ONE

Lena

"What the hell? Is that somebody going into my…?" I mumbled the words in an audible whisper, eyes wide with shock and a racing heart. My first fear is that it's Troy, my bastard ex and the father of my 5 year old son and the fight or flight reaction kicks in and I go into autopilot.

I think the first thing I did was text Aria, my son's babysitter and tell her to get Colton and sneak out the back of the cabin, go down to her house and call 911 as soon as she got there. The second thing I did?

I parked my car in the driveway of the empty cabin next to mine and I dug around in my console with shaking hands and a racing heart to try and locate the handgun I bought about 2 years ago right after we moved to town. It goes everywhere with me because I never know when Troy will show up and try to kidnap our son a third time. After that, I watched for a few seconds, pretending to be somebody using the phone and I waited; making sure my son and Aria were safely outside and heading to her own cabin and then I loaded my gun and I quietly got out of my car.

By now, whoever I'd seen going into my house was inside. My adrenaline was rushing and all I could think about was Troy was finally about to see just how badly he fucked up coming here and trying to stir up chaos.

I cut through the backyard of the vacant cabin and snuck up onto my sun porch. There's a spare key in a flower pot that Colton got me for Mother's day when he was 4 and I grabbed that, hurrying inside quietly. I slipped off the stilettos I'd worn to work and I tiptoed through the back of the house.

Imagine my surprise when it wasn't Troy breaking in.

As I stepped into the living room and clicked the gun off safety, the old woman raised her hands and then said in a calm tone, "Ah ah.. Put the gun down, Lena."

"Who the fuck are you and how do you know my name?" I asked the only logical question to ask at this point because the rest of the situation defied logic. I've never seen this woman in my entire life and for some reason… she scares me?

Think creepy cannibal grandmother and you've pretty much got the mental images flooding my mind at the moment. All I could think was what the hell was taking PCPD so long to actually get here and be of use.

"I don't think so. Not until you start answering my questions." I nodded to the couch. She gave this bone chilling evil smirk and she answered calmly, " At least you have a backbone, not like your simpering idiot of a mother and your simpering idiot of a twin."

…. Okay then.. she's obviously escaped an institution and she has mental problems.' I thought to myself before promptly blurting it out and making damn sure to keep the gun brandished.. That is until the giant asshole who'd been standing there silent the whole time with her raised his own gun with one hand and held out his other hand signaling for mine.

"Do I look fucking stupid to you?" I kept my gun until the old woman spoke up in this cold but casual tone, "It would be a shame."

"What would?"

"For your little bastard to grow up motherless and raised by a halfwit criminal."

…. And bingo, you found my weakness.' I thought to myself as I reluctantly handed over my gun and sat down as she nodded for me to do. I mean there was literally nothing left but my complete and utter compliance.. And yes, deeper down, parts of me were curious too.

Scared shitless, but curious.

My curiosity was rewarded when she answered my previous query and informed me that my parents were not my actual parents and that she held the proof. I think I laughed for a good five minutes before she rattled off their home phone number and then asked me to call them.

And I did.. I'm not sure what I expected to happen, but when I asked my dad, "She's losing her shit right, sir?" all my father could do was sigh sadly and tell me that she wasn't lying. And that made me angrier. Especially when I found out that they were paid dearly to keep their mouths shut and never tell me unless she specifically told them they were allowed.

Our call didn't last long but I definitely planned on calling back just as soon as the cops finally got their asses out here and got this bitch out of my sights. Until then though, I was stuck there, listening to her, confused and angry about my entire life with each additional word she spoke. When she finished, she gave a soft laugh and I glared at her, hatred burning in my eyes.

"Don't look at me like that, dear.. I'm only tying up loose ends.. What hurts worse, dear? The fact that the parents you were raised by and love lied to you? Or the fact that your real parents will probably never want a thing to do with you and there's nothing you can do about it?"

"You miserable bitch!" I started to lunge, her hand met my cheek in one fluid stroke and the sting of her slap lingered for seconds.. The sting and shock of her words?

