As the sun shines through it pushes away
And pushes ahead
It fills the warmth of blue
And leaves a chill instead and
I didn’t know that I could be
So blind to all that is real
But as illusion dies
I see there is so much to be revealed
– Twilight, Vanessa Carlton

---

December 2012

Crichton-Clark Labs: Patient Five’s Room

Andre hadn’t considered this part of the experiment—he was disappointed that he hadn’t foreseen this complication.

He had wanted to keep himself separate from these men—he’d given them numbers, he’d refused to learn their true names, and he hadn’t done anything but look at the hard data produced by the scanning.

But now, he was waiting for Patient Five to emerge from his induced coma, and when he opened his eyes, he would either remember being the Navy SEAL or the mob enforcer. He was hoping for the mob enforcer—that was the point of this entire debacle.

Patient Six was proving to be more of a challenge. Andre never would have selected him as a test subject with that damage to the frontal lobe. He’d been able to map the memories, but he was relatively convinced that transferred Five’s memories into his brother would be almost impossible.

“Good. I haven’t missed it.”

Andre glanced over to find the man in question entering the room. “Victor. I didn’t think—”

“Well, it’s our first real test of the new protocol, and I also—” the WSB director smiled, folding his arms. “I’m intrigued to see if you were able to implement the suggestions I asked for.”

“Yes—” Andre grimaced. “You wanted the scan to focus on certain people, to emphasize them in the transferred memories. There’s really no way to know that until we put him into the field—”

“Of course, of course. And this is the first step. We don’t want Ja—” When Andre whipped his head to look at Victor, the man smiled again. “Patient Five won’t be returning to the field just yet. I want to send them both at the same time, and Six can’t return quite yet.”

“I thought you wanted them to be returned as soon as possible—”

“I do, but I am not the only partner in this project,” Victor said. “Relax, Dr. Maddox—” He nodded at the man stretched out in the bed, watching as the monitors picked up an increasing heartbeat and brain waves, which indicated that he was waking up. “When Five wakes up, we’ll see who he thinks he is, and then we’ll put him back to sleep and reassess.”

Andre clenched his jaw. He’d been looking forward to having Five wake up as the mob enforcer and shipping him to Port Charles. He wanted to have some real, practical evidence—

The man’s eyes fluttered, and his head fell to the side. A moment later, he blinked and focused on Andre. “What—what’s going…” His voice was rusty and thick from lack of use over the last six months.

“Hello,” Andre said, his heart pounding. This was it. This was his moment. “You’ve had an accident. We need to know who you are so we can contact your family.”

“Fam…” Five closed his eyes, then opened again. “Family.”

“Yes, do you have a family? A wife? Children? Who can we call? What is your name?” Damn it. Would they need to let him stay awake for a few days to let him get oriented?

“No…children.” Five opened his eyes again. “Not anymore.”

Andre frowned. Why was that—he turned to Victor, who looked pleased. “I don’t know the answer to that,” he admitted.

“What’s your name?” Victor asked.

“Jason—” Five coughed. “Morgan. Jason Morgan.”

“And who should we contact about your accident? Your wife? A family member?”

“Elizabeth,” Five mumbled. “Webber.” He coughed. “I can’t—I can’t—everything keeps…”

“Don’t worry. We’ll take care of everything,” Victor said, soothingly. He nodded to Andre. “We have what we need.”

“Need—” Five frowned, looked at Andre, who had the syringe in his hand, preparing to insert it into the IV. “What—”

“I’ll get you back to your family,” Andre told him. “As soon as we can.”

“But—” Five’s eyes drifted close even as he scowled.

“Well done,” Victor murmured. “Our adjustments to his memory were successful.”

“What—what do you mean?”

“Jason Morgan,” Andre said slowly, nodding at Patient Five, “had a child whom he believes to be dead. Car accident, very tragic—”

“A child—that he believes—” Andre’s eyes widened. “Patient Three. I saw those records—it’s a five-year-old boy—”

“Yes, yes, Patient Three is his son. What’s very interesting is that on the eve of his extraction, he appeared to have reunited with his estranged wife and her child.”

Andre did not want to know about this—he really didn’t. “This Elizabeth?”

“No. Another woman. She’s not important. But Five here—his thoughts when you asked him about family went straight to his lost son and that boy’s mother.” Victor’s lips curved into a smile. “Precisely what we wanted.”

“I don’t want to know anymore. I can’t—” Oh, God—they’d taken Six, his brother, and his son—

How many people were tied up in this? What the hell had he gotten himself into?

“Now that we’re assured the experiment has been completed for Patient Five, it’s time to turn our attention to Six.”

Monday, October 30, 2017

Morgan Penthouse: Living Room

Sam blinked in surprise when she found her mother at the dining table when she returned that morning from dropping Danny off at school. “Mom, hey. Did I know you were coming over?”

“No, Jason asked me to come by,” Alexis said, drawing off her reading glasses. “We wanted to start, ah,” she glanced at him.

“In the unlikely event that these DNA tests we’re taking later today come back—” Jason paused, shook his head. “I just need to understand what could happen.”

Sam tilted her head to the side. “I don’t understand. We know how it’s going to come back—”

“I talked to Sonny yesterday,” Alexis said. “He met with, uh, your, well, the other guy,” she said finally, “on Saturday to talk over his story. And to talk about what’s been going on since you went off the pier in 2012.”

“So—”

“Well, whatever is happening, it’s clear that the Cassadines are involved,” Alexis interrupted. “Jason agrees with me.”

“Either they brainwashed this guy, or they screwed with my head—” Jason scrubbed his hands over his face. “Elizabeth agreed to test Jake.”

“Oh. Well, we thought she would, didn’t we?” Sam said. She sat across from her mother, next to Jason, and reached to squeeze his hand. “Thank you for understanding about Danny.”

“Elizabeth said that Jake does better in the hospital since he spends time with her there,” Alexis continued. “The plan is to test you and this…person,” she said. “By the end of the day, we’ll have enough markers to know whether or not the twin story is the truth.”

“I mean, we’re sure that’s probably the case, but I can’t understand how Victor Cassadine got his hands on Jason or his twin brother when no one knew he existed. No one other than, apparently, Heather Webber.”

“Betsy knew,” Jason said. “She had to.”

Sam grimaced. “Still.”

“The advanced testing we’re running on Jake might take a few days. We’re putting a rush on it,” Alexis continued.

“That’s much quicker than it used to be,” Sam said. “Do you remember when these things took weeks?”

“Technology has come a long way. And, of course, money helps.” Alexis scanned her notes. “There’s also someone else getting tested today. I’m assuming you haven’t talked to him.”

“No. Not since this happened.” Jason frowned. “Why?”

“The night of the relaunch, when your face was revealed—someone recognized your old face as belonging to their missing father,” Alexis told him. She reached into her portfolio and removed a folder. Pinned to the front was a photo of a man in a Navy dress uniform.

Jason stared at it, and Sam’s eyes widened. It was Jason—his old face. Exactly his face. “Oh my God—”

“Meet Chief Andrew Cain, a Navy SEAL out of San Diego. Disappeared in July 2012 from Helmand Province, Afghanistan. Married twice. Cara Sanders in 1998. She died in—” Alexis squinted at her notes. “2005. He remarried Kimberly Nero in 2011. One son—”

“Son—” Jason’s head snapped up. “Wait. Nero—”

“I know that name—” Sam started.

“Kim kept custody of Drew’s son. No family on either side. She changed his last name, and they moved to Port Charles about six months ago. Oscar Elliott Cain, born October 12, 2001. He just turned sixteen.”

“Oscar Nero—” Sam picked up the photo of Drew Cain. “My God, you really do have a twin out there,” she murmured. “If I didn’t know you’d never been in the army—”

“He’s being tested today?” Jason asked. “Like Jake—”

“Yes. What it will do is give added weight to the markers. By the end of the day, we expect the DNA to tell us that you and the man from Friday are related. We will also know if one of you is Andrew Cain. And Jordan seems to think she’ll have fingerprints from storage by Wednesday. GH thinks they might have the advanced test by then, as well..”

“What about the Navy?” Sam asked. “Wouldn’t they have Drew’s prints on file—”

“Jordan is also putting in the request. Diane and I are joining it. Either way, it looks like one of us represents Drew Cain.”

Jason’s mouth tightened. “Diane does—”

“I’m sorry. I’m trying—” Alexis sat back. “I’m trying to make this easier, but I don’t think anything ever will.” She raised her brows. “Did the name Drew Cain mean anything to you?”

Sam looked at her husband, and he looked down at the photo. When he said nothing, she leaned forward. “Jason.”

He blinked at the sound of her voice. “What?”

“The name. You’d never heard it before, had you?”

“Uh, no.” Jason took a deep breath. “No, I don’t think so.” He paused, then focused on Alexis, setting the Cain file aside. “So we’ll know by Wednesday. What did Elizabeth tell Jake about the test?”

“Oh. I don’t—” Alexis frowned. “The truth, I assume. I got the impression all three boys knew what was happening.”

“Does Jake know what side Elizabeth is taking?” Jason asked. “I’m assuming since she hasn’t called me, she hasn’t changed her mind about him.”

“Jason, I really—” Alexis cleared her throat. “Look, I think Elizabeth is probably doing the best she can with all of this. Jake is older than Danny, and he was with Cameron and his friends, so she never had a chance to keep it from him—”

“But she doesn’t have to make Jake more confused,” Sam retorted. “She could have just told him she doesn’t know—”

“But she thinks she does know,” Alexis said gently, “and I know she thought it would help Jake to be part of making the truth come out to everyone. I didn’t ask, Jason, but I’ve known Elizabeth a very long time. I imagine she would have made it clear that even if she believes this other man is his biological father, that the evidence isn’t clear yet.”

“Because Elizabeth is so well known for telling the truth,” Sam said, shoving away from the table. “I told you, Jason—”

“‘I’m not having this argument again,” he snapped at her. “I just—I don’t want Jake upset. I trust Elizabeth to handle that.”

“You—”

“At any rate, Jake and the other party are scheduled to go in at eleven,” Alexis said. “I think Elizabeth said she’s keeping the boys at home so that things don’t get worse today. She’s hoping it will die out tomorrow—”

“They’re getting tested at the same time?” Jason asked. He nodded. “Okay. Well, that answers my question—”

“Jason—”

“Just stop. What time am I going in?”

“Twelve. I thought it might be easier if we staggered it,” Alexis told him. “I can reach out to him if you want—”

“No. No.” Jason made a face. “When we know—when he gets the news—we’ll deal with it then. But I just—I’m not interested.”

“Okay. And Oscar will be tested at one. Marker results will be in around five,” Alexis said. “Brad Cooper is drawing the blood, but I asked Finn to watch over him and walk the case through personally.”

“Finn? Why?”

“Well, Diane and I felt that nearly every other long-term staff member has a connection or relationship to Elizabeth and that there was no bias with him. Finn might have been married to Hayden, but she and Elizabeth weren’t that close. Not that we think that’s an issue, but—”

Jason nodded. “Fine. I’ll be at the hospital at noon. For now, I’m going into the office.” He looked at Sam. “You coming? I’m starting interviews for the CFO.”

“Oh.” Sam frowned. “I haven’t found a nanny yet for Scout. We were going to do that this week—”

“Fine. I’ll see you at the hospital later.”

He left the penthouse, and while he didn’t slam the door, it almost felt like he had. Sam winced, then looked back at her mother.

“He’s handling it as well as I guess anyone would,” she said.

“At least we’ll have some answers today, and hopefully, by the end of the week, we’ll know more.” Alexis got to her feet. “The thing is, Sam—”

“Mom—”

“You and I both know how these tests are going to come out, and I haven’t even met the other man yet. I do know the Cassadines, and this sounds right up their alley. I just—make sure you’re making the right choices.”

Port Charles High: Hallway

Trina poked Joss’s shoulder. “Hey. Truce for five minutes.”

“Oh, good. It’s always easier when you ask for one.” Joss turned away from her locker, closing the door. “Cam, right? Something’s up.”

“He didn’t talk to you, either?” Trina wrinkled her nose. “Damn. I thought—” She chewed her bottom lip. She reached over to snag Oscar as he was heading down the hallway— “Hey, did you talk to Cameron this weekend?”

“Yeah, we played Call of Duty on Saturday. He had to watch his brothers while his mom went to deal with the Jason stuff.” Oscar frowned at them. “Why?”

“Did you go to his house? Were things okay?”

“Uh, no, we played on headsets with Spencer and Emma. I repeat,” he said, “Why?”

“Because I kept texting him all weekend, and he was like—things are fine, but really short, and I don’t know. I think something happened because Uncle Sonny has been all weird—” Joss wrinkled her nose. “I mean, more than usual.”

“And he’s barely texted me at all,” Trina said. “You think Jake is freaking out?”

“No, Jake was in the background on Saturday, he sounded okay. Maybe he’s just tired or something. Friday was a lot. He said none of them got a lot of sleep.” Oscar shrugged. “Cam’s cool, guys. He’d tell you.”

“Oh, he would absolutely not tell me, but he would tell Emma,” Joss muttered. She took out her phone, then sighed and looked at Trina. “She likes you better than me.”

“Uh, not by much. She and Cam only stopped dating because she moved to California, and when she found out I started dating him this summer, she blocked me on Insta for a week.”

“You are all insane,” Oscar declared. “And weirdly obsessed with Cameron. Lay off. If he wants to talk to you, he will.”

Joss narrowed her eyes but then sighed. “You’re probably right. I just hate knowing something is bugging him, and he won’t say anything because he’s got this superhero must be strong for the brothers thing going. You’ll get irritated by it very fast,” she told Trina. She turned back to Oscar. “Did his mom arrange your test? What did your stepmom say?”

“She’s, uh, doing that stoic military wife thing. Evidence supports it, blah, blah, tests will reveal, blah—” Oscar shook his head. “She’s mostly trying to hide how much this is all freaking her out. I mean, we moved to Port Charles to get away from San Diego and, like, memories of Dad.”

“Yeah, super weird she ended up here where your dad was, but lucky for you,” Trina said. “When’s the test?”

“Kim handled it with Cam’s mom. I’m going over to GH around one, Kim’s going to sign me out.” Oscar shrugged. “They said we’ll know about relationships today. Like, tonight. Whether or not they’re twins and if one of them is my dad.”

“Well, that’s good—”

“Yeah. I’m just trying not to think about it too much, I guess.” Oscar paused. “Look, not that I want to give you any reason to worry, but I did hear Aiden say something about Franco not coming home anymore. I think Cam’s mom broke up with him.”

“Oh. Well, maybe that’s what’s upsetting him,” Trina said. “I know he hated Franco, but maybe his mom argued with him in front of Cam and his brothers.”

“I’ll go to his house after school. He won’t be able to get away from me then,” Joss declared. “You guys in? We’ll ambush him.”

“What did I just say?” Oscar demanded as they started down the hall towards homeroom.

Webber Home: Living Room

Elizabeth stepped out of the kitchen. “Hey. We’re going to leave for the hospital in a little while,” she told the boys. “Cam, I was thinking. I know you can handle Aiden, but—”

“You left me alone with both of them on Saturday,” Cameron reminded her as he reached for his game controller. “And didn’t Mr. Corinthos say the guards were hanging out for a few days?”

“Yeah. I know.” She drew her bottom lip between her teeth, unsure how to explain her discomfort. It had been a few days, and she hadn’t heard a word from Franco.

Not that she’d wanted to—but she knew that a quiet Franco was probably not a good thing either. She didn’t want to think of him as biding his time, watching the house—

Cameron glanced over at her, squinting. “Mom?”

“I just…I’d feel better if we stayed together. Today. Tomorrow, I’ll find a way to deal with it.” She hesitated, then looked at Jake. “There’s something else. I asked Jason if he wanted to drive over to the hospital with us. And when I say Jason—”

“You mean the other guy with Dad’s old face,” Jake said. He studied her. “You think he’s my biological dad.”

“I—” Elizabeth knew that she shouldn’t confirm her own beliefs—that she should try to play neutral with Jake until she knew for sure—

But she did know. If she hadn’t known on Friday night, spending half the afternoon on Saturday going over what happened with Franco and the last five years—she felt it in her bones. She’d always known Jason. And the small part of her that had always had strange doubts and feelings about Jake Doe being Jason Morgan—

That voice had finally been silenced.

“Yes,” Elizabeth said finally. “I think he is your biological father. I’m sorry, Jake. I know this isn’t easy.”

Jake absorbed that, looked at Cameron for a moment, then refocused on his mother. “Do I have to call him Dad? Like today?”

“No,” Elizabeth said immediately. “And Jason would never demand it of you. I want you to be okay more than anything else. We’ll get the answers, we’ll make sure that your…that our old Jason is okay being Drew if that’s who he is.”

“Remember that makes Oscar your cousin,” Cameron said. “More family for you—”

“For all of us,” Jake said with an edge in his voice. “You’re my brother.”

