Journeylove- I didn't like Casper at all… they were 'amusing,' but little more. Courtney deserves better than Jax… or just being alone. One of the two. For a second there you had me a bit puzzled… the first couple I saw was Jason/Gia, which could have happened… maybe. It didn't seem so unbelievable, and I went 'when did they hook up?' Then I saw Sonny and Emily and that made me realize that it was just your own fiction couples. Nothing wrong with that. Although, I will give you this: the idea of a Jason/Emily/Jax story scares the bloody hell out of me. Brook has something coming up soon. Yes, she does.

In a completely unrelated note: Today's episode is so emotionally draining that I'll probably just take a break… yeah…

Story-

He didn't know how he was going to approach her. He cared about Bobbie, but he'd never really needed to help her solve a problem before. What if she didn't want his help? There was really only one way to find out. "Bobbie?"

She jumped slightly, her nerves shot, not expecting anyone to see her. Slowly, Bobbie wiped away her tears, hoping that he wouldn't notice. "Hi, Damian. How are you?"

"Better than you're doing, apparently."

"What do you mean?"

"Bobbie…"

"I'm fine, Damian, really!" She knew that she was lying. But she was a Spencer. Wasn't it some sort of inherited trait that she be good at lying? Luke could do it. So could Carly. Why would it just skip her?

"I saw you with Carly."

"You did?" She lowered her eyes. She couldn't lie. Not if he had seen what had happened between her and her daughter. "What did you see?"

"You and Carly talking, quite passionately. I don't think you were discussing any sort of parties for Morgan's recovery, or what you were going to do for New Years Eve tomorrow. Bobbie…"

"You want to help, don't you?"

"You know me that well?"

"Everyone knows you that well," she stated. "At least everyone who takes the time to meet you and understand you. Most people wouldn't do that. They'd think that you were just some thug who came from Los Angeles because you found out who your father was. But we know better. We know how far that is from the truth."

"Thank you." There were reasons why Damian loved Bobbie Spencer in ways that he would love anyone else who would be his grandmother. She always knew what to say in order to make him feel better. For once, Damian wanted to be the one who could do the same for Bobbie. She didn't deserve to suffer as she was suffering. "I'm only going to ask you this question one time, Bobbie… but you need to understand that I'm here, right here, and I'm not going to go anywhere if you need me."

Knowing that she could trust the boy, a fact that she realized well before anyone else, save perhaps Elizabeth, Bobbie decided that she couldn't deal with the problem on her own. Mike was already dealing with plenty, and Damian was right, he was right there. She blurted out her problems, looking for something to help ease her pain. "Carly wants to know who her father is."

"I see…"

"But I don't want her to know who her father is."

"She has a right to know where she comes from, Bobbie. Everyone does. Sometimes it's different… like with Michael. But he has a right to know that the Quartermaine's are his birth family. If he chooses to identify with them, that is his choice… but denying him the information would be cruel and unfair."

"It's not that simple!" Nobody was being understanding of her. Why couldn't they see what she was going through? To her it was so obvious. The pain, the agony.

"Why does she want to know?"

"Because of what happened with Morgan. She's grateful that you could help the baby, we all are, but you're not Michael's blood relative, and neither is anyone else in the Corinthos family. We're not trying to say that you don't love him just as much as you would if he were blood, you might even love him more just to make him feel like he's a member of the family, but Carly's afraid that something could happen to Michael, or to her, and that it would depend on her father's side of the family helping."

"It's a valid point, Bobbie…" he understood where Carly was coming from, something that truly shocked him and made him more than a little afraid. Who would have thought that they would ever see eye to eye on something? His father would be celebrating more than his son's recovery from a potentially fatal disease. "Why don't you sit down?"

"I don't want to sit down…"

"Then keep on standing for as long as you can. The way your knees are shaking I'm only going to give you a few minutes before you just collapse from grief and stress. Then I'll have to pick you up and make sure that you're okay. Do us both a favor and just take a seat, please?"

"Fine…" Bobbie hated the fact that she was so worked up by what was going on, but it was such a huge part of her life, a life that started before Carly was even born. One that she wished she could just erase. One that she had tried to erase more times than she would care to admit. Taking a seat, she looked at the boy, who was also sitting. "Is that better?"

"Much, thanks." While she was taking a seat, Damian looked over to where Maxie was. She was watching intently. He hoped that she would keep her distance. Carly was a problem that he was much better suited to deal with than his girlfriend, even though the two had done battle before.

"What are you going to tell me, Damian? Are you going to tell me that I'm being selfish."

"You are… at least a little. I never thought that you would do something like this, Bobbie. I'm sure your reasons are good…"

"Finally someone else understands that!"

