Chapter 13

Author's note- In my story Nik and Emily are married without children. Courtney and Nik never got together.

Alexis was the first to reach the roof of the hotel, with Nikolas and hotel security close on his heels. The sound of sirens wailed through the streets below. Alexis had driven faster than even the cops to get here.

The woman faced away from all of them, looking down over the ledge she stood on.

Alexis stopped a foot behind her and whispered, "Sam."

Moments passed, everyone on the roof was silent. Nikolas thought of reaching out and pulling her back onto the safety of the rooftop. But was scared he would startle her and make her fall the thirty stories to the ground.

Sam said, "I screwed this up too. I should have jumped when I had the chance. But I couldn't."

"Sam, its not in you to give up. You come from a long line of people who never back down or call it quits. Not this early in the game at least." Nikolas said

Alexis was shaking with fear but she whispered, "He's right. I've seen the fire in your eyes when you fight for someone you love. You've given me hell over Jason plenty of times. Fight just as hard for yourself."

A group of cops flooded the roof. "Step back. Everyone clear the area!" one yelled

Sam turned her head and her eyes met her mothers. Alexis reached out a hand. Nikolas stepped close behind Sam. Sam took Alexis's hand and with Nik steadying her made her way off the ledge.

Alexis hugged her. Nikolas turned to the cops and started damage control.

"Just a misunderstanding officers. I am Nikolas Cassadine and I am sure there must be some way we can keep this family matter private..."

As Nik smooth talked the authorities Alexis hugged Sam tight.

"I'm sorry." Sam whispered

"Just promise me you'll never do anything like this again." Alexis said "You feel crazy, go crazy. Everyone in this family does at some point. You feel mad, yell. But don't give up because I could not..." Alexis sniffled " stand to lose my oldest girl."

Let me see you through

'Cause I've seen the dark side too

When the night falls on you

and you don't know what to do

Nothing you confess

could make me love you less.

I'll stand by you

I'll stand by you

Won't let nobody hurt you

I'll stand by you .

The Pretenders

Later Nikolas, Sam, and Alexis walked through the airport. Sam carried her suitcases of clothes that were finally recovered from her ship, The Lila Morgan.

She stopped and said, " I can't go back to Port Charles. He'll be there. And all I can think right now is I need to find a way to make Jason come back to me."

Alexis said, gently, " You can scam and plan and try to connive him into scenarios that put you two in the same room so he has a chance to see how good you are together. You could do all that and more. But you are going up against Carly. No one can out scheme that schemer."

"Do you think Jason's lying? That Carly has him helping her with some kind of crazy plan?" Sam asked

Nikolas gave her a forget about it look. He said "Haven't Jason and Carly always been devoted to each other? It seems like they have just taken the last step toward something that started long ago."

Sam sighed.

Alexis said, "I was going to surprise you when we stepped off the plane but we aren't going home to Port Charles right away. Nikolas and I agreed that you need a tour of the Cassadine island."

Nik said, "Sam, you're as much a Cassadine as any of us. Everything we own is partly yours now. Our history is the history of your family. Don't you want to see where we come from?"

Sam looked at Alexis " I don't want to keep you away from my sisters any longer because you have to deal with me..."

"I want to be with you, " Alexis corrected " And besides, as we speak, Emily has Kristina and Molly on a plane headed for Greece to meet us."

"What about Ric?" Sam asked, wondering if anyone would ever find out about how he helped her lure Jason to Aruba.

"He couldn't get away from work." Alexis said

"I don't know..." Sam said. She wanted to jump into this family with both feet but she feared she didn't fit in. She had been a loner, an outsider, every day of her life before she met Jason. She only felt like she had a place in the world when she started to love her unborn baby and fall for Jason. Beyond that life held no meaning for her, at least not at this point.

But maybe, Sam thought, I found out about my birth mother to give me somewhere to belong ...

Nikolas said, "Put Jason aside for right now. Let some time go by and see how you feel about him then. But for now stay with your real family. Like it or not you are Samantha Cassadine now. You will never be alone again."

Alexis put one arm around Sam and said, "You belong with us, sweetie. Let us take care of you."

Sam allowed them to lead her onto the plane. She marveled at how these people were willing to fight for her just because she was their blood. And in that moment, for the first time, Sam felt part of a bond that could not ever end because she could never be dumped or abandoned by her family.

Take me in,

into your darkest hour

and I'll never desert you.

I'll stand by you.

And when...

when the night falls on you, baby

You're feeling all alone

You won't be on your own

I'll stand by you...

The Pretenders