The Road Trip Series
by Cher

Chinese New Year - January 22, 2004

"So, Quack, what's up? You're not usually the type to flash the bat signal," Luke observed sarcastically as he sauntered past Cameron into the living room.

"Well a 911 call seemed in order," Cameron said as he closed the door.

"To moi? Must be bad if you are calling on my particular talents, Doc. Some wacky patient stalking you?"

"Let's just say you have some background in a case I'm working on," Cameron replied as he walked over to the couch.

"Which case?" he asked.

"The mind of one Mikkos Cassadine."

* * *

"You look chilled to the bone, Miss Alexis," Mrs. Lansbury tutted taking her coat and shaking off the snow.

"The launch heater wasn't working so the crossing was a bit arctic but I'm fine," she tossed over her shoulder as she strode to the cavernous fireplace in the front reception hall and held out her frozen hands.

"No, you must come to the kitchen with me and have some tea. That will warm you right up," she said with a smile.

Alexis grinned. "If that offer includes some of your scones and cream, it's a deal."

She laughed. "But of course!"

They sat in the kitchen before the fireplace, the tick-tock of the old antique wall clock keeping time with the squeak of their rocking chairs, like the soothing cadence of a metronome. It was warm and peaceful there, the warmth coming not just from the blazing fire but from the caring nature of the woman sitting quietly beside her. As Alexis recalled the kitchen in Greece always bore that same warmth and cozy harmony, especially when viewed through the eyes of a child never permitted a place to call her own. She used to sneak downstairs and watch from behind a corner as the cook made baklava and scones under the careful eye of Mrs. Lansbury. She would sit in the shadows of the servant's stairwell and listen to the household help talk about their lives as they sat around the table, the simplest of stories seemed to her a great adventure and so much more interesting than her own life could ever be. Her hiding place was found out one summer evening but rather than punish her, kindly Mrs. Lansbury sat her down at the large oak refectory table and fed her until she was ready to burst. After that it was an open secret among the staff that young Alexis, all gangly arms and legs and big brown eyes, hid among them and more often than not she was sent back to bed with a treat secreted in the pockets of her dressing gown.

I'd forgotten, she thought wistfully as she sipped her tea and glanced warmly at Mrs. Lansbury.

"Now, my dear, what seems to be troubling you?" Mrs. Lansbury asked as she set down her china mug.

"On Halloween night, you mentioned my parent's secret place, their Shangri-La," she murmured as she sipped her tea.

"The place where your Mama may be buried," she nodded, her hands lightly resting on the armrest as she rocked.

"I have been trying to remember something - anything - from my childhood that will point me in the right direction but my mind is like a blank slate. Yesterday though, I found something in the box I retrieved from the Paris apartment that appears to be a clue… from my father."

The housekeeper's hands unconsciously gripped the wood of the armrest. "Mister Mikkos left you a clue?"

She bobbed her head excitedly as she leaned over and retrieved the snowglobe from her oversize Coach bag and handed it to Mrs. Lansbury. The woman took it, shaking it as she held it up to the light.

"Alexis, I was not aware you were expected," a deep voice echoed across the kitchen, bouncing along the copper pots and pans until it ricocheted back to its owner.

She froze for a second, glancing furtively at the globe now poised in Mrs. Lansbury's hand. Taking a deep breath she turned her head to the doorway.

"Stefan… good morning," she said with feigned good humor. "I assumed you were still away. Happy New Year, brother."

He caught her eyes and held them as he walked into the kitchen. "The same to you, sister. Odd that Mrs. Lansbury didn't inform me you were here…"

Mrs. Lansbury smiled as she tightly held the globe. "Miss Alexis stopped by for some of my dandelion tea for Miss Kristina. Seems she is feeling a bit under the weather and Miss Alexis recalled how I used to give it to her… to both of you… as children. Remember?"

He hesitated for a moment and then replied, "Yes, I do."

