The muse had taken an extended vacation to focus on other stories that need finishing, This is a shorter chapter as it is a bridge to the next.

Please take a few moments to leave thoughts.

Unedited.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Stavros

- "Helena is in town?"

Despite Sam's slight discomfort with his close proximity to them, Stefan protectively wrapped his arm around Alexis, while holding onto Nikolas. The mere mention of his mother's name with regard to either his sister or his niece left him uneasy; Mikkos' presence around his family, on the other hand, rendered him unnerved. Given that his entire life was a lie, he did not trust the man as far as he could throw him. He needed to get his family to safety.

- "Why did you not tell us this sooner? We could have—"

Mikkos, however, interrupted him. He expected his nephew to chew him out for his negligence, but before he did such a thing, he needed him to first be well-informed.

- "Excuse me, Stefan. I do not know for certain that she is in town—"

Stefan was losing his patience; he needed to know where Helena was so that he could protect his family.

- "But you clearly do not know where she is! My God, Mikkos! That woman believes her precious son to walk on water, and now she's likely in town for his child?"

Alexis gasped.

- "My… daughter. She's… she's mine, Stefan."

He immediately regretted his words. He did not mean them as they had come out.

- "I apologize, darling. I'm just worried. What could she possibly want with Samantha? Since we left their home after Nikolas was born, you have not been a part of their family, so there's no reason for her to concern herself with Samantha. She does not even believe that bastard son of hers capable of harming a fly, let alone… "

He paused.

- "I just… I simply want to protect both you and my niece."

Her heart beat heavily in her chest. She felt all the moistness of her mouth dry. Helena, her daughter's grandmother, wanted her; she wanted Sam. The woman who smacked her around and called her every filthy name she could think to call a small child, was somewhere in the vicinity with one sole purpose in mind: to take the child who comprised of everything she hated.

- "There's… there's more."

He frowned. He could not protect her if secrets were being kept from him.

- "Alexis, if you know something, it's unwise for you to keep it from me."

In Helena's eyes, Sam's blood, more than Stefan's and certainly hers, was pure poison. Regardless of what she believed happened between Stavros and her, the facts were simple: her father and grandfather were rapists. Somewhere deep in the woman's fragile mind, she knew it to be true. And while she did not care about Andreus, the poisonous blood that ran through Sam's veins belonging to Stavros, was a stain on his memory; the one of the impeccable and stand-up citizen Helena had created in her mind. It was a stain created through an act of revenge… of love… for her. She too, would want to return the favor… to a dead man.

- "Ok… I'm… I'm… um… ok…"

Sam tightened her grip around her mother.

- "Mommy? Can we go home now?"

Stefan turned to look at his sister; she was as white as a ghost. He prayed that it was not a repeat of the previous night's events.

- "Alexis, are you… well? Do you… do you need a moment?"

Not getting a response from her, Sam looked up at the woman.

- "Mommy?"

The wheels in her mind continued to spin as to what her next move would be. She could not allow Helena to touch her daughter, but she certainly could not run for the rest of her life. The truth had caught up to them; it had nearly broken her, and it was on the verge of breaking him… when it fully sunk its teeth into him. She would not be held captive by it any longer. She could not. Not for herself and not for her daughter. But, she needed to be realistic.

- "I'm… fine. I just need… a minute—"

She stepped away from him so that she could speak quietly with her daughter. She moved as far away from the two men and young boy as the room had allowed, feeling with each step the girl's discomfort ease. She was anxious to return home.

- "Ok."

She stood in the corner of the room where Stefan and Mikkos could still see them, but it was far enough away that Sam would feel safe speaking with her. Kneeling, she put her daughter down.

- "Sam… baby? I need you to look at me. Look at Mommy."

She shook her head as she she kept her arms wrapped around Alexis' neck.

- "When are we going home? You said we could go when we woke uuuup! We're awake now! I wanna goooo… noooow!"

Alexis sighed; she hated what the situation was doing to her daughter. Nevertheless, she was the adult; she knew what was best for them. As difficult as it might have been for the six-year-old girl to understand, she would have to trust and listen to her.

- "Samantha, I want you to let me go for a little bit and look at me."

