Emily stands silently in the front of the ballroom, her eyes focused on the picture of her husband. “I hope you always know how much I love you,” she whispers as she kisses the tip of her fingers before touching them to the photo.

“Mom?” Jonathan asks as he walks into the ballroom. The only ones left in the ballroom are immediate family, and except for the Quartermaines and the Spencers, all of the guests were gone. He looked around and could see Jason standing casually in the corner and Maxie seemingly engaged in an innocent conversation with his grandmother. It would take anyone a moment to realize that both Jason and Maxie were no more than a few feet from Helena’s goons. Helena stood at the end of the aisle running through the ballroom near the rear exit.. She was too quiet for Jonathan’s taste, he had avoided even looking in her direction.

“Emily? Nikolas walked up behind his son. “Are you ready to go?”

Emily turned, her brown eyes huge in her pale face. She covered one hand with the other so that no one would notice that her hands were shaking. The wave of dizziness that assaulted her caught her off guard but she managed to fend it off. Please God let anyone who saw her think she was just doing a hell of a good job acting. Just give me the next hour and I swear I’ll go to GH as soon as this is over. Please God.

She turned to Nikolas and said loudly. “If it’s not too much of an imposition I was hoping that Jonathan could spend the night here at Wyndemere.”

“Mom,” Jonathan protested on key. “I want to stay with you.”

“Just for tonight, Jonathan okay?” Emily ruffled her son’s hair. “Then tomorrow you and I have to start packing.”

“We’re moving?”

“I’ve given it a lot of thought and I’ve decided to move in with your grandparents. That way I can have some help with the baby.”

“Cool the mansion. Swimming pool. Lake. I can handle that.”

“Not those grandparents,” Emily smiles. “We’re going to move in with Luke and Laura. That way you can see a lot of Grandpa Luke.” Emily makes sure her voice carries loud enough for Helena to hear. Her eyes catch Nikolas’ and she hides her smirk. They’d sat for hours trying to figure out how to shake Helena’s cool, it had been Nikolas who had finally suggested that the idea of her great-grandson being raised by Luke Spencer would be sure to ruffle Helena’s feathers.

“And there’s one more thing Jonathan,” Nikolas says. “Your mother and I have talked about this a lot and yesterday we saw Scott Baldwin and had the papers filed. We’ve decided to change your name from Quartermaine”

Jonathan shook his head. “No way. I don’t want to change my name to Cassadine. Nope. Never.” Jonathan yelled and Emily pondered the idea of acting lessons for her son. He was certainly enjoying this little charade.

“You won’t.” Emily said softly. “Lucky could never legally adopt you because ...well you know why. We’ve always known that legally your name is Jonathan Quartermaine even if we used Jonathan Spencer. Well, Nikolas and I have discussed it and we’ve decided that since Lucky was your father on so many levels, that you should have his name. So if it’s okay with you, we’ve filed papers to have your name changed to Jonathan Lucas Spencer.”

“Hey, that’s great,” Luke said as he approached the two of them. “You sure you don’t want to throw Lorenzo in there also for good measure. Jonathan will be a Spencer.”

“He’s always been a Spencer,” Emily smiled at her father in law, she noticed Helena moving away from the exit and closer to where they are.“ Now it will just be official. And with Jonathan living with you, I guess anything is possible.”

“You can’t do this,” Helena cried angrily. “The boy is a Cassadine. He has a heritage to uphold?”

“A heritage of what ?” Luke scoffed. “The Cassadine Empire died with your son. You remember your son, don’t you Helena?”

“Stefan was a weakling. He was a Cassadine in name only. This boy has strength of character. He has Stavros and Mikko’s blood coursing through his veins.”

“Don’t say that about my father,” Nikolas’s angry words carry through the ballroom.

“Stefan Cassadine was not a weakling,” To the surprise of all it’s Lu Spencer who speaks up in defense of Stefan. “He died saving my life. He died a hero.”

