A/N: I know some people have already read this chapter and it probably had them scratching their heads because I'd neglected to point out that I jumped a few weeks ahead here. Didn't mean to confuse anyone, so if you're rereading - sorry about that! Thank you all for clicking :-)

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Hawaii was beautiful. Stroking the unruly blonde curls on her little man, Sam smiled as he took her hand and led her to sit crosslegged on the beach, where he and Jason had spent hours that evening, laying a surprise out for her in a makeshift open tent on the sands. After being served a delicious roasted fish they'd caught themselves earlier that day, she was led to recline against the cushions piled high on huge beach towels, facing the ocean. Taking a seat next to her, Danny brushed the sand from his white cotton shorts and smiled up at his mom, before leaning back alongside.

Grabbing two beers and a Coconut Water from the cooler, Jason handed them over and rested on one elbow, before taking a swallow, then checking his watch and winking at Danny.

"What was that?" Sam pointed suspiciously between the two, then curled her legs beneath her as she sat up, sweeping her flowing, white summer dress with them as she went. She'd always loved how relaxed Jason was at the beach, with his loose cotton pants rolled up at the ankles and the matching button up shirt flipped at the wrist, laid back with sand in his hair and light brimming his mischievous blue eyes. "What are you two up to?"

They'd had a secret all day, whispering together then stopping immediately when she appeared, insisting they waited to eat dinner on the beach after dark, and now conspiring once again about the time. Reaching for the one closest to her, she tickled Danny, who erupted in a fit of laughter, spilling his drink near Jason, who simply brought the other elbow down and watched them, amusement washing him.

"Tell me - tell me or the tickle monster stays out all night."

"Stop, Mommy - stop." His rich, uncontrollable laugher filled the air and made Sam tickle him harder.

"Tell me, if you want me to stop."

"Daddy, make her stop. Mommy, stop - stop. Okay, okay, I'll tell, I'll tell."

Just then a shooting sound echoed behind them and ended in a whoosh that exploded overhead, painting the night sky with vivid colors that sprayed bright, then trailed down to the sand.

"Fireworks?" Sam looked between her men, the younger one with dancing eyes glued to the sky on array after array of colors spraying every which way in rapid succession, while the blue gaze of the older version of her world, was glued on her. "Did you do this?"

"Do you like it, Mommy?" Before she could answer, another giant blast preceded the largest spray yet, igniting the sky in oranges and reds and yellows and whites, back to back to back.

Bubbling with happiness, Sam laughed and threw her arms around Jason's neck as Danny got to his feet and raced towards the water, then laughed out loud when more fireworks exploded above them, spinning and spreading his tiny outstretched arms in glee. Turning to run back to his parents, he pulled something from his pocket and knelt to the sand before them, holding his palm out with the little black box to his mother.

"Mommy, will you marry my daddy?"

The previous laughter dying in her throat, Sam looked in surprise to Jason, who'd gotten up so he could kneel on one knee before her next to Danny, her entire life reflecting in the double sets of ocean blue before her bringing instant tears to brim her own chestnut seers. Choking through a laugh that ended in a gasp for much needed air, Sam's hand went up to press trembling fingers to her lips.

"What do you say, baby? Marry me…again…let's finish this thing we started and take it all the way to the top. Marry me…complete me…again?"

Stupid tears had her throat clogged, the sight of her men on bended knees before her sending her to her own, nodding vigorously through the waterfall that had taken over her cheeks. When Danny opened the box, pulled the ring out and handed it to his dad, Sam blubbered again, her heart full enough to explode like the specks of light going off above them. The ring was on her outstretched finger but she couldn't see a thing past the little blonde haired glob she enfolded in eager arms, then went for the larger one, planting a solid kiss to the lips that descended in search of her own.

"That was a yes, right?"

Jason was so happy he could burst, the mirrored happiness she exuded filling him completely, as he waited anxiously to hear her say the one word that would make his entire year.

