Chapter 14

Sedona, AZ

"What do you mean there's no hotel rooms available?" asked Robert.

"Everything's booked - that last desk clerk said something about a vortex convention? What the hell is a vortex anyway?" said Luke.

Holly picked up a tourist guide and read aloud, "A vortex is an area of invisible, swirling energy emanating from the earth and producing an uplifiting, rejuvenating sensation in visitors." She thought to herself that at the moment the most rejuvenating thing that could happen to her would be for Luke to be trapped indefinitely in one of these things.

Robert pulled over a few minutes later, into the parking lot of a tourist information bureau. He came out quickly and announced, "Well, I managed to get the last available spot at the campground down the road. I guess we need tents and sleeping bags now."

"Camping?" lamented Holly.

"Camping! That's ridiculous, Scorpio," objected Luke.

"There's not a hotel room to be had for 50 miles and I'm tired of driving. We're camping. Just for the night."

The disappointment continued as they stopped at a camping store and were cheerfully informed, "You're in luck! We still have one tent. It's a six-person tent, so lots of room."

"No, listen, we need 3 small tents," interjected Robert.

"Sorry sir, but everything's been sold. There are a ton of tourists in town, you realize."

"Yeah, all right then, we'll take the tent and we'll need 3 sleeping bags as well.

The clerk frowned. "We only have one sleeping bag left as well. Sorry!" she finished cheerfully.

"We'll take it."

Once settled at the campground, the tension continued to mount. Holly assembled the tent by herself, grateful for a distraction. Luke took an inordinate amount of time to get a fire going. Attempting to make dinner, Robert managed to spill a large can of tomatoes all over himself. He went off to take a shower and change his clothes.

With Robert away from Holly, Luke decided to hassle her. "So, English, when you going to give up on this play for Robert's attention? We've talked to all these scientists, none of them has said anything to support you. I'm willing to bet this Dr. Neuhaus isn't going to amount to anything either."

"Luke, I made a huge mistake," admitted Holly.

"Yep, you sure did, holding that antidote for ransom. And now you're going to have to pay the price," taunted Luke.

"Good Lord, Luke, have you always been so apt to jump to conclusions? You've been giving me such a hard time and you won't even let me tell my part of the story."

"Go on then, I'm pretty interested to know what your motivations are in this. I thought you made it pretty clear in Port Charles that it was all about money, but now you seem to be retracting that story.

"Fine, you want to know my motivation!" Holly was furious at having to explain herself to Luke but couldn't hold anything in any longer. "Before Robert went chasing after Anna and Faison," Holly fairly spat out their names, "he asked me to look after his little girl. It was the least I could do for him, and I tried, but I couldn't handle living in Port Charles any longer, and so I left. And you don't know how much I wonder that maybe if I had stuck around things would have happened differently for Robin. I know she's an adult now, and she's done so well, but maybe the course of her life would have been smoother if things had been more stable for her. " Holly's voice was raised and carried down the path to the campground road. Holly stopped talking when she noticed Robert coming into the campsite.

"Carry on, luv. I think I'd like to hear the rest of this as well," said Robert softly.

"So all this Crylium business started because I had some money that I was investing, and because of Robin's diagnosis, I was trying to focus on companies doing HIV research. And Dougald knew that, not about Robin so much, but that I wanted to focus my investments that way, and I think the poor man was just trying to please me." Holly's story cut like a knife into Robert. Here she was feeling such responsibility for her step-daughter, the daughter he had essentially abandoned for over half of her life.

Holly began to recount the events of the last few months. "So I told you, Robert, how Dougald had invested in Crylium and when I started looking into the company, I found out that they already knew quite a bit about me." She paused to remember for a few seconds. "They told me they would be in touch and to keep things to myself. Unfortunately, I didn't heed their warning."

"I needed to know what Dougald knew, so I went home and told him about it. He was completely unaware. I told him to keep it quiet, but he was so mad that he went and complained to Evan. Neither of us realized it at the time, but in hindsight, Evan was obviously deeply embroiled with Crylium or Viranon or whomever the hell is in charge. It wasn't very long after that Dougald was killed." Holly paused again, collecting her thoughts. "He was stabbed to death. The official investigation concluded that it was a robbery, a junkie looking for money. But it was strange. Too many things didn't add up, but they were all ignored. I knew it had to be a warning. A message to me that they wouldn't hesitate to hurt more of the people that I cared for, so that I would do what they told me. And poor Dougald paid the price for that," finished Holly guiltily.

Luke looked at Holly with sympathy and offered her a beer from his six-pack, tossing one to Robert right after. Although it wasn't her beverage of choice, she put a hand around it to make sure it was cold, and then opened it and had a long drink.

"They called me shortly afterwards," recalled Holly. "It was the same man that I had spoken to in the Crylium laboratory: 'Mr. McFarlane was killed for his inability to keep his mouth shut. It would be a shame if his beautiful wife were to come to a similar end, wouldn't it?' he asked me. And then he went on to add, 'it would be easy enough to target young Dr. Scorpio's T-cell count, a shame after all the trouble you've gone to on her account.' They told me that they didn't think that I wanted to be responsible for more lives lost and that I should keep quiet and they'd be in touch."

