So when will this end
It goes on and on
Over and over and over again
Keep spinning around i know that it won’t stop
Till I step down from this for good
I never thought I’d end up here
I never thought Id be standing where I am
I guess a kind of thought it would be easier than this I guess
I was wrong now one more time
– Sick Cycle Carousel, Lifehouse

---

December 2015

General Hospital: Nurse’s Hub

Andre waited until the elevators had closed behind Anna Devane before walking to his office. He stopped still as he approached the hub, seeing several teenagers and kids in the waiting area.

He’d been in Port Charles just over a month and had settled in rather nicely. It was comforting to be back in the normal world, working as a psychiatrist again. Helena was dead, and Valentin had told him that he’d taken care of the replacement. There would be no Chimera. No biotoxin. That was over.

Valentin had also wanted to delay the the second transfer of memories in Drew Cain’s brain. The man knew he was supposed to be Jason Morgan, and Valentin didn’t see the point in shaking things up. Not just yet. Andre could live with that.

He could almost pretend that none of it had even happened—even meeting Elizabeth Webber hadn’t shaken him. She’d never been more than a name on a page, so he could just enjoy working alongside a competent and excellent colleague.

But this was the first time he’d seen Jake since that day in the lab when Andre had removed his memories—when he’d put the trigger for Chimera in the boy’s brain.

“Dr. Maddox,” Elizabeth said with a warm smile. “I see you’ve met my kids—”

“Oh, I didn’t—” Andre took a deep breath. “I just saw them here and stopped to wonder who they were. Are they all yours?”

“Oh, no.” Elizabeth laughed, even if it was a bit sad. He knew she was struggling since the truth about Jake Doe had come out and it had been revealed she’d known for moths. He felt sorry for her—the target of Helena’s rage. She’d never done anything to deserve all that the crazy bitch had done to her.

“Mom!” The smallest of the boys ran towards Elizabeth and she swept him up, surprisingly strong. “Hi, Mom! We’re here!”

“I see that, baby. Aiden, this is a new doctor at GH. Andre, this is my youngest—Aiden.” She nodded to the taller blond boy. “That’s Cameron, my oldest. Thirteen—” She shook her head. “I can’t believe it.”

“Soon I’ll able to drive,” Cameron said with a grin.

“Ha. Not that soon. And this is my middle baby, Jake.” Elizabeth pointed at the last blond boy—the one Andre would have known anywhere. “He’s eight.”

“And the rest of them are friends. Joss Jacks and Emma Drake—” She sighed. “Oh, Emma—you’re here to say goodbye, aren’t you?”

“Yeah.” The brunette sniffled. “It’s Dad’s last day, and, like, I grew up here. They came with us.” She looked at Cameron with misery. “I don’t wanna leave.”

“It’s okay,” Cameron promised her. “You’ll come back for college.”

Elizabeth set Aiden down on his feet and he went over to hug Emma’s legs. “Cameron and Emma are dating,” she confided in Andre. “And she’s moving across country.”

“That’s a shame.” Andre shifted. “It’s a pleasure to meet you all—”

“Oh, we’re here all the time,” Cameron said confidently. “Mom works so much, it’s the only way we get to see her.”

Elizabeth wrinkled her nose. “Funny guy.” She left Andre and went over to pull Emma aside. Andre watched the group for another minute, watching as Elizabeth hugged the other girl, then put an arm around the girl she’d introduced as Joss.

What about this woman had pushed Helena to the brink? It was interesting to see Elizabeth around her children—to see how Jake was already sort of at home, even if he felt a bit apart from them all.

Andre hadn’t been the one to take Jake away, and he’d played a small role in bringing him back. He wondered if Jake would ever get to know his real father—if Jason Morgan was even still alive in Russia.

But Andre couldn’t let all of that weigh on him. He’d done the job and he was free.

At least until Valentin Cassadine decided differently.

Tuesday, December 19, 2017

PCPD: Squad Room

Anna waited until the last possible minute of the day before heading downtown to the police station to see how Andre was bucking up under the pressure. Frisco had agreed not to get any charges filed dismissed until Andre was officially being moved, and Jordan had convinced Margaux Dawson, the district attorney, to file charges that she knew would never go court.

