I don’t have time to sabotage anything else
I don’t have time to sabotage anything else
I’ve gotta do the right thing now
I’ve gotta find the right way out
I’ve gotta do the right thing now
I’ve gotta find the right way out
– Sabotage, Amy Stroup

---

May 2013

 Crichton-Clark Institute: Andre’s Office

Andre made a face as he perused the memo from Victor. The twin experiment was officially on ice due to the recent setbacks suffered in Greece.

Setbacks. Andre snorted as he sat back, then rubbed his face. That was one way to describe what had happened over the last few weeks.

Helena Cassadine had been shot and killed by Luke and Laura Spencer after they rescued their daughter, Lulu, who had been kidnapped by Helena for her recently returned from the dead son, Stavros. Stavros had ended up dying on the island, frozen to death just like his father and uncle decades earlier.

While Andre had intended to maintain a certain distance from all of this, after meeting with Helena the first time, he knew he’d have to understand the Cassadines better if he was going to survive. It had been Helena, after all, who had selected the targets for the twin experiment, and it had been Helena who had been in charge of Patient Three, the son of Six.

Victor wanted the twins left in their comas to be dealt with at a later time, indicating that Andre should keep working on the Six implantation issue. Where Patient Three had ended up, he didn’t know.

“So this is where the magic happens.”

Andre frowned at the stranger standing in his doorway, then got to his feet. “Who are you?” he demanded.

“An interested party.” The man, tall and lanky with angular cheekbones and eyes that vaguely reminded Andre of a shark, walked in. “Have you heard the news about my mother?”

“Your mother?” Andre said slowly. He glanced down at the memo, then raised his eyes back to the man. “Would that be Helena?”

“Yes, but shhh… don’t tell anyone.” With a mocking look, he put a finger against his lips.

“Listen, uh, Mr. Cassadine—”

“Valentin.” He extended his hand. “Uncle Vic knows all about my little visit.”

Andre didn’t want to shake his hand—didn’t want to have any more contact with Cassadines, but something in the way this man held himself and the look in his eye—the hair rose on Andre’s neck. He quickly shook the offered hand, then released it. “What can I do for you?”

“Uncle Vic is being very cautious about bringing me into the larger project. He keeps telling me that my mother will be back.” Valentin shrugged lightly. “He’s probably right. After all, my darling brother Stavros has returned a few times. What’s a gunshot to the chest?”

“I—I was under the impression they were both dead. Permanently.” Had been hoping for it. Andre didn’t know much about Stavros, but what he’d learned of Helena—

“Well, dead for a Cassadine is very different than for anyone else.” Valentin waved that away. “Anyway, he told me you were working on some memory experiments.” He nodded at the light box on the far wall where Andre had been studying the latest scans from Patient Six. “A pair of twins?”

“Yes,” Andre said. “Mapping the memories, then transfer someone else’s memories into their brains. We were planning to have them switch lives. Send one brother back to live the othe’rs life, and vice versa.” Maybe Valentin could secure an agreement to release Five into Six’s life—Andre desperately wanted a real field test.

“That would be an excellent technique to have in your pocket,” Valentin murmured. “Imagine the possibilities.”

“It’s hit a snag. One of the patients has brain damage in the frontal lobe where the memories are formed. I can’t transfer his brother’s memories the same way I did for the first twin.”

“Damage, huh?” Valentin tapped the scan. “This would be the brother from Port Charles?”

“Yes, Jason Morgan. A mob enforcer of some sort.” Andre paused. Perhaps his curiosity could be sated. “Your mother was very interested in his family. She wanted certain people in his memories amplified when I transferred them into his brother.  One of them is a patient in Greece. A child. The patient’s son.”

“Ah. So, Jason Morgan is connected to my mother’s revenge plan.” Valentin rubbed his mouth with the edge of his index finger. “What do you know about the child in Greece? Or my mother’s plans?”

“Only what I’ve told you,” Andre confessed. “I only handled Patients Four through Six—and even Four was mostly clean up.” He grimaced. “Victor released that one this month. He’ll be dead in weeks if he goes untreated for the brain tumor Liesl Obrecht caused with her carelessness.”

“Oh, Obrecht. She’s always been more interested in results than finesse.” Valentin shoved his hands into his pockets. “What happens to your twin experiment with my mother out of the way?”

“It’s on hold. I’m supposed to continue working on the memory issue with Six—Jason Morgan,” Andre said, still uncomfortable with the use of the real name, “but I just don’t think it can be done.”

“Do you need, uh, Patient Six in your custody to continue working on the matter?” Valentin asked, tipping his head to the side. “Or can you manage with the information you already have?”

“I don’t understand.”

“My mother promised me something before she took this little break,” Valentin said, those unsettling dark eyes fastening on Andre. “And she didn’t deliver. She’ll be back, Dr. Maddox, make no mistake. And this little experiment of yours—it will continue at some point. I’m asking you for a favor.”

“What’s the favor?” Andre said slowly, not liking where this was going at all.

“I need some leverage to force my mother to give me what I want. What she promised me.” Valentin paused. “Give me Jason Morgan. She was more interested in him than his brother, and you can’t really use him anyway.”

“And when Victor wants him back? When Helena asks for him?”

“Give them the other one. They won’t know the difference.” Valentin’s lips curved. “That might be more fun, actually. You said that the other twin got Six’s memories? If they want him sent home—well, you’ll have your field test, won’t you? When was the last time Uncle Vic or my mother even looked in on the men?”

“Not since—” Andre cleared his throat. “But that doesn’t mean they won’t—”

“You’re telling me a smart man like you can’t figure out how to fool them? I thought better of you.” Valentin put a hand on Andre’s shoulder. “Dr. Maddox, I can tell you’re a frustrated man. You don’t need two men in the field to test your memory experiment. You just need one. I can assure you that no one cares about the other man. If anyone goes home first, it’s Jason Morgan.”

“But—”

“They’re just going to tell you to kill the other brother or send him back with his own memories. You couldn’t finish the transfer, my friend. If you want this field test, you have to make it happen.” Valentin lifted his brows when Andre remained silent. “So, we’re agreed? You’ll give me Six, aka Jason Morgan, and when the time comes, you can send Five home to live his brother’s life?”

Andre closed his eyes. Valentin Cassadine was right. He wanted this field test, but at this point, it wouldn’t happen if he didn’t make it happen. He hadn’t come this far, broken this many rules, only to see it fall apart because of some brain damage.

“We’re agreed. You take Six, and I’ll send Five to Port Charles if and when the time comes.”

Tuesday, October 31, 2017

Quartermaine Mansion: Foyer

Monica’s bright smile as she let Jason into the house reassured him that he’d made the right decision to come by this morning. He would never feel truly comfortable in this house, but it wasn’t the same place it had been two decades earlier when he’d felt suffocated by the people and the expectations inside.

“What a lovely surprise. Come in.” She turned into the foyer to smile at Michael, who was emerging from the family room. “Look who it is!”

“Hey, Jason,” Michael said. “What’s up?”

“I wanted to let Monica know where I was staying,” he said. He looked at Monica. “I had a piece of property out at Queen’s Point before this happened. It’s quiet—”

“Oh, I thought you’d stay at the hotel or—” Monica winced. “At Greystone.”

“No, I wanted my own space.”

“Of course, of course. Michael told me that initial tests came back.” Monica’s hands fluttered up to her chest. “Jake and that other boy—they’re related.”

“Yeah, because of the DNA, they tested as brothers. Advanced testing will make it clear which one of us is which.”

“Well, I don’t need advanced testing to know,” Michael declared, “so it’s good to have a name for him. Drew,” he said. “That’s what Oscar said everyone called him.”

“Drew,” Monica murmured, closing her eyes. “God, if Alan had known, things would have been different. I wish he were here now. He’d probably mess it up, but, oh, he deserved to have this.”

“I can’t believe there were twins, and no one knew,” Michael said. He grimaced when Monica winced. “I’m sorry, Grandma. I know it was a bad time for all of you.”

“No, no, it’s—” she took a deep breath. “It’s fine. Can you stay for a while, Jason? I don’t have to work today.”

“Yeah, I can stay.”

“Have you thought about what you’ll do when everyone knows?” Michael asked as Jason followed them into the family room and took a seat on the sofa. “I mean, I remember that you and Sam were getting divorced when you went off the pier. Didn’t you get the penthouse originally? It’s yours —”

“So is the money, but we know which Sam will care more about,” Monica muttered.

“I don’t care about any of that,” Jason began, but Michael shook his head.

“You need to,” he said. “I know there’s a lot happening fast, but legally—those bank accounts belong to you. The penthouse belongs to you. You and Sam—the divorce didn’t get finalized, which means she’s still married to you. And there’s ELQ stock to worry about because if the other guy is a twin, then we need—” Michael stopped when he saw Jason’s faint smile. “What?”

“Nothing. I just—you sounded like Edward for a minute,” he said. “He would think about ELQ before anything else.”

“He would be so proud of Michael,” Monica said, reaching out to squeeze his hand. “So would a lot of people,” she told him, and they exchanged a look that Jason didn’t understand.

“I was talking to Cam and Joss last night,” Michael went on, “and we got to talking about Ava.”

“Ava?” Monica said, her face darkening. “Why?” Jason frowned at her reaction, but Michael didn’t notice and answered her question.

“She helped Jason escape from Russia,” Michael said. “But we also think she knew that Jason knows Sonny—and you know,  about that—something else occurred to me.”

Jason squinted at Michael’s use of Sonny’s first name. “I know you and Sonny said you weren’t fans of Ava—”

“No one is,” Monica said, but Michael got to his feet and went over to the shelf where a family photo was kept. He handed it to Jason. It was the last family portrait taken before his accident. He traced a finger over Emily, then Lila’s faces.

“I’m wondering if it just wasn’t Sonny she knew about. Ava Jerome lived in the mansion for a few months,” Michael explained to him. “She saw that photo every day. Could she have known who you were when she decided to help?”

“I—” Jason hesitated. “I don’t think so,” he said. “I wore a mask that covered the bottom half of my face. The clinic didn’t want anyone to recognize me, even in Russia. I can’t remember if she ever saw me without it, but I don’t think so.”

Michael took the photo back. “With Ava, it’s better to be sure. Because she will always find a way to exploit a situation to get what she wants.”

Webber House: Living Room

Elizabeth made a face as her youngest son reached the bottom of the stairs and made a karate punching motion. “I don’t think that’s how Spiderman does it—”

“Spiderman,” Aiden said, very seriously, “can do anything. Didn’t you see him dancing in the rain?”

“No, but I’ll take your word for it—” Distracted now by Cameron standing near the front door, who had put on a Captain America t-shirt and proclaimed himself dressed for the holiday, she said, “Cam, are you sure you don’t mind taking your brothers out tonight?”

“Nope,” Cameron said. He zipped his bookbag shut. “Trina got off from work, and she’s going to be Okoye—” He made a face. “She’s making me carry the shield when we go out.”

“The things we do for love,” Elizabeth teased. “What about Joss and Oscar? Are they coming with?”

“They’re gonna try if Mrs. C lets Joss out dressed as Daenerys—” He paused and looked at her. “I know you gotta work a double, so I’ll get them to the hospital. Joss already said Michael volunteered, and he’s coming over to do a candy check because apparently, being over eighteen qualifies you to do that.”

“No, he just has more patience—” She frowned. “Where’s Jake?”

“Right here,” Jake declared as he dropped to the landing, tugging at his white Jedi costume, then brandished his lightsaber. “Mom, can we rent Scream tonight instead of Hocus Pocus?”

“You’re messing with a Webber tradition,” Cameron told him. “We always watch Hocus Pocus—”

“Because it’s your favorite,” Jake retorted. “Why can’t Aiden and I get a turn?”

“I want Michael Myers—”

“You’re not old enough for Scream, and absolutely no Michael Myers—” Elizabeth pulled out her phone to find a text message from Felix at the hospital. Two more nurses had called out. “Damn, I have to be work right now—” She focused on Cameron. “Call me when you’re on the way. I’ll make sure I get my break.”

She was out the door with a quick kiss to all their cheeks. Jake sighed, then looked at Cameron. “Let’s compromise. First Scream, then Hocus Pocus—”

“Deal, but don’t snitch on me to Mom, or I’ll toss you in the lake.”

“Wait, what about me?” Aiden demanding, following his brothers out the door to the bus stop.

Harborview Towers: Hallway

Jason stared at the door. The last time he’d knocked on this door had been nearly twenty years ago when he’d been living across the hall, and Justus Ward had lived here. He’d meant what he said to Michael that morning about not caring that Sam would probably end up with it now, but for months, Jason had been focused on getting home.

And home had been behind this door.

It was just one more thing that had changed.

Jason knocked on the door, grimacing when it was jerked open a minute later by Sam’s husband—by Drew. They stared at each other for a long moment before the other man bit out an angry, “What do you want?”

“To talk,” Jason said calmly. “That’s all. I can come back another time, or we can do it somewhere else.”

Drew dragged a hand through his sandy blond hair, then stepped back. “Danny’s already in school,” he muttered, “and Scout’s not old enough to know what’s going on. Come in.”

Jason hesitantly entered, waiting as the other man closed the door. “I know you don’t believe I am who I say am,” he began, “and I don’t expect you to believe it until the rest of the tests or the fingerprints are back.”

“Aren’t you generous?” Drew growled.

“Before I saw you at the police station,” Jason continued, not ruffled by his anger or bitterness. He had felt that way before—had had people telling him who he was and who he wasn’t and wanting to punch everyone who looked at him wrong. “I thought you were part of all of this. That you were behind it—”

“How dare you—”

“But I don’t anymore,” Jason said, and Drew fell silent. He heard a door upstairs, and they both looked up. Jason waited a moment, but Sam never came downstairs. He knew she was here, knew she was home, but she wasn’t coming down to face him.

The pain of that—her refusal to even look at him—stole his breath for a moment, but Jason put it away. He knew how to do that. He’d done it for years. He had people who believed him, who were helping him get his life back. He’d concentrate on that.

“I believe you when you say you remember your life. What you think is your life. But I have those memories, too,” Jason told him. “Jake told me—”

“Don’t go near my son—” The man closed his eyes. “I knew Elizabeth believed you, but I didn’t think she’d really let Jake be part of it until we knew for sure—”

“She does know for sure,” Jason said. “But Jake told me that he loves you. And that you told him about the day he was born. I lived that day. I thought they’d both die—”

“I lived that day—” Drew opened his eyes, burning with bitterness and anger. “You think you can just come here and steal my life?”

“No, I just wanted to come home,” Jason said. “Whoever trapped me in a coma for five years also did this to you. And now we know who you were before the accident. Oscar’s test came back positive. He’s related to Jake, which means you’re—”

“I know who I am—”

“Andrew Cain,” Jason said, and the man closed his mouth. “You were a Navy SEAL, and people called you Drew. You lived in San Diego, and you had a son.”

“I am not—” He squeezed his eyes shut. “I’m Jason Morgan. I have the memories. I’m living my life. I have my sons—”

“I just wanted to make it clear that I know you didn’t do this,” Jason said, “and that if you want to find out who did—”

“Thank you for your concern,” Drew muttered, glaring at him. “Now get out.”

Jason nodded, then left. The man who was probably Drew Cain rested his forehead against the closed door, listening for the footsteps he knew would be coming down.

“Jason?”

“If you really believed that—” he turned to face Sam, his wife, with the guilt etched so clearly in her expression, “then why did you stay upstairs? Why can’t you look at him?”

Sam paused. “It’s hard,” she admitted, finally, “because he still has the voice and face. And it’s harder to know for sure when he’s in the room.” She folded her arms. “I do know,” she continued, “because I know you, and I love you. But—”

“But when you see him, you doubt it.” He nodded, then yanked his coat off the back of the chair. “I have to go to work—”

“Jason—”

“Don’t—” He turned back to Sam. “Don’t call me that. You don’t even believe it.”

Then he stormed out of the penthouse, slamming the door behind him.

Metro Court Hotel: Lobby

Jason had promised Carly he’d stop by for lunch to make up for not staying at Greystone with her and Sonny. The hotel, with people looking at him, was really the last place he wanted to be, but he also knew he needed to keep Carly happy.

As Jason started towards the offices, he felt his phone buzz with a message. He took it out, then smiled at the photo Elizabeth had sent him of Jake and his brothers in front of her house. Jake was standing between his brothers, grinning brightly in some sort of white costume with a green light saber, while Aiden wore a Spiderman outfit, and Cameron was casually dressed in jeans, a blue t-shirt, holding a plastic shield in his hands.

Jason only recognized Spiderman because Cameron had gone through a phase of his own as a kid, and he’d once spent a few hours at Elizabeth’s house with her and both boys watching the movie.

“I can understand why you didn’t tell me who you were supposed to be.”

He raised his eyes to find Ava Jerome standing in the lobby with an expectant expression. “Excuse me?”

“When I asked for your name,” Ava continued, “you wouldn’t tell me. I was standing there, babbling on and on about Jason Morgan and his family—and Sonny—and you didn’t tell me you were him.”

“How do you know I am?” Jason asked. He slid his phone back into his pocket. “You never saw me without my mask, did you?”

“No,” Ava drawled, “and I suppose I don’t actually know that you are Jason. But I also didn’t get the sense you were a liar.” She sighed. “Sonny and Carly have probably told you about all of my evil deeds and why I’m the worst person in the world.”

“No, they haven’t,” Jason said, making a note to push them on this. He hated not knowing. “But Michael told me you’d lived in the mansion for a while. There are a lot of photos of me in that house.”

“I never saw more than your eyes. In retrospect, of course, I could have recognized you from those photos, but—” Ava scowled. “As far as I knew, Jason Morgan was alive and well here in Port Charles. Why would I think some random masked man in Russia was actually you? I risked my life to help—”

“I know you did,” Jason said, a bit irritated with himself for starting this. “And thank you. I never would have gotten home without your help.”

Mollified, Ava sniffed. “All right then. I’m glad it worked out, and neither of us had to get hurt. That was a terrible place.” She touched her cheek, the scarring slightly improved but still very visible. “I only wish I’d helped you after my treatment was done.”

Because it almost sounded like something Carly would say in the same situation, Jason smiled faintly. “I’m sorry. I hope you can find another doctor who can help you.”

“If there’s anything I can do to help you prove your identity,” Ava offered, “let me know.”

“I’m sure I’ll be fine, but thank you,” Jason said. While he didn’t necessarily see her as the threat Michael and the others did, he also didn’t really know her. She’d helped him when she didn’t have to, but he was home now. He had other people he could count on, ones he knew he could trust. “I’ll see you around.”

Ava watched Jason Morgan head towards the offices, then narrowed her eyes in deep thought. She had been telling the truth, of course, that she hadn’t known he was Jason Morgan when she’d helped him. If she had been aware, she would have escorted him home and devised a way to be given the public credit so that the next time she went to court for Avery, she’d have something to bargain with.

Unfortunately, she’d found out with the rest of the world on social media, and now she had to find a way to turn this to her advantage.

Aurora Media: Office

Curtis knocked on the open office door, and the man behind the desk jerked his head, blinking at the interruption. “Curtis.”

“Hey, man. I got your message.” He sauntered into the office, sitting down in front of the desk, stretching out his long legs. “How you doing with the news you got last night?”

He scrubbed his hands over his face, taking a deep breath. “I knew he’d turn out to be my twin, but I guess I was hoping—” He paused. “What if it’s true?”

Curtis didn’t ask what he meant. “Do you think it is?”

“Sometimes. Maybe.” He looked away for a minute. “I don’t want it to be, but—” He exhaled slowly. “Can you do me a favor?”

“Yeah. Sure. Name it.” Curtis leaned forward. “What’s up?”

“I want a deep background check on Andrew Cain. More than just what Alexis gave me. I want to know everything. Where he came from—how he ended up—” Here in Port Charles.

Was Drew Cain the man who had crashed the re-launch the party a few nights ago? Or was he sitting in this chair—

Was he Drew Cain? Is that why there had always been a voice screaming at him that something wasn’t right—

“I’ll get right on it.” Curtis stood. “Hey, man, whatever’s going on—we’ll get to the bottom of it. You’ve got my word.”

“Thanks.” He watched Curtis leave, realizing with a sinking feeling that his friend had never used his name. It was almost worse than hearing it on Sam’s lips. He didn’t know what the truth was or even what he wanted it to be.

General Hospital: Nurse’s Station

“Good news,” Felix declared as he set a pile of charts on the counter next to Elizabeth, who eyed them warily. “Don’t worry—these are my insurance forms to enjoy,” he assured her.

“Is that the good news?”

“No. The good news is—” He showed her his phone. “No alerts from the Sun about anyone with the last name Webber being arrested for vandalism.”

She made a face. “It was just that one year—” When Felix sighed. “Because the year before that, Cameron told the arresting officers his name was Steve Rogers—”

“I’m just saying. It’s a tradition.”

“Well, this year, Cameron knows not to pull anything,” Elizabeth said. “He’s got his brothers, and Trina is out with them—” She checked her watch. “They’re coming by here in about a half hour to go the hospital trick or treat.”

“Oh, good. I love seeing my boys all dressed up.” He leaned against the counter. “So, how’s it going otherwise?”

“Fine. Four more hours until I can go home and sleep.” As much sleep as she’d be able to manage once one of the boys had a nightmare about the movie she’d forbidden them to watch. She knew her kids—telling them no Scream or Halloween movies was like dangling a red flag in front of them. “Do you have a specific question in mind?”

“Well, you’ve dumped the boyfriend, and the ex-boyfriend is back from the dead, so I guess I’m just checking in.”

“I’m fine,” Elizabeth repeated, completing the last of her paperwork. “The computer is all yours.”

“Fun times for me,” he muttered, taking her place. “What about tomorrow? You and the boys doing anything for your birthday?”

“Aiden and I are going to make a cake after school, and Cameron and Jake have promised to eat it. Steven sent me a gift certificate for a spa—” She missed her older brother but understood why he’d decided not to return to Port Charles after he’d finished his two-year prison sentence. “Sarah ignored it—again—and my parents actually called me last night.”

“Really?” Felix raised his brows. “Did they get you confused with your sister?”

“No, but they thought my birthday was last week, so I guess you take the good with the bad. It was fine. The boys even pretended to know who they were.” Elizabeth wrinkled her nose. “My birthday is usually a disaster, and the only reason I celebrate it anymore is because my kids make me.”

“Speaking of the Undead—”

“We weren’t, and pick a nickname already,” she complained.

“You’re confusing me with Spinelli,” Felix told her. “I like spontaneity and variety.” He nodded towards the elevators. “Your ex is here.”

Because that could mean anything, Elizabeth followed his gaze and smiled, relieved to see that it was Jason and not anyone else. “Hey. You okay? You usually hate the hospital.”

“I do,” Jason said. He hesitated, looked at Felix, who wasn’t even pretending not to listen.

“This is Felix DuBois, my best friend.” Elizabeth elbowed him. “Go away, Felix.”

“Hey, I’m just standing here doing paperwork. You go away.”

“Fine.” Elizabeth rolled her eyes, grabbed her clipboard, then stepped away from the hub. “What’s up?”

“I wanted to see if you had a break,” Jason began. “You said earlier the boys were gonna be here—”

“In a little bit, yeah—” She led him down a more quiet hallway, then frowned at him. “Jason, what’s wrong?”

He sighed, shoved his hands in his pockets. “Just a long day,” he muttered. “What’s the problem with Ava?”

“Ava?” Elizabeth repeated warily. “I thought we told you that she can’t be trusted—”

“You did—”

“Michael just didn’t want to get into everything. You’ve only been back a few days, Jason. You can’t know everything right now—”

“You’re not going to tell me either?” he demanded. “I don’t need to be protected—”

“If Michael didn’t want to tell you about Ava, then he has his reasons,” Elizabeth cut in. “And knowing what I know, he’s got a right to hold back on this. Because this isn’t just a history class for us, Jason. You missed five years, and I’m sorry for that. I really am, but you can’t ask us to dredge up every single terrible thing that’s happened. What Ava did has nothing to do with you.”

Jason clenched his jaw. “It’s not up to you to decide what I can handle—”

“Doesn’t feel that great when I do it to you, does it?” she shot back, then winced. Took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. I can’t begin to imagine what you’re going through, Jason, but—”

“I just want to know why everyone thinks Ava can’t be trusted,” Jason said. “Because she nearly got herself killed helping me—”

“She hurt Morgan,” Elizabeth said finally. “And she hurt Michael. Badly. Beyond that, Jason, I think it’s going to be up to Michael to decide when he wants to open that back up. I wouldn’t trust her, but you’ll have to make up your own mind about that—”

“Why am I not surprised to find the two of you together?” a mocking voice drawled from behind them. Elizabeth turned and grimaced as Franco strolled around the corner. She could practically feel Jason’s muscles tighten next to her. “I didn’t press charges the first time,” Franco warned, holding up a hand to ward off any attack from Jason. “I won’t be so nice this time.”

“What do you want?” Elizabeth asked, folding her arms over her clipboard. He fastened his dark eyes on hers, his full of regret, maybe even remorse.

He might be sorry now, but she would never forget the terror in her son’s eyes. It would haunt her for the rest of her life.

“I know you won’t forgive me—”

“Good—”

“But I’m worried about you. About him being around the boys—” Franco nodded towards Jason.

“You’re worried about me?” Jason demanded, taking a step towards Franco. Elizabeth stretched an arm in front of him, keeping him back.

“And there’s this other thing that happened. This is going to be hard to hear,” Franco warned with a sigh, “but Andre Maddox, the man you trusted with Jake’s well-being, was a part of this. He told me himself.”

Elizabeth stared at him, her heart pounding. “What are you talking about?”

“Who’s Andre Maddox?” Jason demanded.

“Andre was the doctor who put Chimera in Jake’s head,” Franco continued. “And he’s behind whatever happened to whichever twin that is—”

“Andre—” Elizabeth started to deny it. Started to reject the idea, but then she saw him in her mind, on Friday at the hospital, staring at the photograph of Jason before the accident. Before Jake Doe had come to Port Charles. “He works here at the hospital,” she told Jason, her voice barely audible. “He’s been treating Jake since the Nurse’s Ball—”

“Here?” Jason repeated. “Where’s his office—”

“Two floors down—let’s go—” Elizabeth started to turn away, but Franco reached out and snagged her arm, pulling her back. Before she could turn around and whack him with her clipboard, her arm was free, and Jason was shoving Franco against the wall.

“Don’t put your hands on her,” Jason growled, lifting the other man up by his collar. “You’re lucky you’re still breathing.”

“I just—” Franco put up his hands, all innocence. “It’s too late. Andre’s gone. He split yesterday after he told me—”

“He told you yesterday, and you said nothing?” Elizabeth cried. “You knew he hurt Jake, and you didn’t tell me? How could you do that to me? To my boys?” Tears stung her eyes as Jason slowly let Franco back to his feet. “Every single word you ever said to me was a lie—”

“You took the first chance you could to crawl back to Jason,” Franco retorted. “So which one of us is the liar now?”

You walk the streets at night still looking for your reason
But you don’t wanna try
You swear the world has got you backed into a corner
But no one holds your hand to walk into a fight
You swear the light is gonna find you
But it can’t find you when you’re waiting all the time
– Something to Believe in, Parachute

---

May 2014

Crichton-Clark Institute: Lab

He had heard the rumors and the whispers but it wasn’t until Helena Cassadine swept into his office that morning that Andre fully believed that the Cassadine matriarch had returned from the dead.

“My dear Dr. Maddox,” she purred, “you look as though you’ve seen a ghost. Did my brother-in-law not keep you apprised of my recovery?”

“Hearing that Dr. Scorpio was able to achieve the impossible is one thing,” Andre said, rising to his feet. “Seeing you in person is quite another.”

“Fair enough. It’s wonderful to be up and about again. I had hoped to check in with you on our work before I leave for Greece,” Helena told him. “How are my twins?”

“Unchanged,” Andre said, a bit uneasily. “Still in a coma. I’m still not able to achieve the transfer of Patient Five’s memories into Six—”

“But you still have them,” Helen said. “Victor assured me that you’d put the project on ice.”

“Yes,” Andre said. “I’m sorry I wasn’t able to finish—”

“I told you a long time ago, Dr. Maddox. I merely wanted Jason Morgan removed from the field for as long as possible. I’m putting the final touches on my plans. Victor told Dr. Scorpio she could help Mr. Morgan return to his family. I’m ready to let her do that.”

