June 2, 2006

Spoon Island

Helena clasped her hands in front of her and continued to smile in a way that made Dillon feel like she was already devouring him and planning where to hide the body. He shifted and wondered what made him think he could take the Cassadines on with nothing more than a crazy stepsister at his side.

He was going to move to Iowa. There probably weren’t any Cassadines in Iowa.

“You do look like your mother, my darling Lesley Lu,” Helena murmured. “So much. The same hair, the same fire in the eyes.” She arched an eyebrow. “The same inherent weakness.”

Ever her father’s daughter, Lulu scoffed at this. “That’s the best you can do, Hels? C’mon, I’m disappointed — my dad always gave you more credit.”

“What are you doing?” Dillon hissed, tugging on her arm. “You do not antagonize the crazy woman.”

“She’s not armed, Dillon,” Lulu told him, keeping her eyes on Helena. “And while she wants us to think we’re probably surrounded by men with big guns, we’re not. Because if this is Spoon Island, then all that extra body heat would have shown up on my brother’s radar.” She smirked. “You do know that Nikolas installed radar after the last time you infiltrated the island, right? He also has instructions for his security team to investigate all suspicious activity so I bet they’ll be coming along any time now.”

“Not unless I’ve bribed them to work for me,” Helena replied.

“Which is impossible because you don’t have any accounts for yourself and you can only siphon so much from Nikolas without him noticing,” Lulu returned. “You’re not as scary as you think you are,” she boasted.

“What about me, Lulu?” Stefan said silkily from behind the cheeky teenager. “Am I as scary as you thought?”

The click of gun behind them created a moment for Dillon that he thought only happened in movies. He swallowed. “God damn the Cassadines,” he muttered. “They just never stay dead.”

“Well–” Lulu began.

“And before you speak, remember that I have already shot Robin Scorpio and Carly Corinthos and helped to destroy your beloved brother,” he warned.

Lulu turned and eyed the older man carefully. “You’re not going to shoot me, though,” she said, careful to keep her voice as breezy as it had been with Helena. “You might shoot Dillon, but you’d never shoot me.”

“Hey, do not offer me up like a sacrifice,” Dillon cut in. “Please don’t shoot me,” he said to Stefan. “She roped me into this.”

The Cassadine son ignored the boy and kept his eyes on Lulu. “And why wouldn’t I shoot you, Lulu?” he asked coldly.

“Because I look like my mother,” Lulu said, playing her trump card. “And you could never shoot Laura.”

ICU: Robin’s Room

“After Helena told me that she was going to kidnap John, I was terrified,” Robin admitted to her uncle. She looked to Jax with an apologetic expression. “So I created the third paternity test to make it look like neither you nor Nikolas was John’s father. I thought if I could get that test into her hands and make her believe it, he’d be safe.”

“Thank you for trying to protect him,” Jax said solemnly. He kissed her forehead.

Patrick glared at the Australian with barely hidden malevolence. All that he’d gone through in the last forty-eight hours–all the fear and the pain and the exhaustion, it could all be laid at this man’s doorstep. If he was ever alone with Jasper Jacks, he might actually commit murder. “Yeah, thanks for nearly getting yourself killed,” he muttered.

Mac sighed impatiently and glanced at the doctor with annoyance. “You’re only in here because Robin wouldn’t let me kick you out, so be quiet.” He looked back to Robin. “So you created the third test and left it in the computer.”

“Right,” Robin said. “I had plans with Patrick and I thought he might have some ideas on how to get the test into Helena’s hands. I was going to tell you,” this she directed at Patrick. “I thought we’d have more time.”

He shoved his hands in pockets. “I would have told you to tell Nikolas the truth and let him deal with his homicidal grandmother.”

Robin ignored that. “But you know the rest. I didn’t tell Patrick, and he was paged to the hospital. I fell asleep and didn’t even wake up until I felt all the pain.” She hesitated. “I didn’t think I’d been that injured until I was reaching for the phone and saw all the blood all over the flowers.”

Mac nodded and noted this down. “And today, when you crashed–you said it was Helena.”

“She came in and injected something into my IV,” Robin said. “I can only guess it was something to stop my heart.”

“But it didn’t work because Patrick was right outside and performed CPR until the crash team arrived,” Mac told her.

Patrick frowned. “Wait…if I was right outside–Helena couldn’t been that far away. How did she get out?” He frowned. “And what happened to Dillon and Lulu? They were with me until the code.”

“Helena probably used the stairs and went to the underground tunnels,” Robin told her uncle. “Lulu might have seen her go into the stairwell.”

