Chapter 9 

“Sonny.” Carly whispered again. She reached up to touch his face lightly. “What 
are…” 

“Shh.” He lightly pressed his fingers against her lips. “You don't have to say a 
thing. I'm just here for you.” 

“Oh, Sonny, it feels like it hurts more every year.” Carly curled up into his 
arms, still holding the urn in one hand. She leaned her head onto his shoulder 
and started to wipe away the tears. Sonny gently moved her hand away and did it 
himself. He cupped the side of her face in one hand and stroked her cheek with 
his thumb. 

“I know, cupcake. I figured you would need someone. Why are you all alone? And 
why was the door unlocked?” 

“Laura came for Michael and I thought it was better that he went with her and 
not see his mother turn into a mess even though I know he wouldn't have cared. 
He even told me that it was okay if I was sad.” Carly tried to smile. “Bobbie 
had to go to work and I didn't tell Karen or Eve what today was. I haven't heard 
from Emily yet.” 

“And where's Garcia?” Sonny had to ask. 

“He's out somewhere playing cops and robbers.” Carly said bitterly. 

“He left you all alone on today?” Sonny tried to fight the rising anger. 

“He doesn't know that today's the anniversary.” Carly said lamely, as if that 
was any excuse. 

“Well, you don't need him, I'm here.” Sonny hugged her closer to him and rested 
his chin on her head. 

“Thank you. For being here. I…I just needed to be with someone who misses him as 
much as I do.” Carly mumbled. “Though the way you act sometimes, it's as if he 
didn't exist.” 

“He existed Carly and I miss him too, I just don't show it all the time.” 

“I know.” Carly nodded. She sighed. “AJ came for the urn again.” 

“That bastard.” Sonny muttered. 

“They think that just because they ask for it today, I will give in and but…” 

“You're stronger than that.” 

“Yes.” 

Sonny started rubbing his hands up and down her back. “Are you feeling any 
better now?” 

Carly nodded. She placed the urn on the couch beside her and tried to sit up. “A 
little. I can't believe I broke down that way. I never did that before, except 
when I heard that Jason had been killed.” 

Sonny pressed her back into his arms. This was a rare chance for him to hold her 
in his arms and he wasn't going to let her go so easily. He slowly cupped the 
side of her face and stared deep into her eyes. “I'm glad I could have been of 
some help.” 

Carly stared back into his eyes. He was doing it again she realized. He was 
doing that thing when if you looked deep into his eyes, you felt like your were 
drowning in pools of chocolate. “Sonny…” 

“Mmm?” He murmured as he continued to stroke the side of her face. His hand 
drifted lower and lightly ran his fingers down her neck causing her to shiver 
slightly. 

“What are you doing?” She whispered. 

“I'm just giving into what I want. What about you?” Sonny trailed his hand down 
the front of her shirt and smiled, his dimples coming out in full force. 

“Sonny, I…” His hand slipped under her shirt and he gently kneaded the side of 
her waist. 

“Yes?” He asked lazily. 

“Sonny, I can't…” 

“Can't what? Do what you feel? Realize that Garcia is not the man for you and 
that I am? What?” Sonny demanded to know. 

~*~*~ 

Emily and Sly were on their way out the apartment when Nikolas came walking up. 

“Hey, Nikolas.” Sly called. 

“Hi.” Nikolas gave a small wave. 

“Hi, Nik, Elizabeth isn't here, she had an early class.” Emily began. 

“Oh, that's okay. I'm not here to see Elizabeth, I'm here to see you actually.” 

“You are?” Emily cocked her eyebrow. “Could you make this quick? I have to go 
over to Carly and see how she's doing. Then I have swing by the mansion to see 
Monica, she's not happy that I'm going to see Carly.” 

“Uh, sure.” Nikolas nodded. 

“I'll go and start the car.” Sly said and he walked off. 

“I'll be right there.” Emily called out. “So what is it, Nikolas?” 

“I remembered that today was the anniversary of Jason's death and wanted to come 
and see how you were.”

“You remembered?” Emily asked in disbelief. 

Nikolas nodded. “So you're…” 

Emily shrugged. “I'm dealing with it. It isn't as bad as it used to be actually. 
I kinda cried my eyes out last night and a little this morning but I know it 
will get easier.” 

“I just dropped by to, well, let you know…” Nikolas was interrupted by Sly's 
beeping the horn. 

