"I really do appreciate you coming here."

Dex felt sand shift between his toes as he walked down the Spoon Island beach with Ava and Nikolas. With each step he took, he felt it all fall into his brown boat shoes.

"Of course," Dex smiled, "Whatever Sonny asks of me, I do."

"Great," Nikolas rolled his eyes, stopping with them at the rocks.

"Well, this is where we're going to investigate," Ava smiled, rapidly gesturing around the area. Dex eyed the rocks, dark and sharp and tall, and concern washed over him.

"You think Esme is…among the rocks?"

"We're not sure where she could've run off to, but if I were her, hiding in some sharp-looking, tall rocks would be the place to go."

"Right," Dex flinched a bit at Ava's cold smile, "Well, guess I'll get started."

"Great, thanks," Nikolas sighed, "Hopefully you find something."

"Oh, Nikolas," Ava forced out a laugh, walking over to him. In a split second, her face was red with anger and she smacked his arm. She turned back to Dex, "We're not letting you do this alone, Dex."

"Oh, no, it's okay. I-"

"The rocks are quite dangerous. I know you can handle it since you're one of Sonny's men, but I think it'll be more productive to have my husband help you."

"Mrs. Cassadine-"

"Oh please," Ava took Dex's hand, "No need to be so formal. Call me Ava."

"Okay, Ava," he sighed out with a smile, trying to ignore Nikolas rolling his eyes, "I appreciate your offer, but I can handle it. Really."

"It would be my pleasure to help you," Nikolas said with contempt.

"...Fine," Dex glared at Nikolas, "Thank you for your help. Hopefully we'll find Esme."

Nikolas strolled past Dex and began walking amongst the rocks, Dex joining him shortly after. The ground beneath them was uneven and jagged, and eventually, they ended up looking through different parts of the area.

Dex stepped carefully on the flatter, smoother rocks beneath him. Part of him jumped back to the tour he served in Afghanistan, weaving his way through traps and dangerous terrain with his fellow soldiers and avoiding death with each step he took. Wyndemere wasn't Kandahar, and he felt a level of gratitude that hadn't existed since his enlistment expired because of it.

The air was rich with salt, and the more Dex walked, the closer he was to the water that surrounded Spoon Island. The sun was a bright white-yellow, coloring the water below it a pale blue. The search among the rocks turned up nothing, and unless Nikolas found her elsewhere...

It wouldn't hurt to look, Dex thought, positioning himself. With his shirt and sand-filled shoes resting on the rocks, he jumped in. The water was cold, as if a million spikes were shot into his skin. His vision was blurred underwater, and all he could see were rays of sunlight ahead of him.

"You're sure this is authentic?"

Valentin held the birth certificate in his hand, rubbing the parchment between his thumb and forefinger. Seated on the couch, he took in the information, rereading all of it multiple times.

"As crafty as Helena was," Victor began, his hands in his pockets. He meandered around the room, "I don't quite understand the need to hide a fake birth certificate in the Wyndemere study."

"Maybe it was another con she never got to use. Maybe she wanted us to find this and fall for it."

"That could be so, but I just don't think that's the case."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Who would she use it against?"

"Anyone! Helena had no scruples!" Valentin gestured around wildly, "Hell, she might've tried to use it against the poor bastard listed as the father."

"You could be onto something," Victor nodded slowly, reaching into his blazer and pulling out the journal entries, "except…"

"What's that?" Valentin asked, refolding the birth certificate as his father approached him.

"These are from Helena's journal," Victor handed them to his son, getting the birth certificate back and walking towards the fireplace, "I found them in the study. They were ripped out and hidden in the desk drawer."

Valentin thumbed through the papers, rapidly reading through them all, "...I can't believe this."

"It does seem too good to be true…"

"Oh, please," Valentin stood up, dropping the entries down on the coffee table, "Don't act so coy. I'm sure you knew about this all along."

"I-"

"Irina wasn't recent information; you knew about her for years. All this time, you knew she was Helena's, you knew she was hidden away from the rest of the family."

"No-"

"I bet you knew about that too," Valentin pointed at the birth certificate, "I bet you know where they are."

"Valentin-"

"Where is she, Father?" Valentin threw his hands up, "Where is my dear sister's family? Or better yet, what did you do to them? What did you-"

"I didn't do anything to them!"

Victor's shout echoed in the room. Valentin paused, his breathing slowed. He could briefly see his father's annoyed expression, softening as he ran a hand down his face. Victor stepped closer to Valentin, reaching down to pick up the entries before taking a seat on the sofa.

"Whether you believe me or not," Victor began, unbuttoning his gray blazer, "I know just as much as you do. All this…new information about Irina and her family I got from those entries, and I called you once I was able to comprehend it all."

"But then how do you know Irina existed to begin with?"

"Like I said, I have my sources."

Valentin rolled his eyes before sitting next to his father, "So where is her family?"

"I don't know."

"But you're going to find them."

"Of course. Irina was a member of this family, thus her son is too."

"They're Romanovs. They're Helena's family; they have no tie to us."

"We assumed that about you for the longest time, and look how that turned out."

Valentin gave him a knowing glare, "So now what? You're going to send your goons out and hunt her family down?"

"I could do that, but I plan to make an…in-house request," Victor smiled, "We're going to find Irina's son and bring him into the fold, one way or another."

With a limited amount of oxygen in his lungs, Dex swam deeper, the sunlight fading the further he went. He drifted further away from the shoreline he jumped from, trying to search the area around him. His throat grew tighter the more air he lost, and for a brief moment, amongst the black spots that started to appear, he thought he saw something, a somewhat large mass, at least a foot away. As much as he intended on investigating it, his body forced him up to the surface.

"Going for a dip?" Ava questioned, appearing on the shoreline. Dex whipped his head around to see her, two manicured hands on her hips.

