I guess it’s gonna break me down
Like fallin’ when I’m try to fly
It’s sad but sometimes
Moving on with the rest of your life
Starts with goodbye
I guess I’m gonna have to cry
And let go of some things I’ve loved
To get to the other side
– Starts with Goodbye, Carrie Underwood

---

October 2015

Cassadine Estate: Labs

Andre scrubbed his hands over his face, trying to focus on the research, on the work in front of him, but he simply couldn’t. He had been supposed to leave for Port Charles a few weeks earlier, but Helena had fallen ill and Nikolas had put a hold on everything.

Andre suspected that if Helena actually died this time, that Nikolas might cancel everything and send Andre on his way without bothering with Jason Morgan’s memories. Nikolas liked things the way the were. Not that it would change anything for Andre. Helena had plans for her death, and there was always Valentin Cassadine lurking in the background.

The Cassadine had left the island after his argument with Helena and no one had mentioned him again—but he and Andre knew the truth.

They knew that Jake Doe was really Drew Cain, and that Jason Morgan was still in a coma wherever Valentin had stashed him.

“My nephew really must work on security.”

Andre closed his eyes as he heard Valentin. He turned to find the man in question in the doorway of the room. “I was wondering when I’d hear from you.”

“Since my mother’s demise is imminent—or so she’d have us believe—I think it’s time we discuss how we’re going to bring this to a close.” Valentin leaned against the edge of the lab table. “What did my mother want you to do in Port Charles?”

“She’s arranged a staff position at General Hospital,” Andre said slowly. “She’s going to have the lab on Spoon Island ready. We’ll take custody of Jake Doe and implant Morgan’s memories. Helena assumes that will cure the amnesia.”

“Will it?” Valentin asked curiously.

“I won’t know until I’ve mapped the brain. It’s possible there just needs to be some tweaks. According to Helena, Jake Doe has grown close to Elizabeth Webber and her sons. That makes sense since the memories I put into Drew Cain were stronger for them. It’s what Victor and Helena wanted.” Andre grimaced. “I imagine she wanted to make sure Jason Morgan had reunited with Elizabeth so that she could destroy her at the peak of her happiness.”

“There’s a beauty to it,” Valentin admitted. “But I have no grudge towards this Elizabeth woman. In fact, I find myself oddly grateful to her since she’s tormented my mother for so long. What about Chimera?”

Andre sighed. “Helena is going to fake her death soon,” he told Valentin. “She knows that you’re on the war path and Nikolas is starting to disappoint her—”

“I warned her,” Valentin muttered, “but she refuses to believe he has a conscience. He’ll only go so far before he starts to pull back. I thought she was actually ill—”

“She is.” Andre shifted. “But she’s…prepared for the end.”

Valentin narrowed his eyes. “Prepared because she has you. You’ve mapped her memories?”

“Yes. She has someone selected to take on her memories. I’m to remove the woman’s original memories and replace them so that there’s no overlap.” Andre shifted. “She’ll go sleep as one woman and wake up as another. And no, I don’t know who. She’s keeping that close.”

“I’ll look into that.” Valentin furrowed his brow. “And this new Helena—she’ll trigger Chimera?”

“The Nurse’s Ball next spring,” Andre said. “Helena has set up something that will trigger Jake Webber to release the biotoxin. I imagine she has a plan to make sure the targets are together.”

“This all hinges on you following Mother’s plan to transfer her memories into this new woman—”

“She’s not entirely convinced of me,” Andre admitted. “Not that I’ve done anything to be disloyal—”

“But she’s sensed you have same fatal flaw as her dear grandson. You have a conscience and it’s starting to weigh on you. Tell me, when you planted the suggestion into Jake’s memories—when you wiped these last years clean—” Valentin tipped his head. “Will it work as Mother wanted?”

“Yes. But—”

“But what?”

“But there’s a failsafe built in. Jake talked about his mother so much. He didn’t have a clear memory of her—but he knew she loved him.  So I—I put the suggestion in there. Elizabeth—she can stop it. He’ll want to please her. He’ll want to make her happy.”

“You gave Elizabeth Webber the power to stop my mother’s final revenge against her and the Spencers?” Valentin ginned, his eyes sparkling. “That is absolutely incredible.”

