"Lucky, look at me!" Sam insisted.

His gaze met hers. It felt like the wind had been completely knocked out of him. He couldn't tell yet if anything felt hurt or broken. Another guest at the Alamo came running over insisting he was a doctor and offered to call 9-1-1.

"No." Lucky objected. "No hospitals, no drugs. I'm fine."

"Can you help me bring him to the truck?" Sam asked the man.

"Are you sure?"

"Please." Lucky replied trying to sit himself back up. He grabbed a hand from each person and hoisted himself to a standing position and hung his weight over the friendly stranger as they made their way back to the vehicle. He sat in the passenger's seat attempting to get his breathing back to normal. Sam waited to make sure he was going to be okay before putting the truck into first gear and driving off. They were met at the house by Dale and Caleb who helped Lucky into the guest bedroom. Sam sat beside him and he handed the letter to her.

"Hola amigos,

I waited around but apparently our wires were crossed. I feel horrible that I missed your company once again. I hope you had a blast in San Antonio! God, I crack myself up sometimes. If you both are in one piece I extend an invitation to the museo de arte contemporaneo en Monterrey, Mexico a la sexto hora, manana.

Hasta lluego, JJ."

"Are you going to be okay?" Sam asked as she finished reading the letter.

Lucky nodded yes. "The explosion was small enough. All it seemed to do was knock the wind out. Lets take it easy tonight and drive down tomorrow, it's only about a four and a half hour drive from here to Monterrey."

"We're not following him." Sam replied.

"If you don't want to I understand, but I am not going back to Port Charles without him." Lucky declared.

"We can't win when we are playing his game. Next time things could end a whole lot worse." She said hoping to talk some sense into him.

"Do you have a better idea?"

"Besides having the SWAT team outside the museum tomorrow?" Sam asked.

"Huh?" Lucky thought about her suggestion.

"I was kidding."

"Yeah, but what if we do get outside help? He's telling us exactly when and where he's going to be. What if we start a steak out early, as soon as he shows up we call the local authorities about a burglary in play? He would at least get detained and his prints run."

"And they will find the arrest warrant from Port Charles and transfer him back to the US." Sam finished.

"It could work."

"Or go horribly wrong." Sam replied but she was not going to let him go through it by himself. The fear she felt of losing him still lingered. "But I suppose we'll only know if we try."

She laid down next to him. Lucky kissed the top of her head. She looked up to meet her lips with his. He didn't want to examine what it meant; instead he let the moment take him wherever it wanted.

***********

"What did Sonny say?" Carly asked as Jason plugged his phone back into charger.

"Michael has been released. He banged up his knee a bit and his car was totaled. He was going to the mall with Alyssa and ran into a slick spot on Leymens Bluff. Alyssa is fine and has been signed out as well."

"I knew that car wasn't safe." Carly commented. "I'm just happy they are both okay. How about Claudia?"

"The doctor's say that she's going to make a full recovery, but the baby is not."

Carly gave a grimace.

"You okay?" Jason asked.

"I've been there. It's horrible. Jase, have I thanked you yet for saving Britni?"

"Yeah, you did by waking up." He wasn't sure if he could have lived with the guilt he would have had if she hadn't.

Carly reached out to give him a hug. "Then thank you again for believing in me." She whispered into his ear. 'Always,' he thought. He didn't want to let go, but was also afraid that if he did not he might do something he would regret.

"What's the plan tonight?" He asked as he released his grip.

"I don't know, with the equestrian convention in town I thought maybe we could take advantage and go horseback riding." He said holding up flyers.

"You're kidding, right?" He laughed.

"No. I mean it. This is the closest thing I've had to a vacation in awhile and I want to take advantage of it, you know, do things I normally wouldn't in PC."

Jason threw his arms up. "Your wish is my command. Are you sure you have the energy for it?"

"I think I can handle being the rider, now if you were asking me to be the horse it would probably be an issue."

"Okay." He smiled.

Jason drove her down to the stables. It wasn't quite like riding his motorcycle, but once they were comfortable enough to take the mares to a canter he felt invigorated by the wind in his hair, and couldn't believe how smooth the ride was. He looked over to Carly as she basked in the fresh air. The setting sun added a radiant shine to her golden hair, but he was caught entranced in her smile. This was just like her, spontaneous and completely random; he loved how she could truly appreciate the simple pleasures that life offered.

"Why don't we get you some food?" Jason suggested at the end of the trail.

Carly playfully stuck her tongue out at him.

"Doctor's orders." He reminded her. "Besides Britni's been out of you for a week and I swear you've already lost all of your baby weight."

"What? I'm just looking to beat Angelina Jolie's record." She teased, but he did not appear to be amused. Instead she offered the ordering of pizza and movie that he suggested the previous night.

***********

"Thank you so much for picking me up." Michael said as he hobbled into Dante's car.

"No problem, what's up?" Dante asked.

"Bad day." Michael replied.

"Well, I can see that." Dante said looking at the bandaged appendage. "Care to elaborate?"

"You know those country songs where the guy loses the truck, dog, girl, and house all in the same day?"

"I'm more of a Maiden fan myself, but I think I grasp the concept." He said steering his way out of the emergency room exit. "By the way, where am I taking you?"

"Jakes?" Michael suggested figuring it was a long shot.

"No, but if you want a beer we can swing by my place. Just don't tell your father. I can see him killing the both of us."

"Agreed." Michael wasn't planning on talking much to his father anyway. They pulled up to Dante's building and took the elevator to his loft. Michael recognized it as the same place his Aunt Courtney used to live. "I like what you've done with the place."

