Disclaimer: Characters and settings are the property of ABC/Disney and writers/producers at General Hospital. No copyright infringement is intended.

A/N – I can’t figure out where to take this story. So, instead of abandoning it, I’ll tie up the loose ends and focus on the other stories. Thanks for reading it, hope you enjoy the ending. Jen

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NC-17

Past Revisited

Epilogue

A few weeks later

PH2

Carly sat on the couch, notebook computer open and resting on her lap and made notes of what she called ‘possible ventures’ for herself. She’d done the club thing, more than once. And while they had both been successes, she’d been there, done that. She wanted to do something different. Challenge herself. And she had Jason’s full support, but that still left her wondering where to go next.

Everything at home was perfect. Aidan was growing so fast. Changing a little every day. Michael was happy. Thriving. The adoption papers were finalized, making Jason legally his father. She felt safe and loved, truly, unconditionally, loved for the first time in her life. And all of it, was because of Jason. She had Aidan because of him. Michael was back at home with his father, where he belonged, because of Jason. And she was back in the arms of the only man she had ever loved, because he wanted her there.

But that was her home life. She needed an identity beyond that. Needed to stretch her wings, professionally. See what she could do. Where she could go. Who she could be. Frustrated that none of her random brainstorms clicked for her, that none of them were quite right, she closed the laptop and leaned back into the couch with a sigh.

“Something wrong?”

Carly turned her head, smiling automatically, as Jason walked in the door of the penthouse. “Not anymore.”

Jason joined her on the couch, noting that the laptop was closed on her lap, and put his arm around her, pulling her close as he laid the laptop on the ottoman. “Give it time. Maybe you’re pushing it too hard.”

Carly turned her head to look up into his clear blue eyes and smiled, loving the way he knew her, all of her, and found comfort in his unwavering support. “I know. I just hate that everyone……”

“You know I don’t give a damn what anyone else thinks, Carly.” He turned her until she was facing him on the couch, her bare legs draped over his lap. “I also know how important it is to you to do this. But that doesn’t mean you have to rush into it.” He tilted her chin up, sliding his hand into her auburn tresses as he pulled her mouth to his for a soft lingering kiss. “I need you to do something else for me anyway.”

Carly pulled back, puzzled by his request, confusion etching her brow. What could he possibly want her to do? “What?”

Jason reached into his pocket and pulled out the small box he’d been carrying around for the last few days. When he heard her inhale sharply, he smiled, knowing he’d surprised her once again. He’d already announced that this was where they were heading but, they hadn’t discussed it since. They’d both had so much going on in the last few weeks that he’d decided to wait until the time was right. And that time was now. He didn’t want Carly doubting herself. And he knew if she couldn’t decide where she wanted to go professionally, she would do just that. If he could shift her focus for a little while, he knew the rest would come.

“How about planning our wedding?”

He opened the box and lifted the ring from inside it. The 3-carat princess cut diamond was flanked by two sapphires of equal size and shape, with smaller diamonds separating the three larger stones and framing them on the outside, all set in platinum. She’d been flipping through department store ads one morning and pointed a similar ring out, liking how unusual it was. He’d had the jeweler replace the center sapphire with a diamond, making it look more like a wedding ring. He knew she hadn’t intended for him to assume that it was what she wanted for a wedding ring, but he’d looked at others and none of them fit. None had Carly’s unique flair. And then he remembered that day and the ring in the ad, and he’d come up with this. Now, he just hoped that she liked how he’d changed it.

“Oh my God, Jason, that’s gorgeous.”

Jason lifted her left hand, sliding the ring into place on her slender finger, a perfect fit, and not just in size, this ring was made for her, meant only for her, just as he’d known it would be.

Knowing what this meant, tears filled Carly’s eyes as she pulled her gaze from the ring on her finger to meet Jason’s expectant one. “It’s beautiful, Jase.” She leaned forward, wrapping her arms around him, pressing her mouth to his, opening it under his when he sought control. Loving the way his tongue caressed hers as he turned them, laying them down as he rolled over her, his thigh sliding in between hers.

