Story [General Hospital] AU; Echoes of the Past (Scrubs, Scorpios, Cassadines, OC's) Ch. 20 (7.14.17)

So, I'm gonna show off my love for soap operas here. I have no idea if anyone will even be interested, but I have fun writing it.

Any soap fans around?

For anyone who does watch GH and is familiar with things, forget it. This story changes things.


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Title: Echoes of the Past


Summary: Patrick Drake has never really understood what being a Scorpio means. He’s about to find out.



Disclaimer: I do not own General Hospital, One Life to Live, All My Children, Days of our Lives or any of their characters. All original characters are my own creations.

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Prologue

Port Charles, NY
St. Mark’s Cemetery
March 29, 2000


It was a cold morning in upstate New York. The cemetery sat alongside the picturesque Port Charles River. The early-morning fog hadn’t yet lifted and fresh snow crunched beneath the feet of the cemetery’s only visitor.

The young man knelt down before a memorial; it couldn’t really be called a grave since there were no bodies buried there. He placed a fresh bouquet of white roses against the granite memorial. Gently he reached out a gloved hand and traced the names.

Scorpio
Robert Xavier and Anna Marie
Beloved Parents and Friends
Gone, But Never Forgotten


“I miss you guys,” he said softly. “It’s been…eight years today that we all lost you. Sometimes it seems like yesterday and sometimes it…it feels like every one of the eight years it’s been. I’m sorry this is…I never meant for it to take eight years for me to come here. I’m sorry, Mom. Dad, I know you’ll understand why a lot better than you will, Mom. I just…you were gone and I didn’t see the point. I’ll be honest, I still don’t, but…I don’t know why but I was having a hard time this morning. I woke up thinking about you both and thought maybe coming here, finally, might do the trick.”

“Did it?” called a voice from behind him.

Robert Scorpio Jr. didn’t need to turn around to know it was his twin sister. He would know Robin’s voice anywhere.

He stood so as to give Robin room to place her flowers on the memorial. She knelt down to do just that, then kissed her fingers and rested them for a moment on their parents’ names.

“I miss you both and love you so much,” she whispered and Robert, RJ, knew she was crying. He reached down and helped her stand.

Robin wrapped her arms around her tall brother who so resembled their father. “Sometimes I still don’t believe this is all that’s left of them.”

RJ held her tightly against him. He could feel her shaking, both from the cold morning air as well as her grief. He missed their parents, but Robin still had such acute grief over their deaths that it staggered her at times. He’d long since passed the stage of paralyzing grief and had a hard time processing why Robin still held on so tightly.

“You gotta find a way to let this go, big sister,” RJ said softly. “It’s been eight years, Robin and you’re still…still paralyzed by grief.”

Robin pulled away a bit. This was the divide between her and her brother. She held on while he had let go from nearly the first moment. She remembered back when their father had first told them he was going after their mother and Faison. She’d believed her father when he said he was coming home and bringing their mother with him. But she remembered the look on RJ’s face when their dad had told him to hold down the fort until he returned. RJ had known then. Somehow he’d known they’d never see their parents again, and at not yet fourteen years old, he’d let them go. She’d watched as he hugged their father, accepted his kiss on the forehead and then sighed with the knowledge that he’d be the only Robert Scorpio left in the world. She knew he missed them and thought about them; this morning told her that even if she hadn’t already known. But he hadn’t lived the past eight years the way she had; grasping tightly to every might have been. He only lived for what was, and what would come.

“You haven’t lost as much,” she said softly.

RJ sighed. “Robin, I know losing them affected you in a different way. It affected everything you’ve done for eight years. I know you needed them when Stone…”

She pulled away completely then. “You don’t get to mention Stone. You didn’t…”

“I didn’t what?! RJ yelled loudly, now frustrated. “I didn’t love Stone, too? Maybe not like you did, but he was my brother in all but blood, Robin. I sat there with you and Sonny and watched him die, too. I watched him slip away from us. I watched him blame himself when you told him about being HIV positive. I listened when you cried for Mom and Dad every night. You don’t get to accuse me just because I dealt with it all differently.”

Tears were cascading down her cheeks. “I know.”

Hearing her broken whisper just about tore his heart in two. They had other siblings, but the bond between them was special. When she hurt, he hurt. When he needed someone, she was there.

“Look at me,” he said as he held her upper arms. “I understand that losing our parents and then losing Stone was so hard for you. I get it, I really do and you have no idea how much I wished then that they had been here for you. I didn’t know how to help you and neither did Mac. I’m just saying that you have a good life now, Robin. You’re gonna graduate from Yale and go to medical school. You’re a terrific mother to Justin. You have to let the past go. You have to keep it where it belongs; behind you. Coming here every year on this anniversary or on their birthdays or…none of it brings them back, Rob. They’re gone, but you’re still here.”

She sniffled and wiped her eyes. “I know. In my head, I know everything you’re saying is true, but in my heart it’s…a little more difficult.”

RJ nodded. “I know, but you’ll get there. Just keep putting one foot in front of the other and stop…stop looking back.”

She took a deep breath and took one last look at the memorial before nodding her head. She reached her fingers down and traced their names one last time.

“Goodbye,” she whispered as she grasped RJ’s hand and walked out of the cemetery with him.

As the two eldest Scorpio siblings left, neither noticed the pair of eyes that watched them, hidden from view in the dense fog.

 

JediMaster_Jen - welcome indeed. This has a poignancy that reminds me of something I read of Snowduchess' about Jaina and Jacen and their close sibling connection Superb. Back in the day when I was at uni .... I had a serious yumsy for Robert Scorpio and his then wife Hollyw who was Luke's love interest first LOL Like Luke Skywalker, hit and misses before he gets his true love-which in Skywalker's case is Mara.

I will be following the fic you highlighted in the Trailer thread when it starts up.

 

Mira_Jade Soaps are my guilty pleasure. Glad you stopped in to read. I hope you enjoy. Thanks for the welcome!

Nyota's Heart Thanks. Oh, I loved (still do) Robert Scorpio. I wasn't a Holly fan though. I always adored him and Anna together. Incidentally, my SW story, The Tristan Betrayal--the Tristan comes from Robert's portrayer, Tristan Rogers. Thanks for stopping in to read.

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Chapter One


Nearly Nine Years Later
Drake Residence
December 24, 2008


RJ Scorpio, now thirty-one years old and a police detective, knocked on the door of the home his twin sister shared with her husband, Dr. Patrick Drake.

“I got it,” called Matt Hunter, Patrick’s younger half-brother.

“Hey man, come on in,” he greeted RJ. “Everybody else is already here.”

RJ shook the light snow from his dark blonde hair before taking off his coat and hanging it up.

“Uncle RJ!” screeched thirteen-year old Justin Scorpio-Cates, Robin’s son.

“Hey, kid,” RJ said as he grabbed the teenager in a tight hug. It still amazed him at times how much Justin resembled his father, Stone; same dark hair, same dark eyes and the same attitude even though Justin had no memory of the man himself.

“What am I, chopped liver?” Matt asked.

Justin smiled a brilliant, purely Scorpio smile. “No way, Uncle Matt, I’m glad you’re here too.”

Justin adored both his stepfather and step-uncle, now. At first, Justin wasn’t willing to accept anyone in his mother’s life if it wasn’t Jason Morgan, whom Justin believed walked on water. Slowly, and with a persistence that RJ respected, Patrick had broken down Justin’s Scorpio walls and pushed his way through. Now, the two were pals, and on occasion, RJ had heard his nephew call Patrick “Dad”.

