My take on the dock scenes...
Sam clutched the edges of her coat tighter together, her eyes fixed on the horizon.
She knew she shouldn't have been there, that no good could possibly come from it, but she couldn't take another minute behind that desk. Despite her boasts of marketing prowess, it had taken less than one whole day of paperwork for her realize how in over her head she truly was. A brief stint on a television show did not a media mogul make, after all. But Aurora was the only investment she and Drew had to their name. Their future security hinged on her ability to run the company, and so she'd simply have to play the part until she figured it out.
The change in wardrobe was a good start. Her pencil dress and heels created the illusion of a savvy business woman, though they did little to combat the chill rising off the water.
'What am I doing?' She tossed her head back with a sigh.
That was the million-dollar question, wasn't it? She'd spent months practically living at that pier, and then years avoiding it for the same exact reason. This was their place; one of many. It was also where he'd been shot by Faison and kicked into the harbor, effectively altering the course of her life forever.
The area was filled with the footsteps of passersby, but there was only one set of tracks her heart beat in rhythm with until they suddenly stopped.
"Sam?"
Her eyes fluttered closed as she drank in the sound of his voice. It was a small indulgence, one of the few she would allow herself. After all, it was a sound some part of her had longed for, even after she'd accepted Drew as his brother.
She glanced over her shoulder to see him standing there, unable to speak.
The silence was unbearable, thick and awkward, and a painful reminder of just how much had changed between them. How much she had changed, she reminds herself yet again, glancing down at her ensemble. Only now she didn't just feel underqualified. She felt like a little girl playing dress up in her mother's closet, or what she imagined that might feel like since she'd never had the chance.
Jason was supposed to be meeting Sonny, but something kept pulling him back to the place where he'd been robbed of everything he held dear. He thought maybe it was his need for answers, but as he stumbled on her he knew exactly why he'd been drawn there.
Five years was a long time, and he may not have fully known her anymore, but he could still sense her pain, feel it like his own.
"Are you okay?"
She tucked her chin to her chest, her reaction hidden from the angle he stood.
His concern churned her stomach.
Suddenly she knew exactly why she'd come to the pier that night. She'd been hoping to see him, to try and make things right.
"No," she shook her head from side to side, "No, Jason I'm not."
She sucked in a deep breath of cold air, hoping to steady herself after the wave of emotions that crashed over her each time she spoke his name.
"I just want to thank you again, for what you did the other night. If you hadn't, there's no telling where they would have taken Drew or if we ever would have seen him again-"
He raised his hand, unable to take another second of her gratitude. Hearing his brother's name on her lips-well, frankly he'd rather another gunshot wound. It hurt less.
"You don't have to keep thanking me. I'm glad I could help you."
It was the first time he hadn't felt like a hindrance in her life since he'd returned, but judging by her crossed arms and narrowed eyes, he'd said something wrong.
"Jason, I completely took advantage of you. I didn't mean to…I was so caught up in what was happening with Drew and doing whatever was necessary to keep him here, that I disregarded any feelings you might have about it. I didn't think about what I was asking of you or what that would cost you. It was selfish, and wrong, and I'm sorry."
He rubbed the side of his jaw, grasping for an appropriate way to comfort her.
"Don't be." He exhaled deeply, knowing the next sentence would hurt him to say. "You were just protecting the person you love."
It was what she had always done, and one of the things he loved most about her. He was happy to know that, whatever changes she'd made in his absence, that trait remained a fundamental part of her being.
Sam ran a hand through her hair, mussing her perfect curls.
"But he wasn't…" the only one there she loved.
Of course, she couldn't say that. It wouldn't be fair to him or to Drew. Instead she just fell spellbound in his tortured gaze. Those beautiful blue eyes were darkened with so much sadness and loss, her own heart ached of it.
"He wasn't you," her shoulders lifted to meet her cheeks.
It was the first time she'd said it so bluntly. After weeks of dancing around the subject and tip toeing around the reality, she finally said it, and it was every bit as awful as she'd feared it would be.
"I do love him Jason..." she knew it wasn't what he wanted to hear but she needed him to know everything. They'd always respected one another enough to be honest. "He's a good man. He's been a good father to Danny and Jake, he's great with Scout."
Jason shifted uncomfortably in place.
"As long as you're happy."
It took everything in him to choke those words out.
She wasn't sure why she had felt the need to tell him that.
