5.
From the moment Sam stepped foot on the estate, her anger only continued to grow. It was a beautiful home, but all she could see was the place her father had held her husband prisoner while allowing everyone to believe he was dead. She hadn't let go of Jason's hand since entering the front door where they'd been greeted by a man her mother had recognized as Juan Santiago.
He was a few years younger than Jason and probably only a year or two younger than herself, Sam wagered. He had dark features with kind eyes, a genial disposition and an easy smile that seemed at odds with his occupation. It was enough to make a person wonder if there might be more to his boss than reputation would have people believe. It made Sam wonder and so had her mother's reaction to him.
Alexis was surprised to find the young boy she once knew in his current choice of vocation which served to only further Sam's curiosity, though little explanation was given or pursued between the two. The level of respect in which Jason regarded the younger man had confused her as well, but she understood more once he'd explained Juan had been the man to pull him from the water and save his life the night he almost died. She had thanked him and, though the words still felt bitter on her tongue, her hostility toward him faded somewhat.
They were led to a large study by another one of her father's employees and each given a set of papers to sign. Everyone except Jason, Alexis noted, at which point Jason explained he'd already signed. Sam gave him a questioning look, but Jason returned it with a pleading one of his own and she let it go. Answers would come soon enough now.
Alexis insisted on reading over the forms and found it odd that a mob organization would have them sign unilateral non-disclosure agreements as if their enterprise was legal. Why not just go with the threat of death like most crime syndicates? Not finding anything unusual in the fine print, she gave her daughter the thumbs up to sign. The nameless employee thanked them and collected the signed documents, promising to return with copies for them. He pointed them to a side table full of refreshments before he left and told them his boss would join them shortly. They'd assumed he meant Julian, but they were wrong.
Ava Jerome strolled into the study with a modest smile on her face, wisely ignoring the death glare coming from her niece.
"Welcome to Jerome manor. I have a few forms I need you to sign." Ava addressed them courteously, but with a professional detachment.
She handed mother and daughter each a folder similar to the one they'd just been handed.
"Your henchman just had us sign these." Alexis huffed. She was an attorney. She knew all about the need for being thorough, but enough already. She wanted answers and her daughter deserved them.
"Not these," Ava explained. "These are above his clearance."
"Above his clearance? I think you need to lay off the spy novels and brush up on your Puzo." Sam snarked.
Ava's only response was a sly grin and a knowing look she shared with Jason which didn't set right with Sam at all. She didn't like the idea of Jason and Ava sharing anything. The woman may have helped Jason escape, but she still didn't trust her. Sam felt Jason's hand tighten around hers and give her a gentle caress with his thumb and she relaxed a little.
"I don't understand." It was Alexis that spoke. Her reading glasses set at the bridge of her nose and she was already several pages deep into the forms they were to sign. "What does the WSB have to do with the Jerome organization?"
One of the forms they were to sign was another NDA, though this one clearly established a connection between the government agency and Julian Jerome as well as all of his employees and business entities under his known name or any assumed aliases. The rest of the package contained several forms regarding security clearances including a questionnaire regularly used by government agencies to grant access to classified information.
"More than you know and I'm afraid that's all I can say on the matter until you have signed those forms." Ava replied as she picked up a saucer from the side table and filled its cup with tea.
She stirred the fresh lemon and honey into her tea and turned to find each of her guests staring at her. "Crumpets anyone?"
"Enough! Mom, let's just sign the damn things so we can get on with this." Sam was not there to play tea party with Auntie Ava.
Alexis sighed and studied the forms again. "As long as we agree not to disclose any of the information revealed to us here today or in the future in regard to Julian Jerome et al, there's nothing here that can hurt us as far as the non-disclosure. But I'm not so sure about all of these questions they have on this security questionnaire."
Ava waved her concern away. "Notice the added clause at the tail end. It waives any and all legal action that could possibly be taken against you for any crimes, foreign or domestic, you may have committed in your past. I would note they make no such promises of future crimes, however, such as stealing cellular devices and hacking secured networks."
Ava's steady gaze let Sam know she knew of her partner's activities, but how could she possibly know Spinelli was the one to hack Derek's computer and lift the burner phone from his office?
Alexis had turned to the noted section and began reading. "So it does," She concurred. "Alright, as my daughter said. Let's just sign the damn things and get on with it."
Once the forms were signed, Ava collected them and nodded to one of the cameras in the corner Sam had noticed when they first entered the room. She watched the double doors as they opened minutes later and Derek Wells, also known to them now as Julian Jerome, appeared.
Sam wasn't sure what she'd expected. Maybe for him to come in dressed more like Sonny now that his true identity as a mob boss was known, but he still looked like Derek to her, the man who saved her son's life and had become a friend or so she thought. His height and build was that of a fit average male, although there was an aura of power and authority in his countenance that demanded attention and proved he was anything other than ordinary.
