"Nikolas?" Laura looked at her son, noticing he was worn out. ‘What were all the lies like for him?' she wondered as she motioned for him to enter. His body languaged spoke volumes about what he was feeling, but she waited for him to speak.
"I'm sorry I just came by."
"No, no. I'm glad you felt like you could. Please, sit down for a minute. Once Lulu wakes from her nap, I'll bring her down here. I know you must have missed her."
The mention of Lulu brought a slight smile to Nikolas' face, but that wasn't the real reason he had come here. "I'm glad that she's asleep for the moment. I need to talk to you."
Laura stood there, waiting for him to continue, but Nikolas just stared at the ground. She wished she knew how to help him in even a small way, but the pain he felt was caused partly by her. ‘How could I keep the knowledge of who his father was a secret? How could Stefan convince me to do so?' Then she looked over at a picture of her Spencer family and knew exactly why she had kept the secret. It was her own selfish reasons and fears that led to all her secrets. Fears that were being justified right at this moment.
Nikolas tried to understand what drove Laura to keeping her secrets. He tried to understand the pressure she felt from Luke and Stefan, but he couldn't. He didn't know why a mother would abandon her own child, and then after seeing him, keep his father's identity from him. Didn't she understand how much he wanted a father in his life? ‘I guess not since she wasn't there,' he thought.
Laura led Nikolas over to the couch and took out the picture that Nikolas had given her on Lulu's second birthday. "Do you remember when you gave me this picture?"
"Yeah. I asked you if my father had taken it."
"And I told you that he had. I didn't lie to you then, even though I may have deceived you into thinking that it was Stavros that had taken it. Stefan took the picture of me and you together when Stavros had gotten drunk one night and passed out. I had agreed to the picture because Stefan wanted to be a part of your life, but he knew that he couldn't." Tears were falling down Laura's face as the memories came back to her.
"Why couldn't he have claimed me?" Nikolas asked, desperate for the truth.
Laura felt her son's pain in her heart and put her hand on his shoulder. "It wasn't because he didn't love you, Nikolas. You didn't know Stavros, and I thank god for that. He was a cold man and only cared about power. The type of power that made everyone else yield before him. When I became pregnant, Stavros was genuinely happy. And on your birth, I think that was the first and only time I saw Stavros smile. He wanted a son, and that's what you were to him. If Stefan or I had told Stavros the truth, well... Let's just say that the sacrifice Stefan made has been the greatest gift he could have ever given to you."
"That doesn't explain why he continued to pass me off as his nephew once Stavros died."
"Stefan is unlike any other Cassadine I met, besides you of course, but there is one thing he has in common with them. His ambition for power. He wanted to hand down the whole family fortune and power to you when you became of age, but by Cassadine rules, only the heir inherits everything. With Stavros dead and without a son of his own, there is no heir. If Stefan claimed you as his son, the power and money would have been divided amongst all living family members... Helena being one of them. He did it out of love, Nikolas. He loves you so much that he wanted to provide you with what he believed was the best life could offer."
Nikolas tried to digest everything that Laura had just told him. As she told her story, he watched her eyes to see if there was any deceit in them. Despite not knowing her for very long, he felt as though he could read her completely, and what he saw right now was complete honesty on her part. What she said is exactly what she believed, but he also knew that Laura couldn't truthfully answer the questions he had just asked. It was Stefan's story to tell, if his father ever really wanted to make ammends.
Laura stared at her son for a long time, seeing that some of what she had said had gotten through to him. She knew that he believed her, but she also saw that he was struggling with something. "Is there anything else?" she asked.
Nikolas didn't know how to approach this question, but he really needed an answer to it. "Did you truly love my father? I'm sorry if that's too personal for you, but I need to know."
Laura completely understood why Nikolas needed an answer to that question. All children need to feel as if they were born from love. She contemplated her answer carefully in her head, trying to be completely honest with him, yet not wanting him to get the wrong idea either. "I wish it were so simple, Nikolas, but it's not."
"Did you love him? Yes or No."
