GreyStone. Claudia's bedroom. Night.

Claudia gathered the spare pillow in her arms and hugged it.

She tried to imagine Spencer opening up the box with the toy boat inside it. For some reason, every time she tried to do it, she could never quite get to the moment where Spencer was delighted with his present. Instead, he was upset. He didn't understand why she left. He didn't want her present. She remembered John smashing the toy piano she'd given him, right before she'd left him as a child. She was grateful the boat was too sturdy for that.

And then there was Nikolas. Nikolas, who had been left as an infant by his mother. With just an old Atlas. Nikolas probably really did hate her.

She'd wanted her last memory of Nikolas to be the last night they'd spent together. He'd taken that away from her. She probably deserved it. She didn't mind him calling her a fool. But when he said he was finished with her, that had cut. Of course, it was most likely for the best; Sonny had been there, and now he'd leave Nikolas alone. Part of her hoped that that had been Nikolas' intention, that it had all been for show, but he'd looked dead serious when he said it, and she was a realist.

One thing Nikolas hadn't done, however, was ruin her chances of getting her child to him. Which was as good as him agreeing to take her son, as far as she was concerned.

She needed to settle down. Get some sleep. There was a lot to do, and it all began tomorrow, thanks to Sonny's surprise progeny.

Claudia had lived her life by the Code. She was going to die by the Code. But as far as she was concerned, there was nothing in the rule book about following the Code from the grave.

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

A Small Cottage in the South of France.

Nikolas carried Spencer up the path to the front door. His son was exhausted. Not meant for such heavy international travel at such a young age. But he'd be happy when he woke up later.

Nikolas knocked on the door, checking his watch. It was very early. Probably too early. Maybe he should find a hotel and --

The door opened.

"Nikolas!," said Laura, breaking into a beaming smile. She hugged her son and grandson as hard as she could. She stepped back, tears shining on her cheeks. "What are you doing here?"

"I need you," said Nikolas.

Laura swung the door open and stepped aside to let them in. "Of course," she said. "Come in."

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

GreyStone. Claudia's bedroom.

Claudia was awakened from a sound sleep by a persistent knocking at her door, and Sonny saying her name over and over again.

She rubbed her eyes. "What?"

"Can I come in?"

"Sure."

Sonny came in. He didn't say anything, just sat on the edge of her bed.

Claudia waited for a full minute and then slumped back down on the bed, saying, "I'm going to rest here until you're ready. Very tired. Pregnant."

She closed her eyes.

"Did you know?"

Claudia opened her eyes again. "Know what?"

"Don't play dumb with me," Sonny warned.

Claudia guessed she'd better fully wake up. Had to be something that just happened, right? Or maybe it was something he just found out. She'd been so duplicitous with Sonny, it was hard to guess what exactly he was talking about. She'd start with the easiest possibility. "Is this about Dominic?," she said, her voice cracking from disuse.

"His name is Dante."

"Okay," she said. "Is this about Dante?"

"Did you know he was a Fed?"

Now Claudia was fully awake. "A Fed? Are you sure? He's been working for my Uncle Rudy. Have you told Rudy?"

"Not my biggest priority, Claudia."

"Well, it should be. If he's a Fed, he could bring down the Italian arm of the organization."

Sonny was silent.

Claudia reached for the phone. Sonny grabbed her hand and pulled it back.

"What?," she said.

Sonny slipped his hand underneath the back of her neck and pulled her toward him. He kissed her. Claudia didn't respond. Her eyes remained open. She looked surprised at first, and then puzzled. After a minute of no response, Sonny pulled back.

"What's wrong with you?," he asked.

"Nothing," she said nervously.

He stared at her. Then he left the room.

Half-dazed, Claudia picked up the phone and dialed Uncle Rudy. No answer. She went to put the phone back in its cradle and missed. She got it on the second try.

She sat back against the headboard trying to figure out what had just happened. Correction: what hadn't just happened. What was that about? This had never happened to her before. No matter what, no matter where, no matter when, no matter who, her body had always responded. Well, okay, maybe not with Trevor, but then again, she was sixteen and he was Trevor, so that was understandable.

Two nights ago, when she had been with -- Great. Now her body was responding. What had Nikolas done to her? And what did this mean? She had so little time left, and now it was going to be spent celibate?

Claudia cursed Nikolas under her breath. He was making her body betray her. With those lips. And that chest. And, and, and...

She got up, went into the bathroom, and took a cold shower.

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

Laura's cottage. Living room.

Laura poured tea into her cup and Nikolas' cup while Spencer napped in the bedroom.

"So she's Sonny's wife," she said.

"Yes."

"And Sonny is going to kill her."

"Yes."

"Why?"

"I can't tell you that."

Laura tried to put the pieces together. "She's Johnny's sister."

"Yes."

"That's the boy who ran away with Lulu."

"Yes."

"And who exactly is she to you?"

