GH - Shadows Chapter Sixteen
Title: Shadows Chapter Sixteen
Author: Mellissa/LissieLove
Notes: You can find the previous chapters here:
Prologue - Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter Sixteen
Nikolas Cassadine had built his life around being someone that his family could count on. If they needed money, if they needed support or even a shoulder to cry on, he had made it his life's goal to be the person that they needed. He'd been disappointed that Elizabeth had decided not chosen to confide in him, had instead gone to Jason Morgan for help but it was possible Jason was more suited to the avenue of help Elizabeth had required.
He'd been relieved to have the murder charges cleared but was grateful that it hadn't been at Elizabeth's expense, he wasn't sure if he could have lived with himself. In fact, when Emily had given him the letter from Elizabeth, explaining the situation, he'd briefly toyed with the idea of confessing to the crime, to ensure her safety. Emily had smacked him upside the head and told him not to be stupid, that she wasn't going to be engaged to a martyr, and besides, of course Jason was going to fix things so that no one had to go to jail.
So far, it had seemed that Emily's confidence in her brother was well-deserved. The investigation had gone cold, Elizabeth was safe in Spain and delivered of a healthy daughter. He'd been sure that it was only a matter of time before she could return home and resume her life.
Then Ric Lansing had gone missing and there had been editorials in the newspapers, gossip that the crime rate in Port Charles was out of control and there were calls for Mac Scorpio's resignation, for Garrett Floyd to be voted out of office during the upcoming election and suddenly the investigation into the high profile case of suspected cop killer Zander Smith's murder was on everyone's lips.
He was genuinely concerned for Elizabeth's future and wasn't altogether surprised to hear from her. He assumed that Jason was moving her, that he would be sending her away again and this time, they would not be able to stay in contact. He thought she was asking him to visit to say goodbye.
But she'd called when Jason and Carly had left the beach house for Port Charles. She'd asked him to come immediately, to tell no one--not even Emily. She'd made him promise on their friendship, on their love and loyalty towards one another that he would come alone and keep it to himself. He had agreed, though his fiancée had not been pleased to be left out of his business trip and he hadn't enjoyed lying to her, but he knew she'd agree--Elizabeth came first.
So here he was, flying over the Atlantic Ocean, trying to keep his attention on some business papers instead of the possibility he would soon be saying a permanent goodbye to a woman who had been part of his family for so long, who had given him his brother and kept his mind sane when that brother had been presumed dead.
He was so lost in thought that he didn't even realize that Emily had crept from one of the back rooms and had settled on the sofa across from his desk. In fact, she had read at least half a chapter in her textbook before she muttered something to herself and drew his attention.
He slapped his paper down and lunged to his feet. "Where did you come from?"
She arched an eyebrow and set her book aside. "I wonder if I should be insulted that it's taken nearly a half hour for you to notice me?" she mused. She thought it over and shook her head. "I've decided to forgive you for not telling me you were going to see Elizabeth, I'm sure you had your reasons but honestly, Nikolas, did you think you'd get away with it?"
He opened his mouth and then closed it. "Yes," he said after a moment. "I absolutely thought I was going to get away with it."
"Hmph," Emily crossed her arms. "Ten or twenty years of marriage will cure you of that delusion. There's no one who knows you better, Nikolas, so just get over it." She stood and headed into the jet's kitchen area to pour herself a glass of wine. "So why do you think Elizabeth swore you to secrecy and then made you wait until Jason and Carly were back?"
"I'm not positive," Nikolas hedged. It was one thing to consider his theory inside his own brain, but saying it out loud would make it real and he didn't think he could bear it if it were real.
"Because if Jason were moving her again, he would have said something to me, to prepare me for it, you know?" Emily sipped the wine and set it on the counter. "But he's been really careful about going to visit her and who gets to go, which is why we haven't been to see her and why we don't have her direct address." She hesitated. "And I don't think Jason knows about this visit, does he?"
"No," Nikolas admitted. "He doesn't. Emily--"
Emily bit her lip. "I know that my brother is in love with her," she confessed. "He hasn't really said that he is but he didn't have to. There was just a look in his eye the last few times we spoke, and when he called about Andi being born, I could hear it in his voice. He's in love with her, I think he always has been."
