Port Charles Chronicles: Chapter 57

      Todd, Blair, and Jack walked into his suite after seeing Addie and Starr safely to their room.   Todd glanced at the officer who sat down in a chair next to their door.  He hated the idea of them being separated, but he’d have to rely on the PCPD to keep them safe for the rest of the night.  Now he looked over at McBain. “Alright, you can go.  We’re here, safe and sound.”

      John didn’t leave right away but went and checked the view from Todd’s window.  It was entirely different.  His room overlooked the harbor.  “Yeah, it looks pretty safe.  You would have to be standing directly in front of the window for him to get a shot at you.  Do me a favor, don’t. Remember, you need to lay low.  Order your food in for the next twenty-four hours.  Blair, if you go out, don’t lose your shadow.  Jack, no more disappearing or investigating, this has gotten too dangerous.  Anna’s men will be here to set up things to monitor your phone, Jack, in case Sam sends another message.  We’re going to find him.” John left, stopping outside the door to talk briefly with another officer. 

     Todd wrapped an arm around Blair’s waist.  He could feel her trembling. “He’s right, Babe.  We’re going to get Sam back safe and sound.”  He gave her a gentle squeeze and she responded by getting even closer to him and hugging him in return.  

     Jack watched his mother and father.  For one brief second, he wished they would include him in their hug.  He rubbed his arms feeling a little chilled.  John was right.  Everything had gotten extremely dangerous.  It seemed like forever since he and Molly had followed Tomas.  He ran his hand through his hair and dropped his bag on the floor. “Mom, I’m sorry.”

     Blair glanced at her son.  “What are you sorry about?  Jack, none of this is your fault.”

     “But if I hadn’t gone out today, Sam wouldn’t have been kidnapped.” Jack felt close to tears and the last thing he wanted was for his father to see him lose it.

     Blair looked at her son.  She knew him and knew he loved his little brother even though he always teased him.  “Jack, come here.”  She opened her free arm and invited him in.  

     Jack hesitated, then joined her.  When his father wrapped an arm about him too, he let it stay there.  At that moment, all he wanted to do was be held.

     Todd relished the moment.  He knew Jack was overwhelmed by the day, but it felt good to be able to offer some comfort to his son.  Jack was the first to break the hold and Todd and Blair let him go.  

     Jack stepped away awkwardly. “Um, I think I’ll take my things to my room.  Which one is it?”  

     Todd nodded to the spare room in the suite.  They watched as Jack disappeared into it.
Blair looked up at Todd. Her hand went to his cut lip.  “That’s pretty nasty.  We should probably clean it.”

     Todd nodded.  “He caught me by surprise.  Can’t say that I blame him.  It’s my fault she’s dead.  Man, for such a little guy, he hits like a jackhammer.”

     “I don’t care.  You didn’t do this.  That maniac, who wants you dead, is responsible.” She drew his head down and kissed his injury.  The whole scene replayed in her mind.

     Todd looked at John.  “Can we leave?  This place is a circus and my family’s been through enough right now.  We’ll go to my room and remain there.   I’ve got to get out of here.” 

     John nodded. “Yes.  We should move you before we start getting too many onlookers. “

     They had just walked out of the room when Sonny came out of nowhere. 

     “You bastard, you brought this man to Port Charles and now Carly’s dead.  I’m going to end you myself.”  He let loose with an uppercut before Todd could defend himself.  

     Caught completely unaware, Todd staggered and almost went down.  His own anger flared and he barreled into Sonny, letting a few hits of his own fly before Mac and John tore them apart.

     Anna yelled. “Enough of this!  This situation is hard on all of you.  Mr. Corinthos, if you can’t control yourself, I’ll restrain you.  Mr. Manning, the same goes for you.  John, I believe you were taking the Mannings someplace else.  Go.   Mr. Corinthos and his son will remain here.  We have a few more things to go over.”

