General Hospital. Obstetrics examination room. Morning.

Sonny was running late. Claudia hoped he wouldn't miss all the action. She hated repeating performances. She had a feeling that today was the day.

All of her worrying was for nothing. Sonny was the first person to join her in the room.

He glanced around at the otherwise empty room.

"What's going on?," he asked.

"Why?," she asked. "Do you have somewhere else to be? Another child get sprung on you?"

"Hey. We don't discuss my children."

"Whatever you say, Fonzie. But that'll be interesting -- raising a child together and not discussing him."

"That's enough, Claudia."

So much for poking at the elephant in the room. Claudia was quiet for a moment. "Help me up?," she asked.

Sonny helped her off the examination table.

Claudia poured herself a glass of water.

Sonny started poking around the room. Looking in the bathroom. Into cabinets.

"Lose something?," she asked.

The door opened. Dr. Waters entered.

"Oh, good," Claudia said. "Do you know how much longer Dr. Lee is going to be? My husband is running out of doors to open."

"Mr. and Mrs. Corinthos?"

"That's us," Sonny said, closing the last cabinet door.

"My name is Dr. Waters. Dr. Lee has been awarded a fellowship in advanced Gynecologic Oncology from the Mayo Clinic. I will be taking her place until her position has been filled."

Sonny turned on Claudia. "What did you do?"

"What did I do? Do I look like I award medical fellowships?"

"No," he said, leaning in and whispering. "But I bet your boyfriend does."

Claudia ignored Sonny. "Where did you go to medical school?" Just bordering on interrogation.

"Johns Hopkins. And I taught medicine at La Sorbonne, until I left to go into private practice in --"

"La Sorbonne?," Sonny echoed.

"Yes, Mr. Corinthos."

Claudia was now staring at Sonny, giving him her best suspicious glare. "Okay. I see what's happening," she said.

"I beg your pardon," Dr. Waters said.

Claudia turned her gaze to Dr. Waters. "You work this out between the two of you? What? Did Sonny say he'd act all suspicious, and then welcome you with open arms, and meanwhile you're both in collusion to take --"

"I'll be right back," Sonny said. He left the room, leaving Claudia and Dr. Waters alone.

"This will probably take a few minutes," Claudia said. "Would you like to do the exam now?"

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

Sonny found Robin at the 3rd floor nurses' station.

"Do you have a minute?"

"Sure. What's wrong?

"Who's Dr. Waters?"

"Oh, is he taking over Claudia's case? That's amazing."

"You knew about this?"

"We had a staff meeting on Tuesday. And then a bunch of us went out drinking to celebrate Kelly's new fellowship."

"So who's Dr. Waters?"

"He's the best."

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

Claudia's Examination Room.

Dr. Waters was finishing up the ultrasound when Sonny returned.

"He's good," Sonny said to Claudia.

"Yeah. For you," Claudia said.

"He taught Robin. He checks out."

"For you."

"Could you excuse us for a moment, doc?"

Dr. Waters handed a towelette to Claudia. "Actually, I've come across some inconsistencies that I'd like to discuss with you both."

"I'll bet," said Claudia, wiping the gel from her belly.

"Is the baby okay?," Sonny asked.

"Yes, the baby's fine. It's the due date that's off."

"What?," said Claudia.

"How do you mean, the due date's off?"

"The measurements of the fetus indicate that your child will be born at least three weeks later than we had originally anticipated."

"Uh huh," Claudia said skeptically.

"It's common practice these days to give a 'due week' instead of a 'due date.' But again, according to the size of the fetus, and the records I've received from Dr. Lee, all of Dr. Lee's previous calculations were off."

"And yet somehow she won a fellowship," Claudia said.

"Thank you, doctor," Sonny said.

Dr. Waters nodded. "I'll have the blood work done in an hour. You can call in for the results." Dr. Waters left the room.

"He checks out, Claudia."

"Yeah. Sure. Okay," Claudia said. She couldn't resist one more poke. "At least you changed it to later. I get to live three more weeks."

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

Moscow.

Nikolas entered the restaurant alone. As he approached the manager, he was pulled aside by a tall, gaunt man who was dressed impeccably.

"Mr. Cassadine?," the man said in Russian. "This way."

He led Nikolas into what appeared to be a large closet. He gestured to Nikolas. Nikolas raised his arms, and was patted down.

"Very good," said the man. "Come."

He opened a hidden door at the back of the closet and led Nikolas down a hallway. At the end of the hallway was a door.

The man knocked three times. The door opened and Nikolas was ushered in.

There was a large table. A man with piercing blue eyes sat at the head. There were men on either side of the table. The man at the head of the table nodded to the man who had brought Nikolas in. The tall, gaunt man left and closed the door behind him.

"You show good faith, Mr. Cassadine," the man with the piercing blue eyes said in Russian. "You come alone. Unarmed."

