The Golden Chain
by Abelard

part 7

The trip to Moscow was uneventful but took longer than Sonny expected. He was eager to talk with Alexis alone. After they'd made passionate love in the garden the night before, they'd walked back to the house in silence, and parted with only a kiss. But matters between them were far from resolved. Sonny knew Alexis wasn't convinced they had a future together. She'd made it clear that she'd given herself to him out of spontaneous desire, not to mark the start of a shared life.

Sonny didn't blame her for not believing him when he said he wanted to stay with her. He hadn't explained himself well; he'd been too preoccupied with her body to have an intelligent conversation about his feelings. But his feelings had changed since he'd seen her again. He felt as if he'd been remade in just under two weeks. He just needed an uninterrupted hour to talk to Alexis - and hopefully, after they talked, an entire evening to *show* her how much he wanted to be with her.

On the 100-person Cassadine jet that was conveying Alexis, her advisors, and a great deal of her household staff to Russia, Sonny watched Alexis sit alone, wearing her eyeglasses, reviewing documents that needed her signature. He knew she wouldn't want to speak with him on the plane, in front of all her entourage, but it was frustrating as hell to have to sit across the aisle from her and not even be able to look into her eyes. After what they'd done to each other last night, he ached to touch her again. But the narrow aisle may as well have been a moat separating them.

So Sonny concentrated on discussing land leases with Marevich and Sandnikov for several long hours. When the pilot announced that they should prepare to land, Menshikov appeared at Sonny's side, motioned for Marevich and Sandnikov to sit elsewhere, and took the place next to Sonny. As the engines of the plane grew louder with their descent, Menshikov leaned in close to Sonny's ear and said, "Have you come to a decision?"

Sonny knew the old man was referring to their last private conversation of a few nights before, when Menshikov had told Sonny he'd have to decide whether he would stay with the Cassadines or return to Port Charles. Sonny said in Menshikov's ear, "I've told her I'm staying. She doesn't believe me."

The Vizier nodded. "You'll have to convince her. I anticipate you will have to work very hard to do so."

The engine noise increased to the point where conversation would have been futile, so Sonny kept his thoughts to himself. What he thought was, *Thanks a million, Menshikov. As if I didn't know that.*

****

The Cassadines' palace in Moscow had been built in the 18th century, after Peter the Great had made St. Petersburg the capital of Russia, leaving Moscow to exiled members of the royal court. The Cassadines had then been among the malcontents. They and other out-of-favor nobles built enormous urban estates whose grandiosity was intended to demonstrate their independence from the czar. However, the Cassadines' palace was one of the very few to survive the Napoleonic invasion and all the wars and riots that followed. Menshikov, as he gave Sonny a tour of the estate, told him the Cassadine compound had managed to survive because during every battle that raged in the city, the family had consistently thrown their support and monies behind whatever faction appeared to be winning. "This family has always held survival to be the highest priority," the Vizier said.

Kristina went with Sonny on his tour with Menshikov. Sonny held one of her tiny hands and the old Russian held the other as they walked. She told Sonny everything she knew about the history of the place; Menshikov seemed immensely pleased that his young pupil remembered so many of his history lessons. "This is called the garden-park," Kristina said to Sonny very authoritatively when they came upon the vast expanse of land behind the manor house. "It contains a pavilion, a summerhouse, forty-two original sculptures, three ponds, eight fountains, and an open-air theatre. Before Napoleon came, all the noble families opened their garden-parks to the public. Every Muscovite was allowed to walk through whenever they wanted."

"But not anymore?" Sonny asked Kristina.

"No, not anymore," said the little girl. "Menshikov says it's because, 'People today lack grace.' Isn't that right?" she asked the old man eagerly.

Menshikov chuckled. It was the first time he'd so much as cracked a smile in Sonny's presence. "That's correct, Your Highness. Very good."

Kristina smiled, happy to be right. As they walked back toward the house, she gazed up at Sonny with huge brown eyes that were a perfect blend of his and Alexis's. "Sonny, are you going to stay with us from now on?"

"I hope so, sweetheart. It's not entirely my decision."

"Who else gets to decide? If I do, then I order you to stay."

Sonny laughed. If he hadn't known before that this was his child, that one sentence alone would have given it away. "Your mother, actually, is the one who has to decide."

"Oh." Kristina wrinkled her little brow. "Well, then, you'd better talk to her right away about it. Look, there she is. Mama! Mama!" And Kristina broke away from both Sonny and Menshikov and ran up the wide stone steps at the back of the house to Alexis's arms. "Mama," she said as Alexis scooped her up, "there's something very important you have to do right now. Promise me you'll do it."

"Okay, I promise," Alexis said, smiling at her little girl and rubbing noses with her.

"You have to talk to Sonny right now!"

Alexis looked at Sonny as he and Menshikov walked up the stairs. Sonny looked at Menshikov. "Did you put Kristina up to this?" Sonny asked. The Vizier shrugged.

"Did you put Kristina up to this?" Alexis called out as they approached.

Menshikov took Kristina from Alexis's arms. "It is time for Your Highness's chess lesson," he said as he led the little Princess away by the hand.

Sonny turned to Alexis and was content just to look at her for a moment. It was the first time they'd been alone since the night before. "We do have to talk sometime, you know," he told her.

Alexis was unreadable as she said, "I suppose we have to talk now. I just made a promise to Her Highness."