“Hey, little brother, glad you could make it,” Robin said as she entered the living room with their younger brothers Sean and James.

RJ smiled as he moved forward to hug his sister. “No place I’d rather be on Christmas Eve.”

“Hey bro,” Sean said as he moved forward to hug his hero, his elder brother.

RJ grabbed his twenty-five-year old brother in a strong hug. For two people not related biologically, Sean and RJ looked remarkably alike. They both had dark blonde hair and blue eyes and stood at the height of 6’1.

Sean was in fact the biological son of Luke Spencer and RJ’s former stepmother, Holly Sutton. Sean had been born when Luke was still thought to have died in an avalanche and RJ’s father Robert intended to raise Sean as his own. When Luke came back and found out that Holly and Robert had married he had been angry and unwilling to hear what they had to say. RJ remembered his father telling him years later that Luke had expressed regret over his decision, but by that time he and Laura were raising Nik and had already had Lucky and Ethan and Luke didn’t want to disrupt Sean’s life, so he remained a Scorpio.

“I think you get taller every time I see you,” RJ quipped. “You too, Jamie.”

Jamie Scorpio, born James Ian Lavery, laughed. Jamie had been born to RJ’s mother and stepfather, Duke and Anna, in 1988, just over a year after Robert and Sean had returned to Port Charles after Holly’s death in a plane crash. Jamie hadn’t had a chance to ever really know Duke, but RJ couldn’t help but think Jamie had a better upbringing as Robert Scorpio’s son, even if it was short-lived.

“Missed ya, big brother,” Jamie said as he also grabbed RJ in a hug.

“Missed you, too,” RJ returned. “How’s school going?”

Before he could answer, Patrick walked into the room holding his month-old daughter, Emma. RJ’s eyes lit up. He’d been out of town and this was the first time he’d seen his brand new niece.

He took her from Patrick and sat down on the couch. “She’s…wow.”

Robin smiled as Patrick wrapped her in his arms. “Her baptism is next month. Patrick and I talked and we want you to…”

Patrick picked it up. “…be her godfather.”

RJ was stunned. “I don’t…I don’t know what to say.”

Patrick smiled at his brother-in-law. “Say yes.”

RJ nodded. “Okay. Yes.”

////////////////////////////////////////////

Dinner was in full swing. The entire Scorpio-Drake clan was laughing and talking together. Mac, Felecia, Maxie and Georgie had arrived just after RJ had agreed to be Emma’s godfather. Maxie’s boyfriend Jesse Beaudry had accompanied them. Robin liked Jesse. He was twenty-three years old and a cop like RJ and Lucky. Robin was happy for her cousin. Maxie had been through so much in her young life that Robin was grateful to Jesse for making her smile again.

Thirteen-year old Georgie and Justin were having fun together. The cousins got along great and enjoyed a lot of the same things and had many of the same friends, especially Dillon Quartermaine. Robin knew her young cousin has a crush on the Quartermaine boy and she suspected that Dillon felt the same, yet would never admit it.

Robin loved watching her Uncle Mac with “his girls”. Maxie wasn’t his biologically, but he loved her no less than he did Georgie, his child with Felicia. In his mind, both girls were his and both were Scorpio’s through and through.

Patrick watched Robin as she watched her family. He loved seeing her happy and she was never happier than when her family was around. He was beyond thankful that she included him, Matt and their father Noah in that familial equation.

“So, Mac, what are your plans for tomorrow?” Patrick asked his de-facto father-in-law.

Mac liked Patrick. Oh, he hadn’t at first, but the young man had grown on him, particularly by way of his treatment of Justin. Patrick was a stand-up man who adored Robin and Mac had no doubt that he would protect her, Justin and Emma with his life.

“Opening presents with Felecia and the girls,” came his easy answer.

“Is…Uncle Frisco coming home?” Robin asked gently.

Maxie flinched visibly. Jesse rested a hand on her forearm. They’d had long talks about their families and he knew how she felt about her biological father.

Felecia glanced at her eldest daughter before answering. “He’s going to…to try. He’s on assignment…somewhere. I haven’t actually spoken to him in a couple of months.”

Mac hated what mention of Frisco Jones did to Maxie. He hated what Frisco's continual absence did to Maxie. The girl was torn apart every time Frisco showed up for a few days then turned around and left without so much as a goodbye usually.

“What about you, RJ?” Sean changed the subject, trying to cut the tension.

RJ shrugged. “I’m, ah, working tomorrow.”

Mac frowned at his nephew. “You’re not scheduled to work Christmas.”

RJ cleared his throat. “Yeah, I know. I volunteered.”

“Why?” Robin questioned her twin brother. “You’re supposed to be here with us tomorrow. You’ve been out of town for two months and now…”

“I know, Robin,” RJ cut her off. “Look, Lucky was supposed to work tomorrow. He wants to spend Christmas with Elizabeth, Cam and Jake. I overheard him on the phone yesterday apologizing to her about having to work so I told him I’d work for him.”

“But, Lucky’s just a beat cop,” Jamie commented. “No offense, Jesse.”

Jesse laughed. “None taken.”

RJ smiled. “Yes, and tomorrow I’ll be covering his beat with Jesse.”

Patrick laughed. “I can’t picture Detective Scorpio walking the beat.”

“I used to,” RJ told him. “Just because Mac is the Police Commissioner doesn’t mean I got to skip the intro work.”

“I wanna be a cop when I grow up, too,” Justin tossed in. “I’ll kick the crap out of the criminals.”

Everyone laughed at his declaration.

“Spoken like a true Scorpio,” Jamie told his nephew.

Conversation went back and forth as the Scorpio-Drake family consumed Christmas dinner. They were lively, animated and above all, happy to all be together for the holidays. There were members of the family missing, but they were remembered.

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Hours later, Mac, Felecia and the girls had left for the night. Jesse had headed home. Sean and Matt had left together; each young man headed out to Jake’s for some late-night billiards. Jamie had gone upstairs to the guest room to turn in while Justin was in his room playing video games and Robin was readying Emma for bed.

RJ and Patrick were sitting in the livingroom, each man with a beer in hand.

“So, you were gone for two months,” Patrick started. “Where’d you go?”

RJ took a long swig of his beer. “I went…a lot of places. Some were interesting and some were…less so.”

“What does that even mean?”

Again, RJ shrugged. “It means I was…traipsing through the past.”

“Who’s past?” came Robin’s voice from the staircase.

“Mine,” RJ answered as Robin took a seat next to her husband. “Yours. Mom and Dad.”

Patrick and Robin shared a look. RJ wasn’t one for the past.

“Why?”

RJ downed the last of his beer and then stood up. He reached into the front pocket of his black jeans and pulled out a post card. He handed it to Robin.

“This is why,” he said as he sat back down. “I received that in the mail two months ago.”

Robin looked at the front of the post card and saw San Remo. It was the same small coastal town in Italy where their parents had first been married.

“Who did this come from?”

RJ shook his head. “I don’t know; there’s no name and no return address. But, there was something attached to the back with a few words. Take a look.”

Robin flipped it over and her eyes zeroed in on the small puzzle piece taped to the back and noticed the words written there. Don’t you just love puzzles.

The Scorpio siblings’ eyes met and held.

“It…this doesn’t make any sense, RJ,” she whispered softly. “Does Uncle Mac know about this?”

“No, I didn’t tell him,” RJ revealed.

Patrick jumped in then. “Tell him what? Where the hell is San Remo and what does it have to do with the two of you?”

If RJ was surprised that Patrick didn’t already have the answers to those questions, he hid it well. But, he felt that his brother-in-law deserved an explanation.

