Disclaimer:

I own nothing related to or affiliated with Disney, ABC Daytime, or General Hospital. Characters are not mine; they are merely being borrowed.

AN:

Forever ago I ran across this amazing oneshot by Through the Mirror Darkly called Sweet Child of Mine. I'd been hoping she would at some point continue it but she never did. A couple months ago an idea to continue the fic popped in to my head and wouldn't leave. So I contacted Mariah and in all her awesomeness she agreed to let me use her oneshot as a jumping off point for this fic.

I'm super excited about what I have so far and I can't wait for ya'll to read it. I'll be posting at least once a week. Although I can be bribed to post more. ;)

~Kelly~

Background:

99% of what happened on the show prior to Julian showing up in Port Charles happened in this fic. The main exception is the Niz affair. Also there is no Aiden. I'm not 100% sure of the pairing yet but I'm leaning in a certain direction at the moment. As always if you have any questions just ask.

Chapter One

Elizabeth leaned against the nurses' desk and struggled not to laugh. The look on Felix's face was priceless. Maybe Ava was right and she should have quit General Hospital months ago. If nothing else it was entertaining to watch people's reactions.

"What do you mean you're quitting?" Felix asked, shocked by the news. He had known that Elizabeth had been having a difficult time lately, but he never expected her to go this far. "I thought things were better around here?"

"As good as they'll ever get I'm sure. Look I know this is a shock..."

"That's an understatement." the young nurse huffed. Felix hated the idea of losing one of his closest friends.

"But I think is right thing for me. And more importantly, for Cameron," she said smiling at the thought of her son. Elizabeth knew the new job would give her much more time with Cam. Ava would probably insist on it. "My little boy has been through so much... I wanna spend as much time as I can with him."

"Well I guess I can understand wanting to be with your son. I'm not happy about it though."

Elizabeth laughed at her friend's pouting. Felix had been a good friend to her the last few months. She was going to miss the younger man. "Of course not. I'd be offended if you were."

"I will say you seem more relaxed than I've seen you in awhile. Care to share your little secret?" he whispered, giving her a sly wink. Apparently Felix thought a guy was behind her sudden happiness. Well, in a weird way he was sort of correct. Having Julian in town did make Elizabeth happy. Even if she hadn't seen him yet. Stubborn man.

"Just some family stuff. Good stuff, I think."

"Then I'm happy for you. Wait, what are you going to do about a job?" Felix asked, frowning almost immediately after asking. "I'm sorry that was nosy even for me."

She honestly didn't mind the question. It was nice to know that someone cared about her and Cam. "Don't worry about it Felix. And just so you know, I already have a job."

"Good. Care to tell me about this amazing job?"

"How do you know it's amazing?" Elizabeth asked, laughing at the man's curiosity. She really was going to miss General Hospital. However with Julian and Ava in town it was probably safer if she left.

"Please girl. Anyone that hires you must be as fabulous as you are."

"Flatterer," she said, shaking her head.

"Always."

Carly was starting to hate coming to General Hospital. She hated that Jason's son was sick on top of everything else that had happened. "How are you and Danny doing?" she asked Sam as they walked down the hall.

"We're okay. Alexis has been a huge help. I don't know what I'd do without her."

"It's good you have someone to lean on. There's nothing worse than having a sick child."

Sam sighed at the reminder. Of course Carly was going to find a way to make this all about her. With Jason dead you'd think the blond would leave her alone. "How is Joss?"

"Really good. You'd never even know she was sick."

"Hopefully that'll be Danny in a few years," she said, taking hope in that fact. Like her sister, Carly's daughter had made a complete recovery. At the moment it was all she had to hold on to.

"It will be, I know it. Any luck on finding a donor?"

Sam smiled at the question. Carly always hated being the last to know something. She was almost tempted not to tell her. Well if it wasn't for Alexis. The woman didn't know how to keep a secret. "That's right, you don't know."

"Know what?"

"Alexis found my dad," she said, trying not to laugh at the shocked look on Carly's face. It was mind blowing that the man would turn up after all these years.

"Your dad really?"

"I'm not even sure how she managed it," Sam shrugged, not honestly caring. She was hoping that Alexis could keep the man distracted until she could do some research on him. A father wasn't part of her plan. At least her mom completely believed her. Hopefully it would help convince Julian as well. "As it turns out, he used a fake name when they were dating."

"Oh Sam I'm so happy for you. Is this..."

"Julian." she supplied trying not to roll her eyes. Sam knew Carly only cared about Danny. The boy was her last tie to Jason. Too bad Sam planned on slowly cutting the woman out of her son's life. Just as soon as he was well.

"Julian. Is he going to be tested?"

"Yeah. I can't tell you what a relief that news was," she admitted honestly. The chance of some random man being a match was slim, but it was all she had. "The longer it takes to find a donor the more I worry."

"I'm sure."

"The test is going to take another day or two, so I'm not going to think about any of that right now. Instead I'm going to get to know Julian Jerome. I can't believe Alexis found him after all this time."

"Did you say his last name was Jerome?" Carly asked, frowning when she nodded. "Sam this might not be a good thing."

