Written in 51 minutes.

---

Smoke nearly choked her as soon as Elizabeth pushed her way through the broken front door and she almost fell down the stairs into her former living room. She stumbled back to her feet—dimly she could hear Jason and Drew’s voices behind her but she couldn’t stop.

Her baby was in this house and if it cost her life, she was going to get him out.

The living room was an inferno—the flames eating up the walls that still held the char from the explosion a year ago. She pushed through towards the kitchen, trying to force Cameron’s name through her lips which were already blistering.

“Cam—”

She heard a crack and then an intense blinding pain at the back of her skull.

Then nothing.

—

There was nothing but fire and smoke. Any sane man would have turned out, given up those inside for dead. But Jason wasn’t so easily defeated, and he’d be damned if he’d abandon Elizabeth and Cameron. If it took his last breath, they would live.

Jason tried to shield his nose from the thick black smoke and the flames eating their way towards him. “Do you—” He coughed, choking. He grabbed Drew’s shoulder, found the other man’s eyes through the haze of smoke. “Where did—”

Before he could force out the rest of the question, a portion of the ceiling came down with a heart-rending CRACK and CRASH. He heard a dim cry from the old kitchen. “There—”

“Where?” Drew coughed, but followed him.

They found Elizabeth underneath rubble, flames eating down from the second floor, little pieces of fire dropping down on her—any minute this pile would ignite and there’d be no saving her.

“I can’t—” Jason gestured at one end—Drew moved to start heaving pieces off Elizabeth’s prone body. Her face, darkened with soot came into focus. Her head slumped to the side, her eyes were closed. Jason quickly shoved more pieces away.

There was another ominous creak and Jason took precious seconds to look up. “This place is gonna come down—”

“Get her out of here, I’ll look for Cameron—” Drew’s voice cut off as another crack.

Jason tugged Elizabeth into his arms, struggled to his feet. “C’mon, I don’t—”

The ceiling in the kitchen just feet away collapsed and the structure wouldn’t hold. If Cameron had been downstairs, they would have seen him.

And the entire second story was engulfed.

If Cameron had been in this house—

Jason moved towards the stairs, Drew on his heels—and then the ceiling collapsed onto the stairs. Drew stared at it for a long second. Any chance of trying a desperate search was gone. It would be suicide.

Just as the brothers made it to the porch and onto the sidewalk—the entire second floor collapsed into the first. The house was gone.

Jason fell to his knees, cradling Elizabeth in his arms. “Do you—”

Drew was already reaching for a pulse. Dante at his side. Dimly, Jason could hear the screaming of sirens in the distance.

A chill slithered down Jason’s spine as he slid his hand out from behind Elizabeth’s head—it was sticky with blood. “Elizabeth—”

“I’ve got a pulse—where’s the ambulance?” Drew shouted just as the white bulky vehicle squealed to a stop.

“Elizabeth, c’mon—”

But her eyes remained close, her head lolled in his hands.

Paramedics rushed to them and he was forced to release her. Dante was trying to pull him to his feet—he needed to get out of the way so firefighters could get inside.

“Was Cameron in there?” Dante demanded, his fingers digging into Jason’s bare forearm. “Damn it, Jase—”

“If he was—” Jason looked back at the house where he’d once dreamt of living with Elizabeth and the boys, and swallowed hard.

Its already charred remains had been fragile even before this new assault—there was no house left. Only flames and scraps of wood. “I don’t know,” he managed. He coughed again—and then couldn’t stop coughing.

Dante muscled him over to the second ambulance where Drew was already sitting, a mask pressed against his face. Jason accepted his own mask and watched as Elizabeth was loaded into the stretcher.

“Was he in there?” Drew asked, taking the mask away for a moment. “Or was this another one of Franco’s sick games?”

“I don’t know,” Jason admitted. “I don’t know this Franco. I only—” He swallowed hard. Looked at his brother. “You have my memories. You know what he was like.”

“I do. Torturing Elizabeth, setting her home on fire, pretending to kill her son—that would be right up his alley. You should have been here when Carly had an affair with Sonny. He locked her in a warehouse and threatened to—” Drew squeezed his eyes shut. “I should have killed him.”

