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

---

Friday, January 5, 2018

Morgan’s Auto: Lobby

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

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

“You get into the phone.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“I know.”

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

Jason frowned. “What?”

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

“I’m sorry for that, Alexis.”

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

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

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

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

“Of course not—”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Because of Elizabeth?” Alexis asked.

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

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

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

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

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

General Hospital: Nurse’s Station

“Hey, do you have a second?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Greystone: Living Room

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

“Why did you go to see Sam?”

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

“That’s not an answer—”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“It’s—”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Good. I have to get back to work.”

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

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

Sonny glared at her. “For what?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“I know. It felt really good—”

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

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

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

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

Jerome Gallery: Main Floor

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Yeah. I guess so.”

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

Webber House: Living Room

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Where is Cameron?” Monica asked.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“I’ve been mad at you,” Jason said.

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

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

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

“No.”

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

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

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

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

“Oh.” She frowned. “All of them?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

---

Friday, January 5, 2018

Morgan’s Auto: Lobby

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“It’s okay.”

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

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

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

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

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

“I just think maybe—”

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

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

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

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

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

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

General Hospital: Staff Room

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“This is true.”

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

“Briefly, yeah.”

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

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

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

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

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

“And now?”

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

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

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

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

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

“Jason won’t stop then, will he?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Devane Manor: Living Room

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Robert and me, Spinelli, Drew, and Jason. Do you have anything to report?” Anna wanted to know, her tones clipped.

“I wish I had better news, Slim, but we’ve got nothing.”

“Really?” Spinelli furrowed his brow. “You didn’t find anything at all at the Maslak address?”

“Maslak?” Luke glanced down at something off screen. “That’s not on my list—I’ve been working off something from the WSB field office here. I figured their intel—” He sighed. “I didn’t start on yours yet, Spinelli. Sorry, kid.”

Drew straightened. “The WSB field office gave you a list?” he asked. He looked to Robert and Anna who looked equally bewildered. “I thought we weren’t getting much support from them.”

“Maybe not from the top brass in Geneva, but I know a few of the guys in Istanbul. They gave me a couple of bodies to sit on some locations. That way I don’t have to pull Cowboy from the files. What’s the Maslak address about?”

“It’s an office building in the Maslak district,” Spinelli said. “Joseph Klein listed it as a place of employment on his visa to Russia.” He glanced at Jason who tensed. “Klein ran the lab in St. Petersburg.”

“Ah. Well, that does look like it might be something. I’ll make that a priority this weekend. I wish I had better news, but it’s not exactly easy to clear a place with only a few guys. I can’t eliminate more than two a day. And that’s pushing it. I don’t wanna clear a place only to find out if I sat on it a little longer, we’d have something. If I had more eyes, maybe—but I already called in all the favors.”

There was logic to Luke’s words, and Drew couldn’t really fault him. But still—

“We could go,” Drew said, and Luke’s eyes swung to him. “Why not? Jason and I could be in the air in a few hours—”

“To do what?” Luke asked, almost with a smirk. “Do you know Turkish?”

“No—”

“Yes—” Drew said at the same time Jason denied it. “I know enough to get around,” he clarified. “So maybe me and Anna—”

“I don’t know, it’s starting to sound like you don’t trust me,” Luke said, creasing his brow.

“No one said that, Luke,” Robert cut in.

Ann sighed. “Slow and methodical elimination of possible locations is the best way forward. It’s just—it’s frustrating, that’s all. We’ve been working this case for two months, and all we can show for it are dead trees.”

“Yeah, I hear you. I just don’t know what you want me to do about it.”

“Nothing, I suppose,” Anna murmured. “Is there anything else from our end?” she asked the group gathered. When no one spoke up, she looked back to the screen. “I suppose we’ll let you go.”

“I’ll talk to you this weekend,” Robert spoke up. “Get a report on this Maslak place.”

“Sounds good. I’ll get back to work. Take care.” Luke’s end disconnected, and the screen went black. Spinelli went unhook and pack his equipment.

Drew got to his feet. “Well, this was a waste of time. Luke doesn’t know anything. And neither do we. I don’t count identifying Patient 2 as much progress,” he added.

“Rome wasn’t built in a day—”

“Are we sure we even trust that Luke’s actually eliminating anything?” Drew wanted to know. He looked at Jason. “You’re with me on this, aren’t you? Putting this in the hands of the Spencers when they don’t know how to look out for anyone but themselves—”

“Luke hasn’t given us a reason not to trust him,” Robert said. “Has he?” he asked Jason.

“Well—” Jason stood. “He got drunk, got in the car, and nearly killed my son, so it’s hard to look at him for anything after that.” Anna looked down and Robert just cleared his throat. “I also know he didn’t tell anyone the full story of what happened in Greece when he found Jake. Lucky waited three years to tell anyone that Nikolas gave him the tip about Helena being suspicious. Convenient now that Nikolas is dead and can’t defend himself.”

“Do you think they’re covering up more of Nikolas’s role?” Robert asked. “He’d only be doing that to protect Laura.”

“‘I think they know more than they’re telling us. Why isn’t my problem. If they lie once, they’ll lie again. But I also don’t know what else we can do. Luke’s story seems true. If you believe he didn’t already find Valentin, then yeah, going slow like this is the right choice.”

“If you believe,” Anna repeated. “Jason, I can appreciate there’s no love lost for you with Luke—and by extension, you either, Drew. But Luke’s always been a reliable partner in these missions—” She caught Robert’s eye. “What?”

“I think mostly reliable is a more accurate statement. He’s been known to go rogue once or twice, but the results were always what we needed, so who am I to quibble about the process?”

Anna squinted, then looked back at the brothers. “If either of you want to go to Turkey, I will obviously understand. Do you want to go?”

Drew hesitated, looked at Jason. “I don’t want to go. But I’m not okay with just sitting back and letting Luke handle everything. I expected more than looking at buildings. Can we agree on that much?”

Anna nodded, though it was reluctant. “Yes, I suppose I did expect a bit more. But we’ll wait to see how this Maslak address turns out.”

“I have to get back to work,” Jason said, rising to his feet. “Thanks.” He headed for the door.

Drew followed his brother outside, where they’d both parked in the circular drive. “You didn’t say much. Do you want to go to Turkey?”

“No.” Jason pulled the SUV door open. “No, I don’t.”

“I’m surprised,” Drew admitted. “Knowing what I know—which I wish I didn’t—you’ve held out pretty well. Normally you’d have been on the first plane. You don’t think you could do better than the Spencers?”

“Maybe I could. But—” Jason paused, considered Drew’s words. “Yeah, I’d have gone before. Spinelli would have told me, and I’d be on a plane, and I wouldn’t rest until I found him. In fact, maybe I would have confronted Valentin a long time ago. But I didn’t. And neither did you.”

“No.” Drew leaned against the hood. “I want to know what happened to us. I want my memories back. And to get yours out of my head,” he added. “But you know what else I want? To see my daughter. To get to know Oscar. To find out if I even like being at Aurora. To figure out who Drew Cain is going to be if I never remember who he was. And right now, Jason, I want those things more than I want to go to Turkey.”

“Yeah.” Jason exhaled slowly. “I have dinner with Jake almost every night,” he murmured. “I thought I’d lost that chance.” He looked like he might say more, but then closed his mouth.

