Celebration sits at an all-time high in the Davis-Ashford apartment, with both families together in the limited space. Balloons, streamers, and other decorations in light shades of purple, pink, and white rest in the living room, brightening up the gray walls. Jasmine soaks it all in, a more relaxed grin on her face as she sits at the dining table, the seat of honor at the head set up just for her.

"Wow..." her eyes are wide, glancing between her father and grandmother, "This is…"

"Amazing?" TJ laughs, smiling wider when she nods, "You deserve it."

"Whose idea was it to pick the colors?"

"TJ's," Jordan answers, "He knew they were your favorite."

"You know me so well, huh?"

"I do," the young man nods, "and I hope you're not too busy this weekend, because you and I are going to see the Liberty play the Aces in Brooklyn."

"You really do know me so well!"

"Like the back of my hand," the trio laughs as a small crowd approaches them. Curtis and Portia stand shoulder-to-shoulder, while Trina flanks her mother on her left.

"Jasmine," Curtis swaps places with Jordan, who ventures out towards the living room, "it's nice to meet you. I'm Curtis," he then gestures to the mother and daughter, "This is my wife, Portia, and our daughter, Trina."

"You guys were at the hearing," Jasmine nods.

"They were," Portia bends down slightly, extending a hand, "but I wasn't. It's so nice to finally meet you!"

"How do you like living with TJ and Molly?" Trina takes a seat at the table.

"It's good!" the young girl beams, "My room's pretty much done, and they live by my school. They also make sure their jobs don't bleed over into family time."

"You're welcome," Portia winks, "and I'm sure Molly worked something out with DA Scorpio?"

"She did, but you'd have to ask her for the details."

"What do you guys do?" Jasmine scans her relatives' faces.

"I run a bar called The Savoy," Curtis answers.

"I'm one of the two Chiefs of Staff at the hospital your dad works at," Portia follows with.

"And I work at the Jerome Gallery," Trina replies, "When I'm not there, I have classes at PCU."

"That's cool," Jasmine says, "I like that you guys do different things, and it all sounds great!"

"It is great," Trina claps her hands together, "just as great as getting another member of the Ashford family!"

"I know you and TJ are close," Curtis begins, "but what about you and Molly?"

"We're working on it. She's looked up braiding styles for my hair and she's been cooking a lot. I got her to buy meat!"

"There is progress, I promise," TJ nods, "It's a little awkward, but it's meaningful."

"She got Molly to break her veganism?" Portia asks.

"...No, but whatever Jasmine wants, she gets."

"Absolutely."

Molly clasps her hands together as she stands behind the Ashfords, Alexis and Sam to her left and right, respectively.

"Jazz," she says, "this is your Grandma Alexis and your Aunt Sam."

"I know you've seen me before," Alexis nods, "but not your aunts."

"Or your cousins," Sam replies, pointing to Danny and Scout on the sofa, "who are over there."

"Gotcha," Jasmine stands up and rushes to them, grins on their faces as they all proceed to chat.

"So," TJ clears his throat, "uh, is it just you two?"

"Kristina's on her way," Alexis answers.

"No Dex or Ciara?" Trina questions.

"Unfortunately no. Ciara's been dealing with an ear infection, and Dex developed a fever last night."

"Poor baby," Portia frowns, "She's too young to be dealing with that."

"I don't disagree. Dex took her to the ER a couple days ago and got her some medicine. Of course, him being around a sick baby caused him to get sick-"

"And since he's still got the pathogen, he's probably feeling like crap," TJ frowns, "That sucks."

"They're sick and Kristina's coming here?" Curtis asks.

"She hasn't been around them," Sam says, "and she's just dropping off a gift."

As if on cue, a few knocks sound off at the door. Molly moves across the space, opening the structure to see her elder sister on the other end, a blue mask on her face. Stella and Marshall stand on either side of her.

"Hey," Molly hugs the older adults, "I'm glad you could make it."

"Apologies for running late," Marshall replies, "Traffic built up on the highway."

"We got here at the same time as Kristina," Stella continues, "so we all walked up together," she turns to the aforementioned young woman, "I'm sorry about your family."

"It's okay," Kristina replies, the mask slightly muffling her voice, "Ciara's doing alright with the antibiotics, and Dex is tough. He'll get through this."

"How long are you staying?" Molly asks as Stella and Marshall pass them by. Kristina watches them hug Jasmine tight.

"Not long," she holds up a sparkling orange bag before walking inside, "We got Jasmine a little gift and I wanted to congratulate her on joining the family. Then I'll be out of your hair."

"Kristina, hi!" Jasmine beams, catching her attention from the sofa. The pair exchange hugs when she sits down, "I'm glad you came! Where's…?"

