You’re not alone
Together we stand
I’ll be by your side
You know I’ll take your hand
When it gets cold
And it feels like the end
There’s no place to go
You know I won’t give in
No, I won’t give in
– Keep Holding On, Avril Lavigne

---

December 2011

Shadybrooke: Elizabeth’s Room

“This is disturbing. I mean, this is—it’s extreme, don’t you think, all this maneuvering to get a guy who doesn’t even deserve you to fall back in love with you?”

Elizabeth let Matt’s words roll around in her head as she slowly rolled down the window shade on her door, blocking out the sight of the strange man across the hall who had made her tea and seemed…so familiar.  He’d been painting the water and had ocean sounds playing—

It had brought her back to the night she’d nearly drowned and the strange, lucid hallucinations of seeing her son. Of holding Jake—

Of having him being dragged out of her arms—

Sometimes, if Elizabeth closed her eyes, she could put herself back in that moment. It was fuzzy around the edges, and she didn’t know where she was or who had held her back from her son—who had taken him away—

But she could still hear his voice. Feel him in her arms.

Elizabeth dragged her hands through her hair, turning away from the door. Forcing herself to push the image away. Jake was dead. He was dead. And every time she hallucinated him, she lost another piece of herself.

Matt was right, of course. She kept clinging to Lucky, hoping he’d love her again. Hoping he’d love Cameron and Aiden the way he’d loved Jake in the beginning. Even when Aiden had fallen ill a few weeks ago, Lucky had barely shown up. And when he had, he’d looked at her like he was doing her a damn favor.

Why was she trying so hard—

“Does painting speak to your soul?”

She turned back to the door, the strange man’s voice so vivid in her memory that she thought he was there. That he’d asked her the question again.

“It used to.”

Nothing spoke to her soul anymore. She kept going through the motions, putting one foot in front of the other. Every day, she woke up and walked past Jake’s empty room and looked at the faces of her remaining children, knowing she was failing them. Knowing she was a terrible mother, that all of this was her fault—

“You let hours and years and days box you in.”

Of course she did. Hours and years and days were all she had. She had to focus on the next minute, the next second—every moment she was awake, she had to remember how to breathe again. Did he think she wanted to be like this? She’d give anything to turn back the clock. To go back to living in the moment—

“Why is everyone so quick to jump to the conclusion that I’m trying to manipulate Lucky?”

“Because you usually are.”

“It’s not true,” she murmured. She should have said that to Matt when he’d made the accusation, but it was so easy just to sit back and take it. To let people scream at her, say what they wanted to. Let everyone blame her for Siobhan’s death, even though it was the last thing Elizabeth had ever wanted. She had only been trying to help Lucky who had been dumb enough to go under cover as a drug dealer and it had—

“I’m guessing you like honey in your tea, but you’re resigned to going without because you don’t want to bother anyone.”

On a shaky sigh, Elizabeth sat on the bed and wrapped the edges of her sweater more tightly around her torso. Why had he said that about her? He didn’t even know her.

Elizabeth was in this room, in this hospital, because she wanted to bother people. Wasn’t that what Lucky thought, what Matt believed? Hadn’t her father always accused her of looking out for herself, not caring what anyone thought? Of needing everyone’s eyes on her?

“You just want to be noticed, Lizzie,” Jeff Webber had told her after the third time she’d been brought home for breaking curfew. “Maybe give me a reason to pay attention. Why can’t you be more like your sister?”

So why had it felt so right when that man had said that to her? When he’d accused her of not wanting to bother anyone?

Troubled, Elizabeth laid down on the bed, turned on her side and tried to drift into sleep.

___

Across the hall, Ewen Keenan set down his brush and looked through his open door at the closed one across the way.

Helena Cassadine and her myriad of connections in high places had allowed Ewan to be assigned a room nearby Elizabeth Webber. He had worried she would recognize him—especially there at the end, when she’d brought up the drowning.

Did he want her know to him? Did he want her to remember that night on Spoon Island when he’d saved her life and brought her to the lab where she’d seen her son?

“How many children do you have?”

“Two. I have two.”

“Why does that make you sad?”

“I had three. But I had, um, a little boy who passed away. I really should–I should go.”

Ewen closed his door and pulled down his own shade. It had been easier than he thought, drawing the woman into conversation. She was beautiful—hauntingly so with those melancholy eyes and the quiet desperation that seemed to envelop her. He wanted to help her. To save her.

Maybe he could find a way to tell her about Jake, even though the boy was already on his way to Greece and to another lab that Ewen didn’t know anything about. He wished he hadn’t sold his soul to the Cassadines and anyone who worked with them, but he didn’t have a choice.

It was his life or hers, and at the end of the day—Ewen would always pick himself.

Wednesday, November 8, 2017

Penthouse: Living Room

“Mom, I don’t know what your problem is,” Sam complained as she tossed a manila envelope over to Drew sitting on the sofa with his cup of coffee. “The messenger brought the divorce papers for you,” she told him absently.

He frowned. “Just for me?”