“I thought I did,” Jason muttered. Dante joined them. “Are they—”

“There’s no search for survivors,” Sonny’s son told them with some regret. “The structure isn’t safe. They’ll focus on putting it out and then looking for…” He shook his head. “You should both go to the hospital. Get checked out.”

“I want to stay here until we know for sure about Cam—” Drew’s voice broke. “I need to know. But Elizabeth—she doesn’t have any other family.” He looked at Jason. “There’s no one left—”

“You stay here,” Jason told him. He grimaced at his SUV with its windows blown out. “I’ll go to the hospital.”

“I’ll get you a ride—” Dante signalled to another officer. Nathan West trotted up. “I need you to get Jason to GH. He needs to get checked out—and he hates ambulances.”

Jason left with Nathan and Dante looked at Drew. “Is Franco crazy enough to commit a murder suicide?”

“You know, I don’t know.” Drew stared hard at the remains of the home where he’d lived before he’d had any memories to call his own. Before she’d known who he was supposed to be, Elizabeth had opened her heart and home to him. “God, I hope not. I hope Cam’s last—” He couldn’t continue. Couldn’t manage any words for the bright-eyed boy he’d almost made his own.

And had abandoned.

—

Jason shrugged off Monica’s concern and demanded to know Elizabeth’s condition. His mother had demurred—she wasn’t sure who Elizabeth’s legal next of kin was and had gone to check.

The pedestrian entrance to the emergency room slid open and Sonny and Carly rushed in, followed by Sam and Spinelli. “What’s going on?” Sonny asked as Carly took Jason’s facei n her hands, examining the soot and the singed burns in his hair. “We just—”

“We heard that the house blew up,” Sam interrupted. Her eyes darted around. “Where are Drew and Elizabeth?”

“Drew stayed behind to make—” Jason’s throat tightened. “The house exploded when we got there. Franco called one more time—he had Cam with him. He told Elizabeth to say goodbye—and then it exploded.”

“Oh, God, no, not with—” Carly pressed her hands to her mouth. “Not with Cam inside—” She reached out blindly for Sonny’s arm. “Not like Morgan—” Her voice broke on a sob. “Not again.”

“Elizabeth ran in, didn’t she?” Sonny asked. He craned his neck around. “Where is she? Does—you found him, didn’t you?”

“No.” Jason closed his eyes. “No. The house collapsed—we barely got Elizabeth out. Part of the ceiling fell on top of her—she’s got a head injury—I don’t know anything else. Drew was going to try to keep looking but—the stairs—we only just got out before the entire—”

Sonny took Jason’s arm in his and steered him to a seat. “Sit down. Can we get someone to check him out?” he called to one of the nurses.

“I’m fine. I had—” Jason shook his head again. “Monica—” He said, jumping back to his feet as his mother returned. “Can—”

“We’ve got a problem here,” Monica said. “I’d need to consult with the hospital’s lawyers but—” She shook her head. “Elizabet doesn’t have a legal next of kin. Not in Port Charles. We’ll have to call Sarah or her parents but they’re six or seven hours away—”

“What about one of her kids?” Carly asked. “Jake—he’s ten. And Jason—” She grabbed Jason’s arm. “He’s Jake’s father. Can’t—can’t he stand in for—”

“Monica, no one is going to sue you if you tell me what’s going on,” Jason interrupted. “I know you’re protecting the hospital—”

“We’re tracking down power of attorney paperwork,” Monica said, “but I guess you’re right. Griffin is looking at her now. We’re worried that she hasn’t regained consciousness. They’re putting her in a CT scan as we speak to see what we’re dealing with.”

She took a deep breath. “Was Cameron in the house?”

“I don’t know,” Jason admitted. “I don’t—we didn’t seen any evidence, but we never got upstairs. Drew—” He looked at Sam and saw her worry. “He didn’t want to leave until we knew for sure, but someone—”

“I’m going to go down there,” Sam said. “If—if they find—” And even she couldn’t get the words out. “I don’t want him dealing with that alone. He nearly adopted Cameron.”

“I’ll give you a ride,” Sonny told her. He turned back to Jason. “Hey, you know Elizabeth has a hard head. And wherever this psycho is, we’ll find him. We won’t rest until we know where Cameron is.”

Sonny followed Sam outside, Monica went to answer the question about power of attorney, and Jason directed his attention to Spinelli. “How sure are you that Cameron’s phone was ever at the house?”

