Written in 59 minutes

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At the knock on her office door, Alexis slowly rose to her feet. “I’m not sure it’s a good idea for you to be here without your lawyer.”

“Maybe not.” Jason stepped across the threshold and closed the door, leaving it open a few inches. “But I’m here on my lawyer’s advice. In a way.” He paused. “I’ve been legally advised to take Danny home from your house, and move him into my full-time custody immediately. That leaving him with you and Scout may be used against me.” He lifted his brows. “Again.”

“Are you here to tell me that I shouldn’t expect my grandson to come home after school today?” Alexis asked coolly. “You could have left that message with my secretary—”

“I wanted to ask you about Scout.”

Alexis stopped, squinted. “What about her?”

“The reason Danny is with you is because what happened on Saturday. He wanted—needed—to be with his sister, and I didn’t want her anywhere near her father after what happened.”

Alexis sat back down, reached for her glasses, toyed with the ends. “I’m aware it was not a happy exchange—”

“Drew made it worse, and I don’t if he did it to be malicious or if he’s just that stupid. Maybe it’s both.” Jason rested his hands on the back of a chair. “He’d only sent over the proposal to sell the penthouse. Molly was preparing an injunction, and he had to know it was months away from happening. But he said it anyway. In front of his seven-year-old daughter. And when she was upstairs, in her room, sobbing into her mother’s sweater, he tried to forcibly remove her from the room. He ended up putting hands on Elizabeth instead when she tried to stop him.”

“And you put him against the wall. In front of your sons and my granddaughter—”

“Danny took Scout out of the room before that happened. Alexis—” He pressed his lips together, searching for patience, for the words to make this right. “I was never Drew’s biggest fan, I think that’s clear. I don’t know what happened to him while he was in captivity, and I know he did some time in prison—”

“I hardly think you’re one to talk about a criminal record—”

“You may not like me, and you may disapprove of the way I’ve lived my life, Alexis, but you have no record that I have ever put my hands on a child. Or a woman. Do you?”

She looked down at her desk, then met his gaze again. “No. You emotionally abused my daughter, and we both know you threatened to kill her. But you didn’t actually do it—”

“Your daughter stood by and watched my son get kidnapped, then hired men with guns to threaten Elizabeth and the boys in the park.”

“You forgave her—”

“We moved past it. If you want to hold that against me, that’s fine. That’s not why I’m here—”

“Then why are you here? We both know if you wanted to take your son away from me, you’d have done it—” Alexis leaned back, crossed her legs. “Tell me what you want.”

“If I thought—” Jason hesitated. “If I thought there was a chance that we could convince Drew to leave Scout in Port Charles while he goes to DC, if he’d leave her with you, then I’d be open to a compromise. Sharing custody of Danny—”

“The same terms as you had with Sam?” Alexis asked, leaning forward. “Because that’s the only agreement I’ll make—”

“Sam and I never had an opportunity to come to a new agreement, but if you mean what we had before I left, if you want weekends, we can—”

“No, I want you to have weekends. Maybe some holidays. If it was good enough for you then, and it’s clearly good enough for you with Jake, then I don’t see why this is any different.”

Jason clenched his jaw, biting back the words he really wanted to say. “I’ve already signed the papers for a property in town, Alexis. You know this. Jake is moving in at the end of next week, and Danny will be with me as soon as Drew takes Scout to DC. What Danny needs — what he deserves — is to be with his sister for as long as possible.”

“Because you don’t care enough to have them with you. We both know you and Elizabeth cooked up this custody of Jake scheme just to make yourself look better in the court. But it’s a lie, Jason.” She clasped her hands, looked at him coolly. “You’ve been coasting on being a full-time father for exactly one year, and that was decades ago. The only child you’ve ever shown any real interest in is the one you took from your brother. You let Sam do as she liked with Danny, and Elizabeth had free reign with Jake. It’s too late to pretend you’re anything than a part-time father. You want to do what’s best for Danny and Scout? You’ll leave them with me. Just the way things are now. That’s the only deal on the table.”

“I had a feeling you’d say that, but I had to try.” Jason went to the door, then looked back at her. “When Drew comes for Scout, and you and I both know he will, I’ll pick up Danny after that.”

“We’ll see.”

“I guess we will.”

