AN: Whoo-hoo! 100 reviews and counting, yay! Good job guys. You are all cool. This is just kind of a make up on the spot story, so this is totally cool! Anyway here's more.

Haha, you guys figured out the Luke, yay. I hope I write him in character, I've only seen him in limited scenes (although he and Skye are awesome together, I must say), so yeah. Have you guys figured out who the other person is…? =D You'll probably figure it out this chapter.

You all should know that this is going totally AU to what the writers are doing, right? You do know that, right? Hehe. Just wanted to make sure. If you're wondering where baby Morgan is, he's really Bella. Weird, I know, but let's assume that Morgan was a girl named Bellatrix instead, okay? No Alky in this story whatsoever. At least, for now.

Just random comments: is GH heating up or WHAT? (haha, excuse the pun.) Friday's (Feb. 13) ep was AWESOME! I watched it like 3 times… once on SoapNet Friday night, again on Saturday morning on SoapNet, and then today (Monday) on SoapNet… again… hahaha! Can you tell I love SoapNet? Anyway, I LOVED the Luke/Skye kiss! I was like, "Awww!" That's the whole reason I wanted to see the ep again. That, and the Journey kiss, yay, we haven't had one of those in a while. *sigh* And Tracy hugging Ned and Dillon. That was good stuff too. Man, it's getting good! I stay up until 11 watching because I can't watch it when it airs on ABC, so I watch it on SoapNet. =D Maybe I'll throw in Luke/Skye in here… but Skye's married to Ned. Hmm… can anyone say "backstory?" We'll see what I can do. Ooh, new ideas are forming! Yes!

(If I made Luke and Skye together instead of Skye and Ned, and Kristina didn't know about her parentage, Kristina would be Loren's aunt, step-aunt, whatever. Trippy or WHAT? But then again, that would be only if Skye was raising Kristina instead of Ned. Ah, family relations. So complicated.)

Does anyone know how many days have passed in this story? I think it's been less than a week. Anyone want to count for me? =D Or maybe it has been a week. Who knows. I know it hasn't been very long.

I'm making the chapters longer. Be happy!

Okay, I'm done. You may get confused as to why things happen as they do, but don't worry, all will be revealed later on.

benbrattlover (and anyone else this might concern): Just wanted to give you an FYI: If you see someone lurking around the Journey Online boards as journeyrocks!, that's me. =D

And the disclaimer: They're not mine. Except Loren. You really should know that by now.

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Golden Child

Chapter Fifteen

          The only thing my mind could say was, "Loren's grandfather?!?!" And just who was the other guy?

          "I thought they had you committed," Loren said, softly, slowly.

          "Well, does it seem like I'm crazy?" he – I think his name was Luke –questioned.

          Loren shook his head, apparently still shocked by the sight in front of him. "But… how come you never came looking for me? You made me think I had no family!" He sighed. "But I guess that never mattered to you, huh?"

          Loren's tone of voice instantly pulled at me. I felt so bad for him… I felt the urge to go and just hug him, hold him tight in my arms, but for once, common sense won out and I just stayed put.

          "Loren, I didn't know. What happened to Summer?"

          "She died! She was murdered – by him!" Loren pointed an angry finger at the other man there, who was currently looking around at the ceiling intently. The weird thing was that it looked like he wasn't trying to act innocent, but instead, he truly had no idea of what was going on.

          "Oh, Vlad? I bet he probably did."

          "THEN WHY AREN'T YOU DOING ANYTHING ABOUT IT?!?" Loren practically roared. I took a step back in shock.

          "Loren, look at him. Does he seem normal to you?"

          The three of us stared, quietly, at the other presence in the room. He seemed totally unaware of all of us, except me. "Cass… Cassi…" he suddenly said, staring right at me.

          "No, my name's Kristina," I said gently, before I could help myself. Loren shook his head in defeat, while Luke turned around. "Kristina? Are you Natasha's daughter?"

          My eyebrows furrowed. "No, my mother's name is Alexis."

          "That's the name she likes to use. It's not her given name."

          I nodded. However, at the mention of my mother's name, the person's trance suddenly lifted and he exclaimed, "If you're Alexis's daughter, then you're my niece!"

          Luke stepped back in horror. "He lives! I knew it was a bad idea to keep him here with me."

