A/N: I hope you all enjoy the second chapter! Once again, any feedback would be wonderful!
*All main characters are owned by General Hospital. Most of the dialogue as well as the characters thoughts are my own.*
Jason stood closely next to Sam on the boat, as it rocked violently back and forth.
"Jason, I'm not going to fall off the boat."
Jason chuckled to himself. It still amazed him that Sam has almost always known what he's thinking. The boat shifted to the left and Sam lost her balance falling gently into Jason.
"Maybe you won't fall off, but I can at least stop you from falling over and rolling off the boat."
Sam glared at Jason as he helped her steady herself. Along with the rocking of the boat, caused by the impending storm, Sam was also exhausted, which didn't help her ability to stay steady on her feet. After Spinelli called, they found the first flight to London they could, which was leaving in about 2 hours. Spinelli was able to book them two tickets, but they needed to leave for Heathrow almost immediately. Sam was able to sleep on the plane, but only minimally. Once they arrived in Athens, they took another plane to Crete. At the airport in Crete, Spinelli secured them a car, and Jason drove from one side of the island to the other, allowing Sam to get a little more rest. Once they made it to the other side of the island, they met Sonny's connection who agreed to take them to the small island in the Mediterranean by boat. They weren't expecting the storm though. It crept on them fast, and the closer they got to Cassadine Island, the darker the skies got. Sam could see the island in the distance. It wasn't too large, but big enough to support the main house and various other buildings spread across the land.
Sam heard a noise behind her, and her and Jason turned to see the captain's son, Marios, approaching them. The captain, Manolis, only spoke Greek, and Marios explained earlier he accompanied his father most of the time to help with translating.
"We will be docking on the island soon, but we can't wait very long for you."
"That wasn't the deal we made." Jason answered.
"My apologies Mr. Morgan, but my father is concerned about the weather. As you can see, the storm is coming at us. If we dock here and wait for you while waiting out the storm, the boat could become damaged, possibly irreparable and then none of us will have a way off the island. It is safer for us to head back to the mainland and wait out the storm there, so if the boat is damaged we can fix any repairs, or use another boat to come back."
"How can we guarantee that you and your father aren't going to strand us here?"
"Rest assured Mr. Morgan, my father does not want to cause any trouble with you or Mr. Corinthos. Dimitri, our boss, entrusted us with this job, and we intend to complete it. It is not our intention to, how do you say, sour, relations between Mr. Corinthos and our boss. I know you said you no longer work with Mr. Corinthos, but you are his closest ally and have known our boss for a very long time. Stranding you here would have grave consequences for myself, my father, and the rest of our family. Please be assured that we don't intend to cause you any trouble and we'll return to the island as soon as possible."
Sam watched as Jason eyed Marios. Jason took a few seconds to think before answering. Dimitri has been an ally for quite sometime. It wouldn't make sense for him to send two guys to help us that wouldn't complete the job and I know the consequences these guys would face if I told Dimitri they treated Sam and I poorly or double crossed us. I guess we'll have to trust them.
"I appreciate your honesty, and I understand your reasoning behind needing to go back to the mainland before the storm comes. I didn't mean to offend you, I just want to make sure my wife and myself are safe. How much time do you think you and your father can give us before needing to head back to Crete?"
Marios looked at the sky directly behind Cassadine Island, and then back towards the direction they came from.
"We are about 30 minutes away from the mainland. It appears that, as of now, the storm is about 3 hours away from us. We can wait about 2 hours, maybe 20 minutes more. But if the storm begins approaching us faster, we will have to leave sooner. We will wait as long as we can Mr. Morgan."
"We may need more then 2 hours, but we'll try to be quicker."
"Have you ever been on the island Marios?" Marios turned his head to look at Sam.
"Yes Mrs. Morgan, many times, I used to help deliver food supplies to the island."
"How is the cellphone service on the island? Would you be able to reach us to let us know when you need to leave?"
"The cellphone service has always been adequate, except when underneath the estate in the tunnels."
"Wait there are tunnels under the island?"
"Yes Mrs. Morgan. There is a tunnel where we will be dropping you off. If you follow it, it will lead you to the wine cellar. From the wine cellar you can access the rest of the house. I only know the way to the kitchen area though, as that is where I delivered most of the supplies."
"Would you be able to draw us a map? So we know what tunnels to take to get to the wine cellar?"
"Of course Mr. Morgan. We will be docking in the next 5 minutes, but I can draw you a map in no time, it has been some time since I have been in the tunnels, but I made sure to commit the correct route to memory. They were just rumors, but I heard that some workers got lost in the tunnels and were never heard from again. I made sure to never make a wrong turn."
Marios turned and walked away from Sam and Jason back towards where his father was steering the boat. Sam turned to face Jason with a worried look.
"We know that Helena and Victor were performing experiments, do you think they would kidnap people?"
