Cheryl stood stock still, waiting for Tiffany to acknowledge her presence. Her older sister shook slightly in recognition and stepped forward, appraising the sight. After a few long seconds, she quickly closed the space, slapping the younger across the face. Cheryl turned with it and slowly looked back, tears forming not at the blow but from emotion. She didn't move until Tiffany closed both long arms around her fiercely and hugged with all her worth.
Exhausted, Cheryl leaned into the embrace and held onto her sister. "I'm so sorry."
"You owe me one hell of an explanation," Tiffany demanded.
"I know."
A nurse hurried out of the trauma unit. "Miss, he's asking to see you. He's fighting everything we try until he does."
Cheryl whirled. "He's awake?'
"Yes, and you need to calm him down. We have to slow the bleeding."
A quick look to Tiff and she was gone, dashing in to see Alex who lay on the trauma table. Blood smeared over his chest and he struggled to breathe. She took his hand and tried to shush him.
"I'm here. Relax... everything's going to be fine now."
Alex rocked his head back and forth. "No..." he wheezed. "...not done..."
Terror gripped her heart, knowing immediately what he meant.
"... bastard... dropped... phone..."
Cheryl pressed her hands to his face and kissed him, possibly for the last time. "Where?" After everything he'd done, she wanted nothing more than to stay with him, but now was not the time. If Julian had lived through their ambush he would be on the attack. More than likely imminently.
"...think he... followed me..."
Oh God, she thought. To the Penthouse. And here. And he was likely the one who had shot Alex. Cheryl focused. "Shhh. You rest." She kissed him gently. "You be here when I get back, ok? That's your job now."
She turned to the nurse, suddenly full of resolve. "Don't you lose him."
Choosing the main hall toward the ER entrance, Cheryl slowly threaded her way, ignoring the sound of Tiffany calling from the other end, blocked by gurneys waiting for the elevator. She tensely scanned for any hidden areas where Julian could be lurking. He'd want to find Alex first, she reasoned, and finish the job.
The familiar twang of Robert's accent cut clearly into her perception and she instinctively turned the corner to see him asking the desk nurse about the shooting victim. Of course he'd follow up on that report, she thought. Especially if he knew where the call had come from, which was reasonable to assume.
Scorpio turned and looked up, taking a half step before fully realizing who he was seeing. In the same instant, Jerome appeared in a doorway behind Robert's left shoulder. Cheryl blocked out everything but him, letting her focus sharpen as she'd been taught and quickly pulled the Glock 17 from the small of her back. Her thumb flicked the safety as she raised the weapon, catching a glimpse of Julian mirroring her actions with a pistol of his own.
Robert quickly had a hand up in defensive posture, unaware of the threat behind him. Julian wouldn't care about shooting Scorpio, but Cheryl had to be careful. She flashed the quickest signal, a direct glance at him and then to her left, as she dared hoping he got the message. She couldn't afford to wait and squeezed the trigger, sending a 9mm slug into her enemy's chest as Robert's reflexes read her eyes correctly and he stepped just clear of the shot. Julian staggered but didn't drop. In a second the Commissioner had his own weapon at the ready. He was too late to act as Cheryl's steely gaze held the target and she fired again, this time straight through his heart. He dropped like a bag of stones as chaos erupted in the room.
The entire exchange had taken perhaps three seconds but ended years of torment. Cheryl let her arms fall even as she stared toward the body now being attended to by a scurrying team of doctors and nurses. Let him die, she wished silently. Robert slowly stepped closer, cautious of the loaded gun still in her hands.
"Cheryl?" he said in disbelief. "What the hell is going on here?"
Her ears were trained on the team across the room, listening as they checked for signs of hope.
"Cheryl!" he nearly shouted, and made the mistake of reaching for her weapon. After twelve years as an undercover agent she couldn't restrain the impulse to protect it. Her hands pulled away from him as it was quickly safetied and stowed. She let out a breath of relief and turned.
"Robert."
Tiffany burst through as the hall cleared for security. "Cheryl Ann! What are you doing with that gun? And who are you shooting at? And why?"
"That's what I'm trying to get at. I know the who at least. Julian's laying over there, and by the aim your sister has I'm guessing he's dead."
Cheryl glanced between them.
"Well?" They asked in unison.
"It's a long story."
Robert settled into investigative mode and Tiffany squinted questioningly. "Just how long are we talking?"
She sighed. "Twelve years?"
Tiff's eyes became saucers. "What?"
Cheryl fidgeted, ready to dash back and check on Alex. "I have to go. I'll explain later, ok?"
"Hey," Scorpio barked. "You just shot someone in the middle of General Hospital. I can't just let you walk off."
She reached into the pocket of her snug burgundy leather jacket and pulled out a small wallet, slapping it into his open palm. "Sure you can," Cheryl answered, and trotted off.
Tiffany looked over his shoulder as Robert opened it to reveal a shiny gold badge and identification.
