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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 4
Carly groaned as her cell phone rang. She was still talking to Luke in his office, enjoying his private stash of scotch while she explained her situation. She didn't need to look at her phone to see who was calling, the phone was Frisco's leash on her. As long as she had it, he could pull her back in, no matter where she hid.
Luke seemed to read her mind. "The old man tightening the leash?" he asked amusedly as Carly searched for her phone.
"Of course," she groaned, rolling her eyes. "God, he gets on my nerves."
"Welcome to married life," he snickered.
She chose not to reply to that. "What do you want?" she snapped into the phone.
"Where are you?" Frisco demanded.
"Luke's club, back in his office," she answered curtly, then hung up. "He'll be here shortly," she told her uncle.
"Can't leave you alone for five minutes, huh?"
She grimaced. "Well, I can't blame him totally. I do have this incredible ability to find trouble without even trying."
Luke smirked proudly. "A Spencer trait, I'm afraid."
"Don't tell him that," Carly said, rolling her eyes in annoyance. "He'd probably lock me up."
Carly was sitting alone in Luke's office when Frisco arrived. Her uncle had left a few minutes earlier, telling her not to wreck his office in their newly wedded bliss. Ha ha, she'd thought sarcastically, wondering what ever possessed her to actually miss him. "Find Tony?" she asked as Frisco stormed through the door.
"Let's go. We're going to go find the girls and then we're out of here," the agent snapped. "What the hell are you doing back here anyway?"
"Having a drink with Luke. What else would I be doing in here?"
Anger flashed across his face. "You talked to Luke?" he asked incredulously.
"Yeah," she answered, shrugging. "So?"
His hands immediately went to his head, a move she recognized as disbelieving frustration. "Please tell me you didn't tell him who you were," he pleaded.
"I didn't have to!" she scoffed. "He recognized me."
He walked around to face her, his hand resting on the back of the chair. "He recognized you?" His voice was dripping with sarcasm.
She shrugged again, sipping her drink. "He never believed Charlotte. He saw me here and he wanted to know what was up."
"You didn't have to tell him anything!" he yelled.
She rolled her eyes and stood up. "You know you can trust Luke. He is your friend, after all."
"Luke always operates on his own agenda," he argued.
"Not where I'm concerned," Carly countered, crossing her arms smugly. "Remember, I'm his niece, whether he likes me or not. And Spencers always stick together."
"Nicely put, Caroline," Luke said from the doorway.
She smirked at Frisco. He rolled his eyes at her and looked back to see his old friend. "I wouldn't know about family loyalty," he said irritably. "Mine seems to lack that."
"What? Tony's a lot of things, but he's loyal to you to a fault," Luke replied, walking around to sit behind his desk.
"He sure has a funny way of showing it," Frisco grumbled, sitting in the chair Carly had just vacated.
"He didn't take the news about Carly too well, huh?"
Carly looked at her new husband in shock. "You told him about me?"
"No!" Frisco replied defensively. He frowned. "All I told him was that I was married. He wasn't very nice about it."
Luke shrugged. "What do you expect? When was the last time you even talked to him?"
"It's been too long, but he could've saved the lecture for five minutes at least," he grumbled.
"He's just a little upset with you. He'll get over it in a couple days."
"We won't be here in a couple days."
Luke glanced between the two. "Leaving already?"
"Shouldn't have come here in the first place," Frisco said, looking at his wife pointedly.
"Tony will be even more pissed if you leave now," the older man reminded him.
"Tony gets pissed off at everything I do. It would be nice if he'd just get off his damn high horse for once. It's not like he's a saint either."
Luke laughed. Both Carly and Frisco looked at each other, finding only confusion in the other. "What's so funny?" the agent asked.
"Just imagining Tony's face when you tell him who the little woman really is," the older man snickered.
"Oh, I'm sure Tony will give him a complete run down of every reason not to get involved with me," Carly replied sulkily. "Speaking from experience, of course."
"I don't need him telling me any of that," Frisco huffed. "I already have a whole set of reasons of my own."
"Like what?" she demanded offendedly.
