Chapter 62 & 63
Nikolas chuckles as he looks at his younger brother covered in only a
loose sagging towel. "Well, I came by to see you. I just didn't expect
to see this much of you."
Lucky scowls then laughs. "Come in, sit down and I'll be back in a few.
There is beer in the fridge."
Nikolas calls back up the stairs at him. "Only Neanderthals drink Beer."
He yells back down to him. "There's soda too, take your pick. Didn't
have time to stomp my own grapes to make wine to fit the needs of you,
Prince Nikky."
Laughing as he opens the fridge, Nikolas swears the meat moved, but
reaches past it anyway to take out a soda and a beer. Walking back into
the livingroom, he places the beer on the opposite end of the couch and
then takes a seat.
Lucky bounds down the stairs again, and takes his seat next to the beer.
"Thanks man. So, what's up?"
"I was just curious if you were okay. I know that trip had to be hard on
you."
"I'm fine, but you knew that already. Bro, you okay? You look gloomier
than usual." Lucky looks at Nikolas with concerned filled eyes.
Taking a long sip of his soda, Nikolas leans back into the couch and
looks up at Lucky, defeated. "I don't know what I'm doing, Lucky. I need
your advice."
Lucky chokes on his beer as he looks over at his brother. "My advice?
You dying or something? "
"No, of course not."
"Well, no offense, but you don't usually want my advice. You like to
give advice, no wait, you like to give orders; this is a new page in our
relationship." He pulls out a cigar and offers one to Nikolas.
"No thanks, Look, this was a bad idea. Forget I said anything." Nikolas
rises, but Lucky stops him.
"Relax, Nik. I'm listening. What's up?"
"I'm being played as a fool. Katherine is using me. Hell, I have no idea
if the child she carries is even mine. Now, Baldwin is moving on Gina,
and I know if I say anything to her she will take it as me interfering
with her life. I have no idea what I should do." Nikolas rests his
elbows on his knees and cups his chin in his hands.
Lucky shakes his head in confusion. "I'm not following, bro. How is
Katherine playing you for a fool? Why don't you think the kid is yours?
And what does this have to do with Gina and wait... did you say Scotty
Baldwin?"
"Yes, Scott Baldwin, our mother's first husband. Katherine and Scott
decided to earn some quick cash by having her become pregnant with the
next Cassadine heir. Unfortunately, they were also stupid enough to be
caught on tape and I know about their scheme. Scott also slept with
Katherine; the baby could be his. I haven't said anything because if the
child is mine, I want to raise him. If I blow her cover, Katherine will
run and I may lose my child. Part of their plan is to have Gina fall for
Scott. That way she is occupied and won't be a problem for Katherine and
myself. Lucky, If I tell Gina she could go back to Scott who would go
back to Katherine. I won't lose my child." Nikolas looks at him
desperately for an answer.
Lucky scoffs. "Well, after your custody hearing with Gina, it's obvious
what damage you're willing to cause to keep your kid."
Nikolas eyes flash angrily. "You don't know what you are talking about!
This isn't about Anastasia, it's about Katherine and Scott."
Lucky holds up his hand defensively. "I don't want to argue with you. As
for not knowing what I'm talking about, I and every other member of Port
Chuckles saw what you did to Gina."
*Flashback*
Nikolas Cassadine descends the stairs of Wyndemere angrily clutching the
morning's paper. He is seething as he strides into Stefan's study.
Ignoring Alexis, he glares at Stefan. "We need to talk!"
Alexis eases out of the room as Stefan looks at Nikolas with concern.
"Have a seat, Nikolas. What is the problem?"
Slamming the paper on his desk, Nikolas growls at him. "THIS IS THE
PROBLEM! You interfered again! I told you to stay out of my divorce!"
Glancing at the headline "AJ QUARTERMAINE AND CASSADINE EXWIFE CAUGHT IN LOVERS DALLIANCE," then pouring himself a drink, Stefan answers calmly. "You saw the proceedings. The judge is beginning to lean to Gina's side. I took the necessary steps to ensure that Anastasia stay here where she belongs."
Seething, Nikolas throws the water pitcher across the room. "How did you do it?"
Startled by Nikolas anger, Stefan answers him. "I had a photographer
staking out Gina's room. She embraced A.J. and the computer took care of the details."
Placing both hands on Stefan's desk, he looks him straight in the eyes.
"She wasn't nude; was she? Nor was he! It was an innocent embrace
doctored to look like a liaison. You have NO idea what you've done."
Stefan pleads with him. "What Nikolas? What have I done that is making
you outraged? Protecting you? Protecting my granddaughter? How is this
wrong?"