“He died a fool,” Helena says flatly. “A fool who nearly destroyed the Empire it took generations of Cassadines to build. That Empire will live again and this boy will be the key.”

Ruby turns to Michael. “Did she steal that line from George Lucas?”

“My son may be a Cassadine by way of biology, “ Emily’s voice is cold as her anger gives her strength. “But he will never be a Cassadine by name. He will never be your pawn. You lose again, Helena.”

“Foolish, foolish girl,” Helena approached Emily who pushed Jonathan behind her. “You thought you could outwit me. You thought you beat me. Stealing my great-grandson from me. Destroying my compound in Mexico. I bet it was you that took my Prince from me in New York. You and that damned mobster brother of yours.” Helena reached for Jonathan. “Soon my sweet prince, you will be mine.”

“You bitch,” Emily said the words through clenched teeth. “You will leave my son alone.”

“And who will stop me? You? Maybe today. But tomorrow? The day after? My dear sweet Emily a dead mother is no mother. All I need to do is wait for you to die. How long did the doctors tell you that you had? Days? Weeks?” Helena looked closely at Emily. “Maybe hours? I am a patient woman. I think I’ve demonstrated that through the years. I waited decades to get my revenge on Luke for killing my beloved Mikkos and Stavros. And I almost had it. It was simple really. A fire that would kill the woman he loved and the little girl he adored. The fact that their deaths would destroy my son, was an added bonus. Unfortunately my pathetic Stefan played Sir Lancelot to the end. Still, his death had an unexpected side benefit. You my poor sweet deluded prince lost yourself in alcohol. The family quite considered you hopeless and were ready to turn the whole of the empire over to me, until your aunt convinced them otherwise. But by then I had learned of your little escapade with Emily and I realized that all of my plotting had paid off. There would be a child, an infant with a claim to the throne. An infant that I could raise to be a true Cassadine. You made it so easy, my dear. Your shame. Your failure to tell your family you were pregnant. Your disappearance could easily be explained. You were upset over the engagement of the boy you idolized and slipped back into drugs. You were going to run away to New York or maybe LA. There would be periodic sightings of you of course, I am not a cruel woman by any means and I would not unnecessarily worry your family. Then, after the child was born, your body, complete with the required drugs and other evidence, would turn up in an alley somewhere. It was a perfect plan. One of my best. But you ruined it.”

“Detecting a pattern yet Helena?” Emily shivered despite the bravado of her manner. What if she hadn’t left that day? “Your little plots never work in the end.”

“Oh this one will. Such beautiful timing. Infecting you with that virus wasn’t my first option, killing you outright was. The virus was, shall we say, a back up. Who was to know that it would take so long to take effect and that they would in turn develop a cure. C’est la vie with viruses, they are so hard to control. But still, for it to finally kick in when you were pregnant... I win either way don’t I? Either you die or a Spencer dies? Either way I sleep better at night.”

“You will never take Jonathan.” Nikolas said.

“And who will stop me? You my dear sweet prince? You couldn’t even protect your own wife and child, could you? Such a beautiful son too.”

Nikolas’s eyes grow wide with horror. “You killed Kim and the baby? But it was an accident....”

“Accidents are easily arranged. I would have thought growing up a Cassadine would have taught you that.” Helena almost smiled. “I had a prince. What did I need another for?”

“You’re sick,” Nikolas’s cry was full of anguish. “Your own great-grandson. He was still an infant. A baby.”

“I considered kidnapping him. Keeping him around as a back-up. But I realized that another heir would merely be another contender for the throne. A throne that belongs to my sweet Jonathan and Jonathan only.”

Jonathan’s knees buckled at what he was hearing. His little brother killed because of him. Everything this women did was because of him. His mother was dying because of him.

He looked up as he felt his mother’s arms go around him. “It’s not your fault,” she whispered. “None of it is your fault.”

From where she stood, Maxie watched the drama unfold with a growing unease. Only in Hollywood did villains confess all like this. Unless they had a good reason to suppose that the people they were confessing to would not be around to carry their story to the authorities.

