Harborview Towers. Matt's Apartment.

Matt unlocked the door. He and Liz hurried inside. He locked the door again and put the chain on.

Liz wandered further into the apartment, looking dazed.

Matt hurried to her side, and ushered her over to the couch. He went to the bar and poured them each a whiskey. He returned to the couch and sat down next to her.

She didn't take her drink, so he set it aside. And knocked his back. Put his glass down.

He turned on the stereo, and pushed the volume up. Then he turned to Liz.

"Liz."

"Yeah?"

"Claudia -- the pregnant woman I stitched up the other night, that was her name, right?"

Liz didn't answer.

"One of the guys said 'after she gives birth.' How many pregnant Claudias do you think there are in Port Charles?"

"Not many," Liz answered hollowly.

"And Nikolas Cassadine -- we know who that is, there can't be more than one of those in Port Charles."

"No."

Liz got up and began to walk around the room.

"Are you okay?," Matt asked.

"I just need a minute."

Liz stopped by the front window and stared out.

She liked Matt because he was uncomplicated. What a joke. Nothing about Liz was uncomplicated. Every little piece of her life was compartmentalized. She had a Lucky box, and a Jason box, and a Mom box, and a nurse box -- and there was hardly ever a time when everything got all mixed up together. There was not a single person who knew all there was to know about her.

"You know Jason Morgan," Matt said.

Liz turned around to face him, startled.

"I mean, I knew you knew him, but you really know him. That's why you didn't want to come here."

"Yes."

"Okay." Matt didn't seem put off. He seemed like he had just slid a puzzle piece into place.

"There's more," Liz said.

"Okay," Matt said, "but can you give me a second here? Before we delve into the craziness of what's going on, I need a second to be happy about the fact that you weren't avoiding my place because of me." Matt got up and paced the floor. He stopped and turned to her again. "And you know what else? Forgetting about the whole revolting murder thing for another second... I'm so relieved. I thought I was the only one with issues here. With my screwed up family tree and the lawsuit and everything. You have issues too. And that's too bad for you, but it kinda makes me happy. Evens the playing field."

Liz took a deep breath. She went over to the couch and knocked back her whiskey. Then she sat down and patted the couch cushion next her. "Sit down, Matt," she said. "I'm about to make you ecstatic."

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

Wyndemere. The Dining Room.

Nikolas and Spencer finished their dinner. Spencer held up his hands for inspection.

"Would you like to clean your hands?," Nikolas asked.

"Yes."

Nikolas began to get up.

"No, no," Spencer said. "You stay. I'm a big boy."

"Oh," Nikolas said. He had a feeling this was a new phase. "All right."

Spencer left the room. Alfred came in.

"Master Nikolas, do you have a moment?"

"Of course," Nikolas said. "Have a seat."

Alfred looked entirely uncomfortable at the prospect of sitting down in front of Nikolas. Nikolas watched as an internal battle waged inside Alfred. Sit? Or disobey a request?

"Please, Alfred."

Alfred sat down at the dining room table.

"I take it this means that you have considered my offer."

"Yes, sir. My wife and I have decided to accept."

Nikolas smiled. "I am very pleased. I know it can't have been easy working here, with the threats and the intrigue. There's no one I've trusted more than you." After the man guarding Helena had betrayed him, Nikolas would say that Alfred was the only person working for him that he trusted.

"We look forward to it, sir."

"I suppose you should prepare to leave, then."

Alfred hesitated. "Very good, sir."

"Spencer will only be here a little while longer. I can take care of him for now. And as far as taking care of myself: hopefully I've picked up some skills by osmosis."

"Of course, Master Nikolas."

"It's a big change," Nikolas said. "Let me know when you're ready to leave, and I'll make the arrangements."

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

General Hospital. Fifth floor. Classroom.

"There are probably many questions going through your mind. What does my birthing partner do? What are all of those breathing exercises I've seen on television sitcoms? How long does labor take?" Dr. Waters pulled out an easel with an oversized notepad on it.

"How soon after labor is your husband allowed to shoot you?," Claudia whispered to Johnny.

"How long can your sister shut up for so that childbirth can actually happen?," Johnny whispered back.

"Mrs. Corinthos? Partner?"

"John Zacchara, doctor," Johnny said.

"Any questions?," Dr. Waters said.

"I'm not ready to share yet," Claudia said. "But I'll let you know when I am."

The couple next to them had their hands all over each other. The couple in front of them had obviously been through this before; they were reviewing breathing methods.

Claudia turned to Johnny. "The day I work up to that," Claudia said, gesturing to the "breathing method" couple, "Don't wait for Sonny. Shoot me yourself."