"It was such a complicated time in my life," Laura continued. She noticed Nikolas shaking his head as if he knew she wasn't going to answer his question. "I'm not trying to dodge the question, Nikolas. I'm trying to give you an honest answer. I refuse to lie about any of this anymore. In all honesty, I did think I was in love with Stefan on the island. He had been my savior during the worst period of my life. I know that he loved me, but I'd be lying if I ever said that my heart didn't belong to another man."
"Luke," Nikolas whispered.
"Yes. Luke. Even after I thought he was dead, my heart still ached for him with every breath that I took. I know that you can't understand that, and it's impossible for me to try to explain it. What I felt for Stefan back on the island was definitely more than friendship or gratitude. I guess that people would call it love, but it wasn't the type..."
"That you felt for Luke," Nikolas said, completing the sentence.
"It wasn't even close. When Luke had supposedly died, part of me died too. That part of me that had died prevented me from loving like that again." Laura started crying, knowing she was causing her son pain, but she refused to hide from the truth any longer. It would only cause more pain to lie at this moment. "Nikolas, the one truth that you can completely hold onto is that no matter what the circumstances were, I love you as much as I love Lucky or Lulu. You are every part of me as they are. You were a miracle that I will always cherish."
Nikolas looked at his mother in a new light. He knew he wouldn't understand what she had gone through, but he also knew that she wouldn't have traded any of it for anything in the world. With all the secrets and the lies gone, he was finally able to see the truth... the same truth that had been staring at him for a long time. He saw, once and for all, that she really did love him as much as she could love anyone, and he took great comfort in that. "I love you too, Mother."
Lesley stood at the top of the stairs, watching as Nikolas and Laura hugged. Despite the tragedy that happened due to the secrets, some happiness was finally shining through.
Tiffany walked into Sean's office as he threw his pen across the room. "Well, I guess your search has led to nowhere," she said as she took a seat in front of his desk.
Sean rubbed his eyes hard, trying to get the frustration out of his mind. "All these suspicions, but nothing concrete. I can't find one single thing to try to convince Stefan Cassadine to drop the charges against Luke. As far as I see, Stefan would rather die than let Luke go free."
Tiffany took out a folder and dropped it on Sean's desk. "What is this?" he asked.
"Well, my husband. This is just a suspicion, but if we can get some proof, I think we might be able to get Luke out," Tiffany said, smiling. She loved it when she was able to find things that her husband couldn't.
Sean looked through the folder, convinced that Tiffany had finally lost her mind. "These are just articles on the hospital shutdown last year. What does this have to do with anything?"
"In these articles, Greg Cooper was named as the suspect for planting a virus into the computer system, but nothing was ever found to truly link him to it. Also, Stefan was honored as a hero that day for finding a quick solution."
"Now I know you've completely lost it. You throw articles on my desk that call Stefan a hero and you think that's going to get Luke out of prison. Have you been drinking tonight?"
"Sean, Stefan found the solution too quickly. No one suspected a virus until he suggested it. How many computer experts were there that couldn't find the problem, yet a businessman could? It just doesn't add up."
"Are you leading to something or do you want me to try to guess?" Sean asked, frustratingly.
"When I was on the Cassadine Island a long time ago, I overheard Victor talking about a computer virus that they had been working on. There were too many bugs in it for them to use it, but they had people working on it. I guess that was at the same time that Mikkos had discovered the Ice Princess formula, so the computer virus was probably put on hold until they could see if Mikkos' plan would work. Victor was always unsure of the weather machine, so he did try to secretly get the computer virus perfected."
"You're talking about back in the early 1980s, Tiffany. What does this have to do with 1997 and Stefan Cassadine?"
"The only thing I completely understood about this computer virus was that it was supposed to be able to bring down the top computer systems in the world. The Cassadines had planned on using it to destroy the world economy for their own purposes. But, as you know, Mikkos' plan was the one put into effect, and the Cassadines suffered a tremendous loss because of it. What if Stefan also knew about the virus and had discovered a way to perfect it?"