"Yes!" She clasped his face between firm hands and kissed his lips again, mumbling between each delectable taste, "Yes! Yes! Oh, hell yes!" She kissed him again, then jumped when the loudest boom yet, sounded amid a huge exploding wheel against the skies.

"W-o-wwww!" Danny was up on his feet, neck craned to hold his upturned gaze in admiration of the most impressive sight of the night.

Snuggled in Jason's arms, Sam watched her enthralled little man as he enjoyed the fireworks, then looked all around her at the blessings in her life. She never thought returning to Hawaii could ever be this good, but it was better than anything else they'd had so far. After spending a grueling three weeks from hospital to home, Jason had insisted on taking them away from Port Charles and everything there. Sam knew he was worried about Robin getting to her again - never leaving her side in the hospital or the penthouse after, but he wouldn't admit to it out loud.

When she'd woken up and heard what had happened to her, she'd been livid to get out of that bed and find the little bitch to finish her off herself, but Jason wouldn't let her out of his sight, insisting she limited her movements to keep from opening her wound…and when she got discharged, insisted she recoup on the family vacation they'd been talking about for months. When he'd suggested Hawaii, she'd been reluctant, until she decided no way she would let a very forgettable ghost rob her of her most favorite place in the entire world. Franco Baldwin was dead...and with him was the hell he'd put her and her family through.

The shock when they got there, was finding their old cottage totally demolished. Unknown to her, Jason had it bulldozed as a gift and rebuilt in a more modern, updated version on the inside, with the outside sculpted to fit as naturally into the landscape as the one before. Everything inside was brand new, but the view she remembered from the bedroom window, the spot in the front yard where he'd fixed their ice machine on the first visit, the corner of the yard where they'd cleaned the fish she caught on their second, the lanai where they'd watched the stars at night on the first, second and third…it was all the same. Now they got to share it all with their baby.

Turning her head to look at the handsome face of the man she loved more than the air she breathed, Sam smiled at the look of awe he wore watching their son, then kissed his cheek lightly, before turning to lift her hand in admiration of the sparkling gem.

"Do you like it? We can get another one if you…"

"It's perfect, Jason! It's beautiful and I love it!"

"Your son thought you would. We got it the day I took him riding."

"He did?" She looked over to Danny then leaned her body into her man's arm that circled her tightly and rested at her hip. "You two have been conspiring that long?"

Swallowing a nervous glob in his suddenly tight throat, he made a confession. "I've wanted to do this for quite a while…but I wasn't sure you'd say, yes."

Sam thought for a moment, then unloaded her own confession. "Honestly - I'm not mad that you waited. If you'd done this sooner I might have been hesitant, even though my heart will always say yes to everything about us."

"Was it because…"

Sam tucked a strand of hair behind an ear and snuggled closer. "Yea. You have to admit, when it comes to baggage, we both have some, but yours seem to be in our faces every single day. Your exes…" she shook her head lightly against his shoulder and sighed, "I can handle them, but the way you constantly protect them has been known to give me pause."

"I know." His whisper was barely audible over the waves crashing nearby. "It's hard sometimes, when you know somebody's potential but they keep letting you and themselves down." He looked to the strong woman who'd always supported and loved him through thick, thin, and every layer between. "Still - they've never been as important to me as making you happy, Sam. How you see me..."

"Is this about you not shooting Robin again?"

"Carly thinks I should have." Doubtful eyes fell to the sand as his breathing labored with anxiety. "Do you feel the same way?"

