"Mom!" Lucky called out as he broke into a run. Emily kneeled down besides
Laura and tried to bring her back to consciousness. She lightly slapped her
face trying to bring her back around. The handful of people still backstage
formed a circle around them, staring.
"Laura? Laura!" Emily said frightened.
Lucky knelt down beside them. He demanded. "What happened?"
Emily looked at him scared. "I don't know. We were just talking and
then…she just fainted."
Laura started to come through. She tried to sit up by herself but Lucky
propped her up. "Mom, are you okay?"
Laura covered her face with her hands and took a deep breath. She slowly
nodded. "I'm fine."
"Laura, you don't look fine." It was the truth. She was deathly pale and
her eyes were big and wide.
Laura wasn't listening. She was still thinking about what Emily had just
said. Maybe she was wrong about the name. Nikolas was a common name…Maybe
Laura was just transferring her fantasies onto some poor kid who had
nothing to do with the Cassadines. But why was he following her around all
over town and desperately trying to tell her something? Maybe…maybe he was
the real thing. But to hope it was true hurt too much.
"Mom?" Lucky repeated again.
Laura shook herself free of her thoughts and reached for Lucky's hand. "I'm
fine Lucky. I just need a little help getting up and your promise you won't
tell your father about this."
Before Lucky could say anything, Luke suddenly appeared behind them. "What
happened here?" He got down besides Laura and helped her up.
"Mom fainted." Lucky said as he watched Laura worriedly.
"Laura?" Luke searched her face for a sign. She placed her hand on his
chest and smiled weakly up at him. He curled his hand around her elbow to
support her.
"Don't worry, I'm fine. I was so busy today I didn't really have anything
to eat and all that running around must have caught up with me." Laura
lied.
"Are you sure?"
"Really." Laura tried to laugh it off. "You're making a big deal out of
nothing. Now I think we're making a scene here Luke." She nodded in the
direction of the crowd. She smiled at them. "I'm okay everybody. Nothing to
see here."
The crowd began to disperse until only the Spencers and Emily remained.
Laura tried to move the conversation away from her. "Where were you Luke? I
was looking all over for you."
"I was…around." He said vaguely. The last thing she needed to hear about
was him and Helena. "I think that maybe we should cut out of here early."
Lucky agreed. "That's a good idea Dad."
"No, no, there's no need. I want to see the rest of the show, Luke." Laura
said firmly. Luke could tell that she was determined to stick out the rest
of the night. "Now, I think I should go to the ladies room and splash some
cold water on me and fix my make-up. Emily, would you mind joining me?"
"No problem, I'm done back here." Emily said.
"Good." Laura smiled. "Don't disappear on me, Luke, again."
Emily kissed Lucky on the cheek. "I'll meet you back at the table okay?"
She squeezed his arm reassuringly. "I'll keep an eye on her."
"Alright." Lucky said absently. He was still worried about his mother. He
told his father as much as they watched their women walk away.
"So am I, cowboy." Luke murmured.
"Dad…" Lucky said hesitantly. "I wasn't supposed to tell you this but,
Mom's been zoning out again."
"What?" Luke narrowed his eyes at him. "Since when?"
Lucky shrugged. "I don't know, a while? I happened to walk in on her one
day sitting at the kitchen table, totally gone."
Luke growled. "Damn it. Why didn't you tell me?"
"Mom asked me not to. She didn't want you to worry. I should have told you
before."
"Damn right you should have." Luke spat out. "You shouldn't have kept this
from me. Neither one of you. Anything can happen to her when she's like
that. She's not aware, she could hurt herself…put your sister in danger. I
thought the pills would fix this."
"That's why I told you about this now. That's probably why she
fainted-wait, what pills?"
Luke started pacing back and forth rubbing the back of his neck. "A few
years ago she had some fix-it-all pills prescribed to her. It was taking
care of her spells. She must have stopped taking her medication again."
~*~*~
After the grand finale and making their good-byes to their families, Carly
and Jason made their way through the crush of people are trying to exit the
ballroom at the same time. Jason had a firm grip on Carly's elbow. He
murmured into her ear, "What's bothering you?"
Carly frowned at him. The question seemed to come out of nowhere.
"Nothing's bothering me, why?"
"You seemed…I don't know, tense all night." Jason's eyes narrowed. "What is
it?"
There were many things that were on her mind all night but mostly she was
worried about what Sonny might do and what Karen might say. Out loud she
said instead. "You mean other than worrying when you were going to run out
on me because of your pager?"
"No, that wasn't it." Jason shook his head. "I know you Carly, there's
something more."
Carly was saved from answering his question when she was jostled from
behind. She turned around and encountered once again, Sonny and Hannah.
Hannah grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, I kinda tripped."
"It happens." Carly murmured.
"We just seem to keep running into you." Sonny said.
Jason nodded. "Yeah, it's funny isn't it."
"Real funny." Carly muttered under her breath, she knew Sonny set it up.
"You say something?" Jason glanced at her. Out of the corner of her eye
Carly could see Sonny wink at her and mouth the words, 'Call me' over
Jason's shoulder. Carly narrowed her eyes. She exactly what he meant by
that: 'Call me…when doctor boy leaves you unsatisfied and you need a real
man.'
Hannah saw him do it. If Mr. Corinthos was going to have some fun, so was
she. After sitting through a whole night of her boss ignoring her and
horrible performances by talentless amateurs she was looking for some real
entertainment. And that involved making Carly Cassadine as uncomfortable as
possible. She was going to stretch out the time she and Sonny spent with
Carly and Jason.
She smiled brightly at Jason. "Did you enjoy the show, Mr. Quartermaine? I
did. I loved every minute of it."
Jason nodded. "I thought it was a great show."
"You know you two make a really great couple. It'd be a *shame* if anything
ever came between the two of you. A real shame." Hannah said. "I mean I've
always heard about people saying that they were 'meant for each other'. But
you two actually look like you are. Meant for each other that is. Like you
were born to be together."
