Only the Beginning: An After the Blaze Story

Author's Note: Ok everything up till February 11th 2004 applies to this story. I'm picking up from there and taking the storylines where I'd like to see them go.

Chapter 1 – As the Smoke Clears

11 Hours After the Fire

His face felt raw under the bandages. Mac swore at moments he could still feel the heat of the flames licking his skin, marring it with its painful brand. He was a man accustomed to gritting and bearing it – whatever the it was – but this pain was different. It wasn't the fierceness of it; at least he didn't think it was, no it was the complete and utter sense of helplessness he felt.

While he'd been lying in the hospital unconscious his girls had been in danger, of all the things that hurt Mac the most.  Georgie, his precious little girl, had been caught in the blazing inferno and, so he knew know, Maxie was left to watch the building burn all the while carrying the guilt of his injury.

Then there were the citizen's he lost, the ones he'd sworn to protect and serve. He hadn't been able to help them. The worst part of it was Mac would never know if his presence would have made a difference.

There was a knock at his door before it opened. The bright and beautiful face of his niece appeared. "Hey Uncle Mac," Robin said softly as she entered the room. As soon as she had gotten word about fire and his condition she had caught the first plane from Paris, Brenda in tow with her. Her roommate was three floors down with the Quartermaines. Both Emily and Edward had been admitted and neither were in good shape. Her heart constricted at that thought and Robin knew she would have to pay them a visit.

"Georgie checked out fine," she assured Mac crossing over to him. "Some smoke inhalation but nothing serious. Maxie and Felicia are with her now."

Mac let the update soothe him. His girls were going to be find, that included Robin, and that was all that mattered to him. "Good … to … see … you," he forced out each word through his soar throat. His voice didn't sound right. It was scratchy and hoarse.

Robin forced back a shudder. It was difficult seeing her Uncle Mac, always so strong, like this. Worrying her bottom lip she sat in the chair next to his bed. Bandages covered his strong face so that she could only see his warm brown eyes, but they were different then she remembered and filled with anguish. His left arm also had a long bandage down to his wrist but his right arm though bruised hadn't been burned. Cupping his right hand she gained comfort from his touched and hoped that he felt it too. "Robin …"

"Shh," she hushed him. "The doctors said you shouldn't push yourself. You need to rest. That includes your voice," Robin reminded him.

Though it pained him a slight smiled touched Mac's lips. It was barely visible through his bandages. Robin might have spent the last few years in Paris but she hadn't changed a bit. Sure she let her hair grow out again, so it was long down her back, but her dark eyes were still alight with that inner strength. Her heart, so pure and able to love, often pulled the people around her through their darkest moments. He wanted to tell her that, to thank her for coming and giving him some her strength.

He couldn't though. It just hurt to damn much. So Mac squeezed her hand and hoped she understood.

~*~

It was too much for Elizabeth to comprehend. She sat with eyes wide and dry, grasping Nikolas' hand as they waited. Emily had been rushed to surgery twenty minutes ago and it didn't look good. "I can't lose her," Nikolas breathed out his voice filled with anguish. Elizabeth understood that sentiment. One of her oldest friends was facing losing the woman he loved and having just lost her husband she knew all to well the hollow pain that would fill Nikolas if Emily died.

Fresh tears stung her eyes. Elizabeth thought she shed all the tears she had when the doctor had come out of the operating room and told her that Ric hadn't pulled through. He husband was dead. And now Emily's life was on the line. It wasn't fair; none of this horror was fair. Emily had already come so close to death and she had everything to live for … Ric had too, she thought bitterly, and still he was taken from her.

"We're not going to," she replied her voice surprisingly steady.

Nikolas studied her profile. Her skin was pale, more so then normal and her cheeks were stained from her earlier sobs. Her crinkly hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail. Elizabeth sat there with pain in her blue eyes and so obviously pregnant. His heart ached for her. Nikolas desperately wanted to offer her comfort. He couldn't force the words to come forth, he could only sit and wait and hope.

