Kevin grabbed his cell and realized it was Victor, who was looking for Lucy at Mercy. "You find her?"

"No. She's not here, Monk. I've looked everywhere."

"Good. I mean, it's not good that we still don't know where she is, but it's good she's not there."

"Do you want me to stay here?"

Thinking about it, Kevin shook his head to the phone before answering into it. "No. If she's not there now, I don't think she'll end up there. I'll call Livvie and ask her to come here to the house and maybe she'll show up when she calms down."

Victor was quiet for a moment. "You really thought Lucy might try….. that she could have really gone after him?" He couldn't imagine Lucy actually trying to do someone bodily harm, even if they deserved it, which Trent did as far as Victor was concerned.

"Right now, I'm not sure what she's capable of, Victor. Scott's right about her feelings not being a good combination. Hopefully, she'll calm herself down and call one of us."

Victor sighed. "Where do you want me to check next?"

"Try Luke's. I called, but I'm not sure Claude would know she was there if she didn't want him to know. Don't spook her, just let me know if you find her. She took off for a reason, and as long as I know she's with somebody, I'll feel better."

"Okay. Where are you going to try?"

"Scott's down on the docks, I'm going to try the park. I'll call you if I find her." Hanging up, Kevin dialed Livvie's number. For some reason he didn't think she'd come back home on her own, but he didn't want her to come home to an empty house if she did.


Dara stared at Mac and sighed. "I guess we need to call Scott and see what he thinks."

"What do they want?"

"They'll go for a third degree assault, mandatory counseling, and a peace bond."

"Great. He gets counseling and an order to stay away from her. What does she get?"

"Mac, this guy is good. He's threatening police harassment because Kevin was never even questioned in relation to her attack."

"Lucy never identified Kevin! She identified his client! Why would we have questioned Kevin?"

"I didn't say it made sense, but the attorney is going to push it."

Dara sighed. "Mac, I need to talk to Scott, and see how much farther he thinks Lucy will make us-"

"MAKE US!" Mac stood. "You're going to sell her out, aren't you. You're going to let this guy walk so the mayor doesn't have a few nasty headlines."

"That's NOT what I'm doing, Mac. You think I want this guy to go free?" Standing, Dara faced him angrily. "But you also know what a trial could do to her. These headlines that you think the mayor is afraid of aren't helping her. You think she had a good morning today? I AM thinking about her. I want to avoid her waking up to this every morning, and maybe she'll stop thinking about it every minute of every day!" Mac stared at her, and her voice got quiet. "I like her, Mac. I also read the reports. I know what he did to her. And I've seen what a defense attorney can to do a rape victim who doesn't have the past Lucy has. I'm not criticizing her, but you don't want to know what this guy will do to her. Scott knows, you saw him. He wants this settled as badly as I do for HER sake."

Sitting back down, Mac shook his head. "He can't just walk, Dara."

"He won't, Mac. We just have to figure out how much damage Schneider can do. To the case and to Lucy."


"What the hell are you doing here?" Maria met Lucy's stare as she shut the door.

"It was time you and I had a talk." Turning, Lucy walked around the room, waiting for the fact that she was there to sink in to Maria.

"Where's your wacko boyfriend?"

Not rising to her bait, Lucy smiled at her. "Be glad he's NOT here. But you and I have a few things to discuss."

"One call to the cops and you-"

"I'll what? You LET me in!" Shaking her head, Lucy licked her lips and faced Maria. "You've spent a lot of time and money doing your homework on me, so I guess I'll assume you know who I am. You know all the nasty things I've done to people in my time. Your son has me beat, but you won't admit to that, right?"

Maria glared at her. "I don't know who you think you are-"

"I KNOW who I am, and so do you. The point is, just how much do you know about who I am?" Maria didn't answer, and Lucy took that as an invitation to continue. "You researched Kevin O'Connor, and, of course, Kevin Collins. Did you research. say Damian Smith?"

At Maria's blank stare, Lucy smiled. "Maybe Rex Stanton? Or maybe my two favorites, David Bordisso, and if you think Kevin's wacko, you'd REALLY love his brother, Ryan Chamberlain."

"Is there a point to this?"

"Only one. You did all that homework on me, maybe you should have spent some of that time finding out what happened to people" Lucy approached her slowly, staring into her eyes. "that REALLY crossed me."

"Are you threatening me?"

"No. Not at all. I'm just giving you a few names to take a look at. People that hurt me, or someone I love. Where they ended up wasn't pretty." She snapped her fingers. "I forgot all about Joe Scully. Victor Jerome, and his poor son, Julian."

