"It's not like I'm going to screw up cards. How can you not trust me to cut the deck?" Sam feigned hurt as she stole the cards from the middle of the table. It was hot and muggy outside, not exactly the type of weather either of them wanted to go look for bad guys or birth mothers alike in.

"Because Gorgeous, I know you." Harper shot her a wink and grabbed the cards back out of her hands.

"You know what you want to know." Sam corrected trying to snatch them. "And anyway, if someone's going to cheat, it's going to be you."

He evaded her attempt easily enough, raising his hand above his head. "Now Gorgeous where's the love?" Harper teased easily, completing the shuffle with one hand. "Five card draw. Any wild?"

"Alright." Sam folded her arms across her chest. "Shock and awe me Detective."

Dealing the cards with a practice air, Harper smiled as he checked his cards. Two cards from a straight. This was do-able. "I deal. You start the bets Gorgeous."

"Oh you are so going down. You sure you want to do this?" Sam watched him over the rim of her cards.

"With you? Always." He offered out the deck. "Any discards?"

"And lose this hand? I'd sooner resurrect that mistake of a boyfriend. You?"

"Confidence. I appreciate that in a woman." Harper leaned back into the chair, pondering his options. "Dealer takes two." He finally decided. Seeing the needed two cards for his straight come up, he fought against smiling wider than he already was. The fun of poker, especially with a woman like Samantha McCall, was the mental aspect. The give and take. The calculation and risk. Just how big of a risk was Sam willing to take tonight? It was his goal to find out.

"I do believe the bet is in your hands." He said calmly.

Sam had played cards long enough to know that you never looked at them but one time and that was when they were dealt out. You had what you had and if you started switching cards too early in the game, it would prove you were holding a losing hand. "Let's start with ten. I know your new salary is pretty measly and sending you to the poor house is not what I have in mind tonight."

"I'll see your ten." Harper pushed the bill to meet hers in the middle of the table. "And I'll raise you another five."

"Somebody's feeling good." Sam set another bill on top of his so that they almost made a little green house.

"Someone wants to be feeling better." Seeing her not rise to his bait, as he expected, Harper leaned further back into the chair and kicked his feet onto the table. "How about we make the stakes more interesting?"

"What did you have in mind?" Sam asked mimicking his laid-back posture and throwing one leg over the other.

"Not that I won't thoroughly enjoy taking your money, cause I will, but I was thinking of something more beneficial. To us both."

"First of all, you aren't touching my money. Secondly, I don't think I want to hear this."

"I already told you Gorgeous. I want you willingly, not as part of a bet. No, no. What I was thinking is the loser does the winner's research for the next two weeks."

"You've got a deal." Sam held out her hand for him to shake.

"You're going down partner." Harper promised as he took hold of her hand.

"We'll see. If you're out of shiny objects, can we play the game?"

"I've always been playing sweetheart. You keep stalling."

"I'm not stalling." Sam argued. "I just have a lot on my mind I guess."

"The project? Or something else?"

"A little of both I guess." Sam answered cryptically. "One discard."

"Still confident." Harper passed the new card easily. "Any way I can help take your mind off your issues?"

"Just focus on your hand." Sam told him.

"Dealer stands." He raised one eyebrow suggestively in her direction. "I do believe it might be time you show me the goods."

Sam fanned out her cards in her hand and smiled. "It's not much of a sacrifice." She said to him as she laid out her hand of one Queen, a nine, a four, a King, and a Jack.

"Impressive." Harper laid out his own cards, his own straight with a King high. "Looks like we've tied."

"So much for your higher stakes. We're back where we started." Sam laughed and shook her head.

"There's always a tie breaker."

"I'm going to need some incentive." Sam told him as she slid out of her chair and got to her feet.

"Incentive." He watched her walk towards the small kitchen. "The bedroom."

"Oh are you tired?" Sam sent him a look over her shoulder.

"No but you will be. The winner gets the bedroom for two weeks as well as the results of the loser's research. Sharing is always optional."

Sam caught herself blushing and had to show him her back instead. She had walked right into that one with both feet. "Deal. First, we order. I'm starving."

"What are you in the mood for? I'm up for anything."

Sam thought about it. "Tacos. Do you think this town has tacos?"

"If not, then we need to blow this place pronto."

Sam threw Harper the phone. "I want a lot of hot sauce and no tomatoes. I like mine fresh and I picked some up today."

"Hot and fresh. Just like you. Got it."

"You know, there are places in the world where people still lose a body part for doing or saying bad things. I'd be more careful if I were you." Sam deadpanned.

"You wouldn't do that to me. You enjoy this too much."

"What I'd enjoy is a little professionalism. We have a bottom line. I don't want it to get blurred."

"I'm not suggesting we blur it. We want the same thing Samantha." He stood up and walked over to where she was standing, stopping just short of touching her. "Face it. We are two of a kind."

"Trust isn't something I give easily and so far you haven't given me any reason to withhold it from you." Sam assured him. "We can be friends, but if you're looking for something more..."

"I'm looking for what you're willing to give." Harper shook his head. "Do you think I could find another woman anywhere in the world like you? I'm not going to mess this up. You'd be impossible to replace."

"We're a dime a dozen." Sam argued taking a step back.

"You're wrong." He matched her step with one of his own forward.

She hated that she was retreating like the coward her father had always accused her of being. "Let's just say you win. You can have the bedroom."

