"This was a mistake. I shouldn't have come." Sage moaned and started to walk back towards the elevator she had just exited. What was she doing back here in a town she had sworn she would never return to? She couldn't help. It was dangerous for her to help. She had explained all of this to them months ago. But still, Lucas had called her frantically and now here she was.

Didn't they get it? Any connection to her, her family, and Lance was in danger. The Corinthos/Morgan organization may no longer threaten Port Charles, but their enemies still existed and still threatened her. It was better, safer for Lance if she just stayed away. All she was to him was a name on a piece of paper. If Lucas and Dillon wanted their son to live to see puberty, it was all she should remain to him.

"You can't keep running from this." Diego argued, pulling her as far away from the elevator as he could.

"Yes I can. Diego, you know how dangerous this could be for him. For all of them."

"I know that eight years ago you did something I told you not to do and now there are consequences. Sage, your son needs you."

"He's only my son because of biology. I never wanted to be his mother."

"Then let's just go," Diego steered her in the opposite direction. "I'm sure they'll get a nice picture of him for the Obits page."

"You have one sick way of trying to make me do the right thing." Sage pointed out as she pulled out his grasp.

"So you admit it's the right thing?" Diego laughed aloud.

"I know it's the right thing." Sage sighed as she crossed her arms. "That doesn't mean it's not also the most potentially dangerous thing as well."

"That's why you brought me."

"Diego, what if one of us is a match for Lance? If anyone connects him to either one of us..." She let her voice trail off. They both knew the consequences that came with being a member of the Alcazar family.

"No one will. That's why we're doing this under fake names. We talked about this." Diego tried to reassure her.

"We were using fake names before and Lucas found us." Sage pointed out.

"You heard what the message said. None of their family is a match. That means it's got to be one of us. We are the only chance this little boy has."

"It's not fair." Sage shook her head as she sank down into a nearby couch. "We shouldn't be his only hope. He shouldn't be sick period."

"It wasn't fair what happened to our mothers either." Diego reasoned.

"And what exactly are we supposed to do? Just waltz in there, take tests under fake names, and wait with a room full of people who never understood the decision I made? Who will never see me staying away from Lance as his only shot at a normal life?"

"He has a normal life and after this he'll still have a normal life. The key is life itself. If we don't help him, he will die. Now that's a direct quote from his doctor." Diego stressed, shaking her.

"Diego I love you but your pep talks suck."

"Kiss my ass. I kill people for a living."

"Don't leave me ok? No matter what happens in that room, you are not leaving me."

"I couldn't if I wanted to." He promised, throwing his arm across her shoulder. "Let's go save the day."

*****

Carole Larson. 17916 Elm Street. Townhouse. Moderately sized backyard. Mysterious yellow dog in the fence. A nice neighborhood next to all the schools. Sam repeated the information in her head over and over. In a way it calmed her. This was, after all, the second time she had followed David to this very location. She sat in the car like a stalker and watched him disappear into the townhouse while hours passed, hours in which she wondered what they were doing. In the same breath, she told herself she would rather not know. Some case. She couldn't think of a pleasant outcome if she asked him why he had lied to her, why he continued to lie.

It was hard to watch him slip inside again but she couldn't tear her eyes away. He went there right after work and returned to the apartment only when he needed a change of clothes and a shower. She had almost slipped and asked him why his new girlfriend didn't just let him use hers. Of course, maybe that would have clued in her husband. This was so unlike him, but there was still so much she didn't know about him. Maybe this was his style. No, she didn't believe that. There had to be another explanation. There must be.

Poor little Sami. All alone again. Used again. Forgotten so easily. Despite the promises. Despite all of it. She wanted to hate him, but what good would that do? What she needed was to make herself indifferent. Indifference would drive him up the wall. Not that she cared what bothered him. She didn't care about him, wouldn't care about him.

Sam glanced down at the paper again and gritted her teeth. Carole and her husband, Ben, had a four-year-old daughter named Deliah. From the brief glances Sam had used to check the woman for any kind of disfiguration, she hadn't noticed any signs of an abusive husband. That would have been right up David's alley. Nor was Ben a police officer or a known criminal. They were new to the area. Where was the connection? There had to be one. Think, damn you! Think! The door opened and Sam sped away, sniffing angry tears back.

David glanced up at the sound of the squealing tires. It was at least a sound he was familiar with. Shaking his head, he looked back at Carole and Ben. "I just...I just don't know. I can't give you an answer right now. I have to think this through."

Ben Larson nodded stiffly. For four years he had wanted to hate this man. Wanted him to turn out to be some low life loser, someone he could feel justified in keeping Deliah safely away from. But now, after the few times he had met David Harper, he knew he couldn't. He had often pictured this meeting a million times in his head. He hadn't ever imagined what would happen if David Harper did decide he wanted to be a part of Deliah's life. In many ways the man's plea to think things through made Ben respect him more. At least he wasn't irrational. "That's fair."

Carole shifted uneasily from one foot to the other. "David, I want you to know. I never meant for any of this to happen. I mean, I wouldn't trade that little girl for anything; I just wish I had handled things differently."

"I get that. At least I think I do." David managed softly. "It's just a lot to have dropped in my life all at once. I don't want to hurt anyone. I just need to think." And tell Samantha the truth. He knew she was suspicious of his moods lately. Hopefully she would understand. Maybe. If he didn't receive an armful of his clothes being thrown at his head first.

