Send The Pain Below

Part 1

The penthouse was dark; its curtains tightly together to let no sunlight in.  Ella Cassadine stood in the door and gazed across the room at the couch.  Sonny Corthinos was sitting there, cradling a glass of rum in his hands.  She was afraid to speak.  In all honesty she didn't know what to say.

Life had changed for all of them.  The empire that Sonny had built was slowly crumbling around him and he wasn't doing a thing to stop it.  He had sent Carly and Michael away, kicking them out because he felt he couldnt protect them and he had let Faith Roscoe get to him.

Carly.  She was the reason Ellie was there.  She had came to the hospital with tear-filled eyes and begged Ellie to go to Sonny, stating that she was one of the few people that Sonny actually listened to.

She didn't want to go.  She had walked away from Sonny and his business the year before.  But Carly had been persisted and finally Ellie caved and now she was looking at the man that had once been her best friend and partner.

"Sonny?" she softly said as she took a step forward.  He didnt answer nor did he move.  Ellie walked the length to the couch and sat down on the opposite end. 

"You know, we've been down this road before.  Remember that?  When Lily died and you terrorized everyone that came here except for me?"  She was baiting him like she had done so many times before.

But he wouldn't answer her.  Instead he stared blankly at his glass of rum.  Ellie reached out and placed the back of her hand against his cheek.  He didn't flinch like she expected him to. 

"Sonny. Sonny, you cant do this or you'll lose everything youve worked for," said Ellie as she took the glass out of Sonnys hands, "What do you need?  I'll do whatever needs to be done, just tell me what you need ok?"

Sonny slowly turned his head and looked at Ellie.  His eyes were dark and grim.  Out of instinct, Ellie leaned back away from him.  He watched her for a moment before he cleared his throat.

"Who sent you?" he asked as he picked the glass of rum up again.

"Thats not important"

"Who sent you?!" he yelled as he stood up.  Ellie flinched and then stood up and faced him. 

"That is not important.  What is important is that the five families and Faith are getting set to take over your land," said Ellie as she watched Sonny stalk over his wet bar.

He pulled a bottle of amber liquid up to his face and examined the label.  Satisfied by what he saw, he twisted the lid off of it.  Sonny tilted the bottle to the side and watched as the liquid filled the small glass.  Let them take it, he finally said as he twisted the lid back onto the bottle.

Ellie brought her eyes up from the bottle of rum and looked at Sonny.  His dark eyes stared back intently as he raised the glass to his lips.  "If they take that land Sonny then they will use it to run drugs.  Within a month the streets of Port Charles will be crawling with drug dealers selling drugs to little kids.  Is that what you want?"

"Of course not," said Sonny as he crossed the room and sat behind his desk.  He ran a hand over the three-day stubble on his face and then pulled the drawer out.

"Well, then what are you going to do about it?" she asked as she walked over to the desk.  Sonny has busied himself with flipping through a pile of papers.  He came to the last page and smiled softly.  

"I'm going to do this," he said as he signed the last page.  He turned in his chair and held up the papers for Ellie to take.  Fear almost consumed her, she was afraid that Sonny had just done something unintelligent.

"What are these?" she asked as she slid the papers out of his right hand.  She didnt bother looking at them because she was afraid to take her eyes off of him.

"Remember when I had those papers drawn up a couple years ago that would transfer my part of my business to you?  We had them drawn up when Carly turned me over to the FBI," he said as he stood up and took his spot on the couch again.

"Yes, but I thought you had them shredded", said Ellie as she quickly thumbed through the papers.

"No.  You see, my trust in you has never waned so I kept them around incase something happened.  You are now half owner of Corthinos-Morgan or should I saw Cassadine-Morgan," he said as he went back to his glass of rum.

"Sonny, you can't do this," Ellie said as she dropped the papers.

"Well, I have and you can't get your name off them until you take it to the courthouse and since its a three day weekend," he said as he took a drink of rum.

"Sonny."

"I'm going to sleep now.  I hear there's a meeting tonight.  You need to find Jason and both of you need to go since the both of you are so bent on saving my property, and me," he said as he stood and slowly ascended the stairs.

Ellie watched him, her mind racing.  She now had a controlling interest in Sonnys business.  She paced over to the door and opened it.  Johnny glanced at her and frowned.

"Johnny?" she said softly, "Do you have Jason's number?"