Andre looked away, towards the paperwork on his desk. “He’s a sweet kid who didn’t deserve any of this. You have a daughter Helena is using against you.” Valentin’s lips thinned.  “Would you want Charlotte in the position Jake Webber is in?”

“No.”

“You know your mother’s plans. Do you plan to change them?”

“You mean, do I intend to stop her from replicating herself?” Valentin sneered. “Of course. You said she’s not sure of you?”

“She apparently has a backup plan if I fail to complete the procedure by a certain time. I don’t know more than that.”

“Of course not. I’ll take care of it. Once she’s gone, I’ll keep her from coming back, so Chimera won’t be triggered. Then I can finally get what I want—”

“Valentin—” Andre called as the man started for the door. “Helena has more than one back up plan. If she dies before we can find them all—this will never be over.”

Monday, December 11, 2017

Penthouse: Living Room

Drew stared at his cell phone, at the email he’d just opened, and took a deep breath. He looked up at Sam as she finished a cup of coffee and closed the door behind their nanny, who was taking Danny to school. “It’s, uh, a notification from the court.”

Sam frowned, looked at him with a furrowed brow. “From the court?”

“Kim signed divorce papers. We’re, uh, on the docket to finalize it after the holidays,” Drew said. “And there’s a second one—our divorce is going to be heard same day.”

“The judge is going to be a bit confused,” Sam said, with lifted brows. “Are you worried you’ll be arrested for bigamy?” She set the coffee mug on the coffee table and curled up on the sofa. “Because Mom is probably ready for it—”

“It’s just strange to see the names in print,” Drew admitted. He slid his phone into his pocket. “Uh, when do you think your divorce will be heard?”

“Um…” Sam pursed her lips, picked at the seam of the sofa. “Probably not for a little bit longer. I didn’t…I haven’t sent Jason the papers yet.”

“You didn’t—” Drew absorbed that news, refusing to let all the possibilities swirl around his head. She had to have a good reason. “Why not?”

“Well, Mom and I were arguing about some of the things I wanted, and then you went and signed another contract with Jason, so she has to redo the financial stuff.” Sam shrugged. “I didn’t know there was a hurry—”

“You wanted me to divorce Kim ASAP,” Drew argued. “You brought your mother over to draw up the papers—”

“That’s different—”

“How?”

“You don’t remember Kim. It’s not a big deal to divorce her,” Sam reminded him. “It’s not like it bothers you. And she’s not Oscar’s mother, so you don’t even have to really deal with custody or finances. It’s more complicated with me.”

“Not if you just do the same thing I did which was to make custody to be dealt with later,” Drew retorted. “Did Alexis finish the changes? It’s been almost two weeks since I filed the contract. In fact, I bought the shares last week. Aurora is officially mine—”

“Half yours.”

“I thought we agreed not to argue about this anymore,” Drew muttered as he went over to the dining table to start gathering his papers. “You’re never going to understand what it means to me to do this on my own—”

“And what does that mean?”

“It means—” Drew shoved the papers into his briefcase. “It means nothing.”

“No—say it.” Sam stepped in front of him, stopping him as he went towards the closet.  “We both know what you’re thinking. I don’t know what it means because the only reason I have anything is because of Jason.”

“I didn’t—”

“The money I lived on for five years, this penthouse—it’s all Jason’s, right? And before then, the only money I ever had was what I conned out of people.” Sam folded her arms, glared at him. “I’m nothing but a gold-digging tramp, right?”

“I didn’t say that, Sam.”

“You’re not saying anything else—”

“You were the one that wanted to clear the legal decks,” Drew cut in, yanking his coat out of the closet. “You wanted the divorce. I want to see your divorce papers, Sam—”

“What—I told you, it’s none of your business—”

“It is my business. Because right now, you’re married to another man, and you’re swearing you’re going to file for divorce. I bet you know exactly how stupid I would be to swallow that line again.”

Tears stung her eyes, and he could see that his jab  had landed exactly as he’d wanted it to. “Because I lured married men away from their wives. Is that it? You don’t trust me not to get a divorce?”