“Our parents were married the first time in San Remo,” RJ began. “After they divorced, our mother went back there and Robin and I were born there. We lived with our…grandmother, Filomena until we were almost seven.”

“You were born in Italy?” Patrick asked his wife.

Robin nodded. There was so much Patrick didn’t know; so many things he’d never been told about her or her family. He only knew her parents were dead. He had no idea how, or why, or who was responsible.

“Yeah, we were,” RJ confided. “Long story short, our parents re-married years later. Sean and Jamie came along and then…”

“Then your parents died,” Patrick finished.

RJ had picked up on the fact that maybe Patrick didn’t know much of anything about Robert and Anna Scorpio beyond the fact that they had died when he and Robin were almost fourteen. He decided then that it was Robin’s decision to tell him the whole truth or not.

“So, I don’t get it,” Patrick thought out loud. “Who would send you a post card from San Remo? Why would they send it?”

“That is exactly what I wanted to find out,” RJ began to explain. “So, I packed up and went to San Remo.”

Robin’s eyes widened. “What did…what did you find?”

“A mystery,” RJ said. “I started at the most obvious place. I went to where Grandma used to live. All I found was an…an abandoned home with nothing inside. I tried to track down Maria, her cousin, but when I hit a dead end by asking around town, I went to their version of city hall. I checked the records, Robin, and there was no record of a Filomena or Maria Soltini ever having lived there.”

“How is that possible?” she questioned.

“I wish I knew,” RJ answered. “My whole trip was like that, one dead end after another. Finally, I just gave up and came home. I landed at JFK yesterday afternoon.”

“I don’t understand why any of this is important,” Patrick said. “I mean, and I don’t mean to sound indifferent or…or insensitive, but your parents are dead. Why is one post card with a strange message in it so important?”

The moment of truth had arrived for Robin. It was time for her to divulge her lies of omission.

 

Fascinating air of mystery I love the warm family atmosphere. Jen, you really have a firm grasp of all the convoluted tangled filial connections Can you imagine what their family leaves would look like on Ancestry.com?

 

interesting story

 

Thank you. Oh, boy, their leaves would be a mess.

Thanks.

I try to keep the head-scratching to a minimum. Thanks for reading.

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Tag List: Nyota's Heart, earlybird-obi-wan, Mira_Jade

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Chapter Two


“I’m not sure where to start,” Robin said quietly.

“Start what?” Patrick wanted to know.

Robin rested her hand on his knee. “Start telling you the truth.”

RJ stood and headed into the kitchen to grab another beer while Robin began the story.

“There are a lot of things you don’t know about me, Patrick,” she offered. “There things you don’t know about my family and about what being a Scorpio means. San Remo is…close to the beginning of the story.”

Patrick chuckled as RJ came back into the room. “You make it sound so serious.”

Robin met his gaze. “It is. I never thought you’d really need to know most of it, but…that damn post card tells me that maybe you need to know everything, starting with who our parents were and why they were…why they were murdered.”

Patrick’s dark eyes widened in stunned disbelief. “Murdered? Your parents were…were murdered? I thought they died in a car accident or something.”

Robin nodded. “You’ve never outright asked me what happened to them, so I’ve never had to tell you the truth.”

Patrick ran a hand through his dark hair. “So, why now?”

RJ pointed to the post card. “That’s why. Someone is playing with us, with me. Eventually, they’ll start playing with Robin and maybe even with the people we care about. We’re telling you now because now you need to know.”

“So, you’ve lied to me all this time?” Patrick asked of his wife.

Robin shook her head. “No, I’ve never told you an outright lie. I’ve omitted things.”

“Robin, lies of omission are still lies,” he spoke. “So, I’m going to ask now; how did your parents die?”

Robin took a deep breath. “They were murdered. My parents were WSB agents, and in 1992 one of their enemies…murdered them.”

Patrick didn’t know what he had expected, but that wasn’t it.

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Patrick’s head was spinning. It was nearly two in the morning and he was in possession of facts he would previously have only thought possible in a James Bond film. His wife and brother-in-law had just laid out a spy novel for him, yet it was their life.

“I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around this,” Patrick almost whispered.

“Which part?”

Patrick glared at RJ. “All of it. Your parents were spies for the WSB. Marriages, divorces, re-marriages and explosions and people coming back from the dead; it’s all…it’s all crazy.”

“It’s all true,” RJ told him. “Every last word.”

“This…this Faison guy, is he…is he still alive?”

RJ and Robin answered together.

“No.”

“We don’t know.”

Patrick stood and wiped his hands over his face. “Which is it?”

“Mac shot at the boat Faison escaped onto in the harbor,” RJ explained. “It…exploded. He and Luke Spencer saw it happen. Neither of them saw Faison get off the boat before the explosion. We’re…reasonably certain he’s dead this time.”

“Yet we have that post card,” Robin said. “It’s obviously a taunt. Faison loves to taunt people.”

The three went back and forth for another hour. Patrick asked questions and Robin and RJ answered as best they could. Finally, at just after three in the morning, RJ left the Drake home and headed back to his own apartment to get some sleep before his shift.

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“You know things, don’t you?” Patrick asked in the dark as he and Robin lay in bed.

“What do you mean?” she asked sleepily.

Patrick shifted. “Well, I mean, your parents were spies. I’m guessing you know how to…pick locks maybe?”

Robin laughed softly. “Yes, I do know how to do that actually. My father taught me and RJ when we were…eight, maybe.”

“What else can you do?”

These were things she wished she could have kept to herself. She didn’t want to completely destroy his illusions that she needed protecting. But, he asked and she had decided that when he asked, she’d give him the truth.

“My parents began teaching RJ and me hand-to-hand when we were nine,” she told him. “By eleven we were both familiar with about…six different martial arts and proficient in all of them.”

That intrigued Patrick. “How about now?”

Robin looked him right in the eyes. “I…Patrick, do you really…”

“…yes, I want to know,” he interrupted.

She sighed. “I’m very, very good at hand-to-hand and martial arts now. I probably know more ways to…to kill someone with just my bare hands than Jason does. RJ is even better than I am.”

“Kill? But, Robin, you’re a doctor, a healer, not a killer,” Patrick intoned passionately.

Robin rolled onto her side and rested her head on Patrick’s chest. “I want you to listen to me. Yes, I know how to kill someone with just my hands. Yes, I know how to handle numerous types of firearms and how to use them with deadly accuracy. Yes, I can pick locks and get into most any room I want. None of those things make me any less the woman you married.”

“What does that post card really mean?” he asked then.

Robin didn’t want to think about the possibilities. “I would have said nothing until RJ mentioned that our grandmother’s entire existence has been wiped clean in San Remo.”

He pulled her closer. “Is it…Faison?”

“I hope not,” she replied. “If it is, the devil himself is coming to Port Charles.”

A chill went through the Drake’s then. They snuggled closer and let sleep claim them. Despite all that had been covered that night, they had to make Christmas morning special for Justin and Emma.

They could worry about the post card another day. Or so they thought.

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Maracaibo, Venezuela
WSB Medical Facility
August, 1996

”It’s been more than four years, Doctor Weston,” Sean Donely began. “Haven’t you had enough time?”

Dr. Amelia Weston glared at her boss. “No, Mr. Donely, I have not had enough time. They were both gravely injured and I cannot simply wake them up as if nothing happened.”

Sean sighed. “Keep me posted.”

He stormed from the room while Dr. Weston went back to monitoring her patients.

 

Patrick is a trooper. This conversation reminds me very much of what it must've been between Han and Leia when she said: Guess who my daddy is?

