Chapter Five:
It was a testament to the depth of Stefan's exhaustion that he didn't wake the moment the door was opened and she was able to approach him unnoticed. Sitting on the edge of the bed, Courtney rested a trembling hand on his bearded cheek and for the first time since regaining consciousness her sense of foreboding began to fade.
Stefan's eyes opened as soon as soon as she touched him, but he didn't pull away. "Αισθάνεστε καλύτερα;1" he smiled at her pushing himself up on his elbows so that he could get a better look at her.
"Είμαι άγρυπνος2," Courtney confirmed. "My fever's down but I'm still pretty wobbly. I'm not really supposed to be out of bed," she confessed, "but I needed to see you – I had to make sure you were okay."
"I am well, better now that I can see you are improving," Stefan declared. "Tired and Dr. Drake suspects that my ribs are bruised, but there is nothing really the matter with me."
"I shouldn't have woken you." Courtney's smile slipped away when he mentioned that he was tired.
"I have slept for long enough," he reassured her. "There are too many things that need to be done for me to waste time sleeping." Stefan took a moment to study her noticing the fatigue in her eyes and the hectic color returning to her cheeks. "You, however, should be resting; you're still sick and I don't want to see you collapse again." He pulled her down onto the bed beside him. "You can rest here while you tell me what has you so upset that you slipped out of your sickbed to come wake me," he commanded. "You're afraid of something, what is it?"
Leaning back against the headboard Courtney looked down at her hands, focusing on them in order to avoid Stefan's gaze. "I'm just being paranoid," she whispered. "I'm sure that there's nothing to worry about."
"But you are worried," Stefan countered. "Tell me what you fear."
Courtney hesitated a moment longer before succumbing to Stefan's concern. "Robin – Dr. Scorpio," she finally named the source of her fear.
"Dr. Scorpio?" Stefan repeated the name with some surprise. "She seemed competent enough. Has she said something to upset you? Did she – were there problems with your blood work?"
"It's not that," Courtney hastened to reassure him. "She hasn't gotten the results back yet." She paused again – she knew that he wouldn't be surprised by her fears, but they had discussed her suspicions more than once and she knew that Stefan didn't share them. "Robin is friends with Nikolas," she reminded him. "What if she tells him? What if he finds out I'm here?"
"What if he does?" Stefan repeated. "Even if he wished to harm you or send you back to Helena, and you know that I don't believe that, he would know that there could be no profit in it now. Spencer knows we are alive, and while he bears no great love for me he has been your brother's friend for many years. Were we to disappear again he would tell Corinthos what has happened." Seeing her skeptical look he continued, "I do not mean to imply that the threat is ended or that we are out of danger – my mother remains a very great danger – but she was only able to keep us hidden so easily because no one knew to look for us; that is no longer the case."
"But you are right," Stefan conceded at last. "Despite her promise to me, Dr. Scorpio may well feel the need to tell Nikolas of our . . . return, and I would prefer that he hear of it first from me. I must go to him before she has the chance."
Stefan watched from a distance as his nephew stepped off of the launch from Spoon Island – on his way to dinner with Emily, Stefan surmised. Savoring the sight that he had missed most over the last six and half years he stood unmoving until the younger man disappeared into a waiting car. Only once Nikolas had disappeared from view did Stefan retreat into the catacombs and through them down into the tunnels that would lead him beneath the lake and back to his old home.
Slipping through the secret tunnels under Wyndemere Stefan indulged in a smirk as he noticed the bricked up alcoves that had once been doors into the manor. Wanting to control unsolicited access to his home, and particularly to curtail Helena's access to the young prince, Nikolas had set a team of workers to close the tunnels. Since the labyrinth of tunnels ran both underneath the manor and through its walls demolishing them without destroying the structural integrity of the house would have been impossible. Instead Nikolas had settled for sending workers to comb the tunnels and brick up the entrances. Running a reverent hand down the stone wall of the tunnel Stefan heard the familiar click and felt the wall begin to move – fortunately Nikolas had never discovered the second set of passages.
