Chiarelli Compound. Just Outside of Milan.
Rudy was waiting for Johnny at the front door.
"You did good," Rudy said. "Better than me. You saved your sister."
He hugged Johnny.
"She did a pretty good job at saving herself. And me," Johnny said. He pulled out of the hug. "Here's our life insurance policy." Johnny tapped on the file box.
Rudy opened the top and poked around inside.
"You don't want to look at that unless you have to," Johnny said.
Rudy signaled to a guard, who removed the box.
"Let me show you something," Johnny said.
Johnny reached in his pocket and pulled out the digital camera. He turned it on and showed Rudy the pictures taken right after Claudia had given birth.
"He is beautiful," Rudy said. "How is Claudia?"
"Over the moon. Very happy."
"Dangerous."
"Only if she loses what she has now. Claudia fell in love twice this year. With her son and with Nikolas. That's a lot for someone who's never been in love before."
"Yes."
John put the camera away. "My father isn't going to like this."
"He's already heard. He did not react well. He is now in solitary confinement."
"What do you think he's going to do?"
"I cannot guess. Hopefully, we will have at least ten years to prepare," Rudy said. "Come. I will show you to your room."
*************************************************
GreyStone. Living Room.
Spinelli came into the room, walking haltingly.
"It's all right," Sonny said. "Come closer."
"Mr. Sir, I think it is imperative that it be understood that the Jackal was unaware of the duplicitous and duplicating nature of Mrs. Sir --"
"Don't call her that."
"Oh. But you had said --"
"Forget what I said. Forget everything. I need you to put a trace on Nikolas Cassadine's phone calls."
"And I would gladly fulfill your every command. However, Stone Cold has expressly forbidden me from delving into even the most minute of technological espionage. Since the escape of The Federal One."
"He's right," Jason said, entering the room. "We can't afford any more trouble. If you're set on finding Claudia, you'll have to find another way."
************************************************
Port Charles Police Department. Mac Scorpio's Office.
Mac hung up the phone. Diane Miller had cancelled her request for an investigation.
He wasn't sure how Nikolas had done it, but there was a sea change in Port Charles. Yesterday, activity on the docks had winnowed down to what the department knew to be legitimate operations. Last night, there had not been a single murder or assault.
And even though he knew that Alexis probably didn't have any details, he picked up the phone. There was no one he'd rather smirk with about this.
************************************************
Beecher's Corner. Laura Spencer's House.
"She's asleep," Laura said into the phone.
"She'll want to hear this," Nikolas said. "How is she?"
"Good. Tired. Happy. I think she's still in pain, but she's working through it. She made breakfast for everyone the morning after she gave birth."
"Cooking relaxes her."
"She's worried about you."
"She shouldn't be. How's Spencer getting along with the baby?"
"He's slipped into a sort of senior advisor mode. It's adorable."
"You mean he's being bossy."
"'Bossy' is a little harsh. Helpfully bossy, maybe."
"I can never thank you enough for everything you've done."
"Eh. I'm a grandmother. This is my job."
"This is above and beyond."
"Well, you're welcome. If you want to speak to Claudia, you should probably do it now, before the baby wakes up."
"All right," Nikolas said.
Laura went into Claudia's bedroom and gently shook her awake.
"Hmmm?," Claudia murmured.
"Claudia," Laura whispered. "Nikolas."
Claudia shot up, awake. "Where?"
Laura handed her the phone. Claudia got out of bed, wincing, and left the bedroom.
"Nikolas?"
"Hey. How are you feeling?"
"Good. How are you? Are you being careful?"
"I don't have to be. The woman I'm with no longer has a husband."
"Really?"
"He signed all three sets of papers."
"When do you get here?"
"Not for awhile. I'm just making sure that everything gets processed and filed correctly. And I want to get the baby's passport in person. I've had it expedited, but it's still going to take some time."
"I don't like you being there alone."
"I'm fine."
"You always say that. And then you go to Russia alone. Or Puerto Rico. Or -- did you go to see Sonny alone?"
"The papers are signed. It's over."
"Your Majesty, my people are not like you. They're not gentlemen. If you give them a show of faith, they take it as an act of stupidity."
"That's what my dead uncle thought, too."
Claudia lowered her voice. "I want you with me."
