I won’t give up so don’t give in
You’ve fallen down but you will rise again
I won’t give up
When the demon that’s inside you is ready to begin
And it feels like it’s a battle that you will never win
When you’re aching for the fire and begging for your sin
When there’s nothing left inside, there’s still a reason to fight
– A Reason to Fight, Disturbed

---

April 2017 in St. Petersburg, Russia

Cathedral of St. Andrew the First-Called

Britt’s hands were shaking as she sat down, her breath short and choppy. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry—”

“Britt—” Nikolas reached out for her but she just clenched her fingers into fists, the nails digging into her palm.

“I did everything right. I thought I did everything right. But he didn’t—he wouldn’t open his eyes—”

Nikolas’s breath escaped in a rush. “He didn’t—”

“He should have,” Britt insisted. “His heart beat changed. He should have been awake. But he didn’t—” She raised her tear-stained eyes to his. “I let you down. You asked me for one thing—and now—”

“And now we need a back up plan.” Nikolas scrubbed his hands over his face. “Christ. Okay. Okay. Damn it.”

“I’m sorry—”

“You did everything you could. I just—I have to depend on Maddox. He told me he put a fail safe in Jake’s brain. He can be stopped.” Nikolas dipped his head. “I need to be in Port Charles. I need to be there in case things go wrong.”

“But you didn’t want Valentin to know you were back—”

“I’ll call Lucky. He’s been working another angle for a few years. He can get me in and out without noticing. Britt—” Nikolas looked at her. “You did what I asked. It’s not your fault.”

“But—”

“If I need you again, I’ll call. Thank you.” He squeezed her hand. “Thank you for trying.” He left the church without another word, disappearing into the dark St. Petersburg night.

Britt remained where she was seated, her hands still shaking as someone else took his place.

“Is it done?”

“Yes.” Britt gritted her teeth. “Yes. Are you happy now? Is that what you needed?”

“Liebchen, ” Liesl Obrecht murmured, “if you are disappointed, then you ought not to have used your father’s name to gain admittance to the clinic. The punishment could have been worse.”

“But—”

“The boy will be fine,” Liesl said, dismissing Britt’s concerns. “Valentin does not intend to harm him—you heard the prince. There’s a fail safe—”

“If it doesn’t work—”

“It will be no business of ours. Now, we will return—”

“Why are you doing this? Don’t I deserve to know that much? Why do you care if Nikolas takes down Valentin Cassadine? Why are you trying to stop him?” Britt demanded. “He has nothing to do with us—”

Liesl made a face. “I wish that were so, Liebchen, but unfortunately your father continues to disappoint me.”

“What—” Britt blinked. “What does he—”

“Valentin Cassadine is not the Cassadine heir,” Liesl admitted with a careless shrug. “He’s one of your father’s many bastards.”

Britt’s eyes bulged out of her head. “Wait—what?”

“Yes, yes, he’s the mongrel offspring of Faison and Helena. As such, he’s dedicated to gaining the Cassadine resources for himself. That only works if Valentin stays in control.” Liesl touched Britt’s nose with her fingertip, very nearly a gesture of affection. “You did that very nicely by screwing up the protocol.”

Britt watched as her mother sauntered out of the church. Then she smiled. Oh — she’d screwed up the protocol all right, but not as she’d been directed. She’d merely made a few tweaks. Jason would be waking up on his own any day now. He might not be in time for the Nurse’s Ball—

But he’d be going home all the same.

She hadn’t been able to give Nikolas what he wanted, but she hoped—she very desperately hoped—she’d been able to give him what he needed.

Monday, January 1, 2018

Webber House: Living Room

Cameron stifled a yawn as he blearily came down the steps, then blinked at the air mattress on the floor in front of the sofa where Trina and Joss were sprawled out. Somewhere in his sleep-starved brain, he knew he’d have to hold this over them one day. Maybe he should take a picture as proof—

He made a face at the clock — barely five am — but he knew he’d heard a car in the driveway, and he wasn’t sure what time his mother had come in. He didn’t want any idiots waking her or his brothers up.

Cameron glanced out the front window, then stopped as his brain tried to compute what he was seeing.

Jason’s SUV sat in the driveway, behind his mother’s car with Cameron’s still parked at the curb. And there was Jason, helping his mother step down from the SUV, her hair down around her shoulders. She smiled up at him, said something—and then—

Cameron took a step back, and then hurried across the living room as fast as his legs could carry him. He did not want to see his mother when she came in the door because then they’d both know where she’d been the night before, and Cameron just wasn’t in the mood.

Oscar rolled over with a yawn as Cameron came into the room. “Whatzit?” he slurred, scrubbing a hand over his face as he sat up in his sleeping bag. Next to him, Spencer kept snoring. He focused on Cameron. “What’s wrong?”

“Uh. Nothing. I think—” Cameron sat on the edge of his bed, shoving Aiden’s foot out of the way. His brothers were supposed to have spent the night in Jake’s room the night before—but somehow, they’d stolen his bed and he’d had to drag out Jake’s Captain American sleeping bag since Oscar had borrowed Cameron’s. He looked at Oscar. “My mom just got home.”

“Oh. I guess they party hard in Port Charles.” Oscar said.

“Not my mom. I think—” He stopped. “I think she and Jason are, like, I don’t know, together.”

“Weren’t they already?” Oscar wanted to know. He stopped. “Does it, like, bother you? I thought you and Jason were good.”

“We are. We are,” Cameron repeated. And while he didn’t want to think too much about the whole thing, he did know his mother had been better lately, and looked pretty happy the night before when she’d left. Hadn’t he told her not to hold back on his account? “I don’t know,” he said finally. “Let’s go back to sleep.”

“Okay.” Oscar laid back down, wincing. “Oh, man, do you have any Tylenol or something? My head is killing me, and all we did was eat too much candy and pizza. I thought my stomach would feel like crap today.”

“In the cabinet in the bathroom,” Cameron murmured, sliding back into his sleeping bag, and rolling over onto his side, hoping to get a few more hours of sleep.

Wyndemere: Living Room

Nina stared at the text message on her phone, then raised her eyes to her stepdaughter who was waiting at the breakfast table, peering around the corner for her father to come down the stairs.

Because that was supposed to happen today. They’d gone to a beautiful restaurant the night before, then returned to the island last night for their anniversary. And Valentin had been everything he hadn’t these last few months—attentive, sweet, and completely focused on her—

Then she’d woken up to an empty bed, Valentin’s luggage absent from the closet, and now this—this text message.

Something came up. Out of town for a few days. I love you.

“Nina?” Charlotte asked, furrowing her brows. “Is Papa sick? He’s never late for breakfast.”

“If he’s not,” Nina said, her jaw clenched, “he’s going to wish he was when I get my hands on him.”

Nelle’s Condo: Bedroom

Michael pulled his dress pants on, then turned to find Nelle had propped herself up on her elbows and was peering at him. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“Well—” Nelle shifted on her side, the sheet sliding further down her creamy shoulder so that she could peer on her phone charging on the nightstand. “It’s barely eight on New Year’s Day, and we only went to bed a few hours ago, so—”

“I have a few things I need to do today,” Michael said, apologetically. “I’m sorry—there are some meetings—” He sat on the edge of the bed. “And I wanted to stop by my mother’s.”

“What’s the point?” Nelle asked. She shoved the sheet aside and rose from the bed, reaching for a silk robe on the door of her closet. She tied a knot to secure it, then looked at him. “Your mother is never going to accept me. It doesn’t matter what you try. It’s only making it worse, Michael.”

“I know, but I think if I just find a way—”

“It just feels like everything is against us.” Nelle sat on the edge of the bed, her back to him. “No one supports us. Not really. Your mother would rather see me flying off a cliff than ever accept me, and just because Sonny isn’t fighting it—you know your grandmother doesn’t like me. And your uncle Jason doesn’t even know me, but he’ll listen to whatever Elizabeth says.”

Michael winced, looking away, remembering the disappointment he’d seen in Elizabeth’s eyes the night before. He didn’t even know how much he’d enjoyed having her respect until he’d lost it. She’d always been someone who was just around in his life—but the way she’d spoken to him—the things she’d said—

The boy who fought so hard for AJ, who was desperate to get him back on track, and accepted him for all his faults — I never expected that boy to grow up into a cold, hard man who thinks Nelle Benson is worth what you’re doing to your mother. But maybe you are Sonny’s son after all.

“Michael?”

He turned back to Nelle, shaking Elizabeth’s face and words out of his mind. “Maybe my parents are a lost cause,” he said, “but I know I can make Jason and Elizabeth understand. I will,” he promised her.

“Michael—”

“They just don’t know you the way I do,” he insisted. “And Jason’s put up with my mother all these years. He has to understand it. He will. And Elizabeth will do whatever he needs her to do. Don’t worry about any of them.”

“They’re your family, Michael. I can’t be responsible for you losing them—” Nelle rose to her feet. “Maybe we should just—we should just let it go. We tried, but there’s too much against us—”

“I don’t believe that,” Michael declared. He took hold of her hands, squeezed them hard. “Mom misses Morgan, and we all do. But she’ll get over it. She won’t think about you the same way. We just have to keep you away from her a while. Last night was a mistake. But we’re not a mistake, Nelle. You and me.”

“All right,” Nelle said with a heavy sigh. “If you’re sure you’re still willing to sign up for any of this.”

“I am.” Michael drew her into his arms, kissed the side of her head. She burrowed her head in his neck. “We’re in this together. And if it means that I don’t see my mom for a while, well, then that’s what I have to do.”

Nelle raised her head to make eye contact with herself over his shoulder in the mirror across the room.

Then she smiled.

Some things were just too easy.

Metro Court Hotel: Restaurant

Spinelli hurried off the elevator and across the room to where Jason and Drew were seated, waiting for him.

“Morning, morning. Sorry to call you both on a holiday,” Spinelli said as he sat down, grinning at the orange soda that was waiting for him. “But it was important—”

“It’s fine. It’s not like I had to do more than use an elevator to get here,” Drew said. He glanced at Jason. “Jason just got here. Where did you go last night anyway? I didn’t see you at the party after a while.”

Jason simply looked at his brother, then focused on Spinelli, neatly evading the question. Drew hid a slight grin as he sipped his coffee. “What’s up, Spinelli?”

“Valentin Cassadine boarded a plane about—” Spinelli checked the text on his phone. “Ninety minutes ago. It didn’t pop up because it wasn’t a planned flight,” he added as the brothers straightened, the amusement sliding from Drew’s face. “No flight plan, no tickets. He chartered a plane at one in the morning, and took off at seven. And judging from the phone calls he’s ignoring from Nina—”

“Wait, you’re monitoring his phone calls?” Drew demanded. “When did this start—”

“Not his, just hers,” Spinelli clarified. “I haven’t been able to crack his phone yet, but Nina isn’t, uh, that bright,” he admitted. “I sent her a virus on her phone — as soon as she clicked the link, I got everything. So I’ve been tracking Valentin through her. She’s been calling him and texting every five minutes since six-thirty this morning. He isn’t answering.”

“That—” Drew lifted his brows. “That’s interesting. Where is he heading? Russia? Greece?”

“Turkey,” Spinelli said. “Which isn’t on my radar at all. I called Robert and Anna, and they’re looking into it, but uh, there’s really only two options.”

“Either he’s running,” Jason said.

“Or he’s up to something.” Drew’s lips thinned as he pressed them together. “Both of those suck. Do we go to Turkey after him?”

Spinelli waited for Jason to immediately jump on that suggestion — the Stone Cold of yesteryear would already be on the road to the airport.

“Where would we go?” Jason asked. “Do we even have a way of tracking him once he’s on the ground? And I don’t—I don’t know Turkish. I can’t get around there as well. If he’d gone somewhere else—”

“I can manage some Turkish,” Drew admitted. “I also have a bit of Arabic, but yeah, I guess you’ve got a point. If we go after him now—we don’t know what we’re walking into.” He rubbed the side of his face. “Do you think he found what he was looking for?”

“Maybe,” Spinelli admitted. “I just wish we knew what that was. I was able to decrypt a few more of Andre’s files,” he told them. “They’re medical like Helena’s. Some of them might match, but it’s not going to happen over night.”

“No, that’d be too easy,” Drew said dryly. He focused on Jason. “We could go,” he told him. “Maybe we’d find out something, but I’m not sure it’s worth the risk. We have the files and investigation here. Spinelli—Robert and Anna said they’re on it?”

“They’re getting the WSB in the area to check in for what what’s worth,” Spinelli said. Drew made a face. “Yeah, that’s what I said. I wish we had someone on the inside,” he admitted. “Not just Robert or Anna—”

“But an active field agent who Valentin wouldn’t know about,” Jason said. “Yeah. Well, we don’t have that. Spinelli—keep on the wife. He might end up contacting her or his daughter. If we get a location—” He looked at Drew. “If we know where in Turkey he is, then one of should go. I don’t trust the Spencers, and Spinelli’s right. The WSB isn’t on our side either.”

“All right. Then we wait for a location, but, uh, we should both go, because if anything happens to you, I’m not explaining it to Elizabeth,” Drew said, “and you do not want to have that conversation with Curtis.”

“Fair enough,” Jason said. “Then let’s wait for more information.” He finished his coffee. “I have somewhere I need to be.”

“Same,” Drew said. “Spinelli, thanks for the leg work on this. We’d be lost without you.”

“Just doing my part to save the brothers Stone Cold.” Spinelli grabbed the can of orange soda, offered them a jaunty salute, and sauntered off.

Drew made a face, then looked at Jason. “Yeah, I don’t like that nickname. He needs to come up with a new one.”

“You know better than that,” Jason said, with a shake of his head. “He’ll just come up with one you hate more.”

Kelly’s: Dining Room

“Fancy running into you here.”

Elizabeth turned away from the counter as Sonny slid onto the stool next to her. “Hey,” she said, with a warm smile. “I’m just grabbing lunch for the boys. Thanks again for letting Joss sleep over last night.”

“Carly seemed to think Aiden and Jake would keep them all on their best behavior. Me, I’m more interested in keeping boys away from Joss,” Sonny admitted. He ordered a cup of coffee, flipping the cup over so the waitress could fill it. “But I’m glad the kids have each other. All of them,” he added. “Sometimes I think if I’d had more friends like them when I was their age—”

“You might not be Sonny Corinthos?” Elizabeth suggested.