I'm still dealing with that shit. Just as I heard the sirens approaching and I knew I was safe, she managed to stick my neck with something and when I came to in the back of an ambulance heading for Benson Hurst General with a throbbing head and a dry mouth, she was nowhere to be found.

"She's alive." the cocky smirk the guy gave me as his blue eyes met my hazel ones made me groan. "My son.."

"Is with your neighbor still. She flagged us down on the way out, hon. Told us what was goin on. You know you coulda gotten killed, playing hero like that." he mused and I glared as I told him calmly, "Well the day I sit back and wait on a damn man to ride in to my rescue is the day I might as well bend over and kiss my ass goodbye."

"I'm hurt, hon. Not all men are bad."

"No, you're right about that.. But when you only seem good at finding the bad ones." I wheezed and started coughing, it felt like my throat was closing up.

I decided then and there.. If I ever see that old bitch again I'll shoot first and ask questions later. Because if I'd done that this time instead of sneaking up on her and ultimately throwing away my upper hand in the situation, I wouldn't be on my way to the ER right now and she would be on her way to a morgue. But her story and the files she left me to read and 'do whatever I wished with', they were burning a hole in the forefront of my mind.. Who was the old woman to me?

And why did I get the feeling that despite what she'd have me to believe, there was so much more to the story than she told me.. Parts of me still stupidly clung to the hope that my dad had been lying when I called but I knew the tone of his voice well… Broken and defeated.. Same as when my mom died last year when she couldn't fight her illness anymore and all she wanted to do was be put out of her misery.

I know that tone well enough to know that even though it was the last thing he wanted to do, he'd had to tell me the truth tonight and risk losing me too.. I moved to sit up as the ambulance came to a stop and instead of just letting me, the blond police officer calmly pushed me back onto the stretcher and then effortlessly picked me up and sat me in a wheelchair seconds later.

… His hands against my skin feel fucking erotic… was probably the last stupid but coherent thought I had before my world went black again. When I came to an hour later, he was sitting there beside my bed, yelling at a football game on tv with a dark haired male sitting on the couch close by laughing hysterically at his anger.

I cleared my throat so he'd know I was awake.

My son saw me sitting up and he scrambled up onto the bed with me, talking a mile a minute, informing me that the cop with the erotic hands took him not only to get ice cream but to Kelly's Diner on their way here to the hospital to get chili cheese fries.

"You seriously gave him dessert… before actual food?"

"The kid had a rough afternoon, hon. He was real upset and shaken up when he saw ya getting put in the back of the ambulance."

Sensing that the man probably had the world's thickest skull and he'd argue me until we were both blue in the face I sighed and told Colton gently, "Don't get used to it, slugger, okay? Tonight was special and it was scary for all of us."

"But you was brave, momma! Just like when daddy came and.." I hurriedly clamped my hand over my son's mouth. The last thing I wanted was this guy, the guy who fed my kid sweets before food thinking I was anything less than a damn good mother. He eyed me, a curious look and Colton was still trying to talk.

"Kids, huh?"

"What was he about to say?"

"Nothing that's anybody's business but mine, okay? Trust me, officer.. If there was a problem I'd tell you."

"Woman, you didn't even place the 911 call tonight on your own.. The sitter did."

The darker haired guy cleared his throat and gave Officer Erotic Hands a warning look and the guy fell silent. "Okay, alright, woman." he muttered finally. The dark haired officer introduced himself and then took over, he asked me all the usual questions, what did the old woman look like, what did she say and when I finished, I happened to meet those stormy blue eyes of Officer Erotic Hands again and he was gaping at me.

"How in the hell do you know Helena Cassadine?"

"I don't..?"

"The woman you just described that broke into your cabin, woman.. That's Helena. Right down to the hairstyle and the way she spoke.. What the hell was she doing in your cabin?"

