Written in 56 minutes.

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Quartermaine Estate: Family Room

After getting the call that the house was mostly clear of mourners, Jason and Elizabeth headed over to the mansion with both boys. Jason left Elizabeth to remove Cameron’s coat in the foyer and went in first, with Jake in his arms.

Monica, seated on the sofa, jumped to her feet, her eyes almost desperate though she smiled. “You’re here. I wasn’t sure—I almost thought—” She glanced around him. “Where’s—”

“Elizabeth is behind me. We, uh, told Cameron,” Jason said. “I don’t know how much he understands. He might ask for her—”

“Oh. Oh.” Monica clasped her hands, looked at Edward who had also risen to his feet. “All right. We’ll handle that—is this—” She pressed a hand to her mouth. “Oh, Jason. He looks just like you.”

“That’s what Elizabeth says.” Jason rubbed Jake’s back. “Jake, this is…” He glanced at Monica. “Do you want to be Grandma or—”

“Anything is fine. I’ll—” Monica nodded. “Anything.”

“Okay, this is Grandma Monica,” Jason said. He set Jake in his mother’s arms. The infant fussed for a moment until he realized his father wasn’t going anywhere, then he turned and focused his blue eyes on the woman holding him.

“Oh, Edward, do you see?” Monica beamed, looked at her father-in-law. “Just like Jason. And those are—”

“Lila’s eyes.” Edward nodded. “He’s beautiful,” he told Jason.

“I know—” Jason thought Jake actually looked more like Elizabeth, but he might be biased. He turned when he heard footsteps. Elizabeth appeared, holding Cameron by the hand. He’d cried for a while when they’d been at home, but then he’d seemed to bounce back.

“Hey, buddy.” Jason lifted Cameron in his arms, and Cam immediately ducked his head down, pressing against Jason’s chest, a little more shy than he usually was around strangers. Elizabeth came to his side, stroked her son’s back.

“Hey, Cam. We wanted you to meet people who are very important to me and Jason,” Elizabeth said.

“Important?” Cameron repeated. He peeked out to Edward. “Why?”

“This is my mother—” Jason pointed at Monica. “And that’s my grandfather.”

“Grandfather,” Cameron repeated. “Like grandma Audrey?”

“Yeah. Like Grandma Audrey. That’s your mother’s grandmother.” Jason hesitated. “This is Aunt Emily’s mom and grandfather, too.”

“Aunt Em.” Cameron rubbed his eyes, looked at Edward. “You know Aunt Em?”

“I do—I did,” Edward said, correcting himself. “She talked about you a lot. It’s nice to finally meet you, Cameron.”

“I Cameron Hardy Webber. Mommy says I named for my grandfathers,” Cameron reported.

“That’s a fine name. A good strong one. Your mother chose your name well.”

“Mommy very smart. Aunt Em is the wind now. Mommy said. And Jase says we can’t see her anymore.” Cameron paused. “I don’t like that.”

“Me either.”

“That’s my brother.” Cameron pointed at Jake. “Jase’s his daddy. Not mine, though.” He furrowed his brow, looked at Jason. “Where did my daddy go?”

“He had to work,” Jason said, a bit roughly.

“Oh. Yeah. My daddy had to go to work forever. Did Aunt Em have to go to work? Is that why she’s the wind now?”

Jason inhaled sharply, traded troubled glances with Elizabeth, hating that Cameron was pushing Lucky and Emily together in his head.

“Sometimes people have to leave us,” Edward said. “And we don’t always know why. It’s not fair, is it?”

“No. I don’t like it.”

“Neither do I.”

Cameron sighed and laid his head back against Jason’s chest. “I okay. Jase said I got him. And I got Mommy and Jake. And Aunt Em is the wind, and it’s always windy, so she always there. Right, Mommy?”

“That’s right.” Elizabeth gently took Cameron into her arms. “And I have a really good idea, Cam. A way for you—for all us to keep feeling like Aunt Em is with us. She was Jason’s little sister. Just like Jake is your brother. You know that?”

“Yeah.”

“And Jason’s family is Jake’s family,” Elizabeth continued. “I think, if we ask really nice, you and I could be part of that family, too.”

Cameron frowned at her. “Yeah?” He looked at Edward, then at Monica, still holding Jake, then finally at Jason. “You want me and Mommy?”

“More than anything,” Jason said. “You already are my family. I want to share mine with you both.”

“Oh.” Cameron considered this. “Yes. Okay. What do I do?”

“Nothing. You just have to be you, and let us love you.” Jason said. He took Cam back from Elizabeth. “This is my grandfather, so he can be yours, too. And my mother can be your grandmother.” His throat tightened. “And maybe, if you want, I could be your dad.”

Cameron furrowed his little brow. “But daddys go away, don’t they? Do you have a daddy?”

“I did.” Jason took Cameron over to the mantel where there were several photos, including one of Alan. “That’s my dad. He died a few months ago. He’s with Aunt Emily now.”

Cameron studied the photo. “He went away. Just like my daddy.”

“Sometimes you can have two. Monica—” Jason turned, so Cameron could see her. “She was my second mom. I don’t remember my first one. She had to go away. Sometimes people do. And then if we’re lucky, someone can come and help love you.”

“I got a good mommy. Don’t need a second one.”

“No, of course not.” Jason winced. This hadn’t been the right time for this conversation. “And we don’t have to—”

“But I don’t got a daddy now,” Cameron continued, and Jason closed his mouth. “You Jake’s daddy, right?”

“Yes.”

“And he’s my brother.”

“Yes.”

“Okay.” Cameron leaned back against Jason’s chest. “I say yes. Mommy and I pick you.” Jason tightened his arms around him. “Can we pick Snelli, too?”

“Already did,” Elizabeth promised. She kissed the back of Cameron’s head, and smiled at Jason with  tears in her eyes.

Cameron nodded. “Good. Snelli is very good,” he told Edward. “Plays good games and drinks orange soda. Shares his pepperoni.”

“Sounds like some fine traits.” Edward cleared his throat. “Why don’t you come over and we’ll get to know each other? After all, Christmas is coming. You must have some idea what Santa should bring you and your brother.”

Jason nearly snorted as he set Cameron the sofa and he clambered over to sit next to his new grandfather. Trust Edward to cut right to the chase.

“I’m sorry. I don’t know if I should have—” he said to Elizabeth, but she shook her head, touched his shoulder.

“No. No, it was perfect. Emily was already his family. And I know it’ll make it easier for you,” Elizabeth said. She leaned her head against his shoulder, watching Cameron explain all about Spiderman to Edward, and Monica sitting in the armchair, counting Jake’s toes. “This was the right idea. I know it was awkward at first. But it’ll get easier.”

“Yeah. Though we’re going to have to keep an eye on Edward. He’ll have Cam in Harvard before dinner.” And on the fast-track to ELQ by sunset, Jason thought, but the idea just amused him. A few years ago, it would have made him furious. But he knew better now. He’d spent a decade running from his family — so fast and so far that he’d lost the chance to fix it. There would never be more time with Lila or Alan, but at least Emily knew how much he’d loved her.

He didn’t want those regrets with Monica, and he’d learn how to love Edward again. To hold on to Emily, he’d try almost anything.

“I’m going to tell them,” Jason said, suddenly. He reached for Elizabeth’s hand, brushing his fingertip over her ring. “It’ll make her happy. Is that okay?”

“I think that’s a great idea.”

Jason cleared his throat, and both Monica and Edward looked up. “Uh, I wanted to—I mean, Elizabeth and I—I told you I was adopting Cameron, but we also—before—on Halloween,” he added awkwardly.

Deciding to give Jason a break, Elizabeth lifted her left hand and wiggled her fingers so that the ring caught the light. “Jason asked me to marry him,” she said. “And I said yes.”

Monica smiled, her entire face radiating with happiness as she looked at Jason. “Really? Oh, that’s wonderful.” She rose to her feet, carrying Jake over to them so that she could hug Jason. “What lovely news.”

“Congratulations. Steve would be so excited.” Edward kissed Elizabeth’s cheek. “Audrey must be over the moon.”

“More than I thought she would be,” Elizabeth admitted. Cameron clapped his hands, grinning — he probably didn’t really understand but he always responded to the energy in the room.

Monica handed Jake to Edward so she could hug Jason more tightly. “Thank you. Thank you for this.”

“I wasn’t sure if this was the right—”

“No. No—” Monica’s eyes were damp with tears. “No. Emily loved you. She loved you both. And she loved those boys. And this is a good thing. A reminder that life will continue. I needed this. I needed to remember that there’s a future. It’s not right that she won’t be part of it, but you—sharing yours with me—” She hugged him again, and he felt his mother tremble in his arms. “It gives me hope.”

“I love you,” he murmured, and she pulled back, framing his face in her hands. “I know I don’t say it—”

“You don’t have to. You’re a parent, so you know. You love your children, and you send them off into the world.” Monica closed her eyes. “They’ll disappoint you. Make you furious. Worry you. Devastate you. But you always, always love you. Alan never stopped loving you, Jason. I hope you know that.”

“I wish—”

“He’s with us, you know. Always. Just like Emily. And Lila. We’ve just received a brutal mind that life isn’t just short — it’s also not guaranteed. We’ll make the best of what we’re given. No regrets,” she declared. She stepped back, squeezing his hands. Then looked at Elizabeth. “Thank you for sharing your beautiful children with me. For loving my son. For being the best friend my daughter could have asked for.”

“Thank you bringing her to Port Charles.” Elizabeth hugged Monica. “For giving her a second mother to love as much as she’d loved her first. She loved you so much.”

“You’ve chosen a good woman,” Edward told Jason as he came to stand next to Jason. He watched Monica examine Elizabeth’s ring. “I don’t have to tell you that, of course, but it can’t be left unsaid. She was Steve’s favorite.”

Jason frowned, looked at him. “Her grandfather?”

“Yes. He probably never told her that,” Edward admitted. “Steve always played fair, and you don’t mean to have favorite grandchildren. You can love them equally, but—well, there’s something about a granddaughter. Whenever Steve talked about Jeff’s kids, he just brightened when he talked about his little Lizzie. His dreamer who was going to paint the world and bring joy.”

Jason wondered if Elizabeth knew that — her family was such a sore point with her — especially her parents and her siblings. “Emily always defended you,” he found himself saying. “Even when you made her mad, she always told me you meant well. She spent years trying to explain you.”

“I wasn’t sure about Monica and Alan adopting her, bringing her into the family. Giving the Quartermaine name without any blood?” Edward made a face. “Wasn’t to be done. But then she was here, and you learn — well, it’s not about what’s in the blood, is it? She and Lila didn’t share a bit of DNA, but weren’t they the same? The joy, the love, the spirit — she was ours.”

“She was,” Jason murmured. And now she was gone. “That’s what I want for Cameron. The way we loved Emily. How Monica treated me—”

“That’s what we’ll have. Congratulations.” Edward extended his hand, and Jason shook it. “You’ve built a beautiful family. I hope there will be years of happiness ahead of you.”

 

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This was a bit shorter than the other parts, but some of the conversations took a bit longer to write, so I decided not to rush anything. This was also a scene I wasn’t planning to write, but I thought we needed a bit of a break from all the sadness. See you Monday!

Written in 70 minutes. Final scene took a bit of extra time because I wanted to do it right.

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Queen of Angels: Chapel

Elizabeth’s hands were trembling as she stepped up to the podium at the front of the chapel. She raised her eyes to look at the gathering, at the pews filled with family, friends, and anyone whose lives Emily had touched.

There were doctors and nurses, old friends from college, from high school —

Her hands trembled slightly, the paper she held rustling. She opened her mouth, then closed as it as the first breath held a hint of a sob, and she wanted so badly to do this well. To do right by Emily.

Monica sat in the front pew, Jason next to her, holding his mother’s arm. There was a space where Elizabeth had once sat, and then the rest of the Quartermaines on the side. Ned, Edward, Tracy, Dillon —

She found Jason’s eyes, then just behind him, Lucky’s. And something passed between them, some hint of the sweetness that had been there once. They’d been falling in love at the same time she and Emily were becoming friends. Emily would always tie them together — and now she was gone. Just like he’d been once.

“I’m not really sure how to do this,” Elizabeth confessed. She dipped her eyes down to the paper, to the words she’d struggled to produce. “It’s—it’s not the first time I’ve spoken about Emily and what she means to me. A few years ago, I gave a toast at her wedding—” She found Nikolas’s angry, devastated gaze—far away from his family. “I wished her happiness on that day. I wished her joy.”

Elizabeth hesitated, swallowed as her voice threatened to break. She cleared her throat. “It’s easier to speak of joy, of happiness when the promise of tomorrow seems so fresh and sweet. When the future is in front of you, and you think the best is yet to come. Over the last few days, it’s been a struggle not to dwell on the fact that I’m standing up here at all — that I have to speak about Emily in the past. There’s almost a comfort in the anger, in the rage that statement brings me. In the regrets of the days where we didn’t speak or fights that we had. There should have been more time—”

The paper crinkled as she tightened her hands. As she thought of minutes, hours, and days lost while Emily was in California—

“I can’t stay angry forever. I can’t think about the way Emily left us. And none of us should. I know the people gathered here today feel the way I do. Emily walked into all of our lives without warning, changed it forever, and now—and now she’s gone. Without warning. And we’re left to look for understanding where there can be no comprehension.”

She released the paper to swipe at a tear that escaped. She set the paper down and looked up. “Emily brought something to us all. She was my best friend. She was more of a sister to me than my own. She taught me how to dance, the best way to drink hot chocolate—I tried to teach her to draw—it didn’t really go that well—” She laughed at the memory. “I know she tried to teach Nikolas to dance, too. I think she was more successful —” She found Nikolas again and this time he was smiling. “She loved fiercely and fully and sometimes recklessly. When she tried to run away to Puerto Rico to find Juan, Jason, you didn’t even yell at her. Or tell her parents—I’m sure they’d have been horrified. She knew she could count on you to always stand by her.”

Elizabeth exhaled slowly. “When Emily left for California for rehab after her accident, and then stayed for college, it was so hard. I didn’t know how be without her everyday. I knew, even if she came home, it wouldn’t be the same. And it wasn’t. But it was better somehow. She was there when I brought my son home, and she loved my boys as if they were her own. When I think of everything she’s going to miss — everything she never gets to do — the thought paralyzes me. The grief returns and it threatens to swallow me hole. I want nothing more than to go back in time, to go back to those silly little girls in Kelly’s, laughing and drinking hot chocolate. Three packets, split two ways. With sprinkles. I want to go to work and see her, I want her to be there—” Elizabeth bowed her head, took another moment. “I want  the possibility of more time because we deserved it. Emily deserved it, and I shouldn’t be standing here.”

She dragged her hands over her cheeks, took one last deep breath. “When that happens, when I feel that relentless wave crashing over me again, I stop. I reach for a memory. I reach for the joy.” Elizabeth smiled. “I find it, you know. Because it’s never far away. I find the joy, I find the love. And I can breathe again.”

She met Monica’s eyes. “When this loss overwhelms you, when it hits you as it will in the days, weeks, months, and years to come, I hope you will remember to stop. To think of the best moment. The funniest. The sweetest. And that it will bring you the love and joy Emily brought to us. And holding on to that, and not the tragedy that brings us here, will help you remember how to breathe again.”

Queen of Angels: Churchyard

“Do you mind?”

Elizabeth glanced up, found Robin standing by the stone bench where she sat. She scooted down. “No, of course not.”

Robin sat, and looked across the church yard where Monica stood with Jason and Nikolas. “You were right, you know. We shouldn’t be here. None of us should.” She clasped her hands tightly in her lap. She pressed her lips together. “When I came by the penthouse the other day, I, um, saw that you were wearing a ring. I just didn’t know—I didn’t know if I should ask—”

Elizabeth held out her hand, the diamond winking at her. “He asked me that night. Maybe two hours before we got the call.” She shook her head. “I never got to tell her, you know. Which is such a selfish way to think about it.”

“That’s what grief really is,” Robin murmured. “It’s the pain of knowing you move forward and they don’t. How do you forgive yourself for breathing? For living when they can’t? What makes you so much better that—” She sucked in a breath. “When Stone died, I wanted to die with him. I thought I would. That the HIV would become AIDS, and I’d be with him. That I was never going to be a doctor. That no one would ever love me again.”

Elizabeth reached for her hand, squeezed it. Robin exhaled. “And then I started the protocol and I’ve been basically healthy ever since. And I was so angry — why couldn’t Stone have had this? What made me more deserving of living when he’d had to die? Why did I get to have a future at all? Forgiving yourself for just…it’s so hard. Because you have to accept there’s nothing to forgive. Nothing you can do. Life is supposed to keep moving. And you can’t stay locked in the moment you lost someone.”

“You’d think you’d hold on to that,” Elizabeth murmured. “When I lost Lucky, this was what it felt like. The pain of just breathing, of waking up and remembering that she’s not here — I’ve done this before. I know it gets better. But now I have to do it again, and it’s just—it’s not right. It’s not fair.”

“Emily never gets to find out you’re marrying Jason. She never gets to be part of it,” Robin murmured. “And Georgie—she never gets to be—” She looked at Elizabeth. “I was supposed to go that night. Not Leyla. It was supposed to be me with Emily. But it wasn’t. It was Leyla. I stayed back to take a test. I’m pregnant.”

“Pregnant—” Elizabeth’s lips parted. “With—”

“Patrick took it pretty well, all things considered. He already started mapping out plans. Diets. Routines.” She smiled faintly. “He’s going to borrow your kids so we can simulate taking care of a newborn. It’s so strange, you know? To think we broke up because he didn’t want them. And now he’s—studying like his life depends on it.” Robin closed her eyes. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—”

“No, it’s—life. Life keeps moving.” Elizabeth nodded. “I’m happy for you. For Patrick. I think he’s going to surprise himself, to be honest. He was so afraid of screwing up — he’s going to drive you insane for the next…well, forever, really.”

