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Title: Just Between Friends
Author: speedy
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Expecting her second child and caught up in a mafia war, Carly Corinthos has a secret that will change the lives of everyone she knows.
Disclaimer: I'm not the Rat, so obviously the characters aren't mine. I'm just borrowing them for awhile.
Notes: Just moving this over from my now defunct website. This veers off canon right before the panic room fiasco in 2003.
Chapter 10
Sonny stood up on a chair near the bar, tapping a knife against his glass in an effort to get everyone to quiet down. A smiling Charlotte stood near him, hand on her belly.
"We want to thank all of you for coming to celebrate Courtney and Jason's marriage tonight. I didn't support this relationship in the beginning, I was totally against it. But I finally saw how much they love and support each other..."
Carly tuned out the rest of his speech, really not wanting to hear it. She just couldn't bring herself to toast that mistake of a marriage. She rested her head on Frisco's shoulder, just waiting for the speech to be over, and felt his arm slip around her shoulders.
Sonny held up his glass. "To Mrs. and Mr. Morgan."
The crowd raised their glasses and took a drink in celebration as well, with the exception of Carly, as Courtney and Jason happily kissed.
Sonny continued as servers moved around the room, refilling glasses. "You may also have noticed a second wedding cake up here. Courtney and Jason made a couple new friends in Atlantic City and they have their own new marriage to celebrate as well. So, another toast," Sonny said, raising his glass again. Carly smiled nervously, uncomfortable with the sudden turn of attention onto them. "To Robin and Frisco Jones."
Robin Jones. The words finally hit her. She'd said her vows, she'd joked about it with Luke and fought about it with Frisco, she'd said the words husband and wife a hundred times in the last few days. But it had never really sunk in. She was married to Frisco Jones.
They'd been together everyday for two years. They'd played husband and wife many times before. But this wasn't Berlin or Beirut or Boston or any of the other foreign cities they had been in. This was Port Charles. This was home to both of them. It was her husband toasting them. Her son clinging to her mother. His brother and his younger daughter welcoming her into the family. His older daughter ignoring them. Her best friend, her ex-husband, her enemies and her ex-in-laws. His ex-wife, his old friends, his rival. Her brother, his nephew. This was a place of memories, good and bad, people neither wanted to lie to. A lie that would have very real consequences when this was over.
She should have never come back.
Carly followed Frisco into the loft quietly. She walked by him and back to the bed. She grabbed one of the pillows and clutched it tightly as she laid down.
Frisco appeared behind her, concern written on his face. "What's up with you? You've hardly said a word since the toast."
She felt a tear escape her eye and roll down her cheek. "This was a bad idea."
"I've only been telling you that since you came up with this cockamamie scheme."
"I should've listened to you."
He sat on the bed next to her. "What was that? There is no way I heard you correctly."
"What happens when this is all over?" She turned to face him, tears falling down her cheeks. "The girls and Tony are going to be hurt when you leave again. I bet Felicia will be, too. When we expose Charlotte, Sonny, Jason, and Mama are all going to be hurt. Michael's not going to understand any of this. He probably doesn't even remember me, just her," she cried bitterly. "We're just going to rip apart a bunch of lives and for what?"
He reached out to wipe away her tears. "What is this, Carly? Remorse?" he replied softly.
"Yeah, who'd guess," she joked sadly.
He sighed. "Look, what's done is done. No use feeling bad about it now. Your family will be glad you're back and they'll probably feel pretty stupid for falling for Charlotte's lies. My family..." He looked down, sighing again. "Let me deal with them. They're used to me leaving."
"Doesn't mean it doesn't hurt."
"For right now, just worry about how we're going to get through this, okay?" He leaned over and gave her a quick hug. "Now what were these suspicions you mentioned?"
Carly didn't get a chance to reply, a knock on the door interrupting them. Frisco got up to answer it, but he only got as far as the sofa. When the door swung open on its own, he reached for his gun.
Luke paraded in as if he owned the place, leaving the door to swing closed by itself. "Mr. and Mrs. Jones!" he crooned obnoxiously at the top of his lungs.