Elizabeth frowned at the byplay between them—something going on there she didn’t quite understand, but before she could root it out, there was a knock on the door. She got to her feet. “I’ll be back.”

She pulled open the door, her heart skipping as she saw Jason—her Jason—standing there, Michael beside him. She didn’t know how long it would take to get used to seeing his face again.

“Hey.” Elizabeth folded her arms, bracing herself against the chilly morning. “Michael, I wasn’t expecting you.”

“Uh, well—”

“Michael offered to hang out with Cam and Aiden while we went to the hospital.” Jason shifted.

“Yeah, I mean, things are quiet,” Michael said. “At least that’s what Dad says, and you know you’ve got the guard out here, but—” He met her eyes. “I’d feel better, you know?”

“Oh.” Elizabeth realized that some of her anxiety did ease. Michael was resourceful and could take care of himself and the boys. “Thanks. I was thinking of taking them to the hospital, but this works better. Um—” She pushed the door open. “Can I talk to Jason for a minute?” she asked Michael. “The boys are playing video games.”

“Sure.” Michael went inside and closed the door. Elizabeth turned to Jason, still trying to get used to the sight of his face—that particular face—and realizing now that the other man didn’t even really have his eyes. How had they ever accepted him?

“You’re not mad, are you?” Jason said hesitantly. “I should have called about Michael—”

“Jason,” she said, relishing his name on her lips. “You just came home and found out the serial killer you thought was dead is alive and was—” Elizabeth bit her lip. She glanced towards the house. “And Michael is close with the boys.” She hesitated because she didn’t think anyone would have mentioned AJ, which was how Michael had gotten to know Cam and Aiden in the first place. “I mean, everyone knows you’re Jake’s father, so Michael’s kind of—he’s been a cousin to them all.”

Jason looked past her into the small window next to the door where the boys were visible. “He’s really in there,” he murmured. “I saw him in the park, but I can’t—” He focused on Elizabeth. “He knows?”

“He knows,” she confirmed. “And I told him that I believe you’re Jason. But the thing is—”

“I didn’t raise him,” Jason finished with a tinge of regret. “He did.”

“He did. And Jake loves him. I don’t know how that’s going to end up,” Elizabeth said slowly, “and I don’t know if we’ll ever really know what’s going on, but if he’s not—if it turns out he was a victim like you—”

“I’m not here to make Jake’s life harder. I just—” Jason rubbed his chest, his hand closing into a fist. “I never should have given him up. And I just don’t want to miss this chance. If you’ll—”

“I never should have asked you to let him go in the first place,” Elizabeth said, with a shake of her head. “You might have given him up, but I got the ball rolling with my lies. We’re both getting a second chance with him. Come on in and meet your son.”

General Hospital: Andre’s Office

“You listened about staying quiet and out of it. Good.”

Andre flinched, looking up to find the Cassadine at his door. Valentin closed it, then took a seat. “They’re doing a DNA test today.”

“A DNA test,” Andre repeated. “That won’t tell them much. Jason knew there was the possibility of a twin out there, ever since Heather told that lie about Franco—”

“They’re bringing in Patient Three,” Valentin said coolly. “For advanced testing. And another kid, I’m told, but I don’t know who. Maybe one of Samantha’s little urchins—”

“We don’t want that,” Andre said, with a shake of his head. “This gets worse if they’re tested—we need to know who else is being tested—”

“I’ll find out,” Valentin said, but he didn’t seem that concerned. “But I need you to get back in the game. Patient Three,” he repeated. “My mother played with his mind—”

“And you nearly killed everyone,” Andre said. “He’s just a little boy—Helena is dead. Why did you even bother to finish her plan?” He’d been furious when he’d realized what had almost happened—he’d thought Jake was safe—he hadn’t dreamed Chimera could still be triggered. Once Helena was dead—

“It was never about finishing her plan.” Valentin got to his feet. “I needed this town to trust me. Playing the hero, rescuing everyone from the big bad Chimera—that made everyone give me a second look. I don’t care about my mother’s grudge against Elizabeth Webber. Helena is dead. And so is everyone else that ever gave a damn about her revenge. All I want is what I was promised.”

“You have that—”

“Not enough. Not all of it. You never found the last one,” Valentin said. “The only other person who can get in my way.”

“I thought Klein was taking care of that—”

“He’s trying to, but it occurs to me that if Mother played with little Jake Webber’s mind to give him the command to kill his entire family, including those insufferable brothers—she might have planted other secrets.”

Andre shook his head. “My part of this is done. You promised me if I came to town, if I put Jason Morgan’s memories into Drew Cain again, I could be finished, but there’s always one more thing—”

“You’re finished when I say you are. I need Patient Three’s secrets,” Valentin hissed. He put his hands on the desk, leaning over. “And you’re going to get them for me.”

General Hospital: Nurse’s Station

Elizabeth glanced up from the paperwork for Jake’s test and looked over at Jake and Jason, patiently sitting in the waiting area. Jake had his iPad out and was showing his father something.  Their meeting at the house had been fine, mostly because Jake always felt more confident when he was with his brothers, and Jason wasn’t going to push.

Maybe she shouldn’t have left them alone, but the only way Jake was going to get comfortable with Jason was if Elizabeth did the pushing.

It was the least she could do after being the reason Jason and Jake had never had a relationship to begin with.

She didn’t really understand how she could accept this man as Jason so quickly when she’d torn herself apart trying to make Jake Doe stay with her, but she also couldn’t argue with the way that she felt.

Everything in her life had changed over the last few days, and Elizabeth didn’t really know what to do about it other than put one foot in front of the other and keep her head above the water.

“So—”

She blinked at the new voice and turned to find Felix standing there, his brows raised. “How’s it going?”

“Uh—” Elizabeth pursed her lips. “Interesting,” she said finally.

“I can see that,” Felix said, nodding towards the waiting area. “Jake doing okay with this?”

“He’s trying to be,” Elizabeth said. “You know, Jake looks to Cameron to set the tone, and Cam is doing his usual ‘everything is under control, I’ve got this’ routine.” She paused. “I’m worried about both of them.”

“We’ll keep our eyes on them,” Felix promised. They both looked at the waiting area. “And it looks like we won’t be the only ones.”

Waiting Area

Jason couldn’t stop looking at him. Even as Jake bowed his head and did something with the tablet he was holding, Jason kept staring at him, looking at the strands of his blonde hair and the length of his fingers—his legs—he was so much taller now.

Joss had told him that Sam’s son, Danny, was his biological son. Jason was still letting that roll around in his head, wondering how different things might have been if that had been known—if they’d never believed him to be Franco’s son—then rejecting the thought because there was no point in thinking about that right now.

He didn’t even know if Sam was going to let him near Danny—she’d looked angry, almost hostile that night at the PCPD. Even when she had proof of who Jason was, would she leave the other man? She’d looked at him in the commissioner’s office, then turned away.

Jason put that away, too. He could only think about the things that he could control, and right now — he was sitting next to Jake, the little boy he’d buried and grieved. And he wanted to know everything.

“Can I ask you something?” Jake raised his head, met Jason’s eyes. “Mom says—Mom says you’re my dad. By blood. You’re the one that—she said you were there when I was born. You saved her life because she got sick. We both almost died.”

“Yeah.” Jason exhaled slowly. He’d been terrified that day, watching Elizabeth bleed, hearing those alarms, watching her eyes close, wondering if they’d ever open again— “I am. I know that might be hard—”

“But the other guy—” Jake took a deep breath. “He doesn’t have your face, but he says he’s you. And everyone else said he was you. He says he remembers that day, too.”

“I know.”

“Is he lying?” Jake said. He stared down at the tablet again.

“I—” Jason thought back to that night at the PCPD and the angry eyes of the other man—not just angry. But terrified. “I don’t think so,” he said before. “I thought he was, but then I met him. I think he’s confused. I think someone lied to him.”

“Maybe someone played with his head?” Jake asked. “Because Helena Cassadine did that to me.” He rubbed a spot on his arm. “She almost made me hurt a lot of people,” he said in a low voice. “My mom, my brothers. I’d never hurt them.”

“Jake—” His stomach twisted, remembering the story of the Chimera that Elizabeth had related the other day, and the memory ate at Jason like acid. He’d wanted Jake to be safe, to be happy. He’d walked away to make it happen. Instead, Jake’s life had been filled with trauma and violence.

Jason never should have walked away. He should have been at his side to protect him.

“She could definitely make someone believe they’re someone else so much they have memories of it.” Jake said this as a statement, and Jason sighed, because as wild as it sounded—he’d been around the Cassadines long enough not to doubt anything. Not after what he’d seen Lucky Spencer put Elizabeth through nearly twenty years ago.

“Probably.”

“Could it be you?” Jake asked. “Could she be lying to you?”

“I—” Jason paused. “I don’t think so,” he said carefully. “But that’s why we’re having these tests. Why we’re asking you and your brother’s friend. If one of us is Drew Cain, we need to know. And this will tell us.”

“I think Mom’s right,” Jake said. He looked at his mother, deep in conversation with a man behind the desk Jason didn’t know. “She made a mistake with Franco, but he was really good at pretending. He was really nice to me a while ago. I was—things weren’t okay, and I was mad and angry, and I went to art therapy, and he was nice to me. He helped me.”

Jason didn’t know what to say to that, but then Jake continued. “And Mom was really sad back then. Dad was so mad at her—everyone was really mad at her and yelling at her all the time, and Sam was mean, too. She was mad at me because I wanted them back together, and she was always following me—”

Jason frowned at that. “Jake—”

“And Franco was nice. For a long time,” Jake added. “But not Friday.” He raised his head again. “He pushed Cameron. He was gonna hurt him. He never ever did that before. Mom had to make him leave. How can someone be so nice for so long but just be a big fat liar?”

“I don’t know,” Jason said after a minute. “I’m sorry that happened to you. And to Cameron.” He paused. “Jake—”

“Anyway, Mom was wrong about him, but he was a good liar. I don’t think she’s wrong about you. Mom didn’t know Jake Doe was supposed to be you until Uncle Nikolas told her, and she was around him all the time. But you just came home, and she knows.” Jake paused. “If the other guy, my other dad, if he’s just someone else Helena hurt, is it okay if I still want him around?”

“I don’t want you to lose anyone that matters to you,” Jason said. “I just want to get to know you. I thought—” He had to take a breath, to gather himself. “I thought you were gone, Jake. I’m still not sure I can believe you’re here.”

“Mom says that, too,” Jake said. “She grabs me and hugs me a lot. I’m lucky,” he said as Elizabeth finished at the nurse’s station and started over. “Lots of people don’t have moms that would shoot people for them. I think Mom would have done it.”

“Your mom would do anything for you,” Jason said as Elizabeth joined them. “Everything ready?” he asked her.

“Yep. Time for the needle.”

Jake winced. “Man, I hate needles. You better not forget you owe me ice cream when this is done.”

General Hospital: Lobby

The minute Carly had learned Jason was going to GH for DNA tests and that he’d gone to Elizabeth’s house with Michael, she’d decided that she was going to the hospital, too.

And as soon as Sonny learned she was heading downtown, he’d invited himself along because he was worried she’d do or say something that would upset Elizabeth or Jason.

Carly had gritted her teeth when he’d said that, determined not to let his crap get to her today. She’d already let her temper talk her out of going to the meeting on Saturday, and she was damned if she was going to be pushed out of this.

Someone had hurt Jason and stolen him for five years, and Carly was going to make them pay. They were already late for appointment, and she was worried they had missed him. She needed to be part of helping Jason get his life back. After everything he’d done for her, he deserved her help.

“Why did Jason have to go to her house? He could have asked us,” Carly muttered as she and Sonny walked towards the elevators. “He could have seen Jake at the hospital.”

“Carly—”

“Because you know Elizabeth is going to use this to get back into Jason’s life—” She already was, from the looks of it. Elizabeth had seen Jason more than she had, goddamn it—

“She doesn’t need to use anything,” Sonny said impatiently. “She’s the mother of his child—she’s got an open door—”

“Well, I need to make sure she knows she can’t just use it whenever she wants,” Carly began. “Even if she finally did see the light and get rid of Franco—”

“Sometimes you really give me a headache,” he muttered. Carly’s nostrils flared as the elevator doors opened and a couple walked out. They both stopped in their tracks as Jason—Carly stopped herself—as Sam and her husband walked out.

The man lifted his chin. “What are you doing here?” he demanded.

“Listen, it doesn’t have to be like this,” Carly said, feeling a twinge of regret. She’d been so unfair to him, and she felt even worse about their last meeting now that she knew he wasn’t Jason. “We were friends before you thought you were Jason—”

“I am Jason—”

“You’re not,” Carly said so calmly and softly that she almost didn’t recognize her voice. “And I’m sorry for not pretending until the results were clear. Maybe this would be easier if we all made believe that we didn’t know.” She looked at Sam, who dropped her eyes to the floor. “If we all just put off taking a side until the tests came back—”

“Damn it—”

“But I looked at you for months before the truth came out,” Carly said, “and you were never Jason. You and Sam hated each other. You and Sonny hated each other. You barely connected with anything that made Jason who he was. Until we shoved the name on you. We were so desperate to have him back that we ignored all the signs.”

“I got the memories—”

“I don’t know how it’s possible,” Sonny said to him. “I get that you’re scared. Because if you’re not Jason Morgan, then who are you? And what happened? But I can’t lie and tell you that I didn’t know the truth the minute I saw Jason, too.”

The other man flinched then looked at Sam. “Well?” he demanded, and her head snapped up. “Do you agree with them?”

“Of course not,” Sam said, and Sonny had to hand it to her—those con skills were coming in handy because she said it so genuinely that it almost felt real. “I know who you are. And the tests will prove it.”

Satisfied, he nodded at her, then looked back at Sonny and Carly. “I made the right choice to get away from you,” he said shortly, and then they walked away.

“I don’t blame him,” Carly admitted. “This is gonna hurt when it all comes out.”

“Diane said that Alexis was going to tell him about the Drew Cain thing, so at least he’ll know who he is when this is all over.”

General Hospital: Andre’s Office

Andre was shoving things into his bag when Franco stalked in, slamming the door. “You need to help me figure out how to fix this,” the artist said, throwing himself into the chair. “I did something dumb on Friday, and Elizabeth is never—” He stopped, then stared at Andre. “You going somewhere?”

Andre stared at him for a long moment, then came to a decision. He needed to tell someone—needed to soothe his conscience a little bit, and if he told Elizabeth himself, she’d rip him to shreds.

Literally.

“You need to keep an eye on Jake.”

Franco frowned. “What? Why? What’s going on?”

“I was working for Helena Cassadine,” Andre said. He went to his computer, started to tap some keys. “Don’t ask. I can’t get into it right now. After she died, Valentin took over—”

“Valentin—”

“And now that Jason Morgan is back, his whole plan is blowing up in his face. By the way—it was Jason Morgan who tried to kill you. He’s the real deal.”

Franco hissed. “Damn it—and Elizabeth is already mixed up with him. She believed him the minute she saw him—I knew she was just desperate, waiting for a chance—” He narrowed his eyes. “What does Jake have to do with it? Were you the one—”

“Yes,” Andre snapped impatiently. He turned to grab some papers from his printer. “Yes, I’m the one to blame. I did it all. I put Chimera in Jake’s head. I stole Jason’s memories and put them into his twin brother. I did it all. But I’m done. They promised me I was out of it. I’m not going near Jake again.”

Not now that he knew the little boy, knew his mother, his family—

“Here. Give these to Elizabeth. This will clear up a lot of the information, and it will help her find the rest. Warn her—” Andre picked up his bag. “You want to make sure Elizabeth stays with you? Keep protecting Jake.”

“But—”

Then Andre left, heading for the service stairs.

Franco followed him out, his mind whirling as he sifted through the paperwork. Could he use this to prove to Elizabeth he’d just made a mistake? She’d tried to shoot him, so maybe they could call it even or something.

He could even manage a half-sincere apology about Cameron because he shouldn’t have shoved the little shit—he was usually better at keeping his temper around her annoying little brats. They should have sent the older one to military school, he thought sourly.

He stopped as he came into view of the nurse’s station and saw Elizabeth standing at the counter, smiling at someone. He loved her so much. She was the only person that really understood him—really accepted all his dark spaces—if he could hold on to her, he’d never have to go back to his old life—he was only whole when he was with her—

Franco squared his shoulders, prepared to beg and grovel to get her back, even pretend to love her kids a little bit more, even if Jake was the only one who didn’t annoy him on a daily basis. Just as he started to walk forward, Jason came into view, Jake at his side. Franco narrowed his eyes at the way Jason put a hand on Jake’s shoulder. Then Jason smiled, said something to Elizabeth—who smiled back at him.

Franco looked down at the paperwork in his hands, saw the trash can, and then ripped it all into tiny little shreds, tossing it away.

Let Elizabeth take care of her little monsters on her own. If she survived whatever Valentin Cassadine had planned, Franco might help her clean up the pieces—or pay for betraying and lying to him.