"I'll see if I can throw some more money at a bureaucrat."
"Don't tease me, Stavrosovich."
The baby began to cry from the bedroom.
"I'm so sorry, Nik. The baby just woke up. And he's got the Zacchara lungs."
"Go ahead. I love you."
"I love you too. Please be careful. Here's your mother."
Claudia traded the phone for her baby and went back in her bedroom.
"Nikolas?"
"Can you do me one more favor?," Nikolas asked.
"What does it involve?," Laura said.
"If there's a bookstore in town, can you buy the most difficult book of crossword puzzles they have? Claudia is not distracted enough."
Laura laughed.
*******************************************************
Jax and Carly's House.
Sonny paused in front of the front door. This was going to be a bad visit.
He saw the shadow of someone moving inside. He knocked.
The door opened.
"Sonny," Jax said. "Right on schedule. We've just had a moment's peace."
Sonny entered the house.
Carly was on the couch with her brand new daughter.
"Hi," she said.
Sonny sat down beside her. He reached out and touched the baby's crown, and then quickly pulled his hand away.
Carly looked at Jax meaningfully. Jax left the room.
"She's beautiful," Sonny said. "Congratulations." He kissed Carly on the forehead.
"Thank you. She's a Jax. Look at that hair," she laughed. "How's your little one coming along? You have one more month, right?
Sonny turned away from Carly. He scratched his cheek. "Claudia gave birth. But I don't know where she or the baby are."
"What do you mean?"
"I have to tell you something."
Michael bounded down the stairs. "Dad?," he said.
The only way this could get any worse was if Nikolas Cassadine was here to see it.
"Claudia left me. She disappeared right before she gave birth. They're both missing. And..."
"And what?," Carly asked.
"Michael, go to your room."
"You let her get away?," Michael said in disbelief.
"Michael!," Carly said. "Don't talk to your father like that."
Jax came back into the room when he heard voices raised in anger.
"Me?," Michael said. He turned to his father in anger. "So that's it? So she just gets to put a bullet in my head, to try to kill you, and she gets away with it? You promised me."
Carly was staring at Sonny.
"Michael, can you let me talk to your mother?," Sonny said.
"I had her," Michael said. "I could've taken care of her. But you let her get away. You let her get away with it."
"What do you mean, 'had her'?," Jax said.
"Claudia?," Carly asked. "Claudia was behind Michael's shooting?"
Jax quickly went to Carly's side, and spoke soothingly. "We don't have to do this right now," he said.
She handed the baby to Jax. "Take Courtney upstairs," she said.
"I think Sonny should leave."
"And I think Sonny should explain to me how he could keep something like this from me!," she said, devolving into hysteria. "You married her. You married her?"
"I didn't know," Sonny said.
"And so, what? Once you found out you were waiting to share?"
Jax fidgeted guiltily.
"I was waiting until your baby was born. You weren't supposed to get upset. Because of the baby."
"And now Claudia's gone," Michael said.
"I know that!," Sonny shouted, standing up.
The baby started crying. Jax rocked her in his arms, shooting a death glare at Sonny. Carly stood up, went over to the baby, and placed a cool hand against her cheek.
Sonny continued, more quietly, "She took everything. She took the baby --" Here he looked at Michael. " -- she took away my chance to make this right. And she and Nikolas Cassadine --"
"Nikolas? What does Nikolas have to do with any of this?," Carly asked.
"They took everything from me. My son. Michael's inheritance -- the whole business. Gone."
Carly moved away from the baby, shaking a little. Claudia had gotten Michael shot, and Sonny was talking about the business. She didn't even know who he was anymore.
Michael grabbed Sonny by the shoulder and turned him around.
"I had her," Michael said. "I was all ready to take care of her, and you stopped me. Well, you're not going to stop me now."
Michael hurried out of the house.
Sonny went to follow.
"No!," Carly said. "Not you, Sonny. Jax."
Jax gave the baby back to Carly and took off after Michael.
Carly and Sonny stood face to face.
"I will fix this," Sonny said. "I promise you."
"Go to hell," Carly said.
********************************************************
General Hospital. Matt's Office.
Matt finished making notes on the last of the pharmaceutical trial files. He'd had an email that morning instructing him to forward all notes to the new hospital director, Dr. Monica Quartermaine.
