You called me strong, you called me weak
But still your secrets I will keep
You took for granted all the times I never let you down
You stumbled in and bumped your head
If not for me then you’d be dead
I picked you up and put you back on solid ground
– Kryptonite, 3 Doors Down

---

August 2015

Cassadine Estate: Study

Valentin examined his perfectly polished and manicured nails as he listened to his mother gloating to Andre Maddox about how well her plan was proceeding. It was quite amusing to listen to her waxing poetic about a plan that had already failed.

“In a few months,” Helena told Maddox, “I’ll need you to go to Port Charles.” At that, the doctor straightened his shoulders.

“What? Why?”

“Chimera, my dear, only fulfills its objectives if Jason Morgan knows who he is,” Helena purred. She sank into the chair behind the desk. “It’s been amusing to watch him wander around Port Charles, discarding people like Sonny Corinthos and Samantha McCall while building new relationships with others.”

“Others,” Valentin said. He lifted a brow. “Like Elizabeth Webber?”

“That has been particularly amusing. And I didn’t even arrange for Ric Lansing to throw Hayden Barnes into the mix. That was an added bonus.” Helena’s eyes were sparkling with mischief and malice. “I thought Nikolas had sunk us when he told her the truth, but she kept it to herself! And she continues to lie even though little Jake has returned. Truly, I could not have predicted how well this has gone.”

Valentin eyed the good doctor who looked slightly sick to his stomach. Poor bastard had gotten in this to do valuable medical research and he’d been shoved into the middle of Cassadine machinations instead. Well, when you discarded your medical ethics, you got what you deserved.

“It’s lovely to see you so happy, Mother,” Valentin said, and something in his arch tone had Helena narrowing her eyes. “Have you decided how to implement Chimera to ensure Nikolas is in the room?”

“I’ve been thinking about that,” Helena said slowly, and Valentin straightened, some of his own good humor fading. “He’s kept the secret to himself, even after the return of little Jake There may be hope for his Cassadine blood yet.”

Valentin scowled. “You promised me—”

“I see no point in eliminating Cassadine blood when it might still run true.” Helena lifted her brows. “I told you that you would get what you deserve, my dear Valentin.”

Valentin rose to his feet and carefully buttoned his suit jacket, gathering his thoughts and his emotions. It wouldn’t do to lose control, to lash out. No — it was time to plan his revenge. “And have you changed your mind about what I deserve?” he asked coolly.

“Nikolas may still prove disloyal. I just no longer think he should be swept up in Chimera. Be patient—”

“I have been patient for my entire life,” Valentin cut in. “I think, Mother, you are taking me for granted. You’ve forgotten who I am. What I’m capable of.”

Helena also stood, her shoulders drawn back and her chin lifted. “And from whom did you inherit that cruelty? You might have honed it to a sharp edge, but I gave you life. Cross me at your peril, Valentin.”

“I begin to think, Mother, that you’ve become unhinged in this foolish desire to have your revenge on a silly little girl who saved her boyfriend’s life. You’ve spent five years planning and plotting the end of Elizabeth Webber and her family—and why? Because of Endgame? Because she took your precious Lucky Spencer from you?”

“That girl thought she could defeat me. That she could take from me and walk away without damage.” Helena’s hand curled into a fist. “She may not be Laura’s daughter, but she’s no different. Simpering little twits who—”

“Who have bested you time and time again,” Valentin taunted. “Five years and the best you could manage was taking away the love of her life and child? So what? You’ve returned them—”

“I gave them back to her so that she could feel the pain of losing them—I wanted her to break—I wanted her to burn—” Helena seethed. “Just as Laura did—”

“And Laura got her son back,” Valentin drawled. “Yeah, you’re big and bad, Mother. You’re so scary.”

“How dare you—”

He nearly told her then—nearly tipped his hand to tell her that the plan had already failed. That Jason Morgan was currently on ice in St. Petersburg, far away from Port Charles. But he held it back.

“I told you when all of this started—when you promised me everything if I helped you,” Valentin said, “that it was your last chance. I will not be your back up plan, Mother. I will have what I deserve—”

“You deserve nothing,” Helena spat. “Only what I give you.” Her lips curled. “If you think to betray me now, you should remember that I know what you hold dearest in the world.”

A chill slithered down Valentin’s back. “What—”

“How is my dear granddaughter? My darling Charlotte?”

His blood ran cold. “Who? What are you talking about?”

“My granddaughter whom I’ve never met.” Helena arched a brow. “I know where she is, Valentin. You’ve been hiding her from me.”

“If you go near her—”

Helena walked out from behind the desk. “You’re capable of more love than I ever would have imagined. You’ve walked away from her to keep her safe from me.”

Valentin nearly trembled from rage and fear, swallowing it hard. “You’re wrong. I don’t know where Charlotte is. Where Claudette took her. I’ve been looking for her as long as you have—”

“I know you’ve allowed dear Claudette to think she’s getting away with keeping her from you, but we both know the truth.” Helena smiled. “Now what were were discussing? Oh, yes, I believe you were threatening me.”

Valentin curled his hands into fists, then stalked out of the office, slamming the door behind him.

Helena looked at Andre Maddox who had remained silent throughout the confrontation, looking as though he wished he could disappear into the chair. “Now, my dear Dr. Maddox, let us discuss your imminent departure for Port Charles.”

Monday, November 27, 2017

Pozzulo’s Restaurant: Office

Sonny leaned back in his chair. “A garage, huh?”

“I can’t sit around forever doing nothing,” Jason told Sonny. “And…” he paused. “I’ve been paying attention the last few weeks. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of room for me in the business. Not like there used to be.”

Sonny winced, then nodded. “Yeah, mostly things come up and get bad for a few weeks but, to be honest, Jase, I’ve been doing without you for five years. Even with, uh, Drew here, it wasn’t really the same. I mean, you can come back to the warehouse, run the business side of it—”

“I like working on cars and bikes,” Jason said. “And the warehouse doesn’t really take a lot of time. I can do both.” He waited. “It’s not that I want out, but I also—I think this is the best chance I’ll ever have to do that.”

“No, I agree. And you need to take every chance you can with Jake. You know, before you know it, he’ll be off to college—” Sonny squinted. “Uh, Elizabeth doesn’t have any problems with a garage? Seeing as how you went out of business the last time you had one?”

“I talked to her at Thanksgiving,” Jason said. “She reminded me that the Cassadines burned down that garage.”

“Yeah, they’ve been screwing with all of us too long,” Sonny said. He glanced up at the sharp knock at the door. “Come in.”

“Good morning, Stone Cold, Mr. Sir,” Spinelli said cheerfully as he closed the door behind him and sat down in the other chair across from Sonny’s desk. He set his messenger bag with his laptop on the ground. “Sorry I’m late, I needed to drop Georgie off with Maximista.”

“You said you had an update about the clinic?” Jason asked.

“Nothing super exciting,” Spinelli said, as he booted his computer, resting it on the edge of Sonny’s desk. “But I finally broke through some of the walls and got financial disclosures. I also got Robert Scorpio to make some calls for me to a contact in Moscow—”

“You…called Robert Scorpio?” Sonny asked, frowning. “I didn’t realize—”

“I do some freelance work for him when he’s on WSB missions,” Spinelli said absently. “I don’t really trust the WSB, but Robert’s good. Anyway, I wanted to get some intel on the clinic — how long has it been in operation, has it changed hands—it’s hard to get any information out of Russia—that didn’t change when the wall fell.”

“You were barely alive when the wall fell,” Sonny muttered.

“I watch the news,” the younger man said defensively. He looked at Jason. “This clinic has been around since the Soviet Days, back when St. Petersburg was still Leningrad. It opened in the late sixties as a front for the KGB operations until the 80s when another organization took it over.”

Jason furrowed his brow. “Was it DVX? Robin used to talk about them—her mother was a double agent.”

“DVX?” Sonny asked.  “What was that?”

“Eastern Soviet spy agency—the international arm. The KGB was mostly within the borders of Russia. DVX operated in Europe and for a time, here in Port Charles,” Spinelli explained. “Anna was a double agent for the WSB and DVX but another WSB agent went rogue and started working for the DVX—Valentin Cassadine. At the time, he was still known as Ivan Theodore.”

“That can’t be a coincidence,” Jason said. “He told Ava that it was the clinic that treated him for scoliosis — that would been around this time.”

“The clinic hasn’t done any legitimate medical work in decades, if it ever did,” Spinelli continued. “I can’t see where the funding comes from now, but Robert’s contact seemed to think that government has mostly forgotten it. The head doctor is Joseph Klein—” He stopped, tapped some keys. “Does he look familiar?”

Jason studied the photo, then nodded. “Yeah. That’s the doctor I met and treated Ava. But Klein? That doesn’t sound Russian—”

“His mother was Russian, and Dr. Klein appears to be a legitimate doctor. He was one of the spies that got scooped up back in 2010,” Spinelli said. “Do you remember that? They found a bunch of sleeper agents, mostly in the Northeast. Klein was one of them. He went back to St. Petersburg and took over the clinic a year later.”

“So we maybe have a connection to Valentin? We know it’s him. What are we looking for here?” Sonny complained. “Let’s just go confront him—”

Jason shook his head. “I thought about that,” he admitted. “But the Cassadines—death doesn’t mean anything. It doesn’t end it. Because they usually have something in the works. A backup plan. Helena died in 2015, and she was still able to manipulate Jake last year. If we just get rid of Valentin now without knowing everything, there’s no telling what we could trigger.”

Sonny scowled, leaned back. “I hate this. I really do.”

“I told you it wasn’t that exciting,” Spinelli said apologetically. “But you wanted all info on the clinic. It’s good to know that it’s not usually a functioning clinic because that gives us something to think about. Leads to follow. People work there. Work gets done there. But it’s not legitimate.”

“Valentin sent Ava there,” Jason said slowly. “She was supposed to testify in the wrongful death civil suit, Michael said. But she backed out.”

“If this Klein guy was the only one who could treat her,” Sonny continued, “then why not send her to another clinic and have him meet her there? He ran the risk of putting her in the same place with you. Why would Valentin do that if he’s the bad guy behind all of this?”

General Hospital: Nurse’s Hub

“I don’t know why I bother going home,” Felix muttered as he slapped the chart down. “Every year, they find a way to make me regret it.”

Elizabeth shot him a glance. “What happened this year?”

“Oh, Taylor came home from Charlotte and brought the new baby. He’s cute,” Felix admitted, grudgingly, “but the dink she married is running around on her again, and she’s talking about coming home. Then Mama starts telling me we could use a strong hand around, and Taylor’s son needs a strong male role model, so I should think about getting married and coming home.”

Elizabeth let that hang between them. “When she says married—”

“Oh, it’s time to let go of this phase I’m in, and find a good Christian girl to settle down with.” He sighed. “They’re not as bad as some parents, but that doesn’t mean they get it.”

“I’m sorry, Felix. Nothing makes you crazier than family.” She grimaced when she saw Laura and Monica approaching the hub. “For example, guess what happened at our Thanksgiving?”

“Oh, no,” Laura sighed. “I still feel like the world’s worst grandmother. I can’t control her. I really can’t.” She looked at Monica. “I really am sorry—”

“We’re Quartermaines,” Monica said, dismissing it. “We never eat turkey.”

“How did it get ruined this year?” Felix wanted to know. “Was there a food fight?”

“I wish. At least that would mean the food got out of the kitchen.” Laura looked at Elizabeth. “How’s Aiden?”

“He’s dealing. Laura’s family got shut out of their London flight,” Elizabeth explained to Felix. “So I asked Monica to invite them to dinner with us.”

“Lulu.” Felix winced. “Oh, man. That means—”

“Her Royal Highness, Queen Charlotte,” Laura muttered. She pressed a hand to her head. “Oh, no. Now I’m doing it.”

“She made fun of Jake for watching the parade, told Cameron that he smelled like horses, and repeatedly reminded Aiden that only girls and gay boys baked.”

Felix’s eyebrows shot up. “Uh, what?”

“Except she did not,” Laura said heavily, “say the word gay. She said something else that was…very offensive. And Aiden was very angry that she was ruining his holiday with his grandmothers and decided that Charlotte needed to go home. So…”

“So he snuck into the kitchen, turned up the oven on the turkey so it would burn. No dinner, no Charlotte.”

Felix pursed his lips. “That’s, uh, one way to handle it.”

“The fire alarms went off, and in our house, that triggers the sprinkler system so all the side dishes were ruined as well. I think Cook is going to quit,” Monica said.

“I really am so sorry that Lulu isn’t doing more,” Laura told her. “She’s been irritated with me since I…well, I pulled a gun on Valentin and kind of ended any leverage Lulu had in the custody battle.”

“You pulled—” Felix did a double take at the hospital administrator. “I’m sorry. What?”

“When did this happen?” Elizabeth demanded.

“You know, I pulled a gun on Sonny once,” Monica reminisced. “I often regret not pulling the trigger. How close did you come?” she wanted to know.

“Not close enough,” Laura muttered. “But I have too many grandchildren who need me out of jail, and I was just trying to scare him.” She sighed. “I just—it hurts so much to watch Valentin walking around, ruining Charlotte with his superior attitude and that trashy wife—Rocco’s not like this. Lulu isn’t the world’s worst mother.”

“No, Charlotte always reminds me that she’d rather be with Nina and Papa,” Elizabeth said dryly. “And Lulu can’t do much, but it’d be nice if she’d do something.”

“Well, I told Lulu I’m not going anywhere with Charlotte anymore. I love my granddaughter, but not at the expense of my grandsons,” Laura said. “And I don’t know why she’s picking on your children, Elizabeth—”

“It is strange,” Monica said. “I saw her at the birthday party in July, and she didn’t say much to Spencer.”

“And she doesn’t give Joss or Trina the same attitude she gives Cam,” Elizabeth said “But that might be because she knows Joss and Trina will eat her alive.”

“I wonder,” Laura murmured, frowning at Elizabeth. “She doesn’t even attack Jake and Cam the way she goes after Aiden. She’s vicious with him. What did their teacher say at the conferences?”

“Oh, Miss Tate said she’s tried to mediate, tried to get parents involved, but it’s not working.” Elizabeth bit her lip. “I love the school—I do. Jake and Cam both did great there, but I’m thinking of taking Aiden out and putting him into the private school. I suggested it to Aiden, but he was really upset. He said he loves his teacher.” She looked at Monica. “He really is sorry about dinner. He wants to apologize—”

“I understand desperation. You tell him it’s not a problem, but maybe next year, we’ll try somewhere other than the Quartermaine mansion. It’s definitely cursed.”

Morgan Penthouse: Living Room

Sam tossed her keys on the coffee table and frowned at Drew. “I thought you would have gone to Aurora by the time I got back from dropping off Danny.”

“I was waiting on some paperwork to get delivered.” Drew, at the dining room table, looked back at the contract in front of him. “I wanted to get it signed and filed as soon as possible.”

“What contract? Did you find a new CFO? I know you were interviewing.” Sam went into the kitchen and returned a few minutes later with a cup of coffee. “Drew?” she prompted, when he didn’t answer. She sat at the table, curling her leg underneath her. “The contract?”

“Oh.” Drew sighed, set the the paper down. “It’s a contract with Jason,” he said finally. “I told you I was looking for ways to get Aurora back into my possession legally. On Thanksgiving, Michael signed over some ELQ dividends—an advance,” he admitted, “but that’s okay. I’m buying into Aurora. I can’t afford to buy Jason out—”

“Why would you—” Sam blinked. “I told you, I’m getting it in the divorce—”

“But then Aurora is yours. Not mine.”

Sam stared at him, setting the coffee on the table. When she spoke again, her voice was quiet. Even. “It was supposed to be ours. It was our dream. A fresh start. You don’t want that anymore?”

“You haven’t been to the office since all this happened,” Drew said. “I’ve been taking it on. And I figured—” He lifted a shoulder. “I thought maybe it was something you were agreeing to do about because you wanted me out of the business. Well, I’m not Jason. That’s not a problem, anymore. You don’t want to run the company, Sam.”

“You didn’t—You don’t know that.” Stung, she stared down into the dark liquid. “I can do it—”

“You can go back to being a private investigator. Jason and I talked about it last week—”

Her head snapped back up. “Since when do you talk to Jason?” This was not good. This was the opposite of good. If Jason and Drew actually started talking, then Jason would never be out of her life.

“We don’t, not much,” Drew said slowly. “But after he came to me about Jake, I thought he might be open to talking about Aurora. It was bought in his name with his money. That was always going need to resolving. Jason offered to sign it over—”

“Good—that’s the fair thing to do—”

“But I want to earn it. I’m using the dividends to buy a fifty percent share, and the plan is to buy Jason out in a year—maybe two—and then pay back the dividend. Maybe put it into a trust—” he added.

“This is ridiculous,” Sam said flatly. “It will take forever before we get Jason out of our lives—”

“Jason doesn’t need to be out of our lives, Sam—” Drew got to his feet, gathered the contract. “You just need to divorce him. That doesn’t change the fact that I’m still related to him—”

“So?”

“I spent over a year wanting to find my family. Wanting to find my identity. I let it go,” Drew said, slowly, “because I thought I had made a new life. I was okay with being Jake Doe, but now I have the answers I wanted back then. I know who I was. Where I came from. And I could sit here and be pissed about all the ways I’ve been hurt. All the things that won’t be the same—the crap with my memories, the loss of a career I obviously loved, a family with Kim and Oscar—”

“Drew—”

“But where does that get me?” Drew demanded. “How does that make my life any easier to keep thinking about the things I can’t change? No. It’s time to face facts. I’m not Jason Morgan, but I get to keep his family. I get to have Monica and Michael. Jake and Danny—I might not be their father, but I get to watch them grow up—”

“You are Danny’s father—”

“And I have Oscar, a great kid who’s been waiting five years for his dad to come back home. And I have you, don’t I? So why hell do I want to make things harder for Jason? He’s my brother, Sam. And he hasn’t done a damn thing to me—”

“He came back!” she shot back. Her chest heaving, tears sliding down her cheeks, Sam glared at Drew. “How can you say he hasn’t done anything to you? He came back! He ruined everything!”

“It’s only ruined if you let it be,” Drew said after a long moment, his voice subdued. “He ruined things for you. Not for me.”

“How can you—”

“Why did you stay?” Drew demanded. “After the truth came out, when you couldn’t deny it—why did you stay? I’m not Jason Morgan. So far that’s the only thing that’s changed for us. You didn’t like Jake anyway, Sam, and you keep telling me that Danny is staying mine. So what exactly has Jason ruined?”

“I—” She pressed her lips together. “I can’t explain it. He just has. Everything is different now, and you’re too blind to see that.”

“Or maybe I’m seeing clearly for the first time. You found out I was supposed to be Jason Morgan two years ago, and you came to me. Wanting our life back. And I didn’t agree. Not right away.” His eyes burned into hers. “Is that what you’re doing now? Trying to pretend that you don’t want to do the same exact thing right now?”

“No! Of course not! If I wanted Jason, I could have him! I could call him right now and—” Her words tumbled to a stop as she put her head in her hands. “Why are you doing this—”

“Doing what? I’m acting like an adult, Sam. I just kept moving forward. You’re the one that wants to stay stuck in the past. You keep trying to drag us back to this moment in time where everything was perfect—that never existed, Sam.”

“It did! It was perfect before she came along,” Sam retorted. “She’s always trying to steal you from me—and she’s doing it again—” Abruptly, she stopped talking and they stared at each other.

Drew walked over to the closet to remove his winter jacket. He slid it over his shoulders, then buttoned it, and put the contract into his briefcase. “She,” he repeated. “You mean Elizabeth.”

“She’s the one that lied about who you were—”

“Who she thought I was. I wasn’t Jason Morgan—”

“She didn’t know that! She doesn’t get to be let off the hook because she was wrong!”

“Fine. How exactly is she stealing me from you now?” Drew said, his tone deceptively light, a note of curiosity that that was more scorn than genuine interest. “Or is it Jason she’s stealing?”