“No, ours are here, too. But—” Sam turned her attention back to the phone. “I thought you got everything you needed over the weekend—” She wrinkled her nose. “All right, all right. Fine. I’ll drop Danny at school and come by.”  She clicked her phone off and tossed it on the desk. “She has an issue with a clause in mine, so—” She shrugged. “You should get Kim to sign those today.”

Drew got to his feet and walked over to her, pulling the papers out as he did so. “It feels a little strange,” he admitted. “Divorcing someone I don’t even remember.”

“Wouldn’t that make it easier?” Sam asked as she tipped a second set of papers out of the envelope, scanning them with a furrowed brow. “And how does this work? Our marriage certificate is for Jason Morgan, but I’m divorcing Andrew Cain? Like—I know Mom said she’d worked with someone to get it done, but it still feels wrong.”

“Yeah, I guess.” Drew scribbled his initials and signature on the pages where Alexis had notated them. “But it’s necessary. To get it done right so we can move forward.”

“Yeah, Mom is gonna file everything as soon as we get them signed, so you need to get yours to Kim ASAP,” she told him. “I’ll get Jason served—”

“You never said what you’d ended up saying in your papers,” Drew said, squinting. “Or did you decide to do what you and I are doing? All assets to be decided in a separate filing?” He smiled sardonically. “Not that I have any assets.”

“Well, you don’t know that. Curtis said that your estate was pretty well set up. I mean, it all went to Oscar’s trust fund, but you could just dissolve—” She stopped when Drew stared at her. “What?”

“I’m not going to raid my son’s trust fund for pocket change,” he said. “There’s no point. I left it to him. I talked to Monica a few days ago. She’d offered to have Ned and Michael fast-track the ELQ shares ince I’m technically due an inheritance from Edward’s estate. I’ll have the dividends from it by the end of the year. It’s not what I want to do, but I think it’s probably the best option.”

“Oh.” Surprised, Sam shifted. “Well, then good, you don’t have to take the trust fund. But at least you knew it was there.” She didn’t like the way he was looking at her—like there was something so wrong about suggesting that he would siphon money out of the trust fund. It wasn’t like Drew was actually dead — that money was just sitting there and it was his.

“You didn’t answer my question,” Drew said just as she turned away, intending to get another cup of coffee from the kitchen.

Sam turned back. “Oh. Well, I didn’t do anything insane like ask for half of everything.” She folded her arms. “But, you know, I wanted this penthouse. It’s the only home Danny or Scout has ever known, and Jason doesn’t care about things like that.”

Drew stared at her for a long moment. “And what about Danny?”

They stared at each other for a long time, then she carefully swallowed. “I think we have to remember something,” she said finally. “That you might remember being Jason Morgan, and that we both thought you were for a long time. But you’re not him. Which means my marriage to him—and ending it—is something I don’t have to talk to you about. It’s my divorce, and Danny is my son. I should be able to do what I think is best for him.”

Drew didn’t even flinch when she’d laid down that gauntlet, but there was a change in the muscles of his cheek that put her on high alert. “Danny is your son,” he agreed. “But if you’re planning to ask Jason to terminate his parental rights so I can raise Danny, don’t you think you should make sure that’s something I’m comfortable with?”

Her throat tightened. “What? Why wouldn’t—you love Danny!”

“I do love him. Just like I love Jake. And part of me won’t ever be able to turn that off,” Drew admitted. “And I know Jason feels that way about Michael because I remember feeling that way. I don’t have to lose either of them. They’re still my nephews—”

“And if you remember Michael,” Sam said, biting out the words, “then you remember that Jason made sure Carly’s wishes were what mattered. That Michael stayed with Carly and Sonny. I want Danny to be with you. Elizabeth can do whatever the hell she wants—”

“But Danny and Jake know they’re brothers,” Drew explained, patiently. “Danny knows his name is Danny Morgan. He thinks my name is Jason Morgan. And if you do this—if you ask Jason to give Danny up, either he’ll fight you—”

“He won’t—”

“Or you’ll both have to explain to Danny one day why you decided that Jason wasn’t good enough to be his father. And I’ll have to explain to Danny why I did this to my brother. Which isn’t that different from the crap Sonny and Carly have been putting Michael through for years.”

“This is very different—”

“You’re asking Jason to give up his rights to Danny just the way AJ did all those years ago. And one day, Danny is going to ask you why.”

They heard the door opening above them and soft footsteps indicating that Danny had woken up and was heading downstairs.

“I just want you to be able to answer that question,” Drew told Sam. “Without watching Danny go through what Michael did.”

Quartermaine Mansion: Family Room

“Thank you for coming,” Monica said as she gestured for Jason to come in and sit on the sofa. “I was worried you were angry with me.” When Jason looked at her, mystified, she continued, “About last week at the Metro Court—”

“No. I should have called—” Jason made a face as his mother sat in the armchair where he could remember Lila’s wheelchair sitting so often. “Things are happening and I’m just—I’m just trying to keep up. I—” He paused. “I didn’t know what to say to you. After talking to Michael—”

“He told me that he’d been a bit…” Monica hesitated. “Harder on you that he wanted to be. He’s still so angry at Sonny and Carly, and he spends a lot of time hiding it. He did it for his brother, for his sisters because the anger was really ripping them all apart—” She leaned back. “He’s working through it, and I think sometimes he really has forgiven them.”

