Do not own General Hospital or any of the characters.

First off, I just wanted to say a big thank you for everyone who reviewed, followed and faved this story. It was really only meant to be a one-shot. And I forgot to press the complete button. And since the first chapter received such a warm welcoming, I decided to continue with it.


The room was silent as everyone's attention turned towards the newcomer to the party. Everyone was just as shocked as Sam had been to see Jason there in flesh, alive and well.

Breaking apart from the kiss, Sam lead Jason into the Penthouse. He was surprised to see all his family and friends there, staring back at him. He had thought that Sam would be alone. That is why he had come at this time. He hadn't expected that he would see all his old friends and family all at once. His blue eyes looked away from the faces staring at him and turned back towards Sam.

She gave him a small smile as she closed the front door behind him. "Everyone is here to celebrate Danny's birthday," she explained in a soft voice, noticing the confused look on his face. She knew he would find it a little odd that she had not only her mother and sisters over but Carly and his mom over all at the same time.

Jason's blue eyes widened as realization set in. He had forgotten what the date was. He should had known better, he thought to himself as he looked away from Sam and gazed back on everyone else.

The room was filled with awkwardness as Sam came to stand next to Jason. She could tell that he was nervous. She was too. She felt disoriented after seeing his face. She had thought he had been dead. They all had. Slipping her hand into his, she lead him to the chair she had been previously seated in. "Take a seat," she whispered towards him as she gestured to the chair.

His blue eyes pierced into her for a second before sitting down. "Hi," he whispered as he looked over to his right where Carly was seated with Josslyne. There were tears in the blonde's eyes as she stared back at her friend. "Jason," she whispered as a smile spread across her face. Reaching out, she touched his hand. "It's really you."

He nodded his head as he wrapped his fingers around her hand and squeezed it. "It is," he whispered back as he returned the smile. He knew how shocked she would be to see him. How everyone would be to see him. It had been a while since they had all lay eyes on each other.

He held Carly's gaze for a second longer before turning to look at everyone else. He couldn't believe everyone was here in one place to celebrate Danny's birthday. He hadn't thought that the baby's life had touched so many. But he guessed that a lot had changed since the last time he was in Port Charles. As he looked around the room, one person caught his eyes and that was his brother, AJ.

"Hey Bro," spoke AJ as he smiled at the mobster.

"Aren't you suppose to be dead?" asked Jason as he continue to look on at his brother with disbelief.

"Aren't you?" asked back AJ.

"There is a lot you have missed while you were away, Jason," spoke Monica as she smiled kindly at her son. She knew how confused and disoriented Jason must be feeling at seeing AJ. It had been quit some time since the two brothers had last seen each other.

Jason shifted his attention away from AJ and towards his mother. He nodded his head in understanding at the doctor. He held his mother's gaze for a moment longer before shifting his attention to Michael who was seated beside Monica.

"Hey Jason," spoke Michael as he locked eyes with his uncle. The young man smiled warmly at his uncle. He had missed the older man's presence in his life over the last eight months. Yes, he had his dad back in his life. But it wasn't the same. Jason no matter what had always been someone he could go too. The young man's eyes shined with tears as he continue to look on at Jason. It was really good to see him again, alive.

"Hey," replied Jason back, smiling at his nephew. Michael looked much older as he stared back at him. His eyes then fell onto the one face he had been most looking forward to seeing besides Sam, Danny.

He couldn't believe how big Danny was now. The last time he had seen the baby, he had been just that, a little tiny baby. Danny had been only four months. He was now a year old and had grown so much since then. The tot's eyes were bluer, noted Jason. There was more hair on his head too then he last remembered there being. He looked happy, thought Jason as he continued to look on at his son.

Danny wasn't really paying any attention to the newcomer to the party as he continue to eat the remained of the cake on his plate with his hands.

He didn't know who he was, thought Jason to himself as he continue to look at the boy. A feeling of guilt spread over him at this thought. He had missed so much already of Danny's life. He hated that. He should had tried harder to come back sooner he thought to himself as he continue to watch the young boy who had now just finished his cake and was clapping his sticking hands together.

"Here let me take him," spoke Sam towards Michael as she came around and lifted her son into her arms. "Yeah, was that good!" She cooed to the tote as she lifted him over her head before placing him on her hip. The tote laughed at this. The sweet melody of his laugh ringing around the room.

Jason's heart filled with warmth at hearing this. This was the first time that he was hearing Danny laugh. It was music to his ears. His eyes continued to gaze intensely on both Sam and Danny as she wiped the cake off of his face. Feeling his gaze on them, Sam looked over at him and smiled.

