Fell in love with my aggression
But I think you learned your lesson
I’m intense, your stare is self-defense
Don’t blame me now you’re all fucked up
I’m the same me that you wanted tucked up in your bed
Now, you want a bullet in your head
– Warning Shots, Gabbie Hanna

---

Tuesday, January 2, 2018

Metro Court: Restaurant

He was getting tired of the pariah treatment.

The hostess that had shown Franco Baldwin to his father’s table had given him a dirty look, and the expressions on the other diners in restaurant weren’t much better. Years of cultivating a better reputation demolished in a single night.

It put him in a rotten mood which only got worse when his father refused to pick up on any of the hints Franco had been dropping since they’d sat down to breakfast. How many damn times did Franco have to ask about the stupid party before Scott just told Franco what he wanted to know?

Scott sipped his coffee. “It’s a shame you couldn’t come—”

“Don’t act like I was invited, Pops.” Franco snorted, digging his fork into the home fries. “I am back to persona non grata in this damn place—”

“Well, what did you think was going to happen when you got into a fight with a teenager?” Scott demanded. “Franco, I told you that wasn’t going to make things easier. Why didn’t you take my advice and go back to New York? Or Rochester? Or anywhere that wasn’t filled with people who have bad memories of you—”

“If you want me gone, just say that—”

“That’s not—” Scott pressed his lips together. “I just think maybe you’ve burned a few too many bridges around here,” he said carefully. “And you might feel better with a fresh start. Robert Frank has a bad reputation — Franco Baldwin doesn’t—and you had that art show a few months ago. It went pretty well. You could start over somewhere else.”

Franco tipped his head. “I’ll grant you that I don’t have many friends here. But I have Ava and Nina. There’s Kiki. You, when you’re not annoyed with me.” He picked up his coffee. “I guess I’m just frustrated. I feel like Elizabeth and I could have resolved our issues if Jason Morgan hadn’t popped up like a goddamn Whack-a-Mole and reminded her of all the bad things I’ve done—”

“Franco, that’s not why—”

“I could have gotten around her if it wasn’t for him,” Franco muttered. “And now I’m going out of my mind wondering if she’s been dragged back into all of this. He’s going to hurt her, Pops, just like he always does. You don’t know—”

“Franco—what’s between the two of them is between them. Elizabeth has made it very clear she doesn’t want you in her life. You need to let it go.”

“Yeah, yeah.” He considered his next question carefully because Scott wasn’t going to stay on the topic much longer without getting really irritated. Or suspicious. “Okay, look, just—tell me straight, okay? If you know. Are they together? So I can prepare myself,” he added hastily. “I don’t want to just—see them. I want to be ready.”

“I don’t know for sure,” Scott said slowly. “But they were at the party, and they left together. That’s all I know.”

Franco made a face, then looked back at his plate. That wasn’t much more than he already knew. But it was Jason Morgan, wasn’t it? He’d leave her for Sam. Didn’t he always? Elizabeth had confessed how much it hurt and how she’d lied to protect herself from that — so Franco just had to bide his time and hope that when it finally came crashing down, he’d be there.

Now, whether he’d want to pick up the pieces or grind them into the ground — well, he hadn’t made up his mind on that. Only time would tell which Elizabeth deserved.

Morgan’s Auto: Lobby

Elizabeth Webber did a slow turn around the garage’s lobby, taking in the dreary concrete walls, the rundown counter, and the stains on the floor. “I know you’re not into interior decorating, but—”

“Yeah, I know.” Jason Morgan folded his arms, leaned against the doorframe that separated the lobby from the office area in the back. “I should probably do something about that before it opens.”

“You know, some people are into the ruined look.” She stripped off her jacket, tossed it over the counter, then laughed. “Oh my God. How old is that computer?”

“Spinelli wants to keep it.” Jason came to her side as they looked at the ancient monitor that was roughly the size of an old television. It had probably been white in a former life, but now looked like it was coated with a thick layer of orange…something. The keyboard didn’t look much better, and the tower that sat next to it still had a drive for floppy disks. “He says it might be historically significant.”

