"I prefer not to do things this way, Nikolas, but I must insist that you tell me where they are." The tiny gun she held in her hand looked like an antique, something that probably shouldn't even work. It would, though, and Sam was pretty sure that the old bitch's aim wouldn't be bad.
"Give me a little more credit than that, Grandmother." Sam knew that Nikolas saw her standing there, Jason at her back, but he didn't show it. She was pretty sure that Helena knew she was there, too, but didn't know why she would hesitate. She probably thought that Sam wouldn't shoot her in the back.
Well… she wouldn't, but not because she had anything against shooting someone in the back. It's not like she was going to have to make a self defense plea where a bullet in the back would count against her. Sam had no intention of anyone ever finding Helena's body. She just wanted to look her in the eye, the same as she had done when she pushed Sam over that cliff. She wanted to see that last look of surprise when Alexis's daughter killed her.
"You know how much I hate to do things this way, Nikolas," Helena said. "I prefer a cleaner way of doing these things. Guns are so loud, and the blood is always so messy. I don't have the servants I used to have to clean it up for me."
"I pity you." Nikolas rolled his eyes and used the gesture to flash a look at Sam. "You can kill me if you want, but I won't tell you where the children are. Not that it would matter," he said, "because whether I die or not, I don't think you're going to make it off this island."
"Your cousin?" She said the word as though it was funny. "I will admit that she has a way about her. The idea that she survived that fall is definitely impressive, but she still can't save you." Without turning her head, never taking her eyes off of her grandson, Helena said, "Why don't you and Mr. Morgan join us, Samantha?
Sam looked to Jason and shrugged. Jason called out, "I think I'll stay back there," but Sam moved forward. Jason took hold of her elbow and Sam shook her head. She pulled and he let her go. She had a better chance of getting a shot in before she shot Nikolas if Sam was in front of her. And, again, the whole looking in her eyes thing was compelling.
As she passed her, Helena said, "Why don't you give me that gun?"
Sam snorted a laugh. "I think I'll keep it, thanks." She stood beside her cousin, the gun at her side for the moment. If she aimed and had to hold the position for too long, her arm would start to shake, she might miss the shot. Jason was behind her, and his gun was trained on Helena's back. Sam had time to wait, to pick her moment.
"A game, then?" Helena bent her elbow and the gun moved from pointing at Nikolas, to pointing up to the ceiling. She moved her finger away from the trigger, on the outside of the guard, then tapped her chin with the gun. Sam wished she had left her finger and would accidentally shoot herself in the face. "Well, let's see, what kind of game can we play?"
Sam started to say something, but Nikolas put a hand on her arm. She looked at him and he shook his head. "Don't engage her," he said. "She's having too much fun."
"She can have all the fun she wants, as long as she doesn't win, and believe me, she won't win."
"Are the two of you done, now?" Helena asked. She extended her arm, again, and the gun was now, once more, pointing at Nikolas's chest. "Now, as to our game. Well, to begin, you need to raise your gun, Samantha."
Sam narrowed her eyes. This didn't make much sense at all. She rose her arm, pointed at Helena's chest. "Are you asking me to shoot you, now?"
"Oh, dear," she said with a laugh, "I am merely setting the board for our little game. Now, I am almost positive that Mr. Morgan will not shoot me in the back, if only because you want the pleasure of shooting me." Sam's eyes flicked past Helena to Jason. His brow was furrowed, but his arm was straight. Would he shoot her in the back? Would Sam even care?
"Now, the game is, can you shoot me, before I shoot Nikolas?" There was too much amusement on her face, too much laughter in her eyes. Helena Cassadine was supposed to be a woman who cared, first and foremost, for her family, yet she was willing to shoot her grandson. Apparently, she had completely given up on Nikolas. Her sights were set on her great-grandson. She had very little use for the girls, so she would probably kill Kristina and Molly. But, Spencer…
Maybe she was just giving up and wanted to make a grand exit. She knew that she was outnumbered, and no one was going to give up the whereabouts of the children. She also knew that, even if she did shoot Nikolas before Sam shot her, Sam would kill her, anyway. There was no way out for Helena now, unless she really was an evil witch and had some kind of magic up her sleeve. Sam didn't believe in that stuff, so no… There was no way out for Helena.
"Are you ready?" Helena slipped her finger back inside the trigger guard. She watched Helena's finger for movement. Sam didn't trust that this game was so simple. Wasn't her end game to make Nikolas suffer? Even if she died, she would want to die knowing that she'd made him suffer. So… why kill him like that? Sam was the one that would suffer, knowing she'd let her cousin die, but Helena didn't care about her. Sam wasn't important enough to garner Helena's wrath. It made no sense. But, if Sam died, then Nikolas…
At the last moment, Sam's eyes went from Helena's finger to her shoulder. She saw it within seconds of averting her eyes, the twitch in her shoulder before the gun came her way. Nikolas saw it, too, and he shoved her to the side as the gun went off. Another gun went off as Sam was hitting the floor, a louder gun, Jason's gun.
Nikolas fell on Sam, and he was heavy. He was also bleeding. Sam wanted to check him, see where the bullet had gone in, but she didn't have time to check on him. Peering out from under him, Helena wasn't on the ground, but her gun was. She held her elbow and blood leaked through her fingers. Sam looked up at Jason and he nodded. He shot her for safety, but he was going to let Sam have the final moment.
Sam crawled from under Nikolas. Her gun was still in her hand. She forced herself to look at Helena, to not look at Nikolas. Helena searched the floor for her gun, but the tiny thing had went flying somewhere, and she wasn't going to be able to find it. Sam walked up to her slowly, moving until she was right up against her. She rose her gun and placed it over Helena's heart. Sam stared into her eyes and had to give the old bitch some credit. She wasn't afraid. There was a gun pressed against her chest, but there wasn't a hint of fear in her eyes. She knew when Sam showed up at that door that she wasn't going to survive this.
