| Subject: ET Chapter 1 |
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Becca
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Date Posted: 17:55:48 05/24/01 Thu
In reply to:
Becca
's message, "Eternal Ties" on 17:53:29 05/24/01 Thu
Eternal Ties
Chapter 1
**30 Stories beneath General Hospital**
The beeping of the hospital equipment was almost deafening. But it didn’t really affect the burly guard, for he had grown accustomed to the quarters and the sound of the machines that kept his charge alive. He was so accustomed that every day at around the same time he’d doze off and enjoy a quiet nap, uninterrupted by anyone. Or at least, that’s what he hoped. If Mrs. Cassadine had found him sleeping while on duty as the guard for her eldest son, the guard would surely lose his life.
Fortunately for him, it hadn’t happened yet.
And, things were about to change.
The man lying in the bed, with sensors attached to his muscles to prevent them from atrophying, was tall and lean looking, his dark hair smoothed back over his head, for Helena had taken painstaking care in making sure he looked his best.
If the guard had been awake he would have seen the sight some waited for, and others thought impossible.
The man gasped for breath a moment before his eyes shot open. His heart was racing, but it was a good feeling in his chest. It meant he was alive, awake. His long, unconscious rest was over.
Moving slowly, deliberately, the man pulled himself up in the bed, doing his best to remove the IV and sensors that were attached at numerous places on his body. He moved his left arm up, flexing his bicep proudly, a grin spreading across his finely chiseled face.
He blinked a few times until his eyes came into focus, connecting across the room with what looked like a garment bag. Glancing quickly at the slumbering guard, the man frowned, wondering where exactly he was. The last memories he had were of Greece, as a young man, riding his horse along the beach. Obviously a lot has happened since then, he wasn’t sure what.
Unzipping the garment bag, he removed a silk, three button, gray suit, with a navy blue shirt and tie. He looked at it, wondering what happened to the wide lapels and synthetic fabrics he so vividly remembered. With a casual shrug of the shoulders the man quickly dressed and crossed the room to where the guard was sitting.
He looked the guard over, not sure what to do with him. The room looked like a cross between a hotel suite and a highly stocked hospital lab. He spotted a bottle of chloroform in one of the cabinets. He poured some onto a towel and returned to the side of the guard.
Tapping him softly on the shoulder, the man smiled gently as he knelt in front of the guard. He grabbed the gun from the guard’s holster at the moment he awoke.
“Madame I’m sor--.” He stopped dead when he realized it wasn’t Helena that was waking him up. “Mr. Cassadine? You’re awake?”
“It appears that way,” Stavros said with a nod of the head. “I need you to answer a few questions before I’m on my way.”
“I must call your mother, she wanted to be notified the second you awoke,” the guard said quickly as he tried to stand up. Stavros clamped his hand down on the man’s shoulder, forcing him back into the chair. “Sir, you must let me go.”
Stavros smirked. “Really, this is more urgent,” Stavros pointed the gun at him and gave the guard a serious glare. “Now, the last I remember I was in Greece, obviously that is not the case anymore. Tell me, how’d I end up here.”
“A fall, twenty some years ago, your mother had you cryogenically frozen,” the guard explained nervously. “It’s the year 2001, May, you’re under General Hospital. Dr. Tony Jones helped to save your life. That’s all I know.”
Stavros nodded his head, “General Hospital? Oh wait, now I remember.” A faint smile of recognition spread across the man’s face, events he couldn’t remember slowly coming back. “You have to forgive me, it appears I’ve been ‘asleep’ for quite a while. Let me ask, are the Spencer’s still in town?”
“Yes…in fact, the man who saved you, Dr. Jones, was once married to Bobbie Spencer. Anything else? Shall I call Mrs. Cassadine?”
Stavros shook his head and took the chloroformed cloth from behind his back, “No, you’re going to go back to sleep. Be seeing you.”
**Penthouse 2**
Zander stood in front of the closet in the penthouse, his hands shaking as he stared at the item in front of him. He was supposed to be getting his coat to go out and meet Emily, but the box on the top shelf of the closet caught his eye. It was dangerously close to the edge and he didn’t want it falling on Alexis accidentally. He tried to push it back into place, but it didn’t seem to want to budge. So he took it down and made room to place it more securely on the shelf.