“She’s not happy about the waste of time and resources,” Jordan told Anna as she walked the WSB agent over to Dante Falconieri’s desk. “And if you get nothing today, she’s dropping the charges. It’s already been a week—”

“I know,” Anna said as Dante stood up to greet her. “But I had to let him stew a bit. It was going to take time for him to believe that the WSB was actually abandoning him.” Her smile was a bit dark, troubled. “He knows if he goes to gen pop in a state prison, he won’t make it long. Not with the people he screwed with.”

“I’ll be happier when he’s out of our station,” Dante said. Jordan left them as the detective led Anna to the lock-up in the back of the department. “We still don’t know who he’s working for, and I got flashbacks to what happened a couple of years ago with Faison.”

“I know,” Anna murmured. Dante unlocked the entrance to the row of cells. “Thank you,” she told him.  She left Sonny’s son waiting and walked down the row until she came to Andre.

The formerly urbane and sophisticated doctor had unraveled over the last few weeks in jail. His orange jumpsuit, the ragged edges on his typically manicured nails, the desperate light in his eyes.

“Anna.” Andre got to his feet, his expression sour. “What do you want?”

“I think you have the idea now, Andre, that I have a lot of weight with Frisco,” Anna said briskly. “You’re not as valuable to the WSB as you think you are, and there was no way I was going to let you leave this town without paying for the damage you’ve done.”

Andre hissed under his breath, looked away. He gripped the bars of the jail, his fingers wrapping tightly around the metal. “You know what would happen to me in a New York prison—”

“Either Valentin Cassadine or Sonny Corinthos would eventually come to find you, and I know Sonny has a lot of friends in several federal prisons if you’re thinking of going to the Feds. Andre, with one call, I can have you moved tonight.” Anna lifted her brow. “Make it worth my while.”

Andre shoved away from the bars, started to stalk the small space. “It wasn’t supposed to be like this,” he growled.

“No, I know you wanted to bring back your wife. Or to stop such tragedy from happening to others. I always understood your reasons, Andre. But I abhor your methods. And with the time you’ve had to consider matters—” She tipped her head. “Do you have any regret for what you’ve done to Jason Morgan and Drew Cain? The damage you’ve done to Jake Webber?”

“I—” Andre exhaled slowly.  “I made sure I didn’t know anything personal about them. Five and Six and a basic medical history.”

“Were you at the lab on Spoon Island when Helena brought Jake Webber there? When she faked his death?” Anna pushed.

Andre paused, dropped his gaze to the floor. “No. I didn’t start on the project until almost a year later. He wasn’t my case then. I didn’t know about that until I went to Greece and reviewed his files.”

“He was a child—she was a grieving mother. What was the point?” Anna demanded. “Why take the risk?”

“I don’t know—” Andre exhaled slowly. “Ewen Keenan brought Elizabeth to the lab. Helena had hired Lisa Niles to shove Elizabeth overboard and to inject her with something to cause a high fever.”

Anna stared at him. “Helena engineered it—”

“It didn’t have to be the boat that night, but that Lisa should take the next opportunity to deliver Elizabeth to her anyway she saw fit. So Lisa did the job, called Helena, and Keenan went to get her. I was working with him—” He stopped. “Not on Robin. Never with Robin.”

“It hardly matters—”

“It does matter to me. Robin wasn’t my case. She didn’t need medical help and she wasn’t part of any of this. But Helena wanted another smart doctor, and Faison had his own reasons for taking her.” Andre rubbed his jaw. “I have so many regrets—”

“Regrets? Where they when you planted a trigger in that little boy’s brain so that he could kill himself, his mother, and everyone else at the Nurse’s Ball?” Anna scoffed. “Spare me.”

“By that point, I was in too deep. I’d gone too far, and I knew too much. But I put the failsafe in—I made it possible for Jake to be stopped—”

“You think you deserve credit for that? You could have told Elizabeth at any time what she might face—you knew all along that Chimera was in his head—”

“I had no choice! If I was going to stay alive—so yes, I sacrificed Jake to keep my hand in the research. Do you think I’m proud of that, Anna? You know me!”

“I thought I did,” Anna said, staring at him with with derision, even as a wave of disappointment slid through her. “I thought you were a good man. But you lost sight of what you were supposed to be doing. You weren’t helping your patients anymore, Andre. You were only helping yourself.”

He swallowed hard and nodded. “Is that enough ?” he asked dully. “Do I get out of here now?”