Sean thought over everything Tiffany had told him. The virus she just mentioned would in fact cause the trouble to GH that the virus that Greg Cooper supposedly put into it's systems. "If this virus was designed for top computer systems, why use it on General Hospital? Why use it on a hospital that you are the CEO of? And if it had worked as planned, why not try it out on a larger scale?"
"Maybe GH was the test run on the virus. Maybe Stefan wanted to see if it actually worked before he planned on using it on a wider scale. As for why he didn't continue with it, I don't know. But I do know someone that might."
"You don't think Luke has any knowledge of this, do you? If he did, then why not report it right away. Why not get Stefan behind bars and out of the way?" Sean asked, still thinking that Tiffany was grasping at straws.
"This is Luke we're talking about. Does he ever do anything that make sense? But I think that it's worth a shot to ask him."
Sean had no other leads at the moment, so he figured it wouldn't do any harm in asking. "I'll see him right now."
"Why is my life being destroyed and why can't I do anything about it?" Lucky asked, forgetting that Liz was next to him.
"What do you mean your life is destroyed?" Liz asked quietly. She looked at Lucky, concerned because he had been staring off in his own world for almost an hour.
Lucky looked over to Liz and wanted to take back what he had just said, but he knew he couldn't. ‘She's still here? She's been next to me this whole time?' Lucky asked himself. He wanted to know where this devotion was coming from, especially after he had been so cold to her ever since she came to Port Charles. "Forget about it," he said.
"I can't forget about it, Lucky. I know something is wrong, and if you don't tell someone, you're going to explode. I can see that your struggling inside, and I want to help you. I know I haven't given you much reason to trust me, but I am being completely honest right now. I really want to help if I can," Liz said, taking Lucky's hand in the process.
Lucky stared at Liz's small hand, noticing how beautiful it was. They were so delicate, the opposite of what he was led to believe about her. Was this the same person that was so forward with him when they first met outside of Ruby's? Was this the same girl that did everything in her power to break up Sarah and Nikolas at one time?
Liz knew that Lucky wanted to talk, but something was holding him back. ‘Was it loyalty?' she wondered. He did let it slip that whatever was wrong had to do with his family, so maybe that was it. From the first time she met him, she was taken by surprise at how loyal he was to his family. She had heard that he and his father were best friends and she knew from first hand experience that he worshipped his mother and sister. She could also see that he was under a lot of pressure and wanted to relieve him of some of it. "I can understand if you don't trust me..."
Lucky stared into her eyes, feeling something he had never felt from any person outside of his own family. He knew he could completely trust her for some reason. "It's not about trust. It's about..."
"Loyalty," she finished.
"How do you know?"
"I just know. I admire that too, so I won't push anymore. I wish my family was that close. Why don't you talk to your dad, though? I know he'll try to help."
"I wish I could," Lucky whispered, thinking of his father behind bars at the moment. ‘Why does Mom's secrets have to always split us apart?' he thought.
"Then why not go to your mother?" Liz regretted asking that question when she noticed the change in Lucky's eyes. Without meaning to, Lucky had just told her part of the problem. ‘Did his parents split up?' she wondered, but she didn't dare ask. She knew she had asked enough for one night and decided that it was time to leave.
As Liz got up, Lucky stood up quickly, shocked to see her leaving. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do anything to make you want to leave."
"You didn't. It's getting late and Gram will be worried."
Lucky looked at his watch, not realizing how late it had gotten. "Oh, I'm so sorry. You really didn't have to stay with me. I didn't realize it was getting so late."
Liz smiled in a comforting way. "It was my pleasure, Lucky."
"At least let me walk you home after I kept you out this late. And it'll be a way for me to thank you," Lucky said, shifting from side to side as if he were nervous.
"There's really no need. I didn't do anything for you tonight but just sit in silence."
"You did more than you realized, Elizabeth. More than anyone has done for me lately. Please, let me walk you home."
Liz nodded, as she looked at the ground, hoping it was too dark for Lucky to notice her blushing. Lucky walked beside her, seeing that she was blushing, but kept it to himself so that he wouldn't embarrass her. ‘Why didn't I ever notice how beautiful she was?' he asked himself during the whole walk to her house.