Nikolas words pierce Stefan's heart. "Gina and I were this close to reconciling. The delay in the custody hearing was her idea. She wanted us to give our love another chance. I was close to having my wife back. You have destroyed that! SHE LEFT A MESSAGE FOR ME TO SEE HER IN COURT! YOU COST ME MY WIFE AND THE MOTHER OF MY CHILD! FOR THAT I WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU!"
He stomps out of the room, leaving a shocked Stefan holding his head in
his hands. "What have I done?"
Lucky snaps his fingers. "Bro? Hey, you listening to me?"
"Yes, sorry, I suppose I drifted off for a moment. Lucky, I need your
assurance that you will not tell anyone about what I've told you."
Nikolas replies firmly.
"Look, you know I will help ya out, but if this escalates to a point
that Lucy or Gina need my help and I have to tell them, then I'll have
no choice. Relax, you can count on me. I will do some digging on
Katherine and Scotty. You just cool your jets and keep up your happy
ever after act with the box of hair. No one will take your kid away from
you-- if it's your kid. I guarantee you that." Lucky pats his brother on
his shoulder. "Anything else?"
Nikolas smiles at him. "No, thanks Lucky. I better go."
Mark enters his room over Kelly's and smiles at Crystal. "Hey baby, how
was your day?"
She is laying in the bed reading. Putting the book down she smiles at
him. "Pretty good. I've been reading this baby book Carly gave me. It
has all these different names in them. There are so many I like though."
He sits next to her and places a hand on her stomach. "Hey there kiddo.
Mommy has been trying to name you, guess she doesn't like kiddo any
more."
She grins at him. "Kiddo is fine, just not what goes on his birth
certificate. I know you don't want a junior, but I do like the name
Mark."
"Baby, what would we call him? Marky? No, I don't think so. How about
Christian?"
She shakes her head. "No, that doesn't sound right either. I'm sure the
perfect name will hit us sooner or later. How was your day? Did you give
Mr. Scorpio notice?"
"Yeah, and he isn't too happy about me working for Mr. Morgan. I know
this is right though, baby; this is our break. We'll have the money and
everything we ever dreamed of! I think Mr. Morgan is the answer to our
prayers." He kisses her hand gently.
Crystal smiles happily. "Well, it's about time. We've been praying for
so long now, honey. This baby needs a break. We need this. I can't wait
'til he arrives."
"I can't either, baby; I can't either." Mark looks at his watch. "I have
to go meet Mr. Morgan; Here's my first paycheck. We can buy some
groceries tonight."
Crystal watches him leave and smiles. "Finally, baby, we're finally
going to be okay."
Carly opens her door and laughs. "LUCKY! Hey babe, come on in."
Lucky walks in and places his carton of ice cream on the table. "Grab a
couple of spoons, cous. I just saw Tony leaving with AR."
Carly takes a seat at the table and tosses Lucky a spoon. "Wow, rocky
road. You're a man after my heart. So, what's up?"
Taking a bite, he moans. "Almost as good a sex...well almost. You ever
been caught in the middle? You know where you know this info, and if you
tell someone you'll hurt the person who told you, but if you keep your
word and not tell anyone, then someone else could get hurt?"
"You're too funny! Have you been hanging with Lucy Collins again? Yeah,
too many times, Lucky. Let me get this straight, someone confided
something to you and then they asked you not to tell anyone. This news
affects other people you care about so you want to warn them, but you
don't want to break the trust with the first person? Lucky-- go with
your heart, babe. You've got a big heart and a lot of common sense.
You'll know if you have to tell someone this secret. If you do, the
person who confided in you, obviously already knows you're competent to
handle the info, so they'll understand." Carly takes a big spoonful of
ice cream and smiles happily.
"This is why I came to you. You're right. I just need to trust my
judgement..." Lucky winks at her. "...not many people would tell me
that."
She winks back at him. "It's a Spencer thing, now spill, what's been
happening at the club?"
Nikolas watches angrily as Scott kisses Gina goodbye. As Scott walks
into the elevator, Nikolas follows. "Baldwin."
Scott looks at Nikolas amused. "Nik Cassadine right? Laura's first born
and Gina's ex. I've heard quite a bit about you."
Nikolas hits the emergency stop button and turns to Scott angrily, his
arms folded across his chest and his eyes shooting daggers at Scott.
"Allow me to introduce myself. I am the father of Gina's daughter. That
means she is and will always be under my protection. Anyone that dares
to hurt her will face my wrath. Do not give me a reason to cross your
path again."
Smirking at the younger man, Scott can barely contain his laughter.
"Miss your nap today, junior? Considering the pain you put Gina through,
I suggest you take your threats to someone who gives a damn. I care
about her, and no one, not even her two ex husbands will scare me off.