"Uh…" Jason looked to Carly. He wasn't sure what to say.
"Thanks." Carly smiled tightly. She knew what the bitch was up to and she
wasn't going to let her get to her.
Hannah turned to her boss. "What do you think, do you agree?"
Sonny ignored her question. "We better get going, the car's waiting." He
took her by the arm and looked as if he was going to pull her out of the
ballroom. It was one thing for him to mess around with Carly but for Hannah
to join in…
"Oh, don't let us keep you then." Carly immediately said.
"Well, if we have to go…" Hannah pouted sadly. "It was nice to meet you Mr.
Quartermaine…you too Ms. Cassadine."
"It was nice to meet you too." Jason said politely.
Sonny started to lead Hannah out but she managed to stop again. "You know
what would be great? If all four of us would get together one night?
Wouldn't that be fun?"
"They're busy and so are we." Sonny growled and pulled Hannah behind him.
This time they finally left.
"Hmm." Jason said, staring after them.
"What? What was that 'hmm' about?" Carly asked.
"Those two…very strange." Jason shook his head. "Do you know him?"
"What?" Carly said quickly. "Of course I don't know him. Why would I know
him?"
Jason held his hands up. "Wait, Carly, slow down. I didn't mean if you
*knew* him but if you knew who he was."
"Oh…of course I knew who he was. It's such a small town. Why do you ask?"
"I just thought it was strange that a person like him would be here. His
type would rather send a check than show up in front of the whole town."
Jason shrugged.
Carly laced her arm through his. "Let's forget about him and concentrate on
us. Would you like to come upstairs to my suite for a little something?"
She definitely needed to forget about Sonny.
Jason looked at her. He read her mind. It was the exactly the same as his.
"Of course."
~*~*~
Helena stood in the shadows watching as the audience departed. As usual she
paid special attention to her family and the Spencers. She always made sure
she knew exactly what each one was up to. Paying attention to detail was
one of the reasons why she'd lasted for so long. Getting rid of pests like
Luke Spencer was another.
She took out her cell phone and dialed in a number. "Hello, dear, it's me
again. I need you to add someone else to my list. Luke Spencer. He doesn't
have to be taken care of right away however. And I want it to look like an
accident."
Helena had just hung up when the phone rang again. Frowning curiously, she
answered. "Yes? Ah, Nikolas, my darling. I assume you've changed your mind?
But first I must have your promise that you will go along with whatever I
want. You must do exactly as I say or we won't be able to work together.
Perfect, leave it up to me and by tomorrow evening *everyone* will know
exactly who you are." She hung up.
On the other end of the line Nikolas stared at the phone. He murmured.
"What the hell have I just signed myself up for?"
~*~*~
The elevator ride up to Carly's suite seemed endless. During the time
Carly's mind kept switching back and forth. At first she was determined to
prove Sonny wrong. She didn't need him to satisfy her. Jason never
disappointed her. And then she would suddenly feel guilty about using Jason
to prove a point in a contest that he didn't even know about. All she
wanted to do was share a glass of wine with him and then push him out of
the door. But then she would decide she was being ridiculous and by kicking
Jason out she would just end up proving Sonny right. And besides Jason was
*her* fiancé. What was wrong with wanting to spend time with him?
By the time they got to Carly's door, she had already made her mind up.
Jason had barely closed the door before she kissed him. Jason kissed her
back slowly but Carly wasn't going for a sweet long kiss. She cupped his
face between her hands and kissed him back forcefully. Sensing her urgency
he slipped his hands around her waist and thrust his tongue into her mouth.
Carly started walking backwards, still kissing him, leading him to the
bedroom. Jason went along with no complaints. Once inside her bedroom Carly
kicked off her shoes and dropped her purse to the floor. She pushed his
tuxedo jacket off his shoulders and undid the buttons of his crisp white
shirt. Her hands greedily reach inside to touch his bare chest.
Jason pushed the straps of her dress down. She pulled her arms through so
that the bodice of the dress now pooled around her waist. Jason helped her
out of it by pushing the dress past her hips leaving her dressed only in a
pair of tiny red panties. Carly pressed her face to his chest and took tiny
little nips at it. She smiled at the way he jumped slightly at each nip.
His hands threaded through her hair and he pulled her head back. He
attacked her mouth with deep kiss. Carly attacked back by biting his lower
lip then sucking it into her mouth.
Jason raised his head and stared at her. She was breathing heavily; her
mouth was wet and swollen. He murmured, "God, I love you."
Carly closed her eyes and leaned into him. "Jason…"
He didn't wait to hear more. He suddenly swept her up in his arms and
carefully laid her out on the bed. He took off his pants and then covered
her body with his. He kissed her softly and said. "Don't move…"
*CENSORED*
A loud beeping noise went off startling both of them. It took Jason a few
seconds to realize what it was. "Shit." He jumped up and went for his
pants. He cursed again. "Shit!"
Carly raised herself up on her elbows, confused as to what just happened.
"Where are you going?"
"It's the hospital." Jason explained as he pulled his clothes back on.
"What? You are *not* leaving me here like this." She ordered him.
Jason stared at her hard. He said slowly and clearly. "My patient needs me,
Carly."
Carly fell back on the bed knowing she wouldn't win this one. She muttered
under her breath. "I *need* you."
Jason walked over the bed and knelt down beside it. He brushed the back of
his hand across her face. Carly looked over at him. "Will you be able to
come back later?"
He shook his head. "Probably not."
Carly closed her eyes. Jason kissed her forehead. "I'll give you a call in
the morning okay?"
"Alright." She sighed, still not looking at him.
"I am so," his eyes ran over her nude body and groaned, "so sorry about
this, Carly."
"You're going to owe me big time." She warned him as he walked over to the
bedroom door. He paused.
"I understand. I'll call you tomorrow Carly."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Carly muttered as she curled up on her side. She knew
she sounded like an uncaring bitch but at that moment, she really didn't
care. "Go save that guy's life."