“It’s been six weeks since Jason came back,” Drew said quietly. “You decided that first night that you believed me, even if we both know you didn’t. You decided to stay with me. To fight for our family and the life we’d planned together. I bought into it, Sam. I listened. I asked Kim for a divorce five minutes after she found out I was alive so we could be together, free and clear.” He lifted his brows. “What have you been doing?”

Sam exhaled slowly. “I’ll call my mother. I’ll get it done.”

“I want to see what you file,” Drew said to her. “I don’t want you asking for anything related to Aurora.”

“You really don’t trust me, do you?”

Just a few months ago, he might have said he trusted Sam more than anyone else in his life—but as he looked at the woman standing across from him, her expression a mixture of resentment and bitterness. He might not be Jason Morgan, but he still had those memories—

And he knew exactly what Sam was capable of when she was angry—when she felt righteous and justified.

“I want to see the papers, Sam,” he repeated. “I have to go to work.”

Webber House: Living Room

Elizabeth had the day off from work so that she could wrap all the gifts she’d been stashing at Laura’s for the last two months. At least one of her sons would be coming home in about twenty minutes, and Elizabeth thought it might be the one who still believed in Santa—

So it was really important he didn’t see any of his presents tagged from the man himself which was why Elizabeth was not in the best mood when she yanked open her front door at just before four that afternoon. “What?” She paused, seeing Carly on her doorstep. “Oh. Uh, hey.”

“Nice greeting,” Carly said caustically as she followed Elizabeth inside, then took in the wrapping paper and boxes. Elizabeth started cleaning up and went to the closet with a crawlspace that had a lock. “I guess this is a bad time.”

“I just need to hide these before Aiden comes home. Cam usually walks him from the bus stop.” Elizabeth wrinkled her nose as Carly handed her a pile. “Thanks. He’s the only one who believes, and I think this is probably the last year.”

“It’s amazing you got him to eight,” Carly admitted. “I think Michael was six—and he accidentally told Joss when she was five.” She looked away, down at the box with the reindeer wrapping paper. “Morgan was seven.”

“I know. Cam was also five—he and Joss were in on that one together,” Elizabeth reminded her as she stashed the last of the presents. “Jake—” She hesitated. “He was four. Helena told him that first year she kidnapped him.”

“Oh. Well, that’s—” Carly pressed her lips together. “It’s good that you’re trying to hold on to it for Aiden. They grow up too fast.”

“That’s for sure. Was there—” Elizabeth scratched her temple. “Was there something you needed? Is everything okay with Joss?”

“Oh, yeah. Great. I mean, she and Cam haven’t been arrested for anything, so I guess things are good.” Carly crossed her arms. “Jason told us last night that he went looking for garages over the weekend. With you.”

“Yeah, we didn’t find anything that was right—but we’re going to keep looking,” Elizabeth added, distracted by her phone lighting up with a text from Jason. “He couldn’t have told me this ten minutes ago?” she muttered to herself. “Jason,” she said to Carly, absently. “He picks Jake up from the middle school because the buses are always late. He knows I was wrapping today and offered to get Aiden so I’d have more time.”

“Jason…” Carly stared at her. “He picks up Jake every day?”

“Uh, mostly. He started doing it after Thanksgiving,” Elizabeth said, focusing on Carly, remember who she was talking to so casually. “I thought it was a good way for him and Jake to get more one-on-one time together.”

“I thought—I mean he’s always over here. Doesn’t he spend a lot of time with him already?”

Elizabeth forced her expression to remain neutral. “Yes,” she said slowly. “But it’s always with Cam and Aiden. That’s great because they’re important to Jake, but Jason’s missed so much time. Even before the accident. It’s a good thing, Carly, isn’t it? For Jason to be so involved with his son?”

