When you fall, I’ll take my turn
And fan the flames as your blazes burn
We can’t wait to burn it to the ground
When you fall, I’ll take my turn
And fan the flames as your blazes burn
We can’t wait to burn it to the ground
– Burn It Down, Linkin Park

---

Saturday, January 6, 2018

Maslak, Istanbul: Lab

Luke pulled his fielder’s cap low, covering his forehead, then stepped up to the front desk. “Bir imzaya ihtiyacım var,” he said, tapping the clipboard where he wanted the receptionist to sign. If she found his Turkish a little rough, she said nothing. Only completed the signature. “Teşekkürler,” he said with a nod, keeping the group of men who had stepped off the elevator in the corner of his eye.

Move to the side. Just a little. Just—ah.

Jackpot.

Kiremit House: Kitchen

Luke paced the small room back and forth, waiting impatiently while footsteps echoed overhead, then on the steps. Finally—Nikolas came in, followed by Britt, with Lucky close behind. “I found him.” His smile was almost too gleeful. “I found him, and I found the lab.”

“You found Valentin?” Nikolas repeated. He came forward, seized Luke’s arm. “Where? What was he doing?”

“Spinelli was right to put this place at the top of his list. I had a feeling about it as soon as I showed up.” Luke whipped the cap from his head, tossed it on the table. “Just not enough foot traffic to be a real clinic, you know? But I waited, and I cased the place overnight. I sent in one of the WSB guys who came back with some photos — it was definitely a clinic, but no patients. Set up for medical research. I sent him home in case I found anything useful. I figured you didn’t want it getting back to Port Charles.”

“No. But how can you be sure—”

“Early this morning, I went in on a delivery assignment around the time the place opened, figuring it might be my best shot to see who shows up first thing. And there he was. Valentin Cassadine—” Luke flipped around his phone, tapped the screen. “What do you say to that?”

“Yeah, that’s definitely him,” Nikolas said tightly. Britt leaned over his shoulder.

“I know the guy next to him,” Britt said. “I think—can I see it—” Nikolas handed her the phone. “Yeah, this is Joseph Klein.”

Luke nodded. “Yeah, Spinelli said it was why he’d put Maslak first. So if he ran the lab in Russia, he’s running it here. That connects Valentin to the Russian lab. So why did he relocate Klein here?”

Britt folded her arms, knitted her brow. “I worked with him in Russia. At the lab in St. Petersburg right out of medical school, and then last year when I was on Jason’s case. He was running the lab there. Joseph talked about Turkey once. It’s been forever since I thought about it—we were friendly enough when I was there the first time, but I avoided—”

“Get to the point,” Nikolas snapped, and she focused on him, confused by the snap in his tone.

“He has family here,” Britt said. “I think he said a grandparent was Turkish. It was one of the languages he knew. Russian, German, Turkish. It made him pretty valuable, especially to my mother. We both left the lab in St. Petersburg at the same time. I went to New York, and he came to Turkey. Hey, is that place on Sumpter or Sumner—”

“Sumer,” Luke said. He tipped his head. “You didn’t think to tell us that you knew the guy who was running the lab in St. Petersburg?”

Britt folded her arms, looked at Nikolas who was glaring at her, then back at Luke, bewildered. “I didn’t know you were looking for him. Nikolas knew everyone I worked with back then. I gave him names to research a year ago. And I forgot Joseph had anything to do with Turkey until I saw his picture again. We—”

“Why the hell should we believe you?” Nikolas bit out. He grabbed her arm. “You’re still keeping secrets. What did I say—”

“Hey, back off—” Lucky said, but Britt was already pulling her arm back.

“Okay. Okay. You know what? Go to hell. I’m done with this.”

She whirled around, stalked down the short hallway and ripped open the front door, slamming it behind her.

“What’s your problem?” Lucky said to Nikolas. “She was telling us what she knew—”

“Where was this information before?” Nikolas shot back. “I’m tired of finding things out after the fact—”

Luke grimaced. “If we piss her off too much, she might decide to burn down the world. She knows where Valentin is now and could make a call home to save her own skin—”

“I’ll take care of it.” Lucky turned, jogged after her, leaving Luke’s grimace to deepen into a scowl. He did not like that development.

“Talk to me about this clinic,” Nikolas said, drawing Luke’s attention back. “Let Lucky deal with Britt.”

Kiremit Caddesi

Britt, in her fury, had opted to make a right when she’d left the house, which meant she was going downhill and had a hell of a head start. Lucky jogged after her, trying to find her brown hair among the groups of tourists.

He found her two blocks down, on the corner, leaning against a traffic light. “You didn’t get far.”

“My passport is in my room,” Britt said. “And you know it’s not easy to get a good fake these days. I lose that, I might as well turn myself in.” She looked at him. “You elected to make sure I didn’t call home and snitch?”

Lucky made a face. “It was suggested you might take that route. That’s why they think I came after you. But I wanted to apologize—”

“Don’t bother. You didn’t do anything, and I can’t complain that your father and Nikolas don’t trust me. I haven’t done much to earn trust from anyone. No point in being surprised.” She closed her eyes. “I just needed a minute. I deserve the crap they throw at me, but it doesn’t mean it’s easy to take it.”

“Neither one of them is in a position to judge anyone else,” Lucky said. “My old man does nothing but lie until he’s forced to tell the truth. And Nikolas—well, you know he’s not clean. He’s lying to his own son, pretending to be dead. He had Hayden Barnes shot to protect his secrets. What you did, Britt, you did. But I don’t think you’ve lied to me yet. That’s more than I can say for either of them back at the house.”

“I should have thought about Joseph,” Britt murmured. “But I put him on a list for Nikolas a year ago, Lucky. Everything I just told you? It’s probably available online. But Luke didn’t bother to even look at Spinelli’s list until yesterday, did he? We didn’t even see it. Maybe if we had, I would have seen that address, and it might have clicked.”

“I don’t think Dad showed it to any of us, including Nikolas.”

“The problem is your dad doesn’t trust Nikolas either. So I don’t know what we’re doing here. Nikolas would have found this lab a long time ago if he’d bothered to take me seriously. Which he clearly doesn’t.” Britt looked away, back over the street. “I keep thinking if I do one more thing, it’ll be enough. I just—I need for it to be enough, and it never is. So I’m going back, Lucky, but I’m packing my things and leaving. I’ll keep my mouth shut, but—”

“Okay, so my dad and Nikolas suck, but I’ve been okay, right?” he asked. She sighed. “We’re making progress. You and me. On those files. There’s medical shit I don’t understand. And I have the context you don’t. So come back and help me, okay? I’m the one with friends at the PCPD. I can help you with the charges, and no one thinks I’m dead back home.” A deadbeat maybe.

“I should have my head examined,” Britt muttered. “Fine. Fine. I’ll come back. It’s not like I really have any other choice.”

Kiremit House: Study

After Britt’s outburst and dramatic exit, Nikolas had gone upstairs to watch over the street, to watch for their return and Luke had followed.

“I say let her go,” Luke told him. “She’s keeping secrets, you saw that—she knew where we could look—”

“She did give me a list of names last year. I was distracted and forgot about them,” Nikolas said, a bit shamefaced. “I was balancing so many things, and it just—I put it to the side. When she couldn’t wake Jason, I didn’t even think about following up. I don’t know if Klein was on there, but maybe he was.” Nikolas looked at Luke. “If I’d looked at that list, I might have found this lab long ago. I just…had other priorities.”

“Yeah.” Luke grimaced. “And if I’d showed her the list, then—okay, fine, on this one, maybe she’s on the right side. But that doesn’t mean we need her—”

“I told you, Luke. She has information that we don’t—how about that little tidbit about her in Scarsdale, New York? Confirming that Liesl worked at that lab for more than just a day or two. She was on this project long term. That’s something. Look, I lost my temper with Britt. I shouldn’t have.”

But she’d lied to him before. Repeatedly. It was just simpler now to assume everything she told him was false and sort it out later, even if it ruffled her feathers. He wasn’t interested in learning the hard way that Britt had tricked him again.

He looked back out the window, saw Lucky and Britt appear, walking towards the house. “Okay. She’s coming back.”

“You’re going to regret that girl staying on, Nikolas, and if she screws with my boy, it’ll be on your head.”

“Yeah, fine—” The door downstairs opened, and there were footsteps. A moment later, Lucky appeared in the doorway, followed by Britt. “You found her.”

“I’m staying,” Britt said, lifting her chin. “But I’d appreciate if you’d wait for me to actually lie about something before—”

“Hey, you’re breathing, aren’t you?” Luke said. “That’s all the courtesy you’re getting from me—”

“Run over any toddlers today, Luke?” she asked coolly, and his face reddened. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.” She flicked her gaze to Nikolas. “I didn’t lie about Klein—”

“Luke and I just put our notes together. I should have remembered the names from last year. And Luke should have showed you the addresses. It might have saved us time.” Nikolas shrugged. “But you haven’t earned our trust, Britt—”

“You and I can agree to disagree there,” Britt retorted. “Because I think I have done everything you’ve asked and swallowed every nasty shot you—or you,” she spat at Luke, “have made. But even I have a limit to how much I’m going to take. I’m doing my best.”

“Yeah, okay.”

“I’m going back to work.” Britt turned, disappeared. They heard the steps a moment later.

“She makes another comment about Jake—” Luke began.

“What, Dad, you’ll run her over with your car, too?” Lucky cut in, and Luke closed his mouth. “You want to throw her lies in her face, Dad, I can give her a list of your greatest hits. How about pretending you loved my mother more than anything else, but having an affair with Holly Scorpio? Or maybe the time you shoved her to the floor at a disco—”

“All right, all right.” Luke swallowed hard. “We all got our demons. Let’s just let them stay buried.”

“That’s all I’m saying.” With another cool look, Lucky disappeared. They heard his bedroom door slam a moment later.

Luke glared at Nikolas. “You see? Already twisting my boy. I’m going back to the lab to do something useful.”

Kiremit House: Britt’s Bedroom

She sat on the edge of her bed, her hands flattened against the mattress on either side, and asked herself again — why was she doing this? Why did she believe, after all this time, that Nikolas would finally forgive her and give her the ability to go back to her life—

She just wanted the charges of child endangerment to go away. She still had two more years before the statute of limitation was up, and then she could go back to the States, move somewhere new, get admitted to the medical board, and go back to her life. Start over. She was still young enough to do that.

There was a light knock on her door, and Britt sighed. “Come in.”

She didn’t have to ask who it was — no one else would make the trek of all the flights of stairs. “What?”

“You’re not going to look at me?”

She twisted, found him leaning against the closed door. “What?” she repeated.

“I want to start by saying I meant what I said out on the street. You’ve never lied to me, at least that I can tell. You’ve played it straight, so that’s how I’ve treated you.”

“Yeah, so what?” Britt moved from her bed to the desk chair, drawing up one leg. “You change your mind?”

“I’m saying that because I don’t want you to misunderstand what I’m about to say.” Lucky hesitated. “You’re keeping secrets.”

Her eyes went hot, and she jerked to her feet. “You said—”

“I said I didn’t think you lied to me, Britt. But that doesn’t mean I believe you’ve told us everything you know is relevant. And why would you? I know my brother. I know my dad. You need to keep some pieces back, don’t you? Leverage. You need to protect yourself.”

Tears burned at her eyes. “Why are you saying this—”

“Because I think you might be ready to trust someone, and neither of them are good candidates. I am.” He flattened a hand against his chest. “I’ve played it fair all the way through, Britt. I think I’ve earned a measure of your trust, just like you’ve earned mine.”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t expect you to tell me everything. I’m not going to tell you everything either,” he added. “Because some things—well, some of those things are just for me. But I want you to know you can trust me. So, a secret for a secret.”

“A secret—” Britt slowly sank back onto her chair. “Like what?”

“Something that only I know, so if it gets back to Nikolas or my dad, I’ll know it came from you.” Lucky raised a brow. “You in?”

“I don’t—” She swallowed hard. “What if this is a trick?”

“I’ll go first.” Lucky paused, focused on her. “Jake. You know about him, don’t you?”

“Yes—”

“The summer he came home, almost three years ago. Nikolas tracked me down in June. I live in Dublin. Or I did before all of this. And he found me there and told me Helena had opened up the west wing again. It hasn’t been open since my mother was a prisoner on the island. He knew I could get on the island quieter than he could, so he asked me to check it out. When I went there, I found Jake. Living with Helena.”

Britt frowned. “I knew that—”

“Nikolas gave me the tip that sent me to my son. It wasn’t until we’d taken him home, until I’d given Jake back to his mother and made it right—until then, I was too overwhelmed to ask questions.” Lucky’s eyes were unfocused, as if he were back in that moment. “And I realized that Helena had simply handed Jake over. No worries. No fights. I went back to Greece. And I asked a few questions of the servants.” He paused. “Nikolas knew about the west wing almost a year earlier. He’d visited it often. Spending hours with Jake.”

Britt’s breath caught. “He knew?”

“For months. Even as he told Elizabeth that Jake Doe was Jason, Nikolas knew that Jake was alive and said nothing to her.” Lucky looked at her, his gaze sharpened. “That’s my first secret. My brother lied about my son. And continues to lie.”

“That’s—” She rubbed her chest. “That’s awful. You thought he was dead—”

“Elizabeth shattered into tiny little pieces when Jake died,” Lucky murmured. “She was already having a rough time. I wasn’t helping — I ripped into her after the affair. So did pretty much everyone else. It’s funny — you know that she was treated so much worse than I was when I cheated twice as much? Anyway.” He took a breath. “She had a nervous breakdown after Jake died. Nikolas knew that. He knew what Jake being alive would mean to her. I fell apart. I couldn’t function in Port Charles. Everywhere I looked—” Lucky gestured. “Everywhere I could see all the ways I’d failed. As a father, as a husband, as a man—all of them. Losing Jake broke what was left of us. And Nikolas knew that.”

“And he kept quiet.”

“Yes.” Lucky took a deep breath. “I never confronted him about it. I couldn’t. We started tracking down Helena, and I wanted that to be the focus. And I couldn’t stand for Elizabeth to know. It was bad enough I had to live with it, but to tell Elizabeth, my mother—” He shook his head. “So I didn’t. I kept it to myself. You’re the only one who knows.”

And she could see it, in every line of his body. She could see the truth. “I don’t have nearly as many secrets as you might think,” she said slowly. “Some of them, I don’t even know that I know. Like Klein’s connection to Turkey. So maybe we’ll find more as we go through the files. But there’s something I can tell you. I just—” Britt folded her arms, looked at the floor. “Your secret is about something that was done to you. This is something I should have told Nikolas. And didn’t.”

“I don’t have a lot of love for him, Britt. Whatever you say, it’ll stay right here.”

She nodded. Well, it worth was a try. She could just…slide it out slowly. “Last year, with Jason’s case, when I told Nikolas I couldn’t wake him up, it was a lie.” She looked at Lucky, whose expression remained blank. “I went to Russia, I used my father’s name to get inside. But I had worked there before, so it was easier. I needed Faison to get access to Jason. I spent a month working on his condition. And I was just about to complete the treatment when my mother showed up.”

“Liesl.”

“Yes.” Britt licked her lips. “Faison found out I was using his name to get to Jason—or Patient Six. That’s what they called him. My mother told me that what I was doing was interfering with my father’s plans. She knew about Nikolas. I don’t know how. I swear I don’t. She told me if I didn’t listen, if I didn’t stop trying to wake up Jason, she’d make sure Nikolas was dead. So I stopped the treatment. And I left the clinic. I told Nikolas I couldn’t do it, and he didn’t call for my help again until last week.”

Lucky tipped his head. “Why didn’t you tell Nikolas that Liesl threatened you? That you were forced to stop?”

“Who would believe me?” Britt said. “Do you think Nikolas would ever believe that I didn’t know how my mother found me? I kept my mouth shut because Jason had nothing to do with my goal in clearing my name. But—the final treatment. I switched out the sedatives they were using on him, and he received it anyway.”

“So that’s why he eventually woke up.”

“Yes. I don’t know if my mother knows it was me. I thought maybe Nikolas would be happy if Jason woke up eventually. But he didn’t contact me and I just—I kept it to myself.” Britt shook her head. “Anyway. That’s my secret.” For now. She could survive Nikolas knowing about that — but if Nikolas knew that she had a pretty good idea why Valentin had needed to kill Nikolas in order to gain his inheritance—

She didn’t trust anyone that much. She wouldn’t live to regret it.

“Okay. So we have our agreement.” Lucky stepped away from the door. “I’ll get back to work.”

Maslak Lab: Office

DENIED.

The screen flashed, and then went black. Valentin scowled and reached for his cell phone, intending to get the best hacker on this job — he’d reached the limit of his own abilities, and damn it — he needed to get into the protocol files —

But as he picked up the phone, he saw the number of missed calls from Nina had ballooned to more than ten, and he had six additional voice mails. He grimaced. For the moment, as far as he knew, he’d managed to slip out of the Istanbul Airport without a trace to leave behind for the idiots back in Port Charles.