The closed hawk-like look on his face softened and he smiled wistfully as his mind recalled the better days of his childhood when a cup of dandelion tea could cure whatever ailed him, whether it be of the mind or the body and how many times his life seemed better after just sipping one cup in Mrs. Lansbury's kitchen. But it had been too long and he'd ventured too far away from the heart of that young boy and no cup of tea could save him now… or cure the emptiness that had engulfed his soul.

In the gentling of his face in that moment, Alexis again saw the brother she remembered, the brother she loved and her heart held onto the wispy echo of a child's love as she quickly branded the image onto her mind, fearful that was all she would ever have again, mere images of the young boy that was, their existence only a dim reflection of the man that stood before her.

The moment his face shuttered again she felt cold and very much alone.

"Mrs. Lansbury was kind enough to offer me a cup of tea before I head back to the mainland," she said her body stiffening as she saw his gaze fall upon the snowglobe.

"What do you have there, Mrs. Lansbury?" he asked as he leaned forward in the soft firelight.

She glanced quickly at Alexis. "A gift I picked up…at Wyndham's… for Miss Kristina. I was busy with the holiday preparations and did not have a chance to give it to her - or wrap it."

He held out his hand and silently demanded the globe. She handed it over and he raised it up and shook it. He turned it over in his hands, studied it and dismissively handed it back to the housekeeper.

"Excellently detailed and quite lovely, Mrs. Lansbury, but hardly a gift for a child Kristina's age. Still, someday when she is older she will appreciate it."

Alexis wanted to change the subject. "Did you get my gift, Stefan?"

He smiled tightly. "Yes, thank you. I have not painted for many years. You reminded me of a time when I did."

She replied softly, "That was the purpose."

He was startled and she could see him start to back away not physically but emotionally from her. She wished she could understand him now, why he continued to be an aloof stranger to those who loved him. She was in need of his counsel now but sadly she no longer trusted him - or his allegiances.

He cleared his throat and bowed slightly as he backed away. "I have some business to attend to so I will leave you to your… tea."

With that he turned and walked briskly through the door.

Alexis realized she was holding her breath and exhaled as she looked at Mrs. Lansbury who looked equally relieved he was gone. "That was quick thinking. Well, at least it confirms Stefan has no idea about the stone house. His face was a total blank."

"He would not have known, Miss Alexis. He was a young boy when your Mama lived and your Papa was very careful to keep his secrets especially after she died," Mrs. Lansbury murmured as she studied the globe.

"Do you recognize the house?" Alexis asked breathlessly.

The housekeeper nibbled her lower lip. "Not exactly but something tells me I've seen it before. In a picture, perhaps…."

"Cameron discovered two things when he was studying it. The two female figures are wearing matching necklaces…"

Mrs. Lansbury drew a startled breath as she pulled the lamp over and looked closer. "Necklaces…sweet Mother of… diamonds…"

"Too tiny to see if there is a miniature rose embedded in the diamond but my father was very precise and if he meant this to be a message of some kind, he would not have left anything to chance."

She nodded knowingly remembering the Prince she served, the man who through extraordinary circumstances became her friend. "No, he would have made provision. So, there are two necklaces and the one Helena left behind on Halloween…"

"That necklace could be mine, found either in Paris or …"

Mrs. Lansbury frowned. "Or where?"

"That is the second thing the doctor found, crystal slivers embedded in the snow that form the outline of a rose."

The old woman crossed herself at a vision of shards of crystal gleaming in dried pools of blood that surrounded Kristin where she fell that terrible day. "A crystal rose? Her shattered rose? Rosewood? But why would Mister Mikkos want you to go back to that place of death?"

Alexis shrugged as if it was obvious. "He was meticulous in life and no matter what he always had a plan, Mrs. Lansbury. What if there are more clues hidden away in that house, clues he planted for me to find?"

The woman knew she needed to believe but she also needed to be realistic. "You are assuming he knew it would be you he was guiding. He wasn't psychic, my child, despite the legend Mr. Spencer has so gleefully and viciously woven about his life. He was merely a man, one flawed by time and circumstance. It could just as easily be Helena searching the past. You said yourself that she was seen there before she went to Paris."

