"I've got to go darling."

Sami sighed as she answered, "I can't wait until you come home."

"Me too, because I've still got a few ideas."

"I don't know if I can survive any more of your ideas Dimera."

"You can and you will, it's what makes us perfect for each other." He paused again and Sami got the sense there was something else he wanted to say, "I'll ring you later. Give the twins a kiss for me and tell William, I said, be good."

"No problem, Daddy." She singsonged as he laughed once more.

"Goodbye darling.

"Bye EJ. I love you."

"I love you too."

EJ dropped his head against the back of the seat. He knew he needed to take down Stefano, to end the great and powerful Stefano Dimera once and for all, because his father would never allow him to have this, to exist in a world where EJ was loyal and loved someone more than he loved him.

Bruno knocked on the window intimating with his hands the three dark vans coming into the parking lot. EJ nodded at his guard and took a deep breath, before stepping out to greet his Uncle.

As John got out his own vehicle, he said, "I see you brought help."

"There's no way Stefano is getting away this time."

EJ knew John wasn't taking any chances, and this time he agreed. Stefano had played fast and loose with both their lives, manipulating a young EJ until all he understood was following the man's orders and whatever love and acceptance Susan and Edmund Crumb had showed him, was a distant memory. For John, Stefano had robbed him of years with the woman he loved, wiped away his memory and messed with his mind. There was no coming back from that, so EJ steeled his back, knowing that his father would not go down without a fight and by God he was going to give it to him.

Nodding in agreement with his uncle, he said, "Stefano still wants the same thing he has always wanted."

"And what's that?" John tilted his head in question.

"Control and I say we give it to him."

John Black watched at a distance as his nephew stepped into his brother's new lair alone. It certainly was a step down for the 'great and powerful' Stefano Dimera. He wondered why the man hadn't just retreated. He had done it repeatedly over the years and often came back with a bang. The only thing John could come up with was that the man's pride and arrogance prevented from letting his 'pawn' and the son he had raised to be his greatest weapon, exist outside his control. For a man like Stefano it was unconscionable that those he considered lesser, had foiled him and sent him running. It was what they were counting on, and the only way this would work, for if John had anything to say about it, they would never, ever be under the control of that monster again.

He had learned a lot about Elvis and the man he was. Even brain-damaged as he was, he knew the changing impact the power of love could have on a man. If all the stories were to be believed, he hadn't been a saint even before Stefano had brainwashed him, but Blondie's love had changed him in ways he couldn't describe and still continued to change him, and while he wasn't sure they could make it work, because he often thought she was looking at him and seeing a man he no longer was, he was willing to try.

It was the same for Sami and EJ. Samantha's love had changed EJ from a man willing to shoot him, a man willing to hand him over to be sliced and diced to prolong the life of a madman to a man who would willingly face his father alone to make sure they could all live a Stefano free life. John wasn't sure if he could describe the feeling in his chest to the fullest, but it felt an awful lot like worry and pride.

By the time Sami moved, the sun had crested over the horizon, lighting up her secret Garden and it was even more beautiful in the light. It was designed exactly like her favorite book and she was sure she could tend to it herself if she wanted, and she did.

Rising, she finally made her way back up to the house unable to wipe the smile from her face. She checked in with the twins firstly, then her mom and Will and noted that everyone except John was asleep. Her stepfather had left a note which really said nothing at all, but being on the high she was, she hardly noticed. Wandering into the kitchen, she started to look for something to eat and just as she was going to pop open one of the kitchen cupboards to see if anyone had brought coffee, her phone rang.

"Sami girl," Barney's voice came through.

"Morning Barney. What have you got for me?"

"Found Stefano." He answered, voice low.

"Good." Samantha smiled, grim determination on her face. "Where…"

"Somebody else found him, too," Her friend cut her off.

"What? Who?"

"Your old man just walked into the building, and your step-dad, John Black is here, too."

"What? No, I just talked to EJ and…"

"Unless there's two of them…" he trailed off.

Sami could feel her anger rising that neither of the two men had seen fit to inform her. She just knew it was some misguided attempt to protect her and she was pissed.

"You have no idea how true that might be." She answered Barney. "Now where are you?"