My wandering soul
Found solace at last
I wanted to know
How long it would last
She’s losing control
She’s coming down fast
The heart that I stole
I’m not giving back
Never giving back
– Some of Us, Starsailor

---

December 2012

Crichton-Clark Lab: Patient Six’s Hospital Room

Andre grimaced as he clipped a scan to the lightbox and switched it on. “Nothing,” he muttered.

“What, precisely, am I looking for?” Victor asked, putting on his reading glasses and squinting. “It looks like last month’s—”

“I’ve been trying to fix the brain damage,” Andre muttered. “Or at least minimize it so that the transfer procedure will take.”

“Fix—” Victor’s brows lifted. “Is such a thing possible?”

“Apparently not.” Andre tapped the screen. “We’ve always thought brain damage was irreversible. It’s the type of cell that doesn’t reproduce or replicate. Once you kill a brain cell, once it’s damaged, it remains that way. The brain compensates,” he continues. “Six should barely be able to function, but you’re telling me he was living a full life?”

“Yes, yes. With a career of sorts, family, friends. He’s well-liked and respected. And that shouldn’t be possible?”

“He shouldn’t have any control. Over his emotions or his impulses—but his right frontal lobe has grown stronger—” Andre tapped it. “I was hoping I could replicate that. Memories aren’t just stored in one place in the brain.”

“I remember you remarked on it—”

“Explicit memories—episodic and semantic—are stored in three parts. The hippocampus, the neocortex, and amygdala,” Andre continued. “None of that is in the frontal lobe, which was the most damaged area. The frontal lobe controls speech and language, walking, running, ability to have empathy, personality—and the formation of memories.”

“The formation? Really? But not storage. This is—” Victor paused. “It’s interesting, but I’m not sure how it’s relevant.”

“Because the frontal lobe is damaged, forming memories should be more difficult, which is why implanting Five’s memories hasn’t been successful.” Andre studied the scan. “But you’re telling me that Six was able to form and access new memories normally?”

“No one has said differently. He was in a car accident at the age of twenty-two,” Victor reminded him, “and we extracted him just about his thirty-eighth birthday. To the best of my knowledge, he has memory of those years.”

“So that function has recovered,” Andre said. He narrowed his eyes. “But where? If I could find out which part of the brain was forming the memories, we could transfer memories there, and it might take.”

“So you’re telling me there’s a chance?”

Andre exhaled slowly. “A chance, yes. But it’s not likely. ” He looked back at the man stretched out on the hospital bed. “He’s a medical miracle, but he’s not a very good candidate for this study. I can continue to work, Victor, but I would be lying to you if I said that we would be guaranteed success.”

“Well, that is disappointing,” Victor said with a grimace.

“Do you want me to reverse Five’s procedure? Return his memories—”

“Oh, no. No. There’s no point in giving up entirely. You may as well continue working on Six,” Victor told him. “My partner requires him to be gone from Port Charles as long as possible. The time isn’t right. You may as well see if it can be solved. When she wants him sent home, we’ll deal with it.”

“I—” Andre hesitated. “You want me to keep Five in a coma? It’s been over a year—”

“What’s a few more months, eh?” Victor patted his shoulder. “You mapped Six’s memories. Were you able to retrieve any from before his accident?”

“Uh—” Andre hesitated. “Yes. Actually. But you were very specific—”

“Yes, yes, but it’s very interesting to know if I wanted to play with those—” Victor sighed happily. “It’s so lovely to have options.”

Monday, October 30, 2017

General Hospital: Hallway

Jason removed the band-aid covering the location of the blow draw from his arm, then tossed it in a nearby garbage can. He leaned against the wall, waiting for Elizabeth to come out with Jake. He was hoping that Jake wouldn’t mind if he went with them to get ice cream at Kelly’s, even though he knew that Sonny—and probably Carly—expected him to check in at Greystone when the tests were done.

He knew Carly wanted answers, and Sonny wanted to start figuring what had happened—Jason wanted all of that, too. He’d thought of nothing else since he’d woken up in the Russian clinic. He had had two goals. Get home and make someone pay for what they’d done.

But he hadn’t known about Jake then. Hadn’t known his son was alive or that the whole world knew Jake was his son. He didn’t care if there were people who didn’t think he was really Jason Morgan. He knew he was, and the truth would come out eventually. He was sorry for all the problems it would cause, but Elizabeth believed him, which meant that she would let him see his son.

Right now, Jake was all he could think about.

“Jason?”

Jason straightened as Monica Quartermaine turned the corner and stopped to stare at him, her eyes wide with shock and surprise. “Monica.”

His mother walked towards him, her eyes never wavering from his, stopping just a foot away. “How—” Her voice shook slightly. “I wanted to call, but I didn’t know—I haven’t been able to catch Michael—how did this happen?”

