She was made to leave her purse and coat at the reception desk, where they gave her a plastic disk with a number on it in exchange. She also had to endure the regulatory body search. This took place inside a white cubical by a young female guard who looked somewhat intimidated by her.

"If you're intimidated by me my girl, then you definitely shouldn't be working in a prison!"

The girl blushed and waved her through the metal detector.

"Look here please…" A burly male guard instructed, and she peered into the lens of a camera so that her picture could be filed. She was guided down a long corridor with white walls and grey floors until they reached a room guarded by a twenty-something boy.

"Either I'm getting older or the world's getting younger!" She thought to herself.

He stood up from the table as she entered the claustrophobic visitor room. He couldn't hide his surprise at seeing her. She guessed she was the last person he would ever have expected a visit from. He held himself with that usual arrogant air, despite the rather drab prison garb.

"Prisoner 666" she read off his lapel. "How appropriate!"

...

It was a shifting at the bottom of the bed that woke Luke. At first he thought it was Noah stretching his long legs out, but it felt heavier and when he lifted his head he realised the kid was sleeping over his feet. His tiny hands clutched the storybook tightly and Luke smiled.

"You really are here." Noah's croaky voice said from the side of him, "I was afraid to open my eyes in case I dreamt it."

Luke laid his head back on the pillow and gave him a light kiss.

"Mmm…" Noah responded with satisfaction, "You really are home…"

"Of course I am… It's Sunday, remember?"

Noah beamed at him.

"How are you feeling?" Luke asked, cupping his forehead, "I was so worried! All I wanted was for the stupid police to finish with their questions so that I could come and check on you!"

"Stomach still burns a little but I feel better now that you're here." Another kiss… "What happened?"

"Gareth got me out on bail."

Noah sighed, "Shit, Luke!"

"I know." He grabbed Noah's hand and started playing with his fingers. "It's such a damn mess!" Luke set about explaining the situation to him; the reason for his arrest; Julius; the Di Alberto's; and the fact that both the police and the crime family believed him to have ordered the hit on Marco. "I just can't believe it! They think I'm some Grimaldi mob boss or something!" And then quieter as he remembered, "You should have seen what they did to Julius!"

Noah squeezed his hand and they lay watching each other for a while.

"It's like you're writing your own version of the Godfather… Part four!"

Luke laughed, "Well, at least we can still joke about it!" Then he frowned, "God Noah!" he twisted some of Noah's hair between his fingers, suddenly serious, "When you collapsed from that poison…" He shook his head, "I'm so sorry!"

"It's not your fault Luke! You didn't realise how dangerous these guys were until it was too late."

"No, but if I had listened to you sooner…"

"…then what? They would have been just as determined to stop you from selling the company, as they have been to keep Gianni hired. The point is they wanted access to those ships!"

They spent another few moments in quiet contemplation.

"So what now?" asked Noah, "What's the next move?"

"Well… we know I didn't order the hit so I guess we need to find out who did."

"And how are we going to do that?"

"Damian."

"YOU'RE going to visit Damian?" Noah was surprised.

"No. Definitely not! I meant what I said when he was arrested. I never want to see him again. I've asked somebody else to do it for me."

"Who?"

But before Luke could reply the boy sat up, all wonky with sleep and gave them the biggest smile they had ever seen from him. He crawled right up to sit between them, leaning against the headboard with the book on his lap. Luke noticed a folded and crumpled sheet of paper had been stuck between the pages.

"Good morning bubby, what's this?" he asked the child, ruffling his hair, slightly sweaty and spiked from sleeping in one position.

The boy spread the paper open and Noah noticed it was another drawing of the three of them. This time they appeared to be eating breakfast. The boy pointed at the picture and said, "No…ah."

Luke's eyebrows shot up with surprise. Noah grinned at Luke's expression of shock and by this Luke gathered it wasn't the first time Noah had heard him speak.

Then the child surprised even Noah by pointing to the yellow haired depiction of Luke and saying, "Luke."

And he blessed Luke with a beautiful smile, obviously extremely pleased with himself.

"When?" Luke mouthed over the kid's head.

"Yesterday…" Noah whispered back.