He smiled resentfully. "How about dragging me into a risky situation without a plan and blowing my cover for starters," he said, batting his eyes, mocking her.
God, she wanted to slug him. He was never going to stop rubbing that in, she just knew he wouldn't. "I had a plan!" she protested.
"What was it? Stand there staring at him like an idiot?"
"I was not!"
"Were too! The only thing you managed to do was get us in a big mess!"
"It isn't that bad," she argued, shaking her head. "You've been in worse situations."
"What?" he scoffed. "Tony's the forgiving one! If his reaction's any indication, Felicia is going to kill me! God only knows how pissed off Maxie will be!"
"You think Georgie won't be mad?" Luke asked skeptically.
"She won't have to be. Maxie'll be mad enough for the both of them," he said contemptuously, contempt that was meant for himself.
"What makes you say that? Not that I disagree with you."
The agent looked down dejectedly. "She's too much like me. Not a good omen."
"Maybe you should've stayed."
He met the other man's critical gaze. "Yeah, but I had good reasons to stay away."
Luke settled back in his chair. "Like what?" he asked suspiciously
Frisco glanced at Carly. "I can't talk about it right now."
"After all these years, I'd have thought you could've come up with a better excuse."
He shot him a dirty look. "I don't need any lectures on fatherhood from you, Luke."
"No lecture, just a statement."
"Whatever."
"I can't believe we're doing this," Carly said as they stood in the elevator of Haborview Towers.
"We need a place to stay, Carly," Frisco told her, his voice still laced with a tinged with anger.
"We had a place."
"I don't know about you, but I don't really want to go back to slum central. Besides, she made us the offer, it would be rude to not show up now," he replied as the elevator doors opened.
They stepped out to find Johnny standing guard outside the penthouse's door. Carly couldn't look at him. She just couldn't. He was a reminder of what she'd lost. He eyed her oddly as Frisco approached him. She just looked at her feet silently.
"Mr. or Mrs. Corinthos in?" the agent asked.
"Are they expecting you?" the guard replied, still eyeing Carly.
"I think so. Courtney said she was going to leave keys for us with her brother."
"Just a moment." Johnny stepped inside, but quickly returned, followed by Sonny. "Come on in," the mob boss said, ushering them inside, Johnny retaking his position outside. "Robin, right?" he asked Carly. She tried to smile happily, only nodding her answer, trying to hide how unnerved she was at facing her husband. Ex-husband, she corrected herself. He turned to Frisco, putting his hands in his pockets. "Agent Jones," he said, a slight hint of amusement in his voice. "It is still Agent Jones, isn't it?"
Frisco glanced at Carly. She saw the resigned anger in his eyes. "No, I'm not on duty right now. Just plain, old Frisco Jones for the moment," he lied.
Sonny walked over to the desk and grabbed an envelope. "Here, Jason left this for you," he said, handing it to them. "Keys and directions to the loft."
"Tell Jason and Courtney thanks."
"I will." Sonny rubbed his bottom lip with his thumb. "How is Robin doing?" he asked, glancing at Frisco cautiously.
"She's good."
"Her health is okay? She's not sick?"
"No, her health is great. She's great. She's happy."
Sonny nodded. "That's good. I still think about her sometimes."
"I'm sure she'd appreciate your concern," Frisco replied unemotionally.
"Tell her..." Sonny trailed off, his attention drawn away by his name being called from upstairs. Charlotte came down the stairs, looking surprised to find Frisco and Carly in the penthouse. "Tell her I said hello," he finished, turning back to them. The two women glared at each other. Frisco sighed softly, looking between them. "Carly, did you ever met Tony's brother?" Sonny asked his wife as she walked to his side. "Andrew here is the infamous Frisco Jones."
"Is he," she said, raising an intrigued eyebrow.
"How's it going, Carly?" he asked Charlotte, grabbing Carly's hand to ground her. Remind her she wasn't the Carly Port Charles knew.
"I'm good. Jason told me you were going to be staying in the loft for a while," Charlotte said, touching her swollen belly and smiling superiorly at her former friend.
