Written in 55 minutes.

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So I wander through these nights

 Diane paused at the threshold of their shared office, tipped her head, then sighed. “I don’t know why I thought you’d still be at home.”

Alexis continued tapping at the keyboard, not raising her eyes from the screen. “Not when there’s work to be done.”

“Work that I can handle or that could be delegated to an associate or one of the paras.” Diane set her legal portfolio on their partner desk, and fisted a hand on her hip. “Isn’t there something you could be doing? Why aren’t you with your grandchildren or Kristina?”

“I am here because of my grandchildren,” Alexis said, the corners of her mouth tightening. “I am here to consider their best interests. No doubt Jason has already called you about what I’m planning.”

“Oh, I very much don’t like the sound of that. Should I be worried that I haven’t heard from him? Did you have him arrested, or—?” Diane lifted her brows. “What are you planning?”

“Only what is in Danny and Scout’s best interests. They should remain together, and the only way to do that is take them in myself.” Alexis tapped another key, and a few seconds later a printer across the room began to hum.

“Please don’t tell me that’s a custody petition.” Diane strode across the room, snatching it off the tray before Alexis could stop her. She skimmed it, then raised worried eyes to her best friend. “No, no, no. Alexis, this is a terrible idea. The opening paragraphs alone are so incredibly incendiary —“

“Not a single word is a lie.” Alexis lifted her chin. “Jason is a convicted, brain damaged felon who only just returned from pretending to be dead for two years, allowing his boys to mourn him. Allowing his elderly mother to bury yet another child. He has never been a presence in his children’s life, even when he was living in the same city—“

“One, you are also a convicted felon.” Diane held up a finger.  “Two, Michael will testify that his uncle confessed to a crime to be in prison to protect him. Three, his custody arrangements with the mothers of his children were always agreed to by them which makes them immaterial—“

Alexis reached for the petition, but Diane held it away from her. “Sam isn’t here to say so, and—“

“And there’s no way you’ll get Elizabeth to say a bad word about Jason. Worse people than you have tried and failed.”

“I’ll destroy her credibility—“

“Alexis,” Diane interrupted, exasperated. “That is a terrible idea. For one thing, Elizabeth has never done anything to you. For another, you’re not exactly boasting a perfect record either. It’s family court, and Elizabeth’s raised three, bright, well-mannered children who are attending world-renowned universities. What credibility are you planning to torch?”

“You don’t have to preview your case for me—“ Alexis’s voice faltered. She took a deep breath.

“Well, it won’t be my case, my friend.” Diane held out the petition. “Because you and I are now partners, remember? Jason is your client, too. The moment you file this petition, I will be conflicted out. And it’s not waivable.”

Alexis hesitated, then took the petition, held it in her hands. “That’s good. Jason will need legal representation, and he won’t have the best. And the only other person I know who is capable of handling Jason’s shadier past is Ric, and Jason would rather shoot himself out of a cannon than ask him for help.”

“Alexis. This is Jason we’re talking about. Jason who saved your daughter’s life more times than I can count. Kept her out of prison on more than one occasion—“ Diane stopped at the knock on the door. “Whatever it is, Sandy, it can wait.”

“It’s not for you, it’s for Ms. Davis.” The secretary held out a familiar legal size paper. “Notice of representation.”

“Jason’s already found another lawyer. Good. I can’t wait to destroy whatever—“ Alexis retrieved the paper, then fell silent. “That son of a bitch.”

“Did hell freeze over? Did he hire Ric?” Diane wanted to know.

Alexis lifted her blazing eyes to the redhead. “No. He hired Ric’s daughter. My daughter.”

“Oh.” Diane’s eyes gleamed. “That is diabolical—“ she coughed when Alexis sent her a fulminating glare. “Oh, um, how dare he. What can he be thinking?”

—

Michael opened the door to Bobbie’s, then scanned the inside of the diner, relieved when he found his uncle sitting at the counter, squinting at a menu.

“Oh, good. I’m glad I found you.” Michael slid onto the next stool. “You have a minute?”

“Yeah, I don’t have anywhere to be—“ Jason glanced at the clock on the wall by the kitchen. “For another hour. What’s up? Everything okay?”