“I—” Andre hesitated. “But what about Patient Five?”

Helena shrugged. “He was part of Victor’s plan—”

“But the memory adjustments you asked for—” he protested. “What was the point?”

“To see if we could, my darling Dr. Maddox! And if we’d completed the experiment on the original schedule, it would have been helpful. Alas, you were unable to come through.” She shrugged elegantly. “Now, Victor has told me I can deal with the twins as I see fit. You can do what you like with Five, but I’ll be needing Jason Morgan.”

“I—”  Andre nodded. “All right, Mrs. Cassadine. I’ll have Jason Morgan ready to turn over to Dr. Scorpio.” He watched her leave, then exhaled slowly, hoping that this Dr. Scorpio wouldn’t be able tell the difference between the brothers. There was a chance this insane plan might actually work.

And that Drew Cain would be going to Port Charles with Jason Morgan’s memories.

Tuesday, October 31, 2017

General Hospital: Hallway

If they weren’t in a public place, if Elizabeth wasn’t standing right behind him as a witness that could be dragged into court, Jason might enjoy squeezing the life out of this piece of trash. This time, he’d cut the psycho into pieces that couldn’t come back from the dead, then maybe he’d set them on fire.

He was done letting Franco come back to taunt and torment the people that mattered to Jason. Why the hell was he allowed to breathe and take up space? How the hell had Carly and Elizabeth let him into their lives, into their homes—Carly had almost married him, and Elizabeth had let him live with her sons.

He would never understand how Franco was still alive.

“Can’t breathe,” Franco choked.

“That doesn’t sound like a problem to me,” Jason growled.

“Let him go,” Elizabeth said, with an air of exhausted resignation that sounded eerily familiar to him. Like the way she’d sounded when talking about Lucky Spencer—another rat bastard Jason should have shoved off a pier a long time ago. “There are too many witnesses,” she continued, restoring some of his faith in her.

“You know, three days ago, you gave a damn about me,” Franco snarled at Elizabeth as Jason slowly let the asshole down and stepped back.

“The funny thing about love,” Elizabeth said, “is that it can be turned into hate with just one flick of the match.” Her lips pressed together in a mutinous line. “You put your hands on my son. That’s the end of it. Whoever I thought you were—I was lying to myself. No one touches my kids.”

Franco hissed, but then he was distracted when someone sauntered around the corner—Cameron—who stopped dead when he saw the three of them. The plastic circular shield he’d slung over his shoulder slid down, hitting the linoleum hospital floor with a dull clatter.

“Cameron—” Elizabeth began, moving towards him.

“Felix said you were—” Cameron swallowed and tore his eyes away from Franco, turning towards his mother. “We got done early, and Michael was waiting—”

“Go back to the nurse’s station; we’ll be right there—”

“You know, if you’d taught your brats some manners,” Franco began, “and how to show some damn respect—”

This time, it wasn’t Jason that had to be held back. Elizabeth started forward, the clipboard raised in her hand as if she was getting ready to wield it like a club, but Jason grabbed the back of her scrubs and pulled her back, then stretched his arm in front of her to block another advance.

“Too many witnesses,” he said, repeating her earlier warning. He glared at Franco. “Go away. Now. Or I’ll let her go.”

Franco made a face, then slunk away, disappearing around a corner. Elizabeth’s shoulders heaved as the clipboard fell to the ground, and she put her head in her hands. “Oh my God. How could I let this happen—” She looked at Cameron, who hadn’t said a word but was just staring at her, his blue eyes wide and startled. “Cameron.”

“Mom.” He looked at Jason, then shook his head, his expression clearing. “I can take the guys home—we’re ordering pizza anyway, and they got a ton of candy already—”

“No—” Elizabeth squeezed her eyes shut. “No. They trick or treat here every year. It’s tradition. He’s not taking that from me. I’m so sorry, Cameron.”

“Well, the clipboard—” Cameron said, grabbing it from the ground and scooping up his shield at the same time, “it’s not as cool as the gun, but it worked in a pinch.” With an easy grin that didn’t really reach his eyes, he handed it to her. “You’re a little scary, Mom. You get that from Jason?” He flicked his eyes to the other man, his expression urging Jason to go with it—to lighten the mood or something.

“No, she was like this when I met her,” Jason said, not at all surprised that Cameron had known exactly what to say to take that terrible look out of Elizabeth’s eyes. He’d always been the easy-going son, the one that would crawl into Elizabeth’s lap after they’d lost Jake and hug her, promising it would be okay.

“I’d better get back to the hub,” Cameron told them. “Or Joss is gonna come looking for me. I’ll keep the kids under control until you get to them.” He offered a salute, slung the shield over his shoulder, then sauntered away.

“He’s not okay, but he’s going to pretend for me. For his brothers,” Elizabeth murmured, watching him go. She sighed, then looked at Jason. “Normally, I wouldn’t say you should take Franco’s word for anything but Andre—he didn’t pull that out of air. Andre Maddox showed up right around the time Helena died, and Drew got his memories back a few months later. Andre has also been Jake’s doctor for months, helping him deal with the Chimera and Helena’s control. He was really—” Her voice faltered slightly. “He was really good to Jake, but when we went to see him after the park that day—there was just something in the way he looked at Jake—” Elizabeth frowned. “He knew Jake had seen someone, and I think maybe he knew it was you.”

“But if he’s left town—”

“Anna,” Elizabeth cut in. “She went back to the WSB after she left the police department. She and Andre were friends. You’ll want to talk to her anyway because Victor Cassadine spent years in the research department at the WSB before taking it over for a few years. She, Robert, and Frisco Jones have spent the last three years trying to clean the place up.”

“Anna,” Jason repeated. “Okay.” He glanced down the hall. “First, I want to see Jake.” He paused, meeting her eyes. “You said it was a tradition for him to trick or treat here.”

“Yeah, um, since Cam’s first Halloween, every year. My grandfather started it, and Steven brought it back.”

“I want to be part of his traditions,” Jason told her. “If that’s okay.”

She smiled, and he was relieved to see that terrible air of sadness had finally lifted. “Absolutely. Come on. They all look great, and Joss and Michael are here, too.”

General Hospital: Nurse’s Station

When Cameron returned to the hub around ten minutes after he’d gone off in search of his mother, Trina knew something was wrong.

Just like she’d known the day before that something was off. He’d told her this morning that his mother had broken up with Franco, but Trina knew she wasn’t getting the whole story.

“Hey, where’s your mom?” Trina asked as Cameron rejoined the group by the sofas at the waiting area.

“She’ll be here in a minute. Uh—” Cameron looked at Oscar. “Jason is here. And by that, I mean—”

“The guy your mom says is Jason,” Oscar finished. “The one with my dad’s face, but who she says isn’t him.”

“Yeah, I just wanted to warn you,” Cameron said. “I think he’s here to see my mom, but he’ll probably hang out while we do the trick or treat thing.” He frowned. “Where’s Aiden and Jake?”

“They went with Michael to see if Felix has new batteries for Jake’s light saber,” Joss said, shoving a heavy piece of her white-blonde wig over her shoulder. Trina wrinkled her nose. Why the girl had to wear a damn wig when she was already blonde—drama queen. “But you look weird. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Cameron said, but looked away.

“Oh, nothing, huh? Like Friday night was nothing?” Joss demanded. “Did you tell Trina or Oscar?”

“Joss—”

“Tell us what?” Trina demanded. She knew something was going on—and of course he’d told Joss first— “What does Joss know that I don’t?”

Cameron hissed, then glared at Joss who just returned his icy stare. “You see what you started? I didn’t even want to tell you.”

“He only told me because he knew I’d break Aiden in five seconds,” Joss told Trina, who was not wild about being reassured by her boyfriend’s best friend and her mortal enemy.

“Then I guess I should go ask the Webber boys who do respect me what the hell is going on—” She turned away.

“It’s not—” Cameron growled and reached for her arm. “It’s not like that. I just don’t want this to be a big deal, okay? Seriously. The more people who know, the worse my mom is going to feel, and don’t start—” he shot at Joss who opened her mouth. “I already know your opinion.”

“I’m not people, Cameron—”

“No, I know that—” Cameron dragged a hand through his hair, then nodded. “Okay. Okay. I’m fine, but on Friday after you guys left, Franco came in and got all irritated because we were watching the videos. He and I got into it, and it was physical, okay? Franco shoved me—”

Trina’s eyes bulged. “He what—”

“Whoa—” Oscar said.

“It’s fine. Mom came home, and she got him to let me go. She pulled a gun on him and even shot at his feet. It was fine,” he repeated. “He left, and Mom called Joss’s stepdad and brother to change security.”

“Oh, a notorious serial killer attacked you, but, like it’s fine now,” Trina retorted. “Damn it, Cam—” She took a deep breath. “This is the kind of thing you tell your girlfriend!”

“I know—” He winced, and took her by the elbow towards the elevators, leaving Joss with Oscar and his brothers. “Look, my mom is feeling guilty enough—and before you say she should—”

“I wasn’t gonna,” she muttered.

“I don’t want my mom to worry about me, okay? Not with everything going on. She’s gotta focus on making sure Franco stays gone, and this whole Jason back from the dead thing—I think it’s got something to do with Jake, and she needs to focus on him—”

“She needs to focus on you—”

“I’m fine—”

“Stop protecting her!” Trina said through clenched teeth. “She’s the one supposed to be protecting you! When has she ever done that—”

“Don’t—” Cameron narrowed his eyes to blue slits, his cheeks flushed. “Don’t talk about her. You don’t know anything about my mother or what she’s been through. What people in this damn town have done to her. Me and my brothers are all she has—”

“That doesn’t mean—”

“I mean it, Trina. My mom made mistakes, okay? I know that. And she’s not perfect. But she’s my mother. She gave up everything for me. She wanted to be an artist, you know that?”

“I—” Trina frowned. “No, I didn’t—”

“And she’s really good at it. I’ve seen her stuff with Jake, and she painted murals in our rooms at our old house. But she gave it up for me. She needed a job with health insurance—”

“Cameron—”

“You weren’t there when she was crying herself to sleep over losing Jake. Four years, Trina. My brother was dead for four years.”

“I know that. I’ve known you since kindergarten—”

“No, you’ve known me for five months.” Cameron glanced back over to the waiting area, seeing that Felix and Michael had returned with his brothers, and Jake was staring at him oddly. “I told you. My family comes first with me.”

“And it’s one of the reasons I like you,” Trina told him. “I like your family. I like your mother most of the time. It’s just—” She hesitated. “You deserve to come first with someone, too, you know? That’s all I’m saying.”

Cameron scowled at her, then immediately pasted a smile on his face when his mother emerged from the hallway followed by the guy Trina had seen on the news. She immediately turned to look at Oscar who was staring at the new guy with a frozen expression.

Joss put a hand on Oscar’s arm, and her boyfriend swallowed hard.

“I need to go over there,” Cameron told her, and then left to hurry over to Oscar and Joss. Trina watched him crack a joke as Elizabeth and Jake’s dad joined them.  Taking care of someone else, just like he always did.

She just wished he’d let someone take care of him for once.

Devane Manor: Foyer

Following Jake and his brothers around the hospital as they went to a few rooms with willing patients and hospital staff, trick or treating, was the best thing that happened to Jason all day. He liked watching Jake interact not just with his brothers, but the easy way he talked to Michael and Joss, the way he fit with these other people in Jason’s life, the way Joss bantered with all three Webber boys like they were a team.

It made Jason forget for a little while what was happening outside of the hospital.

He reluctantly left when Michael drove the group home to Elizabeth’s house and she went back to work. Jason headed across town to the neighborhood where Anna Devane lived to get to the bottom of the strange story that Franco had told them about Andre Maddox.

Anna stared at him for a long moment after opening the door. She stepped back finally. “Well, you certainly look like you’re supposed to,” she said, closing the door behind him. “Did anyone check for masks?”

Jason furrowed his brows. “Actually, yeah, but—”

“Hmmm. Well, Faison was the one who put you in the water,” Anna told him, “but he did it while wearing a very realistic Duke Lavery disguise.” She sighed. “Are you here about the WSB connection? I assure you, I wasn’t part of Victor’s research projects. Neither were Robert and Frisco. Victor kept a lot of his work guarded from the agency at large.”

“Andre Maddox,” Jason said and watched as Anna closed her eyes. “You knew he was involved.”

“No, no, I didn’t,” she said softly, “but he left town in a hurry yesterday, and I knew something was up, so I asked Robert to get a background on him. The timing works—” Anna winced. “He moved to Port Charles shortly after Jake Doe’s reveal as Jason Morgan. After little Jake came home. Just before Jake Doe got the memories back. If he was involved with your kidnapping, that means he had a connection to Victor. And the WSB. Damn it.” She sighed. “What exactly did he do?”

“I don’t know. He told Franco something about putting Chimera in Jake’s head. That he’s the one that did whatever happened to me and—” Jason stopped. “I don’t trust Franco, obviously, but Elizabeth seemed to think something Maddox did the other day lines up—”

“I think it’s worth finding out for sure.” Anna went over to the phone. “I can commiserate, you know, coming back to a life that has moved on without you—a twin who has a penchant for pretending to be you and mucking about—” She stopped. “Frisco, I’m so glad I caught you. Yes—I need some intel. Does the WSB have a file on Andre Maddox, probable birth date somewhere in the mid to late 70s. Doctor of Psychiatry and Neurology—That rat bastard.” She made a face. “Can I get a copy of that? Yes—yes, we have a problem. Another Cassadine mess to clean up.”

“What did he say?” Jason demanded.

“Andre Maddox worked in WSB Special Projects from 2008 until just last spring. I didn’t—” Anna set the phone down on the hook. “I didn’t know that. He never said a word. And that—that is something to be considered. We were friends, working for the same agency and he never said a word. Frisco is sending me a copy of Andre’s personnel records, and he’s assigning Robert to this officially. Jason—”

He hesitated, then looked at her oddly at the use of his name. “You’re not waiting until the tests come back?” he asked.

“We may not know each other all that well,” Anna told him, “but you forget that I’ve had the privilege of knowing both versions of you. The way you hold yourself—the expression in your eyes—it matches the man I knew five to six years ago so much more than the man walking around with your name. Even the world’s best con artist can’t fake that kind of thing.”

She paused. “If the WSB was part of whatever happened to you and, well, I suppose your brother, then I promise you — Robert, Frisco, and I will get the answers. We’ve dedicated our lives to this agency. Sacrificed family and friends for what we believe in. Victor Cassadine has left a stain on it that can’t ever be removed.”

Harbor View Road: Driveway

Jason took out his keys as he walked to the end of the driveway to the SUV parked at the curb. Just as he slid the key in the lock as he saw a pair walking towards him, or at least in his direction. Sam, holding the hand of a young blond boy dressed as a green character Jason recognized vaguely from movies he’d watched with Michael.

Sam’s feet slowed as she stared at him, her eyes shadowed in the street lamps. “We’re—” She took a deep breath. “We’re finishing up our trick or treating. My mom lives around the corner.”

Jason nodded, his throat tight. He looked down at Danny, the little boy he’d only seen for a handful of hours before he’d been shot and shoved into the water. Jason had rescued him from Heather Webber and brought him home to Sam. He’d thought it was a chance for them to try again, to get it right—to try to make up for how badly he’d treated her—

“Hi,” Danny said with a shy smile. “I’m Danny, but tonight I’m Yoda.”

Jason nodded. “Hi,” he said, then felt a lump in his throat when Sam tightened her hand around Danny’s. What did she think he was going to do? Tell a five-year-old that he was Jason? Announce that he was the little boy’s biological father?

“This is a friend of mine from a long time ago,” Sam said finally. “What are you doing in this neighborhood?” she asked, narrowing her eyes. “Sonny and Carly live almost two miles away—”

Did she even realize that she wasn’t treating him like a stranger? Like he wasn’t exactly who he said he was?

Did she even hear herself?

“I came to see Anna,” Jason said. “I didn’t know Alexis lives out here now. What happened to the lake house?”

Sam grimaced. “It’s a long story.”

“My brother is Luke Skywalker,” Danny continued, oblivious to the tension between the two adults. “So we made our sister be Princess Leia. Do you like Star Wars?”

“I’ve seen the movies,” Jason said. “It’s a nice costume.”

“Yoda is very smart,” Danny said, then smiled again. “But my brother is smarter. He’s braver than me, so he got to be Luke. Daddy was gonna be Hans, but he had to work.” The corners of his lips turned down, then looked up at his mother. “Is he coming later? Are we going to see Jake later?”

“Not tonight. I told you. We should get going, Danny.” Sam lifted him into her arms and walked away quickly, not looking back.

“Bye!” Danny said, waving at Jason over Sam’s shoulder. “Happy Halloween!”

“Happy Halloween,” Jason said, watching as Sam and her son disappeared into the shadows of the night.

Kelly’s: Courtyard

Elizabeth gripped the brown paper bag with her dinner and shoved the door open, nearly running into someone who was entering the diner. “I’m so sorry—”

“It’s fine—”

She stopped as the man put a hand on her shoulder to steady her. His blue eyes, once so dear to her, flashed. He stepped back. “Elizabeth.”

“Hi,” she said awkwardly. She moved a few feet away. “I—I meant to call or stop by but I didn’t think—”

“Why bother?” he said. He gritted his teeth. “You’ve made it clear whose side you’ve taken.”

“It’s not about sides,” Elizabeth said, with a shake of her head. “It’s about the truth—”

“The truth? You’re one to talk about the truth. How many lies have you told?”

The words bit at her and she flinched, looking away. Even if he wasn’t Jason, he had his memories somehow. He knew every time Elizabeth had lied to Jason—but more importantly—the months Elizabeth had lied directly to him in a desperate attempt to keep Jake Doe.

“Enough to know that I can’t pretend I didn’t know the truth the minute I saw him,” Elizabeth said. “I’m sorry—”

“Sorry? You’re just chasing the same thing you always have—” he threw back. “How are you any different than you were two years ago? Clinging to any desperate hope that Jason Morgan wants you—I loved you, Elizabeth. You were the one that destroyed that—”

“I know that. I was too scared to trust that you’d stay with me if you knew what Nikolas had told me,” Elizabeth calmly, but everything inside of her crumbling at this reminder of her lie. Her deepest shame. The one lie that she could never, ever, truly explain to herself or the world. “But—”

“You have a lot of nerve to stand there and talk to me about the truth, Elizabeth—” The way he elongated her name, drew out the syllables in a way that Jason never had—it cut at her. He sounded like Lucky had in those terrible days, when he’d been so angry at her he could hardly stand to look at her.

Elizabeth knew how to inspire rage and disgust in the men she’d chosen to love. “I can’t defend myself. You know that. I won’t even try—”

“Even if you didn’t believe me—” He hissed. “You owed me better this—I deserved more than this—”

“You do, but—”

“And you brought Jake into it! You’ve let that liar around our son! Bad enough you’ve let Franco live with him—Sam was right,” he seethed. “I should have gone after you for custody—”

Elizabeth forced herself to remain calm, to remind  herself that he was going through a lot. “You never would have won.”

“Really?” he drawled. “You think if I reminded everyone exactly how many lies you’ve told—how many people you’ve screwed over—”

“And that’s how I know you’re not Jason,” she said softly, and he stopped, staring her. Tears slid down her cheeks. “Even when I deserved it, and I usually did, he never treated me this way. Not after all the crap I put him through with Lucky. With Zander. The lies about Jake — he never looked at me with hatred in his eyes.”

He stared at her. “Maybe I’ve finally gotten tired of dealing with your crap—”

“And maybe you need to lash out at me because I’m in front of you. Because I’ve already done terrible things to you. Jason should have cut me off a long time ago. He never did because he always saw that no one could hate me more than I hated myself. I’m sorry you’re going through this. I hope we get the results back and you find out who you are. But you’re not Jason Morgan, and I’m done with lies.”

Webber Home: Kitchen

“So.” Michael sat down next to Cameron at the kitchen table, reaching for the last slice of pizza. “What did you do to piss off Trina? Wasn’t she supposed to come over tonight?”

“Nothing,” Cameron muttered, hunching his shoulders. “She’s just mad I didn’t tell her about Friday.” He glared at Oscar. “You mad about that, too?”

“No, but I’m not dating you either.” Oscar picked at his cheese fries. “You know girls. She’s mad that Joss knew first.” He squinted at Cameron. “It’s really not a big deal, you know. You could have told us.”

“I didn’t want it to be a thing.” He looked at Michael. “You get understand, right? Now it’s something everyone is talking about, and I didn’t want that.”

“It happened to you,” Michael said with a nod. “You have a right to decide who gets to know things. I just think you gotta ask yourself why you don’t want your best friends to know. Why your girlfriend shouldn’t know.”

Cameron hesitated. “I just—I knew they’d blame my mom. Joss and Trina both immediately had that look on their face, and they don’t get it. Mom really thought he’d changed. She wouldn’t want me to be hurt.”

“But you did get hurt,” Michael said gently. “I told you on Saturday—it’s okay if you’re mad at her.”

“Fine. Then I’ll be mad at her. But no one else gets to be, okay? They don’t understand. They didn’t see her face or how upset—I don’t want to make my mom cry. She cries too much.” He stared down at the table. “She cried all the time when I was kid. Lucky was addicted to drugs and he was always screaming at her. Having affairs. Even later, when they tried to get back together because she wanted me to have a dad again—” Cameron scrubbed his hands down his face. “Franco sort of made her happy for a while. And so did Jake Doe. I wanted her to be happy.”

“I know what you mean. Franco made my mom happy, too,” Michael told him. “For a few months. He’s good at making people believe in him. He just can’t hold on to the pretending for long. He let it slip, and I’m glad your mom saw it. That she didn’t try to make excuses.”

“You get it, but Joss and Trina don’t. Neither did Emma. And maybe it’s just because they don’t live here.” Cameron stared out into the living room where Joss was sitting with his brothers. “My mom loves me. And she feels bad enough. I don’t want a bunch of people looking at her, knowing this happened, and thinking it’s her fault. It’s Franco’s fault.”

“Of course it is,” Oscar said, loyally and Cameron flashed him a grateful look. “I don’t know your mom that well, Cam, but she was really nice about setting up that test for me, and she was totally cool with Kim not really wanting to be part of it. Kim just doesn’t want to get her hopes up, and she’s still—like—in denial about everything. I mean, she was at the hospital today and didn’t come to see us because she doesn’t want to see someone with my dad’s face who isn’t my dad.”  He paused. “But you just gotta be around your mom five minutes and you can see you and your brothers are the most important people. And I’m just sorry I didn’t get to see her firing a warning shot. That sounds pretty cool.”

“It was. She made him think she was gonna listen—” Cameron’s chest tightened because he remembered thinking in that moment his mother was going to take Franco’s side and it had gutted him— “She, like, shoved the bat at me, had the safe open, and was aiming the gun before he even knew what was going on. I knew if it was just me and her and him she might have killed him. She didn’t wanna make it worse for my brothers.”

“Joss and Trina—and Emma—” Michael said, “are just worried about you. But I get it, Cam. It’s the oldest kid of a single mom syndrome. My mom was single for a lot of my childhood. And my teen years. And even when she was dating someone, she was always really wrapped up in that. Sonny, Jax, Johnny—” He winced. “Franco.” He shrugged. “Someone has to keep things together. I had to make sure Joss and Morgan were okay. And sometimes it meant giving my mom a break even if she didn’t deserve it.”

“But—”

“It’s not exactly the same,” Michael said, cutting off Cameron’s protests. “I know that. But you spend a lot of time looking out for your brothers. And protecting your mom. There’s nothing wrong with it. But I learned the hard way, Cam. Sometimes you spend so much time protecting other people, you forget that you matter, too. I think that’s all Trina, Joss, and Emma are saying.”

“I know I do—”

“Maybe you didn’t get kidnapped for four years like Jake or for a few weeks like Aiden,” Michael continued, “but your mom wasn’t the only one who lost Jake.” His voice faltered a moment. “I know what it’s like to lose a brother.”

“I got him back,” Cam said, his eyes stinging. “It’s not the same—”

“He was gone for four years, Cam. I remember. You and I got to know each other while our parents were dating,” Michael reminded him. “And you were always watching Aiden like a hawk. Even more closely than your mom, and I don’t think anyone hovered like she did. Getting him back won’t erase that time.”

“Maybe that’s what Trina and the others don’t get,” Oscar offered. “When my dad went missing, I thought Kim was gonna send me away. I thought I would be all alone. Just because she kept me, and because my dad is alive after all, it doesn’t mean I didn’t feel scared. It’s not the same, I know—”

“No, I get it. It’s just—I need to be okay for my mom and my brothers. I know that sounds stupid. But Mom kept going back to Lucky because she wanted me and Jake to have a father, and Jason didn’t—I don’t know what his issue was. But Lucky kept promising her he wanted us. He didn’t.” Cameron’s lips thinned. “I need her to know that it’s okay that we don’t have have a dad. Or that I don’t. I don’t need anyone but her.”

Elm Street Pier

Jason sat on the bench, and stared out over the water — he could almost make out the spot on Pier 52 where he’d been ambushed by Cesar Faison—where he’d found Bernie bleeding out, struggling to breathe. He’d been such a good man—he’d deserved better.

“I guess your day didn’t get better after you left the hospital,” Elizabeth said.

He turned to find her at the bottom of the stairs, a purse over one shoulder, a bag from Kelly’s in her hand. “Hey.”

“You know, I haven’t been here in a while,” she said, sitting down on the bench. “I think maybe I stopped coming here after we broke up the last time.” She glanced at him. “We always seemed to end up here—even back in the beginning. And I knew—after that last time—we were never going to make it work.”

“I stopped coming here, too,” he admitted. Jason looked back out over the water. “One of my favorite things to do was sit here and listen to you talk about your painting. Or a class. Or Kelly’s. Then, something about Cam or the hospital.”

Elizabeth wrinkled her nose. “Really?” she asked. “You never told me that. I always thought you mostly tuned out my rambling.”

“Sometimes I did,” he admitted, and she laughed. “But mostly —” He paused. “No matter what was bothering me, I could just listen to you—” Jason met her eyes and held them. “And it would go away.”

“I know what you mean,” Elizabeth murmured. “Because you’d sit and listen to the ridiculous ramble, and then you’d drive me home on your bike.”

His smile slid away, and he looked back out over the pier. “I don’t even know where the bike is now,” Jason said softly.

She waited a minute. “What happened at Anna’s, Jason?”

“What happened to bring you down here instead of going home to the boys?” he asked pointedly, and she made a face. “We can talk about it tomorrow,” he said. “Maybe—maybe you could just talk to me about anything other than the last few days. Maybe we both need it.”

Elizabeth nodded. “Okay.” She paused, furrowing her brow for a moment. “A few years ago, when Cam was, oh, I think he must have been twelve. He and Emma were dating the way kids do—sitting on the couch, playing video games. Spencer and Joss wanted to break them up—”

“Joss?” Jason repeated.

“Oh, yeah, they’re partners in crime now, but Joss went through a period where she decided Cameron was her soul mate. He wasn’t interested, but didn’t know how to let her down lightly. So Joss decided Emma was her mortal enemy, and at Aiden’s birthday party—I think he was turning four—Joss decided to push Emma into the pool and ruin her dress. Trina saw her heading that way and pushed Joss first. Spencer was upset on Joss’s behalf and shoved Trina in the pool—and Cam got really mad—”

“How many of them ended up in the pool?” Jason asked with a hesitant smile.

“All of them. I thought Emma would escape the whole thing, but Joss doesn’t give up easily. She waited until everyone was distracted and finished the job. Aiden thought it was a lot of fun.” Elizabeth grinned. “Carly came to pick Joss up and gave her a lecture about wasting her time on boys who weren’t interested in her. She didn’t think it was funny when I started laughing, so she tried to push me in the pool, only she slipped and fell instead.” She sighed happily. “It’s one of my favorite moments.”

Jason laughed at that, his shoulders easing. He smiled at her. “Thanks.”

“Anytime.” Elizabeth got to her feet. “I should get home, though. I forbid the boys from watching anything scarier than Hocus Pocus, which means—” She glanced at her watch. “Aiden should be waking up from his first nightmare right about now.”

“I’ll walk you to your car,” Jason said, as they went up the stairs.

“Maybe you should find out where your bike is,” Elizabeth suggested.

“Yeah, you’re still not going to drive even when I do get it back.”

“I am the mother of three—don’t you think I can handle the responsibility?”

“Nice try. No.”

