Written in 58 minutes.

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General Hospital: Locker Room

“We need a Girl’s Night,” Kelly declared. She leaned against Robin’s locker. “Come on. Tell me you’ll come out with me and Lainey tonight.”

Robin started to close her locker, her eye catching the Christmas photo again, Georgie’s bright smile. Six weeks. How could it be so long already? Hadn’t it been only yesterday?

And somehow it felt like it had been years since that terrible day.

“Emily said she’d join us. It’ll be like old times.”

“What about Elizabeth?” Robin asked. Kelly winced, looked away. “Yeah, so much for old times, right? She’s still angry with Lainey—”

“Lainey was just doing her job—”

“She never should have agreed,” Robin muttered, then took a deep breath. “Lainey was Elizabeth’s friend. It was a conflict of interest. Elizabeth has a right to be angry, and Lainey is the one who should apologize.”

“I guess that’s a no—”

“Kel—” Robin shook her head. “No, I’ll go. Elizabeth couldn’t go today anyway. It’s Halloween, and she’s got kids.”

“Great. We’ll meet in the lobby after shift. Around seven?” Kelly asked.

“I don’t get done until nine,” Robin said. “You guys go without me and I’ll meet you at the bar.”

“We’ll have a great time. You’ll see.”

Morgan Penthouse: Living Room

Elizabeth rolled up the bottom of the blue spandex pant legs — Cameron was just a bit too short for the ones at the store, and she hadn’t had a chance to hem them. “Now remember, you are a human boy,” she told him.

“Yes, Mommy. Human boy.” He flashed her a smile. “But Spiderman climbs walls.” He raised his hands. “I climb—”

“Nothing. Human boy.” Elizabeth straightened his red and blue top that matched the legs, and looked over at Spinelli. “You look fine.”

“The Jackal feels very uncomfortable,” Spinelli muttered as he adjusted the long brown robe. “The Blonde One would not listen to reason on the situation.”

“Come here.” Elizabeth went over to the tech and checked the fit on the robe. She knelt down to pin up the bottom. “You make an excellent Obi-Wan Kenobi. And you know, it just shows you how smart Lulu thinks you are—”

“Conflicted Film Major is Han Solo,” Spinelli said glumly. “And the Fair One is his Princess Leia. The Jackal thinks he is out of luck.”

“The Jackal—” Elizabeth rose to her feet, and smiled at him. “The Jackal is going to find someone who loves you just the way you are. You’ll go to this party tonight, you’ll try very hard to have a good time—”

“You look awesome, Snelli.” Cameron offered a thumbs up, and Spinelli smiled. “We go battle?”

“Wish I were going out with the Stone Colds,” Spinelli muttered. He looked over as Jason emerged from the kitchen where he’d been cleaning Jake up after dinner. “What is the Littlest of Dude’s costume tonight?”

“Oh, I found the best one for his first Halloween.” Elizabeth returned to the bag on the desk and pulled out a package filled with soft green fabric. “Jake’s going to be a dinosaur.” She grinned at Jason. “He’s going to look so cute!”

“Dinos not cute, Mommy,” Cameron told her seriously. “They roshus.”

“Roshus?” Spinelli asked.

“Ferocious,” Jason corrected. He held Jake out, and Elizabeth started to wiggle him into the full body costume. Jake protested and squirmed, but Elizabeth was determined. Jason glanced over at Spinelli. “You’re going to stick with Lulu and Dillon all night, right?”

“Yes, sir, Stone Cold. The Jackal has his orders. The Blonde One had it directly from Detective Dingus. Drive together. Stick like glue. Leave together. The Jackal will make no more mistakes.”

“You trick or treat, Snelli?” Cameron wanted to know. “Get candy? I gets lots of candy. Mommy said I not eat it all.”

“No candy for the Jackal.” Spinelli sounded more disappointed than a nineteen-year-old probably should, but Elizabeth thought maybe there hadn’t been many Halloweens in his youth. He so rarely spoke about his childhood.

“Well, Jake is going to have a whole bucketful, Spinelli. You and Cameron can overdose together,” she promised him. She zipped the back of Jake’s costume and adjusted the hood so that Jake’s face peeked out of the dinosaur’s large mouth rimmed with white fabric teeth. “Okay, time for pictures.”

Jason waited for Elizabeth to set Cameron on the sofa, then put his brother  next to him. Jake looked confused and kept waving his hands, grabbing at the teeth. He glanced at Spinelli who was making his way towards the door. “Hey. Where are you going?” he asked Spinelli. “You heard Elizabeth. Pictures.”