"Son of a..." he mumbled and stared after her.
While they stood dumbfounded Cheryl resumed position at Alex's side. He was much quieter now, almost eerily so. When she caressed his pale face he managed to crack his eyes open. The doctors and nurses still bustled around but she occupied a small corner near his head.
"...why... you crying..."
With a sniffle she admitted, "Because you're scaring the hell out of me."
He took a shallow breath. "Tired."
"I know." Tears continued to run down her cheeks. "But we didn't come this far for me to go on alone, ok?"
The nurses stepped up activity and one spoke directly to Cheryl. "We've got O.R. 2 ready and he's stable enough. We're moving him STAT."
Tiff had crept in and watched quietly as Cheryl received more instruction about where to wait and saw Alex wheeled off among a whirl of hospital staff. When they were gone the room was suddenly void of action, and she crouched wearily in the space where his gurney had been. She shook and tried to collect herself.
"I think there's a lot I don't really know about you, but one thing is obvious," Tiffany noted, carefully settling alongside.
"What's that?"
"You love him. And that makes him my family."
Cheryl managed a grateful smile and stood. "I've got to get upstairs."
Robert was waiting in the hall when they stepped out. He trailed after them as they took the short ride up to the waiting room. "This isn't over you know. Don't you think Victor's going to be just a little upset at his baby boy getting killed?"
"Not really," Cheryl answered plainly.
"You're kidding, right?" Scorpio huffed.
She rolled her eyes, exasperated. "He's dead. Victor was the trigger for everything."
"What everything?"
Cheryl managed not to laugh. "Maybe we should watch the news."
Tiffany found the remote and tuned to her own station, immediately glad that she had delegated breaking news to her senior field reporter. They watched as images rolled across the screen and a voice described the reports of multiple explosions across the New York City area and other cities, where an apparent 'mass hit' had been executed against the area's prominent mob family. All in all there were a confirmed seventeen dead.
"My God," Tiff gasped.
"You took out the whole family?"
At nearly seven a.m., Cheryl had been up for more hours than either could know. "Where's the coffee around here?" she asked distractedly. They managed enough patience to wait for her answer. "To end it for good, yes."
"I can't believe the FBI would sanction something like this."
"Sanction? No, probably not. But they'll deal with it. I think we did a good enough job making it look like a rival family." Cheryl slumped into a chair and rubbed her temples.
Robert studied her fine features. "I still don't get how you hid this for so long. To be honest, I ran a check on you after I found out about Julian four years ago. I got nothing suspicious."
"God I would hope not. If it was that easy, I'd have been dead a long time ago."
Tiffany finally piped in. "I don't even understand how you got mixed up with the FBI to begin with. You went to school to learn all that financial stuff, not bust bad guys."
The long day continued to catch up with Cheryl as she tried to work a kink from forming in her neck. "Do we have to do this now?" she groaned.
"Well, what else are we going to do while we wait?"
"Good point. Coffee first. Lots and lots of coffee."
Tiffany put herself in charge of coffee for everyone while Robert waited and Cheryl paced down the hall to hang near the OR doors. No one came or went and no word emerged in Alex's condition. She savored half of the large cup before even considering a question.
"So, who's first?"
"Me, remember?" her sister asserted.
"Oh, yeah. Umm.. I got involved with the Bureau the summer between sophomore and junior year at Columbia."
Robert scowled. "What the hell were they doing with a college kid?"
She shrugged. "They'd been watching the family for years, knew I'd gotten involved with Julian but at that point I didn't really know just who they were, and what they did. One of the agents in charge posed as a University rep... some pretense about my experiences at the school... I spent a day being shown all the evidence they had."
"I don't get how that makes you an agent though."
Scorpio answered for her. "They waited until they were sure she wouldn't just walk away. Until she'd want to help Julian enough to risk getting involved. Typical recruiting trick."
Cheryl nodded slightly. "After graduation when Julian broke everything off, I was kindof lost. The same agents came and told me I'd be a great asset in hunting down fraud cases, tracking investment schemes, stuff like that. So I want to Quantico and through training."
"And they got the bonus that you'd always be connected to the Jeromes," Tiffany reasoned.
They talked for about forty minutes about the life neither had known Cheryl lived. Tiffany looked over after a short debate with Robert and found her asleep, having nodded off with her head propped on her arm. Tiff stepped over quietly to take the coffee cup before it slipped from her hand and she jerked awake.
"Hey, it's just me."
"Sorry."
"Takes a while to lose that," Robert drawled knowingly. "When was the last time you really slept?"
Cheryl blinked and sat up straighter. "Five weeks, three days, two hours and... thirty seven minutes ago," she answered with a glance at her watch. She also noted a flurry of activity at the end of the hall as a nurse burst out the doors and around the corner, then rushed back into the operating room with a cart.
Scorpio scowled at the calculation.
"The day you died."