And who do you think you are?
Runnin’ ’round leaving scars
Collecting your jar of hearts
And tearing love apart
You’re gonna catch a cold
From the ice inside your soul
Don’t come back for me
Who do you think you are?
– Jars of Heart, Christina Perri

---

October 2014

Scarsdale, New York

Andre set the newspaper down and rubbed his temple. All of his time and effort—the risks that he took to send Patient Five to Port Charles instead of his brother—and it had been for nothing.

Everything had gone to hell since Victor had died the month before—and he was definitely dead, Andre thought dubiously. Unlike his other Cassadine relations, Victor’s burnt and broken body had been pulled from the wreckage of Crichton Clark. Drew Cain, believing himself to be Jason Morgan, had escaped in the melee along with Dr. Scorpio, but he’d been hit by a car just after reaching Port Charles, and the good doctor had disappeared into thin air.

Andre had been waiting for weeks for the second shoe to drop and, well, maybe this wasn’t quite what he expecting—

He looked down at the Port Charles Sun, rereading the headline proclaiming that the mysterious accident victim that had been brought into the ER with life-threatening injuries had woken from his coma with amnesia. Since he had required facial reconstruction, learning his identity would be nearly impossible.

Would they run his fingerprints? Would that mean that they’d discover the man in the hospital was Drew Cain—

And what would Helena think if that happened? Would she believe—

Lost in his thoughts, he ignored the knock on his apartment door at first, then whirled around when he heard the lock clicking, then the knob turning.

Helena Cassadine stood in the doorway, smiling as a man got to his feet, sliding a set of tools into his back pocket. Andre stared at the pair of them, his mouth dropping slightly. What the hell was Valentin doing with his mother—

Had Valentin sold him down the river?

“Hello, my dear Dr. Maddox.” She stepped inside the apartment and waited for Valentin to close the door behind them. “My son tells me he met you while I was briefly indisposed last year.”

“Ah, yes—” Andre looked at the other man, dubiously but, maddeningly, the man just smiled at him, a faint curve of his lips that could have been mocking or true amusement. One could never tell with the Cassadines. “Briefly.”

“With the unfortunate loss of my brother-in-law,” Helena said, with a sigh, “it is time for us to pick up the pieces the best we can. You’ve seen the papers?”

“Yes.”

“A man of few words,” Valentin said. “I like him, Mother.”

“I thought about sending you to Port Charles to keep a closer eye on the situation,” Helena told Andre. “I’m sure there are things you could do to jumpstart his memory,” she continued. “But, I’ve decided that I don’t want Jason Morgan’s amnesia to be dealt with. Not at the moment,” she added. “I am quite intrigued at the idea of using him behind the scenes. The chip in his head, you’re sure it will work?”

“Yes,” Andre said. “As long as it’s not damaged.”

“Well, I suppose I’ll learn that for myself when the time comes.”

“Won’t they—” Andre braced himself. “Won’t they run his fingerprints?”

“Oh, I took care of that,” Valentin offered. “I simply deleted the electronic prints from the system,” he clarified when his mother looked at him. “If they were to take his prints and compare them to everyone in their physical archives, they’d find him, but they won’t bother with that.”

“For now, it serves my purpose. We’ll revisit it at a later date.” Helena focused on Andre. “Now, Dr. Maddox, I want you to know that I value your work and loyalty. There’s a place for you in Greece at my new lab.” She lifted a brow. “You’ll have the same freedom there as you did in the States. I have a few projects on which I’d like to consult with you.”

“Greece?” Andre repeated. Could he afford to refuse? He met Valentin’s eyes, and the man lifted his brows slightly. Had Valentin also deleted Drew Cain’s fingerprints? Had he truly taken care of it? He should say no. Wash his hands of the whole thing and hope that the Cassadines forgot he existed.

But maybe it would be better to keep his hand in—to know what the Cassadines were up to and if he was in danger.

“Thank you, Mrs. Cassadine,” Andre said. “I’d be happy to continue working with you and your family.”

Wednesday, November 1, 2017

Metro Court Hotel: Restaurant

Carly tossed a napkin on the table and sat back in her chair, a disgruntled expression on her face. “You’re supposed to hear from Jordan about the fingerprints today. I don’t understand why you can’t just stick close so we can go find out together—”

Jason sipped his coffee. “I am. Until around four. It’s Elizabeth’s birthday—do not make that face—”

“Carly,” Sonny said, leaning forward. “You know Jake is his son. You want them to spend time together, don’t you?”

“Yes, Jason should spend time with both of his sons, but so far, he’s just talked about Jake. I mean, have you even seen Danny?” Carly demanded. “Why aren’t you talking to Sam? She’s your wife—”

“She’s his wife,” Jason corrected gently. “And yes, I’ve seen Danny. Last night, when he was trick or treating. But Sam has made it clear she’s waiting on the results of the fingerprints.” He paused. “Danny doesn’t know me—”

“But he will. And Sam will come around. You know how obsessed she is with you—”

Jason shook his head, then sighed. “Jake asked me to come over,” he told her. “He’s willing to accept who I am to him because Elizabeth has. Why don’t you get that? Danny—he’s not an option for me right now.” And might never be if Sam’s expression had been any indication the night before, but — “I’m finally getting the chance to be with Jake.”

“But it’s always with her. And Elizabeth is the reason you can’t—”

“Not that I don’t enjoy rehashing the past,” Sonny said dryly, “but I think we’ve got more important things to worry about, Carly. Spinelli is coming in tomorrow, isn’t he?”

“Yeah.” Jason scratched his temple, relieved for the change in conversation. He really just wanted to keep putting one foot in front of the other, take things as they happened, but Carly made it difficult. Reminding him that the woman he’d planned to spend the rest of his life with had looked at him, then refused to believe he was who he said he was. And she knew the truth. He could always tell when she was lying. He’d seen it in her eyes the night before. She knew and she was still refusing to say so.

But he had people who did want to support him. He had Michael and Joss, Sonny and Carly—he had Elizabeth and her boys. He’d started to rebuild his life over the last few days, but it would take a long time before any of this felt normal again. If it ever did. But he had to just keep looking ahead, and not think about who wasn’t standing beside him.

“He’s going to look into the clinic in Russia and follow the money,” Jason continued, “to see if we can trace it back to the Cassadines. I know Victor and Helena are supposed to be dead, but whoever those guys from Russia were working for is still out there—if it’s Valentin, then I want to know.”

“Maybe Andre was carrying the torch on his own,” Carly suggested. “He did split town really fast. If we track him down, this might be over.” She tipped his head. “That would be a good thing, Jason. The last thing you want to do is chase answers for the rest of your life. Let’s find out who was behind this, make sure it’s over, and get on with your life.”

“I don’t know if it’s going to be that easy,” Sonny began.

“And that life is with Sam and your sons,” Carly said, and Jason just closed his eyes. “What? You know I’m right. She’s going to find out that you’re Jason, and she’ll come running. She always does. She’s obsessed with you.”

“I thought Elizabeth was obsessed with him,” Sonny said. “And that it was a bad thing.”

“It is. The way she does it,” Carly said as if that made all the sense in the world. “Sam gets how Jason’s life works. Elizabeth never has.” She focused those intense eyes on him. “She never will.”

“Interesting.” Sonny wiped his mouth with his napkin. “Because last week, when you thought Sam was taking Jason away from you for Aurora, you told me that at least Elizabeth never got in the way of Jason’s job—”

Carly scowled. “That was different.”

“How?” Sonny challenged, while Jason just sighed.

“Because Elizabeth only does what she thinks is going to keep Jason hanging around. You know she shoved Franco to the curb because you came home. I mean, how can you trust someone who does that?”

Clearly, no one had told Carly what had actually happened at Elizabeth’s house that night, but Jason wasn’t going to get into it when she was in a mood like this. No telling what she would do with the information.

“You don’t even listen to yourself when you talk, do you?” Sonny said pleasantly. Carly scowled at him. “You’ve been complaining for months that Joss has to go over to that house with Franco around, and that you can’t understand why Elizabeth doesn’t have the self-respect to understand that Franco is the worst. She kicks him out, and now, that’s a bad thing.”

“Her reasons make it bad,” Carly insisted. “Do you honestly think she would have broken up with him if Jason hadn’t come home?”

“I wish you’d just say it,” Jason said, suddenly, bringing both their attention back to him. “Just admit it.”

“Admit what?” she asked, blinking.

“You’re bothered that I’m spending time with Elizabeth and her sons because you hate her. You decided a long time ago you’d rather I be with Sam and not her.” Jason pushed his coffee mug away. “You can’t even stop complaining long enough to get that the only good thing in my life right now is getting to see Jake, and Elizabeth’s making that happen—”

“Not the only good thing—” Carly protested.

“Carly,” Sonny gritted.

“I thought he was dead,” Jason retorted. “I buried him. He had a gravestone with his picture on it, Carly. You get that? And not only is he alive, but I get to be his father. You’re so concerned with being number one in my life that you can’t even stop to be happy for me.”

“I—” Carly gaped as Jason got to his feet. “I am happy—”

“Then act like it and stop insulting Elizabeth. I’m tired of warning you about this. It’s been twenty years. Get over it,” Jason told her. He looked at Sonny. “I’ll call you if Jordan gets in touch.” Then he walked out of the restaurant.

“He’s just—” Carly took a deep breath. “He’s missing the point—”

“If Morgan came back to us tomorrow and the only way you could see him is if you were in the same room with Ava,” Sonny said slowly, “you wouldn’t even blink. You’d snap that chance up in a heartbeat.”

“The difference is that I’m not going to let Ava push me around and break my heart again,” Carly snapped. “Jason will never see Elizabeth Webber for who she really is—” She stopped as Sonny dropped his napkin on the table. “What—”

“Your best friend in the whole world just came back from the dead, and you’re just going back to business as usual. Excuse me if I’m not in the mood.” Sonny gestured at her. “This is the woman I nearly divorced last year. I thought you were done with being petty and immature.”

“How dare you—” Incensed, Carly got to her feet. “That is not what happened last year—this isn’t even related—”

“Then shut up about the time Jason spends breathing the same air as Elizabeth because you’re asking him to choose between you and his son. You’re going to lose that fight, Carly. And you should.”

General Hospital: Cafeteria

“All these years,” Elizabeth said with a sigh as she and Felix rolled their trays down the row of meager offerings, “and I can still be surprised by the terrible options.”

“Careful.” Felix nodded to the sour woman at the grill behind the counter, who gave them the side eye. “Brunhilda might hear you.”

Elizabeth snorted, then slid her tray down to the cashier. She swiped her ID card to pay for her salad and water, then went over to set her lunch down next to Griffin Munro, who was perusing a patient file on his tablet. “Hey. Anything good happening on the surgery floor?”

“Not today,” Griffin said, setting the tablet down. “Happy birthday, by the way—”

Elizabeth whipped her head around to narrow her eyes at Felix. “What did I tell you about reminding people?”

Felix rolled his eyes. “I didn’t remind people, babe. Some people like you—”

“Facebook told me,” Griffin said dryly. “You should take the information off there if you don’t want people saying things to you.”

She made a face. “I really need to deactivate that,” she muttered.

“Hey, cheer up. How many years do you have left before you actually start looking your age?” Felix asked. “Right now, you can still pass for forty.”

Elizabeth narrowed her eyes. “I’m thirty-seven.” She threw a carrot slice at him, and Felix ducked.

Griffin grinned, then his eyes sobered as he looked across the cafeteria. “Anyone talked to her since this started?

Elizabeth twisted in her seat, sobering as she saw Kim Nero winding her way through the line, ducking her head. She and Kim were friendly enough since Cam and Oscar had met six months ago, but now she saw the other woman in an entirely new light.

“We talked briefly when I set up the test for Oscar,” Elizabeth admitted. She twisted the cap from her water and rolled it in her fingers. “She was pretty matter of fact—let’s wait until the tests are in, wait for the facts, but I haven’t called her since the tests came back. I’m not sure what to say to her. Drew’s been living here for three years and doesn’t remember her or his own son. She knows that. ”

“You think Drew and Sam will split over this?” Felix asked. “You remember how hard she went after Jake Doe when she found out he was supposed to be Jason—”

“Yeah, I have a vague recollection,” Elizabeth muttered. She shifted uncomfortably. “I don’t know. Jason and I haven’t talked about Sam. Last I heard is that she hasn’t reached out, and he hasn’t seen Danny.”

“You’re sure the guy who came back is actually Jason?” Griffin asked. “It’s not the other way around?”

“Not a doubt in my mind. And that’s not just because the other guy picked Sam,” Elizabeth said, warding off Felix’s likely retort. “I mean, I know Jason. I know the way he carries himself. The way he talks. And the way he talks about Jake—it’s just different. It feels right. Maybe that’s not science—”

“But there’s something to be said for the gut feeling,” Griffin replied. He hesitated. “So Sam is taking the other guy’s side.”

“Probably playing both sides like she always does,” Felix suggested. “Face it — if she’s wrong, Jason’s probably the kind of guy that would forgive her. And if she’s right, she’s the one that looks like the hero. She’s the only one sticking by Jake Doe or Drew Cain, whoever the hell he is.”

“Would Jason forgive her for freezing him out and refusing to acknowledge him?” Griffin asked Elizabeth, intrigued.

“He’s forgiven her for worse,” she replied sourly. “So, yeah, you’re probably right, Felix. She’s hedging her bets. It’s not my business—”

“If she’s wrong, you might finally get rid of her for good,” Felix said brightly. “What if she stays with Drew slash Jake? He’s not Jake’s dad anymore, so—” He made a gesture as if he was washing his hands. “You’re out of it—”

“If there’s anything I’ve learned in the last eleven years,” Elizabeth said, wrinkling her nose, “is that I’m never going to be rid of Sam McCall.”

“Kim’s coming over here—”

“Then stop looking at her—” Griffin reached over, slapped Felix’s arm. “Be cool—”

“Uh, hey.” Kim held her tray with all the confidence that a new girl in a high school cafeteria might possess. “Elizabeth, Oscar said it was your birthday—so I wanted—” She closed her eyes. “That’s a lie. I just wanted an excuse—”

“You know, I have a lot to do.” Felix got to his feet, picking up his tray. “Griffin? Any heads to sew?”

“I’ll find some.”

“Oh, wait—” Kim sighed as both men hurried away. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to chase them away.”

“It’s fine, I know where to find them.” Elizabeth nodded to the chair that Griffin had vacated across from her. “Take a seat. What’s up?”

“Well, Oscar and I are trying to decide how to deal with all of this. Even though the fingerprints haven’t come back and established anything definitely, he said you and your boys are convinced you know which twin is which.” She paused. “The DNA seems clear that one of them is my husband. Or—” She closed her eyes. “Was my husband.”

“Yes—”

“But neither of them remember being Drew. They both think they’re Jason.” Kim opened her eyes, looked at her. “You think the man who came back last week is Jason, and the one that ‘s been living here is Drew.”

“I do. Kim—”

“Drew was a good man. He never would have done this,” Kim said. “He never would have helped anyone hurt someone else. Take them away from their family—”

“I never believed for a second that the man I knew as Jason for the last two years—I never thought he was part of this. I think he and Jason are both victims.” Elizabeth paused. “What was Drew like?”

“Oh.” Kim paused. “Funny,”  she said a minute. “He took his job so seriously, you know? He grew up without family in a group home here in New York. In Rochester, actually. When he joined the navy, it was like he found the family he’d always wanted.”

Kim’s smile was faint. “But outside the job—everything was a joke to him. He loved to tease people and have a good time. We met on the base in San Diego. I worked in the hospital there. Um, after his first wife—Oscar’s mother—after Cara died—he was so determined to be a good father. He loved that little boy. He never would have left him—” She closed her eyes. “It’s so hard for me to think that he’s been here all this time or that someone else held him hostage for another two years—I’ve been so scared he was dead, but—”

She hesitated. “He doesn’t know us. This man. When he woke up three years ago—he never once remembered us, did he? Me or Oscar.”

“No. Whatever they did to him before he showed up—” Elizabeth sighed. “It was bad. It wiped it all out. I’m so sorry—”

“I’m a big girl, you know. I grieved him a long time ago. And maybe—well, Oscar’s young. They can always rebuild.” Kim pushed her sandwich across the plate absently. “It just seems a shame. His first wife, Cara, grew up in the group home, too. No family. She had some friends, but they’ve mostly moved on. Oscar and Drew were her entire life. And now—Oscar barely remembers her, and Drew might never get those memories back.”

Elizabeth bit her lip. “That’s terrible.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to depress you on your birthday—”

“No, no, it’s just—I’ve been really focused on Jason mostly because it’s something I can help with. Drew—or whoever he is—he hasn’t really been interested in hearing from anyone who disagrees with him, which I get. But talking to you, knowing Oscar—so many lives were destroyed by this.”

“Whoever did this,” Kim said, “deserves to rot in hell.”

Devane Manor: Foyer

“Where’s the file?” Anna demanded as Robert stepped into her house that afternoon. Her ex-husband narrowed his eyes and closed the door behind him.

“Let a man breathe, will you?” he drawled. He went into the living room to drop his duffel bag on her coffee table.

“You can breathe while I’m reading,” she retorted. “Hand it over—”

“Fine, fine—” Robert unzipped his bag and handed the thick, manila personnel folder to her. “I glanced through it a bit on the plane—some of it has been classified—”

“Classified?” Anna wrinkled her nose, taking a seat on the sofa and flipping it open. “Frisco won’t get you access?”

“More like he can’t,” Robert told her. “Some of Cassadine’s projects are still encrypted. With his death, it hasn’t been a priority to dig into some of this. Frisco’s been more concerned with weeding out any agents that went rogue—”

“What is this?” Anna asked. She pointed to a line in his file. “This transfer from Special Research to Special Operations in late 2011? That’s the last thing in this file. Where’s the rest of it?”

“Well,” Robert said, leaning forward. “That’s something we might ask Dr. Maddox ourselves.”

“I wish we could,” she muttered. “But he’s disappeared—” She stopped, then looked up at him, realizing he was smiling. “Robert?”

“I dropped a present off at the PCPD,” Robert reported. “As soon as they’re done with him, the WSB will take custody of our rogue doctor, and we’ll get some answers.”

Webber Home: Kitchen

Jason eyed the layers of cake cooling on the counter. “When you said you and Aiden were baking—” he began but Elizabeth pointed a spatula at him.

“Watch it. I’ve always been able to make anything that comes out of a box.”

Jason put up his hands in mock surrender. “I know, I know. Emily used to talk about your brownies all the time.”

“Exactly,” she sniffed, then sobered. She looked out into the living room where Cameron and Jake were playing another round of some video game where Jake was losing miserably, and Cameron was crowing. Aiden was sitting at the kitchen table, stirring a bowl of chocolate icing. “That’s one of the reasons I stopped celebrating my birthday,” Elizabeth said finally. “It never really felt right again without her.”

“I know,” Jason said, his mind drifting back to that terrible night, to the ballroom and his sister’s broken body, laying in a crumpled heap of white. “I hated that I had to be the one to tell you.”

“There was never going to be a good way to find out. Better you than someone else.” Elizabeth folded her arms, trying to block out the memory of Sam screaming at her that night. “I know…I know the doctors said it was technically—that it happened before midnight. But I found out on my birthday.” She looked at Aiden again. “Two years ago, he decided he loved baking and wanted to bake me a cake. I think Emily would be okay with me taking this day back.”

“She never would have wanted you to lose it in the first place.”

“Fair enough.” They fell silent for a moment, then Jason cleared his throat.

“Jordan is supposed to call any minute with the fingerprints.”

She frowned, then looked at him. “Oh. I forgot that was today—”

“I was gonna call Carly and Sonny,” he said, “and I still can, but—” He paused. “I mean, I figured since Jake was involved—”

“Jason, do you want me to come with you tonight when you get the call?” she asked, surprised. “I mean—I can, but you know it’s just another reason for Carly to hate me.”

“I’m not sure she needs any new ones,” Jason said. “I just—” He looked down at his hands. “I don’t know. If I call Sonny, Carly will want to come, and I don’t want this to turn into a circus. I also—I don’t want to go alone.”

Not since Drew would likely bring Sam, and Elizabeth understood that. He wanted to be on equal footing. She just wasn’t wild about having to be in a room with Sam and the man she’d once called Jake Doe.

Still — Jason had a point. Carly and Sonny would make everything more intense and dramatic because Carly didn’t know any other speed. “Sure,” Elizabeth said after a minute. “When Jordan calls.” She looked over at the table. “Hey, Aiden, you about ready to frost this cake? I think the layers are cool enough.”

“Almost, Mom. You forgot the candles again,” Aiden said as he climbed down from the table and walked over to her with the bowl of icing. “I think Jake was kidding when he said if we put all the candles on the cake, there’d be a fire.”

“You know, a lot of people making age jokes today,” she muttered as she took the bowl from him, then lifted him onto the stool. She looked at Jason. “I don’t know where Jake gets it from—”

“You don’t? I do,” Jason replied. She made a face at him, and handed Aiden the spatula. Twenty minutes later, the cake was iced and Elizabeth unearthed a single candle. Jake and Cameron trooped into the kitchen, Jake having whooped Cameron’s butt in the last round so he was in a good mood.

“Mom, you’re missing some candles,” he said, climbing up next to his father. He looked at Jason. “She’s definitely not one.”

“You know, Christmas isn’t that far away,” Elizabeth reminded him.

“Yeah, Webbers hold grudges,” Cameron reminded Jake as he poked his finger in the leftover icing and licked it. “I mean, Mom and Joss’s mom have hated each other since the Stone Age—and neither one of them remembers why.”

“Not remembering and not telling you and Joss are two different things,” she began, irritated beyond the speaking of it, but Cameron just smirked and flicked the light off in the kitchen.

Morgan Penthouse: Living Room

Sam watched as her husband paced the room, back and forth in front of the fireplace. She folded her arms. “Are you ever going to talk to me again?” she asked finally. “You’ve barely looked at me since yesterday—”

He stopped to glare at her, his blue eyes blazing. “What do you want me to say? You’re just like the rest of them—”

“Am I?” Sam demanded. “Did I stop calling you Jason? Did I tell Danny that you weren’t his father? I’m sorry, what exactly is my crime? It’s hard for me to see him because he has your old face. I’m supposed to be magically okay with everything that’s happened in the last three days—”

“This is happening to me, not you—”

“It’s happening to both of us,” she shot back. “Both of our lives are being questioned, and I’m so sick of this, Jason! Why does any of it even matter? It’s not like we’re together because you’re Jason—”

“Aren’t we?” He stopped to focus on her. “Before Carly came to the church and announced I was Jason Morgan, did you even give a damn about me? Did you feel any connection to me?”

Sam hissed. “Why are we back to this again? Why does that matter? That was two years ago! You left that life behind—you came back to me—to me and Danny, and now we have Scout—” She crossed the room to take his face in hers. “Why does your name matter? Why does it have to change anything—”

He shrugged out of her grasp. “So you do believe him,” he said, his voice raspy with pain. “You think he’s Jason—”

“I didn’t say that—”

“You didn’t have to, Sam.”

“I had my chance to take his side,” Sam reminded him. “Last night—when you had your tantrum and refused to come out with us. I ran into him with Danny—”

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Because it didn’t matter. I walked away from him, and he didn’t say anything to Danny. Danny knows who his father is, Jason. And it’s you. You’re the man that’s raised him, loved him—”

His phone rang, interrupting her. He pulled it out of his pocket and sighed. “It’s Jordan—” He answered it and pressed it to his ear. “Yeah? Okay. I’ll be there—fine. Call him, too. Whatever.” He looked at Sam as he slid the phone back into his pocket. “The fingerprints are back, and so is the advanced DNA. Jordan said she’s expecting the Navy to release Andrew Cain’s fingerprints by the time we get there. She’s going to have them compared—”

“This is about to be over, Jason,” Sam said, emphasizing his name. “This will be just a bad dream in a few hours. Let’s go to the PCPD and see if we can make this go faster. I’ll call my mom or my sisters to watch the kids.”

Cut me down
But it’s you who has further to fall
Ghost town, haunted love
Raise your voice, sticks and stones may break my bones
I’m talking loud not saying much
– Titanium, Jasmine Thompson

---

Mykonos, Greece; December 2014

Cassadine Estate: Nursery

The boy was clearly too old to be cooped up in the suite of rooms that had served as the estate’s nursery for more than a century. Andre didn’t know a lot about the little boy that Helena Cassadine had kidnapped almost four years earlier, but he knew the child was approaching the age of seven.

He was a bright and cheerful little boy with sandy blonde hair, kind blue eyes, and a smile for anyone who offered him one first. He seemed somehow untouched by his time in Greece—almost as if Helena had kidnapped him, set him up in this room with a tutor and a governess, then had forgotten about him until the time came when he would be useful.

That day had finally come.

“Hi.” The boy waved at him and got to his feet, pushing aside the truck he was playing with. “My name is Jake. Who are you? Does Tana know you’re here?”

“Yes,” Andre said. He took a chair from the table and sat down. “I’m a doctor working with Mrs. Cassadine. Can you sit down, talk with me for a minute?”

“Sure. I haven’t seen Mrs. Cassadine in forever,” Jake said. He joined Andre at the table, taking a minute to climb into the adult-sized chair. “She’s nice, though.”

“Is she?”

“Tana says she’s very busy looking for my family.” Jake squinted at Andre. “Do you know where I came from?”

“No,” Andre said, slowly. This was mostly true. He didn’t know much about the boy in front of him, other than the fact he was the son of Jason Morgan and a woman Helena obviously loathed. She wanted to make this woman—Elizabeth Webber—pay for some slight, for some crime she’d committed. “Do you know?”

“Tana says I used to have a mommy, but not a daddy. She says my daddy left.” Jake furrowed his brow. “I don’t know what happened, though. Tana says I shouldn’t ask questions.”

“How long have you been here?”

“With Mrs. Cassadine?” Jake paused, clearly thinking over his answer. “A few years. I think. I don’t know. I didn’t always live here because I remember what my room looked like before. I had lots of posters. And trucks. I like trucks. And motorcycles. And cars,” he added.

“You remember your old room? What about your mother?”

Jake paused, then dipped his head. “I sort of remember her,” he said in a small voice. “But Tana said it was a dream.”

“What do you remember?” Andre asked gently.

“She was crying, and I missed her, and then someone took me away.” Jake rubbed a hand over his eyes. “She tried to come after me, but—I don’t remember anything else.” He pinned Andre with his bright blue eyes. “Do you know my mommy? Why are you asking all these questions?”

“I don’t know your mother,” Andre said, “but I’m here to help you get ready to go home. Mrs. Cassadine—'” He closed his eyes. He’d done so many terrible things in his search for answers—what he’d done to this little boy’s father and uncle was beyond anything else—

But Andre knew what he was about to do to this child—the lies he would tell—the things he was supposed to put into his brain—

It was too late to get out. Too late to turn back. But maybe he could try to help. Maybe he could—

He was the expert, after all. Helena didn’t have to know—

“You missed your mother?” Andre said quietly. “So you remember loving her.”

“It’s weird,” Jake admitted. “Because I can’t really remember what she looked like except she had shiny brown hair and a nice smile. But I remember that I loved her. And I know she loved me. It’s like—” His face scrunched up. “You know how you can remember a feeling?”

“Yes,” Andre said slowly. “I do.”

“I’m going home to her?” Jake asked. “They found her? Where is she? Where has she been all this time?”

“We haven’t found her yet,” Andre told him. “But Mrs. Cassadine thinks we’re close, so she wants you to be ready.” He smiled at Jake. “And that’s my job.”

If Jake could remember the feeling of his mother’s love after all this time, then maybe Andre could use that love as a failsafe.

If Helena was determined to use this little boy to trigger a biological weapon, then it was up to Andre to do whatever he could do to protect him. There was obviously no one else who could.

Wednesday, November 1, 2017

PCPD: Squad Room

Sam didn’t know what she was expecting when she and her husband arrived at the department that evening — but she certainly was not expecting Elizabeth Webber with the other man.

She felt her husband stiffen as he saw the two of them standing by Dante Falconieri’s desk, talking with the detective.

“Let’s just get this over with,” Sam told her husband, tugging on his coat sleeve. “Let’s find Jordan—” Then her eyes widened when she saw Dante’s partner, Nathan West, strolling out of the back room with Andre Maddox in handcuffs. “Andre? What the—”

The doctor looked away, and Elizabeth glared at her colleague. “How could you?” she bit out. “How could you do that to Jake?”

