Author's Note: I'm BAAAAAAAAA-AAAAAAAACK! Thanks for all the love support and reviews! Lucky you this chapter is NICE and LONNNNNNNNNG!

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Chapter 13: New Foundation Laid in the Ashes of Old Complexes

Jason stood watching as flames flickered in his icy blue gaze, but his mind remained elsewhere.

In the weeks since Carly's exodus with the kids, a lot had changed. Dr. Scorpio-Drake hadn't been willing to give up on him after their run-in over Jake's. She'd tried everything she could think of to "get through" to him and he'd been just as adamant in disinterest until finally he realized that nothing short of something drastic would do. So he agreed to meet her at the bridge that had been so symbolic of their relationship.

**Flashback**

Jason, as still and silent as a statue, watched from the opposite side of the bridge as she pulled up. So predictable, he mocked internally before pressing the button cupped in the palm of his hand. He couldn't hide the twinkle of amusement and anticipation that filled his eyes as the bridge blew sky high just as she started to open her car door.

Part of him almost felt bad at the look of pain on her face and that he'd had to go so far to make her truly see him, but she'd stood between him and his happiness once too often. And while he didn't hate her, he couldn't find any love or liking in himself for her and had only been losing more respect for her by the day. So it's come to this… taking a page from Carly's melodramatic book to make a point, he thought remembering other over-the-top gestures he'd made in business. Maybe she has been a bad influence all these years, he thought with an amused smirk.

He'd been jolted from his thoughts when Robin had taken a few steps forward until their gazes met through the dust of the demolished bridge. He'd watched sadness, acceptance, and pain fill her gaze and without another word or thought he'd turned and left.

**End Flashback**

Johnny had gotten a real kick out of that video.

Speak of the devil, he smirked feeling his right hand's arrival. "What happened to keeping a low profile and Sonny not knowing you're alive?"

"Please," Johnny snorted. "That fucker's still locked up in Greystone in the process of losing it. Hasn't left since he got word that Carly ditched town with his kids for parts unknown… especially after your little tidbit about Courtney not dying from that virus. Nice touch, by the way! And when are you gonna finish dropping the bomb?"

"About him marrying his poor sister instead of Claudia who actually planned to go through with marrying me instead? Or about the baby he almost had with her?" he deadpanned. "When the time is right, but we can't risk leaks."

"We have him locked up air tight, Jase man," Johnny sighed. "He gets nothing we don't WANT him to have. He's totally dependent on you and his faith in your loyalty. He's not even aware of this bloody little statement you've been making."

"Good."

"One request," Johnny said solemnly taking the single raised eyebrow as the ok to continue. "I wanna be there when you tell him. I'm looking forward to seeing him fall apart. I've been waiting for him to get his for a very long time."

"The Five Families?" Jason asked stoically although the amusement dancing in his otherwise cold gaze was clear approval of his best friend's request.

"Done," Johnny smirked. "Gotta say this has to be the fastest, most efficient—if a little bloody—power grab in the history of the business. You even managed to scare the Russians and Chinese, back down the Irish, and gain the respect and favor of the Japanese. Bravo, Jase! And welcome back!"

"Good to be back," he quipped before like quicksilver becoming serious again. "Any word from Nikolas?"

Johnny heaved a sigh. "Nothing new, but it shouldn't be long now. After tonight especially. Gotta say he's got one hot little ticket on his hands there. If she wasn't taken, I might be tempted."

Unable to disagree as the memory of a bet and a game of pool drifted across his mind, Jason chose instead to offer an ambiguous hum as his only response.

"You know who she reminds me of?" his friend continued, watching his boss with no small amount of amusement.

"Who?" Jason drawled genuinely curious as he pulled out his phone.

"Carly," he deadpanned with a nonchalance his focused, amused gaze belied.

"Mm—Wait, WHAT?!" Jason snapped freezing as stared at Johnny incredulity plain on his usually implacable face.

"Come on, Jase," Johnny laughed with a shake of his head. "They both have a certain presence and sex appeal. Both are brash and bossy with a sense of humor and a crazy accurate people sense. Both are quick with a plan and in desperate need of a steadying force. Hell, they even look a little bit alike except Claudia's got that dark Mediterranean princess thing and Carly's got that beachy blonde all-grown-up thing going."