~*~

Jason was torn. It wasn't a feeling he liked. He believed in few things and fewer people, but loyalty was important to him. For months now he'd been torn between Sonny and Carly and the fire only made it worse. It only confused him more. Old feelings, feelings he thought he'd buried had burst forth when he kissed Carly. Carly his best friend. Carly Sonny's wife. Carly who was sleeping with the enemy.

Now wasn't the right time for these feelings. There had never been a right time, Jason thought pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Hey," Courtney said through her oxygen mask. She reached for Jason's hand and felt comforted by his touch. She had told Sonny she was done with him, his life, and all that included. Having survived hell Courtney knew how pointless those words were – she loved her brother too much to cut him out of her life. Like she loved Jason too much not be with him, no matter the cost. Now she just had to tell him.

Jason smiled, more for Courtney's sake then actually wanting to. He was moving closer to her, reminding himself that he was in love with Courtney when heard his name called out across the ER. He heard the fear in Monica's voice and stiffened. "Thank God," she cried throwing herself in his arms. Jason dropped Courtney's hand and embraced his mother.

"What's wrong?" he asked feeling a coldness creep up his spine.

"It's Emily," Monica's voice broke as she looked up into the strong face of her son and saw his blue eyes flicker with pain. "They had to rush her into surgery. The blood loss and the shock …" overcome with shaking her words tumbled to a halt.

A vise-like contraction seized his heart. Jason had faced losing his sister more then once, but the last time, it nearly broke him. "She'll make it," he said hoarsely, more to himself then to comfort Monica.

"Could you? … the family needs you Jason," Monica said, her eyes pleading. "Would you please come?" She saw the cloud come over him. The flash of dislike he had for the Quartermaines.

Jason turned to look at Courtney. Divided loyalties again. "Go," she urged him. "I'm fine." Though she wanted to say more to him, to apologize and tell him how much she loved him, Courtney knew how Jason felt about Emily and that he had to be there for the Quartermaines simply because Emily would have wanted it.

"I'll be back," he promised her.

"Thank you," Monica sighed. "I know … thank you," she repeated. Hand and in hand they made their way to the elevators.

~*~

He was in serious trouble. It hadn't hit him until he escaped the fiery blaze but with his daughter cradle in his arms, and Lucky sitting on his left and Skye on his right, Luke knew he was in it deep. Damn Cameron and his dying request. He felt trapped. It wasn't the kind of trap that was bad per say, but he did the family man thing for Laura and it hadn't ended well.

Nonetheless here he was sitting in the hospital with Skye holding onto his hand for dear life while Lucky sat next to Nikolas as they waited to hear about Emily. He remembered her as the cute little kid who ran around his house with Lucky, recently, however, she'd been a thorn in his side. Getting to the treasure with Nikolas before he could. There had been a flash of pride there, for both Emily and Nikolas, which he found odd.

Luke didn't think he could do this again. He wasn't the fatherly type. Not really though he loved his children. He definitely wasn't the kind of man Skye should get caught up with romantically … yet he distinctly remembered the feel of her lips when he kissed her and the worry that had nearly taken his breath away when he found her unconscious on the stairs.

Possessiveness had kicked in. Some had dared to hurt his woman. Thinking like that terrified Luke. Skye was a friend, only a friend. More and more he was beginning to realize that was lie. Still he couldn't see how it could work when he still loved Laura, when he still longed for his Angel.

Skye was a unique woman. One he admired and admittedly desired, but she deserved more then he could give. He had to find away to balance them out again. Not to mention find away to live up to his promise without gnawing his arm off in desperate escape.

~*~

Her world had turned upset down. Again. What had she been thinking kissing Jason? Carly knew she opened Pandora's Box. Her love for Sonny, her desired for Lorenzo was nothing compared to her all encompassing emotions for Jason. The idea that he could be everything to her was mind boggling and so tempting that she felt like jumping up from Sonny's bedside and running to him.

It would be the worst thing she could do to her family. She kept repeating that mantra in her head.

It wasn't helping much.

Sonny coughed and his eyes fluttered open. Carly was there, he'd been sure of it before he opened his eyes. He had sensed it and forced himself awake to look at her and as he did equal amounts of love and hate stormed through him. At the moment though he was just happy that they were both alive. "Courtney?" he coughed.

