GreyStone. Late Morning.
Claudia had ditched her new guard early that morning -- the first guard she had ditched since she'd moved back home.
"Listen to me," Sonny said into the phone. "I don't have time for this. You get on that launch and get over to that island."
"Which island?," Claudia said, standing by the new patio doors. "Spoon Island?"
Sonny hung up the phone. "Where have you been?"
"You're seriously going to send someone out on a fool's mission to Spoon Island?"
"I'm not in the mood for games, Claudia."
"Have you ever been? You should really call that person back."
"Where...were...you?"
"With Nikolas," she said. "At John's garage. Catching up."
*********************************************
Spoon Island.
Alexis had never seen Nikolas like this before. He'd come home pretty ripe, but had showered, shaved and gotten dressed, and now he was swinging Spencer around the living room.
"Daddy!," Spencer squealed.
Nikolas stopped spinning Spencer and let him dangle. "What? What? Do you want to stop?"
"More!"
Nikolas pulled Spencer up and kissed him. Then he spun him around a few more times for good measure.
He lowered him to the floor and they both fell on the floor, staring up at the ceiling.
"Il tetto è di filatura!," Spencer said. The roof is spinning.
Nikolas let out a gasp. "Что делать, если его не остановить?" What if it does not stop?
They were quiet for a little bit longer, and then Spencer suddenly sat up. "It stopped!"
Nikolas sat up. "It did."
"Do it again!," Spencer said.
Alexis hated to interrupt the father and son moment, but she needed to leave for work soon. She caught Nikolas' eye and gestured to him.
Nikolas knelt down to Spencer. "Spencer? Would you like to go to the zoo today?"
"Can we see the walrus?"
"We can see any old animal you'd like."
"А динозавра?" A dinosaur?
"Except the extinct ones," Nikolas said. "I'll tell you all about that on the way."
Alfred came in with tea and the newspaper.
"Alfred," Nikolas said. "Would you take Spencer upstairs and find his sneakers? We're going to the zoo."
"Most certainly, Master Nikolas."
Spencer ran to Alfred.
"Spencer," Nikolas said.
Spencer turned around.
"I almost forgot." Nikolas pulled the Giacchi from his pocket. "Look what I found!"
Spencer ran over and grabbed the toy. Then he ran back to Alfred and they left the room.
"I'm sorry," said Alexis.
"I take it you're leaving Spoon Island," Nikolas said.
"We are."
"Do you need anything?"
"No, we're all set."
"All right. Don't forget to say good-bye to Spencer."
Alexis nodded. "You're in a good mood."
"I'm in a great mood," he said.
"Does this have anything to do with Claudia finding you?"
Nikolas just smiled cryptically.
"Okay," Alexis said, smiling. She turned to go.
"I do have one favor to ask. And it's a difficult one."
Alexis turned back to Nikolas. "Yes?"
"I need you to find two witnesses for Claudia's will who have no connection to Sonny, who can keep a secret, and who will be happy to have Sonny's child end up with me. And who have nothing to gain from my obtaining custody."
"That is difficult. I'll see what I can do." She eyed Nikolas. "That's a bizarre request to make in such a good mood."
"Wouldn't you prefer that to a normal request in a bad mood?"
"Yes," Alexis said slowly. "But how does Claudia feel about this?"
"It was her idea," Nikolas said.
**************************************************
Crimson Pointe.
Johnny checked around to make sure he wasn't being followed. He was pretty sure no one else was around, but just in case, he went in using the front door.
He made his way to Trevor's files. Claudia had her suspicions. So she said. He didn't know whether to laugh or believe her when she said "Basically, I have my suspicions about what Trevor knew and when he knew it. I know it's difficult to tell when I'm telling the truth, so let me just put it this way: whether Trevor kept this information in his files or I put it there, it helps us now. But just so you know, John, I don't lie to Nikolas. And he's here now, so I'm hoping you believe that I had nothing to do with it." Nikolas had just grinned like an idiot when she said that. Johnny was sure that had any of Nikolas' business associates seen him at that moment, they would have had him institutionalized for character assassination.
Johnny took out his copy of the key and opened the file cabinet. He found what he was looking for. He read the file with disgust. There was no way Claudia was responsible for this. She'd done some despicable things in her time, but this was the one thing she wasn't capable of. He'd take the file for now, but he'd need to find some place safe for it.
The window curtains were all drawn, and he hadn't turned on any lights. If anyone was watching the house, they'd have no idea what he was up to. So he made his way to the garage. That thing was huge. And it looked legitimate. If Nikolas wasn't working with them, he'd be kinda frightening.
Johnny made his way back out of the house. He looked back at it from the road. He'd always thought of this place as their prison. Now it was going to set them free.
*************************************************
GreyStone.
"You saw Nikolas?"