"You don't need to shout, Luke. We're right here," Frisco growled in annoyance. "Haven't you ever heard of waiting?"
"Why? I knocked first," the older man said, shrugging nonchalantly. "Besides, the door was unlocked."
"Doesn't mean you had to come right in. We could've been naked or something."
"Or something," Luke snorted in amusement.
Carly giggled. She couldn't help it, the two of them were actually funny, the way they snarked at each other. She stood and watched them, her arms crossed.
He caught sight of her. "What's with the sad face, darlin'?" he asked.
She expected some wisecrack from Frisco, but he surprised her when he replied earnestly. "The situation just got to her. She's feeling bad about lying to everybody at the party and everything."
"Caroline feeling bad about lying? You have got to be kidding me!"
She rolled her eyes. "Thanks, Luke."
"Sorry, darlin', but I've never heard of you ever feeling bad for any lie you've told."
"Just because you never heard about it doesn't mean it never happened."
Luke smiled dubiously. "I'll have to take your word for it."
Frisco sat on the arm of the sofa. "Are you two done?" he asked, glancing between them. The two Spencers looked in different directions, neither answering him. "Okay, to the reason you're here, Luke..."
"Lizzie's new guy," Luke finished, making himself comfortable in a chair.
Carly looked at her husband strangely. "Lizzie, as in Elizabeth Webber? Why should I care about any guy saddled with her?"
"Ric Lansing," the agent replied, but the blank expression on her face told him the name meant nothing to her. "He's counsel for the Alcazars."
"So?"
"He showed up at the party with Miss Webber."
"So? He's just a lawyer, right?"
"A lawyer for the man who had you kidnapped."
"Who is dead."
"Whose brother is more dangerous than he was and we still don't have a risk assessment for him."
"Oh please," she said, exhaling sharply, annoyed. "If he comes to Port Charles, I'm sure Alexis will be the one he goes after, not me. She's the one that pushed his brother off a balcony."
"I haven't gotten clearance to release you, so we act on the assumption that Lorenzo Alcazar is a threat," Frisco replied firmly. "End of story."
She smiled bitterly and rolled her eyes. "Fine."
Luke deliberately cleared his throat. "So why do you need me?"
"Well, for one," the agent told him, "keep an eye out for the girl. I'd hate to see Jeff's kid get hurt on my watch."
"Gotcha."
Frisco grabbed his laptop and turned it on. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about Lansing, would you?" he asked, waiting for his computer to boot.
"Not really. I think he was working at the club with the imposter, but Caroline here knows how much attention I pay to my sister's bastard daughter."
Frisco and Carly shared a disapproving glance. "How sweet," he replied dully.
"You got a computer in front of you. Look it up," the older man scoffed.
"We just got back. I haven't even gotten a chance to look at my computer," he said, pressing a few keys. He looked through the files waiting for him as both Luke and Carly sat down, sighing boredly.
Frisco only glanced through the information. "Nothing in there about Port Charles. The guy's got a bit of a reputation, though."
"Jason's little woman tell you anything?" Luke asked.
He shook his head. "She just said he was a psycho and Elizabeth hasn't listened to her warnings."
"Why not?"
"Well for starters, when Courtney talked about Elizabeth, she sounded amazingly like Carly does about her," he told the older man, with an amused grin. "If I were Elizabeth, I would've been suspicious and probably wouldn't listen either."
"You don't listen to anyone anyway."
Frisco just chuckled. "You're half owner of Kelly's, right? And the club is part of that?"
"Yes and yes."
"Find out if Lansing's still working at the club. Take more of an interest in Kelly's."
"Why me?" Luke asked offendedly. "Why not you or Caroline?"
"You're in a better position, Luke. You have reason to be around Kelly's and you know the girl. Me going around and suddenly asking questions would look very suspicious, especially to a certain blonde that doesn't trust me."
"What makes you think she'll trust you if I ask the questions?"
"She won't, but you asking them won't prove her doubts right. Since I'm stuck here, I would like to actually be able to see my daughters. Who knows when I'll have the chance again."