But even idiots could eventually stumble on the truth.

He was running out of time.

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

---

Saturday, January 6, 2018

Webber House: Kitchen

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“You tell me. What’s up?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Mom?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

Kelly’s: Dining Room

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Are we really having this conversation—”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“But Cameron did.”

“Yes.”

“And he didn’t tell Jason, either.”

“No.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Not for Cameron.”

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

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

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

“You’re not mad about it anymore?”

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

“And then he’s back.”

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

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

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

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

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

——

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

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

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

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

“I talked to Molly about it—”

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

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

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

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

Sam frowned. “Krissy—”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“I guess that’s fair.”

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

“Yeah, I think I do.”

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

“Did you ever try to talk to Jason?”

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

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

“That’s what Dad was talking about?”

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

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

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

“I know you do.”

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

“What happened?”

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

“You were ready to tell him no?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Yes.” Sam took a deep breath. “Yes, that’s—I didn’t think about it that way,” she murmured, more to herself. “For him it hadn’t been that long. And I was already struggling because Danny is such a big issue between us—and I still think he’s better off with Drew. Jason didn’t want him—just talking about Danny, seeing Jason, and the way Danny looks like him—do you get that it messed me up, Krissy?”

“I do. I really do, Sam.” She tipped her head. “I was wondering—you and Mom were arguing about custody. But I know you’re asking for financial stuff. Was that part of it before the divorce?”

“Some of it was already in the petition, yeah, but I kept waiting to file. Kept waiting for something to change so I didn’t have to, and then—and then it changed. And I knew that I had to act.”

“So you filed them.”

“Because I was angry,” she admitted. “Because I wanted to—” She shook her head. “I wanted to hurt him. I didn’t understand how he could just—tell me he wanted a life with me, come home and then not want it anymore? And it was worse because I know why. I know why.” Her mouth felt sour. “Elizabeth. She did everything right from the beginning. She was always there, you know that? Always in the background. Even when she wasn’t trying to get between us—” She stopped, took another deep breath. “He was with her that summer—before we got back together. Before the pier. I know they nearly—I don’t know when they stopped. But Elizabeth is always in his head, and now there’s Jake. And I think—I needed him to choose me, Krissy. To really choose me. And he didn’t. He never will.”

Kristina studied her for a long moment. “But you didn’t want to choose him, Sam.”

“No, no, but—God. It makes me sound like such petty bitch,” Sam muttered. “I wanted him to choose me, Krissy, so that I could reject him. So I could tell him I’d grown up. That I didn’t need him anymore. I wasn’t going to beg for him to actually forgive me for—for things I did. I wasn’t going to chase him, trying to be good enough. I needed to tell him that, but—but it doesn’t count. It doesn’t matter if he doesn’t want me. It’s not—” Sam looked away. “So I wanted to hurt him. And I knew how to do it. I knew the financial demands would make his life difficult and keep him in court, going over and over it with Diane. I’ll lose almost all of it, to be honest, and I know that. But I wanted to make sure he couldn’t walk away from me that easily. And then I used Jake.”

She focused on her sister. “I hit him where it would actually hurt him. So maybe he could feel, just for a minute, the way I did that day in the penthouse. After everything he did and said to me while I was pregnant with Danny, for all the ways I humiliated myself to make him love me again—yeah, I wanted to hurt him. And I’m not finished yet. He wants to walk away and start a life with Elizabeth like Danny, and I don’t matter? That’s not going to happen. I’m not finished with him yet.”

Morgan House: Street

Elizabeth paused at the stop sign a block from Jason’s house, checked for oncoming traffic, then continued. She’d done exactly what Felix had advised — she’d blown out her hair the way she’d worn it during the time they’d been meeting secretly at the Metro Court. She was wearing something lacy underneath her sweater and jeans—

She only wished she had half the confidence she’d had back in those days when she’d waited impatiently for Jason to show up at the door to whatever room they’d rented for the night—he’d come in, and they wouldn’t even talk—sometimes they didn’t even make it to the bed—

She was older now, and so was he, but that heat didn’t just go away. It had been right there last month, leading into New Year’s. And wasn’t Felix, right? If Elizabeth wanted a little more romance in her life, then she needed to show Jason that. It wasn’t fair to expect him to read her mind—

She pulled into his driveway, checked her makeup in the rear view mirror, then gave herself one more pep talk before getting out of the car.

Morgan House: Living Room

Inside the house, Jason wasn’t thinking about Elizabeth or the boys, or anything else that usually occupied his attention.

He’d meant to spend time on the WSB records, but when he’d been grabbing things to take home yesterday, he’d accidentally mixed in the Patient 2 records Spinelli had left for him—

And he’d started to read them instead.

He read the reports in order—beginning with the cold description of a sedated teenager, the doctor’s frustrations that Lucky refused to accept his captivity—the doctor was disappointed that they’d had to stop their work while Lucky’s vocal cords healed. He’d injured them from all the screaming.

Screaming to get out.

Jason had put the papers aside after that, looked at the laptop, and almost without thinking about what he was doing—Jason had navigated to the folder where he knew the files were stored—

And he clicked on one of the videos.

The image was a bit fuzzy, from an old camera, but it was clearly a room — mostly bare with a single twin bed and metal frame. There were shelving units built into the room with clothes, books, even what looked like a stereo.

Lucky was pacing the room — not the adult man that Jason had last seen, but the lanky teenage boy who had worked for him before the fire, who had washed cars and performed small tasks. He’d lived in Jason’s old boxcar for a while—almost following the template that Jason had after the accident. He’d left home for what felt like a good reason, started in the boxcar—

It was why Jason had offered him the job and room at the garage. He’d liked Lucky, and Luke had always been a trusted confidante. He wanted to look out for Lucky, the way Sonny and Luke had for Jason. To return the favor.

Jason had blamed himself for a long time after that fire. Even though it was an accident — if Lucky had still been in the boxcar—

Lucky occasionally banged on the doors, then paced again. In his hands, there was some sort of paper. He kept looking at it, and Jason realized eventually it was a photograph. Lucky came towards the bed, closer to the camera. He stretched out on his back, staring up at the ceiling.

He knew that look, knew that expression. The hopelessness. The sense that no matter what you did, they’d never let you go. You were going to be trapped in this room forever, trapped in the bed—not able to move, not able to get up—was it just you? Were you the only one who was hurt, who they’d taken? Was someone else you loved in danger, too? Were they just down the hall—who was here—

There was a knock at the door, and it jolted Jason. He slammed the laptop down, went to the door and yanked it open.

Elizabeth was there, her eyes bright, her smile wide. “Hey—”

“What happened?” Jason looked past her, up and down the street. Had she been followed? Was someone out there? He grabbed her arm, yanked her inside, closed the door. “What’s wrong? What happened?”

She stared at him, then her smile faded.

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

---

Saturday, January 6, 2018

 Morgan House: Living Room

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“It’s not fine. Elizabeth—”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“I don’t—” Jason stopped. Mystified.

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

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

“I—”

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

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

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

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

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

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

Webber House: Living Room

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“I don’t have a look.”

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

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

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

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

“Oh, no.'”

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

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

“I know he is.”

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

“Em—”

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

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

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

“It’s not that hard.”

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

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

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

“Em—”

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

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

Morgan House: Living Room

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

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

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

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

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

“Elizabeth—”

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

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

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

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

Elizabeth sighed. “Jason—”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

She frowned. “Lucky’s—”

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

“Jason—”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And took off for the stairs.

Devane Manor: Living Room

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

To what he wasn’t saying.

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

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

“No list of information.”

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

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

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

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

Morgan House: Hallway

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Jones-West Apartment: Living Room

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“No nickname for Drew?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“How about Brave Business Guy?”

“Now you’re just insulting me.”

“Banging Business Dude.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Can you prove it now?”

“I need to make a call.”

Morgan House: Master Bedroom

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Then we better not waste any of it.”

Spencer House: Living Room

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“And, um, Stone Cold?”

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

Morgan House: Kitchen

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

---

Sunday, January 7, 2018

Istanbul, Turkey

Kiremit House: Britt’s Bedroom

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Anything good?”

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

Lucky grimaced. “There’s nothing there—”

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

“This isn’t important—”

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

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

“Helena programmed you to do that.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Britt—”

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

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

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

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

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

Maslak Lab: Hallway

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“And you will still have nothing.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

Locating the memory protocol had become his number one priority.

Kiremit House: Study

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Damn it—”

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

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

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

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

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

“Ready to leave this room,” she muttered.

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

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

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

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

Maslak Lab: Hallway

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

---

Sunday, January 7, 2018

Morgan House: Kitchen

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Jason—”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Devane Manor: Foyer

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Davis House: Kitchen

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

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

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

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

“All right.”

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

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

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

Alexis sighed. “Sam—”

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

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

“Yes.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

“For you—”

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

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

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

“I know it might feel this way now—”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Settled for me.”

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

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

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

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

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

“Don’t—”

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

“What—why?”

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

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

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

“You’re supposed to be my lawyer—”

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

“It’s what I want—”

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

“Stop it! Don’t say that!”

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

“You already filed my papers—”

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

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

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

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

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

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

Morgan House: Street

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

At ten at night.

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

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

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

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

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

It had sounded fine in theory, he thought darkly.

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

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

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

Davis House: Kitchen

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“But—”

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

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

I’m trapped and my back’s up against the wall
I see no solution or exit out
I’m grinding it out, no one can see
The pressure’s growing exponentially
I’m trying to keep up to speed with you
Your lane changing is oscillating me
I’m hitting the ground and I’m sprinting
I’m falling behind now I’m tuning out
– Pressure, Muse

---

Friday, January 5, 2018

Morgan’s Auto: Lobby

Jason folded his arms, squinting at the lines of code reflected back on Spinelli’s monitor. “Explain this to me again. How does that help us figure out what Luke’s up to?”

“I haven’t put the newest decrypted files on the drive yet,” Spinelli said, twisting in his chair to face Jason. “I’m embedding a virus—not a bad one. But it’s a tracker. Anyone who opens a file will give me access to their device. I’m also sending Luke an updated list of addresses with context as to why they’re on the list. Since he mentioned if we’d told him Klein worked at Maslak, he’d have prioritized it. When Luke opens it—”

“You get into the phone.”

“I don’t know what security they’ve got, but I’ll get texts, locations, GPS—and the files should give me Lucky’s information. I’ll know where they are and where they go. I don’t know if it’ll get you what you want,” Spinelli added, “but I think it’s a good start.”

“I—” Jason broke off at the sight of a car pulling into the parking lot. When Alexis stepped out, he frowned. He hadn’t seen his former lawyer much since his return, or at all, now that he thought about it.

Alexis pulled the door open, flashing a hesitant smile. “Hi. I, uh, hope it’s okay I’m stopping by. I know you’re not open yet—” she swept her eyes around the shabby, though clean, lobby. “Which is a good thing.”

“It’s fine.” Jason stepped away from Spinelli, gestured towards the doorway that led to the office in the back. “Come on back.”

“We haven’t really spoken since you came home.” Alexis set her bag and coat on the chair by the desk, waited for Jason to close the door. “But I am glad you’re home. That you’re all right. I’m sorry that my family is responsible for this.”

“Your family had nothing to do with this, Alexis. Helena, Victor, maybe Valentin — do you really claim any of them?” Jason asked.

She smiled faintly. “No. I don’t know. But it’s difficult to turn off the guilt. I’ve always known my bloodline was capable of great cruelty. I…kept my distance because of Sam.”

“I know.”

“And I shouldn’t be here today, either,” Alexis added. “I should be talking to you through Diane. I tried that, but I’m not sure Diane…well, she’s never really hidden her dislike of Sam. And…” she hesitated. “I don’t know if you’re aware, but when you came home, a lot of things got brought up. In the press. You never paid attention to any of that, I know, but someone must have found old trial clips of Sam testifying against you.”

Jason frowned. “What?”

“The trial was carried live on television, and a few years ago, the news network launched a YouTube channel. Don’t ask—” Alexis held up a hand when his frown only deepened. “At any rate, someone sent the link to Kristina. She, ah, didn’t know why Ric and I divorced.”

“I’m sorry for that, Alexis.”

“These last two months, they haven’t been easy. For anyone. You and Drew, you both have so much to work out. The last five years—what happened to him as a child to be separated from you in the first place—” She pressed her lips together. “And the people around you—they’ve had to adjust. Sam’s had to adjust. And you know better than anyone how hard she can cling to something she wants. When you add in Kristina dragging up that, and other misdeeds, well, Sam hasn’t exactly done herself any favors between that and the papers I filed.” She grimaced. “I could get disbarred for this, Jason, but I hope you know—”

“You have to do what your client wants, Alexis. You don’t have to say anything else. I know it’s not personal.” Jason hesitated. “I just don’t know why you’re here. Diane already told me Sam was angry that Sonny came by—”

“It looks like you’re trying to intimidate Sam into backing down. I know that’s not true, but Sam—she just needs space. She needs to—” Alexis paused. “You and I both know Sam is impulsive. She makes mistakes, and she can’t correct them. Not without admitting she was wrong. I think she regrets how she handled your return.”

“I don’t know what I can do about that. I didn’t do anything wrong—”

“Of course not—”

“I came home. I just—I wanted to come home,” he repeated. “I didn’t demand she turn the penthouse over to me. I wouldn’t. And I’m not demanding access to Danny. I understand her concerns there—”

“If there’s a chance that maybe—” Alexis paused, as if searching for the right words. “I don’t know. If there’s a chance that this divorce will end up like your last—”

“I’m not calling this one off. It’s done,” he said, and she closed her mouth. “I shouldn’t have—Sam and I weren’t good for each other for a long time. Sam made those choices, Alexis. If she regrets them now, I can’t do anything about that. I won’t do anything,” he added. “I had to move forward. I did that.”

“I see that. The garage — I’m glad you’re not going back to Sonny full-time. And, well, I know you’ve had time with Jake and his brothers.”

“Why are you here?” Jason asked again. “If it’s to ask if Sam and I—no. It’s a no, Alexis.”

“All right. Then I suggest you do yourself a favor and make it clear that Sonny needs to stay away from Sam. He went to her, Jason, and he accused her of trying to put you in jail. Of stealing your freedom. And then he told her you’d called her from Russia. She feels guilty for not getting you out. For not knowing you were alive.”

“I don’t—” Jason shook his head. “I wish he hadn’t said anything. I don’t want Sam to think—that was two months ago. Things have changed.”

“Because of Elizabeth?” Alexis asked.

Jason looked down at the surface of the desk, then back up at his former lawyer. “She’s part of it. But it’s more than that. The life Sam and I had, it’s over.” And damn Sonny for making Alexis, for making Sam think there was a chance he’d change his mind. This was the last thing he needed.

“Thank you for hearing me out.” Alexis picked up her things. “I really am glad you’re home.”

When her car had left the parking lot, Jason looked at Spinelli and sighed. “If the boys get here before I get back, get them started in the bay, okay?”

“Sure thing, Stone Cold. But where are you going?”

Jason yanked his jacket off the back of a chair in his office. “To stop a problem from getting worse.”

General Hospital: Nurse’s Station

“Hey, do you have a second?”

Elizabeth glanced up to find Kim at the counter, a chart in her hands. “Hey, Kim. What’s up?”

“I just to thank you for stepping in on the Jamison case last week, and making sure she was transferred down to our floor. It’s not the first time the ER has turfed a pregnant patient to the first open bed they could find, and it won’t be the last.”

“No worries. It’s part of my job to make sure my patients are on the service they actually need—”

“It’s really not,” Kim said, and Elizabeth sighed. “Or it shouldn’t be. I know you have enough on your plate without taking care of hospital administrative tasks. I know the ER gets busy and crowded, but—”

“They pass it on, I know.” Elizabeth hesitated. “Listen, I, um, I’ve been meaning to reach out. Do you have a few minutes?” She gestured towards a nearby waiting area.

Kim looked as if she wanted to say no, but finally tipped her head. “I do. But it’s not necessary—”

“Maybe not, but our sons are best friends, and well, they’re cousins. I know Cam’s not biological—”

They sat on the sofa in the waiting area, and Kim rested the chart in her lap. “Biology doesn’t matter to Oscar. Or to me. Meeting Cam the first week we were here—it made such a difference. I worried about uprooting Oscar when he only had three years left, but…” She bit her lip. “Cam made it easy for him. And now Oscar has a life here. I hope you know I think the world of your son.”

“I do, too. I got really lucky. And I adore Oscar. I just…I wish there was something I could do. Or say. You were dealt such a rotten hand—”

“No worse than you. Or anyone else who loved Drew—or his brother. It’s all so…” Kim squinted. “Impossible. Fantastical, really. My husband was deployed, and…now whatever made him Drew is sitting in a computer file somewhere. That’s what Oscar tells me.”