“No,” Anna said. “You’ve only elaborated on what we already knew. I’m sure Elizabeth will be thrilled to learn that what happened to her was even more diabolical. I’m not just here about the past, Andre. I need to know what’s out there today. Someone was keeping Jason Morgan on ice for the last five years. Helena and Victor Cassadine might have started this, but they’ve been dead a long time. Who was pushing this forward? Who were you were working for?”

“I’m not saying the name,” Andre said slowly. “Because you already know. You’ve always known. What you want to know is if this is over, and the answer is no. He’s searching for something. I’m not sure what.”

Anna narrowed her eyes. “I don’t believe you—”

“You don’t need to. You just need to find my files. And Helena’s. Helena had smuggled out her own sets of files. I don’t know how,” Andre admitted. “But she told me before I left for Port Charles, before she died, they were safe—” He stopped. “He hasn’t found them yet, but he’s looking for them. He was still looking when Morgan hit town.”

“And where are your files? Your computers here were wiped clean—”

“Did you open your Christmas present?” Andre asked, his eyes locked on hers. “Because I gave you everything weeks ago. I knew this day would come, Anna. My files have the records of everything I did at the WSB under Victor’s control. Everything I did for the memory experimentation. And also some files that I stole from Helena for leverage. It’s not her complete files—but it should be enough to give you some leads.”

Anna exhaled slowly. “My present?” She paused. “The snowglobe?”

“There’s a thumb drive in it. It has everything you need. Is that enough?” Andre demanded. “Is that enough to save my life?”

“Drew Cain’s memories. Are they also on that thumb drive?” Anna demanded.

“Yes. If you find it, if I can get to a lab—I can put them back in his head. All you have to do is get the ornament, Anna, and get me out of here.”

Penthouse: Living Room

Curtis frowned over the newspaper clippings, sifting through them as Drew poured over the investigation records for Susan Moore’s murder.

“You know, I know Robert was a hell of a commissioner,” Curtis said slowly, “but based on this and the other statements I read in the file—” He tapped a pencil against his legal pad. “I’m having the same trouble with the motive. He confessed, yeah. But why? How did he know Susan changed her mind? Did she tell him?”

“Why, if Susan wanted more money out of the Qs, would she have kept me hidden?” Drew asked. “We know I ended up with Betsy Frank at some point, but we only have Betsy and Heather’s word for how it happened.”

“Yeah, Betsy was supposed to be the nurse on duty that Heather gave you to, but that doesn’t jive with Susan knowing about you long enough to give you a name—”

“Or with Heather leaving her own son with Betsy after all of that,” Drew reminded him. He dragged a hand through his hair. “What do we think? That Betsy found out Susan was coming for me? Or that she was going to take both me and Franco?”

“I mean, it makes sense. If Susan found out she had a legit way to drain the Qs of some cash—” Curtis pulled open another folder. “I got the copy of her estate that was filed with probate. I thought it might be worth looking at the way she talked about custody of children since she updated it just before she died to cut Scott out.”

“Yeah, she was really pissed at him,” Drew said. “Any luck getting him to talk yet?”

“He’s been stonewalling me since that first time,” Curtis admitted. “It was a long time ago and he’s probably not really proud of what he did back then—but I’m still trying.”  He shoved the will over to Drew. “You’re faster with this lawyer crap.”

“Dated February 8, just a few days before she was murdered,” Drew said, jotting down the date. “It’s pretty clear cut. She didn’t have much of an estate separate from Jason—” And if he was surprised that it was getting easier to think of Jason as a separate person with a history that wasn’t his, Drew didn’t dwell on it. “She left everything to her—” He paused. “To her living descendants,” he said slowly.

Curtis raised his brow. “It doesn’t name Jason specifically?”

“No. But it doesn’t name me either, which makes sense since no one came to find me. But Jason got everything, and custody of dependents was to go to the biological father, Alan Quartermaine.”

“Dependents is plural?”

“Looks like.”

“Well.” Curtis set down his pencil and met Drew’s eyes. “That is very interesting. She knows there’s another baby out there, but doesn’t name him. Why? Is she scared? And she doesn’t leave any way for Alan to find this kid?”

“No way that we know of,” Drew murmured. “But there’s still Heather to think about. She was accused of Susan’s murder because of the stuff with Scott. But you have to wonder if maybe Susan confronted her over stealing me and Heather killed her. Or if Tolliver was the guy — maybe Susan gave Heather the information to give to Alan, and Heather, because she’s crazy, didn’t do it. Held on to it instead for a rainy day.”