She snorted. “He probably wants to put it in a glass case.” She ran a finger down the counter, wincing at the grime. “We’re not doing this all ourselves, are we?”

“Relax.” Jason’s hands came down on her shoulders and she leaned back against him. “I’m going to ask Carly to handle the customer service areas. She’ll know who to call for all of this and make it look…”

“Habitable?” Elizabeth said. He laughed. “That’s a great idea. You’ll make her really happy.”

“Silver lining. Thank you.”

“For what?” Elizabeth turned in his arms, raised her brows. “For not turning and running the minute I saw the lobby? You know, you were only concerned with the garage bays when we were looking. I don’t think we even considered the rest of the building.”

“No, thank you for putting up with Carly. I know it’s not easy—”

“Carly lashes out when she’s hurt.” Elizabeth shrugged and went towards the office area. Behind the door was a long thin hallway that opened into what would be Jason’s office, a space for a staff room, and a bathroom at the end. The door to that room was open, and she could see the grimy tile from here. “Oh, I’m not going anywhere near that toilet.”

“I’ll have it replaced. About Carly—”

“Jason. Carly and I will never be friends, but we understand each other. Yeah, what happened last month—that was bad. But are we really going to pretend that I don’t do that, too?”

Jason made a face. “You’re not like Carly.”

“Oh, please.” She folded her arms. “I never said anything cruel to you when I was angry? I never wanted to hurt you the way I was hurting? Don’t pretend that you don’t know what I’m talking about.”

“I hurt you, too—”

“And that’s why we forgive each other, right? Carly wanted to hurt me, Jason. To push me away, so you’d need her. And she knew what buttons to push. You don’t have to worry about that. We talked about it on New Year’s, and I think she’s really going to try this time. You’re going to make her entire day asking for help with something she can do better than I ever could. She’ll make this place look great, and every time she comes here, she’ll see it and remember that you asked her.”

“I’d ask her for more if I thought she wouldn’t go overboard and do too much.” Jason sighed, then shook his head. “But you’re right. It needs to be done and she’ll do a great job. And we’ll be able to concentrate on everything else.”

“Speaking of which, I got a message from Lucky,” Elizabeth said. She went back into the lobby to find her cell phone. “He and Luke landed in Istanbul this morning. Luke’s working on the addresses Spinelli gave him, and Lucky’s going to hook up with Spinelli to help with the files.”

Jason rubbed his chest. “I hate that we’re letting them handle Valentin. Do you really trust them?”

“Luke and Lucky? I don’t see a reason not to.” Elizabeth frowned. “Why?”

“I don’t know. I just don’t like that the WSB couldn’t send someone else—”

“Luke’s got WSB contacts all over the world. Look, he’s not my favorite person, and neither is Lucky. But that’s personal. This is, well, this is business, I guess. They brought Jake home, didn’t they?”

“And I still don’t like how that happened. Helena just handed him over, and Luke wasn’t curious why?”

“Well, we know why now. Because she intended to send that box of magic tricks to Jake and trigger the Chimera toxin. I don’t know how Luke or Lucky could have known that before it happened—” Elizabeth furrowed her brow. “What exactly do you think they’re going to do in Turkey?”

“Lucky waited more than two years to tell you it was Nikolas that sent him to Greece where he found Jake. As soon as we found that out, didn’t we start asking questions about Nikolas’s involvement? And Helena’s video confirmed it.”

“I—” She exhaled slowly and looked away. He grimaced. Maybe he shouldn’t be pushing this, but he hated that Elizabeth still had any measure of blind faith in the Spencer men after the way they’d manipulated her all her life.

