Truths

Disclaimer: These characters are owned by ABC Daytime, not me. The first few lines are from an actual scene that happened on General Hospital in October 2000.

Part One

Late October 2000

"Now are you going to kill my grandson or do we call this a draw?" Helena asks Luke as he stands over her grandson Nikolas with a wire around his neck, ready to strangle him.

"Oh, what the hell!" Luke says as he moves to tighten the noose.

At that moment, Lucky and Elizabeth rush into the room. "Dad, NO!" Lucky exclaims.

"Stay back!" Luke commands.

"No. Move away from my brother," Lucky commands his father.

"You take Elizabeth and go home, Lucky," Luke commands his son.

"Luke, let him go!" A voice commands from behind Luke. He turns to see a young woman whose green eyes are glaring at him.

"Cassandra, you can't stop me," Luke tells her as he turns back to strangle Nikolas.

21 year old Cassandra Angelina Lavery knows then that it is time to tell Luke the truth. "Luke, he's your son!"

His head snaps around towards her. "What?"

"Nikolas is your son. He always has been. He always will be. He was never a Cassadine. He was always a Spencer child, as is someone else I can mention," Cassie says.

"That's impossible!" Helena exclaims.

Cassie spins her head toward Helena. "No, it's not, Helena. Laura was already two months pregnant when she was kidnapped. Nikolas was born seven months later. The paternity tests you had done were changed by Dr. Lastiris to protect him. The true paternity tests prove that Nikolas is Luke's son." She turns back to Luke. "She already has her revenge on you, Luke, although it was your right to kill Stavros. She stole your first born son from you, as well as your second."

"What do you mean by that?" Luke asks.

"I'm sure you remember when you were told that Holly had miscarried your baby," Cassie began to explain.

"Of course. I was not too happy about it, but Holly was devastated," Luke says as he remembers back to that time.

"Well, she didn't miscarry. She gave birth after she was drugged and she was told she had miscarried. The child was taken by Helena and was given to another family to raise. I recently tracked him down and found out who he is," Cassie continued.

"Who is my second son?" Luke asked.

"He was given the name Alexander Michaels when he was given to the family. But he now goes by his stepfather's last name and is known as Zander Smith," Cassie announces.

Lucky's eyes widen at this truth that his best friend has told the group. "Zander is my brother?" he asks her.

Cassie turns toward Lucky. "Yes, Lucky. Zander is your half-brother. The son of Luke Spencer and Holly Sutton-Scorpio," she tells him with a slight smile.

Now Lucky could see why Emily is so adamant about saving Zander. She could see something in him. An innocence that existed in all Spencer children.

Luke, by this time, has taken the wire from around Nikolas's neck. He is standing beside the chair, stunned. He has three sons! Nikolas is his, as well as Zander.

Nikolas is coming too and as he sees where he is, he can see his stunned younger brother, his false grandmother, Elizabeth, Luke, and Cassie. "What's going on here?" he asks hoarsely.

Luke finishes untying Nikolas as Cassie tells him all. Nik is stunned by what she says. "Are you absolutely sure, Cassie?"

"Absolutely, Nik. You are a Spencer, as is Zander. You are no longer under Helena's influence. Rejoice, you are free," Cassie tells him as he stands up. "And you are not the only one, right, Lucky?"

Lucky nods happily. "Yes, Cassie. These truths have freed me from the programming. Thank you," he tells her. "How did you know?"

Cassie smiles at him. "You're welcome, Lucky. I knew the way to destroy Faison's programming was telling the right truth. I just didn't know which one it was. Now, I think you three gentlemen have some work to do, as does Elizabeth," she says.

They all nod and head out the door, throwing glances at a frozen Helena, the last evil member of the once mighty Cassadine family.

Later that night.

Zander Smith is walked to the visitation room at the Port Charles Jail. He is expecting it to be Emily, but is shocked to see Lucky, Nik, and a man he doesn't know standing there.

He sits across from the three. They all sit in silence for a few minutes before Zander explodes. "What are you doing here?"

"Claiming a long lost family member," Luke says to the young man before him. His second son. He still can't believe it, but he can see it. He can tell that the young man in front of him is his son. His and Holly's.

"What do you mean by that?" Zander says.

Lucky is the next one to speak. "Exactly what he said, Zander. We're claiming a long lost Spencer tonight. You."

"Are you saying that...?" Zander trailed off, hardly believing what they were saying.

"You are our brother, Zander. You always have been. You may have been raised by the Michaels and the Smiths, but by blood, you are a Spencer," Lucky tells him.

"Then why was I adopted?" Zander asks. "Didn't you want me?"

"Yes, son, I did. But I didn't even know you existed. I thought that I had lost a child, but I found out that I didn't. You were stolen from me and your mother. We were told that she had miscarried the child she was carrying, but in truth she had given birth and you were taken from us by Helena Cassadine," Luke explains to him.

"Why would she do that?" Zander asks.

