Look at the sky, see a dying star
White lies, it’s a man on fire
Making love with the devil hurts
Times are changing
A thin line, the whole truth
The far right, the left view
Breaking all those promises made
Times are changing
– Walk on Water, Thirty Seconds on Mars

---

Monday, January 8, 2018

Istanbul, Turkey: Airport

“Sir? Sir?”

Valentin glanced up from the laptop in his lap, blinking at the flight attendant calling his name from behind the desk. “What?”

“You’ll be able to board your flight in five minutes.”

He grunted, then closed down his work, stowed the laptop in his carry-on, then tugged his cell phone from a pocket in the bag. More missed calls from Nina, but—

Valentin glanced at the clock against the wall depicting the time zones around the world — including New York City. It was just before eight in the morning here, which meant it was one in the morning back home and safe to make a call.

He dialed Nina’s number, smiling when it connected to voicemail. “Darling, I’m so sorry we missed each other again. This time difference is throwing me off. I’m boarding a plane now, which means I’ll be seeing you sometime this afternoon your time. I miss you.”

He was ready to go back to Port Charles, to continue working on breaking through the encryption on the files — and then, when Klein followed with Stefan later this week, they could begin discussing the next step.

Everything was falling into place. All he needed was a little bit more patience.

He gathered his carry on and boarded the flight.

Kiremit House: Kitchen

Luke slid through the back door, having returned to the house through the back gardens winding up and down the block. He stopped, a bit surprised to see his son and Britt sitting around the table, with laptops, paperwork, coffee and the remains of breakfast. “Uh, hey.”

“Morning.” Lucky leaned back to look at him. “How’d it go last night?”

“Uh, good. I think. Depends on your definition, really. The Dark Prince up yet?”

“No, but he should be down any minute. You find something new at the lab?” Lucky pushed aside the papers they’d been shuffling through. “We could use a distraction.”

“Only because you’re hellbent on using the Siberia lead,” Britt muttered, rising to pour another cup of coffee. “I told you, it’s not enough—”

“Maybe not on its own, but we can pad it out. Make it more interesting.” Lucky dismissed her, looked back at his dad. “You want me to go get Nikolas?”

“Uh—”

“No need. I’m here.” Nikolas appeared in the doorway of the small kitchen, stifling a yawn. He took a mug down from the cabinet, then handed it to Britt. “Black.”

She scowled, but filled the cup and handed it back, a bit roughly. Nikolas winced when he was singed by liquid sloshing out of the sides. “Hey—”

“Don’t like the service, find another barista.” She sat back at the table. “What can you put with the Siberia lead that might make them bite?” she demanded of Lucky.

“I don’t know, but—”

“Table that for now,” Luke said, filling up his own mug. “We’ve got something else on the radar. Let’s start with the small news. They’re packing up the lab to head back to the States. I guess Valentin wants what’s going on to be closer to home.”

“Well, that makes our lives harder. We can’t just relocate to the States. I mean, you and me, yeah,” Lucky said. “But—”

“Why are they packing up now?” Britt cut in. “What’s changed?”

“I think it might be related to second thing I found last night.” Luke hesitated, unsure really how to drop this particular bombshell. “I’m pretty sure I know what made Valentin drop everything and run to Turkey. Before this lab, Klein was in Russia, wasn’t he?”

“Yeah. We tracked him briefly in Port Charles, but then he dropped off the radar. What did you find, Dad? Stop with the dramatics.”

“Nikolas.” His tone was unusually somber when he addressed his wife’s son. “They’ve got Stefan.”

Nikolas’s face paled beneath his golden skin tone. “Stefan. They’ve—you mean—”

“I don’t know much yet. But it’s him. He was asleep in a hospital bed. Whether it’s the same coma as the others or something else — but yeah. Heartbeat and everything.”

Nikolas exhaled slowly, and Lucky got up, offering his chair. Nikolas took it gratefully, setting down the coffee. “My uncle is alive.”

“Looks like it.” Luke folded his arms. “Helena probably snagged his body after it all went down and put him in one of those deep sleeps like she did for Stavros.”

“Or he faked his death. Again. Wouldn’t be the first time,” Nikolas said.

“Runs in the family.” Lucky leaned against the kitchen counter, sipped his coffee, unaffected when Nikolas glared at him. “What? We were all thinking it.”

“My money is on Helena putting him on ice in case he was needed, and just leaving him there. The way they did Jason. She held on to both brothers until she had a use for them. I don’t know what Valentin wants with him, how long he’s been there—none of it. All I know is he’s in that lab and he’s probably why it’s being moved at the end of the week. Valentin can’t afford to wait much longer for whatever he wants, and his absence back home is sending up red flags. So he’s moving Stefan closer to him.”

“My uncle is alive,” Nikolas said, again, more to himself. “We have to get him out of there. We have to—”

“We could,” Luke said slowly. “Or we could turn it over to the brothers Morgan. They could arrange for his rescue, and he could go home. He’d think you were dead, but they’d be able to use the full force of the WSB — you know they’re not going to pass up questioning an actual Cassadine brother. It might be which Robert and Anna need to get back into see Maddox.”

“No. No.” Nikolas’s head snapped up. “I can’t do that. Uncle could know things that we need—”

“Which we’d still get if we turned him over to the WSB,” Lucky said. “Right now, they’re cooperating with us, Nikolas. We have access to everything. But Dad said they were getting antsy on the last call. We’ve been here a week, and they think we’ve found nothing.”

“And if we’d started with their list, not ours, we’d have found Valentin—and Stefan—days ago,” Luke pointed out. “It might be better for everyone if we treat this like the break you were looking for. Hell, we could come clean and maybe get a break. You might take a hit—”

“I can’t come forward.” Nikolas rose, his eyes fierce. “I told you what I need to come out. We don’t have enough to keep Valentin in check. We agreed until we could get to the truth of the will and prove it’s a forgery, I’m not safe. And neither is Spencer. He’ll go back to eradicating anyone who stands in his way. He needed that will because everyone knows he forced me to sign over everything to save Ava’s life. To save my own. And he killed me anyway. No. Everyone at home stays safe as long as I stay dead.”

“Fine. But there’s no reason we still can’t turn this over to Jason and Drew now,” Lucky said. “They can get Stefan out and we’ll get everything we need—”

“But I won’t—” Nikolas bit off whatever he was about to say. “No. I said no. He’s my uncle. This is my family, and I’m telling you no. We’ll get him out ourselves, and he’ll be able to tell us how to fix this. He was alive when my grandfather wrote his will.” Nikolas raked his eyes over the three of them. “That’s how it is. If you don’t like it, there’s the door—”

“And if Stefan doesn’t have the answers?” Luke challenged. “How long are we going to do this?”

“Until we can get rid of Valentin. That’s never changed, Luke. You want out, no one’s tying you down.”

“I can’t walk out,” Luke retorted. “Because the only way out for me is to tell Laura what I know, and I sure as hell can’t do that until Valentin isn’t a threat anymore. Fine. I’ll put together a plan to get Stefan out. But you—” He stabbed a finger at Nikolas. “You better start thinking about an exit strategy, because if your damned uncle doesn’t know where the bodies are buried, we’re out of options.”

Kiremit House: Lucky’s Bedroom

Lucky half-listened to Britt’s complaints about the Siberia story as he booted his laptop and reached for his phone. He frowned at the notification screen showing a missed phone call from Jason along with a voice mail.

Jason had never initiated contact before. “Be quiet—” he ordered Britt, who snapped her mouth shut and glared at him. He pressed play.

Drew and I are flying out tomorrow sometime to Istanbul. He speaks Turkish, so we’ll take some addresses on Spinelli’s list. We’ll be able to get through it faster. We’ll call when we land.

“Tomorrow?” Britt echoed. “When did he leave that message?”

“Just a little while ago, I left my phone up here—” Lucky frowned, calculating. “It was probably around midnight in Port Charles, so tomorrow for him would be today. Monday. Damn it.”

“Well, we can’t be that surprised. Your dad said they were getting restless.” Britt folded her legs on his bed. “What happens now?”

Damned good question. “They’re looking at the addresses,” Lucky said slowly. “They’ll start with the Maslak lab. It’s the first one on the list.”

“You could split the list—”

“Jason doesn’t trust me. For personal reasons,” Lucky added, “and he really doesn’t trust my dad. There’s no way Spinelli hasn’t told them why Maslak is on the list. They’re not going to believe us if they say we cleared it.” He grimaced. “They find that lab, how long before they figure out what’s going on in there? Or that we knew?”

He headed for their shared folder, tapping a few keys. There was a reason Jason and Drew were coming now, Lucky thought. There had to be something he was missing. Had he let something slip in the last list of thoughts he’d sent to Spinelli?

“I was surprised your dad wanted to turn things over to them,” Britt said after silence lingered for a moment. “I thought he was really all in on this.”

Damn it. Lucky grimaced as he noticed a string of code that he’d missed before. He exhaled slowly, scrubbed a hand over his face. He’d have to dig in and see just how much Spinelli already knew.

“Lucky?”

He tuned back into Britt, frowned, then nodded. “Dad and I wanted to come out with this back in October when Jason first showed up. But Nikolas vetoed it. He made some good points back then,” Lucky admitted. “Jason had just returned, and he’d been attacked in New York, so people were still looking for him stateside. It made sense to sit back and let things settle. See where the danger was. We didn’t know about Jason. Dad and I.” He looked at her, and Britt sighed.

“I did, but I never knew Nikolas was keeping that from you. He made it sound like you were in on everything, Lucky. And you and I didn’t know each other, did we? So why would I doubt Nikolas.”

“No reason to.” He tapped a few more keys, looked more closely at the coding Spinelli had hidden in the file transfers. How close was the hacker to the truth?

“But your dad still wants to come clean,” Britt continued. “And I think you do, too. I guess maybe I don’t really understand why you’re both listening to Nikolas. Or why Nikolas doesn’t see this as a reason to change what we’re doing. To tell someone the truth.”

“Dad wants to make sure Lu and Mom are safe. Nikolas has access to all the Cassadine records, the properties — Dad and I could work for years and never get near most of that.” He exhaled a slight breath of relief. Spinelli only knew a little bit — but Lucky had done a decent job of hiding the network. They could work with this.

He turned his attention back to Britt. “Dad decided after what happened to Lu, to Jake, it’s his life’s mission to keep the Cassadines out of power. Nikolas is the key to that, or at least right now he is.”

“And that’s why you’re still keeping the secrets? Access to Cassadine resources?”

And to prove Nikolas had been involved with all of it so everyone back at home would stop thinking he was some kind of damn misunderstood hero. “Yeah.” Lucky sat up, then twisted in the chair to look at her. “We all have our reasons. You want your life back, don’t you? Isn’t that your goal?”

“That, and to try to make up for what my parents did. Helena and Victor didn’t act alone in those experiments. Maybe they gave the orders, but they couldn’t have done it without my parents.”  Britt bit her lip. “So what do we do about Jason and Drew?”

“We have to come up with a cover story that distracts Jason and Drew while they’re here,” Lucky said after a long moment. “Nikolas isn’t wrong — if Stefan shows up to take the inheritance from Valentin, then we’re back to where we started. Valentin needs to be neutralized or eliminated.”

“Then why not just do it? What’s stopping any of us from arranging an accident? Morality?” Britt demanded. “If getting rid of Valentin makes it over—”

“Helena was dead for over a year before Jake was triggered into almost releasing that toxin. What if we kill Valentin, and there’s something else waiting? We don’t know what they put into Jason or Drew’s head. Or Jake’s. Patient Four is still out there—” Lucky shook his head. “I don’t like any of it, but if Valentin’s goal was position and money, as long as he has that — we have the upper hand.”

“Okay, I get that.” Britt sighed. “So what do we do with the brothers?”

Good question. Thanks to Spinelli, the brothers knew more than Lucky had anticipated. And he couldn’t afford to lose what little trust existed. So how did he make that work for him?

He looked over at Britt, wondering just how much he could trust her. If he told her about Spinelli—

“We need to tell them about Maslak. That Dad found Valentin.”

Britt’s eyes widened. “Whoa—what?”

“That’s why they’re coming here.” Lucky tapped a few keys. “Spinelli tossed a surprise into the batch of files I downloaded on Saturday. A virus.”

“Oh, God—” Her face drained of color. “We’re screwed—”

“He can see any device that’s had access to the folder. Which means he knows you’re here,” Lucky added. “With us.”

“This is so bad—”

“It’s not. I can make this work for us. They don’t know where we are,” Lucky added. “My network is still hidden, and I’ll add an extra layer to keep it protected. Spinelli’s good, but I’m better—”

“Since when?” she demanded. “I’ve never heard of you being a hacker—”

“I came up with computers. It used to be my specialty, but—” Lucky grimaced. “Life got away from me. I dipped back in after I left Port Charles and now, I can go toe to toe with Spinelli. Like I said, he doesn’t know where we are yet. But he’s got access to our devices. All our electronics. Including Dad’s phone.”

Britt bit her lip. “His GPS?”

“They have to suspect we found something at Maslak. Dad never went anywhere else on the list. They’re showing up right after we find Valentin. They know you’re here. The only thing they can’t know about is Nikolas.”

“We should tell your dad and Nikolas. You’ll have to put more security on the phones—” Britt headed for the door, but Lucky reached it first, holding it shut, trapping her against the door. “Lucky—”

“No. No. We’re going to make this work for us. I’m done playing their games. Lying for them. We’ll tell Jason and Drew about Maslak. That we found Valentin. That it’s being moved back to Port Charles. That’s going to send them right back home, which is all I promised my dad I’d do.”

Britt licked her lips, searched his eyes. “But what if they find out about Stefan? What if they find out about Nikolas?”

“Then Nikolas is going to have to deal with that. You and me? We’re the ones meeting with Jason and Drew. We’re the ones that have to sell this story. Nikolas will be sticking close to the house, and Dad will be planning the rescue mission.”

“But—”

“I told Nikolas I would do it his way for as long as it made sense. Dad might think this is still a good idea, but—” Lucky shook his head. “I’m lying to my family. Hurting them. I don’t know if there’s any way to fix what I broke, but I can’t keep doing this. Can you?”

He stepped back from the door, went to the dresser. He sorted through his wallet, pulled out a photo, then showed it to her.

“This is the last time I was with my boys. Really with them. And it’s not even all of them.”

She studied the photo of Lucky, sitting on the edge of a stone bridge over a river, a toddler clutched in one arm, a young boy grinning at his side. Lucky’s hand was extended out, holding the camera. “Is that Dublin?”

“The last time Aiden and Cam came over for a few weeks in the summer. Aiden’s two, Cam was ten. And Jake was supposed to be dead. By the time the next summer rolled around, the Stavros and Helena had kidnapped my sister and nearly killed her. I started hunting Helena then. I canceled that summer, thinking it would be just once. But it wasn’t. I made a choice, Britt, that I can’t ever take back.”

She handed him the photo. “So we tell them about Maslak. About Valentin. But not Stefan or Nikolas. We’re still lying.”

“I’m not ready yet for them to know about Nikolas.” Not until Lucky had what he needed to prove just how deep his brother’s betrayal had run. “But if they find it out on their own, good for them. I’m not interested in throwing more road blocks in their way.”

“So we’re going to lie to your dad and Nikolas about what we’re telling Jason and Drew?” Britt asked dubiously. “Do you really think that’s a good idea?”

“Has my father or Nikolas done a damn thing to your trust or your loyalty?” Lucky challenged.

“Not lately no.” She looked down at her hands. “But it’s hard. I made him a promise, Lucky. If I do this, he’ll believe every bad thing he ever thought about me.”

“He promised you, too. How long are you supposed to wait until you can go home?” He leaned forward, waited for her to look up. “How long am I supposed to wait?”

She was quiet for longer than he expected. Almost long enough to make Lucky worry that he’d miscalculated. But then she took a deep breath. Nodded. “If it leads back to all of this being out in the open, if I do this, and Nikolas goes after me for the charges—”

“He’ll be too busy cleaning up his own mess to worry about you. I’ll make sure of it.”

“Okay. Okay.” She forced a smile. “Let’s do it.”

Somewhere over the European continent

Plane: Main Cabin

It was difficult to practice patience when everything hinged on breaking into these damn files. Any sense of peace had disappeared as the jet flew over the Swiss Alps.

Valentin hunched over the laptop in his lap, cursing his mother and whatever encryption was protecting the files contained within. How was he supposed to carry on his plan and life in Port Charles if he couldn’t get through the block on his mother’s files?

He needed to be home. He needed to repair the damage he’d done with his hasty trip to Port Charles. He had to make it up to Nina and Charlotte and take his place once again as a member of the Port Charles business community. Well-respected after his daring exploits at the Nurse’s Ball. And none of that would be possible unless he succeeded at extracting Stefan’s memories.

He’d been doing so well until that damned patient had escaped from Russia—if Jason Morgan were still lying comatose in St. Petersburg, none of this would be happening.

He tapped in another set of keystrokes and, so used to failure, simply stared for a long moment with stunned amazement as a folder opened, revealing its contents.

Valentin’s lips curved into a smile. Finally. He’d broken into the deepest of his mother’s files and located the protocol required to extract and implant memories. He’d put Klein to work extracting what he needed from Stefan so that the bastard could be disposed of properly—

He’d find someone to take on his mother’s memories so that Valentin could finally locate his Holy Grail — the true Cassadine heir.

Then he’d choke the life out of them.

The universe had smiled upon him, and Valentin Cassadine was finally going to get what he’d been promised. What he deserved.

It turned into something bigger
Somewhere in the haze, got a sense I’d been betrayed
Your finger on my hair pin triggers
Soldier down on that icy ground
Looked up at me with honor and truth
Broken and blue, so I called off the troops
That was the night I nearly lost you
I really thought I lost you
– The Great War, Taylor Swift

---

Sunday, January 7, 2018

Morgan House: Driveway

Elizabeth stalked towards the driveway, then scowled.

She’d moved her car to the other side of the driveway after they’d gotten back from breakfast, and Laura had parked behind her, blocking her in. There was no way in hell she was going back inside—

She took a deep breath, then started down the driveway and the sidewalk.

“Elizabeth, wait—”

She ignored Jason’s call and continued down the sidewalk, shoving her hands into the pockets of her coat. She’d stomped out without her hat or her gloves—

“You’re not going to walk all the way home—”

The hell she wouldn’t. She could do three miles in her sleep—

“Hey—” Jason’s hand closed over her elbow, tugging her to a stop and she whirled around, scowling at him. “Come back inside—”

“Not in a million years—” She fisted her hands at her side. “You just sat there. You said nothing—because you agree with them.” Tears stung, blurred her vision. “You think I’m weak—”

“Don’t put words into my mouth,” Jason cut in, then took a deep breath. “Look, let’s talk about this—”

“I’m not going back in there. Not with all of them—” She glared past Jason and he turned to see Laura standing on his porch, wringing her hands, Drew and Sonny behind her. “They feel sorry for me,” she spat. “And you’re here to talk me down. You can all go to hell—”

She whirled back around and started walking again. Jason charged after her.

“Okay, we won’t go back until they’re gone. Let’s take my car. We’ll go anywhere you want—”

“I want to go to Turkey,” Elizabeth muttered, “but that’s not on the table, is it?”

“Let’s go talk and if at the end of it, you want to go, you can go.”

“Hey—” She jabbed a finger in his chest. “You don’t get to give me permission. I can book my own flight. I could call Luke up tonight and get him to pick me up at the airport. Do you think I can’t?”

“No, I know you can. I didn’t mean it—”

“If I want to go to Turkey, I’ll go. Do you get that? I can take myself anywhere I need to go. Anywhere I want to go.” She shook her head. “This is a stupid argument, and I don’t want to do it anymore.”

“Then come with me and we’ll talk. Please.”

“Fine. But only because it’s cold.” She turned and ignored the trio on the porch as she followed Jason to the SUV he’d left at the curb. She slid into the passenger seat, and ignored Jason as he went to talk to the trio on the porch. He returned to the SUV, switched on the ignition.

“Where do you want to go? And don’t say the airport—”

“Don’t do that.” She looked at him. “Don’t you ever treat me like Carly. You think I don’t know what you’re doing? I’ve spent decades watching you talk her down. You think you’ll take me somewhere quiet where no one can listen, so I’ll feel comfortable, and then you’ll explain to me why I’m an idiot and why my plans are stupid, and—God, no wonder she’s unhinged,” Elizabeth muttered and glared out the window. “I think I’d lose my mind being stuck with you and Sonny.”

“Is there anything I can say right now that isn’t going to piss you off?” Jason asked, the engine idling.

“I don’t know. Can you go back about ten minutes, and give me a little support?” She folded her arms. “You just sat there while people who have no right to tell me what to do patted my head and told me to stay home like I can’t help.”

“That’s—” Jason exhaled slowly. “Okay, yes. I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, well, you might as well just drive me home. I’m good enough to use as a sounding board and read useless, boring files, but God forbid you let me do anything that might actually help. Some things will never change,” she said, bitterly. “Take me home and then go pack for your damned trip. I’ll get my car later.”

For a moment, she thought he might argue, but then he pulled away from the curb, and the pit in her stomach only grew. They were always good when it was just the two of them, but as soon as the rest of the world got involved—

It always fell apart.

Morgan House: Porch

“We should go,” Laura said, as they stood on the porch watching the SUV drive away. “We should go, right?” she asked Drew.

“Yeah, I don’t want to be here when she gets back,” Sonny said, going back through the open door. Spinelli hadn’t followed them outside — he stood at the table, packing his laptop up. “I don’t envy Jason that conversation—”

Drew frowned, looked at Sonny. There was something in the tone that put his back up. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing,” Sonny replied, a bit defensively. He shrugged. “But Spinelli, you know what I’m talking about. You were around the last time Elizabeth was involved — she always seemed to want more than Jason could give—”

“Now wait a minute,” Laura said. “That’s not fair—”

“I think you do Fair Elizabeth a great injustice. All of you.” Spinelli’s quiet words had Laura closing her mouth. The younger man slid the laptop back into the bag. “She, more than anyone, has changed her entire life to support Stone Cold as he rebuilds his. And she’s put in more work than anyone else in this room.” He finally looked up, met Sonny’s gaze. “She reads the files. She sits with this in her mind every moment. Her children are part of this.”