Jason shook his head. He knew she was upset so he wasn't going to let her
get to him. "See you in the morning."
"Uh-huh." Carly frowned. She knew somewhere, out there, Sonny was laughing
his head off at her.
~*~*~
The first thing Carly realized when she woke up later that night was that
someone was kissing her. The second thing was that she was blindfolded.
Whoever kissed her stopped, realizing she was awake. Her hands immediately
went to rip the blindfold off but she was stopped by a soft murmur.
"Don't remove it."
Carly licked her lips. "Sonny?"
He chuckled. "Who else? Doctor boy perhaps?"
"Sonny, what are you doing here and why am I blindfolded?" She started to
reach for the blindfold again but he grabbed her hands forcing her arms
above her head. After Jason left the only thing Carly felt like doing was
getting a shower and going to bed. Which was what she did.
"You didn't call me like you were supposed to." Sonny said softly. "You
know, after he left."
Carly froze. "What? Sonny, did you have anything to do with-"
Sonny chuckled again. "I wish I could say so but I happened to be driving
by the hotel when I saw him leaving in a rush. You guys have a fight?"
"He had to go to the hospital." She said as she struggled against him.
"Oh, of course." He said mockingly. "The good doctor is always on duty."
Carly was growing frustrated by the blindfold and his hold on her. "Sonny,
get this damn blindfold off of me. I don't like this."
"I thought we'd try something new tonight." Sonny said, his face suddenly
close to hers. She could feel his breath against her lips. "Do you trust
me, Caroline?"
"No." She said stubbornly.
He laughed. "Still, you know you want to know what I have in mind."
Carly bit her lip. She would be lying if she didn't admit she was a little
curious about what he had planned. Perhaps a blindfold was just it.
Sonny took her silence as a yes. She could feel him moving around on the
bed. "What are you doing?"
"Just wait." He said. "I love beds that still have bedposts, don't you?"
Carly didn't have long to wonder what he meant by that because the next
thing she knew he was tying a rope around her wrists and then tying that to
the bedpost. Carly jerked against the rope. "Sonny?"
"Trust me, Caroline." He whispered into her ear, his lips brushing against
it as he spoke. "There's more to come."
He suddenly ripped away her cover revealing the fact that she slept in the
nude. His mouth twisted up into a grin. He told her. "This is going to be
fun."
*CENSORED*
~*~*~
"How did this happen?" Nikolas murmured to himself the next day.
Last night he made one phone call to Helena, signing up for whatever plan
she had. He thought that was the end of it. The next thing he knew Helena
was sweeping into his rented room later that night. She told him that today
was going to be the start of his real life as long as he did everything she
said. He soon found out that she meant it literally.
He was installed in lavish suite in the Cosmopolitan Hotel where he spent
the next morning having his hair cut again and he was fitted for a new
wardrobe that Helena declared was befitting a prince. She dictated every
single thing, from how his hair was to be cut to the style and color of his
underwear. He was not allowed to voice an opinion on anything.
At this moment he sat outside the hotel's conference room and waited for
Helena to give him another order. He suddenly felt nervous. Was this the
right thing? He didn't like giving up his life, giving up control. All he
wanted was what was his but it seemed to get that he had to give up himself
to Helena Cassadine. Was it worth it all? Yes, he answered honestly. He
blew out a breath and nodded to himself. In the end, it would be worth it
all. So he'd do what he had to now and when he was in power he'd show
Helena exactly who was in control.
He rubbed his hands against his thighs. Helena, who stood next to him,
frowned delicately. "Do not do that, my dear. You'll mess up your new suit.
And you've already mussed your hair." She made a tsking sound.
Nikolas ignored her fussing and jerked his thumb towards the conference
room. "What are we about to do with them?"
"We're going to hold a press conference of course, to announce the new
Cassadine Prince." Helena smiled. "Just follow my lead."
Nikolas nodded. He was doing that already.
~*~*~
Carly was seated at her desk that afternoon talking on the phone to Sonny.
In all the excitement of last night she forgot to tell him about the Karen
problem. She remembered once she was at the office and after her meeting
with her father and Alexis, she managed to reach him on his car phone.
"I just wanted you to know about her." She was saying.
"Do you want me to take care of her?" He offered generously.
Carly laughed. She could only guessed what he meant by that. "No, I can
handle her. She's just a pest with time on her hands. Don't worry too much
about her."
"Obviously I should since you went through all the trouble of warning me."
He pointed out.
"That's because I didn't want you to get blindsided her." Carly shrugged.
"Okay. Hey, I'm on my way to your uncle's club, want me to say hi?" He
grinned.
"Sure. Give him a big kiss for me." Carly smirked. "I'll talk to you later,
okay?"
After they hung up Carly drummed her fingers on her desk. How was she going
to nip her Karen problem in the bud? Her father had always taught that the
key to defeating an enemy was to know as much about them as possible and
then using that information against them. The thing was…she barely knew
anything about Karen Wexler. So first things first, she needed to get some
information.
Carly pulled out her address book and flipped through until she found the
man she needed. She dialed him up. "Hey, it's Carly Cassadine. I have a job
for you. I need to know everything about the life and times of one Karen
Wexler of Port Charles. None of that surface stuff, I need the real story.
Dig deep, there has to be *something* interesting there."
~*~*~
"How's it coming?" Luke asked as he peered over Lucky's shoulder. They were
at Luke's and Lucky sat at the bar bent over the books with a portable TV
blaring in the background.
Lucky looked up at his father with a murderous glint to his eye. "I wish I
could tell you but I can't figure out a damn thing. *You* should never be
allowed to keep the books for anything!"
"I see you haven't figured out my system then." Luke chuckled.
"It'd be a lot easier if you'd just tell me what all this scribble means."
Lucky huffed.
"And take all the fun out of it?" Luke shook his head. "Give it another
hour, you'll get it."