Shaking her head against him, Sam took a breath. "I know you've been riding yourself about that Jason, but I, myself couldn't have shot her if she didn't have a gun…and I hate her!" She chuckled, then raised her head and nudged her elbow into his side, prompting his eyes to lift to her. "You're kind, and gentle, and a good person all the way through. It's why I love you as completely as I do…because no matter how vicious you can be with an enemy, there's a tender side to you that would never callously do something like that. You've never shot anyone who wasn't shooting at you, and I don't expect you to start now. Not to mention, Faith Rosco is the only woman I remember you ever shooting, and she was firing bullets at your head in that church." She bent her head when his eyes wavered, locking them with her own. "I love you for your heart, Jason…I don't ever want you to allow anyone to blacken it…especially those inconsequential two."

"Do you mean that?"

"Every word." Turning her body to wrap her arms at his neck, she melted into him folding her in tightly. "Our life together isn't about anybody but us - the three of us!"

Squeezing her tightly, Jason relayed every emotion running through him. "So long as you know you and Danny are everything to me…without you there'd be nothing, Sam!"

She was squeezing him just as tightly in return, but her mind had slowly drifted - as soon as she'd said the number. Three of them, yes…but not for the life of her could she recall the last time she'd had to refill her tampons.

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"You almost die, and the minute you start to feel better, Jason takes you halfway around the world - away from your family!" Scolding as soon as she opened the door to find her daughter standing on the other side of the knock, Alexis stopped mid sentence and threw her arms around her eldest. "I swear, you're all trying to kill me!"

Hugging her back, Sam smiled as her mother finally let her up for air, stepping over the threshold into the room. "Hello to you too, Mom." Dropping the gifts from laden arms on the nearby table, she turned to the worried matriarch again. "Where's everybody?"

"Out - where else?" Alexis stroked her daughter's hair then moved around her to the sofa, pulling her by the arm to ease them to sit. "Everybody's grown and living their own lives…I consider myself lucky if I spot any of you once a week!"

"Oh, stop exaggerating. Look at it this way…you've done your job and now you can take your life back." Sam patted her mother's hand where it rested between them on the couch. "No more hormonal teenagers to drive you nuts - lucky you!"

"No - just young adults, who know their own minds and milk independence for all its worth to drive me insane. How're you feeling? Did you get your checkups over there? Are you exhausted after that long flight?" She looked anxiously to the door. "Where is Jason? Why does he have you driving around by yourself?"

Throwing her head back at the growing alarm in her mother's voice, Sam grunted and sank into the sofa. "If it were up to you and Jason, I'd never be allowed to leave the house again. Thankfully we still have a business to run, so he had to go check in with Linden to see if it's still standing."

Alexis' eyes shot wide, "So he just left you alone - with that lunatic, Robin still on the loose?"

"I'm not alone…Captain is in the car…which reminds me, I have to go." She stood to her feet as Alexis rose with her, "And Jason thinks he's slick…he has a tail on me that I'm gonna have to train better because I spotted them almost as soon as I left the penthouse."

Alexis was nodding as she trailed her to the front door. "Good - at least he hasn't lost his complete mind and I won't have to kill him for leaving you vulnerable again."

Turning to drop a kiss on her mom's cheek, Sam waved bye out the door. "You worry too much…take a nap…it'll relax you!"

Minutes later, she'd lost the tail, whom she decided to test to see just how poor they really were, and pulled up to the waterfront, where she decided to take a short walk, already heartsick for the Hawaiian shore. Stopping to look out across the water at a departing cargo ship, she reached down to rub Captain's head at her side, her mind straying to the brown paperbag in the glove compartment she'd ducked into the drugstore for.

"Well, well - look who's finally resurfaced? Tired of running like a scared little rabbit?"

Turning to the woman she'd been dying to face again, Sam eyed the blatant contempt she openly returned. With a toss of her hand, she watched Captain take off down the docks after the bouncing tennis ball.

"Scared? At least I don't hide behind hired goons to settle my beef. I have the guts to face my opponents and look them in the eye when I pull a trigger."

The cold laugh sounded against the hooting horn of the departing ship. "Only peasants get their hands dirty when they can hire someone for the job." She laughed out loud again, "Jason will never be able to shoot me - you know that, right? He had the perfect opportunity that night, and whimpered out like a little bitch. I finally see what you two have in common."