“I might be a better person,” Sonny said with a nod. “Thank you, by the way. For trying to mediate with Michael and Carly. I’m not sure what made you think you could fix the situation, but, uh, Carly seemed to be handling it better last night after the party.” He tipped his head. “What did make you go out on a limb for Carly? She’d never do it for you.”

“Michael keeps asking me that, too.” Elizabeth frowned slightly. “Why do you think that matters?”

Sonny hesitated, then didn’t say anything. He picked up his coffee and took a long sip.

“Do you think there has to be something in it for me, Sonny? That I’m trying to win some credit with Carly so she’ll back off?” she pushed.

“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t wonder if maybe you were just trying to, you know, make the road a little easier for you. I wouldn’t blame you,” Sonny added. “It’s not my business—it never was. But you and Jason weren’t around at midnight, and Carly being less…” He paused. “Carly,” he finally decided, “would give you less of a headache.”

“Being less Carly,” Elizabeth repeated. She looked away as the waitress came out and put her bagged order in front of her, then turned back to Sonny. “You know, I wasn’t with Jason when we lost Jake. We couldn’t grieve together. Lucky wasn’t much help either. I mostly drowned on my own.”

“Elizabeth—”

“I always wondered if it would have been better if I’d had someone who loved me—really loved me—who loved Jake and understood how my entire world had just—” Elizabeth paused. “It broke apart. It shattered. It’s better now, but it will never be the way it was before. I used to think that if I wasn’t alone, maybe it wouldn’t have hurt so much.”

Sonny frowned. “I don’t really know what you’re getting at—”

“Carly isn’t just being Carly, Sonny. But thank you for making me see how much worse it is to be with someone who says they love you—and they still let you drown. And what’s more, they shove your head down while you struggle to breathe.”

She made it all the way to her car before Sonny caught up with her, his eyes dark and intense, his hand grabbing her elbow to stop her from opening the door. “What does that mean?” he demanded, sharply. “I’m not—”

“I’m sorry,” Elizabeth said immediately. “Because it’s not fair of me to think that you’re not drowning on your own, but I just—I don’t know. Maybe the reason Carly and I don’t get along is we see each other too clearly. Carly isn’t okay, Sonny. Tell me you know that.”

Sonny exhaled slowly. “She’s getting better.” He paused. “But you’re right. Maybe I’m just—I’m trying to pretend things are normal. If we act like it’s okay, we’ll just—” He stopped, took a deep breath. “One day, we’ll wake up and it will be.”

“And maybe that’s working for you, Sonny. I hope so. I really want that for both of you. But I don’t think it’s working for Carly.” Elizabeth paused. “Carly and I might never be friends, but you and I were once. We’ve known each other too long, Sonny, to pretend with each other, you know? I tried to help Carly because I couldn’t stand seeing someone in the same pain I was and being left alone to deal with it.”

“And that’s the difference between you and I,” he admitted on a sad sigh. “I used to be that way, but I lost it somewhere.” He looked out over the parking lot, his eyes a bit distant. “A long time ago.”

“I know. It’s a shame. It was one of the reasons I wanted you as a friend.”

Sonny’s eyes swung back to her with a lift of his brows. “Well, if you’re planning to hang around this time, some of that empathy will rub off on me and Carly. We could use it.” He paused. “You are sticking this time?”

“I never wanted to let go in the first place.”

Quartermaine Mansion: Family Room

Drew hesitated in the doorway of the room, looking over the woman sitting at the desk, quietly writing, lost in her own thoughts.

He had such a jumble of memories about Monica—the ones that didn’t belong to him—the angry ones, the warm ones—the memories after he’d woke up as Jake Doe and started to put his life back together—and the sorrow when she hadn’t reached out after that night at the Metro Court.

Had she been drowning in her own guilt? Was that why she’d disappeared from his life?

He knew Curtis had a point. Whatever had happened when he was a child — it was over. He had enough to worry about. What was Valentin up to? And what was going to happen to Sam? Would he be able to make Aurora work? Would he be able to be good father to Danny and Scout even if he wasn’t around all the time? And what was his relationship with Oscar going to look like?

He had so many questions—some of which he might never get answer to. Did it really matter what had happened between a bunch of people he’d never know?

Monica looked up, surprised to find him there. Her eyes wrinkled with confusion, even apprehension as she got to her feet. “Drew? Is everything okay?”

“Yeah. Yeah.” He cleared his throat. “Sorry. Alice told me to come on back. I hope that’s okay.”

“You’re always welcome here. I’m sorry I haven’t—I know I haven’t made that clear, but I will now.” Monica approached him. “Is something on your mind?”

“Yeah.” Drew paused. “I wanted to know how Victor Cassadine knew Jason and I were twins, so I looked into my birth records. Now that I had a place to start, they were easier to find.”

“You—” Monica stopped. “Robert came to see me about this, Drew, and I just—” She shook her head. “It was so long ago—”

“I know. I know, Monica,” he repeated. “And I just—” He met her eyes. “I want you to know that if you’d known about me then, I understand why you might not have been happy about it. Maybe that’s why Susan didn’t tell anyone. In her own way, she was trying not to make it worse for you.”

“Drew—”

“I just—” Drew paused, forced himself to ask the question. “I just need to know if you ever regretted it. Signing the papers.”

Monica stared at him, but said nothing.

“Maybe later, when Jason was older and you loved him, too. If you thought about me. Did you ever look for me?”

They stood in silence for a long moment as his question hung between them, the air heavy with tension.

“I told you,” Monica said slowly, “If Alan had known—if we could have brought you home, Drew, we would have. I need—” Her voice trembled. “I need you to believe that.”

And he did believe that. He absolutely believed there might have come a day at some point when Monica had felt overwhelmed by the guilt, but maybe it had been too late. Maybe he’d been buried in the system too deep—

“All right,” Drew said finally. “We can—we can let it go at that. I love you,” he told her. “No matter what. You’ve been my mother for the last two years. I don’t want to lose that.”

“I don’t either.”

“I’m going to hold you to that.” He kissed her cheek, and then left. Monica watched him go, closed her eyes, and then went over to the desk where she’d left her cell phone.

She picked it up, dialed a familiar number, and waited for the line to connect. “We have a problem,” Monica said without preamble.

“You always have a problem,” the woman on the other line drawled. “Why should I care?”

“Because Robert Scorpio is looking into Susan Moore’s murder and they found the papers. They know.”

There was a long pause, and then —

“I’ll be on the next flight, Monica. Don’t do anything stupid. That’s what got us into this damn mess in the first place.”

With that, Tracy Quartermaine ended the call, and Monica sat down at her desk to stare out the window and remember.

Webber House: Kitchen

“We don’t have to say anything,” Jason told Elizabeth as she loaded up the dishwasher full from the party the night before. She arched a brow at him, and he winced. “Not that we’re keeping it a secret,” he muttered.

“No, we’ve already tried that,” Elizabeth said. “I’m not nervous—” She folded her arms. “I don’t know. Things are really good. With the boys. And you. You’re here all the time anyway, and it’s not like you’re moving in—”

Jason pulled her arms away from her waist, laced both their hands together between them. “Hey. I know. We don’t always do so well when we try to change things—”

“It’s usually the time it all falls apart.” She closed her eyes. “I’m being insane. You’re used to this by now.”

“I am.”

She scowled, then slapped his chest lightly. “You’re supposed to tell me I’m not insane—”

“Hey, we wanna start the movie.”

They turned to find Cameron standing in the archway, hesitating. “So, uh, whatever you’re talking about in here that you think we don’t know about, can we just get on with it? Because if Aiden doesn’t get to find out what happened to Baby Groot, I’m not gonna be responsible for what happens next.”

Elizabeth made a face as Jason looked at Cameron. “We’ll be there in a minute. We’re waiting on the popcorn.”

“Yeah, the microwave is done—” Cameron stopped, then came into the kitchen. “Listen, you’re gonna tell us you guys are dating for real now and we know.”

“You—” Elizabeth stared at him. “You know,” she repeated.

“Yeah, Mom, you’re not exactly the world’s best actress. I mean, maybe with other people,” Cameron continued as Elizabeth glared at him. “But you don’t get much past me. And also, uh, Jake and Aiden thought you guys were dating like a month ago, so this isn’t news to them.”

“Oh.” Elizabeth looked at Jason who looked as surprised as she felt. “Uh, well, all right then. Um, you’re okay with this?”

“With you and Jason dating?” Cameron flicked his eyes to Jason. “You’re still staying at your place?”

“Yes,” Jason said. “Nothing is going to change, Cameron. Not yet,” he added.

“Good. Mom goes too fast sometimes,” Cameron said. “That’s okay. It’s a Webber thing. We think the whole thing is gonna fall apart anyway, so we try to get it all done at once.” He flashed her a grin. “Probably a good sign if you’re not moving him in yet. Bring the popcorn, Mom. Or Jake and Aiden will overdose on soda before they can suck it up with carbs.”

He sauntered back into the living room as Elizabeth scowled after him. “I do not go too fast,” she muttered. She folded her arms, then looked at Jason. “Do you believe that?”

“It sounds like—” Jason leaned forward, kissed her forehead gently. “You were worried for nothing. I told you. We’re going to be okay.”

She closed her eyes, letting herself soak up the feeling of being in his arms again. “I always believe it when you say it.”

“Good.” Jason leaned down and kissed her lightly. “Get the popcorn,” he murmured against her mouth. “I’ll go hold them back from drinking their weight in soda.”

“Good plan.”

Jason left Elizabeth reaching for a bowl from the cabinet, then stopped in the archway to look at the boys as they had arranged themselves around the room—Jake and Aiden on the floor, each of them with a can of soda on the coffee table, Cameron in the armchair, his feet slung over the arm of it.

“You ready?” Elizabeth asked, appearing at his side, the popcorn ready.

He looked down at her, at her face, at her smile, at everything that made Elizabeth who she was and perfect for who Jason wanted to be for the rest of his life — and nodded. “Yeah, I’m ready. I want to know what a Baby Groot is.”

And refused to let himself think about what the hell Valentin Cassadine was doing in Turkey.

Istanbul, Turkey

Clinic: Office

Valentin stalked into the office, the door banging off the wall and slapping back as Klein shoved himself up in surprise. “Is it ready yet?” he demanded. “Is he awake?”

“Uh, not yet,” Klein said, a bit apprehensively.

“You said it would be forty-eight hours—”

“The protocol isn’t—we—” He paused. “Without Robin Scorpio administering it, it takes longer. She developed it, but didn’t exactly leave us instructions. And we don’t have the staff here—”

“Here is the only place where no one knows to look for me,” Valentin snapped. He turned to leave—and then something snapped into place in his head. He turned back to Klein. “How do you know it’s the protocol?”

“What?” Klein frowned. Valentin stepped forward, and the doctor hastily stepped back. “I told you. He’s not awake yet so that must be why—”

“But you were ready with that explanation,” Valentin said. He narrowed his eyes. “Did Jason Morgan have some help in waking up last spring?”

“What?” Klein stammered, his face flush, sweat breaking out on his forehead. “No. Of course not. We told you—we didn’t even know he was awake—”

“And yet he was awake enough for you to put him in a wheelchair,” Valentin murmured. “To let him loose in the clinic. Something you never told me or otherwise I might never have thought it was safe to send an associate there for a few weeks.”

“I—” Klein swallowed hard. “Mr. Cassadine—”

“You’re not the only doctor in the world, Klein. I can snap my fingers and get another one—I can kidnap someone who has vested interest in waking this patient so you tell me what the hell—”

“Faison,” Klein choked out. “Faison sent his daughter to work the protocol. He wanted Jason Morgan awake. He had plans for him, but Morgan escaped first—”

Valentin narrowed his eyes as he took in that information, then turned around, grabbed the bag he’d dropped when he’d entered, and stalked out. He charged down the hallway towards the patient room where he knew one of the obstacles to his victory lay.

The man in the bed didn’t look like much—of course he wouldn’t after all the time he’d spent asleep, but Valentin knew the truth. He knew how dangerous this man could be if he was awoken without care. Without control.

He turned to the bag and went over to remove a box. Valentin slipped it open, and drew out a dagger. He smiled faintly at the jeweled hilt, flicking his nail over the seam until it slid away — and revealed the thumb drive that held the answers Valentin had searched for all these years.

Valentin had done Alexis a favor after all — Helena hadn’t sent the true dagger that had murdered Alexis’s mother. No, that had been the present Valentin had left her when he’d had a man make the switch.

Valentin turned back to the man lying in the bed. Soon — he’d have his mother’s files and the answer to all the questions. He’d be able to stop anyone from taking what belonged to him.

As long his new patient didn’t ruin everything by waking up and escaping like Jason Morgan nearly had. Valentin approached the bed, staring own into the slack expression of Stefan Cassadine and smiled faintly. He was so close to everything he deserved.

As soon as he found out where his mother had stashed the true Cassadine heir, Valentin would find him and eliminate him. But first — he’d need someone to take on Helena’s memories.

Wasn’t it fortunate that he knew exactly who to ask?

THE END

A string that pulled me
Out of all the wrong arms right into that dive bar
Something wrapped all of my past mistakes in barbed wire
Chains around my demons, wool to brave the seasons
One single thread of gold tied me to you
– invisible string, Taylor Swift

---

February 2017

Munich, Germany

Britt closed the door, then leaned her head against it with a soft exhale. “I’m getting really tired of this.”

“I’m sorry.”

She scowled at Nikolas as he stepped out of the bedroom of the hotel suite he’d arranged and folded her arms. “You keep saying that. It’s been months, Nikolas—”

“And it’ll be a little longer.” He crossed to her, rubbing his hands from her shoulders to her elbows, then back again. “What did Faison say?”

“It’s what he didn’t say. There’s nothing I can do to get him to open up about the Cassadines. He refuses to tell me anything.” She sighed. “I’m sorry. I’ve been a disappointment as a partner.”

“I’m able to keep Faison in my sights thanks to you,” Nikolas said with a shake of his head. “That’s not nothing, Britt. Besides the reason I asked you to meet me here—the box is missing.”

“What?” Britt blinked, stepped back. “Wait. You said she was dead—”

“She is. Andre assured me that the box I had was the only one in existence, but when I went back to Greece to check in—” Nikolas’s face was grim. “It was gone.”

“Oh, God—” She pressed a fist to her mouth. “There’s only one place it could be. Can you find a way to stop it? To stop Chimera?”

“I can try, but not without giving up my cover and I’m not ready for that.” Nikolas prowled the living room. “We need more. Even if I could get to Elizabeth in time—I still have to take down Valentin.”

