Okay, I’m going to label my parts by the scenes included. These roughly go in order, and of course, the Jason in the Curtis scene is really Drew, but he doesn’t know that yet, so I’ve written him like Drew. (Does that make sense?)

The Franco scene is my first attempt to get inside his head. So…yeah. It might suck. It turns out I’m not a sociopath, so I don’t know how to write them.

Written in about 62 minutes.

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Webber House: Living Room

Cameron Webber pulled the door open and stepped aside quickly as Jocelyn Jacks stomped inside, a leather bookbag slung over her shoulder and murder in her dark brown eyes. “I swear to God, I’m not allowed to have even a modicum of personal privacy—”

Behind her, the familiar sight of Milo Giambetti loomed on the porch. “It’s not like this is my idea of a fun time either,” the body guard muttered as he followed his charge in side. “Hey, Cam.”

“Hey, Milo.” Cameron closed the door. “Your mom wouldn’t let you come here without him? I mean…” He wrinkled his nose. “I know your mom doesn’t like Franco, but it’s not like he lives here—”

“Oh, he’s a chaperone.” Joss rolled her eyes and dumped her bag at her feet. “Apparently, Mom remembered that we’re a boy and girl. Like we’re going to jump each other or something. I’m fourteen, you know. And this isn’t West Virginia. We’re practically related.”

“Uh huh.” Cameron tossed Milo the remote. “You shouldn’t have told her that my mom was working the late shift—”

“I didn’t, but your mom told her.” Joss stomped into the kitchen as the body guard settled himself on the sofa and turned on the Phillies-Red Sox game. “I liked it better when they were enemies.”

“I’m sure my mom did, too.” Cameron got out an extra glass and poured Joss her usual Dr. Pepper. “I guess Mom told her that Aiden and Jake weren’t going to be home either.”

“It came up,” Joss grumbled as she took her algebra textbook from her bag, then fished for a pencil before giving up and taking one of the extras lying next to Cameron’s. “Whatever. She’s just worried I’ll repeat all her mistakes, but I’m not as crazy as she is. It’s like I’m being punished for crap that isn’t my fault.”

“It could be worse.” Cameron took his seat and opened his textbook to their assigned homework. “Your mom could still be dating Franco.”

“Yeah, well, at least with Franco, there were no body guards,” Joss muttered. “But then my mom did get kidnapped, almost got killed, and covered up a murder. So you know, you take the good with the bad. Your mom hasn’t dumped him yet? I don’t get it. His hair looks greasy, and he’s always got a smirk. He makes me want to punch him. Except, you know, you’d probably screw up his brain and he’s go all rampagey-killer again.”

“He hasn’t been around as much as he used to be,” Cameron offered. “But that doesn’t mean anything. My mom’s the best, except she’s got shit taste in men. The ones who should stay never do, and we can never get rid of the assholes.”

“My mom’s got the same problem. Sonny’s an improvement over the last couple of jackasses, but I really wish she and my dad could have stayed together. He was good for her crazy. Made her calm down. Sonny just laughs at her like its funny.” Joss grimaced. “Where are the rugrats anyway? How come you’re not baby sitting?”

“Jason came home from the hospital a couple of days ago,” Cameron said. “So he took Jake for the week, and Aiden’s grandma is going to take him for the overnight shift.” He stared down at the linear equations he had been assigned. “We used to all go to my Grandma Audrey’s when Mom worked late or overnight.”

“Oh.” Joss pressed her lips together for a minute. “Yeah. That’s right. Well, I guess your mom decided you were old enough—”

“No where to send me,” Cam said, matter of factly. “I don’t have any grandparents, aunts, or uncles. And I haven’t had a a dad since Jake found out he was Jason, and decided he hated everything to do with my mom.” He shrugged a shoulder as if that didn’t bother him.

“Except Jake.”

“Yeah, well, Jake’s blood. I’m not. It’s not like Sam could tell Jason he couldn’t be around his own kid, but there was no way in hell she’d let me or Aiden hang around, you know?”

“Yeah, well, you’re better off. I liked Jason before he had his brains scrambled this time.” Joss shrugged. “You could talk to him. And he was the sane one in the family. Now, it’s like we might as well not exist. You’d never know he basically raised Michael. And he was barely around when Morgan died. And Sam’s trash. I hate her for what she did to Patrick and Emma.”

“Yeah, but that ended up being good. Emma got her parents back together. You know that was always her dream.” Cameron pressed down on his pencil. Of course, then Emma had moved. And Nikolas had died, which meant Spencer wasn’t around much.

“Yeah, I guess. Our parents are stupid. I don’t understand why Jason didn’t just go through with it and adopt you guys,” Joss said. “Which a dick thing to do. Your mom was stupid and lied, but what did that have to do with you guys?”

