The Story of Us ~* June*~      Part II   City Park: "What's this about mediation?" Sonny sat on the park bench drinking coffee from a Styrofoam cup. "I want to take Carly to court." "I'm sure you do." Dara answered calmly. "The question is how does that make you look? Don't you see Sonny? Justus is leading you around by the nose making you jump through hoops. He knows you've got a short fuse. He knows if he does this dog and pony show long enough you're going to snap and do or say something stupid and all he has to do is provide the independent witnesses." She reached into the deli bag and removed a sandwich, offering half to Sonny. "I hate doing this Sonny but I have to use my 'lawyer' voice. Do not make their case for them. If they want to try mediation you're going to not only go along with it you're going to support it. Embrace it. You're going to do everything but get 'My Child Custody Case Went to Mediation and All I Got Was This Lousy Tattoo' tattooed on your chest. Because mediation shows the court that you're thinking about the best interests of Michael and Morgan and not just thinking about destroying Carly." Sonny accepted the sandwich with a half smile. "That's one big tattoo." "Don't try to be charming. Just nod meekly and say 'Yes Dara'." "Yes Dara." "There. Was that so hard?" "Mmm." Sonny bit into the sandwich. "Why don't you like me?" Dara choked on her soda. "What?" "You heard me. All this time you've been working for me. You act like you can't stand me. I'm curious." "Sonny. . ." "Don't 'Sonny' me Counselor. You haven't backed down from telling me things I don't want to hear before. Why start now?" She dabbed at the corners of her mouth with a paper napkin. "You want to know the absolute truth?" "I wouldn't have asked if I didn't." Sonny looked at her intensely. "You piss me off Sonny. Not a little bit but truly and deeply and might I add thoroughly?" Dara blurted out. "I look at you and I see a reasonably intelligent man. Articulate, capable, able bodied, pleasant when he puts his mind to be so, and women find you good looking." Sonny puffed up a bit at that. "Thank you." "I'm not done yet." Dara shot back in the voice she normally reserved for hostile witnesses on the stand. "I look at everything that you've been blessed with and this is the best you can do? This life is the *best* thing that you can think of to apply yourself to? You like to play the victim 'oh I'm trapped'. You're not trapped Sonny. You're just lazy and that pisses me off. So to answer your question, no. Most of the time I don't like you very much." "I had to ask." Sonny rubbed his chin ruefully as if he'd just taken a hit. "So tell me Dara. What should I be when I grow up?" Sonny asked. "You could consider - oh, I don't know. Just off the top of my head, how about coffee importing?" "You think?" "Stranger things have happened." Dara brushed crumbs off her hands and stuff the wrappers back into the bag. "Think on this for a second. Jason Morgan a brain damaged hit man went from mob enforcer to CEO of a Fortune 500 company in less than a year. . ." "Jason's got a reason now." Sonny replied darkly. "Come off of it. You and Carly were married for how long? It never occurred to you? Don't make me revise the opinion that you're reasonably intelligent." Dara gathered up her things. "And in case it's slipped your mind? You've got two EXCELLENT reasons of your own named Michael and Morgan. If they aren't reason enough for you then all of this is for nothing." Sonny stood up when Dara did. "Come on." He said gruffly. "I'll walk you back to your office." "I can walk myself thanks." "I'll walk you back to your office." Sonny repeated slowly leaving no room for argument. "Do you ever actually hear the word 'no'? Or does it just go in one ear and come out the other?" "What word?" Sonny fell into step beside Dara her heels tap tap tapping on the cement along with his Italian loafers. They walked in silence until reaching the end of the docks where the Outback once was. A row of moderately priced office and Brownstone units had taken its place. Out in the Harbor several Coast Guard, Harbor Patrol and PCPD ships were surrounding one of Pride/Phillips cargo ships. Dara approached one of the passing dock workers. "Hey, what's going on out there?" The man shook his head. "Word is that they were bringing coke in." "Cocaine?" Sonny's eyebrows rose. "How much?" "Something like four ton." The man answered. "Rocky Pride's having a fit. They're going to tie up all of her ships until it gets sorted out." Dara looked at Sonny after the dock worker headed back down. "Doesn't Lorenzo Alcazar own half of Pride/Phillips?" Her body was tense and her eyes were locked on Sonny's face. "Yeah." Sonny drawled out slowly, seemingly unaware of Dara's scrutiny. "But Alcazar doesn't run drugs. If he did he'd never run four tons of coke through his own ships right into the harbor. It's got to be a set up. But who?" "That's a really