Ava Jerome (Maura West)

Ava Jerome is a fictional character on the ABC soap opera, General Hospital, and temporarily crossed over to the setting of ABC's short lived soap, Ryan's Hope. She has been portrayed by Maura West since her 2013 debut. She is the daughter of Ryan's Hope original character and owner of Ryan's Cafe in N.Y.C. Delia Ryan and the late mob boss Victor Jerome.

Storylines
Ava answers the door and Luke Spencer introduces himself. Ava reveals that she is the mother of Lauren Frank (Kiki )and tells Luke the story of she and Francomet and he had a charming side. After they knew that she was pregnant, she realized that Franco had a darker side and wanted to keep Lauren away from it. Luke lets Ava know that Franco is biologically a Quartermaine, and Lauren is entitled to shares of the family company, ELQ. He gives her a proxy statement to hand over to Lauren, signing in favor of Tracy Quartermaine. Luke leaves and Morgan Corinthos walks down the staircase. Morgan ran to Ava's house when the people who he owed money threatened to come after him. It's later revealed that Morgan is dating her daughter, Kiki (later revealed to be short for Lauren Katherine Jerome).

Ava and Kiki talk about the situation with Morgan. Ava convinces Kiki to go to Port Charles to be with Morgan, and she soon comes too. She tracks down Tracy, and tells her she will get her daughter to sign over her shares in exchange for a large sum of money. Tracy agrees, wanting control of ELQ. Ava tells Kiki that her father is the serial killer Franco and that he is the twin brother of Jason Morgan and also the grandson of late Edward Quartermaine, which entitles Kiki to a piece of the shares of the company ELQ. Ava tries to get Kiki to sign over her shares, but Kiki angrily disagrees to sign when Ava reveals she was bribed into getting Kiki's signature. Ava also meets Duke Lavery, when Ava goes to ELQ to talk to AJ Quartermaine, and they have a conversation about her surname of Jerome. Duke has a past with the Jerome mob family.

Franco is revealed to be alive, and Ava tries to keep him away from Kiki. However, Kiki eventually comes to the Quartermaine house, where Franco is, and ends up moving in, along with Morgan. Ava tries to blackmail Franco into leaving Kiki alone by revealing that she knows Franco was the one who poisoned the ELQ relish. It's revealed that Ava was the one who shot Olivia Falconeri in a botched attempt to kill Franco. Ava agrees to let Franco have a relationship with Kiki, while Franco agrees to help Ava take over ELQ using his shares. The two move into the Quartermaine mansion, pretending to be a couple.

Ava spots Dr. Silas Clay when she goes to find Kiki and Ava gets Silas to agree to go get some coffee. The coffee conversation doesn't end well, with Silas leaving Kelly's and Ava storming out soon after. It is revealed that Ava and Silas had a romantic relationship and Silas is the true father of her daughter, Kiki. Ava tries to keep Silas from finding out that Kiki is his daughter, but Silas is still suspicious about Kiki's paternity. Morgan, meanwhile, catches Ava lying to Silas, and Ava admits to him that Silas is actually Kiki's biological father. However, she convinces him to keep it a secret from Kiki because if she finds out, she might leave Morgan for his brother, Michael, whom she's attracted to, but who she thinks is her cousin. Morgan, desperate to hold onto Kiki, agrees to keep the secret.

Franco is beaten up and admitted to the hospital, where the doctors later diagnose him with a potentially fatal brain tumor. Franco agrees to undergo surgery for it, but before he does, he signs over his shares of ELQ to Ava, giving her voting rights. Ava stages a coup with Tracy, planning to take the company once Tracy has control of it, by voting Franco's shares in favor of Tracy. However, Kiki sides with AJ, and the Quartermaines' housekeeper, Alice, switches sides, meaning AJ keeps his position as CEO. Ava is disappointed, and tries to figure out another plan. Meanwhile, she gets a visit from Duke, who is still suspicious Ava is tied to the Jerome mob family, especially because he's found out that Ava has a mysterious financial backer funding her activities. Ava writes him off and leaves.

