This came about as a birthday fic for my friend Kel :)



It was out of character behavior, and Sonny knew it. Normally, if he wanted to buy a gift for Carly, he'd describe what he wanted and send one of his men to pick it up, or he'd ask the merchant to come to him. But for some reason, when he'd thought about buying something to celebrate the baby, he'd decided to stop in at the little kid's boutique with the very big price tags on his own. Even as he'd made the decision, Sonny wondered why he seemed almost compelled to go, but he dismissed his thoughts and followed his instincts.

The store was filled with clothes and toys and blankets and furniture and every possible accessory you could need to fill a nursery. Sonny strolled in and began looking around, not even sure what he wanted, just positive he felt the urge to buy something. His wandering soon found him in a section filled with pastel sleepers and very small dresses, and though they were adorable, Sonny shook his head and went to move back into the boy section. It was a boy; he knew it in his gut. A son.

He turned to head back up the aisle and that's when he saw her. She was standing over an aisle, her back mostly to him, but he had a slight view of her profile. Alexis was holding a beautiful lavender baby dress in her hand, but unlike most of the other mothers, who were looking at things to try and decide if they liked them, Alexis was staring at the dress as if doing so would conjure an image of her baby wearing it for her. Sonny watched as she reverently drew her fingers over the little hand-sewn flowers on the bodice of the dress and then, as Alexis pulled the dress to her, holding it against her chest, almost hugging it. That's when he saw her close her eyes, and watched as a tear ran down her cheek.

Sonny realized after two steps that he'd started toward her the moment he saw that she was crying, but he stopped just as suddenly, knowing that his presence and his concern would only make her feel worse. Since when did anything he did or said bring comfort to her or vice versa? Every time they saw each other now, it seemed one or both of them ended up in tears. No, if she knew he had seen her grieving for the child who was presently lost to her, she would only feel more victimized than she already did.

A salesgirl walked up and addressed Alexis, startling her, and prompting Sonny to move back so that Alexis wouldn't catch sight of him. Still a master at covering her emotions, Alexis flashed a forced smile at the salesgirl, returned the dress to the rack, and then nearly dashed toward the door of the store.

'Move, Corinthos.'

The words sounded in his mind, a command, not a request, and Sonny followed it. He kept his distance, though considering how visibly upset she was, there was little chance Alexis even sensed she was being tailed. Meanwhile, as he followed her down the city streets, Sonny wondered what the hell he was doing. He and Alexis weren't a part of each other's lives anymore. No, it didn't make him happy to see her so sad, but it wasn't his business. They weren't friends. She wasn't even his lawyer anymore.

'What the hell am I doing?' he thought to himself as he watched Alexis turn and start down a very familiar pathway.

He continued to follow her, ignorant of the fact that he'd left Johnny in his wake and that his paranoid bodyguard was following along in the car on the street, watching to see what had made his employer bolt from the store. Johnny was both mystified and intrigued by what he was seeing. No one thought Sonny even thought about Ms. Davis anymore, and yet here he was, following her like...well, like Johnny often followed Sonny, in a protective mode.

When Ms. Davis headed into the park, Johnny headed for the nearest parking space and jogged so he could get a position a few feet behind Sonny, who was still on a dogged and determined mission to find out where his former friend and attorney was headed, and Johnny kept pace, equally curious as to why they were taking this detour.

All movement stopped when Alexis walked off of the pathway and over to a large tree, which she molded her body to and then peeked around, trying to stay concealed. That's when Sonny, who had taken up a similar stance to stay hidden from Alexis, followed her line of sight and saw what she was looking at.

Ned...and Skye...and Kristina. The two adults were laying on a blanket, playing with the baby and looked, to all the world, like the picture of the happy family. Only they weren't a family, Sonny thought...they were whatever Ned and Skye were and Alexis' baby.

He had avoided news about Alexis since their last encounter at the penthouse. He didn't want anyone telling him what was going on with her therapy or her custody case because he'd announced to everyone, his wife, his men, everyone, that it didn't matter to him. But now Sonny stood watching Alexis longing for her little girl while a woman who had no right to her was rocking the baby to sleep on a beautiful spring day in the park.

