A Common Cure

Holly Sutton sat in the interrogation room at the PCPD with her wrist handcuffed to the table. Her latest scam didn't come off quite the way she had expected it to. And Robert and Luke were of absolutely no help. True she had played them both but what other choice did she have? She wasn't about to go to prison. Not for a scheme that she wanted no part in to begin with.

"Holly." Mac said as he opened the door. "You're bail has been posted. You're free to go." he told her. "For now."

"Someone posted my bail?" she asked surprised. "Was it Robert?"

"No." Mac answered as he uncuffed her. "Skye Quartermaine."

"Who in bloody hell is Skye Quartermaine?" she asked rubbing her wrist. "And why would she post 5 million in bail for someone she doesn't even know?"

"Skye is Alan's daughter." he answered. "She's also Luke's mistress or at least she was and as to why she posted you're bail is a question you're going to have to ask her."

"Where is this Skye now?"

"She's waiting for you in the Quartermaine limo."

Holly gathered her things and headed for the nearest exit. As she approached the limo an older man opened the door for her, she hesitated but was more than curious about who was inside so she slid in and the door slammed closed behind her making it too late to escape. Her eyes landed on a slightly younger woman, mid thirties or so with shampoo commercial red hair.

"To what do I owe the honor, Ms. Quartermaine?" Holly asked as the limo started to move.

"The honor is all mine." Skye assured her. "I've done a lot of research on you. What I've found was quite impressive."

"I try." she replied. "So why did you bail me out?"

"Why not?"

"Five million dollars is a lot to drop on a stranger." Holly pointed out.

"It was pocket change." she replied.

"That still doesn't answer why you did it."

"Simple." Skye answered. "Luke wasn't going to help you. He finds what you did immorally reprehensible. And we both know that if the situation was reversed he would have done the exact same thing, but then again Luke has a nice set of double standards he lives by."

"You sound like a woman scorned." she observed. "So you bailed me out so that I would be indebted to you so you could get revenge on Luke?"

"No." she replied. "I bailed you out because Luke wanted you to go to prison and I so love it when Luke doesn't get his way."

"Skye, you may be hurt by what Luke has done, but if you lash out at him and try to seek some sort of twisted, misguided revenge you're only going to end up hurting yourself." Holly told her. "Trust me, I know."

~An hour later~

Holly waited impatiently on the pier, casually glancing over at spoon island while she waited for the ferry. Finally after what seemed like forever the boat reached the marina. She watched as Helena Cassadine emerged with a small dark headed child.

"You screwed up Holly." Helena taunted as she joined her on the dock.

"I did exactly what you asked of me." Holly said defensively. "Your men screwed it up."

"That's not entirely true."

"We had a deal Helena." she reminded her. "I did your dirty work and now I want my child back."

Helena held on to Abbey's hand tightly. "Next time you may not be so lucky." she warned. She lowered herself down to the child's level. "Did you have fun with Grandmother Helena?" she asked.

"Yes." Abbey smiled, her dark eyes sparkling.

"We'll do it again soon." Helena promised.

Abbey placed a kiss on her grandmother's cheek. "Bye."

"Bye bye, dear." she smiled as she let the little girl go. "Have fun with Mommy."

Holly gathered Abbey in her arms hugging her tightly. "I missed you so much, baby."

"I missed you too, Mummy."

"And Holly." Helena called out. "Be careful."

Helena disappeared back onto the ferry.

"Can I have ice cream?" Abbey asked quietly. "I was good with Grammy."

Holly smiled. "Of course you can have ice cream." she said as she kissed her daughter's cheek. "You can have as much ice cream as you'd like."

"Off so quickly?" a voice came from behind.

Holly swallowed hard, she knew that voice. It was unmistakably Robert's. She took a deep breath before she turned around to face him. "Robert."

The both just stood there looking at each other for several long seconds before the silence between them was broken by a small voice. "Who's that Mummy?" Abbey asked.