“But it doesn’t change what happened,” Jason said. “Or that it started with me. With the lie I told when Michael was born.”

Monica sighed, looked down at her hands. “That was a very long time ago, and I remind myself that none of us did well by each other then. It would be easy to blame you, to blame Sonny and Carly—and believe me, I do. But I also know that AJ made a lot of mistakes and hurt a lot of people.”

“I’m sorry,” Jason said. “For the lie. And I’m sorry I never—” His mouth tightened. “The problems that came later—with what happened to Courtney, and kidnapping Michael, making Carly believe he was dead, helping Faith—that came later. After what I did. And I didn’t really get it until I went through it.”

“With Jake,” Monica said with a nod.

“Elizabeth…had reasons for keeping the truth from me, and for wanting Lucky to raise Jake. And some of them were about my job. But it didn’t change how much it hurt. How much I wanted him. I know I did the same to AJ.”

Monica reached over to squeeze Jason’s hands. “But look at how Michael turned out. Without that year with you, without you staying in his life—where would Michael have ended up? He’s here. He’s a Quartermaine, the way your father and grandfather wanted all those years ago. But he’s stronger than AJ ever was, and he’s a better man. I don’t—as much as I loved my son—I can admit that I don’t know if I’d have Michael the way he is if things had been different.” She smiled. “I have my grandson in my life which is all I ever wanted, Jason.”

“I’m glad Michael came back to you,” Jason told her. “Other than Emily and Grandmother, you were the first Quartermaine I could stand.”

Monica laughed, then patted his hand. “Tell me about your son,” she pressed. “Michael told me you’d been spending a lot of time with Jake. I’m so glad.”

“It’s been amazing,” Jason admitted. “I always loved him, and he was a really great kid. But I didn’t know him other than what kind of toys he liked. I didn’t know him the way I knew Michael or Morgan.” He shook his head slightly as if casting off the guilt.

“I think my favorite thing to do is just to watch Jake with his brothers,” Monica told him. “Just the way they work together and talk to one another. You and AJ did that sometimes before the accident. You’d get in the room and start bantering. You’d tease me or Alan about something silly we’d said. The two of you were a team.”

“I didn’t—” Jason hesitated. “I didn’t know that.” He paused. “I guess it makes sense that I got into a car to stop him if we were close.”

“It broke your heart to see him fall apart under all that pressure. You just wanted the best for him, Jason. We all did. He didn’t know how to live with those expectations. Your father and I—your grandfather—we just demanded all the best things without trying to put in the work. You thrived, and AJ fell apart. I should have been a better mother.” Her smile was sad. “But I’m getting the chance to be a better grandmother, and that’s making up for a lot.”

“Jake said you’re a great grandmother,” Jason told her. “And that his favorite part is that you don’t play favorites. You gave Cameron and Aiden birthday presents this year, I guess?”

“Your son made it very clear to me that he had two brothers,” Monica told him with a lift of her brow. “And that he didn’t give a crap about all that half crap, not like the Spencers. I could be Grandma Monica to all of them or none of them.”

“Like the Spencers?” Jason echoed with a frown. “Lucky—he raised Cameron and Jake—I thought Sonny said Lucky was the one who found Jake and brought him home—”

“And then left town. Michael told me that if Lucky contacts home, he only calls Aiden. Laura does her best, and I’ve tried, too, but Cameron feels it. More than Jake. Because—” Monica sighed. “Drew was going to adopt Cameron back when he was still Jake Doe and marrying Elizabeth. When that fell apart—well, Cameron got left out in the cold.”

“I didn’t—”

“Drew has been very present for Jake, but not so much for Cameron. He’s old enough now that it’s not something Laura and I can just make go away.”

Jason exhaled slowly, thinking of what Cameron had been dealing with since that night with Franco. How worried Elizabeth was about him because he refused to talk to her about it—

“Jason?” Monica prompted, drawing his attention. “Are you all right?”

“I was just—never mind. Jake told me I should ask you about Olivia?” Jason asked.

“Oh.” Monica rolled her eyes. “She’s married to Ned now.” And then she started telling him about a holiday tradition and a redecoration Olivia had attempted without Monica’s permission.

General Hospital: Conference Room

“Hey, Scott.” Elizabeth sat down across from him at the table. “Thanks for coming by—I’m sorry it’s at the hospital, but—”

“No, no—” Scott waved away her concerns, dropping his briefcase on the table. “You said you wanted to update your will which is a good idea because I don’t think I’d taken care of this for you since—” He squinted at the date on the paperwork. “Since you fell down the stairs last year and realized that Jake wasn’t included.”

“Well, it’s not like I have a whole lot to worry about, asset wise,” she admitted as Scott drew out a pencil. “But—well, things have changed. With Gram and—” She hesitated. “You’re  really not going to ask me about Franco?”

