Written in 20 minutes. It might be terrible. Who knows.

“Shouldn’t we go back to the flat?” Patrick asked as Anna docked the boat, and Robert and Jason began lifting Elizabeth carefully to avoid jarring her. “We have to rethink—”

“No, Laura, Sonny, and Spinelli are already at the airport, and the flat may be compromised.” Anna turned to her son-in-law. “We have everything need on the plane and in our kits.”

“Even for an emergency transfusion?” Patrick demanded. “Damn it—and where hell is Luke and Lucky? I need someone to punch—”

“And mess with those hands?” Robin asked as he offered a hand for her to climb from the boat to the dock. “We’re gonna need them.”

Patrick looked at his wife—his miraculous wife who was standing in front of him as if the nightmare of the last year hadn’t happened—and swallowed hard. “She didn’t even get the chance to see Jake. Not really.”

“What happened to the man that did brain surgery by flash light?” Robin’s teasing tone fell short as she climbed into the van, looking away from Jason, cradling Elizabeth in the back seat. “Patrick—”

“I never should have let her come,” Patrick muttered. “We should have locked her up.” He took a deep breath. “But she’s like Cam and would have found a way to come anyway. Emma helped tie up your cousin, by the way.”

“Which knots did she use?” Robin asked.

—

The airport on Mykonos was still within sighting distance of Cassadine Island and Laura found herself watching the land, waiting for something.

“I thought you said the guards were coming to the marina,” she said to Spinelli as the tech scowled at his computer screens. “How much time do we have to get in the air?”

“I don’t know. I can’t track the boats, and I can’t—” Spinelli hissed as one of his screens went dark. “Damn it—” He turned as Sonny emerged from the bathroom, Jake still in his arms. Laura’s face softened.

“Jake. I didn’t get a chance to even look at you,” she murmured. “Thanks, Sonny.”

“You’re my grandma,” Jake said as Sonny set him on the ground. The little boy sniffed and swiped his nose with the back of his hand. “Uncle Nikolas showed me lots of pictures.”

“That’s how you knew your parents,” Sonny said. He exhaled slowly. “He went to Jason and Elizabeth,” he murmured to Spinelli. “If we’d known that, we could have kept Elizabeth home.”

“They’re on their way to the hangar now,” Spinelli said. He hesitated. “But Robert didn’t sound hopeful. It’s bad.” He turned back to Laura and Jake, found it in himself to smile. “But look at Little Stone Cold. He’s here. He’s alive. And he’s okay. That’s something. And they got Doctor Robin, didn’t they? Mission accomplished.”

There was a screech of wheels of the van pulled into the hangar. Laura stepped in front of Jake and Sonny hurried over to her. “We should get him on the plane before—”

“Mommy?” Jake said, his voice worried. “Why is Daddy carrying her? She’s—” He tugged on Laura’s pant leg. “She’s hurt.”

“We need to get her on the plane so we can help her. Sonny—” Laura looked at him. “Take him on the plane. But stay away from the back. That’s where Luke has Lucky locked up.”

“Should toss him out on the way back to New York,” Sonny muttered, but lifted Jake in his arms and strode towards the plane’s steps. Spinelli went after them, still cradling his laptop looking over the security cameras.

Laura blanched as she saw the spread of dried blood on Elizabeth’s midsection as Jason carefully set her in Robert’s arms so he could get out of the van. “Robin—” Laura touched the doctor’s shoulder. “I’m so glad to see you—”

“Me, too. Patrick and I are going to get washed up. We need to be in the air, but I want to get her stabilized so we can—” Robin shook her head and went after her father, Patrick, and Anna, leaving Laura with Jason for the moment.

“She made me promise,” Laura said. “I’m sorry, Jason, she made me promise I’d go as soon as Jake was safe.” She hesitated. “Did you—what happened to Nikolas?”

“I know. It’s—” Jason started to respond, but then the ground beneath them shook, and the sun all but disappeaerd as a cloud of dust, ash, and debris blotted out the early afternoon sky. “What the—”

“The island—” Laura stepped towards it, her eyes huge. “I—” The estate had once been dimly visible, the stone towering over the trees — but now it was covered in smoke and they could see the flames licking out behind the gray.

“We need to get in the air!” Anna called. “Let’s go—”

“But Nikolas—” Laura swallowed hard, nodded. “Let’s—let’s go.”

On board the plane, in the kitchen galley area, Robin paused while scrubbing her hands. She closed her eyes. “He didn’t know if he’d make it off in time.”

“Robin?”

She looked at her husband, her eyes pale and large. “That was the plan. It was always the plan. Nikolas was going to burn the estate to the ground with all of them inside But it wasn’t supposed to happen yet. He must—he must have triggered it. Oh, God. He didn’t make it off the island.”

Grimly, Patrick dried his hands. “Then he sacrificed himself to give us time to get out of here. Let’s go make sure it wasn’t for nothing.”

+9

Written in 20 minutes. No time for spellcheck.

“Get them on the bloody line!” Robert shouted at Anna as he snagged Patrick’s arm to keep the doctor from hurtling off into the trees. “You don’t even know where you’re going!” he barked at his son-in-law.

“Mom, Mom—” Robin focused on Anna’s dark eyes as she pressed her fingers to ear concentrating.

“Spinelli, can you get anything? Where are they?” Anna winced. “Elizabeth’s wound reopened on the way there. She was bleeding too much — Jason had to stop to rewrap and sent Sonny ahead with Jake.”