“And if Helena wasn’t just bluffing, if Nikolas involved, then he could have known about Chimera—”

“Maybe he knew, maybe he didn’t. I can’t—I can’t believe he knew Jake was in danger and said nothing.” She wrapped her arms around her upper torso, troubled. “I know that he was struggling those last few years. That something dark was swirling. He kept so many secrets, Jason. I don’t know when it started. Or why. Even when I thought we were telling the same lies, I always knew there was something more he was keeping.”

“Hey.” Jason took her in his arms, relieved when she came willingly. He pressed his cheek to her hair. “I’m sorry. I know how much he mattered to you, that it hurts to think he kept Jake from you.”

“I just—it’s so hard to accept. I know, logically, if he was the one that sent Lucky to Greece, he must have known something. But I just—I guess until I have something in front of me that proves it, I can’t let go of who he used to be.”

Jason hoped, for Elizabeth and for Laura, that they never found that hard proof, but he had a sinking feeling that the Cassadine prince had been twisted up in all of this more than they could ever prove. He drew back so that he could see her face. “I didn’t mean to bring that all up. It’s like I said — we didn’t need much to start asking questions about Nikolas. Why didn’t they say anything?”

“I guess, but—”

“I think they know more than they’re telling us.”

“That’s usually true with Luke. All right. Do you—should we go to Turkey? I mean, you decided not to go yesterday. Have you changed your mind?”

“No.” Jason shook his head. “I don’t like it, but Luke’s our only option if the WSB isn’t going to give us anyone else on the ground. I don’t know the language, and I don’t have the contacts. That’s not the part of the world I can operate in. If we were talking about South America, it’d be different. I just—I don’t want to forget who we’re dealing with.”

“Fair enough.” Elizabeth took a deep breath. “Okay. Okay. That’s enough of all of that. Do you want to call Carly today? If you want to be open by the end of the month—”

The lobby door swung open behind them, and Spinelli hurried in, a thick stack of folders in his hands. “Bonjour, hola, and good day,” he said, his tone bright. He dropped his satchel with his laptop on the counter, set the stack next to it. “I have decrypted some more files, and as Stone Cold requested—I have brought them to you.”

Elizabeth eyed the stack of papers organized into several manila folders. “That’s…a lot of reading.”

“Yeah.” Jason grimaced. “I guess it’s time to get to work.”

Penthouse: Hallway

This penthouse had been his home for a little over a year, Drew Cain thought, and he remembered it being his home for far longer, though he knew now those memories were nothing but more lies meant to deceive him into believing he was someone he wasn’t. For the first time he thought about what it meant for his brother, for Jason, to come to him that day in November, and knock on the door. To extend the olive branch to the man who was living his life.

“Before I saw you at the police station,” Jason continued, “I thought you were part of all of this. That you were behind it—”

“How dare you—”

“But I don’t anymore,” Jason said, and Drew fell silent. A door creaked upstairs. But no one made a sound. But Sam was there. Just not coming down.

Because she knew.

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

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

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

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

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

“I know who I am—”

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

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

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

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

The memory faded, and Drew thought now of the kindness Jason had shown him. The patience and understanding that he hadn’t been obligated to demonstrate. He’d managed to stand in front of the man who’d stolen his life, unintentionally or not, and not think about the woman upstairs refusing to believe the truth.

Had that been the beginning of the break? Sam refusing to face the truth, even as she’d lied to his face? She’d called him Jason right until the results had come in—and she’d seamlessly switched to calling him Drew. Had it been a relief for her to stop pretending? Or had her old con skills kicked in?

Sam had stayed upstairs on that visit — and to Drew’s knowledge, she’d never looked Jason in the face again until just before she’d filed the divorce papers. He rubbed his chest. Maybe they’d always been doomed to fail.

He raised his hand to knock on the door that had been his home, and waited. He heard rustling inside, a soft sigh, then the door opened and Sam was standing there. Her expression was blank, her eyes guarded.

“Drew. I didn’t know you were coming over.”

“It’s been a few days—” he spied Danny behind her, and Scout scooting around the coffee table. “I wanted to see the kids, and I thought we should touch base.”