"Yes. That makes five times since I've left the Island. But you already knew that. Really, Sonny -- Phil? You're tailing an aristocrat who's had a price on his head since the day he was born and you send Phil?"
"Maybe if my wife wasn't a lying whore, I wouldn't have to send anyone to follow her."
Claudia went to the stairs.
"Where are you going?"
"To my room. I don't need this abuse anymore. But I guess you should know that Nikolas now has a guard on me. He'll take him off if you'll let me carry a gun, or if Helena is caught. And one more thing: John told me all about your tongue down Olivia's throat on the night of my car accident. You call me a whore again, and I'll start calling you a slut at the most inconvenient times. I'm sure the guys would love that on our international conference calls. You'd better start brushing up on Italian and Russian."
Claudia continued up the stairs.
"Careful, Claudia," Sonny said, his volume rising. "This is your business too."
The door to Claudia's room slammed shut.
*************************************************
Matt Hunter's Office. General Hospital.
Liz poked her head inside. "You rang?," she said.
"I did," he said.
Liz came in and shut the door behind her.
"You've been doing things," he said.
"I have."
"You set up a double date."
"It's a date?"
"I have a rule."
"You do?"
"Once a woman starts arranging my life, we're dating. Because I don't let friends or family do that."
"So that means you're letting me take charge?"
"Not so fast. Whose idea was this?"
"Mine. And Robin's."
"Uh-huh."
"We were out at Kelly's going-away party and one thing led to another, and --"
"You discussed this at the party."
"Yes."
"Okay. Then we're definitely dating. I wish I had been the first to know, but this works for me. Now about work..."
"Before you go crazy, I want you to know that I wasn't the only one who suggested this."
"I'm sure Patrick was crazy about it, since it leaves the playing field free for him."
"Patrick had nothing to do with this. Robin had nothing to do with this."
"Who did?"
"Only every doctor, nurse, anesthesiologist, administrator, EMT and delivery boy who was on duty the night you pulled your Emergency shift."
"Let's say for a moment that this was something I wanted to do..."
Liz went over to Matt and sat on his desk. "Okay."
"You do realize that I am now open to about fifty gazillion more lawsuits than I was upstairs."
Liz tousled his hair. "What? Oh, no. I don't think so."
"In your expert opinion."
"Do you realize how many more witnesses you will have to your genius? I don't think a lawsuit will be possible. And..." Liz loosened his tie.
"Unfair."
Liz ignored him. "Diane Miller doesn't ambulance chase. She thinks she's out of that league. And..."
"What?"
"I made sure that if you don't like it, you can always go back upstairs. Just try the Emergency Room for a little while. And..."
"What?"
Liz kissed Matt. She pulled back and touched his lips. "There are fringe benefits to me arranging your life."
"True," he said. He kissed her. When they finally parted, they smiled at each other. "Could you talk about my genius again?," he said.
**********************************************
Alexis' House.
Kristina had noticed that her mother was distracted, so she slipped out of the house, claiming that she had a "study date." Wait until she realized that her father had now put a guard on her, Alexis thought. She'd find her mother's methods tame in comparison to Sonny's.
Sam had "stolen" Molly for the afternoon so that Alexis could get everything moved back into its proper place.
So Alexis was alone. With her thoughts.
She did not like Claudia Zacchara. She never had. She did not approve of Claudia. Both in general and for her nephew. But she was beginning to re-think Claudia.
In an odd way, she admired the woman's mind. Nikolas was right. Claudia was no Helena. Alexis suspected that Claudia had grown up under the thumb of her own Helena. Also known as Anthony Zacchara. And instead of breaking free of the family madness, as Alexis had, Claudia had tried to rise within it. Alexis suspected that that was what accounted for both Claudia's survival and the ways in which she was damaged.
The connection with Spencer, though, that was something else. Alexis had spent the last few nights trying to put her finger on what it was, and she'd only figured it out just now. When Claudia was with Spencer and Nikolas, and no one else was antagonizing her, Claudia became the person she would have become if she'd grown up outside of her family's business. That was a person Alexis could live with being with Nikolas and Spencer. But it was a shaky foundation. The larger part of Claudia was the one that had spent years developing under her father and in Italy. Most likely, it would be what she would revert to in the end.
And then there was her protection of Spencer. At first, Alexis had thought Claudia had experienced something similar to Alexis' witnessing of her own mother's murder. But after the night in the psych exam room with Spencer, Alexis knew. Johnny was the one. Claudia didn't want Spencer to experience what her brother had witnessed. In a strange way, she was protecting her brother again, and this time she was succeeding.
She could see why Nikolas loved her. But she was worried about what Nikolas was getting himself into. Putting aside the fact that Nikolas was taking on the mob...
Alexis stopped that train of thought and grabbed a paper bag. She breathed deeply for a few minutes.
Okay, if you're going to put a thought aside, it means you can't think about. Paper bag down.