There was a knock on his door.
"Come in," he said.
A dark-haired woman in a finely tailored suit came in carrying a briefcase.
"Dr. Matt Hunter?"
Matt took a second to fervently pray he was not being served with something. "Yes," he said.
She extended her hand. "Justina Cohen. I'm here on behalf of Bartleby, Fitch and Cohen."
Who had just won the class action suit against Manhattan General. It wasn't like Matt lived under a rock. Great. He was being served.
"Just give me the papers," he said.
"Papers?"
"Consider me served."
"Are you in more trouble?"
"I don't know. Am I?"
"Dr. Hunter, I was hired by Nikolas Cassadine to represent you in the Brianna Hughes matter. He assured me that you would be fine with this."
"Oh." For the first time in his life, Matt was speechless.
"I've won against Diane Miller twice in New York City, if that helps."
Matt struggled to regain the power of speech. "It does, it definitely does. Please... have a seat." A lawyer. A real lawyer who could win.
Ms. Cohen, Esq., sat down across the desk from Matt. "I've been reading up on Port Charles. This is quite a town."
Someone not connected to anyone in his family. Matt's life was filling up. With good things that were all his own. A lawyer. Elizabeth. The emergency room position.
"A sort of way station for tycoons, celebrities and major organized crime figures," she continued, snapping her briefcase open.
Matt started to grin.
"And is it just me?," she asked, taking out a notepad. "Or am I the only Jewish person within the city limits?"
********************************************************
Sonny's Strip Club.
Jax had found Michael at the Zacchara Crimson Pointe Estate. Jax had arrived just before the police. When Michael had realized Claudia and Johnny were nowhere to be found, he'd begun breaking all of the windows in the house. Jax was somehow able to reason with the police, and agreed to pay full restitution and avoid any charges against Michael. Michael refused to talk to Sonny.
Dante and Olivia weren't speaking to him. Sonny got why Olivia wasn't speaking to him; she didn't know how the business worked. And he guessed that Dante couldn't afford to have Sonny as a father; an FBI agent would be compromised by a relationship with a father in organized crime.
Alexis wouldn't let him see Kristina alone. Said she couldn't risk her daughter being used as leverage. Kristina snuck onto the stairs behind Alexis' back, staring at her mother as if she didn't have anything to do with Alexis' decision and violently disagreed with it. When Sonny began to argue, Mac Scorpio had come out of the kitchen, stood by Alexis and crossed his arms.
He knew better than to try to even discuss Morgan with Carly at this moment.
And all he had of his baby were the ultrasounds. He didn't know what his son looked or sounded like. He didn't know how many pounds he weighed, the color of his eyes or hair.
Nikolas was a fool. Ten minutes with Claudia and she'd dismantle his entire fortune and leave him bleeding. She'd betrayed everyone who'd ever given her a chance. Nikolas wasn't going to be any different.
Claudia. She'd broken every code they were sworn to live by, and no one seemed to care.
Instead, Sonny was the one who was paying. No one would do international business with him. They knew what was hanging over his head, and they didn't want to be dragged down by it. Sonny was damaged goods. All he had left was the domestic business in Port Charles and the island. For whatever the island was worth now that Rivera got a cut.
Jason was determined to get the business back on its feet.
Staring around the place where it had all started, Sonny was determined to fix everything. There had to be a way out of this.
Starting with that damn custody renouncement.
********************************************************
Beecher's Corners. Laura Spencer's House. Afternoon.
Laura had gone into town. Said she needed to run errands.
Spencer was napping. Due to wake up soon.
Claudia fed Jonah, marveling at the perfect way his fingers curled and uncurled while he ate. She hadn't wanted to nurse -- she could write a book about all the things she didn't like about it -- but when she was actually doing it, that was when she felt most like Jonah's mother.
She wished she could talk to her own mother about it. She hadn't really been around many women in her life. Her mother for her early years. Then Maria -- who was nice, and encouraged Claudia to be close to John, but who ultimately was very busy with John while she was alive, and didn't have much time to talk to a growing girl about being a woman.
Claudia had had to go on instinct, sexual impulses, and innuendo. And once she got to Italy, she'd been trained to use her femaleness as a tool.
The past year had been eye-opening. Between her son, her brother, and Batman and his young ward, she was discovering a part of herself that she hadn't thought existed.
