A little birthday fic for Professor... for when she can finally read it. <shakes fist at hurricane>



It had happened in such a chance manner. In fact, she might easily have overlooked it were it not for the fact that the lab had made her so angry, she was in the middle of helping in a formal investigation of their methods when she saw it.

The opening for Skye's appeal had come on DNA evidence. Random hairs that were revealed to have been at the crime scene but that were never properly identified--except for one sample, which had been misidentified as belonging to Skye. Alexis had realized it the minute she saw the photograph of the original sample. Blonde, not red.

The lab protested it had simply included the wrong photo in the report. Alexis argued that either way, the entire batch of evidence they had processed could now be called into question. The judge agreed and ordered a new trial, and Alexis Davis began the systematic public prosecution of the Port Charles Crime Lab. They were ordered to turn over stacks of records on criminal cases in order to have the results retested in other labs to check their accuracy. Outraged, the lab's director, Robert Pratt had clearly decided he wanted a little revenge on the woman poised to bring him and his lab down.

She found it the second day. After nearly 18 hours of going through lab reports, comparing PCCL results to the reports they got from two independent facilities, Alexis reached into the box intending to look at one last folder before she crawled into bed.

"Cassadine, Stefan. October 10, 2003."

Her jaw clenched in fury as she read the label. There was no reason for them to have included this file in the grouping. It had not been subpoenaed and she doubted that Ric would've asked for it to be included. Even he had his limits. No, this was clearly just Robert Pratt trying to get to her.

And get to her he had.

Alexis shuddered as she remembered the last few months of her brother's life. The coldness that had taken him over was beyond anything she'd ever imagined. He had reminded her of Helena, of Stavros... of the very things Cassadine they had fought so hard to not succumb to their entire lives. But it was a war he had lost, and his darkness had finally consumed him, turning him against her and Nikolas, the decency and good in Stefan gone as completely as his love for them had once filled him.

It had broken her heart.

She opened the folder. As she suspected, there had been no DNA test requested at the time of her brother's death because there had been no reason for one except to check for evidence against Luke, and that had all been [I]on[/I] Stefan's body--fibers, blood, etc. But one had been done anyway, certifying the corpse as that of her brother. But because cases could be reopened seemingly at anytime now with DNA evidence used to bring back decade-old investigations, the lab had routinely begun storing samples to be used later. The vindictive lab director had turned the stored Cassadine samples over in the investigation, and much to Alexis' dismay, he'd gotten his desired reaction. She felt sick just staring down at his name on the label.

Her eyes scanned the pages and her mind fought the idea of letting any of the information in. She was just about to close it and make an angry phone call to the state prosecutor overseeing the lab investigation when the words practically jumped off the page of the summary.

"In order to establish the validity of the PCCL testing on subject Cassadine, S. (referred to herein as Sample A), we retested the stored sample to establish a DNA profile. We then compared it to Sample B, which was provided to us as a familial sample, previously stored at General Hospital, usable for proving identity. The familial comparison established and proved the validity of Sample A's results by establishing paternity of Sample B, as listed in the provided documentation."

Alexis read it again to be sure she'd read it correctly. "Paternity." Who the hell had they used to establish Stefan related to anyone's paternity? He didn't...

The form used by the investigative labs was state mandated, and it was setup so that any additional samples used in comparison or confirmation were listed by sample I.D. and the person's name on the last page. Alexis flipped through the pages and read the name beside "Sample B." Nikolas Cassadine. She checked the GH records. They had gotten Nikolas' DNA, but they had gotten the hard copy results identifying Stefan, not Stavros, as Nikolas' father.

She picked up the phone and called Ric immediately, spilling out the complicated story as coherently as she could. Their burgeoning friendship kept him from taking any swipes at her for rambling or for overthinking what could clearly just have been another lab mix-up.

"I'll call them and ask them to rerun the test. It would help if Nikolas could provide a new testing sample, so we're sure it came from us. And, Alexis, I hate to even mention it... but you realize, if we challenge this, they may want to..."

"I know," she said, her stomach turning over at the very idea. "I know."