Jason's frown deepened when another pool game from the much more distant past superimposed itself over the night Spinelli interrupted his game with Claudia. Something suddenly clicked. "Shit," he growled his thoughts setting him back into motion. "Stan."

Johnny watched in confusion wondering what he was missing. Somewhere in his attempt to tease his friend about the similarities between his beloved and his enemy-turned-ally, Jason had got the urge to call one of the tech whizzes. It had become a daily event for Jason to call Stan since he'd transferred the job of finding Carly and the kids to him so Spinelli could focus on helping them take down Helena for once and for all. Quickly reassessing their conversation, he swiftly tried to find the connection. Only one of the many possibilities and impossibilities seemed feasible and yet even then it wasn't until he heard his friend's next words that he allowed himself to truly consider it.

"Find me Luke Spencer."

"Oh, for fuck's sake," Johnny grumbled. "You've GOT to be fucking kidding me!"

"I wish," his friend sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose and hanging up his phone. "Should make for an interesting conversation when they call. 'So how long have you known you were Carly's fucking twin sister?'"

"What if she doesn't know?" Johnny suggested following along as his friend stomped away in a rage. "She could have been how Frigid Bitch hooked up with Psycho Zacchara Senior."

Jason paused considering his friend's words. "Fucking Helena fucking Cassadine!" he growled as he continued his progress. As he considered his next step, he remembered the night a few weeks ago that the last of his illusions about himself and the autonomy he had over his life burned away.

**Flashback**

Jason entered the room to find Johnny waiting as ordered.

"What's up now?" Johnny watched his best friend and boss with no small amount of trepidation knowing whatever had made Jason risk revealing his presence to Sonny before they were ready had to be huge. But Jason remained silent as he made swiftly his way to the night table, cleared it, and deftly moved it closer to where he and Johnny were seated on the bed. He placed the briefcase held before him there, slid the cover from would appeared to be a keyhole, and held his finger there. Even through the snick that suggested blood was drawn, Jason maintained an almost robotic silence and stillness, not even flinching... his whole focus on the briefcase in front of him.

A click seconds later, and the briefcase opened. Jason removed the cell phone and placed his eye to the ocular. After a few beeps, the monitor and three buttons lit up: play, pause, and rewind. Jason hit play and leaned back slightly to give Johnny a better view of the player.

Immediately, Nikolas Cassadine's image appears on the screen.

"Hello, Jason," Nikolas greeted somberly with just a hint of irony. "I hope you don't mind me contacting you especially in this manner unexpected, but it will pale in comparison to the many outlandish and seemingly impossible revelations I am tasked with imparting to you. I, myself, have found the machinations unearthed to be both shocking and, frankly, unbelievable, but I ask that you suspend your disbelief until I have revealed all.

"I'll begin at the beginning and long before I realized. This all truly began with the vendetta my grandmother has nurtured since my grandfather Mikkos's death. She blamed the Spencer and Scorpio families in their entirety for the actions of Luke and Robert in stopping the weather machine and bringing about Mikkos's demise. But while never overtly acting upon it, she also blamed the Quartermaines for Alexandra being Mikkos's mistress and failures as his assistant. Since that time, her goal has been to rebuild the Cassadine family and destroy her perceived enemies. Many of her plots have failed... until she changed targets.

"It wasn't until she felt Luke and his children were too aware and prepared for her attacks, especially after all she'd done to Lucky, that she really decided set her sights elsewhere within the Spencer family."

"FUCK!" Johnny snapped as realization hit.

Jason just nodded his eyes never leaving the screen.

"On Carly," Nikolas continued. "She always saw great potential in Caroline for good or ill, but there was one person standing in her way: You. Once it became clear that you were by no means as deficient as previously believed and unfailingly loyal to Carly, she had her doctors reassessing your test results. It proved that despite his medical genius, Dr. Jones was by no means infallible. It verified that while certain aspects of your persona as it applies to sentimentality had been to some degree impaired other areas had seen drastic improvements. Most affected proved to be your memory, logic center, capacity for loyalty, devotion, and focus, and you mental acuity and precision. For instance, while long-term memories had been lost, your photographic memorization capabilities had been enhanced. The fact that Sonny had brought you into the mafia was an unforeseen twist in fate... the placing of finely honed weapon in potentially the most dangerous possible environment.

