Nikolas and Samantha returned to Wyndemere and went to bed.
Samantha couldn't sleep, so she sat up for a long time thinking about what
had happened. She couldn't help but wonder if she had affected what had
happened on the show. She also couldn't help but wonder if Guza could hear
her. She looked around and then suddenly began to speak as if Guza could
hear her. "Are you listening Guza? Are you? I hope so. I hope that I can
affect the turnout of things on the show. I'm going to tell you something.
It was okay when you deconstructed Tony. I could handle that, and Dr.
Demento's interesting. I like Robin despite her preaching. Jason hiding the
fact that Michael's AJ's son. All that I could handle. The neverending Alan
the junkie story, okay. But what you're trying to do to Luke and Laura, I
won't stand for it! DO YOU HEAR ME!!!! I promise you that I will do
everything in my power to keep Laura from kissing Stefan. Don't you realize
that a simple kiss could destroy all that Luke and Laura are! People won't
care about them anymore if they're unfaithful to each other! I will not
stand for the whitewashing of Stefan Cassadine any longer! I know that Luke
has done a lot of bad things, but Stefan is worse in my eyes and I plan to
make Laura aware of that once more! Luke would never prey on children. He
saved Nikolas numerous times. Stefan almost *killed* Lucky once and Nikolas
too for that matter. Why does Laura just forget these things? Has she been
taking the medication that Stefan gave Leslie? Was she hit on the head
repeatedly while she was in Switzerland? What? What happened to Laura? What
did you do to her? I don't understand what you're trying to do here, but
I'm going to stop whatever it is! Mark my words, LUKE AND LAURA WILL BE
TOGETHER ONCE MORE IF IT'S THE LAST THING I DO! DO YOU HEAR ME!!!!! DO
YOU!!!! I promise that there will be no more deconstructing of Luke if I
have to hit him over the head in order to get him to see reason. The same
for Lucky. He'll make up with his parents, and he and Nikolas *will* be
friends when I get through with them, you just wait and see! Oh and Jason.
Jason, I am going to turn into a real mobster if I have to make him watch
the Godfather a hundred times! We need some villains, darn it! Where are
our Cassadine's? Our Faison's? Our Frank Smith's? Where is the evil, Guza?
Helena's okay, but she just doesn't cut it! One or two gray characters,
okay, but when all we have are the gray, there's no contrast. Where are our
villains? Where are the good guys? Who the heck am I supposed to cheer for
when everyone's the same!?!? That's why there's so much dissension among
fans! There's no true villain to draw us all together. No one that everyone
hate's! I hope that you heard me Guza! Nothing that you can do will stop
me. The voice of the fans will finally be heard! I will make GH the show it
should be or die trying!" It felt good to get the whole thing off of her
chest even if Guza didn't hear any of it. She was able to relax and soon
fell into a peaceful sleep, wondering if, in the morning, she would awaken
at home, or still within the imaginary world of GH.

*GUZA'S OFFICE*

        Guza was working on a story to explain Samantha that he thought
would work when all of a sudden there was a hammering on his door. "Come
in!" He said, grumpily. The man that had been in his office earlier rushed
in. "What is it, George?" Guza said, still grumpy. "This better be good!"

        George didn't say a word he just ran over to the television set and
slipped a tape into the VCR. He pushed play and then turned to face Guza.
"As far as we can tell this only came on within the studio, but, well,
Samantha had some things to tell you!"

        "What!?!?" Guza said. He focused on the television and listened to
Samantha's speech. He couldn't believe it. She knew exactly who he was! She
knew too much to be a part of the show! What was he going to do? Could he
even change anything in the show anymore?

        "Oh, and Boss," George said. "The phones have been ringing off the
hook since the last show..."

        "Don't sugar coat it," Guza said. "How bad is it?"

        "Oh, not at all sir!" George said. "They loved it! Especially when
Samantha told Luke off! Most of them said that they had been wanting to do
that for months! They have all these requests for things to have Samantha
do, a lot of which are similar to what Samantha said that she was going to
do!"

        Guza rubbed his temple's. His killer headache was back. "But I
don't want to do those things, you idiot! Leave me alone! I have some more
thinking to do!" George left quietly. *He* for one liked Samantha, and the
changes she was making, and he couldn't wait to see what happened the next
day!

*THE NEXT MORNING*

        Robin called the next morning and asked if they could come over for
a little while to talk about what had happened the night before. They
agreed to meet at the Penthouse that afternoon. Samantha convinced Nikolas
to take her into town earlier so that he could show her around. She knew
what all the insides of the houses looked like but she had no idea where
they were or what they looked like from the outside. Nikolas agreed and
they headed into town. They drove around and Samantha began to get the
general feeling of the town. She also began to get hungry. "Hey, Nik? Can
we go to Kelly's and get something to eat?"