Tiffany's voice was a whisper remembering the day she received the phone call from Phoenix. Technically she hadn't died until two days later but all hope had really been lost seeing her baby sister laying bandaged in that bed, battered and comatose. A thought occurred to her.
"Was that even you?"
Cheryl shook her head guiltily. "No. We hired her. She wore a mask of my face and the doctors put her in a drug induced coma."
Robert stood. "Well I need to get back to the station and straighten out some of this mess." He held out the small wallet. "You'll need this back."
"Yeah. The DOJ gets upset if we lose them."
He pointed as he walked away. "You'll file a full report, right?"
She treated him to a little salute in agreement.
Tiff circled and sat in the chair Robert had occupied, staring quietly at Cheryl.
"I don't know what to say."
"You know, I sat in that room for almost three days talking to you. Asking you to wake up. Begging, really. I was so upset that I hadn't been able to say the things I needed to before you'd gone." There was no accusation, just Tiffany reliving the time.
"You've told me you love me so many times, in so many ways," Cheryl revealed. Tiff looked at her in confusion. "We had the hospital under surveillance the whole time. Nobody wanted my double getting killed, even if it was a remote chance."
She felt in the black jeans for a second and drew out the charm bracelet Tiffany had placed on "her" wrist. Tiff started to protest when she returned it. "I only wanted that for one reason you know."
"So I couldn't have it?" Tiff joked.
"Because I thought if you gave it to me, it would mean you loved me." Cheryl shrugged. "I don't need that now. You keep it, and give it to my niece some day."
Tiff smiled. "You don't have a niece, silly."
"I will."
They had a little time before Cheryl's eyes picked up more movement from the operating room. This time there was a slow trickle of people, first a nurse and then a doctor in blue scrubs. He looked tired as she met him halfway down the corridor.
"Well?"
"He lost a lot of blood," the surgeon said with little enthusiasm.
Her hands shook, unsure of what the next words would be.
"And he crashed on us once..."
"Oh God."
The man held up his hands to halt her assumption. "We got him back. The next twenty-four hours will be critical, but he seems like a fighter."
Tiffany stood at her side. "He'll be ok?"
"I can't guarantee anything. If we can get him through the next day without any hemorrhaging, I think so. They're closing up now."
Relief washed over her. "When can I see him?"
Half an hour later they were finally allowed into Recovery where Alex lay asleep. Still pale but definitely stable, Cheryl fingered his hair tenderly.
"He is pretty cute," Tiff noted.
"Yeah. You should see him when he's not dying."
Tiffany squeezed her around the shoulders. "Hey now. You heard the doctor. Speaking of which, since he won't wake up for a couple hours, I think maybe you could use a little rest too. And uh, maybe some clean clothes?"
Cheryl looked down at the snug top, smeared with his blood. "I don't really want to go back to that fleabag."
"Excuse me?"
She described the cheap motel they'd been hiding out in.
"Of course you aren't staying there. We'll get all your stuff and you'll come home with me."
"Really?"
The twosome wandered out to the elevators and were interrupted by Alan who was shocked at seeing Cheryl alive. A very condensed version of the story was in progress as the second lift opened behind the sisters. They paid little attention until a small voice cried out.
"Momma!"
Cheryl froze and her eyes went wide. "Lucas?" She answered, whirling to see the three year old racing toward her. She dropped to a knee and caught him, clutching his small body. She rocked there, enjoying the unexpected reunion in the middle of the nurses station. She'd deliberately avoided thinking about it, not wanting him in the middle of such chaos.
Bobbie stood nearby with a bittersweet smile watching them together.
"I missed you so much," she breathed. Lucas giggled happily and hugged her tight. Suddenly much less exhausted, Cheryl stood with him in her arms and checked him over for changes. "Goodness, you need a haircut," she grinned.
"I wasn't sure how long you liked it," Bobbie said.
Lucas rested his head on her shoulder and hung on. "Oh, we've had it all over. It grows like crazy, doesn't it sweetheart?" He nodded silently and smiled.
"Hold on a minute," Tiff injected, looking at the two women. "You knew?"
Bobbie's mouth hung open, full of guilt.
"How did you know we were here?" Cheryl asked.
"We didn't. I've been keeping him at the daycare upstairs. When I got in someone said they'd seen Tiffany."
She turned to Lucas. "How'd you know I was here?"
"Heard you."
Stunned that he recognized her voice after over a month, Cheryl bragged. "My son is a genius."
"Wow, and I thought Monica was bad," Alan jabbed.
Bobbie laughed. "We're all like that. Seriously though, he is very bright. He's been picking up things Barbara Jean is learning at school."
Cheryl smirked at Alan. "See. Genius."
Lucas peeked around as people passed by. "Where's Alex?"
His question took the moment of lightness away from the group and Alan left them to check on other patients. Cheryl sat Lucas on the counter and tried to think of what to say.
"He's here. But you know, when you don't feel so good, you sleep a lot?"