“I was going to try to bring that up casually,” he admitted. “But now that you mention it, my, ah, son was at my place for a few days before heading to the Metro Court—where Carly took a lot of pleasure in refusing him a room, so I think he’s at the studio.” Scott peered at her. “If you were interested in his location.”

“I’m not. I—” Elizabeth sighed. “You were a single father when Serena was younger, right?”

“Most of her life, yeah. I didn’t think about getting married again until she was—” Scott shook his head. “Almost a teenager. It was hard to bring someone into her life, but I was fortunate. She liked Eve—and Lucy. And Laura.” He furrowed his brow. “Wasn’t much of a fan of Bobbie, I’ll admit, but she can be an acquired taste—” Scott cleared his throat. “I’m sorry. That’s not your point.”

“No. I know how much you love Serena,” Elizabeth continued, “so I know you can understand this when I tell you that my boys come first. I haven’t always done a great job of making choices that would make their lives better, and sometimes I’ve been selfish. But I always try to put them first. I love my boys.”

“And Franco doesn’t get along with Cameron,” Scott said, leaning back. “I mean, I could tell that would be a problem. Being the oldest—”

“Franco pushed Cameron,” Elziabeth said bluntly, and Scott sat straight up, his nostrils flaring.

“He what?”

“The night this all started—when Jason attacked Franco, Franco came back from the PCPD to Cameron and the boys watching the video on repeat. Laughing.” Elizabeth sighed. “Franco tried to take the tablet, and Cameron wouldn’t let him, so—Franco shoved him and grabbed him by the shirt.”

“He…” Scott scrubbed his hand over his mouth. “He put his hands on your kid? Well, that’s the deal breaker, isn’t it? If anyone tried to hurt my girl, they were out of there.” He scowled. “I know Cam’s almost sixteen and he’s tall for his age, but that doesn’t give anyone any right—”

Relieved that Scott agreed with her. Elizabeth nodded. “And things with Franco weren’t even going that great to begin with,” she added, “so it was just—it made the decision easy. And I was hoping you might talk to Franco about the hospital—about maybe not going out of his way to harass or annoy me. You know that Laura and Monica are just looking for a reason to fire him. If I file a complaint—”

“Say no more, I’ll talk to him.” Scott sighed. “It’s a shame. With Serena living so far away, I liked you and your boys. I was hoping maybe—well—I don’t know, maybe I’d get to play grandpa one day.”

“You’re welcome to see the boys,” Elizabeth said. “They like you, Scott. And so do I.”

“Well, we’ll see.” Scott smiled faintly. “Let’s get this will straightened out. Before, you’d left custody of all three boys to Audrey so they’d stay together—” He skimmed the paperwork. “I think you told me that you weren’t comfortable with Jason and Sam having custody of Jake.”

“No,” Elizabeth admitted with a grimace. “But that’s changed. Without my grandmother in the picture, I—I’m going to ask Jason to take over guardianship if it becomes necessary. He’s Jake’s father, and I don’t think Laura would mind since she knows how important it is for the boys to be together. Aiden and Cam like him—they know him.”

“And I guess we’re still not counting on Lucky taking an active role,” Scott muttered. “Like father, like son.”  He made some notes. “That should be pretty easy to sort out. You still want Laura and Monica as backup guardians?”

“Yeah, but only as a last resort,” Elizabeth reminded Scott. “I need Cameron to have his brothers.”

“And you’re sure Morgan would be up for it? He just came home—”

“Yeah.” Elizabeth nodded. “I’m going to check with him tonight, but I know he’ll agree with me. The boys stay together.”

Nero House: Front Porch

Oscar’s face was filled with trepidation as he pulled open the door and found his father standing in front of him. “Hey. Hi. Um, hello,” he muttered, then looked down. “I thought you were going to wait for me to call you.”

“I am,” Drew assured him. “But I wanted to see your—” he paused. “Kim. I need to talk to her.”

“Oh.” Oscar frowned, turned around, then hollered towards the back of the house. “Kim! Hey, Kim! Uh, Drew is here to talk to you!”

Kim emerged from the kitchen, wiping her hands on the dish towel. “I think they heard you in Buffalo,” she said dryly as she approached them. She smiled nervously. “Drew. Uh. Come in.”

“Thanks.”

Oscar left the door open partially. “Is it still okay if I go over to Cam’s? He’s gonna help me with geometry.”

“Yeah, sure. Just call me when you get there, and let me know if you need a ride home. I don’t want you walking home after dark.”

Kim and Drew watched as Oscar pulled on a coat, grabbed his book bag, and closed the door behind him. “He’s really close to Cam, huh?” Drew asked.

“Yeah. It was a relief, honestly.” Kim tipped her head. “Come into the kitchen. I’m just doing the dishes from breakfast that I ignored all day.”

Drew started to follow her, then stopped as he passed a shelf on the wall filled with picture frames. Including one with his old face standing next to Kim on what had probably been their wedding day. And another of Drew in with a younger Oscar in matching tuxedos. Drew’s arm was slung around his son’s shoulders and they were both grinning.

“I love that picture of you two,” Kim murmured. “I felt like the luckiest woman in the world when I got the chance to be part of that family.”