"Uncle Dex and your cousin, Ciara? They're not feeling too good today, but they wanted me to tell you that they're happy for you," Kristina hands the bag over, "I got you this!"

"Oh…" Jasmine pulls out a lavender journal with white stars and pink hearts decorating the leather, "A journal?"

"It helped me in my coming out journey, and I know this move is probably still a little crazy for you. I think it'll help you process everything."

"It's really nice; thank you," they hug again, "and tell Uncle Dex and Ciara that I'd love to meet them soon!"

"Will do. Enjoy your party!"

Kristina gets to her feet, moving towards the door. TJ replaces Molly at the spot, giving her a flat smile.

"Thanks, Kristina," he says, "I'm sure you're paying Dex and Ciara a visit?"

"I am. Ciara's doing okay, mostly, but Dex isn't."

"If he needs anything, let me know."

"Will do," Kristina nods, turning away from the apartment. Her journey to her car, and eventually the penthouse, is as smooth as she hoped it'd be. Tony nods at her, unlocking the front door and letting her in.

"Dex?" Kristina calls out as she sets her bag down on the credenza, "Hello?"

Silence.

"Guys?" she calls out again, walking up the stairs. A familiar anxiety sits in the pit of her stomach, but she fights it off when she opens the bedroom door. Dex lays stomach-down in the master bed, his face half-buried in the pillow. A plethora of sweat on his skin makes it glisten in the bright sunlight.

"Hey, Dex," Kristina sits on the bed, trying to catch his back rising and falling. It barely appears, and she moves to shake him awake, "I'm here; wake up."

"Mm," he hums, turning further into the pillow.

"Come on, baby," she coos, stroking his hair.

"Krissy…?" he groans, his eyes fluttering open.

"How are you feeling?"

"Awful," he bursts into a coughing fit. She jumps back a bit, scrambling off of the bed and into the bathroom. She takes the electronic thermometer from the medicine cabinet, returning to the bedroom to use it.

"Hm," she sighs as it beeps for completion, "104.1 degrees."

"Oh good," he whines, his voice cracking, "it's gotten worse."

"Maybe we should take you to the hospital."

"I'm okay. It's just the pathogen, and plus, it's only a fever: nothing that sleep, water, and medicine can't handle."

"...Okay," Kristina lets out a sigh, "And Ciara?"

"I…put her down for a nap about an hour ago…" Dex feels himself drifting off. Kristina jostles him in response, and his eyes open up again, "She's…doing better…"

"That's good," Kristina turns Dex onto his back, noting how flushed his face is. She goes back into the bathroom and returns with a towel drenched in cold water.

"Oh," Dex purrs as she rests the item on his forehead, "that's nice. Thank you."

"How did you get sick? I thought ear infections weren't contagious."

"I think she got a virus," he sighs, "I'm just glad she got antibiotics before it got worse. Better for me to suffer than her. I just feel bad that we couldn't go to Jasmine's party."

"Once you get better, I'm sure something can be set up," Kristina then awkwardly reclines against the headboard, "Well, you got me for the day, and considering your…condition, there's not much to do."

"Yeah. I mean, I can't sleep, so I guess we can talk."

"What do you want to talk about?"

"I don't know. It hurts too much to think," he tries to shake his head, "but…uh…how about…" miscellaneous voices that belong to his paternal family, Tracy's being the most prominent, scratch at him with a severity he can't shake, "my dad."

"Are you sure?" Kristina sighs, wincing at Dex's nod, "Okay, what about AJ?"

"Did you know him?"

"I unfortunately did. He kidnapped me and my brothers and kept us away from my dad and Carly."

"What?" Dex lifts his head up, keeping the towel in place, "Did he hurt you?"

"No, no, not physically, but the fear and craziness of getting kidnapped definitely stuck with us."

"Why did he do that?"

"There was this…ongoing feud between the three of them. It was really messy and volatile, and it pretty much ended when he died."

"When Sonny killed him."

Kristina stares at the young man, whose face was as firm as his response, speechless.

"Carly helped him cover it up," he continues.

"...It's not as bad as you're making it sound."

"Your dad killed my dad, Kristina."

"He had to; AJ was a monster. I don't know what the Qs told you about him, but if you knew even half the things that man did, you'd get why my dad put him down."

"Put him down? He's not a dog!"

"Dex, trust me, he was evil, and no amount of Quartermaine whitewashing will change that."

"They didn't act like he was some saint; Tracy made sure to label him as, and I quote, a 'deranged alcoholic with a proclivity for crime.'"

"She's not wrong."