“I don’t have a lot of answers about that yet,” Jason said carefully, “but I know who I am.”

“But he has…he has the memories,” Monica managed. “He knew me.”

“Monica—” He paused. “Mom,” he said, and her eyes snapped up to his. “Heather Webber wasn’t lying when she told us there were twins.”

“Twins,” Monica repeated. “That would mean—” Horror dawned in her eyes. “Oh my God. Oh my God. How can this be happening—”

“I don’t know how this is going to work out—” He paused, his throat tightening. Maybe he did care a little bit that some people didn’t accept him. Was this how Monica and Alan had felt when he’d woken up after the accident and rejected him?

“Grandma?”

They both turned to see Elizabeth and Jake walking out of the room, his son rubbing his arm. “Are you okay?” He shoved a lollipop in his mouth as he waited for her answer.

“Jake.” Monica pasted a smile on her face. “I’m fine. I’m just…” She frowned. “Why are you here? What’s wrong—”

“We just had Jake take a blood sample,” Elizabeth said. She ran her fingers through Jake’s hair. “They’re going to run an advanced DNA test to determine identity.”

“Of course, but—” Monica pressed her lips together. “You’re here with him. So you—”

“Yes, I’ve taken a side,” Elizabeth admitted. “Maybe I should have waited,” she realized, with another look of regret to Jason, “but I didn’t want to lie. Not again.”

“I—” Monica exhaled slowly, turning back to Jason. “Oh, Jason.” Her eyes searched his. “It’s good to see you, you know. To see Lila’s eyes again. I thought when he had the surgery—the reconstruction, but—”

“Grandma Lila?” Jake asked. He squinted at Jason. “Grandma Monica told me I got her eyes, too.”

“You do,” Elizabeth confirmed. “I knew as soon as you were born, you’d have your dad’s eyes.” She looked at Monica. “I’m sorry. I should have called.”

“No, no, it’s—I understand. Hearing the news was one thing, I could pretend it wasn’t happening. But looking at you—” Monica met Jason’s eyes again. “Of course it’s you.” She reached up, touched the scar at the corner of his eyebrow. “This is the scar you had as a little boy. You fell running in these hallways.”

Jason frowned, shook his head slightly. “You never told me that.”

“You never wanted to talk about the past, so I didn’t,” Monica said. “You must have been, oh, maybe Aiden’s age,” she said. “No more than eight. You and Steven—”

“Uncle Steven?” Jake asked. “You knew Uncle Steven?” he asked Jason.

“Before the car accident,” Jason said. “He mentioned it once.”

“Thick as thieves every time he and the girls came to visit Steve and Audrey,” Monica said fondly. “Those were some good years.” She took a deep breath. “You fell just outside your father’s office, running from Steve and Alan, and hit your head on a cart. You needed six stitches.” She pressed a hand to her abdomen. “Oh, it’s really you.” Her eyes were damp as she stepped towards him but stopped. Always hesitating. She’d never imitated any contact since the accident.

Jason embraced her, and she hugged him tightly. “I’m so glad you’re home,” she said. “We can figure everything else out—” Monica stepped back, keeping a hand on Jason’s shoulder. “Oh, and Jake—what a miracle you came back to—” Her hand fluttered up to her throat. “When will we know about—about—if he’s your brother?”

“Tonight,” Elizabeth told her. “The markers will be back. We think we know who he is, I mean who he was. Not just that he’s a missing twin.”

“What?” Monica demanded. “How?”

“Apparently, Oscar Nero recognized him as his father who went missing a few months before Jason was shot in 2012,” Elizabeth said. “He’ll come by later for a test to match markers.”

“Nero,” Monica repeated with a slow exhale of air. “So he’s—”

“But Oscar’s stepmom changed his name afterward,” Elizabeth continued, “so we think the other guy is Andrew Cain.”

“Andrew—” Monica looked at Jason. “You’re sure?”

“No, but there are enough coincidences,” Jason said, “that we thought it was a good idea to test Oscar and get fingerprints from the Navy. We’ll know one way or another if he’s Oscar’s father tonight.”

“I hope he is,” Jake said. “I like cousins. I only have Michael and Joss. And Spencer, but he lives in London and he’s annoying. It’d be cool to have more. And Cam’s already friends with Oscar.”

“Of course,” Monica said. “I’m sorry—I have to get to a patient—but—” She looked at Jason, hesitant to say anything else.

“We’ll get together,” Jason promised. “I’ll—” He winced. “I’ll come by the mansion.”

Monica laughed, then left them, disappearing down another hallway.

“So are we going to Kelly’s?” Jake asked. “Because you promised me ice cream if I got a needle,” he said to his mother.