"An hour? Give me another fifteen minutes." Lucky boasted.
"That's more like it." Luke clapped him on the back and walked around the
bar.
Lucky's boastful grin died down and he stared down at the pen in his hand.
"Dad?"
"Yeah?" He paused in the middle of pouring himself a drink.
He looked up at him. "Did you talk to Mom about…about the pills?"
Yeah, he talked to her. They had a *long*, *loud* talk about the pills last
night. He threw back the drink and slammed the glass down. "Yeah, I did."
"And?" He prompted.
"She had stopped taking them. Thought she didn't need them. We decided she
did." He shrugged. "End of story."
"Dad-" Lucky broke off when the door to the club opened and Sonny walked
in. He paused, glancing around the club to make sure that there was no one
else around.
He nodded towards Lucky. "Is he the only one here?"
"Yeah, don't worry about cowboy. He knows when to shut his ears." Luke
assured him.
Sonny nodded and walked over to a table. He pulled a chair down from it and
sat down, waiting for Luke to come over. Luke grabbed a bottle and two
glasses and took them with him. He poured them both a drink. Luke slid
Sonny his glass.
He casually picked it up, studying the contents of the glass before saying,
"So why'd you call me over?"
"Moreno." Luke spat out.
Sonny bit back a groan. He had a feeling it would be about Moreno. "Look,
Luke-"
"I don't like the old man. I don't trust him." Luke said.
Sonny raised his eyebrow. "*You're* calling *him* an old man?"
"He's getting too antsy." Luke growled.
"If you're talking about the other night…"
"So Commissioner Ardanowski's here? So what? The old man practically throws
a hissy fit." Luke shook his head in disgust. "And it ain't just that."
"You freaked out when I brought Moreno in also because of Ardanowski."
Sonny pointed out. "Don't worry about it."
"He doesn't trust me and I can't work with someone who doesn't trust me."
"You just said you don't trust *him* either." Sonny laughed. Luke's
arguments were petty and a waste of time. He started to stand up. "Luke, if
this is all you're going to do then I'm out of here. I've got more
important things to do today."
Luke stood also. "You and I both know the man has been slipping up a lot
lately. And I also have a gut feeling that he's going to screw us over in
this deal."
Sonny looked at him doubtfully. "A gut feeling, huh?"
Luke shrugged. "That and I did a little digging around."
"So what do you suggest we do?"
"We squeeze him out first. His right-hand man, the younger guy? He seems
like a cooperative sort. We approach him right, we got him."
Sonny nodded, thinking it over. He didn't want to admit it but Moreno was
beginning to become a pain in the ass. He mused out loud. "His nephew,
Zander Smith, has been very vocal lately about not entirely trusting his
uncle's leadership…"
"Hey Dad, you might want to see this." Lucky called out.
"I'm a little busy." Luke said. It seemed as if he was close to getting
Sonny to come over to his way of thinking.
"No, you better come." Lucky insisted. "Helena Cassadine called a press
conference. She's got some big announcement."
Luke immediately made his way over, Sonny following. "What, she's decided
to do us all a favor and off herself?"
Lucky shook his head slowly; his eyes still on the TV. "No, I don't think
that's it…"
Luke came up behind him and stared at the screen. After a few minutes he
exclaimed. "Shit!"
~*~*~
Across town at that same time Laura was letting Emily into her home. She
smiled at her. "Emily, I'm so glad you could come over."
"You uh, said you wanted to talk about last night?" Emily said as she
stepped over the threshold.
"Specifically my little incident…I want to thank you for not telling Luke
and Lucky exactly what we were talking about at the time."
Emily frowned. Confused, she asked, "Why? It didn't seem that important at
the time."
Laura wrung her hands together. She wasn't sure what to say to Emily about
it. "Well-"
"Mommy, that guy we saw Emily with is on TV!" Lulu came running down the
stairs.
Emily's mouth dropped open. "Nikolas?"
"Look." Lulu went over to the TV and switched it on. Laura and Emily
followed her. They watched in amazement. It *was* Nikolas. He looked
strange to Emily. His hair was even shorter; he looked stiff and
uncomfortable in his dark suit. Laura looked at him critically, searching
for signs, a reason to believe he was who she thought he was.
"What is going on?" Emily murmured.
"It looks like some kind of press conference…" Laura said.
Lulu sat down on the couch. "Why is your friend on TV, Em? Who is he?"
"I'm thinking I don't really know after all…" Emily muttered. Her eyes
narrowed sharply. "Isn't that Helena Cassadine behind him?"
Laura had been so intent on her study of Nikolas that she hadn't even
noticed the older woman. She gritted her teeth. "Helena, of course. Lulu,
turn up the volume. This I need to hear."
Lulu turned up the sound and they all leaned in to hear to what was being
said. Helena was nodding and smiling grandly. "Yes, it is true. This *is*
Nikolas Stravosovich Cassadine, the true Cassadine Prince and rightful heir
to the Cassadine Estate."
"What!" Emily jumped up. She couldn't believe it. Nikolas, a Cassadine?
*The* Cassadine? What about Carly? What did all this mean?
Laura had a different reaction. She leaned back against the couch, her hand
pressed against her rapidly beating heart. She was torn. On the one hand
she wanted to believe, she wanted to believe so badly it hurt. Could it
actually be…? But on the other hand, this was Helena, obviously pulling the
strings. Anything was possible.
A reporter shouted out a question. "Mrs. Cassadine, you've been doing most
of the talking this whole time. How about we get the words straight from
the horse's mouth? Kid, are you truly the real deal?"
Nikolas hesitated, looking at Helena first for permission. Helena nodded
slightly and stepped away from the podium to give him more room. He stepped
up and looked into the direction of the reporter and straight into the
camera. Laura felt as if he was looking directly at her. She held her
breath as she waited for him to speak. Finally after a moment of silence he
said the words Laura had been waiting for,
"Yes, I am Nikolas Cassadine."