“I’m happy for you, too,” Robin said. “For Jason. He was such a good father, and I’m glad he gets to have that again. That you both get to have that.” She wound her arm through Elizabeth’s. “But it sucks that Emily isn’t here.”

“It sucks that Georgie isn’t,” Elizabeth told her. “She’d be such a good aunt. And she’d probably help keep Patrick from going insane. She handled Spinelli beautifully.”

“I know you’re right — that we should focus on the love we felt for Emily. And not how we lost her — how we lost Georgie. And Leyla and Chelsea. But it’s hard when I think of the days ahead. Of all the moments that were stolen. It’s hard not to be angry.”

“Yeah, it was more of an…aspirational way of living. The anger isn’t going anywhere soon. I hope they find him before another family has to grieve.”

——

It had been such a stroke of luck that the funeral had been open to the public. He wandered around the courtyard, nodding and murmuring condolences, sharing his shock with others he worked with at the hospital. Such a tragedy. A terrible loss.

What a mistake.

He stopped, pausing as a pair of women came into view across the church yard. He perked up  when he realized that pretty Robin Scorpio was sitting with another dark-haired women. A nurse. He knew her. He’d seen her at the hospital. Elizabeth Webber.

A doctor and a nurse. And they were friendly, so finding them together —

Yes, a mistake had been made. But he could still fix it. He could still make it right. Two doctors, two nurses.  Yes, it would all make sense then. Pairs. Matching sets. Yes, it would be okay. He’d be able to breathe again.

He’d be able to fix everything.

—

Jason put a hand on Monica’s arm, having caught Tracy’s eye and the tap on her wrist. It was time to start moving back to the house, to the reception that he and Elizabeth were already planning to skip, but he wanted to make sure Monica got back in the car.

But Monica wasn’t so easy to move. She hadn’t wanted to leave the chapel where the coffin had been laid out — and now to leave the church yard — to leave Emily behind —

“Mom,” he said, the unfamiliar word still awkward on his lips, but not painful. He’d promised himself that he wasn’t going to waste any more time and if he didn’t call Monica Mom — there was no one else left who would. And making that right was more important than his comfort. “We should head over to the car.”

“Oh. Oh—” Monica nodded. “Yes. Yes. Where’s Elizabeth? Have you—” She started to search the church yard.

“She’s right there, with Robin,” Jason said. He was also breathing a bit more easily as Elizabeth and Robin started to walk towards them. Patrick fell in with the duo, and he felt even better.

“All right—” Monica stopped, then her hand reached out, practically latching onto the arm of someone who passed by them. “Mac. Mac, wait—”

The commissioner winced, turned. “Monica—”

“You—you haven’t returned any of my calls.” Her fingers curled into his coat. “Tell me you have a lead. That you have something you can say—that you know who did this to my daughter—”

Mac covered Monica’s hand. “There’s nothing I can tell you yet—”

“No! No!” Monica shook her head. “No! That’s not right. It’s been days. It’s been weeks—” Her voice started to climb, draw attention from those around them. Tracy, who had just loaded Edward into a car with Dillon, started over, flanked by Ned.

“Monica, these things take time—”

“How many more have to die?” Monica demanded. “How many more girls? Women? How can you not know anything?”

“I’m sorry—” Mac tried to remove Monica’s hand, but her fingers had become almost claw-like. Jason grimaced, unsure if he was supposed to drag her away from the commissioner.

“Monica—” Tracy said briskly. “Why don’t we—”

“No! No!” Monica shook off her sister-in-law, but released Mac. “No! You didn’t even like Emily! You considered her an interloper! A thief stealing from your children! You don’t get to tell me anything—” Her voice broke. “I want justice—I want—I want—” She squeezed her eyes tightly, wrapping her arms around herself. “I want my daughter—”

And then her knees gave out and Jason had to grab her, to help her stay standing. Ned was at Monica’s other side. “Come on,” Jason said, taking his mother’s arm, winding it through his own. “Let’s go back to the house. Okay? It’s cold.”

Monica started to walk now, numbly allowing Jason and Ned to lead her away. “I just want my baby. Why can’t I have her? Why?”

“I’ve got it, Jason,” Ned said, after they put her into the car, Tracy sliding in after. “I know you and Elizabeth wanted to get home to the boys.”

“Yeah.” Jason felt Elizabeth step up, slid her arm around his waist. “We’re—we’re going to bring them by.”

“It’ll give them something to focus on.” Ned got into the limo, and then it pulled out of the drive. Jason stared after them.

“We can go to the house now,” Elizabeth said. He looked at her. “You know Carly wouldn’t mind staying longer.”

“I know. I just—I need a minute. Away—” He glanced around the church yard. At the sea of people wearing black and other dark colors. “I need to go home.”

Morgan Penthouse: Living Room

Carly sprang up from the sofa when they opened the door. “Hey. Hey. Um—Jake is napping upstairs, and Cameron was, too. I don’t know if he’s awake yet—”

“I’ll go check,” Elizabeth said, brushing her hand across Jason’s chest as she passed him. “Thanks, Carly.”

“Yeah.” Carly waited until Elizabeth had disappeared around the landing. “Hey. It’s stupid to ask how it went or how you are. It’s just—it’s what you say.” She folded her arms.

Jason dropped his keys on the desk. “Thank you. For staying with them.”

“Yeah. Of course. I wanted to go. To be there for you, but I knew—well, you know, I wanted to be useful, and this is how to help you.” Carly’s eyes filled. “I just wanted to be help.”

“You did.” Jason hesitated. “When Courtney—when she died. How did you tell the boys? Did—did they understand?”

Carly smiled wistfully. “Michael did more than Morgan. Which always seemed like a such a tragedy, you know. Courtney took such good care of Morgan when he was born, and he won’t really remember her—” She took a deep breath. “I told them that Aunt Courtney had to go away. That she loved them so much, and that she’d always be watching them. I don’t know if there’s another way to do it. There’s nothing you can say. Someone who loved them unconditionally, without boundaries, is gone. And that’s just…that’s just how it is.”

“Yeah.” Jason nodded, his chest tight. “Yeah. That’s how it is.”

“I’ll leave you guys to handle it. Or to just be alone with them or together—” Carly bit her lip. “It seems silly now, doesn’t it? All the time you waste hating someone when it doesn’t matter.” She hugged him briefly, but fiercely. “I love you.”

“I love you, too. Thank you.”

“Anytime.”

Elizabeth returned downstairs a few minutes after Carly had gone, carrying a sleepy Cameron, still rubbing his eyes. “Hey. Look who I found,” she said. “Someone was waking up.”

“Hey.” Jason smiled at she came over and handed Cameron to him. The little boy tucked himself into Jason’s embrace, rubbing his face against Jason’s black sweater. “Did you have fun with Aunt Carly?”

“She play good race car,” Cameron mumbled. “Not as good as Aunt Em. Can she come play?”

Jason’s hand stilled as it stroked Cameron’s curls. He looked at Elizabeth, then sighed. “Let’s go sit down, buddy. We need to talk.”

Elizabeth followed them over to the sofa, and they sat together, Cameron laying against Jason’s chest, Elizabeth curled up against his side, her head on his shoulder.

“Aunt Emily loves you and Jake a lot, you know that, right?”

“To the sky and Jupiter and back,” Cameron said. “She always says.”

“Yeah.”

“Aunt Emily can’t come over and play,” Elizabeth said. Cameron frowned. He sat up so that he was facing them both.

“Why?”

“Because she had to go away,” Jason said. “And she can’t come back anymore. Not where we can see her.”

“But I don’t want her to go away.”

“Me either, baby.” Elizabeth took a moment to gather herself. “But sometimes people have to go when they don’t want to. Even when there’s people who need them. Who love them. But Aunt Emily will always be here—” She touched Cameron’s heart. “Where you can’t see her, but you can feel her.”

Cameron’s lip trembled, and he looked at Jason. “Did she go away like my daddy? Daddy had to work. You said. So he left. And Aunt Em. You go away?”

“No. No, I’m not going anywhere,” Jason said, roughly. “Mommy and I are right here. And we’re not leaving.”

“I want her to stay. Tell her to come back and play.” Tears began to slide down his cheeks and his voice broke up. “Tell her to stay where I can see her.”

“She can’t, baby. It’s not like that.” Elizabeth pulled Cameron into her arms, rocking him as he continued to cry. “She can’t.”

“She’ll always be with you,” Jason said. “Just like your mom said.”

“Always,” Elizabeth promised. “You know how sometimes you can feel the wind on your cheeks when we go out?”

“Yeah.”

“Aunt Emily is right there. She’ll always be there. She’ll never stop loving you, and she’ll never stop taking care of you. She’s like the wind, baby. You can’t see it, but you can feel it. She’ll never go away. She’ll always be there.”

Cameron continued to cry, and Jason wrapped his arms around them both, wishing he could break apart like a small child, because he wanted the same thing. He wanted his sister to come back where he could see her, too.

---

Note: Pieces of Elizabeth’s eulogy were not written today. Like you guys know, my friend passed away suddenly last year after a brief battle with Stage 4 cancer. At her memorial service, I was asked to speak which I thought was going to be really difficult. I thought — how do I ever put what I’m feeling into words? I thought I’d struggle over it for days. And then 6:30 AM four days before the service, I woke up, and I just wrote. I wrote the entire thing in a rush of words in about 30 minutes. And I just — I don’t know a better way to talk about losing someone you love so much, so I’m just going to plagiarize myself. I hope you guys don’t mind. The original is here. 

Written in 58 minutes.

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PCPD: Squad Room

Lucky grimaced as he flipped through the list of contractors, employees, and security guards who had access to the Port Charles University campus on any given day. It was an insurmountable number — and that was when you excluded the male students. Pages and pages of names—

They’d never get through the whole thing. Not if they had a thousand years to investigate — and Lucky didn’t think they would have even a month or two. Six weeks between the murders. He’d read about this — the cooldown period. Some serial killers stuck to it, some stretched it further, and some escalated—

He wasn’t an expert, but he thought maybe they were looking at an escalation—

“Lucky?”

He jerked his head up, found his sister by his desk. “Lu. What are you—”

“I, um—” She set a white bag on the desk. “I brought you food. From Kelly’s. I didn’t know if you’d eat—” Lulu looked at him. “I left Nikolas alone. I don’t know if that was the right thing, but he was angry, and I was starting to get pissed, and I just—” She looked away. “He’s blaming you and Liz, like it’s crazy. He won’t blame himself. You’d think he’d blame the bastard who killed—” She took a breath. “Anyway. I thought maybe I’d just let him wallow over there without anyone to yell at.”

“He didn’t do much better when he lost Courtney last year,” Lucky reminded her, unpacking the food. “Thanks.”

“Yeah. I don’t know what else I could do. Um, I called Dillon, but it’s just family at the house. And Spinelli—” Lulu cleared her throat. “Well, he’s got his hands full, and I didn’t know if seeing Cameron would confuse him.”

Lucky’s hands stilled. “He’s watching the boys?”

“Yeah. Yeah, um, Jason and Liz went to the Qs.” Lulu bit her lip. “Should I not have said that? Because—”

“No, no, it’s—how things are. I need to hear that. Uh, I don’t know what Liz wants to do about any of that. I doubt she’d tell you that Cameron is off limits to you.” After all, she’d been willing to let Lucky have visitation rights, hadn’t she? Until he’d screwed it up.

“Yeah, but I feel like today isn’t really the time to push it. It’s, um, it’s weird. Emily’s just—she’s always been there. Or at least it feels like it. And now she’ll never be here again. And I was just getting used to that with Georgie—” Lulu closed her eyes. “Anyway. Sorry. Um, I just want to be helpful. Do something.”

“Thanks, Lu. You’re doing enough.”

“I know you can’t really tell me anything, but—this guy—he’s out there. And he didn’t stop after Georgie and Chelsea.” Lulu waited for him to meet her gaze. “Should I be worried? Or scared?”

“Don’t go anywhere after dark,” he said finally. “Even in pairs. I guess that’s all I can say right now.”

“I guess. You’ll tell me if you need anything? I’m here, Lucky. I want to help.”

“You’ll be the first call.”

Quartermaine Estate: Family Room

Tracy’s tone was gentle as she slid a pamphlet across the table towards Monica. “I circled the options that I thought—” She shifted, uncomfortable. “What I thought might work best, that is.”

Monica placed a hand over it. “I can’t—I can’t do this. Get whatever you want.” She rose to her feet. “I need—I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I just need to lay down.” She looked at Elizabeth. “You knew Emily. You can—I just—” She rose, and left the room.

Jason, sitting on the sofa with Ned and Dillon, looked after her. He and Elizabeth locked eyes for a moment, before she looked at Tracy, picked up the pamphlet.

“These are good choices,” Elizabeth said. “Um, clean. Elegant. Emily really—she—her tastes really changed. Since we were teenagers.”

Tracy sighed. “I don’t know how anyone does this. How do you—” She shook her head. “How do you bury a child?”

“I hope I never have to find out,” Elizabeth murmured. She rubbed her her hands over her denim-clad thighs. “It’s good of you to look after the details. Um, for the services. And for—” Her throat tightened. “For the burial, too. Um, I’m sure there’s a lot—”

“There’s a space between Alan and my mother,” Tracy said. “It was meant for Monica—but…” She dipped her head. “Thank God my mother didn’t live to see this year. I never thought I’d be grateful that she went first. She wouldn’t have survived losing Alan and Emily within a year. I don’t know how my father is handling any of it.”

“Like you said, how does anyone?” Elizabeth sighed. “It doesn’t feel real yet. I don’t know how it ever will.” Tears stung her eyes, and she touched her cheeks, took another deep breath. “What’s left? What can I help with?”

Quartermaine Estate: Foyer

Jason didn’t know how they managed to stay as long as they did, or if it had done anyone any good. Monica had pulled herself together for a little while, and he’d been grateful to have done something. But then she’d left the room—

He helped Elizabeth on her coat, almost too eager to leave this place, to go back to the penthouse where Cameron and Jake might distract him. He just wanted to forget about this for a few minutes.

Just as they reached the doors, Jason heard someone call his name. Edward, leaving the front parlor. “Jason, I’m sorry,” he said. “I was hoping to talk to you for a minute. If you have it.”

Elizabeth took the keys he already had in his hand. “I’ll start the car,” she said.

Jason grimaced, wishing he was leaving with her, but then turned to his grandfather. “What did you need?”

“I—” Edward suddenly looked old, tired. Defeated. “Thank you. For coming today. For Monica. She—well. She needed to see you. And for promising to bring the children. She’ll need something to look forward to.”

Jason nodded, still a bit mystified as to why Edward had stopped him for any of this. “Yeah, well…” he trailed off, a bit awkward.

“You’re not supposed to bury your own son, you understand,” the old man said suddenly. “I always told Lila that I had to go first because I didn’t want to do this without her, and now—” He closed his eyes. “There were mistakes made. Things said. When you were younger. I’m not saying I was wrong—”

Jason almost smiled, because that sounded like the man he’d always known. “No, I didn’t think you were.”

“It’s just—you look around, and suddenly, you’re almost alone. And the house—it’s so quiet now. Emily—” Edward looked at him. “She was the light. She and Lila. They brought the joy into this home. And now it’s just a house without them. You’re not supposed to bury a son, and you’re sure as hell not supposed to bury a granddaughter eight months later.”

“No. No, you’re not.” What would that be like? How would you get out of bed? “I can’t replace Emily,” he said. “I can’t—I can’t make up for her not being here—” He paused. “But I know Emily loved you all. There’s probably a reason for that. So when I bring the boys over—you can be there. If you want.”

“Thank you. That would—that would be wonderful.” Edward cleared his throat. “Well, you ought not to leave the wonderful woman waiting too long.”

Jason left then, went to the SUV parked in the driveway, and climbed in. He flexed his hands on the steering wheel, then looked at Elizabeth, sitting in the passenger’s seat, her eyes closed, leaning against the headrest.

“I think I could actually sleep now,” she murmured. She opened one eye, looked at him. “Doesn’t that sound insane? But if I sleep, I’ll wake up. And I’ll forget. And then I’ll remember.”

And in the remembering, it would hit all over again. Jason exhaled slowly. “Yeah. I know.”

“I don’t know how Monica is standing. How any of them are. How you are,” she added, looking at him again, her eyes fully open now. He met her gaze. “You lost Alan, too. And now Emily. It’s…God, it’s obscene. That’s what it is. It’s enough to make you lose faith in any kind of higher being.”

“I never let him be my father,” Jason murmured. “I never gave him a chance. Even after there was Michael, I almost understood. What if he stopped knowing me? And he did, you know. I mean, he knows me,” he clarified. “But he doesn’t think of me as his father anymore. How would it be if after twenty-two years, Cameron came home and didn’t know us?”

“You did the best you could after your accident—”

“No. No, I didn’t. Because there were times when I almost—I almost felt something,” Jason admitted. “When I was still living there, Alan came and he talked to me. And he told me about how proud he was that I was going to be a doctor, that I wanted to be like him. And I could see how much he missed that son.” He exhaled slowly. “But he always pushed too hard. And he hated that I worked for Sonny.”

“And he tried to take Michael away from you,” Elizabeth reminded him. “Emily told me about that. You went to her birthday party, and they wouldn’t give Michael back. Alan made mistakes, Jason. It’s not all on you.”

“Yeah. I know. But he stopped pushing, and he disappeared from my life. And now I never get to—I never get to apologize.”

She reached out, brushed her fingertips through his hair, which he’d let grow long. “And neither does he. But he loved you, Jason. Just like you’ll always love Michael. And the way you love Jake and Cameron. You know that he loved you.”