Johnny nodded and pulled out his cell phone.  He pressed a few numbers and handed it to Ellie.  She took it and waited for Jason to answer.

Ric Lansing was excited.  He, like everyone else in Port Charles, had heard the rumors of Sonnys impending breakdown.  As he stood on the docks, he greedily rubbed his hands together.  He was proud of himself since his plan was falling into place.

"What do you want?" asked Faith as she walked up to him.  Ric turned and smiled at her.

"I called you because tonight is the night we take down Sonny and his right hand boy Jason," said Ric with a twinkle in his eyes.

"How can you be so sure?" Faith asked as she raised an eyebrow.

"Because Sonny is on the verge of losing it.  He kicked his wife and son out of the penthouse, he hasnt talked to Jason for weeks and he wont have a representative at the meeting tonight.  Its finally ours," said Ric as he grinned.

"Don't be so sure of yourself Ric.  Anything can happen between now and then," said Faith as she turned to leave, "And I wont be at the meeting either."

"You'll be at the meeting if you want your cut," said Ric as he grabbed her around and spun her back around.  Faith looked at him for a moment before she broke away from his grip.

"You're playing a dangerous game Ric," Faith said as she straightened out her jacket, "And one day youre going to get burned."

Ric grinned and shook his head.  "It is a dangerous game but I'll take the risk if it mean I will get what Sonny has," he said as he walked off, leaving Faith on the docks.

The warm sun made her relax as she sat on the bench and slowly closed her eyes.  Ellie was exhausted.  She had worked for 16 straight hours and then went straight to Sonnys.  After leaving Sonny's she had gone to met with Jason and to sit and wait while Sonnys enforcer and the new lawyer looked over the papers.

The word enforcer made Ellie open her eyes.  She slowly gazed over at Jason and watched as he spoke to the lawyer.  She wasn't scared of Jason for she was one of the few people that had remained his friend after the car accident.  But she did have to admit that Jason with a gun was a scary thought.

Ellie yawned as she watched Jason shake the lawyers hand.  He then turned and looked at her before he stalked over to her.  "It's all legal.  You are now part owner until Tuesday then the lawyer will take the papers to the courthouse and amend them," said Jason as he took her arm and stood her up, "We have a meeting to go to."

"W-We?" asked Ellie, as her eyes grew wider.

"Yes, we.  Lets go or we are going to be late," said Jason as he started to walk off.  Ellie made a face and started to follow him.

Why do I have to go? she asked when she finally caught up with Jason.

Jason grabbed her by the elbow and pointed her in the direction of a limo that was sitting in the parking lot of Kellys.  "We have to go if we want to save Sonny's land.  And you have to go so they can, uh, meet the new owner," he said as he opened the door, "Now get in."

Ellie hesitated and looked at Jason.  "I've never been to a meeting before.  I wouldn't know what to do," she said as she pushed a stray curl behind her ear.

Jason sighed and gave her a small shove toward the limo again.  Ellie rolled her eyes and slid into the back seat and slid over to the opposite door.  She watched as Jason climbed in and knocked on the separator.  Ellie felt the limo start to move and let out a small sigh.

"You know," said Jason as he looked over at her, "Just because I was gone doesn't mean Sonny and I didn't talk.  He told me about the time you crashed a meeting because Nikolas and you were trying to get some of the families to sell you some waterfront property."

"That was different," said Ellie quickly.  She stopped when she saw the smirk on Jasons face.  "Fine," she muttered, "What do I have to do?"

Jason turned toward the window as the warehouse came into view.  "Just follow my lead.  Max will be your bodyguard so stay close to him."

"Do I get a gun?" asked Ellie as the limo came to a stop.

"No.  No one is allowed guns in the meetings", said Jason as he open the limo door and got out.  He watched as Ellie got out also.

"I don't know about this Jason."

"You'll be fine," he said as he started to walk toward the door.  Ellie followed as Max walked beside her.  When Jason and her walked into the warehouse a hush fell over the room as everyone turned and looked at them.

"Well, well, if it isn't Sonny's henchman," said Faith as she stood up.  Jasons eyes traveled from Faith to Ric.

"What are you doing here Ric?" Jason asked as he took a step forward.

Ric quickly stood up and smiled at Jason.  "Sonny asked me to represent him," he coyly said.

"That's funny," said Ellie as she stepped beside Jason, "Sonny sent Jason and I to represent."