His face was different from any picture she'd seen due to the reconstructive surgery, but still handsome as ever. He kept his dark brown hair much shorter now, too, but his eyes were the same and it struck Sam in that moment how much they reminded her of her own. Since learning Alexis was her mother, she'd always assumed she'd inherited her brown eyes from her Cassadine lineage. Now, she wasn't so sure and she wasn't sure if that pleased her or not. She didn't want to share any similarities with the heartless man that hurt her family so much and yet she couldn't stop searching his features and gestures for something in common with her father.
Ava watched the group with eager anticipation. It wasn't that she enjoyed watching other people's pain, well not these people at least, but it was natural to be curious how they would react to Derek's arrival and this reaction was nothing like she'd imagined. It was so... lackluster and Ava loathed boring. She was sure Julian would have received at least one slap from his former lover or love child, but nothing. Ever the drama queen, she held dear to the fact it was still early yet; so she was particularly put out when Julian quietly ordered her to excuse them. Reluctant to incur his displeasure, she left the room slowly.
Once she'd exited, Julian spoke again. "I can see from your reaction, you're not surprised to see me."
"True family and friends look out for each other." Sam replied coolly.
Julian hadn't missed her dig at the friendship he'd proposed to have with her while lying to her about his identity. "Fair enough." He nodded.
"You think you deserve fair after what you've done?" Sam huffed.
"No, but I'm grateful you've given me this chance to explain myself." He sounded so sincere and it was in his eyes too, but Sam didn't want to see it. She was afraid to see it, afraid she might start to trust in it if she did.
"There's nothing you can say that will make me okay with what you've done, so if you think I'm just going to hear you out and agree to forgive and forget, you need to think again." Sam wanted answers, but she found herself barely able to restrain her hostility long enough to get them.
"I'm not okay with what I've done either, to be perfectly honest, and I don't think I ever will be. I won't stand here and try to excuse the pain I've caused you and your family, but I will answer for it. I will apologize for it and I will explain the motivations behind it as clearly as I can and hope that somehow you'll find a way to understand why I did what I did even if you're never able to forgive or forget it." Julian's eyes roamed from Sam to Alexis' as he spoke and he realized he'd never seen his daughter's eyes look more like her mother's until that moment and if he read mother and daughter right they were both hurt and mad as hell. He had his work cut out for him.
"Start explaining, Derek, or is it Julian now? I'm sorry. I try to keep up with these things, but I could swear the nameplate I saw on your office door an hour ago still said Derek." Alexis felt like she'd been punched in the gut when Sam told her Derek was Julian. She'd just sat in his office and given him every opportunity to come clean with her and all he'd said was a bunch of nothing with promises of a full explanation soon. Double-talk, she realized, and that made her think of Sonny and that pissed her off because she'd liked Derek. She was mad at him for lying and for hurting her daughter and mad at herself for her terrible taste in men. Julian may not have the dimples, but his charm was every bit as dangerous to her heart as Sonny's and she needed to remember that.
"I prefer Julian, but Derek Wells is my cover and I would appreciate it if you all continue to address me as such in public." Julian took a seat with them in one of the chairs as he spoke. Sam was seated across from him on a sofa between her mother and her husband and Julian couldn't help note the formidable united front they made.
Julian sighed. "What I'm about to tell you is highly classified. I spent the last several hours fighting to gain a top level security clearance for the two of you just to be able to explain myself. As of now you all have the highest level clearance issued to non-employees of the W.S.B."
He caught the quick glance Sam shot at Jason. "He received his clearance a few weeks ago, on the 23rd of August." Julian answered and the two men shared a look. Sam wasn't sure what the look was about, but there seemed to be some kind of mutual understanding between them.
"That was the night Connie Falconeri was murdered." Alexis would never forget that night. She'd driven Connie's distraught cousin, Olivia, to her place of work to check on her sure that Olivia's concern was unfounded only to be met with two uniformed officers guarding the crime scene with Connie's bloodied corpse still lying just inside the doors.
"It was. It was also the day I learned for the first time I was a father, your father." Julian looked his daughter in the eyes and prayed he might see love for him there one day.
"Fact of biology, qualifying as an actual parent takes a lot more than that." Alexis replied.
"I agree and I hope I get the chance to earn that title some day." Julian sighed.
"So, you've known for nearly two months you're my father and chose to lie to me and my mother about it. Got it, but why did you kidnap my husband and allow his family to believe he was dead?" Sam wasn't interested in what he hoped to have one day or, more to the point, she was, but she wasn't ready to hear it. She needed answers before she could even entertain the possibility of allowing her father into any part of her life.
