Port Charles wasn't really what Carly had expected it to be. It was a harbor town with this odd city flair to it. It was small and communal and yet it was metropolitan. It was comfortable, exciting, safe, and dangerous all rolled up into one. The first thing Carly did when she and Sam finally got into town was to find a place for them to stay. Using a fake id that said she was twenty-one year old Carly Roberts she rented a room above a bar called Jake's. It had a back way up that let her sneak Sam in. It was small and crappy but at least it was warm, dry, and clean. She had been pretty amazed by her young travel companion. Sam seemed to thrive on the road and had helped her make them plenty of cash by pick pocketing and conning people at the bus stations and roach motels they stayed in. They had enough to keep the room for a while and enough to get food, but Carly knew it wouldn't last. She needed to figure out her next move and she'd need to do it soon. She and Sam had been getting the lay of the land for several days and Carly finally felt secure enough to get a little more information. She had heard in passing that a woman named Ruby owned this diner down by the docks and after a little digging at the library Carly was able to discover that this woman was Ruby Anderson, the same name that had been on her adoption papers.

"Come on half pint." Carly called towards the closed bathroom door. "I thought you were hungry."

Sam came out a moment later nodding her head. "I am. Are you going to get us breakfast?"

"We're going out." Carly said as she grabbed her key to the room and some cash.

Sam's big brown eyes lit up. "Really?"

Carly smiled at the girl and nodded. "Yes, really, come on."

The two walked down the back stairs and headed towards the docks. Sam loved the water. She drug her feet a little so she could watch all the boats and ships as they moved in and out of the harbor. "I like it here Carly." She told the older girl. "Cody use to leave me and Danny by the docks in Miami all the time. I loved being by the water." As they walked a little further Sam stopped and grabbed Carly's arm to stop her too. "Carly look! It's an island with a castle! In the middle of a lake! How weird is that?"

Carly laughed as she pulled the girl along. "This is a weird place, Sammie."

Sam beamed. "I like it."

"Do you remember our story?" Carly asked as they approached the diner.

Sam nodded. "I'm Sammie Roberts and you're my sister. You go to college and I'm visiting you during school break. We're just passing through on our way home from the city."

"That's right." Carly said with a smile that made Sam beam. "But that's just if we're asked questions, we don't want to have to do to much talking or interacting right now."

Sam nodded again. "We're priming the pigeon."

That made Carly laugh. "Priming the pigeon?"

"That's what Cody called it." Sam explained. "We're studying the mark. The more we know the easier the con. The more comfortable you are the easier it is to make them believe you. You have to be able to gain their trust, or at the very least know their every move."

Sometimes it was hard to believe Sam was only ten. Most of the time it was sad knowing Sam hadn't had much of a childhood. Carly had learned over the last few weeks that more then anything Sam was just another tool her so called father used to pull off cons. It made her grateful for her momma. At least Carly had been loved before the rug was pulled out from under her and the world went all wobbly.

Walking into the diner Carly led Sam over to a corner table that was out of the way but let her see everything going on. She handed the little girl a menu. "What would you like half pint?"

Sam looked it over and asked, "Can I have anything?"

Carly looked over her own menu and then nodded. "Sure, it's not an expensive place and we could use a treat."

"I wonder if they would put popcorn on the chocolate chip pancakes." Sam mused.

Carly looked at the girl oddly for a moment and then shook her head slightly as she chuckled. Sam could eat her weight in popcorn and never get tired of it. Carly really wasn't in a position to judge given her fondness for frozen pizza, the two foods were pretty much what the girls were living on. When the waitress came over Sam ordered the pancakes without popcorn while Carly ordered French toast. While they waited Carly looked around. There was a heavy set older woman behind the counter that she was watching closely. Sure enough someone coming in for their morning coffee called her Ruby.

Sam noticed Carly looking around so she carefully looked around too. When she saw the woman Carly was watching she whispered, "Is that her? The woman who forced your mom to give you away?"