And with that, a world of tension leapt into Nikolas' body.

"Nikolas?"

"She's done some terrible things."

"Okay."

"She's probably the darkest person I know. She's such a skillful liar that I've seen her fool a judge and jury. She's dangerous. She makes bad, impulsive decisions. She's mostly unapologetic. She lives outside the law. She's violent."

"And?"

"She's the only person who's never lied to me. She makes me laugh. She makes my son happy. She's never had a chance at any kind of normal life. She doesn't think a happy life is possible for her, but she has no self-pity. She protects the people she loves with her life. When Helena tried to slit her throat, she shot Helena."

Laura laughed, in spite of herself.

Nikolas continued. "She makes five-star meals like she's frying an egg. She loves crossword puzzles because when she was young, her family exiled her to Italy and that was her way of keeping the English language with her. She's more fit than I am. She taught Spencer how to speak Italian, and turned him from a little boy who said 'no' to everything into a singing, dancing, laughing child. She calls Spencer 'The Little Prince,' she calls my house 'Spoondymere,' and she calls me 'Batman.' She makes me tell her things I've never talked to anyone about. And she tells me things she's never told anyone. And she's going to die unless I help her."

"And you love her."

"She's not the kind of person I love."

"You mean she's not like Emily."

"No, she's not."

"But you're in love with her."

Nikolas was silent a very long time. "Yes."

Laura nodded. "Is she in love with you?"

"Claudia says she'll never love anyone."

"Is she in love with you?"

"Yes."

"Does she know it?"

"Not yet."

Laura nodded. "What do you need me to do?"

"Claudia left me a note. She's trying to arrange things so that when she's killed, I'll get custody of her baby."

"Okay. Where do I come in?"

"Claudia won't let me talk to her. She thinks it will put me in Sonny's crosshairs. I'm putting together a plan to get Claudia out of there before Sonny and Jason can do anything to her. Or her brother. But I think I'm going to need for Claudia's arrangements --"

"The arrangements for you to get custody?"

"Yes. I'll need those in place before I make my move. And I can't ask her where she is in the process."

"And you came all the way to France to get your mother to travel back to do this?"

"I can't trust anyone else. And Sonny likes you. He won't suspect anything."

"You couldn't ask Lucky?"

"Lucky hates her. And Sonny would never let him in the house."

"Lulu?"

"Lulu hates her even more."

Laura was quiet. She was afraid to find out who else hated this woman.

Nikolas spoke. "If it's going to make you miss your treatments, I don't want you doing this."

"I won't miss any treatments."

"If you don't want to do it, I'll be all right. I'll find another way. But I'll need for you not to mention this to anyone."

"I'll do it."

"You will?"

"Of course. Nikolas."

"Yes?"

"Love doesn't always come the way we expect it to. It doesn't even come the way we want it to. The important part is that it's there." Laura kissed Nikolas' forehead. "I'm happy for you."

"You're the only one," he said.

Laura sighed, and then backtracked. "Batman?"

"Rich man in a gothic mansion with a butler named Alfred," Nikolas said, shaking his head.

Laura laughed.

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

Laura's villa. Later.

Laura sat with Spencer on the floor.

"Your daddy will be back soon, Spencer. I can't believe how big you've gotten. And I hear you're speaking Italian now."

Spencer picked a handful of Cheerios out of a baggie and ate them. Some dropped on the floor.

"A shirdy dame," he said.

Laura laughed. "I remember that. Prinderella slopped her dripper, I think. Where did you learn that?"

"Claudee."

Laura tried to imagine the woman Nikolas described shooting Helena telling Spencer the story of "Prinderella." She understood why Nikolas was in so much trouble.

"Gramma?"

"Yes?"

"Come home."

"I will, Spencer."

Spencer looked satisfied.

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

The Roux Clinic, South of France.

Nikolas had waited in the doctor's office for twenty minutes.

Dr. Girard finally entered carrying the file Nikolas had brought from Italy.

"Mr. Cassadine," Dr. Girard said. "So sorry to have kept you waiting."

"Not at all," Nikolas said. "What have you found?"

Dr. Girard handed the file back to Nikolas. Nikolas' heart sank. "There were a number of factors that helped along your mother's responsiveness to L-49. The circumstances leading up to her break, the length of her catatonic state, and so forth. Mrs. Zacchara is not a good candidate. From past trials, we know that patients with her medical history respond adversely to the treatment."

"Adversely?," Nikolas said. He couldn't imagine what that would be.

"The drug speeds up physical deterioration in cases where the mind is not engaged. We haven't been able to determine why, but we will not risk the patient's survival when the potential benefits are historically non-existent."

Nikolas tucked the folder under his arm and stood up. "Thank you for your time," he said.

"I'm sorry I couldn't be more helpful," said the doctor.

Nikolas nodded. At least Claudia would never know there had been a possibility.

It was time to go back to Port Charles.