“Spinelli, I think—” Sonny began.

“I find myself very surprised, Laura, that you didn’t offer Elizabeth support. I’ve read of your bravery, your dedication—” Spinelli shrugged. “You participated in the Ice Princess adventure. You survived what happened to you on Cassadine Island. Has Elizabeth somehow proved weaker?”

Drew dipped his head. “That doesn’t mean she should go to Turkey—”

“That doesn’t mean she should be told she can’t,” Spinelli interrupted. He put the bag over his shoulder. “This isn’t one of your mob rivals,” he told Sonny bluntly. “This isn’t the Zaccharas or the Russians. And Stone Cold never gave Elizabeth the chance to prove herself.  I’m disappointed in everyone. Including myself. I should have spoken up for her. I won’t make that mistake again.”

He left, closing the door quietly behind him. Drew nodded. “He’s right. Maybe I don’t think it’s a good idea for Elizabeth to go, but—”

“She’s needed here—”

“That doesn’t matter,” Laura said, cutting off Sonny. “Spinelli’s right. We handled that badly. There are no leaders here. It wasn’t a discussion, and she deserves better. ”

She followed Spinelli out the door, leaving Drew and Sonny alone in the room. Sonny’s expression was still pinched — Spinelli’s words lingering.

“You have Jason’s memories,” Sonny said slowly. “You know that Elizabeth has always struggled with the secrets—”

“What I know is none of your business or mine,” Drew cut in. He shook his head. “You’re wrong, Sonny. You just are. And no, I don’t envy the conversation Jason is about to have. Because I think Elizabeth has had it with being ordered around. This isn’t about you. It’s not the mob,” he said. “Spinelli’s right. This is different. Like it or not, Elizabeth and Laura are the only ones who’ve gone up against the Cassadines and been able to claim any kind of victory. You’re not in charge.”

“I’m not trying to be—”

“Good. Because it won’t happen. I don’t know what problem you have with Elizabeth right now, but it’s going to stop. Because while I appreciate your help and the use of your resources—” Drew lifted his brows. “We don’t actually need you.”

Vista Point: Parking Lot

Elizabeth said nothing when Jason ignored the turn to her neighborhood, and instead took the road that led up into the hills, towards the cliff roads they’d driven just that morning. He took that as a good sign, hoping that the worst of her hurt and anger had swept through, and he’d have a chance to fix things. To find the words to make her stop looking at him that way.

He switched off the ignition, then stared out over the snow covered landscape. “I don’t want to ever think of you in danger.” When her head snapped around, her eyes flashing, Jason held up his hand. “Let me finish.”

“I can walk home from here, too,” she muttered, but then looked back out the window.

“It never occurred to me you’d want to go to Turkey,” he admitted. “So when you suggested it, it took me a minute. No, I don’t want you to go—damn it—” he muttered when she shoved the door open. “Don’t do that—” He got out of the car and stopped her as she rounded the back end of the SUV, heading for the road back to town. “Why can’t you ever just listen—”

“Because I’m tired of hearing the same thing over and over and over—” She threw up her hands. “I have spent years listening to you tell me that the best place for me is somewhere where you’re not! It just—” Her hand, curled into a fist, hovered between them as she forced out the words. “Every time you said it then, I wanted to scream, but I didn’t. I swallowed it. I let you control everything—”

“That’s not fair—”

“You’ve been trying to shield me from danger almost since the day we met, and let me tell you, it finds me anyway.” Elizabeth took a deep breath. “You never said no to Sam,” she finally said, and he stared at her, stunned. “Yeah, no answer for that, huh? I guess she was more useful. Maybe give her a call and see if she wants to hop a plane to Turkey—”

“That’s not fair,” Jason called as Elizabeth started for the road again. “And that’s not what this is about—”

“Really? Because there’s two options. One, you don’t trust me enough to handle this and that’s why I can’t go. Or two, you let Sam help because you didn’t give a damn if she died. I don’t think either one of them reflects well on you—”

“No, it doesn’t.”

His words were nearly lost in the wind, but Elizabeth heard them. She whirled around, her eyes wide. “What?”

“And it’s not—” Jason exhaled slowly. “It’s not that simple. You’re asking for answers to questions I never asked myself. No, I didn’t think much of letting Sam help when I needed it. She had experience and she knew how to take care of herself. I worried about her, you know I did. And I never liked her in danger either.”

He hesitated. “But the thought of you at risk—of being hurt— I can’t breathe. I can’t think. The bomb in your studio, I nearly ripped doors off the hinges trying to get to you—when you were trapped in that crypt and unconscious—” He shook his head. “And then you were shot, and I watched you bleed—” He stared down at his fingers, the memory still a vivid one even after all this time. “I had your blood on my hands. I promised myself I’d never put you in that position again. Because I didn’t need you with me nearly as much as I needed you alive.”

Elizabeth stared at him for a long moment, and he wasn’t sure if he’d found the right words. If she could understand the difference. Snow began to fall around them, the flakes large and icy.

“I’ve had your blood on my hands, too,” Elizabeth said, her voice devoid of emotion. “You never seem to remember that. I dragged you out of the snow with a gunshot wound. I took care of cuts and bruises when we were at the penthouse. And I saved your life again when I found you at the church. But I guess it doesn’t matter that I need you alive, too. Do I get to tell you to sit at home and twiddle your thumbs because I don’t want you to be hurt? Or is that just reserved for you? Are you the only person who gets to be scared enough to use it as an excuse to run?”

“Elizabeth—”

“You need me alive,” she echoed. “So that’s enough for you. None of the rest of it means anything—”

“I didn’t say that—”

“You didn’t have to. You never had to. Message received.” She swiped at her cheek, and he flinched. “Go to Turkey. Whatever. I’m tired, and I don’t want to do this anymore. Eighteen years and we’re still having the same fight. I’m tired. I’m tired of standing in front of you and begging you to love me. To respect me. I just—” She looked away, towards the summit of the hill. “At least the others—God, at least their reasons make sense. But you—” Her voice faltered.

He’d screwed it up. They hadn’t been the right words, and now he’d pushed her even further away. “You’re right. You’re right,” he said roughly. She didn’t look at him. “I’m sorry. But I’m not letting go. I can’t fix all the times I didn’t do this right, but I made you a promise. I’m keeping it.”

She sighed. “I can’t fix it either,” she said softly. She met his eyes. “But what are we holding on to? It just—it all feels like a constant battle, and I’m tired. Maybe it’s me. Maybe I just can’t do this again.” She started to walk again, but this time she didn’t head for the road — she walked towards the summit and the view over the lake. After a moment, Jason followed.

—

Elizabeth sat on the bench, ignoring the way the cold bit through the denim of her jeans and the wind swirled past her frozen cheeks, the icy snowflakes soaking her hair.

Jason sat next to her, his hands tucked into the pockets of his leather jacket, but he said nothing for a long time.

“You’re not the only one who’s tired,” he said finally, and she sighed.

I know this is the second huge fight I’ve started in two days—I’m sorry—I don’t mean to pick apart every word you say and turn every conversation into a minefield where you have to worry you’re saying something wrong.”

“We’ve made a lot of mistakes,” Jason said. “Too many of our problems started with me telling you it wasn’t safe. Once you divorced Lucky, I knew you were all in. I’m the reason we didn’t stay together. That we didn’t get the future we planned.”

“I could have kept fighting. I could have pushed through.” She bit her lip. “I can admit that. I wasn’t always fair. We lost so much in just, God, barely two years. You lost your father, and then Emily, and Michael—Jake was kidnapped twice.” She swiped her cheek. “We just kept lurching from crisis to crisis, and we never got to breathe. I never let you breathe. I kept pushing—”

“I wanted that life with you. I never stopped wanting it. It’s just—by the time I realized I’d made a mistake, you’d moved on. And I didn’t have a right to pull you back.” Jason reached for her hand. “I don’t get to decide this is too dangerous. If you want to go—”

Elizabeth sighed. “I spent most of the ride up here thinking about Christmas. About that fight with Lucky,” she added when Jason turned, surprised. “He fed us some crap that didn’t tell us anything, but before we had a chance to really think about it, he decided to leave. He knew it would upset me. He was breaking another promise to Aiden. And I think he was—no, I know he was lying to me about Cam and Jake. Because Cam doesn’t look like Zander. God, he looks more like you than he does me or Zander. But Lucky knew it would distract me and make me glad he was leaving.”

Elizabeth pushed herself to her feet and Jason hesitantly followed. “Lucky can still do that because I feel guilty. I picked him for my boys, Jason. I picked him for our son. I chose him over and over again, and he turned out to be the worst kind of father. Because I think he does still love the boys. He just doesn’t love them enough. He’s my parents,” she added. “The work was more important. Whatever he’s doing with Luke, it’s more important to him than being here. You didn’t do that. You came home, and you didn’t run off to Turkey at the first mention of it. It hurts to know I was so wrong. That I threw away a life with you for a man who didn’t love me or my children enough to stay. You were always the better man.”

She started to walk away then, back towards the parking lot. She could hear Jason’s soft footsteps behind her. He opened the passenger side for her, and she climbed in. When he got into the driver’s side, he switched the car on but didn’t pull out. The snow was falling more thickly around them now.

“Everyone just…pushed me aside so fast,” Elizabeth continued. “Everyone was ready with a reason I couldn’t go, and I just—it doesn’t matter that they’re right. Or I understand your worries,” she added. “This happened because of me. You and Drew were targeted because of me—”

“We don’t know that for sure—”

“We know,” Elizabeth said, and Jason fell silent. “And Helena only went after Jake because I lied about who his father is. I did this. I need to fix it. I need to be part of making it right.” Her voice trembled. “You have to let me be part of this. I can’t sit on the sidelines.”

“You won’t. Turkey—it’s not a good idea for the reasons we’ve talked about—and Drew isn’t wrong about us being watched. He and I don’t work in a public job. We can make it look like we’re still here. But you’re part of the community. You and the boys are attached. If all three of them go to stay at Laura’s or somewhere else for a few days, if you don’t show up at work—”

“Yeah. Okay. I get it.” She laid her head back against the head rest. “But it needs to be a discussion. Not an order. I’m part of this. This is my fight, too.” She looked at him. “You promised you wouldn’t let go. Even if I wanted you to.”

“I did. I’m not breaking that.”

“Then you have to do let me hold on, too.”

Greystone: Living Room

Sonny gripped the phone in his hand, tapping a pen against the desk. “Yeah, yeah, Wally, just make sure the flight stays under the radar. File the official flight plan to—” he paused, wondering what a safe destination might be. What was near Turkey that might explain—

Carly wandered in from the kitchen, a cup of coffee in her hand, and he tensed, turned away. “Rome,” Sonny finally decided. “Yeah, file the flight plan to Rome. And then when you’re in the air—” He nodded as his pilot finished the statement. It wasn’t the first time they’d needed their final destination cloaked, and there were ways around it. It wasn’t easy, Sonny thought, not with all the airline regulations shifting, and the war zone that had opened up over the Ukraine in the last four years, but— “Great. Great. I’ll call if anything changes but expect that departure time to hold. Thanks.”

“Going somewhere?” Carly asked, sitting in the arm chair, sipping her coffee. “I’ve been thinking about maybe the island. You know, a quick weekend. Like we used to—”

He ignored her, dialed Jason’s number.

“And you could fix the tables,” Carly continued, and he rolled his eyes, his back safely turned. She had a one track mind, he thought. Which was useful at times but could be irritating at others.  Jason’s voicemail picked up

“Hey. Wanted to let you know that I made the arrangements. You’re good to go and take off tomorrow—” Sonny checked his notes. “Wally said around five. Know that’s later than you wanted, but it’s the best I could do. Puts you in Turkey around eight in the morning in that time zone. You can sleep on the plane.” Sonny turned and saw that Carly had fallen silent now but was pretending to read a magazine. “Call me if you need anything.”

Sonny set the phone down. “So, uh, what did you do today?” he asked Carly. “You still working on the garage?”

“Yeah.” Carly forced a smile. “I need to track Jason down to get his opinion on the colors—if he has time,” she added quickly. “Maybe I should just send him the pictures—”

“He won’t have the time, so just pick something. Didn’t we just talk about this?” Sonny demanded. He headed for the beverage cart, poured water instead of the bourbon he really wanted. “Do whatever you want.”

“I will if he doesn’t get back to me—” Carly folded her arms. “Why did you ask if you didn’t care about the answer? You just making conversation? Distracting me? Pretending that you weren’t calling Jason?”

“What did I tell you about eavesdropping—”

“Jason isn’t working for you,” Carly interrupted and he fell silent. “I know he isn’t. So whatever you’re arranging for him — it’s about the Cassadines. I’m not asking about that. I’m doing what I promised at Christmas. I’m staying out of it. I’m waiting for him to come to me. You can ask him if you don’t trust me.”

“Yeah? What about Michael? You leaving that alone, too?” he tossed at her.

“Yes. I haven’t talked to him since New Year’s. And for me, a week is a good record.  He’s going to make this mistake with Nelle, and I have to let him as hard as that is.” She paused. “I’m staying out of it. Just like we talked about. But it doesn’t stop me from worrying or wishing I could do more. Maybe Jason asking me to help with the garage is just a way to distract me from getting involved. And maybe it’s silly to be excited about it, to be happy he asked me for help.”

Sonny winced. “Carly, that’s not—okay—I’m sorry—”

“No. You’re not. You’re sorry you hurt my feelings. But you’re not sorry that you think it. After all, I can’t be useful to Jason any other way, right? And Michael doesn’t need me. They’ve both made that clear.”

She sighed. “I don’t know why you’re mad at me. Maybe it’s because Michael isn’t talking to you either or Jason isn’t around much. But that’s not my fault,” Carly continued as he scowled at her, “Jason never avoided you even when I annoyed him. And Michael knows where to find you. Maybe you can’t face the fact that neither of them need you either—”

“That’s not true,” Sonny snapped, even though, of course, it was. Jason wasn’t having problems with the organization, with the mob—he was chasing Cassadines and super villains. Sonny didn’t know anything about that. Elizabeth did. Hadn’t Sonny known that in the beginning? Hadn’t Sonny pushed for Elizabeth to answer their questions?

But Jason still needed him. They were still friends. Carly was wrong.

“And maybe you can’t face that this time you went too far,” Sonny retorted, and Carly fell silent. “Just like we’ve been telling you for years. Well, you get what you deserve, don’t you?”

She said nothing at first, just looked at him for a long moment. “I guess I do,” Carly said. And with that cryptic remark, she went back to the kitchen, leaving Sonny alone in the living room.

Morgan House: Street

Dusk was just beginning to fall as Jason put the car into park. The other cars had cleared, leaving Elizabeth’s the only one in the driveway.

“I should get home to the boys,” Elizabeth said. “I told Cam I’d be a few more hours, but Jake and Aiden will be home from their sleepovers and there’s school tomorrow.” She rubbed her hands together. “I’m sorry,” she said again. “I really don’t mean to turn every disagreement into a huge fight.”

“I started this one,” Jason reminded her. “I should have realized talking about you being safe would upset you.” He nodded to the house. “Come in for a little while. We can call Cam, make sure everything is okay at the house.”

“Probably should stop while I’m ahead,” Elizabeth said. He shook his head, then came around her side of the car, opened the door for her. “Really. We made it almost twelve hours before I lost my mind—it’s a record—”

“Hey.” He caught her hand and drew her close, brushing his mouth against hers. “I love you.   I don’t want you to be afraid to tell me what you’re thinking.”

“You’re going to regret that.” But she dipped her head against his jacket. “It was nice yesterday, though, for a while.”

“It was one of the best days since I’ve been home,” Jason replied, and was rewarded with the smile that stretched across her mouth and reached her eyes. “We’ll have more of them, I promise.”

They picked their way up the walk, careful over the icy sidewalk. The snow had continued to fall, but it hadn’t hit this part of Port Charles as badly as it had in the hills around Vista Point. “How long do you think you’ll be in Turkey?”

Jason unlocked the front door. “I don’t know. A day for travel. I need to double check the time difference, but it’s at least nine hours. I don’t want to be away longer than I have to. Maybe a few days.” He closed the door behind her, stripped off his jacket, watched as she pulled out her phone to send Cameron a text. “Valentin could fly back any day. Spinelli’s watching the flights, but he slid out under the radar the first time.”

“I’ll keep the boys going to the garage after school. Spinelli can work there,” Elizabeth said. “Make it look like you’re still here.” She grimaced at her phone. “Cam said Jake and Aiden are fighting about the last bag of frozen nuggets. I need to get home and order pizza.”

Jason caught Elizabeth’s hand as she moved to find the hat she’d left behind and swung her back against him. “I’m glad you came over yesterday,” he told her, kissing her again. She wound her arms around his neck, sinking into the embrace. “I’ll be back as soon as I can. I don’t like being away from you.”

“I’ll miss you, too. I’ve gotten used to ending the day with you,” she admitted wistfully. She brushed her fingers through his hair, the tips of her fingers trailing down his jaw. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.” He kissed her again. “Go save Cameron from his brothers. I’ll call you when I get my flight info.”

“Hurry back.” And then she left. He watched from the window as her car pulled out the drive, and then he went to pack. One day, if he held on, if they both did, and they managed to keep navigating through the wreckage of their past, one day, Jason wouldn’t have to watch her go home without him. They’d have a life together.

Webber House: Living Room

“Play until I get back.” Cameron tossed the controller at Jake who laughed maniacally, then he grabbed the empty pizza box, heading for the kitchen where his mother was cleaning up after dinner. “Hey, uh, this is the last one.”

“Oh, thanks—” Elizabeth gestured towards the trash can where two other boxes had already been stacked. “We can take it out tomorrow. We’ve been eating a lot of that lately.”

“Well, you know, you can’t go wrong with pizza.” Cameron took a stool at the island, watched his mother wipe down a counter. “Um, I was thinking about the Spencer thing.”

“Spencer?” Elizabeth echoed. She washed her hands, then came to sit next to him on the other stool. “What about him?”

“The files. I feel bad because he told me he couldn’t read them, but I didn’t say anything when he asked Jason.” Cameron traced the outline of a nick on the counter surface. “I didn’t think it was a big deal, and I should have. Because Grandma Laura was really upset, and Jason got mad at her which he never does, and then you and Jason argued.”

“None of that is your fault or something you need to worry about—”

“I could have done something to stop it. I thought about telling Jason, but I wanted to work on my car, and I didn’t want to distract Jason.” Cameron jerked a shoulder. “I’m sorry. You and Jason are okay, right? I mean—”

“We’re fine. We just…” Elizabeth paused. “Jason remembers the trouble that Emily and I used to get in when we weren’t much older than you. Emily was being blackmailed by a photographer, and instead of going to the police, she teamed up with Nikolas, and then Lucky and I got involved, and it ended up—well, Emily and I got locked in the art studio and held hostage.”

Cameron’s eyes widened. “Whoa. What?”

“It ended okay. He went to jail, and um, well, that was that.” Elizabeth made a face. “And I wish it was the last time Em and I got into trouble together. And we usually waited until it was too late to ask Jason for help. When I think about you and Spencer, and God help us all, Joss getting involved—because you know she wouldn’t be far behind—it worries me. Because I know exactly what a kid can get up to if someone isn’t paying attention. And I’m trying to stop it.”

“Okay, yeah, but it’s not—” He hesitated, wondering how to phrase the next part without it sounding like a criticism. “You and Grandma want us to go be normal kids, and that’s fine, but we’re not.” His mother opened her mouth, but Cameron continued. “Spencer’s parents are both dead, and the guy who killed his dad is just walking around free. And Jake got kidnapped and messed with. Emma’s mom was kidnapped by the Cassadines, too. We’re not normal teenagers, Mom. And I don’t know if it’s fair to ask Spencer to act like he is.”

Elizabeth nodded, her eyes pensive. “Maybe not. I know we haven’t always had the easiest time. Some of that is on me. I’ve tried really hard to keep those kinds of things from affecting you, but what Jake went through —”

“I’m not mad about it or anything,” Cameron said, quickly reassuring her. “And things have been better lately, you know? Since Jason got back and you ditched Franco. It’s nice. You’re around a lot and you’re happy. And I don’t know. Things are okay. But I feel guilty sometimes because I got my little brother back, Emma got her mom back, and now her whole family is better. Spencer doesn’t get to have that. I mean, unless you think Spencer’s dad isn’t actually dead.”

“Nikolas wouldn’t have let us believe he was dead for this long. Not Spencer or his mother.” Elizabeth frowned. “And Valentin would never keep him alive, not with the will, so—” She shook her head. “But I get what you mean. Of everyone affected, Laura and Spencer are the only ones who can’t get their family back. It’s why your grandmother is working so hard to protect Spencer.”

“But if Gram had tried to stop you from helping Aunt Em, would you have let her? I mean, you told me you ran away once because she wasn’t supporting you. And didn’t you move out—”

“I regret telling you so much,” Elizabeth muttered, and he grinned. “Is it really that important to Spencer?”

“I think so, yeah. It’s messing him up not to be able to help. He was doing okay in London, but then he got home, and he sees a way to contribute, but Grandma is blocking him. He’s mad at everyone. He and I got into a fight, too, but that’s okay. Because I get it. If Jake were still gone, and I knew the Cassadines were the reason? I’d want to help. I don’t need to because my brother’s out there—” he jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “Messing up my scores on Zelda like usual. What does Spencer get to look forward to?”

“I’ll talk to Laura.” Elizabeth squeezed his hand. “You’re a good kid, you know that? I don’t know what I did right, but it must have been something big.”

“You’re a good mom.” He gave her a one-armed hug. “Now, excuse me, I have to go reclaim my throne.”

Elizabeth watched him go, a bit sad. Her baby with the curls and crooked smile was growing up so fast. Before she knew it, he’d be heading to college and leaving her. She wasn’t ready. And Jake wasn’t that far behind him. Cameron was right — it was easy for Elizabeth to take Laura’s side. Jake was home, and Jason was alive. But Spencer couldn’t hope for his father to return, and he’d never known his mother.

She heard Jake and Aiden both shouting for Cam to pick options or choose a different game. The sound of their bickering was like music to her ears — her three rambunctious boys were healthy and safe. Happy.