“It is,” Carly said. “Which is why he needs to finish a room at the house for Jake so he can stop always coming here,” she added. “Maybe you can let Jake live him. To make up for all that lost time—”

“I—” Elizabeth shook her head slightly. “I don’t know. I mean, Jason and I haven’t talked about that yet—”

“No, of course not. Because this suits you just fine,” Carly drawled. “Forcing Jason to come to you. You shoved Franco out the door and now you’ve got another man just waiting to take up the slack—”

“Okay, so it’s time for you to leave—” Elizabeth started past Carly, but the blonde’s hand snaked out to grab her arm, whirling her back. “Carly—”

“You think I’m stupid? You think I don’t see exactly what you’re doing? What you’ve always done?” Carly demanded. “You’re using your kids to get to Jason. You know exactly how to play him, don’t you? Isn’t that how this all started? You knew he missed Michael. You used that—”

“And why did he miss Michael?” Elizabeth shot back. “Why did I find him bleeding and dying in the snow? You’re still fighting the same battles we did back then.” She stepped towards Carly. “You can’t stand that you can’t get rid of me. You’ve been trying for decades, Carly—”

“You’re the pathetic one,” Carly retorted. “Using Jason’s love for children, his weakness for damsels in distress—”

“Oh my God—I cannot believe I am standing here, almost twenty years later, and you are still screaming the same things!” Elizabeth threw up her hands. “Carly, you lost. You lost a long time ago, and I didn’t have a damn thing to do with it. Jason hasn’t wanted you since the second you crawled into Sonny’s bed—”

“I don’t want Jason—”

“No? You’re doing a strange impression then of someone who still carries a grudge. You couldn’t stand that Jason was letting me help him. Isn’t that why you’re here? You’re pissed because Jason is letting me help him, and not you?”

Carly seethed. “I just wanted to warn you that I’m not going to let you hurt him again—”

“Who is trying to hurt him?” Elizabeth demanded. “What is your damage, Carly? I mean, seriously—”

“Stop it with the sweet, innocent angel act,” Carly spat. “No one buys it—”

“I told you a long time ago — I am nobody’s angel. And you are not going to get rid of me.”

“I won’t have to,” Carly growled. “Because sooner or later, Jason will walk away from you. He always does, Elizabeth. You don’t make him happy. You never could. He walked away from you. From your kids, and even his own son! No one stays, Elizabeth! Why do you think you’re alone? You always end up alone!”

Elizabeth’s eyes burned as Carly’s venom washed over her. She wanted to open her mouth, to respond, but she couldn’t.  A tear slid down her cheek, and Carly’s eyes grew positively wild with glee.

“You’re not worthy of Jason. You never were. No one will ever love you—”

“Mother!”

“Carly!”

The horrified, strangled cry came from the doorway. Both women spun around to find the door had opened at some point, with Cameron and Joss standing there. Joss’s cheeks were flushed with humiliation, her eyes damp, while Cameron’s were bright with fury—

But not nearly as furious as the man standing behind them, Jake and Aiden at his side. It was Jason’s angry voice that had called Carly’s name.

Carly stared at the group, at her daughter, then at her best friend, swallowing hard. “Jason—”

“Outside,” Jason said flatly. “Now.”

Carly opened her mouth, but then closed it, hurrying past the children. Jason gestured for Jake and Aiden to go inside, then closed the door behind him.

Webber House: Street

Jason had never been so furious in his entire life—not even after the accident when he had lived, breathed, and slept angry. Nothing could match the rage boiling in his veins, the heat rising in his limbs, into chest, choking him—

He’d walked up to that house, into the door, surrounded by Elizabeth’s boys—standing with his son only to hear his self-proclaimed best friend proclaim that Jason walked away from Jake because Elizabeth had made him unhappy—

He stalked down the sidewalk until they were nearly at the street, trying to find the words to make her understand this could never, ever happen again. He heard Carly hurrying behind him, her heels clicking against the cement.

“I know I messed up, I just need you to listen—”

“Shut up,” Jason ground up, whirling around so suddenly, Carly stumbled to a stop. She blinked at him, tears streaming down her face. “I’m not listening to another word from your goddamn mouth.”

That mouth fell open as her eyes bulged. “Jason—”

“I asked Elizabeth to marry me the day Michael was shot in the head,” he bit out. “I was going to be with her. With my son. With Cameron. I told you years ago that was all I wanted. But after what happened to Michael—I never wanted to watch her cry over our boys—for her to break the way you did.”

Carly swallowed hard. “I—”

“I walked away from them so that they would be safe, Carly. Because I loved them too much!”

“Please, just let me—”

“There is nothing Elizabeth could ever do that would make me walk away from her or my son.”

