ONE

Evette

"No.. Seriously?" I groaned aloud when I saw the gridlocked traffic in the downtown area. Suck popping a bubble with the gum I'd been chewing, I flipped through the radio stations and stopped it on a college station, they were playing a halfway decent cover of Black Sabbath's Paranoid. Tapping along to the time of the music, I looked ahead at the non moving wall of traffic. "What the hell is going on?" I wondered aloud.

Everything in me suddenly wished I hadn't taken this way out of town. I'd already be home now, kicking off these fucking death shoes and sprawled across a sofa with a beer and a rack of babyback ribs that I had left from last night's takeout run. If I'd only gone the slightly longer way, I wouldn't be sitting here right now.

My phone rang and I picked it up, I smiled when I realized that it was Felix on the other line. "What's up?"

"Are you anywhere near downtown right now?"

"Stuck in this big ass wall of traffic?" I grumbled and Felix chuckled, admitting seconds later that he'd called to warn me not to take the downtown route because he was halfway at the front of the traffic gridlock and it didn't look like it was letting up anytime soon.. "Well, I wish I had a rewind button right now. You doing okay, man?"

"Yeah. Just trying to get a hold of Brad and Lucas, we were going to meet at the Rib and hang out.. You could come too."

"Nah, you know me.. I like my solitude." I laughed as I added quickly, "Besides… Tonight is American Horror Story night, remember?"

"How in the hell do you watch that crap and sleep at night?" Felix asked the question and I shrugged. Honestly, I've just never really found that one thing I'm terrified of. It's weird, but the way I see it, I lived through a literal horror story thanks to my bitch of a guardian Helena. I mean, if it could be done to a person to torture or hurt them, she probably did it to me.

As usual, just the thought of the woman had my throat closing a little and my heart fluttering just a little faster. "What is going on out here anyway?"

"Port Charles High had a truck break down during the Homecoming parade.. I mean that's what Brad was texting me a few minutes ago.. Not to mention somebody escaped the van going from PCPD to Pentonville."

"Great.. Can't they actually keep the fucking jailbirds in the jail here?" I asked, biting my lower lip and wishing I'd taken about two minutes to stop and get a drink from the vending machine. "Who was the escapee this time?"

"Don't know. Lucas is trying to find out now, actually. Said he'd text me back. We're moving up here a little, boo, so I'm gonna let you go. Stay safe out there in the sticks.. And given that we have an escaped convict lurking, lock your doors woman."

"Aw, c'mon, Felix.. we both know that if the jerk breaks into my cabin then he'll deserve the taser to the cock that I give him." I'd been laughing when I hung up, but as soon as the dj cut through the song Sail to give an update on the daily traffic report, the cell phone rang again.

"Just fucking great.. Can this bitch just… I don't know, can't she die or something? I thought she was dead." I grumbled quietly to myself as the panic set in.. The caller?

Grandmommy dearest..

I figured honestly that she didn't bother trying to find me, that maybe, just maybe, I was safe. I mean I'd hoped so, at least. So I was shocked to hear her voice again after all this time. So shocked that I almost wound up rear ending the car in front of mine when traffic started to inch forward just a little bit. I hung up the call and threw the phone at my passenger seat as if it were a grenade.

Seriously, I'm starting to wonder if some higher power doesn't have a hard on for tormenting me because my life has been a roller coaster with more lows than highs. I was happy right now. I was finally starting to work through the grief I felt at losing my baby and I was seeing a therapist at the hospital I intern at here in Port Charles to deal with my really fucked up childhood.

I was just a little closer to finally uncovering who my parents were and why in the hell they'd leave me to suffer at the hand of a grandmother who was at least one half sadist on a good day. And now, here we go again.. I beat my head lightly off the steering wheel and with shaking hands, I started to dig around in my console for the emergency cigarettes I keep in my car normally.

Because maybe if I smoked 3 at a time I could preemptively end my life before that old bitch came to find me and end it.

How the hell could I have been so stupid, letting my guard down, settling in here, in a town I know she's got deep ties to?

Oh wait… supposedly, my shitty birth parents are here and I just had to find them.

"I can go home, call in sick to Vaughn's, and then pack everything. I've done it before, it's not a big deal.. I'll just go on the run again." I muttered to myself as the line ahead of me started to really move. By the time I could see the sprawling lakefront houses in front of me signaling I was 3 minutes from home, I was laughing at my earlier panic.