"Apparently, officer, she was getting her jollies.. Look, all I know is she completely fucked up my life tonight.. Things came out.." I trailed off. I didn't want to get into it with my son in the room because I didn't want to upset him and I didn't know how things were going to go between the people that I thought were my parents until earlier this afternoon and I from here on out. I nodded to my son and the darker haired officer took him out in the hallway.

"Okay, now you better start talkin.. What things came out tonight?"

… Well that was a fast switch flip… I cleared my throat and I started to tell him everything that bitter old hag told me tonight and I finished with a very drained and flat, "And she seemed to really get a fucking kick out of letting me know that my birth family would most likely want nothing to do with me."

He didn't respond, he just looked at me, this intent and focused and thoughtful glare on his face. I grumbled and then asked finally, "Did you hear anything I just told you?"

"Enough to know why the hell ya reminded me of an ex girlfriend." he muttered finally as he wrote everything down, showed me and then asked, "You plannin on tellin' 'em?"

"I really don't know, okay? I mean the woman seemed to think that they wouldn't want anything to do with me. I was sort of thinking about just forgetting tonight happened." I admitted it quietly, a defeated shrug as he sat down on the edge of the bed, stared at his hands for a minute.

"Before.. your son was saying something about his daddy coming and then you cut him off.. Anything we need to know about?"

"Just that my asshole of an ex husband tried to kidnap him twice and both times, I put his ass into whatever ER we happened to be closest to and then went on the run. Trust me, officer.."

"Call me Logan."

"Trust me, officer.. I can handle myself, okay? I grew up in Montana with a daddy who loved to hunt and taught me how to shoot when I was about 5. I don't think I've really found anything much that scares me since… Until Troy.. And then that shit show tonight." I bit my lip as our eyes met again. He chuckled and stated with a smirk, "Too bad you didn't grow up with your real family.. Think I'd have rather met you first.. Your twin sister, she's, umm… She's nothing like you. She woulda cracked if something like what happened to you this afternoon happened to her… Or she used to be that way."

"When you have a kid, officer.. Everything changes." I mused as I fell silent, drawing my eyes to the re run of CSI playing instead of his dangerously inviting icy blue ones. And the entire time I did so, I reminded myself mentally, '…. These little thoughts about his physical appearance… it's only because you haven't been laid in a really, really long time… you need to get a grip because this man looks like sexy, walking trouble. And those kinds of men are the reason you now have to deal with that asshole you stupidly married. Did that failure teach you nothing, Lena? Damn.'

Laura

She raised a brow at the hour when she heard the door being knocked on. Thinking it was Lulu or Lucky, she slipped on a robe and stood, walking from the couch to the front door, peering out through the window right beside it.

No one was outside but it looked like a delivery truck was pulling away from the drive. "That's strange," she mumbled aloud, "I didn't order anything and I don't think Lulu or Lucky did either." she opened the door and bent, picking up the small square package and she should have thrown it away when she saw no sending address but parts of her were curious, so instead of throwing it away, she walked back into her living room, opening the package as she went.

She took the DVD out of the case and raised a brow at the date. Lulu's birthday?

Shrugging it off, she slid the DVD into the player and hit play and she froze in recoil when Helena's face filled the screen.

"I'd imagine you're wondering what on Earth I'm up to."

"Among other things… The main one is what sick joke do you have up your sleeve this time." Laura muttered quietly as she waited and finally, Helena started to tell a story. By the end of this story, Laura was gaping at the television set in wide eyed horror and seething with anger.. If Helena had really done everything she'd just admitted to?

The next time Laura got her hands on the woman she was dead where she stood. On autopilot, Laura picked up her phone and dialed the number of her former husband and Lulu's father, Luke. Luke picked up after about four rings and asked in a surprised tone, "Everything okay, Laura?"

"You need to come over now."

"What's wrong?"

"I'd really rather not get into it on the phone. Just come over, okay?" Laura hung up the phone and stopped the DVD just in time to see a special news bulletin and watch as the man her daughter Lulu tortured herself for years about because she thought she murdered him being sworn in as a police officer on the force at PCPD.