“You’re rebuilding, too. And it’s just as important as finding answers, Jason. I don’t want to forget. Answers won’t mean anything to me if there’s nothing to come home to.” He winced, thinking of how little he had at the moment. But he’d get more. He’d reschedule dinner with Oscar, and he’d get things figured out with Sam, one way or another. “And I know you won’t say it, but you get to go home to Elizabeth, too.” Jason met his eyes. “Maybe that’s just as awkward as everything else. The fact that I know more than I should how much you didn’t think that would ever happen.”

“It’s…” Jason hesitated. “Uncomfortable sometimes to think about what you know. What you remember. Things you know about me that you shouldn’t.” He sighed. “But yes. She’s part of it. The center,” he admitted. “So do I want to go to Turkey right now? Not even a little bit. But—”

“—if we get any hint the Spencers are actually lying to us? Yeah, first plane out. I’m with you on that.”

They heard footsteps crunching on the show, and turned back to see Spinelli trudging towards them, his equipment bag over his shoulder. “You ready?” Jason asked.

“Yeah, I just had a thought.” Spinelli glanced over his shoulder. “I understand if Robert and Anna don’t think there’s a reason to distrust Luke and Lucky. But I’m not so sure. Why is this the first we’re hearing about a WSB list? Why is it the first time Robert and Anna are hearing about it? It’s their case, or so they keep being told.”

“That tripped me up,” Drew admitted.

“The Maslak address is the most likely to be a hit. Klein was in charge of the lab in Moscow. Why would Helena or whoever was in charge in Russia,” Spinelli said,” why would they promote someone from outside? But Luke hasn’t looked at it yet. So he says.”

“You think he has?” Jason asked, frowning.

“I don’t know. But I think I can lay a trap to see what secrets the Spencers are keeping.” Spinelli paused. “Do I have your permission?”

“Oh, absolutely,” Drew said immediately. “The only way we’re going to get anyone else to see what they’re up to is hard proof.”

“Do whatever you have to,” Jason told Spinelli. “I want to know what they’re keeping from us.”

Davis House: Living Room

“Did you tell Diane about Sonny?”

Alexis lifted her brows. “Hello, Sam. It’s nice to see you. I’m doing great, thanks for asking.” She knelt to scoop up Scout who’d crawled towards her grandmother. “Hey, sweetheart. How’s my baby girl?”

“Mom, don’t start with me about this.” Sam dug her fingers into top of the sofa. “I’m not kidding. Did you tell Diane that Sonny tried to intimidate me?”

“I called her, and she said she’d pass it on to Jason, but—well, she pointed out Sonny has a financial stake in the demands—”

“The coffee business, right? Everyone is so protective,” Sam muttered. “You’d think their books could handle a little scrutiny.” She folded her arms. “Diane isn’t going to do anything about this. She lets Sonny order her around, and Jason does whatever Sonny wants—”

Alexis carried over to the playpen she kept in the corner and set Scout among some of her stuffed animals. “Was the visit that bad? Kristina said that you and Sonny were arguing.”

“Kristina.” Sam clenched her jaw. “I’m sure she couldn’t wait to tell you all about it.”

“That’s not fair. Your sister was worried about you. I’m worried about you. The last two months have been so stressful, and that’s without talking about the ancient history your sister dragged up.”

Sam closed her eyes, dragging her hands through her hair. “I’m just tired, Mom. I made choices, and I thought they were the right ones, but I just…I don’t know anymore.” She looked away, towards the windows by the front door. “Did Kristina tell you what we argued about?”

“She only knew what she’d overheard. I’d rather hear it from you, sweetheart. What happened?”

“Well, it started with the money, and then somehow he gets it in his head that I’m trying to get Jason put in jail. Like, I want him to get caught with their books, or something.” She sighed. “And he brought up the custody papers, the way Jake is talked about—and I told him I filed for divorce. That I didn’t want Jason back, I would have told him that if he’d ever bothered to ask—” She closed her eyes.

“And then Sonny told you Jason came to the penthouse that first day. That he’d come to see you. That he’d called from Russia.” Her mother’s tone was gentle, but it didn’t help.

“If I’d answered the phone that day, Mom, God—things could be so different,” she told Alexis, her voice faltering on the last few words. “I’d have gone straight to Sonny. We’d have brought him home, and we could have worked together on all of this, but—I didn’t. He crashed into the party, got arrested, and it was—”

“It was like choosing sides. Picking teams,” Alexis said.

“You weren’t there that night, Mom. You can’t understand what it was like to stand there in that room—Sonny and Carly were so clearly believing Jason, and Elizabeth did, too — no one was on Drew’s side. I couldn’t—” She exhaled slowly. “I couldn’t let him stand alone.” She looked at her hands. “But you know, I’ve thought about it a thousand times since Sonny told me. Maybe I did feel like it was teams. Sonny and Carly on one side.”

“And Elizabeth—”

“I don’t care about Elizabeth,” Sam bit out, and Alexis just looked at her. “I don’t, okay? She used Jake to get Jason back in her life, just like she always did. She used that boy before the accident, and then when we thought he was dead, she used that grief to keep him around—he’s welcome to her.” Her nails dug into her palms as she curled her hands into fists. “I married Drew. Who cares what his name was?”

“You did,” Alexis said, and Sam scowled. “You didn’t care about Jake Doe. But the moment he was Jason Morgan, you were involved. And you broke up with Patrick over it. Now, Jason is back again, and look where you are. Throwing away Drew. Dragging Jason into court, using every tool you can to keep him thinking about you. Sonny might think you’re greedy, Sam, but I don’t. I think you regret what you did that night. And all the things you didn’t do in the weeks that followed.”

“It doesn’t matter. Whatever I did then. It just doesn’t matter.” Sam took a deep breath. “I want a divorce. I want to move on. Everyone else is, you know? I saw Elizabeth’s sons — all three of them. Downtown, getting off a school bus to go to Jason’s new garage. Do you know there’s paperwork you have to fill out to add a second bus to your kid’s file? At all three schools, they filed it. Jason’s moved on. Or circled back. And Drew wants to be part of his life. I don’t want it, Mom. I want to be done with all of it.”

Port Charles High: Classroom

Spencer dumped his books next to Cameron’s. “I’m going to flunk this bio test on Monday,” he told Cameron. “And then Grandmother’s going to ground me for another week.”

“Well, we could just study this weekend.” Cameron flipped through his textbook. “It’s a wild idea, but it just might work.”

“This weekend, I was thinking maybe you could do me a solid and loan me the key to the garage. You have one, don’t you?”

Cameron frowned, looked at his cousin. “Why would I have one and why would I give it to you? I’m trying to stay out of trouble.”

“Okay, so you’re still frosty that I put you in that spot with Jason yesterday. He didn’t seem mad about it—”

“He wasn’t. Just mildly irritated.” Which he’d already been after talking to his divorce lawyer, Cameron thought. He wasn’t going to read too much into that, he thought. “And I’m not frosty over it. But I hate to see Grandma and Jason fighting over it.”

“Yeah, that’s not great for me.” Spencer furrowed his brow. “But Jason seems like he’s on my side. What do you think?”

