Alexis gathered the blankets and managed to hide the tremble in her hands from both Jason and Sam. The touch at the small of her back informed her that her stealthiness wasn't quite stealthy enough to escape the ever observative gaze of her husband. She allowed herself to lean towards him, relishing in the warmth of his body and the simple nearness of him. The night was going to get worse before it got better. And that wasn't her general Russian pessimism talking. It was cold, hard fact. She just had to believe that they all would live to see the better.

Jax had done his best to cover the broken window. A large black and green tarp made of garbage bags and camping tents, held together by gray duct tape, stretched from one end of the room to the other. They were still cold, and the way the wind and snow pounded against the makeshift siding said that it wasn't going to last for long, but at least it was something, at least it was a barrier of some sort.

Alexis let Jax pull her away from the couple on the floor, but she watched as Jason took the extra blankets she had given him and tucked them around Sam, all of them. She looked for some kind of tremble in him, something that showed that he was cold, but his only movements were his arms as he put the blankets around Sam and his lips as he talked to her.

Jax put an arm around Alexis's waist and she felt him moving them back. He had already readjusted the furniture, moving the sofa out from underneath the head of the tree that had come crashing through the window, allowing somewhere other than the floor to sit. He moved her to the far end of the sofa, then sat down. Alexis kept her body against him, touching him. He made her feel safe. Alexis turned to face him. She put a hand on Jax's leg. "Did you get through to anyone?" Alexis asked him. Her husband was an adventurer, a survivalist of sorts, and with all of the other inclement weather and emergency gear in the basement was a CB radio.

Jax sighed. "I got through to someone at the PCPD. They have people, volunteers, out attempting to reach the most severely injured."

"And they put her on the list, I hope?"

"Very near the top," Jax told her. Alexis's eyes widened. She could hardly imagine worse injuries where the victim was still alive for the rescue that was heading their way. "It's slow going."

Alexis leaned back and pressed her head against Jax's shoulder. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. He smelled of the sweat of his exertion, and underneath, expensive cologne. Alexis sighed. "I'm thinking dark, Cassadine thoughts right now."

"And those would be?"

"I'm thinking how much easier this whole mess would be if they had just ridden the storm out in their car and never came to the door. Or, if we had just slammed the door in their faces. We would be downstairs right now, waiting for the disaster to end. Of course, the front of the house would still be a mess, but that could be fixed. There wouldn't be blood on the living room floor."

Jax chuckled. "Yes, that's very selfishly Cassadine," he said. "Of course, I know you well enough to know that you don't really mean that."

"Oh believe me," she said, "there's part of me that believes it with everything that part has got. I want them out of my house and out of my life."

"But…"

"But…" Alexis sighed. "Seeing the two of them like this makes me think that perhaps there is more to them than just criminals and being severe pains in my ass."

Alexis sat up and looked to Sam and Jason. The way he hovered there, uncaring of his own discomfort, his own safety… There was definitely more to their relationship than Alexis had suspected. In truth, she hadn't thought of it as much of a relationship, at all. Everyone was aware of their sexual relationship, but she hadn't thought it went much further, in a personal sense. A working relationship, well, it was obvious they had one of those, but real feelings… She was too busy thinking of them as a menace to society to think of them as anything else.

Now, however, watching them together, Alexis knew there was more to them, and because of that more, she felt sorry for them. She was sad for Sam's pain, albeit grateful that Sam had pushed her out of the way. She was also sad for Jason's pain if Sam didn't make it, and with the slow pace that rescue was working at, her chances of getting out of this alive seemed less and less likely.

Had they taken that into consideration? Were they already saying their last goodbyes, just in case Sam fell asleep and never woke up again? Though Alexis had felt the need to stand over Sam, to stand watch, guard, whatever one wanted to call it, the thought that they were saying goodbye made it okay for her to let Jax take her away from them. Besides, she could still see them from the sofa, and this way, they had at least some semblence of privacy.

Alexis turned back to Jax and said, "I don't care for this at all, you know." She leaned against his shoulder again. "This puts me in a very compromising position."

He murmurred, "Mmhm."

Alexis sat up and looked at him. "And what, exactly, is that supposed to mean?"

He grinned at her. Oh, but that man could be intensely infuriating. "It means that I know you," he said.

"And what is that supposed to mean?"

"It means," Jax said, "that you have an overwhelming need to be in control of your emotions, and more importantly, understand them all. You, my love, just had a moment of sympathy and extreme caring for two people that you have convinced yourself to loathe with every fiber of your being, so you had to say something perfectly Cassadine cold in order to make yourself feel better."

Alexis narrowed her eyes at him. "You know nothing," she said. She put her head against his shoulder again. "You only have a soft spot for him because his brother works for you."

"Actually," Jax told her, "I have a soft spot for all Quartermaines because they amuse me. I really don't understand how this town survives with two insanely dysfunctional families living in it. Perhaps because the craziest of your family doesn't actually live here? If Nikolas and Stefan ever decided to move to Port Charles, proper, I fear the entire city would implode."