The old house was so riddled with secret corridors that no one ever bothered to count up distances. No one until Stefan, that is. One of his first concerns upon acquiring the property for himself and Nikolas had been mapping the tunnels and memorizing their layout. It was only when he compared the map that he had created to the blueprints for the house that he noticed the empty spaces – spaces where there should have been tunnels and weren't. When he began to investigate further he discovered the tunnels within the tunnels. Those he had memorized but never written down, and when he later shared his map with Nikolas he never mentioned that it was incomplete. Stefan had counted on these passages, and their doors into the house, still being accessible – and for once it appeared as though he was in luck. Grimacing at the layers of cobwebs that confirmed this tunnel had not been used since his own departure, Stefan moved silently down the narrow corridor until it terminated in an apparent dead end. Triggering the hidden switch, Stefan stepped through the opening into a rarely used maid's room scarcely bigger than a closet.
As Stefan had expected this room remained unoccupied, permitting him to enter the house proper unobserved. Moving across the bare room he pressed an ear against the door and listened for any movement in the hallway. Hearing nothing he pushed the door opened and slipped down the hallway. Pausing outside of another door Stefan took a deep breath, he'd chosen that particular passageway not merely because it had the advantage of opening into an unused room but also for this reason – its proximity to the nursery.
Knowing that his nurse would be in the kitchen or her own rooms while the child slept, Stefan pushed the door opened and stepped into the dimly lit room. He sank to his knees beside the bed and looked down at the sleeping form of Nikolas's son – he'd seen the child only once before, almost a year ago.
"Hello there young one," not wishing to wake the child, Stefan kept his voice low. "You look very much like your father did at your age." Stefan gave Spencer's cheek a light, barely there, caress remembering the joys and trials of Nikolas's childhood. "I know that your life is about to get very complicated and some of the changes may upset you, but I want you to remember everyone in your family loves you and we're all going to do everything we can to protect you."
Stefan was about to leave the room when a silver frame on the nightstand by the bed caught his attention, picking up the picture he read the inscription, 'My Guardian Angel.' "You see," he told Courtney's image taking hope that his faith would be vindicated, "Nikolas has not tried to erase you from your son's life."
Still confined to her bed and starting to become restless Courtney was almost grateful for the interruption when she heard the raised voices in the hallway outside her door.
"You can't fool me, Luke," Tracy's voice was shrill with accusation as she tried to push past her husband toward the staterooms of the Haunted Star. "I know that you and that Australian James Bond wanna-be are up to something. Coming and going from this boat at all hours and you haven't been by the mansion in days – not even to see your daughter or take advantage of the free meals. Now I've been very patient, but I demand to know what, or who, you are hiding this time. "
"I would never hide anything from you, my precious poppet," Luke protested.
"Of course you would," Tracy's eyes narrowed. "If there's money in it I want my cut, if you're going to get yourself arrested again I want to know how much the bail is going to cost me, and if you've taken up with yet another cheap tart I want the pleasure of throwing her out myself. Either way I'm going to find out what's going on."
"Spankybuns, you wound me! I don't know where this lack of trust comes from – I would never try to cheat you and what would I want with another woman when I have my own bodacious bride waiting for me at home."
"Oh please! This would hardly be the first time since our marriage that you took up with some floozy."
Clutching the door frame to stay upright Courtney hesitated on the other side of the closed door unsure whether or not she should interrupt the argument. She didn't want to cause trouble for Luke, and she wasn't sure whether discovering her would ameliorate Tracy's ire or exacerbate it. In the end she chose to wait and listen, if Tracy found her or Luke decided to reveal her then so be it, if not then she would remain hidden for a while longer.
Back out in the hall Luke stepped in front of Tracy and blocked her path to the staterooms. "Alright love muffin, I'll tell you the truth," Luke announced magnanimously. "Yes, I'm letting a couple of people hide out here for a few days. I would invite you in to chat with them but they're trying to keep a low profile and the girl's feeling poorly so it would be better if we just let them rest."