Sam's answering chuckle was mockingly deadly as she looked to the water and back to the gloating woman. "Why would I need my man to take out garbage I can trash myself? Let's go, bitch - take your best shot!"

"Okay." With a resigned shrug of her shoulders, Robin pulled a nine from the pocketbook hanging from her shoulder, dropping it to the ground in the process and taking direct aim at Sam's face, getting no satisfaction from the lack of any change in the disgusted look there, absolutely no fear in the eyes she was looking forward to seeing cower and beg. "Want something done right…"

"Well, would you look at that…little Robin, holding a firearm. If only Sonny could see you now…all the lectures he said he received from perfect Dr. Scorpio-Drake, on the evils of the gun. How the mighty have fallen."

"Thanks to you, I finally grew up and did away with the blind eye I've been turning for years. No more! You don't get to just take my life and not suffer the consequences. Jason does't get to take and take everything I gave up for him, and just turn his back like I didn't exist anymore. I'm sick of you all - Lisa, Patrick, you, Jason…you all had it coming!"

"What are you prattling on about looneytoon?"

"I'm talking about everybody else who's had to pay a price - not the people who really deserved to. Patrick's brother lost his life and is still rotting in that prison for killing the crazy bitch who just wouldn't leave me alone - even though he had nothing to do with why she targeted us! I lost everything important to me - my daughter, my husband, my home, my career - because you couldn't resist what wasn't yours to take! Just like you couldn't resist taking Jason away from Elizabeth, who had him first and deserved to have a life with him! We are the ones who've had to pay, while you got to live your sweet little lives like you never destroyed ours!"

"So wait - where was all this crazy when Lisa Niles was wiping the floor with your face day and night, sleeping with the husband you were still married to at the time, and owning you like a puppet on a string every chance she got? HER, you couldn't handle - but me, who fell in love with a divorcee and planned a life for our children - the child you made him believe you'd abandoned - me, you want dead?"

"YES! YES - I WANT YOU DEAD! I'm sick of it! Sick of you, sick of Patrick, sick of that pathetic user you were married to! I want you all gone!"

Cocking her head, Sam asked calmly, "That's the second time you mentioned Patrick in that lineup - the man you're doing all of this over has now made your Hitlist?"

The cold, hysterical laughter that followed the question iced Sam to the bone, as she watched the woman throw her head back in crazed merriment.

"You can say hello to him when you see him in hell."

Sam couldn't believe her ears. "You killed, Patrick? Your daughter's father? The only parent who cared enough to always stay, regardless of what was happening around her? How sick are you?"

The cocking of the gun got Sam's full attention, reminding her just how far gone the woman was, her intent more than crystal clear. The growl was drawing closer and Sam knew she had no time to get to the piece at the small of her back. Even though she suspected the doctor to be a terrible shot, given her well known disdain for firearms, she was standing close enough where she'd have to be a complete imbecile to miss at that distance, and despite the hundred derogatory adjectives she could use to describe the woman, imbecile could never be one. Batshit crazy like the nurse, sure, but imbecile, no.

Counting the gun out, she had one other deadly weapon at her disposal. Locking eyes with the cold, steely hate she returned with a vengeance, she said the words she never had before.

"Captain…KILL!"

At the command, Robin turned her head frantically to the loud bark that preceded the Doberman leaping for her throat, squeezing the trigger right before she felt piercing fangs that gored the skin at her neck. Her finger stuck on the trigger pressed repeatedly as she felt herself falling backwards, new tears ripping through her chest before her back and head smashed the wooden dock and she fired again, only from the spasming of her finger still tight on the trigger as she felt the life force drain from several portals and blue, blue skies above her shone soft to the slow closing of heavy, heavy eyelids.