“Well,” Elizabeth began, looking at Jason, but the elevators at the end of the hall opened, Sonny and Carly stepped off, and she closed her mouth. Carly beamed as she strode away from Sonny, closing the distance between them faster than her husband.

“I’m sorry we’re late, but I’m glad we didn’t miss you,” she said. “Hey, Jake.”

“Hey, Mrs. C,” Jake said affably, pulling the lollipop out of his mouth. “We already got the tests.”

“Where’s your lollipop?” Sonny asked Jason as he joined them. “Hey, Elizabeth.”

“Elizabeth,” Carly said with a stiff nod. She looked at Jason. “We’re here now if you need a ride back to Greystone. Elizabeth should probably get home.”

Jake frowned at Carly. “I’m getting ice cream, and…” He tipped his head at Jason. “He drove with us, and he might end up being my dad, so I’m gonna invite him. You can come with us, too,” he said graciously. “But I am getting my ice cream.”

“Jake, there are a lot of things—” Carly began, but Jason cut her off.

“I’ll meet you back at Greystone,” Jason told her and Sonny. “I told you didn’t need to come.”

“But—” Carly began, but Sonny shook his head.

“No, it can wait a bit,” he said. He looked at Elizabeth. “I thought of some more questions I wanted to ask about the Cassadines, so maybe you both could come over after ice cream since it’s not like Laura is going to return my calls.”

“What’d you do to Grandma Laura?” Jake asked suspiciously.

“I exist,” Sonny said easily, and this seemed to make sense to Jake because he shrugged and twirled his lollipop in his mouth.

“Uh—” Elizabeth glanced at Jason, who nodded. “Okay,” she agreed. “I just need to make sure that the boys—”

“Michael’s at the house, so he can watch me. And you know Joss and everyone will be over after school because Cam wasn’t there,” Jake told his mother. “We won’t get into any trouble, promise. Not like last time.”

“What happened last time?” Jason asked.

Carly winced. “It wasn’t Joss’s fault—”

“No, I think Cameron played a leading role in that one,” Elizabeth agreed, “with Joss as a back-up.” To Jason, she said, “it’s nothing. We were able to paint the wall, and you can barely see where the fire started.”

Morgan Penthouse: Living Room

At barely nineteen, Molly Davis-Lansing was sure that she had figured out the entire world and could tell everyone how to live. The fact that Molly was usually proven right in the end only made her more infuriating. Neither of her sisters had weighed in on the situation when Sam had gone over to her mother’s on Saturday, but she knew they’d get around to it.

They always did.

“It’s just you?” Sam looked around the corner towards the elevator, expecting to see her other sister.

“Krissy and I drew straws, and she lost,” Molly said with a shrug. She went over to the playpen to pick up Scout, who was reaching for her aunt. “Hey, baby girl. How’s my favorite niece?” she cooed. Scout babbled and tugged on Molly’s dark hair.

“Why did need to draw straws?” Sam asked darkly.

“Because we thought it might feel like ganging up, and we very much don’t want it to be that way.” Molly said.

“Molly—”

“Mom said you were getting DNA tests done,” her sister continued. “Where’s—” She looked around the penthouse. “Where’s, um—”

“Jason,” Sam said forcefully. “We did the tests. I came home, and he went into Aurora to do the first round of interviews for a CFO position. We have to keep living our life, Molly. We can’t just stop because someone showed up with his old face.” She shrugged. “We always figured there was an air of truth to Heather’s story about a secret twin. This other guy is probably him.”

Molly set Scout back in her playpen, gave her a stuffed bear to play with. “You know, Sam, it’s okay if you aren’t sure. You can tell me. I won’t say anything.”

“I am sure,” Sam said with a confidence she didn’t really feel. Not deep down. The way her sister tipped her head was not reassuring. If Molly could see right through her, Sam was going to have to do a better job of selling it.

“Okay,” Molly drawled. “I guess we’ll figure out why this other guy is claiming to be Jason when the tests come back. I mean, it’s a risky game to play unless you’re sure that the tests won’t prove you wrong.”

“There’s a chance the tests might come back inconclusive,” Sam muttered. “There are advanced markers for paternity, but—”

“There’s the fingerprints, too. TJ said his mom said they’d be back in a few days.” Molly folded her arms. “Sam, you know better than this.”

Sam bristled. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I know you used to be a con artist,” Molly said patiently. “And I’m pretty sure a major rule is not to tell a lie you can get caught in. Why would this guy come to town, tell us he’s Jason, agree to all the tests and ways to prove it if he’s not—”

“I know who Jason is,” Sam retorted. “He’s the man who chose me, who chose our family! I know Jason better than anyone else!”

“Okay, but—”

“I was there when he got his memories back, when he remembered me, and he remembered Danny and the little girl I lost—I know who he is, Molly! And those tests—it’ll prove it!”