          Loren shook his head. "I could have told you that. Why are you harboring the killer of my mother with you?"

          "I found him, at the bottom of the cliffs, totally not knowing where he was or what he was doing. I didn't want him to be a menace to society, like he had been to all of us. He recognized me, although he didn't recognize me as his nemesis, and decided to follow me, so I let him. I figured Vlad here, if he was in his right mind, would hate the thought of having to be dependent on me, so I used that to my advantage." Luke grinned wickedly, and the other man glared at him. Luke quickly sobered and said, "But now I guess he's in his right mind, so…" He trailed off, apparently at a loss.

          All I could do was stand there, frozen. The person who killed Loren's mother, who left him alone… my uncle? I was related to him? Loren had told me about that, but…

          "I thought you died," was all I could say. "It's been so long… years… why are you and Luke just hanging around and hiding in the catacombs of this creepy place?"

          "I… honestly, I don't know. I don't remember much, but I do remember Alexis. I didn't even know that I was hanging around with this Spencer fool until just now."

          I shot a helpless look at Loren. We had promised to end this feud once and for all, but it seemed right now that it wasn't happening anytime soon. I couldn't think. There was just so much going on. So I did the only thing I could think of – I ran out, trying to remember the way back to the mansion. I could hear footsteps behind me and a cry of "Kristina, wait!" but all I could think about was getting out of there. Why, oh why, did I have to have my life this confused? At that moment, I wished that I had never found out about my parentage—after all, ignorance is bliss.

          Finally, I found the light that was the living room and I emerged, breathing hard. I stopped to put my hands on my knees and rest, and when I looked up, I found Nikolas looking back down at me. "Kristina? What were you doing in there?"

          "Why do you leave things like that open?" I retorted back.

          "I just… I don't know. That should have been closed." He went to close it, but I stopped him. "No! Don't."

          "Why not?"

          "Our uncle is in there."

          Nikolas looked thoroughly confused. "But… the only uncle we share is Stefan… and he's dead."

          "No he isn't! He's in there with Luke!"

          "Luke Spencer?" His expression changed from confused to shock. I nodded vigorously just as Loren emerged and said, "Kristina!"

          I turned around. "Loren… I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

          "No, come here." He pulled me into a tight embrace as Nikolas ventured in. "I'm going in, Kristina. Stay here."

          From being enclosed in Loren's arms, I nodded, and then buried my head in Loren's shoulder. "God, I'm so sorry, Loren. I wish I wasn't related to them."

          "Listen to me." He pulled away so he could see me. "We talked about this already. You can't help who you are. You didn't choose. Even if you were able to, you didn't grow up this way. It's a matter of technicality, that's all. I don't blame you for what happened to my mother. You didn't even know – you were my age when it happened."

          "But…"

          "I'm sorry you had to see me like that," he continued. "I just… I've been waiting for so long to serve justice to my mother's memory, and…" He couldn't speak anymore. He just hugged me harder.

          "Shh. You don't have to explain. I understand."

          Loren smiled, a real smile. I didn't see many of those from him ever since I met him, and now that I did, it was a beautiful sight. "Thank you."

          I just nodded. We stayed there like that for a while, until we heard Nikolas come back out. "I don't know what you're talking about, Kristina, but there's no one there."

          I furrowed my eyebrows. "What?"

          "No one."

          I wanted to say more, but I had the feeling that I shouldn't. "That's strange. Maybe they left."

          "Whatever you say, Kristina. But I'm telling you, the only uncle we share is dead, so… As for Luke, no one's heard from him in ages—he kind of disappeared right after what happened to Lucky." He shot a sympathetic look in Loren's direction.

          "Okay, Nikolas. I won't pursue this. I'm… I'm sorry to bother you. Just don't keep that door open anymore, okay?"

          Nikolas produced a rare smile. "Okay." Then he looked strangely at me. "So what were you doing here if you weren't intending to go through the catacombs?"

          I laughed. "Oh. I wanted to see Alexis."

          "Okay. Do you remember where her room is?"

          I shook my head. "No, but I'm sure I can find it. Thanks, though."

          Nikolas nodded. "Okay. Call me if you need anything."

          "I will," I assured him. Then I turned to Loren. "What do you want to do?"

          "Sit. I just need to think." He cast a wary look at Nikolas. "Mind if I hang out here in the living room until Kristina's done?"

