Disclaimer: None of the characters are mine, they all belong to NBC's Days. I'm just having some fun!

Familiar Obligations

Chapter 1

It is the silence between the two of them that Sonny is not sure he can stand.

Before, no matter what it was, he and Will… they could talk to one another and come up with a solution.

But then – even through everything – they had never been through anything which was completely unthinkable until now. Until this night.

Because in the morning they had to go to the family court where a judge was going to give their baby into the care of Nick Fallon. Their sweet little girl… And there was nothing the two of them could do about it – there was simply nothing.

Not a damn thing.

The entire week had been one never ending nightmare. Nick had used everything in his arsenal against them. He had made veiled comments to their lifestyle, he had used the fact that when Will had been a scared child himself he had signed over the rights to his daughter (the one Nick said he had never wanted) and he had referenced the temper which had left him, Nick, the doting step dad, with a bruise. Added to the fact they had been gagged when it came to Nick's past...

He could not have planned it any better for he had truly left the two of them powerless.

Needless to say, it had not left the two of them and those who cared for them with a lot to work with.

Their last line of defence, Gabi, had been no defence at all. She had held her tongue, crumbled under Nick's control. If he had not been so angry with her then Sonny would have pitied her. As it was, he had never come so close to actually hating her as he did in that moment.

Will's devastation, on top of his own desperation was almost too much to bear.

The one concession the two of them had been left with was they had Ari that night. Going into the darkened bed room, Sonny watched as Will stood over their daughter's cot, heartbroken as he watched their princess sleep her sweet dreams.

Neither of them knew when they were going to get to have her for the night again…

A year of such happiness had passed since Arianna had come into the world. No, it had not been without its trials and no one would say that he and Will had been happy all of the time. But when they were on their own with their daughter? Yes, he felt almost sure he could say they were always happy then. When the three of them were tucked away and no one could hurt them…

He heard a breath leave his husbands body and he knew he was crying. He could not see his face but he knew he was crying as he had never done before. No matter how much the two of them loved one another, it was never going to be quite the same way or amount which they loved the daughter.

She needed the two of them in such a different way. She was a baby – she was defenceless. She needed them to clothe and feed her and to keep her safe from the numerous bad things in the world which could cause her harm.

And if Will did not truly believe that Nick counted among those things then he would not be as scared as he was in the moment.

But he was.

Knowing that he needed to be held as much as he needed to hold him, Sonny walked up behind Will and wrapped his arms about him. His lips pursued as he placed a kiss in the nap of his neck but he said no words.

What was he going to say? That it was all going to be ok? That they were going to be fine in the end? That they had nothing to worry about?

No. He would not say those empty lies, nor would he offer false hope where there was none.

Far better to surrender to the silence.

X x x

"We cannot let this happen," Sami Brady hissed as she sat with her mother, ex-husband, husband to be and Kate.

The five of them had spent the day in court with their boys. They had had to listen to the lies through gritted teeth and she knew Lucas's and Marlena's frustration were double Kate's, EJ's and her own due to the fact they understood so little of what was going on behind the scenes – how exactly Nick was getting away with this.

"At this point there is not a lot we can do sort of kidnapping Arianna to make sure that nothing does happen," EJ said with a sigh. He only realised what he said when he saw a light in Sami's eyes. The light they all knew. "No – no, we cannot do that."

"But why –"

"Because it is only going to make things worst," said Lucas with a heavy sigh and a firm tone. He loved Sami. He really did. She was the mother of his children and the two of them were friends but –

Sometimes she did not think the way they traditional humans did and it was when she was doing that, that she always seemed to make her worst decisions. Unfortunately that side of her also seemed to come out the most when she was put under a great deal of pressure or when she felt she was being pushed into a corner – or even worse, when she felt that her children were being pushed into a corner. That was when she really came out fighting. He knew there were an awful lot of people who would say an awful lot of stuff about Sami if they were given even half the chance. But she was a mother first and she was always going to be.

Which was kind of the way his own mother was and it was in that moment Kate got up from his side.

Throughout the day she had been quite quiet which a rarity was for her. It kind of scared him because when she was quiet it normally meant that she had a plan in mind. The only time he had heard her make a noise was to curse Nick and they had all been doing that. If only the lord had listened to them. As he turned to her he saw there was a determination in her eye. That scared him even more.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"I am going to see if there really is nothing to be done. There is one route we still have not tried."

"And which route is that?" EJ asked, clearly taking what she was saying as a personal insult to his intelligence.

"One that only I can go down," she said as she kissed the back of Lucas' head and left the Brady pub.

She had someone to go and see. Someone who could perhaps – if she was very, very lucky – make this right before it was too late.

X x x

She took a deep breath as she knocked on the door. The weight on her chest would simultaneously increase and decrease when she walked through tit to the house she had once been so happy to call her home… and she knew it. That knowledge was as deep rooted in her as the fact the sun rose and set only once a day.

But she had to do this. She had to. This was the last throw of the dice to keep her grandson with his baby.

There was nothing else to do, short of killing Nick.

And so far they had not been very successful at that.

So she had to turn to her last resort. There was nothing else to do.

"Harold," she said as the butler opened the door.

"Ms. Roberts," he greeted the women who had once been the mistress of the house he worked at.

"Is Mr DiMera still awake?" she asked though she was already fairly confident of the answer. Stefano, throughout their marriage, had been something of a night owl. He never seemed to need a lot of sleep to get through the day.