“I know that—I didn’t even mean it—”

“You think that makes this better?” Jason retorted. “I know you didn’t mean it. You just wanted to hurt her. You wanted to hurt her bad enough so that she pushes me away. Because you can’t stand that I don’t need you.”

“Jason—”

“I don’t need you,” he repeated flatly. “I never needed you. You have done nothing but make my life harder.”

“That is—” Carly took a deep, ragged breath. “Okay. Okay. I know that’s true. But I just—”

“Get in your car, go back to the hotel, and don’t ever come near Elizabeth or her kids again. If you do, we are done.”

Carly stared at him for a beat, then closed her eyes. “I never meant to hurt Jake. Or the boys. I love them. You know—”

“You have to stop this, Carly. You have to stop. Michael is already close to cutting you off. Morgan is gone. And your daughter just watched you tear into Cameron’s mother. Is this what you want? Do you want to push us all out?”

“No!”

“Then why can’t you stop?”

“I don’t know!” she exploded. “I don’t know why I can’t just accept that Elizabeth is making you happy! Why I have to push and push and push until you shove me out the window—I don’t know! I can’t stop! Don’t you think I would if I could—”

“You need to figure it out, Carly. Because I can’t do this anymore. I can’t fix my life and keep fixing yours. I’m tired. Jake comes first. And because he does, so do his brothers. And their mother. They’re my family just as much as you and Sonny are. Why does that threaten you?”

“I don’t know,” Carly repeated, closing her eyes. She dug the heel of her hands into her eyes. “I don’t know.”

“Get in the car, Carly. And go back to the hotel.”

“Okay. I’ll—I’ll do that.” Carly started towards the street where her car was parked, then noticed Jason was heading for his car. “Are you—you’re leaving?”

“I’m going to follow you,” he retorted. “Because I don’t trust you.” He didn’t care that her lip trembled, that her eyes were puffy and red.

All he could see was Elizabeth’s face when he walked in, the pain in her eyes as Carly said all the words that he knew Elizabeth believed about herself.

Webber House: Living Room

“Mom—”

“Cameron, it’s fine,” Elizabeth said, taking a deep breath. “It’s Carly. I’m sorry, Joss,” she added as the blonde’s lips trembled. “Get your coats off. I think there’s snacks in the kitchen. Please—” she said softly to Cameron as he came towards her. “I just need a minute, okay, baby?”

“All right,” Cameron said, nodding slowly. He put a hand on his youngest brother’s shoulder. “Aiden, we got any cookies left? You were baking all weekend.”

“Sure.”

“Miss Webber,” Joss said, swiping her hand under nose. “I’m so sorry—”

“Don’t you dare apologize to me,” Elizabeth told Carly’s daughter. She glanced out the window to find Carly and Jason arguing. She got into her car, and then Jason got into his SUV. She exhaled slowly. “This has nothing to do with you. It never has. You’re Cam’s best friend. You’re always welcome here.”

“That doesn’t make it easier,” Joss muttered, but went into the kitchen as Elizabeth’s phone flashed on the table.

Grateful for the distraction, Elizabeth went over to the table to pick it up, sighing when she saw Jason’s text.

Following her back to the hotel to make sure she goes. Back later.

Then a second later,

I’m sorry.

“Story of my life,” Elizabeth said with a sigh, slipping the phone into her back pocket and going to join the kids in the kitchen.

Aurora Media: Drew’s Office

“Hey, man.” Curtis greeted Drew with a slap of the hand before dumping a folder out on the conference table. “How’s it going?”

“It’s going,” Drew said blandly as they sat down. “How’s Jordan?”

“Trying to decide if she wants to keep putting up with Aunt Stella,” Curtis said with a wince. “She, uh, made a scene at Thanksgiving, and she got into another fight with Jordan. I tried to talk to my aunt—” He shrugged. “What’re you gonna do?  But the good news is I finally the Moore murder book out of the PCPD archives.”

Drew’s interest engaged at the mention of his biological mother’s death. “Yeah? Anything interesting?”

“Well, a lot of suspects, for one. Robert—he was the commissioner at that point—had his hands full.” Curtis opened his notebook. “Alan, Monica, Edward, and Lila were all suspects—”

“Lila,” Drew repeated. “Really?”