"Wow"

"I know…" Noah's grin couldn't have been wider.

Luke turned back to the boy, his eyes welling up, and placed his arm around him. "Yes! That's right! You're very clever! And now who is this?" He pointed to the boy in the picture.

Noah held his breath.

The child lifted his little forefinger to his lips and sucked on it for a while, obviously deep in thought. He looked up at Luke and frowned. Then he stared back down at the picture and repeated, "Luke… Noah..."

Noah shook his head at Luke.

"Okay, yes, this is Noah and this is me, Luke. You're right. But who is this?" Again he pointed at the smaller figure in the picture.

"Boy!" the child stated with sudden excitement, as though he had just solved a scientific equation. He pointed his finger at the picture.

"Yes, that's right too." Luke agreed patiently, "But what is the boy's name?"

Again the frown as he studied the drawing intently. Finally a bulb seemed to light in his eyes and he said, "Child!"

Noah couldn't help laughing!

"I tell you! It's like trying to draw blood from a stone!" Luke exclaimed, joining Noah in the laugh.

And then something incredible happened. The child giggled too. Loud and clear… and his face lit up like a morning sunrise.

"Oh!" said Luke, "I see! You think you're being funny, don't you?" He gently tickled the child on his belly, making him bend up and laugh even louder. Both men soaked the sound in… It was amazing… the trust the child was developing in them.

"Ah Luke?" said Noah, "We kind of went to bed commando last night! Um, can you distract him while I put on some pants?"

Luke nodded and entertained the boy until they could swap roles so he could dress also. Then the three of them snuggled back down into the covers.

"Oh my god, Luke!" Noah exclaimed, suddenly remembering the night before, "Something wild happened yesterday! I'm still a little shocked and I don't really know what to make of it all…"

"What is it?" asked Luke, intrigued.

"I'll tell you later…" and he motioned towards the child.

...

"Hello Damian." She stood before him, impeccably dressed as usual, making him feel somewhat small in his blue prison overalls.

"Lucinda." He gestured for her to take a seat at the visiting table before doing so himself.

"You and I have to have a little talk." She began.

"If you wish… How can I be of assistance to you?"

"I would very much like you to explain to me how it is possible that my grandson should end up in police custody in Los Angeles?"

"What?"

"He was arrested last night on charges of involvement in multiple homicide. Now! You and I both know that Luke has not always been squeaky clean, but I think we can agree that murder is definitely off the table as far as he is concerned! Thankfully we were able to post bail! But in the meantime we have ourselves more than a slight problem. Don't we?"

"Has this got something to do with the bombing? I heard what happened but they told me Luke was okay…"

"THEY? They, Damian? Well now! I guess we come right to the crux of it, don't we? Just who are 'they', Damian?"

"Lucinda! When I gave Luke the company you didn't think the Grimaldi's would just walk off and leave him did you? They will have been watching him this whole time. And you can be sure they still are! I think you better tell me everything you know."

...

He sat Indian style on a purple cloud that floated just above the ground. He was doing what he always did… he drew… She could never understand the drawing. He would steal pens from her at every chance he got, and store them, like a squirrel in the corner of the cupboard. Eventually she had given in and stolen him a pack of coloured pencils from the local cash 'n carry. At least when he was busy with that he didn't sit staring at her all day.

The purple cloud started to change colour… to red, then green, then orange, then back to purple… It was making her dizzy.

"Where are you?" she yelled at him, wafting up and down on the cloud, but he ignored her to continue with the drawing.

She noticed that now he was no longer a flesh and bone boy, but was a drawing himself. The scribble lines, where he had been coloured in, clearly visible.

Something was nagging at her! It was like she should remember something. Like she knew something… but her drug fuelled mind couldn't place the two puzzle pieces together.

...

"Your cousin? Wow! That's crazy!" Exclaimed Luke after Noah explained about the visit from Michelle.

"Yeah, right? All those stories from the Colonel about how I was from this long, long lineage of army men… all a pack of lies! Either that or he was living in his own dream world for far longer then I realised."

"Well, are you sure? Are you sure she's his mother?"

"Definitely. She looks just like him. I mean she looks just like me! She just has to be the woman Joshua was tracking. It all makes sense."