“We have the doctor’s files. They’re encrypted, but we’re trying. I don’t know if that helps — to think you could get Drew back—”

“I’ll never get Drew back. Not the way he was. The way we were.” Kim looked down at her hands, flexed her fingers. “I’ve been avoiding it all. Pretending it wasn’t happening. One foot in front of the other. Don’t think about it. But the papers…the divorce. It’ll be final at the end of the month.” She closed her eyes. “I don’t know if it was the right thing. To just let Drew go without a fight. Was it?”

“I don’t know. Did it feel like the right choice?”

“He doesn’t know me,” Kim murmured. “He doesn’t know Oscar, but that’s different. They—they could get that back. But he doesn’t know me. Doesn’t remember that he loved me.” She touched her throat. “They stole it from us. All the dreams we had for each other. For our life.  You…he came here. There was an accident, and for some time, he didn’t know who he was. You knew him then.”

“I did,” Elizabeth said carefully. “But he had fragments. Feelings. About Jason’s life.”

“It’s all right. I know that you nearly married him. So you understand what I mean. The man he was. Kind, sweet—and he could be so silly. He and Oscar liked to play little pranks on me. Harmless ones. Fake flies in ice cubes, whoopy cushions. He loved to laugh.” Kim sighed. “I hope he didn’t lose that. I hope they didn’t take that from him, too.” She cleared her throat. “Thank you for checking on me. But I think I’ll do better if we keep pretending it’s not happening.”

“If that’s what you need, I can do that. But you’re Oscar’s mother, and Oscar’s part of my family, now. If you need anything—”

“Thank you.” Kim smiled. “I’ll keep that in mind. But I should get back to work.”

Greystone: Living Room

Sonny heard the knock at the front door through the double open doors, and turned just as Jason strode into the room, his jaw clenched. “Uh, hey, what’s going on—”

“Why did you go to see Sam?”

Sonny grimaced, went towards the minibar. This called for a bourbon. “How’d you find out?”

“That’s not an answer—”

“I went because I knew you wouldn’t.” Sonny picked up the decanter. “You want a drink?”

“Sonny.” Jason exhaled slowly. “Look, I’m sure you thought you were helping, but you’re not. I have enough to deal with without you making it look like I’m trying to intimidate Sam into backing down—”

“Which is why I stepped in. You’re not handling your business, Jase. And half of your business is mine. Sam’s coming after the warehouse interests and your real estate investments. We share those, okay? You can’t let her dig into those books. Get your head into the game—”

“I know what it means for her—do you think I’m stupid?” Jason shook his head. “She just filed two weeks ago. Nothing’s going to happen until we get in front of a judge who has to order those books open. You’re jumping the gun because you think you know everything. No, don’t—” He held up a hand. “Just don’t. What did you think you were doing telling her that I called her from Russia? That I went to the penthouse at all?”

Sonny frowned. “Because she only filed to get back at you for asking for the divorce at all. I wanted her to know that it’s her own fault you’re not together right now—”

“I don’t have time for this, Sonny! I wasted my morning at Anna’s, finding out that Luke and Lucky haven’t found anything in Turkey, Spinelli’s printing files faster than we can read them, Laura’s jumping down my throat for something that isn’t my fault, Elizabeth’s worried the boys are going to get involved, and now I’ve got you trying to help because you think I can’t do it, giving Sam ideas that I don’t want to deal with.”

“I didn’t say you couldn’t—I didn’t know there was a meeting today.” Sonny frowned. “Why didn’t you tell me? I would have gone—”

“Don’t change the subject. You need to back off. You’re demanding answers from me, from Diane, from Sam—it’s none of your business—”

“It’s—”

“You want me to go into a court and rip Sam apart, I get that. Diane wants me to do it, too. You think I can’t read between the lines?” Jason rubbed his hand over his mouth. “You don’t like how I’m doing something, you talk to me.”

“The way Diane talks, you’re not handling anything—”

“And if Diane wants to keep talking about my business with you, I’ll find another lawyer. This is my divorce, Sonny. I’m handling it—”

“You keep saying that, but you’re the one circling the subject. Did you actually tell Diane what to file or did you want her to read your mind?” Sonny tossed back the last of his bourbon, set the tumbler down with a hard clink of glass. “Why do you let Sam get away with everything? And do you even want to know what she said when I told her—”

Jason exhaled slowly, looked at the ceiling, almost as if he was praying for patience. Sonny’s scowl deepened. “She only went after you, Jase, because you didn’t chase her. She wanted you to beg her for another chance so she could reject you. But you didn’t, so she’s gonna make you pay—”

“She can do whatever she wants. Diane’s going to file what she files, and we’ll let the court figure out. I don’t have the time for this, Sonny,” Jason repeated.

“You don’t have the time? Oh, okay. I guess this conversation is interrupting your busy file reading,” Sonny bit out. “Didn’t mean to force you to take control of your own life instead of burying your head in the sand some more.”

Jason stared at him, bewildered. “What are you talking about?”

“You know how Sam is when she feels rejected. You know better than anyone else. What happened to Jake, Jase? To Elizabeth and the boys in the park? To Elizabeth’s marriage? Sam gets vindictive, spiteful, and cruel when you reject her. You came home, you ignored her for two months, asked her for a divorce, and then kept ignoring her. You think that she’s not going to keep going nuclear to get your attention?”

Jason scrubbed his hands down his face. “Sam made her choice that night. What did you want me to do? Run after her? Beg her to believe who I was? She didn’t want to know the truth, Sonny. Are you mad that I didn’t chase Sam? Why do you care so much about what happens with my divorce?”

“I don’t care—” Sonny took a minute, took a breath. “Okay. Look, the way things shook out, it’s the right thing. Sam was never a good match for you. She made you the worst version of yourself. I get that. I get how you can keep going for the misery you know because it’s the hell you think you deserve. So I’m glad Sam’s out of the picture. I always liked Elizabeth—”

“I don’t need your approval on any of this—why are we having this conversation, Sonny? Why are you going behind my back to talk to my divorce lawyer, to my ex-wife—are you going to bother Elizabeth next?” Jason shook his head. “I told you. I’m handling it by keeping my distance. Sam wants to hurt me, I get that. She’s always known how to do it and using Jake—” He looked away. “It worked. But I need to move on from that. She made her choice that night to walk away. And I didn’t go after her. I’m glad I didn’t. I have everything I want, and as soon as we find something Sam will agree to, I can stop thinking about her. Is that good enough for you, Sonny? Does that have your approval?”

Sonny pressed his lips together. “Yeah. That’s fine.”

“Good. I have to get back to work.”

Jason left, the door slamming behind him. Sonny growled, then took the empty tumbler, threw it against the wall. All he wanted to do was help, and Jason couldn’t even see the big picture.

A few minutes later, the door opened again, and he heard Carly in the foyer. He turned, and she came in, bright-eyed and beaming. “Hey! Was that Jason I saw leaving? I wish I’d caught up with him. I need to see if he wants to take a look at a few ideas I had.”

Sonny glared at her. “For what?”

“Oh, the lobby and the customer areas of the garage.” Carly set some bags on the desk and pulled off her coat. “I actually spent the morning looking at some new furniture for the place. You’ve been there, right? That sofa.” She shuddered. “And that smell. Thank God it’s gone.”

Sonny shook his head. “What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about Jason’s garage.” Carly tipped her head. “I told you. He asked me to decorate it, make it fit for humans. It was a real garbage pit, but I stopped in this morning, and the cleaning crew did a great job. We’ll get new linoleum for the lobby—I wanted Jason to choose the color scheme—”

“Do you think I care about any of this?” Sonny demanded. She blinked, fell silent. “Do you think Jason gives a damn about colors?”

Carly’s smile fell slightly. “No. No, probably not. I know he’s got a thousand things on his plate, that’s why he asked me to help. He asked me, I didn’t offer. And you know how much he hates when I just get involved without asking. So I—”

“Good for you,” Sonny muttered. He reached for a new tumbler, poured another bourbon. “I’m sure he’ll love whatever you slap on the place. If he even notices. You know he’s busy. Why aren’t you picking the colors? Isn’t that he wants you to do?”

“Is—is everything okay? Was that why he came by?” Carly looked behind her. “I don’t really press him about any of that. But did something happen?”

“He’s fine.” Sonny shook his head. Took a deep breath. “He’s not handling the divorce well,” he found himself saying. That was the reason, of course. That’s why he was so angry with Sonny for just trying to help. He thought Jason had made a clean break from Sam, but how many times had Sonny thought that about Carly? Maybe the divorce petition made everything real. Maybe that was why Jason was angry at Sonny, for dragging up old feelings.

“Oh.” Carly’s brows knitted together. “I thought he was handling it okay before the holidays. I mean, I know I encouraged him to talk to Sam, but I think he probably made the right choice. Elizabeth—you know, once I stopped being so aggravated by her—Jason told me that she really helped him feel like himself again, and that hurt the first time he told me. But then I realized it was true. And that’s most important, right?”

“Yeah. Yeah. Right.” Sonny sipped his bourbon. Maybe that was what was bugging Jason. Elizabeth had done so much to help him get resettled at home, but if Jason was having second thoughts about divorcing Sam—well, that would be rough for everyone. He stroked his chin. “You know, it’s good Jason asked you for help with this. That you waited to be asked.”

“I know. It felt really good—”

“I mean, he chose exactly the right thing to keep you from asking too many questions.” Sonny shrugged, started for the door. “I’m gonna go to the restaurant for a few hours. Enjoy your, uh, color schemes.”

Carly watched him go, then looked down at the paint samples in her hand. Somehow, Jason asking for her help didn’t feel as good anymore. He just wanted to keep her away from something that actually mattered, like his divorce and custody, or the Cassadine investigation, or his family—

She took a deep breath. It didn’t matter, she told herself. He’d asked her for help, and she was going to do her best. Even if didn’t really matter. If she did this well, next time, he might trust her with something more important. Baby steps. She had to rebuild his trust.

It would take time, and she wasn’t going to let Sonny make her doubt herself again.

Jerome Gallery: Main Floor

“You know, any time you want to pay attention—”

Franco jumped as Ava Jerome sidled right up to him. He frowned. “Where did you come from?”

Ava folded her arms. “You were supposed to be here an hour ago, and your new pieces were supposed to be here this morning.” She shook her head as she returned to the desk tucked in the corner of the room. “You know, Franco, if you can’t live up to your end of the contract, I’ll need my money back.”

He winced, turned back to her. “Okay, look, I’m having some creativity blocks. You know how I get when my personal life gets bad.”

“No. I don’t.” She tipped her head. “When you had personal issues in New York, you just went out and killed a homeless guy for inspiration. Is that what we’re talking about? Do you need a lawyer?”

Franco set his jaw. “That was before. You know that.”

“Uh huh. Well, whatever you have to do, I need those new pieces before the end of next week or you lose your spot.” She twisted the cap from her water bottle. “And I won’t just hand it back to you next time. You’ve got a window of opportunity here, pal. Your triumphant return after your medical issues will be old news soon.”

“Already is.” Franco turned, looked back at the blank wall where his work should have been. He scratched his shoulder. “I should be inspired. Romantic woes should be inspiring.”

“Not when you’re the one that gets dumped,” Ava said sourly. “You’re not still wallowing over the nurse, are you? I assure you, she’s not thinking about you.”

Franco twisted, glared. “How would you know?”

Ava’s brow rose. “I may not have a lot of friends in Port Charles, but I know enough. And Griffin, the lousy skunk,” she muttered, “told me that he was relieved Elizabeth looked happier.” She snorted.

Franco pursed his lips. “I’m guessing the religious experience is over, then?”

“Yes, well, he served his purpose.” Ava shrugged. “Anyway, the point is that Elizabeth has moved on. You can’t let her destroy your future. You worked too hard to get your reputation back on the side of the angels. Don’t let it go to waste.”

“Yeah. I guess so.”

“So get back to your studio, get back to work, and get my art pieces.” Ava smirked. “Or I’ll find another tortured artist to take your place.”

Webber House: Living Room

“And look—” Jake shoved his math test at Monica. “Look! I got the highest score in the class.”

Monica beamed and took the test to examine it. “Well, look at that. You know, your dad was pretty good at math even at your age.”

“Yeah?” Jake twisted to find Jason still in the kitchen with Elizabeth. “Hey, Dad. You were good at math when you were a kid?”

“Uh, well, I don’t remember,” Jason admitted, coming to the doorway. “But Grandma used to tell me I was, so I believed her.

“Oh, yes, your dad won every award you could back then.” Monica went over to the sofa, sat down with Aiden and Jake. “Always seemed effortless.”

“That’s Cam now,” Aiden told Monica. “He gets awesome grades without even thinking about it. Except math. But now he’s good at it.”

“Where is Cameron?” Monica asked.

“Out with his girlfriend,” Jake said, making a mock swoon face. “Making kissy faces, probably.” He wrinkled his nose. “Nasty. Why would anyone use their tongue?”

While Monica fielded that question, Jason went back to the kitchen to help Elizabeth clean up dinner. “You don’t want to talk to Jake about tongues?” she teased, handing him a dish towel.

“No, I really don’t.” Jason smiled, but it looked a bit forced. She hesitated, then picked up a plate with some sauce still stuck to it. She scrubbed it.

“You said everything went okay with Anna, right?” she said, handing him the plate. “You just seem distracted.”

“It was a long day,” Jason admitted. “Laura came by. I told her that I’d respect whatever she wanted to do—but she’s not happy with me or doesn’t trust me to listen. Spencer can’t come back to the garage.”

Elizabeth made a face. “Oh, well, that’s probably not a good thing,” she said, with a sigh. “I was thinking about what you said last night, and while I don’t want them involved, I also know you’re right. Spencer has it in his head now, and the more he’s told no, the more he’ll push. And he won’t stop there. He’ll drag Cameron into it, and they’ll end up finding a dead body.”

“You know, not everything ends in a dead body,” he told her, and she smirked. “Just when you and Emily were involved.”

“Haha, very funny. Laura’s trying to avoid the same mistakes she made with Lucky. Luke always made Lucky feel like they were partners, you know? Not just father and son. It never occurred to him to keep Lucky clear of any of this.” She sighed. “Anyway, it doesn’t matter. There’s nothing to get involved in. You said Luke didn’t sound all that hopeful they’d get anything, didn’t you?”

“That’s how it felt.” Jason set another dish in the drying rack. “Drew and I both agreed that we’re better off here, at least until we know whether or not Luke and Lucky are keeping actual secrets. Anna and Robert want more proof.” He was quiet for a moment, but then continued, “Spinelli is planting trackers in this batch of files. He wants to know where Luke and Lucky are going.”

“Do you really think they’ve found Valentin and they’re just not telling us? Why would they do that?” When Jason didn’t answer, she sighed. “I know you have your reasons to distrust them. And I’m not going to tell you that I don’t agree. I won’t,” she repeated when he just looked at her. “But I still don’t know why they would lie to us about this. What’s the point of holding back?”

Jason tossed the towel side, leaned against the counter. “I don’t know. Why would Nikolas get involved with Helena enough to know about Jake? Why would he keep that a secret? There’s not a good reason, right?” he pointed out. “So just because we don’t know why—”

“I’ve been thinking about it—and maybe it’s just my need to believe the good in Nikolas,” she said, “but back during Endgame—when Lucky was under Helena’s control, I told you that Helena wanted me gone. She wanted Nikolas to kill me. He was pretending to go along with her back then because it was the only way to know what she was planning. We faked my death to make her feel like she’d won.”

“You think Nikolas was going along with Helena until he knew her plans for Jake,” Jason concluded.

“Maybe. I mean, it would explain some of the really insane things he was doing. He knew the truth about—or what we thought was the truth—about Jake Doe. About Drew. But he kept quiet for months. And he had Hayden Barnes shot to keep her quiet. Which was definitely—” She frowned, wrapping her arms around her torso. “It was definitely the holy shit moment, you know? I actually—he scared me. I thought—if I tell the truth, will he hurt me, too?”

“He scared you.” Jason grimaced. “And you still think he might be on the right side? Elizabeth—”

“I’m just—I don’t know if I can discount all the years I knew Nikolas. You knew him, too, Jason. He made mistakes and he hurt people. But the way he was acting during that time—”

“But Jake came home in the middle of it, didn’t he?” Jason asked.

“Yeah. Yeah. And I definitely struggled then,” Elizabeth murmured. “It was one thing to keep it a secret, to keep you—who I thought was you—from Sonny or Carly. Or Sam and Danny,” she added reluctantly. “That was—that was selfish enough.  I rationalized it, of course. Sonny and Carly only ever used you, and you didn’t even know about Danny—” She sighed, looked away. “But I was keeping you from knowing Jake was your son. I thought if you were raising him, it wouldn’t matter. But it wasn’t you, and it was all just a giant, colossal, insane mistake. Six month psychotic break,” she muttered.

“You think I’m going to judge you for any of that?” he asked, and she met his eyes. “I’m not. I wasn’t here. It wasn’t me. And maybe you could do that because you didn’t believe it all the way.”

“You always let me off the hook,” she said. She smiled. “You know, back before the DNA and fingerprints came in, Drew was still angry at me for taking your side. And, look, I knew the minute I saw you. And then you said my name—but then he was just yelling at me and ripping into me—” She made a face. “I knew who you were the second I saw you, but that night, I could see all the reasons he wasn’t you. You never actually get angry with me. Even when I deserved it.”