        "Sure," Nikolas said, a little worried about running into Lucky,
but willing nonetheless. They drove to Kelly's and then parked the car and
entered the restaurant. Nikolas' worries seemed to be justified, because
both Lucky and Lizzie were working. They sat down at a table and waited to
be waited on. Samantha could feel Lucky's glare, but she knew that it had
nothing to do with her, well other than the fact that she had the bad taste
to be sitting with Nikolas.

        Lizzie came over, and smiled at the two of them. "Hey Nikolas, Hey,
um..." She looked at Samantha, searching her brain to see if she knew the
girl sitting with Nikolas.

        Samantha kicked Nikolas under the table, "Huh," he said looking up
at her. "Oh, right. Samantha, this is Lizzie, and Lizzie this is Samantha."

        "Sam, actually," Samantha said holding her hand out to Lizzie.
Lizzie shook it. "I'm new around here and Nikolas is showing me around."

        "That's nice of him," Lizzie said. "Where are you from?"

        "Somewhere very far from here," Samantha said, unwilling to offer
any more information then that. "I like it so far. The people here seem
really nice. You're the first person besides Nik here, that I've met that's
close to my age."

        Lizzie was a little surprised. That was the first time that she had
ever heard anyone call Nikolas, Nik, except for Lucky and well her when
they were trying to get a rise out of him. He hadn't even reacted to it.
"Well maybe I'll see you around. Um, what can I get you?"

        They gave they're order's and as Lizzie left, Samantha said, "Say
hi to Lucky for me."

        "Huh?" Lizzie said. "How did you know who Lucky is?"

        Darn it, Samantha thought. "Oh, Nikolas told me that Lucky was his
half brother and that there was a lot of tension between them, and that you
too were really close, so I figured that he was the guy that had been
glaring at us since we came in here."

        "Oh," Lizzie said. "Okay. I'll do that." She walked off, a little
confused. Talking to Samantha had a bit of a surreal quality to it, like
she knew everything about you or something.

        Samantha noticed that Nikolas was staring at her. "What?" she asked.

        "How come you never said that I could call you Sam?" Nikolas asked.

        Samantha shrugged. "I call you Nik, and you never said that I
could. What's the big deal?"

        "Oh," Nikolas said. He looked over to where Lizzie was whispering
something to Lucky. He looked a little forlorn.

        "What's up, Nik? Why so sad?" Samantha asked. She wasn't sure what
it was, but she could guess.

        "Lucky," Nikolas said simply. "I'd like to be his friend, or at
least not his enemy, but everything I do seems to make things worse.
Telling him about his parents, the Nurse's Ball. In some ways that was the
worse of the two. I think that that's the one that he's really upset about.
I don't get it."

        "Nikolas, *I'm* still a little ticked about how you treated Lizzie
at the Nurse's Ball, and I haven't had years of hatred for the Cassadine's
drilled into me. I mean most of the time you seem like this really nice
guy, but when you said that you didn't care what she had been through all I
could think to myself was, 'you complete and utter JERK!'" Nikolas stared
at her with his mouth hanging open. "I mean it's fine if you don't care,
though personally, I thought that you were the kind of person that would
sympathize with anyone who was going through that sort of pain, but that's
off the subject. The way you threw that in her face...well *I* wanted to
hit you, and I have to admit that I cheered Lucky on the whole time. I like
you Nik and you've shown so often how caring you can be, but the way that
you threw Lizzie's rape in her face, that was unacceptable. You had no idea
what that experience had put her through, and you had no right to even
mention it. When Lucky came to you to ask you not to mention it, you acted
like he was stupid to even think that you would tell anyone something like
that, but you have to admit that you've given him apt reason to doubt that.
You threw the rape in her face once, why not again?"

        "So you hate me too?"

        "Nikolas! I didn't say that. I just think that you need to show
that caring that I know you have, a little more often. Then maybe you can
reach your brother, but just let me tell you that insulting Lizzie is the
last thing that you want to do!"

        "That makes sense. He loves her, huh?"

        "I think so. It certainly seems that way."

        "Let me guess, they're two of your favorite characters on the show."

        "They're my favorite couple! They're so cute together!"

        Nikolas smiled at her. She was so cute! "I'll take your advice to
heart," Nikolas said. "I guess that I should have apologized for that
comment at the Nurse's Ball, huh?"

        Samantha nodded. "Well, there's no time like the present." Nikolas
nodded, and Samantha got to her feet. She touched his cheek. "You really
are a great guy! I'll be right back." She headed to the ladies room, and
Nikolas gazed thoughtfully after her. She had brought up some important
things. Even if he hadn't told anyone what Lizzie had been through, he
*had* thrown it in her face. He was sorry about that, and he guessed that
he should apologize to her. Samantha was still in the bathroom when Lizzie
came up with their food. She set it down and was about to leave when
Nikolas said, "Uh, Liz."

        "Yeah?" She said turning to face him.

        "I, uh, I just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry for my behavior at
the Nurse's Ball. I guess that I thought as long as I didn't say, you know,
what had happened to you, I wouldn't be crossing any lines, but by saying
what I did, I was throwing what had happened in your face, and I'm really
sorry about that. I know you don't want to talk about it, and I'll never
mention it again. I just wanted to say that I'm sorry."