“Yeah, um, sure. Sure.” Sam stepped back, smiling as Danny tossed down his tablet and rushed towards him.

“Dad, Dad! I missed you!” Danny squeezed him tightly. “I’m taking really good care of Scout, just like you told me, but I miss you. When are you coming home?”

“I don’t know yet, buddy. But I missed you, too.” Drew sat on the sofa, with Danny next to him, then lifted his daughter into his arms. His daughter. One of the few pieces of his world that still belonged to him.

“Daddy.” Scout touched his face. “Love.”

“I love you, too.” He pressed his forehead to hers, closed his eyes.

“You should stay for lunch.”

He glanced over to find Sam watching them. “Yeah?”

“Yeah. You can have some time with them, and then I’ll put Scout down for her nap. We’ll be able to talk then.”

Greystone: Living Room

It was never a good day when Diane Miller darkened his door unannounced, especially with that look on her face.

Sonny rose from the sofa, lifted his brows. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Well, it’s a business call.” Diane set her briefcase on the desk, tossed her fur coat over the back of the desk chair, then focused on him. “I’ve received some financial documents that make it clear that you may want to consider getting new legal representation.”

Sonny frowned. “Financial documents? Shit, Diane, did you get nabbed for insider trading or something—”

Diane scowled. “As if I would ever be ill-bred enough to get caught.” She sniffed, then cleared her throat. “I’m representing Jason in his divorce. How, uh, familiar are you with those papers?”

“I read Sam’s filing. I know she made a lot of—” Sonny grimaced, then stalked over to the minibar, giving one longing glance to the bourbon before pouring a glass of water. “She made a lot of financial demands. Half of everything. Half of the bank accounts, all of Aurora, which is insane, half of all property—” He stopped. Looked at Diane. “Shit. Interest in the warehouse. The coffee company.”

“Now, I stay out of that part of your world entirely. I don’t know who you have managing your business affairs these days, and I’m sure everything is in order. But I don’t have to tell you that having a court delve into any of that is risky. Even for law-abiding citizens. Which, of course, you are.”

Sonny exhaled slowly. “Carly never made the finances part of it,” he murmured. “We always tore each other to shreds over the kids. Over the legal money. But she never came for the coffee company. Or anything on the island. Damn it, Sam isn’t asking for any of that, is she?”

“Half of everything is everything. And you and Jason have always been equal partners, at least since 1999 when you co-founded the coffee company. Now, again, I can’t get into the specifics, though you’re welcome to inquire with Jason to see if he’ll offer any.”

“Yeah, I’ll be doing that. Christ. That’s the last thing I need right now.” Sonny sat on the arm of the sofa. “You got financial documents. Subpoenas?”

“To go into the tax records for the last ten years.” Diane winced. “Before and after the marriage to ensure nothing is being hidden. I mean, that type of thing is standard in divorce cases. I just—I’m filing a motion to quash, but I might lose it. I can’t get into more of it, Sonny. But at some point, there’s a chance your needs will conflict with Jason’s.”

“I’ll call—” Sonny winced. “I can’t call Alexis,” he muttered. “She’s filing these motions. Which means Sam knows exactly what she’s doing. That conniving gold-digging bitch.”

“Well, I’ll leave you to consider your options.” Diane retrieved her coat and briefcase. “You may want to remind Jason that I have the ammunition we need to make Sam go away quietly with nothing more than what she walked in, other than reasonable child support. If he’ll just let me off the leash, I could have this dealt with by dinner.”

Nero House: Oscar’s Bedroom

“Friday?” Oscar Nero frowned, looked at the school calendar pinned on his bulletin board. “Yeah, uh, that should work.”

“Are you sure? Because I can do whatever night you want. I can work around your schedule. I know you’re going back to school tomorrow—”

The voice on the other end of the phone was his father, which was still a strange thought for Oscar after five years of believing Drew Cain to be dead somewhere in an Afghani desert.