Ava shows up at the office of Crimson magazine, where it's revealed she knows the publisher, Derek Wells. She addresses Derek as Julian, and it's revealed that he's actually Julian Jerome, head of the Jerome mob and Ava's brother. The two of them plan to take control of Port Charles again, as their family once had in the 1980's. They are targeting Sonny Corinthos, who currently controls the mob business in Port Charles. Julian is disappointed because of Ava's failed scheme to take over ELQ. However, Ava tells Julian that Kiki is engaged to Sonny's son, and that will provide her leverage. It's also revealed that Ava & Julian are behind the gambling scam that put Morgan in debt, and she is playing him so Morgan will be in her debt.

Silas lets it slip to Ava that he had a DNA test run on Kiki. When he refuses to back down on Ava's insistence, Ava reports him to the chief of staff, Dr. Monica Quartermaine. Ava then takes the results from Monica to ensure no one knows the truth. Silas refuses to back down and plans to tell Kiki, but Ava threatens him to not go anywhere near her daughter. However, Connie Falconeri has already acquired Kiki's birth certificate and published the story in the newspaper by the time Ava stops Silas. Ava finds out and tries to locate Kiki, but runs into Silas, and finally admits that Kiki's his daughter. He storms out, angry, and Ava goes and confronts Julian for publishing the story. Julian, though, thinks it's an advantage since Tracy now has control and tells Ava to secure her position in ELQ, which Ava does by threatening Tracy with switching Franco's vote to support A.J.

Ava goes looking for her daughter at General Hospital, when Kiki goes to tell Franco that they're not father and daughter. The two of them are angry at Ava, who tries to explain herself. However, Kiki tells Ava she's now married to Morgan. Ava's shocked, and realizes Morgan married Kiki so she couldn't leave him. Franco lets Ava know she's not off the hook with him, and Kiki also tells her to stay away from her and Morgan, even though Ava wishes them well. Ava later comes by and blackmails Morgan, saying that she could expose his lies and reconcile with her daughter. Morgan, though, is desperate to hold onto Kiki, and tells Ava he is willing to do anything to make sure Kiki never finds out. Ava agrees to hold onto the favor, and leaves. Ava is thrown out of the Quartermaine house, as is Franco, who admits to Tracy that he poisoned the relish. They both end up staying at the Metro Court.

Ava goes to visit Sonny, wanting his help to arrange a wedding reception for Morgan and Kiki. Sonny, though, doesn't want to because he is mourning the death of his girlfriend, Connie. Ava realizes that Sonny is supposed to be taking medication that he's not, and is behaving erratically, as a result. She goes and tells Kiki about the party, but Kiki doesn't want it. Morgan, though, convinces her to have it, and Kiki agrees on the condition that Silas is invited, as well. Later, Ava meets Julian at the pier, where they meet their associate, Vince, who was kidnapped by Sonny's men, Shawn Butler & Max Giambetti. He admits that he told them his boss' name, but doesn't think they'll buy it since everyone believes Julian is dead. Julian, however, kills Vince, and Ava throws his body into the water.

At the party, Ava sees Silas and gets him to agree to a dance with her. She tries to convince him to give their relationship another chance, but Silas refuses. Ava kisses him to change his mind, but he pushes her away, and runs after Sam Morgan. Meanwhile, Sonny reveals to the guests that Morgan knew about Kiki's paternity before they married, and has been lying ever since. Ava goes to find Silas, and overhears him telling Sam that he wants nothing to do with Ava, and he's interested in Sam. Ava tries to scare Sam off by claiming that Silas has dark secrets. Sam dares her to reveal them, and Ava backs off. Silas and Sam leave, and Ava breaks a vase in her meltdown.

Ava goes back to her room, where Morgan shows up. He reveals that Kiki has left him after finding out the truth about him lying to her. After overhearing Silas commenting that he doesn't want anything to do with Ava and Morgan losing his wife, the two heartbroken people talk and console each other. Morgan kisses Ava and she initially doesn't want it, but succumbs to it and has sex with her son-in-law. The next day, the two of them are discovered first by Carly, who wants to kick Ava out, then by Michael & Kiki. Morgan refuses to be sorry for what they did, but Ava is mortified about being discovered by her daughter. Kiki writes Ava off, and leaves with Michael. Ava moves out of the Metro Court before Carly can kick her out, and into a penthouse Julian had arranged for her. Morgan also moves in, claiming he has nowhere to go. When Morgan overhears Ava calling Julian her brother he figures out that he is not Derek Wells. Ava tries to save Morgan when Julian orders a hit on him. Eventuallly Morgan agrees to help Julian take down Sonny and moves in with Ava.

