Two weeks had passed since the explosion. The police were pinning it on issues Sonny was having with the Torres brothers. Sonny had secluded himself in his home, from the reports he had received from Dante it appeared he was on the brink of killing himself. Kate was with him almost nonstop. Alexis and Molly were heartbroken and Sam had been staying with them at the Lakehouse. Lulu had her hands full at Crimson and Victor arrived about three days ago to take over some day to day operations so Kate could focus on Sonny. Brady was in Salem at the time and Lulu was the one to tell him. He made it back for the funeral and has been at Crimson daily but hasn't been able to focus on work. Lulu sees him in his office staring out the window and it looks like he's lost ten pounds at least. She was glad when Kate called Victor for assistance because she was overwhelmed herself and felt like she hadn't had her own time to grieve for her friend. Dante was angry, and angrier than she had ever seen him. He was trying to hold it together when he saw his father because he could see that mentally his father wasn't even capable of fighting with him or hearing his words of bitter hatred for the world he created around Kristina to live in. He blamed him for her death and was hell bent on finding the Torres brothers and bringing her killers to justice but they had disappeared. Mac pulled him off the investigation, citing conflict of interest. Lulu was glad because in his state she was extremely worried about what he might do. Then, there was Ethan. He had been screaming at everyone that it was Helena that did this but she was nowhere near Port Charles. Her father had verified that she was in Rome at the time. Dante and Mac looked on Spoon Island and could find no trace of her. This didn't satisfy Ethan and he refused to believe Kristina was dead. He said that Helena was trying to make it look that way and even when the report came verifying it was Kristina's body that was burned beyond recognition in the car he refused to believe it. She had tried to see him but he wouldn't let her in. He was staying at Kristina's apartment and Luke made his way in the other day trying to convince him to accept that this was an accident but he refused. He was hell bent on finding Helena. Luke did however get him to agree to stay put for a few days longer, to give him time to put some stuff together, and that he'd help him find her.

There was a knock on Johnny's door. He was sitting on his couch drinking. He looked like he hadn't shaved in days. He couldn't believe Kristina was gone. He never wanted this world that they grew up in to hurt her. So much for being under both his and Sonny's protection. Even their combined threats couldn't save her. He hated himself, he hated Sonny, he hated this world. He didn't want to answer the knock on the door and continued to ignore it until he heard the voice on the other side yell out.

Luke?

He got up, walked over, and let him in. Luke and Johnny had never been friends. Luke's loyalty lies with Sonny and that was well known, however he never did anything to go against Johnny either so there was a mutual underlying respect.

"You look like hell." Luke said walking in.

"Thank you. Is that the reason for your visit to critique my appearance?" He said sarcastically but without emotion.

"No, I need you to snap out of your own funk to help the only friend you have left. My son."

Later that night at Kristina's apartment. Ethan felt like a caged animal. He was dying to get going to track down Helena and try to rescue Kristina. He refused to believe she was dead and didn't care what some bloody report said. She needed him and he needed to find her because no one believed him and no one was looking. He was glad Luke finally agreed to help him. His expertise on Helena was needed if he had any hopes of finding her. He resisted taking off earlier because Molly begged him to stay through the funeral and she called him practically daily needing to talk. He was trying to be sensitive to her and give her some time but he just couldn't wait any longer. He tried not speak of his belief of Kristina being alive in front of her. He didn't want to upset her further.

He walked slowly into Kristina's room and opened the door. He had a flash of that night and how beautiful she looked getting ready to go to her dad's. He walked over to the picture on her dresser of she and Molly hugging each other smiling. He traced his finger over her cheek. "I promise I'll find you luv. I have to. I can't…I can't live without you." His anger got the better of him and he kicked her dresser hard. Her perfume bottles fell to the ground and several drawers slammed open. When he regained his composure he began closing them again and noticed the picture of Kristina and Brady in the top drawer. She looked so happy. If he conquered Helena and brought Kristina back to Port Charles he knew that meant she'd be free to be with Brady. He shook his head because although the image of her with Brady tore at his heart it hurt more to think of whatever she was going through right now at Helena's mercy counting down the weeks until she could kill her.

A knock at the door broke through his thoughts. He closed the dresser drawer and walked to the door, he didn't want to speak to anyone that just wanted him to 'face reality'. He saw Johnny on the other side. Reluctantly he opened the door. "John." He said plainly.

