Chapter 9

"What? That can't be. I'm a Cassidine, how can I look like a Spencer?" Lucien asked incredulously.

Nikolas shrugged. "I don't know. They say everyone has a double out there somewhere. I didn't say I could explain why, I just said you looked like him. Be careful walking around this town. You could really freak some people out!"

Lucien thought for a minute. "Okay, so we figured out why everyone stares at me so strangely, but that doesn't explain why I've been forbidden to come here. I just don't buy that my grandmother is that afraid of Luke Spencer. Three's got to be more to it than that."

"You're right. I don't think Helena has never been afraid of him. She's too sure of herself. In fact, during the times she was here, she seemed to enjoy taunting him and fighting with him. I always thought they had some kind of sick, mutual respect for each other as enemies. They like fighting with each other too much. It's weird."

Lucien shook his head. Everything he was hearing here completely contradicted what he had been raised to believe. He hated doubting his granmother and uncle, but it was starting to look like they had decieved him about Port Charles.

"Anyway, I'd be happy to help you out. It's nice to meet a member of the family that I actually like for once," Nikolas said, smiling. It was strange, but he already felt a strong connection to his cousin, even if he had only just met him. Maybe it was because of the resemblance to Lucky, or the fact that he could relate to the way he grew up. He saw a lot of himself in Lucien. They were both raised in Greece without their parents (or at least that's what Nikolas had believed at the time), they had little to no contact with other kids, they were always told about the evil that was Luke Spencer, and they were constantly being trained to be take over the family estate. That's a lot of pressure for a kid to deal with, and it was nice to finally meet someone who could actually understand what he went through.

Lucien smiled. He felt like he had found a kindred spirit in his cousin. "I'd like that. You won't tell Uncle Stefan, will you? I'm not ready to deal with my grandmother yet."

Nikolas shook his head and laughed. "Don't worry. I have no desire to deal with her either! Your secret is safe with me. Just be careful talking to people here. Most people probably won't make the connection that you look like Lucky, but there are a few people who will. Luke's one of them, so you've already got that out of the way, but I'm worried that Laura will see you."

"Laura, she's your mother, right?" Lucien asked.

He nodded. "Yeah, and she took his death really hard. She had a nervous breakdown, and they almost had to institutionalize her once. If she sees you, she might lose it, so try to avoid her for now, okay?" He pulled his wallet and flipped to the pictures. "Here, this is her. If you see her, turn around or go the other way." He showed him a photo of him, Laura, and a young girl who looked like she was about 10.

"That girl must be your sister. She looks just like you," Lucien said.

Nikolas smiled proudly. "Yeah, that's Lu. We used to call her LuLu when she was younger, but she doesn't like that name anymore. Here's a picture of her back then. Wasn't she adorable?" he asked, flipping to another picture. It's a smaller version of the photo of him, Lucky, and LuLu that they gave Laura for her birthday.

Lucien froze. He felt like he was looking in a mirror, except it took him back about 5 years. "Is that...?"

Nikolas nodded. "Yeah, that's Lucky. I take it you see what I mean. You're his spitting image."

"More like identical twin... and your sister....I think I've seen her somewhere before." He shook his head, confused. "Maybe my grandmother had a picture of her or something. This is all so confusing. Thank you for agreeing to help me, Nikolas. I have a feeling this is going to get much more complicated than I originally expected."

Nikolas smiled. "Hey, you're family, right? We'll figure this out."

~*~

Mac was in his office, looking through a stack of files, when there was a knock at the door. "Come in!"

"How's my favorite husband?" Felicia asked cheerfully.

Mac smiled and stood up to give her a kiss. "I'm okay, what brings you here?"

"Just thought I'd say hi. Whatcha working on?"

Mac shrugged. "Nothing major. Just something for Luke. Robin called the other day to tell me about this guy she met at school. She said his name was Lucien Cassidine, and that he looked like Lucky. I went to warn Luke today, but the kid had already found his way here. I think he freaked him out a little. It must be strange to see what could be the twin of your dead son standing in front of you, going by the name of your worst enemy!"

"Wait...back up a little there. What is this kid's name?" Felicia asked, trying to process what he had just told her.

"Lucien Cassidine. He says he's Helena's grandson. No one's ever heard of him, he just sort of appeared out of nowhere."

"I think I met him yesterday. Does he have longish hair and a goatee?" she asked, picturing the young man she saw in the park.

Mac nodded. "Yeah, that's him. When did you see him?"

"In the park yesterday. He was standing by the fountain, and he looked troubled, so I stopped to ask if he was okay. He was very polite, but he seemed kind of lost, like he wasn't sure why he was there. It was kind of eerie. I remember him saying something about coming here to surprise his family."

Mac stiffened. "I hope that's not a bad thing."

She shook her head. "No, he seemed too nice to be here to cause trouble. He struck me as kind of sad. He mentioned that his mother was an American, and the way he said it, I can only assume that she died. The poor kid probably grew up without his parents. Maybe he's just lonely, and wants to meet the rest of his family."

"Maybe," Mac said reluctantly. "But, as long as he's a Cassidine, I'm going to keep an eye one him. Especially if he was raised by Helena!"

She eyed the files on his desk. "So, what are you looking for?"

"Just background. Who his parents were, how old he is, what he's done, stuff like that. Anything I can find, really. So far, all I've got is a birthday. April 16, 1982."

Felicia's eyes widened. "April 16th? That's a strange coincidence, don't you think?"

"What do you mean by coincidence?"

"Well, April 16th is the day Lucky died. Kind of ironic that it's Lucien's birthday, isn't it? And the year is the same, so that makes them the same age."

Mac looked back at the file. "Yeah, that is weird. I guess I have a lot more research than I thought."

"Want some help?" she asked eagerly. "I haven't exercised my P.I. instincts lately. I think they're getting rusty."

He smiled at his wife. "Sure, I'd love some help, and I always love an excuse to keep you close by. Here, grab a folder." He tossed a file to her and they both sat down on the sofa and began to read.

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