Johnny pinched Claudia.

"Hey!"

"Cut it out," he muttered.

"These Lamaze classes will attempt to answer your questions and prepare you. Many of you," Dr. Waters continued, "are wondering what kind of pain will occur during labor. I'm happy to report that it doesn't compare to knife wounds, gunshot wounds or torture." The rest of the room laughed, while Dr. Waters shot Claudia a pointed look.

"Did you see that?," Claudia asked Johnny.

"Well, he's either read your chart, or he's met our father," Johnny said.

Claudia leaned back, propped herself up on her elbows, and began to behave.

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

Port Charles Police Department. Mac Scorpio's Office.

Alexis knocked on the open door. Mac looked up.

"Ms. Davis. What can I do for you?"

Alexis closed the door behind her.

"You can call me Alexis. I need a favor, Mac. And it has to be 'No Questions Asked.'"

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

Matt's Apartment.

"The worst part of all of this is that Jason asked me about Claudia's due date and I told him," Liz said.

"What do you want to do now?," Matt gently prodded.

"I don't know. My instincts are screaming for me to go to Jason, to try to make sense of all of this with him. To help him."

"Is that what you were about to do in the stairwell before I covered your mouth?"

"I think so. It's hard to tell with me and Jason."

Matt didn't say anything, just took it all in.

"You think I'm a horrible person," Liz said.

Matt laughed. "You think you're the only one who's ever been in love before?"

"Oh," she said. Not what she was expecting. "So what do you think?"

"Well, first of all, I'm glad I'm not you. I would not want to have to choose between Jason and Nikolas."

"Thanks."

"And second of all, we have to tell Nikolas."

"I know."

"There's no bad outcome if we tell Nikolas. Jason is more of a crapshoot."

"I know."

"And no offense to your ex-husband, but the police in this town are incompetent. After this whole Brianna Hughes thing, I wouldn't go to them even if I had a murder weapon with fingerprints on it and a signed confession."

"I'm a little drunk," she said. "I'm not sure if we should do this tonight."

"Two drunks make a right. Or a credible witness. Or something. We'll do it together. Go to Nikolas, I mean. Do you think you can pull off an innocent act if we run into Jason on the staircase?"

"You have no idea," she said.

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

General Hospital. Fifth floor.

Johnny and Claudia left the classroom. Sonny was waiting outside.

"You didn't tell me about this," he said to Claudia.

"Maybe you're the last person she wants in the delivery room with her," Johnny said. "Maybe she wants to give birth without worrying about how long she has with her baby."

"Stay out of this, Johnny," Sonny said.

Claudia put her hand on Johnny's arm. "If you want to be in the delivery room," she said to Sonny, "that's fine. But I can't have you as my coach."

"And check your gun at the door," Johnny said.

"You two a double act now?," Sonny asked, leaning in toward Claudia and Johnny.

A rather large man came over.

"It's okay, Viktor," Claudia said. "This is my husband."

The man backed away.

"Who's that?," Sonny asked.

"That's my guard," Claudia answered. "Maybe you should re-think your body language. He thought you were a threat to me."

Sonny gestured toward another large man. Sonny pointed Viktor out to him.

"Who's that?," Claudia asked.

"Well, I figured you don't need a guard from me since Cassadine's covering you. So I'm using my extra man to keep an eye on your guard. See you at home."

Sonny left. Claudia and Johnny exchanged a look.

"You hungry, Viktor?," Claudia said, calling out to him. "I'm in the mood for a night out." She linked her arm through Johnny's. "Come on. My treat." As they passed Sonny's guard, she said, "You too."

"But you're not sitting at our table," Johnny added.

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

Wyndemere. The Study.

Nikolas leaned forward, his elbow on his desk and his chin resting in his hand. At least he was right about Sonny tipping his hand. Now if he would only tip it some more in, say, his office, Claudia would be set. He drummed his fingers on the desk.

"Is that why Claudia was staying here?," Liz asked.

"Yes," said Nikolas.

"Why did she move back in with her husband?," Matt asked.

"Because Sonny threatened her with what he might do to her brother." Nikolas got up, came around and leaned on the front of his desk. "Thank you for coming to me."

"But you already knew this," Matt said.

"I did. But there's new information in this."

"It sounded like Jason doesn't want to do this," Liz said. "Can't we go to him? Tell him what we know. Figure out a solution."

"Do you know how I met Claudia?," Nikolas asked. "That's a rhetorical question. No one but Alfred and Johnny Zacchara knows how I met Claudia. The night I came home after surgery last year, Claudia washed up on my docks. She had been brutally stabbed and thrown off the Port Charles piers. Someone wanted to make sure that if she didn't bleed to death, she'd drown."

