Nightshade.

 Liz and Emily have walked over to the bar where Nikolas is standing.  He is
trying to order a drink but the bartender won't serve him because he's underage.
 Emily is the first to speak.  "Nikolas are you alright?"
 He faces her, his jovial attitude not hiding the pain in his eyes.  "Sure, I'm
fine.  I just found out that I've been lied to my entire life...again, but I'm
fine.  How are you doing?"
 "Nik why don't we go and sit down."  Liz says.
 "I got a better idea.  Why don't we dance."  He grabs Liz and pulls her onto
the dance floor.  Stefan has walked in and Nikolas sees him.  He lets go of Liz
and walks back to the bar.
 "Nikolas I think you should return home with me."  Stefan says trying to be
heard over the music.
 "Not right now 'Uncle', I'm having fun with my friends."  He points to Liz and
Emily.
 "That was not a request."  Stefan grabs his arm.
 Emily screams as Nikolas raises his other arm and swings at Stefan but misses.
 "Is there a problem here?"  Mariah's voice restores order before deteriorates
further.
 Stefan looks at the attractive woman with blond hair and an unusual accent.
After a few seconds he becomes aware that he is staring.  "No.... no problem.
The young man and I were just leaving."  Nikolas struggles against Stefan's
grasp, but a few words whispered into his ear causes him to cease.  "Thank you
for your concern Miss.....?"
 "Mariah."  She says simply.
 "Mariah.  Good evening."  Stefan says as he leads Nikolas to the car waiting
outside.
 Once inside the car Stefan turns to his son.  "What the devil were you doing in
that place?"
 "I was having fun Uncle, oh, I'm sorry I mean Father."
 Stefan bristled as Nikolas said that last word like an insult.  "Nikolas let me
explain.  You owe me that much at least."
 Nikolas sat back and listened as Stefan explained how he and Laura had a brief
affair while she was a prisoner of his brother Stavros and when she became
pregnant they both knew if it came out that the child was Stefan's, Stavros and
Helena would have them both killed as well as the bastard child.
 Keeping the identity of Nikolas' true father was the only way to keep him safe
and to see to it that the Cassadine family would never fall back into Helena's
hands or that of one of her puppets.
 Nikolas took a deep breath after Stefan finished.  "What about Luke Spencer?
He'll come after you when he finds out."
 Stefan chuckles slightly.  "Probably, but I trust your mother to handle that
situation."

The Spencer home.

 Laura just looked at Luke who stood in the middle of the living room in total
silence after hearing Laura explain everything about Stefan being Nikolas'
father.
 His silence was starting to scare her.  "Luke please say something."
 "I know."
 "What?"  Laura was confused.
 "I know about Stefan.  I think I've always known.  There was always something
more between you two than you were willing to tell me."
 Laura started to cry.  "Luke I wanted to tell you but....."
 Luke pulled her into his arms.  "Shh... Shh.... It's okay, Baby.  I know you
wanted to tell me the truth."  He looked into her eyes.  "And I know it was my
feelings about Count Vlad that stopped you from coming to me with the whole
story because you were afraid that I might grab a gun and kill him."
 "And now?"
 "While I'm not exactly thrilled that he made love to my wife, I also know that
doing something to him won't change anything, apart from giving me about thirty
seconds of sheer pleasure."  Laura smiled while Luke brushed a strand of blond
hair from her face.  "Steffin and I are never going to be drinking buddies and
I'm never going to trust him, but for everyone's sake, mostly yours, I'll force
myself to live in the same town as him."
 Laura lets out a little laugh.  "I love you."
 Luke pulls her back into his arms.  "I love you too, Baby."

Brenda's.

 Brenda sat on the couch next to Robin with her arm around her and the smaller
woman's head on her shoulder.  She had just finished telling her what happened
at the bridge with Jason.
 "You feeling better?"  She asked.
 "Yeah, I gues."  Robin said lifting her head up.  "The feeling was just so
strong.  I could feel his heart beating inside my head."
 Brenda looked at her friend trying to understand what she was going through.
"Robin you didn't do anything to Jason, that's the important thing."
 "But I wanted to."  Robin was becoming upset again.  "That's what has me so
scared."
 Brenda rests Robin's head on her shoulder again.  She was glad Terry was
coming, if anyone can help Robin through this it was Terry.

Helena's yacht.