"As time went on you re-learned kindness, compassion, and other emotions, but it wasn't until your connection with Carly became cemented through Michael that you really hit her radar. She had hopes for bringing Carly under her wing and molding her into ultimate weapon against all of her enemies in Port Charles. However, Michael changed everything... and at the same time blocked Helena-if only temporarily. She anticipated Robin being what would wedge you apart and so she focused her attention on her plans for Lucky. By the time she was ready to refocus on Carly, you had just freed her from Ferncliffe.

"However, she underestimated your bond and it quickly became clear that Robin not Caroline would be the odd woman out. It was much later, well after Sonny's return, Robin's betrayal, the revealing of Michael as AJ's son, and AJ with the Quartermaines that Helena began reevaluating how best to use Carly against her enemies. It took some time, but she chose Sonny as her weapon of choice.

"He can't be saying what it sounds like," Johnny growled as Jason stiffened.

"The night Carly decided to leave AJ, Helena struck," Nikolas intoned. "Just after she'd seen Jason dancing with Elizabeth, she was grabbed and injected with an experimental drug and then released. The drug was meant to lessen inhibitions, increase libido, and become susceptible to suggestion. And she was released with the suggestion that Sonny would tell her the truth. That betrayal was meant to be the final nail in the coffin of your relationship."

"It nearly was," Johnny grumbled feeling the pain and rage over what was done to his two best friends in the world. He slanted his eyes to his friend who stiffened as if having taken a hit, before a tear slipped down his cheek.

"As much as I hate to say it, I can only assume that the child conceived was just icing to my grandmother," Nikolas continued solemnly, obviously sickened. "When you left, Jason, she had a chip placed in your brain. Only parts of your memory of that time away is true because a part was spent in surgery and recovery. The chip was meant to discourage you to reconnect with Carly and encourage you to fight only for relationships that push you and Carly apart. The surgery on the piece of plastic Patrick removed was not from the dashboard of AJ's car; it was the chip...

"That chip was meant to encourage your loyalty to anyone other than Carly. That's why when you returned you kept pushing Carly into Sonny's arm. It was supposed to be subtle, but grow stronger. Helena intended to act sooner on her plans for Caroline as evidenced by my father's interaction with her, but after losing him again, she became distracted by first Emily and later Courtney and their involvement with me and the fact that Courtney supported your bond with Carly and Emily 'betrayed' me.

"She was furious that two 'upstarts'-as she refers to them-would reach so high as to dare involve themselves in her family and her agenda," Nikolas explained, "no matter how unintentionally in some circumstances. And so she decided to use both of them in her machinations as payment for their actions.

"Sadly, it appears that all of the other plots so easily foiled were intended as distractions from her master plan, a large part of which revolved around Courtney. Helena built an association with an illegal organization you may be familiar with."

"The Zaccharas," Jason breathed speaking for the first time. The tension and fury in the room became even more palpable.

"The Zacchara family," Nikolas stated. "Namely Anthony Zacchara. It seemed he'd actually had some sort of tumor-inspired dementia that Helena's doctors managed to cure unbeknownst to anyone including Trevor Lansing and has since been faking those bouts of dementia for years. They hit it off and found they had Port Charles in common in their plans. In exchange for supplying the cure as a show of good faith, they created an alliance. He would take down Corinthos, and by extension you, and she would use that to help take down the Quartermaines and Spencers. She feels that Robin has single-handedly done most of her work for her and thus the Scorpio family is no longer a priority.

"Anthony is the one who found out that Diego still lived and contacted him about playing his part. Trevor and Johnny running were just the catalysts to a long thought out plan, although neither were aware of much if any of the plans. There was only one potential wild card and it came from Zacchara's family tree."

"You GOT to be fuckin' KIDDIN' me!" Johnny exploded and Jason tensed as Nikolas turned and the camera panned back unveiling a familiar brunette beauty.