She picked up the cell phone when it started to ring, her smile broadening when she saw Jason’s name. The last two days had been wonderful—and exhausting, but she thought they’d really turned an important corner, and she was looking forward to what happened next.

“Hey,” Elizabeth said. “I was just thinking about you.”

“Hey. I hope it was good.”

“It was. Did Sonny call with arrangements?”

“Yeah, we can’t go until tomorrow, but I just—” he paused. “I wanted to hear your voice one more time.”

She waited a beat. “I love you.”

“I love you, too. See you tomorrow.”

“See you later.”

This is the best thing that could have happened
Any longer and I wouldn’t have made it
It’s not a war, no, it’s not a rapture
I’m just a person, but you can’t take it
The same tricks that, that once fooled me
They won’t get you anywhere
I’m not the same kid from your memory
Well, now I can fend for myself
– Ignorance, Paramore

---

Sunday, January 7, 2018

Kelly’s: Parking Lot

Elizabeth handed the helmet to Jason to stow on the back of the bike, then she looked towards the diner. “You ever think about how much time we spent here?” she asked wistfully. “When I still worked here, and you’d come by for coffee?” She folded her arms. “You and Sonny. Always tipped too much.”

“I figured I owed you like six weeks of rent,” he said, wrapping his arms around her waist, pulling back against his chest. “You wouldn’t take the money any other way.”

She wrinkled her nose. “Still wouldn’t. You need to go grocery shopping if you expect me to spend more time at your place. You might not need to eat—”

“I eat,” Jason said, kissing the top of her head. “When I want to. And we’ll get food for next week.” He paused. “And yeah, I think about it sometimes. I used to come here near closing on purpose.”

“Yeah?” Elizabeth turned in his arms. “After that night at Jake’s?”

“I liked talking to you.” He kissed her, and she smiled against his lips. “And you were always up for taking the long way home. The cliff roads were always more fun with you.”

“I used to wish I’d jumped on your bike and never looked back. Until Cameron. After him, I didn’t regret so many of my choices anymore.  He was worth all the bad moments. All the regrets. I wouldn’t change anything if it meant losing him.” She closed her eyes. “But every once in a while, I used to wonder where we’d be if I’d gone with you that day.”

“I used to think about that, too. Would it have been just Italy? Or maybe we’d go somewhere else. France was good. I liked the mountains. And the beaches.” He stroked her arms. “And Greece. Egypt.”

“I’ve never seen any of those places.” Elizabeth sighed, stepped back. “I don’t even know what made me think about any of it. I didn’t go with you, and we never made it to Italy.” She frowned. “What do you think Spinelli has on Luke?”

“I don’t know. Maybe about those addresses Luke was supposed to check out. We’ll find out when we talk to him.”

Elizabeth hesitated, her fingers on the door handle. “I’ve spent years trusting the Spencers where the Cassadines are concerned. All the way back to Lucky getting involved with Helena before the fire. He was angry with Luke,” she said when Jason blinked. “And Endgame — it was Luke and Laura always setting the tone, you know? And Laura still…I still feel like I’m deferring to her. And Luke. Because it feels like we should have the same goal. But you’re telling me you don’t trust that, and you’re usually right when you tell me I’m trusting someone I shouldn’t. And Spinelli wouldn’t be dragging us together on a Sunday if he hadn’t found something that worries him.”

“I know you don’t want it to be like this.”

“‘I always pretended Luke and Laura were my family. It’s one of the reasons it was so hard to let go of Lucky. I didn’t want to lose everyone I had because of him. But if Spinelli is right—and he’s like you, he usually is—that means Luke is lying about something. And if he’s lying, so is Lucky. And I just—” Elizabeth sighed. “I hate it. And I feel like an idiot.”

“You shouldn’t. You were right, too,” Jason pointed out. “Me not liking Luke? It was personal. Because of Jake. And Lucky—well, that’s just—history. I was never sure how much I hated him because I had a reason to, or because you’d chosen him.”

“Well, my terrible taste in men, present company excluded, is known worldwide,” she muttered. She cleared her throat. “I brought it up, and now I’m putting it away again. Let’s have breakfast and enjoy what’s left of the morning.”

Quartermaine Estate: Foyer

On the other side of town, another woman was thinking about Luke Spencer—and cursing his existence.

“Damn it, Luke, where are you?” Tracy muttered, flipping through her text messages as if she could magically produce a response from her ex-husband through sheer willpower. It’d been days since she’d asked him to use his contacts to see how much trouble Tracy was in, and there had been radio silence.

“I thought I smelled sulfur,” Ned quipped as his mother strode into the family room and made her way to the breakfast buffet set up by the terrace windows. “Having a bad day?”

Tracy glared at her son. “Don’t you have a house?”

“Oh, good, I was wondering if there’d be entertainment at breakfast.” Olivia sat at the table, plucked a croissant from the table in the middle. “Don’t mind me, carry on.”

Delighted to have an outlet for her frustrations, Tracy sat down and prepared to make sure everyone was as unhappy as she was.

Kelly’s: Dining Room

Kristina made a face. “I made things worse.”

“You usually do.” Valerie broke a piece of bacon in half, popped one piece in her mouth.

“Because things were fine with my mom and Sam until I stuck my nose in it, and Sam literally said I helped her clear her head.” Her eyes pleaded with Valerie. “Help me fix it.”

“I don’t know what you think you or I can do about it. Your mom’s right. There’s always some unethical bastard out there waiting to drain a client dry. Sam will find someone else to take her case.”

“I was thinking…” Kristina bit her lip. “There’s got to be a way to get Sam to back down. I really hate the idea of her going after Jason like this. He’s not just Sam’s ex to me, you know? He really looked out for me when I was growing up. And my dad is so happy he’s home. That’s his best friend. And Danny’s in the middle of this. I know Scout is young, but Danny’s old enough to know things are bad. And he knows about Drew and Jason.”

“You’re not responsible for any of this, Kris—”

“That doesn’t mean I want my sister running around like a one-woman wrecking crew. I don’t know. I dragged up everything about the trial and what was going on during that period—I just—am I crazy for wanting her to stop? To want to help?”

“No, of course not.” Valerie picked up her cappuccino. “I know you see you and Molly in Scout and Danny, but why can you get Sam to back down when your mom can’t?”

“Well.” Kristina paused. “What’s the statute on kidnapping?”

Valerie lifted her brows. “Blackmail? Is that where we’re going?”

“Just answer the question.”

“Five years, so you’re out of luck. It’s a miracle it wasn’t found out back then. A good lawyer would have gotten Maureen to flip.” Her brow furrowed. “I wonder whatever happened with that case.”

Kristina made a face. “Figures. I guess maybe we could still use it. I mean—”

“Jason should be the one using it. Or Drew,” Valerie interrupted. “Because it proves your sister doesn’t give a shit about kids. And Jason would have a great case based on what happened to Jake and his mom’s house because of your sister. But if he wanted to go that way—”

“He’d already have done it. I don’t get it, but—” Kristina flopped back in her seat. She watched as the door to Kelly’s opened and Jason came in, followed by Elizabeth. They were laughing and smiling at each other, clearly intimate. They took a seat at a table near the jukebox.

Valerie twisted in her chair to look at them. “He really married the woman who watched his son get kidnapped. You think Elizabeth Webber knows?”

“I don’t know, but I hope so.” Kristina’s smile was wistful. “He looks happy.”

“Yeah, doesn’t really look like someone who’s yelling at his lawyer on a Sunday morning.” Valerie turned back to face Kristina. “Your mom’s right. Sam’s obsessing, trying to keep Jason in her life. He probably hasn’t thought about her since the papers got filed.”

Kristina exhaled slowly. “I just wish there was something I could do. But if the kidnapping thing is a no go—” she made a face. “My mom and Molly are right. I guess I need to just let it go and hope she comes to her senses on her own. Without doing more damage.”

“All you can do is sit back and hope for the best. It sucks, and I’m sorry, but you’re not a miracle worker.”

Metro Court: Restaurant

Maxie was bored out of her mind, but she was a good wife who went to brunch with her sister-in-law, even if she and Nina didn’t like each other very much. She picked at the remains of her omelet, only half listening to Nathan and Nina talk about something in New York, blah, blah — trust Nina to make New York City sound boring.

“I’m sorry you didn’t bring Georgie today,” Nina said, picking up her mimosa. “We should really try to get her and Charlotte together more.”

Not in this lifetime, Maxie thought, all too aware of what an asshole Charlotte was. Lulu could barely handle the little demon child, and Maxie didn’t want to spend any time with kids who weren’t her own. Not even her best friend’s daughter.

“She’s enjoying some time with my mom and Mac,” Maxie said. “But, sure, I’ll call Lu and set something up next weekend when she has Charlotte again.” She smiled sweetly at the other woman, Nina clenching her jaw at the mention of Charlotte’s biological mother. “Maybe you’ll want some alone time next week. Isn’t Valentin supposed to be back from his trip by then?”

Nina flinched, took a deep breath. “I’m not sure,” she said.

Nathan frowned. “Still? He’s been gone almost a week, Nina—”

“Don’t start with me, James.” Nina sighed, looked away, and something flashed across her face. It was easy to forget sometimes how tragic her life had been, Maxie thought. Her youth stolen from her by her greedy mother, a baby given up for adoption and still not yet located, an adulterous husband—

But just when Maxie was tempted to feel sorry for her, Nina opened her mouth and ruined it. “And if I need alone time with my husband, we’ll handle childcare. Lulu doesn’t need more time with Charlotte—”

“I think Lulu should be the judge of that.” Maxie winced when Nathan kicked her under the table. She ignored the warning. “It’s not my fault Valentin left you—”

“He did not leave me.” Nina threw her napkin on the table, incensed. “How dare you? Just because I haven’t talked to him in a few days—”

“Six but who’s counting?” Maxie said.

Nina looked like she would erupt, but instead she jerked to her feet and stalked out. Maxie smiled after her, then returned her focus to her husband. Nathan just looked at her. “Oh, what? You should thank me for getting rid of her. She’s unpleasant.”

“Maxie—”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll text her and apologize. I’ll tell her my hormones were going wild—and you can follow-up by telling her I’m pregnant—unless you think that might trigger her into stealing my baby—”

“Maxie.”

“You want me to be sorry, and I’m just not.” Maxie retrieved her phone, wiggled it. “Look, I’m texting now.”

“And try to sound sincere,” Nathan said, reaching for the check in the middle of the table.

“I am always sincere.”

But it wasn’t Nina’s number Maxie brought up, but Spinelli’s. She shot him a quick note that Valentin was still incommunicado with no ETA.

Then she composed a short apology to her husband’s sister. It wasn’t Nathan’s fault his sister was a certifiable bitch, but Maxie needed to tread a fine line between getting information for Spinelli and pissing off her husband.

Morgan House: Living Room

“Robert and Anna looked into the list Luke talked about,” Spinelli began. “You know, the addresses the WSB supposedly gave him.” He set his laptop on the table and opened it. “I wanted to see what parameters were used to construct it. I looked at all the locations — and none of them were in my files.”

Elizabeth winced. “I don’t like where this is going.”

“How did you come up with your list?” Drew wanted to know, folding his arms, and leaning against the back of the sofa. “I never asked.”

“I compiled a list of any employees on record I could find from St. Petersburg,” Spinelli said. “And I ran their backgrounds. I put any address in Istanbul connected to the lab on that list. I thought it made sense to start there.”

“And the WSB list doesn’t?” Elizabeth asked.

“The WSB list doesn’t exist.”

Jason frowned at that statement, then traded a look with Drew. “That doesn’t make sense. Wouldn’t Luke be worried Robert and Anna would call him on it?”

“Luke’s not used to being questioned, and Robert and Anna didn’t have a reason to doubt Luke until then. But they were curious, too, like I said. Anna can’t find any record of it, and neither can her contact in that office. I hacked the mainframe,” Spinelli continued. “If Luke’s list came from them, there’s no record of it. None of the addresses he’s been to are on the WSB’s radar.”

“So Luke had two WSB agents who didn’t report to anyone but him. And he claims he wasn’t using Spinelli’s list until Friday. So where was he getting his information if it wasn’t from the WSB?” Sonny shook his head. “This doesn’t make sense. He was searching for something, wasn’t he?”

“Why would Luke or Lucky lie about that? Do we think they’re not trying to find Valentin?” Laura scowled. “There has to be another explanation.”

Jason exhaled slowly. “We know he had a second list. One that came from a source he trusted more than Spinelli. Whoever this source is, he doesn’t want us to know. That’s what we should focus on.”

“The first address I gave the Spencers,” Spinelli said, “is a is the Maslak I talked about on Friday.” Spinelli tapped some keys. “I put a virus into the drive. It attaches to anyone who opens the files, and I can mirror any device they use. So far, there are two laptops, two tablets, and three phones.”

“There’s a third person,” Drew realized.

“That’s where I’m leaning, yeah,” Spinelli said.  “One of the phones has been to the Maslak address three times since Friday morning.” He showed them the access log. “Three times. They didn’t use my list before then. Why wasn’t this lab on the list Luke was using? Wouldn’t they have Klein on their radar, too? And why does he keep going back to the same place? And none of the others.”

“That is…” Drew dipped his chin down to his chest. “That’s an excellent list of questions. What can you tell from the devices? Who owns what?”

“One of the phones belongs to Luke. It went to the Maslak address and other places around the city. He doesn’t have any other electronics, or so I can tell. One set of devices — a phone, laptop, and tablet — belongs to Lucky. I found evidence of your call to him,” Spinelli told Elizabeth. “And there’s photos of the boys. Videos. It’s definitely his. The second set of devices belongs to Britt Westbourne.”

“Britt—” Elizabeth’s hands fell to her side and her mouth opened. “Spinelli, are you—how can you tell? Are you sure?”

“She’s not trying to hide it. It’s her personal laptop. She logs into bank accounts, she saves documents with her name attached. It’s her.”

“Lucky said he was going to Bosnia because of a lead she’d given him,” Elizabeth said. “He told us that he’d spoken to her. I just—why wouldn’t he tell us she was in Istanbul with them? Why wouldn’t we know that she was working on this? Why hide it?”

“And why would either of them work with Britt? She has access to our files, doesn’t she?” Laura said.

“She has copies of all the records on the drive, but I see no evidence that she accessed the drive itself, which means—”

“Lucky gave her copies.” Elizabeth sank onto the sofa. “Why would he do that? She’s connected to Faison and Obrecht. And she can’t be trusted—”

“She’s supposed to have woken you up back in Russia,” Drew said to Jason. “On her father’s orders. Now she shows up in Turkey with our files and the idiots we trusted to run that leg of the operation.” He grimaced. “There’s no reason for Luke or Lucky to lie to us about Britt. Not a good one anyway.”

“I just—I don’t understand. I could see having her as a resource, but you’re suggesting she’s had her hands on the files themselves—”

“And her devices are in the same place as Lucky’s. She’s with them.” Spinelli closed his laptop. “The Maslak address being visited over and over suggests to me they found something on Friday.  And what else troubles me — I can tell when these devices are together, sharing the same network, but I can’t find that network. Lucky’s cloaked everything. I don’t know where they’re staying in the city. But they’re only hiding their location at the home base. Everywhere else? I can track them.”

“I don’t like that,” Jason said. “Why would they hide where they’re staying, but not where they’re looking?”

“Maybe they’re staying with the source of that list,” Elizabeth asked, and they looked at her. “Luke and Lucky are protecting that source. It makes sense to protect the location. And any devices that source uses.”

Laura sighed, rubbed her temples. “I want to pretend this is all a mistake. A misunderstanding. I don’t understand why they’d hold back on this. What do they have to gain? We’re all working towards the same thing.”

“We thought we were,” Drew said. “Elizabeth’s right. Whatever’s going on—someone is being protected. And if it’s not Britt Westbourne, it’s someone else Luke and Lucky don’t want us to know about.” He looked at Jason, troubled. “You know what’s next, don’t you?”

“Yeah,” Jason said grimly.

“What?” Laura asked. “What’s next?”

“It’s time to go to Turkey,” Drew said. “I can clear my schedule.”

“Yeah, we don’t have a choice.” Jason looked at Sonny. “Can you get us set up with transport?”

“Yeah, sure.” Sonny rose to his feet. “I can get the airfield on the line. Hide the flight plan and all that. I’ll tell them you expect you and Drew as soon as they can get the plane ready.”

“Good—” Jason started.

“Wait, just the two of you?” Elizabeth asked, and everyone looked at her. “If we’re just going to ask questions, it should be me. Or Laura. One of us, anyway. We know Luke and Lucky better—”

“Maybe that’s why it shouldn’t be us,” Laura said gently, and she swung her eyes back to the other woman. “We’re too close—”

“I spent a lot of time being manipulated by Lucky, that’s what you’re saying. You think he’ll feed me another story and I’ll buy it,” Elizabeth said. She met Jason’s eyes, but then he looked away. “That’s not fair. It’s been years—I can handle myself.”

“You can,” Drew said, tossing Jason an irritated glare. “But we also have to think logistically. Jason and I can drop out of sight for a few days. You can’t. You don’t show up for work, the boys go to stay with someone—people might notice. We don’t know who’s watching—”

“Oh, okay. Because I’m a mother, I can’t go,” Elizabeth said. “I’m a weak, fragile little girl Lucky can play like a violin who has to stay at home with the kids—”

“No one is saying that—” Sonny started.

“Elizabeth—” Drew protested.

“That’s not—” Laura began.

Disgusted, she got to her feet, yanked her purse and coat from the post by the door. “Fine. Go to Turkey. Have a great time.” She slammed the door behind her.

Drew turned to Jason with a scowl. “Why the hell didn’t you say anything?”

Jason got to his feet and went to grab his jacket. “Because I agree with all of you,” he said shortly. “I’ll handle it. Sonny, get things set up and call me when it’s done.”

I’m not angry it’s never been enough
It gets inside and it tears you up
I’m not angry but I’ve never been above it
You see through me don’t you
And it’s good that I’m not angry
I just need to get over
I’m not angry
It’s dragging me under
I’m not angry
– Angry, Matchbox Twenty

---

Sunday, January 7, 2018

Morgan House: Kitchen

Elizabeth reached into the cabinet for a mug, pausing when she heard Jason’s voice in the living room, growing louder, which meant he was coming closer — and sure enough, a moment later, he came into the kitchen, a cell phone at his ear. Jason grimaced in her direction, mouthing Spinelli.

She made a face, then turned back to the coffee machine. They’d had an entire day — well half of the day and the night — of ignoring the rest of the world. But if Spinelli was calling on a Sunday, which she knew he usually tried to keep free to focus on his daughter —

She measured the coffee grounds, then switched on the machine.

“Yeah, no—that’s fine. No, not the garage. The bathroom guys are still there—” Jason paused. “Spinelli, is anyone going to die if we don’t do this in an hour? That’s what I thought. Come by here at noon—yeah, if you could call them — okay.” He closed his phone. “We could have just got coffee when we were out—”

“This is for you,” she said. “You like to have it before you go out in the morning.” Elizabeth bit her lip. “Um, what did Spinelli want?”

“He found something and wants to talk about it. But it can wait. I promised you—”

“Jason—”

“And I promised myself.” He folded his arms, leaned against the counter. “I want to know what happened to me, to all of us,” Jason said slowly. “To make sure no one else is in danger. We don’t know that Valentine is tied to any of this, so spending every waking minute thinking about that family has done — it’s not good for us. You, me—Laura. Spencer. Spinelli’s working too hard on this, too. I don’t like the idea of him spending today thinking about this and not Georgie.”

“It’s also important to get through the records as quickly as possible,” Elizabeth reminded him. “But yeah, I didn’t really enjoy spending every day and night on it.  My breaks at the hospital, having you cut out early every night instead of…” She shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess I just—” She shot him a quick look. “I was looking forward to just sitting with you at the end of the day. We never got to do that before.”

The coffee machine beeped, and Elizabeth poured a cup and handed it to him. “When we were together before, it was just…it was the hotel. Or the safe house. And…”

“It was never long enough,” Jason said. She nodded. “And it was almost always in bed.”

“Well, I didn’t mind that part,” Elizabeth said, and he grinned. “But yeah, there were times it felt like—” She nibbled at her bottom lip. “Like that’s all there was. Because we never had enough time for anything else.” She waited a moment. “This time, especially the last few weeks, it’s just been—I don’t know—normal. Like, we sort of dated this time, you know? We went to Joe’s, and then out on the bike…”

“And then I was at the house every night with you and the boys.” Jason set the coffee aside, tugged her into his arms. “Yeah, I liked it, too. Finishing the day with you — picking you up at the hospital…”

“It took us so long to be here. Together. With the whole world knowing. I just—I want to have more moments. Where it’s normal.” She wound her arms around his neck. “Because it won’t always be. This Cassadine thing could go nowhere, or it could get bad. And I know you’re not working for Sonny right now—but that could change. I know you would step in and help if he needed it.”

His hands slid down her waist until he tucked them into the back pocket of her jeans. “I want what I promised you—the day that’s just for us,” he told her. “But I want the nights back. Dinners with you and the boys. And after they go to bed—”

“Exactly.” She sighed, but it was with happiness. He captured her lips with his and she sank into the embrace. Finally on the same page. “What does Spinelli want to meet about anyway?”

“He didn’t want to get into it on the phone, but he said it wasn’t a matter of life or death. He took a break from working on Maddox’s decryption to look into something else.”

“We need to get that man a hobby. He took a break from working to work on something else.” She shook her head. “I miss when he played video games.”

“I’ll talk to him about that balance thing. It’s good advice for everyone. Whatever he found, it can wait. I promised you a ride and breakfast—” He kissed the tip of her nose. “And don’t look at me that way. A ride on the bike.”

Elizabeth widened her eyes, pretending innocence. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. You’re the one with his hands on my ass—”

Jason pinched lightly, and she jerked, smacking his chest lightly. “Go get your jacket.” He kissed her again. “I have promises to keep.”

Devane Manor: Foyer

Anna stepped back to allow the Spinelli’s entrance. “Your message said you have some results for us. Do I dare hope it’s good news?”