In a soft whisper, she sternly spoke to the terrified child.

- "Mommy needs you to listen to her."

Sniffling, Sam unwrapped her arms from her mother's neck and opened her eyes. Unfortunately, Mikkos stood in the same room as them; he was staring at her. She quickly closed her eyes and resumed her previous position nestled in her mother's embrace. She was frightened.

- "I don't want to see him, Mommy. He's scary."

Alexis quickly turned her head to notice that Mikkos had in fact been staring in their direction. Not wanting to yell at him for his thoughtlessness, she simply switched positions with Sam so that her back was facing him, while she looked only at her. She gently pulled her daughter away from her.

- "Okay, chipmunk. Open your eyes. Mommy wants you to look at her. You can't see him anymore; only Mommy."

Knowing her mother would not lie to her, Sam slowly did as she was told while still standing as close to her as she could.

- "Are we going home?"

Alexis wrapped her arm around Sam's waist.

- "Yes, baby. We're going home."

- "Now?"

She shook her head.

- "Not right this instant, baby—"

Tears immediately filled the child's eyes as she began what appeared to be a tantrum. She stomped her little foot on the floor as her tears quickly became sobs.

- "I wanna go! You promised! I don't wanna stay here anymore!"

Alexis gently patted Sam's bottom.

- "Hey, hey, hey. Samantha, calm down! I know you're upset, but you know Mommy doesn't like this type of behavior."

Sam grasped her necklace as she melted onto the floor. She hiccupped as she attempted to speak.

- "I'm… sorry, Mooo-ooommy!"

Sitting down on the floor, Alexis pulled her into her arms. She wiped the tears from the girl's face.

- "Chipmunk, we're going home today. I just need to first speak with Uncle Stefan and his… daddy. And then we're leaving."

- "You… you… promise?"

She wiped more tears from her daughter's cheeks before covering her face with kisses.

- "I promise. Now, can you do Mommy a big favor?"

Sam shrugged.

- "Can you stay here while—"

Her mother wanted to leave her again. After everything that had happened, she was trying to leave her.

- "Noooo!"

She shifted herself in the woman's arms as she hid her face as she grasped her sweatshirt. She spoke through muffled cries.

- "He's gonna take me away! Mommy, I don't want—"

If she did not get the girl to calm, Alexis feared that her daughter would have yet another accident which would undoubtedly cause a worse meltdown than she was currently exhibiting. She rubbed her back.

- "Baby, look at me."

Sam did as she was told.

- "I don't want—"

She put her finger to her daughter's lips.

- "You'll see me the entire time. I will not allow him to come anywhere near you. Okay?"

Sam nodded.

- "You promise?"

Alexis smiled as she pointed to the young boy who, while he stood closely to Stefan, was clearly unafraid of Mikkos.

- "Look at Nikolas."

Regardless of how upset Sam had been, Nikolas was still her friend. He was a child; he was trustworthy.

- "He's fine, chipmunk. If I ask him to stand here with you, do you think you can let Mommy talk to Uncle Stefan and his daddy for just a few minutes?"

She sniffled as she leaned her head against her mother's chest. She stuck her thumb in her mouth.

- "Not too long?"

Removing her thumb, Alexis kissed her on the cheek.

- "No baby. Just a few minutes and then we're going home. I promise you that. Okay?"

Sam slowly nodded.

- "That's my good girl."

She stood in the elevator feeling as it slowly descended. She never liked those things. She hated the confining space. The way she could not breathe fully and normally. It felt like a coffin slowly lowered into the ground.

Flashback

She could not see him, but she memorized every piece of the last time she had seen him. He was dressed in the most luxurious black pin-stripped suit she could find. His cufflinks were platinum gold, bearing both the Cassadine and Komensky family seals. It was a merged design she had herself created specifically for him. He deserved only the best for he was the best.

- "Stavros was a complicated man. He was—"

He was handsome. Even as he lied there in his coffin, he was the most handsome man on whom she had ever laid eyes.

- "He was husband, brother—"

He was her beloved son. He was perfect. He loved her entirely and without question. He was loyal and generous. He loved her more than he should ever had had to love her. He loved her enough to compensate for that her which her husband failed to provide.