 Helena is aboard her yacht alone.  She came back to find that the entire crew
had left the ship, even her manservant.  A quick check revealed to her that her
access to all the family bank accounts has been blocked.  Stefan has moved
quickly and if she didn't move just as fast this will be over before it even
starts.
 Helena hasn't survived this long without being prepared for just such a
situation.  She has resources of her own not connected to the family, not a lot,
but enough to make certain arangements.  There is a knock at the door and she
invites her guest in.
 "Have you made a decision?"  Helena asks and the woman nods.  "Good.  I know
this isn't exactly how our last little...... deal.... went, but rest assured
once I am head of the family again you will be properly rewarded.  Is that
satisfactory?"
 Diana Shan smiles as she takes the drink Helena offered.  "Quite satisfactory."
She said after taking a sip.  "Now who do you want me to kill?"
 

CHAPTER ELEVEN

The park,
the next day.

 Liz was sitting on a park bench with Lucky who had his arm around his shoudler.
He had just whispered something into her ear and she laughed when Sarah came up
to them.
 "Liz I need to talk to you."
 "Not right now Sarah."  Liz said with a sigh.  "Can't you see I'm busy."
 "It's okay Liz, I've got to run."  Lucky gets up a gives Liz a quick kiss
goodbye before leaving.
 Sarah watches Lucky leave before turning back to Liz.  "I want to know what
you're in to."
 "What are you talking about?"  She said trying to sound interested.
 "You know exactly what I'm talking about."  Sarah said picking up Liz's coat
that was lying on the bench beside her.  She opens it up to reveal the hilt of
Liz's sword.
 Liz's face falls.  She gets up and takes the coat from Sarah.  "Don't ask me
that because I'm not going to tell you."
 Sarah grabs her shoulder.  "What kind of answer is that.  First I find a sword
hidden in your room and then I watch you use to attack some woman on the docks.
I think I deserve an explanation."
 "I don't care what you think you deserve.  I'm not going to tell you anything
Sarah.  Don't ask me to explain.  I won't.  Believe me you're better off not
knowing."
 Liz walks away leaving Sarah alone.  She stood there for a minute then left to
see the one person who can get Liz to explain what's going on.

The loft.

 Terry is alone in the loft with Robin.  She and Aaron arrived late last night.
Upon arriving Brenda pulled Terry aside and told her what had happened between
Robin and Jason and how upset she was by the whole thing.
 Terry hands Robin a wine glass and sits down next to her.  Robin had just
finished telling her version of the previous night's events.  Terry places her
hand on Robin's leg as she stares at the glass for a moment then sets it down.
 "Honey, don't dwell on this."  Terry said trying to make Robin feel better.
 "How can I feel better.  I almost hurt Jason."
 "But you didn't."  Terry moved her hand to Robin's shoulder.  "Robin it is
possible for you and Jason to be together without you hurting him."
 "How?"  She asked.
 "It just takes a little time to learn to control the bite reflex.  You're young
so it shouldn't take you very long at all."
 "How much time did it take you?"
 "A couple of years, but don't let that discourage you.  Like I said you're
young, it should be easier for you than it was for me.  I was over a thousand
years old before I even tried to learn."
 Terry gets up a little embarassed.  "If things between you and Jason progress
to the point where it gets..... physical.  Just remember to be sure that you're
well satiated before you start and have a bottle nearby just to be safe."
 "So it is possible for us to be together."  Robin said sounding hopeful.
 Terry smiles.  "Yes it is."
 The two women hug and then Terry says.  "I'm glad I could put your mind at ease
about this."  She puts her arm around her.  "Now tell me.  How do you plan on
seducing this handsome young man to the dark side."
 Robin laughs as they walk to the kitchen.

The PC Grill.

 Jason walks into the restaurant and sees Moreno sitting at a table waiting for
him.  Moreno is a tall distinguished looking man in his forties.  Behind him
stands a man in a dark suit, obviously a bodyguard.
 Jason takes off his coat and hands it to Rinaldo and then sits at Moreno's
table, while Rinaldo takes up a position next to Moreno's man.
 "Sorry I'm late."  Jason says waving the waiter away.
 "No need to apologize Jason.  I only just arrived myself."  Moreno said with an
insencere smile.  "Shall we get down to business."
 "I want you to stop interfering with my intrests in New Jersey."
 Moreno chuckled slightly unaffected by Jason intense gaze.  "That's a strong
accusation.  If I were an impulsive man I might take that personally."
 "Take it any way you want it.  We have a good thing going here.  Business is
better now than it was when Sonny was in charge.  We are all making a lot of
money and I see no need to change things."
 Moreno leans in, his polite facade vanishing.  "It's because Sonny is no longer
in charge that things are going to change."  Moreno gets up.  He didn't attend
this meeting to make peace.  He came to size Jason up, to see if he would roll
over or put up a fight.  "Don't get in my way boy, you have no idea who you're
dealing with and others far more dangerous than you have tried.  Just give me
what I want and I'll let you live."
 Jason was about to say something when he saw Moreno suddenly look up and smile.
He turned around to see Brenda Barrett walk in.
 
