Author's Note: For the purposes of this story, forget that Cody McCall ever interacted with Jax or Sam. A WSB agent in town is acting as the Cassadine butler, and his name is Cody, but that's as far as it goes. He never mentioned that he was a diver, so Nikolas never found somebody to dive for him or blow up his freighter.

As a side note, believe it or not, people do dive in the Great Lakes in winter, but they wear what are called "dry suits" because they keep the diver completely dry, and the diver wears insulating layers beneath the suit. Every time I see Sam come out of the water wet, I want to yell at my TV. The only reason she's wearing a wetsuit is because a dry suit is baggy and not sexy in the least. hr They may call it salvage, but to Sam McCall it was all about buried treasure. Her earliest memories were of her father telling her about the Aztec gold that had sunk to the bottom of the ocean that was just waiting for them to find it. When they did, she'd be a princess, with a different dress every day instead of the cut-off shorts and grubby, too-small keds that she wore every day. Most importantly, who ever heard of a princess with no mommy? Day after day, Sam had dreamed about finding gold, and as she'd gotten older she'd learned that it didn't have to be gold to put some shiny new shoes on your feet. Lots of things were waiting beneath the water, waiting for someone to see their value and claim them.

Sam's early memories were of sitting on the edge of her Dad's boat, little legs dangling overboard, watching the water go by. She'd never had a room growing up, just a place to bunk down for the night, folded up neatly the next morning and converted back into their dining room. For a while her dad would settle down and start a business and she'd go to school during the day, and do her homework on the dock while she waited for the boat to return that night. Then the call would come and they'd disappear in the middle of the night, bound for another port, another shore.

Of course, it never occurred to her that maybe she should be living with her disapproving Aunt in Nova Scotia, and by the time it did, she had the sea in her blood. Her father would never have heard of it. Most of his cons required the sweet little girl to give him the appearance of a hard-working family man. By the time she was old enough to know better, she was a better con artist than he was. The boat was her home, and she was his luck. He always said so, and Sam believed it. Just when things looked bad, Sam had a way of finding the right man with the deep pockets, or even better, of finding the valuable wreck that had eluded them for weeks.

It wasn't until she was older that she began to question the phone calls and the mysterious men that would send them scurrying for a new port, frequently with a new boat. In the end, it was only through eavesdropping on one of her father's meetings that she had learned of the WSB, and that her father really worked for them. Their life suddenly seemed more exciting and her father seemed larger than life- looking for treasure by day and spying by night. Sam wanted in on the life, and since a lifetime of training had prepared her for the deception required, the WSB had accepted her without question.

Then had come the biggest shock of all. Her father wasn't her father. He was just an agent who had been assigned to look after her, to keep her on the move. Nothing she could say or do would induce her handler to tell her more about her parents. When Sam had progressed far enough in her training, she had hacked the WSB's computer system herself and had found that all of her records were sealed by a firewall that seemed impenetrable. Whoever her parents had been, Sam knew they had been important enough to the WSB to ensure her protection. hr Sam McCall was crouched over Jax's laptop, her senses alert for any sound from the hall.

"I'm sending you the files as we speak."

Jax had just left for his morning run, and Sam couldn't wait to be done with this assignment. She had been foolish enough to fall for Jax the first time round and her work had suffered. It was unfinished business that had forced her to come crawling back when Jax "forgave" her.

Her one-day stint as vice president of Jax's company had given her access to the mainframe, but it hadn't taken her long to realize that Jax kept the good stuff on standalone computers, off-line, and therefore impossible to hack.

She could have stayed on at J&J Jacks, but she didn't want to draw any attention to the fact that, despite her apparent interest in the salvage business, the real target was Jax's business.

Sam had played her cover story and Jax had come through with another salvage boat. The WSB was always happy when her cover funded itself, and she'd been smart enough to make sure that the boat was 100% hers before she set foot on her.

She'd been biding her time, playing salvage operator, while she waited for Jax to bring home something incriminating. There was plenty of circumstantial evidence that he had been laundering money for his brother again. The WSB wanted proof. Sam had almost given up.

"Receipt confirmed, agent McCall."

"Good. I'm ready to get the hell out of Port Charles."

