Lost Years
by Ann
Prologue: Sonny Corinthos returns to Port Charles after being on the run for six years. He needs help with his young daughter, who is wild and unmanageable. He soon discovers the one person that connects to his child is Brenda. She has her own struggles trying to raise a young son alone. But, she reaches out to Sonny and his child, who are both so lost she can’t help but want to unlock their secrets.
Lost Years
Chapter 1 ~-~-~ The Night Train ~-~-~
Sonny Corinthos looked out the window of the moving train. There was nothing to see in the darkness, except for the occasional times when they passed through a small town. He knew the destination of Port Charles was getting closer and he felt nervous. He had been gone for a long time, almost seven years. It felt like a lifetime ago and he didn’t know if he’d be welcome. But, he couldn’t do anything about that now and to calm his nerves he wrapped his arm around his daughter Rebecca, who was sleeping fitfully in the seat beside him. They had been riding the train for the last three days and he was thankful she was asleep. She had a few outbursts the first day of the trip and Sonny thought they’d have to get off the train, but he had decided to keep going. Now, he was just waiting to get to their final destination. So, he closed his eyes and tried to sleep.
It seemed like only a few minutes later when Sonny awoke to someone gently shaking his shoulder. He opened his eyes to see a man standing over him. It was the train porter.
“Sir. You told me to make sure you didn’t miss your stop,” he said. “This is Port Charles.”
Sonny rubbed his eyes. “Thanks,” he grumbled.
The porter had been witness to Rebecca’s tantrums and ever since he had been keeping an eye on her and Sonny. He had provided her with candy, soda, and even some crayons and paper to keep her occupied. “Do you need help?” he asked, gesturing to the sleeping child in Sonny’s arms.
Sonny was about to say no, but it was late and he didn’t think he could carry Rebecca and their luggage. He looked up with a small hint of defeat in his eyes. “If you could help me with our bags I would be very grateful.”
“Of course,” said the porter. He waited for Sonny to stand with his child in his arms and he followed him to the doors with their two bags. He walked onto the platform with them and placed their bags down, looking at Sonny with sympathy. “Hope you had a nice trip, sir. Good luck.”
“Thank you,” Sonny said quietly, as he watched the man board the train again. It pulled out of the station and Sonny watched for a minute, briefly wondering if he shouldn’t have stayed on and kept going. But, it was too late now. It was past midnight and he wondered if he should wait until morning to see Jason. Just then Rebecca stirred awake and Sonny set her down on the ground.
“Hey, sweetheart,” he whispered.
Rebecca rubbed her eyes and looked up at her father. “Where are we?” she asked.
“Port Charles,” said Sonny.
“It’s cold here,” Rebecca shivered.
“I know,” Sonny agreed. He reached in one of the bags and pulled out Rebecca’s jacket. He put it on her and zipped it up. “Is that better?” he asked.
She shook her head. “I’m still cold, Daddy. Where do we go?” she asked in confusion.
Sonny got down on his knees and put his hands on her shoulders. “This used to be my home,” he explained. “I know some people that live here.”
“I don’t like it here,” said Rebecca.
Sonny rubbed his face with weariness. “You might like it. Listen, sweetheart, do you think you could walk a little bit? We don’t have far to go before I get to my friends house.”
Rebecca nodded her head with reluctance. She would try, but she really didn’t feel like walking.
“That’s my girl,” smiled Sonny. He slung the bags over his shoulders, took Rebecca’s hand and started walking down the dark streets of Port Charles.
~-~-~-~
Mike looked out the window and watched as the snow fell lightly to the ground. He was feeling tired from a long day at work. The Recovery Room had done very well in the last few years. He had expanded the bar and added a nice restaurant. It had become one of the favorite places around town and Mike felt like he had finally done something right in his life. He finally had the success and financial security he had always wanted. But, he didn’t enjoy it as much as he thought he would. He worked the long hours to keep his mind off of things. Well, just one thing really. That he had a large hole in his heart. He had been searching for Sonny for years and he vowed he would never stop until he knew what happened to his son. He missed him terribly and he didn’t know if he was dead or alive. He had nightmares about it sometimes.
“Mike? Why don’t you get away from that window?” asked Lesley. “Come eat something.”
Mike turned around and gave Lesley Webber a gentle smile. They had been dating for a few years now. Nothing serious, but she was someone he could talk to when he was feeling down. Today had been one of those days. He could talk to her about anything and she had helped him so much. He walked over and sat down at the kitchen table, consciously resting his hands under the table, so Lesley didn’t have to look at his scars.
Lesley reached over to Mike and placed her hand on his arm. “I want you to stay here tonight,” she said. “I don’t want you going home like this.”