“What I think doesn’t matter—”

“Trying to keep Jason liking you so he doesn’t dump your mom again?” Spencer wanted to know. Cameron scowled. “What, did I say the quiet part out loud? Because why else would you care whose side Jason is on—”

“Because the first thing you’ll do is run home to our grandmother and tell her that Jason agrees, and then Grandma will get all mad at Jason again. She’ll call my mother. And Jason and Mom already argued about this last night. They think I didn’t hear it—” Cameron stared blindly at his textbook page. “I was listening on the stairs. I knew they were going to talk about it after I went to bed. And they were arguing. About you.”

“I’m sorry, but—”

“No, you’re not. You’re still thinking about you, just like always. You’re not listening to Grandma when she tells you why she wants to shut you out. You don’t care that it’s causing problems at my house with my mother, who always looks out for you, and you don’t care you’re putting Jason in the middle.”

“If they would just let me help—”

“And you just don’t stop,” Cameron muttered. “You’ve always been like this. It’s all about what you want and damn the rest of us—”

“Hey, at least I’m interested in helping. You’re the one that doesn’t even care! After what happened to your brother, how can you sit back like a scared little kid—”

Cameron slammed his book shut, his fingers curling into a fist. “Don’t you ever talk—” He broke off abruptly as their teacher called the class to order.

“You’re just mad because I’m right,” Spencer muttered. “Coward.”

“Selfish bastard,” Cameron retorted. They said nothing else to each other for the rest of the class.

There’s something inside me that pulls beneath the surface
Consuming, confusing
This lack of self control I fear is never ending
Controlling
I can’t seem
To find myself again
My walls are closing in
(Without a sense of confidence, I’m convinced)
(That there’s just too much pressure to take)
I’ve felt this way before
So insecure
– Crawling, Linkin Park

---

Friday, January 5, 2018

Kiremit House: Kitchen

Luke scratched out a route on the map, glancing up at the footsteps in the narrow hallway connecting the kitchen to the back of the house. “Cowboy.”

“Dad. You’re already up?” His son wandered over to the coffee pot, poured himself a cup. “Or didn’t you go to bed yet?”

“Door number two.” Luke folded his map. “Eliminated two more addresses. I’ve got one more to clear, then we’re going to tackle Spinelli’s list today, so maybe some good news tonight. I also have to call back home, reassure them, so that needs prep.” He frowned when Lucky just grunted. “The Dark Prince passed on the news you got yesterday. About being Patient 2.”

“Yeah. I spent yesterday reading the files to see if they’d give us anything.” Lucky leaned against the counter. “It’s not a lot of help. Elizabeth is right, it moves the timeline back, and then Britt pointed out the gap between me and Jake. No other patients between us got assigned numbers. Don’t know what it means yet, but—”

“Trust Little Obrecht to find those details.” Luke leaned back. “Makes you wonder if maybe your grandma was Patient 1.”

“Maybe.”

“We never got too deep in what was happening then. Your mom and I figured Lesley was payback for Laura’s escape and for Stavros. But I can’t think of anyone else that would fit. And it would explain Lesley’s condition when we found her.”

“There’s that.” Lucky squinted. “Britt came across something interesting in the medical files. Testing brain waves on a frozen body, mixed up in the Ice Princess files. It’s dated around the same time as the weather machine stuff. So there’s another possibility for Patient 1.”

“Well, it can’t be Stavros. He was after—” Luke stopped. “No. If the old bat could bring Mikkos back from the dead, she’d have done it already.”

“That’s true. Doesn’t mean they didn’t try. Maybe that’s why we can’t find anything for Patient 1 or 4. Maybe they didn’t survive.” Lucky looked past his father, to the window overlooking the minuscule yard. “Anyway, just a theory. I’m gonna send it to Elizabeth later.”

“Yeah, Nikolas said she was the one to pass it on to you. That—that was good of her.”

“Yeah, always nice to know I can’t abuse her enough to make her actually hate me.” Lucky snorted and started for the door.

“Cowboy, if Elizabeth knew what you were doing—”

“Dad—” Lucky stopped, took a deep breath. “Look, I made my decision when we found Jake. When we thought the only reason Jake was kidnapped was because of me — as long as Helena Cassadine was in the picture, she was going to target me and my family. She doesn’t care about Lulu. That was Stavros. For Helena, it’s always been about me.”

“You’re the weapon she never got to use the way she planned,” Luke said. “I know that—”

“She went after Jake because she thought he was my son. Biologically. You ever think about that? The opportunity presented itself with the car accident, so she took it. But it could have been Aiden. There’s a reason she switched those tests, Dad. Not just to cause trouble, but maybe she wanted to get her hands on my son. Cameron? Helena wouldn’t understand biology, so maybe he was safe. But I couldn’t take that risk. With any of them. I kept my distance, and it worked. They’re all safe. Happy. Healthy.” Lucky looked down into his coffee. “I wasn’t a good father even before we found Jake. I was too angry at how my life turned out to appreciate what I already had. I wasn’t who I wanted to be. I turned my back on my sons. Now they’re not mine anymore.”

“We’ll fix this. When this is over—”

“It’ll never be over, Dad. The Cassadines—they always come back. I made a choice that it was better if I did this alone. I don’t get to complain now because I am. Elizabeth did the hard part. She stayed behind, she did the grunt work, she raised them alone.” He rubbed his mouth. “I can feel sorry for myself, but what does that accomplish? No, Dad, if Elizabeth knew what I was doing, it wouldn’t solve anything. She’d only be more angry, and she’d be right. I made my choice,” he repeated. “It was the wrong one, but I have to live with it all the same.”

Kiremit House: Study

Nikolas scowled, shoved away the paperwork, glared at Britt. “What does this tell me? Nothing. It doesn’t give us anything—”

“You wanted me here to read files,” Britt said, slowly, and he narrowed his eyes. Why was she treating him like an idiot? “Don’t complain because we didn’t hit the jackpot on the first group. Lucky said Spinelli is still decrypting files and working on Maddox’s, too—”

“Four days.” He rose from the desk, went to the window. “Four days and we have nothing. All we know now that we didn’t before is that Lucky was Patient 2. And it doesn’t even matter.”

“It matters—hey, don’t roll your eyes at me, Nikolas. It matters. Not just because of what your brother went through,” Britt said, and he looked at her. “Though it’s interesting that you haven’t even tried to talk to him about it—”

“Who are you to demand—”

“It matters because it connects the experiments to Crichton-Clark an entire decade before we know the WSB was using it under Victor Cassadine.” Nikolas closed his mouth. “We know that Helena considered Jake part of this because she waited ten years to begin those experiments again. And then, within a year, she’s had at least four more patients. We know Patient 4 is between March 2011 and July 2012. But Crichton-Clark? That’s not a WSB facility after all.”

“Okay, so—”

“You want some big bombshell but what we’re getting is little pieces. Nikolas, my aunt was kept at Crichton-Clark. Nina,” she added, and he nodded. “She was sent there after a few years in the rehab center. When Nathan and I were getting to know each other,” she continued, “we talked about it. Lucky was kidnapped in April 1999, and my aunt was moved there three months earlier. It’s the same year. That might not mean anything, but it’s a part of the puzzle. Nina was kept there. Lucky. Drew, and probably Jason. And probably Jake and Patient 4. It all stays local, in New York.”