Gina's a grown woman fully able to take care of herself. Perhaps you
should spend time looking after your pregnant fiance, rather than
sniffing around your ex wife's lovers."
Nikolas' fist collides with Scott's jaw at the last statement. Scott
returns an expert punch to Nikolas' stomach and throws him against the
elevator wall. "Don't mess with grownups, junior; you could get hurt."
He hits the emergency release button and strides out of the elevator.
Nikolas watches him walk out and smiles coldly. "Do not underestimate
the Cassadine, you could end up dead."
GH2005.63 An Invitation to Dance
Jason Morgan sits at his desk with the phone leaned on his shoulder; his
fingers type busily on his computer. "I'm looking over the file now,
Benny; I don't know what month she could be referring to... that's what
I pay you the big bucks for. Yeah, I understand you aren't an
accountant, but you're in charge... Damn..I have another call, don't go
anywhere... Morgan.. WHAT? WHEN? Damn it, I'll send a clean up crew
there shortly, tell the cops nothing. Report back to me as soon as you
know something...Benny? Look, forget the files, I need you to tap into
every known organizations' files. We have a problem, and I want it fixed
yesterday. A kid on the docks OD'd on my turf, and I want to know who
grew the balls to step into Port Charles with that crap. I'm on standby,
as soon as you find something let me know." Hanging up the phone, he
rises from his chair. Approaching the door he calls out to his
colleagues. "Joseph, you and Pete head out to the docks. I want the
place surveyed for any signs of what went down tonight. You have to move
fast before the cops have a chance to get their hands into everything
and screw it up. Someone took a kid out using the same garbage that
surfaced here a few years back. Let's make sure we keep it out for good
this time."
Joseph nods at him solemnly. "Consider it taken care of, Boss. I'll keep
you informed."
Walking back into his office, he picks up his phone dialing a familiar
number. "Doctor Morgan please."
"This is Dr. Morgan, How can I help you?"
"Babe, it's me. I need to know if anyone has came in recently showing
signs of heroin abuse." He pulls up an old file on his computer as he
waits for her to answer.
"No, not that..wait, there was someone, but her drug screens came out
negative. I asked her about the needle marks, and she told me she hasn't
used in a few months. What's going on, Jason? Nevermind, I know you
can't tell me."
"Can you tell me the name of the girl? Damn! Doctor/ Patient
confidentiality right?" His eyes set on some pictures that appear on his
screen.
"Funny, you can't tell me why you need the information and I can't tell
you the information. Some team eh?" Her voice is traced with bittersweet
amusement as she cradles the phone to her ear.
"We've something a lot of other's wish they had, Robin. Mutual respect.
If there was one thing I learned during our separation, it's that I can
handle the limits as long as I have you."
Robin smiles sadly as she remembers their last goodbye before Paris. "We
both learned a lot while I was in Europe. I wouldn't trade any of our
time together, Jason. But, our time always seems to be shared with
everyone else."
"A Patient?"
"You got it. I'll see you at home tonight." She hangs up the phone and
walks out of the room.
Looking at the pictures of Rivera, Harry, Dorman, and the Tin Man,
Jason's eyes fill with hatred. "Someone is carrying on your legacy, but
I've been to this dance before; I won't make the same mistakes."
Gina enters the employee lounge and collapses on the couch wearily. She
closes her eyes and lets out an exhausted yawn.
"Intern life is a bitch. Want some coffee?" Karen Scanlon holds out a
cup to her ex-sister-in-law and takes a seat on the couch. "How many
hours have you been on?"
Taking the cup, Gina answers wearily. "23 and half hours. I'm almost out
of here for the day, or is it night? God, I just don't even know what
time it is anymore." She takes a long sip from the cup and groans in
appreciation. "This isn't intern coffee."
Karen laughs as she takes a sip from her cup. "Nope, this is Dr. Joe
Scanlon's Coffee. I swear he's a godsend sometimes. Oh man, I shouldn't
have said that should I?"
"Karen, you and Jagger have been divorced for years. I'm not angry at
you anymore. You know, honestly, I wasn't mad so much at you for
divorcing. I was mad because you ruined my fantasy."
"Your fantasy? I don't understand." She waits curiously for an
explanation as Gina takes a deep breath.