“Elizabeth—” Andre began.

“He trusted you—we all trusted you—”

“I swear, since I started treating him—”

“What the hell is going on?” Her husband declared, shoving his way forward. “What happened to Jake? What did you do to my son?”

Andre stared at the other man, then closed his eyes, and fear licked at Sam’s throat. Oh, God, oh God—

“You didn’t tell him the results yet?” he asked, turning to Dante. Her husband’s face stilled, and Sam pressed her fist to her mouth. Oh, God, she’d known, but she hadn’t wanted to—

“No, not yet,” another voice sounded from the other side of the room. Jordan Ashford strode forward, her boyfriend just behind her. Curtis’s eyes were averted, and Sam turned to look at the man who was about to lose everything.

“I love you,” she told him. “Please remember that.”

“What do the fingerprints say?” her husband asked, ignoring her. He swallowed hard, nodding at the file in Jordan’s hand. “You have them, don’t you?”

“I do,” Jordan said. “And advanced DNA results. I know which one of you is Jason Morgan, and we can say—for certain now—that the other man is Andrew Cain, his twin brother.”

Greystone Manor: Kitchen

Carly charged into the kitchen, waving her phone. “Look at this text message!” she told her husband.

Sonny frowned, stepped back from the stove, and wiped his hands on the dishtowel hanging over the oven handle. “What?”

“Just read it—”

Sonny squinted at the text.

hey mom gonna go to cams hes got leftover cake and his mom went with jason to pcpd to resolve the whole jase-face drama will prolly make curfew unless something interesting happens.

Sonny knew exactly why his wife was irritated, but he really didn’t want to have this argument. “Jason will probably let us know what happens when he gets a chance—”

“Why didn’t he call us?” Carly demanded. When she didn’t take the phone Sonny held out to her, he tossed it on the island counter and went back to the simmering sauce. “Why is he with her?”

“Because he probably got the call while he was at her house. You knew he was going there to do cake with the boys—” Sonny reached into his own pocket, then nodded. “Okay, yeah, he sent me a text a half hour ago. PCPD called, he’s going with Elizabeth. They arrested Andre. Well, that makes sense—”

“How—”

“Jason told us that Andre was involved up with the Chimera situation,” Sonny reminded her. Carly pressed her lips together, mutinously. “Elizabeth probably wants to hear Andre’s reasons or something.” He shrugged.

“Fine, then why didn’t he also call us? He called you, but he didn’t ask you to go. And he didn’t call me—”

“Maybe because he didn’t want to have this argument,” Sonny muttered, wincing when he realized he’d spoken loud enough for Carly to hear him. “Carly—”

“He came home four days ago,” she said. “I am the same person I’ve always been, but it’s like he hates me. He refuses to talk to me, to let me be there for him—” Tears spilled down her cheeks. “I thought I was getting my best friend back—”

“Maybe,” Sonny said, reaching for patience, “he’s not interested in the same friendship you had before. He’s been spending time with Elizabeth, and that always gets you mad. You have no idea how much time he used to spend with her because he kept you out of that.”

Carly stared at him. “But—”

“He’s not pretending anymore, Carly. And you and I can’t be everything he needs. We never could.”

“I’m not trying—” She squeezed her eyes shut. “We should be able to do this. We should be there for him when he finds out out the truth about what happened to him. Why is it her? Why isn’t me or you? Or Sam? Spinelli—anyone else—”

“He’s known Elizabeth almost as long as he’s known the two of us,” Sonny reminded his wife. “And you haven’t liked her since the second you realized she was competition.”

“That—” Carly squeezed her hands into her fists at her side. “Yes. At first. But later—”

“Later, she never did anything to either of us to deserve the way you’ve treated her. No, Jake didn’t donate the kidney that saved Joss’s life, but Elizabeth did not know that. She thought he was dead.”

“I know—”

“Jason buried his son. We have buried a son,” Sonny said roughly. “It could have broken us, you and me. It nearly did. We don’t get a chance at a miracle with Morgan. And part of me—yeah, maybe part of me is angry that I don’t get to have another chance with Morgan. To save him this time. Maybe it’s not Elizabeth you resent Jason spending time with—”

“Sonny—”

“Maybe it’s Jake. Maybe it’s the son Jason gets to have in his life when he wasn’t supposed to. I don’t know what’s worse, Carly.”

“It’s neither of those things,” Carly said tightly. “Why do you always think the worst of me? Of course, I don’t resent Jason for getting to be with Jake. I want him to have his son. Both of his sons—”

“Right now, he can’t be with Danny. Sam isn’t opening that door. It might change after the truth comes out, but Jake—Elizabeth is not only opening the door, she’s pulling Jason through it. After all the sacrifices Jason made for our family—for Michael—” Sonny paused. “He went to jail to protect Michael, Carly. He couldn’t even see Jake around town. You don’t like his mother. Fine. But whether you like it or not, Elizabeth Webber is here to stay.”

“You’re telling me it doesn’t hurt that Jason didn’t want you with him when this happened today?” Carly demanded. “That you’re not upset he pushed you out—”

“No,” Sonny said, honestly. “Because I already know the truth. I know who he is. And everything else, Jason can tell me later. Jason has been through hell, Carly. He lost the first twenty-two years of his life to his alcoholic brother, then sixteen years later, someone else stole five more years. I think Jason gets to handle this whatever way he wants. And right now, he wants Elizabeth to be the one standing next to him.”

“It should be me—”

“Why?” Sonny challenged. He switched off the sauce. “Why?” he repeated. “You can’t be first in his life. I’m tired of this argument, Carly. I’m not doing this again. Every time you complain about a woman taking your place in Jason’s life, I—” He stopped, biting back the angry words.

“What?” Carly retorted. “Finish it—”

“It makes me wonder if maybe the only reason you and me are still here is because Jason doesn’t want you.”

Carly stared at him, her eyes wide. “Sonny—”

“I’m going to the restaurant to wait for Jason to call me. Don’t wait up.”

“Sonny—”

PCPD: Squad Room

It felt like forever before Jordan spoke again, but it was probably no more than a few seconds. “According to the DNA tests, the fingerprints in our archives and what the Navy sent over—”

She turned to Sam’s husband, and Jason thought he could see the truth in the other man’s eyes even before she spoke.  “You are Andrew Cain,” Jordan said.

“Are you sure—” Drew began, his face blanching. He stopped abruptly.

Jordan looked at Jason. “And you are Jason Morgan,” Jordan said. “But—” An ironic smile played on her lips. “You already knew that.”

Jason tipped his head to that, then looked at Drew. “I’m sorry—”

“Don’t—” Drew put a hand, looked away from his brother, focused on Jordan. “How can you be sure?”

“The DNA was performed by GH and the outside lab. The outside lab isn’t back yet,” Jordan said, “but combined with GH’s results, the marker tests, and these prints—the two of you are twin brothers. GH’s testing says that you’re Oscar Nero’s father and that—” Jordan nodded to Jason. “He is Jake Webber’s father.” She held the folder out to Drew. “This is a copy of your military file with the prints and the tests. If you want to do an independent conformation.”

Drew stared at the folder but didn’t take it. Instead, he slid his hand into the pocket of his pants and drew out a wallet. He flipped it open, and one by one, he dropped plastic cards onto the ground. A driver’s license. Two credit cards. A bank card.

“Am I going to be arrested for desertion? They told me that’s what happened to Drew Cain. He went AWOL in Afghanistan,” Drew said flatly, his eyes staring at the ground, at the cards.

“No, I’ve been in contact with the Navy. They might send a JAG officer to wrap things up,” Jordan said, “but I assured them that whatever happened, it wasn’t voluntary. Drew—”

“Don’t—” Drew bit off whatever angry words he’d been about to say. He looked at Sam. “Well, he’s right over there. Isn’t that what you do when Jason Morgan shows up? You drop everything and run?”

“That’s—” Sam’s voice faltered. “That’s not fair—”

Drew turned and stalked out. After a moment—a moment longer than Jason expected—Sam looked at him, their eyes met. Then her eyes drifted to Elizabeth before she turned and followed Drew, only pausing to take the folder from Jordan.

Jason exhaled slowly, ignoring the ache in his chest as he turned to the other man in the room—the one in handcuffs. “Did you do this to us?” he demanded. “Why does he think he’s me?”

Andre closed his eyes, looking vaguely ill. “Because I put your memories in his brain,” he admitted.

“You played with his mind,” Elizabeth said, vibrating with anger, her voice shaking from the fury. “Just like Jake. And you must have done it to Jason. How else could you get the memories? Why?” she demanded harshly. “Why did you do this to them?”

Andre sighed, and Nathan shook him slightly when the doctor said nothing. “Talk,” he ordered, “or you’re going back to your cell—”

“Detective West,” Jordan said, but Andre shook his head.

“I’ll tell you what I can,” he said finally.

Webber House: Living Room

Joss refreshed her Twitter feed again, scowling. “How much longer is this going to take?”

“What makes your dumb ass think it’s going to be on social media?” Trina demanded as she sat down with a slice of cake. “It’s not like the launch party where everyone is gonna start sharing—”

“Cam said you weren’t supposed to fight at our house,” Aiden told Trina very seriously as he sat on the sofa. “He said you gotta have neutered ground, but I don’t get that because when Mark’s dog got neutered, he got this cone—” He peered at Joss. “Which one of you wears the cone?”

“Neutral ground,” Cam corrected. “It means they don’t fight here because this is a safe place.” He handed Jake the bowl of popcorn before perching on the arm of Trina’s chair. “Won’t your mom tell you?” he asked Joss.

“I don’t think Mom got invited,” Joss said carefully. “She called me when she got the text demanding to know how I knew Jason was at the PCPD and how long ago he was called—”

“Whoa, your mom wasn’t asked to go?” Oscar shuddered. “I’m glad we’re hanging here and not at your place.”

“Right?” Joss repeated, her eyes widened. “When Carly gets left out of things, it’s drama city. I mean, maybe we could have been there because it would have been fun to see her flip out, but she usually just insults Cam’s mom, so, like, I’ve heard it before.”

Trina shrugged. “Then I guess we’re waiting on your mom and Jason to come back.” She leaned back in the chair. “I wonder how that’s going.”

“Maybe,” Oscar said. “But I mean, I guess we already know, don’t we? Your mom seems so convinced,” he said to Cam and his brothers. “I mean, she told Jake the new guy is his real dad.”

Jake made a face. “I know Mom is right, and the new guy is nice, but I like my other dad, I mean your dad, I mean my uncle—” He scowled. “This is annoying. Why can’t people just be who they’re supposed to be? Why does everything gotta be all weird?”

“I wish I could tell you it would get better,” Joss said with a sigh, “but as long as you live in Port Charles, this is pretty much the way things are.” She frowned at Oscar. “But why didn’t you think it was Jason yesterday at the hospital? I mean, he looks just like your dad.”

“I know, and that was weird, but the more I thought about it, the more I just didn’t feel it. And I think I’d feel it. He’s my dad. And he didn’t know me—”

“But the other guy—Drew—” Cam said, “he won’t know you either. Not until we figure out what’s wrong with his brain—”

“He’s my dad,” Oscar argued. “Maybe he won’t know me like he remembers teaching me to throw a baseball or whatever, but he’ll know me. You know? Like he’ll feel a connection once we know the truth.” He focused on Jake. “Didn’t you feel it with your dad?”

“Well, no,” Jake said slowly. “He doesn’t feel like my dad yet. I’m sorry,” he said when he realized Oscar’s expression had soured. “That’s not the right answer.”

“It’s fine—”

“Oscar,” Joss began.

“No, I know you guys think I’m insane, but it’s like—you said your mom knew Jason was who he was supposed to be,” Oscar said to Cam. “So did your mom and stepdad,” he said to Joss. “That’s what I mean. He’s gonna know me. He’s gonna see me, and part of him will recognize me. I know it.”

“Maybe he will,” Trina suggested, shooting a glare at Cameron as if to remind him not to argue. “I mean, brains are weird, right? Maybe seeing you will trigger something. But it also might not, Oscar. We just—” She bit her lip. “We like you, you know. We don’t wanna see you get hurt.”

“I won’t be,” Oscar said confidently. “He’s my dad. I’m finally gonna get him back.”

PCPD: Squad Room

“Well?” Jordan said sharply when Andre didn’t continue speaking. “What did you do? And why?”

Andre looked away from his ex-girlfriend, but if he was hoping to avoid the bitter disappointment in someone’s eyes, he shouldn’t have looked at Jason and Elizabeth standing to his left. Jason’s expression was carefully controlled, but anyone could see from the way his hands were clenched into fists at his side that he was furious — and Elizabeth’s rage was written all over her face.

If he told them everything he knew right now, there was every chance that this man would end his life. Even if Jason Morgan could be convinced to show him mercy, Andre would lose any and all leverage.

He’d never be able to finish his work.

“I don’t have all the answers that you want,” he said slowly. “I worked for the people who did this—”

“You’re a doctor,” Jordan snapped. “How could you—”  She stopped when Curtis put a hand on her arm.

“Who?” Elizabeth demanded. “Was it Victor? Helena? Faison? Someone else?”

“Victor brought me into the experiments because of the research I had suggested in mapping memory.” Andre paused. “My wife,” he said after a moment. “She suffered from young-onset dementia. We hoped we could slow the disease, but by the time she was thirty-eight—” His voice faltered for a minute. “I needed to find a way to stop it from happening to anyone else. I changed my research focus to the development of memory. I thought—if we could map memories, maybe we could reverse—”

“And the Cassadines were the only people crazy and unethical enough to give you live patients,” Elizabeth hissed. “Is that it?”

“Victor wanted to experiment with a set of twins,” Andre said dully. “He brought you to me. You and Drew. I never knew the names or histories. You were just—” He closed his eyes as Jason Morgan’s blue eyes burned into his. “You were numbers. Five and Six.”

“Five and Six,” Curtis repeated softly. “And Patients One through Four? Were there any after Jason and Drew?”

“What was the plan, Andre?” Elizabeth demanded. “What did you do to Drew? Can he get his memories back?”

“I don’t know,” Andre lied. “I couldn’t finish the project. Not at first.” He looked at Jason. “I could map both of your memories, but the transfer—it failed with you. The brain damage—” He shook his head. “You shouldn’t be alive, much less walking around—”

“But you went ahead with Drew,” Jason interrupted, drawing Andre’s focus. “You gave him my memories—”

“How was Helena involved?” Elizabeth cut in. “When did she get there? And what about Jake?”

“Maybe if we stop interrupting,” Curtis suggested gently, for which Andre was reluctantly grateful. Jordan and Elizabeth were liable to rip him into shreds, and if anything was left—he avoided Jason’s eyes—he still wasn’t convinced he would survive a run-in with Jason Morgan.

“I don’t know much about Helena’s involvement,” Andre lied. “She was interested in the work I was doing with the memory mapping. And she and Victor were…I think collaborating on some other projects I wasn’t part of. She wanted me to implant subliminal suggestions into Jake’s head. I didn’t want to do it, at first—” He grimaced. “But I didn’t have a choice.”

“There’s always a choice,” Elizabeth bit out.

“You’re right. I just didn’t have a good choice. I didn’t know Jake. He was Patient Three. And no,” Andre said with a shake of his head. “I didn’t run the other experiments. I can’t tell you anything about them. I was barely involved with Jake, but once Helena decided to return him to you—to Luke—” he corrected, wincing as Elizabeth’s eyes narrowed.

“What about me?” Jason said quietly. “Who put me in that clinic in Russia?”

“I don’t know,” Andre said. “When I told Victor I couldn’t complete the experiment, he was supposed to end it. That was maybe eight months after I started. Originally we were supposed to put Drew here in Port Charles and send you to San Diego. To get a sense of how much memory implantation could actually affect the people you were,” Andre said.

“And that’s why Drew got Jason’s memories after you came to Port Charles?” Elizabeth said, lifting her chin. “Is that what you did? Why did anyone let him walk around without those memories for a year?”

“I wasn’t part of that,” Andre said, choosing his words carefully. “I just know that it suited Helena’s plans. After Victor died, Helena called the shots, and she didn’t tell me very much. She wanted to return Jake, so I finished the work. She wanted me in Port Charles—and I thought—”

“Well, you’d come this far,” Jordan growled. “You might as well finish your experiment.”

Andre closed his eyes. “Yes,” he admitted.

“And that’s all you know,” Elizabeth said, lifting a brow. “You don’t know what else Helena and Victor were doing—but Helena’s been dead for two years, Andre. She was dead before you put those memories into Drew for the second time. Who were you taking your orders from then? Who are you taking them from now?”

“No one. There’s no one.” He stopped. “I didn’t realize how wrong I was until I came here. Until then, they were just numbers, but then they became people—you showed me those pictures of Jason before the accident—”

“You treated my son,” Elizabeth said in a low, dangerous tone. “You looked at him every day, trying to make his nightmares and trauma go away, and you were the one that put the trigger in his head that nearly killed him. That nearly killed my entire family—” Jason put a hand on her shoulder, and she stopped to take a breath. “Spare me your newfound regret and remorse,” she retorted. “You knew exactly what you were doing—what I was up against last spring with Jake, and you stayed silent. You left town instead of coming to me. I am sorry for what happened to your wife, but you had no right to destroy Jason and Drew’s lives for research. To destroy my son.”

“I know,” Andre said. “I wish I could take it back.”

“You can’t.” Elizabeth turned to Jason. “I’ll wait outside—”

“I don’t have any questions he’ll answer,” Jason said with a shake of his head. He leveled one more look at Andre that made it clear Jason didn’t believe that Andre was telling them everything.

Which meant Andre would live a little longer.

“Take him back into lockup,” Jordan told Nathan. When the two of them had left, she turned to Jason and Elizabeth. “You should know he’s only here on loan from the WSB. They want to debrief him about the research he did with Victor.”

“So he’s not even going to pay for what he did,” Elizabeth said. “How is that fair?”

“It’s not, but my hands are tied. The DA already agreed to extradition, and if we hadn’t signed the paperwork—” Jordan nodded at the door through which Andre had disappeared. “You wouldn’t have had that much.”

“Then thank you,” Jason said, taking Elizabeth by the elbow. “We can talk to Anna and Robert,” he reminded her. “If Andre was still working for the WSB with Jake—”

“They might be able to find out more,” she murmured. “I just feel sick to my stomach. I want to go home and see the boys.”

“Then let’s go.”

Penthouse: Living Room

When Drew stormed into the penthouse and yanked off his coat, Alexis stood up from the sofa, her eyes going to Sam behind him, closing the door more quietly. “Well?”

“It’s true,” Drew bit out. “I’m Andrew Cain. Not—” He closed his eyes. Scrubbed his hands over his face. “Not Jason.”

“I’m sorry,” Alexis said. When he just scoffed at her, she just sighed. “I am. You didn’t deserve this. Any of this.”

“Mom—” Sam sighed. “Maybe you should—”

“I’ll call you in the morning.” As she grabbed her coat and passed her daughter, Alexis kissed her cheek. “Good night.”

When her mother was gone, Sam turned to her husband—to Drew—and waited. “It doesn’t change anything for me,” she told him, even though she wasn’t entirely convinced that was true. It felt true. She knew she loved the man in front of her, and she knew they’d been through hell in the last two years—in the last year, they’d pulled their lives together—rebuilt their family— had their little girl—

And yet—it also felt like a lie. And Sam didn’t really know what to do with that. How to handle it. Since she didn’t really know what she was feeling, she decided to focus on what she could do. She could figure out what her husband needed and do that.

He’d just had his entire life ripped apart, and he needed someone to help him get through it. He needed her.

“You know what really kills me?” he murmured, so quietly she almost didn’t hear him. Sam shook her head wordlessly. He focused on her, his eyes rimmed with red and exhaustion. Neither of them had been sleeping well. “I knew.”

“You knew,” Sam repeated, frowning slightly. “What—”

“A voice in my head,” Drew continued. He turned back to the fireplace, unlit and dark. He stared into it blindly. “At the church. Carly told me who I was, and I turned around to look at Elizabeth, and by the time I’d gotten all the way around—my brain was on fire. Screaming at me that it wasn’t real.”

“Jas—Drew,” Sam said, testing out the name on her lips. “Drew,” she repeated. “This is…a lot. And it’s okay not to know what you’re feeling—”

“I refused to be him,” Drew continued. “Remember? I wanted to know what happened to me, but I wasn’t going to be Jason Morgan. I wanted Jake Doe. That felt right. I almost hated you for forcing it on me—”

Her stomach twisted, and a sour taste rose in her throat. “What—”

“But then—” He exhaled slowly. Shakily. “Then the memories started. And the voice just got louder. Because the memories were just…there. They didn’t feel right. I thought it was just all the trauma, all the things I’d been through. I drowned it out. I ignored it. But it never went away.”

“I—”

“And now I know I was right. That I should have listened to those voices. I’m not Jason Morgan. Jake is not my son. Danny is not my—”

“Yes, he is,” Sam snapped. “Jason didn’t want him! You know that!”

“I—he—” Drew squeezed his eyes shut. “He changed his mind—”

“He felt guilty,” Sam retorted. “You’ve loved Danny. You’ve been his father. He knows you. Not Jason. You’re not losing Scout or Danny. Or me. And you’ve got friends. Friends who love you,” she reminded him. “Curtis. We have Aurora—”

“How much of that is really mine?” he asked roughly. “I can’t—” Drew shook his head. “I can’t deal with this right now. I have to—I’m sorry.” He exhaled slowly. “I can’t. I need to go.”

“Drew—”

“Don’t—” He turned back to her, his hand outstretched. He drew it back, curling it into a fist. “I need to be alone. I’ll call you in the morning.”

Sam watched him leave, the door closing behind him, and had no idea what she was supposed to do next.

Webber Home: Living Room

Elizabeth was unsurprised to find all three boys up when she came home with Jason that evening. Oscar and Trina must have gone home because only Cam and Joss were sitting on the sofa. Aiden and Jake were lying on their stomachs in front of the television. “I thought you were supposed to watch Hocus Pocus last night,” she said, making a face.

“Mom.” Cam jumped up, and Jake rolled over into a sitting position. “Hey. What happened?”

“Basically what we thought,” Elizabeth said. She and Jason exchanged a look. They had already decided to keep what happened with Andre to themselves for the moment. “Jason is Jason…and Drew is the other man. Jason’s twin brother.”

“And Oscar’s dad,” Joss said with a sigh. “Well, that’s good, I guess. Do you know what happened yet?”

“Not all of it,” Jason said.

“Jake?” Elizabeth asked. “What are you thinking?”

Jake paused, then looked at his father. “I’m glad you came home,” he told him. “It was really mean what they did to you. And you seem nice.” He paused. “I just…I really love my other dad.”

“I know,” Jason said with a nod. He crouched down so that he was at eye level with Jake. “And it was really mean what they did to him. I told you, Jake, I don’t want you to lose anyone that matters to you. I know he’s been important to you. He should keep being important if that’s what you both want.”

“And hey,” Cam said. “He’s still your uncle, Jake. He and Jason are brothers. Like us. Well, not like us,” he corrected. “But maybe like—”

“Like Charlotte and Rocco?” Aiden suggested. “Rocco hates his sister—”

Cam eyed him. “Uh, yeah, maybe not so much like Charlotte and Rocco. I just—”

“Drew and I are brothers. We have the same father,” Jason told Jake. “The same biological mother. But we didn’t grow up together like you and Cam and Aiden. We don’t know each other yet.”

“Oh. Well, sometimes, I wish I didn’t know my brothers either,” Jake admitted. “But he’s a nice guy.” He got to his feet. “Maybe I could help you guys be okay if he still likes me now that he’s not my real dad.”

“I’m sure he’s still going to love you,” Elizabeth assured her son. “It’s just hard right now. Because everything is changing for him, and we need to be patient with him.”

“Right.” Jake smiled at Jason. “But I’m glad everyone knows the truth.” He stepped forward and gingerly wrapped his arms around Jason’s waist. “Welcome home…Dad.”

“Thanks,” Jason said, his voice a bit rough as Jake stepped back with his shy smile still intact. “It’s good to be home.”

Am I hiding behind my doubts?
Are they hiding behind me?
I’m closer to finding out
It doesn’t mean anything.
I remind myself of somebody else now
Feeling like I’m chasing
like I’m facing myself alone
I’ve got somebody else’s thoughts in my head
I want some of my own
– Somebody Else’s Song, Lifehouse

---

May 2015

Cassadine Estate: Lab

Jake practically skipped into Andre’s lab and smiled broadly as he climbed up onto the examining table. “Hi, Dr. Maddox,” he said cheerfully. “Guess what?”

“Good morning, Jake.” Andre smiled over at his patient, but it was a bittersweet smile. In the last five months, he and the little boy had spent a great deal of time together as Andre had perfected the programming he’d been asked to create for him—along with Andre’s additions.

He and Kita hadn’t been able to have children, but Andre had wanted them. He’d looked forward to being a father, and he thought that these last few months might be the closest he’d ever come to being one.

Today, however, was Jake’s final visit. Andre had completed his work and would be performing a final act that would erase Jake’s memories of him. It was necessary, Helena had told him, since she planned to send Andre to Port Charles in a few months if Jason Morgan hadn’t regained his memories. Once Jake was sent home, Helena had plans for the boy and his family. She hadn’t cared about the man running around Port Charles calling himself Jake Doe, but she’d used him to run errands and commit crimes. Now, however, with his obedience chip removed, it was time for Helena to start the clock on whatever revenge she’d cooked up.

Andre only hoped he’d done enough to stop it from hurting Jake.

“Today is my birthday.” Jake’s grin deepened. “I’m seven.”

“I know. I saw the date in the chart.” Andre returned his smile. “Are you having a party?”

“No. Tana said Mrs. Cassadine was too busy, but she also said that maybe I was going home soon. Mrs. Cassadine is really close to finding my mother.” Jake practically vibrated with excitement. “Do you think my mom misses me? Why do you think she doesn’t know where I am?”

“I don’t know what your mother knows or what happened,” Andre said as he approached the child with the sensors to place at his temple. “Lay down. You know the drill.”

“I think maybe I just got lost, and maybe my mom is looking for me, too. And that’s why Mrs. Cassadine thinks she’s found her. I bet my mom misses me.”

“I’m sure she does.”

“I wonder if I have brothers or sisters. Or if I ever had a dad. I wish Mrs. Cassadine knew more about me.” Jake sighed and laid down, ready to let Andre start the procedure. “She said she found me wandering the island, but I don’t know Greek. So I’m not from here. She tried really hard, but the police didn’t know who I was either. So she took care of me. You think Tana will come with me?”

“Probably not,” Andre admitted as he returned to his work station. There wouldn’t be any place for a Greek governess. “Has she been with you long?”

“Oh, yeah, for a really long time,” Jake said. “She was always here. And Mrs. Cassadine’s family is always nice when they visit.”

Andre frowned. “I didn’t realize you’d visited with her family.” He wished Helena had told him more about Jake’s time on the island. It was so hard to pinpoint which memories he needed to suppress.

He wasn’t going to erase a single minute from this child’s memory—only shove it down for as long as possible. One day, when Helena’s plans had been foiled, Andre hoped that Jake would remember him. Or remember his time on the island. He’d been happy here. And maybe one day, his mother would want to know that he’d remembered her all along. Would that comfort the mysterious Elizabeth Webber?

“I met her son. The creepy one,” Jake clarified. “There are two creepy ones, but one of them looks mean, and the other one is just really stuffy.” He shrugged. “And her grandson. But he only came once.”

Andre frowned. He’d only met Valentin—who—

“The stuffy one went away, though. That happens a lot,” Jake said sadly. “There was a tutor I had before, but he went away after he tried to help me find my mom. I had a second nanny once. But she left, too. I thought she’d found my mom, but I guess not.” Jake was troubled now. “That’s weird, isn’t it, Dr. Maddox?”

“What is?” Andre asked gently.

“Lots of people wanted to help me get home, but then they left me. I wonder why.” Jake closed his eyes. “Are we almost done?”

“Almost. You’ll feel sleepy, and then when you wake up—” Andre hesitated. “You’ll feel better when you wake up.”

And he would remember nearly nothing about anyone he’d met over the last four years. He’d only remember Helena.

“God help us all if this doesn’t work,” Andre murmured, and pressed the button.

Wednesday, November 1, 2017

Greystone Manor: Driveway

Joss waved at the guard at the gate who let Jason through. “Thanks again for the ride home,” she told him, popping her gum, “but, like, you should know that you are not going to be very popular with my mother when we get inside.”