"Just until we decide if we're going to stay."
"Well, I'm sure Tony will be happy if you did. Mom, too."
"Yeah, right," Frisco snorted irritably.
Carly squeezed his hand bewilderedly. She'd never seen him lose his cool. Being emotionally unhinged was her thing, not his. He was the one who spent years undercover, lying to everyone he came across. Usually, he was so good at it, even she couldn't tell he was lying. Frisco Jones did not get flustered like this. "Tony's a bit of a sore subject right now," she told them, glaring at her husband.
"I bet Felicia will be happy," Sonny added. "She still speaks of you often."
"That's nice," Frisco replied in a sarcastic tone only Carly recognized. "We should get going. Will you let Courtney and Jason know we said thank you?"
"Of course," Sonny replied, smiling at the couple. "We're going to be having a party for them before they leave, sort of a belated wedding reception. You're both welcome to join us. Your daughters too if they're interested, since you've got a wedding celebrate as well."
"Sure. Just give us a call and let us know the details." Frisco gave them a weak lopsided grin. "You know where we're staying."
Carly gave Sonny a wave and shot Charlotte another look before following Frisco out the door. "You wanna tell me what that was?" she whispered while they waited for the elevator.
"Nothing."
"Nothing?" she repeated disbelievingly. "You practically lost it in there! How is this any different than any other situation we've be in before?"
"This is my life, not some cover story, Carly," he said touchily. "At least they don't know who you are. You can still be whoever you want."
She turned to look at him. He wasn't the only one whose life was on the line here, figuratively speaking. "This is my life, too. That is my husband in there," she reminded him, pointing back to the doors as if the penthouse was still on the other side.
"No, I'm your husband and we both need to get used to that."
Frisco's reply sounded more like an order to Carly. The elevator doors opened and she stepped out, rolling her eyes with a sigh. "Doesn't change anything. I'm still stuck with you, same as before."
"Well, I love you too, Carly," he shot back. "Let's go get settled. I need to find my daughters."
Chapter 6
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 4
Carly groaned as her cell phone rang. She was still talking to Luke in his office, enjoying his private stash of scotch while she explained her situation. She didn't need to look at her phone to see who was calling, the phone was Frisco's leash on her. As long as she had it, he could pull her back in, no matter where she hid.
Luke seemed to read her mind. "The old man tightening the leash?" he asked amusedly as Carly searched for her phone.
"Of course," she groaned, rolling her eyes. "God, he gets on my nerves."
"Welcome to married life," he snickered.
She chose not to reply to that. "What do you want?" she snapped into the phone.
"Where are you?" Frisco demanded.
"Luke's club, back in his office," she answered curtly, then hung up. "He'll be here shortly," she told her uncle.
"Can't leave you alone for five minutes, huh?"
She grimaced. "Well, I can't blame him totally. I do have this incredible ability to find trouble without even trying."
Luke smirked proudly. "A Spencer trait, I'm afraid."
"Don't tell him that," Carly said, rolling her eyes in annoyance. "He'd probably lock me up."
Carly was sitting alone in Luke's office when Frisco arrived. Her uncle had left a few minutes earlier, telling her not to wreck his office in their newly wedded bliss. Ha ha, she'd thought sarcastically, wondering what ever possessed her to actually miss him. "Find Tony?" she asked as Frisco stormed through the door.
"Let's go. We're going to go find the girls and then we're out of here," the agent snapped. "What the hell are you doing back here anyway?"
"Having a drink with Luke. What else would I be doing in here?"
Anger flashed across his face. "You talked to Luke?" he asked incredulously.
"Yeah," she answered, shrugging. "So?"
His hands immediately went to his head, a move she recognized as disbelieving frustration. "Please tell me you didn't tell him who you were," he pleaded.
"I didn't have to!" she scoffed. "He recognized me."
He walked around to face her, his hand resting on the back of the chair. "He recognized you?" His voice was dripping with sarcasm.
She shrugged again, sipping her drink. "He never believed Charlotte. He saw me here and he wanted to know what was up."
