GH: Bad Taste (Complete)
Title: Bad Taste
Author: Mellissa/LissieLove
Spoilers: Yes. Big ones. So stay away if you're spoiler free.
Summary: A lie brings back a memory.
Notes: After reading the spoiler in question, I haven't been able to do anything but think about Elizabeth's reaction.
Jason Morgan rarely went to the Port Charles Police Department voluntarily and doing so almost always left a bad taste in his mouth, but for some reason, confirming that Sam had come to him the day after the blackout, informing him that she'd been raped by her mother's husband…for some reason, this visit felt worse.
He stepped up to his penthouse door and frowned when he realized that Milo Giambetti was standing in front of the door. He had assigned Milo to Elizabeth after the paternity of their child had finally been straightened out and as far as he knew, Elizabeth had a shift at the hospital until eleven that night.
"Is she okay?" Jason questioned.
Milo coughed. "Ah, she was at the hospital when DA Lansing was arrested. She wanted to come straight here." He jerked a thumb over his shoulder. "She was upset."
Jason sighed and pushed open his door to find the mother of his child standing across the room, staring out the balcony window. Her arms were tightly crossed and she was turned slightly to the side. "Elizabeth, is everything all right?"
She turned, her hair sliding over her shoulder. Most mornings she was too tired to do anything more than towel dry and brush it out. This second pregnancy had sucked most of her energy and some days it was all she could do to work a single shift when she'd used to regularly pull doubles without blinking an eye. She stared at Jason for a long moment before turning back to the window. "The night we slept together, the night that we conceived our child, you told me that Ric and Sam had slept together, that you had seen them together."
Jason set his keys and wallet on the table and slowly nodded. "That's true."
"Today, I was at the nurse's station going over Alexis's chemo schedule with Ric when Detective Rodriguez arrested him for raping Sam McCall on that same night," Elizabeth said, her voice flat and emotionless. "The night that you saw them and walked away. So I'm confused." She finally turned to face him and he was startled by the anger in her expression. "If Sam was being raped when you saw her, how could you walk away?"
He should have seen this coming, should have warned Elizabeth about Sam's plan to secure custody of Molly. But he hadn't and now he was going to have to find a way to fix this. "Sam wants to get Molly away from Ric--"
"So, she's lying now?" Elizabeth demanded. "Is that what you're telling me?"
Jason exhaled slowly. "Yes," he admitted.
Elizabeth nodded. "Milo told me that you were at the PCPD. And when I called Nikolas to ask about Alexis, he told me that she was also at the station. Apparently, Sam fed the rape story to Nikolas as the truth and he encouraged her to come forward before it was too late to do anything to him. That he would make sure that his cousin got her day in court if that's what she wanted." She narrowed her eyes. "Do you know why Nikolas told her that? Because he was with me when we found out that Tom Baker would never be prosecuted for raping me."
Jason winced. "It's not like that--"
"It was sickening enough when Sam was blaming the entire night on Ric, claiming that he got her drunk and took advantage of her," Elizabeth continued ruthlessly, "but I find it disgusting and repugnant that she would lie and say she was raped." Her voice broke and she pressed a hand to her chest. "Emily and I both went through that kind of terror, and we were both violated in the worst way--"
"Elizabeth, this isn't like that--"
"When a woman is raped, their life is torn away from them," Elizabeth continued over him, her watering gaze burning into his. "It's ripped away, crumpled up and thrown back at them. They're never the same afterwards. They never look at people the same way, they never think or feel the same. Every man becomes that monster and it never goes away." She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, drawing back her shoulders as if finding the courage to keep speaking. "I have nightmares, you know. Emily, she has nightmares. Not often and there doesn't always have to a reason for them, but every once in a while, Tom Baker visits me in my dreams. He throws me to the ground, he rips my clothes off and he forces himself inside me," her breathing now ragged, her eyes opened slowly and Jason wished that he'd never gone along with this scheme.
"It's an insult for any woman to claim rape when it isn't true, but Sam knew what Emily went through. She had a front row seat for that and for her to use rape as an excuse to…what?" Elizabeth demanded. "Get revenge? For Alexis to get custody? It's disgusting and I thought Sam was better than that. She's nothing but trash and if you were down there backing her story up, you're just as disgusting."
She jerked her coat and slid the strap of her purse over her shoulder. "I'm leaving Milo here. I don't want you to speak to me and I don't want you to come near me. I want nothing to do with you--"
Jason caught her arm as Elizabeth passed by him but she wrenched away. "I could accept your job because I knew, at the core, you were a good man. And the life you lead isn't really so awful because the only people who usually get hurt are the ones who choose to lead it. But I was wrong. I don't want you anywhere near my children--"
Jason swallowed hard. "I'll fight for my child, Elizabeth--"
"And you'll lose," she said softly. "Because I know enough to bury you. And you know that." She hesitated. "Ric is a great many things, most of them bad. But he didn't deserve to be called a rapist when the only mistake he made was sleeping with Sam. You disgust me."
She walked away, jerked open the door and slammed it shut behind him.
The bad taste in his mouth had somehow magnified and all he felt was hollow inside.