"It would not surprise me," Nikolas admitted.
"If she had to disappear, if she had to assume a new identity and cut ties with everyone she knows, Jason would have to give her up again," Emily continued. "And I don't think he'd be able to do that, but he's got Michael to think about. He would never be able to take Michael from Carly and Morgan."
"And Elizabeth would never let Jason give Michael up for her," Nikolas finished.
"She knows the investigation has focused on her, doesn't she?" Emily asked. "Someone told her, maybe it was Jason or Carly, but someone told her that Mac has questioned Audrey and started to look into her past with Zander. She's going under but she called you because she can't bear for Jason to make that decision."
Nikolas shuffled some papers around on his desk. "She didn't say," he said after a long moment. "She only said that as soon as I knew Jason and Carly had landed in Port Charles, she needed me to come to Spain, that it was important and that she would ask for a favor."
"She knows what Jason went through the last time he lost Michael," Emily murmured. "It's why they were friends at all, you know? She'd lost Lucky, he'd lost Michael, it's kind of how they bonded. She'd never let him give Michael up for her. She's not going to tell him until you've hidden her away."
"Emily, you're jumping to conclusions," he said. "For all I know, she merely wants me to visit."
"Then why would she tell you to wait until Jason and Carly were back in the States?" Emily demanded. "Or to keep it from them and from me? No, Elizabeth is up to something. We have to talk her out of this."
"With the sentiment back in Port Charles, it's likely she'd stand trial for Zander's death and Floyd might railroad her into a conviction to save face at the polls," Nikolas said. "They're focused on her, Em, and I would rather see her break Jason's heart and disappear to raise her daughter in safety, with her freedom intact than go back to Port Charles and lose her daughter." He looked away, towards the window that looked out over the clouds. "I would rather watch her walk away and fade into the crowds than see her spirit broken in a prison cell." He glanced back at his fiancée. "And I know you agree."
"I do," Emily muttered. "But that doesn't mean I have to like it."
--
Jason had no more placed his luggage in his room and agreed to let Michael spend the night with his mother before there was a brisk knock at his door.
Mac Scorpio stood on his threshold and Jason knew that the commissioner wasn't there to ask about recent shipments. It wasn't Mac's style to go for them by the jugular, he was more content to sit back and wait for the evidence to come to him. It was part of the reason Jason respected him and went out of his way to keep his activities below the radar.
"Is there something I can do for you, Mac?" Jason asked, stepping back to let him in. Mac hesitated another moment, not entirely used to a lawyer-free cooperative Jason Morgan but stepped inside.
"Elizabeth Lansing," Mac said. "She left town in April and we've been unable to locate her in relation to her husband's disappearance."
Jason nodded. "My sister said she went to Europe, to be with her family. Have you tried them?"
"Audrey Hardy's information for Jeff and Teresa Webber is sketchy at best and is a few months out of date. We're still tracking them down," Mac reported. "We're trying to find out if she contacted any of her friends and family here."
"I haven't heard from her," Jason answered. "I don't think Emily has either."
"You don't think it's unusual?" Mac pressed. "Elizabeth and Emily were always so close. With Elizabeth's pregnancy, I would think she would at least contact your sister when the baby was born."
"You'd have to ask her," Jason shrugged.
Mac nodded. "Fair enough." He tapped the tip of his ballpoint pen against his notepad. "The last time you saw her before she left town, did she mention she was leaving?"
"She mentioned she was unhappy in her marriage," Jason lied, picking up the threads of the story he and Emily had agreed on after Ric's disappearance. "I imagine she told Emily more."
"Papers were filed on Elizabeth's behalf by Alexis Davis to dissolve her marriage," Mac told him. "In June. Alexis says that you contracted her to handle Elizabeth's divorce."
"Right, right," Jason nodded, as though this was something he hadn't remembered. "Elizabeth did write to say that she was filing and asked me to contact Alexis. That was months ago, I don't think I have the envelope or you could have checked the postmark."
Mac frowned at Jason. "Alexis declined to comment further, citing privilege but did say that she hasn't had any direct contact with Elizabeth past that first time. With Ric unable to contest the divorce, it'll be final in just a few weeks."
