General Hospital Fan Fiction Message Board

“We knew this one was going to happen. It was just a question of when and who. And really the who isn’t such a surprise is it?” Fancy replies grimly. A shock jock had gotten hold of her first movie and was planning a little expose. Corey Cummings invited her on the show probably to say something pervy to her. He’s got a satellite show, a radio show, was shown on cable stations. He’s the kind of guy who has nutjobs from all the extremes making asses of themselves for everyone to hear. He also mocked serious issues. But this is her turn. There are pictures of her, screen print and the like from Naughty Schoolgirls. There are black bars across her unmentionables but they are definitely there.

“I’m going to be there. Right outside. Anytime you want to leave just get up and leave. You don’t owe him or anyone else anything.”

“I’m not doing this because I owe him something, Frankie. I’m doing this because I want a front row seat when they take him down.”

“Well that you’re definitely going to get. Gia’s contact in the LAPD is going to be making a little bust.”

The guy’s leer is giving her the creeps. Reminded her of all the pervs she met before Kenny had come along. Course Kenny had been an even bigger perv but he’d been better at hiding it. “You seem rather... mature for your age.”

“Thank you.” Fancy answers. “Most people think I look younger than I am. It’s one of the reasons why I kept a copy of my birth certificate on me. I don’t have to do that anymore since I passed my driver’s license.”

“You’re doing a movie right now?”

“Right, I was called back from location when your people got in touch with my rep.”

“Well we definitely appreciate having your hotness in our studio. This isn’t your first movie is it?” Corey says coyly.

“My first studio picture.”

“Well we came across this picture here, I guess you’re right it wouldn’t be a studio picture now with the number of Xs across the front. Naughty Schoolgirls? It’s not exactly available at your local blockbuster.”

“That’s true. You really have to look hard to find it.” Fancy agrees. “Although I’ve heard that some people are downloading images from it from your website.”

“Oh no, we don’t encourage things like that.” There is a nudge wink tone in the jock’s tone that is exaggerated for the radio as the guy then gives the call sign for the radio, the phone lines and the web address.

“I’m so glad you’re not encouraging it.” Fancy says with a false smile. “I was 13 when I made that movie. That means if anyone downloads images from your site to their computer would make you guilty of distribution of child pornography– which would be a federal crime. You’ve got the box right there in your hand. That makes you pretty much guilty of possession of child porn. And if the images are on your computers both with or without those tacky black bars.... that would be possession too. You see when I decided to come back out to LA, I knew this might happen. So I talked to my adopted mother, my lawyer, the FBI, the FCC– to find out what my rights are and how screwed you are.”

“Now wait a minute.” This interview is not going the way he wanted.

“You’re trying to intimidate me with a movie I did three years ago when I was a 13 year old runaway. You are scum. And the people that are downloading those images from your website? Well they’re scum too. Which is why the FBI is writing the warrant so that they can get the IP addresses of anyone who has accessed your website since you put up those pictures of me.” Fancy sees Frankie’s thumbs up. “Fact is the FBI is already in the building serving that warrant.”

“You little bitch.”

“Not the worst thing you’ve said on the air.” Fancy nods. “Course I’m not allowed to listen to your show. My grandmother thinks you have a ....” Fancy says the words in Russian and then translates. “... potty mouth.” With that Fancy takes off her headphones and drops them on the table and gets up and walks out of the studio.

Frankie is right there to meet her as is the LAPD liaison. The liaison is shaking his head. “I couldn’t believe it when Gia told me to wait until the interview. She said you’d make my case for me. How can you be so calm?”

“As soon as I get home I’m planning on screaming until I lose my voice. When I was adopted, hell the reason I was adopted was because of that movie. It’s never been a secret to anyone who knows me, nor has it been a big secret that it would come up again.”

“Because you’re going to be an actress.” The LAPD liaison nods. Anywhere else in the country it might have been treated as a joke but tinseltown is the front for LA– not it’s back bone but definitely it’s painted face. “Thanks for keeping them all occupied while we confiscated all their computers. Course saying that we’re going after anyone who downloaded... that’s going to be make our job harder.”