“All right, all right. Get Robin and Patrick back to the meeting point,” Robert told his ex-wife. “I’ll go after them—”

“Not alone you won’t—” Anna retorted, but then there was a crackling in her ear. “What? Tell me again—”

——

Jason barely had a minute to register the fury and hatred in Stavros Cassadine’s eyes before his head exploded in front of him. The older man dropped to the ground, a gory hole appearing in the side of his head.

“What—”

He felt for his gun—but it was gone—then he turned to Elizabeth who had pushed herself to a sitting position and now held his gun limply in her hands.

“He—” She closed her eyes, her breathing labored as Jason took the gun from her and returned to wrapping the wound. “He wasn’t—looking at—me—”

“That’s a good shot,” Jason managed as he tied the strip of shirt around her waist, knotting it tightly. “When did you learn how to do that?”

“You taught me. Didn’t mean to—” Elizabeth forced her eyes opened, looked at the remains of the Cassadine scion in front of her. “Wasn’t aiming for his head, but maybe…maybe this time he’ll stay dead.”

Jason’s laugh was shaky as he lifted her into his arms, shifting slightly as a crackling came through on his ear piece.

“Jason! What was that? Are you okay?”

“We’re—” Jason’s breath caught as Elizabeth slumped in his arms, her breathing shallow. “We’re heading back to the boat. Elizabeth got Stavros in the head.”

“Elizabeth?” Spinelli repeated.

Jason ignored him, all but running back to the inlet, hoping like hell Sonny and Laura hadn’t listened to him. If the boat was gone—if everyone had stuck to the plan and gotten Jake to safety at the meeting point—

Elizabeth would die on the island and there’d be nothing he could do to stop it.

He burst into the clearing at the edge of the island, searching the area—but the dinghy and boat were gone.

“Spinelli—”

“Hold on, hold on—Robert and Anna are on their way now—Laura—Laura promised Elizabeth.”

Jason gritted his teeth. “Promised her what?”

“As soon as Jake was safe, Laura would get him back to the mainland,” Spinelli’s voice was quiet. “Robert is two minutes out—”

“Damn it—”

Jason laid Elizabeth down on the ground, keeping one eye on the edge of the forest as he pressed his hand into her wound, sweat dribbling down his neck. “Elizabeth—” He tapped her cheek lightly. “Just open your eyes. Stay with me a little longer.”

Her lashes fluttered. “Signed…” She licked her lips. “Told Laura…boys…” Her eyes were a sliver of blue, slightly gazed. Jason pressed a hand to her forehead, hissing at the heat. She was going to end up with an infection. He never should have agreed to let her come—

“Boys…yours,” she slurred. “Promise…”

“Hey—” Jason shook his head. “No. We’re not doing that. Look at me—” He grasped her chin, turned her face towards him. “Just a little longer. We’ll be back on the mainland. Robert and Anna have a first aid kit. They have Patrick—and Robin.”

She smiled, but her eyes drifted closed again. “Should’ve said yes…” she murmured. “Sorry. Scared.”

“Not nearly as scared as I am right now.” Jason grimaced at the blood seeping through the retied shirt. He didn’t have anything else—

Then he heard a boat engine—Jason looked up—saw a dingy being dropped to the water as Patrick and Anna dropped into it. It look almost two more minutes before it was on the shore.

“We can’t stay,” Anna told Jason as Patrick helped Jason lift Elizabeth carefully into the dingy. “Not even to stabilize her. Spinelli said the guards are heading for the marina—”

“Let’s go,” Jason said. His mouth was tight, his lips nearly white as he pressed them together watching as Robert steered the dingy back to the boat and Patrick surveyed Elizabeth’s wound.

“She’s lost a lot of blood,” Patrick muttered, removing Jason’s makeshift bandages. Elizabeth winced. “Hey, Webber. This is not cool. You can’t leave me alone to raise those kids. They almost hijacked a plane.”

“Not alone…Robin…”

“Yeah, we got her—” Patrick didn’t spare a glance for his wife, carefully rewrapping Elizabeth’s wound with a clean bandage. “But those kids outnumber us. You need six kids just to keep Spencer under control. And there’s no telling what Joss adds to the mix.” Elizabeth smiled, but then her head slumped to the side and her eyes closed again.

“Give her here,” Robert said. In less than two more minutes, the boat was speeding back to the mainland, but Elizabeth remained unconsciousness.

“Patrick,” Robin said grimly as she took her husband aside. “How bad is it?”

“It’s—” Patrick took a deep breath. “It’s not good. I hope your surgical skills are still sharp and that your parents know where the hell to get some blood. She needs a transfusion. Fast.”

+9

Written in 30 minutes. Went a little over. No spell check.

Cassadine Island: Inlet

Elizabeth winced as Jason lifted her out of the dingy, but did her best to hide it. Everything was on fire, and she was pretty sure she was going to rip her stitches by the time this was done—

But she couldn’t risk Jake not going with Jason or Sonny, fighting them and drawing attention. She couldn’t take that chance—and from the grim expression on both their faces—she knew that they still agreed.

Even if Jason was probably itching to throw her back in the dingy and send her back to Laura, bobbing along on the small speedboat.

“We wait for Spinelli’s signal,” Jason reminded them both as he took out his phone, waiting for the text. “As soon as they’re in position—” He nodded as Spinelli’s message came in. “Okay, Patick and the others are going in.”

“We’re following you,” Sonny reminded him, before wrapping his hand around Elizabeth’s elbow, firmly. “Let’s go.”