Then again, since Drew didn’t remember anything about his life before waking up in Port Charles, New York, in a lot of ways, Oscar’s father was still lost in the desert.

But that wasn’t fair, Oscar thought. His dad hadn’t wanted to leave him. And it wasn’t his dad’s fault that some evil supervillain had played with his brain and stolen all his memories. And it wasn’t his dad’s fault that he’d built a whole new family with a new wife and new kids—

No, none of that was Drew Cain’s fault. Sometimes, though, it was hard to remember that, but Oscar was determined to try.

“No, no. Friday is good.” Oscar cleared his throat. “But I gotta go. I’m supposed to be at Kelly’s in, like, ten minutes, and it takes fifteen just to bike over there. Joss is gonna be ticked.”

“Yeah, I know how she gets. I’ll talk to you later.” The call disconnected, but Drew’s final words rattled around Oscar’s head after he was gone. I know how she gets. Another reminder that Drew had lived an entire life that had nothing to do with Oscar.

He’d been lucky, Oscar thought. He’d moved across the country near the end of the year, and somehow it had worked out. He’d been put into an algebra class with Cameron Webber and Joss Jacks. Joss was so pretty and vibrant and funny that Oscar had just lost his mind and somehow she’d liked him back. And Cam was so nice — and his girlfriend, Trina Robinson, had been really nice, too. He’d made friends without even trying.  And now Joss was his girlfriend, and Oscar had a whole life in Port Charles that was great.

Except when he remembered that his dad knew Joss and Cam better than he knew Oscar. Maybe even better than Oscar knew them since he’d been around as they’d grown up and Oscar had only been here eight months.

He exhaled slowly. It was no one’s fault, he reminded himself. No one had asked for this, least of all his dad. They would build new memories.

He jogged down the steps and dashed into the kitchen where his stepmother, Kim, was unpacking grocery bags. “Hey. I’m going to Kelly’s.”

“Okay, but don’t stay out too late. You have to get up early for school tomorrow—”

Oscar made a face. “It’s not fair that I’m already going back. In San Diego, we’d have another week off—”

“I know, but you get out a week earlier in June, so you’ll be grateful then.” Kim flashed him a smile, and he grinned back at her. He’d been lucky here, too, he thought. His stepmother could have dumped him in the system when Drew had disappeared. Could have accepted when the Navy said Drew Cain had deserted his unit and washed her hands of the little kid that she’d only known for two years. But not Kim. She’d dug in. She’d adopted Oscar, she’d fought for his dad to be listed as missing in action, and she’d made them a family.

Maybe he’d lost his dad, but he’d found a mother, and that was okay, right?

“Yeah, yeah, but I’ll still complain. It’s my thing.” He stopped at the doorway, then turned back. “Oh, don’t worry about me for dinner on Friday, okay? My, um, dad called. We’re going to do something.”

“Oh.” Kim’s smile faltered, but then brightened again so quickly Oscar thought maybe he’d imagined it. “That’s great. I’m glad you’re spending more time together.”

“Me, too. It’ll be weird at first,” he said. “But I think we’ll be okay. Right? I mean, I didn’t know Cam before I moved here, and now he’s my best friend.”

“Exactly. You and your dad, it’ll come back to you. And everything will be just like before.” Kim smiled, and this time Oscar knew it was a little bit false, but he let it go. Adults were allowed to be weird, right? “Go have a great time. Say hi to your friends for me.”

“Thanks. See you later!”

Penthouse: Living Room

After lunch, Sam settled Scout in her room for her afternoon nap, while Drew bribed Danny with some money for one of his tablet games so he’d hang out in his room. Divide and conquer had always been their approach to parenting before the world had fallen apart.

She came down the steps last, the wariness back in her eyes. “You wanted to talk.”

“Yeah. Yeah.” He cleared his throat. “Uh, I know you were upset that I left. And we didn’t leave things on a great note—”

“No, that’s putting it mildly,” she murmured. She wrapped her arms around her upper torso and looked down.

