CHAPTER EIGHTY ONE
Faded Blossoms

Soon after they had begun working, Mason's contact had called in with the list they'd been waiting for. The list contained a number of small and obscure Cassadine subsidiaries, usually not worth more than a bi-annual inspection. The perfect conduits through which Helena could wreak her particular brand of havoc. She began pulling files for these companies and Mason began comparing the financial data for the last few quarters.

In a few hours every inch of the desk was covered with papers and spreadsheets. Mason had commandeered the laptop and was busy inputting more data into it, while Alexis went through the multitude of files in the office, pulling the ones relevant to their line of research, reading aloud facts and figures that only confirmed their worse fears.

"It looks as though unaccounted funds has been flowing through these companies for at least the last year." Mason said.

"Let's be honest, it's probably been longer than that." Alexis said. She finished with the folder she held in her hands. "Helena has obviously been quite the busy little queen bee."

"So what's the plan?"

"I'm not sure. I'll have to consult with Nikolas first before deciding on the best way to plug these leaks."

"But he's not here. Shouldn't you take action immediately? Don't you have the power and the authority to act?"

"With Stefan gone, legally, his authority immediately transferred to me. But that has nothing to do with it. Nikolas is the head of the family, not I. It's for him to decide how to deal with his grandmother."

"Time may be of the essence."

"I disagree. Or at least, it's not as vital as it may seem to be. Whatever Helena has done is done. All we can do is to lock up the barn after the horse has departed. What we need to do now is determine how much damage has been done, how much Helena has managed to divert for her own use and attempt to guess what she is planning to do next. None of which is going to be accomplished tonight." She glanced at the clock. "And I've kept you far too long as it is. I'm sure you had other plans."

"Nothing that couldn't be put off for a time." Mason told her. "I was glad to be of some help."

They chatted easily as Alexis walked him down to the dock. Johnny remained a few steps behind.

"You're not returning to Port Charles?" Mason asked, just before he boarded.

"I will later, there are a few other matters I need to see to first." Alexis said. "I really want to thank you for the information you've given me. Yu really have no idea how much you helped me today.

Mason smiled at her and took her hand. "I was happy to do it. Call on me for whatever you need." He brought her hand to his lips and after kissing it, looked at her for a long moment.

'What is it?" Alexis asked, distracted by the intensity of his gaze.

"Just seeing you here, with Wyndemere in the background; it really brings home the fact that you are, indeed, royalty." Mason said. He smiled at her, a hint of his usual cockiness returning. "I hope this humble servant is allowed to bask in your presence very soon, principessa.."

Alexis smiled and waved at Mason as the launch left the dock. Turning around, she looked up at Wyndermere. Royalty. So what did that make her in Nikolas' absence? Or Stefan's? Queen of the castle? She didn't recognize the strange mood she found herself slipping into, but she didn't feel any need to escape it.

"Johnny, I'm going for a walk along the beach."

Johnny nodded, dropping back a discreet distance, but still followed her.

Alexis wandered down along the shore, letting her thoughts wander as well, and found herself thinking of all the many things that had brought her to this point in her life. Her early terror of Helena, her loyalty to first Stefan, and then Nikolas, her life first as a poor Cassadine relation changed suddenly to a daughter of the House. Her fight with Stefan to be accepted as an equal, and at the last to finally be acknowledged as a true Cassadine.

Her fingers went up to briefly caress the Cassadine medallion she wore. What had it come to mean to her? It had brought her the hatred of Helena. Not that she was discriminating in her hate. If she had ever loved, it had been Stavros only; and she had twisted him into a shadow of her own megalomaniac self.

Stefan had resisted her, had shown his true nobility of soul and it had put hi at odds with his mother, as he had dedicated his life into keep Nikolas clear of her tainted version of love while all the while keeping his nephew's inheritance in trust. Alexis had come to share his vision of what the Cassadines could and would be.

Her Cassadine inheritance had also brought her to Port Charles, where she had found out who she really was. The love child of her father. It had driven she and Stefan apart for a time, but the bonds they had forged could not be so easily sundered. It was their shared Cassadine nature that had caused them to war so fiercely. And it was the best of the Cassadine legacy, that of loyalty that had gotten them past their differences in the end and brought them back to one another, to re-join forces, their love and respect grown stronger than ever.

Alexis smiled a bittersweet smile. She had grown to truly love Stefan more than she had when she was a child. Back when she had first come to the island, he had indeed been the golden knight of her dreams. She'd even had a childish crush on her cousin. But as an adult, her love for him had truly blossomed. And it had been shared.

She found herself at the cottage where she and Sonny had spent the night and walked onto the terrace. Alexis settled herself on one of the sun warmed stone benches and basked in the last of the sun's rays. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a faded blossom, a remnant of the flowers she had adorned the cottage with. Alexis picked it up, caressing the fragile dried petals with her fingertips.

Following her Cassadine path had also brought her the love of two very different men, Ned and Sonny. She and Ned had so many things in common, most of all of being the gatekeepers for their respective families. They had understood each other in ways many others could not have understood, of how such responsibility shaped who they were, that it had been no surprise that their affection had turned so quickly to love. But there had been a certain level that Ned had never been able to truly accept her on. She didn't blame him, she couldn't. The very same thing that enabled him to act as a gatekeeper had sought to do the same to her. He simply hadn't realized that what he wanted her to be would quench who she was. And in the end was why they hadn't been able to remain together. She actually wished he and Kristina well. Maybe her free spiritedness would free his as well.