Through no light the darkness seems to be
So very strong
How does one alone against the world
Find the strength to carry on?
What happened to the way we used to love
It seemed as though life had just begun
But now that love has come and gone to fade away
Like the setting sun
‘Cause you won’t let me in
– Let Me In, Save Ferris

---

July 2012

Camp Leatherneck, Helmand Province, Afghanistan

He was practically bathing in his own sweat, and there was no escape from the searing heat most of the time. This time of the year, the temperatures soared above a hundred degrees during the day, and rarely dipped below eighty even at night, and the air was so dry that he almost choked on his own spit several times a day.

He hated this fucking tour, and when he went home in December, he was determined to pull rank. This was his last sojourn to the fucking desert.

Drew Cain wiped his forehead as he stepped outside of his quarters into the slightly cooler air of the desert night—by maybe five degrees but there were some nights when he needed that.

He believed in his job most of the time—believed in his country, but ten years of fighting the fight here in Afghanistan—he was starting to wonder just who the good guys were. They should have been done with the day his team finished the job on Bin Laden. That had been a hell of an operation, and Drew was proud he’d been part of the team that had taken down the mastermind behind 9/11.

Cara had given birth to Oscar a month after the Towers fell and the plane had crashed into the Pentagon, and they’d both wanted to make a better world for their son. He’d be ten in October. Another birthday Drew would miss stuck in this godforsaken hellhole.

Cara had been gone for years, but he had Kim now. He wanted more kids. He was still young enough. He was going to retire, go home, finish raising Oscar—

After this tour, things were gonna—

There was click or a snick—just a sound that didn’t sound right. Drew scowled and turned towards the sound, squinting—the lights of his quarters didn’t reach that far. “Who the hell is there—” he began. Another sound—this from the other side—

He spun around, and then something exploded behind him—the lights flashed in front of his eyes—

And then he didn’t know anything at all.

Saturday, October 27, 2018

Webber Home: Living Room

“I think you’re just a sore loser.”

Cameron scowled into the mic on his headset. “Don’t start with me, asshole. You’re just mad because you can’t buy yourself any talent.”

“Oh, hey, that’s harsh,” Oscar pointed out as the third person on their team just sputtered in outrage. “Didn’t that evil guy steal his money?”

“He merely appropriated it for a moment,” Spencer Cassadine sniffed—Cameron could just imagine the little prince in his London boarding school, acting all high and mighty. Whatever. Cameron could kick anyone’s ass in Call of Duty.

“You’ll get it back,” Emma said, always nice to the underdog, and Spencer certainly was that. Valentin had gotten away with not only murdering Spencer’s father but stealing his inheritance. Since then, Emma had stopped treating him like the annoying pissant that he so clearly was and started being nice to him.

She’d always been a pushover.

“Look, just watch me dance in glory as I finish kicking your ass—”

“CAMERON!”

Cam blinked at his brother’s voice, then turned to look at the door where he saw that Jake was standing with it open, Michael at his doorstep. “Oh. Hey. I didn’t—wait—” He turned back to the headset. “Hey, Oscar, finish kicking Em and Spencer’s ass for me. I gotta go.”

“No problem.”

Cam signed off, exited the game, and took off his headset. “Sorry, sometimes when Spencer and I get going—”

“Yeah, it’s fine.” Michael stepped inside, and closed the door. “Your mom already head over to the house?”

“Yeah. She went early to talk to Jason about—” He paused. “To talk about last night.” He looked at his brothers. “Uh, did you need her or—”

“No, I wanted to check on you. All of you. You know, since we belong to the very exclusive club of Sons of Moms who Dated Franco,” Michael said, wryly. He took off his jacket and sat down in the armchair.

Uncomfortable, Cam went over to sit on the sofa, and Aiden climbed up next to him. Jake sat on the arm of the sofa. “We’re fine.”

“You know, it was hard for me when my mom brought Franco home. Harder maybe because it was five seconds after he’d had the tumor taken out. We had zero evidence for his change in personality, and she was ready to give him the benefit of the doubt,” Michael continued. He paused. “Plus, I guess it was hard for me because of my history with Franco.”

Cameron slid a look over at his brothers. “Guys, can you head upstairs for a while? I’ll fill you in later.”

“You’re fifteen,” Jake said, narrowing his eyes. “You don’t get to cut me out of adult stuff. I’m ten. I’ll be eleven, and that’s basically a grown up.”

“Not even close. You’re not even allowed to have a YouTube account until you’re thirteen. Upstairs, okay?”

“Fine,” Jake muttered. “But I’m taking the Switch, and Aiden and I are gonna play Zelda, so suck it.”

“Yeah, yeah, just start a new save game.” Cameron waited for them to go upstairs—listened for the door to close, before looking at Michael. “I’m sorry. I just—I’m not sure Aiden even knows Franco kidnapped him.”

“No, I should have thought about that. I’m sorry. I just—I wanted to help.”

“No, I’m fine.” Cameron paused. “I didn’t—I didn’t know you had a history with Franco. I mean, other than that—do you mean the wedding? When—”

“When he played that video revealing what Sonny had done to my dad? No, that’s—” Michael scratched his cheek. “You know I was in prison a while ago. You were young—like nine or ten so maybe—”

“Jason went to protect you,” Cameron said. “I remember because Mom was really worried about it.”

“Yeah, well he didn’t get there fast enough.” Michael waited a minute, gathered himself. “Before he got there, another inmate—he, ah, well—” He closed his eyes. “You think this is supposed to get easier—”

“Michael, I appreciate—”

“No, I can—it’s hard to say it out loud, but it’s important that I do. Another inmate raped me,” Michael said finally. “And he did it on Franco’s orders.”

Cameron stared at the older man for a long time, then swallowed hard. “He…on Franco—”

“Later, when Franco came to town with those DVDs, he made it seem like he’d asked this guy to look out for me but that it hadn’t gone the way he wanted. I don’t know. I never bought it.”

“But—your mom—she almost married him. I thought—I thought my mom, after Aiden, but—”

“I know. I try to see it from her point of view and everything because Mom always does insane things. You wouldn’t believe some of the stuff she’s pulled. But this one—it hurt,” he admitted. “And it was hard for me to see past it. Sometimes I don’t know if I have. I also know a little bit about being the oldest kid.” He met Cameron’s eyes. “Feeling like there’s no room for you to have your own problems because someone else needs you.”

His throat tight, Cameron looked down at his hands. “I’m okay,” he repeated. “Mom took care of it.”

“I know. Because as much as our mothers annoy the crap out of each other, they’ll fight to death for their kids. That matters. Some kids aren’t that lucky. I know my mother loves me, and I know how much Elizabeth loves you guys. But at the same time, Cameron—”

Cameron looked up when Michael didn’t continue. “What?”

“It’s okay to be angry with her.”

“I’m not—”

“You don’t even have to tell her,” Michael said. “Maybe it’s better if you don’t. I don’t know. But if you ever want to say it out loud to someone who won’t say anything, I’m here.”

“Did you tell Joss about last night?”

“Do you see her on the front porch or clinging to my back bumper?” Michael said dryly. “No. I assume that if you want Joss to know, you’ll tell her. Now, it might get back to her, but it might not. I know Sonny wanted your mom to tell Jason, but it goes without saying he’s not telling anyone.”

“I don’t—I don’t think I want Joss to know. At least not yet,” Cameron admitted. “Because maybe I am angry,” he said quietly. “Just a little.”

Michael was quiet as Cameron sorted through his thoughts and how something unclenched in his stomach to say it out loud. “Does my mom know what happened to you?”

“Yeah. I know Jason told her. And so did my mom.”

“And what happened to Lulu and Maxie and Sam and Aiden—” Cameron took a deep breath. “And to your mom—to everyone he ever hurt. She brought him home to my brothers. I can take care of myself, but Jake and Aiden—”

“You matter, too, Cam. Elizabeth brought him home to you the same way Mom brought him home to us.”

“I guess. I know Mom was going through a lot. I know she wanted to be happy. He was nice to her at first,” Cameron said. “And I didn’t mind him at first. I didn’t know.”

“But at some point, he stopped being nice, but she didn’t notice it,” Michael said. “And he started being mean and controlling, but he made it sound like he was doing her a favor by even sticking around. Yeah, I know. I watched it happen to my mother. And I couldn’t fix it. I couldn’t protect her.”

“My mom made him go. She didn’t even blink.” Cameron’s stomach relaxed even more. “She grabbed that baseball bat, and she would have bashed his head in. She would have killed him last night. She took my side. The first time I needed her to.”

“I’m glad.” Michael got to his feet. “I need to head over to the meeting, but I mean it, Cam. You’re my cousin, too—”

“No—”

“Don’t pull the same bullshit you try with Laura or Grandma Monica,” Michael said. “They might let you get away with it, but I won’t. I’m not talking about you being Jake and Aiden’s brother. I’m talking about you being Elizabeth’s son, and Emily loving you like a nephew. She was my aunt, too, Cam. I remember that, even if you don’t.”

“I do—” Cameron paused. “I remember her.”

“She would have wanted you to have someone looking out for you. And like I said, no one understands taking care of insane relatives like I do. Just be glad you don’t have a Carly,” he pointed out as he put his coat on.

“No, but we both have a Joss,” Cameron said with a half a grin as he followed Michael to the door. “Hey, Michael—”

“Yeah?”

“Are you—I mean, are you still angry with your mom?” Cameron. “That—it goes away, right?”

Michael pressed his lips together as he considered the question. “I’ll let you know.”

Baldwin House: Living Room

Scott Baldwin stood at the foot of the sofa and scowled at his eldest child, the bane of his existence ninety percent of the time, as the idiot—stretched out on the sofa—was watching something stupid on the television.

“You gonna tell me what dumbass thing you said to Elizabeth to get her to kick you out? I mean, she’s got all this crap going on, and you probably picked a stupid fight—”

Franco turned his head slightly to glower at him. “It wasn’t dumb, and if she’d stopped to listen to me for a second, she’d understand how it happened. But she’s probably making sure the new Jason knows she’s single.”

Scott furrowed his brow. “Don’t talk about her that way. She’s stood by you through worse, you moron, and she deserves respect. There aren’t a lot of women who’d let you move in with her kids—”

“You’d be surprised.” Franco sat up. “Carly did. And Nina wanted to actually have a kid with me—”

“Yeah, and how did that work out for you?” Scott demanded. “You’re laying on my damn couch feeling sorry for yourself.” He picked up Franco’s feet and dropped them on the floor. “So what is this crap about Jason Morgan having a twin?”

“Why does everyone want to talk about Jason Morgan?” Franco muttered. He shoved himself to his feet and stalked over to the window. “There are two of them. Probably twins. Heather’s story wasn’t a lie, she was just playing around about who the twin was.”

Scott squinted. “You know, I never understood that whole twin thing. There’s no way Susan wouldn’t have used that. She got a trust fund for Jason, and would have jumped at the chance to get double the money.” And he’d have drained them both, he thought with a wisp of shame. Well, that was water under the bridge.

“Hmm, I always forget you were Jason’s stepfather for a hot minute.” Franco folded his arms. “What was that like?”

“Fine. He was a quiet kid.” Scott scratched the back of his neck. “Thank God Alan wanted him, I didn’t know what the hell would have happened if I’d been stuck with him. I barely understood how to raise Serena, and that took another decade.”

“Touching.” Franco paused. “You didn’t know there was another kid?”

“No. And Susan sure as hell didn’t. Heather must have gotten something in her head, maybe trying to make her own play for it. Not that she’d tell us. Even if she could remember, crazy bitch,” Scott muttered. He cleared his throat. “Look, about Elizabeth, just apologize, make it clear you were wrong—”

“I wasn’t wrong,” Franco retorted. “Thanks for taking my side, Pops!”

“Well, why don’t you tell me what the hell happened? Because it’s usually your fault. Plus, we’re men. When the women we love are mad, we just apologize and move on. It’s easier.”

“Uh huh.” Franco nodded. “How many times have you been married?”

“Don’t start—”

“No, no, I love taking advice from someone who’s been married nearly as many times as Elizabeth Taylor.”

“Ah, forget it,” Scott muttered. “Elizabeth Webber is the best thing that’s ever happened to you, and if you’re gonna let something stupid get between you, maybe you deserve what you get.”

“Don’t worry, Pop.” Franco put his hands in his pockets, then rocked back on his heels. “I know Elizabeth. This Jason thing—it’s a cycle. She chases him, he lets her catch him, then he dumps her, and this time, I’ll be there.”

Scott made a face. “Uh, so you’re not going to apologize?”

“She needs a few days to cool down,” Franco said. “I’ll apologize, then I’ll let her go do this crap with Morgan one more time.  No one knows Elizabeth like I do. I’ll be there when it falls apart.”

There was something about the way Franco said those words that made Scott very uncomfortable, but he wasn’t willing to think about that too much. So he put it away and went back to the kitchen.

Safe House: Living Room

Jason frowned when Sonny came through the door, followed by Michael a few minutes later. He looked past them, to the street, then turned back to them. “Where’s Carly? I didn’t—”

“You did tell her to come, didn’t you?” Michael asked his dad as he took off his coat and hung up by the door.

“I did, but, uh,” Sonny scratched the side of his nose. “It was this morning after we had that thing in the kitchen,” he told Jason. “You were irritated with her, and she was already irritated by Elizabeth—” gesturing at the woman sitting at the table by the windows, a stack of albums at her side. Elizabeth frowned.

“What did I do?”

“Knowing Mom, you breathed,” Michael muttered.

“And I might have mentioned about not wanting her here. I thought if I told her you wanted her here,” Sonny told Elizabeth, “she’d be nicer to you—”

“Oh, well, that was stupid.” Elizabeth rolled her eyes. “How many years have you known Carly and you still don’t know how to deal with her?”

“It’s fine. I’ll figure it out later. She’s just mad because of the Ava thing,” Sonny said to Jason. “And I know you don’t want to hear about it—”

“What Ava thing?” Michael asked with a scowl. “How did she get her nose into this?”

Jason looked from Sonny to Michael, then back to Sonny. “What’s the problem with Ava?”

“How much time do you have?” Michael demanded. “She can’t be trusted. Don’t give her an inch, Jase. I mean it.”

Elizabeth frowned. “Why are we talking about Ava at all? You never knew her, Jason. She moved to town the year after you disappeared.”

“In Russia,” Jason said, taking a seat back the table. He waited until Michael and Sonny joined him. “When I woke up in the clinic, it was a few months before I was strong enough to move. And even when I could, I didn’t want the doctors to know it. I wanted them to think I was still not all the way there. They kept a mask on me so I couldn’t talk to anyone, and they’d—” He paused, looking down his wrists, expecting to see the ties there. “They tied me down to the bed, or later, to the wheelchair.”

“The clinic,” Elizabeth said. “Griffin said that Ava had gone to Russia—” Her eyes widened. “Oh, my God, you’re the man he helped. He said he gave a man money in a church—”

“You know him?” Jason asked. “I want to thank him. He—and the priest—stuck their neck out for me back there. So did Ava. She distracted Klein and the other doctors so that I could escape.”

“Griffin said there was something hinky about the clinic,” Elizabeth said. She looked at Sonny.  “Ava can’t be trusted, Griffin can. He had to break Ava out of there. They were going to keep her locked up. She was terrified, Griffin said, but neither of them knew anything about the guy she’d helped get out. Only that he had some sort of connection to Port Charles. And to Sonny. Because you gave her a number to call,” she told Jason, “and she recognized it as Sonny’s.”

“So she didn’t know who you were,” Sonny said, “but she knew you were connected to me. I told you.”

“She still risked her life,” Michael said. “She didn’t have to do that. She could have called you, Dad. I’m not saying we give Ava any credit, but we should also just acknowledge it.” He looked at Jason. “You said between the time you went off the pier and the time you woke up in the clinic, you don’t remember anything.”

“Nothing,” Jason said with a shake of his head. “The only reason I think it was April is the calendar in my room. They changed it when it got to May.”

“So maybe this is the part where we tell you what happened after you disappeared,” Sonny said. “At least the highlights. We’ll fill in the details as needed.” He scrubbed his hand over his face. “So first, Bernie’s body was found on the docks. They found blood smears on the docks, so we knew you’d gone in the water.”

He could remember that sinking feeling as the water had surrounded him, the water dragging him down—

“Spinelli searched for days,” Elizabeth murmured. “Long after PCPD and the Coast Guard gave up. He couldn’t stand the thought of you—” She took a deep breath. “But I think it was in December when the PCPD closed the case officially. We knew by then that the man who was posing as Duke Lavery was actually Cesar Faison.”

“Why the hell—” Jason frowned. “Duke coming after the territory made some sense,” he admitted. “He was connected to the Jeromes, and in the mob. We knew that. But if it was Faison—”

“I don’t know. We never did figure that part out,” Sonny admitted. “Faison disappeared, and we just—I think we just let it go.”