“I just—” She sighed. “I love you, Sam. And I like the man you’re married to. I don’t think he’s lying. I think someone is out there, trying to hurt you and him, and if you want to pretend a little longer that’s not happening—”

“I don’t need this from my own family,” Sam snarled. She ripped open the door. “And if Krissy feels this way, too, you can tell her to stay away.”

Not even fazed by her sister’s outburst, Molly’s expression softened. “I love you,” she repeated. “I just want you to be okay.”

Sam closed her eyes, the tears threatening in the back of her throat. “He is Jason,” she said. “He has to be.”

“Okay,” Molly said. She kissed her sister’s cheek. “Call me if you need anything. And give Danny hugs and kisses.”

Sam closed the door behind her, pressing her forehead against the door. Why did everyone want her to throw her life away so easily? Wasn’t that what she’d been accused of doing two years ago? When she’d walked away from Patrick and their future because she’d learned Jason was alive?

She wasn’t going to do that again. She couldn’t keep destroying her life just to chase after Jason Morgan, whoever he turned out to be.

Webber Home: Living Room

Michael narrowed his eyes when he opened Elizabeth’s front door to find his sister on the front step. “It’s barely one. How did you get out of school?”

“Listen, if you don’t ask, I won’t tell, and we can both claim ignorance,” Joss said as she sailed past her brother to find Cameron, Aiden, and Jake on the sofa. “Oh, you’re back from GH? Mom said you had DNA tests today.”

“Mom just dropped me off. She went over to your house,” Jake said as he squinted at the Nintendo Switch Cameron had let him play. “Mr. Sonny said he had Cassadine questions for her.”

“Our moms in the same room with Jason?” Joss snorted. “I really need to put a bug on her or something. I miss all the fun.” She plopped on the sofa next to Cameron and beamed at him. “Hey.”

He looked at her suspiciously. “Hey.”

“How you doing?”

“Fine,” he drawled, glancing at Michael, who just shrugged and sat back on the armchair, pulling out a portfolio to make notes for work. “How are you?”

“Good. Worried about Oscar. I saw him getting signed out by his stepmom for his test before I left.” Joss pulled her legs up and folded them as she took the controller Cameron handed her. “It’s wild to think that tonight we’ll know the score. You know, like Oscar will know if his dad is in Port Charles.”

“But his dad still won’t remember him,” Jake said. “That’s really hard. I mean, Dad might not be my actual dad, but he remembers me now. Before, when he didn’t, it was weird. And I didn’t even know him before.”

“It’s a good thing I was here for that whole Jake Doe thing because that would make zero sense to someone else,” Joss told Jake. She grimaced. “Call of Duty again? Can’t we ever play anything else? When does the Sims 4 come out for console?”

“November 17,” Aiden said. “I wanna build houses, and Cam said I could play on his Xbox.” He scowled. “Cam, you’re going the wrong way! They’re gonna cream you!”

“Not if I don’t—” Cam hissed. “Damn it.” He glanced at Joss again. “So why’d you cut school? I told you, Mom didn’t want Jake and Aiden at school until we got the markers back—”

“Well, I wasn’t going to,” Joss said, “but then I was listening to Mom and Uncle Sonny, and Mom wanted to know why Michael was going to be over here, and Sonny said that Elizabeth didn’t want to leave you guys alone.” She smiled sweetly at her brother. “I have questions.”

Michael stared at her blandly. “That’s nice.”

“And then I got here, and I recognized the SUV outside because it looks like the one Mom doesn’t think I know follows me everywhere. I wave at Milo all the time.” She raised her brows. “Why is my brother keeping you company, and why do you have a guard?”

“Because of Franco,” Aiden said before he noticed his brother’s death glare. “Oh. Never mind. Anyone want cookies? Let me get cookies.” He hopped to his feet and hurried into the kitchen.

“You didn’t tell Joss?” Jake asked Cameron, who then turned the glare on him. “Uh, I’m gonna go help Aiden.”

“What happened?” Joss said flatly. “Why are we guarding against Franco—” She twisted on the sofa again to level a suspicious look at Michael. “And since when do you count as security against a serial killer?”

“It’s not a big deal, Joss,” Cameron muttered. He flipped through the menus on his game and avoided Joss’s hurt expression.

“Trina didn’t say anything, and neither did Oscar. If it’s not a big deal,” she said, her teeth clenched, “then why didn’t you tell us? Oscar said he thought your mom broke up with Franco.”

“She did. So there, you’re caught up.”

Joss narrowed her eyes. “Excuse me.” She got to her feet and stalked into the kitchen.

“Uh, not that I’m going to tell you what to do,” Michael said, pitching his voice lower, “but she’s just going to go bug your brothers, and I know they’re loyal to you—”

“Crap.” Cameron huffed, then followed in Joss’s trail.

