Jailhouse
Rated PG

"Are you ready for the next step?" Laura asks Melissa, her face a mask of worry. This has to work, she thought. It just has to.

Melissa nods slightly. "Yeah." She turns to Stefan as he pulls the scrub shirt over his head. "Good luck, Mr. Cassadine. We’re all counting on you."

Stefan glances at the informality of his attire, smiling slightly. "Please, make it Stefan. And I assure you, I will do my best."

They hear Roy on the other side of the curtain, his voice abnormally raised. "Dude, it’s time for you to make up your damn mind."

"What do you want?" Jax asks, obviously perplexed.

"Don’t play innocent with me! I’m talking about you and Melissa…"

"I guess that’s my cue." The smile leaves Melissa’s face, she straightens her shoulders and then steps through the curtain to assume her role as the object of affection in this hastily plotted triangle.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Laura whispers to Stefan. He is fumbling with the ties of the surgical mask, unable to loosen a particularly stubborn knot. "Here, let me." Laura reaches for it, working the knot loose with a long fingernail.

"Of course I’m sure, Laura. The only way to battle Stavros is on a level playing field – I was of absolutely no use to anyone in that jail cell." Stefan patiently waits as she finishes loosening the knot and moves to place the mask over his mouth.

"But you were safe. Stefan, you’re going after Stavros alone. You know what he is – are you going to be all right?" She reaches behind his head to tie the mask, both it and the green cap serving to render him unrecognizable.

"It’s our only choice. You know that." Stefan moves away, intending to leave as he hears the policemen moving towards the action at the center of the room. Laura grabs his hand, pulling him to her as she stands on tiptoe to kiss his cheek.

"Be careful," she whispers softly but urgently in his ear. "Good luck out there."

Stefan jerks the mask down just far enough to bare his lips and presses them to Laura’s in a hard, swift, completely unexpected kiss. "That is a good luck kiss," he states softly, eyes twinkling as he readjusts the mask and slips out of the examination room unnoticed by the gathering crowd.

Laura is immobile for several moments, her fingers lingering at her mouth, the tingling sensation his lips left behind something she had almost succeeded in forgetting. Almost…

~The End~

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