"Yes, he is in the family room."

She breezed passed him.

"No need to accompany me – I know my way," she said as she took a deep breath and stepped over the thresh hold.

And there he was. The man she had once adored and in turn hated with a passion she had felt for no other. That was the thing with the two of them. The bad's were awful, the lows were devastating… and the highs were magnificent.

Or they had been before he had turned into a raging jealous pig.

"Katherine, what an unexpected but pleasant surprise," Stefano said as his eyes glinted the way they did when he knew he was about to get something which he wanted. She was only sorry that she was the something in this case. "Have you come back to finish our dinner?"

She shook her head. "No – no, I have not. I wish I was for that, and I just cannot believe that I am saying these words again, but I am here to ask you for your help."

Which had obviously worked out so well for her in the past, she thought bitterly.

"Anything I can do for you, cara mia. All you have to do is ask."

"All I have to do is ask and then all you have to do is name your price," she said under her breathe but not so much that he was not able to hear it.

He raised his brandy glass to her. "Salute."

So she was right…

"Can I get myself a drink before I say what I have to?" she asked.

"You are a guest in my home. Let me get it for you." He said as he got up and crossed the room to her side, pouring her favourite tipple, as he remembered it when he got there. "So what is the matter, Katherine? I must be the last person in Salem you want to talk to about it, whatever it is."

The two of them had always been straight forward with one another and she was glad to see he was not trying to change that now, for she did not think she could take it.

"It's Will. He is fighting for custody of his daughter at the moment," she said as he gave her the glass. His hands lingered for longer than it was necessary and she found she had to bit her tongue.

He knew she did not want to say what she had come to say. He had too, she thought to herself. And in some ways he was not even trying to make it any easier for her…

But then why would he want to do a thing like that?

"Yes, I am aware of that. Elvis is his lawyer for the proceedings."

Kate nodded. "And as much as he has been able to, EJ has done a wonderful job."

"'As much as he is able to' – what do you mean by that?" he asked as they crossed to the sofa, Kate only changing her mind and choosing to sit in tone of the arm chairs across from Stefano at the last moment.

"Nick Fallon has gaged him – metaphorically."

A look of aggravated curiosity crossed his features. "Nick Fallon - why is it that I keep hearing that name?" he asked.

"Because he is a son of a bitch," She shrugged. There was nothing else to it and she knew no better way to put it to him. She had been about to suggest that the two of them would get along when she thought much better of it. After all, she had come to appeal to Stefano's better nature, if only she was able to find it.

"I am so glad that the two of us do not have to beat around the bush. So what do you want me to do? You want me to take a hit out on him?"

She shrugged – the fact was she did not think she would be too adverse to that but she would rather avoid the scandal right now. If Nick were to die the night before the case then some people might think that looked a little… suspicious. She did not like that type of person. "The judge who is presiding over the case is a Peter Sanderson… who I know is one of your… friends. If you could make a phone call and suggest gently the way that the ruling should go tomorrow, I would – I would be grateful."

"Ahh, I see. But as ever, the question then must be asked. How grateful?"

"However… grateful you wish me to be," she said with a shrug. At this point she had to go all out. Go big or go home.

She had come here to get Will custody of Ari and she was not going to leave without it. Even if that meant she could not leave at all.

She felt his eyes were upon her and knew in a moment he was waiting for her to make her opening gambit. They were down to business at last which was something they both understood.

Very well.

"We can go to dinner… or we can go upstairs."

"Or we can go to see a justice of the peace?" he asked.

"If that is the price I have to pay to keep Will and Arianna under the same roof," she shrugged.

She would marry him again if she had to. It was a small price to pay considering. Arianna's safety was after all, priceless.

"There is one thing I need to know, if I am going to make the phone call and take you under my protection, Katherine."

"That is?"

"What has Nicholas Fallon got on you – on William."

She paused. It was always handy to prepare an answer to these things and she was glad she had done just that before she had got to the DiMera mansion. "He knows that Will shot EJ. If that gets back to Roman then Will would lose his daughter. I can't let that happen."

"And yet dear William never did pay for trying to kill my son…"

"He was a child, a vulnerable child." She insisted, meeting his eyes. She just hoped he did not see her previous lies in them. "He made a mistake and god knows we have all made enough of those, all of us. Except, little Arianna Grace. She has done nothing but her life is going to miserable if she is given in to the custody of Nick Fallon and her mother. She is so weak willed…" Kate growled, her frustration getting better of her.

She may not have said it quite the way Sami had but – there were points that she agreed with.

"Well, if there was one thing the two of us did always have in common then it was our love for our grandchildren, Katherine."

She nodded. That was very true. The two of them had always been passionate about the safety of those they loved…

And they loved those children more than anything.

There was a pause as she took a sip of her drink, the warm liquid somewhat soothing her as she drunk it. "So you are going to help me?" she asked, hope in her eyes.

"I will," he confirmed.

"And your price?"

"You know."

"Marriage? Again? I thought you'd be a little more original, I have to say…"

"Am I disappointing you?"

If it had been over anything else she would have taken the bait and risen to his banter. The two of them could always, after all make one another laugh in the past.

But she was intensely aware that he was yet to make the phone call that was going to save Sonny and Will and keep their baby with them.

"No – No. Trust me, Stefano - you never disappoint me."

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