Work Text:
The air around Brando Corbin had been thick and intense for months. It was no different this morning when he breezed out of the apartment with barely a grunt at his mother Gladys and his wife Sasha.
“Are you going to say something to him?” Gladys asked sipping her coffee.
“What?” Sasha questioned with a confused look as she turned to face her mother-in-law.
“He’s been walking around here mumbling to himself and completely distracted for months now,” Gladys stated. “When are you going to say something to him?”
“Um, well Gladys, he’s your son and you live here too. You could have said something, too,” Sasha said as she picked up her own coffee cup.
“Yes but as you and Brando so eloquently keep reminding me, wife trumps mom,” Gladys said with a smile.
Sasha opened her mouth to say something when the door burst open and Brando stepped back in.
“Are you ok, honey?” Gladys asked concerned.
“No,” Brando answered closing the door. “What are you two doing today?”
“Work,” Sasha said.
“I have something more important for you to do,” he told them. They watched as Brando pulled his phone out and typed on the screen. “Let’s go,” he said holding the door open for them. The two women shared a looked before walking out of the apartment followed by Brando.
****
“Michael, did you get that group text from Brando?” Willow asked as she joined her husband in the living room of the Quartermaine house.
“Yeah, but I have no idea what’s going on,” Michael said.
“We should go,” she told him. “I just dropped Wiley off at daytime adventure camp, so we can go.” Michael nodded and they left and headed off toward his mom’s house.
When they arrived they looked around at the people in the room. Sonny, Carly, Josslyn, Drew, Nina, Dante, Brando, Sasha, Gladys, Molly, and Spencer. The couple exchanged a look and joined the room.
Once everyone was in a comfortable place, Brando took center stage.
“Thank you all for coming. I get that right now there are a lot of…issues going on but that’s what this is about,” Brando spoke standing in front of his family. “So Kristina is here on Zoom so, let’s get started.”
“What exactly is this about, Brando?” Sonny asked.
“And why the hell is Nina here?” Michael asked with an attitude.
“That,” Brando answered pointing at Michael. “The Nina/Sonny/Carly thing.”
“There is no thing,” Carly said flipping her hair.
“Well, I think we all know that’s bullshit,” Gladys mumbled.
“Mom,” Brando said cutting his eyes at her. “But that’s true. If we’re going to do this, we’re going to be honest. Completely. No bullshit.”
“The only people who haven’t been honest are Nina and Sonny,” Michael spoke up.
“Michael, I love you but shut up,” Brando said holding his hand up. “Let’s be honest with ourselves. About everything. From the beginning.”
“What do you mean?” Willow asked.
“Because you and Michael don’t know how to compromise because Michael sometimes acts like a spoiled, rich brat, Nina was pushed out of her grandson’s life,“ Brando answered her. “She apologized, she offered to have the two of you supervise her visits but no. Michael couldn’t do that. And you’re feelings were hurt so you went along with it.”
“Are you saying Nina did nothing wrong, Brando?” Michael asked agitated. “You can’t honestly think that?”
“That’s not what I said. I’m saying that Nina is human and in that moment when Wiley was far too young to understand or even comprehend what she told him, You acted the fuck out,” Brando replied. “As per usual.”
“She had rules, Brando,“ Carly spoke up. “She was told not to mention Nelle and it was the first thing she did, the first thing.”
“And you couldn’t wait to rub it in her face that she lost her visits and you had free reign to Wiley,” Brando pointed out. “You pushed Nina to the point that she had to fucking leave town. That shit is not ok.”
“Yeah Brando, she left town and spent the next six months coming in and out of our lives, seeing Wiley against our better judgment and the entire time knew that Sonny was alive,” Josslyn said in a raised tone.
“When people are pushed to the brink, they act out. I’m not saying that anything that Nina did during her time in Nixon Falls was right, but I am saying that the three of them need to take responsibility for their part in Nina’s revenge,” he responded.
“Brando, Nina is responsible for her own actions, “ Drew spoke up softly.
Brando said nothing for a long moment. He looked around the room at his family and he knew that this was going to be a lot of work but it needed to be done.
“I’m not going to spare anyone’s feelings,” Brando said quietly. “I’m not going to sugarcoat anything. You all need to hear what I have to say and we’re not leaving here until this shit is settled.”
“Uh Brando, I get what you’re trying to do, I do but it’s ok, you know,” Sonny spoke up.