“I’ve been mad at you,” Jason said.

“For longer than ten minutes?” she pressed, leaning against the counter, their shoulders brushing, their backs to the living room. “Tell me when.”

“Uh—” He paused, looked up at the ceiling. “Probably with Ric,” he said finally, and she winced. “You asked.”

“I definitely did. Did I ever date anyone you actually approved of?” Elizabeth asked lightly. She shook her head, went to the cabinet to get coffee cups.

“No.”

She hadn’t expected him to answer that, and she looked at him. “What?”

“No. I never liked anyone you dated,” Jason said. “Lucky. Ric. Zander. That Matt Hunter guy—”

“Didn’t actually date him,” Elizabeth said, folding her arms.

“I hated Nikolas,” Jason muttered. “And Ewan—before I had a good enough reason to hate him,” he added.

“Oh.” She frowned. “All of them?”

“Did you like anyone I dated?” he asked. “And Robin doesn’t count.”

Elizabeth pursed her lips. No, she hadn’t liked Courtney or Sam, and she and Carly would never be friends. “Okay, so no. I guess you’ve made your point.” She twisted the top off the coffee container. “Ask Monica if she wants some coffee—”

“I will, but—” Jason put a hand over the container as she reached inside for the scoop. “Don’t make any for me. I’m not staying late tonight.”

“Oh.” Elizabeth frowned. “But you always—”

“I know, but Spinelli printed more files and I wanted to get them done this weekend, especially with the trackers he embedded in the files. I want to be ready if he finds something.” Jason had turned away, didn’t see the look on Elizabeth’s face. “So I figured I’ll get some done tonight. Monica’s here, and I know she’s missed time with the boys—”

“She’s missed time with you,” Elizabeth forced out. The files. Again. They’d been having a perfectly normal conversation, and he was going to leave. For the files. “Are you sure you want to do that tonight?”

“Yeah. There’s more WSB records in this batch than medical, so I don’t want to fall behind.” He hesitated. “Is that okay? I mean, I can stay. It can wait until tomorrow.”

This was it. The chance to tell him. She opened her mouth, then closed it. It had only been one day. “No. No, you’re right. If Spinelli finds something with Luke or Lucky, we’ll need to deal with that. And Jake’s files are somewhere in there. The sooner we get through them, the sooner we’ll have a full picture of what he went through.”

His expression relaxed, and he leaned in, brushing his mouth against hers. “Call me tomorrow, okay?”

“Yeah. Okay.” She took a deep breath. “Okay. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

Where you’re from
You might be the one who’s running things
Where you can ring anybody’s bell and get what you want
See it’s easy to ignore trouble
When you’re living in a bubble
– Ain’t It Fun, Paramore

---

Friday, January 5, 2018

Morgan’s Auto: Lobby

Jason stepped inside the building, then immediately made a face when he saw a fresh stack of manila folders on the counter. A moment later, Spinelli’s head popped up and he lifted a second stack. “Bonjour, Stone Cold. I come bearing presents.”

They’d were still barely through the last stack — “Okay,” he said with a grimace. “What’s in this?”

“I have two sets—” Spinelli tapped the first one. “Medical related whatnots. I set those aside for Fair Elizabeth. And over here, for my Yoda, I have more WSB records.” He wiggled his fingers. “I got a bit of a head start on these. These look like older records. From the 1970s. And then there’s some interesting stuff from the early 90s.”

Jason sighed, rubbed the side of his face, thought of Elizabeth the night before and the weariness that had set in after the last few days. She’d asked for just a few hours of quiet, but it had been hard to shake off the tenseness of the day. After an hour, she’d just given up and gone to bed, and he’d gone home.

She wasn’t going to be happy about another stack of files so soon.

“And one more thing—” Spinelli set a small stack next to the larger piles. “Patient 2 records. I know Elizabeth said she was going through them herself, but once Lucky said in his last email he was cool with us—”

“Yeah, I wanted to go through them, too.” Not that he didn’t trust Elizabeth, but it was Lucky Spencer they were talking about. She’d always have a blind spot for him, no matter how much she tried not to. “What about the videos?”

“In the folder Fair Elizabeth requested.” He cleared his throat. “Are you, uh, ready to head over to Anna’s later and check in with Luke?”

“Not really, no,” Jason said, then glanced over his shoulder at the sound of a car in the parking lot. He winced when he recognized Laura’s sedan. The last thing he wanted was another fight with the woman.

“Jason, Spinelli.” Laura waited for the door to swing shut behind her. “I, uh, wanted to come by. Apologize for how I reacted yesterday,” she said to Jason. “I had no right—”

“It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not. Spencer put you in a difficult spot yesterday,” she continued. “And it wasn’t fair. I was just—I was very angry. And I forget—” She paused. “I forget that Spencer isn’t a child anymore. Or that you might have a different opinion on letting the boys get involved—”

“I don’t disagree with you, Laura,” he told her. “Elizabeth and I talked about it. I understand why you want to keep them clear of this. It’s what I want, too. But we might not be able to get it. Spencer seemed determined—”

“Yes, well, we’ll see how determined he is now that he’s grounded,” Laura said tightly. “He won’t be coming back here, so he won’t have access—”

“Laura, you remember Lucky at his age. He was getting into trouble before he could drive a car.”

“Trouble that we brought into his life. I learned my lesson—”

“I just think maybe—”

“Well, you don’t have to think anything,” Laura cut in. “He won’t be part of this. So make sure you keep the files locked up where the boys can’t get access. I’ll be telling Elizabeth the same thing.”

“Yeah, okay.” Jason watched her leave, then turned to Spinelli. “Does she really think saying no will work?”

“Uh, as someone who tried to tell the Blonde One no on many occasion, Spencers don’t really listen to that word.”

“Neither did my sister or Elizabeth. If they thought their friends were in trouble, they dove right in after them.” And got kidnapped and dragged to the Canadian border, he thought darkly. “Spencer’s going to find a way into this if he really wants it. But that’s not my problem.”

“No, and I don’t see Cameron or his brothers all that interested,” Spinelli said. “Little Dude—though he’s more like All Grown Up Dude—seems pretty focused on his car and his brothers. So maybe he’ll be a good influence on his cousin.”

“We can only hope.” Jason picked up the Patient 2 files and the WSB records. “I’ll be in my office. Let me know when the bathroom people get here.”

General Hospital: Staff Room

Elizabeth stared at the text from Spinelli with an accompanying picture of a new stack of files. More reading material for my queen. Pick up after work?

She’d pick it up all right. And then she’d set it on fire.

“Oh, I know that face.” Felix dropped into the seat next to her. “Who are we killing?” He leaned in. “And can Amy be on the list? Because I am in. I’ll drive the getaway car.”

Elizabeth managed a smile, then sighed. “We’re not killing anyone except trees.” She paused, set her phone down. “I told you that we got a huge break just before New Year’s, right?”

“Yeah, something about getting a whole bunch of files?” He sipped his coffee, wincing. “This is awful. Why do I still drink it?”

“Caffeine,” she murmured. “We found Helena’s files. Andre’s are still encrypted, Spinelli’s working on that. But Helena? It’s just a matter of going through, organizing, and printing. We’re printing so we can keep them, but we’re planning to destroy the electronic stuff as soon as we have the last of it off the drive. Make it harder to copy and move around.”

“Ah. Well, that is a big break. You find Drew’s memories yet?”

“No. We think they’re on Andre’s drive. But—” Elizabeth shook her head. “It’s just stupid. This is a good thing. Objectively. We have so much information, and we’re piecing together a lot of little details. It’s good to know the scope of the plan, so we can get a better sense of the damage, you know?”

“This is true.”

“Maybe it’s because the first thing I found was Lucky’s,” she said. “Patient 2. Back when he was brainwashed. I told you this.”

“Briefly, yeah.”

“There were these videos — security footage—” Elizabeth touched her throat. “Lucky screaming to get out. We think Helena meant to use them against Luke and Laura but never had the chance.”

“And saved them all these years? Our girl Helena seems like a Class Five hoarder.”

She smiled. “Yeah, that’s one way to put it. It just brings me back to when this all started, and it hurts to think of how confident we were back then. When we thought it was over. But it wasn’t,” Elizabeth said. “Helena came back, murdered Lucky’s girlfriend Summer. Then framed Nikolas for her own murder—oh, God, what she did to Emily—and she kidnapped Spencer when he was a baby—she just kept coming. Again and again and again, Felix. And it was like—you couldn’t kill her. You couldn’t make it over. Jake—my baby. She stole him—”

Felix covered her hand. “But she’s gone now, honey. Gone and dust in the ground. All we’re doing now is ripping her out at the roots.”

“And that’s why we need to go through all of this. I know that. I do. And I want to do this. I just—” Elizabeth paused. “Before we found these, we talked about it, sure. We kept in touch with everyone. We had a meeting or two. But we also…” She met Felix’s eyes. “We were still living. Jason and I were going out on rides, and talking about things that had nothing to do with the Cassadines—”

“And now?”

“Now—now we read files. And we talk about what’s in the files. We are argue about who else gets to read files.” Elizabeth made a face. “And it’s been four days, so I definitely know I’m overreacting. And being silly—”

“Yeah, it’s been four days, so maybe it’s too soon to know if this is life now. But you know Jason, don’t you?” Felix asked. “Do you think it’s going to change in a week, in a two? Do you see him spending less time on them?”

Elizabeth sighed, stared at her hands for a long moment. “No. No. I don’t. Jason’s always been able to compartmentalize. To focus. When Jake was kidnapped the first time—” She closed her eyes. “The first two times anyway — Jason could push aside the terror, the fear, and he found him. He brought him home.” She exhaled slowly. “I know he feels guilty. When Helena brought me to Spoon Island, and I saw Jake — he didn’t believe me. And Jake stayed gone.”

“You don’t blame him for it. I know you better than that.”

“No, of course not. How could I? When I got better, when I wasn’t sick, I remembered that Patrick had been in the operating room. He’d transferred Jake to the transplant team. He’d seen my little boy. Jake died in this hospital. Where I worked. Where my family worked. How could I believe anything else? No, I don’t blame Jason. He knows that. But he blames himself. And knowing what happened last year — we don’t know if Jake is still in danger. If Helena laid any more traps. These files, they could tell us that. They could make sure Jake is safe. That we’re all safe.”

“Jason won’t stop then, will he?”

“No. He won’t. And it’s selfish of me, I think, to wish that he would. Or that we’d slow down, or that we’d focus on us—”

“Selfish isn’t always bad.” Felix leaned back. “Sometimes you gotta be, you know? That man spent five years in a coma, came home to his whole life broken into pieces. If you let him spend all this time thinking about what might happened or what did happen that he couldn’t stop—”

“It’ll be a little like he’s still locked up in Russia.” Elizabeth nodded. “Yeah, you have a point. But I can afford to give him a little more time, you know?

“Uh huh.” Felix tapped the manila folder under her phone. “What’s this?”

“More files,” Elizabeth muttered. She let her head drop to the table. “Oh, God. It’s never going to stop.” She sighed. “Maybe it would have been better if we’d never changed things. If New Year’s…if it hadn’t happened.”

“Do you really believe that?” Felix asked. “Come on.”

“I do. Because if it hadn’t happened, then I wouldn’t be sitting here thinking about me and what I need. This is what he needs—”

“It’s what he thinks he needs,” Felix corrected. “Now, I don’t know the guy, but I am a member of his species, so you want my advice?”

“Always. I can’t guarantee I’ll take it—”

“Take a deep breath. Relax. Then let it rest for a bit. Like you said, it’s been four days. But you know him. And you’ll know when it’s time to crack the whip and snap him back to reality. Then you put on some red lipstick that says come here big boy, slap some lace on underneath some tight jeans—”

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. “That sort of stuff doesn’t work on Jason—”

“Oh, he’s so intellectual he can’t enjoy your fine ass in some denim? Please. Not a man alive can resist a well packed ass.” Felix gestured as Griffin walked past them. “Look, he’s straight as an arrow, and even I sometimes think of trying to get him to bat for my team.” He stopped, looked back at her. “I mean it. And you know you’ve got something that Jason likes. He made a baby with you, didn’t he?”

“Well—” Elizabeth touched the side of her hair, tucked up in a ponytail. “I used to wear my hair all blown out, you know, with curls and waves. And, um,” her cheeks heated, thinking of the night of the black out, when he’d taken her hair down. “Well, I think he didn’t mind it.”

“Oh, that’s a story for a margarita. You’ll have to pencil it in.” Felix grinned. “I’m serious. Put yourself together all sweet-smelling, get that lace, blow out your hair the way he likes, and see if it makes him pop out of his jeans.”

“Felix—” Elizabeth clapped her hands over her face. “Oh my God. I can’t believe we’re having this conversation.”

“He’s getting all bogged down in what happened to him,” Felix said. “You’re going to have to take the reins and remind him what he’s got to live for. I promise. It’ll work.”

“Yeah, okay. We’ll see.” She shook her head, gathered her things. “I need to get back to work—”

“I mean it about the red lipstick!” he called after her.

Devane Manor: Living Room

“Frisco was quite clear,” Anna said with a pinched expression. “Unless we find something the WSB needs to know, he’s not willing to push for access to Andre.” She paced the length of the room, from the entry way to the fireplace.

“We should just break in and take him back,” Robert said, folding his arms. “I delivered the bastard to them once, I should be able to take him back.”

Drew sighed, leaned back against the sofa, then looked at Spinelli, tapping at his computer, then at Jason, lingering near the doorway. “Did Frisco give you an idea of what kind of information would do that?”

“No, and that wouldn’t solve our problem of how to make Andre talk to us either. Even when pressed a few weeks ago,” Anna said, “he wasn’t willing to do more than give us answers wrapped in riddles. We can’t forget that he deliberately hid those files in a damn snow globe and didn’t bother to decrypt them.”

“He thought he’d be able to disappear,” Jason said, speaking for the first time, and attention turned to him. “Not telling us anything we can actually use is his revenge.” He shook his head. “I’m past waiting for the WSB to give us answers. With what we know about the timeline now, they were nothing more than resources Helena Cassadine exploited.”

Anna sighed. “As much as I hate to admit it, you’re likely correct. Andre is all that’s left of value, and since we can’t get through to him, we’ll have to hope Spinelli can crack those files. Or that Luke gets us something from Turkey.” She nodded at the hacker. “Speaking of, how are we with the connection?”

“Just waiting on Luke.” Spinelli sighed. “I’m working on the Maddox drive, but it took forever to reconstruct and there’s no telling if maybe the damage from the accident is why I can’t get all the way through.”

“Snow globes,” Anna muttered, shaking her head. “Of all the bloody, ridiculous things I’ve seen in my career—”

There was a beep from Spinelli’s computer, and then a few moments later, Luke’s face appeared on the television screen above the mantel. He sat in a small, cramped room with street noise coming from the window over his shoulder.

Spinelli rose and set the laptop with its webcam on the mantel so that Luke could see the whole room.

“Hey, sorry I’m late. Had some trouble with traffic coming back from the last place of the day.” Luke glanced around. “Who do I got here?”

“Robert and me, Spinelli, Drew, and Jason. Do you have anything to report?” Anna wanted to know, her tones clipped.

“I wish I had better news, Slim, but we’ve got nothing.”

“Really?” Spinelli furrowed his brow. “You didn’t find anything at all at the Maslak address?”

“Maslak?” Luke glanced down at something off screen. “That’s not on my list—I’ve been working off something from the WSB field office here. I figured their intel—” He sighed. “I didn’t start on yours yet, Spinelli. Sorry, kid.”

Drew straightened. “The WSB field office gave you a list?” he asked. He looked to Robert and Anna who looked equally bewildered. “I thought we weren’t getting much support from them.”

“Maybe not from the top brass in Geneva, but I know a few of the guys in Istanbul. They gave me a couple of bodies to sit on some locations. That way I don’t have to pull Cowboy from the files. What’s the Maslak address about?”

“It’s an office building in the Maslak district,” Spinelli said. “Joseph Klein listed it as a place of employment on his visa to Russia.” He glanced at Jason who tensed. “Klein ran the lab in St. Petersburg.”

“Ah. Well, that does look like it might be something. I’ll make that a priority this weekend. I wish I had better news, but it’s not exactly easy to clear a place with only a few guys. I can’t eliminate more than two a day. And that’s pushing it. I don’t wanna clear a place only to find out if I sat on it a little longer, we’d have something. If I had more eyes, maybe—but I already called in all the favors.”

There was logic to Luke’s words, and Drew couldn’t really fault him. But still—

“We could go,” Drew said, and Luke’s eyes swung to him. “Why not? Jason and I could be in the air in a few hours—”

“To do what?” Luke asked, almost with a smirk. “Do you know Turkish?”

“No—”

“Yes—” Drew said at the same time Jason denied it. “I know enough to get around,” he clarified. “So maybe me and Anna—”

“I don’t know, it’s starting to sound like you don’t trust me,” Luke said, creasing his brow.