"N…No," Dex called back, breathing heavily, his lungs screaming.

"Are you sure?" Ava smirked, watching Dex swim back to the shore.

"One…hundred percent," Dex folded his arms on the surface, looking up at the older woman, "I…I looked through the rocks close to the shore and…I didn't find Esme. So I thought to…I thought to try and see if she was in the…water."

Once Dex got back on the shore, he dumped out the sand in his shoes, putting them back on. Ava handed him his shirt as he stood up.

"So…" Ava began, "how long have you been working for Sonny?"

"A few months. I'm pretty new to town."

"Where are you from?"

"Seattle."

"You must love the rain, then."

"It's alright."

"How are you liking Port Charles so far?"

"Haven't gone out that much, but the Metro Court's pretty nice."

"You know, my close friend co-runs it now. Nina Reeves. She's…quite close with Sonny."

"I can tell."

Ava bit her lip, pondering the short response, "Well, I'm glad you're enjoying your stay at the Metro Court. It's definitely been kind to me when I've had to use it."

"That's good to hear."

"Are you thinking of putting down roots here?"

The question gave Dex some pause. He was grateful that Michael put him up at the Metro Court, keeping a tab open until they succeeded in toppling Sonny's empire. The window of time to complete that mission was indeterminate, but the thought of staying put in New York at a minimum wasn't one he heavily considered. In his heart, when all was said and done, he was going back home.

"Dex?"

He stopped at one of the rocks, placing a hand on its surface. His posture was stiff as he collected himself, his eyes darted around the area, looking up and down the rocks before they suddenly locked into place.

"Did you hear what I asked?"

There she was. Her long brown hair swayed gently in the breeze, covering her face. Her arms and legs were positioned downward, dangling a good amount of feet above the ground. Her brown T-shirt and gray hoodie were stained with blood, seemingly still fresh. The rest existed in brightly scattered messes above and below her, decorating the sharp slab she landed on.

Esme Prince was one with the rocks on the Wyndemere shore.

"...Found her," Dex said, his voice hoarse and soft.

"What did you say?" Ava stood beside him, shaking his arm violently. On impulse, he jerked it away, keeping his eyes on Esme. Slowly, Ava turned to see what caught his attention, and she felt her stomach drop: her enemy laid limp on the rock, impaled through her torso.

"Oh…you…found her…" Ava breathed out, gripping Dex's arm tightly. Deep down, she felt relief in the fact that Esme could no longer terrorize anyone, but that relief was no match for the fear and dread that washed over her.

"Yeah," Dex replied, looking down at her, "and something tells me she wasn't hiding out. What happened?"

"You think I did something to her?!"

"I seriously doubt that she randomly decided to jump on a rock and impale herself."

"You never know!"

The sternness in Dex's green eyes stilled her. Ava gently bit her bottom lip, trying to avoid his gaze. Her grip on his arm loosened slightly as she kept her head down. Dex softened at her posture. He gently pried her fingers off his arm, placing his hands on her shoulders.

Ava looked back up at him, "Sonny knows what happened."

The two exchanged looks at her response. A part of Dex wanted to press further, but he knew he was only at Wyndemere to do a job, and that job was complete.

"...I better call Sonny and give him an update."

The closer Nikolas grew to Ava, the fainter Dex's voice was as he spoke to Sonny. She walked across the flat surface of the rocks beneath her, a jittery feeling taking over. Nikolas noticed her body language, and when she was mere inches away from him, he reached out a concerned hand to ease her feet onto the sand, "Did you find her?"

"Dex did," Ava replied, "She's dead: impaled by one of the rocks under the parapet."

"Thank God," Nikolas sighed out, "Now we don't have to worry about her lurking in the shadows."

"That's certainly one way to look at it…" Ava sighed, her hands on her hips.

Just as Nikolas opened his mouth to reply, he watched as Dex approached them from the rocks. He scowled at the man, which grew in intensity when he caught Ava's smile in his peripheral vision.

"My boss is sending some guys," Dex said, "They'll have to shoo away some crabs that have shown up in the area, but she'll be taken care of in no time."

"Excellent!" Ava replied, clasping her hands together.

"Yes, thank you, Dex," Nikolas nodded, "I'm glad you were able to track her down."

"Of course."

A click at the door startled Victor and Valentin. Both men shot up from the sofa of the living room as Nikolas, Ava, and Dex stepped inside.

"Valentin," Ava smiled half-heartedly as the three entered the living room, "What a surprise! What brings you to Wyndemere?"

"Open invitation from my dear father to discuss some business," Valentin smirked, looking between her and Victor, "Where were you and your husband?"

Nikolas cut in, "I didn't realize I needed to explain our comings and goings at our own house."

"Pardon me," Valentin retorted, his eyes darting to Dex. He stepped closer to the man, extending his hand out, "Hello, I'm Valentin Cassadine. And you are?"

"Dex," he took Valentin's hand in his.

"Your name's short for Dexter, I presume?"

"Yes, sir."

Valentin paused, his lips pursed. Behind him, Victor's eyebrows shot up, and he approached the two men.

"It's a lovely name," he chimed in, gently pushing Valentin aside. He took Dex's hand in his, "Victor Cassadine."

"Pleasure to meet you both," Dex replied before stepping back, "I'd love to stay but I've got places to be."

Slowly, Nikolas and Dex made their way down the Wyndemere steps and towards the dock. With each step they took, Nikolas felt a tinge of sweat running down his neck, Dex's eyes locked on him with fierce judgment. Eventually, the ferry came into their line of sight.

"Thanks for your help," Nikolas shook Dex's hand.

"I'll be sure to pass your appreciation onto my boss," Dex nodded, a smile on his face as he left Nikolas and stepped onto the launch.