Chapter One:
Enchanted Evening of Twisted Affairs
 

Part One

The moment had passed. He was fairly certain of it. As he watched her across the room and he saw the pain in her eyes, there was no mistaking it. This had been his doing, or rather his undoing that had brought her this much pain. He couldn’t bear the thought of her crying and yet here he was in his glorified fashion prancing around the room in his glorified hating the world around him mode. The rest of the world had let him down and here he was doing his best to keep things under his control, under his power as he was the puppet master in all of this and yet...
        
He frowned. This wasn’t what he’d intended upon and now, well his vision was a bit hazy from perhaps one too many martinis. Livvie had drifted off mixed in with the crowd and perhaps it was just as well as there was so much he had to do, so many levels to his agenda and yet here he was, watching only her. He had promised himself that he wouldn’t ever be lost again, but feeling her pain, it was almost unbearable. Taking in a breath he stepped forward only to be brushed aside by the moment, by the crowd as his eyes remained fixed on her. It had been so long since they’d talked and yet there was so much more to say. Taking in a breath, he moved forward only to come to a halt as he watched Kevin walk up beside her tugging on her arm whispering something he hadn’t been able to hear. 
        
“Just as well,” he sighed watching them walk off together as he was filled with a strong sense of revenge. The pain was still there and while it wasn’t as strong as it had been when he’d first arrived at the party, he was certain, there was no way around what he must do. Kevin had to go down for what he’d done to ruin his life.

Livvie walked through the crowd fairly uncertain of most everything except for the fact that she’d lost Chris. Her security was gone and now she was walking a midst of scattered faces. She drew in her breath and rounded the corner finding herself run smack dab into a peacock. She apologized briefly for the little mishap before taking off down one of the corridors wondering if she’d find Chris. Unable to think straight, she stepped outside feeling the night around her engulf her once more. This was overwhelming and she had to ask herself why she was here to begin with. None of this was her, it could never be her, she thought to herself as she stepped out onto the terrace and held the night air around her.
        
“Oh excuse me,” a voice called out from behind her as she saw a gray haired man standing beside her, “I didn’t realize that this balcony was occupied.”
        
“There’s room for one more,” she offered watching him begin his retreat, “I mean it’s not mine for the taking.”
        
“Why thank you,” he smiled moving in beside her, “a lovely night isn’t it?”
        
“Absolutely beautiful,” Livvie nodded looking out at the night sky.
        
“The stars just seem to have a calming effect, don’t they?” he smiled at her lightly before looking up at the night sky, “I remember a time not so long ago in my youth when they were so very important to me. A time when the little things like the night sky kind of just opened up to me and took me in.”
        
“Kind of sweeping you up from all your problems?” she asked with a light smile.
        
“Something like that, but sometimes there’s something closer to home than the stars,” he admitted seeing her troubled features, “care to talk about it?”
        
She smiled at his kind eyes seeing a warmth behind them, “No, I couldn’t,” she shook her head, “I mean I could, but well, my date is probably wondering where I am and I can’t just leave him hanging.”
        
“No I suppose that wouldn’t be a wise idea,” he nodded in response with a sympathetic smile as he took a seat on one of the benches. 
        
She walked towards the doors before stopping feeling something keeping her from going back inside to the party, from what truths may lie hidden behind the eyes of everyone inside. She looked to the man sitting on the bench before changing direction and taking a seat beside him. She smiled at him lightly before explaining herself, “I think the party and my date can wait a little while longer.”

Ian stood in the center of the room looking around, his eyes searching for Eve. He’d hoped he’d be able to catch up with her tonight as so much was riding on it, but as he stood there, he found nothing. This was not going to bide well. He needed to find her and soon. So much was based on that. He began to cross the room when he felt someone tug on his arm. Turning around, he saw the familiar eyes standing before him.
        
“What are you doing here?” he nearly gasped feeling his chin drop slightly as he saw her standing there clear as day in front of half of Port Charles. She’d been wearing a mask, but there was no denying who she was and the trouble that associated with her.
        
