet about what she’d done, even though she knew for days where our son was.”

“I didn’t—” Jason exhaled slowly. “I didn’t know for sure what she’d done until I went to get Jake. I didn’t know until after I brought him home.”

“But you knew since then.” Elizabeth looked at the carpet. “And that’s why you broke up with her.”

“It’s—it’s part of it. The final straw. Elizabeth—”

“All day, I wondered—” Her voice trembled, but she continued. “I wondered if you kept quiet for payback. I’d been making decisions about Jake since the beginning, and this was your chance to keep something from me—”

“I would never—”

“I know that.” Elizabeth raised her eyes to his, and he was relieved to see some of the chill had faded. “I know. And I’ve met Sam. I’ve seen her work first hand. She made you feel like it was your fault she’d done this. That you drove her to it by keeping Jake a secret in the first place.”

“Yes, but—”

“A moment of a weakness.” Elizabeth closed her eyes. Took a deep breath. “Is there anything else Sam has done that I should know about?”

“Not—no. I don’t know about anything else. Just Maureen.”

“Okay. Okay.” She scrubbed her hands down her face. “Well, it’s not like I don’t know about feeling responsible for someone else’s crimes. Lucky got addicted to drugs, had an affair with a teenager, and somehow I got to be the villain in that story, so—okay.” She met his eyes. “But we’re done now, okay? With the secrets. With lies. This is the last one?”

“The very last.” He went to her know, took her in by the elbows. “I’m sorry. I never should have kept quiet.”

“You’ve forgiven me for so many things, Jason.” She smiled, though it was a bit sad. “So many things that I don’t deserve.”

“Hey—”

“So I spent a few hours being angry with you—angrier than you’ve ever been with me—and now I’m just tired. I don’t want this to be our life. You promise me there’s nothing else you’re holding back about Sam?”

“Nothing. I wouldn’t.” He kissed her forehead. “I’m sorry.”

Elizabeth sighed, then her arms curled around his waist, and he exhaled easily for the first time in hours. “I’m sorry, too. I love you.”

“I love you.”

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