Chapter 1
A/N: Based on Blurry by Puddle of Mudd.
Nikolas Cassadine sat in the middle of his living room. It was a shabby little house but he'd worked on it, making it a suitable place for his seven-year-old son to visit him. He had a swing set in the backyard along with a trampoline. A new Playstation was connected in the living room. He always let Jack win. Sometimes you had to believe that you could win.
He thought of Emily, his lovely ex-girlfriend. She was Jacks mother and the love of his life. One day she had just decided that she didn't want him anymore. She had loved him for almost half her life and it still hadn't mattered. She had taken him to court and won full custody of Jack. He got to visit his son. Of course everything was supervised and the visits were always brief.
He wanted to throw something. He wanted to yell, scream, and throw a tantrum because he was in so much pain. But he couldn't do that right now. Jack was due to visit him today and he would be damned if his son saw him this way. He would just have to wallow in his own misery some other day because his son took precedence over everything else.
Really he didn't hate Emily. Okay so he tried really hard not to hate her for Jacks sake. He buried his hatred and replaced it with a smile. Jack had enough problems to deal with. Automatically, he thought of Emily's useless waste of skin boyfriend, Jasper Jax. The man was a drunk and it grated on Nikolas nerves to think that after each visit he was sending his son home to live with a monster. Of course, if Jax ever hit Nikolas son, he would die. Jack always told the truth. Even Emily wouldn't be able to talk him out of it. Nikolas tried to show his son what was right and what was wrong.
Nikolas sat in his windowsill awaiting his sons arrival. He liked to watch from here, liked to see them before they could see him. It allowed him to watch Jax and see how he treated Nikolas son. Let that son of a bitch even raise his voice and he was a dead man. Nikolas would make sure of that. No one would hurt his son. He would protect him from anything and everyone. Hell, he lived with Emily. How much worse could the situation get for the poor kid?
He had thought about going back to court but he didn't want to confuse Jack. He needed the stability and the sense of home. Besides, Nikolas didn't have that kind of money and the custody battle could go for years. He should have married Emily he supposed, gotten himself some more rights to his son, but he couldn't overlook her many sordid affairs. Maybe he had been selfish in that.
Jonathan Jason Cassadine was his sons name. He was named after Emily's older brother. He was just a little kid and yet so much had happened to him. His parents had separated and he now lived with an asshole. Surely Nikolas was just paranoid. Emily wouldn't knowingly put Jack in harms way. She was a lot of things and one of those things was a mother.
A car door slammed and Nikolas jumped from his spot running for the door. He could see Jack running up the walkway, his dark brown eyes dancing and his smile unbreakable. Nikolas felt all worry and anger dissolve as he stared out at the little brunette. He held out his arms and Jack ran into them, a backpack of toys and games strapped to his shoulders.
"Daddy!" Jack shouted, his face red and his hair blowing in the breeze. Nikolas looked on to see Emily and Jax sitting in the car. They wouldn't come in. They would wait in the car.
Nikolas pushed past the bitterness and focused on his son. "Hey Jack. Ready to play?" he asked, brushing his hand over his son's hair. Let the bitch watch from the car.
"I missed you so much Daddy." Jack told him, not quite ready to let go.
"I missed you too. What do you want to do first?" Nikolas met his son's eyes. He was smiling, but there was something hidden. Was it fear? Was it sadness? Stop it, Nikolas.
"Trampoline." Jack replied.
"Lead the way, Little Man." They walked in through the gate and raced to trampoline.
"I beat you, Daddy!" Jack giggled. Nikolas grabbed him and threw him onto the trampoline carefully.
"I bet I can jump higher than you." Nikolas challenged.
"Nuh uh. I'm the king!" Jack argued.
"Is that right?" Nikolas took his son playfully by the arm and tickled his stomach.
"Cheater!" Jack howled and then launched himself onto Nikolas chest. Nikolas fell backwards and Jack gave him a big hug.
Nikolas smiled and pushed Jack off of him. For the next hour, they played on that trampoline until they were both dizzy.
"Games!" Jack decided and started to get off of the trampoline.
"Careful. You're a little too short." Nikolas reminded and jumped off first, helping his son get down.
"I'm going to be tall. Mr. Jax says so." Jack informed him.
"You don't have to call him Mr. Jax you know?" Nikolas assured him, letting the anger evaporate.
"Uh huh. He tells me that I have to respect him." Jack bit his lower lip in thought.
"How about those games?" Had to respect him! For what reason? The man was nothing to look up to. Stop it Nikolas. He couldn't seem to help it.
"Are you okay, Daddy?" Jack sounded worried. He took Nikolas's face in his hands and made him look at him.
"Just fine Champ." Nikolas promised. He was slipping. He had to stop it.
"Let's play a wrestling game. Mommy doesn't let me." Jack begged.
"Whatever you want." Nikolas smiled and picked Jack up with one arm, letting him hold on for dear life as he carried him inside.
"I won't bounce, Daddy. Don't drop me." Jack giggled.
"Not letting you go." Nikolas swore.