"I was happy with you too..."
That was what she needed him to know. "I know this isn't fair to you. You didn't leave, you were taken, and you came back with another man in your place. Everyone believing that he was you...maybe that makes you feel like the time we shared," she gestured to the air between the two of them, "didn't matter as much or that you're easily replaced, but that's not true."
It wasn't until she'd sat in that interrogation room listening to his side of events that she'd dared to imagine how he might interpret the situation and she hated herself for taking so long to do so.
His head tilted slightly, dragging his eyes from her face momentarily.
"I don't blame you for any of this."
The angles of his face grew hard, and his eyes burned with harnessed rage.
"I blame Faison, and whoever else did this to us."
She nodded, knowingly.
"I figured. You never were were the type to sit back and wait for answers. You had to go out and find them yourself."
She hadn't been either, and if she was honest with herself, still wasn't. But her children had come close to losing her too many times already, so unless it was absolutely unavoidable, she would chain herself to the desk in her office and force herself to be good.
There was something in her voice he couldn't quite place, another reminder that they were no longer in sync.
"You're right, I want answers. Somebody did this to us and I want to know why!"
He lowered his voice, determined not to take his frustration out on her, but he couldn't help but notice her lack of fear. He was grateful for that.
"They took my memories and put them in someone else's head. They planted that person in my life, close to the people I love. Why? What does that get them?"
Sam felt her P.I instincts flicker to life.
"Maybe it wasn't about us. Drew escaped from Creighton Clark the same way you did that clinic in Russia. Sure, Helena followed him here, and used him to her advantage, but she didn't plant him in Port Charles."
Jason couldn't help but smirk at her insight. For just a second the last five years melted away and everything was the same.
"Maybe not, but those guys cared enough to follow me all the way from Russia to here. They could have killed you Sam."
The memory of her wet and limp in his arms made him ill. Had she died that night, it would have been because of him.
The anguish on his face spoke volumes. And as much as she'd like to pretend the danger had passed, she'd lived this life long enough to know better. Jason was right. Whoever had orchestrated this whole thing was still out there, and obviously was not pleased their plan had fallen through. There would undoubtedly be consequences.
Her heels clunked against the wood as she stepped closer to Jason, fighting the urge to take his face in her hands as she'd done so many times before.
"I understand why you have you have to do this. Just promise you'll be careful?"
A sick sense of deja vu washed over her as she thought of their final words that night. She had been so sure of his return and it had come five years too late.
He nodded, ignoring the flutter of hope in his chest.
Sam had never actually told him she was happy he was alive, but hearing her make that request was the small sign that he'd been needing, and he couldn't help but smile finally having it.
"Yeah, always."
Her expression darkened.
No matter how many times he would promise otherwise, careful was not a word in Jason's vocabulary. It was something he didn't know how to be.
They stood there in the cold, staring at one another, both groping for words. There was so much left unsaid between them, and most of it was either too little or too much to express.
"I should probably go. It's getting late and Drew will be wondering where I am."
Jason hung his head and sighed.
"Yeah, me too. I was supposed to meet Sonny awhile ago."
She nibbled on the inside corner of her lip. They had agreed it was best to give up PI work, and she wasn't about to go back on that. But this was just as much her mystery as it was Jason's and Drew's. It affected her life too. Didn't that give her a right to know?
"If you have any more questions about the timeline I can-" she ran her fingers through her hair, pulling it all to one side. "I mean I'd be happy to help with that. I might know some things that Sonny doesn't."
Jason lifted his hand to brush her hair from her face, stopping short just before contact. His hand fell.
"I appreciate that."
Though he wasn't sure he'd take her up on it. As much as he relished any excuse to be close to her, the idea of learning exactly how his twin had come to take his place in her heart was less than appealing.
But it did offer the promise of seeing her again soon.
"I'll see you around, Sam."
She smiled and mumbled some noncommittal agreement. Her heart was still racing from the moment Jason had reached out to touch her, and there was a strange mixture of relief and disappointment swirling inside her that he hadn't. This was exactly why she hadn't gone seeking him out, why she couldn't be alone with him. Drew was her husband now. They had a family together, and a life that she genuinely loved. A name didn't change any of that. But as Patrick had been so kind to point out when he'd called off their engagement, Jason's existence in the world, or in that particular case the belief that he'd come back, had instantly changed who she was as well.