"I know those names. They were mobsters." Maria stared at her, suddenly taking on an air of disbelief. "If you think you're going to scare me you're wasting your time."

"Nah. That would be kind of silly. But I guess you don't know as much about me as I thought you did. So I'm going to do you a favor, and fill in some of the blanks. I don't forgive, and I don't forget. There aren't that many things I'm really good at, but one of them is revenge. I'm VERY good at that. So you need to think about what's going to happen AFTER this is over, and maybe decide what is best for you and your son."

"What does that mean? This sounds like a threat, and I'm NOT going to let you get away with that!"

"I'll start simple. With the money, since that's what this seems to be all about. He sues the insurance, I sue him. And, you know, the amount I decide to sue for will be the EXACT amount he gets."

"You'll never win."

"I don't care if I win or not, to be honest. Civil court doesn't even require as much evidence as criminal court does, did you know that?" Maria wasn't aware that she was shaking her head in the negative, but Lucy nodded at her.

"The point is that my best friend, and ex-husband, by the way, is a lawyer. Just as good as Schneider, or maybe that's just as bad." Lucy shrugged. "Whatever works. See, he's taking this very personally, and that means that I don't even have to worry about all those pesky lawyer fees. Not that I couldn't afford them if I had to. But I will sue Trent, and even if I don't ever see a penny, I have the resources to tie this up in court so long that the lawyers will get it if I don't. Every penny of anything he makes for what he did to me. Do you understand that?"

"I understand that you must be really worried if you're here."

"Worried?" Lucy shook her head. "Nah. Just trying to make a point. He won't win this one. And even if he does, he'll lose. I'll see to it."

"Don't you dare barge into this house and threaten my son! You have no idea who you're dealing with!"

"Your son! Your son! That's all you've said since I got here! Why don't we talk about YOUR SON for a minute!" Lucy moved closer until she was about two feet from Maria and stared into her eyes. "I do know who I'm dealing with! I found that out because I happened to be home when he showed up! I think you know what he is, but you just can't admit it, right? God forbid anyone find out that YOUR SON is nothing but a wife beating, woman hating rapist!"

"THAT'S ENOUGH! GET OUT!" Maria shrieked at Lucy, who didn't move. It occurred to her that Maria might be as crazy as her son, and she decided to push a few more buttons.

"Can't handle the truth? Let me fill you in on the truth, Maria. Your son is sick. He slapped me across the face, he punched me, he threw me down on the ground face first."

"He would NEVER do that!"

Maria's hysteria actually amused Lucy, and she pressed harder. "That's what people will know about him! That after beating me, watching me bleed, watching me try to crawl away from him did nothing but give him a HARD ON!" Lucy finally began to shriek at Maria, knowing that it was hurting her to hear what Trent really was. "That's what people are going to find out! He wasn't satisfied by beating me, he had to tear me apart! You want to read the report? You want EVERYONE to read it?"

Backing away from Lucy, Maria shook her head and began to cry. The feeling of being in control for the first time since Trent had appeared in her door gave Lucy a sense of power that she wasn't about to let go of.

Advancing on Maria, Lucy continued. "I'll make sure that he never forgets what he did to me! I said no, I begged him to leave me alone, I begged him to not hurt me, and do you know what he did? Do you?" Still crying, Maria shook her head.

"He bounced my head off the floor so I couldn't fight him! That's what your son is, Maria! He's beat Mandy for years, and you knew about that. But you always managed to protect him. YOU CAN'T PROTECT HIM NOW, DO YOU HEAR ME?" Shaking her head, Lucy stood right in front of Maria and stared into her eyes. "He beat me, he raped me, and I'm going to make him pay for it!"

"WHAT DO YOU WANT?" Maria finally screamed at Lucy, completely hysterical.

The shrill tone of her voice finally got through to Lucy, who stopped and back up a step. Shaking, Lucy licked her lips and let her voice drop to a whisper. "I didn't come here for this."

"Then why did you come here?" Maria continued to cry.

"I came here to tell you to call it off. All of it. The assault charges against Kevin, the malpractice suit. Stop it now, or I promise you he'll regret it."

"What good will it do? I mean, what are you willing to do if I make him let it go?" Maria looked at her. "You just told me you're going to get him, what will it get him if he agrees?"

Thinking for a moment, Lucy finally answered her. "I'll agree to the plea. He won't walk the streets for a while, but I'll go for some nice, cushy psychiatric facility. I'll agree to some kind of felony, I'm not letting him just walk away. But if he lets Kevin go, I won't push for a sex crime. He'll have a record, but he won't have to register as a sex offender anywhere he goes for the rest of his life."

"He can't plead to a felony."