“I didn’t have time to dig into the signal,” Spinelli said with a grimace. “I brought my computer—I can get—”

They all turned their attention to the elevators as they slid open and Griffin directed a team of orderlies with a gurney back to an examining curtain. Elizabeth’s face had been cleaned of soot, and they could see the cuts and bruises blooming on her face.

Carly grabbed for Griffin. “What did the CT show?” she demanded. “And don’t give us any crap about next of kin.”

Griffin shook his head a bit as if in a daze himself. “There’s—there’s bleeding on the brain. She has a skull fracture. Uh, Monica thought Elizabeth had a power of attorney on file, but it might be old. We’re trying to get Alexis to give us an idea—but—”

“Skull fracture,” Jason repeated. “You need to do surgery.”

“Ideally, yes. But I need her vitals to stabilize first. Her blood pressure is all over the place and her heart rhythm—” Griffin scrubbed his hands over his face. “I didn’t—Monica said there was an explosion, and Franco had Cameron in the house—”

“We don’t know for sure Cam was in the house,” Carly said. “Spinelli—”

“On it,” the younger man declared as he held up his laptop. “Can I use a conference room—”

“You can use my office,” Griffin told him. “You know where it is right? It’s Dr. Drake’s old office.”

“I’ll be down the hall,” Spinelli told him. “I’ll text when I’ve got news.”

Monica returned with a pained expression. “Elizabeth drew up a power of attorney after Jake was born and gave it to Emily, so it’s useless. We’ll have to get someone assigned officially as guardian to make decisions but for now, the hospital will step in.”

Griffin and Monica went to go check on Elizabeth’s vitals leaving Jason alone with Carly. “Are you sure you got looked at?” Carly asked with some hesitation. “You were inside—”

“I’m fine,” Jason said, though his throat was sore and he could hear the raspy tone of his voice. “I need to find Cameron. When Elizabeth wakes up, I can’t tell her—”

“I know. Believe me. She’s been through it once. I’ve been through it. No mother wants that, and God, Jason, it could have been Jake he took. He’s always been obsessed with you and he’s taken such an interest in Jake—”

“That’s why he took Cameron.” Jason sat back down, his head in his hands. “Cam and Aiden have relatives. Elizabeth has always been sensitive about Cameron’s lack of family. Especially after Emily died. She must have told him that at some point.”

“That sick psycho—this is my fault. I tried to have him killed and they missed. They hit Olivia instead, but if Sean could have just aimed better—” Carly closed her eyes. “I’m sorry. I’m just—I’m just thinking about las year. About losing Morgan. An explosion caused by a psycho. It’s just—” Her voice broke. “And you know, Joss is going to be devastated if something happens to him. They’ve been friends for years—”

“I need Spinelli to find Cameron’s phone. I need to be sure the signal was in that house—” Jason shook his head. “I’m not going to watch Elizabeth grieve another child. Not again.”

—

Ensconced in Griffin’s office, Spinelli worked his way through layers and code, then frowned. Narrowed his eyes. He reached for his phone and dialed an unfamiliar number.

“Hello?”

“This is Damien Spinelli. Are you at home?” Spinelli asked.

Scott Baldwin’s voice was hesitant. “No. I’m at the courthouse, and I’ve been in court all day. What are you—”

“Has he called you today?”

“No—what is going on?”

“Elizabeth broke up with Franco this morning, and then a few hours later, Franco kidnapped Cameron from school. He also blew up Elizabeth’s old house after making us all think Cameron was inside. Do you know where your son is?”

“Why are you asking me this?” Scott demanded.

“Because Cameron’s phone—his real signal—is pinging at your address.”

Written in 40 minutes. Ignore any previous description of Cameron. We’re going with NuCameron, William Lipton, who just started. No time for edits or fixing of typos.

---

Elizabeth was quiet during the drive from Port Charles Middle School to Sonny’s estate, and the air in the car was thick with tension.

Aiden and Jake both seemed to understand that something very bad had happened but neither of them could really understand why it was so awful that Franco had picked Cameron up from school. They both knew their mother’s moods and didn’t argue when Jason and Elizabeth packed them into the car and squealed out of the parking lot.

“I called Spinelli. He’s going to meet us at Sonny’s. The boys will be safe there.” Jason grimaced as they got stuck at another red light. “I asked him to try and figure out where Cam’s phone was when it got turned off.”

