![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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 6
Frisco knocked hesitantly on his ex-wife's front door. He looked around as he waited for Felicia to answer. The house looked a little different than the last time he'd been by here. Different than when Tony had lived here, first with Tania, then with Lucy and finally with Bobbie.
The door practically flew open, Felicia smiling happily on the other side. But her happiness quickly faded to shock at the sight of her ex-husband. "Frisco?" she whispered in disbelief.
He smiled weakly. "In the flesh."
"You're here. You're actually here," she said breathlessly.
"I think we already established that," he joked.
She shook her head, brushing the hair off her forehead. "Oh, I'm sorry. Please, come in." He entered the house, walking past her. "I'm just so surprised to see you."
"That's me, full of surprises." He sniffed the air. "What smells so good?"
"Chicken Parmesan." She led him back into the kitchen and turned down the stove. "What are you doing here?"
"I came by to see the girls. I figured it was about dinner time."
She threw down the towel in her hands on to the counter. "Okay, buster, if you think you're just going to walk in here and sweet talk me again, you can forget it. The girls and I are having dinner with Mac tonight. You are not invited."
He chuckled, the tables turned for once in their relationship. "I hate to burst your bubble, Princess, but I'm off the market." He waved his left hand, making sure she saw the ring.
"You're married?" she asked, looking absolutely floored.
She may be surprised, but couldn't hide her disappointment from him. There was a part of him that immensely satisfied by that. A part he hated to recognize. "Surprise," he said, shrugging.
She sat in a chair and tried to smile. "So when did this happen?" she asked shakily.
"Yesterday, actually," he said, sitting near her. "That's why I came to see the girls. I wanted to tell them myself."
"Congratulations," she said politely. "What's her name?"
"Robin."
"How'd you meet her? Is she an agent?"
"Uh, no," he said, thinking. He hadn't thought of giving Carly a career. Probably a good idea. "She works with computers." Not an entire lie, she spent a lot of time on the computer and she'd been a programmer in one of their previous cover stories. Could work here too, he figured.
"With the WSB?"
"No, she freelances."
"Well, that makes it easy for her to follow you around," she said, her voice laced with bitterness.
He smirked. "I'm off active field duty for the time being," he lied.
"Must be hard for you."
This was a conversation he didn't want to have with her. They'd just end up arguing, just like every other time they'd talked about his absence. He decided to just change the subject. "When are the girls going to be home?"
"The girls should be home soon." She smirked right back at him. "Still avoiding this issue, I see."
Frisco exhaled sharply. They always had a way of getting underneath each other's skin, for good and bad. "Why? Because I don't feel like arguing with you right now?"
"You can't just walk back in here and expect us to forget that disappeared on us."
"I didn't ask that, did I?" he snapped. "Don't tell me what I'm supposed to expect. I am fully aware of the choice I made. You aren't." He cringed internally, wishing he'd left out that last part. At this rate, he'd blow the whole op before the girls ever showed up.
The doorbell rang, interrupting them. Felicia went to answer it, Frisco followed. She opened the door and smiled. Mac walked in, accepting the hug she offered him.
Frisco felt the old jealousy rise up in him, but he tried to keep his cool. No point in playing the jealous ex when he was supposed to be the happy newlywed.
The Aussie turned enough to see Frisco standing near the kitchen. "Frisco," he said coldly, his jaw setting.
"Mac," Frisco said, equally as friendly.
"What are you doing here?"
"Frisco and I were just talking about that," Felicia said, staying between her two ex-husbands. "He came to see the girls."
"He finally remembered he had daughters?" Mac snorted.
Felicia took a deep breath, closing her eyes. "Mac, why don't you make yourself comfortable and I'll deal with him."
Frisco recognized the look in her eyes. She meant business and both men knew it. He went back into the kitchen and sat down again, leaving Mac and Felicia alone. From the kitchen, Frisco could hear them talking, but he was only mildly curious. He just sat down and waited for his ex-wife.
The door had no more closed behind Felicia before she started in on him again. "You think I'm going to forget the fact you chose your job over me, over our girls? The fact you haven't even seen the girls in years, that you hardly speak to them?" she said coldly. "Phone calls on their birthdays don't qualify as parenting, Frisco."