Alexis leaned forward excitedly. "But what if he knew that the key to finding those clues was locked in my mind, the childhood I buried when I saw Mama killed. He was a brilliant man and had to know that someday I would remember the past. If I am in the globe I must have been to that house when I was a child, perhaps skied down that slope. What if that was his last gift to me, whatever waits for me in that secret place, a gift only I could find? I owe it to both of them to try to find it, Mrs. Lansbury."

She shook her head. "That is very sentimental, child, but you are opening yourself to not only great danger but greater heartache if all of this is merely a dream."

"He never sold the house or the Paris apartment or the other properties he kept secret. Why?"

The old woman reached over and patted her hand. "Have you ever had a dream that was so real you could feel yourself step across the boundaries of reality and live it?"

Alexis thought about it. "Yes, once or twice. The experience is so intense that you seem to exist within the dream."

"Well, your father lived a dream with your mama. It was where he was drawn, where he was happiest and when that dream was shattered his mind would not allow his heart to believe it was gone. I believe he kept those places he shared with your mama so he could visit them, to keep her alive in his mind and heart, to balance him when the madness overtook him."

Alexis sighed as she ran a hand through her hair. "Perhaps you are right but I have come to believe he kept them for me to find, a map of sorts to follow the silent messages he left behind. It wasn't until I read his will that I truly understood how much it hurt him to banish me from his life all those years, how much of his sanity was sacrificed to protect me, how much he loved me. He found a way to keep me safe with your help, don't you think he would have found a way for me to regain whatever it was he deemed so important? I know it may not make sense but in my heart I know that my intuition is not an illusion, Mrs. Lansbury or Helena would not be trying to find it too. I believe something is there… in my parent's secret place… that she has somehow learned of and wants badly."

"Badly enough to try and kill you, Miss Alexis," she spoke it as a statement, not a question.

"I will not allow her to keep me from what is part of my life, the life that was stolen from me. I will not give her that power over me," Alexis said through gritted teeth.

The woman gazed into her eyes and cast a smile filled with fondness. "I can hear your Mama in that vow. Fine, I will help you in any way I can - you and their granddaughter."

Alexis looked relieved. "My father is pointing to Rosewood so that is where we will go." She thought of the bloodied handkerchief Helena managed to secret in Kristina's carriage and set her shoulders. "I will not leave Kristina behind and intend to ask Alice to come with us to watch over her. I know you were there after my Mother died and perhaps you can help me locate whatever message my father wants me to find there. Are you up for a trip to the past?"

The old woman took both her hands in hers and gazed at her with steely determination. "As you feel you owe your parents to make this journey, I owe it to them to protect you and your daughter. I will go wherever you and Kristina go. This I swear on the same oath I made to your parents before you were born."

* * *

"You want to delve into the mind of the late, great mad Ice Prince? That's pretty gutsy Doc given that he was a certifiable madman. You might find your way inside that wacky Russian head and never find your way out again," Luke said as he played blocks with Kristina on the floor.

"I know some facts about the Cassadines and Mikkos but not enough. I need to understand how his mind worked," Cameron stated trying to keep the disquiet out of his voice.

Luke stared at him. "Look, Doc, you may have the simple facts but nothing about the Cassadines is simple or easy. I've spent my life studying everything known about them for a number of reasons just as a number of them have tried to kill me at any given time for any number of what they would define as "reasons". The only Cassadine I've ever admired or respected is Natasha because she had the guts to stand up to the lot of them, thumb her nose and make a life away from them."

He looked at Cameron oddly. "And from whence comes all this interest in things princely Cassadine, Doc?"

Cameron sighed as he slid from the couch onto the floor next to Kristina, picked up a colorful block and twirled it in his hand. "Alexis's father is pulling her back into the past…"

Luke straightened up fast. "What the hell does that mean?"

"Remember that necklace Helena left behind that belonged to Alexis's Mother?"

Luke nodded. "Yeah and we were trying to figure out how she had it if it was buried with the diva."

"Well, it has been bothering Alexis, the reference to the secret place they had called Shangri-La…"

Luke rolled his eyes. "How very Cecile B. DeMille of the old boy."