"No way. I told you before. I only want to win if I earn it. The bedroom is yours."

"I don't mind the couch. I'm sure you'd be much more comfortable..." Her voice trailed off.

He cut her off with a wave of his hand. "Not doing it Princess. The bed is yours. When you are ready for me to be in it, then I will be. But not before."

*****

When the rest of the world crashed and burned around you, there was only one person a girl could turn to: her best friend. Elizabeth grabbed the phone that was set up next to her bed, and quickly dialed Robin's cell phone number, figuring it was least likely to have a bug placed on it. She shook her head as she recognized Lucky's paranoia in her thoughts. Not that this particular time didn't have merit.

She needed to get out of this hospital and get her children away from the constant threat of further exposure. Ned had suggested a cabin he and Lois had bought a few years back in the mountains, close to home but far enough away from the prying eyes. It would do until the media became fully enamored with Daphne's wedding. Now they just needed to get there.

"Come on Robin, pick up. Pick up. Pick up. Pick up."

"Hello?" Robin sandwiched her cell between her ear and shoulder while she cleaned out the oven.

"Robin? You're still standing?"

"Elizabeth? It's so good to hear your voice. I've been so worried about you, but there's a little device on your hospital phone that directs calls to oblivion."

"The joint decision of Lucky and Ned. Normally I'd make fun of them, but this time I might actually agree with them."

"Are you alright? I didn't even know anything was wrong until Patrick showed up with Cameron tucked under his arm." Robin explained.

"I'm fine. Pissed off and scared at the same time but I think I'm doing ok. How was Cameron? Do you think he knows anything is off?"

"I think all kids pick up on things, but he's been an angel." Robin assured her friend.

"An angel? Are you sure you have Cameron with you?"

"An angel compared to Morgan. How about that?" Robin tried.

"Much more believable." Elizabeth sighed. "God Robin, it wasn't supposed to be like this."

"I know it baby." Robin said quietly abandoning the task at hand. "But you've got Lucky, Ned, the entire Spencer clan, and me and we take care of our own."

"I know that and I love you all for it. It's just hard to sound excited right now when the hospital wants to discharge you and you can't exactly go home."

"You can't go home? Well, no, I guess you wouldn't be able to do that." Robin almost slapped herself for being so naïve. "Do you have an alternative?"

"Ned and Lois offered us this cabin they own. Lucky thinks it's near the one Patrick's parents had. Anyways we're planning on going there. At least until news of Daphne's wedding starts replacing the twins as the number one web search."

"You're giving Britney and Lindsey a run for their money." Robin tried to joke.

"I almost wish one of them would stop by. At least then we might stand a chance of getting out of here without being noticed."

"It's too bad we're not living in The Birdcage. They were great at distractions." Robin sighed.

"Too bad. I don't think we can convince Lucky to dress in drag to get out of here."

"I bet Dillon has a few costumes you could use..." Robin went on as if Elizabeth hadn't spoken at all.

"He probably does. He sent me the strangest text messages last night."

"Like what? This is Port Charles."

"Well first he claimed to have an exit plan all set for us and he'd tell us in the morning. Then he texted again saying Lance was downstairs and sorry the plan wouldn't exactly work out now."

"Lance?" Robin asked, surprised.

"I know." Elizabeth nodded, forgetting that her friend couldn't see her. "Lucky's downstairs now trying to find out what's going on."

"Did they get bored when they were on vacation? Is that why they thought it'd be fun to return to the hospital? You were right: We spend far too much time there. If I could work it out, I'd have this baby at home." Robin shook her head. "So it's up to us then to get you out of there."

"As always, we should never leave the importance stuff to the men. And for the record, if you try to have this baby at home I'm driving you to the hospital myself."

"I wouldn't rob you the joy of another hospital visit." Robin promised. "The press is going to be looking for you, Lucky, and two little babies. My suggestion is you each wear some sort of disguise—even if it's just sunglasses—and let one of us carry out the babies."

"That just seems too simple. Although you could make the argument I've been talking with Dillon too much for that one."

"I think I'll take that argument and raise you a voice of reason."

"Are we to the point of reason already?"

"Think about it. The reporters think they're so smart right this second. And you manage to get out without being noticed? No matter what, someone else has the twins."

"And how exactly am I supposed to get this disguise? I can't leave just yet and Lucky walking into a costume shop will draw suspicion."

"I'll come to you. Patrick can handle the boys for five minutes."

"Slight issue. Cameron. How do we get him to the cabin?"

Robin snapped her fingers as an idea came to her. "Remember when Patrick and I went out on our first date?"

"Which one?"

"First time around. With the jet. He told me a very good client had let him borrow it. The press doesn't know us and they only know Cameron by name, not his face. If you'll notice, there's no picture of him anywhere, not even on the Web. What if we dropped him off?"

"That could work. I'll talk it over with Lucky when he makes his way back up here."

"Okay. I'll talk to Patrick. I think the client's number is actually in his phone."

"Good and Robin?"

"Yeah?"

"You are back on the top of the godparent list."

"Damn straight. What are sisters for?" Robin laughed.

"You're way better than my actual sister at this point." Elizabeth replied with a chuckle.

"Love you. Let me know what Lucky says."

"I will. Love you too."

Previews:

"If we have to be fugitives, at least we'll be comfortable." She joked as she took hold of her son.

"I'm sorry Princess." Lucky sighed as he sat down next to her. "If I could fix this..."