“Then I’ll go. I’ll—I’ll go to Patrick. He won’t believe me, but I can—”

“No, I’ve thought this through. I think our best chance—the best one we have—Elizabeth needs someone on her side whose only loyalty to is to her and the boys. Patrick has the heart, but he doesn’t have the muscle or resources. I know exactly who that is and so do you.”

Britt tipped her head. “He’s still in that coma—”

“And that’s where you come in.” Nikolas crossed to a table and picked up a folder. “This is Robin’s protocol. I managed to get a copy from the labs. This is how she woke up Helena, Stavros, and Drew Cain.”

“Well, Robin would—” She pressed her lips together and sighed. “That’s really why you came to me, isn’t it? Because I’m a doctor. Nikolas, that’s not the kind of medicine I practice—”

“Helena planned Chimera for the Nurse’s Ball. That’s not until May. We have time, Britt. You just need to study this—”

“And how do we get Jason out of that clinic to do this?”

“We don’t.”

“But—”

“You’re not just a doctor, Britt. You’re Faison’s daughter. Everyone knows you’re on the run with him. You go to the clinic and tell them you’re there on his behalf. I know how well you can lie,” he reminded her and she grimaced.

“It was different before,” Britt said. She sank onto the sofa. “I lied to Patrick and to you because I wanted to get something. I was playing with feelings. Pretending my supervillain father sent me to wake up someone the Cassadines have kept hostage—”

“I’m working on that. I’ll get you the leverage you need, Britt—” Nikolas perched on the table in front of her. “This is our chance. I know who’s behind this. It’s Valentin. I don’t know what he wants Chimera for — it can’t be Helena’s revenge.  I can’t be worrying about Elizabeth and the boys. About my family at home. I need someone there to help. We wake up Jason, we tell him the situation, and we send him back.”

“You’re sure he’ll come through?”

“When we tell him Jake is alive but Helena is trying to kill him again from beyond the grave? Yeah. He’ll come through. Are you in, Britt?”

“A lot of this rides on me figuring out this protocol and waking Jason up in time for the Nurse’s Ball,” Britt murmured. She took the folder from Nikolas. “I don’t know if I can do this,” she admitted.

“Britt—”

“I don’t know if I can pull it off,” she clarified. “But I’m willing to try. Hell, it’s worth a shot.”

Sunday, December 31, 2017

Metro Court Hotel: Ballroom Entrance

Anna smiled down at the picture text message from Emma holding her baby brother, then looked up to find Robert striding off the elevators towards her, looking as rakish ever in his tuxedo. “Hello, gorgeous.” She greeted him with a kiss on the cheek. “You’re late.”

“I had an unexpected appointment at the hospital and then I wanted go over some old files,” he said, lowering his voice slightly as he slid his arm around her waist, steering her into the room where the party had gathered. He grabbed two champagne glasses from a passing server, handed one to her, then sipped his own.

“Is everything all right?” Anna asked, furrowing her brow. “You’re not ill, are you—”

“No, no—” He paused, scanning the room, his eyes falling on the table where Monica was sitting with Michael and Nelle. Jason and Elizabeth were standing next to her, and Monica’s eyes passed over Robert lightly, then turned back to her son.

“I thought we were going to wait—” Anna pressed her lips together. “Robert, you can’t really think that Monica Quartermaine put an innocent toddler into the system to get rid of him. She raised Jason—”

“As you said, my dear, this was before your time.” Robert exhaled slowly. “I wanted it to be Tolliver working alone,” he said finally. “He was bothering Lila, and I liked the old gal. When we caught him going after Heather—it seemed to fit. I looked over those reports—I can see my own doubt. His motive never made all the pieces fit comfortably. If I had kept pushing—”

“Tolliver was dead, and he’d confessed. It still might be just him on his own. You did the best you could—no one knew about twins,” Anna said. “And don’t tell me it was there if you looked—Curtis Ashford knew he was looking for twins. He had every reason to start at the beginning.  Based on what you knew about Susan Moore, who would ever think she’d leave another million dollars on the table?”

“It’s a hell of thing, Anna—” Robert finished his champagne. ‘”I let the boy down. Both of them,” he added. “What would their lives had been like if they’d known each other?” He gestured with his empty glass where Jason had gone over to talk to Jordan, Curtis, and Drew near the terrace.

“And what if I hadn’t hidden Robin from you for five years?” Anna asked. “If I hadn’t pretended not to be her mother? It’s a tragedy they were separated, Robert, but you can’t take that weight on.”

“I let them both down when they were boys and then the agency I dedicated my life to—that I sacrificed raising my daughter to protect—” Robert’s mouth twisted. “It let them down all over again. More than that. It took apart their lives. It nearly destroyed them.”

“We’ll get to the bottom of this,” Anna promised him. “And we will make it right. I promise you that.”

“We can’t ever make it right, Anna. What did Drew say? We could just make it over.” His sigh was heavy. “So let’s make sure we don’t take this bloody case into another year. 2018 is the year we end the Cassadines for good.”

She raised her own champagne glass. “I’ll drink to that.”

Metro Court Hotel: Ballroom

Across the room, Jason had updated Drew and Curtis on Spinelli’s conversation with Patrick Drake, and then gone across the room to make sure that Carly knew Michael had brought Nelle.

“Not being in the middle of that drama might be the best thing about you not being Jason Morgan,” Curtis said, as they watched Drew’s brother catch the blonde at the entrance to the ballroom. Carly’s eyes darted over the crowd, her lips thinning, and the irritation was evident even from their vantage point. Then she turned and left the room. Jason grimaced and followed. He returned a few minutes later, shaking his head.

“It’s strange,” Drew said slowly. “I had the memories of constantly cleaning up after Sonny and Carly, so I kept doing it, but I never wanted to. It’s why I cut ties.”

He looked around the ballroom, at the glitter and glitz of the celebration. “And here I am, back in the room where it all went crazy two months ago.” He shook his head, looked down at his wine. “Was it only two months ago?”

“A little more than that, but yeah. It’s Port Charles,” Curtis offered. “You either got buckle up or get run over.” He located Jordan in the crowd, finding her with Portia Robinson and a few other doctors from the hospital. He slid his hand into the pocket of his tuxedo and drew out a velvet box, flipping it open to reveal a diamond ring. “What do you think?”

“I think my divorce isn’t final yet,” Drew quipped, “but I appreciate the offer—” He snickered as Curtis rolled his eyes. “No, it’s great. I didn’t think you guys were there yet—”

“I am. She’s not. Still not a fan of Aunt Stella,” Curtis admitted, “but, uh, you know, she’s an acquired taste.” He slid the box back into his pocket. He paused. “You sure you made the right choice moving out?”

“For right now,” Drew said. He looked around the room, but he wasn’t surprised that Sam wasn’t there. She’d isolated herself since everything had happened—had barely left the penthouse. Sam wasn’t ready to face the world the way it was now, and Drew didn’t think anything would change unless he made it happen.

“We need to figure out who we are with all of this,” Drew added. He looked at Curtis. “Thanks. For all the extra legwork and time you’ve put into this. I know you juggled your actual work to do this for me—”

“Hey, man—”

“No, let me—” Drew hesitated. “Almost everyone in my life—they knew me before. It’s hard to know what’s real friendship and what’s not. Some of it—it’ll be okay. Eventually. But you—you never knew the other guy. I don’t know if I would have pushed looking into my mother’s death if you hadn’t done the work.”

“Whatever you find out there, Drew, it’s gonna suck. But I’ll be here with you when you get those answers.” They both looked at the Quartermaine table, then Curtis frowned, noticing that Elizabeth and Michael had left the table and gone a bit away—Elizabeth’s face was flushed as she said something, and Michael scowled at her, storming back to his table.

Drew’s eyes passed over Monica. Their eyes met for a moment, then Monica’s eyes dropped to the table. She looked at Nelle and offered a nervous smile. Drew’s stomach rolled. He didn’t know what that meant, but it didn’t feel good.

“What’re you gonna do if it was her, man?” Curtis asked.

“I wish I knew,” Drew murmured. “If she’s the reason I disappeared into the system, that should matter, shouldn’t it? But it was—it was forty years ago, Curtis, and she’s been my mother for two years. She’s my kids’ grandmother.” He hesitated. “She’s buried three children. A husband.”

“You think maybe the universe has been punishing her all along?” Curtis asked quietly. “You can just let it go?”

“I don’t know.” Drew raised his champagne. “Maybe. But maybe if my mother had lived, she was coming to get me.” He met Curtis’s understanding expression. “I don’t remember growing up in the group home, but I do remember waking up without a family. Without memories. Without an identity. How much harder would that have been as a kid?”

“Then I guess we’ll find out what we need to find out, and let karma take care of the rest of it.”

Metro Court Hotel: Carly’s Office

When the knock on her office door came, Carly turned away from the window, expecting to find Jason there. He’d followed her out of the ballroom, but she’d told him she wanted to be alone and he’d left.

It wasn’t Jason or her husband, but Elizabeth.

“Hey, I hope I’m not interrupting,” Elizabeth said, hesitantly. “I just—Jason came back in, and he seemed upset, and you seem upset, too. And I just—” She made a face. “I don’t know. I tried to talk to Michael—”

“There’s no talking to him,” Carly said. She sighed. “Thank you. Michael did say that you’d tried a few days ago—and it almost got to through to him, but—” She paused. “I don’t know what happened. He went from promising that he wouldn’t try to make me accept Nelle to just—the same argument over and over again.”

She folded her arms, and turned back to look out the window. “I deserve this,” Carly said. “For what I did to my mother and Tony, don’t you think?”

“Deserve what, exactly?” Elizabeth asked. Carly heard the other woman’s heels click across the hardwood floor as she drew closer to the desk. “What do you deserve for having an affair a thousand years ago, Carly?”

“I didn’t just have an affair,” Carly said, with a level of scorn she rarely turned on herself. “I came to town and exploited the problems that already existed in their marriage, set my sights on seducing my stepfather, and then making sure that my mother’s life crumbled around her. I humiliated her. Over and over again.” She exhaled on a puff of air. “And I want to pretend that I have some sort of moral high ground over Nelle? Because Nelle did what she did after I lost Morgan?”

“Carly—”

“BJ had already been gone for two years by the time I showed up,” Carly said, “and I know Bobbie and Tony had their issues even before that. But Tony was ripe for what I wanted because he’d been broken by losing his kid.” She turned back to Elizabeth, her eyes hot with tears. “How am I any better than Nelle?”

“Maybe you’re not,” Elizabeth offered, and Carly scoffed. “But I don’t see what that has to do with any of this, Carly. We don’t work like machines. We don’t have calculators that add up the crimes and then spit out emotions to match. What happened with Tony was more than twenty years ago. Morgan was a minute ago.”

Carly closed her eyes. “It feels like that, you know? I feel like I saw him yesterday, and then in the next minute, I struggle to remember the last time I saw him. It comes back,” she added. “Eventually. But there’s always the minute when I couldn’t remember.” She exhaled. “Michael doesn’t think that I get it, you know? That he sees something in Nelle worth saving. He thinks I’m ignoring it for spite.”

“I think it probably makes it worse that you do get it,” Elizabeth said. “And you can’t make it change anything about how you feel. Carly—”

“I don’t know why you’re being so nice to me,” Carly muttered, swiping at her eyes. “Michael said you were looking out for me, and we both know I don’t deserve it.”

“Carly, seven years ago, I had an affair with my brother-in-law,” Elizabeth said dryly. “I could have stopped myself. I didn’t want to. I didn’t want to get married to Lucky again, but I didn’t really know what else I was supposed to do. And Nikolas was—” She stared off into space. “He was there. And then it just—it kept going wrong. And I kept hurting people. Lucky and Nikolas could barely be in the same room for years. You don’t have the market cornered on destruction, Carly.”

“No, I guess we all have our crimes.” Carly pressed her lips together. “I’m sorry. For what I said at your house a few weeks ago. For a while, I was mostly sorry that anyone heard me. But I wasn’t sorry about what I said.”

“I didn’t think you were.”

Carly’s smile was faint to match Elizabeth’s. “But I am now. I just wanted Jason to let me help him. He never asked me for help, not when it matters. It’s because I’ll mess it up. I’ll do what I think is right, not what he wants me to do, so he just leaves me out of it. He was never going to ask me with any of this. He didn’t have to. He had you.”

“Carly—”

“And I hate that it gets to me,” Carly continued. “That I obsess over making sure that I’m the one that helps Jason. Or that I’m the one that Michael listens to, or that Joss confides in. I have to be the center of it. The center of everything. And I know that drives everyone insane.”

“So why do it?” Elizabeth asked.

Carly paused, then exhaled, her breath shaky. “I know who I am, Elizabeth. I’m not someone with a lot of friends, and the people who are in my life—it’s mostly a hostage situation, I think. I make sure they need me. Because I know if it was just about wanting me around—” A tear slid down her cheek. “I don’t think I’d win that fight.”

“I think you’d surprise yourself, Carly,” Elizabeth asked. “You’re not the only one with issues. I’m always drawn to broken and damaged people and then I spend way too much energy trying to them better. Because if I can fix them, then maybe—” She paused. “Maybe they’ll stay.”

Carly stared at the other woman for a long moment, then nodded. “Well, I guess we’re all insane in our own way. It’s kind of comforting—”

“Hey.” Jason stopped in the doorway, looking at Elizabeth curiously before looking at Carly. “Michael said you yelled at him and left the party, so I figured I’d find you here.”

“Your nephew is an entitled brat sometimes,” Elizabeth muttered, folding her arms. “Sorry. I’m going back to the party,” she told Jason. “Why don’t you and Carly talk?”

“Uh—” Carly held out a hand. “No, you should stay—”

“Nope.” Elizabeth slid past Jason, smiled brightly at them both, then disappeared down the hallway. Jason stared after her, then looked at Carly.

“You okay?”

“You really don’t have to ask me that.” Carly held her arms around herself, bracing herself with a smile. “It’s fine. Elizabeth and I were being nice, I promise. I was behaving—”

“Carly—” Jason came into the room. “That’s not what I asked. I’ve talked to Elizabeth—and to Sonny. I know what’s going on with Nelle now.” He paused. “You didn’t tell me about last year. About her part. I just thought she was Michael’s girlfriend.”

“I was supposed to dump all my problems on you the minute you came home?” Carly scoffed, then stared at the ground. “You had enough to deal with.”