"He can't NOT plead to a felony!" Lucy advanced again and glared. "You just don't get this, do you? Check with your attorney. I have friends in very high places, but I also have friends in very low places. It doesn't matter where he goes, or what he does, I'll find him. I'm NOT spending the rest of my life looking over my shoulder, do you want him to? Because he'll have to, if he doesn't let this go. Ask anybody about those names I gave you. Can't prove a thing by it, but you will get a good idea of what's coming."

Turning, Lucy headed for the door. "Call Scott when you're ready. But I'll warn you I'm not really a patient person." As she reached the door, she looked at Maria one more time. "I protect myself and the people I love. Just like you do. Remember that. And remember this: I don't ever want to lay eyes on you or your SON again."


As soon as Lucy was gone, Maria picked up the phone and called Schneider.

His voice mail was short, so she simply left a message asking him what Lucy's connections to the men she'd mentioned was and hung up.


Scott was headed for the park to look for her when his cell rang.

Grabbing it, he answered it without looking at it. "Yeah."

"Scott?"

"Lucy?!" He wasn't really convinced it was her.

"Yeah. I guess I-"

"Where are you?! Do you have any idea how worried we are about you?"

"I'm sorry. I-"

"Nevermind that! Where are you?"

"If you'll stop yelling at me, I'll tell you. Are you alone?"

"Yeah."

"Good. Meet me at the firehouse. And DON'T tell Kevin."

"Lucy, what are you up to?"

"I'll tell you when I see you."

Scott sighed. "I can't just not tell Kevin. Lucy, he's going nuts trying to find you."

"I'll call him. But I need to talk to you alone."

Her voice was quiet, and Scott was instantly worried. "What did you do?"

"When you meet me!" She hung up.

Mumbling to himself about her finally losing it, Scott drove to the firehouse.


The phone rang and Maria ran to grab it.

"That was a strange message. Care to tell me why you want to know about these men?"

"I have my reasons." She wasn't ready to tell Schneider what had happened. "What do you know?"

"Well, the list is a strange one."

"But they're all connected to her, aren't they." It wasn't question.

"Yeah. In some way, shape or form." Schneider shuffled some papers. "Damian Smith was the son of Frank Smith, who was big time in the mob. He was her ex boyfriend, and it ended pretty badly, from what they found."

"Where is he?"

"Dead. She was questioned, but the murderer was never found."

Maria sighed. "The others?"

"Ryan Chamberlain is dead. Messy fire, while trying to kill his brother, who is Kevin Collins. Rex Stanton was married to her briefly. Apparently he tried to kill her and now he's in jail for a long time. David Bordisso went after Jax Cosmetics, which is her company. He also had something to do with her disappearing for a short time a few summers ago. Her boyfriend at the time, Scott Baldwin-"

"Her lawyer now." Maria interrupted him.

"Same. He was arrested, Bordisso was arrested, it's pretty confusing in what little bit that was actually discovered. But the end result is that David Bordisso was shot in the head."

"Did she do it?"

"Questioned, but never charged. And it's still unsolved." Schneider started to think about all this information in one spot for the first time.

"What about those other mob guys?" Maria was almost afraid of the answer.

"Joe Scully. Really bad guy. She was going to testify against him for drug trafficking. Apparently he kidnapped her and....." He scanned a few pages and finished. "Sonny Corinthos and Luke Spencer brought her back."

"Sonny Corinthos?" Maria stammered. "I KNOW he's in the mob. He's all over the papers all the time."

"Allegedly. End of that story is that Joe Scully was never seen again, and a few weeks later, a serious street war over territory began."

"Was it over territory, or over her?"

Schneider began to see where this was going. "It was over the fact that Scully's people thought, or knew that Corinthos had something to do with Scully's disappearance. That was over her. But the war started over Scully. Maria, who gave you these names?"

"It doesn't matter. What about the other mob guys?"

"Both involved in some way with her, both dead. She was questioned in connection to Victor, but Julian was shot by an associate. I'd say it's VERY important how you got these names. I mean, in the chronological order in her life, it looked like she just had very bad taste in men. But here, together.." Schneider sighed. "The woman has one hell of a hit list." It hit Schneider. "She gave you these names, didn't she. You've talked to her."

Maria didn't answer him.

"Maria, there are laws about her threatening you. She can't intimidate you."

"What are you going to do? Call her friend, the Police Commissioner and ask him to arrest her?" Maria was beginning to get hysterical again. "Or maybe the mob king of Port Charles, who ALSO happens to be her friend. Think he'll help take care of her?"

"Maria, calm down. I'll agree with you that she's connected. All over the place. And I can see you not wanting Trent to be next on her list. But we can do something about what she did to you."

