Helena was livid. "WHAT are you doing?"

Stefan's laughter faded as he stalked across the stage and roughly grabbed his mother by her arm. "A better question would be, what are YOU doing, you rotten bitch!"

"Such language. I thought I taught you better. Let go of me!"

"I don't think so," Stefan growled, pulling her across the stage and down the steps into the middle of the audience. "Mother, I would like to introduce you to the real world. Real world, this is my mother."

Everyone was gawking as Helena struggled against her son's iron grip.

Andreas came running up. "Mr. Cassadine, unhand Madam at once."

"Not yet, Andreas. You see, my mother is living in her own fantasy world. She actually thinks that building a cryogenics wing in my father's name is a good idea. Which it's not."

"You never had any vision, Stefan!" Helena snapped, finally breaking free. She turned on him. “This wing will once again elevate the Cassadines to greatness. The work that will be done on cryogenics will propel the world into a new era. An era of life!"

"Life for who? My father is dead! You can't save him! It is far too late and I will not let you further desecrate his memory by doing this. General Hospital rejects your donation."

"Then the Mikkos Cassadine Allied Cryogenics And Restoration Wing will be built elsewhere. BUT, it will be built. If you weren't so dim, you would see the possibilities."

"If you weren't so psychotic, you would see that no one gives a damn!  Must you continue to try and make Father into a hero?"

Helena's eyes fixed on those of her son. Her glare was hard and cold. Her voice was filled with passionate conviction. "Mikkos Cassadine was a hero. He was a man with great vision. If he hadn't been killed, he would of led us all to victory. He had something you will never possess. It's called courage. He didn't shrink back from a challenge, Stefan. If he were alive, he'd be ashamed of you. As am I."

Her words stung. He felt his breath coming in short stabs. Why did he do this to himself? "You're ridiculous-"

She moved closer. "Listen to you! You know I'm right. Mikkos  was magnificent-"

"You're deluded!" He screamed, his patented composure crumbling. "He was none of those things! He prided himself on being a bully. He was unfaithful. He was inattentive and paranoid. He was INSANE! And he hated you!! Just as I do. He couldn't stand to be in the same room as you. That's why he spent so much time away from the island on business. Because he couldn't stand the sight of you!!!"

Helena was visibly shaking. As those last words escaped his mouth, Helena lost control as well. Her hand shot out. She smacked him across the mouth. He stumbled back and in that moment, she leapt at him, wrapping her fingers around his neck, screaming, "LLLIIIAAARRR!!!!".

Nikolas rushed to help Stefan pry Helena's fingers from his throat. She was screaming and thrashing. Nikolas held her hands behind her back. "I should have made sure you were dead!! I should have shoved you over the side of the boat myself!!" Helena shrieked.

Stefan climbed off of the floor. He could feel his composure returning. "You should have, Mother. That was your mistake, to let me live. Because now, I won't rest until I destroy you."

Chloe surfaced from out of nowhere at his side. "Darling, what did that evil witch do to you? Let me take you home. Let me take care of you." Then she turned to Helena, "I despise you!! You run me down with your car, try to kill me, and then hold me captive. What is wrong with you?"

Helena grinned slyly. "It's interesting that you would mention that, Chloe. I have always maintained my innocence for all of those deeds."

"Yeah, and you were lying. We might not have been able to prove it after we escaped, but both Stefan and I know that you kidnapped us!"

"I didn't kidnap anyone."

Chloe put her hands on her hips, "Well, if you didn't, who did? There is no one else!"

Helena adjusted her dress as she stared at the young woman. "My son does like them dense, doesn't he. Chloe, dear, if I didn't kidnap you, then maybe you need to consider who else had something to gain from you and your psychic powers."

"Huh?"

The corner of Stefan's lip twitched. "Remain silent, Mother. No one wants to hear your lies. Come on, Chloe," he said trying to lead her away.

"No, Stefan, let the old biddy have her say."

