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Part 2 - Jason and Sonny
Jason took a deep draw from the bottle of water then let it drop to the mat below him. It felt good to be in the gym,
and hitting the heavy bag was definitely what the doctor ordered. He had known coming back to Port Charles would be hard,
but what he hadn't known was that it would stay hard for so long.
As his fists renewed their assault on the suspended piece of stuffed leather, Jason thought back over the last two months.
He had come home to deal with Carly and help Sonny restore his power base. He had succeeded at exactly one of those things,
and truth be told, that one had less to do with him than it did with the help he had received from a most unlikely source.
Carly was still lying to Sonny, and Jason was still covering for her. Though the two seemed happy together again, it
bothered Jason constantly to know that Michael's family was such a tenuous thing, and that Carly's happiness had come not
only at the expense of his conscience, but at the cost of Alexis' happiness as well. The fact that he was still keeping the
secret twisted his gut and Jason often felt true physical pain from it. He was disgusted with her, and with himself.
It bothered him further to know that as long as Carly's secret remained hidden, so did the danger that Alexis might be
in. He was taking care of that. On orders from him, orders issued without Sonny's approval, any time that he wasn't with
the lady lawyer, Johnny or Max was. Sonny assumed Benny had made the assignment and didn't question it.
Re-solidifying Sonny's power had been a far trickier issue. The men still believed in Sonny, but Carly was a factor they
just couldn't ignore and word had gotten out that a rift between Sonny and Alexis might signal an end to her involvement with
Corinthos business. The men didn't like that at all, and while Jason had been able to, by sheer force of his own will and
intimidation tactics, gotten the men to stop publicly speaking out against Sonny, he knew that the rest of the damage would
take longer to fix.
One month after he had found Alexis sitting on that park swing, Jason had been sitting on her couch, his generally quiet
and reserved nature giving way to his concern for Sonny. He told Alexis what was going on with the men, knowing that Sonny
trusted Alexis with his life and that the information was safe with her. Despite everything, Alexis was still Sonny's friend,
still his lawyer, and now, though he didn't know it, she was the mother of his child. Jason remembered the way her hand had
rested on her stomach as he filled her in on Benny's observation that the men were worried about what would happen should
Alexis resign and Sonny be arrested again.
The next day Jason received a phone call from Benny telling him to get to the warehouse ASAP. He'd walked in to find
every single one of Sonny's top men, Johnny, Max and Adam included, and, to his total surprise, Alexis standing at the front
of the room beside Benny. He caught her eye when he walked in, but Jason wasn't at all surprised when Alexis didn't crack
even the hint of a smile. She was in full lawyer mode, and these men were about to find out why it was that Sonny paid her
the exorbitant retainer that he did.
"I understand you gentlemen are concerned I might be looking for other employment?"
The room was silent, but every set of eyes looked around as if to say, who told her? Alexis cleared her throat, crossed
her arms in front of herself, and waited until all of those eyes were focused on her again.
"First of all, I'd think you would all know better than to be gossiping about Sonny. Keep in mind, that if its gotten
back to me, it may have gotten to anyone by now. You want to start getting shot at in the streets again?"
Once again, silence ruled the room.
"I didn't think so. Now, whatever it is you think you know or don't know about Sonny and I, you can rest assured
that I will not be leaving his employ. He pays me too well, and, frankly, I find life without him as a client a little too
boring."
She took a step forward then and lowered her arms. One hand rested on her hip as the other pointed toward his men for
emphasis.
"If I hear about a single solitary one of you discussing Sonny again in a way that will get back to him or, worse
yet, to one of his enemies, I swear to God, you will find yourself hauled into the PCPD on a trumped up charge so fast, you're
heads will spin, and I will not be showing up to bail you out, is everyone clear?"
Jason had to fight not to laugh. If any other woman had come into this room and stood up for Sonny Corinthos with his
men, Sonny would be a laughing stock. But Alexis had earned the respect of these men with her own hard work, loyalty and
bravery. They knew that she, too, had faced the fire of guns and the heat of bombs; she had even been burned by the boss's
bad judgment, and yet she had not run away. Neither would they.
Sonny had held his own meeting a day later, and he was pleased to see that things were again under control. No one, including
Benny, was ever planning to tell him about Alexis' appearance. Sometimes, Carly not withstanding, secrets were things that
needed to be kept. Like the one Jason was keeping for Alexis.
