And again, it's been a while. I'm sorry- classes and work have me knee deep in boring reallife stuff (poo! Poo!) even now I'm supposed to be writing a twenty page paper on nuclear weapons SIGH. But because it's been so long I have TWO chapters for you instead of one (as an apology). I am so sorry this took me so long to get up! In two weeks I am DONE for the semester and so chapters will hopefully be coming out more readily (this got done because I couldn't get the story out of my head while trying to write on Oppenheimer haha)

Thank you for your patience and I hope people are still reading and enjoying the story!

Candymen: There is more of Georgie and Johnny opening up to each other in this chapter = ) the Spixie stuff is about to heat up after these two chapters, you'll see the progression here though = ) thanks so much for taking the time to reply!

Liz9: Thanks!!! I always wished that after the Lulu/Dillon thing Georgie would have gotten a harder edge. Spin is going to continue to suspect that something is up with Georgie and that factors into the Spixie stuff! I hope you like!

QUEENADDEK: There is some more Claudia in this chapter! I do love those Zibs!! Thanks!!!

Starbright: there is a LOT of the fam in this one, especially MAxie and Georgie! Thanks for replying and for the website!

RedDragen: Thanks!!!!

darkhuntress21: Thanks!! Let me know if you find anymore Georgie and Johnny stuff, please?

lily94: LOL! Thanks!!! I love darker Georgie too, and I LOVE the idea of Georgie/Johnny. She is very human and she does screw up a lot but deep down she's still Georgie and wants to do the right thing. Thanks again, and I agree, more Georgie fics needed!

Poeticgrace: thanks so much! And I miss Georgie too. What a waste writing her off and now they brought on this Embecca person, strangeness. I loved your glo fic, which I already told you but should be repeated!

Average Everyday Sane Psycho: Thanks!! I hope you keep enjoying it!!

beanybabe324: Thanks so much! I love Georgie/Johnny too, I just wish there were more fics on them!!

CGandJaz: thanks!!

Kathy0518: I do plan on continuing! Thanks and more soon (hopefully)!!

I thought I should put in that while there are a lot of characters in this story the only ones I'm really concerned with are Georgie, Johnny, Maxie and Spinelli. Mac, Claudia Dillon, Lulu, Logan and the rest are all supporting characters. They're put into further the story (plus I like the Zibling vibe and I love Mac so they had to be in it). It's picking up now as pieces fall together and the plot surges forward after the next chapter. Build-up is done and it's time for the meat of the story!!

Chapter Six

"Oh no, Maxie. I'm having a great time. We've been engaging in battle all day."

Maxie looked at the phone, then shook her head, "do I even want to know what that means?" She asked her sister, with a smile.

"Oh, you know- a battle of the wits…"

"Well I'm glad you're having fun. Tell her I said hello and that we….oh nevermind, I don't want to meet her. You know your friends always bore me." Maxie looked at Spinelli and made a face when he scowled reproachfully at her. She heard Georgie chuckling.

"I'm not so sure you'd find this one dull but no worries. You're not going to. So Dillon's there, huh?"

She could tell that didn't make Georgie happy by the way her voice kind of fell. "Yeah, yeah he is, for now. But say the word Georgie and I will have his freaky haired self flown straight to Turkey, okay?" She covered the phone with her hand and whispered fiercely at Spinelli, "you just had to call him, didn't you?"

He was shaking his head and shrugging before he walked out of the room and into the kitchen.

"No, no, no. It will be good to see him, I'm sure of it."

Maxie frowned, "you don't have to, Georgie."

"How are you handling being snowed in with three very nice guys? You must be going insane."

Maxie smiled, "oh, I keep myself entertained, you know me. They're just lucky they have me around to make their lives interesting." Maxie stood up and paced the length of the living room, looking at the photos of all their family on the wall. There was Georgie, Mac, Robin and herself everywhere from infant to present. There were picture of Mac and his brother, of Mac and Taggert, there were pictures of Anna, Felicia and even some of Frisco and Tony upon Mac's insistence.

"Aren't we all, Maxie?"

Maxie didn't answer right away, but a home wasn't a home without her sister and she felt privileged to have this second chance with her. "God Georgie- I've missed you so much. There were just so many times these last two years when I really needed to hear your voice to really know it was all going to be okay. And yeah, Mac and Spinelli are the world's top men and I'm so lucky to have them but…but they weren't you." Her words were coming out rushed and she knew it but just the same they wouldn't stop and soon tears were coming to. "I never really knew what lonely felt like until you went away."

"You helped me get through that place, you know? When I didn't think I was ever getting out of there I'd think of you and what you would do. I knew you'd be strong. I knew you'd have the spirit to get out."

There was a long pause and Maxie couldn't bring herself to speak past the lump in her throat to fill it.

"I thought about getting back to you to help you stay out of trouble. I was never lonely, Maxie because you talked enough for two lifetimes so that when you weren't there I had a memory always with me. So you were with me the whole time, you and Mac, urging me to free myself. Telling me to be strong and resilient like the two of you."

Maxie wiped away her tears and sat back down. "We used to fight so much- I always, I felt so guilty about that."

"Really? Because I look forward to more squabbles. I look forward to it all, Maxie. We wouldn't be us if we didn't. I mean who would I be if I wasn't giving you a hard time?"

Maxie smiled, "somebody else's sister."

"Maxie?"

"Yeah."

"I love you."

"I love you too, Georgie. Be safe."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Georgie hung the phone up, eyes wet. She quickly wiped her tears away and took a deep, stabilizing breath. There was so much more she ached to tell Maxie but knew that she couldn't. What happened to her just wasn't something her family needed to know- they hurt enough for her and there was no reason to further that pain. She walked into the main area of the club and walked towards the stage that Johnny was sitting on. He set aside the clip board he had been looking at and gave her a puzzled look. "Did you and your sister fight?"