Jason winced, glancing at the blonde teenager in his passenger seat. “Because I didn’t take her to the PCPD?”

“Yup. I mean, I know what you were doing, and, like, totally the right call, you know, but—” she shrugged. “Thwarting Carly is never a good idea. This can only lead to tears.” She frowned when he didn’t say anything. “You never saw Anastasia, did you? That’s, like, a reference—” She huffed. “Man, I forgot you don’t do pop culture.”

“Why do you call your mom by her first name sometimes?” Jason asked, ignoring the pop culture complaint. “That’s the third time I’ve heard you do that.”

“Oh, well, it helps me keep her in perspective, you know? Like — Mom is my mom. She’s the person that I can go to with problems and stuff. The woman who raised me and all that,” Joss said as Jason parked the car behind one of Sonny’s cars. She pushed open the door, waiting to continue until Jason came around to her side of the SUV. “Carly is a production. An event. The hurricane. And sometimes—” Joss folded her arms, stared at the ground, and kicked at a piece of gravel. “She’s not really the same woman. It helps to keep them separate. Does that sound stupid?”

“No,” Jason admitted. “That’s…actually the way I’ve been able to stay friends with her for so long.” Joss raised her head, her eyes widened. “Because your mom is my friend, but sometimes—yeah, Carly isn’t always fun to be around.”

Relieved, Joss nodded. “So you get it. Cool. You won’t, like, snitch on me?”

“No. But you’re about to miss curfew, so—”

“Frick on a stick,” Joss muttered and hurried inside. She flashed a bright smile at Max, who opened the door. “I made it!” she declared.

“You’re thirty seconds late and you know how your mom gets,” the guard said dryly. “She’s in the living room. Hey, Jase.” Max paused. “Uh, you are Jason, right?”

“Yeah, Max. We got the results back,” Jason said. “Sonny in there, too?”

“Ah, no. Mr. C went over to the restaurant for a few hours.” He glanced at the double doors where Joss had disappeared. “He and Mrs. C had some words earlier, and he left.”

Jason made a face, then nodded. “Thanks.” He looked at the entry to the living room and decided to just get it over with.

“You can’t just decide you’re going to break curfew without permission,” Carly was saying when he came in while Joss muttered something about thirty lousy seconds. She huffed, then met Jason’s eyes. “And I am mad at you,” she snapped.

“Of course you are,” Joss said dramatically. “He just found out he has a secret twin brother who was magically implanted with all of his memories and living his life, raising his kids—oh and the evil doctor behind it all also tried to screw with Jake— but, hey, let’s make this about you.”

Carly’s mouth dropped as she stared at her daughter. “Excuse me?” She looked at Jason again. “What’s going on?”

“Actually—” Grateful to the teenager whose eyes were sparkling with mischief. “It’s pretty much what Joss said. “I’m Jason, he’s Drew Cain. Andre Maddox did something he calls mapping to take my memories and put them into Drew’s brain. He wanted to do the reverse to me, but the brain damage from the accident meant he couldn’t. He worked for Victor, who was also working with Helena, and he put some sort of trigger in Jake to make the Nurse’s Ball happen.”

“I—”

“So you’re up to speed now. I’m going to go find Sonny.”

“Wait, Jason—”

But Jason had already walked out, leaving Carly watching him with stunned hurt while Joss fought the urge to cackle behind her. She almost never got to be around for the good stuff.

Thursday, November 2, 2017

General Hospital: Nurse’s Hub

“I’m so sorry I missed your cake last night.”

Elizabeth looked up, frowning at her former mother-in-law and the hospital administrator, Laura Spencer. “Oh—that’s okay. I ended running out after we ate.” She hesitated. “I went to the PCPD with Jason. You heard about Andre—”

“I did.” Laura folded her arms over the folders she held against her chest. “I saw his hasty resignation letter, and Robert paid me a visit last night to make sure I knew who was working at the hospital.” She shook her head. “We trusted him with Jake. That’s the most upsetting part of all of this. It’s terrible what happened to Jason and Drew, but Jake—”

“I took my son to Andre to help him, and he was the reason Jake was going through any of it in the first place.” Elizabeth made a face. “And now I have to find a way to tell Jake that his friend, that the man he trusted was the bad guy.” She paused. “I thought about not telling him, but—”

“It happened to him, and he’s been through enough. He deserves the truth,” Laura finished with a nod. “I agree. Luke and I might not have done everything right, but we tried to be honest with Lucky when we needed to be about things that put him in danger. Speaking of our ex-husbands,” she added, smiling grimly when Elizabeth made a face, “Luke called me as well. Sonny asked him and Lucky to try to track down Faison.”

“Oh, yeah, that was my idea.” Elizabeth signed a chart and set it aside. “Jason’s trying to find out if Faison was only working for Victor. If we can be sure that Victor and Helena were behind everything—if Andre was just tying up loose ends, this could be over—” She bit her lip.

“But you don’t think that,” Laura pressed gently.

“Honestly, I think every third word out of his mouth was a lie or a half-truth. It would be great if Helena and Victor were the bad guys,” Elizabeth admitted, “but it doesn’t explain why Andre showed up after we knew Helena was dead. Or who sent the men after Jason when he escaped from Russia.” She waited. “And there’s the fact that Nikolas told me Jake Doe was Jason.”

“Now you’re wondering what Helena knew and what she told Nikolas.” Laura closed her eyes.

“I just—he was so far from the man I knew—from the friend that I had counted on for so long,” Elizabeth continued. “What happened with ELQ—and Hayden—I just can’t seem to wrap my mind around any of it. I don’t know why Helena would lie to Nikolas or why he’d lie to me. And if that wasn’t bad enough, there is one Cassadine left who could be responsible for taking over after Helena died.”

Laura’s lips thinned as she pressed them together. “Valentin. I want him to pay for what happened to Nikolas. If you need anything—anything,” she stressed. “Please promise that you’ll come to me. Valentin is a dangerous man, and I can’t bear for him to get away with one more crime.”

“I will,” Elizabeth promised, flashing Felix a smile as he stepped up into the hub, and Laura walked away towards the elevator.

“Everything okay?” Felix asked as he traded one chart for another.

“Yeah, Laura and I were just catching up—” Elizabeth frowned when she saw Felix’s face go still. She turned toward to follow his gaze, grimacing as she recognized Franco by the elevators. Staring at her. After a moment, he turned and walked away.

“It would be great,” Felix said, “if he wasn’t so damn creepy.”

“Felix—”

“You watch your back, Elizabeth,” he cautioned her. “Because that man isn’t going down without a fight.”

Davis House: Living Room

Sam frowned when she found her sister lying on her back on the sofa, her phone in her hands. “Where’s Mom?”

Kristina didn’t look away from the screen. “I think she went into work today or something. She said something about needing to deal with paperwork.”

“Oh.” Oddly disappointed, Sam sat on the edge of the armchair. “Why aren’t you in class?”

“Canceled today. Prof had a conference in Rochester, so we gotta write a paper.” Kristina sat up, tossed her phone on the table. “I can’t wait to be done with this semester. One more month. You know, I was thinking — now that you own a huge media corporation, you should just, like, hire me.”

Sam raised her brows. “You hated it when Sonny pulled strings for you—”

Kristina shrugged. “Yeah, well, I also hate business school, but if I just drop out without a plan, Mom will, like, totally set me on fire.” She folded her legs, then wiggled her eyebrows at her sister. “So, how’s it going?”

“Is that supposed to be funny?” Sam asked darkly.

“No, it’s a legit question with a snarky tone of phrase. You and, uh, Drew sticking together? Or are you gonna throw your hat into the Jason ring again?”

“Why does everyone think I’m going to leave my husband?” Sam demanded. “And don’t say Patrick—”

“Okay, well, there’s also the fact that you trash every relationship eventually to be with Jason. I mean, you and Lucky were solid—”

“He was still in love with his wife—”

“Well, that is the danger of seducing a married man,” Kristina said prosaically. “Sometimes they’re screwing you for nefarious reasons—” Ignoring her sister’s growl, Kristina continued, “and you can’t discount Patrick. You didn’t even like Jake Doe before you found out who he was supposed to be. Any time you think you have a chance at Jason, you take off running to him. So, I mean, what are people supposed to think?”

“They’re supposed to think that I’m not who I was twelve years ago,” Sam said, darkly. “Or that I’ve learned my lesson. I married Jason—” She closed her eyes, took a deep breath. “I married Drew. I married the man. Yes, I thought we had a history together, and maybe, I don’t know—if we had found this out a year ago—I don’t know. I think maybe it would be harder. But he’s Scout’s father, and he loves Danny. He’s a good man, and he deserves my support.”

“Maybe,” Kristina said, “and, like, great for all that, but, you know, Jason isn’t gonna wait around for you to figure this out. You pick Drew now, you’re gonna have to live with that.” She picked up her phone and started to flick through it again. “I heard from Joss that Elizabeth Webber broke up with Franco, so you know—”

“I’m so glad we had this conversation,” Sam retorted, getting to her feet. “Drew’s pissed at me because maybe part of me knew the truth, and it was hard for me, and Mom’s looking at me like I’m crazy, and you don’t seem to respect me—”

“I love you, Sam,” Kristina told her quietly. “I have no room to talk, and I barely have it together, so, like, what’s my opinion worth, you know? I just—I’ve watched you for a long time. I’ve watched you screw up and hurt yourself. Hurt others. And, like, I get it. Drew’s a good guy. I like him. But you’re addicted to danger. Absolutely addicted. And it turns out Drew’s a good guy who wants to run a media company. He’s never gonna give you the high you want. So if you pick him now, really pick him. You don’t get a do-over on this.”

“You,” Sam said carefully, “don’t know what you’re talking about. You said it yourself—you’re a mess who can barely keep it together. You’re not better than me, Krissy—”

“No, but at least I’m not approaching middle age still trying to figure out who the hell I am!” Kristina called after her, but Sam had already slammed the front door before she finished her taunt.

Quartermaine Mansion: Foyer

“Oh, I wish I could stay to talk,” Monica complained as she let Jason in. “I have a board meeting—”

“It’s fine,” Jason told her. “We can catch up later.” He paused. “Michael told you the results came back?”

“Yes,” Monica said with a nod, “and I’m glad it was sorted out so quickly. We’ll have to reach out to Drew and Oscar, but—” She grimaced. “I really do have to go—”

“It’s okay,” Jason told her.

“Call me,” Monica said, buttoning her coat. “We’ll talk—” When his mother left, Jason went to meet Michael in the office, his shoulders itching as he walked into a room he had stayed away from when he’d lived in the mansion. This room reminded him of Edward and the angry disappointment of his grandfather.

He’d wanted Edward out of his life and shoved him out—but now Jason thought he might not mind one more run-in with the old man.

“Hey.” Michael grinned as he got to his feet. “Sorry—I was swamped and couldn’t get away from work.” He gestured at the paperwork on his desk. “Contracts. And I’m trying to get our corporate lawyer to work on ELQ shares now that you’re back and Drew is also a blood relative. Not to mention Oscar—” He dragged a hand through his sandy blond hair. “Not that Drew is ready for that, but I wanted—” He stopped, stared at Jason. “Why are you smiling? What’s funny?”

“Nothing. I just—” Jason sat down and Michael returned to the desk. “I never pictured you doing this, but you look happy. It’s what you want?”

“It is,” Michael said, carefully. “And it made sense with Ned in New York and Aunt Tracy retiring to Amsterdam. It wasn’t easy, but I’m where I want to be.” He tapped a pencil against the desk. “Spinelli still coming today?”

“Supposed to be here this afternoon. Said something kept him in Portland,” Jason added. He paused. “Have you talked to your mother yet?”

“Yeah, I got an angry voice mail last night, and then a crying one this morning.” Michael tipped his head. “She can’t decide if she’s angry at you or at herself, but you know Mom. She’ll come back to being angry at someone else entirely before it’s done.”

Jason did know that, and it was part of the reason he was here. He didn’t need Carly running around, feeling hurt and betrayed because she wasn’t included in every part of his life. “I can’t go back in time and change what I did,” he said. “And I wouldn’t. I just wanted answers last night. And once I knew that Andre Maddox had been arrested—I knew Elizabeth would—” He stopped, shook his head. That wasn’t how it had happened, and Jason didn’t know why he was telling Michael this. He hadn’t known Andre was being arrested when he asked Elizabeth to go with him. He’d just known he wanted her there, not Carly.

But once Jordan had told him that Andre had been arrested, Jason knew it was a good idea to take Elizabeth and leave Carly and Sonny at home.

“You knew that Mom would make a scene, go after Andre, and make it about her. Dad might have been okay, but you couldn’t take him without her.” Michael raised his brows. “And Elizabeth was invested because of Andre and she’s good at doing the moral support thing. You don’t have to sugar coat it with me, Jase. I know—” A strange shadow crossed his face as he took a deep breath. “I know how level-headed she can be in a crisis. And the last thing you need is Mom pulling her Carly tricks—”

He paused. “The thing is,” Michael continued, “that this has been a bad year. I mean—insanely bad,” he added. “I’m not trying to make excuses for her. There’s usually not an excuse for Mom. Believe me. But it’s barely been a year since Morgan—” He leaned back in his chair. “Has Mom talked to you about Nelle?”

“Your girlfriend?” Jason shrugged, shook his head. “No. I know she doesn’t like her, but I wouldn’t expect her to like anyone you were dating.”

Michael’s smile was brief, but humorless. “Well, yeah, but with Nelle, she’s got good reason. Nelle is Mom’s….you know Frank Benson? Her adopted father?” When Jason nodded, Michael continued, “After he left Carly’s mom, Virginia, he had another daughter. Nelle. And it was Nelle’s kidney that saved Joss.”

“Nelle’s—” Jason hesitated. “I didn’t—with Jake being alive, of course—I didn’t even—” He scrubbed a hand down his face. “How did that—”

“Jax bought her kidney on the black market. Nelle was just a kid. She came looking for Mom, and…well, she might not be related to Mom, but I guess revenge grows in the Benson family anyway.” Michael twirled a pen in his hand, staring at it. “She, ah, tried to ruin Mom’s life by going after Dad. You know, pulling one of Mom’s old tricks.”

Jason stared at him, then frowned. There had been so much information in that sentence—how had Jax known about Joss needing a kidney from the black market? And he had the feeling that, once again, Jason was only getting half the story with this Nelle person. “And you’re dating her?”

“I am. Because I saw who she really is,” he said. “You know, how you forgave Mom for all the crap she’s pulled over the years? Sometimes people do insane things and lash out.”

“Okay—”

“The point is that me dating Nelle, losing Morgan, and a few other things—Mom is just—she’s doing the best she can. But Jason—Drew—” Michael grimaced. “He was pulling away months ago, and he was never the kind of person Mom could depend on. She’s…had a rough time. It doesn’t make it right,” he repeated, “but I just thought—I don’t know—she’s gonna start crap with Elizabeth because since the Jake Doe stuff and finding out Jake didn’t donate the kidney—”

“She doesn’t feel as obligated to be nice,” Jason finished. “Michael, I’m not trying to hurt your mother. I just—”

“You need to handle all of this in a way that works for you,” Michael said with a nod “Yeah, I get that, Jase, and I’m here to help. Whatever you need. I’m glad you’re back. That you’re safe. That you get to know Jake. I don’t know Danny as well,” he continued, “Sam’s kind of kept him away from us, but I know Jake and his brothers really well thanks to Joss and Grandma bringing them around. He’s a great kid who’s been through hell. He deserves to have you in his life. Just like me and Morgan.”

“I wish I’d been here for Morgan,” Jason said, his throat tightening at the thought that the little boy Carly and Sonny had named after him had died so violently.

“Me, too,” Michael murmured. He flashed his uncle a smile. “But you’re here now, and all we can do is move forward.”

Morgan Penthouse: Living Room

“Hey, man.” Curtis nodded at Drew as he closed the door behind him. He grinned at the little girl in the bouncy chair trying to scoot across the room. “Oh, man, every time I see you, kid—” Curtis knelt down, and Scout giggled, bouncing up and down. “She’s getting big.”

“Yeah.” Drew sighed. “I’m sorry I should have called—I shouldn’t have left like that. I guess I don’t really know what I’m doing yet—”

“You’ve been smacked down hard, man. You gotta get back up however works for you.” Curtis straightened, then held out a folder. “Didn’t know if you’d want this now, but it’s the background you wanted on Andrew Cain.”

“On me.” Drew took the folder, stared at it, then over at the little girl with the dark eyes and dark curls. His little girl. He walked over to the desk, set the folder down, then flipped it open, finding the same photo Alexis had shown him a few days ago.

“Distinguished career,” Curtis said. “Lots of medals and honor. And those Navy SEAL skills—explains how you were able to live the Morgan life. And why you didn’t really fit into the crime part of it.”

“Maybe—” Drew picked up a photocopy of a marriage license. Andrew Cain had married Cara Sanders on June 12, 2000, in Rochester, New York. Beneath the license lay a photograph of a couple in wedding gear — Drew in the uniform again, and the woman — a beautiful brunette with light blue eyes and pale skin — staring into each other’s eyes. “Oscar’s mother?”

“Yeah. Born here in Rochester, abandoned as an infant. She had some medical issues that kept her from being adopted. Andrew Cain showed up as a eighteen-month-old abandoned at a firehouse. Tucked in his little basket was a birth certificate and paperwork surrendering him to the state,” Curtis continued. Drew looked at him sharply.

“A birth certificate?”

“Had the right birth date — September 19, 1974 — but a bogus father, and changed your mother’s last namer. Susan Cain is listed as the mother and Scott Maine as the father. I figure—”

“Combination of Scott Baldwin and Alan Quartermaine. She was married to Scott when she was murdered,” Drew said faintly. “They changed the last name, but close enough to the truth if anyone was looking for it—”

“I got curious,” Curtis interrupted. “Because I remember you telling me the story about Franco being the twin brother, and I wondered what the plan was. How did you end up in Rochester? How was he involved? Why did Heather give his name? And you were born in New York City—so I did a search—”

He took out another folder from his bag and handed it over to Drew. “I did a deep background on Susan Moore — and found the birth certificates registered in New York on September 20, 1974, the day after you were born. Jason and Andrew Moore. There’s a box on the long-form certificates—single, twin, or triplet. Both are marked as twin.” He paused. “Susan Moore had both of you long enough to name you. She put herself on the birth certificate — but the father was left blank. If you had Jason’s original birth certificate, you’d have seen him marked as a twin, and if you saw that—your cert was easy to find.”

“But that’s proof she knew there were two of us.” Drew frowned. “I don’t get it. She went to a lot of trouble to get a million-dollar trust for me—” He squeezed his eyes shut. “For Jason. If there had been two—”

“She’d have taken the Quartermaines for double. So why didn’t Susan bring you home with her?” Curtis lifted his brows. “It’s a shame that she’s not around to ask, but you know there are a couple of people who knew her. And only one of them is psychotic.” He paused. “Well, I guess that depends on how you feel about Scott Baldwin.”

Kelly’s: Courtyard

“I know,” Elizabeth told her youngest son as they trudged towards the diner, “I know she’s a pain, Aiden, but if you’re going to call her names, you need to do it where the teacher can’t hear you.”

“Why am I not surprised that the Maternal’s One advice is so practical?”

Elizabeth turned and grinned at the lanky younger man as Damien Spinelli entered the courtyard from the opposite side, a little girl with curly blonde hair clutching at his hand. “Spinelli! Hey!”

“It’s good to see you.” Spinelli embraced her and kissed her cheek before giving Aiden a high-five. “Where’s the rest of the crew?” His eyes fastened on hers. “Has Little Stone Cold met his namesake?”

“He has,” Elizabeth said, smiling brightly. “It’s been hard, but I think it’s going okay. And look at you, Georgie! How grown up you are!”

“Mommy’s got a baby in her tummy,” Georgie said before ducking behind her father’s pant leg.

“Oh, man, uh, that is not public information—” Spinelli winced. “Maximista is not telling people that yet—”

“I’ll keep my lips zipped,” Elizabeth promised. “What are you doing at Kelly’s? I thought you’d be glued to Jason’s side—”

“Ah, I’m meeting Stone—” Spinelli stopped as he stared straight, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “Stone Cold,” he finished in a quiet voice. Elizabeth turned to find Jason standing in the slightly open doorway. “It’s—” He couldn’t finish.

“Daddy?” Georgie said, tugging on his hand. “You ‘kay?”

“I am beyond magnificent,” Spinelli told his daughter before grinning, releasing Georgie’s hand and hurtling himself across the courtyard like the twenty-year-old slacker he’d been once. Jason grunted as Spinelli threw himself into his arms.

“Daddy’s happy,” Georgie told Aiden. “He was very bouncy at home.”

“It’s good to see you,” Jason said, drawing Spinelli back slightly, then fully stepping into the courtyard, letting the door close. “Thank you for coming.”

“Wild horses couldn’t keep me away,” Spinelli told him, his voice thick. “I thought you were back—and I’m sorry I married your wife to your brother, my bad—but you weren’t back, and I can see it now, I don’t know why I didn’t before—and I looked, and I looked—I looked so hard for you—” He turned to Elizabeth. “Didn’t I?”

“For days,” Elizabeth said softly. “He was diving in the harbor long after the rest of the world had given up.”

“But you weren’t there to find, and I’m so glad. It kept me up thinking of you like that—” Spinelli took a deep breath. “You’re here. My Yoda is home, and you’ve come to me, the Jackal, for assistance—” He blinked, then turned to put a hand out. “My daughter. Georgie, come meet Daddy’s best friend in the entire world. He saved my life.”

“Spinelli—” Jason began, but Spinelli picked Georgie up and shoved the little girl at him. “Uh, hey.”

“I’m Georgiana,” Georgie said. “Mommy named for my aunt who is in heaven. Do you know anyone in heaven? Daddy says it’s nice and that Aunt Georgie is happy.”

“I know a few people,” Jason said. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Jason.”

“I know. Daddy talks about you a lot.  My middle name is Morgan. Did you know that? Georgiana Morgan Spinelli.”

“That is…” Jason paused. “A lot of name for someone so little.”

“Daddy says I’ll grow into it,” she said confidently as Jason set her on her feet. “Ellie says my mouth already did, but Mommy thinks I’m perfect just the way I am.”

“You remind me of your father,” Jason said dryly.

“Why don’t I take Georgie inside for a milkshake?” Elizabeth suggested. “Aiden and I were picking up dinner for everyone back home, and you two definitely need to catch up.”

“Oh—” Spinelli nodded. “Yeah, that would be great.”

“Thanks,” Jason told Elizabeth. “Hey, Aiden.”

“Hey,” Aiden said glumly. “I got in trouble again at school,” he told Jason. “Did you know that even if someone calls you names, it doesn’t count because the teacher only hears you?”

“I didn’t—”

“Charlotte said I was a bastard, so I called her a brat—” Aiden looked at Spinelli and Georgie as if looking for some extra support. “I think she was worse, but Miss Tait says she didn’t hear it and I should have came to her. But I did that last time, and nothing.” He kicked the ground. “I coulda used one of the words Cam does, but—”

“Let’s go inside and discuss new ways to deal with your cousin,” Elizabeth said hastily. “Georgie? What kind of flavor of milkshake do you want?”

“Oh, I like all flavors—” The doors closed as the three of them went into Kelly’s, cutting off Georgie’s answer.

Spinelli wrinkled his nose after them. “That Charlotte kid—Maxie has the worst stories to share—” He shook his head, then focused on Jason. “It’s really you.”

“It’s me.” Jason shoved his hands into his pockets. “I need your help,” he said. “No one follows the money like you do.”

“Well, then,” Spinelli drew up his shoulders and grinned wildly. “The Jackal is reporting for duty.”

Heaven help me for the way I am
Save me from these evil deeds before I get them done
I know tomorrow brings the consequence at hand
But I keep livin’ this day
Like the next will never come
– Criminal, Fiona Apple

---

May 5, 2011

Cemetery

When Jason had asked Elizabeth if he could be with her the day Jake’s stone was installed, Elizabeth hadn’t asked him if he’d planned to bring Sam. She hoped he knew that the last person she wanted to see at the resting place of their son was the woman that had caused Elizabeth so much pain when her son had been alive—

And the woman Jason had chosen over a life with her.

Still, she realized now as she stepped out of her car and felt the dizzying relief of seeing Jason standing by himself.

That relief evaporated almost as soon as she registered it and the numbing reality sank back in. They were here because their little boy’s grave would finally have a stone marking his short time in the world.

They stared at one another for a long moment, and Elizabeth knew he was waiting for her to say something. To set the tone for how today would go. Hanging back. Letting her control everything.

Like he always did.  The only time Jason had made an active decision was when he walked away from her.

All the times he’d walked away.

She didn’t have the energy to hold his hand today. She could barely keep breathing. If it hadn’t been for Cameron and Aiden, she would still be in bed today. And all of the days.

So without a word, Elizabeth turned and walked towards the path that led to her son’s grave.

Her son. Her beautiful baby was six feet beneath the ground in a coffin. In the cold, in the dark—

She stopped abruptly, her lungs seizing as it hit her again. Every day, she had to remember all over again he was gone. Every morning, he died again as she woke up and found his room empty.

Jason stepped up beside her, gently placed a hand at her elbow—just the brush of his fingertips. He said nothing.

She wanted to sink into the ground. She wanted to disappear.

She wanted to be with her son.

“What do you need from me?” he asked her, his voice hushed and nearly inaudible as she stared blindly at the patch of flowers beneath a nearby tree. How could spring be here? How could anything grow?

How did the rest of the world keep turning?

What did she need from him? What an absolutely stupid question. Once, she’d needed everything. Now—

“Nothing. I just needed a minute.” Elizabeth took a deep breath, then looked ahead to the patch of dirt that still looked out of place. It was newer and fresher—the grass was just starting to sprout in the soil. And the stone was there. She could see it now— It hadn’t been set into place just yet, but it was sitting there, next to the men who would set it into place.

Jake’s smiling face, the pearly white baby teeth, and the shock of blond hair and bright blue eyes. The image of his father as a child. She wanted his image on the stone—she’d wanted his memory not to fade—for him never to be just words etched into the rock—but she hadn’t anticipated how it would hit her—

Jake’s face on a grave stone. Because he was dead.

“It’s my fault,” she said. She looked at him. “I looked away from him—”

“No.” Jason shook his head. “You loved him. It was just a second, Elizabeth.”

“The third time I looked away, the world took him back.” Her voice faltered. “First Maureen, then the Russians, and now—now I never get another chance.”

“It’s mine,” Jason said. She blinked and looked up at him, their eyes meeting for the first time since that terrible night in the hospital when he’d asked her for their son’s kidney to save one of Carly’s children. “You looked away for a second, Elizabeth. I was never there. Blame me.”

He would say that, and some days, she did blame him. But Jake had been hers. Her baby. And she hadn’t protected him. Her lips curved into a faint smile. “There’s room for both, don’t you think?”

“Yeah.” Jason exhaled slowly. “I loved him. You know that.”

Not enough to stay, to raise him, but she nodded. Neither of them wanted to have that conversation.  “You did what you thought was right.” She faced forward, then squeezed her eyes shut, took a deep breath. “He was a gift to both of us,” Elizabeth said softly. “And we wasted it.” She paused. “This is the last time we’ll do anything together for him.”

“I know.”

She drew out a motorcycle from her purse. It was a small yellow toy that Jake had adored. Jason blinked at it. “I know you gave it to Cameron,” she said, “but he gave it to Jake at Christmas, and he loved it. I should have—I should have—” Her chest squeezed. “I meant to put it with him, but—”

“It’s okay. We’ll take care of it today.” Jason put an arm around her shoulder. “Are you ready?”

“No.” But she walked forward anyway. She knew she should go over to talk to the men who had been waiting patiently, but she couldn’t. She was afraid if she said one more word—

Instead, Jason took care of it. He spoke to them, his voice quiet and then joined Elizabeth. They both watched slowly as the stone was gently settled into its final spot. Her baby. Gone forever.

She waited for the tears. For the shaking. For the trembling. But maybe there were no more tears. Maybe she’d finally reached the bottom of the well and all that was left was nothing.

The workers left, and finally they were alone, standing in front of Jake’s grave, his precious face staring back at them, almost mocking their failures to be good parents.

She gently knelt down and with shaking hands, she dug into the dirt to bury the motorcycle. Jason knelt next to her and helped fill the hole back in.