“That’s what I wanted to ask you.” Michael flipped over his coffee cup, smiling at a waitress who poured the coffee. “You were steamed when you left Dad’s yesterday.”

Jason grimaced, stared down at his own coffee, sipped it. Said nothing.

“I already knew Dad had, uh, gone to Elizabeth’s and dropped some sort of grenade around the boys.  I ran into Jake yesterday,” Michael added when Jason looked up. “He was really upset.”

His uncle exhaled slowly. “Angry, you mean.”

“Yeah. It sucks that Jake heard a garbled version of whatever went down when he was a kid. I don’t know most of it either, only some pieces Elizabeth’s told me over the years. We used to be, um, a little closer, I guess.” Michael scratched his jaw. “Back when AJ was around. Anyway, I think I talked him down a little, but I just wanted to touch base with you. See if I can do anything.”

“Nothing you can do.” Jason shook his head. “Jake’s been pissed at me since I got back, and I can handle that, you know? I deserve it. I screwed up, and I haven’t done enough to fix it. But he’s angry with his mom now, and that—“ He scowled. “That’s not how it should be. She doesn’t deserve it.”

“Yeah, at least I can say when I found out the story behind my whole, you know, creation, I can say Mom and Dad deserved my anger in equal doses.” Michael wrinkled his nose. “And it’s not like Lucky kept raising Jake or that Elizabeth ever told him you were a monster who couldn’t be trusted, you know? Jake doesn’t even remember a time when you weren’t his dad.”

“I don’t know why Sonny dragged any of this up,” Jason muttered. “It wasn’t his business then, and it’s not now.”

“All those years with Mom rubbed off on him, you know, because that kind of thing never stopped her.” Michael was relieved when the corner of Jason’s mouth curved up in a smile. “Look, you’ve always stepped up for me. Always. Let me do the same for you. Whatever you need. Whatever Jake and Danny need. You just tell me, and I’ll make it happen.”

“You have your own family to worry about—“

“You are my family, Jase.” Michael held up a hand. “And they’re my cousins. I need the distraction. Tell me what I can do. Can I talk to Jake? Can I play mediator with Alexis?”

“Neither. I hired a lawyer. We have the beginning of a plan,” Jason told him.  “There’s just someone I have to talk to first. But if I can think of something you can do, I’ll tell you.”

“You and I both know that’s not true, but lucky for you, I inherited my mother’s inability to mind my own business.” Michael grinned at him. “Or not lucky for you, I guess. I promise I won’t get you arrested.”

“Yeah, your mother used to promise that, too.” Jason sighed. “Never seemed to stop her.”

—

Laura Collins crossed her office to take Jake in her arms, beaming when she pulled back. “Oh, it’s so lovely to see you! I feel like it’s been ages since we put you on that plane to Barcelona.”

Jake patted his grandmother’s shoulder awkwardly, remembering now why Laura had always stood in as his grandmother — because once upon a time, Lucky Spencer had been his father. He’d never thought much about it before. She’d just always been in his life, and he never thought about the details.

“Hey. Um, I mean, it’s good to see you. I just—not that I didn’t come to see you,” he offered. “But I wouldn’t have bothered you at work without a good reason.”

“Oh, you can bother me any day you like.” Laura ushered him towards the sofa. “I’m so sorry that you’ve come home for an awful reason, but I’m sure it’s a comfort to Danny that you’re here.”

“Yeah, yeah, I hope so.” Jake cleared his throat. “Have you, uh, heard from Charlotte? Like, at all?”

“Oh.” Laura’s smile dimmed. “No, darling, no. Not since Valentin went on the run. The WSB tells me they’re looking for him, and I know that Jason and Anna were trying to find her as well when we thought Lulu was…” She patted his arm. “And I have every hope that she’ll choose to come home on her own when she graduates this spring.”

Jake made a face. “I figured, but I had to ask.”

“You’re more likely to run into her than I am,” Laura told him. “Since you’re in Europe, and we know they must be as well.”