“I wish.” Spinelli removed his computer bag, followed Anna into the living room where Robert sat with a cup of coffee. “Uh, there aren’t any little ears around, are there? Laura wants to keep Spencer out of it—”

“And Emma would take anything she knew straight to him,” Anna finished. “She’s upstairs. What is it?”

“Well, I’m meeting with Jason, Drew, Laura, and Elizabeth later. And Sonny,” Spinelli added as an afterthought. “But you said you couldn’t make it—”

“I wanted to stick close to the house. I’m waiting on a related case—and Robert—”

“I have a flight to California to check in with Robin and Patrick.” Robert leaned back. “And you said it wasn’t urgent—”

“Mostly because I don’t know what I’ve got.” Spinelli sat down, set his laptop on the table. “I, uh, put a tracker in the last batch of files I sent Luke and Lucky. To see where their phones pinged.”

“Oh, I’m not going to like where this is going, am I?” Anna asked, sitting next to Robert. “What did you find?”

“A few things. Um, first, Lucky’s keeping their home base IP cloaked. I can’t get a location on where they’re set up. Which would be fine, except that same security doesn’t kick in when they leave. I ran a program last night to see where their phones pinged—” Spinelli turned it around. “They landed in Turkey on Tuesday, and Lucky’s devices stay in the shadows most of the time. He’s ventured out to some cafes, but nothing else. Luke’s been searching addresses he claims he got from the WSB. I’m working on matching them to anything in my files, but so far nothing.”

“The addresses we now know he didn’t get from the WSB, at least not that my contact in Istanbul can confirm,” Anna said.

“Right,” Spinelli said. “After we spoke to him on Friday, he went straight for the Maslak address.”

“The one you connected to Klein,” Anna said. “That makes sense—”

“He spent the entire night there. And then went back again last night—and it’s currently late afternoon in Turkey. He’s there again. Three times in three days. And hasn’t gone near any of the other addresses.”

Anna hesitated, exchanged a troubled look with Robert. “He found something.”

“I think maybe, yes, he has. And he hasn’t told us anything. Which might make sense if he wanted to be sure before he reported back, so I’m not ready to say that one way or the other. But I realized a third phone had accessed those files — and then a second laptop. One that doesn’t match anything I’d connected to Luke. I put another trace in there, one to let me into the laptop itself so I could get remote access.”  Spinelli tapped a few keys. “Lucky and Luke are hiding something. Or more important—they’re hiding someone.”

Davis House: Kitchen

Alexis lifted her brows with curiosity when Sam sauntered through the back door and went towards the coffee pot. “Well, I wasn’t expecting you. Where are the kids?”

“With a baby sitter.” Sam joined her mother at the table and reached for the sugar pot in front of her mother. “I told Krissy I’d stop by today. Didn’t she tell you?”

“No. I didn’t realize you’d seen your sister since we spoke the other day.”

“She’s actually—she actually helped me think through a few things yesterday. You know, she just let me—” Sam shrugged. “She let me work things out in my head, and it really helped to clarify the way I was feeling. At least for some things.”

“All right.”

“That’s why I’m here,” Sam said. “It’s time to make some decisions, to stop sitting back and waiting for someone else to make a move. We talked for a little while earlier this week, but I’m ready to move forward.”

“Well, we’re still waiting on Jason’s answer to the divorce petition. I expect Diane will have him fight pretty much everything in the financial proposal, so I’m hoping you intend to back down, at least on the coffee company—”

“I know that’s what we talked about, but—” Sam paused. “I want to go forward the way it’s in the papers. Jason will be forced to come to the table if that stays in play.” To look at her. To deal with her.

Alexis sighed. “Sam—”

“No, let me — I haven’t been honest with you or myself really about why it has to be this way.” Sam clutched the coffee mug tightly. “And you’ve handled divorces before, so maybe you suspected it.” She met her mother’s gaze. “I wanted to make Jason miserable. I wanted it to be hard for him to throw me away. To forget about Danny. If he wants to end our marriage, then he’s going to have to pay for it. To look me in the eye.”

Alexis sighed, rubbed her forehead, and Sam bristled. “You know Jason has to fight hard to keep you out of his finances. Because of where the money came from.”

“Yes.”

“Which means every step we take, Diane will be fighting. She’ll appeal any decisions made in our favor. That can add weeks or even months, depending on the court. You could draw the process out for years, Sam. At great cost to you both.” Alexis shook her head. “No attorney would advise it—”

“He’ll get tired first, Mom. You know that. He’ll want to make this go away, so he’ll eventually pay.” When Alexis just pressed her lips together, Sam scowled. “You know I’m right.”

“I do know that,” Alexis said. “Is this because Jason’s spending so much time with Elizabeth? With Jake?”

“Maybe. She’s behind this, I know she is, Mom. Ever since she came back into the picture,” Sam said after a moment, “she’s always been there. Lurking. Ready to pounce. You know that.”

“I’m not sure I’d characterize it that way—”

“I’ve done nothing but think about this, Mom. When Manny Ruiz shot me, and I was in the hospital — there was that surgery. Elizabeth put her career on the line for Jason—”

“For you—”

“For Jason. I was incidental. And then she was always there. She packed my things when he brought them to the house. He told me that. And then that night, the blackout—she showed up at his place—do you know how many stairs she had to climb—”

“That was more than ten years ago, Sam.”

“And after that. After that, she hated me. She undermined me. She made me look crazy and she always looked so solid and stable—” Sam squeezed her eyes shut. “Mom. I’m just—he only came back to me because he told himself he didn’t deserve her. He left her to keep her safe. I thought he’d chosen me. But he settled for me. He tolerated me—”

“I know it might feel this way now—”

“It is that way. Okay? Because I’ve had time to think about this. I tried to shove her out of his life, and I thought I did it. But then she was there again. When Danny was gone, they were flirting and kissing, and then he came home to me. But he told me last month it wouldn’t have worked. He thinks we would have broken up, and he’s right. Because he can’t ever be happy with what he has. He had Elizabeth, and she wasn’t up to his life. So he put her on a shelf and came back to me. Because I couldn’t have kids, and hell, what did he care if I died?”

“Sam. I don’t think it’s that simple—”

“Every time we broke up, he went back to her. And then when he had her, he found a reason to leave. I’m making sure that I will never be an option again.” Sam shook her head. “Sonny told me that Jason came to the penthouse first and saw me with Drew. I wasn’t available, so he didn’t even stop to tell me he was alive. He didn’t even try to see Danny—” Her throat felt tight. “How long do you think he’ll be happy this time before something stops it? Before Sonny gets another rival and Jason gets cold feet? No. I’ve been on this stupid ride for a decade. I want to get off. Elizabeth can keep playing. Maybe Carly will finally get a turn or something. But I’m done.”

The silence lingered in the kitchen, and Sam waited. Would her mother understand? Would she pursue the case the way Sam wanted it? She had to make her mother see that this was self-preservation. When Alexis still said nothing, Sam felt the first lick of panic. Why wouldn’t Alexis see the truth?

“Mom. It’s for me, too, okay? It’s self-defense. Jason was the first man I ever thought loved me for me, and I was happy when we were together. That first time,” she added. “Before Manny Ruiz. But he never loved me that way again, and I spent years trying to get that back. I thought I had it. I thought when Drew was Jason — and he came home from the rehab center—I thought we’d finally found that happiness I’d spent ten years trying to find again. But it wasn’t Jason. And I’m scared—” Her voice trembled. “I’m scared that I’ll keep destroying good things to get back to it. I already did that with Patrick. A-and Drew. Drew. I was trying so hard to keep Jason out of my life that I didn’t see I was pushing Drew away—I have to stop myself from doing what I always do when Jason comes back. Burning the bridge like does that.”

“Sam—” But the way her name sounded, Sam just knew Alexis wasn’t with her. That she still didn’t get it.

“He isn’t going to choose me this time, Mom.” Sam swiped at her tears. “And I can actually feel myself—when Sonny told me Jason came to the penthouse—when he said Jason tried to come home first only it wasn’t here anymore, I almost broke. You know? I thought he loved me. He came to me first. And then I started to remember everything about how Jason is. And why he waited so long — and he wanted me to come to him. And I didn’t do it. And I thought—I’m hurting him. I should stop this—and that’s the first step, okay? That’s how it always starts. I don’t want to find myself in a few weeks trying to get Jason back. In a few months. I have to make it stop.”

“You think that keeping him in court for years is going to snap that thread tying you together,” Alexis said. “Why this when nothing else did before? You told me about Maureen Harper. What you did in the park. Jason still chose you—”

“Settled for me.”

“Okay. We’ll use your words. Sam, if he wanted to keep Elizabeth safe and out of his life — that’s one thing. But he could have gone out and found anyone else if he was just lonely. He came back to you. Why won’t you let that mean anything?”

“Because you can feel it, Mom. When the love is real and it’s right. And it’s perfect. I know what it is to be in love with Jason. To know he’s in love with you. I know what he looks like. And he never, ever looked at me that way again. He chose me because I could handle his life and couldn’t have kids. Maybe he thinks he loved me, but—” Sam pressed a fist to her chest. “But he didn’t. And I did everything I could to get it back — and I’ll do it again. I threw away Patrick, didn’t I? Just at the hint of getting Jason back. You told me that once — you were furious at what I’d turned into in my desperation to keep Jason.”

“And I’m telling you to look in the mirror, honey, because you might think what you’re doing is going to hurt Jason,” Alexis said, “that you’re making it hard for him to walk away — but he’s going to leave all that in Diane’s hands. You’re still the one who isn’t walking away. All this is going to do is keep you tied up. Because you’re the one taking meetings about your divorce on a Sunday morning. What do you think he’s doing?”

Sam shoved away from the table, tears burning in her eyes. “No! No! You don’t get it!”

“And maybe you’re trying to make sure Jason can’t legally move on from you, either,” Alexis said gently. “So maybe he can’t marry Elizabeth.”

“Don’t—”

“But it won’t work. Because Diane will just file a very simple resolution to end the marriage and set aside finances and custody. It happens all the time, Sam. And there’s nothing to fight that. And quite honestly, if Diane wanted to really push — there’s a chance your entire petition gets tossed out —”

“What—why?”

“Because you already signed the divorce papers before he disappeared. And he was not declared legally dead before the date the divorce was set to finalize. It was a legal loophole that no one pushed. Because we thought he was dead, and you were his widow. You had his only living son.” Alexis rose. “Sonny could have fought you every step of the way. So could anyone else who was a beneficiary of his estate.”

Sam folded her arms. “But they didn’t.”

“No. Because Jason was dead, and he’d chosen you and Danny at the end. So now we’re going through this because it wasn’t formally recognized before. There’s a legal process to get you off the accounts. To get you out of his life now, Jason has to go through the courts. So I’m warning you, Sam, if you push too hard and too harshly, Diane is going to push back—and Jason will eventually let her. He has before.”

“You’re supposed to be my lawyer—”

“And as your lawyer, it’s my responsibility to give you the facts. I filed those papers, Sam, because I am your lawyer. But if you’re telling me that the purpose of all of this is to keep Jason entangled in the court system for next five years—” Alexis shook her head. “I won’t do it. Ethically, I can’t.”

“It’s what I want—”

“You’re doing exactly what you think you’re avoiding. You’re making Jason a priority in your life. He’s not doing that for you—”

“Stop it! Don’t say that!”

“You need to hear it, Sam,” Alexis shot back. “He came back from Russia, saw that you had moved on, and then you chose the other guy! You made that choice! I told you to be sure that you weren’t doing something you couldn’t take back! You didn’t do a damn thing to make Jason think there was a future with you, so he didn’t wait for one. He asked you for a divorce so he could move on. Now you want to make sure he doesn’t get to walk away from you. But you don’t get to walk away from him, either. And we’re all still exactly where we’ve been for ten years. Watching you chase a man you say doesn’t even love you—”

“You already filed my papers—”

“You want to go after his money because it’s one more way to keep him tied up in court.  I’m not going to help you with that. I have tried to be patient with you, Sam, I have tried to support you, but you’re not listening! You’re not hearing me—” Alexis slapped a hand on the table.

“Shut up! Shut up—” Sam slapped her hands over her ears. “You don’t know what you’re talking about—”

“The hell I don’t! It’s all clear to me now. You can’t stand that Jason walked away from you. Or that Drew did. They both left you, Sam. It won’t be long before you decide to punish Drew, too. You think that I don’t see it? Jason chose Elizabeth, I heard you say that. And why did Drew move out? Who is he choosing? Someone who isn’t you. He’s choosing Jason. It’s twisted up in your head and you think I can’t see it.”

Sam’s chest heaved. “You have to do what I tell you!”

“The hell I do. I won’t sit here and watch you drag my grandchildren through this — And after what my family did to Jason and Drew, I’m not going to pile on more. So you either drop all of this and get yourself together, Sam, or find another lawyer.”

“You don’t get to fire me. That’s not how this works. I’m firing you. I’ll get a lawyer who knows what they’re doing. And you can go to hell.”

Morgan House: Street

Franco shifted the car into park, then dug out a skull cap and a pair of sunglasses.  He’d driven by the house the night before, just on a whim he’d told himself. And he’d seen Elizabeth’s car in the driveway.

At ten at night.

It was still here. At seven-thirty in the morning. In exactly the same space, parked directly behind a dark SUV, leaving a strip of the driveway clear.

He flexed his hands on the steering wheel, not entirely sure what to do with this information. He’d known they were together. New Year’s — well, he’d watched them go in that night and not come back out.

But he’d almost managed to convince himself that it was just one night. Jason came home every night — the SUV was always in the drive when Franco drove past — not that he did it every night. Just sometimes.

But he couldn’t keep doing it. After this week, Franco told himself to stop making excuses. Today was supposed to be the last time —

But Elizabeth overnight a second time—well, there was no explaining that away. This was fine, he reminded himself. Expected. He couldn’t very well pick up the pieces if Jason didn’t actually convince Elizabeth to trust him again. How was Franco supposed to be there if they never actually started to see each other? If Jason didn’t get a chance to hurt her?

It had sounded fine in theory, he thought darkly.

The garage door rolled back, and he watched the motorcycle roar down the driveway, Jason in front and Elizabeth holding on behind him.

He clenched his jaw as the bike disappeared down the street. It was one thing to think they’d get back together—

It wasn’t much fun actually watching it happen. Franco could only hope that Jason got bored quickly — or Franco was going to have to get involved.

Davis House: Kitchen

Kristina waited for the back door to slam before she lightly pushed into the kitchen and found her mother standing with a pained expression. “Uh, so my experiment backfired, I think.”

Alexis exhaled slowly, turned back to Kristina. “Your experiment?”

“I tried to talk to her. A no judgment zone, you know? And I thought it would help. But I—well, I overheard most of your argument. This feels like my fault.”

“It’s not. I didn’t quite manage to withhold my opinion.” Alexis cleared her throat, shook her head. “I don’t know what to do. How to help her—or stop her.”

“Can she really—I mean, can she really keep Jason in court for years?” Kristina asked, her mouth tasting sour. “Can a divorce case last long?”

“If someone is determined, you can keep the custody disputes going until the child turns eighteen. Keep going after every penny. It just depends on your attorney.” Alexis rubbed her mouth. “She’ll find someone, of course. I just—” She closed her eyes. “She can’t see it. Can’t see that she’s making the very mistake that she says she’s trying to avoid—”

Kristina sat at the table. “She didn’t talk about Drew yesterday. Do you think that’s what started all of this? Not just what my dad said, but Drew leaving her. I mean, if she was upset because Jason asked for the divorce, Drew leaving only made it worse. I don’t understand why she’s spent so much time chasing someone she thinks doesn’t love her. Or why she keeps doing it. Why wouldn’t you just…move on?”

Alexis sat at the table, clasped her hands in front of her. “It’s the feeling,” she said softly. “You fall in love and it’s magical. It fills something inside of you, and you feel whole. You feel like the center of something. Everything is just better when you have this person in your life. It’s addicting, Kristina. And the lucky ones, they know how to keep it. How to hold on when life gets hard. But when you lose it, you can’t quite accept that it’s gone forever. You start to make compromises to get it back — to feel that way again. The desperation builds.”

“You’re talking about Julian,” Kristina murmured.

“I loved him. And I don’t know if I ever really see myself—I don’t know that I’ll ever stop.” Alexis looked at her daughter. “Jason was the first person who loved Sam. And there’s a sweetness in your first real love affair. Even if you fall in love again, it never quite matches that first time. As long as Jason was an option, Sam wasn’t able to let go.”

“Patrick—they thought Jason was dead. That’s why she was really able to move on. And Silas,” Kristina said. “Because if Jason was dead, she couldn’t go to him. As soon as he wasn’t—”

“Sam’s addicted to a feeling that won’t ever come back. Jason will never love her that way again. And I don’t know if I can stand to watch her destroy her life just to keep trying.”

“How do we stop her? I mean, wouldn’t it be best if Diane did what you said — got Sam’s divorce case dismissed? Or if Jason just paid her to go away. He could. He doesn’t care about the money. What happens if Jason calls her bluff? Or he gets the judge to just do the marriage—what did you say? They could separate it—”

“Bifurcation. To dissolve the marriage and be declared legally single. It’s common when there’s complicated legal situations regarding custody and property. But—” Alexis sighed. “I don’t know what happens if Sam has to face that.” She patted Kristina’s arm. “I don’t want you to worry about any of this, baby. You and Molly worry about school.”

“But—”

“Sometimes you have to let your kids crash and burn.” Alexis grimaced. “Sam and I have reached a point where I can’t help her.”

Kristina watched her mother leave the kitchen. Maybe Alexis couldn’t help, but she wasn’t ready to give up hope.

The star maker says it ain’t so bad
The dream maker’s gonna make you mad
The spaceman says, “Everybody look down
It’s all in your mind”
It’s all in my mind
It’s all in my mind
– Spaceman, The Killers

---

Sunday, January 7, 2018

Istanbul, Turkey

Kiremit House: Britt’s Bedroom

Britt used her fingers to zoom in on a chart in one of the medical reports, then scribbled a note to herself in the notebook by her side. Then scowled and erased, rewriting it — it still didn’t quite look right — She tossed the pencil aside, then dragged a hand down her face.

She couldn’t stop thinking about the day before, about Nikolas calling her a liar again, Lucky chasing her down in the street —

Or what he’d confessed to her last night. Nikolas had not only know Jake was alive, but he’d known it for more than a year. He’d visited the kid while he’d still been living in Port Charles. Britt could still remember that horrible night at Wyndemere when Elizabeth had revealed the secret about Ben — the truth that she’d been holding so tightly — that Ben was Lulu’s lost embryo—

She sat back in the chair, remembering how Nikolas had ripped into Elizabeth for enjoying the revelation — he’d done that first, Britt thought, before turning his fury on Britt. And then just a few months later, Nikolas had learned about Jake’s survival. And kept quiet.

It was so difficult to reconcile the two pieces of the man she’d loved. The man whose respect she’d been working so hard to regain. How could he have kept so many explosive secrets? Now Britt was asking herself more questions. If Nikolas had known about Jake, how long had he known about Chimera?

When he’d sent her to Russia to help Jason, to bring him home, Britt had always thought he’d only just learned about the trigger in Jake’s brain. But if Lucky’s story was true, Nikolas had been working with Helena for an entire year before her death. How had he known about the trigger and the toxin? She’d never asked him questions when he’d given her the mission—had only thought about what she’d get out of it. Worrying about the bottom line.

She turned back to her tablet, scrolled away from the medical record she’d been reading and clicked into the Patient 2 files. There’d been a field report from one of Helena’s men that she’d ignored in her first skim through of the files, but she wanted to return to it—

Patient 2 is settling back into his daily routine. Interacting with previous associates, including his brother and former girlfriend. There is tension to exploit with the brother who has developed feelings for the girlfriend. Madame is encouraged by this and wants to be kept informed —

“Anything good?”

Britt looked up to find Lucky in her doorway, leaning against it. “I was reading through your files again. The field reports.”

Lucky grimaced. “There’s nothing there—”

Britt straightened. “I’m not so sure,” she said slowly. “When you summarized the files, you said that Helena had brainwashed you about your feelings towards Elizabeth—”

“This isn’t important—”

“But that’s not the whole story,” she cut in and he scowled. “I’m not looking for gossip. I’m—” She moved from her desk to sit cross-legged on her bed. “Hear me out, okay? There’s obviously no love lost between me and Elizabeth for a lot of reasons, and most of them—” she winced. “They’re justified. But I was reading these field reports — Helena didn’t just brainwash you to stop loving Elizabeth. There’s some notations about you and Nikolas having tension. She went further. She made you push them together.”

“Yeah.” Lucky knitted his brow together. “I don’t see how it’s relevant, but yeah. Uh—” He scratched the edge of his brow with his thumb. “Uh, when I got back, I was still in love with her. Really in love. And she—I think she was with me. It’s hard—” He came into the room, closed the door, then leaned against it. “It’s hard really to know objectively what was going through her head, but I wanted her back in my life. Every time I opened my mouth to tell her that—” he grimaced. “I told her to be with Nikolas.”

“Helena programmed you to do that.”

“It was—it was bad,” Lucky said slowly. “I was hurting her. So much. At first, I tried to fight it, and then I tried to avoid it. But it just kept happening. And I was losing her. She wasn’t—I could see—” He looked at her. “You ever watch the light fade from someone’s eyes? The life just bleeding out. She kept trying, but I wasn’t strong enough. And it didn’t help that Jason came back, and—” Lucky looked away. “She got that light back with him, and I just knew—I knew if I could figure it out—” He cleared his throat. “We broke through that, and we thought the brainwashing was done. But it was just the beginning. Helena let me think it was over until she needed me.”

“Yeah, I’m hoping that we can get more from this time period. About what the notes referred to as Endgame.” Britt paused. “I’m sure that was really hard for you to go through, and I’m not diminishing it or anything. I’m more focused on the why. Why did Helena want you to deliberately hurt Elizabeth? Why did she use Nikolas to do it?”

“I thought she wanted to hurt me. Or to find a way to isolate me. The programming worked best that way. Do you have another theory?”

“She could have done that a thousand ways, Lucky. She could have programmed you to forget everything. She did eventually, so why not earlier? Think about the things you ended up being forced to do,” she said. “Doesn’t it seem like a really, small, petty thing to do, to make you break up with your girlfriend?”