Carly nodded. She'd shared a lot with Sam because she knew she could trust her. She wasn't like most ten year olds; she was use to keeping quiet because if she let something slip she could blow the con.

"She looks nice." Sam said as she watched the smiling woman. "She seems to know just about everyone."

"I guess so." Carly replied. "And if she does then we'll have to be extra careful around here. We don't want it getting back to her that we're snooping around." They stopped talking when their food came. The food was really good and both girls giggled and talked as they ate. For just that moment they were just what they seemed, two young girls enjoying time with their best friend. As they were finishing up Carly noticed a tall man with blondish, over permed, hair walk in. He went over to Ruby and kissed her cheek. Suddenly Carly's attention was solely on them rather then Sam. She heard the man call the older woman Aunt Ruby and then she heard the name she had burned into her brain, Barbara Jean. Carly frowned when their conversation became to low and whispered to hear from where she and Sam were sitting.

"Carly?" Sam said softly. "You ok?"

Carly turned to look at Sam as she replied, "I'm fine. Wow you must have been starved."

Sam giggled as she looked down at her empty plate. She wouldn't admit it to Carly but sometimes she really was that hungry, though she was use to it. Sometimes with Cody she only got a dollar hamburger for the day, or she and Danny would share a box of dry cereal. She knew that Carly would feel bad if she thought Sam was hungry, but she also knew they needed to stretch their money.

Luke had felt someone watching him and turned to look just as the girl in the corner looked away. He shrugged it off and went back to talking to Ruby about planning a party for Bobbie.

After paying the bill Carly and Sam headed for the park. Carly needed to think. What was she going to do now that they were there? Just walk up to this woman and say, "Hi, I'm your daughter, you know the one you threw away fifteen years ago?" She needed to figure out how to go about this. She needed to know more about this woman.

"Carly." Sam whispered. "There's a woman over there not paying attention. Should I grab her wallet?"

Carly blinked as Sam's voice pulled her out of her thoughts. "What? No, Sam, no we're good for now. Why don't you just go play?"

"Really?" Sam asked with a slightly confused look. They hadn't made any cash at all since arriving in Port Charles and Sam was wondering why. They couldn't have had that much extra cash on them.

Moments like this made Carly want to hurt Cody McCall. They were in a beautiful park and Sam's first instinct was to pick pockets, not to play on the swings or with the other kids? How sick was that? "Yes, really, go swing or something, be a normal ten year old for a while." She teased with a chuckle as she pushed Sam towards the play area.

Sam shrugged. "Ok." It was pretty clear that Carly wanted to be alone to think so Sam ran off to play. She went over to the swings and hopped on. A few minutes later a boy sat on the swing next to her and started swinging. She eyed him carefully from the corner of her eye.

"Hi." The boy said cheerfully, a smile on his lips.

Sam hesitated. "Um. Hi."

The boy smiled a little more, as if her were trying to put her at ease. "I'm Lucky."

Sam blinked. "Lucky about what?"

The boy smiled and shook his head. "No, my name is Lucky."

Sam scrunched her nose as she said, "That's a weird name."

Lucky continued giving her that almost roguish smile. "My real one is weirder. What's your name?"

"Sam." She answered.

"That's a boy's name." Lucky commented.

"Yeah well Lucky is a dog's name, or a cat's name, not a boy's name." Sam shot back.

Lucky laughed. "Good point." He paused a moment and then asked, "How high can you swing?"

"Higher then you!" Sam said and then giggled.

The two were having a good time seeing who could swing higher and jump off further until a very pretty blonde woman with stunning blue eyes called out, "Lucky! Come on honey it's time to go."

Lucky jumped off his swing. "That's my Mom, I have to go, bye Sam!"

Sam waved. "Bye Lucky." She jumped off her own swing and went over to Carly. "That was fun."