“Oh. Well, I won’t be there for the rest of this year. I, um, took a leave. From this upcoming term.” When his grandmother made a face, Jake added, “Just because I wanted to be with Danny. You know, losing a mom, it’s, um, it’s hard. I guess. I don’t know. But I’ve lost my dad—“ He took another deep breath. “I mean, I didn’t lose him, but I did. And Mom was the one who was there. Just like Danny’s mom. So I guess I just wanted to be here. If he needed me.”

“That’s very thoughtful of you, dear. And I suppose you’re getting enough grief about this choice from your mother,” Laura said with a sigh, “but I won’t complain about having one of my grandbabies here.”

Jake bit the inside of his cheek to stop himself from asking her about that, about why she’d bothered to claim him since Lucky hadn’t bothered with him since the day he’d brought Jake home from the Cassadines. Dumped on his mother’s lap, and disappeared. But he bit it back. Laura had done nothing wrong. That Jake knew about anyway.

So he pasted a smile on his face. “So, Ace doing anything interesting?”

—

The trouble with investigating your own parents, Aiden decided, was finding someone who knew them and might tell their teenage son something worth knowing. Lucky Spencer had been gone so long from Port Charles that barely anyone knew him at all.

Dante had worked with him for five minutes at the PCPD, but he hadn’t been around during the Jake’s birth. He’d been crossed off the list almost immediately. Grandma Laura had been sick, Grandpa Luke was dead. So was Aunt Emily. Uncle Nikolas was in prison, and there was zero chance he’d get to see him. But Aiden left him on the list — maybe he could write to him or something.

And of course, Aunt Lu was in a coma. But there were people around that Lulu might have talked to, and that was how Aiden found himself standing on the doorstep of Maxie Jones.

The door opened a few minutes after he’d knocked with the woman in question looking at him oddly. Fair enough, he thought. They barely knew each other.

“Uh, Aiden, right? Are you selling something?” Maxie wanted to know. “Because—“

“No, no, um, I came to ask you about my aunt Lulu.” Aiden shoved his hands into his pockets. “Since you knew her best.”

“Oh.” Maxie stepped back, gestured for him to come in. “Well, other than Dante, I guess I did. Do. Do,” she repeated. “Because she’ll wake up one day, you’ll see.”

“Yeah, I hope so for Rocco’s sake.” Aiden moved his hands again, folded his arms. “Um, well, you knew my aunt for years and years—“

“Never remind a woman how old she is,” Maxie said with a roll of her eyes, but a good-natured smile. “You want something to drink or something?” she asked, heading towards the kitchen.

“No, thanks. The thing is, I was wondering if my aunt ever talked to you about my dad. You were around back then. Aunt Lu probably told you about the problems my parents had, right? I just want the truth,” Aiden said as Maxie continued to stare at him. “Was my dad addicted to drugs? Did he really have an affair? Is that why my mom left him and got pregnant with Jake?”

Maxie whirled around, stumbling into the end table and knocking a lamp to the ground. It shattered at her feet in ceramic shards. But she seemed not to notice. “I’m sorry, can you say that again?”

—

Elizabeth stopped by the elevators, her fingers toying with the strap of her purse. She’d finished for the day, but she couldn’t make up her mind if she should go home and not say anything, or if she should at least hint to Willow that whatever was going on with Drew wasn’t being hid very well.

The woman in question was working behind a terminal at the nurse’s station, her face screwed up in concentration. Was Willow really having an affair, Elizabeth wondered? Or were her own guilty feelings clouding her judgment?

But it would explain so much, Elizabeth thought. The whiplash decision Willow had made to return to her job at the hospital — leaving the foundation Drew had started. Michael’s sadness — and Jason kicking the shit out of Drew the night before the funeral.

And as if on cue, the elevators slid open and Jason was there. “Oh.” Elizabeth blinked in surprise. “How did you know I was thinking about you?”

“I didn’t—“ Jason held a hand on the doors to stop them from closing. “But I was coming to see you. Your shift is over, right?”

“Yeah. Yeah.” Elizabeth took another look at Willow, then turned back to Jason. “Great timing. Because I have to talk you.” She stepped onto the car, then slid a glance at him. “Any chance you brought the bike?”

Jason released his hold on the door, the smile on his lips making him look years younger. “Do I look stupid?”

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