"Hey Ethan, can I come in?" He asked both of them taking in each other's haggard appearance.

"Depends, are you here to try to tell me that Kristina is dead and that I need to accept that?" Ethan said with sour tones.

"No, I'm here to offer you my help." Johnny replied. Ethan looked at him closely before moving aside and letting him in. "So, what is your plan?"

He looked at him suspiciously. "What do mean?"

"Well, my guess is it's about time for you to go after her and Helena and see if you can prove that Kristina is alive. Trouble that I see is that if Helena Cassidine has gone to all this trouble to kidnap Kristina then she isn't going to give her up without a fight and you are only one person."

Ethan looked at him for a few moments and then exhaled and stretched his hand out. "Thank you mate."

"You're welcome Ethel." He sat down on the couch. "Where are we going from here?"

"Well, Helena was supposedly in Rome at the time of the explosion. My guess is Rome is too obvious and so is Greece even though that is where she is strongest. If she remotely thinks that Victor Kiriakis would come looking for her I don't think she'd house her in Greece given the stronghold he has over there too." He sat down on the chair opposite Johnny. "For whatever reason she seems to have some sort of fear of him."

"Do you know why?"

He shook his head. "No clue. Luke was going to see what he could come up with. I mean, we know he built his empire in Greece but has been stateside for a very long time."

"Well, the Kiriakis empire is one that has been feared and respected for years. He had a reputation for being very cunning and ruthless but eerily calm. He seemed to always keep a good distance from affairs though, at least that was the gist of the report I had done on him. From my understanding he always managed from far away, he chose to live in the West and operate in the Northeast or overseas. Maybe that is how he has been able to have more of a normal family life than Sonny and I have." Johnny explained.

"It just doesn't make sense though mate, there is something about Victor that I don't know, scares Helena. I mean, this woman does not care about one thing other than herself and her precious thrown or heirs. She'd slit the throat of anyone that got in her way without a moment's thought."

Johnny thought for a second. "What about Nikolas? I mean, from what I remember Lulu telling me he is her pride and chosen one."

"The Prince is the heir to the thrown and she'd do anything to….." he began his sarcastic comment and then stopped short thinking. "How ruthless is Victor's reputation?"

"What do you mean?" John asked trying to read Ethan's face.

He stood up and began to walk around the room as if trying to gain momentum in forming his thought. "I mean, do you think he would hurt the only person Helena cared about to get to her or in retaliation?"

Johnny was jumping on board and understood where he was going. Although it wasn't an uncommon practice to use loved ones, Sonny and Johnny had always operated in ways that went after the other directly and didn't involve the ones they cared about. It was a mutual understanding that they had. "Well, I don't have first hand knowledge being that Victor isn't directly active any more, but from the report I read he was a take no prisoners, by any means necessary person and that is what had him very feared. Thing of it is now though, he has a fairly large family of children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, and the an eye for an eye mentality can bring a lot of trouble especially when you're dealing with someone like Helena."

"Yeah, but if he isn't worried about the trouble factor do you think he'd go after Nikolas if Helena threatened Brady or any member of his family?" Ethan felt in his gut he was on the right track here but wanted to confirm it with his friend.

Johnny looked at him seriously knowing where he was going. "From what I gather…in a heartbeat."

"So that could be what she fears." He walked to the counter in the kitchen and put his hands on it as if propping himself up. "She knows, that Luke wouldn't touch Nikolas because of Laura, Sonny wouldn't touch him because of Spencer, but Victor…."

"Alright, so we figured out what she's afraid of regarding the old man, how does this help us find her?"

Ethan paced back and forth thinking. "Maybe, just maybe if she thought Nikolas was in danger from Victor she'd return Kristina."

"It could backfire. It's a dangerous bluff."

"Well, if I was doing it she'd know it was a bluff, but if Victor was doing it she'd know it was serious."

"Yeah, but you're gambling a lot here Ethel. If you bring Victor into this and he does go after Nikolas then how they hell are you going to stop him? Have you forgotten he's Kristina's family too. She wouldn't go for that."

"Look, I don't have anything against Nikolas and hell he's even extended family of sorts to me but I'm desperate here."