"I'm sorry I can't help you anymore but I really don't know where she is."
"Right," the commissioner drawled. He didn't believe Jason and furthermore, he knew that Jason knew Mac didn't believe him but there was no evidence to the contrary, except of course…
"You and Michael had traveled quite a bit since you gained custody," Mac remarked. "In fact, you, Carly and both the boys were gone all the summer. Odd that your trips began around the time Elizabeth disappeared."
"Michael moved in with me shortly after Elizabeth left," Jason said casually. "He's been having rough time of it and getting him away from Port Charles has helped. Spring break, a few three day weekends from school and a family vacation in the summer. It's helping him to adjust."
"I'd like to talk to Michael," Mac said, knowing he'd meet a brick wall at this request. "To see if he and Elizabeth have stayed in touch-"
"Michael barely knew Elizabeth," Jason said. "There's no reason for you to bother him."
"You know the penalty to aiding and abetting a fugitive, right?" Mac said pointedly. "What will happen to Michael if you go to jail?"
"Elizabeth isn't a fugitive and Michael still has a mother," Jason said blandly. "Show me an arrest warrant for her."
"She's the prime suspect in Zander Smith's murder," Mac informed him. "Now, I'm sure it was a matter of self-defense, but she disappeared. She's just making things more difficult for herself the longer she stays gone. We can work out a plea bargain, minimal time to be served-"
"You're wasting your breath," Jason said. "I don't know where she is." He tilted his head towards the door. "If that's everything-"
Mac closed his notepad. "I like Elizabeth, I always have, despite her ridiculously poor choice in men. I don't want to see her in jail anymore than you do, Morgan, but I have a job to do and I have college educations to pay for. I can't protect her if she doesn't come to me."
He didn't wait to be shown out but instead, left on his own accord. While the interview had been useless on the surface, he was now convinced that Jason Morgan not only knew where Elizabeth Lansing was hiding, but why she was there.
--
Elizabeth was sitting on the front porch when Nikolas's rented BMW pulled up to the house. Emily was out first and dashed up the stairs, hurling herself at her best friend. "Oh, it's so good to see you!" she squealed.
Elizabeth, not entirely shocked to see Emily, wrapped her arms tightly around her neck. "You have no idea how much I've missed you," she said.
"She stowed away," Nikolas sad blandly, removing his sunglasses and sliding them into his back pocket. He stepped up to the porch and engulfed Elizabeth in another hug. After a moment, he drew back and kissed her cheek. "You look incredible."
"I feel incredible." Elizabeth gestured towards the house. "Do you want to see her?"
"Do I want to see my goddaughter?" Emily tapped her chin. "Gee, let me think."
Elizabeth laughed and led the way into the nursery where she introduced Andi to her godparents. Maybe some might think it was in poor taste to name Zander's ex-wife and one of the prime suspects in his murder as his daughter's godparents, but Elizabeth didn't care. Emily and Nikolas were her family.
"She is perfect," Emily cooed, gathering the infant in her arms and smiling broadly. "Just look at her!"
"She's absolutely breathtaking," Nikolas murmured, placing his hands on Elizabeth's shoulders. "Why don't we let Emily coo and goggle over Alexandria while you and I discuss a few things?"
"Sure." Elizabeth turned back to Emily. "Are you okay here?"
"I'll be fine for a few years," Emily told her. "Andi loves her Aunt Emily, doesn't she? Yes she does-"
Elizabeth left her daughter with her best friend and followed Nikolas to the back porch. "Thanks for coming, it means a lot to me."
"I'm sorry about Emily, she stowed away on the plane and we were halfway here before I realized it," he began.
She waved it off. "I almost expected her to come along. I only asked you to come alone because..." she hesitated. "I think you might know why I asked you to come."
"I'm afraid to say," Nikolas replied. "Because I'm hoping it's not what I'm thinking."
"I thought it would be too hard to say goodbye to her," Elizabeth confessed. "Because I knew it would be hard enough saying it to you."
"Then it's exactly what I was thinking," he murmured. "Emily was right -- you're not giving Jason the opportunity to make a choice."
"No," Elizabeth shook her head, smiling wistfully. "He'd never forgive himself, no matter what he'd end up choosing. I won't do that to him. I need you to help me disappear so that even Jason can't find me."