“Carly—”

“Jason, you know, it’s exactly what Monica said two months ago,” Carly continued. “I never stop to think about how she felt with AJ. I watched my son get destroyed by someone he trusted. Morgan absolutely believed in Ava—and she screwed up his pills. And now—” She closed her eyes. “Now I get to watch it happen all over again, and it’s worse. I didn’t even know what Ava was doing, you know? I only found out six months ago. With Michael and Nelle—I can see the train coming off the tracks, and I can’t stop it, Jason. I can’t stop him from getting hurt.”

She paused. “I deserve this because everything I’ve ever done. I had this coming. And I doubt Monica’s the only person out there laughing about it.”

“Whatever happens with Michael, we’ll keep our eye on him,” Jason promised. “And we’ll stop it before it gets too bad. I’ll find a way, Carly.”

“You know—” Carly paused. “Michael said that Nelle and I were the same. That the only thing that made us different was that I had you.”

“Carly—”

“He’s right, of course,” Carly said with a scowl. “You never, ever let me fall. Even when you should have. Even when it should have been easy to cut me out. You let me ruin your life, judge your choices, and generally just be a giant pain in your ass. But you also saved me, Jason. The only reason I am who I am today is because of you.” Her voice faltered. “And I hate that you can’t say the same about me.”

“There are times,” Jason said, slowly, “that my life would have been simpler without you. And I almost did cut you out, Carly.”

“I know.”

“But you never thought of me as damaged.” When Carly frowned, Jason continued, “Before you came along—before Sonny—everyone else—they thought I was less. Even Robin and Sonny still looked at me as someone to teach. Someone to help. Everyone wanted to fix me. Not you. You thought I could save the world, Carly, and you asked me to repeatedly.”

Carly’s lips curved into a small smile. “So my neediness and selfishness was a good thing?”

“Not always,” Jason said, with a shake of his head. “But I didn’t know how much I needed to know that I was—not just normal—but capable. I could do jobs for Sonny—but those were easy. You made me live in the world and be messy. Make mistakes.”

“This sounds wonderful,” Carly muttered.

“I am who I am today because you pushed me,” Jason told her. “Not always in good ways. And not always in the ways I wanted to go. But I never stayed still. You are my best friend. And, at this point, there is nothing you can do to change that.”

“Well.” Carly took a deep breath. “Since we’re being nice to each other, I think—” She paused. “I’m glad that whatever I brought to your life—that you’ve found some benefit in it. But we both know there were a lot of times I could have chosen to be a better friend, and I usually chose the low road.”

Jason tilted his head to the side, nodding in quiet acceptance.

“In the last two months, I’ve been so proud of you,” Carly said. “I was scared for you, worried about you, angry for you—but watching you get your life back on your own terms, fall in love with your son—become part of the world again—” She paused. “We both know that it wasn’t anything Sonny or I really did. And I think that we’ve both learned that life is too short not to hold on to the people who make it worth living. So if there’s something you’ve been waiting to say to someone—” Carly waited for their eyes to meet. “Don’t. You know better than anyone that there’s never as much time as you think.”

Metro Court: Ballroom

Kristina laughed and wiggled her fingers at the pretty blonde on the dance floor before returning to the table she was sharing with Molly and TJ as well as a few others from the hospital. “I think I might let her persuade me to go home with her,” she declared, reaching for the champagne.

Molly wrinkled her nose. “You just met her.”

“That’s the fun part.” Kristina frowned. “Put your phone away—”

“I’m just—I’m texting Sam. Mom has the kids because Sam was supposed to come tonight—” Molly looked up and peered around the room. “She’s still not here.”

“Stop—” Kristina put a hand over the screen. “She made her choices—”

“Krissy, it’s not that simple—”

“It is for me. She wants to sit at home, boohooing because Drew isn’t going to let her hurt his family, well, at least someone is standing up to her. Sam gets away with murder because we let it happen.”

“She’s our sister—”

“And I love her. But loving her does not mean she gets a blank check.” She sipped her drink. “What she actually needs is someone to slap the silly shit out of her, but Mom told me I’m not allowed so I’ll settle for ignoring her when she’s being a bitch.”

Molly sighed but then set the phone down. “Maybe you’re right,” she said begrudgingly. “I feel like if I go over there now, I’ll end up patting her head and telling her she’s right, and I don’t think she is. I just—I feel sorry for her.”

“I do, too. But it won’t help. We need to be strong.” Kristina tossed back the last of her champagne. “I’m going back out there. Come with me.”

“Fine. But don’t make me dance.”

______

Jason scanned the room — looking past Michael sitting sullenly at his table — past Drew dancing with Jordan and Sonny who had pulled Diane out onto the dance floor—

He found Elizabeth finally, trying valiantly not to get her toes stepped on as Spinelli twirled her around, her gold dress flashing under lights, her face creased in laughter as the tech swung her back into his arms with a grin of his own.

“Stone Cold!” Spinelli said cheerfully as the pair left the dance floor. “I love you!”

“How much has he had to drink?” Jason asked Elizabeth who laughed again.

“Just a few, just a few—” Spinelli’s face was permanently etched with a silly smile that only grew when he spied someone across the room. “Ah, I see my Maximista and the Blonde One across the room. I leave the Fair Elizabeth in your capable hands.”

Jason watched him go, a reluctant smile on his face as the younger man reunited with his other friends. Maxie started to tell him a story, her hands flashing as she gestured wildly.

“Sometimes I think he’s one of the best things that ever happened to you,” Elizabeth said, drawing his attention back to her. She was smiling up at him, looking much happier than she had when she’d left Carly’s office.

“Yeah? Why?”

“You can’t be too serious around Spinelli.” Elizabeth leaned up and brushed her fingertips against the side of his mouth. “I used to be able to tease you like he does, but he definitely knows how to make things lighter. You needed that, Jason. And I’m so glad he came home.”

“Me, too.” Jason slid his hand through hers, lacing their fingers together. “About being the best thing that ever happened to me,” he said. Carly was right. Life was too short to leave things unsaid.  “We should talk about that.”

Elizabeth drew her brows together, her expression lightly quizzical. “What?”

“I want—I need to talk to you. Can we—can we go to my place? I mean, I know there’s the party, but—”

“No, it’s—” she smiled at him. “This was fun, but we’ve been here a few hours. All I need at midnight is you.”

Penthouse: Living Room

Sam curled up in a ball, clutching a pillow against herself as she stared at the television screen. She was barely watching the celebration in Times Square, but the flickering sounds and images filled the emptiness, the screaming silence—

She’d started to dress for the party but then remembered how many people there hated her. She didn’t have a friend in the world. That was a good thing, wasn’t it? It was better to be alone. If you didn’t count on anyone, they couldn’t let you down.

“I don’t need anyone anyway,” she muttered. She leaned over to nab the bottle of whiskey on the table and twisted off the top.

Still, she looked at her phone, waiting for it to light up with a message from Molly. Or maybe Drew. He knew she was supposed to be there.

But the phone remained silent and dark. No one called. No one cared that she wasn’t there.

Fine. Good. It was good to know where she stood. Who she could count on. Not her mother or her sisters. Not Drew or Jason. Not Sonny.

It would make it that much easier when she burnt it all to the ground and took what was hers.

Safe House: Street

Across the street from the house where Jason had been staying since he’d returned to Port Charles, a car slowly parked and shut off it lights just before a dark SUV turned down the street.

He’d known where they were going as soon as he’d spied them leaving the hotel. It wasn’t yet midnight, so they were coming to the house where Morgan kept the bike. He’d watched them for weeks—watched as Morgan stepped into the place that should be his. He’d waited for his chance to take back what belonged to him.

He watched as the SUV turned into the driveway and the lights went dark. He saw a car door open, and then Morgan came out, went around the other side. He disappeared from sight.

Franco waited and waited for the garage door to open, for the motorcycle to roar down the driveway as it had so many nights before—

But nothing. They’d gone inside and weren’t coming back out.

Franco curled his fingers around the steering wheel, his knuckles white with rage. If she thought she could toss him out like garbage and move on—

It was time to teach Elizabeth a lesson.

Safe House: Living Room

Jason took Elizabeth’s coat and hung it up, wondering if he’d gone insane. Had he really taken her from the party and brought her across town to the house where—

“You know, when Sonny told me you were meeting at the safe house—” Jason turned to find Elizabeth leaning against the back of the sofa, a brow arched. “I didn’t realize you’d kept this place. I would have thought—”

“I almost sold it after—” Jason put his hands in his pockets. “But I told myself that you still lived nearby. The boys—I still wanted a place if you needed to get out.” He paused. Here was something he could tell her. “That’s what I told myself.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean—” He stepped towards her. “I kept it because it was ours. A place no one else knew about. I used to come here sometimes right after—” After he’d walked away.

“Jason?” she asked when he didn’t say anything else.

Jason honestly didn’t know how he would even go about asking for what he wasn’t entirely sure he deserved. Another chance. Or maybe the first chance. Had they ever really had one?

He approached her, reached for her hands and looked down at them.

“Jason?” she asked again, nerves lacing through her voice.

He raised his eyes to meet hers. “I’m sorry. I want this to be right. I want to say the right things. The words you deserve. I don’t think I’ve ever been able to give you what you deserve.”

Her expression softened. “That’s usually because you keep worrying about what you think that is. Jason, just tell me what you’re thinking. Like you used to.”

“When I met you, when I really met you that night in Jake’s,” Jason added, “I didn’t know how much you’d change my life. How important you’d become. That you wouldn’t just save my life, Elizabeth, but that being around you would remind me of everything I still wanted to do. To see. To be a part of.”

“You did the same for me, Jason. You know that. We saved each other.”

“And we’ve been doing it ever since,” Jason continued. “Because—” And he waited until their eyes held. “Because when my life falls part, I look for you.”

A tear slid down her cheek at the echo of the words she’d spoken to him the night they’d created Jake. “Jason—”

“I look for you because I know I’ll be able to breathe. That you’ll be right there when I figure out how to take the next step. How to keep going. You did that almost twenty years ago and you’ve done it every day since I came home. I’m sorry I didn’t stay before. That I didn’t hold on tighter. I thought I knew better, that I could protect you better if I wasn’t there.”

“I am always better when you’re with me,” Elizabeth told him, her voice low but fervent. “I hurt without you.”

“I know. I do, too.” And with that, his breath left his body in a rush. “I need you to trust me again. To give me just one more chance to stay. I promise I won’t let go again. Not even if you want me to.”

Her lips trembled slightly as they fell open. “Jason, what are you—”

“I love you,” he told her. “I will always love you.”

On a sob, she threw herself into his arms, burying her face in his neck as he wrapped his arms around her waist, pressing her against him, feeling the way they fit together. The way they’d always fit.

“I won’t let go either—” Elizabeth drew back slightly, framing his face with her hands, their eyes searching each other’s. “I love you, too.” She slid her fingers into his hair and kissed him. He’d forgotten how she tasted, how her scent and flavor seeped into him until they felt like they were part of his own body—

When Jason felt a familiar need rising inside—one that he’d been fighting for weeks—he stepped back, his breath shaky. He set Elizabeth back down on her feet, sliding his thumbs down her cheeks, across his soft skin. He wanted to tell her they’d take this slow—that they’d maybe go back to the party—

But he couldn’t stop himself from dipping down to kiss her again, their mouths brushing against each other, almost clumsily as she laughed, her pulse racing so fast he could feel it when his fingers lightly encircled her neck, angling her head to the side so Jason could deepen the kiss—

Her hands crept under his suit jacket, pushing it off his shoulders, and then her hands were undoing the buttons of his shirt — and intentions to do anything but carry her upstairs and show her exactly how much he loved her vanished entirely.

Hanging on another day
Just to see what you will throw my way
And I’m hanging on to the words you say
You said that I will, will be okay
Broken light on the freeway
Left me here alone
I may have lost my way now
Haven’t forgotten my way home
– Broken, Lifehouse

---

July 2016

Geneva, Switzerland

It had been all over the news for days, and still Britta Westbourne couldn’t stop seeking out stories. She kept hoping for a miracle, hoping there was a mistake —

But as the days passed, the news started to dry up until one day — it wasn’t in the Port Charles newspapers or anywhere else.

Nikolas Cassadine was dead. Killed by Valentin Cassadine, apparently in self-defense.

Britt snorted at that. Cassadines didn’t kill in self-defense. They were always on the offense.

She rubbed a hand over her heart as she stared out the window of her flat, took in the majestic peaks of the mountains. She’d fled Port Charles two years ago when she’d destroyed the last vestiges of Nikolas’s love for her, and she hadn’t looked back.

Until now. Until she’d realized there would never be another chance.

With a shaky sigh, she closed her eyes. Would he still be alive if she’d lied to him less? She turned back to the three day old Port Charles Sun with Nikolas’s face emblazoned on the front. “I hope you didn’t suffer,” she said softly, tracing her fingers over his features. “I hope Spencer has all the family and love he needs—”

“I’m pleased to know you still care.”

Her fingers froze and her breath seized in her chest as Britt raised her head to find a man walking out of the shadows — from her bedroom.

“How did—” She curled her hand into a fist. Stupid question to ask a Cassadine how they got into the room.

How wasn’t important. It wasn’t the question she needed to ask.

“Why are you here?” Britt demanded. Of all the places, of all the people—why here and why her?

Nikolas strode towards her, his face grim, his eyes intent. “Because I need someone else who’s off the grid. Someone who doesn’t have a great moral compass and doesn’t mind lying.”

Acid burned in her throat. Well, she’d asked. “So you came to me?”

“I came to you,” Nikolas said. “Because not only do you have the qualities I need, but you have something else that’s important.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Don’t say anything stupid like ‘your heart’ because lines don’t work on me—”

“You loved my son,” Nikolas said, and Britt closed her mouth. “I know you loved Spencer. The Cassadines are up to something evil, Britt. We’re all in danger. I need you to help me stop Valentin from getting away with this. I need to make this a safer world for my son.”

Spencer. He knew how to hit where it hurt. Britt nodded. “Okay. I do that and you’ll drop the charges against me? I won’t have to keep running?”

“If I can go home, Britt, I’ll make sure you can come with me.” Nikolas arched a brow. “Can I count on you?”

Sunday, December 31, 2017

Davis House: Living Room

Alexis merely frowned at Laura as she closed the door behind her, considering her question. “Why do you want to know the last time I looked at the dagger Helena left me?”

“Because I don’t think she would have sent just sent files to me,” Laura told her. “She wanted to protect Nikolas, but she never thought very much of my intelligence. She sent me on a wild good chase that took months. She wanted me to work for it, but that would have put Nikolas at risk. I thought maybe—you got a very specific reminder of who Helena was.”