The uncensored version is available via request: tiffany@port-charles.net
Laura and tried to bring her back to consciousness. She lightly slapped her
face trying to bring her back around. The handful of people still backstage
formed a circle around them, staring.
"Laura? Laura!" Emily said frightened.
Lucky knelt down beside them. He demanded. "What happened?"
Emily looked at him scared. "I don't know. We were just talking and
then…she just fainted."
Laura started to come through. She tried to sit up by herself but Lucky
propped her up. "Mom, are you okay?"
Laura covered her face with her hands and took a deep breath. She slowly
nodded. "I'm fine."
"Laura, you don't look fine." It was the truth. She was deathly pale and
her eyes were big and wide.
Laura wasn't listening. She was still thinking about what Emily had just
said. Maybe she was wrong about the name. Nikolas was a common name…Maybe
Laura was just transferring her fantasies onto some poor kid who had
nothing to do with the Cassadines. But why was he following her around all
over town and desperately trying to tell her something? Maybe…maybe he was
the real thing. But to hope it was true hurt too much.
"Mom?" Lucky repeated again.
Laura shook herself free of her thoughts and reached for Lucky's hand. "I'm
fine Lucky. I just need a little help getting up and your promise you won't
tell your father about this."
Before Lucky could say anything, Luke suddenly appeared behind them. "What
happened here?" He got down besides Laura and helped her up.
"Mom fainted." Lucky said as he watched Laura worriedly.
"Laura?" Luke searched her face for a sign. She placed her hand on his
chest and smiled weakly up at him. He curled his hand around her elbow to
support her.
"Don't worry, I'm fine. I was so busy today I didn't really have anything
to eat and all that running around must have caught up with me." Laura
lied.
"Are you sure?"
"Really." Laura tried to laugh it off. "You're making a big deal out of
nothing. Now I think we're making a scene here Luke." She nodded in the
direction of the crowd. She smiled at them. "I'm okay everybody. Nothing to
see here."
The crowd began to disperse until only the Spencers and Emily remained.
Laura tried to move the conversation away from her. "Where were you Luke? I
was looking all over for you."
"I was…around." He said vaguely. The last thing she needed to hear about
was him and Helena. "I think that maybe we should cut out of here early."
Lucky agreed. "That's a good idea Dad."
"No, no, there's no need. I want to see the rest of the show, Luke." Laura
said firmly. Luke could tell that she was determined to stick out the rest
of the night. "Now, I think I should go to the ladies room and splash some
cold water on me and fix my make-up. Emily, would you mind joining me?"
"No problem, I'm done back here." Emily said.
"Good." Laura smiled. "Don't disappear on me, Luke, again."
Emily kissed Lucky on the cheek. "I'll meet you back at the table okay?"
She squeezed his arm reassuringly. "I'll keep an eye on her."
"Alright." Lucky said absently. He was still worried about his mother. He
told his father as much as they watched their women walk away.
"So am I, cowboy." Luke murmured.
"Dad…" Lucky said hesitantly. "I wasn't supposed to tell you this but,
Mom's been zoning out again."
"What?" Luke narrowed his eyes at him. "Since when?"
Lucky shrugged. "I don't know, a while? I happened to walk in on her one
day sitting at the kitchen table, totally gone."
Luke growled. "Damn it. Why didn't you tell me?"
"Mom asked me not to. She didn't want you to worry. I should have told you
before."
"Damn right you should have." Luke spat out. "You shouldn't have kept this
from me. Neither one of you. Anything can happen to her when she's like
that. She's not aware, she could hurt herself…put your sister in danger. I
thought the pills would fix this."
"That's why I told you about this now. That's probably why she
fainted-wait, what pills?"
Luke started pacing back and forth rubbing the back of his neck. "A few
years ago she had some fix-it-all pills prescribed to her. It was taking
care of her spells. She must have stopped taking her medication again."
~*~*~
After the grand finale and making their good-byes to their families, Carly
and Jason made their way through the crush of people are trying to exit the
ballroom at the same time. Jason had a firm grip on Carly's elbow. He
murmured into her ear, "What's bothering you?"
Carly frowned at him. The question seemed to come out of nowhere.
"Nothing's bothering me, why?"
"You seemed…I don't know, tense all night." Jason's eyes narrowed. "What is
it?"
There were many things that were on her mind all night but mostly she was
worried about what Sonny might do and what Karen might say. Out loud she
said instead. "You mean other than worrying when you were going to run out
on me because of your pager?"
"No, that wasn't it." Jason shook his head. "I know you Carly, there's
something more."
Carly was saved from answering his question when she was jostled from
behind. She turned around and encountered once again, Sonny and Hannah.
Hannah grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, I kinda tripped."
"It happens." Carly murmured.
"We just seem to keep running into you." Sonny said.
Jason nodded. "Yeah, it's funny isn't it."
"Real funny." Carly muttered under her breath, she knew Sonny set it up.
"You say something?" Jason glanced at her. Out of the corner of her eye
Carly could see Sonny wink at her and mouth the words, 'Call me' over
Jason's shoulder. Carly narrowed her eyes. She exactly what he meant by
that: 'Call me…when doctor boy leaves you unsatisfied and you need a real
man.'
Hannah saw him do it. If Mr. Corinthos was going to have some fun, so was
she. After sitting through a whole night of her boss ignoring her and
horrible performances by talentless amateurs she was looking for some real
entertainment. And that involved making Carly Cassadine as uncomfortable as
possible. She was going to stretch out the time she and Sonny spent with
Carly and Jason.
She smiled brightly at Jason. "Did you enjoy the show, Mr. Quartermaine? I
did. I loved every minute of it."
Jason nodded. "I thought it was a great show."
"You know you two make a really great couple. It'd be a *shame* if anything
ever came between the two of you. A real shame." Hannah said. "I mean I've
always heard about people saying that they were 'meant for each other'. But
you two actually look like you are. Meant for each other that is. Like you
were born to be together."