“No one said that, Luke,” Robert cut in.

Ann sighed. “Slow and methodical elimination of possible locations is the best way forward. It’s just—it’s frustrating, that’s all. We’ve been working this case for two months, and all we can show for it are dead trees.”

“Yeah, I hear you. I just don’t know what you want me to do about it.”

“Nothing, I suppose,” Anna murmured. “Is there anything else from our end?” she asked the group gathered. When no one spoke up, she looked back to the screen. “I suppose we’ll let you go.”

“I’ll talk to you this weekend,” Robert spoke up. “Get a report on this Maslak place.”

“Sounds good. I’ll get back to work. Take care.” Luke’s end disconnected, and the screen went black. Spinelli went unhook and pack his equipment.

Drew got to his feet. “Well, this was a waste of time. Luke doesn’t know anything. And neither do we. I don’t count identifying Patient 2 as much progress,” he added.

“Rome wasn’t built in a day—”

“Are we sure we even trust that Luke’s actually eliminating anything?” Drew wanted to know. He looked at Jason. “You’re with me on this, aren’t you? Putting this in the hands of the Spencers when they don’t know how to look out for anyone but themselves—”

“Luke hasn’t given us a reason not to trust him,” Robert said. “Has he?” he asked Jason.

“Well—” Jason stood. “He got drunk, got in the car, and nearly killed my son, so it’s hard to look at him for anything after that.” Anna looked down and Robert just cleared his throat. “I also know he didn’t tell anyone the full story of what happened in Greece when he found Jake. Lucky waited three years to tell anyone that Nikolas gave him the tip about Helena being suspicious. Convenient now that Nikolas is dead and can’t defend himself.”

“Do you think they’re covering up more of Nikolas’s role?” Robert asked. “He’d only be doing that to protect Laura.”

“‘I think they know more than they’re telling us. Why isn’t my problem. If they lie once, they’ll lie again. But I also don’t know what else we can do. Luke’s story seems true. If you believe he didn’t already find Valentin, then yeah, going slow like this is the right choice.”

“If you believe,” Anna repeated. “Jason, I can appreciate there’s no love lost for you with Luke—and by extension, you either, Drew. But Luke’s always been a reliable partner in these missions—” She caught Robert’s eye. “What?”

“I think mostly reliable is a more accurate statement. He’s been known to go rogue once or twice, but the results were always what we needed, so who am I to quibble about the process?”

Anna squinted, then looked back at the brothers. “If either of you want to go to Turkey, I will obviously understand. Do you want to go?”

Drew hesitated, looked at Jason. “I don’t want to go. But I’m not okay with just sitting back and letting Luke handle everything. I expected more than looking at buildings. Can we agree on that much?”

Anna nodded, though it was reluctant. “Yes, I suppose I did expect a bit more. But we’ll wait to see how this Maslak address turns out.”

“I have to get back to work,” Jason said, rising to his feet. “Thanks.” He headed for the door.

Drew followed his brother outside, where they’d both parked in the circular drive. “You didn’t say much. Do you want to go to Turkey?”

“No.” Jason pulled the SUV door open. “No, I don’t.”

“I’m surprised,” Drew admitted. “Knowing what I know—which I wish I didn’t—you’ve held out pretty well. Normally you’d have been on the first plane. You don’t think you could do better than the Spencers?”

“Maybe I could. But—” Jason paused, considered Drew’s words. “Yeah, I’d have gone before. Spinelli would have told me, and I’d be on a plane, and I wouldn’t rest until I found him. In fact, maybe I would have confronted Valentin a long time ago. But I didn’t. And neither did you.”

“No.” Drew leaned against the hood. “I want to know what happened to us. I want my memories back. And to get yours out of my head,” he added. “But you know what else I want? To see my daughter. To get to know Oscar. To find out if I even like being at Aurora. To figure out who Drew Cain is going to be if I never remember who he was. And right now, Jason, I want those things more than I want to go to Turkey.”

“Yeah.” Jason exhaled slowly. “I have dinner with Jake almost every night,” he murmured. “I thought I’d lost that chance.” He looked like he might say more, but then closed his mouth.

“You’re rebuilding, too. And it’s just as important as finding answers, Jason. I don’t want to forget. Answers won’t mean anything to me if there’s nothing to come home to.” He winced, thinking of how little he had at the moment. But he’d get more. He’d reschedule dinner with Oscar, and he’d get things figured out with Sam, one way or another. “And I know you won’t say it, but you get to go home to Elizabeth, too.” Jason met his eyes. “Maybe that’s just as awkward as everything else. The fact that I know more than I should how much you didn’t think that would ever happen.”

“It’s…” Jason hesitated. “Uncomfortable sometimes to think about what you know. What you remember. Things you know about me that you shouldn’t.” He sighed. “But yes. She’s part of it. The center,” he admitted. “So do I want to go to Turkey right now? Not even a little bit. But—”

“—if we get any hint the Spencers are actually lying to us? Yeah, first plane out. I’m with you on that.”

They heard footsteps crunching on the show, and turned back to see Spinelli trudging towards them, his equipment bag over his shoulder. “You ready?” Jason asked.

“Yeah, I just had a thought.” Spinelli glanced over his shoulder. “I understand if Robert and Anna don’t think there’s a reason to distrust Luke and Lucky. But I’m not so sure. Why is this the first we’re hearing about a WSB list? Why is it the first time Robert and Anna are hearing about it? It’s their case, or so they keep being told.”

“That tripped me up,” Drew admitted.

“The Maslak address is the most likely to be a hit. Klein was in charge of the lab in Moscow. Why would Helena or whoever was in charge in Russia,” Spinelli said,” why would they promote someone from outside? But Luke hasn’t looked at it yet. So he says.”

“You think he has?” Jason asked, frowning.

“I don’t know. But I think I can lay a trap to see what secrets the Spencers are keeping.” Spinelli paused. “Do I have your permission?”

“Oh, absolutely,” Drew said immediately. “The only way we’re going to get anyone else to see what they’re up to is hard proof.”

“Do whatever you have to,” Jason told Spinelli. “I want to know what they’re keeping from us.”

Davis House: Living Room

“Did you tell Diane about Sonny?”

Alexis lifted her brows. “Hello, Sam. It’s nice to see you. I’m doing great, thanks for asking.” She knelt to scoop up Scout who’d crawled towards her grandmother. “Hey, sweetheart. How’s my baby girl?”

“Mom, don’t start with me about this.” Sam dug her fingers into top of the sofa. “I’m not kidding. Did you tell Diane that Sonny tried to intimidate me?”

“I called her, and she said she’d pass it on to Jason, but—well, she pointed out Sonny has a financial stake in the demands—”

“The coffee business, right? Everyone is so protective,” Sam muttered. “You’d think their books could handle a little scrutiny.” She folded her arms. “Diane isn’t going to do anything about this. She lets Sonny order her around, and Jason does whatever Sonny wants—”

Alexis carried over to the playpen she kept in the corner and set Scout among some of her stuffed animals. “Was the visit that bad? Kristina said that you and Sonny were arguing.”

“Kristina.” Sam clenched her jaw. “I’m sure she couldn’t wait to tell you all about it.”

“That’s not fair. Your sister was worried about you. I’m worried about you. The last two months have been so stressful, and that’s without talking about the ancient history your sister dragged up.”

Sam closed her eyes, dragging her hands through her hair. “I’m just tired, Mom. I made choices, and I thought they were the right ones, but I just…I don’t know anymore.” She looked away, towards the windows by the front door. “Did Kristina tell you what we argued about?”

“She only knew what she’d overheard. I’d rather hear it from you, sweetheart. What happened?”

“Well, it started with the money, and then somehow he gets it in his head that I’m trying to get Jason put in jail. Like, I want him to get caught with their books, or something.” She sighed. “And he brought up the custody papers, the way Jake is talked about—and I told him I filed for divorce. That I didn’t want Jason back, I would have told him that if he’d ever bothered to ask—” She closed her eyes.

“And then Sonny told you Jason came to the penthouse that first day. That he’d come to see you. That he’d called from Russia.” Her mother’s tone was gentle, but it didn’t help.

“If I’d answered the phone that day, Mom, God—things could be so different,” she told Alexis, her voice faltering on the last few words. “I’d have gone straight to Sonny. We’d have brought him home, and we could have worked together on all of this, but—I didn’t. He crashed into the party, got arrested, and it was—”

“It was like choosing sides. Picking teams,” Alexis said.

“You weren’t there that night, Mom. You can’t understand what it was like to stand there in that room—Sonny and Carly were so clearly believing Jason, and Elizabeth did, too — no one was on Drew’s side. I couldn’t—” She exhaled slowly. “I couldn’t let him stand alone.” She looked at her hands. “But you know, I’ve thought about it a thousand times since Sonny told me. Maybe I did feel like it was teams. Sonny and Carly on one side.”

“And Elizabeth—”

“I don’t care about Elizabeth,” Sam bit out, and Alexis just looked at her. “I don’t, okay? She used Jake to get Jason back in her life, just like she always did. She used that boy before the accident, and then when we thought he was dead, she used that grief to keep him around—he’s welcome to her.” Her nails dug into her palms as she curled her hands into fists. “I married Drew. Who cares what his name was?”

“You did,” Alexis said, and Sam scowled. “You didn’t care about Jake Doe. But the moment he was Jason Morgan, you were involved. And you broke up with Patrick over it. Now, Jason is back again, and look where you are. Throwing away Drew. Dragging Jason into court, using every tool you can to keep him thinking about you. Sonny might think you’re greedy, Sam, but I don’t. I think you regret what you did that night. And all the things you didn’t do in the weeks that followed.”

“It doesn’t matter. Whatever I did then. It just doesn’t matter.” Sam took a deep breath. “I want a divorce. I want to move on. Everyone else is, you know? I saw Elizabeth’s sons — all three of them. Downtown, getting off a school bus to go to Jason’s new garage. Do you know there’s paperwork you have to fill out to add a second bus to your kid’s file? At all three schools, they filed it. Jason’s moved on. Or circled back. And Drew wants to be part of his life. I don’t want it, Mom. I want to be done with all of it.”

Port Charles High: Classroom

Spencer dumped his books next to Cameron’s. “I’m going to flunk this bio test on Monday,” he told Cameron. “And then Grandmother’s going to ground me for another week.”

“Well, we could just study this weekend.” Cameron flipped through his textbook. “It’s a wild idea, but it just might work.”

“This weekend, I was thinking maybe you could do me a solid and loan me the key to the garage. You have one, don’t you?”

Cameron frowned, looked at his cousin. “Why would I have one and why would I give it to you? I’m trying to stay out of trouble.”

“Okay, so you’re still frosty that I put you in that spot with Jason yesterday. He didn’t seem mad about it—”

“He wasn’t. Just mildly irritated.” Which he’d already been after talking to his divorce lawyer, Cameron thought. He wasn’t going to read too much into that, he thought. “And I’m not frosty over it. But I hate to see Grandma and Jason fighting over it.”

“Yeah, that’s not great for me.” Spencer furrowed his brow. “But Jason seems like he’s on my side. What do you think?”

“What I think doesn’t matter—”

“Trying to keep Jason liking you so he doesn’t dump your mom again?” Spencer wanted to know. Cameron scowled. “What, did I say the quiet part out loud? Because why else would you care whose side Jason is on—”

“Because the first thing you’ll do is run home to our grandmother and tell her that Jason agrees, and then Grandma will get all mad at Jason again. She’ll call my mother. And Jason and Mom already argued about this last night. They think I didn’t hear it—” Cameron stared blindly at his textbook page. “I was listening on the stairs. I knew they were going to talk about it after I went to bed. And they were arguing. About you.”

“I’m sorry, but—”

“No, you’re not. You’re still thinking about you, just like always. You’re not listening to Grandma when she tells you why she wants to shut you out. You don’t care that it’s causing problems at my house with my mother, who always looks out for you, and you don’t care you’re putting Jason in the middle.”

“If they would just let me help—”

“And you just don’t stop,” Cameron muttered. “You’ve always been like this. It’s all about what you want and damn the rest of us—”

“Hey, at least I’m interested in helping. You’re the one that doesn’t even care! After what happened to your brother, how can you sit back like a scared little kid—”

Cameron slammed his book shut, his fingers curling into a fist. “Don’t you ever talk—” He broke off abruptly as their teacher called the class to order.

“You’re just mad because I’m right,” Spencer muttered. “Coward.”

“Selfish bastard,” Cameron retorted. They said nothing else to each other for the rest of the class.

There’s something inside me that pulls beneath the surface
Consuming, confusing
This lack of self control I fear is never ending
Controlling
I can’t seem
To find myself again
My walls are closing in
(Without a sense of confidence, I’m convinced)
(That there’s just too much pressure to take)
I’ve felt this way before
So insecure
– Crawling, Linkin Park

---

Friday, January 5, 2018

Kiremit House: Kitchen

Luke scratched out a route on the map, glancing up at the footsteps in the narrow hallway connecting the kitchen to the back of the house. “Cowboy.”

“Dad. You’re already up?” His son wandered over to the coffee pot, poured himself a cup. “Or didn’t you go to bed yet?”

“Door number two.” Luke folded his map. “Eliminated two more addresses. I’ve got one more to clear, then we’re going to tackle Spinelli’s list today, so maybe some good news tonight. I also have to call back home, reassure them, so that needs prep.” He frowned when Lucky just grunted. “The Dark Prince passed on the news you got yesterday. About being Patient 2.”

“Yeah. I spent yesterday reading the files to see if they’d give us anything.” Lucky leaned against the counter. “It’s not a lot of help. Elizabeth is right, it moves the timeline back, and then Britt pointed out the gap between me and Jake. No other patients between us got assigned numbers. Don’t know what it means yet, but—”

“Trust Little Obrecht to find those details.” Luke leaned back. “Makes you wonder if maybe your grandma was Patient 1.”

“Maybe.”

“We never got too deep in what was happening then. Your mom and I figured Lesley was payback for Laura’s escape and for Stavros. But I can’t think of anyone else that would fit. And it would explain Lesley’s condition when we found her.”

“There’s that.” Lucky squinted. “Britt came across something interesting in the medical files. Testing brain waves on a frozen body, mixed up in the Ice Princess files. It’s dated around the same time as the weather machine stuff. So there’s another possibility for Patient 1.”

“Well, it can’t be Stavros. He was after—” Luke stopped. “No. If the old bat could bring Mikkos back from the dead, she’d have done it already.”

“That’s true. Doesn’t mean they didn’t try. Maybe that’s why we can’t find anything for Patient 1 or 4. Maybe they didn’t survive.” Lucky looked past his father, to the window overlooking the minuscule yard. “Anyway, just a theory. I’m gonna send it to Elizabeth later.”

“Yeah, Nikolas said she was the one to pass it on to you. That—that was good of her.”

“Yeah, always nice to know I can’t abuse her enough to make her actually hate me.” Lucky snorted and started for the door.

“Cowboy, if Elizabeth knew what you were doing—”

“Dad—” Lucky stopped, took a deep breath. “Look, I made my decision when we found Jake. When we thought the only reason Jake was kidnapped was because of me — as long as Helena Cassadine was in the picture, she was going to target me and my family. She doesn’t care about Lulu. That was Stavros. For Helena, it’s always been about me.”

“You’re the weapon she never got to use the way she planned,” Luke said. “I know that—”

“She went after Jake because she thought he was my son. Biologically. You ever think about that? The opportunity presented itself with the car accident, so she took it. But it could have been Aiden. There’s a reason she switched those tests, Dad. Not just to cause trouble, but maybe she wanted to get her hands on my son. Cameron? Helena wouldn’t understand biology, so maybe he was safe. But I couldn’t take that risk. With any of them. I kept my distance, and it worked. They’re all safe. Happy. Healthy.” Lucky looked down into his coffee. “I wasn’t a good father even before we found Jake. I was too angry at how my life turned out to appreciate what I already had. I wasn’t who I wanted to be. I turned my back on my sons. Now they’re not mine anymore.”

“We’ll fix this. When this is over—”

“It’ll never be over, Dad. The Cassadines—they always come back. I made a choice that it was better if I did this alone. I don’t get to complain now because I am. Elizabeth did the hard part. She stayed behind, she did the grunt work, she raised them alone.” He rubbed his mouth. “I can feel sorry for myself, but what does that accomplish? No, Dad, if Elizabeth knew what I was doing, it wouldn’t solve anything. She’d only be more angry, and she’d be right. I made my choice,” he repeated. “It was the wrong one, but I have to live with it all the same.”

Kiremit House: Study

Nikolas scowled, shoved away the paperwork, glared at Britt. “What does this tell me? Nothing. It doesn’t give us anything—”

“You wanted me here to read files,” Britt said, slowly, and he narrowed his eyes. Why was she treating him like an idiot? “Don’t complain because we didn’t hit the jackpot on the first group. Lucky said Spinelli is still decrypting files and working on Maddox’s, too—”

“Four days.” He rose from the desk, went to the window. “Four days and we have nothing. All we know now that we didn’t before is that Lucky was Patient 2. And it doesn’t even matter.”