“I'm coming!” Emily yelled. “He gets a little impatient. You were saying?” 

“I was just saying that if you need a friend, I'm available.” Nikolas shrugged. 
“You been helping me so much lately that I just wanted you to know that I am 
here…if you need me.” 

“Oh, thanks, Nik.” Emily stepped forward and gave him a big hug. Sly honked the 
horn again. “I said I was coming!” She yelled again. She smiled apologetically 
at Nikolas. “Sorry, gotta go.” 

~*~*~ 

Frisco sat in the passenger seat of the rental car that Layla had insisted they 
get. He frowned and stared out the window. 

“Oh, quit pouting Blondie.” Layla said cheerfully. “There is no way I'm going to 
let you drive. We have to go meet our contact and we have no time for you take a 
side trip to your ex-wife's.” 

Frisco slumped down further into his seat. “I'm just saying, I know Port Charles 
a lot better than you. I wasn't going to go straight to Felicia's.” 

Layla smirked. “Yeah, right.” She took a left and passed by the brownstone. 
Frisco noticed that there was a long black limousine and two stocky men dressed 
in suits standing outside of it. 

“Hey, could we stop for just a second?” Frisco asked. 

“Blondie, she doesn't live in the brownstone anymore. I looked it up, she's 
married to the commissioner now.” 

“What? She married Mac?” Frisco sat straight up. 

“You really haven't been in contact with your little family in a while have you? 
She's been married for seven years now.” 

“I sent the girls cards and stuff.” Frisco mumbled. “I've always sent them to 
the brownstone, I never got anything telling me that their address had changed.” 

“Well, sorry, Blondie, time didn't stop just because you left them. Now, can we 
get our minds back on the mission? Here's where our contact said to meet him.” 
Layla turned into a deserted alley. 

“Wait, how do you know so much about Felicia and the girls?” Frisco wanted to 
know. 

“Privileged information, Blondie.” She and Frisco got out of the car and looked 
around. There was no one there until out of the shadows came a voice. “Mmm-mmm, 
Layla! Still looking good after all these years.” 

Layla turned in surprise. “Marcus? Is that you?” She went running towards the 
man who came strolling out to face them. He caught her in a huge hug and a 
smacking kiss on the lips. Frisco just shook his head as he finally realized 
whom their Port Charles contact was. 

Marcus Taggert grinned at the brunette in his arms. “Yup, it's me in the flesh. 
I had no idea you were in on this mission. I thought it was just Blondie.” 

Frisco, who was leaning against the hood of the car, frowned at the unwanted 
nickname. Layla had gotten a lot of people in the WSB calling him that. 

Layla shrugged. “I just tagged along. Wow, I didn't know you were going to be 
our contact. I have missed you!” She hugged him again. 

“Me too. I keep remembering that mission in Buenos Aires, when you almost got us 
all arrested by the locals because you went chasing through the streets after 
that Swede. They thought we were all crazy.” Marcus' eyes twinkled at the 
memory. 

Layla shrugged. “Was it my fault that I was only wearing a pair of thong 
underwear at the time? You were the one who told me to do a striptease in order 
to distract the guy.” 

“If you would remember, I did toss you my shirt, which you completely ignored.” 
Frisco piped up, trying to get back into the conversation. Whenever Marcus and 
Layla got together, they had the tendency to forget that anyone else was around. 

“Blondie, it was the plaid! No way was I going to go running around in that. I 
never wear plaid.” Frisco just threw his hands up in the air. “We had some good 
times didn't we? You should come back to the WSB, Marcus. You are missed.” 

“Please do and take her off my hands.” Frisco joked. 

“Naw. I enjoy being a regular police lieutenant for the time being. Retirement 
from the WSB means I get to live longer. You should think about that.” Marcus 
said to Layla, his words full of meaning. 

“And die from boredom? Please.” Layla flipped her hair back, once again 
revealing the black eye patch. 

“What happened to your eye?” Marcus demanded. He cupped her face in his hands 
and stared her down. Layla tried to avoid making eye contact. 

“It's the reason why she isn't on this mission officially.” Frisco said when 
Layla wouldn't say anything. 

“What happened?” Marcus asked again. 

“Cassadine happened. Blondie and I were in Prague, and according to Cassadine, I 
was just in the way.” 

“Bastard.” Marcus spit out. “Couldn't something have been done to save it?” 