They walked together into one of the many parlors and stood facing each other. Sonny knew the burden of proof lay on him, so he began. "You don't think I'm serious, but I am. I want to stay."

"Because of Kristina," Alexis supplied.

"Yeah, of course. But not *just* because of Kristina. I want to be a part of your life."

"I don't believe you," Alexis stated, and crossed her arms. "Why should I? Two weeks ago, you and I weren't even speaking. You were were married to Carly and playing house with her and Michael. The only reason these past two weeks even happened was because you're under attack. And now you say that this desperate situation has led you to want to change your entire life around? Please," Alexis said, rolling her eyes. But Sonny could tell she was only protecting herself fiercely.

"I know I hurt you, before. Five years ago, when I went back to Carly," he said. He could tell he touched on something deep; Alexis looked startled. "You said you thought she played me." He looked down and nodded thoughtfully. "You were probably right. But that was a long time ago, and there were a lot of things I didn't know." He glanced up at Alexis. "You know how much I hate to say that," he said with a half smile.

Alexis returned his slight smile, recognition in her eyes. "I know."

"I once told you that it would cost me to lose you. But I didn't know how much. You were always my compass, Alexis. You told me what was right and wrong. You wanted me to be better and do better. You tried to tell me I could have a different life than what I'd made for myself. You kept me in the right direction. And since I lost you…" Sonny could hardly bear to keep talking. It was so difficult for him to talk about his true feelings, and now he was getting to the very marrow of his bones. But he didn't flinch. Though his eyes filled up with moisture, he looked straight and Alexis and said, "Since we've been apart, I haven't known what the hell I've been doing. I've spent five years sleepwalking through my life. I've been looking at the woman I was married to and wondering why I'm with her. I've been making bad decisions. This war would never have happened if I'd had my head on straight."

Alexis frowned. "What are you saying? What's happened in the past two weeks to make you want to turn your whole life upside down?"

"I came here," Sonny said. "I saw you. I saw what you've become away from me. Without me, you've become this incredible person. You're a leader, a mother. Thousands of people around the world look to you for guidance. And I realized that they have what I've been missing all this time. *I* need your guidance, Alexis. I've always needed it." Sonny took both her hands in his. "I used to think your job was to follow me around. But now, I want to follow *you*. I'm not the man you wanted to be. But now, I think I can get there. I want to get there, Alexis. Let me learn all those things you tried to teach me five years ago. I'm a sorry excuse for a student, but I'll work my ass off for you, I promise."

Alexis began to tremble slightly. "What…what about your organization?"

"I'll give my territory to Benny. Once we help him get out of this war, he'll be great with it."

She trembled a little more. "What about Carly?"

Sonny said, with all the honesty he felt in his heart, "I don't love Carly. I don't know if I ever did."

Alexis exhaled as if she'd been holding her breath for a very long time. "I was so in love with you, all those years ago. Did you know that?"

Was she? Sonny couldn't believe it. "No. I never knew."

Alexis looked as if she was completely stumped. She looked all around the room, at the elaborately painted ceilings and the glass French doors, as if she hoped someone would appear to help her out. Finally, she shook her head. "I don't know what to do with everything you've just told me," she said with a note of helplessness in her voice.

"Will you let me be in love with you? Will you see if you can try to love me again?" Sonny stepped forward a few inches. He let go of Alexis's hands and put them on her gorgeous waist. His mouth close to hers, he whispered, "If that doesn't work out, will you just use me for my body?"

Alexis laughed. "Yes."

"To which question?"

But Alexis didn't say another word. Instead, she just kissed him till Sonny couldn't remember what talking was.

****

That evening was the happiest of Sonny's life. He and Alexis had reached an agreement about their future. Late that night, they'd tell Kristina as they tucked her in that Sonny was her father, and that he was staying with them. Alexis said Kristina would be over the moon, since their little girl had felt an affinity with Sonny from the start. And they'd do everything possible to put an end to the war over Sonny's territory. Sonny would fly back to the States to take care of the handover with Benny, explain matters to Carly and make arrangements with regard to Michael, and then he'd return to Moscow, and never leave Alexis's side again.

All of that was well and good, but truth be told, as Sonny, Alexis, Kristina, and all the advisors left the restaurant where they'd dined, all that Sonny could think about was getting Alexis into bed as soon as possible and waking up wrapped around her in the morning.

The group was walking back from the restaurant to the palace. It was only a few city blocks, and everyone thought it would be enjoyable to walk, after the long plane ride. Everyone noticed that Sonny held Alexis's hand and smiled a lover's smile at her as they strolled through the cold Moscow streets. No one said a word about it. Menshikov looked even more self-satisfied than usual; that was all.

Suddenly Sonny heard machine-gun fire. People screamed. "Get down!" he yelled, and threw himself on top of Alexis.

"Mama! Mama!" wailed Kristina.

"Kristina, stay down!" he ordered. The gunfire had halted. Terror and confusion were in the air. The advisors, lying down on the cement streets, looked around fearfully. One of them held Kristina close to him.

Sonny scanned the area but could see none of the gunmen. Damn it, his enemies had followed him all the way to Moscow. He signaled to the bodyguards, who had their weapons drawn, to search the area. Then he got to his knees. "Alexis, are you alright? Alexis?"

One of the advisors pointed and yelled something horrible-sounding in Russian. Then Sonny what the woman was pointing at. It was blood.

Alexis's blood, and Menshikov's. Both of them lay face-down, bleeding from the bullets lodged in their bodies.

part 8