Georgie smiled and shook her head. "No, no, just the opposite actually. So what's that?" She motioned to the clip board.

"Just an order form. I usually have Dean oversee all of this but Dean is obviously at home with his family and I am here so I thought I'd get it done."

She nodded, "can I help?"

"Can you help me run my club?" He asked with a laugh, "it's incredibly, mind-numbingly dull and long. Remind me to give Dean a raise."

She snatched the clip board from his hands and started scanning it, "wow. Dean's got this well organized. Quite the worker here." She turned the page, "I agree, give this man a raise. Now I'll take the munchies, you take the liquors and lets start counting." She looked up, "and after we're done with our chores it's back to the chess board."

"But you beat me the last two times."

"Then what do you want to do?"

"Why don't we pause all this and you tell me something about you that I wouldn't expect. It shouldn't be hard- I know practically nothing about you."

Georgie put a hand on her hip, "fine, I'm a hard worker. There. Your turn."

He gave her a look of exasperation. "I've decided that since you can't be serious about my question I can't be serious about the chores. So lets listen to some music, get out some liquor and play risk."

"Risk? The board game?" Georgie questioned, "I've actually never played that."

"Thank God- now I know I have a chance."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Dr. Ian Devlin had a thing for brunettes, not just any brunette though, he liked his girls trashy too. He never understood why some guys looked for that sweet, innocent virgin to covet. They never knew what to do and they never did talk back. He liked attitude.

Honestly, he preferred his skirts to be on the job.

That wasn't the kind of thing many men liked to admit but he wasn't just some ordinary guy. He could make a trainwreck look like suburban street. He was gifted and he knew it. He didn't save lives, he created new ones for people and he felt that was just as important. To some it was shallow but that was the way of the world, he just played the game and wasn't ashamed to admit it.

His room, a hole in the wall in the center of Cortlandt street, had the faint aroma of the pizza he had just made himself. He sat down on his worn, plaid print couch and put a foot up on the coffee table as he turned the television on. He could afford a larger screen, he could put the money forth to get a new, fancy couch. But he liked his life the way it was and his bank account growing at an exponential rate. In a few years he could buy a wife and live comfortably on some tropical island drinking his life away and maybe writing some book that would make Kerouac look like Donald Trump and Albert Camus look like Kelly Clarkson.

He had a distinct view on reality and had been set in his ways for a good, long time.

The phone rang and he reached over and flipped his cell open. "Devlin."

"Hey Ian, it's been a while."

Ah. brunettes, Claudia Zacharra was indeed his favorite. The woman that made trashy the ultimate beauty- she wasn't hooker but everyone had their flaws. He smiled. "Hello there, Gorgeous. How ya been?"

"I'd be better if I paid you a visit."

"I'll make it worth your while," he flirted back with a smirk. "So what do you need?"

"Nothing too serious. I need you to check up on my little brother once the blizzard passes, baby. He's hanging out with a girl- she sounds nice but you know I have to check."

"I'm not a babysitter, Claudia- unless you want me to be when you visit…"

"Mmmm, well, maybe. But for now? Check up on my little brother. I'll wire you an obscene amount of money for it."

"How obscene?"

"Remember that time in Vegas? How much I spent?"

"Hmmmm, I remember the after dark show more. But yeah- I remember."

"That's the first half."

"I'm in."

He quickly said goodbye and hung up the phone. Johnny Zacharra was about to have a tail and Dr. Devlin was just that much closer to owning his very own island.

He poured himself a scotch and turned the light off, smiling in the dark.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"All this proves is that you're more power hungry than me." Anna told him teasingly as she started putting the pieces of the game away. "I'm just not as interested in world domination as elk from a mob boss. Silly me."

The problem, Johnny realized as he watched with rapt fascination as Anna did the mundane task of putting away pieces to a game was that she was far too complex to understand, too mysterious to ignore, too brilliant to trick, too beautiful not to notice and too nice to use for a one night stand. For any other guy besides himself that wouldn't be a problem, they'd pursue her relentlessly. But he was just screwed in the head enough to not be sure if sex was worth the friendship. "Why are you staring at me?"

He wanted to tell her he had been more precisely staring at her mouth but decided against it. "Are you drunk?"

She laughed, "I'm feeling it. You?"

"Same." He picked the box up and put it on the counter before grabbing two beers and handing her one. "You're not getting bored, are you?"

She shook her head, "you?"

"Not even a little." He took a swig from his beer, "so why aren't you in school, shouldn't this be like your last year in college?"

"Why aren't you?"

He snorted, "oh yes, the college life for me. School bores me and always had. I just know the stuff I read. The only class I ever paid attention in was piano." He moved behind the counter and reached into the cooler for a six pack before heading towards the staircase doors to get upstairs. Anna grabbed a six pack of Smirnoff before following him up. "I was never a good student."

"Too much sitting, not enough gunplay?"

"Something like that." He told her before opening up the door to his apartment and placing his six pack on the coffee table in front of the television. He sat down on the couch and she followed suit, still attentive. "I just never saw the point of learning by just sitting there and having people talk at you. I got that enough at home. I wanted a world where you learned by doing. Maybe that's why I liked working on cars and playing the piano- you don't just sit and listen, you know?"

"I get that." She nodded, "was it really bad at home?"

"Well, I had Claudia." He hedged, "but other then that, yeah, kinda. Then Claudia was gone- I mean it wasn't her fault but that's just the way it was." He shrugged and faced her on the couch. "I missed her a lot after she left, she was kind of the only stability I had."

