Lisa Grimes wrung her hands nervously while she listened to her husband conclude his telephone conversation. Cameron was upstairs taking a nap (they had finally been able to get him on a schedule) and this was the first time she had shared a space with her husband in almost a week. He was conducting business, something she wanted no part of. While she was ecstatic at how well the interview with the social worker had been, she was far from convinced that Lucky would let Cameron go so easily. His girlfriend's stupid parents had made a mockery of the case, but she was hopeful. And desperate. Her grandson was the only piece of her daughter she had left. God wouldn't be so cruel as to take him from her as well. What if the courts went against them? What if they took him away? Would they lose everything? Would Lucky still allow them to see Cameron? It was questions like these that ate away at her, kept her from sleeping soundly at night.

Tony wasn't worried. He wasn't hysterical. He didn't doubt their influence over the court system. She couldn't talk to him about this because he simply refused to let her think that there was any other alternative to keeping Cameron with them. His confidence scared her. How could he be so certain? Didn't he know as well as she that sometimes life simply wasn't fair? What did he know that she did not? He had never been a betting man in his life. Tony dropped the phone into its cradle. She left her spot on the couch and went to talk to her husband. He was bustling with energy, barely noticed the pain her eyes.

"I need to talk to you." Lisa told him. She reached for his hands and held them tightly in hers.

"What's that face for?" Tony wanted to know.

"Who were you talking to on the phone?" Lisa countered.

"That's not important." Tony assured her. "What matters is that we're going to have Cameron with us always."

"How can you possibly know that?" Lisa demanded shrilly. "How?"

"Because I do." Tony patted her shoulders soothingly. "I'm going to take care of us."

"I've never asked questions." Lisa pointed out.

"And I appreciate that. We have to have trust."

"Do you trust me?" Lisa prompted.

"Of course." Tony nodded.

"Then please tell me what's going on." Lisa drew his face between her hands.

"I'm sorry, I can't." Tony shook his head. "You just have to trust that I know what I'm doing."

"Do you have any idea what's at stake here? Do you?" Lisa shouted, backing away from him.

"Yes, and that's exactly why I'm doing what I'm doing." Tony emphasized each word, reaching out to stop her. She spun around to face him, looking ready to pounce on him.

"What are you doing? Why can't you tell me? Is it legal?"

"What?" Tony shook his head in disbelief. "How can you ask me that?"

"Because I know how much you want to win."

"Don't you want us to win?"

"I want us to be a family again."

"We are a family! You, me, Cameron."

"We're not. You don't..." Lisa dropped her gaze to her hands. "You don't look at me the way you used to."

"That's preposterous!"

"Is it? Tell me, have I ever fit the ideal wife in your eyes?"

"I'm not having this fight with you. It's stupid."

"It's not stupid! Why can't we just talk anymore?"

"We're not talking; you're trying to pick a fight. I'm walking away from it."

"Walking away is what you're good at, isn't it?"

"Are you fighting?" Cameron asked from the bottom of the stairs. His eyes were blurry from his nap.

Lisa hurried over to her grandson and bent down in front of him. "No, darling. We're not fighting. Did you have a good nap?" She picked him up and hugged him to her, giving her husband a warning look. "Do you want to help Grandma make lunch?"

"Yeah!" Cameron squealed.

Tony was about to follow when his cell phone buzzed in his back pocket. He flipped it open. "And you're sure there's nothing to worry about?" he demanded of the caller, heading up the stairs where he could find a little privacy.

*****

Apparently it was his calling in life to do special assignments, David Harper was beginning to realize. No sooner than Alexis told him to stop his investigation into what secrets her future stepdaughters where hiding the Commissioner had called him into his office for an assignment he had explained needed "special handling." If that wasn't code for being a gigantic pain in his side, Harper didn't know what else could be.

And of course, this case was going to require Samantha's assistance. The very woman who had avoided him since the blackout. The second the power returned and the elevator stopped safely at the next floor, she had practically sprinted out of the cab and down the hall. If he had thought it would have done any good, he would have followed her.

