A/N – Thanks for the comments! Glad you like the progression. Let the drama begin lol.

Chapter 25

Francis is called to the gate. "What's the problem?"

"They are." The guard points and Jason and Drew get out of the car.

"Holy shit." He steps out of the cage as he takes them in. "I knew it."

Jason slightly smiled. "It's good to see you."

Francis gives up all his intentions of playing it cool and pulls Jason into a hug. When they retreat, he grinned widely. "You took long enough to come back." The enforcer generally looks the same, but Francis can't help but notice how tired Jason looks.

"It was complicated. This is Drew, my twin."

Francis shakes his hand.

"I had surgery after a bad accident, or you wouldn't be able to tell us apart."

"That would be kind of freaky. Do you have the glare too?"

Drew smiled. "It's not as good as his."

Francis's attention goes back to Jason. "Why are you here?"

"I heard that Maximus was in trouble. We're on our way to Switzerland but I wanted to see if there is something I can do. Do you ever answer your phone?"

Francis smirked. "You've been gone a long time, my friend. I have a different number and I do recall you being the worst about answering your phone."

Jason shook his head as Francis swallowed hard trying to quickly think about what he should do next.

"I need to show you something first—both of you. Drive in and park it. I'll take you inside." He drove the cart back to the house and then led them to the door. "I need to go first."

"Okay," Jason said wondering why Francis's demeanor had changed so much.

They head down a hallway and then come to a door that Jason recognizes as Maximus's office.

"What is she like?"

Francis jumped and turned. "You know it's a woman?"

"That's the only other thing I know."

"She's—why don't I just show you?"

He pushed the door open and Cam gasped.

Elizabeth, who is standing next to the couch, can't see who it is, so she waits for Francis to move out of the way. When Jason and Drew come into view, she turned pale as a ghost and her eyes rolled back and Jason had to run to catch her. Easily, he lifted her and placed her on the couch.

"Elizabeth…" Jason said loudly.

"Maybe I should have warned her," Francis said.

"You think?" Cam said in shock. His gaze locked on Drew who smiled.

"You got old on me."

Cam rushed towards him and they warmly embraced. "How did you find us?"

"It was an accident, but I'm glad that we did." It's ironic that after all the searching they find her on a fluke.

"Where are Aidan and Jake?"

"Aidan is in Ireland with his dad. Jake—we're not sure."

Jason heard the comment, but he's trying to shake Elizabeth who is starting to stir. Her eyes fluttered open and then tears pricked her eyes. "You're alive?"

"It's me."

Her fingers lightly traced his face as his fluttered shut. "How?"

"It's a long story." He helped her sit up. "Please don't tell me you are running things."

She sucks in a breath and then eyed him defiantly. "I am trying to hold my family together and Maximus has done a lot for us."

"You married Max?" His tone rose.

"It could have been Milo."

Jason's jaw clenched.

"Relax, it was fake. It's what we had to do to save the business."

"You always were against the danger and now you're smack in the middle of it!" His chest is heaving.

"Don't yell at me, Jason! I can't control Cam and Jake. They are old enough to make their own choices and I'm trying to do the right thing."

"What do Cam and Jake have to do with this?"

Cam took a step forward. "I'm training to be Maximus's accountant."

Jason blinked a few times before throwing his hands up. "Is this a joke?"

"Unfortunately, no. I understand that this is a shock, but we are doing the best we can to deal with this situation."

Jason pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to calm himself, and then he noticed a movement and looked over his shoulder at a giddy Johnny who is grinning. "Thanks for taking care of them—I think."

"She's a pain in the ass, but the boys are great."

Jason shook his head and stood, and the men embraced. "You're still a smart ass."

"Yup. You lost weight."

"A little, I'm working on it. This is my twin, Drew." Johnny and Drew shook hands.

Liz stood with Cam's help. "Twin?"

Drew focused on her. "Yes. That is why the DNA test came back positive."

"This is unbelievable."

They hugged.

"I've looked for you since you left."

"I'm sorry, but I had to."

"We'll talk about that in a minute." At least they could solve that mystery.

"Where is Jake?" Jason asked. They still haven't explained his role in this mess.

"Uh—"

They are interrupted by Carlos helping Jake into the room.

At the sight of blood, Liz gasped. "Put him on the couch. Did you call the doctor?"

"He's on his way."

Jake is holding his leg.

"What happened?"

"I was grazed. I'll be fine."

"It's not fine!"

IiIiIiIiIiIiIiIiIiIi

Jason silently observed, mesmerized by the sight of his son who looks a lot like him down to the hair which is a little longer than his.

"Mom, I took him out. He got lucky on his way down."