“I really think since I gotta live with Cam—” Jake was saying when Cameron entered the kitchen. “Oh, thank God. You gotta tell her. She’s gonna cry—”

“She is not,” Cameron said, rolling his eyes as Joss turned and made a face at him. “She just knows how to turn on the waterworks. She’s been doing it since kindergarten.” He folded his arms. “Look, after you guys left, we were watching the video. Franco came in, got annoyed. He wanted the iPad, I didn’t want to give it to him. We got into it. Mom came home. It’s done. She kicked him to the curb. It’s not a big deal—”

“Got into it,” Joss repeated. She pursed her lips. “Nope. There’s more.”

Cameron nearly growled. “Why do you always gotta do this? Not everything in my life is your business—”

Joss lifted her chin, and now the hurt he saw in her eyes was real. “No, you’re right. It’s not. But if it’s not a big deal, you’d tell me. Especially when you know I’ve been through it.”

“I know, Joss—” He sighed. “Okay. Fine. He shoved me, grabbed my shirt, and if my mom hadn’t come home, I’m not exactly sure how it would have gone. So, it was bad, but it’s okay now. I just—I didn’t tell you because I didn’t—”

He paused. “I know you, Joss. And you’re already plotting in your head—”

“Of course I am! Why is Franco still a thing? Why aren’t we all plotting his demise right now?” Joss demanded. “He put his hands on you, and your mom let him live? God, no wonder she and Jason are friends. They’re both idiots—”

“Hey—” Jake said, scowling. “That’s not nice—”

“Neither is bringing home a serial killer to live with your kids,” Joss shot back at the younger boy.

“Hey! Your mom almost married him!” Aiden piped in.

“I didn’t mean—” Joss tried to back pedal.

“Yeah!” Jake said. “And he broke up with her, not like my mom! My mom made him leave!”

She exhaled slowly. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. That was stupid of me to say. I’m sorry,” she repeated to the younger boys, then she turned around to Cameron. “You know I like your mom.”

“I know.” Cameron rubbed the back of his neck and frowned when he saw Michael joining them. “Look, it’s—I get it, Joss. And maybe part of me just doesn’t want to deal with it because I get it. And I know how you and Michael—and Morgan,” he added quietly, “how hard it was for all of you. I wanted it to be different for my mom. I thought it was. I thought he was just a dick. I didn’t—until Friday, I didn’t think it’d be like that.”

“Until that day on the Haunted Star,” Michael said, “neither did we. That’s usually how Franco gets you. And no one blames your mom for falling for it. He’s a sociopath. They know how to mimic human emotion. He had me convinced back then, too.”

He sat down at the dining table and reached for one of the cookies from the plate in the middle of the table. “Why don’t we take a break from talking about Franco?”

“Okay.” Cameron mouthed an apology to Joss, who wrinkled her nose but nodded. They sat around the table, quiet for a minute. “Any idea what Mom and Jason are doing at Greystone?” he asked Michael.

“Uncle Sonny said Spinelli is coming to town later this week, so I guess they’re gonna go after whoever did this,” Joss said. “I’m glad they’re letting your mom help. I think she always felt bad she wasn’t part of bringing you home,” she told Jake, then looked at Michael. “I heard Mom and Uncle Sonny arguing about Ava Jerome.”

Michael grimaced. “Yeah, Ava helped Jason escape the clinic — probably because she knew he was somehow connected to Sonny. Mom wants to tell Jason everything, but Sonny says we should hold off.”

“Well, yeah, because talking about Ava probably brings up that whole other thing,” Cameron said. He broke a cookie into two, then realized no one was saying anything after a minute. He looked up to find Michael and Joss frowning at him while Jake and Aiden were trying very hard to be quiet, so no one noticed they were there for grown-up conversation.

“Other thing?” Michael asked.

“I think—” Joss said with a wince. “Cam’s talking about that whole thing where, you know, your biological dad wasn’t dead, but now he’s dead again, and there’s a reason you don’t call Uncle Sonny Dad unless you’re with him or Mom.”

“You think I should tell Jason that the brother he thought was dead turned out not to be dead, but then got murdered by Sonny, and Mom covered it up? That’s the other thing?” Michael said darkly. “You think talking about Ava gets me there? How?”

“Because Ava killed Connie,” Joss said. “And you know that’s gonna come up. It’s why Uncle Sonny hates her. And Mom hates her because of Morgan. And talking about Connie always leads to AJ.”  She shrugged. “Maybe you should just tell him, so he hears it from you.”

“Yeah, let me go right ahead with that. Hey, Jason, remember that time you lied about being my father, and then my biological father went nuts because of you, Mom, and Sonny so he kidnapped me, faked my death, and then tried to kill people? Well, he faked his death, but it’s okay. He’s really dead now. Sonny murdered him in cold blood, and then Mom helped him get away with it. It’s cool, now because the governor pardoned him.” Michael lifted his brows. “Is that how I should do it?”