Meanwhile, Helena laughed as Emily put her arms around her son. “Protect him while you can my sweet child. Soon enough you will be dead and there will be no one around to keep me from the boy. Jonathan will be the heir, one way or the other. And as his regent, I, Helena Cassadine, will rule an empire once more. None of you can stop me.”

“I can.” A quiet voice says with calm determination from the back of the room. “I will protect my son from your filthy touch for as long as I can.”

Helena paled considerably. “You? It can’t be you? You’re dead?”

Lucky Spencer smiled. “As someone recently told me, this is Port Charles. Nobody ever stays dead in Port Charles.”

“But the explosion? The bomb?” Helena stammered visibly losing control. Both of her goons moved to draw their weapon.

“I’d drop it if you want to live another second,” Maxie whispered as she brought the cold hard steel of her gun against his head. From the corner of her eye she saw Jason disarm and Luke disarm the other two guards. Quietly, the three of them handcuffed the guards to the heavy banister of the staircase leading to the ballroom.

“Something’s wrong,” Maxie whispered to Jason as they returned to the action. Jason nodded. He felt it too. This, the confession and everything, was too easy. Almost unreal.

“You must be haunted by the many ghosts of your victims. Your son and great grandson. Your grandson’s wife. All of the people who you’ve managed to kill over the years. I just have one question Maria,” Lucky paused as he approached Helena.” Does the ghost of Helena Cassadine ever haunt you?”

Helena shook. “What are you talking about? I am Helena Cassadine.”

“No you’re not. Lucky held up a file. You see this. This file compares a DNA analysis of a lock of Helena Cassadine’s hair. The real Helena Cassadine. A sweet lonely girl who was probably desperate for a friend. She thought she had a real friend in you. But your jealousy got to you after a while, didn’t it Maria? Helena Cassadine had it all. Money. Prestige. Social power. You had nothing. You were just a charity case. Poor Maria. Without money or status where would she end up? Probably as a nun in the same convent that took you in. But you wanted more. And it probably killed you every time you realized that your so-called friend Helena had it all. Her marriage to Mikkos Cassadine would make her the most powerful and the wealthiest woman in Greece. But Helena didn’t want the Cassadine Empire. All she wanted was to be loved. Love, the one thing you never really cared about. Kind of ironic that it was all the real Helena cared about. But Helena had been raised to do her duty so she left to marry Mikkos. But she never got there. Somewhere between the convent and the Cassadine Empire, the real Helena Cassadine died, murdered by your hand, and you took her place. It wasn’t Helena Cassadine that married Mikkos Cassadine. It was a penniless orphan named Maria Kanekades. You’re a fraud. A fraud and a murderer. Everyone in this room knows it. And soon the whole world will know it.”

“You can’t prove anything?”

“DNA, Helena. It’s this wonderful thing. You see, Helena Cassadine was a romantic young girl in love with the gardener’s son. She sent him a lock of hair and a portrait in a locket. She told him to keep it forever as a sign of their love. He did. Or at least he had it until recently. Up until three hours ago it was in the possession of the WSB who managed to run a DNA analysis comparing the DNA samples from the hair in the locket to the blood samples drawn by the hospital when you had your stroke. What do you think the results say?”

“Nothing. The results will say nothing because there will be no results. In a few minutes there will be no Wyndemere. No Spoon Island. No witnesses. Nothing.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“Did you think I would just show up and fall in with your plans?” Helena made a mirthless noise. “All of my enemies gathered in one place, well except for Natasha of course but she has never truly been a threat. The temptation was too great to resist. One small bomb, strategically placed, and the game is over. I win.”

“Damn,” In the guest house V swore. “Can you handle this?”

Jax nodded. “But where are you going?”

“Where I’m needed.” V yelled over her shoulder as she raced out the door.

It took everything in Jax to resist the urge to run after her and pull her to safety. The game was about to end and if it was the last thing he did, he would see to it that the world continued to watch.