His stuff was still scattered about in boxes. He hadn't figured he would need a permanent residence when he showed his face in Port Charles. "You, sit." Dante instructed.

Michael did as he was told and plopped down on the leather sofa and placed a pillow under his knee to prop it up then unwrapped the bandage. Dante came in from the kitchen and handed him a beer and fresh ice pack.

"What did you lose in your country song?"

"The car, girl, and faith in my dad."

"Owe." He responded before sitting down himself. "So, where do we start? The car is replaceable. What happened with the girl?"

"She lied to her parents about who I was so they wouldn't forbid her to see me."

"You mean the mobster's son?" Dante understood. "Course you have a dad."

"Right now I wish I didn't."

"You don't mean that. I mean, no offense to my ma, she did what she could, and I love her for that, but it would have been nice calling someone dad."

"You missed out on that male bonding?"

"Nah, I had plenty of that with uncles and cousins. We went to the Yankee games and what not, but it didn't matter who she was seein', she always kept them at arms length from me."

Michael laughed as he took another gulp. "Well, there's always Johnny Zacchara. You can call him dad."

"Ha, you're funny. So what did Sonny do this time?"

Michael shook his head trying to figure out how to put it into words. "It's not so much what he did. I just saw a side of him today that I was too blind to see existed. I thought he could do no wrong. You know what's funny? I lost a year of my life because my dad brought me to his warehouse without guards and when I woke up I said 'no problem dad, I forgive you.' He kept saying it was his fault and I pushed it aside as that's how the business works."

"That's pretty twisted." Dante commented.

"Thanks. Today I come to find out that he saw the shot coming and he let me stand there as he pushed Kate Howard out of the way." Michael added and then realized the familial ties. "Sorry, I don't mean to insinuate anything about your cousin."

"No, its okay, I mean I barely know Kate or Connie. It was a ricochet though, right?"

"Yeah. That wouldn't have stopped my mom though. She would have dived out in front of me and taken the bullet herself. I was horrible to her when I woke up. I don't know why it was always so easy for me to see her faults and not my dads."

"Sometimes it's easier to fault the person that you know will stand by you no matter what. Your mom is your mom and nothing changes that. She'll be there and defend you to the death if that's what it comes down to."

He wasn't sure if it was the alcohol talking but he responded. "I guess I had so many father figures that subconsciously I needed to hang on to the image I had of my dad to keep him."

"What do you mean?"

"Before I was born there was Tony Jones, and then Jason claimed me, but A.J. Quartermaine was my biological father. Sonny adopted me when I was young and is the only father I've really known, but then there have been the step-fathers."

"Jax and?"

"Lorenzo Alcazar was married to my mother for a brief time."

"I can see where fault in your ma came in." He joked, maybe it was better that Olivia kept the men in her life away.

"I just don't understand if he understands everything the business costs the people around him why he chooses to stay in it?"

"He can't get out." Dante answered. "Even if there was a way for Corinthos-Morgan enterprises to go legit during his reign without his enemies making it dangerous, Sonny craves the power and intimidation he gets through his mob ties."

"What do you mean by that? Do you think it could go legit?"

"I've looked into it. He has built some stable businesses. Yeah, I think you could take out the illegal smuggling and money laundering and still make out well." Dante answered.

"Why look into it?"

"I'm not proud of myself for switching sides, unfortunately sometimes the line between black and white gets smudged. Hey, you want another beer?"

Michael nodded, he was so wrapped up in conversation that he hadn't realized he was out.

"My downfall was the day I met a little boy, his pregnant flashlight swinging mother, and over zealous teenage brother in the woods." He said coming out of the kitchen area. "I should have ran out of town right then, but unfortunately what happened was that I ended up showing sympathy for the family of the man I was trying to bring down."

"Morgan can warm any heart, can't he?"
"Yeah, how's he doing?"

"Good, now that mom's okay."

Conversation continued between the two. Dante invited Michael to sleep over, which he accepted after calling Monica to tell her where he was. Michael told Dante more about Alyssa, and then compared stories of over protective mothers. Dante laughed as Michael told the story of Carly taking on the five-families with a baseball bat.

**********

Sonny walked by Johnny to sit in the room with his wife. He wasn't entirely sure what he felt for her, but it wasn't the hatred he felt when he learned she was a Zacchara, or the furry he had when he suspected she was responsible for shooting Kate and kidnapping his son. It sure wasn't disdain like when he was told that in order to acquire the Zacchara organization he had to marry her or the contempt he felt when he thought the baby she was carrying was his brother's. The last few months he saw another side of her. Her maternal instincts were rearing, and he was starting to enjoy the idea of raising their daughter together. Neither one of them were perfect, he had said and done things just as repulsive as her to him. Somewhere, somehow, he had come out of this with a respect for her.

The baby's heartbeat was fading. He had asked the doctor to take it out hoping that it could save its life but Dr. Lee stood by the diagnosis that the damage was too severe. An operation to remove the fetus would be done once Claudia was stable and if both wanted the fetus would be prepared for burial. Sonny bowed his head for a silent prayer, he asked God to welcome his girl with open arms and let her light shine down to comfort her parents in their time of grief. He asked that the sins committed by her parents be forgiven so that they could show each other the support they needed in order to get through this time. He wrapped up his prayer and the monitor flat-lined. Sonny crouched over and wept.

Johnny stood directly outside the room with tears falling down his cheek. Olivia came up from behind him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. The knot in his throat was too big to speak, but he knew he didn't have to. Dr Lee came up and walked past Johnny. "It's time." She told Sonny. Moments later Claudia was transferred to a mobile bed to be brought into surgery.