“Friend of mine who taught me about computers says nothing is really truly gone. And if you go to the trouble of totally erasing data then you’ve lost everything else on the computer too. Consider it an informal fine on any of those. And having someone in an FBI jacket knocking on the door will give them pause for the future.”

The FBI Agent in charge has arrived at the studio. “Miss Ashton. Nicely played.”

“Thank you. Gia Campbell told me what you needed.”

“We’ve been listening to this guy to prep for the warrant. I’ll bet he’s in there playing it up going for the ratings. If he really wanted to get the ratings he should be calling his attorney.”

“Are you going to arrest him on the air?” Frankie asks.

“Nah, that would just be giving him what he wants. If he gets pulled it’s going to be by the station manager. Who is probably on the phone to the station lawyers deciding which would be better to let him run or to yank him.”

A flushed, sweating man with rolled up sleeves and his shirt half untucked races to the booth followed by the radio personality that follows the shock jock after the drive time. They slam into the control booth. The show switches over to commercial and then to a taped program while the manager goes in to talk to his star.

“Is there anything else you need from me?” Fancy asks.

“We’ve got what we need for a start. You and your adopted mom handled this the way we wish everyone would. Letting us know straight away. We have the police reports from two years ago and all the documentation as far as your age. As sad as it is to say this isn’t so much about you anymore as where he got that disc.”

“I’m okay with it. The last thing I ever intended was to be the subject of a lifetime movie.”

“Are you going to be okay?” The FBI agent looks around.

“Frankie drove me here. My grandmother is waiting at home. She would have killed him if she came down here.” Fancy nods in the direction of the studio. It’s always easier to explain Baba as her grandmother than actually trying to explain the relationship.

“And your mother?”

“She’s in Washington, DC with Gia Campbell having a little chat with the head of the FCC. My mother knew that this would eventually come out but she also believe that the way this one is handled will show the others. They are going to destroy him.” Fancy eyes the shock jock through the glass of the studio like a bug under a microscope.

“Another reason why you can be so calm. If you need anything, if you have any problems please do give us a call.” The FBI agent hands over a card.

“Thank you.”

The LAPD rep steps in then. “Why don’t I walk you two to your car. It would be better to get you out of here before the feeding frenzy starts.”

“Are you going to make a statement?” Frankie asks.

“I’ll probably end up making one.” The rep nods.

Frankie hands over a page. “This is a statement from Gia she wants read to the press.”

The rep reads it over and nods. “Don’t worry I’ll make sure it’s quoted directly.” He walks out with the young girl and her bodyguard making sure they are escorted to their car. The reporters, film crews and paparazzi are already there. The cop takes on a blocking posture. It’s been awhile since he worked riots, not since Rodney King, back when he was in a uniform. This is one of those times when he really misses his baton. Once Fancy and Frankie are away there is a rush to cars. But this had already been handled. Access to the parking lot is controlled with gates. After Frankie and Fancy get out of the parking lot the gate magically breaks trapping the press in the parking lot for a couple of minutes to give them a good head start.

“... And Finally, I have a letter here from the victim’s attorney, Gia Campbell....” The rep pauses at the press conference to carefully read the prepared statement.

“Any questions?” The rep asks the press corps with raised eyebrows.

“Gia Campbell doesn’t normally have someone else give her statements.” One of the reporters stands up.

“Oh I’m sure she would have been happy to give it herself but she’s a little busy right now having meetings with the head of the FCC back in Washington, DC. Somehow I think vigorous defense is an understatement.” The cop’s tone is wry. “And she has a point. I am not going to tell you your jobs. I’m sure you all have lawyers on staff that make a hell of a lot more than any of us. There are copies of the relevant statutes available at the back table both local and federal as well as names of the official liaisons. I’m sure that many of you have your own contacts. Thank you for coming.” The rep gives a nod and picks up his notes.

“You okay?” Frankie asks with a worried glance over to the passenger seat. He’d driven the challenger home from the studio not wanting Fancy to have to deal with running over any photographers.

“It’s not like the museum that time. It wasn’t really an ambush. I had time to get my head together. Figure out what he was going to say. I just feel like I need a shower. What a pig.”

“You don’t have to be back on the set until Monday.”

“The studio is probably freaking out.” Fancy worries. “I’ll probably get fired before I ever get to shoot a scene.”