“You didn’t think I’d sit back and let this go down without my own personal touch, did you?” she questioned with a sugary sweet smile as a waiter walked by and she reached for a glass of champagne, “I mean after all, what would tonight be like without my presence here?”
        
“You shouldn’t be here,” Ian warned feeling himself a bit on edge as she stood before him, “it’s far too dangerous for you to be here.”
        
“I couldn’t sit back and let you mess this up,” she explained simply, “now where is she?”
        
“Eve?”
        
“Who else?” she frowned, “Please tell me that you haven’t messed this one up as well.”
        
“I’ll find her,” Ian assured as his eyes glanced over the room briefly.
        
“You’d better because I have big plans for Kevin tonight and I don’t intend upon having her intruding upon them. I‘ve waited far too long for this.”
        

Karen sat at the bar watching the scene unfolding around her. She smiled lightly as a few people passed by going on their merry way. She looked down at her ginger ale wondering what she was in fact doing here. There were so many other things she should be doing, working, cleaning the apartment....oh who was she kidding? Life had been so incredibly boring from the moment she’d returned to Port Charles. Nothing had been the same for her since she’d come back from rehab and her one date she’d actually gone out on had flopped. With a sigh she sipped her drink as her eyes connected with Joe and Gabriella across the room. They were laughing lightly holding onto one another and she felt her heart sink a bit as the thought of being in this place alone hit her again.
        
“Excuse me,” a voice called out to her as she turned to her left seeing him standing beside her, “is this seat taken?”
        
“It is now,” she replied with a light smile as he sat beside her.
        
“Can I buy you a drink?” he questioned with a smile.
        
“Well, I suppose it’s the least you can do for me seeing as I hardly ever see you anymore,” Karen replied with a smile as she looked at his handsome smile.
        
“It has been some time hasn’t it?” he asked lightly signaling to the bar tender, “The lady would like another and I’ll have what she’s having as well.”
        
“Two ginger ales,” the bartender noted going to retrieve their drinks.
        
“Doing the hard stuff tonight huh?” he asked with a soft smile.
        
“Well, I guess that’s what you call living on the edge,” she offered with a soft grin.
        
“Is that what it is?” He asked tentatively as their eyes connected and he leaned in towards her, “well perhaps we should redirect the nature of our conversation here.”
        
“Meaning?” she questioned lightly.
        
“Meaning I think we should get back to that comment you made about us hardly ever seeing one another lately and I think that we should find a way to remedy it.”
        
“Do you?” she smiled wider unable to suppress the potential she felt in the air as she was greeted with his handsome smile.
        

Eve walked down the hallway feeling her anger bubbling over. This was it. Her breaking point and she refused to take anymore. Not from Kevin and most certainly not from Lucy. If he didn’t want to include her, then that was it. She was done with him. No more worrying about screwing up and doing the wrong thing. She was tired of everything that came along with....        
        
As her thoughts were blurred, she found herself rushing down the hallway until she felt it. She opened her mouth to scream but found nothing coming out as a thick gloved hand covered her lips and pulled her out of the hallway into the darkness of the closet. 

PART TWO

“Who says I’m going to give you a second chance to redeem yourself here?” Karen challenged with a soft grin as she watched him, “I mean after the first time.”
        
“Take a look around this place,” he smiled lightly, “do you think anyone here is going to judge you for giving me a second chance here?”
        
“I don’t know if it’s safe to accept any kind of proposal you offer me here,” Karen half smiled, “it’s dangerous to think that you and I could be having this drink like this,” she explained raising her glass.
        
“Dangerous to whom? The world around us?” he questioned with a slight smile, “now Karen, what happened to that live on the edge kind of girl? I thought she was still buried inside there. Was that just an improper presumption?”
        
“Anything coming from you should be deemed improper,” She teased lightly tracing the rim of her glass with her index finger.
        
