Chapter Two

Author's Note: For some reason, when I started this fic I was sure the man who helped Sami with her disguise left her with a way to contact him if she had any problems. Then I read some old transcripts and it turns out he didn't leave her with anything. I guess I should do my homework before I start writing next time. So in this fic let's say the man did leave his contact information with Sami. As for the wedding time line for this story, Broe's wedding is taking place in one week and Lumi's wedding is a couple days after.
It was like looking in a mirror, Sami thought, awestruck. Months ago, she had looked into a mirror and had seen Stan's face reflected in the glass. The feelings she had felt then resurfaced when she looked at Jan now. Actually, Jan was Stan now. She wasn't just Jan dressed up like Sami's male alter ego. Despite Sami and Jan's differences in face shape, height, and everything else, Sami had a hard time deciphering any differences between the two Stans now that the man had finished his work.

Mr. Womsley had been surprised by Sami's phone call. The surprise had been followed by annoyance and unwillingness to cooperate with Sami. Of course, like almost everything else in life, his help came with a price tag. But the price was high, and Jan wasn't very happy about paying it.

Jan was almost finished writing Mr. Womsley a cheque. She signed her name at the bottom with flourish, thrusting the paper at the man with unnecessary force when she was done.

"Thanks," Mr. Womsley didn't look up from the papers on his desk. "Good-bye now." He had been very brusque and businesslike with them the whole way through, not saying more than fifty words throughout their entire session.

"Why did I have to pay all the money?" Jan checked out her new look in the side mirror of her car once they were in the parking lot.

It was strange hearing the voice of a female coming from someone who looked so much like a man. Sami then remembered the last piece of the Stan costume she had yet to give Jan. She pulled the tiny mouthpiece out of her pocket.

"You're the one who got the disguise. You're the one who needs to hide from Victor." Sami pressed the mouthpiece into Jan's hand. "Besides, you were the only one who could afford to pay. Here, you need to stick this to the roof of your mouth."

Jan examined the tiny device in her hand dubiously. "Why?"

"Because you'll keep sounding like a girl if you don't." Sami stated flatly, as if the answer should have been obvious.

"Ewww!" Jan abruptly let the mouthpiece fall to the ground. "You stuck this thing in your mouth already, didn't you?"

"Don't break it, you idiot," Sami shoved the mouthpiece back into Jan's hand after picking it up. "Putting this thing in your mouth won't be anywhere near as gross as kissing Nicole will be, so I suggest you get over yourself."

"You make me sick," Nicole told Sami.

Jan glared at both Sami and Nicole before popping the mouthpiece into her mouth. When she began to speak again, her voice came out deep and masculine.

"Wow, this is cool," Jan announced. "I sound like a guy now."

"You catch on fast." Sami took out a folded sheet of paper and handed it to Jan. "Here's a list of all the people you need to apologize to, along with reasons why you owe them apologies. I'm going to be around to hear every one of your apologies so I can make sure you don't screw up."

"Whatever." Jan brightened suddenly. "Hey, can I make Stan gay?"

"No! You're supposed to be dating Nicole."

Jan's face fell. "Can I at least seduce Shawn then?"

"Do whatever you want to Shawn as long as no one else is around to see." Sami quickly changed the subject. "You and Nicole are going to meet me and Lucas at my apartment tonight. On that piece of paper is a rough outline of what you're going to say to Lucas. I'll fill you in on the rest of the details on the drive home." Sami had started to tell Jan the story of Stan on the ride over to Mr. Womsley's out-of-town studio (he had refused to make a trip into Salem to help them).

Nicole nudged Sami out of the way and stood in front of the passenger door, leaving Sami stuck with the backseat.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Nicole asked Jan. "Unlock the car and drive us home." With a grin, Nicole added, "Stan."

Back at her apartment, Sami was waiting for the elevator to arrive when Bart nearly gave her a heart attack.

"Oogly boogly, you're in trouble now, Sami." Bart stepped out from behind one of the plants in the hallway in a janitor's outfit.

Sami shrieked and dropped her purse. "What's wrong with you? Oogly boogly?"

"The plan's a no-go, Stan," Bart said, stone-faced.

"I'm not Stan anymore," Sami returned smugly, then began being serious. "What do you mean? What happened?"