“Yeah. Well—I don’t want those regrets when Edward—or my mother—I don’t want it,” Jason said.

“We won’t. The boys will know them both. And they’ll get stories of Emily and Lila and Alan through the family that’s left.”

He took her hand, kissed the inside of her palm. “Let’s go home.”

Robin’s Condo: Living Room

“Oh, Robin—” Lainey jumped up, ran straight to her as Robin stepped inside the condo they shared. “I’m so glad you’re here. That you came home—”

“It’s terrible—” Kelly sniffled, yanking another Kleenex from the box. “I keep thinking what if we’d made her clock out early or—”

Robin stroked Lainey’s hair, went to hug Kelly. “I know. I still keep thinking it’s a terrible dream.”

“The worst one. This guy is out there—do you think he was in the parking garage when we left?” Lainey said. She shivered.

Robin hung up her coat, draped her purse over the same hook. “I don’t know. I don’t know anything about the investigation.”

“Oh. I thought you were your uncle last night. I figured after Georgie—” Kelly frowned. “Did you stay at the hospital, or—”

“I went to Patrick’s.” Robin took a deep breath when Kelly and Lainey exchanged a look. “I know what you’re going to say—”

“I just—I worry that you’re going to hurt again. Like, I get leaning on him. He’s got a certain something,” Lainey said. “But—”

“Look, there’s going to be—” Robin grimaced. “There’s going to be some changes. And I should—I didn’t tell you this a few weeks ago because we’d just have this conversation, but I went to Patrick’s after Georgie’s service, too.” She bit her lip. “We spent the night together and now I’m pregnant.”

Kelly’s eyes widened. “Oh, man.”

“That’s—that’s a pretty change. Is—did Patrick take it okay?”

“Better than I did, honestly,” Robin admitted. She went over to their kitchen, poured a glass of water. “I don’t know if we’re back together, but he’s important to me. And he’s handling this better than I have a right to expect. Um, Kelly, he needs a blood test, though. I know it’s not your area—”

“I’ll set it  up. Yeah, whatever you need, babes. And we’ll get you in an appointment, too. I’ll make some calls, get the  guidelines for an HIV pregnancy.” Kelly folded her arms. “But—he was happy?”

“Terrified,” Robin said, with a smile. “But while I was sleeping, he started researching online, went out to an all night store to get me caffeine-free tea, and had a plan when I woke. He’s going to study for it like it’s his boards exam, and he’s lining us an internship so we can practice.”

Lainey’s eyes lit with amusement. “An internship for parents? I’m almost scared to ask.”

“He’s going to borrow Elizabeth’s kids for a weekend. Whether or not she agrees us using he boys as guinea pigs—” She shook her head. “I know you were both angry with him—”

“We were talking about that,” Kelly interrupted. “Um, we feel stupid. And petty. And catty. And all the adjectives. To think that we froze Emily out for a few weeks—” Her voice cracked. “We were just—we were so stupid, and we can’t fix it now, you know? It’s over. We can’t. So we’re going to figure it out. Lainey’s going to grovel with Liz—”

Lainey made a face. “Yeah, I’ll make it right between us. Or make it so it’s not awkward anymore. Whatever I have to do, Robin. We love you, and you’re about to do something really scary and wonderful, and we’re going to take care of you.” She put an arm around Robin’s shoulders. “We promise.”

“Thanks.” Robin leaned her head against Lainey’s shoulder for a moment. “I need you guys. I don’t want us to fight anymore.”

“We won’t.” Kelly wrapped her arms around both of them.

“Oh, God, I feel just awful for Elizabeth—” Lainey said, pulling back, swiping tears from her eyes. “And poor Jason. His sister.”

“I have to call them. I want to check in. See what I can do.” Robin sighed. “But first I want a shower and a nap.”

Morgan Penthouse: Living Room

The penthouse was eerily quiet when they entered. Jason dropped his keys on the desk, picked up a white sheet of paper. “Didn’t want to bother you while you were with the Quartermaines, but I wanted to give you some peace and quiet when you came home. You both need to sleep. Spinelli and I are taking the boys to the park, and then all three of them are going to spend the night with me. Rest. I love you.” He looked at Elizabeth. “Your grandmother.”

“I can’t decide if I’m grateful or annoyed. I was kind of counting on Cameron to get my mind off everything,” Elizabeth admitted. “But she’s right. We didn’t sleep last night, and there’s—there’s a lot to do in the next few days.” She dragged a hand through her hair. “Do we tell Cameron?”

Jason hesitated, looked at her. “I don’t know,” he admitted. “I mean, we haven’t spent a lot of time with them since we found out, so he probably doesn’t know anything is wrong.”

“But he will. He’s sensitive to that. When you’re sad, when you’re happy—Cameron always seems to notice.” She sighed, went over to the sofa. “How do we tell a three-year-old his aunt won’t ever come back?” Tears spilled over her lashes, and she pressed a hand to her mouth, stifling her sobs.

Jason sat next to her, pulled her into his arms. “We’ll tell him that his aunt Emily loved him so much, and that she’ll watch over him, and look after him. It’s all we can do.” He stroked her back, kissed her forehead. “Come on. Let’s go see if we can get some rest. We’ll take a nap, and then we’ll go out on the bike.” He wanted the rush of the wind again. Maybe with it not being so fresh, this time it would help. “Come on,” he repeated, tugging her to her feet and towards the stairs.

Written in 65 minutes.

---

PCPD: Commissioner’s Office

“All right, here’s where we stand at—” Robert checked his watch. “Eight in the morning. Both victims were officially identified as Emily Quartermaine and Leyla Mir. Preliminary autopsy results suggest that both victims received blows to the head before being strangled by a thin wire, a wire that was found around Emily’s neck.”

He glanced over at Lucky standing by the window. “Spencer, are you sure you want to be here for this?”

“If you’re not kicking me off the case, then yeah.” Lucky exhaled. “Yeah. Keep going.”

“All right. We’ve received the cameras from the hospital parking garage. The ladies exit the elevator at 9:23 PM and walk towards their car. Three minutes later, a dark figure appears in the frame. He’s crouched behind a car.” Robert laid down a still. “He creeps up behind Leyla and hits her on the head. The medical examiner suggests that she was unconscious from this blow. He tosses Leyla aside as Emily turns, startled by the noise. She is also knocked unconscious.”

Mac grimaced. “That’s how he gets two at a time. Chelsea Rae was intoxicated, easily knocked out. He—he killed her second though. The wire—”

“Yes. Both women were dragged off camera and manually strangled. Our guy comes back into frame at 9:35 and walks away. His back remains to the camera, and he never shows his face. All we have is a body type and possible height. He’s dressed in black, wearing a ski cap over his face.”

“It happened around 9:30,” Lucky murmured. “Shift change. Even if the assault was noted on the camera, there’d be no one to see it.” He looked at Mac. “He knows the hospital.”

“He knew the campus too. The location of the first—” Mac tightened his mouth. “It was in a camera’s blind spot. I don’t believe he gets lucky twice. The cord, Robert, is it the same?”

“Yes. We have skin cells that we’re going to test, but I suspect we’ll find that it’s from both ladies. He wore gloves.”

“What about defensive wounds? Emily was still conscious—”

“Just like Georgie, we have some material under the nails. They’ve already been shipped out. That will tell us for sure if we have the same guy.” Robert took a seat. “Hospital canvas is out. Most people are accounted for — not a lot of the staff works alone. We had Patrick Drake and his staff on the operating floor, the nursing staff making their rounds. It’s a quiet time of the night, except in the emergency room. Still have to nail down a few construction workers. They were working on the ICU.”

“How many people left the hospital last night?” Mac wanted to know. “Were Emily and Leyla random? Would he have chosen anyone who walked past at shift change?”

“That’s possible. Uh, I need to follow up with Robin sometime today. How many people knew their plans, etc. I know your worries about Georgie and Robin, Mac, and we’re looking into it. Maxie has extra security?”

“Yeah. Yeah. Uh, Coop is with her now, but we have uniforms on the house.” Mac shook his head. “We don’t have anything. We have him on camera, but we don’t have anything at all—”

“It takes time to go through everything. The wire? We’re going to trace it. He’s used the same type twice. And Spencer, you were working on something?”

“Checking anyone who had access to the campus. Longshot, but I figured the blind spot meant that someone knew the security.” Lucky rubbed the side of his face, his eyes red, his movements sluggish. He hadn’t yet slept. “Uh, I had a thought about the flowers and phone calls, actually. I don’t think Emily was getting anything. She would have said something to Elizabeth, and Elizabeth knew about those because of Spinelli. I’ll follow up later—”

“You can handle that?” Mac asked. “You just had that custody—”

“Elizabeth and I are—” Lucky paused, looked up. “It doesn’t matter. Emily matters. Yeah, I can handle it. She and Jason will cooperate. For Emily. But only Georgie was getting strange calls. Chelsea wasn’t. The flowers weren’t addressed to either of them. I wondered if maybe whoever did this was just trying to learn about them. They were obviously targeted and planned, Mac. The flowers? Can he get inside the dorm rooms? The phone calls? Would Georgie answer them? The last hang up, Mac, it’s just before they left the party.”

Mac frowned. “You didn’t tell me that?”

“It was a different burner phone. I just finished logging every phone number yesterday. I wonder if it was meant to worry Georgie. To encourage her to leave. We’ll never know for sure, Mac. But I don’t think it was personal stalking.”

“You think he was gathering information.”

“They were his first kills. Emily and Leyla?” Lucky closed his eyes, tried to order his thoughts. It had seemed so clear the night before. “It’s more public. The garage. It’s not the middle of the night. It’s not a deserted, blind spot on campus. It’s not a pair of slightly tipsy college kids.”

“Escalation of the risk.” Robert nodded. “I follow that. He gained his experience, wanted to challenge himself. Maybe he had a different way of getting his information. Continue looking into who had access with the campus. Find an overlap with the hospital.” He looked at Mac. “We might not have much yet, Mac, but we have leads to follow. We’re going to find him.”

“I’m sure that will comfort the Quartermaines.”

Wyndemere: Study

Lulu set down a tray with coffee mugs on the desk, looked at her brother still brooding at the fire. She had dozed a bit before dawn, but hadn’t been able to find any peace. After Nikolas had lashed out at Lucky, their brother had headed back to the mainland to rejoin the investigation.

Lulu didn’t really know what to do. How to handle any of this. She wished her mother were still here. Or maybe Aunt Bobbie. She could always comfort someone, but just her? She was a screw-up just figuring things out. Definitely not up to the task of talking to someone who’d lost the love of their life.

“I have coffee, Nikolas. And Mrs. Lansbury is putting together some breakfast. You should eat. Spencer will be up later, and—”

“I don’t want anything.”

Lulu licked her lips. “I know, but you still need to eat. And stay healthy. For Spencer. And-and you know, Emily wouldn’t want—”

“Don’t talk to me about what Emily would want. You don’t know anything about it.” Nikolas flicked his eyes to her. “You testified against Lucky. You know this is his fault.”

“I testified for Cameron,” Lulu said carefully. “Emily isn’t dead because she chose Elizabeth’s side during the divorce. She didn’t even testify. Lucky didn’t even go that hard. Not at the custody hearing. I mean, he backed down. Emily was happy about that.”

“She was angry at me because I chose Lucky—” Nikolas rose to his feet, went to the mantel.

“You didn’t just choose Lucky,” Lulu said, unthinkingly, and Nikolas whirled around, glaring. She swallowed but forged on. “You paid for his lawyer. And-and you fought with Elizabeth. Emily was mad at you for those reasons—”

“Shut up. You don’t know what you’re talking about—”

“Maybe not, but Lucky didn’t kill Emily, so it’s not her fault. And you know what else?” Lulu planted her hands at her hips. “Emily isn’t the one who had an affair which led to the divorce—”

“You can get out, too.”

“Fine,” Lulu snapped. “You sit here and wallow in your misery, pushing away people who care about you. That’s a great idea. The only person you have to blame for any of this is yourself. Look in the mirror sometime.”

Morgan Penthouse: Kitchen

Elizabeth sighed and swirled the spoon in the air again, hoping this time Jake would take it. “Come on, baby. Mommy hasn’t slept.” Might never sleep again, she thought. They’d left the hospital last night, gone out on the bike for a ride to see if the roar of the wind would help—

Nothing did.

They’d returned home to find Audrey sleeping in the last guest bedroom and Spinelli standing guard over the baby monitor. Jason had packed him off to bed, and they’d laid awake in their bedroom. Closing their eyes meant going to sleep—and Elizabeth wasn’t ready to dream.

Jake’s lips remained firmly pressed shut, his face set in a determined expression. “Come on, it’s peaches,” Elizabeth said.

“He looks quite like his mother,” Audrey said. Elizabeth turned. “Good morning, darling.” She kissed the top of Elizabeth’s head. “You still make that face, you know.”

“He needs to eat.”

Audrey tickled the soft skin beneath Jake’s chin, and the baby laughed, his mouth parting. Elizabeth swooped in, and the peaches disappeared. Jake furrowed his brows, looked at her, then opened his mouth again. She exhaled in a rush. “Thanks, Gram. I forgot that trick.”

“That’s what I’m here for. Did you make any coffee?”

“No. Not yet.”

“I’ll take care of it.” Audrey went to the cabinets. “Did you or Jason get any sleep last night?”

“No. We tried, but—” Elizabeth bit her lip. “I don’t know how to do any of this, Gram. I don’t know to help myself. And Jason—you know, he doesn’t show it, but he feels so deeply—”

With the coffee starting to percolate, Audrey sat next to Elizabeth at the small table. “It’s so hard to lose anyone, but when the person you rely on to hold you up can scarcely take care of themselves, it’s even more difficult. But it’s important that you both let yourselves feel this. Take turns leaning on each other.” She squeezed Elizabeth’s hand, then stopped, turning it slightly. “Well, this is new.”

Elizabeth stared down at her finger, at the diamond. “It was a lifetime ago,” she murmured. “He asked me last night.”

“Congratulations.”

Elizabeth sighed, finished off the jar of peaches. “Thank you. For staying last night. Spinelli’s great, but I felt better knowing you were down the hall.” She lifted Jake from his high chair, pressing her cheek to his soft, downy hair.

“Of course. I’ll stay a few days if you don’t mind. Not just for you, darling.” Audrey rose, pulled Elizabeth into her arms. “But for myself. I need to know my family is safe. That you’re all right. And if you and Jason have somewhere to go, or if you need some air to breathe, you know you won’t have to worry about the boys.” She kissed Elizabeth’s cheek. “Now let me go pour you a cup of coffee—and one for Jason?”

Elizabeth adjusted Jake to sit on her hip. “Yeah, he’s upstairs, giving Cameron a bath.”

“Have you thought of what you’ll say to him yet?”

“No. God, no. I don’t even want to think about it yet—”

Jason stepped in the doorway, and Elizabeth turned. “Oh, you’re done already?”

“Yeah. Ned just called,” he said, and Elizabeth sighed. “He wants to know if we’ll come over later.”

“Yeah. Yeah, of course. Gram?”

“I’ll look after the boys.” Audrey went to Jason, touched his arm. “I hope it goes without saying how sorry I am, my dear. Emily was a lovely young woman, and it was a privilege to watch her grow up. I know how much you loved her.”

Jason swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “Thank you. It means a lot coming from you, Mrs. Hardy. I appreciate you coming over last night. Spinelli—we felt bad leaving him, but—”

“He understood, but I’m glad I could be here for you. What a terrible tragedy.” She closed her eyes, shook her head. “I made coffee. It looks like both of you need it.”

Patrick’s Condo: Bedroom

Robin pursed her lips when Patrick brought her a cup of herbal tea. “Where did this come from?”

“All night convenience store.” Patrick kicked off his shoes, climbed into bed to stretch out next to her. “I was reading last night. Caffeine isn’t good for you, so coffee was out—”

“Reading?” Bewildered, Robin looked at him. “You were reading about pregnancy?”

“Couldn’t sleep, and the internet is always there.” Patrick frowned at her. “Why? Was I wrong?”

“No. No, I mean some caffeine is all right. But you read and then you went shopping.”

“I told you. I’m in this. I don’t know how to stop being scared of being a father,” Patrick admitted, “but I used to be afraid of being a doctor. I went to school and got hands on experience, and now I’m the best neurosurgeon in the country. So you study. And you intern.”

Robin sipped the tea, intrigued. “So you’re going to approach parenting like medical school.”

“Yes. I’ll get all the books, you can quiz me. And then we’ll borrow Elizabeth’s kids. We can’t really replicate a newborn situation, but I figure multi-tasking a toddler and an infant might give us a sense of the chaos—” Patrick stopped, looked at her. “You’re laughing at me.”

“I am…” Robin considered her next words. “Fascinated by this side of you.”

“Do you have a better way of preparing to be a parent? Because I’d like to hear it.”

She set the tea cup on the night stand, then lifted his arm to wrap around her shoulders. “Thank you. For making sure my first thought this morning wasn’t Emily and Leyla.”

Patrick sighed, looked at the ceiling. “I don’t know to make that okay. You can’t, probably. It’s impossible. But after losing my mom, then with Georgie, now Emily—life is short. Unbearably, unfairly short. You can’t do anything but hold on to the good. You’re what’s good.”

She closed her eyes, tucked her head beneath her chin, just where she belonged. “And the baby?”

“The baby is part of you, so we already know they’ll be smart and compassionate. Which is good because I’m only one of those things. And it’s part of me, so devastating charm and good looks.” He kissed the top of her head, lingering for a moment. “I’m still terrified I’ll screw it up, but I think I want it more than I ever thought I would. We’re going to be okay.”

“Yeah. We’re going to be okay.” Just as long as they held on to each other.