Anna nodded, and took his hand. "It must have been hard."

He shrugged, "nothing is ever really easy."

"Johnny, aren't you lonely with Claudia gone?" She asked, placing her hands on his knee and looking curiously into his eyes. "I mean sure, you have all those girls but I mean, isn't it hard? No one to talk to regularly. Don't you miss that about being with Lulu?"

He looked past her, swallowing past the lump that was forming in his throat. He was surprised she remembered the name. "Uhm, sometimes I guess."

He wasn't sure what he expected but it wasn't her crawling to his side of the couch and pulling him into a hug. He let her rest there for a while and he smoothed her hair over her head and down her back. She shifted slightly so that she was in the crease between his body and arm, palm on his chest. He laid back as she moved so they could fit comfortably there. Maybe that was why he had been comparing every girl to Lulu and not actually pursued Lulu herself or told her the truth to win her back. He missed companionship, not the girl herself. "I don't feel very lonely now." He whispered, looking down at her face.

"Good." She looked up at him and he had the sudden urge to lean forward and press his mouth to hers. He wondered if she'd pull away and was afraid of the answer. "Tell me, John, tell me what it's been like for you. I want to know."

And so he began.

He started with as far back as he could remember…and went from there, spilling everything until he was empty of his whole childhood, the way his father isolated him from his mother, the angry fits, the violence and his mother's death. "He loved her so much, you know? I didn't…I thought for the longest time when I was little was that was what love meant. And then he killed her- he killed her when he was trying to kill me for loving her too. " Johnny let out a small breath, "and then he tried to do that same thing with me. God, he tried to kill his own daughter so that he could have me all to himself. Sometimes I wonder…I wonder how much of him is in me, you know? I…I…know that isn't what you probably want to hear- that you're isolated in the snow with some psycho.

I get that a little part of you is waiting for a horror movie, here."

"I could handle it if you did."

"I believe you."

"I'm not as fragile as I look." She told him gently, "and I think you're far more fragile then you look." She smiled lightly, "finish telling me, Johnny." She encouraged.

He told her of his crimes as a teenager, the girl who filed rape charges against him, the speeding, the vandalism, the breaking and entering. "I just wanted to feel alive." He talked of his failings as an adult, of all of Lulu's resentment and his father's insanity, of his fear that one day he'll end up like Anthony…

He told her about the drinking and the one night stands. And when he was done, when all that remained was one, dark secret echoing inside his head, he was quiet for a moment, letting her absorb it all. The entire time she had remained in his arms, just listening without commentary, squeezing his hand encouragingly if he stumbled over parts. Then he started telling her everything about his mother that he could remember and how sometimes he'd imagine she was alive so that he could feel warm again.

He talked until she was drifting to sleep.

When she was sleeping soundly his thoughts went back to what he had told her. Having said the words, how he talked about everything that ached inside he felt a little lighter. And maybe, he thought, that was why she had wanted to hear it.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"So—quick question, Spinelli." Dillon jumped the back of the couch and sat down next to Spinelli with an eager look on his face. "what have you been up to in the last couple years? I mean you're living here, with Maxie. You spend all your time with Maxie and really, last time I heard you and she barely got along."

Spinelli begrudgingly put his computer aside, "Georgie's death brought us together. We were searching for the Wise One's killer."

"Diego." Dillon stated.

Spinelli nodded, "I think it's strange that Diego was dead and yet Georgie was still a captive. Don't you?" Spinelli asked suddenly, "and she never talks about it, either. I wonder where she was after he died?"

Dillon looked straight ahead, trying to figure it out as well but no scenario, even for a movie, came up as plausible. "Are you trying to research that? Is that what you're doing right now?"

Spinelli put his computer back on his lap. "I tried to track how Georgie returned to the country. From what little she said is that they held her in Mexico. But she's never stated a town. In fact, thanks to Mac, she's given very little background on how Diego kept her or anything. There's no real investigation either. It's all really, really odd."

"So I take it you're not riding the Maxie and Mac joy train of what they want to be real is real?"

Spinelli shook his head, "they're trying to be supportive. They don't want the Wise One pressured at all. Which I get, you know? She's been through a trauma and the last thing she needs is for us all asking what happened while she was away." He took a deep breath, "but they have to know something isn't right. The Commish and The Brazen Blonde One aren't dumb."

"I didn't think about it either until you said she was never around." Dillon put in thoughtfully, "I was riding that joy train for all it was worth. But more then anything, Georgie is reliable. She would be here with her family." Dillon asserted, looking Spinelli square in the face. "The fact that she isn't tells me something is very, very wrong."

"Something is wrong." Spinelli agreed, "she's hiding something, a lot of somethings."

"No." Dillon shook his head, "you're making it sound like she's hiding something bad, something that could get her into trouble."

"No, no, no, no..." Spinelli waved put his laptop aside, shutting it but before he could finish Maxie entered his field of vision.

"You…think my sister did something wrong?" She asked in a cold, angry voice. She cast a withering glance at Dillon then turned back to Spinelli, "you think you're going to uncover it? Is that what's going on?"

"Maximista-"

"Why? Lets say, hypothetically, that Georgie is hiding something very, very bad." She crossed the room, putting as much distance between herself and Spinelli as possible. "Why do you want to know? Are you going to turn her in? And lets say you do- after what she's been through already, is that really fair?"

"To be fair, Maxie," Dillon responded quietly, "we don't know what happened to her, do we? No one does."

"And that's her right to keep it a secret!" She blasted him before crossing her arms over her chest, "don't you think her freedom and privacy were stolen for too long as it is?"

