Chapter 5

Alexis' eyes were closed. 

"You ok?" Luke asked, genuinely concerned.

"Why should you ask? You obviously don't give a damn about my mental state." she 
snapped, her eyes flying open. 

"Now, Natasha. You know that I kinda like you."

"Than why give these to me? Why put me through this?" Alexis turned away, still 
clutching the pictures. "Oh, God. I did this to him. How did he ever forgive 
me?" She breathed, more to herself than to Luke.

"It wasn't your fault." Luke muttered. 

"You don't know." She whirled around, confirming his suspicion that she was 
crying. "You don't know that he endured all of this," she flashed one of the 
pictures at him. "He went through all of it to protect me. Helena would raise 
her hand to slap me, he would stop her, and she would grab him... pull him into 
another room. It happened several times. He never told me what she did to him - 
never complained. Even after wed grown up, he didn't let on that he'd been... 
beaten like this. If I had known... I... I would have found some way to take the 
punishment."

"Don't do this to yourself." He shook his head.

"A slap." She was talking to herself again. "That's the worse I could have 
imagined Helena would do to him. I should of known better. She was a bitch even 
then." A thought suddenly struck Alexis. "How do I know that you didn't doctor 
these. With the right computer software it would be possible."

"For your information, Natasha, I got them from the island. I went back a couple 
months ago to... well, never mind. I found these in Helena's old rooms along 
with those documents - you haven't looked at them yet. She had them locked away 
in a safe hidden behind a bookcase. She must have forgotten about them. Don't 
know where they came from - that is unless Helena was sick enough... stupid 
enough to..."

"No. I seriously doubt it." Alexis was silent for a moment "Of course!" Luke 
looked at her questioningly. "There was a maid that worked for the Cassadines... 
she was a wonderful woman. Mrs. Remington always... " Alexis voice trailed off. 
She remembered Mrs. Remington very well. Like all of the servants, Mrs. 
Remington had witnessed the terrible cruelty Helena had exerted toward Stefan 
and Alexis. However, unlike the other servants, she hadn't turned a blind eye. 
She had always done what she could for the children. Bringing food, when Helena 
had banned meals for days at a time, smuggling dolls onto the island for Alexis, 
and many other small things that Alexis still remembered. Once, when Alexis had 
been crying, and Stefan had been gone, Mrs. Remington had snuck into her room. 
She had told Alexis that soon she would be free to leave the island. Mrs. 
Remington had told her that she would soon have enough evidence to turn the 
Cassadines over to the police. Sadly, Helena had discovered Mrs. Remingtons 
sympathies, and she had not only been dismissed, but killed. Alexis had known 
that whatever evidence the woman had had was confiscated and from what she had 
gathered destroyed. Alexis had always wondered what Mrs. Remington had stumbled 
onto... and now she knew.

Luke remained silent while these thoughts flitted through her mind.

"You wanna tell me where you think these pictures came from?" Alexis shook her 
head, hatred suddenly filling her. But not for Helena as she would have 
expected... for Luke. God, she wanted him dead. If there were only a way to... 

"Hate to bring this up again, but, Natasha... doesn’t this make you want to kill 
her?"

"It certainly doesn’t make me like her any better." she replied.

"So you’ll help me?"

"Why do you need my help? You could get many other people. Last time we worked 
together, it was a dismal familiar... are you trying to recreate it?" 

"You’re the only person I know of who understands the Cassadines. That... and 
you’ve got a heck of a body." he teased. She glared at him. 

"Well, I'm afraid you’ll just have to find a different partner." She looked 
away. If only she could team up with someone to kill *him*. Or better yet to 
Luke and Helena both! The two people she and her brother hated most dead - what 
wouldn’t she give for that?! Of course it was impossible, but... what if there 
was a way...? She gnawed on her lower lip, a plan suddenly forming in her mind. 
If there was one way to get back on Stefan’s good side it would be to kill one 
or both of them. But how to go about it? She thought for a second, glancing up 
at Luke, who seemed preoccupied with the view from her window. He must think she 
was reconsidering. Ha! Then again... maybe she was. The best way to kill Luke 
Spencer would be to earn his trust. Now there was an idea - to help him kill 
Helena... and after the job was done, kill him. But how? She would have to work 
the details out later. It would certainly be a challenge... to work it just 
right... but she was up to it.

"Does that smile mean you’ve changed your mind?" Luke asked, as
Alexis’s face broke into a malicious smirk.

"Yeah, I suppose so." She forced her voice to sound normal. She would have to 
work the details out later. "What's your plan?"