Alexis knew she couldn't drop this on Nikolas over the phone. She made an urgent phone call to Viola, who returned to stay with a sleeping Kristina so Alexis could head to Wyndemere. Nikolas was seated behind the desk Stefan had used for so many years, his head buried in a financial report. She had a flash of him as a little boy, his dark hair a bit long and blowing in the breeze as he ran down the beach toward his uncle. It was those memories she hoped Nikolas could still see when he thought of the man who had loved and raised him, not the tragic end of his painful life.

"Nikolas."

They had been through a great deal as a family the last few years, and she and Nikolas were still recovering from the latest nightmare with Mary Bishop. He had finally let go of his anger over she and Emily and Lucky not confronting him with his real identity, the fallout over Mary's death making him far too desperate to hold onto his family to hold onto anything else.

"Did something happen?" he asked as he stood and walked to her. "Is it about the case?"

She shook her head. "No, not that case. It's... Nikolas, something's come up in my defense of Skye Quartermaine... something that might affect us quite dramatically if it's not just some sort of mistake."

Alexis sat down beside him on the sofa and carefully explained the test results, what they might mean, the way things could've gotten confused and resulted in the seemingly inexplicable final report.

"I would like to have the test run again so we can know for certain, just so the matter is put to rest once and for all. If you would give them a new sample of your DNA, they can run the test again."

"Of course, I... but, Alexis, I mean, it has to be a mistake, right? Because if it's not, then... then that means Stefan is either out there somewhere or... or..."

The thought horrified then both. Or dead, murdered so someone else could pretend to be him. And if the test results were accurate, there was only one person it could be.

"We should have the body exhumed."

As he spoke, Nikolas was looking at her with a stoicism she knew he'd learned from Stefan, but his voice shook as he realized what could be happening, what could've happened. "I need to know, Alexis. If... oh, my God, if that wasn't him, we need to find out what happened to him."

"We will," she promised as she pulled the shaken young man into her arms. "We will find out one way or the other."

Alexis stood over them as they pulled the coffin beneath the marker that read "Stefan Cassadine" out of the ground. She refused to leave it for even a second, even when the casket was unsealed so a new sample could be retrieved, too fearful that to do so could result in some new manipulation to hide the truth from her family. At her request, Ric was doing the same with Nikolas, standing next to him, following the sample into the DNA lab.

The samples were then divided into thirds. One set went to the independent lab they were using in Manhattan. The lab technicians there ran their tests under police guard, Lucky Spencer pointedly watching every move, not sure what news might be more tragic for his brother, but determined he would know the truth. The second group of DNA was flown to Paris with Mac Scorpio along for the ride. The third went to Los Angeles with Ric. If there was a secret to be uncovered, their thinking went, Helena or whoever else might be involved couldn't get into all three labs--it was simply impossible.

It took 72 agonizing hours for the rushed and expensive tests to be completed and for all the testing supervisors to return to Port Charles with the sealed results. Alexis and Nikolas wanted to read them together.

They opened the test from the Manhattan lab first. "Subject A," the body buried in Stefan's grave, was identified as the father of "Subject B," Nikolas. The test from Zurich read the same. The test from Los Angeles, the same. And it all added up to only one conclusion--the body they had buried, the man who had broken both Alexis and Nikolas' hearts in his impersonation of Stefan, was Stavros Cassadine.

How Stavros could've still been alive after his last confrontation with Luke was a mystery no longer relevant or important. The reality was, he had somehow survived, somehow found a way to take over his brother's life, but he was now most definitely dead, and he would never plague the Cassadine family again.

What they didn't know and what they had to find out was what had happened to Stefan. Had Stavros killed him? Was he hidden away somewhere? That was the only mystery left that either Alexis or Nikolas cared about.

With the Cassadine fortune still wobbling on unsure legs, Jax stepped forward and hired a slew of private investigators to go to Italy and trace Stefan's steps from the moment he had left Port Charles to his supposed return. Mac called in favors with the WSB, and they, too, began a massive search for clues into what had happened. But there was one person Alexis wanted to speak to personally.

Helena was surprisingly easy to get to these days, her money spent on bribing her way out of prison, her former squadron of guards now numbering only two. Lucky was only too happy to help, and he and Jax had made quick work of restraining Helena's men so that Alexis could speak to her privately.

"What do you want, Mouse?" she asked, her tone as caustic as ever. "I'm really in no mood for you today."

