"Come on Atticus," Georgie sighed, patting the couch. The golden retriever happily jumped up to fill the space beside her. She twirled the strand of pearls that she was still wearing around her neck as she flipped through the channels on the television. She had thought about Ned all day. All of the things he had done for her, how supportive he had always been of her. He had been a true friend, almost like a brother to her over the years and now he was gone, no warning.

Knock

Her eyes darted in the direction of her apartment door. She slowly slipped of the couch so as not to wake up the dog.

"Who is it?"

"It's uh, it's Dillon."

"Dillon?" she whispered to herself.

"Yeah, could I, um, could I talk to you a second?"

"Um, yeah, hold on!" she called as she quickly unhooked all of the chains and bolts on the door. She opened it to find him standing on the other side holding an envelope.

"Hey."

"Hey," she looked at him a little confused.

"Could I come in for a minute?"

She moved aside to allow him in. He slowly walked into the living room, surveying it as he moved toward the couch. She quickly hurried past him.

"Atticus," she whispered, shaking her dog "Get up."

The dog slowly opened his eyes and jumped down off the leather sofa, rushing up the stairs to her bedroom so he could sleep peacefully without interruptions.

"Atticus?" Dillon asked with a grin "That's Atticus?"

"Yeah, um, he grew up," she smiled "I guess, I guess he didn't recognize you."

"I guess not..."

"Um, is everything ok? I mean, I didn't expect you to just..."

"Yeah, everything's fine," he finally sat down on the couch and she hesitated but finally sat beside him. There was an awkward silence in the air.

"Um," he said at last "Ned, he left you some things and I wanted to bring them to you. They read the will tonight, so..."

"That was fast."

"Yeah, I know, so much for respect huh?"

"I'm guessing it was Edward's idea."

"You guess right. You should have seen it. Kristina, Brook Lynn and Skye got everything. I thought Edward was going to have a heart attack in the middle of it," he smiled as he scratched the back of his neck.

She laughed softly.

"Anyway, there's um, a few bonds in here and um, this necklace, he said you always wanted it..." he passed it over to her.

"Yeah, yeah he showed it to me one time. It belonged to your family. I fell in love with it."

"He also left you some ELQ stock..."

"It means a lot to me that Ned remembered me like this," Georgie whispered in a hoarse voice as she held that papers Dillon had given her. She looked up and shared a brief gaze with him before he broke it.

"I really should be going, I just wanted to bring these over for you. God knows when Grandfather would have gotten around to it," Dillon stood to go.

"Oh, ok," she smiled, a little disappointed but hiding it considerably well "Thank you."

"You're welcome," he opened the door and left quickly, never looking back.



* Flashback *

"I love that dress," Maxie smiled, as Georgie spun around on the dance floor of The Cellar to show it off "Did Dillon pick it out?"

"Yeah."

"He's got great taste," Maxie giggled. Darting her eyes up to survey the room, she saw the last person she had expected to see. Mac.

"What?" Georgie raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Don't freak out, but Mac is talking to Dillon."

"What?" Georgie said a little louder, spinning around just as Dillon and Mac darted into the back storage room.

"How's business?" Mac asked, after Dillon had shut the door.

"It's business," Dillon shrugged, giving him a blank stare. Mac was up to something. He could just spare all the small talk.

"I know that Alcazar's coming after you."

"How would you know that?"

"I'm the police commissioner Dillon. I have eyes and ears everywhere."

Dillon rolled his eyes, shoving his hands into his pockets and rocking back on his heels. Making sure he did everything he could to make it appear that he wasn't fazed.

"I've got everything under control," Dillon began, trying his best to keep a calm tone.

"I doubt that," Mac crossed his arms over his chest "Alcazar wants revenge for you walking out on him."

"Why can't you trust me to handle my business?" he replied dryly.

"Because my daughter is living with you!" Mac shouted, the anger he had been hiding finally breaking through "She's in danger every moment, of every day because of you!"

"I will always keep Georgie safe!" Dillon shot back. He was tired of being nice to this man. He had been trying to win his approval for years.

"What? Like Sonny? Move her out of the state, to God knows where? She can never come home, never see her family? Oh, but at least she'll be with you, right? That's all you care about."

"Georgie chose me, she chose this life," Dillon said sternly.

"Are you sure about that?" Mac narrowed his eyes "Did she choose this life? Or did you choose it for her?"

"I'm not talking about this with you," Dillon shook his head "I don't know how you got in here, but one thing is for sure, this is a special night for Georgie and you're not going to ruin it."