“And no Spencer can resist that lure,” Jax said ruefully. “She probably dragged the poor Quartermaine down there with her.”

“If she went into the underground tunnels, they’re probably on the island.” Mac closed his notebook. “As soon as Nikolas gets here, I’ll send men over to the island to keep a look out for them but I can’t really chase down a Spencer. I’ve spent half my career chasing after her father.” He motioned to Jax. “We can go wait for Nikolas in the waiting room.” He turned to Robin. “How long do you want me to tell Felicia and Brenda to wait before they storm the room?”

“Ten minutes,” Robin answered, “which means Brenda will give us seven.”

After they were gone, Patrick scowled. “From now on, life threatening news before sex.”

“I never meant to drag you into this–” Robin began.

“You didn’t even drag yourself into this, your cousin did that for you,” he argued. He scrubbed his hands over his face. “And I dragged myself into this. So much for the romantic evening.”

“Hey…” Robin’s hand slid over the covers and reached out to touch his knee. “We were having a great time until the pager, okay? Thank you for going to all that trouble.”

“If I had suggested dinner out or even going to your place–”

“This isn’t your fault,” she argued. She hesitated. “Is this the part where you give me the speech about casual relationships and flings?”

“You mean the one where you’ve ruined me for both?” Patrick asked with a weary smile. “Relax, Scorpio. Bullet wounds aren’t going to scare me away.”

General Hospital: ICU Hallway

When Jax stepped out of Robin’s room, he found Nikolas down the hall near the door to the waiting room, just staring down at the child in his arms. Jax fought the urge to rush down the hall and tear John from his biological father and disappear.

He had done what he believed was right and protected Courtney’s child with everything inside of him, but Carly had been right. These secrets will always come out and this particular one had cost too much. It had nearly killed Robin, destroyed a marriage, wounded Carly and brought the deadly side of the Cassadine family to the forefront.

For the first time in nearly a year, a weight lifted from Jax’s shoulders. He met Nikolas’s gaze head on, nodded and then turned to walk away. It was the most difficult thing he’d ever had to do, and yet somehow, it was the easiest.

“He’s beautiful,” Maxie said from the doorway of the waiting room. She stepped forward and touched John’s cheek. “I’m glad you know the truth.”

Nikolas narrowed his eyes. “Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked. “You had more than one opportunity.”

“I know,” Maxie sighed. “I tried to tell you, I wanted to tell you but I just couldn’t make the words come out right so I told Robin, thinking she would be able to fix it but that just made everything worse.” She shoved her hair off her forehead. “But it worked out okay, right? I mean, you have your son and everyone’s alive.”

Thinking of his uncle and hoping that he had left for Greece, Nikolas shook his head. “You have no idea.”

General Hospital: Outside Lucky’s Room

Elizabeth leaned against the closed door and closed her eyes. It had been the worst moment in her life–to look into the eyes of the boy she’d loved her whole life and walk away.

“Hey.”

Her eyes snapped open and she found Jason standing in front of her, looking concerned. “Hey,” she replied. “When did you get back from the clinic?”

“A while ago.” He shifted. “Emily said she didn’t know how long you would be so I wasn’t going to wait but I wanted to check on Robin.” Jason scratched the corner of his eyebrow. “I saw you standing here. Have you been inside?”

“Yeah.” Elizabeth exhaled slowly and looked at him. “I told him I wanted a divorce.” She hesitated. “Emily told me about…Sam.”

“It’s fine,” Jason said roughly. “She’s going to recover and she’s going to get a chance at a better life. She deserves that.”

“She deserves to have the life she wanted,” Elizabeth argued, but her heart wasn’t in it. She was too tired, too overwhelmed to care about Sam McCall and what she may or may not deserve. She cared about Jason and his reaction to the news was what mattered. “I can sympathize a little. I know what it’s like to look into someone’s eyes and know they don’t remember their love for you.”

“She didn’t even know me,” Jason replied. “It’s barely been a year since I put her through this. I don’t how she managed to stick by me and stay sane.”

“She did what was right for her,” Elizabeth said. “Just like you did what was right for you by leaving her at the clinic and when you walked away from the Quartermaines. That’s all you can really do, Jason.”

“Sometimes the right thing just doesn’t seem worth it,” he said roughly.

Spoon Island

“That’s your big plan?” Dillon demanded, feeling slightly hysterical. “Pull the Laura card? For Christ’s sake, Lulu, I don’t look like her!”

“You’ve become tiresome,” Helena sighed to the Quartermaine teen. “Stefan, shoot him.”