Sam had been on vacation when she'd run into Jax. The Dead Man's Hand had always been a fascination of hers, and her WSB work had given her the resources to track down its owner. It wasn't until after she'd fallen for Jax that she'd been called back to duty. She should have known better than to get involved with someone as high profile as Jax. Of course the WSB would want in.

"Negative, McCall. Phone in for your next assignment before you leave town."

Shit. She wanted to get as far away from Jax as she could get. She still loved the self-righteous bastard, but she hated him, too. She knew she was nothing more than a plaything to him, a pawn to feed his ego. It had pleased Sam to no end when she received her orders to make sure Corinthos walked on the kidnapping charge. Jax had been good enough to forgive her, even going so far as to buy her a salvage boat, but she knew his type. The gift came with strings: play by the rules and be a nice girl. Sam was no nice girl, but since her mission in Port Charles had grown, she'd needed the boat. What she hadn't needed was Jax butting in to her work and giving the treasure away to Cassadine and the Quartermaines.

The WSB was after bigger treasure, namely the Ice Princess, but she was supposed to turn over the proceeds from the "Courage" to finance the search. Apparently, it served the WSB's interests to keep both the Quartermaine and the Cassadine families from acquiring the capital the treasure would provide. In the past week it had been getting harder and harder to keep Jax off her back about the treasure. Thank God she'd gotten lucky. The Ice Princess had been swept down against the wreckage of the Courage and she'd found it two days ago. The best part was that Jax didn't have a clue.

Sam packed up her things and left Jax a note. Once she had her clothes and the treasure packed into her truck, she called in by satellite phone as instructed. The files downloaded to her computer as she listened to her orders. Sam raised her eyebrows in surprise. It seemed that Skye Chandler Quartermaine had friends in high places. hr Sam followed Skye Quartermaine from the estate to the docks. It was amazing the things that a WSB techie with a voice sample could do. Skye actually believed that it had been Luke on the phone asking to meet her at the wreck of the Haunted Star. The timing had to be just perfect on this one. Sam had no backup plan for convincing Skye and Alcazar to be roomies at the compound/hotel he was apparently running.

Sam was early for her meeting with Lorenzo Alcazar and the duffle bag was much heavier than she'd anticipated. She checked in with the other agent in town, Cody, to ensure that he was in position.

When Alcazar was about twenty feet away, Sam started walking toward him, ensuring that she would pass close to Skye.

The shot rang out and almost instantly the wooden pylon in front of them threw up splinters of wood.

Skye jumped and stared at the hole created by the bullet's exit. "Down." Sam called, then swung her duffle bag to knock Skye down and grabbed her, hauling her towards the benches in a huddle. Another shot rang out and a hole appeared midway between the two of them and Alcazar. Sam was grateful that she knew what a good shot Cody was, or she might genuinely be worried.

Skye was going to have a bruise where the bag had hit her. "What do you have in that thing? Bowling balls?" Sam ignored her, looking around for the shooter.

Lorenzo had also ducked for cover about ten feet away from them. His two guards scanned the rooftop for the shooter as he made a crouching run towards the two women.

"Anybody want to kill you, Skye, or was that for me?" Sam asked urgently.

Skye looked shocked. "Tracy. " Skye said, and Sam could see she was considering the possibility.

Lorenzo looked hard at Sam. Her reactions had been very quick, and her question left open the possibility that she was the target. And then there was the fact that she had called him for a meeting. That alone said that she was up to something illegal.

Sam glanced from Alcazar back to Skye. "What a coincidence. Tracy seems more likely than the Cassadines to me."

Skye looked at the bag. "You've stolen the treasure."

"I didn't steal it. I'm the one who found it, Skye. And what do you care? You're loaded." Sam shot back.

Lorenzo couldn't believe what he was witnessing. The two women were about to get into an argument over "treasure" when someone was shooting at them.

"Does Jax know about this?" Skye scolded.

"I knew you had a thing for him." Sam was doing her best to keep this discussion petty. Let Alcazar do the thinking for the three of them.

One of the men signaled that the limo was waiting on the other side of the stairs.

Lorenzo cleared his throat. Skye looked at him, actually noticing him for the first time. "Perhaps this conversation should be continued in my car. It is waiting just up there."

Skye scowled. "Are you sure it's safe?"

"My men saw the shooter. They can provide covering fire if he appears again."