"You didn't have to tell him anything!" he yelled.
She rolled her eyes and stood up. "You know you can trust Luke. He is your friend, after all."
"Luke always operates on his own agenda," he argued.
"Not where I'm concerned," Carly countered, crossing her arms smugly. "Remember, I'm his niece, whether he likes me or not. And Spencers always stick together."
"Nicely put, Caroline," Luke said from the doorway.
She smirked at Frisco. He rolled his eyes at her and looked back to see his old friend. "I wouldn't know about family loyalty," he said irritably. "Mine seems to lack that."
"What? Tony's a lot of things, but he's loyal to you to a fault," Luke replied, walking around to sit behind his desk.
"He sure has a funny way of showing it," Frisco grumbled, sitting in the chair Carly had just vacated.
"He didn't take the news about Carly too well, huh?"
Carly looked at her new husband in shock. "You told him about me?"
"No!" Frisco replied defensively. He frowned. "All I told him was that I was married. He wasn't very nice about it."
Luke shrugged. "What do you expect? When was the last time you even talked to him?"
"It's been too long, but he could've saved the lecture for five minutes at least," he grumbled.
"He's just a little upset with you. He'll get over it in a couple days."
"We won't be here in a couple days."
Luke glanced between the two. "Leaving already?"
"Shouldn't have come here in the first place," Frisco said, looking at his wife pointedly.
"Tony will be even more pissed if you leave now," the older man reminded him.
"Tony gets pissed off at everything I do. It would be nice if he'd just get off his damn high horse for once. It's not like he's a saint either."
Luke laughed. Both Carly and Frisco looked at each other, finding only confusion in the other. "What's so funny?" the agent asked.
"Just imagining Tony's face when you tell him who the little woman really is," the older man snickered.
"Oh, I'm sure Tony will give him a complete run down of every reason not to get involved with me," Carly replied sulkily. "Speaking from experience, of course."
"I don't need him telling me any of that," Frisco huffed. "I already have a whole set of reasons of my own."
"Like what?" she demanded offendedly.
He smiled resentfully. "How about dragging me into a risky situation without a plan and blowing my cover for starters," he said, batting his eyes, mocking her.
God, she wanted to slug him. He was never going to stop rubbing that in, she just knew he wouldn't. "I had a plan!" she protested.
"What was it? Stand there staring at him like an idiot?"
"I was not!"
"Were too! The only thing you managed to do was get us in a big mess!"
"It isn't that bad," she argued, shaking her head. "You've been in worse situations."
"What?" he scoffed. "Tony's the forgiving one! If his reaction's any indication, Felicia is going to kill me! God only knows how pissed off Maxie will be!"
"You think Georgie won't be mad?" Luke asked skeptically.
"She won't have to be. Maxie'll be mad enough for the both of them," he said contemptuously, contempt that was meant for himself.
"What makes you say that? Not that I disagree with you."
The agent looked down dejectedly. "She's too much like me. Not a good omen."
"Maybe you should've stayed."
He met the other man's critical gaze. "Yeah, but I had good reasons to stay away."
Luke settled back in his chair. "Like what?" he asked suspiciously
Frisco glanced at Carly. "I can't talk about it right now."
"After all these years, I'd have thought you could've come up with a better excuse."
He shot him a dirty look. "I don't need any lectures on fatherhood from you, Luke."
"No lecture, just a statement."
"Whatever."
"I can't believe we're doing this," Carly said as they stood in the elevator of Haborview Towers.
"We need a place to stay, Carly," Frisco told her, his voice still laced with a tinged with anger.
"We had a place."
"I don't know about you, but I don't really want to go back to slum central. Besides, she made us the offer, it would be rude to not show up now," he replied as the elevator doors opened.
They stepped out to find Johnny standing guard outside the penthouse's door. Carly couldn't look at him. She just couldn't. He was a reminder of what she'd lost. He eyed her oddly as Frisco approached him. She just looked at her feet silently.
"Mr. or Mrs. Corinthos in?" the agent asked.
"Are they expecting you?" the guard replied, still eyeing Carly.