"But what can we do about Trent being on her list!? I'd say he definitely crossed her." Maria remembered Lucy's words.

Schneider had no idea what to say. He'd seen the names in the reports, but hadn't put it together like this before. The names on it were pretty big, and he doubted Lucy would have any trouble seeing to it that Trent met with a pretty similar fate. But there was no way to prove she had anything to do with any of the other names, so that meant the woman definitely knew how to cover her tracks.

Schneider's silence only confirmed Maria's fears. "What do I do?"

"I can't tell you that. You have to decide."

Tears came and Maria began to cry. "What if we give her what she wants?"

"Why don't you tell me exactly what she said, and we'll see what we can do with it."

"NO!" Maria hung up the phone and stared at it as if it would bite her. She had a lot of thinking to do, and not very much time to do it in.


"YOU WHAT?!" Scott advanced on Lucy, who had been pacing around the room for almost ten minutes before admitting that she went to see Maria Davis.

"I had to do something, Scott." She backed away from him as he moved towards her.

"YOU HAD TO WHAT, LUCY? WHAT DID YOU DO TO THE WOMAN?" His voice was echoing in the firehouse, and he moved quicker so he could get to her. "ARE YOU TRYING TO GET YOURSELF THROWN IN JAIL?"

Reaching her, he grabbed her arm, and she tried to jerk away from him. When he gripped her arm tighter, she swung at him with her other arm. "Let go! Let go of me! Let go! Let go!"

At first he continued to hold her, but she began to panic. Remembering what he'd done to her in the hospital, he released her and backed away from her. "Okay! I let go. Now talk to me! I need to know exactly what you did."

At first she couldn't. Her heart was pounding and she could barely breathe.

Recognizing the look on her face, Scott backed away farther and watched her. The look on her face scared him.

Fighting to catch her breath, Lucy finally sat down. "I had to, Scott. I'm not going to let them hurt us anymore."

"You had to what?" It was a struggle to keep his voice down, but he sat on the opposite end of he sofa and looked at her.

"I. I didn't threaten her. Not her."

"DON'T TELL ME-" She jumped when his voice raised, and he lowered it, gritting his teeth through every word. "you threatened him?"

"Not really." Hugging herself, she closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. "I just mentioned a few people that I thought she should be aware of."

"Like who?"

She shrugged, and Scott knew that it wasn't a good sign. Moving closer, Scott stared at her. Finally her eyes met his and she gave him the list that she'd basically used on Maria.

After listening to her, Scott sighed. "You just gave her names. You didn't admit to anything?"

Her eyes flashed angrily, which Scott took as a good sign. "I'm a little nuts right now, but I'm NOT stupid!"

Standing, Scott paced around the room, thinking about what Lucy had said. "You just told her what, exactly?"

"I told her to check out what happened to people that pissed me off." She shrugged.

Scott's eyes met her for a minute, his mind still working. Suddenly he began to laugh. Once he did, he couldn't stop, and finally, when Lucy was looking at him like she was contemplating his sanity, he sat on the chair next to her end of the sofa and sighed. "Only you, Lucy."

"Only me, what?"

Still laughing, Scott reached out and put his hand on her knee. "You're not stupid, and I gotta tell you, when you get a little nuts, you're about this far" He held his fingers up about an inch apart. "on the other side of genius."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that you have the WORST taste in men of any woman I've ever met. Myself included on occasion. And only you, the wonder woman of spin control can make it sound like you're some kind of black widow."

Her eyes met his, contemplating whether he was complimenting her or insulting her. "Black widow?"

"Yeah! You know, they mate and they kill?"

The thought disgusted her, and it showed all over her face. "I never MATED with.....eeeeewwww!"

"I know. I know. Drop it, all right?" Scott tried to get her mind back on the subject. "The point is, did it work?"

"I think so. She asked me what he had to do to avoid being next on my list?" Smiling slightly, she shrugged.

"Good. Let's see what she does now." Scott ran down the list again. "I just hope that..."

"What?"

"Some of those cases you threw in her lap are still technically open, Lucy. And you WERE a suspect for a few of them, remember?"

"Of course I remember. And you got me cleared from most of them, remember that?"

"Except for Damian Smith and Joe Scully. I wasn't around for those. I have no idea what the evidence was for them."

"I was only questioned in connection with Damian. And Sonny took care of Joe Scully."

"Sonny? As in Corinthos?"

She nodded.

Standing, Scott paced around the sofa. "Great. We know how great Sonny is at covering his own back. But we also know what happens to the women-"

"Scott, STOP! I don't want to do this right now."