"Danny, someone very special is here to see you. Do you know who that is?" asked Sam down towards her son as she walked around the couch and made her way over to where Jason sat.

"It's Daddy! Daddy is home!" she whispered into her son's ear as tears suddenly filled her eyes.

"Do you want to hold him?" she asked as she looked down at Jason and locked eyes with him.

He nodded his head in reply, "I would like that very much." He could feel all eyes on him yet again as he took the tote into his hands and sat him on his lap. "Hi, Danny," he spoke addressing the little boy who was now staring intensely up at him was curiosity. Jason couldn't believe how much the boy looked like Jake had at that age. Jason had not gotten to know his son but he remembered how the little boy had such a serious look about him. Danny, like his brother had the same look.

Sam felt like she was going to cry any moment as she watched as her son bonded with his father. It was a sight she had dreamt about for months since Jason had left them. She couldn't believe that it was really happening. That Jason was really here, holding their son. It then dawned on her that Jason still didn't know that Danny was really his. She had forgotten that she had found out that Jason was really the father after he had gone missing. He still thought that Danny was Franco's. Bringing her hands up to her mouth, she had to muffle a sob that suddenly escaped her mouth. She had so much to tell him, she thought to herself.

"Excuse me," she blurted out as she raced from the living room and disappeared back into the kitchen. It was suddenly too much for her too handle. She had wished and prayed for him to come back to her. And that now he was finally here, she didn't know how to handle it. She needed a moment to herself.

Jason looked up at this and watched as Sam left the room. He desperately wanted to follow her and comfort her. To hold her in his arms and to never let go. But before he could do just that. Alexis had suddenly stood up and followed her daughter into the kitchen. His blue eyes continue to pierce over at the kitchen in hopes that Sam would suddenly appear again.

"Give her some time," spoke Sonny suddenly towards Jason.

Jason tore his eyes away and looked over at his old friend who was seated just a few feet away between Kristina and Morgan. The two men stared at each other for a second, not saying a word. Over the last eight months Sonny had taken on the responsibility of looking after Sam. He knew that she was more then capable of doing so her self. But he knew that Jason would had wanted him too. "She's been through a lot. She just needs some time," he explained towards his former enforcer.

Jason didn't like to hear this but he knew it was true. Sam was probably feeling mix emotions at his sudden arrival. He turned his attention away from Sonny and back on Danny, who still continue to stare up at him.

He smiled down at the little boy. "Happy Birthday!" he whispered. Danny smiled back at this suddenly. His little face lightening up as he continue to stare at Jason.


"Just give me a moment," spoke Sam as she looked over at Alexis who had just entered the kitchen. She felt like such a emotional wreck a she wiped the make-up that was ruined off of her eyes. Today had been an emotional day for her from the start. And now with finding out that Jason was alive and here in the flesh, it just added to her emotional state.

Alexis just continued to look on at her with concern. She had no words of advice to say to her daughter. She was just as shocked to see Jason as she was. She didn't know what one was suppose to say when someone that they loved came back from the dead.

"Do you want me to tell everyone to go home, so you can have some time alone with Jason?" she asked, knowing that Sam and Jason had a lot to talk about.

Sam shook her head at this, "No, let everyone stay. It is still Danny's Birthday." She did want Jason all to herself and to ask what had happened to him. Why it had taken him so long to come back to her? But she knew all that could wait until later. She wanted her son to have his day despite the sudden arrival of Jason. Like father like son, both had come back to her.

Alexis nodded her head at this as she continue to look at Sam. She knew her daughter was stalling a little to be alone with her husband. His arrival had been sudden and unexpected. She was probably nervous and just needed time to think things over, thought Alexis to herself as she continue to look on at Sam before leaving her alone.


Jason looked suddenly up and over as Alexis returned back from the kitchen. She was alone though. "Just give her some time," she spoke noticing his gaze on her.

Jason nodded his head at this. He knew that Sam needed her space.

An awkward silence then fell onto the group once again as they waited for Sam to come back. Everyone was eager to hear where Jason had been for so long but knew he wouldn't say anything without Sam there.

They didn't have to wait too long though, for Sam returned a few moments later.

Jason could tell she had been crying as he looked up at her face. Her make-up from before was gone, leaving her bare skinned. However, she looked beautiful to him. She always looked beautiful to him but she had gotten more beautiful since he had last been in Port Charles.

She smiled at him. "Can I get you anything?" she asked, realizing that he must be hungry or at least thirst from where every he just came from.

At hearing his mother's voice, Danny suddenly turned his little face towards Sam. He immediately began to fuss. He had had enough of this stranger's lap. He wanted his mommy, now.