“That’s…” Nikolas sat back down. “That’s an interesting point.”

“Scarsdale isn’t close to Port Charles, but it’s close enough you can travel back and forth. Helena could have kept a close eye on all of her experiments and lab rats. My mother was just one of them.” Britt took a deep breath. “Will you let me contact her? To ask about those days?”

“No—”

“She could fill in some gaps — I don’t have to tell her what I’m working on — I can come up with a reason to bring it up—”

“It’s not worth the risk. And you said you couldn’t get in touch with your mother. She didn’t respond the last time you tried.” He narrowed his eyes. Just when he was about to trust her—

“I could try again,” Britt said. “I don’t know, Nikolas. You’re the one demanding results. Luke is working as hard as he can. Lucky and I are going to go blind from reading screens. The only one who isn’t producing anything is you.”

“You have no right—”

“You want answers. You want to end this, I get it. We all do. But demanding that I stop what I’m doing to report to you isn’t helping. If Lucky and I find something, you’ll know—”

“Lucky’s going over the same files as you, isn’t he?” Nikolas asked as Britt reached the doorway. She looked back, her eyes dark. “To be sure he reaches the same conclusions.”

“You mean to look over my shoulder. Yeah. He’s keeping tabs on me.” Her lips twisted. “He doesn’t trust me anymore than you do.”

Maslak Lab: Office

Valentin typed in a different string, grimacing when the drive rejected it. He was having absolutely no luck in breaking into his mother’s files — he hadn’t expected such deep security when Helena had sent the drive to Alexis for safekeeping. But that was the trouble with his mother. She rarely did what was predictable.

“Sir?”

Valentin glanced up, sharpened his focus when he saw Klein hovering in the doorway. “Yes?”

“Stefan Cassadine is beginning to regain conscious.” Klein paused. “As we discussed, he’s disoriented, drifting in and out. We are monitoring him, but it is a very promising sign.”

“Yes. Yes, it is.” Valentin leaned back in his chair. “Thank you. Inform me as soon as he’s ready to be questioned.”

“Of course.”

Klein disappeared, and Valentin returned his attention to his mother’s files. All he needed was a few more breaks to go his way, and he’d be able to claim victory over his mother. Again.

Kiremit House: Britt’s Bedroom

Britt scrolled down to the next page of notes and frowned at the chemical formula. She couldn’t think of a single reason why you’d want that combination of chemicals in a person’s body—was this meant to be part of the protocol, or—

“Am I interrupting something?”

Britt shook her head, not glancing up from her notebook where she’d scribbled more than a dozen chemical equations. “No. Just wishing I’d paid better attention in organic chemistry.”

Lucky closed the door behind him and sat on the small bed. He slid a tablet her way. “I, uh, I’m still working my way through the Patient 2 files,” he told her. “Nikolas will get pissed if I tell him I’m not reading yours, but—”

“I already told him you were,” Britt supplied. He frowned. “I figured you’d get around to it eventually, and there’s nothing there in today’s stuff anyway. Just pages of chemical formulas. I think they’re part of the protocol, but—look, if you’re mad I lied to Nikolas, you can tell him yourself—”

“I was going to ask you to cover for me,” Lucky said slowly. “I’d appreciate if you’d wait until I ask you to lie for me, unless it just comes naturally to you.”

She stared at him for a long moment, then dropped her eyes to the tablet. “Is that something you want me to look at? Or did you come in to insult me?” No point in being irritated, or in hoping that maybe he’d started to trust her, at least a little, after yesterday.

But no such luck. Britt was still Public Enemy Number One, and no one was going to let her forget it.

“I’m sorry—”

“No big deal. I’m the bitch who hurt your sister, and that’s all you need to know about me. Whatever. What did you need?”

Lucky grimaced, then tapped the tablet screen. “Okay, so I’m working my way through the original medical reports. I’m trying to understand the scope of Helena’s plan for me. I know what happened wasn’t the whole thing. But it’s all in German. And you can’t just feed that into a translator.”

Britt picked up the tablet, skimmed through the report. “This is from my father. He’s reporting to Helena that he feels confident that the patient—you—will respond to her commands. She, uh, worried that you might have some—” She frowned. “Okay, this word…it’s not one I’ve seen before, give me a second. German vocabulary—”

“Is a pain in the ass. They just keep shoving words together and hoping it works out.”

“Not too far off,” she murmured. “How it felt learning it—okay, yeah. So Faison thought Helena was unintentionally setting herself up for failure by not including a failsafe in your programming. Um, to break you out of the control in case it was needed.” She kept reading.

“Why would he want me to have a failsafe?”

“It’s…” she squinted. “It’s a protection against the programming failing. Brainwashing is hard to actually accomplish — the kind that can’t be broken. The natural kind. Helena didn’t have the time it would need. You weren’t a good candidate for that kind of thing. You know, the way the Manson girls killed for Charles Manson?” Britt said.

“Vaguely.”

“Brainwashing isn’t even really a great term for it. It’s more like a conditioning program. You build up this intense loyalty—” Britt paused. “And you need a candidate who has the right weakness, the right…deficiency to respond to the programming. The Manson girls tended to have a lot of relationship issues with their fathers, and he responded to that by becoming a father figure to them. Which was the first step in the conditioning. Once he had them hooked, he used drugs and sex to get them under his control. Within a year, they would murder for him.”

“You know a lot about it.” Lucky tipped his head. “You study under your father?”

“No.” Britt pressed her lips together. “No. But I knew who he was, and I wanted to know everything about brainwashing so that I could stop him if he tried it on me. I researched it as part of my Ph.D.”

“I thought you were a medical doctor.”

“I am,” Britt murmured, lost in the German document again. “I did a dual program. Okay, yeah — you weren’t a good candidate,” she repeated. “Faison said that you didn’t have a lot of vulnerabilities to exploit. You were, by all accounts, a well-adjusted kid with mostly healthy relationships. You wouldn’t respond to natural conditioning. Which is probably the procedure they said failed on you. Faison wanted to try a different kind of programming, but he worried that your conscience, that your natural self, would fight it. And it would ultimately fail. Ironically, building in a failsafe to break control can lessen the chances,” Britt continued. “Because it gives something for your brain to latch on to. It’s kind of fascinating,” she murmured. “If it wasn’t being used on real people.” She glanced up at him. “I have my mother’s interest in asking questions, Lucky. Not her lack of ethics.”

Lucky smirked. “Really? You consider yourself to be an ethical person?”

Britt sighed. “No. No, I don’t. Not anymore.” She slid the tablet back. “It’s not a report, Lucky. It’s a memo from Faison to Helena advising her to use a failsafe in the programming. He notes at the bottom that she denied it. It would have added too much time, and she wasn’t sure how long she’d be able to keep you a secret. It’s dated in August, the year you were kidnapped.”

“My dad found me a few months later. So she wasn’t wrong.” Lucky picked up the tablet. “I’m sorry. I told you I’d stop taking shots at you—”

“That wasn’t a shot.” Britt returned to her notes, picking up her pencil. Then paused. She looked up, straight ahead at the chipped paint on the bedroom wall. “I considered myself an ethical person once,” she said. “Before I came to Port Charles. Before—before a lot of things. When I was in college, in medical school, I thought I’d escaped. I knew who my parents were, and I knew who I didn’t want to be. I thought I’d made it.”