Leave it to Carly to ruin her excitement. Couldn't the woman just be happy for her? "Not a good thing? How can you even suggest that Carly?" Sam demanded to know as they sat down in a couple of chairs.

"The Jeromes were a big crime family here in Port Charles. Before Sonny became the boss they ran things."

"I still don't see what that has to do with me and Julian." she said, not happy with the news. This explained why Julian had used a fake name. Maybe Carly was wrong. It certainly wouldn't be the first time.

"Because Victor Jerome was crazy. Almost as crazy as Anthony Zacchara. If Julian is part of that family..."

"I'm sure you're just being paranoid," Sam said, brushing aside the other woman's concerns. "Julian said something about owning a publishing company."

"I hope your right. The last thing we need is some kind of mob war."

Jason stared out the window as he listened to Francis. A year. He'd been dead for over a year. Part of him didn't want to accept what his friend was saying. Some mysterious benefactor had saved him from certain death. Only he couldn't. One of the reasons for that was Jake.

His son was alive and well. Even if no one knew about that either. The same man had saved him as well. Choosing to hide the boy instead of letting Elizabeth know he was alive. Speaking of letting people know he was alive, Jason wanted to go home and he wanted Jake to come with him.

Elizabeth had been through so much. Having Jake back would ease some of her pain. Then maybe he could begin to make up for some of the pain he'd caused. The only trouble was Francis. His friend was being difficult about making arrangements. "I want to go home. Elizabeth needs to know about Jake."

"She will. I promise but you're in no shape to travel. You just woke up from a coma a couple days ago."

"Are you going to at least tell me who's holding me hostage?" he demanded to know making Francis even more annoyed. Where was this concern for Elizabeth and Jake when he was alive? And how long would it stay once Jason was back in Port Charles?

"I'm not going to fight with you Jason." Francis said calmly. Blowing up at his old boss would only make things worse. "You wanna go home believe me I understand that. I'm not here to stop you. If that was the case we would've just let you bleed out."

"Why didn't you?"

Francis shook his head at the question. Honestly he was starting to wonder that himself. "You're my friend Jason. Despite everything that's happened between us I don't want you dead."

"I'm sure I'll appreciate that once I'm back in Port Charles."

"The Doc wants you to wait five day but he's willing to let you travel in two. But that's only if everything looks good." Francis said quoting the orders from memory. The doctor had been very specific about when Jason could travel. Something he knew the younger man wouldn't like.

"Let me? No one tells me what to do."

"No offense Jason, but your not my boss anymore." he said coldly. Francis was trying not to lose his temper, but it was getting more difficult by the moment. "I was told to defer to what Doc said."

"So I'm trapped here for another two days." Jason grumbled, turning away from the window. Francis kept his eyes on Jake. It was amazing how well adjusted the young boy was. He was especially excited to be headed home soon. Francis couldn't wait to see how Elizabeth was going to react to having her son home.

"Don't look at it as being trapped. Think of it as two days you can spend with Jake."

Julian smiled as he placed the framed photograph on his desk. It was one of the few he had of Elizabeth and Cam. His daughter had sent it to him several weeks ago. They didn't have as much contact as he'd like, especially in the past few years. Things had been so tense both in Port Charles and with Julian's business. Still, it was no excuse for neglecting his daughter and grandsons. That was something that was going to stop now.

Picking up the phone he dialed a familiar number. Julian needed to check in with one of his employees. The young man had been a mess when they first met. Prison tended to do that to a person. Still something about him had caught Julian's attention. He was a good kid despite all the trouble he was in. Maybe it was the unique set of skills he possessed. Or it could be that the young man reminded Julian of himself at times.

"Hello? Julian? Are you there?" The young man asked, breaking his train of thought. Apparently he'd answered while the mob boss was thinking.

"Sorry, my mind wandered."

A soft chuckle came across the line before he said, "No problem. Although when you didn't answer..."

"You worried." Julian supplied easily. Most of his employees were worried about him being in Port Charles. Honestly part of him was too. This town was full of crazies, most of whom would be after him.

"Well, you are in Port Charles after all. How are things there?"

"Unsettling. This..." Julian paused, needing to take a moment to calm his temper. Very few people knew of his entire plan for Port Charles, and he wanted to keep it that way. The element of surprise was never a bad thing. "Person, Sam McCal,l is claiming to be my child."

"I can see why you'd be upset. What can I do to help?"

"Jamie is handling the research. I wanna know how this happened. You... I need you to come to Port Charles."

"Julian..." the voice paused suddenly. After several moments it continued, this time more carefully. "Mr. Jerome. I'm not sure that's a good idea. Actually I know it's not a good idea."

"Are you telling me no?"

"Of course not. I'm just saying..."

"I'm sure you are." Julian chuckled at the younger man's panic. He knew the man never planned on coming to Port Charles personally. Which was exactly why Julian wasn't giving him a choice. "However I need you here. You're one of the few people I trust to help me with this."

"And I appreciate that trust."

"Besides, I'm sure Elizabeth could use a friend when all this comes out."

There was a long pause before he said, "That town is full of hypocrites."

"So you'll come?"

"Yeah." Came the very reluctant answer. "I just need to wrap up some things. Give me a couple of days."