good question." Sonny threw his hands up in the air. "I tell you Dara. I had nothing to do with it." "This isn't funny, if I find out you're running drugs you can kiss your legal council goodbye and say 'hello' to community soap at the PC Jail." "I'm not responsible for this. I'm not saying that seeing Alcazar go to prison for a nice long while would upset me, but four TONS of coke? That's somewhere in the neighborhood of two hundred and fifty million dollars. That's a little more cash than I've got on hand." "Jason?" "If Jason were sick of Alcazar he'd kill him not set him up. No, this is somebody else." City Park: "How about here?" Carly came to a stop a little ways away from the park fountain and spread a table cloth out under an oak tree. "I'm starving!" Michael dove into the picnic basket as soon as Jason set it down and started pulling out dishes and silverware. "Look Mom! Mrs. Landsbury doesn't know how to have a picnic. She put in *real* dishes and forks 'n stuff." "We'll just have to make do Mr. Man." Carly snickered as she reclined on their blanket with Morgan and watched as Jason and Michael set up the food. "It'll be hard but I think we can survive." She winked at Jason. "Peel me a grape would you?" "Gimme a minute." "Carly, if you don't mind I'm just going to go for a quick run." Mary set down Morgan's bag and Michael's soccer ball. "That is unless you guys need me?" "No. We're good." Carly dismissed the nanny before turning her full attention to Morgan who was busy trying to stuff a handful of dandelions into his mouth. "Nuh uh Morgan baby. No snacking before lunch." She pried the flowers from his tiny fingers and pulled up his t-shirt to blow a wet raspberry on his stomach sending him into fits of giggles. Jason just finished laying out the food when his cell phone rang. "Morgan." Watching out of the corner of her eye Carly followed Jason's side of the conversation which had his brow furrowed and his mouth set in a grim line. "No. Don't do anything. We'll just have to keep a closer eye on things but I don't want to make a move unless it's absolutely necessary." Jason stood up and walked a little distance off. "Don't change anything. The last thing we want is to make the PCPD think we have something to hide. ELQ shipment logs and records are open. Right. Okay keep me informed." Jason hung up and returned to the blanket, taking a seat beside Carly. He reached into the basket and retrieved a bundle of grapes. "They're not peeled but they'll have to do." Pulling one from its stem he tossed it in the air and caught it. "Mom I want to try out my new soccer ball. Can I?" Michael bounced the ball up and down on his knee. "Sure. Just stay close okay?" "Okay." Michael kicked the ball off towards the fountain and raced after it. "So, you want to tell me what that was all about?" Carly allowed Jason to lay the back of his head in her lap and took the grapes from him, holding them over his mouth. "A shipment of coke came into the harbor on one of Alcazar's boats." "What?" "A couple of tons. It's a set up. A pretty obvious one." "Sonny?" "No it's too sloppy. There's more. Someone's been leaking some information about Sonny's books to the IRS. Nothing big, just a tip here, a word there. It's all small stuff now but if it keeps up they're going to get him for RICO." "Will he go to prison?" "Probably not - but they'll be able to take everything, the casinos, the island, the penthouse." Jason fed Carly a grape. "I think someone's playing both sides against the middle. They're setting Alcazar and Sonny up." "But who? I mean aside from you and me who wins if Sonny and Alcazar take each other out?" "Whoever it is that's moving into Faith's territory. I don't think it's going to wind up in our backyard though, they don't have anything to gain by dragging us down." Settling back with one hand in Jason's hair, Carly shook her head. "I don't know if I want to send this guy an FTD 'Thank You' bouquet or be very afraid of him." She bit into a grape and rolled it over her tongue while the ideas rolled around in her brain. "I guess it's that whole enemy of my enemy is my friend thing. Would it be rude to tell whoever it is to hurry up before we get to court?" "A little. Yeah." Jason's cell rang. "Hey mister. Something in your pocket is ringing. Either that or you're just happy to see me." Carly teased. "Maybe it's a little of both." Jason pulled out his cell. "Yeah? Good. We'll talk tomorrow." He hung up and tossed it to one side. "Francis is getting in late tonight." "Well it's about damned time." Carly grumbled. "Did he ever tell you what bug got up his butt?" "No." Jason resumed his place on Carly's lap reaching out to pull Morgan onto his chest. "That could be because I didn't ask." "Jason! How am I supposed to know everything if you don't find out for me? Geesh! What good are you?" She waggled her eyebrows. "Okay, maybe I can think of a use or two." Bridge: "How is your new job?" "Mr. Alcazar!" Mary