Aboard the Corinthos Jet-

"We're running a little late…" Maxie was used to running late, but since she became a part of Damian's life it didn't seem like it was something that was so acceptable. He tried to be on top of everything. He was good like that. Organized. Much like Georgie helped Dillon get his life in order amid the chaos, Damian helped her with the same thing.

"It couldn't be helped." Damian had been on very few airliners in his time, but he could say with complete certainty that the blush couches in his father's jet were far superior to the seats that he sat in when he was flying to and from Los Angeles on commercial airliners. The only thing that needed to be changed was the lack of peanuts.

"I'm sorry about that…"

He cupped her chin with his hand and smiled, "You don't need to apologize, Maxie. What happened wasn't your fault. You can't be blamed for Mac giving us a forty-five minute lecture on what we could and could not do in New York."

"What can we do in New York?"

"Breathe?"

She laughed. He was good at making her feel better with his humor, but, for once, she could one up him, "Nope, Mac said that we couldn't breathe because of all the smog and air pollution."

"I'll make sure that we have those oxygen masks the whole time we're in New York."

"Can I ask you something?"

"You can ask me anything. I thought you knew that." He never wanted to keep things from her… but there were times that he did. It was one of his many flaws, one of his many hypocrisies. He could claim to be the most honest person that he could be, but deep down he lied more frequently than he ever thought possible.

"Why are you doing this?"

"Taking you to New York?"

"No… why are you doing this for her?" The last word was clearly pronounced with no attempts at hiding the venomous subtext. Maxie was not very good at being subtle, and when it came to Carly Corinthos she really found no reason to do it anyway.

"She's my step-mother…"

"Who hates you."

"Hated." Damian corrected his girlfriend. "And I don't think she ever truly hated me. I don't even think I ever really hated her, either."

"Well I do…"

"Maxie, you can't do this…"

"I can't want to keep you happy?" Maxie was not going to let anyone walk over Damian. He might have been okay with being the universal floor mat, but she was not going to stand idly by while he took the licks that weren't meant for him.

"You can't let your hatred for Carly consume you, and you don't hate her… not really."

"Yes I do."

"I saw you, Maxie… I saw you looking at her when Morgan was sick. That moment before I left the hospital after I gave him my blood… you were looking at her and your eyes were filled with so much sorrow and pity. Those are eyes that you couldn't give to someone you hate."

"Her baby might have died… I'm not a heartless person. How could I not feel for her? That doesn't mean I like her."

"But, because you're not a heartless person it means that you don't hate her." He moved his hand down to hers, putting it over her soft and beautiful hand. "I know why Carly was against me being in her life when I first got here now, Maxie, and I don't hold it against her. If the situation was turned around I know that I would act the same way. If my father had come into my life instead of me coming into his I wouldn't have been welcoming the man with open arms."

"I still don't like her…"

"Most people don't," he replied with a snicker. "She gets into it with Dillon worse than she ever got into it with me… but I think they actually like each other, in some strange sort of way."

"She's not a nice person…"

"She cares about the people who are in her family, and even those that aren't. She's not perfect, she's far from it, but that doesn't make her a bad person. Even when the two of us couldn't stand being around one another I did respect her desire to keep her family safe. I hated that she was so blind that she couldn't see I just wanted my place in their lives… but Carly would do whatever was necessary if she needed to keep anyone safe."

"Even you?"

He was quiet for a moment, thinking about it. She had put his life in jeopardy, but he had seen her guilt, seen her attempts at atonement. Carly would never do something like that again, especially to him. If someone tried to hurt him… he really wanted to believe that she would be one of the people looking for vengeance. "I choose to believe that Carly would want me to be safe, too."

"That doesn't make you right."

"It doesn't make you right, either."

"You still haven't answered the question."

"Carly has a right to know who her father is…"

"So why are you going instead of her? This Durant guy isn't even blood related to you… if we find him, if he ends up being Carly's father, then what? You're still the one doing all the research yourself."

"Because Bobbie trusts my judgment. I'm the one with the most emotional detachment on this situation, and I've still got plenty. I want to see who this guy is, Maxie. I want to know that he is a good person, that he would be a good father to Carly and be a good grandfather to my little brothers."

"And why am I here?"

"Because I trust your judgment… you don't even like Carly, which means that you've got objectivity that I could never get again."

"Nobody… nobody has ever said that they trusted my judgment. They always thought that I was going to do something stupid… and they were right. More than a few times I did something that I knew was wrong, but I did it anyway because I felt like it."

"You're not that person anymore…"

"And I have you to thank for that."

He smiled at her, "You don't need to thank me, Maxie. I know that you would have eventually realized that you had more potential than you had ever thought possible. You would have matured into the woman that you are now with or without me."

"But it could have taken awhile…"

"Some things are worth waiting for. I had to wait almost twenty-one years before I met you…"

She blushed. "I wish it could have been sooner."

The voice over the intercom system came up, "We'll be arriving in New York City in less than ten minutes."

"How did you manage to get Mac to let you come along?" Damian asked. "I know that you got him to concede because I'm still trying to get the ringing out of my ears from his rant… but I half-expected you to just sneak out on him."

"I had help…"

"Georgie?"

"She wanted me to spend time with you…"

"I knew there was a reason that I liked that girl."

"She and Dillon went to go see a play over the summer in New York. Mac still didn't trust Dillon then, but he let them go together… I said that it wouldn't be fair if he didn't let me go to New York with you."

"Did they go see 'Cats'? I've always wanted to see 'Cats'…"

She laughed, "Damian… 'Cats' has been off Broadway for at least five years…"

"Really?"

"Yeah…"

He threw his head back in disgust. "Why am I tormented like this? First I can't go see Siegfried and Roy anymore… now I can't even watch 'Cats.' Aren't I like one-eighth Irish, or something? Shouldn't I have a little bit of luck by default?"

"You're cute when you pout…"

"I really wanted to spend time with them, too, you know?" Damian asked. "But the less people know about this the better. Carly's probably going to be pissed off at me for not telling her about it when she finds out… no reason to drag the teenagers into it."

Maxie heard him, but she wasn't really paying attention. Her mind was elsewhere. Everything that had changed in such a short amount of time was coming back to her. They had gone in the summer. In the summer she didn't know him. In the summer she was still with Kyle… he was still alive.

"Maxie?" It was easy to see that she had become distant again. "Hey, Maxie… hello?"

"What?" The haze of her wandering mind was lifted. "What did you say?"

"What's the matter?"

"I was just thinking…"

"About what?"

She gave him a genuine smile as she put her hand on his cheek, watching as he closed his eyes. Kyle never asked what she was thinking about. "It doesn't matter, does it? All that matters is that I'm here with you right now."

"I'm glad you came with me."

"Where else would I be, Damian? We're together now and it's the best part of my life. I wouldn't want you to do this alone… no matter how much I hate Carly, or think I hate Carly I wouldn't make you try and find her father without some help… and since you can't trust your family right now…"

"I do trust my family, all of them… but I need something different from the opinions that they could give. I can't bring Uncle Jason here, Maxie. John Durant is a federal prosecutor… he could be giving his liver to a sick child and Uncle Jason would still find some way to make him seem bad."

"We'll find a way to make this work," she said confidently. This was one of the few times in their relationship where Damian truly needed her. Maxie was sure that she would do everything she could to make it work out.