“It’s not ok,” Brando said. He sighed before he began to speak again. “Sonny had Amnesia. A traumatic brain injury. He was a different person. He was Mike. Not Sonny.” Josslyn rolled her eyes at this information. “Roll your eyes all you want Joss. It’s science. It’s fact.”
“So, him being Mike or whatever is supposed to forgive the fact that he didn’t want to look for his family after falling in love with Nina?” Joss asked upset.
“It was ok when Drew decided to do that when he fell in love with Elizabeth, so, you tell me, Josslyn,” Brando answered her.
The room was silent.
“You weren’t in Port Charles when all of that happened,” Drew said. “I had done…”
‘Yeah, I know. You had done awful things. Whatever. It’s a double standard and you are one of the main people allowing it to go on when you are the one who should be telling them to give Sonny grace,” Brando said making eye contact with Drew. “You could have a wife and kids out there but you didn’t want to know because you had found happiness and peace. So did Mike.”
“But…” Willow started.
“But nothing. Because the fact of the matter is that once Sonny became Sonny again the first thing he did was come back to Port Charles for his family. To his wife who had taken all of six months, in her right mind, to fall in love with and marry their best friend,“ Brando interrupted.
“Don’t talk about Jason,” Carly said with tears in her eyes.
“He’s a part of this. But this isn’t about Jason per se,” Brando said. “Your feelings that you deny are what’s a part of this.”
“Excuse me?” Carly asked upset.
“You fell in love with Jason, Carly,” Brando said. “It happened. Just about every single person in this room was a party to your wedding. Your vows were heartfelt and real. And when Sonny showed back up you had to switch gears back to being Mrs. Corthinos from Mrs. Morgan. It was hard for you. I get it but because you want to act like you could just turn your feelings off then Sonny is now expected to do the same.”
No one said anything for a long time. The shock was palpable.
“Brando, you’re being unfair,” Willow said.
“Willow, you want to talk about unfairness. This shit blew up because you overheard a private conversation and then, in your infinite virtue and subtle piousness, you shared what you heard, not with Sonny and Nina but with Carly. You didn’t allow Sonny the opportunity to share his own private business with his wife and family in his own time,” Brando said turning to her.
“Don’t talk to her like that, Brando,” Micheal shouted.
“Michael, I told the truth. Like I said I would. Stop yelling. It won’t change the facts,” Brando said rolling his eyes.
“Brando, what do you want from us?” Drew asked trying to diffuse the tension.
“Grace, forgiveness, and understanding,” he answered. “Those things are two-way streets but yet when it comes to Sonny and Nina, especially Sonny it’s not.”
"He abandoned us and then he cheated on mom with Nina!" Josslyn yelled. "Sonny doesn't deserve anything from us!"
"Josslyn, ask your mom about the conversation that she and Sonny had during the day, the night she found him and Nina together," Brando said calmly. "Ask her," he said, gesturing toward Carly.
"Mom?"
Carly blinked away tears before answering her daughter.
"Sonny asked me to meet him at a certain time on the Haunted Star. If I came then that meant that I was as committed to fixing our marriage as he was," she answered.
"And?" Brando said.
"And nothing," Carly spat. "I had gone to GH because I had heard that Dante had been shot. I tried to call Sonny to set another date and tell him about Dante but he didn't answer me. I went to Haunted Star and then I knew why."
"I had been waiting for hours, Carly," Sonny chimed in.
"So, because I didn't call when you wanted me to you decide to just say fuck it and you screw Nina!" Carly shouted.
"You had hours before what happened to Dante happened, Carly!" Sonny shouted back. " You left me hanging so I took that as you officially ending things."
"I never cheated on you," Carly said with tears in her eyes.
"Carly, you were sucking face with Jason all over town," Gladys retorted. "Brando said honesty. Try it."
"I thought Sonny was dead, Gladys. It's not the same thing," Carly replied.
"Look, all I'm saying is Nina played it close to the cuff. If I really wanted him, I would have told him who he was and all about his pretty little wife and all the pretty little feelings she had caught for his bestie," Gladys remarked. "All while showing him pictures of his family and Jason and the pretty little wedding invitation."
"That's cruel," Nina said.
"I'm a bitch and all's fair in love and war right?" Gladys said with a crooked smile. "I'm just saying that the high horse that Carly and Michael, Willow, and Josslyn are riding on should probably be put out to pasture."