Lulu’s remark about Laura had clearly unnerved Stefan and he didn’t immediately make a move. Dillon took the presented opportunity and quite shamelessly ducked behind Lulu for protection. “All I wanted to do was prove that my brother didn’t shoot Robin,” Lulu said. “I really don’t care if you get away or if you turn yourself in, but shooting Dillon isn’t going to solve anything.”

“Damn right,” Dillon agreed fervently.

“But it will make me feel better,” Helena drawled. “Stefan, for once in your worthless life, do what you’re told,” she snapped when her youngest son continued to stand motionless.

“Yeah, do what your mommy tells you,” Lulu taunted. “We all know how much you worship your beloved mother.”

“Hey, you might have a death wish but I want to live,” Dillon protested. “Do not what do what your mother tells you. Fight the urge. Do not obey!”

“Shut up,” Stefan said shortly. “I’m not interested in shooting either of you,” he informed them. “I came to Port Charles for one reason and one reason only–to correct certain mistakes that have been made. Nikolas has his son back and the second is being corrected as we speak. I have accomplished my goals, killing either one of you would only make things more complicated.”

“Clearly you are a wise man,” Dillon said soberly. “I’ve always thought Luke underestimated you.”

“Ah, young Spielberg, you disappoint me,” Luke sighed, appearing in the clearing. “Sucking up to the vampire to save your own skin, it’s unworthy of you.”

“People make sacrifices to keep breathing,” Dillon replied. “Especially when one person has a gun and the other has a very annoying stepsister that keeps antagonizing the crazy people.”

“If you don’t lower the weapon, Stiffin,” Luke drawled, “and stop pointing it at my gumdrop, I’m going to be forced to smack you silly. I’m a little tired from trekking through the woods, so can’t we just skip that part?”

“Stefan, shoot someone,” Helena snapped. “Preferably Spencer. I grow weary of listening to his rambling.”

“Mother,” Stefan arched an eyebrow. “Simply because I agreed to help you get rid of the unfortunate urchin and pull the Cassadine heir back in the family fold, it does not in any way indicate that I give a damn about you or what you want.” He readjusted the aim of his gun and Helena found herself staring down the dark barrel. “If I discover that you have stepped within a hundred feet of Nikolas or his son, I will kill you.”

“You would never–” Helena began but closed her mouth when Stefan cocked the trigger. “You are a stain on this family’s legacy,” she hissed. “If Mikkos could have known how you would turn out, he would have strangled you in the nursery.”

“I do not doubt that,” Stefan nodded, “but the fact remains that he is dead. My brother is dead. You are alone in this world, Mother. I would make your future choices a little more wisely than you have done in the past.”

“So you expect me to walk out of my grandson’s life? Abandon my great-grandson?” Helena demanded.

“Yes, Mother, I expect just that.” As if to demonstrate the point, he pulled the trigger and the bullet whizzed past her hair, ruffling the white strands. “Do I make myself clear?”

Helena smiled slowly. “Perhaps you are a bit more cold blooded than I gave you credit for.” She stepped backwards. “This is not over,” she warned Luke. “I will never rest until I have wiped the world clean of you and yours.”

“I’ll be watching for you, Cruella,” Luke nodded. “But you are getting on in years, my dear, so forgive me if I’m not exactly shaking in my shoes.”

“You were always were a very stupid man,” Helena said, her last words as she slowly turned and disappeared into the trees.

“You realize that she’s not really backing down, right?” Luke said, in one of the most civil tones he’d ever used with his mortal enemy.

Stefan finally lowered the gun and slid it into the holster underneath his jacket. “I would be stupid if I believed that,” he murmured. He looked back at Lulu. “It’s uncanny. You have your mother’s beauty and courage, but your father’s inability to keep his damn mouth shut. You were right, of course. I would never have hurt you.”

He looked at Luke. “Until we meet again, I suppose.”

“Yeah, I’ll be looking for you, Stiffin,” Luke replied. “You can be sure of that.”

Stefan nodded and followed the trail his mother had taken.

“I knew this was going to turn into a Cassadine thing,” Dillon sighed. “The second Lulu found that damn letter, I just knew this was going to happen.”

“Stop complaining,” Lulu smacked him in the arm. “You loved every minute of it.”

“Go easy on the kid, Cupcake,” Luke chided his daughter. “Not everyone takes to this kind of thing the first time around. Give him a few more tries, he’ll get it eventually.”

“I’m going into retirement,” Dillon grumbled. “No more capers.”

Lulu snorted. “Like I haven’t heard that one before.”

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