Spinelli stopped, his eyes wide. “The Jackal?”

“You’re in a costume, aren’t you?” Elizabeth snagged his elbow. “Next year, I’ll find a way to get you into a costume,” she warned Jason. “Just you wait.”

“Not going to happen.”

“Stone Cold protests too much.” Spinelli went to the sofa, and sat next to Cameron. “The Fair Elizabeth could do it.”

“I have a whole year to plot,” Elizabeth promised Jason, who looked a bit more worried than he had before. “Now—” She raised her digital camera. “Pictures.”

Scorpio House: Living Room

Maxie ripped open a bag of cheap candy and poured it into a white bowl, not even noticing as it spilled over the rim — or maybe not caring. The door opened and she looked over to find Mac coming in. “Hey.”

“Hey. You all ready for trick or treaters?” He kissed the top of her head, rubbed her shoulder.

“Yeah. I was gonna go sit on the porch. Coop is coming by later to keep me company.” Maxie bit her lip. “Mac?”

“Yeah?” He glanced up, a stack of mail in his hands. “What’s up?”

“I’m sorry.”

He tipped his head. “For what? Did I miss something?”

“No. Nothing new, I promise. I, um, for everything, I guess. For going crazy last year.” Maxie  nibbled on her bottom lip. “After Jesse, it all felt like a blur, and I was so stupid thinking Lucky was the answer to any of it, and I did terrible things to keep him and then I was so out of control, you had to keep fixing me—”

“Maxie—”

“And you worried so much about me that you couldn’t even see Georgie, and Georgie needed you more than I did, but she felt like she couldn’t ask, and that’s my fault. And I guess I’m sorry for what happened at her memorial. I’m supposed to be sorry for that.” The words poured out of her because now she’d started and couldn’t stop. “But I don’t know how to be. I was just so mad and I miss Georgie, and I miss my mom, and damn it—” She dug her the heels of her palms into her eyes. “Damn it. I missed my dad. I knew him, you know? He was here, and then he wasn’t. And they’re both not here. And now Georgie’s gone and it feels like everyone thinks the wrong sister died—”

“Hey. Hey.” Mac came to her, dragged her into a hard hug. “Stop it. No one thinks that.”

“They do, you know they do—”

“Well, I don’t think that,” Mac cut in. He kissed the top of her head again. “You’re okay, honey. It’s okay. You’re handling it the best you can, okay?”

Maxie sniffled. “It’s so hard. It’s like I’m drowning and every time I come up for air another waves crashes over, and I go down again, and I just—I don’t want to get up anymore. Because Georgie should be here, and it’s stupid, and I hate it. I hate everything. I hate my life. I hate myself. I hate anyone who ever smiles. How can anyone be okay?”

She pushed away from her stepfather, her chest heaving. “How is anyone okay? The world stopped spinning and it’s like no one noticed! No one cares! Georgie should be here. Why isn’t she here? Why did this happen?”

“I don’t know. I don’t have the answers.”

“There aren’t any.” Just as quickly as the rush had fallen over her, it faded and Maxie was just standing here, pale-faced, cheeks tear-stained. “There aren’t any answers. That’s the truth. Even if you find out who did this, it won’t answer the question. His why won’t make sense, you know? Because there is no why. There is no reason. There’s no point to any of this.”

She swiped her eyes. “And that’s the real question. Why everyone keeps pretending like any of it matters. We just breathe until we die, and there’s no point to anything in between.”

“Maxie—”

“I’m fine. I’m fine. It’s—I’m not going to do anything stupid.” She forced a smile. “I can’t. I have to live for all of us now. For BJ because she never got the chance and now for Georgie. It’s up to me. I have to find a way to be okay. Because I’m all that’s left.” She picked up the bowl and went out to the porch, leaving Mac alone and speechless.

General Hospital: Nurse’s Station

“I’m going to be stuck here for the rest of my life,” Emily muttered, tapping away at keys. She looked up as Kelly and Lainey emerged from the hallway that led to the locker room. They’d already changed for the bar, done their hair and makeup. She hated them both right now as she was still in her scrubs, her hair shoved into a messy tail.

“You’ll save me and Robin a table, won’t you?” she asked Kelly as they approached. “I promise, I’ll drag her out with me.”

“You’d better,” Lainey threatened. “She needs to get back into the world. We’re going to try to find her Mr. Right—”

“Or Mr. Right Now,” Kelly added.

Emily just rolled her eyes. She picked up her next set of charts, left the nurse’s station, avoiding the maintenance worker who nearly ran into her on his way to the elevator. “Yeah, yeah. We’ll be there.”

