~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Keesha was waiting for Justus at the PC Grille when he came in.

” You’re late.”, Keesha scolded.

” True. But, it couldn’t be helped. I was assisting a friend.”

” Oh. A friend. Well, I needed to see you. Did you know that Deception has been taken over?”

” Yes. I heard something about it.”

” Well, Katherine called and said that the campaign was unclear.”

” What’s this Lil’ Bit? Are you really upset about this? You, who is the image of the anti model?”

” Yes. I can like to do something different too, Justus. I admit, wearing the clothes, having people wait on me, is something I could get used to.”

“ Get back, Keesha Ward. What is going on?”

Keesha laughs. “ You are such a loser sometimes.” Keesha notices that something is bothering Justus. She leans over and grabs his hand. “ Justus,  what’s wrong?”

” I found out some information today that really threw me for a loop.”

” Anything I can do?”

” Besides having dinner with me, and letting me bask in your presence. Nope. I don’t need anything else.” Justus motioned for the waiter to come over.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jax and Jerry were sitting outside the ICU awaiting news from the doctor. Jane was in there with John. The brothers were playing a game of checkers and drinking coffee when...

” Hello, Jax.” Jax turns around and..

“ Dara?”

” How are you?”

” What are you doing here?”

” I heard about your father and I...”

” Just decided to come to Alaska?”

” I thought that’s what friends did for one another.”

” Friends.”

Jerry steps up from the background and extends his hand.

” And, people say that I am the heathen brother. Since Jasper won’t make the introductions, I will. I’m Jerry Jacks.”

” Dara Jensen.”

” Yes. I gathered. “ Jerry looks at Jax. “ I’m going in there to speak to Lady Jane. It was nice meeting you, Dara.”

” Same here.”

Jerry leaves and Jax motions Dara over to the couch.

” What are you doing here, Dara?”

“ It’s like I said. I heard that your father was sick, and I knew how upset you would be, and I didn’t want for you to go through this alone.”

” I wasn’t alone. I had my family.”

” You know what I mean.”

” No, Dara, I don’t. I’m going to be honest here. My father may not make it. And, as happy as I am to see you, I don’t need to be jerked around. I don’t have the tolerance for it.”

” OK, that’s fair. I came here because I care about you, Jax. But, to be honest, nothing has changed. Yet, I knew when I heard the news, the only place that I should be is here.”

” How did you get here? This is the high season . I heard reports on the TV that said all flights were booked.”

” I took the ELQ Jet.”

” Justus...”

” Yes. He helped me. He knew how important this was to me.” Dara took Jax’s hand and held it in hers. Looking into her eyes once again, all Jax could think of was how happy he was that she was there with him. There was something so solid, and comforting about Dara. There was a sense of serenity about her. He had been trying to be strong for everyone else, but, the truth of the matter was that he’s terrified for his father.  He brought Dara’s hand up to his face and closed his eyes, and began to cry.

At this moment, Jane Jacks came from the room, witnessing the scene. She recognized Dara immediately from the report that she had been given on her.
She left them alone, knowing that there was time later for them to meet.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“ Well, Barbara, we seem to  have made it through dinner unscathed.”

” That we did. “

” Well, I am going to attend to some work.” Stefan gets up and is about to leave.

“ Stefan. Please don’t go. Would you sit down?”

Stefan sits on the side of the bed near Bobbie.

” What is it, Barbara? Is there something wrong with the baby?”

“ No. I just  thought that it was past time for us to clear the air about things.”

“ About what things?”

” About why I betrayed you.”

” I thought we had settled this the night you almost jumped off General Hospital.”

” No. I gave you this vague answer and you accepted it. But, things have changed. We share a child, now, and, I believe it’s best for everyone that I tell the truth now, and let the chips fall.”

” I am listening.”

” Fine. The reason that I betrayed you is because I found out that you were the one who put the computer virus in the GH mainframe and that you were the reason why the power went out when Audrey almost died. I know about the chip in the base of the Faberge Egg that you went to retrieve. What you didn’t know is that Luke and Laura had already discovered it, and had it duplicated with help from the WSB. It was also no coincidence that you failed in your attempt to activate it. Luke made sure that you were distracted.