Robert approached the child and extend his hand. "Robert Scorpio's the name." he told her. "What's yours?"

Abbey placed her small hand in his. "Abbey Sutton." she answered.

"Well it's very nice to meet you Abbey." he smiled. "You're very beautiful, just like your Mummy."

Holly smiled. "Thank you, Robert. Now if you'll excuse us we have somewhere very important to be."

"We're going for ice cream." Abbey announced. "Do you wanna come too?"

"Sweetheart, I'm sure Robert has a ton of things to do..." Holly started.

Robert glanced at Holly who in return gave him a sour look. "I'd love to join you."

Thirty minutes and three hot fudge sundaes later Holly and Robert were sitting together on the couch of her hotel after she put Abbey to bed.

"Tell me about Abbey."

Holly smiled. "She's the light of my life, Robert. She's my reason for breathing. Everything I do I do for Abbey."

Robert nodded. "What about Abbey's father?" he questioned.

"She doesn't have a father."

"Is he dead?"

"Yes." she answered.

"Did Abbey ever know him?" Robert asked.

"No." Holly replied. "After Alexander, my husband, died I needed something to fill my life with. I wanted someone that I could love unconditionally and who could love me back unconditionally. I started thinking how different things would have been if I wouldn't have lost Luke's baby and I decided to have Abbey. She's changed my life for the better."

"The better?" he challenged. "Holding an antidote for ransom is changing your life for the better?"

"That wasn't about me." she told him. "That was about protecting Abbey."

"Protecting her from who?" Robert asked.

"Helena Cassadine." she answered point blank. "Helena is Abbey's grandmother."

"How?"

"I was artificially inseminated in a clinic in London." she explained. "Turns out the donor was Stavros Cassadine. I didn't know about it though until I hit my second trimester. I was six months pregnant when I opened my front door to find Helena standing on the other side. I was terrified, I thought that she would take my child from me. Helena lurked around for months and when I finally gave birth to Abbey, a daughter instead of a son, I thought that Helena would just vanish, but she didn't. She's always stayed in contact and occassionally she uses me as a pawn in one of her intricate games."

"Well that explains part of it." Robert said, still a little skeptic. "At least you still have a heart. I was beginning to doubt you."

"I'd do anything to keep my daughter safe and if that means doing misdeeds for Helena until the day she dies I will." Holly assured him. "Not that you should comment on parenting seeing as you let Robin think you were dead for fifteen years."

"I'm not judging you Holly." Robert said softly. "And I understand why you did what you did. I pretended to be dead for fifteen years to protect Robin. I may be a terrible parent but at least Robin's safe and alive and happy."

"I don't enjoy doing things for Helena and I wouldn't if it wasn't for my daughter." she replied just as softly as her eyes began to fill with tears. "The antidote was my worst mission so far but I'm so scared that they're only going to get worse." The thought of losing Abbey to Helena Cassadine made Holly's tears fall rapidly.

Robert moved closer to her sliding his arm around her shoulders. "Holly, don't cry." he whispered as he wiped away her tears. "I always hated when you cried."

"I can't help it." she wept. "Until Helena dies Abbey will never be safe."

He pulled her closer and closer to him until her head was resting against his chest. "Shh." he silenced her. "Everything's going to be alright."

Robert held her tightly as she continued to cry softly. "I don't know why you're being so nice to me after everything that I've done." Holly told him. "You should hate me. Robin could have died because of me."

"Because of Helena." he corrected her. "Not because of you."

Holly looked up at him. "I've always loved you Robert." she whispered. "When I thought you died a big piece of my heart went with you."

He silenced her with a kiss. A kiss filled with fifteen years of bottled up passion and love. Her lips were softer than he remembered but from the first touch everything came rushing back to him, everything that he spent the past fifteen years trying to forget. "I love you." he told her as the kiss ended. "Nothing is ever going to keep us apart again."

Finished.