"I don't think so, I'm not going anywhere without meeting your guests," Tracy spit out the last word contemptuously.
"This doesn't really doesn't concern you darlin'," Luke's tone was firm as he contradicted her. "I'm not making any money off of the gig and no one's offering any other form of compensation either; all they want is to be left alone until they get things settled and I promised that, so you're not going in there."
"You expect me to believe that you're sheltering some poor refugees out of the goodness of your heart?" Tracy sneered. "I know you better than that – if you're helping someone then you're planning to get something out of it and I want to know what that is."
"Just the pure pleasure of screwing over an old enemy," Luke smiled.
Seeing Luke's normally jovial countenance set in implacable lines Tracy temporarily gave in to him, privately vowing to return later and discover what her husband was hiding she sent him one last icy glare before returning to the main salon.
As soon as Tracy had disappeared from view Luke knocked gently on the stateroom door and then pushed it opened. "Hey there sunshine," he greeted the pale blonde who was still holding onto the door jam as though her life depended on it. "How many times do we have to remind you to stay in bed?" he scolded her. "You need to conserve your strength for getting better."
"She sounded upset," Courtney observed as Luke helped her back to the bed.
"Upset is Tracy's normal state of being, our little squabbles are nothing for you to get worked up over.
"Looks like you're all alone in here," Luke commented as he looked around the empty room. "Please tell me the overgrown bat's winging his way across the night sky and home to Spook Island."
"Stefan went to see Nikolas," Courtney affirmed smiling in spite of herself as Luke's characterizations provided a momentary distraction from the nervous tension Stefan's visit to Nikolas was causing. "He didn't want Nikolas to find out that we were alive from someone else."
"So he left you all on your lonesome while he goes to announce your resurrection?" Luke grinned, "Well, never fear darlin' it will be my pleasure to keep you company while he's gone."
"I really am alright on my own," Courtney assured him. "Don't let me keep you away from your work."
"Work?" Luke shuddered theatrically. "Never touch the stuff, I'll take any excuse to avoid that, and my partner can glad-hand the high rollers just fine on his own for awhile, so don't you worry about me."
Luke took a second to study Courtney critically. "How are you feeling?" he asked after a moment. "You're still looking a little pale, should I call Dr. Robin back to take a look at you?"
"No," Courtney answered quickly, she'd only been conscious for one doctor's visit but she was already tired of being poked and prodded, and even more tired of Robin's sympathetic looks and intrusive questions. "I'm alright, and I promise to stay in bed."
"See that you do," Luke grumbled. "And no passing out on me, if you think you're getting sick again let me know and I'll call the doctor back."
"Alright," Courtney lied agreeably as she sank back into the pillows.
"If Vlad's gone to talk to Bat Jr., he's probably going to be gone for awhile. Is there anybody you want me to call for you?" Luke changed the subject after a moment. "Invite them to your 'hey I'm not dead anymore' party? Always a fun shindig; more fun when the guest of honor isn't a Cassadine of course, but at least this time he's sharing the spotlight with a beautiful woman."
Conflicted, Courtney hesitated – of course she wanted to see her family again, but "We're trying to keep a low profile here," she reminded Luke. "Helena's bound to be watching my family, if they start trooping in here she's probably going to come to check out why."
"You forget how much more clever I am than Helena," Luke chided her. "This boat is a casino and your brother, one of my oldest friends, stops by on a regular basis – Helena's not going to see anything out of the ordinary in his coming here. So if you want to see him, I can arrange it without any risks to the plan."
"No," Courtney said at last, "I'm not . . . I can't see Sonny yet, I need – I need a little more time," twisting the soft cotton blanket in her hands Courtney struggled to retain her composure. She loved her brother and she'd missed him, but the year or so before her 'death' had been a difficult time in their relationship and, while Courtney had long since forgiven Sonny, she didn't yet feel up to a confronting him on her own. Cowardly or not, she wanted Stefan with her when she saw her brother again – she knew that she wouldn't need him, but she took comfort in knowing he was there to lean on.