“It matters—hey, don’t roll your eyes at me, Nikolas. It matters. Not just because of what your brother went through,” Britt said, and he looked at her. “Though it’s interesting that you haven’t even tried to talk to him about it—”

“Who are you to demand—”

“It matters because it connects the experiments to Crichton-Clark an entire decade before we know the WSB was using it under Victor Cassadine.” Nikolas closed his mouth. “We know that Helena considered Jake part of this because she waited ten years to begin those experiments again. And then, within a year, she’s had at least four more patients. We know Patient 4 is between March 2011 and July 2012. But Crichton-Clark? That’s not a WSB facility after all.”

“Okay, so—”

“You want some big bombshell but what we’re getting is little pieces. Nikolas, my aunt was kept at Crichton-Clark. Nina,” she added, and he nodded. “She was sent there after a few years in the rehab center. When Nathan and I were getting to know each other,” she continued, “we talked about it. Lucky was kidnapped in April 1999, and my aunt was moved there three months earlier. It’s the same year. That might not mean anything, but it’s a part of the puzzle. Nina was kept there. Lucky. Drew, and probably Jason. And probably Jake and Patient 4. It all stays local, in New York.”

“That’s…” Nikolas sat back down. “That’s an interesting point.”

“Scarsdale isn’t close to Port Charles, but it’s close enough you can travel back and forth. Helena could have kept a close eye on all of her experiments and lab rats. My mother was just one of them.” Britt took a deep breath. “Will you let me contact her? To ask about those days?”

“No—”

“She could fill in some gaps — I don’t have to tell her what I’m working on — I can come up with a reason to bring it up—”

“It’s not worth the risk. And you said you couldn’t get in touch with your mother. She didn’t respond the last time you tried.” He narrowed his eyes. Just when he was about to trust her—

“I could try again,” Britt said. “I don’t know, Nikolas. You’re the one demanding results. Luke is working as hard as he can. Lucky and I are going to go blind from reading screens. The only one who isn’t producing anything is you.”

“You have no right—”

“You want answers. You want to end this, I get it. We all do. But demanding that I stop what I’m doing to report to you isn’t helping. If Lucky and I find something, you’ll know—”

“Lucky’s going over the same files as you, isn’t he?” Nikolas asked as Britt reached the doorway. She looked back, her eyes dark. “To be sure he reaches the same conclusions.”

“You mean to look over my shoulder. Yeah. He’s keeping tabs on me.” Her lips twisted. “He doesn’t trust me anymore than you do.”

Maslak Lab: Office

Valentin typed in a different string, grimacing when the drive rejected it. He was having absolutely no luck in breaking into his mother’s files — he hadn’t expected such deep security when Helena had sent the drive to Alexis for safekeeping. But that was the trouble with his mother. She rarely did what was predictable.

“Sir?”

Valentin glanced up, sharpened his focus when he saw Klein hovering in the doorway. “Yes?”

“Stefan Cassadine is beginning to regain conscious.” Klein paused. “As we discussed, he’s disoriented, drifting in and out. We are monitoring him, but it is a very promising sign.”

“Yes. Yes, it is.” Valentin leaned back in his chair. “Thank you. Inform me as soon as he’s ready to be questioned.”

“Of course.”

Klein disappeared, and Valentin returned his attention to his mother’s files. All he needed was a few more breaks to go his way, and he’d be able to claim victory over his mother. Again.

Kiremit House: Britt’s Bedroom

Britt scrolled down to the next page of notes and frowned at the chemical formula. She couldn’t think of a single reason why you’d want that combination of chemicals in a person’s body—was this meant to be part of the protocol, or—

“Am I interrupting something?”

Britt shook her head, not glancing up from her notebook where she’d scribbled more than a dozen chemical equations. “No. Just wishing I’d paid better attention in organic chemistry.”

Lucky closed the door behind him and sat on the small bed. He slid a tablet her way. “I, uh, I’m still working my way through the Patient 2 files,” he told her. “Nikolas will get pissed if I tell him I’m not reading yours, but—”

“I already told him you were,” Britt supplied. He frowned. “I figured you’d get around to it eventually, and there’s nothing there in today’s stuff anyway. Just pages of chemical formulas. I think they’re part of the protocol, but—look, if you’re mad I lied to Nikolas, you can tell him yourself—”

“I was going to ask you to cover for me,” Lucky said slowly. “I’d appreciate if you’d wait until I ask you to lie for me, unless it just comes naturally to you.”

She stared at him for a long moment, then dropped her eyes to the tablet. “Is that something you want me to look at? Or did you come in to insult me?” No point in being irritated, or in hoping that maybe he’d started to trust her, at least a little, after yesterday.

But no such luck. Britt was still Public Enemy Number One, and no one was going to let her forget it.

“I’m sorry—”

“No big deal. I’m the bitch who hurt your sister, and that’s all you need to know about me. Whatever. What did you need?”

Lucky grimaced, then tapped the tablet screen. “Okay, so I’m working my way through the original medical reports. I’m trying to understand the scope of Helena’s plan for me. I know what happened wasn’t the whole thing. But it’s all in German. And you can’t just feed that into a translator.”

Britt picked up the tablet, skimmed through the report. “This is from my father. He’s reporting to Helena that he feels confident that the patient—you—will respond to her commands. She, uh, worried that you might have some—” She frowned. “Okay, this word…it’s not one I’ve seen before, give me a second. German vocabulary—”

“Is a pain in the ass. They just keep shoving words together and hoping it works out.”

“Not too far off,” she murmured. “How it felt learning it—okay, yeah. So Faison thought Helena was unintentionally setting herself up for failure by not including a failsafe in your programming. Um, to break you out of the control in case it was needed.” She kept reading.

“Why would he want me to have a failsafe?”

“It’s…” she squinted. “It’s a protection against the programming failing. Brainwashing is hard to actually accomplish — the kind that can’t be broken. The natural kind. Helena didn’t have the time it would need. You weren’t a good candidate for that kind of thing. You know, the way the Manson girls killed for Charles Manson?” Britt said.

“Vaguely.”

“Brainwashing isn’t even really a great term for it. It’s more like a conditioning program. You build up this intense loyalty—” Britt paused. “And you need a candidate who has the right weakness, the right…deficiency to respond to the programming. The Manson girls tended to have a lot of relationship issues with their fathers, and he responded to that by becoming a father figure to them. Which was the first step in the conditioning. Once he had them hooked, he used drugs and sex to get them under his control. Within a year, they would murder for him.”

“You know a lot about it.” Lucky tipped his head. “You study under your father?”

“No.” Britt pressed her lips together. “No. But I knew who he was, and I wanted to know everything about brainwashing so that I could stop him if he tried it on me. I researched it as part of my Ph.D.”

“I thought you were a medical doctor.”

“I am,” Britt murmured, lost in the German document again. “I did a dual program. Okay, yeah — you weren’t a good candidate,” she repeated. “Faison said that you didn’t have a lot of vulnerabilities to exploit. You were, by all accounts, a well-adjusted kid with mostly healthy relationships. You wouldn’t respond to natural conditioning. Which is probably the procedure they said failed on you. Faison wanted to try a different kind of programming, but he worried that your conscience, that your natural self, would fight it. And it would ultimately fail. Ironically, building in a failsafe to break control can lessen the chances,” Britt continued. “Because it gives something for your brain to latch on to. It’s kind of fascinating,” she murmured. “If it wasn’t being used on real people.” She glanced up at him. “I have my mother’s interest in asking questions, Lucky. Not her lack of ethics.”

Lucky smirked. “Really? You consider yourself to be an ethical person?”

Britt sighed. “No. No, I don’t. Not anymore.” She slid the tablet back. “It’s not a report, Lucky. It’s a memo from Faison to Helena advising her to use a failsafe in the programming. He notes at the bottom that she denied it. It would have added too much time, and she wasn’t sure how long she’d be able to keep you a secret. It’s dated in August, the year you were kidnapped.”

“My dad found me a few months later. So she wasn’t wrong.” Lucky picked up the tablet. “I’m sorry. I told you I’d stop taking shots at you—”

“That wasn’t a shot.” Britt returned to her notes, picking up her pencil. Then paused. She looked up, straight ahead at the chipped paint on the bedroom wall. “I considered myself an ethical person once,” she said. “Before I came to Port Charles. Before—before a lot of things. When I was in college, in medical school, I thought I’d escaped. I knew who my parents were, and I knew who I didn’t want to be. I thought I’d made it.”

“Why’d you do it?” Lucky asked. “Take my sister’s embryo. Use it for yourself. She trusted you.”

“She did,” Britt murmured. She sighed, turned to face him. “I could blame being raised by a woman who only ever taught me that the end justified the means. That collateral damage was necessary when the prize was worth being won. I could blame my mother. I used to. I used to tell myself if she’d stayed away from Port Charles, it would have been different. But it’s a lie, Lucky. You want to know why I did what I did to Lulu and Dante?” She shrugged. “Maxie was pregnant. It was successful. I knew Lulu and Dante weren’t planning to use those embryos. I wanted Patrick to love me, to stay with me. And I saw what he had with Emma. I wanted a family. So I tried to steal it. They weren’t using the embryos, I thought, so why waste them?”

Lucky looked at her for a long moment. “And then after, when Maxie came back to you, told you she’d miscarried—”

“It was too late. I’d already taken them. I’d already done the procedure on myself. I had guilt, sure. But I thought — well, that’s Maxie’s problem. And Dante’s father was rich. They’d just get more. And then the baby started to grow—and I stopped thinking of it as hers. I started to think of it as mine. And I wanted to keep it. Selfish. Destructive. Cruel. Pick your adjective, Lucky. They all apply to me. I did a terrible thing, and I eventually got caught. I wish I hadn’t done it, but I can’t change it. Does that answer your question?”

“Yeah.” Lucky nodded. “Yeah. I won’t take any more shots, Britt. I can’t stop my dad or Nikolas, but I won’t do it again.”

“Can’t blame you if you do—”

“When I was married to Elizabeth,” Lucky said, cutting her off, “I slept with other women. Maxie. Sam. A year apart. I blamed the drugs for the first affair, and the second, I blamed Elizabeth for not loving me. Some of that’s still true. Just like being raised by a woman like Liesl Obrecht doesn’t exactly set you up for success. But I knew what I was doing. And I made the choice. I did it because I wanted to. We all have our regrets.”

Britt smirked, though there wasn’t much humor in the expression. “You’re comparing your lack of fidelity to me stealing your sister’s embryo and using it for myself? I appreciate it, Lucky. But they’re not comparable.”

“No. But I know what it’s like to do the wrong thing because I wanted to. You’re here, Britt, helping. Really trying. I can tell that, even if my dad and Nikolas can’t. And I’d be an idiot to turn that away.” He looked down at the tablet in his hand. “I can’t fix what the Cassadines broke in me. They took something I can’t get back, no matter how hard I try. They destroyed my life. And I want to see them gone.”

“I want that, too,” Britt said. “I want to put a little good into the world for all the damage I did to it. And I want to stop my parents. They’re not in retirement, Lucky. They just haven’t gotten involved yet. The Cassadines didn’t do this alone.”

“No, they didn’t. As long as you and I have the same goal, we can work together.”

You have given me something that I can’t live without
You mustn’t underestimate that when you are in doubt
But I don’t want to carry on like everything is fine
The longer we ignore it, all the more that we will fight
– Love You In the Dark, Adele

---

Thursday, January 4, 2018

Kelly’s: Dining Room

Kristina dumped her coat and bag into an empty chair and sat across from her sister. “I need some advice.”

Molly picked up her milkshake. “Should I be scared or make sure we have Mom on speed dial for legal services?”

“Oh my God, you act like I’m such a screw-up. Don’t say a word—” she ordered, stabbing a finger at Molly who’d opened her mouth. “You know Sam and I haven’t really been…talking much for the last few months.”

“I don’t want to be in the middle of any of that—” Molly shook her head. “I had the weirdest conversation with Sam the other day, and I think we’re both better off if we stay out of it. Do not get involved—”

“I’m not. I’m updating you because I behaved myself yesterday and since you’re still someone Sam might talk to, you should know what’s going on.” Kristina shifted in her seat. “I stopped over to drop off something for Mom, and my dad was there.”

Molly tipped her head. “Why? Last time I checked, Uncle Sonny totally chose Jason, and things were frosty.”

“They were arguing. I’m not sure what about exactly, but it’s something related to her divorce from Jason.” Kristina leaned in. “He was accusing her of wanting both Jason and Drew.”

“Well, that’s not fair—she thought she was married to Jason for the last year, and now she’s married to—well, it’s hard to say who she’s married to,” Molly admitted. “But it’s not Jason. Or it wasn’t the way she thought. It’s probably super weird and complicated. I feel like we’re not giving her enough space for any of this, you know? Like, she and Jason—Drew, I mean, but when he was Jason—we need a code name for that. Like JaDrew.”

“What?”

“So I can talk about when Drew was Jason, because like he was Jason but he wasn’t, and now he really isn’t, you know? It’s like there are three time periods for him. There’s Jake Doe, JaDrew, and Drew.” Molly frowned. “I don’t like JaDrew. We need a different name. FakeJason seems mean.”

“I need you to focus, okay? He was Drew all of the time. The guy I saw at Christmas is, like, literally the same guy he’s always been. Same personality. Sam can’t have it both ways. She either got back together with him because he was Jason or she fell in love with him because he was Drew. Like that’s it—”

“Well, that’s not fair. What about what Elizabeth did?”

“Elizabeth can at least argue she fell in love with Jake Doe because they were already a thing before she found out the truth, and you know, she lied to keep him.”

“I thought she lied to keep Jason away from Sam—”

“That’s Sam’s story, and I think our sister has credibility issues,” Kristina muttered. She cleared her throat. “Anyway. I didn’t even finish telling you the rest of it, because I was sort of on your side when Dad said that, because it is weird and complicated. But then, then Dad drops this bomb on her. Jason came to the penthouse. The day he blew everything up at the Aurora party? He apparently went home first.”

“Oh. Oh. That must have been kind of upsetting for him. He wakes up in Russia, comes home — to his home, right? And when he gets there, Sam isn’t waiting for him. Like, of course, it’s been five years, but didn’t he say it only felt like six months because he was unconscious? So he comes home, and what, did he see Sam and Drew?”

“Yeah. He thought Sam was happy and moved on, so that’s when he went to the place he’s staying at now. It’s an old safe house or something. Anyway, Sam hears this, and she just—her entire state of being changes, you know? When I say Dad drops a bomb, I mean, it literally looked like he blew up her whole world. And he kept going. Jason called her from Russia, but Drew picked up. And of course, Jason doesn’t tell her any of that, because why would he?”

“Maybe he would have,” Molly murmured. She rested her chin on her fist. “If she’d asked. If she’d given him five minutes of her time. She never did, you know. After we knew the truth. She just stuck to her guns with Drew. Why didn’t Jason go to see her?”

“Because she went home with Drew that night. She looked at Jason and told the other guy she believed him.” Kristina picked up a straw, played with the wrapper. “I think if she’d known Jason called her, tried to see her before he talked to anyone else — I think maybe she’d have switched sides.”

“But she didn’t.”

“No. Dad ended it on asking what else Sam wants to take from him, and, like, you know her divorce demands are insane right? The custody stuff. Michael told me she accused him of abandoning Jake, that’s why he’s a bad father—”

Molly made a face. “Yeah, I was hoping she’d back off it.” She bit her lip. “Okay. So is that it?”

“Yeah, she threw Dad out after that, and I tried to talk to her, but that’s the whole update. I told Mom a little of it earlier, but I don’t know if she’s really seeing it. I don’t know if she wants to see it.”

“No, maybe not. You said you wanted advice, though, so…?”

“What do I do with this? Do I keep trying to talk to Sam? Do I talk to Dad? Do I tell Jason? That’s kind of the part I really want to know. Maybe I tell Drew. I like them both. I mean, you know, Jason used to get me out of so much trouble. And Drew was always nice to me. So do I just stay out of it? I feel like Jason should know. What if—”

“You were at the New Year’s Party. Do you think Jason’s thinking about Sam that way right now?” Molly asked.

“Well, no. He and Elizabeth looked solid. I mean, the way I heard it, Elizabeth took one look at Jason and was, like, yep, that’s you. And Sam wouldn’t. Refused. I guess…maybe it doesn’t matter that Sam’s upset because she didn’t know about the call or the visit.”

“If the reason Sam stuck with Drew is because she thought Jason didn’t…, like, check in with her first, I don’t know. I feel like that doesn’t matter to him. Or wouldn’t. In fact, as much as I hate to admit, it kind of makes Sam seem selfish, don’t you think?” Molly asked. “Because the guy’s been through hell, he thinks he’s sparing her, and he doesn’t her pressure to make any choices—”

“But he also doesn’t let her know it’s okay to take time with her choice. You don’t think she was owed that? Like he wanted her to decide over night?” Kristina made a face. “I don’t know. It all sits with me weird, and maybe I should just stay out of it, you know?”