There was no real explanation as to why he opened the box or started looking through it, but he did. There was a birth certificate, and a file on an adoption. There were letters and photos, a few items that held an obvious sentimental attachment to Alexis.
But it was the birth certificate and adoption record that had Zander shaking.
“Zander, you’re still . . .” Alexis cut herself off as she walked into the living room and found Zander crouched in front of the front closet, reading something. “What do you have there?”
“Date of birth, July 20, 1980, mother, Alexis Davis, father unnamed. Name, Alexander Davis,” Zander read slowly as he stood up, turning to Alexis. His dark eyes were glistening with unshed tears as he handed the birth certificate to Alexis. “You had a son? A son you named Alexander, a son you gave up for adoption. He ended up in Miami, but you knew that. You had the records, you wrote him letters you never sent, and then you defended him against murder charges.”
Alexis’s heart stopped for a moment as she realized her biggest secret had just been exposed.
“So, MOM, were you ever going to tell me? Were you just going to let me live here, work for you, LOVE you, but never tell me the truth? That the reason I felt like I can trust you, the reason I hurt so badly when I broke your trust was because you’re my mother?”
“You don’t understand Zander, nobody can know,” Alexis said directly. “Yes, you are my son. But I had to give you up Zander, Helena would have killed you. I thought I was doing right by you, I really did.”
“Do you know what my life in Florida was like? My mother took off when I was ten, my father was a drunk, my life sucked. You could have changed that Alexis—you could have helped me.”
Alexis reached out, trying to touch him, but he pulled away instantly. “I didn’t mean for this to come out like this.”
“Don’t lie. You didn’t mean for this to come out at all,” Zander said, his voice aching with betrayal. “All you had to do was tell me the truth. When I first moved in here, you could have taken me aside and explained everything. I would have understood, I swear. But you didn’t, you kept this a lie. Why? I wouldn’t have told a soul. I don’t even know this Helena, how would she find out?”
“She would have Zander, she always does.”
Zander grabbed his jacket and looked at Alexis tiredly, “You should have told me, that’s all there is to it. I deserved to know the truth.”
“Where are you going?” Alexis called out before he left.
“Out, I can’t deal with this right now,” Zander said, his eyes full of so much confusion.
“It’s warm out, you don’t need your jacket.”
Zander chuckled ironically, “What? After all these years you’re going to try to be my mother? Save it.”
Alexis buried her hands in her face, her heart aching over what had happened. Gathering all the strength she could, Alexis opened the door and went across the hall to Sonny’s penthouse.
She wanted to walk right in, but wasn’t sure if it was best. Sonny and Carly had split up after her failed attempt to get him to walk away from his lifestyle. The last few weeks had been tense, with Alexis worrying about her client. Right now, though, this would have to take precedence over Sonny’s love life.
“Sonny,” she called out, stepping into the living room of the penthouse.
He came out from the kitchen, a surprising smile on his face. “Just in time, care to join me for dinner?”
“You seem rather, chipper. What happened?” Alexis asked, forgetting for a moment why she was there.
“I woke up this morning and realized that I love Carly, but it’s over. You know? We tried, we had a great ride, but that’s life. Can you believe she’s actually getting along with AJ? And you know what, I don’t really think I have a problem with that, it’s probably good for Michael. Carly moved on—it’s time I did so as well.”
“That’s—I’m glad,” Alexis said with a smile, shaking herself to get back to her point. “I have something serious to discuss with you.”
“Sure, what is it?”
“It’s Zander, he knows I’m his mother,” Alexis blurted out, figuring the blunt approach was best.
“How?”
Alexis shook her head tiredly, “I had some stuff in a box, I knew I should have put it somewhere more secure. But it doesn’t matter now, because he knows. And eventually he’s going to want to know who his father is.”
Sonny sat down on one of the dining room chairs, his face suddenly devoid of color. “He can’t know Alexis. He already thinks I’m scum, what will he think when he finds out I’m his father?”
**Port Charles Grille**
“I’m so glad you all could come tonight,” Lucky said as he stood up at the table. He looked down at Elizabeth, smiling widely. “Tonight is to celebrate my engagement to Elizabeth. When we finally get married, she’ll officially be mine.”
The faces around the table were anything but excited and happy. Luke was distant and angry, Laura was shaken by something, Nikolas was skeptical, Gia looked bored, and Audrey had a distinctly displeased smile on her face.