        "Thank you, Nikolas," Lizzie said looking at him with a surprised,
yet happy look on her face. "I appreciate your saying that. It means a lot
to me." Nikolas smiled at her, glad that he had made her feel better.

        Samantha came out of the bathroom and ran directly into Lucky. She
had a strange sense of Deja vu and then remembered that she had run into
his father the exact same way the night before. She figured that he would
have something similar to say. She wasn't disappointed.

        "Hey," Lucky said. "Sam, right?" Samantha nodded. "Lizzie said
you're new in town. I hope that your choice of company improve's over time.
People have a tendency of getting hurt around Cassadine's."

        "What is it with you Spencer's?" Samantha couldn't help but ask.
"Can't any of you see what a nice guy Nikolas is?"

        "What's there to see? Wait, you said Spencer's, plural which means
that you must be referring to my father since the rest of my family seems
to have a soft spot for Nikky boy. When did you meet him?"

        "Last night at his club. We went to see the performance. It was
interesting, especially the explosion at the end. He had comments very
similar to yours, except he threw in a few 'demon spawn' cracks. You know
if I were you, I'd try and figure out why the rest of your family has such
a soft spot for Nikolas. You might just discover that you have one too. Oh,
and go home and talk to your parents for crying out loud. They love you!
Get over it, after all, your mother did." She walked away. She had no idea
if anything she said made any difference, but she felt the need to try. She
looked back and noticed that Lucky was looking at her thoughtfully. She
could only imagine what was running through his head. She arrived back at
the table to find in time to hear Lizzie's response to Nikolas' apology.
She was glad that he had apologized because she really wanted Lucky and
Nikolas to be friends and in order to achieve that, she'd need Lizzie's
help. If Lizzie started to like Nikolas instead of hate him, well that
would help all the more. "Hey Lizzie," she said sitting down. "Thanks for
the food."

        "You're welcome, Sam." Lizzie said with a smile. "See you in a
bit." She walked over to where Lucky was now sitting at the counter.

        Lizzie walked up to Lucky and noticed the puzzled look on his face.
"What's up?"

        "I talked to Samantha," Lucky said.

        "And? She's nice."

        "Do you find her at all, I don't know, strange?"

        "Not really," Lizzie said. "Well, a little bit. It's a little weird
to talk to her. It's kind of surreal, almost as if she knows everything
about you."

        "That's what I'm talking about. We were talking and she mentioned
things about my family like she knows everything that's going on. Do you
think that Nikolas told her all about us?"

        "I don't know. He seems in awe of her, almost. He apologized you
know, for what he said at the Nurse's Ball. He said that to say what he did
was throwing what had happened to me in my face. It was like he had
suddenly realized what it would have felt like to me to hear what he said."

        "Do you think that she had something to do with it?"

        "I don't know," Lizzie said.

        "She told me that I should try and figure out why most of my family
has a soft spot for Nikolas, and that I may just find that I have on
myself."

        "Well, Nikolas did seem really nice today, like someone you might
actually want as a friend. Maybe you should try it."

        "I don't know if I can manage that," Lucky said, but a thoughtful
look remained on his face.

*Coming Soon*

What will Jason do about Samantha's knowledge of Michael's Paternity?
Guza comes up with a way to explain Samantha. What is he going to do?
Lucky and Liz try to figure out what's going on with Samantha, and Lucky
realizes that he doesn't really know anything about the brother he seems to
hate so much.

Chapter Six

        Samantha and Nikolas finished their meal, paid their check and then
had to hurry in order to get to the penthouse on time. They waved a goodbye
to Lucky and Liz as they headed out the door. They headed to the penthouse
and were let into the apartment by a very grateful Renaldo. "Miss?" Renaldo
said as Sam walked by him.

        "Yeah," she said turning to face him.

        "Thank you for warning Mr. Morgan about the bomb. You saved my
life, and I'll never forget that. If you ever need anything, just give me a
call."

        "It was no problem. Any fan would have done the same thing. Thanks
for the offer for help. Considering the things that I seem to know, I just
might have to take you up on it." Renaldo laughed and followed Nikolas and
Samantha into the Penthouse. Robin and Jason greeted them as they came into
the room.

        Robin looked at Samantha strangely, the same look on her face that
had been there the night before when she had first met her. She looked so
familiar! There was something about her that made Robin feel like she
should know her. She couldn't shake the feeling that Samantha had once been
an important person in her life. "Who is she?" Robin said to herself.

        Jason, not one to beat around the bush, went straight to the point.
"Nikolas, I would appreciate it if you would leave the room while I speak
to Samantha. She knows something that I don't exactly want to be made
public knowledge. Renaldo will take you to a room where you can wait for us
to be done."

        Nikolas looked a bit doubtful, but he was sure that nothing bad
would happen to Samantha at the hands of this man, well, at least not with
Robin around. He followed Renaldo into another room. Renaldo told him to
make himself at home and then stood in front of the door. "Are you just
going to stand there?" Nikolas asked.