“How did Victor Cassadine know about twins anyway?” Curtis demanded. “No one other than Susan and Heather knew there were two babies. How the hell does Victor Cassadine figure this out decades later? Did he get it from Heather? That’s the link we want. If we can answer that, we might be able to unravel why Victor chose the two of you in the first place.”

Drew sat back. “We need to get Scott and Robert to talk to us about my mother’s case. And I wish like hell Alan—” He paused. “I wish my father was still alive,” he said, because while the complicated feelings Jason had had for Alan Quartermaine and their rocky relationship—Drew was still grateful for those memories. It would be the only way he’d ever know Alan.  “But Monica was around back then.”

“And, hell, we could always see if Heather is lucid enough to give us something we can work with.”

As Curtis was packing up his papers, the door opened and Sam walked in with Danny following.

“Hi, Dad!” Danny said cheerfully. He tossed his book bag on the sofa. “I gotta get upstairs because there’s a new Ryan video—” And without another word or more of a greeting, the five-year-old raced up the stairs where his tablet was charging.

“Nice to see you, too!” Drew called after him with a shake of his head and a grin.

“Hey, Curtis,” Sam said, dropping her keys on the desk. She frowned at the folders he was shoving into his messenger bag, then looping over his shoulder. “What’s that? What are you working on?”

“Just making a list of more questions about Susan Moore,” Curtis said before Drew could stop him. When Sam just frowned at him, Curtis looked at Drew who winced before focusing on Sam again. “Did you, uh, not know we were looking into her murder?”

“No, no, I didn’t. But, you know, Christmas is coming. We’ve all been busy.” Sam folded her arms.

“Right,” Curtis drawled. “Well, I’ll get out of here. I’ll call Robert and Scott, and see we can follow up on any of that other stuff.”

“I’ll handle Monica,” Drew told him, walking him to the door. When his friend had left, he turned to find Sam staring at him. “What?”

“You never said anything about looking into your mother’s murder.”

“You didn’t want to know about what I was doing with Jason,” Drew said. He walked past her, towards the fireplace to push at the logs and stoke the fire.  “Susan is part of it.”

“How—”

“Curtis found my birth certificate,” Drew said. “And there’s some evidence Susan knew I existed which isn’t the story Heather told. Since she fought for a million dollar trust fund for Jason, there’s no way she gave me away and didn’t go back for more.” He lifted a brow. “I mean, you played these games. You know she wouldn’t have left that money on the table.”

Sam flinched, then lifted her chin. “No, I guess not. Not with a double payday on the line. But I thought they got the guy—”

“Case is flimsy—the suspect died before they could nail it down,” Drew said. “We’re gonna check with Robert, but it also looks like maybe Susan found out I was still alive just before she died.” He shrugged. “It might be nothing, but if we can find out who knew there were twins back then—we might be able to figure out how Victor knew about us.”

“I guess that makes sense,” Sam said slowly. “It’s weird. I don’t think about Monica not being your mother. Jason was—he’s closer to her than he was to Alan.”

“I know, I used to be him, remember?”

“Drew—” Sam closed her eyes. “I’m trying here. No, I’m not entirely on board with you looking into what happened because I just don’t see the point in worrying about it. It’s over. You’re moving forward, and it’s not like you can just get your memories back—”

“Anna is working on that,” Drew told her. “And Andre told us himself—he came back here and transferred the memories a second time, but he was able to retain my Jake Doe life. Which means he might be able to take Jason out of my head, but keep the last three years. It’s worth exploring, Sam—”

“You want to remember being in love with another woman?” Sam demanded.

“No, I want to remember my son. My first wife. My life, Sam. I was thirty-eight when all of this happened. I want those years back.” He scowled at her. “And I’m not the one married to someone else. That’s you—”

“I’m working on it,” Sam said, her teeth clenched. “God, you just never let it go—”

“The fact that you haven’t filed for divorce yet?” Drew demanded. “No, funny how that’s staying with me.”

“I’m going out,” Sam retorted. She grabbed her keys and went to the door. “I don’t know why you can’t let this go. Why you can’t just look forward—”

“How can I look forward when you’re still married to Jason?”

Sam pressed her lips together, then stalked out, slamming the door behind her.

