Jonathan sat on the edge of the bed of the small room he had been put into. His brown eyes took careful not of his surroundings, the twin bed, a desk, one overhead lamp, and a shelf with a few books on it, mostly Dickens and Shakespeare. It was a room that looked like it was waiting for someone to occupy it and he had a scary feeling that he was that someone.

He was also pretty sure that the room was bugged and under surveillance, which meant he had to be careful.

He lay back on the bed and closed his eyes, forcing himself to appear subdued and quiet.

Helena thought she had trapped her prize and what she would soon discover was that her prize had trapped her.

It had actually been easier than he thought it would be. He’d slipped past his Uncle’s guards at the house, made his way through the woods to one of his neighbors, hot wired a motorcycle, and drove to the nearest and most public place he could think of. the local mall. He’d spent 45 minutes shopping, throwing both his money and his name around, making a point of letting it slip that he was alone over and over. He’d feigned surprise and made a pathetic attempt to escape when Helena’s goons had finally shown up and now he was here.

God Helena Cassadine was one creepy woman, cold and slimy and repulsive in a way that made his skin crawl. He shivered as he realized that if it hadn’t been for his mother’s sacrifice, that creature could have been the one who raised him. That thought alone was going to drive him to therapy when he was older, he just knew it.

Still he’d achieved his objective so far, he was here with her. Now all he had to do was sit back patiently and wait. He’d play Helena’s games for a while, but when his mother showed up he would make his move. He’d hidden in a secret layer of his backpack copies of the evidence that he and Ruby and Michael had discovered. He knew her secret. He knew that Helena Cassadine was nothing but a fake. And if Helena didn’t want the world to know what he knew, she would let Jonathan and his mother go.

Ten minutes later, there was a knock on the door and, to avoid raising the suspicions of whoever was watching him, Jonathan casually closed the notebook and sat up, pasting a lost look on his face when he saw it was Helena.

He inched back away from her. “What do you want?” He kept his voice even, he wanted to come off as frightened but on the other hand he was a Spencer and he did have the family dignity to uphold. Something about never cowering in front of a Cassadine was how Luke would phrase it.

Helena smiled. “My darling child, I ‘m just here to make sure that you’re room is comfortable and that you are nicely settled.”

“I’m fine,” Jonathan grumbled. “The room is fine, you would have to look twice to realize it was nothing more than a glorified jail cell.”

“The books on the shelf belonged to your father,” Helena continued ignoring the boy’s outburst. Once again she wished Emily Quartermaine in hell for keeping her grandson away from her for so many years. A small child would have been so much easier to manipulate and mold than this teenage boy would be. Still there were methods for situations like this and she knew them all. Once she got the boy to Greece, it would be only a matter of months until he was her faithful servant.’

Jonathan looked at the books with interest. Somehow he had never imagined Lucky reading Dickens, mystery novels had always seemed more his father’s style. But Shakespeare, he smiles as he remembers his mother’s fondness for the writer. Hamlet was the only one she knew who’s family was more dysfunctional than hers growing up she used to tell him. He remembered that time that Lucky had put a few of his mother’s favorite sonnets to music for her birthday. He closed his eyes as he could almost feel the love that bonded the three of them together. This woman had destroyed that when she had killed his father. This woman was responsible for all of the pain and suffering his mother had felt all of these years. He wanted to kill her. He had never wanted anything more.

“Yes, Nikolas used to spend hours reading growing up on the Cassadine island. When he wasn’t fencing or riding or studying with his tutors. I see a lot of your father in you,” Helena lied smoothly, Jonathan was all his mother’s child as anyone who looked at him could see.

Jonathan looks at her directly. “I hope not.”

Helena clenches her fist, her mind focusing on the day when the boy would be obedient and controlled. He was her key to reunifying the Cassadine Empire and making it what it had once been under Mikkos.

“Be careful what you say about your elders. You must respect your father.”

“The only father I had you killed,” Jonathan says softly.

“Ahh..Lucky. Such an unfortunate accident.” She walked over to Jonathan and cupped his cheek. Jonathan did his damnest not to flinch. “Such a tragedy. We would not want such a tragedy to happen again.”