Alexis was now 13 weeks pregnant. He knew she was running out of time as to keeping that particular piece of information
away from Sonny, and she was still afraid to tell him. She couldn't shake the image she had conjured in her own mind of Sonny
having that momentary look of sadness when he learned she was going to have their child. More and more, Jason doubted it
would happen, Sonny asked about Alexis any day that he didn't see her, and Jason could see that his friend's eyes held something
far more than just interest in a friend. But still he stayed with Carly, and still Alexis was alone.
There were days Jason felt sorry for Sonny, but today wasn't one of them. He was still fuming over yesterday's scene
at Kelly's. As had become a fairly regular routine for them, Jason and Alexis had met there for breakfast. Most days, Alexis
could barely get down a few pieces of toast and some tea, but talking to him and distracting herself with conversation seemed
to make getting a little food down easier. But the last few weeks had been particularly bad for her. The doctor said it
was nothing to worry about, and that the nausea was from her hormones, and that they were so active was a good sign of a healthy
pregnancy, but Jason still worried for her. Her anxiety about telling Sonny was robbing her of sleep, and the constant battle
to keep down food was taking its toll. To add to her stress, the doctor was supposed to call in the next 72 hours with her
amniocentesis results. Jason felt in his heart that the baby would be okay, but Alexis couldn't help but worry, and worry
was not good for her, not on top of everything else she was going through.
That was why it had irked him so much when Sonny and Carly wandered into Kelly's. Alexis had barely gotten two bites
of her toast down at that point, and seeing Carly draped all over the man she loved wasn't helping, that much Jason knew.
But even worse, the happy couple had made a beeline to their table. A.J. had decided to cause some more trouble with Michael,
and Carly and Sonny had come looking to Alexis for help.
The whole thing struck Jason as utterly unbelievable. Here was Alexis, sick as hell from carrying Sonny's child, and
she was about to tax her already tired body to try and keep Michael's adoption from being overturned. The inequity of it
just made him want to scream at Sonny and ask what the hell he was doing, and the fact that Sonny didn't even seem to notice
how worn down Alexis was made him even angrier. Rarely had Jason felt true anger at his friend over the years, the ordeal
with Carly a rare exception. But yesterday he had wanted to deck Sonny, and the urge was still there.
"Hey, there. How's it going?"
Jason couldn't believe it. He turned around, his thoughts fresh off the idea of beating Sonny senseless, and who was
standing behind him in his usual boxing clothes but Sonny himself.
"You up for a spar?"
Jason grinned and headed for the ring. As they prepared for the sparring match, pulling on their protective gear, Jason
heard Sonny's voice reach out hesitantly from his corner.
"So, uh, Jason, is, um, is everything okay with Alexis?"
Thank God, Jason thought. At least he had noticed something.
"She's just tired. Working too hard, I guess."
Sonny only nodded, but he didn't seem satisfied with the answer. Seeing it, Jason felt his anger flare again. Why the
hell didn't he just go to penthouse two and ask Alexis how she was? Why didn't he look at her, really look at her? He would
probably guess in about two seconds what was causing Alexis' health problems if he just stopped being afraid of what he was
feeling and faced her.
Jason and Sonny had sparred dozens of times, and though they always went at each other fairly hard, there was a line that
they never crossed. The session started out like all the others. Sonny landed a few quick jabs, Jason a few long, fluid
punches, and they both moved with a grace around the ring that made it clear why they had lived so long despite their dangerous
profession.
Sonny moved in for a new assault, and as he did so, he spoke. This was rare. Generally, the two men fought in silence,
not even friendly taunting coming into play. But Sonny had broken a rule, and Jason was prepared to make him regret it the
moment he heard what his friend had to say.
"You've been spending a lot of time with Alexis."
It wasn't a question, it was a statement, and it screamed jealous so loud that Jason couldn't have heard the bell over
it if someone rang it. The younger man's eyes narrowed. How dare him? He had pushed Alexis aside, and now he was upset
that someone was taking care of her, of his child? Okay, granted, he didn't know about the baby, but that wasn't the point.
The punch hit Sonny so hard that had he not been wearing headgear, the whole right side of his face would have been black
and blue tomorrow. It took him back a moment, even caused him to step away from Jason for a second. Then the man who had
come up hard on the streets of Bensonhurst felt something snap inside of him. All of the anger and frustration he felt at
being forced by fate to give up Alexis to keep a promise he had made to God came surging out of him. He hated Jason, hated
that he could sleep on Alexis' sofa as he had been as of late, hated that she was laughing at his jokes over breakfast in
the morning, and he hated that Jason could see her and not feel the deep pang of longing and regret that Sonny felt each and
every time he laid eyes on her. He wanted someone to pay, and Jason was it.