     She was still lost in the thought as she continued to kiss his bruised lip.  Todd turned his mouth and captured hers with an all-out assault.  After an exquisite moment, he said, “Sonny had a good reason.  If you had been gunned down because of him, I would have done the same thing.” His hand caressed her cheek and tangled with her hair, as he gazed into her glistening eyes.  “A couple of days ago I was near death, you brought me back from the brink.  Don’t forget that.  I love you and I love our kids.  Blair, you need to understand something, if I were to lose you, it would be all over for me.  I can’t do that anymore.  I can’t be without you.  It’s like needing to breathe.”

      Jack watched silently from the doorway to his room.  For the first time, he realized just how deeply his parents were connected.  He had never seen his mother look at any man the way she looked at his father.  He slowly backed into the room and went to his bed and sat down.  As he sat there, he replayed his father’s last words.  “I love you and I love our kids. ...if I were to lose you, it would be all over for me. ”    It was the I love our kids part of the statement that finally sunk in.  There was no denying the truth in his father’s voice.  His father loved him and had been trying to tell him that from the moment he got back into town, but Jack had let his jealousy of Starr’s connection to the man and his own pride keep him from seeing that.  He had wanted nothing to do with the man and had used the fact that he had given him away as a baby as an excuse to keep him at arm's length.  When his father had gone on trial for Victor’s murder, Jack had felt justified.  Now, he wasn’t so sure.

      Jack pulled his cell phone from his pocket and brought up his little brother’s message.  How could Victor be alive and if he was, why hadn’t he come home?  Did he know Tea had lost his baby and was mourning both of them? He brought up his picture of Victor and envisioned him with Sam as if none of the other stuff had happened.  Jack began to feel angry, this time at Victor.  “Who are you?  You take Sam without any warning and let my father go on trial for your murder.  You’re not even dead.  Why did you do that?  I thought you loved us?  How could I be so stupid?  You didn’t care for us at all, we were just a means to gain my father’s money.”  Not realizing his voice had been increasing in volume, he screamed at the picture. “Damn it, I hate you!” and slipped off the bed to the floor, dropped his head down on his knees, and began to cry.

       Todd and Blair heard his last few lines and it wasn’t too hard to figure out he was shouting at Victor. They rushed to his room to find him on the floor.  Blair started to move, then turned to Todd. “Go to him, I think he needs his father right now more than me.”

     Todd walked over and dropped to the floor beside his son.  He wasn’t quite sure how to start the conversation, so he sat there a moment.  He ran a hand through his hair and decided to just start talking.  “Whether you believe this or not, I’m sorry, Jack.  I know you loved him and this has to hurt.”  Although a little uncomfortable, Todd laid an arm across his son’s shoulder and then slowly gathered him close. 

      For a moment, Jack resisted then he allowed his father to hold him and turned into his embrace and let his tears flow.  With the exception of the night in the cemetery, Jack had kept his tears inside, refusing to give in to his grief, and instead had just used them to fuel his anger toward his father.  Now, he realized the truth about Victor.  He sobbed, his voice breaking as he talked between sobs.  He couldn’t stop himself.  “He said he loved me.  That he wanted me to be strong.  How could he do it?”

      Todd tightened his arm around his son.  He had a feeling what Jack was referring to. “How could he fake his death?  I don’t know.  I’ve been asking myself that same question.  He was my brother, but he still took my place.  After I came back, he must have felt backed into a corner.  I’m not sure we’ll know until we find him and Sam, but we’ll get answers, Jack.  He owes us.” 

     Jack sniffed and used his knuckle to wipe his eyes then pulled away and sat up straighter. His father released him, and he backed away to get control of himself.   He couldn’t meet his dad’s eyes, so he looked straight ahead. “I just don’t understand why?  He hadn’t really done anything wrong.  Your weird mother caused everything.  She brainwashed him.  Why did he feel he had to leave?  It doesn’t make sense.”