Quartermaine Estate: Foyer

Jason stepped inside, his fingers laced in Elizabeth’s, and swept his eyes around the empty foyer. The memories of this room — of this house — there were so many bitter, terrible ones. But there were good ones.

Emily was everywhere in this house. So was his grandmother.

Elizabeth squeezed his shoulder. “Hey,” she murmured. “I think they’re in the family room by the terrace.”

“Yeah, we—” Jason looked up as Ned stepped out of that hallway. “Hey.”

“Hey.” Ned embraced Elizabeth, kissed her cheek. “Thank you for coming. Uh, I know it’s not your favorite place—” He scratched the corner of his brow with a thumb. “But Monica—she’s not handling it well. Not that anyone should have to—and Grandfather—” He cleared his throat. “I just think they could use a fresh face.”

He led them towards the family room, and Jason stopped just inside the door. Monica, his mother sat by the terrace doors, at the desk tucked into the corner. Her eyes were swollen, rimmed with red, and she barely glanced up at their entrance.

Dillon was on the sofa next to Edward; the old man gripping a cup of coffee so tightly his knuckles were white.  The younger man looked up. “Oh, hey. Grandfather, Jason came ove.r”

“Jason—” Edward turned, set down the coffee. He rose to his feet, a bit of light coming into his old blue eyes. “Jason, and you brought Elizabeth. Hello, my dear.” He came forward, kissed Elizabeth’s cheek.

“Hello.” Elizabeth squeezed his hand as he stepped back.

“Jason. It’s good—” Edward took a deep breath. “It’s good to see you,” he forced out. “How are the boys? They’re not with you?”

“We left them at home this time,” Jason said, looking over at Monica who was still staring unseen at the desktop. “But I thought we could bring them another day.”

“That would be great. Great.” Edward didn’t seem to know what to do with his hands. “Uh, Cook put together some breakfast. And we have coffee—”

“Mr. Quartermaine,” Elizabeth said, leaving Jason’s side, taking Edward’s hand. “Let’s go sit down. I’ll tell you about Jake. He’s six months old now, and everyone says he looks just like Jason at that age.”

“Oh? We have photos.” Edward followed her to the sofa. “We’ll have to get them out.”

Jason went over to his mother, crouched down in front of her. “Hey,” he said softly. She looked at him finally, focusing. “What can I do?”

“There’s nothing—” Monica closed her eyes. “Nothing. Three children. I’ll have buried three children. Dawn. Emily. AJ.”

And though she wouldn’t say it, he knew she was thinking of who he’d been once. Jason Quartermaine. Though there was no tombstone to mark his death, just the family photographs of a life Jason didn’t know.

What would it be like to bury both your biological children, and only have the adopted son who barely acknowledged her left? What it would feel like if he lost Cameron and Jake tomorrow?

“I’m still here,” Jason told her, and she smiled faintly. “It’s not much. But I’m here.” He slid his hand into his back pocket. Found a photograph of the boys from a few weeks ago, at Sonny’s house. “And they—they’re still here. Your grandchildren.”

Monica took the photo, traced Jake’s face. “Children?” she asked faintly.

“Yes. I’m adopting Cameron. Just like you adopted me and Emily,” he told her. “I know it won’t ever be the same. Or enough. But I’m still here.” His chest hurt. “Mom.”

Tears spilled down her cheeks, and Monica touched his cheek. “You’re still here,” she murmured. “Are you?”

“I promise.”

“All right. All right.” She held the photo to her heart. “Can I keep it?”

“Yes. And we’ll bring them both to you as soon as we can.” Jason swallowed hard. “I’m sorry. I can’t go back. I can’t go back and be a better son—”

“You were the best of sons. And Emily—”

“The best of sisters,” Jason said. He rose to his feet, and Monica let him pull her up, too. He hugged her.

Across Town

In a much smaller house, in a rundown neighborhood, a man sat in front of his television screen, sinking into a beatdown recliner, waiting for the news report that would fill his soul with the rush of satisfaction. Would it feel as good as it had the first time? Would it feel better?

“The PCPD is now prepared to officially release the identies of both victims,” the reporter said. “As speculated, Emily Quartermaine, an intern with the hospital, and daughter of former Chief of Staff Alan Quartermaine, was one of the victims. The second was Leyla Mir—”

He sat up, his eyes widening. What? What? That wasn’t right. That wasn’t the name—

“—a nurse with the hospital. Both women were found strangled in the parking garage—”

“A nurse?” He lunged from his chair. “A nurse! No! No! That’s not right!” He shook his television screen. “It’s not right! She was a doctor! It’s a supposed to be—”

He whirled away from the television, blind with fury. It was supposed to be two. Pairs. Double. Two college girls. Two doctors. Not one doctor and one nurse! That wouldn’t be right! That wasn’t how it was supposed to be!

He grabbed an empty beer bottle, threw it against the wall. Then overturned a table filled with newspapers, junk mail, and assorted magazines, his chest heaving. This wasn’t how it was supposed to be!

He had to fix it. He had to bring everything back into order. There was no other choice.

Written in 61 minutes.

---

General Hospital: Lobby

By the time physician appointments ended at seven and visiting hours at eight, the lobby of General Hospital was so quiet that every whisper and even the lightest of footsteps on the linoleum could be heard.

Tonight was no different, though the security guard at the front desk was joined by a handful of uniforms. Elizabeth used her security badge to get them through the front door.

At the desk, one of the cops turned and Jason recognized him—he’d worked with Lucky before. He focused on Elizabeth as they approached.

“Hey, Liz. Mac said you guys were coming by.”

“Cruz.” Elizabeth touched Jason’s shoulder. “Jason, this is Detective Rodriguez. Um, so you know why we’re here.”

“Yeah. Yeah. Uh, let’s head on down.” He signaled towards the elevators, and Jason followed him, his hand in Elizabeth’s. Once in the car, Rodriguez pressed a button for one of the basements, and it began to move.

The doors opened onto a long hallway, with doors every few dozen feet. Rodriguez led them into the first one which had a small room with a large picture window and door to a larger room with a wall of small, rectangular doors arranged in rows and columns.

“You don’t have to go in,” Jason said roughly. “They just need—”

“We’ll do this together,” she told him. Her lips trembled but her eyes were firm. “We’re ready,” she told the cop. He nodded, and knocked on the door to the doctor waiting.

Jason forced himself to keep walking, to keep moving forward. To walk into the room where he would identify his sister’s body.

Wyndemere: Study

Nikolas had stopped crying, but remained on the floor, his knees drawn up to his chest, arms wrapped around them. His eyes were swollen, the light from the fire burning nearby cast shadows onto his face.

Lulu sat next to him, stroking his hair, her head on his shoulder. Lucky still across the room, unsure how to offer his sympathy. How to process his own grief. He’d forced it down at the garage, had kept it at bay until he’d come into this room.

But just the memory, the quick flash of Emily in this room, smiling at him, had stolen his breath, and brought it all back, like a rush of wind passing through a tunnel, and how did you hold it back when it was roaring past you like a freight train.

“How?” Nikolas finally managed, his voice hoarse and raw. “What happened?”

“We don’t—” Lucky took a moment. “We think it was strangulation,” he admitted, and Nikolas flinched. “Like Georgie Jones and her roommate.”

“The same guy,” Lulu murmured. “A serial killer, isn’t he?”

Lucky hesitated. “That’s not for me to say, Lu.” He knelt down. “But yes. It fits the definition. Three or more people over a period of a month.”

“Six weeks apart.” Lulu looked at him. “Do you know anything you can tell us yet?”

“No. I’m sorry. I wish—”

“You know more.” Nikolas looked at him now, his eyes burning. “You knew there was someone out there murdering women. But you didn’t stop him.”

“No. We didn’t stop him.”

“She should have been here,” his brother muttered. He fisted his hands. “She would have been here—”

“She was working, Nikolas,” Lulu reminded him gently. “She wouldn’t—”

“Then I would have been there,” Nikolas said. And now something else crept into his gaze. Loathing. “It’s your fault I wasn’t. You did this. You made her choose sides, and she chose wrong. Now she’s dead.”

Morgan Penthouse: Living Room

Spinelli opened the door to Elizabeth’s grandmother, still frowning at her arrival. “I’m so sorry, Mrs. Hardy. Stone Cold and Fair Elizabeth did not say when they’d be back.”

“It’s all right, darling.” Audrey came in, touched Spinelli’s hand. “I’ll wait however long it takes. I woke to get a glass of water—” She set her purse on the desk, her hand trembling. “And I’d left the television on — oh, it’s so terrible.”

“Yes.” He closed the door behind her. “A terrible tragedy for all.” Spinelli leaned his head against the door. “Stone Cold said it was the same as Georgie. At least they thought so.”

“Georgie was such a lovely girl,” Audrey murmured. She folded her arms, hugging her torso. “Such a light. And Emily—” She squeezed her eyes shut. “Leyla. She was one of the last students I admitted into the program before I retired. She was so smart, so passionate.”

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Hardy.” Spinelli looked at her. “The Jackal did not realize you knew the other…the other woman.”

“Not well. But I feel for her family. She’ll be lost in this, you understand. Just as Georgie’s poor roommate. Lord, I’ve already forgotten her name—”

“Chelsea. Chelsea Rae.” Spinelli’s smile was wistful. “She was quiet, but tenacious. Loyal. She and Georgie were very close. She wasn’t from Port Charles. She wasn’t the Commissioner’s daughter.”

“And Leyla isn’t a Quartermaine, so she won’t get the press. But I will certainly remember her. I’m so sorry, Spinelli, for your loss.”

“I’m sorry for yours.” Tears stung his eyes. “It seems very unfair for someone to get away with this. Public paths, public parking garages. What kind of demon inflicts this kind of harm?”

“We can only hope that they find him before he hurts someone else.”

Patrick’s Condo: Living Room

Patrick sat in the dark, the light from his television flickering over his face. Robin laid stretched out on the sofa, her eyes closed, red and swollen from crying. The murders were on the news, and it was—

It was surreal to see WKPC reporting live from the hospital, to be standing in front of the place where Patrick spent the majority of his waking hours, discussing the deaths of two unidentified women, though Emily had been speculated about as being connected to the Quartermaines. Irresponsible, Patrick thought bitterly. What other young woman connected to the family was at the hospital?

He thought about Monica Quartermaine being told that her daughter was dead, in a year when she’d already lost her husband. And Leyla’s family getting the call in London—

Two more families mourning daughters who had done nothing but take a walk after dark. How did you let your kids walk around in the world without you?

He’d be finding that out now. In a year, he’d have a kid. Boy or girl. And they’d need to grow up to go to school and work and breathe and how did you do that? How did you bring a life into the world when you knew it would be hard and terrible? He hadn’t wanted that responsibility. Had been terrified of it.

Now it was here. And there wasn’t a thought of letting Robin walk this path alone. He’d loved her enough to let her go when her dream hadn’t been his, and now he was going to love her enough to be part of that dream. He didn’t know how to be a good dad, but he’d learned how to be a good friend and a good boyfriend, hadn’t he? These weren’t skills he’d been born with.

He looked at Robin, who had shifted in her sleep, curling into a fetal position. He loved her enough to try to be what she needed. And maybe she’d be open to making their child live in a bubble. It was worth a shot.

General Hospital: Morgue

The room was a few degrees colder than the hallway. Kept this cool, Elizabeth thought dully, to preserve the bodies until they were transferred to a funeral home for burial or cremation.

She’d only been here once before when Manny Ruiz had dragged her down here and made her hide in a body bag, to smuggle them both out of the hospital without triggering security.

She walked beside Jason as they followed the forensic pathologist to the wall of doors. The man stopped at one and put his hand on the handle. Oh, God. Oh, God. She was in there. She curled her hands into fists so tightly, her nails dug into her palms.

There was a squeak as the doctor pulled the handle out, and it opened —

There she was. Laid out, her skin already taking on the chalk gray of death, blue tinge around her lips. Emily lay there, naked except for the sheet covering her up to the chest. Her shoulders were bare. Her hair pulled back—

Her neck with a long thin, dark line that told the story of her death.

Jason’s voice was low, nearly inaudible. “That’s…that’s her.” He cleared his throat. “Do I need to say her name—”

“No,” Rodriguez said, quietly. Respectfully. He stepped around them so that he was next to the doctor. “That’s all we needed.”

Elizabeth laid a hand on Emily’s chest, the fingers trembling as she absorbed the lack of the heartbeat. The cold of the freezer. The way her skin had lost its softness. She forced herself to look at Emily’s face. At the eyes that were closed — they’d never sparkle with laughter, ignite with fury—she’d never smile again. Her lips would never pinch with disappointment.

This was Emily’s body. The shell of who’d she been in this world, but all the pieces that had made Emily were gone.

“I love you,” Elizabeth said softly. “I will always love you. I will make sure my boys remember their Aunt Emily.” Tears blurred her vision and she had to step back, to turn away.

Beside her, Jason exhaled on a shaky breath.  He leaned down, kissed his sister’s forehead, the way he’d done so many times in life. Then rested his forehead against hers just once more. His baby sister who had clumsily wormed her way back into his life after the accident, becoming one of the bright spots.

He stepped back, looked at the doctor and cop with eyes that didn’t see them. “That’s it. Right? We’re done.”

“We’re done,” Rodriguez said, nodding to the doctor. The drawer closed, and Emily was gone. Out of sight. “Thank you.”

Jason nodded, then turned and left the morgue without another word. Elizabeth, startled by his abrupt exit, didn’t follow for a few moments, but then hurried to catch up before he got on the elevator.

“It never gets easy,” the doctor murmured. “You know, you see him on the news and you forget—”

“He’s a human like the rest of us.”

PCPD: Commissioner’s Office

“I came as soon as I got your message.” Robert embraced his brother. “Talk to me. What do you need?”

“I—” Mac sat at the desk, put his head in his hands. “I don’t know how to do this, Robert. I keep just…looking at the next item on the list, but now there’s nothing left. Not tonight. Notifications are done, uniforms are canvassing, medical examiner is coming in the morning to do the autopsy—” He looked at him. “It could have Robin. It was supposed to be her.”

Robert frowned. “What do you mean?”

“She was supposed to leave with Emily tonight at the garage.” Mac rubbed his chin. “She changed her mind at the last minute. Sent Leyla Mir instead. It was my stepdaughter, then my niece.”

“Mac—”

“I’m not saying I think that’s the connection, just that—” he grimaced. “We can’t ignore it.”

“No.”

“I, uh—” Mac cleared his throat. “I called you because—I talked to Floyd. We both agreed that something—I can’t be in charge of the investigation. And after tonight—I didn’t tell Spencer yet, but he’s too close to Emily Quartermaine. He can still work it, but—”

“You need someone who isn’t as tightly connected,” Robert said. “Are you asking me?”

“Special assignment.” Mac smiled grimly. “Yeah, I’m asking you to take charge. Because there’s a serial killer out there, and I don’t think he’s done yet.”

General Hospital: Roof

Jason didn’t send the elevator up two flights to the lobby — but instead for the top floor. He needed air, and he didn’t want to see one more damn cop tonight—

Elizabeth said nothing as he stalked out onto the top story of General Hospital, making his way towards the roof access. She used her security badge to clear it and they both climbed the short access steps.

Once outside, hundreds of feet above the street, with the wind rushing in from the lake — Jason had nowhere else to go.

Nothing else to do. He’d identified his sister. Her broken, empty body. Nothing else he could do for her.

There was a trash can by the metal steps that led up to the helicopter pad level. Jason gripped it in both hands, threw it against the steps, the metal clanging almost satisfactory to his ears. He wanted to hurt something, to destroy it —

He’d felt this rage before, years ago, after the accident, when he’d destroyed Jason Quartermaine’s room and his mother had cried and yelled at him to stop. But there was no room to destroy here. No one to check his anger.

Only Elizabeth, standing by the door with her sad eyes. He looked at her. “I can’t do this. I can’t—I can’t do this. I don’t—” He stopped, shook his head, swallowing the ripple that rose in his throat. “She was just—” He threw the trash can again, and wished there was someone for him to hit.

Abruptly, he dropped down, to sit on the hard concrete roof. His legs slightly bent, he rested his elbows against his thighs. “I can’t do it.”

There was a small, quiet scuffle as Elizabeth sat cross-legged next to him, but she still said nothing. Because what could you say? What was Jason even refusing to do? To grieve? To accept it? The world didn’t care. It would keep turning. Emily would still be dead.

Dead. He was sitting on top of the building where his sister’s dead body was being kept, in the building where she’d been brutally murdered.

He looked at Elizabeth, said nothing. Tears slid down her cheeks, but she made no sound. Didn’t try to touch him. To soothe him. To offer comfort. He wouldn’t have accepted it. He didn’t deserve it.

“I remember the first time I met Emily,” Elizabeth said, and he frowned at that. “At school,” she continued. “I stuck up for her when some other girls were being rude.” Her smile was wistful. “Emily told me once she always knew I’d done it because I wanted to impress Lucky. But that it had given her the courage to stay that day. To keep going to school. It was after she’d come back from rehab,” she added. She took a deep breath. “I loved her so much. Even when she drove me crazy. Even when I wanted to…” She paused. “I think she knew that, right? Just like she knew you loved her. Even when you argued. Even when she did things you didn’t support or understand, she knew you loved her, Jason. I don’t know if that’s going to be enough to get us through this, but she knew we loved her.” Her voice faltered, but she said it again. “She knew we loved her.”

“Yeah.” He felt the tears start to fall, sliding down his chin, dropping from his jaw. “She knew I loved her. After the accident, it was just her and Lila that I could stand. I loved her so much.” He squeezed his eyes closed. “She knew that. I made sure she did, didn’t I?”

“Yeah.” Elizabeth scooted next to him, rested her head on his shoulder. “She knew.”

Written in 65 minutes.