* End Flashback *



"Are you in for the night Mr. Quartermaine?" Leo asked, as Dillon approached the room he had rented at the Port Charles hotel.

"Yeah, um, no disturbances ok Leo?"

"Understood sir."

Dillon went inside the room and flipped on the light switch. It was a small room, nothing like the ritzy places he stayed in when he traveled. Somehow, it was a comfort to him. Just a bed, dresser and a little table that was all anyone really needed. He walked toward the dresser, taking off his watch and unhooking the cufflinks from his sleeves. Suddenly, he caught a glance of himself in the mirror. There he was, a twenty-eight year old mob lord with millions of dollars burning a hole in his banking account. He had anything he could ask for, two homes, nice cars, tailored suits and all the power one could handle, but the face staring back at him was empty and sad. His eyes had no life in them. He turned and opened the door

"Leo, I'm going out," he said as he brushed by him and headed for the elevator.



"Thank God," Georgie sighed, as she dropped the home pregnancy test into the bathroom wastebasket. She had bought it the day she woke up lying next to Lucas, and out of fear and preoccupation, she hadn't bothered to use it. Negative. She breathed a huge sigh of relief as she turned the light off and headed back into the living room.

The room was silent; except for the laughter coming out of the television from a rerun of Friends. She crossed the room and pulled her coat out of the closet, leaning over she turned off the television and headed out the door.

* Flashback *



Georgie rolled over and rested her head on Dillon's chest. His breathing was slow and her head moved up and down slightly with each breath he took. She smiled, closing her eyes and listening to his heartbeat.

Click

She knew that sound and quickly sat up in the bed to find a man standing in front of her, a gun extended in his hand.

"Shh," the man put a finger to his lips and moved around the bed toward Dillon.

She quickly nudged him with her foot, underneath the sheets and he stirred slightly, rubbing his arm over his eyes. He finally opened them to look over at her, when he noticed the fear on her face and bolted up in bed beside her.

"Mr. Quartermaine," the man began to speak in a low but confident tone "I have been sent here by my employer. It seems there are some problems, that need to be taken care of."

"Problem? I haven't caused any problem," Dillon shook his head, his breathing growing more rapid.

"Your words mean nothing to my employer, it is your actions. They have spoken for themselves. You can not be trusted. Loyalty, Mr. Quartermaine, is something Alcazar values above all else. Without loyalty, there is nothing left."

"I was a kid. You're telling me after all these years that he's coming after me?"

"You have so much more to lose now," he grinned, pivoting slightly he walked to the other side of the bed, Georgie found herself staring down the barrel of his gun.

* End Flashback *



Georgie stared down at the cool water lapping at the sides of the dock. Her legs dangled off, her toes inches above the ocean. It was so peaceful here, this late at night, she had forgotten. She hadn't been out here in years, just to stop and rest, and enjoy it. She needed this time to herself, with everything that had been going on in her life.

"Georgie."

She glanced over her shoulder to find Dillon standing beside her.

"Can I sit?"

"Sure, I mean, you own over half this dock," she turned her eyes back to the water. He sat down, a couple of feet left in the space between them. There was a long silence, filled with the lapping water and the occasional cricket chirp.

"Thank you...You really helped me today."

She looked over at him and smiled "You're welcome."

"Can I ask you something?" Dillon turned in her direction.

"What?"

"Are you happy?"

"What kind of question is that?" she tried to laugh it off, swinging her legs above the water.

"I want to know, are you?"

She looked up and locked eyes with him. A little frown came across her lips and she shook her head.

"Not really."

Dillon slowly dropped his eyes to the water.

"I want you to be, you know?"

"I know," she smiled softly at him, "Are you happy?" she asked after a pause.

"No, but I didn't expect to be," he shook his head "I knew when I left Port Charles that happiness, that wasn't an option anymore."

"Yeah, me too," she answered matter of factly, picking up a little rock off the dock and tossing it into the water. In the distance, she could see a few boats gliding along.

"Do you have a boat?"

"Yeah," he nodded "Two actually."

"What's it like? Just getting on that boat, floating off somewhere?"

"Lonely."

She glanced over at him. He looked lonely, and heartbroken. He felt just how she had all these years. Slowly she slid across the dock, closing the space between them. Carefully, she picked his hand up and locked her fingers with his. He looked up and a little smile spread across his lips as he lifted her hand and kissed it.

"I've missed you," he whispered.

She smiled back at him as a tear slid down her cheek.

Author's Note: The breakup flashback will be in the next chapter. I know everyone has been waiting for it. =) Also, does anyone have any idea what year Brook Lynn was born? This fic is set 12 years in the future and I'm not sure how old she would be.