Julian's eyes searched his daughter's and then finally rested on Alexis as he appealed to her with every bit of sincerity he had. "From the minute you told me the story of how Sam was conceived and I remembered our night together, I wanted nothing more than to tell you who I really am to you and to Sam. I wanted to be able to have an honest relationship with my daughter..." His eyes went to Sam. "And my grandson and the mother of my child, but I fought that urge because I couldn't do that without inviting you all into the danger as well. I knew you had the right to know, but I didn't think I had the right to bring you in to all of this and I still don't. As for Jason, to put it simply, it was part of the job." Julian answered honestly.
"What job?" Sam wasn't ready to confront the other things he'd said. She wasn't sure she believed them and a quick glance at her mother told her she was reluctant to believe his story as well.
"Twenty years ago, I entered negotiations with the World Security Bureau. In exchange for information on several international crime syndicates, they agreed to cover me for any past crimes and provide me with a new identity complete with a new name, new face and new career." Julian confessed.
"That sounds like a deal, not a job." Alexis argued.
"It started out as a deal, but things changed." Julian amended. "In the middle of negotiations, word hit WSB that a DVX operative had gone underground to form a new syndicate. Three of those members of that new syndicate were men I'd intended on turning over so, instead, the higher ups decided it was time for WSB to form a syndicate of its own to bring it down. When Paget, the man posing as Duke Lavery, shot me, Agent Robert Scorpio was ordered to falsify my death records and I was recruited to head a new black ops division for the World Security Bureau." Julian confessed and the room was silent for a solid minute.
"You're telling me the WSB hired a known mob boss to head up one of its divisions? That is ludicrous!" Alexis shook her head.
"Is that true?" It was Sam that asked as she looked from her father to her husband who nodded that it was.
"The WSB agreed to fake my death because I was a valuable asset, but they put me in charge of their new black ops division because I was most qualified. I'm a Dartmouth grad with a good mind for business and an above average IQ." Julian answered. "They also needed someone with a flexible moral compass and the right underworld connections who would be highly motivated to perform and no one possessed all of those things and was in better position at that time than me."
"That explains why the WSB might take a chance on you, but why would a ruthless career criminal agree to work for the law?" Alexis wondered.
"Honest answer? Once the higher ups were sold on the idea, my deal was out the window and I was left with the option of sitting in a prison cell or taking them up on their offer of employment. It didn't take long to decide and then my ego took over. I wanted to be the best and to do that I needed to win and the WSB allowed me the freedom to do it by nearly any means necessary. It felt like the best of both worlds and it wasn't until an incident a few years later that my entire outlook on the job became more about doing the right thing than stroking my ego."
"So, you expect me to believe you're one of the good guys after what you did to Jason?" Sam scoffed and shook her head as Jason's hand found Sam's back and gave it a comforting caress.
"On the contrary the WSB didn't start this division for me to be a good guy. That's what the Frisco Joneses, Robert Scorpios and Anna Devanes are for. My job was to be the best bad guy out there and I am, but I can say none of my organization's actions over the last two decades were done without the full knowledge and backing of the World Security Bureau."
"How do we know any of what you're telling us is true?" Alexis wanted to know.
"Due to my return to Port Charles and history with former agent and current local police commissioner, Anna Devane, WSB intends to bring her into the loop. She'll be authorized to confirm all of this to you." Julian answered to their satisfaction.
"What did kidnapping Jason have to do with your job? Were you after Sonny?" Sam couldn't believe what she was hearing except, she did. Somehow this seemed to fall perfectly in line with just how complicated her life had always been; mob enforcer fiance now husband, the District Attorney was her mother, she was a former con-artist and now her father was... what? Somewhere in the middle? She still didn't know.
"The Corinthos organization was not our target at that time, no. The DVX operative I mentioned that went underground to form a new syndicate in 1990? That was Cesar Faison and I've spent the better part of my career shutting him down at every turn. In '92, when everyone thought Faison died in an explosion off the coast of Venezuela, we knew different. He remained elusive, but we managed to keep him boxed in until '99 when he resurfaced in Switzerland under the alias of Herr Kriegg, a jewel thief and associate of Luke Spencer. Unfortunately, Luke didn't realize Kriegg was Faison and one thing led to another and, in no time, Faison had joined forces with Helena Cassadine." At the mention of Helena, Alexis cursed the woman and Sam reached out and took her mother's hand.
Julian noted the gesture with longing before continuing his story. "Once that happened, Faison was on WSB proper's radar and too hot for us to touch. We were ordered to back off and allow WSB to take front and center. After a failed attempt to murder Luke Spencer and Felicia Jones, Faison was presumed dead and that's what we believed as well until he hit our radar in early 2012. We learned then we had Helena to thank for arranging the explosion on Faison's boat in '99 to help fake his death. So, that brings us to 2012 and how Faison came to be on our radar again and how Jason ended up caught in the crossfire." He looked from Jason to Sam, but it was hard to hold her gaze without the guilt eating at him.