He had told her time and time again hiding in a town like Port Charles was impossible. And now it looked like once again he was going to be proven correct. Raising his hand to knock, he raked one hand through his hair and leaned against her doorway.

"Keep your shirt on, I'm coming." Sam yelled through the door without getting up. She reached over to turn down the show she was watching, knowing it would lead to immediate ridicule. Despite all the adventures she had been on and through, she still couldn't stop watching the local soap opera. She had to know if the couple who had grown up in the same town would ever get together. The person on the other side of the door could wait until the commercial.

"Are you sure you want my shirt on?" he teased when she finally opened the door.

Sam leaned against the door and smiled. "I guess that depends."

"Well I prefer to take my time but if the lady is impatient..."

"Are you here for me, or for work?"

"Can't it be both?"

"I knew it. Come in. Do you want something to drink?" She asked as she moved toward the kitchen.

"No. Technically I'm working." He moved closer inside what he still felt was their apartment, sitting down on the couch that still dominated his thoughts.

"Always a boy scout." Sam teased, returning with two glasses of iced tea.

"It always works out for you."

"What are you doing here?"

Harper held up a plain manila envelope. "I have a case, one that I need you for."

"I've heard that before. What is it this time?" It was what they did. She would put up a big fight and he would convince her otherwise. If she gave in, it wouldn't be nearly as much fun.

"Seems there's an increase in the drug trafficking at PCU. The usual, marijuana, coke, speed plus one that's worrying everyone. Meth."

"Anyone dead yet?" It had been Sam's experience that there were some people that just couldn't be saved. For this to get the attention of the PCPD there had to have been a casualty.

"No." Harper shook his head. "But someone important to the Commissioner seems to be caught up in it."

Sam fixed her gaze on him, thinking of Maxie and her sister, Georgie. Surely not one of them. She didn't know enough of the family tree to narrow anyone down. "What do you need me to do?"

"There's an undercover agent already in place on campus. But he can't cover everyone by himself. The other guys on the force would be spotted in two seconds." Harper smiled slowly at her. "You ever want to go to college?"

*****

"Are you actually going to help me pack anything or are you just going to sit there?" Georgie asked in mock annoyance as Maxie sat on what was once her bed, flipping through a magazine. Now it was Kristina's. Officially and forever this room had been passed onto the younger girl.

"I tried to help, but you and your system got in my way." Maxie never lifted her eyes from the magazine.

"Yes I know. Organization is bad." Georgie smiled as she rifled through the last of her belongings. Obviously she couldn't take everything with her. Audrey's house was more than big enough to comfortably house all three of them, but it was still Audrey's house. And although she wasn't quite sure, Georgie was pretty sure a newlywed wasn't supposed to bring over boxes of her old Girl Scouts uniforms, badges, and projects. Sorting had to be done and edits had to be made.

"You're going to still come around, aren't you?" Maxie asked timidly.

"Of course. I mean Kristina obviously is not old enough to be your fashion jury."

"Sure. Tease me on the same day you're leaving me." Maxie accused lightly, flipping a few pages.

"Maxie." Georgie rested her hands on top of the box she was currently working on filling. "Come on you aren't really mad at me for leaving are you?"

"No. It's about time one of us broke out of this place. Who knows? This time next year I might be living in L.A." Maxie mused.

"L.A.?" Georgie asked puzzled. "Did you finally hear back from one of the design firms?"

"I have a meeting with Feona Blotski on Tuesday at four o'clock." Maxie couldn't help but smile.

"Feona Blotski? The Feona Blotski?" Georgie squealed as she lunged for her sister. "Why didn't you say anything? Maxie, this is huge!"

"I didn't want to rain on your parade." Maxie explained, meeting Georgie's eyes.

"My parade? Honey, Steven will be in our lives for a long time to come. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

"I didn't want to jinx it. She wants me to bring some new designs. I have two done already. Do you want to see them?"

"Yes!"

Maxie ran for her room, barely missing Mac. He had been watching the entire exchange, but felt too out of place to interrupt such a moment. Maxie returned a few seconds later with her sketchbook, her fingers in-between the pages she wanted to show off. "I haven't shown them to anyone."

