Sonny's Coffee Shop. Back Office.

Claudia sat with her feet up on the desk, talking on the phone while Sonny and Jason watched. "Мы согласны. Двенадцать ящиков... Спасибо... Мы очень рады сотрудничать с вами."

She hung up the phone. "All set," she said. I could be making arrangements to burn down your warehouse and you'd never know it.

Jason must have read her mind because he nodded to Sonny, and Sonny and Jason left the room.

Claudia opened up two ledgers in front of her from the past fiscal year. One with the real figures. One with the doctored figures. Both with Sonny's handwriting and signature. She used an Exacto knife to excise both pages, folded the pages, and stuffed them in her bra. Then she returned the ledgers to the shelf. Sat down at the desk and put her feet up again.

Sonny and Jason came back in.

"Claudia," Sonny said. "Are you gonna keep working after the baby's born?"

"Why? You want to replace me?"

"No, it's just you seem really into the baby, and --"

"And you and Jason don't speak Russian. That's a real dilemma, isn't it? Something to think about."

Max came into the room, carrying Claudia's gym bag. "Here you go, Mrs. C.," he said.

"Whoa," Sonny said. "What's this?"

"I'm going to the gym today," Claudia said, getting up. "Don't worry. I'll take it easy. Who do you have guarding me? Do you think they'd spot me?"

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

The Spencer House.

Nikolas tucked the last of Spencer's wayward toys into a crate.

"You're leaving already?," Laura asked from the top of the stairs.

He looked up at her. "As soon as Spencer wakes up. I wish we didn't have to."

"No one's here now but you and me and Spencer. If you want to talk."

"I just need more time. To plan things."

"Anything I can do to help?"

Nikolas sat down on the couch and exhaled. Laura came down the rest of the stairs. He turned to look at her. "I know you like her. But I can't ask you to do anything else for me without telling you why Sonny wants her dead."

Laura sat down next to him. "I hope you know you can tell me anything, Nikolas." He looked skeptical. "I've done plenty of awful things in my life. Believe me."

"I don't want you to hate her." Nikolas looked away from Laura. "I think I'm the only person whom Claudia has ever known who has treated her decently. Until you. If you like her, you must have let her have some dignity. This could take that away from her." He now turned and looked straight into his mother's eyes. "Claudia has never been treated like a human being. Her father wanted her dead from the moment she was born female. Her marriage to Sonny was a business arrangement between Sonny and her father. Her brother loves her, but he gets into trouble and then leaves Claudia to clean up after him by debasing herself or handling the dirty work for him." He saw his mother looking at him with sympathy and he felt like he had sold her a false bill of goods. "I don't want to sugarcoat this. She's not nice. She's done terrible things." Time to face the music. "She's the one who ordered the hit on Sonny that left Michael Corinthos in a coma."

He watched the words hit Laura and sink in. And the look in her eyes. There was no way --

"Why?"

"What?"

"Why did she do it?"

"Sonny had kidnapped her brother. Beat him. Left him without food or water. Threatened to send him back to Claudia piece by piece."

"Why?"

"He thought the Zaccharas were responsible for his fiancee being shot and his son's disappearance. They weren't. There's something else."

"What?"

"Claudia would have me believe that she's the only one responsible for what happened."

"You don't think she is?"

"You'd have to know Claudia to understand this, but she's a little too defensive about her brother being involved. She was willing to die to cover up the crime. So that he wouldn't get hurt. I also think that had she known a child would have been there, she would have stepped in front of the bullet."

"She told you this?"

"She didn't have to. I've seen her with Spencer."

"A child got shot, Nikolas."

"I know."

"There's no excuse."

"I know that. She knows that." He knew he'd lost his mother's support by the look on her face. But he still wanted her understanding. "I just wish... I just wish she'd had a chance. For a real life. You should see who she is when she's treated with smallest bit of human decency."

"What are you doing helping your son get mixed up in my mess?"

"The people I care about, the people who care about me -- nothing good comes of it."

Older memories took hold. Someone else's words. "Tonight I have this job to do after I take you home. And it's a job that's going to end everything for me. I just want you to know that you're the only one good thing that I ever had in my life. And I'm really -- I'm really sorry that I hurt you because I didn't mean to do that." And when she threw Luke's car keys over the cliff so he couldn't make the hit: "You idiot! You just put a bullet in my head!"

Laura looked at Nikolas. "What do you need me to do?," she asked.

Nikolas paused, taken aback. "Alexis believes that Claudia is planning to take both the Corinthos and Zacchara mobs down -- after she's dead --" Laura's eyes widened. " -- so that I can gain custody of her child and he'll be safe. If she lives, which she will if I have anything to do with it, we have a problem..."

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

Port Charles Gym.

Claudia drew the line at the guard/tail following her into the dressing room. She took a shower and waited until the room was empty.

Then she went to her locker and unlocked it.