“Perhaps, but you haven’t refused yet, so dare I take it a step further and ask you to dance with me?” he questioned watching the sweet combination of surprise and interest in her eyes as a hint of a smile appeared upon her lips.
        
“I shouldn’t accept such a proposition,” Karen smiled slightly, “but given the nature of this evening...”
        
“You couldn’t help but accept,” He finished cracking a grin as he reached for her hand pulling her to her feet with one swift tug, “dance with me.”
        
“Right here?” 
        
“Right now,” He nodded with a hint of a smile, “after all it is a party. How could you refuse?”
        
“Apparently,” she finally let her amusement shine through as a soft grin spread over her delicate features, “I can’t. Let’s dance.”

<hr>

“It’s a lovely night to be spending it out here like this,” the voice cut through Livvie’s thoughts as she turned to the kind old man beside her.
        
“I enjoy this believe it or not,” she admitted, “I always found some sort of peace beneath the stars.”
        
“I can see that,” He smiled looking towards the sky, “there is so much out there.”
        
“So much I don’t understand,” she sighed.
        
“Why dear, you’re not supposed to understand it all,” he smiled lightly looking ot her troubled face, “Why when I was your age, I didn’t have the first clue about the way things were.”
        
“And now?” she asked curiously.
        
“I still don’t.”
        
“Everything just seems so difficult in my life,” she sighed, “I don’t know what to believe in anymore.”
        
“Well, a wise man once told me that the best way find the truth is to search inside your heart and find what the answers are.”
        
“What if the answers aren’t clear?” she asked with a sigh, “what if you just don’t know what they are?”
        
“Eventually you will,” he smiled at her, “in time the truth becomes apparent when you feel it in your heart.”
        
“My heart is being tugged in so many directions,” she confessed slumping her shoulders.
        
“Care to talk about it?”
        
“I wouldn’t want to burden you,” she shrugged.
        
“It wouldn’t be a burden,” he offered lightly, “besides, I might be of some assistance. After all by my age, you’ve pretty much heard it all.”
        
“I couldn’t. I really couldn’t.”

“Why couldn’t you?” He asked softly seeing the troubled eyes looking back at him.

“Because you don’t even know me and it wouldn’t be fair to burden you with my problems,” She offered with a shrug, “I couldn’t do that to you.”

“Sometimes strangers make the best listeners,” he offered with a smile, “I’ve been told every now and then that listening does tend to be one of my finer attributes.”

“I don’t know,” she shrugged, “I mean I don’t want you to think that I’m crazy or something.”

“I would never think that. Look, if you don’t like what I have to say, I promise that I won’t say a word,” he explained, “I just hate to see so much troubling such a young person.”

She thought it over for a moment, “maybe you’re right. Maybe I should get this out,” she finally decided realizing that she needed to get it off her chest somehow. 

<hr>

Ian rounded the corner as he searched the hallways hoping that no one had discovered what he was about to be involved in or rather what he had been involved in. If only this situation with Eve hadn’t been so difficult, then maybe...
        
“Did you find her?” the sharp voice cut through his thoughts as he froze to find her standing beside him.
        
“Do you really think it’s a good idea for you to keep popping out like this considering? Don’t you think you should at least lay low for a while?” he asked.
        
“There’s no reason to lay low tonight as by the end of the night tonight, victory will be mine,” she smiled wickedly, “they’ll all see what it means to cross me.”
        
“You’re not giving up on this plan of yours, are you?”
        
“Why should I?” she challenged with a sneer, “after everything Port Charles did for me, I wouldn’t dream of it. In fact, I‘m about to go see Kevin. I think that it‘s time for him to get a glimpse of what the future holds.”
        
“They might see through this,” He offered.
        
“They won’t see through anything as they haven’t thus far,” she reminded him, “now don’t you start going soft on me or else you may find yourself on the top of my list here and believe me, you don’t want that.”
        
“I’m not going soft about anything,” he insisted with a slight frown, “Eve will be taken care of.”
        