“Why’d you do it?” Lucky asked. “Take my sister’s embryo. Use it for yourself. She trusted you.”

“She did,” Britt murmured. She sighed, turned to face him. “I could blame being raised by a woman who only ever taught me that the end justified the means. That collateral damage was necessary when the prize was worth being won. I could blame my mother. I used to. I used to tell myself if she’d stayed away from Port Charles, it would have been different. But it’s a lie, Lucky. You want to know why I did what I did to Lulu and Dante?” She shrugged. “Maxie was pregnant. It was successful. I knew Lulu and Dante weren’t planning to use those embryos. I wanted Patrick to love me, to stay with me. And I saw what he had with Emma. I wanted a family. So I tried to steal it. They weren’t using the embryos, I thought, so why waste them?”

Lucky looked at her for a long moment. “And then after, when Maxie came back to you, told you she’d miscarried—”

“It was too late. I’d already taken them. I’d already done the procedure on myself. I had guilt, sure. But I thought — well, that’s Maxie’s problem. And Dante’s father was rich. They’d just get more. And then the baby started to grow—and I stopped thinking of it as hers. I started to think of it as mine. And I wanted to keep it. Selfish. Destructive. Cruel. Pick your adjective, Lucky. They all apply to me. I did a terrible thing, and I eventually got caught. I wish I hadn’t done it, but I can’t change it. Does that answer your question?”

“Yeah.” Lucky nodded. “Yeah. I won’t take any more shots, Britt. I can’t stop my dad or Nikolas, but I won’t do it again.”

“Can’t blame you if you do—”

“When I was married to Elizabeth,” Lucky said, cutting her off, “I slept with other women. Maxie. Sam. A year apart. I blamed the drugs for the first affair, and the second, I blamed Elizabeth for not loving me. Some of that’s still true. Just like being raised by a woman like Liesl Obrecht doesn’t exactly set you up for success. But I knew what I was doing. And I made the choice. I did it because I wanted to. We all have our regrets.”

Britt smirked, though there wasn’t much humor in the expression. “You’re comparing your lack of fidelity to me stealing your sister’s embryo and using it for myself? I appreciate it, Lucky. But they’re not comparable.”

“No. But I know what it’s like to do the wrong thing because I wanted to. You’re here, Britt, helping. Really trying. I can tell that, even if my dad and Nikolas can’t. And I’d be an idiot to turn that away.” He looked down at the tablet in his hand. “I can’t fix what the Cassadines broke in me. They took something I can’t get back, no matter how hard I try. They destroyed my life. And I want to see them gone.”

“I want that, too,” Britt said. “I want to put a little good into the world for all the damage I did to it. And I want to stop my parents. They’re not in retirement, Lucky. They just haven’t gotten involved yet. The Cassadines didn’t do this alone.”

“No, they didn’t. As long as you and I have the same goal, we can work together.”

You have given me something that I can’t live without
You mustn’t underestimate that when you are in doubt
But I don’t want to carry on like everything is fine
The longer we ignore it, all the more that we will fight
– Love You In the Dark, Adele

---

Thursday, January 4, 2018

Kelly’s: Dining Room

Kristina dumped her coat and bag into an empty chair and sat across from her sister. “I need some advice.”

Molly picked up her milkshake. “Should I be scared or make sure we have Mom on speed dial for legal services?”

“Oh my God, you act like I’m such a screw-up. Don’t say a word—” she ordered, stabbing a finger at Molly who’d opened her mouth. “You know Sam and I haven’t really been…talking much for the last few months.”

“I don’t want to be in the middle of any of that—” Molly shook her head. “I had the weirdest conversation with Sam the other day, and I think we’re both better off if we stay out of it. Do not get involved—”

“I’m not. I’m updating you because I behaved myself yesterday and since you’re still someone Sam might talk to, you should know what’s going on.” Kristina shifted in her seat. “I stopped over to drop off something for Mom, and my dad was there.”

Molly tipped her head. “Why? Last time I checked, Uncle Sonny totally chose Jason, and things were frosty.”

“They were arguing. I’m not sure what about exactly, but it’s something related to her divorce from Jason.” Kristina leaned in. “He was accusing her of wanting both Jason and Drew.”

“Well, that’s not fair—she thought she was married to Jason for the last year, and now she’s married to—well, it’s hard to say who she’s married to,” Molly admitted. “But it’s not Jason. Or it wasn’t the way she thought. It’s probably super weird and complicated. I feel like we’re not giving her enough space for any of this, you know? Like, she and Jason—Drew, I mean, but when he was Jason—we need a code name for that. Like JaDrew.”

“What?”

“So I can talk about when Drew was Jason, because like he was Jason but he wasn’t, and now he really isn’t, you know? It’s like there are three time periods for him. There’s Jake Doe, JaDrew, and Drew.” Molly frowned. “I don’t like JaDrew. We need a different name. FakeJason seems mean.”

“I need you to focus, okay? He was Drew all of the time. The guy I saw at Christmas is, like, literally the same guy he’s always been. Same personality. Sam can’t have it both ways. She either got back together with him because he was Jason or she fell in love with him because he was Drew. Like that’s it—”

“Well, that’s not fair. What about what Elizabeth did?”

“Elizabeth can at least argue she fell in love with Jake Doe because they were already a thing before she found out the truth, and you know, she lied to keep him.”

“I thought she lied to keep Jason away from Sam—”

“That’s Sam’s story, and I think our sister has credibility issues,” Kristina muttered. She cleared her throat. “Anyway. I didn’t even finish telling you the rest of it, because I was sort of on your side when Dad said that, because it is weird and complicated. But then, then Dad drops this bomb on her. Jason came to the penthouse. The day he blew everything up at the Aurora party? He apparently went home first.”

“Oh. Oh. That must have been kind of upsetting for him. He wakes up in Russia, comes home — to his home, right? And when he gets there, Sam isn’t waiting for him. Like, of course, it’s been five years, but didn’t he say it only felt like six months because he was unconscious? So he comes home, and what, did he see Sam and Drew?”

“Yeah. He thought Sam was happy and moved on, so that’s when he went to the place he’s staying at now. It’s an old safe house or something. Anyway, Sam hears this, and she just—her entire state of being changes, you know? When I say Dad drops a bomb, I mean, it literally looked like he blew up her whole world. And he kept going. Jason called her from Russia, but Drew picked up. And of course, Jason doesn’t tell her any of that, because why would he?”

“Maybe he would have,” Molly murmured. She rested her chin on her fist. “If she’d asked. If she’d given him five minutes of her time. She never did, you know. After we knew the truth. She just stuck to her guns with Drew. Why didn’t Jason go to see her?”

“Because she went home with Drew that night. She looked at Jason and told the other guy she believed him.” Kristina picked up a straw, played with the wrapper. “I think if she’d known Jason called her, tried to see her before he talked to anyone else — I think maybe she’d have switched sides.”

“But she didn’t.”

“No. Dad ended it on asking what else Sam wants to take from him, and, like, you know her divorce demands are insane right? The custody stuff. Michael told me she accused him of abandoning Jake, that’s why he’s a bad father—”

Molly made a face. “Yeah, I was hoping she’d back off it.” She bit her lip. “Okay. So is that it?”