"Nor I you," Alexis replied, "but I had one question I wanted to ask you."

Helena sighed and leaned back into the pillows of the settee she rested on. "Oh, why not? I'll indulge you. One question for the bastard."

Alexis strolled closer to her, leaning down so that their eyes were level. "Do you remember when my brother died and you were practically salivating with happiness? What did you say, you would dance on his grave in celebration?"

"Stefan was a weak, unwanted nothing, and his loss meant nothing to me."

"I know," Alexis said, nodding. "I know. But I was just curious. How would you feel if I told you it was Stavros' grave you danced on? That you cheered and laughed over the death of your beloved, demented demon child?"

It was in her eyes, and Alexis had her answer. Whatever Stavros had done, he had done without his mother. Helena might have known he was alive, but she had no idea he had been killed... not until this very moment when Alexis had told her.

Alexis pulled a copy of the DNA results out of her purse and dropped then on Helena's lap. The stunned old woman reached for them hesitantly, suspicious no doubt, yet knowing that a lie like this wasn't Alexis' style.

"I'd almost feel sorry for you, except that you made him into that monster... and monster's always end up put down in order to save the innocent."

She turned and walked out of the room, shutting the door behind her. She didn't care what Helena's reaction was nor did she have any desire to see it. Alexis had one answer. Now she needed the most important one.

What had happened to her brother?

The reports from Jax' private investigators and from the WSB began to pour in, piecing together Stefan's life for Alexis and Nikolas from the day he'd left Port Charles until, they found, the day he'd disappeared. He had gone to Milan as planned, working at settling Chloe's affairs before he set himself to starting a small foundation in her honor. Once that had been completed, Stefan had taken several trips all over Europe.

It was the witness statements from the people who worked with Stefan at the children's charity in Milan and from the staff of his regular haunts that gave them some idea of when Stefan had become "Stefan." He had traveled to Greece in mid-November to retrieve some items he'd intended to bring to Alexis in Port Charles. His secretary remembered the wistful demeanor he'd taken on that last week before leaving.

[I]"He had felt terribly about not coming home when his younger sister died, but he just couldn't seem to do it. But when he heard that his niece had been born, he decided to go find some treasures for her in the family archives and then go home."[/I]

Alexis had teared up as she listened to the woman's words on tape. It had hurt her so much when Stefan hadn't come back after Kristina's birth when she had needed him so much... but now she knew, he had meant to come back to her.

There were more witness statements that set up the rest of the timeline. To everyone's surprise, Stefan had returned to Milan three weeks later. He began to drink heavily, he started sleeping with any number of women and he became abusive to his staff and to virtually everyone around him. His secretary explained that they had just assumed the trip to Greece had released some old demons. They'd had no reason to think anything else. But to Mac and Jax and the private detectives, and certainly to Alexis and Nikolas, the truth was clear--Stavros had gained an advantage somewhere between Milan and Greece and he had taken over his brother's life.

The rest they knew. Stavros' fake Stefan had indebted the family even more, then concocted his ridiculous scheme to have Nikolas marry Lydia for money. Then he had returned to Port Charles and nearly destroyed everything that Stefan loved.

There was only one thing left--they had to know if Stefan was alive or dead. And either way, Alexis and Nikolas vowed to bring him home. But first, they had to find him.

The detectives and the WSB went back to work. Nikolas flew to Greece and supervised a search of every last hidden room and secret passageway on the island, but there was no trace of Stefan anywhere. Lucky handled a search of the same magnitude on Spoon Island. Jax went to Milan to try and hunt down any clues as to what Stavros might have done to or with Stefan. And Alexis combed through every shady financial transaction and business move Stavros had manipulated.

They searched and hoped and searched and prayed. And then once again, in a stack of paper, Alexis found one small clue. The WSB tried to follow it, but met with a dead end. The same for Jax' detectives. The only avenue left to them that Alexis could think of meant going to the last person on Earth she wanted to have to ask for anything. But for Stefan, she would ask.

"Mr. Alcazar, I was wondering if I could speak to you for a moment."

Alexis felt ice form in her veins from the unwelcoming look Lorenzo cast her way. He was sitting at a table outside of Kelly's, a newspaper held up in front of him. He had dropped it down to stare at her, and now he folded it slowly, methodically, and then crossed his arms in front of him.