You almost caused Audrey to die. Let alone the countless other lives that you endangered. I am a nurse, Stefan. I’ve dedicated my life to saving lives. The thought that you could so recklessly endanger others for whatever reason, meant that you had to pay. Period.

Yes, I betrayed you. And, if the circumstances arose again, I would do it all over again, the same way. So, there, you know the truth.”

Stefan glared at Bobbie. He got up, and slammed the door harder than she had ever thought possible.

Stefan was barely out the door when,

“ Barbara Jean, have you completely lost your natural mind?”, Luke says, coming from the secret passageway.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Justus was going over some files in his Penthouse when he hears the doorbell. He goes to answer it..

“ Sasha?”

“ Hello, Justus. May I come in?”

” Of course.”

Sasha comes in and goes over to the window. Justus pours her a brandy and takes it over to her. She takes it and swallow it in basically one gulp.

“ Bad day?”

“ To put it mildly.”

“ Do you want to talk about it?”

Sasha shakes her head.

“ Ok. Well, let me bore you with what’s been going on in Port Chuck. Katherine Bell is belly up.”

“ I know that.”

” How could you....Oh....I see, YOU did this to her.”

” Yes.”

” Why?”

” Just because.”

” I guess that’s as good a reason as any. Things are going well, according to plan with the Jacks family.”

” I know. I read the preliminaries on the plane home. Those, coupled with John’s recent illness, and things are better than scheduled.”

“ I couldn’t agree more. Sasha...”

” You know what, Justus? This was the wrong choice for me this evening. I’m sorry.”

Sasha turns and walks away from Justus. She gets to the door, and stops. She puts her forehead on the door as she looks down at the floor. Justus can hear her sobs. He goes over to her and gets her to turn around and she begins to cry in his chest. They make it over to the couch. After they sit, Justus just holds her. She stops crying, but, he can feel  that she wants for him to continue to hold her. She pulls away from him, looking at the floor. She can’t even look him in the eye. He senses that she is embarrassed by her actions. Justus lifts her face so that his eyes meet hers. In them, he sees the rawest vulnerability in her  that he’s ever seen. He takes her hand, and they go upstairs to the bedroom. When they get there, Justus takes off his shirt and shoes and she does the same. He leads her to the bed. Once there, she gets down on the bed. Justus comes in the bed after her and cradles her. She goes to sleep in his arms and they stay that way all night.

As she drifts off to sleep, Justus acknowledges finally what he feels for her. He admits to himself that he’s madly in love with her, even though there’s a voice in his head telling him that he’s in for a wild ride, by falling for her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“ Luke? What are you doing here?”

” Checking up on you, baby sister. Since you’ve moved back to the House of Usher, my phone calls don’t seem to be getting to you.”

” They get to me Luke. I am choosing not to return them.”

” Bobbie, have you lost your  mind? What , on EARTH, possessed you to tell Count Vlad about the virus?”

” How about, I’m trying to build a family with him.”

” Now, I KNOW, I have to call Gail Baldwin for you.”

” I’m not crazy Luke.”

” You’re talking about building a ‘Leave It To Beaver’ scenario here with Uncle Fester. That alone should get you a oneway ticket to the funny farm. And, you do it while you’re on your back and defenseless. Barbara...WAKE UP!!”

“ Luke, why do you sound like a broken record?”

” Because, this needles gonna stick on this point until you BUY A CLUE!”

“ Well, let me give you my own needle.
a) Tony has abandoned our son. Lucas doesn’t have a father anymore, and he’s reeling because of it.
b) Lucas NEEDS Nikolas AND Stefan for stability.
c) I am PREGNANT, Luke. Do you get that? Do you get that I am going to have a baby? STEFAN’S baby?”

“ THAT, little sister, is something that never leaves my thoughts.”