Luke thought for a moment, before relenting. "I'll go in and talk to Lizzie, see what she can tell me."
Frisco glanced at Carly and grinned sneakily. "Maybe you should go have lunch with... Oh, what did you call her again, Carly?"
"Oh no!" she protested. "I'm not doing anything with Pollyanna!"
"Ah, come on! Just a little girly talk, find out why she thinks he's a psycho."
Carly shook her head. "No. Way."
"You want to leave? That's the other choice."
She stomped her foot and grunted in frustration. Of course he would make her do this, the jerk. "Why can't you talk to her?"
"I gotta work."
She raised an eyebrow dubiously. "Work? I am your work!"
"I've got work I have to do on this case now," he told her. "And if I don't show up for work at Luke's, Felicia's going to know I was lying. You don't want to know what Felicia will do to me then."
"I'm not paying you," Luke said matter-of-factly.
"Just as long as I get to control the jukebox," the agent replied dismissively.
"No deal, amigo."
"Luke, I have a gun and I have excellent aim."
The older man held up his hands in defeat. "Fine. You're in charge of the club and I'm slacking at Kelly's."
"In charge?" Frisco asked in confusion.
Luke smiled smugly. "You want a job, you're my new day manager." He stood up. "Well, if you don't need me anymore, I've got my own daughter to get home to. Show up at 11 and dress appropriately," he told Frisco as he left.
Frisco looked at Carly. "Dress appropriately? What the hell does that mean?"
"Who knows. It's Luke," she said with a shrug. "I'm going to bed."
"We never finished our conversation about your suspicions."
"I can't put my finger on it. She's up to something, I don't have any idea what. I'm too tired to think about it now." She started to walk back to the bed, but turned around. "You gonna sleep on the sofa again?" she asked.
"Probably," Frisco said, rubbing his face. "I need to go over all this information, come up with a risk assessment for Lansing. I'll probably be up most of the night."
"Frisco, about tonight, before Luke busted in... Thanks."
Carly gave him a tired smile before going to bed alone.
Chapter 12
Author: speedy
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Expecting her second child and caught up in a mafia war, Carly Corinthos has a secret that will change the lives of everyone she knows.
Disclaimer: I'm not the Rat, so obviously the characters aren't mine. I'm just borrowing them for awhile.
Notes: Just moving this over from my now defunct website. This veers off canon right before the panic room fiasco in 2003.
Chapter 10
Sonny stood up on a chair near the bar, tapping a knife against his glass in an effort to get everyone to quiet down. A smiling Charlotte stood near him, hand on her belly.
"We want to thank all of you for coming to celebrate Courtney and Jason's marriage tonight. I didn't support this relationship in the beginning, I was totally against it. But I finally saw how much they love and support each other..."
Carly tuned out the rest of his speech, really not wanting to hear it. She just couldn't bring herself to toast that mistake of a marriage. She rested her head on Frisco's shoulder, just waiting for the speech to be over, and felt his arm slip around her shoulders.
Sonny held up his glass. "To Mrs. and Mr. Morgan."
The crowd raised their glasses and took a drink in celebration as well, with the exception of Carly, as Courtney and Jason happily kissed.
Sonny continued as servers moved around the room, refilling glasses. "You may also have noticed a second wedding cake up here. Courtney and Jason made a couple new friends in Atlantic City and they have their own new marriage to celebrate as well. So, another toast," Sonny said, raising his glass again. Carly smiled nervously, uncomfortable with the sudden turn of attention onto them. "To Robin and Frisco Jones."
Robin Jones. The words finally hit her. She'd said her vows, she'd joked about it with Luke and fought about it with Frisco, she'd said the words husband and wife a hundred times in the last few days. But it had never really sunk in. She was married to Frisco Jones.
They'd been together everyday for two years. They'd played husband and wife many times before. But this wasn't Berlin or Beirut or Boston or any of the other foreign cities they had been in. This was Port Charles. This was home to both of them. It was her husband toasting them. Her son clinging to her mother. His brother and his younger daughter welcoming her into the family. His older daughter ignoring them. Her best friend, her ex-husband, her enemies and her ex-in-laws. His ex-wife, his old friends, his rival. Her brother, his nephew. This was a place of memories, good and bad, people neither wanted to lie to. A lie that would have very real consequences when this was over.