“I guess I was the lucky one,” Drew murmured as he picked it up, studied it. The love the man in this picture felt for the boy he was holding was so clear that it nearly choked him. “Because Oscar hasn’t been alone.”

“Do you want that?” Kim asked. “Or a copy of it? I can give you—”

“Not—not yet.” Drew took a deep breath, set it back down, then followed her into the kitchen. He drew out the manila envelope and set it on the kitchen counter. She stared at it. “The divorce papers,” he said awkwardly. “I mean—”

“Right. Right.” Kim set the towel down and took the envelope, sliding the papers out to look at them. “Andrew Cain petitioning for dissolution of marriage from Kimberly Nero,” she murmured. Something skittered over her face—something that looked like pain.

“I’m sorry,” Drew said. “Maybe I should have had someone else—”

“No, this is—” Kim looked at him, her eyes shining, before she looked back down. “This is fine. I appreciate it. I know you’re doing the best you can with this. We’re all just—it’s—” Kim went to sit at the table in the nook of the kitchen, still staring at the page. “No fault divorce,” she continued. “Um…is there anything about custody—”

“I would never take Oscar from you,” Drew told her as he sat across from her. “You’ve done a great job with him. He’s a good kid, and the last five years are because of you—in fact, the last six and a half, right? Because I was in Afghanistan—”

Kim swiped at her face, then nodded. “Yeah, um. Eighteen months. You were going to be home soon. We thought so, anyway. And we’d talked about having more kids—” She squeezed her eyes shut. “Um, Oscar. He’s—he’s yours. And you should have your son. I just—I’ve been terrified since the minute I found out about you—that you’d come and take him away—you don’t know me—and you’re divorcing me—”

“I told you—” Drew leaned forward, covered her shaking hands with his, lacing their fingers together. Their eyes melt, held. “I am not taking Oscar from you. I want to know him. I want to do whatever I can to give him back his father because we both deserve that. And I want Oscar to know my family. But you are his mother, too, Kim. He obviously loves you.”

“Thank you.” Kim’s breath was shaky. “Thank you,”  she repeated. “For being so kind about it. I know you’re going through something similar with your—with Danny and Jake. And I hope Jason and your wife are being as kind as you are.”

“Well,” Drew shifted, uncomfortably. “We’re managing.” He nodded at the paperwork. “That is just basics. I didn’t ask for anything, and custody of Oscar stays with you until we decide to revisit it. As soon as my financial situation is dealt with, we’ll talk about support—”

“That’s not necessary—”

“It is,” Drew told her firmly. “Not just the right thing to do, but it’s also for Oscar—he’s entitled to it. I want to give it to him. Put it away for college or a car, or whatever. But he’s my son. I want him—and the world to know it.”

Davis House: Kitchen

“Didn’t you used to have an office?” Sam muttered but followed her mother. “Why did I have to come all the way over here? Give me my divorce papers—” She narrowed her eyes as Alexis reached for a canister of sugar. “Did you even finish them?”

“I did.”

Alexis opened her brief case, removed a stack of paper, and set them in front of her. “I wrote up three copies,” she told her daughter as Sam sat down. “This one—” She slid it across the table to Sam, “is what you asked for. The purchase price of Aurora, a year of operating costs, a trust fund for Danny, the title to the penthouse, and the request to terminate parental rights—”

“Great—”

“This one—” Alexis said, setting another sheaf on top of the first. “Deletes the custody request, suggesting that will be settled out of court by the parents.” Sam stared at it for a long moment, then looked at her mother. “And this last one—”

“What? Makes me pay Jason?” Sam muttered.

“No. This is an updated version of the divorce papers that you signed and filed in 2012. The divorce that was very nearly finalized five years ago.” Alexis sat down as Sam said nothing. “You’ve been here before, Sam. And I think we both know that what you’re doing isn’t going to bring anyone any relief.”

“Mom—”

“If you can tell me that you want Jason out of Danny’s life because of the danger, we can have that conversation. But Jason has been out of things for five years. With Jake back in his life, he might not be going back to work for Sonny. Have you discussed it with him?”

“No.” Sam closed her eyes. “No. I haven’t spoken to him since I ran into him outside on Halloween. That was the only time.” She looked away. “It’s not the danger. I knew who I was marrying every time I said yes when he asked. He was always the one that made that choice for me, Mom. You know that.”

“Then what is it? I can understand you wanting to stay with Drew.  You’ve been through a lot with him these last two years, and there’s Scout. You’ve built a relationship.” Alexis tipped her head. “But Jason doesn’t deserve to be cut out of Danny’s life without you even discussing it with him, does he?”

“Maybe he does,” Sam murmured. She focused on her mother. “Do you remember why you drew up these papers—” She tapped the bare-bones divorce agreement. “Why I was walking away from Jason?”

“Because of Danny.”

“Because of Danny. Jason couldn’t handle what Franco did to me. He wanted me to get an abortion—”

“Sam—”

“And I knew—I knew he couldn’t love my son the way he needed to.” Sam’s eyes burned. “Even when he told me he could—and I ended up at that motel—and I thought my baby was dead. I blamed him for it.”