This was it. The last item on the list of burying her son. Arranging for the services, the burial, the coffin, the stone—

There was nothing else to do.

Jason stood and held out a hand. She thought about ignoring it, about pulling herself up. After all, she’d raised Jake alone. How dare he come in here at the end and pretend—She swallowed the hateful thoughts, the angry, bitterness that always threatened to overwhelm her.

She took his hand and let him help her. He kept one hand at her elbow, and the other at the small of her back, his body turned towards her, nearly holding her. And being this close to him—feeling the slight shake in his hand as it had wrapped around hers—

Elizabeth looked up at him. “He was beautiful, wasn’t he?”

“Yeah.”

“He would have grown up to look like you,” Elizabeth told him, and he blinked at that. “But I hope he would have smiled more.”

Jason’s lips curved. “I smile.”

“Not enough.” She sighed, then looked back at the image of her son—their son. “Thank you. For giving me that beautiful little boy.”

“I didn’t—” Jason exhaled slowly. “We gave him to each other. Thank you for being his mother. I’m sorry I didn’t hold on tighter.”

“So am I.” Elizabeth stepped away, and his hands fell to his side. “Thank you for being here today. You were here the day he came into this world—and—it’s right that you’re here when we—” Her voice broke but she forced herself to finish. “When we say goodbye.” She looked at him, this man that she’d loved for so long—would always love. “I have to get home to the boys.”

“If you need anything—” Jason hesitated. “You know where to find me.”

“I’ll see you later.” She turned and started back down the path, his response nearly inaudible.

“See you later.”

Friday, November 3, 2017

Metro Court Hotel: Restaurant

Jason stepped into the restaurant, scanned the tables, grimacing when he didn’t see his mother anywhere. He wasn’t much for eating out, but Monica had asked him to lunch, and he’d wanted to spend some time with her.

Now she was late, and he was stuck waiting for her—

“Jason?”

He turned to find Ava, a hesitant smile on her face, standing by one of the entrances. “Ava.”

“I saw in the papers that the identity situation is cleared up,” she said, gesturing with a hand that had a black clutch in it. “I’m relieved it could be so quickly. I thought it might take weeks to figure it out.”

“Not with fingerprints and DNA,” Jason said, the echo of Michael and Elizabeth’s cautionary words in his ears. He shoved them aside — he was sure they had their reasons not to trust Ava, but he couldn’t bring himself to cast her aside. She’d risked her life, and he was back with his family because she’d done so. Whatever her crimes, Jason couldn’t—and wouldn’t—forget that. “How are you?”

“Oh, fine.” Ava flashed him another smile. “Are you waiting for someone? We could—” She started to turn towards the tables, when a hand wrapped around her wrist and turned Ava almost violently to face the angry blonde who had come out from the stock room without warning.

“Over my dead body,” Carly snapped. “What the hell is wrong with you? Trying to sink your claws into someone else in my family? Morgan wasn’t enough for you?”

Jason exhaled slowly. “Carly—”

“No! No! I don’t care what Michael and Sonny said,” Carly retorted, not even sparing him a glance. Her eyes burned into Ava’s. “You need to know what this piece of trash did to my son!”

Ava lifted her chin, almost defiantly. “Go ahead,” she said. “Tell him.”

“Oh, I will,” Carly declared with relish. “I’ll tell him about the brilliant young man who was troubled and taken advantage of by someone without a soul, without a single care for the damage she was doing to him—you killed my son!”

“What?” Jason demanded, his eyes widening as he whipped his head around to look at Ava who said nothing, a flush staining her cheeks. “I thought it was a car accident—”

“It was,” Ava said with a sigh. She opened her eyes. “Morgan stole a car with a bomb meant for someone else,” she continued.

“And why did he do that?” Carly snarled. “What did you do to him—”

“I made a mistake—” Ava turned to Jason, her blue eyes pleading with him. “I thought he needed more help. He needed to go back to Shadybrooke to get more therapy. I thought if others could see it—”

“You switched his medication,” Carly interrupted. She dug her hand into Ava’s shoulder, forcing Ava to look away from Jason. “He was vulnerable! He was in trouble! And you only thought about yourself!”

“I see you’re telling your own life story again,” a new voice said dryly, and the trio turned—as well as everyone else in the restaurant who had long ago stopped pretending to listen.

Monica stepped down from the elevators as the three of them stared at her. “A brilliant, troubled young man,” she echoed as she drew towards Carly and Ava. “How terrible for you—”

“Monica—” Jason began with a wince because he was sure he knew where this was going — but then—

“It wasn’t enough that you drove my son to the brink of sanity time and time again,” Monica said, ignoring Jason. “You and that husband of yours—it was never enough for you. You drugged my son. You made him think he was drinking again. And you lied to him over and over about Michael. You stole his son from him and threatened to kill him—” Her voice broke. “And you—”

“Monica—” Carly began, with a worried glance at Jason that confused him. “You don’t understand—and you should just—Jason doesn’t—”

“And just when he was getting it together—when he was finally with Michael again, with his son, and building a new life—” Monica hissed. “You and your husband—and you—” She said to Ava with another murderous glance at the blonde who just stared at the floor. “You framed him for murder—and both of you helped Sonny get away with killing my son!”

“What are you talking about?” Jason demanded. “AJ died after he went after Alan, after I—” And then he stared at his mother, at Carly and Ava as the realization sank in. “He didn’t die then.”

“No,” Carly said dully. “He didn’t. He came home after you…were gone. And told Michael things. It’s not—I know how it looks, Monica—”

“Sonny shot my son in cold blood!” Monica raged. “He and Ava left him to bleed to death on the floor—if it wasn’t for Julian, I never would have been able to say goodbye—and you—you knew who killed him! You knew, and you lied to me about my son’s final words! You let Sonny walk around for months, pretending he gave a damn about what happened to AJ—what Michael was going through—”

Jason stared at Carly, dumbfounded. “Is that true?”

“It’s not—” Carly hissed. “It’s not that simple. I just—”

“Ava is a terrible person without any moral compass,” Monica snarled. “Who took advantage of someone who was struggling and trying so hard to do better! Well, how does it feel, Carly? To watch your son destroyed by someone he trusted? You destroyed AJ long before Sonny and Ava finished the job! You couldn’t stand that Michael loved AJ—that he’d found a place in my family—”

“No! I wanted him to be happy—” Desperately, Carly turned to Jason. “Jason, please—”

“Michael knew AJ,” Jason said slowly. He felt numb. Like he was sinking in water and couldn’t swim. He couldn’t get his brain to focus, to really process what was happening—what was being screamed at him.  “That’s why he’s working at ELQ. At the mansion. Because he’d decided to get to know his biological father.”

“Yes, but—it wasn’t like Sonny was going to kill him—like he planned it!” Carly stepped towards Jason. “It wasn’t like that! He didn’t mean it—”

“But then he lied about it!” Monica raged. “He sat by Michael’s side and pretended to give a damn for months! And you covered it up! You let an innocent man go to jail—another innocent man was arrested—”

“Julian and Carlos are hardly innocent,” Carly scoffed.

“And what about the lies to Michael?” Monica demanded. “How many times did you lie to him and break his heart? Kiki and Morgan lying to him—everyone in his life lying to him—”

“But it’s okay now!” Carly said, her voice rising high with desperation. “Michael forgave us—Jason—” She looked at him again, then stopped to blink in confusion at the empty space where Jason had been standing. “Jason?”

“He left,” Ava said. She looked at Monica. “Monica—”

“Save it,” Monica retorted. “Both of you deserve to make each other miserable for the rest of your lives.” Then she turned and left.

Carly closed her eyes, pressed a fist to her mouth, then glared at Ava. “This is your fault!”

“Really? Because I was minding my own business before you attacked me. Stop pretending you’re any better than I am.” Ava tossed her hair over her shoulder. “Because we both know you’re worse.”

General Hospital: Hallway

Elizabeth made a face, reaching the elevator just as it slid closed. “Figures,” she muttered. She reached out to press the button to bring it back up to the floor, but a hand wrapped around her wrist.

She scowled, turning to find Franco standing behind her. “Let me go,” she said, her teeth gritted.

“Your savior isn’t here,” Franco said pleasantly but released her wrist. He arched a brow. “I read that everyone knows which twin is which. I wonder if they’re planning to share Sam—”

Elizabeth walked away from him in mid-sentence, deciding to take the stairs, but she should have known it wouldn’t be that easy. He followed her.

“I don’t understand how you can just shove me aside this easily,” Franco demanded. “I made a mistake—”

“You’ve been making mistakes for months,” Elizabeth seethed, “and I’m tired of pretending that they don’t matter. You lied to me about the painting, and then you lied to me about what your mother said—you wanted me to lie to Jason—”

“Well, in my defense—”

“It does not matter — you thought he was Jason,” Elizabeth cut in before he could finish that ridiculous excuse. “I let all of that go, Franco. Even as you humiliated me repeatedly by lying and making me look like an idiot. I let it go. I thought I knew another side of you—I thought you were a better man—”

“I am—”

“You’re not. You put your hands on my son,” Elizabeth retorted. “End of story. You don’t get another chance.”  She pushed past him and turned back towards the hub, not wanting to be near stairs or an elevator with this man. Not ever again.

A hand slapped down on the counter, and she jumped, looking up to find Franco in front of her. “What now?”

“You keep walking away from me, Elizabeth.” Franco leaned in. “Nobody walks away from me.”

Something inside her trembled as her stomach rolled. Oh, God. She’d let him touch her. She’d let him into her life, into her home, her children’s life, into her bed—

How could she have let this happen?

“You lied to me,” Elizabeth said slowly. “You hurt my son. And you tried to make it my fault when I confronted you. I deserve better—”

“Do you?” Franco scrunched his face as if he was thinking it over. “Do you really? The selfish bitch who slept with her brother-in-law and destroyed his family? How about the woman who lied to a man for months about who he was supposed to be, keeping his kids from him—”

Elizabeth kept her lips pressed together even as the familiar crimes washed over her in new humiliating waves of shame. “I made mistakes—”

“There’s mistakes, and then there’s you, Elizabeth.” He smirked. “But that’s your entire life, isn’t it? Just one giant mistake. You were a mistake to your parents. To your family. No man has ever stayed with you, and judging by your history — the minute your kids don’t need you—they’ll leave you, too.”

He leaned in closer. “Because isn’t that the truth, Elizabeth? There’s something wrong with you. No one stays. Haven’t you figured that out yet? All these people running as fast they can from you? You keep telling yourself you deserve better. Keep telling yourself they’re the ones with the problem.”

He smirked again. “We both know better. And when you figure out I’m the only person damaged enough to want to stay, you’ll be back.”

Franco sauntered away as Elizabeth closed her eyes. Didn’t matter if parts of what he said were right. That was how emotional abuse worked. She knew that. She’d read the books. She’d had the training. Take something small and make it her fault.

Maybe she was too damaged for anyone else to love. But that didn’t mean she should settle for someone who had nowhere else to go. She didn’t deserve much, but she was almost sure she deserved better than Franco.

As long as he kept to his little games of torturing her with words and left her boys alone, Elizabeth could deal with anything he threw at her.

ELQ: Michael’s Office

Michael stared at the intercom on his desk, then pressed the button again. “I’m sorry, Sarah. Who’s here to see me?”

“Uh, Jason Morgan, sir. Should I tell him you’re not available—”

“No, no—” Michael shoved himself to his feet. “No, send him in.” He picked up his cell phone and stared at the six voice mails from his mother that he’d ignored, then two more from Sonny. He exhaled slowly, wondering what he had missed.

Jason stepped into the office, then glanced around the dark interiors with a squinting look. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his leather jacket. “I should have called,” he said.

“No, you’re always welcome—” Michael came around the desk and gestured at the seating area in the corner of his office. “You never turned me away when I just showed up and wanted something.” He frowned when Jason didn’t make any attempt to sit. “Jason?”

“You told me not to trust Ava,” he said slowly. “And Elizabeth agreed with you when I asked. But neither one of you told me about Morgan.” Jason looked at Michael, their eyes meeting. “I knew there was something you were all keeping back. It was AJ, wasn’t it?”

Michael closed his eyes. “That talking about Ava and her part in what happened to Morgan might open the door to AJ. We’d start talking about Morgan and Ava’s past—and AJ was part of it.” He leaned against his desk. “How did you find out? Who told you?”

“Monica walked in on Carly screaming at Ava about Morgan,” Jason told Michael. “I don’t—I’m still not sure what happened.”

“Well, then let me give you a crash course.” Michael folded his arms, wincing because all of this was probably the worst way for Jason to find out that his brother had been alive, then murdered. He’d warned his mother, but Carly could never manage to focus on the big picture. “After you went into the water, it only took a few days before PCPD gave up the search. Spinelli and Sonny—they looked as long as they could, but we all thought—” His throat tightened. “We thought your body had been pushed out to the river or was just too deep to find. Grandma made a call at that point—she wanted to tell AJ that you’d died.”

“So she knew he was alive?”

“She and Steven Webber faked AJ’s death and got him out of the country,” Michael told him. “Grandma didn’t want him to come back, but—” He shrugged. “AJ was worried about her. And I think—maybe part of him thought with you gone—he might finally be able to talk to me.” When Jason said nothing, Michael nodded. “He made contact on Halloween and told me that my mother had drugged him to make him think he was drinking again.”

“That’s true,” Jason said slowly. “AJ had been living across the hall from Carly and Tony. They were friends. And after the night they slept together, AJ got sober. He told her if he ever relapsed again—”

“He’d leave town forever,” Michael finished. “Yeah. Mom tried to lie to me at first, but it made too much sense. So she drugged him, then lied to him for months. Lied to Tony Jones, too.” He paused. “Anyway. She and Sonny didn’t handle AJ being back well. Mom even turned him into the police. AJ got the charges dropped, and I decided I wanted to get to know him. So I did. And for about six months, AJ was good. He was in charge of ELQ, he and I were working together to make the company a success, and he was even—” Michael managed a smile. “He dated Elizabeth for a minute.”

“Of course he did,” Jason muttered, looking away. Then focused on Michael. “What happened?”

“Connie Falconieri happened—don’t ask—” Michael said when Jason frowned. “Long story short — Connie was working at the Sun and published a story revealing that Kiki Jerome wasn’t Franco’s daughter, which meant the deciding vote she’d cast to give AJ control of the company was invalid. AJ lost ELQ.” He sighed. “And he blamed himself. He spiraled, made threats against Connie, and then she turned  up dead. AJ was the prime suspect.”

“Monica said—”

“Ava killed Connie and framed AJ,” Michael said. “But AJ was blackout drunk and didn’t remember. He nearly pled guilty, but I convinced him to go to trial. I didn’t think he was guilty, and it took everything I had to convince Sonny not to hurt him. Sonny agreed and left him alone. AJ was acquitted, and eventually—” He closed his eyes. “Eventually, he remembered Ava had done it. When he confronted her, Sonny came in, saw him yelling at Ava, and shot him. Then left AJ to bleed out while he and Ava worked on their alibis.”

Michael looked at Jason. “Then while I was agonizing over AJ’s medical care, making decisions, Sonny sat with me and lied to me. He looked at me, and he told me he hadn’t done this. And I believed him. Because he’d raised me. Then AJ died. For months, I thought someone else had killed him. I thought that I had justice for my father.”

“Michael—”

“Mom knew from the beginning that Sonny had done it. AJ told her at the end. And instead of telling me, she lied. She was with Franco at that point, and they covered it up. And Franco found out the truth about AJ, and to get back at Mom for her affair with Sonny, he played it on a video at the Haunted Star so that I could see it.” Michael turned away from Jason and walked across the room. “Sonny murdered my father, and my mother helped him get away with it. He went to prison and got pardoned. I spent a long time being angry about it, but—” He sighed. “I had to let it go. It was killing Joss and Morgan, it was killing me—”

Michael turned back to his uncle, who was standing silent, as quiet as he’d been since he’d arrived. He hadn’t said more than a few words. “I let it go. And I lied to Mom and Sonny. I told them I forgave them. And sometimes, I think I have. But then I look at my grandmother and think about how much she’s lost. How much has been taken from her, and I remember. So I pretend to keep the peace, Jason. It’s easier.”

“I’m sorry,” Jason said after a long moment. “I wish—I wish I could have been here—”

“Why?” Michael said. “What would you have done differently?” He shook his head. “You helped them keep me from AJ all my life. The day I found out the truth, it was the first time—” He pressed his lips together. “It was the first time since we’d lost you that I was glad you were dead. Because you just would have helped them get away with it, too. ”

Jason stared at Michael. His face didn’t change—it never did—but there was something in his eyes—Michael grimaced. “I’m sorry. That’s not—I didn’t mean that—”

“I always—” Jason swallowed hard, looking down at the carpet. “I always told myself that I would tell you the truth one day. That I just wanted you to be able to make your own choices.”

“Jason—”

“I’m glad you did.”

“Jason, wait—”

But by the time Michael had crossed the office, his uncle had left, and he wasn’t able to stop him before the elevators closed. “Damn it,” he swore, slapping his hand against the wall. “Sarah, cancel the rest of my day. I have to deal with something.”

Morgan Penthouse: Master Bedroom

Drew stepped into the bedroom just as Sam emerged from the bathroom, towel drying her hair. “Hey.”

“Hey.” She waited, then sighed when he said nothing else. “Is this how we’re going to live now?” Sam asked. She sat on the edge of the bed. “Just not talking to each other? You in the guest room?”

“No,” he said. He sat down next to her, leaving a foot of space between them. “I don’t know how to handle this,” Drew said finally. “I’m angry at you for not being honest about what you believed—and I’m angry at everyone else who didn’t even bother to pretend—”

“Ja—” Sam stopped. “Drew,” she said slowly. “Would it have been easier for you if I had told you that I had doubts? I wanted to protect you. And I wanted to protect myself. To protect the kids.” She stared down at her hands, at the wedding ring—Lila’s ring—that he’d put on her finger the year before. “We were so happy before all of this. Finally happy.”

“I know. And maybe that’s why I fought so hard,” he said quietly. “I always knew something felt wrong, and I ignored it. Because I wanted this. I wanted you and the kids. I wanted it to be mine. With the memories—it was something. Before they came, it was just that year as Jake Doe. And now—I know neither of those identities was mine. But I still don’t know who I am. Not really.”

“Your name does not matter to me,” Sam insisted. “I don’t care what anyone else says. I love you. I married you. Scout is our little girl. And, look, Elizabeth gets to do whatever she wants with Jake—she always does—but Danny is my son. Jason was never a father to him. He didn’t even want him—”

Drew winced, and Sam knew he wanted to argue based on his memories, but she was relieved when he didn’t. “He loves you. You’re his father. Jason being alive—that’s great for him. Really. And he’ll get to be with Jake. But it has nothing to do with either of us.”

“But I’m not alone,” Drew said after a minute. “There’s a past. A wife and son that I don’t remember.” He stared ahead at the closet doors. “When I was Jake Doe, Hayden showed up, telling me I was her husband. And I went to be with her. I thought I should live that life. That I was obligated because that was who I had been.”

“But—”

“It was different,” Drew said finally. “That was almost three years ago. The accident, the lack of memories, it was fresh. And I thought I’d only been gone a few months. That if I went back to my real life, I’d get my memories back.”

“But the accident wasn’t why you lost your memories,” Sam murmured.

“No. They were stolen from me. I might never get them back. That doesn’t change the fact there’s a woman out there who married me. That I have a son.”

Sam hesitated. “So what do you want to do? Do you—do you want me to leave? Do you want to leave?”

“I don’t know,” he admitted. “I guess I should start by talking to Kim Nero and finding out…I don’t know.” Drew looked at Sam. “I know that I still love you. That hasn’t changed for me.”

“And I love you,” Sam insisted. “We’ll figure everything else out. As long as we remember that we love each other, it’ll be okay.”

“Maybe,” Drew said with a faint smile. He glanced over at the baby monitor. “Scout’s awake. I guess I’ll go check on her.”

General Hospital: Hub

“I am so ready to be done with this shift,” Elizabeth told Lucas and Felix as she handed the last of her paperwork over to Felix. “I’m going to go home—”

“Elizabeth, thank God—”

With a wince, Elizabeth turned to find Michael rushing up to her, slightly out of breath. His dress shirt was rumpled and his hair disheveled. “Michael—what’s going on? What happened—”

Michael took her by the shoulder and pulled her away from Felix and Lucas, towards a seating area. “Have you talked to Jason in the last few hours?”

“No, I figured he’d be busy with Spinelli and I think he said something about lunch with Monica.” Elizabeth frowned. “What’s wrong? What happened?”

“I—” Michael grimaced. “He apparently got in the middle of Mom screaming at Ava, and Grandma took the opportunity to remind Mom about AJ—”

Elizabeth made a face. “Oh, no. He didn’t know—”

“No. And then he came to see me—and I didn’t—” Michael dragged his hands through his hair. “Damn it. I didn’t mean it. I was just—talking about this always brings it back, and I start to feel guilty all over again that I let Mom and Sonny back into my life, and I think about—”

“Michael, just calm down—” Elizabeth put out a hand. “Tell me what happened.”

“I told him that I was glad he’d been dead when it all went down,” Michael admitted, “because he just would have helped Mom and Sonny get away with it, too.”

Elizabeth’s mouth dropped open slightly as she stared at Michael in disbelief. “You didn’t! Michael!”

“I didn’t—I didn’t mean it to the sound the way it did—” Michael sighed. “He left before I could apologize, and then he didn’t answer my calls. He doesn’t have that tracking app on his phone yet. I thought for sure—”

Elizabeth sighed. “No, he didn’t get in touch with me, but—” She bit her lip. “I think I know where he might go. And it’s not going to make anything easier.”

“What? Where? Elizabeth—”

“Go home,” Elizabeth told him. “I’ll take care of it.”

Floating Rib: Parking Lot

They’d renamed the bar six months before Jason had been shot and shoved into the frigid waters of the harbor, but somehow he’d let himself forget that fact. Even so, the interior had always looked the same, and Jason just wanted to go inside and lose himself the way he’d used to—

But someone had redecorated it, and the dingy color and broken down furniture had been replaced by newer and brighter colors. It wasn’t the same. It wasn’t Jake’s.

Nothing was the way it was supposed to be, and Jason just stared at the building for a long time, feeling more lost than he had a right to be. It was just a bar. Just a place.

But it had always been his safe place. The one spot in the entire world he could count on—

His phone rang again, and Jason looked down at it, expecting to see Michael or Carly’s name flash across the screen. Michael had given up almost an hour ago, but Carly had called every few minutes.

He didn’t know what to say to anyone. How to handle it. How to process what had happened or why it had hit him so hard—he’d never liked AJ, that was no secret. Why did it twist something inside of him so hard to learn that AJ had been alive all that time, that he’d returned to rebuild his life—

That Sonny had killed him, and Carly had helped to cover it up?

But the call wasn’t from Sonny, Carly, or Michael. It was Elizabeth. Thinking it was about Jake—if he could see his son, maybe that would help—

“Elizabeth?”

“Hey. Are you busy right now?”

Jason looked at the sign over the bar, then shook his head. “No. I’m not.”

“Great. Can you meet me at the corner of Van Ness and Arnold? There’s something I need to do, and I could use your help.”

Relieved at the distraction, Jason agreed, “I’ll see you in a few minutes.” He hung up the phone, then got back into the SUV.

When he arrived at the street corner Elizabeth had given him, he pulled up behind her car, then stepped out to find her leaning against a chain-link fence. “Hey. What’s up? Is everything okay?”

“Yes,” Elizabeth said. She gestured towards the building behind the fence—the building he hadn’t noticed before now. And the parking lot out front. Jason took in the lines of motorcycles, swallowing hard.

She’d brought him to a motorcycle dealership.

“Elizabeth—”

“It’s been a long time since we went nowhere fast,” she told him, “and I had a really bad day. I thought maybe you might need a ride, too.”

If you knew how lonely my life has been
And how long I’ve been so alone
If you knew how I wanted someone to come along
And change my life the way you’ve done
It feels like home to me
It feels like home to me
It feels like I’m all the way back where
I come from
– Feels Like Home, Chantal Kreviazuk

---

March 2011

Crichton-Clark Institute: Victor’s Office

Victor had rarely seen his sister-in-law so giddy as she had been when she swept into his office, her eyes blazing with that glint of evil he’d come to expect from her. “Darling, have you killed a small child today?” he asked, idly as he leaned back.

“On the contrary, I am going to save a small child today.” She sat in a chair, smiling smugly at him. “Do you remember Katherine Bell?”

“Of course. Hard to forget the woman who sauntered into my nephew’s murder trial. She was a patient here for a time, was she not?”

“Yes. And I thank you for all the support you’ve given me over the years. My newest patient should be arriving at the lab on the island as we speak. I used the same methods I did back when I retrieved Ms. Bell.” Helena rose and went over to the window to look out over the extensive grounds. “Little Jake Webber will be the first patient in our program.”

“Jake Webber,” Victor repeated. “You were looking for a way to destroy her through Jason Morgan. This is his son?”

“Yes.” Helena smiled again. “It’s lovely when an opportunity just slides into your lap. My man at the hospital informed me that Jake Webber was in an accident and organ donation is being considered. All it took was the exchange of some funds, a few calls to some old friends—”

“Organ donation? This seems risky—”

Helena waved that away. “I’ve taken care of that. Jasper Jacks will owe me a very large favor one day. Fortunately for both us of, he already had investigated the black market. I’ve merely agreed to help facilitate the transplant. Everyone would believe Jake Webber is dead.”

“And once you’ve accomplished that?”

Helena tapped her chin. “I really hadn’t thought that far ahead. I’ll think of a use for him later. For now, I just want Elizabeth Webber to suffer.”

Friday, November 3, 2017

Greystone Manor: Living Room

Carly paced the room, biting at her nails, glaring at Sonny. “Why can’t anyone find him? Why can’t you make him answer his phone—”

“Because he doesn’t answer to me,” Sonny said with a sigh as he looked at his phone again. At the list of missed calls. “Carly—”

“I didn’t mean for him to find out that way—”

“I asked you,” came a new voice from the doorway, “to just give him a few weeks.”

Carly and Sonny both turned to find Michael standing in the doorway, his face strained. Sonny got to his feet, sliding his phone into his pocket. “Michael—”

“I asked you,” Michael repeated, “not to start in on Jason about Ava. I told you that it would bring up ancient history that none of us wanted to drag out right now. Jason—” He paused. “He came to see me, and I wasn’t ready for it. I didn’t have answers for him. And I made it worse.”

“I’m sure that’s not true,” Sonny began, but Michael looked at him. Sonny stepped back, startled to see that the expression in his son’s eyes looked so much like that terrible night three years earlier when Michael had learned the truth and pointed a gun at him.  “Michael—”

“If Jason had been here, he would have helped you get away with murdering my father,” Michael said flatly. “Which is not something I wanted to say to him.”

“No, no—” Carly shook her head. “He wouldn’t—”

“I just wanted to forget it,” Michael said, squeezing his eyes shut. “I can most of the time, but you never stop, Mom. You always have to be right. You always have to make sure you come out on top—”

“Michael—” Carly reached for her son’s arm, but Michael wrenched it away. “You forgave me. You forgave your father—”

“Is that what I did?” Michael bit out. “Because it doesn’t feel like it right now. I tried to take your side, Mom. I tried to tell Jason that it’s been a bad year, but damn it, Mom, you aren’t the only one who lost Morgan!”

Stricken, Carly shook her head. “I know that, but—”

“And you aren’t the only one who’s ever lost someone he loved,” Michael snapped at Sonny. “The two of you walk around like you’re the only ones who matter. What Ava did was terrible. Awful. But she didn’t kill Morgan.”

“Yes, she did—”

“No. Olivia Jerome did. Ava made things worse, but hey, you know all about that, don’t you? You’ve been doing that since you got to Port Charles—”

“Michael—” Sonny as Carly fell back, tears sliding down her cheeks. “Don’t—”

“I forgave you,” Michael said to Sonny. “And you,” he said to his mother. “But don’t ever think that means I forgot what you did to my father. You stole years from him. Years!” he burst out, startling them. “And Jason helped you!”

“He—” Carly pressed a fist to her mouth. “It didn’t start like that—”

“No, it never does with you—” Disgusted, Michael turned away from both of them. “You couldn’t let Jason have a week of being grateful to Ava after she risked her life to get him out of the clinic. You couldn’t stand it. So you went after her. Because who the hell cares about Jason and what he’s been through, huh? And Grandma—you never gave a damn about what you put her son through! All you care about is you!”

