Chapter Five: Old Friends
Jerry dropped the tire iron with a muffled curse, and took a step towards Lucy. Unfortunately, that only made her begin to scream louder. Jerry reached out, gripping Lucy's shoulders. "Bloody hell," he muttered. "Lucy! Lucy Coe, it's Jerry. Remember? Bobbie, me, wedding?" He gritted his teeth slightly. "The Nurses' Ball video?"
Lucy stopped screaming as her eyes narrowed, and she looked closely at him. "Jerry Jacks?" She jerked away from him, folding her arms across her chest and tugging at her blanket-toga. "What are you doing here? Not just here-here, buy Port Charles-here? Aren't you on the run from the FBI?? And," her eyes narrowed even further, "causing a big old drop in Jacks' Cosmetics profits while you're at it!"
"Sorry about the fallout in lipstick sales," Jerry said sarcastically, letting his hands fall from her shoulders when it appeared as though Lucy had stopped her hysterics. "I was rather busy, didn't have time to stop and worry about face paint." He looked at her more closely, peering in the open door curiously, then looking back at Lucy. "What you doing here-here?" He imitated her words, not ungently. "In a -- a blanket. With a broom. And, a baby?" Jerry cocked his head as Christina's wails at being rudely awakened started from inside the cabin.
"Christina!" Lucy gasped, and whirled around, heading for her baby's side. Jerry followed behind her, more and more curious. Lucy picked up her daughter, cradling her lightly in her arms, making small soothing noises. Once Christina's cries had quieted to a sort of hiccoughing sigh, Lucy turned to Jerry. "You!" She pointed at the door, her eyes flashing, her voice a whisper but with the power of a shout. "Out! This is private property, Jerry Jacks, and you are most certainly not welcome here! I'm very good friends with Mac Scorpio, you know, and I am about ten seconds away from picking up my phone and calling him!"
Rather than looking worried at her threat, Jerry causally strolled over to the rocking chair beside Lucy and sat down. He looked around the cabin, taking in it's current state, as well as Lucy's suitcase in the corner before turning back to her. "How far are we from Port Charles?" he asked, thoughtfully. "'Bout twenty miles?"
"Yes," Lucy said slowly, guardedly, holding Christina protectively to her chest. "Which means you better start walking if you want to make it back before dark," she added. "Because you, Jerry Jacks, are leaving. Now."
Jerry showed no signs of leaving. Or even moving. He rocked contemplatively back and forth, his mind racing. He was jerked out of his reverie by Christina making fussy noises and squirming in her mother's arms. Jerry bent down, his face softening. "May I?" he asked Lucy, extending his arms.
Lucy glared up at him. What was he still doing here? Her fist inclination was to snatch Christina up and start whacking at Jerry with the broom, but an odd yearning in his eyes as he gazed at her daughter made her hesitate. Lucy bet her lip, then handed Christina up to Jerry, rising as she did so, her hands on her hips, alert for the first signs of mischief. "She's just a little fussy, that's all," she explained, warily.
"She's a beauty," he said, softly, smiling down at the small girl who, inexplicably, babbled delightedly back at him. "But you know that, don't you, luv?" Jerry laughed. "What's her name?" he asked Lucy, absorbed in Christina's blue eyes.
"Christina," Lucy answered, her heart softening a bit for anyone who had the sense to love her baby. "Jerry Jacks," Lucy shook her head, watching him blow a raspberry on Christina's stomach, "what are you doing here? Why did you come back to Port Charles?"
Jerry looked up at Lucy, meeting her gaze for a long, silent moment. "My family, Lucy Coe. I came back to Port Charles for my family. Now," he shifted Christina against his shoulder, "what about you?" He looked at her shrewdly. "Who are you hiding from?"
Lucy turned sharply, all the blood draining from her face. She stared at Jerry a long moment, then crossed behind him to the window. "Hiding? I'm not hiding," she insisted, her back to him and very straight.
"C'mon luv," Lucy turns and sees on Jerry's face a grin that women all over the world would recognize. "An answer for an answer; I told you the truth."
"Ha!" Lucy responded, a glare on her face that men all over the world had been known to run in fear of. "You came back for your family?? What kind of a truth is that, Jerry Jacks? Jax is gone; he and his new wife moved away months ago. And, I know for a fact that your parents still live in Alaska; Lady Jane ordered one of my dresses two weeks ago." Her eyes narrowed. "Why. are. you. here?" she asked again.
Jerry looked up at her, his smile fading, her child cradled against his chest. "For my family," he repeated. "It's the truth, Lucy, the only truth I still know. And the only one I can offer. Can you give me the same?" he challenged her.
Lucy looked at him a long moment, and she almost spoke until her eyes drifted downwards, to her daughter. One wrong move and this baby, too, would be lost, just like all the others who's names still echoed in her head at night -- Simon, B.J., Serena, that first unnamed baby so long ago. Her face hardened, and Lucy reached her arms out, gathering up Christina. "I mean it, Jerry; leave," she said, pressing Christina so tight against her breast the baby whimpered slightly. "Or I'll call Mac; I'll call him right now," she spoke fiercely.