"Do you really want to hear what I have to say? Will it torpedo your pretty rainbow existence?"

Standing behind Nikolas, Gia was starting to sweat. Helena was angry and she was just a few sentences away from ruining any future Gia had. The guests had formed a circle around Stefan and Helena and Gia moved closer to the center of the chaos.

Chloe smiled brightly. "On second thought, Stefan is right. You suck!"

Helena pursed her lips, saying, "And how would Stefan know if I suck or not?"

"Everyone knows, Helena. After all the bad things you've done, how could they not?" Chloe snarled.

Stefan put a protective arm around his girlfriend's shoulder. "Save your lies, Mother. You're a kidnapper-"

"Do you know what's interesting, Stefan," Helena said, her voice suddenly sweet. "How high pitched your voice sounds on tape. Have you ever heard your voice recorded on tape, Darling?"

"What does that have to do with anything?" Stefan replied, confused at the turn the conversation was taking.

"You shut up, Helena!" Chloe shouted, her body tensing.

"I bet you have," Helena continued as if she hadn't been interrupted. "But, in case you haven't, I might have something you would like to hear. I think everyone, including LittleChloe would, too."

Gia burst past Alexis and Ned, screeching, "How dare you guys do this?"

Nikolas walked forward. "Gia, this doesn't really concern you. It's old family business-"

"Don't you dare try and tell me that this doesn't concern me! I love you, Nikolas and these fools are your family. Do you think I don't know how it upsets you to see them fight?"

"Gia really-" Nikolas protested.

"Don't!" She turned to Helena, her eyes secretly pleading for the older woman to keep her mouth shut. "This is absurd. Both of you are supposed to be mature adults, yet you're at each other's throats. Literally. This was to be an event celebrating a man you both loved. And this is how it ends? With nasty words and screaming? And normally, I wouldn't give a flying fig what the heck you did, but I can see that it's hurting the man I love. So, it will stop!! If you care for Nikolas in the least bit, you wouldn't ruin his life by airing your dirty silk sheets in public. He has to live in this town! Don't you know how people will snicker? Grow up already!"

There was complete silence until Alexis stepped forward and started to clap. The rest of the guests joined in with their own applause. Somewhere in back, a drunken AJ Quartermaine started yelling, "Way to GO!!"

Somewhere up front, Ned Ashton yelled, "Shut up, Junior!"

Gia flushed. Everyone was congratulating her, but she knew she was nothing more than an amoral hypocrite. She had said those things, not out of concern for Nikolas, but out of fear that Helena would spill her nasty little secret. She felt hot with shame. Turning, she ran from the Versailles Room out  onto the terrace. Nikolas tried to go after her, but he lost track of her in the crowd. He'd have to look for her.

The applause died down, and the room filled with a new noise. The band kicked back up. Although most people were going to go home, they were coaxed by Andreas to stay.

Stefan sat in the corner of the room, not ready to go yet. Chloe came to sit on his lap. "It'll be okay, Baby," she whispered in his ear. "I still love you. I won't let anything ruin the happy life we have planned. We'll be happy, always. I will see to it."

"No one is happy always, Chloe."

"I am! And I work very hard to stay that way. I'll teach you..."

Helena, after a brilliant deduction, found Gia standing on the terrace. "That was a wonderful speech, Dear. So well timed."

"We had a deal, Helena. I followed through. Nikolas is here! Why would you ruin a good thing?"

"I wasn't going to say anything. I just enjoyed watching you sweat, Gia."

"I don't sweat. I glisten."

Helena tilted her head in appreciation of Gia' s wit. "I almost like you."

"You keep saying that! Why don't you just give this up? We can all be happy. I will sway Nikolas in your direction. I promise. Just ditch the tapes."

"A wise woman never gives up her leverage. I'll keep the tapes for insurance. Now, let's move onto a more pleasant topic. Your next assignment." Helena produced an envelope from behind her back. "Take this, read it, and follow the instructions. I assume that I don't need to tell you that this is not for Nikolas' eyes?"