"But she came here looking for your father and not the boy?"

Noah nodded. "You should see her Luke! She's a walking disaster! I can't think how that kid has survived this long…"

"So why was she looking for your Dad then?"

"Money. Apparently my father was sending her regular payments, but then of course they stopped when he died. She saw a picture of me in a newspaper article and decided to track me down. I guess hoping I'd lead her to the Colonel."

"So she's not even looking for him?" Luke stared across the room at the boy who was enraptured by some children's programme on the television.

"No. And now I don't know what to do… Should I tell her that he's here and that WE want him?"

"And do we?" asked Luke. "Do we want him?"

"Don't we?" Noah frowned.

Luke smiled at him, "I'm just teasing you Noah! Of course we want him!"

Noah smiled and kissed him, placing his arm around his shoulder and drawing him closer. "Thing is… if she doesn't care about him then she wouldn't mind us taking him, right? And maybe we can do this all legally?"

Luke was silent.

"What?" asked Noah, "What are you thinking?"

"I don't know. I guess… Maybe we should just check this out first, you know? Visit where he's been living… Maybe it's not right for us to just presume she's a bad mother because Joshua says so?"

"Luke! You saw all the marks on him… And you weren't here yesterday. You didn't see him when he heard her voice. He was terrified Luke! It's not the reaction of a child missing his mother!"

Luke's eyes were drawn back to the boy. His heart broke for the child. What was that like? What was it like to grow up without the love of your mother? His eyes locked with Noah's and he felt a pang when he remembered how Noah hadn't known a mother's love either. "Look, I know, okay? I know that most likely he has had a bad life. But we owe it to him to make sure we get all the information before taking such a big step."

Noah thought about it for a while and then nodded. "You're right. So we hold off telling Michelle we have her son at least until we can check out Branson?"

"Yes, but to check out Branson we first need to clear me of murder charges. And we'll do that by working with the police. The Detective has a plan… but… you're not going to like it."

Noah immediately went tense. "Luke…"

"They want me to contact Gianni. Talk to him…"

"WHAT? Are they crazy? That psychopathic guy tried to kill you Luke! He thinks you murdered his father!"

"Yes but the police are willing to wager that he'll want access to the ships more then he'll want revenge. They want to use me to set him up. Get enough evidence together to bring down the whole smuggling operation."

"Oh really? And what if they're wrong? I'm not going to let them gamble with your life, Luke! Forget it!"

Luke looked at his feet. He knew this was going to be a hard sell. "Noah, I'm going to do this. I've already decided."

Noah stepped back from him in disbelief, "Despite how I feel about it?"

"We are already in the middle of this babe. There is only one way for us to end it and that's to face it head on."

"Even if it means risking your life?"

Luke was silent as he faced the floor.

"Look at me Luke."

Luke lifted his head and shrank from the fear in Noah's eyes.

"You promised you wouldn't get involved like this!"

"Noah, the police will be monitoring me the whole time. I have to do this! And I think you know I don't have a choice here."

Eventually Noah could do nothing but agree and so he nodded, "What will I do if something happens to you?"

Luke stepped forward to hug him close, "I'll be fine. I promise."

Noah pushed him back with a look of utter determination, "Okay then! But if you're doing this then so am I!"

"What?"

"From now on I'm your personal bodyguard! You're not going anywhere without me!"

...

She was still wandering after the ever changing cloud that drifted just in front of her. When she stretched out her hands she could just touch the fluffy edge of it, and puffs of vapour would break off and float away. Each time she managed to touch the cloud his blue eyes would seer into her.

"Where are you?" She asked again

He held up his drawing so that she could see it. It was a strange drawing she thought. It didn't make sense.

"Why did you draw that?" She asked him, but he shrugged and went back to work.

Her vision started to grow misty and the cloud was suddenly much further away.

"Wait!" she yelled, "I'm not finished!" But hands were gripping at her arms and she thrashed to throw them off, "Let go! Let me go!" she screamed.

A voice seemed to fall from the sky like a god's and said, "Lady! Lady you can't sleep here! You are scaring away my customers!"