"A life is at stake," Nikolas said. "I know you have lost people in this battle too. I hope you understand why I have come."

"Please," said the man. "Sit."

Nikolas took the seat at the other end of the table. He noticed that none of the other men had spoken.

"You have heard of vory v zakone?," the man said.

"Yes," Nikolas answered. "You must know, however, that I have never had to abide by it. But I have never had to live in your world."

"You're in our world now," said the man.

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

Wyndemere. The Davis Family's quarters.

Kristina shoved the last of her books into her backpack.

Alexis came into the room.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, Kristina, but there will be no school today."

"Really?" Kristina's face lit up.

"That's the good news. The bad news is that you will be stuck with here. With me. And your sister. Please don't overwhelm me with your enthusiasm. We've got family trouble."

"When don't we have family trouble?," Kristina muttered, dumping her backpack on the couch.

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

Wyndemere. Dining Room.

Spencer picked up his spoon and attempted to engage his nanny in a spoon sword fight.

"There'll be none of that today, Spencer," the nanny said.

"Where's Daddy?"

"Your father is away on business. He told you that. But he did leave you a new book. Do you want book or toys first?"

"Toys."

"Very well. Let's start in the living room."

"Okay."

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

Международный Аэропорт Шереметьево. Sheremetyevo International Airport. Just outside of Moscow.

The tall, dark man from the Port Charles airport disembarked and turned on his cell phone. He dialed. The call connected.

"Я в России. Вы можете начать," he said. I am in Russia. You may begin.

He hung up.

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

Wyndemere Basement.

Sam was feeling a little bad for Phil. It was way past time for Phil to know that they didn't think he was a Russian spy. Sam didn't think Nikolas would have let this go on as long as it had if he'd stuck around in Port Charles.

When she got to the hallway where Phil and Helena's rooms were, something was off.

No guard.

Sam rushed to Helena's room. Empty.

"Now will you listen to me?," Phil called out plaintively. "Something is going on in this house!"

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

Wyndemere. The Living Room.

When Sam reached the living room, the nanny's lifeless body was lying outside in a pool of blood. Throat slit.

Sam heard a woman's voice from inside the room. "Hello, Spencer."

"Γειά." Hello.

Sam drew her gun and opened the door slowly and silently.

"Come give your grandmother a proper 'Hello,'" Helena said, holding a glittering silver knife at her side.

Spencer stood up, but looked hesitant. Good boy, Sam thought, Stay where you are.

"Come, come," Helena said, gesturing Spencer toward her with her knife. "You must be confident, Spencer. How else are you to become a prince?"

"I'll tell you how he becomes a prince," Sam said from the doorway, with a gun leveled at Helena. "He stays here. With his father. And with people who aren't half-wacked out of their minds."

"Spencer," Helena said sweetly. "Come here."

"Stay where you are, honey," Sam said.

Spencer looked from one woman to the other, trying to decide what to do.

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

Moscow. The Restaurant.

"If you hear from me," Nikolas said. "The plan has been compromised. Most likely I am being threatened. I do not know what the others plan to do in that case. I suspect Milan will continue with more force. I do not know about Puerto Rico. But if the message comes through the correct channel, and you proceed, there is no reason for this plan to fail."

"Why come to us?," asked the man with the piercing blue eyes, whose name, it turned out, was Sergei Molotkoff. "Would you not be better served by colleagues you can trust?"

"There is a child at stake," Nikolas said. "A baby."

"Yours?"

"In the ways that are most important, he is. It is only by this plan that the child is guaranteed a long life."

"Are you familiar with a man by the name of Andrei Karpov?"

"Yes."

"We suspect he died at the hands of Sonny Corinthos. He left behind a child."

But the thought was not to be finished. At that moment, the door to the room opened, and the tall, dark man from the Port Charles Airport burst in. Carrying a gun. It was pointed at Nikolas.

Nikolas' heart began beating at twice its normal speed. This man was about 44. He had the chiseled cheekbones of Stavros. And the cold eyes of Mikkos. And he was flanked by two other men.

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

Wyndemere. Living Room.

Spencer appeared to be stuck. And speechless. That concerned Sam. She had already walked over the nanny's body to get into the living room, and she was worried about what Spencer might have seen. She did not want a repeat of Diego and Kristina.

Helena took a step toward Spencer.

"Not so fast," Sam said. She held out her gun, pointed at Helena. She circled around Helena until she had reached Spencer. And then she put Spencer behind her, shielding him from Helena.

She glanced at Spencer. He looked present, but was still quiet.

"Problems?" Helena's guard/flunkie was at the door with a gun. It was trained at Sam.

Sam had a split-second decision to make. She aimed for the person with the gun. She got him.

Helena slipped out of the room.