"Well, you started this round, Lucy. You threw an open murder investigation in their laps, and your only defense is Sonny?"

Lucy sighed to herself. He was right. She'd started this round, and now she was stuck with Scott's reaction.


Kevin stared at Victor. "Why hasn't she come home yet?" He'd searched everywhere he could think of, and finally ended up back at her house.

"Monk, calm down. She will when she's ready."

"All she said was that she was with Scott! We know how considerate of her feelings Scott is!"

Victor knew that this had more to do with Kevin's feelings then Lucy's, but he said nothing.

"I don't understand. She hasn't wanted me out of her sight since it happened! Now suddenly I'm the last person she wants to see?" Kevin's eyes met Victor's. "What if I did something?"

"Stop it!" Victor grabbed Kevin's arms and looked at him. "You didn't do anything. She loves you, you love her. If you want her to tell you what's going on in her head, you need to give her some space. Monk, you're a psychiatrist. Step back and BE one for a minute."

"I can't! I can't be the least bit objective with her, and you know it!"

"So does she!" Taking a deep breath, Victor tried again. "She knows when she's in pain, you're in pain. Maybe that's all this is about."

"That she's hurting and she doesn't want me to help her?"

"Maybe she's in pain and she knows you can't make it go away, and she knows how much that hurts you." Victor shrugged. "Maybe she's right. Maybe you need a break so you CAN help her when she comes home."

That made sense to Kevin. "Okay. So I wait until she's ready." It was obvious how much he didn't like that, but at least he was willing to think about it.

Nodding, Victor smiled. "Now you're getting it. I know you don't doubt what the two of you feel for each other. Lucy trusts her instincts, and it's time you showed her that you do, too."

Sighing, Kevin turned and looked out the window. He looked so much like a pouting child that Victor had to stifle a laugh. He didn't like being shut out, and he DEFINITELY didn't like the fact that Scott wasn't as shut out as he was.

"This isn't...jealousy, is it?" Victor had to ask.

"NO!" Loud and sharp, Kevin turned to him. "She loves me. I know that. I just want to help her."

"You are. You're letting her do what's right for her."

Kevin stared at Victor for a long moment, hoping he was right. "I just..."

"I know. And so does she. When she's ready, she'll come home."


"I need to know if Schneider can stir up anything with Joe Scully!"

"I told you that Sonny-"

"I know. I know! Sonny took care of it. That's not an answer, Lucy."

"Scott, you don't know Sonny-" If looks could kill, Lucy would have never made it off the sofa. "I know all about Sonny and Karen, and I'm not defending him for that! She was a child, and Sonny knew better. But Sonny has always been good to me."

"What did he want from you?"

Sighing, Lucy shook her head. "I don't want to talk about it with you."

"Well, you better! You just gave them your head on a silver platter if there's any way to-"

"I DIDN'T! They can't do anything. Garcia and Mac questioned me!"

 "But SONNY took care of it, right?"

"Sonny and Luke saved my life, Scott." The minute she said it, she regretted it. Luke was just as low on Scott's list as Sonny. "Look, I know exactly how you feel about both of them, and why. But they have both been there for me when I needed them. When Joe Scully tried to destroy Deception, it was Luke and Sonny who helped me. When Joe kidnapped me and tried to kill me, they were the ones that found me and got me back. When Kevin went to jail, Luke and Sonny were there for me then, too. They both offered to do anything they could to help me when I needed them." Tears filled her eyes, and she stared at him. "For a while, they were the ONLY ones."

"Because I bailed on you, right?" His tone was sarcastic, as if she were accusing him.

"NO!" Standing, Lucy moved to stand in front of Scott. "This is NOT important. Sonny took care of that, and Maria's lawyer can't do anything about it. And you don't want to know what Sonny would do to that bastard-"

"Don't go there." Scott stared at her for a moment, then he smiled again. "I do know, and I'm sure Maria does, too."

"That was the point, you know?"

Before Scott could answer her, the phone rang. Picking it up, Scott held his finger up to his lips for Lucy to be quiet. "This is Scott Baldwin. Yeah. I'll be there in an hour." Hanging up, he turned to Lucy. "That was Dara. Schneider wants to meet us in her office in an hour."

Lucy was afraid to get her hopes up, but Scott went to her and smiled. "I think it worked."

"Really?" Her eyes searched his for reassurance.

At first, Scott reached for her, but then he thought about it and stopped. Slowly, Lucy moved into his arms and wrapped her arms around him.

Holding her, Scott stroked her hair. "I think you did it, Lucy. I think you scared them."