Devane Manor: Living Room

Anna grimaced as she sorted through the box of decorations left half-filled next to her Christmas tree. She’d put the ornament Andre had given with her all the other gifted ornaments she couldn’t find the space for, and now it wasn’t there—

“Cryptic, rat-arsed lunatic,” she hissed as she got on her hands and knees to peer beneath a table, hoping she’d spy it there. “Any normal villain would just monologue and spill all their plans, but he has to hide his evil deeds in a bloody thumb drive—“

“Miss Devane?”

Anna sat back on her heels, frowning as her housekeeper and part-time cook entered the room, looking bewildered. “Oh, thank God, Patience.” She got to her feet. “I had an extra box of decorations here a few days ago—filled with ornaments mostly—“

“Oh, I took care of those,” Patience said, with a relieved smile. “Just like you asked. I dropped them off on my way home from work yesterday.”

“Dropped them—“ Anna made a face. “Oh, hell. The rummage sale?”

“Yes. I’m sorry. Did I misunderstand—“

“No—“ Anna planted her hands on her hips, and scowled at the space where the box had been. “No, I wanted to get rid of them. I just left something in the box that turned out to be more important than I realized. That gormless little weasel!”

“All right,” Patience said slowly. “Well, I’m going home now—“

“Yes, yes.” Anna sighed. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Don’t mind me.”

“I never do, Miss Devane. Good night!” With a wave, Patience went to the foyer, and Anna went for her phone.

“Maxie, thank Christ I caught you! That rummage sale—“ She closed her eyes as her honorary niece began to babble about something Anna didn’t care about in the slightest. “The rummage sale, Maxie. Has it begun yet?”

“Oh, no—why? Did you want to donate something else? We’re starting around noon tomorrow—“

“All right, I’ll be there as soon as I can tomorrow, but I need you to find the box of ornaments my housekeeper brought by and set it aside—“ When Maxie said nothing, Anna closed her eyes. “Maxie?”

“Well, we mixed the box with the other ornaments. Anna—“

“Then set all the blasted ornaments aside and I’ll buy the whole damn lot!” Anna snapped and hung up the phone. “Thumb drives,” she muttered. “I hate technology.”

Kelly’s: Dining Room

Drew slid the last contract over—the one that Jason had wanted to sign the least, but that Drew had insisted was necessary. While Drew was now a half owner of the company, legally, Jason still had to agree to appoint him as the acting partner and CEO. Jason didn’t give a crap about any of this—he was hoping Drew would make the company such a success that he could get out of this faster.

Jason did not want to be in the corporate world, and barely wanted anything to do with ELQ or the shares he’d apparently inherited while he’d been gone—though he’d been grateful to learn that Michael had immediately granted Jake his own shares when he’d come home. He liked the idea of Jake being solid and secure—of having options when he got older. A future that would be wide open to him.

A future that Jason had sold a long time ago without really knowing the price he’d pay.

“Thanks for making this easy,” Drew said finally as he put the paperwork away.

“Thanks for making sure I don’t have to do anything about the company. And I don’t want any profit,” Jason told him bluntly. “I didn’t really buy it. It’s not my thing. So whatever dividends are owed to me, put them back into the company or split them between the kids.”

Drew frowned at him. “Which ones? Jake and Danny?”

Jason started say yes, but then thought about that future he wanted for Jake, about the conversation he and Elizabeth had had if something happened to her—what would happen to her boys.  “All of them,” he said finally. “Jake, Cameron, and Aiden. And Danny,” he added. “If you want Scout to have a part, that’s fine. And Oscar.” As he said it out loud, he nodded. “Yeah, that works for me.”

“Me, too,” Drew admitted. “I like the idea of all the kids having at least a college fund. I, uh, I don’t remember,” he admitted, “but I’m guessing that’s maybe why I went into the military at eighteen. Kim might know,” he continued. “I haven’t asked.” He hesitated. “This…being in a room with you—looking at you—it’s getting easier.”

Jason considered that and nodded in return. “Yeah, I thought being around you would be the hardest part,” he said. “At first, when I found out about you, I thought you had to be part of this, but you’re not, and we both got screwed. But—” He tipped his head. “If I really couldn’t come back until now—if it really wasn’t possible—I’m glad you were here for Jake. Elizabeth said it was hard when he came home.”

“And last year, yeah.” Drew rubbed the side of his face. “Some scary minutes while he just looked at us, terrified. Not wanting to open the box, not wanting to kill everyone, and that goddamn bitch in his head somehow giving him the orders beyond the grave—” He pressed his lips together. “We just barely got out of it, and then we turned him over to fucking Maddox who’d put the trigger in his head in the first place.”