“Yeah, she threw Dad out after that, and I tried to talk to her, but that’s the whole update. I told Mom a little of it earlier, but I don’t know if she’s really seeing it. I don’t know if she wants to see it.”

“No, maybe not. You said you wanted advice, though, so…?”

“What do I do with this? Do I keep trying to talk to Sam? Do I talk to Dad? Do I tell Jason? That’s kind of the part I really want to know. Maybe I tell Drew. I like them both. I mean, you know, Jason used to get me out of so much trouble. And Drew was always nice to me. So do I just stay out of it? I feel like Jason should know. What if—”

“You were at the New Year’s Party. Do you think Jason’s thinking about Sam that way right now?” Molly asked.

“Well, no. He and Elizabeth looked solid. I mean, the way I heard it, Elizabeth took one look at Jason and was, like, yep, that’s you. And Sam wouldn’t. Refused. I guess…maybe it doesn’t matter that Sam’s upset because she didn’t know about the call or the visit.”

“If the reason Sam stuck with Drew is because she thought Jason didn’t…, like, check in with her first, I don’t know. I feel like that doesn’t matter to him. Or wouldn’t. In fact, as much as I hate to admit, it kind of makes Sam seem selfish, don’t you think?” Molly asked. “Because the guy’s been through hell, he thinks he’s sparing her, and he doesn’t her pressure to make any choices—”

“But he also doesn’t let her know it’s okay to take time with her choice. You don’t think she was owed that? Like he wanted her to decide over night?” Kristina made a face. “I don’t know. It all sits with me weird, and maybe I should just stay out of it, you know?”

“I think that’s probably safest. It’s a hard situation for all of them. Sam’s our sister. I know you’re mad at her for other reasons, but maybe you need to separate those things out.”

Kristina opened her mouth to tell Molly the rest of it — everything she’d overheard her sister say on Thanksgiving, the way Sam had wanted Jake gone. That felt related, she thought. Because maybe it was wrapped up in the whole problem Sam had with Elizabeth, who had believed Jason from the beginning. Maybe it was why Sam had clung to Drew so hard, because she’d felt like there were sides.

But Molly already knew enough terrible things about their sister, and Kristina could admit she was biased. She wanted to feel bad for Sam, and she did—sort of. But it was tempered with the knowledge that her sister could be destructively vindictive, and Kristina still didn’t know how to navigate her perceptions of Sam without that lens.

“Yeah, you’re right. We should stay out of it.” Kristina forced herself to smile. “That’s what I was thinking, so I’m glad we’re on the same page.”

Elm Street

Sam slowed her car as she approached the traffic light at Elm and Central Avenue. She glanced in the rearview mirror, checking on Danny scrolling on his tablet, and Scout who’d dozed off as she always did when she was a in car.

A school bus was just around the corner, stopped with its red sign holding out to warn traffic not to pass the bus while students poured off. Sam saw a familiar face out of the corner of her eye and twisted her head to get a better look.

Why was Jake getting off a bus across town from Elizabeth’s house? She saw Cameron come off a bench, as if he’d been waiting for his brother. Aiden was at his side. Why—

When the light changed, without thinking, Sam changed the blinker to turn right instead of staying straight on Central. She kept her speed light, following the boys who were ahead of her.

They walked about a block before veering into parking lot. Sam pulled her car to a slow stop, watching as they went towards a car garage, the two bay doors closed. There wasn’t a sign up, but Sam recognized the type of black SUV parked outside.

Jason.

Alexis had mentioned Jason was opening a garage — something he’d done the last time he’d been out of the business.

Elizabeth’s boys were walking right into the lobby side, with Cameron holding the door for his younger brothers. Walking in like they belonged there.

Sam’s fingers flexed on the wheel. She’d been frozen in that penthouse for months, she thought. Clinging to the wreckage of a life that didn’t exist anymore.

She didn’t care what Sonny said — she didn’t want Jason back, and it didn’t matter that he’d come to the penthouse, that he’d called her from Russia—he hadn’t done anything after that, had he? She hadn’t danced to his tune, and he obviously didn’t miss her. Not with Elizabeth’s boys walking into his new garage like it was theirs.

No. She didn’t care what Jason was doing. Or who he was doing it with. But he was doing something. Moving forward. Drew was doing something. He’d gone on with their plans for Aurora. What was Sam doing? Nothing. Reacting to everyone else, letting them set the tone.

It was time for a change. It was time for her to take charge.

If only she knew what the hell to do.

Morgan’s Auto: Lobby

Jake wrinkled his nose when he stepped inside, just ahead of his brothers and Spencer. “This place looks like a dump.”

“Hey, manners.” Cameron flicked his brother’s head, then looked across at Spinelli. “Hey.”

“Oh.” Spinelli frowned, standing up from his place at the desk. “Yeah, I forgot you were coming by. I’ll get Stone Cold.”

“No, that’s cool, we can just meet him—is he out with the cars—” Cameron craned his head, looking for the Chevy that Jason had gotten him for Christmas. Jason had brought it over to the garage that morning, so Cameron was eager to get started.

He’d get his learner’s permit in May, and he couldn’t wait to start driving. A whole world of freedom would open up—

“No, he’s in the back office, working on files. Dump your stuff anywhere, I’ll get him.”

“Files?” Spencer perked up, and Cameron looked at him. “Like the Cassadine stuff?”

“Yeah.” Spinelli pushed open the door to the back. “Hey, Stone Cold. You have a small army of children here reporting for duty.”

A moment later, Jason appeared. “Hey. I lost track of time sorry.” He came forward, around the counter. “What do you guys want to do? Other than work on your car,” he told Cameron. “I mean, for Jake and Aiden.”

“Can I smash anything?” Jake wanted to know. “Like, do you need to—” He punched his fist against his opposite palm. “Demo work and stuff. I could do that.”

“Nothing to destroy, sorry.” Jason turned, looked at Spinelli. “What’s on the list?”

“Inventory sorting,” Spinelli said cheerfully. “I’ll get Stone Cold the Second and the Youngest of Dudes all set up.” He took the younger boys into the garage bay.

“Spence, you ready to get some grease under those manicured nails?” Cameron asked, tossing his coat on top of his bag by the window. “How much work does the car need?” he asked Jason.

“Enough, but—”

“Can I read the files instead?” Spencer cut in, and Jason frowned at him. “I mean, someone should, right? So you don’t lose any time. I can help with that. It’s my family. And then you can go do Cam’s car.”

“Uh, yeah, okay. I’ll get you a couple things to read if that’s what you want to do.” Jason looked at Cam. “I’ll be out in a minute.”

“Okay.” Cameron tossed Spencer a look as the teen followed Jason into the back hallway. Last time he checked, Spencer had told him their grandmother had shut him down hard on even looking at the files. But well, that would be Jason’s problem.

He was gonna get to work on the car today, so whatever made that happen was fine by him. Spencer was gonna have to worry about himself.

Morgan’s Auto: Garage Bay

Jason gestured at a thin tube. “Do you see that?”

Next to him, stretched out an identical undercar roller, Cameron nodded. “Yeah.”