"But sometimes reasons aren't enough. We can't hide things forever, Bobbie. No matter how hard we try they are going to come out eventually." He realized that he was being somewhat hypocritical. Both he and Carly had sworn to each other that they would never speak of what happened to him. His argument lost some of the validity, but he could keep it to himself. He had to. It would destroy Carly and Sonny's marriage if the truth got out. Damian didn't want that. Even when he didn't care for Carly he never wanted her marriage to deteriorate because of him. "Carly's just trying to protect herself and her children."

"So am I!"

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing…" Bobbie realized that she had said too much. She hoped that he was going to let it go, but she knew that it was just a false hope.

"Bobbie…"

"Carly's father… I can never be certain who it is, Damian, at least not without a blood test done on her and him like you did to prove to Sonny that you were his son. But… there were men who I know could be the possible fathers. And even one in particular who I saw in Carly's face when she was born."

"So you might know?"

"Forget I said anything." She grabbed his hand frantically. "I should have never said what I said. Now I'm just putting you in trouble, too…"

"What are you talking about?" Damian had never seen her act so nervous. Her eyes were welling up with tears again. "Bobbie, whatever you're going through, I can help you. I don't know how because I don't know what it is, but you need to tell me before it gets worse."

"You'll just tell Carly…"

"What if I promise not to?"

"Then you'd be lying," she muttered. "I know you, remember? You're honest. Too honest. Sometimes it's a good quality, and sometimes it isn't."

"I swear on my mother's grave that I will not tell Carly anything about what happened here unless it is absolutely necessary." A vow on Ana-Maria's grave was something that was not to be taken lightly. He'd never actually swore on her grave before, never thought he would.

She understood what it meant for him to say those words. She was touched that he would do something like that for her. It made her feel that she could trust him no matter what. "The man that I think it could be… he's become a much better man than he was when he used to come and…"

"You don't need to talk about your past with me, Bobbie." He knew about it, and while it was hard to believe he was more than willing to let the woman atone for her sins on her own. Everyone made mistakes, even him. Why should Bobbie Spencer have been any different? "Just tell me what you know."

"His name is John Durant…"

"The federal prosecutor?" How could Damian not know that name? In Port Charles, Sonny and Jason worried about Ric, but they also spoke of Durant. In the news, Durant was constantly in the headlines, on the television. He was likened as a hero. Sonny didn't care for him much.

"John was much wilder in those days. We both were. I tried not to feel anything for the men that… but there was something about John. Maybe it was because of his looks, because he came around so much. I didn't love him, but I could have if things would have been different."

"I get it… you didn't want to tell Carly about John Durant possibly being her father because you know how much of a risk that puts my father and Uncle Jason in…"

"You said you wouldn't tell anyone!"

"I won't… at least not in the family. He's stationed in New York, right?"

"What are you thinking about?"

"Going to find him… tomorrow…"

"Damian, you can't! You're Sonny Corinthos's son. Don't you realize just how much danger that puts you in? Besides, why do you want to bring him here?"

"I just want to see what he's like, Bobbie," Damian could see the risks that he was taking. But he didn't intend on announcing his last name, or even seeing the man. "Maybe he's not as bad as people think. Maybe he could love Carly, Michael and Morgan in a way that they deserve to be loved. If he can do that don't you think that they all have a right to have each other in their lives?"

"You're taking too big of a risk," Bobbie didn't agree with his idea. "I can't let you do it."

"I'll take Maxie with me. We'll fly in tomorrow, find Durant, talk to him, and fly out. She's the commissioner's daughter, Bobbie. She could make up some story about how she wanted to meet a man that her father looked up to."

"I can't stop you, can I?"

"If you don't want me to go… just say the word."

"I…" Bobbie tried to say it. Tried to tell him that she didn't want him to take the risk, but while a part of her was screaming inside for her to utter the words that would halt him from doing what he had planned on doing she found a bigger part of herself that didn't want to take the chance of Michael or Carly being hurt. Her daughter was right. If something happened and they needed Carly's father then it would be on her head. She couldn't deal with the responsibility. And even if something should have happened to her she knew that Damian or Maxie would know who she thought was Carly's father and they could find her.

"Bobbie?"

"Just promise me that you'll both be careful?" Bobbie asked, trying to smile.

"I'm a Corinthos, remember? Even if I tried to forget how to be careful I don't think my blood would let me."

Bobbie felt relieved that she had managed to get the secret that had threatened to boil over out in the open. Standing up, she started to walk away, but kissed Damian on the cheek before she moved passed him. "Thank you… for understanding both sides of the story."

"I'll call you when I find out something." He couldn't believe that he had gone from having no plans on New Years Eve to finding his Stepmother's biological father. Only in Port Charles could something like that happen. But he didn't mind that it had fallen to him. Bobbie was trusting him and he knew that he couldn't fail.