        "Boss doesn't want you to come out too early," Renaldo said. He
looked pretty uncomfortable guarding the door to keep someone in, rather
than out. He looked around the room feeling awkward. Maybe he should say
something. "So, ah, how bout those Yankee's?" he said. Nikolas stared at
him like he had gone crazy. 'I guess that was the wrong thing,' Renaldo
thought to himself.

*IN THE LIVING ROOM*

        "Samantha, I want to ask you again how you came to know that
Michael was AJ's biological son and that there was a bomb in the car."

        "My answer will be the same," Samantha said. "I knew those things
the same way that I know everything else. I watched it all on TV. All I can
tell you is that you have my word that I will speak to you before I reveal
anything damaging. I think that *you* should tell AJ the truth, but I don't
think that that will happen, even though it is the right thing to do, cause
you have no more right to decide who Michael should see that Tony does!
Neither one of you is his birth parent and Michael has a right to know his
biological father and AJ has a right to know his son. This entire situation
has turned you into a hypocritical liar, and I hate that, I really do.
Please, please stop the madness. Tell AJ now and you might be able to
remain a part of Michael's life, *and* keep Carly a part of Michael's life.
If you don't AJ *will* learn that he's Michael's father and you'll lose
him. I know, I read spoilers! That said, I won't say anything for the time
being and let you know before I do. I hope that this doesn't make you
decide to kill me cause that would be very upsetting for *me*." Samantha
watched him waiting for the fuse to blow.

        Robin laid a comforting hand on Jason's arm. "He would never hurt
you," she said. Samantha knew that just Robin saying that kept her safe,
because Jason would never do anything that would hurt Robin.

        "Just promise me you'll think about it," Samantha said, looking at
him pleadingly. "I want to give you the chance to do the right thing. If I
can, I'll even talk to Carly. This lie has got to stop, because it's
turning everyone that knows about it into a hypocrite, well except for
Carly, cause she lets you know from the start that you'll get nothing but
lies from her. Think about it."

        Jason nodded a strange look on his face. The three of them stood in
a awkward silence until the sound of Michael crying came over the baby
monitor. Jason went to check on him and Robin turned to Samantha. "Thank
you for making him think about it. This secret is eating me up inside. I
find myself doing things that I never thought that I would. I think that
maybe he'll see it differently now." Samantha nodded. "Is there anything
else that I should know?"

        "Well, a few things. First off, please, please don't let Jason quit
the mob, whatever you do! It's totally unrealistic and he's so boring as a
motorcycle repairman. He needs to be in the mob. I know it's scary for you,
but nothing will ever happen to you, and even if you die they can always
bring you back to life. It happens all the time. Oh and when Brenda comes
to see you in the future and tells you that her mother's in town, tell her
that her mother's sick and whatever she does she should never, ever be
alone with her, otherwise you'll lose another friend." Robin stared at her
in shock. "Hey, you asked." Robin nodded a half frightened half doubtful
look on her face.

        Renaldo and Nikolas entered the room. "Jason told us to come back
in," Renaldo said. "I guess he was finished."

        "Okay," Robin said. There was then a knock on the door. Renaldo
answered it and Mac walked into the room. Renaldo went back outside to
guard the door, Samantha went over to Nikolas and Mac went to talk to
Robin. He was just to say something when he caught sight of Samantha, and
here is where Guza's plan to explain Samantha's presence begins.

        Mac stared at the young girl who was talking to Nikolas Cassadine.
"She looks so familiar," he said to his niece.

        "I know," Robin said. "I've been fighting the feeling that I know
her since I met her. Who does she look like to you, uncle Mac?"

        "I don't know about you Robin, but to me...well, she's the spitting
image of Anna."

        Robin gasped as she realized the truth of his statement. She did
look a lot like Robin's mother. The hair and the eyes, sometimes even her
expressions. Mac said something to her, but she didn't really hear him
until he repeated his question.

        "What's her name?"

        Robin looked him in the eyes, "Samantha," she said slowly, the
realization hitting them both at the same time. "Why didn't I see it?"
Robin asked. "It must be her! Sammi. Samantha Anne Scorpio."

        "Your sister!"

        "But...But we were so sure that she was dead." Robin looked at
Samantha in shock. "We were so sure that there was no way that whoever
kidnapped her would let her live. How could this be, Uncle Mac?"

        "I don't know," Mac said. "Has she said anything at all about who
she is, or where she's come from?"

        "Not much. We need to find out for sure," Robin said. "Uncle Mac, I
can't believe this. I never thought that such a thing would be possible.
Who could have been behind her disappearance?"

*SCENE CHANGES TO HELENA'S YACHT*

        "My device is working perfectly," Helena said out loud. "Robin's
sister has returned and just think of the mischief she will cause. With her
as a distraction, I'll be able to put my evil, diabolical plan into motion.
Oh the beauty of it!" Helena laughed evilly.