She'll never actually find me. Calling me is one thing… actually finding me is another, entirely... I mean I've kept a wide berth of her since I managed to escape the estate she kept me prisoner on at 16. If she were really as bad ass as I believed her to be as a child, she'd have found me by now, right?

I'd convinced myself everything was going to be peachy and I'd calmed down a lot by the time I was pulling into my carport and getting out of my car. It was probably an idiots move to let my guard down and I knew that deep down, but… She hadn't bothered looking for me since my escape at 16, why in the hell would she bother looking me up now? Why the hell had she even called me? How in the hell had she gotten my number?

"I'll figure something out.." I muttered to myself, trying to get calm again. I really wasn't in the mood to be launched right into a full scale panic attack.

But the second my key hit the lock and I'd pushed the door open I realized the error of my ways because there she was, sitting in my living room. My mouth flopped open and shut and I swallowed hard, gulping in air loudly.

It felt like my head was spinning and down I went, hitting the hardwood floor of my living room with an unflattering thud.

Helena

"Don't just stand there, get her off the floor and shut the door." Helena gave her so called helper an annoyed look as she stared down at the brunette at her feet disdainfully. "Silly little girl.. you thought you were free of me. You were wrong.. Didn't I tell you that if I really wanted to, I could do whatever I wanted? Did you not think that meant finding you too?"

The man gave an agitated grumble and he hauled the curvy brunette off the floor and dumped her onto the suede sectional sitting in the middle of the room. Helena's eyes darted around the sparsely furnished house and she spoke again. "She hasn't done so badly.. I mean it's not a palace but.. Squalor is what those women are used to, it's in the bloodline."

"What the hell are we doin here, Ms. Cassadine?" the man asked, impatient and ready to get on the road again. If she hadn't given him half the money up front when she hired him to help her with whatever this bizarre quest of hers was to begin with, he'd probably have stranded her at least ten times by now.

"We're getting my affairs in order. I'm going to die soon and there are things that need to be done." Helena tapped her foot impatiently and she gave an exasperated breath when the little brat she'd taken from Sam McCall almost 23 years prior started to stir on the spot next to her on the couch.

The first thing the brat did when she came to, of course, was punch her, a hard right hook that connected with air when Helena remembered her penchant for fisticuffs and dodged it neatly. She clucked her tongue in disapproval and then spoke.

"I'm only here, child, because it suits me. I'm only giving you this because it suits me." and with that, Helena brandished a folder.

The brunette raised a brow and refused to touch the folder. Helena gave a dismissive laugh and stood after putting the folder neatly on the center of the little wooden table in front of the sofa they sat on.

"Come along. I still have to stop by my lawyer's office and record my will."

And with that, she was gone, heading downtown to the office of Scott Baldwin to record her final will and testament, not so much as a second thought to the girl she left stunned and shaken in her wake..

Evette

For about ten minutes after the bitch left, all I could do was sit there and take very deep breaths and wonder if it had all been a dream. And then I got up and walked to the door, slamming it shut and locking every single one of the four locks on it behind me as I walked into my kitchen and poured myself at least a fifth of the Jim Beam sour apple I kept in my cabinet.

After I'd slammed that back, I started to swear profusely, angry at myself. The woman who fucked up my entire childhood was here.. within distance to finally get my revenge.. and she'd looked sick and pale and weak, too.. And naturally, I was too much of a pussy to actually do anything so she walked the fuck away unharmed while I was now apparently going to have nightmares for at least a month and at least a week of panic attacks and jump scares.

Before you ask, yes.. it was that fuckin bad, okay?

Why else would I run away at 16?

Then I remembered the folder on my table in the living room and for few seconds, I considered just burning it. Whatever she was giving me couldn't possibly be good. All she'd ever given me was pain and bitterness and the feeling of being worthless.. I mean I honestly had to be, my own damn parents abandoned me with her.

She was the very reason I was broken beyond repair currently.

But curiosity won out and I sat down, picking up the folder by it's edges and opening it.. and when I saw the baby bracelet, I felt the bile rising in my throat and all I could do was make a series of unintelligible noises as I tried to process the meaning of the papers in the folder in my lap.

My own child was alive and well and somewhere out there.. How that bitch knew, or even knew about my pregnancy in the first place I'll never know, but apparently, she was slipping in her old age because normally?

She wouldn't go above and beyond to do most of the investigative legwork and then show up and give me a folder that practically leads me to my own god damn child.. …. Or Evette.. this could be one of her sick jokes….

It was a risk I wasn't willing to take. I was digging through my phone book and dialing the number of that little investigation agency down by the docks and crossing my fingers for someone to pick up the damn phone. A woman answered, breathless. "Jackyll and Morgan, this is Samantha Morgan speaking, what can I do for you?"