You would assume that if something exploded before anyone got off, they were pretty much debris in the water. But then ... Hmmm. Another unwelcome 'face' from the past surfaces.

 

Yes intriguing update with Robin knowing how to kill

 

Nyota's Heart Yes, Patrick is certainly a trooper. He's gonna need to be.

Mira_Jade They certainly are. Patrick is definitely a hearty soul. That's gonna come in handy for him down the line.

earlybird-obi-wan That she does. She may be a doctor, but she knows how to protect and defend.

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Chapter Three


Christmas Morning, 2008


It was mid-morning when RJ and Jesse stepped into Kelly’s. Mike smiled when he saw the two cops, Jesse in uniform and RJ in black jeans, white t-shirt, boots and black jacket.

“Merry Christmas RJ, Jesse,” Mike called out. “You fellas like some coffee?”

RJ sat down heavily on a stool at the counter and nodded. “Coffee sounds like a dream right now, Mike. Thanks.”

“Some pancakes too, Mike,” Jesse ordered. “And some bacon. Oh, and some…”

Mike chuckled. “I’ll make you the works, Jesse.”

The young man smiled gratefully. “Thanks.”

Mike turned to speak with the cook while Jesse tossed his cap on the counter. A waitress set two steaming cups of coffee in front of each man. RJ took off his gloves and wrapped his hands around the mug.

“That feels good,” he whispered. “I think my fingers are frozen.”

Jesse laughed as he sipped his own coffee. “You could have been with Robin, Patrick and the kids today.”

RJ nodded as he turned around in his seat. He noticed it had started to snow lightly. The postcard and the events in San Remo had begun churning in his head. Faces of people long gone flashed before his eyes.

“Hey, RJ, foods here,” Jesse said, pulling the older man from his thoughts.

“Can I ask you a personal question, Jesse?”

Jesse nodded.

“How do you feel about Maxie? Really feel?”

Jesse swallowed heavily, and then turned to look at his friend. “Why do you wanna know?”

Rather than answer the question, RJ asked another. “How much do you know about the Scorpio family?”

Jesse shrugged. “Not much. I mean, I know Maxie isn’t Mac’s biologically. I know Robin, Sean, Jamie and you lost your parents a long time ago. I know her cousin BJ died and Maxie has her heart.”

RJ sighed. “Let’s finish up and head back out. I need to tell you some things; things you’re gonna need to know if you care about my cousin as much as I think you do.”

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“Where did Sean, Jamie and Justin go?” Patrick asked his wife as he came down the stairs.

“They’re out in the garage tinkering on the motorcycle you bought Jamie,” Robin told him. “Did Emma go down quietly?”

Patrick collapsed on the sofa beside her and nodded. “Yeah, she did. She was completely wiped out from the morning’s activities.”

Robin leaned against Patrick, her head resting on his strong shoulder. “I’m exhausted. We were up entirely too late talking last night.”

Patrick kissed her cheek. “I get the feeling there is still so much you need to tell me.”

Robin chuckled. “Maybe. Everything inside me wants to believe that Faison died in the harbor all those years ago. But I keep…”

“You keep what?

She shook her head. “RJ has great Scorpio instincts. He’s also got enough Spencer influence that his gut is rarely wrong. He went to San Remo because he thinks there is something to this mystery.”

“What do you mean by Spencer influence?”

Robin smiled. “After our parents died, RJ…he and Uncle Mac haven’t ever really gotten along very well. The first night after they told us, we all stayed with Bobbie and Tony. But, about a week later, we went with Uncle Mac. RJ ran away. He left a note for Uncle Mac. It said that he understood that Mac wasn’t a bad guy but he couldn’t live there with him.”

“Why would he think Mac was a bad guy?” Patrick wondered aloud.

“When Uncle Mac first came to town, he wasn’t the most…upstanding of individuals,” Robin revealed with a small laugh. “He and my dad got into it a lot. Dad even had Mac arrested for trying to kill him.”

“Wow.”

“Anyway, over time they reconciled, but RJ still held a lot of mistrust where Uncle Mac was concerned,” she continued. “So, he ran away and he refused to live with Uncle Mac. Uncle Mac didn’t want to rock the boat, so RJ spent the next year or so with Bobbie and Tony. Then Luke and Laura returned to Port Charles and RJ was fascinated with our father’s best friend. We’d heard so many stories from Dad that…RJ had a huge case of hero worship. Luke was only too happy to meet the eldest son of Robert Scorpio. Uncle Mac hated it and tried to force RJ home with us.”

Patrick laughed. He knew his brother-in-law. “Let me guess; RJ ran away again?”

Robin nodded. “Yep. He snuck out the second floor window, shimmied down the trellis and knocked on Lucky’s window at just after one in the morning. Uncle Mac never tried again to bring RJ home. He spent the next five years living in the Spencer home.”

Patrick was thoughtful. “I never knew any of that about your brother.”

Robin shrugged. “We Scorpio’s hold things pretty…close to the vest, I guess you could say. Even when Luke and Laura split up after Stefan Cassadine came to town, RJ stayed close to Laura and Nik. I always wanted RJ to be with us, but I was also always happy he had people he trusted to look after him. He came over a lot and he spent time with me, Sean and Jamie all the time. We went to the same schools and everything, but…”

Patrick cleared his throat. “But it wasn’t the same as if he still lived in the same home.”

Robin nodded as she snuggled closer to her husband in front of the roaring fire.

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RJ and Jesse were sitting on a bench looking out at Spoon Island as a light snow continued to fall. RJ had just spent the last hour and a half explaining the Scorpio family history to Jesse.

“Wow,” he finally managed. “I…really, I had no idea.”

RJ smiled. “Most people don’t.”

Jesse shook his head. “What’s the deal with Spoon Island and that castle out there?”

RJ laughed. “Sometimes I forget that you’re still relatively new in town. Um, it’s kind of a long story. Luke and Laura got married in November of 1981, but she was kidnapped by the Cassadine’s in early 1982.”

Jesse’s eyes widened. “And she lives out there now?”

RJ nodded. “Different Cassadine lives out there from the one who had her kidnapped. Anyway, Stavros Cassadine had her taken and forced her to marry him. In 1983, she had Nikolas. Long story short, Luke found out she was alive when she showed up here in Port Charles just after he’d been elected mayor.”

“How’d she escape?”

RJ shrugged. “The Cassadine that lives out there, Stefan, helped her. Stavros was his older brother but they hated one another. So, when Stefan found out that Luke was alive, he told Laura and she left the island where she was being held. Stavros and his mother, Helena, were gone at the time.”

“They let her get away, just like that?”

RJ laughed. “Hardly. Stavros followed her here to Port Charles and had a confrontation with Luke. Stavros was killed. Laura told Luke about her son back on the island. Luke agreed to go get him. When they got there, they found Stefan badly injured. He’d been shot. I remember Nik telling me once that Laura and Luke saved Stefan’s life and he agreed for them to take Nik and run so they could keep him safe from Helena.”

Jesse was puzzled. “So, how did they go from Luke and Laura to…Laura living out there with a Cassadine?”

RJ smiled. “Well, until Stefan Cassadine came to town when Nik was thirteen, no one knew that Nik even was a Cassadine himself. Luke didn’t even know. According to Lucky and Nik, Luke thought Nik was the son of a…stable boy or a servant or something. The whole damn town was surprised to find out that bit of info.”