Jason inhaled sharply and stumbled backward in shock as Jake's eyes locked on him.

"Holy shit," Jake said.

"I'll give you that one, but no cursing in front of me," Liz said as she cut a hole in his jeans.

"Dad…"

"Hey." Jason's eyes are full of tears.

Jake grinned and got to his feet trying to get to him.

"Jacob Morgan!" Liz said in frustration as the scissors fell to the floor just missing her foot.

Jason quickly closed the distance and Jake practically leaped into his dad's arms despite the pain. Jason's eyes squeezed shut as he held him tightly.

"How?"

"Why don't you sit?"

"Not before I get my hug. I'm Drew now."

Jake smiled.

"It's Andrew Cain fully. I was a Navy Seal."

"That explains a lot," Liz muttered as they embraced.

The doctor had arrived, so Drew helped Jake to the couch, who tried his best not to yell while he's being treated.

"It's a flesh wound, but luckily it didn't do much damage. It will heal fast. I'm going to give you a couple of stitches."

"I can't stay off it, so don't even ask."

The doctor shook his head.

"You know why."

"If he gets a fever, make him take the antibiotics and knock him out with some pain pills. I'll leave them with Carlos."

Liz nodded. "I will."

Once the doctor was finished, Jake pointed to Jason. "That's my dad."

Doc turned around and shook Jason's hand. "It's nice to finally meet you. Jake talks about you all the time."

Jason nodded and then the doctor left. "Can someone please tell us what the hell is going on?"

"Fine, let's all have a seat," Liz said.

"I'll stand."

Liz eyed Jason. "You'll sit."

After a long moment of them battling silently, he sat in the chair Johnny held out, and then Drew sat next to him with Cam at his side.

Jake couldn't help but be mesmerized by his father. Everything they said was true. There is a strong resemblance, but Jason has something about him that commands attention even when silent.

"Why did you leave me?" Drew asked.

Liz fights back tears. "I didn't have a choice."

"I was just mad, Elizabeth. That didn't mean I didn't love you."

"I know. You're not exactly why I left."

"Then what was it?"

Liz took a deep breath. "After the fight at the hospital, I went to stay with Epiphany. We were getting ready for bed and Max showed up. He picked the lock and came inside, and Epiphany almost clobbered him. Anyway, he told us that we needed to leave before Sonny did something stupid on behalf of Carly. They wanted us to disappear."

"That was the case at first," Francis explained. "He wanted Max to abduct her. Carly wanted him to make Liz disappear and leave Jake for Jason to take care for. Max pretended that he would find a place but called us to let us know what was going on. We told him to bring her here. Something must have changed because later, Sonny wanted Liz dead—just her."

"Asshole," Drew muttered.

Jason felt his heart break into a million pieces, but he remained stoic. They will pay.

"We rounded up the boys and got to the plane. Epiphany was the only one who knew where we were going. We live in a house near a lake on Maximus's property."

"So, you've been here the whole time?"

"Yes."

"I didn't look in Sicily," Drew said.

"We knew you looked near Rome and Tuscany. I'm sorry I didn't reach out to you, but I was scared, and frankly, I didn't want to face you after taking your son away."

"I wouldn't have been angry with you. I was just scared something happened. I love all of you."

"I know. I'm so sorry. I should have gotten word to you, but I was mortified by what I had done."

"Did you plant false leads?"

"Yes," Francis said. They couldn't take a chance since Drew had gotten too close.

Johnny picked it up from there. "We gave them the last name of March, which is Audrey's maiden name. The boys were enrolled in school and eventually, Liz opened a bakery which Aidan helps out with."

"Francis told me you left me money and I was pissed, but I used it for the boys and sometimes art supplies," Liz said.

Jason's features relaxed. "You're painting again?"

"Yes. Cam went to business school. Jake always wanted to be just like you. Francis and Johnny started training him early on so they could watch out for him. He was determined."

Jason glared at the guys.

"Don't be pissed, dad. I wanted what I wanted. Don't I get a choice?"

"I never—God Jake. I walked away to keep you safe and you run right for the danger?"

"I wanted to be like you."

"And who is that? Jason Morgan is a persona I created because I have brain damage and no memories of my life before."

"There is nothing wrong with you."

Jason sighed exasperatedly. "Jake, I kill people. I break the law and people around me tend to pay for the violence. Is that what you want? Why is your mother leading an organized crime family right now? Do you think she'd be doing it if she didn't want to protect you?"

"I'm trying to protect them. You could have protected us, but you didn't believe in yourself. I believe in me. No one is ever going to hurt my family again."

Jason momentarily closed his eyes. God, he has made so many mistakes and Jake is probably going to pay for them.