---

Morgan Penthouse: Master Bedroom

Jason kissed Elizabeth’s forehead, holding on one more moment. “We should—we should go downstairs. Spinelli is on his way home. I don’t know if we—” He didn’t even know why he’d called him back to the penthouse. It was nearly eleven. What did Jason think he or Elizabeth could do at this time of night?

But maybe he just wanted Spinelli where he could see him, and now he wished he’d sent a guard to collect the hacker, even though there didn’t seem to be any threat to young college-age boys.

Elizabeth nodded, keeping her eyes closed. “Yeah. I—I’m sure someone is telling M-Monica a-and I don’t know. Maybe you want to just—” Her hand fisted in Jason’s shirt. “Maybe just sitting together will help. I don’t know,” she repeated.

Jason thought about the Quartermaines, the family he had pushed and shoved away for a decade now. There weren’t nearly as many anymore, he thought. Justus had died the year before. Alan. Lila. And now—

All that remained were Monica, Edward, and Ned. And he knew every single one of them had adored Emily. They all had. She and Lila had been the glue for the family, and now—

“Yeah, maybe. I don’t know. We’ll see.” He rubbed her shoulders. “If they call, we’ll go.” He released her, then went to scoop up his phone from the night stand. “Let’s go wait for Spinelli.”

“Jason—” Elizabeth looked at him, and his breath caught because her gaze was so shattered, he wondered if it mirrored his own. He certainly felt that way. His thoughts kept scattering and he didn’t know why. He was usually focus — able to push things aside. Compartmentalize—but right now— “I don’t—” She swallowed hard, closed her eyes again, took a deep breath. “Okay. Okay. I’m okay.”

She wasn’t, but he knew what she meant. “We’ll check on the boys one more time,” he promised her. “It’s—it’ll be okay.”

Her lower lip trembled, and she took another breath, but it was shaky. “Yeah. Okay.” But her feet remained planted in the carpet. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I just — if we go out there—” Her eyes focused on the door. “If we go out there and Spinelli comes home, we have to tell him, and it’s real. And neither of us—we haven’t said it. I haven’t—we haven’t said it. And we have to, I think, or it won’t be real, but I don’t want it to be real, and I’m—” She released his hand, raked her hands through her hair. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I’m trying not to do this.”

“Not to do what?” he asked, softly.

“I just want to stand here, and I want to scream, and I want to cry, and I want to hit something, and to—to—destroy something. I want to hurt someone, something—I don’t know, but I can’t do any of that because, well, I can’t, and I don’t know how to breathe. I should know how. I’ve done this before. I’ve lost people before, I know it gets—the day comes when you don’t choke on the grief anymore, but it’s different. It’s Emily, and it’s all the thousand things we don’t ever get to do. She never gets to be a doctor. Never gets to get married again and to laugh and drink hot chocolate with me or—” Elizabeth sucked in a shuddering breath. “And it’s all the ways she’s supposed to be here and just won’t. And it’s so selfish to think about any of it, and I keep putting it away, but it keeps spilling out, and I don’t want to be someone you worry about, and I know that’s how you process when things hurt too much. You lock it all up and focus on someone else and I just—”

She sat on the edge of the bed, dragged in a bracing breath. “Okay. Okay. I can do this. I’m sorry.”

He knelt in front of her, his hands on her knees. She lifted her tear-stained face to look at him. “We’re going downstairs,” he told her gently. “And we’re going to tell Spinelli. And then we’ll go out on the bike if no one else calls. We’ll both feel better.”

“Better.” She sighed. “Yeah, okay. Let’s try that.”

Quartermaine Estate: Foyer

Dillon swallowed hard when a pair of headlights turned into the drive just as Spinelli’s car had disappeared. He waited for the car to reach the house and park.

He knew, of course. He had watched enough television and film to know how this night would end. He’d lost someone essential to his existence, and the world had kept spinning somehow.

And now, Mac was stepping out of the car. The commissioner coming personally. Dillon swallowed hard.

“What are you doing out here this time of night?” Mac asked.

“Lulu, Spinelli, and I were down at the pool house, but Lucky called Lulu and Jason called Spinelli.” Dillon’s eyes burned into Georgie’s stepfather’s. “It’s bad, isn’t it? It happened again.”

“Yeah.” Mac exhaled. “Jason called? The rumors are starting to fly,” he murmured. “Let’s go inside.”

Dillon shoved the front door to the mansion open. At eleven, he knew that there wouldn’t be many people up — was this the kind of thing you woke people up for? “Wait here,” he mumbled at Mac. “I’ll go find someone.”

He found his brother in the family room, pouring over ELQ reports. Ned glanced up briefly at his entrance, then down again—but Dillon’s expression must have registered. He got to his feet. “Dillon. What’s wrong?”

“Um. Monica. We need to—We need her.” Dillon’s fingers felt too big. His head was throbbing. It had happened again. Whoever stole Georgie had taken someone else, and it hurt more now for some reason, because he was already living with the pain, and now—

Ned narrowed his eyes, then strode towards the foyer, Dillon following. He stopped when he saw Mac. Swallowed. “Christ. Mac. You’re here—” He looked back at his brother, then at Dillon. “Say it. Just say it quickly.”

Mac hesitated. “About an hour ago, Emily was found in the parking garage. She’d been—she’s gone, Ned.”

Ned flinched, then looked down, trying to gather his thoughts. Dillon knew his brother took his role as the family gatekeeper seriously. He would absorb the pain, put it away, then be the strong one for Monica and their grandfather. “Okay.”

“We need—I mean, we know who it is,” Mac said, almost awkwardly. “But we need—”

“An official identification,” Ned finished. “Right.” He took a breath. “Let me tell the family—”

“Jason knows,” Dillon said almost immediately, and Ned stopped. “I mean, I think he knows. Lucky called Lu to come down to the pier, I guess to go to tell Nikolas. And Spinelli talked to Jason. Jason wanted him home. I guess maybe someone else called him. Maybe—I mean, maybe he can do it. So that you can stay here. With Monica and Grandfather.”

“Yeah.” Ned rubbed his chin, looked at Mac. “I’ll have someone down there, but if Jason already knows — okay. Um, where?”

“The hospital. I’ll let the front desk know someone will be there. Ned—”

“Just—I’ll handle it from here.” Ned paused. “Mac, was it—was it like—”

“Yes. We suspect it’s the same.”

The same as Georgie. They couldn’t speak her name, but Dillon knew. Mac left, and Ned stared up at the darkened second floor, and Dillon didn’t envy his brother.

“Losing Alan nearly broke Grandfather,” Ned murmured. “But this? Emily? I don’t know how he’ll survive it. And Monica, Christ. How do you do this? How do you destroy someone’s world?”

“By remembering you’re not the one who did it,” Dillon said roughly, and Ned met his brother’s gaze. “You’re just telling someone what happened. But you didn’t do it. The sick son of a bitch who murdered Georgie and Emily and Chelsea—he’s the one that destroyed it.”

“It’s not going to feel that way in a few minutes. I’ll be—” Ned just shook his head and went upstairs.

Dillon waited in the foyer, and what felt like an eternity later, he heard a scream followed by sobs. He sat on the bottom step and put his head in his hands.

Spoon Island: Pier

There was an advantage of having a quick and clever little sister, even though it occasionally gave Lucky a headache. He’d met Lulu at the pier, relieved when Spinelli had been with her, not wanting her to be alone.

She’d known — he could tell in her eyes, because Jason had called Spinelli, and who else did Jason and Lucky have in common? Why would they need to meet at the pier?

He didn’t have to say it, which helped, but the trip over to the island was a quiet one. The launch pilot had been irritated at being dragged out of bed, but he’d taken one look at Lucky’s face and fallen silent. When they arrived at the pier, the pilot tied up the boat and headed over to the gatehouse where he lived, and Lucky and Lulu made the trek up to the main house.

Nikolas kept late hours, and was sipping a whiskey in the study when they arrived at the house. He frowned when the butler announced them both. “What’s wrong? Did something happen to Mother? Or Luke—”

Lucky took a deep breath, squeezed Lulu’s hand. “Nikolas. Tonight, in the parking garage at General Hospital, two bodies were found.”

Nikolas’s eyes darkened, and he shook his head. “Don’t say it. Don’t.”

“Emily was one of them.”

“Don’t—” Nikolas’s voice broke. “Don’t say it. It’s not—it’s not. I won’t let it—No!” He gripped the glass in his hand, then threw it at the wall where it shattered. “Don’t say it.” His voice broke. “Please don’t say it. It’s not—”

Lulu went to her brother, embraced him as Nikolas slowly slid to the floor, tears streaming down his cheeks. Lucky stood there, in the entrance. Frozen. He’d said it. It was different now than it had been in the garage. That had been his job. He was on duty. He had an obligation to be cold, to be functional.

But standing here in a room, in a house where Emily had once lived — he could see her now, sitting on the sofa or leaning against Nikolas’s desk, smiling back at them, with that wicked smirk and glint in her eye.

The disappointment that had dulled her gaze when he’d seen her last. He’d never reached out after the custody trial, still ashamed at how far it had gone—

And now there would never be another chance.

Patrick’s Condo: Living Room

Patrick silently slid home the bolt in the door as Robin drew off her coat. He’d wanted her here where he could look at her and keep reassuring himself that she was alive, that she wasn’t lying in a morgue, not like—

His mind skittered away from that—from thinking about who was actually gone and who’d they lost because how did you wrap your mind around something that couldn’t be true? He’d just seen Leyla—she’d been one of the nurses on his patient’s case, and they’d exchanged greetings. And Emily—

How were they gone? How could it be possible—

Robin sat on the sofa, her eyes staring ahead, still somehow unseeing. The silence in the room felt like it would choke them.

“She was the sweetest kid,” Robin murmured. “I forget sometimes that we’re close in age because I feel like I watched her grow up.” She looked at him. “She moved in with the Quartermaines just before Jason’s accident, around the time Stone’s health started failing, so I don’t think I really got to know her before that. Jason tried like hell to distance himself from anyone with the name Quartermaine, but not Lila, and not Emily. You couldn’t stop yourself from loving Emily.” Her voice trembled. “Lila was grace personified, you know. Elegant and lovely, and warm. That was good for Jason, but Emily — Emily was light and air and sweet. She was silly and—” Robin squeezed her eyes closed. “She made Jason laugh which was so hard back then, and it’s how I met her.”

Patrick sat next to her. “Hard to think about him smiling or laughing.”

“He doesn’t show that side to many people. He learned how to guard himself after the accident. But Emily — he could never hold himself back from her. She struggled so hard. She  had a pill addiction, did you know that?”

“No.” Patrick frowned. “No. When?”

“Just a teenager. She started using drugs, God, when she was just fifteen. She tried to fly off the Quartermaine roof, but Jason and Ned stopped her—we were all so scared. But she got help, and she got clean, and then—” Robin’s breath was shaky. “I keep thinking if I had gone, maybe we would have been late. Maybe Emily could have waited for me to run my tests, and we wouldn’t have been there. And Leyla could have gone on with her night. But I—”

“You know better.”

“I do. I do. But I just—I also think maybe I would have been in that parking garage at the wrong moment, and it would be me there.” Robin met his eyes. “But I stayed behind. I didn’t feel up to a girl’s night. Not after I realized—” She swallowed hard. “I stayed behind, Patrick. To run a test.”

He frowned. “You said that before. What test?”

“You’re the reason I wasn’t in that parking garage,” she murmured. “A choice I made to make the world stop. And it’s why my world keeps going. It’s so odd.”

His heart began to pound. “Robin.”

“I’m pregnant.” The words escaped her lips in a rush that he almost couldn’t hear, but he did. “That night. You, um, you need to get a blood test. We should be fine because my viral load is—but I’m pregnant.”

“Pregnant.” The blood pounded in his ears, and he stared at her. “As in—”

“Sometime in June, I think, we’ll—well I’ll have a baby. You—I don’t know what you want. But—” She met his eyes. “I’m pregnant, Patrick. I was running those tests in the lab when Emily and Leyla died. It was supposed to be me, but it wasn’t. And now I get to keep breathing, and they don’t, and I feel so guilty, but I don’t know how to stop being happy and sick all at the same time—” She closed her eyes. “Can you say something that’s not repeating the word pregnant or my name?”

He so badly wanted to say something profound or useful or happy or just something, but the words—he’d forgotten every word in the English language that wasn’t Robin or pregnant. He licked his lips. “I—you’re pregnant.” When she just shook her head, Patrick tried again. “No, okay, let me—okay. This is okay. It’s okay.”

“It’s okay,” Robin repeated. “Are you—”

“Yes.” Patrick took a deep breath. He didn’t know if he’d be any good at this, hadn’t been entirely sure he wanted it, but somehow it was here. And if Robin hadn’t been running tests, she’d have been lost to him forever, so — “Yeah, this is okay. I’m okay. And you’re okay. And we’re going to be okay together. That’s what I got right now.”

“Okay,” she repeated. “Well, that’s something.” She leaned against him and he stroked her hair. “I’m going to miss her.”

“Me, too.”

Morgan Penthouse: Living Room

Spinelli unlocked the front door, and went inside, finding Jason and Elizabeth sitting on the sofa, both fully dressed. Elizabeth’s eyes were rimmed with red, swollen, and Jason—

Oh, it was something interesting to see Jason’s eyes nearly as red as Elizabeth. “The Jackal apologizes for his delay. Fair Lulu needed to meet her brother and he did not want to leave her alone. Not when he suspected—” He swallowed hard. “He suspects bad news. Noble Emily?”

Elizabeth’s lips parted, and she closed her eyes. Jason nodded swiftly. “Yes. It’s—yes.”

“Okay.” Spinelli swallowed hard. He quite liked Jason’s sister, and she’d been so kind to him. “Okay. How can the Jackal be of service?”

“We need you to stay with the boys,” Jason said roughly. “Ned called. He needs—” He faltered, and Elizabeth touched his arm.

“Ned asked Jason to identify her,” Elizabeth said. “So we need to go to the hospital. You’ll look after them? They should sleep until the morning. I don’t know how long we’ll be.”

“The Jackal will see it done. Whatever you need. He is—” Spinelli fisted his hand. “Is it—it’s the same? It has happened again.”

“Yes,” Jason managed. “They think it’s the same. We need to—we need to go.”

“Of course. Take your time, Stone Cold. The Jackal will defend the castle.”

“Thank you,” Elizabeth said, squeezing his arm as they passed. “We couldn’t do this without you.”

He watched them go, thought of the terrible task they’d been asked to do, and hoped that somewhere, the villain who had stolen those sweet lights from the world was counting his days.

There wouldn’t be many of them left.

Written in 64 minutes.

---

Morgan Penthouse: Master Bedroom

He’d been irritated when he’d heard Sonny’s voice on the other end of the line. His partner knew Jason was spending the day with his family — had known he was hoping to find the right moment to ask Elizabeth to marry him — so when he’d heard Sonny’s voice, he’d immediately thought that he’d have to leave for some part of his job that was too dangerous or risky to ask anyone else.

He’d been wrong.

“There’s no official identification yet,” Sonny said, still talking even though Jason’s ears were ringing and he couldn’t really process anything beyond those first few words. “But Spencer’s on the scene.”

Emily. His little sister. Emily.

“Jase?”

“Yeah.” Jason cleared his throat. “I’m here.”

“I wanted you to know before it hit the news. I don’t know how long they’ll keep it back. I don’t know what’s going on yet. I’ll get more, okay?”

“Yeah.”

Sonny was quiet. “I’ll let you go. You call me if you need anything. To look after the boys, to sit with — hell, if you need to take a swing—just—”

“Yeah.”  He couldn’t produce another answer. Couldn’t do anything but form the same words over and over again. Emily. His little sister.

There was a muffled sound of a door closing down the hall and Jason took a deep breath. “I have to go.”

“Okay.” The line went dead, and Jason lowered the phone from his ear, but then he just stared at it. How long had the call been? Two minutes? Three?

How much time did you need to destroy a world?

The door slid open, and Elizabeth stepped in—freezing when she saw him. “Jason?”

He looked at her, and in even in the shadows of the room, saw her swallow hard before she said his name again.

“Emily,” he said. “It’s Emily.” He flipped the phone closed and set it gently on the nightstand. How did he do this? How did he destroy Elizabeth’s world when his own was already in tatters and he couldn’t even think about the word or what had to be done or said—

“Was she—” Elizabeth’s voice wavered. “An accident? We’ll go to the hospital. We can—” She started for the closet, dragging the door open. “We’ll get dressed. I’ll call my grandmother.” Her movements were jerky, frantic as she ripped out a sweater. “She can sit with the boys—”

“Elizabeth.” His voice sounded rusty to his ears. He rose to his feet. “Elizabeth.”

“You have her number, don’t you? Can you—I have to—” Elizabeth turned, clothes clutches in her hands. Her eyes were wide, her face pale. Some piece of her already knew. He could see it in her eyes. Somewhere deep inside, she knew. But if she kept moving and speaking, she’d never have to say it.

He walked across the room, towards her, but Elizabeth backed away from him, shaking her head. “No, no, you have to get dressed, too. I’ll call her. I can do that. You get dressed and I’ll call her—” Her back hit the wall, and her eyes closed. Her fingers were wrapped tightly around her clothes, holding them against her chest like a shield. “We have to go to the hospital, don’t we?”

“Elizabeth.” Jason gently placed his hands over hers, and her fingers went limp, the jeans and sweater falling to her feet. Her beautiful eyes shimmered with tears, and he knew the burning in his own would only be relieved when he let his own tears fall. “She’s—”

He couldn’t say it. Couldn’t form the words. How many times had he said them before? Why couldn’t he do it? He couldn’t. Because even though Elizabeth knew, even though he knew —

If it wasn’t said out loud, it wasn’t real.