*GUZA'S OFFICE*

        Guza sat back in his chair and watched the scene that he had
written for Helena Cassadine play out. He was pure genius. At least now
there was an explanation for her presence. What to do about the rest of it,
well he just wasn't sure yet!

Chapter Seven

        Samantha was on her way to GH for the second time in two days. This
time she was much more nervous than she had been the last time. She had a
very bad feeling about this whole situation. "Guza has a hand in this, I'm
sure," she muttered under her breath. "He's writing me into the show! I
wonder what else he has up his sleeve!" They arrived at the hospital and
she and Nikolas walked in and met Robin and Mac at the nurses station. She
was soon lead into an examination room where she had her blood drawn. When
Robin had come over to her and told her about her younger sister, Samantha,
who had disappeared years ago and about how much she reminded both Robin
and Mac of Anna, she hadn't been able to believe it, but the more that she
thought about it the more it made sense. Of course Guza would try and come
up with a more plausible explanation for her presence. She agreed to go
with them to get the testing done, so here she was with a needle being
shoved into her arm. Oh, Guza would pay for this all right. She hated
needles! She had a sudden urge to cause some serious trouble for Guza. When
the blood was drawn and she was free to go, she went back out to the nurses
station, where she met up with Robin, Mac and Nikolas. "I know that you
guys probably want to talk about this and get to know me or something, but
at the moment, I'm feeling really weirded out about this whole situation,
so could we wait a while to go over this? At least until we get the tests
back?"

        Robin and Mac nodded. They realized that it would be hard for her
to grasp, but they had no idea how hard it was for her. It gave her a
headache just to think about it. She decided that she needed a walk to
clear her head, and she knew exactly where she'd be heading. She was about
to pay Guza back for that needle. She turned to Nikolas, "Nik, I'm going to
go for a walk. I can either meet you somewhere in town or I'll meet you
back on Spoon Island."

        "I'm going to go back to the island," Nikolas said. "You can get
there all right, right?"

        "Yeah," Samantha said. "No problem. I'll see all of you later." She
headed out of the hospital, and walked purposefully towards the Spencer's.
She was going to have a little talk with Laura. She'd see how Guza liked
that!

*THE SPENCER'S*

        A worried look crossed Guza's face as he watched as Samantha walked
straight up to the door of the Spencer house and knocked loudly. She smiled
coldly and whispered, "this will teach you to mess with me Guza!" The door
opened and she smiled brightly at the woman standing in front of her.
"Laura, I's like to talk to you if that would be okay. It's really quite
important."

        "Uh oh," Guza said quietly, watching the scene before him unfold.
He watched in silence as Laura questioned Samantha.

        "Who are you?" Laura asked.

        "My name is Samantha Lawrence," Sam said. "Well actually, it may
soon be revealed that I'm Samantha Scorpio, though I really don't see how
that could be. Well anyway, I'm a friend of Nikolas' and I have some things
that I really need to ask you."

        "Scorpio!" Laura exclaimed, ushering Sam into the house. "Little
Sammi Scorpio? Come in here and sit down. My god, everyone thought that you
were dead!"

        "Obviously," Samantha said sitting on the couch next to Laura.
"See, the thing is that I would explain my presence in Port Charles in a
very different manner. I woke up yesterday morning on Spoon Island. Do you
know where the stone bench is?" Laura nodded. "Well, anyway that's where
Nikolas found me. I don't know how I got there or anything, but I do know
that where I come from, Port Charles is a fictional town from a Soap Opera
called General Hospital. I know that you won't believe any of this and I'm
not really asking you to. All I want you to do is listen to me for a few
minutes. Do you think that you can do that?" Laura nodded. "First off, I
have to ask you why do you insist on seeing Stefan? I know that he's
Nikolas' uncle but still, why does he always seem to be included in any
meeting you happen to have with Nik? Why do you spend so much time with
him? And please, tell the truth. I know about the secret meetings and his
trips to North Carolina, and I know things that you're going to do, or
would have done in the future if I hadn't intervened. Why do you spend so
much time with the guy?"

        "Uh oh, this isn't looking good!" Guza thought to himself.

        "I don't know," Laura said looking puzzled. "I just feel drawn to
him for some reason."

        "Why?!?!?" Samantha questioned. "He drugged you mother and kept you
from her for years, Laura! Years! He almost *killed* Lucky with that damn
Timoria game! He caused GH to go bankrupt and tried to take over the world
economy or some such nonsense. He even pushed Nik off a mountain! Okay, I
will admit that he didn't know that it was Nik at the time, but it was bad
form to leave without helping him. He even pushed Nik into a table, which
landed him in the hospital with a concussion. He blackmailed you in order
to get you to leave town because you were becoming too close to *your own
son*. The son that *HE* raised to hate you! Need I go on?"

        "NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!" Guza yelled as a strange look crossed Laura's
face. It was like she was remembering things long forgotten.

        "He did do all those things, didn't he?" Laura questioned softly.
"I can't believe that I forgot..."

        "You weren't supposed to remember!!!" Guza shouted at the screen.
"You were supposed to forget all those things and just remember the bad
things that Luke has done!"