“I didn’t mean it that way,” Sam said. “Don’t put words in my mouth—”

“I didn’t. You said what you said, Sam. Maybe you should think about that.”

Metro Court Hotel: Carly’s Office

Carly paced her office, with her cell phone practically glued to her ear. “Jenny, you need to find a new wholesaler—I am not having my New Year’s Eve party—” She turned in the middle of her rant to find Jason standing in her doorway, his hand poised to knock. “Jenny, I’ll call you back.”

“I didn’t mean to interrupt,” Jason began but Carly hurried forward, waving away his concerns.

“No, no. Of course not. I’m just—” She beamed at him. He’d come to her. And she hadn’t done or said anything terrible lately that he needed to yell at her about which meant that Jason wanted to see her. “Come in, come in. What brings you by?”

“Well, I wanted to thank you for sending the dessert to Aiden on Thanksgiving,” Jason told her as she pulled him over the sofa in her office. “I know Michael and Sonny sent food, too, but Elizabeth was really touched by what you said about Sonny and baking. It meant a lot to her.”

“Oh.” Carly pursed her lips. She didn’t really know what to do with this gratitude from Jason—and Elizabeth. This was uncharted territory, but it was nice. She could do this. She could be a good friend. “Well, I figured Elizabeth was probably just trying set a good example, but I’m glad she changed her mind. Charlotte’s been terrible to Aiden. Even I know that, and I never notice anything.” Her heart was racing, and Carly wondered if she’d talked too fast. She should slow down. Think about what she was saying.

Don’t insult Elizabeth. Don’t push. If she could just stop from doing that—

“I also wanted to let you know that I’m going to be going to see some garages next week,” he told Carly. “Or the week after. I asked Diane to get me a real estate agent. I’m not—I’m not really going to back to Sonny and the warehouse. I mean, if he needs me, I’m there. But I just want to take it slowly. And try not to do anything stupid that will take me away from Jake again.”

Carly’s smile stayed fixed on her face even as everything inside flashed with fury. Nothing was changing. Jason was still leaving her. Different face, different man, same— “I—I guess it was a lot to hope that some things might go back to the way they were—”

“Hey—” Jason waited for her meet his eyes. “Sonny said you weren’t happy that Drew—when he was still me—was buying into a media company. This isn’t the same. I’m not leaving the warehouse. There’s just not enough to keep me occupied. I need to do something with my time. I like working on bikes and cars. But if I can avoid being shot for a while, that wouldn’t be the worst thing.”

“No, of course not.” She exhaled slowly. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. You’re right. And I want you to be safe. Of course I do. I just—and this is so damned selfish—I always knew Sonny was coming home to me when you had his back. But that’s not your job. Or it doesn’t have to be.”

“I will always have Sonny’s back, Carly. And yours. But I should have done more ten years ago to make sure Jake knew he came first. That’s all this is. I want a place where he can watch me work and be proud of it. The house is a good place to start over. I’m glad I kept it. It’s somewhere to live where maybe he can spend the night.”

“Oh, that would be so great for you to have time like that with Jake.” Carly’s lips trembled. “I want that for you. You know that. A-And I think I can even admit Elizabeth would let that happen. I mean, you know how I feel about her, but it does seem like she’s serious about you being in Jake’s life. That’s great. I want that for you. A-and for her. I guess.”

“That looked like it hurt.” Jason tipped his head. “You okay?”

“Yes. Yes. You came to see me, to tell me what was going on. And maybe sort of ask my opinion—or at least you knew I’d offer it, and you didn’t even flinch when I gave it.” She paused. “I know I’ve been the worst. I don’t want to be that way. I don’t want to be someone my children avoid—but I can do better. I am better. And you’re going to let me show you. I’ll help you find the best garage this city has ever seen, and I’ll help you redecorate the house for Jake—and we’ll make sure it’s the—” She stopped talking as Jason dipped his eyes. “Oh. Oh. You’re not asking me for my help.”

“Not to find a place—”  Jason shifted. “I asked Elizabeth. Because of—”

“Don’t.” She shook her head even pain sliced through her. “Don’t say that. You asked Elizabeth because you wanted to. You’ve never lied to me, Jason. Don’t spare my feelings. I’m capable of finding a place for you.” She forced herself to speak past the lump in her throat. “When you decided to find somewhere to work and to really make a new home for yourself, you didn’t think of me. You thought of Elizabeth.”

Jason nodded. “Yes.”

Carly closed her eyes, absorbed that. “Can I ask—” She stopped, her voice wobbling slightly. “Can I ask why?”

“I don’t—”

“Jason.” Jason sighed as he met her eyes. “I just want to know why you didn’t think of me, your best friend. You thought of Elizabeth, Jake’s mother.”

“She’s more than that, and you know it. She’s always been my friend, Carly, you just never wanted to admit that. You haven’t liked the idea of Elizabeth in my life for nearly twenty years.” He got to his feet. “Aren’t you tired of having the same conversation—”

“You don’t even know what conversation—” Carly scowled. “I just want to know what she can give you that I can’t—I mean, I know Sam is being stubborn, and maybe you’re better off. I never liked her anyway—”

With an uncharacteristic roll of his eyes, Jason turned away and started for the door. “I’ll see you later—”

“Jason—”

“What, Carly? What do you want me to say? You’re my friend. You’ve always been my friend. I just don’t need you to run my life or try to make me do things your way. Sam made her choice—that’s fine. I’m making mine—”

“And that choice is Elizabeth—”

“Why can’t I have another woman in my life that isn’t you?”

“You can. Just not her—”

“Every time. Every time I think you’ve changed. That you’ve stopped this—” His jaw clenched. “Elizabeth matters to me. She always has. She’s Jake’s mother, yeah. But you’re right. I didn’t ask her because of Jake. I asked her because—”

“Because why?” Carly pushed when Jason stopped.

“The first time I felt like myself again,” Jason said quietly. He raised his eyes from the floor. “The first time I was comfortable in my own skin again was with her. She’s not worried about making sure she comes first, Carly, or that I do things her way.”

“Not like me. What a terrible friend I am—”

“Sometimes,” Jason said, with a bit of regret in his eyes and his voice, “yeah. I wish what I wanted mattered to you as much as what you want for me.”

“Jason—”

He pulled open her office door and walked out, leaving Carly standing alone in the middle of her office, tears staining her cheeks.

Webber House: Living Room

“In about eight seconds,” Elizabeth told Jake as she passed by him to answer the knock at the door, “you’re turning off that game and starting your homework.”

“Oh, come on, Mom—”

“I don’t want to hear any arguments—” She pulled open the door, then blinked. “D-Drew. I wasn’t—”

“I, uh—” Drew looked past her at Jake on the sofa. Jake paused his game and slowly got to his feet, his eyes wide. “I needed to drop something off for Jason, and he said he was on his way here.”

“Uh, yeah. Um—” Elizabeth stepped back, letting Drew in. “Yeah. He comes over on Mondays for dinner. Or at least that’s a thing we’re trying. I’m off, so I try to cook.”

“What box is tonight’s meal from?” Drew asked as he removed his coat. Elizabeth narrowed her eyes at him, and he grinned.

“It’s spaghetti,” she said, lifting her chin. “So it’s mostly a jar.”

“Fair enough.” He turned to Jake who was still standing  by the sofa, staring at him. “Hey. I haven’t seen you in a few weeks.”

“No, I guess not. I—” Jake paused. “I was gonna call you, but I didn’t know—” He looked at his mother. “I didn’t know if you’d wanna hear from me.”

“I always want to hear from you,” Drew told him. He approached Jake as Elizabeth drifted into the kitchen to work on dinner. “How are you doing with all of this?”

“Um, okay, I guess.” Jake sat on the sofa and Drew sat next to him. “I mean, it’s pretty crappy that Dr. Maddox turned out to be a bad guy, but maybe he felt sorry about what he did to me. He helped me a lot last summer. Or at least it felt like help.” He hesitated. “Are you okay?”

“I’m getting there,” Drew told him. “You know—I might not be your biological father,” he said slowly. “But that doesn’t change how much I love you.”

“My, um, other dad,” Jake said, sneaking a look at Drew to make sure he was okay with that, “said that he was okay if you, um, were still around. Since you’re his brother, and that makes you my uncle. I dunno if I can call you Uncle Drew yet. That feels weird.”

“It does,” Drew admitted. “But I think it would have been worse to find out we didn’t belong to each other at all.”

“Yeah, that’s true, and I told my dad that you were a really good guy.  That you’d make a good brother.” Jake nodded sagely. “I know what makes good brothers. I also know what makes crappy brothers. Cam and Aiden are good brothers.”

“They’re the best brothers.”

“Yeah, so I think you and, um, Dad should be okay with being brothers. The best part about me coming home, even though I didn’t know anyone anymore,” Jake told Drew solemnly, “was getting Aiden and Cam. I mean, Aiden was still little, so maybe not him. But Cam is the best. And he made everything better. So maybe…”

“Go ahead,” Drew nodded, and Jake shyly smiled.

“Maybe you and my dad can make things better for each other. And we get to keep Oscar. He’s really fun. I’m glad to have a cousin that isn’t, um, you know, the worst.”

“I heard about Thanksgiving.” Drew looked around. “Where is the prisoner? Still grounded?”

“No, I didn’t have the heart to ground him. He knew what he did wrong,” Elizabeth confessed as she emerged from the kitchen. “And let him eat all the food Sonny, Carly, and Michael sent home. He had a piano lesson after school, so Cam is walking him home.” She paused. “Oscar’s coming for dinner.”

“Oh, yeah?” Drew got to his feet. “I guess I should be surprised, but I know how the Webber boys like to take in people.” He looked at Elizabeth, the last of his bitterness fading away, remembering the deep fondness he’d had for her once. “They get it from their mother.”

Elizabeth smiled, then looked at the door as it opened. Cam and Oscar came in, followed by Aiden and Jason. “Hey. There’s my guys. I just put the garlic bread in.”

“Don’t let Aiden near the oven,” Oscar said with a grin, hanging up his scarf. “He’s declared war on—” He stopped, his eyes wide as he took in Drew. “Oh. Hi.”

“Hey, Oscar. I came by to drop off that contract,” Drew said to Jason. “And Jake and I were just talking about brothers.”

“Yeah. I told, um, Uncle Drew,” Jake said slowly, testing the foreign words out, “that my brothers aren’t terrible. Even if Cam cheats at Call of Duty.”

“Don’t be jealous of my skills,” Cam said easily as he hung up his own coat and helped Aiden off with his. “Hey, Drew. You should stay for dinner.”

“I—” Drew glanced at Jason, then at Oscar. “Yeah. Let me make a call.”

“Oh, shoot—” Elizabeth turned around as a strange smell wafted in from the kitchen. “I think I left the bread on too high—” She darted into the kitchen.

“Never fails,” Cameron sighed. He pulled out the plastic bag Drew hadn’t noticed before and tossed it at Jason. “I stopped on the way home.”

I don’t even care
So there’s nothing to defend
It’s so long-winded
Like a story without an end
This elaborate yarn
You left behind, like a breadcrumb trail
It’s too hard to find the way out
Of your fairytale
– Lie to Me, The Pretenders

---

March 2017

San Diego, California: Cain Home

“Hey, you got a minute?”

Oscar, in the middle of setting up a three-point shot in the driveway, paused and lowered the basketball. “What’s up?”

His stepmother stepped onto the cement, tapping her fingers against the cell phone in her hand. “I didn’t want to say anything until I knew it was a done deal, but ever since we won the lawsuit against the Navy—” She pressed her lips together and looked back at the house. “It’s been hard,” she said finally.

Oscar’s fingers dug into the rubber of the ball. “I thought he’d come back,” he said dully. “But then he didn’t. Dad wouldn’t leave me. Or you,” he added as an afterthought and Kim flashed a hesitant smile. “Thanks. For making sure they did right by him.”

“Your dad loved the Navy. And he was dedicated to his team. He never would have walked away. I wasn’t going to let the Navy get away with slapping AWOL charges on him.” Kim shook his head. “I just wish we knew—” She stopped. “Anyway. I thought we might need a fresh start. Somewhere new, but maybe somewhere that’s still connected to your dad. And your mom.”

Oscar frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Your parents grew up in a group home in Rochester,” Kim explained. “Neither of them ever knew much about their family. I think Drew said he had some suspicions about where he came from, but he never got into it. Maybe…maybe there’s more family out there.”

Pressure began to build in Oscar’s chest as he stared at the only person left in the world that cared about him. “Are you looking for someone to dump me on?”

Kim’s eyes widened. “No! God, no, Oscar. You’ve been mine for half your life. I love you. You’re mine,” she repeated. “I just—I don’t want you to just have me. I thought — if we moved closer to where your parents were from, maybe we could find some cousins. Or something. I wasn’t able to get a position in Rochester, but it’s nearby.”

“Oh.” Oscar set up the shot and took it, watching as the basketball bounced off the rim. “I guess it might be interesting to see if Mom and Dad had any other family. Or find out how they ended up in the group home. And yeah, it’s weird being here knowing he’s never coming home. Even though the Navy just updated him to missing in action — ” he hesitated. “Dad’s not coming back.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I know.” The ball rolled back towards him and he picked it up. “Where are we going?”

“Port Charles,” Kim said, putting an arm around him as they walked back towards the house. “I’m going to work at General Hospital. It’s going to be a good thing. For both of us.”

Thursday, November 23, 2017

Kelly’s: Diner

“On a scale of one to ten, how worried are you about dinner?” Trina asked as she counted tips from the breakfast rush that morning. “Like — this is not good, right?”

“I tried to tell my mom,” Cameron said, shrugging. “As soon as Laura found out her trip was canceled, we should have noped out of the whole thing. Aiden and Charlotte in the same house, even a mansion, is a recipe for disaster.”

“Why did they even get invited? I didn’t know Monica and Laura were all that close.” Trina frowned. “Someone definitely didn’t tip me this morning. I had twelve tables, I should have like a hundred bucks—”

“It was Michael’s idea which just proves he’s as crazy as his mother. Mom wouldn’t even think about canceling,” he told her as the bell over the door jingled behind him.

“Oh, hey, Sam,” Trina said brightly, as the brunette stepped up. “I’ve got your pies in the back.”

“Thanks.” As Trina disappeared into the kitchen, Sam flicked a glance at Cam. “Cameron. Happy Thanksgiving.”

“Uh, Happy Thanksgiving.” Cameron shifted, reached for his milkshake. “Uh, how are things? Um, Danny excited for Christmas?”

“He is,” Sam said. “He’s more excited for Scout since it’s her first,” she continued. “But he’s been really making sure she’s involved in the traditions. Going to see Santa—helping her make a list.”

“That’s cool. I remember doing the same for Jake—well—just once,” Cameron said. He hated when he ran into her. It was always awkward and weird because he knew too damn much about her. But his mom had raised him to be better than being a rude jerk.

Or at least she’d raised him to be more subtle about being a brat.  “He, um, wasn’t around for a lot of the Christmases, and by the time he came back, he didn’t believe in Santa anymore.”

Sam frowned. “I didn’t realize—”

“No, it was kind of a bummer,” Cam admitted. “He said that Helena told him the first Christmas he was there.”

“He was barely four years old—” Sam glanced over at Trina as the waitress returned with the boxes of pies. “I didn’t—I didn’t know that.”

“Well, no, why would you?” Cameron challenged. He eyed her. “It’s not like you were ever really part of Jake’s life, Sam. Even when Drew was supposed to be his actual dad.”

Sam pressed her lips together. “Cameron—”

“It’s fine. We all got what we wanted, right? You got Jake Doe and you don’t have to worry about my brother bringing his parents back together since Jake Doe isn’t Jason Morgan after all.” He finished his milkshake, then reached for his own order of pies. “Thanks, Trina. I’ll call you later when the shit hits the fan.”

He left the diner as Sam stared after him, then pulled her wallet out of her purse, turned her attention back to Trina. “He never did like me much, did he?” she found herself asking the teenager.

“No,” Trina said bluntly. “But then again, none of us do. Not after what happened to Jake and Cam’s house because of you.” She held out her hand. “That’ll be sixty-five dollars and twenty-six cents.”

Quartermaine Mansion: Study

Drew signed his name at the bottom of the paperwork, then set down the pen to stare at the signature. Andrew Cain.

For more than three weeks, this had been his legal name. The answer to the question he’d searched for as Jake Doe all those years ago. He was hoping if he just lived life as Drew, if he woke up every morning and reminded himself that this was who he was now, it would one day feel like his identity.

But he also woke up every morning with someone else’s memories. He woke up in the penthouse, remembering all the years he’d lived there. He walked into the Quartermaine mansion, remembering the grueling and difficult days after the accident—the grudging respect and affection he’d developed over the years—

None of those things had happened to Andrew Cain, but Drew didn’t know how to separate any of that. How to divorce himself from the man he’d grown into or the one he’d remembered.

“Thank you,” he told Michael, shaking his head and sliding it back to him. “I’m not wild about needing the ELQ shares or the dividend right now—”

“But it’s better than what you have right now,” Michael finished. “Yeah, I know. I felt the same way after I, uh, cut ties with Sonny and my mom. I had my salary from ELQ, but I knew I hadn’t really earned it.” He grimaced, looked around the office. “A lot of the times, I know the only reason I’m CEO today is because of who my father was—and my grandfather. But ELQ also gave me something to rebuild with when I knew I couldn’t be a Corinthos anymore.”

He put Drew’s contract back into a folder. “Have you thought about how you’re going to handle Aurora?” Michael asked. “I was talking to Ned about it, and I know that legally—”

“Legally, it belongs to Jason Morgan. I didn’t even put it into Sam’s name,” Drew said with a wince. “So he owns it. I was thinking—” He exhaled slowly. “I was hoping Jason would let me buy into the company. That’s what the dividend is for,” he explained. “Then I could stay on and buy him out.”

“Sam could also get Jason to sign it over in the divorce—”

“Then it won’t be mine. It wasn’t really her plan,” Drew said. He got to her feet. “She was going to do it with me because she wanted me out of the business. She’s barely been there since any of this started. Aurora—it’s my fresh start. Like ELQ was for you.”

“Fair enough,” Michael said with a nod. “For the record, Jason would have given it to you, but I think he’ll understand that you want to do it yourself. Um, I’m sure things are awkward—have you really talked to him?”

“Just once. Since it all came out.” Drew couldn’t really explain the complicated feelings he had for the man who wore his old face, who had the name Drew had believed to be his own. “I don’t want to resent him. None of this was his fault. Three years ago, I wanted to know who I was. Where I came from. And I shouldn’t regret that this happened because I have my daughter, and there’s Sam—but all of this would have been easier if that facial reconstruction had been done a year earlier and I could have just gone home to Kim and Oscar.”

“But you didn’t.” Michael looked at him. “You were still in the hospital when I found out about Sonny and AJ. What my parents had done to him. And you sat and you listened to me, even though you didn’t know me. I know there were some residual memories from the experiment even then, but that didn’t change the fact that I felt comfortable with you right away. You’re not Jason, Drew. And I didn’t think you were then. You were a good guy that deserved a break. That hasn’t changed.”

Drew said nothing, and Michael continued, “You’re not Jason, but you are his brother. You’re still my uncle. You’re still part of my family. Aurora doesn’t have to be the only new start. This—Grandma and Ned and all the rest—we can be part of it.”

“Thank you,” Drew said finally. “That means a lot to me. I should, ah, get out of here before your dinner guests arrive.” Before his brother arrived with Elizabeth and her boys—another family that had almost been his.

Davis House: Kitchen

Sam stopped in the doorway when she saw Kristina leaning over one of the pots. Her sister turned at the sound of her entry and frowned. “You’re here early.”

“I’m only dropping off the pies,” Sam muttered. She set the bag from Kelly’s on the table and started to pull the boxes out. “Molly isn’t as angry as you are.”

“No, she said that I should let it go.” Kristina sniffed and jerked a shoulder. “I’m sorry about the other day,” she added. “That stuff with the Metro Court. That—that wasn’t fair.”