"OK, I had this big fantasy that at least someone in my family was going
to have The Perfect Life. After Stone died, and my parents pretty much
disowned me, I thought the last hope was you and Jagger. You two had to
make it so that at least one Cates did it. When that didn't happen,
rather than being angry with myself for getting my hopes up, I was angry
at you for moving on. Then, when I was divorcing Nikolas, I finally
realized what a selfish brat I'd been to you. Here I was, sanctimonious
Gina, the girl who refused the Cates last name, railroading you for
walking out on my brother. I walked out on Stone on his death bed, yet I
found myself able to pass judgement on you." She holds her head in her
hands as she begins to cry softly. "I'm sorry, Karen. I let out years of
guilt and rage on you and Joe and I made your lives hell for awhile. You
didn't deserve that, neither of you did."
Wrapping her arms around Gina, Karen soothes her. "Gina, stop it.
Listen, you didn't say anything to me and Joe that my own mother didn't
say. She hated Jagger and she never failed to mention "she told me so"
when I decided it was over. She didn't mean to hurt anyone and neither
did you. Gina, I know better than anyone about fantasies. You should
have seen my first meeting with Scott. I had it in my head that he would
be so thrilled to meet me. I had this perfect image of him, and then
when I met him and he blew me off I was ready to throw my internship
away just so I wouldn't have to run the risk of running into him here."
Gina looks up at her with curiosity in her eyes. "He blew you off?"
"It's a long story. My little sister, Serena, was missing and basically
she was all he could think of at the time. I didn't blame him, and it
took a little while, but I finally realized that my fantasy of having
the perfect father was just that... a fantasy. I love my dad, and he's
the best father I could hope for, but Scott is definitely not perfect.
No one is. I don't harbor any ill feelings towards you. Gina. I was
hoping that now that I'm back in Port Charles and you're interning that
we could rebuild our relationship." Cocking a eyebrow at her she adds
playfully. "It seems our paths are destined to keep crossing."
Gina blushes as she wipes the tears from her face. "He's a great guy,
Karen. I hope this isn't bothering you."
Throwing her head back she lets out a long laugh. "You're kidding right?
One thing I've learned about my father, I just roll with his choice in
lady friends. Though, I think he made a good one this time."
Before Gina can answer Scott pops his head into the room. "Am I
interrupting anything?"
The girls exchange a look and then laugh.
Walking into the room, he sighs. "That was a scary laugh, ladies. Care
to let me in on the joke?"
Noticing the bruise on Scott's face, Karen approaches him for a closer
look. "What happened to your face? Who hit you, Dad?"
Scowling, he holds up a hand in protest. "I'm fine, don't fuss. I ran
into an old friend's son on the way here. He isn't very fond of me."
Gina rises and shakes her head. "A.J. or Nikolas?"
"How did ya know?"
"I know my ex's. I'm going to take a guess that it was Nikolas. A.J.
would have just made your life hell like he did with Nikolas." Gina
kisses his cheek gently. "I'm off duty now, want to tell me about it on
the way home?"
Lois watches Ned sleeping next to her and smiles. "You had such a tiring
day today, babe." She begins to open his mail and comes across a large
package. Opening it up she laughs. In it lays a T-shirt that is covered
with the words "Trixie and Nedly 4-ever".
Lois places the shirt back in the package and let's out a giggle.
"Teenage fans, gotta love them."
Lucy walks into the lighthouse carrying her mail. Once inside she flips
through the letters quickly. "Junk, Junk, ohhh new Wyndam's catalog,
Bill, Bill, hmmm, what's this?" She opens the letter marked pictures
don't bend and let's out a scream. Serena runs into the room and takes
the picture that Lucy is holding in her shaking hand. The picture is of
Lucy and Serena feeding Siggy, but the caption is what has Lucy
terrified.."We are watching you."
Serena throws the picture down and takes Lucy's hand in hers. "Don't
worry, Lucy, I'll call daddy."
Scott pulls Gina to him as he begins to unbutton her blouse. "You're so
tense." He kisses the nape of her neck and begins to plant soft sensuous
kisses down the lower part of her back when his cell phone rings. "I
have to take this, only family has this number..Baldwin.. Calm down,
Baby, what? I'm on my way."
Gina turns and faces him startles at the look of fear on his face. "What
is it?"
"How many Psychology classes did you take?" His voice is shaky as he
puts the phone back in his jacket pocket.
"Everyone that PCU Offered and most of the one's in Med School. Has
something happened?"
"Come with me to Lucy's. I think I might need your help." He takes her
by the hand and leads her out the door as she rebuttons her blouse in
the process.
Joseph speak into the phone. "The police has been notified."
"You get everything we needed first?"
"Absolutely Boss. This was high grade stuff. It's only a matter of time
before more people end up like this."
Jason slams his fist on his desk and replies coldly. "Not this time. I
will see to it that whoever is bringing this stuff back into Port
Charles is stopped. This time we will make an example out of them. I
want to send a message loud and clear to everyone that Port Charles is
not a safe place to deal drugs."
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