Johnny could see the desperation in his eyes and the grasping at straws for anything to save Kristina. "Ok, ok, let's hold up one second here. What if, what if instead of Victor we ask Brady to help us? I mean, he's a Kiriakis too, so maybe Helena would still think the threat is credible but we know Brady isn't going to hurt Nikolas."

"No, it wouldn't work. She isn't afraid of Brady and she could tell a mile away that he wouldn't harm anyone like that. I mean, he's not my favorite person but even I know that about him." Ethan rubbed his hands on the sides of his head. He didn't want to be on this train of thought but the more he thought about it the more it made sense to use Nikolas. He was the only one Helena would ever fight for and right now the only one she would believe would harm him is Victor.

Johnny rubbed his forehead. "So back up another second here, tell me why again Helena is so hell bent on taking Kristina? I mean, if she kidnapped her then what….I mean, do you think she's still alive?"

Ethan clenched his jaw. He hadn't told anyone about Kristina's pregnancy. It just felt wrong without her being here. "She's still alive. I know it." He sat down on the couch. "She's…she's pregnant."

Johnny's eyes opened wide with shock. It took a second to sink in. "Wow, uh…I'm sorry, I guess this really should have been a happier time for you two. But because she's pregnant you think she's still alive? How is that?"

He really needed to just get this off his chest now. If he had any hopes of saving Kristina the people helping him had to know everything that was going on. "I know she's alive because the baby is Brady's….and Helena wants to 'merge' the Cassidine and Kiriakis empires by using Kristina's baby and my guess is when the baby is born she will kill Kristina."

Johnny couldn't believe what he was hearing. He's been involved in organized crime since birth and been privy to or participated in things that he knew he was going to hell for, but this…this was just unbelievable. "Ethan, this is really out there, are you sure?"

"I overheard her about 4 ½ months ago and came to Kristina to let her know of Helena's plan." He walked back over and sat down on the chair clasping his hands together. "Helena had one of her henchmen replace Kristina's birth control pills and also mess with Brady's contraceptives." He held his hand up to his friend. "I know, I know how this sounds, but you don't know Helena. Helena is driven by her dynasty, that and revenge is the only thing that matters to her. I guarantee you that out of every person you've come across in your life, she is the most diabolically evil being you'll ever lay eyes on." His distaste and hatred for the woman was clear. He didn't understand how Luke allowed his hatred for the woman over the years become a cat and mouse comeuppance game.

"She had people watching Kristina and coming in here daily to find proof of pregnancy. She was going to fake her death and take her away. We thought we thwarted her plan by me pretending to have an affair with Kristina causing her breakup with Brady and ruining her plan for an heir, but I guess we only threw her off momentarily. I know she has her John, I just know it. She is not dead."

Johnny sat on the couch opposite him again. "Ok, so did she and Brady only pretend to break up?"

"No, he walked in and caught me here as I was coming out of the shower and jumped to conclusions and we played along with it because she was already pregnant and had to break off her relationship fast if it was going to be believable." He sighed. "It hurt her. She, she really cares for him. Still does."

"Why didn't you two tell him about Helena?"

"She didn't want a war between Brady's grandfather and Helena or Sonny and Helena. She knew that people would get hurt and she didn't want that."

"So, she definitely wouldn't want Nikolas hurt either. This is risky man." Johnny chided.

"Look mate, I know it is but what choice do we have? Helena's only Achilles heel is Nikolas."

"So you're willing to get him killed to save Kristina?" He reasoned so he could hear the way this sounded.

"We'll do everything we can to protect him." He replied.

"So we're setting up a showdown between Victor Kiriakis and Helena Cassidine, putting Nikolas in the middle in hopes of getting Kristina back, and then if need be double crossing Kiriakis to save Nikolas too once Kristina is safe?"

Ethan listened to Johnny's words and absorbed them. They looked at each other. "This is going to be tricky." Ethan replied.

Johnny rubbed his forehead. "Look, depending on where Kristina is being housed, I think it's doable. The only thing I'm going to say here is I think we need to bring Sonny in as the back up we need to make sure Victor and Helena don't just start killing each other's offspring."

Ethan shook his head. "Sonny is too unpredictable and he's psychotic right now. I can't risk him exploding and getting Kristina killed."

Johnny knew he was right. He had heard about Sonny's state of mind and if it hadn't been for Kristina Johnny himself would have probably moved in to eliminate him now. "Ok, agreed." He paused a moment. "Jason is another story though."