Her lips trembled, and she closed her eyes. “Oh, God.” The words were ripped from her soul, a prayer to a deity who wasn’t listening. But then she dragged in a deep breath, and she opened her eyes. “Jason.” She hurled herself into his arms, and he dragged her against him, because it was true, wasn’t it? It was happening, and he hadn’t had to say the words, but they both knew.

He felt her tears as they hit his bare shoulder, and then the same sensation against his own cheeks. He lifted her into his arms and carried her over to the bed, sitting down on the edge. She drew back slightly, resting her forehead against his. “What happened?” she asked on a shaky breath. “Was it an accident?”

The words came now, though they weren’t easy. “No. They found her in the parking garage. Sonny said it was like…it was like…”

“Georgie.”

“Yeah.”

Elizabeth nodded, took another breath. She brushed her thumbs beneath his cheeks, gently brushing away his tears. But she didn’t say anything else. They just held each other.

General Hospital: Lab

“Supposed to be you?” Patrick echoed. Robin pulled out of his his arms, dragging her hands through her dark hair. “Robin—”

“Robin,” Mac said at the same time, and Patrick immediately fell silent. “Baby, can you tell me what you mean?”

She couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe. How could this be happening? It was too much. Too much all at once. The horror, the fear, the swirl of worry and anxiety, and the guilt—oh, god the guilt. “Kelly and Lainey.” Robin cleared her throat. “They asked me earlier. To go to Jake’s when we were done. Emily was going, too. It was—Em and I were going to meet them there.” Robin looked at her uncle, barely visible through the blur of tears. “Emily and I were going together. She was going to drive me.”

“Christ,” Mac managed. “But you didn’t go.”

“No.” And remembering why had Robin looking at Patrick with another dose of fear. If she was pregnant, oh, God, Patrick. He had to get tested — he had to be sure— She swallowed that for now. “Um. I didn’t go. I had some tests to run, and I just—I wasn’t up for it. So I told—I told Leyla. Leyla Mir. She’s a nurse here. They left together. Or they were supposed to. Leyla went because I didn’t.”

“Okay. Okay.” Mac absorbed that. “Okay. So Leyla Mir. I’ll—I’ll get someone who can identify—okay. Robin—” He looked at Patrick. “You’ll take care of her?”

“I don’t—”

“Yes,” Patrick cut in, his dark eyes eyes sweeping over hers. “Yes. I’m not letting her out of my sight.”

“Okay. I have to go—” Mac strode over and took Robin into a fierce, brief hug. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

He left, and Robin lowered herself onto the stool at her workstation. “I have to call Kelly and Lainey. And Jason. Oh, Elizabeth and Jason—” She bowed her head. “Patrick. Please tell me this isn’t real. Tell me it’s not.”

He came up behind her, pressed his lips to the top of her head. “I wish like hell I could. Call Kelly and Lainey. Jason—he’s family. Someone will talk to him. And then—can you—I know you said—but I need to know you’re all right. Will you come home with me?”

She should say no. She should be with Kelly and Lainey, who would be upset and grieving, too. She should be there for them.

But Patrick was the reason Robin’s body wasn’t lying in the parking garage. Patrick who had done nothing since their break up but stand by and do exactly what she’d asked of him, even when it had hurt him.

He was asking her for something, and for once, Robin was going to do what she wanted. “All right.” She looked at him, tears burning as they fell unchecked. “Yes. I don’t want to be anywhere else right now.”

General Hospital: Parking Garage

Lucky swallowed the bile that erupted in his throat as the medical examiner and his team lifted Emily onto the stretcher, and her limbs dangled lifelessly — her arms hanging over the side until they were tucked away inside the black body bag—

He couldn’t— he turned away, forcing himself to breathe. Breathe in. Breathe out. He owed Emily his best. He’d already failed her by not finding the son of bitch in time to stop what was happening — he couldn’t save Emily — but this son of a bitch was still out there, and with two more bodies, it was clear he wasn’t done.

There couldn’t be another one. Lucky wouldn’t let it happen.

Once Emily was moved, the examiner was able to get the second victim on the stretcher. When they lifted her, the hair was finally brushed away from her face. Lucky recognized her now. He’d seen her at a hospital function. “That’s a nurse,” he said. “It’s—”

“Robin said it’s probably Leyla Mir.”

Lucky turned to find the commissioner striding up. Mac put a hand on Lucky’s shoulder. “Robin was supposed to go with Emily to Jake’s tonight. She changed her mind, and asked Leyla to go at the last minute.”

“Oh, man.” Lucky absorbed the significance in that. “Mac—”

“Which means that should be Robin. We have to consider that, Spencer. The first victims were my stepdaughter and her roommate. The next would have been my niece and her friend. So far—” Mac’s face was gray as he forced out the next words. “So far the only thing the victims have in common is their connection to me.”

“Not the only.” Lucky’s mind could function now. Emily wasn’t laying there anymore. She was tucked away and gone. “They’re all dark haired — Georgie’s hair was dark blonde. Young. Emily, I think, was the oldest, and she’s only twenty-six. The youngest was nineteen.”

“Okay.” Mac’s face eased. “But Robin—”

“She’s not much older, right? Twenty-nine?”

“Yes. Thirty this year.”

“There you go.” Lucky shoved his hands in his pockets, watching as the crime scene unit continued to work. “And location. Parking garage. It’s riskier than the campus. There are more cameras. They’re already pulling them,” he added when Mac opened his mouth. “It’s a public location. He kills in pairs, Mac. That’s gotta mean something. If this guy wanted to hurt you specifically, there are easier ways.”

“That’s true.”

“Georgie probably took breaks in Kelly’s alone. Robin drives to work alone. But this guy didn’t grab them when they were alone.” Lucky’s mind was flying now with the list of things that had to be done. “We need to get cell phone records. Talk to friends and family. Robin would have said something if she was getting the phone calls and flowers like Georgie, but maybe Leyla was. We didn’t release that information to anyone else.”

“Spencer.” Mac nodded. “Yeah, we’ll do all of that. But you need to do something else first.”

Lucky exhaled slowly. “Yeah. I need to talk to my brother.” He thought of Elizabeth. This would destroy her — and against his will, he thought of Jason. For all they’d hated one another, they’d always loved Emily. “The Quartermaines?”

“I’m on my way to handle that. When you finish that notification, Lucky, you should stay—”

“I need to get started.” Lucky watched as the medical examiner’s team wheeled the bodies towards the elevators. “I can’t let this happen again.”

Quartermaine Estate: Pool House

Nothing cheered Lulu up more than deliberately choosing one of Dillon’s favorite movies to watch, and then needling him the whole time and getting film facts wrong.

“I think the resolution to who Rosebud is was the dumbest thing in this movie,” Lulu declared as the credits for Citizen Kane rolled. Dillon’s fingers tightened around the remote and he sent her a glare. “You know you agree.”

“I think I regret the day I met you,” he muttered. “Philistine. Imagine criticizing what every critic says is the best movie ever made—”

“Pfft…” Lulu grabbed a handful of popcorn. “Old white men. Everyone knows the best movie is Steel Magnolias.” Her eyes lit up. “Oh, no, wait. I think Naked Gun is the best—”

“It’s the best movie with a murderer in a starring role,” Dillon scowled. “You know, the fact that I ever thought I was interested in you boggles the mind—”

Spinelli watched them bicker back and forth, and found himself relaxing, even enjoying it. Lulu knew exactly how to push Dillon over the edge, and it truly was an amusing sight to see the Conflicted Film Major get all flustered and frustrated.

“Spinelli, tell Dillon I’m right.”

“Spinelli, tell Lulu that she’s going to burn in hell for—”

“Au contraire. Neither of you are, in fact, correct.” Spinelli grinned. “The best movie ever made is Hackers.”

Lulu gasped in mock horror and threw popcorn at him. “You need to take that back—”

“You would think that,” Dillon muttered.

Spinelli snickered, and leaned to the side to fish out the cell phone vibrating in his pocket. He frowned when he saw Stone Cold’s number. “That’s weird—”

Lulu opened her mouth, but then her phone started to ring. She flipped it open as Spinelli answered his phone.

“Stone Cold?”

“Spinelli. Can you—” Jason’s voice took a moment to steady itself, and a chill slithered down Jason’s spine. “Can you come home?”

“Of course. Is everything okay? Little Dude and Stone Cold the Sequel? Fair Elizabeth?”

“They’re—they’re okay. I just—if you could.”

“Of course.” Spinelli closed his phone, something swirling in his stomach. “Blonde One?”

“That was my brother.” Lulu’s blue eyes met his. “Lucky wants me to meet him at the boat launch. He said we need to go talk to Nikolas.”

Dillon frowned. “That’s weird. All at the same time? What could—” He stopped. “Wait.”

“Stone Cold said the family was good,” Spinelli said slowly. “But—”

“Jason and Nikolas only have one person in common,” Lulu said grimly. “Spinelli, we have to go. And Dillon—”

“Yeah, I think I need to head up to the main house.” Dillon dragged a hand through his wild blond hair. “Please tell me this isn’t happening again.”

Spinelli very much feared that Dillon’s hope would an empty one. “I’ll drop you at the pier,” he told Lulu. “Let’s go.”

Morgan Penthouse: Master Bedroom

Elizabeth’s fingers were shaking as she buttoned her jeans. “Do you think they’ve told Monica yet?” she asked dully. She glanced over at Jason who was pulling on a t-shirt.

“By now.” He cleared his throat. “I don’t know if we should—should we go over there or wait for them to call us—”

“Maybe Sonny knows. He said he’d keep you in the loop.” One foot in front of the other make. Make a list of what to do. There were steps that needed to be taken. Get dressed. Make sure someone was sitting with the boys. Then—

Elizabeth couldn’t fall apart again. Not yet. She didn’t want Jason to have to take care of her. She’d done that earlier. When he’d still be grappling with the horror, she’d broken, and he’d had to worry. She couldn’t do that to him. Emily was—

No, no. Don’t think about it. One foot in front of the other. Deep breath. One foot in the front of the other—

“Do you want to call your grandmother?”

“Spinelli should be fine. Gram—” Elizabeth rubbed her throat. Every word felt like it had to be dragged from deep within. “Gram is asleep. And I’m afraid of waking her with news like this. The boys—” Oh, God. Her babies. Cameron loved his aunt, and now Jake would never—

She bit down hard on her lip. Don’t fall apart. Don’t do it. One foot in front of the other. “They’ll sleep through the night.”

They stared at each other from opposite sides of the room. They’d both put on clothes. Jason had made his call.

And now—

“Um, I should call—” There had to be someone, didn’t there? Someone that needed to be told, something that she could do to fill the gap in the moment, because if she stopped—

One foot in front of the other. Keep moving. Don’t stop. Don’t think. Don’t look at Jason too hard because you’ll see it in his eyes and then you’ll fall apart and you need to be strong because he’s always the strong one and he doesn’t—

“Patrick. Or—” Her fingers fluttered and she found herself twisting the ring on her finger. The ring— She stared down at it. The ring he’d put on her finger a few hours ago.

Had that been tonight?

“Elizabeth.”

“We should go downstairs and wait for Spinelli,” Elizabeth said, but he snagged her elbow as she passed him, and she finally looked at him. “We have to—there are things to do, aren’t there?”

“No.” His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. “No. Not right now. You can stop moving. There’s nothing to do.”

The tears spilled past her lashes and she shook her head. “No, no. There is. I just have to think of it—” She bit her lip again, and tasted blood. “Because if I stop, and I look at you too long, it comes back and I think about Emily and how she’ll never know that we’re getting married and what a stupid, selfish to think about—but now Cameron won’t know her and Jake will never know her and why is that what’s going through my head and no!” She stopped him as he came towards her. “No. Don’t. I’m fine. I’m fine. You don’t have to take care of me. I’m supposed to—”

One foot in front of the other.

“I’m supposed to—” Her voice broke. “I can’t be selfish. I don’t want to be selfish and make you worry about me. I want to worry about you, but I don’t know how because there’s no room for any of it, because none of this is real, and this—” Her voice faltered and there was nothing left.

“Okay. Okay. I won’t worry about you.” Jason took a breath. “Then let me hold you because I need to. That’s what I need. I need—”

She didn’t let him finish, she went into his arms, wrapping hers around him tightly, his face buried in her hair as his shoulders shook. Okay. They’d find a way to take care of each other. Somehow.

Written in 55 minutes.

---

General Hospital: Lab

This couldn’t be happening. In fact, Robin decided that it wasn’t happening. The first time she ran the test, she was sure it was false. She’d made a mistake. She’d used the wrong calculations — she’d fed the information into the system incorrectly — she hadn’t drawn enough blood. Whatever it was, it had been wrong.

So she drew another vial of her blood and ran the test again. When it was still positive, Robin  went up to the locker room, snuck into Kelly’s locker and stole one of the emergency tests that her roommate kept, arguing to herself that Kelly would both understand and support this crime.

She returned to the lab, went into the bathroom, then waited five minutes for the results.

And despite the fact she’d run more scientific test twice first, it was the test Kelly had bought over the counter in a convenience store that convinced Robin.

She sat hard on her stool, the little white slab of plastic in her hands with a plus sign. There could be no mistake. Her hormone levels had been elevated in her blood, and then she’d peed on a stick.

She was pregnant. With Patrick’s baby.

Oh, God.

General Hospital: Parking Garage

“An orderly found the body,” Cruz told Lucky as they jogged down the aisle towards the site. “He didn’t do anything but see the legs sticking out from the car. Called it in right away.”

“He didn’t look?” Lucky demanded, his heart pounding as they rounded the last corner. “He didn’t try to identify it?”

“No—got spooked—”

Lucky stopped when he saw the cluster of uniforms standing at the end of a row. They were crowded around a red sedan.

A red sedan Lucky recognized. A terrible, hollow feeling swirled in the pit of his stomach and raced through his lungs, into his throat, and he just stood there, frozen. He couldn’t move a single step closer.

There was a set of legs just barely visible by the wheel. The toes were painted a cotton-candy pink, laced into a pair of strappy sandals.

“Spencer?”

The car had frozen him to the spot, but recognizing the shoes — oddly, they broke the paralysis and Lucky was able to move. He closed the distance and the uniforms stepped back, revealing the full scene.

Two bodies, tossed between the cars like broken dolls. Toward the back, by the wall, a woman lay on her side, her dark, almost black hair hanging over her face. A hand was extended, disappearing under the car. She wore a green tank top and a pair of black pants — the legs were obscured by the second body.

She lay on her back, her light brown hair tangled beneath her. Her eyes were closed, her mouth slack. Her arms were limply hanging by her body, likely where they had landed when she’d been thrown away like garbage. When her killer had completed the job —

Around her neck was a thin cord that Lucky recognized as the same that had been looped around Chelsea Rae’s. And he knew, even though he couldn’t see the neck of the first woman, he knew she would have the same dark, strangulation marks as Georgie Jones.

The same killer. The same victim profile. The same murder weapon.

“Spencer?” Cruz said again, but his voice was subdued. They all knew the identity of the second woman, but no one wanted to say it out loud.

But Lucky had a job to do. And she deserved the best he had to give.

“We’ll need family members to make the official identification, but someone needs—” He took another deep breath, and knelt down to look more closely at the bodies. “Victim number one is a young woman, likely in her early to mid twenties. Victim number one is in her late twenties and is tentatively identified as Emily Quartermaine.”

General Hospital: Operating Suite

Patrick tossed the remains of his mask into the garbage along with the protective yellow gauze gown he’d worn. He washed his hands, then removed the surgical cap with racing cars from his head. “I’ll be up to check his post-op in the morning,” he told Epiphany as they emerged from the operating room into the hallway. “You know the drill.”

“That I do—” Epiphany squinted. “What’s going on down there?” She gestured at the check-in desk where a cluster of doctors and nurses were talking.

“Don’t know.” Patrick made his way to the group. “What’s going on?”

Regina Johnson, one of the surgical student nurses, turned to him, her eyes wide. “Dr. Drake. Oh my god. They found a body in the parking garage—”

“Two!” Another nurse corrected. “They said it was two women—”

Two women. Christ. Patrick’s heart leapt into his throat. Robin was working tonight. What was her schedule? When was she done? “Do they know who?”

“Not yet. PCPD just sealed off the garage,” Andy Archer, an anesthesiologist said with a shudder. “Damn. I hope they didn’t work here—”

Patrick went for the elevators, jabbing the buttons rapidly. Damn it, damn it. He needed to get to the lab. He needed to know. When the elevator didn’t open fast enough, he raced for the stairs.

Morgan Penthouse: Master Bedroom

Elizabeth snuggled into Jason’s embrace, her left hand laying across his chest. She wiggled it so that the diamond glinted in the moon light slithering through one of the windows. “It still doesn’t seem real,” she murmured.

He stroked her hair lazily, sifting through the chestnut strands as they cascaded over her bare back, shoulder, and onto his own skin. “I wasn’t sure if it was too soon—”

“I don’t care.” She tilted her head up. “You and I both know it wasn’t. We’ve been dancing around each other for so many years. I wish I’d said yes last year.”

“Which time?”

She grinned. “Any of them. All of them.” Then her smile faded slightly, though her eyes stayed bright. “You asked before you even took the paternity test. I always wondered if you meant it.”

“I did. And I was disappointed when you said no. Both times,” he admitted. “I should have probably thought about that more than I did.”

“I wanted to say yes. I just—” She sighed, closed her eyes and laid her head back down. “But I’m also glad it was this way. Just us. No guilt. No lies. We had such a great time with the boys, and then you asked me when we weren’t trapped in an elevator. It was so normal.”

“Normal,” Jason repeated. “That’s a good thing?”

“It’s a great thing. So much of our lives can’t be normal, and I accept that. You’ll start working more, and I know what comes with it. But I like this this little piece of it—you, me, the boys—”

“—Spinelli—”

“We’re just a normal little family. Mom, Dad, two kids, and Spinelli.”