Lucky frowned, rubbed his chest. “Yeah, I guess when you put it that way. But—”

“I don’t know how its connected, it but it just feels like it is. I was thinking about what you told me yesterday,” Britt continued. “About Nikolas knowing about Jake and keeping it from Elizabeth. When he and I—when we were engaged for about five minutes, Elizabeth was the one who blew it up—I mean, it was my fault for lying,” she muttered. “But it was Elizabeth who found out the truth and told everyone at our engagement party.”

“I didn’t know that—” Lucky sat on the bed. “Why is that important?”

“It felt like he was more mad at her than me,” Britt said. “He actually flipped out on her first before me. And you’d think since I had done something so terrible to his sister and lied to him, I’d be at the top of the list. I’m just saying — that’s weird. And then you’re telling me he lied to her about her kid being alive. He also lied to her about Jake Doe. By the time he got to me, it was like he didn’t have much left.”

Lucky shook his head. “I don’t see why that’s important—”

“I don’t know, but it comes back to Elizabeth,” Britt said. “Helena didn’t just want you to break up with Elizabeth. She wanted you to tell Elizabeth to be with your brother. Why? These field reports — they say Nikolas had feelings for her. Was that true?”

“Britt—”

“Helena made Nikolas poison her to test his loyalty. It’s just—” Britt shook her head. “I don’t know. There’s a lot of weird contradictions and these little bits and pieces that don’t add up. Helena notices that Nikolas wants Elizabeth, tries to get her for him? But then wants him to kill her to prove his loyalty? And then Jake Doe — Nikolas told me that he kept the secret because he wanted to find out what Helena was up to. Maybe that explains some of this. Why he kept Jake a secret — he could have just been trying to learn why Helena wanted Jake— I know that’s not a good enough excuse,” she added when Lucky opened his mouth. “I know that he should have said something, but I can see how he’d think he was doing the right thing.” Britt made a face. “I don’t know. Maybe I’d understand more if I’d been there for all of it—”

“No, I think I follow you. And yeah, okay, when you think about it — Helena worked hard for a long time to get Nikolas on her side. I don’t know that she ever forgave him for fooling her that first time. I just don’t see what that has to do with anything—Helena wanted to isolate me or Nikolas. Maybe both of us. Elizabeth was a means to an end.”

“You never know what the puzzle looks like until you’re finished putting together the pieces.” Britt shrugged. “Like I said, you caught me before I’d really thought it through. Sometimes you think out loud, and there’s nothing there.”

“Yeah, I guess.” Something vibrated, and Lucky glanced down at his phone. “My dad wants us in the study.”

“Oh, goody,” Britt muttered. “Another staff meeting.”

Maslak Lab: Hallway

Valentin scrolled through the list of missed calls — if only it were just Nina leaving him messages. His wife was easily cajoled into forgiving him — she’d forgiven others much worse, after all. But there were also calls from his daughter, from business partners at Cassadine Industries, and even a few from Lulu — and the text messages — not to mention the voice mails.

He exhaled slowly, counted to ten, reminding himself that he’d worked so hard to get to this point. He’d already made enough mistakes; he couldn’t let his impatience ruin it now.

He needed to remember his endgame. To focus on the goal. And not destroy the world he’d built and planned to enjoy. He’d been gone six days. He couldn’t afford much more time here in Turkey.

The door opened across the hall and Klein stepped out. Valentin focused on him. “Well? What’s the verdict? Is he awake?”

“He is fully conscious, and his brain activities are intact.” Klein paused. “I cannot, of course, guarantee that he answers any of your questions or even has information that is useful to you, but—”

“No, that would be too easy.” And he didn’t expect Stefan to cooperate that easily anyway. If Valentin could just get into the files, if he could locate the memory protocol, he’d get the information another way. All he needed to know was that his brother’s brain remained undamaged, and that couldn’t have been assessed before he’d awakened.

But there was no harm in trying to extract what he needed willingly.

In the bed, Stefan was wan, his expression slack. His eyes fluttered as Valentin approached, then opened more fully as he met Valentine’s gaze.

“Hello.” Valentin tipped his head. “Do you recognize me?”

Stefan pressed his lips together, his eyes darkening. “I do,” he said, his tone short and clipped, his voice raspy. “We’ve met before.”

“We have. I wasn’t sure you’d remember.”

“I know you,” Stefan said. “Ivan Theodore.”

Valentin hesitated at the alias he’d used while training for the WSB, one that he had discarded, believing himself betrayed by Anna Devane. “I’m sorry. Then you don’t know me—”

“Oh?” Stefan managed to arch an eyebrow. “Perhaps you’ve chosen another identity. What is it now?”

Valentin’s lips curled. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“You were one of my father’s goons. Mercenaries.” Stefan closed his eyes, his voice fading. “You worked for him. Then my mother after he died.”

So Stefan didn’t know Valentine’s parentage—assumed or true. “When did you last speak to your mother?” he demanded. “You were in a coma. What is the last date you remember?”

“Ah. So it’s information you want.” Stefan nodded. “Good. We can set the terms of our negotiations—”

“Negotiations—” Valentin laughed, though his stomach was uneasy. His chest was tightening. Why did nothing ever come easy? “You are my captive. You will tell me what I want to know, or you will go back into your deep sleep. That is only the negotiation I will consider—”

“And you will still have nothing.”

Valentin’s fists clenched. He could put Stefan back to sleep, but there was no guarantee the memory protocol would be located — and he desperately needed a piece of leverage, some indication that he was near the end of this journey. That his identity was safe, that there was no other threat to his inheritance save for the man in this hospital bed.

“I see that you have reconsidered. If you’d like to know what I remember, then you will bring my nephew to me.”

Valentin shook his head. “No. Choose something else.”

“There is nothing else. There is only Nikolas. He is all that matters to me. You will bring him to me or arrange for me to speak to him. You have my terms. Do what you will with them. Without Nikolas, I will say nothing.”

And Nikolas was a decomposing corpse at the bottom of the Aegean. “Then we are at an impasse. Enjoy your rest.”

He stalked out into the hallway where Klein remained waiting. “Put him back to sleep. Then prepare to transfer him and your research to the lab on Spoon Island.”

Locating the memory protocol had become his number one priority.

Kiremit House: Study

Britt’s questions still echoed in Lucky’s head when he found his father and brother two flights down. Britt trailed into the room after him, but he noticed that she stayed near the door. Preparing for another hasty exit.

She’d raised some interesting points that Lucky had never thought much about. Why had Helena used Elizabeth and Nikolas as the first test back then? Had she wanted to exploit the tension between Lucky and his brother? To prevent them from developing the bond they’d begun to build before the fire?

And what did he make of Britt’s line of thought about Nikolas being angrier with Elizabeth than with Britt — only to turn around a few months later to lie about Jake? What exactly had Nikolas been doing in Greece? How many secrets was his brother keeping?

“I had another phone call with Robert.” Luke folded his arms. The home front is getting restless. Suspicious.”

“What do they expect from us?” Nikolas demanded. “Miracles?”

“Nothing from you,” Britt muttered. They focused on her. “Well, you’re supposed to be dead, Nikolas. And they probably expect Luke to have found Valentin by now. Which he has and isn’t telling them. So are you surprised that they’re getting pissed?”

Lucky smirked. “She’s got a point, Dad. You started with a list of properties Nikolas gave you and got nowhere. Now you’re using Spinelli’s, and you found Valentin right away. Seems like they know there’s a good chance you’re lying to them.” And if Lucky was right about what he’d detected in the last batch of files, Spinelli knew more than they thought, but Lucky didn’t mention that. He’d done enough to protect Nikolas.

“Who’s side are you on, Cowboy? Hers or ours?”

“Mine,” Lucky said, even as Britt scowled. “And that’s all I ever promised anyone.”

Nikolas scowled. “This isn’t helping anyone. Luke — what’s the problem? They’re antsy. So what? We’ll think of something—”

“Right now, Drew and Jason don’t seem very interested in coming to Turkey to see for themselves,” Luke said. “Robert doesn’t think it’ll take much to change their minds. They don’t trust us—” He glared at Britt who snorted. “Don’t start.”

“Just seems like Drew and Jason are pretty smart and might actually be helpful if they knew what was going on, that’s all.” She shrugged. “Don’t mind me—”

“I’m trying not to.” Luke returned his focus to Lucky and Nikolas. “They have the same list of properties I do. They come here, and they’ll start with that lab. We need to make sure they don’t get that far. We need them to stay in Port Charles.”

Lucky grimaced. He hated this. Hated that they were lying to everyone that actually mattered to Lucky — that he’d given up his entire life and had nothing to show for it but lies. “So, what? You want me to send them to Siberia? Tell them Valentin has made another run for it and he’s in the Pacific?”

“Damn it—”

“You need a cover story,” Britt said, and they looked at her. “Something to explain why you haven’t found Valentin yet. And something to divert their attention. We can do that.” She looked at Lucky. “We’ve been reading all those files, we have our questions and theories. We’ll just develop something that will get their interest.”

“And why should I trust you, Little Obrecht?”

“You should trust me,” Lucky said, and his father looked at him. “Britt’s right. Nikolas wanted us to work on the files while you tracked down Valentin. You’ve done your part, Dad. Now Britt and I need to do ours. And Nikolas—” He focused on his brother. “Keep looking busy. Great work.”

“That’s not—” Nikolas scowled. “That’s not all I do—”

“Sure. But since we need to keep your secret,” Lucky said, “maybe you let me and Britt get back to work and Dad can head over to the lab? Otherwise, you’ll still be pretending to be dead when you’re ready for the nursing home.” He turned his back on them. “Ready to get back to work?” he asked Britt.

“Ready to leave this room,” she muttered.

“Great. Have fun,” he told his father and brother, then left.

“You really think antagonizing them is a good idea?” Britt hissed as they climbed the narrow steps back to their rooms.

“I don’t know. You started it.” He shrugged. “I’ll get my stuff. We should work together instead of separately. We need something to keep Jason and Drew out of the country. Neither of them will believe a word I say, so we need something that feels enough like the truth without being the truth.”

“Oh, good, I was worried it’d be something hard.”

Maslak Lab: Hallway

Hours later, as the city slept, Luke tugged the cap low over his face, keeping the handle of the broom to block it from view. He’d watched as Valentin had exited earlier that night and knew that the lab was mostly empty this time of night. A few more days of watching the building, and he’d have the schedule down perfectly —

But tonight, it was time to get a better sense of the place. What had pulled Valentin thousands of miles away from Port Charles without warning for so long? It was the first impulsive act the man had committed — everything else he did seemed carefully calculated —

Leaving Jason Morgan alive had been a particular stroke of genius. Luke knew that those back in Port Charles had been lulled by that period of quiet — by the lack of attack on Jason after he’d made his way out of the clinic and back home. Not a single attempt after New York. If not for the accident with Anna and the trip to Turkey, they’d still be questioning Valentin’s involvement.

That took a cold-blooded kind of thinking — something the Cassadines had once excelled at but had gone by the wayside as Helena had grown older and more desperate. Then again, the old witch had always kept one eye on the long game. The big picture. Brainwashing Lucky hoping to destroy the Spencers and resurrect Stavros? Kidnapping Jake to raise a new generation of weapon?

It was the petty bits of revenge that gave Luke pause — drugging Elizabeth to make her ill enough to hallucinate and then getting her to Spoon Island so that she’d see her son, and no one would believe her. So much planning for an event that could only serve as amusement. It had revealed a hatred for Elizabeth that Luke didn’t quite understand. And while he didn’t buy the current theory that Jason and his brother had been targeted because of Jason’s connection to Elizabeth —

He also couldn’t explain Helena’s actions any other way.

And now Valentin was making Helena’s mistakes. He’d left Jason to rot in that coma — and done nothing to silence him once he’d come home. But going after Anna because maybe Maddox had told her something? And leaving in the middle of the night for Turkey?

No, there was something in this lab. Something that would explain everything — or at least give them a thread to tug so they could start to unravel this entire mess.

Luke ambled down the hallway, haphazardly cleaning. Not much security at night — just the cameras. No real guards. He checked doors. Mostly offices. A few empty patient rooms. He went down a flight of stairs, intending to work his way down the four floors until he found something or ran out of time. There was always tomorrow—

It was on the second floor — or first story as the Dark Prince would smugly say — that Luke hit jackpot. In the middle of the hallway lined with doors, Luke pushed one open — and simply stopped at the sight of the man stretched out on the bed, sleeping.

“Damn it,” he muttered. “No one ever stays dead.”

And it’s hard to be at a party when I feel like an open wound
It’s hard to be anywhere these days when all I want is you
You’re a flashback in a film reel on the one screen in my town
And I just wanted you to know
That this is me trying
And maybe I don’t quite know what to say
I just wanted you to know
That this is me trying
At least I’m trying
– this is me trying, Taylor Swift

---

Saturday, January 6, 2018

 Morgan House: Living Room

Jason released her arm, his chest tight, and what felt like heat in his cheeks. He’d overreacted. He saw that now. She was smiling—or she had been—until he’d dragged her inside. He cleared his throat. “I’m sorry. I—”

“It’s fine.” Elizabeth forced her smile back.  “I, um, guess I surprised you or something. Did I interrupt something important?” She dropped her purse over the back of the sofa, then unbuttoned her white coat. Her smile was rueful as she tugged off the knit hat, snowflakes clinging to her hair. The hat, then the coat followed the purse.

“No. No. Did you find something in the files?” The medical reports. Had she found another identity—

This time her smile disappeared entirely, and she took a deep breath. “No.”

“I was—” He looked over at the table tucked under the windows. “I was almost finished the with WSB files. Did you—we could do that—”

“Did you find something?” she asked, folding her arms, her tone a bit dull. He frowned, not exactly sure what was happening. “You said you wanted to get through them before Spinelli decrypted another batch.” Her eyes met his, but they were careful. Blank. “That’s why you had to go home last night, right? That’s what was so important.”

“No. Nothing new.” He cleared his throat. “Is—is something wrong?”

“I already told you—” Elizabeth closed her eyes, shook her head. “No. Nothing’s wrong. Nothing that I didn’t do to myself.”

They stood there another moment, a strange, almost tense silence lingering. Jason cleared his throat. “What about the medical records? Did you bring them with you—we can get them from the car—”

“No, I didn’t bring the damn files—is that all you can think about?” Elizabeth bit out, a dark flush staining her cheeks. Then she winced. “I’m sorry. That didn’t—I didn’t—”

She’d said nothing was wrong, but something certainly was. Jason’s arms fell to his side. “We don’t have to do that—”

“No. It’s fine. You know what? Never mind. This was a stupid idea. I’ll just go.” Elizabeth turned, her hands extended as if to snatch up the things she’d just tossed on the sofa, and Jason nearly let her. Whatever was wrong, she didn’t want to tell him, and maybe he didn’t want to know—

But she was angry, and it was with him, and she hadn’t been when she’d arrived. He couldn’t stand to let her leave that way—had to understand what he’d done wrong—

“Wait. Wait,” he repeated, grabbing the hat from her. “What’s wrong? What did I do?”

The angry flush had already faded, and her shoulders slumped. “Nothing. This is me. All me. I just—” His stomach clenched when he saw the tears glimmering, just for an instant before she closed her eyes, turned away. “I’m sorry. It’s fine.”

“It’s not fine. Elizabeth—”

“I wish we’d never found those damned files,” she said softly, almost inaudibly. “Or maybe it’d be easier if New Year’s hadn’t happened.”

New Year’s. The night they’d spent together. When he’d asked her for just one more chance and she’d said yes. He swallowed hard. “Why?” he asked, his tone rougher than he’d expected, but the words had been torn from a place deep inside him, the space where he always kept asking why he wasn’t good enough, why she didn’t pick him—

“It just feels like nothing’s changed. Or that the wrong things have or—” Elizabeth faced him, but her eyes were downcast, her arms wrapped around her middle. “Did you tell me you loved me because you do? Or because of all the times we didn’t work? I just—” She raised her face, stained by tears she hadn’t wanted him to see. “We had that day, and I thought things would be different.”

“Different,” Jason said slowly, still not tracking the conversation. “I don’t—”

“This is so stupid,” Elizabeth muttered, swiping at her eyes. “I’m not some silly girl anymore. And it’s not like we’re in high school. We’re not young—”

“What does that have to do with anything?” Truly bewildered now, Jason tossed the hat he’d still been holding to the side. “Elizabeth, I can’t fix it if you don’t tell me what’s wrong.”

“I know. I know. I have to stop waiting for you to magically understand what idiotic thought I’m having and just tell you, I know that’s my fault. It’s always my fault, all the way back to Zander and Lucky and lying about Jake—because I didn’t know how to say what I wanted, and I never do. I just wait for you to do it, and then you don’t for whatever reason, and then we always end up back here, with me blowing things up because I’m an impatient, silly moron who lets things built up until something stupid makes me blow up—”

Completely lost, but unhappy with how she’d stopped being angry with him and was now turning it on herself, Jason reached for her hands, drew her closer. “You’re none of those things, and you know it. But I can’t read minds, Elizabeth.”

“You used to,” she murmured, almost wistfully. “Before I ruined things. Back in the beginning—you used to know when I was lying—”

“You didn’t ruin anything,” he corrected gently. “And I wasn’t in love with you then. It got harder to know what you were thinking because it mattered so much.” She closed her eyes, but he could feel some of the tension draining from her shoulders. She sighed, her breath shaky, then rested her forehead against his chest. Jason slid his hands up and down her arms. “What’s wrong? Tell me how to fix it and I will.”

“It’s going to sound stupid when I say it out loud.” Now her voice sounded sullen, almost like the younger woman she claimed she no longer was, and a smile tugged at his lips. The storm had passed, and now she just had to tell him what she needed so he could give it to her.

“It won’t, but if it makes you feel better, you don’t have to look at me.”

She remained quiet so long Jason thought she might not say anything at all. “I needed you to be happy I was here,” she said softly, and his hands, still stroking her arms from shoulder to elbow, then back again, stilled.

“I don’t—” Jason stopped. Mystified.

“I told you it was stupid. It is. I just—I wanted to come over here because the boys were going to be gone all day and tonight—and I wanted it to be a surprise, and I wanted you to be happy it was me, and maybe you’d hold me like this but it’s not the same if I’m upset, and I told you it was stupid, but you insisted, and now I feel like an idiot and you probably feel bad and I am so mad at myself—”

The words said in such a rush that it took Jason a moment to process them—when they’d sunk in, when he’d absorbed the meaning—the simplicity of what she’d been looking for—his breath caught.

“I—”

Elizabeth gently tugged away, and he let her, still unsure how to navigate the tricky situation. Had he thought the storm had passed?  She’d wanted him to be happy to see her, to treat her like the woman he loved, and instead, he’d just started demanding to know what was wrong—he’d grabbed her, yanked her into the house—hadn’t even said hello.

“I’m sorry. It was stupid, and I know better, and I’m sorry,” Elizabeth repeated. She took a deep breath and finally looked at him again. “We’ll just forget it happened, okay? Let’s read the files or something. They’re important. I know they are. So let’s go do that.”

“It’s not stupid,” Jason said, and she shook her head, the flush rising again in her cheeks. “Elizabeth—”

“I’m not a girl, okay? I’m an adult. And I’m not selfish. I worked so hard not to be selfish, so I’m not anymore. You brought these ones to the house, so they matter, right? So let’s look at them and see—”

If he went along with it, if he let her push this away, if he didn’t find a way to really fix this—he’d never get the chance again.

“I don’t care about the damned files, Elizabeth.”

Webber House: Living Room

Cameron spread out a few books, set up his laptop, flicked the television to the Spotify app, and selected a random playlist. With some sodas and a few bags of chips, Cam figured he was ready for a day of studying.

He was only halfway through his French study guide when the doorbell rang. He glanced towards the door, then froze when he saw Emma peering in the window, then smiling and waving when she spied him inside.

“Oh, you’re busy,” Emma said when he let her in, and she saw the cluttered coffee table. “I didn’t mean to interrupt. I was bored hanging around the house, so Grandpa said he’d drop me off—I should have called—” She bit her lip. “Maybe I could go watch a movie or something—”

“No, no, it’s cool.” Cameron closed the door. “It’s just—I’ve got the house to myself today. Probably until tomorrow,” he admitted. “Jake and Aiden went to friends’ houses, and Mom said she was going to Jason’s.”

“Oh. Oh,” Emma said, widening her eyes. “So that’s—that’s happening.”

“Not thinking too much about it.” Because absolutely not. He wanted his mother to be happy. He just had zero interest in the how. As long it wasn’t with another serial killer, Cam could live with just about anything else. “New Year’s, I think.”

“That’s nice. You know, I always shipped them—”

“You can’t ship real people,” Cameron grumbled, returning to the sofa. Emma curled up in the armchair, just the way she’d done at the old house, in a different chair. Emma always liked to settle in, to make herself comfortable. “We talked about this when Selena and Justin broke up the first time.”

“I believe in true love, and their time is coming. I never liked Sam anyway.”

“That’s not remotely true. You liked her just fine when she was dating your dad.” Cam tossed her one of the sodas he’d put aside for himself. “You don’t have to do that, you know. I never cared that you liked her. I didn’t think about her much until that stuff happened with my brother, when we lost the house.”

“Yeah, maybe that’s coloring some of it now. She was just—she was different with us, you know. She and my dad were happy, and I liked having Danny as a brother. Or at least I thought I would get to have him. But Mom and Dad are, like, better than ever,” she continued, “and now we have Noah, so it all works out.”

“Yeah.” Cameron paused. “You…stopped being mad about your mom going away for so long?”

“Well, I didn’t know she didn’t have a choice for most of it. We all thought she just went to Africa. But then she came back, and we found out Helena was behind everything.” Emma picked at the cuff of her sweater. “What an evil bitch. I’m glad she’s dead. She hurt a lot of people. Especially your brother. And your mom. Mine. All these other people we probably don’t even know about it.”

“I’m glad she’s dead, too. Hope it sticks this time,” Cameron muttered. “Cassadines suck at staying dead.”

“I know. And the ones that shouldn’t be dead are, like Spencer’s dad. Valentin—he’s, like, the last one out there, right? I mean, the last bad buy.”