“A year later—” Michael paused. “We found out that Robin was alive. Dad told you about that?”

“He said it was connected, but—”

“I’m not sure how,” Sonny said. He looked to Elizabeth. “Maybe you know more?”

“Faison faked her death to get to Anna—that’s why he posed as Duke,” she explained. “Robin said he quizzed her about Duke’s life, but she fed him some false info to trip him up. She was held somewhere in Europe.” She met Jason’s eyes. “Ewen helped arrange that. He was working with Jerry Jacks and, later, it turned out Faison and Obrecht. She’s a crazy doctor who was obsessed with Faison,” she added.

“Ewen was involved in Robin’s kidnapping?” Jason grimaced. “I should have shot him more.”

“Agreed. Faison was caught at that point, and we thought he was in a WSB prison, and Robin was home. It seemed like that was over.” Elizabeth paused. “Then Victor Cassadine showed up. According to Anna and Robert, he’d been the director of research at the WSB for a while and he got promoted to run the agency.”

“I don’t remember a Victor Cassadine—”

“There were three Cassadines brothers,” Elizabeth told Jason. “Mikkos, Anthony, and Victor. Anthony—or I think Luke said he was mostly Tony—he was kind of a playboy. You know, the kind that travels on yachts and uses his money to enjoy life. He was a jewel thief, and arranged to steal the Ice Princess for Mikkos. He was engaged to Alexandra Quartermaine right around the time you were born, I think.” She bit her lip. “It’s been a while since I—Luke and Laura gave me the crash course back during Endgame.”

“Endgame—” Jason frowned. “What—” He saw Michael looking equally mystified.

“That’s right. Helena had a cute name for that whole trying to kill everyone and raise the dead thing,” Sonny said. “I hate the Cassadines.”

“Same,” Elizabeth agreed with a sigh. “Anyway. Tony and Alexandra ended up being frozen to death in the same machine that killed Mikkos. I think Nikolas said Victor went to prison for a while, but the WSB got him out. He might have been DVX for a while, but a lot of those agents—they ended up with WSB because of their skill set.”

Michael shook his head. “What—” He put up his hands. “DVX?”

“Port Charles was crazy in the eighties,” Elizabeth said with half a smile. “I remember visiting during the summers when I was a kid and listening to everyone talking about it. Later when I was dating Lucky, it was kind of fascinating, so I was always asking Luke questions. He never thought I was too young.”

“Victor Cassadine was in charge of WSB. What does he have to do with Robin?”

“He wanted her to bring Stavros and Helena back from the dead,” Elizabeth told Jason, getting the conversation back on track. “Robin was about tell him to fuck all the way off, except—well, he had a card to play. He said he had you. Robin could bring you home but she had to help him.”

Jason sat back. “When was this?”

“February 2014. Robin left, but we didn’t know why. We thought she’d left and gone to Africa. It was awful for a while, and she and Patrick got divorced. Victor got her to the lab and refused to let her leave. Then it was Helena was holding her hostage. The man she woke up—they escaped from the lab later that year. August, I think. Or September. Robin said it was you. Your face, your voice. Your memories,” Elizabeth told him. “Robin was convinced. They separated when they got to Port Charles, but Helena grabbed her before she could get to her mother.”

“And the other guy was coming to me,” Sonny continued. “Only he got hit by Jordan Ashford, and got his face smashed in.”

“He was brought to the ER the night I was on duty, and it was—” Elizabeth pressed her lips together. “It was the strangest thing. It was like he knew me. Like I knew him. When he woke up from facial construction, he didn’t remember anything, but he picked the name Jake.”

“He…Jake.”

“It was strange,” Michael remembered. “Because Jake Doe connected with some of us right away. I talked to him in the hospital when—” He looked at Sonny, then swallowed. “We were going through things. And he was kind to me. And, Elizabeth, it was like you’d known each other for years.”

“I know. He even got along with Carly,” Elizabeth continued. “But other people—it was like oil and water. He and Sam were always at each other’s throats, and you two—” She met Sonny’s eyes. “You just hated each other.”

“I think it’s interesting to think back to that, knowing what we know now,” Sonny said, “and maybe it’ll be something we need to think about. But let’s talk about how we found out who he was.”

“The other reason I’m here,” Elizabeth said with a sigh. Michael reached over to squeeze her hand. “Thanks. Uh, well, Faison was caught that fall, but someone broke him out of the PCPD. This guy broke into the department, held Sam hostage, shot a cop, and then got away without even blinking.”

“And it was this Jake Doe?” Jason asked.

“Yeah. Sam eventually remembered it, and I thought she was insane. You know, it’s not like I listen to Sam anyway,” Elizabeth admitted, “but this just—there was no way. Until we caught Jake setting a bomb at the Haunted Star where he was working as a bartender.”

“I don’t understand—”

“Helena put a chip in his head,” Sonny said flatly. “To put him under control. Elizabeth figured it out and got him free of those charges.”

“Yeah, well, that was the easy part. Around this time, Helena told Nikolas that Jake Doe was you. Nikolas kept it to himself for months.” Elizabeth pressed her hand to her chest. “Of course, now knowing what we know now—did he really know what was going on or did she lie to him?”

“Did Nikolas tell everyone—”

“No.” Elizabeth sighed. “He told me a few months later. The night of Nurse’s Ball.” She looked down at the table for a moment, then raised her eyes to meet Jason’s. “Jake and I were—well, it’s complicated. But Nikolas told me so that I didn’t get in any deeper. And I didn’t tell anyone.”

Sonny scrubbed his hand over his mouth as the room fell into silence. Jason frowned for a long moment, then squinted. “You didn’t tell anyone.”

“No. I was happy. Jake was good to me, and he wasn’t really like you. I know everyone thinks I did it because I thought he was you, and maybe it was part of it, but you know Jake Doe was not Jason,” Elizabeth said to Sonny.

“I do, Elizabeth. It was a long time ago—”

“So I lied. And then in July, Lucky brought Jake home. My Jake. Our son. He was alive. And Helena had had him all that time. And I still lied. Carly figured it out. She ran a reconstruction on Jake’s face, it came up as you, and she ran to stop our wedding. Eventually the truth came out, and Jake got his memories back. Or he got your memories. Or something. Whatever it is—he’s not part of it. He has to be a victim, too,” Elizabeth insisted.

“I will say it does feel like something changed after he said he got his memories back,” Sonny told Jason. “And something about the way Jake came home has always bothered me.”

“How did it happen?” Jason asked.

“Lucky got some sort of hint that Helena was up to something. He started to follow it up, and when he stopped calling Aiden, I contacted Luke. Luke went after him, found Helena in Greece with Jake. And Helena just gave him Jake.”

“Gave him—” Jason shook his head. Of all the things he’d heard so far—this made the least amount of sense. “Why—if she faked his death, kept him all this time—”

“And that’s what makes me wonder about Jason being able to wake up from that coma around the same time that crap was happening with Jake,” Sonny told Elizabeth. “It can’t be a coincidence that Jason is waking up in Russia at the same time Jake nearly killed us all with one of Helena’s plans.”

“What?” Jason demanded. “What happened?”

“Jake got a box of magic tricks last year,” Elizabeth said softly. “He put together an act for the Nurse’s Ball, but something was going on his head. He was scared to tell me, but he was hearing Helena’s voice. She was telling him to kill us all. The night of the ball, he was supposed to perform a trick that would have unleashed a chemical weapon that would have killed everyone in the room.”

Jason exhaled slowly, taking that information in, filing it with everything else he knew. “How did it—what happened?”

“Jason—Jake—Drew—I don’t know what to call him,” Elizabeth said with a shake of her head. “But we talked to him, and we were able to stop it. Some men broke into the ballroom, stole it, but Valentin supposedly stopped him and the weapon is with the WSB.”

“Yeah, but didn’t Valentin have some sort of connection to that?” Michael asked.

“He’s the one that stole it from the WSB in the first place. It was nicknamed for the Chimera for the hallucinations you’re supposed to see when you’re dying. He sold it to Helena.”

“And I think,” Sonny said, looking at Jason, “that mostly fills in the blanks between your dive off the pier and coming home.”

“Mostly,” Jason said slowly. “That is…a lot, but you’re right. If this was happening to Jake at the same time—maybe I didn’t wake up from that coma on my own. Maybe someone woke me up.”

“Maybe. The question is what do we do now?” Elizabeth asked.

Sonny cleared his throat. “Well, you know, I appreciate everything, Elizabeth, but—”

“She stays,” Jason said flatly, surprising all three of them as they focused on him. “If she wants.”

“Jason—”

“I want,” Elizabeth said quickly. She flashed him a grateful smile before looking at Sonny. “Look, I know a lot more than what I’ve told you about the Cassadines, and I’m the only one of us who’s gone against Helena and won. I know she’s dead, but with her—death does not matter. You know that. And if there’s a chance that bitch is still coming for my son from beyond the grave, I’m not sitting this out. Let me help, Sonny. You can trust me.”

“It’s not—I just—” Sonny shook his head. “Never mind. Jason says you stay. You stay.” He took a deep breath. “Any suggestions for what we do next?”

“Information,” Elizabeth suggested. “I’m sure you’ve got Spinelli working on the clinic and that doctor, right?”

“Yeah, we called him this morning.”

“Then we need to call Luke and Lucky.”

Jason scowled. “I know you said that yesterday,” he said to Sonny, “but I don’t really want to deal with them—”

“I’m not that interested in seeing Luke either,” Elizabeth said. “But at the end of the day, they’re Spencers. Cassadine hunting is in their blood.”

“What about Valentin? He’s in this up to his damn eyeballs,” Michael muttered. “He’s gotta be the one who was holding Jason—”

“Valentin sent Ava to the clinic,” Elizabeth reminded them. “I mean, I agree he’s in this, but I don’t know if it that’s simple.”

“No, but I always thought it was weird when those guys stole the Chimera. Valentin got the chance to act like the big hero, didn’t he?” Sonny said. “He’s just not working alone.”

“Then we need to know who he’s working with,” Jason said. “And I want to know everything about him.”

“That would be you again,” Michael told Elizabeth who made a face. “Did you ever think you’d be the Cassadine Expert?”

“It wasn’t the plan for my life,” she said dryly. “And I don’t know who he’d be working with. Valentin doesn’t trust anyone. I don’t even think he likes his wife ninety percent of the time. It’s hard to see him giving control to someone else, even for a minute.”

General Hospital: Andre’s Office

Andre stared at the text message as it scrolled across his phone.

Stay calm. Stay quiet. I’ll be in touch when I have this under control.

He shoved the phone aside as Valentin’s message faded. Did he have a goddamn choice? If he disappeared now—everyone would suspect he was part of it, and he knew—he knew they’d come after him. Someone would. Sonny or Jason. Drew or Curtis. Jordan. Anna and Robert. Valentin.

There was no running from this. At least not yet. Not when no one knew what he’d done.

If he could just keep them from finding out, maybe he’d be able to save himself.

In my defense, I have none
For never leaving well enough alone
But it would’ve been fun
If you would’ve been the one
I persist and resist the temptation to ask you
If one thing had been different
Would everything be different today?
– the 1, Taylor Swift

---

May 2015

Mykonos, Greece: Cassadine Estate

Helena set down the tabloids she’d been reading to glare at Valentin. “Why must we have the same argument over and over again?”

“When you came to me,” Valentin said, flicking an imaginary piece of lint from his trousers before meeting her eyes, “you said you had lost faith in the Cassadine blood line. That it was weak. Impotent. You promised me if I helped you get your revenge on the Spencers and Elizabeth Webber, that you would make sure I inherited everything.”

Helena sat back in her chair, arched a brow imperiously. “And you doubt my word?”

“It’s been five years since you started this, Mother,” he said, dryly. “Since you promised that Nikolas would be the first casualty, I suppose I’m wondering—” He leaned forward. “Just how stupid do you think I am?”

“You doubted Nikolas’s loyalty. I have as well,” Helena admitted, “but you must admit that in recent days, he’s proven himself to be capable of great cruelty. Why—” She gestured at the latest tabloid reports from Port Charles. “He’s drawn Elizabeth in beautifully, telling her the truth about Jason Morgan, convincing her to keep the secret, having Hayden Barnes shot in the head—fifteen years ago, he could barely bring himself to bruise Elizabeth Webber. And now he’s leading her personal torment.”

Valentin rubbed his bottom lip. “So you no longer need me.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Helena said, with a shake of her head. “Nikolas still has a moral compass. There’s no telling when his mother’s weak blood will show. He might think he’s the Dark Cassadine Prince I’ve always wanted, but I know better. No, he’ll fail me eventually. He always does.”

“Then what is the point in waiting—”

“I intend to finish my revenge,” Helena said coolly. “I’ve already laid the hints for Luke and Lucky. I imagine they’ll be visiting me in a matter of weeks. Little Jake will be home by the end of summer. Elizabeth will be tormented in keeping the secret, but she’ll break. And she’ll despise Nikolas for doing this to her. For telling her the truth. He’ll lose her. And then the Chimera—” Helena tapped a pen. “Dear Valentin, will it not be glorious to break Nikolas before little Jake Webber kills them all?”

“You intend him to be in the room when you trigger the Chimera,” Valentin said. He sat back. “That’s…unexpected.”

“I always said that once my revenge was complete, I would turn over the reins to you,” Helena said with a smile. “My son. My legacy.”

“I wish that I could believe you.” Valentin rose gracefully to his feet and adjusted the line of his suit jacket. “But, alas, Mother, I know something that you don’t think I do.”

Helena smiled at him. “And what is it that?”

“That Nikolas and his son are not the last Cassadines left.” Valentin met his mother’s eyes.

Helena’s smile didn’t change, but she tilted her head. “One should always have a back up plan, Valentin.”

“Cross me on this, Mother,” Valentin said, “and you’ll regret it.”

“We’ll see.”

Saturday, October 28, 2017

Greystone: Kitchen

Jason poured himself a cup of black coffee, then went over to the table and sat down. He stared at the dark liquid.

It was the first cup of Corinthos & Morgan coffee he’d had in—well, apparently, years—but for Jason, it only felt like six months.

He used to drink this coffee three times a day every day. He had since the day they’d delivered the first shipment to Kelly’s—the same place where Sonny had sat down at a table shortly after he’d returned to Port Charles more than twenty years ago and asked Jason to go into the coffee importing business as a new front.

“It’s not poisoned,” Carly said. He looked up to find her watching him. She flashed him a beaming smile. “I just love seeing you here. I woke up this morning, and I thought it was a dream, but then I went past the guest room, and the door was opened—and the bed had been used—” She took a deep breath. “You’re here. And you’re you.”

“I am.” Jason lifted the cup to his lips and took his first sip. The hot, bitter liquid slid down his throat, and for just a minute—

For a single minute, he could close his eyes and pretend that none of this had happened, and he was drinking his coffee to start the day.

“So, where do we start?” Carly said. She sat down with a glass of orange juice. “I thought I’d go over and help you with Sam. She probably just—she was shocked, Jason. And she’ll come around—”

“Don’t—” Jason put up a hand. “Don’t do that, okay?” Carly blinked at him. “Sam went home with—with the other guy, okay? She made her decision—”

“But Danny is your son—”

And that was something else he couldn’t quite wrap his mind around. He’d spent Sam’s entire pregnancy struggling with the idea of being a father again. Of bringing a life into the world when Jake wasn’t there anymore. Danny wasn’t supposed to be his, and knowing that fact—knowing that the tests had shown differently—

Jason couldn’t make it work in his head—and maybe he wouldn’t be able to until he talked to Sam about it. If she’d ever let him get that far. He’d recognized that look in her eye the night before. She’d just dig in her heels if he pushed her now.

“Carly—”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I’m pushing, I know—” Carly closed her eyes. “I’m just—I want to help. I want to make things okay for you. Getting your life back—I want that for you.”

“I know.”

“All right—” Sonny strolled in, cell phone in hand. “I’ve got someone for you,” he told Jason. “Spinelli—”

“If this is some sort of twisted, sick joke,” Damien Spinelli began, his familiar tones echoing in the kitchen—

“Look for yourself—” Sonny turned the phone, and Jason was suddenly face to face with the hacker he’d taken under his wing more than a decade ago. Spinelli’s eyes blanked for a moment, and he closed his mouth.

“Stone Cold,” he said softly. “Is that really you?”

“That depends,” Jason said roughly, moved by the emotion he saw sweeping over his friend’s face, even three thousand miles away in Portland, Oregon. “Are you still the Jackal?”

Spinelli’s face creased into a vibrant grin. “Until my dying day! Stone Cold! What happened? Where were you? Who’s the other guy?”

“We were hoping you might come and help us find that out,” Sonny said, sliding onto the bench next to Carly, leaning across the table. “You interested in joining the team?”

“I am in,” Spinelli declared. “Sign me up for service, Mr. Sir.” He saluted. “Shoot me over anything you want me to work on — it might take a few days to get to Port Charles. Did Mr. Sir tell you about my Georgie?”