Wordlessly, they set off on the short trek through the dense trees, Elizabeth trying desperately to hide how hard it was to breathe or keep moving. She stumbled over a weed, and Jason started to turn back.

“No, go—” Elizabeth sucked in a sharp, shallow breath. “I’m okay—”

“I got her, Jase. We’re halfway there,” Sonny murmured in her ear as Jason reluctantly moved forward, listening to the directions Spinelli was giving him in the ear piece. “We’re going to get to your boy, and then we’ll go home and laugh about this one day.”

She felt something warm against her skin, then the slow itch of something dribbling down her side. She pressed a hand to her wound, then looked at it—the red staining her fingertips.

Sonny hissed, lifted his head to call out to Jason who was pausing at a stream, getting some more information about where to cross.

“No. We’re not there yet,” Elizabeth said with a shake of her head. “Sonny—”

He grimaced as they caught up to Jason, but he said nothing. Jason turned to them and Elizabeth made sure she was slightly behind Sonny, where part of her body wouldn’t be visible to him.

“The cottage is two hundred feet away. Spinelli says it’s a straight shot. And the others are almost at the bunker with Robin.” Jason hesitated, met Elizabeth’s eyes. “We need to pick up the pace. We can’t let them off the island before us more than a few minutes—”

“Two hundred feet between me and my baby?” Elizabeth clenched her jaw. “I could run that if I had to.”

Jason nodded. “The stream isn’t deep here,” he told them, “not more than a foot. Let’s get moving.”

—

Nikolas checked his watch and looked over at his nephew, playing on the ground with a toy motorcycle. He checked out the window again, then wondered if maybe—

“Uncle Nikolas,” Jake said, pitching his voice low because Stavros was sleeping in the other room and no one interrupted Stavros’s naps. Not even small children who were being groomed to be the perfect Cassadine son. Nikolas gritted his teeth. It was the future Helena had wanted for Spencer once, but Stavros had taken a shining to Elizabeth’s brash, bold son with the big blue eyes and friendly smile.

He’d wanted him, he’d told his mother. Whatever Helena had wanted to for Jake, Stavros said he deserved a chance to raise a child. And why not Laura’s grandson?

Nikolas had been desperate to keep Jake’s paternity from them—his only value—the decent treatment was only because of the Spencer blood ties, but sometimes he saw his father looking at Jake strangely—

“Uncle Nikolas,” Jake repeated, drawing Nikolas’s attention. “We should wait in the garden,” he told him.

“I—”

Then Nikolas saw something out of the corner of his eye—a movement in the trees just beyond the house. He saw a trio coming out of the trees—Jason, Elizabeth, and Sonny. He was going to get out of here. He was going home to his son—

“Nikolas?”

He heard a voice from the back of the cottage. His father was awake. Damn it! He should have given him more—

Nikolas picked Jake up, motorcycle and all, and lunged towards the door. They had one chance to get this right, and he would be damned if Jake didn’t go home today—

“Uncle Nikolas—”

Nikolas burst out of the door and loped across the short field of grass between the cottage and trees.

“What the—” Jason began, confused, pushing Elizabeth behind him. She cried out and fell to the ground. Worried, he turned—

“Mommy? Daddy?” Jake said, brightening. He shoved himself away from Nikolas, almost hurtling to the ground and closing the gap. “Uncle Nik said you were coming!” He threw himself at his father as Jason, in shock, closed his arms around his son.

“Let’s go,” Sonny ordered, hauling Elizabeth to her feet. “Damn it—” he said at the same time Jason saw the bloodstain on her side. Elizabeth swayed.

“Mommy?” Jake whimpered. “Daddy, Mommy’s hurt—”

“Nikolas!” A roar sounded from the cottage, and Nikolas turned to see his father at the door. The fury on Stavros’s face—the other man went back into the cottage, and Nikolas grimaced.

“We have to go—” he began.

“We’ll never make it in time!” Elizabeth said at the same time. “Get Jake out of here!”

“Mommy—”

“I’ll slow him down,” Nikolas said, swallowing hard. His chance to get off the island was done now. He had to stop Stavros from coming back out—and it was him or Elizabeth.

There was no choice at all.

“Nikolas—”

Jason shoved Jake at Sonny, then lifted Elizabeth into his arms. “Stop him,” Jason ordered, and then they disappeared into the trees. Nikolas closed his eyes, thought of his son, then went back to the cottage.

Jake was safe. Wanting anything else had been selfish. He needed to stop his family once and for all.

—

Elizabeth cried out as Jason sloshed through the streams, and his heart was pounding—she was bleeding so much he could feel it against his skin. “We need to stop—we need to rewrap—”

“Can’t—” she panted, closing her eyes. “Jake—he has to be safe—”

“I’ll get Jake back to the boat,” Sonny promised as he held the wide-eyed child against his chest. “Elizabeth—”

“No! No! He needs one of us—” Elizabeth looked at Jason. “Please—”

“Not going to happen,” Jason bit out. “Sonny, get back to the boat.”

“Daddy?” Jake asked.

“I have to take care of Mommy,” he told his son, drinking in very feature of his precious son. “I love you. We both love you.”

“Jason—” Elizabeth sobbed as he lowered onto the ground and Sonny disappeared, taking Jake with him. “No! No! You have to go!”

“Not without you—” Jason tore off his short, tore it into two quick strips, pressing one hard against her wound—she only stopped herself from screaming in excruciating pain by biting her lip so hard as Jason used the other strip to tight it tightly around her waist. “He knew us,” she panted. “I didn’t—” Tears streamed down her cheek. “He knew us. Nikolas must have—”

“We can thank him later,” Jason muttered. He got to his feet, but before he could lift Elizabeth into his arms, he heard the crack of a branch. He whirled around — only to see a furious man with dark hair and eyes aiming a gun at him.

