Building New Bridges - III - Visiting the Enemy

Alexis closed the door to her apartment, locking it behind her. She turned to look over at Sonny's penthouse. She didn't know if she should confront him about what had happened. She knew Sonny and Jax were not even close to being adversaries, so anything she said against Carly would only serve to anger the man. Still, she felt something should be said.

Walking over, she smiled at the guard outside. "Hi," she began, not really knowing if she was supposed to converse with these men.

The guard only acknowledged her with a nod.

"Um, is he in," she asked him, pointing to the closed door.

Again, a nod.

"Okay. Well, I'd like to see him. If you could--"

Before she could finish, he had opened the door, announced her, and waved her through.

"Hey, Alexis," Sonny greeted. He was standing over his desk, putting some papers together. "I was just about to step out."

"Don't worry, this won't take long."

Hearing the seriousness in her tone, Sonny glanced up to look at her. "Okay, what is it? Everything fine next door?"

She waved his concerns away. "Yes, the apartment is great. This is about... Well, it's about Carly."

"Okay," he said, nodding his head. "What happened," he asked. Though he was nervous, he made sure his tone didn't let on.

"It actually happenned a couple of nights ago. Thursday night to be exact."

Sonny nodded, remembering that was the night he had found her sitting on the docks. "What happened, Alexis," he asked again.

"I don't really know since I wasn't there, but somehow a fight got started at Jake's. Jax was there and, well, she dragged him into it." Though what Jax had told her himself was probably the exact opposite of what she was saying, she didn't care. In her eyes, Carly had been at fault for the ugly bruises and gash Jax still sported today.

Sonny tried to let the words sink in. "How did she drag him into it?"

"You of all people should know how Carly works. No situation is one she can handle on her own. She has to have someone, preferably a man, fight her battles for her. Look, I don't want to get into it, really. All I wanted you to know is that she's a loose cannon. She can blow whenever she wants to and whomever is around will have to suffer the consequences of her actions."

"So what do you want me to do," he asked her now. "I don't control Carly. In fact, she made it a point to let me know that the same night you're talking about." Sonny shrugged. "I'm not her keeper anymore. I don't control her and I don't think anyone can."

"Well, try Sonny. Because if she ever puts Jax in a position where he will be hurt, or even arrested again, she will be the one paying." Before Sonny could comment, Alexis turned and quickly left.

He ran a hand over his face, tired by the words just delivered to him. If he wasn't the wiser, he'd think Jax and Alexis were involved. But that couldn't be true because he saw more of Ned Ashton around than he ever cared to. And now Carly had somehow gotten herself involved with Jax, which didn't fare for either him nor apparently his new neighbor. He would definitely have to look into the situation.

Retuning his attention back to his business documents, a small smile twitched on the corners of Sonny's mouth. He would have paid good money to have seen Jax behind bars.

"Michael, don't throw the...sand," Carly finished as bits of sand came flying towards her.

Michael giggled at his mother, continuing to throw the sand with the minituare shovel he held in his hand.

"Stop it, Michael. I mean it," she told him, yanking the shovel out of his hands.

The little boy immediately became upset, his lower lip quivering slightly.

"Come on, Michael, don't cry," Carly pleaded with him. With Leticia off for the next two days, coinciding with her own time off, she would be the sole one responsible for taking care of Michael. Not that she couldn't do it, she was a very capable mother. But having Leticia had spoiled her in a way, and whenever the other woman wasn't around, Michael always felt he could get away with everything.

She watched as the little redhead got up, quickly running away from her.

"Michael, stop," she called after him, bolting up and going after him. She watched horrified as he disappeared around a grove of bushes. "Michael," she screamed, hurrying in her efforts to catch up to him.

Before she could stop herself, she slammed into large, well muscled form. Taking a few staggering steps back, she saw Jax holding on to Michael, who sported a gleeful smile, as he most often did.

"Are you all right," Jax asked, reaching out a hand to steady her. Carly waved him off, quickly picking her son out of his arms.