Jason lifted his head, framing her beautiful face in his hands, his fingers splaying, sliding confidently into her hair and smiled at the way she closed her eyes and reveled in his touch. Made for him just as much as the ring he’d put on her finger was made for her.

“So that’s a yes?” He murmured softly against her neck as he tilted her head back, trailing kisses over her throat.

Carly clutched at him, having difficultly focusing on anything other than what he was doing to her. “What was the question?”

Jason chuckled against her throat, even as he shifted, pushing her skirt up, settling more comfortably between her spread thighs, letting her cradle him, loving the way she moaned brokenly as he rolled his hips into hers, his arousal pressed firmly against her cleft, the friction teasing them both.

“Jason……”

The plaintive way she called his name, aroused and needy, was nearly his undoing. “Hmmm?” he responded as he slid the buttons of her blouse open, his lips blazing a hot path downward, as he exposed her cleavage to his hungry gaze and mouth.

He slid his hand up the back of her soft silky bare leg, from knee to hip, then under her ass, lifting her into him as he kneaded the supple flesh. Her whimper of pleasure broke what was left of his restraint. He ripped her thong off, the tearing sound creating more urgency in them both. Needing this coupling. It had been too long, far too long, since he had been inside her. Since he’d had her wet heat engulfing him. He opened his jeans, pushing them down, and moaned at the feel of her heated body against his own.

“Carly.”

Carly opened her heavy lidded eyes, aroused beyond reason, waiting for him to take her, her breathing choppy as his caresses fueled her desire for him. “Hmmm?”

He waited her for her to look up at him, meet his gaze, he wanted to watch her eyes, watch her face fill with rapture as he slid home. He had to see that it was as powerful for her as it was for him. He clasped both of her hands in one of his, lifting them above her head, the weight of his body settling firmly over hers, and tilted her hips, sliding in…. just a bit. Watching her eyes dilate, feeling her nails score his hand, loving the way she bit her lip with anticipation, holding her breath as she waited for all of him. He had every intention of doing just that, but he wanted to savor this, remember every moment of this as his words and his touches showed her just how much he loved her. As more than his lover, as more than even his wife, as his forever.

He leaned down, his lips close to her ear, nipping the lobe before raising up, watching her expressive face as he gave her just a little more. It was killing him not to take her, not to slide completely home, he felt her stretching, quivering with pleasure around him. His hand splayed on her ass gripped her a little tighter as his teeth clenched, fighting the instinct to mate, to brand her as his, and he pulled out a little, hearing her whimper with dismay, then thrust back in, giving her more, just a little more, but not all of him, not yet. He slid his hand around to massage her clit, tormenting them both when she tightened around him in response.

“Jason…..” Carly pleaded, trying to lift into him, take him deeper, but he held her still, remained steady as he took his time, torturing her with her need for him.

“Not until you answer me.” Sweat lightly covering his body, he trembled as he held himself still above her, his blood pulsating hotly as he fought the urge to pound into her, give her all of him, more than she could take, over and over again until they shattered together. But he wanted, needed to hear her say she would be with him forever. Marry him. Be his wife. His home. His everything. Forever.

Eyes dazed with passion, Carly looked up at him, trying desperately to remember the question, her body quaking with frantic need under his and then it dawned on her and she smiled, pushing up into him. “Yes, I’ll plan our wedding, be your wif……”

Jason cut off her words, his mouth crashing down onto hers as he lifted her and slid urgently home, deep inside her, gave her all of him, and they both moaned at the powerful and familiar union. He waited to move, relishing in the feel of her, the way her body clutched at his, her wet heat clinging to him, begging him to stay. He rolled his hips, feeling her pulse around him as his pelvis hit her clit, giving her body what it needed to send her flying, climaxing around him. He groaned as she gripped him tighter, pulling him deeper, her body silently begging for more, and moved, his trusts slow, savoring each long slide of his body into hers, waiting for every whimper, every sigh, every moan she would give him, loving the way she trembled beneath him, her body so in tune to his, her movements countering his, making the pleasure sharper, keener, as she cradled him, offering more, offering him everything, freely, holding nothing back and then he gave her more, gave her everything, letting her complete him in the way that only she could.