"Uh…" Jason looked to Carly. He wasn't sure what to say.
"Thanks." Carly smiled tightly. She knew what the bitch was up to and she
wasn't going to let her get to her.
Hannah turned to her boss. "What do you think, do you agree?"
Sonny ignored her question. "We better get going, the car's waiting." He
took her by the arm and looked as if he was going to pull her out of the
ballroom. It was one thing for him to mess around with Carly but for Hannah
to join in…
"Oh, don't let us keep you then." Carly immediately said.
"Well, if we have to go…" Hannah pouted sadly. "It was nice to meet you Mr.
Quartermaine…you too Ms. Cassadine."
"It was nice to meet you too." Jason said politely.
Sonny started to lead Hannah out but she managed to stop again. "You know
what would be great? If all four of us would get together one night?
Wouldn't that be fun?"
"They're busy and so are we." Sonny growled and pulled Hannah behind him.
This time they finally left.
"Hmm." Jason said, staring after them.
"What? What was that 'hmm' about?" Carly asked.
"Those two…very strange." Jason shook his head. "Do you know him?"
"What?" Carly said quickly. "Of course I don't know him. Why would I know
him?"
Jason held his hands up. "Wait, Carly, slow down. I didn't mean if you
*knew* him but if you knew who he was."
"Oh…of course I knew who he was. It's such a small town. Why do you ask?"
"I just thought it was strange that a person like him would be here. His
type would rather send a check than show up in front of the whole town."
Jason shrugged.
Carly laced her arm through his. "Let's forget about him and concentrate on
us. Would you like to come upstairs to my suite for a little something?"
She definitely needed to forget about Sonny.
Jason looked at her. He read her mind. It was the exactly the same as his.
"Of course."
~*~*~
Helena stood in the shadows watching as the audience departed. As usual she
paid special attention to her family and the Spencers. She always made sure
she knew exactly what each one was up to. Paying attention to detail was
one of the reasons why she'd lasted for so long. Getting rid of pests like
Luke Spencer was another.
She took out her cell phone and dialed in a number. "Hello, dear, it's me
again. I need you to add someone else to my list. Luke Spencer. He doesn't
have to be taken care of right away however. And I want it to look like an
accident."
Helena had just hung up when the phone rang again. Frowning curiously, she
answered. "Yes? Ah, Nikolas, my darling. I assume you've changed your mind?
But first I must have your promise that you will go along with whatever I
want. You must do exactly as I say or we won't be able to work together.
Perfect, leave it up to me and by tomorrow evening *everyone* will know
exactly who you are." She hung up.
On the other end of the line Nikolas stared at the phone. He murmured.
"What the hell have I just signed myself up for?"
~*~*~
The elevator ride up to Carly's suite seemed endless. During the time
Carly's mind kept switching back and forth. At first she was determined to
prove Sonny wrong. She didn't need him to satisfy her. Jason never
disappointed her. And then she would suddenly feel guilty about using Jason
to prove a point in a contest that he didn't even know about. All she
wanted to do was share a glass of wine with him and then push him out of
the door. But then she would decide she was being ridiculous and by kicking
Jason out she would just end up proving Sonny right. And besides Jason was
*her* fiancé. What was wrong with wanting to spend time with him?
By the time they got to Carly's door, she had already made her mind up.
Jason had barely closed the door before she kissed him. Jason kissed her
back slowly but Carly wasn't going for a sweet long kiss. She cupped his
face between her hands and kissed him back forcefully. Sensing her urgency
he slipped his hands around her waist and thrust his tongue into her mouth.
Carly started walking backwards, still kissing him, leading him to the
bedroom. Jason went along with no complaints. Once inside her bedroom Carly
kicked off her shoes and dropped her purse to the floor. She pushed his
tuxedo jacket off his shoulders and undid the buttons of his crisp white
shirt. Her hands greedily reach inside to touch his bare chest.
Jason pushed the straps of her dress down. She pulled her arms through so
that the bodice of the dress now pooled around her waist. Jason helped her
out of it by pushing the dress past her hips leaving her dressed only in a
pair of tiny red panties. Carly pressed her face to his chest and took tiny
little nips at it. She smiled at the way he jumped slightly at each nip.
His hands threaded through her hair and he pulled her head back. He
attacked her mouth with deep kiss. Carly attacked back by biting his lower
lip then sucking it into her mouth.
Jason raised his head and stared at her. She was breathing heavily; her
mouth was wet and swollen. He murmured, "God, I love you."
Carly closed her eyes and leaned into him. "Jason…"
He didn't wait to hear more. He suddenly swept her up in his arms and
carefully laid her out on the bed. He took off his pants and then covered
her body with his. He kissed her softly and said. "Don't move…"
*CENSORED*
A loud beeping noise went off startling both of them. It took Jason a few
seconds to realize what it was. "Shit." He jumped up and went for his
pants. He cursed again. "Shit!"
Carly raised herself up on her elbows, confused as to what just happened.
"Where are you going?"
"It's the hospital." Jason explained as he pulled his clothes back on.
"What? You are *not* leaving me here like this." She ordered him.
Jason stared at her hard. He said slowly and clearly. "My patient needs me,
Carly."
Carly fell back on the bed knowing she wouldn't win this one. She muttered
under her breath. "I *need* you."
Jason walked over the bed and knelt down beside it. He brushed the back of
his hand across her face. Carly looked over at him. "Will you be able to
come back later?"
He shook his head. "Probably not."
Carly closed her eyes. Jason kissed her forehead. "I'll give you a call in
the morning okay?"
"Alright." She sighed, still not looking at him.
"I am so," his eyes ran over her nude body and groaned, "so sorry about
this, Carly."
"You're going to owe me big time." She warned him as he walked over to the
bedroom door. He paused.
"I understand. I'll call you tomorrow Carly."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Carly muttered as she curled up on her side. She knew
she sounded like an uncaring bitch but at that moment, she really didn't
care. "Go save that guy's life."