“You’re playing a young girl who falls in with the wrong crowd and gets killed in the first act. If they weren’t afraid of Gia too they’d probably be trying to spin it.” Frankie has a very cynical view of Hollywood. He’d always been more Port Charles based since he started working for Baby but he’d heard all the Hollywood stories. “Dillon didn’t want to hire you, you know that right? He wanted you to have a few things on your resume before you two started working together. His plan wasn’t to have you in front of the camera.”

“Right I was supposed to be working with the star to make sure she had the right intonation on her lines.”

“You’ll go back to the set . Do your scenes. Keep your eyes open, mouth shut and ears working. You know Dillon’s a pro.”

Fancy nods. “I’ve been learning from him for the last two years. He’s always sent things or arranged for me to be at Film festivals.” She takes a deep breath. “This is not unexpected. This was planned for. It’s an opportunity, not spilt milk.”

“Okay so what is the next step in the plan?” Frankie asks. He might be Fancy and Baba’s security and more than willing enough to tell them what he thought but he also works for CSMC and is used to taking orders from women, even young ones.

Fancy exhales. “There is a basketball game tonight right?”

“You serious?” Frankie’s jaw drops. “Yeah, sure lets pour some gas on the fire. So tell me, swami, if you saw this one coming and planned for it what is going to be the next roadblock?”

“Well other than maybe getting fired from the in front of the camera work?”

“Not going to happen. You’re bank, Fancy.” Frankie says loyally.

“Then the next awful opportunity coming up is my mother, my birth mother, coming out of the woodwork. But I think that is going to be delayed until I start making real money. Then she’ll show up.”

“You don’t think she’ll try to go after Baby?”

“Nah. Cause she’s only going to get one shot at this. It’s going to have to be good. Angela isn’t stupid, Frankie. She’s very good at what she does. She’ll wait until I start getting backend on something big or am up to win a big award. If I win a big award then she’ll try for the book deal or the talk show circuit or something.”

“Is a good thing that nobody has our phone number.” Baba declares as she gives Fancy a big hug. CSMC- LA had already upped the level of security around the house. She’d done what she always did walked the property to make sure that all the cameras were working. This time though she’d had Mouse right there in her ear to let her know where the problems were. “Because it start ringing as soon as you on radio: Baby she call; Gia, Dara, Tasha and Zander, Dr Cam, Vic, Stanley, Mouse, your Uncle Stefan. Bruno he calls. He say you should go to the basketball game tonight.”

Fancy looks at Frankie with an I told you so glance. “Frankie and I talked about that on the way home. Until then I’m just going to hang around here. Go take a long shower. I’ll call everyone back, Baba. Did Uncle Dillon call?”

“Not yet. But he’s working too.” Baba counsels. “Maybe he try to make this no big deal. Nothing that is going to interfere with the movie, dah?”

“Right. That’s it.” Fancy doesn’t sound so sure. But then straightens. “You’re right that’s it I’m sure. We talked about it before we came back to LA from the shoot.” She heads back to her room. She isn’t kidding about taking a shower.

Baba glances over at Frankie with a worried look. “I hope Dillon calls. I know I say he business as usual but the silence still hurts.”

“He probably just wants to make sure he has good news when he calls.”

Fancy doesn’t hear the whispers. Frankie does but Fancy had decided to take a break from all of it and has her ear buds in, listening to music while watching the Lakers warm up. So she starts when Bic Levens puts a hand on her shoulder. She takes the buds out.

“Are you okay?” He asks. They’d done the chitty chat thing over the weeks at the Laker’s home games. The season ticket seats might be CSMC-LA’s but it seemed that only Fancy and Frankie used them.

“Better here than at home moping.” Fancy shrugs. “Should I tell you I told you so now? You did me a huge favor when Dillon said I needed an agent. And then this happens.”

“The phone has been ringing off the hook.” Bic shakes his head. “It’s dealer’s choice– The View, Anderson Cooper, Lisa Ling, Anna Holtz, Oprah.”

“I can’t do anything out of town. I have to be back on the set on Monday... hopefully. This could have come at a worse time but I’d have to think about it for awhile. I shoot my scenes this upcoming week. If it had been a week later...”