“It doesn’t matter. He’s not my father. He never really wanted to be my father. He barely wanted to be Jake’s father. The truth came out after we thought Jake was dead. He didn’t have a choice but to step uponce we found everything out.”

“That’s pretty harsh, but I guess it’s accurate.” Joss tapped her eraser against the textbook page. “We should finish this before my mother sends out a search party.”

Floating Rib: Bar

Curtis Ashford lined up a shot at the pool table, took it, and then straightened, watching in satisfaction as the last of the balls slid across the green felt and into the corner pocket. “And that’s how it’s done.”

Jason Morgan scowled, raised a bottle of Heineken to his lips and sipped. “You keep kicking my ass at this. I used—” He shook his head. “I used to be good at this.”

“Well, your brain has been scrambled a few times.” But Curtis tipped his head towards one of the booths across the bar. “You all right? Maybe you shouldn’t have come out tonight—”

Jason followed him to the booth and they slid in. A waitress came over, swapped out their empty beers for a fresh round. “Nah. Sam said I should get out of the house. Jake and Danny were busy with video games or something. And you sounded like you were down on the phone—”

“Jordan,” Curtis muttered. “I don’t know why I bother. I was a private investigator when we met, wasn’t I?”

“Sure—”

“And I take cases from people who pay. That’s the life. That’s the job.”

“Uh huh—”

“So what if you and Sonny are sometimes those people. I gotta pay the bills.”

“I don’t—” Jason hesitated. “I’m not working for Sonny anymore. I actually…” He twisted the cap off his beer and stared at the small circle of metal between his fingertips for a long moment. “I’m getting into something else.”

“You’re…breaking away from Sonny.” Curtis set his beer down with a dull thud. “Is that even…possible?”

“I don’t know.” Jason was quiet for a moment. “It never felt like it was before. Or…I remember that I didn’t consider it before. I don’t know.”

“What’s up, man? I know you’re still getting your head together after spending all the time in the hospital, but you’ve been…” Curtis wiggled his fingers. “You’ve been weird lately. What’s the deal?”

“It’s…” Jason shook his head. “I don’t know. I used to think getting my memories back all the way would help things. And then Sam and I—we got married. We have Scout. And Danny’s great. I get to spend time with Jake. I used to want all of those things.”

“You don’t want them now?”

“I do. Don’t—I love my kids. I love my wife. But—” Jason hesitated. “Tonight. You asked me out to shoot pool. I know I know how to play. I used to have a table in the penthouse. But when I put my hands on the cue, it’s like those things happened to someone else.”

“Hey, you’re being too hard on yourself. Helena Cassadine had you frozen for two years, planted shit in your head, and then Elizabeth lied to you for like a year—”

“Half a year,” Jason muttered. “And…that’s just it. I’m so angry at her. And I remember all the crap she and I have been through, and I don’t…I don’t know. I think about the memories I have of Sam. And Sonny and Carly. And they all just feel like…it’s not me. Like they’re in my head, but they happened to someone else. Walking away from Sonny? From Carly? It felt like the right thing to do. It’s the first thing that’s felt right since the day I found out who I was really was.”

“Maybe that’s just it.” Curtis tipped his beer towards him. “You’ve spent two years being the image of Jason Morgan. You tried to be him even before you had those memories. You lived as someone else for a long time, man. What’s wrong with letting that guy lead the way?”

“That guy?” Jason snorted. “That guy was brainwashed, controlled, lied to—”

“That guy started a fresh new life without anyone running after him,” Curtis said, with a half shrug of his shoulder. “Yeah, Helena did some crap to you, but you got through it. You made new friends. You fell in love with a good woman—even if she did something that wasn’t so great—”

“She lied to me about who I was—”

“She did you a favor, man.” Curtis leaned back against the booth. “You barely like being Jason Morgan. The only good things in your life are your wife and kids. All the other crap that comes with being Jason? Sonny, Carly. The money. The job. That all drives you insane. You think it would have been easier to know the truth earlier?”

“I know it wasn’t her decision to make.” Jason sipped his beer. “It was mine. Anyway. I don’t know. I got a wife I’m crazy about. A brand new beautiful little girl. Two great boys. I don’t know what I’m bitching about.”

“Me either,” Curtis agreed. “Besides, sounds like you figured it out. You broke ties with Sonny. You said you were getting into something else. And you know, maybe you could cut your kid’s mom a break.”

“Why are you suddenly Liz’s biggest fan?” Jason asked, with some irritation.