        "That isn't all," Samantha said.

        "There can't be more," Guza thought desperately.

        Samantha continued. "Stefan knew that Luke was alive long before
you found out. He knew well before Nikolas was born, but he didn't tell
you. Also you would think that in one of his trips off that damn island, he
could have called somebody, anybody, Luke, your family, the WSB, and told
them that you were alive and in need of rescuing, but he chose not to. I
mean how hard is it to make a simple phone call? He must have had the
opportunity to get you off of that island long before he did, but he chose
not to. He cared more about having you near him than he did about your
misery. Is that the kind of man that you want?"

        "He knew...about Luke?" Laura asked slowly, hatred burning in her
eyes. "He knew, and he said nothing? Nothing while I mourned and cried for
my husband? How could I have thought...? I hate him," she said calmly, but
surely. "I hate him, and I swear that he has hurt my family for the last
time!"

        "That's the Laura I like to watch!" Samantha said. "Oh, there's
something else that you should know. Luke did loosen the railing on the
parapet, but he was trying to kill Helena, not Nikolas. He *did* frame
Stefan for it, but that's no worse than when Stefan framed him for shooting
Katherine."

        Laura looked at her in shock. "How can you say that? Of course it's
worse! Katherine died this time!"

        "Oh, she's not dead," Samantha said offhandedly. "Hey, her name
isn't Kat for nothing. Helena has her hidden off somewhere. Katherine'll
show up when Helena goes on trial for her murder."

        Laura looked a little shell shocked, but managed to say, "I'm still
disappointed in Luke. How could he do something like that!?"

        "I don't know," Samantha said. "I don't understand it either. Luke
should have come up with a much better plan than that. What was he
thinking? I wish that I could have gotten here in time to help him with
that lame-ass plan. Things may have turned out a whole lot better if I had."

        Laura look momentarily confused and then shook her head. "That's
not what I meant. How could Luke commit a crime like this, murdering an
innocent person and let another person take the fall for it!"

        "Well, first off since she isn't dead, there wasn't technically a
murder. Secondly, think of how you'd feel if he had actually succeeded in
killing Helena. Everyone you love would be a whole lot safer if she were
dead. Besides, with your present feelings towards Stefan would you really
care if he took the blame, aside from the pain it would cause Nik?"

        "I have to admit that if it weren't for Nikolas, I wouldn't care
what happened to Stefan."

        "I think that what you really need to work on in the near future is
getting Luke to see that Nikolas isn't that bad of a guy."

        "I'll work on that," Laura said, still a little shell shocked from
the conversation.

        "Oh, and don't worry to much about Lucky," Samantha said. "I'm
working on it!"

        "You are?"

        "Oh yeah! I miss how close he used to be to you guys. I'll try and
get him to see reason."

        Laura smiled at her gratefully. "Thank you Samantha."

        "I'm going to work on Nik and Lucky becoming friends as well. I
think that they'd be good for each other. Anyway, I'm on my way back to
Spoon Island now if there's a message that you want to send Stefan."

        Laura thought for a minute and then said, "As a matter of fact,
yes. Tell him that I never want to see him again, but be sure to let
Nikolas know that there is nothing in the world that could keep me from
seeing him. I want Stefan out of my life, but not my son. He needs to know
that. I'll come and see them both myself tomorrow, but I don't think that I
could handle it tonight. I just don't want to see him today. I need a
little time."

        Samantha nodded. "That's fine with me, and hey, don't be surprised
if you see Luke today. I have a feeling that he might be stopping by."

        Laura's face brightened as Samantha walked out the door. Luke might
come by? Samantha seemed to know a lot, maybe she was right about this too.
Laura felt a hope stirring in her that was greater then anything that she
had felt in a long time.

*GUZA'S OFFICE*

        George walked up to the door of Guza's office and knocked. A minute
passed before he heard a muffled "Come in." from the other side. "Mr.
Guza?" He said sticking his head into the room. There he found Guza sitting
at his desk with his head buried in his arms. He had known that the latest
scene with Laura and Samantha would hit Guza hard, but he had no idea that
it would be this hard. "Are you okay?"

        Guza looked up at his assistant and said, "Am I okay? AM I OKAY!?!?
I most definitely AM NOT okay! That...that BRAT just ruined everything that
I have worked so hard for! Luke isn't a villain anymore. I wanted him to be
a villain. I...I really wanted him to be a villain. It's not fair!! I hate
her! I really, really hate her! There has to be something that I can do!!"

        "Are you sure that that's a good idea sir?" George asked. "Look at
what happened the last time you did that. Do you really want to chance it?"

        "I have to, otherwise it won't be my show anymore. I have to regain
control or I'll be useless, useless! I have to think." George took that for
the dismissal that it was. He stepped out of the room leaving his boss in
the same condition that he had found him, his face buried in his arms.
George hoped that Guza came to grips with this soon, because he wasn't
looking too good!

Next time:
Samantha has a talk with Nik, and then Stefan.