Carly smiled. "Good, I'm glad you had fun. Kids your age should have fun. You ready to go? I need to go back to the library and then stop by the hospital."

"Can I come with you?" Sam asked as she walked beside the older girl.

"To the library but I'm taking you back to the room after." Carly replied. She could see the girl began to protest but shook her head to cut her off. "I need to have a quick look around. It'll be easier on my own."

Sam sighed but nodded in understanding.

Walking the other way Laura smiled down at her son and asked, "Who were you playing with?"

Lucky smiled. "Sam."

"Does she go to school with you?" Laura asked.

Lucky shook his head. "No. I've never seen her before. She was nice though."

Laura nodded. There had been something oddly familiar about the girl but she'd just assumed she'd seen the girl at the school. "You ready to head over to Spoon Island to see Nicky?"

Lucky nodded and the two walked off.

According to the papers "Bobbie" Spencer-Jones was a nurse at General Hospital. She was married to a doctor named Anthony Jones and they had two kids; Barbara Jean "BJ" Jones, and a newborn adopted son named Lucas. This further fueled Carly's anger, especially the part where both of her new children were adopted. Her mother threw her away, walked away from her own flesh and blood daughter, but now she could be a mother to someone else's throwaways? What had been wrong with her? What had been wrong with Sam? Hell, what was wrong with this new little baby whose real mother didn't want him? How could a mother be so heartless?

After dropping Sam off at their room above Jake's Carly walked around the docks to cool off before heading over to General Hospital. It was a large enough hospital that no one noticed her roaming the halls. As she stepped off the elevator on the seventh floor she spotted what she was looking for, the woman whose picture she'd seen in newspaper clipping in the library. She was standing behind the nurses' desk writing in a file. She had wavy red hair and kept smiling at something the blonde chatty nurse beside her was saying. Carly moved carefully so she could watch her. She had a really nice smile, Carly thought for a second, then she remember that this was the woman who had tossed her away without a care in the world. When the woman looked up Carly saw her eyes, so bright and happy, they were the kind of hazel that was more brown and green then anything else. But despite the eye color, and the hair color, looking into this woman's face Carly could see her own looking back. It was a little staggering. Like most kids she'd looked for herself in her parents' faces, in their build, their heights, and so on. Until she'd been told she was adopted Carly couldn't understand why she couldn't see herself in either of her parents. But now, now she could see herself, she saw herself smiling, she saw the way her own nose crinkled when she laughed, and she could see the spark of something familiar in those eyes; the face and eyes of a stranger. Suddenly Carly couldn't breath and she tried to bolt but she ended up crashing into a cart.

"Oh!" Bobbie said as she saw the teen fall. She rushed over to her and smiled. "Sweetie, are you alright?"

Carly couldn't breath for a moment. Just like that, in the blink of an eye, the woman was there kneeling beside her, reaching out to help her up. She locked eyes with the woman and something inside her begged the woman to know, to just know who she was, and for a flicker of a second it felt as if something passed between them.

"Everyone ok?" Nurse Amy Vining asked as she walked over to join Bobbie and the fallen girl.

And just like that it was over and Carly was back in her right mind again. "Fine, I'm fine, I'm sorry I wasn't paying attention."

Bobbie smiled at the girl as she helped her up. "No harm done. Can I help you with something?"

Carly had to think quickly. "Um, no, thanks, I was just looking for, um blood lab?"

"You're on the wrong floor sweetie." Bobbie said as she pointed to the elevators. "Take those back down to three. When you get off go left and all the way down the hall then take a right. It's the first door after the turn."

"Thanks." Carly said as she managed to look embarrassed. She took one last look at Bobbie and then walked away.

When Carly got back to the room Sam couldn't wait to ask how things went. "Did you see her?"

"Yeah." Carly answered as she fell onto the bed.

Sam crawled over to her and sat close beside her. "Did you meet her?"

"Yeah." Carly answered as she put her arm over her head.