“He did. Congratulations,” Jason said. “I don’t want you to spend too much time away from her—”

“Never, never. The Maximista and I were just talking about making some changes, so I was gonna be heading that way sooner or later. Give me—” he squinted. “A few days, and I’ll be back. Stone Cold and the Jackal, reunited at last!”

With Spinelli on board, Jason hung up the call and slid the phone across the table. “I thought I’d head over to the safe house,” he told Sonny. “Early, I mean. Thanks for asking me over last night, but—”

“What? What’s this? You can’t leave,” Carly said. “No, Sonny. Tell him, he needs to be around family—”

“I—” Sonny hesitated. “I don’t know, Jason. I thought we were talking about keeping the safe house on the down low. Using it for meetings—”

“And that made sense last night,” Jason said, “but I woke up this morning and realized that everyone is going to be asking the same questions we are—”

“But Elizabeth—”

Carly clenched her teeth. “What does she have to do with this? What?  Did you give her the damn house? Does she want you to pay rent?”

Jason frowned at her. “No. It’s my house. I bought it and buried the deed with holding companies tied to the warehouse.”

“I remember that now. Diane signed some paperwork for transfer,” Sonny said. “Carly, don’t start—”

“‘I’m not starting. I just don’t know why she has to be involved in any of this—”

“Jason was shot by Cesar Faison,” Sonny reminded her. “And Faison was involved in—what do we call him? Other Jason?”

“Fine, Faison was involved—”

“So were the Cassadines,” Sonny continued. “Helena and Victor were part of his kidnapping, and they must have been involved with what happened to Jason. Valentin sent Ava to the same clinic where Jason was being held—”

“Ava?” Carly said. Her eyes lit with fury. “That bitch was part of this? I’ll ruin her this time! I won’t let her live—”

“She saved my life and helped me escape,” Jason said flatly. “I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for her. I didn’t know who she was, and I don’t know what your problem with her is, and right now, I’m not interested.” He got to his feet. “I’m heading over, Sonny. I’ll see you later.”

“Get one of the guards to set you up with an SUV, ” Sonny said. “I’ll call you when I’m on my way over.”

“Fine.”

“Wait, Jason—”

But Jason wasn’t interested—he left the room, taking his coffee mug with him. Carly grimaced, then looked back at her husband. “What did I do?”

“Uh, well, you attacked Elizabeth for no reason, and then you put his back up about Ava. Look, at some point, we’ll tell him why Ava can’t be trusted. We will,” he repeated when she scoffed. “But if he’s right—if she really didn’t know who he was and helped him come home—God, Carly, let’s just sit with that for a minute and be grateful.”

“She is the reason Morgan is dead,” Carly spat out. “I will never—”

“Julian and Olivia Jerome are the reason Morgan is dead. Ava loaded the gun, but they pulled the trigger.” Sonny closed his eyes. “Carly—”

“Fine. Fine. I still don’t—”

“You know, I didn’t even want you to go to this thing later,” Sonny said, losing his patience. He got to his feet and went over to the coffee pot. “I wanted to leave you out of it.”

Blindsided by that, Carly stared at her husband’s back, tears stinging her eyes. “What? Why?”

“Because I knew you’d do this. I knew you’d make it about you. About who you hate. About what you think Jason should do. And there’s no room in this for any of that. Not when we don’t know what we’re dealing with.”

Carly opened her mouth but found it difficult to force words out. “But Jason said no. He had my back—”

“It never got that far. Elizabeth wouldn’t hear of leaving you out.”

Her cheeks heated, and rage boiled in her veins. “Oh, so she gets a say?”

“No,” Sonny retorted, turning back to Carly. “I asked her to help because she knows the Cassadines, and with this all happening so close to the Chimera—it seemed wrong to leave her out. And she said you should be there because no one knows how to scheme like you. So remember when you’re bitching, crying, and moaning—Elizabeth had your back. Sam went home with the other guy, and Elizabeth’s here, trying to get to the bottom of things. Don’t be stupid about this, Carly.”

Don’t be stupid about this.

Stupid.

Carly rose to her feet. “Thank you for the invitation,” she said coolly. “And tell Elizabeth I appreciate the support, but I wouldn’t want to distract you with my schemes and selfishness.”

“Carly, don’t—”

“No, I heard you. Loud and clear.” Some things would never, ever change, and she couldn’t take one more hit today. “I have things to do at the hotel.”

Webber House: Kitchen

Felix set the tray down on the kitchen island. “Hot chocolate for you,” he said to Elizabeth. “Chocolate milk for both our young Mr. Webbers—” He handed the drinks to Aiden and Jake, “and, uh, black coffee for Cameron—” He squinted at the tallest Webber son. “When did this start?”

“When I started AP Biology,” Cameron muttered, taking the cup from his mother’s friend and reaching for a donut from the box. “Thanks. I need to go up and get back to my homework—”

“Uh huh—” Felix turned back to Elizabeth with her face set grimly. “Did I miss something? The Webber boys seem quiet this morning,” he said after Jake and Aiden had left the room and gone to play video games. “Jake handling this okay?”

“I’m not sure it’s sinking in for him yet,” Elizabeth said slowly, “because he got distracted by what happened last night.” She picked up her drink and went over to the kitchen table, waiting for Felix to follow. “You probably saw all the videos—”

“I never saw the Port Charles social media community having so much fun—there’s a really great one where the new guy drags Franco—” Felix stopped and coughed. “Not important. Uh, where is Prince Charming?”

“Rotting in hell,” Elizabeth muttered. She sipped her hot chocolate as Felix merely lifted his brows. “He came in while the boys were watching the video. He demanded the iPad, Cameron refused, and—” Her stomach twisted. “He tried to take it. He grabbed Cam by the shirt, and I know there was shoving—”

“Oh, hell, no. He did not put his hands on my Cameron. Uh uh. I will not have it.” Felix clenched his jaw. “Where did you put the body?”

“I got home just as he grabbed his shirt—I got him out of the house,” Elizabeth said finally. She took the top off the hot chocolate and reached for a spoon to stir the rapidly melting whipped cream into the liquid.

“Elizabeth.”

She blinked, then looked up at him. “Cameron refused to go upstairs. He wouldn’t leave me alone with Franco.” She told him about the bat and the gun.  “And when I called Sonny and Michael to help me with changing the security—he came down to thank them. Like he was the adult—Oh, God, what have I done to my little boy? How could I have forced him to grow up so fast?” She pressed a hand to his face. “I was sixteen when I stopped being a child,” she murmured. “I wanted more for him. I wanted him to be innocent for so much longer.”

“The world doesn’t always let babies stay babies as long as they should,” Felix told her. “Cameron loves you. He’d never blame you—”

“Well, he should,” Elizabeth said. “Because if it wasn’t for me, his life would be better. I brought Jake Doe into this house, and then tried to hold him here with a lie. And because of that, I destroyed my entire life. I wasn’t the only one that took that hit, Felix. You know that.” Her mouth thinned. “And then I brought Franco into this house. Franco. I put him in this house with my children.”

“You made a mistake—”

“How many more mistakes do I get?” Elizabeth demanded. “I got Jake back. That was a goddamn miracle. I’m not going to get any more of those. I keep saying my children come first, but have I really been doing that? No. I’ve been thinking about myself.”

Felix sipped his latte. “You done with your pity party?”

She scowled. “Felix—”

“You made a mistake. A few of them,” he added when she made a face. “You’re not perfect which is why we’re friends. Perfect is boring. Let me remind you that right about the time Franco fucking Baldwin slithered his way into your life, you were dealing with Jake almost dying again, that worthless trash whore Sam blowing up your house, Sabrina died, Hayden turned out to be your sister, and Tom Baker got out of jail.  You were low, baby. And he’s a bottom feeder.”

She closed her eyes. “I know. I know. He always said I never would have looked at him if it hadn’t been for that lie.”

“Not just the lie. You’re stronger than that. The lie, the whole world finding out when it was none of their damn business,” Felix retorted. “That was between you and—well, apparently the guy who we don’t think is Jason?”

“He’s not Jason. He might be Oscar Nero’s biological father,” Elizabeth said. “Don’t ask. I’ll explain that part later.” She scrubbed the side of her head. “And then after Tom Baker, Jake was struggling again.”

“Exactly. Jake went through all of that, and your grandmother died—Elizabeth, the world has been slapping you around for years. You tried to be happy. You looked for love. You went down some dark ass alleys,” he added and she laughed. “But you just wanted to be loved. That’s human. You know it. The second you realized your boys were in danger, you stepped up to the bat. Literally.”

“If Cameron had gone upstairs, I would have pulled the trigger. I wish I had. Because then he’d be dead, and I’d just call Sonny to get rid of the body. He’d do it for me.” Elizabeth rubbed her chest. “How do I accept that it’s in me to feel that way? A week ago, Franco was someone I thought I was in love with, and now I can’t even fathom looking at him again without tearing his eyes out.”

“Well, to be honest, that doesn’t surprise me. You’re loyal to a fault until someone comes for your babies. And then you destroy them. That’s just right. Plus—” Felix wiggled his brows. “You know, a girl that hooks up with a hit man like Jason Morgan—you gotta have a little bit of a ruthless streak in ya.”

“Enforcer,” Elizabeth corrected without thinking, then locked eyes with Felix for a minute before they burst out laughing. “How do you do that? Make me feel better?”

“Because I know you. And I love you. You always do your best. Some days, you get it wrong. Last night, you got it right.” He picked up his latte. “So, speaking of the famed enforcer with the double—how are we feeling about that? What’s the deal? Which one is which?”

“The guy who tried to choke Franco is Jason. I know it,” Elizabeth said. “And the other guy—like I said, we think he might be this other guy, Drew Cain. How it all fits together? I don’t know. Sonny asked me to come over and help because of the Cassadine connection.”

“Well, at least you’ll have something to distract yourself from all of this—” Felix leaned back in his chair. “How did you know it was him?”

“I could tell you I knew as soon as he wrapped his hand around Franco’s throat, or when I saw his face—or at the PCPD, the other guy—I’m going to call him Drew because otherwise my brain will explode—he grabbed my shoulders, and Jason almost came forward to stop him.”

“But it wasn’t those moments?”

“It all added up,” Elizabeth said, “but I was still—I was ninety-nine point nine nine percent convinced, but I’ve been through a lot in Port Charles, and you never rule anything out. Then—” She stared down at her hot chocolate. “He said my name.”

“Oh.” Felix put his hand on his chin. “This sounds like a story.”

“It’s not. It’s just—I didn’t even realize it until I heard him say it, but no one else says it the way he does. Lucky always sounded like he was whining or yelling at me,” she said with a wince, “but—anyway. I’m not sure what’s going to happen with any of that. Or how involved I’ll be with the search. Sonny doesn’t really let people in, and Jason usually follows his lead. Right now, they need me because they need Cassadine information, and Laura doesn’t like Sonny.”

“Laura always did had have good taste.”

“The thing is—and this is so stupid—we’re meeting at this safe house later. A safe house that no one else knows about because Jason bought it in my old neighborhood so I could have a place to go if anything happened and he couldn’t get to me.” She paused. “The safe house he wanted me to go nine years ago when Jake got kidnapped by the Russians, but I didn’t listen to him. I went with Sam and Lucky, and Jake got kidnapped. I had to kill a man, and Jason ended up deciding it was too dangerous to be together so we broke up.”

“Oh, man, one day, we’re gonna sit down with some wine, and I’m getting the whole Jason and Elizabeth saga, but let’s go back to this. You been to this safe house before?” Felix asked.

“Once.” Elizabeth exhaled. “Right before Kate Howard was shot, Jason and I were supposed to go to Italy. We’d always dreamed about it, and it was finally going to be our chance. He brought me to the house one day when Lucky had the boys. We spent hours there.”

Felix sighed. “Oh, man.”

“It was the last time we were able to spend the whole day together,” she murmured. “The last really good day before it all fell apart. And it’s so stupid to think it matters now. It doesn’t. It was a lifetime ago. He probably doesn’t even remember.”

“No? He remembered the house. He picked it because he thought it was safe, didn’t he? Because only you and him, and probably Sonny knew about it. And hey, you don’t get to call yourself stupid. Not in front of me.”

“Thanks.” She met his eyes. “I mean it, Felix. I love you.”

“I love you, too, girl, but I wasn’t kidding about that story. It sounds like a good one.”

Morgan Penthouse: Kitchen

“You okay?”

Jason glanced up from his cup of coffee to see his wife entering the kitchen, their daughter perched on her hip. “What?”

“You’re staring into your coffee like it has all the answers,” Sam said. She furrowed her brow. “Jason, it’s going to be okay. Whatever’s going on—we’ll get to the bottom of it. We’ll make sure everyone knows who you are and if this guy—” She closed her eyes. “If he’s your twin, we’ll handle it.”

“I know.” He hesitated. “Last night, when he talked about waking up after the accident—when he talked about being arrested—he sounded convincing.”

“So?” Sam shrugged. She put Scout into her high chair, then crossed over to the cabinet to take down a container of cereal bits. “Take it from a former con artist—you can sound convincing if you believe your own bullshit. And maybe he’s been brainwashed, or his head’s been screwed with like yours, you know? Maybe he believes it.”

“And you don’t.”

Sam paused, her back to him, her hand stretched up, touching the container of formula. She exhaled slowly, put it on the counter, and turned to face him. “I told you I didn’t.”

“I know.” Jason leaned against the fridge. “But you were the only one in the room who didn’t. I think even Franco thinks the other guy is me.”

“Well, that’s because he’s been expecting you to kill him since the day those DNA tests came back,” Sam said. “Of course Sonny, Carly, and Elizabeth took this other guy’s side. You’re pushing them away. They refuse to believe you’d do that.”

He wanted to believe her. She looked like she was telling the truth—

But as she’d just reminded him, she was a former con artist who’d made a living convincing people to believe bullshit.

“When I checked my phone this morning,” Jason said, “I had requests for interviews—this is everywhere.”

“I know, it’s all over social media. My mom left me a message, asking me what we want to do.” She hesitated. “Jason, if Elizabeth is on this other’s guy’s side and it’s everywhere—you know that Jake probably knows about this by now.”

“Yeah, that thought occurred to me.”

“She might have already told him you’re not Jason.”

Would Elizabeth have done that? Maybe. Maybe if she was really convinced— “If she has,” he said carefully, “I’d like to think she’d tell him it wasn’t confirmed. That she might be leaning one way—”

“Do you really think she’s going to be that fair?” Sam demanded. “She’s never wanted Jake around me. You know that. She didn’t even give you custody in her will. The boys were supposed to go Audrey. God knows who they go to now—”

Jason made a face. “She wanted them to stay together—she explained that—”

“Bullshit. We’d take them all if we had to,” Sam retorted. “She didn’t want Jake around me. So, of course, she’s going to take the side of the guy who isn’t with me. If you and I weren’t together, who knows what she would have done.”

There was a logic to Sam’s words, but Jason couldn’t quite bring himself to believe Elizabeth was that cold-blooded. “Sam—”

“Anyway, it’s useless to think about what Elizabeth does with Jake right now. But when the truth comes out,” Sam said, “and you’re proven to be Jason, I think we need to revisit custody. It’s not fair that she gets total control, and you have to ask—”

“I don’t have to ask—” Jason’s mouth tightened. “Jake’s been through a lot this year. He needed stability and his brothers. He’s in therapy, and I see my son whenever I want. She’s never kept him from me. We’re not revisiting custody because Elizabeth believes this other guy. That was last night. Maybe she’s thinking differently this morning. We don’t even know if she’s talked to Jake. I mean, damn it, Sam, you didn’t have a single moment of doubt?”

She lifted her chin. “No—”

“I don’t believe you. He has my face, my voice, and enough knowledge of my life to sound like me. Hell, even I doubted who I was.”

“Jason—”

“Just tell me the truth,” he pressed.

She handed the bottle she’d made to Scout and shook her head. “No, I won’t admit to something that didn’t happen because you want to feel better. I know who you are. You are my husband, the father of my children, and the man I love.”

She didn’t add that she knew he was Jason Morgan, but he didn’t press her on it. He didn’t want to argue about this anymore.

When he said nothing, Sam lifted Scout into her arms. “I’m going to get the kids ready and head over to my mother’s. I want her to start putting together a statement or something. Not that we’ll issue it,” she added, “not unless you want to, but Mom wants to get ahead of things.”

“Fine.”

Sam left the kitchen, and Jason went back to his coffee. It was warm, bordering on chilled, and he scowled. He shoved it into the microwave to heat it up. He heard a knock on the door and Sam’s voice.

A few minutes later, Curtis Ashford strolled into the kitchen. “Hey, man. How’s your morning?”

Jason snorted. “Not as good as yesterday morning,” he muttered. He nodded at the coffee pot. “You want any?”