Coming soon:
Lucky and Liz find out something interesting about Samantha
Luke goes home.

Chapter Eight

*SPOON ISLAND*

        Samantha arrived on Spoon Island and went directly to the door of
Wyndemere. She wasn't sure if she should knock or walk right in. She
decided that it would be better to be safe than sorry, so she knocked. The
door was opened almost immediately by Nikolas. "Hey Sam," he said. "You
don't have to knock. Since you're going to be staying here, just come and
go as you like."

        Samantha smiled at him. "Thanks Nik!"

        "Come on in," he said smiling back at her. They went into the main
room, the one that people always seem to go into on the show. You know the
one I mean. "So, where did you go?" Nikolas asked her.

        "Oh, around," she said, evasively. Nikolas gave her a puzzled look
and she sighed. "Well actually, I went to see your mother. We had an
interesting conversation. Oh, is your uncle here? There's something that I
need to tell him."

        "He's at the hospital at the moment. He'll be back before long.
What do you need to tell him?"

        "Um, well, just that Laura never wants to see him again and that
she'll be coming to tell him in person tomorrow."

        Nikolas looked devastated. "She chose them again?"

        "No, oh no, Nikolas. She doesn't want to see *him* again. Nothing
in the world can stop her from seeing you. She won't do that to you, or to
herself, again. The only person that might try to stop you from seeing her
is Stefan, and he can only do that if you let him. Laura will handle Luke,
and you have to stand strong against Stefan. He'll try and turn it around,
make it seem like she chose them over you, but that isn't what's happening,
believe me, okay? She loves you and wants to be close to you, but she can't
stand to be around Stefan anymore, that's all."

        "Why all of a sudden? What did you tell her?" Nikolas asked.

        "Not too much. There were just so many things that people, your
uncle included, didn't want her to remember. Things that he's done. I did
tell her one thing that she didn't know though..."

        "What?"

        "The fact that Stefan knew that Luke was alive well before Laura
found out, even before you were born and that he never told her. The fact
that on one of those trips he took off the island, he could have contacted
someone, anyone and told them that she was alive and in need to rescuing.
I'm not going to make any judgments against Stavros cause I don't want to
hurt you but the fact remains that Laura was being held there against her
will. There are so many things Nik, that just don't add up, and your mother
is tired of having to tell Stefan that she loves Luke and not him. She
doesn't want him around anymore!"

        "Who doesn't want who around?" Stefan questioned from the doorway.
Guza was watching and groaned the minute Stefan walked into the room. He
knew what was going to happen, and it wasn't going to be pretty. He watched
in horror as the scene unfolded before him.

        "Uncle!" Nikolas exclaimed.

        "Nikolas, could I talk to your uncle alone?" Samantha asked. "It
would really help this along if he didn't have to hear what I have to say
in front of you."

        Nikolas looked torn, but ended up leaving the room. Stefan watched
Samantha distrustfully, like he could feel that he wasn't going to like
what she had to say. "Stefan, I went to see Laura today and we had a long
talk. She's going to come and see you tomorrow, but I thought that I would
tell you ahead of time that it will be the last time she comes to see you
for anything that doesn't have to do with Nikolas. Laura has decided that
she wants nothing more to do with you, except in the capacity that you're
Nikolas' guardian. She will not let anything come between her and her son
again, but she is through with you!"

        "Lasha would never say those things..." Stefan started. His use of
Lasha had annoyed Samantha for years and this was the last time she wanted
to hear it pass his lips!

        "Oh for crying out loud Stefan, HER NAME IS LAURA!!! LAURA!!! THERE
IS NO LASHA!" Samantha yelled. "Lasha never really existed Stefan, except
in your mind. It's laughable how you tell Laura that she's in love with a
figment of her imagination, that the person she loves isn't who she thinks
he is, when you're the one that's pined over a woman for seventeen years,
who *you* think is the same person you loved on the island. What? She
couldn't have changed? *She* has to be the one that's deluding herself?
She's lived with Luke for close to seventeen years, spent every moment with
him, yet she doesn't know him? And you, you come to Port Charles from
Greece and after not having seen Laura for *fifteen* years or more, *you*
know everything about her? Yeah, that makes loads of sense Stefan! I'm glad
that you really thought these things through! Regardless of what you chose
to tell yourself Stefan, LAURA LOVES LUKE! She always has and she always
will. They're going through a rough spot and you're trying to take
advantage of that! What's the deal calling her Lasha anyway? Didn't your
brother give her that name? Don't you think that she might hate it and that
all it may do is remind her of a time in her life that was pure torture for
her? That island wasn't some paradise for her, though you seem to think so
the way you speak of it sometimes! It was hell for her, yet you insist on
reminding her of it! What's up with that? The only thing she did while she
was there was mourn for the man she loved, Luke. That brings us to
something else that's been bothering me! What the heck do you have against
him? He isn't *that* bad of a guy and he would *never* hurt her! What
reason do you have for really hating him anyway!?"

        "HE KILLED MY FATHER AND MY BROTHER!" Stefan yelled.