          Nikolas shrugged. "So long as you don't damage anything in here, fine by me."

          Loren wordlessly plopped on the couch, head in his hands, sighing. I sat down next to him, saying, "I'll be back," kissed him on the cheek, and then set off to go find Alexis.

          After about fifteen minutes of wandering, I finally found a familiar looking corridor. I remembered so vividly the first time I was here. I then realized that it had been the last time I had been here as well and that I had totally been neglecting my mother. She had been in my life even less than Sonny had, even though his involvement in my life was extremely limited before. He, at least, had been able to see me grow up with his daughter. Alexis never got to see that. I felt a sudden surge of guilt and sadness that I had deprived Alexis of all this even now.

          While I was pondering this, the door opened and Alexis stood there. "Kristina?" She appeared a little startled, but happy nonetheless. "What is it?"

          I shook my head. "Nothing bad." On impulse, I gave her a hug. I could feel her smiling as I did so. "What was that for?"

          I smiled as I walked into her room. "No reason. I was just thinking, you have shared so little of my life, and that ever since I found out about everything, I still haven't come to see you. I decided you deserved to see me. You are my mother, after all."

          "Oh, Kristina…" Tears were forming in her eyes. "So what did you want to do?"

          "Just talk. I told Sonny."

          Alexis suddenly stiffened. "You what?"

          "I told him. I didn't want to at first, but… his daughter is my best friend, and she told me that he would want to know."

          "Of course he would. That's how Sonny is. But…"

          I sensed her hesitation. "But what? Are you afraid?"

          She nodded. "I'm afraid he'll take you away from me, take custody of you, and I'll never be able to see you again."

          I sat down next to her on the bed. "Don't worry. I didn't let him."

          "What do you mean, 'didn't let him?'" She looked at me questioningly.

          "He wanted me to move in with him when he found out. I said no. I had been kicked out of the Quartermaines' the day before and had found a place to stay, and I didn't want to leave where I was—where I still am. We compromised and let the guy I'm staying with be my bodyguard. Sonny just wants me to be safe."

          Alexis's expression became more suspicious as I continued. "So… who are you staying with?"

          "Loren Spencer."

          "What?" she outburst. "Why? Why don't you just stay here with us? It's a big house and you'll have everything you need. You'll be safe here. Isn't that what you want?"

          "No, that's what Sonny wants. I understand why he wants me to stay with him. I also understand why you want me to stay here. But… no one understands why I don't. I'm staying with Loren because it's neutral ground. God, Alexis, you don't know what it's like to feel torn between three different families. I'm trying to find who I am, who Kristina is, without the influence of anyone else. I know I can't change the fact that I'm part Cassadine, part Corinthos, but I feel attachment to the Quartermaines too, and… I just can't do it by living in one of those houses. Loren's helping me find who I am as just Kristina, not Kristina Ashton, Kristina Davis or Kristina Corinthos, or even Kristina Cassadine. Just Kristina."

          "Kristina Cassadine was your aunt," she said softly. She sighed. I guess she still missed her sister, even now. "She was all I had until you came along. And then… you know all this, Kristina. I don't have to tell you. I know you're smart. I trust your judgment. Besides, Loren's taking care of you, isn't he?"

          I nodded. "Yes."

          "Then as long as you're safe and happy, I'll be okay." She looked at me sadly. "All my life, special people have only stayed for a little while and then left. That happened to my mother. That happened to my sister. That happened with you, too, before, but I'm bound not to let it happen again."

          "I know." I hugged her again. "Don't worry, I won't let it either."

          Alexis smiled, and in the process, a few tears fell. I wiped them from my mother's face, a face worn by the passing of time, the trials of losing so many people, and from fighting the urge to just give in and become an empty shell. Loren said his grandfather did that once. I'm glad my mother didn't.

          My mother and I had a great talk. I got to know her better; I also saw a lot of myself in her. However, my visit to Wyndemere raised many questions. I realized that in our discussion of custody, that the Quartermaines still had custody of me. And the Luke episode. What had happened back there in the catacombs? Was it really Stefan Cassadine that was there with him? Sworn enemies, Luke and Stefan, together? My mind reeled from all the events of the day. Every day seemed to be filled with life-altering incidents, and this day was no other. Little did I know that each day that passed would bring many more.

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