“I think that’s probably safest. It’s a hard situation for all of them. Sam’s our sister. I know you’re mad at her for other reasons, but maybe you need to separate those things out.”

Kristina opened her mouth to tell Molly the rest of it — everything she’d overheard her sister say on Thanksgiving, the way Sam had wanted Jake gone. That felt related, she thought. Because maybe it was wrapped up in the whole problem Sam had with Elizabeth, who had believed Jason from the beginning. Maybe it was why Sam had clung to Drew so hard, because she’d felt like there were sides.

But Molly already knew enough terrible things about their sister, and Kristina could admit she was biased. She wanted to feel bad for Sam, and she did—sort of. But it was tempered with the knowledge that her sister could be destructively vindictive, and Kristina still didn’t know how to navigate her perceptions of Sam without that lens.

“Yeah, you’re right. We should stay out of it.” Kristina forced herself to smile. “That’s what I was thinking, so I’m glad we’re on the same page.”

Elm Street

Sam slowed her car as she approached the traffic light at Elm and Central Avenue. She glanced in the rearview mirror, checking on Danny scrolling on his tablet, and Scout who’d dozed off as she always did when she was a in car.

A school bus was just around the corner, stopped with its red sign holding out to warn traffic not to pass the bus while students poured off. Sam saw a familiar face out of the corner of her eye and twisted her head to get a better look.

Why was Jake getting off a bus across town from Elizabeth’s house? She saw Cameron come off a bench, as if he’d been waiting for his brother. Aiden was at his side. Why—

When the light changed, without thinking, Sam changed the blinker to turn right instead of staying straight on Central. She kept her speed light, following the boys who were ahead of her.

They walked about a block before veering into parking lot. Sam pulled her car to a slow stop, watching as they went towards a car garage, the two bay doors closed. There wasn’t a sign up, but Sam recognized the type of black SUV parked outside.

Jason.

Alexis had mentioned Jason was opening a garage — something he’d done the last time he’d been out of the business.

Elizabeth’s boys were walking right into the lobby side, with Cameron holding the door for his younger brothers. Walking in like they belonged there.

Sam’s fingers flexed on the wheel. She’d been frozen in that penthouse for months, she thought. Clinging to the wreckage of a life that didn’t exist anymore.

She didn’t care what Sonny said — she didn’t want Jason back, and it didn’t matter that he’d come to the penthouse, that he’d called her from Russia—he hadn’t done anything after that, had he? She hadn’t danced to his tune, and he obviously didn’t miss her. Not with Elizabeth’s boys walking into his new garage like it was theirs.

No. She didn’t care what Jason was doing. Or who he was doing it with. But he was doing something. Moving forward. Drew was doing something. He’d gone on with their plans for Aurora. What was Sam doing? Nothing. Reacting to everyone else, letting them set the tone.

It was time for a change. It was time for her to take charge.

If only she knew what the hell to do.

Morgan’s Auto: Lobby

Jake wrinkled his nose when he stepped inside, just ahead of his brothers and Spencer. “This place looks like a dump.”

“Hey, manners.” Cameron flicked his brother’s head, then looked across at Spinelli. “Hey.”

“Oh.” Spinelli frowned, standing up from his place at the desk. “Yeah, I forgot you were coming by. I’ll get Stone Cold.”

“No, that’s cool, we can just meet him—is he out with the cars—” Cameron craned his head, looking for the Chevy that Jason had gotten him for Christmas. Jason had brought it over to the garage that morning, so Cameron was eager to get started.

He’d get his learner’s permit in May, and he couldn’t wait to start driving. A whole world of freedom would open up—

“No, he’s in the back office, working on files. Dump your stuff anywhere, I’ll get him.”

“Files?” Spencer perked up, and Cameron looked at him. “Like the Cassadine stuff?”

“Yeah.” Spinelli pushed open the door to the back. “Hey, Stone Cold. You have a small army of children here reporting for duty.”

A moment later, Jason appeared. “Hey. I lost track of time sorry.” He came forward, around the counter. “What do you guys want to do? Other than work on your car,” he told Cameron. “I mean, for Jake and Aiden.”

“Can I smash anything?” Jake wanted to know. “Like, do you need to—” He punched his fist against his opposite palm. “Demo work and stuff. I could do that.”

“Nothing to destroy, sorry.” Jason turned, looked at Spinelli. “What’s on the list?”

“Inventory sorting,” Spinelli said cheerfully. “I’ll get Stone Cold the Second and the Youngest of Dudes all set up.” He took the younger boys into the garage bay.

“Spence, you ready to get some grease under those manicured nails?” Cameron asked, tossing his coat on top of his bag by the window. “How much work does the car need?” he asked Jason.

“Enough, but—”

“Can I read the files instead?” Spencer cut in, and Jason frowned at him. “I mean, someone should, right? So you don’t lose any time. I can help with that. It’s my family. And then you can go do Cam’s car.”

“Uh, yeah, okay. I’ll get you a couple things to read if that’s what you want to do.” Jason looked at Cam. “I’ll be out in a minute.”

“Okay.” Cameron tossed Spencer a look as the teen followed Jason into the back hallway. Last time he checked, Spencer had told him their grandmother had shut him down hard on even looking at the files. But well, that would be Jason’s problem.

He was gonna get to work on the car today, so whatever made that happen was fine by him. Spencer was gonna have to worry about himself.

Morgan’s Auto: Garage Bay

Jason gestured at a thin tube. “Do you see that?”

Next to him, stretched out an identical undercar roller, Cameron nodded. “Yeah.”

“This is the oil line. You want to check it for any nicks and cuts or anything that might cause the oil to leak.” He slid his fingers along the tube. “Just like this.”

“Okay. What happens when oil leaks? Does your car stop? Like immediately? Or like can it go for a while?”

“It’s dangerous to drive with one. Oil’s flammable, so it means you’re just making it more likely that you could end up in serious trouble. Or another car. Any time you have a leak, you want to handle it right away.” Jason moved to a different line. “This? This is the brake line.”

“Yeah, those are important. I know that. Mom uses them a lot.”

“Not as much as she should,” Jason muttered, and Cameron snickered. “You need to check your brakes every year, but it wouldn’t hurt to do it more. But at least every year—”

Across the room, he heard a cell phone ring. He sighed, and pulled himself out from under the car, Cameron following. “I’ll be right back.”

He scooped up the phone and answered it. “Yeah, Diane?”

“Jason. We have a problem.”

Jason grimaced, saw Laura at the front door in the lobby. He waved to her through the glass window that separated the bay from the lobby. She nodded back, and turned her attention away, probably to Spinelli.

“Jason, are you listening?”

“Yeah. I’m listening. What’s the problem?” He grabbed a towel to wipe his hands, leaving the phone tucked in between his shoulder and ear.

“Sonny decided to go over to Sam’s and pay her a visit yesterday. I don’t know what happened, but she’s furious. I told him not to get involved—”

Jason’s jaw clenched. “Why are you talking to him about it at all? You’re my lawyer.”

“I didn’t—I was trying to convince him to get his own representation. And yes, we did talk about how to make it go away—”

“Well, that’s not his problem,” Jason bit out. “He went to talk to Sam?”

“Yes. Which obviously didn’t get us anything but trouble. Which we don’t need. It could look like you’re trying to intimidate Sam into backing down on her demands which a judge will not appreciate—”

Jason saw Cameron trying very hard not to listen and wanted to throw the phone off a cliff. “I’ll talk to him.”

“Do that. I don’t need the headache.”

“Yeah, well, don’t talk to people who aren’t me about my case, Diane, and we won’t have a problem.” Jason didn’t bother to listen to her response but hung up and tossed the phone aside. What the hell was Sonny thinking getting involved? Jason was handling it, wasn’t he? He was going to let Diane do whatever the hell she wanted. What more did Sonny want?

“Uh, listen,” Cameron said, and Jason looked at him, “you look like you’re having a bad day, and I get it because, man, lawyers, but you should know something about Grandma Laura—”

“What the hell are you doing?” Laura demanded, appearing in the doorway with an irritated Spencer behind her. “He says you told him he could read those files.”

Jason squinted, then looked at Cameron. “Is this what I was supposed to know?”

“Yeah, uh, Grandma isn’t, um, entirely on board with Spencer trying to help. Like at all.” Cameron winced. “Should have told you that earlier—”

“It’s not fair, Grandmother. They’re my family’s records—”

“I don’t care!” Laura snapped. “I made it clear to you, so I don’t appreciate you going behind my back, and you—” She whirled around to stab a finger at Jason. “I brought my grandson here to work not to be drafted into your damned war!”

“My war?” Jason bit out. He tossed aside the towel. “Listen, I didn’t ask to be part of it, either! I was minding my own business until I got shot and shoved in the water!”

“I didn’t mean—”

“I respect that you don’t want Spencer involved,” Jason retorted. “But not everyone gets the choice. My kid didn’t get a choice, either. It must be nice to have one.”

“Jason—” Laura took a deep breath. “Okay, I’m sorry—”

“Yeah, me, too. There’s the door,” he said, gesturing. “I’ve got things to do.”

“Oh, damn,” Cameron said, under his breath, a bit wide-eyed.

“Do you see what you’ve done?” Laura said to Spencer. “Do you see what you’ve caused?”

“I didn’t do anything,” Spencer complained. “I was just trying to help, you’re the one that went crazy—” Laura went quiet, and he winced. “Grandmother, you know that’s not what I meant. I’m sorry.”

“Get your things and get into the car. Now.”

Spencer didn’t protest this time and moved quickly. Laura closed her eyes, took another deep breath, then looked at Jason. “I’m sorry. I clearly—I’m sorry.”

“So am I, Laura.”

She grimaced. “I’ll handle this at home. Thank you for looking after him today.” She left.

Jason looked at Cameron who looked up and away, suddenly very interested in the ceiling. “Don’t you think you could have warned me before your grandmother got here?”

“Yeah. Probably. Uh, I’m sorry—” Cameron winced. “It’s just—”

“Laura’s been through a lot with the Cassadines. Whether you or I or Spencer agree with keeping him out of it, she isn’t wrong.” He looked towards the back of the bay where Jake and Aiden were still sorting car parts and laughing. They hadn’t heard the confrontation, which was a relief. “I hate that Jake was part of this. What they did to his head — I don’t want that for anyone else. For you and your brothers. For Spencer. I want this as far away from all of you.”

“I get that,” Cameron said slowly. “And I’m not looking to be in it. But Spencer, it’s different for him. I still go home to my mom every day, you know? And Jake and Aiden, I got them. Spencer, he just—he doesn’t have that. He never really did, even when his dad was alive. So I guess maybe I didn’t say anything because I don’t see the problem with trying to help. I don’t like that he didn’t tell you, and I’m sorry for not doing it either. You don’t deserve to be in the middle of his fight with Grandma.”

“Let’s just get your brothers and pack up to go home.”

Quartermaine Estate: Foyer

Michael kicked the door closed with his leg as he switched his cell from one ear to the other. “I’m sorry, Nelle. I know it’s the second night in a row, but I need to have everything just right—”

“I know you do, baby, but I miss you—”

“Yeah, I miss you, too.” Michael hung up his coat, holding the phone in the crook of his shoulder. “This weekend. I promise. I’ll make it up to you. I have some meetings tomorrow that will let me wrap everything up for this proposal. Then, it’s all you.”

“Okay.”

He hung up the phone, then jumped when he saw his grandmother in the doorway to the front parlor. “You scared me.”

“I’m sorry.” Monica had her hand on the doorway, her expression puzzled. “You canceled plans with Nelle tonight?”

“Yeah. I wouldn’t have been any use to her anyway,” Michael said. He rubbed the back of his neck. “I still have a ton of paperwork to look over before tomorrow, and this proposal needs to be accepted or it’s going to be one more thing Aunt Tracy uses to drive me crazy.”

“Oh, you know you don’t need to worry about her,” Monica said as she followed him towards the back of the house and the kitchen. “She just likes to cause chaos.”

“That’s what Ned says, and I believe him.” He tugged open the fridge, looking for something quick. “But it doesn’t mean it’s not a headache.”

He kicked the fridge shut and went to the counter to start constructing a turkey sandwich. “You’ve known Aunt Tracy for, like, ever, so you know how exhausting she can be when she focuses on you.”

“I certainly do.” Monica slid onto the stool across from him. “We had battle after battle back in the beginning. She was determined to protect every inch of Edward’s estate for Ned. She hated that Alan got married, that he had children.”

“Yeah, Ned said she’s not thrilled with how many times the shares have diluted since Grandfather passed.” Michael spread some mayo on the slab of bread. “It’s crazy to hear stories from the old days, especially about you and Grandfather. I wish I’d know him better.”

“Me, too. He would have enjoyed knowing you were at ELQ. It’s all he wanted. For you to be part of this family. I think Emily really shifted his feelings on who got to be a member of the family,” Monica said. “We adopted her, but Edward—I think she was his favorite. She had that way about her. You couldn’t help but love her.”

“I remember. It’s—” Michael rested his hands on the island counter. “It’s hard sometimes, just remembering her not being here. Even though it’s been ten years.”

“A lot of the spark in this family was gone after she passed away. Edward was never quite the same. Your grandfather worried that we were all fading away. That the family would just disappear.” She looked at him. “It meant a lot to me when you changed your last name. That you kept it.”

“I did it out spite at first,” Michael admitted. “And later, even though I reconciled with my mom and Sonny, I kept it to remind myself who I was. And to never let myself forget. I didn’t want to forget AJ. You know that, don’t you? Letting them back in, it wasn’t about that.”

“AJ never wanted you to tear yourself apart. He just wanted to be part of your story. And now he will be. That matters.” Monica touched his hand. “It matters that you’re still here. And that because you are, it’s helped Jason come back to us.”

“Well, that’s not just me—”

“But it starts with you. And, yes, because I’ve reached out to Jake, that helps, too. But you are such a comfort to me, Michael.” Monica rubbed his hand, then drew it back. “Tracy will rattle your cages until she’s satisfied, and then she’ll go away again. You’ll get used to it.”

“Can’t wait.”

Webber House: Kitchen

“I’m sorry, I agree with Laura.” Elizabeth scrubbed the plate, then handed it to Jason who wiped it dry with a dish towel. “It’s bad enough we have to go through these files. I don’t want to come home and see Cameron with his own stack.”

“I get Laura’s concern, I do.” Jason set the plate in the drying rack. “But Spencer asked. I don’t remember being his age, but I remember Emily. And you,” he added. “Think of what you got into.”

“Every day, I have more sympathy for my poor grandmother,” she muttered. “I think of Emily being blackmailed, and all of us just handling it ourselves. My God, what we were thinking? And that happened twice. It’s amazing—” She grimaced. “Well, it’s amazing we survived that.”

“You were thinking your friend was in trouble and embarrassed. That you wanted to help her. You did—”

“At what cost? Emily and I got held hostage, then she got kidnapped and dumped in a car. I got drugged at a rave, guns pointed at me near the Canadian border—” She shook her head and wiped out the sink. “Laura has a right to set boundaries for Spencer.”

“You didn’t like when people did it for you—”

“And I was an idiot!” Elizabeth threw up her hands. “Jason, come on. Laura just found out Lucky was Patient 2. Nikolas is dead. She gets to be overprotective. And our son was nearly manipulated into killing a room full of people.” She frowned at him. “How can you stand there and tell me you think Spencer should get involved in this? He’s fifteen. Can’t we let them be kids just a little longer?” She turned away from the sink, pressing her hand against her forehead.

“I didn’t mean that Spencer should get involved,” Jason said gently. If Laura forbids him from doing something, it’s probably not going to change how much he wants to do it. When your grandmother forbid you from doing something, what did you run out and do?”

“That’s—” Elizabeth grimaced, met his eyes. “Okay. Yes. I usually took Gram setting boundaries as a dare. Okay. I get what you’re saying.”

“I don’t want this to touch the boys any more than it already does.” Jason took her hands. “I just don’t see the point in fighting a battle that Laura will end up losing. Spencer’s not going to give up. It might be better if we supervise how he’s involved. If we don’t let him do something as small as reading a file, who’s to say he won’t look for another way? And end up in even deeper trouble?”

“Yeah. I know. I know.” Elizabeth bit her lip. “I just—I hate that he wants to help. But I wouldn’t expect anything less. When Nikolas and Emily came over that day, looking for Lucky’s help, I got involved because I wanted to stop obsessing about what had happened to me. I wanted to just do anything else. And I’m glad we did. Emily and I weren’t friends before then. After that, you couldn’t have pried us apart.”

“I remember.” He rubbed her shoulder. “They’re going to get in trouble. Make mistakes. You know that. We can’t stop them.”

“No. But I’m not going to tell Laura how to handle Spencer. If she wants to cut him out of this, then we have to respect that. I’m not going to tell a woman who’s lost so much to the Cassadines that she has to watch her grandson get wrapped up in this.”