“I’m fine,” Mike assured her. “I just had a bad day.”
“You’re not fine,” said Lesley.
“Listen,” said Mike. “I don’t really want to talk anymore,” he said with weariness. “I think it’s best if I go home for the night. I’ll give you a call tomorrow.”
Lesley hated to see Mike like this. Sometimes he would stop showing up at his restaurant. Then he’d get an idea in his head about where Sonny might be and he’d leave town for a few weeks. Lesley would worry about him terribly. “Mike,” she said gently. “Stay with me tonight. Please.”
Mike hesitated with his answer. He loved being with Lesley. He just felt he was burdening her with all of his problems. But, he could hear the fear in her voice and he knew if he left he would probably end up in some bar. “You sure?”
Lesley gave him a relieved smile. “You know you’re always welcome here,” she said. And she meant that. She had a special place in her heart for Mike, ever since the night he had charmed her at his restaurant with his smile and good humor. She wished she would see that side of him more often. But, right now she knew Mike was heading towards another downward spiral and she would do anything to prevent that from happening.
~-~-~-~
Brenda fidgeted in her airplane seat and just couldn’t seem to get comfortable. It had been a long flight and she couldn’t wait to get home. She stared out the window into the darkness, wanting to get home to her son. She had been gone a week on business. It felt like she had been gone longer than that and she had missed him terribly.
“Would you like a drink?” asked the stewardess.
“What?” Brenda said with distraction.
“Would you like another drink?” repeated the stewardess.
“Gin and tonic,” replied Brenda evenly. She thanked the stewardess and then took a few sips of her drink. It quickly made her feel relaxed and she tried to stop worrying about everything. The trip hadn’t just been about business and she stared at the stack of papers sitting in her briefcase. She closed it, not having the strength to look at any more financial statements. She gulped down the rest of her drink and closed her eyes. Everything she had feared had been confirmed. All of the money, the investments, and the savings were gone. Her mind raced with memories of the things that had gone wrong with her and Eric. Her marriage was over. It had been over for a long time and it hadn’t really hit her until this very moment. How could she have been so trusting? Brenda was trying hard not to cry, but she couldn’t stop her tears and she buried her head in her hands and softly cried.
“Honey? Are you okay?” asked the lady in the next seat.
Brenda wiped her tears away, trying to compose herself. “Yes,” she sniffled. “It’s nothing.”
The lady handed her some tissue. “Is there anything I can do?” she asked with sympathy.
“No,” Brenda sniffled. “There’s nothing anybody can do,” she said with sadness. “I just want to get home to my son.”
“How old is he?” she asked, trying to distract the young women sitting next to her.
Brenda proudly pulled out a picture from her wallet. “He’s four,” she said. “His name is Thomas.”
The lady studied the picture. “He’s darling,” she smiled.
“He’s the best thing that ever happened to me,” said Brenda, as she wiped away a few more tears.
The lady handed the picture back. “Sometimes, things seem a lot worse than they are,” she advised. “Maybe after a good night sleep in your own bed things won’t seem as bad as you think. Traveling alone can do strange things to people.”
“Thanks,” Brenda said, thankful for the ladies kindness. Maybe she was right. Maybe things weren’t as bad as they seemed.
Brenda arrived by cab to her house an hour later. She dropped her suitcases in the hallway. If it weren’t so late she would pick up Thomas, who had been staying with Jason and Carly for the week. She would have to wait until morning, knowing there was no sense in waking him up at this time of night. In her self-pity, she thought he was probably better without her. Maybe she wasn’t a good mother like Eric had told her. But, then she caught herself and knew that wasn’t true at all. She would try and put all of these bad thoughts out of her mind, get some sleep, and pick up Thomas early in the morning
Brenda was feeling the full effects of the jet lag and liquor and instead of going to bed like she should have done, she decided to do a little housekeeping. She went to her bedroom and opened the closet doors. Eric’s clothes were still hanging in the closet and she took every last bit of his belongings out and threw them in bags. She continued at a feverish pace for over an hour until there was a big stack of clothes piled in the garage.
It took Brenda another hour to clean out the dresser drawers. Once she started she couldn’t stop. She cleaned and cleaned until she collapsed in exhaustion on the living room couch. She again debated about going to pick up Thomas, but her head was pounding and she wasn’t in any condition to drive on the ice-slicked roads this late at night. So, she closed her eyes and fell into a fitful sleep.
~-~-~-~
Sonny had never been to Jason’s house before, but he knew the address. He didn’t think it was that far from the train station, but he had miscalculated. Rebecca was crying and again he was feeling overwhelmed. He always seemed to push Rebecca too far and he knew it would take hours to calm her down again.