"Ms. Davis, what an odd moment this is."

"Yes," she agreed, "it is. But I'm afraid I had no choice but to come to see you, and I'm hoping that you'll at least hear me out."

"For the entertainment value alone, how can I refuse?"

He motioned with his hand to the chair across from him. Alexis swallowed to try to clear the dryness in her throat, then she folded down into the chair. As succinctly as she could, she related the story about her two brothers and what had happened. Then she turned to her reason for coming to him.

"I found evidence of a wire transfer to a man named Diego Allente."

"So you found a name connected to the South American underworld, and you immediately thought of me?" Lorenzo asked.

"Yes, I did. Allente's organization is in a shambles since his murder. No one can seem to find anything concrete to show what the transfer was for. I was wondering if you... if you could find out what Stavros was paying him for."

Lorenzo leaned forward, his elbows pressing into the table as he stared at her intently. His ice-blue eyes sparkled. Alexis wasn't sure if it was with amusement, interest or just excitement at finally having power over her.

"Are you really asking me to help you find a brother after you stole mine from me?"

Alexis nodded, her eyes dropping down. Lorenzo burst into laughter.

"You have more nerve than any woman--hell, than any person period I have ever met, Ms. Davis. What could possibly make you think that I would do this for you?"

She'd expected him to toy with her, and Alexis could admit to herself that maybe he had that chance coming. Despite all his blustering, Lorenzo had never actively tried to retaliate against her for Luis' death. He postured, he brayed, but he had never made a move toward her or Kristina. If he wanted her to grovel now, she would do it... but she wasn't leaving here until she got what she wanted.

"You say that you loved your brother," she began. "You loved your brother in spite of who he was and the harm he did to others. You think I don't understand that, but I do. Stefan is no saint, Mr. Alcazar, believe me. He's done horrible things in the name of family, he's hurt people, he's hurt me. But he's my brother."

Her voice broke, and Lorenzo blinked. He tried to act like he hadn't, but Alexis saw that she'd made a dent in his armor.

"He was the one who protected me from the monsters of my childhood, and no matter what we did to hurt each other, somehow we found our way together again. When I thought... when I believed he had come back here and was willing to destroy me, to use my daughter to hurt me, I was devastated. That hurt me more than anything you or my stepmother or anyone else could ever do to me, truly. But I'd rather live with that hurt forever than know there's a chance my brother is out there alive somewhere thinking that we've all given up on him. I cannot abandon him like that."

Lorenzo tore his eyes from hers and leaned back in his chair, his arms folding over his chest again. He waited a long moment before he made even partial eye contact with her again.

"And if he isn't alive?"

"Then he deserves to be buried with his family, with honor, and not left somewhere like unwanted garbage."

He was silent. Alexis sat and waited. She was fighting to keep control of her emotions, praying she wouldn't have to break any further to convince him, but knowing she would if she had to.

"I'll see what I can find out."

Lorenzo stood abruptly and walked off without looking at her again. Alexis rushed to her car and slammed and locked the door, grateful to reach privacy before the dam broke and a flood of tears poured out of her.

Six days later, the envelope came. It had one sheet of paper inside.

"Allente was running a cold storage operation in Argentina. His men have been ransoming off the contents. Check here."

An address followed. Mac explained that a cold storage operation was a place where wealthy foreigners would be housed and held for ransom. The money transfer had probably been to pay off Allente for adding Stefan to his group of hostages. The fact that no demand had been made for Stefan in the months following Stavros' death could mean two things--they didn't know who he was, or he was already dead.

Years of dealing with Cassadines and the mob and various members of the criminal world wouldn't let Alexis take the message at face value--not entirely. She agreed to let Nikolas and Lucky accompany her, but she was not about to take a risk of leaving Kristina alone if she was walking into a trap of some kind. Jax would take her to Alaska and Lady Jane. If anything happened to Alexis, Jax had promised her no one would get their hands on her daughter, and she believed him.

Her daughter's safety taken care of, Alexis boarded a plane with Nikolas and Lucky and made the long trek to Argentina. They rented a jeep and traveled the some 120 miles to the little town Lorenzo had told them to go to. And then they went to the bar where Octavio Hota, the man who had apparently taken over the "cold storage" operation, reportedly spent his time.