"I… this might all be some kind of sick joke my grandmother is pulling on me but I need you to help me find a child?"

"Can you come in and maybe we can talk about this in person?"

"Yeah.. I-I can do that.. give me an hour, I live out by Vista Point in one of the lake houses. And I'm sort of shaken up right now." I muttered and shocked, I sat the phone down on the table.

Sam

The doors of the agency opened with a slow creak and she heard her voice being called from the waiting area. Peeking out, she motioned for a girl who was almost a dead ringer for her younger sister Kristina to come to the back where her office was and as soon as she'd shut the door behind her, she asked the young woman, "What's your name?"

"Evette." Evette answered, holding out the folder she'd carried in under her arm and then telling her quietly, "It's like I said before, it's probably a sick joke my grandmother is playing on me, but I can't risk it.. I mean if it means my daughter is out there somewhere, that she was taken from me and I can get her back, I have to know."

Evette went back to ringing her hands and Sam studied her a few seconds intently, this weird feeling of familiarity creeping over as she did so. "Do I know you from somewhere?"

"I'm an intern… at the hospital… And I work nights at Vaughn's?" the brunette bit her lower lip and Sam raised a brow but didn't comment, after all, it wasn't her place to comment. … 'But you're tempted to give her one of those motherly lectures your mom's always giving you… maybe it's because she made you think of Kristina… or Lila.'

As soon as the thought passed through Sam's mind, she shoved it right back out again.

Lila died and as soon as she accepted it, the better off she'd be.. she'd had 23 years to accept it. She needed to quit concocting what if scenarios because the simplest fact of the matter was that her daughter died.

"Are you okay, Sam?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm fine, I was just thinking.. I'll actually take this case." Sam started to prepare the receipt and when she'd finished and the brunette paid, Sam told her with a gentle and hopefully reassuring smile, "If she's out there, hopefully, I can find her."

"I won't get my hopes up.. I mean until that came to my attention, I'd sort of gotten myself to partially accept that she died an hour after she was born." Evette muttered the words quietly and after this odd staredown for about 3 minutes or so, she was on her way again.

Sam sat there, reading through the file, curious.

Something about the girl made her do a search for the girl's records and she raised a brow when she realized that they were sealed and she couldn't just do what she'd normally do and bypass to get into them.

Evette

Since my encounter that afternoon, I was too shaken up to really go into work, so I called in and talked to the boss, explained what happened. I'd hoped he'd let me take the night off, but he demanded I come in, something about a potential new partner for the club coming in and that he needed my act to really sell the guy on buying in.

"But last week I wasn't even one of your best girls."

"Bambi, you're the one with the magic hips.. that weird heavy metal belly dance thing that the jerks who come in go gaga over? I need it tonight, kid.. C'mon, help Saul out.. Hell, we lost Tessa last night."

"She quit?"

"Her man came in and dragged her off stage.. said she wasn't comin back. She called in today to confirm it. C'mon.. I'll pay ya overtime for tonight, Bambi."

"Ughh, god damn it, fine.. But you'd damn well better pay me overtime, Saul."

"Would I lie to ya, Bambi?"

"Honestly, I'm not sure how to answer that." I grumbled as I shoved my dance costume into my duffel bag and then sat down for a few minutes, just in time to catch the nightly news… and watch Johnny Zacchara walk out of Pentonville a free man.

I bit my lip and sort of found myself staring at the television set like I was in a trance. Have you ever seen someone and got this weird feeling that you knew them before? Or that there was this totally unexplained connection between you two?

I ignored it, of course and disgusted with myself for having dirty thoughts about a dangerous man, I turned off the tv and left to go into work.

Johnny

I've been out of Pentonville for about 3 hours and already, I'm thinking of becoming a partner at this club in town, Vaughn's. I was supposed to be meeting with the owner, Saul and while I waited, I was having a few drinks. I'm not entirely sure why I looked up and over at the door, but I did and when I saw her standing there, talking to one of the other girls… you know how it feels when ya get punched in the stomach really hard?

That's how I felt.

Right away, I felt this pull towards her and I nudged the guy sitting on my left, nodding in her direction and I asked, "Who's she?"

"Evette. She just started workin here a few months ago. Why, you interested? She's the only one of 'em I wanna see naked but she won't take her damn clothes off. Does some sexy looking dance that involves her hips and ass shaking a lot though. Stick around, man, she comes on at the end of the night almost but it's worth it.. Best 300 dollars I spend a week." the man slurred and I glared at him, for some strange reason this jealousy surged to the forefront.