“So, the one that kidnapped her, Stavros, he…he raped her or…”

RJ nodded. “Well, yeah, he did but…turns out that Laura and Stefan had fallen in love, and Nik is actually his son. When he showed up here, he was still in love with Laura and he wanted to get to know Nik. They were all upset that Laura had lied, but…Nik had always known that Luke wasn’t his father so when Stefan showed, Nik was curious. That was the first step, Nik wanting to know his biological father. Eventually, Luke and Laura’s marriage broke down and when she basically admitted in open court that she was still in love with Stefan and she’d been with him the night of Katherine Bell’s murder, it was over. They divorced and she eventually married Stefan. Laura and Luke had joint custody of Lucky, Ethan and Lulu, but Laura had sole physical custody, so they all moved to Wyndemere after the wedding. Lucky spends the most time with Luke of them all, but...even he admits that things are better at Wyndemere. Stefan isn’t like other Cassadine’s. He’s…normal.”

“This town has some crazy stories, man,” Jesse finally decided.

RJ laughed. “Yeah, it sure does.”

“But, what does all this Cassadine nonsense have to do with that postcard and your family?”

“Well, the tie lies in the Ice Princess,” RJ explained. “Remember I mentioned it earlier?”

When Jesse nodded, RJ continued. “Luke, Laura and my father basically foiled Mikkos Cassadine and his brothers Victor and Tony’s plans to freeze the world using the Ice Princess and some crazy weather machine. Port Charles was plunged into a blizzard during summer. Mikkos was killed by Luke and my father. Tony was killed when he tried to stop Mikkos and Victor…Victor disappeared. Basically, I’m not sure that Faison is behind that postcard at all. Like I said, I think he’s dead. I pray he’s dead. I think there’s a chance the Cassadine’s are involved in this; Helena and Victor. They have a grudge against my family as well as Luke.”

Jesse seemed to think about that.

“What are you gonna do?”

RJ shrugged. “I don’t know. Robin thinks I should tell Mac.”

“Maybe you should,” Jesse agreed. “Maybe you should also tell Luke. I mean, after what you said Helena and Faison did to Lucky, he might want to know.”

RJ pondered that as both men stood to continue on their patrol.

*************************************************************************

Maracaibo, Venezuela
WSB Medical Facility
January 1997

WSB Head Sean Donely walked into the exam room and stopped dead in his tracks. Finally, after nearly five years, Robert Scorpio and Anna Devane-Scorpio were awake and sitting up on their exam tables. It was a day he had longed for since he’d first learned they had survived the explosion.

He looked at Dr. Amelia Weston and then back at Robert and Anna.

“Do they…are they aware…of anything?” Sean asked haltingly.

Dr. Weston turned to her patients. “Please excuse me. There are some things I must discuss with Director Donely.”

“Of course, Doctor,” Anna said in her soft British accent.

Weston led Sean out of the room and down the hall to her office. “Have a seat, Director.”

Sean sat down with a deep sigh. “What’s the deal, Doctor? They look healthy.”

Dr. Weston nodded. “Yes, physically they have come a long way in recovering from their injuries. However, they are both suffering from retrograde amnesia brought about by traumatic brain injury. Neither remembers anything from before the explosion. They each have minimal memory of washing ashore and being brought here five years ago.”

Sean wiped his hands over his face. “Nothing? They don’t remember being married, their kids, family, nothing at all?”

Dr. Weston took a deep breath. “No, Director, nothing. We’ve done extensive testing. You must understand, Robert and Anna were both very badly injured. Their head injuries were the worst I’ve seen in my nineteen years of medicine. We’re going to have to keep a very close eye on them as they begin physical therapy. I expect things like headaches and I’m certainly watching for seizures in them both.”

“Will either of them ever…will their memories come back? Will they ever be able to function as WSB agents again?”

“I cannot honestly answer that at this time, Director,” she replied. “I will say this; they have a long way to go.”

Sean didn’t like that answer, but he took it and walked out.

 

LOL I have to agree with Jesse's assessment of crazy stories But you untangle them and present them cogently. Bravo! Fascinating stuff about the amnesia. I've read several stories about amnesia with different extents of how much is lost and how long it lasts. Another interesting wrinkle is how the memories return, i.e., do they come back with the more recent ones first, and what triggers the recall? Fascinating stuff for a psych major

 

another intriguing update

 

Tag List: Nyota's Heart, Mira_Jade, earlybird-obi-wan

*************************************

Yep, stories so crazy that can't possibly have been made up. Are you sure their memories will return?

Thank you. Glad you are enjoying.

Thanks.

***********************************


Chapter Four

Drake Residence
December 31, 2008

Robin was putting on the brand new pair of earrings Patrick had bought her for Christmas when she heard glass shattering from down stairs followed by gunshots.

“Patrick! Get Emma and Justin!” Robin yelled as she ran to the bedside drawer and pulled out a Beretta M9 from the drawer. She quickly unlocked the ammo box sitting beside the weapon and grabbed two clips.

“Patrick!” she yelled.

“Robin, I got the kids!” he yelled back.

Robin breathed easier then and focused on getting to her bedroom window.

“Just stay down!” she yelled to Patrick.

She leaned against the wall and took a quick look outside. It was fairly dark outside but she did see a black van and she could make out the muzzle flashes from the ongoing gunfire. Just as she took a deep breath, she noticed Patrick, holding Emma to his chest, and Justin, slink into the bed room on their knees.

“I told you to stay down!” she yelled in a whisper.

Patrick’s heart was beating so fast he could barely speak. “We are down. We just…came up here.”

“Give me your shirt,” Robin ordered, ignoring his words. “Come on, now.”

Patrick ripped off his shirt and tossed it to her.

“Justin, crawl to the closet and pull out the box,” she instructed her son.

Justin moved quickly and came back to his mother within moments with a medium size box with a lock on it. He pulled a key from his pocket and opened the box.

“What do you need, Mom?”

“The NVD,” she ordered.

Justin gave her the night vision device and Patrick watched her don it quickly. Then she wrapped her left hand in Patrick’s shirt and in a scene Patrick would have thought impossible, rammed her hand through the glass, breaking it and she began returning fire on the gunman below.

Patrick and Justin ducked instinctively. The NVD gave her a clear picture of the shooters. There were four, all armed with automatic weapons. Robin fired off five rapid shots from her handgun, taking down three of the gunman, then she hit the floor as gunshots came into the bedroom.

She crawled across the floor to her husband and children. “Patrick, I need you to take Justin and Emma downstairs to the pantry. Go inside and reach under the second shelf, left-hand side. You’re gonna feel a button. Push it. It’s gonna open a passageway down to the catacombs beneath the city. I need you to take the kids and hide in there.”

“I’m not…I’m not leaving you, Robin,” Patrick spoke through his fear.

Robin nodded. “Yes, you are. One of us needs to protect Justin and Emma. I know how to shoot these weapons, you don’t. Now go!”

He hated it, but Patrick did it.

*************************************************************************

RJ was headed to see his sister when he heard gunfire in the distance. He immediately stopped his motorcycle and jumped off. Robin and Patrick’s home was just around the corner.

He grabbed his gun and began running down towards the shooting when he heard a truck engine. He dove into the bushes and watched as a black truck sped past him. He made out two men in the cab and three more in the back. He pulled out his cell phone and flipped it open, pressing speed dial 4.

”Morgan.”

“Jason, its RJ. There’s gunfire at Robin and Patrick’s,” he said without preamble. “I can still hear shooting and a black truck just sped past me with five more occupants. Can you get your men over here now?”

”Done. ETA, two minutes. Hold them off till we get there.”

RJ hung up and then dialed Mac and told him the same thing he’d told Jason. After that, he resumed his running towards Robin’s home, praying with everything in him that she, Patrick and the kids weren’t already dead.