Horrified, Sam scrambled from where she'd thrown herself to the ground after giving the command, trying to check on Captain still gripping the neck of the lifeless woman, but giant arms had encircled her and were now lifting her of the ground.

"Jason! Where did you come from?"

He wanted to answer her but the panic was still too fresh, allowing him only the effort it took to clasp her to his chest, his legs giving out and sending him to the ground still holding her in his arms for dear life! When he'd turned the corner and beheld the sight before him, the woman he'd just gotten back from the jaws of death, standing there again on the end of a madwoman's gun, unarmed and vulnerable, instinct had taken over to where he couldn't even remember fisting the gun from his back, pressing the trigger until the clip clicked empty, even as her guard dog was leaping to action. Heavy feet ran him midst shooting, diving for her before the woman even hit the ground on her back.

It wasn't until she squirmed in his arms that he realized he was squeezing the very life from her he'd just shot the lunatic to preserve. Finally able to breathe himself again, he gasped the questions forefront in his mind, as he released her to inspect for himself.

"Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"No." Throwing her arms around his neck, she squeezed tightly, realizing he needed to feel her. "I'm okay. I'm okay." Lifting her eyes, she noticed her trusty companion still had hold of his prey and was unharmed. "Captain, heel boy." Easing from Jason's arms, she ambled to reach her dog, rubbing his head vigorously. "Good boy…good boy."

Running footsteps sounded down the stairs heading their way. "Boss! Mrs. Morgan…are you okay?"

Standing to his feet, Jason tried to bring Sam with him but she was still petting Captain. "Where the hell were you two? How did the woman I hired you to protect her from, get so close to my wife?"

Rising to her feet, Sam tried diffusing the newly charged situation as the two men shifted in place, anxiously avoiding Jason's eyes.

"Jason, it's okay. It's not their fault - I gave them the slip."

"What? Why would you do that, Sam?" He didn't want to feel angry at her but she knew people were gunning for her!

"I'm sorry, but I needed a few minutes to myself." She stepped to his side and engulfed one arm, effectively pulling it into her body as she leaned closer, eyeing the two ashamed men before them. "I'm sorry guys - I shouldn't have made your jobs harder - it won't happen again." When they shifted nervously and backed up to leave, she waved timidly to their nods, feeling bad for getting them in trouble with an angry Jason. "Thank you." Turning to face the music, she jostled the arm she was still clutching close to her body, "I'm sorry. I won't do it again."

"Yes, you will." Angry that he could feel the anger at her fading, Jason pulled to retrieve his arm and step away from her touch that was working her magic. "You knew what you were doing and it left you wide open. She was about to shoot you, Sam!" The air caught in his throat at the image that resurfaced in his brain, "She almost shot you - at close range!"

Closing the space he'd just widened between them, Sam grabbed his arm again, clutching tighter this time so he could feel the vibrant beating of her heart at her breast. "I'm fine. Feel this…" she clutched him desperately to her and let the throbbing slowly soothe his anger, "I'm standing right her…just fine."

They stood like that for a full minute, eyes never wavering as they grounded one to the other. His next chastising statement was barely a whisper.

"She had a gun."

"I had a dog."

Allowing the smile to spread from her eyes that bore through him, she waited for her words to sink in, smiling wider when they did and he smirked. "You had a killer dog."

Nodding, she lifted the hand she was still clasping to her chest to rub against her lowered cheek, "Given to me by my very protective, very thoughtful, very forgiving soulmate." She kissed the fingers then lowered the hand as she turned to look at the lifeless body spread out closeby, drowning in a sea of red that poured from everywhere. Sam knew she should feel something but barely did, knowing if the woman had been left to have her way, that would have been her instead!

"Need help with that?"

Both looked up to find Brent Riley, descending the steps towards them, inclining his head in the direction of a dead Robin Scorpio-Drake.

A/N: This one is feeling like a wrap - one or two chapters left. As always, thank you so much for reading...see you soon for the final wrap up.