“I like it, too. Even Spinelli,” he admitted, and she laughed. “When do you want to start decorating a room for him?”

“We’ll have to make sure it’s just right so he doesn’t find out too soon—” Elizabeth paused when a phone rang in the distance. She sat up. “That’s the land line. Who would be calling it this late?”

“If it’s the front desk,” Jason said, also sitting, looking at the night table for his phone. “Wally will call my cell—”

The line downstairs rang twice more before falling a silent. A moment later, Jason’s phone lit up. He frowned. “It’s Sonny—”

“Guess it’s time for that normal to end,” Elizabeth said with a knowing smile. “I’ll go check on the boys.”

“Okay.” Jason watched her slid into a satin robe, then leave the room before flipping his phone open. “Sonny? What’s up?”

There was a heavy sigh on the other end that made Jason’s hair stand on end. “Jase. Listen. We just had a call from our guy at the PCPD.”

General Hospital: Lab

Patrick didn’t realize how convinced he was that Robin was one of the bodies in the parking lot until he shoved open the door to the lab and saw her at her workstation. The relief that flooded him was almost dizzying and he had to brace himself on the wall to keep his balance.

“Patrick?” Robin slid off the stool, her dark eyes creased with anxiety. “What’s wrong? What happened?”

“They found—” Patrick took a deep breath, dragged both his hands through his dark hair, leaving it disheveled. “They found—in the parking garage. They found two bodies. Two women.”

“Two—” She took a step towards him, and he lost it. He had to touch her, had to know she was real — Patrick yanked her into his arms, burying his face in her neck.

“It’s not you. I thought it would be you. Oh, God, I thought it was you.”

Robin patted his back a bit awkwardly. “You—okay, that’s too tight, Patrick.”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry—” He stepped back, but didn’t release her—he couldn’t. What if  this was a dream? A hallucination? What if he let her go and she faded away, and she was really—

“I’m okay,” she told him, her dark eyes searching his. “I’m okay. I’m right here. They—they don’t know who it is? Were they visitors or—how could it happen in the parking garage?”

“They didn’t say anything else.” Patrick forced himself to take a deep breath. She was here. She was making conversation. This was real. “I don’t think they know who it is yet. I just—I knew you were working, and you were done about now—”

“Oh, God—” Robin covered her mouth, the sharp cry echoing in the empty room. “Oh, God!”

“Robin?”

“It’s—” She looked around frantically, her eyes fastening on the clock on the wall. “It’s—it’s ten. When—when did they find them—”

“Robin—”

“Emily. Emily.” She lurched away from Patrick, back towards her workstation and scooped up her phone, her fingers trembling. “She’s not picking up her phone. She’s not—”

Realization dawned and Patrick swallowed hard. “Emily was working tonight?”

“We were supposed to go to the bar. Girl’s Night. She was meeting—She’s not answering because she’s driving. Or she’s dancing with someone.” Robin’s hand jerked as she dialed another number. “Kelly? Kelly! Did Emily get there yet?”

Patrick watched Robin’s expression, and he knew the minute it sunk in. Her eyes widened, found his, and then horror crept in. “She never showed up,” Robin said. The phone clattered to the ground. “Oh, God. Is it Emily? Oh, God.”

He strode forward and jerked her back into her his arms. “We’ll find out, okay? We’ll go—”

The lab door opened again, and Patrick turned to find Mac there. His face was grave. “I came to tell you—but I guess the rumors are already flying.”

“Mac?” Patrick asked, roughly. “What—who?”

Mac’s hands weren’t quite steady as he stepped inside and closed the door to the lab. “Emily was found in the parking garage,” he said quietly. “We’re still doing the notifications, but we can’t identify the other woman. Her hair is covering her face and the CSU—”

“Leyla Mir.” Robin’s cheeks were tear-stained, her voice trembled. “They were going to Jake’s together. I asked Leyla to go. Instead of me. Oh, God, it was supposed to be me.”

Morgan Penthouse: Bedroom

Elizabeth tucked Cameron in a little more tightly, brushing his curls back. Then she went over to Jake in the crib. He lay on his back, his arms stretched out his sides, his little hands curled in fists. She spent an extra minute staring at him, then stroked the silky blonde hair that was coming in more thickly. It was white-blond now, but she thought it would darken as he grew older. Would it be Sarah’s shade or Jason’s?

It almost seemed like a dream, she thought. A few months ago, they’d had their own rooms in a house that had never felt like their own. Now, they shared a room but she liked that. She wanted them to grow up and be close, to love one another the way she, Sarah, and Steven never had.

She touched the night light as she passed it, wondering again where Spinelli had found the motorcycle whose headlight emitted the soft light that kept the monsters away. He really was the sweetest kid.

She closed the door, then went down the hall, hoping it had been enough time for Jason to complete his business with Sonny. Oh, she hoped he didn’t have to leave. She had told him she could accept the less than normal nature of his job, and she really meant that, but tonight — when he’d just asked her to marry him — when it was nearly her birthday — oh she hoped he could stay. Just to stay in their bubble a few hours more.

Elizabeth had closed the door when she’d left, wanting to give Jason full privacy. She knocked lightly, but heard nothing in response. Worried, she pushed it open. He’d turned on the lamp at the side of the bed, and she could see Jason on the edge of the bed, the phone still flipped open in his hand but he was staring at it.

“Jason?” She tipped her head. “Is everything okay? Do you need to go?”

His shoulders tensed, and he took a deep breath before looking at her. His eyes were still shadowed, and she couldn’t see them clearly.

But she knew him. She knew every line of his body, his face— “Jason?” she asked again, but her voice was quiet.

Whatever he said next, she knew, oh, she knew it was going to be devastating.

And even though she had braced herself for the worst, oh God, nothing could have prepared her for it.

“Emily,” Jason managed. “It’s Emily.”

Took 68 minutes. Started ten minutes late because my mom called and then I took an extra eight minutes to finish it well. See you Monday. *evil cackle*

---

Street

“You know, I could get behind the idea of a leash,” Elizabeth called as Jason lengthened his stride to catch up with Cameron as he zoomed down Maple Avenue as fast as his little legs could carry him. Elizabeth followed behind more sedately with the double stroller, Jake dozing inside.

She had to laugh as Jason caught up with the miniature Spiderman just as he reached the edge of another residence. He scooped up Cameron, who just giggled. It wasn’t the first time he’d made Jason chase him tonight, but it might be the last. Her grandmother’s house was only a few away.

How did Cameron still have energy after going door to door at the Towers, stopping in at Kelly’s, and then hitting her grandmother’s neighborhood? It was truly mystifying, and she was a bit envious—and worried. Next year, they’d have two of them.

She waited patiently on the sidewalk as Jason helped Cameron climb the stairs to the next house, hold out his bucket and his brother’s. She couldn’t quite let herself believe that a year from today, she would still be living this dream — this fantasy life where she had a healthy relationship with a man she’d loved for most of her adult life, raising two healthy, perfect little boys.

“Mommy, Mommy, Mommy—” Cameron panted as he dashed back down the front walk. “I gots a huge Hershey bar—look! No fun size!” He yanked out the full-size bar. “Best house.”

Elizabeth looked at Jason. “How about I chase him for the rest of the walk, and you can take the stroller?”

“You mean, after I did it for three blocks, you want the last three houses?” Jason grinned, kissed her lightly. “I can finish it. He’ll fall asleep five seconds after we get to Audrey’s.”

“Let’s hope so, otherwise he’ll want to eat more candy and then he’ll never go to bed.”

PCPD: Squad Room

Lucky was not in the mood for whatever scheme Sam had cooked up, but he saw the eyes of the uniforms behind him. “Okay,” he said, reluctantly. “Let’s go talk. You can tell me what happened—”

“I just told you—” Sam wrenched out of his grasp when he touched her shoulder, intending to direct her towards his desk. “I told you what happened. Go do something about it!”

“I need a few more details. Sam, you can either file a full report or go home. These are the options,” Lucky said, and his tone must have broken through because she scowled, then marched over to his desk and sat down.

“I want you to arrest him. Tonight. Go find him—”

“First, you tell me what happened.” Lucky sat down, picked up a pencil and reached for his notepad. “Where were you and what was the threat?”

“I was just minding my own business, going to Kelly’s, and he was there with your whore ex and their bastard—”

His fingers clenched around the pencil, though of course it wouldn’t be a surprise that they were out as a family on Halloween. He exhaled slowly. “What did he say to you?”

“He told me no one would even miss me if I disappeared, and that’s not true! But he—” Sam’s voice shook, and he looked up to see fat tears sliding down her cheek. “He told me that I had to go away. To leave Port Charles. He wants me gone, and if I don’t leave on my own, he’ll make me go—”

Lucky frowned. “He told you all of this with Elizabeth and the kids right there?”

She narrowed her eyes. “Are you calling me a liar?”

Lucky had little doubt that there had been some kind of run-in with Jason that night, but the words rang him false. He’d known Jason Morgan for a decade. A few weeks ago, he thought, he might have leapt to accept the story.

But tonight, after reviewing the cold case file of two murdered young women, Lucky was just tired. And in no mood for Sam’s schemes.

“I am asking you if Elizabeth heard him,” he said carefully, “because then she could be a witness—”

“She’d just lie! You know that! That’s all she does is lie—”

“It happened at Kelly’s?” Lucky said. “There’s security cameras there—”

Sam nodded. “Yes. Yes. They’ll show what happened. You’ll see it. I just went into the courtyard and they were there, and he grabbed me and yanked me into the alley. Look—” She dragged up her sleeve — but there wasn’t a single mark. “It’s red—”

“It’s not.” Lucky set down his pencil. “You’re not going to tell me that maybe you said something to start a scene?”

“So what if I did, that makes it okay—”

“It makes it understandable if you started calling Elizabeth names in front of her kids that Jason would want you to get away from her—”

“He doesn’t have the rights to put his hands on me. That’s assault!”

“Uh huh. Well, I’ll go the diner in the morning. Get the tapes.” Lucky shrugged. “We’ll see what it says.”

“No! No!” Sam leapt to her feet. “You have to go after him now! Tonight! I want him arrested!”

“You mean track him down while he’s out with the kids, so Cameron can watch him be arrested,” Lucky said, and the flush in her cheeks only deepened. Bullseye. “Not a chance, Sam. It’s not a high priority, and it’s just your word against his. He’s not a flight risk. I’ll pull the tapes—”

Sam growled and swiped at his desk, shoving files and anything else to the floor. The uniforms at the desk snapped to attention, but Lucky held them off with a hand. “You’re a weak bastard! You won’t even act when I’m giving you everything!”

Lucky hoped, even on his worst day before he’d lost the custody case, he wouldn’t have jumped at the chance to humiliate Jason in front of the kids—in front of Cameron, who had already seen too much. But he knew himself better than that. He’d already done it once — arrested Jason the night the man had brought Jake home. He’d done that in front of Cameron—

“You’re giving me a story that I have to verify,” Lucky said. He rose to his feet. “You can sign the statement, and I’ll pull the tapes. Or you can go home and forget all of this. Those are the options, Sam—”

“Go fuck yourself. I’ll take care of it myself,” she spat and stalked out. He sighed, and started to clean up his desk.

He didn’t want to get involved, but for the sake of the boys, he’d call Emily in the morning and ask her to pass on the message to Jason and Elizabeth — Sam wasn’t going away quietly.

For now, he’d clean up his desk and go back to hoping for a miracle — that a lead would break in Georgie and Chelsea’s case.

General Hospital: Nurse’s Station

Emily checked her watch. “An hour. Sixty minutes until we get out of these scrubs and go have some fun.” She nudged Robin in the shoulder as she stepped into the nurse’s station. “Are you ready?”

Robin bit her lip, looked at the doctor from the corner of her eye. “You’re going to be mad.”

“Oh—you’re not ditching me, are you? Come on. Kelly and Lainey still think I took the wrong side in the divorce—”

“Oh, I wish you wouldn’t say it like that,” Robin grumbled. “Just call it a breakup—”

“I would, but your roommates have decided that it’s more like a divorce, and we’re the kids choosing between Mom and Dad.” Emily rolled her eyes. “I love them, but—”

“But sometimes they support you so much that you want to set them on fire. I get it. They mean well, but I don’t have the energy for their kind of support.” Robin shook her head. “Go out with them tonight. Have a few drinks. Ogle some guys. You’ll be fine.”

“Why are you ditching me?” Emily demanded, planting her hand on her hip. “Give me one good reason.”

“I’m tired. I just want to go home, curl up in bed, and just—” Robin returned to the computer, tapped a few keys. “I want to go to sleep.”

“Did you ever make an appointment with your doctor?”

Robin made a face. “No. It’s just—”

“Robin. You promised me you would do that. Over a week ago. Listen.” Emily stepped closer, lowering her voice. “I know how hard it is to lose someone you love so violently. My dad died of a heart attack, but he might have survived if he hadn’t had to wait for medical attention. And there are days that still make me stop, to force myself to stop looking for him everywhere I go at home.”

“Em—”

“And I’m not saying that six weeks is enough time to get over what happened — a lifetime won’t be—”

Six weeks when it felt like a life time— Robin’s thoughts stuttered to a stop. Six weeks. She swallowed hard. Georgie had been murdered on September 14. Her service had been a few days later. And it was now October 31.

Oh, God.

“Robin?” Emily touched her shoulder. “You just went all pale and weird. What’s up?”

“It’s been six weeks.”

“Yes,” Emily said, a bit hesitantly. “I know. And it’s—”

“No. No. That’s not—” Robin scrubbed her hands down her face. “Never mind. Never mind. Um, look, tell Kelly and Lainey that I dipped because I was tired. I promise we’ll do something next week, okay?”

“Okay,” Emily said, a bit hesitantly. “Maybe I should call them and tell them I won’t come here—”

“No. No. You should, and if you’re nervous about hanging with Kelly and Lainey on your own—” Robin looked around, her attention snagged on the pretty dark-haired nurse at the other station. “Leyla.”

Leyla Mir turned, frowned slightly. “Yes? Did you need something?”

“Do you have plans tonight?” Robin asked. “Emily needs some reinforcements since I’m dropping out of Girl’s Night. Why don’t you go with her?”

Leyla looked at Emily. “When?”

“Oh. In about an hour — well an hour and some change,” Emily corrected. “I have to change. You in?”

“Sure. I’ll be done then, too.” Leyla picked up her chart. “Sounds like fun.”

Hardy House: Living Room

Jason had predicted correctly — the adrenaline rush of the night caught up with Cameron nearly ten minutes after they arrived at Audrey’s.

He’d been on the sofa playing with his action figures while Jason changed Jake’s diaper and Elizabeth and Audrey sorted through the candy. One second, he’d been planning the death of his Deadpool character — and then the next, he was leaning back, his little mouth open and his eyes closed.

“Oh, uh oh. Man down.”

“He had himself quite the adventure,” Audrey said. “You should change him into his pajamas so you can just put him to bed when you get home. Before he’s completely out.”

“Yeah, otherwise, he might get his second wind.” Elizabeth retrieved the PJs she’d brought just for that reason and went to the couch, carefully stripping off the costume. Cameron grumbled but didn’t really fight.

“He seems so happy,” her grandmother murmured, and Elizabeth looked over at her. “He’s adjust well to everything that’s happened.”

“Better than I thought,” Elizabeth admitted. “I worried, I guess. This last year, he’s been through so much.” She stroked Cameron’s curls. “From the apartment to here to living at the house, then here again, and now another new room. But it’s been smoother than I expected. Than I deserved, really.”

“Jason seems to have an excellent relationship with him.”

“He and Cameron connected almost instantly, but it helped that Cam already knew him.” Elizabeth slipped socks onto Cameron’s feet, then came back to tuck away the costume for playtime use.

“Have you talked to Cameron about the adoption?”

“No, no, I think he’s just a little young to really understand it. He doesn’t ask for Lucky anymore. Not since, oh, I think, a week or two after we moved into the penthouse. Jason’s home with them everyday, so I guess he doesn’t even notice Lucky isn’t around. He wasn’t around much this last year anyway.” Elizabeth started to pack the candy back into the buckets, having divided it more evenly between Cameron and Jake’s, so that Spinelli would have some to enjoy, too. “We thought that once we start calling Jason Dad around Jake, Cameron might just…”

“Start doing it, too?”

“Or it’ll help us start the conversation, at least. I don’t know. How did you handle it with Gramps and Uncle Tom?” Elizabeth asked. “He was around the same age, wasn’t he?”

“Oh, well, we didn’t even bother with adjustment. I just started to referring to Steve as Daddy, and Tommy went along with it.” Audrey glanced up as Jason came back from the kitchen, with Jake in his own pajamas and freshly diapered.

“He didn’t make it long,” Jason noticed, handing Jake to Elizabeth. “Do you want to head home? We’ll see you tomorrow, right?” he asked Audrey. “For Elizabeth’s birthday?”

Elizabeth wrinkled her nose. “Oh, we don’t have to do anything—”

“Hush,” her grandmother said, smacking her hand playfully. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world. But you better take my great-grandbabies home and tuck them in safely. Thank you for bringing them by and letting me enjoy them.”

PCU Campus: Kappa Sigma House

“This party is stupid,” Lulu grumbled, folding her arms over her white robes. “And my hair itches. Why can’t you ever let me make changes?”

“Leia is, like, iconic for the buns,” Dillon said, glaring at her. “Why’d you put me in charge of the costumes if you were going to complain all night?”

Spinelli just rolled his eyes and swirled his orange soda in the red plastic cup he carried. Lulu and Dillon had spent too much time bickering with one another, and it mostly felt forced, he thought. As if they wanted to bring back their old dynamic of Dillon taking movies too seriously, and Lulu making fun of him —

But it didn’t work anymore. Georgie wasn’t here to take Dillon’s side, and Spinelli couldn’t pipe up with any of his weird movie facts that would cut all the tension — Maxie had refused to come along, so there was no one to be sarcastic and call them losers —

Everyone had had their own little role to play in the group, and now it was empty.

