Chapter 1

“Whoa! Slow down Miss Webber.” Jax said as his hands came down on the shoulders of of the petite girl who had just about toppled him to the floor with her mad rush out the door of Kelly’s. Once he was sure that she had her balance back, he let go of her.

“Oh! Sorry Mr. Jacks.” Liz stammered out, still dazed by being startled. “I uh, I’m so sorry. I was just in a hurry.” Her cheeks suddenly turned a soft pink in what Jax assumed was embarrassment.

“I can see that.” Jax answered. “Please don’t let me stand in your way.” He said as he held the door wide open for her and stepped aside allowing her room to go through.

“Thanks Mr. Jacks.” Liz said on her way out.

“No problem, just be careful. Next time you could run into Jerry, and we both know he’s such a terrible guy.” Jax teased with a wink as they both laughed at his comments.

Once Liz was safely out the door and on her way Jax closed the door and went to sit down at a corner table to wait for Tammy to bring his usual - hot coffee, black. Funny, Tammy never even bothered to ask him anymore, she just saw him coming and poured him a cup of coffee. Sometimes he’d order a bowl of chili if he came in the evening, but today it was mid-afternoon, coffee was suffice.

“So any deadly takeovers today?” Tammy teased as she set his cup of coffee in front of him and plopped down in the chair across from him. She showed him her bright smile that always seemed to make her customers problems seem insignificant.

“Hello to you too, Tammy.” Jax laughed. The woman always seemed to make him feel at ease. This had become somewhat of a daily habit for the two of them. He’d come in to wait for Jerry, or to wait for no one at all and she’d come over and make small talk. She said she liked to get to know her regulars. And she was good at it, Jax noticed, she knew all her regulars by name, knew their occupations, their family members, practically their life story, and still managed to get their usual orders right every time. Brenda would have liked her, he thought shortly.

He couldn’t deny that a part of the reason he came to Kelly’s was just to feel close to a part of Brenda that had held this place special, but it was definitely Tammy’s friendly company that kept him coming so frequently. In fact he knew that’s how she kept most of her customers coming in, she was such a friendly person that always seemed to genuinely care about you.

“Have you seen Jerry lately? I was hoping to catch him here so I could catch up on some business.”

“He was here, but he took Bobbie out about half an hour ago. Something about a surprise, I think.”

“Ah, so he finally got up the nerve.” Jax said with a grin that copied that of the cat who caught the canary.

“Why, Mr. Jacks, you know something I don’t? Tammy asked in a mock gossip air.

Jax intentionally took a slow sip of his coffee before he answered Tammy. “From the way that brother of mine has been talking, I’m pretty sure I have an idea of what he’s doing. You didn’t hear it from me, but come tomorrow Ms. Spencer might have something on her ring finger.”

“Really!” Tammy squealed. Jax raised an eyebrow at her, to which she responded, “My lips are sealed, I promise.”

Jax took another sip of his coffee and watched Tammy got through the feminine delight of excitement. He didn’t understand it but all women seemed to make a big deal over every little thing. Okay so a possible engagement wasn’t exactly a little thing, but he knew that Tammy’s reaction would be the same if she had just bought a new pair of shoes that matched of her dresses perfectly.

If only his life could be as simple as buying a new pair of shoes, Jax thought. Lately he found himself thinking about Brenda more frequently. Not that he didn’t think about her every day to begin with, but well he didn’t know how to explain it. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that the one-year anniversary of her death was looming ahead of him. He wouldn’t dwell on the fact that they almost had everything, but of the time they had been grateful to share. To echo the sentiment he had heard Liz say once at Lucky’s memorial, He was thankful to be the man that she had loved.

Jax let his thoughts wander to his dinner business meeting later that night as he listened to Tammy’s chatter break the monotone silence of the afternoon lull. He had a piece of challenging work ahead of him. Dinner with Helena Cassadine could either make or break his evening. Just what he needed for a day like this.

~*~*~

Mac Scorpio folded his hands behind his head, laid his head in his palms, leaned back in the big brown leather commissioner chair, and propped his feet up on his desk. In his head, he could hear Felicia scolding him for having him put his feet on the furniture. It’s not a good example for the girls, she’d tell him. But feeling grumpy, he reminded himself that the girls weren’t anywhere in sight, nor was Felicia for that matter, so he could act like a hooligan if the desire struck him.

He was tired. Spending four hours drone on and on about the traffic conditions of Port Charles would tire anyone out. The man needed to put more enthusiasm in his voice; he was too monotone. The meeting had taken up the better part of his Monday afternoon and now he was resting, waiting to pack up and leave soon.