spun around to find Lorenzo Alcazar standing to one side of the small foot bridge in the park. "I wasn't expecting to see you!" "I told you I would keep in touch Mary." Lorenzo crossed the bridge. "I'd like a report on your progress." "So far it's been very good." Mary began to do her cool down stretches. "Both of the boys like me and I've gotten to be friendly with the rest of the staff from the guards down to the housekeeper Mrs. Landsbury." "What about Carly? Tell me about her life." "It's very structured. Everything in the house is run on a strict schedule." "Morgan's influence no doubt." "Actually I think it's for Carly's benefit. The house is run so that she doesn't have to worry over inconsequential things. Everything is designed to keep her from having a migraine." "Does she get them often?" "I've been there several weeks now and I've only seen one. They're very debilitating. I can see why everyone would be interested in preventing them. Anyway the custody fight between her and Mr. Corinthos sounds like it's going to be ugly." "I can't imagine anything between Carly and Sonny being any other way." Alcazar mused. "Tell me about Jason Morgan. Where does he fit into all of this?" Mary chose her words carefully. "Jason is the one who makes things work. Carly has the ideas of what she wants, Jason makes it happen." She steeled herself and spoke again. "I've done what you wanted. I got you all the information you asked for. Will you tell me where my husband is?" Alcazar considered the request for a moment. "Not just yet. I want to see what else you can find out." "How can you look at yourself in the mirror? How dare you hold my husband's dead body hostage?" Mary's black eyes flashed with hellfire. "You're interested in Carly's relationship with Jason? Do you want me to bring you pictures? I can cut Jason's head out of them and you can glue your head on them. Will that make you feel better? Will that jumpstart the ice water in your veins and possibly inspire a human emotion?" "You've made your deal." Alcazar replied neutrally. "And now you have to honor it." "I have honored it you son of a bitch. You came to me and told me you could retrieve Connor's body!" "I did." "But you won't tell me where he's buried! I did what you wanted! Why are you torturing me?" "Don't think of it as torture. It's a business arrangement. I get Carly back, you'll get your husband." Alcazar laid a hand on Mary's thin shoulder and squeezed just to the point of pain. "If you even consider double crossing me I can promise you that I'll dispose of Connor's body in a compost heap in Tucson." "You're sick. No wonder Carly won't have anything to do with you. You're an animal." Mary spit out venomously "Just do your job and don't question me. We'll all get what we want." "I want you to burn in hell." "Eventually you'll get that too." Alcazar pushed her away. "Go." Brownstone: "Sorry Guy. There's no way I'm going out tonight." Lucas pulled the Jeep up to the front of the Brownstone and climbed out while still talking on his cell. "Why not? I'm exhausted. I can't tell who's a worse taskmaster; Lucy or Carly! Anyway I rented some movies and got some take-out. I'm just gonna chill out for a little bit." Lucas juggled the bags while unlocking the front door. "No you go ahead. I'll expect a full report in the morning." Finally off the phone and in the house, Lucas breathed a sigh of relief. Guy was without a doubt his best friend, and he loved his family, but the thought of spending an uninterrupted night alone was what kept him going through a long, boring day at the Charles Street Clinic. He could have found a different i.e 'better paying' summer job now that his father was moving to Baltimore to accept a job offer at John Hopkins. But even though Lucas didn't have any medical aspirations he enjoyed working with the diabetes day camp in the summer time. Walking into the living room, Lucas sorted out the day's mail on the dining room table for his mother and flopped down on the sofa, toeing off his sneakers. There were so many changes happening all at once it was hard to wrap his brain around all of them. His dad's job offer had come out of the conference he'd attended for three weeks and was enough of a career boost that he didn't have any choice but to take it. He'd tried to convince Lucas to go with him and spend the summer in Baltimore, but Lucas didn't feel like being uprooted. Not when there wasn't any better reason for it than his dad's dislike, putting it mildly, for Carly. Then there was his mom coming back home and bringing Luke, Lucky and Lulu with her. The contractors were supposed to come in the morning and get to work making the downstairs of the Brownstone more accessible for Luke which Lucas knew his uncle would hate but it was a necessary evil. Luke would be living with Lu in the garden apartment with Lucky moving in upstairs to Scott Baldwin's old place. It had been a long time since the place