"Sonny," she smiled nervously.  "Thank goodness," Carly sighed in relief cupping his cheek.  "You had me worried. Courtney's ok," she assured him. "She's a few cubicles down. She sucked in a lot of smoke and has a few bumps and bruises but she's fine."

He nodded, thankful for the information. "Mike was by," she informed him. "Momma had to stay and help so I asked him to go and stay with the boys. Michael was worried but I talked to him. He's knows we're both fine."

"Good," Sonny replied. His throat hurt but he forced the question out anyway. "Jason?" Something flashed in Carly's eyes that he couldn't read before she replied, "He's not hurt but …"

Carly trailed off. Just thinking about Jason had her remembering his lips against hers and her heart started pounding again. "What?" Sonny croaked.

Her hazel eyes focused on Sonny again. "Emily's in bad shape. He's scared for her and with the Quartermaines."

Sonny closed his eyes and said a quick and silent prayer for Emily. He knew what she meant to Jason and losing her would hurt him. Opening his eyes again he asked his final question, "And Alcazar?"

~*~

"Don't you ever scare me like that again," Sage ordered her Uncle as she fluffed his pillows.

"Sage I'm fine," Lorenzo assured her. He suffered a few minor injuries and a little blood loss but thanks to Georgie Jones it wasn't as much as it could have been.

"You almost died," she remarked with a roll of her eyes. "That's not acceptable."

While he appreciated the mother-bear routine Lorenzo's just wanted to reassure his niece enough so she'd go home and get some rest. "I'm fine."

On a huff Sage swept some of her long black hair behind her shoulder. "You took a huge risk," she said with disgust, "for the woman who killed my father. You could have died saving her. And trust me she didn't deserve the heroics."

Lorenzo sighed. He didn't know what possessed him to push Alexis Davis out of the way of falling debris. Perhaps it had been the utter sense of loss he'd felt seeing Carly and Sonny reunite. Her concern had been for Sonny. Connecting with him, seeing that the two of them got out of the fire alive. It had been a painful wake up call. A life with Carly was a dream.

He felt hollow again. Emptied out as he once again lost the woman he loved. The only reason he fought his way out of the fire was for Sage. She needed him and he be damned if he left her alone in the world.

Lorenzo could still feel the heat at his back as he exited the hotel with Carly and Sonny. And when the explosion went off he not only heard it but felt it … looking up he saw a chuck of the building falling and he quickly realized that it was going to land on Alexis. He hadn't really seen who she was at the moment, but rather thought of her daughter, alone in the world like Sage. He acted instinctively and saved her life.

~*~

"Alone at last," Dillon teased. His face was still streaked with soot.

"You should be with your family," Georgie told him when he entered her room.

Thinking of Emily, Dillon knew Georgie was right, but the family had started fighting when Monica and Jason had shown up. Brenda, the petite brunette who'd been sitting with Ned had gotten up and went over and embraced him. His mother, who managed to get very drunk, started hollering then and he had to escape. He had to see Georgie. They had a conversation to finish. "They're not on their best behavior at the moment," he said ruefully and pulled up a chair.

Feeling for him Georgie accepted his hand. "Sorry about that."

He shrugged. "I think I'm getting use to it. I just think it's in the Quartermaine nature to be loud and express our emotions in a roundabout fashion."

"Maybe," she agreed with a small smile.

"So," Dillon drew out the word. "I saw a pretty blonde with Maxie heading to your Dad's room."

"My mom," Georgie confirmed Dillon's suspicion. "She came," she said it slightly awed, as if the action surprised her.

"I'm glad. Look Georgie we have to talk," he informed her. "About what you said earlier."

She withdrew her hand from his and shook her head. "I already said that it doesn't change anything."

Dillon frowned, "Of course it does. Georgie you said that you love me and if that's true then Sage … Tom … I don't care about them or what happened. I just want to be with you because I love you."

"No," she said her voice small. "It's not that easy."

"Ok, I can see that," he conceded. "But it doesn't mean we can't start over."

