Here's the next installment. Bit of a time jump in this but it's only a month. Enjoy.

Chapter 7

Nikolas Cassadine arrived at his dead fiancée's brother's apartment a month later, preparing himself for what would probably be an awkward conversation with Jason Morgan. He raised his arm and knocked on the door a few times.

To say he was surprised would be an understatement when as the door opened, his cousin appeared on the other side. His very angry-looking cousin.

Sam's eyes were narrowed in annoyance and he could see the suspicion in her eyes. "What are you doing here?" she asked, opening the door and motioning for him to come in quickly.

Nikolas crossed the threshold and took a look around. Jason was seated on his couch, looking up at him with a curious expression. Nik looked at the papers strewn all over the coffee table and figured that they were somehow related to whatever plan Jason and Sam were working on to free her from the clutches of the Russian Syndicate.

"Well?" His cousin's voice drew him from his thoughts and he glanced up at her penetrating gaze.

"I wanted to talk to Jason," he replied simply.

"What about?" Jason's brow furrowed in confusion and Nikolas imagined that he was wondering about his out-of-the-blue visit.

"Sam," Nikolas replied, looking at his cousin pointedly. "And how safe she really is right now."

"I thought we already talked about this." Sam spoke before Jason had a chance to form a response.

Nikolas looked at her. "I know what you've told me," he corrected her, noticing the way her eyes narrowed. "And I have a feeling that your plan will not be executed as easily as you made it seem."

"I never said it would be easy." Sam looked around the room distractedly as she tried to think of a way to explain it to him. "There is always a chance things could go wrong but I've got alternatives in mind if they do."

Jason turned to her in surprise. "You do?" He lifted a brow a fraction at her quizzically.

"Yes," Sam said through clenched teeth. "Contrary to what you might believe, I am walking into this situation with my eyes wide open."

"So you're not making it up as you go along?" Nikolas asked sarcastically. The way Sam stiffened and turned away from him was a clear indicator that the remark wasn't appreciated.

"I am doing the best I can given the circumstances," Sam answered a while later, turning back to him with fire in her eyes.

"You could step back and let the police handle it." Nikolas suggested smartly.

Both Jason and Sam scoffed in response.

"The PCPD aren't equipped to handle the Russians." Jason muttered quietly.

"Besides, this isn't their fight," Sam spoke loudly, her voice full of passion as she looked at Nikolas and Jason. "It's mine."

"This fight could get you killed."

"Don't you understand?" Sam demanded impatiently, clenching her fists in exasperation. "I'm dead if I don't fight. And if things do go wrong, then I'm not going down without one helluva battle."

"So far, the only thing you've done is annoy the Russians," Nikolas pointed out and both Jason and Sam looked at him questioningly. "Oh, come on. I know the two of you are behind their shipments being destroyed."

"And freezing their assets," Sam added with a devilish grin. "I want to annoy them." She looked at Nikolas seriously. "I want to become such a thorn in their side that they'll have no choice but to send someone after me."

"That's your plan?" Nikolas's angry voice thundered in disbelief. "You're going to play chicken with them?" He turned to Jason, his eyes narrowing at him murderously. "How could you agree to help her with this? It's going to get her killed."

"There's more to it than that," Jason argued and glanced at Sam who was rolling her eyes at her cousin's behaviour.

"If you keep causing problems for them, eventually they'll send someone after one or both of you."

"They have to find me first," Sam remarked.

"This isn't a game, Sam."

"Yes, it is." Sam insisted. "It's called cat and mouse. Only the mouse isn't as meek as they think she is. When they send someone after me, I'm going to sneak up behind them and hit them where it hurts."

"With backup," Jason added looking at her with an intensity and hidden message that Nikolas couldn't figure out. Sam nodded in agreement with him.

"She'd be better off on her own." Nikolas muttered darkly as he glared at Jason angrily. "The last time she needed you, not only did you bail, you crushed her on your way out."

Morgan glared at him angrily but Sam was the one that spoke. "We both made mistakes. It wasn't just one person's fault."

"Yeah, the other person's name is Elizabeth," Maxie said from the top of the stairs. All three turned to glare at her. "Don't mind me. I was just passing through." She smirked as Jason clenched and unclenched his fists as she walked by them.