Unable to wait any longer, his body winning the battle of wills, his thrusts came faster, harder, deeper and she moaned as her body made that feverish climb once again toward ecstasy. He freed her hands, sliding both of his hands under her hips, using the couch as leverage as he pounded into her in a passionate race to finish line.

Carly arched under him with a broken moan as her body peaked once again, sending her soaring into a scalding release.

Jason gritted his teeth, thrusting harder, faster, fighting the inevitable, wanting it to last, to have her feel this way around him forever, then finally succumbing, pulsating into her with a low roar. Stilling against her, his grip on her hips tightening as he poured himself into her, when his body was finally replete, he fell back down beside her, rolling them, their bodies still joined as they held each other reverently in the aftermath.

Jason sighed, his breathing still a little uneven and rough as she curled into him, making a little humming sound of contentment, and he smiled.

Carly kissed his neck, closing her eyes as he held her close. “Hell of a way to propose. Not that I’m complaining.”

Jason chuckled, settling more comfortably into the couch, momentarily unable to make his body do much more. “It worked, didn’t it?”

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Wyndemere

Laura sat beside Stefan on the settee as they watched Nikolas play outside with Lulu through the window of the conservatory. “And you’re sure that you’re okay with that?”

“Jason is an astute businessman. I feel more confident about the future of Cassadine Inc than I ever have, I assure you.”

“But are you sure that it’s not because Helena is no longer a threat?”

Stefan considered her question momentarily, before shaking his head. The first thing he had seen to after leaving Nikolas was eliminating Helena as a threat. He couldn’t leave Nikolas unprotected.

The look in her eyes when he’d told her the truth of all that had really happened to her family, how and why, was priceless. For all her despicable machinations against him in her attempts to gain control of Nikolas and the Cassadine empire, she’d never really needed to. She had been the only Cassadine left all along. Alexis wanted no part of the Cassadine family. And Helena would have had control of everything years ago, if not for his ability to maintain the charade of Stefan’s, of his own, existence, for all those years.

And Nikolas, the grandchild she claimed to adore, when he’d told her that he not only didn’t come from Stavros, but wasn’t even a blood relation to her, he’d thought for certain that she was going to have a stroke. His triumphant grin was the last thing she had seen before he’d given everyone that he loved peace of mind, even if they didn’t know it, by putting a neat bullet hole in her forehead. Later, when he was feeling more charitable and less like the old Stefan, he would send Spencer the video of the entire event. He was probably the only one who would find it just as poetic as he had.

At this point only a select few knew the truth of his identity. He’d invited Commissioner Scorpio out to Wyndemere, through Nikolas, and gave him the necessary documents to close ‘Stefan’s case’ and prove his history as an FBI operative. And, for some reason that was completely beyond him, but predictable in the insanity that was the Quartermaine’s, that insidiously dysfunctional family, all of them but Emily, was convinced that this was just another Cassadine plot and they had dismissed his entire story. Barbara had informed him of that confounding detail when she unexpectedly joined him, the commissioner and Nikolas in their discussion.

He and Nikolas had been discussing at length how to introduce him back into the fold of Port Charles as Thomas Michaels, and were not coming up with any easy answers. The news of the Quartermaine’s refusal to believe the truth actually made them both wonder if they should at all. Only he, Nikolas, Barbara, Laura, Carly, Jason and Mac knew and believed the truth of his story. He’d spent the bulk of his life as Stefan Cassadine. He didn’t even know who Thomas Michaels was, much less what to do with his life as Thomas Michaels, the former FBI agent. He knew Stefan Cassadine. Was Stefan Cassadine, and would continue to be. He didn’t miss Thomas Michaels, but he did miss Stefan Cassadine. He had, in fact, though not genetically, become him.