“That we know of. I think that’s what my mom and everyone else is trying to figure out. They’ve been more careful not to talk about much around us since Christmas.”

“But Spencer’s getting to read files, so—” Emma paused. “Oh, what’s that look for?”

“I don’t have a look.”

“I know your face, Cameron.” She tipped her head. “Did you and Spencer fight? I thought you were past all of that.”

“We are. We were,” he corrected. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “But he’s still the same jackass he was back then. He wasn’t allowed to read those files, Emma.”

“He wasn’t? He didn’t tell me that. He just said his grandmother wasn’t happy—”

“Yeah. Of course he would.” Cameron scowled. “He didn’t tell Jason he wasn’t allowed, and then Grandma Laura found out. She yelled at Jason, and he sort got mad back, and then when he told my mom, they had a fight—”

“Oh, no.'”

“I mean, it’s fine now, obviously. She went to his house today. But Spencer doesn’t care about anyone but himself. He didn’t even consider that Grandma would find out or what she’d say. And now he’s mad at me for some dumb reason, and he thinks I don’t care what happened, but of course I do.” He slumped in his chair. “He called me a coward,” he muttered. Just like when they were kids.

Emma wrinkled her nose. “Why? Because you’re not charging out on a horse in full white knight armor? Honestly. He never changes, does he?” She sighed. “He’s wrong, you know.”

“I know he is.”

She studied him. “Do you? Because I know how you sound when you’re lying to yourself, and this feels like lying—”

“Em—”

“You’re not a coward, Cam. You and Spencer just approach life differently. You always have. Spencer goes full-throttle. He acts first, acts later, and if there’s time, maybe he asks a few questions. But that’s never been you.”

“And now I sound boring,” Cameron said, leaning his head back against the sofa, staring up. “Because I just sit and play video games all day.”

“Is that what you think?”  Emma sat next to him, and he could feel her eyes on him. “I always liked that you were thoughtful. That you cared about people. Spencer was six hours ahead of you in London, and I was three hours behind you. But you came up with a schedule so we could play those video games. So Spence and I could feel connected to home.”

“It’s not that hard.”

“And you sit with your brothers and let them help you with the games. How many times did you die in Assassin’s Creed taking Aiden’s advice?”

“Too many,” he muttered. Kid had no sense of strategy.

“But you made him feel so awesome every time, I bet. And Jake. You used to do origami and all these cool paper art projects. But Jake got into art, and you dialed back because you wanted him to shine. You knew he needed to shine at something after everything else he’d been through, and it wasn’t that important to you.”

“Em—”

“The world needs people like Spencer, okay? Because you need someone to go forth and do reckless things. Sometimes they’re brave, a lot of the time they’re stupid. Nothing gets done without a little risk. But we also really need people like you. Kind, thoughtful — someone who unfortunately spends a lot of time cleaning up the mistakes of the reckless ones.”

She smiled. “Don’t let Spencer chase away what makes you sweet, Cam. It’s not weak or cowardly to look after people. The world might need both kinds of people, but we don’t have nearly as many of you as we should.”

Morgan House: Living Room

Even if the Grand Canyon opened in the middle of the Jason’s living room, it would still not be deep or wide enough to swallow her whole. What a colossally stupid moron she was. She’d just wanted to take Felix’s advice because it was good advice—

But she hadn’t counted on Jason opening the door and looking at her like she was a ghost—or worse, like an uninvited guest—because something had to be wrong for her to just show up, didn’t it? She couldn’t just drop in on the man she loved, and hope he was in the mood—stupid—

“You do care about the files,” Elizabeth said, carefully. “We both do. And I know we’ve got more important things to worry about. I’m fine. It was just a moment of insanity, and it’s over now. I felt better saying it out loud, actually, and we’ll just forget it happened—”

“There’s nothing more important than you—” Jason began but her mortification, still simmering just under the surface, shifted into bitter resentment and fury before she’d realized it, but instead of unleashing it, Elizabeth found herself laughing, so richly and genuinely, that Jason closed his mouth, baffled.

“I know it’s not funny—I know—” But wasn’t it absolutely, positively hysterical that this man could stand in front of her with a straight face and say that statement?  “But, oh, man, I can’t help it.”

“Elizabeth—”

“I could make a list of all the things you’ve made more important than me for the last two decades, and I’d run out of fingers. Something is always more important than me,” she bit out, her mirth finally fading. “Sonny and Carly are good places to start, but, hey, you could counter that with Lucky. We’ll call it even on that, I guess. But don’t you stand there and pretend you’ve always put me first.”

Jason exhaled slowly. “No, I can’t. But, like you said, neither can you.”

“No, I can’t.” And that was that. Too much water under the bridge—they were practically drowning in it. “Look, this was all a mistake. We’ll just go back to how things were before—” She’d just get her things and go. Should have it left alone. Was she ever going to learn not to push and push—

“I told you I wasn’t letting go. Not this time.”

Elizabeth sighed. “Jason—”

“No. Not this time,” Jason repeated. “I said I’d hold on, even if you wanted me to let go. That’s what I’m doing now. You’re afraid we’re going to hurt each other again. So am I. And we’re not as young as we used to be. I don’t know how many more times we’ve got to get this right. But it’s not going to work if one of us always has a hand on the door, ready to run. Today it’s you, but it’s been me, too.”

“Sometimes it feels like it’s all we know how to do,” Elizabeth murmured, pressing a hand against her chest. “Maybe it’s what we bring to each other—”

“I don’t believe that. And neither do you.” He reached for that hand, took it between his own. “Let’s leave the rest of that alone for now. We both messed up. At different times. At the same times. There’s no point trying to decide who hurt who worse, okay?”

For now. Sure. They’d put it away for now. Elizabeth forced a smile. “Yeah, okay. You’re right. Fresh start—”

“No, that’s not—” He stopped. “Look, today, I’m sorry. I hurt you. I didn’t mean to—”

“You don’t have to apologize for not living up to my expectations, I told you—”

“I do when the way I treat you doesn’t make you feel good about yourself. About us. I love you,” he said for the second time, and she just looked away, “but that’s not how I acted when you came to the door. And I’m sorry.”

“I accept your apology. Let’s just forget it—”

“Let me finish,” he said softly, and Elizabeth closed her mouth. She’d made enough of a fool of herself, but if he wanted to extend her embarrassment and prolong the humiliation, well, she’d earned that, hadn’t she? “Before you got here—I was looking at Lucky’s files.”

She frowned. “Lucky’s—”

“And I watched one of the videos.” He paused. “I just—it took me back. To Russia.” He flexed his hand, stared at it.  “I woke up in that clinic eight months ago. Almost a year now,” he murmured, more to himself than to her, and now she focused on him, not thinking about her own silliness. “I woke up, and I couldn’t move. I spent months trying to get my strength back. Every waking moment, I only thought about one thing. Home. I had to get home.”

“Jason—”

“Survival mode, you know what that’s like. You’ve been through it. You keep moving forward, but you can’t look down because it’ll just paralyze you. You just focus on the goal. On waking up. On moving a finger. You can’t think about how it shouldn’t be that hard just to move one damned finger.”

He still held one of her hands, so she raised the other, touched his chest, her fingertips brushing against his heart, comforted by its beat. “I do know what it’s like. Not to that extent, but I do.”

“I focused on getting here. On coming home. But home wasn’t there anymore. I’m not talking about Sam,” he added, and she grimaced, hating that he’d guessed what she’d been thinking. “I’m talking about the penthouse. I’d never lived anywhere else as long. Ten years, Elizabeth. Almost all of the life I remember, that was home. My pool table. The view of the harbor, the travel books. My bike in the parking garage. I just wanted to come home. But it wasn’t there. Not because Sam didn’t want me to be there or because she’d remarried. But it was the wrong colors, and there was a dining table now—she said she put it all into storage, but it was gone. A broken pipe in the basement, they said—”

“You never told me that,” Elizabeth said, her chest aching.

“It’s been better the last few months. I don’t think about any of it much, and I haven’t needed to worry about survival. Jake’s alive, which was a miracle I never could have dreamed. He’s here, and I get to be a part of his life.” His gaze held hers, those beautiful eyes glimmering with his own unshed tears. Jason swallowed hard. “I don’t think about it—I wasn’t thinking about it,” he corrected. “I wanted answers, sure, and there were difficult moments. It hasn’t been easy. But I had you. And the boys,” he added, “but it started with you. And with Sonny knowing me the second he saw me. And Carly, as crazy as it sounds, pulling her crap. I got to feel like myself again.”

“And reading Lucky’s files—it put you back there,” Elizabeth murmured. “You’re back in survival mode.”

“Part of it. Constantly reading and thinking about all the terrible things the Cassadines and the WSB have done—” Jason exhaled slowly, looked back at the table. “Knowing that it stretches so far back—I don’t care much about the man Lucky grew up to be, but damn it, I liked the kid he was before the fire. And they played with his head the way they did to Jake. What else did they do? Who else did they hurt? And Valentin’s in Turkey, and the only people we have to look for answers are Spencers—”

He grimaced. “So, yeah, when you showed up, instead of just being happy to see you, I thought of all the terrible things that could have happened to bring you over. All the people they could have hurt.”

“Don’t apologize again,” Elizabeth said, and he closed his mouth. “I get it. I do. It’s okay.” She meant it that time, and hoped he could see it. “It’s overwhelming, sometimes, to think of the damage and destruction Helena and Victor were causing while we were here living our lives. And now, knowing about Lucky—” She sighed. “It just makes me feel more guilty. We thought we finished it back then. When we killed Stavros. The first time,” she added with a mutter. “But we left Helena alive. And she had time, she had resources. She was able to regroup and cause more chaos. Even dead two years, she’s reaching beyond the grave. It kills me to think if we’d just finished it right, if we’d cut off the damned head of the snake back then, maybe Jake would—” Her voice broke. “Maybe Drew would know his own son, and you wouldn’t have had five more years stolen—”

Elizabeth took a deep breath, shook her head. “But she’s not getting one more minute from me. She’s dead. Actually dead this time. I’m not going to let her haunt me. And I don’t want her to haunt you, either.”

“I won’t.” Jason bowed his head so that their foreheads met. “I am happy to see you,” he murmured. “I always am.”

“Good.” She cleared her throat, slid both her hands to rest on his chest. “Unless you really want to spend the day reading those files—”

“Absolutely not,” Jason said immediately, and she laughed. “Not even a little bit.”

“Then maybe we can just start over again.” Elizabeth tossed her hair over her shoulder, arched a brow. “You know I had a plan for today.”

“Did you?” he murmured, lowering his hands until they rested at her hips.

“I did. The first time you brought me to this house, we only had a few hours,” she reminded him, “which I think we used pretty efficiently.”

“That’s one way to put it,” Jason said, but now he was grinning, and his eyes sparkling. “Sure.”

“There’s a few rooms we didn’t get to, including the second bathroom.” Elizabeth stepped back, bracing one hand against the sofa to unzip her snow boots. She kicked them both off.

“I remember how you feel about testing the showers—”

“Well—” Elizabeth reached for the hem of her sweater and got to enjoy the stunned look in his eyes for a moment before she tossed it at him. “Race you.”

And took off for the stairs.

Devane Manor: Living Room

Anna paced the living room, listening as Robert and Luke conferenced in the background. She didn’t participate or offer any of her own conclusions — she wanted to hear what Luke was saying, and how he was saying it.

To what he wasn’t saying.

“All right, keep in touch,” Robert said. He closed the top of the laptop then looked at her. “I hate to say it—”

“But Jason and Drew aren’t entirely wrong to suspect we’re not being told everything.” Anna wrapped one arm around her waist, the other hand stroking her chin, considering all the information that she’d taken in. “I talked to Aydin in the Istanbul office. They did give him two low-level agents to help with reconnaissance, but that’s all.”

“No list of information.”

“Nothing that should have taken precedence over Spinelli’s intel.” Anna frowned. “You worked with Luke more than I did in the old days. He was gone by the time I came to Port Charles. You said he’d always been reliable, even if he did things his own way.”

“The auction held back in the day for the Ice Princess. It disappeared that night, and so did Luke. He resurfaced a few weeks later — without the Princess but he never told us where or why he’d gone off the grid.” Robert leaned back, crossed one leg. “I didn’t question it much at the time, but you know what it was like with him in the Markaams. He’s always flown solo. He took Laura along for the ride from time to time, but he plays everything close to the chest.”

“I can’t stop thinking of that summer he brought little Jake home. He and Lucky went to do that without telling a single soul what they’d suspected, and then dropped him off like a parcel they needed to deliver. Luke’s in it for Luke. Even when he says he’s doing it for family.” Anna paused. “I believe he’s keeping something from us. I just can’t quite understand what. Or why. To what purpose?”

“I don’t know, and frankly, I’m a little worried to find out.”

Morgan House: Hallway

He caught her before she reached the bathroom, swallowing her giggles and laughter with a searing kiss, pouring every ounce of the frustration and want he’d been holding back into the embrace, dragging her against him and pressing her against the wall in the hallway.

He’d always wanted her, for weeks, for months, years, for what felt like the better part of his entire life—Jason had thought about Elizabeth, about the way she’d taste and feel beneath his hands—he’d just had to lock it away. She didn’t want him when he’d wanted her—or they weren’t supposed to let the world see how they felt—

But it was different now, and he didn’t have to pretend. The whole world could know—could see—and he was allowed to touch her whenever he wanted—and she’d come here for this—

“You wear this every day?” he murmured, sliding one finger under the delicate, lacy bra, so sheer that he could see the skin beneath.

“Not every day,” Elizabeth teased, her fingers fumbling with the snap of his jeans—she’d been smarter, he realized, and had worn black pants that just needed a light tug before she wriggled out of them—then her arms were around his neck, and he didn’t know if she’d boosted herself up or he’d lifted her first, but her long legs were locked around his waist, pressing everything up against him.

He stumbled—they hadn’t quite manage to remove his jeans as smoothly as she’d shed her pants—and Elizabeth giggled again, sounding like the carefree girl she’d sworn had grown up.

Jason scowled at her, but kissed her again, holding her tight against him as he leaned against the wall and shook his legs, freeing the trapped denim from his ankle. He managed to get to the open doorway and through it to the bed where he dumped her almost unceremoniously.

Elizabeth sat up, her hands flat against the mattress behind her, legs pressed demurely together, and her hair—all the thick, loose waves his fingers itched to dive into—cascading down her back. He swore, then stripped off his shirt and covered her, kissing that wicked smile from her mouth—she’d pay for this, he promised, and they’d both enjoy every minute.

Jones-West Apartment: Living Room

“Not I don’t love having you over here all the time,” Maxie Jones-West plopped onto the sofa next to Spinelli, swirling a spoon in her pint of gelato, “because I know the hotel is so boring, but have you thought getting your own place?”

“It’s on the list, fair Maximista,” Spinelli murmured, tapping a few keys. When yet another fail screen came up, he scowled, smacked the laptop. How could such a simple encryption key elude him? He was the frigging Jackal—

“You know, Nathan loves you, and I’m not mad at the oodles of time I get to spend with Georgie, but seriously—”

“The man is nothing more than a common peasant,” Spinelli muttered, “and he thinks to outsmart me—”

Maxie rolled her eyes. “Nathan’s not trying to outsmart you, he just wants the sofa back—”

“What—” Spinelli blinked, his eyes clouded with confusion. “Oh. No. Not the Determined Detective, the Dastardly Doctor—”

“Wait, wait, I know this one—” Maxie set her gelato aside. “Dastardly Doctor is that Maddox guy, right? The one who put the whammy on Jason and Drew and little Jake—”

“Yes, yes—” Spinelli sat back, drumming his fingers against his jeans. “I cannot seem to free these files from their cages—”

“You’re working too hard. I recognize this. Not from me, of course,” Maxie added hastily when Spinelli swung her a skeptical glance. “I know how to balance life. No, from Uncle Mac. He used to get like this on the big cases. He’d get all huffed and puffed, and Georgie would—” Maxie took a breath, forced a smile. “She’d tease him about something and make him smile. Or talk him into watching just a half hour of something on television. Or go out for a dinner. Just something to take his mind off it—”

“What if these files hold the key to Drew’s memories?” Spinelli asked.

“No nickname for Drew?”

“No. I ran out of D adjectives,” he muttered. “I’m working on it. They don’t come as easily as they used to.”

“Because you grew out of them. You stopped needing to create a fantasy world with a cast of characters. You’re using them again because of Jason.” Maxie tipped her head. “Because you wanted him to feel okay, like things haven’t changed so much—” Maxie shrugged when he just stared at her. “It’s sweet, you know. Jason secretly probably loves it even though he complains. That can be your brain break, you know. Let’s come up with a name for Drew.”

“It’s—” Disgusted, Spinelli glared at her. “That’s not how this works.”

“No, no, I can do this. What about a nickname you used for Jason but he made you stop using? You don’t always use Stone Cold.”

“Sometimes I go with Yoda,” Spinelli said reluctantly. “But Drew should get his own name. He doesn’t need more hand-me-downs.”

“Fair. Fair.” Maxie tapped a finger against her lip. “Drew’s in business. He has an office. Wears suits. He was in the military, too. You could go with Lieutenant Suits.”

“You know, I used to call you The Evil Blonde One,” Spinelli muttered, pushing himself to his feet. “And Bad Blonde One—”

“I lived such a rich, full life before motherhood,” Maxie said wistfully. “I think I was Mouthy One, too.”

“You had a long list.” Spinelli made another face.

“How about Brave Business Guy?”

“Now you’re just insulting me.”

“Banging Business Dude.”

“Did you—” Spinelli broke off and rolled his eyes. “You did a search for adjectives that begin with B.”

“I did indeed.” Maxie brightened, waved her phone. “Ooh, oh, I have it. Brawny Business Dude.” When he just glared at her, she continued. “Do you like bodacious better?”

“No. No, I do not. But I will take your advice on something else,” Spinelli muttered, opening a new tab on his computer. “Finding my own place.”

“Ha. You’ll miss me. Business is out. And maybe military isn’t a good idea when he doesn’t remember anything yet. Oh, oh! Delectable Drew—wait, that would be more for me.”

Spinelli opened his mouth to protest, but there was a beep and notification from one of the programs running in the background. He clicked to bring up the window.

“What’s that?” Maxie asked. She leaned forward. “It looks like a map. But I don’t recognize the places—”

“It’s Istanbul—” Spinelli exhaled slowly. “And those dots are times and places that the Spencers looked at files I put in the shared folder. I, ah, put a trace on them so I could track their devices.”

“The Spencers? Like Luke and Lucky.” She frowned. “Why did you have to do that?”

“Because they’re not telling us everything they know, but we couldn’t prove it.” Spinelli zoomed in on the device locations, and a chill slid down his spine.

“Can you prove it now?”

“I need to make a call.”

Morgan House: Master Bedroom

Still panting, Elizabeth lay on her back, sweat glimmering from the hollow of her neck. “You know, when I said we weren’t that young anymore—it wasn’t meant as a dare.”

“You didn’t sound unhappy about it a few minutes ago.” Jason leaned up on one elbow. “Or maybe my hearing needs to be checked.”

She closed her eyes, drifting on the languid bliss. “Mmm, no. No complaints. Not even one.”

“Good.” He grunted, then laid back. They lay in silence, just content to hear each other breathe. “One day a week.”

Elizabeth blinked, turned her head towards him. “What?”

“I know it can’t be nights. Not a lot. Not with the boys,” Jason added. He brought her hand to his mouth, kissing the palm. “But, you know, they go to school. And I set my own schedule.”

“So do I.” She cuddled close to him, tucking herself into his embrace. “One day a week.”

“One day when it’s just us. We don’t talk about the files or Cassadines or memory experiments.” His fingers dipped into her hair again, letting a few silky strands wind around the tips. “You deserve more than that, but—”

“So do you. And maybe we’ll have weeks when it’s more. But I like it. It’s a good promise. One day a week.” Elizabeth smiled, then leaned down to kiss him. “But I still have the rest of tonight.”

“Then we better not waste any of it.”

Spencer House: Living Room

“Spinelli, this is a bit of surprise—” Laura stepped back to let the tech through the front door. “Is everything all right?”

“Yes. I hope it’s okay I just dropped by like this.” Spinelli removed his bag and went to the dining table where he set up his laptop. “I called Stone Cold and Elizabeth, but they weren’t picking up—”

“Neither of them?” Laura asked. “But—”

“I drove past his house.” His ears itched and his cheeks were warm as he continued, “And the Fair Elizabeth’s car was there. I, ah, think they’re taking a break from…” He gestured at the computer. “This.”

“A break—oh. Right.” Laura pressed her lips together. “But you thought there was something that needed to be talked about?”

“Yes. I…” He hesitated now. “I don’t know if anyone really talked to you about the call we had on Friday. With, um, Luke.”

“Elizabeth left me a message about it.” Laura sat at the table. “Luke hasn’t found anything. Has that changed?”

“It’s hard to say.” Spinelli rested his hands on the back of a chair. “Stone Cold—” He paused, thinking of his conversation with Maxie about nicknames. “Jason and Drew have both expressed, um, worries that perhaps Luke and Lucky weren’t being, well, entirely up front with us. About what they were doing in Turkey.”

Laura exhaled slowly, looked at the laptop. “And you’re here now, so am I correct in thinking that you have some proof that this is true?”

“Yes.” Spinelli tapped some keys, and the map came up. “I sent a new batch of files to them, embedded with a trace. As soon as they opened it up, I was able to see everywhere they’ve been. Every device that’s accessed these files. Luke told us he’d been working with a WSB list of addresses. Anna and Robert were surprised by that—which sent up the first red flag. My list had included a lab in Maslak where Joseph Klein worked prior to Russia.”

“He ran the lab in St. Petersburg and was holding Jason hostage there.”

“Yes. That’s why I was certain this address was our best bet. But Luke didn’t go there until today.” Spinelli zoomed in so that Laura could see. “His cell phone. It’s at Maslak last night. Well, last night in their time zone. He went straight from our phone call to the lab. And then stayed there. All night.”

