A.J. Quartermaine and Carly Benson

Billy Warlock and Sarah Joy Brown as A.J. Quartermaine and Carly Benson

**A.J. Quartermaine** and **Carly Benson** are fictional characters and former lovers from the ABC daytime soap opera *General Hospital*.

## Storylines

In 1997, A.J. has a drunken one-night stand with Carly Benson, who is involved with Dr. Tony Jones. When Carly learns she is pregnant, she is unsure which man is the father, but goes to great lengths to keep A.J. from becoming suspicious. A.J. has stopped drinking and is attempting to straighten out his life, but Carly drugs him, fits him into a laundry cart, dumps him in a back alley behind a bar and pours alcohol all over him. She wants him to think he's been drinking so he will go to a rehabilitation facility out of state, as she does not want him around when the baby is born. Her efforts backfire, and A.J. becomes suspicious. He demands a DNA test and tells Carly he wants custody of the baby if it's his. Carly persuades Jason, another of her ex-lovers, to assume paternity of the baby. When Michael is born, A.J. misunderstands a doctor's explanation about the baby's blood type and mistakenly believes Michael could not be his.

A few years later, Jason's girlfriend, Robin Scorpio, tells A.J. that he is in fact Michael's father. A custody battle between Jason and A.J. follows. A.J. decides to patch things up with Carly to please his grandfather, Edward, who is adamant about keeping the Quartermaines together under one roof. A.J. eventually wins Carly over, and they marry on May 26, 1999 at the Quartermaine Mansion, much to the dismay of both Alan and Monica. Carly and Michael come to live with the Quartermaines, but A.J. finds it difficult to connect with the toddler, who is closely bonded to Jason. Ultimately, Carly has an affair with Sonny Corinthos, becomes pregnant by him, and Jason leaves town.

A.J. agrees to pass the child Carly is carrying off as his own in order to get revenge on Jason for hiding Michael's paternity, but is still furious that the child is fathered by Sonny. Sonny eventually comes to claim the unborn child and blackmails A.J. with his knowledge that A.J. hired an arsonist to burn down Sonny's warehouse, also in an attempt to regain custody of Michael. Sonny then takes Carly and Michael to live with him, away from the Quartermaine Mansion. A month later, Carly and A.J. get into an argument; and she ends up falling down a flight of stairs and miscarries. A.J. is later disinherited by his family and forced to move out of the mansion. Meanwhile, Sonny and Carly schemed to gain custody of young Michael. Sonny kidnaps A.J., and his henchmen hang him from a meat hook. Sonny then threatens to kill him unless A.J. signs away all parental rights; Sonny later adopts Michael. A.J. becomes even more self-destructive and destroys his relationship with Hannah Scott when he nearly died from alcohol poisoning. When Monica has a health scare, A.J. decides to move back into the mansion and reconciles with his family.

In 2005, after A.J.'s "murder," his son Michael is a suspect for awhile, but is eventually cleared.

In 2012, Michael eventually indirectly tells Carly that his father is alive. Carly calls Todd Manning to help deal with A.J. being alive. Tracy walks into the Quartermaine living room and eventually turns towards Monica and sees A.J. Tracy then is knocked out by Alice and is transported to the boat house. Then, A.J. is found by Carly and Dante Falconeri comes to arrest A.J.

On April 12, 2013 A.J. is used by Carly while waiting for his date with Elizabeth Webber. Carly kisses him in front of her latest ex Todd Manning. Carly bribes him to go along with the scheme with the details of unknown Quartermaine heir as an incentive. Carly and A.J.'s scheme falls apart due to a "nanny cam" and A.J. is able to reconcile with Elizabeth Webber.

A.J. starts to want to drink, but after few arguments with Carly. A.J. makes out with Carly and subsequently sleeps with her. Monica comes and knocks on the door and A.J. gets Monica to realize that A.J. has somebody over, though Monica thinks that it is Elizabeth.

A.J. agrees to take responsibility for the poisoning at The Chew in exchange for Tracy not telling Elizabeth that he slept with Carly.

Eventually, Nikolas lets the phone recording of A.J.'s conversation with Carly about sleeping with her ends up being played to Elizabeth.  Initially, Elizabeth is skeptical of A.J., but sticks with him.