“You could always bring some of Aiden’s cookies,” Joss suggested brightly. “They help.”

“Or you could just wait for someone to introduce you as Michael Quartermaine,” Cameron offered. “Or did you tell your mom you never changed your name back?”

“It would be nice,” Michael told his sister, “if you didn’t tell Cameron everything.”

“Uh, I’m sorry, what part of ‘partner in crime for life’ did you not understand?” Joss said, rolling her eyes. “Geesh.”

Michael looked like he wanted to argue with her but decided not to. “Look, I’m just—I’m not doing it. I don’t want to have that conversation with Jason right now.”

“Fine. I know what we can do,” Joss said. “You wanna take bets on how long it takes my mom to find a reason to shove your mom out the door?”

“That’s a sucker’s bet,” Cameron said. “Your mom isn’t going to wait more than ten minutes.”

“Mrs. C seemed very annoyed that Mom was going over,” Jake said with a sigh. “I don’t think she’s going to make it that long.”

Greystone: Living Room

Carly did not, in fact, make it that long. To her credit, she had been attempting to insult Elizabeth behind her back and was not facing the foyer doors when Jason and Elizabeth arrived just in time to hear the blonde complain that Elizabeth was using this to get her claws in Jason again.

“I’ve missed this,” Elizabeth said as she followed Jason into the living room. He turned to her with an exasperated expression, and she shrugged. He knew she was probably used to Carly’s barbs, but he really wasn’t in the mood for it.

Carly twisted, then gasped. “When did you show up? Max didn’t say anything—”

“Max never announced me before,” Jason said, frowning at her. “Why would he start now? Carly—”

“Let’s not get distracted,” Sonny suggested as he smoothly stepped between his wife and Jason. “Carly—”

“Fine, I’m zipping it, but—”

“No, no buts,” Sonny warned her. “Elizabeth never starts it—” Carly sniffed. “Almost never,” he amended, shooting Elizabeth an apologetic look. “And I think you’re forgetting that she really does know more about the Cassadines than we do. Don’t you want to know who kept Jason from us for five years?”

“Of course I do!” Carly sighed. “Fine. Ask your stupid questions.” Clearly, she was hoping Elizabeth would divulge her information, then leave. Jason would have to have to talk to her about this.

It had been irritating enough for Carly to mistreat Elizabeth before, but now that everyone knew the truth about Jake, the last thing Jason wanted was for his son to overhear his best friend insulting his mother. Though it was possible Jake was already aware of it. It might be something else he just didn’t know.

“I seem to remember that the Cassadines—or at least Helena—were always into memory and control,” Sonny said, gesturing for Elizabeth to take a seat. “But I wasn’t really involved during all of that. I just came in at the end to help you out.”

“What are you talking about?” Carly asked, folding her arms. She remained standing as Elizabeth sat in the armchair, and Sonny sat on the sofa. Jason paced towards the terrace, too restless to sit still.

“Helena brainwashed Lucky, but that wasn’t even the first time,” Elizabeth said. “There was something that happened when he was younger. Something with a computer game. I don’t remember the details, but yeah, Luke told me the Cassadines were always into mind control and memory manipulation.”

“I sort of remember Lucky being brainwashed,” Carly admitted, grudgingly. “What does it have to do with Jason?”

“Because I don’t think the other guy is lying about memories,” Sonny said. “Jason, you saw him on Friday. I told you I didn’t think he was part of it.”

“You think somehow he has my actual memories?” Jason asked skeptically. “How—”

“That’s why I wanted to know more about the Cassadines and their stuff on memory.” Sonny turned back to Elizabeth. “Does this sound like something Helena could do?”

“If it can be done, the Cassadines would do it,” Elizabeth said, “and Helena is always looking for a way to control people. She put that chip into Jake Doe, and with Lucky, she used the Ice Princess diamond to trigger the commands. And, well, of course, Jake.” She hesitated. “But can someone take another person’s memories?”

“We’re not just dealing with Helena, though,” Carly said, drawing their attention. “Because wasn’t the other guy part of it? The one from the WSB? Victor? He’s the one that had the other guy. He didn’t have Jason.”

“If the WSB was involved, then there were probably experiments. That makes sense. Then yeah, if it can be physically done, the Cassadines would have done it,” Elizabeth said, nodding. Carly frowned, probably surprised that Elizabeth had agreed with her.

“Helena messed with Lucky’s memories, didn’t he?” Sonny asked Elizabeth. “That’s why you left him at the altar that first time.”

“Uh, yeah. After, um, I took that poison, she—” Elizabeth sighed. “The way Lucky tells it, she erased his feelings for me, but I’ve never been that sure how I feel about that.” She made a face. “I don’t doubt she tried it, but I don’t think it works like that. More likely, she just brainwashed him to think it.”