“This is the oil line. You want to check it for any nicks and cuts or anything that might cause the oil to leak.” He slid his fingers along the tube. “Just like this.”

“Okay. What happens when oil leaks? Does your car stop? Like immediately? Or like can it go for a while?”

“It’s dangerous to drive with one. Oil’s flammable, so it means you’re just making it more likely that you could end up in serious trouble. Or another car. Any time you have a leak, you want to handle it right away.” Jason moved to a different line. “This? This is the brake line.”

“Yeah, those are important. I know that. Mom uses them a lot.”

“Not as much as she should,” Jason muttered, and Cameron snickered. “You need to check your brakes every year, but it wouldn’t hurt to do it more. But at least every year—”

Across the room, he heard a cell phone ring. He sighed, and pulled himself out from under the car, Cameron following. “I’ll be right back.”

He scooped up the phone and answered it. “Yeah, Diane?”

“Jason. We have a problem.”

Jason grimaced, saw Laura at the front door in the lobby. He waved to her through the glass window that separated the bay from the lobby. She nodded back, and turned her attention away, probably to Spinelli.

“Jason, are you listening?”

“Yeah. I’m listening. What’s the problem?” He grabbed a towel to wipe his hands, leaving the phone tucked in between his shoulder and ear.

“Sonny decided to go over to Sam’s and pay her a visit yesterday. I don’t know what happened, but she’s furious. I told him not to get involved—”

Jason’s jaw clenched. “Why are you talking to him about it at all? You’re my lawyer.”

“I didn’t—I was trying to convince him to get his own representation. And yes, we did talk about how to make it go away—”

“Well, that’s not his problem,” Jason bit out. “He went to talk to Sam?”

“Yes. Which obviously didn’t get us anything but trouble. Which we don’t need. It could look like you’re trying to intimidate Sam into backing down on her demands which a judge will not appreciate—”

Jason saw Cameron trying very hard not to listen and wanted to throw the phone off a cliff. “I’ll talk to him.”

“Do that. I don’t need the headache.”

“Yeah, well, don’t talk to people who aren’t me about my case, Diane, and we won’t have a problem.” Jason didn’t bother to listen to her response but hung up and tossed the phone aside. What the hell was Sonny thinking getting involved? Jason was handling it, wasn’t he? He was going to let Diane do whatever the hell she wanted. What more did Sonny want?

“Uh, listen,” Cameron said, and Jason looked at him, “you look like you’re having a bad day, and I get it because, man, lawyers, but you should know something about Grandma Laura—”

“What the hell are you doing?” Laura demanded, appearing in the doorway with an irritated Spencer behind her. “He says you told him he could read those files.”

Jason squinted, then looked at Cameron. “Is this what I was supposed to know?”

“Yeah, uh, Grandma isn’t, um, entirely on board with Spencer trying to help. Like at all.” Cameron winced. “Should have told you that earlier—”

“It’s not fair, Grandmother. They’re my family’s records—”

“I don’t care!” Laura snapped. “I made it clear to you, so I don’t appreciate you going behind my back, and you—” She whirled around to stab a finger at Jason. “I brought my grandson here to work not to be drafted into your damned war!”

“My war?” Jason bit out. He tossed aside the towel. “Listen, I didn’t ask to be part of it, either! I was minding my own business until I got shot and shoved in the water!”

“I didn’t mean—”

“I respect that you don’t want Spencer involved,” Jason retorted. “But not everyone gets the choice. My kid didn’t get a choice, either. It must be nice to have one.”

“Jason—” Laura took a deep breath. “Okay, I’m sorry—”

“Yeah, me, too. There’s the door,” he said, gesturing. “I’ve got things to do.”

“Oh, damn,” Cameron said, under his breath, a bit wide-eyed.

“Do you see what you’ve done?” Laura said to Spencer. “Do you see what you’ve caused?”

“I didn’t do anything,” Spencer complained. “I was just trying to help, you’re the one that went crazy—” Laura went quiet, and he winced. “Grandmother, you know that’s not what I meant. I’m sorry.”

“Get your things and get into the car. Now.”

Spencer didn’t protest this time and moved quickly. Laura closed her eyes, took another deep breath, then looked at Jason. “I’m sorry. I clearly—I’m sorry.”

“So am I, Laura.”

She grimaced. “I’ll handle this at home. Thank you for looking after him today.” She left.

Jason looked at Cameron who looked up and away, suddenly very interested in the ceiling. “Don’t you think you could have warned me before your grandmother got here?”

“Yeah. Probably. Uh, I’m sorry—” Cameron winced. “It’s just—”

“Laura’s been through a lot with the Cassadines. Whether you or I or Spencer agree with keeping him out of it, she isn’t wrong.” He looked towards the back of the bay where Jake and Aiden were still sorting car parts and laughing. They hadn’t heard the confrontation, which was a relief. “I hate that Jake was part of this. What they did to his head — I don’t want that for anyone else. For you and your brothers. For Spencer. I want this as far away from all of you.”

“I get that,” Cameron said slowly. “And I’m not looking to be in it. But Spencer, it’s different for him. I still go home to my mom every day, you know? And Jake and Aiden, I got them. Spencer, he just—he doesn’t have that. He never really did, even when his dad was alive. So I guess maybe I didn’t say anything because I don’t see the problem with trying to help. I don’t like that he didn’t tell you, and I’m sorry for not doing it either. You don’t deserve to be in the middle of his fight with Grandma.”

“Let’s just get your brothers and pack up to go home.”

Quartermaine Estate: Foyer

Michael kicked the door closed with his leg as he switched his cell from one ear to the other. “I’m sorry, Nelle. I know it’s the second night in a row, but I need to have everything just right—”

“I know you do, baby, but I miss you—”

“Yeah, I miss you, too.” Michael hung up his coat, holding the phone in the crook of his shoulder. “This weekend. I promise. I’ll make it up to you. I have some meetings tomorrow that will let me wrap everything up for this proposal. Then, it’s all you.”

“Okay.”

He hung up the phone, then jumped when he saw his grandmother in the doorway to the front parlor. “You scared me.”

“I’m sorry.” Monica had her hand on the doorway, her expression puzzled. “You canceled plans with Nelle tonight?”

“Yeah. I wouldn’t have been any use to her anyway,” Michael said. He rubbed the back of his neck. “I still have a ton of paperwork to look over before tomorrow, and this proposal needs to be accepted or it’s going to be one more thing Aunt Tracy uses to drive me crazy.”

“Oh, you know you don’t need to worry about her,” Monica said as she followed him towards the back of the house and the kitchen. “She just likes to cause chaos.”

“That’s what Ned says, and I believe him.” He tugged open the fridge, looking for something quick. “But it doesn’t mean it’s not a headache.”

He kicked the fridge shut and went to the counter to start constructing a turkey sandwich. “You’ve known Aunt Tracy for, like, ever, so you know how exhausting she can be when she focuses on you.”

“I certainly do.” Monica slid onto the stool across from him. “We had battle after battle back in the beginning. She was determined to protect every inch of Edward’s estate for Ned. She hated that Alan got married, that he had children.”

“Yeah, Ned said she’s not thrilled with how many times the shares have diluted since Grandfather passed.” Michael spread some mayo on the slab of bread. “It’s crazy to hear stories from the old days, especially about you and Grandfather. I wish I’d know him better.”