“This just proves that he listened to you on that call, Spinelli. He took your word—” Laura stopped. Looked at the map again. “Wait. I don’t understand. These other devices—”

“They don’t have locations. All I can see is that they accessed the files. But their location is cloaked. Whatever network they’re accessing the net from? It’s blocked. But as soon as they leave it, I can see it.” Spinelli hesitated. “And there’s more. Luke and Lucky aren’t the only people who’ve accessed these files. A third computer has access. I planted another trace in the files to gain remote access so I can see who this person is. But I’m troubled that Lucky—and it has to be Lucky—is cloaking his location but doesn’t bother to do the same when those devices leave wherever they are. Why cloak that and not all of it?”

“That…does raise some red flags.” Laura leaned back. “I suppose we should talk to Robert. And keep our eye on what else these devices do. I don’t want to believe that my son is keeping secrets, but…” She rubbed the side of her face. “I know from experience that Lucky follows Luke’s lead in these things. I don’t know if this proves they’re keeping something important, but it does suggest some questions.”

She cleared her throat. “I’ll call Robert. He can come over, look at your information. And we can determine what to do from there.”

“And, um, Stone Cold?”

“Let’s call Drew,” Laura suggested, rising from the table. “Jason’s earned himself a day off. If we learn something concrete, we’ll loop them in.”

Morgan House: Kitchen

Elizabeth rose on her toes to open a cabinet, then made a face. “Do you ever go out for food?”

“No.” Jason’s arms encircled her waist and she leaned back against him, closing her eyes as his lips trailed down her neck. “We could just call for pizza—”

“Not at ten—” But she cut off her protest, turning and sliding her fingertips up his bare chest. Two could play that game, she decided with a grin. “You know, you can get groceries delivered now. There’s an app for that.”

“You sound like Spinelli,” he muttered, but sighed and stepped back, looking at the sparse contents of his cabinets. “There’s probably some pretzels somewhere.”

She rolled her eyes and went back to searching the kitchen, her stomach growling. “Hey, I tried to take a break for food earlier.”

“You did,” Jason said. “But you also suggested we take a shower first.”

She wrinkled her nose. “Yeah, okay. That’s on me.” She turned her attention to the fridge—specifically the freezer. “You have one bag of frozen vegetables. That’s it. Why?”

“I think that was left over from Sonny—” Jason took the bag from her and examined it. “He stocked the kitchen when I first got home. But I don’t spend a lot of time here. Other than sleeping,” he added. “I don’t usually eat breakfast, and Spinelli orders at the garage for lunch,” he added.

“And I guess you’ve been with us for dinner most of the time. Fine. But you need frozen pizzas for emergencies.” She put the bag back in the freezer, tapping a finger against the handle after closing the door, considering their options. “There’s nothing open twenty-four hours. Not for delivery. I could run to my place—I’ve always got pizza.”  But she didn’t want to do that. Didn’t want to leave or do anything to pop the lovely, happy bubble they’d spent all day enjoying.

“We could just go to sleep,” Jason suggested, tugging her back against his chest, sliding her hair out of the way so he could nibble at her ear again. “Wake up early, go for a ride, get breakfast—”

“Mmm, that sounds like a really great idea. And you know, Jake and Aiden won’t be home until late tomorrow, so I don’t even have to rush away anywhere.” She turned in his arms. “Because you know, tomorrow is Sunday. And that’s a whole new week.”

“I did promise you one day a week.” He dipped his head down to kiss her, and she sighed happily.

And I am feeling so small
It was over my head
I know nothing at all
And I will stumble and fall
I’m still learning to love
Just starting to crawl
Say something, I’m giving up on you
I’m sorry that I couldn’t get to you
Anywhere, I would’ve followed you
– Say Something, Passenger

---

Saturday, January 6, 2018

Webber House: Kitchen

“Hey, what are your plans today?” Elizabeth asked, glancing over at Cameron as he cleared the table of cereal bowls. He stacked them and brought them over to the sink. “Staying in, going out—”

“Studying,” Cameron said. He dumped them in the sink, turned on the faucet. “I have a French test, and AP Bio— and there’s an essay for English. I blame Oscar for that one. He got the teacher going on comparing poems written in response to each other and how they reflect the historical context of the time.”

Elizabeth made a face. “That sounds…fun.”

“Glad one of us thinks so.” He shrugged. “Why? Did you need me to watch Aiden and Jake?”

“No, actually. Jake has a sleepover tonight, and Aiden asked to go to Mark’s for the night.” Elizabeth folded her arms. “So no annoying brothers—” She held up a finger as her phone rang. “Hold that thought.”

She grabbed it from the counter, smiling as she saw Jason’s face on the lock screen. “Hey. Good morning.” She wandered away from Cameron, into the living room. “I was just thinking about you.”

“Hey,” he replied. “Is that a good thing?”

“You tell me. What’s up?”

“Just touching base. Uh, I don’t know if Cam wanted to work on his car this weekend, but the bathroom guys are there today. So I’m not going to the garage. I was gonna stay in, work on the files before Spinelli dumps another pile on us.”

She pressed her lips together, fought back the irritation at the word files. It was going to develop into a twitch if she wasn’t careful. “No, Cam knew that. He’s studying today. Spinelli’s not threatening another delivery, is he? We may have to break his printer.”

“No, I think he’s going to focus on Maddox’s encryption key this weekend.”

“I don’t know whether to hope that works or that it takes a month.” Elizabeth sighed. “Okay, well, I have my own stack to get through, so I’ll call you if I find anything.”

She didn’t wait for him to say goodbye, not even sure why she was feeling the simmering of resentment. It wasn’t like Jason was cutting her out or refusing to spend time with her. She could have asked him to do something else — or even read the damn things together. Any frustration she felt was on her.

But it was just starting to feel…familiar. She and Jason turning a corner on their relationship, then real world problems coming up and taking up all his attention. The damn files weren’t much better than Carly or Sonny’s phone calls all those years ago.

And just like she’d wanted to throw his damn phone into the harbor, she was now imagining if anyone would suspect her if she just stole Spinelli’s computer and launched that into the water.

“Mom?”

“Hmm?” She cleared her throat, went back into the kitchen. “Yeah?”

“You good? You were going to say something before.” Cameron frowned. “Was that Jason on the phone? Did something happen?”

“No, no. I mean, yes, it was Jason.” She slid her phone into her back pocket, folded her arms. “I don’t remember what we were talking about.”

“Plans for the day. You know, if Jake and Aiden are going to be gone overnight, uh, you don’t have to—” Cameron frowned. “Well, I’m fifteen. You know. I don’t need supervision. And it’d be nice to have the house to myself to actually get work done.”

“You know what—” Elizabeth nodded. “That’s a great idea. I’ll go find something to do and leave you to writing about poetry.”

She was going to take Felix’s advice and take charge. This didn’t have to be a repeat of history. If she wanted Jason’s attention, she was just going to have to ask for it. She wasn’t a nervous girl afraid of rejection anymore—no time like the present to prove that to herself—and to Jason.

Kelly’s: Dining Room

Spencer brooded over his pancakes, pushing the pieces around the plate with his fork. He was having the absolute worst first week back in Port Charles. His grandmother was treating him like a child, his cousin was a pain in the ass who wouldn’t even help, and he was banned from doing the one thing that made him feel okay for the first time since his father’s death.

“Didn’t you ever learn not to play with your food?”

He glanced up to see Trina arching a brow at him, her hands braced on the lower counter below the higher one where he was seated. “No. Didn’t you get the memo? No parents.”

Trina rolled her eyes, turned to check the coffee pots. “You gonna use that dead mom and dad thing for the rest of your life?”

“Well, about the time I got over the dead mom thing, I joined a new club. The Dead Dad club.” He speared another piece of pancake, shoved it in his mouth.

“Do you ever really get over a dead mom?” Trina wondered, and he frowned, swallowed. “I mean, academically speaking. How would you know? Do you wake up one day, and decide, you know what? It’s okay that my mom is dead.”

“Are we really having this conversation—”

“Well, I doubt you want to talk about why you and Cameron are currently enemies. All he told me last night was that you had a fight, and that you sucked.” She shrugged a shoulder, started to wrap utensils into napkins. “Boys are dumb—”

“I called him a coward, and he called me an asshole.” Spencer furrowed his brow. That hadn’t been it. “No, I think it was selfish bastard.”

Trina disappeared to deliver a set of orders, then take others. When she returned, she started to pour coffee for her customers. “Okay. So you insulted each other. That still doesn’t tell me why.”

He sighed, considered if he should even bother. Everyone was always on Cameron’s side — he was the calm, logical one and Spencer was the impulsive idiot. He’d heard that so many times growing up. Spencer always took things one step too far.

And of course, they were right, which Spencer hated. Because he’d definitely gone too far this time. Getting so mad at his grandmother that he’d called her crazy — she’d accepted his apology, but he’d seen her flinch, and knew she’d struggled with her mental health for a long time. And maybe coward hadn’t been the right word, but it was frustrating to be constantly wrong even before he got to defend himself.

Trina returned, folded her arms. “Well, you gonna tell me or do you want me to leave you alone?”

“I’ll tell you,” Spencer said reluctantly. “I went to Jason’s garage the other day with the rest of them, and he let me read some of those files they’ve been going over. You know about them, right?”

“Yeah. Cam told me they found some stuff in your grandma’s law book or something. A thumb drive with a lot of info. Said his mom is always reading medical reports, and Jason’s always in his office. Sounds boring.”

“You’d think that, but the stuff Jason’s going over is all records from the WSB — and it’s, like, incident reports, and surveillance reports, and interviews—they’re all about my family. They did this really deep investigation after the Ice Princess, and it’s all the stuff that my dad never would have told me.” Spencer leaned forward. “No one but my great-grandmother ever wanted to tell me about our family.”

“Your great-grandmother, the noted sociopath super villain,” Trina said. She frowned. “You don’t think she had an ulterior motive in sharing the info or something?”

“Maybe she did, but—” Spencer scowled. “You don’t get it—”

“No, no. I do, sort of. You don’t really have a relationship with your mom’s side, except for your uncle. And your dad’s side is…complicated. You wanted to know more. Plus, your dad was…well, that’s why he’s not here anymore. Makes sense.”

Spencer slapped his hand against the counter. “Thank you! Someone gets it!”

“I didn’t say that,” Trina said. “I still don’t understand what does it have to with you and Cam?”

He made a face, looked back at his pancakes. “Cam’s a little mad because I sort of put him and Jason in the middle of an argument with my grandmother. She doesn’t want me to read the files. Which,” he said, drawing out the word with a wince, “I knew before I asked Jason if I could. I figured he didn’t know.”

“But Cameron did.”

“Yes.”

“And he didn’t tell Jason, either.”

“No.”

“Okay, starting to see how you’re the bad guy.” She made a little circle in the air with her index finger. “Continue.”

“Cam covered for me which was cool. He just wanted to work on his car, so it was great for all of us. But I lost track of time, my grandmother showed up, and she went off on Jason. They got into a fight, and now I’m banned from the garage.”

“Okay.” Trina paused. “I don’t understand. Cam covered for you.”

“He’s mad at me for putting him in the middle, and because I wanted to keep pushing. I know Jason thinks I should be able to help. He got ticked at me because then Jason took him home, and Aunt Liz was arguing with Jason. She’s on Grandmother’s side, and Cam’s…touchy about anything that upsets his mother.”

“I…have noticed that,” Trina said carefully. “He’s very protective of her—”

“Don’t get it twisted. It goes both ways. Aunt Liz is close to a mom as I ever got, you know. She was around a lot when I was a kid because she was sort of with my dad for a minute, but that’s not the point. Anyway, I think Cam also kind of likes having Jason around now—which he’d never admit—and he just…he can’t be talked to when he gets like that. You’ve seen it.”

“Yeah, maybe.” Trina tipped her head. “There’s more, though. Isn’t there? Where does selfish bastard and coward come in?”

“Should have known you’d remember that,” Spencer muttered. “Okay, this is probably the part where he might be right. I kind of suggested he’s not doing enough to help and that he’s a coward because of what happened to his brother—yep.” Spencer slumped back. “There it is. You’re back on his side.”

“I’m not on—” Trina shook her head. “Wait a minute.” She went to the window, grabbed some orders, then delivered them. When she returned, she said, “I’m not on anyone’s side. I think this just comes down to a simple thing. You and Cam are different people. He’s not a take action guy. He never was. He was always better sitting back and letting things happen. When we were kids, and you were fighting over Emma—”

“Hard to call it a fight when she never noticed me,” Spencer muttered, stabbing his pancake.

“You always did all these grand gestures, remember? Crashing the Nurse’s Ball when they were performing? Buying elaborate gifts — all this flashy stuff that wasn’t up Emma’s alley. Which you would have known if you actually knew her. It’s not a bad thing, Spencer. Grand gestures are great — for the right person. Just like now. Your way? Demanding to be involved, to participate? That works for you.”

“Not for Cameron.”

“No. He sits back, and he focuses on what matters for him. You’ve known him his entire life, Spencer. What’s important to him?”

“His brothers and his mother. In that order.” Spencer leaned back on the stool, shoved his plate back. “And he’s always with them.”

“I knew he was close to them, but when we started dating last summer, I realized how much time he spends with them. I know it’s because of his mother’s job, but it didn’t have to be Cameron doing it. He volunteered at Lila’s Kids because they attended the camp. I used to think that maybe his mom made him do all that — or maybe she was expecting too much — we had a fight about it. He’d cancel dates with me if Jake needed someone to help him with homework or take Aiden to piano practice. I got mad a few times,” she admitted. “But he told me from the beginning. Jake and Aiden come first.”

“You’re not mad about it anymore?”

“Worried, maybe. Not mad. Not anymore.” Trina hesitated. “Jake was kidnapped three times, did you know that? When he was a baby—twice. And then for four years. I don’t have siblings, Spencer, so I don’t know what it’s like. Imagine, for years your little brother is dead. You watch your mother grieve, you feel this empty space where he’s supposed to be—”

“And then he’s back.”

“Cameron feels like he got a second chance to take care of Jake. And it’s not his mother who makes him feel guilty. I thought maybe it was. Cam puts that pressure on himself. And I don’t know how to fix that. He just takes responsibility for these things he shouldn’t.” She took his half-eaten plate, dumped it in the bin. “Cameron’s not a coward, Spencer. He’s just doing the quiet work behind the scenes to make sure that Jake is okay.”

“Well, now I actually feel like a selfish bastard.” He twirled the straw in his chocolate milk. “I’ll apologize.”

“You’re not wrong for wanting justice for your father. For wanting to be part of that, Spencer. That’s not what I’m saying. When we were kids, you never had room for anyone who thought differently from you. Your way was the correct way, and the rest of us—” She lifted her hands. “Where did that get you?”

“Yeah. You’ve got a point. I’ll talk to him. And I’ll talk to my grandmother again. I don’t want to hurt anyone to get what I want. That’s not making anything better.”

“Good. Now I gotta get back to work or I’m gonna get screwed on my tips.”

——

While Spencer and Trina chatted at the counter, Kristina took a seat across from her sister. “Um, hey.”

“Hey.” Sam set aside the menu. “I was surprised to hear from you. I didn’t think I was your favorite person right now.”

“Yeah. Yeah. Um, you know, I’m just working through some things. And also there’s the internship at the hospital, and stuff.” Kristina tucked her hair behind her ears. “I was going to stay out of this, but I can’t stop thinking about it. About what happened with my dad—”

Sam sighed, shifted in her seat. “I really don’t want to get into this—”

“I talked to Molly about it—”

“Great.” Sam flattened her palm against the menu, her expression irritated. “Krissy, I don’t know why you can’t just stay out of things—”

“I want to. But you’re my sister. And you were upset that day. I just…” Kristina hesitated. “I don’t know if I’ve been fair to you. Things have been all mixed up in my head with what I found out, and it’s messed me up. I’m sorry.”

“It’s not one of my proudest moments.”

“I just—when it went down last fall, when I found that video, you didn’t flinch. You told me the truth. So I figure I owe you a little space. You always listened to me, Sam. So I wanna try to do that for you.”

Sam frowned. “Krissy—”

“This divorce thing with Jason—” Sam clenched her jaw, but her sister continued, “With the custody, and whatever Dad was talking about with the money.  I’ve seen enough of the people in my life go through divorces, so I know they’re usually just hurt people hurting each other more, so I thought maybe you could just talk to me. And tell me what’s going on. And then I won’t say anything.”

“You won’t say anything,” Sam repeated, slowly. “I don’t understand—”

“Safe space.” Kristina mimed creating an empty box. “Judgment-free zone. I keep my thoughts to myself.”

Sam pressed her lips together. “And if I don’t want to talk about it?”

“That…would suck,” Kristina admitted, “but that’s up to you. You set the terms, Sam.”

Sam considered it, then nodded. “All right. What do you want to know?”

“Oh. Okay. We can do it that way. I guess, maybe—now that time has passed, and we’ve kind of had time to let everything settle.” Kristina tipped her head. “That night. When you went to the police station. Did you know the truth? About which brother was which?”

Sam picked up a sugar packet, played with the edge. “It’s more accurate to say that I didn’t want to know,” she said softly. “Before it happened, I liked my life. I loved my husband. My kids were happy. I was creating a really great future. For the first time in a long time, I really thought it was going to be a new chapter. It was,” she said with a wry smile. “But not a happy one.”

“I guess that’s fair.”

“But, yeah, okay. When I saw Jason—when I heard his voice—it was little things,” Sam murmured. “Little things I hadn’t thought of before. I couldn’t have until they were in the same room. Jason’s always had this—” She bit her lip. “Stillness about him. You know? It’s hard to describe. But it’s the way he stands—the air around him.”

“Yeah, I think I do.”

“It really messed me up. To see that — to realize that I didn’t even notice it. That it had been missing. And then, of course, he looked the same. The eyes. The voice.” Sam wrinkled her nose. “But my husband was right next to me. And I saw his face when he realized Sonny and Carly were already choosing the other guy’s side. And then when Elizabeth—I just—” She cleared her throat. “How could I abandon him? I didn’t want to. Even if I could see the evidence in front of me, Krissy. How could I do that? He was my husband. It wasn’t his name. It really wasn’t. He needed me to believe him in that moment, so I did it.” She swiped at her eyes. “Later, I think maybe I should have admitted to more doubts. I guess. I don’t know. But I made the choice that felt right in the moment.”

“Did you ever try to talk to Jason?”

“Did I seek him out? No. I ran into him a few days later on Halloween with Danny. He was just—out in the world. Like it was normal.” Sam sighed. “And I think he knew that I knew. If that makes sense. But I had to keep—I couldn’t say it out loud. It doesn’t matter what I knew, it wasn’t real until it had to be. I couldn’t let it be real.”

She stopped when Trina came over to take their orders. Her eyes followed the waitress as she returned to the counter, to a conversation with Spencer. “He never came to me either, Krissy. I thought he would. But he didn’t. At least that I knew about.”

“That’s what Dad was talking about?”

Sam raised her eyes to the ceiling. “It makes sense that Jason came there first. It was his home. But he saw me with the kids. With Drew. And I guess—” Her mouth twitched. “I guess he didn’t think it was fair to drag me into it when he thought I was happy with someone else.”

“Would things have been different if you knew? Like if you’d known that before Dad told you.” Kristina folded her arms, leaned forward. “Do you think you would have stuck with Drew then?”

“I don’t know what it would have changed—Drew still needed me. He was still my husband. I love him, Krissy.”

“I know you do.”

“So, like, no, the answer is supposed to be no. Because so what? So what if he came to the penthouse? He still didn’t talk to me. He still didn’t—” Sam shook her head. “But I don’t know. I don’t know. I think maybe it’s—I didn’t see him again after that night in the PCPD. I went out of my way to be sure I wouldn’t see him. Until he showed up at the penthouse last month.”

“What happened?”

“He told me—” Sam used her index fingers to lightly brush at the tears in her eyes before they smudged her eye makeup. “He told me that he had wanted to wait. To let things settle. Because he knew how hard this was for me. And I was like, okay. Okay. He’s going to do it now. He’s going to tell me that he wants the life we had before. That he misses me. That he loves me. And I was so busy thinking about what I’d say, how I’d tell him no—that I almost missed the fact that he was asking for a divorce.”

“You were ready to tell him no?”

“Yes. Yes, I was.” She was convinced of that. “I was going to tell him no, but it hit me that he’d come to me asking for a divorce, and I just—” Her breath rushed out. “I just kind of lost it. Because it wasn’t what I expected. Or wanted. How could he—how could he just show up like that after he blew apart my whole life—and then ask me for a divorce?”

She took the napkin Kristina handed her. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to get upset.”

“Okay, I get all of that. But you and Mom were already arguing about your divorce plans. You were planning for a divorce. And you were already going a bit hard on the custody and finances. What did any of that change?”

“Before he came?” Sam frowned. “I don’t really remember—I guess I was asking for the penthouse, and I wanted to have money for Aurora. And maybe I felt like Jason owed me. But I had to plan for a divorce. It had to be done. I was doing it because it was—we had to. Because it was complicated. Drew and I couldn’t be married without it. And he had a wife he had to deal with—” Sam stopped abruptly, when she saw Trina coming out from the kitchen with the orders. “Um, thanks.”

“No problem.” Trina disappeared, and Sam cleared her throat. “I was going to divorce Jason. But I was going to do it because I’d already moved on. Okay? It was five years. I was allowed to move on. But—”

“But he was asleep for all those years,” Kristina said. “And when he was kidnapped, he was supposed to be still in love with you, looking for a new start. When he woke up in Russia, he didn’t know that time had passed. It should have been harder for him to ask for the divorce.”

“Yes.” Sam took a deep breath. “Yes, that’s—I didn’t think about it that way,” she murmured, more to herself. “For him it hadn’t been that long. And I was already struggling because Danny is such a big issue between us—and I still think he’s better off with Drew. Jason didn’t want him—just talking about Danny, seeing Jason, and the way Danny looks like him—do you get that it messed me up, Krissy?”

“I do. I really do, Sam.” She tipped her head. “I was wondering—you and Mom were arguing about custody. But I know you’re asking for financial stuff. Was that part of it before the divorce?”

“Some of it was already in the petition, yeah, but I kept waiting to file. Kept waiting for something to change so I didn’t have to, and then—and then it changed. And I knew that I had to act.”