*************************************************************************

Robin spared a quick thought of thanks on the fact that she hadn’t yet put on her dress for her night on the town with Patrick. She was still in sweats and a t-shirt. She’d wanted to get her earrings and makeup done before she’d dressed.

She knew she still had ten rounds in her first clip. She took a deep breath and crawled back to the window and carefully and slowly stood. She dared a peak outside and was rewarded with more gunfire. She waited for the tiniest of breaks and then thrust her hand out the window in the direction of the gunman and fire off seven more rounds before quickly ducking again.

It was then she realized that RJ should be arriving. He had been going to babysit Justin and Emma while she and Patrick went out. Now she said a quick prayer that her twin brother didn’t walk into an ambush.

*************************************************************************

“What do we do now, Dad?” Justin asked Patrick.

Patrick’s hands were trembling. He wiped sweat from his forehead.

“You and Emma are gonna wait here,” he said. “I’m going back to help your mother.”

Justin’s dark eyes widened. “You can’t. You’ll…you can’t!”

“Where do these catacombs lead?” he suddenly asked Justin.

The boy took a deep breath, trying to push his fear down. “Um, all over basically. They run beneath nearly the entire city. There’s only a few exits though and I don’t know them all. Lucky and Nik know them all.”

Patrick nodded. “Okay. Look, you take Emma and stay right here. Don’t move an inch. When it’s safe, your mom and I will be back for you. We’ll knock three times. You hear this passageway open without any knocks, you take your sister and you run to an exit you know. From there you find a cop and tell them what happened.”

He handed Emma to her big brother then and looked at both kids. “I love you, Son. I know you can take care of Emma. I know you can.”

Tears escaped Justin’s eyes. “I love you, Dad. Always.”

Patrick kissed his children and then headed back to the firefight, praying with everything in him that Robin was still alive.

*************************************************************************

RJ could see muzzle flashes as he came up to the house slowly. He stayed out of the line of fire as he used the trees and bushes as cover on the side of the house. He knew there was a loose grate that might let him into the basement. He laid flat out on the ground and crawled to the grate.

Carefully, he pulled on the grate. Nothing. He pulled again. Again. Finally, it gave way and RJ slid himself through, falling into the basement of his sister’s home. He stood and ran up the stairs. Just as he opened the door which came out in their huge kitchen pantry, he saw the door that led to the catacombs open. He aimed his gun and was just about to squeeze the trigger when he saw his brother-in-law.

“Patrick!” RJ gasped. “Where are the kids?”

Patrick turned and pointed. “Down…Robin had…made me take them down…catacombs.”

RJ nodded. “Okay, good. They’ll be safe down there. No one knows about the entrance here. Listen to me, Patrick. Where is my sister?”

Patrick pointed up. RJ looked, not really expecting to see Robin. Then they both heard three gunshots from a handgun.

“She’s…she’s shooting back,” Patrick gasped.

RJ smiled. “That’s my spitfire. Okay, listen to me. I called Jason Morgan. He and his men should be here any second. I called Mac, so the cops will be here soon too. I need you to stay in here; maybe even go back to the catacombs.”

Patrick shook his head. “No way. I’m going to find my wife and help her.”

RJ’s eyes blazed in anger. “You hear me, Patrick Drake and hear me good. You’re no good to me here and no good to Robin. I doubt you’ve ever even held a gun in your life, let alone know how to fire one. You’ll be in our way, that’s all. If we’re all gonna get out of here alive, you need to stay out of the way.”

RJ turned then and took a deep breath as he heard more gunfire. He shoved the pantry door open, arm raised and he squeezed the trigger as he ran through the kitchen. Out of the corner of his eye he caught sight of Francis Amoretti, one of Jason’s men coming in from the backyard. He nodded in acknowledgement as best he could as he hit the livingroom and dove to his belly.

“RJ?” he heard his name.

He looked up and saw Robin crouched at the top of the stairs. “Yeah, Robbie, it’s me. Jason’s men are here to, and probably the cops by now. You good?”

“Yeah, I took out three of them, and then five more came. I wounded two of them for sure and possibly a third,” she reported.

RJ nodded and looked around from his position on the floor. “Okay. We’re not surrounded, which is good. Francis was coming in from the backyard. These morons are only firing from the front.”

“That doesn’t make any sense,” came Francis’ voice as he crawled up next to RJ.

“They’re trying to pin us down,” Robin interjected.

RJ agreed. “Yeah, but for what? What’s coming that’s worse than this?”

Gunfire erupted again.

“Ah!”

“Patrick!” Robin yelled.

Robin and RJ both recognized Patrick’s voice.

RJ looked up and saw Robin begin to rise.

“No!” he yelled at her. “Stay where you are!”

RJ turned and shimmied on his belly towards his brother-in-law. Patrick had taken a bullet and had fallen in the doorway between the kitchen and the livingroom. RJ took stock of the wound as best he could in the dark and was assessing the situation when he saw Jason peak through the door.

“How bad?” he asked as he handed RJ a headset.

RJ shrugged. “Can’t tell in this darkness. But we need to get him out of here.”

Jason nodded. “I’ll take him. Mac’s team just pulled up outside. He knows I’m in here. They’re returning fire, but whoever these guys are, more just showed up. Johnny and I counted thirteen.”

“Damn!”

RJ looked down at Patrick. His eyes were starting to close. RJ nudged him. “Come on, Doc. Keep your eyes open. Can you tell me how bad this wound is?”

Patrick coughed. “Stomach.”

“Okay, Francis, can you get him out of here? He needs a hospital.”

Francis crawled over to them and came to his knees. He grabbed Patrick as best as he could and made his way out with him.

“What now?” Jason asked.

RJ shook his head and put the headset on. “Command, this is Scorpio.”

Mac’s voice answered. “RJ, sit-rep.”

“Three of the gunman are KIA and three, possibly two others wounded. Jason and Francis made it inside. Francis is on his way out the backyard with Patrick. He’s wounded in the abdomen. Kids are in the safe zone.”

Mac breathed a small sigh of relief at knowing Justin and Emma were in the catacombs.

“Okay, my team is positioned to the right of the gunmen,” Mac reported. “Jason’s men are in the back and to the left of them. Some of them are engaging us, others are continuing to fire at you.”

RJ tried to think. He had an idea, but it was crazy. “Mac, you got any explosives with you?”

“Yes,” Mac answered. “You got something in mind?”

“Yeah. Neighborhood is cleared, right?”

With the affirmative, RJ continued. “I wanna blow the house.”

*************************************************************************

Port Charles General Hospital
Emergency Department

The doors from the ambulance bay slammed open.

“”What do we got?” called Dr. Steven Webber, the ER Attending.

“GSW to the abdomen. It’s Doctor Drake!”

Steven overcame his shock quickly and his team went to work stabilizing Patrick so they could get him to surgery.
*************************************************************************

“You wanna what!?” Mac screamed.

RJ actually laughed. “You heard me, Mac. I wanna blow the house sky high, but I want these gunmen inside first.”

There was silence for almost a minute before RJ heard Mac’s voice again. “Okay. We’ll get the explosives in to you. You and Robin are gonna have to rig them yourselves.”

“Jason can help,” RJ replied.

“Nichols is bringing them in to you now.”

*************************************************************************

RJ looked up at Robin. “Can you rig these upstairs?”

Robin nodded as another spray of gunfire assaulted them.

Jason pulled a bag of explosives with him and quickly crawled up the stairs to Robin. He handed her the bag and followed her while RJ stayed downstairs.

