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

---

October 2014

Scarsdale, New York

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Had Valentin sold him down the river?

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

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

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

“Yes.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Wednesday, November 1, 2017

Metro Court Hotel: Restaurant

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Carly scowled. “That was different.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Admit what?” she asked, blinking.

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

“Not the only good thing—” Carly protested.

“Carly,” Sonny gritted.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

General Hospital: Cafeteria

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Kim’s coming over here—”

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

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

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

“I’ll find some.”

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

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

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

“Yes—”

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

“I do. Kim—”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Devane Manor: Foyer

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Webber Home: Kitchen

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Morgan Penthouse: Living Room

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

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

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

“This is happening to me, not you—”

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

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

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

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

“I didn’t say that—”

“You didn’t have to, Sam.”

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

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

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

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

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

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