Sonny finally arrived at Jason’s and stood in front of the dark house. Some dogs started to bark and Rebecca started screaming in fear. She was terrified of dogs. Sonny was sure they were going to wake up the whole neighborhood. He wrapped his arms around Rebecca and tried to calm her down, to soothe her, but she was hysterical.
“Who’s there?” yelled a man.
Sonny looked up and was blinded by a bright flashlight. The barking dogs wouldn’t stop and he wrapped his arms tighter around Rebecca, hoping she would stop screaming.
“You better answer me!” demanded the man. “What are you doing on this property in the middle of the night?”
Sonny stayed huddled on the sidewalk, trying to protect his daughter. “I’m looking for Jason Morgan,” he yelled above the barking dogs and Rebecca’s screaming.
“Can you get her to be quiet?” demanded the man.
Sonny looked up, still blinded by the flashlight. “Could you get those dogs to stop barking?” he pleaded. “She doesn’t like dogs. I’m Sonny Corinthos. I need to see Jason.”
“Sonny Corinthos?” the man said with a combination of confusion and shock. He turned off the flashlight. “Sonny Corinthos?” he repeated.
“What the hell is going on!” demanded Jason, as he made his way out to the commotion in the front of his house.
“This guy says he’s Sonny Corinthos,” explained the bodyguard. “He doesn’t look . . . “
Jason immediately walked over to the man and child huddled on the sidewalk. “Sonny, is that you?” he asked with disbelief.
“Can you make those dogs stop barking?” Sonny pleaded again. “She doesn’t like dogs.”
Jason motioned towards one of his men and suddenly the barking stopped. He leaned down a little closer. “Sonny?” He wasn’t sure if it was really him. It was dark and he couldn’t see his face. “It’s okay. It’s me, Jason. It’s okay now. The dogs won’t hurt you.” He watched as Sonny whispered something to his child, trying to calm her down with little success.
“Can we come in?” asked Sonny, his voice breaking with emotion.
Jason cautiously put his hand on the man’s shoulder. Sonny looked up at him and Jason gave him a smile. It was really his friend. He had missed him so much and thought about him all the time. Sonny’s eyes showed a slight recognition, but he mostly had a look of fear. “You should get out of this cold,” said Jason. “Come inside.”
Sonny was relieved Jason seemed glad to see him. He slowly stood up and Rebecca clung to him tightly, still crying and pulling at his neck.
“No, Daddy. No. The dogs,” she cried.
“They won’t hurt you,” Jason assured her.
Rebecca buried her head in Sonny’s chest. He wrapped his arms around her and picked her up. “Please, Becca. I need to get you warm.”
Jason picked up the bags strewn on the sidewalk. In silence, Sonny followed him up the walkway. Jason brought them into the living room and gestured for Sonny to sit close to the fire. Sonny sat down on the couch, gently putting his daughter next to him. She was shivering and Jason couldn’t tell if it was from cold or fear. He took a better look at Sonny, who he hadn’t seen in so long. He looked different. Jason really couldn’t decide how. He had long hair and was dressed somewhat sloppily. There was no mistaking the child was Sonny’s. She looked just like him. She had long dark hair and dark eyes. And Jason couldn’t decide who was more jumpy, Sonny or his daughter.
“Why didn’t you call?” asked Jason. “I could have picked you up at the airport.”
“We took the train,” Sonny said flatly.
Just then Carly came down the stairs, dressed in a robe. “Why were the dogs barking?” She stopped in her tracks as she saw the two people sitting on the couch. She looked at Jason with confusion. “What’s going on?”
Sonny stood up immediately with nervousness. This was not turning out how he expected. “Maybe I should come back tomorrow,” he said with jumpiness.
Carly’s eyes were drawn towards the girl, who was quietly crying and shivering. “Is she hurt?” she asked with concern, walking towards her.
“No,” said Sonny immediately. “She doesn’t like strangers,” he warned. “You better not get close to her.”
Carly stopped walking and looked at Sonny.
“The dogs scared her and she’s tired,” he explained. “It was a long trip,” he mumbled.
“Carly,” said Jason. “This is Sonny Corinthos and his daughter . . . “ He looked at Sonny for the right introduction.
“Rebecca,” said Sonny.
“Rebecca,” repeated Jason.
Carly studied the man in front of her. This couldn’t be the man Jason had always talked about. He didn’t look anything like his pictures. “I’m Carly,” she said, walking towards Sonny with her hand out.
Sonny took a step back, not shaking her hand. “I’m Sonny,” he said quietly.
Carly stepped closer to Rebecca and leaned down. “Hi,” she smiled. “Are you hungry?” Rebecca quickly cowered behind her father. Carly looked at Sonny. “It looks like she could use a bath. You must have been on the road for a long time.”