Gia took the envelope. "What is it?"

"Just follow the directions."

Gia threw the envelope to the ground before Helena's pumps. "I'm done with you! I don't trust you and I won't be following anymore of your 'directions'."

"Then Nikolas will find out about your deception."

"He'll survive."

"Will he? How will he survive when he loses not only the woman he thinks he loves, but the only father he has ever known? He could make it through one or the other, but BOTH? It will destroy him. You know how sensitive he is. He won't be able to handle it." Helena picked up the white envelope and pressed it into Gia's hands.

Gia knew she could be right. He had already lost so much. Could he take two blows at once? "I don't like the way this makes me feel about myself, Helena! What good is an emptied out shell to your grandson? " She hovered near tears. "He deserves better."

Helena looked at Gia disdainfully. "I agree, but that can't be helped at the moment-"

She was interrupted by the sound of Nikolas' voice yelling, "GIA! Where are you?"

Gia pulled herself together. Grimly she said, "Follow my lead, Helena."

"What?"

"Ummm....we're out here, Nikolas!" she yelled. Then, she walked over to Helena and put her arms around the woman's shoulders. Nikolas rounded the corner just in time to hear Gia say, "It's all right, Mrs. Cassadine. It must be hard to lose someone you love. Despite what Stefan said, Mikkos sounded like a wonderful man." Gia pinched Helena's arm. She whispered, "Cry or something."

When Helena looked up, a lone tear streaked the corner of her face. "I loved him so much. All I wanted to do was to honor his memory. To honor the memory of the only person who ever loved me." She began to sob and Gia pulled her into an embrace.

"I'm sure your sons loved you. It must be pretty lonely, though."

"What's going on?" Nikolas demanded.

Helena, who was far more accomplished actress than even Stefan suspected, tensed up at the sound of her grandson's voice. She fled from Gia's arms to the massive stone railing. She furiously wiped at her eyes. When she spoke, her voice wavered. "I...I don't want you to see me cry, Nikolas! No! Another thing for you to exploit....oh God, how did I end up such a mess."

Nikolas was speechless. Was Helena actually having a human  emotion? Gia elbowed him. She pushed him towards Helena. He sighed, walking up. "Don't cry, Grandmother. It's all right. I know that the scene out there wasn't totally your fault. You had some help." He tried to walk away, but Gia shoved him back over there.

"She's so alone..."

His face contorted as if it were physically painful for him to comfort her. "Uhhhh...and I couldn't imagine you being a mess."

"No?" she asked turning to face him. Her mascara was smeared and running. Her hair was wild.

"You always look terrific. Even when you're doing your best impression of a raccoon."

Her hands immediately flew to her eyes. "My mascara is smeared isn't it?"

He nodded.

"I can't go back out there like this!"

"Then don't," Nikolas replied, reaching into his tuxedo jacket and fishing out a handkerchief. She reached for it, dabbing at the black smudges, but unable to completely fix the problem. More tears reached her eyes.

Nikolas took the fine linen and gently wiped his grandmother's face. He fluffed her hair. "You look marvelous. Despite everything that's happened between us, I have to admit that you always look marvelous."

She smiled brightly. "I believe that's the first compliment you've paid me in years."

"Perhaps that was a mistake. We are family."

Helena was eager to press on with the headway they had made, but she saw Gia mouthing the word leave. She knew that Gia was  right. Baby steps...

"I am going to say farewell to my guests. Thank you, Nikolas." She touched his arm before sauntering away.

"You were so nice to her. I am so proud of you!"

"How proud," he replied.

"Go get the car, take me home, and find out!"

He kissed her on the lips and quickly ran out to summon the limousine.