Sam nodded. "I'm game. It's better than being pinned down here."

Skye looked between the two of them- dodging bullets was not part of her repertoire. "Why don't we just call the police and wait for help." Her forehead was knotted in worry. Where were the cops when you needed them?

"No cops for me," Sam said, and popped her head up over the wooden half- wall for a peek.

"Says the thief," Skye retorted.

Two more of Lorenzo's men showed up brandishing weapons. "I can leave a man here with you. Miss McCall and I have business to discuss."

"Oh, no. You're not leaving me here," Skye protested.

"Fine then. On three." Lorenzo said, knowing that Skye would continue to worry about the right thing to do unless forced to act.

The three of them scurried up the stairs to the alley where the car was waiting. Sirens wailed in the distance. Skye scrambled into the back of the limo, followed by Sam and Lorenzo. Lorenzo managed to avoid tripping over Sam's duffle and seated himself across from the two ladies. The car accelerated away from the scene.

Lorenzo allowed himself a few breaths. Skye looked at Sam and opened her mouth to speak, but Lorenzo interrupted what he suspected would be another accusation.

"So we've established that Tracy Quartermaine has reason to shoot either of you."

Sam looked thoughtful. "You first, Skye. Tracy threatened you?"

"Alan is planning to adopt me. She said I wouldn't live to see the day I was a Quartermaine. But she just said that this morning."

Lorenzo's gaze was piercing. "Tracy threatened you this morning, Ms Quartermaine. And you, Ms McCall, does Tracy know that you have her "treasure".

Sam shook her head. "I don't see how. I mean, we had a deal, but nobody saw me. find it or bring it up. I do have something Helena Cassadine would kill for, but the same thing goes. It would be easier to just take it from me."

"So both Tracy Quartermaine and Helena Cassadine have reason to want you dead," Lorenzo surmised.

Sam looked closer at Lorenzo's shirt, then leaned across and poked his chest. "You're wearing Kevlar. You must think somebody's out to get you."

Lorenzo was amused by her impertinence. "I'm simply being cautious. I'm fairly certain that one of you was the target."

Sam waited impatiently while Lorenzo considered what to do with them.

"I think I will meet with each of you individually once we reach the compound," Lorenzo said at last. He had planned to invite Skye to live at the compound, but he wasn't sure he wanted to make the same offer to Sam. There was something about her that wasn't quite genuine. hr Lorenzo shook Skye's hand gently. "Then it's settled. You will stay here. Dillon will be pleased."

"I appreciate your generosity," Skye said, brushing aside her memories of Luis. Lorenzo was nothing like his brother.

Lorenzo nodded in acknowledgement of her thanks. "Let me show you to your room."

As they walked into the kitchen, Skye saw Elizabeth Lansing letting Kristina down from a high chair.

"Kristina." Skye was breathless at the sight of her little baby walking. She had been her mother for a few treasured months, what Skye felt would be her only chance at motherhood. And here was her darling baby, close enough to touch.

Kristina looked up and saw Skye. She ran over to her with her arms up. "Up! Up!"

Skye picked Kristina up with tears welling in her eyes. "Why, look what a big girl you are, sweetheart."

Lorenzo watched as Kristina patted Skye's cheek with her free hand, then grabbed a handful of Skye's hair and shoved it in her mouth. The child obviously knew Skye, but it took Lorenzo a moment to remember that Skye had been involved in the custody suit.

Elizabeth had heard rumors about Skye's involvement with Ned and Kristina. She thought the custody fight had been bitter. What would Alexis think about Skye holding her daughter? Elizabeth thought that perhaps she should take the baby back, but the look on Skye's face was just heartbreaking and she couldn't bring herself to do it.

Skye held Kristina close and ran her fingers down Kristina's cheek. She felt Kristina's compact weight in her arms and smelled the perfect baby smell of her heartbreakingly soft skin. She ran her fingers over the soft spot on the top of Kristina's head and felt her pulse through her now thick hair. Her hair had grown so much since Skye had let her go- she looked almost like a toddler now. "I missed you, my darling girl," Skye said softly, and she choked on the last word.

She caught the look on Elizabeth's face and realized that Alexis would make a scene if she saw this. Skye wondered if she dared hold Kristina much longer, or if Alexis would arrive to rip her out of her arms. She knew that she couldn't bear it if that happened.