Elizabeth took Lucky’s hand. “Actually, we’ll be each other’s,” she corrected hesitantly.
Nikolas held his glass up, shaking off the foreboding feeling he felt in order to wish his brother and Elizabeth a happy life together.
“You two have come a long way. I didn’t exactly think Lucky here would propose in a video arcade, but Lucky and Elizabeth love each other. Isn’t that all that matters?”
“Exactly, that’s all that matters,” Lucky said proudly.
“Let me take a picture,” Gia prompted with a laugh.
“No, no, I don’t want to. I don’t like getting my picture taken,” Lucky said blushing.
“What, the photographer can’t take being on the other side of the camera?” Luke teased. “Then again, I never understood your sudden desire to be a photographer anyway,” he added snidely.
“Just to prove him wrong, come on Elizabeth,” Lucky said, getting her to stand next to him. With his blonde, spiked hair, and wide jaw line, and her fine, porcelain features, they made a striking couple. Something was off though, and just about everyone at the table could feel it. Even if the groom-to-be didn’t have a clue in the world.
“In three,” Gia said as she focused the camera. “One, two--.”
“Three.”
Everyone turned to find Stefan and Taggert standing behind Gia.
“What are you doing here?” Laura challenged, looking angrily at Stefan. “This is a private party, you weren’t invited.”
“That makes no difference to me, or Lieutenant Taggert for that matter.”
“Lucky Spencer, you are under arrest for the assault of one Mr. Stefan Cassadine. You have the right to remain silent, anything you say or do can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney, if you cannot afford one, one will be provided for you. Do you understand these rights as I’ve stated them?” Taggert read Lucky his rights, holding the handcuffs at his side as he prepared to take the young man in.
“What the hell do you think?” Lucky snapped, his demeanor changing instantly.
“Fine then, you’re coming with me,” Taggert informed him, pulling Lucky’s arms behind his back and cuffing his wrists.
“You can’t do this!” Elizabeth cried. “This is our engagement party. Taggert, please.”
Taggert frowned, “I’m sorry Elizabeth, but I have to do this. He attacked Stefan, he has to pay the consequences.”
Taggert led Lucky out of the restaurant. Lucky stopped in front of Stefan, his cold blue eyes piercing into Stefan’s.
“You think you’ve won? You have no idea how completely I can ruin you,” Lucky hissed before Taggert could pull him away.
At the table, Laura looked at Luke helplessly. “Aren’t you going to do something?”
Luke reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a cigar, lighting it thoughtfully before he turned to his ex-wife to answer her question.
“What can I possibly do Laura? He hates me, he doesn’t want me around him. Maybe a night in jail will do him some good, if you know what I mean,” Luke said quietly. Laura knew exactly what he meant. They both suspected that Lucky was once again under Helena’s control. But that didn’t matter, he was still their son, and Laura couldn’t stand the thought of him being locked up again.
“He’s your son Luke!”
Luke flinched at the tone and volume of Laura’s voice. “Is he? He sure as hell doesn’t act like it anymore. He acts like my enemy . . . Tell you what Laura, you call Baldwin and get him out, do what you like. I’m going to find out what is really going on.”
Luke stood up, an authority in his stance that told Laura not to fight this. Luke walked over to Elizabeth, an apologetic look in his eye. “I’m sorry this had to happen tonight. But don’t worry, I’ll find out what is going on, I promise,” Luke said with a wink as he squeezed the young woman’s shoulder.
“Are you going down to the police station?” asked a stunned Elizabeth.
“No, and I don’t think you should either,” Luke urged. “Take care of yourself first Elizabeth, I know that is what Lucky wants.” With that he left the restaurant, intent on finding out the truth.
**30 stories under General Hospital**
Stavros wandered the many corridors of the underground bunker Helena had built. So far, he found nothing interesting, and no way out. However, he stopped dead in his tracks as he came upon a door with light seeping out from the bottom.
Thinking it was a doorway out, he threw it open, only to find a cell, a guard, and a young prisoner.
“Well, well, well, what do we have here?” Stavros questioned as he took the chloroformed rag to the guard’s face, sending him slumping to the ground. His eyes were locked on the young man locked up. “Boy, wake up,” Stavros snapped his fingers, finally getting the young man’s attention.