"Now, you're just having a laugh at my expense, and I don't appreciate it."

"I thought you always appreciated it," he said with a laugh. "I keep you grounded by reminding you that your family is psychotic."

"And the Jacks family isn't? I grant that your family isn't known for poisoning one another, but the Jacks clan is anything but normal."

"I never said that we were," Jax told her. Alexis looked up and Jax winked at her. She rolled her eyes and turned her eyes back down. "But then again, my family doesn't live here, so it's not particularly an issue, now is it?"

"No," Alexis gave, "and we have more pressing issues." She sat up and moved away from Jax. Alexis slid to the other side of the sofa, her eyes on Jason and Sam again. She gripped the back and arm of the sofa as she watched, waiting for the moment when Jason looked up at her with cold eyes that would only mean that Sam was gone.

Jason looked up at her sooner than she had expected and Alexis held her breath. Her head was shaking, and as she moved, she saw Sam's eyes open, her chest slowly rise and fall. She was still alive. Alexis let out a breath of relief. But, if she was still alive, why was Jason still looking at her? Alexis narrowed her eyes and watched, confused, as Jason looked back down to Sam. Sam nodded and Jason looked back at Alexis.

The wind was dying down, finally, and Jason didn't have to quite yell to call Alexis over to them. Alexis looked at Jax and he shook his head. He didn't know what was going on, either. What a shame, when the hosts, no matter how unsuspecting of their visitors, were the last to know what was going on.

Alexis stood and Jax rose a second after her. Alexis reached back and Jax took her hand. He squeezed and, again, she felt better. Something told her that, even though she was the only one called over, she was going to need Jax with her. Alexis moved forward slowly. She skirted the tree limbs that edged the area where Sam lay. She looked back at Jax and again, he nodded. Alexis took another deep breath and continued on.

When she reached Jason and Sam, Alexis knelt down on the floor. She still held onto Jax's hand and she felt his body lowering behind her. "What's going on?" Alexis asked. "Are you cold? Does it hurt?"

Sam shook her head, a minute shake from one side to the other. "I don't really feel all that much," she said. Her voice was soft, and her tone was defeated. She was just lying there, waiting to die.

"Sam has something she wants to tell you," Jason said. Alexis looked to him and he said, "It's her choice to tell you, and she wants…" He paused, shook his head. "Just in case," he said as he turned his head back down to Sam. "Are you sure?" Jason asked her.

"It's what I came here for," Sam told him.

"Wait." Alexis squeezed Jax's hand, then let him go. "I don't understand. You were coming here tonight? Why?"

"No," Sam said. "I was leaving tonight. I came to Port Charles…" Sam winced. She moved her head, tried to bend her neck so she could look up at Jason. "I can't," she said, her voice still soft, still defeated.

"Look," Alexis said, "whatever this is, it can wait. Just because you say you don't feel…" Alexis paused and shook her head. "You're probably just in shock and you've gone numb. I bet if I pinched you, you would feel it. You just aren't moving, so there's nothing to feel. Besides," Alexis went on, "you winced when you moved your head. It hurt all the way down to your toes, didn't it?"

"Yeah," Sam said.

"So, see? You obviously can still feel something. I'm thinking, at worst, your pelvis is crushed. You might have some internal injuries, but we'll know more when the EMTs arrive. Jax spoke to someone and they moved you up the critical list. They're on their way, working their way to us, so how about we just stop the deathbed confessions, alright?"

Alexis was aware that she was rambling, and at the moment, couldn't have cared less. Tomorrow, she would probably be properly embarrassed at the way the words had fallen out of her mouth at such a rapid pace. And really? Had she said that she would pinch her? It didn't matter. There would be no giving up while there was still a chance. Alexis was not having it, not that night.

Alexis pressed her palms against her thighs and pushed herself up. She looked at the tarp that tried to cover the broken window and gave a hard nob. Only the slightest waves moved along the plastic and cloth. The wind was dying down, and she no longer heard heavy snow pounding against the walls and the remaining windows.

"Look at that," Alexis said. "The storm is nearly over, it's finally passing. I'm sure the plows are already out there, and with the storm gone, they can use the emergency helicopters to get to people. So, we will stop this nonsense of confessions right now."

"God, you're a stubborn woman," Sam said.

"Excuse me? I'm not the one waiting for you to die, now am I?"

"Only because you don't want me to die on your floor."

"I don't want you to die, at all! I just want you to stop trying to ruin my career. You are a woman with potential and instead of using it for good, you use it to make sure that justice is never served."

"It's not always justice," Sam said. She grunted and closed her eyes. Sam took in a deep breath and held it. She released her breath after a few beats and opened her eyes. She looked up at Alexis and said, "It's not always Jason, you know."

"We're not having this conversation," Alexis said. "In fact, if you only want to talk about your wasted future or your non-impending death, then we'll not be having any conversation at all." She shook her head and her hands fidgeted at her sides. "The kitchen still works, and amazingly, we still have power. That tree must have managed to miss the power lines when it fell. I'm going to make tea so we can all calm down."