“Okay.”

Jason glanced at her as the light changed to green and the SUV started across Central Avenue, the dividing avenue in downtown Port Charles. They could see both General Hospital and the Metro Court Hotel from here.

Greystone was ten minutes away. Ten long minutes that her little boy spent with a monster. A monster Elizabeth had allowed into their lives, had believed in, championed—let into her heart.

How many times would her boys pay the consequences of Elizabeth’s terrible choices in life? Aiden’s father couldn’t spend more than a day in Port Charles because of her affair with Nikolas. Jake had been kidnapped and brainwasheecause Helena Cassadine hated her—

And her sweet, beautiful Cameron had been kidnapped by a man who could be truly sadistic. With the knowledge that the brain tumor had never been to blame—

“We’re going to find him, Elizabeth.”

She squeezed her eyes shut. How many times had Jason promised that over years? They would find Jake. They would find Aiden. How many times would Jason have to save her boys from Elizabeth?

Jason pulled up to the guard house at the edge of Sonny’s estate, but whoever was in the little house waved them through. Jake and Aiden tumbled out of the car, blinking up at he mansion—neither of them had ever been there before and Sonny’s home was almost as large as the Quartermaines.

Elizabeth herded the boys towards the entrance, and Sonny threw open the door, gesturing for them to come in. “Spinelli is already here,” he told the quartet as they entered through the foyer. “He told us that Franco kidnapped Cameron.”

Elizabeth met Sonny’s eyes briefly but was relieved when she saw no judgment in their dark depths. Only concern. Carly and her daughter, Joss, were in the sitting room, Carly leaning over Spinelli’s shoulder, and Joss standing by the terrace, nibbling at the edges of her fingers.

“Jason. Hey.” Carly lunged to her feet. “Spinelli is just getting a trace on the phone—”

“Cam hates Franco. He’d never go anywhere with him,” Joss declared. “So how did he get him out of the school?”

“What happened?” Sonny asked. He glanced down, seemed to realize for the first time that Cam and Aiden were standing there, wide-eyed. “Ah, Joss—”

“Yeah. Okay.” Joss gestured for the boys to join them. “Come on. We can go upstairs. We got the game room—”

“Mom—” Jake hesitated even as Aiden started to follow Joss upstairs. “Is—Is Cam going to be okay?”

“Yes,” Elizabeth told him, hugging him swiftly. “Of course. Look how many people are looking for him—” She kissed the top of his head, and Jake went up the stairs, throwing another suspicious look over his shoulder.

“Have you traced his phone yet?” Elizabeth demanded as soon as she heard the door close. “Spinelli—”

“Not yet.” Spinelli hesitated. “It’s taking some time, I’m sorry. I wish it were faster—”

“We should call Sam and Drew,” Elizabeth interrupted, turning her attention back to Jason. “They were going to track down Andre.”

“Why? What happened?” Sonny repeated, with a bit more irritation this time. “Why would Franco kidnap Cameron? You’re living with him—”

“Not after this morning.” Elizabeth exhaled slowly. “I threw him out, and he—he wouldn’t go at first. So Jason came over to help me change the locks. We found the flash drive with Drew’s memories.”

“The flash drive? Franco had it?” Carly snorted. “Why am I not surprised he was involved?”

“I—”

“I got the phone!” Spinelli announced. Everyone turned to look at the computer hacker who only grimaced. “It was turned off…about an hour ago.”

“Right after Franco picked him up,” Elizabeth muttered. She wrapped her arms around her torso. “Where?”

“Near the school.” Spinelli hissed. “This doesn’t give us anything—Wait…it just turned back on!”

Elizabeth’s phone rang with a sharp jangle, startling all of them. She ripped the phone out of her handbag. Cameron’s photo flashed on her screen and she sobbed in relief.

“Cameron?” she demanded, pressing accept and putting the phone to her ear.

“Don’t you wish.”

Franco’s cool drawl was so at odds with the man she had lived with for the last year that she actually felt her heart skip a beat. Wordlessly, she placed the phone on speaker phone. “Franco. Where is my son?”

“He’s with me. Are you still with Jason? Hi, Jason!”

