It was a dream. A bad, bad dream, like her recurring nightmare about dating a mafia hit man. As Elizabeth squinted her eyes and tried to focus on her bedside clock, she groaned. Someone had better be on fire. There was no reason to call her at six in the morning otherwise. "Hello?" she croaked into the phone.

"Oh Lizziebear. Did I wake you?" Her brother's voice was annoyingly chipper and alert. Trying to shake her brain into functioning, Elizabeth tried to puzzle out the time difference. Steven was working in LA. He was three hours behind her. What the hell was he doing calling her at three in the morning his time?

"Are you drunk?" she wondered.

"No." She could almost see Steven roll his eyes.

"High?" Steven didn't use drugs but then again he didn't call her before dawn either.

"Be serious."

"In jail?"

"Are you through?"

"If it's none of those options then you must have been abducted by aliens. Because there is no other reason to call me before the sun comes up! You know the rule. I don't rise until the sun does!"

"Yes Sleeping Beauty, I remember it well." Steven drawled. In the background, she could faintly hear some paper rustling. "However when I see my baby sister in the pages of a tabloid, that rule goes out the window."

She sat straight up in her bed, pulling the flowered comforter closer to her. Reaching out her hand to flick on the light, she drew her knees closer to her. "What are you talking about?"

Clearing his throat, Steven began to speak in his best presentation voice. "Caught! Lucky Spencer, playboy record mogul with the mysterious brunette leaving what is assumed to be his home in Port Charles, in the early morning hours. Who's the girl? And why is he hiding his latest protégé?"

She could make out the sounds of Steve folding the paper over. She tried to laugh, but it fell flat. "Great, I keep telling him 8:30 isn't early. Now he'll think he has support for that argument."

"Elizabeth..." Her brother started.

"Steven. It's just a paper."

"That you are in." He responded hotly. "And I don't like finding out about this because the guys on the crew our ogling the 'hot chick in the Star' ". She could visualize his shudder. "It's just wrong."

"I didn't know another picture had been taken." She argued. "And you've met Lucky."

"Another picture? How many have there been?"

Too late she realized the error in her argument. "This is the second one."

"Second?"

"The first one was just on the Internet."

"Oh well that makes it better." Steven sighed. "Elizabeth, this is serious. I've seen how these people operate. They are going to chew you up and spit you out."

"Steven, I know this is hard for you to remember but I only teach three-year-olds. I'm not actually that age. I can handle myself."

"I just worry about you. I've seen far too many girls get destroyed by the tabloids. I don't want that for you." He softened his voice just slightly. "I'm only trying to look out for you."

Elizabeth let out a breath and tried to relax her body. She knew Steven was trying to do the right thing here. And he was right, he had seen first hand the tabloids way more often than she did. It was a huge leap from reading the papers to being in them. "I know you are. I'm sorry for snapping. It's just early."

"Are you sure about this Lizzie?"

"Steven, do you ever meet guys I'm not sure about?"

"How serious are you about him?"

It was one thing for Robin to know this. Hell Robin had said it before she realized exactly what she was feeling. Telling her brother was a whole different ball of wax. Closing her eyes, Elizabeth took a deep breath and took the plunge. "Steven I love him."

The silence was deafening. Not exactly the reaction she was hoping for she had to admit. "I know what you're thinking but this is different than Max."

"How so?"

"For one thing, he loves me too."

"You thought the same thing with Max." Steven pointed out.

"Yes but this time I know." Elizabeth paused as her words penetrated her brother's concern. "He loves me Steven."

If he was sitting across from her, she knew what Steven would be doing. He would cross his legs and uncross them. He would sigh and run his fingers through his hair. He might even mumble a few curses under his breath as he paced the length of whatever room he was in. But eventually his eyes would meet hers and he would cave. He had only ever wanted her and Sarah to be happy and if he thought they were, he would swallow any doubt and support them. At the sound of his sigh, she felt a smile form on her face. "Are you sure about this Lizzie? You said he has a kid. We haven't even touched on that whole thing yet."

"Yes I'm sure. As far as Cameron goes, we are trying to take it one day at a time and he's starting to warm up to me. I think. He's three. He doesn't completely understand it all yet."

"Are you happy?"

"Yes."