“Nah, I’m good.” Curtis squinted. “So, uh, Jordan thought it might be better if I stopped by to talk to you about setting up DNA tests or whatever. A friendly face. She’s calling the, um, other guy.”

“Okay.” Jason took a deep breath. “Okay. What’s the plan?”

“She says she wants to get the fingerprints, but the PCPD physical archives are a goddamn mess. Apparently, when they moved into the new building back in ’03 after that fire, they didn’t really worry about getting the physical records organized. It might take a few days to find the fingerprints file from that ’96 arrest. So she’s moving forward with at least establishing you and the other guy are related.”

“We probably are,” Jason admitted. He sat down at the table, gestured for Curtis to sit down. “Did Jordan tell you about the Heather Webber twin story?”

“Sort of. Heather is Franco’s mother? Where the crazy comes from?”

“Hard to say where his brand of insanity comes from,” Jason muttered. “And technically, Franco and I are related. We’re cousins. Heather was pregnant at the same time my biological mother, Susan Moore, was. Susan had me first, and then Heather had Franco. She left Franco with Betsy Frank, and then—”  Jason squinted. “She ended up not being able to go back, or Betsy disappeared with the kid. I can’t remember now. She’s also Steven Webber’s mother. Elizabeth’s half-brother.”

“Oh, man, this lady gets around.”

“She does.” Jason drank his coffee. “Anyway, when we thought Franco was dead back in 2012, Heather told Sam that he was actually my twin brother. That Susan Moore had twins, and Heather gave one of us to Betsy.”

“Why?”

“Because she’s insane? Who knows. That was the situation when I went into the water later that October. By the time I was back and found out who I was in 2015,” Jason continued, “Franco was back, exonerated of all charges and accountability, and was established as the son of Heather and Scott Baldwin—who, by the way, was married to Susan Moore at the time she was murdered. I just figured the twin story was a lie or that everyone had sorted it all out when I wasn’t around.”

“Then this guy shows up with your face, voice, and your life story saying he’s you,” Curtis said. “Which means the twin story doesn’t sound insane anymore.”

“No. It doesn’t. A DNA test is just going to prove that.”

“Well, that’s something to start with anyway. Jordan is arranging it with the hospital and also an outside lab,” he added, “in case you’re worried about tampering. Jordan also wants to do advanced DNA testing on Danny and Jake—it’ll give us paternity—”

“No.” Jason shook his head. “Not Danny. He’s—he’s afraid of needles and doctors after the cancer treatments. And I can’t—” He paused. “I don’t know if Elizabeth will want Jake to go through it after he was in the hospital for the accident and the Chimera—”

“Jordan is contacting her today. I get it, man. I do. No one wants to drag the kids into this, and I wish like hell there was another way, but those DNA tests come back fast these days. We can probably get a turn around by Wednesday. Don’t you want this over?”

“I do,” Jason said. “But not at the expense of my kids. Danny’s been through enough. And I don’t want Jake to know about this—”

“Jason—”

“But I’m sure he already does,” Jason said with a sigh. “It’s all over social media, and I know Cam was watching them last night. I think Joss was supposed to be over there. They know. So, look, he’s ten. If he’s okay with it, and Elizabeth is okay with it—fine.”

Webber Home: Cameron’s Bedroom

Cameron was hunched over his desk, grimacing at his notes on cellular respiration, wishing he could draw like his brother or mother. Every time he tried to draw a cell in his notebook, it looked like insanely stupid squiggles. His childhood talent for origami hadn’t translated well to pencil and paper.

His phone lit up with a text from Emma Scorpio-Drake, and he stared at it for a moment. He’d avoided talking to Joss, Oscar, or Trina that morning. He didn’t know what to say to them. They didn’t know about the scene at his house last night, and Cameron didn’t really want to get into it.

He didn’t even know how he felt about it. He’d been terrified for himself, for his brothers—then for his mother. It had worked out, but he’d had a nightmare last night that she hadn’t made it to the safe, that Franco had taken that bat and—

He squeezed his eyes shut, exhaled carefully. It didn’t happen. She was okay, and Franco was gone. His mom knew she’d been wrong, that she’d made a mistake, and that was what mattered.

Cameron picked up the phone and read Emma’s text.

hey u. mom is freaking out, dad says ur mom isnt calling him. call me. im worried.

Maybe he could tell Emma. She was three thousand miles away in Berkeley — and she wasn’t that close to Joss. She didn’t know Oscar, and if he asked her not to say anything to Trina, she’d listen.

“You actually called!” she said with a beaming smile as their Facetime call connected. “What’s going on? What’s the deal? Why isn’t your mom taking Dad’s calls? You know he worries—”

“Uh—” Cameron pinched the bridge of his nose. “I don’t know where to start, Em. I guess maybe with the easy stuff. Mom is convinced the new guy is Jason, but you know, there was that Jake Doe stuff, so who knows. She’s gonna help figure things out. Um, there was some other stuff that happened last night. With Franco. That’s probably why she didn’t call your dad back.”

“We watched the videos. Dad enjoyed them, but Mom was worried about your mom and all of that.” Emma hesitated. “What happened?”

“There was…an incident,” Cameron said. “He came back while we were watching it, and Mom wasn’t here. We sort of—um, we got into it, and I don’t know—it was—Mom stopped it—”

“Stopped what?” Her voice sharpened. “Cameron.”

“He wanted the iPad to see the video—but I thought—if he sees the video, it’ll make it worse, and it’s just me and the kids. I don’t know if I can get them out of here or if they’re okay enough to run if I tell them to go—so I just—I stalled. I tried to keep it from him—but he pushed me, and we shoved each other—then he grabbed my shirt—” Cameron leaned back in his chair. “I’m okay, Em. My mom came back. You know that bat she keeps in the umbrella stand.”

“Yeah. Did she bash his brains in?”

“No, but she kept him off guard and got to the safe where she keeps a gun. Jason got it for her back when they were dating, and she got Franco to leave. I’m fine.”

“You keep saying that, but it’s not true. How can you be fine? An evil serial killer that your mother was dating went after you last night, and your mom had to threaten to shoot him. Like, it’s okay to be messed up about it, Cam.”

“I can’t—there’s no time for that,” Cameron said. “Okay? There’s all this crap happening with this Jason stuff. If this guy is Jason, then the other guy isn’t. Jake needs to handle that, so I need to be there. And Aiden’s going through crap with Charlotte, so I gotta handle that. And this other guy might be Oscar’s dad, so I gotta keep Joss under control with that because you know how she is—”

“Cameron.”

“And if I don’t keep it together, Mom will just feel worse, and I don’t want her to feel bad—”

“She should,” Emma snapped. “She’s the one who brought him home. Like, come on, Cam, you know I love Aunt Elizabeth, but she made this happen—”

“No, you don’t get it! You haven’t been here! You don’t know!” Cameron scowled. “It’s easy for you to say that crap. You’re off in California without a damn problem—”

“That’s not fair—”

“You don’t know what my mom’s been dealing with, okay? She needs me to be okay with this—”

“What about what you need, Cam?”

“What I need,” he said, carefully, “is for my family to be okay. If Jake, Aiden, and Mom are okay, I’ll be fine. I know you’re worried about me, but you don’t have to be. Mom handled it. She took my side, she didn’t even let him try to explain except to distract him—and she kicked him right out and got the security changed. It’d be worse if she were thinking about giving him another chance. It’s over. She made it over.”

“Franco might be gone, but that doesn’t mean it’s over. Cameron, please—did you tell Joss or Trina? Tell me you called Trina.”

“No. And I’m not going to. It’s done, Em. We’re moving onto the next crisis.”

“Okay,” Emma said slowly, but he could see she didn’t really believe him. It was more like she was dropping it because she knew she wouldn’t win. “So the next crisis is the Jason stuff.”

“Yeah, Mom thinks the Cassadines are back up to their crap, and she’s worried about Jake. This is too close to all that Nurse’s Ball stuff, you know? To what happened to Jake.”

“When will they know which one is which?”

“Don’t know. Sometime this week, I think. Mom didn’t really get into it.”

“Keep me in the loop, Cam. About it all. And if you need to talk to anyone, I’m always here.”

“I know. I’ll see you later.”

“See you later.”

Safe House: Front Porch

He hadn’t thought much about the house other than the fact it was there, and that almost no one would know about it. He knew it would establish some sort of credibility with Sonny, give him a leg to stand on if Sonny hadn’t believed him.

Jason hadn’t thought about why he’d bought the safe house or the last time he’d been there. Not until Elizabeth’s car pulled up at the curb and she stepped up to the front walk, stopping just before the steps that led up to the porch, and just stared at the house.

Then he did remember. He’d found this house and brought Elizabeth here so they could start making decisions about security together.

He wondered if she’d ever made it to Italy.

Jason pushed open the front door and stepped out to greet her. “Uh, hey.”

“Hey.”  Elizabeth exhaled slowly, staring at him as he came down the steps to stand next to her on the walk and she continued to stare at him. “I’m sorry. I think—I think maybe I had let myself think that I was wrong. Or that I hadn’t—I don’t know.” She put her hands into the pockets of her coat. “But you’re standing in front of me, and it’s so clearly you—God—” She closed her eyes, took a deep breath. “I’m sorry.”

“Why are you sorry?” he asked, frowning slightly. He gestured for her to go up the stairs, but she didn’t move. “Elizabeth—”

“I don’t know. For not knowing you were out there? For not seeing that he wasn’t you? For thinking he was for a minute?” She bit her lip. “For a thousand things, maybe.”

“I don’t blame any of you—”

“You should,” she insisted. “You should blame us for not knowing and for not coming to find you, okay? Because I blame me. And I’m sure Sonny does.” She shook her head. “Never mind. Never mind. That’s not important. Um, I know I’m early. Sonny said we were meeting around one, but—”

“It’s fine. I wanted to talk to you about Jake. I want to know everything. How he came home, how is he, what’s his favorite color—” Every minute of every day of Jake’s life since he’d been home if that was even possible.

“Yeah. Yeah, anything. All of it. I could talk about him for hours, but there’s—” She took a breath. “We should go in, I guess.” She turned back to look at the house. “You kept the house.”

“I—I didn’t think about it,” he admitted as she finally went upstairs, following him to the front door, and over the threshold. “It’s not even in my name, but in one of the holding companies for the warehouse. And since we never—”

He almost said, We never used it, but then she turned to look at him, standing just behind the sofa, looking nearly as she had nine years earlier when she’d stood in this room and they’d talked about what life would be like when they came home from Italy. She’d begged him to let her in, and he’d promised things would be different. Just another of his broken promises.

And then they’d gone upstairs.

They had definitely used the house that day.

“It’s fine. It’s weird,” Elizabeth admitted, “but it’s fine.” She stripped off her coat and tossed it over the back of the sofa. “Um, look, that aside, I don’t want to put anything on your plate that you need to worry about. You’ve got so much going on, and I want to help. I am going to help as much you and Sonny let me—” she added, “which I know won’t be much.  But, first, something happened last night that you need to know about because it concerns Jake, and I want you to be part of his life.”

“Okay.” He put his hands in the pockets of his jeans. “What’s up?”

“God, I hate this,” she muttered. “You just came home, and there’s all this other stuff, and here I am dumping more on you—”

“Elizabeth.”

She stopped and focused on him, their eyes meeting. He held her gaze for a moment before speaking again. “Sonny reminded me last night that it’s been five years since I went off that pier. It doesn’t feel that way to me. It barely feels like six months, even though I’ve been awake at least that long. I know there’s a lot I don’t know. I appreciate that no one wants to push too much at me, but if there’s something bothering you—if something is wrong with Jake—I want to know.” He paused. “I need to know.”

“Right. Well—long story short—I was dating Franco. He was living with me, and he got into a fight last night with Cameron in front of the boys. A physical fight,” Elizabeth added as Jason’s body tensed. “I got home just before—I don’t know. I grabbed a bat, distracted him long enough to get to a gun, and Franco left. But Jake and Aiden—they were there for part of it, they heard me fire a warning shot—then Sonny and Michael came over to change the security.”

“I—” Jason stared at her. Whatever he’d been expecting her to say, it wasn’t that. “Franco went after Cameron.”

“The fight at the Metro Court—it’s all over the internet, and Cameron—they were watching it. I guess Franco tried to take the tablet from him, and Cam didn’t give it to him—it’s—I’m not making excuses, okay, don’t—” she began when Jason narrowed his eyes. “It’s not like it was with Lucky. Or Ewan,” she muttered. “Or Ric.”

“Okay. Then—”

“If Cameron hadn’t been in the room, if the boys hadn’t been in the house, I would have killed him,” Elizabeth told him. “I promise you that much. And we’re not getting into the insanity of me dating him in the first place—”

“No, but I’d like to come back to that at some point so someone can explain to me why he’s alive, much less why he was in your life. Or Carly’s,” he added. He paused. “I have questions.”

“I know. And I’ll answer them. But for now—I just—this happened in front of Jake. Because of the fight last night, and I’m just—I’m trying—”

“Is Cameron okay?” Jason demanded. “Was he hurt?”

“Oh.” She blinked at him. “No, I don’t—he wasn’t. Not physically. I know he was scared, but he’s not ready to talk about it. He’s going to ignore it and pretend all of us matter more. It’s what he always does. He takes care of his brothers. His first thought was for them, to make sure they were okay. He’s home with them now, trying to keep Jake distracted from all of us this until I can figure out how to talk to him about it.”

She paused. “But no, I don’t think he’s okay. And it’s my fault. I know it’s my fault—”

“I didn’t mean—” He scrubbed his hands over his face. “I didn’t mean it to sound like that. I just—it’s hard for me to remember Cameron is fifteen now.”

“I’ve been here every day and it’s hard for me, too. Thank you. For asking about him. It makes me sick that I put him through that. I’ll never forgive myself for it.”

“Elizabeth—”

She shook her head. “Don’t. Don’t say something that makes it okay. Felix tried it, and I know he’s right. I know there’s a lot of things that led to last night, and there’s a lot of reasons I was in that situation, but at the end of the day, I am all Cameron has, and it’s on me to protect him. I didn’t do it.”

He wasn’t going to argue with her about it—he didn’t know the situation, but he knew her. She’d blame herself until she was sick from it. It was almost a relief to know there was something he could focus on that wasn’t the insanity of his situation. Elizabeth’s ability to believe the best in literally everyone except herself would never change.

“You fired a warning shot?” he asked. “Have you been practicing?”

“Actually, no,” Elizabeth said with a hesitant smile. “Not since the last time you took me to the range. I didn’t even know if I’d remember. But I got the bat you gave me back when I got kidnapped—I keep it in the umbrella stand by the door,” she added, “but with the boys in the house, I knew it wouldn’t work.”

“No, the bat is just for you take the guy out at the knees and make a run for it.”

“Exactly, but I remembered how to open the safe.” Her eyes lit up. “You made me do it over and over again, remember? I did it faster than you did, though. It had to be, I guess, or maybe it just felt that way. And then when I shot at his feet—”

“Probably shouldn’t do that,” Jason said with wince. “The bullet could have ricocheted.”

Her eyes widened. “Oh, I didn’t think about that. It’s just in my floor now. Sonny said he’d get someone to come over and help take care of it.”

“I knew he was up to something last night,” Jason muttered. “Taking Michael on security calls. I knew that was bullshit.” He paused. “No more warning shots. Just aim for the chest next time.”

“I’m not planning on there being next time,” Elizabeth said, wrinkling her nose, “so maybe I’ll just focus on making better choices.” She sighed. “That’d be a first.”

“Elizabeth—”

“Never mind. We don’t have a lot of time before Sonny and the others get here, and—” She reached for the bag she’d set on the ground when she came in. “I brought photos of Jake. I thought you might want to see them.”

“Yeah.” Jason nodded, relieved to focus on anything else. “I absolutely do.”

Do you really want to hear that?
Why is everyone staring?
Were you happy?
Were you honest?
Did you ever believe that any of this was real?
We can’t just slow down now
This road’s not safe for driving out this town
I’ve wanted just one thing from you
Everything, everything, it’s everything
– Safe, Airborne Toxic Event

---

October 2012

Spoon Island: Lab

Andre Maddox exhaled slowly as he looked at the unconscious men stretched out on gurneys in front of him. The final twin had been delivered just a week earlier—with a gunshot to his back that had nearly proved fatal. It had taken a week before Andre felt comfortable enough to begin work. Victor had been apoplectic when the wounded twin had arrived—he’d demanded the twins be delivered unscathed.

“Well?” Victor demanded. “Is he ready? Can you begin the mapping?”

“His vitals are stable enough,” Andre agreed, with a nod. He placed the last sensor on the injured twin—Patient Five had arrived almost three months earlier from overseas.

Despite being taken from a warzone, he’d been much easier to procure. Patient Six had been wily and had ducked several attempts to take him cleanly. Their agent had finally gotten frustrated and ignored his orders to deliver an undamaged specimen. He’d shot him and shoved him into the water. Victor’s recovery team had barely managed to pull from the frigid waters of Lake Ontario.