Bic nods. “You’re going to be okay. I’m not going to say it’s going to blow over because it’s always going be on your resume. Now it’s just a matter of what else is there too. You told me that this was going to happen, were always very straightforward even when you’d already made the deal with Dillon and just needed someone else’s signature on it to make it official. This isn’t Peewee’s Playhouse you’re making. It’s a movie about the Russian Mob. I’m sure with this latest news I’m going to be getting hit with scripts.”

“That are all going to have to go in the garbage .”

“Recycling and yes, 98% of them.” Bic agrees. “Doesn’t mean we won’t be on the look out for something for you, for after you finish up with Dillon’s picture. I’m going to be on the look out for some guest appearances. Give Dick Wolf a call see if he’s got something.”

Fancy winces. “As long as I’m not the one ripped from the deadlines okay?”

“Oh I’m sure he will do exactly that, but you won’t be the one starring in that episode. That’s why I think he’ll play ball.”

“You know I’d really like to have a career based on characters than this way.” Fancy tells Bic softly.

He has to lean in to hear. He gives her shoulder a squeeze. “You’re going to be okay, Fancy. Let me do what I do. You just get back to work.”

“Thanks, Bic.” Fancy exhales. Then blurts. “Anna Holtz. She’s did a thing on Uncle Dillon. She also just finished up a story on Mayday, my cousin’s band. If I’ve got to put it out there, then her.”

Bic nods. “I’ll make a call at halftime.”

The Lakers had won after leading throughout the whole game. The opposing team had kept it from being a blowout but while there had been good plays, good shots now and then it really hadn’t been a good game. Which meant a lot of attention had been given to who was at the game. Even the local news stations had gone with the distractions when covering sports on the late news.

Stanley calls Fancy from the Mayday bus after their concert in Chicago and finally gets hold of her after the Lakers game. “You okay? I can have Chandy drop me off at the airport. I can be there tomorrow.”

“I’m fine, Stanley. I’m going back to the movie set on Monday. You need to stay on tour or Baby will kick your butt.”

“She’d do it too.” Stanley sighs. “This is such crap, Fancy. Come on, this all happened when you were the same age as Chandy’s sister is now. You were a baby.”

“Stanley, I knew what I was going. He didn’t force me to do that movie. It just... seemed like a good idea at the time.”

“Which is why thirteen year olds shouldn’t be making career decisions.” Stanley retorts.

“Yeah, okay fine you have a point there. And it’s going to make every thing way more complicated then and now. But if that movie hadn’t been made then I never would have met Baby or you. I know you put up with a lot from your mother and you’ve got my respect for making the effort. I couldn’t have done that; there is a reason why I was flying solo at 13.”

“Okay you have point there.” Stanley falls silent. “One year, seven months and a week right?”

“Thanks Stanley.”

“For what?”

“Keeping things normal and not getting all weird on me.”

Anna and her photographer come to the West Hollywood home of Faith Monroe. They’d had to creep their car through the layer of photographers three deep at the locked front gate. Rather than the normal buzzing in there are guards at the gate who check every person coming through. If they hadn’t been expected then they wouldn’t have gotten in. “Nice place.”

The photographer is already taking pictures of the exterior. “You do get the most interesting assignments.”

Frankie is the one who opens the door to the reporter and photographer. “Don’t make Fancy regret this. She picked you because you’ve done stories on Dillon and then on Mayday and didn’t screw it up. You better remember she’s a kid and if you start getting out of line then I’ll have you out of here so fast your head will spin.”

“Where do you want us to set up?”

“Living room is fine.” Frankie leads the way. He watches as they set up. He gives a buzz on the house phone up to Fancy’s room. Soon she and Baba are in the living room. Fancy is dressed to make Stefan proud. She looks like a conservative young woman, not trendy– expensive, old money.

Anna Holtz shakes hand of the subject of her latest story. “Anna Holtz– I do appreciate you taking the time to talk to me today.”

“Faith Monroe.” Fancy shakes her hand in a firm but not overpowering grip. “This is Mrs. Koslov.”

“Miss Holtz.” Baba also shakes the woman’s hand. The women take seats. Frankie hangs back in the entryway and the photographer takes pictures.

“Do you prefer Faith or Fancy?” Anna asks as she turns on the recorder.