"She remembered a memory before Christmas, her mother and father speaking about Helena finding out about them and moving to their secret haven among the ice castles."

"Switzerland? Austria? The man probably had secret hidey holes in every backwater snow capital of the world," Luke snorted.

Cameron glared. "This is serious. After she remembered that, she was going through some of the boxes she had from that English attorney and the Paris apartment and found a snowglobe…"

"One of the shake-me kinds?"

He nodded. "Yes and it was designed no doubt by her father because it had clues built right in… if you knew where to look."

Luke raised an eyebrow. "Clues?"

"A stone house in the snow and figures of a man, woman and child on skis. The woman and little girl wore matching necklaces…"

Luke whistled. "Don't tell me… a diamond on a chain?"

Cameron nodded. "Yes and the figures were drawn to the exact likeness of Mikkos, Kristin and Alexis."

Luke snickered. "Good old Mikkos encased in a snowglobe. How's that for irony?"

"In the snow were slivers of crystal that formed a rose which Alexis took to mean the crystalline rose that Mikkos created for Kristin, the rose that was smashed when she fell against it after Helena slit her throat."

Luke looked thoughtful as Kristina slapped his arm and tried to grab his block away. He leaned down and kissed her head. "So Tash thinks that the house in the globe is Shangri-La and that her pop is playing a game of Clue guiding her to it? I wouldn't put anything past that frosty nutcase but isn't that a stretch, Doc? I mean I read all about 'things unresolved' but isn't she putting all her eggs in one wacky basket?"

Cameron had some of the same concerns and that was why he wanted to know more about Mikkos, the kind of man he was and how his thought process worked.

"That is why I asked you here. You knew the man well…"

"Not that I'm bragging, Doc, but I could write THE definitive book on the guy."

"Was he capable of setting up such an intricate maze to guide Alexis to whatever is at the end of whatever is waiting out there somewhere?"

"The man had a twisty mind, Doc, so yeah he could easily run this scam. But one thing you need to remember at all times… there was no in between with Mikkos Cassadine. Either he set this up for his daughter to find the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow or he set it up for someone else to find to unleash his own posthumous personal Armageddon."

"That is what worries me. It seems that Helena knows or suspects something and is trying to lure Alexis into finding whatever it is for her. This could easily backfire and harm Alexis. I won't allow that to happen."

Luke looked at Cameron with concern. "You do realize you aren't going to stop Tash now that she has this particular bone by the teeth? Her parents and her past are her Achilles heel and only those who know her very well know exactly how deep and painful that bone spur is."

Cameron lifted Kristina into his lap and hugged her tight as she squirmed and giggled. "Her father? Helena?"

"And don't forget Count Vlad, the man returned to us a much darker and morose vampire. Her protector and confidante, he knows her much better than she realizes. This troubles me, Quack. So where does Tash believe the dead Dark Prince is leading her next?"

"Back to the past."

'That's mighty big territory to cover. Anywhere specific?"

Cameron kissed Kristina's head as he heard the front door open. "Rosewood."

Luke looked shocked and then smiled brilliantly over Cameron's shoulder. 'Hey, Natasha, Happy Anno Nuevo!"

"Luke, what are you doing here?" Alexis asked, slipping off her coat and gloves.

"I am aware of yours and the Doc's kinky road trip fetish and, as a traveling man myself, smelled that oh-so-sweet scent of gas fumes and forged passport ink wafting in the air. See Uncle Luke here is ready for some adventure and you two always seem to find a boatload so when do we leave, sweetcheeks?"
Alexis looked at Cameron who shrugged and they both started to chuckle.

Alexis looked down at her friend. "Well, leave it to you to invite yourself on a road trip, Luke. We usually like to spend them alone but this time a threesome works for me. And thanks…"

Luke scoffed as he waggled his eyebrows. "No thanks needed… threeways are my forte. When do we blow this popstand?"

She sat down on the couch behind Cameron and wrapped her arms around him and her daughter, enveloping them in her embrace.

"Tomorrow."

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