The kid was tall and lean, his light brown hair somewhat long, but combed neatly off his face. He looked up at Stavros, his blue eyes glistening with curiosity.
“Who are you?”
Stavros smiled as he unlocked the cell door, “A friend. You?”
“You don’t know?” asked the young man. “Aren’t you a guard?”
Stavros snickered at the comment, “Gosh no. I think I’m sort of a prisoner myself.”
The young man stepped cautiously out of the prison like cell, going right to his guard and getting the gun. He slid it in the front waistband of his jeans.
“How’d you get out? Wait, who had you? Helena?” the prisoner asked, rubbing his left arm tiredly.
“Of course. I should emphasize that I wasn’t exactly a prisoner. Seems I had a near fatal accident, oh, twenty years ago, I was frozen, just woke up about an hour ago. Amazingly enough,” Stavros stopped, and motioned to his appearance, “I haven’t aged a day since my accident. What’s your story?”
“Helena kidnapped me as an act of retaliation against my father for killing her son. She also sent an imposter to be me, and I think she’s controlling all of Port Charles. Otherwise, I don’t know how her plan would work.”
“Wait,” Stavros said with a clap of his hands and a laugh. “You’re father killed Helena’s son? Damn it all to hell, ironies of ironies, I just rescued Luke Spencer’s son. And guess what, your old man—didn’t kill Stavros.”
“You guessed my secret, I’m Lucky Spencer and you’re . . .” Lucky closed his eyes, a sudden tightness in his chest causing him to grab the gun from his jeans and aim it at Stavros. “The bastard who kidnapped my mother and forced her to be his bride. Give me one reason why I shouldn’t shoot you right now?”
“Such spirit,” Stavros snickered, “I can’t tell who you remind me more of. Laura or Luke, for your sake I’ll say Laura.”
“Wrong answer, I’m my father’s son,” Lucky said icily. “Again, why shouldn’t I kill you right now for all you’ve done to my family?”
“Easy, because I just set you free,” Stavros said, a cocky smirk playing across his lips. “Now you run along before Helena gets here and finds her precious little Spencer knickknack missing—or I shoot you. What do you say? We both go our separate ways, and nobody gets shot? You’re in Port Charles kid, beneath General Hospital, you find your way out and you’re home. Doesn’t that sound better than getting a nasty gun shot wound to the gut and remaining Helena’s prisoner?”
Lucky clenched his jaw tightly as he looked at Stavros. He didn’t look like he had pictured, for some reason he seemed more human, more normal. He still hated him, but for tonight, he’d let it go.
“Fine, just don’t go near my mother,” Lucky warned as he backed out of the room, speeding up to an all out sprint once he was in the hallway. He ran so fast, so deliberately, that he didn’t feel the burning in his muscles. He was almost free, just had to find the door that led to freedom.
Lucky skidded to a stop, finding the elevator that would take him out of the dungeon. He hit the button to open the door and stepped inside. The entire ride up out of the underground compound Lucky held his breath, for fear that Helena would be waiting for him when he got to the top. But as the elevator came to a slow halt, he was able to breathe easy.
She wasn’t there, and he was free. As the elevator doors opened and he stepped out, Lucky realized he was in a part of the hospital that had long been abandoned when General Hospital underwent renovations. He couldn’t believe nobody had ever stumbled upon wing and the mysterious elevator. He didn’t have time to ponder that question too long though as he heard two voices approaching the room. Lucky ducked into one of the abandoned rooms, pressing his ear to the door.
“I’m going to have to get that boy out of jail. I can’t believe Stefan had the audacity to press charges, and to get the boy thrown into jail on the night of his engagement party,” Helena complained. “I so wish he were more like his brother, Andreas, because then he’d be working with me, not against me.”
Lucky snickered to himself. If Helena had only known her beloved Stavros just let her prize prisoner escape.
“What would you like me to do Madame? I’ve been keeping an eye on Miss Webber, she has no idea that he is not Lucky, nor that he is under your control. In fact, she seems rather happy—with the exception of Lucky arrested. Nikolas doesn’t seem to suspect anything either.”
“Leave everything to me Andreas . . .” were the last words Lucky heard as the elevator door closed with Helena and Andreas aboard.
