The Guest House. Morning.

Claudia put the last breakfast dish into the dishwasher. Unfortunately, the pan was going to take a little more work. Maybe she'd better soak it. She idly wondered if anyone had ever made Spencer pancakes in animal shapes.

This arrangement was making Claudia's head spin. On the one hand, she had never felt this safe in her whole life. On the other hand, she'd never been this abstinent. Between the no alcohol or drugs (because of the baby) and the no sex (because of Nikolas), she was bucking for some kind of record.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. Probably Nikolas with the family tree. And those lips.

She went into the living room and opened the door.

Not Nikolas. The Brother. Claudia remembered what he'd been like the last time a Zacchara had been involved with a Spencer. Great.

"Detective Spencer," she said, opening the door wider for him. "Come on in."

***************************************

General Hospital. Nikolas' office.

Nikolas sat at his desk, half-heartedly re-doing an inventory report to cover for Elizabeth. Elizabeth. And Jason. And Jake. And how did Claudia know? Was Claudia lying?

Everyone talked about Claudia's skill as a liar, and he'd seen it on the witness stand at Logan's trial. But he was pretty sure she'd never lied to him. What did that mean?

He'd never had any tolerance for anyone who chose a violent life. Then again, he wasn't sure Claudia had had much choice. Although she was stubbornly refusing to divorce Sonny. What could she possibly want to hold onto about being a Zacchara? Besides her brother? She was smart enough to work her way up to a position of power in another world.

And it didn't look like being female in that family gave you any leverage at all. In fact, all it did was put your life in jeopardy and relieve you of any position in the family. Which was like the Cassadine Way. Aside from Helena. Ironically, the Cassadine whom Claudia most resembled in family position was Alexis. But Alexis had had Stefan. And Nikolas suspected that Claudia's Uncle Rudy hadn't been quite as helpful about setting Claudia up outside the family business.

He lost his train of thought the second Lulu burst into his office.

"What are you doing with that slut?," she demanded.

****************************************

The Guest House.

"Can I get you something?," Claudia asked.

"Just some answers," Lucky answered.

Claudia took a seat on the couch. She gestured to Lucky.

"No, thank you," he said.

Nice move, thought Claudia. Standing implies a position of power. She wondered if they taught him that at cop school.

"Nikolas has been through hell. He's extremely vulnerable. I didn't even know you two knew each other, and now you're living on Spoon Island. What are you doing with my brother?," he asked.

Claudia bit her lip, trying to remember Nikolas' phrase. It was a really good phrase. What was it? Oh. Right. "We're helping each other out in a few matters."

****************************************

The Haunted Star. Afternoon.

Ethan stacked another box of empties while Lulu continued her profanity-laced monologue.

Rebecca hadn't been able to find out anything. Lucky hadn't been, well, lucky either. And no unknown guests were allowed on Spoon Island anymore.

So dropping the little tidbit about Claudia and Nikolas over breakfast had been a stroke of brilliance, he must say, but nothing conclusive had come out of Lulu's outrage-fueled inquisition of Nikolas. The only thing Nikolas was willing to share with his sister, apparently, was --

"'Helping each other in a few matters!,'" Lulu said, complete with air quotes. "What does that mean?"

Well, thought Ethan, it means it's time for a phone call I really don't want to make.

**************************************

Wyndemere. Living Room.

Nikolas came home to find Spencer asleep on the couch, his head on Claudia's lap as she stroked his hair.

"Hey," she whispered. "I think I wiped him out. Sorry."

Nikolas smiled. "That's fine."

Claudia eased her way out from under Spencer. She gently placed a throw on top of him, and joined Nikolas.

"I got the family tree," she whispered. "Thanks."

"You don't have to whisper," Nikolas said. "He could sleep through an apocalypse."

"Or your grandmother."

"Or my grandmother."

"So."

"Yes?," said Nikolas.

"Three things. One: if you have time, I need for you to look over the Chinese section of the technology development website. I think there's something funny in the section about proprietary information."

"Are you falling down on the job?," he said mockingly.