"We can't," Georgie replied somewhat bitterly. "Dillon we're not even on the same page anymore." A sour laugh escaped her lips, "I'm this person that I don't recognize anymore and frankly I don't like her."

"Georgie …"

"Don't!" she snapped. "I lied. Ok? I lied about Tom," Georgie finally admitted tears threatening to fall. "I made him up. I made everything up and sort of hired someone to play Tom. It was all an act." As she spoke she started to shake. "What kind of person does that make me Dillon? Huh? I saw you with Sage and wanted to get even … God, I hate what I've done."

Dillon wanted to hug her, no kiss her. Tom wasn't real. What happened between them wasn't real. She was still his, really and truly. He wanted to jump with joy but beyond his own emotions he could see her. Georgie was so unhappy and it broke his heart to know he'd set this all into motion by sleeping with Sage.

"That doesn't matter to me Georgie," he said cupping her face.

"It matters to me, Dillon," she said clasping his wrists and tugging his hands away from her.

"Ok." He licked his lips. He had to think quickly, Dillon knew that, he wasn't going to lose Georgie again. "I get it Georgie, really I do. You did something way out of character. Something you never thought you could or would do – because of me. This started because I slept with Sage."

"Don't," she pleaded with him. "Please don't try to blame yourself. I made that deal with your Mom," Georgie reminded him.

"I chose to work for Alcazar. If I hadn't …" he trailed off. Things wouldn't be like this, he knew. Neither of them would be hurting like they were now. "Don't," Dillon begged reading the look in her eyes. "Georgie I love you. I want to be with you."

"I want that too Dillon," she replied. "So much. And maybe someday—"

"Today is someday," he cut her off passionately. Looking into her honeyed eyes Dillon wanted to lose himself in their depths. "You're my heart Georgie. Always."

His words touched her soul. She wanted to grab onto them and never let go, but she couldn't. "Dillon," she sighed pushing forward as he leaned in. Their lips met in a desperate and all consuming kiss.

Her will power was almost gone when she pulled away. "I love you Dillon," she whispered resting her forehead against his. "I always will," she vowed. "I can't be with you now though," she said meeting his eyes. Seeing the hurt flash in them tore at her heart. "I can't be with you until I find myself again."

"You're here Georgie. You're right here," Dillon replied distraught.

"No I'm not," she said leaning back in her hospital bed. "You should really get back to your family," she told him.

Tears stung his eyes. Dillon clenched his jaw so he wouldn't scream at her. He could tell that this was tearing her up as much as it did him. It was just so unfair. They barely escaped the hotel with their lives but he knew with complete and utter certainty that Georgie was his future and now they were further apart then ever. "Right," he said standing. He walked to the door silently. When he turned back to her his blue eyes were intense. "I'll wait for you Georgie. Forever if that's what it takes," he promised before leaving her to her troubled thoughts.

~*~

"I should have made her take the elevator down," Alan hissed releasing the anger he could no longer hold in.

"Don't," Monica asked. "We all could have made different choices Alan. Edward could have listened to electrician about the danger he put everyone in. Emily and Nikolas could have tried the stairs sooner. I could have made sure that Helena hadn't removed the …"

"I wish I could have killed her myself," he seethed.

"Alan," her eyes widened and she looked around to make sure no one had heard him. "Be careful," she warned.

"She tried to take Emily from us," he said, the full weight of situation hitting him. His shoulders sagged and if it was possible he aged ten years. "Our little girl. The best of us Monica. Our salvation."

"I know," she whispered painfully. "But that bitch is dead. We have to think about Emily."

Alan's hand shook. The old need for a pill swept through him. No, he seethed. He wouldn't let Emily down. He couldn't. He only wished he'd been able to help them handle Helena. "AJ should be here," he said furiously. "If he hadn't have taken the money—"

"Don't you dare blame AJ for this," Monica snapped. The golden curtain of her hair swung as she jerked in her seat. "He couldn't have known."

"He never thinks Monica. Never. We lost Jason to him. I will not lose my daughter as well," he growled. Unwilling to listen to his wife defend their oldest son he stood. "I'm going to check on Mother." Looking at Ned he said, "Let me know if anything changes," and turned down the hall to go to his father's room.