They glanced at each other before Spinelli spoke up, "We want to know so we can help her."

"Help her." Maxie repeated, "help her. Right. Well, Spinelli, maybe if you wanted to help her you wouldn't have called Lulu and Dillon- the two that sent her right into Diego's arms in the first place. Or." A chilling smile appeared on her lips, "maybe you could have seen past your stupid, epic love for that shrew and looked at the beautiful, giving Georgie who thought you hung the moon."

"Maxie," Dillon started with exaggerated patience, "I thought you had gotten past this anger-"

"That was before my sister came back needing my protection." She interrupted curtly, "so either you stop this insane investigation into my sister or I dismantle both of your lives piece by piece." She whirled around and stomped up the steps.

Spinelli let out a sigh, "that went well."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"You look beautiful Georgie."

She looked down at her red dress and around the magically decorated prom and then back to Diego who was smiling at her like she was the only girl in the room.

She nodded, stepping forward. There was a fist of fear in her stomach as he took her into his arms but she went anyway, looking around as her fellow students shifted and shimmered. She looked into Diego's eyes, fixed there, unable to see the killer she knew was there. But she saw nothing and the fear grew until she looked away, finding herself in a room with graying walls, cracks in the paint and small bed.

"Diego, you saved me!" The words came out as she tried to hold them back. It sickened her as she welcomed his embrace, holding him tightly. When she pushed him away slightly, she stopped and he pushed a tendril of her hair back. "Thank you."

"I'd do anything for you, Georgianna Jones." He told her warmly.

Georgie screamed inside as his mouth descended, as her mouth responded to his.

"Anna, wake up, ANNA!"

Georgie woke with a start, grabbing onto Johnny with a gasp of breath and burying her head between his shoulder and neck. He was warm. Tears streaked down her cheeks and onto his skin and he held her tighter. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you, Anna. But you were thrashing, like you were locked in something and so I thought it might be better if I woke you up…"

She let go of him and met his gaze. "Thank you."

"Anna, is there anything I can do?"

She swallowed hard and nodded, "yeah, yes. Please could you just…not leave me alone tonight?"

"No, no…Of course I won't. Tell you the truth, I didn't really want to sleep all by myself either. How about I make us a midnight snack and a nightcap, hmm? Then we can fall asleep listening to some Chopin. It will be soothing."

She nodded and he stepped into the kitchen to make the food and their drinks. "Head up to my room, Anna," He called in, "and I'll be up in a moment."

She did in a hurry and walked into his room, rounding the bed so that she was staring out at the snow covered world from his balcony window. She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned around to look at his handsome face, slightly startled but easily hid it having had to practice for so long. "Did you know that you can actually see when a person is hollow?"

"How do you mean?"

She searched for the words, "when someone is so damaged that you can see it in their faces. When they've been hollowed out of who they were. You can see it. Something in their manner, in their speech, in their walk and their expression. Monsters…they aren't just born. They're made. I've seen it, you know?" She looked away from him and then looked back. "Someone who has carved the insides into what they want them to be. God, it's so painful to see. It's so ugly."

"Anna…" He shook his head in confusion

"When you look into my eyes, what do you see?"

He smoothed her hair back from her face, eyes scanning her countenance. "You wouldn't believe me if I said it."

She stared at him, feeling sorrow begin to take her. Nothing. He saw nothing and he didn't want to say it. She had been hollowed out and he knew it as well as she did, the thought echoed in her mind angrily. "I…I'm sorry. You must be freaking out, huh? I'm acting insane." She tried to pull away from him and retreat. She felt guilty, letting him hold her like this when in the end she wasn't even telling him her name. It wasn't fair. "John," she tugged a little to get free but he wasn't letting go.

"When I first saw you I thought of a volcano. All that destruction and tragedy- I could feel it radiate off you like it does me." He touched her cheek, eyes moving over her face slowly as if memorizing every detail. "The volcano erupts, lava destroys everything in its path. But that lava, it cools, Anna. When it does…it makes this volcanic glass, a precious stone called obsidian. It's beautiful, black with flakes of white. And over that there's ash- and that ash covers the world and it makes disaster kind of look like peace." His smile shone mostly in his eyes and that was rare for him, he reached over, tucking her hair behind her ear. Georgie felt vulnerable under his stare, like he was seeing right through to every last secret. She looked away, she had to, the truth was too ugly, even for Johnny, to look at. "No, please, don't turn away."

She slowly dragged her gaze back to his. "I…."

"When I look at you, what else am I supposed to think of besides poetry and music? You're the mysterious woman in every story. I am certain men would write symphonies for you and operas about you." He kept her gaze locked in his, "you're a muse."

"And you're terrifyingly charming." She replied sheepishly, trying to keep her emotions under control but failed in doing so, "very dangerous and also very damaged. I tried to save a guy like that once."

"Oh?"

She nodded, staring off into the distance. "But he had been hollowed from the inside. Someone had hurt him so badly that he changed from the guy I cared about to someone it hurt to look at. They just emptied him of who he was and filled it with who they were."

She felt Johnny stroke her hair, his smooth fingers felt good on her skin and she smoothed the front of her fingers against arm. "Is that what you see when you look at me? Do you see him?"

"No…" she whispered softly, "but he was different then you. He didn't need the adrenaline to feel alive. In the end he didn't even want to be alive." She swallowed hard before meeting his gaze head on. "I don't see him when I see you. I see him when I look in the mirror." A tear rolled down her cheek, "because underneath that glass and that ash is decay, John. That's all there is. That's all they left of me."

"You don't want to be alive either?"