“No!”

“Just so you know—I’m still Michael Quartermaine,” Michael told them as Sonny took a deep breath. “I never changed my name back. I never will. Because I owe that much to my father.”

He stormed out, and shattered, Carly turned her tear-stained face to Sonny. “Go after him—”

“Why?” Sonny said dully as he sat down. “I told you. He told you. Let Jason have the space. Leave Ava alone. But you couldn’t do that. And now it’s all starting again.” He exhaled slowly, staring into space. “When is it going to be enough, Carly? When are you gonna stop acting like you’re the only one that matters?”

Carly lifted her chin, folded her arms. “I am not the one who pulled the trigger,” she sneered. “You murdered AJ, not me! And then you screwed the woman who actually killed Connie on his grave! All I did was try to help you and protect Michael—”

“Well, maybe it’s time you stop.” Sonny got to his feet. “I’m going upstairs. Stop calling Jason. He’ll get in touch when he’s ready.”

“Sonny!”

“Stay out of it for once.”

Vista Point: Observation Deck

Jason let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding as he followed Elizabeth to the railing. He stared out over the harbor where the lights of Wyndemere were visible across the water.

“I think I was expecting this place to be gone, too,” he admitted, sliding his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “What happened to Jake’s—the Floating Rib, I mean?”

“Oh, Coleman sold it to Mac,” Elizabeth said with a wrinkle of her nose. “And Mac turned it into a normal bar. I never go there anymore. If you want the dive experience, you should try Joe’s. It’s three blocks over.”

“Thanks.” Jason leaned against the railing, turning away from the view. He hadn’t even realized how much he’d needed the bike until he’d straddled it and switched on the engine. When Elizabeth had climbed on behind him, sliding her arms around his waist, something had just slipped quietly into place in his brain. It felt right.

And when he’d turned onto the cliff road that wound up to Vista Point, when he’d pushed the gas, and the wind had rushed past his face, and he could hear Elizabeth’s squeals of laughter behind him —

He’d felt like he was home.

“Why was your day bad?” Jason asked. “You said you needed the ride.”

“Oh.” Elizabeth pursed her lips. “I don’t know. You remember when you came home that second time? You know when I spent my entire life complaining about Lucky until you probably wanted to heave me into the harbor?”

“Vaguely,” Jason said dryly. He followed her over to the bench and sat down next to her. “Did you hear from him or something?”

“No. I just remember being sick of my own voice back then.” Elizabeth met his eyes. “Sometimes I think about the choices I’ve made, the people I’ve trusted, and I get really angry with myself for being stupid. Today was a day when I couldn’t get away from those choices. That’s all.”

Jason narrowed his eyes. “You’re not having issues with Franco, are you?” Because he could really get into making that asshole disappear for good this time.

“No.” She paused. “No,” Elizabeth repeated more firmly. “And don’t look at me like that.”

“Like what?”

“Like you don’t believe me.” She narrowed her eyes. “I can handle myself.”

“I know you can.” Jason paused. “You shouldn’t have to.” Then he squinted. “Can you explain how…that happened?” he asked. “Because I don’t get it. I know Carly dated him, too—almost married him—and I just—”

“I didn’t buy the tumor thing at first either,” Elizabeth admitted, “and I was angry at Carly for getting him released. I think—well, at the time, she still thought he was your brother. And I don’t know, maybe she thought that she could find a connection to you. I can’t really explain Carly. I stopped trying a long time ago.” Elizabeth looked away, straight ahead towards the parking lot. “I was going through a bad time. I’d lied about Jake Doe’s identity, and everyone knew it. Everyone knew I’d tried to keep Jason away—sorry—” She said with a wince. “But—”

“But it’s how you understood the situation,” Jason said a nod.

“I’d tried to keep him away from his family. From Sonny and Carly, from Sam and Danny.” Elizabeth sighed, stared at her hands. “And it was so stupid. So insanely stupid to try to get married and think I’d get away with it. I just—I was so tired of losing. Of never getting the happy ending. And I thought—well, Sonny and Carly have stolen theirs a dozen or so times. So has everyone else.” She met his eyes. “I just—I wanted it to be my turn. But literally, everyone in town was angry with me. All I had were my boys and Gram.”

She rubbed her arms. “And Jake was struggling being home. He was struggling with Jason—with Drew—” she corrected, “being gone. He wanted him to come home. Especially since he thought it was his father. And Cameron was going through a rough time because Drew was going to adopt him before it blew up. I took a torch to everything, including my boys. Patrick had moved away, then Sabrina died — I felt like I was alone. And then Franco—” She sighed. “He just seemed to understand. And it was like he was a different person. Like maybe the tumor being gone had changed things.”

Restless, Elizabeth shoved herself to her feet. “It was never right,” she admitted. “People started to forgive me, and I wasn’t so isolated. And, well, Tom Baker got out of jail,” she added, “and that was a whole thing that just seemed like a nightmare.”

“Tom Baker?” Jason repeated. “What? The man—”

“He’s dead now. His brother killed him,” Elizabeth continued. “But for a long time, I just felt like I was struggling to keep my head above water. I couldn’t breathe. Then my grandmother died a few months ago, and the lies started all over again—” Elizabeth turned back to him. “I can’t explain it, Jason. Because I look at him now, and I don’t even see the man I thought he was. It feels like all the mistakes I made with Lucky again. Making excuses. Twisting myself inside and out. And it was just—” She made a face. “I feel stupid even thinking about it.”

“Don’t,” Jason said. “I get it.”

Elizabeth raised her brows. “Do you really?” she asked skeptically. “Because I don’t—”

“I married Sam,” he said, plainly, and she looked away. “After everything she did to hurt you, putting Jake and Cameron in danger. I let her back into my life, didn’t I?”

“I don’t think Franco and Sam are the same,” Elizabeth said.

“No, they’re not. But that doesn’t mean I don’t understand how you can change your mind about someone and hope they’re someone you can trust even after they’ve hurt people you love.”

“Thanks,” she said. She sat back down. “My bad day was just Franco trying to make me forgive him, and me being angry at myself all over again that I put myself and the boys in that situation. What about you?”

“What about me?” Jason repeated dubiously.

“Well,” she said. “How about we start with this? Michael came to the hospital, upset, looking for you. He told me what happened.” She tipped her head to the side. “Your turn.”

Kelly’s: Parking Lot

Drew would have passed by the woman who was pulling her purse out of her back seat without a second thought — except she turned to face him and gasped, the purse falling to the ground.

“Drew,” she murmured, her dark eyes wide and her face pale, even under the faint light of the lights in the parking lot.

He turned to her, shook his head. “I’m sorry. I don’t know—”

“No, no—” She held up a hand. “No, you don’t know me. And I don’t—” The woman forced a smile. “I don’t know you. Not like this. I just—I saw your picture in the paper this morning. And—” She huffed. “I’m Kim. Kim Nero. I used to be married to you.” She made a face. “I might still be. I don’t really know how any of this works.”

“Kim Nero,” Drew repeated. “Okay. Your face—I think we met once at Sonny and Carly’s. With Joss and—” He stopped. Oscar. He’d seen the boy who was supposed to his son. He’d looked at him. Shaken his hand. And hadn’t felt a thing.

Oh, God.

“With Oscar,” Kim said. “He’s—he’s handling this okay, you know. It helps,” she continued, “that he knows Joss and Cam. So he gets this has been hard for you. Impossible, really. And he also knows you don’t remember him.” She hesitated. “I don’t know if he really gets what that means. But maybe it’ll help that you don’t look like you used to.”

“Maybe,” Drew said faintly. “I—I don’t know what to do,” he admitted. “I know—the tests came back. I know who I’m supposed to be. I just don’t feel like that man.”

“I can’t even imagine,” Kim murmured. She rubbed a finger against her lips. “You were such a good dad. I’m sure you still are. You and Oscar—you were a team when we met. You’d been alone with him for almost four years, but even before that—you adored him. It’s going to be hard for him to have you back in his life and not have that connection.”

Drew nodded, his throat tight. “I know. I’m sorry—”

“But he knows it wasn’t your choice. He always knew it wasn’t. When the Navy tried to tell us you were AWOL—” Kim’s voice roughened. “He lost it. He said you were a hero, and you’d never walk away from your base. From the men. He always knew you wouldn’t leave him. Even if you don’t.”

He cleared his throat, tried to gather himself. “I want to know him,” he found himself saying. “I just don’t want to hurt him.”

“We’ll figure this out,” Kim promised. “One step at a time, you know?” She flashed him a hesitant smile. “But maybe we should start with lawyers. In case we’re still married. You don’t—you don’t want to be married to someone you don’t remember, do you?”

“I—” Drew slowly shook his head. “No. But I—I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry. You’re alive. That’s—” She turned, a tear on her cheek glinting in the dim lighting. “That’s all I ever wanted.”

Webber Home: Living Room

“Your mom isn’t home yet?” Oscar asked, dropping his backpack on the floor and hanging his coat up. He sat on the edge of the sofa and took the video game controller that Aiden offered him. The youngest Webber slid off the couch and crawled over to lay on his stomach in front of the television so he could watch Oscar and Cameron play.

“Nah, she called and said she’d be late. Something came up.” Cameron wrinkled his nose. “But then Joss texted—”

“Yeah, I got the WW3 message about her family. Said she could hear Michael screaming at her mom and stepdad from upstairs.” Oscar hesitated. “About Michael’s dad.”

“Oh, damn,” Cameron said. He glanced over his shoulder at Jake, doing his homework at the table and eating brownies since his mother wasn’t at home to stop him. “Aiden—”

“I’m not listening,” his little brother promised. “Especially if you pay me a dollar. I’ll even leave the room for five.”

Cameron scowled but tossed a crumpled bill at Aiden, who flashed a grin and disappeared into the kitchen to snag one of Jake’s brownies. Satisfied, Cameron focused on Oscar again. “I called Joss. Mrs. C got into it with Ava at the Metro Court in front of Jason — and then my grandmother let Carly have it about Michael’s dad. Jason went to talk to Michael. Joss doesn’t know what happened, but it was bad, and Jason stopped returning everyone’s phone calls, and Michael went over to flip out on his parents.”

“That’s…a lot…”

“Yeah, well, I think that’s why my mom is late,” Cameron said, leaning back. “I think she went to talk to Jason or something. Anyway—”

Oscar shook his head at the drama of it all, then frowned as a group message came over his phone.

Trina: yo so your dad ran into your stepmom in the parking lot dunno what happened i saw it out the window and coudnt hear

Joss: well my dad is in australia and I dont have a stepmom unless dad has some explaining to do

Oscar: obvs she meant me did they look upset?

Trina: dont think so but stepmama came in after and looked like her eyes were red but not sad just wanted to keep you in the loop

Cam: any sighting at the manor of my mom?

Joss: no and man your mom needs to stay away from my mom because mom n sonny are frosty rn and you know how my mom loves to blame your mom for literally all the things

Trina: wonder who that reminds me of

Cam: dont start.

Joss: hey sometimes all the things are your fault robinson

Trina: and sometimes theyre yours

Oscar: can we just stop?

He tossed his phone aside without waiting to hear back from Trina or Joss. Cameron typed a goodbye to the both of them. “Sorry, Joss and Trina don’t mean anything by it—and I shouldn’t have asked Joss about my mom—”

“No, it’s fine,” Oscar said. He stared blindly at the paused video game. “It’s just—I was thinking about how I saw my dad already. Remember? When he was still Jason. I met him. And I didn’t know he was my dad.”

“Well, why would you?” Cameron asked. “No one could have—”

“It’s just—” Oscar paused, tried to gather his thoughts. ” I always thought my dad would know me even though I’m older. And I didn’t think about maybe I wouldn’t know him.” He looked at Cameron. “It was only one time, though, and maybe now that we do know—when I see him again—”

“Maybe it’ll be different?” Cameron suggested, and Oscar nodded. “Don’t get yourself caught up in thinking that, man. If it is, great. But maybe it won’t be. It sucks to get psyched up for something you think will happen and then it doesn’t. Just, I dunno, let it happen.”

“You don’t get it,” Oscar insisted. “Your dad is dead. You never had a chance to meet him—” Then he made a face as Cameron looked away. “I’m sorry. I didn’t—”

“No, you’re right. I don’t know anything about dads,” Cameron said. He picked up his controller.

“Cam, I’m sorry—”

“It’s cool, let’s just play.”

Oscar sighed and picked up his controller, too, but Cameron’s shoulders were still tight, and Oscar felt terrible about what he’d said. Sometimes he was really dumb.

Penthouse: Living Room

Sam stepped back to let her sister in. “Why are you here?” she asked Kristina darkly, closing the door.

Kristina shrugged and perched on the edge of the sofa. “Because I felt bad that I was mean the last time we talked.”

“Do you feel bad about what you said?” Sam demanded.

“No, but I could have been nicer about it—”

“Is there a nicer way to tell me I’m a loser who’s obsessed with Jason?”

Kristina pursed her lips, appearing to think it over. “Probably not, but that doesn’t mean I couldn’t try to find it.” She looked around. “Where are the munchkins? Where’s, uh, whats-his-name—Drew?”

“Drew is out picking up dinner,” Sam said, stalking past her sister to lay out the plates on the table. “Scout is taking a nap, and Danny is with Mom. Have you been home yet?”

“Ugh. No. I try to stay away from the house when Mom is there. So not in the mood to hear all the ways I’m ruining my life.” Kristina shrugged, letting herself fall back on the sofa, her legs dangling over the edge. “So, like, you’re definitely sticking with the new guy?”

“Yes,” Sam retorted. “But he’s not the new guy. He’s my husband. He’s the father of my daughter. I am happy with the way things are now. I am not blowing up my life. Not again. I have everything I want.”

“Uh huh.” Kristina propped herself up on her elbows to peer at her sister with some skepticism. “What about Danny? I mean, I talked to Joss, and she said Jason’s spending a lot of time with Jake. Don’t you think that he’s gonna want to get to know his other son?”

“He can do whatever he wants with Elizabeth’s kid,” Sam bit out. “That’s her problem. Jake’s used to a thousand father figures—”

“Oh, because Danny hasn’t had his own parade?” Kristina asked, raising her brows. “John, Silas, Patrick—”

“John was barely in the picture and neither was Silas.” Sam paused. “And Danny knew Patrick wasn’t his father—And anyway,” she continued when Kristina smirked at her. “Jason never wanted Danny. And he’s got Jake. He doesn’t need him.”

Kristina squinted. “Uh, is that how that works? Because I’m pretty sure it’s not.”

“Krissy—” Sam began, heatedly, but Kristina shrugged.

“Whatever.” She got to her feet. “I think making Jason give up his own son five seconds after he found out about him and came back from being kidnapped for five years is pretty cold, but what do I know?”

“Nothing,” Sam snapped. She tugged the door open. “Jason will do what I want when it comes to Danny. Just like he did with Elizabeth and Jake.”

“I don’t get you sometimes,” Kristina said softly as she paused on the threshold. “Sometimes you are the most amazing older sister who would die for me and Molly, for Danny and Scout. But you can also be really cruel. And I just don’t understand which one is the real Sam.”

“Why can’t it be both?” Sam demanded. “This is me, Krissy. Take it or leave it.”

“You know, Jason’s looked out for me my whole life,” her sister murmured. “Saved me from myself a few times. He deserves better than this, Sam. I get you’re happy with Drew, and that’s great. But Jason didn’t do anything wrong.”

Sam stared at her sister, tears stinging the back of her throat. How could her sister say Jason hadn’t done anything wrong? Had she forgotten— “That’s not fair—”

“I mean, was he a giant asshole before he went off the pier?” Krissy asked and Sam fell silent. “Yeah. He was. But all he did was come home. So, like, are you punishing him for blowing up your perfect life or what he did before?”

“Krissy—”

“Are you sure this is what you want?”

Sam closed her eyes. “Yes.”

“If Drew asks you that, you should do a better job of making it sound real,” Kristina advised before she disappeared around the corner towards the elevator. Sam glared at her, then closed the door.  She pressed her forehead against the door, took a deep breath.

She was sure this was what she wanted—that Drew and their kids was the life she wanted. And damn it, she was going to do whatever she could to protect it.

No matter who she had to hurt.

Vista Point: Observation Deck

Elizabeth wasn’t sure that Jason would actually respond and tell her what had happened with Michael, but after a long moment of silence, he met her eyes. “You know what happened.”

“I know what Michael told me, yes. But that doesn’t mean I know everything.” She leaned over, nudging his shoulder with hers. “Tell me.”

“You were right about Ava,” Jason said, finally. “And I guess Carly couldn’t stand me being nice to her. Not even for a few days.” He paused. “Michael thinks I would have helped Sonny and Carly cover up what happened to AJ. That’s why he says he was glad I was dead when he found out.”

“Jason…” She reached over for his hand, took it between both of hers. “He didn’t mean it. He loves you, and you should call him. Let him apologize.”

“I will. I just—” Jason hesitated. “I don’t think I ever understood what AJ was going through with Michael, not really. Not until—” Their eyes held briefly before he looked away. “Until Jake.”

Elizabeth’s mouth tightened, but she took the well-deserved hit. “I never should have lied to you. Or asked you to give him up.”

“At least it was my choice,” Jason murmured. “It was the wrong choice. For both of us. For Jake, but I can say I walked out of Jake’s life on my own. AJ can’t.” He sighed. “I wouldn’t make the same choices I did back then. It was just—it wasn’t that long after the accident, and I hated the Quartermaines. They looked down on me, you know? And I knew they’d swallow Michael whole. They’d never love him for himself.”

She said nothing, let the silence float around them. “I helped Carly keep Michael away from AJ because I told myself he was a drunk who’d hurt him. He didn’t deserve to be a father. That wasn’t—” Jason shook his head. “That wasn’t my choice, my decision to make. And I kept telling myself that Carly was his mother, she should get to choose—”

“Was that why you agreed to my insane demands?” Elizabeth asked. “Because you were trying to live up to some stupid principle you’d decided all those years earlier?”

“Yeah,” Jason admitted. “I just—I’m not mad at Michael for thinking I would have helped Sonny and Carly get away with it. I don’t know if I would have—”

“You never, in a million years, would have let Sonny and Carly lie to Michael like that,” Elizabeth said with a swift shake of her head. “Or hurt Monica.”

“You sound pretty sure.”

“I am,” Elizabeth said firmly. “Look, it was one thing to play games with Michael’s paternity when he was a kid and keep him away from AJ.  But you told me once you just wanted Michael to belong to himself. To make his own choices. He was doing that. And AJ was trying. He—he just was never strong enough. But he loved Michael. He was a good father, Jason. And Michael loved him, too.”

“I’m glad,” Jason said, “they got that chance.” He sighed. “I never thought I’d have to explain my choices back then. I did the best I could after the accident, but I made a lot of mistakes. I hurt Monica, and I pushed away the Quartermaines—”

“They weren’t that innocent,” Elizabeth said. “I remember when they tried to take Michael from you, even when they thought he was yours. Don’t give them too much credit because you feel bad now. Alan and Edward really were controlling bastards sometimes.”

“Yeah, they were, but I think I almost understand it now,” Jason admitted. “Who I was before the accident—that son never came back again. He died. And the man wearing his face—” He paused. “I think about losing Jake—how hard that was—and I don’t know if I could have done much better than Alan or Monica.”

“And that’s part of getting older,” Elizabeth told him. “The choices we made a lifetime ago—they can only haunt us if we don’t find a way to make peace with them.” She tilted her head to the side. “Call Michael.”

Jason paused, then pulled out his phone. After a moment, he pressed a button, and Michael answered almost before it had a chance to ring. Jason put him on speakerphone. “Hey.”

“Jason. I am so sorry. You have to believe me—”

“Hey, don’t—it’s okay—”

“It’s not. You’ve never done anything but take care of me—you went to prison for me—”

“Michael,” Jason said, interrupting his nephew’s frantic, upset apology. “I love you. And I’m proud of you. I’m glad you got to know your father. That he had a chance to know you.”

Michael’s end of the line was silent. “Do you mean that?”

“Yes. I do.”

“Thank you. I—I’m so glad you’re home. That you’re okay. And that you get to be with your son. I love you, Jason.”

“I love you, too,” Jason repeated. He slid the phone back into his pocket, looked at Elizabeth. “You were right.”

“Miracles happen every day.” She stood and tugged him to his feet. “Michael’s an amazing kid. And you’re a large part of why. Don’t ever forget that.”

“Come on. We better get home before your kids sent out a search party,” Jason said as they went back towards the parking lot.

“Hey, since we’re talking about the old days—”

“Absolutely not.”

Elizabeth pouted as they reached the bike, and he handed her the helmet. “You don’t even know what I was going to say.” Jason just raised his brows, and she rolled her eyes. “Ugh. You’re never going to let me forget about closing my eyes the last time you let me drive, are you?”

“Not a chance.”

I walk this empty street
On the boulevard of broken dreams
Where the city sleeps
And I’m the only one and I walk alone
My shadow’s the only one that walks beside me
My shallow heart’s the only thing that’s beating
Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me
‘Til then I walk alone
– Boulevard of Broken Dreams, Green Day

---

April 2011

 Spoon Island: Cassadine Lab

“I’m not sure what you want me to do,” Liesl Obrecht said with a sniff. She trailed behind Victor from the laboratory’s large common area to a hallway with a series of closed doors. “This is very different than the work I carried out for you before—”

“Not so different,” Victor mused as he paused, squinting at the numbers. “My apologies, dear. Our newest patient hasn’t been with us very long, and I’ve forgotten which room is his.”

“Victor—”

“Darling,” he drawled, removing his glasses. “You experimented on Alex and Anna when you knew even less about the human brain or memory. Why should you be so squeamish now?”

“Because of who my patient is,” Liesl began, but then a door opened down the hall, and Helena Cassadine stepped out, one brow arched.

“Are you going to wander all night?” she asked. “I have places to be.”

“Ah, there you are. I’d quite lost track of the room. Come along, Liesl.” Victor strode down the hallway, leading Liesl into a room that had been organized like a hospital room with a stretcher and IV lines. A small little boy was lying among the linens, his face pale and eyes closed.

“How is the little prince today?” Victor asked as he picked up the chart. “Recovering nicely?”

“He’ll be making a full recovery, thanks to your doctors.” Helena lightly smoothed the blonde hair out of the child’s face. “I suppose we should be grateful that General Hospital did not have the same caliber of medicine—”

“Well, they are hamstrung by that pesky FDA and medical ethics,” Victor reminded her. He turned to Liesl. “Now, you read over the prospectus—”

“Yes, but—I’ve never worked on anyone this young,” Liesl murmured. He reminded her of Nathan when she’d last seen him. Small and defenseless. “Who is he?”

“Does it matter?” Helena demanded.

“If I am to do the work you’ve asked of me,” Liesl said slowly, “then I will need his trust. I will not be able to call him Patient Three. He will fight me. Victor—”

“I trust Liesl. Without question,” Victor continued. “Liesl, this is Jacob Webber, the son of Elizabeth Webber and Jason Morgan. The swelling around his brain suggested that he would not recover. His parents took him off life support—” He paused, looked at Helena. “I’m still not entirely sure what we’re planning to do with him.”

Helena eyed Victor coldly. “I’ve told you the Spencers are not my only target. This is only the beginning of the torment I plan for his mother.” She focused on Liesl. “Can you do what we’ve asked?”

“I will do what I can,” Liesl said, shifting uncomfortably. “There’s still so much we don’t know—this will be the first time we’ve put this theory into practice.”

“I know you’re up to the challenge,” Victor said kindly. “I could always count on you.”

Saturday, November 4, 2017

Penthouse: Living Room

Drew ran a hand over his face as he sat next to Sam, settling Scout in his lap. “I didn’t tell you what happened when I went to Kelly’s to pick up dinner,” he said.

Sam frowned, looking up from the paperwork in her lap. She set it on the coffee table. “No,” Sam drawled. “You didn’t. What happened?”

“Kim Nero was in the parking lot.” Sam’s mouth tightened as Drew continued, “From the background that Curtis put together, I know that I met her in 2009, and we got married in 2010. She’s lived in San Diego her whole life, and we met on the base.” He paused. “We talked about Oscar.”

“Right. Joss’s boyfriend is your son.” Sam sat back. “And he’s her stepson. So, what, does she want to pawn him off on you? That’s pretty cold—”

“What—no—” Drew shook his head. “No,” he repeated. “But I think it’s important that I not forget about the life I had before. If I had been single, we could just—we could just keep going on the way we were, I guess. With new names. Or—” He scratched his temple. “I don’t know. We’ve been using my money—but it’s not my money—”

“It’s my money,” Sam insisted. “I’ve been on the accounts—”

“But that’s as Jason’s wife. Not mine,” Drew reminded her quietly, and Sam looked away. “We bought Aurora with his assets. Is it even ours? And, yeah, Kim does have custody of Oscar. But is it legal? Are we even really married? And what about Danny—”

“Does all of this have to be solved today?” Sam demanded. “I mean, we just found out a few days ago—”

“What does waiting do?” Drew asked. “I’m not Jason Morgan. It doesn’t matter that I have these memories—” He handed Scout to her and got to his feet. “They’re not mine. But if I get rid of them, does everything go—including the last three years—” He tipped his head back. “I can’t sit back and wait for things to happen, Sam.”

“No. I guess that’s something you don’t have in common with your brother,” Sam muttered. When Drew sent her an irritated look, she sighed. “Fine. My mother’s been offering to help us with that stuff, and, honestly, yeah, she said the marriage thing was gonna be a problem. She said we should clear the deck legally. You and I should file for divorce from Kim and Jason—and from each other.” She paused. “But that means I’m owed a divorce settlement from Jason, and since this is a community property estate—”

“I don’t want Aurora as part of your divorce,” Drew muttered.

“What if I do?” Sam insisted. She stood and crossed the room to set Scout in the playpen. “It’s my company, too. Carly used her divorce money to buy the hotel. Why can’t I use mine for Aurora?”

“Because then I did nothing—” Drew bit out. “I don’t know what to do about Aurora. But what about Danny?”

“What about him? I already asked my mom to draw up name change papers for Scout and Danny—”

He put up a hand. “You can’t change Danny’s name,” Drew said, slightly scandalized. “He’s Jason’s—” He took a deep breath. “He’s Jason’s son.”

“So? What does blood matter? Jason didn’t raise him. You did—”

“For the last year and a half, yes.” Drew shook his head. “But Danny knows Jason is his father—”

“He knows you are—your face. Jake is older, so fine—let that go. But Danny—Danny loves you, Drew.” Sam lifted her chin. “So we’ll get the divorce, we’ll figure out Aurora, but the only thing I want to change our about family, Drew, is our name. Everything else stays the same.”

Drew stared at her for a long moment before slowly shaking his head. “It can’t, Sam.”

“It can if you just want it—”

“It can’t stay the same. I am not Jason Morgan!” He walked away from her to the closet to take out his coat. “I have a meeting at the office—”

“On a Saturday?”

“I’ll call you—”

“Drew, just wait—”

But he couldn’t. He left the penthouse, left his wife and daughter behind, and went to the elevator. Nothing in his life was really his. His name, his wife, his sons, his business, not even the penthouse —

All he had was Scout. And Oscar.

The sooner Sam understood that everything had to change, the better they all would be.

General Hospital: Hub

“Are you always working?”

Elizabeth didn’t even have to look up from her paperwork to register the identity of the irritated woman in front of her. “Some of us didn’t get huge divorce settlements, Carly.”

“Oh, so now I’m a gold digger?”

Elizabeth sighed and looked up at the unhappy blonde. “No, I’m sorry. I’m tired. What can I do for you?”

“I want you to leave Jason the hell alone.” Carly folded her arms. “You’re distracting him when he needs to be thinking about his family.”

Elizabeth furrowed her brow, shook her head. “I don’t—I’m sorry. I don’t understand what’s happening here. How am I distracting—” She pressed her lips together. “If you have a problem with Jason’s priorities, you need to take it up with him. I don’t run his life.” She picked up the file and started down the hallway towards a patient’s room.

Unfortunately, Carly followed. “You think I don’t know what you’re doing? You shoved Franco out the door the same night Jason came home, and you’ve been using Jake to get close to him. Now you’re going to use this crap with Michael and AJ—”

“I didn’t tell Jason about AJ,” Elizabeth reminded her. “In fact, Jason came to me about Ava, and I went out of my way to avoid mentioning AJ because I knew it was going to be a problem for Michael.”