~*~

He hadn't heard the news. If he had, Zander wouldn't have left the treasure on the Quartermaines doorstep. Granted a few bobbles were missing. He'd sell them and have enough to live on. He'd make a new life for himself far from Port Charles and all the memories there.

"News on the half hour … we have an update on the fire that raged at the Port Charles Hotel last night—"

Zander changed the radio station. He didn't hear the news about his father's death or that though shot by his own hand Officer Brian Beck was expected to make a full recovery or that Emily Quartermaine was in serious condition.

Music blared as he headed north towards Canada and his new life. He would never look back.

~*~

"I didn't expect to see you," Lorenzo stated when Carly entered his room.

"I hadn't planned on coming here," she answered truthfully. She was grateful to Lorenzo and always would be. He stood by her when she needed it most, but Carly knew that she to end whatever was between them now.

"So you and Sonny worked everything out," he stated as coldness crept over his heart.

It wasn't a question but Carly answered him anyway. "Not exactly. We're not getting back together but we've decided not to fight over Michael and Morgan anymore."

"Good," he said aloofly. "I never wanted you to lose your children Carly."

"I know," she replied. "Lorenzo …"

"Please spare me your heart-felt gratitude Carly. Whatever we had is over. I know that."

Carly frowned at the ice in his tone. It reminded her of the man she first met. "I am sorry Lorenzo. You're a good man and I'll always be grateful to you for sharing that side of yourself with me. I just can't love you back."

"Is that it?" he inquired almost viciously.

"No. I hope one day you'll be able to share your heart with someone who can return your feelings, because she'll be one lucky lady," Carly told him. "Goodbye Lorenzo."

Rage filled him as he watched her walk out of his room, out of his life. Furious he grabbed the canister of water beside his table and threw it at the wall.

"A simple go away would have sufficed," Alexis remarked backing out the doorway.

Lorenzo ground his teeth. "Wait."

Alexis wasn't sure why didn't continue to back out of the doorway. She wasn't sure what propelled her forward back into his room. Nonetheless she found herself there. "I wanted to thank you," she said, "for saving my life."

His blue eyes held hers intently as he replied, "You're welcome."

Forcing a smile Alexis just stood there uncertain what to say or do next. "Well, I need to get back to my nephew."

"Was he injured?" Lorenzo found himself asking. He didn't want Alexis to leave. She could have been anyone at the moment, he thought, wishing that he hadn't sent Sage away. He felt himself icing up, changing back into the men he'd been, and didn't want that. Damn Carly for those parting words and his foolish need to honor them. He had to fight against the numbness – he needed something else to occupy his mind.

"No. Not really," Alexis answered. "His fiancée, Emily, is in surgery. It doesn't look good and if anything happens to her," she shook her head. "I don't think Nikolas could stand losing her. Mind you he'd find away to carry on," she said so Alcazar wouldn't think Nikolas weak. "But he wouldn't be the same. He's loved her for a long time," she explained. "First as friend and then, well, recently as more. It really is very sweet. And Emily, well, I think she's perfect for Nikolas. They make each other happy and that's what truly matters."

"Do you ever breath?" Lorenzo asked when there was moment of silence.

Alexis started at his question. "Just breathe." She heard Sonny's voice echo in her mind. "Of course I breathe. It would be difficult to survive for long if I didn't."

His laughter was rich and unexpected. "You know I shouldn't like you."

Like me, she thought, oh no she wasn't going down that path again. "Work on that then because I don't like you," Alexis scowled.

~*~

In the operation room Bobbie sweated. Emily had already flat lined once causing the surgery to run long. The nurse in Bobbie wasn't sure if Emily's body was up to the stress and started to prepare for the worse. As Monica and Alan's friend she started to pray for a miracle.

They were going to need it.

.

.

.

TBC?? Well I had this inspiration and just had to go with it. Now I have a few ideas but if there is no interest for more we'll leave this as a short story. Revised: Just editing, cleaning up typos and such.