"No," Jerry said, shaking his head, but not rising from the chair, "you won't. Because you don't want him to know where you are, do you, Lucy?" Jerry asked; Lucy remained silent. "Anymore more than I do. I don't know why, but you're hiding from him, you and this little beauty of yours. You have no intention of calling Mac." He reached out to touch Christina's downy head, but Lucy turned away, protecting her child with the curve of her body. Jerry's hand dropped, and so did his tone. "I don't know why you're running, Lucy. And, frankly, I don't care. But, I get the feeling it has something to do with your baby," he looked at her, speaking carefully. "The last thing I want is to hurt or take away your daughter; children -- children should be with their parents."
Lucy let out a long, shuddering breath, Jerry's words echoing on so many levels. "What do you want then, Jerry?" she asked him levelly, neither denying nor confirming any of his suspicions. "Why won't you just go away and leave me and Christina alone?" she said, wearily.
"Because," Jerry stretched out his legs in front of him; he had been waiting for this question, "this seems like a perfect place to crash for a few days." He grinned again, his eyes lighting up, dispelling the serious mood; Jerry didn't do serious well, or for long. "Hi there, roomie!"
the coffee warehouse
He paused as he walked in the door of the warehouse. For a moment, as the smell of the beans assaulted him, the foreman nodded respectfully, the sound of an approaching lorry filled his ears, it was as if he'd stepped back in time. It was a -- not unpleasant sensation; for a brief moment, Sonny Corinthos allowed himself to imagine he'd found his way home.
It was a very brief moment. Sonny's next step took him to what had once been his office, a door now carrying a plaque that read 'Jason Morgan'. Sonny took a deep breath, running his hands once over his now expressionless face, and strode forward. He knocked lightly at the door, grimacing slightly at having to do so, then opened it, walking in at Jason's summons. Sonny stopped in the middle of the office floor, a small hesitant smile on his face. "Hey, man," he said softly, looking at Jason. "It's been a while."
Jason rose slowly from behind his desk, silently watching the man in front of him he had once called his best friend, his mentor, the closest thing to a father Jason Morgan knew. He had, of course, known Sonny was back in town, almost from the moment he had walked off the plane. Two things, however, he wasn't sure about -- why Sonny was back, and what it would mean to Carly, especially considering that the baby she was carrying was almost certainly his. "Yeah," he said finally, never having dropped his eyes from Sonny's. "It has. I didn't think you were coming back to Port Charles, Sonny."
Sonny shrugged, his face closing off at Jason's words and more than that, his tone. "Plans change, Jason. Turns out I've still got business here." He paused a long moment, then mentally shrugged, deciding to throw down the gauntlet right away. "You wish I hadn't come back, huh, Jason?"
Jason gave Sonny a long, level look, his face not changing by so much as a millimeter -- unless you were accustomed to looking for changes in his eyes. Which were bleeding. "I don't know," Jason said, truthfully. "That depends."
"On?" Sonny asked, his voice dropping several degrees.
"On what you being back does to my wife," Jason answered, bluntly.
A brief flicker of pain crossed Sonny's face, but his eyes never dropped. It was a lesson learned long ago; look away and they've got you. "Last thing I want to do, Jase, is hurt Carly," Sonny said, his voice low. "You should know that, you, of all people."
"Good," Jason said. His tone didn't change, but someone looking for it could tell himself that something deep in his eyes softened. "Then," Jason glanced down at the papers on his desk, shifting them, "you'll be moving out of the penthouse."
Sonny took a step forward, his hand held out. "Wait a minute," he said, incredulously. "Look, Jason, like I said, hurting Carly is not what I want to do; I -- care about her. And Michael. But, I'm not movin', man; I just got back in town, just started to settle in. You knew when you moved into the apartment you're in just who lived across from you."
"You were gone, Sonny!" Jason's head snapped up, and he bit his words out. "You walked out, left me a note and all I knew was that when you left before, you said you weren't coming back. And, I was here, trying to fix what you left broken." He shook his head, once, the tension in the room suddenly thick. "Carly doesn't need to bump into you in the hall and remember all the things she's lost."
"Or maybe it's just me you don't want your wife to remember," Sonny shot back, feeling his blood rise, aware that he was saying things he was about to regret, and beyond caring. It always took him this way, his temper. Words became weapons; a lesson learned young -- strike first, with whatever you've got, before they strike at you. "That it, Jase? You suddenly a little worried about that the marriage you rushed into won't be so secure with me on your doorstep every morning?"