“Oh, aren’t you a goddamn saint?” Carly snarled. “You’re always playing the martyr—”

Elizabeth very nearly snapped back but took a moment to take a deep breath. “I’m sorry, Carly. I know you hate when the stuff about AJ gets dragged back up. Everyone, including Michael and Monica, is much better when that’s left in the past. I’m sure there was never going to be a good way for Jason to find out, but I know you wouldn’t want it the way it happened.”

Carly stared at her, then looked away. “I just didn’t want him to think Ava was a good person,” she muttered. “But no one ever listens to me. I told Michael Nelle was a disaster, that she’d hurt him, and he’s not listening to me either. Morgan refused to listen to me about Ava—” She squeezed her eyes shut. “I just got Jason back. I can’t lose him again.”

“I don’t know how Jason feels about any of this, and even if I did, that’s for him to figure out and tell you,” Elizabeth said, not feeling unsympathetic. What had happened with AJ’s death was one of the worst and darkest moments in Carly’s life, in Sonny’s life—and now it was being dragged back into the light because Carly couldn’t control herself. It had to be hell knowing you were your own worst enemy.

The problem with Carly is that she didn’t actually know that. She didn’t see that she caused ninety percent of her own issues. She just lashed out and blamed the person nearest to her.

“I know I don’t really have a right to talk about this,” Elizabeth continued, “but you hate me anyway, so I might as well. I know I got a miracle with Jake, but that doesn’t change the four years I grieved him. And that first year, Carly, I was a mess. You know that. I thought I saw him everywhere. I had to commit myself to get through it. And there were times I wasn’t sure I had.”

Carly bit her lip. “He should still be here,” she managed in a voice that sounded like a sob. “And he’s not. And it’s Ava’s fault. And I see you with Jake—and I hate you for it. I know that’s terrible, but I can’t stand it. I hate you for getting a miracle.”

“It’s not terrible,” Elizabeth said. “When Robin came home, as happy as I was for Patrick and Emma—and I was—I was so angry. So unbelievably furious with the world. Because Jake was gone. And so was Jason. And I wanted them both back.” She made a face. “I know that’s not better because it happened, but I understand that hatred, Carly. I’ve felt it, too.”

Carly hesitated, her eyes darting around as if she didn’t know what to say. “If you weren’t around, Jason could focus on what matters,” she said, returning to her original argument, and Elizabeth rolled her eyes.

“He is focusing on what matters, Carly. His family. His life. And whether you like it or not, Jake is his son. And Jason gets to be with him. If you can’t deal with that, well—” Elizabeth shrugged. “You’re going to live with that, not me.”

Pozzulo’s Restaurant: Front Room

Jason glanced around the room with its dark colors and furniture with a bit of trepidation, taking in the unfamiliar building and surroundings. He turned towards the back office where he knew Sonny would be.

His partner and best friend looked at him with a squint and frown before rising to his feet. “Jase—I, uh, wasn’t expecting you.”

“No, I guess you wouldn’t,” Jason said, closing the door behind him. He exhaled slowly. “I’m not going to ask what happened with AJ,” he said finally. “I don’t think I really need the details.”

“I—” Sonny’s hands were limp at his side as he stared at Jason. “I thought it was over,” he said after a long moment. “I thought Michael had moved on. But I was wrong. And he made sure Carly and I both knew that last night. Did—have you spoken to him?”

“Briefly,” Jason said. “I wasn’t here, Sonny. I’m not holding anything against you or Carly. I wasn’t here,” he repeated. “I need to talk to my mother. Talk through some things with Michael. But this isn’t about you or me, Sonny. And it’s not why I am here right now.”

“It’s not?”

“No.” Jason took a seat, and slowly, Sonny did as well. “I’ve been back a week,” he said. “And I’m trying to wrap my head around the things that have changed. The people who are gone. The ones that are here now. It’s been…” He looked away. “It’s been harder than I thought it would be,” he admitted.

“Jason—”

“But Elizabeth took me to a dealership last night, and I got a bike. We took a ride, and I—” He met Sonny’s eyes again. “I’m gonna be okay. It’s going to take time, but I’m going to be fine. You don’t need to worry about information overload or what happened while I was gone.” He hesitated. “We got distracted, I think, waiting for Spinelli, and while you and Carly were worried about Ava Jerome. I did, too, getting to spend time with Jake.”

“Distracted,” Sonny repeated. “You’ve been back a week, Jase. You deserve to be distracted by your kid. I’m so goddamn glad that’s working out. And grateful that Elizabeth thought of the bike. I should have—”

“I’m glad it was her,” Jason said, with a shake of his head. It wouldn’t have been the same, he thought, if it had been anyone but Elizabeth. “It’s something—it was better it was her. Anyway, Spinelli is here now. And he’s putting together a profile of the finances from the clinic. And you said you were tracking down Luke about Faison.”

“Right, and we were going to see what we could do about the WSB part of it—” Sonny exhaled. “Why is this back in your head?”

“Because I don’t think this is over,” Jason said. “They hunted me every step of the way from St. Petersburg to Port Charles, and then he gave up as soon as I revealed myself. That doesn’t make sense. I always knew he was working for someone else.”

“Someone had to tell him to stand down,” Sonny said with a nod of agreement. “So what do you think?”

“I don’t know,” he admitted. “I think we need to know more about Victor Cassadine. About why Cesar Faison would go after me. And I want to know more about Andre Maddox. Could he have pulled this off on his own?”

“You don’t think Maddox told you everything at the PCPD?”

“No, and I think most of what he told us were lies. Elizabeth is going to the lockup to see him on her own,” Jason told Sonny. “She knows him better than either of us, and she arranged it with Jordan. That detective—Nathan West—is going to be there to make sure she’s okay.”

“We’ll get to the bottom of this, Jase. And you and Drew—and your families—we’ll make sure everyone is safe.”

Aurora Media: Drew’s Office

Drew’s footsteps slowed when he reached his office’s reception area and saw the woman sitting in one of the chairs. “When they said downstairs someone was waiting for me—” he shook his head. “I wasn’t expecting you.”

Elizabeth rose to her feet, a cardigan sweater over her pink scrubs. “I thought you might be more willing to talk today than you were a few days ago—”

“I’m sorry,” Drew said. “For—” He sighed, then went over to his office. He pushed it open and gestured for her to enter. “I was angry, and I was desperate, and I took it out on you. I shouldn’t do that.”

“It’s okay,” Elizabeth said, putting her purse down, turning to look at him. “I understand—”

“It’s not okay,” he pushed. “And you need to stop excusing people treating you like dirt. I may not be Jason,” he continued with a half smile, “but I still have the memories. And I know how much you’ve forgiven from people who’ve done worse.”

“I didn’t do right by you two years ago,” Elizabeth said softly. “I should have. And that makes it harder for you to trust me—”

“We all got screwed on that one, and, hey, in hindsight—” Drew dumped his coat on a hook and went over to the window that looked over the park. “You gave me six more months of Jake Doe. Six months where I didn’t live with a lie. And if you’d told me earlier, maybe Andre just would have come to Port Charles sooner.” He peered at her over his shoulder. “Curtis got me the rest of his statement. I know what he did. That he came here and transferred the memories again.”

“Drew—about Jake—” Elizabeth paused. “He loves you. And he wants to be part of your life. He knows the truth, but it doesn’t change how hard you’ve fought for him. Jake knows who was there for him last year when he went through all of that. Who held him while he cried. He may not be your biological son—but he is your nephew.”

Drew rubbed his chest, turning back to face her fully. “But Jason’s his father. And he should have a chance. The chance I know he never did before.”

“And he’ll have it. There’s so much about this that sucks, Drew. So much,” she repeated, “but I think we should also focus on the good. Monica has buried three children. But now she gets to have you and Jason. You are still her son. Have you talked to her yet?”

“I’ll call her,” Drew said. “I’m trying, Elizabeth—”

“But there’s no manual for something like this. I just—I wanted you to know that this doesn’t have to be a tragedy. You and Jason—you were brothers,” she said softly. “Twins. Separated for all these years. And when someone found out the truth, they didn’t bring you together. They didn’t give you a family, Drew; they stole from you.”

“What are you asking me to do?” Drew said with a frown.

“Jason isn’t sure this is over—that whoever was holding him doesn’t have more damage to do,” Elizabeth said. “I’m going to see Andre now to find out if there’s anything else he can tell us.” She hesitated. “You know what he did to Jake. What he did to you and to Jason. I hope you can see that Jason isn’t the bad guy here. You’re both victims. And he wants to make sure that it’s over. I hope you can think about helping us.”

Kelly’s: Dining Room

Kristina swirled her straw in her milkshake, staring down at her phone.

“Hey.”

She glanced up to find Valerie Spencer frowning at her. “Oh. Hey. Sorry. I didn’t see you come in.”

“It’s okay.” Valerie removed her coat and tossed it on the other chair. “What’s up? You sounded weird on the phone.”

“Ever since Jason Morgan came back—since all of this started,” Kristina began slowly, “the news has been obsessed with him. And his past. And my sister. And, just like, everything. The last time he was on trial, it was for this murder. He got acquitted, and I don’t really remember it. I was a kid, and Mom really tried to keep me and Molly out of all of that because my step dad was prosecuting him.”

“Your step dad? Molly’s dad, right? I remember him. The one that pulled that crap with Nina?” Valerie asked. She took a fry from Kristina’s plate. “When did he and your mom get divorced?”

“I couldn’t tell you when it was final, but Mom kicked him out a few months earlier. It was weird, and I didn’t understand it. Ric was—he was great. I barely knew my dad—his brother—but Ric was great. He never treated me different from Molly. He was more of a dad to me at the time because of everything Dad was going through.” Kristina paused. “I never knew why.”

“And I’m guessing you know now,” Valerie said. “What happened, Krissy?”

Kristina shoved her phone across the table. “Someone sent that link to me. Through an anonymous Twitter account. It’s a YouTube clip of my sister testifying at Jason’s trial.”

Valerie lifted her brows, then picked up the phone and pressed play. She listened to Sam stumble over her testimony, then to Diane’s vicious cross-examination that painted her sister as scorned, gold digging ex-fiancée who had—

Valerie’s eyes bulged and she jerked her head back up to look at Kristina. “Oh my God.”

“She slept with my stepfather. That’s why my family broke up.” Kristina’s eyes blurred and she sucked in a shuddering breath. “I kept asking Sam which one was real—the cold woman who was, like, keeping Jason out of his kid’s life, or the amazing sister Molly and I have grown up with.”

“Krissy—”

“I always knew Sam had a dark past. Like, I knew she was a con artist. She must have tricked my step dad—”

“Krissy,” Valerie said gently. “Your stepfather tried to trick Elizabeth Webber into marrying him and then did the exact same thing to Nina, trying to get her money. It’s not like he’s a shining moral example. You don’t know the whole story—”

“I know. I know it’s stupid to get mad over this. It was years ago. And I know it’s not just her fault. It’s just—” Kristina swiped at her eyes. “Jason kept me out of trouble my whole life. At least until the pier. I know he wasn’t always super good to my sister, but you never know what’s going on in people’s heads, right? I listen to this testimony—and I just—do I even know who my sister is?”

“You should talk to her.” Valerie returned her phone. “Maybe she can explain herself.”

“How do you explain sleeping with your stepfather?” Kristina demanded. “Ruining your mother’s marriage and your sisters’ lives?”

“And maybe she can’t,” Valerie admitted. “But the point is—you won’t know unless you ask.”

PCPD: Lockup

Nathan unlocked the door that led to the holding cells but didn’t open it right away. He looked back at Elizabeth. “Are you sure? You know you can’t trust anything he tells you.”

“I know.” Elizabeth sighed, looked past him to the cell where her son’s psychiatrist was being held, at the man sitting on a bench, his head in his hands. “But I have to try.”

“Fair enough. Jordan said you could have five minutes.” He pushed open the door. “I’ll be right here to let you out.”

“Thanks.” Elizabeth stepped into the hallway, the sound of her work sneakers quiet as she walked towards Andre. The man in question slowly sat up as she approached the cell. Gone was the smooth and urbane man who had so seamlessly won their trust and even their affection. He wore an orange jumpsuit, his eyes tired, his face lined with exhaustion and what she hoped was regret.

She was counting on that, hoping for a glimmer of the man she’d known. The quiet desperation he must have felt to do something so reprehensible. She knew the story of his wife, understood his motives, but she could never bring herself to forgive him.

She’d brought her damaged child to him in hopes Andre could give Jake peace and security. To give Jake back his mind and his sense of self after the damage Helena had wrought. And Andre had used Jake, had been part of the scheme that stole his father away from them.

“I wasn’t expecting to see you again.” Andre rose to his feet. “I want to apologize—”

“You destroyed the lives of two men,” Elizabeth cut in. She folded her arms across her chest. “You may not have arranged their kidnappings, but you knew that the man who came home to us three years ago was not Jason Morgan. You stood by and let Drew build a life here. You used my son to hide your secret—” She shook her head. “But I’m not here to rage at you. Or to listen to your excuses.”

“Then why are you here?”

“Because you did more than lie to Jake this last year. You put the trigger in his brain that nearly killed us all.” She paused, made sure his eyes were on hers. “And that makes me wonder how much more you know about Jake’s history. Jason was taken to Spoon Island after they found him in the water the night he went into the harbor. You were there. Was Jake?”

“Elizabeth—” Andre pressed his lips together and looked at Elizabeth. “Yes. Jake was there for a time.”

Elizabeth let her arms drop to her side. “I had terrible hallucinations after I nearly drowned a few years ago. They found me on Spoon Island, and I’m told in the hospital, I was convinced my son was alive.”

Andre shook his head. “I—” He frowned. “When was that?”

“October 2011.” Her eyes burned. “They told me I was wrong. That it was the fever. But I knew my son was alive. I felt it, I knew I’d seen him. I’d held him.”

“I—” Andre looked away. “I can’t get into it, Elizabeth.”

Oh, God. She’d seen Jake. She’d seen him, and he’d been alive, and she’d let everyone talk her out of it. She’d thought she was crazy. She’d checked herself into Shadybrooke—Helena had taunted her—She swallowed it. This wasn’t about her—wasn’t about that terrible hallucination—she shouldn’t have even asked—but, oh, God, that dim memory of Jake screaming for her, of Elizabeth fighting to get to him—

It had been real.

“Who else?” Elizabeth asked. “Who else was at the lab?” She wrapped her fingers around the bars, leaning in. “Damn it, Andre—”

“Ewen Keenan,” Andre said with a sigh. “He found you on Spoon Island and brought you to the lab where you saw Jake. Then left you on the shore where Spinelli found you. I don’t know—”

She absorbed the knowledge that Ewen had betrayed her in this as well—that he’d known her little boy was alive, and he’d let her twist in the wind for all those months. She was glad now that Jason had shot him.

She’d wished she’d done it herself.

“Helena kidnapped Jake to get back at Luke. That’s what we’ve always believed,” Elizabeth said, watching as Andre’s eyes darted away. “But I don’t understand why Jason was taken. Or why Jake came home. Why?”

“I don’t know.”

“You’re lying—” she insisted. “Who else is involved, Andre? Is it over? Who was chasing Jason home from Russia? Damn it, are my children safe? Is Jake safe?”

“As safe as they can be,” Andre said after a moment. “I can’t say more—”

“You won’t say more,” she realized. She stepped back, tears burning her eyes. “You’re hoping to make a deal with the WSB or something. You’re holding back because what you know is valuable to them.”

Andre exhaled slowly, looked down. “You’d do the same—” He bit off the words. “Damn it, Elizabeth, it’s the Cassadines. I have to make sure I’m safe and secure. When I can tell you everything, I promise you I will—”

“Then tell me something,” she begged. “Tell me something I can use to make this over. To give Jason, Drew, and the kids some peace. Please.”

Andre closed his eyes. “Elizabeth—”

“Who were the other patients? Where are Drew’s memories?”

“I told you the patients I knew. Jake, Jason, and Drew—”

“I don’t believe you don’t know who Patient Four was,” Elizabeth insisted. “Do you just not want to tell me? Damn it, Andre—”

“I can tell you this.” Andre waited until Elizabeth was looking at him. “You’re right. This isn’t over. You make sure you know where every Cassadine on this Earth is. When you can answer that question, you’ll be safe.”

“This isn’t some fucking riddle!” she exploded. “You’re playing with my son’s life! Andre—”

But he turned away from her and returned to his cot, taking a seat.

Frustrated, Elizabeth stormed away, returning to the main hallway where Nathan was waiting, his expression worried.

“Did you get what you needed?” he asked as he led her back to the squad room and opened the door for her.

“You were right,” she said, her head spinning. “He can’t be trusted.”

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

---

October 2011

Spoon Island: Cassadine Lab

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Mommy!”

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

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

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

“Mommy—”

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

“Mommy, I wanna go home—”

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

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

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

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

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

“What—why—”

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

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

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

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

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

Saturday, November 4, 2017

Aurora Media: Office

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Kelly’s: Courtyard

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“When did you know?”

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

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

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

“You gave up Jake because of that?”

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

“Do you still that?” Michael asked.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Where—damn it, Jason—”

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

Kelly’s: Diner

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Davis House: Living Room

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

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

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

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

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

“Termination of parental rights,” Alexis repeated. “I—” She paused. “You want to cut him off from Danny.”

“Yes. Drew will adopt Danny legally. We’ll change Scout and Danny’s birth certificates, and that will be the end of it.” Sam lifted a brow. “Don’t you think I’m entitled to raise my children however I see fit?”

“I—” Alexis blinked. “I think that Jason has been back seven days, and it’s only been four since you had confirmation which twin was which. I don’t think Jason is going to storm into Aurora and take it from you—maybe you could work something out—”

“Mom, you wanted me to deal with reality,” Sam said. “This is me doing that. I’m not doing anyone any favors if I wait. I was happy with the way things were before. I want to go back to that—”

“But there’s no going back—” Alexis began, but the front door opened and Kristina and Molly came in, laughing and talking about something.

“Oh, hey, Sam,” Molly said as she took off her coat. “Guess what, Mom? TJ got accepted into the medical student program at GH. He’ll be doing his third year program there starting in January.”

“Yeah, Kiki got accepted, too,” Kristina volunteered. She handed her scarf to Molly. “That’s kind of cool that they’re working together. Oh, and Mrs. Spencer cornered me at lunch. She wants me to think about doing an internship at GH.”

“An internship?” Alexis frowned. “What kind of—you’re not in medical school—”

“No, but there’s a position open in the administration office, and I need an internship for next semester.” Kristina shrugged. “You want me to figure out my life, so here I am figuring out my life. Maybe I’ll like working for the hospital.”

“Maybe.” Molly slung an arm around her sister’s shoulder. “But maybe you’ll end up in a cult. Both things are equally possible.” Kristina rolled her eyes, and Molly laughed. She looked at Sam. “Hey, Sam, did you bring the kids?”

“No, they’re with the nanny,” Sam said stiffly. “Mom, I’ll come back another day—”

“Still mad at me?” Kristina asked as she sat at the table across from Sam. She looked at Molly. “I just told her that she was being a big bitch to Jason, trying to take Danny from him five minutes after the guy got out of a coma.”

Molly’s eyes widened. “You’re doing what?” she asked Sam.

“I’m going,” Sam repeated, getting to her feet. “And you didn’t call me a bitch,” she said to Kristina with a gritting of her teeth.

“No, I guess I didn’t.” Kristina shrugged. “I thought it. Is that why you’re here to talk to Mom?” She tried to peek at the note pad under Alexis’s hand.

“Jason just got home,” Molly said, shoving herself to her feet. “He hasn’t even met Danny yet, has he?”

“He met him,” Sam said, tensely. “But Danny doesn’t know him—”

“Neither did Jake,” Alexis pointed out. “And neither did Drew at one point. I think you’re being hasty, Sam—”

“And I think you all need to butt the hell out of my life! It’s not like Jason gives a damn about me or Danny! He hasn’t come by to see me or even asked about Danny—” Sam pressed her mouth together as something bubbled up her throat. “He’s seen Jake a thousand times in the last seven days, and he’s always with Elizabeth, but he hasn’t come to see me once!”

“Maybe,” Alexis said, gently, “because you went home that night with Drew and didn’t identify Jason that night. And that night at the PCPD, did you say anything to him?”

“No! It’s not my job to reach out to him!” Sam retorted. “I’m the one whose life has to change! He should be asking me about Danny! He should be trying to get me back!”

“Oh, I get it now,” Kristina said. “You’re pissed because he’s not chasing you.” She rolled her eyes. “Well, that is dumb as hell. He was in a coma five minutes ago, did you miss that part?”

“That’s not—”

“I think Jason had to spend four days proving who the hell he was, found out another man has been living his life—raising his family—and that he went from having no kids to two of them—in fact, one of those sons had been dead and buried. I mean, Christ, Sam, did you even tell him you were glad he wasn’t dead?”

Sam stare at her sister, mutely. Then stalked over to grab her coat off the hook. “You don’t get it,” she said, hotly. “And I’m not going to explain it to you.”

Then she slammed the door behind her so hard that a picture frame on a shelf next to it fell to the ground.

“So,” Molly said after a long moment, turning to her sister and mother, “here’s what I think is going on. Sam is super jealous of Jake and Elizabeth, and wants Jason to chase after her. And since he hasn’t done that yet—she’s gonna make his life completely miserable as punishment.”

“Well, duh,” Kristina said. “I just said that.”

“Yeah, I know, but I added the punishment part. That’s what makes me more right than you.”

“It doesn’t matter who’s right,” Alexis said as her two youngest daughters began to bicker. “Only how much damage Sam is going to do before she figures out this is the wrong thing to do.”

Kelly’s: Diner

Drew frowned when he came into the diner, approaching the counter where Trina and Joss were sitting. Once, he might have teased them about sitting near each other because he had the memories—and the experience of knowing they weren’t really friends—but he saw the hostility in Joss’s eyes, the worry in Trina’s.

“Uh, someone left me a text message that Oscar was here. I don’t know who,” Drew said hesitantly. “Where—”

“I’m right here,” Oscar said dully as he came out of the kitchen, a towel slung over his shoulder. Behind him, Cameron carried a green tub and set it on the counter. “Who texted you?” He asked.

“I did,” Cameron said, looking at Drew. “I guess you don’t have my number in your phone anymore.”

Drew felt the heat in his cheeks as he realized that was true— “I got a new phone. I guess all the contacts didn’t—”

“It’s fine,” Cameron said, looking away, but Drew had seen the flash of hurt in Cameron’s dark blue eyes—his mother’s eyes. This boy he’d wanted to adopt—had loved as his own for almost a year—

“Why’d you do that?” Oscar asked his friend, narrowing his eyes. “I thought—”

“Because maybe you don’t get to have all the time back from before,” Cameron said. “I mean, Jake was gone for years, but he might as well have been gone his whole life because he didn’t know me or Aiden when he came home. He didn’t even really know Mom. Didn’t really recognize us as his. But he does now. And it sucks we lost that time, I can’t get it back. But I still have my brother.”

“Can we talk?” Drew said to Oscar, who still looked a bit irritated at his friend. “Just for a minute. Joss can come if you’re not sure—”

“It’s fine. We should at least…” Oscar jerked a shoulder, nodding towards the courtyard. “I need to go pack up the tables for winter. I told Trina I would do it for her—”

“I’ll help,” Drew offered. As Oscar walked past him, he looked back at Cameron. “Thank you.”

“I didn’t do it for you,” Cameron muttered and disappeared back into the kitchen. Drew sighed, then followed Oscar into the courtyard.

“I don’t remember being Andrew Cain,” Drew told him as Oscar silently began to stack the chairs. “But I got a background check on him—on me,” he corrected. “And I know—I’ve talked to Kim. She told me we were close.”

“I guess. We were alone for a while after Mom died,” Oscar said. He started to lift a table, and Drew took the other side. They carried it over, then stacked it on another table. “I know what happened to you sucked. Cameron and Joss told me about when you were in the accident. And—I mean, you got someone else’s memories. That’s really awful, I guess.”

“It’s hard,” Drew admitted as he stacked another set of chairs. “Take Cameron and Joss for an example. I’ve known them for three years. I know that’s true. And I’m sure you know by now that I lived with Cam’s mom for a while.”

“You almost married her and adopted him, yeah.”

“But I also have all these other memories of them,” Drew said. “Of watching Joss sick in the hospital, and Cameron growing up with his brother—meeting him here in Kelly’s when he was a baby—” He stared at the diner. “But they’re like movies that play in my head. I don’t have a connection to them. I can remember that I loved them both, but I can’t really separate the way I feel about them now from how they are in the memories.”

Oscar furrowed his brow. “That’s weird.”

“It is,” Drew said. “And I’m trying to find a way to be okay with having these memories. I don’t know if I can ever get rid of them. Or if I can get the old ones back. I don’t know.” He paused. “What do I know is that I’m not Jason Morgan. And these aren’t my memories. I can’t pretend to be someone I’m not, especially when that man is walking around trying to put his life back together. I’m Andrew Cain. And you’re my son.”

Oscar’s chin trembled, but he swallowed. “But you don’t feel like that’s true—”

“No, but that doesn’t mean we can’t try to build something new. When you met Kim, she wasn’t your mother either. But she’s your family now. And you have a little sister, Scout. I want her to know you. I want to know you,” Drew said. He tipped his head towards the diner. “Cameron and his brothers. Scout and Michael. They’re part of my family. Which makes them yours.”

“I don’t know,” Oscar said after a long moment. “It hurts that you don’t know me. Or that you don’t look like my dad.” He looked at him. “I mean, sometimes, there’s something around your eyes. And you sound like him a little. But I just—” He shook his head. “I don’t know.”

“Think about it,” Drew said. He touched Oscar’s shoulder. “And we’ll see how you feel in a few days.”

Webber House: Living Room

“Hey, I got your message—” Jason frowned as Elizabeth quietly took his jacket and hung it up. “What’s wrong? What happened at the PCPD? Did Andre have anything useful?”

“He’s hoping for a better deal from the WSB,” she said dully. She pressed a hand to her head. “He’s not willing to say much until he’s in one of their facilities, I guess.”

Jason frowned. “Then—”

“And what he would tell me—” Elizabeth sighed, wandered over towards the fireplace. “He said to make sure we knew where every Cassadine was. Because then we could sleep at night.”

Jason scowled. “That’s all?”

“All he would say about if there was still any danger.” Her voice faltered at the end, and Jason walked towards her.

“Elizabeth—”

“That night when I nearly drowned in the harbor,” she said in a low voice. “When I was sick—and I told you I’d seen Jake—” Her eyes found his, tears clinging to her lashes. “When I said I’d held him—that I’d touched him—I heard his voice—”

Dread crept up his spine. “You weren’t hallucinating,” Jason said.

“No,” she managed. “No. Helena had my little boy. Ewen didn’t just save me from drowning. He took me to the lab on the estate. Jake was there. On that island for at least that long. And she let me see him. Let me hold him.”

Her shoulders started to shake, and she wrapped her arms around herself as he just stared at her in horror as the truth sank in. “He knew Jake was alive and that he was on Spoon Island.”

“And I knew he was alive. I knew it!” she said, opening her eyes, a fierce light in them. “And I let everyone convince me I was crazy! And I let it go. I believed all of you! But I was right! Jake was alive, and Helena had all that time to hurt him, to poison his mind!”

“Elizabeth—”

She pressed her hands to her face. “I knew I’d held him. I knew I’d felt his little arms around my neck, that I’d heard his voice—I knew it, and I let it go—I let him go—” Sobs began to wrack her body. “I let him die all over again.”

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

---

November 2011

General Hospital: Hospital Room

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“He’s alive—”

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

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

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

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

“This time?” Monica echoed.

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

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

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

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

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

It was nothing more than a hallucination.

Monday, November 6, 2017

Aurora Media: Drew’s Office

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

General Hospital: Hallway

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Lurking around Elizabeth makes it my business—”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“This is not gonna end well.”

Pozzulo’s Restaurant: Back Office

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Jason—”

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

“C’mon—”

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

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

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

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

Penthouse: Living Room

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

“Sam—”

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

“It’s not—”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“But—”

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

Webber Home: Living Room

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

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

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

“Ugh—”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Hey! How are you? I miss you!”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Your mom is pretty great,” Trina said.

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

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

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

“Yeah, yeah, it does.”

General Hospital: Parking Garage

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

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

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

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

“Felix—”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And this time, she took the helmet.