Alexis turned and started to walk away. She was the one that really needed to calm down. She was as worried as anyone else in that room that Sam wasn't going to make it in time for rescue, it was just that her concern came out in a torrent of semi-neurotic ranting, arguing, and ultimately denial. She couldn't have her own denial if Sam insisted upon making deathbed confessions. And what was she going to confess, anyway? That she was the one that wrecked her last case against Jason Morgan? That was no real confession. Alexis already knew that.

"Would you stop!" Jason's voice was strong, but not angry. He sounded frustrated and aggravated. "For once, Alexis, would you just listen to what someone is trying to tell you?"

"I don't want to hear it!"

"It's important! It's—" He stopped so abruptly that Alexis did stop walking and turned back. He looked down at Sam and she was shaking her head, but Jason wasn't going to let it go. He wasn't going to let Sam have her secret and he wasn't going to let Alexis have her denial.

Jason looked up at Alexis and said, "If Sam is going to die tonight, then the least she deserves is to have her mother hold her hand."

Alexis felt as if she had been punched in the gut. Her hand went to her stomach and her eyes grew wide. "What—" She looked at Jax and he was as surprised as Alexis. She looked back at Jason. "What are you talking about?"

"You're the entire reason that Sam came to town."

Alexis shook her head. "No, that's not…" She shook her head again. "I had a daughter," she said. She looked at Jax. He knew about it already. He was the one that had helped her try to find the daughter she had given away, and all of his sources had told her the same thing. "My daughter died five years ago," Alexis said, "in a car accident in Florida."

Jax had searched and come up with death. Frantic, unbelieving, Alexis had Stefan search, and he was the one that had actually handed her a death certificate. "You're mistaken," Alexis said, and she had every intention on turning away, but her feet carried her forward, instead. Her body lowered her to the floor when she reached Sam's side. "My daughter is dead," she said.

"Someone wanted you to think that but…" Jason shook his head. "Sam came here for you."

Alexis looked down at Sam. She felt even more pity for her, now. She had come to this place, might even die in Port Charles, because she had come looking for the wrong mother. "I'm sorry," she told her, "but I'm not your mother."

"Yes, you are," Sam said softly. Her hand came out from beneath the blankets and she was holding a folded sheets of paper. When had Jason put that in her hand? It was crumpled enough for Alexis to tell that Jason had to have dug it out of her pocket. Sam pushed the pages toward Alexis, and she took them from her.

Alexis opened the page, and it was a birth certificate. Her name was on the line for mother. The signature was her own. Alexis remembered being so tired when the paper was put in front of her. She had scrawled her name across it and the page was taken away before she could even ask anyone why the line for the baby's name was blank. The name had been typed in later, obvious because it didn't line up with the rest of the text in that row.

The other sheet was an adoption record. Again, Alexis recognized her own signature. She had cried when her hand was forced to the page. She begged her father not to make her do this, but he said it was for the best. Even Stefan had told her it was for the best, later, when she told him the truth of everything. He knew his own mother, he had told her, and if she had known that Alexis had been pregnant, she would have killed them both. Somehow, Helena would have figured out that Alexis was really Mikkos's daughter, and she would kill them all. It was best for the baby, he told her, same as her father had told her, that she give her away.

Alexis felt Jax reaching for her and she pushed the pages into his hand. She looked down at Sam and shook her head. "I have a death certificate," she whispered.

"It's fake," Sam said softly. "I almost didn't say anything. I was going to leave tonight without saying anything. Jason didn't let me leave."

"And you ended up here."

"Yeah." Sam sighed. "If I'm going to die, can I at least do it holding my mother's hand?"

Alexis looked to Jax and he was still examining the pages. He wasn't instantly shouting false, though, so what did that mean? What did any of it mean, really? Yes, this could be some kind of scam, but what would have been the point of telling at this juncture? But, she had the papers, and Stefan said that her daughter was dead. Could his sources have been wrong? Could he have been the one to forge a fake death certificate?

This was all too much for one night. Alexis took in a deep breath and held it until her lungs burned and her eyes started to water. And all that time, Sam was waiting. Her hand was out, pushing against Alexis's knees, her palm facing up. Sam thought she was going to die, and all she wanted was to hold her mother's hand. Whether Alexis completely believed it or not, and she wasn't entirely sure that she did believe it, or for that matter, that she didn't believe it… No matter what Alexis believed, Sam believed it.

Alexis reached down and laid her palm on top of Sam's. Sam's fingers curled around Alexis's hand and she squeezed with as much pressure as she could manage. Alexis returned a much stronger squeeze. Later, when this was all over, the truth could be found. Alexis could talk to Stefan. She and Sam could have DNA tests done. There were things that could be done later, and if it turned out that Sam was wrong, well, holding her hand now didn't hurt her. No matter the truth of it, Sam believed that Alexis was her mother. If it comforted her until help arrived, well, Alexis could be her mother, at least for a little while.

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