Only Jason's switch had flipped, too. Despite the fact that this was his best friend, all he could see in his head was
Alexis crying in the park and Alexis so weak from morning sickness she could barely get out of bed, and Alexis sitting on
the couch, trying not to be nervous about what the doctor might say when he called with the test results, and Alexis staring
at the door to her penthouse when she didn't know he was watching, as if she could somehow will Sonny to come to his senses
and walk back across the hallway and into her arms again.
The gym fell silent as the two men in the ring escalated their calm, friendly sparring match into a war of two stallions
fighting for territory. That they were fighting for different reasons, one out of love and one out of friendship, was irrelevant.
The woman who stood between them now was simply that powerful, that important. Not even when he'd walked in and caught Carly
in bed with Sonny had he and Jason come to blows, but now they pounded and pounded on each other, the heavily padded gear
all that was going to keep them both out of the hospital.
They probably would have kept fighting until they collapsed if Hal, the owner of the gym, hadn't finally realized how
nuts they'd both gone and climbed into the ring to get between them. Easier said than done, and he'd practically had to throw
Jason across the ring to get them apart, but finally both he and Sonny moved to neutral corners and Hal turned his eyes from
one to the other.
"You're done, boys. Whatever it is, pack it up and take it home. I don't need either one of you carted out of my
place on a stretcher. Go home."
Sonny nodded at Hal. Jason just glared, but it was clear he understood. Hal climbed out of the ring as Sonny started
to pull off his gear. Jason soon followed suit. The two men removed their gloves and started ripping the tape from their
hands. Sonny wasn't sure what to say. He'd just become some new kind of fad. He had seen news stories about people who
committed suicide by provoking cops into shooting them. Suicide by police they called it. Well, he'd just tried to commit
suicide by best friend, and Jason had almost been willing to take him up on it. Sonny knew he should be grateful that his
friend was looking out for Alexis so well, feeling so protective of her, but he hated it. He wanted to be the one protecting
her. He wanted to be the one she was laughing at over breakfast at Kelly's tomorrow.
Jason finished removing his tape and turned to look at Sonny. It was hard to stay angry at someone who was hurting so
much, and not from the bruises he'd have tomorrow despite the padding. Sonny might have promised himself to Carly, but he
belonged to Alexis, and denying it was killing him. Maybe it was time to give him the way out. Maybe he should just tell
him the truth about Carly and set him free. But somehow that didn't seem right to Jason. Alexis deserved better than to
have Sonny come back to her once he realized what a mistake he'd once Carly was exposed. He needed to choose her, and Jason
thought that given the right motivation, Sonny would. Still, he wanted his friend to be clear on the penalty if he screwed
up again.
"Sonny."
Sonny turned and found Jason staring at him with hard eyes.
"You hurt Alexis again, it'll be for real next time."
With that, Jason climbed down out of the ring, grabbed his stuff, and headed for the door. He would shower at home.
Sonny watched Jason leave and realized that if he hurt Alexis again, he wouldn't lift a hand to try and defend himself
from Jason's wrath. If he were that foolish, he'd have it coming.
Jason was walking down the street toward Jake's when his cell phone rang. He saw that it was Alexis from the caller I.D.
and answered quickly.
"Hey."
"Hey yourself," she said, her voice happier than he'd heard it since his return to Port Charles. "The
doctor called. Chloe Adele and I got a clean bill of health."
Jason smiled and looked back over his shoulder. "That's great news, Alexis. How about I pick up a pizza to celebrate?"
"No onions and lots of mushrooms?"
"You got it." Jason hung up and picked up his speed a bit. Tonight, he and Alexis would celebrate her daughter,
her and Sonny's daughter, and tonight, when she got that look in her eyes and her fear came back to her, Jason knew that he
could tell her honestly and truly that Sonny would never show her a moment of disappointment or hesitancy when it came to
their child. He knew she wouldn't believe him, but now that he knew it was certain, he would tell her again and again until
she did believe it. And hopefully, soon, Sonny would find a way to tell her himself. Until then, Jason would continue to
keep his promise.
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