“Don’t let Robin flake,” Kelly ordered, stabbing a finger at Emily. “You both finish at nine. I expect you at Jake’s no later than nine-thirty.”

“Yeah, okay. Have fun and don’t drink all the liquor before we get there.”

Kelly’s: Courtyard

“Please, please, please—” Cameron danced in front of Elizabeth. “Just one piece. Just one, Mommy?”

Elizabeth sighed, and looked at Jason. “What do you think? You think he’s been good enough for a piece of candy before we go see Gram?”

“I think—” Jason lifted Cameron onto a chair. “Just one won’t hurt anyone.”

“Really? Because he did just have an entire milkshake and ice cream cone at lunch the other day,” Elizabeth reminded him dryly. Jason made a face. “He’s tough to say no to—” They both looked at Cameron, standing on the chair, his Spiderman mask pushed back on his head. He grinned and waved at them. “Get his bucket.”

Jason snorted, and went to the stroller to pick up Cameron’s orange bucket, filled nearly to the brim with candy. As he brought it to the table and started to pluck through it for a sealed piece that seemed safe, he heard footsteps behind him.

“Well, isn’t this cozy.”

He tensed, turned to find Sam in the arched entrance. Elizabeth went to the stroller to lift Jake into her arms.

“You know what, Cam?” Jason said. “We’ll get candy at your grandmother’s.”

“Oh, don’t leave on my account.” Sam sauntered into the courtyard. “Looks like you’re having a fun time. Cameron, right?”

Cameron’s face was scrunched up because, even as a small child, he could read the tension in the air. “Mommy?”

“Looks like Mommy has her hands full,” Sam said as Elizabeth opened her mouth. “Has to keep an eye on your little brother. You know, bad things happen when you look away.”

Elizabeth narrowed her eyes, her mouth was pinched. She looked at Jason, and he grimaced. He set the bucket down and strode across the courtyard. He took Sam by the arm, squeezed it tightly. “Let’s go.”

He didn’t give her a choice, nearly dragging her out of the courtyard and around the corner. He released her with almost a shove, and Sam hit the wall.

“Wow, you’re rougher than you used to be,” she said with a wince. “Didn’t know you were abusing women—”

“Don’t come near them again,” Jason said, and she looked at him, smirked. “I could have told the police what Maureen told me,” he told her. “Amelia still could.” Sam’s smile faded. “Maybe the charges wouldn’t stick, but the damage would be done. Everyone would know what you did.”

“You—”

“I told you. Stay away from Elizabeth. Stay away from the kids. Did you think I was bluffing?” he demanded. She glared back at him, her eyes glittering. “Did you think that because you’re a woman, you’re safe?”

“I didn’t—”

“You’ve done enough,” he cut in. “You have a choice, Sam. Walk away and get over it, or keep pushing me. Do you really think anyone would miss you if you disappeared?”

Her mouth fell open and he could see now that she believed him. “You wanted to marry me—”

“That was before I knew who you really are. Someone who uses children. Doesn’t care about hurting them. The woman I loved, Sam? Doesn’t exist. I was just another mark to you—”

“That’s not true—”

“Make your choice, Sam. Because I won’t warn you again.”

He left her standing there, pale and shaking and returned to his family, without an ounce of regret in his heart. Whatever history, whatever affection he’d had for her, it had disappeared the moment he’d learned her role in Jake’s kidnapping. And whatever guilt he’d felt was gone now too.

He wasn’t going to let Sam keep sabotaging his life. No matter what he had to do.

“Everything okay?” Elizabeth asked when Jason came back. He nodded and went over to Cameron who was still standing, a bit confused.

“Hey, buddy. Let’s find you some candy, okay?”

PCPD: Squad Room

Lucky stared at the results of the lab testing, a sick feeling swirling in his gut. He knew he’d have to call Mac with this, have to tell the man that despite all their best efforts —

They had nothing.

They’d developed a DNA profile from Georgie’s fingernail clipping, but there was no match in the system. There were no more leads. Nothing to follow.

The case was cold. He sighed, set the test down. It could wait until tomorrow.

“I don’t care!”

He glanced up at the familiar voice, grimacing when he recognized it as Sam. She pushed past one of the cops at the front desk. “Lucky. Lucky. You need to help me.”

He slowly rose, already exhausted. “What?”

“Jason.” Her lower lip trembled. “He just threatened to kill me.” A tear slid down her cheek. “You have to help me. I’m so scared.”

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