Chapter Twenty-Six

Mikkos wrapped his left arm around Alexis' shoulders as they walked. Alexis was cold, and her father's arm gave her warmth.

"Come to Port Charles. Come meet your grandchildren," Alexis begged him.

Mikkos looked down and decided that it was time to tell her.

"I can't."

Alexis looked up at him and stopped walking.

"Why? We want you there."

"I have to stay in Greece, and … Ale… Natasha, you have to stay with me."

She backed up, "No!"

"Nata…"

"My name is ALEXIS! Stop calling me Natasha! I'm not staying with you, I thought we've been through this!"

"You don't … have a choice, Alexis."

Alexis looked at him frightened, "Like hell I don't."

"Come with me."

"Where? No! I'm going back to Ric."

"Alexis, I won't take you against your will. I have to show you something."

Alexis looked back towards where her hotel was and then back at her father. Against her better judgment, she went along with him. They got into a limo that was parked not far from where they were and he took her to an old abandoned building. She hesitated before walking in, but somehow his words about not taking her without her consent calmed her.

"Through here …" Mikkos motioned and Alexis walked into a dark room … then, she saw them. Through a glass window, she saw Jax, Nikolas, and Luke sitting there in a cell. They looked tired, but healthy, and definitely alive.

Alexis gasped. She couldn't speak. Suddenly, tears formed in her eyes and she smiled. She brought her hands up to her mouth and turned to look at her father for an explanation. She couldn't ask him, but he knew.

"We had them followed from Port Charles when they came to look for you. When the plane was going down, some of our men took them and saved their lives."

Alexis' face became white … she was horrified. "Did you cause the plane to …"

"No. We lost three of our men. We didn't cause it. Alexis, look at them, they're alive."

She turned her head back to her men and smiled. Then, after a moment of just staring at them, she figured it out. They were bait … for her.

"No … no Mikkos, don't tell me …"

"You have a big decision to make Alexis … Natasha."

Alexis shook her head, "No," she cried.

--

Sam was depressed, but the five younger children made her feel much better. Michael, Kristina, and Morgan were swimming with Leticia and Viola in the lake, while Sam and Colleen watched close by, holding John and Molly.

"So, you didn't know your grandmother?" Colleen asked Sam.

"I met her … met, ha! I ran in to her once or twice before she kidnapped me. She was … is … a horrible person."

Colleen nodded, tending to John.

"Nikolas hated her. My mother did, too, did you know that she killed my grandmother?" Sam asked.

"I heard. That's terrible."

"My mother was eight. Eight years old … and she saw it all. I can't imagine …"

"Cause Helena hired me," Colleen spit out.

Sam grew deathly quiet as she stared at the woman next to her.

"S-Say that again."

"Helena … when she found out about John, she hired me to convince Nikolas to hire me. She was planning on taking John. She needed an informant."

Sam continued to stare, seeing and understanding the words coming out of Colleen's mouth, but not wanting to believe them.

"You can't be serious!?" Sam yelled, noticing all too late how loud it was. The sleeping Molly jolted awake in her arms and started whimpering. John looked over at her as if he understood what was going on. Viola, Leticia, and the kids even looked over.

Sam smiled and laughed, cuddling Molly back to sleep. She looked to Colleen. "Let's go … inside … NOW!" She whispered harshly.

--

"I'll send them home, they won't know anything …"

"What do they think is going on?" Alexis asked, not able to pull her eyes off of them. They were alive. That phrase kept running through her head.

"They were told nothing … nothing about me, or you … they think that they were rescued and put in prison. We made up charges … and gave them no phone calls …"

Alexis looked through the glass. It was a one-way mirror, so they couldn't see her.

"Can I see them? Talk to them?"

"No."

Alexis breathed out in frustration, "What do you want … so that they can go home?"

"Just you … and your child."

Alexis looked at her father, then back at the men and wiped the tears that were streaming down her face. Mikkos stepped up behind her and put his hand on her shoulder.

"DON'T touch me!" She hissed, "How dare you! How can you do this!? What …"

"Natasha, calm down."

"NO! You're ruining my life! You know I can't say 'no' to this! I will always HATE YOU!" She screamed and looked back over at the men, hoping that somehow they could hear her, not expecting them to though. That would've been too easy.

"Listen, I had no choice. I have to have an heir, or they'll kill me."

"Who?" She questioned angrily.

"It doesn't matter. You will never have to worry about them."

"But my son will … one day, if he doesn't have an heir, they'll kill him."

"No … they will not," Mikkos replied calmly. "This is it. He is it."

Alexis looked up at him through her tears, "Do you not know how difficult this is? Do you know how horrible you're making my life? My girls' lives? I just found Sam … you KNOW THAT! Kristina is five, Molly is almost a year old, and they're going to lose me?"

"Yes."

"YES!? That's all you can say!?"

Mikkos looked away. He expected this to be hard, but she looked so … broken.

"What about Nikolas and John? If he knew the situation, he'd gladly take my place."

"John is not a Cassadine."