Julian sighed. "This job requires me to lead three lives. There's Derek Wells, the media mogul. That's my cover to the world at large. It opens doors and explains excessive travel. Then there's Julian Jerome, the man who runs a black ops division of the WSB disguised as an international crime syndicate. I spent years establishing our division's power-base in Europe as a nameless, faceless bad guy. I took on missions of questionable morals in order to earn a stellar reputation in the international underworld and it paid off. When we go in, we don't just take out one or two criminals. We take down their entire organizations and we do that by hitting them where they live. We strike their legitimate holdings and their money laundering operations. Once they have no way to legally explain all their spending, they're sitting ducks."
"They may have millions, but they have no way of using it without tipping their hand." Alexis concluded and Julian nodded. "Precisely."
Alexis actually looked impressed and then horrified when she considered Sonny and the recent hit he took on one of his coffee shipments, one of his "legitimate holdings," and recalled how Julian just stated Sonny wasn't his target at that time, but was he now?
"Why nameless and faceless? Julian Jerome may have been dead to the world, but why not use Derek Wells or another identity?" It was easy enough to create a new identity and trash it once you were done and Sam should know. She'd spent the better part of her youth living that way.
"It created an air of mystery at first which was needed to draw the flies to the honey. Curiosity eventually gets the better of most. It's human nature. It also served to help us maintain our anonymity as a division of the WSB. Later, it also worked to instill fear in those who might seek retaliation." Julian explained and Jason nodded. It was smart and he could appreciate that.
"We keep a close watch on the market of underworld finance and that's how Faison tripped our radar. He approached some Russian heavy hitters with a lucrative venture. He offered them a new chance at a foothold in Port Charles." Sam felt Jason tense next to her at the mention of Russians and Julian answered the question in Sam's eyes before she could ask. "These are the same men who were partnered with Andre Karpov. They're the ones his attorney, Sasha, reported to. They're also responsible for her murder. Faison discovered their history with Port Charles and used their humility at being run out of town to his advantage."
"Are you saying the Russians are coming back to Port Charles?" Sam reached for Jason's hand. Jason's son, Jake, almost died the last time the Russians were in town and all she could think about in that moment was their son, Danny, and exploding road houses.
"That is what we're here to prevent and I promise you, Sam, we are very good at our jobs." Julian assured her.
"Really? You said yourself it took you twenty years to get Faison!" At Sam's comment Julian shared a look with her husband and this time Sam refused to let it go. "What? What aren't you telling me?"
She looked at Jason and he started to speak, but Julian answered instead. He owed Sam the whole truth and he intended to tell it, not put it off on his daughter's husband. "We're getting to that, but there are a few things you need to know before we do. When Faison made moves last year to bring his racket back to Port Charles, the WSB needed our division to follow. They also needed a name that could convince the Russians why they should trust me to help carry out their plans for Port Charles once Faison was captured. That was the original plan, you see, to capture Faison and take him out of the running while keeping the Russians on the hook so we could take them out too, once and for all."
"That's why the name Julian Jerome suddenly popped up again. You've been leaking it to Sonny intentionally, using his reputation to put the Jerome organization back on the map in Port Charles." Alexis surmised.
Julian's eyes actually twinkled with admiration. She was not only beautiful. She had a brilliant mind, too. She would definitely keep him on his toes and he relished the challenge.
"You said Sonny wasn't your target at the time. What about now?" Alexis did her best to ignore the appreciative look in Julian's eyes and focus, though she couldn't help ask herself why her children's fathers were always gunning for one another.
"We aren't actually out to takeover his business, anymore. Are we Jason?" He looked at Jason as he qualified that and Sam and Alexis followed his gaze.
"No." Jason answered and Julian knew then Jason had spoken to Sonny, as they'd discussed, and was favorable to a truce.
"So, you didn't have anything to do with one of Sonny's freighter's being blown to bits in the harbor recently?" Alexis challenged.
"No, that was us, but I assure you it was not an attempt to move in on Corinthos. It was a necessary show of force to win over the international partners, so we had to make it look that way to both Sonny and the Russians for them to buy it. We took every precaution to ensure no one was harmed." Julian admitted.
Alexis was at a loss with how to respond to that so she decided to move things along. "Get back to the original plan. You said the original plan was to capture Faison and take him out of the running so you could take down the Russians. Faison was captured, so was Jason just fallout from your brilliant plan?" Alexis demanded.
Julian's eyes fell on the way Sam's hand held her mother's. Their love and trust of one another was plain to see and he wanted to share in that with them, to be with the mother of his child and to be a father and grandfather to Sam and Danny. But would they want anything to do with him by the time this meeting was done? Maybe it would be for the best if they didn't. They would certainly be safer.
"Julian," Sam broke him from his thoughts.