Author: Mellissa/LissieLove
Notes: You can find the previous chapters here:
Prologue - Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter Sixteen
Nikolas Cassadine had built his life around being someone that his family could count on. If they needed money, if they needed support or even a shoulder to cry on, he had made it his life's goal to be the person that they needed. He'd been disappointed that Elizabeth had decided not chosen to confide in him, had instead gone to Jason Morgan for help but it was possible Jason was more suited to the avenue of help Elizabeth had required.
He'd been relieved to have the murder charges cleared but was grateful that it hadn't been at Elizabeth's expense, he wasn't sure if he could have lived with himself. In fact, when Emily had given him the letter from Elizabeth, explaining the situation, he'd briefly toyed with the idea of confessing to the crime, to ensure her safety. Emily had smacked him upside the head and told him not to be stupid, that she wasn't going to be engaged to a martyr, and besides, of course Jason was going to fix things so that no one had to go to jail.
So far, it had seemed that Emily's confidence in her brother was well-deserved. The investigation had gone cold, Elizabeth was safe in Spain and delivered of a healthy daughter. He'd been sure that it was only a matter of time before she could return home and resume her life.
Then Ric Lansing had gone missing and there had been editorials in the newspapers, gossip that the crime rate in Port Charles was out of control and there were calls for Mac Scorpio's resignation, for Garrett Floyd to be voted out of office during the upcoming election and suddenly the investigation into the high profile case of suspected cop killer Zander Smith's murder was on everyone's lips.
He was genuinely concerned for Elizabeth's future and wasn't altogether surprised to hear from her. He assumed that Jason was moving her, that he would be sending her away again and this time, they would not be able to stay in contact. He thought she was asking him to visit to say goodbye.
But she'd called when Jason and Carly had left the beach house for Port Charles. She'd asked him to come immediately, to tell no one--not even Emily. She'd made him promise on their friendship, on their love and loyalty towards one another that he would come alone and keep it to himself. He had agreed, though his fiancée had not been pleased to be left out of his business trip and he hadn't enjoyed lying to her, but he knew she'd agree--Elizabeth came first.
So here he was, flying over the Atlantic Ocean, trying to keep his attention on some business papers instead of the possibility he would soon be saying a permanent goodbye to a woman who had been part of his family for so long, who had given him his brother and kept his mind sane when that brother had been presumed dead.
He was so lost in thought that he didn't even realize that Emily had crept from one of the back rooms and had settled on the sofa across from his desk. In fact, she had read at least half a chapter in her textbook before she muttered something to herself and drew his attention.
He slapped his paper down and lunged to his feet. "Where did you come from?"
She arched an eyebrow and set her book aside. "I wonder if I should be insulted that it's taken nearly a half hour for you to notice me?" she mused. She thought it over and shook her head. "I've decided to forgive you for not telling me you were going to see Elizabeth, I'm sure you had your reasons but honestly, Nikolas, did you think you'd get away with it?"
He opened his mouth and then closed it. "Yes," he said after a moment. "I absolutely thought I was going to get away with it."
"Hmph," Emily crossed her arms. "Ten or twenty years of marriage will cure you of that delusion. There's no one who knows you better, Nikolas, so just get over it." She stood and headed into the jet's kitchen area to pour herself a glass of wine. "So why do you think Elizabeth swore you to secrecy and then made you wait until Jason and Carly were back?"
"I'm not positive," Nikolas hedged. It was one thing to consider his theory inside his own brain, but saying it out loud would make it real and he didn't think he could bear it if it were real.
"Because if Jason were moving her again, he would have said something to me, to prepare me for it, you know?" Emily sipped the wine and set it on the counter. "But he's been really careful about going to visit her and who gets to go, which is why we haven't been to see her and why we don't have her direct address." She hesitated. "And I don't think Jason knows about this visit, does he?"
"No," Nikolas admitted. "He doesn't. Emily--"
Emily bit her lip. "I know that my brother is in love with her," she confessed. "He hasn't really said that he is but he didn't have to. There was just a look in his eye the last few times we spoke, and when he called about Andi being born, I could hear it in his voice. He's in love with her, I think he always has been."