He paused. “I thought I’d feel more resentment towards you, too,” Drew told him. “Because I thought you’d come back and you’d take everything. How could I fight it? It all belonged to you. The penthouse, the money, Danny and Jake—” He stared down at the contract. “Sam.”

Jason didn’t say anything in return, so Drew sighed. “But you didn’t—you didn’t take any of it back. Not even Jake. I know Elizabeth went to you. I know you made Jake feel comfortable with keeping both of us in his life. I love that kid. It’s hard not to—” His voice tightened. “It’s hard to put aside thinking he’s mine. I don’t know if I’ll ever do it.”

“Then don’t,” Jason told him quietly. “You have my memories, Drew. I don’t know if that comes with the emotions, but I never put it aside for Michael. Most of the time, I know he’s not mine, but I don’t always feel it.”

“The emotions,” Drew said slowly. “That’s the part—I think that’s the part that I really don’t think ever worked for me. Maddox didn’t think that through.” He paused. “But then sometimes—sometimes, there’d be memories that would be so strong that I could just—” He shook his head. “I could feel them. A lot of memories with Jake. Being born, being scared he wouldn’t make it. The kidnappings—both of them. Losing him.”  Drew met Jason’s eyes. “Having those memories, but knowing I didn’t live through it—that you did—I’m glad you get to have him back.”

“It’s amazing, but it’s more important that Elizabeth has him,” Jason said, his tone still quiet. “I was never there enough. Losing him hurt like hell, it almost broke me—and I didn’t even get to be his parent. The only thing I ever did was bring him home to her and pay for the grave marker.” Jason cleared his throat. “You said you had something you wanted to know about Susan Moore.”

“Yeah.” Drew scratched his temple. “I don’t know a lot about her—even with your memories—but Curtis and I have been looking into what happened to her, trying to understand at what point you and I were separated—did Susan ever know—because we need to find out how Victor knew we existed.”

Jason frowned. “Yeah, that bothers me. Heather told us years ago that Franco was supposed to be my twin brother. I still thought that was true until I came back. I’m obviously glad it’s you and not him,” he added, “but why bother to lie in the first place?”

“Yeah, Heather’s stories don’t really add up,” Drew admitted. “But you know that she never made much sense. It turns out I got dumped at a fire station just after Susan was murdered which made us wonder if there was something connecting it.”

“You know as much as I ever did about Susan Moore. I mean, I think I was really young when she died,” Jason said, frowning. “I only know she existed because Monica told me after the accident. I don’t think I would have had memories of her, and Alan told me once that he rarely ever talked about Susan with me once Monica decided to adopt me. It was a bad reminder. But if you think there’s a connection—”

“Elizabeth was pretty close to Scott because of—” Drew wiggled his fingers, and Jason nodded. “He’s still her lawyer, but ironically, he was also our stepfather. He drained half of the trust fund Susan won for you, and he was a suspect in her murder.”

“Scott—” Jason exhaled slowly. “He was married to Susan? I think I knew this. I did know about the trust fund. I think I used it to pay for college and medical school—” he squinted. “And then I found out about it after accident, and Sonny helped me get access to the rest of it. Scott’s not the best guy, but I don’t think he’d do anything—”

“No, but he might have some insight. He’s ducking me and Curtis,” Drew said, “and you being Jason Morgan probably means he won’t talk to you, but you know Elizabeth has a way of convincing people to talk. You think she might be interested in helping out?”

“I can ask,” Jason suggested. He glanced at his phone. “I’m supposed to meet her in a little while for a ride.”

Drew furrowed his brow. “You’re—you’re seeing a lot of her, I guess. With Jake.”

“Why?”

“Nothing, I guess I—” he hesitated. “You never came back to see Sam. It’s been—it’s been almost two months. You know that I’m divorcing Kim. That Sam and I are divorcing so we can clear the legal stuff. We did this deal for Aurora—” Drew gestured at the contract. “But, uh, have you heard anything from Sam about a divorce?”

“No,” Jason said finally. “I thought—” He looked away. “I was expecting it. But it hasn’t happened, and I stopped thinking about it, I guess. Distracted with other things.” He looked back at Drew. “Why?”

“Because this is something that bothered me when I thought I was you,” Drew told him. “You’re reactive. And it drove me crazy thinking about to all the things I’d let happen—what I  thought I’d let happen.”