Sam picked up Spencer. "Close your eyes, Spencer. Close your eyes." Spencer closed his eyes. "Good boy. Keep 'em closed."

She carried Spencer from the room.

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

"You have business here?," Molotkoff asked Nikolas' uncle.

"I am Dimitri Cassadine. I have no business with you. My business is with him. Nikolas Mikhail Stavrosovich Cassadine."

"What business is that?"

"It is a private, family matter."

"You," Molotkoff tilted his head at Nikolas. "You were expecting this?"

"I was hoping to avoid it."

"But you knew it was possibility."

"Not like this. I thought afterward."

Molotkoff nodded. He looked at Dimitri. "Mr. Nikolas Cassadine has an offer on the table. Why should we give him over to you?"

"Whatever he offers, I can give more."

"You are a fool."

Dimitri raised himself up to his full height. "Look at him," he said, indicating Nikolas. "He comes with no one. He does not respect you enough to fear you. He comes unprotected."

"You respect us?"

"Yes."

"And yet you must have killed my guard to get in here."

"Give me Nikolas Cassadine and there will be no more bloodshed."

"Tell me, Mr. Dimitri Cassadine, what do you see when you look around this table?"

"I see one man who has reached his end. And the rest I see as new allies. If you are smart."

"If you were smart, you would have looked around this table and seen death," said Molotkoff. And with that, the man closest to the door raised a gun and shot Dimitri Cassadine dead, while two other men appeared behind Dimitri's flunkies and shot them dead.

Nikolas' heart began to race even faster.

"Perhaps," said Molotkoff, "It would be best for you to leave, Mr. Cassadine. And we will talk again after the plan has been executed, and the child is safe."

Nikolas nodded. He left the room, hoping he wasn't betraying the complete inner meltdown going on inside of him.

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

Wyndemere. The Davis Family's quarters.

"So everyone's accounted for," Alexis said.

"Yes," said Sam. "But I don't know where Helena went."

Molly was trying to engage Spencer in a game of make believe with her dolls, while Kristina was talking on her phone to someone -- probably Michael.

When Sam had first brought Spencer in, he'd asked quietly for his father more than once. Then he'd asked for his nanny. Then "Gramma Laura." And then he asked where Claudia was. When he understood that none of them would be there any time soon, he gave up and stopped talking.

"Alexis," Sam said. Alexis looked at Sam. Sam lowered her voice. "I don't know how much Spencer saw and how much he understood. I don't know if he saw the nanny murdered. I know he saw me shoot the guard, but I don't know if he understands what happened."

Images and voices flashed through Alexis' head: Helena murdering her mother, Alexis hiding her sister, Alexis' daughter catatonic. Did he see anything?

"We should get him to General Hospital. Get him checked out."

I had to get her off-balance. Spencer was coming. Did he see anything?

"Oh my God," Alexis said.

"What?," Sam asked.

"I know where Helena is headed."

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

Nikolas was on his way to the jet when his phone rang. Alexis. He picked up. "You don't have to tell me. I've already met him. ... My uncle. ... He's dead. Long story. ... Why are you calling? ... When? ... I'm on my way home."

Nikolas slammed his phone shut and broke into a sprint.

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

GreyStone.

Sonny wasn't picking up his phone. So Claudia had one guard and herself. That was it.

Russia. And no one had heard from him. Stop that. Focus on right now.

Alexis said reinforcements were coming. Claudia prayed it wasn't the police; they were notoriously incompetent.

There was a sound from outside.

Claudia nodded to the guard. He stepped toward the living room doors as Claudia moved toward the credenza where a gun was hidden inside. The guard opened the doors and Helena was there with a gun. He didn't have a chance. Helena shot him dead.

Claudia ran over all of her options in her head. Gun in credenza would take too much time. Desk? Helena was probably expecting it. Claudia was out in the open and exposed. She had no choice but to work with what she had.

"Why so quiet, Mrs. Corinthos?," Helena said. "You were so willing to engage in conversation last time."

"I'm just a little impressed," Claudia said, approaching Helena with a cool, steady, slow walk. She noticed Helena still had that gunshot wound. Luckily it was on her trigger shoulder.

"You're finally showing some sense, although still not in the area of fashion, I'm afraid," Helena retorted.

"Oh, I wouldn't be so quick to preen, Grandma. I'm just amazed that here I thought the thickest, most incompetent killer to ever walk in heels would never take any of my sound and practiced advice. And yet here you are without a stiletto."

"I wouldn't be so quick to antagonize me, Mrs. Corinthos," Helena said. "You're goading for two now." She pointed her gun at Claudia's stomach.

"I have to say," Claudia went on. "I'm flattered that you'd come to me first. Don't you have a collection of Cassadines to dispose of?"

Claudia suddenly fell to a crouch on the floor and reached for the guard's gun. And that's when Helena shot her.