Jason moved swiftly around the desk, his breath quickening. "Carly is my wife," he enunciated coldly and clearly. "That's a word who's meaning I know. Honor, respect, love and protect. And, I will do all those things for Carly, even if it's you I have to protect her from. Stay away from her. Stay away from me." Or else was the unspoken threat drifting in the air; neither man had to voice it; both of them knew it.
Caroline Benson, will you marry me? I promise to honor and protect you, and love our children, and never leave you. So help me God. Sonny pressed the heel of his hand to his forehead, as if pressure would make the fleeting memory disappear. "I taught you that word," he said to Jason, his hand still shielding his eyes. "I wonder if you remember that. Along with the fact that if it weren't for me calling you home to Port Charles and then leaving it and her behind, Carly wouldn't be waiting in your penthouse right now; she'd be waiting in mine." Sonny dropped his hand and looked Jason full in the eyes. "I'm not gonna step into your marriage or, if you want me out, your life. I won't even say hello to Carly in the elevator," he shrugged. "But I'm not moving out of the penthouse; you do what you want." He turned on his heel to go, pausing at the office door that had once been his. He looked at Jason. "Tell her..." Sonny trailed off, then shook his head once as if to clear it. "Never mind; don't tell her a damn thing. Like you said, last thing Carly needs in her life is anything from me."
Alexis' apartment
A hand flopped over the side of the couch, fumbling blindly for the phone on the coffee table beside it. Alexis didn't bother to move from her prone position or open her eyes as she lifted the receiver to her mouth. "Hello?" she said wearily, not bothering to add her usual snappy 'Alexis Davis'.
There was a slight hesitation on the other end. "Alexis? Is that really you?"
Alexis sat up fast, a smile starting to spread across her face. "V! Oh, you don't know how good it is to hear your voice!"
V laughed her distinctive, froggy-deep laugh that always made the listener want to laugh with her; Alexis was no exception. "I've missed you too," V said, the smile audible in her voice. "How are you? How's Ned?"
Alexis leaned back against the couch arm propping her feet on the back of the couch. "I'm -- alive. Which is, at this point, probably the best I can say," she said, ruefully.
"Is it Helena?" V interrupted anxiously. "I saw Jax and Chloe a few weeks ago; he didn't mention--"
"No, no," Alexis reassured her, "nothing like that. I'm just working on a case that's rather difficult. And, draining. And beyond frustrating. But, the last thing you need is me crying on your shoulder."
"I don't mind," V said, frankly. "But, that's what Ned's there for, isn't it?" she laughed, then stopped, noticing the silence on the other end of the line. "Alexis? Is -- how's Ned?"
"As far as I know, Ned's fine," Alexis chose her words carefully. "He's on tour; the reviews I've seen have all been good." She sighed and answered her friend's unspoken question. "We're not together anymore, V. I haven't spoken to Ned in several weeks."
"Oh, Alexis, I -- I didn't mean to-- I'm sorry," V's words fell over themselves; her embarrassment at sticking her foot in her mouth was palatable over the phone line. "As soon as I get home, we can sit down and you can tell me all about it. Or not, if you don't want to. We can just, just sit. And, you can tell me anything you want to tell me. About your case, maybe. Or Felicia's new book, which I just finished reading. Or, well, just anything," she finished, breathless from the long stream of words that had poured out of her mouth.
Alexis smiled again; V was infectious. In the very best possible sense of the word. "There is nothing I would like better. But, V, when you say home -- you're coming back to Port Charles? With Simon?"
"Simon in Port Charles?" V laughed again. "No, I think once was enough for him. And for Port Charles. Besides, he and I parted ways about a month ago."
"What?" Alexis sat up. "But, V, every time I've talked to you, you've been so happy! I'll admit, I had my doubts about Simon, but I thought you'd proved me wrong."
"I am happy," V was matter-of-fact. "Alexis, Simon and I had a wonderful year together, but it was never forever-after. It was -- fun. And, laughter, and a lot of adventure. I wouldn't trade the last year for anything, but I'm done; I'm ready to come home, back to my real life. And, Simon, he doesn't believe in real life. We'll be very good friends, he and I. And, I've danced the tango in Argentina and ridden a camel in Saudi Arabia, and taught an international playboy how to dive. It's been, all in all, a good year."
Alexis was quiet a moment, absorbing. "You know, it's probably awfully selfish of me, but I'm just glad you're coming home. I've missed my best friend; phone calls and too infrequent meetings haven't been enough. It goes, of course, without saying that it's Simon's loss," Alexis added.
"I think he knows that," V responded, with a small laugh. "Though I'm kind of the one at a disadvantage. Trooping about the world with Simon Prentiss might qualify as a full-time job, but it isn't exactly something I can put down on a resume! I'm going to have to start hunting soon as I get back."
"I'm sure L&B would be glad to--" Alexis broke off, and a gleam suddenly appeared in her eyes. "No, scratch that. Come work for me; after working with Jax, you must be an expert at baby-sitting spoiled adult men. V, what do you know about Scott Baldwin?"
