With Open Eyes
Author: Cate
Summary: AU Lolexis fic. A violent encounter between Luis and Alexis leads to his death and her near-destruction. When Lorenzo comes to Port Charles to mourn his brother's loss, he finds that the woman he blames for taking his brother's life may be the only woman who can save him from ending up the same way.
Rating: PG-13, but subject to change. Story does contain references to rape and sexual assault, but it's no worse than what they show on television.
Background: Kristina Cassadine never existed, and Alexis was never involved with Sonny in any way. Stefan is alive and well, and Alexis remains his loyal attorney (not to mention adoring-almost-to-the-point-of-incest younger half-sister) despite occasional intense disagreements between the siblings.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters and am making no profit off of this fic.
Prologue
It was barely four o'clock on a frigid Sunday morning, and the small town of Port Charles had been asleep for hours. Not a soul was up to notice the strange vessel pulling into the harbor. The yacht's owner, a Venezuelan man by the name of Luis Alcazar, had planned his entry meticulously. Heir to an arms-dealing empire, he knew of Port Charles' own local mafia branch. Savior, as he fancied himself, of one Miss Brenda Barrett, he knew of the the PC mob's kingpin, the odious Sonny Corinthos.
For Luis, this was not mearly a business venture, although he did have designs on absorbing Corinthos' territory into his own. His primary objective, however, was Corinthos himself; the one remaining roadblock that kept Luis from truly capturing Brenda's heart. Before the week was over, he would have the obstacle permanently removed.
Luis securely docked his vessel at what he knew to be one of the several piers owned by Sonny Corinthos. Satisfied that his actions would provoke his unwitting rival, he took a moment to savor the tranquil night air before disembarking, fully prepared for - and, with a sick anticipation, strangely looking forward to - a quick and easy confrontation with Sonny's merry men.
-x-
"When I think of all I've done for you, Alexis, and how time and time again, you betray me-"
"Oh, you cry 'betrayal' every time I turn around, Stefan, for the love of God, please get a new line."
"I assure you, the only person who finds your American witticisms amusing is you."
Alexis rolled her eyes, another of the crass American habits that angered her brother so. "Who's trying to be witty? I'm merely marvelling at the fact that someone who's fluent in as many languages as you are needs to constantly fall back on the same tired word."
"Perhaps, dear sister," Stefan spat, "It's because you keep earning the title. It's bad enough when you interfere in my own affairs, but for you to try and meddle in Nikolas' life-"
"I'm not meddling in Nikolas' life!" Alexis exclaimed, her eyes wide with incredulity. "All I'm doing is trying, for his sake, to keep you out of it, too."
"All you're doing, as though you don't already know, is condoning our nephew's ridiculous affair with this Karenin girl," Stefan argued through gritted teeth.
"And what makes it so ridiculous?" Alexis countered. "You were fully supportive of his relationship with Gia; what makes Lydia different?"
"Gia, as brash as she may have been, was always honest with us, or at least with Nikolas," Stefan said curtly, clearly irritated at having to explain himself to his little sister. "Do you truly believe that Ms. Karenin is being just as up-front?"
"I truly believe that you're being paranoid, as per usual," his sister retorted.
"I suppose you're entitled to that opinion," he replied dismissively. Alexis arched one carefully defined eyebrow; this was progress. He tended to acknowledge her right to think for herself only when she agreed with him. "However," he continued, lest she get too hopeful, "I must insist that you leave this matter between Nikolas and I. It is none of your concern, and your encouragement is only making things more difficult."
Alexis was so appalled that she didn't know which insulting point to respond to first, so for a moment she stood silently in indecision. After a beat, she composed herself and spoke evenly, though her large brown eyes were flashing. "I'll ignore, for the moment, your presuming to tell me what I can and cannot speak with my nephew about. I'll also ignore your insinuation that the feelings of someone I happen to care very deeply about are none of my concern. I'll focus instead on reminding you that Nikolas is a grown man who can make his own decisions regarding who he spends his time with, among numerous other things. Have you considered at all that he may not want your opinion as much as you don't want him to have mine?"
"Do you, who fought so hard to be a part of this family, forget Cassadine law so easily?" Stefan thundered. "Nikolas has not yet come of age. As his guardian, it is my responsibility to monitor, for his own safety, who is allowed to come into contact with him. Pardon my use of the cliché, but if you don't like that, you can leave. I'm sure that the way out has become very familiar to you by now."
"If that's what you want, then I'll oblige, for now," she said coolly, getting up. His allusion to her previous banishment from the family stung, but she hid it as she crossed the sitting room and entered the hallway, out of her brother's view. She kept her head up even as she exited the dreary stone mansion and waited for the launch that would carry her to the mainland. It took longer than usual for a boat to be readied; the staff was long inured to the odd hours kept by their employers, but rarely did the family venture off of the island in the middle of the night. Still, the servants made haste; despite Alexis' stoicism, which was primarily for her own benefit anyway, they could always tell when Master Cassadine and Ms. Davis (or Miss Natasha, as some of them refered to her when out of earshot of the family; Alexis, having practically grown up in the servants' quarters, had always made an extra effort to be kind to them, and they wished for her sake and their own that Stefan would finally cave and give her an equal share of power) had had an argument. Despite the launch usually not running until well after sunrise, Alexis found herself stepping onto the mainland some two or three hours before. With nowhere to go at such an ungodly hour, she settled down on a bench near the docks, content to watch the waves and wait for some signal that her brother's temper - and her own - had subsided.
-x-
Luis had thought her asleep, but Brenda lay wide awake in her cabin, counting off the minutes until she could be sure that he had gone. The sleeping pills that she took faithfully every night - every night but this one - were tucked safely into her right hand. Carefully, she crept over to the door, then yanked it open in one fluid motion and lunged at the guard standing just outside. The element of surprise gave the small-framed woman an advantage over the much larger man, and when he opened his mouth to call for back-up, she deftly slipped the pills inside. He tried to spit them out, but in his confusion accidentally swallowed them both. Once he finally registered what was going on, his beautiful charge had pressed herself up against him, and he found that he no longer had the desire to call upon anyone else to help remove her.
"Hey, Andre, would you do me a favor?" she cooed, batting her long eyelashes in his direction. "I'm so sick of being on this boat. I'd do anything to be able to get out, stretch my legs a little bit." She paused, chewing on her lower lip for effect. "I don't want Luis to worry, though. He's so overprotective of me, you know? Oh, of course you know, you were hired to do the protecting!" She laughed at her own joke, and he smiled along with her, his hands entangling themselves in her dark curls. "Anyway," she continued smoothly, "I was wondering, would you be willing to cover for me, at least for a little while? I'll be right back, I promise, you just wait right here for me. Deal?"
The drug had started to work its way through his system; Brenda knew that it wouldn't have nearly as potent an effect on Andre as it did on herself, but she had been right in assuming that it was better than nothing at all. His hands slipped from her hair, and he numbly nodded his agreement.
"Andre, you're the best!" she squealed, reaching up to kiss his cheek. He smiled faintly but showed few other signs of lucidity. Taking this as her cue to leave, Brenda scurried off of the yacht and on to the firm soil of the town she still thought of as home.