"Sorry." He apologized. "The original plan was to capture Faison before he could make a move on Sonny, but he gave us the slip. At the time, we had no idea how he'd eluded us and by the time we would find out, it would be too late to undo a lot of the damage. We couldn't locate Faison, but we knew he would eventually show in Port Charles so we established a low-key presence and we watched and we waited." Julian sighed.
"We knew Faison would make a play on Corinthos, but we failed to anticipate him going through Sonny's children to do it. It was a critical error on my part that could have cost her life." Julian spoke to Alexis directly. "I'm sorry, Alexis. I should have seen it coming and I just..." Julian lost his voice to emotion.
Alexis and Sam shared a mutual look of confusion and concern. It was obvious whatever Julian had to tell them, he held himself responsible and they wondered if they would too.
Julian shook it off. What almost happened to that young girl still stuck with him and to know now that young woman was his daughter's little sister made it even worse. "Faison was the man working with Joe Scully Junior and we never saw it coming. We wouldn't learn this until much later, but Faison disguised himself as Duke Lavery and, together, they threatened Sonny's accountant to have him transfer Sonny's assets into Kristina's name so that Joe's son, Trey, could marry her and acquire those assets. Scully's plan was to kill Kristina so his son would inherit the money, but Faison's plan was to kill all three of them and assume Joe Scully's identity long enough to steal it for himself. It would have had a crippling effect on Sonny's organization, creating a new market for the Russian mafia had the deal not been botched. We were able to help that much at least, but it wasn't in time to save Kristina from what must have been a horrific experience."
Everyone was quiet for a moment as they processed everything they had been told.
"I'm sorry, Alexis. I swear the second we suspected Kristina was the target, we did everything we could to save her. But I didn't catch on quick enough." Something in Julian's eyes made her believe him. He seemed tortured by it and that made her think maybe there was something good in him worth getting to know after all.
Alexis just nodded in response, unable to reconcile all the knowledge and feelings inside.
"When did you realize Faison was in Port Charles posing as Duke Lavery?" Sam said.
"We were working overtime to put the pieces together, but it wasn't until we intercepted an order from Faison for Scully to take out Sonny's accountant, Bernie Abrams, that we made the connection between the two. We sent men to ambush the hit, but we weren't at full operation here in Port Charles at that point. By the time Juan and Vincent tracked Scully down, Mr. Abrams was bleeding out and unconscious and Jason was shot and in the water." Sam grabbed Jason's hand at hearing that, needing the physical reassurance of him still next to her.
"Vincent, Anna Devane questioned Sonny about a man named Vincent something or other who ended up floating in the harbor." Alexis wanted to believe Sonny and Shawn had nothing to do with that man's death, but a part of her still wondered.
Julian returned his eyes to Alexis. "I ran into Vince on Pier 52 after Sonny's men let him go. I debriefed him and then I shot him at point blank range and Ava kicked his sorry ass into the harbor."
"Oh my God," Alexis murmured.
"Why?" Sam said, surprising her father because unlike her mother, Sam appeared unfazed by his admission.
"When we failed to learn of Faison's plan to use Bernie and Kristina against Sonny, I began to suspect a leak in our organization. We set up a few tests and Vince failed. We discovered he'd been turned by Faison. Vincent was the one who stole the WSB technology Faison used to disguise himself as Duke and when we turned over the evidence of his treason, WSB authorized his... termination." Julian explained.
He looked into his daughter's eyes, wanting her to understand his lack of regard for the life he'd taken. "That man stood by as your husband fought to keep his head above water with a gunshot in his back and ordered Juan to let Jason drown just as his new boss, Faison, intended. Juan ignored Vince, fortunately, and jumped in after him. He pulled Jason out and insisted they call me to see how to proceed."
"What happened next? Why keep Jason away from his family?" Sam insisted.
She didn't seem too broken up over him killing the man who wanted her husband dead, Julian noted. A small part of him wanted to take that as a sign that maybe his daughter didn't think of him as a monster after all, but the larger part had to wonder if the truth was Sam just didn't care enough about her newly found father to waste an emotion on him one way or another. Worse, maybe she would be no more broken up over his death after what he'd done to her family.
He continued his explanation, intent on being forthright with her from now on. "Vince checked Bernie while Juan called me. Bernie was still alive, but unconscious, and the cell phone in his hand showed he'd made a recent call to Sonny whom we figured was probably on his way. Our intel at the time also reported local authorities had already been dispatched to the scene. My team didn't have time to save them both and make a clean exit, so I told them to leave the accountant and focus on the higher valued asset."