"Hello, Jason."

"I know, I know," she quipped. "Reports of my demise were largely... overestimated, for lack of a better word. I'd ask if you missed me, but considering you've already gotten engaged again and nearly married the chick, I'll save it."

"Claudia," Nikolas sighed with no small amount of amusement and affection. "There was one big hitch in the plans Anthony had to control his son and the Port Charles mob and that was Ms. Zacchara here. So an addendum to the original plan was made that entailed a botched hit on Sonny that could be laid at Claudia's feet."

"Holy shit!" Johnny hissed as Jason straightened.

"That's right, Jason!" Claudia piped up. "When Devlin tried to warn you, it wasn't just me or Jerry he was talking about. I ordered the hit on Sonny, but no mattered how meticulously planned it would have gone wrong and hit the wrong target. Had it not been Devlin, it would have just been a misplaced bomb or poison in the wrong drinking glass. The target wasn't Michael specifically. It could have been Morgan or Elizabeth, for all Helena cared. As long as it wasn't Carly, set you after me, and it pissed you off enough to distract you from your family with Carly, it would have served its purpose. I just wanted Sonny gone so my brother could be safe. My father and Helena wanted you distracted with Sonny just another mess you'd have to clean up."

"But how...?" Johnny rasped as his stomach dropped. Jason stared in shocked pain. Claudia and Nikolas exchanged a pained glance.

"Um, this is difficult for me," Nikolas choked out.

"He's only had the last three months to grasp the entire picture," Claudia interjected sound sad though resolute. "I brought him in after I had a clearer picture of Helena's whole plot, and some of this we've pieced together since then, but... The last time I was in Port Charles, I was getting ready to marry you in order avoid marrying Sonny and hopefully, protect Johnny while I found a way out of the tragedy that was Michael's shooting. When I stepped away to go to the bathroom, I was grabbed and replaced. Helena had just been waiting for her moment to do the swap, but she had to be sure I wouldn't do something to screw things up like marry you first." Claudia looked to Nikolas. "My double was taken by having her death faked during the outbreak and had been surgically enhanced and enduring reconditioning ever since. She, uh, I mean, it was, uh..."

"It was Courtney, Jason," Nikolas finished a tear trailing his cheek. "She was brainwashed to believe she really was Claudia and put into play with one objective: to make you as suspicious of her as possible while still making every outward attempt to hide her secret. To fulfill that objective, the first step she was required to take was to marry Sonny Corinthos."

"FUCK!" Johnny exploded. "Her fuckin' BROTHER! That bitch is gonna FRY for this!"

Meanwhile, Jason appeared gutted even as he tried to hold it together. "Michael can NEVER know. Not. EVER."

"Well, I woke up in a cell," Claudia virtually growled. "To the sound of your supposedly dead sister swearing you'd found her only to be shortly replaced by a video from my father MOCKING me with my fate for crossing him. We believe the reconditioning and the torture from Jerry with the disks together drove her over the edge, not to mention being forced to do so many things she would normally find mentally and morally reprehensible, like sleeping with and conceiving a child with... well, you know.

"I finally managed to get free about six months or so ago and freed the other two captives," Claudia explained. "Emily and another who had been taken as insurance for later due to his... well.."

"Alan," Nikolas interrupted again. "They took Alan and ended up using him to keep Emily in line."

Claudia immediately picked up. "When I went to grab Emily to prove my intentions-and because NO ONE deserves to be left in that bitch's clutches and ANYTHING I can do to fuck up her plans is a pleasure and an HONOR-but when I did, she told me about him. We barely made it out alive. I would have made contact sooner, but I had to immediately go underground through some sources I KNEW my father and Helena knew nothing about. I start moving us around and trying to gather as much info on her operation as possible, but when I got as far as I could, I brought Nikolas in."