Alexis folded her arms, then wandered towards the fireplace. “You said over the phone that Nikolas was involved with Helena during her last year. More than we already knew?”

“Nikolas always told us that Helena had told him about Jake Doe being Jason Morgan because he found out something or tripped her up,” Laura said. “Or I think he caught her meeting with Drew when she had him under the influence of that chip. At least that was his story.”

“And we don’t believe him? Laura, he’s not here to defend himself—”

“I know that,” Laura snapped. “And I still intend to make Valentin pay for killing my son. But Nikolas was not innocent. He sent Lucky to Greece, Alexis. He must have suspected something. I don’t want to believe it, but it just creates more questions than we have answers.”

Alexis stared at her, then exhaled slowly, her face crumpling. She turned back to the fireplace. “I wondered,” she murmured. “He spent so much time in Greece those last few years. He’d hidden the truth about Stavros’s resurrection, didn’t he? And when Jake came back and he’d been in Greece all that time, it was there in the back of my head—”

“Helena left me a video on the drive,” Laura said. “She suggested Nikolas knew about Jake. Part of me rejects that because I loved him. But I also have to wonder what he knew and when because Helena had the run of Spoon Island. She kept Jake, Jason, Drew, and God knows who else there. How did she manage all of that under Nikolas’s nose?”

“He had left by then—”

“And he wasn’t watching Helena anymore?” Laura challenged. “She was right there on Spoon Island, planning her revenge against me—and against Elizabeth. She played with Luke and Lucky, but you know how she loathed a woman who got the best of her.”

“She never did forgive Elizabeth for breaking the brainwashing,” Alexis murmured. She rubbed her hand against her cheek, taking a deep breath. “Was Nikolas part of what happened last spring? With Chimera?”

“Helena hinted that there was something that was being planned. But she filmed it before she died. Before Nikolas died. So, no, I won’t believe it. Not until I have to.” Laura raised her brows. “But that’s why I need you. If she sent files to you, Alexis, they might be a newer version. Or an older version. I don’t know. But we need to know what else she might have planned—”

“Laura—”

“You know better than anyone that Cassadines are more dangerous when you think they’re beaten.”

Alexis nodded, then went over to the painting that rested on the wall next to the fireplace. She swung it out to reveal a wall safe. A few twists and buttons later, the door had opened and Alexis retrieved a wooden box.

“Since Jason came back and we found out about the memory experiments,” Alexis said slowly as she extended the box to Laura, “I had a strange thought.” When Laura nodded, Alexis continued, “Cassadines have been obsessed with all kinds of control for decades—but Helena was especially interested in memory manipulation and control. Transferring someone’s memories into another body—”

“I had the same thought when Helena promised we’d meet again,” Laura said as a chill slid down her spine. “Valentin is searching for something. That’s what Andre Maddox said. Where better to find whatever it is than in Helena’s files or memories? That’s why I need to be sure there’s nothing hidden in this dagger.”

She set the box on the top, then lifted it open to reveal the shiny dagger with the thick, bejeweled hilt. Alexis stared at it—all these decades later, and she could still see the blood spurting from her mother’s throat—

Laura slid her fingers down the blade, twisted the hilt every which way, then ran the electronic wand that Spinelli had loaned her over the dagger and the box.

Nothing.

Alexis released a breath. “Well, I don’t know whether to be disappointed or relieved that all Helena wanted was torment me.”

Laura replaced the dagger, then handed the box back to Alexis who quickly locked it back into the safe. “I have to stop Valentin, Alexis. He’s taken too much from my family. And if part of his plan is resurrecting Helena’s memories in someone else’s body—”

“Well, considering my family once tried to freeze the world, I’d say there’s an excellent chance out there that Helena already had someone in mind for those memories.” Alexis paused. “Or who Valentin would turn to for this.”

Penthouse: Living Room

Sam walked down the stairs, then stared at the suitcase at the bottom, her hand slipping from the railing as she looked at her husband standing by the fireplace, looking at a photograph of them on their wedding day a year and a half earlier.

“You’re leaving,” she stated. She’d been expecting it, but now she saw that she’d also never believed it would happen.

Drew turned to her, a heavy sigh sliding out of his throat. “I stayed for the holidays,” he said slowly, “and because at first, we didn’t know what we were going to do about Danny.”

Sam narrowed her eyes, then folded her arms. “And now we do?” she bit out sarcastically.

“We have a better idea anyway,” Drew stated. “I—” He paused. “I wanted to apologize. It’s hard to divorce myself from the memories in my head, Sam. And in my head, I know how much I—” He paused. “How much Jason hurt you when you were pregnant. It’s always made me angry because I couldn’t explain it to myself. I didn’t—I didn’t understand what happened. Or why.” He shook his head. “I think we can probably conclude that Maddox’s experiment failed. Memories don’t make the man. Not all the way.”

“I’m not sure even Jason really knows what he was thinking back then which is the nicest thing I can say about the whole thing.” Sam made a face. “So if you get what I’m trying to do, then why—”

“Because this still doesn’t change that things aren’t right with us,” Drew told her. “I still love you. I do. And knowing what I do know—what I understand about the memories — I remembered being Jason and being your husband, but I never had the love that went with it. And I know that now because I fell in love with you for the first time two years ago.”

Her eyes stung— “But you’re still leaving—”

“Because we both need the time,” Drew told her gently. He went over to the bottom of the stairs, took her hands in hers. “You didn’t love me when you found out the truth. You told yourself you did because I was supposed to be Jason—”

“No—”

“Sam, we hated each other,” Drew reminded her. “In fact, you tried to have me arrested—”

“You—” Sam scowled. “You held me hostage at the police station—I mean, you didn’t mean to, but I didn’t know that. Drew—I love you.”

“I believe you. But I think both of us will always wonder about how this started. If it was for the right reasons. I couldn’t be Jake Doe anymore, so I tried being Jason Morgan, and we both know it never truly fit. You, Danny, Scout—and Jake—that fit for me, but nothing else. I’m still figuring out who I am now. Who I want to be.”

“And who you want to be doesn’t want me—”

“Not like this,” Drew said softly. “Not when we’re both angry at each other about Jason, about Danny, and trying too hard to hold on. We can’t go back, Sam.”

Sam closed her eyes. “And you’re right. We can’t go forward. Not like this.” She swiped at a tear that slid down her cheek. “I told my mother this a few days ago, but it still hurts. I was happy, Drew. Before Jason came home. I just wanted that back.”

“I did, too,” Drew admitted. “And I clung to that as long as I could. But we were living a lie, Sam. And part of me still is struggling with that. It’s not fair to you if I’m not in this all the way, and I’m not ready for that.”

“But Danny—”

“Danny has made a choice for now,” Drew told her. “And Jason is—at least right now—honoring that. We haven’t talked about it beyond that, because honestly it’s something you and he need to talk about, and I don’t know if either of you are ready for that. But right now — I am still Danny’s father.”

Sam pulled her hands away from him. “Part of me wants to tell you to go to hell,” she told him. “In fact, there’s a large part of me that I’d be better off without either of you in my life, and just raising my kids on my own—”

“Sam—”

“That part of me is screaming so loudly right now just to kick you out and take you for everything you have—” Sam squeezed her eyes shut. “That’s the voice that made me freeze when Maureen Harper took Jake out of that stroller. To just think about me. What I want. What I need.”

“Are you going to listen to that voice?” Drew said tightly. “Because Scout is my—”

“I was never going to tell anyone where he was,” Sam said, and the relief of stating it out loud, making it a fact and not a maybe—the relief was dizzying. “I have nightmares about it sometimes.”

He exhaled slowly. “Sam—”

“I always knew as long as Jake existed, Jason was going to leave me for Elizabeth one day,” Sam continued as if he wasn’t there. “I let that fester inside of me until it drove me insane . Maybe that’s why I couldn’t stand to stay out of it with Jake two years ago. Why I kept pushing him, why I scared him so badly he ran out of the house—because he was in the way of what I wanted. What I thought belonged to me. Maybe I wanted him to be gone.”

“Maybe?” he asked, more gently than she deserved.

She shook her head. There was no point in worrying about saving face or hiding. It was out. Everyone finally knew who she was. “I wanted him gone,” she said. “As long as I wanted Jason, Jake was in the way.”

Drew waited, but Sam said nothing else. He walked across the room, and lifted his suitcase. “I’ll have someone get in touch with you about Scout and Danny,” he said. He opened the door, then looked around once more at the home he’d thought he’d found and would stay forever—the stolen memories of all the years that he’d never spent here. “Good bye,” he told her.

Then he left.

Webber House: Living Room

Elizabeth stared at the sofa in her living room, then screwed up her face in an expression that did not give Cameron much hope that she would be willing to let Trina and Joss crash at their place that night.

“You want me to let you and your cousin have your girlfriends sleep over,” his mother stated dubiously. A statement, not a question.

“I hear you, Mom, I do, but I want to you look in the kitchen—” Cameron turned, gesturing at the two boys who were sitting at the table, giggling maniacally at the phone in Aiden’s hand as they watched a video. “I have to also keep them alive. Plus, Spencer will be here and it’s New Year’s, so no one is going to bed early.”

“They’ll sleep eventually,” Elizabeth said, narrowing her eyes.

“Hey, you ran away and slept under the docks with your boyfriend when you were my age,” Cameron reminded her, and Elizabeth made a face. “Yeah, you should have kept that one to yourself when you were trying to bond with me, huh?”

“You know, I’d say it’s a pain in the ass that you remember everything I’ve ever said to you,” Elizabeth muttered, “but I think you inherited it from me. I always kept a file of leverage in my head to get away with things.”

Cameron grinned broadly because he knew his mother was fair, and she absolutely trusted him. “And listen, you are not the only suspicious parent we’ve got to worry about. Trina has to call her mom every hour—and I think Dr. Rob might actually call Trina every 30 minutes—and Joss’s mom—well—” Cameron hesitated. “I think she just said that Joss understands safe sex.”

“And did Oscar ask Drew or Kim about it?” Elizabeth asked. “And don’t forget that I will call them both—”

“He asked his step mom because he lives with her, and Dr. Nero was mostly like you—until she found out Jake and Aiden would be here. And she’s up close and personal with Dr. Rob, so as the doc goes—so goes the nation.”

“Yeah, Trina’s mom is pretty protective,” Elizabeth admitted. “It probably comes from all those years being married to a DEA agent.” She wrinkled her nose. “Fine. Fine. But I’m trusting you.”

“Hey, would I let you down?” Cameron asked, grinning at her, but his mother’s face took on a serious cast that told him that she’d taken the question to heart.

“Never,” Elizabeth said with a shake of her head. “Not once since the day you were born, Cameron. It’s usually the other way around.”

“Mom—” Cameron ducked his head, looked at the ground. “Look, I told you. I’m fine. All that crap at Christmas—I’m gonna leave it there. We agreed. I used to have a dad, now I don’t. And it’s his loss, not mine, right?”

“Right, but knowing that, baby, here—” She touched her temple, “doesn’t always convince us here—” Elizabeth pressed a fist against her heart, and he sighed. “He will regret all the things he threw away, Cam, but it’ll be too late. I’m just sorry you had to get hurt.”

“Yeah, well, once Joss and the others started talking about getting him deported from Ireland, and leaving him to roast in the Sahara, I figured I could concentrate on the idiot that doesn’t want me or the friends who do.”

“Good.” Elizabeth frowned. “Wait, what did Joss want to do?”

Cameron grinned, then wandered over to look at the car in his driveway. “So, Jason signed that lease? When do I get to start working on my car?”

“A few more weeks, I think,” Elizabeth said, following him. “I was worried about the gift,” she admitted. “After what happened on Christmas. He wasn’t trying to bribe you or anything—”

“Yeah, no one tries to bribe anyone with a 2004 Chevy,” Cameron said with a wince. “But I get it. It’s a good gift. Joss said Jason was always good at that.”

“Yeah, it’s one of his good qualities,” Elizabeth replied. She smiled wistfully, looking at the car.

“What did he get you this year? You never said.”

Elizabeth frowned, then looked at Cameron. “What?”

“Jason. I mean, he didn’t forget your Christmas gift. He’s not that dumb,” Cameron continued. “So what did he give you?”

Elizabeth tipped her head. “You wouldn’t understand,” she said, even as she smiled.

“Try me. I mean, I got a car. You better have gotten jewelry.”

Elizabeth just shook her head, then looked back out the window. “He let me drive.”

Cameron waited for the rest of it — drive a Porsche, maybe a plane, or something impressive. But his mother didn’t say anything else, just stood there with a smile on her face. Women. He’d never understand them.

“Right. So that’s—normal and everything. Uh, listen, Mom. Whatever you’re doing with Jason—”

“Cameron—”

“And I do not want to know,” Cameron said flatly, stabbing a finger at her. “No. But if you were maybe not doing anything because of me or what happened at Christmas or whatever, don’t be stupid.”

His mother narrowed her eyes. “Cameron Hardy—”

“I mean, don’t think just because you made a dumb ass mistake with Franco—and it turned out so bad—that you should just, like, give up. You’re the best mom,” Cameron told her. “But I’m not going to be here forever. And neither are Jake and Aiden. So it’s okay to make sure you’ve got some happy, too. Just, uh, no more serial killers if that’s cool with you.”

“Yeah.” Elizabeth rolled her eyes and started for the kitchen. “No more serial killers.”

General Hospital: Chief of Staff’s Office

Monica smiled easily as her secretary let Robert into her office. She rose to her feet. “Well, I can’t imagine what brings a WSB agent to my door,” she said, offering a hand, “but it’s always good to see you.”

“You, too,” Robert said as he settled himself in the chair in front of the desk. “I actually came on some old business. Ancient, really.” He waited as Monica took her seat again. “This whole Drew thing—the fact that there were twins—” He studied Monica’s face. “You know I’ve been helping the boys look into it since Victor and Maddox was were part of the WSB when it all went down.”

“They both mentioned it. Any luck?” Monica asked.

“All of it, and none of it,” Robert said. “We have a lot of evidence, but it’s taking time to put it together in a picture that makes sense. More questions than answers. Drew thought it was worth starting at the beginning of this whole thing. With the fact that Victor knew something no one else did.”

“Oh?” Monica lifted her brows.

“That Jason Morgan had a twin brother,” Robert said softly. “Because until then, Monica, I’d say no one knew that, am I right?”

