(This story picks up with AJ being brought to Alexis' penthouse,
where he told her, Mike, Janine and Sonny that he didn't know where Courtney was.)

Chapter 1

Sonny listened while AJ laid out his story about looking for Courtney. Sonny knew him far too well to believe a word of it. If he was running off at the mouth that much, it must mean that he knew exactly where Courtney was. And, since he wasn't too bright, he probably had her staying in his suite at the Port Charles Hotel. After AJ had finished speaking, Sonny told Max and Johnny to return him to the hotel. He then walked quietly past Mike, Janine and Alexis. "Sonny, where are you going?" Alexis asked. "I have work to do," Sonny curtly replied, leaving the penthouse. Alexis, Mike and Janine all stared after him; Alexis wondered if that "work" had to do with the man that had just left. Sonny went into Penthouse 4 and shut and locked the door. He walked over to the bar and poured himself a scotch, which he downed in several quick gulps. This situation was making him crazy. He was tired of everyone getting on his case over a young woman he hardly knew, who happened to be his half-sister. He wanted to get to know her, but not at the expense of his self-respect. If she was that determined to keep away from him, he wasn't going to fight her anymore. As for AJ; well, that was an entirely different story. He needed to be taught a serious lesson; him, and his pain-in-the-ass sister Skye. Sonny picked up the phone and called Benny. "Get over here Benny, we have some business to attend to."

Two hours later, a fire alarm woke up all the guests of the Port Charles Hotel. AJ roused Courtney from her sleep; "wake up! We have to get out!" She sleepily followed him out the door, and they hurried down ten flights of stairs. They were met in the lobby by the two bodyguards AJ had hired, and they all left the building. Soon, Skye and Jax joined the growing crowd of guests outside. After standing in the cold for an hour, watching fire trucks pull up and firemen go inside, AJ decided to find out what was going on. After all, his family did own the hotel. He left Courtney with the guards. They didn't think much of Courtney walking away from the crowd to sit on a nearby wall. Meanwhile, AJ found one of the firemen who was emerging from the building. "I'm the owner, what's going on?" The fireman looked at him and shook his head, "well, there's no fire, but you've got serious problems." He didn't elaborate, and walked away. AJ headed into the building to find out what he was talking about. There, he found a man he didn't recognize writing furiously on a notepad at the front desk. "What's going on here?" AJ asked. The man turned to look at him, "are you a Quartermaine?" "Yes." "I'm Richards with the Dept. of Heath," the man said, flashing credentials at him, "are you aware you have a major vermin problem?" "Vermin?" AJ repeated, "what, like rats?" "Yup, like rats." "That's impossible!" AJ exclaimed; "this is a four-star hotel!" "Well, it's a shut down four-star hotel," the man replied, handing AJ a piece of paper. "What the hell is this?" "It's a notice saying this place isn't fit for human habitation. There'll be another one posted at the front door. Get all these people out of here...you have two hours." With that, the man walked away, leaving AJ sputtering.

Outside, the bodyguards finally noticed that Courtney wasn't sitting on the wall any more. If they'd been paying attention, they would have seen a man come up behind her, cover her mouth with a chloroform-soaked rag, and drag her off the wall and into his car. "Shit! Where'd she go?" one exclaimed. "I don't know, but we'd better look for her," the other replied. "Let's split up." They did so, and headed off in opposite directions. Once out of sight of the crowd, each was greeted with a blow to the back of the head, and was dragged off. Inside, AJ headed into the office to call Ned, since Edward was in the hospital, for advice on how to handle the situation. When he entered the room, the door immediately shut behind him and the light was turned on. "You're certainly predictable," Sonny stated. "Corinthos? What are you doing here?" AJ asked, not sure he wanted to hear the answer. "Waiting for you, of course," Sonny replied. He swiveled in the chair behind the desk, fingering a letter opener. "It's a good thing you're addicted to alcohol Junior, and not gambling. You've got to have one of the worst poker faces I've ever seen." AJ smirked, although he was getting increasingly more nervous. His bodyguards were outside with Courtney, and he had no back up. He then realized there was someone standing behind him, the man who had shut the door. He glanced over his shoulder and found Johnny leaning up against the door with his arms folded. He turned back to Sonny, "I don't know what you're talking about." Sonny shook his head and stabbed the letter opener down onto the desk with such force that it stuck. AJ jumped back. "I'm not going to waste my time talking to you AJ," Sonny snapped. "You're a fool. Did you really think you could use my sister to get to me? Did you really think I'd let you?" "Sonny, I'm not..." "Shut up!" Sonny yelled. "Johnny!" Before AJ could turn to see what Johnny was going to do, everything went black.