She unzipped her gym bag and took out the two ledger sheets, neatly folding them into tiny thin squares.

Then she removed an ultrasound photo from her wallet.

She took some tape from her gym bag. She carefully taped the ledger sheet squares up on the inside of her locker door. Then she taped the ultrasound photo over them.

She stood back and admired her work. One problem solved.

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

Harborview Towers. Morning.

Liz honked her horn twice, and was about to honk it again when Matt came hurrying out of the building.

"Sorry," he said, opening the passenger side door. "Slow elevator. Whoa!" Matt had been about to throw his bag into the back seat when he noticed Cameron and Jake. "Wow. Full house."

"You can put that in front of Jake's seat," Liz said.

"Thanks for the ride. Light's green."

"What happened to your car?"

"What always happens. I was in good shape financially. Put down a nice sized deposit on my new apartment. So of course --"

"Your car gave out."

"Yeah. You can make a right here."

"Matt. I know how to get to the hospital."

"Right."

"So how'd you pull the day shift?"

"I didn't. Nikolas Cassadine wants to meet with me."

"About?"

"I don't know. We got off on the wrong foot when I started. I'm sure he just loves the trouble I'm in now." Matt gestured to the car in front of them. "You really need to pass this guy."

Elizabeth pulled over to the side of the road and stopped the car. She put the car in park and turned to face Matt. "Matt. I've lived in Port Charles since I was a teenager. I've driven here since I could drive. I am constantly driving with two small boys in the back, on my way to the hospital, my grandmother's, my ex-husband's, daycare, play dates, dates, dinners, dentists, doctors, movies, the dvd rental place, Funland, and more places than you even know exist here. I could drive through a tornado with Godzilla giving birth in my back seat, only using one hand on the wheel. Don't backseat drive. Even from the front seat."

"Well, if it means that much to you..."

"Good." Elizabeth pulled back onto the road. "Is this a good time to mention that Nikolas Cassadine is my ex-brother-in-law and one of my closest friends?"

"Sure. Just as long as you're not related to the Mayor, the Mayor's wife, or Diane Miller, we'll be fine."

Elizabeth laughed.

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

Johnny's Garage.

Johnny was under a car when Claudia got there. She slammed the front door shut behind her.

He wheeled himself out from under the car faster than she thought was humanly possible.

She laughed. "You're hopeless," she said.

He got up, wiping his hands on his pants. "Hopeless?"

"If this had been a hit, you'd be dead. You roll yourself under the car when someone comes in that you can't see."

"Uh-huh."

"Some families trade in homilies. This is the kind of advice Zaccharas go back and forth with." She looked around the garage. "Where's your girlfriend?"

"She's not my girlfriend," he said bitterly.

"Finally seeing her real stripes?"

"Enough, Claudia."

"You got a minute?"

"For you to run down Olivia? No."

"To talk. About what's going to happen."

Johnny sat down on the hood of the car. "Do I get a say in any of this?"

Claudia pulled a chair out and sat down. "You can say 'no.' If you want to end up dead."

"Come on, Claudia! What did any of your plans ever get you?"

Claudia reached into her gym bag and brought out a piece of paper. She held it out to Johnny. He didn't move. "John. Look at me. Do you know what it takes for me to get in and out of chairs these days?"

Johnny got up off the hood reluctantly and took the paper. "What's this?"

"That's the combination to my locker at the gym. When you hear that I'm giving birth, what's the first thing you do?"

"I go find Sonny and get rid of him permanently."

"No. But I wish you'd had this kind of initiative earlier. You go to my gym locker and open it. Locker number seven. Lucky number seven. And you pull down the ultrasound on the inside of the door. And you remove the two hidden pieces of paper. And you get them to Nikolas."

"And why would I do that?"

"Because if you don't, my child will end up dead or damaged. Listen. Forget for a minute how you feel about Nikolas as he relates to me. Think back to how you think of him as a person."

"You think anyone you sleep with is decent. For as long as they want you."

Claudia was silent for a long time. "This is different," she said quietly.

"How?"

"I love Nikolas." She sat and waited for a reaction, but none came. "And even more than I love Nikolas, I love the father he's going to be to my child. I'm making arrangements for Nikolas to get custody."

He stared at her in disbelief. "You're crazy."

"No, I'm not. I need you to listen to me." John wouldn't look at her. "I want you to take a good look at Nikolas. This is a man who also grew up as a boy with a price on his head. He knows what it's like to live in constant danger. And yet he's still good. He's gentle when you'd least expect it. He's tender when you need it. And he's dangerous when you need that too. He has compassion even for someone like me. And now I want you to take a look at Spencer. His child. Who also has a price on his head. Who is growing up without a mother, who is protected, and is pampered. And who is happy. Not damaged. Not spoiled. He's loved. Nikolas will do the same for my son."

"What about you?"

"I can't protect my son the way Nikolas can. Even if I make it through this alive. John, look at yourself. How well did I do protecting you?"