“Whatever Laura wants, I’ll respect her wishes. Spencer’s not my kid to make choices for.” He kissed the top of her head. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“I know. And I didn’t mean to get mad at you. It’s just—for the last two days, it’s like we’re eating, breathing, sleeping these stupid files. And yes, we’ve learned some new things, I guess. Lucky being one of the patients shifts the whole timeline which we needed to know. But I just—” She took a deep breath. “Having to tell him this morning, watching it hit him like a freight train—it brings it back. I was so scared all the time — scared of how Lucky was changing, not understanding, and then terrified that we couldn’t stop it—”

She wrapped an arm around her waist, used the other hand to brush away her tears. “We were so young, Jason. So young and stupid. We never should have been involved in any of it. But we got swept up because we all loved Lucky, and I can see it happening all over again. It’s my greatest fear, you know. That we don’t fix it, that we don’t stop it, and Aiden gets involved somehow. Or Cameron. He’s not right now, but Spencer’s his family, and Cameron will let himself get dragged into it just like I did.” She looked at him. “I don’t want my kids to repeat my mistakes. I’d go back and do anything to keep myself from getting involved.”

“You never, in a million years, could have stopped yourself from stepping up,” Jason told her. “Lucky was in trouble, and you wanted to save him. Every time Emily was in trouble, you wanted to save her. That’s why you’re so sure that Spencer being involved puts Cameron in the crosshairs. Because he’s just like you.”

“Well, my parents always wanted me to have kids who were like me. Guess they got their wish.” Elizabeth sighed. “Can we just—we not talk about it tonight? I want to make sure the boys didn’t smuggle any phones or tablets upstairs, then maybe you and I could sit on the sofa and talk about anything else. Can we do that?”

He tipped her chin up. “Yeah,” he murmured, kissing her. “We can do that.”

 

---

NEXT WEEK

“She went after Jake because she thought he was my son. Biologically. You ever think about that? The opportunity presented itself with the car accident, so she took it. But it could have been Aiden. There’s a reason she switched those tests, Dad. Not just to cause trouble, but maybe she wanted to get her hands on my son. Cameron? Helena wouldn’t understand biology, so maybe he was safe. But I couldn’t take that risk. With any of them. I kept my distance, and it worked. They’re all safe. Happy. Healthy.” Lucky looked down into his coffee. “I wasn’t a good father even before we found Jake. I was too angry at how my life turned out to appreciate what I already had. I wasn’t who I wanted to be. I turned my back on my sons. Now they’re not mine anymore.”

—

“Stefan Cassadine is beginning to regain conscious.” Klein paused. “As we discussed, he’s disoriented, drifting in and out. We are monitoring him, but it is a very promising sign.”

“Yes. Yes, it is.” Valentin leaned back in his chair. “Thank you. Inform me as soon as he’s ready to be questioned.”

—

“Well, you don’t have to think anything,” Laura cut in. “He won’t be part of this. So make sure you keep the files locked up where the boys can’t get access. I’ll be telling Elizabeth the same thing.”

“Yeah, okay.” Jason watched her leave, then turned to Spinelli. “Does she really think saying no will work?”

“Uh, as someone who tried to tell the Blonde One no on many occasion, Spencers don’t really listen to that word.”

—

“He’s getting all bogged down in what happened to him,” Felix said. “You’re going to have to take the reins and remind him what he’s got to live for. I promise. It’ll work.”

“Yeah, okay. We’ll see.” She shook her head, gathered her things. “I need to get back to work—”

“I mean it about the red lipstick!” he called after her.

Wish we could turn back time
To the good old days
When our mama sang us to sleep
But now we’re stressed out
Wish we could turn back time
To the good old days
When our mama sang us to sleep
But now we’re stressed out
– Stressed Out, Twenty One Pilots

---

Thursday, January 4, 2018

Studio

Franco jerked awake with a gasp and a jolt of his heart, his hand curling over the back of the sofa where he’d slept, blinking rapidly. He stumbled to his feet, crossing the room to the sink on the far wall. He twisted the knob and dunked his entire head beneath the streaming water, shaking himself not just awake, but back to sanity.

Another strange, disturbing dream where images swirled and mixed with one another. Chasing after a small toddler, falling, then his wrists being twisted, held back, his legs pulled straight—

He squeezed his eyes closed, raked his fingers through his damp hair, digging the tips into his scalp. What the hell was going on in his mind and how did he stop it? The last time he’d had dreams like this — he’d buried what he’d believed to be the body of his mother, eager to rid the world of her poisonous presence and the suffocating way she showed her so-called love. Burying her had brought back too many other memories that he wanted to stay dead and gone.

He wasn’t that man anymore. Couldn’t be that man. New lease on life. Second chances. He’d slid back a little with Carly, but he’d moved forward, hadn’t he? And with Elizabeth. Hadn’t Elizabeth shown him there was something inside worth saving?

Until she left you.

Just like Carly.

They all leave you.

Franco exhaled slowly, reached for a towel to blot his face dry. No. No. That wasn’t why he was keeping tabs on Elizabeth, not why he was trying to stay close. He just wanted to be there when it fell apart. Maybe he’d enjoy it if she groveled for him to forgive her—who wouldn’t? And maybe he wouldn’t take her back. But it didn’t mean he was slipping into his old ways. The tumor. Everyone told him the tumor had made him that way. He wasn’t Robert Frank anymore. He had a family. He had friends.

He took another deep breath. The dreams would go away. They always did. He just had to stay strong.

Davis House: Living Room

Alexis peered over her reading glasses as Kristina waltzed into the living room. “I thought you were starting at the hospital this week?”

“Next week.” Kristina sat in the armchair, watched her mother return to her paperwork. “Working on Sam’s divorces?”

“Mmm, Diane messengered over the completed divorce papers for Drew—” Alexis tapped her pen against the paper. “You were supposed to stop at your sister’s yesterday. How was she?”

“Arguing with Dad.” Kristina made a face. “Pretty vicious fight. I didn’t realize Dad was so negative about her. I thought they were friends.”

Alexis sighed, sat up, and put her paperwork aside, then removed her glasses. “Your father has a short temper and not a lot of patience when it comes to the people he cares about. Sam…she’s taking positions in the divorce from Jason that are difficult.”

“I don’t know about any of that, but Dad was saying stuff about the night Jason came back. Did you know he went to the penthouse first?”

“No. No, I didn’t. But it makes sense. That was his home. More than it was Sam’s,” Alexis admitted. “He lived there for ten years.”

“Yeah, and Sam got upset. I guess she just… thought Jason didn’t make any attempt to talk to her or see her when he got back, but from his perspective, if he came to the penthouse, saw all the stuff with Drew and Scout, and then she went home with him that night—” Kristina bit her lip. “Do you think Sam knew that night?”

“I do,” Alexis said after a moment. “Everyone did. But she made a choice.”

“She was upset about what Dad said. Accusing her of wanting them both. And with Drew leaving last week, I don’t know. Do you think maybe Dad’s right? Maybe Sam is more torn about the whole thing than she thought she was? Michael told me about the divorce papers. She’s asking for half of everything and refusing custody on Danny. I don’t know a lot about divorces, but stuff like that—yeah, it’s nuclear, but it’s also…it’ll make the divorce last longer, won’t it?”

“It could. I don’t know how she’s feeling about Jason these days. She closed down very early about all of this, Kristina. And a lot of things have come back up these days about Sam’s past.” Alexis lifted her brows. “About things she did that she regrets now.”

“Sleeping with Ric and standing by while Jake got kidnapped,” Kristina said bluntly. Alexis made a face. “Yeah, I overheard that, too.”

“Kristina—”

“I just wish I could get inside her head. You didn’t see her, Mom. She looked so upset about what Dad said to her. She refused to talk about it, but—”

“She wouldn’t tell me what she and Sonny had said,” Alexis said. “Only that he’d been there, and she didn’t want him back. What you’ve said—well, it explains a lot. Do I have your permission to bring it up to her?”

“Yeah, it’s not like things with me and Sam can’t get worse. I mean, I’m doing my best, Mom. With everything I know now. Because it’s easier for you and Molly. But I don’t like how Sam’s handling this.”

“I’m not wild about it either, but I don’t really have much of a choice.”

Aurora Media: Drew’s Office

Monica pasted a smile on her face as Drew’s secretary showed her into his office. “Thank you,” she told her.

She then faced Drew as he rose to his feet and came around the desk. She hadn’t seen him in almost a week. Not since that day when he’d very quietly asked a simple question.

Did you ever look for me?

She’d so badly wanted to tell him yes. She’d wanted to find him a thousand times over the years, had thought of elaborate ways to explain how Drew had ended up lost to the system—in those terrible days after the accident, when Jason had been lost to them, she’d wanted to find him. After losing Emily. After AJ.

She’d thought of Andrew Moore so many times, but something had always stopped her from looking too hard. From doing more than asking Tracy to find him. And sometimes she wondered if Tracy maybe hadn’t looked so hard either.

“Monica.” Drew’s eyes were wary as he approached. “I wasn’t expecting you today.” Or any other day, his gaze seemed to say.

“I’m glad you were able to make time for me.” Her fingers tightened around her clutch purse. “I’ve struggled these last few months, I suppose, with how to make sense of what’s happened. And sometimes it’s easier to avoid an uncomfortable situation than it is to deal with it.”

“I certainly understand that. Do you—do you want some coffee? Some water—” He gestured to the beverage bar tucked away in a corner.

“No, I have to be at the hospital. But I wanted to talk to you about New Year’s.” She took a deep breath. “When you asked if I ever looked for you.”

“You want to talk about that?” Drew lifted his brows. “Really?”

“Yes. Because I fear—” Her lips pressed together. “It’s very much my fault what happened when you were children. And, you know, your father shares some blame. You have to understand, Alan and I were in such a fragile place in our relationship. I’d hurt him so dreadfully by having my own affair, but I told myself it wasn’t that bad. I had given into temptation with a man I thought I’d love forever. I’d wanted to marry Rick Webber once before we thought he was dead.” Monica rubbed her chest. “But Alan’s affair with Susan felt like revenge. Like he wanted to make me pay. And we were both wrong, of course. And I made it very clear to him I didn’t want Jason—the product of that affair—anywhere near me.” Her eyes burned. “Even after she’d died, I was mortified and furious that he was even concerning himself with Jason’s welfare.”

“Monica, you don’t—”

“No, you have to understand that I look back at that woman, that version of myself, and it horrifies me. Jason was a child, just a baby really. And maybe if I had been more accepting,” she said slowly, “Edward might not have fought so hard against the trust fund that was set up. And maybe Susan wouldn’t have hidden you away, if that’s what she did. I’ll never understand why she did that—if you’re right, and she knew. I never—I don’t understand it, Drew. But if I had been a better person, you would have been ours.” She met his gaze. “You must believe that if we could have brought you home, we would have. It would have been the delight of Alan’s life to have another child.”

“I do believe that,” Drew said after a long moment. “I believe that if you could have found me and made me part of the family, you would have done that.” He came to her, took her hands in his. “But someone made me disappear into the system.” His eyes, so sober, so serious, so like Lila and Jason. Oh, this man really was Alan’s son.

How could she have done this to him—how could she have let Alan die and never know about little Andrew. He’d gone to his grave, never knowing there was another son out there.

“Yes. And someone was wrong. Very wrong. But that happened a long time ago,” Monica told him. “I don’t want you to be haunted by a terrible choice made when you were a baby. We have so much more now. You have this investigation into the Cassadines, and the children. Danny and Scout. And Oscar. And Jason. You have each other now. I hope that you and Jason will find a way to be the brothers that you couldn’t before.”

Drew smiled thinly, dropped her hand. “I want that, too. And I don’t want to lose what I have by looking for answers about my childhood.”

“Oh. Good. Good then.” She licked her lips. “So, then, we’ll have dinner or lunch or something. Sometime soon.”

“Of course.” He kissed her cheek. “Thank you for coming today.”

“Thank for you listening.”

Devane Manor: Living Room

Anna tossed a file on the sofa and scowled at the phone in her hand. “No, I don’t bloody well understand, Frisco, why you can’t give us any help—”

Frisco’s voice wafted from her speaker phone. “I’m doing the best I can, Anna. I’m not a dictator. I report to other people, you know. And they don’t want this coming out—”

“It’s too late for that. Look, I’m not even asking for much. I just want to question Andre. At every turn, Frisco, we learn that the alliance between Victor and Helena was deeper than we suspected. We still can’t get into Andre’s files, but Helena’s? They’re filed with internal WSB memos—”

“Anna—”

“Who knows how deep that corruption runs? What if it didn’t start with Victor? We’ll never know until we get more cooperation. It’ll take months to sift through Helena’s damn files. If we could get to Andre—”

“He won’t cooperate, Anna. Not without getting something in return—”

“I told you to leave him in Port Charles and in state prison until we’d questioned him thoroughly and extracted all he knew—but you barely gave me more than a week—” Anna sank onto the sofa. “Do you feel nothing for this situation? No guilt? You were actively working for WSB when this happened.”

Frisco was quiet for a long moment. “I understand your frustration. I do. And I don’t like this stain any more than you do. We’ve given our time, our energy, our lives to this agency. I gave up my family. My girls. I can never get any of that back, Anna. But even if I could get you in to see Andre, he’d never tell you more than he already has. There’s no reason for him to.”

“Well, then I will find a reason to make him, Frisco, and when I do, you will let me in to see him. I won’t be taking no for an answer.”

Port Charles High: Classroom

“Tennyson wrote the ‘Charge of the Light Brigade’ in dactylic meter—”

The words of his English teacher drifted past Oscar as he looked out the window, towards the trees with their bare branches and snow drifts in the parking lot. He was supposed to have dinner with his father tomorrow, and it had been rolling around in his head for the last two days. Should he go? What was the point if Drew didn’t remember who he was? Did Oscar really want to keep putting himself through it, to keep looking at a face that didn’t belong to his dad, but hearing his voice, and knowing that it wouldn’t change anything—

“Can anyone tell me what poem was written about the Light Brigade much later? Oscar?”

Oscar blinked, focused on his teacher. “What?”

The teacher smirked, knowing he’d caught Oscar red-handed not paying attention. “The poem written about the Light Brigade after Tennyson?”

“Oh.” Oscar furrowed his brow. “Uh, Kipling. He wrote the ‘Last of the Light Brigade’ in 1890. It was supposed to be a response to the way military veterans were being treated in England.”

The teacher lost his smirk. “Oh, really?”

“Yeah. Because Tennyson was all, like, Honor the Light Bridge, and calling them noble — because of how hard they’d fought against the odds. But Kipling—he opened his poem talking about all the millions who talked about the noble glory, but that didn’t stop twenty veterans from not having anything to eat.”

“That’s—” The teacher made a face. “That’s very astute, Mr. Nero.”

Oscar wanted to roll his eyes because the guy sounded surprised. “Yeah, but most people didn’t pay attention to Kipling’s poem. No one ever pays attention to the guys that were crushed in war. They talk about supporting the troops and enjoying all the stuff you get from winning the war, but the actual soldiers who carry it out?” Oscar shrugged. “Collateral damage. He was calling out the hypocrisy.”

“He certainly was. But Tennyson’s poem is well remembered for other reasons—” The teacher returned to his lecture, and Oscar tuned back out. Next to him, Cameron mouthed the words you okay. Oscar nodded, then slid his phone out of his pocket, and held it beneath his desk. He scrolled to his contacts.

No one was paying attention to his stepmother, to Kim. Even Oscar had forgotten about her in the excitement and misery of having his father be alive, but not really back. Drew had acted like she didn’t exist, and Kim had just soldiered on. Doing the hard work of raising Oscar, being his family when he didn’t have anyone else.

And now his dad was throwing it away like she didn’t matter. Like Kim wasn’t a real person, just a name on a piece of paper standing in the way of whatever his dad really wanted. Kim hadn’t made any scenes, hadn’t raged, or tried to force Drew to come back to her. And she was still getting the shit end of the stick. It wasn’t fair, and Oscar wasn’t going to let it happen.

He quickly typed a message, hit send, and put his phone away just as the teacher looked back in their direction.

Sorry. Something came up. Have to reschedule.

Westwood Academy: Parking Lot

Sam strapped Danny into his booster seat, then checked on Scout in her car seat next to her brother. “Did you have a good day?” she asked.

“Yeah, I got moved up to the top of the clip chart,” Danny reported, then he grinned wide. Sam started to smile back, but then looked at her son just a little more closely. Maybe it was having Jason back — his face and his voice — but Danny looked so much like him in that moment. The sweet smile — so rarely seen — the blue eyes.

What would their lives have been like if Jason hadn’t left for the pier that night? Would they have made it? Would she have been able to look past the hurt and anger that had sent them to divorce court in the first place? Or would it have always hung between them? Was Jason right? Would it have ended anyway?

What if he’d come to the penthouse two months ago and she’d seen him? What if she’d known he’d come to her first?

“Mommy? Are we going home?”

Sam nodded, then touched Danny’s cheek. “You got moved to the top of the clip chart? That deserves a reward. Why don’t we stop and get something?”