Jonathan looked down, trying his hardest to behave compliantly but knowing that he was failing utterly. Helena smiled at the boy’s frustration, pleased with this show of spirit. He reminded her of Stavros at his age, the fire burning in him pleased her. A far cry from the quiet complacency of her pathetic younger son. “Do not worry,” she whispered as she kissed him on the cheek. “some day you will thank me for helping you achieve that which is your birthright. You are destined to lead the Cassadine Empire into greatness again.” She turns and leaves the room.

Jonathan watches her go, fighting the temptation to wipe his cheek. He won’t let her see any sign of weakness. Some day he thinks to himself, I will kill you. That is my birthright not as a Cassadine or even a Spencer but as my mother’s son.

In the hallway, Helena met with her assistant.

“Do you want me to have the plane prepared so that we can take the boy back to Greece?”

Helena shook her head. “Not yet There are things that I need to do first to ensure young Jonathan’s complete cooperation now and in the future.”

Port Charles
Spencer Household

Up until two minutes ago Luke Spencer would have told anyone who asked that he was the ultimate authority on all things Helena Cassadine. After more than three decades of playing cat and mouse with the old witch, he considered himself an expert. He thought he knew how she thought, how she would react, and what she was capable of . He had no clue how wrong he was.

“I can’t believe it,” he expelled a heavy breath as he looked at the picture Nikolas gave him. “Do you realize what you are saying? That Helena Cassadine is not Helena Cassadine.”

Sitting next to him on the couch, Laura shivered. “What if it’s true? It’s so horrible to comprehend yet it makes sense.”

Nikolas nods. “If it’s true than it changes everything in some ways and nothing in others.”

“Do you mind translating that little bit of Cassadinese so that the rest of the human race understands it?”

Nikolas sighs. Most of the time he doesn’t understand the workings of Cassadine tradition and law and he doubts his ability to explain it to Luke. He suddenly wishes Alexis was not on a vacation with her family to Australia, a fine time for her to decide their children need to know their paternal heritage when their maternal heritage was about to explode around them.

“The line of succession moves from eldest child to eldest child through the paternal line. The eldest child of Mikkos Cassadine was Stavros, thus Stavros was the heir. When everyone thought that I was Stavros son, I was the heir. It didn’t matter who my mother was or whether I was legitimate or not, as long as my father was Stavros. So Helena not being Helena wouldn’t prevent Stavros from being the heir as long as his father was still Mikkos. So Helena being a fraud doesn’t not mean that everything in the Cassadine family would revert to some distant branch.” Nikolas looks at his mother and realizes that even after all of these years, she still tenses when the name Stavros comes up. He can almost smile as he sees Luke’s hand come around his wife’s shoulder in support. “However, and this is a big however, from Helena’s point of view, discovery of her true identity could be the worst thing imaginable.”

“How and why?” Luke asked, his ears picking up as it begins to sink in to him just how damaging this information could be. He could eradicate Helena Cassadine and not have to bother killing her. He thought about it for a minute, maybe he’d kill her anyway.

“After Stefan died when the truth came out about my paternity, there was a huge power struggle among the Cassadine Empire between those who backed Helena and those who backed Alexis and myself.” Nikolas’s eyes narrow as he remembers that tumultuous period. He’d been slowly recovering from Stefan’s death, falling in love for real for the first time, and plunged into the middle of what could only be called a civil war. Fought without bombs and bullets, but no less destructive and deadly for it. “In the end, Alexis and I were able to maintain most of the Cassadine holdings in Greece, America, and Asia, and the Pacific Rim. Helena held most of Europe and Eastern Europe. Her claim for holding what she has is based on her position as Mikko’s widow, not as the mother of the heir or as a Cassadine herself.”

Luke’s eyes begin to reflect his growing understanding. “But if she married Mikkos under an assumed name, than that marriage would be declared fraudulent at best and probably subject to annulment at worse.”

Nikolas nodded. “And outside of a couple of hundred thousand in her personal accounts, all of Helena’s vast fortune, holdings, businesses, etc would probably revert to a trust or be split among all of the various relatives.”

“Wait a minute,” Laura says still trying to comprehend what has been revealed. “That must be why she has been so obsessed with Jonathan all these years. As your son, his claim on the Cassadine fortune could never be disputed and she could probably use him...”