“Maybe not, but you weren’t lying.” Sam folded her arms. “Look, you can be angry at me. That’s fine. But I don’t want anyone else in this. Don’t pull that crap with Molly again. And tonight? Don’t do this in front of my kids.”

“I wouldn’t put Danny or Scout in the middle—”

“But you’d put Drew there,” Sam cut in. “Because you made sure Mom and Molly were. You can be angry at me,” she repeated, “but at the end of the day, Mom forgave me. You don’t have understand or like it, but that’s it. For ten years, Krissy, I’ve had your back. I might not always be a great person, but I have always been a good sister.”

Kristina sat the table and made a face. “I know. I know all of that. But I guess I just—” She bit her lip. “I was upset. And angry. And really hurt. I wanted to hurt you the way I was hurting.”

“Making sure that my baby sister knows exactly what I did to her family—bullseye.” Sam sighed and sat across from Kristina. “I get it. Hurting people to make myself feel better? It’s—” Her chest felt tight as she forced the words out. “It’s how I survived. Always on the offensive. Always ready to cut someone’s feet out from under them. They didn’t even have to do anything to me—if I just felt threatened, you know, I just made sure they couldn’t strike first.”  She paused. “I’m not a good person, Kristina,” she repeated. “I want better for you. I want better for my kids.”

“Then why are you doing this to Jason?” Kristina asked. “You and Mom have been arguing about the divorce—I know what you’re doing with Danny. Why aren’t you even giving him a chance? You gave Drew a chance when you thought he was Jason—”

“I wish I could—” Sam paused. “I can’t explain it. I just—this is how it has to be. My son needs to come first. He loves Drew, and he doesn’t know Jason.”

“Are you still punishing him for what he did when you were pregnant?” Kristina asked. “Because he acted like he didn’t want Danny—”

“He didn’t want Danny,” Sam said flatly. “He can pretend he did, he can say he meant something else. But he didn’t want Danny. And he hasn’t asked about him either. I spent my whole life knowing I didn’t really matter to my parents. I’m going to make sure my kids know they matter.” She scowled. “Why do you look like that? I’m not lying.”

“I didn’t say you were, Sam. I guess I’m just wondering if you’re thinking Jason will make Danny feel like he loves Jake more. Maybe you’re trying to hurt Jason because you think he’ll hurt Danny.”

“I—”

“I know Jason was terrible back then. I know that, Sam. I just don’t understand because you forgave him. You forgave him when you thought Drew was Jason—”

“I forgave Drew because he did the work. Jason hasn’t.” Sam pushed away from the table. “I’m sorry that Drew was living Jason’s life, but for two years, he was Jason to all of us. And Jason doesn’t get to show up here and think none of that matters.”

“I don’t think he’s doing that—”

“The rest of you are. You all think I should just hand Danny over to him like Drew didn’t do the work of being his father. Danny doesn’t know Jason. He knows Drew. And that’s the end of it.”

Berkeley, California

Drake House: Living Room

Robert leaned over to grab an appetizer from the tray, but Robin smacked his hand. “Not yet,” she told her father, then looked at her mother. “I don’t understand how this all fits together. How could Ewen Keenan have been involved with the poisoned water and also what happened to me and Jason?”

“I fear we have more questions than answers at this point,” Anna said with a sigh. She held out her wine glass and her son-in-law, Patrick Drake, refilled it. “It’s hard to see where all of this started. I would have imagined with Jason and Drew’s abductions, but this information about Jake—”

“I remember thinking now,” Patrick said as he sat at the table next to his wife, sipping a tumbler of bourbon, “that it made no sense for Helena to just…give Jake back. And I never got a solid answer for what happened to his kidney or the transfer team.”

“That’s right,” Robin remembered. “How would Jax have known another kidney would be needed? And—” She took a deep breath. “We were there. We signed the paperwork.”

“It seems to me that Jake’s accident is where this begins,” Robert said. “You signed it, but neither of you were on the transplant teams.”

Patrick and Robin traded a glance before Patrick shook his head. “I wasn’t needed,” he said finally. “And I didn’t—I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t even bring myself to tell Elizabeth.”

“But Jason was there. He saw the procedure,” Robin said, “He told Elizabeth when the transplant team had finished harvesting the organs—the kidneys, the liver, and Jake’s lungs were supposed to be donated.”

“I asked him about it, and he said that he didn’t really know what he was looking at,” Anna said. “That he was watching the monitors. It might be worth looking into the transplant team and its records,” she told Robert. “Somewhere along the line, Helena took Jake from the hospital, and someone had to be part of it.”

“We should also pencil in a meeting with Jax,” Robert said, nodding. “But I’m still thinking about what Patrick said. Why would Helena return Jake? I know we’ve thought it was part of the Chimera—”

“But Helena was alive for months after Jake came home. If she’d wanted to trigger it, why not then?” Anna finished. “No, she must have had a different plan.”

“With hindsight,” Patrick said slowly, “and knowing Helena was involved in the memory experiments—it makes me think the two are related. According to Nikolas, Helena told him that Jake Doe was Jason Morgan. She must have known he wasn’t.”

“And Nikolas told Elizabeth the night of the Nurse’s Ball, but she didn’t say anything,” Robin continued. “Helena must have known that, too. And almost everyone knew that Jake was Jason’s son.”

“Spinelli told me something before we flew out,” Robert continued. “Elizabeth learned from Maddox that Helena let her see Jake about six months after she’d kidnapped him. On Spoon Island in the lab. Elizabeth had fevers, so everyone brushed it off as hallucinations—”

“I remember that,” Patrick said with a grimace. “It was bad. She’d already been seeing him off and on—just little tricks of the mind, but it took a lot to calm her down, and even after the fever went away—”

“If Helena ran that risk, she did it to hurt Elizabeth,” Robin said softly. “If she always planned to use Jake to kill the Spencers, is it so hard to believe that Helena wanted to use Jake to hurt Elizabeth again?”

“Elizabeth was keeping the secret about Jake Doe. Helena might have enjoyed toying with her by sending Jason’s son home to her.” Anna nodded. “Especially with the added layer of knowing Jake Doe wasn’t Jason—she would have enjoyed that.”

“But that all seems directed at Elizabeth,” Robert said. “That’s not normal, is it? I mean, Helena hates Spencers, but Elizabeth hasn’t been a Spencer for years—”

“But thinking that this is about Elizabeth in some way,” Patrick cut in, “might explain why Victor’s experiments focused on Jason. Jason’s not connected to the Cassadines either—except through Emily and Elizabeth.” He squinted at Robin. “Didn’t Helena always take digs at Elizabeth?”

“They’ve got a history,” Robin agreed, “but I’m not sure of the details. Elizabeth was part of that Stavros stuff back in 2001, but I wasn’t in town back then.” She sat back. “Either way, this all comes back to Helena. Victor wanted me to revive her first. Stavros was lower on the priority list. Victor insisted Helena had to come first. I wasn’t even able to look at Jason—who I know now was Drew—until Helena was recovering.”

“If Helena started this all, she and Victor are dead,” Anna said. “And I don’t understand how Valentin would fit into it. He was never known to work with Helena or the WSB. Not after he went rogue.” She wrinkled her nose, sipped her nose. “I feel as though we’re constantly talking in circles and nothing is getting done.”

“But Valentin has to be the guy behind the clinic—there’s no way Maddox was bank rolling that. So maybe we need to rethink everything we know about him.”

“And on that note,” Robin said, getting to her feet. “It’s time for me to feed Noah and for you to finish the turkey,” she told Patrick. “We’re not going to solve this today.”

“No, but it reminds me that we do have one untapped resource,” Anna said. “I think perhaps we should talk to Frisco about the terms of Andre’s deal.”

Quartermaine Mansion: Family Room

Elizabeth looked uneasily at the door that led out to the foyer, worried about her boys in the same room as Charlotte Cassadine—even though Lulu was watching over them.

She wasn’t entirely sure Lulu was qualified to look after a piece of spinach, but she wasn’t going to say that in front of Laura. At least Jason and Michael were nearby, though they were reviewing Spinelli’s most recent report in the study and not actually in the media room.

“It’s so wonderful to see Jason with Jake,” Monica said, drawing Elizabeth’s attention. “I’m so glad you brought the boys.”

“It’s good that they’re spending a lot of time together,” Laura added. “The more they’re around one another, the less awkward it’ll be.”

“That’s what I thought. I remember—” Elizabeth paused. “I remember when Nikolas and Lucky got closer. When we were helping Emily with the—” She twisted her fingers. “They put aside how much they hated each other for Emily, and they saw each other as people, I think, for the first time. Outside of everything else.”

“I was so grateful that they were able to have each other,” Laura said. She focused on Monica. “I can’t imagine what you’ve been going through since all this started. Not knowing there were two of them out there—”

“It’s been…” Monica’s smile was tight. “It’s been interesting. I haven’t known how to approach Drew. I wanted to,” she added quickly. “But I’m afraid he’ll feel terribly betrayed that I haven’t talked to him already. And the longer I wait—” She shook her head. “If Alan had known…”

“I know it’s different because, of course, I knew Nikolas was out there,” Laura said, “and I knew that I had the conscious choice to leave him behind when I escaped—” She bit her lip. “But when he came here all those years later—oh, it was so hard to deal with it. The guilt, you know? I was swimming in it.”

Monica opened her mouth, but then they heard a strange beeping.

“What is—”  Elizabeth twisted in the chair again. “What’s that?”

“Just once,” Monica muttered. She got to her feet and crossed to the landline on the desk. “Just once in this family, it’d be nice to have an actual Thanksgiving dinner.”

“Monica?” Laura asked.

“It’s the smoke alarm,” the doctor replied with a wrinkled nose. “Hello? Yes—yes, the usual. Thanks.”  She hung up the phone. “I have Mama Mangia’s on speed dial,” she said dryly. “Let’s go see what happened to the turkey this year.”

Davis House: Kitchen

Sam took the pies in the fridge, then turned to her mother as Alexis frowned at the turkey in the wall oven. “I think maybe we should send the divorce papers.”

Alexis frowned, turned to her. “Wait, what? Why? What’s going on—” She sighed. “This isn’t about what happened last week? Molly told you she’s not mad—”

“It has nothing to do with any of that,” Sam insisted, flinching as her mother referenced the uncomfortable conversation she’d had with Molly about her testimony at the murder trial and the brief affair with Ric.

Molly had looked suitably disgusted, but she’d always been more empathetic and kinder than Kristina, so she’d simply said it was in the past and they would move on.

“Then what—”

“I watched that video Krissy talked about.” Sam sat down at the table, twisting her wedding ring—Lila’s ring—on her finger. “It’s not just—it’s not just what happened with Ric. It’s my entire testimony.”

“Ah,” Alexis said. She leaned back against the counter. “Including the part where Diane made you look like a desperate, scorned gold digger out for revenge?”

Sam’s lips thinned as she looked away. It was a harsh description, but — “She didn’t just make me look that way, Mom. That’s who I was. And I looked at the video, and I remembered who Jason had made me—what I had let him make me. He hated me back then, do you remember? By that point—and I deserved it.”

She’d wanted to destroy Elizabeth. She’d let Maureen Harper kidnap Jake—she’d hired those men in the park to go after Elizabeth and her boys—she’d deliberately seduced Lucky to end his marriage—

“I ran into Cameron at Kelly’s, and he reminded me that that Jason never wanted me have to anything to do with Jake. Even when we thought Drew was Jason—that was true. Jake didn’t really come to our house, and Elizabeth left guardianship to Audrey.” Sam wrinkled her nose. “And I was relieved not to have Jake there.”

“Sam—”

“Because I see Jake and I know why he exists. He exists because of what I did to you and myself that summer. I did that because of Jason. Because of how much I let Jason matter. And I don’t know what that makes me. I think I hate Jake, Mom.”

Alexis sat across from her. “I think that’s a bit harsh—”

“No?” Sam arched a brow. “When Maureen Harper kidnapped him, Amelia came forward to tell the truth and Jason brought him home. Not me. I knew where he was the entire time. And I decided it was better for him to be gone. Sometimes I think—I think maybe I never would have said anything. Maybe I would have just let Maureen have Jake forever.”

Alexis said nothing as the words settled between them, the silence growing more and more uncomfortable. Tenser. Sam cleared her throat. “Say something, Mom.”

“I don’t know what you want me to say, Sam.” She tipped her head. “I didn’t know you’d witnessed the kidnapping.”

“I did. And I hired men with guns to scare Elizabeth and her boys so she’d stay away from Jason—” Sam’s eyes burned. “Jason was so angry—he threatened to kill me—”

“Sam!”

“And I looked at Cameron today, and I looked at this kid who knows what kind of person I am. He’s old enough to remember that I broke up Lucky’s marriage to his mother, and that before I came around, their life wasn’t perfect but he had two parents. And he sure as hell remembers what happened a few years ago. I hired a man who held a gun on that little boy, Mom. And I did it so I could have Jason to myself.”

“That was…” Alexis took a deep breath. “A long time ago. And even what happened a few years ago—you never meant for Jake to get hurt—”

“No? I’m not so sure sometimes.” Her voice trembled. “I know I’m not a really good person. I can fake it most of the time, but eventually everyone sees me for who I am. Sometimes they can let it go. You did. And Jason did for a while. But he also never, ever tried to be Jake’s father again while I was around. Was he scared of what I’d do? And Kristina—” Sam swiped a hand under her nose. “Kristina hates me because I did the same thing to her as I did to Cameron and Jake. I broke up her happy home—”

“Well, Ric didn’t help,” Alexis muttered.

“Mom, I—” Sam met her mother’s eyes, then swallowed a shaky sob. “I did it. I set out to trap him. Just like Lucky. It wasn’t…it wasn’t just that night. I mean, that was the only night we—but I worked at it for weeks. I knew you were arguing all the time, I could see it, and I—”

“I don’t want to hear this, Sam—”

“I deliberately destroyed your marriage because I blamed you for what happened with Jason. And Krissy sees that now. Molly will, too. She doesn’t understand it yet, but it’ll sink in. I wanted to hurt you, so I did.”

“You—” Alexis closed her eyes. “I always knew that, Sam. I knew who you were. I chose to forgive you. Jason—for whatever reason—he chose to forgive you, too.”

“Did he? Because I didn’t forgive him for Elizabeth. I always knew he loved her more than me. I knew he needed me, that I could make him feel guilty enough to stay with me—and I did that all the time. But he came back to me, Mom, because I couldn’t have kids.”

“That’s not true—”

“It is true. He left Elizabeth because of her kids. And he came back to me because I couldn’t have them—”

“He supported you getting the surgery—”

“Because I told him I was getting it done. And he’d lost Jake. I knew he was vulnerable. But he didn’t want my son, Mom. He didn’t want Danny. And I don’t think it was about Franco. I think it was me. He didn’t want kids with me.”

“You’re getting yourself all worked up for nothing—”

“I can see it now so clearly!” Sam retorted, shoving to her feet. “I watched myself being humiliated on that video—remembering how it felt to sit there while Jason looked at me and didn’t stop it. He knew what Diane would ask—and he let her do it. He never once stood up for me. He didn’t really want me. He just couldn’t have her, and I was second best.”

“And is that why you want to file this kind of divorce?” Alexis asked. “Because you want him to pay for that? It was ten years ago, Sam—”

“No, I just want it to be over. I want to stop feeling like this! I need to protect the family I have now. I need Drew to stay with me, to stay with Danny and Scout. So I need to make sure he knows that I don’t want Jason—”

“I think this is a mistake,” Alexis said, standing. “I really do, Sam. And I’m not filing those papers right now. Not while you’re upset. I think you should think about it more.”

“I’m not going to change my mind—”

“Then God help you, Sam, because no one else will.” With that, her mother left the kitchen, and Sam closed her eyes, took a deep breath.

She was making the right decision. And if her mother didn’t see that, she’d get a lawyer who would.

Greystone Manor: Living Room

Carly had promised herself—and Sonny repeatedly—that she would be on her best behavior if Michael decided to bring the little bitch with him. Jumping down Nelle’s throat every time Carly saw her was only making things worse with Michael.

Carly didn’t want to go back to those terrible months when Michael hadn’t been speaking to either Sonny or Carly. She’d do anything to stop that from happening again.

“And remember,” Sonny said as he hung up with the guardhouse who had reported that Michael and Jason had arrived in the same car. “You’re not going to say anything to Jason about Elizabeth either.”

Carly hissed. “I’m not five,” she muttered. “And I remember.” She went over to stop Avery from dipping into the meringue pie set out on the buffet table. If Jason and Michael were coming for dessert, well it would be the best dessert anyone had ever seen.

“Joss!” Sonny called up the stairs. “Cameron and his brothers are driving up—”

“Oh, Aiden and his mom won’t be here,” Joss said, jogging down the stairs, drawing Carly’s attention just as the front door opened. Michael came in, laughing with Cam with Jason and Jake following behind them.

“Hey.” Carly smiled brightly, kissed Jason on the cheek, then hugged her son. “Cam, Jake! I’m so glad you guys could come. Sonny was baking all day—”

“Oh, awesome! I am starving.” Jake went over to the buffet table with Sonny who started to cut up the pies. Carly raised her brows at her son and Jason.

“Didn’t you eat at the Qs?”

“Well, we tried,” Michael said with a sigh, “but the curse continues.”

“That’s why Aiden isn’t here,” Cam told Carly. “He, uh, got into a fight with his cousin Charlotte, and thought the best way to make her go home was to…” He winced. “Burn the turkey.”

“So he turned the oven up all the way, and it sort of set off the smoke alarm—” Michael continued.

“And the sprinkler system,” Jason finished.

Carly blinked. “Little Aiden nearly burned down the mansion?” She turned wide eyes to her daughter. “He hates Charlotte that much?”

“Oh, it’s earned,” Joss told her mother. “I told you. She’s the worst. And Aiden’s put up with enough.”

“I guess Elizabeth decided to skip dessert?” Carly asked Jason, hoping her question sounded casual.

“She didn’t think Aiden had earned Sonny’s cooking after he destroyed dinner,” Jason said. “So I told her I’d bring Cam and Jake home later.”

“Oh, come on,” Joss complained. “Charlotte is such a pain! Can’t we smuggle him something? Uncle Sonny—”

“I’m not going to interfere,” Sonny said, shaking his head.

“Charlotte was pretty annoying,” Michael said, taking the pie his sister handed him. “I caught her making fun of Aiden for baking. She told him only gay boys and girls baked—”

Carly scowled. “What?”

“I know, and I thought Elizabeth was gonna hit the roof, but Charlotte’s not her kid, and Lulu refuses to do anything about it. She’s afraid Charlotte will hate her more than she already does. Charlotte complained all day about being stuck in town when she could be on the island.”

“She sure is a Cassadine,” Joss muttered. “I don’t think Aiden gets enough credit for not throwing her off the parapet.”

Carly went over to the dessert table, picked up a slice of pie and went into the kitchen, taking a plate of cookies with her. A few minutes later, she came back and went over to Cameron.

“I know what your mom said,” she told him, dropping her voice as the teen widened his eyes at her, “and I’m sure she’s probably right. But I feel bad for him. So there’s a bag with some pie and cookies in the kitchen. Get Joss to smuggle it to you before you leave.”

“Uh—” Cameron blinked at her. “Thanks?”

“Any kid desperate enough to burn down a house to get away from a bully is being punished enough,” Carly told him. “And maybe Aiden should get to see that all boys get to bake. Even men like Sonny.”

Webber Home: Kitchen

Aiden put his elbows on the table and propped his head on his hands. “I’m sorry, Mom.”

“I know you are, baby.” Elizabeth set a glass of water in front of him, then sat across the table. “But you could have hurt someone. Fire isn’t something we play with. You know better.”

“I do. She just—” Aiden dragged a hand under his nose. “She makes me so mad,” he burst out. “How come no one ever yells at her? You know? She never gets in trouble, and it just keeps happening. Every day. We’re not in school. I’m supposed to be free.”

Elizabeth’s heart felt heavy as she sighed. “I’m sorry, Aiden. It was my idea to invite Grandma Laura to the mansion today, but I won’t do it again when I know Charlotte is going to be there. And I’m going to tell Lulu the same.”