Sam wanted to lash out at his callousness when the man in front of her described her husband as nothing more than an asset, but she denied that impulse and considered his other words instead. She needed to put the pieces of the puzzle together for her own peace of mind and he was giving her the answers to do that if she could only control her emotions long enough to hear him out. It made sense now why Bernie had told Sonny that Jason had fallen into the harbor, but never mentioned the men who'd pulled him out. He must have lost so much blood by that point that he'd been falling in and out of consciousness and missed it.
Julian's next words regained her focus. "We got Jason the medical attention he needed, but Faison was still at large and so were his Russian partners. Even when Faison was captured, it was still too dangerous to put Jason back out there. We had confirmation the Russians put a contract out on him which they believed Faison carried out. They would have issued another hit had we released him and Jason was still too vulnerable in the condition he was in to defend himself. Broadcasting he was alive would have also put targets on you and your son and everyone Jason cares about. The Russians wouldn't have hesitated to use his family to lure him out of hiding or to exact revenge against him if they believed for a second he was still alive. Kristina Davis was almost killed, because I wasn't proactive enough. I wasn't about to risk a repeat performance. Jason didn't agree with keeping you in the dark, but I felt I was doing what was best, what was safest for everyone involved. My desire to keep you all safe, at any cost, only grew once I learned you were my daughter. I hated lying and I hated what my decision was costing you and your family, but I needed to keep you safe until I could get the situation under control and we worked overtime to see that happen."
"Still," Julian confessed upon further consideration. "I have to admit there were benefits to keeping Jason. It would have been easier to take down Corinthos if needed and we were also able to make use of Jason's expert tactical mind. His advice has become invaluable to me both professionally and personally."
Julian admitted that in an attempt to be completely honest and also as a compliment toward his son-in-law, but he could see his words weren't exactly appreciated by his daughter. He sighed in frustration, unaccustomed with feeling so inept. He was having a hard time talking business with his daughter when that business was her family. His gaze fell on Alexis, wishing she could somehow make him a better parent with the wave of a magic wand or a few choice words of wisdom. But she remained silent, no wand in sight.
The imploring look in Julian's eyes as he stared at her and everything she'd learned, it all became too much for Alexis and she stood to walk it off. Sam sat in her spot on the sofa next to Jason with worry in her eyes for her mother.
Alexis turned back, as if sensing her firstborn's distress, and gave Sam a reassuring smile. "I think I'm just going to have some tea now." She went to pour and the tea pot began to shake in her hands.
"Mom..." Sam stood, but Julian was already at her mother's side.
"Let me." He insisted and the gentleness he showed her mother as he helped her, reminded Sam of the way Jason regarded her.
She looked back at Jason. Jason had told her she didn't know everything and when she did it might change things for her. He said it had for him. She hadn't been able to understand how that could even begin to be true, but she was starting to now.
Sam moved from the sofa to stretch and Jason stood with her as her father tended to her mother on the other side of the room.
Jason felt Sam's tension return full force when Julian mentioned the benefits to keeping him; so he ran his hands down her arms until their hands held and she entwined their fingers and brought them up to pull him closer and into a hug. "How are you holding up?"
"Better with you by my side." Sam told him. "How about you?"
"Fine." Jason replied and Sam rolled her eyes even though he couldn't see. He was always fine. "It's not hard being back here?"
"Better with you by my side." That brought a slight smile to her face, but she knew he was just trying to make it easier on her.
"Jason, what do you really think about Julian?" Sam hadn't asked his thoughts and Jason rarely shared his opinions without invitation. It was actually very polite and she admired that about him, but it could also be infuriating at times too when she really wanted to know what he was thinking.
"I think it's what you think about him that really matters." Jason answered.
"I know, but I trust your instincts and I would like to hear your thoughts." Sam explained.
Jason knew deep down Sam always wanted a good relationship with her biological parents, especially after the experiences she'd had with her adoptive parents. He didn't want her to live with the same regrets he had about his own father, but he also needed to be honest. "I believe he does his job the best way he knows how while hurting as few as possible. I know what it's like to walk that line." Jason shrugged and Sam pulled back to look up at him.
She didn't speak which was unusual for her. She just stared into her husband's eyes and loved him even more. He was making it okay for her to love her father even after the man had held him prisoner for a year.
"I'm very sorry for lying to you." Julian apologized.
"Not as sorry as you will be if you ever hurt anyone I care about again!" Alexis threatened and he didn't realize it, but he'd just met Natasha Cassadine.
"I have no intentions of hurting you or anyone you care about again. Quite the opposite, in fact." Julian swore.
"Does that include Sonny?" Alexis tested.
"You care about him?" Julian teased.
"He is the father of my child." Alexis answered without really thinking her usual response through.
"So am I. Does that mean you care about me too?" Julian smiled and Alexis sipped her tea to hide just how flustered it made her to hear him speak that way.
"Do you think we could start over? I'm Julian... Jerome." He held his hand out to her.
Alexis eyed it skeptically. "Answer my question first."