- "His mother once called him the greatest gift she had ever received. She named him—"

Stavros. His birth had brought her to a dark place from which she did not think she could ever escape. She saw only the tiny space his twin, her Sofia, had occupied; she shut herself within those confines. She nearly suffocated from the grief of losing her precious child, but her Stavros pulled through.

- "He brought her back. He filled her lungs with air. He put a smile to her lips and laughter in her voice. He—"

He was her everything. He was her everything. And now he was…

- "Gone from this world too soon. Taken from the ones who loved him—"

They did not love him. They came to her son's funeral only from obligation. They were there because Mikkos did not want the Cassadines to appear cold, deserting, and unloving in their time of grief. He wanted to ensure that the Cassadine name remained pure and powerful. Her feelings be damned.

- "They mourn such a life—"

It was not about her.

- "They miss such a presence."

It was not about her son.

- "But he will live on forever in their hearts."

She looked at the two monsters who sat dry-eyed at the end of the pew. They did not care. Inside their pathetic bodies, they rejoiced at her pain and laughed as they thought of his last moments of suffering. They did not belong. They were interlopers on her grief.

- "YOU MAKE ME SICK!"

Something had come over her. She could no longer keep her mouth shut. They should have been in that coffin instead of her son.

- "Why are you here? Huh?"

Despite the hands that willed her to sit, her feet compelled her to stand.

- "You—"

She pointed to Andreus' daughter, the constant reminder that the man had once existed on the earth, the bottomfeeding whore who dared to sully Stavros' name with some wretch bastard child that had grown in her poisonous stomach. She hated the teen with every fiber of her being. Innocent or not, she hated her simply because she existed while her son had already begun to rot.

- "You were never wanted! You came into my home like the pathetic piece of garbage that you are, causing trouble left and right, acting as though you were entitle to anything. You should be there! You should be in there instead of my son!"

At her exclamation, the church grew deathly quiet. The mourning mother had crossed a line. The girl, unknown to most, was a child.

- "Layna—"

Mikkos stood behind his wife. He grabbed her arms in an attempt to diffuse the situation, but she furiously pushed him from her.

- "Don't you DARE touch me! You lost that right when you left me to be—"

She could not say the word. She could not admit to what happened to her. And still, she turned her attention to the second born and unwanted son. He was a constant reminder that it had occurred. The mere mention of his name was admission of what had been done to her.

- "MONSTER! You… you shouldn't even exist! I wished you dead the moment I learned that you poisoned my body! You—"

Hearing the collective gasp of the congregation, Cristoff immediately pushed Mikkos away from his daughter. Now that Stavros was gone, he was all that remained. Only he loved her entirely; for her good and bad, faults and otherwise, she was his everything.

- "Helly, please. You must stop this."

And feeling his arms around her, she did just that.

- "Papa."

She could not waste her energy on filth. Her son deserved better than this. He deserved more than a room of onlookers and spectators. He deserved only her love.

- "I want them gone. Everybody. Now. GET OUT!"

She walked to the coffin.

- "Open it."

Despite the noise of the departing attendees, her father heard her whispered demand. He released her long enough to lift the casket's lid. He dared not look at the man he had viewed so differently since he had learned of his deplorable actions. Instead, he looked at his daughter.

- "Go ahead, darling."

And she began to pour her heart out to her son, she never noticed the woman continuing to stand quietly in the corner of the room. She had never left. Having previously sat to Helena's left as the priest spoke such loving words about her husband, Mariska, with her hand over belly, shook in disgust. The man eulogized was not the man she had known and been forced to marry.

End of Flashback

But unlike the coffin's captor, the doors to the elevator opened and released her from her prison. If only…

Alexis made the girl stand before waving Nikolas over to them. He immediately left his father's side to approach her.

- "Yes, Aunt Alexis?"

Hearing the boy refer to her as such, she looked over to Stefan; despite his continued heartbreak, he nevertheless winked. Mouthing the words 'I love you' to the man, she pulled his son into her arms.

- "God, I love you Nik; you know that?"

He blushed at her sudden show of affection toward him, but remained in her arms.

- "I love you, too."