“As a rallying point for every would be Cassadine to come swarming around. It’s not inconceivable that with a new heir to rally around, Helena could achieve a coup and oust both Alexis and myself out.” Nikolas finishes for her.

Luke sat back and looked at his stepson with open curiosity. “So, what’s your next move.”

“I need more proof,” Nikolas says softly. “Helena will not just go away gracefully. She will challenge every bit of information that we have. There has to be more proof besides this photo somewhere, maybe at the convent where Helena and Maria grew up, maybe Helena kept some reminders or something on the island, somewhere there has to be concrete proof that Helena is not Helena.”

“I don’t suppose you can just ask the old hag to submit to a lie detector and a DNA test.”

Nikolas almost laughed. “I don’t think so.” Nikolas hesitates and then precedes. “I know this is a bad time for you, for all of us after what happened, but....”

“You want me to go to Greece and dig up the goods on the old woman.”

“As much as it pains me to ask a Spencer to investigate a Cassadine,” Nikolas says lightly, “I can think of no one else better for the job, can you?”

Laura shakes her head. “Why can’t you?”

“I am too well known in Greece. My visit would be on the Greek news and all over the internet in a matter of minutes.”

“I don’t like it.” She turns to Luke. “I need you here. Your daughters need you here.” Laura tries to fight back the tears as she realizes who she has left out of that equation.

Luke pulls her close. “I will do nothing to cause you more pain, you know that. But you also know that as long as Helena is around she is a threat. The explosion on the launch killed our son. The next accident could kill Jonathan. Or Ruby. Or Stephanie. Nikolas has handed us the chance to take out Helena Cassadine, once and for all. I know its too soon after Lucky’s death, but you and I both know that Cowboy wanted Jonathan and Emily to be safe above and beyond everything. If I don’t do this and something happens to either one of them, how do I like my son in the eye when we meet again someday.”

Nikolas turned away as Luke’s words hit home with him. After all he had done to hurt Lucky, how could HE ever look him in the eye again.

Laura nodded through her tears. “Then we will do this together.” She says firmly, ignoring Luke and Nikolas’s immediate “No’s”. She continues, “Lu and Ruby will stay with Nikolas while we are gone. You haven’t seen Lu since she left for college and you and Ruby need to spend more time together, not to mention that it will be fun for Stephanie to have company since you insist on keeping her locked up like a prisoner.” Laura waves away Nikolas’s protest. “The words are hers, she has called me at least three times today to complain.”

“What about Jonathan and Emily? Lucky’s memorial service?” Nikolas asks.

“I will call Emily and tell her something. Not the truth of course, she would want to come with us and in her condition going after Helena in any shape way or form would be complete insanity. We will ask her to delay the memorial service until we return, something tells me she will not mind postponing that little event for a while.” Laura looked at Nikolas. “Jonathan will have to keep his newfound knowledge about Helena to himself.”

“He will. He is very protective of his mother.”

“Good,” Laura said smoothly. “Then it’s settled. We will leave in the morning.” She turned to Luke. “I’ll leave the arrangements ups to you.” She turns to head up the stairs.

“Where are you going?” Luke calls after her, still bemused by the side of Laura he hasn’t seen since the days of the Ice Princess. He knew that strong willed, adventurous girl was still lurking in there somewhere.

“To get the passports.” She says simply.

“What about Ruby?”

“Oh she’s grounded for the next two months I think,” Laura calls back down. “But I’ll let you handle it.”

“What happened to our deal? I pay the bills you raise the children.”

Laura stopped and smiled at her husband. “First, last time I looked, I paid at least half of the bills around here. Second, it wasn’t me she was trying to impress with all of this undercover work, was it?”

Nikolas couldn’t hide his smirk when Luke turned back around. “I wouldn’t laugh if I were you,” Luke said with a smile all of his own. “Hell hath no fury like Ruby grounded and you my dear smirking stepson are the one she’s going to be staying with for the next week or so.”

Luke watched in satisfaction as the smile disappeared from Nikolas’s face before he turned and headed up the stairs to talk to his daughter.