So, he had ended his association with the bureau and encouraged them to do his bidding, securing his future as Stefan Cassadine, by giving them incriminating evidence on only part of the late Lorenzo Alcazar’s organization and his associates, the part that Jason wanted nothing to do with, surprisingly with Jason’s help, and through his own cache of information that he was certain the Agency wanted kept out of the public eye. As far as they were concerned, he was Stefan Cassadine and had never been Thomas Michaels, and it would stay that way.

The technicality of his true identity got him out of the potential charges from local authorities for faking ‘Stefan Cassadine’s’ death and his identity as the man the FBI had turned him into had kept that same agency under his thumb, for as long as he needed them to be. The ironies of this world never ceased to amaze him.

“Before I had determined that I could easily remain Stefan Cassadine, and actually wanted to do so, I thought it might be necessary to protect Nikolas’ future. Financially. And I had worked my entire adult life to build the Cassadine empire into what it is today. Mikkos and Stavros couldn’t have……”

Laura placed a soothing hand on his arm as his words became more heated, his agitation with the possibility of what could have happened showing. Neither of them were Cassadine’s by blood. But they were Cassadine’s and he had turned Cassadine Inc into what it was today. She completely understood why the thought of the company he had poured his life into was being taken from him because of DNA, or a lack thereof, infuriated him. But now that there would be no threat, not just from Helena, but legally, she wondered if his previous business decision had been made only out of necessity.

He smiled softly as he took her hand, kissing its palm before draping his arm around her, pulling her close. “Sorry.”

She chuckled as he kissed her temple, feeling the heat of his embrace wash over her. It had been so natural, even effortless, to find their way back to each other since he’d returned. She and Luke had been long divorced, and he was off on one of his many adventures, while she had been here raising her family and running Deception. Becoming her own woman. No longer an extension of Luke. Or anyone else. And then Stefan had come home and awakened feelings in her that had been dormant for so long, and the circle had closed. Complete. This was her home. Here. With him.

“No need to apologize. I understand. I just want to be sure that you want this.” She turned her head to look up into his soulful jade green eyes, watching desire for her flare in them, and felt her own breath catch.

His eyes caressed her face as he lifted his hand to stroke her cheek. “You should know by now that I never do anything I don’t want to.”

She closed her eyes with a chuckle, loving the playful side of this new Stefan every bit as much as the old one. “Sorry, forgot.”

He smiled against her neck, as his lips brushed over the pulse point of her throat, then lifted his head, smiling with satisfaction at the hunger flaring in her soft blue eyes. “This merger is good for both of us. Jason’s way of doing business is not unlike my own. It’s just in a different platform.”

Laura laughed at his way of describing ‘the organization’ everyone knew was Jason’s business. “Platform?”

He grinned with a shrug, wondering why it hadn’t occurred to her that many of his business dealings were with other ‘questionably legal’ businessmen. “He is now my partner and he’s marrying my daughter.”

It was so odd to hear him say that. Not only was Nikolas, the boy he had raised as if he were his own, biologically his, but so was Carly. Lucky and Lulu’s aunt’s daughter, their cousin, was also her lover’s daughter. Odd how life changed. Some things becoming more complicated, like Stefan’s identity, Carly’s paternity, and others so simple, like them. Their relationship. They were naturally, easily and simply together.

She smiled up at him as she lifted her hand to caress his face, his clipped beard tickling her palm. “Have I mentioned that I love you?”

Stefan’s eyes closed as he leaned into her touch. It didn’t matter how many times she’d said it in the last week, each time felt new, each time he heard the promise of their future in her words. Marriage would come, eventually. They were content with now. They had their family, they were together and that was enough.

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Fini