Chapter Four - Choices

"Nobody ever did, or ever will, escape the consequences of his choices." - Alfred A. Montapert

"...and you just had to make her feel so guilty about it. Well you did and now she's gone!"

Robin heard Nikolas' voice coming from around the corner and thought about turning around. The last thing she needed right now was to get in the middle of another argument between Jax and Nikolas over Courtney. She had no idea what it was about that woman that made two of the greatest men that she had ever known act like complete idiots. But when she heard the angry tone of Nikolas' voice, she decided to stick around. This is what I get for craving a cheeseburger, she thought to herself as she rounded the corner and saw the scene unfolding in front of Kelly's.

"I am not the reason that she left town!" Jax was just about to boil over. Whatever had happened before Robin arrived had to have been pretty intense.

"Just stop pretending that you wanted this baby, Jax. All you wanted is to do was dangle it in front of Courtney like a trophy." Nikolas shouted back, getting closer to Jax than either one of them would have liked. "Well, you did. You made her feel like such a rotten human being for leaving you that she left me instead!"

"Why is it that everything that goes wrong in your life is my fault? You slept with my wife!" Jax spat out at his rival. "Was I not supposed to fight for her and just bow out gracefully? I don't work that way, Nikolas." Jax ran an exasperated hand through his hair and said, "But I lost and so I stepped aside. But I was not going to step aside from my child! And if you have a problem with that, then tough. If Courtney left you, maybe it has something more to do with you than with me!"

Robin, sensing the need to move Nikolas away from the situation before he took a swing at Jax, suddenly stepped in between the two men and said, "Nikolas, just the man I needed to see." She herded him through the front door of Kelly's saying, "Treat me to a burger. Now."

Nikolas was in the mood for more of an argument and began to protest, "Robin, I..."

"Come on, I've been saving lives all day and am famished." Over her shoulder, she gave Jax a look that told him that he wasn't invited to join them for dinner and mouthed the words 'I'll call you later.' Taking his cue, Jax shook his head and headed off toward the docks.

"That guy is such a jerk." Nikolas said, settling into a chair at one of Kelly's tables.

"And you were a real prize out there yourself, right?" Robin grinned as he scowled at her. Giving her friend a few moments to simmer down, Robin ordered a couple of burgers from the waitress and waited until Nikolas was ready to talk to her.

"I'm not hungry." was what Nikolas finally said to her.

At least he was calmer. Smirking at him, Robin replied, "Well I just thought you should put something into your mouth besides your foot." He glared at her for a minute, but then a slow smile came to his face. "Now," she said, "would you like to tell me what that was all about?"

"Courtney left town."

"For good?" Robin sneered, not bothering to hide her contempt. Nik knew exactly how Robin felt about his relationship with Courtney, especially since it had hurt Jax so deeply, and he also knew Robin well enough to know that she wasn't going to change her mind about it any time soon. She was not so happy with Nikolaus' behavior in all of this nonsense and wasn't shy about telling him so. But she bit her lip after speaking so quickly and said awkwardly, "I mean...so soon after the baby was born?"

Nikolas grinned at her and said, "Liar. And yes, according to this 'Dear John' letter she left for me...she's gone for good."

Robin looked down at the crumpled piece of stationary that he had taken out of his pocket and laid on the table. "And I'm assuming that when you say 'Dear John', you're not talking about the baby." Nikolas nodded and took a sip of the soda that the waitress had placed in front of them. "Did she say why she was leaving?"

"She's confused."

"About...?" Robin prompted, taking a sip of her own soda.

"Me. The baby. Life in general."

"Well, that about covers it." Robin replied, rolling her eyes and trying to keep her true feelings about Courtney inside. Nikolas was upset and it wasn't her style to kick a friend while he was down. "What about the baby?"

"She left him with Jax."

"And so you blame Jax for her leaving town?" Robin asked, eyeing him. "How do you figure that?"

"He's made everything so damn difficult throughout this entire thing. He's..."

"You slept with his wife, Nikolas." Robin reminded him. "How did you expect him to react to that little development?"

"Are you really going to sit here and bust my balls, Robin?" Nikolas asked her, seemingly surprised that she had spoken like that. "I thought you were my friend..."

Robin interrupted him, shaking her head. "I am your friend. You know that. This whole situation sucks. But when you sleep with a man's wife, while he's still married to her, you don't get to take the moral high ground. You tuck you tail between your legs, hang your head in shame, and hope that your friends are still your friends in the morning. That's just the way it is. And you know that, too."

"I do, huh?" Nikolas raised a curious eyebrow at her. "How can you be so sure of that?"

She grinned at him and said, "Because despite your recent behavior, I know that you really are a decent guy."

After the waitress had brought them their burgers, Robin popped a french fry into her mouth and asked, "Did you love her?"

"I thought I did." He muttered, smothering ketchup all over the top of his cheeseburger.

"What about Emily?" Robin asked, taking a bite of her cheeseburger.

"I blew that one right out of the water." Nikolas said, pushing his dinner aside and looking Robin square in the eye. "She's with Sonny now."

"I heard about that." She said, shaking her head. "I never saw that one coming. But do you still love her?"

"I don't think that matters anymore."

Robin shook her head. "I don't believe that." she said, wiping the corner of her mouth with a napkin "It always matter, Nikolas. Even when we say it doesn't, love always matters."