He'd been wrong. It mattered.

Sonny turned and looked back to where he knew Johnny would somehow be, despite his disappearing act at the store, and a small wave brought his bodyguard to his location.

"Call Jason. Tell him I need to see him right away. And call Max. Get him down here to meet me. I want you to make sure she gets home."

Johnny nodded, and walked back up the path a ways so he could make his calls and stay out of public view. Max arrived and Sonny headed off to see Jason, but only after he gave a stern warning to Johnny.

"Don't let her see you."

He didn't. Johnny stood there in the park as Ms. Davis watched Ashton pack up the blanket and the basket they had brought. The guard grimaced as Skye kissed the top of Kristina's head, an action that started a new wave of tears for his protectee. Johnny had never liked Ned Ashton. He liked him even less now.

The silent sentry watched over his charge until she walked, shoulders slumped, through the door of her own apartment. He listened for the click of the locks, and then, having done all he could do, Johnny returned to penthouse four.

*****

Jason stood off to the side of the living room, waiting for Sonny to finish his call. Roy was having problems in Miami, and Sonny was getting ready to head down there in order to quell the unrest that the men were feeling...a trickle down from recent events in Port Charles.

While his friend gave orders to DiLucca, Jason regarded Sonny with a curious eye. He had no idea why he'd just spent the last few hours tracking down the information he had, and Jason had to admit, he wanted to know what was behind it. Sonny had barely spoken Alexis' name in weeks, and now Jason had been told to work exclusively on gathering the facts Sonny wanted on what was happening in Alexis' life. It was an odd and sudden turn.

"So?" Sonny said as he hung up the phone, his full attention instantly turning to Jason.

"Nikolas isn't around and none of the Cassadine faithful are people who'd talk to us, so all I could come up with was Dara."

"Dara?" Sonny asked. "She didn't think it was strange that you wanted to know about Alexis?"

"Well, I had a legitimate excuse to go see her. Dara never billed me for work she did defending Brenda and me at trial, so I dropped by to settle up," Jason explained.

"Let me know how much it was, I'll cover it."

Jason shrugged at Sonny's words. "No need. The reason Dara didn't bill me is because Alexis paid her."

Sonny rubbed his chin and nodded as he thought about what Jason had said. It was not only classic Alexis, to pay back a debt she felt she owed, but it proved he was right...Alexis had faked her defense to try and stay out of prison. Unfortunately, what had been brilliant strategy had backfired on her.

"Anyway," Jason continued, "I asked her how things were going with Alexis, if there was any chance she was gonna get Kristina back soon."

"And?"

Jason's face turned grim, and Sonny knew the answer. "Apparently Skye has talked Ned into filing for permanent sole custody."

Sonny turned away, his softly uttered, "damn it," barely audible. After a moment to regain his composure, he looked back toward Jason.

"Did Dara say what her chances were?"

"Alexis is fighting all alone, Ned's got the whole Quartermaine family behind him and Baldwin on the family payroll. What do you think?"

Sonny knew, and he felt sick as he thought about any child being trapped in the Quartermaine house for life. "You asked about Stefan?"

Jason nodded. "He dropped off the radar not long after Alexis' sister died. No one knows where he is."

"Well, we're gonna find him," Sonny declared. "You get hold of every contact we have in Europe and track him down. Keep it quiet, and when you find him, you tell me and only me where he is."

The two men standing in penthouse four had been on shaky ground for months. Part of the disagreement had come from Jason questioning Sonny's decisions. It might be dangerous to do so now, but Jason felt like he needed to know why they were getting involved in this after so long.

"Sonny, what's going on?"

His boss looked at him, saying nothing, and Jason shrugged. "You said Alexis was out of your life."

"She was," Sonny said quickly, then, realizing what he'd said, he corrected himself. "She is. It's just, you know, there's wrong and there's wrong, and this..."

"I doubt she'd want you involved," Jason observed, and Sonny nodded.