Jason shook his head. He knew she was upset so he wasn't going to let her
get to him. "See you in the morning."
"Uh-huh." Carly frowned. She knew somewhere, out there, Sonny was laughing
his head off at her.
~*~*~
The first thing Carly realized when she woke up later that night was that
someone was kissing her. The second thing was that she was blindfolded.
Whoever kissed her stopped, realizing she was awake. Her hands immediately
went to rip the blindfold off but she was stopped by a soft murmur.
"Don't remove it."
Carly licked her lips. "Sonny?"
He chuckled. "Who else? Doctor boy perhaps?"
"Sonny, what are you doing here and why am I blindfolded?" She started to
reach for the blindfold again but he grabbed her hands forcing her arms
above her head. After Jason left the only thing Carly felt like doing was
getting a shower and going to bed. Which was what she did.
"You didn't call me like you were supposed to." Sonny said softly. "You
know, after he left."
Carly froze. "What? Sonny, did you have anything to do with-"
Sonny chuckled again. "I wish I could say so but I happened to be driving
by the hotel when I saw him leaving in a rush. You guys have a fight?"
"He had to go to the hospital." She said as she struggled against him.
"Oh, of course." He said mockingly. "The good doctor is always on duty."
Carly was growing frustrated by the blindfold and his hold on her. "Sonny,
get this damn blindfold off of me. I don't like this."
"I thought we'd try something new tonight." Sonny said, his face suddenly
close to hers. She could feel his breath against her lips. "Do you trust
me, Caroline?"
"No." She said stubbornly.
He laughed. "Still, you know you want to know what I have in mind."
Carly bit her lip. She would be lying if she didn't admit she was a little
curious about what he had planned. Perhaps a blindfold was just it.
Sonny took her silence as a yes. She could feel him moving around on the
bed. "What are you doing?"
"Just wait." He said. "I love beds that still have bedposts, don't you?"
Carly didn't have long to wonder what he meant by that because the next
thing she knew he was tying a rope around her wrists and then tying that to
the bedpost. Carly jerked against the rope. "Sonny?"
"Trust me, Caroline." He whispered into her ear, his lips brushing against
it as he spoke. "There's more to come."
He suddenly ripped away her cover revealing the fact that she slept in the
nude. His mouth twisted up into a grin. He told her. "This is going to be
fun."
*CENSORED*
~*~*~
"How did this happen?" Nikolas murmured to himself the next day.
Last night he made one phone call to Helena, signing up for whatever plan
she had. He thought that was the end of it. The next thing he knew Helena
was sweeping into his rented room later that night. She told him that today
was going to be the start of his real life as long as he did everything she
said. He soon found out that she meant it literally.
He was installed in lavish suite in the Cosmopolitan Hotel where he spent
the next morning having his hair cut again and he was fitted for a new
wardrobe that Helena declared was befitting a prince. She dictated every
single thing, from how his hair was to be cut to the style and color of his
underwear. He was not allowed to voice an opinion on anything.
At this moment he sat outside the hotel's conference room and waited for
Helena to give him another order. He suddenly felt nervous. Was this the
right thing? He didn't like giving up his life, giving up control. All he
wanted was what was his but it seemed to get that he had to give up himself
to Helena Cassadine. Was it worth it all? Yes, he answered honestly. He
blew out a breath and nodded to himself. In the end, it would be worth it
all. So he'd do what he had to now and when he was in power he'd show
Helena exactly who was in control.
He rubbed his hands against his thighs. Helena, who stood next to him,
frowned delicately. "Do not do that, my dear. You'll mess up your new suit.
And you've already mussed your hair." She made a tsking sound.
Nikolas ignored her fussing and jerked his thumb towards the conference
room. "What are we about to do with them?"
"We're going to hold a press conference of course, to announce the new
Cassadine Prince." Helena smiled. "Just follow my lead."
Nikolas nodded. He was doing that already.
~*~*~
Carly was seated at her desk that afternoon talking on the phone to Sonny.
In all the excitement of last night she forgot to tell him about the Karen
problem. She remembered once she was at the office and after her meeting
with her father and Alexis, she managed to reach him on his car phone.
"I just wanted you to know about her." She was saying.
"Do you want me to take care of her?" He offered generously.
Carly laughed. She could only guessed what he meant by that. "No, I can
handle her. She's just a pest with time on her hands. Don't worry too much
about her."
"Obviously I should since you went through all the trouble of warning me."
He pointed out.
"That's because I didn't want you to get blindsided her." Carly shrugged.
"Okay. Hey, I'm on my way to your uncle's club, want me to say hi?" He
grinned.
"Sure. Give him a big kiss for me." Carly smirked. "I'll talk to you later,
okay?"
After they hung up Carly drummed her fingers on her desk. How was she going
to nip her Karen problem in the bud? Her father had always taught that the
key to defeating an enemy was to know as much about them as possible and
then using that information against them. The thing was…she barely knew
anything about Karen Wexler. So first things first, she needed to get some
information.
Carly pulled out her address book and flipped through until she found the
man she needed. She dialed him up. "Hey, it's Carly Cassadine. I have a job
for you. I need to know everything about the life and times of one Karen
Wexler of Port Charles. None of that surface stuff, I need the real story.
Dig deep, there has to be *something* interesting there."
~*~*~
"How's it coming?" Luke asked as he peered over Lucky's shoulder. They were
at Luke's and Lucky sat at the bar bent over the books with a portable TV
blaring in the background.
Lucky looked up at his father with a murderous glint to his eye. "I wish I
could tell you but I can't figure out a damn thing. *You* should never be
allowed to keep the books for anything!"
"I see you haven't figured out my system then." Luke chuckled.
"It'd be a lot easier if you'd just tell me what all this scribble means."
Lucky huffed.
"And take all the fun out of it?" Luke shook his head. "Give it another
hour, you'll get it."
"An hour? Give me another fifteen minutes." Lucky boasted.