"I don't know Sam, but I wouldn't put it past Helena. She was evil and sadistic and would do whatever she could to get what she wanted. We can't think about it once we get on the island though. You heard what Marios said, we have 2 hours maybe less to find Nik and get him and us onto this boat. If we don't we might be stranded here for the night and I don't like that scenario. We need to focus."
"I know. Nikolas probably has guards on the island, and there are only two of us. We could easily be found, and with the way Nikolas has been acting lately, who knows what he will do if his men find us. What are we going to do about Ava though?"
"She seems like a willing participant in this. We'll give her the same choice we're gonna give your cousin. Come quietly or we'll forcibly take them."
"You make it sound so easy."
"No I doubt it will be that easy, but we do have weapons, and besides, I'm sure you can appeal to his emotions."
"Jason, he kept you away from Danny and I for months maybe even a year, I'm not sure how many emotions Nikolas has left."
Jason meant to be sarcastic when he said it but realized how much Sam was still hurt by her cousins actions. Jason noticed how sad Sam looked and he knew as much as Sam was hurt and angry over Nikolas' betrayal, Jason knew he still meant a lot to her. He could remember how devastated Sam was after losing her daughter and her brother. All she ever wanted was a family, and when she found her mother, she also found her sisters and her cousin. The betrayal hurt her, but he knew she wished they could still be cousins like they once were. Jason pulled Sam into a hug.
"I know you miss him Sam. But Nikolas is desperate now, maybe he has been for months and he has been hiding it. I don't know. He's backed into a corner though. Once we find him, he'll know we won't stop until he comes back to Port Charles to exonerate me. He may come willingly."
"He changed so quickly. I don't know what happened, but right now I'm still too mad at him to care. I still think about what our lives would have been like if the truth hadn't come out. Danny would never know you. You could have been living in Port Charles for years, just out of his grasp. You would have saw him grow up, but not as a father. You would have missed those little moments and I get so mad Jason. More angry than I have ever felt in my life. He's my cousin and my family, but I don't know if I'll ever be able to move past this. I wish I could, but right now I know I can't."
Jason and Sam felt the boat jerk as it grazed the dock. A tunnel, about 100 yards away from the dock was visible. Sam bent over and grabbed the backpack holding their weapons and ammo. Marios approached them.
"Here is the map. I have your phone numbers and I will contact you 30 minutes before we have to leave. Good luck Mr. and Mrs. Morgan."
Marios gave Jason the map and Jason thanked Marios. Jason folded it up, put it in the back pocket of his jeans, and they both turned towards the dock. Jason hopped over the railing of the boat and stood next to the boat. Sam handed Jason the backpack which he placed on the dock. Sam started to climb over the railing, but Jason scooped her up and placed her on the dock, with a kiss to the forehead.
"I know our conversation got cut off, but I want you to know I love you. If one day you decide to forgive your cousin, I'll support you, and if you don't I'll still support you."
"I love you too Jason. And thanks."
Sam placed her hand on Jason's cheek and got on her tippy toes to peck him on the lips. She knew she didn't need Jason's permission to forgive Nikolas, but it was nice to hear he'd support her either way. Jason grabbed the backpack and Sam's hand and walked towards the tunnel. At the entrance, and just inside, Sam pulled out her cellphone while Jason started removing weapons from the pack.
"I'm setting an alarm on my phone. It will vibrate every half hour, so we know how much time we have left."
"Good idea. What weapons do you want to take?"
Sam looked down at the array of weapons, and zeroed in on a knife, two handguns, and two extra magazine clips. Sam lifted the pants of her left leg, and strapped the knife onto her calf. She grabbed one of the belts, clipped the two magazines in their holsters on opposite ends, and wrapped and buckled the belt around her, shifting it so each magazine was on either side of her. She grabbed one handgun and put it in the waistband of her jeans behind her back and covered it with her shirt.
"Ready."
Jason looked at Sam mischievously.
"Not to get off topic, but that reminded me of the Valentines Day when I read you the description of a gun I liked for you and you thought it was really hot. This, what you just did right now, that was really hot."
Sam smirked at Jason and chuckled.
"You need to focus. Pick your weapons. And when we finally get home, I'll make sure I do this again, but in my corset."
Sam noticed Jason's mouth open a little and his eyes glaze over. As soon as she noticed it though, his mouth closed and his eyes focused on the guns laying before him. She knew the image was enough to make him pounce on her, but she knew it wasn't either the time or the place for it. Jason put on a belt like her own, but Sam noticed that along with two extra magazine clips, Jason also had smoke bombs attached to his, along with a flashlight. He also took a handgun and placed it in the waistband of his jeans behind his back, and grabbed another handgun and handed it to Sam. He put the rest of the weapons in the backpack and hid it behind a rock near the entrance.
"Give me the guns and you take the map."