“If you move, I will shoot her in the head,” the man snarled

Jason was face to face with Stavros Cassadine, Elizabeth bleeding out behind him, and his own gun tucked into his waistband — but if Jason moved —

He swallowed hard.

—

Half a mile away, just as Anna was joyously hugging her daughter and Robert was growling at them both to get into the damn boat—Patrick’s head whipped around at the sound of a gunshot echoing over the island.

“Oh, damn it—” he swore. Robert—”

The other man pressed his ear piece. “Spinelli—” His face blanched. “Sonny got off the island. With Jake. But not Jason and Elizabeth.”

+9

Written in 58 minutes. Spell checked, but not reread for typos. I’m gonna be honest here, y’all, this is one story where I am flying by the seat of my pants. I have no idea what’s next.

Mykonos, Greece: Flat

Jason cradled Elizabeth’s head with one hand while taking in the wound to her abdomen. With gritted teeth, not taking his eyes off the woman bleeding out in front of him. “Get him away from me or this time he’s not coming back from the dead.”

With tears streaming down her face, Laura helped Luke shove a struggling and still bellowing Lucky down the hall. She shoved her son and her ex-husband into the bedroom, turning back to Jason. “How bad is it?”

“Sonny—” Jason looked at his best friend as the older man knelt on Elizabeth’s other side, taking her wrist in his, monitoring her pulse. Spinelli hovered in the background, biting at his nails.

“Pulse is thready, but there—” Sonny exhaled on a hiss. “I didn’t see how long the blade was. If we pull it out—looking at where it is—”

“Where’s Patrick?” Jason demanded. “Laura, call—”

“I’m already on the line—” Her face pale, but her fingers steady, Laura had pressed Robert’s contact information and put the phone on speaker. “Robert?”

“Laura—”

“Where are you? Elizabeth’s been stabbed and we could use a surgeon.”

“What the hell—” came Patrick’s shout from the background. “How the hell—”

Jason ignored that, and focused on Elizabeth. “Elizabeth? Can you hear me?” Not like this. He couldn’t lose her like this—not after everything—not before they could bring Jake home—

On a low, soft moan, her eyelids fluttered, then closed. Her face scrunched. “Hurts.”

“What do you think? It’s not high enough for the liver—”

“But it might be deep enough to hit the kidney—”

“Patrick is five minutes out,” Laura said, coming to them, getting down on her knees. “What can I do? How can I help?”

The bleeding had slowed, and Jason calculated how much had actually pooled beneath her. “She’s not—she’s not bleeding out. At least not that I can see. If I pull out the knife, that could change—” He knew how to compartmentalize. How to put things into pockets in his brain and separate out the now from the fear and the worry.

He just couldn’t manage it for longer than a minute or two before it all came flooding back in, and the terror swamped him. He couldn’t go home without her. Couldn’t look in Cameron’s sober eyes and tell him his mother wasn’t coming back—

“Elizabeth, can you look at me? Just open your eyes—”

Her lashes fluttered again and a sliver of the blue was visible. “Make…it…stop.”

“I will, I promise. Patrick will be here, and he’ll help me stop it. You’re going to be okay. We’re going to get Jake and take him home to his brothers.”

“Jake.” Elizabeth’s head lolled to the side as she drifted again. “Jake. Wanted to…see him…hold him—”

“You will,” Laura promised. She pressed a fist to her mouth as Sonny put a hand around her shoulders. “Elizabeth, we’re going to bring him home—”

“Cam…” Elizabeth forced her eyes open, found Jason’s. “Cam. Don’t…can’t leave him.”

“You’re not going to—”

The door behind them shoved open as Patrick stormed in, followed by Robert Scorpio and Anna Devane.

“What the hell is going on?” Patrick demanded as he skidded across the floor to Jason’s side.

Laura struggled to her feet, with Robert’s help. “Lucky did this,” she said to Robert and Anna in a low voice.

“I guess that’s the shouts and grunting I hear—” Robert said, squinting in the direction of the closed door. “Is that where Spencer is?”

“He could use a hand,” Laura said, her voice calm and steady, unlike her hands which were trembling as she turned back to the crowd on the ground. “Lucky tried to stab Jason, but Elizabeth got in the way.”

“We’ll sort this out,” Anna promised Laura. “Trust Patrick—”

“Okay, okay—it’s—” Patrick took a deep breath. “Spinelli, you need to get me something like looks like a scalpel—sterilize it. I need towels. I need—shit—” He scrubbed his hands over his face. “I need to wash my hands. I need something to sew. Needles, thread—”

“We’ve got an emergency kit, Patrick. It has everything.” Anna pulled her son-in-law to his feet and went with him to wash her hands.

“This is my fault,” Laura said, staring down at Elizabeth’s prone figure. Jason looked at her, frowning. “I listened to Luke. She already begged us not to make her do this again. She didn’t come here to take on the Cassadines. I should have told Luke to keep Lucky away.”

“As soon as I know she’s okay, I’m going to the island, I’m getting my son,” Jason said, tightly, “and I’m taking her home. You can save the world without us. She and the boys are all that matters.”

“Jase—” Sonny put a hand on his shoulder. “She’s too stubborn to go out like this—” But his voice faltered because even he knew the universe didn’t give a shit about that kind of thing.