Traffic conditions! Is that all the excitement he was allowed to have these days? Why was it that Robert had gotten adventure and here he was stuck with a police station that couldn’t solve a simple crime? It didn’t seem fair, Mac sighed. But than it wasn’t fair that Robert was no longer around and he was. Somehow, Mac felt that if Robert were back in his old job, the police department wouldn’t be in the state that it was. Impossibilities had been Robert’s specialty.

Mac grinned while thinking about some of the good, but brief times he had gone off in search of a missing Anna and ended up dead. They had feuded far too long, he should have always been a part of his brother’s life. But Scorpios were stubborn, and neither had wanted to give in. In the end, he was happy that they had, because he missed his brother. He missed being a brother.

Mac instinctively reached for the phone like he always did when his thoughts drifted to Robert. His last promise to his brother had been to take care of his little girl, Robin. Thinking about Robert gave him an urge to find out how Robin was doing in Paris.

He cradled the phone in his hand as he settled his feet back on the ground. It wouldn’t be right to accidentally fall out of his chair while talking to Robin. Not that he would or anything, but certain blonde’s warning voice was going through his mind so he did what he could quiet it for the moment.

Thinking about Robin, he realized he wasn’t sure if he had done right by raising her. Her life had been so complicated in the last few years, but she’d always led a complicated life when her parents were alive. He was sure that his niece was one of the strongest women he’d ever known, and that he credited to her parents. They would be so proud of her, just as he was. She stood up the face of adversity and achieved so much. She definitely wasn’t the little girl that her parents had left him anymore, but a full-grown Scorpio woman. And she deserved the best, at least in his eyes. To him, nothing was ever good enough for her, but the Sorbonne was lucky to have such a fine lady.

Mac leaned over to finally dial the international number that he had long ago memorized. To his surprise, there wasn’t a dial tone, but a voice calling hello to him. A voice he knew and hadn’t heard in quite awhile, although a few members of his family recently had.

“Frisco?”

~*~*~

Sometime during the night, his only source of light, the fluorescent light above his bed, turned off. He didn’t have any control over when the light turned on and off, it just did. With his room pitch dark, the only thing he could do was sleep, even when he wasn’t tired.

He didn’t want to succumb to sleep, not tonight. He was too restless. Today hadn’t been a good day. He had felt himself going slightly crazy and had screamed his lungs out, but to no avail. No one ever answered his cries. At least no one who could do anything about them.

Sure his friend on the other side talked to him, but what was the use if all he could do was talk to him? He wanted out, now, so he kicked the wall by his bed. Hard. Now his foot hurt. Well at least he something to think about besides being stuck in this forsaken room.

“Hey, mate, you okay?”

“Yeah man, just frustrated.” No I’m going crazy in here. “Sorry ‘bout that. Did I wake you?”

“No. Sleep doesn’t come easy here.”

“Man, tell me about it. I used to be able to sleep anywhere, but not this place.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean.”

Silence filled the rooms. An eerie silence that reminded the two why they stayed up late talking most nights. At least they figured it was night, without any windows it was hard to tell.

“Hey Lucky, can you do whatever you did to the wall again?”

“Yeah, why?” Lucky asked as he sat up in bed rubbing his foot. He’d just have to use the other foot.

“I think you found a loose tile. Try to hit again, see if it comes loose.”

“Okay, just a sec.” Lucky adjusted himself so he could kick the wall again with his other foot so he wouldn’t fall off the bed. He also made sure to kick with the sole of his foot instead of his toe to minimize any pain.

He kicked. Hard. Nothing happened. He kicked again. He saw the tile loosening so he kicked again. He was about to kick again when the voice stopped him.

“Lucky, that’s enough. I’ve got the rest.”

Within moments, the tile was removed and hole between the two rooms was formed. Please, Lucky prayed, let this be our salvation as he took his first look into the other room.

~*~*~

“Brother dear, if I hear of this again, things won’t be so pretty for you. I want her alive, not traumatized to death.”

“Sister dear, do I need to remind you that your threats don’t work on me? I am in charge here.”

“Do I need to remind you how easy it is to remedy that situation? One misplaced phone call…”

“I’m warning you, don’t you threaten me, sister. You don’t know what I’m capable of.”

“Oh contraire, brother, you don’t know what I’m capable of. I advise you to heed my warning.” The line went dead as she hung up the phone.

He placed the phone back in its cradle and picked up the cigar he had resting in the ashtray on his desk. He inhaled and exhaled a puff and put it back in the tray. Damn the old hag, he was going to have his Anna. No one told him what to do. He defied everyone, including death.