If only Stefan had come to know Sonny as she had. Sonny had been able to accept her exactly as she was; it was the reason why they had become friends to begin with. Who would have ever thought that they would come to this place, the place when they would actually find love with one another. It really wasn't surprising, once she'd had tie to accept it and understand it. Sonny had a nobility of spirit that Stefan had never had a chance to encounter, even though it was very much like her half-brother's. Alexis hadn't known it at first either, but as their association had turned to friendship and their trust had deepened and brought them even closer, she had come to see Sonny as he really was, had finally been allowed past the hardened exterior that he presented to the world.

It wasn't that she turned a blind eye to, or approved of the world Sonny ruled in, but she, being a Cassadine, was prepared more than most to understand it. His world wasn't so different from the world she and Stefan existed in. Alliances were made and broken, territories established and disputes resolved in the shady area where the law of normal people didn't necessarily apply.

She had wanted the chance to explain this to Stefan, but she'd never gotten the chance. And for that, she would forever grieve.

She became aware of a voice calling her name from a distance. She turned back towards the house and saw Mrs. Landsbury gesturing and calling to catch her attention.

"There's a gentleman come to see you, Miss Davis." The older woman explained. "Otherwise, I wouldn't have intruded."

"It's all right, Mrs. Landsbury; you did the right thing."

The housekeeper nodded her understanding. She moved as though to return to her duties then turned back to Alexis. "I don't mean to intrude.."

"It's all right. " Alexis assured her. Mrs. Landsbury was a part of the Cassadine household for years. Stefan had brought her over from one of their European holdings. She'd always been a loyal retainer, devoted to the care and comfort of Stefan. She must be feeling more than a little lost without him.

"It's just that, Master Stefan's personal things. What shall I do about them? Shall I pack them away? Or is there anything that you or young Master Nikolas would want to keep for yourselves? Oh my… Her face began to crumple and tears appeared in her eyes. "I suppose that I shouldn't refer to him as young Master any more. He is the Cassadine Prince now in very way…". Try as she might to hold it back, a sob caught in her throat and choked her words off. "My apologies, Miss Davis… I shouldn't behave so…"

Alexis reached out and patted the woman's shoulder. "It's all right, Mrs. Landsbury. We all miss Stefan and it's all right to mourn him." Mrs. Lansbury's tears brought a welling-up in her eyes as well. "I'm sorry I haven't come to you and see how you were holding up. This has had to have been a heavy shock to you as well."

She stayed a few minutes to comfort her, taking the time to share a few moments of memories and grief. She promised to meet her in Stefan's room as soon as she'd seen to her visitor. With that in mind, she left the housekeeper and went to the main study. As Alexis entered the room to find a man waiting there for her, Johnny checked her steps.

"Johnny, I know who this is. He's an investigator hired by Jax." She tried to explain.

Johnny shook his head. "Then as a professional, he won't mind if I follow protocol."

He stepped forward to face the newcomer. "Is there anything I'll find that I shouldn't?" he asked. After a glance at Alexis, the man carefully opened his jacket with his left hand and showed his shoulder holster. Johnny relieved him of his weapon and went on to quickly search his person.

"You'll get this back on your way out." He told the man, before retreating to the far end of the room, far enough to give them privacy, but close enough to keep a close eye on them both as well.

Alexis gestured to the man to take a seat opposite her as she sat the desk. He was from Jax's investigators and he had news that she'd been waiting for. He handed her a folder and a bulky manila envelope. Alexis leafed through the contents of the folder as he made his report. It was everything that Alexis had already suspected Carly of. And more. Her whereabouts during the time she was supposedly missing showed that she'd been alive and more than well. There were notarized documents identifying her on more than one occasion as coming into town for supplies. There was even a tape from a store with her on it, the investigator told her.

They hadn't had an end time on tracking her whereabouts, he went on to explain, so they also had transcripts following her movements since her miraculous return from the dead. The night of the storm, she had snuck out of her mother's brownstone for what they'd assumed was a romantic rendezvous. All of the information was there in the package he'd brought her.

Alexis thanked him and ended the contract. She watched as Johnny returned his weapon and showed him out. She'd found out what she'd wanted to know, but in her present mood, it mattered little enough. Alexis slid the report into a desk drawer. She'd go over the details later. Alexis shut the drawer and stood. She'd promised Mrs. Landsbury that they go to Stefan's private suite. It was only right and proper that she was the first person to do so. But it wasn't going to be an easy task.


Sonny finished with yet another phone call and took a moment to close his eyes and take a breather before the next. Without making the conscious effort, his mind went to Alexis. The warmth of her parting smile this afternoon rippled through him with sweet resonance. It had stayed with Sonny, even as Max had drove him towards his next meeting. He'd walked her to her car and handed her in himself, standing on the sidewalk until she had pulled off into traffic and Johnny had followed her in his own ride. How had he gotten so lucky to end up with a woman like Alexis in his life? Of all the loves he'd had before, this was the first one that made him aware of himself as a man, a man who saw he could change, that he could be better, wanted to be better, to be worthy of his best self, and more importantly, be worthy of this amazing woman.

Of all the loves he'd had before…his mind went, however unwillingly, to Carly and her ridiculous offer. What had she been thinking?