“She’d better be...” she frowned, “she’s already interfered in the plans I’ve had for my favorite Doc here thus far and I have my own agenda for her later,” she smiled slightly, “I’ll deal with her later though. Right now my goal is finding Kevin.”

“Then I promise you, I won’t get in your way. I have more important things to do,” Ian reminded her.

“That you do,” she nodded in agreement, “now go. We‘ll meet up later.”

<hr>

Eve fought to get her eyes to adjust as she struggled to keep herself in control of the situation.
        
“Don’t hurt me,” she finally got out as the hand was removed from her mouth.
        
“I’m not going to hurt you, Eve,” a familiar voice called out to her as she turned to see the brown eyes gazing back at her.
        
“Chris?” she questioned her face shifting from fear to anger as she brought her hand up in an attempt to swat at him, but she found herself stopped short as he seized her arm.
        
“Quick with the reflexes, aren’t you Lambert?”
        
“What were you trying to do? Scare the hell out of me?” she asked snapping at him.
        
“Did I?” he asked noticing the color was drained from her face. “Eve, I’m sorry. I just wanted to talk to you.”
        
“Yeah right you’re sorry,” Eve rolled her eyes as she turned away searching the closet for the door, “shouldn’t you be off molesting Kevin’s daughter or something?”
        
“Eve,” he started again reaching out to her and pulling her close to him, “we need to talk.”
        
“Chris, there’s nothing I’d want to say to you right now. On top of everything else, the last thing I need is you giving me grief,” Eve replied as he held her close to him.
        
“You don’t have to say a word Lambert because right now, I’m the one who’s going to do all the talking and right now, well Eve, you’re just going to shut up for five minutes and listen.”
        
“Give me one good reason why I should.”
        
“Because you owe me that much.”
        
“I don’t owe you anything,” she blurted out with a frown, “this is ridiculous.”
        
“Is it?” he asked watching her try to pull away from him, “is that all I am to you? Just some kind of joke?”
        
“You tell me Chris,” Eve replied watching him closely, “what are you up to?”
 

<hr>

“Drawn back here again huh?” Lucy’s voice called out interrupting Kevin’s thoughts as he turned to face her.
        
“Lucy,” he spoke her name feeling a glimmer of a smile tugging at him as he saw her standing in the doorway, her eyes lighting up, the fire behind them. He couldn’t help but feel at ease in her presence as he‘d thought about how much they‘d grown to depend on one another lately.
        
“I didn’t mean to interrupt you, but I’d noticed that you and Eve appeared to have parted ways and you looked upset,” she stepped forward, “what is it?”
        
“What isn’t it?” he sighed looking back at the window he’d been standing in front of.
        
“Was it about Livvie?”
        
“When isn’t it about Livvie?” Kevin asked with a frown, “it seems like it’s always something.”
        
“Doc, you can’t let Eve keep you from your daughter,” Lucy began, “if that’s what she’s trying to do there.”
        
“No,” he shook his head, “that’s not what she’s trying to do Lucy. Eve knows me far too much to attempt something like that. She’s not trying to keep me from Livvie.”
        
“Then what is it?” Lucy questioned lightly.
        
“I’m just starting to wonder if maybe I should stay away from Livvie,” Kevin admitted.
        
“Come again?”
        
“What good am I going to do for her Lucy? I’ve brought nothing but pain and agony into her life. She doesn’t need that.”
        
“Kevin, she needs her father and you can’t deny her that. You can’t just give up,” she said determined as he turned around to face her. She reached out to hug him and without a thought he slipped into her arms accepting the embrace, “Doc, I know you better than that and I know that somehow we’ll find a way to make it work for you two.” 
        
“We Lucy?” he questioned raising an eyebrow as he parted from her ever so slightly and saw the sparkle behind her eyes.

“That’s right Doc,” she smiled again, “we will get your daughter back to you.”

“Do you think it’s even possible anymore?”

“I know it is Doc. We just can‘t stop believing.”