Lucky slipped out of the room and ran towards where he heard Helena and Andreas coming from. Surely enough there was a door to the outside. Lucky ran again, this time until he was on the docks, where he collapsed on one of the benches, breathing in the beautiful night air for the first time in so long.
He looked up at the moon and thought of Elizabeth. Granted, he thought of her almost constantly, but the overwhelming beauty of the moon made him almost weep for her. And then he remembered what Helena had said, Elizabeth was engaged to the imposter, to a man she thought was him.
Helena had to be doing something to control the entire town, that was obvious, but what?
“Yeah, Zander, I understand, I’ll meet you in front of Kelly’s in five minutes, don’t worry. I understand,” a familiar voice said as she came strolling down the docks.
Lucky’s face lit up when he realized who it was. Emily.
She stopped when she noticed the young man staring at her. “Uh, Zander, I’ve got to go, see you in a few.”
“Hey,” Lucky said breathlessly, amazed at how grown up she looked.
“Can I help you?” Emily asked, looking at the handsome young man quizzically.
“You don’t . . . nevermind, I thought you were someone else,” Lucky said sadly, knowing that this wasn’t going to be easy.
“Wait!” Emily called out suddenly.
Lucky turned around hopefully, “Yeah?”
“Were you at that rave last summer? You look sort of familiar,” Emily noted, trying to figure out why she felt she had seen the young man before.
“No, that wasn’t me. I’ve got to . . .go. I’m sorry for taking your time,” Lucky said apologetically as he walked away, a feeling of dread in his gut.
Obviously everyone so completely believed that the imposter was him, that they wouldn’t even recognize Lucky. He had no idea how he was going to do this, to get back his life. But he would. Of that he was certain.
**PCPD—Holding Cell**
“Elizabeth, are you sure you want to do this?” Taggert asked as he led her to Lucky’s cell.
“Yes, and thank you,” Elizabeth whispered before Taggert left. She stood in front of Lucky’s cell, her stomach in knots. They had been like that for weeks now, and she couldn’t figure out why. But seeing Lucky behind bars, the manic look in his eyes, she was scared. Not for herself, but for him.
“Elizabeth, oh god, thank you for coming,” he said desperately, holding his hands out through the bars to touch her. “I don’t know what I’d do without you—I need you.”
Elizabeth forced a smile, “Why didn’t you tell me you attacked Stefan? I thought he attacked you.”
“He did, I swear to god Elizabeth, he did,” Lucky said, a pained look in his eyes.
“Then why would Taggert arrest you? I’m sure he wouldn’t take Stefan’s word against yours. He knows you, that you’re not like that,” Elizabeth tried, hoping he’d open up to her.
“I don’t want to do this here,” Lucky whispered, glancing at the prisoner in the cell next to him. “Why’d they bring you down here anyway?”
“Technically I’m not supposed to be here right now, but Taggert made an exception.”
“Don’t worry Elizabeth, everything is going to be fine. I’m going to get out of here, we’ll get married, and we’ll be free.”
“Free? Of what?” Elizabeth asked skeptically. “I’m happy, aren’t you?”
“Of course, but we have to get married and we have to be together. I love you so much, you know that?”
“I know,” Elizabeth reached out and touched his face. “But everything has happened so suddenly. I’m starting to think that maybe getting married right away isn’t the best thing. Maybe we should wait, you obviously have some family stuff to work out.”
Lucky cringed, kicking the bars with his boots. “What stuff? So I got a little emotional when I thought my little cousin was going to die. It doesn’t mean we can’t get married. Right? Permanent lock, remember?”
“Yeah, I remember,” Elizabeth said, cringing inwardly at the use of that phrase. He always said it when he got desperate or panicked. It no longer had the same meaning or beauty to it that it did that Valentine’s Day in the church. Nothing was the same anymore.
“Good, when I get out of here we’ll start planning the wedding. No need to postpone the inevitable, right?”
“You’re right,” Elizabeth whispered, lying to herself as much as Lucky. “I’m going to head home, and I’m going to think about you all night. Promise me you can handle this.”
“I promise,” Lucky crossed his finger in front of his heart. “Kiss goodbye?”
Elizabeth smiled, “Of course.” She leaned through the bars, giving him a quick kiss before leaving.
Something was very off though, something in her heart was telling her not everything was right.
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