180Disclaimer: Obviously, I'm not Mickey Mouse, so I don't own General Hospital or any of its characters. I'm just borrowing them for my own amusement, I'm not making money off this (unfortunately).
Author's notes: I need a new idea like I need another hole in the head, but this one's been rolling around in my head. Still playing with it at this point, so don't expect frequent updates. Let me know what you think! :-)
Author's notes take 2: New and revised! Joey, Rach, Shamira, Leigh, Emma, Sunnafire & Bballchick00816- thank you for reviewing! For those of you wondering to know what's going on, this gets to the point pretty quickly, vaguely anyways...
A young woman watched the Corinthos family from the bushes. She watched as Carly swept Michael up into her arms and leaned closer to Jason, a big smile on her face. Sonny and a young unfamiliar blonde joined them and the happy family laughed, about what the young woman didn't know. She turned away and headed home, tears of anger and sadness filling her brown eyes. She couldn't stand to see any more.
She rushed through the streets of Port Charles, holding in all the boiling emotions, until she reached Cortland Street. She and her partner were renting a cheap apartment in a run down building, a place where neither of them would be recognized. Their cover here couldn't be blown.
She entered the building and climbed the stairs sullenly. When she reached their floor, the door was already open. She slammed it shut behind her.
"Told you not to go out there," her partner said, his voice coming from the single bedroom they shared.
"Oh, shut up, Frisco. I don't want to hear it," she grumbled. "At least you can go see your family."
The older man appeared in the doorway. "If it bugs you so much, Carly, then confront her and get it over with."
"They won't believe me."
"You can convince them. Besides," he said, shrugging, "you have me for confirmation. Bobbie will definitely believe me."
"I cannot just walk in to Kelly's and say 'hi Mama, remember me'," she pointed out.
He rolled his eyes. "Fine, don't. But don't keep coming in here and complaining about it to me. I'm tired of listening to you."
"You're so caring and supportive, Frisco. Whatever would I do without you," she replied, voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Hey, I'm not your friend. I'm supposed to be protecting you. I only agreed to this crazy idea to get you out of my hair."
Frisco went back into the bedroom, shutting the door behind him. Carly had no idea what he did in there all day, but he hardly came out. She looked out of one of the dirty windows, just barely able to see the docks, and let the tears fall down her face.
Carly gazed at herself in the bathroom mirror. She had changed so much since she was last in Port Charles. Her blond hair was now a chestnut brown color, she had toned up a bit since she'd had nothing better to do than workout with Frisco, and it was probably in her mind, but she thought she looked older. She definitely didn't look any happier.
In nearly two years in the protective custody of the WSB and Frisco Jones, she'd had to stand by and watch while another woman lived her life. A woman she once considered her friend. He told her time and time again not to look back until she could do something about it, not to dwell on the family she'd been forced to leave behind. That was all well and good for him, but she couldn't do it. She loved her family too much, she couldn't just forget they existed. She finally understood why he always seemed so uncaring about his own family. Watching their lives go on when you couldn't be there was just too damn painful most of the time.
She brushed out her shoulder length hair, pulling it back in to a ponytail. She walked out of the bathroom and quietly slipped into the bedroom. She tiptoed around the napping body of Frisco and dug around in his things until she found one of his baseball caps.
She glanced at her protector. He looked so peaceful and innocent in his sleep, so different than his usual cynical demeanor. She gently brushed the hair from his forehead, smiling slightly. No doubt he'd criticize her decision when she got back, rightly so she supposed, but she had to do it. She had to see them again.
She quietly left the apartment, putting the cap on as she left. Frisco would just have to get over it.
Carly sat in Kelly's, baseball cap pulled low over her eyes and silently drinking a soda. She watched the bubbly blonde waitress she'd seen with Sonny rush up to Jason and give him a hug. She'd witnessed Blondie's smirking contest with Liz Webber for over an hour. Obviously Blondie must've won. Like either of them was worthy of Jason.
Her heart caught in her throat when Jason had walked in. She wanted to be the one in Jason's arms. She'd almost gone up to him until she realized she couldn't. Not before she had confronted Charlotte.
"So, are you ready to become husband and wife?" Carly heard Blondie ask him.
"You still want to go through with the wedding after the stunt AJ and Janine pulled?"
A deliriously happy smile appeared on the girl's face. A sickeningly sweet, Pollyanna smile to Carly. "Absolutely! There's nothing I want more than to be Mrs. Jason Morgan."
Carly almost choked on her drink. Jason married? Blondie couldn't possibly be Jason's wife! She was almost as bad as Robin! She continued to listen in horror as it just got worse...
"We could just go to Las Vegas, like Brenda and I did."
Brenda, as in Brenda Barrett? As in Jax and Sonny's Brenda? As in the Brenda Jason hated? There was no way she heard that correctly. Married?
"Jason, I don't want to do what you and Brenda did," Blondie whined. "Why don't we go to Atlantic City? They have wedding chapels, too." She wrapped her arms around. "I could have some of my friends there and Sonny and Carly. How's that sound?"
"What ever you want to do, Courtney."
"Let's go tonight!" she squealed.
"Atlantic City it is," he replied, kissing her.
Carly watched horrified as Blondie left with her man. She rushed out of Kelly's, bound for the apartment. If Blondie and Jason were going to Atlantic City, then she was too. Frisco would just have to put up with it.
Carly slammed the apartment door behind her. "Frisco?" she called out, looking around frantically.
"What is it, Carly?" he asked, annoyed, standing in the bedroom doorway.
"We're going to Atlantic City," she told him determinedly.
He exhaled sharply, walking closer to his charge. "Why on earth would you want to go to Atlantic City? If you want to gamble money that's not yours, I'll take you to Monte Carlo. They have much better casinos."
"I don't want to gamble!" she frustratedly replied, rolling her eyes. "I have to stop Jason from making the worst mistake of his life!"
"Jason?" He rubbed the bridge of his nose irritably. "What did you do now, Carly?" he asked, sighing.
"I didn't do anything, but someone has to!" she scoffed. "I can't believe that anyone thinks I'd actually approve of Pollyanna! As if!"
Frisco's forehead wrinkled in confusion. "You mind filling in the gaps for those of us that missed out?"
"I was at Kelly's..." she started.
He threw his hands up in exasperation. "Carly, I told you not to go anywhere you'd be recognized!" he scolded her. "You'll get both of our covers blown!"
"Relax, Frisco, no one saw me," she replied dismissively, rolling her eyes again. "Liz was too busy being nasty to Blondie and Lucas was making googoo eyes at Maxie."
"One, who's Blondie and two, what's my nephew doing making googoo eyes at my oldest daughter?"
"The thing with Lucas and Maxie is news to me," she said, scratching her head. "But Blondie is the mistake Jason's getting ready to make. I think he called her Courtney." She rolled her eyes and waved her hand dismissively as she spit out the girl's name. "They're going to Atlantic City tonight to elope! We have to stop him, Frisco! She is so wrong for him! She's worse than Liz or Robin!"
Frisco knocked the heel of his hand against his forehead in frustration. "You want me to risk our cover, which may I remind you," he sneered, "would invoke the wrath of my daughters, my brother, Mac Scorpio and worst of all, my ex-wife, just to stop Jason from marrying someone you don't approve of?"
"It'll be the biggest mistake of his life!" she pleaded. "Well, at least until I find out what happened with Brenda..."
"You're something else, Carlybabes," he said, shaking his head. "You are something else."
"I'm going, Frisco," Carly told him determinedly. "With or without you."
Frisco sighed. "Alright, alright, alright. I'll go. But if we get caught, it's on your head."