“All right.” Patrick turned away from the sink. “We need to move her to higher ground so I can get a better look at things. Clear that table—” he nodded at the longer table against the wall. Jason, Sonny—at either end. Laura, I need you to make sure that knife doesn’t move a centimeter. Spinelli—” He looked at the pale, oddly quiet tech. “Whatever you were doing to find Robin and Jake, get back to it. When she wakes up, she’ll want to know the plan.”

“Got it,” Spinelli said, swallowing hard.

“I’ve done brain surgery by flashlight at gunpoint,” Patrick said, “and my patient lived—” He met Jason’s eyes. “This is a cake walk. Let’s get to work.”

Cassadine Island: Lab

Nikolas paced the stretch of the room, glaring at Robin as she poured over notes and codes. “This can’t be this hard. I need to get Jake off this island.”

“That’s the goal, Nikolas, but you can’t rush this. And remember—by now my parents and Patrick have to be in Greece. I hope like hell he brought Jason and Elizabeth. We’ll get off this island and they’ll be ready with an escape route home.”

She turned back to her research. “I just don’t know how some of this computer stuff works. I never listened when Spinelli talked. I just made him do everything.”

“We just need to get past security long enough to get down to the docks. Once we’re on one of the boats, I can have us in Mykonos in thirty minutes.” Nikolas closed his eyes. “Valentin is coming, Robin. He’s the last piece of the puzzle.”

“Nikolas—”

“It’s my fault. I kept waiting. I didn’t tell anyone. I didn’t say anything when I found my father. I didn’t say a damn word when my grandfather showed up—but Jake.” His terrified eyes found Robin’s. “She sits him at the table like he’s part of the family. I promised him I’d get him home—”

“And we will—”

“I should have told Jason ages ago. I just—” Nikolas sat on the cot where Robin slept. “I wanted to be the hero,” he admitted. “I wanted to be the one who brought the Cassadines down. Permanently. And I wanted to bring Jake home to Elizabeth.”

“You were selfish and stupid—” Robin looked over as another monitor beeped. Her smile spread as she recognized the code.

thinking of changing pain in the ass to phoenix we landed baby and I brought the whole damn army sit tight we’ll get you out of this

“It’s Patrick,” she breathed. “He’s here. Oh, God, he’s here, and we’re going to be okay—” Her breath caught as she typed back in response.

will buy you all the race cars you want. maybe even a real one i love you we’re waiting for instructions

“Robert and Anna are with him, I’m sure.” Nikolas took his first easy breath. “Okay. I hate to leave you—”

“But you need to stick as close to Jake as you can. I’ll get word to you through Stefan when he brings my meals.” Robin got to her feet. “We’re too close to being done with this—”

“We just need to be gone before Valentin lands tomorrow,” Nikolas reminded her. “Tell Patrick we’re on a deadline. Whatever Helena and Mikkos are planning—it starts when Valentin gets here.”

“I’ll tell him.”

Mykonos: Flat

Robert and Luke emerged from the bedroom, grim-faced. Luke had a black eye while Robert’s shirt had a tear in the sleeve

“Where’s Lucky?” Laura demanded.

“Handcuffed, tied up, bound, gagged, and sedated,” Robert said. He examined. “Bastard bit me.” He nodded at the table where Elizabeth was laying, a sheet pulled over her and her head resting on the pillow. “What about Elizabeth?”

“Is she okay?” Luke asked.

Jason glared at him. “No thanks to you. How many times are you going to make Lucky Spencer her problem to fix? He did her one good turn fifteen years ago, Luke. Don’t ask her to do this again.”

“I—” Luke swallowed. “I won’t, but—”

“The knife wasn’t as long as we thought,” Patrick told him, washing his hands. “Missed the organs, just took in the meat.”  He sighed as Laura shuddered. “Sorry.”

“No, better than the alternative,” Laura began as Patrick pulled his phone from his pocket, grimly. “What is it?”

“Robin. She sent me a reply earlier, but I didn’t see it and she just sent another one—” He stared at it. “We need to get them out now. She says whatever is going to happen starts tomorrow. They’re just waiting on Valentin.”

“I hate deadlines,” Robert muttered. “What’s the plan? Spinelli, what does security look like?”

“While Patrick was finishing up, I got the specs on the security cameras and got through the network.” Spinelli twisted on in his chair. “I got eyes on the whole island.”

“Where—” Jason started across the room, but Spinelli put a hand up.

“I got it up on the flat screen—bigger monitor,” he explained as he switched on the screen in the front of the room. “Island has one dock area where boats are kept, but there are a few inlets where I think you could land some people. Particularly if you’re coming in low-tech.” Spinelli brought up a a satellite image that highlighted the areas he talked about. “The building we saw on the plane—”

He flicked the camera to the front entrance as Nikolas emerged. He turned to talk to someone inside, then walked away. “No cameras inside that I can see, but—” He flipped to another one. “This cottage near the maze has cameras in the common space, and in—” Spinelli swallowed hard as he brought the image on screen.

A little boy with light blond hair was surrounded by toy cars and trains, his face lit up with smiles and laughter.

“This is—” Jason swallowed hard as he drank in the image of his son. “This is right now.”

“Right this second, Jake is in the cottage on the edges of the Cassadine estate,” Spinelli said his own voice a bit wobbly. He cleared his throat. “The cottage is less than a thousand feet from one of the landing spots I highlighted.”

“The other building where Nikolas was—” Patrick hesitated. “How far from the cottage?”

“About half a mile. The whole island is maybe a mile long,” Spinelli clarified. “And I agree, the messages the good doctor has been sending you are from that part of the island. Robin is in that building.”