Stuffing the envelope down in her cleavage, she left the terrace to go get her coat. While she was walking through, she spotted Stefan on the far side of the room. Thinking that she should probably tell him about the tape, she changed directions. He was sitting alone at a table in the corner, his gazed focused on something far off. She noticed that Chloe and Alexis were absorbed in a conversation elsewhere. "Hey, Stefan!"

Without looking at her, he said, "What do you want?"

"I want to give you the heads up."

"The what?"

She sat down, tucking her legs under the chair and moving the lighted silver candelabra out of the center of the table so she could see his face. "Never mind. I just wanted to let you know that our secret isn't  a secret anymore."

Speaking as if  Gia wasn't there, he remarked, "Look at her. She's over there, mingling as if she hadn't just destroyed another piece of my soul."

"Umm...yeah, Stefan that's great. But, we got more important issues than your Mommy and this soul you claim to have. Helena knows-"

"I want her to pay, Gia."

"Then send her a bill. Helena knows-"

"She's going to pay!"

"Stefan? Do you want me to go get Chloe or Alexis or Nikolas or something? You don't seem yourself."

He was intently staring at his mother's faraway form. He looked eerie in the flickering of the candles. "Do you like to have fun, Miss Campbell?"

"Yeah..."

"Do you want to have fun now?"

"I'm gonna go get Chloe-"

"Come," he said, grabbing her wrist in one hand and the candelabra in the other. "Will you grab that glass of champagne?"

She hastily picked it up as he dragged her covertly along the wall. Without being seen, they stood at the front of the room on the stage. Stefan came to the wings. Gia watched in horror as he raised the candelabra to the drapes.

"What the hell are you doing?!!!"

"It’s called fun, Gia."

The curtains started to ignite. Stefan sat the candelabra down and emptied the glass of champagne. "Fun!"

The curtains, apparently very flammable, burst into blazing flames. AJ Quartermaine yelled, "FIRE!!"

There was a mad scramble for the exit. "Come, Miss Campbell, the stage is on fire." Stefan said to her.

"I noticed that, You ****!"

"We have to go, now!" The fire was getting out of control. No one had gone for the fire extinguisher. Instead, everyone had fled to save their own skin.

They started to run down the stairs when they both looked down in horror to see that the edge of  Gia's dress had caught on fire. ~*~  ~*~  ~*~

  Chapter 11/Part Two

"I'm on fire!" Gia shrieked. Stefan moved around and started stomping on the bottom of her dress. The small flames gradually died down. He pulled her down the stairs, pushing her in front of him toward the exit.

The fire, which had started on the stage, had now spread. The silk wallpaper of the Versailles Room had burst into flames. Water poured down out of the ceiling from the sprinklers. It didn't do much good.

Gia hobbled down a long corridor and out through the kitchen, Stefan close behind her. She could hear the lonesome wail of a fire truck in the distance. The back alley was filled with people. The entire hotel had been evacuated. Gia slouched against a brick wall. Her heart was finally slowing.

"Are you all right?" Stefan asked, clearly concerned.

Gia looked at him with pure hatred. "You set me on fire! How am I supposed to be all right?"

Stefan looked around, before turning back to the girl. "Keep your voice down."

"What's wrong? It wasn't as much fun as you thought?"

"Actually," he smirked, "it was more exhilarating than I imagined. I was reckless."

"You were stupid. You could have killed everyone!"

"Would that had been so bad?" Stefan's eyes were glowing. He was enjoying himself. He saw the fear in her eyes and sighed. "I am sorry about the fire. I shouldn't have insisted you come along."

"Why did you?"

"You were there."

"Remind me not to ever be 'there' again. I loved this dress. Now it's ruined. RUINED!"

"If it'll help, I'll get you another."

"You bet you will. What a tacky end to the evening," she said, her voice fading as she glimpsed Helena ducking into a limousine at the far end of the alley.

Stefan leaned against the wall next to her. "Is something wrong, Gia?"

"Other than the fact I just did an impression of a human torch?"

"Yes, other than that."

"No...everything is perfect. We made a deal. You're sticking to it. Everything is perfect."