“But Danny didn’t die—”

“No, I got a miracle, and Jason brought Danny back to me. But I think—” Sam exhaled slowly. “I think maybe I pushed it all away. The hurt I felt, the shame I felt for wanting to have my rapist’s child. It doesn’t matter that it wasn’t true, that Danny is Jason’s son.” She sat back. “Drew agrees with you. He thinks one day Danny is going to want to know why I cut Jason out.”

“And how are you going to answer that?” Alexis asked.

“I don’t know. I just—I know that Danny has everything he needs right now. That Drew loves him. Danny loves him. He loves Scout and he loves me. And our family is perfect just the way it is. There’s nothing Jason can add to Danny’s life that he isn’t already getting from Drew. I don’t see why I need to upset Danny to tell him he’s got another father when he doesn’t need Jason.” Sam shrugged. “It’s as simple as that for me. I’m his mother. Don’t I get to make that choice?”

“I think,” Alexis said, carefully, “you are very fortunate that Jason is unlikely to fight you on the custody agreement—”

“Exactly.” Sam nodded. “He didn’t fight for Jake, either. Jason’s fine when he’s around, but he doesn’t really show up—”

“He fought once,” Alexis said softly. “After raising Michael for a year because Carly asked him to, when AJ took him away, Jason went to court to get visitation and he won it.” Sam frowned at her, so Alexis continued, “Jason could have had court-ordered visitation with Michael, but he ended it after a few visits. Because he could see that Michael had a chance with AJ and Carly, and he didn’t want to confuse the little boy. He loved him enough to let him go. He will never drag a child through a custody case.”

“Since when did you turn into Jason’s biggest fan?” Sam demanded.

“I’m the lawyer who won those visitation rights,” Alexis told her. “Jason will always put the child first. Even if it hurts him. He thought Jake was better off with Elizabeth and Lucky. And he’d likely agree with you that Danny will be fine with you and Drew. Because the alternative is that he takes you to court, and Danny’s old enough to be asked in a court of law where he wants to live.”

Sam’s eyes burned. “He’d say me—he’d tell the judge me and Drew—he’d want us—”

“Maybe,” Alexis allowed. “But a judge might look at this situation and wonder why you’re doing this. Why you’re really doing this. I don’t doubt you have some unresolved issues from five years ago. But Jason just came home after being held prisoner for five years, most of which, I’m told, he spent in a drugged coma, unable to move. He lost five years of an already shortened life since the accident.”

“What’s going on?”

They both looked up to find Kristina in the doorway of the kitchen, her brows raised. “Why do you guys look so serious?”

“It’s nothing,” Alexis said briskly, shoving the papers into a folder. “We’re going over your sister’s divorce papers.”

“Divorce papers?” Kristina asked. “From Drew?”

“And from Jason,” Sam said with a sigh. “Our divorce wasn’t finalized before he went off the pier. It’s just a legal mess—and Drew was married to someone else. We’re just clearing the decks.”

“Okay,” Kristina said, drawing out the words. She looked back and forth between her mother and sister. “What are you doing about Danny?”

Sam shook her head. “I don’t want to get into this with you again, and besides, it’s really not any of your business—”

“Since when does that stop me?”

“Kristina,” Alexis said, her tone tinged with exhaustion. “Don’t start—”

“I’m not starting. I’m just asking my sister what she’s planning to do with custody of my nephew. The last time we talked about any of this, she was still pretending Drew was Jason.” Kristina met Sam’s eyes. “But you’re good at that, aren’t you?”

Sam frowned, not understanding the hostility that framed her sister’s words. “Good at—”

“Pretending. You used to be a con artist, didn’t you? Walking around, ruining people’s families?”

“Kristina—”

“That—” Sam took a deep breath. “That was a long time ago—”

“Not as long as you think. Hey, Mom—” Kristina jerked her eyes away from Sam to glare at Alexis. “Why did you divorce Ric again?”

A chill slithered down Sam’s spine. “Krissy—”

“Because I bet it had something to do with her sleeping with him.” Kristina shrugged. “Just one more family for her to destroy—”

“Kristina—” Alexis put up a hand. “Where—how—”

“She testified about it in open court on the news,” Kristina said scathingly. She glared at Sam again. “Someone sent me a clip.”

“That was a long time ago,” Sam repeated.

“Not long enough.” Kristina tossed her hair over her shoulder, her eyes burning into Sam’s. “What kind of person are you? How can you stand there and take Jason’s son away from him after what you’ve done?”

“I’m not—” Sam’s voice faltered. “That’s not what—it’s not the same, Krissy—”

“You took Molly’s father away from her. And from me. What did you do to make him forget us? To make him hurt Mom and us like that?”

“I didn’t—” Sam’s entire body felt numb. “I didn’t do—”

“Really? He just woke up that day and decided to have an affair with his stepdaughter?” Kristina retorted.