He nodded.
"Well, Alex doesn't feel too well right now. So the doctors are helping him, and he's resting."
"He get better?"
"That's the idea, yeah."
"I miss him."
Cheryl brushed the hair from his eyes. "I know. We'll see him later, ok? Right now your Aunt Tiffany and I have to run a couple of errands. Do you want to stay with your daycare friends, or come with us?" She wasn't really eager to let go but let him choose rather than be confused and helpless.
Lucas leaned forward with his arms open wide reaching for her.
"I guess that's my answer," she said, scooping him up. She stopped with Bobbie before leaving. "I don't know how to thank you."
The redhead smiled wistfully. "I think I owed you this, after everything that happened."
Lucas whispered in Cheryl's ear and she set him down. He seemed well aware that his time with the Jones family was over, and made a step toward Bobbie, who bent toward him.
"I bet you're happy to see your Mommy," she said.
He glanced back at Cheryl. "I love Momma." Then he stepped forward a bit and hugged Bobbie, planting a wet kiss on her cheek. "You too."
They finally departed, leaving her wiping tears away. Tiffany finally got a chance to voice her opinion as they rode down to the parking lot.
"I still can't believe you left him with her, after what she did."
"Hm. I was so angry at first. But after getting him back, I realized I'd probably do anything to keep him too."
Tiff raised an eyebrow. "I'll say."
Sean bustled through the door expecting no one home. He'd left long before dawn to do a stake out for Donely-Devane investigations, assuming Tiffany was off at the studio as usual. Instead he stumbled upon Lucas playing on the floor near the entry.
"Hey little buddy, what are you doing here? Did you come for a visit?"
Tiffany hurried out from the kitchen, shushing him.
"What's the big deal, he's not asleep."
"No," she agreed, looking toward the green sofa. "But she is."
Sean looked up and his jaw dropped. "Cheryl? How the hell..." he blurted in shock. "Didn't we just..."
"So we thought. It's been a very strange day. Wonderful, but strange."
He crept over and sat on the coffee table, staring incredulously at Cheryl while she napped. "I just can't believe this."
"If you don't stop staring, I'm gonna shoot you."
"And she's grumpy too," Tiff noted after the fact. "You can't shoot him darlin', I put your gun away."
"Gun?"
Cheryl cracked an eye open at the offender and sighed. "Hi Sean."
"Hi kiddo." His grin spread as she woke up. "I don't know how or why you pulled this off, but I'm very glad to see you."
She gave a still-tired smile and reached to hug him. "How long was I out?"
"Uhh, about two hours I think."
After a quick shower and change Cheryl had zonked out within seconds of sitting down on the couch. "Oh, Tiff. I have to get back to the hospital."
Lucas climbed up next to her. "We see Alex?"
"Yeah. You ready?"
"Alex is a real person?" Sean wondered. "We thought he was imaginary."
"Hardly," Cheryl laughed.
"You aren't going anywhere until you eat. I made peanut butter sandwiches. It's all we had." Tiffany set the small table and waved them over.
"Tiff you know he can't have jelly."
She scoffed. "Who said anything about jelly?"
"Well... what are you putting on this sandwich?" Cheryl asked skeptically.
"Pickle," Lucas answered with a laugh.
Cheryl stopped halfway to the table and stared at them both. "What have you been feeding my kid?"
"Don't knock it til you try it."
"Hey," Cheryl whispered. "You don't look so bad."
"Right as rain," Alex groaned, half awake.
She sensed him thinking about sitting up and put a stop to it quickly. "Just stay put. These nurses will have my hide if you start bleeding again, ok?"
He swallowed once and let his eyes fall shut again. "Yes ma'am," he said, before having a more urgent thought. "Everything ok?"
Cheryl nodded. "It's done. Things got a little crazy while you were lounging around," she teased. "But the good part is, gossip around here moves pretty fast. I won't have to explain much. Everyone will know before I can bother saying it."
"You're free," he said heavily.
"We're free," she corrected, squeezing his hand. "Although you now have to deal with Tiff and Sean. They're both very interested in the mysterious imaginary Alex."
He managed a weak smile, knowing there was so much to her life they would need to learn.
"But, not today."
"Stuck with you, eh?"
"Well, not just me." Cheryl dragged a chair over and let Lucas stand on it next to the bed. In a second he had a knee on the bed and laid himself across Alex's body. Cheryl grabbed him up, thankful they were on his relatively undamaged side.
"Gentle, remember?"
"Hey little man," Alex smiled after a grimace.
Quick as always, he saw the bandages and pieced together more of the truth. "He got hurt?"
"Yeah baby, somebody hurt him."
Lucas' eyes widened. "They mean to?"
Cheryl debated for a second, choosing honesty. "Yes. But they won't be doing it again. Momma took care of that, ok?"
"You're still here. I was afraid I'd miss you."
"Hi Tony," Cheryl said in a low voice. "I'm hoping to see him eat something, but he's pretty much out."
