(NOTE: Eventually I'll probably append this scene to the previous chapter, but I didn't want anyone following along to miss it. And if you are following along, thanks! -AG)

Alexis blew past Julian's receptionist-who was so used to it she didn't even look up-and barged into his office. She held up a copy of the day's Press. "What the hell is this?"

He stood up and walked around to the front of his desk, saying, "That is our best selling edition in months."

"It's pure tabloid trash. Is this what you call going legit?"

"I promised you I'd go straight, Alexis, not that I'd turn into Ben Bradlee."

She rolled up the newspaper and smacked it into his chest. "Unbelievable."

"It's just business." He grasped her elbow and leaned in to kiss her cheek, which she allowed. "Nothing personal."

"My family is personal to me, Julian." She didn't move away, but she kept the paper between them as a barrier.

"Oh, come on. You don't give a damn about the Cassadines."

"I give a damn about the only one of them that's any good, and that's my nephew."

Julian couldn't help rolling his eyes. "He's not that good..." He leaned back on his desk and crossed his arms while she protested.

"You couldn't have run this by me first?"

"That wouldn't exactly be ethical, would it?"

"Oh, please, like you give a damn about journalistic ethics." She tapped him with the paper again, and he took it from her and dropped it onto the desk.

"I'll have my reporter call you for a quote next time."

"I'd give you a quote, all right."

He grinned. "Yeah, I bet you would."

"You'll be lucky if we don't sue for libel. You couldn't have at least put a question mark on that odious headline?"

"My legal department suggested it, but I thought it would ruin the impact, so I had layout do those single quotation marks instead. I think that covers us. Or we could always say it was a figure of speech..."

"Defamation and libel."

"Only if it's not true. Is it, by the way?"

"Are you asking as a 'journalist'?"

"Let's say I'm asking as a supportive and interested partner." She scrutinized him. "Off the record," he added.

"It's Helena," Alexis vented. "Who the hell knows if it's true. It's a major pain in my ass, I know that much." She prodded his shoulder. "And so far you're not helping."

"Personally, I'm always here for you, Alexis. Professionally..." He shrugged, as if helpless against the irresistible tide of the news cycle.

"Well, personally... it sucks. I feel terrible for Nikolas. All this stuff dredged up..."

He rubbed her arms to comfort her. "So... if Nikolas is de-throned, so to speak... what does that mean for you? Or Sam? Do you get a chunk of the Cassadine action?"

"I don't want a chunk of it. I don't want the tiniest sliver. And I'm sure Sam doesn't either."

He nodded, affirming her principled stand. Then he said, "From what you've told me about Helena... she would really hate it if you did, though, right?" He saw a brief glint in her eye. "Just something to think about."

Alexis shook her head, dismissing the idea again. "You know what? If she's motivating me by revenge, she's winning. No, I'd rather think about Helena as little as possible."

"What about your half-brother Stefan? What was he like?"

She grew still, and let out a soft sigh. "Are we still off the record?"

"Can I use it on deep background?" he asked. "The website's doing an explainer." She reacted with a disgusted groan, and he attempted to assuage her with, "Okay, okay. We'll just rely on our other sources."

"Oh, no, like who? Bobbie wouldn't talk to you, would she?"

"A, you know I can't tell you that."

"Right, because of your ethics."

"And B... a lot of people lived in Port Charles in the nineties, Alexis, and some of them will want to talk." He spread his arms in a 'what can I do?' gesture. "You can't stop the First Amendment."

"Julian." She inched closer to him and brushed her hand over his shirt. "I've changed my mind. I'd like you to go back to organized crime."

"Too late."

"But print is dying."

"Then it's a good thing we're about to launch three new web verticals." He put his arms around her waist and said, "So why don't you tell me about Stefan? Not for publication. It might make you feel better. And maybe it'll inform my editorial position."

She smirked at him as if she knew all about his editorial position, but then her expression turned rueful. "My brother... was a Cassadine. He was cunning, deceitful, manipulative, arrogant..."

"So you liked him."

"I did," she said sadly. "We were allies, for a while. And he really did love Nikolas. He just... Well. We all have flaws. Unfortunately, for some of us they're fatal."