"Take all the time you need." Ben put his arm across his wife's shoulders and pulled her close. "We aren't going anywhere for a while."

"I'll be in touch." David promised as he started down the steps towards his car.

"Perfectly rational—explanation. He'll explain when he comes home. If he comes home." Maybe she would lock him out. He wouldn't be expecting it. Could he pick locks? Well even if he could, Sam would be long gone before he broke through that door. But then, why should she leave? He should go. Her hands flew to her face to shove more tears away. She wasn't ready for this.

Maybe she was wrong. She could be wrong. It happened. She would wait for him to tell her. She was always waiting for him she thought sullenly and dropped down onto the couch. Halfway to her feet when she heard the key in the lock, she deliberated the logic of running upstairs or facing this. Why drag it out? Unsteadily, Sam waited.

"Samantha?" He whispered seeing her standing there waiting for him. She seemed nervous, shaking. Something had happened that had hit her too close to that sensitive center she pretended didn't exist. Taking a step closer to her, he reached out his hand to touch her cheek. "Is everything ok? Did something happen?"

Sam gulped. "I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?" Now he was confused. And even more worried. She may be reluctant to admit to what she was feeling, but Samantha always knew what was throwing her off balance.

"You tell me."

"Me? This has to do with me?"

They were both stunned when her hand reached up and slapped him across the face. Her fingers were still tingling when shoved her hand in her pocket. "Do not lie to me."

"Lie to you about what?"

"Carole Larson." As much as she wanted him to hang himself, his inability to pick up on her reason for being angry somehow hurt more.

"How do you know about Carole?" He suspected she had snooped through his pockets. It would be nice to have confirmation.

"Doesn't matter."

"Carole is an old friend. She moved back to town and we have some unfinished business to talk about."

"What kind of unfinished business?" Sam wasn't buying it. An old friend she had never heard about?

"Just business." He prayed for her to drop it. He wasn't sure yet how he felt about the whole situation yet. Didn't have a clue what he was going to do. The last thing he wanted was to pick a fight with Samantha because of this.

"Fine." Sam headed for the stairs.

"Where are you going?"

"Business. You understand."

"Damn it Samantha don't do this." He swore viciously and followed her.

"I really do have to go. Maybe I can pencil you in sometime soon. I mean, you just never know when an old friend is going to drop in on you."

"You're jumping to conclusions." He tried to keep his voice even.

"So what?"

"It's not what you are thinking."

"I think it's business."

"Bullshit."

"That's what you'd like me to believe so I'm going to believe it."

"Samantha." He reached out and grabbed her arm, twisting her to look at him. "Don't do this please."

"Please let me go."

"Not until you understand."

"Understand what? Business? Now that I do understand. As in, this business between you and I is officially terminated. Okay? Is that clear enough for you?"

"Look I know you have every right to be pissed at me. But Carole threw me. I just needed some time..."

"Well now you'll have time."

"I haven't seen Carole in four years. For fuck's sake Samantha she's married."

"Okay."

Her lips were saying okay but David knew she didn't mean a word of it. She was saving up for a bigger attack, a better way to leave him bleeding. "There is a reason I didn't tell you about this before."

"Because your business is your business. Like the Vermin case that you won't let me anywhere near."

"No." He ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. "No because I want to figure out what the best way is to handle this situation. I love you too much to put you through something unnecessarily."

"Now you're throwing that in my face?"

"I'm not throwing it in your face. I'm stating the facts. I love you and I didn't want to hurt you over this."

"Have you no shame?" Sam jerked away from him.

"Carole is my ex-girlfriend. She just told me I'm her daughter's father."

Sam spun around. "And you thought what? That I wouldn't understand that?"

"No. I knew you would. But I didn't want to bring up any bad memories of Vincent for you. I didn't want to lie to you but I didn't know how I was feeling about it myself. That's not fair to you."

"My son is not the reason you lied to me."

"No. He was the reason I was delaying telling you the truth." David took a half a step closer to her. "I knew I had to tell you. I was going to tell you. Just not like this."

"What does this mean?"

"I don't know. I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. As for the whole Deliah situation..." He paused and looked her in the eyes. "That's her name. Deliah. Carole and Ben want to know what I want to do in regards to her. I'm not sure."

"Thank you for telling me the truth."

"Thank you for not throwing another vase at my head."

"David, I..."

"You?"

"I can't."

"Can't what?"

"I can't do this anymore."

"What does that mean?" he asked slowly.

"That I have to go. Away. From here."

"Why?"

"Because you don't need me making your life harder. You've got this whole other life now that I don't, I don't think I fit in it anymore."

"You fit Samantha." He told her softly. "You're about the only thing I know that does fit in my life."

"Your daughter will fit just fine."

David shook his head. "Not without help. I'm terrible at the kid thing."

"I can't compete with that." She argued, ignoring his last comment.

"I'm not asking you to."

"I can't ever give you that."

"What are you talking about?" He took a step toward her and this time was able to rest his hand on her waist. "Samantha?"

"After Vincent there were...complications."

"Complications." He repeated in a whisper, pulling her closer to him.

"No, David. You shouldn't have to deal with this."

"Neither should you." He pointed out.

"I guess I always knew." Sam murmured, touching his cheek.

"Knew what?"

"That you'd make a great father one day."