"Love sucks."

Robin had to giggle when he said that. But when she looked up at him, Robin realized that there were tears forming in his eyes. "I'm sorry." She said quickly. "Nik..."

Nikolas just shook his head and got up from the table, heading out the door. He didn't want her to see him cry. Robin threw some money down on the table and followed him outside. "Nikolas!" She called, walking quickly to catch up with him. "I'm sorry! I shouldn't have laughed."

"It's not you." He said, quickening his pace.

Realizing that he was more upset than she thought, Robin began to run to catch up with him. When she finally did, she caught his arm and pulled him to a stop. "Talk to me, Nik! What's the matter?"

"I'm just tired of screwing everything up!" He said, tears threatening to spill from his eyes. "Sarah, you, Gia, Emily...now Courtney. Why can't I get it right for once?"

"Come here." Robin said, pulling him into a fierce hug. Her heart went out to him and despite her feelings about his recent dalliances, she loved him very much. And she hated it when the people she loved were hurting.

"Well, well, Dr. Scorpio, you move quicker than I thought." Patrick Drake's familiar voice came out of no where and Robin closed her eyes in dismay. She had no desire to deal with him right now. "Two nights ago it was Jax and now here you are locked up in an embrace with Nikolas. I didn't figure you for a girl who would actually have a taste for Courtney's sloppy seconds."

Robin let go of Nikolas and was about to go off on Patrick when Nikolas beat her to the punch. "Why don't you just back off, man. You have no idea what you are talking about."

"Oh really?" Patrick asked, raising his eyebrow at them and seeming quite pleased with himself. "It looks to me like you are one of the many men in this town who likes to find comfort in the good doctor's company..."

"Shut up, Patrick." Robin said through clenched teeth. She had already stopped one fight today and wasn't in the mood to stop another one.

"You know," Nikolas said, stepping closer to Patrick and getting in his face, "just because Robin has the class not to give you the time of day doesn't mean she can't enjoy the company of a real man..."

"A real man?" Patrick asked, suddenly angry at being challenged by the prince. "A real man who already has an ex-wife he abandoned and a girlfriend who ran out on him?" Robin and Nik both looked confused as to how he already knew about Courtney, so Patrick said, "People talk, Cassadine. And from what they are saying, there is no way I am going to let Robin get caught up in your web of..."

"Robin doesn't need your permission for anything." Nikolas returned angrily, clenching his fists and allowing his pain to quickly turn into anger. "And from what I hear, you are the one who she doesn't need to be caught up with. You and your dial-a-date charm..."

"What I really don't need is to hear any more of this! From either of you!" Robin shouted angrily.

"Robin?" The threesome had been so involved in their argument that no one had seen Liz and Lucky walk up beside them. "Is everything okay here?"

Robin looked at Lucky and smiled through her anger at his concern. "Everything is fine." She said, her voice sounding much calmer than she really felt. "Nikolas and I were just leaving." Robin grabbed Nikolas' arm and pulled him away from Patrick. As she passed Patrick's brooding form, she looked up at him and hissed, "You know, you are an even bigger jerk than I first thought. And I have known some real jerks in my time, so that's saying something."

As Robin and Nikolas headed off in one direction, Patrick swore under his breath and headed off in the other direction. Liz and Lucky just stood there, looking back and forth between the two directions and just shook their heads. Then, much to Liz's surprise, Lucky started walking off after Patrick.

"Where are you going?" she asked her husband.

Lucky turned back around and said, "Don't you think that someone should tell Dr. Drake that he had nothing to worry about and that there's nothing going on between Robin and Nickolas?"

"No."

Lucky stopped in his tracks. "Why not?" He asked, eyeing his wife suspiciously. "Aren't you the one who told me that Robin and Patrick are secretly crazy about each other?"

"They are. And right now, he's so jealous he can't see straight." Liz said, coming up to him and linking her arm through his. "I hope no one is in need of brain surgery for the next hour or so...or however long it will take for him to walk this off."

Lucky shook his head and said, "OK, I've had a long day at work so maybe I'm not following your line of thinking. You know that he has a thing for her, you know that he's jealous, and yet you want him to think that Robin and Nikolas are more than just friends?"

"Yes."

"These one words answers stopped being cute about two minutes ago." Lucky said, rolling his eyes at her.

Liz took a deep breath and began to explain, "Patrick Drake makes it his mission to make Robin miserable at the hospital. He torments and teases her, flirts incessantly with other women in front of her, insults her height, her medical skills, and her entire demeanor. He's like a small child who has a crush on a girl on the playground. Instead of just grabbing her and kissing her to cut through all the sexual tension, he makes her miserable. No one gets to make my friend miserable and not pay a price for it. He deserves a smack in the head, but that's out of the question. So, we're just going to let him sit and stew in his own jealous juices for awhile."

"What if he takes a swing at Nikolas before he realizes that there is nothing going on between him and Robin?"

"He won't." Liz assured him. "He's too worried about his precious hands."

Lucky looked down at his wife and the satisfied smile on her face and shook his head. "You are truly evil." He said with a grin.

"I am, aren't I?" Liz grinned back, stepping closer and kissing him on the nose. "And you love every last bit of it."

"Yes, I do." Lucky replied as they walked off toward home.