Back outside, Skye was wondering what had happened to AJ and Courtney. "I'll be right back," she told Jax. She headed into the building, and towards the front desk, only to see Sonny Corinthos walking towards her. She froze in fear. "Well, well, well," Sonny said in a low voice; "just the woman I'm looking for." "Why is that?" Skye replied, trying to sound more haughty than nervous. Sonny smiled briefly. "Your brother's in the office; he's trying to find accommodations for all the hotel guests. I think he needs your help." "Why?" "Because this place has been shut down. Didn't you see the notice? You walked right past it." He stepped closer to her, shaking his head, "you're not too perceptive, are you?" "Oh I don't know about that," Skye retorted; "I figured you out pretty quick." Sonny laughed, "yeah, right." "What are you doing here anyway Sonny? Did you pull the fire alarm?" Sonny got deathly serious, "see that's been your problem all along Skye; you sorely underestimate me." With that, he walked past her. But, instead of walking out the front door, he turned and headed down a hallway to leave by a side entrance. Once outside, he took out his cell phone. "She should be in the office by now; you know what to do."

Skye entered the office and flicked on the light. "AJ?" She saw no sign of him. "AJ!" she called out again. Then, she realized she'd walked right into a trap. "Oh no!" she exclaimed, and quickly turned to leave. The door slammed shut before she could reach it, and she heard the sound of the lock turning. "Shit!" she cried, and turned back around. "The phone!" She hurried over to the desk and picked up the phone; the line was dead. "Think Skye, think!" she told herself. "Cell phone!" She rummaged through her purse and retrieved her cell phone. It didn't work. "What? Why?" she wailed. Sonny had been thorough; he had the foresight to have someone call and disconnect Skye's cell phone service, so that she couldn't escape what he had planned for her. Skye was now in a full blown panic, having no idea what punishment Sonny Corinthos was about to rain down on her. She sat on the edge of the desk trying to calm herself and think of a way out. Then, she heard a very strange sound.

Sonny returned to Harbor View Towers. As soon as he got off the elevator, Alexis ran out of her apartment to greet him. "You're back!" Sonny looked at her strangely, "yeah." "Good...it's just...I was worried. Did you go looking for Courtney?" "Nope," Sonny replied, entering Penthouse 4. "Where's Johnny?" Alexis asked, following him inside. "That's really not your concern," Sonny replied. Alexis didn't like the tone of his voice. "What's wrong with you?" Sonny let out a long sigh, then turned to face her. "Look Alexis, I appreciate all your help with Courtney, and everything you do for me...but you need to back off. I'm handling things my way from now on." "Your way? You always handle things your way. That's what I'm trying to train you to not do!" Alexis told him. Sonny got angry, "train me? I'm not a circus animal Alexis. I'm a grown man. Not to mention, the head of a very large, very dangerous, business. I don't need YOU to tell me how to do a damn thing!" Alexis jumped back at the ferocity of his words, and stammered, trying to think of something to say in return. Before she did, another voice rang out. "Don't you EVER talk to my sister like that again!" Alexis whipped around to see Kristina standing in the doorway, fuming. "Oh no, Kristina...not again! You're just going to make it worse!" Alexis begged her to keep her mouth shut. Kristina ignored her, and walked past her towards Sonny, who was giving her the look of death. "I told you not to yell at her like that," Kristina said. Sonny wanted to slap her smug face, but restrained himself. Instead, he looked at Alexis; "could you give us some time alone?" Alexis stared at him with her mouth open. Kristina turned back to her, "I think that would be good Alexis. Why don't you wait in our place?" Alexis was too stunned to argue, and let Kristina guide her out the door. Kristina closed the door, then took a deep breath and turned back to Sonny, who had poured himself a scotch. "I seriously doubt alcohol is going to help," she told him. Sonny downed the drink in one gulp, then smashed the glass onto the bar with such force that it shattered into a thousand pieces. Kristina gasped, but stood her ground. Sonny turned to her, and spoke, "you talk too damn much, you know that?" He meant it rhetorically, and didn't intend to give Kristina a chance to respond. Instead, he quickly closed the space between them, and grabbed her, his mouth capturing hers in a crushing kiss.

Go to Chapter 2