"No," Claudia said, echoing his tone of voice. "But wouldn't you rather waste your money buying my little friend a puppy rather than hiring a translator?"

Nikolas laughed. "No puppy. No translator. I'll look at the website. What are the other things?"

"Number two is Cassadine history."

Nikolas took Claudia's elbow and steered her away from Spencer.

"I think we should probably keep our voices down for this part of the conversation," he said in hushed tones.

"Okay," she murmured. "Your father."

"Stavros."

"Yes. Only one surviving sibling."

"Yes. Alexis."

"So how does it work for Cassadines? For the line of succession?," she clarified.

"It goes by the male line."

"So oldest male, and then who?"

"Then the oldest male's oldest child," Nikolas recited.

"What happens if there are no more males left in the line?"

"Yes," Nikolas said, seeing where she was going. "Helena tried to do that before by forging false DNA records for me. At which point, the matriarch -- Helena -- assumed control of the family. But that option has now been removed. Our family is too treacherous, so the surviving family members modified succession. Once the male lines have been exhausted, it goes to the oldest female in the generation under my grandfather. It goes to Alexis."

"Gotcha," said Claudia. "Thanks."

"And number three?," asked Nikolas.

"Your brother came to see me. He really doesn't like me."

"My sister visited me at the hospital today, too. I said we're helping each other out in a few matters."

"Me too. Do you think it's gotten back to Helena yet?"

Nikolas smiled. "My brother and sister were just coming on their own, I think. I would guess we have some time before Helena shows. But I'll start looking into additional security later this week."

***************************************

The Haunted Star. Evening.

Ethan decided to take advantage of the dinnertime lull. He went out back, took out his cell phone, and dialed.

"Lovett," he said, when the person at the other end picked up. "Yeah, no progress on that front. ... There's another woman involved. ... I don't know. ... No one's found anything concrete. ... We've tried all available avenues. ... Her name is Claudia Corinthos, but most people know her as Claudia Zacchara. ... That's easy. He's got her living in his guest house."

And the person on the other end of the line ended the phone call with a click.

***************************************

Spoon Island. The path from Wyndemere to the Guest House.

Nikolas walked Claudia down the winding path.

They walked in silence for a bit.

"Is anyone on the Island now but us?," Claudia asked.

"The guards. Alfred. The nanny. The cook. The housekeeper. The groom. The --"

"I get it, I get it," Claudia interrupted, laughing. "I meant: is there anyone who could overhear our conversation now?"

"Just the bats and the spiders," Nikolas said.

She glanced over at him. "Rebecca kinda tore you up, huh?," she prodded gently.

"At first," he answered slowly. "But I think I wanted her because of her connection to Emily. I didn't actually want her for herself. So it probably wouldn't have worked anyway."

Claudia let them walk in silence a little more. "What happened to the nurse? Nadine."

"Rebecca happened. Well, it was really Emily that happened, if you know what I mean."

"I do," she said. "Nikolas."

"What?," he asked.

"Everything here is so ordered. Everything has a place. It's one of the reasons I feel so safe here. Dinner is at the same time every day. The launch travels at the same speed for every trip. But even the guest house tea kettle is so perfectly designed that I can set my watch by when it's going to go off."

"I don't understand," he said. "Would you like dinner served late? Should I buy malfunctioning kitchenware?"

"No," she said. "But I just... why not be a little unprepared? For something good that you have no control over?"

"He's not ready for a puppy," Nikolas said.

Claudia laughed, but was not deterred. "Don't you want someone to bowl you over, and for you to not be the architect of that moment? I know that in the worlds we live in, it's hard to not protect yourself. I sound like a big hypocrite saying all this. I lie and do worse to try to get my perfect world; you just micro-manage." They reached the guest house and she moved in front of him to face him. "It's too late for me. You already made your way out of this life, Nikolas. Why would you want to make your way back into it?"

She had asked it like a genuine question, she waited a long time for the answer, but he had none.

She touched his cheek. And then she went inside.

Nikolas didn't move for a long time. He knew what Claudia meant. He had grown in reverse. He was back to who he had been before Emily. He watched as the lights went off downstairs and then upstairs. And then he began the long walk home.