"Excuse me?" Michael said.
"I've known Jason my whole life. He's like a father to me. I'm glad to him welcome to our family officially, or whatever garbage you said at the wedding," Gladys said. "Sonny had been dead six months but you know it’s ok, I’d known Jason my whole life.”
“Mom, please,” Brando said exasperated.
“No, Brando,” Gladys said getting to her feet. “This is about all of us. This bullshit affects all of us and us includes me.”
“You didn’t have to go through the loss of your father,” Michael spoke up.
“But I did,” Kristina said from the laptop screen. “I’m so sick of your shit, Michael. You always do this.”
“Do what?”
“Make anything that happens in this family about you.”
“This is about all of us, Kristina,” Michael said bringing his full attention to her.”Sonny and Nina did this to all of us.”
“No. Nina upset you and Willow and in true fashion, Carly overstepped. I mean, yeah, don’t get me wrong, not telling anyone that dad was alive was a massive mistake but I agree with Brando. You, Willow, and Carly are to blame for it going the way it did.”
“Kristina, you weren’t here for all of it. You don’t know,” Michael told his sister.
“I don’t have to be. All I need to know is that my dad did everything that he could to make everything right before he dropped the Nina bomb but Willow,” Kristina stated. “It wasn’t her place. And Carly shouldn’t have pressured Willow to tell a secret that wasn’t hers to tell. But she’s always been a bit pushy.”
“Don’t talk about my mom like that,” Josslyn jumped in.
“Your mom is not infallible, Josslyn,” Kristina spat. “No person is.”
“That’s exactly my point,” Brando interrupted the siblings. “No one is infallible. Not in life or in this situation in particular.”
“Carly, you are still in love with Jason and you are falling for Drew,” Brando said. Carly and Drew looked at each other. “It’s obvious. Anyway, that’s fine. You are divorced. Seek out new love but let’s not kid ourselves that the reasons your emotions run so high with Drew is because he reminds you of Jason.”
“Whatever I feel or don’t feel for Drew is no one’s business. And it has nothing to do with Jason,” Carly said defensively.
“We’re getting off-topic,” Sasha said. “Nina has made hideous mistakes. Absolutely horrible but bribing a political official to send her to jail isn’t exactly paragon of virtue behavior either.”
“Exactly!” Gladys said excitedly.
“The point is, mistakes were made by everyone but only two people have actually made an effort to make amends for those mistakes,” Brando said. “ Nina and Sonny.”
“Brando, come on, “ Carly said getting to her feet. “You can’t honestly expect me to forgive Sonny for falling in love with Nina and then sleeping with her while we were still married?”
“Mike, Carly. Mike fell in love with Nina,” Brando corrected.
“And, uh, Brando if I may,” Sonny spoke up, “If you had shown up and told me no before you made me wait hours for you I probably would have never slept with Nina.”
“I tried to call you, Sonny,” Carly spat.
“After you were late. I had smashed my phone because I was upset by that point,” Sonny spat back.
“Stop!” Dante shouted from his seat. “Bickering about shit that’s already happened isn’t going to help us move forward,” he said calmly. “And I’m with Brando, you know. I’m absolutely sick of this shit.”
“Dante, we get you’re upset but…” Michael began.
“If you say, but “you weren’t raised by Sonny” I’m going to punch you in the fucking face,” Dante said, cutting his eyes at his brother. “That shit is hurtful and it’s a fucking kick in the face to me and my mother and I’m telling you, Michael, if you say it again, I’m going to punch you.”
“I-I-I-I’m sorry, Dante. I didn’t mean it in…” Micheal began.
“Save it,” Dante said holding his hand up. “Just maybe for once, just once man, you’ll listen when people talk and take in other perspectives. Not just the one that you, Carly, and Josslyn hivemind.”
“It’s easy for you to feel that way, Dante,” Josslyn spoke up. “She’s not your mom.”
“I hated Sonny when I first came to Port Charles,” Dante said turning his attention to Josslyn. “Because I felt like he was a terrible father and he just left my mother and me to fend for ourselves. I hated the man but as time went on and I learned that he never had the opportunity to even know about me, I let go of that anger and I started to get to know my father. And I never looked back.”
“Well, good for you but he’s changed and he ruined everything,” Josslyn said with her arms folded.
“Changed how?” Brando asked. “Because, no, I haven’t known Sonny nearly as long as any of you but I did know him before his disappearance and I know him now and he’s no different to me.”