She sat at Alex's bedside as he slept, much as he had all day with ten or twenty minute waking periods from time to time.
"Kinda like this little guy." Tony laid a soft hand on Lucas' back as he slept against her.
"He's had a very tiring day."
"Looks like you all have." He saw the weariness creeping over her as well.
Cheryl smiled. "Yep. But I have my guys together again." Lucas stirred and smiled at Tony.
"Oh, speaking of which. I'm going to have to explain to Barbara Jean why Mr. Lucas here isn't with us at dinner. Those two have been thick as thieves."
"Like BJ. Momma, can I have sisser?"
Tony stifled a laugh as her mouth dropped open.
"Hey, you're sitting up!"
Alex nodded slowly. "Kinda hard to swallow laying down."
Cheryl's pleasure was evident. "You've eaten?"
"Not yet. They let me have water." He spoke slowly and seemed to take very careful breaths but was alert enough to hold a conversation. "Where's my monster?"
"He's upstairs with the daycare group, hopefully burning off some energy." A roll of her eyes indicated just how full of it Lucas was.
"So, do I get a real hello... or what?"
Cheryl crept carefully closer and her eyes fell to the dressed wound a few inches to the left of his heart. She'd been that close to losing him. Her fingers barely grazed the tape and gauze before resting along his jaw. A tender kiss placed on his lips fulfilled the requirement.
"Feel better already."
"I get that," she said, noting the right hand that had crept over her knee as she perched on the bed. "Good thing they've got the other one taped down."
"Mhm. I could fix that," he teased, reaching for the bound hand.
"No, no, no," Cheryl hurried. "Keep that up and I'll leave."
He managed to snag her hand as she rushed to tuck him in more securely.
"I love you."
She could tell he was tiring and leaned close to rub her nose against his. "Well that's mutual, so you rest and get better." Cheryl leaned back and wiped a tear from her cheek. "I'm going to go see what that doctor has to say today."
"See, I'm being good... and you leave anyway."
She snuck another quick kiss. "I'll come back, goof."
"Are you sure? We can find someplace else."
"You trust him with Lucas don't you?" Tiff asked easily.
"Of course." After five days cooped up at General, Alex was being released. Cheryl and Lucas had come and gone without much extra fuss.
"Then I think I can trust him in my house." Tiffany cleared the coffee tray and headed for the kitchen. "Besides, I haven't gotten to know him much. I think it's about time."
Cheryl suspected the fact that she'd hedged on any further details until Alex could contribute had much to do with wanting him at the penthouse. "Take it easy on him, please? He's not used to getting the Tiffany Hill, ace reporter treatment."
"Well darlin' you two have been together how long?" She didn't wait for an answer. "And I didn't know anything about him, so forgive me if I'm a bit curious."
"A year and a half," Cheryl said quietly. "But we've known each other longer."
Tiff paused. "Uh huh?"
Cheryl sighed. "Alright. We'll answer all questions tonight. Geez. I guess it is time to get it all out there, even if I was enjoying a tiny bit of normalcy."
"What's normal about going to the hospital every day?"
"It's pretty tame by comparison, that's all," Cheryl moped. "You may as well call whoever needs to be around for this. I don't want to have to do it more than necessary."
Cheryl glanced around the room. Robert and Anna had been summoned along with Bobbie and Tony Jones. The option had been left open for Robin to attend, but the Scorpios had decided against it, not knowing exactly what would be revealed. Sean and Tiffany rounded out the group. She glanced at Alex as he hovered near the balcony, glad to be standing for a while.
"Where am I supposed to start?"
Tiff spoke up quickly. "How about the beginning?"
"The beginning for you is way more than the rest of them are interested in. We can do that later." Cheryl took a breath, considering. "I think we're going to have to start from when I came here, the first time that is."
Everyone already had at least a basic understanding of how she'd become an agent so she was able to quickly move through the fact that she'd been assigned in Port Charles with the intent of providing some quiet observation of the Jerome family. Of course the Bureau had known of Duke's involvement and having her in close proximity was key to gathering intel.
"They were very afraid of the rumors that Olivia could gain control. Victor was bad, but at least he had his own code of right and wrong. It made him predictable. Olivia on the other hand..."
"Psychopath," Anna finished.
"Bingo. Unfortunately that psychopath also figured out I was an undercover agent, which is why she had her goons grab me and plan to kill me. Not that it wasn't going downhill quickly anyway, but when I got out of there I knew I had to get her quick or she'd blow my cover to the whole family."
Robert concluded, knowing what happened next. "So you were on the balcony trying to get the drop on her when Julian interrupted." He sat back, thinking. "But with Olivia out of commission, you still had to keep mum even knowing Anna didn't shoot her."
Cheryl held up a finger. "Actually, I had no idea Gino was there, or who shot her. But in any case, stepping forward with everything then would have done as much damage as Olivia telling people. So I shut up and waited, as instructed."