“Because she’s a nice person who looks out for my nephew at the hospital. He’s been working as orderly, and she showed him the ropes. I don’t think what she did was worth the punishment she got.” Curtis shrugged. “I mean, how desperate for love do you gotta be to hook up with that psycho?”

General Hospital: Emergency Room

“Ugh.” Elizabeth set a chart back into the rack and reached for a new one. “Why did I pick up a shift down here again?”

“Because you love me,” Felix DuBois, her friend and permanent emergency room nurse, sang as he wheeled a patient past her. “And I begged.”

“Hey, you can’t get this kind of action anywhere else,” Dr. Lucas Jones said with a smirk as he held out a chart to her. “Can you give the drunk crazy in Curtain Three another 2 mics of lorazapam? I’m waiting on a Psych result.”

“I live to serve.” Elizabeth took the chart, flipped through it, and yawned. “How many more hours until seven and freedom?”

“One hours, thirteen minutes, and thirty seconds,” Amy Driscoll said in her usual perky voice that made Elizabeth want to rip out her vocal cords. “But who’s counting?” She smirked. Though it probably a smile, but Elizabeth found everything about her annoying. “I’m off now, though. I came in early.”

As the blonde took a new chart and headed for an exam area, Lucas grimaced behind her back. “I try to be a nice person, but sometimes, I think I’ve had too much exposure to Carly.”

Elizabeth snorted. “Yeah, well, there are a few reasons I only take shifts here when Felix begs me too. I hate the overnight shifts, and…well…some of the company. Besides, I like surgery.” She uncapped her pen and perused the orders on a chart. “I just want to take the boys to Disney World next summer, and that does not come cheap on a single mom’s salary.”

“Feel free to tell me it’s none of my business, but can’t Jason buy and sell Disney World a few times over?” Lucas asked as he wiped his name and a patient from the white board.

“He can. I can’t. He gave me money a long time ago for Jake, but my brother lost it in the stock market. Naturally. And we never really set up anything official for child support. I’ve always taken care of my boys myself.” Elizabeth shrugged. “Anyway, there’s still Aiden and Cam to pay for—” She frowned as the desk clerk took a call from an ambulance unit. “Did they say another overdose?”

“Yeah.” Lucas frowned. “That’s the fifth one tonight. That’s not usual—” He rubbed his eyes. “But it’s only my first ER rotation—maybe it’s normal.”

“No, we’re good for one or two at best,” Felix said as he joined them. “And that’s usually during the holidays. Five in one night—”

Another call crackled through the radio—a fire with several major injuries. Elizabeth sighed, checked her watch. She was probably going to end up working overtime and missing breakfast with Franco. The third or fourth date in the last few weeks.

She made a mental to call him and then rushed to meet the trauma coming in.

Franco’s Art Studio

Franco Baldwin slammed the door behind him as he stalked inside. He ripped off the thin fall coat he wore and threw it across the room.

Stood up again. Not even a fucking phone call. What the hell was her problem—

He stopped himself. Took a deep breath. She was working a lot and picking up shifts all over the hospital. It wasn’t her fault.

Franco looked down at the list in his hand. His reminders. Elizabeth was a good person. She loved him. She trusted him. She would tell him if she didn’t love him anymore.

He needed to remember that when he got angry. He couldn’t just fly off the handle. Just react every time he wanted to. That was the before Franco.

The bad Franco.

He was good now. A good man. Who could do good things. Who knew how to be someone Elizabeth would love. He wanted her to love him. That made him a good man.

Carly was a bad woman. Her love had made him empty inside. Angry. He’d done bad things with Carly. He’d done bad things with Elizabeth, but those had been for her. Proof of how much she meant to him.

No one would hurt her.

So he looked down at his list. His little cheat sheet. Sometimes he couldn’t remember why he didn’t do what he wanted to do. Why he didn’t do the things that made his art good. That gave him passion and life.

Because he was a good man now. And Elizabeth would leave him if he gave into his urges. He’d go back to jail.

He really didn’t want to go to jail. And as along as Elizabeth still loved him, he could be a good man. It would all be okay. She would save him. She liked saving him. She liked saving people. That was her job. That’s why she had stood him up today.

Why she hadn’t even given him the decency of a fucking phone call, like he was nothing. Like he could be forgotten. Who the hell did she think she was? What gave her the right to treat him like he was invisible?

His cell phone rang then and he stared at at photo that popped up. Her face. Her smile. He stared at it. Her lying face. Her bad face. She was a liar. Just like Carly.

He threw the phone across the room and felt good inside when it smashed into pieces all over the ground.

Maybe he’d go to the hospital and tell her she was a liar. That she couldn’t treat him like that. He was only good when she loved him. She needed to remember that. He should tell her.

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