I can't seem to stay away, not that I planned on it, but I've only been home for a week. I guess writing's addicting, I can't help it. This story has been running through my head since I first heard of the ridiculous plot device JER came up with. Sami always seems to come off as the bad guy, no matter what, so I'm changing it. Now, I love Lucas dearly, but I would love to see him a little less saintly, if you know what I mean. I'm switching things around a little bit, but this is basically the fake cheating story the way I wouldn't have minded it going, no matter which person 'cheated'. Obviously, this is set in February2005. It won't be long, but it won't be short either. Now why am I still typing? Read.

This was not good. Kate Roberts was not happy and when she was not happy, the rest of the world wasn't either. The stupid little bitch her son was in lust with would not take any of her hints. She refused to fall into the traps Kate had planted.

What was worse was that now, even her Neanderthal of an ex-husband wasn't cooperating either. All that the stupid lug had to do was return to Salem, but no, the idiot couldn't even manage to do that right. He hadn't lured Sami away from Lucas the first time he came to town and now he wasn't even showing up for her new plan. Sure, he didn't know he was being used as a pawn, but couldn't he have at least tried to be useful.

With another loud groan of frustration Kate managed to gain the attention of her half-witted accomplice, Eugenia.

Disdainfully she looked up from her claw-like nails, "What's wrong now, Kate?"

"Now? Hmmm, what's wrong now?" Kate tapped her chin in mock consideration, "I'd say the same thing that was wrong an hour ago! Brandon isn't going to show up and we're running out of time."

"I still don't get why we can't use some random guy from a bar. It'll still work."

"I never said it wouldn't work, but having Sami cheat on Lucas with Brandon would have been so much more dramatic."

"What do we need drama for? Either way Sami looses Lucas for good."

"You just don't understand revenge, Eugenia. It's an art form."

It was hard on Kate having such a low quality partner. It seemed whenever she and Eugenia got together Kate would end up remembering the glory days. She and Lucas had been the perfect team. They were determined to bring down Sami and they did it with style. It didn't hurt that they'd had complete access to Victor's resources, either. Although, normally it took a lot of convincing to get Lucas to go along with some of her plans, the end results were truly works of art.

"Kate? Kate? KATE?"

Her sorry excuse for a cohort stole her from her beautiful memories and silently Kate cursed the fact that she needed a partner at all, "What?"

"We're running out of time so you really need to stop drifting off to la-la land. I want Sami Brady to pay and you said you were gonna make that happen, so start making it happen."

"Believe me, I want her to pay much more than you do. Brandon's a no show, so we're going to have go with the random stranger at a bar. Hopefully she'll still go to the Jetway Inn looking for Brandon so we can at least start the plan. Can you tell if she's checked the Website yet?"

"Give me a minute," Eugenia turned back to the laptop beside her and began clicking away, "Nope, she hasn't seen the doctored horoscope, yet," she continued typing for another minute until a tentative "Uh, oh" filled the air.

Tried of Eugenia's melodramatic attitude, Kate cast her a scornful glare, "What now?"

"We missed something earlier."

Kate was suddenly alarmed at the tone of her voice, "What?"

"It seems that Sami did look at the Website…"

"That's terrific, now she'll…"

"It was before we changed it, Kate. She's not gonna be going to the Jetway anytime soon."

"You idiot! How could you let this happen? I give you one simple task, but noo, that's too hard for your peanut sized brain to understand!" Breathing heavily, Kate took a swing at the items on the table next her, sending them crashing to the floor. Finally, she took a calming breath before asking in a strained voice, "What the hell are we going to do now?"

Not realizing she that didn't expect or want an answer from her, Eugenia spoke up, "Well, maybe if we called Sami and gave her a reason to show up at the bar…"

"Shut up."

"But, Kate…"

"Don't talk. I mean it."

Reluctantly, she went over the merits of Eugenia's idea. It was strikingly amateur. It definitely lacked the flare she always added to her own plans. It had a lot of variables. Of course there was also the problem that she hadn't been the one to come up with it. That was a big strike against it, but, really, there was no other way.

"We'll try it, but only because we have no other options."

She grabbed the phone from pile of junk on the floor that she had knocked over and almost dialed when a tiny snag came up in her mind. If Sami were really determined then she could figure out where the call came from, even if Kate used the caller ID blocker. There was no way she could have this linked to herself.

"Give me your cell phone, Eugenia."

"Why can't you use that one?"

"Don't act so suspicious. When I lost my temper, I must have broken the phone. It won't work."

She snatched the cell phone without waiting for more protests and dialed the unfortunately familiar number. She prepared to disguise her voice, but as the phone went from ten to eleven rings, it seemed less and less likely that she'd need to speak at all. Finally she hung up, once again frustrated.

"Great, she's not answering. How the hell are we going to stop this wedding?"

Sami Brady was not going to get her son. There was no way in Hell Kate would ever let that happen. She was like poison that slowly seeped into a person's system and destroyed them from the inside out. Lucas thought he loved the little whore, but he'd learn soon enough that he didn't need that kind of love. It was toxic.

There had to be a way. If she couldn't save her son, everything would be lost. She took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of her nose; she was starting to get a headache.

It hit her then, the perfect solution, like a light at the end of a tunnel. She wouldn't have to change her plan much, just a few details. It would be a lot easier to lure Lucas out of his apartment, than it would be to get Sami. She loved her son, but realistically, Kate knew that this would fit with the image he used to have before this ridiculous relationship with Sami had started. A little over two years ago everyone would have said that Lucas was a playboy. Before Sami's accident he used to bring a different woman home with him every night.

She didn't approve of that lifestyle, but it was better than this 'love' he had for Sami Brady, of all people. For a split second she thought that she couldn't do it. He'd blame himself instead of Sami. His Horton relatives would probably give him a few good lectures and he'd be crushed. It would destroy his reputation and he might want to leave Salem.

Kate shook away the moment of doubt. Lucas would be better off without the Horton's and their preachy ways. He'd definitely be better off without Sami. If he wanted to leave Salem she'd help him do it and she'd get Will for him, too. It was the only way.

With forced composure, she sat up straighter, "Okay, we have a new plan."

Eugenia let out a relieved sigh and clasped her hands in her lap eagerly, "That's good because I was starting to think you'd lost your touch, Kate."

"If I didn't need your help, I feed you to Sami on a silver platter. But, anyway, we have to work fast or else this isn't going to work. We need to start making arrangements."

"You still haven't told me the plan."

"Oh, right," Kate looked at her distastefully, if she didn't have to there'd be no way she'd share this little gem, "Well, it's simple really, since we can't make it look like Sami cheated on Lucas, then we'll make it look like Lucas cheated on Sami."