About a half hour later, Lucy walked through the front door of the house and as she turned to shut the door behind her, Kevin was behind her. When she turned back, he was so close he actually startled her.

"I'm sorry." He stepped back. "I was so worried about you."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't. Just tell me you're okay."

"I'm okay." She gave him a small smile, and she could see how relieved he was.

"Lucy, tell me what you need."

Confused, she just looked at him.

"If I pushed you, if I made you uncomfortable, just tell me."

"What?" She stared at him for a moment, then shook her head. "You didn't do anything. Doc, I didn't take off like that because of you. I'm sorry if I made you feel that way. I just...." She really didn't want to tell him until she was sure of what was going to happen, but she realized that if she didn't tell him, it would hurt his feelings.

"I was afraid you'd….." Unable to meet her eyes with what he'd been thinking, he turned and walked away from her.

"You thought I'd gone after him, right?"

"I should have known better, right?"

She could hear how guilty he felt in his voice. "Doc, I did threaten to do it a few times before I took off. And you never know what I'm going to do next, right?"

His eyes met hers, and she felt ten times worse. Her words had sounded sarcastic to him, and he thought she was angry. "This isn't coming out right. And it has to. I just don't know how or where to...." She shook her hands in frustration, and he moved closer to her again.

"Start with what you were thinking. Ian said you weren't making sense."

"I wasn't making sense to myself at that moment. The only thing that kept going through my mind was getting away."

"From me?"

She shook her head. "NO! Not you, really. From everything. The reporters, the papers, the way everybody was staring at me. I guess even myself. I wanted to get away from all of it."

"Where did you go?"

"I gotta tell you. I did think about going to Mercy. I jumped in a cab and actually headed there at first. I wanted to kill him. I really did."

"I know you did. That's why I was so afraid of where you'd gone." Kevin's voice was soft and he reached out for her hands to still them.

Squeezing his hands with her own, she took a deep breath. "I went after his mother."

His hands tensed in hers for a moment. "If you can't tell me because of legal-"

"NO!" She shook her head. "The woman is still ALIVE, for God's sake, Doc. I'm a little out there, even for me, right now, but I didn't KILL anyone."

"I'm sorry."

"Stop apologizing, please? Just let me tell you what happened, and what I think it going to happen." Pulling him with her, she sat on the sofa and faced him.


Schneider was waiting for Scott when he got there. Glaring at him, he gestured for them to move into Dara's office. "We have a few minutes to ourselves."

"Fine by me." Scott entered the office and sat down. "I take it there's something on your mind."

"You do realize that intimidating a witness is against the law."

"Intimidating a witness?" Scott stared blankly at him.

"We both know what your friend did to my client. But we both also know she's had her share of trouble, and she knows how to cover her tracks. Probably learned from the company she keeps. Stalkers, murderers, mob associates-"

"There's no law against having bad taste in men." Shrugging, Scott waited for the other lawyer to get to his point.

"You're on that list as well. I guess you count yourself lucky to be alive."

"Well, I'm a lawyer. The company I keep is worse then the company she keeps. Same as yours." Scott made his point and stopped.

Schneider sighed. "Okay, I know what he did, you know what she did. Our job is to make it go away. How are we going to do this?"

Scott knew it was almost over, and he smiled.


"And Scott started laughing?"

"Yeah." She nodded. "It's a pretty scary list, you know?"

"Yeah, I know. I lived some of it with you, remember?" He smiled at her for a moment, then shook his head. "And Scott thinks it worked?"

"He's meeting with Schneider as we speak." She shrugged. "He knows I won't sign anything until they drop the charges against you and the malpractice suit."

"What about you?"

"What about me?" Lucy stared at him and shrugged. "I'm fine."

"You're worried about me and the hospital. I'm worried about you."

"I knew where this was headed, and so do you. He was going to be declared unfit to stand trial. His lawyer could have dragged this out for years. Not to mention wanting you to go to jail-"

"There you go again, Lucy." Keeping his voice soft, he touched her face. "Look at me. Do you hear yourself? This isn't about me. What's happening to me is happening because of what I did. Not you."

"Doc, I don't know what you want me to say."

"I don't want you to say anything, Lucy. I just want you to do whatever you need for YOURSELF. Not me, or the hospital."

"This was for me, don't you get that?" Standing, Lucy began to pace around the room. "A big part of why I've been freaking out so much is that all I could see was HIM controlling my life. And I was letting him! I was reacting to everything he did. We all were. I couldn't breathe, I couldn't think. I lived like this for months and I refused to let him make me live like that again! And I couldn't do it. I couldn't stand having someone else controlling my life like that again!"

"Like what?" Kevin had no idea where she was coming from.