“Hey, you don’t stay married to Edward Quartermaine for that long without getting a bit ruthless. Uh, it also looks like Heather and Scott were suspects, too. It ended up being Crane Tolliver—Lila’s first husband.”

“Heather was a suspect?” Drew asked. “Why?”

“Yeah, Heather was mostly suspected because of her relationship to Scott—and she was seen near the house,” Curtis added. He squinted at his handwriting. “It looks like Susan wanted to blackmail the Qs over Lila and Crane’s divorce papers—and Crane shot her.”

“To stop her from blackmailing the Quartermaines because Lila’s divorce wasn’t signed,” Drew said. He frowned. “How’d they get him?”

“Robert caught him trying to kill Heather, and apparently confessed in the hearing of other officers.” Curtis pulled out some more paperwork. “Seems pretty cut and dry, but Robert still had questions. Tolliver claimed Susan was going to renege on blackmailing the Qs, but Susan had invited them and a reporter over that night. What was his evidence for her pulling out of the plan? And giving what we know now, it seems strange that Susan was gearing up to blackmail the Quartermaines over the bigamy. Why would she do that if she knew about you? You would get her another million dollar trust fund without lifting a finger.”

“She clearly knew about me long enough to name me. And—” Drew paused. “When did she die?” He frowned at the date, then took a deep breath. “Wait—”

“Yeah. I saw that, too.” Curtis pushed some other paperwork through. “Up until then, you’d been with Betsy Frank and no one knew anything about you. But a month later, you’re found in Poughkeepsie with a surrender form and a false birth certificate. Makes me wonder if someone other than Susan knew you existed and wanted to make sure no one else could find you.”

Greystone Manor: Kitchen

Sonny set a plate of food down in front of his daughter who looked down the collection of green vegetables, brown potatoes, and roasted chicken. She delicately pushed it away and flashed him a dimpled smile. “No thank you.”

“Avery—”

“That is green.” Avery narrowed her eyes. “I don’t eat green food.”

“Green food is good for you.”

“And that—that is brown. I don’t eat brown food—”

“Ha!” Sure that this time, he’d won a round with the kid, Sonny grinned. “You eat chocolate. That’s brown—”

Avery’s brows drew together as she contemplated this twist of fate, then brightened. “Chocolate isn’t food.”

“It’s not?”

“No. It’s candy. You always tell Mama Carly that.”

Sonny opened his mouth, then closed it. He had absolutely no defense for that. “Fair point.” He took out his wallet and was setting down a five dollar bill when Michael strolled into the kitchen.

“Already bribing her?” Michael said. “She’s four.”

“Yeah, well, I’m trying to get her to five with her teeth intact,” Sonny muttered and got to his feet as Avery dug happily into her dinner. “What brings you by?”

“Uh—” Michael craned his head and Sonny followed him over to the counter, slightly out of earshot of Avery. “I got a text from Joss. She went over to Cam’s after school, and apparently walked in on Mom screaming at Elizabeth.”

Sonny closed his eyes, leaned back against the kitchen island, gripping it with his hands. “Oh, man, what about?”

“Well, Mom and Elizabeth were so distracted by the screaming they didn’t know how long Cam and Joss were standing there, so Joss says it was something about Jason always leaving Elizabeth, abandoning his son because he can’t stand her, and Jason walked in with the other boys just as Mom told Elizabeth no one would ever love her and that she never deserved Jason.”

“Oh, good, so the greatest hits.” Sonny grimaced and turned around, frowning as Avery beamed at him but somehow, half the brussel sprouts were gone. “Did she move?”

“No.”

“We don’t have a dog.” Perturbed, Sonny turned back to Michael. “Well, Carly’s not here. She told me she was working late—”

“Because Jason ordered her outside, yelled at her some more, and they both left. Joss doesn’t know anything else, but I’m guess Mom went back to the hotel to lick her wounds.” Michael paused. “I came over because we need to do something. Mom is out of control.”

“I don’t know about that—”

“She went after Nelle in the Metro Court a few weeks ago—which, fine, happens all the time. But not normally in front of other customers,” Michael added. “She did it during the lunch rush. Not to mention the scene with Jason, Ava, and Monica last month. Then this crap with Elizabeth.”