“I like Grandma Laura,” Aiden said sullenly. “Can’t we just trade Aunt Lu and her dumb daughter in? Rocco and Uncle Dante are good.”

“Unfortunately, family doesn’t work that way.” Elizabeth paused. “I’ve tried to get you switched into a different class, but I think—” She paused. “I know you love your school. I like it, too, but maybe we should think about changing schools after the holidays. I can swing tuition at St. Andrews if I have to. For part of the year.”

“Charlotte wins again,” Aiden muttered. “It’s not fair, Mom. I like Miss Tait. I don’t wanna leave my school.”

Elizabeth opened her mouth, but then the door opened and Cameron and Jake entered, followed by Jason. “Oh, hey. I thought you’d be later.”

“We would have been, but—” Jason came into the kitchen and set a bag on the table. “Left overs from Sonny’s,” he told Elizabeth. “He wasn’t happy you both had to eat pizza.” He opened the bag and then set a piece of cake down with a half smile. “And he thought maybe you might relent on letting Aiden have some dessert.”

Aiden’s eyes stared at the slice of red velvet cake with the cream cheese frosting, even as Elizabeth’s stomach rumbled.

Jake snickered as he set his own bag on the table. “Michael gave me some cookies and brownies,” he told them. “Because he says Charlotte is the worst.”

Elizabeth pressed two fingers to her lips, trying to stifle a laugh.

Then Cameron came from the living, setting down yet another bag. “And Mrs. C wanted to make sure Aiden got some of Sonny’s baking,” he said to his mother before focusing on his little brother. “She said to make sure you know that real men bake.”

Aiden straightened. “That’s right. Mr. C is a great cook. He made all of this?”

“All of it—with Joss’s help,” Cam added, “so maybe we skip the oatmeal raisin cookies.”

“Mom?” Aiden looked at his mother, his lower lip trembling.

“Well…” Elizabeth stared all the desserts the Corinthos family had smuggled out to her son — who had nearly lit an entire mansion on fire to get away from someone who was making his life miserable. “Aiden, what do you think I should do?”

Aiden sighed.  “Um, I guess I shouldn’t have any dessert because I almost caused a big fire at Grandma Monica’s.” He then looked at the slice of key lime pie from Cameron’s bag and she could practically see the drool at the corner of his mouth.

“I think,” Cameron said, sliding the pie towards his brother, “that being related to Charlotte Cassadine might be punishment enough. What do you think, Mom?”

“I think you are absolutely correct.” She got to her feet to kiss Cameron’s cheek. “Dig in, Aiden. And share with your brothers.”

“Yes!” Aiden pumped two fists in the air. “Best mom ever!”

Elizabeth went over to get some plates from the cabinet, glancing over as Cameron and Jake unpacked all of the bags, her table covered in food.

“You need any help?” Jason asked, joining her.

“No, I’ve got it.” She wrinkled her nose. “This is why you’re friends with Carly, isn’t it?”

Jason squinted. “Why?”

“Cameron told her what Charlotte said, and Carly sent him home with that message. He needed that tonight.” She met Jason’s eyes. “Sometimes, she’s not the worst.”

“No, she’s not.” Jason took the plates from her. “It’d just be nice if she’d let that side of her out more. Let’s go get some food before they eat it all.”

Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road
Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go
So make the best of this test, and don’t ask why
It’s not a question, but a lesson learned in time
– Good Riddance (Time of Your Life), Green Day

---

September 2012

San Diego, California: Cain Home

Oscar carefully closed the front door and tip toed towards the stairs. If he was very quiet, maybe Kim wouldn’t notice that he was home, and then—

“You’re not as quiet as you think you are.”

He grimaced, then turned to find his stepmother leaning against the doorway between the foyer and the kitchen — a letter in home. Rats.

“I can explain,” Oscar said brightly. He dropped his backpack on the ground. “See, the thing is that Mrs. Perno is, like, really old, and maybe she thinks she heard me say that word, but, again, really old. She might have been on the Titanic —”

“Oscar Elliott Cain,” Kim began, narrowing her eyes but the universe saved him from what punishment she would have doled out. “Wait right there,” she said, stabbing a long finger his direction. She went over to the door and peered through the window that looked out over the porch.

Her entire body froze and she just stopped. She didn’t open the door, didn’t move. Oscar frowned. “Kim?”

“Oscar, go upstairs,” she said softly.

“What? Why—”

“Go,” Kim ordered, more loudly now. She turned to him, her eyes dark with something Oscar didn’t recognize. Scowling, he stomped up the stairs. He was nine years old! He wasn’t some little baby—

Oscar went around the corner of the hallway, pretended to close his bedroom door, then crawled back to the top step, staying out of sight.

“Can I help you?” he heard Kim say. He peeked out, frowning. Why was there a Marine guy there? His dad was a frickin’ Navy SEAL, not a Jarhead—

“Dr. Kimberly Nero?”

“Yes. What’s going on?”

“Ma’am—” A man in another type of uniform stepped forward. “We regret to inform you that your husband, Chief Andrew Cain, has deserted his base in the Kandahar province—”

“What?” Kim snapped, her voice sharp. “What does that mean? When did this happen?”

“Three days ago, Chief Cain disappeared from his post. Extensive search of the area suggests that he deserted—”

“That is bullshit! Drew would never—someone’s taken him—”

“We investigated that possibility, ma’am, but there’s no evidence. He’s being charged with desertion. Have you heard from him?”

“My dad wouldn’t walk off the job!” Oscar blurted out. Kim turned, her face pale.

“Oscar—”

“He’s a Navy SEAL! He’s a hero! He wouldn’t leave!”

“Ma’am, if you hear from him—”

“You’d better go,” Kim said, snatching the card from the man and shoving the door closed. She charged up the stairs, stopping Oscar as he started down. “Hey. Hey—wait—”

“My dad wouldn’t run away! He’s not a coward!”

“I know—” Kim wrapped her arms around him, rocking him back and forth as Oscar’s voice broke.

“He’s a hero—”

“I know, baby. We’ll find him. He’ll come home, and this will be just a bad dream.”

Friday, November 17, 2017

Safe House: Living Room

Spinelli dragged a hand through his hair and reached for the bottle of orange soda next on the table next to the sofa, frowning when he found it empty. “The problem,” he began, “is that it’s nearly impossible to track money in Russia.”

“I remember,” Jason said. He tossed Spinelli another soda. He’d gotten used to keeping his fridge stocked with orange soda for Spinelli’s visits, and when he’d grabbed a few things at the grocery store a week ago, it had been second nature to grab a six pack of his hacker’s favorite drink.

“And believe it or not, it’s gotten harder,” Spinelli told him. “Since the whole Russia rigged the election thing last year—” When Jason frowned, Spinelli shook his head. “Never mind. I’m gonna work on it, but we might want to consider whether or not the clinic and its records are the best use of my time.”

Jason walked over to the window that overlooked the block, rubbing his fist against his chest. “The clinic didn’t treat many normal patients that I could tell. It couldn’t have been self-sufficient. Whoever is bankrolling it is connected to all of this—”

“For sure. And I’ll keep on it, don’t worry, but—” Spinelli paused. “Are you even sure that anything else is happening? Didn’t Mr. Sir say something about maybe Andre being behind this?”

“If Maddox is behind this all, then fine. But you did the background on him, and you saw the WSB’s file. Where is he getting the funding? It’s about the money, Spinelli.”

“Fair point.” Spinelli shrugged. “I’ll keep on the clinic. I might need to visit or see if the WSB can get me some more information.” When Jason frowned at him, Spinelli explained, “I do some work for them every once in a while. Once I, ah, had a child with Maximista, her father thought it might be a good idea to make use of me.”

“Fine. Whatever you have to do. I need to know to make sure that this is over—that my family and I are safe.”

“Um, not that it matters to me because as Stone Cold goes, so goes my nation.” When Jason squinted, Spinelli shrugged. “I’m with you, I mean, but is it possible that all evidence points to this being over and you’re just…looking for, um, something to do?”

“What does that mean?” Jason demanded.

“Uh, nothing, nothing—” Spinelli made a face. “I know you’ve been in a crappy mood this week, and you’re not working for Mr. Sir again.” He got to his feet. “Maybe focusing on this is giving you something to do, but, uh, if there’s nothing to be found—”

“There’s something,” Jason insisted, even as Spinelli’s words stung. “And I’m doing things,” he said, almost defensively. “I—” He paused. He woke up, went to check on Spinelli, called Sonny for an update from the Spencers, and sometimes, if Elizabeth wasn’t working the nights, he went to the house for dinner with Jake. Other times, he went to Sonny and Carly’s. Or he found the dive bar Elizabeth had recommended where he sat in a corner and nursed a beer. Most of the time he did that alone, but it had been better when she’d joined him earlier that week.

“Are you, perchance, hoping that the Fair Samantha might change her mind?” Spinelli asked hesitantly. “That returning to the old domicile is still on the table?”

Jason stared at him, irritated. Why did everyone keep asking him about her? No, he wasn’t waiting around for Sam to change her mind. She’d chosen her side the night he’d returned, and in the two weeks since his identity had been established, she’d never come to talk to him—not even about Danny. And Jason didn’t know if he was supposed to go talk to her. Was he supposed to beg the woman who had been his wife for her attention?

And did he even want to at this point? Sam had refused to see who he was, and she didn’t look like she was going to let Jason anywhere near Danny. Why should he wait for her to change her mind? If she came to him now, it would feel forced. He didn’t want to be her obligation. He’d seen what that had done to Elizabeth all those years ago. He’d never put someone else through what Lucky Spencer had done to her.

“No,” Jason said. “And I’m working on the next step, Spinelli. It’s only been three weeks.”

“All right, all right. I—” Spinelli shrugged. “Want to make sure you’re good. So you…you are good, then?”

“Yes. I’m good,” Jason said to him, even if that didn’t entirely feel like an honest answer. He didn’t know what he was, and he probably wasn’t going to figure it out by waiting around.

It was probably time to make something happen.

General Hospital: Administrator’s Office

“Thanks for taking a minute to see me,” Elizabeth said, sitting down in the chair in front of Laura’s desk. “I wanted to update you on what’s going on with…everything.”

“I know that Lucky and Luke have been pulled into it,” Laura said. “Lucky mentioned it the last time he called me.” She sighed. “I’m not wild about the Spencers being dragged into another Cassadine war—I really wanted that to be over after Helena died, but maybe it will never be over.”

“Well, I wish it was better news,” Elizabeth said, “but Andre didn’t just experiment on Jason and Drew.” She paused. “He put the trigger in Jake’s head that led to the Chimera stuff at the Nurse’s Ball last year.”

“Andre—Andre put—” Laura blinked, shook her head. “I’m sorry—can you—can you say that again?”

“He was pulled into the project about a year before Jason and Drew were kidnapped — late 2011,” Elizabeth explained. “Shortly after I nearly drowned in the harbor.” She pressed her lips together. “I ended up with pneumonia and a high fever. So high that I thought I was having hallucinations.”

“Hallucinations,” Laura repeated. Her face grew still. “What did you think you were seeing?”

“The same thing I’d been seeing for months,” Elizabeth said softly. “Jake. But this time it was worse. I held him, I heard him call my name, someone took him away, and I couldn’t get to him. It was driving me crazy—” She closed her eyes. “I think it literally did drive me crazy.”

“Someone took him away?” her former mother-in-law’s mouth tightened. “Oh, God—”

“I was rescued by Ewen Keenan who ended up as a psychiatrist at Shadybrooke. We became friends and later we dated,” Elizabeth continued. “Then I learned that he was helping Jerry Jacks poison the town. He kidnapped me, and Jason killed him saving my life. Ewen also was helping Jerry keep Robin hostage, but Jerry wasn’t working alone.”

“No, he was working with Faison and Helena which means this Ewen was, too. Oh, Elizabeth—”

“The hallucination was real,” Elizabeth said. “He took me to Spoon Island to the lab where Jason eventually ended up, and I saw Jake. Helena made sure of it. Then he dumped me on the beach where Spinelli found me.” She dragged in a shuddering breath. “When I woke up in the hospital, I could still hear his voice, still feel his arms around my neck, and I tried to convince Monica and the doctors—Jason—anyone around me that Jake was alive and we needed to go get him.”

“Oh, baby—” Laura got out of her chair and walked around the desk to sit in the other chair next to Elizabeth. She reached for Elizabeth’s hands. “And they didn’t believe you.”

“No. And I tried to let it go. I couldn’t. I kept seeing Jake, and I checked myself into Shadybrooke, but I couldn’t ever get rid of this idea that I had let my son down. That I had let him die. And now—to know that I saw him—to know that it was true—” Her shoulders trembled but Elizabeth swallowed another gasping breath. “It’s so stupid to get to upset now. Jake is okay. He’s in school, and he’s alive. He’s perfect—”

“Grief is a funny thing,” Laura murmured. “I once lost a son and I thought I would drown in the pain. I nearly let it consume me. I don’t know how I would have made it longer than a year, Elizabeth, much less four. Getting Lucky back didn’t change things. Getting Jake back will never erase the time you lost or the way that it felt.”

“I know. I just—I told Carly the same thing a few weeks ago. I lived it, and I always carried the guilt of knowing I could have done more to save my baby—but it feels different now,” Elizabeth said, trying to explain. “Sharper. And I also—” She hesitated. “I also find myself doubting things I thought I knew. People.”

“People,” Laura repeated. She sat back, sighed. “You wonder know if Nikolas knew.”

“I always wondered,” Elizabeth admitted. “But I couldn’t bring myself to ask him. Couldn’t admit that I had so little faith in him, but after what happened with Jake Doe—telling me something that he then nearly killed Hayden to keep secret? Did he know Jake Doe was really Drew? And if he kept Stavros from us for so long, could he have kept Jake a secret? How could Helena have had the run of Spoon Island without Nikolas knowing she was doing something?”

“Helena always had her ways, Elizabeth, but why would Nikolas keep the truth from you?” Laura asked. “Why would he lie about Jake Doe?”

“The timing,” Elizabeth said softly. “It never made sense to me why Helena would simply return Jake after all that time. Because she was dying? She wanted to make amends? I don’t believe it. She sent Jake home for a reason. Maybe she wasn’t expecting to die just then or—”

“Maybe the Chimera was her revenge,” Laura said. “Nikolas wouldn’t have been a part of that—he couldn’t. He was already—” She took a deep breath. “He was already gone.”

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Laura. I shouldn’t—”

“I won’t ignore that Nikolas made mistakes at the end,” Laura cut in. “That he wasn’t always innocent and he could be cruel. I’m not even saying you’re wrong to doubt him. I just don’t see how it all folds together.” She made a face, sitting back, “But maybe that’s been the problem all along. We keep looking for this to make some sort of sense and we’re forgetting the number one rule when you deal with the Cassadines.”

“Anything is possible.”

Metro Court: Restaurant

Michael shifted in his seat and perused the lunch special menu again with a grimace. “Does anything look good?”

“I don’t know,” Nelle said with a shrug, laying her own menu on the table. “It all looks good to me. Maybe I’ll do the shrimp.” She tilted her head. “You seem distracted. We could have canceled lunch—”

“No, I canceled yesterday,” Michael muttered. He tossed the menu on top of Nelle’s and reached for the glass of water. “I’m sorry. I need to tell my parents at some point we’re having dinner with my grandmother next week, and I keep procrastinating.”

“You know Carly is gonna hit the roof no matter when you tell her, so what’s the point of waiting?” Nelle sipped her wine. “What’s her damage anyway? We’re going to dessert anyway, and plenty of people switch back and forth with families. I mean, why is she like this?”

Michael frowned at her. “You know why she’s like this. It’s the same reason she’s always gotten angry when I spend time with the Quartermaines. She’s been like this my whole life. They made threats when I was kid to take me away from her—and don’t start, that doesn’t mean I would have been better off.”

“Uh, I didn’t even say anything,” Nelle said with a roll of her eyes. “You’re over eighteen now. Why the hell is this still a thing?”

“Because it’s always a thing with my mother. She likes everyone where she can see them, and gets very cranky when we do our own thing. Normally, I can just figure a way around her, but lately—” Michael shook his head. “It’s been harder. Since things blew up about my dad last week—I’m trying to give her a break because of Morgan, but—”

“So Carly gets a get out of jail free card forever because of Morgan?” Nelle asked skeptically. “Like, I get why she doesn’t like me. I dug my own grave with your parents. But it feels like she’s been picking a lot of fights lately.”

They paused their conversation while a waiter came to take their orders, then Nelle broke apart a piece of bread. “I’m just trying to understand your mom,” Nelle told him. “So that I can, like, figure out how to make her…well, it’s probably out of the question for her to like me, but it might be nice for you if we could co-exist, you know?”

“Yeah, it wouldn’t suck if that happened,” Michael said dryly.

“So, I guess I’m trying to understand why anyone would put up with someone like your mother as a friend. This Jason guy just came back a hot minute ago, right? And, man, talk about drama! His wife is married to the long-lost brother who assumed his identity and was raising his kids while his other baby mama was shacking up with the serial killer who, like, stalked him.” Nelle’s eyes were wide. “And your mom has issues with him having dinner with his kid and Thanksgiving with his mom?”

Michael sighed. He couldn’t explain his mother. No one could. “Look—”

“I know I don’t have a leg to stand on for the way I acted last year,” Nelle said, “but you know I’m not crazy about this. Your mom is selfish. Like criminally self-absorbed in a way that makes the Kardashians look good.”

Michael stared at his water, wishing it was wine. “That’s not news to me,” he said. “How does that help you get along with my mom?”

“Well, it suggests that maybe I’m insane for thinking I ever could.” She cleared her throat. “But she just stepped off the elevator, so we should stop talking about her because she has ears like a fricking bat.”

“Good point.” He cleared his throat. “So, uh, how’s work? How’s Nina?”

“Annoying. She said Valentin is being a pain these days. Always short with her, never coming home or calling—” Nelle shrugged. “Maybe marriages of convenience really are a bad idea. I asked her for a raise because my building is going co-op, and she looked like at me like I was insane.”

Michael frowned. “Your building is going co-op? You didn’t say anything. When is that happening?”

“January, I think, but I have until February to decide whether I want to buy in or not. My savings aren’t great since I haven’t been at Crimson long.” Nelle shrugged. “I’ll probably start looking somewhere else—”

“What’s this, I hear?” Carly said brightly as she approached their table. “Moving? That’s a shame. How far away?”

Nelle pressed her lips together, looked at Michael, then looked down at her plate. “I’m not moving yet,” she said. “My building is going co-op, and I was telling Michael I need to start looking since I can’t afford a down payment and mortgage right now—”

“Really?” Carly snorted. “More like you were playing the ‘woes me’ card and hoping that Michael would jump in with a loan—” She turned to glare at Michael. “Well? Wasn’t she?”

Michael closed his eyes. “No. She wasn’t. Mom, we’re trying to have lunch here—”

“Well, the only reason she’s not going to do it now,” Carly bit out, “is because I caught her—”

“You know, maybe I’ll just skip lunch and go back to work,” Nelle said, starting to stand up. Michael held out a hand.

“No, don’t. Just wait—'” Michael got to his feet and met his mother’s defiant expression. “You have reasons for the way you feel about Nelle. And we both get it. Nelle doesn’t expect you to like her. Or even respect her.”

“Good, because it will never happen,” Carly retorted.

“But I am a paying customer in this restaurant,” Michael said, patiently, “and I have a right to eat here without being harassed. And that’s what you’re doing, Mom. You came up and started attacking us—”

“I wasn’t attacking you—” Carly narrowed her eyes. “You always take her side—”

“There’s not—” Michael sighed. “There’s no point in pretending there’s ever going to be a good time,” he told Nelle before looking at at his mother. “I’m having Thanksgiving dinner at the Quartermaines this year. Jason and I are both coming to Greystone for dessert. With Nelle, Elizabeth, and her boys.”

Carly hissed. “Over my dead body—”

“I can go home after dinner,” Nelle volunteered. She bit her lip. “I mean, I’ll just skip dessert—”

“Well, Mom?” Michael said, lifting a brow. “How’s that for a compromise?”

“Jason didn’t tell me he was inviting Elizabeth—”

“Because he’s tired of listening to your crap about her. Just like I am. I’m willing to swallow Nelle not being invited,” Michael told his mother, “because she’s earned that, but I am done watching you treat Jason and his family like this—”

Carly’s nostrils flared. “She is not his—”

“We’re leaving,” he said to Nelle, his tone clipped. “Let’s go. We’ll get something at Kelly’s or the taco truck outside. Anywhere but here.”

“Michael, wait—”

But Michael and Nelle were already heading to the elevators, leaving Carly standing by the table.  Alone.

Aurora Media: Drew’s Office

“Hey, man.” Curtis dumped a folder on the table and went to pour himself a cup of coffee. “How’s corporate life?”

“Interesting,” Drew admitted. “More than I thought it would be, but I guess maybe part of me does kind of remember my life before. Or—” He hesitated. “You know it’s easier now that I don’t have to pretend I liked numbers and coffee.”

“I hear that.” Curtis sipped the coffee. “But you doing okay, otherwise? It’s been a few weeks now.”

Drew looked down into his own coffee, thinking over the question. “I’m doing the best I can,” he said finally. “The memories—it’s messing me up,” he admitted. “I wake up, I tell myself I’m Drew Cain, but I don’t always feel that way. I don’t feel like Jason Morgan either.” He leaned against his desk. “Mostly, I’m just putting one foot in front the other.”

“Rome wasn’t built in a day.” Curtis went over to the folder, flipped it open. “Like I said before, you were found at a fire station. It was in Poughkeepsie, three hundred miles from Rochester where the false birth certificate stated you’d been born. The police there did an investigation, trying to figure out how you got there or who left you since the name on the surrender form was false. I’m hoping they were able to see that the birth records were as false as the surrender form. I’m trying to get those records, but the state is being a bitch about it. I got a couple of things working behind the scenes, but I also haven’t had a lot of luck with the people who were around back then.”

“Oh, yeah?”

“Yeah, I didn’t call Monica because I figure she’s not gonna wanna rehash all of that, and her story is pretty much on the record, right? When this twin stuff came out back when you thought it was Franco, she said they never knew about a twin.”

“Yeah, that’s kind of how it shook out. At least, that’s the memory of it. What about Betsy Frank or Heather?”

“Can’t find Betsy,” Curtis replied. “Franco moved her a couple of weeks ago after his art show. I thought tracking her down might rile him up, and I know some things went down when all this blew up. I don’t know why Elizabeth broke up with him, but I’m guessing it means Franco isn’t gonna tell us anything without a fight.”

“No, probably not.” Drew hesitated. “Leave Betsy out of it for now. She wouldn’t tell us the truth anyway.”

“Neither would Heather Webber—even if I could get in to see her,” Curtis added. “But it’s buttoned up tight. Family only. We could try to get Elizabeth’s brother up here—”

“Oh, man, I’m not asking Steven to deal with this—he doesn’t know even know me. And I know he hates his mother.” Drew winced. “Who’s left?”

“I talked to Scott Baldwin, and he shut me down which tells me there’s something there. But it also might be shame or guilt. Case report says Susan was blackmailing the Quartermaines over Lila’s first marriage, and the first husband killed her to protect Lila. Susan only does that because Scott allegedly embezzled from Jason’s trust fund.”

“What did he say when you told him about the original birth certificate? That Susan must have known about me?”

“Never got that far. But I’m still saying there’s no way Susan has her hand on a second million dollar trust fund and waits to play the card.” Curtis sighed. “I’m sorry, man. But unless one of these people gives a little, I’m not sure we’re gonna know how much Susan knew and when she knew it.”

“Yeah, well, it’s an old case, and most of the people are dead or crazy.” Drew paused. “I just wish I knew how Victor knew there were two of us. He’s the only one who seemed to know, but there’s no way he just stumbled on this information. Why was he looking?”

“I’ll keep digging, but I can’t make any promises.”

Kelly’s: Diner

“Yeah, but are you even going to like hospital admin?” Molly asked Kristina. “Maybe you should have gone to law school or something. This sounds boring.”

“I could use boring.” Kristina shrugged, looked at Sam. “What do you think? You agree that Laura Spencer was insane for offering me this internship in January?”

“I worked in hospital administration for a very long three weeks,” Sam said. “It was literally the most boring job I ever had.” She furrowed her brow. “Almost as boring as the two weeks I spent as a clerk at the PCPD.”

“Oh, I remember that,” Kristina said. “That was right before you went to the Metro Court and started the hostage crisis.”

Sam scowled. “I didn’t—”

“That’s not fair,” Molly said. “How was Sam supposed to know that by pressing the silent alarm a bunch of people would die?” She nodded at Sam, encouragingly. “I got you.”

“That’s not much of a defense,” Sam muttered, wiggling in her chair. “And most people think I helped save everybody,” she told her sister. “Remember? I got that television show—”

“I thought Amelia gave you the show because she wanted revenge on you?” Kristinsa said, fluttering her lashes.

“And I thought we weren’t going to fight today,” Sam retorted. She knew Kristina was just mad because Sam hadn’t found the time to tell Molly yet about the affair—

Well, how exactly did a person start that conversation anyway?

“Uh, how are we fighting? I’m just stating facts.” Kristina reached for her milkshake. “There’s a reason Everyday Heroes didn’t get a second season. And besides, everyone knows if you hadn’t pulled the silent alarm, the robbers would have just left. When I worked at the bank—”

“You didn’t even finish the training,” Molly cut in, but Kristina ignored her.

“They specifically told us not to mess with a robbery. Like — things are not worth your life. So take the crap and go.”

“And why exactly is this coming up right now?” Sam asked. “Have you been holding this whole grudge against me for the hostage crisis the whole time? You were barely old enough to remember it—”

“Uh, not true. It was only ten years ago, and I remember things that happen when I was twelve. Actually, the hotel blew up and Mr. Craig got away, plus like three people died, so like, did anyone really save the day?”

“What exactly crawled up your ass and died today?” Molly asked Kristina. “Because now this does sounds like fighting.”

“I’m just wondering if maybe we let our sister get away with too much crap, and it’s our job to call her out,” Kristina said. “I mean, it’s not like you’ll fix things yourself. You never do. Even when you promise.”

Molly blinked, look back and forth between her sisters. “What is she talking about?” she asked Sam.

“Nothing.” Sam took a deep breath. “Nothing. Krissy—” She shook her head. “Never mind. Can we please change the subject?”

Kristina opened her mouth, but was distracted when the door to Kelly’s opened and Cameron walked past. “Hey, Cam.”

“Hey.” Cam stopped by their table, a bit awkwardly, avoiding Sam’s eyes. “What’s up?”

“Nothing, just having dinner with my sisters.” Kristina paused. “I heard you and your brothers are coming over to my dad’s for dessert next week. I’m doing dinner with my mom, but I’ll be at Dad’s later.”

“Yeah, we’re at the Qs this year,” Cameron said. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his jacket. “I dunno if we’re all going to Greystone. Jason might just take Jake—”

“No, Sonny’s usually cool about that stuff,” Molly said with a shake of her head. “He invited me and TJ to come with Krissy, but we have to make an appearance at the commissioner’s this year.”

“Yeah, you know you’re always welcome.” Kristina looked at Sam. “Are you and Drew coming to our place or the Qs?”

Sam stared at her sister. “No,” she said, through clenched teeth. “No, we’re going to your house. For dessert, too. You know that.”

“Oh, well—”

“Hey—” Trina came out of the kitchen with a large bag. “I got your order,” she said, handing it to Cameron. “Uh, which other insane person at your house is getting pastrami on rye? Because that is nasty. I saw there are two orders of it—”

“It’s for—” Cameron paused, then without thinking, looked briefly at Sam before focusing on Trina again.  “It’s for Jason,” he said, finally. “He eats it, too. I, uh, gotta go. Mom’s in the car and she’s trying to keep Aiden from murdering Jake—”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Cameron left the diner and Trina went back into the kitchen while Sam stared down at her plate.

“It’s nice,” Kristina said, “that Jason has Elizabeth and her boys to support him, you know? It keeps Franco out of their lives, and I remember Dad saying it was nice how much time Jason was getting to spend with Jake.”

“You,” Molly said, “are as subtle as a trainwreck.” She looked away from Kristina to Sam, rolling her eyes. “Sam, you know it doesn’t mean anything. He’s just having dinner—”

“I am married to Drew,” Sam said, even as her stomach rolled. Why had it stung to learn that Jason would be at the Webber house for dinner or that Jason was bringing Elizabeth and the boys over for dessert — like they were a family?

She had her family. She’d made her choice.

“Yeah, but—”

“I told you,” Kristina said, smugly. “If you pick Drew now, you better be sure. Because, uh, it definitely looks like Jason isn’t waiting around.”

“Krissy—” Molly began.

“And if you were wondering,” Kristina continued as Sam narrowed her eyes, “how long I was going to wait to tell her—”

“Kristina—”

Molly frowned. “Tell me what?”

“Should you tell her or should she find out the way I did? On YouTube?”

“YouTube?” Molly scowled. “What is going on?”

Kristina got to her feet, swung her coat on. “Molly, whatever you do, don’t search Sam’s name and look for her testimony from the Alcazar murder trial.”

Molly squinted as Kristina sauntered out of the diner, then looked at Sam. “Sam?”

Sam closed her eyes, took a deep breath. “I can explain.”

Aurora Media: Reception

Drew stepped out of his office and closed the door, planning to head home finally when he turned to see Spinelli stepping into the empty office. The two of them stared at one another for a long moment before Spinelli spoke.

“Uh, hey. I was hoping you might have a minute, but—”

“No, you’re—” Drew took a second to gather his thoughts. “It’s fine. I…heard you were back in town. I’m not surprised.”

“I would have come to see you sooner,” Spinelli said, wrinkling his nose, “but I didn’t know what to say. I still don’t. Because I like you. And this sucks. But I also—”

“Never really felt the connection we were supposed to have,” Drew finished. “Yeah, I guess now that we all know the truth, we can admit that—”

“Actually, I was gonna say that I feel weird because I did feel connected to you. But maybe it’s because you’re a good guy. Like your brother. Most people don’t get that about Jason, y’know?” He shrugged. “But I always did. So I felt guilty for not seeing it, for being so shocked—then I came back and saw him—” Spinelli hesitated. “You’re a good guy, Drew. I want to help you both make sure that who ever did this to you pays.”

“I know you’re helping Jason with the clinic—”

“But I have connections with the WSB,” Spinelli interrupted. “Anna and Robert are okay, but they don’t run the show. I know enough to say I don’t trust the WSB. And neither should you.”

And now I’m crying
Isn’t that what you want
And I’m trying to live my life on my own
But I’m holding on to old times
I do believe I am strong
So someone tell me why do I feel stupid?
– Mad Season, Matchbox Twenty

---

September 2012

General Hospital: Chapel

Elizabeth sat down in the front pew and sighed, rubbing the side of her face. “I’m so tired of funerals.”

Next to her, Patrick shifted and checked his watch. “Not that I wouldn’t follow you into the bowels of hell,” he began, “but why are we at the service for the man who tried to kill you?”

Elizabeth furrowed her brow, staring at the altar in the front of the room at the urn holding Ewen Keenan’s ashes. “I don’t know,” she admitted. “I think because someone should be here. And I don’t—” She looked at him. “I’m not sure he did try to kill me. Or if that was actually the plan before Jason showed up and he panicked.”

“No? Didn’t you tell the PCPD that Jason killed him to save your life?” Patrick asked, his brows raised. Elizabeth’s lips curved into a slight smirk. “Or was that a lifetime of protecting Morgan kicking in?”

“I think Ewen was a desperate man with too many secrets.” She folded her arms. “He always seemed like he wanted to tell me something, but he would always stop short. He would look at me—and I would say or do something to let him down—”

“Oh, what, you should have been an easier mark? Elizabeth, the man manipulated you from the day you met. He constantly put you in a position where you had to defend yourself. Just like everyone else you know,” Patrick muttered. “Whatever secrets that man kept? You’re better off in the dark.”

“Maybe.” Elizabeth bit her lip. “He knew me. He understood me—”

“Elizabeth—”

“I don’t mean that in a good way—” She paused. “That first night I met him, I knew he was familiar to me. I look back now and I can see that it was a setup. He was painting across the hall from me with ocean sounds playing in the background. He knew I took honey in my tea. And I think—” She paused. “I thought at first that he was just—after he saved my life, that he was trying to get close to me—”

“Freak,” Patrick grumbled.

“But I don’t know. He said he loved me at the end, but it never felt real. Maybe that’s why I couldn’t commit to him. There always seemed to be something underneath I couldn’t touch. That he’d never let me see.” Her eyes burned as she saw the hospital’s chaplain come in and start to set up at the podium. “He was part of this whole plan with Jerry Jacks to poison the town. Why couldn’t I see that in him?”

“Because you’re dealing with enough, Elizabeth, and you shouldn’t have to wonder if every guy you’re dating is in league with a super villain.” Patrick took her hand and squeezed it between both of his. “Whatever secrets Ewen Keenan was keeping, he took them to his grave.”

“I just—what do you think they were? Why do you think he was…”

“Obsessed with you?” Patrick asked. “Maybe it’s nothing more complicated than that. He got fixated on you after he saved your life, and went insane when he couldn’t control you or have you on his terms.”

“Maybe.” Elizabeth brushed at the tears on her cheek. “Maybe.”

“We’ll let the chaplain say his nice, comforting words, and then we’ll let Ewen Keenan fade into memory. Whatever he wanted from you, Elizabeth, it doesn’t matter anymore. You’re safe. It’s over.”

“Yeah.” Elizabeth took a deep breath. “It’s over.”

Monday, November 13, 2017

Kelly’s: Dining Room

Scott stirred sugar into his coffee and studied his sullen son across the table from him, trying to think of the best way to broach the subject of Elizabeth and her children. What she’d told him about Cameron.

“What’s on your mind, Pop?” Franco said finally, setting his fork down. “You’re staring at me like you wanna say something.”

Scott rubbed his chin. “I, uh, had some words with Elizabeth last week,” he said finally. Franco made a face. “We were dealing with some paperwork, and she mentioned that maybe you’ve been bothering her at work—”

“Bothering her?” Franco repeated. “That’s bullshit—”

“She also told me about Cameron.”

His son closed his mouth and his scowl deepened. “Oh, I bet she did. She acts like I backhanded the little snot—” Franco paused, took a deep breath. “Look, I got into a fight with him, okay? I tried to apologize, but she wouldn’t hear it. She always takes his side—”

“His side,” Scott repeated. “He’s sixteen, Franco, and he’s her kid. She’s supposed to take his side. You’re the adult. You don’t get into a shoving match with a kid—”

“It wasn’t like that! I just—I wanted the stupid tablet, and he wouldn’t give it to me. He doesn’t have any respect—I just—” Franco huffed. “I grabbed his shirt—”

“Whatever happened,” Scott said, his stomach rolling at the idea of his son putting his hands on one of Elizabeth’s boys. One of Laura’s grandchildren. “Elizabeth has decided it was the deal breaker. She’s a mother first, Franco. You gotta respect her decision, okay?”

“She would have forgiven me if Morgan hadn’t showed up,” Franco muttered. “I told you, when he dumps her for Sam again, she’ll remember who actually gives a damn about her.”

Scott highly doubted that Elizabeth was ever going to give Franco another chance, but he didn’t think it would do any good to say that right now. “Fine. But leave her alone at the hospital—”

“You know, I don’t have to listen to this,” Franco snapped. He shoved his chair back and stormed out of the diner, passing Curtis Ashford on his way out. Scott twisted in his chair, frowning after his son.

“What’s his problem?” Curtis asked. He sat in Franco’s empty seat.

“Elizabeth dumped him.”

“About time,” Curtis said.

Scott scowled. “Did you need something?” He really didn’t want to listen anyone else’s diatribe about his son.

“Yeah, I’ve been looking into Drew Cain’s past,” Curtis said. “Knowing which twin is which doesn’t really explain how any of this happened, you know? Drew asked me to figure out how he ended up at the group home.”

Scott furrowed his brow. “And you need me for that?”

“Well,” Curtis drawled, “you were married to Drew and Jason’s biological mother, weren’t you?”

“For a minute, yeah.”

“Then maybe you could help us understand how Drew and Jason got separated at birth.”

Scott shook his head. “You know, I got clients to see.” He tossed some cash on the table. “See you around.”

“Scott—”

“I’ve got nothing to say.”

Nero Home: Oscar’s Bedroom

“You’re running late,” Kim said as she leaned against Oscar’s door frame. She sipped her coffee. “You need a ride to school?”

“No,” Oscar said, shoving his books into his backpack. “I’ll get to the bus stop in time. I just slept through my first alarm.” He grabbed his keys from his nightstand, grimacing when he knocked over a frame. He picked it up, then stared at for a minute.

It was the last photograph he had of himself with his parents. With his biological mother. His mother was clearly ill—her skin pale, her eyes slightly sunken. But her arms were wrapped around Oscar, sitting on her lap, grinning at the camera with a flash of his baby teeth. His father standing behind his mother, looking down at them.

He’d only been four when his mother died, nine when his father had gone AWOL. It was crazy to look at this picture sometimes and think that this kid had no idea what was going to happen to his family—

“Oscar?”

He looked up at his stepmother. “Sorry, I just—I got distracted.” He put the picture down, but still stared at the image of his mother. “He used to tell me stories about her.” He looked back at Kim. “But I don’t really remember her. Now he doesn’t either.”

“I know. I’m sorry, Oscar. This—” Kim sighed, stared down into her coffee cup. “You know, we’re signing paperwork to make sure the legalities—I mean—”

“You’re divorcing him,” Oscar said. “I know. Joss told me. She overheard Michael and his sister talking about it. Everyone’s getting a divorce to clear things up. Or something.”

“Yeah. It just—it makes sense to make sure we’re all free to do what right’s for us.” Kim paused. “The thing is, our paperwork says custody of you stays with me right now. Because this is comfortable for us, you know? And Drew wants you to be okay.”

Oscar frowned. “I—”

“But I wondered if it might—” She paused. “If you might want to go live with him. Or stay with him. Or something. I don’t know. Maybe it might help to get you two back on track. You guys were such a team, Oscar. I want you to have that again.”

“I don’t know,” Oscar said after a long moment. “We talked about spending time together, but I’m not—I’m not ready for that, Kim.”

“Okay, okay.” She shrugged and forced a smile. “I just—I want you to do what’s right for you okay?”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“You’d better get going.” Kim stepped. “Or you really will miss your bus.”

Pozzulo’s Restaurant: Dining Room

With great reluctance, Michael slid into one of the empty booths across from Sonny and folded his hands on the table. “You wanted to see me?”

“I, uh, did.” Sonny sat back, stretching his arm across the back of his booth. “We haven’t really talked since everything happened last week.”

“I know.”

Sonny’s lipped thinned as he took in his son’s short, clipped tone. “I’m sorry. Not—” He paused. “Not about what happened years ago. I mean, I am sorry about that—I’ll be sorry for the rest of my life,” he continued when Michael’s eyes narrowed, “but I’m sorry that I didn’t see that we hadn’t resolved it. I’m sorry that I thought we were done with it.”

Michael exhaled slowly, some of the tension draining from his shoulders and expression. “I made a choice,” he said slowly, “to let you and Mom think I was done with it. I did that because the anger was going to eat me alive. Keeping you away from Avery, making sure Joss and Morgan were always in the middle—even Krissy felt the strain when she was around. It was going to destroy our family if I let it.”

“But keeping it locked up, Michael, it just makes it harder for you. I don’t want that. I don’t,” Sonny insisted when Michael just stared at him. “I can’t go back and do things differently. I did what I did. I shot your biological father and stayed silent about it for months. I sat by your side while you grieved and denied you justice—”

“You left him to die,” Michael said. “And you knew for sure Ava had murdered Connie. You could have cleared my father’s name. You knew he was innocent.” His eyes burned. “But you let people think he was a murderer. You and Mom can tell me all you want that it was to protect me—but I know you. I know you,” he repeated, “and there’s a part of you that isn’t sorry.”

Sonny swallowed hard. “Michael—”

“You’re sorry you hurt me. You’re sorry it created problems with Mom,” Michael continued. “But part of you is not sorry my father is dead. And that you were the one to end him. And that’s the part of you I can’t forgive.”

“You have to—” Sonny paused, uncomfortable with the truth in Michael’s words. “You have to understand that AJ and I were at odds for a long time—”

“I know it. I also know you chose to put yourself in the middle of all of that. You and my mother spent my entire life lying to me about how I ended up as Michael Corinthos. You made me think my father was a monster—” Michael tipped up his chin. “And you’re not sorry you did it.”

“I—”

“Jason’s sorry,” Michael continued. “I can understand his choices back then. But I don’t understand yours.”

“Listen—”

“You knew my mother was married when you had an affair with her, and you helped my mother get custody of me in the divorce. I know Jason did that, too,” Michael added. “But AJ didn’t mean anything to you. He’d never done a damn thing to you. At least Jason can point to the accident—”

“Michael—”

“You made sure AJ lost custody of me. And then you hung him on the meat hook to make sure he terminated his paternal rights. Yeah, I know about that,” Michael added when Sonny swallowed hard. “And by then, Sonny, you knew he didn’t push my mother down those damn stairs. You knew you were taking me away from him because you wanted to punish him. And then you made sure he could never get me back.” Michael shoved out of the booth.

“I lost a lifetime with my father because of you. Because of my mother—” Michael paused. “And because of Jason,” he added reluctantly. “But you know, I think only Jason is actually sorry. You and Mom? You’d do all it over again, even knowing how it turned out. Because you both feel justified. You feel righteous.”

“That’s not true—”

“Isn’t it?” Michael demanded. Sonny slid out of the booth. “Tell me. Are you sorry my father is dead?”

Sonny waited a beat, but he knew if he lied in this moment, he’d never get a chance to make this right. “No.”

“You raised me,” Michael said after a long moment, after absorbing the answer. “And there’s a part of me that will always love you. Will always think of you as my father. That’s why I was able to put this away. It’s why I’m going to put it away again,” he added. “Because we can’t fix this. You can’t go back. You can’t stop yourself from murdering from my father. He’s dead. He never gets another chance to get things right.”

“Michael, I don’t want this to hang between us—”

“It will always be there. Always,” Michael repeated. “But I lost Morgan, too. All I have left is my sisters. And Dante,” he added. “Avery—” He looked away, towards the front of the restaurant. “She’s too young to be dealing with this. She deserves her family to be together. So I’m putting it away.”

“But you won’t forgive me.”

“I—” Michael paused. “I thought I had,” he admitted. “I thought I could push it down, pretend it didn’t happen because I had forgiven you and Mom. But, no. There is no redemption for you, Sonny. Or my mother. Because in order to be redeemed, you have to show remorse. You’re sorry you hurt me. She’s sorry she hurt me. But the both of you? You’d do it again in a heartbeat.” He turned to face Sonny fully. “I’m sorry. But that’s how it is. We can bury it again, we can put it away for the sake of the people we love. But I’m never going to be your son again. Not the way I was.”

“If that’s all I can have,” Sonny said, forcing the words out, “then that’s what I’ll have to accept. Thank you for coming to talk to me about this. It’s—these are things we needed to say.”

“Yeah, I guess they are.”  With that, Michael left and Sonny sat back down in the booth, staring blindly down at the surface of the table.

Davis House: Living Room

“Mom?” Sam set Scout’s car seat on the ground and then hung up her jacket. “Mom, are you around?”

Hearing nothing but silence, Sam wrinkled her nose and leaned down to unsnap her daughter from the seat then lifted her into her arms. “Let’s go find Grammy,” she told Scout and headed into the kitchen.

Finding no one, Sam started up the stairs and went down the hallway towards her mother’s bedroom, then heard sound coming from her sister’s bedroom.

Not just sound.

Her own voice.

“Have you and the District Attorney ever had intimate relations?”

“What?”

“Objection, Your Honor!”

Sam shoved the door open to find Kristina curled up in her desk chair, her phone in her hand, and voices floating out from a decade ago.

“And wasn’t the District Attorney married to your mother at the time?”

“…Yes.”

“And then you go running back to Jason Morgan so he can continue to financially support you, correct?”

“She made me sound like a gold digger,” Sam said faintly. Kristina looked up, blinking at her. “I think that’s what hurt the most. The only way Diane knew what happened was Jason told her. He told her that to use against me—”

Kristina carefully clicked a button her phone and the voices slid away. “What are you doing here?”

“I came to talk to Mom about Thanksgiving,” Sam said, hoisting Scout higher in her arms. “Why are you watching it again? Wasn’t once enough?”

“They televised this,” Kristina said. She set her phone down, and twisted the chair until she was facing Sam. “Everyone knew. Mom got humiliated.”

“I know that.” Sam set Scout on the floor and handed her the bottle in her hand. “It was a lifetime ago, Krissy. You get to be mad and hurt because for you, it’s now. And I regret it—”

“I wanna know how it happened,” Kristina interrupted. Sam shook her head. “No, I deserve to know how you ended up in bed with Ric. He never treated me any differently than he did Molly. And back then, before I got closer to my dad, Ric was always there. He still calls and writes me just as much as he does Molly.”

“I—” Surprised, Sam sat on the edge of Kristina’s bed. “I didn’t know that.”

“No. Because it doesn’t matter to you, does it?” Her sister narrowed her eyes. “So tell me. I wanna know.”

“You don’t, Krissy. It doesn’t reflect well on anyone—but—” Sam rubbed the side of her face. “Mostly me—”

“If you tell me the truth, I’ll know you’re really sorry. You destroyed my life. You humiliated my mother—”

“Fine. Fine.” Sam made a face. “You know that I didn’t grow up with Mom. In fact, I only found out she was my mother about a year before that trial. I found out and kept it quiet because I really—I hated her for a lot of reasons that don’t really make sense to me now,” she admitted. “And when Mom found out who I was, it was because I’d been hurt. Jason told her. I never wanted her to know.”

Sam paused, but Kristina just lifted her brows. “And Mom’s first priority was making sure Jason broke up with me because I’d been shot by Manny Ruiz. I blamed her for that—”

“Why? She just wanted you to be safe. Jason’s the one that did the breaking—”

“I get that. Now. But at the time, it was—it was devastating. I didn’t understand how I’d built my entire life around him. When he sent me away, I didn’t have anything. And I blamed Mom.” Sam swallowed hard. “So I decided—God, I decided that I was going to make her hurt the way I did.”

Tears clung to Kristina’s lashes as she swallowed a sob. “You did it deliberately. It wasn’t—it wasn’t like you were drunk one night—”

“I did it deliberately,” Sam confirmed, almost inaudible. “I didn’t really know her. Or you and Molly. I didn’t care about anyone or anything. I just wanted revenge. And Mom—she knew she was sick. She was struggling with it and pushing Ric away. They were arguing more and more. And Ric—” This was the part that hurt the worst. “He was hurt because they’d worked hard to get to a place where they were a family, and Mom flipped overnight. I played on that, Krissy. If I hadn’t been there—”

“He wouldn’t have gone out to cheat on her. He did it with you because you were there and you were trying to hurt her.”

“Yes.” Sam rubbed her chest, closing her hand into a fist as she admitted what she’d never said out loud. “And I did it to hurt Jason. He’s always hated Ric for pretty damn good reasons. So, I thought— two birds, one stone.” She squeezed her eyes shut as tears burned down her cheeks. “When it was over, I played it off like it was a mistake and then got up going to over to tell Jason. But I lost my courage when I got there. I tried again the next day. I was ready to throw it in his face—I was going to throw it in Mom’s—”

“What changed your mind?”

“He already knew,” Sam said softly. “And what he didn’t tell me is that Mom knew, too. She’d seen us, and had a breathing attack. Jason was coming over to tell me he’d made a mistake and wanted me back. He took her to the hospital, and when he came back — I was—he saw us, too. They both saw us that night. But he didn’t tell me until months later that Mom knew.” She hesitated. “He also told me that he’d been with Elizabeth that night. And I realized, oh, God—” She dragged her hands through her hair. “I’d made a horrible mistake. If I hadn’t done it, Jason would have been with me. Not her. And because of all of that—”

Because of her burning need to make Alexis pay — Jason had reconnected with Elizabeth and created a child.

And nothing had ever been the same.

“I told you, Krissy. Everything about that night—about what I did leading up to it—it makes me a terrible person.” And the things she’d done afterward trying to keep Jason with her, only to have him slide out of her grasp—the desperation only growing—

Kristina took a deep breath. “Thank you. For being honest with me. I—” She paused. “I get that Mom has forgiven you. And I mostly get that it’s not just you. Ric did it, too. But it’s hard. Because it feels like this just happened. And I just—” She swiped at her eyes. “I feel like I’m a mess, you know? Like I keep doing everything wrong, and every time I get my feet under me, it falls apart. I just—I want to be better. And I look at you, and I thought—well, you used to be a mess, and now you’re better—”

“Krissy—”

“But it’s not that simple, is it?” she asked quietly. “You did what you did. And I get that you’re sorry about hurting Mom, and she forgave you. But you meant to destroy my family. And it’s just going—it’s going to take a minute, okay?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I get that.” Sam got to her feet and picked up Scout. “I’ll give you your space on this, Krissy. I just—I love you. I didn’t understand what it meant to have a family, not really. My father always used me for his cons, and my mother never loved me. Danny—he loved me, and I loved him. But I had to take care of him. No one ever took care of me until Mom. No one ever really loved me until she did. You, Molly, and Mom. You’re the people that matter. I’d do anything to protect that.”

“Molly should know,” Kristina said. Sam shook her head. “No, she deserves to know why her father isn’t in her life. She knows he’s not a perfect person, but she deserves to know.”

“No, look, I wouldn’t even tell you—”

“If you’re really sorry,” Kristina retorted, “then you’ll tell her.”

“I’m not doing this, Krissy. I get that this happened to you. To you and Molly, but at the end of the day, I’m not ripping open my veins so that you can judge me. I’m not telling Molly. Please don’t—don’t do this to her.”

Kristina narrowed her eyes. “Sam—”

“You remember Ric being here more than she does. She was just a little girl when he left. She doesn’t have the memories the way you do. Please. I can’t—I can’t take another hit right now. With Drew and Jason, and you—” Sam tightened her arms around her daughter. “Please.”

“If I don’t tell her, it’ll be like lying to her. She’s my sister. She deserves the truth. So either you tell her or I do.”

Metro Court: Restaurant

Carly stepped off the elevator and spied a familiar face sitting at one of the tables. She perked up and hurried over. “Spinelli!” She sat down across from him and grinned at the little girl sharing his table. “And Georgie. Hey!”

“Hi.” Georgie flashed her a shy smile. “Daddy and I are having brunch.” She looked at her father. “When is Mommy getting done at the doctor?”

“Soon,” Spinelli said, forcing a smile. He handed her a sippy cup with orange juice before turning his attention to Carly. “What’s up? I haven’t seen you since I got back.”

“No, I’ve been busy with the holidays,” Carly said. “You know how busy it gets at the hotel.” And Jason hadn’t asked her for help. Hadn’t brought Spinelli by the house. He was probably holed up at that stupid safe house. She wrinkled her nose. “I’m glad I ran into you. I wanted to talk to you about Jason.”

“Uh, I’m not really sure Stone Cold would appreciate that,” Spinelli began.

“I’m just worried about him. He’s been through so much,” Carly said, ignoring his discomfort. “I just want him to be okay, you know? I want him to get his life back—”

“He’s only been back a few weeks, Carly. It’ll take some time.”

“I know, I know. And I’m glad he’s spending so much time with Jake. I am,” she repeated because it was the truth. She might not like that Jake apparently came as a set with Elizabeth freaking Webber, but Sonny was right. Elizabeth was opening the door, and Jason deserved to have his son.  “But I’m sad he’s not getting to know Danny. Aren’t you?”

“I hadn’t—” Spinelli paused. “It’s not ideal,” he admitted. “But it’s not up to Stone Cold, you know?”

“Yeah, but it’s not like Jason has even gone to see Sam. He should. I was thinking you might help me with that,” Carly said. “You could get him to come to the park or the pier or something, and I could get her there—”

“I am not getting involved in any of that,” Spinelli said flatly. “I came back to Port Charles for two reasons. I wanted my daughter to be closer to her mother, and to help Jason find out who did this to him. He hates when I get involved in his personal life—”

“Spinelli—” Carly saw the set of his jaw and switched tactics. “I just want him to be happy. He was married to Sam—”

“He was, but it’s been five years.” Spinelli softened his voice. “I get you want to help, Valkyrie. I know how fierce you are when it comes to the people you love. But forcing Jason into a room with Sam is only going to make things more awkward—”

“She shouldn’t be allowed to keep his son from him,” Carly snapped. “Jason deserves to be with his kids.”

Spinelli rubbed the back of his neck. “This isn’t my fight, okay? Jason is aware of Danny, and he’s gonna have to figure that out.”

“Why doesn’t anyone even—” Carly cleared her throat. “Fine. Fine. No one wants to help me get Jason’s life back, I’ll just have to do it myself.”

She shoved away from the table and stalked away. Spinelli followed her with his eyes, wincing.

“Daddy, is she okay?” Georgie asked.

“Hard to tell, princess,” Spinelli said, troubled. “Let’s finish our food and head over to see Mommy, okay?”

“Okay.”

A few tables away, hidden behind the menu she’d jerked in front of her face, Nelle Benson’s lips curved into a smile. Sometimes information just fell into your lap.

Joe’s Bar: Parking Lot

Elizabeth pulled her car into an empty space, wrinkling her nose and turning her attention back to the voice coming out of her dash. “Spinelli, I think you’re overreacting.”

“Stone Cold was very quiet when he left,” the tech told her. “And then you said he didn’t come to dinner tonight.”

“I know, but—”

“He would never miss a chance to see Little Stone Cold. I just—” Spinelli paused. “He was okay, and then today he seems like he’s not.  I had a run-in with Valkyrie that just makes me worried. He usually tunes me out, but he talks to you.”

“I see his bike,” Elizabeth said, spying the familiar colors parked among a few others. “I’ll text you later.”

“Thanks.”

Elizabeth switched off her ignition and the call disconnected. She sent a text to Cameron to remind him to get Jake and Aiden in bed before midnight, then got out of the car.

Inside, the bar was exactly the atmosphere she’d once enjoyed at Jake’s. It was badly lit, terribly decorated, and the beer on tap was sub par. Its entire clientèle came from the docks and everyone minded their own damn business.

And she found exactly who she was looking for, in the corner of the bar by the pool table, a bottle of Rolling Rock in front of him and—her eyes widened—two empty shot glasses.

Jason almost never drank hard liquor.

She hitched her purse strap higher on her shoulder and wound her way through the tables towards him—but he’d seen her the minute she walked in.

“Hey.”

He stared at her, then scrubbed his hand over his face, some life coming into it—that horrible empty expression gone. “Hey,” he said.

“I’ll go if you want to be alone,” she offered, but was relieved when he shook his head. She set her purse on the table and took off her coat, tossing it over a chair. “Be right back.” She nodded at the shot glasses. “You wanna do a round?”

A ghost of a smile flitted across his lip. “Yeah, sure. Your choice.”

“Great.” She drew out her wallet and went to the bar. When he came back, she had her own beer and was followed by the bartender who set down a few slices of lime, a canister of salt, a bottle of tequila, and empty shot glasses. “Thanks,” she said to him, then dismissed the man.

Jason watched the bartender go back and leveled a glare when the man kept staring at Elizabeth. The guy blanched and hurried to occupy himself with the few customers at the bar.

“I think the last time I drank anything more than one margarita was when Patrick almost married Sabrina,” Elizabeth said as she poured the tequila. “I was going to be his best person, and I wanted him to know I could do the job just as well as a guy.” She made a face. “I did it, but I also don’t remember a lot of it.” She slid the tequila over to him along with a piece of lime and the salt. “Now, I’m sure it’s been a while—”

“Not that long,” he said. He picked up the salt, wrapped his fingers around her wrist, and tapped the salt onto the back of her hand. “I taught you how to do this. A long time ago.”

“I know. And then I taught Robin and Emily and Kelly, and they were really impressed because they think I just knew.” Her eyes danced with a wicked gleam. “Lick it, slam it, suck it. Ready?”

“Sure.” He licked the salt, tossed back the tequila, wincing at the burn, then reached for the lime wedge.

“I used to be a lot younger,” Elizabeth muttered, wiggling her shoulders. “Yikes.” She set the shot glass aside and sipped her beer. “I told you, Joe’s is almost as good as Jake’s.”

“Yeah, it’s quiet and no one is bothering me.” He lifted his brows. “Well, until you showed up.” She snorted, and he picked up his own beer. “Spinelli call you?”

“He did. I thought he was overreacting, but the kid knows you.” Elizabeth put her chin on her palm, her elbow resting on the table. “You also haven’t missed a single dinner invitation since you came home. Not that you don’t get to do what you want, but—” She focused on him, her eyes soft. “What can I do?”

“This. What you’re doing.” Jason paused. “I don’t even—” He leaned forward, trying to put his thoughts in order. “I don’t even know what it was,” he admitted. “We were talking, and then his kid—his daughter came over. Spinelli’s a dad. He’s a good one, too. She’s, um—” He hesitated. “Everything just kept moving. Everyone. And I wasn’t here.”

He took a long pull from the bottle, then rolled it in his hands. “I’ve been thinking about Jake. About you seeing on Spoon Island and me not doing enough—”

“Jason—”

“And you’re right. I know you’re right. We had no reason to think it wasn’t a hallucination, but just the idea that he was right there all that time, and I couldn’t stop it. I couldn’t save him. And Michael—he’s going through this crap with Sonny and Carly, and I can’t be sure I wouldn’t have made it worse—” He paused. “I’m just—I’m not having a good day.”

“It makes sense. You’ve been putting one foot in front of the other, keeping your head looking forward. But you took a minute to breath, and it hit you all over again.” Elizabeth paused. “You came home to people who already thought they had you back. I know it must have been hard to—” She pressed her lips together. “It must have been hard to come home and find out Sam had married someone else. And I know it’s hurting that she’s not—she’s not—I mean—” She cleared her throat. “I’m sure you’d rather she be here right now.”

Jason squinted at her, then slowly shook his head. “No. I don’t. I—” He paused. “Yeah, when I woke up in the clinic, I tried to call her. I went to the penthouse because that was home. But she made a choice that night, and she’s made that choice every day since. She gets to do that. I wouldn’t want her sitting here feeling obligated because of what happened to me.”

“I guess I can understand that.”

“I’m sorry you had to leave the boys to come—you didn’t have to.” Jason straightened, glanced down at his phone. “It’s late—”

“I’m not working tomorrow,” Elizabeth told him. “And yeah, I did. I want to be here for you, Jason. I’m glad I can be. How many times did I run to you when I was in trouble? When I was hurt, or struggling—and it’s not like I’m keeping track or paying off a balance,” she added when he opened his mouth. “It’s just—” She leaned back. “This is how it started. You and me. Sitting in a bar. You let me talk, and it wasn’t just because I was Emily’s friend or because you were nice. I refuse to believe that. No one is that nice.”

He made a face. “I’m not nice,” he muttered.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I don’t wanna ruin your reputation,” she teased. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone. But you were kind that night, Jason. And all the times afterward. I was able to see a future for myself because of you. It was a long time before I had to remember what nothing felt like again.”

“Me either,” Jason said with another hesitant smile. “That winter—I thought I did, but you wouldn’t let me.”

“Exactly.” She tipped her beer against his. “This is what we do, Jason. We take care of each other. We don’t keep score. We don’t worry about obligation. That’s not us. I’m right where I want be because if the tables were turned—I know you’d be doing the same for me.”

“I didn’t always take care of you,” he forced out, and she sighed. “With Jake—”

“And I didn’t always take care of you,” she reminded him. “But I’m not keeping score on that either. This isn’t a ledger, Jason. There’s no black or red. There’s just us.” When he smiled again, it was more genuine and she relaxed. “Now, we can either start a bar fight, which I’m not opposed to, or we can keep drinking and we’ll call an Uber to drive us home.” She lifted the tequila. “You wanna do another round?”

“Yeah.” Jason shoved the shot glass towards her. “Let’s do another.”

You’re not alone
Together we stand
I’ll be by your side
You know I’ll take your hand
When it gets cold
And it feels like the end
There’s no place to go
You know I won’t give in
No, I won’t give in
– Keep Holding On, Avril Lavigne

---

December 2011

Shadybrooke: Elizabeth’s Room

“This is disturbing. I mean, this is—it’s extreme, don’t you think, all this maneuvering to get a guy who doesn’t even deserve you to fall back in love with you?”

Elizabeth let Matt’s words roll around in her head as she slowly rolled down the window shade on her door, blocking out the sight of the strange man across the hall who had made her tea and seemed…so familiar.  He’d been painting the water and had ocean sounds playing—

It had brought her back to the night she’d nearly drowned and the strange, lucid hallucinations of seeing her son. Of holding Jake—

Of having him being dragged out of her arms—

Sometimes, if Elizabeth closed her eyes, she could put herself back in that moment. It was fuzzy around the edges, and she didn’t know where she was or who had held her back from her son—who had taken him away—

But she could still hear his voice. Feel him in her arms.

Elizabeth dragged her hands through her hair, turning away from the door. Forcing herself to push the image away. Jake was dead. He was dead. And every time she hallucinated him, she lost another piece of herself.

Matt was right, of course. She kept clinging to Lucky, hoping he’d love her again. Hoping he’d love Cameron and Aiden the way he’d loved Jake in the beginning. Even when Aiden had fallen ill a few weeks ago, Lucky had barely shown up. And when he had, he’d looked at her like he was doing her a damn favor.

Why was she trying so hard—

“Does painting speak to your soul?”

She turned back to the door, the strange man’s voice so vivid in her memory that she thought he was there. That he’d asked her the question again.

“It used to.”

Nothing spoke to her soul anymore. She kept going through the motions, putting one foot in front of the other. Every day, she woke up and walked past Jake’s empty room and looked at the faces of her remaining children, knowing she was failing them. Knowing she was a terrible mother, that all of this was her fault—

“You let hours and years and days box you in.”

Of course she did. Hours and years and days were all she had. She had to focus on the next minute, the next second—every moment she was awake, she had to remember how to breathe again. Did he think she wanted to be like this? She’d give anything to turn back the clock. To go back to living in the moment—

“Why is everyone so quick to jump to the conclusion that I’m trying to manipulate Lucky?”

“Because you usually are.”

“It’s not true,” she murmured. She should have said that to Matt when he’d made the accusation, but it was so easy just to sit back and take it. To let people scream at her, say what they wanted to. Let everyone blame her for Siobhan’s death, even though it was the last thing Elizabeth had ever wanted. She had only been trying to help Lucky who had been dumb enough to go under cover as a drug dealer and it had—

“I’m guessing you like honey in your tea, but you’re resigned to going without because you don’t want to bother anyone.”

On a shaky sigh, Elizabeth sat on the bed and wrapped the edges of her sweater more tightly around her torso. Why had he said that about her? He didn’t even know her.

Elizabeth was in this room, in this hospital, because she wanted to bother people. Wasn’t that what Lucky thought, what Matt believed? Hadn’t her father always accused her of looking out for herself, not caring what anyone thought? Of needing everyone’s eyes on her?

“You just want to be noticed, Lizzie,” Jeff Webber had told her after the third time she’d been brought home for breaking curfew. “Maybe give me a reason to pay attention. Why can’t you be more like your sister?”

So why had it felt so right when that man had said that to her? When he’d accused her of not wanting to bother anyone?

Troubled, Elizabeth laid down on the bed, turned on her side and tried to drift into sleep.

___

Across the hall, Ewen Keenan set down his brush and looked through his open door at the closed one across the way.

Helena Cassadine and her myriad of connections in high places had allowed Ewan to be assigned a room nearby Elizabeth Webber. He had worried she would recognize him—especially there at the end, when she’d brought up the drowning.

Did he want her know to him? Did he want her to remember that night on Spoon Island when he’d saved her life and brought her to the lab where she’d seen her son?

“How many children do you have?”

“Two. I have two.”

“Why does that make you sad?”

“I had three. But I had, um, a little boy who passed away. I really should–I should go.”

Ewen closed his door and pulled down his own shade. It had been easier than he thought, drawing the woman into conversation. She was beautiful—hauntingly so with those melancholy eyes and the quiet desperation that seemed to envelop her. He wanted to help her. To save her.

Maybe he could find a way to tell her about Jake, even though the boy was already on his way to Greece and to another lab that Ewen didn’t know anything about. He wished he hadn’t sold his soul to the Cassadines and anyone who worked with them, but he didn’t have a choice.

It was his life or hers, and at the end of the day—Ewen would always pick himself.

Wednesday, November 8, 2017

Penthouse: Living Room

“Mom, I don’t know what your problem is,” Sam complained as she tossed a manila envelope over to Drew sitting on the sofa with his cup of coffee. “The messenger brought the divorce papers for you,” she told him absently.

He frowned. “Just for me?”

“No, ours are here, too. But—” Sam turned her attention back to the phone. “I thought you got everything you needed over the weekend—” She wrinkled her nose. “All right, all right. Fine. I’ll drop Danny at school and come by.”  She clicked her phone off and tossed it on the desk. “She has an issue with a clause in mine, so—” She shrugged. “You should get Kim to sign those today.”

Drew got to his feet and walked over to her, pulling the papers out as he did so. “It feels a little strange,” he admitted. “Divorcing someone I don’t even remember.”

“Wouldn’t that make it easier?” Sam asked as she tipped a second set of papers out of the envelope, scanning them with a furrowed brow. “And how does this work? Our marriage certificate is for Jason Morgan, but I’m divorcing Andrew Cain? Like—I know Mom said she’d worked with someone to get it done, but it still feels wrong.”

“Yeah, I guess.” Drew scribbled his initials and signature on the pages where Alexis had notated them. “But it’s necessary. To get it done right so we can move forward.”

“Yeah, Mom is gonna file everything as soon as we get them signed, so you need to get yours to Kim ASAP,” she told him. “I’ll get Jason served—”

“You never said what you’d ended up saying in your papers,” Drew said, squinting. “Or did you decide to do what you and I are doing? All assets to be decided in a separate filing?” He smiled sardonically. “Not that I have any assets.”

“Well, you don’t know that. Curtis said that your estate was pretty well set up. I mean, it all went to Oscar’s trust fund, but you could just dissolve—” She stopped when Drew stared at her. “What?”

“I’m not going to raid my son’s trust fund for pocket change,” he said. “There’s no point. I left it to him. I talked to Monica a few days ago. She’d offered to have Ned and Michael fast-track the ELQ shares ince I’m technically due an inheritance from Edward’s estate. I’ll have the dividends from it by the end of the year. It’s not what I want to do, but I think it’s probably the best option.”

“Oh.” Surprised, Sam shifted. “Well, then good, you don’t have to take the trust fund. But at least you knew it was there.” She didn’t like the way he was looking at her—like there was something so wrong about suggesting that he would siphon money out of the trust fund. It wasn’t like Drew was actually dead — that money was just sitting there and it was his.

“You didn’t answer my question,” Drew said just as she turned away, intending to get another cup of coffee from the kitchen.

Sam turned back. “Oh. Well, I didn’t do anything insane like ask for half of everything.” She folded her arms. “But, you know, I wanted this penthouse. It’s the only home Danny or Scout has ever known, and Jason doesn’t care about things like that.”

Drew stared at her for a long moment. “And what about Danny?”

They stared at each other for a long time, then she carefully swallowed. “I think we have to remember something,” she said finally. “That you might remember being Jason Morgan, and that we both thought you were for a long time. But you’re not him. Which means my marriage to him—and ending it—is something I don’t have to talk to you about. It’s my divorce, and Danny is my son. I should be able to do what I think is best for him.”

Drew didn’t even flinch when she’d laid down that gauntlet, but there was a change in the muscles of his cheek that put her on high alert. “Danny is your son,” he agreed. “But if you’re planning to ask Jason to terminate his parental rights so I can raise Danny, don’t you think you should make sure that’s something I’m comfortable with?”

Her throat tightened. “What? Why wouldn’t—you love Danny!”

“I do love him. Just like I love Jake. And part of me won’t ever be able to turn that off,” Drew admitted. “And I know Jason feels that way about Michael because I remember feeling that way. I don’t have to lose either of them. They’re still my nephews—”

“And if you remember Michael,” Sam said, biting out the words, “then you remember that Jason made sure Carly’s wishes were what mattered. That Michael stayed with Carly and Sonny. I want Danny to be with you. Elizabeth can do whatever the hell she wants—”

“But Danny and Jake know they’re brothers,” Drew explained, patiently. “Danny knows his name is Danny Morgan. He thinks my name is Jason Morgan. And if you do this—if you ask Jason to give Danny up, either he’ll fight you—”

“He won’t—”

“Or you’ll both have to explain to Danny one day why you decided that Jason wasn’t good enough to be his father. And I’ll have to explain to Danny why I did this to my brother. Which isn’t that different from the crap Sonny and Carly have been putting Michael through for years.”

“This is very different—”

“You’re asking Jason to give up his rights to Danny just the way AJ did all those years ago. And one day, Danny is going to ask you why.”

They heard the door opening above them and soft footsteps indicating that Danny had woken up and was heading downstairs.

“I just want you to be able to answer that question,” Drew told Sam. “Without watching Danny go through what Michael did.”

Quartermaine Mansion: Family Room

“Thank you for coming,” Monica said as she gestured for Jason to come in and sit on the sofa. “I was worried you were angry with me.” When Jason looked at her, mystified, she continued, “About last week at the Metro Court—”

“No. I should have called—” Jason made a face as his mother sat in the armchair where he could remember Lila’s wheelchair sitting so often. “Things are happening and I’m just—I’m just trying to keep up. I—” He paused. “I didn’t know what to say to you. After talking to Michael—”

“He told me that he’d been a bit…” Monica hesitated. “Harder on you that he wanted to be. He’s still so angry at Sonny and Carly, and he spends a lot of time hiding it. He did it for his brother, for his sisters because the anger was really ripping them all apart—” She leaned back. “He’s working through it, and I think sometimes he really has forgiven them.”

“But it doesn’t change what happened,” Jason said. “Or that it started with me. With the lie I told when Michael was born.”

Monica sighed, looked down at her hands. “That was a very long time ago, and I remind myself that none of us did well by each other then. It would be easy to blame you, to blame Sonny and Carly—and believe me, I do. But I also know that AJ made a lot of mistakes and hurt a lot of people.”

“I’m sorry,” Jason said. “For the lie. And I’m sorry I never—” His mouth tightened. “The problems that came later—with what happened to Courtney, and kidnapping Michael, making Carly believe he was dead, helping Faith—that came later. After what I did. And I didn’t really get it until I went through it.”

“With Jake,” Monica said with a nod.

“Elizabeth…had reasons for keeping the truth from me, and for wanting Lucky to raise Jake. And some of them were about my job. But it didn’t change how much it hurt. How much I wanted him. I know I did the same to AJ.”

Monica reached over to squeeze Jason’s hands. “But look at how Michael turned out. Without that year with you, without you staying in his life—where would Michael have ended up? He’s here. He’s a Quartermaine, the way your father and grandfather wanted all those years ago. But he’s stronger than AJ ever was, and he’s a better man. I don’t—as much as I loved my son—I can admit that I don’t know if I’d have Michael the way he is if things had been different.” She smiled. “I have my grandson in my life which is all I ever wanted, Jason.”

“I’m glad Michael came back to you,” Jason told her. “Other than Emily and Grandmother, you were the first Quartermaine I could stand.”

Monica laughed, then patted his hand. “Tell me about your son,” she pressed. “Michael told me you’d been spending a lot of time with Jake. I’m so glad.”

“It’s been amazing,” Jason admitted. “I always loved him, and he was a really great kid. But I didn’t know him other than what kind of toys he liked. I didn’t know him the way I knew Michael or Morgan.” He shook his head slightly as if casting off the guilt.

“I think my favorite thing to do is just to watch Jake with his brothers,” Monica told him. “Just the way they work together and talk to one another. You and AJ did that sometimes before the accident. You’d get in the room and start bantering. You’d tease me or Alan about something silly we’d said. The two of you were a team.”

“I didn’t—” Jason hesitated. “I didn’t know that.” He paused. “I guess it makes sense that I got into a car to stop him if we were close.”

“It broke your heart to see him fall apart under all that pressure. You just wanted the best for him, Jason. We all did. He didn’t know how to live with those expectations. Your father and I—your grandfather—we just demanded all the best things without trying to put in the work. You thrived, and AJ fell apart. I should have been a better mother.” Her smile was sad. “But I’m getting the chance to be a better grandmother, and that’s making up for a lot.”

“Jake said you’re a great grandmother,” Jason told her. “And that his favorite part is that you don’t play favorites. You gave Cameron and Aiden birthday presents this year, I guess?”

“Your son made it very clear to me that he had two brothers,” Monica told him with a lift of her brow. “And that he didn’t give a crap about all that half crap, not like the Spencers. I could be Grandma Monica to all of them or none of them.”

“Like the Spencers?” Jason echoed with a frown. “Lucky—he raised Cameron and Jake—I thought Sonny said Lucky was the one who found Jake and brought him home—”

“And then left town. Michael told me that if Lucky contacts home, he only calls Aiden. Laura does her best, and I’ve tried, too, but Cameron feels it. More than Jake. Because—” Monica sighed. “Drew was going to adopt Cameron back when he was still Jake Doe and marrying Elizabeth. When that fell apart—well, Cameron got left out in the cold.”

“I didn’t—”

“Drew has been very present for Jake, but not so much for Cameron. He’s old enough now that it’s not something Laura and I can just make go away.”

Jason exhaled slowly, thinking of what Cameron had been dealing with since that night with Franco. How worried Elizabeth was about him because he refused to talk to her about it—

“Jason?” Monica prompted, drawing his attention. “Are you all right?”

“I was just—never mind. Jake told me I should ask you about Olivia?” Jason asked.

“Oh.” Monica rolled her eyes. “She’s married to Ned now.” And then she started telling him about a holiday tradition and a redecoration Olivia had attempted without Monica’s permission.

General Hospital: Conference Room

“Hey, Scott.” Elizabeth sat down across from him at the table. “Thanks for coming by—I’m sorry it’s at the hospital, but—”

“No, no—” Scott waved away her concerns, dropping his briefcase on the table. “You said you wanted to update your will which is a good idea because I don’t think I’d taken care of this for you since—” He squinted at the date on the paperwork. “Since you fell down the stairs last year and realized that Jake wasn’t included.”

“Well, it’s not like I have a whole lot to worry about, asset wise,” she admitted as Scott drew out a pencil. “But—well, things have changed. With Gram and—” She hesitated. “You’re  really not going to ask me about Franco?”

“I was going to try to bring that up casually,” he admitted. “But now that you mention it, my, ah, son was at my place for a few days before heading to the Metro Court—where Carly took a lot of pleasure in refusing him a room, so I think he’s at the studio.” Scott peered at her. “If you were interested in his location.”

“I’m not. I—” Elizabeth sighed. “You were a single father when Serena was younger, right?”

“Most of her life, yeah. I didn’t think about getting married again until she was—” Scott shook his head. “Almost a teenager. It was hard to bring someone into her life, but I was fortunate. She liked Eve—and Lucy. And Laura.” He furrowed his brow. “Wasn’t much of a fan of Bobbie, I’ll admit, but she can be an acquired taste—” Scott cleared his throat. “I’m sorry. That’s not your point.”

“No. I know how much you love Serena,” Elizabeth continued, “so I know you can understand this when I tell you that my boys come first. I haven’t always done a great job of making choices that would make their lives better, and sometimes I’ve been selfish. But I always try to put them first. I love my boys.”

“And Franco doesn’t get along with Cameron,” Scott said, leaning back. “I mean, I could tell that would be a problem. Being the oldest—”

“Franco pushed Cameron,” Elziabeth said bluntly, and Scott sat straight up, his nostrils flaring.

“He what?”

“The night this all started—when Jason attacked Franco, Franco came back from the PCPD to Cameron and the boys watching the video on repeat. Laughing.” Elizabeth sighed. “Franco tried to take the tablet, and Cameron wouldn’t let him, so—Franco shoved him and grabbed him by the shirt.”

“He…” Scott scrubbed his hand over his mouth. “He put his hands on your kid? Well, that’s the deal breaker, isn’t it? If anyone tried to hurt my girl, they were out of there.” He scowled. “I know Cam’s almost sixteen and he’s tall for his age, but that doesn’t give anyone any right—”

Relieved that Scott agreed with her. Elizabeth nodded. “And things with Franco weren’t even going that great to begin with,” she added, “so it was just—it made the decision easy. And I was hoping you might talk to Franco about the hospital—about maybe not going out of his way to harass or annoy me. You know that Laura and Monica are just looking for a reason to fire him. If I file a complaint—”

“Say no more, I’ll talk to him.” Scott sighed. “It’s a shame. With Serena living so far away, I liked you and your boys. I was hoping maybe—well—I don’t know, maybe I’d get to play grandpa one day.”

“You’re welcome to see the boys,” Elizabeth said. “They like you, Scott. And so do I.”

“Well, we’ll see.” Scott smiled faintly. “Let’s get this will straightened out. Before, you’d left custody of all three boys to Audrey so they’d stay together—” He skimmed the paperwork. “I think you told me that you weren’t comfortable with Jason and Sam having custody of Jake.”

“No,” Elizabeth admitted with a grimace. “But that’s changed. Without my grandmother in the picture, I—I’m going to ask Jason to take over guardianship if it becomes necessary. He’s Jake’s father, and I don’t think Laura would mind since she knows how important it is for the boys to be together. Aiden and Cam like him—they know him.”

“And I guess we’re still not counting on Lucky taking an active role,” Scott muttered. “Like father, like son.”  He made some notes. “That should be pretty easy to sort out. You still want Laura and Monica as backup guardians?”

“Yeah, but only as a last resort,” Elizabeth reminded Scott. “I need Cameron to have his brothers.”

“And you’re sure Morgan would be up for it? He just came home—”

“Yeah.” Elizabeth nodded. “I’m going to check with him tonight, but I know he’ll agree with me. The boys stay together.”

Nero House: Front Porch

Oscar’s face was filled with trepidation as he pulled open the door and found his father standing in front of him. “Hey. Hi. Um, hello,” he muttered, then looked down. “I thought you were going to wait for me to call you.”

“I am,” Drew assured him. “But I wanted to see your—” he paused. “Kim. I need to talk to her.”

“Oh.” Oscar frowned, turned around, then hollered towards the back of the house. “Kim! Hey, Kim! Uh, Drew is here to talk to you!”

Kim emerged from the kitchen, wiping her hands on the dish towel. “I think they heard you in Buffalo,” she said dryly as she approached them. She smiled nervously. “Drew. Uh. Come in.”

“Thanks.”

Oscar left the door open partially. “Is it still okay if I go over to Cam’s? He’s gonna help me with geometry.”

“Yeah, sure. Just call me when you get there, and let me know if you need a ride home. I don’t want you walking home after dark.”

Kim and Drew watched as Oscar pulled on a coat, grabbed his book bag, and closed the door behind him. “He’s really close to Cam, huh?” Drew asked.

“Yeah. It was a relief, honestly.” Kim tipped her head. “Come into the kitchen. I’m just doing the dishes from breakfast that I ignored all day.”

Drew started to follow her, then stopped as he passed a shelf on the wall filled with picture frames. Including one with his old face standing next to Kim on what had probably been their wedding day. And another of Drew in with a younger Oscar in matching tuxedos. Drew’s arm was slung around his son’s shoulders and they were both grinning.

“I love that picture of you two,” Kim murmured. “I felt like the luckiest woman in the world when I got the chance to be part of that family.”

“I guess I was the lucky one,” Drew murmured as he picked it up, studied it. The love the man in this picture felt for the boy he was holding was so clear that it nearly choked him. “Because Oscar hasn’t been alone.”

“Do you want that?” Kim asked. “Or a copy of it? I can give you—”

“Not—not yet.” Drew took a deep breath, set it back down, then followed her into the kitchen. He drew out the manila envelope and set it on the kitchen counter. She stared at it. “The divorce papers,” he said awkwardly. “I mean—”

“Right. Right.” Kim set the towel down and took the envelope, sliding the papers out to look at them. “Andrew Cain petitioning for dissolution of marriage from Kimberly Nero,” she murmured. Something skittered over her face—something that looked like pain.

“I’m sorry,” Drew said. “Maybe I should have had someone else—”

“No, this is—” Kim looked at him, her eyes shining, before she looked back down. “This is fine. I appreciate it. I know you’re doing the best you can with this. We’re all just—it’s—” Kim went to sit at the table in the nook of the kitchen, still staring at the page. “No fault divorce,” she continued. “Um…is there anything about custody—”

“I would never take Oscar from you,” Drew told her as he sat across from her. “You’ve done a great job with him. He’s a good kid, and the last five years are because of you—in fact, the last six and a half, right? Because I was in Afghanistan—”

Kim swiped at her face, then nodded. “Yeah, um. Eighteen months. You were going to be home soon. We thought so, anyway. And we’d talked about having more kids—” She squeezed her eyes shut. “Um, Oscar. He’s—he’s yours. And you should have your son. I just—I’ve been terrified since the minute I found out about you—that you’d come and take him away—you don’t know me—and you’re divorcing me—”

“I told you—” Drew leaned forward, covered her shaking hands with his, lacing their fingers together. Their eyes melt, held. “I am not taking Oscar from you. I want to know him. I want to do whatever I can to give him back his father because we both deserve that. And I want Oscar to know my family. But you are his mother, too, Kim. He obviously loves you.”

“Thank you.” Kim’s breath was shaky. “Thank you,”  she repeated. “For being so kind about it. I know you’re going through something similar with your—with Danny and Jake. And I hope Jason and your wife are being as kind as you are.”

“Well,” Drew shifted, uncomfortably. “We’re managing.” He nodded at the paperwork. “That is just basics. I didn’t ask for anything, and custody of Oscar stays with you until we decide to revisit it. As soon as my financial situation is dealt with, we’ll talk about support—”

“That’s not necessary—”

“It is,” Drew told her firmly. “Not just the right thing to do, but it’s also for Oscar—he’s entitled to it. I want to give it to him. Put it away for college or a car, or whatever. But he’s my son. I want him—and the world to know it.”

Davis House: Kitchen

“Didn’t you used to have an office?” Sam muttered but followed her mother. “Why did I have to come all the way over here? Give me my divorce papers—” She narrowed her eyes as Alexis reached for a canister of sugar. “Did you even finish them?”

“I did.”

Alexis opened her brief case, removed a stack of paper, and set them in front of her. “I wrote up three copies,” she told her daughter as Sam sat down. “This one—” She slid it across the table to Sam, “is what you asked for. The purchase price of Aurora, a year of operating costs, a trust fund for Danny, the title to the penthouse, and the request to terminate parental rights—”

“Great—”

“This one—” Alexis said, setting another sheaf on top of the first. “Deletes the custody request, suggesting that will be settled out of court by the parents.” Sam stared at it for a long moment, then looked at her mother. “And this last one—”

“What? Makes me pay Jason?” Sam muttered.

“No. This is an updated version of the divorce papers that you signed and filed in 2012. The divorce that was very nearly finalized five years ago.” Alexis sat down as Sam said nothing. “You’ve been here before, Sam. And I think we both know that what you’re doing isn’t going to bring anyone any relief.”

“Mom—”

“If you can tell me that you want Jason out of Danny’s life because of the danger, we can have that conversation. But Jason has been out of things for five years. With Jake back in his life, he might not be going back to work for Sonny. Have you discussed it with him?”

“No.” Sam closed her eyes. “No. I haven’t spoken to him since I ran into him outside on Halloween. That was the only time.” She looked away. “It’s not the danger. I knew who I was marrying every time I said yes when he asked. He was always the one that made that choice for me, Mom. You know that.”

“Then what is it? I can understand you wanting to stay with Drew.  You’ve been through a lot with him these last two years, and there’s Scout. You’ve built a relationship.” Alexis tipped her head. “But Jason doesn’t deserve to be cut out of Danny’s life without you even discussing it with him, does he?”

“Maybe he does,” Sam murmured. She focused on her mother. “Do you remember why you drew up these papers—” She tapped the bare-bones divorce agreement. “Why I was walking away from Jason?”

“Because of Danny.”

“Because of Danny. Jason couldn’t handle what Franco did to me. He wanted me to get an abortion—”

“Sam—”

“And I knew—I knew he couldn’t love my son the way he needed to.” Sam’s eyes burned. “Even when he told me he could—and I ended up at that motel—and I thought my baby was dead. I blamed him for it.”

“But Danny didn’t die—”

“No, I got a miracle, and Jason brought Danny back to me. But I think—” Sam exhaled slowly. “I think maybe I pushed it all away. The hurt I felt, the shame I felt for wanting to have my rapist’s child. It doesn’t matter that it wasn’t true, that Danny is Jason’s son.” She sat back. “Drew agrees with you. He thinks one day Danny is going to want to know why I cut Jason out.”

“And how are you going to answer that?” Alexis asked.

“I don’t know. I just—I know that Danny has everything he needs right now. That Drew loves him. Danny loves him. He loves Scout and he loves me. And our family is perfect just the way it is. There’s nothing Jason can add to Danny’s life that he isn’t already getting from Drew. I don’t see why I need to upset Danny to tell him he’s got another father when he doesn’t need Jason.” Sam shrugged. “It’s as simple as that for me. I’m his mother. Don’t I get to make that choice?”

“I think,” Alexis said, carefully, “you are very fortunate that Jason is unlikely to fight you on the custody agreement—”

“Exactly.” Sam nodded. “He didn’t fight for Jake, either. Jason’s fine when he’s around, but he doesn’t really show up—”

“He fought once,” Alexis said softly. “After raising Michael for a year because Carly asked him to, when AJ took him away, Jason went to court to get visitation and he won it.” Sam frowned at her, so Alexis continued, “Jason could have had court-ordered visitation with Michael, but he ended it after a few visits. Because he could see that Michael had a chance with AJ and Carly, and he didn’t want to confuse the little boy. He loved him enough to let him go. He will never drag a child through a custody case.”

“Since when did you turn into Jason’s biggest fan?” Sam demanded.

“I’m the lawyer who won those visitation rights,” Alexis told her. “Jason will always put the child first. Even if it hurts him. He thought Jake was better off with Elizabeth and Lucky. And he’d likely agree with you that Danny will be fine with you and Drew. Because the alternative is that he takes you to court, and Danny’s old enough to be asked in a court of law where he wants to live.”

Sam’s eyes burned. “He’d say me—he’d tell the judge me and Drew—he’d want us—”

“Maybe,” Alexis allowed. “But a judge might look at this situation and wonder why you’re doing this. Why you’re really doing this. I don’t doubt you have some unresolved issues from five years ago. But Jason just came home after being held prisoner for five years, most of which, I’m told, he spent in a drugged coma, unable to move. He lost five years of an already shortened life since the accident.”

“What’s going on?”

They both looked up to find Kristina in the doorway of the kitchen, her brows raised. “Why do you guys look so serious?”

“It’s nothing,” Alexis said briskly, shoving the papers into a folder. “We’re going over your sister’s divorce papers.”

“Divorce papers?” Kristina asked. “From Drew?”

“And from Jason,” Sam said with a sigh. “Our divorce wasn’t finalized before he went off the pier. It’s just a legal mess—and Drew was married to someone else. We’re just clearing the decks.”

“Okay,” Kristina said, drawing out the words. She looked back and forth between her mother and sister. “What are you doing about Danny?”

Sam shook her head. “I don’t want to get into this with you again, and besides, it’s really not any of your business—”

“Since when does that stop me?”

“Kristina,” Alexis said, her tone tinged with exhaustion. “Don’t start—”

“I’m not starting. I’m just asking my sister what she’s planning to do with custody of my nephew. The last time we talked about any of this, she was still pretending Drew was Jason.” Kristina met Sam’s eyes. “But you’re good at that, aren’t you?”

Sam frowned, not understanding the hostility that framed her sister’s words. “Good at—”

“Pretending. You used to be a con artist, didn’t you? Walking around, ruining people’s families?”

“Kristina—”

“That—” Sam took a deep breath. “That was a long time ago—”

“Not as long as you think. Hey, Mom—” Kristina jerked her eyes away from Sam to glare at Alexis. “Why did you divorce Ric again?”

A chill slithered down Sam’s spine. “Krissy—”

“Because I bet it had something to do with her sleeping with him.” Kristina shrugged. “Just one more family for her to destroy—”

“Kristina—” Alexis put up a hand. “Where—how—”

“She testified about it in open court on the news,” Kristina said scathingly. She glared at Sam again. “Someone sent me a clip.”

“That was a long time ago,” Sam repeated.

“Not long enough.” Kristina tossed her hair over her shoulder, her eyes burning into Sam’s. “What kind of person are you? How can you stand there and take Jason’s son away from him after what you’ve done?”

“I’m not—” Sam’s voice faltered. “That’s not what—it’s not the same, Krissy—”

“You took Molly’s father away from her. And from me. What did you do to make him forget us? To make him hurt Mom and us like that?”

“I didn’t—” Sam’s entire body felt numb. “I didn’t do—”

“Really? He just woke up that day and decided to have an affair with his stepdaughter?” Kristina retorted.

“Kristina,” Alexis said sharply. “Stop this. You’ve been around long enough to know that Ric Lansing doesn’t have much of a moral compass—”

“No, I guess he and Sam were perfect for each other.” Kristina huffed. “Jason was in a coma for five years, Sam. He spent half the time you were together rescuing you from whatever dumb thing you were doing that week. Maybe he wasn’t always the best guy in the world, but what the hell is your damage that you can do this after everything he’s been through? You’re barely even letting the ink dry on those DNA results and you’re demanding he cut himself out of Danny’s life? That’s why Mom’s been pissy with you, why she made you come over here, isn’t it?”

“Krissy, just let me explain—”

“No. Because that’s how you convince all your marks that you’re telling the truth. There’s nothing to explain. You destroyed my family, and now you’re trying to hurt Jason because you’re selfish. Nothing new there.”

Kristina shoved her way out of the kitchen as Sam and Alexis just stared after her in silence.

“Sam,” Alexis said finally. “She’ll come around—”

Sam exhaled. “But she’s not wrong,” she murmured. “He just came home. This is a lot to ask of him right now. I think—I need more time. Drew—we’ll file his divorce from Kim and the one from each other, but let’s just—” She pushed the papers towards her mother. “Let me just think this over a little more, I guess.”

“That’s all I wanted.” Alexis paused. “I don’t blame you for Ric, Sam.”

Sam’s smile was devoid of humor as she met her mother’s eyes. “You’ve had longer to let it go. I remember how much Kristina loved him.” It was why she’d gone after Ric. She’d wanted to hurt Alexis. She’d wanted to twist the knife and destroy their family. How could she blame Kristina for just seeing the truth of who Sam really was?

Webber Home: Living Room

“In ten minutes, I’m turning off the wifi on every single device you own!” Elizabeth called up the stairs. “Yes, even you, Cameron!”

There was a chorus of groans and protests even as Elizabeth smirked, stepping down from the stairs towards the sofa. “They always think I’ll forget,” she said as she sat down next to Jason. “Thank God I didn’t have social media in high school. I probably would have thrown myself out the window.”

“I stopped listening to Spinelli with all of that a long time ago,” Jason admitted. “Every time he talked, he’d say something else I’d never heard before, and I just—” He shook his head. “I couldn’t keep up.”

“I keep trying, but there’s always something new. First, I figured out MySpace, then Facebook, and just when I figured out what the hell Twitter did, there was SnapChat and Vine—” Elizabeth picked up her phone. “I gave up. Anyway, I found out today that I was able to get Thanksgiving off. We used to go to my grandmother’s—” She hesitated as the loss cut sharply again. “But she’s…gone. And Laura’s going to London to see Lucky. She’s taking Lulu and her kids—thank God.”

“No Charlotte then,” Jason said. “Aiden said something earlier.”

“Yeah, he thinks Christmas came early. Anyway, I asked Monica what she was doing, and she invited us to the mansion.” Elizabeth bit her lip. “She said she was going to ask you, but I figured you were going to Sonny and Carly’s—”

“Monica did ask, and I told her I’d come. I have to go to Sonny’s because Carly will storm the mansion if I don’t,” Jason said with a wince, and Elizabeth smirked. “But yeah, I, uh, don’t think I’ve been to the Quartermaines for Thanksgiving…ever. So it should be interesting.”

“I’m looking forward to finding out how we’re going to end up eating pizza, to be honest.” Elizabeth leaned forward to grab a folder off the table. “There’s something I wanted to run by you. I talked to Scott today about updating my will—”

“Your will—” Jason blinked at her. “Why?”

“I hadn’t done it since before Gram died, and I just—the thing is, I always left custody of the boys to her. Because I didn’t want Laura or Monica to split them up—” She bit her lip. “And, uh, Drew knew that I didn’t want Jake living with Sam.”

Jason exhaled slowly and Elizabeth was grateful that he didn’t press her on that. “Okay.”

“Anyway—I thought—” Elizabeth twisted her hands together. “I know it’s a lot to ask, but of course you’d get custody of Jake. I just—”

“You want the boys to stay together if anything happened to you,” Jason finished.

“Yes. I talked to Laura. She’s okay with it, and Lucky can have a say when he starts paying child support,” Elizabeth said. “Until then, it’s my decision since I have full custody. So, if it’s okay with you, I told Scott to name you as guardian for all three of them. In the unlikely event that I even have to worry about it.”

“Oh.” Jason blinked at her. “I didn’t—”

“It’s a lot to take on,” she hurried, “and they’ve got trust funds from Gram—I made sure their inheritance went right into the bank for when they’re eighteen, and maybe I should have talked to you before Scott—”

“Elizabeth—” Jason held up a hand. “Of course you can put me down as guardian for Cameron and Aiden. I don’t want to ever have to handle that situation,” he added, “but the boys should be together. I’ll make sure that happens.”

“Good. Good.” She flashed him a faint smile. “Thanks. I hate to even talk about it, but it just makes sense—oh, I almost forgot.” She went over to a bag hanging up with the coats and drew out a folder. “I wanted to wait until the boys were upstairs because I didn’t want to get into this around them, but Lucky emailed me—”

Elizabeth handed it to him. “It’s the Cassadine genealogy he put together to start tracking down relatives. He said he and Luke were still on Faison’s trail, but he was going to keep his ear to the ground for anyone he’s missed.”

Jason flipped through the paperwork. “This matches mostly what Spinelli put together,” he said after a few minutes. “It’s not that long—”

“No, a lot of Cassadines died without male heirs. Stefan never had any children that we know about, and Victor only has Nathan West.” When Jason frowned, Elizabeth continued, “Dante’s partner at the PCPD. He’s Victor and Liesl Obrecht’s son. It’s a long story. Then there was Victor’s brother, Tony. But he and Alexandra Quartermaine accidentally froze themselves to death a few days before Mikkos died. The line’s been dying out for a few decades, Lucky said. It’s really just Spencer, Valentin, Charlotte, and a couple of scattered cousins out in Greece.”

“So we’re back to Valentin Cassadine,” Jason said, closing the folder. “Do you think he’s the Cassadine Maddox was talking about?”

“Maybe. Probably. But he just seemed so much more cryptic than that, and I still don’t understand why Valentin would send Ava to the same clinic where you were being kept.” Elizabeth drew a leg up on the sofa, making a face. “And they’re Cassadines, you know. Helena died at least three times before she finally died for real. You weren’t even around for the second and third time Stavros Cassadine came back, and while I’m pretty sure Nikolas is dead—they never found his body.” Though she didn’t really believe that. Nikolas would have come home by now if he’d been able.

“Not that finding a body means a lot when it comes to the Cassadines,” Jason muttered.

“I’m sorry. I wish this was more helpful.”

“It’s fine. I’ll get Spinelli to do a check on the cousins, and we’ll keep our eye on Valentin here in Port Charles.” He paused. “It’s okay,” he repeated. “What they did to me and Drew, to Jake—it wasn’t planned overnight, so we’re not going to have the answers right away.”

“I know. It doesn’t make it easier,” Elizabeth said. “But I just need to know Jake is safe. That the Cassadines can’t come back and do this to another generation. I don’t want Spencer or my boys fighting these battles the way Lucky and I have our entire lives. I want to be done with them.”

“We will be,” Jason promised.

Devane Manor: Living Room

“Let me get this straight.”

Drew glared at the pair of WSB agents in front of him. “Andre is going to be transferred to a cushy WSB facility where he’s not going to be charged with anything, and you’re going to let him continue his research because you’re hoping he comes clean with the truth?”

“Well, when you put it that way,” Robert began with a wince, “it doesn’t sound that great. Anna—you explain it to him. It sounds better when you tell it.”

Anna arched a slim brow at her ex-husband. “Yes, well, the accent can put a bit of polish on any pile of rubbish, but I’m with Drew on this one, darling. This is a terrible deal.”

“Thank you.” Drew folded his arms. “I thought you said Frisco Jones wanted to redeem the honor of the WSB. How is this doing that—”

“Because—” Anna put a hand. “Because you’re right. This is a terrible deal, but it does not change the fact that Andre Maddox knows where many of the dead bodies are buried. Quite  literally. He’s also told us that the records of the experiments—including your memories—are gone.”

Drew’s stomach sank. “They are—”

“Which I don’t buy for a second,” Robert declared. “He spent more than five years putting this project together—and he stayed on it after Helena Cassadine died in 2015. Either he was running the show after she was gone and holding Morgan hostage in Russia, or there’s another person behind all of this—”

“Well, duh,” Anna said, rolling her eyes. “We know that the big bad is Valentin Cassadine, but we cannot prove it. All we really have is Valentin’s knowledge of the clinic’s existence which does not translate into knowledge of all that transpired between its walls. Maddox refuses to admit anyone other than Helena and Victor were involved. Which means he’s too terrified to tell us the truth or he believes that Valentin can still give him something.” She looked to Drew again. “We need to buy time, Drew. Either for Andre to trust us to keep him safe or to find some new leverage to force the truth out of him.”

Drew scrubbed his hands over his face. “This is insane. This agency stole my life—”

“I know—”

“Do you? Because I have a son I don’t know, and two more sons that aren’t mine—and I’ve got a brother I never knew about who lost five years of his damn life—at least I got to walk around for three of those years!” Drew retorted. “Do you know what it’s like to be locked up inside your own body, unable to move?”

“Actually, we both do. I’ve given up quite a bit for the WSB,” Anna told him. “We sacrificed most of our daughter’s life for this agency, and nearly lost our own in the process. Frisco gave up his family to work for the WSB. To think that Victor Cassadine and his minions did this to you under the aegis of this agency we’ve shed so much blood for—” She took a deep breath. “I’m sorry, Drew. I wish I could hand you a folder full of answers right now. I simply can’t. This is the best I can do.”

“For now,” Robert stressed. “We’re still searching for Maddox’s files and contacts. We’re not giving up on knowing more. And if there are Cassadines out there, well, you know Luke Spencer will track them down. It’s in the blood, you know. Spencer’s got a nose for this kind of crap. Whether we come at it from Valentin or from Maddox—we will make it right.”

“There is no making this right,” Drew said with a scowl. “So just focus on making it over. That’s the least you can do.”