"She also told me what happened to him: Sonny shot him in cold blood and then he and Carly covered it up. That's not the behavior of two people dealing with a monster."

"She hates my dad and Carly, so of course she'd act like his death was unjustified."

"Is she wrong, though? Is that what happened?"

"It's an exaggerated version of what happened," Kristina sits straight up, "Why are you getting so defensive about this? You never met him."

"And that's the issue," Dex forces himself to sit up, his back against the headboard, "I don't know him, and I'll never get the chance to know him. I'm getting second-hand accounts from biased parties."

"AJ was not some flawed, misunderstood guy, okay? Yes, I'm biased, and the Qs are biased, but we're not lying to you. And before you say it," she lifts a hand up, "as crazy as her description is, she's not wrong."

"It's just…tough," Dex lets out a sigh, "I find out my dad is someone else, and I don't get a chance to meet him because he was murdered. Not only that, but Sonny, someone I revered, was the one who killed him, so I have to reconcile that too. I get that you feel what you feel about AJ, but…I don't know. I just can't bring myself to feel the same way."

"...I'm going to check on Ciara," Kristina hastily gets to her feet, marching out of the master bedroom, slamming the door behind her. He lets out a rough sigh, flopping back onto the bed. His phone buzzes in the shelf within the headboard, wincing at Spinelli's contact flashing on the screen.

"Hello?" Dex coughs into the phone.

"Oh, is this a bad time?" Spinelli asks, "I can call back when you're not feeling under the weather."

"No, it's okay. What's up?"

"I have an update on that search you asked me to conduct."

"Oh…" Dex gulps, "What is it?"

"Cazador is the organization tied to the business card you found; we've established that. In looking for further information, I had to employ some…assistance from the dark web."

"Okay, and?"

"I managed to get past the firewall. I assumed it'd be more difficult, considering how covert the organization is, but I guess not. I stumbled upon something quite…fascinating."

"And that would be…?"

"It's a file that notes the assassination, complete with records, agent information, everything you'd conceivably think would show up."

"I see…" Dex winces again, a mix of pain and fear in his action, "I assume you found the name of the shooter?"

"Sort of. I found their badge number: 71524."

Crap, the young man thinks to himself, Of course it's him.

"I can't find names since it's all labeled by numbers, but besides that one, there's 11724, 21324, and 6822."

His lackeys, Dex shakes his head.

"Hm, there's actually one more: 5896," Spinelli hums, the speaker barely registering the sound of his fingers against his keyboard, "The number doesn't appear in any recent logs, certainly not in the one dated for the shooting. I wonder if that's the shooter?"

"...Could be," Dex forces his response out, "Where does it cut off?"

"About midway through November 2024. The shooting happened in January."

"Ah," his voice cracks, "Is there anything in the log about the plot or…?"

"Just meeting times and miscellaneous shorthand notes. No mention of this agent from what I can see. I'll keep looking into it, though. Maybe the initials and related jargon is meant to relay what was discussed."

"Maybe."

"I'll let you know what I uncover the more I dig into it. Thanks for answering my call, Dexter. We'll talk soon, and I send my well wishes for your recovery!"

"Thanks, Spinelli," Dex coughs, hanging up almost immediately. He runs a hand down his face, going between the bottom of the towel to his chin. He keeps the object in place as best he can while turning onto his left side. A heavy exhaustion sits on him, suffocating him into submission. He's deep into slumber when Kristina opens the bedroom door, letting out a gentle sigh at his posture.

"My two sick babies…" she mutters, approaching him from his back. She gently strokes his hair, sweat touching her fingers, "Ciara's sleeping well. Those antibiotics are definitely working."

She then moves to the other side of the bed and sits down. She clears her throat, opening her mouth to speak, "...I'm sorry for rushing out earlier. I don't blame you for being on the fence about your dad and what my dad did to him. Everything's been really tough and complicated for you, and me snapping at you doesn't help."

Dex stirs quietly, picking up her speech, "AJ was very, very flawed, and him dying at the hands of my dad was pretty much inevitable. Everything between them and Carly was super messy and complex. It doesn't make the fact of you losing him easier to swallow, but…it is what it is."

She turns to smile at him, his ears and eyes twitching as she continues to speak, "We love each other, and while we shouldn't keep secrets from each other, we shouldn't invalidate each other either. He's your dad regardless of who he was, and you deserve the space to process that and make up your mind about it. We can talk about it more when you feel better…if you want to."

She scoots onto the bed, planting a kiss onto his damp cheek, failing to notice the faint stream of tears nearby? before letting her bare feet touch the hardwood floor, "I love you, Dex. Sleep well. If you need anything, I'll be downstairs."