Elizabeth met Jason’s eyes for a moment before they both looked back at the phone. Her hand started to tremble. “Franco—”

“You made me believe I was a good person. I wanted to be a good person. I was, for you, wasn’t I?” When Elizabeth didn’t immediately answer, he repeated the question in a snarl. “Wasn’t I?”

“Y-yes,” Elizabeth admitted with her voice shaking. “Yes. I was wrong. I made a mistake—”

“How stupid do you think I am? I was right, wasn’t I? I knew as soon as Jason flashed his pretty blue eyes that you’d go running back to him. Well, you can’t expect me to go without something to remember you by.”

Behind her, Sonny put a hand on her shoulder as if trying to reassure her. Across the room, Carly’s face was pale. She was sure they were thinking of the son they’d lost.

“Franco—”

“See, I know everyone thinks Jake is your favorite because he’s Jason’s son. But I know the truth, don’t I?”

“Truth—” Elizabeth shook her head. “I love all my boys, you know that—”

“But you love Cameron best. Because he’s your first. He’s the reason you get up the morning. The reason you grew up. He was your miracle baby.”

“How—” Elizabeth’s mouth felt dry. How could he possibly know that? “Please. I’ll do anything. Anything.”

“Would you trade yourself? Leave the boys, leave Jason?” Franco asked.

“Yes,” Elizabeth said instantly. “Yes. I would do anything for my boys. Please—”

“It’s just a shame no one else loves Cameron. Just you. I didn’t love him. Neither did your savior, Jason or his drippy brother, Drew. Not Lucky. Not Ric. No one loves Cameron. He won’t even be missed.”

“That’s not true—please, I’ll do whatever—”

“You had your chance.”

And with that, the phone went dead. She stared at it, her heart pounding her ears. “No, no, come back!” She shook the phone as if it would force Franco to call back. “No!”

“Spinelli,” Carly murmured, her eyes shimmering with tears. “Where’s the phone?”

Spinelli grimaced, his eyes trained on the screen. “He’s…” He narrowed his eyes. Looked back at Jason and Elizabeth. “He’s on Lexington Avenue.”

“The old house,” Elizabeth murmured. “It…there was a fire. We didn’t rebuild—”

The door behind them flung open, and Drew and Sam rushed in, followed by Dante. Elizabeth frowned at both of them. “What—”

“I sent them a text,” Carly said. “While you were on the phone. I thought…we might be able to use Dante.” She swallowed. “Franco just called Elizabeth. They traced the call to Elizabeth’s old house.”

“Let’s go,” Elizabeth said immediately. “Right now.” When no one moved, she felt her composure—already fragile—shatter. “Jason, please. I know—I know he’s not your son, but he’s—”

“Hey—” Jason shook his head sharply. “Don’t think for one second that I don’t love Cameron. It’s just—it’s Franco—”

“It’s never that easy,” Drew said, and Jason looked at him—for once, not resenting the fact that his brother shared the same memories.

“I don’t care. If you won’t drive me, then give me your keys, and I’ll go myself—”

“Go,” Sam said, touching Drew’s arm. “Someone go with her, or I’ll go—”

“Let’s go.” Jason scooped his keys from the table where he’d dropped. “C’mon.”

Elizabeth dashed through the front doors, followed by Jason, and after a minute, Drew and Dante.

Sonny scrubbed his hands over his face. “Can someone tell me what the fuck is going on right now? What does Franco have to do with the flash drive and—what happened to the brain tumor?”

“It was a lie,” Sam said. She looked at Carly. “The brain tumor—we have proof that it didn’t exist until after…after he did all those things.”

“Oh…God…” Carly’s face paled, and she sank down onto the sofa. “Jesus, Cameron is with a full-fledged, psychopath.”

——

The house on Lexington Avenue had not yet been rebuilt—it remained a a charred wreckage in the middle of a suburban area.

Jason pulled the SUV to a stop several houses away, and behind them, Dante’s sedan pulled up. “Elizabeth—”

“He’s in there. He has to be—” Elizabeth blinked when her phone rang again in her hands. A video call. With shaky fingers, she pressed accept.

Her little boy’s face flashed into the screen, his scared blue eyes, his disheveled blonde hair, and tearstained face. “Mom.”

“Cameron!”