“We’ll land two boats,” Anna decided. “One team to go in after Robin, and the other gets Jake. We get them off the island and we regroup. They’re more important than whatever the Cassadines might be planning.” She paused, looking at Laura. “Unless Nikolas is with one of them—”

“We can’t get him on this trip,” Laura confirmed. “Jason, I’m sure you and Sonny will go for Jake. I’ll go with you. Patrick, Robert, Anna—”

“I have to go.”

The slurred voice came from behind them as they turned to find Elizabeth struggling to sit up, wincing as she propped herself up on her elbows.

“Careful,” Patrick hissed, rushing to her side. “You’ll tear the stitches—”

“You can sew me up later—” Elizabeth swung her legs over the side. “I’m going.”

“Elizabeth,” Jason began but she shook her head.

“No. No. A thousand feet. I can manage that. I can. And Jake—” Her voice shook. “He might not remember you, Jason. He won’t know Sonny or Laura. He knows me. He’ll come with me quietly.” She held Jason’s eyes. “I need to be there. We’ll come home, and Patrick can patch me up on the way back to Port Charles. Once we get Robin and Jake off the island, we need to be in the air as soon as we can.”

“She’s right,” Anna said. “If we have a prayer of pulling this off, we need to be off that island before they even know we’re there. Spinelli—”

“I can loop security cameras and distract any guards. I wish I had more time to know how people move and find a safe time—” Spinelli grimaced. “But we can make it work.

“We can’t take the chance of Jake struggling because he doesn’t know you,” Anna told Jason with regret.

Jason dipped his head. They were right, and he only had himself to blame. Jake had been gone almost two years—there wasn’t even much of guarantee he’d know Elizabeth but— He looked at her. “All right,” he said finally. “Let’s get down to it. We’ll get Robin the details so she can be ready and do what she can on the island to help. Let’s get our son.”

Cassadine Island: Off the Coast

Ignoring the stabbing pain in her side, Elizabeth watched as Laura navigated the boat to a slow stop, floating about fifty feet from the inlet that Spinelli had highlighted on the map. Jason and Sonny got the rubber, motor dinghy into the water.“Laura, I need you to promise me something.”

Laura looked at her and shook her head. “Absolutely not. Don’t you dare say anything stupid like leave you behind if I need to. I’m not going back to my grandsons without you. And if  you think Jason would leave you—”

“He’ll put Jake first, just like I am.” Elizabeth closed her eyes, took another bracing breath. “I’ll get to the cottage. I know I can make it that far. But I don’t know if I can make it back—”

“Elizabeth—”

“I’ll get Jake to Jason, and I’ll make sure he’s safe. I’ll try like hell to get back, but Laura—”

“In the unlikely event that you don’t get back to the boat, I will get Jake off the island—”

“You asked me to save your son a long time ago,” Elizabeth said and Laura blanched. “I’m asking you to make sure you save mine.”

“You don’t fight fair,” Laura whispered fiercely. “But I didn’t either.”

“We’re mothers. We can’t afford to.”

“Ready?” Jason asked, taking Elizabeth’s hand. He squeezed it. “I’m going to lower you into the dinghy—Sonny is waiting—”

“Ready. Let’s get our son.”

+9

Written in 59 minutes. No time for spell check.

Mykonos, Greece: Flat

Luke checked his watch, wincing. “I gotta get back to my place. Lucky will be wondering where I am, and if he starts thinking I’m against him—” He looked at Laura. “What do I do with Cowboy?”

“Bring him here,” Laura said reluctantly, shooting Elizabeth an apologetic look. “If Helena does have him under her control again, seeing Elizabeth might shake him into saying something. And if it doesn’t, well—”

Elizabeth wrinkled her nose at being volunteered to play even a small role in Lucky’s nonsense, but it would be important to learn whether or not Lucky was being his normal jackass self or a new breed of brainwashing had taken hold. She left the Spencers alone to determine the best way to deal with Lucky and went back over to Spinelli’s computer desk where Jason and Sonny were studying some of the prints they’d made.

“Hey, Luke is gonna bring back Lucky,” she warned them. “But Patrick should be here—” she checked her watch. “In about an honor—”

“Spinelli’s getting closer to the security cameras,” Sonny reported. “He’s found the network—” He hesitated, looked at Spinelli. “What did you say?”

“I found the network, but decrypting it might take a while,” the younger man said. “Unless Robert and Anna can do this faster—”

Elizabeth started to reply, but her phone beeped and she picked it up. “It’s Dante,” she said as she pressed play on the speaker. “Dante?”

“Listen, I don’t want you to worry—”

“Where are the kids?” Elizabeth demanded.

“I got to Patrick’s place and found Maxie and Lulu tied up,” Dante said. Sonny scrubbed a hand over his face. “Apparently, Joss hitched a ride to the house—and distracted them—they can’t really explain it—”

Elizabeth hissed. “Are they gone? How long?”

“No more than half an hour,” Dante assured them. “They left Aiden in the living room with a Lunchable and the remote. He’s watching cartoons, so he’s fine—”

A Lunchable and remote. Elizabeth shoved the phone at Jason to put her head in her hands. “They could get into a lot of trouble in thirty minutes—”

“Clearly, but Carly and Michael are on it. Joss thought she turned off the tracker on her phone, but apparently Carly put one on something else Joss carries because, well, she doesn’t trust her. They’re on their way to the airport, and Michael is meeting them there.”