She could see her brother's shoulders sag in defeat. "I won't like you showing up in the papers."

Elizabeth laughed. "Trust me. We are working on that one."

"You know I'm going to corner him when I come home for Christmas right?"

"I would expect nothing less."

Georgie Jones undid the little twisty tie that held the bread closed, pulled out two slices, and spread a wad of peanut butter on them. She already had her large glass of milk and chocolate kisses waiting on her preferred spot at the table. It was a perfect morning what with the bright sunlight floating into the kitchen like a self-centered movie star bent on fame and birds singing. Mac always teased that one of these days he was going to set traps for the little 'rodents with wings' if for no other reason than to sleep as long as he wanted. In her whole life, he had never shown anything but concern for the baby birds that fell out of their nests. He was a softie, her dad.

Flipping her dark blonde hair behind each of her ears, she placed her sandwich on a plate and proceeded to sit down. There were few moments in her life when she actually found it possible to relax completely and right now was not one of them. Though she had been up all night reading and re-reading her research for her approaching trip, the noise coming from her adopted father's room hadn't ceased until well after three in the morning. Georgie hadn't complained, understanding that old people deserved fun just as much as the non-physically challenged generation she was a part of, but she hadn't slept either. She would start with her milk--because peanut butter and coffee was just nasty--and then move onto a large black cup of coffee to further deteriorate the enamel of her gums.

Alexis stumbled into the kitchen and put her hand to her heart when she noticed Georgie sitting alone at the table. "You startled me." She announced pointlessly as she floated across the kitchen to the calling coffee pot. "Darn. I thought I had made some." She mumbled to herself, shoving a large mass of dark hair out of her face so that she could make sense of the buttons on the shabby coffeemaker.

"Do you just want me to do it?" Georgie offered, her tone rather biting though she hadn't meant for it to sound that way. She chalked it up to lack of sleep and growing anxiety in regards to her trip. She had packed and unpacked her bags so many times she knew exactly how much each one weighed and had made sure that nothing in her possession would be considered lethal or "questionable." She didn't want to be another airport security casualty.

"I can program a coffeepot." Alexis argued graciously, moving her hand to motion for Georgie to stay where she was. "I'm the District Attorney for goodness sake."

"Fine." Georgie gave in, not caring if Alexis ever got a cup of good, hot coffee just so long as she didn't break it in the process. She bit harshly into her sandwich and chewed with some difficulty, her focus jumping from her breakfast and her dad's girlfriend. Alexis Davis was truly entertaining. If not for the threatening headache, Georgie might have smiled at the DA's obvious distress at competing with an out-dated coffeemaker.

"Last time I wait for you to bring coffee upstairs…" Mac let his voice trail off when he caught Georgie's mortified stare at his announcement. It was bad enough that she knew they were having sex. She didn't want to think of them going at it like rabbits. They were both reserved for a special hell. "Good morning sweetheart." He greeted Georgie, pulling out a chair before plopping down into it. He was clad in a navy blue shirt and a pair of green and blue boxers. She was so glad his mid-life crisis hadn't included thongs or she might have had to kill herself.

"Morning." She answered noncommittally. This was already more awkward than she wanted to acknowledge. Alexis was standing with her back to them, hand on hip as she studied the monstrosity silently debating if it was worth it. Mac watched his girlfriend struggle for a few more seconds and then got up to help her, wrapping his arms around her waist as if Georgie wasn't there at all. This was why she skipped mornings when Alexis stayed over. She didn't have a problem with the DA. She had grown out of wanting her parents to stay together and accepted that her mother would never return home to Mac.

"You're making this way more difficult than it needs to be." Mac assured Alexis, reaching around her waist and flipped two switches with a flick of his hand.

"If you even start in about how men are the smarter sex or any of that jazz…" Alexis let the threat hang and turned her head to face the grinning commissioner.

"You'll what?" Mac wanted to know, the challenge evident in his voice.

"I have tons to do today. Have a good morning, afternoon. I have to leave." Georgie left her half-eaten sandwich and empty glass on the table and skidded to the backdoor intent on getting the hell out of here before she was exposed to anything that would add to her time in therapy.

"Will you be able to make it to dinner tonight?" Mac called before she could escape. Her hand gripped the knob and for a second she considered not turning around at all.