was filled up and Lucas was glad for the fact his mother wouldn't be on her own once he went to college. Even though on the surface all of the changes were for the good, they were still changes. It seemed like the world was spinning a little bit faster these days and Lucas constantly felt like he was struggling to keep up with it. Pulling out a Styrofoam carton, Lucas opened it to reveal a bacon cheeseburger and curly fries. He put in the first movie of his 'So Bad They're Classic' marathon, starting with, of course, 'Attack of the Killer Tomatoes'. He was finished with his dinner and half way through the movie, feeling more relaxed than he had in a couple of weeks when the doorbell rang. With a sigh Lucas pulled his feet off the coffee table and walked to the front door. "If you're here to convert me you should know I'm a practicing Satan worshipper and I'm in the middle of a virgin sacrifice." "Wow. Cool. It's just like I never left." The voice sounded so familiar but it took Lucas a minute before it finally hit him. "TOMMY?" He unlocked the door and threw it open. "I can't believe it!" The role of Tommy Hardy is being played by this man "Hey Lucas! Long time no see." Stepping through the threshold Tommy shook Lucas' held out hand and pulled him into a hug with a strong slap on the back. "When did you get back?" "Just today. Gram picked me up at he airport this afternoon." "What? So it was just a spur of the moment thing?" Lucas waved him into the living room. "It's been what? Like five years since you've been back!" "I know. It's unreal. It was sort of planned. I applied for med school at PCU." Tommy sat down in one of the chairs on either side of the sofa. "And I got accepted but I didn't know if I was going to be able to make it home in time to start or not." "So you're sticking around? That's great!" Lucas sat on the sofa. "Last time I heard about you, you were in the Sudan with your mom? Is that right?" Tommy nodded. "Yeah. That's part of the reason I didn't know if I was going to make it in time or not. Dad's been working in Zambia and I wasn't about to leave Mom in Darfur by herself." "It's bad? We don't get much on the news about it. Maybe a two minute blurb now and then." "Take the worst thing you can imagine. Then make it worse." Tommy sighed. "But you know my mom. She's not going anywhere so long as she's needed. Dad's the same way but he hasn't dug his heels in the way she has. If he hadn't agreed to join her I wouldn't have left school or no school." Tommy finally smiled. "But I'm home now. At least til I get my MD/PhD." "You're doing both?" Lucas whistled. "Man you *are* crazy." "Like there was ever any doubt about that." Tommy laughed. "So what's been up with you? I get bits and pieces of information from Gram. So you graduated yes?" Lucas grinned. "Thank God. I mean - yeah. Commencement was a couple of weeks ago. I start at PCU in the fall. I'm working at the Charles Street Clinic doing the diabetes day camp thing again. Dad's in Baltimore, Mom's in Paris, my uncle Luke had an accident." "How bad?" "Messed up his legs pretty badly he's in physical therapy. Mom and Lucky are helping him, they're coming back in the next week or two." "So you're here by yourself?" "Nah - I'm living with Carly and Jason. Just til Mom gets back." "Carly and Jason? Huh? See?! I go away for five years and I miss all the good stuff!" "You think that's good? You don't know the half of it." 1825 Falling Waters: "Bout time you got back." Jason appeared in the doorway of Francis' office. "Jason. I've already talked to Ethan but you need to talk to Carly. I understand she's pissed but Ethan is Michael's guard. She can't change that." "She can if she doesn't think Michael's safe with him." "That's bull. She's ticked off but Ethan is the best we've got. There is no way Sonny was leaving that school with Michael." "Fine. You sell it to her. I'm staying out of it." "I know it wasn't the best time for me to take time off but trust me when I tell you I was actually trying to prevent a lot more stress." "I'm staying out of it." Jason repeated. "Your and Carly's problems with Ethan." His gaze never wavered. "And your problems with Lucas." Francis choked on a mouthful of coffee, gasping as it went down the wrong pipe. "Wha-" "I don't care so long as it doesn't interfere with how the house runs." Jason didn't give Francis a chance to start denying it. Lucas and Carly weren't biologically related but enough of Carly had rubbed off on Lucas that Jason was familiar with the warning signs. Even if he didn't have suspicions before Francis left town the unexpected vacation would have raised some doubts. "There's nothing going on." Francis state emphatically. "I'm telling you Jason. There is nothing to be worried about." "I'm not worried. It's none of my business." Jason turned to walk out. "How did you know?" Looking over his shoulder Jason tossed back. "Because his sister used to look at me the same way."