John had always been a factor that way, but she'd been ripped away from him so early.
One thing Claudia was sure of: if she hadn't fallen in love with Jonah, she would have never been able to fall in love with Nikolas and Spencer.
Jonah had given her everything. He'd saved her life. Brought her to Nikolas and Spencer. Made her human.
Jonah stopped feeding. His eyes fluttered shut. "Jonah," she whispered. His eyes opened. "I love you. I'll always love you." She kissed his brow. His eyes fluttered shut again.
Claudia brought him back to his cradle and carefully put him down. Covered him with a baby blanket.
She checked the clock. Spencer should be getting up. She'd planned to do this later on, maybe even once they'd settled. But she wanted to do it when she and Spencer would be alone together. And the sooner, the better.
She went into Spencer's room. Spencer slept with his little version of the Cassadine mouth open.
"Amico," she said coaxingly. "Wake up."
Spencer whined a little.
"Spencer," she said. "I have something for you."
He opened his eyes.
"Hello," he said.
"Hello, pirata. We're alone. The baby is asleep. Won't you come play?"
Spencer obediently sat up, breathing heavily.
Claudia kissed the top of his head. She lifted him up and brought him into the living room.
"Are you awake yet?," she asked him as she put him down on the couch.
He shook his head.
She sat down next to him and lifted him onto her lap. She brushed his hair back from his face.
"I pirati ballano...," she sang.
"...sul ponte delle navi," Spencer softly sang back, yawning.
Claudia reached down on the floor and drew the second wrapped gift from her labor bag.
"...e le casse scassano...," she sang, while handing the gift to Spencer.
"...se mancano le chiavi," Spencer sang, perking up.
Claudia ripped open the wrapping paper. And brought out a child's pirate hat.
She placed it on Spencer's head. He climbed down from her lap.
"Claudee, sono un pirata ora." I am a pirate now. "Gira, Gira," he sang, turning around twice. He stopped, staring at Claudia. "Where is your hat?"
"I lost it," she said. "Spencer, I think you grew while I was away."
Spencer put his arms above his head, stretching himself to his full height.
Claudia picked him up again and put him on her lap.
"I'm going to tell you a secret, my Little Prince. Okay?"
"Okay."
"First of all, I will do my best to never, ever leave you again. That was very wrong of me."
Spencer didn't look at her. She put her hand under his chin and gently turned his face toward hers.
"Spencer? You will always be my first little boy. Always. I will love Jonah just as much as you, but never more. Capito?" Understand?
Spencer hugged Claudia.
When he finally pulled away, he pulled off his hat. "Μπορείτε να φοράτε το καπέλο μου," he said to Claudia. You can wear my hat. He offered it to her.
He took her breath away. She smiled, but did not take it. "Thank you, amico, but I think you should wear it. The other pirates will know I am one because I will be walking with you."
Spencer tilted his head, considering. "Okay," he said. "That's good."
***********************************************************
Nikolas left Wyndham's disappointed.
He was going to have to place a special order. Maybe stop over in New York before he left town. Claudia wouldn't be happy about that.
All day, he found himself wandering around Port Charles. Cafe Matisse. Quartermaine Mansion. The docks. The old location of the Emily Bowen Quartermaine Clinic.
He'd started his good-byes. He'd gifted Monica with the hospital. At first, he'd been concerned that she would refuse it, but she seemed very pleased.
Robin was full of questions about Dr. Waters. Nikolas had evaded them by introducing the new OBGyn. In the end, Robin seemed puzzled, but happy for him. He didn't bring up Claudia. Robin was too close to Sonny.
Sam had begun a little helpful speech that seemed to be going in the direction of telling Nikolas about Claudia's involvement in Michael's shooting. Nikolas stopped her, told her that he knew all he needed to know about Claudia. And then asked her to keep an eye on Alexis for him.
Lucky and Lulu had had lunch with him. There were no words for how displeased Lucky was. "Furious" was more like it. Maybe this would bring Lucky and Ethan closer, Nikolas mused.
His cell phone rang. Nikolas connected to the call. "Cassadine. ... Yes, thank you for getting back to me. ... Do you have anything in red?"
He continued down to the dock.
Sonny watched him from a distance.