She took a deep breath, "I think death is the only thing I'm not afraid of anymore."

"I'm scared stupid of death." He told her quietly, "I've never really admitted it fully to anyone but I am. And I want, so desperately, to prove to myself, to death, to life, to whatever that I'm not afraid. I challenge it, I'm always challenging it...fast cars, jumping off cliffs and roofs…sky diving…mass quantities of alcohol…and other drugs too…" He shook his head, "I'm trying so hard to prove that I'm not a coward, I guess. But you- you don't seem scared like you say you are. Sad, lonely, hurt but not afraid."

"I am though." She whispered, "I'm terrified. Because I know, I know that monsters are real. And worse…I think I've become one." Georgie let the tears go, "and I can't…I can't let my sister see that 'cuz…" She swallowed, "because I've already let her down. I left her, just like everyone else did and I know I didn't mean to but…but I can't ever…ever let her down again."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"There is nothing wrong with Georgie." Maxie told her reflection quietly.

"You can't give up Maxie, please. You have to fight." Georgie begged, tears in her eyes as she clutched her sister's hand tightly.

Maxie swallowed, feeling so desperately tired and lost. "I tried. It's my heart, it's just tired. Georgie, a pink box under my bed…"

She was nodding, "Yeah? What about it?" wiping her face, Georgie looked down then back at her.

"It has our to do lists in it." Maxie told her throatily, "it's your turn now."

She could see the pain in Georgie's eyes as she spoke, the determination that everything was going to be okay was there as well. "No, those are ours. The things we have to do together."

"You have to be the one-"

"Maxie please-," Georgie's tears began to fall and her voice was choked and wrought with emotion, "Maxie, I wouldn't even begin to know where to look for a unicorn. Please…"

She smiled, "you'll figure it out."

"Are you alright, Maxie?" Mac asked, poking his head through the door.

She turned around and smiled at him, "yeah- I was just remembering when…when we thought I was going to die…when I was saying goodbye to Georgie."

Mac stepped forward and touched her cheek. "But you didn't die."

"And neither did she." Maxie whispered, smiling. "And I'm never going to let anything happen to her again."

Mac pulled her into a hug, "you don't need to take that hardship on yourself, sweetie." When she pulled away, she sat on the bed and he sat down next to her. "I know how hard this has been on you, I know how guilty you felt after we thought Georgie died. And I am going to tell you again- it wasn't your fault, it shouldn't have been you and you're my beautiful daughter that I love just as much as Georgie and just as much as Robin."

Maxie started shaking her head, "I'm her older sister, I'm supposed to protect her and I never did. I never did, Dad. I always just…looked out for myself."

"That's not true." He told her softly, "you know, she loved you and she thought the two of you had a special connection. She always felt that way, Maxie. And you know, she's right. Without you Georgie never would have been Georgie- when the two of you were just tiny she'd follow you everywhere. You'd get so annoyed," he chuckled, "but she learned so much from you."

"Like how not to be?" Maxie deadpanned.

"No." He frowned, "like how to dance and how to make people laugh. You loved her enough so that she didn't think about Felicia disappearing and Frisco never being around."

"You taught us that."

"You're not giving yourself enough credit," he argued, "and that's the big problem, Maxie. It's why you always end up doing something bad- to make up for something you think you lack. But you don't lack anything." He smiled at her, "and Georgie, she doesn't lack anything either. You're both, well, you're both made to be sisters. That's all. And that's why she came back to us, it's just how it's meant to be."

Maxie let out a small sigh, content for that moment. He was right, it made too much sense for him to be wrong. Maybe she and Georgie were meant to be siblings and were not meant to be permanently separated, maybe that was the reason she got a new heart. "Thanks, Dad."

"Anytime, kiddo."

Chapter Seven

Anna had fallen asleep in his arms the night before but when Johnny woke, she was gone. How she had wiggled from his embrace and out the door without him stirring was a mystery but he was getting used to that. When he blinked the sleep away he saw the note on the pillow next to him. He picked it up and blinked his eyes into focus, trying also to clear the fog from his head.

He turned over and his hand fell on a stray piece of paper on his pillow. He crumpled it accidentally as he rose to a seated position to look at it.

John

I'm sorry I left without a goodbye but I had to get home. Thank you for allowing me to stay with you. You were a great shelter from the cold.

Yours,

Anna

He smiled at the shortness of the letter and what was unsaid in it but implied so beautifully. You were a great shelter from the cold. Not his home, not the warmth of the blankets. But him.

It arose a giddiness inside him that he never thought he'd feel again. He found himself bending over to smell the letter, he examined the beautiful lettering and finally the signature. He ran his fingers over it and smiled, relaxed and calm for the first time in a long, long time. When the phone rang he reached over for it absently, still looking at the piece of paper.

"Hello?"

"We need to talk."

It was Spinelli, Johnny held in a sigh and put the paper aside. "Do we? I don't see what we need to talk about. Are you even on a secure line?"

"The Jackal would never-"

"Cut the Spinelli-speak." Johnny interrupted impatiently, "and tell me what it is you think we need to talk about."

"Someone has been going through the Jackal's most secret computer files, or, at least, someone has tried to hack their way in. It could be nothing but it could be something."

"The Jackal," Johnny said acidly, "better get better firewalls then, hadn't he?"

There was a pause, "I'm worried." It was panicked.

"Then check it out, I'm no warrior in cyberspace, Spinelli. I'm a thug. You get the information and I find a way to solve the problem in a more tangible fashion. Right? So do what you're supposed to do because if you don't- if this all gets out- your pal is dead, your little girlfriend is going to dump you for lying to her and the nice, pretty little life I've been building myself is going to go down the damn drain."