“Great. The Cassadines are into mind control. They’re also all dead, except for Valentin, so why does it matter?” Carly asked.

“Because Helena was dead for almost two years, and Jake still almost killed an entire ballroom on her command,” Sonny said flatly. “She’s dead, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t loose ends. Jason’s a loose end. This other guy—he might be a loose end. Who knows what else is still out there?”

“And even if Helena’s plans are done, Valentin is still a problem,” Sonny said. “He sent Ava to that clinic. We’re agreed that doesn’t make sense for him to do if he was in on it, but how else would he know about the clinic?” He got to his feet and crossed to the minibar, reaching for water instead of the bottle of bourbon. “And you know what else I thought was strange about that whole Jake Doe control chip thing—”

“What?” Carly asked. “Other than the fact that it happened?”

“After he got it out,” Sonny said to Jason, who was just taking it all in, listening to them. “He remembered all the things she’d made him do. And the first thing she’d said to him was that he was Jason Morgan. She told him who he was supposed to be. Now—was she lying to him? Or did she not know? But not only that—she threatened Elizabeth and the boys, Carly, and our kids—but she never, ever, used Jake as leverage.”

“No, she didn’t, did she?” Elizabeth tilted her head. “So either she knew he wasn’t Jason, or she didn’t want to take the chance that he’d remember the conversation later.” She exhaled slowly. “She was saving Jake. She always meant to use him for the Chimera project, didn’t she? She always planned to use my baby to kill us all.”

“You said Valentin played hero that day,” Jason said, drawing their attention. “How?”

“When we managed to Jake to back down,” Elizabeth said, “men broke into the ballroom and stole the box. Valentin went after them and got it back. He turned it over to the WSB for safekeeping.”

“A lot of people were very grateful. Including me,” Carly said with a sigh, “because he saved the Metro Court a lot of bad press for security.”

“How did people know it was here?” Jason asked. “How did anyone know to come steal this box?”

Sonny blinked at him. “I don’t know. I guess we didn’t think about it—”

“He could have set it up to save the day.”

“I remember Luke talking about Valentin once, but he never came to Port Charles,” Jason said. “You didn’t say a lot about Valentin. What his story?”

“Hard to say. A lot of it is cloaked in mystery. He’s Mikkos’s supposed to be illegitimate son. He pushed Nikolas out of a window in Greece.” Elizabeth looked away. “He claimed self-defense, and the Greek authorities didn’t press charges.”

“I’m sorry,” Jason said gently, knowing that she’d been close to Nikolas for most of her life. “What has Valentin done since then?”

“He showed up in Port Charles, claiming to be the rightful heir to the Cassadine fortune as Mikkos’s oldest son,” Elizabeth said. “Which stripped Spencer of his inheritance.” She paused. “After that—nothing.”

“He’s laid low.,” Sonny added. “It’s like—he got what he wanted when Nikolas died and doesn’t need to do anything else.”

“Unless—” Elizabeth frowned. “We’ve been assuming that it was just a loose end with Jake and the Chimera—a plan of Helena’s that was stalled when she died. But we never did learn who sent him that box of magic tricks with the Chimera weapon. If Valentin knew about Helena’s plans, about the suggestions she planted in his head—”

“Maybe he used them to built a little goodwill for himself,” Sonny said.

“If he knew about Chimera, then maybe he knew what Helena was planning with me,” Jason said. “And if it’s not Valentin, there’s someone else out there. It’s just a matter of figuring out how and what they want.  Someone was keeping me in that coma, and when I escaped, they were trying to drag me back to Russia. To keep me from coming home.”

“But why?” Carly asked. “And why would Valentin send Ava to that clinic if he knew you were there?”

“All we have are questions,” Sonny said with a sigh. “It’d be nice to get some damn answers.”

Devane Manor: Foyer

With a furrowed brow, Anna Devane stepped back to let Andre inside. “Was I expecting you?” she asked, closing the door. “I’ve been a bit distracted since I came back from Monte Carlo.”

“I’d heard you were away.” Andre set a bag down on the step, then faced her, his dark eyes grave and sober. “I’m leaving Port Charles.”

Anna blinked, then shook her head, a startled laugh escaping her lips. “Oh, come now,” she said, a bit nervously. “I know it’s nearly Halloween, but it’s hardly a time for jokes.”