"Well, what about after? I mean, why not just clear everything up then?" Anna wondered.
"Still on observation, watching the dust settle. By December the Bureau figured everyone was withdrawing from Port Charles, which meant I was too. I had to con them into letting me stay til the wedding." She looked apologetically at Tiffany, who'd never had a real chance to say goodbye after the ceremony.
Tiff piped up. "So, you just kept trailing them?"
"Not for long."
"They pulled you off the case?"
Cheryl smiled a little, looking at Anna. "They didn't have much choice," she answered and let her gaze fall to Lucas, quietly coloring with Alex on the floor.
"Oh, yes I suppose not."
Bobbie looked confused. "I don't understand if they took you off the Jerome case, how'd you end up mixed up with them again?"
"Bad luck."
"Excuse me?" Sean blurted.
Cheryl sighed and sat on the arm of the green sofa. "I had a doctor's appointment and ran into Victor, of all people. He must have found out why I was there and assumed that if I wasn't here with Robert that the baby must be Julian's."
"And he'd never let a grandchild get away," Anna added, knowing the value the old man had placed on family.
"So I started hopping around the city, trying to keep ahead of him. I was on leave but still got a little help from the agency. Didn't do much good."
Tiff threw her hands up. "Well no wonder I had such a hard time findin' you."
"Actually, your finding me led Victor right to my back door," she revealed. "Which was part of why I didn't contact you. I knew he'd be watching you and probably even had some eyes back home." Cheryl took a break to check on what Lucas was drawing and the group exchanged quiet comments. When she came back they all shushed and waited.
"So I hit the road, but didn't get too far before passing out in that bus station."
"And then called us," Sean remembered. "But if the FBI was helping you, why did they let that doctor get away with taking him?" he nodded toward the windows and his nephew.
"We were a little behind," Alex answered, joining them for the first time. He gave a little wave of greeting. "By the time we caught up, she'd already been told he died and was on her way here."
Tony shook his head in amazement. "Where she watched us with her son, even though none of us knew it."
Alex nodded. "And then she vanished on us." He looked a little hopeless at the memory.
"Where did you go? Sean and I looked for you and found nothing but dead ends."
Cheryl looked at Tiffany. "I wasn't exactly feeling social. I left the country. Rented a little cabin in Canada looking out over the mountains and just... I don't know."
"Tried to breathe?" Anna suggested. Having lost a baby herself, she had a little idea even though her pregnancy had ended very early on. She tried to imagine feeling that life grow to fruition only to be taken so abruptly.
Tiffany couldn't help but get up and hug her sister. When she stepped back the questions resumed.
"So where does he come in?"
"We're getting there."
"Actually, I was in, but at that point she didn't know it. I'd just been around as part of the 'help' team, and then had to go searching for her. We hadn't actually met." Alex fidgeted a bit with the sling supporting his arm and keeping stress off the injury. Cheryl gave him a look as if to say 'stop' and he shrugged, mildly frustrated but gave up anyway.
"I'm still confused though... how did you get the idea he was alive?" Bobbie asked, clearly baffled.
Cheryl looked up and pressed her face into her hands. "I kept waking up in that dead quiet cabin, hearing him cry. After a month, I just knew it couldn't be my imagination."
"We'd found her about a week and a half in, but let her be. She was safe there. The team picked up on her packing up pretty quick and went to get her. Of course that's when we found out what she'd decided."
"They thought I was crazy."
Alex looked at her rather pointedly.
"Ok, most of them thought I was crazy. He kept me from losing it."
"There was just so much about what happened at that clinic that didn't figure up. The bad part was, the Director wasn't interested in any of the theories, and by the time I could convince him, he decided it was safest that Cheryl not know where her baby was when we did find out."
Sean stood, suddenly angry. "What? You mean to tell me you all knew where he was and didn't tell anyone?"
Alex sighed. "No one could guarantee either one of them would be safe if Victor came back into the picture. So I kept an eye on Lucas, and reported back to Cheryl to try and keep her pacified. She hated my guts, if it makes you feel better. Hell, I hated me."
"Let's back up... it took months for them to believe me and track him down, first of all. And every time I made a move to get information for myself, I got derailed. And yes, I hated getting 'he's fine' or 'he had a checkup' reports. It went on forever." Cheryl added, clearly annoyed while reliving the memories.
"When Tracy placed that ad looking for me it was the best chance I got. As much as I didn't want to be here, the possibility that Sean or Robert could help was too much to pass up. At least they were outside the Bureau."
Anna stood and paced around. "So now we're up to you being back in Port Charles, still looking for your child, but getting reports from him and not having any luck convincing Sean or Tiffany that the baby's alive. Right?"
"Pretty much."
Tiff sat back and tapped her chin. "So... I'm wondering... when you came back then... tell me about Shep. That never really seemed to, you know, work."