His head dropped. "I'm not going to discuss this with you right now. I didn't come here to argue," he told her quietly.
"What if I decide not to let you see them?"
He looked at her in disbelief. She wouldn't do that, she couldn't... "You wouldn't do that."
"They're having dinner with their father tonight." She sat back down at the table next to him. "And that's not you."
There was no hint of regret in her voice, but the pain was still in her eyes. Pain he'd ultimately put there. "All I asked was to see them, that's all. I'm not trying to take the girls away from you or Mac. I just want to speak to them."
She leaned back in the chair. "And if Maxie tells you to get lost?" she asked, crossing her arms.
He frowned, sighing. "That's her decision."
Felicia watched him for a moment and softened. "Are you going to stay this time?" she asked softly. "I don't want Maxie and Georgie to get hurt when you leave again. They've been hurt enough by you coming and going from their lives."
He sighed. This is why he'd stayed away. Better to stay gone than to come and go from his families' lives. He looked away guiltily. "I can't make any guarantees. If I have to go, I have to go."
She jumped up and turned away from him angrily. "And to hell with the rest of us, as usual."
Frisco went to comfort her, but stopped short of actually touching her. "It's not the same now. Things are..." he trailed off, closing his eyes and sighing. "Things are complicated. It's no longer my choice."
She spun around, looking into his eyes. "How? How is this not your choice?" she asked, a single tear falling down her cheek.
He shouldn't say anything, he should keep his mouth shut, but he just couldn't. She had to know, since he was here. He had to tell her. "Cesar Faison. I can't tell you anything else."
The pain in her eyes was replaced by fear. "Are you in danger?"
"Right now, no." He gave in, cursing himself, and took her face in his hands. "If he appears on the radar again, I'll have to leave. I won't take the chance."
She pushed his hands away and stepped back. "If you're putting us in danger, I don't want you here," she told him, pulling herself together.
"No more danger than you've put them in, between Ryan Chamberlain, Faison and Luis Alcazar." Another statement he regretted as soon as the words were out of his mouth.
And as he expected, she was angry with him again. "Faison kidnapped me, do you know that?" she snapped.
"Yes," he answered defensively. "And that had nothing to do with me."
"What makes you so sure?"
"He was focused on the Ice Princess at the time. I didn't have it. You'll just have to settle for blaming Luke."
For a moment he thought she was going to punch him. "Frisco..." she started, but was interrupted by the slamming of the front door and the girls' cheering. "The girls are home," she told him, turning and walking back into the living room.
"Obviously," he muttered.
When Frisco entered the living room, it felt like he was invading a private family moment, only it was his family. When the four turned to him, he could've sworn Mac was smirking. Georgie looked as shocked at Felicia had, but Maxie just glared at him. Obviously Lucas had delivered the message and no doubt, Mac was a last minute addition. Not a good sign.
"Hey girls," he said, trying to smile.
"Dad?" Georgie said in disbelief. "I don't believe you're here!" She smiled slightly and moved over to give him a hug.
He held her tightly, just enjoying being able to hold his youngest daughter. He'd wanted this, dreamed of this. "It's so good to see you, Georgie," he whispered. He let go of her and looked to Maxie. The older girl was quite obviously not going to do the same. "It's good to see you too, Maxie." He looked between the two girls, his girls. "You two have grown so much."
"Well, you would've known that if you'd been here," Maxie sneered. "What do you want, Frisco?"
Felicia chuckled nervously, smiling. "I need to finish dinner," she said, glancing between father and daughter. "Mac, I could use your help." He opened his mouth to protest, but she stopped him. "Please," she said pointedly to him as she walked back into the kitchen. The Aussie followed her silently, shooting Frisco a look of warning.
"What are you doing here?" Maxie repeated.
"Maxie..." Georgie started.
"No, Georgie. He left. He can't just come back. I won't let him." She crossed her arms angrily. "It's not going to matter. He's just going to leave again."
Georgie looked up at her father. "Are you going to leave again, Dad?"