“How long will this take?”

“I don’t know,” Andre repeated for what felt like the thousandth time. “This has never been done. This might not even work — it could fail at any stage. Do you want it done right or quickly?”

Victor seethed. “Why not both?”

“Mr. Cassadine—”

“Let the man work,” the woman said quietly as she walked in behind her brother-in-law. Victor Cassadine was intimidating, but Helena was terrifying. “You’re the one that’s invested in this experiment. I merely wanted Jason Morgan removed from the field for as long as possible.”

Andre ignored the byplay and got to work. He didn’t want to know any of this. He didn’t want to know which patient was Jason Morgan or why Helena and Victor had selected these twins for the first field test. He just knew it had been more than Victor’s conviction they were suitable. This was personal for them. He’d met Helena a few months ago after one of his colleagues at the lab, Ewen Keenan, had died, and she’d chilled him to the bone.

He avoided her at all costs.

He just wanted to dig out the memories from these men, prove they could be mapped and transferred, and save others from the loss he’d suffered.

“Helena—”

“I told you, making her suffer is what matters,” Helena hissed as Victor herded her from the room. “Losing her great love, knowing that he drowned, that his body lays beneath the waters—”

The door closed on the words as Andre ignored the curiosity as to who Helena hated so much.  He shoved it out of his mind and got to work.

Friday, October 27, 2017

Morgan Penthouse: Living Room

Sam’s hands were still trembling as she and her husband walked through the door. Her mother, Alexis, rose from the sofa, her eyes stark against her face. “I just got off the phone with Kristina. It’s all over the news—”

“Mom—” Sam rubbed the side of her face, looking away from her husband who stood in the middle of the room, staring blankly at the floor. “I can’t do this tonight—”

“But—” Alexis looked the man between them. “It’s a mistake. Isn’t it? There’s—I saw the video on the news,” she added, “but it’s wrong. We did the DNA tests—”

“We’re running them again,” her husband said roughly, “but they’ll probably match.” He met Sam’s eyes. “Whatever is going on, it’s not going to be undone by a test. They’ll have figured that much out. Just like Helena knew to erase my fingerprints—whoever is behind this already has an in at the hospital—”

“We’ll have the tests run independently,” Alexis said briskly. “This is just a mistake. A horrible mistake. Everyone has a double out there,” she continued. “I remember Mac Scorpio—”

“Elizabeth said it might be twins,” Sam said softly. She looked at her husband. “I think she’s right. Don’t you?”

“I—” He walked over to the sofa, sat on the arm. “I don’t know. Probably,” he said finally. “Carly brought up the story Heather Webber fed us about Franco being my brother all those years ago.”

“She might not have been completely lying,” Alexis murmured. “So this new man—he’s the twin?”

“I—” Sam wanted to say yes. She desperately wanted to say yes. Because she’d felt it the minute she’d met the other man’s eyes—the crackle, the light of recognition that had never, ever been there with the man standing in front of her.

How she never realized it? How hadn’t she felt the absence of it?

But this was her husband. She’d schemed and stolen him from his other life, and he’d fallen in love with her. He’d married her. He’d chosen her and their children over that other life, over Jake, Elizabeth, Sonny, and Carly. Jason had never done that. How could she turn her back when everyone else already had?

“He must be,” Sam said finally. “He’s just—he says he’s not, and he’s convincing. As an actor,” she added hastily when her husband shot her a glare. She folded her arms. “He’s playing a game. Raised by Betsy—I bet that’s why Franco wants to press charges. He knows who he is—”

“Maybe.” He exhaled on a shaky breath. “I just—” He looked at Alexis. “I really just want to stop thinking about this. I know who I am. I had to fight to get my life back, and someone with my old face isn’t going to steal it from me without a fight.”

“We’ll get the fingerprints,” Sam told him. “They can fake a DNA test, but the physical fingerprints—from the PCPD archives—those are yours. Jordan isn’t going to screw with that. Curtis won’t let her do that to you.”

“Right.”

“Why don’t I leave you for the night?” Alexis offered. “The kids are sleeping. Jason,” she said, stressing the name. She waited until he looked at her. “Go upstairs and look in on them. You’ll feel better.”

“Yeah. Yeah.” He sighed. “Sonny and Carly believe him,” he said faintly. “Elizabeth does—”

“Of course they do,” Sam snapped. “They didn’t believe in this new life. They want the old Jason back. The one that let Carly walk all over him, let Sonny use him, let Elizabeth lie to him—they’re angry that you’re putting me and the kids first. It’s jealousy,” she added. “Just like we said earlier.”

“Yeah, I guess.” Her husband kissed her forehead. “I’ll see you upstairs.”

“I’ll walk you out,” Sam told her mother, opening the door. Alexis sighed, then grabbed her coat. At the elevator, Alexis pressed the button. “Mom—”

“I saw some of the videos, Sam. They played them on the newscast, and they got the feed from the Metro Court —I saw the man that tried to choke the life out of Franco. I think we should both remember that the man who just went upstairs came to us with a different face, a different voice—”

“Mom—”

“No memories, beyond some residual ones of Elizabeth and their son—” At that reminder, Sam’s mouth tightened, and she looked away. “And he also came to us with a chip in his head from Helena Cassadine.”

“He’s my husband,” Sam said with a lift of her chin. “All of that might be true, but he is also my husband and the father of my children.”

“But is he Jason Morgan?” Alexis said gently. The elevator door opened before Sam could offer an answer. Alexis stepped on board, then held out her hand to prevent it from closing. “You would be doing him a favor if you were realistic—”

“I won’t pretend to be someone I’m not. I love my husband. I won’t abandon him the way everyone else has,” Sam retorted. “He needs me.”

“I’ll see you in the morning then.” Alexis moved her hand, and the doors closed. Sam spent a moment staring at them before going back into the penthouse.

Webber House: Living Room

Her hands tightened around the bat, and Elizabeth lifted it higher, locking eyes with the man that she’d let into her home, into her life, into her body, her heart—

Into the lives of her boys. Her precious babies.

“Get your hands off my son now,” she repeated.

Franco released Cameron’s shirt, stepped away from her eldest son with his hands up. “There’s been a misunderstanding,” he said slowly. “Let me explain—”

“Cameron, take your brothers upstairs,” Elizabeth snapped, not taking her eyes off Franco.

She’d never take her eyes off him again. Evil always struck when you weren’t looking.

“Jake, Aiden, go upstairs,” Cameron ordered. “I’m not leaving you, Mom. Let me call someone—”

“I came in here, and they were watching the video from the Metro Court. They were laughing—”

“They are children,” Elizabeth snarled, wishing she could get to the safe on the other side of the room. A bat—she knew she’d never be able to take him down for good. She had to get her babies to safety.  “Cameron, upstairs. Now!”

“Not a chance,” Cameron muttered, but he pushed Aiden and Jake towards the stairwell. “Go—”

“But—” Jake protested.

“Listen to me,” he ordered in a tone that sounded so much like her own it might have been amusing any other time.

“I just wanted him to give me the goddamn tablet,” Franco retorted. “If you’d taught your kids how to respect people—”

“You called my mom a liar!” Aiden screamed, and Cameron hissed at him.

“Upstairs!”

“Go,” Jake told Aiden, and the youngest Webber boys headed up the stairs, their feet scrambling up the carpeted steps. She could breathe a little more easily.

But only a little.

“Get out.”

“Damn it, Elizabeth!” Franco dragged his hands through his hair. “Why won’t you just listen to me? After everything I’ve been through tonight, you’re not even trying to listen to my side—”

“Side?” Her voice climbed almost to a shrill pitch as hysteria threatened. Oh, God, what if he didn’t leave? What would she do? Behind Franco, she saw Cameron sliding his hand in his pocket, likely for his phone, but he was moving slowly—trying desperately not to draw any attention.

“You don’t have a side. They’re my children!” She forced herself to take a deep breath, for her lungs to fully expand. “Get out. Don’t make me say it again.”

“What if I don’t go?” Franco retorted. “What are you going to do? This is my house, too. I have rights!”

Damn it. Damn it. She had to get to the safe. Had to get something better than the bat. If she’d been by herself, she’d have gone for the fucking head and let the chips fall where they may.

But her babies were in the house, and she didn’t think Cameron could get them to safety before Franco went after them.

And she knew, she knew he’d go for them first.

“Okay.” Elizabeth let the bat fall to her side. “Then explain your side,” she said.

“Mom—”

“Cameron. Let him explain. We owe him that much,” she said, hating the way his face fell, how his eyes filled with disappointment and betrayal. Oh, God. What had she done?

She edged around Franco, wanting to put herself between Cameron and Franco. She had to get to the safe. Could she still get open as fast as Jason had taught her?

“Finally! Do you see my face?” Franco demanded. “Look at my throat!” He started to unzip his jacket to reveal the skin in question—

And Elizabeth went for the safe, thrusting the bat at Cameron, getting the code and door open in what must have been five seconds but felt like hours—

She yanked the gun from the top shelf where it had rested next to her passport and the boys’ birth certificates for nearly a decade—

Franco’s hands were still on the zipper of jacket, his one good eye bulging in stunned surprise as Elizabeth leveled the gun at his chest, stepping in front of Cameron.

“Get out,” she said. “There’s not a jury in this world that would convict me.”

“You wouldn’t—”

She slowly and deliberately disengaged the safety, the click reverberating in the quiet room.

“You don’t know me as well as you think you do.”

Greystone Manor: Living Room

“I cannot believe you knew for three whole hours,” Carly said as they walked into the living room, “and didn’t tell me. I told you something was wrong—” She slapped Sonny’s shoulder. “Didn’t I? I said Helena put a whammy on him—but it’s more than that—”

She turned to Jason and threw her arms around him, nearly knocking him off his feet. “It’s really you, isn’t it?”

“It’s me,” Jason told her, closing his eyes, hugging her back.

“You’d never buy a media company and abandon me—”

“Carly—” Sonny said, with a sigh as he pulled her back. “Let Jason breathe. It’s been a long night—”

The door opened behind them, and Michael and Joss hurried in—Michael standing in the doorway for a moment to stare at Jason, who could hardly believe his eyes. When he’d last seen him, Michael had barely been twenty. He seemed taller, his face filled out, with lines at the corner of his eyes—this little boy he’d practically raised and had loved like a son—

“Oh my God,” the girl beside him said, and Jason took in Carly’s daughter for the first time. She must be fifteen now, he remembered, and looked a lot like her mother had when Carly had arrived in Port Charles at twenty-two. “We saw the videos, but—Michael—” Joss tugged her brother’s sleeve.

Michael swallowed hard. “Is it—” He looked at his parents. “I don’t—I don’t understand what’s happening,” he said, finally.

“We don’t either,” Carly offered, her voice trembling. “But it’s Jason.”

“Of course it is,” Joss said. She gestured at him. “I mean, it’s just like I told the others,” she said to Michael, “he tried to kill Franco, which is what normal people do.” And for some reason, she glared at her mother, who winced.

“Joss—” Michael said with a sigh.

“What? You think I’m ever going to let Mom forget what she did?” Joss demanded. “Has anyone even told Jason what’s going on with that? I mean, he lives with Jake—”

“What?” Jason demanded, everything else in his brain squeezed out at that. He whirled around to stare at Carly and Sonny. “What the hell—”

“It’s complicated,” Carly muttered.

“Not really,” Joss said breezily. She folded her arms, and Jason focused on her again because at least she was giving him answers instead of trying to protect him. “Franco showed up like eight months after you went into the water. He had all these stupid DVDs that supposedly proved his innocence and no one was buying it, but then Dr. Patrick found a brain tumor—”

“Brain tumor?” Jason repeated with disgust. “Not again.”

“It gets better,” Sonny offered. Carly scowled at him, and he shrugged. “What? You might regret it now, but—”

“Mom got Diane to defend Franco in court,” Joss continued as Michael sat down, put his head in his hands. “And got all the charges dropped—”

“I am not proud of that,” Carly muttered.

“What about what happened after that?” Michael said dully. “You almost married him.” He focused on Jason, who was just staring at Carly. “She didn’t. But he left her at the altar.” His mouth tightened. “She was having an affair with Dad, among other things.” He looked at Sonny and Carly, who both avoided his eyes, and Jason frowned at that. There was something else that wasn’t quite right.

But he couldn’t really wrap his mind around any of this. “You almost married Franco?” he demanded of Carly. Which meant — “Is he—” He closed his eyes.

“One time,” Michael said, leaning back against the chair, staring at the ceiling. “You told me that you thought Elizabeth might be able to forgive a serial killer because she was too nice.” He met Jason’s eyes without any humor. “I laughed then. It’s less funny now.”

Jason hissed under his breath. “How the hell did any of this happen?” he demanded. “Franco was dead. I killed him—” He winced, remembering Joss was there.

“Oh, don’t worry, your failure to do that has been a source of much irritation,” Joss said with a shrug. “Cameron and I are very disappointed.”

“Joss,” Carly said through gritted teeth. “Maybe you should go to bed.”

“I can’t,” Joss said, rolling her eyes. “Because I know you think I’m just a kid, but me and Cam—”

“Oh, no,” Sonny moaned. “What now?”

“Don’t make that face, Uncle Sonny. This isn’t like the last time,” Joss said. “I promise. We didn’t even get near a car tonight.”

“You should listen to Joss on this one,” Michael said, “Because, like I told you guys on the phone, this was all over social media. Cam and Joss knew about it before I got there. And they saw the videos—”

“By the way, Jason,” Joss interrupted, “Cam and Aiden are going to have the choking video on repeat for days. Highlight of the night—”

“Joss,” Michael scowled. “Focus.”

“Right, right, well Oscar—my boyfriend, Oscar Nero—and I actually found out that’s not his real name—not his birth name. He’s actually Oscar Cain, but his stepmom changed their name—”

“Joss.” Michael shoved himself to his feet with a growl. Jason’s head was starting to ache. “Oscar saw the video and says that you—” he gestured at Jason. “Your face—looks exactly like his dad’s did the last time Oscar saw him. Andrew Cain. Disappeared from Afghanistan in July 2012. He went AWOL.”

Jason exhaled slowly, then looked at Sonny. “So he did have my face before.”

“Heather Webber wasn’t lying, and neither were the DNA tests,” Carly said. “But—” She hesitated. “He has your memories, Jason. We didn’t know who he was—and even when we found out, he still didn’t remember. Then he did.”

“He told me about raising me as a baby,” Michael offered. “And it sounded real, but—” He paused. “I don’t know. He also had that chip in his head,” he reminded his parents. He looked at Jason. “He did these crazy things—really bad crimes—and got arrested. Elizabeth was sure something wasn’t right, and it turns out Helena Cassadine had a chip in his head to control him.”

“The Cassadines,” Sonny said, nodding to Jason. “I told you. Whatever this is—it’s not over. You said you were chased in Russia, attacked in New York City.”

“But here aren’t any Cassadines left,” Joss said, folding her arms. “Except for Spencer who barely counts, and—” she hesitated. “And Valentin. I bet he’s in on it. He’s super scary.”

“What? What did he say to you?” Sonny demanded.

“Oh—” Joss’s eyes widened. “Nothing to me. He’s not that dumb. He picked up Charlotte from Aiden’s birthday party a few months ago, and he was like, super weird to Cam’s mom. Like he said something about Nikolas—”

“What about Nikolas?” Jason asked, irritated by only having half the story.

“Valentin killed Nikolas last year,” Carly said tightly, “and ended up inheriting everything. He’s one of Mikkos’s sons. Illegitimate,” she added. “Joss, you never said—”

“Because he didn’t say it to me,” Joss repeated, rolling her eyes. “And Cam’s mom never gets scared of anything. Cam says that’s because they’ve all been kidnapped like twice. Except for Cam. Which I think sometimes he’s jealous about—”

Michael put his hands on Joss’s shoulders. “Why don’t we go upstairs?” he said to her.

“No, I’m helping,” Joss said, shrugging his hands off. “I listen to everything even when I’m not supposed to.” She looked at Jason. “He’s Charlotte’s dad, and Lulu’s her mom, so Aiden is stuck putting up with her, and Charlotte is mean. Like pick the wings off flies mean, and he’s in Charlotte’s class at school. He’s always coming home, upset about her. Cam’s mom can’t do anything because the school refuses to stand up for Aiden because Valentin has all the money, and she doesn’t —anyway—he’s raising his own little serial killing psychopath, so that’s how I know he’s scary. Plus, he said to Cam’s mom that it was a shame Nikolas couldn’t get to see his son, only then he pretended like he’d made a mistake when he was just making a dig at her because he’s also a giant douchebag—”

“I have a headache,” Sonny muttered, but Jason had taken all of Joss’s rambles in and refined them to the essential details. Valentin had killed Nikolas, and had a daughter — likely the girl Aided had complained about in the park.