“You’re bluffing,” Emily said as she approached Helena from the opposite direction as her husband.

“Check where I was seating my dear. I find it very disheartening that you don’t believe me.”

“I’m on it,” Maxie yelled and was joined by Jason as they headed for the seat. She stopped when she saw the purse under the chair.

“She wasn’t bluffing.” Maxie yelled. “Be careful not to touch it.” She whispered to Jason as she tried to get a good look at the bomb. “I see plastique. A lot of it. The timer says ten minutes.”

“Nikolas?”

Nikolas shook his head. “One chopper. Room for six maybe seven.”

“All right,” Lucky did some fast calculating in his head. “Ruby, Stephanie, Lu, Michael, Jonathan, Emily, and a pilot. Nik, you’ll have to fly.” Lucky looked around. “Any objections.?” The adults looked at each other and nodded. The children first.

Emily shook her head. “I’m not going with them.”

“Em...”

“I’m not. I’m not leaving you.”

“Jonathan needs you.”

“Jonathan has Nikolas. There isn’t time to argue. Besides Jamie doesn’t belong in this mess.” After a moment, Lucky nodded.

Emily turned to Jonathan. “I love you. We love you. Remember that, okay?”

“I want to stay. I want to be with you two.”

Emily shook her head. “Not this time.” Emily bit back tears. “Get him out of here Nikolas.”

Nikolas met Emily’s eyes and nodded.

Two minutes later, Laura watched as Nikolas led the children to the chopper on its helipad. “I hope they have enough time.” Laura says softly.

‘They’ll be fine.” Luke says as he comforts his wife.

Watching her child leave her, Emily feels something inside her snap. Grabbing the gun that Luke had, she walked over to where Helena sat silently. Taking the gun between her shaking hands, Emily aims it at Helena. “I’m not dying before I get the chance to kill you myself.”

Lucky turns away from the bomb, which Maxie and Jason are still working to defuse.

“Emily don’t.” Lucky says softly.

“Why not? She deserves it. You know she does. It’s perfect :Lucky. I get to kill the bitch and I won’t live long enough afterwards to feel any guilt.”

“Three minutes,” Maxie announces.

“Emily if these are the last three minutes I get the chance to live I want to spend them holding you, not killing Helena.” Lucky says softly. “Helena has her own judgement day facing her.”

“She needs to pay. For this. For everything.”

“She will. God knows she will. Emily let me hold you. Please.”

Emily can’t hold out against the pleading tone in Lucky’s voice and she lowers the gun and lets him take her in his arms.

“I love you. No regrets Emily. Not one.” He whispers to her.

“Me neither,” Emily says. “Not one.’

At that moment, the glass doors leading to the garden open and V races in.

‘Where is it?” She asks anxiously. “Where’s the bomb?”

“Here,” Maxie calls. “I’ve been trying to figure out how to defuse it but I’m lost. It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before.”

“I know this type of detonator,” V says excitedly. “I spent a year training on explosives and demolitions while I was WSB. I thought it was the most boring work in the universe.”

“Forget that,” hope is back in Luke’s voice as he looks at the ex-WSB agent. “Can you defuse it?”

A smile lights V’s face. “Yeah, I think I can. It will be tricky but this wire should lead from the plastique to the detonator. Damn.”

“Damn. What damn. You’ve got forty five seconds.”

“There’s a false wire here. One is the real detonating wire. The other is a fake. I won’t have time to cut both.”

“The make a choice. Fifty-fifty odds are better than nothing.”

“Right,” V says. “All right. There’s a yellow wire and a blue wire and since Jax’s eyes are blue I vote for the blue...” Carefully V takes the wire cutters she picked up from the guest house and cuts the wire.”

The timer stops and everyone breaths a sigh of relief.

“You did it,” Maxie hugs V. “Thank you. Thank you.”

“Thank your dad for making me take that training.” V says unevenly, finding herself shaking.

“It doesn’t matter,” Helena says regally. “I shall of course deny everything and as a Greek citizen I shall have certain immunities and with my power and resources...”