"Being AFRAID! Afraid of what was coming, afraid of what people were going to find out, afraid of EVERYTHING! I finally got so scared I was angry. And you know me, I don't wait around for things. I make them happen. I was so afraid of him winning that I had to make a move. Why can't I explain that to you? Why can't you understand that it was like DV all over again! And I WOULDN'T live like that! I couldn't." She paused, but only to take a breath, and started again before he could get a word in. "But I guess I just go off and do stupid things, right? I mean I know I did with DV, and I made a lot of people really mad at me, but not this time! This time I think I did it right. I really think I did."

"DV?" Kevin stared at her.

She stared at him, and he realized that she hadn't known she'd said it. Sighing, she nodded. "Yeah. I hadn't realized it until just now. But that's what I've been. I guess.. I don't know." She sighed again and sat down. "I think I've started to feel that way again, and I swore I'd never live that way again."

"What way?" Kevin knew what DV had done to her, but he couldn't see the similarity.

"Being afraid of what he was going to do next. I mean, Trent isn't following me around like DV did, but he was still attacking me through the people I care about. Using what happened to hold over my head. I was just as afraid and he had just as much power over me."

"Following you around?" Moving closer, Kevin realized that there was a lot more to this then he ever knew.

Shaking her head, Lucy shrugged. "It doesn't matter."

"Obviously, it does. Why does this remind you of David Bordisso?"

"After.... New York." Her eyes met his for a moment and dropped to the ground.

Seeing how ashamed she still was of what had happened to her, Kevin reached for her hands and held them.

"I didn't want anyone to know what I'd done. I wanted to forget it. But I couldn't. He wouldn't let me."

"What do you mean HE wouldn't?"

"I mean he wouldn't. Every time I turned around, he was there. He was threatening to tell everyone. Then he had Scott arrested. Then he made me drop the charges against him, and it was this never ending 'what is he going to do to me next', and I hated it! I can't tell you what it was like. I mean, it was like this constant game of push me around and see how far he could push. And I couldn't push back. I hated it! That's how I felt today. Like they were pushing me, and I couldn't push back. I had to do something, can you understand that? I mean, everybody already knew what happened, and it's not like he's going to be sending you videotapes or anything like that, so I mean I really had nothing to lose, and I had to do something. I couldn't-"

"Video tapes?" Kevin looked at her, thinking she was really reaching. Until her eyes met his, and she jumped to her feet. "Lucy?" His mind was racing through everything she'd said and trying to figure out what she hadn't said.

Walking away from him, she stared out the window. "I panicked and just did it. You know that's what I always do. I had to do something."

Moving towards her, Kevin met her eyes in the reflection of the window. "What were you going to say about videotapes?"

"Nothing. I wasn't going to say anything." Her eyes dropped from his. "I didn't mean to say anything about them."

"Them." Kevin still didn't understand, but he suddenly felt like it was important that he did.

She tried to walk past him, but he reached out to her and gently touched her face. "I'm trying to understand, Lucy, but I can't with only pieces here and there. Talk to me."

"I couldn't tell anyone. So anything DV did or said I couldn't do anything about it. He cornered me every time I turned around. He made me drop the kidnapping charges after Scott was arrested for stealing his plane. He kept telling me that he'd tell everyone what I'd done with him if I didn't walk out on Scott. And for months, I was right where I felt like I was this morning. And he loved having that power over me. I did everything I could think of, trying to buy myself some time to figure out what to do. But I couldn't find anything to use against him. So he got me right where he wanted me before he decided to use what he had on me."

"He told Scott." Kevin stared at her.

"No. He knew Scott wouldn't believe him, and I couldn't admit what I'd done to myself, let alone Scott. I just wanted to forget it. So, I would have probably denied everything. Maybe. I don't know. All I knew was that I didn't want to find out what I'd do, and I did some pretty horrible things to try to avoid it."

Kevin realized that she'd said she wanted to forget it ever happened every time she'd talked about Trent, and she'd tried to do the same thing with DV. But DV hadn't let her. And know her own mind wouldn't let her forget Trent. "But you finally told Scott. Once he knew, DV couldn't do anything to you."

Biting her lip, she shook her head. "He had to make sure he had me right where he wanted me. He had to prove that I couldn't win, and if I did, I'd regret it. Don't you see? If I won in court against Trent, he would use that to win against you. Or he won the malpractice suit, and sat in Ferncliff for ten years while his money earned interest. Either way, I couldn't win. Again."

"I'm still not getting this. You and Scott did win against DV."