Lulu

She was flipping through television channels and waiting for Dante to get back from the graveyard shift at PCPD when she happened to stop on the local news. All the color drained from her face as she stared at the television set in confusion and anger and she felt for at least five minutes like she was having the mother of all panic attacks.

"I thought he was dead… I went through all that guilt.."

The door opened and she heard Dante calling her name. She glared as he came into view and nodded to the tv. "Why in the hell wouldn't you think to warn me about what was going on? I mean did it occur to you to say 'Oh and by the way, you didn't kill your ex? And he's back in Port Charles?" she asked, hurt evident in her tone.

She normally didn't mind when Dante tried to shelter her but right now, she was too upset to think straight. She'd spent all this time living with the guilt of having ended his life and grieving about it, especially after it was revealed that he wasn't the TMK and he'd been in the wrong place at the wrong time and here the son of a bitch was, alive and well.

"I didn't want this to happen. I knew you'd take it hard, babe."

"Don't you babe me." Lulu got up and went to get a glass of water, gripping the edge of the sink as the night she thought she killed Logan Hayes replayed slow motion in her mind. She felt Dante's arms slipping around her and she took a few deep breaths. This wasn't completely Dante's fault, but he could have warned him… Its not like Dante chose to have the guy show up in town again after all this time like a bad penny.

"You don't have to work with him, right?"

"Nah, he has his own partner."

"Who? It's not Nathan or Lucky, right?"

"Nope.. It's Diego Alcazar." Dante hurriedly sipped the bottled water in his wife's hands as her jaw dropped and she stammered for a few seconds and Dante explained, "They left the Bureau. Took a job here in town."

"How in the hell does a convict get into the Bureau?"

"My guess? Daddy's money. I'm thinkin Diego's dad bought his way in.. But he probably saved the guy's life."

"Cool motive.. Still a criminal. I thought Jordan wanted to get rid of the corruption, baby, not welcome it with open arms." Lulu hugged against Dante and wondered how Maxie was doing right now, if seeing Diego alive and well after the history he had with Georgie. Before she could even try to call her, Maxie was calling her, upset and shocked and swearing a mile a minute. "I swear to God my mother should have gotten mayor! This town is going to hell in a handbasket!"

"Dante seems to think they're both alright.. Yeah, I know.. Even after everything Logan put Dante through back then."

"And Diego?"

"Said that he's not the same guy anymore either.. Personally, I'm not holding my breath but it looks like we're about to see either way.. Hang on, Maxie, I'm getting a beep." Lulu switched calls and she raised a brow at the upset tone in her mother's voice.

"Whoa, wait… Slow down, mom."

"What's wrong, babe?" Dante asked, Lulu held up a finger and went back to pacing their kitchen and listening to what her mother said. When she hung up with both calls, she turned to look at Dante and then asked quietly, "Is tonight just a weird shit happens everywhere kind of night?"

"What's wrong?"

"Mom and dad want us to come over.. From the sound of it, it's something pretty big.. And apparently, our favorite person is involved..." Lulu frowned, not sure if she could handle any bad news, but she slid on her jacket and went to grab their son from his crib and waited on Dante to get his own jacket.

"She give you any idea what it was about?"

"Whatever it is, she's gotten our entire family together."

"Oh hell, this oughta be interesting." Dante mused as they walked down to the parking garage and got into their car.

FOOTNOTE:

Like with my previous 2 stories, if you want to know more about Lena then check out my user bio. And to learn more about this series in general, refer to my user bio also. Trust me, you'll thank me for telling you this, otherwise things could get really, really confusing.

Obviously, these stories are all sort of connected, but not dependent on each other, and can be read as stand alones. I say that for anyone who might want to read one story and not the other or vice versa. In total, there will be 6, possibly 7 ( I haven't decided if I want to do one that keeps Rafe Jr alive or what to be honest) and it's sort of my own alternate universe? So yeahhhh.. This is the third book.