"I think so. Courtney said she was going to leave keys for us with her brother."
"Just a moment." Johnny stepped inside, but quickly returned, followed by Sonny. "Come on in," the mob boss said, ushering them inside, Johnny retaking his position outside. "Robin, right?" he asked Carly. She tried to smile happily, only nodding her answer, trying to hide how unnerved she was at facing her husband. Ex-husband, she corrected herself. He turned to Frisco, putting his hands in his pockets. "Agent Jones," he said, a slight hint of amusement in his voice. "It is still Agent Jones, isn't it?"
Frisco glanced at Carly. She saw the resigned anger in his eyes. "No, I'm not on duty right now. Just plain, old Frisco Jones for the moment," he lied.
Sonny walked over to the desk and grabbed an envelope. "Here, Jason left this for you," he said, handing it to them. "Keys and directions to the loft."
"Tell Jason and Courtney thanks."
"I will." Sonny rubbed his bottom lip with his thumb. "How is Robin doing?" he asked, glancing at Frisco cautiously.
"She's good."
"Her health is okay? She's not sick?"
"No, her health is great. She's great. She's happy."
Sonny nodded. "That's good. I still think about her sometimes."
"I'm sure she'd appreciate your concern," Frisco replied unemotionally.
"Tell her..." Sonny trailed off, his attention drawn away by his name being called from upstairs. Charlotte came down the stairs, looking surprised to find Frisco and Carly in the penthouse. "Tell her I said hello," he finished, turning back to them. The two women glared at each other. Frisco sighed softly, looking between them. "Carly, did you ever met Tony's brother?" Sonny asked his wife as she walked to his side. "Andrew here is the infamous Frisco Jones."
"Is he," she said, raising an intrigued eyebrow.
"How's it going, Carly?" he asked Charlotte, grabbing Carly's hand to ground her. Remind her she wasn't the Carly Port Charles knew.
"I'm good. Jason told me you were going to be staying in the loft for a while," Charlotte said, touching her swollen belly and smiling superiorly at her former friend.
"Just until we decide if we're going to stay."
"Well, I'm sure Tony will be happy if you did. Mom, too."
"Yeah, right," Frisco snorted irritably.
Carly squeezed his hand bewilderedly. She'd never seen him lose his cool. Being emotionally unhinged was her thing, not his. He was the one who spent years undercover, lying to everyone he came across. Usually, he was so good at it, even she couldn't tell he was lying. Frisco Jones did not get flustered like this. "Tony's a bit of a sore subject right now," she told them, glaring at her husband.
"I bet Felicia will be happy," Sonny added. "She still speaks of you often."
"That's nice," Frisco replied in a sarcastic tone only Carly recognized. "We should get going. Will you let Courtney and Jason know we said thank you?"
"Of course," Sonny replied, smiling at the couple. "We're going to be having a party for them before they leave, sort of a belated wedding reception. You're both welcome to join us. Your daughters too if they're interested, since you've got a wedding celebrate as well."
"Sure. Just give us a call and let us know the details." Frisco gave them a weak lopsided grin. "You know where we're staying."
Carly gave Sonny a wave and shot Charlotte another look before following Frisco out the door. "You wanna tell me what that was?" she whispered while they waited for the elevator.
"Nothing."
"Nothing?" she repeated disbelievingly. "You practically lost it in there! How is this any different than any other situation we've be in before?"
"This is my life, not some cover story, Carly," he said touchily. "At least they don't know who you are. You can still be whoever you want."
She turned to look at him. He wasn't the only one whose life was on the line here, figuratively speaking. "This is my life, too. That is my husband in there," she reminded him, pointing back to the doors as if the penthouse was still on the other side.
"No, I'm your husband and we both need to get used to that."
Frisco's reply sounded more like an order to Carly. The elevator doors opened and she stepped out, rolling her eyes with a sigh. "Doesn't change anything. I'm still stuck with you, same as before."
"Well, I love you too, Carly," he shot back. "Let's go get settled. I need to find my daughters."
Chapter 6
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