“I—” Jason paused. “Why does it matter—”

“Because I’m frustrated that Sam decided to stay with me, but won’t do anything to make it permanent,” Drew admitted, frustrated. He dragged his hand through his hair. “And I guess—knowing what I know about your past with Sam and Elizabeth—” He kept going even as Jason’s mouth tightened, “I was thinking maybe it wasn’t a good idea for you to keep being married to Sam and spending time with Elizabeth.”

“What do you want me to do?” Jason asked with a frown. “Ask Sam for a divorce?”

“I don’t know, it’d be nice if you did something—” Drew hissed. “Never mind—”

“Look—” Jason began but then his phone lit up with a phone call. He frowned at it, then held a hand out as Drew got to his feet. “Wait—it’s Luke Spencer.” Drew sat back down as Jason answered the phone. “Luke?”

“What did he say?” Drew demanded as soon as Jason ended the connection. “He didn’t talk long—”

“Luke and Lucky are coming into town tomorow,” Jason said slowly, and the two men shared a knowing look—thanks to Jason’s memories, there were few people the two of them hated more. Except maybe Franco. “They’ve got some information on Faison.”

“Well,” Drew said. “Maybe something is finally going to shake loose.”

“Yeah, maybe,” Jason said. “And you’re right. Maybe it’s time we make it happen.”

Greystone Manor: Master Bedroom

Carly stepped out of her dressing room, her dark eyes lit with fury. “Any other instructions you want to give me, master?” she asked Sonny scornfully.

Sonny sighed and sat at the end of the bed, removing his shoes, then pulling off his trouser socks with his toes. “Carly, don’t act like I’m coming at you with this out of nowhere. We’re having a Christmas Eve party, and you have several people in your life right now that are irritated with you.”

“You think I don’t know? Jason’s not returning my calls, and Michael isn’t stopping by my office nearly as much—“ Carly folded her arms and stared at the fireplace in their room. “You know, it’s not like I meant to have a fight with her,” she muttered.

Sonny lifted his brows, twisted to look at her—but Carly’s back remained to him. It was the first time she’d seemed willing to talk about that terrible afternoon at Elizabeth’s. “Then what happened?”

“I went over there,” Carly said slowly, her shoulders tense, “to ask if maybe she could—I don’t know—suggest to Jason that I could come with them to look for a garage. Or maybe help me talk to him about decorating the house. I don’t know, just—just to see if maybe I could be involved.” She turned to him, her eyes watering. “Do you know how humiliating it was? To think that the only way my best friend would let me help him with this would be if Elizabeth made it seem like her idea?”

“I actually do get how that must have felt,” Sonny admitted, getting to his feet.  “What went wrong?”

“It was—it was okay at first. We were talking about Christmas, and the boys. We could always talk about the kids—“ Carly swiped a thumb under her eye. “And about believing in Santa—but then Jason texted her. And she told me all about it—how Jason always picks up Jake and now he was thinking about picking up Aiden—and I was just—“ Carly fisted her hands at her side. “She was rubbing it in my face, Sonny—“

“Rubbing what—“

“That Jason is part of her life, her routine. Not mine. He’s not ours anymore—“

“He was never ours,” Sonny said slowly, “but there were definitely times when we did not respect that fact. Carly—“

“And it just—it got worse from there, because she started to remind me that she’s not the reason Jason doesn’t want me—and I don’t care about any of that, Sonny. I don’t know why she keeps bringing it up—“

Sonny sighed. “Carly—“

“I just wanted her to stop talking, to stop saying these things—“ Things Carly probably knew was true, Sonny admitted to himself. “So I—I made her shut up. And Joss—“ Carly squeezed her eyes shut. “Joss saw me. Her boys saw me. And Jason—God, Jason heard me, and he was so angry because I’d hurt the boys, Elizabeth—and him. I know that now, because I think he heard me talk about his leaving Jake—I never meant that—“

“No, but when you’re angry and hurt, Carly, you get vicious.” Sonny stared at her. “And sometimes you don’t care who’s in the path of your rage. I know that about you, because I’m the same.”

“Yeah, well, Jason’s never going to forgive me for letting Jake overhear that—“

“Jake is young and resilient. He knows Jason loves him. And Jason will largely forgive you if you do what I’m suggesting.”