“Me either,” Dante added.
“And what did he ruin for you Josslyn?” Brando questioned. “You specifically.”
“My family. Sonny chose Nina and ruined my family,” she replied.
“No, Willow did that. I know in my heart that if Sonny had had the opportunity to sit down with Carly and explain to her what happened to him in Nixon Falls and Nina’s involvement and they had a real conversation about their feelings, we wouldn’t be sitting here,” Brando began. “Not to mention, once Jason died, Carly, the ever mourning widow, began to push Sonny away so that she could continue to deny that she was in love with Jason and place all of her guilt for feeling that way on the Mike/Nina situation and remain blameless in the events that followed.”
“You’re making a lot of assumptions, Brando,” Michael stated.
“I have eyes, Michael,” Brando retorted.
“May I say something?” Molly spoke up.
“Of course, go ahead,” Brando said taking a seat beside Sasha.
“Thank you,” she said getting to her feet. “I think what’s happening here is Nina isn’t granted forgiveness because of association with Nelle as her mom. Sonny isn’t because he will allow himself to be painted as a villain before he says that Carly was wrong to Michael and Joss’ faces.”
“This isn’t a mock trial, Molly,” Michael said annoyed.
“I’m aware, Michael, I’m just saying that grace was allowed for Carly by Sonny after he figured out that she fell in love with Jason. He understood that even though it was six months, to her it must have felt like a lifetime, so moving on and finding love was the right answer for her. Even though, the marriage was just supposed to be a marriage of convenience. Anyway, Uncle Sonny had a traumatic brain injury that caused him to become Mike. An entirely different person than he is. Mike fell into a quaint routine and found love. Another accident happened and he became Sonny again and immediately made his way back to Port Charles only to find his beloved wife and beloved best friend mere steps from the bed in his own house about to consummate the vows they had taken earlier that evening,” Molly explained. “After that things were pretty normal, Uncle Sonny and Carly were back together and seemingly happy until Willow overheard a conversation between Sonny and Nina about their time in Nixon Fall. She confronted Nina, and Nina asked her to say nothing because Sonny wanted to tell Carly and the family on his own time and she stressed the fact that Sonny wanted nothing to do with her. But Willow has a very sympathetic face, Carly knew something was going and she basically forced her to tell what she knew,” Molly continued. “From there, Carly decided that Sonny lied to her and destroyed the family because when he was suffering from a traumatic brain injury and became a different person, he fell in love with Nina.”
“That doesn’t explain why he let Nina and Scott try to destroy Michael’s life in open court,” Willow said.
“You said it. It was open court. It would have helped no one if Uncle Sonny had been held in contempt for an outburst in court,” Molly explained.
“Then explain why Sonny went to Nina at recess and not his own son,” Carly said with an attitude.
“Why would he? Michael had already all but told him that he was dead to him and he wanted nothing to do with him,” Molly explained. “Carly you’re mad at Uncle Sonny for not comforting a man who had told him that he was dead to him and that he wanted nothing to do with him. Uncle Sonny has tried to reach out to the three of you and all he gets is blame, ire, zero compassion, and no understanding.” Molly finished.
“Thank you, Molly,” Brando said. “That was perfect.”
“I want to add something,” Kristina said from the screen. “I talked to Lucas. I figured since he removed that tumor from Franco he might know a little something about brain injuries. Anyway, he told me that a lot of people who suffer the injury in the way that Dad did will get a flash of someone from their past, whether it’s a face or like a name and then they will assume the life that that person would live. Clearly, Grandpa and Michael are the people who came to Dad’s mind. That should mean something.”
That room was silent again. Brando hoped that this meant that everyone was thinking about everything that had been said today. It was important to him that his family be a cohesive unit. A lot was riding on that cohesiveness.
“Look, I’m tired of this,” Gladys said. “Either we’ve made progress or we're in the same place we started. I’m tired of repeating the same things over and over.”
“Sonny and Nina,” Drew said getting to his feet. “For my part I’m sorry. I should have not tried to stay impartial and made it harder for the two of you to be heard. I know that my voice and my words carry weight with Carly and I should have listened to your side.”
“Drew, you don’t owe me anything,” Nina said. “I never intended for any of this to happen.”
“Save it, Nina,” Carly interrupted.