Ruby’s room

“Yeah, he pretty much dragged me right here after we dropped you off at your car.” Ruby complained to her cousin on her cell phone as she kicked back on her bed and waited for the world to end. “No, I have no clue when he’ll get around to telling your dad what we did but my guess is really soon. Probably right after he steals candy from a baby and refuses to help a dozen or so little old ladies cross the street. I bet you ten to one that if that had been Lucky we had told the truth to, I would be facing the grounding of my life. And to think, I was worried about how finding out the truth about Helena would effect poor Nikolas. Okay, you were worried but I went ahead with your plan to tell him the truth first.” Ruby paused in her tirade against her villainous older brother when she saw her father in the doorway. “Uh-oh. I gotta go. The warden has arrived. Yeah, I’ll call you tomorrow unless they revoke my phone privileges.”

Ruby clicked off the cell phone after saying a quick goodbye to her older cousin.

Luke looked at his younger daughter. “Warden,” He shakes his head. I prefer to think of myself as judge, jury, and executioner.”

Ruby gulped as she saw the expression in her father’s eyes.

“Tell me why?” Luke sat next to his daughter on her bed. “I’m willing to believe that Michael didn’t understand the seriousness of what he was doing, but you’ve grown up knowing what Helena Cassadine was capable of. Why would you go after her like that? What if she had caught you and Michael snooping around the warehouse instead of Katherine Bell? Trust me Helena is a lot harder to kill than Katherine Bell. You and your cousin could both have been killed. Not to mention the danger you put Jonathan in.”

“The danger I put Jonathan in?” Ruby looks at her father incredulously, aware that she was fast losing what little control she had over her feelings. “It’s always Jonathan, isn’t it. Jonathan this and Jonathan that. I’m sick of Jonathan. He isn’t even your grandson and he’s more important to you than I am.”

“Ruby?!” Luke’s voice was filled with shock. “Why would you say that? Why would you even think that? Yes I care about Jonathan. Even before he was born, when his mother came to me for help I cared about him. Yes I love him. Maybe he isn’t my grandson by blood, but he is in my heart.” Luke takes his daughter’s hand. “You have to understand something. The fact that I love Jonathan doesn’t mean that I love you less in any way. Love isn’t like that. The heart has an infinite capacity for love. Does the fact that you love me mean you love your mother less?” He smiles when she shakes her blond hair. “Forgot for a minute that you’re madder than a skunk at Nikolas, did the fact that you loved Lucky mean that you love Nikolas or Lulu less? I didn’t think so.” Luke wiped his daughter’s tears and pulled her against him.

“You are so incredibly precious to your mother and me, more than you will ever know or can ever imagine. You Ruby Spencer are my miracle child.” Luke’s voice is soft and reflective as he remembers the past. “I had lost your mother to my own stupidity, to my own blindness in forcing her to choose between her son and our marriage. I should never have done that. I should never have expected her to turn her back on her own child just because his last name was one I did not like. I thought I’d lost her forever and knew that I was the one to blame. I told myself over and over that I didn’t care, that what we had was over, that I was ready to move on. I said that I could never trust her again and I believed that. “ Luke moves away from his daughter and paces the room, troubled by both the memories and his own guilt over his behavior. “But then I almost lost her and I almost lost your sister and in that split second I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that nothing, absolutely nothing, mattered more to me in this world than your mother and nothing mattered at all without her. By some miracle your mother forgave me for my stubbornness and gave me, gave us, a second chance to be a family. And from that second chance came you. You had your mother’s beautiful looks and compassion, but we knew from the first that you had the Spencer spirit. You were the best of both us combined into something that was more than either of us could hope to be. “ Luke sighed. “It’s not easy for me to talk about my feelings. It never has been. But if I ever for one moment gave you reason to doubt that you have both my love or my pride than I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry too Daddy,” Ruby whispered using the childish endearment as she moved to hug him, her tears flowing. “I’m sorry I lied to you and I’m sorry I went behind your back. I just wanted to prove to you that I could be as good a Spencer as Jonathan or Lucky.”

“Darling, I never doubted that for a moment,” Luke said.

Laura, standing unseen in the doorway, smiled and walked away to begin packing for the trip to Greece she and Luke would go on.

In Ruby’s room, there were a few moments of silence before Ruby spoke up. “I guess I’m grounded for just about forever, aren’t I?”

“Darling,” Luke drawled with a grin. “There was never any doubt of that either.”

To be continued in Part Two