“Forget it Helena,” Lucky says. “Or should I say Maria. Your confession and your true identity is now common knowledge across the globe. There isn’t a Cassadine or a Cassadine hanger on who doesn’t know what you did. My guess is that somewhere someone’s filing a lawsuit as we speak to freeze your assets.”

“And I’m pretty sure my dad is waiting on the other side of the river for you. Wait a minute, isn’t that the river patrol I hear now?” Maxie said gleefully. “It is so over. You’ll pay and not just for what you did to the people here in Port Charles but for what you did in El Paso. You remember the Stewarts don’t you Helena? I do. Nice elderly couple. Never hurt a soul, but that didn’t stop you from having them executed, did it? You know, maybe Emily had the right idea in killing you. Death or rotting in jail? I guess its a toss up.”

Jason was about to make a comment about assuring that Helena didn’t live long enough to make to that jail cell when, Emily gave a cry and collapsed in her husbands arms, a dead weight.

“Emily!” Lucky cried as he lowered her to the ground. “Oh God, Emily not now. Don’t leave me.” He checked her pulse. “I can’t find a pulse.”

In a second Monica was there. “Oh God, I was afraid of this. She looked pale. I thought it was just the stress.” As Alan and Monica start CPR and desperate Lucky calls 911 and prays as hard as he’s ever prayed in his life, no one notices the gun that was in Emily’s hand. Kicked to the side by Monica as she knelt by her child, the gun ends up in Helena’s hands.

Seeing her chance to at least take someone with her, Helena picks up the gun while everyone’s attention is still centered on the fallen Emily and takes wild aim while no one is watching, not caring who she kills as long as she kills.

Jason, turning his head from the bomb to his stricken sister, sees Helena aim the gun and realizes immediately who she is aiming at.

“Maxie!,” Jason screams as he knocks her down. Before Helena can take a second shot, Luke takes his back up gun and shoots Helena between the eyes and she falls back dead.

“Oh my god. Jason!,” Maxie cries as she gets up on her knees and moves to his side. She reaches for his hand and holds it, tears falling down her face as she realizes how badly he is hurt, the growing stain of blood covering his shirt.

“Maxie..” Jason croaks out her name.

“Shhh, don’t talk. You’ll be okay. Just hang in there okay.”

Without a second thought, AJ takes off his shirt and gives it to Maxie who uses it to try to stem the flow of blood.

Seeing that Alan and Monica have their hands full with Emily, Bobbie runs to Jason’s side and frantically tries first aid measures.

“Maxie...”

“I’m here Jason. I’m here. I’m going to stay with you forever and you’re going to stay with me forever. I love you Jason. Fight for me, okay? Stay here with me.”

“It’s so cold...” Jason murmurs as his body begins to shake. “Emily is she?”

“She’s going to be fine, Jason,” Maxie answers him not even bothering to look in Emily’s direction.

“Tell her I love her.”

“No. You tell her yourself, do you hear me Jason. You tell her yourself.”

Jason smiles faintly. “Tell them all I love them.”

“Don’t do this Jason. Don’t leave me. Don’t ever leave me.”

“Love you Maxie. More than anything. Be with you always. Love never dies.”

“Jason. Please don’t die on me. Please. I need you.”

“You’re strong. I always knew that.” Jason’s eyes looked beyond Maxie for a moment to AJ. “You were a good father.”

“You were the best brother. Even through it all, Jase I always loved you.” AJ said.

“I knew. I always knew.” Jason coughed. “ Maxie. I loved you best.”

Maxie closed her eyes. The only sound in the room was the labored sound of Jason’s breathing and the steady counting from Alan as they continued to perform CPR on Emily. From a distance, Maxie can hear the sound of sirens approaching.

She opens her eyes and for a moment she finds herself staring into Jason’s blue eyes filled with all of the love that can’t be expressed with words. Then the moment vanishes and his eyes close and Maxie hears a scream.

It takes her a moment to realize that it is her own.

To be continued.