"Ugh. I was angry and frustrated about everything, and conflicted about Alex. Not one of my proudest moments. Can we all just agree to block that out of memory?"
"Gladly," Alex murmured.
Lucas trotted over, paper in hand. "Look Momma."
Cheryl crouched next to him. "That is a beautiful drawing. I think you did a great job."
"I put on the fridge?"
She looked at him, full of love. "You have to ask Aunt Tiffany that. It's her refrigerator."
He turned toward Tiffany with a hopeful grin.
"Well of course you can honey. In fact, I think I'm desperately in need of some art in my kitchen. Let's go get this up right now."
They disappeared with her asking about the purple hair he'd drawn on her image. Cheryl took the opportunity to have a quiet exchange with Alex. Robert and Anna swapped strange looks while Tony and Bobbie cuddled together.
"Ok, so we're up to where you all know what happened, right?" Cheryl started when the art patrol was done. "So I got my baby back and went to Phoenix."
Alex chuckled. "Nice segue."
"This is taking long enough. There's no reason to review what they were around for," Cheryl retorted with a quick roll of her eyes.
Sean connected the dots for the next part. "And Alex went with you? You did say a year and a half. That'd come out about right."
"Not right off. I had to wait for the transfer to go through. I think Cheryl was there about five weeks before I showed up at her place."
"I thought you said you hated him," Robert blurted, tiring of the banter.
Anna nudged him in the arm. "Come on Robert, you know how that changes."
"Like I said, conflicted. So when he came to see me, I felt annoyed and yet relieved. Basically very mixed up about it. It didn't take long for me to see how much he cared about both of us, and how much I trusted him." Cheryl shrugged and held his hand loosely.
"Might have made a little difference that I moved to Arizona just to have a chance."
"Maybe," she grinned.
Tiffany squinted and pointed at them. "Ok, we're gonna move past this right now, but there's more to talk about later."
"Yes."
"As long as you understand that." She sat down with a flourish. "But I do want to know why you hid this from us. You could have at least mentioned that you were seeing someone."
Cheryl walked around the room. "I left here for several reasons. One: The longer I stuck around the faster Victor would find out about everything. Two: After a good reaming out from the Director I got a new assignment to investigate some suspicious investments in Arizona, and Three: I wanted to. But there was always this underlying fear that the family would creep back in and try to take him. Alex... well.. he was something I wanted to figure out on my own. Without extra input."
Alex nodded. "We spent a year just kindof laying low, but about six months ago we started getting word that the Jeromes had people in the area."
Sean glanced at his wife. "Six months... that would have been around the time Tiffany visited you."
"Exactly." Cheryl looked sad at the fact that once again, her sister's love had lead a threat to her doorstep.
"We laid even lower than we had, debated moving, all sorts of options. None that would really end it all. One night it just hit that the only way to get rid of the Jerome family was, well, to get rid of them." Alex concluded. "Making her dead and getting Lucas here gave us the chance to hit them hard and still keep him safe."
Sean shook his head in wonder. "I'm just amazed that not only you pulled off faking that accident, paying off the doctors and your double, making that video will... and then went off and took out an entire mob family that's been embedded in the New York area for forty years."
Cheryl grinned. "The hard part was grabbing their tech guy. Slimy little weasel."
"Huh?"
Alex finished for them, seeing Cheryl tire of storytelling. "We figured the one common thing for all of them was their cell phones. So we nabbed the geek getting them clean ones. Took a couple of weeks for the change, but when he distributed the new set, each was wired up and ready for our signal call. Just a dab of explosive on that lithium battery, plus a chip rigged just right..."
Robert raised a finger. "But Victor wasn't killed in an explosion, and neither was Olivia."
"We teamed up for the old man, then separated. I went for Julian."
"And Olivia unfortunately got a very bad dose of medication that night," Cheryl said coldly. "Horrible accident."
"So I'm trailing junior going up these stairs, and the jerk drops his cell as he flips it open. Damned thing was on its way to me when it blew. Of course he sees me then, and starts shooting." Alex pointed toward the now healing wound. "I still don't know how he lucked out and got this one around my vest."
Anna squinted a bit. "Looks like maybe between the plates?"
Cheryl nodded, having peeled the damaged shield from him while attempting to stem the flow of blood. He'd managed to drive to their rendezvous point, Sean and Tiff's building, before slowly shuffling to her. When he collapsed everything turned upside down and the wet patch seeping through his black clothes in the dim street light had revealed the damage done.
"I'm guessing Tiff saw the ambulance as she was leaving and followed it. Reporters," she noted with a hint of sarcasm. "So here we are."
Lucas wandered up, rubbing his eyes. "Potty Momma."
Cheryl checked her watch and blew out a sigh. "I bet. It's about time for you to be in bed, dontcha think?"
He shook his head no, unwilling to accept the end of his day. She picked him up with an oomph.
"No? I think yes. You look done to me. Let's get your pjs on and you can say goodnight to everyone."