“Mom. He says…he says I have to go away. He says you don’t love me, I told him it wasn’t true—”

The phone was pulled away from Cameron and Franco’s face filled the screen with a light in his eyes Elizabeth hadn’t seen in years. She reeled back. “Please—”

“Time to say goodbye—”

And with that, the phone cut out, and what was left of her home on Lexington Avenue exploded.

It rocked the car, shaking it back and forth, shattering the windshield and windows. Jason swore and threw his body over Elziabeth—but she was already scrambling out of the car, screaming.

Screaming Cameron’s name as she raced towards the house.

“Elizabeth!” he shouted. He ran after her, and he could hear Drew and Dante’s voices mingling in shouts as he pounded up the sidewalk.

But he couldn’t catch her—she’d already plunged in the fire. Jason drew up short for just a minute—and Drew stopped next to him. They traded a glance and followed her, disappearing into the thick wall of smoke.

Written in 51 minutes 😛

---

Jason and Elizabeth were shown into Drew’s office without another word—which Elizabeth appreciated as she knew the brothers hadn’t really come to terms with anything that had transpired over the last four months—particularly the fact that Sam had opted to officially divorce Jason and remarry Drew.

Drew raised his brows with some curiosity when Elizabeth came in, followed by Jason. “Hey. Is Jake okay? The boys?”

“They’re, ah, fine.” Elizabeth realized her hands were shaking and she turned to Jason. “Jason and I—we were at my house when we—”

“Franco had the flash drive,” Jason said bluntly. He fished it out of his pocket and set it on Drew’s desk. “I was having Elizabeth’s locks changed and one of the guys stepped on box — this was inside.”

Drew stared at it for a long a moment—a minuscule piece of plastic and metal before raising his eyes to his brother. “You—Franco—”

“He came back from the city today,” Elizabeth said. Though she still wore her white winter jacket and the office was heated, she still felt chilled, and she rubbed her arms. “He put that box down, and he was so angry when he left, I guess he forgot it.” She managed a half smile. “I threw him out.”

“Well, thank God for small miracles,” Drew murmured. He took a deep breath and pressed an intercom button. “Sandy, can—can you tell Sam to come to my office. It’s…an emergency.”

He released the button and reached for the flash drive. “I guess we’re not ready to answer the question of why the hell Franco has—” Drew closed the drive in his fist and shook his head. “Why—”

“I don’t know. It could be a coincidence—” Elizabeth closed her mouth. “But it’s probably not,” she said as both men swung to look at her with some kind of incredulity. “I’m sorry. I have to stop doing that, I know.”

“Drew—” Sam stopped in the open doorway, stared at her ex-husband and her sometimes nemesis. “Jason. Elizabeth.” She looked at her husband, shook her head. “Ah. What’s going on—”

She closed the door and skirted the duo until she joined her husband. “Drew—”

He opened his hand and held it out to her. Sam stared at it, then raised her eyes to his. “The flash drive—” She looked at Elizabeth. “Where—”

“Franco,” Elizabeth said with some irritation. “I don’t know how or why, but we found it with his things today.” She bit her lip. Looked at Jason. “Do you think he’s realized he left it behind yet?”

“I don’t know,” Jason admitted. He looked back to his brother. “I don’t know what to do with it. You could probably talk to Maddox—”

“It’s a flash drive, isn’t it?” Drew murmured. He uncapped it, revealing the small USB metal connector. He slid into the laptop that sat on his desk.

Elizabeth, with a regretful glance at Jason, circled the desk and stood on Drew’s other side. After a moment, Jason joined her—but made sure to stand next to Elizabeth—and far away from his ex-wife.

A folder popped up. There were some weird files without a file type Elizabeth recognized. A subfolder labeled Case Notes. Drew moved the mouse, then took a seat to get a better view.

He opened the folder and found several documents. His own name—Andrew Cain. Jason Morgan.

“Why—” Elizabeth pressed a fist to her mouth. “Jake’s name—”

“And Franco’s.” Sam traded a glance with Elizabeth. “What do you think that’s about?”

“Well, they’re pdfs so let’s—” Drew clicked on Franco’s first. “It looks like a case summary—subject presented to lab in—that can’t—”

“February 2012.” Sam straightened, locked eyes with Jason. “After he was supposed to be—”

“I guess that explains where he was for the two years he disappeared and we thought he was dead. Does it say—”

“He had memories removed,” Drew murmured. He squinted, trying to scan the small print. “There’s not a note of what—but there’s another—they brought Betsy Frank in a few months later. She had memories removed—and then—” Drew shook his head. “She was given new memories.”