 Brenda and Aaron are walking to the PC Grill to pick up a takeout lunch order.
While they walk they talk about what to do about Jax.  His curiosity is going to
get him killed if he doesn't stop.
 "I haven't been able to find those photographs he had taken, but then I haven't
really seen much of him lately."  Brenda sees the look of concern of Aaron's
face and decides to change the subject.  "If V were still working for him we
might have found them by now.  When is she coming back any way?"
 Aaron laughs.  "I don't know, she's having the time of her life in New York."
He leans in to Brenda.  "Just between you and me, I think she and Conner have a
little thing going."
 Brenda laughs too.  "What about her job?"
 "Venus says Mac told her it's waiting for her when she comes back.  That Mac is
a good guy.  Jax however is another story."
 "Since I talked to Terry I've been thinking I may have a way to stop him as
well as give him some answers."
 Aaron listens carefully as Brenda explains her plan to him and chuckles to
himself.  It's sounds like something he might have come up with himself if he
wasn't such a hot head.  It's not a bad idea and it just might work and if it
doesn't.... well he can always kill him.
 Aaron stops at a flower stand to get Terry some roses while Brenda goes in to
get their orders.  Immediately after coming through the door she senses the
presence of an Immortal.  She searches the room and then focues on the table
where Jason is sitting.
 Moreno looks up and stares at her, then smiles.
 

CHAPTER TWELVE

The practice hall,
the next day.

 Terry sat and watched as Aaron called out instructions to Liz as they sparred.
Aaron made a quick half circle motion that knocked Liz's blade from her hands.
He frowned a little.  There was no way that move should have worked.  Liz's mind
was definately somewhere else.
 He picked up her sword which landed at his feet and handed it back to her.
"Something wrong Elizabeth?"
 "I'm sorry."  She said.  "I'm not really on today.  I may have to tell my
family about everything."
 Aaron looked at her concerned.  "Why?  What happened?"
 "My sister happened."  Liz said as they walked back to the couches.  "She found
my sword and apparently saw me get into a little spat with a woman on the docks
the other day."  She leaned back and placed her hands over face.  "I just don't
know what to do.  It's only matter of time before she tells Gram if she hasn't
already."
 "I think you should tell them."  Terry said as both Aaron and Liz looked at her
in surprise.  "Liz you obviously feel bad being forced to lie to them about
what's going on, so why not just go ahead and tell them the truth."
 Liz turned her head to Aaron.  "What do you think?"
 "It doesn't matter what I think you should do."  Aaron told her.  "It's up to
you, but remember once you tell them you can't take it back."
 Liz sat for and thought to herself, then made a decision.  "I'm going to tell
Sarah, before she has a chance to get Gram involved."
 As Liz and Terry discussed how best to tell Sarah, Aaron sat back on the couch
thinking to himself about young Sarah Webber.

 Upstairs in the loft Brenda was telling Robin about yesterday.
 "You're sure Moreno is an Immortal?"  Robin asked, her voice full of concern.
 "I felt it the moment I walked through the door, and the way he stared at
me....."  Brenda  shivered as she remembered.  ".....it was so creepy."
 "Jason's in a lot more trouble than he realizes."  The fear Robin was feeling
was becoming apparent.  "We have to warn him."
 "And say what?  I sorry Jason but you had better give this man everything he
wants because he's an Immortal and you can't kill him unless you get close
enough to chop his head off."
 "Why not?"  Robin said being serious.
 Brenda just looked at her.  "I was joking."
 "I know, but why can't we just tell him?"
 "Because, one -- do you really think he'll believe us?  Two -- by some miracle
if he does he's going to ask how we know, and three -- that means we're going to
have to tell him about me and that will almost certainly include you as well."
 "I plan on telling him anyway."
 "Yeah, but like this?"
 Robin considered what she said.  "You're right.  This isn't the way I want him
to find out.  So what do we do?"
 "We take care of this ourselves."  Brenda said getting up.
 "We?"
"Moreno saw me at the restaurant... he knows.  That means he's going to be
coming after me."
 Robin got up as well.  "What about Aaron and Terry?  Shouldn't we get their to
help on this too?"
 Brenda turned around.  "No. We can't go running to Aaron or Terry everytime
something happens."  She walked over to her sword and picked it up.  "This is
something we're going to have to do on our own."

