Thanks for reading and your reviews! Really appreciate it. I hope GH's head writers get on board with this really promising pairing.

Earlier….1979

Carla looked at her and shook her head.

"God you look sick," she said, "I mean I had the flu for a couple of days but you…it's been longer than that."

Alexis clenched her hands at her side. She still tasted the vomit inside her mouth that water couldn't chase after she'd been sick again in the bathroom. Sometimes it was all she could do just to make it…and she'd never felt so tired in her life.

"You need to see the nurse Alexis…"

She spun around on Carla.

"No…I'm fine…maybe it was the roast beef last night."

Carla rolled her eyes.

"And the corned beef before that, cold cuts and salmon the previous day...and…"

Alexis put her hand up.

"It's just the flu. It's got to be the flu. Amber had it for a week."

Carla put a hand on her hip.

"You've had it much longer than that. More like a month. You need to see the nurse."

Alexis shook her head. Really it wasn't that bad. Once she got sick, her stomach felt much better the rest of the day.

Amber breezed in the room and cast Alexis a critical eye.

"Sick again? Food's not that bad…though the roast beef last night…"

Alexis glanced over at Carla.

"See…"

But Carla wasn't having any of it.

"It's not food poisoning Alexis."

Amber took the more blunt approach.

"You know if I ever thought you got out of this prison, I'd say you got morning sickness," she said, "but as far as I know an immaculate conception's only happened once."

Alexis just stared at her.

"What?! You're saying that I'm…"

Carla and Amber looked at each other. Carla's face softened.

"We just think you should see the nurse…isn't that right Amber?"

The other girl just shrugged. But Alexis shook her head.

"No…it can't be…It only happened once…"

Both girls keyed on that little comment at once. Amber bit down on a laugh.

"Once? So you did get out of the dungeon one night."

Alexis didn't say anything, just looked down at her hands. Carla sat next to her on the bed.

"When was that?"

Alexis shrugged, her hair spilling over her face.

"One night…a couple months ago. I snuck out and went to town. Just once to see what it was like."

Amber rolled her eyes.

"Didn't you use anything? Well of course you didn't but what about him? Guys carry them you know."

Alexis just didn't know what any of this had to do with her. She'd just gotten the flu that's all. Maybe she'd been so busy studying for finals that she hadn't taken care of herself, got rundown. That could happen couldn't it?

"Who was it?"

Alexis shrugged. Amber smirked.

"Hah she doesn't even know. That good huh?"

Alexis gritted her teeth.

"It was some guy…maybe from town…he certainly wasn't from the boys school."

Amber sighed.

"Lucky for you. So did he have a name?"

Alexis didn't answer right away.

"See you don't know," Amber said, "I guess I had you pegged wrong as the ice princess."

Alexis hated that nickname and she didn't know why. She wrapped her arms around herself feeling bewildered and embarrassed the way her friends looked at her. All she'd wanted to do was to slip into another person's skin for the night and be someone besides some frumpy girl cast off on some rich man's island with some life made up by someone else. Nothing about it felt real to her.

If anyone was going to make up a fake life for her it should be her right?

Carla sighed.

"Well, I really do think you should see the nurse. She'll help you figure out what's wrong."

Amber shrugged.

"If you're knocked up, they'll just lock you up in that special room so you can't run away with your baby's daddy before the parents come to fetch you."

Alexis had heard those stories too though thought they seemed made up. Now she didn't feel so sure. But no, she just had the flu, so it might be someone else caught up in that.

But not her.

Blake walked into the apartment.

"Julian, you ready to hit the Psych final or you planning on ditching it?"

He looked up at his friend.

"I'll be there in a minute…"

Blake laughed.

"That's what you always say. But it starts in 10 minutes and you know how Professor Collins is about late comers."

Julian knew having cut it close already but he'd been buckling down with his studying to please the old man. He knew his father had plans for him, plans different than those for his siblings. He'd been separated from the fold and sent to school. After he got his degree from here it'd be into one of the top MBA programs in the country.

He'd flirted with instead applying for journalism programs at schools like Northwestern and Columbia University but he knew better than to challenge his father on the issue.

This morning he'd gotten up early, did his morning run and then hit some breakfast with his two roommates. He'd meant to crack the books for some last minute studying but when he reached inside his desk to pull them out, his hand caught something instead.

It'd been a broken necklace with a locket attached to it that he'd found under the front seat of his car when he'd been cleaning it out.

Obviously not his necklace and while he'd entertained…several women in the backseat of his car none of them seemed to fit with the necklace.

It was obviously old, classically designed and when he'd tried to open the locket, it wouldn't budge. Probably stuck from getting broken perhaps in his car. He thought of that one girl he'd picked up…Alex or something.

The one who'd looked young under all that makeup and hairspray. The one whose skin had felt so soft underneath his fingertips and whose breath felt warm against his cheek. She'd been shy with him at first but had relaxed enough for him to know she enjoyed being with him. He'd thought about her sometimes after that night, he wondered about her. She'd shown up one night at the Radcliff's bar out of the blue and then disappeared.

Maybe she'd got caught breaking curfew and faced restrictions. After Christmas he'd be leaving on his exchange abroad program to Italy, more specifically an international business program in Milan. His father's wishes of course.

He also remembered the three men in the bar that other night and hoped whoever Natasha was, that she didn't cross paths with them. He had some idea by now what men like that were capable of doing.

But his own life was about to change once again.

He knew his father was grooming him much different than his brothers but he didn't know for what.

Alexis woke up inside the nurse's office. She'd been waiting to see her outside alongside a girl who'd cut herself washing dishes and might need stitches.

She didn't remember falling asleep and suddenly she was lying on the couch and the nurse was looking down at her.

"You feeling okay? You looked quite pale when we brought you in here."

Alexis felt dazed.

"What happened?"

"You fainted. You've been feeling sick. There is that flu making its rounds right now."

Alexis nodded.

"I'm sure that's what it is…it just won't go away."

The nurse shrugged.

"Sometimes it's just like that with some patients. Well, we can run some blood work, to make sure that's what it is. We need to run some other tests so I'll need urine as well."

"I…why if it's just the flu?"

The nurse looked directly at her.

"You haven't been sexually active recently," she said, "You know had intercourse."

Alexis tried to sit up.

"What…why are you asking that?"

The nurse rested a hand on her shoulder.

"You're a teenaged girl. It happens occasionally that one of the students finds herself that way. But if you haven't had sex then it shouldn't be an issue and the test will come back negative."

Alexis felt apprehension fill her. She'd never really thought about that. Oh my god…what if, but she couldn't afford to think that way. It was impossible…no one got pregnant their first time. At least that's what she'd heard the other girls say.

Back on the Island she'd never had anyone explain to her much about such things. She knew as she got older the other men, cousins she'd been told but she didn't believe it had changed the style of their teasing and their friends they invited over were worse. Her aunt seemed distant about most things and there were no other young women living on the island. No one to prepare her for when her body started changing, getting curvier and on top…she'd learned to hide those under her clothes as not to draw attention to herself. If it hadn't been for her cousin Stefan…but he wasn't here with her now.

If she got pregnant, she knew Mikkos would come for her and take her back to the prison she'd left behind her.

The nurse brought her a glass of water and she sipped it slowly.

"Now let's see about doing those tests…"