"I was craving something to eat late last night after I had finished talking to you, so I went over to the Brady Pub. I was wearing one of my fabulous disguises to make sure no one recognized me. Your daddy and his little police buddy, Tek, were sitting in the booth behind me. I was surprised they weren't chowing down on donuts because they were definitely talking police business."

"And?"

"And they were talking about how they planted a trap on their computer system for anyone who tries to help Tony get out of jail. My guess is that you fell right into that trap." Bart said.

Sami grew defensive. "This isn't my fault. I thought the information I gave you was real!"

"I realize that," Bart responded. "Me and the Boss Man talked it over, and we've decided not to go through with our original plan. We've also decided not tot tell anyone about your past as Stan. Not yet, anyways. We're going to wait it out in case we need you for Plan B."

"Oh, God. There's a Plan B? What is it?" Sami asked, feeling sick.

"It's a work in progress." Bart replied evasively.

"In other words, you don't have one yet." Sami let out a relieved laugh.

"I wouldn't laugh if I were you," Bart told her. "We're off your case for now, but we can ruin your life any time we want. Don't forget that."

Bart walked on down the hallway, pulling a cart filled with cleaning supplies behind him. Sami smirked at his retreating form.

With a little help from Jan Spears, my past as Stan won't matter to anyone soon. And by the time you realize what we're up to, we'll have already saved Stan and it will be too late and you won't be able to ruin me. The elevator finally opened in front of her, and Sami stepped inside, more than ready to be back in her own apartment with Lucas, especially after the morning she had just had.

"So when are you going to tell me what the occasion is?" Lucas inquired, coming up behind Sami and nuzzling her neck. His arms wrapped around her waist and Sami placed her hands over his, trying to calm herself down. It was taking all of her willpower to concentrate on making dinner and not letting her anxiety and excitement drive her crazy.

As much as she was anticipating the night that would be the beginning of the end of Lucas' obsession with Stan, she was still climbing the walls with worry. Anything could happen tonight. There were a million different ways Nicole or Jan could mess up the plan and make Lucas suspicious, and if Jan didn't say and do the right things tonight, she might ruin 'Stan's' chances of being forgiven by Lucas for good.

On top of all these worries, Sami wasn't even convinced she was doing the right thing. It was one thing to hide Jan from Victor by dressing her up like a man and then using Jan to help Nicole make Brady jealous. But was it fair to bring Lucas into this? Jan's version of Stan would be playing games with plenty of other people, like John and Mimi and Billie when he apologized to them, but she didn't want to play games with Lucas. She just wanted to marry him and make sure he wouldn't hate her.

She didn't want to trick Lucas, but she didn't want to risk losing him either. She turned around to see the contented smile on his face and sighed, resting her head on his shoulder. She decided that she had to go through with the plan. She could tell him the truth after he stopped hating Stan, but not before. For the time being all she could do was coach Jan along and pray that Jan and Nicole wouldn't screw up.

She regained her composure and smiled up at him. "Not yet. You'll find out soon enough though." Sami looked over at the clock on the wall. Nicole and Jan would be knocking on her door any minute, which was perfect since she was almost done putting the finishing touches on their dinner. It was a good thing she had been completely focussed on preparing the meal because she probably would have burned everything to a crisp if she had let her mind wander onto other subjects.

"Come on, just give me a hint," Lucas begged. "You've been acting so weird all day that I'm dying to know what's up."

"I have not been acting weird," Sami retorted playfully.

"No weirder than usual, anyways," Lucas teased. Sami punched his shoulder lightly in response.

"Your surprise should be here any second," Sami told him, eyeing the door out of the corner of her eye. "You have mentioned that this surprise would make you happy. I hope it does, but I don't think it will be exactly what you're expecting either."

Lucas gave her a confused frown.

"I know I'm not making sense right now, but you'll see what I'm talking about." Sami said. "Just promise me you won't react right away and that you'll be... open-minded."

He seemed to be thinking this over, but he didn't have time to reply before someone began knocking on the door. Sami smiled and took hold of Lucas' hand, walking him over to the door.

"Okay, Lucas," Sami's hand curled around the doorknob and she prepared to open the door. "I give you..." she began to pull the door open, "Stan."