She had been hanging out with Spinelli and was getting ready to head back to her house when she overheard Nikolas yelling.

"Bye, Maxie," Sam said slowly, glancing towards the door, hoping her friend would get the message.

Maxie was going to linger but the meaning behind Sam's words was unmistakable. This wasn't the time to point fingers and dredge up history that would only lead to an argument. "Bye." She winked at Sam on her way out.

Nikolas knew Elizabeth played a role in their problems but the way Sam tensed up and her eyes burned with anger at just the mention of her name told him that there was way more to it than he had been told. He wondered if his friend had been less than honest with him based on Sam's reaction.

"Anyways," Sam broke the silence. "We've talked about things and we're both in agreement." She turned to Jason. "Right?"

"Yes," he answered quickly.

"Are you telling me that you actually trust him?" Nikolas asked.

Sam hesitated before she answered which made Jason wince from the sting of the realization that she didn't trust him as much as she used to.

"Yes," she spoke softly, swallowing down the burst of pain. It wasn't easy facing the reality that things had changed between her and Jason but she was pretty well acquainted with regret. "I do."

A few minutes after Nikolas left them alone, Jason looked at her curiously. "Are you sure about this?" he asked for the nine hundredth time.

"Yes," Sam assured him and then she looked at him meaningfully. "I wasn't lying. I do trust you."

Jason acknowledged her with a nod of understanding but he couldn't help the disappointment swelling within him. As if she read his mind, she continued. "We've still got a long way to go but I do know that I can count on you to watch my back."

He smiled at her as he nodded in agreement. It had taken a lot of time but the ease when working together had slowly returned. They were always great partners, whether they were on speaking terms or not, but now they had rebuilt some of the trust they had lost.

"How'd your last attempt go?" He asked curiously and watched her frown.

"A swing and a miss," she replied indignantly.

"What does that mean?" He asked.

"It means that I'm still making rookie mistakes." She stomped over to him and sat down as she pulled her lock-picking set out. "I'm better than fifteen minutes. It used to take me only seven minutes to break into a house like the one that Karpov's been living in and three to get out. It took me nine minutes to get into his study without being spotted."

They had already nailed down Karpov's routine so the final part of their plan was when the Russians got fed up and put a hit out on them, they would go into hiding.

Then after a few days, Sam would break into Karpov's mansion, kill him and slip out with his men being none the wiser while Jason would be busy taking care of disarming Karpov's men.

Sam used to be a professional thief so it made sense that she be the one to get rid of Karpov because she had incredible talent when it came to coming and going without being noticed. No matter how much he wished it would be him pulling the trigger, it had to be with her. He didn't have her skills when it came to breaking sophisticated security systems.

"But it's good for me to practice," Sam's voice pulled him from his thoughts. She laughed lightly. "Back to basics."

"Basics?" He repeated questioningly.

Sam nodded. "An expression." She explained and then laughed as his confusion deepened.

"I understand that but thievery is going back to basics for you?"

"Yes," she said and smiled as she recalled how good it had felt after she had finished her first solo job. "I was a jewellery thief mostly and doing that helped me get out from under Cody's thumb. Eventually I stole enough to leave and fend for myself which was way better than always cleaning up his messes."

She had never told him that before. "Do you miss stealing from people?"

Sam shook her head. "I stole to survive. I just happened to be amazing at it." A self satisfied smirk spread across her face.

"How long will it take to get it back?" He asked curiously.

"As long as it takes," Sam answered cryptically. "You can't rush perfection, Jase. When I break into Karpov's mansion, I have to have total confidence in what I'm doing because that's when things go smoothly. Any sooner and things will go wrong."

"How are things on your end?"

Jason handed her the surveillance photos he had been studying. "This is a different setup from last week."

"They rotate every four days," he explained the change in guards and positions.

Sam looked at him, impressed. "It's good that you're on top of everything."

He looked at her meaningfully. "I'm not going to let you down, Sam." He reached out and took her hand in his.

Sam instinctively pulled away from his touch. She ignored the flash of pain in his eyes that cut at her own heart and smiled at him. "I certainly hope not," she said softly and walked back to the desk that had the specs of Karpov's mansion.

Jason sighed. Yep, they still had a long, long way to go.