“When you put it like that—” Sonny tipped his head. “Yeah, I guess she’s been worse than usual. But, you know, it’s been a tough couple of weeks. We hit the one year anniversary in October, and with all this Jason and Drew stuff, your mom isn’t bouncing back—”

“Exactly,” Michael said. “Look, I’ve been giving Mom space since everything that happened. But this isn’t okay.” He paused, searching for the right words. “She used to be able to hold it together better than this. This reminds me of when I was a kid. I mean, she’s always hated Elizabeth, but Joss was really upset—”

“I’m sorry Joss had to see it.”  Sonny rubbed his chin. “Look, your mom is just…she’s hurt. It’s already been a rough year, and it’s not helping that Jason isn’t really leaning on her much. He’s really been talking to Elizabeth more than either one of us.”

“Why does it matter?” Michael asked. “As long as he’s talking to someone—”

“It matters,” Sonny said with a bit of bite to his tone, “because that’s pretty much why Carly hates Elizabeth. Look, it’s complicated and it goes back a long time—”

“My entire life, Mom has hated Elizabeth. Except for the few years when we thought Jake’s kidney had saved Joss’s life. I really thought—I thought she’d gotten over it. But this is messing with Joss. And it’s screwing up things for Jason—”

“I’ll talk to Joss—”

“I can take care of her, but it has to stop. Cameron is her best friend, and Elizabeth is Jake’s mother. They’re part of my family, too.  Mom can’t be doing this anymore. Whatever she has against Elizabeth, she just has to get over it. Because I can swallow the crap she throws at Nelle—it’s mostly deserved—but Jason and Elizabeth—the boys—it’s not okay.”

“What do you want me to do, Michael? If I could get your mother to behave herself—”

“I don’t—it’s not about behaving herself. It’s about finding out what’s wrong with her and fixing it. Plenty of people have grudges and resentments. They don’t all scream it out like maniacs in public.” Michael sighed. “I just thought I’d clue you in because I don’t know if Mom or Jason would tell you, and someone has to get her to listen to common sense.”

Devane Manor: Living Room

“This is unacceptable,” Anna snapped.

Robert shrugged as he sauntered towards her mini bar and poured himself a shot of whiskey. “Well, darling, you had to know it was a long shot, and that Andre might call our bluff.”

She whirled around, her eyes flashing. “Is this a joke to you?”

“No.” Robert’s eyes lost some of the humor as he set the shot glass down. “No. It’s bloody serious, Anna. Not only has all of this seriously damaged the reputation of the WSB and the morale of agents like you and me, but it’s looking increasingly like our own damned agency was involved in what to our daughter.”

Anna sighed, pressing her lips together. “Well, at the very least, behind the funding of it.” She folded her arms and walked over to the large picture window that looked over her front yard. “Andre doesn’t believe Frisco’s changed his mind about moving him to the lab.”

“Which, fair point, Frisco hasn’t. He wants Andre back under our control. He only agreed to lend him out to the PCPD—”

“Jordan suggested getting the DA to file charges against Andre here, but Frisco would just make some calls. They’d be dropped before Andre could even be arraigned.” She exhaled slowly. “I can’t stand the thought he might to get away with this, Robert. Once he’s in that bloody lab, he won’t have any reason to worry about any of this, and you know Frisco is more concerned with the internal problems Andre could help him with.”

“We’ll have to go this alone.”

“I promised Drew and Jason that we’d help them get to the bottom of this. I know you don’t care for Jason Morgan—”

“Not liking the man’s employment history is far cry from wanting his life to be stolen from him,” Robert cut in. “But Anna, there’s nothing we can do about this. Frisco has made it clear. We have until December 20 to make Andre talk to us. After that, he’s disappearing into the bowels of the WSB and we’ll never get access again.”

“The nerve—after everything we did for Frisco,” Anna muttered. “We brought him into the bloody agency. We wrote him recommendations!” She pursed her lips. “December 20. All right. If Frisco is giving us that long, then we can still find a way to convince Andre we’re serious about pulling his deal.”

“Oh?” Robert lifted one brow. “What do you have in mind, my dear?”

“I know Frisco could make any changes the DA files disappear,” Anna said slowly, “but perhaps we can ask him to hold off on that as well. If he can just give us time—if Andre believes he may go to jail here, in the States, then he might get nervous enough to prove his worth.”