"I know. It's just...you know, Jason, she hurt me and I wanted to hurt her back, and I did. But this is...this is too much. I gotta do something."

"Sonny," Jason said, feeling a need to point out the obvious, "if Carly..."

"I'm not," Sonny spoke and then realized how loud his voice had become. He calmed, and then he went on. "I'm not doing anything but trying to give her a level playing field, okay? Ned will have the Qs, Alexis will have the Cassadines, and whatever happens happens."

Jason remained unconvinced. Sonny was trying to minimize what he was doing, but the truth was he was taking a huge chance. Baldwin was already out for Sonny's blood. If he found out Sonny was helping Alexis, who he also seemed intent on destroying, his campaign to throw Sonny in prison was likely to pick up steam. And that was nothing compared to the consequences of Carly finding out. But Jason also knew that Sonny had made up his mind, and there was no changing it, so he started toward the door.

"I'll let you know something when I do," Jason said, then he walked out.

Alone, Sonny wandered over to the bar and poured himself a finger of scotch. Drink in hand, he plopped down on the sofa. He slung back the liquor, letting its warmth run down his throat, and then he leaned back his head, sighing.

Jason was right, of course, and Sonny knew it. If Carly found out he was lifting a finger to help Alexis, all hell would break loose, and there's was no telling the impact it could have on Alexis' case if his name somehow became linked with hers again. All of which begged the question of why...why was he really doing it?

But he knew why, deep down. He knew why because of what he'd realized in that store... that every time they saw each other they BOTH ended up in tears. Sonny didn't cry over people that didn't matter to him, and he knew it. So he could say she was dead to him, push her away, slam doors in her face, he could do all these things and it didn't change the truth of the words he'd thought to himself earlier that day.

It mattered.

*****

The peace of the Mediterranean Sea greeted Stefan Cassadine as he woke and headed above deck. He had dropped anchor on his sailboat [I]Chloe's Hope[/I] out in the middle of nowhere four days earlier, tired of porting at the various Greek Islands and just ready for some alone time, though, in truth, his life had been little more than alone time for months now.

He kept trying to reconnect with his center, with a memory of who he had been. It was why he'd left Milan headed to Greece days after word reached him that his baby sister had died. He couldn't go back to Port Charles. He'd wanted to, knew he needed to, but Stefan had not been able to do so. He couldn't bear to watch Alexis grieve. It had been cowardly, and Stefan was ashamed of himself, but still, he could not make himself return.

Stefan knew it was his guilt that was paralyzing him, keeping him from returning to the two people who needed him. His own selfishness had driven him from Port Charles. Nikolas had not been ready to run the family, yet Stefan had cast the mantle upon him. Not that he blamed Nikolas for what happened. The boy had been raised to rule but he had yet to understand how far you had to go to protect what you loved from the dangers of the world. A man like Luis Alcazar should have never gotten within 15 feet of his sister...but he had, and he had stolen her life away.

The sun was shining brightly, and Stefan laid back on the deck, just staring up into the sky. Chloe was looking down on him, he could feel it. And he knew she was disappointed in him. He needed to go home. He needed to face his mistake. So he stayed there, soaking up the sun, willing himself to head into port, drive to an airport, and get on a plane.

A sudden explosion of sound ended his silent morning contemplation. Stefan sat up and looked starboard in time to see a sleek, very expensive speedboat heading his direction. He had no idea where it had come from, but the purpose of its appearance became obvious quickly as the engines were killed and the vessel pulled alongside Stefan's craft.

"Cassadine, we need to talk."

Stefan walked closer to the boat, the voice familiar to him, but not instantly recognizable. He shielded his eyes with his hand to try and see his visitor better. The moment Stefan realized who was on the boat, his jaw dropped.

"Corinthos? What the hell..."

The boat pilot threw a line to Stefan, who emerged from his surprised stupor long enough to tie the line to his sailboat. The secure line helped draw the speedboat even closer, and Stefan extended his hand to help this intruder from Port Charles aboard.

"You're a hard man to find," Sonny said as he gained his footing on the deck. He had been in Miami, about to head home when Jason called.