"Meanwhile, after seeing the failure of her plans for my father-plans that Caroline would have been instrumental in if not for Sonny," Nik picked up the story, "my dear 'cousin', Samantha McCall, had been placed with Corinthos through Jax around the time it was believed you would be most distracted and Carly most vulnerable. You jumping into protect Sonny's interest under the guise of protecting Carly's-thanks to that chip-was a delicious and unexpected bonus and shifted everything. We are still unaware how much the little con artist was aware of and when you became her full time job when ever Elizabeth wasn't proving significantly distracting. Elizabeth's part in this appears innocent as far as Helena is concerned, but there are still layers to her machinations we have yet to unearth. We still don't know where my real cousin is or whether she's still alive. But now that the chip is out, you're more yourself than you've been in years and you can consider working with us to bring Helena down once and for all. We will need you and Spinelli and any among the people you trust implicitly will not run to Sonny telling tales. We need this handled carefully. But first there are two people who'd like to say hi."

He leaned forward to turn the camera on what appeared to be a table where Emily was assisting Alan and they were entering and taking seats. "Jason," Alan rasped brokenly, his expression clearly reflecting the bitter sweetness of the moment. "I've missed you and your mother and grandfather, son. I love you."

"Dad," Jason barely breathed as he slid to the floor in shock. Johnny rested a hand on his friend's shoulder in support.

"Hey, Jase!" Emily chirped excited. "Things have been totally crazy, but Nik and Claudia have been protecting us. Claudia is pretty cool, ya know! She's been getting me up to date about music and movies. Maybe when I get home, you, me and little Michael can do a movie night-I mean, well, he's pretty big now, huh? Claudia and Nikolas have been trying to help me fill in the blanks Helena put in my memory. It's funny... I always figured it'd be you and Lucky who find me. God, I hear he's all grown up and a COP of all things! I miss him... and you. And mom and AJ and Grandfather and Grandmother. I mean, I know AJ and Lila were already gone, I mean, sort of, but it's just weird with so many of my memories gone, ya know I figure if anyone can understand memory loss, it's you since you lost yours twice. Glad the second one didn't take."

She looked off the camera. "Nik is signaling time's up, so I'll see ya later, big brother. And we love and miss you."

"Hug your mother for us, son," Alan added as Emily helped him up and out of the room, tears shining in their eyes.

The camera turned back. "That is just a part of what is at stake," Nikolas stated solemnly. "And Claudia has worked harder than anyone to see everyone free and bring Helena and Anthony down. She had been instrumental in tracking down Alexis's REAL daughter, Nikita. She is indispensable so if you can't put aside you feelings regarding her part in the hit that got Michael shot, we will find another avenue to protect Emily and Alan and see to Helena's destruction for the safety of all."

"I want you to know that I am sorry that I allowed myself to be used to hurt so many innocents, however unintentionally," Claudia added. "I would never wish this kind of pain on anyone, but maybe if you could channel that fury where it belongs... on Helena, we can get justice or vengeance for Michael, Alan, Courtney, Emily, and everyone else harmed by Helena's maliciousness. And protect our families from more of the same in the future."

Nikolas took her hand. "We will contact you soon for your decision. If you cannot forgive and accept Claudia, then we will simply set up contact with Emily and Alan periodically until this matter is resolved. The choice is yours."

The screen went blank.

**End Flashback**

He'd been shaken to the core that night, but he'd taken Claudia and Nikolas's words to heart and chosen to forgive Claudia. She had saved his father and sister and while they would likely never have been too close, but now. After taking some time to try to deal and talking to Johnny, the decision was made. The search for Carly and the kids would be put on the backburner, in favor of taking down Anthony and Helena, so they would be safe whether they returned or not. The first step they took was in neutralizing Sonny. Jason made him aware of the possibility that Courtney didn't really die during the outbreak. Sonny had wanted to rush out and do what he usually did, fuck up everything, but as he had in the past, Jason managed him. He told him that his sources warned him that the person responsible might have infiltrated the organization and they had to lay very low if there was any hope of finding her and bringing her home. He'd also explained the more people who knew the more likely they would all be in danger. Sonny'd bought it and had been holed up drinking at Greystone ever since. As he watched his supposed best friend and partner spiraling out, for once, he'd just sat back and enjoyed it, for the first time, truly reveling in another's pain. He and Johnny had set plans in motion with Nik and Claudia. This was one time he was glad that Carly had a plan-getting away from Port Charles with the kids-and that it was actually working.