“I don’t hate the hair,” Lulu said, suddenly. She exhaled slowly, looked at Dillon. “I’m sorry. I’m just—I thought if we came tonight, if we tried—”

“Yeah.” Dillon hesitated. “Let’s do something else. Why don’t we go grab Maxie and Coop and we’ll head over to the pool house on the Q estate?” he suggested. “We’ll just—we’ll do something that’s just us.”

“He means we’ll watch movies and argue about them,” Lulu told Spinelli, “but yeah, that’s better than this. Let’s go.”

Morgan Penthouse: Living Room

“Well, they’re both sound asleep,” Elizabeth said, stepping off the last step just as Jason set the phone back on the receiver. “Who was that?”

“Spinelli. He’s going to spend the night with Dillon.” He drew her into his arms, and she went, happily. “So it’s just us.”

“Oh.” Elizabeth raised a brow. “Really? All by ourselves with the whole downstairs to ourselves? We don’t have to worry about Spinelli coming in and surprising us? Whatever will we do?”

“I have a few ideas.” He dipped his head, kissing her, softly, lingering over it. He didn’t mind Spinelli living here — and he knew Elizabeth and the kids loved him. But it was nice, every once in a while, to have Elizabeth and the place to himself.

“Sometimes, I wish we’d had more time by ourselves,” she said wistfully. “You know. Dating before we became parents. Does sound selfish?”

“No.” He slid his hands down, tucking them into the back pockets of her jeans. “Being able to just take off, go for a drive without thinking about who’s going to watch the boys—I get it.”

“But…” Elizabeth slid her hands down his chest, smiling up at him. “But I also love it. Being out there with you tonight, watching you chase after Cameron to keep him safe but also letting him be a wild and crazy kid—I hope it never gets old. That I never stop appreciating how amazing it’s been these last few weeks.”

“You won’t, and neither will I. I love watching him experience life, and to do all these little things. To be with them everyday when I thought I’d never get to be in Jake’s life at all—” Jason shook his head, with a bit of amazement. “I just wish I could promise it’ll always be like this.” When she frowned slightly, he added, “Quiet, I mean. I have to start going back to work a bit more. Sonny was holding things down because of custody—”

“Ah.”

“But it won’t be all the time. I told Sonny that I want time. That I need it for us.” He kissed her again. “It won’t be like the last time you lived here, Elizabeth. I promise.”

“I believe you. And I wasn’t worried about that. We’re different now.”

“Actually—” Jason stepped away from her and went to his desk, opened the drawer. “There was something I wanted to talk to you about. To, uh, bring up when the custody hearing was over, and your divorce was close to being finalized. Diane said it would be another week, maybe two?”

“Something like that, I forget the actual date, but yes. She wanted to give me the name change paperwork so I can go back to Webber, and we’ll need to take care of the boys—”

“I was thinking maybe you could hold off. On taking back your maiden name.” Jason held out a ring box, flipped open to a diamond ring.

Her eyes widened, as she looked at it for a long moment, then at him. “Jason.”

“If it’s too soon, that’s okay. I just wanted you—”

“Yes.”

He stopped, swallowed. “Yes, it’s too soon, or—”

Elizabeth rolled her eyes and put her arms around his neck. “Yes, I’ll marry you. Just name the time and place. I should have said yes the first three times you asked—”

“As long as you said it eventually.” He kissed her, then slid the ring on her finger where the stone caught the light. “Happy early birthday,” he told her, then kissed her again, promising himself and her that this was only the beginning.

General Hospital: Parking Garage

“It’s all right if I’m bit a nervous, isn’t it?” Leyla asked. “It’s not as though Kelly and Lainey are my biggest fans — not after last fall—”

“That puts you in good company,” Emily murmured, stopping at the edge of the parking garage, trying to remember where she’d parked that morning. “Oh, okay. I’m down this way. End of the row.” They started towards her car, the only sounds the clicking of their shoes against the concrete.

“Kelly and Lainey don’t love me right now either because of Patrick, so at least I’ll have an ally,” she told Leyla. “They’ll have to get over it sometime, because I’m not in the mood—”

Leyla had fallen a step or two behind Emily because of her shorter legs, so it took Emily a moment to register the strange grunt she heard — and by the time she was spinning around and heard a sharp cry cut off — all she saw was a blurred figure and something in his hand as he raised it up.

Then her head exploded in pain, and Emily fell to the ground, the vision graying until it went black.

And then there was nothing.

Written in 58 minutes.

---

General Hospital: Locker Room

“We need a Girl’s Night,” Kelly declared. She leaned against Robin’s locker. “Come on. Tell me you’ll come out with me and Lainey tonight.”

Robin started to close her locker, her eye catching the Christmas photo again, Georgie’s bright smile. Six weeks. How could it be so long already? Hadn’t it been only yesterday?

And somehow it felt like it had been years since that terrible day.

“Emily said she’d join us. It’ll be like old times.”

“What about Elizabeth?” Robin asked. Kelly winced, looked away. “Yeah, so much for old times, right? She’s still angry with Lainey—”

“Lainey was just doing her job—”

“She never should have agreed,” Robin muttered, then took a deep breath. “Lainey was Elizabeth’s friend. It was a conflict of interest. Elizabeth has a right to be angry, and Lainey is the one who should apologize.”

“I guess that’s a no—”

“Kel—” Robin shook her head. “No, I’ll go. Elizabeth couldn’t go today anyway. It’s Halloween, and she’s got kids.”

“Great. We’ll meet in the lobby after shift. Around seven?” Kelly asked.

“I don’t get done until nine,” Robin said. “You guys go without me and I’ll meet you at the bar.”

“We’ll have a great time. You’ll see.”

Morgan Penthouse: Living Room

Elizabeth rolled up the bottom of the blue spandex pant legs — Cameron was just a bit too short for the ones at the store, and she hadn’t had a chance to hem them. “Now remember, you are a human boy,” she told him.

“Yes, Mommy. Human boy.” He flashed her a smile. “But Spiderman climbs walls.” He raised his hands. “I climb—”

“Nothing. Human boy.” Elizabeth straightened his red and blue top that matched the legs, and looked over at Spinelli. “You look fine.”

“The Jackal feels very uncomfortable,” Spinelli muttered as he adjusted the long brown robe. “The Blonde One would not listen to reason on the situation.”

“Come here.” Elizabeth went over to the tech and checked the fit on the robe. She knelt down to pin up the bottom. “You make an excellent Obi-Wan Kenobi. And you know, it just shows you how smart Lulu thinks you are—”

“Conflicted Film Major is Han Solo,” Spinelli said glumly. “And the Fair One is his Princess Leia. The Jackal thinks he is out of luck.”

“The Jackal—” Elizabeth rose to her feet, and smiled at him. “The Jackal is going to find someone who loves you just the way you are. You’ll go to this party tonight, you’ll try very hard to have a good time—”

“You look awesome, Snelli.” Cameron offered a thumbs up, and Spinelli smiled. “We go battle?”

“Wish I were going out with the Stone Colds,” Spinelli muttered. He looked over as Jason emerged from the kitchen where he’d been cleaning Jake up after dinner. “What is the Littlest of Dude’s costume tonight?”

“Oh, I found the best one for his first Halloween.” Elizabeth returned to the bag on the desk and pulled out a package filled with soft green fabric. “Jake’s going to be a dinosaur.” She grinned at Jason. “He’s going to look so cute!”

“Dinos not cute, Mommy,” Cameron told her seriously. “They roshus.”

“Roshus?” Spinelli asked.

“Ferocious,” Jason corrected. He held Jake out, and Elizabeth started to wiggle him into the full body costume. Jake protested and squirmed, but Elizabeth was determined. Jason glanced over at Spinelli. “You’re going to stick with Lulu and Dillon all night, right?”

“Yes, sir, Stone Cold. The Jackal has his orders. The Blonde One had it directly from Detective Dingus. Drive together. Stick like glue. Leave together. The Jackal will make no more mistakes.”

“You trick or treat, Snelli?” Cameron wanted to know. “Get candy? I gets lots of candy. Mommy said I not eat it all.”

“No candy for the Jackal.” Spinelli sounded more disappointed than a nineteen-year-old probably should, but Elizabeth thought maybe there hadn’t been many Halloweens in his youth. He so rarely spoke about his childhood.

“Well, Jake is going to have a whole bucketful, Spinelli. You and Cameron can overdose together,” she promised him. She zipped the back of Jake’s costume and adjusted the hood so that Jake’s face peeked out of the dinosaur’s large mouth rimmed with white fabric teeth. “Okay, time for pictures.”

Jason waited for Elizabeth to set Cameron on the sofa, then put his brother  next to him. Jake looked confused and kept waving his hands, grabbing at the teeth. He glanced at Spinelli who was making his way towards the door. “Hey. Where are you going?” he asked Spinelli. “You heard Elizabeth. Pictures.”

Spinelli stopped, his eyes wide. “The Jackal?”

“You’re in a costume, aren’t you?” Elizabeth snagged his elbow. “Next year, I’ll find a way to get you into a costume,” she warned Jason. “Just you wait.”

“Not going to happen.”

“Stone Cold protests too much.” Spinelli went to the sofa, and sat next to Cameron. “The Fair Elizabeth could do it.”

“I have a whole year to plot,” Elizabeth promised Jason, who looked a bit more worried than he had before. “Now—” She raised her digital camera. “Pictures.”

Scorpio House: Living Room

Maxie ripped open a bag of cheap candy and poured it into a white bowl, not even noticing as it spilled over the rim — or maybe not caring. The door opened and she looked over to find Mac coming in. “Hey.”

“Hey. You all ready for trick or treaters?” He kissed the top of her head, rubbed her shoulder.

“Yeah. I was gonna go sit on the porch. Coop is coming by later to keep me company.” Maxie bit her lip. “Mac?”

“Yeah?” He glanced up, a stack of mail in his hands. “What’s up?”

“I’m sorry.”

He tipped his head. “For what? Did I miss something?”

“No. Nothing new, I promise. I, um, for everything, I guess. For going crazy last year.” Maxie  nibbled on her bottom lip. “After Jesse, it all felt like a blur, and I was so stupid thinking Lucky was the answer to any of it, and I did terrible things to keep him and then I was so out of control, you had to keep fixing me—”

“Maxie—”

“And you worried so much about me that you couldn’t even see Georgie, and Georgie needed you more than I did, but she felt like she couldn’t ask, and that’s my fault. And I guess I’m sorry for what happened at her memorial. I’m supposed to be sorry for that.” The words poured out of her because now she’d started and couldn’t stop. “But I don’t know how to be. I was just so mad and I miss Georgie, and I miss my mom, and damn it—” She dug her the heels of her palms into her eyes. “Damn it. I missed my dad. I knew him, you know? He was here, and then he wasn’t. And they’re both not here. And now Georgie’s gone and it feels like everyone thinks the wrong sister died—”

“Hey. Hey.” Mac came to her, dragged her into a hard hug. “Stop it. No one thinks that.”

“They do, you know they do—”

“Well, I don’t think that,” Mac cut in. He kissed the top of her head again. “You’re okay, honey. It’s okay. You’re handling it the best you can, okay?”

Maxie sniffled. “It’s so hard. It’s like I’m drowning and every time I come up for air another waves crashes over, and I go down again, and I just—I don’t want to get up anymore. Because Georgie should be here, and it’s stupid, and I hate it. I hate everything. I hate my life. I hate myself. I hate anyone who ever smiles. How can anyone be okay?”

She pushed away from her stepfather, her chest heaving. “How is anyone okay? The world stopped spinning and it’s like no one noticed! No one cares! Georgie should be here. Why isn’t she here? Why did this happen?”

“I don’t know. I don’t have the answers.”

“There aren’t any.” Just as quickly as the rush had fallen over her, it faded and Maxie was just standing here, pale-faced, cheeks tear-stained. “There aren’t any answers. That’s the truth. Even if you find out who did this, it won’t answer the question. His why won’t make sense, you know? Because there is no why. There is no reason. There’s no point to any of this.”

She swiped her eyes. “And that’s the real question. Why everyone keeps pretending like any of it matters. We just breathe until we die, and there’s no point to anything in between.”

“Maxie—”

“I’m fine. I’m fine. It’s—I’m not going to do anything stupid.” She forced a smile. “I can’t. I have to live for all of us now. For BJ because she never got the chance and now for Georgie. It’s up to me. I have to find a way to be okay. Because I’m all that’s left.” She picked up the bowl and went out to the porch, leaving Mac alone and speechless.

General Hospital: Nurse’s Station

“I’m going to be stuck here for the rest of my life,” Emily muttered, tapping away at keys. She looked up as Kelly and Lainey emerged from the hallway that led to the locker room. They’d already changed for the bar, done their hair and makeup. She hated them both right now as she was still in her scrubs, her hair shoved into a messy tail.

“You’ll save me and Robin a table, won’t you?” she asked Kelly as they approached. “I promise, I’ll drag her out with me.”

“You’d better,” Lainey threatened. “She needs to get back into the world. We’re going to try to find her Mr. Right—”

“Or Mr. Right Now,” Kelly added.

Emily just rolled her eyes. She picked up her next set of charts, left the nurse’s station, avoiding the maintenance worker who nearly ran into her on his way to the elevator. “Yeah, yeah. We’ll be there.”

“Don’t let Robin flake,” Kelly ordered, stabbing a finger at Emily. “You both finish at nine. I expect you at Jake’s no later than nine-thirty.”

“Yeah, okay. Have fun and don’t drink all the liquor before we get there.”

Kelly’s: Courtyard

“Please, please, please—” Cameron danced in front of Elizabeth. “Just one piece. Just one, Mommy?”

Elizabeth sighed, and looked at Jason. “What do you think? You think he’s been good enough for a piece of candy before we go see Gram?”

“I think—” Jason lifted Cameron onto a chair. “Just one won’t hurt anyone.”

“Really? Because he did just have an entire milkshake and ice cream cone at lunch the other day,” Elizabeth reminded him dryly. Jason made a face. “He’s tough to say no to—” They both looked at Cameron, standing on the chair, his Spiderman mask pushed back on his head. He grinned and waved at them. “Get his bucket.”

Jason snorted, and went to the stroller to pick up Cameron’s orange bucket, filled nearly to the brim with candy. As he brought it to the table and started to pluck through it for a sealed piece that seemed safe, he heard footsteps behind him.

“Well, isn’t this cozy.”

He tensed, turned to find Sam in the arched entrance. Elizabeth went to the stroller to lift Jake into her arms.

“You know what, Cam?” Jason said. “We’ll get candy at your grandmother’s.”

“Oh, don’t leave on my account.” Sam sauntered into the courtyard. “Looks like you’re having a fun time. Cameron, right?”

Cameron’s face was scrunched up because, even as a small child, he could read the tension in the air. “Mommy?”

“Looks like Mommy has her hands full,” Sam said as Elizabeth opened her mouth. “Has to keep an eye on your little brother. You know, bad things happen when you look away.”

Elizabeth narrowed her eyes, her mouth was pinched. She looked at Jason, and he grimaced. He set the bucket down and strode across the courtyard. He took Sam by the arm, squeezed it tightly. “Let’s go.”

He didn’t give her a choice, nearly dragging her out of the courtyard and around the corner. He released her with almost a shove, and Sam hit the wall.

“Wow, you’re rougher than you used to be,” she said with a wince. “Didn’t know you were abusing women—”

“Don’t come near them again,” Jason said, and she looked at him, smirked. “I could have told the police what Maureen told me,” he told her. “Amelia still could.” Sam’s smile faded. “Maybe the charges wouldn’t stick, but the damage would be done. Everyone would know what you did.”

“You—”

“I told you. Stay away from Elizabeth. Stay away from the kids. Did you think I was bluffing?” he demanded. She glared back at him, her eyes glittering. “Did you think that because you’re a woman, you’re safe?”

“I didn’t—”

“You’ve done enough,” he cut in. “You have a choice, Sam. Walk away and get over it, or keep pushing me. Do you really think anyone would miss you if you disappeared?”

Her mouth fell open and he could see now that she believed him. “You wanted to marry me—”

“That was before I knew who you really are. Someone who uses children. Doesn’t care about hurting them. The woman I loved, Sam? Doesn’t exist. I was just another mark to you—”

“That’s not true—”

“Make your choice, Sam. Because I won’t warn you again.”

He left her standing there, pale and shaking and returned to his family, without an ounce of regret in his heart. Whatever history, whatever affection he’d had for her, it had disappeared the moment he’d learned her role in Jake’s kidnapping. And whatever guilt he’d felt was gone now too.

He wasn’t going to let Sam keep sabotaging his life. No matter what he had to do.

“Everything okay?” Elizabeth asked when Jason came back. He nodded and went over to Cameron who was still standing, a bit confused.

“Hey, buddy. Let’s find you some candy, okay?”

PCPD: Squad Room

Lucky stared at the results of the lab testing, a sick feeling swirling in his gut. He knew he’d have to call Mac with this, have to tell the man that despite all their best efforts —

They had nothing.

They’d developed a DNA profile from Georgie’s fingernail clipping, but there was no match in the system. There were no more leads. Nothing to follow.

The case was cold. He sighed, set the test down. It could wait until tomorrow.

“I don’t care!”

He glanced up at the familiar voice, grimacing when he recognized it as Sam. She pushed past one of the cops at the front desk. “Lucky. Lucky. You need to help me.”

He slowly rose, already exhausted. “What?”

“Jason.” Her lower lip trembled. “He just threatened to kill me.” A tear slid down her cheek. “You have to help me. I’m so scared.”