“The important thing,” Joss said, “is that we know who the other guy is because all Oscar has to do is get a DNA test, right?” she widened her eyes. “Or would that come back to being identical to you? I mean, would it say Oscar is your kid?” She furrowed her brow. “Would that help?”

“There are advanced tests,” Carly said. “They can use Jake and Oscar’s DNA to establish identity,” she offered. “Along with the fingerprints. That should take care of it—”

“What about—” Joss began, but Michael elbowed her. “Hey, ow, what, you think no one is going to ask about Danny?”

“Danny?” Jason repeated, furrowing his brow.

“I was thinking,” Michael said, with a growl at his sister, “that maybe we’ve dumped enough crap on you tonight.”

“Oh, well, maybe, but this is good stuff, isn’t it? Jason went into the water with no kids, and now he’s got two. That’s gotta be, like, the best part, right?” Joss blinked at him as Jason just stared at her. “Right?”

Webber Home: Living Room

“You don’t even know how to use that thing,” Franco said, his voice trembling just enough that she knew he was scared.

Good.

“You sure about that?” Elizabeth’s lips curved up in a humorless smile. “You think Jason didn’t teach me how to make a kill shot? When my life was on the line? When it came to protecting Jake and Cam?”

“Jason,” Franco spat. “It’s always back to him—”

Was she really going to have to pull the trigger? God damn it—She hissed, then lowered the gun slightly—aiming it at the floor just by his toe. It had been a very long time since Jason had taught her how to shoot but—

Franco yelped when the bullet hit the floor just in front of his feet. Cameron lunged towards to the stairs as Jake cried out, and Aiden started screaming.

“It’s okay, it’s okay! Mom just fired a warning shot. She’s okay. We’re okay!”

Franco stumbled back, glaring at her. “You fucking shot at me!”

She raised the barrel. “Want to see what else I can do?”

He hissed, then stalked out the door, slamming it behind him so hard that the entire front of the house shook.

She didn’t move the gun, didn’t even blink until she heard a car roar away, the brakes squealing.

“Mom? Mommy!”

“It’s okay, he’s gone,” Cameron told his brothers as Jake and Aiden came rushing down the stairs—Cameron holding them back because Elizabeth still had the gun in her hand.

“Mom,” Jake said slowly, “are you okay?”

She wanted to tell him no. Of course, she wasn’t okay. But she was the adult. These were her babies, and she needed to be the strong one.

“Yes,” Elizabeth told him. “Cameron, go secure the alarm and put the chain on the door.”

She disengaged the safety and relocked the gun in the safe, her fingers trembling slightly as she took just a minute away from the boys to steady herself.

How had this happened? Had had any of this happened?

“Mom?” Cameron said. She stood up and faced her boys, with their tear-stained faces and stunned expressions. “Mom,” he said again, “we’re going to talk about how badass that was, and I’m sorry I doubted you because I never saw anyone move that damned fast, but I don’t think we should depend on an alarm system he knows and a chain—”

“No, I know.” Elizabeth pressed a hand to her head, tried to gather her thoughts. “And I need my floor fixed,” she muttered, staring at the scarred hardwood. Or maybe she’d keep it as a reminder to never, ever let anyone else in again.

She felt a pair of arms encircle her waist through her black coat, and she opened her eyes to find Aiden clinging to her. “Hey, baby.”

“I was scared he’d hurt Cameron, then us, but you came home, and you made him leave.”

“Yeah, that was really cool,” Jake told her, swallowing hard as he hugged her, too. She kissed the top of his head—her babies who had seen too much of the bad in this world.

She’d made him leave.

But she had brought him home in the first place.

“Do we call the police?” Cameron asked. “I mean—” He glanced uneasily at the floor where the bullet had hit. “Will you get in trouble?”

“No, because we’re not going to call them. They’re the good guys,” she reminded her children, “but they’re not always the answer.”

No, she needed someone who understood.

“Cameron, can you take the boys upstairs?” she asked. “I need to make a call.”

Cassadine Estate: Foyer

Valentin winced when he saw Nina standing just beyond the foyer, in the parlor ahead of him. He gritted his teeth, offered his coat to the waiting servant, then waded into battle.

“You left me,” his wife said. “In the middle of all that chaos, you left me and walked out.” Nina arched an imperious brow. “What the hell is going on?”

“I saw someone I needed to speak to,” Valentin said, offering her a charming smile, but it was a mistake since her eyes just narrowed.

“Right when a Jason Morgan look-alike was storming the ballroom, trying to choke the life out of Franco?” she said dryly. “You saw someone you needed to speak with?”

“Yes.” Valentin brushed a kiss on her cheek. “Have you looked in on Charlotte since you’ve been home?”

“Yes. She’s sleeping. Don’t change the subject, Valentin. Who did you need to speak with so badly that you didn’t even tell me you were going?”

“Just someone from the office. Really, Nina—” Valentin tried the smile again, but he really wasn’t feeling it. He was stretched too thin, trying to keep too many balls in the air—the last thing he needed was a suspicious wife asking questions. And he highly doubted that Nina would be interested in why he’d had Jason Morgan held in a Russian clinic or why his return might bring everything crashing down.

He had too much to do—too many lines to tug—he needed to find those files—he needed to find the last of the Cassadines before his inheritance—what his mother had promised him—could be stolen from him—

“Valentin, I told you that I needed a new start,” Nina said to him softly. “After what happened with my mother and Ric Lansing. And Ava and Silas. I needed to be able to trust someone. Please don’t tell me that you’ve become someone I can’t.”

“You can trust me,” Valentin assured her, and this he could say without a single trace of dishonesty. His schemes were over—there were just some loose ends that didn’t have anything to do with the life he’d created with Nina and Charlotte. “It’s really nothing. I’m so sorry I left you in the middle of that, but those people don’t really matter to us, do they?”

“No,” Nina said, slowly. “Other than Franco,” she added. “But I imagine if the other man really is Jason Morgan, he’ll have to accept that Franco has changed.” She bit her lip. “What do you think is going on? I know that Helena was behind Jason’s abduction all those years ago. Could it be something leftover from her?”

“Maybe,” Valentin said. “I should probably find out,” he offered. “Why don’t I make some calls in the morning.” He leaned in to kiss her cheek again, relieved that some of the cold tension in the air had dissipated. “My stepmother had many irons in the fire. After the Chimera incident,” he murmured, “it makes sense that there might be some other loose ends.”

“You should get to the bottom of it,” Nina said, straightening his suit jacket. “It was scary last year when that poor little boy was under Helena’s control. Dead for two years and still pulling strings—it’s something out of a horror film.”

“Yes.” Valentin nodded. “It’s time that Helena’s secrets were revealed. She’s dead, and she’s going to stay that way.”

Webber House: Living Room

Elizabeth rubbed her neck as she watched Michael change the security code on her door with Sonny hovering nearby. “Jason doesn’t know?” she asked. “I mean, that I called?”

“No, I talked him into going to bed just before you did,” Sonny assured her. He gestured for her to join him in the kitchen while Michael finished changing the code. “When did you get a gun?” he asked. “You could have used it that time Obrecht locked you up at the old house—”

“The safe was too far away, and she was a lot smarter than Franco. After that, I kept it in the living room,” Elizabeth said, rubbing her arms. “Jason got it for me.” She looked back out into the living room. “After Michael was shot. He broke off the engagement, but he was terrified that someone already knew about me and the boys.”

Sonny sucked in a sharp breath. “I didn’t know—”

“He got me the safe, and he taught me how to open it fast. He knew I didn’t want the gun around the boys, even unloaded. He kept his in a lockbox high up in the penthouse, but I couldn’t—” She was babbling, her voice was shaking. “Anyway. He made me practice until I could get to the gun in ten seconds. He taught me how to shoot, too. I wasn’t sure I’d remembered how to do that until I had to fire the shot. It came back in a rush. Muscle memory.”

Sonny scrubbed a hand over his face. “Christ. This is a goddamn mess.”

“I feel like such an idiot,” she admitted. “Everyone told me. Why did I think I was different? Why did I think I was special?”

“Why would you think this is on you?” Sonny bit out. “I’m the one that let him live over and over again. We should have cut his ass up in tiny pieces, set him on fire, and danced on his grave.”  He winced. “Sorry.”

“No, right now it sounds like a great idea. I killed one of the Russian guys when they tried to kill Sam and go after Jake,” Elizabeth said. “It didn’t stop them from getting him, but I know I’d kill for my boys. That was never in doubt. I  just didn’t want Cameron to see me.”

He paused. “These last five years Jason has been gone—there’s so much he doesn’t know. And he’s getting all of it fast, like a freight train coming at him.”

“Do you—should I not tell him?” Elizabeth asked, squinting. “I mean—”

“No, you should absolutely tell him. Franco threatened you, put his hands on Cam It doesn’t matter that it wasn’t Jake. You and the boys—you know you’re family. And I like Cameron. You know I do. This pisses me off.” He paused. “It’s never happened before?”

“Absolutely not!” Elizabeth shook her head. “No, I didn’t—it wasn’t even until the last few days I even realized that Cameron and Aiden—that Franco was an issue. It’s just been—the Chimera, my grandmother, then Jason—” She closed her eyes. “The shooting and the coma,” she said slowly, “and Franco was spending so much time with his art show. He wasn’t around the boys much after he moved in. This—I know this has to be the first time.”

She turned as she saw Cameron come into the room. “Cameron, please tell me—”

“I never would have kept that from you, Mom.” He nodded to Sonny. “Hey, Mr. Corinthos.”

“You ever gonna call me Sonny?”

“No, sir,” Cameron said, but his smile was a bit more genuine. “Mom, I promise. I didn’t think that was ever—if he’d gone after me, he might have done it to Jake or Aiden. And I asked them. They would have told you or me. I promise.”

“Okay. Okay.” She could breathe more easily. “Okay. That’s—that’s better. Are your brothers okay?”

“Yeah, they’re in your room, watching Netflix. I’m gonna go back up, I just—” He shifted. “I just wanted to thank you for coming over, Mr. Corinthos. And Michael,” he said as the older blond joined them in the kitchen. “With everything that’s going on tonight. I appreciate you doing this for my mom and me.”

“Any time,” Sonny said. “If I let anything happen to you, Joss would never forgive me. You did a good job looking out for your brothers, your mom said. She could focus on getting that bastard out of here because you kept your head.”

“Yeah, well, Mom was pretty cool under fire, too. I was scared,” Cameron said, “but then she shot at his feet, and he jumped like eight feet in the air. That helped.”

“I would have liked to see it,” Michael said with a grin. “Jason will be proud when you tell him.”

“I don’t think pride is going to be high on that list,” Elizabeth said. “Cam, I’ll be up in a bit—”

“Yeah, yeah. Thanks again.” He extended a hand to Michael, who shook it, then he shook Sonny’s hand.

“He’s such a great kid,” Sonny said as Cameron’s steps faded away. “About tomorrow—”

“I know I have to tell Jason,” she said, “I just hate that it has to be like this. I hate that this happened, but tonight of all nights—I just want—I want to find out what’s going on. How this happened, and now I have to drop Franco at his feet.” She grimaced. “But I have to tell him.”

“Good. We’re meeting at a safe house,” he told her, and she frowned at him. “Not at Greystone. I don’t want Carly at this meeting. It’ll just be me, you, and Jason. And Michael,” he said, “if you want to come.”

“You planning on tying my mother up?” Michael said dryly.

“I’ll figure something out—”

“She should be there,” Elizabeth said, irritated with the both of them. “That’s ridiculous. This isn’t business, Sonny. It’s Cassadines. And they scheme. Why the hell would you leave Carly out of this? No one schemes like her.”

“She’s got a point,” Michael said. “And if you don’t bring Mom, she’ll just find out and make you pay later. Plus, then she’ll find out Elizabeth was there, and we really don’t need Mom finding another reason to give Elizabeth hell.”

“That is also an excellent point,” Elizabeth said. “And what safe house? You have like a thousand of them, and I haven’t needed to know any of them for—”

“The one Jason bought for you in Queen’s Point,” Sonny told her, and she fell silent. “It’s how he got in contact with me. Only you, me, Spinelli, and Jason ever knew the code. It’s a safe place, and I want to keep this quiet.”

“The safe house in Queen’s Point,” Elizabeth said slowly. The one Jason had bought before the trip to Italy that had never happened. Where they’d talked about the future, had made love in several rooms before leaving and never going back. She forced a smile. “Sounds great.”

Morgan Penthouse: Nursery

He knew they were right.

That was the horrible truth behind all of this. He knew he wasn’t Jason Morgan. Wasn’t that what the voice had been screaming in his brain for years?

It had started small, just merely a whisper in the days after his failed wedding to Elizabeth, when the world had been trying to shove him into a box labeled Jason Morgan. This is who you are, they’d said. Sam had begged him to see the truth, had begged him to come back to her, to their life. To Danny.

And he’d said no. He’d resisted. He didn’t remember that life. He knew this life. He was Jake Doe. And Elizabeth and her boys—they were his family.

Then he’d learned Elizabeth had been lying, and he hadn’t known what to think. What to do. He couldn’t be Jake Doe anymore, and he didn’t want to be Jason Morgan. He didn’t belong anywhere.

The voice had only grown louder when his memories had returned—those memories that felt so real except when they also felt like movies playing in his head—like there was a strange white film over them sometimes, keeping him from really feeling like a part of him—

He’d ignored that voice, ignored the out of body sensation he felt every time someone called him Jason. He had his memories, he’d told himself. And he shut it all way. He’d married Sam. They’d started a new life—

But since he’d woken up in the hospital after the last gun shot, the voice had been screaming so loud it had nearly drowned everything else out He’d ignored it, he’d kept going, finally ready to stop pretending he was the Jason from before—he was going to be the Jason of now. The Jason he wanted to be.

“But it’s not me,” he said slowly, looking down at his beautiful little girl, the little girl with dark curls and her mother’s dark eyes, named for the sister that wasn’t his.

He squeezed his eyes shut. If he let this go, if he stopped living this life, who would he be this time? He’d be no one again. Couldn’t go back to Jake Doe. That life was gone. He’d burned all those bridges—

No. It had to be a lie. And there had to be another reason his memories didn’t always feel right. His brain had been knocked around a lot, Sam had laughed once. It was a miracle he could function. That’s what it was.

He was Jason Morgan. Sam was his wife. And Danny, Scout, and Jake were his kids. He couldn’t lose them. He couldn’t lose another life.

“Jason?”

He turned to find his wife standing in the door frame, her voice hesitant. Had she stumbled over his name because she was worried about him? Or because she just didn’t know how to tell him that she also believed the man with the face she’d loved once?

“Jason,” Sam repeated, her voice steadier this time, more assured. He wondered if he’d imagined it.

“Hey.” Jason smiled at her. “Sorry, I was just thinking about how beautiful Scout is. How much she looks like you.”

Sam returned his smile and held out a hand. “Let’s go to bed,” she said softly. “Everything will be better in the morning.”

Knowing she was lying—that nothing would be okay again—Jason took her hand and followed her into their bedroom.

Greystone Manor: Living Room

Sonny frowned when he walked through the door and found Jason sitting on the sofa. “Jason, I thought you’d gone to bed—”

“I did,” Jason said as he got to his feet. “Then I heard you leave. What happened?”

Sonny pressed his lips together. “I got a call to take care of a security problem,” he said. “And I didn’t know how to change a security code, so I took Michael. He’s picked up some things from Spinelli. We should call him in the morning, by the way. We’ll need him.”

“What security problem,” Jason said, ignoring Sonny’s attempt to change the subject, “did you need to deal with that you were comfortable taking Michael?”

“It’s been a long five years,” Sonny said. His voice shook as he continued. “You know about Morgan, but there’s a lot more. You can’t learn it all in one night.”

“Sonny—”

“I know it’s a mess. I know there’s a thousand things going in your head, and you’ll never be able to sleep. That’s fine. But we need to take this one step at a time. We’ll get Spinelli back in town. We’ll need him. We’ll find out who did this to you—”

“Five years,” Jason repeated. His entire life—everything he’d known—it was gone. And in its place was a world he didn’t know. Didn’t understand. Couldn’t even process. Jake was alive. Danny was apparently his biological son. Sam didn’t believe him, and Elizabeth was living with Franco, who Carly had almost married—the Cassadines might still be coming after him—or anyone else who mattered—

“One step at a time,” Jason repeated. He took a deep breath. “You’re right. We’re meeting tomorrow?”

“Yeah, and until we get a handle on what we’re dealing with, I don’t want Elizabeth coming over here and signaling Valentin, or whoever the hell we’re dealing with that she’s gonna be involved.” He hesitated. “And it might be good if Franco doesn’t know she’s spending time with you.”

Jason narrowed his eyes. “Sonny, what the hell is going on?”

“We’ll talk about it tomorrow. Neither one of us might be able to sleep,” his friend said, “but I sure as hell need to lay down. I’m not as young as I used to be. And neither are you.”

“I want—”

“Tomorrow,” Sonny repeated. He paused. “And this isn’t my story to tell.”