Their final argument had been a terrible one — and Drew still didn’t know where to go from there.

I wanted him gone. As long as I wanted Jason, Jake was in the way.

What a terrible thing to learn about the woman you loved, the woman you wanted to spend the rest of your life with. And her anger was still so fresh, so raw—it had been present that awful day  a little more than a year ago when Sam had confronted Jake about pretending to be in trouble so his parents would reunite—and he’d run out of the house into the path of an incoming car. If she hadn’t been trapped in the basement—would she have gone for help?

Drew forced those thoughts from his mind—it was no good to dwell on any of that. Jake wasn’t a factor between them anymore and never would be again.

“I meant what I said on Christmas. Danny made his choice that day. He told Jason he wanted to keep me right now, and Jason was fine with it—”

“He doesn’t get a choice,” Sam began but Drew held up a hand.

“He does for me. Without his understanding, I couldn’t go forward. I told you that, and I get that you don’t want it that way, but that’s how it is for me. He’s my brother, Sam. You don’t have to like it, and I may not know what to do with it yet, but that’s how it is.”

Sam pressed her lips together, her eyes hot. “Anything else you want to dictate?”

“I’m—” He took a breath. “I’m sorry. I’m just trying to explain how I feel. There’s a lot going on in my head. Memories that aren’t mine, and a past I don’t know anything about. A son I never knew about. Sons that aren’t mine—not biologically,” he added when Sam opened her mouth. “I haven’t been able to reach out to Jake—”

“Because she made sure to shove Jake in Jason’s face, didn’t she? She used him from the beginning and she’s doing it again—”

A child slithered down his spine because he knew that look in her eyes, didn’t he? That tone in her voice. Of course he didn’t know it. He hadn’t lived through it. But he had the memories of the last time Sam had been furious at Elizabeth, resenting Jake’s entire existence.

“However it fell out,” he interrupted, and Sam closed her mouth with a snap. “It’s where we are. I didn’t reach out to Jake because it would be too hard. But I saw him on Christmas, and I think it’s going to be okay. I’m doing my best, Sam. We all are. There’s no right way or wrong way to do any of this. There’s just…what I can handle. I’m sorry. I know none of this is what you want to hear—”

“You don’t know anything about what I want to hear.” Sam’s arms dropped to her side. “I’m fine with Jake being out of our lives. It makes things simpler. Fine. Jason’s given you his stamp of approval. Danny’s yours. Scout’s yours. What else do you need?”

“I don’t know. I just know I’m not ready for either of us to go on pretending like the whole world didn’t change a few months ago. That’s what you wanted to do. To just go on with the life we’d planned. But that life isn’t possible. Not anymore.”

“Because you don’t want it—” Sam’s voice broke. “You don’t want me. You’re angry because I’m trying to get Jason out of our lives. I’m just trying to make it all go away so we can be happy again—”

“I don’t know if I want it to go away. You think you need Jason gone, and I respect that. But—” Drew swallowed. “I’d have to give him up, too, wouldn’t I? I don’t know if we can be brothers, but you’d have me cut that off before—”

“You don’t need him! You’ve gone your whole life without him—and Jason’s not so damn special that you have to destroy everything you have to keep him.” Sam scoffed. “Believe me, I should know.”

“I’m not destroying anything, Sam. I’m telling you I want that door to stay open. And I can’t do anything that’s going to close it. If I stay with you, if I come back right now, I’m co-signing everything you’re asking to do in those papers.” Drew shook his head, sadly. “I can’t do it, Sam. I’m sorry.”

Sam brushed away a tear, nodding. “Okay. Okay. Then that’s where we are. Because it’s a deal breaker for me. I want him gone from my life the way he was supposed to be—”

“He wasn’t gone, Sam. These last few years, he was me. I was him. Or did you never truly accept that?”

She drew in a sharp breath, then stared at the ground. “I don’t know. Maybe not. I just—I know that it has to be this way. I want it this way. And you don’t. So this is where we leave each other.”

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