“In print, Faith please. If you want to call me Fancy that’s fine.”

“Thought we should clear the air a bit and get the 6 degrees of separation out of the way first. I’m sure you already know about the interviews I’ve done with Dillon Quartermaine and then with Mayday.”

“Yes.”

“What you may not know is that I know Brittany Slade-Quartermaine. She and my mother are tight and have been since Brittany just had one gallery in New York. My parents have ties in Port Charles. My dad was actually police commissioner there for a while back in the 80s, Sean Donnelly. My mom had her own talk show, Tiffany Hill. I grew up on stories of Quartermaines and Cassadines.”

“I didn’t. I was adopted by Kristina Ashton two years ago. Before that I’d never heard of Cassadines, Quartermaines or Port Charles, New York.”

“Excellent place to start. Your mother is only ten years older than you are. How does the lack of age difference impact your relationship?”

“Kristina is more like a big sister to me than a mother. Which makes her mother very happy since Kristina’s mother has no desire what so ever to be called grandma. By adopting me, Kristina gave me a huge extended family– the family you mentioned, the Quartermaines, the Cassadines. And plenty of elders, like Mrs. Koslov, to be parental.”

“How did you meet Kristina Ashton?”

“It’s a matter of public record.” Fancy shrugs. “Two years ago, I was living with a guy. He had me star in a movie that is currently coming back to bite me in the ass. His day job was working for one of the many companies Kristina manages. She found out what he was doing and put a stop to it. She really hated what he had done and wanted to make it up to me, that’s why she adopted me. So I would be protected when and if that movie ever came out.”

“What was the man’s name?” Anna asks.

“You can find that out on your own. It’s not going to come from me. His wife and kids had nothing to do with what he did and I won’t be a part of that.” Fancy shakes her head.

Anna makes a note. It’s true enough. She could find out on her own. “Yesterday you were on the Corey Cummings show.”

“He’d found out about the movie, called my rep and invited me on the show.”

“Invited?” Anna’s well shaped brows raise at that.

“Well he did make it clear that he was going to be discussing the movie whether I was there or not. I didn’t ever listen to his show. Baba doesn’t like his language.”

“How old are you?”

“Sixteen.”

“How old were you when you made that movie?”

“Thirteen, going on fourteen.”

“Where were your parents?”

“My biological parents you mean? My biological father from what I understand died before I was born. And I didn’t get along with my mother’s current husband– so I left.”

“You left home at 13.”

“It was the better option, or so I thought at the time.”

“Okay, so you’re 14 years old and this woman says she’s going to adopt you.”

“Not quite that easy but okay.”

“What happened next?”

“For the next two years I was homeschooled by Kristina’s Uncle Stefan.”

“That would be Stefan Cassadine.” Anna confirms.

“Right. He home schooled the head of the Cassadine family, Nikolas. I don’t know if I should tell you this...”

“What?”

“It’s just that Stefan will get all big headed.” Fancy smiles. “He’s tough. Way tougher than I am and I figured myself for hard as nails. I hadn’t been in school for years before he started home schooling. Eight hours a day 5-6 days a week for the last two years. I have my GED now but I still have at least 4 hours with Uncle Stefan a day, it’s just by video conference.”

“The first thing Stefan Cassadine do, is give Fancy many tests including IQ. Find out her brain is big sponge waiting for knowledge to be stuffed in.” Baba tells the reporter. “For example, She want to study Tennessee William, you know him dah?” At Anna’s nod. “So he get all the plays of Tennessee Williams. They read them; they discuss. They watch the movies, they go to theater, they go to New Orleans, to Charleston– for the feel, the smell, the heat. And to work on Cat 5 charities while they are there. Learn about the cities, why the levees failed in New Orleans. Why the first shot of American Civil war happen in Charleston. You understand?”

Anna understand perfectly. The girl’s education had been customized to her. “What is your IQ?”

“Oh damn, talk about putting a girl on the spot.” Fancy winces. “It’s a test okay? It was high enough that Uncle Stefan knew I couldn’t just go back to junior high. He’s got a thing about people being bored. He figures there is no excuse for being bored. He and Baba have that in common. You can always find something to do and it’s more productive than whining.”