"It's interesting that you would bring up the deal. Earlier, you said something about giving me the heads down?"

"Heads up, Cassadine. It means I was trying to warn you."

"Warn me about what?"

"Helena. She knows about everything. The deal we made, you kidnapping Chloe, my spying on Nikolas for you. She has a tape."

Stefan slammed his hand against the wall. "What do you mean she has a tape?"

Gia gestured wildly. "A tape! A recording of our last conversation at the hospital. We basically spilled out guts. She has it."

"That's what she was referring to earlier, wasn't it? What does she plan to do with it?"

Gia clamed up. She couldn't tell Stefan about her mission to bring Helena and Nikolas together. He would use it against her with Nikolas. She still didn't trust him. "Nothing for now. She's using it to torture me. I still don't know what she wants. Most likely she's going to use it to force me to leave Nikolas."

Stefan nodded his head. That sounded like Helena. He didn't know if he should try to neutralize Helena or let her get rid of Gia. But would Gia go without revealing the secret? He stood up and moved in front of the young woman. He wouldn't decide now. He needed to think. To plan.  "I  will take care of Helena."

"Yeah, like you did just now? Don't do me any favors." Gia slid away from him, moving into the center of the alley. The smell of smoke was thick. She started to choke. He moved to help her, but she waved him away. After a time, they started walking towards the front of the building. Out front, they were stopped by Mac Scorpio.

"Cassadine. Gia. Are the two of you all right?"

"We're both fine, Scorpio," Stefan replied tersely.

"Don't leave the scene, okay? We've got questions for everyone. This was arson."

Stefan smiled. "My, is the PCPD finally going to do some real police work? Or, are you just going to plant evidence and frame another innocent person?"

"You're way too smug, Cassadine. I shouldn't have to tell you, but as always, you are top on our list of suspects for this crime. Half of the Quartermaines already told me about your altercation with your mother."

"That was a private family matter."

"I've noticed," Mac said, "that Cassadines have a way of settling their private family matters in a very public way. Where were you when the  fire started, Stefan?"

Gia was growing impatient. "Stefan didn't set the fire, Commissioner. He was with me at a corner table when the fire started. We were talking."

"Do you usually hang around with Stefan Cassadine?" Mac asked suspiciously.

"Sure, I like hanging out with middle aged men and their dumb blonde girlfriends! We should do lunch!"

Mac was not laughing. Stefan wasn't either.

"No, Commissioner, I  do not 'hang' out with Stefan on a regular basis. We were just discussing a surprise party we were going to throw Nikolas for his birthday in a few months."

"A party for me?" Nikolas said, coming up from the side of the building.

Stefan grimaced. "You weren't supposed to hear that."

"I will pretend to be surprised, Stefan. I can't believe you and Gia would be able to work together."

"Well, we have a common goal," Stefan said, patting Nikolas on the shoulder and moving away.

Mac rushed off after him. “Wait, Cassadine! I still have a few questions!"

"Let's go home, Gia."

"Mac said he wanted everyone to stick around. To answer a couple of questions."

"He can ask them tomorrow. I just want to get you home. I was so worried when I realized the building was on fire. I could have lost you."

"My dress caught on fire, but I'm fine."

"Your dress?" he said, bending down to inspect her. He saw the tattered, charred edges at the bottom. "Are you sure you're fine?"

"Fine. Stefan stomped the fire out."

"I guess I owe him, then, for saving you."

"I guess..."

Nikolas placed a hand on each side of her face. He kissed her forehead, then her lips. Gia felt weak. She didn't deserve him.

"Home, Gia. That's where we should be."

"Where is home? Your place or mine?"

"Home is where ever you are, Princess," he said, sweeping her off of her feet and carrying her through the throngs of  hotel guests to the waiting limousine. ~*~  ~*~  ~*~

End of chapter Eleven, Please e-mail any feedback by clicking on the mailbox below :)

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