Julian rolled his eyes as he stood there with his hand left hanging. "Yes, that includes Sonny. I'm prepared to offer him a deal."
"As his attorney, all deals will need to go through me first." Alexis told him.
"I'll be sure to have you there when we discuss it." Julian complied and held his hand up a little higher for her.
Alexis took his hand finally to shake. "Alexis... Davis."
"Nice to see you again, Alex." He teased, both recalling how he'd thought her name was Alex when they first met, then brought his hand up to place a kiss on hers.
Alexis scoffed and rolled her eyes, but not before Julian noticed her blush. "Don't get ahead of yourself." She told him and pulled her hand away. "You still have a long way to go if you want a place in my life or my daughter's."
"Our daughter," Julian corrected and smiled bright at the thought of it. "She's amazing, Alexis, and Danny... I never knew it was possible to love anyone so much so soon. But I'd do anything for that little boy or Sam."
"I'd say you did a lot already." Alexis replied. He'd saved Danny's life, but he'd also caused her daughter immeasurable pain.
A serious look crossed his features as he considered his actions over the last year and nodded.
"Sometimes innocent people get hurt in this business. You don't get used to it and it never becomes acceptable. It's something that stays with you, but it's part of the job. You just do your best to save as many as you can and do as little damage as possible." Julian replied and, as an attorney who'd worked both sides of the courtroom, Alexis found she could relate to that and him more than she'd ever expected. The feeling unnerved her and left her speechless.
Sam watched her mother and father interact with one another from across the room and realized there was still a spark of something between them, even after all this time, and she wondered if her mother would ever allow herself to pursue it.
Alexis reclaimed her seat next to Sam, preferring to put some distance between herself and the feelings their private conversation evoked, as Julian sat across from the three again as well. He'd answered for his actions and explained his motivations, but there was one thing he'd promised at the beginning of their conversation he had yet to do.
"I am so sorry, Sam, for every second of pain my actions caused you and your family. It was too late to take back what I'd done and too soon to reveal it, but, when I learned Jason's son was sick, I did what I could to help. I arranged for Jason to be tested as a donor. He was a match, but the infection at the time prevented him from donating until he'd healed."
"That's the real reason you volunteered as a donor." Alexis realized.
"I wasn't lying, completely. I did feel guilty about bumping Danny's story from page one, but I felt even worse about keeping Jason from his child when he needed him." Julian admitted.
Running that story about his niece's true paternity instead of the donor drive announcement for Daniel Morgan had been a necessary evil in his fight to keep ELQ out of the hands of the enemy, thereby saving the community at large as well as the immediate safety of his sister's daughter, Jason and his family. A corporation headquartered in Port Charles with international ties made for a great choice as the Russian mafia's new front. It would have given them a decided advantage in their attempts to infiltrate Sonny's territory and the fact that the business was owned by the family of the man that had run them out of town the first time gave them ample reason to make ELQ International their prime target.
"Infection?" Sam turned to Jason in question.
"I'm fine." Jason reassured her, but she wasn't convinced.
"What happened?" Sam looked to her father for answers.
Julian issued Jason an apologetic look before continuing. "Our surgical team repaired the damage caused by Faison's bullet, but Jason developed a systemic infection that traveled to his bloodstream. It required the treatment of a specialist."
"Silas," Sam guessed.
"He owed us one." Julian answered cryptically. "And since he specializes in hematology as well as oncology, he was brought in to consult then retained as Jason's primary physician."
"You said Jason was sick after the surgery, but that was a year ago. Have you been sick all this time?" Sam turned back to Jason again.
"No, and I'm fine now." Jason insisted.
Sam wanted to believe him, but she knew how stubborn Jason was when it came to his health. She turned to her father with concern in her eyes and Julian felt helpless not to answer even though he believed it was a discussion best left between husband and wife. Fortunately, an interruption prevented him from being pulled in the middle.
"Julian," All melodramatic pretense had been dropped as Ava addressed her brother and the change in her took Sam and Alexis by surprise.
Julian excused himself and made his way over to his sister as the two began speaking in lowered voices. Ava's voice rose at the end right before Julian turned from her in obvious disagreement.
"My sincere apologies ladies. Jason, may I have a word?" Jason stood, but stopped short of following him away from Sam. He had no intentions of keeping anything from his wife ever again, but Sam was the first to voice her objection.
"If we're going to have any chance at all, you need to stop with the secrets." Sam told Julian.
"This is business." Julian explained.
"If you're involving my husband in your business, you're making it personal for me." Sam answered.
Julian sighed with a wayward glance back to Ava which told her, her big brother was about to fold.
"This is not 'Bring your daughter to work' day, Julian. We have over two dozen lives at stake right now; agents, civilians... Not to mention..." Ava persisted.