"Michael, don't you ever do that again," she told him shakily. Glancing quickly at Jax, she hugged her son closer to her chest even as he fought her affections off. "Thank you. I...He just...Thank you," she repeated, staring at the ground. Turning, she made her way back to the blanket.

"Wait," Jax called out, following her as she moved quickly away from him.

Setting Michael down on the blanket, Carly took a seat next to her son. Maybe if I pretend he's not there, he'll go away, she though to herself, setting playing blocks in front of Michael.

"Carly," Jax said, kneeling down beside her.

"What do you want," she asked him, barely controling her growing annoyance.

Taken aback by her sudden change in attitude, Jax stumbled for something to say. "I...I just wanted to thank you for the other night," he told her.

"Um, I didn't do anything," Carly returned, pointedly. "In fact, all the thanks goes to Alexis. I think you know where she lives," she finished, trying to focus her attention on her son.

Jax smirked. "I should know; I've been staying there since this happened," he said, pointing to the hospital bandaid over his eye.

Carly took a closer look at the wounds from that nightmarish night. Above his right eye, he wore a taped piece of gauze, but she could see the healing line of the cut from the sides. The eye just below that wasn't doing much better, but at least it openned. The whole right side of his face was bruised, the left side barely touched during the fight. 

"I'm...I'm sorry," she whispered, quickly averting her gaze back to Michael. She heard a rustling, turning in time to see Jax neatly compact his large form onto the small space that was left of the picnic blanket. "What are you doing," she asked, trying to look at him, but feeling more and more guilty each time she saw his bruised face.

"I'm joining you, if you don't mind," Jax said, trying to read her, a difficult task if he'd ever encountered one. "Why do change moods so quickly? Or better yet, how? It's amazing one minute you can be thankful, soon after angered, and the next shy."

"I'm not shy," Carly quickly said, finally staring him in the eye, willing him to get up and leave. "I have nothing to be shy about."

"Good, then. I wouldn't think my charm rubbed off that easily on women," Jax said with a sad smile.

Carly gave a small smile of her own, returning her attention to Michael. "You should probably go," she told him, rubbing her hand through Michael's red locks.

"Does that have anything to do with what happened the other night," he asked softly, watching her actions with her son. It brought back fond memories of when he was a small boy. His mother had loved doting on her two sons, often finding no reason at all to take them out.

She slid a glance towards him, seeing that he was watching her intently. "Alexis would throw a coniption fit if she saw you here with me," Carly told him. "And then, she would proceed to tell me how much of a bad influence I am on everyone in Port Charles, that is you, and how I should just crawl into a hole and die. Oh, she'd say it much nicer than that, but it's the meaning more than the delivery, if you know what I mean. So save us both the trouble, and just go."

"Is that what she said the other night," Jax asked. That certainly wasn't what Alexis had relayed to him on their way to General Hospital. In fact, she had assured him that nothing had been done to upset Carly and that she had left of her own free will.

Carly shrugged, starting to put up the lunch she and Michael had shared. "Not those exact words, pretty much the same meaning." Finally, she looked him in the eye. "It's okay. I'm sort of used to it by now."

"Carly, she really had no right. You didn't drag me into the fight and..." Jax was stopped when Carly held up her hand.

"It's okay. Really. I'm just sorry your face got so banged up," she told him. Closing the lid on the picnic basket, she started to gather Michael's toys together.

"I don't think it's that bad," Jax told her. If he didn't know any better, he'd think she was actually telling the truth. Jax began to shake his head at his own preconceived judgements of Carly. He barely knew the woman, but was calling her a liar.

"Are you okay," Carly asked. "Why are you shaking your head like that?"

"Nothing," Jax whispered, feeling ashamed at himself for holding prejudices against her. He got up, brushing the grass off the back of his jeans. "I guess I'll see you around," he said before giving a limp wave and walking away.

Carly watched him leave for a second before returning her attention to Michael.