Destiny's Child

Chapter 1

Jerry groaned at the rapid pounding on his door. Who would be so cruel as to disturb him at dawn on a Saturday. Lucas he was the only one. "Lucas I'll be right with you." Jerry called out, fumbling under the sheets for his boxers and his robe. Pulling them on, he opened the door a crack. "You're not Lucas." He announced, looking over the fetching Ms. Ardanowski.

"No I'm not. " V said pushing past. "And good morning to you too." She held up the medallion. "Here's another present. I need your help." She stood silently as Jerry examined the medallion.

"V what are you doing with a Cassadine medallion. These were only given to family members." V gasped and looked at Jerry, wide eyed, "Are you sure that's what this is?"

"Positive." He replied, studying the card. Sitting in silence, V fidgeted until Jerry me her eyes again. "Well Venus" he said, after a few minutes. "We have a mystery on our hands. A mystery I intend to help you solve."

V rolled her eyes. "I'm honored Jerry. Really I am."

Jerry's expression turned serious. "Venus do you know what this means?" When she just looked at him, Jerry led her to his couch and waited until she had settled against the plush leather backing. "What do you know about your family? Could they be distant Cassadines?" As Jerry spoke he scrutinized her bone structure, mentally comparing her to the other Cassadines. She didn't quite look like Alexis, but there was a similarity in bone structure and coloring to Stefan

V thought back to the stories she'd been told. "Jerry I don't usually make a big deal out of this, but I was adopted."

"Adopted eh?" Jerry repeated, sitting on the couch beside her. "From where? In what city were you adopted or born?"

As V heard Jerry's question, chills went up her spine. "Athens. My parents were amateur archeologists. They adopted me there."

Jerry nodded seriously and regarded the young woman sitting next to her. "In 1973>correct?"

"Yes Jerry." V said in a small voice that just broke his heart. He watched her trying to maintain her composure out of the corner of his eye. "And when did they pass on luv?" He questioned quietly.

"Four years ago." V sighed rubbing the bridge of her nose. "The brakes gave out, it was an icy night. Jerry is this necessary?" Her emotions were on the brink of exploding and she wouldn't give him the satisfaction of breaking her.

He gathered her close, unmindful of his current state of undress. He was a sucker for tears and when she'd turned her doe eyes on him, shimmering with tears he'd just lost all pretense of modesty and began comforting her. "Yes luv I'm afraid it is. It's all right though." He said rubbing her back in soothing circles, pressing her close to him.

Feeling V taking a mighty shuddery breath, he tightened his arms around her, half pulling her on his lap. "Let it go V. Cry it out." He said kissing the top of his head, his heart breaking in sympathy. He too had been touched by the Cassadines and knew how they could ruin lives.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Stefan Cassadine awoke and padded to the window. The grounds of Wyndamereglistened with the morning dew and the early morning sun on the horizon promised a glorious May day. He turned to look at the bed, watching the sleeping form that rested there. What had happened last night should never be allowed to happen again. He had too many family concerns to invite this sort of a relationship into his household.

As he watched her, the sleeping form awakened, coppery curls peeking out of the lush bedding. "Did we really?" She asked in resignation, knowing the answer even as she looked over Stefan's form, clad in silk pajama bottoms and a robe alone.

"Yes Barbara I'm afraid we did." Stefan sighed, watching the telltale expressions flicker over her face. First came shock, then a small glimpse of guilt and finally, amazingly, Stefan found himself looking into the face of a woman looking immensely satisfied with her current position.

"What's done is done." Bobbie said trying to keep her expression neutral. "Are you joining me?" She asked trying to hold onto her nonchalance even as she devoured his masculine form.

"What about Jerry Jacks?" Stefan inquired quietly, every fiber of his being longing to hold her.

"We've broken up." Bobbie replied, a slight frown appearing on her face. "It just wasn't working. We parted ways a few weeks ago."

Stefan closed his eyes and nodded, body and mind waging a war for his control. He finally gave in to his body's urges and slipped into bed, tossing his robe on a chair and pulling Bobbie into his arms in a single fluid move.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jerry held V as she cried, not having a clue what to do with this crying woman, who would probably regret letting him see this little bit of emotion later, when she had pulled herself back together. He never had any use for crying women before, but V’s tears cut him deep, and he wanted to comfort her in any way possible. He continued to rub her back, until her sobs quieted into soft sniffles. When V moved to pull away from him, he unwillingly let her go.

She looked at him with a watery smile. "You surprise me Jerry Jacks, I wouldn’t look at you and immediately think that you’re a man who would bother to comfort a crying woman, you definitely look like the type who would run the other way screaming. You’re more like your brother then I ever would have thought possible. I thought he had the market on strong shoulders, but I’m glad I’m mistaken."

"You wound me, comparing me to Jasper. As the better brother, you should have known that I would be just as sensitive as he would. I just prefer to keep that side tucked away until a beautiful damsel in distress needs it."

"You play the Black Knight to Jax’s white one very well, but you’re nothing but a big marshmallow under all that armor Jerry Jacks. And I’m glad I got to see it. I accept your offer to help me, just tell me where we start?" Never in a million years would she have thought she’d be accepting any offer from Jerry, let alone one that was going to hit so close to home.

"At Wyndamere of course, if you’re going to play in the vipers nest, may as well go right to the middle of it. If you think you can handle it V, if not, we can always start with the little research, and then head to face the bat."