"What is taking so goddamn long?" Jasper "Jax" Jacks demanded, the beer flying from his mouth. Really what did she see in this asshole? Had to be his money? Or had to have been, she corrected herself. He didn't have anything now.
"He's visiting his father." Emily answered, closing her eyes and trying to dodge Jax's spittle.
"He's had long enough." Jax decided and grabbed the door handle.
"Jax don't." Emily ordered.
"Are you telling me what to do?" Jax doubted it.
"N-no." Emily answered. Just open another beer, she wanted to scream at him.
"I didn't think so." Jax grabbed the handle again but Emily grabbed his shirt collar. "Let me go, Emily." He warned.
"Jax, Nikolas doesn't get many visits with JJ." She was the only one who called him that.
"He's got a few more minutes. Then his time's up." Jax answered.
"Why do you even care?" Emily demanded.
"Because I've got some things to do today that's why. Things that don't include sitting outside some loser's house waiting for him to play with his kid!" Jax yelled at her.
"Don't raise your voice at me!" Emily folded her arms.
"Or what, Em? What are you going to do to me?" Jax wondered, moving closer to kiss her neck. He smelled like stale cigarettes and beer. She almost gagged.
"Don't tell me how to raise my son okay?" Emily met his eyes.
"I'm a member of this family now." Jax reminded her, catching the skin between her neck and ear.
"He's still JJ's father and...Jax I don't want to fight." Emily told him, shying away from his touch.
"Neither do I." He agreed and fell back against his seat.
Emily looked back at the house, wondering how long this would take.
"Do you want to play on the jungle gym?" Nikolas wondered, running his hand over Jacks hair, intentionally messing it up. Jack swatted at him but smiled.
"I'm too short though." Jack insisted.
"I'm sure we could work something out." Nikolas assured him.
"How 'bout fishing? I've never caught a fish." Jack looked up at Nikolas.
"There's a lake not too far from here. Climb on my shoulders and well go." Nikolas grabbed his house keys and locked the door behind him.
"Don't we have to tell Mommy?" Jack wondered.
"Her and Mr. Jax are probably busy. We aren't going far." Nikolas promised, hoping that for just a few minutes, he could have some time with his son.
"Well let's go catch some fish!" Jack exclaimed happily.
They fished for about fifteen minutes, and then skateboarded down the sidewalk. Emily noticed them coming and sat up. She hadn't realized that they had left. Damn Nikolas; he knew better. She hoped Jax hadn't noticed. It wasn't worth the fight.
"Can you push me really high?" Jack asked, looking at the swings and then back at Nikolas.
"Really, really high?" Nikolas smirked.
"To the moon." Jack answered. He walked over to the swing and sat down, his little hands holding on tight. Nikolas grabbed the back of the swing and pulled it back. He went under before letting go sending Jack high. The little boy screamed with delight.
Jax popped open his third beer of the afternoon and sipped it loudly. Emily laid her head on the steering wheel, impatient and ready to be home.
"Jack, I need to talk to you." Nikolas explained when he saw Jack wave at Emily. They were on the back porch enjoying a couple of root beer floats.
"Okay." Jack agreed, sitting next to Nikolas.
"You know that even though Mommy and I aren't together anymore...you know that it has nothing to do with you right?"
Nikolas often worried about how this whole thing was affecting his son. He would do anything to keep his son and that included going back to Emily. Jax was the only obstacle now. Well Jax and Nikolas's pride. It was hard to keep your head held high when your girlfriend was screwing everyone in town. He had often wondered if Jack was his and had had a paternity test done just to be certain. The boy looked too much like him anyway to belong to anyone else.
"I know that. Mommy tells me that all the time. She also says that Mr. Jax cant help the way he is. I wish he'd go away." Jack confided quietly.
Nikolas met Jack's eyes. "He's never hurt you, has he Jack?"
"No. He's not very nice to Mommy though and he's always yelling. If you got back with Mommy, he couldn't do that." Jack was getting too good at this guilt trip but Nikolas had heard it before.
"I'm worried about you." Nikolas argued.
"Don't worry. I know karate". Jack reminded with a giggle.
"You tired?" Nikolas asked him. Jack shook his head. "Well then let's go play." Nikolas picked him up and carried him inside upside down. Despite what Jack told him, the little boy was out in five minutes. He fell asleep on the couch next to Nikolas.
"It's about damn time." Jax grumbled and Nikolas sent him a dangerous look as he helped a sleepy Jack into the car. Emily didn't seem to notice Nikolas or her sons presence. She looked upset but Nikolas didn't want to address it.
"I love you." Nikolas bent down next to Jack and hugged him tightly.
"Can we get out of here please?" Jax smiled at Nikolas, his eyes taunting. Nikolas held himself steady.
"Just a second. I want to say bye to my daddy." Jack explained. "I love you too. See ya later dude." He did a thumbs up and Nikolas copied him.
"As cute as this is..." Jax began finishing up his beer and flicking a cigarette butt out the window.
"See ya later dude." Nikolas said to his son and then shut the door. Emily drove away and Jack watched him with sad eyes. The visits were never long enough and Jax needed to shut up before he got himself killed.