"Why would Sonny send a girl to represent him?" Sammy asked as the rest of the men laughed.

"Because I own Sonnys part now," said Ellie as she pulled out a chair and sat down.  "Let me introduce myself," she said as she smiled, "My full name is Alexandria Mikayla Cassadine.  Or you can call me Dr. Cassadine.  Or Ms. Cassadine.  Or Princess Alexandria. Or Ellie.  Its your choice."

Sammy sat back in his chair and glanced around the table.   It was a known fact that the five families were scared of the Cassadines.  Stefan had put the fear of God into them all when he told them about their connections to the Russian and Greek mafias.

"It's a pleasure to have you here Ms. Cassadine," said Sammy as he took her hand and softly kissed it.  Ellie wrinkled up her nose and winked at him.

Jason took his spot behind Ellie as he kept his eyes on Faith and Ric.  "Now gentleman, first order of business is to remove Mr. Lansing.  He has no business here," said Ellie. 

She watched as numerous bodyguards stepped forward.  Sammy instructed his bodyguard to remove to Ric.  The room was silent as Ric was escorted out.

"What can we do for you Ms. Cassadine to make the transition of power run smoothly?" Sammy asked as he leaned toward her.

"Well," said Ellie as she smiled softly, "you can stop kissing my ass.  Its holding up the meeting."

Ellie smirked as she watched Sammys face turn three different shades of red.  He leaned back into his chair and pulled out a folder.  "The other families and I were wondering if we could use your land to bring drugs through," he said as he tapped his pen on the table.

"No.  Next question," Ellie said as she looked around the table.

"I have one," Faith said as she stood up.

"And that would be what Mrs. Roscoe?" Ellie asked as she watched the other woman.

"How long will you have control of Sonnys territory?" she asked as she round the table and watched toward Ellie.

"It's a permanent deal," said Jason before Ellie could open her mouth.  Ellie turned and looked at him for a moment before turning back to look at Faith.

"What kind of deal did Sonny and you have?" Faith asked as she slid up onto the table.

"The details of our deal is private," said Ellie as she stood up, "I know what Ric and you had planned but its not going to work.  I plan on fighting for what is now mine."

"Do you even know the first about surviving and fighting in this business?" Faith asked as she stood up to face Ellie.

"Ever hear of Helena Cassadine?" Ellie asked as she stepped closer to Faith.

"Of course.  Everyone knows about Helena," said Faith.

"Well, she's spent the majority of my life trying to kill me and I've survived that.  Nothing against any of you," said Ellie as she looked around the table, "but none of you compare to Helena.  Actually, you're nothing compared to what she's capable of.  Dealing with all of you wannabes will be a walk in the park.  Now, is there anymore questions?"

None them dared to speak.  They all shook their heads as Ellie looked upon them.  "Good," she said as she stepped back and stood by Jason, "Oh, and fair warning, if I hear of any of you trying to undermine Jason or me, you will be punished.  It was nice doing business with you gentleman and of course you too Faith."

"If you need anything Ms. Cassadine," said Sammy who stood up and tried to approach her only to be stopped by Max.

"I'll keep that in mind, Sammy," said Ellie as she turned and walked out of the warehouse with Jason.  Once outside she let out a sigh of relief and smiled at Jason.

"Did I do ok?" she asked as she climbed back into the limo.

"You did good," Jason said as he got in also.  Once again he tapped on the separator and the limo started to move.

"I can't wait to tell Sonny," said Ellie as she slid down in her seat.

"Sonny's gone," Jason said as he looked over at her.

"Excuse me?" Ellie said as she sat up.

"He left after you left his penthouse," Jason said as he turned his gaze toward the side window.

"You knew he was leaving?" Ellie asked as she kept her eyes on him.  Jason simply nodded his head.

"It was part of that plan," he finally said.

"What plan?" Ellie asked as she leaned forward.  Jason finally turned and looked at her.  In the full scheme of things he knew Sonny had made the right choice.  They couldn't trust anyone else with that power and they both knew Ellie would give it back when it was time.  But he still hated the fact that he had to lie to her to make it work.

"Sonny has known for a few weeks that he needed time away from the business and Port Charles.  We didnt want to do it this way but it's how it worked out," Jason said as he went back to looking out the side window.

"I don't understand," Ellie said softly.