"Why?"
"Sam, you know I'm a better shot. You read the map and direct me on where to go and ill make sure everything is clear."
Sam narrowed her eyes at Jason and placed the guns on the ground and grabbed the map from Jason's hands. She opened it up and shoved it towards him.
"Hold this up so I can take a picture of it."
"Why do you need a picture of it?"
Sam pulled her phone from her jeans and quickly took a picture and texted it to Jason's phone.
"I need a picture because if anything goes wrong I'm dropping this map and being your back up."
"Sam…"
"Don't Sam me Jason. If we're getting shot at this map isn't my priority. I'll try my best to keep it safe but my first priority is keeping you safe."
Jason sighed.
"You're stubborn."
"So are you."
Sam took the map from Jason and Jason bent over and picked up the handguns. Sam directed Jason on how to get through the tunnels, and they walked for ten minutes until they came to the end of the passage.
"What now?"
Sam looked down at the map and then up at the wall in front of them. Sam walked over towards the stone wall and counted ten stones from the bottom and then tried to jump to reach the 10th stone, which was 2 inches above Sam's head. Jason chuckled and walked over towards his wife.
"Anything I can help you with dear?"
Sam glared at Jason again.
"Just push on that stone smartass."
Jason pushed it and the whole wall opened in front of them into a room. Jason pushed Sam behind him and walked slowly into the room, but confirmed they were alone. Sam walked towards the wall on the far end of the room and brushed dust off one of the many bottles on a large wine rack.
"Well, we know we are in the right place."
Jason scanned the room until he found the door and slowly approached it, listening at the door for any noises.
"I don't hear anything, where do we go from here."
"That's up to us really. This place is huge, and Nikolas could be anywhere. I can remember some of the layout of the main floor and how to get to Helena's bedroom. Do you remember anything more? When Elizabeth and I got here, we were lead directly to Helena's room. Did you come in a different way or see anything different?"
Before he could answer, Jason felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He removed the cellphone from his pocket and noticed he had an email from Spinelli. Jason opened the email, and Sam noticed him smile.
"What is it? What did you get?"
"Spinelli emailed me the floor plan. It looks like there are a few other rooms in the basement level, but I really doubt Nik would be down here."
"I agree so where do you think we should go."
"Give me a minute."
Sam watched as Jason stared at his phone intently, using his finger to scroll up and down multiple times on his phone. Sam recognized that he was committing the floor plans to memory.
"Okay, I got it. I think we should go floor by floor. Here."
Jason handed Sam the gun back.
"You know what to do, keep your eyes open and stand behind me. Follow my lead."
"Got it."
Sam followed Jason as he moved towards the staircase and carefully walked up, ready to shoot. They moved through the first floor, but found it completely empty. Sam noticed two bags by the door, and they found the fridge stocked, so they knew Nikolas had to be here. Sam wondered why none of the staff or guards were on the island. Jason motioned Sam towards a staircase in the kitchen, and Sam noticed they were on the far side of the second level. I see. Jason knows there's another staircase leading to the living room and front door further down the hall. If things get tricky we have two possible escape routes. Sam would never question her husband's abilities in situations like this, but it still amazed her how damn good he is. Sam followed Jason down the hallway and cleared 2 more rooms, although they looked as if they were both recently slept in. As Sam and Jason got farther down the hallway, they could both hear voices. Sam realized the voices had to be coming from Helena's bedroom. As they got closer, Sam noticed Jason move towards the bedroom adjacent to Helena's. Jason looked into the room, and motioned for Sam to enter as he quietly closed the door. Jason motioned for Sam to follow him towards a closet, and he motioned Sam to enter. Jason followed her and closed the door behind him. Jason began speaking to Sam in a whisper.
"Listen, this closet will open up into the closet in Helena's room. I'm thinking it was built this way in case there were any intruders, Helena would be able to escape. We should be able to hear better from here and we won't risk being seen."
Sam felt her pocket vibrate.
"Jason, my alarm just went off, we only have an hour and a half left, we need to get to Nikolas and convince him to come back with us."
"I know but I heard two men speaking in there Sam. Someone else is in there with him and we need to figure out who."
Sam nodded, and watched as Jason rearranged some clothes. It was dark, but Sam saw Jason move his hand up the wall, until she vaguely saw his hand stop. She saw him turn his hand and push what Sam guessed was a door handle. Jason opened the door and saw a faint light coming from underneath a door about 4 feet away from them. Sam could hear two men speaking clearly, and recognized the first voice as her cousins.
"I'm sure she won't come back to the island. The deal was for me to let her use the jet to come here, and as soon as we landed I had a boat waiting to take her to the mainland. I made sure the funds were wired to her account before she got on the boat, so I doubt I'll be hearing from her again."
"How can you be sure she won't tell anyone your whereabouts and that you're alive? If she tells anyone and they come here, you are putting the both of us and everything we have worked for at risk."