Jason tried to calm the little guy down but was unsuccessful. Danny's cries only became louder as he continue to fight Jason's hold on him and reached out towards Sam.

She was immediately at Jason's side, lifting her son into her arms. "SSShhhh," she cooed into the tot's ear as she pressed him to her chest and began to rub his back. She knew he must be crashing. It was nearing his nap time. "I think it's time for the birthday boy to go down for his nap," she spoke glancing down at her son, who was quiet now. His blue eyes were half closed. It had been a busy day for him.

Sam once again excused herself as she carried Danny upstairs to his room.


"So are you going to tell us what happened?" asked Carly towards her friend. She was desperate now to hear what had happened to Jason. She thought he had been dead for all this time. They all had. They all wanted answers on where he had been.

Jason shifted his gaze onto Carly for a moment before looking over at Sam who had just returned from upstairs and was now clearing the coffee table of everyone's plates. He could tell that she was nervous as she busied herself with cleaning up.

"Sam, honey," whispered Alexis towards her daughter, "Let me do that. you sit." The older woman then reached out and took the empty plates from Sam's hands and gestured for her to take her seat on the couch beside Josslyne and Molly. Sam did not argue with her mother.

Alexis then looked on at her youngest, "Molly why don't you and Rafe take Josslyne and go check up on Danny, upstairs!" She knew that soon Jason would be telling his story of survival and she didn't want her youngest to hear it. For she was afraid it would be filled with violence.

Molly looked up at her mother with shock and confusion. "Mom," stated the teenager. She didn't want to go upstairs. She wanted to stay here and hear Jason's story.

"Molly," replied Alexis, her voice was calm but firm. She wasn't backing down.

Molly just rolled her eyes at this before looking down at the little blonde girl seated by her sister. "Joss, come, There is something really cool I want to show you upstairs," she smiled at the little girl.

Josslyne looked from Molly and up towards her mother. Carly nodded her head at her daughter, "Go with Molly, sweetie!" she whispered as she gently touched the back of her head. She was grateful for Alexis's thinking. She loved Jason but didn't want her daughter hearing about how he had come back from the dead.

Josslyne then turned once again towards Molly and smiled. The two girls then stood up from the couch. Josslyne took Molly's hand and the two of them moved towards the stairs. Rafe who had been seated on the floor, beside Spinelli on the fireplace, stood up awkwardly and followed Molly. He wasn't really sure what was going on. He didn't really know who Jason was but he a good idea from the way everyone had been acting.


Once the three youngest members of the party had disappeared upstairs, everyone looked once again towards Jason. He hated being the centre attention like this but he knew there was no way of avoiding it.

"Here, let me help you," spoke Ellie as she stood up from her seat beside Jason on his left and began to help Alexis clear the dishes and take safety in the kitchen. She had only met Jason a few times. And felt like some how she was invading his privacy at hearing his story.

Carly gestured for Sam to go seat beside her husband as the seat beside him was now empty. Sam looked over at the blonde who had once been her enemy, had over the last couple of months had turned out to be a friend. Since Jason presumed death, the two women had bonded over their grief. Standing up slowly from her seat on the couch, she walked over to where Jason was seated and took a seat on the empty chair beside him. He looked over at her and smiled.

She returned the smile.

Spinelli who was still seated on the floor, moved so that he was now seated on the couch.

It was then that Jason told them all where he had been for the last eight months. "I don't know really where to start," he confessed as he nervously ran a hand through his spiked blonde hair. His blue eyes looked around the room at all the faces of the people he most cared about and missed. There was Carly, Spinelli, Michael, Monica, AJ, Morgan, Sonny, Kristina and lastly Sam. He looked at each of them one by one as he tried to gain his wording.

"Start from that night," offered Carly.

His eyes looked over at Carly for a second before glancing over at Sam. They were both thinking about what had happened that night before he had left the Penthouse. That was the night he had put his wedding ring back on his finger. It was the night that they had taken their first family photo together, which he was happy to see framed and placed on the mantel of the fire place.

Reaching out, he took her hand into his. His eyes never leaving her face as he retold those events of that night. "After receiving Bernie's message. I headed out to the pier, where I confronted Skully who was standing over Bernie. He had shot Bernie and was about to finish him off. I remember calling out his name. Skully had stood up and turned to face me. I told him to drop his gun. He didn't. Instead he shot at me. But his bullet missed me and I shot him instead. He collapsed to the floor, I then kicked his gun out of the way, so he couldn't reach it," he took a moment to pause and he tried to remember what had happened next. He looked up briefly to see everyone looking at him. They were all silent and hanging on his word.