“Why didn’t Andre tell us that you guys weren’t the first—”

“Because we were a different kind of guinea pig,” Jason muttered. “He wanted to see how well memory replacement could work, right?’

“Probably. Though there’s a lot—but I’m willing to bet—” Drew tapped the screen. “These memories—this is Franco knowing who we are.”

“If Franco always knew there was a brother—maybe he always knew it was a twin.” Elizabeth frowned, trying to fit the pieces. “Maybe that’s why he got obssessed with you in the first place, Jason.”

“Yeah, because he couldn’t find the actual brother he grew up with,” Sam murmured. “It still doesn’t explain why Betsy dumped Drew, but—” She exhaled slowly. “That doesn’t really explain why Franco has this—”

“There’s another note here at the end of the file.” Drew looked at Elizabeth with some regret. “He was released and his study was terminated because of an anomaly that developed in his brain.”

“What—” Elizabeth closed her eyes. “The brain tumor. It was because of the experiments.”

Oh, God.

“Which means that he did all of those—”

Her stomach lurched and she pushed past Jason, rushed out of the room.

——

Jason watched her disappear into an adjoining room—thought about going after her, but Drew sighed.

“She’s okay. It’s the bathroom—” Drew printed Franco’s case summary, and then went to the other files in Case Notes and printed the rest. “I’ll read mine, you can read yours—and—”

“I’ll read the rest of Franco’s,” Sam said. “Elizabeth or Jason should read Jake’s.” She crossed to the printer to start scooping the papers up but her hand was trembling. “I don’t understand any of this. How did Patrick miss this? How did he not know the brain tumor wasn’t there all along? How could that they have let him—”

Elizabeth emerged from the bathroom, her face pale, her coat over her arm. “We can make Andre tell the truth now,” she said faintly. “He knows the brain tumor wasn’t there before they started their experiments. We can—we can make the courts listen this time.”

“Elizabeth—” Sam shook her head, looked away. “I think it’s too late for that.” She held out a sheaf of papers. “This is Jake’s case summary.”

“It’s probably about the Chimera,” Drew said, as he took his own file from and handed some more paper to Jason. “Or maybe from Andre’s sessions—”

“It doesn’t look like the—this calls Jake by name.” Skimming the first few paragraphs, Elizabeth sat down in the chair and looked at Jason who hadn’t even glanced at his own file. “Andre says he’s a juvenile subject and he writes about why—why Helena picked him. Why Jake was supposed to kill us all last year.”

Jason leaned over her, trying to read the file behind her. “Why?”

“The Chimera was supposed to kill you and me, Drew. And Jake. Because Helena—Helena didn’t know you weren’t Jason.” Elizabeth swallowed hard, continued to read. “Because Andre was supposed to switch the two of you back. After Helena found out she was dying. He was supposed to terminate the experiment.”

“He failed to mention that,” Drew muttered. “Why did he let me wander around without any memories for a year—”

“Helena wanted to pull the plug because it was taking too long for her revenge.” Elizabeth exhaled slowly. “But Helena died. She sent Jake back to me, thinking that Jason would be there. The Chimera was supposed to be triggered when she died.”

“But it wasn’t for more than a year—” Drew set his file aside. “I don’t understand.”

“Me. It was me she wanted to destroy,” Elizabeth managed to force out. “It doesn’t say why—but she took my son to turn him into a weapon and she suggested you and Drew for Andre’s experiments because of—” Her throat closed. “And she wanted our son to kill us. Failing that, Jason, you were supposed to have a trigger that—”

When she couldn’t continue, Jason reached for the papers she was holding. “It’s a letter to Elizabeth,” he told Drew and Sam. “Explaining everything. That device you had in your head that made you help Faison escape?”

“You have one, too?” Drew said. He managed a wry smile. “Identical in every way except our faces, I guess. And you were supposed to kill Elizabeth.”

“Jesus Christ, that woman was insane. Why would she do all of this after she was gone?” Sam demanded. “Why wouldn’t she want to see her revenge?”

“I bet she was supposed to.” Drew tapped the name of the last file they hadn’t printed. “Cassandra. That was the woman Anna was hunting, remember? That Valentin Cassadine was involved with.”