"I was a bit off my head from then on. But then I didnt hear anything from Crylium for months. I was almost beginning to believe I was off the hook. How silly of me."

"So a few months went by without a word from Crylium. But then at the end of January, I came home one evening and there were two men in my sitting room. By that point, the encephalitis virus had been released. They were ready to call in my obligation. They told me that they needed me to recoup their investment, since the virus hadn't been sold before it was released."

Holly took a breath before continuing. "And then they pulled out their ace in the hole."

"They showed me a tape of you, Robert, giving a press conference about the virus. I can't even begin to describe how I felt to learn you were alive. It was as if time stopped. I have never felt such joy in my life. You were OK and..." Holly stopped speaking when she noticed Robert chuckling. "What are you laughing at?" she asked, in frustration.

"I'm well-acquainted with the feeling, luv." Robert smiled at her.

"Me too, for that matter." Luke chimed in.

"Point taken." Holly shook her head at the unreality of it all. "Anyway, they told me that I had to get the money for the antidote. And that I had to be believable." She thought back to the Crylium man's words:

"This should be easy for you, my dear, apparently you have a distinguished past as a teller of stories."

"And they threatened you Robert, too. So I really felt I had no choice." Holly sighed an enormous sigh of relief at finally having the whole story out in the open. "But I have a question for you. You really thought that I could allow innocent people to die?"

"I think that I didn't know what to think. It had been a long time; people change. What was it you said on the docks, 'we've both had to make compromises'? I guess I'd done enough things that I'm not proud of; I figured you could too. But the more I thought about it, the less any of it made sense. That's why I went to find you in the Markham Islands," replied Robert.

Holly stared at him directly. "I wouldn't want you to ever think that I could be that heartless. Especially about Robin."

Robert thought back to the comment he made on the docks when she pleaded with him to run away with her: "I might've gone for it if it wasn't for Robin."

"I guess I owe you another apology then"

Holly interrupted Robert. "You don't owe me anything."

"Holly." She looked over at Robert and also remembered the comment on the docks. "Then I owe you my thanks." Holly nodded in acknowledgement. "But why didn't you just tell me all this in Port Charles?"

"I should've. But I was too scared; I was being followed, there was already one death due to me, and you were just being so strange." Holly met Robert's eyes and the two stared at each other for a long moment. It was interrupted by Luke's voice.

"English." Holly looked over at Luke, who stood there, shame-faced. "I'm sorry. Really. I'm gonna go for a walk now to clear my head."

The campfire continued to burn steadily. Robert and Holly were sitting across from one another, each facing the fire. The sky was clear, filled with so many stars that there was little blue in between. Holly felt incredibly free, now that she had unburdened herself of the whole story.

"Something keeps nagging at me, Holly," said Robert.

"What's that?"

"Somebody's gone to an awful lot of trouble to have you involved in this. A really disproportionate amount of trouble, wouldn't you say?"

"I guess that's what we're going to have to figure out."

"There's something else. I can't help but feel guilty for how much havoc I've brought upon your life. You're going to have to hold this over me for the rest of my life."

"No, I don't think so." Robert looked strangely disappointed at Holly's reply.

"I'll just save it for when it comes in handy," replied Holly with a wink.

Someone a few campsites over had a radio playing. The still night air carried the music softly across the campground.

" 'cause a night like this

kept you wishing

for a night like this, again

take this night and

all its stars, well

could it be anyone else with you?

no no no

take this time now

and all its charm, well

could it be anyone else with you here right now?"

Holly listened to the music for a little while. She looked over at Robert who was busying himself throwing paper airplanes into the fire. She laughed quietly, "Some things never change." She mused that another thing that never changed was the depth of her love for Robert Scorpio. Sometimes it just managed to get covered up. She got up and sat beside him. He looked at her in surprise.

"Hi"

"Hi yourself," replied Holly. She scooched over on the log to get closer. Robert looked at her uncertainly, but put an arm around her anyway. He was relieved when he was rewarded with a smile and Holly leaning in to him a bit more. He handed her a piece of firewood.

"What's that for?"

"Figured you could give me a good whack with it."

"I get the feeling you've been beating yourself up quite enough over the last few days." Holly leaned back against Robert and looked up at the sky and silhouettes of the rock formations. "It's so beautiful here, isn't it?"

Robert smiled, "Seems like all the beauty is sitting right here beside me."

"Ooh, still a charmer, you," laughed Holly.

"Did it work?"

Holly tilted her head back and smiled. "Seems to have." She closed her eyes as her lips met Robert's in a lingering kiss. The music played on:

"Take this night and all its stars, well; could it be anyone else with you?"

Author's note: Lyrics from "A Night Like This", Tomi Swick, 2006. Check his page out on myspace where you can listen to the song (over and over again if you're so inclined). I heard this song on the radio the other day, and have since become obsessed with it. Of course, it helped that it fit perfectly with the scene I had planned.