In the quiet, quaint city of Suzdal, A large, horse drawn carriage stopped in front of the large, abandoned castle. Sam opening the door; her hair now a bright shade of strawberry blonde as she descended the steps down to the icy ground. Jason followed in suite; a fall beard and mustache glued onto his face with rimmed glasses. "Thank you for the ride, sir." Sam gave her best southern accent while draping her arms over Jason's shoulder to appear like the happily married couple 'Steven and Victoria Caldwell'. In both of their arms were brown paper bags full of groceries as they started the long walk up each step to the large and imposing black door.
"It looks kind of...bleak," Jason grimaced as Sam nodded in agreement. "Yeah... well, that's my family," she conceded, a hint of resignation in her tone. Setting the bags down, Sam pulled out a set of keys; one particular key in question appear old and large as she slowly inserted it into the lock; turning it but struggling to get it to completely turn. "Here, let me try." Jason offered setting his bags down as she moved out of his way; he began applying as much force as he could muster before the key slowly rotated fully around before he forced the door open; a gust of dust engulfing them in the face as they both let out a loud cough. "Jesus, I think it's probably been centuries for your family!" He coughed out as she waved the dust around. Jason slowly pushed the door open; cobwebs stretching through the door frame as he swept them loose.
The floor was stone; that was about all that Sam could identify as the rest appeared grim and weathered; Picking up the bags and Walking in, Jason retrieved the key before closing the heavy door, a loud bang emanating from it as Sam swiftly pulled the wig off of her head. "I am so glad to get this thing off!" Sam cried out happily while Jason took his glasses off before slowly peeling the mustache from his face. "I don't think you wanna talk about whose disguise was more uncomfortable." He warned as She took the mustache from him before helping him pull the large, thick beard from his face, each rip ending with a wince. "Quit being such a baby." Sam chuckled getting the last bit of the beard of; rubbing his smooth face in the process, a moment of silence between them before they both glanced away, focusing on their surroundings.
"What a dump!" She shook her head as Jason's eyes widened. "Sam, 'dump' might be a bit harsh; it's not the four seasons or anything but it has a certain charm..in the right light." The air was stale, filled with dust and a musty odor. The dim sunlight barely illuminated the worn tapestries on the walls. A faded, threadbare carpet lay on the cold stone floor."Jason, you are very kind but the only person that would find this place charming would be their left, a decaying staircase led upwards; a ragged runner extending the length of the stairs as they slowly ascended them before a horrified shrill erupted from Sam. "What, What is it?" Jason yelled out, caressing Sam as she quickly began flipping her hair up and down while searching through it. "I think there's a spider in my hair!" She cried out, Jason eventually making her stop only to show that she'd walked into a cobweb and had been dragging it with each flail.
"I don't like bugs!" Sam confessed feeling rather stupid at that very moment. "Duly noted." He acknowledged with a smirk before they continued the rest of the way up the stairs. "Wow; whose that?" Jason asked stopping in front of a large oil painting. Sam stared up from behind him taking note of her grandfather's eyes. "That is my grandfather Mikkos Ivanovich Cassadine and his brother's Victor and Tony; and their little sister, Sophia with their parents but I don't remember them all that much, I don't even think I ever met them. I think they died before my mother was even born." Sam explained staring up at the matriarch; she was beautiful with full; wavy, brown hair, resembling Sam in more ways than just her hair but her facial expression expressed nothing but hatred and anger. "No wonder Grandfather fell in love with Helena.." Sam quipped under her breath making it up the rest of the stairs to a long, dreary hallway.
"This doesn't scream a sense of impending doom at all.." Sam joked. She wasn't really nervous at all; she'd known that no one had been in that place since her grandfather was a middle aged man; but her grandmother was actually killed in that castle by Helena, in front of her young daughter, Sam's mother; Natasha Cassadine; or as everyone else called simply called her 'Alexis'. "Sam.." Jason spoke following closely behind her, not even really looking where they were walking, his gaze focused on the filthy floor when she stared back at him. "What is my family like?" He asked as she sighed. "Their loud, opinionated, strong-willed, highly praised and really a tight-knit family." She'd only been to the Quartermaine' a few times in her entire life; one was a end of the year party when she was 16; she'd gotten so drunk and passed out in a room upstairs where she dreamed of kissing Jason.