“Yes.” Frisco told him. “WSB had the technology, all she needed was a simple 
cornea transplant. It can be done at anytime according to their research but 
it's best they do it as soon as possible. However Miss Layla decided she was 
going to wear the patch until Cassadine is caught. The bosses didn't like having 
her go after Cassadine because of revenge so they took her off the case.” 

“What are you? A tattletale or something? News flash, Blondie that wasn't cool 
in third grade and still isn't cool now.” Layla glared at Frisco. Frisco just 
raised his hands in defense. 

“Don't jump down my throat because you're acting like an idiot. Tell her she's 
being an idiot.” 

Marcus nodded. “You're being an idiot. But we can talk about this later.” 

Layla nodded. “Right. We have a case and you, Mr. Contact are supposed to be 
supplying us with information.” 

“Right, right.” Marcus stroked the side of her face one last time before getting 
back to the reason they were there. “So far, I haven't seen anything of 
Cassadine but I'm sure he's here. He probably won't be that hard to find. He 
isn't aware that WSB is still after him and so he'll get lazy and careless.” 

“So we're going to have to wait around for him to pop out and go 'Here I am!' or 
what?” Layla snapped. She was itching to get her hands on Cassadine. 

“No, it's even easier than that. All we need to do is talk with one Luke 
Spencer.” Marcus smiled. “Spencer always knows where the Cassadines are-dead or 
alive.” 

~*~*~ 

AJ strolled into the Quartermaine living room just as Monica was pouring herself 
a cup of coffee. She immediately noticed his empty hands but still asked, “Did 
she give it to you?” 

AJ spread out his hands. “Sorry mom.” 

“Damn her.” Monica swore. Ned came in at that. 

“Who are we damning today?” He asked as he moved to pour a cup of coffee also. 

“Who else? Carly.” Monica spit out. 

Ned looked up in surprise. “You're not still trying to get a hold of Jason's 
urn, are you? Haven't you learned by now? She's not going to give to you.” 

“I don't care, I want it.” Monica said like a spoiled child. AJ not wanting to 
deal with Monica's ranting slipped out of the room. “She enjoys lording it over 
us, I know.” 

“Monica, isn't it a bit silly to be fighting over an *urn*? Get over it.” Ned 
said before sipping his coffee. “Or learn not to send Junior over there for it. 
He never knew how to handle Carly and he never will.” 

Monica ignored Ned's usually bashing of AJ. “What I really don't like is the 
fact that instead of coming to *me*, Emily is going to Carly. She's very 
concerned about how Carly's doing and not how I'm feeling.” 

“Monica, Em's friends with Carly and if she's concerned about her *friend* then 
leave her be.” 

~*~*~ 

“Thanks for dropping me off, hon.” Emily told Sly as she got of the car. 

“Anything for you, sweet cheeks.” Sly grinned. Then he turned serious. “What did 
Nikolas want?” 

Emily smiled a little. “He remembered about today and just wanted to let me know 
that I have a friend.” 

Sly frowned. “I had everything handled didn't I? You really didn’t need him.” 

Now it was Emily's turn to frown. “What are you saying? Never mind, I need to go 
see Carly; we'll talk about this later. I'll be out soon.” Emily slammed the car 
door behind her and walked into the brownstone, not even noticing the limousine 
and the guards. 

~*~ 

The ringing of her doorbell prevented Carly from answering Sonny's question. “I 
have to get the door.” She sat and quickly stood up. 

She hurried to the door, fixing her hair and grateful to whoever rang her bell. 
Even if it was AJ, she was grateful. She threw open the door to reveal Emily. 

“Emily, hi.” 

“Carly, I just came to see how you were doing.” Emily gave Carly a big hug. 
Carly returned the hug. 

“I'm coping pretty well.” Carly lied. She didn't want Emily to start worrying 
also. “Everybody's been so worried about me and they don't need to be. What 
about you?” 

Emily shrugged. “I'm okay, I guess. I cried a lot last night and this morning. I 
think it's hurting less and less.” 

“I hope it is. I don't think Jason would want us bawling our eyes out over him, 
would you?” 

Emily shook her head. “No, I don't think so either. I wish I could stay but I 
have to go and see Monica.” 

“When you do, give her a message. Tell her to stop sending AJ here for the urn. 
I'm not giving it to them.” 