Nikolas was leaving himself open to a world of pain. If Claudia was murdered, Nikolas would be slammed with 3 deaths of women he loved -- in a row. Courtney, Emily, and now Claudia. She wasn't sure he could make it through that. And if Claudia didn't die, she could prove dangerous later on. When she'd gotten a taste of Cassadine power.
The flip side to all this was that until Claudia had shown up, Nikolas had been sleepwalking after Emily's death. Was that really a life?
And Stefan and Helena had tried to pick out appropriate partners for Nikolas before. The heart wants what it wants. Alexis refused to become the kind of Cassadine who dictated other Cassadines' lives. Although she wished Helena was in a tiny prison cell under the sea right now. That she was willing to compromise on.
In the end, Alexis had no choice. She had to have faith in Nikolas and Claudia. Because the alternatives were too devastating.
She picked up the phone and dialed. It connected. "Oh, that was fast -- I didn't expect -- Hi. It's me. Alexis. ... Alexis Davis. You're always so charming. ... Oh, the usual dramas. ... As a matter of fact, I just used one. How are you? ... Tell her congratulations! And you? ... You sound the same. ... I meant that nicely. ... I do. I need a favor -- but I think you'll like this one. I need you to come back to Port Charles."
***********************************************
Port Charles Zoo.
Spencer fed the llama through the fence. When the bag was empty, he turned to Nikolas. "More!"
Nikolas raised an eyebrow.
"More please!," Spencer said.
Nikolas ruffled Spencer's hair. "Very good. But I think I need to feed Spencer first."
"Up please."
Nikolas picked up Spencer and carried him to the zoo's cafe.
After they had purchased their lunches and found a table, Nikolas sat Spencer on his lap.
He waited until Spencer had eaten most of his lunch and then he leaned over and spoke into Spencer's ear.
"Spencer?"
"What?"
"I'm sorry you had such a bad surprise the other day. And I'm very sorry I left you alone on the Island."
Spencer did not answer.
"When I was little," Nikolas said. "There was nothing I hated more than when people went away."
Spencer looked up at his father. "Like Gramma?"
"Just like Gramma. But this week, I promise to stay with you all week. We're going to stay home and play, and we're going to go out and play."
Spencer smiled broadly. It broke Nikolas' heart.
Nikolas continued, "And then, later on, I will be very sad because you will be the one who goes away. Just for a little while."
"No!"
Nikolas turned Spencer around on his lap. "It will only be for a little while, and I promise you will be so happy about your surprises on your trip that you might forget to miss me."
"Sorprese?," Spencer asked.
"Yes. Until I come back to you, there will be many surprises. I think you will be very happy. But I want you to promise me you'll miss me just a little."
Spencer hugged his father. "Don't want to go."
"I know. But sometimes we have to do things we don't want to do so that we can get everything we want."
Nikolas kissed the top of Spencer's head.
********************************
GreyStone.
Claudia had eaten lunch alone. Sonny had disappeared.
Maybe it was a little dangerous to go around provoking Sonny like that, but Claudia took comfort in the fact that it had all been Nikolas' idea. He said you sometimes had to tip your own hand to get your opponent to tip his. Claudia had then challenged him on the "his." Nikolas had tried to backpedal and say that there were also worthy women opponents.
It was foolish to hope for anything. It was wrong to let Nikolas involve himself. But there was something chemical about her and Nikolas. She couldn't stay away from him anymore. And she'd resolved herself: She had her three Lost Boys counting on her. She would never leave anyone she loved again. Not without a fight.
And strangely enough, this was the first time she felt safe away while she was away from Nikolas.
***********************************
Harborview Towers. Main Staircase.
Jason and Sonny climbed the stairs.
"This place is falling down since I left," Sonny said.
"There's only one elevator. Sometimes it breaks down," Jason said.
"I want you covering Claudia," he said.
"I think you're making a mistake."
"Well, that's not up to you, Jason."
"I'm also beginning to think that getting rid of Claudia is a mistake. "
"You had no problem getting rid of Lorenzo. You had no problem with getting rid of Nico or Manny. But this you have a problem with?"
"I don't like Claudia. But we are tied to her now. What do you think will happen when she turns up dead after giving birth?"
"We'll handle it."
"What about Nikolas?"
"Nikolas Cassadine is not going to do anything. He's not capable. Look at how well he protected his family this week. If Sam hadn't been there, they'd all be dead. He knows that. He'll stay away from this." Sonny was winded. "I can't do this anymore. I'm going back downstairs. We'll talk about this at the office tomorrow."
Two flights up, Elizabeth opened her mouth to call out to Jason. Matt clapped his hand over Liz's mouth and pulled her out of the staircase. He silently shut the door after them and pulled her around the corner.
"Not a word," he whispered. "Okay?"
She nodded.
He took his hand from her mouth.
"This is a dangerous neighborhood," he whispered. "I can see why you've been avoiding it."