“Kristina,” Alexis said sharply. “Stop this. You’ve been around long enough to know that Ric Lansing doesn’t have much of a moral compass—”

“No, I guess he and Sam were perfect for each other.” Kristina huffed. “Jason was in a coma for five years, Sam. He spent half the time you were together rescuing you from whatever dumb thing you were doing that week. Maybe he wasn’t always the best guy in the world, but what the hell is your damage that you can do this after everything he’s been through? You’re barely even letting the ink dry on those DNA results and you’re demanding he cut himself out of Danny’s life? That’s why Mom’s been pissy with you, why she made you come over here, isn’t it?”

“Krissy, just let me explain—”

“No. Because that’s how you convince all your marks that you’re telling the truth. There’s nothing to explain. You destroyed my family, and now you’re trying to hurt Jason because you’re selfish. Nothing new there.”

Kristina shoved her way out of the kitchen as Sam and Alexis just stared after her in silence.

“Sam,” Alexis said finally. “She’ll come around—”

Sam exhaled. “But she’s not wrong,” she murmured. “He just came home. This is a lot to ask of him right now. I think—I need more time. Drew—we’ll file his divorce from Kim and the one from each other, but let’s just—” She pushed the papers towards her mother. “Let me just think this over a little more, I guess.”

“That’s all I wanted.” Alexis paused. “I don’t blame you for Ric, Sam.”

Sam’s smile was devoid of humor as she met her mother’s eyes. “You’ve had longer to let it go. I remember how much Kristina loved him.” It was why she’d gone after Ric. She’d wanted to hurt Alexis. She’d wanted to twist the knife and destroy their family. How could she blame Kristina for just seeing the truth of who Sam really was?

Webber Home: Living Room

“In ten minutes, I’m turning off the wifi on every single device you own!” Elizabeth called up the stairs. “Yes, even you, Cameron!”

There was a chorus of groans and protests even as Elizabeth smirked, stepping down from the stairs towards the sofa. “They always think I’ll forget,” she said as she sat down next to Jason. “Thank God I didn’t have social media in high school. I probably would have thrown myself out the window.”

“I stopped listening to Spinelli with all of that a long time ago,” Jason admitted. “Every time he talked, he’d say something else I’d never heard before, and I just—” He shook his head. “I couldn’t keep up.”

“I keep trying, but there’s always something new. First, I figured out MySpace, then Facebook, and just when I figured out what the hell Twitter did, there was SnapChat and Vine—” Elizabeth picked up her phone. “I gave up. Anyway, I found out today that I was able to get Thanksgiving off. We used to go to my grandmother’s—” She hesitated as the loss cut sharply again. “But she’s…gone. And Laura’s going to London to see Lucky. She’s taking Lulu and her kids—thank God.”

“No Charlotte then,” Jason said. “Aiden said something earlier.”

“Yeah, he thinks Christmas came early. Anyway, I asked Monica what she was doing, and she invited us to the mansion.” Elizabeth bit her lip. “She said she was going to ask you, but I figured you were going to Sonny and Carly’s—”

“Monica did ask, and I told her I’d come. I have to go to Sonny’s because Carly will storm the mansion if I don’t,” Jason said with a wince, and Elizabeth smirked. “But yeah, I, uh, don’t think I’ve been to the Quartermaines for Thanksgiving…ever. So it should be interesting.”

“I’m looking forward to finding out how we’re going to end up eating pizza, to be honest.” Elizabeth leaned forward to grab a folder off the table. “There’s something I wanted to run by you. I talked to Scott today about updating my will—”

“Your will—” Jason blinked at her. “Why?”

“I hadn’t done it since before Gram died, and I just—the thing is, I always left custody of the boys to her. Because I didn’t want Laura or Monica to split them up—” She bit her lip. “And, uh, Drew knew that I didn’t want Jake living with Sam.”

Jason exhaled slowly and Elizabeth was grateful that he didn’t press her on that. “Okay.”

“Anyway—I thought—” Elizabeth twisted her hands together. “I know it’s a lot to ask, but of course you’d get custody of Jake. I just—”

“You want the boys to stay together if anything happened to you,” Jason finished.

“Yes. I talked to Laura. She’s okay with it, and Lucky can have a say when he starts paying child support,” Elizabeth said. “Until then, it’s my decision since I have full custody. So, if it’s okay with you, I told Scott to name you as guardian for all three of them. In the unlikely event that I even have to worry about it.”

“Oh.” Jason blinked at her. “I didn’t—”

“It’s a lot to take on,” she hurried, “and they’ve got trust funds from Gram—I made sure their inheritance went right into the bank for when they’re eighteen, and maybe I should have talked to you before Scott—”

“Elizabeth—” Jason held up a hand. “Of course you can put me down as guardian for Cameron and Aiden. I don’t want to ever have to handle that situation,” he added, “but the boys should be together. I’ll make sure that happens.”

“Good. Good.” She flashed him a faint smile. “Thanks. I hate to even talk about it, but it just makes sense—oh, I almost forgot.” She went over to a bag hanging up with the coats and drew out a folder. “I wanted to wait until the boys were upstairs because I didn’t want to get into this around them, but Lucky emailed me—”

Elizabeth handed it to him. “It’s the Cassadine genealogy he put together to start tracking down relatives. He said he and Luke were still on Faison’s trail, but he was going to keep his ear to the ground for anyone he’s missed.”