"I thought you'd be proud of me."

His voice almost broke and so did Jason's heart.

"I love you. I just don't want you dodging bullets. I don't want you to carry around the weight of the world like I do. God, Jake. I feel like I've ruined you and I've barely been around you. I wouldn't wish my life on anyone."

"But you like what you do."

"It's the only thing I know. I was learning my identity at the same time, so they melded together. My job ended up defining me. One day you'll want kids and a family. Do you want them to worry constantly about whether you're going to walk through the door again? Do you want them ducking to the pavement because someone decides to take them away from you to pay you back?"

"No, but—"

"You were kidnapped twice when you were little. Once was because of the Russian mafia. No matter how much I wanted a life with your mother, it wouldn't mean anything if someone took you away from me. I don't think I could have come back from that."

A tear rolled down Jake's face. "Are you mad at me?"

"No. I just wanted better for you." He knows that Elizabeth did the best that she could.

"And what if I tell you this is what I want?"

"Then I will do my best to protect you. I feel like I let you down."

"What happened to you in Russia?"

"Just give me a minute and I'll tell you everything." Jason left the room and went across the hall. He needed to process this. A minute later, the door opened, and he knew it was her.

"Are you okay?"

He shook his head.

"I cried for a long time and used every form of guilt I could throw at them when I realized how serious he was." She placed her hand on his back and he let out the breath he is holding. "You're right. I mainly did this because Jake asked, and I felt like I owed him for all the times I made mistakes and because he had been through so much. You are his hero."

Jason's shoulders slumped as a tear ran down his face and Elizabeth stepped in front of him and slipped her arms around his waist and held him.

"It's going to be okay, Jason. I don't know how but it will be. It's not your fault you were taken away."

He pulled back. "But it's my fault that I walked away."

"That was joint stupidity. Jake understands."

"Yet he thinks I was wrong about your safety and wants to prove it by taking care of you."

"We can't go back. Now that you've found us, are you going to stay for a while?"

He wiped his face. "I'm going to help get Maximus back and then I want to take a week or so to finish dealing with who did this to me and support my brother getting his memories back, so I still want to go to Switzerland with him if possible. It will just be a few days. When I get home, I'm going to deal with Carly and Sonny which should be brief, and then I'll return for good." He has no desire to stay in Port Charles and it's time that he does the right thing regarding Jake. He'll just need to ship some things here and say goodbye to his mom.

That sounded reasonable to her. "I think we should brainstorm on how to deal with Sonny and Carly."

"I'm open to suggestions, but I already have some ideas. They will pay for what they did to you."

"I believe you."

"After that, I want to be a father to Jake."

"I understand. Let's go back inside."

IiIiIiIiIiIiIiIiIiIi

Jason rubbed his hands on his jeans. "After I fell in the water, Faison fished me out and saved me with the help of a son no one knew about. Faison tried to use my skills for his benefit by re-programming me, but it wouldn't work because of my brain damage. He accidentally discovered Andrew Cain who looked exactly like me and tested us and discovered we're twins. He abducted Drew and attempted to use Dr. Andrew Maddox's mind-mapping technique to copy my memory and map them on Drew so he could control him. I was supposed to die, but his son Henrik kept me alive. We haven't found him, and we don't know why he chose to save me."

"That's crazy," Cam said.

"I recently woke up in a clinic in Russia. Ava Jerome was there for a procedure and discovered me. Eventually, when I was able to withstand the drugs, they were giving me, she was able to help me escape. A priest helped get me on a boat and that is how I got back to New York."

"Have the drugs had any lasting effects?" Francis asked.

"Not that I know of."

Liz's brow rose. "You let them examine you, right?"

He smirked and she rolled her eyes.

"Men…"

Johnny chuckled. It was a typical Jason move.

"When I got back, everyone was shocked. Drew had remembered my past and was living my life except for the mob part. Dr. Maddox finally told us who was who and we've been trying to figure it out so Drew can get his memories back."

"Did they hurt you?" Jake asked.

"They drugged me mostly. I don't remember anything. They gave me enough so that I could still move around a little, but I was out of it. I had no idea I had lost so many years. When I was finally coherent, it was like no time had passed."

No one spoke for a long moment. Liz wiped a tear from her eye.

"At least I'm not related to Franco," Jason said.

"You are; just not twins," Liz said.

"Don't get technical on me."

Carlos moved into the room and froze. "You're dead."

"Not anymore," Jason said.

They shook hands.

"Are you staying? We could use your help."

"Yes. This is my brother, Drew."

They shook hands as well.

"What's going on?"

"It's done. I also have someone with me."

A younger woman is pushed into the room making Cam gasp.