“Me, too. He would have enjoyed knowing you were at ELQ. It’s all he wanted. For you to be part of this family. I think Emily really shifted his feelings on who got to be a member of the family,” Monica said. “We adopted her, but Edward—I think she was his favorite. She had that way about her. You couldn’t help but love her.”

“I remember. It’s—” Michael rested his hands on the island counter. “It’s hard sometimes, just remembering her not being here. Even though it’s been ten years.”

“A lot of the spark in this family was gone after she passed away. Edward was never quite the same. Your grandfather worried that we were all fading away. That the family would just disappear.” She looked at him. “It meant a lot to me when you changed your last name. That you kept it.”

“I did it out spite at first,” Michael admitted. “And later, even though I reconciled with my mom and Sonny, I kept it to remind myself who I was. And to never let myself forget. I didn’t want to forget AJ. You know that, don’t you? Letting them back in, it wasn’t about that.”

“AJ never wanted you to tear yourself apart. He just wanted to be part of your story. And now he will be. That matters.” Monica touched his hand. “It matters that you’re still here. And that because you are, it’s helped Jason come back to us.”

“Well, that’s not just me—”

“But it starts with you. And, yes, because I’ve reached out to Jake, that helps, too. But you are such a comfort to me, Michael.” Monica rubbed his hand, then drew it back. “Tracy will rattle your cages until she’s satisfied, and then she’ll go away again. You’ll get used to it.”

“Can’t wait.”

Webber House: Kitchen

“I’m sorry, I agree with Laura.” Elizabeth scrubbed the plate, then handed it to Jason who wiped it dry with a dish towel. “It’s bad enough we have to go through these files. I don’t want to come home and see Cameron with his own stack.”

“I get Laura’s concern, I do.” Jason set the plate in the drying rack. “But Spencer asked. I don’t remember being his age, but I remember Emily. And you,” he added. “Think of what you got into.”

“Every day, I have more sympathy for my poor grandmother,” she muttered. “I think of Emily being blackmailed, and all of us just handling it ourselves. My God, what we were thinking? And that happened twice. It’s amazing—” She grimaced. “Well, it’s amazing we survived that.”

“You were thinking your friend was in trouble and embarrassed. That you wanted to help her. You did—”

“At what cost? Emily and I got held hostage, then she got kidnapped and dumped in a car. I got drugged at a rave, guns pointed at me near the Canadian border—” She shook her head and wiped out the sink. “Laura has a right to set boundaries for Spencer.”

“You didn’t like when people did it for you—”

“And I was an idiot!” Elizabeth threw up her hands. “Jason, come on. Laura just found out Lucky was Patient 2. Nikolas is dead. She gets to be overprotective. And our son was nearly manipulated into killing a room full of people.” She frowned at him. “How can you stand there and tell me you think Spencer should get involved in this? He’s fifteen. Can’t we let them be kids just a little longer?” She turned away from the sink, pressing her hand against her forehead.

“I didn’t mean that Spencer should get involved,” Jason said gently. If Laura forbids him from doing something, it’s probably not going to change how much he wants to do it. When your grandmother forbid you from doing something, what did you run out and do?”

“That’s—” Elizabeth grimaced, met his eyes. “Okay. Yes. I usually took Gram setting boundaries as a dare. Okay. I get what you’re saying.”

“I don’t want this to touch the boys any more than it already does.” Jason took her hands. “I just don’t see the point in fighting a battle that Laura will end up losing. Spencer’s not going to give up. It might be better if we supervise how he’s involved. If we don’t let him do something as small as reading a file, who’s to say he won’t look for another way? And end up in even deeper trouble?”

“Yeah. I know. I know.” Elizabeth bit her lip. “I just—I hate that he wants to help. But I wouldn’t expect anything less. When Nikolas and Emily came over that day, looking for Lucky’s help, I got involved because I wanted to stop obsessing about what had happened to me. I wanted to just do anything else. And I’m glad we did. Emily and I weren’t friends before then. After that, you couldn’t have pried us apart.”

“I remember.” He rubbed her shoulder. “They’re going to get in trouble. Make mistakes. You know that. We can’t stop them.”

“No. But I’m not going to tell Laura how to handle Spencer. If she wants to cut him out of this, then we have to respect that. I’m not going to tell a woman who’s lost so much to the Cassadines that she has to watch her grandson get wrapped up in this.”

“Whatever Laura wants, I’ll respect her wishes. Spencer’s not my kid to make choices for.” He kissed the top of her head. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“I know. And I didn’t mean to get mad at you. It’s just—for the last two days, it’s like we’re eating, breathing, sleeping these stupid files. And yes, we’ve learned some new things, I guess. Lucky being one of the patients shifts the whole timeline which we needed to know. But I just—” She took a deep breath. “Having to tell him this morning, watching it hit him like a freight train—it brings it back. I was so scared all the time — scared of how Lucky was changing, not understanding, and then terrified that we couldn’t stop it—”

She wrapped an arm around her waist, used the other hand to brush away her tears. “We were so young, Jason. So young and stupid. We never should have been involved in any of it. But we got swept up because we all loved Lucky, and I can see it happening all over again. It’s my greatest fear, you know. That we don’t fix it, that we don’t stop it, and Aiden gets involved somehow. Or Cameron. He’s not right now, but Spencer’s his family, and Cameron will let himself get dragged into it just like I did.” She looked at him. “I don’t want my kids to repeat my mistakes. I’d go back and do anything to keep myself from getting involved.”

“You never, in a million years, could have stopped yourself from stepping up,” Jason told her. “Lucky was in trouble, and you wanted to save him. Every time Emily was in trouble, you wanted to save her. That’s why you’re so sure that Spencer being involved puts Cameron in the crosshairs. Because he’s just like you.”

“Well, my parents always wanted me to have kids who were like me. Guess they got their wish.” Elizabeth sighed. “Can we just—we not talk about it tonight? I want to make sure the boys didn’t smuggle any phones or tablets upstairs, then maybe you and I could sit on the sofa and talk about anything else. Can we do that?”

He tipped her chin up. “Yeah,” he murmured, kissing her. “We can do that.”

 

---

NEXT WEEK

“She went after Jake because she thought he was my son. Biologically. You ever think about that? The opportunity presented itself with the car accident, so she took it. But it could have been Aiden. There’s a reason she switched those tests, Dad. Not just to cause trouble, but maybe she wanted to get her hands on my son. Cameron? Helena wouldn’t understand biology, so maybe he was safe. But I couldn’t take that risk. With any of them. I kept my distance, and it worked. They’re all safe. Happy. Healthy.” Lucky looked down into his coffee. “I wasn’t a good father even before we found Jake. I was too angry at how my life turned out to appreciate what I already had. I wasn’t who I wanted to be. I turned my back on my sons. Now they’re not mine anymore.”

—

“Stefan Cassadine is beginning to regain conscious.” Klein paused. “As we discussed, he’s disoriented, drifting in and out. We are monitoring him, but it is a very promising sign.”

“Yes. Yes, it is.” Valentin leaned back in his chair. “Thank you. Inform me as soon as he’s ready to be questioned.”

—

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

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

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

—

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

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

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