"Here. You should take her," Skye said to Elizabeth, offering Kristina back to her. They untangled Skye's hair from Kristina's fist and Elizabeth settled the baby on her hip.

Elizabeth bounced Kristina lightly. "Say bye bye, Kristina."

Skye's gave Kristina a brave smile and a goodbye wave, but the tears continued down her cheeks.

"Bye. Bye. Bye." Kristina chanted, waving her arm.

It was too much, and Skye suddenly felt a hand on her elbow, guiding her into the next room.

Skye stopped and looked out the window, trying to wipe the tears from her face. What must Lorenzo think of her, to be so undone by someone else's child? "I haven't seen her since." Skye's throat constricted and she felt Lorenzo take her in his arms. She could have held herself together if he hadn't acknowledged her pain. Somehow the implicit offer of understanding was too much and a cry tore itself from her throat. Her arms tentatively moved around his waist and she held on tightly, trying not to sob.

Lorenzo's hand smoothed her hair and he said softly, "It's all right." A sob wracked her body, and another, and Lorenzo wondered how many nights Skye had already cried for the child.

Skye took a deep breath, held it, and let it out slowly. Her chest hitched lightly and she did it again. She had to stop. She couldn't turn into a whimpering mess at the sight of Kristina or she would never survive living here.

Then Skye had dropped her arms and was fumbling in her purse for a tissue. Lorenzo released her and took a step back, giving her space to compose herself.

"There was an accident. I can't have children of my own. I didn't know I wanted children," Skye said, by way of explanation. "I let myself fall in love with her. I should have known better."

Lorenzo couldn't listen to Skye berate herself. "The love you gave her was not wasted. Kristina is a happy and well-adjusted baby, in spite of everything that has happened during her brief life. You deserve some credit for that."

Skye gave Lorenzo a wry half-smile through her tears. "I doubt Alexis would thank me."

Lorenzo wiped an errant tear from her cheek. "You didn't do it for Alexis. You did it for Kristina."

Skye let the truth of this sink in.

"I must look a mess," she said at last.

"Come," Lorenzo said, taking her elbow and guiding her toward the stairs. "There is a lovely suite upstairs." He had planned on keeping the upstairs to himself, but obviously it would not do to put Skye too close to Alexis and the baby. hr Lorenzo felt odd, leaving Skye to her heartbreak, but there was nothing more he could do. Now he had business to attend to. Sam McCall was waiting in the room next to his office.

When he entered, Sam was wearing a beautiful antique diamond necklace that she had not been wearing before.

"I see you have been perusing your treasure."

"It doesn't quite go with the leather," she joked, referring to her leather pants and jacket.

"Marco said we had business to discuss?" he asked, knowing that she probably wanted him to arrange to fence the treasure.

"You know we've met before, although I doubt you will remember it. Christmas of 1998. I was with Luis. There was a speedboat incident." Sam had no trouble remembering the year. Getting inside Luis Alcazar's operation had been a harrowing assignment.

"Ah, yes. Luis insisted on taking father out in his new boat." Lorenzo smiled at the memory.

"He did it on purpose, of course. I'd shown him that trick, of raising a trail of spray and then skidding back underneath it. Your father looked like he thought he was going to die."

"And he was completely soaked. I'd never seen the old man so angry." Lorenzo laughed softly. It was good to laugh with someone about his brother. No one had had a kind word to say about Luis since Lorenzo had come to Port Charles.

Sam was laughing, too, at the memory. "You know you really do look like him. like he did. I'm sorry for your loss."

And there it was. The first time someone in this town had expressed regret over his brother's fate. There was something about this girl, something he could almost remember. but it was gone.

"Thank you. Luis was not popular here," he said, and the feeling was back. "Did you and Luis part on good terms?" The question was something of a trap. Luis did not have the knack for ending relationships gracefully.

"Oh," Sam said, trying to phrase this as gracefully as possible. "Not exactly. You see Luis saved me from going to jail in Namibia, in a way. I was grateful. We had fun. But I'd lived my whole life on boats, not yachts, and I'm used to going where the wind takes me."

Lorenzo knew his brother and could see where the story was going. There was an awkward moment, but it passed. Luis had his faults, and death did not change that.