He frowned. "Probably. I can't make you any promises."
"See?" Maxie said, smiling superiorly at her younger sister. "So where's the little woman?"
Frisco looked down. He had expected attitude from her, he just didn't realize it would hurt so much. "Lucas told you, I see," he replied regretfully.
Georgie looked between them. "Little woman?"
"That's why I came by..."
"He's got a new family," Maxie finished for him.
"I did get married yesterday, but I do not have a new family," he assured them. "You are still my daughters and no woman is going to change that, certainly not my wife."
"Does she have kids?" Georgie asked, trying to hide her disappointment, just like her mother.
"No, she doesn't," he lied. Mentioning Mikey would just lead to too many questions that couldn't be answered.
"How long before you have more kids abandon?" Maxie asked, examining her nails boredly.
"I've already got you two, I'm not planning on any more."
She smiled insincerely. "Okay, great, you've passed on your news. Congratulations." She grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the door. "See ya later, Frisco."
"Maxie..."
"I don't want to hear it. You said what you came to say, now go."
Frisco glanced back at Georgie. "Fine, I'll go," he relented. He walked over to the desk and jotted the loft's address and his cell phone number on a piece of paper. "Here's my phone number and address," he said, handing the paper to Maxie. She just glared at him, not moving to take the paper or even acknowledge it. He sighed and tossed it back on the desk. "I'm going to be in town for awhile. I'd like to see you girls again."
"No."
"We'll see," Georgie said, looking pointedly at her sister. The same look Frisco and Mac had both gotten from Felicia earlier.
He had missed so much of his daughters' lives. They were so grown up now, young women, each with pieces of their mother. And none of what they were was because of him. "I'll let you girls get to your dinner. Tell your mother I said goodbye." Georgie gave him another hug, but Maxie continued to glare at him. As he walked to the door, he pulled his oldest daughter to him and kissed her temple. "Please call me," he pleaded softly. "See you around." He left, taking one last glance at his daughters. He had a job to get back to and that job was protecting Carly.
Chapter 8
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 6
Frisco knocked hesitantly on his ex-wife's front door. He looked around as he waited for Felicia to answer. The house looked a little different than the last time he'd been by here. Different than when Tony had lived here, first with Tania, then with Lucy and finally with Bobbie.
The door practically flew open, Felicia smiling happily on the other side. But her happiness quickly faded to shock at the sight of her ex-husband. "Frisco?" she whispered in disbelief.
He smiled weakly. "In the flesh."
"You're here. You're actually here," she said breathlessly.
"I think we already established that," he joked.
She shook her head, brushing the hair off her forehead. "Oh, I'm sorry. Please, come in." He entered the house, walking past her. "I'm just so surprised to see you."
"That's me, full of surprises." He sniffed the air. "What smells so good?"
"Chicken Parmesan." She led him back into the kitchen and turned down the stove. "What are you doing here?"
"I came by to see the girls. I figured it was about dinner time."
She threw down the towel in her hands on to the counter. "Okay, buster, if you think you're just going to walk in here and sweet talk me again, you can forget it. The girls and I are having dinner with Mac tonight. You are not invited."
He chuckled, the tables turned for once in their relationship. "I hate to burst your bubble, Princess, but I'm off the market." He waved his left hand, making sure she saw the ring.
"You're married?" she asked, looking absolutely floored.
She may be surprised, but couldn't hide her disappointment from him. There was a part of him that immensely satisfied by that. A part he hated to recognize. "Surprise," he said, shrugging.
She sat in a chair and tried to smile. "So when did this happen?" she asked shakily.
"Yesterday, actually," he said, sitting near her. "That's why I came to see the girls. I wanted to tell them myself."
"Congratulations," she said politely. "What's her name?"
"Robin."
"How'd you meet her? Is she an agent?"
"Uh, no," he said, thinking. He hadn't thought of giving Carly a career. Probably a good idea. "She works with computers." Not an entire lie, she spent a lot of time on the computer and she'd been a programmer in one of their previous cover stories. Could work here too, he figured.
"With the WSB?"
"No, she freelances."