"It would not surprise me," Nikolas admitted.
"If she had to disappear, if she had to assume a new identity and cut ties with everyone she knows, Jason would have to give her up again," Emily continued. "And I don't think he'd be able to do that, but he's got Michael to think about. He would never be able to take Michael from Carly and Morgan."
"And Elizabeth would never let Jason give Michael up for her," Nikolas finished.
"She knows the investigation has focused on her, doesn't she?" Emily asked. "Someone told her, maybe it was Jason or Carly, but someone told her that Mac has questioned Audrey and started to look into her past with Zander. She's going under but she called you because she can't bear for Jason to make that decision."
Nikolas shuffled some papers around on his desk. "She didn't say," he said after a long moment. "She only said that as soon as I knew Jason and Carly had landed in Port Charles, she needed me to come to Spain, that it was important and that she would ask for a favor."
"She knows what Jason went through the last time he lost Michael," Emily murmured. "It's why they were friends at all, you know? She'd lost Lucky, he'd lost Michael, it's kind of how they bonded. She'd never let him give Michael up for her. She's not going to tell him until you've hidden her away."
"Emily, you're jumping to conclusions," he said. "For all I know, she merely wants me to visit."
"Then why would she tell you to wait until Jason and Carly were back in the States?" Emily demanded. "Or to keep it from them and from me? No, Elizabeth is up to something. We have to talk her out of this."
"With the sentiment back in Port Charles, it's likely she'd stand trial for Zander's death and Floyd might railroad her into a conviction to save face at the polls," Nikolas said. "They're focused on her, Em, and I would rather see her break Jason's heart and disappear to raise her daughter in safety, with her freedom intact than go back to Port Charles and lose her daughter." He looked away, towards the window that looked out over the clouds. "I would rather watch her walk away and fade into the crowds than see her spirit broken in a prison cell." He glanced back at his fiancée. "And I know you agree."
"I do," Emily muttered. "But that doesn't mean I have to like it."
--
Jason had no more placed his luggage in his room and agreed to let Michael spend the night with his mother before there was a brisk knock at his door.
Mac Scorpio stood on his threshold and Jason knew that the commissioner wasn't there to ask about recent shipments. It wasn't Mac's style to go for them by the jugular, he was more content to sit back and wait for the evidence to come to him. It was part of the reason Jason respected him and went out of his way to keep his activities below the radar.
"Is there something I can do for you, Mac?" Jason asked, stepping back to let him in. Mac hesitated another moment, not entirely used to a lawyer-free cooperative Jason Morgan but stepped inside.
"Elizabeth Lansing," Mac said. "She left town in April and we've been unable to locate her in relation to her husband's disappearance."
Jason nodded. "My sister said she went to Europe, to be with her family. Have you tried them?"
"Audrey Hardy's information for Jeff and Teresa Webber is sketchy at best and is a few months out of date. We're still tracking them down," Mac reported. "We're trying to find out if she contacted any of her friends and family here."
"I haven't heard from her," Jason answered. "I don't think Emily has either."
"You don't think it's unusual?" Mac pressed. "Elizabeth and Emily were always so close. With Elizabeth's pregnancy, I would think she would at least contact your sister when the baby was born."
"You'd have to ask her," Jason shrugged.
Mac nodded. "Fair enough." He tapped the tip of his ballpoint pen against his notepad. "The last time you saw her before she left town, did she mention she was leaving?"
"She mentioned she was unhappy in her marriage," Jason lied, picking up the threads of the story he and Emily had agreed on after Ric's disappearance. "I imagine she told Emily more."
"Papers were filed on Elizabeth's behalf by Alexis Davis to dissolve her marriage," Mac told him. "In June. Alexis says that you contracted her to handle Elizabeth's divorce."
"Right, right," Jason nodded, as though this was something he hadn't remembered. "Elizabeth did write to say that she was filing and asked me to contact Alexis. That was months ago, I don't think I have the envelope or you could have checked the postmark."
Mac frowned at Jason. "Alexis declined to comment further, citing privilege but did say that she hasn't had any direct contact with Elizabeth past that first time. With Ric unable to contest the divorce, it'll be final in just a few weeks."
"I'm sorry I can't help you anymore but I really don't know where she is."
