Threads - A GH/Neo (Nikolas/Georgie) Fanfic
Summary - Helena makes a proposition that neither Nikolas nor Georgie can refuse.
By - Attagirl
Disclaimer - I do not own "General Hospital."

I do appreciate any input you have to offer, whether it's in regard to spelling, style, dialog, characterization, description, etc., you name it I'm open to hearing it. Reviews are valued, even flames, as long as the flamer is not hiding behind an anonymous tag. After all you can't be any worse than some of the English professors I've had.

Need to Know Notes: The TMK "attempted" to kill Georgie, however, she was saved by Lucky.

She slipped into a coma, during which time Nikolas had the surgery and recovered.

Georgie awoke several months later, so this will take place approximately half a year after the Black and White Ball.

No spoilers.

Since I now watch the show sporadically, nothing that's happening on the show will actually apply to this piece.

Prologue:

The gentle early summer breeze that drifted through the open window created life within the gauzy white draperies. They billowed into the room as if breathing in deeply before pulling back, pressing against the screen. In and out. Helena Cassadine watched this from the chair in which she sat, hypnotized into deeper thoughts by the effect.

Tonight would be the start of the future that would determine her family's fate. Whether the blood that ran through her veins would be lost to obscurity and peasantry, or rise up from the depths it had sunk to since Stavros insisted on siring Nikolas with Laura. Helena cursed herself for her weakness when it came to catering to her eldest sons wishes. Then again she'd had no foresight to know that Stavros would not live to marry a daughter from a respectable, royal family and beget an heir worthy of the Cassadine name. If truth were to be told, Helena never considered Nikolas to be the true heir, but since Stavros and Stefan deaths he became the heir by blood default.

In the beginning Helena had been willing to compromise with this turn of events. However, when her attempts to marry Nikolas off to someone of good blood had failed and he spawned an illegitimate child with that commoner, Courtney Matthews, her patience began to wear thin. No matter how hard she tried, Helena could not accept the boy.

Unconsciously, Helena stroked the cover to the file she held in her lap.

Knowing that she must do something, anything, to ensure Mikkos's legacy, she began to cautiously plan. Helena knew the key to getting Nikolas to obey her was in Laura. She also knew that Luke would do most anything to save his beloved, including coercing her grandson into marrying and producing the heir of Helena's choice. Well aware of the fact, that while she could simply threaten to kill Laura if Nikolas did not do as she wished, Helena knew that an incentive was called for in this situation. And she had just the incentive Nicholas and the Spencer's were looking for.

Finding the right woman to serve as a mother to bare the Cassadine legacy had been more difficult than she anticipated. While she was considering the Webber girl again, an opportunity revealed itself to her in the most delightful and unexpected way. Helena was thrilled to realize that she need not look any further than her grandson's own backyard, so to speak.

"Madam. Your guests have arrived."

With a sadistic smile Helena turned to look at the man standing in the doorway.

"Well bring them in, no need to keep them waiting any longer."

Smoothing out any imaginary creases in her pants, Helena stood and made her way over to the desk by the window and placed the manila folder containing the identity of the mother-to-be in a drawer. Hearing Luke's telltale strut she turned around to face her guests.

"Welcome."

"I knew it!" Luke exclaimed.

"Of course you did Luke, who else would go to such lengths to gain your company?"

"Your lust for me has been revealed," Luke joked, striding over to the liquor cabinet where he proceeded to pour himself a sniffer of bourbon.

Helena watched him briefly before turning to face her two remaining guests. Nikolas and Lucky. While Luke could make a jest out of his ridiculous idea that she lusted after him, she could not deny the fact that his son was another story. The young man had turned out to be quite a specimen and if she believed for one moment that any of her programing still existed in the young man, she would have called upon it in an instant.

"Hello, Nikolas. Lucky." She greeted them individually, sweeping her arm out in a gesture for them to be seated, taking a seat herself in the process.

"What do you want Helena?" Lucky asked.

"I want to offer Nikolas a proposition," she began, looking down at her aged hands in the process, straightening her rings.

"Then why are the cowboy and I here?" Luke asked.

"You and your son, as well as your daughter, have stake in my offer," she explained.

"What kind of proposition do you have to make?" Nikolas asked, "and why would I take it?"

"Because I have Laura," she stated simply.

The three men stiffened in response to her statement. It was Lucky who made a move toward Helena, his intent clear by the malice blazing in his eyes, only to be stopped by Nikolas. Luke and Nikolas both knew that Helena had guards surrounding them at the moment, and all it would take was one word from her and they could be rendered helpless.

"That's impossible," Luke stated, setting down the glass he'd been clutching tightly in his fist he left his perch on the cabinet and made his way toward the younger men, "she's bluffing, let's get out of here."

"St. Penelope's Hospital, south of Cork in Ireland" Helena said, motioning forward one of her guards who brought with him a hand held DVD player.

Signaling that it should be given to Luke, she watched as Luke opened the device and pressed play. Helena immediately noticed his increased breathing, the tautness of his lithe body, and the increase of lines around his eyes and mouth.

She could practically smell the fear he had for his beloved Laura, and judging by the looks on the two younger men's faces they too knew the truth.

"What do you want?" Nikolas asked.

"Very simply, I want you to marry and produce a legitimate heir to the Cassadine fortune."

"There's already an heir. Spencer." Nikolas tried to reason.

"I must be honest Nikolas, I have tried to accept your bastard as being heir, however I cannot rectify the child of a commoner with the Cassadine legacy," she explained, "your bloodline deserves better than an illegitimate child of less than acceptable birth.

Watching his reaction very closely, Helena noted the increased tension in Nikolas's mouth when she called Spencer a bastard, but they both knew that she did not say it out of spite. It was simply how she viewed the child born out of wedlock.

"If you marry the girl I have chosen, produce a male heir and remain married for a year, I will return Laura to you in better condition than she was when you last saw her."

"What?!" Luke asked, startled.

"You heard me Luke. She will be aware and conscious." Helena promised, all the while despising the necessity of bringing back a woman she loathed.

"How do we know you'll keep your promise?" Luke asked.

His question caused both Nikolas and Lucky to look at him in surprise.

"I hope you realize that it was not necessary for me to make this concession. I could have just returned Laura to you in her previous state if Nikolas does what I ask of him," Helena reasoned.

"That's true," Lucky murmured.

"I'm offering to bring Laura back as a reward of sorts for Nikolas," she said, "I'm that desperate Luke," she spat out.

Luke and Helena locked eyes and he realized that she meant what she said.

If Luke knew anything about Helena, it was that she worshiped the Cassadine bloodline and Mikkos's legacy. From the very start he knew that Spencer would not suffice and he'd waited to see what she would do about it. Now he knew.

Nikolas watched the exchange carefully and the look on Luke's face told him that the older man believed Helena when she said she would return Laura.

"Who?" Lucky suddenly asked, curiosity gaining the better of him.

"What?" Nikolas asked, startled by his brother's question.

"Who has Helena chosen for you to marry?" Lucky reiterated.

"Oh, I imagine you'll actually be quite satisfied Nikolas. She's descended from royalty, a princess in fact. She's very intelligent, beautiful, and healthy. She also resides in Port Charles."

Helena watched with amusement as the three contemplated the hints she'd given them.

"Well it can't be the older sister, since God himself only knows who she's spread her legs for," Luke offered crudely once he'd figured out just who Helena was speaking of, "so it must be the younger one, who least deserves to be pulled into the Cassadine's web."

"Perhaps not Luke, however, Georgianna Jones is my choice."