“You don’t think—”

“You think Helena Cassadine was trying to figure out to supplant entire memories into a new person for the hell of it? I bet she was supposed to be here to watch it in a younger and healthier body.”

“She did this because of me.” Elizabeth got to her feet. “All of this was revenge on me. I don’t—I don’t understand.”

“I bet Andre would know.” Sam tapped her husband on the forearm. “And we need to figure out if your memories can be recovered.” She bit her lip. “I mean, this sucks, Elizabeth. But none of it happened that way. Andre didn’t terminate the experiment. You guys are safe. And I’ll tell you that Helena Cassadine wanting revenge on you and kidnapping Jake and Jason makes a hell of a lot more sense than Victor Cassadine wanting a body guard.”

“And it explains Faison’s involvement,” Jason told Elizabeth. “We should talk to Maddox.”

“You—right, but Franco’s out there. And if the brain tumor wasn’t holding him back—” Elizabeth swallowed. “I want to take the boys somewhere safe.”

“Yeah, I’m with Elizabeth on this. If you broke up with Franco today—and he realizes he left this disk drive laying around—you know he’s going to go for your weak spot.” Sam leaned over and ejected the disk from the computer. “Drew and I can track down Maddox.”

“We can take the boys to Sonny’s,” Jason told her. “You know he’d look out for them, and then I can track down Franco—” He hesitated. “To make sure I know where he is.”

“Good. Good. Let’s do that.” Elizabeth drew on her coat, but somewhere inside of her—she thought they’d already missed something crucial.

——

The elementary school was their first stop, and Jake and Aiden were pretty excited to be signed out of school—until Jake saw his father and he immediately scowled.

Elizabeth ignored his protests, signed the boys out, and then they went to the middle school.

“Cameron Webber,” she said to the secretary behind the desk who looked frazzled and irritated. “I’m signing him out for a family emergency.”

The woman scowled at her and looked past her, at Jason and the boys who had come in with her. “Don’t you people ever talk to each other? I am so tired of you divorced people putting the kids in the middle—”

Elizabeth’s heart started to pound. “Where is my son?” She demanded, leaning forward. “He’s not supposed to leave with anyone who isn’t me or Jason Morgan. And since we are both right here—”

The woman looked down at the sign out log. Just as she started to snatch it off the desk, Elizabeth slapped her hand down on top of it. Because there was her son’s name.

And Franco Baldwin had signed her son out an hour ago.

Her vision dimmed as red filled her line of sight—the rage flared and she reached across the desk and grabbed the woman by her sweater. “Who the hell signed him out?”

“I—”

“Whoa, Mom!”

“Elizabeth—”

“Who let someone who isn’t authorized take my son out of this school?” Elizabeth growled.

“Elizabeth—” Jason stepped up to her and his face settled into granite lines, his eyes sharpened into flint. “Franco signed Cameron out an hour ago?”

“He’s not authorized to pick up my boys.” Elizabeth let the woman loose, and she stumbled back ,gasping for air. She snatched the sign out of sheet from the clipboard.

She had to focus on the rage, had to focus on the anger—because if she stopped to think—

Oh, God. Her baby was with a monster.

A monster she’d allowed into their lives.

“Mom?” Jake asked, hesitantly. “What’s…what’s wrong?”

“Let’s go,” he said to Elizabeth who seemed frozen to the spot. “Let’s get the boys to Sonny’s, and we’ll figure out—”

“I can’t—” Her chest tightened. “I did this. I did this. Carly warned me. They all warned me. Oh, God. Jason—” She closed her eyes. “I can’t breathe.”

Jason tossed a furious glare at the shell-shocked secretary. “We’ll come back and deal with the school later,” he told her. “Let’s—let’s go figure this out. We’ll call Spinelli, okay?”

“Spinelli. He can track Cam’s phone.” Elizabeth let the sign-in sheet paper slide to the floor as she suddenly yanked her phone out of her pocket. “I can do that, too. I can find him—”

But when she tried to locate her sons on the Find Friends app—she saw that Cam’s phone merely said Location Not Available.

“Jason?” Jake said, his blue eyes wide, his arm around his frightened brother’s shoulders. “What’s going?”

“Let’s go to Sonny’s,” Jason said again, and this time Elizabeth followed him, too numb to protest.