“You’re living out here in LA now– no Kristina Ashton, so no parents. You’re still under age and not emancipated right?”

“No emancipation.” Fancy agrees. “I’ve always wanted to be an actress. Baby knew that up front, Uncle Stefan too. That means LA or New York. I picked LA but I had to have a plan in order for them to give their approval.”

“The four hours of study by video conference.”

“That and having Baba and Frankie agreeing to come out here with me to be more than chaperons. Aunt Brittany and Uncle Dillon did the front work on this house– making sure that everything is close enough for them to keep an eye on me just in case of a problem.”

“Why now? Why not two years from now when you’re officially an adult? Why not after college?”

“The film. I always knew it would come up again. I wanted to pick the time and the place. Having it happen now while I’m still underage, that makes the fed’s case easier. There will never be any question on whether I was actually over 18 when that film was made. It happened. It happened when I was a minor. There were no consent forms. There were no agents or lawyers. It is what it is.”

“Why do I think that Stefan Cassadine also plays chess?”

Fancy nods. “Very well. Your parents ever tell you about winter in upstate New York?”

Anna laughs. “They didn’t spend it playing chess but I get your point. What are you doing now?”

Fancy chews the inside of her lip. “You know Uncle Dillon is making a movie with Russian characters in it?” Anna nods. “Baba and I were on location when we received the call about the Corey Cummings show. We had to come back to deal with it.”

“I can tell that Mrs. Koslov’s first language isn’t English but you also speak Russian?”

“Not fluently.” Fancy admits. “Baby speaks it fluently as do Uncle Stefan and Tasha, Baby’s mother. Baba has always been the balance when Uncle Stefan was being a a hard ass about my studies. So, I’ve had the language in my ear for the last two years. It made learning French very interesting. I was supposed to be learning it with a parisian accent– thing was when I had a question about a word, I’d ask Baba for a translation. So sometimes my french has a Russian accent too. Dillon wanted Baba and me on the set so that the leads could get the flavor.”

“But you have a part in it too.”

“I hope so. I was set to shoot my scenes on Monday. I knew the movie would come back someday to haunt me... I was hoping for better timing. Even if I lose the part over this, I’ll still be getting a lot of priceless experience being on the set seeing how everything works. Do you want to see the house?” Fancy stands up.

“Sure.” Anna stands up too. “Lead the way.” It’s polite noises really even for the beautifully done kitchen until they get to the library/den. “Whoa.”

“Uncle Stefan.” Fancy nods. “No excuse for boredom right? The booksellers adore Uncle Stefan and always take his calls. I say I want to learn Streetcar. He buys all the works of Tennessee Williams. I want to learn Taming of the Shrew...”

“Complete works of Shakespeare.”

“And a number of books about Shakespeare, his life, criticism of his works, philosophers who may have influenced him, architecture of famous theaters where his works have been performed. History of the reign of Elizabeth the I...”

“I get it. Talk about getting a flavor.”

“Uncle Stefan doesn’t believe things happen in a vacuum. This is the room that sold Uncle Stefan on the house. The bookcases were already built in. Uncle Dillon had a modification made knowing this would be Uncle Stefan’s room when he comes out to visit.”

“Modification?”

Fancy goes over to one wall that appears to be a cupboard used to camouflage a big screen tv. She pulls a lever and pulls down a murphy bed. “Ta-da! Uncle Stefan’s room.” She puts the bed back up. “Since he’s back in New York, this is is my classroom.” She continues on the tour showing the closed door, “Baba’s room.” Further down the hall, “Guest room and this is my room.” She stands back so that Anna and her photographer can walk into her room. This interview had been scheduled so everything is put up and away. The room isn’t frilly or girly but done in warm comfortable tones. “Aunt Brittany designed this one for me. She actually had a lot to do with all the furnishings in the house. The only things Baba and I had to bring was personal items. Lets go out back. It’s the oasis from everything going on out front.” Fancy leads the way back to the backyard by the lap pool and exterior kitchen. “We have dinner out here a lot, or did until that scene out front.”

“And your bodyguard lives over the garage.”

“Don’t answer that.” Frankie interjects quickly. “No discussion of security. Come on– Fancy just ejected one freak from her life, no need to issue an invitation to any others.”

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