"I'm honored." Carefully, Georgie studied the designs. Sure, she felt everything Maxie designed was fabulous, but she knew her words this time were critical. Her sister's entire future could rest on this. Smiling up at her sister, Georgie nudged her shoulder. "Sorry to break it to you big sister, but it looks like you are going to bowl them over next week."

"Really?" Maxie giggled, wrapping Georgie in a hug. "I don't even care if you're lying to me." She couldn't figure out why she was crying, but she didn't feel embarrassed by her tears.

"Why would I lie to you about this? I mean its not like we have to share the bathroom anymore and you'd use my toothbrush to clean the toilet if I was."

"Enough about me. I want to hear about Steven." Maxie persisted.

"What about him? You've talked to him."

"Not at my brother-in-law. Come on, tell me how you met. Where you first kissed. I want to hear everything." At Georgie's confused expression, Maxie explained, "I'm allowed to show interest even if only in my baby sister's life."

"Ha. Ha." Georgie smiled softly. "We met in Italy on New Year's Eve."

"How?"

"I was reading my favorite book in front of the Romeo and Juliet fountain. And he butchered Italian to talk to me."

"Aww, that's cute."

"Yeah it is. He kissed me for the first time on the banks of the River Seine. We were taking a walk and started talking about how Paris was the city of Love and then he kissed me."

"That sounds so romantic."

"It really was. But enough about me. I want to know about this doctor."

"Ric? What about him?" Maxie reached for the magazine again.

"How you two met? Where you first kissed? What's he like? No one in the family has met him except Aunt Bobbie and that's just a little too personal to ask her. I'd take a vague description at this point."

"It was the night of the committee sign-up for the Nurse's Ball. I was trying to work up the nerve to head over to the fashion table when Ric startled me. He was, is, such an arrogant ass." Maxie told her sister.

"Which of course attracted you."

"Of course. It's not everyday you find someone who holds the same appreciation of themselves as you."

"Of course. Makes total sense."

"He kept bugging me, wanting to know my name. He totally wormed his way into my committee."

"A straight guy on the fashion committee. That must have been entertaining."

"I had to 'translate' for him."

"So how did we go from translating to dating?"

"Are we dating?" Maxie asked.

"So the family rumor chain says."

"I guess you could say we're dating. We're not seeing other people. At least not that I know of." The last time she had seen Ric, she had asked him for the truth. Before he could say anything though, his beeper had gone off. A patient going into labor. He had had no choice but to go. She would wait for him, she said. But he said he'd just call her later. That was two days ago.

"That you know of? You think he's cheating?"

"I don't know." Maxie admitted. "I don't think so."

"Is he doing anything that would make you think so?"

"He just divorced his wife. She wasn't happy about it and said some pretty nasty things to me."

"Maxie, she's the bitter ex-wife. You're the hot new girlfriend. You're not going to be best friends."

"I know. It's just, you should see them together."

"Uncomfortable?"

"There are feelings there, strong feelings. And as much as I want to believe it's just leftover feelings from the marriage, I can't."

"But as far as you know he's not acting on them?"

"As far as I know. They just spent a few weeks together in Tucson to look after his father. I found out she was there with him from his sister." Maxie got off the bed and stabbed her fingers through her hair. "When did I become this invested in something that I knew couldn't last?"

"Maxie. You're doing it again."

"What?" Maxie spun around.

"You're giving up on something that could be really great for you. What if you stopped sending in your designs after your first rejection? Would you be meeting Feona Blotski next week?"

"You're right." Maxie whispered. "You're right. I'm going to stop worrying and just trust Ric."

"What a novel concept. Maxie Jones trusting a guy who might actually be good for her." Georgie teased her.

Previews:

"Of course. Of course." Bobbie stepped aside to allowing Robin to pass her. "Please forgive the mess. Majandra is figuring out crawling and I'm still adjusting to cleaning up after her."

"It doesn't bother me. We all make messes when faced with new opportunities, don't we?" Robin handed Majandra a plush toy she had been admiring.