“Well, of course you are,” Monica said with a huff. “If we’d known, don’t you think Alan would have gone to get him?”

“Of course. Of course. Well, Drew put Curtis Ashford on the trail, and he dug up some really interesting documents.” Robert took out the folder he’d brought and slid it over to Monica. “There’s some copies for you. They’re making us look back at what happened when Jason and Drew would have been no more than infants.”

“What—” Monica stared at the birth certificates. The pair of them. “Jason’s original—” She stopped. “Is this how Victor knew?”

“You can see there it clearly marks him as a twin birth,” Robert nodded. “And below that — Andrew Moore. That’s Andrew and Jason Moore, born September 1974. Three years later, Jason Moore is refiled as Jason Morgan Quartermaine. The Moore name is dropped, but, uh, little Andrew disappears entirely, and the second birth certificate for Jason lists him as single birth.”

“Well, that’s what we knew to be the truth—” Monica stopped as she came to the third document. “What is this?”

“This—” Robert leaned forward, tapped the document. “This is a document that surrenders custody of Andrew to the state of New York. Putting the boy into the foster system. He ended up in a group home until he turned eighteen. He joined the military, became a decorated officer, and went to college. Got married, had himself a son. Then got kidnapped at the age of thirty seven in 2012, just before his birthday.”

Monica’s lips thinned. “What does this have to do with me or Alan? This paperwork says it was Susan—”

“Look at the date,” Robert said and she dropped her eyes. “March 25. Do you remember when Susan Moore was murdered?”

“February 11.” Monica’s face was ashen as she raised her eyes. “Robert—”

“We’ve been wracking our brains,” Robert said, easily, “trying to understand how Victor knew about these boys when no one else in the entire world did. If he’d started at the beginning, he would have found little Andrew Moore, born on the same day to the same parents as Jason.” He paused, lifted his brows. “Anyone who was looking for him would have found it.”

“If you knew what to look for, I suppose,” Monica said. “But we never looked. Alan didn’t. You said he was surrendered to the state. They should have been able to find Alan from that birth record eventually—”

“Ah, but that brings us to the last piece of the puzzle.” Robert laid one more piece of paper down. “Someone, when they dumped eighteen-month-old Andrew Cain at a fire station in Poughkeepsie, left a forged birth certificate, burying his original surname and listing his father as unknown. But they left him with a mother named Susan. They tried very hard to find this mother, but she never existed.”

Monica looked down at the paperwork, but said nothing.

“Little Andrew Moore came Andrew Cain. Separated from his family, from his brother for more than forty years.” When Monica looked at him, Robert continued, “And it makes me wonder if I might have been missing Tolliver’s accomplice all these years. Because he certainly pulled the trigger, but I’ve always had my questions as to why.”

Monica carefully closed the folder, trapping the paperwork inside, then slid it across the desk. “I think,” she said slowly, “that nearly all the suspects are long gone, Robert. Edward, Lila, Alan—Heather’s in a loony bin. It’s just me and Scott left. Do you think either of us would have thrown a child into the system like this?”

“Do I think that the woman sitting in front of me would do that to an innocent child who hadn’t done anything to deserve it?” Robert’s smile was thin. “No. But that’s not the woman I interviewed four decades ago either, is it?”

“Then I guess it’s a good thing that you do know who pulled that trigger and killed Susan Moore,” Monica said, rising to her feet. “Tolliver Crane. Just as we’ve known for all this time. And that’s the only answer that matters in the end. You can show yourself out.”

Metro Court Hotel: Spinelli’s Suite

Spinelli scowled at the growing list of emails that were shoved into the medical folder — whatever Helena and her minions had been handling, it had been shady as hell. He’d never understand half of the lab reports and scans he’d perused.

Then his phone lit up with a FaceTime request from his second favorite doctor in the world right now—Spinelli grinned, scooping it up. “Please tell me you have something good.”

“Happy New Year to you, too,” Patrick grumbled but dragged a hand through his hair. “You said there more brain scans than what you’ve sent?”

“Yes, thousands. These are just the ones I’ve decrypted so far. You said you wanted what we had—”

“We’re going to print them out, blow them up like real scans and try to match them that way, but it’s not going to be today, Spinelli.”

“Damn it. Can you give us anything? You know the brothers Stone Cold are frustrated. We have Andre and Helena’s files but we still have nothing,” Spinelli said. “I haven’t been able to do anything I wanted to do—I haven’t helped at all—”

“Hey. You’re doing your best,” Patrick reminded him. “We all are. These are the Cassadines. Look, what I can say is I think we’re dealing with anywhere from three to six different patients so far. You said Jason, Jake, and Drew were numbered?”

“Patients Three, Five, and Six.”

“Well, then we definitely have records from a child—and I think I see one that reminds me of Jason’s brain from the last time I operated on it,” Patrick said, squinting at something. “I did that surgery in 2005 when I moved to Port Charles, and you can still see the scars. Which gives us something to work with.”

“Okay. Okay. So they were running an actual experiment with medical research.”

“Maybe monthly scans to see how whatever they were doing was affecting the brain,” Patrick suggested. “The rest of the scans—none of them leaps out. I think I might have seen Drew’s—from when we removed the chip, but I’m not sure until I can look at it more closely. There’s one patient we’ve been grouping together.  The scans look familiar, like maybe he was one of my patients once.”

Spinelli furrowed his brow. “You’ve had many patients.”

“I have, so that’s not much to go on. We need the reports that would match them. That’s all I have so far, Spinelli, and probably the best we can do until I get back to Port Charles with my files to make comparisons. Unless you want to give them over to another neurosurgeon—”

“Stone Cold and the others don’t want anyone else involved. We can wait.” He sighed. “Okay. Okay. Thank you. You gave me something to work with,” Spinelli promised. “If you’re right, then these files are legit. These are Helena’s, so maybe Andre will have matching ones once I break the encryption.”

“Keep me in the loop. Happy New Year’s, Spinelli. Go celebrate with your daughter. I’m taking the night off. We all should.”

Webber House: Living Room

Elizabeth smiled with a roll of her eyes as Trina and Joss gushed over her dress and demanded that she turn around to show it off.

“That is gorgeous,” Joss declared. “And I could never do the mermaid skirt thing,” she told Trina. “My legs are too stubby. You’d look good in gold.”

“I look good in everything,” Trina declared, but she grinned. “Thanks for letting us crash tonight, Miss Webber. Mom is gonna call, like every minute, so if you want reports, she said she’d text you.”

“I talked to her,” Elizabeth said dryly as she walked over to join Jason by the sofa where he was  attempting to teach Aiden how to play war with a deck of playing cards. “I can’t remember the last time I saw you in a suit,” she told him.

Jason winced, tugging at the collar of his white shirt, though he’d left off the tie. “Carly left it at the house for me. I hate these things,” he muttered.

“Me, too,” Jake said. “But Mom likes ’em, so what’re you gonna do? Ha! WAR!” he said with a maniacal grin, flipping his card to show that he’d won this round. Aiden scowled.

“You’re cheating.”

“Uh uh—”

“Hey, I ordered the pizza,” Cameron said as he, Spencer, and Oscar came in from the kitchen. “So—” He raised his brows at his mother and Jason. “You can go now.”

“I think he’s eager to have the house to himself,” Elizabeth told Jason as he stood from the sofa. She straightened the lapels on his jacket, smiling at him briefly before looking over at the kids. “Don’t forget to set the security system. I don’t know when I’ll be home, but you’re only opening the door to the pizza guy or someone you know.”

“Uh, I know a lot of criminals,” Cameron said. “So, like, I need more direction than that—”

“Don’t play your mom,” Trina hissed, slapping his shoulder. “Don’t worry, I’ll keep them alive if he’s too stupid.”

“WAR!” Aiden roared, but then Jake flipped his card—and still had the higher card. “THAT IS NOT FAIR MAKE HIM STOP WINNING—”

“Go to the party,” Joss said, shoving at Jason’s elbow. “I got this. Hey, Aiden, let’s go see what trouble we can get into in the kitchen—”

Aiden slunk away, following Joss, tossing another murderous glare at his brother who just cackled.

Jason slid Elizabeth’s long black coat over her shoulders as she looked wistfully at the group gathered in her living room, as Cameron, Spencer and Oscar started to boot up a game system, and Trina challenged Jake to a new card game.

“We could stay,” he offered. “It would probably be more fun.”

“No, it’s just—” She sighed. “They’re growing up so fast,” she murmured. “I keep thinking I’ll blink and they’ll be in college.”

“And then they’ll come home,” Jason told her. He pulled open the door, and she went out onto the front step, into the bitter December night. Jason closed out the sounds of laughter from inside. “They don’t go to Carly’s. They don’t to Oscar’s or Trina’s. They come to your house, Elizabeth. Because your boys will always come back, and that’s because of you.”

Elizabeth smiled, leaned forward to drop her forehead against his chest lightly. He kissed the top of her head. “That might be the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.” She looked up, their eyes held in the dim shadows, then she smiled. “You ready to go to a swanky Port Charles party where Carly will probably try to force you into having fun?”

Jason smiled weakly. “Only if you’re there to scare her away.”

“Ha, ha, funny—” Elizabeth’s heels clicked as they walked down the driveway towards his SUV. Jason opened the door for her, helping her up into the seat so she didn’t slip, then closed the door, going around to the other side of the car.

He backed out of the driveway, neither of them noticing the man who lurked in the shadows, stopped to look into the windows of the house full of teenagers and children, then slid into a car of his own to follow them across town.

Should I give up
Or should I just keep chasing pavements?
Even if it leads nowhere
Or would it be a waste?
Even If I knew my place should I leave it there?
Should I give up
Or should I just keep chasing pavements?
Even if it leads nowhere
– Chasing Pavements, Adele

---

December 2015

Kelly’s: Courtyard

Nikolas stepped out of the shadows of the alley when he saw the doctor exit the diner, calling out a goodbye to some inside. “Dr. Maddox.”

Andre Maddox stopped and slowly turned to face him, the corners of his mouth tightening, his jaw clenching. “I’m sorry, do I know you?” he asked. Nikolas nearly smiled — from the expression on the bastard’s face, Andre knew precisely who he was.

“We’ve never been introduced but I know you.” Nikolas stepped closer to him. “You worked for my grandmother.”

Andre swallowed and shook his head. “You have me confused with someone else—” He started for the parking lot.

“If you think you’re free because she’s dead, you’re mistaken.” The other man stopped, but didn’t turn around. “That’s not how Cassadines operate. You should know that.”

“Is she really dead?” Andre asked in a low, tight voice. He faced Nikolas again. “Or is it like the last time?”

“I killed her myself,” Nikolas said flatly. “And then I watched as they fed her body to the flames. Would you like to see the ashes?”

Andre cleared his throat. “Perhaps we should deal with this somewhere else—”

“Here is fine. It’s freezing and nearly closing time.” Nikolas stepped closer. “Whatever my grandmother had planned for Jake, it’s done now. Whatever you were supposed to do—”

“Not me,” Andre managed. “I—I want this to be over. It’s—” He grimaced. “Valentin. Valentin Cassadine.”

Ah. He’d wondered if his bastard uncle had been part of any of this. “What is he planning?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t heard anything since I left for Port Charles. I just want to be out of this—”

“You put something in my nephew’s head,” Nikolas bit out. “You don’t get to make that choice anymore. You might not know exactly what my grandmother or Valentin was planning, but you sure as hell know what you did for them. Tell me.”

“I—you know it—”

“You were part of kidnapping Jason Morgan, weren’t you? The memories and amnesia—that was you. Don’t lie to me again,” Nikolas warned when the doctor opened his mouth.

“Okay. Okay. I don’t know the final plan, I just know some of the pieces.” Andre scrubbed a hand over the top of his head. “I don’t know what Valentin is planning for Jason Morgan. The last I heard, he’s somewhere in Russia in a coma—”

“Wait—” Nikolas held up a hand, blinking at the doctor. “Valentin is in a coma?”

“No—” Andre furrowed his brow. “Jason Morgan.” When Nikolas just stared at him, Andre grimaced. “You didn’t know that, did you?”

Nikolas swore and muttered something under his breath. “Okay. Okay. Let’s take this conversation to Spoon Island and you can tell me everything. From the beginning. You want to be out of this, Maddox? Then let’s end this for good.”

Thursday, December 28, 2017

Spencer House: Living Room

Laura set the old law book on the table and sighed. “Well, here it is,” she told Jason, Elizabeth, and Spinelli. “For whatever it’s worth. I’ve looked over that book a thousand times—”

“That’s why I’m here,” Spinelli said cheerfully. He reached for the book and took out something silver, long and flat from his bag.

“What’s that?” Elizabeth wanted to know, leaning over to check it.

“Electronic signal detector,” the tech replied. He shrugged. “If she hid anything in this book, I’ll find it. Laura, if I have to take it apart—”

“I only saved it in case it became relevant,” Laura said. “I don’t need it.”

“I appreciate you doing this,” Jason told her. “But I’m still not sure why Anna thought it might be important. Robin tried to explain it—”

“I’m not sure either,” Laura admitted. “I checked with Scott. This book was used when he was in law school, but this isn’t his personal copy or anything. Helena left me a key to a box in the Wyndemere attic, and it was supposed to lead me to something I loved and lost.”

“And it led you to a book that your ex-husband used forty years ago?” Elizabeth asked dubiously. “I mean, I know you ended up at the Campus Disco, but even for Helena, it doesn’t feel right.”

“Kevin and I always meant to get back to it,” Laura said, watching as Spinelli took out a thin knife and sliced the binding open. “But then, Nikolas died. We had Spencer and Valentin to deal with, Lulu and Charlotte—something always got in the way, and I decided that Helena had taken enough of my time.”

“But why would Helena have sent you anything that might help?” Jason pressed.

“You’d have to know Helena to understand,” Laura said. “If she did hide something in that book,” she continued, nodding at Spinelli, “it still won’t give us the answers. Not all of them, but I can see her hedging her bets. Valentin isn’t someone you screw with,” she said to Jason. “You don’t know him that well yet. Helena had no allies by the time she died. To protect Nikolas or maybe give herself some leverage in the event Valentin killed her—she would have done something.”

Spinelli flicked open a compartment in the spine of the book and slid out a slim metal object. “And indeed, the Evil Queen did send you a message.”

He booted up his computer and injected the drive, waiting for the laptop to read it and open the folder.

Jason got up to stand behind him, restlessness seeping into his bones. He’d been home for two months and he still didn’t know anything really about who had taken him. All he had were more and more questions—he just wanted one answer. Just one.