She should have never come back.
Carly followed Frisco into the loft quietly. She walked by him and back to the bed. She grabbed one of the pillows and clutched it tightly as she laid down.
Frisco appeared behind her, concern written on his face. "What's up with you? You've hardly said a word since the toast."
She felt a tear escape her eye and roll down her cheek. "This was a bad idea."
"I've only been telling you that since you came up with this cockamamie scheme."
"I should've listened to you."
He sat on the bed next to her. "What was that? There is no way I heard you correctly."
"What happens when this is all over?" She turned to face him, tears falling down her cheeks. "The girls and Tony are going to be hurt when you leave again. I bet Felicia will be, too. When we expose Charlotte, Sonny, Jason, and Mama are all going to be hurt. Michael's not going to understand any of this. He probably doesn't even remember me, just her," she cried bitterly. "We're just going to rip apart a bunch of lives and for what?"
He reached out to wipe away her tears. "What is this, Carly? Remorse?" he replied softly.
"Yeah, who'd guess," she joked sadly.
He sighed. "Look, what's done is done. No use feeling bad about it now. Your family will be glad you're back and they'll probably feel pretty stupid for falling for Charlotte's lies. My family..." He looked down, sighing again. "Let me deal with them. They're used to me leaving."
"Doesn't mean it doesn't hurt."
"For right now, just worry about how we're going to get through this, okay?" He leaned over and gave her a quick hug. "Now what were these suspicions you mentioned?"
Carly didn't get a chance to reply, a knock on the door interrupting them. Frisco got up to answer it, but he only got as far as the sofa. When the door swung open on its own, he reached for his gun.
Luke paraded in as if he owned the place, leaving the door to swing closed by itself. "Mr. and Mrs. Jones!" he crooned obnoxiously at the top of his lungs.
"You don't need to shout, Luke. We're right here," Frisco growled in annoyance. "Haven't you ever heard of waiting?"
"Why? I knocked first," the older man said, shrugging nonchalantly. "Besides, the door was unlocked."
"Doesn't mean you had to come right in. We could've been naked or something."
"Or something," Luke snorted in amusement.
Carly giggled. She couldn't help it, the two of them were actually funny, the way they snarked at each other. She stood and watched them, her arms crossed.
He caught sight of her. "What's with the sad face, darlin'?" he asked.
She expected some wisecrack from Frisco, but he surprised her when he replied earnestly. "The situation just got to her. She's feeling bad about lying to everybody at the party and everything."
"Caroline feeling bad about lying? You have got to be kidding me!"
She rolled her eyes. "Thanks, Luke."
"Sorry, darlin', but I've never heard of you ever feeling bad for any lie you've told."
"Just because you never heard about it doesn't mean it never happened."
Luke smiled dubiously. "I'll have to take your word for it."
Frisco sat on the arm of the sofa. "Are you two done?" he asked, glancing between them. The two Spencers looked in different directions, neither answering him. "Okay, to the reason you're here, Luke..."
"Lizzie's new guy," Luke finished, making himself comfortable in a chair.
Carly looked at her husband strangely. "Lizzie, as in Elizabeth Webber? Why should I care about any guy saddled with her?"
"Ric Lansing," the agent replied, but the blank expression on her face told him the name meant nothing to her. "He's counsel for the Alcazars."
"So?"
"He showed up at the party with Miss Webber."
"So? He's just a lawyer, right?"
"A lawyer for the man who had you kidnapped."
"Who is dead."
"Whose brother is more dangerous than he was and we still don't have a risk assessment for him."
"Oh please," she said, exhaling sharply, annoyed. "If he comes to Port Charles, I'm sure Alexis will be the one he goes after, not me. She's the one that pushed his brother off a balcony."
"I haven't gotten clearance to release you, so we act on the assumption that Lorenzo Alcazar is a threat," Frisco replied firmly. "End of story."