"Yeah, but I'll never feel really safe. Scott was sure he." Taking a deep breath, Lucy finally had to say it. She hadn't let herself think about it in two years, but it was there, and she had to say it to him. "I didn't tell Scott, and neither did DV. He sent Scott.. He sent IT to the firehouse. And Scott got to it before I did."

It clicked in Kevin's mind, and for a moment, he couldn't say it either. "Videotape."

Taking a deep breath, Lucy nodded and struggled to say it. "Of... Eve White... Making... Love... with David Bordisso." Turning around, she stared out the window and shook her head again. "Me having sex with DV."

Closing his eyes, Kevin took her shoulders and leaned his head against hers. "I'm sorry." He whispered in her ear.

"In all the years I've known Scott, I've never seen him that angry or hurt. That I... Did that... and didn't tell him."

"He was angry at YOU?!" Kevin couldn't help himself.

"At first. I mean, he cooled off and came back, but it just blindsided him." Lucy's voice was flat, like she was no longer paying attention to the conversation. Or she couldn't pay attention to the topic, Kevin wasn't sure. "But that feeling of waiting for the next move. Being afraid of what it's going to be. I couldn't stand to be there again. I'm going to be there with DV for the rest of my life because of those damn tapes."

The full impact of what she was saying hit Kevin, and he closed his eyes for a minute. "Oh, god, Lucy."

She shrugged. "Scott thinks he found them all, but how can I ever be sure? I'll never let anyone get that much power over me again. I had to do something. I had a good motive. My method wasn't that great, but it's been worse. You know that." Turning, she looked at him. "You of all people know that."

He'd said that to her the day Scott had been arrested, but he'd had no idea what she'd been up against. She'd accused him of thinking she was getting what she deserved when she when she'd dropped the charges against DV. It all came together in his mind, and suddenly he felt like he'd not only abandoned her when she needed a friend, he'd stuck the knife in her deeper. "I had no idea what was going on, Lucy. If I'd known..."

"Nobody knew, and I wanted to keep it that way!" She turned to face him. "What, you wouldn't have hated me for the way I attacked Eve? Come on, Doc. Even I admit I was way out of line then. I was in a panic and I didn't care what I had to do to stop DV. It was the same thing today. I couldn't think. I couldn't breathe. All I knew was that I had to stop this and I didn't know how else to do it."

"Scott thinks it worked, right?"

"I don't know. They called him, and Schneider wants to meet with him in Dara's office." She looked at him. "I guess they're either going to settle this or press charges against me."

Taking her in his arms, Kevin thought about everything she'd said. "Don't even joke about that, Lucy." He held her and stroked her hair. "Did you ever... talk to anyone about New York?"

"I told Gail. And you." She shrugged.

"Oh, yeah, I did you a lot of good." Kevin's voice was sarcastic. "I jumped on the idea to use it to put on a show for DV." He shook his head. "I jumped on the idea to use you." Sighing, Kevin held her tighter. "I never once thought about what it would do to you. I'm so sorry."

Pulling away from him, Lucy shook her head. "Doc, I'm over what happened with DV."

"You were until a few days ago." Staring into her eyes, he could see her trying to find an argument. But she couldn't. "Lucy, I had no idea what DV had put you through. I didn't listen when you told me."

"Don't. You're listening now. And you're helping me." Touching his face, she inched closer to him and kissed him softly. She could see how badly he felt about it, and she sighed. "I didn't tell you this to make you feel bad, Doc. Really I didn't."

"I know that. You'd never remind me of terrible things I've done to you. Even when you should."

"Please stop. I shouldn't have said anything. But you asked, and it's been on my mind, and-"

"I asked because I wanted to know. I would have never understood the connection with what you're feeling if you hadn't told me, and I'm glad you did. I just feel like I should have asked you two years ago."

"Why? I was Scott's problem, not yours."

"Because even when we weren't lovers, I considered us friends. And I guess I'm realizing that you were a much better friend to me than I was to you."

Now she sighed, and she held his face in her hands. "I'm sorry I said anything. I know you want to understand, so understand this. What happened two years ago between us doesn't matter. All that matters is right here. I love you. You're here, you're asking, and you're helping me. And that means everything to me."

He touched her hands for a moment before wrapping his arms around her. "You are everything to me, Lucy. I just wish I had done more then, and that I could do more now."

"You can't, Doc." Beginning to cry, she held him tighter. "You're doing everything you can, and I love you for it."

He held her and kissed her head softly. "I love you."

After a few moments, she pulled away. "You know, Scott's going to call us as soon as he finds out what's going on. It could be over tonight."

Hopefully, she turned to him, but he stared into her eyes. They both knew that the legal end of it might be over tonight, but it wouldn't really be over for her for a long time.