RJ took his collection of C4 and began quickly wiring the livingroom. He then moved to the back wall of the livingroom and pressed a button beneath the china cabinet. A panel opened on the wall and RJ reached in and pulled out an assault rifle.

He quickly readied the weapon and began crawling towards the front door. The front windows had long since been blown out and the door had numerous bullet holes in it. RJ rigged the weapon on its stand and set it to fire in six minutes when he sent the signal. He hoped his plan worked. If it didn’t, he, Robin and Jason were dead. Everyone else outside would be too.

“RJ, you ready?” Robin called from the top of the stairs.

“Yeah, we’re good down here,” he replied calmly. “I set the AR-15 for six minutes.”

“Can you fire it from the catacombs?”

RJ didn’t know. If the signal was strong enough, it would fire. If not, then it wouldn’t. He hoped it wouldn’t matter.

“I don’t know,” he told her. “Come on, they’ve stopped again.”

Robin and Jason slowly crawled down the stairs. When they reached the bottom, Jason practically covered Robin’s body with his own as they all three headed for the kitchen.

“Mac, we’re on the way to the kitchen,” RJ reported. “You best get your men and Jason’s clear. There’s gonna be a big bang in about three minutes.”

Mac nodded to himself. “Roger that. We’re backing away now. You three hurry. When these guys see us backing off, my bet is they storm the house.”

“Roger,” RJ replied. “Look, if this doesn’t work, I…I just wanna say…to tell you…”

“It’s okay, kid, I know,” Mac told his nephew softly. “I love you, too.”

 

Edge of seatness big, big time! Robin & RJ rock and have hearts of gold and nerves of steel Patrick -- I just ... they just don't get much better.

 

Thrilling and action packed WOW. Hope they will be alright

 

Tag List: Nyota's Heart, earlybird-obi-wan, Mira_Jade

**************************************

I love writing Patrick. I'm not always nice to him, but... Glad you liked it.

Thanks a lot. They'll be alright. For now.

Thanks. I enjoy writing Robin as not just a doctor. It's only a part of who she is, and being the daughter of two spies, she'd gotta have skills.

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Chapter Five


Drake Residence
January 1, 2009


Mac had been right. The moment the gunmen assaulting the Drake house noticed that the police were backing away, they headed for the house, weapons firing in all directions. Mac saw the front door swing open and an assault rifle began firing at the gunmen as they reached the door. He watched several of them fall, dead. Others made it into the house.

Mac closed his eyes and prayed.

*************************************************************************

Sean Scorpio Residence
1322 Elm Street, The Waterfront

Sean was awakened from a deep sleep by the sound of an explosion. His first instinct was to reach for the gun under his pillow. He gripped the weapon as he climbed from his bed and went to his window that overlooked the harbor. When he didn’t see anything in that direction, he opened his front door and ran down five flights of stairs and to the back of the building.

From the back of the building, Sean could see flames rising into the night sky followed by two more explosions.

“Those are coming from out in Queen’s Pointe,” another tenant of the apartment building said.

Sean panicked. “My sister lives out there.”

Without thought, Sean ran back upstairs and pulled on his leather jacket and boots. He stashed his gun back under his pillow and grabbed his car keys.

He had to get to Robin.

*************************************************************************

Drake Residence
Just Before the Explosion

Robin activated the door to the passageway to the catacombs and the three of them basically dove through and sealed the door behind them just as they heard the first explosion. The foundation beneath their feet shook badly and the Earth above their heads began falling into their hair.

“Justin!” Robin yelled.

“Mom!” the teen yelled back. “We’re back here!”

The trio raced to Justin and Robin took Emma in her arms and breathed a big sigh of relief that her children were safe.

“Mom, where’s Dad?” Justin questioned.

RJ kneeled before his nephew. “Listen buddy, when your dad came back upstairs, he was…he was shot. Okay, but Francis, you remember him?”

Justin nodded.

RJ smiled. “Good. Francis got your dad out of the house and he was taken to the hospital and I’m sure Dr. Webber and the surgeons are patching him up right now.”

Just then a second and third explosion went off above them.

“We should head further away from the house,” Jason said. “This part of the catacomb might give way under all these blasts.”

RJ stood and led the way deeper into the tunnels. “Robin, when we were kids, didn’t we find an entrance to the catacombs here in Queen’s Pointe, near the water?”

Robin nodded slowly. “I don’t…wait, yeah, we did. Well, Lucky and Nik did. It’s in the holding basin over on Tanner Street. You have to climb up the access shaft, and then walk out through the tunnel.”

RJ stopped walking and looked around. “Which way were we facing when we came down here, Jase?”

Jason thought for a moment. “South. With the direction the house faces, when we climbed down, we headed south.”

“Why does that matter, Uncle RJ?”

RJ smiled. “It matters because that holding basin is west of your house, buddy. Now we know which way to walk to get the heck out of here.”

Justin smiled and followed his uncle.

*************************************************************************

The fire department was working on extinguishing the blaze when Sean’s car skidded to a stop and he jumped out. He immediately spotted Mac and ran in his direction.

“Uncle Mac, what happened!?”

Mac turned to Sean and let out a breath. “Your sister’s house was attacked tonight by masked and heavily armed gunmen.”

Sean swallowed the bile rising in his throat. “Were…are…are they dead?”

Mac shook his head. “We don’t know. I don’t think so. You know about the catacombs beneath the house, right?”

When Sean nodded, Mac continued. “RJ was coming to babysit Justin and Emma and he happened upon the first shooters. He managed to get inside the house with Jason and Francis. RJ had the brilliant idea of luring the gunmen inside and then blowing the house while they escaped down into the catacombs.”

“Did they make it before it blew?”

“We won’t know that until the fire is out and as you can see, and then we have a lot of bodies to identify,” Mac explained. “I hope so. Listen, you need to know, Patrick was shot.”

Sean ran a hand through his dark blonde hair and sighed. “Oh, God. Who did this? Why would someone do this?”

Mac didn’t know what to tell his nephew. “I wish I had an answer to those questions.”

Both Scorpio men stood together as they watched Robin and Patrick’s house burn to the ground.

*************************************************************************

“Here, this is it,” RJ called. “This is the access shaft. We just need to climb up and we’re home free.”

Emma began to cry in Robin’s arms. The baby was tired and hungry and scared.

“Why don’t you guys stay here,” Jason suggested. “I’m gonna climb up and make sure the coast is clear.”

RJ nodded before turning his attention back to his sister, niece and nephew. “When we get topside, I want you to take Justin and Emma and go to Luke’s house. Tell him what happened. He’ll…”

“No,” Robin interrupted. “No, I’m going to GH. I have to know how Patrick is; if he’s…”

RJ reached out and tenderly grasped his sister’s face in his hands. “You listen to me; Patrick is tough, okay. I know he’s a doctor and all this crazy Scorpio-spy stuff isn’t his thing, but...I think after today it might have to be.”

Robin wiped away a tear.

Justin stepped next to his mother. “He’ll be fine, Mom. You’ll see.”

Robin smiled at her son and kissed Emma, who was finally calming down.

“It’s clear!” they heard Jason yell from above.

RJ nodded. “Okay, Justin, you’re going up first. Robin, you follow. Can you climb with Emma or do you need me to take her?”

“I can take her,” she said immediately. “Give me your jacket.”

RJ took off his jacket and watched Robin rig a carrier for Emma.

“Okay, here we go,” RJ then said. “Justin, you’re up, buddy.”