“The airport,” Jason repeated. “What were they planning to do, hijack a plane?—”

“They didn’t give details because, and I’m quoting Cameron here, only dumb villains monologue and give away the plan.”

Sonny snorted and turned away before Elizabeth could set him on fire with a glare. “Ask Carly where she got the tracker because I’m gonna need to lojack my kid when I get home. Thanks, Dante.”

“Honestly, tying Maxie up and gagging her is probably the best thing that’s happened to me,” Dante said easily. “I’ll keep you posted, and we’ll put the kids under closer watch. We underestimated them.”

“You have my permission to use the handcuffs.” Elizabeth took the phone from Jason and hung it up. She looked at Laura who came over now that Luke had left. “Cameron, Emma, and Spencer — with help from Joss — tied up Maxie and Lulu and made a run for it. They’re tracking them to the airport.”

“Oh.” Laura couldn’t fight the giggles. She pressed her hands to her mouth, but the mirth slipped out. “Oh, my. Did Dante take pictures?”

Jason put an arm around Elizabeth’s shoulders. “It’s okay. Carly and Michael are on it,” he assured her. “You’ve always wanted to gag Maxie.”

“This is insane. The kids are trying like hell to throw themselve in the middle of the nightmare and you’re all laughing— ” Elizabeth stalked away, storming out onto the terrace. Jason winced, and followed.

“I shouldn’t have laughed,” Laura said, her humor sliding away. “She’s scared for Jake—”

“Jason will take care of it,” Sonny assured her. “Let’s look over these maps. Tell me how much this has changed.”

Port Charles Airport: Drop Off Entrance

Cameron slammed the door on the taxi and shoved a pile of cash at the driver while Spencer lugged their duffles out of the backseat. “Okay,” he said. “We got to the airport. How do we get to Greece?”

“I reserved tickets,” Spencer said. “I used my father’s credit card, and we’re traveling as unaccompanied minors—” He peered at his phone and the email with the information. “We just gotta avoid everyone until the flight to Mykonos—”

“Oh, balls,” Jocelyn Jacks said with a sigh as she saw the tall, blonde man leaning against the glass entrance. “How’d he get here so fast?”

“What?” Cameron turned, his stomach sinking as he recognized Joss’s older brother. “Damn it! Your mom must have put something on you.”

“Going somewhere?” Michael Corinthos asked, sauntering over, his hands in his pockets. “How were you planning to get to Greece?”

“Unaccompanied minors travel all the time,” Spencer said loftily. “And my father never pays attention to credit card bills. I stole one last year and he never noticed. I only use it in emergencies.”

“Passports?”

“I brought mine,” Joss volunteered. “Spencer always has his because he’s a Cassadine. We were at Emma’s house, and—”

“I grabbed mine when we were packing. I never used it before,” Cameron explained, “but one time, my mom was going to take us on a trip and we all got one.” He’d had to slide it out of a drawer where it sat next to Jake’s. Aiden didn’t have one—his mom must have gotten them before Aiden was born.

Michael frowned. “This might have been dumb enough to work.”

“But Mom doesn’t trust me,” Joss complained. “What did she put the tracker on? Oh my God, did she like, open me up while I slept and slap it on my ribs?”

“Yeah, not telling you. Let’s go. We’re going home.” Michael looked at Cameron. “Dante had to call your mother in Greece, Cam. And she was not happy.”

His stomach sank. “He’s my brother,” Cameron said, dully. “I gotta help bring him home. Wouldn’t you try everything to bring Morgan or Joss home?”

“I would,” Michael said, “and part of me is pretty impressed by the four of you.” He met Cameron’s eyes. “But your mom has been through enough, Cam, and you know that. Don’t ask her to worry about you. And Spencer—”

“I’m a Cassadine—this is a matter of honor.” Spencer sniffed. “You have no right to tell me what to do—”

“Really? Because your mom and my mom were best friends,” Michael said. “And my mom wouldn’t want Courtney’s son getting hurt. You’re not just a Cassadine, kid. You’re my cousin, too. And Aunt Courtney took real good care of me.”

“My dad took off with my grandparents,” Emma complained, “and I don’t get to know anything.” She pouted as Michael picked up her duffel bag. “I just wanted to help.”

“I brought the rope,” Joss said when Michael started herding the four of them towards the parking lot. “Would you believe Dr. Patrick didn’t have none?”

“Shocking.”

Mykonos, Greece: Flat

The sun was just starting to set over the Adriatic Sea as Jason joined Elizabeth at the terrace as she looked out at the distant lump of land where the Cassadine estate could be found.

“He’s just across the water,” Elizabeth said. “And he’s sitting in the middle of some of the worst people in the world, Jason. It was one thing when it was just Helena and Stavros. I was scared, but I didn’t think they’d hurt him. But I don’t know Mikkos. And this Valentin—Luke said Helena is terrified of him.” She looked at him. “If we get this close to getting Jake back and lose him—”

“We won’t,” Jason told her. “We’re not going to get this close and go home alone,” he added. “I might not know much about the Cassadines, but I’m a pretty good shot, and I know how to follow orders. Robert and Anna—Luke and Laura—you were right. This is what they do. And you and I—Spinelli and Sonny—we’re smart. We think on our feet.” He tipped her face up to his. “We’re going to get our son back,” he promised her. “And we’re going to stop the Cassadines from coming back.”

Elizabeth leaned forward, her forehead resting against his chin. “And then Dante calls, and Cameron’s trying like hell to get here because he wants to help. Part of me is just so angry and scared—”

“And the rest of you is proud,” Jason said. “Because you’ve raised a really great kid who’d put his life on the line for his little brother without even blinking.”