"Stonecold could most certainly take on any assailant-"

"Just…shut up about him. Okay? Your obsession borders on homoerotic so just make-out and get it over with,. Just erase any files on him, like I asked you to do a million years ago and make sure you don't get hacked. Is that really so difficult?"

"No."

"Then hop to- and try not to call here again. We don't need to be connected for any reason."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

When Dillon awoke there was a creaking in the floor of the kitchen. He heard it through the door. But it wasn't the sound that awoke him. It was the nightmare that had possessed his mind cruelly while he slept. The actual events escaped him, but the fear struck him so strongly that he sat up like a board, beads of sweat running down his forehead still lingering. He ran a hand through his hair and looked around the still living room, the dvd that he had fallen asleep to had returned to the music on the menu screen and it looped, over and over until he managed to get enough wits to turn it off. Rubbing sleep out of his eyes, he swung his feet to the floor and yawned heavily. It had to be early.

Then he heard the sound again before the door swung open and he was staring at Georgie Jones.

She looked different. Her hair was longer and she was dangerously thin but she was still beautiful- he didn't think anything could change that, even in her baggy sweats and the little tank she wore as pajamas before him, she wasgorgeous. Partly in respect he stood in her presence, as though revering her. It felt like she should be worshipped then, like some angel returning from a treacherous battle with demons. She looked unearthly. "I love you."

It wasn't what he had planned to say. He had prepared a speech of a kind, a confession of how he had missed her, of how poorly he felt for treating her so badly and how important she was to him, to everyone. But it had all left his memory the moment she appeared. "You really remember how to greet a girl."

"It was your greeting that brought us together," he reminded her with a smile, "the kiss that changed my life."

"How have you been?"

He shrugged, "I've been in film school, I've been making films, I've been…Georgie, I just can't believe you're really here, for so long I…no, no, it doesn't matter, none of that matters because you're alive."

She took in a deep breath, as if she trying to find the courage to say something but then snapped her mouth shut and smiled, "Dillon, nothing should be changing in your life because of this- okay? I mean, just try and pretend that I was here all along, living my life as Georgie Jones. I think you'll be better off this way." Her tone was casual and she walked over to the chair and sat down, looking up at him. "So tell me, how is film school going?"

"We can't just…pretend like nothing happened."

"Sure we can," she urged, a strange expression crossing her face. "pretend it's a movie, make it into one in your head. Pretend we talked just last week and I told you how I loved changing my major to Journalism. Helping Pete with that book really inspired me and you told me about some class you have to take but it has nothing to do with your major so it's just…it's just frustrating."

Her voice was so conversational, it sounded like she always had sounded and so he sat down and he just stared at her for a minute. "I do have a class like that," he said with uncertainty. "It's this completely absurd advanced trig class that's just worthless but they deem it necessary."

She was nodding, bringing her legs up onto the chair and sitting Indian style, leaning backwards and looking very comfortable and small. "but the film classes all but make up for it?"

"Yeah." He replied, "Georgie, tell me what's really happened to you these last two years. Don't make up some happy, normal life. We both know that isn't what happened."

"Georgie, you're home. I thought I heard your voice." Maxie practically stumbled down the stairs but managed a graceful landing regardless and took her sister into a hug. When she whirled around to look at Dillon, she was glaring at him. "As you can see, Dillon's visiting."

"Yeah," Georgie bit her lip, "so I've seen."

"So did you have fun with your friend?"

Georgie nodded, "yeah, yeah, she's great. I had a really, really great time, actually." She smiled at Maxie, "I didn't know being snowed in could be so much fun."

"Georgie and I were just discussing something interesting," Dillon told Maxie pointedly, glancing sideways at his former wife. There was something wrong, avoidance wasn't Georgie's way, she faced things head on. Something was off and Dillon decided Maxie needed to understand that if Georgie was going to get the help she needed. "She thinks we should just pretend we never thought she was dead."

Maxie's brow furrowed and she glanced at her sister, "what do you mean?"

She cleared her throat, "everything just seems so needlessly complicated, Maxie, don't you think?" Georgie coaxed in a matter-of-factly voice, "I mean, everything is so messy, just as it was before Diego took me and now it's worse that I'm back. It's just…too much for me to take in. I need some slack here, I need a break, you know?"

Dillon watched Georgie's expression carefully, it seemed sincere enough but then why did he feel like he was staring at a stranger? The conversational tone from earlier had been broken, that comfort gone. She was different. He stopped himself and did a mental shake. Of course she was different. She had been a hostage for years. She had probably been hurt very badly, no one came back from that the same. But was Spinelli right to think it was as serious as he thought it was? "Of course you need a break," Maxie was saying with exaggerated patience, "which is actually why I'm so angry Spinelli invited Dillon and Lulu back to begin with."

"Wait, Lulu is coming back?" Dillon asked instantly. From the corner of his eye he saw Georgie retreat closer to Maxie and he instantly regretted the eagerness in his tone. He fought to salvage the situation. "What I mean is…why would she come back? She and Georgie weren't close."

"No, they weren't." Maxie agreed through clenched teeth.

Georgie wet her lips, "oh, you know, Spin, he was just overly zealous. It always gets him into trouble. It's fine, Maxie. They're no trouble." A sardonic, bitter smile crossed her lips. "It will just be like old times."

"Lovely," Maxie grimaced, "because the old times were so great."

"They were," Georgie told her sister with a smile and a squeeze of the hand, "but now I think we should focus on breakfast. Lets surprise Mac with something delicious that lacks any kind of nutrition."