Sam had not been planning to tell Lorenzo the truth, but she had good instincts for when the truth might be easier than a lie. "Luis. was not ready to part company. He had my passport. I took some diamonds, in trade, and swam for a fishing boat. We were in South African waters, and I speak Afrikaner. It was easy to get them to drop me at the nearest harbor." Sam was smiling again. "I had my little diamond adventure and ended up back in the salvage business."

"So you stole from Luis," Lorenzo said frankly, remembering that the woman had come here to do business.

"Yes. Someone recently called me a pirate. I think that's about right." Sam reached into the bag, fishing for something.

Sam held out the goblet. "I don't really think a pawn shop is the right place for a jewel encrusted cup."

"No. Neither am I in the business of disposing of stolen goods," Lorenzo said firmly.

Sam tried not to roll her eyes. He might not have been before, but if he was going to run this territory, he was going to be taking a cut from the local fencing operations. Of course, all this was supposed to be a mystery to her.

"I run a salvage operation. I know the laws. Nikolas Cassadine has no right to that treasure, and the Quartermaines have no way to prove that the treasure even came from the Courage, not to mention that family legend of a three hundred year old ship does not constitute ownership."

Lorenzo felt that her rationalizations rang false. "The Cassadines and the Quartermaines would disagree with you."

"Let them. They cry about being broke, but everything I own is in this room. Besides, the treasure is just the icing on the cake. I have something that Helena Cassadine would crawl across broken glass to get her hands on, and it has nothing to do with the freighter or the Courage."

Sam pulled the Ice Princess out of the bag and handed it to Lorenzo.

Lorenzo felt the weight of the object and frowned. It was heavier than crystal, but there was no way it was what he thought it was.

"That right there is over 1500 carats of uncut grade F or better diamond. The inclusions you see run along a single vein and the rest of the diamond is remarkably free from inclusions."

Lorenzo understood. A diamond of that size would be impossible to sell without alerting the Cassadines. It would have to be cut, and the resulting gems sold.

"So, what do you propose?" Lorenzo found himself wondering what kind of businesswoman she was.

"I'm a salvage captain. I provide raw materials to wholesalers. I don't have the connections to move diamonds. Boats, scrap iron, fittings, you name it. I've got a guy who will buy them. Gems are out of my league. But they aren't out of yours, are they, Mr. Alcazar."

"My brother talked too much." Lorenzo found himself annoyed that this girl knew about his business.

"I'm a harbor rat. I grew up on boats, and I've bought or bartered for supplies in harbors all over the world. You hear things, like how illegally mined diamonds are bartered for guns. Your brother was an arms dealer in a resort on the Namibian border with Angola. That's the illegal diamond capital of the world. He didn't have to tell me a thing about his business that I couldn't guess on my own.

Lorenzo looked at Sam in a new light. He had initially taken her for a small time thief and con artist. Then he remembered her as a bit of fluff that his brother had had fun with. Now he was beginning to see her as far more worldly than her unpretentious attitude had lead him to suspect.

"Standard salvage rates. 50%. I provide the raw materials. You have it cut and sold."

The deal was fair. She wasn't negotiating hard enough. "75-25. You will receive nothing but a finder's fee if you try to handle the transaction yourself," he said, his eyes glittering with challenge.

Sam didn't bite. She wasn't going to play games with a man whose couch cost more than her car.

"Not a chance. I've come to you with an offer that is more than fair because, beyond a certain point, money doesn't interest me, but I won't be taken advantage of. I'm the one who made the initial investment in diving equipment. I'm the one who dove in near-freezing water. All of the up-front labor and expenses were mine. So are half the proceeds." Lorenzo did not need time to consider it. There was no risk in it to him. It was a fair offer. His attempt at negotiation had been purely a test of Sam's will. "You have a deal."

Sam's face cracked open into a smile again and she shook his hand. "All right."

Even when the WSB took their cut, she'd get a percentage. She was finally going to have some real money.

Lorenzo found himself smiling back at Sam.

"And you have to keep me safe until the diamonds are cut and we find out exactly what that baby is worth," Sam said, almost as an afterthought. In fact, this was the whole purpose of their meeting.

This seemed only logical to Lorenzo. They wouldn't know what the diamond was worth until it was cut.

"Let me show you to your room."