There were thousands of files—documents, pictures, all kinds of file formats that Jason didn’t recognize. Spinelli muttered under his breath, then just opened a random one. He scowled when the file demanded a password.

“Of course.” Elizabeth folded her arms. “They’re encrypted. Just like Andre’s—”

“Yes, but Andre put a deep encryption on his. He didn’t want anyone to see them—” Spinelli furrowed his brow. “Helena sent this to you,” he said to Laura. “Because this would lead you to something you’d loved and lost. She’d want you to open it, so the password shouldn’t be impossible to guess. What did she say the key would lead you to? Something you loved and lost?”

“The only thing I’ve truly loved and lost in the last few years was Nikolas,” Laura said. “And she wouldn’t know about that—”

“Death isn’t the only way to lose someone,” Elizabeth said softly, meeting Laura’s eyes. “All those secrets he was keeping? He sent Lucky to Greece—it was Nikolas who gave Lucky the tip that sent him to find Jake. Nikolas had to have known he was alive.”

“No—” Laura shook her head as Jason’s jaw clenched. “No, he wouldn’t have done that to you, Elizabeth. Of course not—”

“Try Nikolas,” Elizabeth suggested to Spinelli, ignoring Laura. “Because if Nikolas was part of it—even if Helena just thought he was—”

Spinelli typed in the name—all lower case.

And then the file opened.

Laura got to her feet. “That doesn’t prove anything—”

“What’s the file?” Jason demanded.

“It’s—” Spinelli leaned forward, squinting. “It’s some sort of report. From—” He scowled. “It’s medical—Stone Cold, sometimes you can do this. Or Fair Elizabeth?”

“It’s a brain scan report,” Elizabeth said, tilting the screen back. “I did a lot of these when I was working on Patrick’s OR team. It’s dated April 2012. Subject has a tumor of the frontal lobe—there are the measurements—”

“Why would Helena have this? It doesn’t have anything to do with Drew or me—or Jake—”

“Well, these are her files for everything,” Elizabeth reminded him. “We’ll have to go through them one by one.”

“What’s the last file she created?” Jason demanded. “That has to be important—”

Spinelli obediently sorted by last created, then clicked on the file — a video format. Laura instinctively recoiled as Helena’s face filled the screen, gaunt and wan, but her eyes filled with all the evil and malice that Jason had remembered even in his brief run ins with her. Elizabeth put a hand on Laura’s shoulder.

“Ah, my dear Laura. I see you’ve found my little secret. I do wonder how long it will take your simple faculties to locate it, but you were always smarter than your husband. Women generally are, darling.” Helena tipped her head. “And if you’re watching this, then you know that you have loved and lost Nikolas. Is he with you? Wouldn’t that be delicious?”

“Hateful, evil—” Laura muttered.

“If he is, you should take great pleasure in knowing that I never forgave him for betraying me. He thinks I don’t know.” Helena’s smile was gleeful. “He thinks that I don’t know he’s plotting against me. He thinks he is going to outsmart me and win. But I am always one step ahead. Even in death.”

Her lips curved into an even deeper smile. “Ask him about dear little Jake and how helpful he was in in my plans for him. I do hope you enjoy the boy for as long as possible. Perhaps Elizabeth will think again before she takes on the Cassadines. ”

Jason’s fists clenched at his side and he looked at Elizabeth, her face still and pale as death itself, Laura’s expression quietly shattered. Helena’s implication was clear — Nikolas had known their son was alive and had said nothing. Was Helena lying? And if it was true, had Nikolas known about the time bomb ticking in Jake’s head? For both their sakes, Jason hoped Helena was lying and trying to twist the knife.

“My grandson is a disappointment to the bloodline.” She paused. “But I suppose even a disappointment would be better than the animal I unleashed on the world. I am sending you these files, Laura, in hopes that you will ensure Nikolas keeps his inheritance. That whatever Valentin has done can be undone. Without me here to stop him, I fear the worst. I am not a woman of many regrets,  but in my desire for revenge, in my desire to bring pain, I turned to the wrong ally.”

For a moment, the malicious smirk disappeared and she was simply an old, fearful woman. Then it was gone, and the cruel smile was firmly fixed in its place.

“You and I, Laura Spencer—we’re not quite finished with one another, and I have many enemies that cannot be left unpunished. Until we meet again.”

The video stopped, frozen on Helena’s face as Elizabeth exhaled slowly and looked at Jason. “Other than her claims about Nikolas, I’m not sure if this gives us anything—”

“I’m not so sure about that.” She and Jason turned to Spinelli who was frowning at the screen. “She taunted you, Laura, at the beginning and the end, but she wanted to warn us about Valentin.”

“And tell us about Nikolas’s part in whatever they planned for Jake.” Laura paused. “But she threatened Elizabeth.”

“What do you mean?” Elizabeth asked. “She—”

“‘Perhaps Elizabeth will think again before she takes on the Cassadines’,” Spinelli quoted. He twisted in his seat. “We’ve been wracking our brains to find out why the Cassadines went after the brothers Stone Cold, but—”

“We forgot what links me to the Cassadines,” Jason said as Elizabeth’s eyes widened. He met her eyes. “You.”

“But—why—” She looked at Laura who nodded. “No, that doesn’t make sense.”

“She blamed you for Endgame,” Laura reminded her. “If Nikolas had killed you when she ordered—if he’d poisoned you — it would have been proof that Nikolas was a Cassadine. But you helped us come up with that plan. You faked your death, and you broke the brainwashing that kept Lucky tethered to her.”

“And your relationship with Nikolas ended badly,” Jason said, with a bit of regret as Elizabeth looked down. “If she’s spent all this time trying to turn Nikolas dark—well, without you, without Emily and Lucky—that would do it.”

“So she saw her chance when Jake got hurt—” Laura paused. “She faked his death, then made sure to torment you with it. Elizabeth, according to Andre, she made sure you were delirious with fever and brought you to the lab—she knew no one would believe you. She didn’t go after Lucky or Luke with that. Or even me. We’re the Spencers. She brought you there.”

“And then she kidnapped Stone Cold,” Spinelli said. “She sent home a false one to torment you and a Trojan Horse in Jake—”

“But I don’t matter—” Elizabeth shook her head. “No—this can’t be because of me. She didn’t do all of this because of me—” Her voice turned desperate. “This isn’t my fault—”

“Hey—” Jason took her by the shoulders, waiting for her to meet his eyes. “No one is saying this is your fault. Of course it’s not. Helena was insane. You know that.”

“But—” Elizabeth closed her eyes, dipped her head down so her chin touched her chest. “We’ve been looking for the motivation. The reason. We still don’t know anything about Valentin, but oh, God, I think you’re right. I think we know why Helena turned Victor your way. She wanted his resources for her experiments and she must have given him the patients he needed. Jake. You, Drew. Who else? Who else did she hurt?”

“We won’t know everything until we go through these files,” Spinelli said, grimly turning his eyes back to his computer screen. “There are more files than I can count. We need to do them one by one.”

“One step forward, five thousand back,” Laura said softly. “Until we meet again,” she continued. “Does anyone else wonder if perhaps Helena’s plan for her death included her own set of memories in a new body?”

“Oh, God,” Elizabeth said, pressing a hand to mouth as the horror of that set in.

“Maybe that’s what Valentin is searching for — whoever Helena picked out to take over her life,” Spinelli suggested.

Greystone Manor: Living Room

Carly stopped just as she removed an ornament from the tree, spying Michael in the doorway, his hands in the pockets of his dress pants. “Michael.”

“Hey, Mom.” He ambled across the room, but his shoulders were hunched. “You taking down the tree already?”

“Oh. No. I just—” She held it out to him. “It’s Morgan’s Christmas ball. Courtney bought it for him for his first Christmas.” Carly looked down at it, with the year inscribed. “I couldn’t really be with him that first year. I was barely out of the hospital. Do you—” She paused. “Do you remember that?”

“A little. It was right before you and Dad divorced for the second time, I think. Or started to divorce,” Michael answered. “When I, uh, told the judge I wanted to live with Aunt Courtney and Uncle Jason.”

“Yeah. And they were getting a divorce, too, so, man, that told me what a bad job I was doing.” Carly put the ornament back on the tree, watching as it bounced softly on the branch. “About Christmas Eve—”

“Mom—”

They both spoke at the same time, but then Michael gestured for her to wait, to let him finish. “I got reminded yesterday that losing Morgan—it was harder than it needed to be. It was bad enough,” he added, “but Nelle made it worse.”

Carly’s mouth tightened, but she said nothing. Just stared at the ornament, so Michael continued. “I’ve been thinking that she made a mistake, that she came to town like you did once. Wanting revenge for something that wasn’t really a crime, trying to hurt people to make a point. And you refusing to forgive her—it’s like—” He paused. “It’s like you refusing to forgive AJ for the things he did. For not giving him another chance.”

“I did give AJ another chance,” Carly said softly. “You know I did. Before Connie, before he lost ELQ—I was there. I know how much you loved him.” Her chest was heavy. “But then Connie happened. I knew he could be capable of darkness. I didn’t know he was innocent, Michael. I just knew what he’d done to Alan all those years ago—and he helped Faith kidnap you, your brother, Kristina—he pretended you were dead—”

“He wasn’t always a good man, Mom. But he was the man you made him.”

Accepting that, Carly sighed. “I’ll take credit for my part. But Monica and Alan, Edward and Lila—they get to take their share, Michael. AJ had little self-esteem or resilience long before I showed up. But yes, I took a damaged, weak man, and I helped shove him over the edge. He didn’t fight too hard, but there wasn’t much fight left in him. And then Sonny ended any chance AJ ever had of truly turning it around.”

“The thing is, Mom, I didn’t even know how angry I still was about AJ until you dug a line in the sand about Nelle,” Michael told her. Carly drew her brows together, confused. “I thought it was proof you hadn’t learned anything. That you hadn’t changed. But I didn’t—I really didn’t see it.”

“See what?”

“Every time you look at Nelle, every time you think about the reasons you don’t like her—” Michael paused. “It brings back Morgan. Because Nelle didn’t try to hurt you by trying to take away Dad. She used Morgan.”

Tears stung her eyes as Carly stared blindly into the tree. “I can’t ever really seem to get away from it,” she murmured. “I’ll go an entire day, and I’ll be able to breathe, but then it’s like a sinking weight I can’t drag myself out from under.”

“I’m sorry, Mom.”

A tear slid down her cheek as Carly looked at her son. “You said someone reminded you. I didn’t think Sonny or Jason—” When Michael hesitated, she stopped. “Don’t tell me it was Nelle.”

“No, it was Elizabeth. I’ve never seen her be that angry at me,” he admitted as Carly just stared at him. “She said something about when I got shot all those years ago — that it kind of broke everyone. That no one really got past it. I know how it messed me up to wake up a year later. But I never really thought about how you lost me for a year, then lost Morgan for good. Because of Dad and Jason. Because of this life.”

“She said all that, huh?” Carly murmured, a bit uncomfortable. “Well, I guess that’s true. But it wasn’t just Sonny and Jason’s life, Michael. It was mine. I chose it. Elizabeth—I don’t know if Jason ever really gave her chance to choose. Maybe after what happened to you—” She stopped. “No, I know it. After you, he was never going to put her in that position to watch her cry over those boys.” She closed her eyes. “Their boys,” she murmured.

“And then she did it anyway,” Michael told her. “Mom—”

“But I chose this life. And I chose to stay last year when Morgan died even though the car bomb was part of Sonny’s world. Because to leave after all these years would be to pretend that I didn’t know what I was doing. I did. And sometimes I think I’m being punished for coming back.”

Carly perched on the edge of the arm chair. “The thing is,” she said slowly, “that part of you is right about Nelle. I did come to Port Charles to make my mother pay for putting me up for adoption, even though Bobbie could never have known what would happen to me. And the sentence? Destroying her marriage, stealing her husband—well, it didn’t really fit the crime.”

Carly stared at her hands. “Nelle used the circumstances of Morgan’s death to make it harder. Because she knew she could. So, no, Michael, I don’t see us ever having much to do with each other. I’m sorry. I wish I could promise you more. But Elizabeth is right. When I look at Nelle, I will always see the little boy I lost. I’m not interested in being the better person and putting it behind me.”

“I wasn’t going to ask you to,” Michael said. “But I want you to understand that’s not how I see Nelle. I know she’s not perfect. I know she lies and attacks and manipulates. I even know when she’s doing it to me.”

Carly pressed her lips together. “And you don’t care.”

“No, I do. But I also think maybe you might understand if you think about Jason.”

“Jason?”

“You had Jason holding you up, pushing you to be better,” Michael told her. “It didn’t always work—and, yeah, I think sometimes he should have let you fall. But he didn’t. Nelle never had a Jason, Mom. She never had anyone give a damn about her. She does deserve a second chance. From me. I just don’t expect it from you.”

“You want to be Nelle’s Jason,” Carly said slowly. “Well, that’s—” She got to her feet. “That’s the dumbest thing I ever heard.”

Michael rolled his eyes. “Not the same way, Mom. I love Nelle. I see something in her—I see the person she’s trying to protect. I’m not ready to give up on that. That’s all I’m saying.”

“Fine,” Carly said. She looked at Michael. “As long as you’re dating Nelle, don’t bring her to the restaurant. Don’t bring her to the house. She’s not invited. She’s not part of this family, Michael. She isn’t worth it. But you’re not ready to see that.”

“What if someone had said that about you?” Michael pushed. “That you weren’t worth it?”

“I guess we’re done pretending that you’re not asking me to give her a second chance,” Carly said, her temper rising. “Nelle manipulates you with lies, and she uses your family to do it—she used me, she used Sonny—”

“I don’t plan to bring her around, Mom. I’m just not letting her go.”

“Then make your mistakes,” Carly snapped. “All the things you hate about me, Michael? All the things you want me to change and do better? They’re the exact same things you’re using as an excuse to stay with Nelle. Congratulations. You’re dating a woman exactly like me. I hope you live to regret it.”

Devane Manor: Living Room

“How many files?” Anna demanded. “Does it ever end?” she demanded of Robert who just sighed.

“Spinelli is going to finish decrypting all the files on Helena’s drive and we’ll go through them,” Drew told her. “And then he’ll get back to work on Andre’s encryption.” He paused. “But for now, we’re still spinning our wheels on that part.”