[i]"We've found him, sort of. He's sailed out of Corfu about a week ago. We have a rough estimate of where he should be. [/i]

By the time Sonny had made up an excuse up for Carly that he had to head to the casinos for a few days and made his way to Corfu, the location had become more definite thanks to two helicopters that had flown out to track Stefan's course. And now here he was.

"What are you doing here, Corinthos?"

"You need to come home," Sonny said simply. "Your sister needs you."

Stefan's brows knitted together as he regarded Sonny. "Alexis asked you to come find me?"

"No, no, she didn't." Sonny walked over and sat down on the padded bench to his left. Stefan followed. "In fact, if I were you, I wouldn't mention me at all when you see her."

"What the hell is going on, Corinthos? I've checked in with a few contacts. No one mentioned Alexis having any troubles to me."

"Because they were ordered not to."

"That's absurd," Stefan practically roared out the words as he stood, using his height to loom over Sonny. Sonny remained unfazed and relaxed despite the attempt at intimidation.

"IF my sister needed me, she would get word to me."

Sonny shook his head. He had no idea why it was Alexis hadn't reached out to her brother, but he knew she had made a mistake in not doing so. She needed his power and his love.

"Look, that's for you and Alexis to discuss, but I'm telling you, you need to get home. She needs you."

Stefan stared at Sonny for a long moment and he saw within the man a tumult of emotions. Anger, regret, sadness...but mostly he saw real concern. That told him Corinthos wasn't exaggerating. Alexis was in trouble. Moving quickly, Stefan walked a few paces up the deck and addressed the pilot of Sonny's speedboat.

"Can you handle her?" he asked, motioning toward [I]Chloe's Hope.[/I]

In Greek, the man assured him that he could and moved to scramble up onto the sailboat... Decision made, Stefan ducked down below to gather the few things he needed and then returned topside.

"Let's go. Your man can bring my boat in. I'll make arrangements back on shore for her to be docked."

Nodding, Sonny followed Stefan to where they could climb down into the speedboat. Within minutes, the men were speeding toward land and toward an airplane headed back to Port Charles.

*****

The living room of Alexis Davis' apartment lay in darkness, and the woman herself could be found huddled on the couch, her body curled into a tight ball, where she had cried herself to sleep once again. It was the latest night of so many that Alexis had lost count. All she knew was that she was tired of hurting and tired of missing, and that she wasn't sure how much more she could take.

Today had been the last straw really. She had gone to her visit with Kristina and found Ned and Skye posing for an engagement photo. That Ned was too blind to see the woman's obvious manipulations was bad enough. But that he would do what he'd done today, knowing he had no real right to Kristina, it had devastated her.

In her anguished rest, Alexis turned, the legal papers she had read again and again in disbelief, still held tightly in her hand against her chest. Full, sole legal custody...Ned had really filed the paperwork, and he wanted Alexis barred from seeing Kristina.

Dara had tried to be encouraging, but Alexis had learned enough about family law representing Jason and Sonny in Michael's numerous custody hearings to know that there was not only a good chance Ned would get custody, but that his request to keep Alexis away would be granted.

She was trapped. The only thing she could do to head Ned and Skye off was to reveal the truth about Kristina's paternity, but all Alexis could envision as the result of her announcement would be Judge Farmer handing her baby girl over to Sonny and Carly, who would, most likely, also bar Alexis from seeing her.

Every moment of her existence had been focused on protecting her baby since she'd learned she was going to be a mother, and now Alexis felt as if it had all been for nothing. She had endured it all, even the loss of her precious sister, just to see her daughter stripped out of her life.

For the first time, the fight had gone out of Alexis. She simply couldn't see a way to make this work out for her and her daughter. Jax had sided against her, Nikolas was traipsing around the world with his brother and Cameron had thrown up his hands in frustration. It was over.

"It's okay, Little One. I'm here now."

The sound of her brother's voice filled her dream, and Alexis sniffled, unaware that she was actually crying in her sleep or that, as she lay there letting out anguished sobs, the door to her apartment had opened and closed.