"I know what we stand to lose Ava." Julian silenced her with a hard glare before his eyes softened on Sam again. "I also know what my daughter stands to lose if Jason accepts my offer. She has clearance now and she has a right to know."
Ava acquiesced with a roll of her eyes and shake of her head. There wasn't time to argue, especially when she wouldn't win. She knew her brother well enough to recognize when he'd dug his heels in.
"You asked what it was Jason and I hadn't shared with you yet." Julian reminded and Sam nodded. "I learned early this morning Cesar Faison escaped." He watched as Sam's hand blindly reached for her husband's and rushed to reassure her. "I sent my best team to track him."
"They found him?" Jason felt the adrenaline within surge at the prospect.
"They have." Julian confirmed and Sam looked up at Jason in concern as his hand absently tightened on hers until she squeezed back and he remembered she was there. "Marcus just reported in with an update. An associate of Faison's by the name of Liesl Obrecht posed as Anna Devane so that she could take him into custody and help him escape. Taggert's team tracked them down to Cassadine Island."
"Nothing good ever happens on that island." Alexis swore under her breath and wondered if she'd heard right. Former PCPD Detective, Marcus Taggert, was working for Julian now? Considering his history and what she'd just learned of Julian's operation, she couldn't say it surprised her. Taggert had spent his time on the police force of Port Charles with a dogged determination to put Sonny Corinthos, alleged boss of the biggest organized crime syndicate on the Eastern Seaboard, behind bars or worse.
"They'd already left," Julian continued. "But they caught up with another former associate of his instead, Jerry Jacks."
"Jerry? Even if he survived the explosion last year, shouldn't he be dead of radiation poisoning by now?" Alexis pointed out.
"Soon, I'm told, unless the doctor he's held hostage the last year manages to find the cure." Julian informed.
"With any luck that doctor is a moron." Alexis grumbled.
"It's Dr. Robin Scorpio-Drake."
"What?" "Oh my God," and deadly silence were his only responses.
His eyes rested on Jason. "Jerry says she's alive. Her death was staged so Faison could win Anna over when he returned her safe and sound. When Faison was captured, the doctor he had working on the cure was forced into hiding so Jerry made use of Robin."
"Where is she? Where's Faison?" That's all Jason wanted to know. Robin risked her life saving his and until that minute he'd believed she died for him. He needed Faison dead and he needed the people he loved safe.
"That's what Ava just came in to confirm. We sent in an operative to determine if the story Jerry gave Marcus is true."
"Doubtful," Alexis scoffed and Julian began to wonder about the hostility she held toward the man. It sounded as if some personal history had been shared there between the two and he bristled at the thought.
"Ordinarily, I would agree. But this time we have his life to hold over him as leverage. He claims Nikolas Cassadine found Robin while searching for his friend's missing baby. Obrecht kidnapped her grandchild to show him off to Faison. Apparently, Obrecht and Faison share a daughter and the infant is their grandson. Jerry managed to gain the upper-hand and the three, along with the infant, were taken back to Port Charles as hostages by Obrecht and Faison so Robin could engineer another dose of the cure using the first patient's blood. It seems Luke Spencer managed to score the original dose intended for Jerry. Our man made visual. Jerry's intel is good. Faison is on Spoon Island and so is Robin."
"When do we go in?" Jason stated his intent before Julian could ask and had his body not been so wracked with tension he would have felt Sam stiffen next to him at his response.
"There's a catch." Ava warned. "WSB has reported Anna and Robert MIA. Jerry revealed they were captured during pursuit of Faison and are being held on Cassadine Island as leverage for Dr. Scorpio to complete her task."
"Simultaneous strike," Jason proposed and Julian agreed, once again appreciating the quickness Jason Morgan's mind strategized. "We'll position ourselves on Spoon Island and the second Taggert has Anna and Robert, we'll move on Faison and get Robin and the other hostages to safety."
"Marcus says their side should be good to go in three. They want to hit during the next guard rotation." Ava added.
Jason nodded and finally looked to Sam. He realized she'd been quiet and was no longer holding his hand. He searched her eyes waiting for her to respond, but she never did.
"Excuse me, please. Alexis, Sam I wish we had more time to discuss things further, but maybe this is for the best. I'm sure you both need time to process. I am not a patient man by nature, but I promise not to push... too much." He half-smiled and hoped, soon, they might all have something to really smile about.
Julian noted the time. "Ava and I have a conference with Marcus in five. Jason, would you mind joining us in ten?"
Jason nodded and watched for a brief moment as Julian and Ava made their exit before turning back to his wife and her mother.
He could see Alexis fighting to hold her tongue almost literally, the impulse to respond was so intense, but she wasn't the only one biting her tongue. Sam remained silent as well and that was what worried him.
Page 22 of 22 Created: 2014-02-04 Updated: 2015-01-21 Words: 8542 Characters: 46712