The Quartermaine mansion.

 Reginald takes the flowers from the delivery man and then walks into the living
room.  He sets them down on a table.
 "What are those Reginald?"  Alan asks.
 "Flowers for Miss Emily."  He says then leaves the room.
 Alan gets up and reads the card that came with the flowers, not caring about
his daughter's privacy.  He turns to Monica sitting on the couch and hands her
the card.  Monica reads it and her face falls.  She reads it again out loud to
make sure that is what the card says.
 "My dearest Emily.  The other night was pure magic.  Having you in my arms was
like being in heaven.  I'm counting the days till I see you and I long to make
love to you again.  Derek."
 "I'll kill him!"  Alan says his temper boiling over.
 "Alan calm down."  Monica says even though his sentiments echo her own.  "This
might not be what it appears."
 "What are you talking about Monica?  Some man has had sex with our dau
ghter..... our seventeen year old daughter."
 Just then Emily walks in and Monica and Alan go instantly silent.  She sees the
vase of red roses.
 "Where did these come from?"  Emily asks.
 "They're for you dear."  Monica replies.
 "Cool. Any card?"  She says looking through them and not finding one.
 "No, no card."  Her mother says as she silently crumples the card in her hand.
 "Okay."  Emily says she takes the vase up to her room.  She doesn't need a card
anywhy.  She has good idea who sent them.
 As she leaves the room her parents just stare at each other not sure what to do
next.

Contini's Flower Shop.

 The shop's owner Mrs Contini hangs up the phone and turns to her young
customer.  "Excuse me, but your flowers were just delivered."
 Jenna turns around.  "Good."
 "I hope your friend enjoys them."
 "Oh, I'm sure she will."  Jenna says sweetly.

Port Charles Hotel,
Room 223

 Diana Shan looked through the surveilance photos of her targets that Helena had
provided.  Helena wanted them all killed, even the little girl.  Diana however
refused, there were some things even she won't do for money.
 Helena finally relented and Diana talked her down to just two targets.  Killing
all of them would be just too risky, not to mention very messy.  The two she
chose would have the same effect on Helena's enemies without going over the top
into needless violence.
 Diana came to one photo and started at it.  <Well isn't this a surprise.>  She
put down the picture of a young woman standing with a rather handsome young man
and lit a cirgarette.  <I told you I'd find you.>  She blew smoke at the picture
then picked it up.  She planted a kiss on it and set it back down leaving a
perfect lipstick print over the face of Liz Webber.

 Moreno sits in the back of his limo talking on the phone.  "Are your men set
up?.... Good.  Now remember I want to know where Brenda Barrett goes, day or
night.  Do you understand?.... Good."  He hung up the phone then leaned back.
He expects her to come for him, but he's been playing this game a lot longer
than she has.
 He'll let her come, but where and when she'll get to him will be for him to
decide.  He smiles to himself thinking how much he wished Sonny was still here
so he can watch another of his women die.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

 The door to the room opens and a man walks in.  He looks around and sighs.
It's not exactly the fanciest place in Port Charles, but he needs to be discreet
until the time is right and there's no place more discreet than this furnished
bathroom.
 He places his bag and the case holding his sword on the bed and pulls out his
cell phone.
 At the penthouse Jason's private line rings.  "Morgan."  He says answering it.
 "It's me."  The man on the other end replies.
 "Where are you?"
 "I'm in town."
 "How do I contact you?"
 "My cell phone.  Just let me know where and when."
 "I hate having to ask you do this."
 "Forget it.  This started long before you got involved."
 The man hung up and Jason slowly sat the reciever down.  Carly watched from the
kitchen door as Jason sunk into his chair deep in thought.  After a few moments
she decided to go in and check on him but he got up and walked up stairs to
Michael's room.
 Carly grabbed her purse and left penthouse heading straight for the one person
she knew could be responsible for Jason's mood.