Emily gasped. “They still aren't…” 

Carly nodded her head. “Yup.” Carly suddenly heard a phone ring. She turned to 
get it put it stopped. Seconds later, Sonny came strolling out of the living 
room. 

“Sorry to cut our visit short but I have some place I need to be.” He smiled at 
Emily. “Hey, Em.” 

“Uh, hi, Sonny.” After all the years of being friends with Carly, Emily still 
wasn't comfortable around Sonny. It must be the way his body just screamed, 
'Danger' and 'Power'. 

“I'll come back later to finish up our conversation.” Sonny grinned at Carly, 
his dimples showing. 

“Oh, no you won't.” Carly warned. 

“Try me.” He said before leaving them. 

“What was all that about?” Emily asked. 

“You don't want to know.” Carly just shook her head. 

“Oh, really?” Emily cocked her head to the side. 

“Really.” Carly said firmly. “Whatever you think is going on exists only in his 
head.” 

~*~*~ 

Luke was hanging out in the back of his club smoking a cigar and going over the 
books when there was a light knock on his door. “Yeah?” he mumbled around his 
cigar. “Come on in.” 

Luke watched as Lieutenant Taggert, Tony Jones' kid brother, and a tall sleek 
brunette dressed in a black mini dress and tall boots walk into his office as if 
they owned the place. Luke sat back and stared them up and down. “Now you don't 
see this everyday, thank god. What do you want?” 

The brunette came around Luke's desk and sat up on the edge. She seductively 
crossed her legs, leaned in close to Luke's face and purred, “We need some 
information and I've heard that you're the man to talk to when it comes to the 
Cassadines.” 

Luke grinned at her and then at Taggert, “Somebody should tell her that I'm 
immune to her charms. My Angel's the only one for me.” 

Taggert smiled “I told you so, Layla.” Layla just shrugged and hopped down. She 
walked over to plop down in the chair in front of the desk. 

“So why do you want with Cassadine? And why are you asking me? Can't the PCPD do 
their own jobs anymore? Who's the chick? And what's Frisco doing here?” Luke 
fired off his questions. 

Taggert said. “Blondie's WSB, so is Layla. This is WSB business, Spencer.” 

“WSB?” Luke cocked an eyebrow. “You are WSB? Right and that's why you can never 
bring in my pal Sonny.” 

“I used to be WSB. Even though I'm out now, I still help out on certain cases.” 
Taggert said. 

“I don't think I quite believe you.” Luke said while looking at him through 
half-closed eyes. Taggert could tell that he was toying with him and that he was 
enjoying it. 

“How about I tell you this. Robert and Anna say hi.” Taggert smirked. That 
should get him, he thought. 

The slight widening of Luke's eyes was the only indication that he was 
surprised. There were only a handful of people in Port Charles that knew Robert 
and Anna were alive: Luke, Mac, Sean Donnelly, Robin Scorpio, and now it seems 
Marcus Taggert. “Okay, so you're WSB, what do they want with The Count?” 

“It's not Stefan they're after. It's Victor.” 

“Victor's dead.” Luke lied easily. There was no way he was letting WSB get their 
hands on Victor before he could. 

“Victor's not dead. He was sure as hell alive when he did this to me.” Layla 
flipped away the lock of hair covering her eye patch. 

“So he's alive. Why do you think I would have any information on his 
whereabouts?” 

“Because keeping track of the Cassadines is your hobby.” Taggert told him. 

“Oh it is, is it? So I should know where the V-man is just because of that? 
Well, sorry to tell you, I have no idea where he is.” 

“He's in Port Charles.” Frisco finally spoke up. “We just don't know where 
exactly.” 

“And I'm telling you that I have no idea where he is. Why don't you head out to 
Spook Island and talk to the Old Vlad? He probably knows for sure.” Luke started 
going through his papers, a clear signal that they were dismissed. 

“I guess we're off to Spoon Island, then?” Frisco asked. 

Taggert nodded. Somehow he had become the head of the whole mission without even 
realizing it. “But I'm not going. Nobody needs to know that I used to be WSB. 
Nobody.” He said this directly to Luke. 

Luke shrugged. “It's not like it's any interesting news. Now could you get out 
of here? I need to get back to work.” 

Layla stood and said. “Let's get to work then. Frisco, you can go and see the 
ex-wife and kids, I'll handle Stefan Cassadine.”