"Well, that makes it easy for her to follow you around," she said, her voice laced with bitterness.
He smirked. "I'm off active field duty for the time being," he lied.
"Must be hard for you."
This was a conversation he didn't want to have with her. They'd just end up arguing, just like every other time they'd talked about his absence. He decided to just change the subject. "When are the girls going to be home?"
"The girls should be home soon." She smirked right back at him. "Still avoiding this issue, I see."
Frisco exhaled sharply. They always had a way of getting underneath each other's skin, for good and bad. "Why? Because I don't feel like arguing with you right now?"
"You can't just walk back in here and expect us to forget that disappeared on us."
"I didn't ask that, did I?" he snapped. "Don't tell me what I'm supposed to expect. I am fully aware of the choice I made. You aren't." He cringed internally, wishing he'd left out that last part. At this rate, he'd blow the whole op before the girls ever showed up.
The doorbell rang, interrupting them. Felicia went to answer it, Frisco followed. She opened the door and smiled. Mac walked in, accepting the hug she offered him.
Frisco felt the old jealousy rise up in him, but he tried to keep his cool. No point in playing the jealous ex when he was supposed to be the happy newlywed.
The Aussie turned enough to see Frisco standing near the kitchen. "Frisco," he said coldly, his jaw setting.
"Mac," Frisco said, equally as friendly.
"What are you doing here?"
"Frisco and I were just talking about that," Felicia said, staying between her two ex-husbands. "He came to see the girls."
"He finally remembered he had daughters?" Mac snorted.
Felicia took a deep breath, closing her eyes. "Mac, why don't you make yourself comfortable and I'll deal with him."
Frisco recognized the look in her eyes. She meant business and both men knew it. He went back into the kitchen and sat down again, leaving Mac and Felicia alone. From the kitchen, Frisco could hear them talking, but he was only mildly curious. He just sat down and waited for his ex-wife.
The door had no more closed behind Felicia before she started in on him again. "You think I'm going to forget the fact you chose your job over me, over our girls? The fact you haven't even seen the girls in years, that you hardly speak to them?" she said coldly. "Phone calls on their birthdays don't qualify as parenting, Frisco."
His head dropped. "I'm not going to discuss this with you right now. I didn't come here to argue," he told her quietly.
"What if I decide not to let you see them?"
He looked at her in disbelief. She wouldn't do that, she couldn't... "You wouldn't do that."
"They're having dinner with their father tonight." She sat back down at the table next to him. "And that's not you."
There was no hint of regret in her voice, but the pain was still in her eyes. Pain he'd ultimately put there. "All I asked was to see them, that's all. I'm not trying to take the girls away from you or Mac. I just want to speak to them."
She leaned back in the chair. "And if Maxie tells you to get lost?" she asked, crossing her arms.
He frowned, sighing. "That's her decision."
Felicia watched him for a moment and softened. "Are you going to stay this time?" she asked softly. "I don't want Maxie and Georgie to get hurt when you leave again. They've been hurt enough by you coming and going from their lives."
He sighed. This is why he'd stayed away. Better to stay gone than to come and go from his families' lives. He looked away guiltily. "I can't make any guarantees. If I have to go, I have to go."
She jumped up and turned away from him angrily. "And to hell with the rest of us, as usual."
Frisco went to comfort her, but stopped short of actually touching her. "It's not the same now. Things are..." he trailed off, closing his eyes and sighing. "Things are complicated. It's no longer my choice."
She spun around, looking into his eyes. "How? How is this not your choice?" she asked, a single tear falling down her cheek.
He shouldn't say anything, he should keep his mouth shut, but he just couldn't. She had to know, since he was here. He had to tell her. "Cesar Faison. I can't tell you anything else."
The pain in her eyes was replaced by fear. "Are you in danger?"
"Right now, no." He gave in, cursing himself, and took her face in his hands. "If he appears on the radar again, I'll have to leave. I won't take the chance."
She pushed his hands away and stepped back. "If you're putting us in danger, I don't want you here," she told him, pulling herself together.