"I've heard them being described as dysfunctional; and with the exception of your aunt Tracy; and occasionally your Father, I personally don't see it but what do I know, my family is only the paragon of actual dysfunction and homicidal tendencies." She chuckled as Jason gave an uncomfortable smile. "I'm joking, Jason.." She assured him with slight nod of the head; knowing that she really wasn't that far off on her original assessment of her family. "There are so many rooms, Which one are we staying in?" We? she thought to herself; did he think that 'they' were staying in a room together. Sam was a grown woman and had no problem with the close proximity but damn, it was like dangling a cherry limeade popsickle out to her on a sizzling day, her throat parched from dehydration, a single bite all that she really needs but you can never take one bite; and the next thing you know, you've eaten the whole damn popsickle and are searching for the box.
"Sam?" He broke her train of thought as she gazed up at him. His electric blue eyes taking her in for a moment. "I am sorry. I didn't think. I can stay across the hall if you'd like." She stood blankly for a moment; really wanting to take a metaphoric bite out of that popsickle. "What the hell, Sam? He isn't himself! Literally, you'd be taking advantage of him!" She told herself as she nodded. "That's probably a good idea." She could see the disappointment in his face as he nodded. Sam never thought she'd ever be in a situation where Jason Quartermaine was let down on not getting to share a bedroom with her; she understood that he had amnesia but it was literally like she'd stepped into 'The Twilight Zone'. "I'll tell you what, why don't you pick out where you wanna sleep while I'm putting up the groceries and I will stay in the room next door." Sam offered as he nodded before she turned back; picking up her steps before jogging down the stairs; nearly busting her ass in the process.
She picked all the bags up from the ground and brought them further into the first floor, nearly dying when she got to the kitchen. "thank god we went against buying perishables" Sam stammered while staring grimly in the decaying odor coming off the fridge before she'd even opened it. "Yea, I'm not doing that." Sam said dropping both bags on the counter before going to retrieve the other two. The kitchen appeared like it'd probably been breathtakingly beautiful in it's day but appeared more in ruin in the current time. It was a chefs kitchen and at least the mohogany blacksplash behind the gas over was still in phenomenal condition despite the dust and mildew but those were all things that could be cleaned. Sam unloaded the bags; the purchases mainly being things like nuts, canned goods, dried fruits, she'd grabbed some powdered milk for a box of Frosted Flakes but wasn't entirely certain how it'd fare in the current setting of the kitchen.
The slaming of the front door, had Sam ripping at a nearby butcher knife; a tiny spider crawling over her hand as she swiftly flung it away, doing her best not to scream her lungs off as she sidestepped through the kitchen, glancing over the large pillar into the foyer before proceeding further into the darkness. There was no way anyone could have found them here; she'd only jus.."Sam!" a voice came up beside her as she slashed into thin air before the knife was knocked from her grasp and she was put on her back. Who the hell was it? Sam winced as she slowly rose back up to her feet when the lights began to flicker on revealing the one woman who could actually reach Jason Quartermaine, really reach him cause she knew him about as well as he knew himself or had known himself before the accident. "Robin Scorpio." Sam breathed out; an expression of relief and gratitude washed over her, she was chartering in new territory with Jason; and she couldn't help but feel like Robin would be far more successful with him.
"Why do you look so surprised? You called!" Sam nodded; she had called her but she didn't expect for her to get there so quickly. "They've got rats the size of dogs down in the basement!" a man's voice peered in as he walked in through the basement. "Sam, this is my husband, Patrick. He specializes in brain injury and I've made him swear to all that is good and holy such as what is remaining between his legs that he not breathe a word about any of this to anyone back home or in Manhattan." Sam nodded before the rushed footsteps of Jason hurrying down the stairs interrupted them. "I heard coughing, and the lights randomly just flickered on! are you okay?" He called out, stepping onto the ground floor nearly knocking Robin back with shock as tears filled her eyes.
"J-J-Jason?" She stammered out as he stared at her with a puzzled expression. "Jason, this is Robin. The two of you were together up until you went missing." Sam explained as Robin slowly approached him before wrapping her arms around his neck, pulling him into a tight hug while Sam uncomfortably glanced over at Patrick who appeared unphased by it; and the truth was; why would he? Robin's heart was broken when Jason went missing and while she moved on and found love again; it doesn't mean that the unknown doesn't still hurt when she thinks about him or how everything happened with him. They both watched as Robin broke down in his arms, letting go of every emotion she'd swallowed, every bit of her grief she'd held in order to survive and move on with her life.