“Well, you know me, I’ll try anything once.”

Webber House: Living Room

Jason purposely waited to come back to Elizabeth’s house after he knew the boys would be upstairs for the night. He really didn’t want to have this conversation with them listening in—it was bad enough they’d had to see the end of that terrible scene with Carly.

“Hey.” Elizabeth closed the door behind him. “You missed Jake—”

“I know. I meant to.” He waited until she turned to face him. “I’m sorry—”

“You don’t have to apologize for Carly—”

“I do,” Jason said with a nod. “Because I know she’s been doing this for a long time—” Elizabeth looked away. “And it’s my fault it’s happening now.”

“I can handle Carly,” Elizabeth assured him, but she didn’t look at him as she walked past him, over towards the sofa to move some magazines around.

“I know you can. But that doesn’t mean I like it or that you should have to,” he told her. He set his jacket over the railing by the door and sat next to her on the sofa. “She’s just—she’s angry. I’m trying to make something of my life now. Something that works for me and for Jake.” He paused, wanting to say more but unsure how. “And Carly wants me to do it her way.”

“Nothing new there. She’s never liked it when I’m the one helping you.” Elizabeth bit her lip and finally met his eyes. “Look, it’s not like I believe her or anything. I don’t even know how long you were standing there—”

“Long enough to hear her accuse me of walking out on Jake because I didn’t want to be with you,” Jason said tightly and Elizabeth closed her eyes. “That’s not what happened—”

“I—I know that.” But her voice only sounded partially convinced, and that worried him.

“Elizabeth—”

“Look. That was a long time ago. A lifetime ago. Okay? We—we made choices based on the situation that existed at the time. The Russians—” Elizabeth blew out an exasperated breath. “It was a scary time. The coffee house blowing up, Jake getting kidnapped again—we were both scared, and instead of leaning on each other, you decided it was too much and I didn’t want to keep fighting the same battle.” She lifted a shoulder. “It is what it is.”

“I—”

“I could have pushed,” Elizabeth told him, flicking her eyes up to meet his. “I don’t blame you for letting go. I could have held on. You know, I used to replay that moment a thousand times, and sometimes I found different words—new ones that convinced you to stay—but it doesn’t matter.”

“It does—”

“It really doesn’t. I didn’t find the words, and you left. And yeah, you left Jake. But I know you love him. I might have doubted it sometimes,” she admitted, and his stomach twisted, “but it was mostly my own guilt. I started the lie, and you let it keep going. Maybe we were both too scared. That was then. This is now. I know you love Jake, Jason, and he’s really starting to love you. I always knew he would.”

Accepting her change of conversation, and the fact that she really didn’t want to rehash what had happened nine years ago, Jason nodded. “About Carly—”

“What else is there to say about Carly—” Elizabeth pushed herself to her feet.

“She’s never forgiven you for what happened when I got shot that December,” Jason told her, also standing. “And I know that sounds insane because you didn’t do anything to her. But Carly doesn’t blame herself. She always finds someone else to make the bad guy.”

“Well, this I know—”

“It wasn’t even really about you. It still isn’t. It’s about me. I didn’t let her help me. I stayed with you at the studio.” Jason told her. He hesitated. “You gave me a reason to keep living that night. And the days that came after.”

Elizabeth frowned at him, shook her head. “What—”

“I went to the boxcar with a gunshot wound I was bleeding out from,” Jason told her. “I knew what I was doing.”

“You were delirious with fever—”

“I’d found my best friend in bed with the woman I thought I was in love with. And I didn’t think there was really any point to getting help. I had nothing.” When she just stared at him, her eyes wide. “And then you showed up, you forced me to get up and save my own life. Carly will never understand what you did for me then. What you’ve always done for me.” He paused. “And that’s why she’s acting this way now. I told her what I should have told you.”

“What?” Elizabeth asked, nearly breathing the question rather than speaking it.

“The first time I knew I was home—that I was me again and that I could handle all of this—was the day I bought the new bike. And riding the cliff roads, fast, the wind in my face, and you screaming in my ear—I knew I was home, Elizabeth.”

← Chapter Twenty-Five | Chapter Twenty-Seven →