"She told you Jason --"

"No," Nikolas said. "Her exact words were, I believe, 'If Jason had stabbed me, I wouldn't have washed up on your island, I would be dead.'"

"So you're saying he's good at his job. Strong work ethic," Matt said.

Nikolas stared at Matt. He turned to Liz and said, "Are you involved with this man?"

"She is," Matt volunteered. "We're dating."

Liz ignored both digressions. "I'm sure if we just talked to --"

"Nothing will change by talking to Jason," Nikolas said. "Jason has already told me in so many words that Claudia needs to pay for what she's done. That there were consequences and that he and Sonny would mete them out. Why do you suppose he was so interested in Claudia's due date?"

Liz was again overcome with guilt.

"When I first told Claudia that you would be coming by here regularly to check up on her, she was hesitant," Nikolas said to Liz. "Because she knows you are the mother of Jason Morgan's only child."

Liz flushed beet red. Matt tried to steal a sideways glance at her.

"But I told her that you could be trusted, and that was good enough for her. "

"I'm sorry, Nikolas."

"I don't suppose Jason gave you a reason for why he wanted that due date."

"No."

"Do you know why Diego killed Emily? Because Jason had killed his father. This never ends. Jason and Sonny's solution to most problems is to murder. And it perpetuates the violence. Every single person they've killed has left someone behind who tries to exact revenge and leaves casualties. Claudia's solution was to stop the cycle by going to her death without a fight. Who here thinks that any member of the Zacchara organization will take that lying down? And remember, Liz, Claudia has known for months that Jake is Jason's. She's been keeping quiet and not using that information to her advantage. No matter how long it takes, if Jason makes a powerful and ruthless enough enemy, they will find out about Jake and they will use the information. Jason is not a god. One day, his house will come crashing down around him. I'd like to make sure that he doesn't provide the fuel for the bulldozer. My solution is that they never get the chance to kill Claudia."

"Why do they want to kill her?," Liz asked.

"That's not my story to tell. But I'll say this much: if Claudia deserves to die for what she did, then Sonny and Jason deserve to die too."

"According to you," Matt interjected.

"I'd say, going by the law, they deserve to die more. I was just trying to be fair."

"What are you going to do about this?," Matt asked. "Are you going to do anything?"

Nikolas didn't answer.

"Nikolas," Liz said. "Can I help you?"

"I can't risk her dying, Liz."

"I know that," she said.

"Sonny seems to think you won't be able to help her," Matt said.

"Sonny's talking about murdering people while climbing public staircases. I don't think he has any room to judge."

"Point taken," Mat said.

Nikolas refilled Matt and Liz's coffee.

"I can't go to the police," Nikolas said. "In the time it took to get anything off the ground, someone I love would die or be threatened."

Matt wasn't going to argue that point. It seemed to Matt that they were talking in generalities. If Claudia was going to be saved, they should be thinking of a step-by-step plan that would go into effect when she went into labor.

Nikolas looked from Matt to Liz. He was going to need help. Liz was his best friend. He didn't think she'd mess up again -- not now that she had realized what her last broken promise had almost cost. Matt was a wildcard. Nikolas was going to have to go with his instincts. He took the plunge.

"I have a place for Claudia to give birth once she gets to the hospital."

"You mean like obstetrics?," Matt asked.

"Someplace hidden that no one knows about," Nikolas said, a little irritated. "My problem is getting the time and space to get her there without any potential killers around her."

"Wouldn't that depend on who's going to bring her to the hospital?," Liz asked.

Matt remembered something from way back in his days of med school all nighters, something that had happened during his first rotation as a medical student. He'd been at Massachusetts General when a young man had come into the emergency room with --

"I'm trying to arrange for a man I have --"

"Do you...?" Matt interrupted Nikolas and then stopped himself.

"What?"

"When Claudia goes into labor, could she arrange to come in through the Emergency Room?"

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

GreyStone.

Sonny was on the phone. "No, I'm telling you, they're up to something. ... I don't care how much the extra manpower costs -- you do it!" He went quiet when he saw Michael had entered the room. "I'll call you back."

"Hi, Dad."

"Does your mother know you're here?"

"I need to talk to Claudia."

"You can't just leave the house without telling your mother where you went."

"I just -- can I talk to Claudia?"

"She's not here. But you can talk to me if you need to."

Michael hadn't counted on Claudia not being there. He hadn't counted on his father being there either. This was the wrong time.

"No. No, thanks. But can you tell her I'm looking for her?"

Like hell, Sonny thought. "Sure."