The boys stayed near the door to keep watch in case a quick exit was needed. Alexis asked for Hota, and the bartender pointed him out. Alexis walked to his table, where he sat drinking with about five other people.

"Mr. Hota?"

The dark-haired man looked up at her. "Who wants to know?"

Alexis pulled out an empty chair and sat down. "Someone interested in making a purchase from you."

She pulled the photo from her pocket and slid it across the table. Mac had told her to be direct. Just tell him what she wanted and ask him to set a price. Hota picked up the photo, and she held her breath, waiting to see if he would offer her a living person or a body.

"What's your interest in this merchandise?"

"He's my brother," she answered. "We think our oldest brother sent him away, but now it's time for him to come home."

Hota considered her words. "This other brother, he probably paid a great deal to have this merchandise shipped and stored."

Alexis nodded. "Yes. But he's no longer living, and I'm sure whoever might have this 'merchandise,' we could pay a fair price to reclaim it."

He told her to go back to her hotel and wait. Lucky assumed he wanted to check them out and make sure they were alone. The man following them confirmed that. They did as they were told. Six hours later, an envelope was slid under the door of Alexis' hotel room.

"It says to bring $500,000 and there's a map. Day after tomorrow, 7:30 a.m."

They waited till nearly close of business the next day to go to bank and retrieve the money they had wired ahead. Nikolas and Lucky spent that night taking turns standing guard at the door, guns poised and ready for a double-cross and the attempted theft of the money. But it didn't come, and at 7:30, they were at the location marked on the map, waiting.

Alexis didn't know what was going on in her nephew's head. He'd stayed quiet the past few days, probably afraid to hope too much that this was all really true--that the uncle he loved was alive. Dealing with the reality of his father being responsible for all the grief they'd endured--that was something that would have to come after this was long over.

She did know what she was feeling, though. Guilt that she'd ever been fooled by Stavros' charade, anguish over what her beloved Stefan must have suffered this past year and a half and hope--hope that if he really came back to her now, alive, they could make it all right somehow.

A truck turned the bend ahead of them and Nikolas and Lucky both put their hands on their guns, preparing for anything. The truck stopped and Hota climbed out with two men. He walked forward, motioning for Alexis to come and meet him. She picked up the duffle bag full of cash and moved toward him.

"Your merchandise is in the truck. You have the money?"

She handed him the bag. He checked it over, then waved to his men. They ran to the back of the truck, disappearing momentarily, then they came into sight again bearing what looked like a stretcher toward them.

Alexis gasped as the men set the stretcher on the ground. He was thin, pale... so frail looking that it was hard for her to reconcile the man before her with her vision of the brother she knew. But it was him... and his chest moved in a labored effort to draw breath. He was alive.

Hota and his men ran back to their truck, disappearing. Nikolas and Lucky rushed to Stefan, the two healthy young men easily carrying him back to the jeep, where Alexis climbed in beside him so his body could lean against her. They went straight to the airport, their belongings with them already. Thirty minutes later, their private plane was airborne and headed home.

"I called GH," Nikolas said. "Tony and Monica will be waiting for us at the ER, and they'll have an ambulance at the airport."

Alexis nodded, her focus remaining on the man who lay motionless on the long bench seat, his body shuddering from fever despite the thick blankets that lay over him. She leaned down close to him, her hand resting on his cheek.

"Stefan, it's Alexis. I'm here. I'm so sorry it took me so long to find you, but we're going home now. We're going home, and I'll never let anyone take you away from me ever again. Not even you, so just know that when you get well and try to pull some Stefan mind trip on me."

He'd been conscious off and on since they'd gotten him back, but there'd been little more than a flash of eye contact or a slight movement during any of those times. But now his eyes flickered open, and after a few moments, Alexis knew he had focused on her and realized who she was.

"Alexis?"

"Hello, my brother. Welcome back."

He smiled weakly and lifted his hand a bit, reaching for her. Alexis took his hand and held it close to her heart. His smile grew even as his eyes slowly closed again.

"I knew you would come."

Tears welled up in her eyes and she squeezed his hand. "Always."

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