     “I’m the last person to ask about my brother’s motives for doing anything.  He’s done things that have no explanation as far as I’m concerned.   Jack, he hurt you.  He just up and left Tea and let her believe he was dead and now she lost their child.  I find it hard to believe he’s my brother, even though we had the blood tests.  I can’t explain it, but it’s like there’s no real connection.” There was silence as both got lost in their thoughts for a moment.  The silence stretched. Todd knew this was his best chance to finally make headway with Jack.  Just ask Manning.  “Jack, I know things have been rough with us.  Do you think we could go back to the beginning?  Whether you believe it or not, I love you.   Right now we all need each other, will you give me a chance?”  He waited like he had waited all those years before with Blair.  Unsure of the outcome but hoping.  When Blair had rushed into his arms and said she wasn’t going anywhere, it had been one of the happiest moments of his life.  Would Jack again make him happy?

      Jack sat still, his chin on his knees, and his arms hugging his legs.  There are those words again, Jack. He loves you.  What are you going to do about it?  He glanced sideways at his father and saw the tinge of fear in his eyes.  Fear of being rejected again.  One simple word would send his dad plummeting, but strangely the hatred he had been carrying for him wasn’t there anymore. He lifted his head and looked directly at his dad.  “I... You’re right. Mom’s going to need all of us until we get Sam home and she seems to want you around.   I’ll give it a try.  Us, I mean.”   He held out his hand.

     Todd couldn’t believe it.  There it was, an opening.  Jack hadn’t professed any love, but he had agreed to Todd’s request.  He smiled slightly and took Jack’s proffered hand in his and shook it.  “Thanks, Jack.”  It was a start.  He knew it would take a little time to break down Jack’s walls, but he had some experience with walls.  There was always a way to breach them.  “What say we order some pizza.   I don’t know about you, but it’s been hours since your mom and I ate.”

    Jack nodded.  “Yeah, I am a little hungry,” he hesitated, unsure what to call his father.  Go for it Jack, you don’t want to call him Scarface, not after you just told him you’d give him a chance.  “Uh  D...Dad, do you think Sam’s alright?”

    Todd closed his eyes for a moment, had he heard right.  Jack had just called him, Dad.  He wanted to shout hooray but got under control.  Don’t make a big thing about it, just answer his question.   “I’m sure he’s fine.  Victor wouldn’t hurt his own son.”  

    Jack got up off the floor.  How did he tell his dad that his brother was capable of doing just that?  Jack still remembered his uncle grabbing his jaw with a vice-like grip and putting his other hand on his neck and squeezing both tightly.  His uncle had terrified him that day.  If Tea hadn’t interrupted, he wasn’t sure what Victor would have done next.  “I’m not so sure anymore.  He got pretty angry at Sam when he befriended you.  He even shook him hard and told him he wasn’t to talk about you.  Sam stood up to him and told him you were his friend  Then he broke free and ran into the house.   Uncle Victor hated it.  I know he did some pretty horrible stuff to Cole and Markko, too.” Jack’s voice trailed off.  He couldn’t look at his dad, even as he thought about it, he realized he might have said too much. 

     Todd had sat quietly on the floor watching his son.  He knew Victor had a temper, he remembered Tea’s talk with Shawn down on the dock.  He had also talked to Starr and knew his brother had done things to hurt her, too.  But when Jack defended him so profusely, he had thought Victor had treated the boys differently. Was he wrong?   “Did he ever hurt you, Jack?”  Todd stood up and moved to join his son near the window where he had ended up.  “Jack, look at me.”  

       Jack met his father’s eyes.  He saw the concern and even understanding in them. “It was only one time.  He was so mad at me for getting into trouble and letting Gigi Morasco get hurt because of my actions.  I deserved it, I was mouthing off to him.”