Maxie beamed, "that sounds like a brilliant plan."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Spinelli hung up the phone feeling no better about the situation then he had before Johnny said hello. He was alone. Completely and utterly alone. Who else could he talk about it with? Certainly not Maxie.

He groaned and leaned back against the wall, hitting his head off it. Maxie whom he had been lying too all this time, Maxie who tried to comfort him when he was grieving Jason. What would she do if she found out it was all a lie? That he had taken her comfort despite having no real grief?

It was a mess.

She wouldn't care that he had to keep it a secret, instead she would just wonder why he didn't trust her. And why didn't he trust her, why hadn't he told her? Because Jason asked him not to. Jason. Who had the love of his life. Jason. Who was free. Jason who had abandoned him.

It wasn't like Spinelli to feel this bitter, especially in regard to his best friend. After all, Jason had given him a home for so long, made him feel accepted like he had never felt before. Jason, Georgie, Maxie, Lulu and Sam had always been there for him. Now Mac too. He should feel lucky not angry.

But that resentment was creeping into his consciousness like some vile poison attacking his synapses. It felt like a computer virus was taking root in his skull and he didn't have the software or technology to remove it. If only Johnny would talk about it with him. But that was a dead end, he was stubborn as a mule and far too happy with his current lifestyle to want to delve into the past.

But Spinelli couldn't run from the past. It haunted him. It plagued him like an endless nightmare and now that wise Georgie was back from the dead it was like hardly any time had passed at all. Her return brought him nothing but worry and concern- for her, for the secrets he kept, for his fair Maximista…would it ever end? Would he ever get his happy ending?

His IM dinged and he looked down at it.

TheBlondeOne_LL: What's shaking, Jackal?

Lulu. He smiled at the IM name he had given her that she still used. It brought him slight peace right then.

TheJackal: Nothing.

TheBlondeOne_LL: You're awake early.

TheJackal: Can't sleep.

TheBlondeOne_LL: What's wrong?

TheJackal: I'm just thinking about things.

TheBlondeOne_LL: Like Georgie or Maxie?

TheJackal: Both, kind of. And how tenuous our lives really are. How easily things can be taken away.

TheBlondeOne_LL: I get that. Things must be crazy there.

TheJackal:They are. How are you?

TheBlondeOne_LL: Good. Really good. I'll be up to visit as soon as I can

TheJackal: I'm looking forward to it.

TheBlondeOne_LL: How is Georgie?

TheJackal: I don't know. She says she's alright.

TheBlondeOne_LL: But…?

TheJackal: But I just don't think she is. I think there's something terribly wrong.

TheBlondeOne_LL: Of course there is. She was held captive for two years. That has to have some effect.

TheJackal: Yeah, yeah. Of course. I wish she would go to therapy or something. Why isn't the Wise One being so wise?

TheBlondeOne_LL: Maybe she's showing her Maxie genes.

TheJackal: Please stop.

TheBlondeOne_LL: Okay. Well I have to go to work. Talk to you later!

TheJackal: Bye.

Spinelli shut his laptop and sighed heavily. Maybe eh should start deleting all those files, maybe the time had come to try and put the past behind him. The first way to do that was to erase all evidence…and make it like Jason Morgan was really dead.

He laid back on his bed and stared at the ceiling, it felt like his best friend was truly dying this time.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Your saving my family's life." Jason told him in a quiet, humble voice. It was the first time Johnny had seen that coldness melt, the first time the stones fell and Morgan looked like a human being. "We're even."

Johnny gave him a curt nod, knowing what he meant. Sonny Corinthos' madness had almost took them all hostage, threatening to destroy not just himself and his children but Jason, his family and Johnny and his. If it wasn't for Morgan's need to keep his child safe, Johnny knew he'd be dead for killing Corinthos. But if anything happened to Johnny Claudia let Morgan know, in no uncertain terms, that everything he loved would be laid to waste. Some people thought it cruel but cruelty was just a perception. This world wasn't like the regular world, death walked and talked as though it was everyone's best friend. "Never come home."

"This isn't my home." He answered.

Johnny turned to Elizabeth. She was beautiful but her large eyes held a tragedy he wouldn't soon forget. He was about to turn away before she snatched his hand and held it, looking deeply into his eyes. "This life, your life, my choices, they are taking me from my family, from my home, from my friends, from everything I have always dreamed about. I love my sons and I love Jason- so I no longer have a choice. I am going to leave. But you, you have a choice Johnny. Walk away. Don't let this life eat you from the inside out."

Her eyes seemed to be searching his face and he responded as warmly as he could, "thank you for the advice."

She let go of his hand, nodding before looking to Jason. Finally the couple turned, walking towards the car that would take them out of the city. She turned back one last time and looked into his eyes. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Johnny clasped his hands and put them underneath his head, staring at the ceiling, lost in his memories as he wondered exactly what happened to the beautiful nurse whom had the misfortune of falling for a mobster. What a sad story she must have had. Did she miss her home? Had Jason been worth it?

Somehow he didn't think so.

But he didn't think his freedom was worth the absence of power, or at least, sometimes he thought that. But then he didn't have love to accompany him as she did. Perhaps Jason could kiss all her regrets away. But he doubted it. Some still had to linger. He wondered if having Jake was worth it, essentially that was the real reason she had to leave. It had become common knowledge that Jake was Jason's and so he was in constant danger. She left for him. Did she resent that Jason was that little boy's father?

Did Lulu ever regret being with him? And he knew, even before the process of his thinking began, that it was eventually going to end up back at Lulu. Jason and Lulu were forever intertwined in his mind. It was her thinking he had killed Jason, not Sonny, that was the real nail in their coffin. She knew that Sonny's demise had been eminent. His madness was taking its toll so violently that few could deny that action had to be taken. When Lulu thought of him now, was it with regret that she had even uttered his name?