Meanwhile, Sam finds out that Ava is the daughter of Victor Jerome and Delia Ryan. Ava hosts a gallery for Franco that ends in disaster; Sonny arrives and reveals that he knows Derek is really Julian, and that Ava is his partner. He confronts Morgan about working with the Jeromes, who tells off Sonny and stays loyal to the Jeromes. Sam confronts Julian about knowing he's her biological father, and Julian reveals that Sonny has a hitman waiting to kill him outside. Sam tells Sonny not to, because Julian was going to give bone marrow to store for her son, Danny, in case he suffers a relapse in his cancer. Ava uses this as leverage, and guilt-trips Sonny into calling off the hit. Sonny lets Sam know, though, that Julian will not donate his bone marrow, because he's going to use it as leverage to stay alive.

After Sonny leaves, Sam confronts Julian and Ava, who in a roundabout fashion, confirm that Julian will not donate his bone marrow to store because Sonny will kill him. Sam is furious at both of them for using her son as leverage and storms out. Ava tries to get Silas to convince Sam, but Silas coldly tells Ava to leave him & Sam alone. Ava later goes to the docks, where she finds Morgan beaten up after getting into a fight with Michael. Ava finds Julian's enforcer and her good friend, Carlos Rivera, at the pier one night. He tells her about how he still loves his ex-girlfriend, Sabrina Santiago, but she's now marrying Patrick Drake. Carlos found out that Patrick's wife, Robin, thought to have died a year earlier, is actually alive, but Sabrina doesn't believe him. Ava tells him to go to Patrick with this, but Carlos is convinced Patrick would believe him even less. After he leaves, Ava is shown to have stolen Metro Court security footage in her possession, which she burns afterwards.

Ava goes to Patrick's house on the day of his wedding, and tells him about what Carlos saw. She tries to plant a seed of doubt by revealing that Carlos told Sabrina, but she never told Patrick. Patrick, though, feels skeptical and tells Ava to leave. Ava goes on the witness stand at court when A.J. is charged with killing Connie. She testifies that she saw A.J. drunk at the bar the night Connie was killed, complaining about how Connie had ruined his life. However, her testimony is discredited because she doesn't have any physical proof A.J. actually committed the crime. Kiki confronts her afterwards about her testimony, and makes it clear to her mom she still wants nothing to do with her. Ava gets a call from Silas when he gets a mysterious call from an NYPD detective digging into him. He tells Ava that someone is trying to find out the truth about their past, and the secret they're hiding.

Morgan breaks up with Ava, when he returns home to his father. Ava comes to Sonny's office to see Morgan. Morgan tells her they can't be together, but she doesn't accept it. Morgan suggest that she leaves Julian to come work for Sonny. Ava agrees and Sonny comes to talk to her, he says she has to prove it. Since it was valentines day, Ava sent Morgan a text message telling him to meet her in a hotel room. Morgan texts back that he can't, but shows up anyway. He tried to leave insisting that he didn't know why he even came but they end up sleeping together. Ava then, to prove to Sonny she was serious and trustworthy, downloads all of Julians important files onto a flash drive she gives to Sonny.

She goes to New York as an alibi for A.J.'s murder and tells Morgan before she goes. This leaves him extremely worried when he shows up at her apartment building tot be told by the police someone was shot in her apartment. Ava later texts him that she is still in New York even though Morgan had discovered it was A.J. that was shot in her apartment. When Ava does return from New York Morgan goes to her apartment happy to see her. Morgan asks Ava if she was the one who shot A.J., and she tells him no, which was what he thought.

When Ava see's the paper, she gets nervous and is on her way to warn Silas but runs into Morgan outside the gallery who wants to know why she was in a hurry. She tells tries to lie, but Morgan can see right through it, and is worried. When Morgan and Ava go inside the gallery he tells her that he is going to get her a glass of water, and then they can talk. on his way to get her water he see's the paper on the floor. She lies and says the reason she is in a rush is not because of the article he wants to know the real reason. She tells him that if he loves her she will let him go without asking. Morgan unhappily agrees and tells her if there is ever another time she needs to leave without telling him where there will be no relationship between them.