"That's more like it." Luke clapped him on the back and walked around the
bar.
Lucky's boastful grin died down and he stared down at the pen in his hand.
"Dad?"
"Yeah?" He paused in the middle of pouring himself a drink.
He looked up at him. "Did you talk to Mom about…about the pills?"
Yeah, he talked to her. They had a *long*, *loud* talk about the pills last
night. He threw back the drink and slammed the glass down. "Yeah, I did."
"And?" He prompted.
"She had stopped taking them. Thought she didn't need them. We decided she
did." He shrugged. "End of story."
"Dad-" Lucky broke off when the door to the club opened and Sonny walked
in. He paused, glancing around the club to make sure that there was no one
else around.
He nodded towards Lucky. "Is he the only one here?"
"Yeah, don't worry about cowboy. He knows when to shut his ears." Luke
assured him.
Sonny nodded and walked over to a table. He pulled a chair down from it and
sat down, waiting for Luke to come over. Luke grabbed a bottle and two
glasses and took them with him. He poured them both a drink. Luke slid
Sonny his glass.
He casually picked it up, studying the contents of the glass before saying,
"So why'd you call me over?"
"Moreno." Luke spat out.
Sonny bit back a groan. He had a feeling it would be about Moreno. "Look,
Luke-"
"I don't like the old man. I don't trust him." Luke said.
Sonny raised his eyebrow. "*You're* calling *him* an old man?"
"He's getting too antsy." Luke growled.
"If you're talking about the other night…"
"So Commissioner Ardanowski's here? So what? The old man practically throws
a hissy fit." Luke shook his head in disgust. "And it ain't just that."
"You freaked out when I brought Moreno in also because of Ardanowski."
Sonny pointed out. "Don't worry about it."
"He doesn't trust me and I can't work with someone who doesn't trust me."
"You just said you don't trust *him* either." Sonny laughed. Luke's
arguments were petty and a waste of time. He started to stand up. "Luke, if
this is all you're going to do then I'm out of here. I've got more
important things to do today."
Luke stood also. "You and I both know the man has been slipping up a lot
lately. And I also have a gut feeling that he's going to screw us over in
this deal."
Sonny looked at him doubtfully. "A gut feeling, huh?"
Luke shrugged. "That and I did a little digging around."
"So what do you suggest we do?"
"We squeeze him out first. His right-hand man, the younger guy? He seems
like a cooperative sort. We approach him right, we got him."
Sonny nodded, thinking it over. He didn't want to admit it but Moreno was
beginning to become a pain in the ass. He mused out loud. "His nephew,
Zander Smith, has been very vocal lately about not entirely trusting his
uncle's leadership…"
"Hey Dad, you might want to see this." Lucky called out.
"I'm a little busy." Luke said. It seemed as if he was close to getting
Sonny to come over to his way of thinking.
"No, you better come." Lucky insisted. "Helena Cassadine called a press
conference. She's got some big announcement."
Luke immediately made his way over, Sonny following. "What, she's decided
to do us all a favor and off herself?"
Lucky shook his head slowly; his eyes still on the TV. "No, I don't think
that's it…"
Luke came up behind him and stared at the screen. After a few minutes he
exclaimed. "Shit!"
~*~*~
Across town at that same time Laura was letting Emily into her home. She
smiled at her. "Emily, I'm so glad you could come over."
"You uh, said you wanted to talk about last night?" Emily said as she
stepped over the threshold.
"Specifically my little incident…I want to thank you for not telling Luke
and Lucky exactly what we were talking about at the time."
Emily frowned. Confused, she asked, "Why? It didn't seem that important at
the time."
Laura wrung her hands together. She wasn't sure what to say to Emily about
it. "Well-"
"Mommy, that guy we saw Emily with is on TV!" Lulu came running down the
stairs.
Emily's mouth dropped open. "Nikolas?"
"Look." Lulu went over to the TV and switched it on. Laura and Emily
followed her. They watched in amazement. It *was* Nikolas. He looked
strange to Emily. His hair was even shorter; he looked stiff and
uncomfortable in his dark suit. Laura looked at him critically, searching
for signs, a reason to believe he was who she thought he was.
"What is going on?" Emily murmured.
"It looks like some kind of press conference…" Laura said.
Lulu sat down on the couch. "Why is your friend on TV, Em? Who is he?"
"I'm thinking I don't really know after all…" Emily muttered. Her eyes
narrowed sharply. "Isn't that Helena Cassadine behind him?"
Laura had been so intent on her study of Nikolas that she hadn't even
noticed the older woman. She gritted her teeth. "Helena, of course. Lulu,
turn up the volume. This I need to hear."
Lulu turned up the sound and they all leaned in to hear to what was being
said. Helena was nodding and smiling grandly. "Yes, it is true. This *is*
Nikolas Stravosovich Cassadine, the true Cassadine Prince and rightful heir
to the Cassadine Estate."
"What!" Emily jumped up. She couldn't believe it. Nikolas, a Cassadine?
*The* Cassadine? What about Carly? What did all this mean?
Laura had a different reaction. She leaned back against the couch, her hand
pressed against her rapidly beating heart. She was torn. On the one hand
she wanted to believe, she wanted to believe so badly it hurt. Could it
actually be…? But on the other hand, this was Helena, obviously pulling the
strings. Anything was possible.
A reporter shouted out a question. "Mrs. Cassadine, you've been doing most
of the talking this whole time. How about we get the words straight from
the horse's mouth? Kid, are you truly the real deal?"
Nikolas hesitated, looking at Helena first for permission. Helena nodded
slightly and stepped away from the podium to give him more room. He stepped
up and looked into the direction of the reporter and straight into the
camera. Laura felt as if he was looking directly at her. She held her
breath as she waited for him to speak. Finally after a moment of silence he
said the words Laura had been waiting for,
"Yes, I am Nikolas Cassadine."
The uncensored version is available via request: tiffany@port-charles.net