He knew why he was wondering. It wasn't because he regretted leaving the business or the family. It wasn't even really because of Lulu either. It was Anna. Her face was burning in his mind. She knew of his past, she knew it could still come to haunt him. Why would she even think of looking twice at him as anything more then 'shelter from the cold'? Why would she ever want him?

He turned on his side, expression shuddered. She wouldn't. Of course she wouldn't.

Who the hell would want him for more then a night?

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Mac smiled contentedly, "this was the best breakfast I think I've had in years." He told his daughters who were smiling back at him. Dillon, Maxie noticed with disdain, wasn't smiling and Spinelli, who had joined the party late, didn't look like sunshine and happiness either. Georgie took the last bite of her sausage and leaned her head on her father's shoulder and Mac smiled at her, "you look happier then you did before the storm," He noted.

"I enjoyed myself, I had a lot of fun." She confessed, eyes sparkling, "I felt…normal again."

"I'm glad." Maxie replied, "maybe snow storms should come more often. We had a good time too."

"Well, since the girls did all the cooking, I think us guys should clean up." Mac announced, getting up. "I never want to be accused of being sexist- especially not when I only have girls." He laughed and kissed the daughter on each side of him on the cheek. They smiled and started towards the living room and then up the stairs.

"Hey, come here. I have a shirt that will look phenomenal on you, Georgie." Maxie told her sister, motioning towards her bedroom. Georgie followed and Maxie reached into her closet, pulling out a half-shirt with fringe falling down over the lower part that would only partially cover her front and back.

Georgie took into her hands and made a face, "this definitely isn't the real reason you wanted me to come in here. You wouldn't even wear this."

Chuckling, Maxie sat down on the bed. "Well no, but we need to talk."

"About?"

"About how you can notdate Dillon." Maxie told her vehemently. "I know, after I thought you were dead I softened on him- okay, I was soft on him a lot. But no more. He is not the guy for you- especially not after he slept with that pathetic blonde bimbo Lulu. She's not smart. She's not funny. She has no sense of fashion…I just don't see what guys see in her."

Georgie gave her a half-smile, "who knows what's going to happen, Maxie. But I don't think Dillon and I are getting back together. I've…changed a lot and…so have my tastes."

Maxie sucked in a breath, "so no you and Dillon?"

Gerogie shrugged.

"And Spinelli?" Maxie asked then, trying to look hopeful but knowing it wasn't coming across just right. She needed Georgie to be happy and she knew that Spinelli could make her happy. After all, he was smart, funny, cute…

"No." Georgie shook her head firmly, interrupting her sister's thoughts. "I am not going after Damian Spinelli, Maxie. My tastes," she repeated with a note of finality in her voice, "have changed."

"Unacceptable." The word reverberated through Maxie's head. She stood up and kept her eyes level to Georgie's, "he's perfect for you, especially right now when you need someone who can help you through this. This is everyone's chance to get things right, Georgie! You get Spinelli, Dillon gets to die alone and Lulu is stuck with that awful, disgusting creep Logan."

"And you?" Georgie asked quietly. "I get that you feel bad. I get that you think you were a bad sister- Maxie, you weren't. Sisters fight. We have to fight, it's our duty. Were you always a paragon of virtue? No. But you're you and I love you and I always will. So stop acting stepford. You don't want me with Spinelli, Maxie." She took a deep breath, her face a mask of shadows. For the first time Maxie wondered if maybe Spinelli was right, maybe there was something wrong with her sister. The darkness in her eyes, it just hadn't been there before. She quickly banished the thought. Georgie was honest, if something was really wrong she would say something. "You don't want me with him because you're in love with him." For a second she thought Georgie had punched her in the stomach. She just stared at her. Georgie stared back, nonplussed and completely calm. "You think you want me to be with Spinelli because you think he's the best and you think, after everything I've been through, that I deserve the best. I appreciate that, I do and I know it comes from a good place. But Maxie. You're stupid."

"I-I'm what?"

"Dumb. Dim-witted. Not the sharpest tool in the shed." She went on, tilting her head to the side, "you'd have to be to think for one second I could be happy for even a second knowing that my sister was in love with my boyfriend-"

"I am not-"

"But you are," Georgie interrupted and took her sister's hand in both of hers. "Maxie, I may be a little self-involved right now but I'd have to be deaf and blind not to notice the way you look at him, talk to him and talk about him."

Maxie was struck dumb, her mind couldn't keep up with what Georgie was saying. "But you were in love with him." Was all she managed to get out.

"No," Georgie shook her head, "I was in love with Dillon, I had a crush on Spinelli. I thought he was sweet and smart and funny. I also thought it was stupid how he kept twisting himself around to try and impress Lulu. But MAxie- I was never in love with him."

"Oh."

"And he's madly in love with you."

Maxie fell back onto the bed into a seating position and looked up at her, "what the hell am I supposed to do?"

She chuckled and sat down next to her, "I think it's what some people call a date."

"Oh."

"And then you guys should probably make-out a little."

Macie laughed a little, closing her eyes. "I was about to make a really big mess out of everything, wasn't I?"

"Oh yeah," She agreed with a smile, "and part of me wanted to just sit back and watch it all happen for the mere sake of entertainment." Georgie looked askance at her sister with mischief, "but then I had a crisis of conscience and did the Georgie thing."

"Like always."

Her smile faded and she looked down at the atrocity of a shirt Maxie had handed to her, "no, no…not always."

Let me know what you think!!