Andre pressed his lips together, then reached into the bag to hand her a box. “I wanted you to have this,” he told her. “It’s an early Christmas gift, but since I won’t be here—”

“Andre,” Anna said sharply, not reaching for the beautifully wrapped gift, “this is ridiculous. You’re not leaving town. You have a life here, friends and a career—”

“I know,” he said heavily, dipping his eyes to the floor of the foyer. He shook his head. “I know,” he repeated, “but I have to go. I can’t explain—”

“Andre—”

He set the box on her step, then picked up his bag. “You’ve been a good friend,” he told her. “And if things had been different—”

“You’re scaring me,” Anna said, reaching for his sleeve, but he was already walking towards the door. “Andre, wait—we can fix whatever is wrong—”

“No, you can’t.” He pulled the door open, then looked back at her, the regret etched into his features. “Whatever you hear about me—”

“What is going on—”

“My friendship, my respect for you—it was real,” he told her. “Take care—”

She started after him, but he closed the door in her face. By the time Anna had wrenched it open and gone outside, the taxi at her curb was pulling away. She stared after him, open-mouth and confused.

Then went back to the stairs where he’d left the gift. Anna tore off the wrapping paper, pushed open the lid, then frowned at the ornate, crystal ornament. She lifted it out of the box, staring at it, before looking back at the door.

After a moment, Anna replaced the box, strode over to the desk where she’d left her phone and pressed a familiar contact.

“Anna?”

“Robert, I need you to do that deep background check I wouldn’t let you perform two years ago,” she said. “I need to know everything about Andre Maddox.”

Webber Home: Porch

Elizabeth could hear the sounds of the teenagers through the windows and smiled, listening to Cameron trash talk Michael about some video game while Jake cackled. “Sometimes,” she told Jason, “I stop outside here and just listen to them inside. I don’t let them have the games in their rooms, or they’d never go to sleep, but I was also worried I’d never see them.”

“It’s hard to believe how grown up they are,” Jason said, peering in through the window. “And Michael—you said he’s close with them?”

“Yeah, well, he’s Aiden’s cousin through Carly, and Jake through you,” she said. “When Jake came home, one of the things that helped him get back to some sort of normalcy was constantly keeping him around family. Cam and Joss were always friends, you know that, but I brought Jake around Monica and Michael, too.” She bit her lip. “And—”

“The other me,” Jason finished. “You can say it.”

“It’s just so strange,” she murmured, looking at him. “Until you showed up, I honestly could say I’d accepted him as you. The DNA tests—the facial reconstruction—then the memories—I told myself the doubts I had—they were because of my own guilt. The sense that if I’d told the truth when Nikolas had told me, maybe I could have saved myself so much guilt.”

“Elizabeth—”

“It was such a stupid lie,” she muttered. “Every day, I woke up and I knew it was a terrible choice. You can’t steal your happiness and keep it forever. It wasn’t real. But—now I wonder if Nikolas knew the actual truth.” She bit her lip. “He was different before he died. Darker. Twisted with some sort of hatred for the Quartermaines. He forced Tracy and Michael out of ELQ—”

“Michael works at ELQ?” Jason broke in, startled. “When did that happen?”

“Oh.” Elizabeth winced. “Well, Edward passed away not long after you disappeared, and Michael got closer to Monica,” she said, casting her eyes away. “It just—it just sort of happened. I should let him—it’s not my story to tell.”

“Oh.” Jason was quiet for a moment. “A long five years,” he said, echoing Sonny’s words. “There’s a lot I don’t know.” She didn’t respond, and he cleared his throat. “You were saying about Nikolas?”

“He forced them out of ELQ and did a lot of terrible things to keep control of it. They got the company back, but—” Elizabeth said. “Nikolas is the one that told me Jake Doe was you, and he wanted me to keep the secret. I was—I can admit it now that he’s gone—he scared me. Now I know that Jake Doe wasn’t you—” She looked at him. “I have wonder if that was part of some plan. If Helena and Nikolas wanted the world to think he was you. I’d say it doesn’t matter because they’re both dead, but they’re Cassadines.  For them—” Elizabeth sighed. “Death is usually just the beginning.”

He started to respond, then stopped when his phone rang. “Yeah?”

Elizabeth lifted her brows when he hung up after a minute. “Jason?”

“It was Diane. The marker tests are in,” Jason told her, shoving his phone back in his pocket. “It’s—we’re twins.”

Elizabeth exhaled slowly. “I knew that was going to happen, but at the same time—and Oscar? Is he your nephew? Is—is your brother Drew Cain?”

“Yeah. Yeah, Oscar and Jake’s test came back with markers that match ours.” Jason rubbed the back of his neck. “Diane said she’d already called Oscar’s stepmom, and Alexis was calling…Drew.”

“It’s nice to have a name for him,” Elizabeth admitted. “I just wish we had the fingerprints or advanced testing back. I want him to know and accept it, too.”

She started to open the door, but Jason stopped her, and she turned back to him. “What’s wrong?”

“Just—thank you. For believing me.”

“I’m just glad you’re home. Come on in, we’ll tell the boys.”

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