“ Good. Then, you can also understand that it might not be in the best interest of this child for me and Stefan to be at one another’s throats for the rest of his or her life. That, possibly, a family could be formed for the baby. One that includes, Stefan, Nikolas, Lucas, Sasha, the baby and me. Luke, I love my baby. I don’t care if Stefan is the father. And, once this child is born, there will be a bond between us that can never be broken. I’ve lost two children in my life, Luke. This baby is my last chance. And, I’m going to take it. If I have any chance of having a family, I have to play it straight with Stefan, and that means no lies between us.”

” And, does your hubby share in your  HONESTY policy?”

” It doesn’t matter if he does or doesn’t. I can’t control what Stefan does. Only what I do. I can sleep better knowing that I’ve told the truth.”

” And what about me? Telling Vlad about the virus sends him straight to my door.”

” You’re a big boy, Luke. You’ve handled worse. But, I have to be concerned about MY children now. You can protect yourself. You’re a grown man. Just prepare yourself.”

” You’re enjoying this.”

“ Honestly? No. But, I can’t be bothered with you and your schemes anymore Luke. I have a family to build. Since you’ve made it quite clear your opinion on said family, we have nothing further to discuss. Now, leave, before my blood pressure goes up.”

Luke leaves....glaring at Bobbie.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Stefan is down in the private gym. He is at the punching bag. He has visions of Luke swirling in his head. He sees Luke on the punching bag. He continues to kick and punch at it, getting more vicious with every blow, over and over again, until he drops from exhaustion.

“ Are you finished?”

Stefan turns around to find Alexis standing there.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Carly, Jason and Michael are all taking a walk on the docks. They stop at Bannister’s Wharf and Jason goes to get them some ice cream. When Jason leaves, Carly takes Michael out of his stroller and faces him towards Spoon Island.

“ You see that Michael? That’s Spoon Island. That’s where your....Bobbie lives....with her real family..” Carly says sadly.

“ Well, Bobbie knows better than to include you in anything.”

Carly looks up to find Robin there.

” What are you doing here?”

” I was just walking by.”

” Like hell. You were following us.”

” Get real, Carly. The whole world doesn’t revolve around you. You and your disgusting lies.”

” Well, Jason doesn’t seem to have any problem with my lies.”

” That’s because you’ve got him trapped now with the baby.”

Carly laughs. “ Do you hear yourself, Robin? How did I trap Jason with this baby?”

“ You had it all planned. You knew a patsy when you saw one. I mean, you did with Tony. Now, you’ve got Jason suckered in. He just doesn’t know how devious and manipulative you are. After all, you got him to sleep with you. Jason just didn’t know any better. He doesn’t know how bad you really are.  He just hasn’t had his eyes opened to what a complete witch you are. You are....”

” Robin!”

Carly and Robin turn to see Jason there.

“ Jason..”

” Robin, why are you talking to Carly like that?”

“ Because, she it’s the truth.”

” But, you told her that I didn’t know who she was. I do. I like her anyway.”

” Jason, you don’t really understand how bad she is.”

” I know all her truths, Robin. What don’t I understand.”

“ That she’s using you.”

” How can she be using me, if I fully agree with everything she’s done.”

” Jason, can we talk...privately...”

Before Jason can answer the phone rings. He takes the call.

” Carly, we have to go.”

“ Jason...”

” Robin, I have to go. Bye.”

The Morgan family leaves Robin standing on the wharf.

Once they’re all in the limo, Carly asks, “ What’s up Jason?”

“ The hospital called. They have the paternity test results.”

“ Oh, God.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Justus wakes up to an empty bed and a note:

    Dear Justus,

        Last night meant more to me than you can possibly know. Thank you for not asking any questions. I will see you soon, and maybe, one day, I can give you the same comfort you’ve given me.

                    Sasha
 

He went downstairs, and someone had prepared a wonderful continental breakfast. He was reading the newspaper and drinking some OJ when the doorbell rang.

“ Katherine?”

” Yes. I have a proposition for you.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bobbie was at the end of her morning visit from the nurse when Sasha walked in.
Sasha goes over an gives Bobbie a kiss.

“ Do you know how good it is to see you, outside of the hospital?”