Helena seemed like the kind of woman that always awaited her death. She did horrible things, and she had made many enemies over the years. She had already resolved herself to an impending death. It was just a matter of when, how, and who.
"What is it like?" Helena asked her. "Staring into my eyes at this last moment?"
"Incredible, actually," Sam said. "I think you had a point about staring into the eyes of someone before you kill them. You learn a lot."
"Really? And what have you learned?"
"I've learned that you truly are psychotic. You don't even have the good sense to be afraid right now. I don't know what happens when a person dies, but a person like you… Whatever happens, it can't be good for a person like you."
"And what kind of person is that?"
"Evil," she said, "vindictive. If I had the good sense that you don't have, I'd be afraid just standing here. But, I'm not. Do you know what I am? I'm… satisfied. I'm happy. You don't get to win. I win," Sam said. "We win."
Helena looked past her to Nikolas and smirked. "You don't all win, my dear."
It was a manipulative trick. Helena was trying to get Sam to move her eyes away, trying for some kind of distraction. If she could get to the floor fast enough, she could possibly get out before Jason shot her. She could live to haunt another day. Sam wasn't falling for it, though. She would worry about Nikolas later. The only place other than Helena that her eyes went were to Jason. He stood a few feet behind Helena, ready to shoot her again. He was there… for her.
Sam settled her eyes back on Helena. "Say goodbye, bitch." Sam pulled the trigger. The force of the blast knocked Helena backwards and sent blood flying, splattering Sam's shirt and chin. She watched as Helena fell back onto the floor. Fear hadn't shown on her face even in that last second before Sam pulled the trigger. She hated Helena Cassadine, but she had to give her credit. She died like a pro.
The room went still, and Sam waited. She felt foolish, and later, she would laugh about the way she had waited for her to get back up like a zombie. Sam counted to ten, then twenty, and finally, when she had reached fifty, she accepted that Helena wasn't moving, and only then, did she turn to Nikolas.
He was sitting up already, his hands pressing against his side. The right side of his shirt held an expanding circle of blood. The color was draining from his face. Sam slid the gun in the back of her jeans and knelt beside him. Nikolas looked up at her and smirked. "Now would have been a great time for Nadine to be here."
"Well," she said, "I'm not a nurse, but I've seen my fair share of gunshot wounds. Let me see." She moved his hands and rose his shirt. The bullet had gone straight through. "Okay," she said, "the good news is that it's not too bad. It's a through and through."
"What's the bad news?"
"Well," she said, "if I take you to a hospital, someone is going to ask what happened, and I really don't think we want more people than necessary knowing what went on here."
"Clean him up," Jason said. Sam turned to him and he was stooping beside Helena's body. Get the butler, get some water and clean towels, some alcohol. Get him cleaned up and I'll get a doctor out here to look at it after we get rid of this." His hand waved over Helena and Sam almost laughed. How would she like being referred to as a thing?
"He's right," Nikolas said, bringing Sam's attention back to him. "I'll be okay."
He was being strong. Nikolas was a prince, for crying out loud. How often did he get shot? "Why, Nikolas?"
"I saw it in that last second. She shoots you, Jason shoots her, and in the end, it's all my fault."
"So, you did it because…"
"I did it because you're my family. You weren't going to let her kill me, and I wasn't going to let her kill you." Nikolas sat up straighter and grunted. "Go," he said. "In my office, there's a panel behind the desk. If you look hard, you can see the outline. Push in, and it'll take you down to the tunnels."
"Nikolas…"
"Go down to the bottom, make a right, and keep going straight until you find the hole. She'll never be found there."
"You dug a hole?"
He snorted a laugh. "Not hardly, but I have very faithful servants who don't ask questions when I give orders."
"Having holes dug, jumping in front of bullets… I think I'm a bad influence on you."
"If it means that I'll never have to worry about her again, I'll take the bad influence. Besides, I think it's a fair trade off. I think I've been a pretty good influence on you, too."
"Just maybe," Sam told him. She put a hand against his cheek and kissed the corner of his mouth, a quick peck of her lips. "Don't move," she said as she stood up. "Just stay there and keep pressure on it. I won't be long."
Nikolas nodded, and Sam turned her attention to Jason and Helena. No, not Helena. To the body. She looked like a fragile old woman laying there, and someone who didn't know her would probably show outrage at her murder. Sam figured that the people who did know her would probably throw her a party. Too bad they would never know what happened.
"It's almost over," Jason told her as he stood up. He put his gun in the back of his jeans and looked at Sam. "We get rid of her and then we deal with Anthony. Home free after that."
"Almost," Sam told him. "There's still Sonny. He may not have known what was going on, but the fact that he didn't know says that we are all in a lot of danger. He—" She sighed. She wasn't going to go on a killing spree. Hell, she may not even kill Zacchara. Sam wasn't cold-blooded, after all, but she did need to protect her family.
"We'll deal with him later. For now, though, let's get to the job at hand." He picked up Helena's body and threw it over his shoulder. "Lead the way."
Sam led him out of the sitting room, headed for Nikolas's office. She had to admit, though, while they were on their way to dispose of a body, she wasn't really thinking about what they were going to have to do. She wasn't even thinking about what would happen once Helena was buried. No, Sam's mind was on something a bit more practical, and wholly inappropriate. She was thinking that, with the blood she already had on her, the excess she'd get on her cleaning up Nikolas, and the blood on Jason from carrying Helena, they were both going to need a shower. Sam was thinking about washing Jason's back.
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