She smiled bitterly and rolled her eyes. "Fine."
Luke deliberately cleared his throat. "So why do you need me?"
"Well, for one," the agent told him, "keep an eye out for the girl. I'd hate to see Jeff's kid get hurt on my watch."
"Gotcha."
Frisco grabbed his laptop and turned it on. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about Lansing, would you?" he asked, waiting for his computer to boot.
"Not really. I think he was working at the club with the imposter, but Caroline here knows how much attention I pay to my sister's bastard daughter."
Frisco and Carly shared a disapproving glance. "How sweet," he replied dully.
"You got a computer in front of you. Look it up," the older man scoffed.
"We just got back. I haven't even gotten a chance to look at my computer," he said, pressing a few keys. He looked through the files waiting for him as both Luke and Carly sat down, sighing boredly.
Frisco only glanced through the information. "Nothing in there about Port Charles. The guy's got a bit of a reputation, though."
"Jason's little woman tell you anything?" Luke asked.
He shook his head. "She just said he was a psycho and Elizabeth hasn't listened to her warnings."
"Why not?"
"Well for starters, when Courtney talked about Elizabeth, she sounded amazingly like Carly does about her," he told the older man, with an amused grin. "If I were Elizabeth, I would've been suspicious and probably wouldn't listen either."
"You don't listen to anyone anyway."
Frisco just chuckled. "You're half owner of Kelly's, right? And the club is part of that?"
"Yes and yes."
"Find out if Lansing's still working at the club. Take more of an interest in Kelly's."
"Why me?" Luke asked offendedly. "Why not you or Caroline?"
"You're in a better position, Luke. You have reason to be around Kelly's and you know the girl. Me going around and suddenly asking questions would look very suspicious, especially to a certain blonde that doesn't trust me."
"What makes you think she'll trust you if I ask the questions?"
"She won't, but you asking them won't prove her doubts right. Since I'm stuck here, I would like to actually be able to see my daughters. Who knows when I'll have the chance again."
Luke thought for a moment, before relenting. "I'll go in and talk to Lizzie, see what she can tell me."
Frisco glanced at Carly and grinned sneakily. "Maybe you should go have lunch with... Oh, what did you call her again, Carly?"
"Oh no!" she protested. "I'm not doing anything with Pollyanna!"
"Ah, come on! Just a little girly talk, find out why she thinks he's a psycho."
Carly shook her head. "No. Way."
"You want to leave? That's the other choice."
She stomped her foot and grunted in frustration. Of course he would make her do this, the jerk. "Why can't you talk to her?"
"I gotta work."
She raised an eyebrow dubiously. "Work? I am your work!"
"I've got work I have to do on this case now," he told her. "And if I don't show up for work at Luke's, Felicia's going to know I was lying. You don't want to know what Felicia will do to me then."
"I'm not paying you," Luke said matter-of-factly.
"Just as long as I get to control the jukebox," the agent replied dismissively.
"No deal, amigo."
"Luke, I have a gun and I have excellent aim."
The older man held up his hands in defeat. "Fine. You're in charge of the club and I'm slacking at Kelly's."
"In charge?" Frisco asked in confusion.
Luke smiled smugly. "You want a job, you're my new day manager." He stood up. "Well, if you don't need me anymore, I've got my own daughter to get home to. Show up at 11 and dress appropriately," he told Frisco as he left.
Frisco looked at Carly. "Dress appropriately? What the hell does that mean?"
"Who knows. It's Luke," she said with a shrug. "I'm going to bed."
"We never finished our conversation about your suspicions."
"I can't put my finger on it. She's up to something, I don't have any idea what. I'm too tired to think about it now." She started to walk back to the bed, but turned around. "You gonna sleep on the sofa again?" she asked.
"Probably," Frisco said, rubbing his face. "I need to go over all this information, come up with a risk assessment for Lansing. I'll probably be up most of the night."
"Frisco, about tonight, before Luke busted in... Thanks."
Carly gave him a tired smile before going to bed alone.
Chapter 12
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