Justin climbed up the ladder quickly, followed closely by his mother and sister. RJ stayed behind a bit and looked around. He could smell smoke, which meant that the entranceway to the catacombs had probably been breached in the blasts. He knew the fire department would be trying to contain and put out the fires. His mind was already running through all possible scenarios of who the shooters were hired by, and why.

“Faison, Cassadine’s unknown, or…”

“RJ, you coming?!” Jason yelled down.

RJ shook away his thoughts and began the climb to the surface.

*************************************************************************

Former Drake Residence

“Commissioner Scorpio, there’s something you should see,” one of his officers called.

The fires were out. It was nearing five AM; hours since the incident had begun. Mac was weary, Sean was frustrated and the entire neighborhood was angry they had been ordered to leave the area.

Mac motioned for Sean to go with him. Together they walked into the rubble of the home where Patrick and Robin had lived. They made it to the area where the kitchen pantry had been.

Sean smiled as soon as he saw it. “That’s RJ’s badge, Uncle Mac. He left it here.”

Mac smiled too. “They made it. They made it out.”

Behind them they heard a siren. As they turned, they saw a police SUV stop and out climbed a filthy, tired-looking RJ and Jason.

Sean broke into a run, headed for his brother. When he reached him, he threw his arms around the older man.

“I am so glad to see you,” Sean whispered.

RJ hugged his brother tight. “Me too, man.”

Mac came up and shook Jason’s hand. “Thank you for your help.”

Jason knew Mac didn’t like him or his activities and would happily send him to prison if he had any evidence of anything. But, he also knew Mac was sincere in his thanks. There was nothing more important to Mac Scorpio than the safety of his family.

“You’re welcome,” Jason returned, gripping his hand firmly before letting go. “RJ, call me if you need anything.”

RJ nodded and watched Jason walk away.

“Where’s Robin and the kids?”

“When we crawled out of the…sewer, into the holding basin, we flagged down a police car. Officer Daniels was driving. He took them to GH to check on Patrick.”

RJ looked around the rubble of the house and shook his head. The houses on either side of Robin’s had fire and water damage.

“What a mess,” he said. “I don’t see…ah, too many…bodies.”

“We’re gonna need dental records to identify them, if that’s even a possibility,” Mac told his nephews.

“I’m not interested in who they are, Mac,” RJ intoned harshly. “I wanna know who hired them and why. I wanna know who I have to go after to…”

“You’re not going after anyone,” Mac told him strongly. “We’re going to work this case just like we would any…”

Suddenly RJ grabbed Mac’s arm and practically dragged him away from the scene; out of earshot.

“This isn’t just any case, Mac,” he said in a low voice. “Someone hired men to come to Robin’s house and kill her, and probably me, too. We need to find out who and why and then take them out, and I have a place to start.”

“What do you mean?”

Sean walked up them. “You know something about this, big brother?”

RJ sighed and ran a hand through his dirty hair. “No, but I have a place to start looking. Look, find Jamie and the three of you come to my apartment later. There’s something I need to…that you need to see.”

Mac and Sean each had a thousand questions, but RJ had already walked off in the direction of where his motorcycle had been left so many hours before.

*************************************************************************

Port Charles General Hospital
Patrick’s Hospital Room

Robin was sitting by Patrick, his hand held in hers as he slept. When she’d arrived, she’d been assaulted with questions over how Patrick had been shot. She’d explained as quickly as she could to Steven and then went up to his room to wait for him to wake up.

“Hey, how are you doing,” Elizabeth Webber asked softly as she entered the room.

Robin gave a small smile. “Okay, I guess.”

Elizabeth sat down on the other side of Patrick and picked up his hand and held it the same as Robin.

“When I was doing my clinicals and I got to my surgical rotation, Patrick was…the biggest, arrogant jerk I’d ever met,” Elizabeth said with a laugh. “I understood why you kept your distance.”

Robin smiled. “And now?”

Elizabeth smiled as well. “I consider him one of my very best friends. He’s…been a terrific teacher in the OR.”

Robin lifted his hand and softly kissed his fingers.

“Can you tell me what happened?”

Robin took a deep breath and told the tale; the whole tale about her parents and who they were, why they were murdered and by whom. She told Elizabeth about the postcard and the puzzle piece. She told her how Patrick was shot.

“Wow,” was all Elizabeth could say. “Do you…were the shooters hired by this Faison guy?”

Robin could only wonder. “I don’t know. I wish I did. Then I’d know who to go after.”

Elizabeth laughed gently.

Suddenly, a thought occurred to Robin. “Where did Emma and Justin end up? I…”

“Steven took them both down to the day care,” Elizabeth told her. “I hope you don’t mind, but Lucky took them home with him when he came to get Cam and Jake.”

“No, I don’t mind at all,” Robin said. “They’re safer with a Spencer than anyone else. I wish Patrick would wake up.”

“He’s so lucky, Robs,” Elizabeth told her. “That bullet took the perfect path, if there is such a thing. He lost a lot of blood, but there really wasn’t too much damage; some muscle damage and the broken rib is about it. He won’t miss his spleen.”

Robin nodded. “I was…I was so scared I’d lost him, and now when he wakes up and realizes the family he married into is…I might lose him anyway.”

“No…no way, baby,” Patrick gasped so softly the ladies barely heard him.

“Patrick?” Robin called. “Can you hear me?”

He gave a small nod and squeezed both hands. Robin leaned down and kissed his lips while Elizabeth kissed his cheek.

“I’ll let you two alone,” she told the couple before getting up and leaving the room.

A few tears escaped Robin’s dark eyes. “I’m so glad you’re okay. I thought…”

Patrick squeezed her hand tighter in his.

“I’m not going anywhere,” he whispered. “I’ve got way too much to live for.”

Robin, carefully avoiding his wound, crawled into the small bed with him and rested her head on his shoulder. She sighed deeply when she rested her hand over his heart and felt the strong beat beneath her hand.

“Who…shooters, who…” he tried to talk, but the drugs were making him so sleepy.

Robin shushed him gently. “We’ll talk about that when you’re more awake.”

She softly rubbed circles over his chest, calming him back into a sleep. She knew there were hard decisions in their very near future and that their family, her family would be at stake in the end.

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Undisclosed Location

“Sir, Robin Scorpio, her children and her brother...”

“Yes?”

“They are alive, Sir,” a man said. “They escaped our gunmen as well as the resulting fire.”

The man had barely finished speaking before a quickly fired bullet hit him right between the eyes. He crumpled to the floor, dead before he hit.

“You should not have failed me.”

 

Love Elizabeth and her warmth and confidence. She seems a good friend to Robin - someone she can talk to. Glad Patrick will eventually mend and bravo for the air of mystery at the end I am so not surprised RJ wants to go after the ones responsible once and for all. No one is safe until they're revealed and dealt with.

 

Creepy cliffie at the end. The Scorpio's should get protection

 

Tag List: Nyota's Heart, earlybird-obi-wan, Mira_Jade

Just wanted to get replies up. There will be a new chapter tonight. As always, thank you for reading. Your reviews mean a lot.

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RJ smells blood--his family's, if he can't figure out what is going on. Yep, Patrick will mend. But the world he wakes up to is different from before he was shot.

I love creepy cliffie's.

Yes, the Scorpio sibs and family have some serious folks to deal with. As for Patrick; he is a good man. One of the best on the show and one of my favorites.

 

I didn't realize you'd started posting this here!! I adore this story for so many reasons; the twists and turns, the mystery, Patrick Drake. I almost leapt from my seat when I saw that you included Jesse in this. Loved the character and was so sad when he was killed off.

Can't wait to see who is after RJ and Robin, and more importantly, why. Excellent work!