Kristina had her hands at her mouth at the mention of Skully. She was thinking about Tray, ex-fiance and late love. She missed him terrible. And remembered that night clearly. She had been with Tray that night as he said goodbye to his father.

"I then went next to Bernie, who was bleeding out. He was trying to tell me something. But I told him not to talk. Whatever it was he was trying to tell me, it could wait. But he insisted. He kept on repeating something about money. I don't know what he was talking about for the next thing I remember was the sound of a gun going off and sudden pain. Everything then went black. I had been shot in the back," his voice was quiet now as he looked over at Sam, who was holding back tears. She was squeezing his hand hard.

"Did you see who shot you?" asked Sonny towards his oldest friend.

Jason shook his head at this. "I didn't," he whispered. He had assumed it had been Skully who had shot him in the back. "I tried to get up but I didn't make it very far." The pain had been unbearable. It had clouded his vision. And eventually had caused him to pass out.

"Skully had been at Starr's that night. He had threatened her but hadn't gone through with it," explained Michael, as he thought back to that night.

Sonny looked at his son at this. He remembered going over to the apartment after seeing the cops outside of the place. "I was there at the apartment with Starr and Michael when I got the phone call. Bernie had been the one to tell me about you Jason. The man had been barely alive at the point. He had been trying to get a hold of me all night. He didn't say much, just repeated "Pier 52, Jason." When I got down to the pier, Bernie was barely alive. But the man had been able to tell me that you were in the harbour. He had been loyal to us until his last breath." The room was silent as everyone thought about the late employee of Sonny's.

"I tried to look for your body in the harbour but there was nothing there. The police had their men looking in the water for you too," added on Sonny, looking over at Jason. "I then went to the penthouse to tell Sam."

Sam tried not to think about that night when her whole world had been turned upside down. Tears were streaming down her face as she looked over at Jason. This was harder then she thought it would be as she retold him how she found out that he got shot. "I thought it had been you coming home to me and Danny. I thought you had just forgotten your key. But the minute that I opened the door and saw Sonny. I knew something had happened. But I didn't want to hear it. So I took him to see Danny. I wanted him to meet our son," her mouth turned up into a smile at the words our son," Sonny had told me you had been shot and that you had fallen into the harbour. But I didn't want to believe it. I couldn't believe it. He then told me that Bernie was dead. I asked about you," her voice trailed off as she looked away from Jason and tried to composed herself. "He told me, he couldn't found you. I didn't want to believe that you were gone. That in the matter of an hour or so you could disappear from me. I then went down to the pier myself to find you."

Jason squeezed Sam's hand before leaning forward and kissing her on the cheek. He hadn't been expecting that as he retold them his story that it would cause them to retell their views on that night.

"Sam left me with the baby. But I knew I needed to get back to the pier and be there for Sam. So I got Michael to come over and look after the baby," continued on Sonny as he recalled the events of that night.

"Everyone had seemed to give up on you. The coast guard had called off the search because the water was too cold and the current was too strong. But I didn't care. I was determined to find you. I wasn't giving up on you like everyone else had," explained Sam as she told him what had happened once she arrived at the pier. "However, the only thing I could find was the phoenix figure I gave you before you left that night."

Jason looked over towards the mantel piece where she had the phoenix and dragon from their wedding on display.

"We had thought that you were gone from our lives forever," spoke Carly. She too was crying.

"It took me a while to expect that you weren't coming back to me. But after weeks and there still no word on your body or if you had drifted up on a near by shore. I finally realized that I couldn't live my life like this on false hope," Sam spoke in a whisper towards Jason. She had always thought he would come back to her. With no body, she truly thought he was still alive. And a part of her still did believe he was out there somewhere trying to get back to her and Danny. She couldn't help but think that she had been right. That he hadn't died. That he was alive. And he was here to prove that.

"I'm sorry," he whispered in reply. He hated that she had been in so much pain and denial. He hated that she had had to grieve for him. "I'm sorry to all of you. For what I put you through," he spoke, addressing all of them.

"Jason, you don't have to apologize," spoke Monica as she locked eyes with her son. Her eyes were filled with tears but her voice remained in control. It wasn't his fault that they had believe him to be dead.

Jason then realized it was his turn to explain what had happened to him. Why he had been gone for months with no word. "After being shot. I don't remember much. But before I go in to all that. There is one thing I have to explain first. Why it had taken me so long to come back," he began to explain. "I had amnesia."


Okay I know that is not the best ending. But I got to keep you coming back for more, right?! Leave a review if you want more! Thanks for reading!

Julie