"Sonny had already fired me by the time he came to this decision.  He came to me one night and told me he wanted to sign everything over to me.  We almost did it too but we both realized it wouldn't look good if I suddenly had all the power.  We were afraid the five families would think I overthrew Sonny and they would use it to their advantage.  We decided we needed a third party to take over Sonny's part and your name was the first and last to come up," said Jason as he softly smiled.

"Is that suppose to make me feel better?" asked Ellie as she furrowed her brow.

"No," said Jason as he shook his head, "Sonny trusts you with his life.  You are one of the few people that hasn't turned against him and he respects you for that.  We wanted to tell you but we knew you would say no so we came up with a plan.  Everything that has been happened in the last few weeks was part of that plan," said Jason as he leaned back in his seat.

"Even Carly coming to the hospital was?" Ellie asked.

"No.  You have to understand that Carly and Sonny's marriage has been over for almost a year.  When they got married again, it wasn't real.  Sonny knew he could never marry her again and he finally snapped and told her the truth.  He didn't kick her out but told everyone that he did.  It was all for show.  Then I planted the idea in Carly's head that you were the only one that could talk to Sonny when he was like that.  We had hoped that she would have done it sooner so Sonny could transfer everything to you before the meeting but Carly was stubborn.  Actually, if Carly hadn't gone to you today I would have, but it worked out," said Jason as the limo pulled into the penthouse parking garage.

Ellie watched out the window as the limo parked.  She didnt waste anytime getting out and going to the elevator.  She punched the penthouse button and waited.

"He's not up there," Jason said.

"How could he do this to me?  We discussed this a million times and he knew I didn't want to be part of his world.  How selfish can he be?" said Ellie as she kicked the elevator door.

"He's not being selfish.  You should be honored that he would entrust you with all of this.  He knows you can handle yourself and its only for a short time," Jason said as he stood beside her.  Ellie glared at him and then stepped onto the elevator when the door slid open.  Jason rolled his eyes and stepped in beside her.

"What about Carly?  She's not going to like this at all," Ellie said as the elevator started to move.

"Carly and Michael are gone too.  Sonny paid them to go back to Florida.  She wont be a problem," Jason said.

"Well, how about the five families?  What about Faith?  She almost killed Sonny before," said Ellie as the elevator stopped on the penthouse floor.

"You quit your job and live here," said Jason as he stepped off the elevator and gestured toward Sonny's door.

"I can't quit my job," said Ellie as she crossed her arms.

"Actually you already have.  Sonny sent in your letter of resignation this afternoon," Jason said as he opened up the door to Sonnys penthouse.

Ellie stepped into the penthouse and noticed that most of her furniture was already there.  "Unbelievable," she muttered as she shook her head.

"If it's worth anything I'm sorry we had to do it this way.  But you are the only person we can trust," said Jason as he handed her a letter, "It's from Sonny.  He'll be in contact soon."

"How soon?" asked Ellie as she took the letter.

"I don't know," said Jason as opened the door back up, "You know the drill, no going anyplace without a guard.  Max will be your personal bodyguard until Sonny comes back."

"Fine but come Tuesday morning..."

"I know," said Jason as he smiled and left.

Ellie sighed loudly and went to the couch.  She sat down and tore the letter open and unfolded it.  She read it once and once was enough.  Sonny had poured his soul out to her unlike he had ever done before.  She knew she had to make a decision on rather or not she would stand in Sonny's place while he was gone.

It was almost nightfall when she finally left her new home and wandered across the hall.  Jason's door was open slightly.  Ellie knocked once and pushed the door open to find Jason walking around his pool table with a pool stick in his hands.

He looked up at her and stopped, his eyes never leaving hers.  "I've come to a decision," she said softly.

Jason nodded and waited for her to continue.  "I will stand in Sonny's place for as long as he needs me to," she finally said.

Thank you, said Jason as he crossed the room and shook her hand.

"Well, don't thank me yet," said Ellie as she turned to leave, "I might accidentally start a mob war."

Jason smiled and placed his hand on her shoulder.  "I have complete faith in you.  And I promise, everything is going to be fine."

"I'm going to hold you to that," said Ellie as she walked out the door.  She walked over to her penthouse and looked at Johnny.  "You know, she said as he opened the door, "I wouldn't do this for anyone but Sonny and I hope he knows that."

Johnny smiled at her and nodded his head.  "He does know Ms. Cassadine and I know I speak for a lot when I say that we are all happy you decided to join us."