“ Well, I feel so much better, so, I’ll take a guess. I missed you when I came home.”

” I’m sorry. I had to take a trip. It couldn’t be avoided. How are you?”

” I am doing fine.”

“ Niko had told me that you were doing well, but, I needed to hear it from your mouth. I saw Papa, today, doing something that he rarely does.”

” Which is?”

“ Run. He’s not the runner in the family, Niko is. He must be upset about something. Would you have any idea?”

“ Yes. He’s upset about something that I told him last night.”

“ Are you leaving him?”

“ No. It’s a long story. But, the bottom line is that I betrayed him, and now he knows why.”

” It was never about Katherine, was it?”

” No. Only a man would think that a woman would drug him over another woman.”

They both laugh, but Sasha gets serious.

” Bobbie, you know that I will help you, don’t you?”

“ Help me?”

” If you find it necessary that you must protect yourself and your baby. I will help you, with whatever you need. Just know that.”

” Thank you.”

“ Well, I have a meeting with Mai. I’ll see the two of you later.”

“ Bye.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“ STEFAN!!”

Stefan stops running long enough for Alexis to catch up with him.

“ What the hell is wrong with you? Last night, you were attacking the gymnasium as if it were your worst enemy. This morning, I’ve watched you run at least 5 miles. You just glared at me and wouldn’t speak last night.  What’s wrong?”

“ What is wrong? I will tell you what is wrong. Barbara informed me as to why she attempted to drug me.”

“ And?”

” Luke Spencer found out about the virus, and stopped us from using it, Alexis.”

” Oh.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Jason, Carly and Michael arrive at Dr. Newman’s office, Tony is already there.

“ Well, if it isn’t the happy family.”

” Shut up, Tony. “ Jason glares at Tony and they sit opposite one another in the office . Dr. Newman comes in.

” Well, I am glad to see that all parties are here. Before I open the results, I must tell you that the samples were broken into two and sent to two entirely different labs, thus, the two envelopes in my hand. If you can see, the seal hasn’t been broken on either one of them. I want this done, above board and out in the open, so that no one can accuse me tampering.”

Dr. Newman sits down to her desk, opens up the reports and reads them.

“ Well?”, Carly asks.

” Well, the least accurate report is 99.80% certain of who the father is.”

Carly grabs Jason’s hand and squeezes it.

” By all accounts, with both reports, the father of Michael Morgan is one Jason Morgan.”

“ WHAT!? I don’t believe it. “ Tony goes and snatches the reports out of Dr. Newman’s hand. “ It’s not true. It can’t be true.

Carly lets out a huge sigh. Her eyes tear up and she looks lovingly over at Jason, who has a completely confused look on his face.

Tony tears up the report. “ Lies...all Lies!! He fixed them!!”, Tony says pointing at Jason.

” I assure you, Dr. Jones, that Mr. Morgan could not have fixed the results. I didn’t even know which labs had been chosen, until the samples were there. These test results are accurate.”

“ LIAR!! You’re ALL Liars!!” Tony gets up and storms away, but, not before issuing a warning. “ I will protect that child from you.”

” Oh, why don’t you grow up Old Man.”, Carly yells at him.

“ Carly, let’s go.” Jason and Carly leave GH and get into the limo.

Carly kisses Jason when they are settled in.

” Oh, Jase. I don’t know how I’ll ever be able to repay you for all that you’ve done. Thank you..Thank you. Thank You.”

“ Carly..”

” No. You saved BOTH our lives. Michael and mine.”

“ Carly..”

” You are simply the best...I don't know what part I enjoyed more.”

” Carly..”

” Hearing the results, or seeing Tony flip out when things didn’t go his way. What a crybaby.”

“ CARLY!”

“ Yes, Jason?”

” Carly, I’ve been trying to tell you that you have no reason for thanking me.”

” Sure I do. The test results.”

“ Carly, I told you before. Tony came and got my blood before I was able to setup anything. I didn’t change the test results. I didn’t know where the labs were.”

Carly pales. “ Then, Jason. If you didn’t change the results, who did? And, why?”