 Back at the loft Brenda, Aaron, Terry and Robin were finalizing the plan to get
Jax off Aaron and Terry's backs.
 "So Derek has agreed to go along?"  Brenda asked Terry.
 "Yes."  She answered.  "He's not sure that this will work, but he's willing to
give it a try."
 "It'll work."  Brenda said confidently.  "All Jax wants is a few answers.  He's
the kind of person who thinks that if he isn't getting the whole story he'll
just pick away until he does.  We just have to give him some of those answers
while at the same time stopping him from digging for more."
 "He's about to get more than he bargained for."  Aaron broke in.  "I still say
we should just kill him."  Terry swated her husband hard.
 "Aaron!  Be nice." Terry said, then yawned.  "If you two will forgive me,"  She
said to Brenda and Robin. "I haven't been to bed yet so I think I'll take a
little nap."  She reached out her hand to her husband.  "Care to join me?"
 "Love to."  Aaron said as he allowed his wife to lead the way.
 Robin and Brenda watched the two of them walk to the guest bedroom and
disappear behind the door.
 Brenda turned to Robin with a smile.  "They are so much in love with each
other."
 Robin smiles too.  "Yeah they are.  It kinda gives hope to the rest of us
doesn't it."
 Brenda watched Robin take a drink from a wine glass.  "What does that taste
like?"
 Robin lifted her eyebrows in surprise at Brenda's question.  "Well it tastes
like......"  Robin's voice faded as she tried to think of the right comparison.
"It tastes kind of sweet...... no that's not right..... ummm..... I guess the
best way to describe it would be like a strong wine."  She studied the glass in
her hand then sat it on the table.  "Why do you want to know?"
 Brenda look a little embarassed.  "I don't know.  I've got all these friends
now who drink..... and I just wondered you know.... what blood tasted like.  All
of you seem to like it."
 "It's not a question liking it,"  Robin explained.  "I mean I do like it, but I
have to drink it to survive.  It's kind of hard to put into words just exactly
what it does for us.  What it lets us do."
 "Like the Quickening."  Brenda said knowing just what Robin meant.  "It's
something so...... that words just don't seem to work." The sound of the door
buzzer interrupts them.  Robin looks at the security monitor to see who was
there.
 "Great."  She said annoyed at who their visitor was.
 "Who is it?"  Brenda inquired.
 "Carly."

Spoon Island.

 Stefan is sitting on the stone bench looking out over the water when Katherine
approaches.  She sees that he is deep in thought and tries to get his attention.
Stefan jerks slighty when Katherine places her hand on his shoulder.
 "I'm sorry.  I didn't mean to startle you."  She said.
 "It's quite alright Katherine."  Stefan says taking her hand.  He moves her
around so she can sit down next to him.
 "You seemed to be far away."
 "I was."  He takes a breath.  "I was just thinking about the past, about all
the mistakes I've made."
 Katherine looks at Stefan, concern showing on her face.  "Stefan I don't care
about the past."
 "I know, but my past is still with us here and as long as it is I don't know if
I can be the man you deserve."
 She places a hand to his cheek.  "Stefan, you are the man I deserve.  As for
your past, you've already taken the first step by letting this thing with Luke
and Laura go."  Stefan gives her smile.  "Stefan you the kindest, gentlest man I
know.  But you've spent years hiding that part of yourself away because you
didn't want to appear weak or you didn't want to get hurt again the way Laura
hurt you."  He raises his hand to hers.  "But I see it.  I see it in the way you
are with Nicholas."
 "What did I do to deserve you?"
 Katherine just smiles and leans over to touch his lips.  He wraps his arms
around her and kisses her passionately.  They break a few seconds later and
Stefan caresses her cheek as he looks deep into her eyes.
 She was about to speak when she suddenly jerked violently and fell off the back
of the bench.  Blood suddenly appeared on her chest and began to run beneath her
as well.  Stefan knelt next to her on the verge of panic.
 She looked up into his eyes and feebly grasped his hand.  Her voice was barely
a whisper.  "stefan...... stefan......."  Her voice went silent and her eyes
glazed over.
 Stefan watched her slip away in shock.  "katherine?  Katherine."  He picked up
her body and held her in his arms the grief finally overcoming him.
 "NOOO!  KATHERINE!"  Stefan screamed at the top of his lungs.
 Nikolas was walking toward to the cliff when he heard Stefan scream.  He was
approaching the clearing when he saw a scene that stopped him cold.  Stefan was
sitting on the ground gently cradling Katherine's body as tears streamed down
his face.  Never in his life had Nikolas ever seen his father cry.

 Across the water on the roof of a wharehouse.  Diana Shan calmly packed away
the high-powered rifle. <One down, one to go.>

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