—

Aiden swiped through a few recipes, hoping that some sort of inspiration or spark of interest would take a hold. He was used to shoving his frustrations into the work, kneading dough or hand mixing something until he was too tired to remember why he was angry in the first place.

But he just wasn’t interested in trying another sourdough starter or experimenting with macrons — he didn’t have the space for those anyway, he thought darkly, switching to Instagram.

There was a light, hesitant knock on the door, and Aiden barely looked up from his sprawling position on the sofa. “It’s open,” he said.

“Uh, hey.”

At the sound of his father’s voice, Aiden sat up warily. Lucky stood just inside the doorway, his hands in his the pockets of his coat. Remembering his mother’s words from the day before, he set his phone on the coffee table. “Hey.”

Lucky came in further, closed the door. “I…meant to call after Thanksgiving. It was good to have you there. Your grandmother likes when you visit.”

“Okay.” Aiden waited, because he knew what was coming. Had almost accepted it, he thought. And yet, he was bracing himself all the same.

“I, uh, had a chance to pick up a job. Escorting doctors into the Sudan. So—”

“So you’re going back to Africa.” Aiden nodded. “Okay. Good luck.” He reached for his phone, unlocked it, and made a show of scrolling through the apps, but his heart was pounding and his face felt hot.

“I really did think about staying this time, you know? I looked around for a job—”

“You don’t have to explain. I know you like your job. What you do. You like saving people.” Aiden shrugged, opened his email, stared at it blindly, not even seeing what was in the inbox. “No one here to save, right?”

Lucky didn’t say anything right away, but then he sighed. “I just…I don’t know what you really need me to do. Your mom—she’s got it all handed. You know? And there are so many people—”

“I used to wonder if it was me,” Aiden said, surprising himself. He still didn’t look at his father. But Lucky fell silent anyway. “I used to think maybe you knew that I was gay, and that’s why you stayed away. I mean, everyone knew, right? But you being back—” He finally looked at Lucky, met the older man’s gaze. “I was able to let  that go. You didn’t care that I was gay—”

“I don’t—”

“Because you don’t really care at all. About me. You never have. I get that now, and I forgive myself for ever wishing you would.” He got to his feet. “Thanks for at least have the decency to say goodbye, but there’s no point. You and I don’t have anything except DNA.”

“Aiden, let’s just—” Lucky took a step forward, stopping when Aiden held up a hand.

“Charlotte used to bully me, did you know that? Charlotte, your niece? She’s okay now, but when we were kids, she was a real brat, and she used to tease me that my dad didn’t love me the way hers did. Because her dad gave her a name. He was proud enough to claim her. Charlotte Cassadine. Like that was something special.”

“Your mother—”

“We all have Mom’s name, and I like it that way. Even Jake who has a dad who gives a damn. We have Mom’s name because she’s here. Not because she has to be. But she wants to be. You don’t. And you never did. I forgive you for that.” He leaned down, scooped up his phone. “You can go now, and worry about the people who need you. No one here does.”

And then he went upstairs.

His father didn’t try to follow.

—

Twenty four hours. Twenty four hours since her hasty run out of Jason’s office at the warehouse, and it had been radio silence.

Elizabeth stared blindly at the computer screen, updating the nursing schedule yet again, trying to figure out how to cover shifts without taking on more herself.

Jason hadn’t called. Hadn’t contacted her in anyway.

Maybe he was really thinking about it, she thought. Or maybe he was so appalled at the suggestion—

Stop it, now you’re just being an idiot.

She made a face, then sent the document to the printer that sat on a shelf beneath the screen, jerking the paper free as soon as she could.

“Bad day?”

Elizabeth looked over, saw Willow stepping up into the nurse’s station. “Trying to deal with this schedule. We’re still short two nurses, and I can’t work the doubles I used to. Not as the head nurse—”

“I can pull some extra shifts if you tell me when you’re needed.” Willow smiled, but it felt slightly forced. “I’m so grateful to be back, so just let me know and I can make sure to be available.”

Trying to stay out of the Quartermaine house and away from Drew? Elizabeth forced the thought away, hoping her reaction didn’t show in her face. She turned away, reaching for a pen. “Great. Thanks. I’ll get you the times, and you let me know what you can take.”

“No problem. Um…you had your deposition, right? For…Jason?” Willow asked, and Elizabeth looked up. “How did it go?”