"You were a kid."

"I was a Zacchara woman. We're expendable. Your mother. My mother. And now I'm a Corinthos wife. Not a healthy track record there either. Any child that grows up in the environment we grew up in is going to be hurt in unspeakable ways. I don't want my child to know any of that. Nikolas is the right father for my child. Maybe not biologically, but in every way that counts he is."

"What about me?"

Claudia took a deep breath. "I think you'd be a wonderful uncle. But I don't think you're going to get a chance. It would end up with one or both of you dead. Separate, you both have a fighting chance." She turned her face away from him and wiped away an escaping tear. Then she turned back to him. "I hate this. I hate that my child might not get to know you. I love you more than any other person. Any other person than this child growing inside me. Don't you think I'd want you to know each other? But you can't. Not if it means that one of you will die."

"But Nikolas Cassadine --"

"No!" This was the first time Claudia had raised her voice to John in a long time. "We don't have this kind of time anymore. We can't get all irrational or possessive. This is what I want. This is right. And this is the way it will be. That's it. You can think about it all you want to, but you will not get in the way of it."

John was silent.

Claudia continued. "And if there comes a time when you can't find me, or when you need to know what to do, you will go to Nikolas, and you will do exactly what he says."

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

General Hospital. Nikolas' Office.

Nikolas was looking over some architectural plans.

There was a knock and Matt Hunter poked his head in the door. "You wanted to see me?"

"Yes. Come in."

Matt came in and shut the door behind him.

"I want you to know that you officially have your office back," Nikolas said. "I've been a little pre-occupied or it would have happened sooner. Dianne Miller had no right to keep you out of there as long as she did."

"Thanks."

Nikolas took a large stack of files off his desk and handed them to Matt. "These are yours now. Just in case you have any more patients throwing you off cases, which I can't help. These files are about pharmaceutical trials that I'd like to look into having here at General Hospital. I'd like you to be the point man on them. If you have any downtime."

Matt took the files.

"Thank you for coming in early. That's all for now," Nikolas said, dismissing him.

Matt rose and went to the door. As he left the room, Epiphany Johnson entered.

"Nurse Johnson," Nikolas said. "Thank you for coming."

"I have a full roster of patients, Mr. Cassadine. What can I do for you?"

"We're a little late on our quarterly fire drill. We'll be having it at ..." Nikolas snuck a look at his computer. "...4:30 pm tomorrow. That should avoid any shift confusion. We'll be having patients and staff stay behind, but all guests will be evacuated."

"Yes, Mr. Cassadine."

"And as always, these sorts of drills only work if they're a surprise."

"Of course. Are we done?"

"Yes. Thank you for your time."

Epiphany left.

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

Johnny's Garage.

"Can you help me up?," Claudia said.

Johnny grabbed her hand and pulled her up.

"Heavy, huh?"

"You look great. And I don't care what you say. You would be a great mother."

"I am a great mother. This is what a great mother in my situation does." She patted his cheek. "My guard's probably getting really frustrated by now. I've got to get going." Claudia turned to go.

"Claudia." She turned back around to him. "I'll think about it."

"I'm right. You'll see. Oh."

"What?"

"You might want to thaw out a little toward Olivia Falconari. She's still a slut, but we may need her later on."

And with that, Claudia left.

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

General Hospital. The hallway outside of Nikolas' office.

Phil had been here all afternoon. Jason had said to tail Nikolas Cassadine, and today it looked like Nikolas Cassadine was only going to sit in his office all day and take meetings. Phil really wished he had some kind of relief on duty. It was very hard to keep looking like he was supposed to be here.

He pulled back around the corner as Cassadine's door opened. Nikolas Cassadine stepped outside, locking his door behind him. Then Cassadine proceeded to the elevator. He got on the first one that came.

Phil watched as the floor numbers on the elevator indicator dropped down. They stopped at basement level. Phil took the next elevator. But the button wouldn't light for the basement level. It looked like you needed a key to gain access. The stair doors were locked to that level. He would have to wait until Cassadine came back.

And that was the same conclusion another, more ominous figure made from a distance.

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

General Hospital. Basement.

Nikolas nodded as he passed the housekeeping staff in the basement.

He kept going until he reached a room marked, "Archival." He punched in a set of numbers to the door lock. The door opened. Nikolas slipped inside. He closed the door behind him.

Once inside the room, he walked through the shelves of ancient files, some dating back to 1963. When he reached the far wall of the room, there was a closet. He unlocked the closet. He went inside.

He pushed aside some boxes, knelt down, and uncovered a keypad. He punched in another set of numbers. The back wall of the closet slid open. Nikolas went inside. The door slid shut automatically behind him.

He went down a darkened ramp. Turned on some lights. Surveyed the observation room and the lab. Everything here was hopelessly outdated now. It would all have to be discreetly replaced. Sanitized.

This was the place where his father had come back to life. And this was the place where Claudia's baby would be born.