      “Don’t excuse him.  No matter how angry he was, he shouldn’t have touched you.” There had been a gasp at the doorway and Todd realized Blair had heard Jack.  He could see she was shocked at Jack’s revelation.  He looked at her.  “You didn’t know about this.”

      She shook her head.  “I had no idea.  Jack, why didn’t you tell me?”

     “You were out of town when everything happened.  Dad...Uncle Victor wanted me to keep quiet and let him handle it.  Aunt Tea arrived and he let go of me.  It was nothing, I shouldn’t have said anything about it.  I was just worried that Sam might say something and make him mad like he was with me.”  Jack ran a hand through his hair.  “I’d had never seen him that angry before.   It, well, it scared me.”

      Todd was seething, his temple began pounding again.  The last thing he needed to do was let Jack see him lose his temper.  “You should have told your mother.  He had no right to hurt or scare you that way.” The headache was escalating.

      “Oh, looks who’s talking.  You’re as explosive as your brother if not more so.” Irene suddenly appeared behind Jack. “Victor is a saint compared to you.”

      “Not now, Irene.” The words were out of his mouth before he realized it. Todd saw Jack look at him strangely.  Irene was still behind him gloating.  His head felt like it was going to explode and he needed to get out of the room, there was no way he could explain Irene to Jack. “Jack... I’m ...God, this head.”  He stumbled from the room, past Blair, and headed for his bedroom.

     “Mom?” Jack was bewildered.  “What just happened?”

      Blair knew, but it wasn’t the time to fill Jack in.  “Jack, I’ll explain later.  Order some food.  Your father just needs to get something into him.  A migraine is obviously back.”

     “But what was that about Irene?”

     “Don’t worry about it, just do as I asked.  I’m going to check on him.”  She found Todd leaning on the sink in the bathroom.  From the haunted look in his eyes, staring out at her from the mirror, she knew Irene was still around.   “Todd, she isn’t real.”

     “Don’t you think I know that?  But she won’t stop.  She’s just standing there laughing at me.  Telling me I’m worse than Victor.  Blair, it isn’t true.  I would never hurt our kids, not on purpose.  You know that.”  He turned on the cold water and splashed some into his face and around his neck, closing his eyes, trying to force Irene to leave.

     Blair walked up beside him and wrapped her arm around his and pulled him to face her. “Todd, open your eyes.  Just look at me.” She paused and held him fast; her left hand going to his right cheek gently.  She waited as he opened his eyes and met her gaze.  “Listen to me.  I know you would never deliberately hurt or bully your children.  I know what Peter did to you.  You need to believe in yourself about this.  You are marvelous around children.  Hope fell in love with you the first night you met.  Sam recognized a good guy, too.  Kids know who they like and why.  You’re hearing Irene say these things because you still think the worst of yourself most of the time.” She let go of his arm and wrapped her hands around his neck. “Something good just happened tonight out of all this misery.  Your son called you Dad for the first time.  He’s talking to you.  Give yourself a little credit.  Do you really think he would have opened up to you if he still felt you were terrible?”  The whole time she talked to him, she massaged his neck, slowly feeling the tension leaving his shoulders. 

      Todd listened to her mesmerized.  God, he loved her.   Her words finally filtered into his muddled brain.  “Your son called you, Dad.“ She was talking sense.  He felt the headache lessen as her fingers worked their magic.  He took a deep breath and peered behind her, then glanced around the bathroom. Irene was gone.  Once again she had dispelled the witch who plagued him.  His arms wrapped around her waist. “Blair.”  

      She stopped. “What?”

       “Thank you.”

       “Anytime.  Now, what do you say we think about those pizzas.” Blair would have pulled out of his arms, but they tightened.  She looked into his eyes and saw hunger there but not for food. She felt the heat rise in her.  “Todd, do you think this is really the time for that.”

       “Shh. This is a perfect time,” he leaned in and kissed the nape of her neck and felt her melt into him. “Don’t worry, just consider this the appetizer.  We’ll get to the main course later.”
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