“He’s just a baby.” Elizabeth swiped tears from her cheeks. “They’re all just babies. He shouldn’t be worried about this. He’s barely eight years old, Jason.”

“Barely eight, and without even taking a minute, he and Spencer put together plan to get to Greece, and Emma and Joss agreed to help because they’re best friends. There are worst in the world than finding out you’ve got a strong, independent kid who could take on the world.”

“I know.” Elizabeth’s mouth twitched. “They left Aiden with a Lunchable and a cartoon.”

“Resourceful,” Jason said and she laughed. Her phone rang and he handed it to her. “It’s Michael. He probably has them.”

Elizabeth took the phone and put it on speaker. “Michael?”

“Mom?”

“Cameron—” Elizabeth closed her eyes, relieved. “Baby. You’re with Michael?”

“He found us at the airport. I—I’m sorry. I just—” There was a pause as Cameron’s voice faltered. “I just want to find Jake. I want to bring him home.”

“I know you do. I’m so proud of you, and I love you so much. Jason and I were just talking about how amazing you and Spencer and the girls are to get that far. Did you have tickets? What about passports?”

There was a pause. “Dante said you didn’t want to reveal your plan,” Jason said, “but I think it’s safe now.”

“I found my passport in your room, Mom. I saw it once when you were getting my birth certificate. It was next to Jake’s. Spencer got tickets on a credit—” There was a scuffle. “Uh, I don’t know how Spencer got them.”

Tickets and passports. If Michael and Carly had been ten more minutes behind the kids, would they have been able to stop them? Elizabeth sighed. “Michael, are you there?”

“Yeah, hey. We’re on our way to Mom’s place. Dante is coming over to hang out. For some reason, Lulu and Maxie are tapping out.”

“Please, I did the world a favor,” Joss said from the background. “They should always be gagged.”

“Anyway, Mom’s got this. She’s always one step ahead of Joss mostly because Mom already did worse than Joss is ever gonna try—”

“I’ll find that tracker!”

“I’ll call you if they break out again,” Michael said.

“Okay, thanks. Cameron, I love you,” Elizabeth said. “But if you decide to tie up Carly and gag her—”

“Make sure you take pictures this time,” Jason offered.

Michael snorted. “We could make a lot of money selling those.”

“Bye, Mom. Bye Jason.”

She hung up the phone, looked at Jason. “We’re going to get our little boy, aren’t we?” she said softly. “We’re going to get Jake and bring him home.” She slid her phone in her pocket, then reached up to kiss him fiercely. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

They stood there for another minute, looking out over the island but then Laura came out on the terrace. “Before you decide to just swim over,” she said, “Luke’s on his way up with Lucky.”

“Well, I guess I’m back in the Saving Lucky business,” Elizabeth muttered, but Laura shook her head.

“No. It’s not like that, sweetheart. If Helena has control again, it’s not on you to take care of it. It’s me. And Luke. We should have finished this a long time ago.” Laura lifted her chin. “But I think seeing you—with Jason—it might shake Lucky enough. If he thinks giving Jake back to you will win you back—”

“You always did piss him off just by breathing,” Elizabeth said even as Jason made a face. She focused on Laura again. “Michael called. They have the kids.”

“Oh, good. How close did they get?”

“Honestly, ten more minutes, and we’ve have a child army ready to go to war,” Elizabeth admitted as they went back inside. “I think they might stay put for a while, but—”

The door opened and Lucky stumbled in, blinking at the crowd of them. Spinelli got to his feet, Sonny angling himself slightly in front of the younger man, unsure what Lucky might do or say.

“What’s—” Lucky looked around. “Mom—” His eyes found Elizabeth. “Why—you came. You came to help. Dad told you? He told you Nikolas stole our boy—”

“No, Nikolas stole my son,” Elizabeth corrected, gently. “Min and Jason’s. We’re here to get him back. To take him home.” She slid her arm through Jason’s, smiled up at him. “Together.”

Lucky shook his head. “No—No, that’s not—” He looked at his father who sighed. “That’s not how this is supposd to happen.”

“Cowboy—”

“She—” Lucky’s hands fisted at his sides. “I’m supposed to—I’m—” He glared at Elizabeth. “You’re doing it again. You’re ruining everything!”

“How am I ruining anything?” Elizabeth said coolly. “You left Port Charles and made it very clear that you didn’t want me or any of my boys in your life.”

“No, no, no—this is wrong.” He took a step towards her, and Jason’s hand tightened around hers, tugging her back slightly. “I’m supposed—you’re supposed to come back to me.”

“According to who?” Elizabeth asked. “I’m telling you how it is—”

“Damn, she said that if I killed Nikolas, I could have Jake back!” Lucky raged. “If I could bring him home, you’d love me again! She promised!” He turned his fury to Jason. “You’re always ruining everything—”

He lunged at Jason, pulling a knife from beneath his jacket. The room exploded in chaos as Jason tried to shove Elizabeth aside just as she pushed him away—over balancing them both—Lucky crashed into them, sending them all to the ground.

“God damn it!” Sonny growled as he waded in. Luke grabbed Lucky by the back of the jacket—just as blood began to pool on the floor. “Who the hell—”

“It’s not me,” Lucky said dully—his face crumpled as Jason rolled over and shoved Elizabeth on to her back—the knife shoved into her gut. Elizabeth stared blankly at the knife, then at Lucky before her eyes rolled back in her head and she passed out.

+10