They disappeared to his assigned room and came back about ten minutes later as Alex answered a few general questions. Lucas hugged Tony, Bobbie, Sean and Tiffany before grabbing Alex's hand.
"Ready to go? I can't carry you, but show me the way."
Cheryl stretched and yawned as Alex did his nightly tuck-in duties.
"I'm still amazed how much he looks like you and Tiffany," Bobbie mentioned. "And not really at all like Julian."
Plopping onto a vacant loveseat, Cheryl scowled slightly before giving a short laugh. "Why would he?"
Six faces stared at her.
"You said Victor..." Anna began.
"I said Victor assumed Julian was the father. He was just like all of you. Never believed me when I told him otherwise."
Tiffany fumbled. "You mean... Robert...? Really?"
Cheryl arched an eyebrow. "There aren't any other options."
"Well then why didn't you just tell him then, and stay?" Sean asked, dumbfounded. Robert remained quiet as she looked at her brother-in-law.
"What makes you think I didn't?"
Sean's eyes popped open and then flashed to his friend who was staring at the floor. "Robert?"
Scorpio stood and walked to look out the large windows.
"When?" Sean demanded of Cheryl.
"It was the last thing I told him at the Quartermaine mansion. After your wedding."
"And?"
She shrugged, having accepted it long ago. "Nothing. Not a word." Cheryl watched him pace at the side of the room. "And you know what Daddy always said about people who don't need us?"
Tiffany glared after Robert. "We don't need them right back." She stood and stalked toward him. "And when my sister came back looking for her son... your son... you still denied it?"
"My God, Robert," Anna said, stunned as the Joneses sat incredulous of the situation.
Cheryl looked at her tiredly. "I think dealing with a child might have interfered in getting back with you." She stretched again and sat up straighter.
"Ok, I'm confused. What about the test at the hospital?" Sean paced in front of the coffee table.
"Oh, that. That was me," Cheryl admitted.
The room fell silent again as they waited.
She gave a smirk. "Do you really think I want a man around who doesn't want me, or even his child? I learned from the School of Scorpio on that one."
"What's that?" he snapped.
"No third chances," Cheryl answered icily.
Everyone stared at Robert until he finally responded, loudly.
"Well how was I supposed to know she wasn't lying? Wouldn't be the first time you know."
Alex came out just as Scorpio finished erupting. "Hey, keep it down."
"Oh why don't you stow it. This isn't really your business anyway."
A full inch taller and much more fit than the Commissioner, Alex went face to face with him. "If you wake that little boy up, you'll find out how much my business it is."
Cheryl stood, moving to place herself between them and calm Alex. "Hey, that's enough."
"But—"
"You're in no shape to get into a fight. If I have to, I'll get my gun." She gave him a little wink.
"Then you'll definitely wake him."
Sean stifled a laugh despite the weight of the evening.
"And I never lied to you. I omitted. Tiffany is the only one I actually lied to," she added on her way back to the loveseat with Alex.
Robert continued in a quieter rant. "But that whole damned test was a lie."
"Come on... you'd spent months demonstrating just how much you didn't want him. For God's sake, you practically did a little dance right here in this room when you got the test results." Cheryl scowled.
"It did seem that way," Tiffany remembered. "Besides, she told you before she even left, and you just ignored her?"
Tony spoke for the first time in a while. "I'm no expert on the situation, but if a woman says she's having my baby I think I'd have to take her seriously."
Cheryl settled against Alex's good shoulder and let her eyes shut.
"You ok?" he asked quietly.
"Mmhmm. Story time is over... they can debate whatever they like. It won't change anything."
"Wait a minute—"
Tiffany got up quickly and interrupted Scorpio. "You know Robert, I think maybe you should just leave."
"Come on Tiff, you're gonna throw me out?"
She folded her arms against herself. "Well apparently my sister is used to the idea of you being a total bastard, but it's new to me. So I'd really like to not look at you right now."
Bobbie broke the sudden uncomfortable silence between them. "I think it's about time for us to get home. We still have to pick up BJ from Felicia's."
"Do you think maybe I can get a ride with you?" Anna popped up. Robert was already stalking out the door and she didn't seem inclined to try and catch up.
"Of course."
Tiffany stalked around the room for at least twenty minutes muttering to herself as Sean sat quietly working things out.
"I need some air," Tiff decided.
"I'll come with you," Sean said, catching up hurriedly as she whisked her coat on and was halfway out the door. He knew better than to let her go alone so late, especially as her path would likely end up at the docks as it usually did.
Alex and Cheryl were left in relative silence.
"Well at least that's done."
"Hmm," she agreed. "Just one thing left."
Alex nodded almost imperceptibly. "When do you want to go?"
"Sooner the better I think." She waited knowing he was working out the details in his head.
"We can be halfway there if we pack up in the morning and leave around noon. Finish up the trip the next day?"
Cheryl cuddled up a little closer. "Yeah."