After talking to Silas, she is about to leave when Morgan shows up. He told her that he followed her and that he saw the way she was with Silas and asked her if she still loved him. She replied that a part of her will always love Silas but that she still loves him. When he starts to get upset about the news she asks him if he still had feeling for Kiki. The next morning they are at the Metro Court together since it was a safe place to meet. Morgan brings up the conversation they had had the night before, him thinking the relationship was over. She tells him the same thing she told him before, this time taking a lot less upset. He is about to kiss her but Ava stops him saying that she needed an answer to her question. He tells her that it's like she said, a part of him will always love Kiki but that doesn't mean he doesn't love her. He informs her that Kiki is his past and she is his future. This time Ava doesn't stop him when he goes to kiss her neck. while there kissing Morgan's phone rings and he answers it while she is still kissing his neck. Kiki was on the phone wanting to see Morgan right away, some agrees to go see her. As he is getting dressed, Ava asked who it was and where he was going. He told her that Kiki had called and that she sounded upset. He promised to tell her if it was anything serious and left, telling her he loved her.

In March 2014, Ava is confronted by A.J for her role in Connie's murder and she pulls a gun on him. A struggle ensues and A.J ends up strangling Ava just as Sonny walks in, remembering how he caught A.J strangling Connie before her death Sonny snaps and shots A.J with Ava egging him on. Ava and Sonny begin a cover up of the murder because Sonny had promised Michael he would not harm A.J and Ava does not want her part both murders revealed. Ava gets Carlos Rivera to confess to the murder and threatens his pregnant ex-fiancé Sabrina Santiago. Sonny and Ava being to bond over the connection of their secret because they have no one else to confide in. On April 25, After A.J's funeral Sonny and Ava slept together in the Quatermaine crypt after an emotional conversation. Morgan walks in right after and immediately ends things with Ava then goes to Julian and tells him about Ava's betrayal.

After, Julian tries to kill her, Sonny has her hide out on his island until things die down. When Ava is ready to go home Sonny comes to island and reveals that he knows she shot Olivia and shot and killed Connie. Just as Sonny is about to kill Ava she reveals that she is pregnant with either his child or his grandchild. On June 4, a blood test confirms that Ava is indeed pregnant. After Ava's pregnancy is confirmed, Sonny forces her to move into his house. Ava brings her mother Delia to town and Delia agrees to help Ava gets her hands on the flash drive with incriminating evidence of Sonny killing A.J. However, their plans fails after Sonny catches them and Delia is escorted back to New York by Shawn. While at the hospital for a doctor's appointment with Sonny, Ava gets a hold of a phone when Sonny is out of the room and calls Julian. She begs for his help and in exchange promises to give him information on Sonny. Julian comes to the hospital and Ava tells him that Sonny killed AJ. In exchange, Julian got her out of the hospital, effectively saving her from imprisonment at Sonny's house and they went back to her penthouse. On August 19, Ava celebrates her birthday with Kiki and feels her baby kick for the first time.

On September 11, Ava is hospitalized with severe cramps resulting from preterm labor and Nurse Santiago is harsh with her after believing she caused the accident that killed Sabrina's son. After Ava is cleared to go home, Sabrina shows up at her house apologizing for being so harsh with her at the hospital giving her a prescription that would cause her to miscarry that she switched with her real medication. Ava was also almost kidnapped by Sonny's men but Ava go away with Jordan's help. While on the road, she accidentally run over Jason Morgan and then calls Jordan, who takes the blame. Ava then ends up at the Brownstone. While at the Brownstone, Ava starts cramping again. Morgan goes to Jordan to get her pills and Ava starts taking them. Her cramps continue to get worse and thats when Ava finds out that she got the wrong meds and that she might be labor. Ava can't go to the hospital for fear that Sonny's men will kidnap her. Kiki suggests that she go get Silas and she does. Silas check Ava out and gives her a shot of terbutaline which stops her labor. Silas says that it looks like Ava will be able to carry to term.