Carly wrinkled her nose. “She won’t come. Neither of them will—“

“Nelle will come for Michael,” Sonny said, “and it’s time for both us to let go of what happened last year. We both know that angry young women sometimes lash out in vicious ways, and that doesn’t have to make them bad forever—“

“But—“

“And Elizabeth will come for Jason. Because whether you like it or not, she loves him. And she values the friendship her boys have with Joss and Michael. They’re our family, Carly. Even if Jason didn’t pick them—they would still be ours because of Joss and Michael. We’ve buried too many to turn away the ones that matter.”

Carly exhaled slowly. “I can probably get away with never making nice with Nelle as long I as I try not to attack her in public, but I think that twenty years of trying really hard to shove Elizabeth out of Jason’s life with no luck probably means I should find a way to be okay with her.”

“That wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.” Sonny embraced his wife, hoping that she meant it this time. But that was always the trouble with Carly—she’d swear to turn over a new leaf, and sometimes she’d manage it.

But there was always another disaster around the corner.

Elm Street Pier

“Hey.” Elizabeth smiled brightly as she jogged down the steps to meet Jason at the usual bench. “I’m sorry I’m late, I got held up at the hospital, and then Cameron called with an emergency—not an actual emergency—” she added when Jason frowned, “—but a dating one. Emma’s coming in for Christmas. He thinks she’s okay with him and Trina, but now he’s getting second thoughts. Emma and Trina were best friends in middle school.”

Jason squinted at her. “And that’s an emergency?”

“He and Emma started dating in the fifth grade,” Elizabeth reminded him. “They only broke up because she moved, and Trina was Emma’s best friend. Listen, you don’t remember being a teenager, so lucky you, but this could go very badly.” She made a face. “But it’s over now, so you said you wanted to ask me something before we took a ride?”

“Yeah—” Jason told her about his mother’s murder, the connection Drew was hoping to make, and Scott’s involvement. “Scott won’t talk to Drew and Curtis,” he said.

“And he really won’t talk to you,” Elizabeth said. “He might—” She nodded. “He’ll probably talk to me. I have to sign that new will anyway, so I’ve got a reason. Wow,” she said, as they walked to the other end of the pier that bordered the parking lot where he’d left the bike. “It would be wild if your mother’s murder was connected to all of us. Do you think she found out Drew was alive?”

“Maybe,” Jason admitted. He sat on the bike for a long moment. “I was wondering what it would have been like for us to grow up together,” he said. “I don’t remember before the accident—”

“But how would Drew have changed life after it?” Elizabeth prompted, and he nodded. “You never used to think about what ifs.”

“You mean when I only had three years of living memory?” Jason said blandly. “I realized the more I could remember, the more regrets I had. Even if the decisions I made—if I thought they were right when I made them—it doesn’t mean I don’t think about it later and wish I’d done something differently.”

“Well, speaking as someone who makes a lot of mistakes,” Elizabeth said, taking the helmet he handed her, “regrets aren’t so bad. It’s letting them stop you from moving forward that’s the problem. I couldn’t let go of a lot things for a long time. I’m trying to get better.”

“Yeah, I’ve been thinking about making a few changes. Drew reminded me today,” Jason said, “that I didn’t used to sit back and wait for things to happen.” He climbed onto the bike, and started the engine. Elizabeth slid on the back, wrapped her arms around his waist. “By the way, Luke and Lucky are flying in tomorrow.”

“Oh, great,” Elizabeth muttered. “I like Port Charles better without them.”

“Me, too.” Then Jason kicked up the stand, and the bike peeled out of the parking lot, Elizabeth’s squeals echoing in the air behind them.

Wyndemere: Study

Valentin curled his hand around the edge of his desk with a growl, then surged to his feet. “What do you mean he was moved tonight?”

“Just what I said,” his contact said smoothly. “The transfer was held up for a few weeks, but the WSB took custody of Maddox.”

Valentin turned away from the desk to glare out the window, over the gardens on the back of Spoon Island. “Why? Why now?”

“Well, it might have something to do with Anna Devane visiting him in jail. I think the good doctor finally gave up something. I have to go—they’re watching everyone.”

Valentin hissed, pressing his cell phone to his lips as he contemplated this turn of events. Andre knew too much, and Valentin should have disposed of him long ago. But he had been convinced the doctor knew where Helena’s files were hidden—the last obstacle to Valentin’s unquestioned power—

Had he told Anna what Valentin was looking for?

He looked down at his phone, and pulled up his contacts. It was time to make sure he kept a closer eye on Anna Devane.

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