"Right," the commissioner drawled. He didn't believe Jason and furthermore, he knew that Jason knew Mac didn't believe him but there was no evidence to the contrary, except of course…
"You and Michael had traveled quite a bit since you gained custody," Mac remarked. "In fact, you, Carly and both the boys were gone all the summer. Odd that your trips began around the time Elizabeth disappeared."
"Michael moved in with me shortly after Elizabeth left," Jason said casually. "He's been having rough time of it and getting him away from Port Charles has helped. Spring break, a few three day weekends from school and a family vacation in the summer. It's helping him to adjust."
"I'd like to talk to Michael," Mac said, knowing he'd meet a brick wall at this request. "To see if he and Elizabeth have stayed in touch-"
"Michael barely knew Elizabeth," Jason said. "There's no reason for you to bother him."
"You know the penalty to aiding and abetting a fugitive, right?" Mac said pointedly. "What will happen to Michael if you go to jail?"
"Elizabeth isn't a fugitive and Michael still has a mother," Jason said blandly. "Show me an arrest warrant for her."
"She's the prime suspect in Zander Smith's murder," Mac informed him. "Now, I'm sure it was a matter of self-defense, but she disappeared. She's just making things more difficult for herself the longer she stays gone. We can work out a plea bargain, minimal time to be served-"
"You're wasting your breath," Jason said. "I don't know where she is." He tilted his head towards the door. "If that's everything-"
Mac closed his notepad. "I like Elizabeth, I always have, despite her ridiculously poor choice in men. I don't want to see her in jail anymore than you do, Morgan, but I have a job to do and I have college educations to pay for. I can't protect her if she doesn't come to me."
He didn't wait to be shown out but instead, left on his own accord. While the interview had been useless on the surface, he was now convinced that Jason Morgan not only knew where Elizabeth Lansing was hiding, but why she was there.
--
Elizabeth was sitting on the front porch when Nikolas's rented BMW pulled up to the house. Emily was out first and dashed up the stairs, hurling herself at her best friend. "Oh, it's so good to see you!" she squealed.
Elizabeth, not entirely shocked to see Emily, wrapped her arms tightly around her neck. "You have no idea how much I've missed you," she said.
"She stowed away," Nikolas sad blandly, removing his sunglasses and sliding them into his back pocket. He stepped up to the porch and engulfed Elizabeth in another hug. After a moment, he drew back and kissed her cheek. "You look incredible."
"I feel incredible." Elizabeth gestured towards the house. "Do you want to see her?"
"Do I want to see my goddaughter?" Emily tapped her chin. "Gee, let me think."
Elizabeth laughed and led the way into the nursery where she introduced Andi to her godparents. Maybe some might think it was in poor taste to name Zander's ex-wife and one of the prime suspects in his murder as his daughter's godparents, but Elizabeth didn't care. Emily and Nikolas were her family.
"She is perfect," Emily cooed, gathering the infant in her arms and smiling broadly. "Just look at her!"
"She's absolutely breathtaking," Nikolas murmured, placing his hands on Elizabeth's shoulders. "Why don't we let Emily coo and goggle over Alexandria while you and I discuss a few things?"
"Sure." Elizabeth turned back to Emily. "Are you okay here?"
"I'll be fine for a few years," Emily told her. "Andi loves her Aunt Emily, doesn't she? Yes she does-"
Elizabeth left her daughter with her best friend and followed Nikolas to the back porch. "Thanks for coming, it means a lot to me."
"I'm sorry about Emily, she stowed away on the plane and we were halfway here before I realized it," he began.
She waved it off. "I almost expected her to come along. I only asked you to come alone because..." she hesitated. "I think you might know why I asked you to come."
"I'm afraid to say," Nikolas replied. "Because I'm hoping it's not what I'm thinking."
"I thought it would be too hard to say goodbye to her," Elizabeth confessed. "Because I knew it would be hard enough saying it to you."
"Then it's exactly what I was thinking," he murmured. "Emily was right -- you're not giving Jason the opportunity to make a choice."
"No," Elizabeth shook her head, smiling wistfully. "He'd never forgive himself, no matter what he'd end up choosing. I won't do that to him. I need you to help me disappear so that even Jason can't find me."