Author: Mellissa/LissieLove
Spoilers: Yes. Big ones. So stay away if you're spoiler free.
Summary: A lie brings back a memory.
Notes: After reading the spoiler in question, I haven't been able to do anything but think about Elizabeth's reaction.
Jason Morgan rarely went to the Port Charles Police Department voluntarily and doing so almost always left a bad taste in his mouth, but for some reason, confirming that Sam had come to him the day after the blackout, informing him that she'd been raped by her mother's husband…for some reason, this visit felt worse.
He stepped up to his penthouse door and frowned when he realized that Milo Giambetti was standing in front of the door. He had assigned Milo to Elizabeth after the paternity of their child had finally been straightened out and as far as he knew, Elizabeth had a shift at the hospital until eleven that night.
"Is she okay?" Jason questioned.
Milo coughed. "Ah, she was at the hospital when DA Lansing was arrested. She wanted to come straight here." He jerked a thumb over his shoulder. "She was upset."
Jason sighed and pushed open his door to find the mother of his child standing across the room, staring out the balcony window. Her arms were tightly crossed and she was turned slightly to the side. "Elizabeth, is everything all right?"
She turned, her hair sliding over her shoulder. Most mornings she was too tired to do anything more than towel dry and brush it out. This second pregnancy had sucked most of her energy and some days it was all she could do to work a single shift when she'd used to regularly pull doubles without blinking an eye. She stared at Jason for a long moment before turning back to the window. "The night we slept together, the night that we conceived our child, you told me that Ric and Sam had slept together, that you had seen them together."
Jason set his keys and wallet on the table and slowly nodded. "That's true."
"Today, I was at the nurse's station going over Alexis's chemo schedule with Ric when Detective Rodriguez arrested him for raping Sam McCall on that same night," Elizabeth said, her voice flat and emotionless. "The night that you saw them and walked away. So I'm confused." She finally turned to face him and he was startled by the anger in her expression. "If Sam was being raped when you saw her, how could you walk away?"
He should have seen this coming, should have warned Elizabeth about Sam's plan to secure custody of Molly. But he hadn't and now he was going to have to find a way to fix this. "Sam wants to get Molly away from Ric--"
"So, she's lying now?" Elizabeth demanded. "Is that what you're telling me?"
Jason exhaled slowly. "Yes," he admitted.
Elizabeth nodded. "Milo told me that you were at the PCPD. And when I called Nikolas to ask about Alexis, he told me that she was also at the station. Apparently, Sam fed the rape story to Nikolas as the truth and he encouraged her to come forward before it was too late to do anything to him. That he would make sure that his cousin got her day in court if that's what she wanted." She narrowed her eyes. "Do you know why Nikolas told her that? Because he was with me when we found out that Tom Baker would never be prosecuted for raping me."
Jason winced. "It's not like that--"
"It was sickening enough when Sam was blaming the entire night on Ric, claiming that he got her drunk and took advantage of her," Elizabeth continued ruthlessly, "but I find it disgusting and repugnant that she would lie and say she was raped." Her voice broke and she pressed a hand to her chest. "Emily and I both went through that kind of terror, and we were both violated in the worst way--"
"Elizabeth, this isn't like that--"
"When a woman is raped, their life is torn away from them," Elizabeth continued over him, her watering gaze burning into his. "It's ripped away, crumpled up and thrown back at them. They're never the same afterwards. They never look at people the same way, they never think or feel the same. Every man becomes that monster and it never goes away." She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, drawing back her shoulders as if finding the courage to keep speaking. "I have nightmares, you know. Emily, she has nightmares. Not often and there doesn't always have to a reason for them, but every once in a while, Tom Baker visits me in my dreams. He throws me to the ground, he rips my clothes off and he forces himself inside me," her breathing now ragged, her eyes opened slowly and Jason wished that he'd never gone along with this scheme.
"It's an insult for any woman to claim rape when it isn't true, but Sam knew what Emily went through. She had a front row seat for that and for her to use rape as an excuse to…what?" Elizabeth demanded. "Get revenge? For Alexis to get custody? It's disgusting and I thought Sam was better than that. She's nothing but trash and if you were down there backing her story up, you're just as disgusting."
She jerked her coat and slid the strap of her purse over her shoulder. "I'm leaving Milo here. I don't want you to speak to me and I don't want you to come near me. I want nothing to do with you--"
Jason caught her arm as Elizabeth passed by him but she wrenched away. "I could accept your job because I knew, at the core, you were a good man. And the life you lead isn't really so awful because the only people who usually get hurt are the ones who choose to lead it. But I was wrong. I don't want you anywhere near my children--"
Jason swallowed hard. "I'll fight for my child, Elizabeth--"
"And you'll lose," she said softly. "Because I know enough to bury you. And you know that." She hesitated. "Ric is a great many things, most of them bad. But he didn't deserve to be called a rapist when the only mistake he made was sleeping with Sam. You disgust me."
She walked away, jerked open the door and slammed it shut behind him.
The bad taste in his mouth had somehow magnified and all he felt was hollow inside.