"Revenge. She wanted revenge on Luke for killing her husband Mikkos over a year before. Not only that, but she unknowingly passed off me as the Cassadine heir when in truth I was a Spencer son as well," Nik tells him.

Zander just sits silently, absorbing what he has just been told. Now he knows why he was never allowed to see his adoption papers, because he now knows that they never existed. He was never adopted because he wasn't given up. He was stolen from two caring parents.

Finally, after a few minutes he speaks. "Who is my mother?"

Luke is the one that tells him. "Holly Sutton-Scorpio. She and I were involved when Laura was on the Cassadine Island. She, in fact, for a while even thought that I was dead since I had been caught in an avalanche. She married my best friend Robert Scorpio to stop from being deported and after I returned to town, she told me that the child was mine and that I had every right to be in their life. Then about seven months later, she went into the hospital with pain and was told that she had miscarried. Apparently she was drugged and gave birth to you. After she came out of the drug haze, she was told she had miscarried."

"Does she know?" Zander asked Luke. His father. He could hardly believe it. And Lucky and Nikolas, his half-brothers.

"We have contacted her. She is on her way here. She can't wait to meet you," Luke said with a smile.

Zander smiled back. He then asked his brothers, "What about you two? How do you feel about this?"

Lucky was the first to speak. "I understand now, Zander, why Emily is so adamant to save you. She could see something familiar in you. The Spencer innocence can be seen in your eyes, Zander. She saw that. And it makes me wonder why I didn't see it. Trust me, I will do anything I can to help you. After all, you're my brother."

"The same goes for me, Zander. You're our brother and we will do everything we can to get you off these charges," Nik says with a smile.

Zander smiles back at his older brother. He is still shocked, but to have a true family is overwhelming. And to have them right here in Port Charles, his new home, the place that should have always been his home, is shocking.

Zander then asks, "Does Emily know?"

"She will soon. Elizabeth was there when our friend Cassie revealed the truth and they both went to tell Emily. I'm sure it will be shocking for her, but it was for us as well, but we will do our best to accept you. After all, you are one of us," Lucky said.

Zander's eyes fill up with tears at his brother's words. "Thank you. Thank you all."

Elizabeth knocks on the Quartermaine's front door, hoping that Emily is home. Cassie stands behind her, hoping that Emily will believe them. After all, it is the truth.

Reginald answers the door to the two young women. "Good Evening, Liz."

"Good evening, Reggie. Is Emily here?" Liz asks.

"Yes. She is in the den arguing with her grandfather and parents," Reggie tells her.

"Thank you. We need to talk to her," Liz says as she points to herself and Cassie.

"Of course. And this is?" Reggie asks.

Cassie extends her hand to him. "Cassandra Lavery. I'm a friend of Lucky and Nikolas's," she tells him.

"Of course. This way please," Reggie says as the two young women enter the house. He takes them to the den where the usual Quartermaine scene is taking place. Emily looked up and noticed them. "Hey Liz! What are you doing here?"

"Emily, we have something to tell you. First, this is Cassandra Lavery. She was the one who told us earlier about both Nik and Zander," Liz said.

"Hi, Cassandra. What did you tell Liz about Nik and Zander?" Emily asked.

"You might think this is impossible, but it is the absolute truth. Tonight, many truths were revealed, the first being the fact that Nik is Luke's son," Cassie said.

Everyone was now standing in quiet shock. Alan was the first to speak. "How can that be? A paternity test last year showed that Nikolas was Stavros's son."

"That is what was shown on it for a reason. Dr. Lastiris, the doctor that did the original paternity test on Nikolas, changed it so that all future tests would show that he was a Cassadine. The only way for the truth to be discovered was to find out from Dr. Lastiris himself, as I did before his death," Cassie explained.

"And what else did get told tonight?" Emily asked.

"The truth about the child that Luke and Holly Sutton thought they lost. Holly didn't miscarry. She was drugged and gave birth to a baby boy, which was taken and given to another family to raise as their own. Who knew that years later he would make his way to the town that should have been his home all those years? He did and let's just say he didn't make a good first impression, but he can make up for it now," Cassie explained.

"Who is he?" Edward asked.

Cassie turned her eyes to Edward at that moment. "The very person you were calling a deviant before we walked in."

Edward's eyes widened, as did everyone else's in the room. Emily was the one who asked, "Are you saying that Zander is Luke and Holly's son?"

"Yes. Zander is their son. He is a Spencer son. The second born son of Luke Spencer," Cassie tells her.

"Does he know?" Monica asks.

"Luke, Lucky, and Nikolas went to the PC Jail to tell him. Trust me, after tonight, there will be more people helping him, not just you, Emily. Lucky and Nikolas will be more accepting of him now," Liz says.

"Wow! This is just amazing! Zander is Lucky and Nik's brother! Juan is going to get a kick out of this," Emily says with a sly smile.

Liz and Cassie share the smile and giggle as they think of how Juan will react.