“So you filed them.”

“Because I was angry,” she admitted. “Because I wanted to—” She shook her head. “I wanted to hurt him. I didn’t understand how he could just—tell me he wanted a life with me, come home and then not want it anymore? And it was worse because I know why. I know why.” Her mouth felt sour. “Elizabeth. She did everything right from the beginning. She was always there, you know that? Always in the background. Even when she wasn’t trying to get between us—” She stopped, took another deep breath. “He was with her that summer—before we got back together. Before the pier. I know they nearly—I don’t know when they stopped. But Elizabeth is always in his head, and now there’s Jake. And I think—I needed him to choose me, Krissy. To really choose me. And he didn’t. He never will.”

Kristina studied her for a long moment. “But you didn’t want to choose him, Sam.”

“No, no, but—God. It makes me sound like such petty bitch,” Sam muttered. “I wanted him to choose me, Krissy, so that I could reject him. So I could tell him I’d grown up. That I didn’t need him anymore. I wasn’t going to beg for him to actually forgive me for—for things I did. I wasn’t going to chase him, trying to be good enough. I needed to tell him that, but—but it doesn’t count. It doesn’t matter if he doesn’t want me. It’s not—” Sam looked away. “So I wanted to hurt him. And I knew how to do it. I knew the financial demands would make his life difficult and keep him in court, going over and over it with Diane. I’ll lose almost all of it, to be honest, and I know that. But I wanted to make sure he couldn’t walk away from me that easily. And then I used Jake.”

She focused on her sister. “I hit him where it would actually hurt him. So maybe he could feel, just for a minute, the way I did that day in the penthouse. After everything he did and said to me while I was pregnant with Danny, for all the ways I humiliated myself to make him love me again—yeah, I wanted to hurt him. And I’m not finished yet. He wants to walk away and start a life with Elizabeth like Danny, and I don’t matter? That’s not going to happen. I’m not finished with him yet.”

Morgan House: Street

Elizabeth paused at the stop sign a block from Jason’s house, checked for oncoming traffic, then continued. She’d done exactly what Felix had advised — she’d blown out her hair the way she’d worn it during the time they’d been meeting secretly at the Metro Court. She was wearing something lacy underneath her sweater and jeans—

She only wished she had half the confidence she’d had back in those days when she’d waited impatiently for Jason to show up at the door to whatever room they’d rented for the night—he’d come in, and they wouldn’t even talk—sometimes they didn’t even make it to the bed—

She was older now, and so was he, but that heat didn’t just go away. It had been right there last month, leading into New Year’s. And wasn’t Felix, right? If Elizabeth wanted a little more romance in her life, then she needed to show Jason that. It wasn’t fair to expect him to read her mind—

She pulled into his driveway, checked her makeup in the rear view mirror, then gave herself one more pep talk before getting out of the car.

Morgan House: Living Room

Inside the house, Jason wasn’t thinking about Elizabeth or the boys, or anything else that usually occupied his attention.

He’d meant to spend time on the WSB records, but when he’d been grabbing things to take home yesterday, he’d accidentally mixed in the Patient 2 records Spinelli had left for him—

And he’d started to read them instead.

He read the reports in order—beginning with the cold description of a sedated teenager, the doctor’s frustrations that Lucky refused to accept his captivity—the doctor was disappointed that they’d had to stop their work while Lucky’s vocal cords healed. He’d injured them from all the screaming.

Screaming to get out.

Jason had put the papers aside after that, looked at the laptop, and almost without thinking about what he was doing—Jason had navigated to the folder where he knew the files were stored—

And he clicked on one of the videos.

The image was a bit fuzzy, from an old camera, but it was clearly a room — mostly bare with a single twin bed and metal frame. There were shelving units built into the room with clothes, books, even what looked like a stereo.

Lucky was pacing the room — not the adult man that Jason had last seen, but the lanky teenage boy who had worked for him before the fire, who had washed cars and performed small tasks. He’d lived in Jason’s old boxcar for a while—almost following the template that Jason had after the accident. He’d left home for what felt like a good reason, started in the boxcar—

It was why Jason had offered him the job and room at the garage. He’d liked Lucky, and Luke had always been a trusted confidante. He wanted to look out for Lucky, the way Sonny and Luke had for Jason. To return the favor.

Jason had blamed himself for a long time after that fire. Even though it was an accident — if Lucky had still been in the boxcar—

Lucky occasionally banged on the doors, then paced again. In his hands, there was some sort of paper. He kept looking at it, and Jason realized eventually it was a photograph. Lucky came towards the bed, closer to the camera. He stretched out on his back, staring up at the ceiling.

He knew that look, knew that expression. The hopelessness. The sense that no matter what you did, they’d never let you go. You were going to be trapped in this room forever, trapped in the bed—not able to move, not able to get up—was it just you? Were you the only one who was hurt, who they’d taken? Was someone else you loved in danger, too? Were they just down the hall—who was here—

There was a knock at the door, and it jolted Jason. He slammed the laptop down, went to the door and yanked it open.

Elizabeth was there, her eyes bright, her smile wide. “Hey—”

“What happened?” Jason looked past her, up and down the street. Had she been followed? Was someone out there? He grabbed her arm, yanked her inside, closed the door. “What’s wrong? What happened?”

She stared at him, then her smile faded.

When you fall, I’ll take my turn
And fan the flames as your blazes burn
We can’t wait to burn it to the ground
When you fall, I’ll take my turn
And fan the flames as your blazes burn
We can’t wait to burn it to the ground
– Burn It Down, Linkin Park

---

Saturday, January 6, 2018

Maslak, Istanbul: Lab

Luke pulled his fielder’s cap low, covering his forehead, then stepped up to the front desk. “Bir imzaya ihtiyacım var,” he said, tapping the clipboard where he wanted the receptionist to sign. If she found his Turkish a little rough, she said nothing. Only completed the signature. “Teşekkürler,” he said with a nod, keeping the group of men who had stepped off the elevator in the corner of his eye.

Move to the side. Just a little. Just—ah.

Jackpot.

Kiremit House: Kitchen

Luke paced the small room back and forth, waiting impatiently while footsteps echoed overhead, then on the steps. Finally—Nikolas came in, followed by Britt, with Lucky close behind. “I found him.” His smile was almost too gleeful. “I found him, and I found the lab.”

“You found Valentin?” Nikolas repeated. He came forward, seized Luke’s arm. “Where? What was he doing?”

“Spinelli was right to put this place at the top of his list. I had a feeling about it as soon as I showed up.” Luke whipped the cap from his head, tossed it on the table. “Just not enough foot traffic to be a real clinic, you know? But I waited, and I cased the place overnight. I sent in one of the WSB guys who came back with some photos — it was definitely a clinic, but no patients. Set up for medical research. I sent him home in case I found anything useful. I figured you didn’t want it getting back to Port Charles.”

“No. But how can you be sure—”

“Early this morning, I went in on a delivery assignment around the time the place opened, figuring it might be my best shot to see who shows up first thing. And there he was. Valentin Cassadine—” Luke flipped around his phone, tapped the screen. “What do you say to that?”

“Yeah, that’s definitely him,” Nikolas said tightly. Britt leaned over his shoulder.

“I know the guy next to him,” Britt said. “I think—can I see it—” Nikolas handed her the phone. “Yeah, this is Joseph Klein.”

Luke nodded. “Yeah, Spinelli said it was why he’d put Maslak first. So if he ran the lab in Russia, he’s running it here. That connects Valentin to the Russian lab. So why did he relocate Klein here?”

Britt folded her arms, knitted her brow. “I worked with him in Russia. At the lab in St. Petersburg right out of medical school, and then last year when I was on Jason’s case. He was running the lab there. Joseph talked about Turkey once. It’s been forever since I thought about it—we were friendly enough when I was there the first time, but I avoided—”

“Get to the point,” Nikolas snapped, and she focused on him, confused by the snap in his tone.

“He has family here,” Britt said. “I think he said a grandparent was Turkish. It was one of the languages he knew. Russian, German, Turkish. It made him pretty valuable, especially to my mother. We both left the lab in St. Petersburg at the same time. I went to New York, and he came to Turkey. Hey, is that place on Sumpter or Sumner—”

“Sumer,” Luke said. He tipped his head. “You didn’t think to tell us that you knew the guy who was running the lab in St. Petersburg?”

Britt folded her arms, looked at Nikolas who was glaring at her, then back at Luke, bewildered. “I didn’t know you were looking for him. Nikolas knew everyone I worked with back then. I gave him names to research a year ago. And I forgot Joseph had anything to do with Turkey until I saw his picture again. We—”

“Why the hell should we believe you?” Nikolas bit out. He grabbed her arm. “You’re still keeping secrets. What did I say—”

“Hey, back off—” Lucky said, but Britt was already pulling her arm back.

“Okay. Okay. You know what? Go to hell. I’m done with this.”

She whirled around, stalked down the short hallway and ripped open the front door, slamming it behind her.

“What’s your problem?” Lucky said to Nikolas. “She was telling us what she knew—”

“Where was this information before?” Nikolas shot back. “I’m tired of finding things out after the fact—”

Luke grimaced. “If we piss her off too much, she might decide to burn down the world. She knows where Valentin is now and could make a call home to save her own skin—”

“I’ll take care of it.” Lucky turned, jogged after her, leaving Luke’s grimace to deepen into a scowl. He did not like that development.

“Talk to me about this clinic,” Nikolas said, drawing Luke’s attention back. “Let Lucky deal with Britt.”

Kiremit Caddesi

Britt, in her fury, had opted to make a right when she’d left the house, which meant she was going downhill and had a hell of a head start. Lucky jogged after her, trying to find her brown hair among the groups of tourists.

He found her two blocks down, on the corner, leaning against a traffic light. “You didn’t get far.”

“My passport is in my room,” Britt said. “And you know it’s not easy to get a good fake these days. I lose that, I might as well turn myself in.” She looked at him. “You elected to make sure I didn’t call home and snitch?”

Lucky made a face. “It was suggested you might take that route. That’s why they think I came after you. But I wanted to apologize—”

“Don’t bother. You didn’t do anything, and I can’t complain that your father and Nikolas don’t trust me. I haven’t done much to earn trust from anyone. No point in being surprised.” She closed her eyes. “I just needed a minute. I deserve the crap they throw at me, but it doesn’t mean it’s easy to take it.”

“Neither one of them is in a position to judge anyone else,” Lucky said. “My old man does nothing but lie until he’s forced to tell the truth. And Nikolas—well, you know he’s not clean. He’s lying to his own son, pretending to be dead. He had Hayden Barnes shot to protect his secrets. What you did, Britt, you did. But I don’t think you’ve lied to me yet. That’s more than I can say for either of them back at the house.”

“I should have thought about Joseph,” Britt murmured. “But I put him on a list for Nikolas a year ago, Lucky. Everything I just told you? It’s probably available online. But Luke didn’t bother to even look at Spinelli’s list until yesterday, did he? We didn’t even see it. Maybe if we had, I would have seen that address, and it might have clicked.”

“I don’t think Dad showed it to any of us, including Nikolas.”

“The problem is your dad doesn’t trust Nikolas either. So I don’t know what we’re doing here. Nikolas would have found this lab a long time ago if he’d bothered to take me seriously. Which he clearly doesn’t.” Britt looked away, back over the street. “I keep thinking if I do one more thing, it’ll be enough. I just—I need for it to be enough, and it never is. So I’m going back, Lucky, but I’m packing my things and leaving. I’ll keep my mouth shut, but—”

“Okay, so my dad and Nikolas suck, but I’ve been okay, right?” he asked. She sighed. “We’re making progress. You and me. On those files. There’s medical shit I don’t understand. And I have the context you don’t. So come back and help me, okay? I’m the one with friends at the PCPD. I can help you with the charges, and no one thinks I’m dead back home.” A deadbeat maybe.

“I should have my head examined,” Britt muttered. “Fine. Fine. I’ll come back. It’s not like I really have any other choice.”

Kiremit House: Study

After Britt’s outburst and dramatic exit, Nikolas had gone upstairs to watch over the street, to watch for their return and Luke had followed.

“I say let her go,” Luke told him. “She’s keeping secrets, you saw that—she knew where we could look—”

“She did give me a list of names last year. I was distracted and forgot about them,” Nikolas said, a bit shamefaced. “I was balancing so many things, and it just—I put it to the side. When she couldn’t wake Jason, I didn’t even think about following up. I don’t know if Klein was on there, but maybe he was.” Nikolas looked at Luke. “If I’d looked at that list, I might have found this lab long ago. I just…had other priorities.”

“Yeah.” Luke grimaced. “And if I’d showed her the list, then—okay, fine, on this one, maybe she’s on the right side. But that doesn’t mean we need her—”

“I told you, Luke. She has information that we don’t—how about that little tidbit about her in Scarsdale, New York? Confirming that Liesl worked at that lab for more than just a day or two. She was on this project long term. That’s something. Look, I lost my temper with Britt. I shouldn’t have.”

But she’d lied to him before. Repeatedly. It was just simpler now to assume everything she told him was false and sort it out later, even if it ruffled her feathers. He wasn’t interested in learning the hard way that Britt had tricked him again.

He looked back out the window, saw Lucky and Britt appear, walking towards the house. “Okay. She’s coming back.”

“You’re going to regret that girl staying on, Nikolas, and if she screws with my boy, it’ll be on your head.”

“Yeah, fine—” The door downstairs opened, and there were footsteps. A moment later, Lucky appeared in the doorway, followed by Britt. “You found her.”

“I’m staying,” Britt said, lifting her chin. “But I’d appreciate if you’d wait for me to actually lie about something before—”

“Hey, you’re breathing, aren’t you?” Luke said. “That’s all the courtesy you’re getting from me—”

“Run over any toddlers today, Luke?” she asked coolly, and his face reddened. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.” She flicked her gaze to Nikolas. “I didn’t lie about Klein—”

“Luke and I just put our notes together. I should have remembered the names from last year. And Luke should have showed you the addresses. It might have saved us time.” Nikolas shrugged. “But you haven’t earned our trust, Britt—”

“You and I can agree to disagree there,” Britt retorted. “Because I think I have done everything you’ve asked and swallowed every nasty shot you—or you,” she spat at Luke, “have made. But even I have a limit to how much I’m going to take. I’m doing my best.”

“Yeah, okay.”

“I’m going back to work.” Britt turned, disappeared. They heard the steps a moment later.

“She makes another comment about Jake—” Luke began.

“What, Dad, you’ll run her over with your car, too?” Lucky cut in, and Luke closed his mouth. “You want to throw her lies in her face, Dad, I can give her a list of your greatest hits. How about pretending you loved my mother more than anything else, but having an affair with Holly Scorpio? Or maybe the time you shoved her to the floor at a disco—”

“All right, all right.” Luke swallowed hard. “We all got our demons. Let’s just let them stay buried.”

“That’s all I’m saying.” With another cool look, Lucky disappeared. They heard his bedroom door slam a moment later.

Luke glared at Nikolas. “You see? Already twisting my boy. I’m going back to the lab to do something useful.”

Kiremit House: Britt’s Bedroom

She sat on the edge of her bed, her hands flattened against the mattress on either side, and asked herself again — why was she doing this? Why did she believe, after all this time, that Nikolas would finally forgive her and give her the ability to go back to her life—

She just wanted the charges of child endangerment to go away. She still had two more years before the statute of limitation was up, and then she could go back to the States, move somewhere new, get admitted to the medical board, and go back to her life. Start over. She was still young enough to do that.

There was a light knock on her door, and Britt sighed. “Come in.”

She didn’t have to ask who it was — no one else would make the trek of all the flights of stairs. “What?”

“You’re not going to look at me?”

She twisted, found him leaning against the closed door. “What?” she repeated.

“I want to start by saying I meant what I said out on the street. You’ve never lied to me, at least that I can tell. You’ve played it straight, so that’s how I’ve treated you.”

“Yeah, so what?” Britt moved from her bed to the desk chair, drawing up one leg. “You change your mind?”

“I’m saying that because I don’t want you to misunderstand what I’m about to say.” Lucky hesitated. “You’re keeping secrets.”

Her eyes went hot, and she jerked to her feet. “You said—”

“I said I didn’t think you lied to me, Britt. But that doesn’t mean I believe you’ve told us everything you know is relevant. And why would you? I know my brother. I know my dad. You need to keep some pieces back, don’t you? Leverage. You need to protect yourself.”

Tears burned at her eyes. “Why are you saying this—”

“Because I think you might be ready to trust someone, and neither of them are good candidates. I am.” He flattened a hand against his chest. “I’ve played it fair all the way through, Britt. I think I’ve earned a measure of your trust, just like you’ve earned mine.”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t expect you to tell me everything. I’m not going to tell you everything either,” he added. “Because some things—well, some of those things are just for me. But I want you to know you can trust me. So, a secret for a secret.”

“A secret—” Britt slowly sank back onto her chair. “Like what?”

“Something that only I know, so if it gets back to Nikolas or my dad, I’ll know it came from you.” Lucky raised a brow. “You in?”

“I don’t—” She swallowed hard. “What if this is a trick?”

“I’ll go first.” Lucky paused, focused on her. “Jake. You know about him, don’t you?”

“Yes—”

“The summer he came home, almost three years ago. Nikolas tracked me down in June. I live in Dublin. Or I did before all of this. And he found me there and told me Helena had opened up the west wing again. It hasn’t been open since my mother was a prisoner on the island. He knew I could get on the island quieter than he could, so he asked me to check it out. When I went there, I found Jake. Living with Helena.”

Britt frowned. “I knew that—”

“Nikolas gave me the tip that sent me to my son. It wasn’t until we’d taken him home, until I’d given Jake back to his mother and made it right—until then, I was too overwhelmed to ask questions.” Lucky’s eyes were unfocused, as if he were back in that moment. “And I realized that Helena had simply handed Jake over. No worries. No fights. I went back to Greece. And I asked a few questions of the servants.” He paused. “Nikolas knew about the west wing almost a year earlier. He’d visited it often. Spending hours with Jake.”

Britt’s breath caught. “He knew?”

“For months. Even as he told Elizabeth that Jake Doe was Jason, Nikolas knew that Jake was alive and said nothing to her.” Lucky looked at her, his gaze sharpened. “That’s my first secret. My brother lied about my son. And continues to lie.”

“That’s—” She rubbed her chest. “That’s awful. You thought he was dead—”

“Elizabeth shattered into tiny little pieces when Jake died,” Lucky murmured. “She was already having a rough time. I wasn’t helping — I ripped into her after the affair. So did pretty much everyone else. It’s funny — you know that she was treated so much worse than I was when I cheated twice as much? Anyway.” He took a breath. “She had a nervous breakdown after Jake died. Nikolas knew that. He knew what Jake being alive would mean to her. I fell apart. I couldn’t function in Port Charles. Everywhere I looked—” Lucky gestured. “Everywhere I could see all the ways I’d failed. As a father, as a husband, as a man—all of them. Losing Jake broke what was left of us. And Nikolas knew that.”

“And he kept quiet.”

“Yes.” Lucky took a deep breath. “I never confronted him about it. I couldn’t. We started tracking down Helena, and I wanted that to be the focus. And I couldn’t stand for Elizabeth to know. It was bad enough I had to live with it, but to tell Elizabeth, my mother—” He shook his head. “So I didn’t. I kept it to myself. You’re the only one who knows.”

And she could see it, in every line of his body. She could see the truth. “I don’t have nearly as many secrets as you might think,” she said slowly. “Some of them, I don’t even know that I know. Like Klein’s connection to Turkey. So maybe we’ll find more as we go through the files. But there’s something I can tell you. I just—” Britt folded her arms, looked at the floor. “Your secret is about something that was done to you. This is something I should have told Nikolas. And didn’t.”

“I don’t have a lot of love for him, Britt. Whatever you say, it’ll stay right here.”

She nodded. Well, it worth was a try. She could just…slide it out slowly. “Last year, with Jason’s case, when I told Nikolas I couldn’t wake him up, it was a lie.” She looked at Lucky, whose expression remained blank. “I went to Russia, I used my father’s name to get inside. But I had worked there before, so it was easier. I needed Faison to get access to Jason. I spent a month working on his condition. And I was just about to complete the treatment when my mother showed up.”

“Liesl.”

“Yes.” Britt licked her lips. “Faison found out I was using his name to get to Jason—or Patient Six. That’s what they called him. My mother told me that what I was doing was interfering with my father’s plans. She knew about Nikolas. I don’t know how. I swear I don’t. She told me if I didn’t listen, if I didn’t stop trying to wake up Jason, she’d make sure Nikolas was dead. So I stopped the treatment. And I left the clinic. I told Nikolas I couldn’t do it, and he didn’t call for my help again until last week.”

Lucky tipped his head. “Why didn’t you tell Nikolas that Liesl threatened you? That you were forced to stop?”

“Who would believe me?” Britt said. “Do you think Nikolas would ever believe that I didn’t know how my mother found me? I kept my mouth shut because Jason had nothing to do with my goal in clearing my name. But—the final treatment. I switched out the sedatives they were using on him, and he received it anyway.”

“So that’s why he eventually woke up.”

“Yes. I don’t know if my mother knows it was me. I thought maybe Nikolas would be happy if Jason woke up eventually. But he didn’t contact me and I just—I kept it to myself.” Britt shook her head. “Anyway. That’s my secret.” For now. She could survive Nikolas knowing about that — but if Nikolas knew that she had a pretty good idea why Valentin had needed to kill Nikolas in order to gain his inheritance—

She didn’t trust anyone that much. She wouldn’t live to regret it.

“Okay. So we have our agreement.” Lucky stepped away from the door. “I’ll get back to work.”

Maslak Lab: Office

DENIED.

The screen flashed, and then went black. Valentin scowled and reached for his cell phone, intending to get the best hacker on this job — he’d reached the limit of his own abilities, and damn it — he needed to get into the protocol files —

But as he picked up the phone, he saw the number of missed calls from Nina had ballooned to more than ten, and he had six additional voice mails. He grimaced. For the moment, as far as he knew, he’d managed to slip out of the Istanbul Airport without a trace to leave behind for the idiots back in Port Charles.

But even idiots could eventually stumble on the truth.

He was running out of time.