Not calling Sonny up right away went against every instinct that Luke had – he'd spent his life looking out for Barbara Jean and if the situations had been reversed he'd have wanted Sonny to call him – hell, when it had been Lesley Lu Sonny had called him despite his promise to the contrary. Seeing how upset Courtney was becoming, however, and knowing that she was still sick, he decided to let the matter drop, for now. "Okay," he said, "Sonny can wait a little longer."
"What about Carly?" Courtney asked hopefully. "Could you get her here with raising Helena's suspicions?" Sonny would be too much for her to handle now, but Carly was her best friend and would know how to help her face her brother.
"My wayward niece?" Luke's curled lip conveyed his distaste. "Ah, that's right the two of you were close, weren't you? I think I can get her here without raising too many eyebrows."
"An early evening, sir," Alfred commented as he took Nikolas's coat. "Was the restaurant not to your satisfaction?"
"The restaurant was fine," Nikolas answered. "Emily was called back to the hospital and I have some business calls to make," Nikolas paused outside the door to his study turning back towards Alfred. "Is my son already asleep?"
"Nearly an hour ago, sir," Alfred confirmed. "The nanny put him down early, she indicated that he was tired out by your visit to the park this afternoon."
"I'll just look in on him later then, when I go up to bed," Nikolas couldn't quite hide his regret at missing the chance to bid his son goodnight.
"Shall I bring you some tea, sir?"
"Please," Nikolas sighed. "It's likely to be a rather late night," he muttered as he opened the study door.
Whatever business Nikolas had expected to disrupt his sleep was forgotten when he stepped into the study and found it already occupied. "I –" he found himself at a loss for words as he stared at Stefan in shock. "Uncle?" One word finally escaped his lips.
"Nikolas." Stefan was sitting behind his desk, Nikolas's desk now, but the position was so familiar between them that Nikolas was immediately cast back into the past when this was Stefan's study and he would come in and find Stefan sitting in just that position.
Stefan rose to his feet behind the desk, resting his hands on the familiar smooth surface as he faced his nephew. "It warms my heart to see you again," he confessed simply.
"Who are you?" Nikolas advanced into the room and confronted the man who wore his uncle's face. "Stefan Cassadine died five years ago. I don't know what you hope to accomplish by coming here, by playing this game, but I'm not going to be taken in by it." His anger building as the words spilled out Nikolas's voice was shaking with barely suppressed rage as he repeated his initial question, "Who are you?"
"You know who I am Nikolas," Stefan answered quietly. "At least, I used to think you did," the last was barely audible and Stefan couldn't quite hide the hurt that colored his words.
"My uncle is dead," Nikolas repeated holding on to his anger to protect him from the impostor's tricks. "He is buried here – on this island, shall I show you his grave?"
"Look at me, Nikolas," Stefan commanded. "See me. I am here; I am real; the man you buried in that grave was not your uncle – he was not me."
"I don't understand," Nikolas said at last, studying the man before him there was no denying that his resemblance to Stefan Cassadine was uncanny, and yet Nikolas had seen Stefan buried, had grieved for his uncle despite the bitterness between them that had preceded his death.
"I know," Stefan answered approaching Nikolas slowly. "I will explain everything, but I am alive and I am home now."
Nikolas trembled as he felt the familiar weight of his uncle's hand on the back of his neck. This simple gesture conveyed a greater depth of affection between them than most would ever comprehend and in that moment he knew that this was Stefan. "Uncle," the appellation was practically a sob as he collapsed into Stefan's arms.
"Nikolas, my boy," Stefan's words were muffled against Nikolas's hair as he held the younger man close. "I missed you. God, I've missed you so," he murmured.
A/N: If the Greek is inaccurate, please forgive me – I don't speak Greek myself and had to use one of those translation websites. As for Courtney speaking Greek – it'll be explained eventually.
And don't forget to let me know what you think – I've gotten some excellent feedback and I greatly appreciate it.
1 Αισθάνεστε καλύτερα; - you are feeling better?
2 Είμαι άγρυπνος - I'm awake