Elizabeth furrowed her brow. “Fine, I guess. They’re not fun. Why?”

“Oh. I—I agreed to do one for Drew. You know, since we worked together for a while and we, um, got to know each other.” Her cheeks turned red and she dropped her eyes. “I was just wondering how they were.”

“Not a walk in the park, but you’ll survive.” Elizabeth paused. “You’re still willing to do that, even after Saturday?”

“Saturday—” Willow looked at her with wide eyes. “What do you mean?”

“What do—you live in the same house, how can you not know? Danny and Scout are with Alexis because Scout was so upset at the way Drew acted when they went to pack some things. He told her they were selling the place. He tried to drag her out of the room—”

“That’s—” Willow bit her lip. “That’s…I’m sure there’s some misunderstanding—”

“I was there, Willow. There’s no misunderstanding. Look, if you want to take a chance on Drew—” She waited for the younger woman to look at her. “If you want to tie your name to his…through this deposition, I can’t stop you. But I’d think about how much I really know that man. I’ve know him a decade, and I was scared what he might have done if Jason weren’t there.”

“Jason probably made everything worse. He wasn’t supposed to be there—”

“He—” Elizabeth closed her mouth. “You do what you want, Willow. Just think about what you’re risking.” Her phone buzzed, and she plucked it out of her pocket, sucking in a breath when she saw Jason’s name on the notification screen.

Can we talk?

—

Alexis set her briefcase on the floor, smiling when she saw her grandchildren on the sofa, Scout’s head bent over her homework and Danny explaining a math problem to her. This was exactly how it should be, she told herself. And it would be, just as soon as she won her battle in court.

Jason had already blinked, even if he didn’t realize it, and Alexis knew the key to getting him on her side was focusing on the bond between Scout and Danny, and their need to be together. And he’d given her ammunition against Drew—

No, as soon as she could get Jason to fall in line, they could focus on the real obstacle.

“Hey,” she said, approaching the duo. She stroked Scout’s hair. “How do you feel about some take out for dinner? I can order from the Grille.”

“Yeah, okay,” Danny said. He got to his feet. “Can I help you find the menu?”

She furrowed her brow, then gestured towards the kitchen where she kept the menus. Once inside, she turned to her grandson. “I imagine that you’re not really looking to help pick out dinner.”

“No, whatever you want is fine.” Danny slid his hands into the back pockets of his jeans. “Um, I was wondering when we were going home. I mean, back to the Qs.”

Alexis froze, her hand partially in the takeout menu drawer. She looked at him. “Well, what if you didn’t go back?”

Danny hesitated. “Grandma, I know you and Dad are fighting about me where me and Scout should end up, but Dad only let me come here because of Scout.”

“Because he knows you belong with your sister. He said so today. That’s all I want, honey. To keep you together.”

“But Drew isn’t gonna let that happen. He said so, and Dad doesn’t think he’ll back down. He says he wants me to live with him. He got us place, Grandma. For Jake, too. I can’t stay here.”

“But—” The doorbell interrupted her, and she sighed. “Hold on to that thought. We’ll talk once I get rid of whoever is out there.”

But when she pulled open the door, she found Drew on her doorstep. Along with a uniformed police officer.

“Alexis. I’m done playing nice.” He waited for a beat. “Either you get Scout here right now or this officer will arrest you for kidnapping.”

—

Her stomach was swirling and knotting all at the same time as she climbed the short set of stairs of the house Jason had recently purchased. She hadn’t really thought about that when she’d made her crazy proposal, but when he’d texted her the address as a place to meet —

Jason had obviously been waiting for her, and had the door open before she could even knock. His expression, as always, didn’t leave her much to room to guess, but she was hoping it was nerves she saw in his eyes — or maybe it was just the reflection of her own feelings.

“Um, hey…” she followed him into the entry hall, her voice and steps echoing into the empty space. “I…I guess since you’re asking me to meet here, I have my answer. It’s okay, it was a crazy idea anyway—”

“I don’t have an answer yet,” he said, and she closed her mouth on a gulp. He took a deep breath. “I just didn’t want us to be interrupted.”

“Oh.” She nodded, swallowed hard. “Okay. So…let’s talk.”

 

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I actually feel really bad for leaving it there, so I’ll try to update tomorrow or this weeked 🙂

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