Jason flipped through the paperwork. “This matches mostly what Spinelli put together,” he said after a few minutes. “It’s not that long—”

“No, a lot of Cassadines died without male heirs. Stefan never had any children that we know about, and Victor only has Nathan West.” When Jason frowned, Elizabeth continued, “Dante’s partner at the PCPD. He’s Victor and Liesl Obrecht’s son. It’s a long story. Then there was Victor’s brother, Tony. But he and Alexandra Quartermaine accidentally froze themselves to death a few days before Mikkos died. The line’s been dying out for a few decades, Lucky said. It’s really just Spencer, Valentin, Charlotte, and a couple of scattered cousins out in Greece.”

“So we’re back to Valentin Cassadine,” Jason said, closing the folder. “Do you think he’s the Cassadine Maddox was talking about?”

“Maybe. Probably. But he just seemed so much more cryptic than that, and I still don’t understand why Valentin would send Ava to the same clinic where you were being kept.” Elizabeth drew a leg up on the sofa, making a face. “And they’re Cassadines, you know. Helena died at least three times before she finally died for real. You weren’t even around for the second and third time Stavros Cassadine came back, and while I’m pretty sure Nikolas is dead—they never found his body.” Though she didn’t really believe that. Nikolas would have come home by now if he’d been able.

“Not that finding a body means a lot when it comes to the Cassadines,” Jason muttered.

“I’m sorry. I wish this was more helpful.”

“It’s fine. I’ll get Spinelli to do a check on the cousins, and we’ll keep our eye on Valentin here in Port Charles.” He paused. “It’s okay,” he repeated. “What they did to me and Drew, to Jake—it wasn’t planned overnight, so we’re not going to have the answers right away.”

“I know. It doesn’t make it easier,” Elizabeth said. “But I just need to know Jake is safe. That the Cassadines can’t come back and do this to another generation. I don’t want Spencer or my boys fighting these battles the way Lucky and I have our entire lives. I want to be done with them.”

“We will be,” Jason promised.

Devane Manor: Living Room

“Let me get this straight.”

Drew glared at the pair of WSB agents in front of him. “Andre is going to be transferred to a cushy WSB facility where he’s not going to be charged with anything, and you’re going to let him continue his research because you’re hoping he comes clean with the truth?”

“Well, when you put it that way,” Robert began with a wince, “it doesn’t sound that great. Anna—you explain it to him. It sounds better when you tell it.”

Anna arched a slim brow at her ex-husband. “Yes, well, the accent can put a bit of polish on any pile of rubbish, but I’m with Drew on this one, darling. This is a terrible deal.”

“Thank you.” Drew folded his arms. “I thought you said Frisco Jones wanted to redeem the honor of the WSB. How is this doing that—”

“Because—” Anna put a hand. “Because you’re right. This is a terrible deal, but it does not change the fact that Andre Maddox knows where many of the dead bodies are buried. Quite  literally. He’s also told us that the records of the experiments—including your memories—are gone.”

Drew’s stomach sank. “They are—”

“Which I don’t buy for a second,” Robert declared. “He spent more than five years putting this project together—and he stayed on it after Helena Cassadine died in 2015. Either he was running the show after she was gone and holding Morgan hostage in Russia, or there’s another person behind all of this—”

“Well, duh,” Anna said, rolling her eyes. “We know that the big bad is Valentin Cassadine, but we cannot prove it. All we really have is Valentin’s knowledge of the clinic’s existence which does not translate into knowledge of all that transpired between its walls. Maddox refuses to admit anyone other than Helena and Victor were involved. Which means he’s too terrified to tell us the truth or he believes that Valentin can still give him something.” She looked to Drew again. “We need to buy time, Drew. Either for Andre to trust us to keep him safe or to find some new leverage to force the truth out of him.”

Drew scrubbed his hands over his face. “This is insane. This agency stole my life—”

“I know—”

“Do you? Because I have a son I don’t know, and two more sons that aren’t mine—and I’ve got a brother I never knew about who lost five years of his damn life—at least I got to walk around for three of those years!” Drew retorted. “Do you know what it’s like to be locked up inside your own body, unable to move?”

“Actually, we both do. I’ve given up quite a bit for the WSB,” Anna told him. “We sacrificed most of our daughter’s life for this agency, and nearly lost our own in the process. Frisco gave up his family to work for the WSB. To think that Victor Cassadine and his minions did this to you under the aegis of this agency we’ve shed so much blood for—” She took a deep breath. “I’m sorry, Drew. I wish I could hand you a folder full of answers right now. I simply can’t. This is the best I can do.”

“For now,” Robert stressed. “We’re still searching for Maddox’s files and contacts. We’re not giving up on knowing more. And if there are Cassadines out there, well, you know Luke Spencer will track them down. It’s in the blood, you know. Spencer’s got a nose for this kind of crap. Whether we come at it from Valentin or from Maddox—we will make it right.”

“There is no making this right,” Drew said with a scowl. “So just focus on making it over. That’s the least you can do.”

← Chapter Twenty | Chapter Twenty-Two →