She stared at him for a moment before continuing. She did not know how much time they had, but she knew she wanted to get her daughter home.

- "Can you stay here with Sam for a few minutes while I speak with your father and grandfather? Can you do me that favor?"

He looked at his cousin. Despite being a nearly year older than he, she appeared far younger. She sucked her thumb as she clung to her mother. He hoped that she would not go into a fit of tears while Alexis stepped away; he did not know how to handle that. Plus, his coloring books were nowhere in the vicinity to distract her. He would only have to hope all would be well.

- "Well, alright…"

Alexis messed up the boys hair a bit before once again covering her daughter's face with kisses.

- "I'll be right back, okay?"

While tears rolled down the girl's cheeks, she released her mother before taking a seat behind the armchair; she wanted to remain shielded from Mikkos' view. Alexis kissed her on top of her head.

- "It's just a little while. Mommy will be right back. I love you, chipmunk."

She then approached the two men who had been awaiting her return. Before allowing them to speak, she put her hand up; she had a few things to say. She would dictate what was best for her and for her daughter.

- "We're going home—"

Stefan attempted to speak, but Alexis shook her head.

- "Stefan, I understand that you might not agree, but Sam can't stay here. After witnessing what she did last night, she needs to go home. I need to put her first."

Mikkos knew his opinion was perhaps not wanted, but he could not allow his niece to make such a foolish decision. His wife was unstable and capable of anything… especially when it involved Stavros and his memory.

- "You will only be putting her in harm's way—"

And while he hated to agree with the man, Stefan could not deny the truth.

- "Alexis, she tried to kill me when I confronted her about what Stavros had done to you; what do you think she'll do to you when she finds you?

She shook her head.

- "She won't hurt me."

He stared at her, searching deep in her eyes for some semblance of logic. She was holding back from him; he wanted to know why. Why would she take a risk with not only her life, but her daughter's? Why would she expect him to sit idly by and allow it? She knew something.

- "And Samantha?"

She looked up at him; the resemblance to her father… to her… was uncanny. She finally understood entirely why despite the pedestal on which she had placed him, Helena viewed him differently. It was the same reason why Stavros attempted to make her turn from Sam; but she could not. In spite of their similar features, Sam was no more Stavros, than Stefan was Andreus. Both children, the products of such horrific acts, were innocent… and better than their fathers could ever have been.

- "I will… we will… we'll protect her, Stefan. But, I can't keep hurting her—"

- "You're not, Alexis."

She nodded.

- "For every tear that child cries for fear that I'll fall apart again, I'm hurting her. The fact that being away from me for even a second is debilitating is me hurting her because I can't give her what she needs."

Stefan shook his head in disagreement. She was the best thing that had ever happened to Samantha. In no way was she harming her daughter… unless…

- "If you take her home, then you will be hurting her. Neither you nor she are safe—"

She stopped him from continuing. She would not break her word.

- "I can protect her. You have to believe that."

He did not understand her, but he knew that she would always put her daughter ahead of her own life.

- "I do."

And because she knew that Helena was capable of love, at least when it pertained to Stavros, she knew the woman would not harm her daughter.

- "So… trust me."

For Sam, as Stavros continuously reminded her, was him.

- "Good Morning, Mrs. Komensky."

She ignored him as she walked toward the car whose door he held opened by her. She was in no mood for pleasantries from the hired help.

- "We should be arriving in approximately two hours, Miss."

She simply nodded to the man before stepping inside. She did not know what she would once she saw them again… and saw her for the very first time. She just knew that she could not allow them to continue to sully her son's memory. He had protected her in a way her own husband had failed to do; she had to do the same.

- "Oh, My Stavros."

And in her lost thoughts, she had failed to realize that she was not alone in the car. She failed to realize that he had been watching her from the moment that she had entered it. He had waited for her to realize that he had been there, waiting for her. But staring out of the window, she did not.

Seeing a tear roll down her cheek, he sympathetically smiled at her. He reached for his gray silk handkerchief. He leaned forward and laid his hand onto her knee while extending the cloth to her. He felt her jump to his touch.

- "Hello Mother."

With a gasp to her lips, she stared at the man in shock.

- "Stavros?"