It was quickly followed by relief. I mean at least she's not up there takin it all off, right?

I quickly pushed the thoughts out of my head and went back to nursing my drink and I watched her when she walked to the back to get changed for the night. There's something familiar about her.. Like I know her, I just can't put my finger on where I know her from?

But I just don't forget faces, especially not faces of girls like her.

I spotted Saul slinking in and I put on my game face, listened to his offer and countered it with one of my own. Business talk is really boring, so I was only partially listening to his entire end of the conversation.

He noticed my distraction and his eyes followed and he smirked. "Want me to get her over here, John?"

"Nah, I think I can handle meeting my own girls, Saul. Thanks though." I muttered as I watched her moving around the club, mingling, probably killing time until her turn on the stage. I couldn't take my eyes off of her and the costume, while not nearly as revealing as the other girls had been coming out in, well.. trust me when I tell ya.. it left little to the imagination.

I groaned inwardly and shifted in my seat because it's got to be the fact that I've spent a really long time on the inside and it's been a while since my last sexual encounter. When the people she was talking to were gone, I stood and made my way over, tapping her shoulder.

"Hey."

"Hi?" I couldn't help but notice that she was skittish, she'd nearly jumped out of her skin when I tapped her and the word hi came out as more of a question than a statement. I smirked and then asked casually, "What's ya name?"

"Evette."

I really got a closer look at her now that I was standing in front of her and for some reason she reminds me of this real shy and cute girl who used to live about a mile away from my father's compound. She raised a brow and then asked me quietly, "Everything okay?"

"Yeah, why?"

"You were looking at me in this weird way, Mr. Zacchara."

"Have we met before?"

She studied me for a minute or two and then shook her head. "No, I don't think so.. I mean you remind me of this guy I knew..." she trailed off, laughing at herself softly. "Call me John.. Or Johnny." I told her as I nodded to a booth. "Wanna walk over and sit down, talk to me?"

"I'm about to go on."

"What about after?"

"I'm going home to crash in my bed.. it's been one hell of a day for me, John."

Before I could ask her anything else, she'd turned and walked away, disappearing into the door leading to the dressing area backstage. I stared at the door and for a few seconds there I honestly considered walking in, carrying her out.

But that's creepy and crazy and last time I checked, I'm neither of those things, so instead, I made my way back to the booth and ordered another few rounds, settling in to watch her when her turn came. Halfway through some really spastic woman attempting to chat me up and give me a lap dance, I looked over at Saul and told him, "My people will call your people tomorrow. I'll buy in."

If I'm co owner of this place at least I can see her now and then… I mean I didn't let myself admit that's the only reason I did it, but I knew deep down that it was.. there was just something about her that made me think of that girl down the road and drew me to her tonight. Besides, I'm handing over the mob side of things to one of my grandfather's oldest friends and bowing out.

Fuck this getting shot up bullshit. I'm still gonna be the figurehead for the family but I told Theo already that he had full control, do with it what he will. It's something I think that my mom would have wanted me to do.. it's what she was trying to get me to do before she got murdered.

I'd finished signing papers when Evette took the stage and internally, I had to keep myself from punching one guy in the throat when he started to whistle and cat call and try to get on the stage to 'dance with her'. I looked for her after her dance but according to the bouncer, she'd left the second her number finished and she'd emptied her tips for the night into her purse. He told me she keeps to herself, she's real skittish and she doesn't really stick around after she's done dancing for the night.

"Any idea where she lives?"

"Little house out by the lake." the bouncer replied as I nodded and then thanked him, hurrying to my car. All I want to do now is go back to the mansion and pass out for a few hours.. After I find the biggest and greasiest cheeseburger around, of course.

It'll be nice to sleep in my own bed again and to eat real food again. It'll be weird to live live as just Johnny.. Not Johnny the mob boss. For once I'm strangely excited for tomorrow instead of dreading it internally.

Maybe I'll even go by the club again tomorrow night.

FOOTNOTE:

If you want to know more about Lila/Evette, go to my bio and read her info sheet.. actually, i highly suggest you do that anyway because there's stuff you really need to know to understand this story and the character. in this story Sonny is NOT Lila's father. Sorry, I refuse to acknowledge Sonny and Sam ever having been an item. I didn't like them together and Sonny had enough children already. Lila is Jason's biological daughter here and Johnny's age has been aged down just a little.. He's probably around 28 instead of the age he would have been currently on the show.