“Ridiculous,” Robert muttered. “To have spent two months with so little to show for it.” He looked at them. “You said you wanted our help. If not with the files—”

“We’re not going after Valentin right now because we don’t know what we don’t know,” Drew said. “Seeing what happened to Jake—knowing more about what the Cassadines are capable of now—it make sense to know what we’re dealing with before we take action. Part of understanding what happened meant starting at the beginning. When Jason and I were separated. Curtis has been over the files for my mother’s murder.”

“Your mother—” Robert paused. “Susan,” he said. “Of course. But why—I would have told you—”

“It was a long time ago,” Curtis reminded him. “I wanted to just see the reports. Get a fresh why. Drew and me, we’ve been stuck on how this happened. Motivation matters. So we know that Helena pointed Victor at Jason, Drew, and Jake because of Elizabeth and the Spencers. What we don’t know is how Victor knew that Jason had a twin brother to kidnap in the first place.”

“We think at some point, Susan knew I existed and kept it to herself,” Drew continued. “But I was dumped a month after she was murdered, and based on your own investigation, Robert, you had problems with Crane Tolliver’s motive.”

“Yes. We never found any evidence that Susan planned to back down on her demands, but we had the murderer, so—” Robert narrowed his eyes. “You think Drew is related to this somehow? No one knew he existed.”

“Someone had to, otherwise why pull me out of Betsy Frank’s custody?” Drew paused. “Elizabeth talked to Scott Baldwin about this since he was married to Susan at the time and a suspect.”

“He was a serious enough one that we arrested him, but we never had anything on him except motive,” Robert told him. “What does that have to do with Scott and why you think Susan knew about you?”

“Her will talks about descendants in the plural,” Curtis said, “and it’s too much of a coincidence that Drew was abandoned at a fire house a month later with a false birth certificate and a form surrendering him to the state.”

Anna furrowed her brow. “This was before my time, Robert. I don’t know the details or the players.”

“I think Susan found out I was still alive—maybe Heather was holding me for her own payday, or Betsy wouldn’t give her back,” Drew said. “I don’t know. And I doubt Heather or Betsy will ever tell us. But if Susan was looking for another trust fund, if she produced another Quartermaine son—”

“Maybe she was going to cut Tolliver out of the whole thing, but why wouldn’t he tell anyone that? Seems like he would have brought it up in his confession.”

“There’s that. But Tolliver isn’t where the story ends. Because someone knew about me and dumped me in Poughkeepsie, New York. When Elizabeth talked to Scott,” Drew said with a grimace, “he mentioned something between Alan and Monica. That Alan nearly lost custody of Jason to the state because of Monica.”

Anna stared at him, then looked at Robert. “Wait—”

“Uh, that is—well, that’s true,” Robert said slowly. “Word got around about the custody thing. It was pretty well known at the time that Alan and Monica were hanging on by a thread.  If another child had turned up, Monica would have taken Alan for everything he had. But that doesn’t—” He stopped. “Drew.”

“The woman I know now is a good one,” Drew said. “A good doctor. A good mother and an excellent grandmother. But I also know that it was a long time ago, and that maybe there’s a reason Monica felt so guilty all of Jason’s life and tried so hard after the accident.”

“Someone deliberately tried to make Drew disappear.” Curtis took out a folder, retrieved a certificate. “We got a court order to get the investigation records. I wanted a copy of the surrender order that was with Drew when he was found. The State of New York turned this over yesterday.”

Anna reached for it. “It’s a surrender order,” she murmured. “Signed by Susan Cain on March 25, surrendering custody of Andrew Cain to the state of New York. He wasn’t just left at the home—” She focused on Drew. “You were legally surrendered.”

“March 25,” Robert repeated, staring at the date over Anna’s shoulder. “Susan was dead by then for nearly six weeks.”

“Someone knew who I was and deliberately put me into the system. They changed my name from Moore to Cain to bury my connection to Susan and to Port Charles.”

“This kind of paper trail—” Anna reached for the other papers. “Victor was always a detail man. If Helena wanted him to target Jason—he would have been meticulous. He would have looked into his past, looking for anything he could use no matter how small. It was how we were trained at DVX. You never knew what might be leverage.”

“He would have found Susan’s murder file—is it possible he might have been able to find this?” Robert asked. “Isn’t this a bit of a leap?”

“No, not if Victor found the original birth certificate,” Anna said. She pointed. “Look — it states that Jason was a twin. It matches Drew’s certificate.”

“It was refiled here in Port Charles,” Drew said. “When Jason was renamed as Jason Quartermaine and Monica legally adopted him. I doubt Alan ever pulled the original.”

“If he had — it was there for anyone to see,” Anna said. “But no one ever looked at the original record. They always looked at Jason Quartermaine’s records. Victor would have known there was an original certificate. If he pulled the first one, he would have looked for the brother—”

“And if you find Andrew Moore — you might keep looking until you find Andrew Cain. A boy with the same first name and mother’s name born the same year. And it’s not like Victor cared about the law or confidentiality. He would have ignored the red tape and taken the information.”

Uncomfortable, Robert looked at Drew. “If this is how Victor found out about you, then there’s no long-standing grand conspiracy. He located this information and then found you. We can—we can leave it here, Drew. With the past in the past.”

Drew stared down at the paperwork, then exhaled slowly. Did he want to know who buried him in the system, keeping him away from his family his whole life? Did he want to know that person had also been involved in the murder of his biological mother?

Did he want to know if it had been Monica, the mother he’d grown to love over the last two years? Or if it was Alan or Edward, the men he’d never known? Or even someone else? What was he looking for?

“Drew?” Curtis asked.

“I think I have to know,” Drew said finally. “Even if I don’t like the answers. Someone threw me away. I deserve to know where I came from.”

Webber House: Living Room

The house was quiet when Jason and Elizabeth returned later that day, and she couldn’t decide if she was relieved or irritated that there weren’t any distractions.

“I’m sorry,” Jason said as he took Elizabeth’s coat and hung it up. “I shouldn’t have said it—about my link to the Cassadines being you—”

“Don’t—I’m fine now. It was just—I think I’m just—letting it settle in. We’ve been asking ourselves for weeks why Helena went after you. Spinelli’s right. It had to be be me.”

Jason sat next to her, their knees brushing slightly.

“It was easier when I thought Jake was part of the feud. It made me angry,” Elizabeth admitted, “but I could live with it. This—knowing that Jake went through all of that—that you and Drew were targeted, God, even Robin’s part in this—” She paused. “It’s not my fault,” she repeated, “but I’m not sure how I feel about Helena using the people I love to hurt me.” She met his eyes. “Is this how you felt every time I was in danger because of your job? If I had never let Helena know how much you meant to me, she wouldn’t have gone after you.”

“Yeah.” Jason exhaled slowly. “Yeah. That’s exactly how it was. But you didn’t know she was out there, planning any of this, Elizabeth. You never knew I was in danger—that Jake would be part of it that way—”

“What if you’d known?” Elizabeth asked. She looked away. “What if you knew that being in a relationship with me made you a target? That Helena would try to kill you, that she would play with your brain, lock you in your own body, hurt your son—”

“You mean would I have chosen you anyway?” Jason asked. “The way you wanted to choose me?”

“Never mind—”

“Hey—” Jason stopped her as she started to move away. “No, it’s a valid question. I made the choice for you, and I never listened to the way you felt. Especially after Michael got shot. I thought maybe, a few months later—but the Russians—it just felt like everyone kept coming, and then Jake almost died. I decided it was better to be alone than to watch you or the boys get hurt. Because I knew the next time we might not be so lucky.”

“But you didn’t decide to be alone for long,” Elizabeth said, and he shook his head. “I mean, I didn’t either. But I never promised I would, Jason. You told me that you wanted a life with us. With me, Jake, and Cam. And then you gave that life to Sam—”

“I don’t think I did,” Jason said. “Elizabeth—”

She rolled her eyes and shoved herself to her feet, pacing over by tree. “Never mind. It’s not worth it now. It was almost ten years ago—”

“But we never talked about it, and I’m not sure I ever understood until I came home and found out Danny was my son.”

Elizabeth frowned at him. “What do you mean? What does Danny have to do with it?”

“The reason Sam is asking me to walk away from Danny is because of what happened when she was pregnant. You know that. I didn’t know if I could be a part of a child’s life. Any child,” he added. “Sam chose to think it was about Franco, and I think maybe I thought it was, too. But now I realize—I didn’t deserve to be anyone’s father. Not after I hadn’t been there for Jake.”

Elizabeth exhaled slowly, then nodded. “I wondered,” she murmured. “But I was afraid if I asked you—if I made it sound like that, it would be like I blamed you—”

“Don’t you? Didn’t you?” Jason pushed. “If I had stayed, would Jake have had the accident? Everything you went through with Lucky and Nikolas—”

“I made that mess on my own,” Elizabeth said. “And I was the one who wasn’t watching Jake, not you—”

“But I should have been there. And I wasn’t. And if I couldn’t have Jake, Elizabeth, I didn’t want any kids. I know I told Sam to get the surgery, but I never—” His mouth tightened. “I didn’t think it would work.”

“Oh.”

“And I know how it makes me sound,” Jason went on, “but I told you this was how I felt before I got shot. When we almost—”

“You said we’d made sacrifices for Jake,” Elizabeth remembered. “And that you didn’t think it was fair to him—” Her eyes burned. “Jason—”

“When you told me Sam’s son was alive, I knew he wasn’t mine. I knew that,” Jason continued, “but I thought—I couldn’t ever bring Jake back to you—but I could try to bring Danny home for Sam. I could do one thing right. And then maybe, I’d be okay with—I don’t know. Maybe I would finally feel forgiven.”

Tears slid down her cheeks. “Forgiven by who?” she asked softly. “Me? The world? God? Yourself? Jason—that’s not how any of this works.”

“I thought it was,” he said roughly. “But then I got shot before I figured out what I was going to do with the rest of my life—if Sam could ever forgive me, if I could even forgive myself—or if you could. Because I know you blamed me. You had to.”

“Maybe sometimes. But not nearly as much as I blamed myself.”

“I came home and Joss just said it in the middle of the conversation—oh, hey, Danny’s yours. The blood tests were wrong.” Jason looked at her, his eyes rimmed with red, his voice tinged with self-disgust. “When the test said that Danny was Franco’s son, it felt like I was still being punished for Jake. For not protecting Sam. But it’s not. It never was. It was just—I don’t know how it happened.”

“No one’s sure,” Elizabeth said faintly.  “Jason—”

“The tests were wrong, Joss told me. Danny’s your son. And it should have meant something to me. It did,” Jason said, quickly. “But I don’t know what it means. I remember holding him, bringing him back to Sam. I saw him on Halloween. And he’s—I don’t know what I’m supposed to think. How I’m supposed to feel. Because I told myself I didn’t deserve him. Sam thought it meant I didn’t want him—but that’s not true—”

He turned away, and Elizabeth went after him, putting a hand on his shoulder, drawing him back to face her. “When we lost Jake,” Elizabeth said, softly, “we both went a little crazy, I think, and getting him back didn’t fix it. It didn’t erase the guilt, the shame, fear—the complete belief that something we did took our little boy away from us. You know what I did. I went completely insane. Even without the trip Helena took me on—and you did what you always do. You took the weight of the world and you made it your own. Of course you deserved to be a father after losing Jake, Jason.”

“Did I?”

“When I found out I was pregnant with Aiden, and I thought he was Nikolas’s son,” Elizabeth said, “I nearly jumped off the roof of General Hospital because I knew that Lucky would never forgive me.”

Jason stared at her, stunned. “What—”

“I nearly killed myself and took my sweet baby with me. My Aiden, the boy who insists I have a home-baked cake every year for my birthday. I nearly gave him up. I nearly left Cameron and Jake completely alone. Because of my own misery.” Elizabeth reached up, wiped a stray tear from his cheek. “Did I deserve to keep being a mother?”

“Of course—” Jason closed his eyes. “Of course you did. You’re the best mother I know.”

“And maybe you haven’t been able to show Jake or Danny how much you love them,” Elizabeth said. “But that doesn’t mean you won’t ever. I know you better than that, Jason. Look at what you’ve done these last few weeks with Jake. You’ll get that chance with Danny. And maybe it won’t look the way it might have five years ago, but you are a good father.”

She framed his face in her hands, forcing him to look at her. “We lost our son. The boy who came home isn’t the boy he would have been if he hadn’t been stolen from us. He’s not the boy he would have been if we’d been stronger and stayed together. But Jake is a miracle. He’s our miracle. I didn’t jump off that building, and I got a second chance to be a better mother. You didn’t die that night on the pier. Take this chance, Jason, and forgive yourself. You’re only human, and no one needs to remember that more than you do.”

Wyndemere: Study

Nina scowled as Valentin paced his study. “You’re not even listening to me,” she complained as her husband turned and stalked towards the window that overlooked the gardens. “I want to do something for our anniversary—”

Valentin forced himself to turn around with a smile pasted on his face. “Of course, darling. Plan whatever you want. Sky’s the limit.”

“I’ve had just about enough of you skulking around and ignoring me.” Nina folded her arms. “You’ve barely listened to me—is this about what I told you last month? To go find out what Helena did? You don’t talk to me anymore!” she complained.

“Nina—” Valentin hissed as his phone rang. “We’ll talk later—give me a second—” He looked at the identification. “You’d better have some damn news for me.”

“I do, Mr. Cassadine,” Joseph Klein said confidently. “I told you that we had put a trace into one of the last files we gave Mrs. Cassadine. As soon as it was opened—we’d be able to tell you where it was found.”

“Don’t congratulate yourself—just tell me—”

“It was opened this afternoon,” Klein continued, “on Royal Street where Laura Spencer lives. The men you have watching her reported that she went to her bank this morning and opened her safety deposit box. She took out a book.”

Valentin’s lips curved into a thin, humorless smile. “So she has the files.” He had a suspicion he knew exactly which book Laura had taken from the bank.

“Valentin,” Nina hissed. “What files?” He waved her off.

“She does, sir, but that’s not all. There’s still another trigger on the file that hasn’t gone off. That means the file was duplicated. Helena Cassadine sent a second copy of those files somewhere else.”

“Somewhere else—” Valentin narrowed his eyes, trying to focus. If Helena had sent one set of files to Laura Spencer through a bequest in the will— “I know where I need to look. It’s here in Port Charles. I’ll take care of it.”

“I’ve saved the best news for last, sir. We’ve found your mother’s lab — and one of the Cassadines you were looking for. We expect to wake him within the week.”