"Was she nice?" Sam asked.

"Yeah." Carly answered again.

Sam frowned. "Will you stop saying yeah? That's really annoying."

"Sorry." Carly said as she turned to look at Sam. "I saw her, I bumped into something and fell over and she came over to see if I was ok."

"What's she like? Is she pretty?" Sam asked.

Carly nodded. "She has red hair and brown green eyes and a nice smile."

That made Sam smile. "Did you tell her that you're her daughter?"

"No." Carly answered.

"Why not?" Sam asked with a frown.

"It isn't that easy Sam!" Carly snapped at the girl.

Sam put her hands on her hips, as she snapped back, "Why the hell isn't it?"

"Because it isn't!" Carly replied. "You just don't walk up to a perfect stranger and say something like that!"

"Well you have the proof right?" Sam asked just as hotly. She moved her hands from her hip to cross her arms over her chest. Then she unfolded one so she could point a finger at Carly. "You have a mom Carly! You should tell her! Don't be afraid and don't be stupid!"

"I'm not afraid of anything!" Carly argued. "And I'm not being stupid! I'm being careful! You know you can't rush a con!"

"This isn't a con!" Sam yelled as tears began to well in her big brown eyes. "This is your mom!"

The tears stopped Carly short. All her anger and hurt melted as she looked into the sadness of Sam's eyes. "Sammie?"

Sam huffed at the older girl and then ran into the bathroom and slammed the door. She slid down the door to sit in front of it. When Carly knocked she braced herself to keep the door from opening. "Go away!"

"Sam." Carly said through the door. "Sammie, I'm sorry, please come out and talk to me."

Sam shook her head as if Carly could see her through the door. "You get to have another mom, Carly, and you're going to blow it if you con her!"

"I don't care about me, Sammie." Carly told the girl through the door. "I don't need a mom, I'm grown, but you need one."

"I don't have one." Sam said sadly as tears rolled down her cheeks. "I've never had one, not really, Evelyn didn't want me, and she never loved me, she use to tell me all the time I was no kid of hers." Sam didn't know just how true that statement had been, she just thought her mom was being mean and hurtful.

Carly pressed her forehead against the door. "You have one, Sam, you have a mom. We just have to find her. That's why I need the money."

There was a long stretch of silence before the door cracked open. When Carly looked up Sam was standing there all red faced and puffy eyed. "I have a mom?" Sam asked. "But Evelyn died. Danny set the house on fire."

Carly sighed and shook her head. "She wasn't your mom, Sammie."

Sam frowned. "She wasn't?"

Carly shook her head. "I found your file at the home when I found mine. It said that Cody and Evelyn weren't your real parents." She paused. She hadn't planned on telling Sam until she'd found her mother. She didn't want the little girl to feel the way she felt.

"I was adopted?" Sam asked.

Carly nodded.

Fresh tears welled in Sam's eyes. "So, so no one wanted me. Not my real mom or dad and not Evelyn and not Cody. No one loved me."

"I do Sam." Carly said as she pulled the girl to her and hugged her tight. "I love you."

Sam hugged Carly back. She knew the older girl was telling her the truth because she loved Carly in return, and that's why she wanted Carly to be with her real mom. A real mom would love her. A real mom would take care of her. Sam wanted someone to love and take care of Carly because she did.

"Come on half pint." Carly said after a long moment. "Lets wash our faces and then head down to the movies. I'll teach you have to sneak in."

Sam sniffled and smiled. "I already now how."

"Ok," Carly said as she wiped at Sam's tears. "Then you can teach me how to sneak in."

"I can get us popcorn too." Sam said before going in to wash her face.

Carly wasn't sure how she was going to do it, but she was going to find Sam's mom, because she loved that little girl and she needed a home, a real one, not a cramped, crappy room above a bar.

And if she had to go as far as destroying her own birth mother's life to do it, she'd do it without hesitation.