At the end of October, Nina shows up and tells Ava that she is here for her baby. Nina injects Ava with a paralytic and then with a medicine that induces labor. On November 4, (Halloween on the show), Ava give birth to a baby girl with Nina's help. After the baby is born, Nina and her mother attempt to steal the baby but give Ava a chance to plead her case. Ava tells Nina that Madeline hired her to seduce Silas. When that doesn't work, she appeals to Madeline as a mother not to let Nina take her baby, but Madeline refuses. Ava is taken to the hospital where Kiki confront her about killing Connie. Ava tries to deny it, but is eventually forced to come clean. She asks Kiki to ask about her baby, and then slips away from the hospital. Ava goes to Silas and begs him to hide her from Sonny. Silas learns from Kiki what Ava has done, but agrees to help Ava find her baby. In New York, Silas and Ava run into Kiki and Morgan at the diner where Delia works, and they agree to work together to find the baby. As soon as the baby is safe, Dante arrests Ava for Connie's murder.

Ava is denied bail and she is remanded to Pentonville until her trial. Before leaving, Ava names her newborn daughter Avery. Kiki becomes the legal guardian because both of her parents are in prison. Ava has a nightmare about Kiki taking Avery from her and wakes up to find Madeline taunting her. Madeline gloats to Ava about how she will get out of prison. after the guard sends Ava and Madeline back to their cells, the guard pulls out a pocket knife, and prepares to kill Ava, but he is called away.

Ava sneaks into the men's side of Pentonville and asks Julian for help. She thinks Sonny sent the guy, but Julian thinks "Fluke" did. Ava tells Julian her plans to sneak on to the transport vehicle that will take Madeline to court. Julian tells her he is coming with her. Before they can talk further, Ava is caught by a guard and ushered back to the women's side. Ava thinks this guard is going to try and kill her as well, but the guard tells her she has a visitor. Ava goes into the visitor's room to see Silas holding Avery. Ava tells Silas that someone is trying to kill her. Silas suggests she reports it to the guards, but Ava says that the guards will protect each other, and says she plans to sneak aboard when Madeline goes to court. Silas tells her to do whatever she needs to do to stay alive. Before leaving, Ava tells her daughter how much she loves her.

Ava tells Madeline that she will be going with her to the courthouse and testify on Madeline's behalf. As the guard escorts Ava to the van, she sees the guard that threatened her. Ava pleads with the guard not to let the other guard hurt her. The other guard tells the guard to take Madeline into the van and he will take care of Ava. Ava finds her self cornered as the guard advances on her with his blade drawn. Suddenly, Sonny appears and knocks the guard out. Ava, Sonny, Franco, and Julian all get into the van and leave Pentonville together. They end up getting into a car accident caused by Johnny and Carlos. Later on, Ava is held at gunpoint by Carlos while she begs for her life. Carlos isn't having any of it so he shoots Ava then she accidentally falls off a bridge. Sonny goes looking for Ava on Julian's request and finds her hanging onto the bridge for dear life. She begs him to help her and when he finally agrees, he says he's only doing it because Connie would want him too. He tries to pull her up but she looses her grip and falls, yelling "Sonny!".

On February 26, she is revealed to be alive, and being hidden away and cared for by Silas. On March 3, Ava eavesdrops on her own memorial, and is touched by the kind words her family says about her. On March 4, Ava reveals herself to Delia, and is reunited with her daughter. She planned to run away with Avery, but decided she couldn't. When she got back to where she was hiding, Silas revealed to her, that she is dying. On March 9, it is revealed that Ava has terminal leukemia. Silas tells Ava that he has not found a bone marrow donor from anyone in her family that had been tested.

On June 3, it came out that Avery saved Ava. Ava then came to town as Denise DeMuccio, but eventually got exposed by Scott Baldwin. However, she was able to avoid prison when the recording of her killing Connie disappeared and then it gets revealed that Paul Hornsby took the recording and he blackmails her into working for him. On September 24 Ava comes to claim Avery and just as she about to take her home Carly reads a document that states Ava can claim Avery in 24 hours which she does on October 1, 2015 she claims Avery and takes her home.