“This is why it happened, Carly,” Nina spat. “You just don’t know when to shut the hell up. You always have to dig in deeper and deeper and you’re the only one that can be right. It’s so frustrating.”
“It’s my fault that you lied about knowing my husband was alive and then kept the fact that you fell in love with him?” Carly questioned appalled.
“Yes!” Nina yelled. “I had every intention of telling you but then you hurt me and well, Carly, hurt people, hurt people.”
“That is the easy way out,” Michael, said rolling his eyes.
“It’s the truth. What reason do I have to lie now?” Nina asked.
“Michael, stop,” Willow said grabbing his hand. “I don’t want to do this anymore.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m not with all of this…this hatred and anger and bitterness and, and bickering,” she told him. “I don’t want to bring a baby into this.”
Everyone was quiet again. Glances were exchanged but no one spoke. Brando looked around at his family and hoped that a breakthrough was on the horizon.
“You hurt me, Sonny,” Carly said quietly breaking the silence. “You really, really did.”
“I know and I’m sorry, Carly. I never meant to hurt you but I wasn’t myself and I wanted to talk to you about it. About all of it, Nina, Jason, all of it but you pushed me away,” Sonny told her.
“I didn’t see the point in talking about Jason, Sonny.”
“You loved him.”
“I…I…I,” Carly began.
“It’s ok,” Sonny whispered. “It’s ok. I get it.”
“I didn’t want to admit it.”
“I know.”
“Mom, don’t tell me you’re thinking about forgiving him?” Michael questioned.
“Michael, I want you to stop,” Carly said turning to her son. “I want you to stop being so angry and revenge-driven. I got you away from AJ as a baby because I didn’t want you to be like him.”
“Mom, I…” Michael started.
“Stop, Michael,” Dante said holding his hand up to his brother. “Don’t sit there and lie to your mother. You have been telling me and Willow for months that you were going to take Sonny down.”
“What?” Carly asked shocked. “What is he talking about?”
Michael’s jaw tightened. His eyes filled with tears and he stormed from the room.
“I’ll go after him,” Willow said.
“No, I will,” Sonny said getting to his feet. He left the room and found his son right outside the front door. “Michael?”
“What?” Michael answered with his back to Sonny.
“I never ever wanted to do anything to make you hate me,” Sonny said carefully. “You’re my son. I love you. I can’t lose you,” he said tearfully. “I can’t…”
“Sonny,” Michael said turning to face the man behind him.
“No, please. Listen to me, alright. I love all of my children. I love Josslyn. I have been the best father that I can be. I know that along the way I have made mistakes and I have caused pain, but this Nixon Falls, Nina situation was never supposed to be that. I can’t lose you, Michael. I can’t lose Joss. When Morgan died, I got through it because of you. Because you helped me. I know that I hurt you, Michael but I am still trying to fix this. Our relationship. It’s important to me. You’re important to me.”
“I know,” Michael nodded. “I just..uh…I just get so blinded sometimes that I lose sight of…well everything else. I get so single-minded that I let it drive me. That’s what happened with Aurora and ELQ.”
“I get it,” Sonny nodded. “I’m sorry, Michael,” Sonny said as he stepped toward his son. Michael stepped toward him and the men hugged.
“I just want to put this behind us,” Michael said. “It’s exhausting.”
“It’s because we love each other.”
“But I can’t just trust Nina, Dad.”
“I’m not asking you to, Michael,” Sonny said. “I know that there is a lot of damage there. I can’t fix it. Nina has to do that, but you have to let her.”
“It’s going to take me some time,” Michael told him.
“I get that. Take all the time you need. Nina will understand,” Sonny said as they released each other.
“I’m sorry for just reacting,” Michael said.
“I’m used to it,” Sonny joked. The men laughed and headed back inside. When Brando saw the father and son laughing and smiling the tense air around him eased. He couldn’t deal with the stress of his family being in disarray and his personal life being in disarray as well.
“Thank you, Brando,” Carly said approaching him with open arms.
“No thanks needed,” he said hugging her.
“You got us out of an endless cycle of pain,” she said releasing him. “You remind me of Morgan. He never wanted his family to fight either.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance to know him,” Brando said.
“Me too,” Carly said hugging him again.
The family exchanged hugs and Sasha grabbed her husband’s hand and they exited the house, Gladys, right behind them. Brando knew that the journey ahead was a long one but that it would be manageable with his family working together instead of against each other.