"No more danger than you've put them in, between Ryan Chamberlain, Faison and Luis Alcazar." Another statement he regretted as soon as the words were out of his mouth.
And as he expected, she was angry with him again. "Faison kidnapped me, do you know that?" she snapped.
"Yes," he answered defensively. "And that had nothing to do with me."
"What makes you so sure?"
"He was focused on the Ice Princess at the time. I didn't have it. You'll just have to settle for blaming Luke."
For a moment he thought she was going to punch him. "Frisco..." she started, but was interrupted by the slamming of the front door and the girls' cheering. "The girls are home," she told him, turning and walking back into the living room.
"Obviously," he muttered.
When Frisco entered the living room, it felt like he was invading a private family moment, only it was his family. When the four turned to him, he could've sworn Mac was smirking. Georgie looked as shocked at Felicia had, but Maxie just glared at him. Obviously Lucas had delivered the message and no doubt, Mac was a last minute addition. Not a good sign.
"Hey girls," he said, trying to smile.
"Dad?" Georgie said in disbelief. "I don't believe you're here!" She smiled slightly and moved over to give him a hug.
He held her tightly, just enjoying being able to hold his youngest daughter. He'd wanted this, dreamed of this. "It's so good to see you, Georgie," he whispered. He let go of her and looked to Maxie. The older girl was quite obviously not going to do the same. "It's good to see you too, Maxie." He looked between the two girls, his girls. "You two have grown so much."
"Well, you would've known that if you'd been here," Maxie sneered. "What do you want, Frisco?"
Felicia chuckled nervously, smiling. "I need to finish dinner," she said, glancing between father and daughter. "Mac, I could use your help." He opened his mouth to protest, but she stopped him. "Please," she said pointedly to him as she walked back into the kitchen. The Aussie followed her silently, shooting Frisco a look of warning.
"What are you doing here?" Maxie repeated.
"Maxie..." Georgie started.
"No, Georgie. He left. He can't just come back. I won't let him." She crossed her arms angrily. "It's not going to matter. He's just going to leave again."
Georgie looked up at her father. "Are you going to leave again, Dad?"
He frowned. "Probably. I can't make you any promises."
"See?" Maxie said, smiling superiorly at her younger sister. "So where's the little woman?"
Frisco looked down. He had expected attitude from her, he just didn't realize it would hurt so much. "Lucas told you, I see," he replied regretfully.
Georgie looked between them. "Little woman?"
"That's why I came by..."
"He's got a new family," Maxie finished for him.
"I did get married yesterday, but I do not have a new family," he assured them. "You are still my daughters and no woman is going to change that, certainly not my wife."
"Does she have kids?" Georgie asked, trying to hide her disappointment, just like her mother.
"No, she doesn't," he lied. Mentioning Mikey would just lead to too many questions that couldn't be answered.
"How long before you have more kids abandon?" Maxie asked, examining her nails boredly.
"I've already got you two, I'm not planning on any more."
She smiled insincerely. "Okay, great, you've passed on your news. Congratulations." She grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the door. "See ya later, Frisco."
"Maxie..."
"I don't want to hear it. You said what you came to say, now go."
Frisco glanced back at Georgie. "Fine, I'll go," he relented. He walked over to the desk and jotted the loft's address and his cell phone number on a piece of paper. "Here's my phone number and address," he said, handing the paper to Maxie. She just glared at him, not moving to take the paper or even acknowledge it. He sighed and tossed it back on the desk. "I'm going to be in town for awhile. I'd like to see you girls again."
"No."
"We'll see," Georgie said, looking pointedly at her sister. The same look Frisco and Mac had both gotten from Felicia earlier.
He had missed so much of his daughters' lives. They were so grown up now, young women, each with pieces of their mother. And none of what they were was because of him. "I'll let you girls get to your dinner. Tell your mother I said goodbye." Georgie gave him another hug, but Maxie continued to glare at him. As he walked to the door, he pulled his oldest daughter to him and kissed her temple. "Please call me," he pleaded softly. "See you around." He left, taking one last glance at his daughters. He had a job to get back to and that job was protecting Carly.
Chapter 8
◾ Tags:
