Tell me your secrets
And ask me your questions
Oh, let’s go back to the start
Running in circles, coming up tails
Heads on a science apart
Nobody said it was easy
It’s such a shame for us to part
Nobody said it was easy
No one ever said it would be this hard
Oh, take me back to the start
– The Scientist, Coldplay

---

June 2017

General Hospital: Andre’s Office

“Do you have a minute?”

Andre’s head snapped up the sound of Elizabeth’s voice. The nurse was standing in the doorway, exhausted. “Elizabeth—I heard—” He crossed the room to take her hand. “I’m so sorry about your grandmother.”

“Thank you.” Elizabeth’s lips stretched into a hesitant smile. “She lived a long, amazing life, and went peacefully in her sleep. It’s all we could hope for. Um—I needed—” She took a deep breath. “After what happened at the Nurse’s Ball, and now losing Gram—”

“What can I do for you?” Andre asked, guiding her to the chair, ignoring the pain in his chest as he thought about how close Jake had come to disaster. He’d known his fail safe would hold—but damn Valentin for wanting glory and using the boy to do it.

“Jake. He’s struggling. All my boys are—Gram was our rock, you know? But Jake—after the Nurse’s Ball—it’s too much. I’m worried that Helena did more to him. And I’m worried he’s not doing that well.” Elizabeth laced her fingers together, twisting them. “He’s okay when he’s with the boys. Cam is amazing with him, and most of the time, I think he’s adjusting. There’s been so much change lately.”

“Tell me about it,” Andre suggested, leaning against the desk.

“Well, everything that happened last year with the lying he did trying to bring his father back home—” Elizabeth’s face flushed. “Then we lost the house. And Paul pushed me down the stairs—I almost died. That was hard on all of them. And learning Hayden was my sister—Tom Baker—” She looked away. “Franco moved in a few weeks ago, and that’s…been a weird adjustment.”

“Franco,” Andre repeated, thinking of his own patient. Of what he knew about Franco’s past.

The secrets he held about Patient Four.

“Was that a good idea?”

“I thought it was. Franco was kind to Jake. They’ve always connected, but it’s been different. I didn’t even have a chance to settle in before the Nurse’s Ball, and now my Gram—” She closed her eyes. “It’ll be fine. It’ll smooth out.” With a deep breath, she opened her eyes and focused on Andre. “But that’s not why I’m here. I came to ask you if you’ll talk to Jake. Maybe see him a few times. Just to get a sense of what I can’t. What I’m not trained to.”

“Of course,” Andre promised. He squeezed her hand. “Anything you need.”

Wednesday, December 20, 2017

Kelly’s: Dining Room

“Well, I’m glad that you’re happy with the new arrangements,” Scott said as he took the newly executed version of Elizabeth’s will and tucked it into his briefcase. “I, uh, also talked to my son. I hope you’ve noticed he’s…not lurking the way he was before.”

“If he has been,” Elizabeth said, sipping her hot chocolate, “he’s not making himself known to me or to Felix, who always seemed to catch him before.” She made a face. “Look, Scott, about all of that—”

“We go through phases,” Scott said. “When we think that someone is the right person for us. Sometimes they are, you know, for a minute. To get us through something bad. Or tell us something about ourselves.” He picked up his coffee. “I had quite a few disastrous relationships myself. And only maybe two or three that really mattered.”

“Maybe. The more time passes,” Elizabeth admitted, “the less I really understand how I managed to spend an entire year thinking dating your son was a good idea. But you’re right. Franco and I connected when I didn’t feel like there was anyone else who understood me.” She pressed her lips together. “Speaking of disastrous relationships—”

“I wondered,” Scott said, his eyes sparkling with a bit of mischief, “if you were gonna be doing a little investigative work for the brothers Morgan. Or the brothers Quartermaine.”

“Well, obviously, you know Drew and Curtis Ashford have been trying to get a meeting with you about Susan Moore.” Elizabeth lifted her brows. “Why are you ducking them?”

“Because I’m not especially proud of that time of my life,” Scott admitted. “And to look at Drew—or Jason—and talk about being married to Susan, being maybe the reason that she ended up dead—”

“Scott—”

He stared down into his coffee, then wrinkled his nose. “I stole money from the trust fund, Elizabeth. I married her for it, I stole it, and then she tried to recoup her losses by blackmailing the Quartermaines again. She got murdered for it. What good does it do to bring this up now?”

“Because if you do feel guilty about it,” Elizabeth said, gently, “then maybe you owe it to them to do whatever you can to help. You might not know anything, but you were married to their mother. You knew Jason as a baby—”

“Yeah, ain’t that a wild thing?” Scott murmured. “He was a cute kid, and Susan—look, she might not have been the best person, but she was a damn good mother. And if she’d known there was a second kid—she’d have gone to hell and back for Drew.” He hesitated. “Especially if it meant going back to the Quartermaines for a legitimate money demand.”

“The thing is that Drew and Curtis think there’s some evidence that Susan was aware there were twins. Curtis found the original birth certificate that Susan signed — she named Jason and Drew. Then Drew is gone by the time Susan brought Jason back to Port Charles.”

“She never—” Scott frowned. “She named them?” He stroked his chin. “She never talked much about those few weeks, just that the labor was hard, and Heather hadn’t been much help. Which makes sense, I guess, since she was arranging to dump our kid on some crazy nurse—”

“And that’s another part of the story that doesn’t line up. Supposedly, Betsy was the nurse at the birth, and Heather gave Drew to her—but they didn’t know each other. Why would Heather give her own child to a woman she’d never met before? She gave up Steven, and I think it was one of the reasons she went off the rails. She’s been obsessive about him—and Franco—ever since.

“Yeah, you’re not kidding. Susan always said she might want more kids one day but she wasn’t sure she was up to it, you know. And after she threw me out—” Scott clenched his jaw. “She talked about getting the money back. That’s how Tolliver got involved. They were going to blackmail the Quartermaines about Lila’s first marriage. Tolliver claimed she backed out at the last minute.”

“And that was enough to kill her?” Elizabeth shook her head. “That doesn’t really make sense to me.”

“I guess—well, it was a lot back then. Robert was looking daggers at all of us—Alan, Edward, Monica, Christ, not even Lila was safe, and it went without question Heather and I were the primary suspects. Heather never forgave Susan for marrying me. We were all relieved to have it done, and Tolliver died after confessing but before Robert could really dig into his story—” Scott shook his head. “How can any of this help now, Elizabeth?”

“Because it seems like there were only three people in the entire world who knew Susan had twin boys. Heather, Betsy—and Victor Cassadine.”

“And Victor not only knew there were twins, he knew where to find the other kid.” Scott nodded. “Okay, I get it—”

“And Drew was dumped at the group home a month after Susan died. Susan left her estate to her descendants. Plural, Scott. And she updated that will just before she died.”

“You think that maybe Susan was killed to keep Drew from showing up in Port Charles?” Scott shook his head. “No way. The only people who didn’t want another bastard Quartermaine was—well, it was just Monica. And I can’t—”

“Scott?” she asked when he didn’t continue. “What is it?”

“Monica was cold to Jason at first,” Scott said slowly. “Ice cold. Alan nearly lost Jason to the state after Susan died because Monica wouldn’t let Jason come live up the house.  He was at the gatehouse with a nanny. Alan tried to force the matter, and Monica left him. She didn’t want Jason anywhere near her own son.”

“She’s mentioned that, but I didn’t realize it was that bad—”

“And she also came back because Alan promised her there’d be no more children. He didn’t stop having affairs, but to the best of my knowledge, he never had any other children. I don’t see Alan dumping his own kid in a group home—”

“No, Monica wouldn’t do it either,” Elizabeth insisted. “Look, this is stupid—”

“Really?” Scott lifted his brows. “You don’t think it’s possible that Susan went to Monica with the news about Drew and demanded a hefty payday, maybe even promised to leave town for good with Jason?”

“Monica would have paid it—”

“You didn’t know Monica and Alan back then,” Scott told her. “We were all pretty bad, but the two of them were toxic. I’ll never understand how they managed to last or didn’t kill each other. Monica today? No. She’d have accepted Drew into the family. But Monica back then didn’t give a damn if Jason went to a group home. Why would she care if Drew did?”

Penthouse: Living Room

Sam didn’t know exactly who she was expecting to see when she opened the door late that morning, but her back-from-the-dead husband was probably the last person on the list.

Sam blinked at him, taking in the the first full vision of Jason she’d had since that terrible night at the PCPD more than six weeks earlier.  He looked older, she realized with a start. There was more gray at his temple than she’d remembered—more lines around his eyes—but he was Jason. The face she’d thought gone forever.

“Jason.” She stepped back, gestured for him to come in. “I, uh, I wasn’t expecting you. I—I know you’re sort of working with Drew on everything, but he’s at Aurora—”

“Yeah, I know that,” Jason said, sliding his hands into the pockets of his jeans as he looked around the penthouse, furrowing his brow at the dining table where his pool table had once sat.

“It was in storage,” Sam said, and he looked at her. “All of your, um, stuff. I mean, the furniture that was here then. The bike, too,” she added. “Drew—well, when we thought he was you—he wanted a new start. I’d—I’d give it to you, but there was a pipe burst and we ended up having to clear it all out.”

Jason took a deep breath. “Oh. Thank you. For letting me know. That’s not why I came, but—it’s good to know.”

“Why did you come then?”

“That first night, you made it clear that you were going to stay with Drew.”

“Oh.” Sam exhaled slowly. Was he here to change her mind? Maybe all that time spent with Elizabeth had reminded Jason that he’d once picked Sam instead of the other woman. What would she say to him? How would she turn him down?  “Well, it was—it was a lot, Jason. You know—and I couldn’t just—everyone was abandoning Drew. I had to—”

“I get it. You did what was right for you,” Jason said. He met her eyes. “But we’ve been avoiding the question for almost two months. Drew asked me if you’d talked to me about a divorce.”

Sam’s nostrils flared. “He did what? Why? When?”

“It doesn’t matter. I was waiting for you because I thought, well you’re the one who has to change her life. Your name. And decide what to do here—” He glanced around the penthouse. “I didn’t think it was fair to ask you to do that until you were ready.”

“Oh.” Brightening, Sam nodded. “I appreciate that. It has been a lot. With Danny—”

“But I can’t wait anymore.”

Jason spoke as if Sam hadn’t been in the middle of a sentence, and she frowned at him. “I’m sorry—”

“I’m not just trying to find out what happened to me,” Jason told her. “Or to Drew. I’m rebuilding my life. And that means I have to make choices. We might have stayed together five years ago, Sam, but we wouldn’t have lasted.”

Sam stared at him. “But you—you asked me to come back—”

“I brought Danny to you because I wanted you to be okay, and I knew that it was partly my fault Heather were able to kidnap him,” Jason continued. “But that was five years ago, Sam. You’ve moved on. With Danny and Scout, and Drew. I don’t want to get in the way of that—”

“It sounds like you didn’t even want me back then much less now,” Sam said, crossing her arms.  The absolute nerve—what the hell was wrong with him?

“I think the time when we were good for each other is over,” Jason told her, gently. “And it’s been over for a lot longer than either of us want to admit. So I think we need to get your mother and Diane in a room together to get this done.”

“You’re asking me for a divorce?” Sam demanded, stunned. “How—how can you do this—”

“Because it’s time,” Jason said. “Let Diane know what you’re thinking about Danny, the penthouse, the accounts, and we’ll get it done—”

“Danny doesn’t know you,” Sam said flatly. “You have no right to ask for anything—”

Jason stared at her for a long moment, and her cheeks flushed. “I’m just saying—”

“I don’t know what you want me to do, Sam. I didn’t know he was mine when I went off the pier. When I came home. I don’t know him now. I’d like to know him—”

“It shouldn’t have mattered if he had your blood or not!” Sam shot back. “You should have loved him because he was mine! You think I don’t know how you are with Elizabeth’s boys? With Carly’s kids? You don’t treat Cam or Aiden any differently than Jake. Why couldn’t you love Danny?”

“I didn’t handle any of that right or well,” Jason replied, his tone subdued. “And I made everything harder for you by not being supportive. I can’t change that now.”

“Don’t you dare stand here now and act like you’re sorry—”

“You don’t have to accept the apology, Sam. All I can do is offer it. And we still have a problem. Danny knows he’s Jason Morgan’s son. That Jake is his brother. Right now, he thinks Drew is his father—”

“Drew is his father—in every way that matters—” Sam turned around and yanked the door open. “You don’t get to walk in here five years after all of this happened, and get to play Daddy. I’m not Elizabeth. You don’t get to walk in and out of my son’s life on a whim—”

“Sam—”

“I’ll have my mother get in touch with the divorce papers I already drew up. I was ready a month ago,” Sam snapped. “I was giving you time, but I guess we’re done with that now.”

Aurora Media: Drew’s Office

“I’m sorry to bother you,” Elizabeth began, but Drew was already up and out of his seat, crossing the room to usher into his office and closing the door behind her.

“You’re definitely not bothering me. You said on the phone that you’d talked to Scott this morning.” He walked over to the sofa, gesturing for her to sit. “You want coffee or something?”

“No. I just—I want to tell you what he told me but I’m not—” Elizabeth paused. “Drew, sit—”

Worried about the tone in her voice, Drew obeyed. “What’s wrong?”

“Scott agrees with Curtis—and you. There’s no way Susan would have known about you and not tried to use it. He just—he added some information about what was going on back then that I’m not sure if you or Jason ever knew it.” She bit her lip. “After Susan was murdered, Alan took custody of Jason. He put him in the gatehouse with a nanny because Monica refused to have him at the house.”

“I did know—I knew that. I think. Monica talked about it after the accident. When she was trying to explain to me—to Jason,” Drew corrected with a wince, “that blood didn’t make a family.”

“At some point, the state got involved because Jason was basically without a parent or guardian most of the time,” Elizabeth continued. “They threatened to take him away. To put him in a home.”

Drew frowned. “Is that when Monica decided to adopt—”

“No. Alan brought him to the house, and Monica left him. She took AJ and left. It was that bad with them. I don’t know what changed her mind, what brought her around because by the time I knew her, you’d never guess Jason wasn’t hers.”

“Right. Right.” Then it sunk in what Elizabeth was suggesting. “Wait.”

“Scott seems to think—though he was reluctant to say so—that if you think you were dumped by someone related to your mother’s murder, it was either Heather or someone who didn’t want you to be found. It could still be Heather,” Elizabeth reminded him. “But if Susan did know about you—which her will suggests—she might not have gone to Alan.”

“She might have gone to Monica and made her demands. Give me money and we’ll all go away. One kid from the affair is one thing, but twins—” Drew swallowed. “Scott thinks Susan tried to use me as leverage, and Monica killed her. Then arranged for me to dumped in the home so that no one would ever find me.”

“I—” Elizabeth sighed. “I know how it sounds and I don’t believe it, except—”

“Except if she was willing to let Jason get taken the state, knowing that Alan loved him—why would she care what happened to a kid Alan didn’t know about?” Drew cleared his throat. “What do you think?”

“I think,” Elizabeth said slowly, “that you’re traveling down a road that you might not want want to be on. We wanted to find out how Victor knew about you. I don’t think Susan’s murder is going to answer that question.”

“You think Monica did this. That she abandoned me.” Drew pushed himself up and walked away, towards the office. “Could she be capable of this?”

“Not the woman we know. But Scott has a point. Monica was a different person back then. Drew—”

“You’re right. If I go down this road—” Drew turned to face her. “I need to be sure I want the answers. I—” He took a deep breath. “I need to think. Can we—can we keep this between us for right now?”

“Of course.” Elizabeth paused. “What about Jason?”

“I—I know you don’t want to lie to him. Or keep things from him. I just—” Drew paused. “Can you tell him that Scott had a few theories, and that I wanted to think about what I want to do about it? If he wants more, then that’s fine. But it’s bad enough I have this in my head, I don’t think Jason needs it, too.”

“Thank you. I won’t volunteer it, but if he asks, I’ll tell him. I’m glad you’re both doing better with this.”

“Well, you don’t always have to like your family, but knowing what you’ve gone through with yours—” Their eyes met. “It’d be stupid to turn them away when they’re trying.”

She got to her feet. “I’ll see you at the meeting then—” When Drew looked at her blankly, she continued. “The one with Lucky and Luke?”

“Oh. Right. I think I need to sit with this for a while. You and Jason—you guys are on this. And I know you’ve got my back. Can you handle it? I just—”

“Of course. Let me know if I can do anything.” Elizabeth hugged him briefly. “I’ll see you later.”

“See you later.”

Metro Court: Lobby

Carly stepped out of the back offices and saw her least favorite person on the planet standing by the bank of elevators. Well, her least favorite person in the state of New York. Robin was still living in California, thank God.

Deciding it was a good a time as any to try out the kinder, gently Carly, she walked over and plastered a fake smile on her face. “Nelle.”

Nelle turned to look at her, furrowing her brow slightly. She looked around her. “Uh, Carly. What can I do for you?”

“Well.” Carly took a deep breath. “I was thinking maybe we should try to get along—and I know at this point, it’s me. And I’m right, you know. That doesn’t matter, but it’s important that we both know I’m right to hate the sight of you.”

“You have your reasons which I accept,” Nelle said. “But—”

“But Michael is my son, and things with him are hard enough without picking fights that—well, fights that I’m not going to win. Because I think you are a mistake. Everything about you is a mistake,” Carly said flatly. “And one day he will regret knowing you—”

Nelle rolled her eyes. “God, Carly, if this is your idea of playing nice—”

“I intend to play nice,” Carly assured her. “But I just don’t want you to think I’ve changed my mind about you. I just don’t plan to make it Michael’s problem anymore. He’ll see you for who you are before you know it, and be rid of you. There’s no point in ruining my relationship with him—”

“Oh, well, then you are going to be really disappointed,” Nelle said, coolly. “Because he just asked me to move in with him.”

Carly stared at her nemesis, then shook her head. “No. No, he didn’t. Don’t—”

“You know my building is going condo, and he offered to help me with the down payment, but I told him no. I couldn’t dream of taking a loan from him. To mix money like that—” Nelle smiled sweetly. “But then he decided that we should live together. He’s going to leave the mansion and we’re going to buy my condo together. A mortgage. Together.” Nelle clasped her hands together, her eyes lit with happiness. “It’s like all my dreams are coming true—”

Carly hissed. “The hell they are! You are not going to sign a single piece of paper with my son! Why are you doing this? You’re going to ruin his life—”

“Now, Carly—”

“I can’t believe you’re doing this to me. To him! You don’t love him. You just want to use him.” Carly stepped towards him, stabbing a finger in Nelle’s face. “I swear to God, if you hurt my son—”

“Mom!”

Carly closed her eyes, turned to find Michael behind her, then looked back at Nelle whose facial expression had changed from glee to teary-eyed.

Oh, this bitch—

“What the hell are you doing?” Michael demanded, striding to Nelle’s side and sliding an arm around her waist. “Are you okay?” he asked her.

“I was just trying to tell your mother we should try to do better for you,” Nelle said, her voice trembling. “That I didn’t want to fight anymore even though I know I deserve all her hatred—”

“Not all of it. Mom—” Michael looked at Carly who was seething.

“That is a complete lie!” she declared. “I came over to her wanting to get along better for your sake!”

“Oh, is that what I just overheard?” Michael demanded. “Is this anything like the crap you pulled on Elizabeth?”

“No, it’s not anything—” Carly almost stomped her foot. “Damn it, Michael, listen to me! She was telling me you’re moving into her condo, and I just—”

“I’m not moving in with her—” Michael looked at Nelle with a frown as the redhead’s face turned bewildered.

“I don’t know what she’s talking about,” Nelle said. “She brought up the condo from the last time she—the last time we talked,” she said, and Carly narrowed her eyes. The bitch had corrected herself to be more polite, but had pretended to slip and remind Michael of the last public argument.

Oh, damn it to hell—

“Michael, I swear to you—” Carly said, her eyes wide.

“Don’t bother,” Michael snapped. “You always promise to do better, Mom, but you never do. You never know when to quit. I get that you don’t like Nelle. I never asked you to. You don’t need to create scenes and lie about her—”

“Michael—”

“Let’s go,” he told her. “We’ll go to Kelly’s for lunch.”

“Michael, wait—”

But her son was gone, the little she-bitch right with her. Carly stared after them in horror. She’d told the absolute truth and Michael hadn’t believed her.

Webber House: Front Porch

Sonny frowned as Jason took out a key and slid into the lock. “You have a key?” he asked as Jason pushed the door open.

“Yeah, I pick up Jake from school, I told you that.” Behind them, a car pulled into the driveway, and Elizabeth got out of the driver’s side, Laura the passenger side. At the curb, a second car drove up. Jason clenched his jaw as Luke and Lucky Spencer got out.

“Well, the gang’s all here,” Sonny murmured.

“Hey,” Jason said as Elizabeth and Laura approached, ignoring Sonny. He frowned when Elizabeth avoided his eyes. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

Elizabeth glanced at Luke and Lucky who were drawing closer, then shook her head. “We’ll talk later,” she promised.

“Jason,” Luke said, with some reluctance. Jason leveled a malevolent glare at the older man. Luke might have given him his first job after the accident, but he’d also been driving the car that had hit Jake.

Jake being alive now would never make that night go away.

“Hey, Jason,” Lucky said, his own expression worn and exhausted. “Uh, good to see you, I guess.” He leaned over to kiss his mother’s cheek, then Elizabeth’s. “Where’s Aiden?”

“Cameron took them to the rummage sale,” Elizabeth said, going into the house with the rest of the group following her. “I thought it would be best if they weren’t around for all of this. You can catch up with them later.”

Not missing the fact that Lucky had only asked about Aiden, while Elizabeth had stressed the plurality, Jason found himself disliking Lucky Spencer even more than he had this morning—which he hadn’t thought possible.

“You said you had some news on Faison?” Laura asked briskly as she went into Elizabeth’s kitchen and started a pot of coffee. “That’s why you came all this way, isn’t it? It certainly wasn’t to see your daughter or grandchildren at Christmas.”

“Angel—” Luke said, putting up his hands. “Don’t start—”

“We never managed to catch up with Faison in person,” Lucky said. He sat at the table in Elizabeth’s kitchen. “But we found his daughter.”

“The Britch?” Elizabeth asked, with a sour expression.

Luke smirked. “Yeah, she sends her regards.”

“The Britch?” Jason echoed.

“Britta Westbourne,” Elizabeth said with a sour expression. “She started working at GH a few weeks before your…before,” she settled on, “but I didn’t really get to know her until she was dating Patrick. She, uh, stole Lulu’s embryo, pretended it was Patrick’s kid, then said it was someone else’s until it turned out it was Dante and Lulu’s. She almost married Nikolas, and I think—” She frowned. “She’s on the run for helping Spencer fake his disappearance, isn’t she?”

“I think that’s it,” Laura said. “So what did Britt have to say?”

“Not much at first,” Lucky said. “But we managed to convince her that the WSB could hide her more effectively than Faison who abandoned her about six weeks ago. Around the time—” Lucky nodded at Jason. “Around the time you popped up here in Port Charles, Faison apparently got very antsy and split.”

“Well, that doesn’t give us anything,” Sonny complained. “Faison knew we’d be coming for him. He’s the one that shot Jason in the first place—”

“Britt told she spent a few months,” Luke said, “working at a clinic in St. Petersburg.” He looked at Jason. “Laura said you were awake for about six months before you escaped. Is that right?”

“Yeah, I think so,” Jason. “I can’t be sure. I tried to mark the days the best I could—the first few weeks, they didn’t know I was awake yet, but I think it was around June when they put me in the wheelchair.” He didn’t like thinking about those dark weeks, when he could see, when he could think and feel, but he couldn’t move. Couldn’t leave.

The only way to mark the days changing had been waiting for dim lights out the window of his room.

“I thought Robert and Anna were gonna come,” Luke said. “We need to start putting all of this together, and figuring out what was Faison, what was Cassadine, what was WSB—there are too many strands, and too many people going off in different directions—”

“You are not in charge,” Sonny began hotly but Jason put up his hand, nodded.

“You’re right,” he told Luke. “And it started that way because Drew and I couldn’t be in the same room together. That’s not true anymore. But the problem is that there are too many loose threads. Too many things that could give us pieces of the story. So you might not like that it’s all over the place, but it’s staying that way.”

“Anna is working on another angle,” Laura said, “and Robert is moving Maddox to his new lab. She said that when she had what she needed, she’d be in touch. And I think Spinelli is—” She frowned.

“At the rummage sale with Georgie and Maxie,” Jason said. “It’s the holidays and he’s uprooted his whole life to do this. We don’t need everyone in the same room, Luke, at the same time.”

“Let’s start at the beginning of what we know,” Elizabeth suggested, hoping to get the conversation back on track. “We’ve found out that Susan Moore probably knew she’d given birth to twins, but at some point she either thought Drew was dead or lost track of where he was. And it matters—” she said, anticipating Luke’s objection, “because we need to figure out at what point Victor found out Drew existed, so we started at the beginning. Drew was living with Betsy Frank, but he was dumped at a group home in Rochester a month after Susan’s death.”

“Drew and Curtis,” Elizabeth said, “are working on that.” She looked to Jason and Sonny. “You said Spinelli had started to fill in some information about the clinic and Andre.”

“Yeah, the clinic is an old KGB front for experiments,” Sonny said. “It switched over to the DVX—Anna confirmed that for us. She remembers it from a few missions,” he added. “This ties Valentin to the clinic—”

“And Faison and Obrecht,” Luke told him. “They were both DVX with Victor back in the day. After Victor got out of jail, he joined up. DVX went underground after the fall of the Soviets, but it’s likely that Helena took some of them under her wing—like Faison and Obrecht, while Victor and a lot of the researchers went to the WSB.”

“I can’t believe they were working with the DVX,” Laura muttered. “After all the damned trouble we went to bring them down—”

“It’s no different than German scientists working the atom bomb, Darlin’. Some scientists don’t care much about the guy in charge, only that someone is writing the checks. If you’re looking for another doctor, Obrecht is a good bet—”

“It’s a shame she’s currently MIA,” Sonny muttered. “She split town over the summer. So put her on the list of people we need to find.” He rubbed his cheek. “Does it ever feel like the to do list gets longer?”

“The clinic is currently under the directorship of Joseph Klein,” Jason said. “He’s the doctor I knew. I never saw anyone but him and some of the orderlys. And Ava Jerome, who says she was sent there by Valentin Cassadine to fix her face in exchange for dropping her testimony in the civil case.”

“Britt said she’d worked at the clinic last winter on Faison’s orders— which matches the time that you woke up and the doctors became aware of it,” Lucky pointed out. “She said she’d worked on your case, and followed Robin’s protocol to bring you out the cryofreeze. So Robin brought back Drew, Helena, and Stavros—while Britt took care of you.”

“Faison? Why would he want to wake me up?” Jason wanted to know. “Why would he be involved once Helena was gone?”

“Britt claimed she didn’t know,” Lucky said. “I don’t know if we believe her, but without finding Faison, there’s no way to know.”

“We’re still trying to find the old bastard himself, but he’s wily and has gone under deep,” Luke said. “We’ll keep you posted.”

“What did Anna say when she called last night?” Elizabeth said to Jason. “She said that Valentin was searching for something.”

“Or maybe someone?” Laura suggested. “What else did Andre have to say?”

“That Andre hid his files—along with some of Helena’s—and Anna is on their trail now. If she can find those—” Jason said, “we might finally find out what the hell Valentin Cassadine wants and why Drew and I were part of it.”

St. Timothy’s Church: Front Yard

Anna strode directly towards the table behind which Lulu Falconieri and Maxie Jones-West were standing. The two blonds snapped to attention as soon as they realized Anna was in the vicinity.

“Anna! I thought you be here earlier—”

“And I told you that I would buy all the bloody ornaments—” Anna glared at the other tables where she could find several boxes on display.

“Oh, well, you made it sound so important,” Lulu said, a thread of nerves lacing through her tone, “that Maxie dug out the receipt we gave your housekeeper, you know, for your taxes, and it had some descriptions—”

“And I realized that we hadn’t quite put your ornaments into all the other boxes yet. It was one of like three boxes we hadn’t sorted yet. Isn’t that lucky?” Maxie said, brightly.

“Fantastic.” Anna held out her hand. “Give them to me—”

“Oh, but you donated them,” Maxie said. Lulu stared at her in amazement. “So you need to buy them—”

“Mariah Maximilliana Jones West,” Anna began hotly, then narrowed her eyes. “Never mind.” She pulled out her wallet and removed a hundred dollar bill. “Give me my sodding ornaments.”

Fifteen minutes later, she had the ornaments on the passenger’s seat, and was driving towards Elizabeth’s house, hoping that the group was still gathered for their meeting so they could go through the box since Anna barely remembered what the stupid ornament had looked like to begin with.

“Siri,” she told her phone, “call Robert.”

“Calling…Robert…”

“Hello, Anna! Calling for a check in with the good doctor?” Robert said brightly. “He’s very angry at you for the trick that you played—”

“Shut up. I have the box of ornaments. What did it look like? The one he gave me?” Anna demanded. “I need this jackass to stop wasting my time—”

“Ah, you’re on speaker phone, my love—”

“For the love of—” Anna’s attention was distraction from her infuriating ex-husband at the sight of another car on the road.

In the same lane as her—driving straight at her.

“Oh, hell—” She yelped, jerking the steering wheel to the side, but it was too late. The other car clipped her front end, and Anna’s speeding BMW went flying off the road, flipping upside down and landing in the snow-covered ditch by the side.

While the SUV that had hit her kept on driving, its front end smashed in.

“Anna? Anna?”

Anna opened her eyes, blearily, staring at the dash as Robert’s voice crackled. “Robert…” she slurred, “call in the cavalry….” Then the world tilted, went gray, and she passed out.

“Anna!”

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

---

December 2015

General Hospital: Nurse’s Hub

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

At least until Valentin Cassadine decided differently.

Tuesday, December 19, 2017

PCPD: Squad Room

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Anna stared at him. “Helena engineered it—”

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

“It hardly matters—”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Penthouse: Living Room

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Dependents is plural?”

“Looks like.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“How—”

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

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

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

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

“I know, I used to be him, remember?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Devane Manor: Living Room

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

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

“Miss Devane?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Kelly’s: Dining Room

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Why?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Greystone Manor: Master Bedroom

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Rubbing what—“

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

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

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

Sonny sighed. “Carly—“

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

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

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

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

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

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

“But—“

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

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

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

But there was always another disaster around the corner.

Elm Street Pier

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Wyndemere: Study

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

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

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

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

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

Had he told Anna what Valentin was looking for?

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

I guess it’s gonna break me down
Like fallin’ when I’m try to fly
It’s sad but sometimes
Moving on with the rest of your life
Starts with goodbye
I guess I’m gonna have to cry
And let go of some things I’ve loved
To get to the other side
– Starts with Goodbye, Carrie Underwood

---

October 2015

Cassadine Estate: Labs

Andre scrubbed his hands over his face, trying to focus on the research, on the work in front of him, but he simply couldn’t. He had been supposed to leave for Port Charles a few weeks earlier, but Helena had fallen ill and Nikolas had put a hold on everything.

Andre suspected that if Helena actually died this time, that Nikolas might cancel everything and send Andre on his way without bothering with Jason Morgan’s memories. Nikolas liked things the way the were. Not that it would change anything for Andre. Helena had plans for her death, and there was always Valentin Cassadine lurking in the background.

The Cassadine had left the island after his argument with Helena and no one had mentioned him again—but he and Andre knew the truth.

They knew that Jake Doe was really Drew Cain, and that Jason Morgan was still in a coma wherever Valentin had stashed him.

“My nephew really must work on security.”

Andre closed his eyes as he heard Valentin. He turned to find the man in question in the doorway of the room. “I was wondering when I’d hear from you.”

“Since my mother’s demise is imminent—or so she’d have us believe—I think it’s time we discuss how we’re going to bring this to a close.” Valentin leaned against the edge of the lab table. “What did my mother want you to do in Port Charles?”

“She’s arranged a staff position at General Hospital,” Andre said slowly. “She’s going to have the lab on Spoon Island ready. We’ll take custody of Jake Doe and implant Morgan’s memories. Helena assumes that will cure the amnesia.”

“Will it?” Valentin asked curiously.

“I won’t know until I’ve mapped the brain. It’s possible there just needs to be some tweaks. According to Helena, Jake Doe has grown close to Elizabeth Webber and her sons. That makes sense since the memories I put into Drew Cain were stronger for them. It’s what Victor and Helena wanted.” Andre grimaced. “I imagine she wanted to make sure Jason Morgan had reunited with Elizabeth so that she could destroy her at the peak of her happiness.”

“There’s a beauty to it,” Valentin admitted. “But I have no grudge towards this Elizabeth woman. In fact, I find myself oddly grateful to her since she’s tormented my mother for so long. What about Chimera?”

Andre sighed. “Helena is going to fake her death soon,” he told Valentin. “She knows that you’re on the war path and Nikolas is starting to disappoint her—”

“I warned her,” Valentin muttered, “but she refuses to believe he has a conscience. He’ll only go so far before he starts to pull back. I thought she was actually ill—”

“She is.” Andre shifted. “But she’s…prepared for the end.”

Valentin narrowed his eyes. “Prepared because she has you. You’ve mapped her memories?”

“Yes. She has someone selected to take on her memories. I’m to remove the woman’s original memories and replace them so that there’s no overlap.” Andre shifted. “She’ll go sleep as one woman and wake up as another. And no, I don’t know who. She’s keeping that close.”

“I’ll look into that.” Valentin furrowed his brow. “And this new Helena—she’ll trigger Chimera?”

“The Nurse’s Ball next spring,” Andre said. “Helena has set up something that will trigger Jake Webber to release the biotoxin. I imagine she has a plan to make sure the targets are together.”

“This all hinges on you following Mother’s plan to transfer her memories into this new woman—”

“She’s not entirely convinced of me,” Andre admitted. “Not that I’ve done anything to be disloyal—”

“But she’s sensed you have same fatal flaw as her dear grandson. You have a conscience and it’s starting to weigh on you. Tell me, when you planted the suggestion into Jake’s memories—when you wiped these last years clean—” Valentin tipped his head. “Will it work as Mother wanted?”

“Yes. But—”

“But what?”

“But there’s a failsafe built in. Jake talked about his mother so much. He didn’t have a clear memory of her—but he knew she loved him.  So I—I put the suggestion in there. Elizabeth—she can stop it. He’ll want to please her. He’ll want to make her happy.”

“You gave Elizabeth Webber the power to stop my mother’s final revenge against her and the Spencers?” Valentin ginned, his eyes sparkling. “That is absolutely incredible.”

Andre looked away, towards the paperwork on his desk. “He’s a sweet kid who didn’t deserve any of this. You have a daughter Helena is using against you.” Valentin’s lips thinned.  “Would you want Charlotte in the position Jake Webber is in?”

“No.”

“You know your mother’s plans. Do you plan to change them?”

“You mean, do I intend to stop her from replicating herself?” Valentin sneered. “Of course. You said she’s not sure of you?”

“She apparently has a backup plan if I fail to complete the procedure by a certain time. I don’t know more than that.”

“Of course not. I’ll take care of it. Once she’s gone, I’ll keep her from coming back, so Chimera won’t be triggered. Then I can finally get what I want—”

“Valentin—” Andre called as the man started for the door. “Helena has more than one back up plan. If she dies before we can find them all—this will never be over.”

Monday, December 11, 2017

Penthouse: Living Room

Drew stared at his cell phone, at the email he’d just opened, and took a deep breath. He looked up at Sam as she finished a cup of coffee and closed the door behind their nanny, who was taking Danny to school. “It’s, uh, a notification from the court.”

Sam frowned, looked at him with a furrowed brow. “From the court?”

“Kim signed divorce papers. We’re, uh, on the docket to finalize it after the holidays,” Drew said. “And there’s a second one—our divorce is going to be heard same day.”

“The judge is going to be a bit confused,” Sam said, with lifted brows. “Are you worried you’ll be arrested for bigamy?” She set the coffee mug on the coffee table and curled up on the sofa. “Because Mom is probably ready for it—”

“It’s just strange to see the names in print,” Drew admitted. He slid his phone into his pocket. “Uh, when do you think your divorce will be heard?”

“Um…” Sam pursed her lips, picked at the seam of the sofa. “Probably not for a little bit longer. I didn’t…I haven’t sent Jason the papers yet.”

“You didn’t—” Drew absorbed that news, refusing to let all the possibilities swirl around his head. She had to have a good reason. “Why not?”

“Well, Mom and I were arguing about some of the things I wanted, and then you went and signed another contract with Jason, so she has to redo the financial stuff.” Sam shrugged. “I didn’t know there was a hurry—”

“You wanted me to divorce Kim ASAP,” Drew argued. “You brought your mother over to draw up the papers—”

“That’s different—”

“How?”

“You don’t remember Kim. It’s not a big deal to divorce her,” Sam reminded him. “It’s not like it bothers you. And she’s not Oscar’s mother, so you don’t even have to really deal with custody or finances. It’s more complicated with me.”

“Not if you just do the same thing I did which was to make custody to be dealt with later,” Drew retorted. “Did Alexis finish the changes? It’s been almost two weeks since I filed the contract. In fact, I bought the shares last week. Aurora is officially mine—”

“Half yours.”

“I thought we agreed not to argue about this anymore,” Drew muttered as he went over to the dining table to start gathering his papers. “You’re never going to understand what it means to me to do this on my own—”

“And what does that mean?”

“It means—” Drew shoved the papers into his briefcase. “It means nothing.”

“No—say it.” Sam stepped in front of him, stopping him as he went towards the closet.  “We both know what you’re thinking. I don’t know what it means because the only reason I have anything is because of Jason.”

“I didn’t—”

“The money I lived on for five years, this penthouse—it’s all Jason’s, right? And before then, the only money I ever had was what I conned out of people.” Sam folded her arms, glared at him. “I’m nothing but a gold-digging tramp, right?”

“I didn’t say that, Sam.”

“You’re not saying anything else—”

“You were the one that wanted to clear the legal decks,” Drew cut in, yanking his coat out of the closet. “You wanted the divorce. I want to see your divorce papers, Sam—”

“What—I told you, it’s none of your business—”

“It is my business. Because right now, you’re married to another man, and you’re swearing you’re going to file for divorce. I bet you know exactly how stupid I would be to swallow that line again.”

Tears stung her eyes, and he could see that his jab  had landed exactly as he’d wanted it to. “Because I lured married men away from their wives. Is that it? You don’t trust me not to get a divorce?”

“It’s been six weeks since Jason came back,” Drew said quietly. “You decided that first night that you believed me, even if we both know you didn’t. You decided to stay with me. To fight for our family and the life we’d planned together. I bought into it, Sam. I listened. I asked Kim for a divorce five minutes after she found out I was alive so we could be together, free and clear.” He lifted his brows. “What have you been doing?”

Sam exhaled slowly. “I’ll call my mother. I’ll get it done.”

“I want to see what you file,” Drew said to her. “I don’t want you asking for anything related to Aurora.”

“You really don’t trust me, do you?”

Just a few months ago, he might have said he trusted Sam more than anyone else in his life—but as he looked at the woman standing across from him, her expression a mixture of resentment and bitterness. He might not be Jason Morgan, but he still had those memories—

And he knew exactly what Sam was capable of when she was angry—when she felt righteous and justified.

“I want to see the papers, Sam,” he repeated. “I have to go to work.”

Webber House: Living Room

Elizabeth had the day off from work so that she could wrap all the gifts she’d been stashing at Laura’s for the last two months. At least one of her sons would be coming home in about twenty minutes, and Elizabeth thought it might be the one who still believed in Santa—

So it was really important he didn’t see any of his presents tagged from the man himself which was why Elizabeth was not in the best mood when she yanked open her front door at just before four that afternoon. “What?” She paused, seeing Carly on her doorstep. “Oh. Uh, hey.”

“Nice greeting,” Carly said caustically as she followed Elizabeth inside, then took in the wrapping paper and boxes. Elizabeth started cleaning up and went to the closet with a crawlspace that had a lock. “I guess this is a bad time.”

“I just need to hide these before Aiden comes home. Cam usually walks him from the bus stop.” Elizabeth wrinkled her nose as Carly handed her a pile. “Thanks. He’s the only one who believes, and I think this is probably the last year.”

“It’s amazing you got him to eight,” Carly admitted. “I think Michael was six—and he accidentally told Joss when she was five.” She looked away, down at the box with the reindeer wrapping paper. “Morgan was seven.”

“I know. Cam was also five—he and Joss were in on that one together,” Elizabeth reminded her as she stashed the last of the presents. “Jake—” She hesitated. “He was four. Helena told him that first year she kidnapped him.”

“Oh. Well, that’s—” Carly pressed her lips together. “It’s good that you’re trying to hold on to it for Aiden. They grow up too fast.”

“That’s for sure. Was there—” Elizabeth scratched her temple. “Was there something you needed? Is everything okay with Joss?”

“Oh, yeah. Great. I mean, she and Cam haven’t been arrested for anything, so I guess things are good.” Carly crossed her arms. “Jason told us last night that he went looking for garages over the weekend. With you.”

“Yeah, we didn’t find anything that was right—but we’re going to keep looking,” Elizabeth added, distracted by her phone lighting up with a text from Jason. “He couldn’t have told me this ten minutes ago?” she muttered to herself. “Jason,” she said to Carly, absently. “He picks Jake up from the middle school because the buses are always late. He knows I was wrapping today and offered to get Aiden so I’d have more time.”

“Jason…” Carly stared at her. “He picks up Jake every day?”

“Uh, mostly. He started doing it after Thanksgiving,” Elizabeth said, focusing on Carly, remember who she was talking to so casually. “I thought it was a good way for him and Jake to get more one-on-one time together.”

“I thought—I mean he’s always over here. Doesn’t he spend a lot of time with him already?”

Elizabeth forced her expression to remain neutral. “Yes,” she said slowly. “But it’s always with Cam and Aiden. That’s great because they’re important to Jake, but Jason’s missed so much time. Even before the accident. It’s a good thing, Carly, isn’t it? For Jason to be so involved with his son?”

“It is,” Carly said. “Which is why he needs to finish a room at the house for Jake so he can stop always coming here,” she added. “Maybe you can let Jake live him. To make up for all that lost time—”

“I—” Elizabeth shook her head slightly. “I don’t know. I mean, Jason and I haven’t talked about that yet—”

“No, of course not. Because this suits you just fine,” Carly drawled. “Forcing Jason to come to you. You shoved Franco out the door and now you’ve got another man just waiting to take up the slack—”

“Okay, so it’s time for you to leave—” Elizabeth started past Carly, but the blonde’s hand snaked out to grab her arm, whirling her back. “Carly—”

“You think I’m stupid? You think I don’t see exactly what you’re doing? What you’ve always done?” Carly demanded. “You’re using your kids to get to Jason. You know exactly how to play him, don’t you? Isn’t that how this all started? You knew he missed Michael. You used that—”

“And why did he miss Michael?” Elizabeth shot back. “Why did I find him bleeding and dying in the snow? You’re still fighting the same battles we did back then.” She stepped towards Carly. “You can’t stand that you can’t get rid of me. You’ve been trying for decades, Carly—”

“You’re the pathetic one,” Carly retorted. “Using Jason’s love for children, his weakness for damsels in distress—”

“Oh my God—I cannot believe I am standing here, almost twenty years later, and you are still screaming the same things!” Elizabeth threw up her hands. “Carly, you lost. You lost a long time ago, and I didn’t have a damn thing to do with it. Jason hasn’t wanted you since the second you crawled into Sonny’s bed—”

“I don’t want Jason—”

“No? You’re doing a strange impression then of someone who still carries a grudge. You couldn’t stand that Jason was letting me help him. Isn’t that why you’re here? You’re pissed because Jason is letting me help him, and not you?”

Carly seethed. “I just wanted to warn you that I’m not going to let you hurt him again—”

“Who is trying to hurt him?” Elizabeth demanded. “What is your damage, Carly? I mean, seriously—”

“Stop it with the sweet, innocent angel act,” Carly spat. “No one buys it—”

“I told you a long time ago — I am nobody’s angel. And you are not going to get rid of me.”

“I won’t have to,” Carly growled. “Because sooner or later, Jason will walk away from you. He always does, Elizabeth. You don’t make him happy. You never could. He walked away from you. From your kids, and even his own son! No one stays, Elizabeth! Why do you think you’re alone? You always end up alone!”

Elizabeth’s eyes burned as Carly’s venom washed over her. She wanted to open her mouth, to respond, but she couldn’t.  A tear slid down her cheek, and Carly’s eyes grew positively wild with glee.

“You’re not worthy of Jason. You never were. No one will ever love you—”

“Mother!”

“Carly!”

The horrified, strangled cry came from the doorway. Both women spun around to find the door had opened at some point, with Cameron and Joss standing there. Joss’s cheeks were flushed with humiliation, her eyes damp, while Cameron’s were bright with fury—

But not nearly as furious as the man standing behind them, Jake and Aiden at his side. It was Jason’s angry voice that had called Carly’s name.

Carly stared at the group, at her daughter, then at her best friend, swallowing hard. “Jason—”

“Outside,” Jason said flatly. “Now.”

Carly opened her mouth, but then closed it, hurrying past the children. Jason gestured for Jake and Aiden to go inside, then closed the door behind him.

Webber House: Street

Jason had never been so furious in his entire life—not even after the accident when he had lived, breathed, and slept angry. Nothing could match the rage boiling in his veins, the heat rising in his limbs, into chest, choking him—

He’d walked up to that house, into the door, surrounded by Elizabeth’s boys—standing with his son only to hear his self-proclaimed best friend proclaim that Jason walked away from Jake because Elizabeth had made him unhappy—

He stalked down the sidewalk until they were nearly at the street, trying to find the words to make her understand this could never, ever happen again. He heard Carly hurrying behind him, her heels clicking against the cement.

“I know I messed up, I just need you to listen—”

“Shut up,” Jason ground up, whirling around so suddenly, Carly stumbled to a stop. She blinked at him, tears streaming down her face. “I’m not listening to another word from your goddamn mouth.”

That mouth fell open as her eyes bulged. “Jason—”

“I asked Elizabeth to marry me the day Michael was shot in the head,” he bit out. “I was going to be with her. With my son. With Cameron. I told you years ago that was all I wanted. But after what happened to Michael—I never wanted to watch her cry over our boys—for her to break the way you did.”

Carly swallowed hard. “I—”

“I walked away from them so that they would be safe, Carly. Because I loved them too much!”

“Please, just let me—”

“There is nothing Elizabeth could ever do that would make me walk away from her or my son.”

“I know that—I didn’t even mean it—”

“You think that makes this better?” Jason retorted. “I know you didn’t mean it. You just wanted to hurt her. You wanted to hurt her bad enough so that she pushes me away. Because you can’t stand that I don’t need you.”

“Jason—”

“I don’t need you,” he repeated flatly. “I never needed you. You have done nothing but make my life harder.”

“That is—” Carly took a deep, ragged breath. “Okay. Okay. I know that’s true. But I just—”

“Get in your car, go back to the hotel, and don’t ever come near Elizabeth or her kids again. If you do, we are done.”

Carly stared at him for a beat, then closed her eyes. “I never meant to hurt Jake. Or the boys. I love them. You know—”

“You have to stop this, Carly. You have to stop. Michael is already close to cutting you off. Morgan is gone. And your daughter just watched you tear into Cameron’s mother. Is this what you want? Do you want to push us all out?”

“No!”

“Then why can’t you stop?”

“I don’t know!” she exploded. “I don’t know why I can’t just accept that Elizabeth is making you happy! Why I have to push and push and push until you shove me out the window—I don’t know! I can’t stop! Don’t you think I would if I could—”

“You need to figure it out, Carly. Because I can’t do this anymore. I can’t fix my life and keep fixing yours. I’m tired. Jake comes first. And because he does, so do his brothers. And their mother. They’re my family just as much as you and Sonny are. Why does that threaten you?”

“I don’t know,” Carly repeated, closing her eyes. She dug the heel of her hands into her eyes. “I don’t know.”

“Get in the car, Carly. And go back to the hotel.”

“Okay. I’ll—I’ll do that.” Carly started towards the street where her car was parked, then noticed Jason was heading for his car. “Are you—you’re leaving?”

“I’m going to follow you,” he retorted. “Because I don’t trust you.” He didn’t care that her lip trembled, that her eyes were puffy and red.

All he could see was Elizabeth’s face when he walked in, the pain in her eyes as Carly said all the words that he knew Elizabeth believed about herself.

Webber House: Living Room

“Mom—”

“Cameron, it’s fine,” Elizabeth said, taking a deep breath. “It’s Carly. I’m sorry, Joss,” she added as the blonde’s lips trembled. “Get your coats off. I think there’s snacks in the kitchen. Please—” she said softly to Cameron as he came towards her. “I just need a minute, okay, baby?”

“All right,” Cameron said, nodding slowly. He put a hand on his youngest brother’s shoulder. “Aiden, we got any cookies left? You were baking all weekend.”

“Sure.”

“Miss Webber,” Joss said, swiping her hand under nose. “I’m so sorry—”

“Don’t you dare apologize to me,” Elizabeth told Carly’s daughter. She glanced out the window to find Carly and Jason arguing. She got into her car, and then Jason got into his SUV. She exhaled slowly. “This has nothing to do with you. It never has. You’re Cam’s best friend. You’re always welcome here.”

“That doesn’t make it easier,” Joss muttered, but went into the kitchen as Elizabeth’s phone flashed on the table.

Grateful for the distraction, Elizabeth went over to the table to pick it up, sighing when she saw Jason’s text.

Following her back to the hotel to make sure she goes. Back later.

Then a second later,

I’m sorry.

“Story of my life,” Elizabeth said with a sigh, slipping the phone into her back pocket and going to join the kids in the kitchen.

Aurora Media: Drew’s Office

“Hey, man.” Curtis greeted Drew with a slap of the hand before dumping a folder out on the conference table. “How’s it going?”

“It’s going,” Drew said blandly as they sat down. “How’s Jordan?”

“Trying to decide if she wants to keep putting up with Aunt Stella,” Curtis said with a wince. “She, uh, made a scene at Thanksgiving, and she got into another fight with Jordan. I tried to talk to my aunt—” He shrugged. “What’re you gonna do?  But the good news is I finally the Moore murder book out of the PCPD archives.”

Drew’s interest engaged at the mention of his biological mother’s death. “Yeah? Anything interesting?”

“Well, a lot of suspects, for one. Robert—he was the commissioner at that point—had his hands full.” Curtis opened his notebook. “Alan, Monica, Edward, and Lila were all suspects—”

“Lila,” Drew repeated. “Really?”

“Hey, you don’t stay married to Edward Quartermaine for that long without getting a bit ruthless. Uh, it also looks like Heather and Scott were suspects, too. It ended up being Crane Tolliver—Lila’s first husband.”

“Heather was a suspect?” Drew asked. “Why?”

“Yeah, Heather was mostly suspected because of her relationship to Scott—and she was seen near the house,” Curtis added. He squinted at his handwriting. “It looks like Susan wanted to blackmail the Qs over Lila and Crane’s divorce papers—and Crane shot her.”

“To stop her from blackmailing the Quartermaines because Lila’s divorce wasn’t signed,” Drew said. He frowned. “How’d they get him?”

“Robert caught him trying to kill Heather, and apparently confessed in the hearing of other officers.” Curtis pulled out some more paperwork. “Seems pretty cut and dry, but Robert still had questions. Tolliver claimed Susan was going to renege on blackmailing the Qs, but Susan had invited them and a reporter over that night. What was his evidence for her pulling out of the plan? And giving what we know now, it seems strange that Susan was gearing up to blackmail the Quartermaines over the bigamy. Why would she do that if she knew about you? You would get her another million dollar trust fund without lifting a finger.”

“She clearly knew about me long enough to name me. And—” Drew paused. “When did she die?” He frowned at the date, then took a deep breath. “Wait—”

“Yeah. I saw that, too.” Curtis pushed some other paperwork through. “Up until then, you’d been with Betsy Frank and no one knew anything about you. But a month later, you’re found in Poughkeepsie with a surrender form and a false birth certificate. Makes me wonder if someone other than Susan knew you existed and wanted to make sure no one else could find you.”

Greystone Manor: Kitchen

Sonny set a plate of food down in front of his daughter who looked down the collection of green vegetables, brown potatoes, and roasted chicken. She delicately pushed it away and flashed him a dimpled smile. “No thank you.”

“Avery—”

“That is green.” Avery narrowed her eyes. “I don’t eat green food.”

“Green food is good for you.”

“And that—that is brown. I don’t eat brown food—”

“Ha!” Sure that this time, he’d won a round with the kid, Sonny grinned. “You eat chocolate. That’s brown—”

Avery’s brows drew together as she contemplated this twist of fate, then brightened. “Chocolate isn’t food.”

“It’s not?”

“No. It’s candy. You always tell Mama Carly that.”

Sonny opened his mouth, then closed it. He had absolutely no defense for that. “Fair point.” He took out his wallet and was setting down a five dollar bill when Michael strolled into the kitchen.

“Already bribing her?” Michael said. “She’s four.”

“Yeah, well, I’m trying to get her to five with her teeth intact,” Sonny muttered and got to his feet as Avery dug happily into her dinner. “What brings you by?”

“Uh—” Michael craned his head and Sonny followed him over to the counter, slightly out of earshot of Avery. “I got a text from Joss. She went over to Cam’s after school, and apparently walked in on Mom screaming at Elizabeth.”

Sonny closed his eyes, leaned back against the kitchen island, gripping it with his hands. “Oh, man, what about?”

“Well, Mom and Elizabeth were so distracted by the screaming they didn’t know how long Cam and Joss were standing there, so Joss says it was something about Jason always leaving Elizabeth, abandoning his son because he can’t stand her, and Jason walked in with the other boys just as Mom told Elizabeth no one would ever love her and that she never deserved Jason.”

“Oh, good, so the greatest hits.” Sonny grimaced and turned around, frowning as Avery beamed at him but somehow, half the brussel sprouts were gone. “Did she move?”

“No.”

“We don’t have a dog.” Perturbed, Sonny turned back to Michael. “Well, Carly’s not here. She told me she was working late—”

“Because Jason ordered her outside, yelled at her some more, and they both left. Joss doesn’t know anything else, but I’m guess Mom went back to the hotel to lick her wounds.” Michael paused. “I came over because we need to do something. Mom is out of control.”

“I don’t know about that—”

“She went after Nelle in the Metro Court a few weeks ago—which, fine, happens all the time. But not normally in front of other customers,” Michael added. “She did it during the lunch rush. Not to mention the scene with Jason, Ava, and Monica last month. Then this crap with Elizabeth.”

“When you put it like that—” Sonny tipped his head. “Yeah, I guess she’s been worse than usual. But, you know, it’s been a tough couple of weeks. We hit the one year anniversary in October, and with all this Jason and Drew stuff, your mom isn’t bouncing back—”

“Exactly,” Michael said. “Look, I’ve been giving Mom space since everything that happened. But this isn’t okay.” He paused, searching for the right words. “She used to be able to hold it together better than this. This reminds me of when I was a kid. I mean, she’s always hated Elizabeth, but Joss was really upset—”

“I’m sorry Joss had to see it.”  Sonny rubbed his chin. “Look, your mom is just…she’s hurt. It’s already been a rough year, and it’s not helping that Jason isn’t really leaning on her much. He’s really been talking to Elizabeth more than either one of us.”

“Why does it matter?” Michael asked. “As long as he’s talking to someone—”

“It matters,” Sonny said with a bit of bite to his tone, “because that’s pretty much why Carly hates Elizabeth. Look, it’s complicated and it goes back a long time—”

“My entire life, Mom has hated Elizabeth. Except for the few years when we thought Jake’s kidney had saved Joss’s life. I really thought—I thought she’d gotten over it. But this is messing with Joss. And it’s screwing up things for Jason—”

“I’ll talk to Joss—”

“I can take care of her, but it has to stop. Cameron is her best friend, and Elizabeth is Jake’s mother. They’re part of my family, too.  Mom can’t be doing this anymore. Whatever she has against Elizabeth, she just has to get over it. Because I can swallow the crap she throws at Nelle—it’s mostly deserved—but Jason and Elizabeth—the boys—it’s not okay.”

“What do you want me to do, Michael? If I could get your mother to behave herself—”

“I don’t—it’s not about behaving herself. It’s about finding out what’s wrong with her and fixing it. Plenty of people have grudges and resentments. They don’t all scream it out like maniacs in public.” Michael sighed. “I just thought I’d clue you in because I don’t know if Mom or Jason would tell you, and someone has to get her to listen to common sense.”

Devane Manor: Living Room

“This is unacceptable,” Anna snapped.

Robert shrugged as he sauntered towards her mini bar and poured himself a shot of whiskey. “Well, darling, you had to know it was a long shot, and that Andre might call our bluff.”

She whirled around, her eyes flashing. “Is this a joke to you?”

“No.” Robert’s eyes lost some of the humor as he set the shot glass down. “No. It’s bloody serious, Anna. Not only has all of this seriously damaged the reputation of the WSB and the morale of agents like you and me, but it’s looking increasingly like our own damned agency was involved in what to our daughter.”

Anna sighed, pressing her lips together. “Well, at the very least, behind the funding of it.” She folded her arms and walked over to the large picture window that looked over her front yard. “Andre doesn’t believe Frisco’s changed his mind about moving him to the lab.”

“Which, fair point, Frisco hasn’t. He wants Andre back under our control. He only agreed to lend him out to the PCPD—”

“Jordan suggested getting the DA to file charges against Andre here, but Frisco would just make some calls. They’d be dropped before Andre could even be arraigned.” She exhaled slowly. “I can’t stand the thought he might to get away with this, Robert. Once he’s in that bloody lab, he won’t have any reason to worry about any of this, and you know Frisco is more concerned with the internal problems Andre could help him with.”

“We’ll have to go this alone.”

“I promised Drew and Jason that we’d help them get to the bottom of this. I know you don’t care for Jason Morgan—”

“Not liking the man’s employment history is far cry from wanting his life to be stolen from him,” Robert cut in. “But Anna, there’s nothing we can do about this. Frisco has made it clear. We have until December 20 to make Andre talk to us. After that, he’s disappearing into the bowels of the WSB and we’ll never get access again.”

“The nerve—after everything we did for Frisco,” Anna muttered. “We brought him into the bloody agency. We wrote him recommendations!” She pursed her lips. “December 20. All right. If Frisco is giving us that long, then we can still find a way to convince Andre we’re serious about pulling his deal.”

“Oh?” Robert lifted one brow. “What do you have in mind, my dear?”

“I know Frisco could make any changes the DA files disappear,” Anna said slowly, “but perhaps we can ask him to hold off on that as well. If he can just give us time—if Andre believes he may go to jail here, in the States, then he might get nervous enough to prove his worth.”

“Well, you know me, I’ll try anything once.”

Webber House: Living Room

Jason purposely waited to come back to Elizabeth’s house after he knew the boys would be upstairs for the night. He really didn’t want to have this conversation with them listening in—it was bad enough they’d had to see the end of that terrible scene with Carly.

“Hey.” Elizabeth closed the door behind him. “You missed Jake—”

“I know. I meant to.” He waited until she turned to face him. “I’m sorry—”

“You don’t have to apologize for Carly—”

“I do,” Jason said with a nod. “Because I know she’s been doing this for a long time—” Elizabeth looked away. “And it’s my fault it’s happening now.”

“I can handle Carly,” Elizabeth assured him, but she didn’t look at him as she walked past him, over towards the sofa to move some magazines around.

“I know you can. But that doesn’t mean I like it or that you should have to,” he told her. He set his jacket over the railing by the door and sat next to her on the sofa. “She’s just—she’s angry. I’m trying to make something of my life now. Something that works for me and for Jake.” He paused, wanting to say more but unsure how. “And Carly wants me to do it her way.”

“Nothing new there. She’s never liked it when I’m the one helping you.” Elizabeth bit her lip and finally met his eyes. “Look, it’s not like I believe her or anything. I don’t even know how long you were standing there—”

“Long enough to hear her accuse me of walking out on Jake because I didn’t want to be with you,” Jason said tightly and Elizabeth closed her eyes. “That’s not what happened—”

“I—I know that.” But her voice only sounded partially convinced, and that worried him.

“Elizabeth—”

“Look. That was a long time ago. A lifetime ago. Okay? We—we made choices based on the situation that existed at the time. The Russians—” Elizabeth blew out an exasperated breath. “It was a scary time. The coffee house blowing up, Jake getting kidnapped again—we were both scared, and instead of leaning on each other, you decided it was too much and I didn’t want to keep fighting the same battle.” She lifted a shoulder. “It is what it is.”

“I—”

“I could have pushed,” Elizabeth told him, flicking her eyes up to meet his. “I don’t blame you for letting go. I could have held on. You know, I used to replay that moment a thousand times, and sometimes I found different words—new ones that convinced you to stay—but it doesn’t matter.”

“It does—”

“It really doesn’t. I didn’t find the words, and you left. And yeah, you left Jake. But I know you love him. I might have doubted it sometimes,” she admitted, and his stomach twisted, “but it was mostly my own guilt. I started the lie, and you let it keep going. Maybe we were both too scared. That was then. This is now. I know you love Jake, Jason, and he’s really starting to love you. I always knew he would.”

Accepting her change of conversation, and the fact that she really didn’t want to rehash what had happened nine years ago, Jason nodded. “About Carly—”

“What else is there to say about Carly—” Elizabeth pushed herself to her feet.

“She’s never forgiven you for what happened when I got shot that December,” Jason told her, also standing. “And I know that sounds insane because you didn’t do anything to her. But Carly doesn’t blame herself. She always finds someone else to make the bad guy.”

“Well, this I know—”

“It wasn’t even really about you. It still isn’t. It’s about me. I didn’t let her help me. I stayed with you at the studio.” Jason told her. He hesitated. “You gave me a reason to keep living that night. And the days that came after.”

Elizabeth frowned at him, shook her head. “What—”

“I went to the boxcar with a gunshot wound I was bleeding out from,” Jason told her. “I knew what I was doing.”

“You were delirious with fever—”

“I’d found my best friend in bed with the woman I thought I was in love with. And I didn’t think there was really any point to getting help. I had nothing.” When she just stared at him, her eyes wide. “And then you showed up, you forced me to get up and save my own life. Carly will never understand what you did for me then. What you’ve always done for me.” He paused. “And that’s why she’s acting this way now. I told her what I should have told you.”

“What?” Elizabeth asked, nearly breathing the question rather than speaking it.

“The first time I knew I was home—that I was me again and that I could handle all of this—was the day I bought the new bike. And riding the cliff roads, fast, the wind in my face, and you screaming in my ear—I knew I was home, Elizabeth.”

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.”

This is the last time
That I’m ever gonna give in tonight
Are there angels or devils crawling here?
I just want to know what blurs and what is clear to see
Well, I can see the pain in you
With I can see the love in you
And fighting all the demons will take time
It will take time
– Angels or Devils, Dishwalla

---

November 2011

General Hospital: Hospital Room

Elizabeth’s nails dug into his upper arms as her eyes, wild and feverishly bright, bore into his. “He’s out there!” she told him, desperately, her voice ragged and hoarse. “We have to get him—”

Jason’s chest ached as he gently gripped her shoulders. “Okay,” he told her softly. “Okay, we’ll get him. I promise—”

“No, no! You don’t believe me!” With a keening cry, she tried to push herself out of her bed, but Jason’s hold was firm and kept her down. “I touched him—I held him!”

“I know—” Jason looked over his shoulder at the open door, looking desperately for his mother with the sedative. He turned back to Elizabeth. “I believe you did,” he said, and something in his tone must have gotten through to her. He honestly did  — he believed that whatever fever dream she’d experienced had felt so real that she was convinced their son—their bright, beautiful little boy dead these last six months—was alive somewhere.

She’d been seeing Jake off and on for months, he knew that, but this was the first time she’d decided one of those visions had been real. She’d always known the difference before.

“Jason,” she whimpered. “Please. Please. If you ever loved me, you need to go find him. She has him—she has him—”

“I do love you,” Jason promised, his heart sliced in two at the doubt in her eyes. He’d returned to Sam, and Elizabeth had moved on with her life, but he’d always love her. Would always wish that things could have been different— “Elizabeth—”

“He’s alive—”

“Here we go,” Monica said with a murmur as she came into the room on the other side of Elizabeth’s bed. “You need to sleep—”

“Monica, I know you hate me for not telling you about Jake, but he’s alive, I promise—please, please—” Elizabeth shook her head, thrashing back and forth as she saw Monica with the syringe. “No! No, don’t make me sleep, don’t make—” But it was too late. Monica had plunged the needle into the IV line, and Elizabeth’s movements slowed; her voice started to slur. “No—no—I need—my baby—”

Her eyes closed, and her grip on Jason’s arms finally eased, then fell away as her arms grew limp. With hands shakier than he’d like, Jason pulled the hospital blanket up and arranged her hands at her sides.

In the hallway, in the bright light of the hospital, Jason focused on his mother as she closed the hospital door. “She sounded so convinced this time,” he murmured, staring at the door.

“This time?” Monica echoed.

With a wince, Jason looked at her. “She’s—just a few times out of the corner of her eye, she’s thought she saw Jake. It’s not—you know how your mind can play tricks on you. But this time—”

“Fevers induce hallucinations,” Monica reminded him. “And if she’s already been experiencing those kinds of things before the pneumonia, then I’m not surprised it’s so vivid now. I’m sorry, Jason. I thought losing Emily would shatter me into little pieces.” She pressed two fingers to her lips. “At least I can rest knowing that she—that all the children I’ve lost lived long enough to grow up and experience some of life. For the two of you—Jake will always be three years old. It’s devastating.”

“I just want to make it better for her,” he said roughly. “But I can’t.”

“There’s nothing you can do for her now. Let her rest, and hope that one day, she can put it behind her. Go home,” Monica told him. “I’ll call you if anything changes.”

Jason nodded, then looked at the door one more time. Elizabeth had sounded so convinced that she’d actually seen their son—had held him—but he knew Monica was right.

It was nothing more than a hallucination.

Monday, November 6, 2017

Aurora Media: Drew’s Office

Drew very nearly didn’t let the man in when his secretary announced that his brother was there to see him, but that was childish. Immature. Petty.

He hadn’t seen Jason Morgan—the real Jason Morgan, his twin brother—since the night they’d been gathered in the PCPD — the last moment when Drew had been able to cling to his old life.

“Send him in,” he said finally, then released the intercom button. He got to his feet just as Jason appeared in the doorway.

The two of them stared at one another for a long moment, Jason standing there with his hands in the pockets of his leather jacket. He exhaled slowly, then crossed the threshold, gently closing the door behind him.

“I’m sorry to just show up like this,” Jason said, turning back to face him. “And if you want me to leave, I will. But I needed to—we need to talk about what happened. What might still be happening.”

Drew nodded, then walked over to the seating area where the coffee cart was sitting. “You want some?” he said dully.

“No, I’m fine,” Jason said, but Drew poured himself a cup of black coffee, sat on the sofa, and sipped. “Andre Maddox.”

“Knows more than he’s saying,” Drew said with a short nod. “Curtis gave me a copy of the statement. He’s waiting on the WSB to give him a better deal.”

“Yeah,” Jason agreed. He sat in the armchair as far away from Drew as he could. “Spinelli’s here. He wanted to come to see you, but he wasn’t sure if you’d want—” He scratched his temple. “He’s working on the Russian clinic, and Luke and Lucky Spencer are tracking down Cesar Faison—”

“Because he’s the one that shot me—” Drew paused. “He shot you,” he repeated. “Which means he’s part of it. Is he behind the clinic?”

“I don’t know. Elizabeth went to see Andre on Saturday,” Jason told him. “We thought he might tell her something he wouldn’t tell me or even you.” He hesitated. “But he was cryptic. He told her that we should make sure we know where all the Cassadines are—because then we could sleep at night.”

Drew made a face. “That doesn’t tell us anything—”

“Not really, no, but there’s always Valentin Cassadine, and Nikolas’s body was never found, according to Elizabeth,” Jason added. “There’s something else.” Uncomfortable, he shifted. “You—you know that after Jake died, Elizabeth…had…”

“Hallucinations,” Drew agreed. “Yeah, I, uh, well, I remember.” He frowned. “Wait—”

“Those memories aren’t yours, but they’re in your head,” Jason told him. “You know what it was like to lose Jake. What Elizabeth went through. He’s part of this. Maddox and others experimented with Jake’s brain.”

Drew’s mouth tightened. “We trusted him after the Nurse’s Ball.” He set the mug down on the coffee table with a clatter and shoved himself to his feet. “Is Jake still in danger—”

“I don’t know,” Jason repeated. “What happened to us—it sucks. What happened to you—with your memories—but we both love Jake.”

Drew looked away. “Yeah,” he said quietly. “Yeah, we do.”

“Ewen Keenan didn’t just save Elizabeth from drowning that night on Spoon Island,” Jason told him. “He brought her to the lab where Helena let her see Jake. Elizabeth saw him, held him, and then Helena drugged her and dumped her back on the beach.”

“What?” Drew’s nostrils flared. “What are you—”

“When she was in the hospital, hallucinating from the fever, and told me that she’d seen him. I told her it was a dream. I convinced her to let it go. That Jake was gone. And she believed me.”

Drew closed his eyes. It wasn’t his memory, but it was in his brain and startlingly easy to recall. The wildness in Elizabeth’s eyes—how that look had slid into betrayal when Monica put her to sleep. “I never—even after Jake came back—he was on Spoon Island all that time? And Ewen knew it?”

“I don’t know when Helena moved him to Greece, but Jake was there in November. I need answers, Drew. I need to know who the hell did this to both of us—but I need to know Jake is safe.” Jason looked at him. “I know this isn’t ever going to be normal for you and me. At least not until you can get my memories out of your head. And I’m sorry for that. I am. But Jake comes first. And I need—I need to make this right. I convinced Elizabeth Jake was dead, and she’s blaming herself now for believing me.”

Drew swallowed hard. As difficult as all of this was for him, Jason was right. Jake still mattered. And he owed Elizabeth to make sure her son was safe. His nephew. “What do you need from me? What can I do?”

“I don’t know,” Jason admitted, a bit surprised at Drew’s easy agreement. He hesitated. “I told you that the Spencers are looking for Faison, and I’ve got Spinelli working on the clinic angle. I want to do what Maddox told us to do—track down all the Cassadines that are left. I can handle that. But that still leaves Maddox and the WSB.”

“I’ll deal with that,” Drew said with a firm nod. “I want my memories back—or at least I want to see if I can get yours out of mine. There has to be a way to get my old life back without losing the last three years. Maddox did it once—he merged my Jake Doe memories with yours.  I’ll talk to Anna.”

“All right.” Jason paused. “About Jake,” he said.

“He’s yours,” Drew said, even though the words felt wrong, like a betrayal. “And so is Danny—”

“That will be up to Sam,” Jason said quietly. “But I know that Jake loves you. I know Elizabeth wants you to be in his life. Jake wants that. And I—” He hesitated. “I don’t think Jake should have to lose anyone else in his life.”

“Thank you,” Drew said, a heavy shame settling on his shoulders. Would he have been so generous if the roles had been reversed? He wasn’t so sure, and he’d have to think about what kind of person that made him.

General Hospital: Hallway

“Man, she was a savage bitch,” Felix muttered as he handed Elizabeth a chart so she could initial it as his supervisor. “Letting you see your kid, then dumping you to think it was a fever dream—”

“Yeah,” Elizabeth said with a sigh. “I kind of fell apart when I got home,” she admitted as she and Felix went down to the next room. “I started to blame myself for Jake being gone all that time—if I had just insisted—if I had found the words to convince Jason or Lucky that Jake was alive—”

“They would have checked you into the loony bin faster than you did yourself,” Felix told her. “Girl, you told me you were already seeing him all over the place. And Patrick did the surgery. He handled everything. Of course you accepted Jake was gone.”

“I’ve never understood how it worked and neither Luke or Lucky bothered to get the answers,” Elizabeth murmured. “Patrick handed Jake off to the transplant team, and then Joss got her kidney. I mean, how the hell did Jax even know to get a black market organ?”

“Did you have a closed casket?” Felix asked, and Elizabeth nodded with a sigh. He grimaced. “I’m sorry, babe. I mean, I know it all worked out, and Jake’s with us, but it doesn’t really take away everything you went through.”

“I was a different person before I lost him,” Elizabeth admitted setting the next chart back on the patient’s door. “I don’t think I’ve gotten myself back. Not yet. And maybe I never will.”

“But maybe you’ll be something better. I never knew you before, but I think you’re just fine the way you are.”

Elizabeth managed a faint smile, then checked her watch. “I need to go check on the post-op floor. Felix—thanks.”

“What are friends for?” he asked, smiling as she walked away towards the elevator. He turned and started down another hallway, heading back for the hub—then paused as he noticed someone stepping back into a room, a door closing.

Felix narrowed his eyes and walked forward. He checked the door — a hospital room that hadn’t been assigned to anyone. Well, that wasn’t good. He pushed it open, then his scowl deepened as he found Franco inside.

“What are you doing here?” he demanded. “You don’t work on this floor—”

“None of your business,” Franco muttered. He started past Felix, but the nurse grabbed his elbow without thinking. “What the hell—”

“Lurking around Elizabeth makes it my business—”

Franco yanked his arm out of Felix’s grasp. “Who the hell do you think you’re talking to?”

“Nothing,” Felix said. Franco’s eyes narrowed. “That’s right. Nothing. You’re nothing, Franco. I’m just glad Elizabeth finally wised up—”

“You should watch what you say to me,” the older man said, dropping his voice into a soft, quiet voice that had the hair on the back of Felix’s neck standing up.

“You think I’m scared of you, Baldwin?” Felix sneered, even though his heart was racing. “I know your history. I’m not your type.”

“You think I can’t make an exception?”

“Is that a threat? Because maybe I should go talk to Mrs. Spencer and get you tossed—”

Franco growled at him, then stalked away. Felix stared after him, worry lingering in the pit of his stomach.

“This is not gonna end well.”

Pozzulo’s Restaurant: Back Office

Sonny waved Jason forward as he spoke into his cell phone. “No, no, Brick, I appreciate it — yeah, I’ll put you in touch with Spinelli. We need all hands on deck.” He tossed his phone on the desk, looked at Jason. “How did it go?”

“Weird,” Jason admitted. “But Drew agreed. He’ll run interference with Robert and Anna for the WSB and Maddox, and he pointed out it made sense since he wants his own memories back.” He rubbed his jaw. “There’s, uh, something I didn’t tell you on the phone yesterday.”

Sonny frowned, leaned forward. “What? Why?”

“Because it’s not—it doesn’t give us much of a lead,” Jason said. “We’re tracking down any living Cassadines, which is what Maddox suggested to Elizabeth, but that’s not all she went to ask him. I didn’t realize—I didn’t know it—but she—”

He paused. “A few weeks before she checked into Shadybrooke, she was shoved off the Haunted Star by Lisa Niles. Do you remember that?”

“Yeah, yeah—” Sonny scratched his temple. “Uh, that was a few months before Robin and the explosion. That was how she met Ewen Keenan, but she didn’t know that then, did she?”

“No. She found out later.” Jason paused. “He took her to Spoon Island, Sonny, where Helena kept Jake for at least the first few months after kidnapping him.” Jason could barely force himself to keep talking. “At the hospital, Monica told me Elizabeth was hallucinating—her fever was so high that she kept insisting that Jake was alive, that she’d seen him, that someone had him—she hoped I could calm her down, so we didn’t have to sedate her.”

“Oh, God.” The horror had already washed over Sonny’s features. “She wasn’t hallucinating.”

“No,” Jason managed, running a hand over his face. “And I remember thinking then that she seemed to be so convinced—that I actually thought— just for a minute—maybe she was right. But Monica sedated her, and when she woke up, Lucky convinced her that it was a dream. And I backed him up. It’s—it’s part of the reason she checked into Shadybrooke. She’d been seeing him for months, and this seemed like an escalation.”

“Man. Man. And Keenan knew this?” Sonny demanded. “He dated Elizabeth knowing that Jake was alive and just across the harbor? Damn it! We could have gotten him out—”

“That’s why I went to Drew earlier today,” Jason told Sonny with a quiet shake of his head. “Because she blames herself for letting him die again. She’s always blamed herself for the accident, for Helena, for everything—but I’m the one that didn’t believe her—”

“Jason—”

“I could have looked it into it,” Jason said. “I could have gone to Spoon Island myself or asked Spinelli to look into it. With ten minutes, Spinelli probably could have found the lab. Maybe Helena would have already moved Jake—but I could have taken it seriously. I didn’t.”

“C’mon—”

“I let Elizabeth deal with all of that by herself,” Jason admitted, “when I could have done more.”

“You never used to think about what-ifs,” Sonny told him. “They just weigh you down. Make you forget what matters. Jake is home. And Elizabeth is okay. You’re back. You get to be with your son for real this time. And Drew is gonna find his own memories. You didn’t kidnap Jake. And you sure as hell didn’t let Elizabeth think he was dead for months while dating her, watching her grieve. There’s a special place in hell where Ewen Keenan is being tortured.”

Jason grimaced. “I wish I could kill him again,” he muttered. He paused. “You said you’d heard from Luke,” he said, changing the subject.

“Nothing substantial. Just that Luke thinks he finally got on Faison’s trail. It’s pretty cold,” Sonny continued, “but Luke and Lucky will get in touch when they know more.”

Penthouse: Living Room

“Mom, that’s the beauty of being my lawyer and not my mother in this situation,” Sam said as she handed Danny a napkin and walked over to the sofa, leaving Danny to finish his dinner while she argued with Alexis again.

“Sam—”

“Look, I didn’t say you had to file it; I just said I wanted the papers drawn up. So that if I go forward, I’m ready. Why is that so hard?”

“It’s not—”

“Good. Then do it.” Sam hung up, then tossed the phone on the table, sighing. She turned when the door opened, and Drew came in. Danny abandoned his dinner while Scout cooed in her highchair.

“Daddy, Daddy!” Danny rushed across the room and hurled himself into Drew’s arms. Her husband lifted the little boy and held him tight against his chest.

“Hey, buddy,” Drew said. “Did you have fun in school today?”

“I drawed a turkey for Thanksgiving,” Danny reported, squirming to be put down. “Can I go get it? It’s upstairs.”

“Sure thing.” Drew waited until Danny had climbed the stairs, then looked at Sam. “Hey.”

“Hey.” She leaned over to kiss him lightly. “How was work? I meant to come in today, but—”

“It’s fine. I didn’t get a lot done anyway.” He paused, setting his briefcase on the coffee table. “Jason came by.”

Sam tensed. “He did? Why? He should be talking to me about Danny—”

“It had nothing to do with you.” Drew faced her. “Or Danny. But about what happened to us. To make sure no one else is in danger.”

“Oh.” Sam folded her arms. “Well, I mean, what did he say?”

“We decided to work together,” he said. “We’re both worried that Maddox is telling the truth—and that Jake might be at risk—”

Sam bristled at the reminder. “But Jake’s not your son—” She bit her lip when Drew flinched. “I’m sorry, but it’s the truth—”

“He’s still my nephew,” Drew said quietly. “And it doesn’t change the last two years. Not for me.” He paused. “Sam, I can’t move forward until I know what happened. Until I can find a way to get these memories out of my head.”

“I just—I don’t know why we have to think about any of this. You and Oscar can make new memories,” Sam insisted. “If you get your memories back, what about the last three years? What if you lose me or Scout? And Danny? What if you lose us? Is it worth it to get everything else?”

“He was able to do it once. I didn’t lose my Jake Doe memories when he put Jason’s in my head again,” Drew told her. “Either way, I can’t live like this, Sam, with Jason’s memories in my head. As long as I remember his life, I’m never going to feel anything I have is mine. I don’t even know who I am. It’s too tangled up in everything else—”

“I can’t believe you’d take the chance of losing everything—”

“I didn’t say I was going through it—” Drew stopped, frowning as Danny came back down the steps, his turkey painting in his hands. “We’ll talk about it later.”

“But—”

“Later,” Drew repeated, then picked Danny up and went to the sofa to look at the picture.

Webber Home: Living Room

“We need to get a life,” Trina said as she propped her chin on her palm and frowned at Cameron as he furrowed his brow, concentrating hard on his video game. “I have the night off from Kelly’s, we don’t have a single test to study for this week, and what are we doing? I’m watching you play Assassin’s Creed.”

“Well, when you said you’d be my girlfriend, you knew I had kids at home,” Cameron said, flashing her a wicked grin before scowling back at the screen. “Come on! What are you doing!” he complained into the earpiece attached to his head. “Em!”

“It’s not my fault!” Emma complained. “You need to pay attention to the mission!”

“Ugh—”

“She’s just mad because I’m whooping her ass—”

“Shut up, Spencer,” Emma retorted. “Or I’ll make my mom fly to your stupid British school so I can kick your ass in person—”

Trina rolled her eyes and shoved herself off the sofa to wander into the kitchen where Jake and Aiden were finishing their homework. “Hey, guys. Anything good tonight?”

“No,” Jake said, darkly. “Just fractions.” He eyed Aiden’s math homework. “Can we trade?”

“Nope.” Aiden smiled, a gap in the upper left corner of his mouth. He reached for his phone, which had lit up with a notification, smiling. “Hey, it’s my dad—he wants to FaceTime.” He started to play with the buttons.

“Hey, who wants pizza for dinner?” Cameron asked, coming into the kitchen. “Emma and Spencer decided to betray the team and kill each other, so I quit. Wanna go to Mi Familia’s—” He paused when he saw Aiden on his phone. “What’s up?”

“My dad wants to—Dad!” Aiden beamed. “Hi, Dad!”

“Hey! How are you? I miss you!”

Trina could hear Lucky Spencer’s voice faintly and looked over at Cameron, who tensed, a strange look on his face. “Cam—”

“I need to order dinner,” Cameron said. He cleared his throat. “Aiden, pepperoni okay?”

“Hold on, Dad, Cam wants to order dinner. Say hi!” Aiden turned the phone around so that Lucky’s face showed to Jake, Cameron, and Trina.

“Hey,” Jake said, looking back down at his homework. “How’s Ireland?”

“I’m in Bosnia,” Lucky said. “Hey Jake, Cam.”

“Hey,” Cameron said with a nod. “Aiden, pizza?”

“Pepperoni is cool. Thanks! I’m gonna go upstairs and talk to Dad.” Aiden bounced off the table and zoomed upstairs, his phone clutched in his hand.

“Cam—” Trina began, but Cameron walked back out to the living room to get his phone. She sighed and sat down next to Jake. “When was the last time he called you or Cam?” she asked Jake, even though she really shouldn’t be annoying a ten-year-old with these questions, but she knew Cameron would never tell her.

“Um…maybe when Gram died, I think. He flew in for the funeral and took Aiden to hang out with Grandma Laura.” Jake pressed down on his pencil. “But he didn’t call on Cam’s birthday. Or mine.” He looked at Trina. “I feel bad. I sorta got two dads now. Aiden’s got Lucky. But Cam’s only got Mom.”

Trina pressed her lips together, remembering the brief argument on Halloween when she’d accused him of protecting his mother too much. The more time she spent with the brothers, the more she worried about all the pressure Cameron was putting on himself.

Not that she’d ever bring it up to him. He’d only rip her head off.

“Your mom is pretty great,” Trina said.

“Yeah, but I kind of remember when Lucky was our dad, too” Jake admitted. “Why do dads stop liking you? Like—do they just decide not to be dads anymore? I don’t get it.”

“I don’t either,” Trina muttered, leaning back in her chair, eying Cameron as he stood stiffly in the living room, the phone pressed against his ear. He met her eyes, then looked away. “At least you know your mom is never, ever gonna wake up and not be your mom anymore, right?”

“No, Mom’s the best,” Jake agreed. “Still sucks for Cam.”

“Yeah, yeah, it does.”

General Hospital: Parking Garage

By the time her shift ended that night, Elizabeth was tired down to the marrow of her bones and didn’t have the energy to ask why Felix had insisted on walking her to the car.

“We should stick together,” he told her when she’d asked, and because she didn’t mind the company, she agreed.

As they stepped off the elevator, Felix touched her elbow. She stopped to face him. “What’s going on?”

“Listen. I know it’s been a week since you broke up with him, but you should know I’ve caught Franco lurking around you a few times this week. Today,” he added, “he ducked into a room so you didn’t see him. I told him to knock it off—”

“Felix—”

“But if he doesn’t, you need to go to Laura. No one needs a stalking Franco,” he said. “And if you don’t talk to Laura, I will.”

Elizabeth wrinkled her nose. “I really don’t feel like dealing with this. I just want to forget it ever happened—”

“You might want to do that, and I’m sure Carly wishes that sometimes, too,” Felix reminded her, “but he made sure she didn’t get to walk away from him peacefully. And she didn’t even do the breaking up there.”

She bit her lip at the reminder. “Okay. I’ll—I’ll talk to Scott. See if he can sort Franco out and get him to back down. Franco’s angry with me, but I don’t think—” When Felix just raised his brows, she sighed. “I know. After what he did to Cameron, I shouldn’t try to guess what he might do next.”

He raised his brows as they turned a corner and saw Jason Morgan leaning against the side of Elizabeth’s car. “Well, well, I’m sure that pretty man is not here for me.”

“Hey,” Jason said, straightening. She looked past him, where his bike was parked next to her car. “Felix.”

“Jason.” Felix wiggled his brows at Elizabeth. “This is where I’ll leave you then. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow,” Elizabeth called as the nurse ambled away. She turned back to Jason. “I wasn’t expecting to see you today.”

“I told you I was gonna go talk to Drew.” Jason handed her a helmet. She hesitated, staring down at it. “I’ll bring you back to your car,” he said.

She wanted so badly to take the helmet, climb on the bike, and go wherever he wanted to take her. She wanted to turn back the clock twenty years so she could be that girl again—the girl who hadn’t yet made so many of the mistakes that would haunt her every step.

“What’s wrong?” Jason asked. “Is it too late? It’s too late,” he continued, answering his own question. “You probably have work tomorrow—”

“No, it’s just—the boys are home—and mostly, I’m tired,” she admitted. “I barely feel like driving home right now, much less coming back here and driving home in an hour.”

“Fair enough.” Jason set the helmet on the bike. “Drew agreed to help,” he told her. “He’s going to talk to Anna and follow up with the WSB and Maddox.”

“I thought he would,” Elizabeth said. She tipped her head. “I’m okay,” she told him. “I know I kind of lost it on Saturday, but I can handle this—”

“I know you can. It’s me—” He paused. “You let it go, but I’m the one that didn’t listen to you. I could have done more.”

“Done what?” she asked softly. “Take the crazy mother seriously? I’d been seeing him for months. I was delirious. You knew that. Monica knew that—”

“But it wouldn’t have cost me anything to give you the peace of mind,” Jason said. “I could have done that. I should have. I left you alone to raise Jake, and then I left you alone to grieve him.”

Tears stung her eyes, and she looked down at the concrete floor of the parking garage. “You checked in.”

“Not enough. I’ve never done enough.” He extended the helmet again, and she frowned at him, meeting his eyes. “I’ll drive you home,” he offered. “And bring you back tomorrow. You won’t have to do more than hold on.”

And this time, she took the helmet.

I don’t like your kingdom keys
They once belonged to me
You ask me for a place to sleep
Locked me out and threw a feast
The world moves on, another day, another drama, drama
But not for me, not for me, all I think about is karma
And then the world moves on, but one thing’s for sure
Maybe I got mine, but you’ll all get yours
– Look What You Made Me Do, Taylor Swift

---

October 2011

Spoon Island: Cassadine Lab

Dr. Ewen Keenan shoved open the door with his shoulder and struggled with the body in his arms. Elizabeth Webber might not weigh very much, but she was an water-soaked, unconscious dead weight, and he’d used nearly all his reserves to reach the lab from the shore—

He laid the brunette out on the table in the lab, picked up a pale hand, and pressed two fingers to her wrist. Relief crashed through him as he felt the faint pulse. Elizabeth’s head lolled to the side, her eyes opening slightly. They were glazed, rimmed with red. “What’s…”  Her eyes closed again.

Ewen pressed his hand to her head, grimacing at the heat he felt there. She must have been ill before she’d gone into the water. Why had he been sent—

“Oh, good, you’ve arrived.” Helena smiled, sauntering into the lab. “It took far longer than I thought it would to fetch her.”

“She needs to be in a hospital,” Ewen snapped as he stalked around the table to find a thermometer. “I’m not equipped—”

“Then you’ll stabilize her, and she’ll be found on Spoon Island by someone else looking for her. She has a fever?”

“Yes—” He hissed at the level. “Nearly a hundred and four—” He frowned. “How did you know—”

“Why do you she think she went into the water?” Helena asked coolly. “Dr. Niles was happy to do me a favor. Now—” She nodded. “Is she awake?”

“I’m not sure—” Ewen glanced down at the brunette, tapped her cheek lightly. Nothing. “Why drag her here—”

“Dr. Obrecht?” Helena turned, and Liesl Obrecht, the other doctor in the lab, came in, clutching the hand of a small boy with a shock of bright blonde hair and blue eyes. Those eyes widened as he took in the woman laying on Ewen’s examining table.

“Mommy!”

Elizabeth’s eyes twitched, and her face jerked. She forced her eyes open. “J-Jake—”

“Mommy—” Jake let go of Liesl’s hand and surged forward. “Mommy, can I go home? Please let me go home—”

“Jake—” Elizabeth lifted her head, her voice slurring as she turned on her side. “Jake?”

“Mommy—”

Her eyes were wide though cloudy from the fever, but still, Elizabeth swung her legs over the table, trying to get to her son. She stumbled and fell to the floor. “Jake, my baby—you’re—”

“Mommy, I wanna go home—”

“Mrs. Cassadine?” Liesl asked hesitantly as the little boy threw himself into her arms. Elizabeth started to sob, clinging to him.

“Jake, my baby, baby—” Elizabeth rocked back and forth, one hand clutching the back of her son’s head. She kissed his cheek. “I love you, I missed you—”

“Now,” Helena murmured, lifting her chin as Liesl and another man came forward. The man grabbed Elizabeth’s arms as Liesl lifted Jake.

“Jake!” Elizabeth cried, struggling against the new man’s hold. Ewen stared in shock and horror as Liesl hurried out of the room with Jake screaming and crying for his mother. Elizabeth turned around and, curling her hand into a fist, rammed it into the eye socket of the man holding her. She then brought her knee high into his groin—he released her with a groan—and Elizabeth started forward, stumbling again as the adrenaline fought with her fever and exhaustion from nearly drowning—

“Jake!” she screamed, but as she tried to pass Helena, the woman reached out with lightning speed and plunged a syringe into Elizabeth’s arm. Elizabeth turned, staring at the older woman with wide, shocked eyes.

“What—why—”

Then she dropped like a stone, her head hitting the ground with a sickening smack!

“Make sure she’s stable,” Helena said as Ewen kneeled down next to her. “Then leave her on the shore.”

“Why did—” Ewen looked up at the woman to whom he’d already sold his soul. “Why would you do that? Why would you drag her all the way here to let her see her son? She’ll tell someone—”

“She might. But she’s delirious with fever and mentally unstable. Everyone knows that.” Helena’s lips curved into a smile. “It’s an acceptable risk, my dear Dr. Keenan, and sometimes, I just want to have a little fun.”

Her eyes, cold as ice, locked on his. “Now, do I need to repeat my instructions?”

Saturday, November 4, 2017

Aurora Media: Office

“Mila, you should—” Drew stopped at the doorway of his office at the sight of his second surprise visitor of the day. His secretary pushed away from her desk.

“I was just going to let you know—” she began.

The teenaged boy in the reception area got to his feet, nervously shuffled his weight from one foot to the other, his hands shoved into the pockets of his jacket.

Drew had seen him once before. The dark-haired boy had come to Greystone over the summer, and they’d been introduced. But that boy had been a stranger to him—another kid running in the pack with Joss and Cameron. He hadn’t meant anything to him then.

But he’d thought he was Jason Morgan the last time he’d seen Oscar.

Today, looking at Oscar Nero, Drew knew that he was this boy’s father. That he’d been married to his mother, then to his stepmother. He’d raised him and left one day, never to return.

It was insane, but when Drew had learned about his identity—about the connection to Oscar—part of him thought the next time saw Drew saw him, it would trigger something. That some part of his brain would recognize the truth.

When there was nothing—no spark of memory—no connection felt—Drew felt a crushing disappointment that he wasn’t sure he knew how to handle.

“Oscar,” Drew said carefully. “Come in—”

Oscar didn’t move, his dark eyes staring at him. Then he swallowed. “You don’t know me.”

“I—” Drew looked at his secretary, and without a word, she got up and left the room. “I do know you—”

“No, you know Oscar Nero,” the boy said, his voice cracking. “But you don’t—” He broke the eye contact. Looked at the carpet. “You don’t know me.”

“No,” Drew managed, his throat tight. God, he wished it was any other answer. “No, I don’t. But—”

“No, that’s—” Oscar took a deep breath. “This was stupid. I knew you didn’t remember, but I thought—” He turned abruptly and shoved his way out of the office suite. Drew blinked, then hurried after him.

But he’d already missed the elevator as it closed on his son’s devastated expression. “Oscar—!”

Oscar leaned back against the elevator, squeezing his eyes shut, forcing himself to take deep breaths, but his lungs were heaving, and his breathing was starting to come out in shorter gasps.

Oh, God, his father hadn’t known him—his father hadn’t known—

Oscar rushed out of the building, hoping he could make it to the bus station without completely losing it.

Kelly’s: Courtyard

With a bit of trepidation, Jason sat across from Michael and took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. I should have called you back yesterday—”

“I’m sorry,” Michael said with a shake of his head. “You’ve done so much for me. You sacrificed your own freedom to protect me in prison—” He leaned forward. “I am so sorry. I never once wanted you to be dead—I was never glad—”

“Michael.” Jason put up a hand, and his nephew’s ramblings stopped as the younger man hung his head. “Can you look at me?”

After a long moment, Michael raised his eyes to him. “Jason—”

“I always knew I’d have to explain myself to you one day,” Jason said, cutting off what would be another unnecessary apology. “I made a lot of choices when you were a baby that I would never make today. I can look back now and see how some of the things I did—the way I helped Carly keep custody of you—how it made AJ’s problems worse. I won’t blame myself entirely for how he ended up, but I know—I know I didn’t help.” He hesitated. “Elizabeth told me that you got close to him. That he was good to you.”

“He was,” Michael said, closing his eyes. “He really was, and I wanted you there. I wanted you to be alive, so you could see him. He was doing really good for a long time, Jason. It’s just—I don’t know. He never figured out how to fail without destroying himself in the process, I guess.”  He cleared his throat. “I think part of me always knew Sonny had something to do with what happened to him, but I couldn’t let myself accept it. Not until I didn’t have a choice.”

“I didn’t really understand what I was doing until Jake.” Michael frowned at him, and Jason sighed. “Before Elizabeth could tell me that the paternity tests had come back, your mother came to tell me that she knew the results and that Lucky was Jake’s father.”

Michael tipped his head to the sky. “How did I know Mom was in the middle of this?”

“She made a mistake,” Jason said, “and Elizabeth didn’t correct her. She wanted to tell me, but when she came to do that—I—I wanted her to be okay. I didn’t want her to think she’d let me down, so I told her it was okay that Lucky was Jake’s father. That it was better that way.”

Michael tipped his head. “So she didn’t tell you the truth.”

“She was going through a lot, and she knew Sam and I were getting back together. With Lucky’s recovery on the line—she just thought everyone was better off. And I hadn’t done a lot to reassure her that I wanted Jake to be mine.” But, oh, man, he’d wanted it more than anything, and it had sliced at him when she’d looked at him that day. If he’d just kept his mouth shut, let her talk—

“When did you know?”

“A few months later after the hostage crisis, but looking back, I can see that she started to tell me a thousand times.” Jason paused. “After she did tell me, she asked me to let Lucky raise Jake.”

“I—how could she—” Michael stared at him. “How could she do that—”

“When she asked me, I knew I had a choice. I wanted to tell her no. I wanted my son. I’ve always wanted Jake.” Jason looked down at the table, remembering that moment, that gut-wrenching devastation that she was asking this of him—and the anger he’d felt towards her for even considering it— “And I agreed. Because I had spent years telling AJ that Carly had a right to decide what she wanted for you. That her wishes meant more than what AJ wanted or deserved.”

“You gave up Jake because of that?”

“Because I believed it.” Jason paused. “Part of me still does. With the way I live my life—Elizabeth had a right to decide if she wanted that for her child. And I thought that AJ’s alcoholism—the people he’d hurt—it meant Carly had a right to decide for you.”

“Do you still that?” Michael asked.

“I don’t know,” Jason admitted. “But I’ve lived long enough now to realize that Carly’s choices about you had nothing to do with AJ’s alcoholism. And my decision to help her had everything to do with the anger I had towards him for my accident. And then later, it was selfish. I wanted you. I’d raised you as my son that first year, and I wanted to keep you.”  He exhaled slowly. “And for that, I am sorry.”

“I got a second chance with my father,” Michael said. “And you’ve got yours with Jake, so I’m glad.” He hesitated. “Would you have helped Sonny get away with what happened? Cover up AJ’s murder?”

“I’d like to tell you no, I wouldn’t. If I’d been here, seen you and Monica go through this—if I’d known Sonny and Carly were lying to you, holding back the truth, I want to tell you that I wouldn’t let it happen. I just—I can’t know that. I’ve spent a long time protecting them, Michael.”

Michael nodded. “I appreciate the honesty—I—” He made a face as he saw something behind Jason’s shoulder. “Oh, man, I’m really not in the mood—”

“Jason, Michael—” Carly stepped up to the both of them, her eyes wide with desperation. “I’m so glad to find you two together. Please—”

“I need to go,” her son said hastily, getting to his feet. Jason also stood, not sure if he was in the mood to see Carly right now.

“Oh, no—please—” Carly held up a hand to ward off Michael’s departure. “Please—just wait—”

“I need to meet Nelle,” Michael said to his mother, and Carly’s nostrils flared.

“Are you telling me that woman is more important than me?” she demanded. “I am your mother—”

“I’m not doing this, Mom,” Michael said wearily. He put his gloves back on. “Just stop—”

“I have every right to be concerned after what that tramp put me through—” Carly scowled as Michael shook his head and walked away. “Michael!”

When it was clear that Michael wasn’t going to return, Carly focused her attention on Jason. “Are you going to storm off, too?” she demanded, “or are you going to let me explain?”

“Explain what?” Jason said. “Your issue with Michael’s girlfriend is between the two of you. I have places to be—”

“Oh, that is absolutely not true!” Carly retorted, grabbing his arm as Jason started to walk past her. “You’ve done nothing but avoid me since you got back! I just want to be here for you, Jason, but you refuse to let me help!”

“You mean I’m not doing things the way you want me to,” Jason replied. Carly narrowed her eyes. “You’re angry that I didn’t ask you to come to the PCPD with me the other night, and you were upset that I didn’t immediately cut Ava Jerome out of my life.”

“After what she did to Morgan—and I had every right to be at the PCPD!” Carly snapped. “I’m your best friend—”

“And Elizabeth is Jake’s mother,” Jason said, patiently. “She needed to be there more than you did, and I knew you’d make a scene. So I left you out of it. And, fine, you were right about Ava. But that doesn’t change the fact that you want to control the way I’m handling what happened—”

“This is coming from Elizabeth, isn’t it?” Carly said. “She’s the one who told you not to call me on Wednesday, isn’t she? I knew it! She’s always been jealous of my place in your life—”

“Elizabeth wasn’t part of the decision at all,” Jason said, trying to reach for the patience he’d once had when dealing with Carly and her antics. He knew she was struggling, had heard Michael’s words of caution about her difficult year. Carly grieved like a wild woman, he’d always known that.

He was just tired of being the target of all her attention. “I’m doing the best I can with all of this,” Jason continued as Carly’s eyes glinted with tears. “I have to do what works for me—”

“And Elizabeth works for you, does she? I don’t? I’m your best friend!”

“Then act like it,” Jason snapped. “I need to go.”

“Where—damn it, Jason—”

But he was done listening to her and walked out of the courtyard, hoping like hell she wouldn’t follow.

Kelly’s: Diner

“You know, you were crap at algebra last year,” Trina complained as she watched Cameron fly through his geometry homework. “And you’re always terrible at math. How come you can do it now?”

“Uh—” Cam made a face. “I don’t know. I guess it’s because there’s lot of words. It’s mostly definitions. I like reading. I’m not going to question it, I’m just going to enjoy it while it lasts—”

“You’re a freak—” Trina broke off as the bell over the door jangled. “Hey, Oscar—whoa—”

Cam twisted on the stool to find his friend and quasi-cousin walking towards them, his face pale, his eyes wide and his fingers wrapped around the strap of the book bag slung over his shoulder so tightly that his knuckles were white. “What happened?”

“I—” Oscar stopped in front of them, glanced around at the sparse early evening crowd. “I went to see my dad.”

“Oh, hell—” Cameron slid off the stool. “Can we use the kitchen?”

“I’m fine,” Oscar said, but neither Cameron nor Trina listened to him. Cam’s girlfriend nodded and he took Oscar by the elbow and gently led him out of the dining room and into the kitchen—but Cameron kept going straight through to empty and quiet alley.

“What happened?” Cameron asked as the metal door clanged shut and Oscar leaned against it, letting the bag drop to the ground.

Oscar closed his eyes. “He doesn’t have my dad’s face. And he doesn’t have the memories. He doesn’t know me.”

“Okay,” Cameron said slowly. “But what happened—”

“Nothing. I looked at him, he looked at me, and I left. It was stupid to think it would work—that magically he’d get his memories back this time when the only other time we saw each other, we felt nothing. It’s like—” His chest heaved and Oscar slid to the ground. “It’s like he’s really dead. He’s in front of me, the DNA test said so but there’s no point in—he’s not there. My dad is really gone.”

He looked up at Cameron, tears streaking down his cheeks. “I wish he’d stayed gone. Stayed dead. This is worse. It’s worse. I don’t know why—”

Cameron gingerly sat next to him, wincing as the cold concrete bit through the seat of his jeans. “Because you wanted it to be different,” he said. “You have the memory of a dad who loves you, and you want that back. I get it, man, I do.” He thought about the memories of Lucky Spencer, of the way the man had laughed and called Cameron his son, and Cameron had called him Dad—

And how Cam waited when Lucky called these days to talk to Aiden, always wondering if this time he’d ask about Cam—but he never, ever did. Sometimes he’d mention Jake, or his mother would talk about all three of them —

But Lucky never asked about Cameron, never wanted to talk to him. “You had a dad once,” Cameron continued, “and now you don’t. He’s walking around in the same body, but he might as well be dead. Him being alive was supposed to be like getting something good, but it’s not. Because now you don’t even have the hope it’s gonna be different. It sucks to know for sure.”

“Yeah.” Oscar looked at him, his eyes wet. “Yeah, it really sucks.”

Davis House: Living Room

Alexis peered over the tips of her glasses, setting down the pencil she’d been using to make notes. “I’m sorry. What are you asking for?”

Sam made a face. Why did everyone make her repeat herself all the time? Did they think she didn’t hear herself? That she would change her mind if she listened to the words again?

“New York is a community property state,” she said patiently. “Jason and I never signed a prenup, which means I’m entitled to half of everything.”

“Uh—” Alexis removed her glasses, rubbed her eyes. “You know, this isn’t your first divorce from Jason. The last time you didn’t ask for anything—”

“The last time I didn’t have two children and a media company. And this is different—” Sam pursed her lips. “And I’m not asking for half of everything. I want enough money to cover the purchase price of Aurora, plus the first year’s operating costs, title to the penthouse, and—” She paused. “Termination of parental rights.”

“Termination of parental rights,” Alexis repeated. “I—” She paused. “You want to cut him off from Danny.”

“Yes. Drew will adopt Danny legally. We’ll change Scout and Danny’s birth certificates, and that will be the end of it.” Sam lifted a brow. “Don’t you think I’m entitled to raise my children however I see fit?”

“I—” Alexis blinked. “I think that Jason has been back seven days, and it’s only been four since you had confirmation which twin was which. I don’t think Jason is going to storm into Aurora and take it from you—maybe you could work something out—”

“Mom, you wanted me to deal with reality,” Sam said. “This is me doing that. I’m not doing anyone any favors if I wait. I was happy with the way things were before. I want to go back to that—”

“But there’s no going back—” Alexis began, but the front door opened and Kristina and Molly came in, laughing and talking about something.

“Oh, hey, Sam,” Molly said as she took off her coat. “Guess what, Mom? TJ got accepted into the medical student program at GH. He’ll be doing his third year program there starting in January.”

“Yeah, Kiki got accepted, too,” Kristina volunteered. She handed her scarf to Molly. “That’s kind of cool that they’re working together. Oh, and Mrs. Spencer cornered me at lunch. She wants me to think about doing an internship at GH.”

“An internship?” Alexis frowned. “What kind of—you’re not in medical school—”

“No, but there’s a position open in the administration office, and I need an internship for next semester.” Kristina shrugged. “You want me to figure out my life, so here I am figuring out my life. Maybe I’ll like working for the hospital.”

“Maybe.” Molly slung an arm around her sister’s shoulder. “But maybe you’ll end up in a cult. Both things are equally possible.” Kristina rolled her eyes, and Molly laughed. She looked at Sam. “Hey, Sam, did you bring the kids?”

“No, they’re with the nanny,” Sam said stiffly. “Mom, I’ll come back another day—”

“Still mad at me?” Kristina asked as she sat at the table across from Sam. She looked at Molly. “I just told her that she was being a big bitch to Jason, trying to take Danny from him five minutes after the guy got out of a coma.”

Molly’s eyes widened. “You’re doing what?” she asked Sam.

“I’m going,” Sam repeated, getting to her feet. “And you didn’t call me a bitch,” she said to Kristina with a gritting of her teeth.

“No, I guess I didn’t.” Kristina shrugged. “I thought it. Is that why you’re here to talk to Mom?” She tried to peek at the note pad under Alexis’s hand.

“Jason just got home,” Molly said, shoving herself to her feet. “He hasn’t even met Danny yet, has he?”

“He met him,” Sam said, tensely. “But Danny doesn’t know him—”

“Neither did Jake,” Alexis pointed out. “And neither did Drew at one point. I think you’re being hasty, Sam—”

“And I think you all need to butt the hell out of my life! It’s not like Jason gives a damn about me or Danny! He hasn’t come by to see me or even asked about Danny—” Sam pressed her mouth together as something bubbled up her throat. “He’s seen Jake a thousand times in the last seven days, and he’s always with Elizabeth, but he hasn’t come to see me once!”

“Maybe,” Alexis said, gently, “because you went home that night with Drew and didn’t identify Jason that night. And that night at the PCPD, did you say anything to him?”

“No! It’s not my job to reach out to him!” Sam retorted. “I’m the one whose life has to change! He should be asking me about Danny! He should be trying to get me back!”

“Oh, I get it now,” Kristina said. “You’re pissed because he’s not chasing you.” She rolled her eyes. “Well, that is dumb as hell. He was in a coma five minutes ago, did you miss that part?”

“That’s not—”

“I think Jason had to spend four days proving who the hell he was, found out another man has been living his life—raising his family—and that he went from having no kids to two of them—in fact, one of those sons had been dead and buried. I mean, Christ, Sam, did you even tell him you were glad he wasn’t dead?”

Sam stare at her sister, mutely. Then stalked over to grab her coat off the hook. “You don’t get it,” she said, hotly. “And I’m not going to explain it to you.”

Then she slammed the door behind her so hard that a picture frame on a shelf next to it fell to the ground.

“So,” Molly said after a long moment, turning to her sister and mother, “here’s what I think is going on. Sam is super jealous of Jake and Elizabeth, and wants Jason to chase after her. And since he hasn’t done that yet—she’s gonna make his life completely miserable as punishment.”

“Well, duh,” Kristina said. “I just said that.”

“Yeah, I know, but I added the punishment part. That’s what makes me more right than you.”

“It doesn’t matter who’s right,” Alexis said as her two youngest daughters began to bicker. “Only how much damage Sam is going to do before she figures out this is the wrong thing to do.”

Kelly’s: Diner

Drew frowned when he came into the diner, approaching the counter where Trina and Joss were sitting. Once, he might have teased them about sitting near each other because he had the memories—and the experience of knowing they weren’t really friends—but he saw the hostility in Joss’s eyes, the worry in Trina’s.

“Uh, someone left me a text message that Oscar was here. I don’t know who,” Drew said hesitantly. “Where—”

“I’m right here,” Oscar said dully as he came out of the kitchen, a towel slung over his shoulder. Behind him, Cameron carried a green tub and set it on the counter. “Who texted you?” He asked.

“I did,” Cameron said, looking at Drew. “I guess you don’t have my number in your phone anymore.”

Drew felt the heat in his cheeks as he realized that was true— “I got a new phone. I guess all the contacts didn’t—”

“It’s fine,” Cameron said, looking away, but Drew had seen the flash of hurt in Cameron’s dark blue eyes—his mother’s eyes. This boy he’d wanted to adopt—had loved as his own for almost a year—

“Why’d you do that?” Oscar asked his friend, narrowing his eyes. “I thought—”

“Because maybe you don’t get to have all the time back from before,” Cameron said. “I mean, Jake was gone for years, but he might as well have been gone his whole life because he didn’t know me or Aiden when he came home. He didn’t even really know Mom. Didn’t really recognize us as his. But he does now. And it sucks we lost that time, I can’t get it back. But I still have my brother.”

“Can we talk?” Drew said to Oscar, who still looked a bit irritated at his friend. “Just for a minute. Joss can come if you’re not sure—”

“It’s fine. We should at least…” Oscar jerked a shoulder, nodding towards the courtyard. “I need to go pack up the tables for winter. I told Trina I would do it for her—”

“I’ll help,” Drew offered. As Oscar walked past him, he looked back at Cameron. “Thank you.”

“I didn’t do it for you,” Cameron muttered and disappeared back into the kitchen. Drew sighed, then followed Oscar into the courtyard.

“I don’t remember being Andrew Cain,” Drew told him as Oscar silently began to stack the chairs. “But I got a background check on him—on me,” he corrected. “And I know—I’ve talked to Kim. She told me we were close.”

“I guess. We were alone for a while after Mom died,” Oscar said. He started to lift a table, and Drew took the other side. They carried it over, then stacked it on another table. “I know what happened to you sucked. Cameron and Joss told me about when you were in the accident. And—I mean, you got someone else’s memories. That’s really awful, I guess.”

“It’s hard,” Drew admitted as he stacked another set of chairs. “Take Cameron and Joss for an example. I’ve known them for three years. I know that’s true. And I’m sure you know by now that I lived with Cam’s mom for a while.”

“You almost married her and adopted him, yeah.”

“But I also have all these other memories of them,” Drew said. “Of watching Joss sick in the hospital, and Cameron growing up with his brother—meeting him here in Kelly’s when he was a baby—” He stared at the diner. “But they’re like movies that play in my head. I don’t have a connection to them. I can remember that I loved them both, but I can’t really separate the way I feel about them now from how they are in the memories.”

Oscar furrowed his brow. “That’s weird.”

“It is,” Drew said. “And I’m trying to find a way to be okay with having these memories. I don’t know if I can ever get rid of them. Or if I can get the old ones back. I don’t know.” He paused. “What do I know is that I’m not Jason Morgan. And these aren’t my memories. I can’t pretend to be someone I’m not, especially when that man is walking around trying to put his life back together. I’m Andrew Cain. And you’re my son.”

Oscar’s chin trembled, but he swallowed. “But you don’t feel like that’s true—”

“No, but that doesn’t mean we can’t try to build something new. When you met Kim, she wasn’t your mother either. But she’s your family now. And you have a little sister, Scout. I want her to know you. I want to know you,” Drew said. He tipped his head towards the diner. “Cameron and his brothers. Scout and Michael. They’re part of my family. Which makes them yours.”

“I don’t know,” Oscar said after a long moment. “It hurts that you don’t know me. Or that you don’t look like my dad.” He looked at him. “I mean, sometimes, there’s something around your eyes. And you sound like him a little. But I just—” He shook his head. “I don’t know.”

“Think about it,” Drew said. He touched Oscar’s shoulder. “And we’ll see how you feel in a few days.”

Webber House: Living Room

“Hey, I got your message—” Jason frowned as Elizabeth quietly took his jacket and hung it up. “What’s wrong? What happened at the PCPD? Did Andre have anything useful?”

“He’s hoping for a better deal from the WSB,” she said dully. She pressed a hand to her head. “He’s not willing to say much until he’s in one of their facilities, I guess.”

Jason frowned. “Then—”

“And what he would tell me—” Elizabeth sighed, wandered over towards the fireplace. “He said to make sure we knew where every Cassadine was. Because then we could sleep at night.”

Jason scowled. “That’s all?”

“All he would say about if there was still any danger.” Her voice faltered at the end, and Jason walked towards her.

“Elizabeth—”

“That night when I nearly drowned in the harbor,” she said in a low voice. “When I was sick—and I told you I’d seen Jake—” Her eyes found his, tears clinging to her lashes. “When I said I’d held him—that I’d touched him—I heard his voice—”

Dread crept up his spine. “You weren’t hallucinating,” Jason said.

“No,” she managed. “No. Helena had my little boy. Ewen didn’t just save me from drowning. He took me to the lab on the estate. Jake was there. On that island for at least that long. And she let me see him. Let me hold him.”

Her shoulders started to shake, and she wrapped her arms around herself as he just stared at her in horror as the truth sank in. “He knew Jake was alive and that he was on Spoon Island.”

“And I knew he was alive. I knew it!” she said, opening her eyes, a fierce light in them. “And I let everyone convince me I was crazy! And I let it go. I believed all of you! But I was right! Jake was alive, and Helena had all that time to hurt him, to poison his mind!”

“Elizabeth—”

She pressed her hands to her face. “I knew I’d held him. I knew I’d felt his little arms around my neck, that I’d heard his voice—I knew it, and I let it go—I let him go—” Sobs began to wrack her body. “I let him die all over again.”