"I don't know. I have a lot of studying to do." Georgie explained in a huff.

"We need to have a talk about some things." Mac emphasized each word but he might as well have been speaking gibberish for all the sense his daughter could make out of it.

"What kind of things?" Georgie asked already knowing he would keep her in suspense until dinner and quite possibly never tell her if she didn't show up.

"Important things. Damn, it's already after eight!" He selected two foam cups from the cabinet, quickly filled them with coffee, and snapped on the lids. "Love you girls." Mac made a beeline for the door, almost knocking Georgie into it.

"Love you too." They responded in unison.

It didn't matter how old she got, Robin always felt like a little kid when she came to the PCPD requesting a meeting with her Uncle Mac. Patrick would make the joke that she still had a hard time seeing over the counter. Just as she was about to ask for directions as to where her uncle was and when she could get in touch with him, he walked into the station in a lazy yet powerful stride he had perfected over the years. This was his station. These officers were his children. He called the shots. His very presence demanded full attention.

"To what do I owe this pleasure?" Mac smiled, receiving her in an overwhelming hug. He sometimes forgot how small she actually was in comparison to him. Glancing down at her uncertain expression, he couldn't keep his eyebrows from creasing in apprehension.

"I want to talk to you about Logan." Robin answered directly her eyes never leaving his.

"Logan? What's there to talk about?" Mac demanded in a "It's just a matter of paperwork" tone that had Robin shuffling from foot to foot.

"Can we sit down?" Robin countered, her eyes already darting toward his office. "I'd rather not broadcast my personal life around the station if I can help it."

"I'm afraid it's too late for that. I've made plenty of candid threats in regards to that pig of an ex-husband you used to share a space with, none of which will be repeated because there's not an officer in here who thinks that scum deserves any kind of pity. I'm sorry," He ran a hand over his bushy salt-and-pepper head, "I'm rambling. Let's go to my office."

"While I appreciate a bunch of strangers looking out for me, I really wish you would have let this remain between us." Robin lightly scolded him, taking a seat while he closed the door behind him.

"Oh well." Mac replied with a "take it or leave it" attitude. "You said you wanted to talk about Logan. I don't want you to worry. Alexis and I are in agreement about what needs to happen to him…"

"Happen to him? Uncle Mac, I'd hate to think you were going outside of the law and making this about a personal vendetta." Robin blew out an unhappy breath.

"You're not the defense's star witness are you or we're in serious trouble?" Mac remarked sliding in behind his desk.

"First of all, I don't want you to use this office or your position to make things harder on Logan. He hasn't had the easiest life--" Robin began, knowing that gradual was the only way she was going to be able to get the point across to her uncle.

"I don't care what kind of life he's had!" Mac interrupted, slamming his hands against his desk, startling his niece. "Don't sit there and make excuses for what he did to you!"

"I'm not!" Robin shot back, folding her arms over her chest. "Logan was wrong, but I'm not totally innocent in all of this. I provoked--"

"Robin Cecilia Scorpio, I swear to God, if you say you deserved what you got I'll—" Mac threatened angrily.

"I'm not saying I deserved it, but I should have guessed that he would try to lash out." Robin reasoned.

"I can't believe I'm hearing this!" Mac gritted through his teeth.

"I'm not pressing charges Uncle Ma—" Robin informed him, not surprised when he cut her off.

"What the fuck do you mean you're not pressing charges?" Mac got to his feet and moved to stand in front of his niece, his hands bracing either side of her chair. "He committed a crime. That's as basic as I can make it. That's without considering my role as your uncle. Pure logic. Logan needs to be punished."

"I don't want him rotting in some jail." Robin argued, shaking her head fervently.

"What's your solution then? How do you think he should pay for what he did?"

"I think he pays for it everyday." Robin answered, lowering her eyes. "He sees my decision to be with his brother as the ultimate betrayal. Maybe I didn't provoke him, but I sure as hell didn't mind him knowing."

"Sweetheart, Logan is a monster. He's a predator. If you don't press charges, he might come after you again…or someone else next time." Mac warned, rubbing his eyes in dismay.

"I don't think he'll hurt anyone else. He just wanted to give me a reality check. He made his point. Let him go Uncle Mac." Robin insisted, leaving then.