She opened her eyes as a rotund man lifted her to her feet and held her up against the brick wall. She couldn't think. Her head pained and she had started the shakes. She sniffed and stared at the guy, wiping the snot away with her arm, "Okay! Take your hands off! I'm leaving, okay?"

She stumbled from the alley and quickly rooted in her purse for the last of the coke. She sniffed it on the walk and hoped it would last long enough for her to find a quick favour.

Her mind swarmed with her predicament! There had to be a way to get some cash from Noah. He was her nephew after all! And family seemed important to him… so… so maybe… maybe he would take care of his old aunt. She would have to think long and hard about how she could manipulate him… but… but not now! Not while she had construction work taking place in her skull!

...

"So, this man, this Julius Maite, that Luke hired to help him clean up all your mess, worked for the Grimaldi's?"

"It is possible. Perhaps they made contact with Julius when Luke first hired him in Oakdale. So Luke thought Julius was working for him but really he was a mole for the Grimaldi's."

"Damian! Why oh why have you always found ways to drag Luke into all your intrigues and ridiculous mobster games?"

"Luke is my son! He deserved to take ownership of his birthright."

Lucinda scoffed at him.

"If I hadn't have given him the company when I did, the Grimaldi's would have found a way to take it from him. I would have cleaned up the company before Luke took over had I had the chance. But time was against me! Anyway I do not believe it was the Grimaldi's intention to harm him by ordering this hit. Most likely they were stamping their mark on this… this Di Alberto family. Making it clear that Luke was out of bounds."

"Well be that as it may, instead they have managed to put him into even more danger! Now the Di Alberto's think he's a Grimaldi and Luke is caught in the middle of some silly mob war… Not to mention the fact they almost killed Noah!"

"I love my son Lucinda. Despite what he thinks. Despite what any of you think! I don't want him in this situation any more then you do. I have come to realise that maybe it would have been best if I had stayed out of his life."

"What? Do my ears deserve me? Am I to understand you correctly? Is the great Damian Grimaldi finally able to admit he might not be the best influence in his son's life? Call the lawyers! Let's get this down on paper, shall we?"

"Okay. You can cut the sarcasm! Celebrate your little victory later! Right now we need to help Luke."

"And how, pray tell, do we do that?"

"My uncle would be the best place to start. He's the one with the most interest in Grimaldi Shipping."

"What is his name?"

"Anton. If you contact my lawyers in Craven Road, they'll give you all the information you need."

"I will do that." She said, standing. "In the meantime I want you to LEAVE LUKE ALONE! And I'm only going to come here to say that to you once! Poor boy has finally gotten back the man he loves and they deserve their chance at happiness… after everything they have been through! Without all your questionable dealings getting in their way!"

"Lucinda. I have only ever wished for Luke's happiness…"

"Well! You should have thought about that while you were deceiving him into believing his father was dead! Not just the once mind you, when you held back that critical information on Holden, but TWICE when you faked your own demise! OH! If only it hadn't been faked! Wouldn't we all just be so much better off?"

Damian smirked at her and maintained that smirk until the door closed behind her, before cussing in Italian under his breath.

...

After quite some distance she finally found her way out of suburbia and onto a road with shops on either side. She stood by one and examined herself in the glass. She didn't look her best but it would have to do.

Even in a strange neighbourhood… a strange city… she was an expert at tracking down the right spots. She could find them just as easy as a blood hound could sniff out a felon on the run. She stood on a corner that looked promising and sure enough a fancy car soon slowed and the passenger door opened.

"Can I help sweetheart?" She cooed.

"How much for a blow?"

"Seventy will do it!"

He laughed at her. "Forty. Take it or leave it!"

She glared at him, but she was desperate and she couldn't risk losing him. She needed a hit like yesterday! She got in and they drove off.

Only forty-five minutes later, job done, she had sourced her stash. She found another alley and set to work preparing the drug before feeding her favourite vein. She felt the divine substance take her. It was awesome! It was a weightless feeling of inner peace… Pure euphoria….

Then she sat up like a bolt… the picture was suddenly clear in her mind… just as she had seen it stuck to a fridge… just as the boy had held it up to her in her dream… a picture of two men and a child…

It was like her mind was suddenly clean and clear!

Noah!

Noah had her son!