"I may not know Ava Jerome well, but I know the type of person she is. If my sources are correct, the Jerome crime family took a hit after Alexis' wedding because of the gun deal. They lost a lot financially. The money I gave her should help them, and the fact that it is untraceable will help them even more. I know she will take the money and never think about me again."
"What would Samantha think about you giving money to her fathers crime organization?"
"Sam will never forgive me for what I did anyway, so it doesn't really matter. What matters is everyone thinks I'm dead and that bitch wife of mine will be going to prison for it."
"As long as the plan worked."
"It had to have. I set it up perfectly. I tempted her with her diamonds, and she must have come running. With the scene I staged, they had to believe she had something to do with me supposedly going out the window onto the rocks."
"Speaking of the diamonds, where are they?"
"Right here."
"Ah, they are beautiful. I was able to locate an associate that can laser off the serial numbers so we can sell them without them being traced. Once we sell them, you'll get the cash, and then we can talk about you signing everything else over to me."
"You're sure right? You're sure that because I'm quote unquote dead the issues I caused with ELQ before will be resolved?"
"My contact at the SEC said that I can't assume any wrong doing because I am acquiring your assets after you have passed, and I had nothing to do with you or ELQ while you held the majority shares."
Sam heard a sigh.
"I hope your contact is right. We worked too hard to take Helena down, for everything to get screwed up this way."
"You do see how this situation could have been avoided though?"
"Do you mean willingly giving the shares back to Jason and the Quartermaines?"
"Yes."
"You know why I couldn't. We didn't have the money. Just as we suspected, Helena donated everything away once she died. ELQ was our only source of income. We both knew that giving the company back had to be the last resort."
"I'm just sorry that it affected your relationship with Samantha and Alexis so severely."
"I am too, but I needed to do what I needed to do. Helena put the wheels in motion when she had Robin revive Jason, and I kept the wheels turning when I didn't tell Sam he was still alive. I'll always regret that, and I'll always regret that I had to put on the façade that I hated Jason. He's dangerous and that has always worried me, but just like Sam he is also family. He's Sam's husband, Danny's father, and was Emily's brother and she would hate me for how I've treated the both of them."
"You didn't have many choices though. Helena's dealings ruined ELQ, and Helena blackmailed you into acquiring it in the first place. The best you could do was try to keep it to avoid anymore losses for us. I'm just sorry it was at the expense of Samantha and her son. If she knew the whole truth though, she might be more willing to forgive you, Jason might be too."
"It doesn't matter though. To them I'm dead. Eventually the authorities and my family will have to declare me legally dead, and then once everything is settled with the diamonds and the Cassadine estate, you'll go to Port Charles and fight for custody of Spencer, and once you win, you can bring him here so we can be together."
"It wont be that easy though, I'm sure your sister and mother will fight me."
"They will, but Spencer will willingly go with you, and he's old enough to make the choice. I'm sure the judge would also agree considering we paid him too."
"You really have thought of everything haven't you."
"I'm a Cassadine. We scheme, and unfortunately I learned from the best. My grandmother taught me all her tricks, but unfortunately she was too vain to see I had developed tricks of my own."
"She knew in the end though what we were doing."
"She knew I was poisoning her, but I don't think she suspected you were involved. When she went to Luke for help when you tried to kill her the first time, I convinced her I didn't believe you were even alive. She didn't know you had contacted me and that we had been in touch. When she finally died I thought we could both live in peace, but then Victor had to bring her back to life."
"Victor was always my least favorite uncle, even before he revived Helena and Stavros. And I know Stavros was your father, but he had no self-control and reviving him was a mistake."
"Stavros was my father, biologically, but Stefan raised me."
"Ah, my other brother, I only wish I had more of an opportunity to have a relationship with him. Now that I'm going to Port Charles, hopefully I will have the opportunity to build a relationship with my sister. I have lost almost all of my siblings, but hopefully Alexis will take kindly to me."
Sam gasped, but she put her hand to her mouth a second too late. Jason knew they had been heard so he improvised. He kicked the door open and fired a warning shot above Nikolas' head. Jason saw a tall slender man who resembled Nikolas standing next to him.
Nikolas was about 10 feet from the door when Jason kicked it open and he instinctively ducked, even though he knew Jason wouldn't shoot directly at him, at least he hoped he wouldn't. Jason stepped closer towards him, and he saw his cousin walk out of the closet with her left hand over her mouth and her right hand holding a gun. Nikolas wasn't surprised they came armed, but he was surprised they came at all. Before Nikolas could say anything, Sam's hand dropped from her mouth and she began to speak.
"My mother told me about you. She said she believed you had been long dead probably from one of Helena's men. I don't believe it."
"It's true Samantha. I am your mother's older brother. I am Valentin Cassadine.