        "STOP SULKING!" Samantha yelled back. "'Oh boo hoo, Luke killed my
father and my brother.' Never mind that you hated them both! 'Oh Timoria!'
Never mind that you were even procuring poison for your dear, misunderstood
brother!" Stefan froze. "Luke killed them, they deserved it! That's all
there is to it! You use *that* as a reason to hate Luke? YOU COMPLETE
HYPOCRITE! Not to mention the fact that you're lying through your teeth.
You hate Luke for one reason and one reason only. You hate him because
Laura loves him, and chooses him over you time and time again. Get over it
Stefan! You're such a, a.....ARGH! I don't even know what to call you!
You're pathetic, that's what you are! One thing I will give you is that the
whole, 'Luke killed Mikkos and Stavros thing did accomplish something. It
certainly made Nikolas hate Luke and Lucky, and even his mother.  Oh and
what did you do? Raise Nikolas on stories of how Luke raped Laura? Did you
want him to grow up with no respect for her and with an inferiority complex
because his mother left him for a rapist, which is the only light you
allowed Nikolas to see Luke in? I can't believe you! You talk about how
horrible Luke is, but you're the horrible one. You push somebody off a
mountain, and you don't even stop and help them."

        Stefan started to say something but Samantha held up her hand,
shaking her head. "The excuse that you didn't know it was Nikolas doesn't
wash with me, Stefan! If you push *anyone*, stranger or not, off a
mountain, you should stop and help them. Luke is the horrible one? He
stopped to help that person you pushed off the mountain, your son Stefan,
who he *HATES.* You left him to die!"

        "But.."

        "Uh uh!" Samantha said shaking her head, "He helped someone he
*HATES.*  You couldn't stop to help who you thought was a COMPLETE
STRANGER. I don't understand you Stefan. You blame everything on Luke, say
that he's this horrible human being, but it's you who's horrible. He's
never physically harmed Nikolas, but you have. He's never focused on
Nikolas in a life-threatening mode of revenge like you did Lucky. You
almost *killed* Lucky, a twelve/thirteen year old *KID* and *you* complain
about *LUKE*!? Even your complaint that Luke framed you for Katherine's
death doesn't make any sense, since you did the same thing to him! Even the
result is the same, a seriously wounded, yet still very much alive,
Katherine Bell."

        Stefan looked at Samantha in complete shock. "What?"

        "That's right Stefan. Your sweety pie is still alive, thanks to
Helena. Not that she's going to want anything to do with *you* when she
gets back, well beyond ruining your life, but that's a different story. No,
she'll go and torture the Q's instead. She knows that she was a poor
replacement for Laura in your eyes! She knows Stefan. Everybody knows! If
you ever want to be happy, you have to let go of Lasha. Not that I really
believe you will. Your destined to be unhappy. The creepy man who lives on
an island, dresses in nothing but black, and tries to go back to the days
when the love of his life had no alternative but to turn to him for
comfort, since she was held prisoner by his brother. That's all that you
are, Stefan. A sorry excuse for a Cassadine. I'd even prefer that you were
more like Mikkos or Stavros, or HELENA for that matter! At least then you'd
have a spine. You're a horrible, miserable excuse for a human being Stefan
and I can't even stand to look at you." Samantha turned to leave, but then
turned back to Stefan. "Oh, and before you go spreading around the fact
that you're Nikolas' father, you might want to have a DNA test done. Blood
tests aren't THAT accurate. Or maybe I should just remind Laura of that
fact, cause who knows, you might already have had a DNA test done, one that
proved you *weren't* Nikolas' father and chose to keep it from her, so you
could keep her under some sort of control. I wouldn't put it beyond you!"
Stefan's face went white and Samantha's eyes grew wide. "Oh my god."

        "Dammit girl!" Guza thought. "That wasn't supposed to happen until
later, *after* Laura and Stefan got together and she was actually pregnant
with his child! Not that it looks like they're going to get together
anymore, but still!"

        "Nikolas isn't your son is he? How long have you known and
continued to keep it from Laura?" As Stefan's face went from white to
purple, Samantha decided that it might not be the best idea to wait for an
answer. "Well, I gotta be going. I think that I'll go back to town and stay
with Mac and Felicia. It was nice of you to let me stay here. Bye!"
Samantha turned and ran out the door, running smack into Nikolas! "Uh oh,"
Samantha said, seeing the look of pure anguish on his face. "I wonder
what's going to happen now?"

*GUZA OFFICE*

        Guza was close to giving up. He felt that he had lost all control
of the show. How many more of his storylines would be ruined by this girl?
He had to find some way to control this girl! He went to lay down on his
couch. He would think of a plan after he had a nap! His head was killing
him!

Coming Next Time:

Nikolas confronts Stefan: "You used me to control my mother!" Nikolas
yelled. "I have to wonder, did you ever really loved me? Or was I just a
tool to get back at her?"

Samantha and Helena come face-to-face as Lucky and Liz watch from hiding:
"You're doing wonderfully, my dear!"

To be continued...


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