"I've lost her," Alexis said aloud, and Stefan, whose heart was breaking at the sight of his sister's clear torment reached out and placed his hand against her head, smoothing her hair back from her face.

"No, you haven't. I promise. We'll bring Kristina home."

Her exhaustion and her grief would not allow Alexis to wake, but Stefan's touch and presence seemed to be enough to aid her into a more gentle rest. He stood and eased the papers from her hand, then he pulled the blanket she kept on the back of the couch down and spread it over her.

Corinthos had filled him in on what had happened in his absence, and though he was less than forthcoming about why it was, exactly, that Alexis had moved out of her apartment and severed her business ties with him, Stefan had sensed Corinthos was telling him as much as he could about the rest of Alexis' situation. Every word of it had added to the mantle of guilt Stefan already bore heavily on his shoulders. How could he not have known this? How could he not have been there for her? And worse yet, what had made Alexis order the family's confidants to not tell him, a fact he confirmed after a few angry phone calls once they reached land.

As they had waited for the jet to be refueled, Stefan had made a half-dozen other calls. He had found out where Nikolas was, if not what his nephew was doing, and left a message ordering the younger man home. The family's legal team had contacted three different private investigators to begin work on dismantling those who were trying to keep Alexis' child from her. He also placed a call to an old friend who had returned to the states recently and who, Stefan knew, was the perfect foil for a business scheme he was already cooking up. Dorian was thrilled to hear from him, and anxious for more details, which he promised to deliver soon. Still, the most important thing he needed to do was the hardest to accomplish, and that was get home.

Finally, the journey was over, and as Stefan had risen to disembark from the plane, he had stared hard at the man who had come to find him.

"You hurt my sister, didn't you?"

Corinthos had looked at him a long time, and then he had lowered his eyes. "We hurt each other."

Stefan had been tempted to press the issue, and he would at a later time, but he'd pushed those thoughts aside and rushed to the address Corinthos had given him. He'd been about to knock on the door when he heard his sister sobbing inside. A $500 bill had convinced the super to open the door, and Stefan had entered to find her as she was on the couch.

Now, standing in her living room and watching her sleep, Stefan stared down at the papers in his hand. Ned Ashton had gone too damn far, and he was about to find out what happened to anyone that dared cross a Cassadine.

"Kristina."

Stefan turned at Alexis' cry and saw she had woken from what was obviously a bad dream. She was sitting up now, a bit disoriented and trying to get her bearings. Moving carefully so he didn't startle her, Stefan made his way to the sofa and knelt down beside it.

"Alexis."

Her eyes rocketed towards him after he spoke her name and he watched as Alexis blinked, trying to decide if he was real or not. Stefan smiled and reached for her hand, clasping it within his.

"The prodigal returns," he said softly.

"Stefan?" Alexis questioned, and he brought her hand to his lips and placed a gentle kiss to it.

"See? Real. Late in my return, perhaps, but I am here now."

He had hoped his words would make her smile, but instead, she dissolved into tears, and Stefan pulled her into his arms as her voice turned small and quiet against his shoulder.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. It was my fault."

Stefan tried to soothe her, but Alexis continued to cry, her body shaking against his as he held her tight.

"Alexis, it's all right."

"No, it's not," she cried out, "It was my fault. She died because of me."

There was no doubting who "she" was. Stefan eased up onto the couch, pulling Alexis into his lap as he cradled her against him.

"The only person responsible for what happened to our sister was Luis Alcazar."

"No," she said, shaking her head against his chest, her hands balling into fists in his jacket. "It was me. If I hadn't lied. God, if I hadn't lied none of this...oh, God..."

As her breakdown intensified, Stefan could do little more than tighten his hold on her as he tried to reason with her even in her emotional state. As he rocked her, he thought back to the plane ride with Corinthos.

[I]"You're telling me that Alexis slept with Ashton even though he was with Kristina?"

"Yeah," Sonny said.

Stefan's let out a huff and rolled his eyes. "You believe this?"

"Well," Sonny began, clearly thrown by Stefan's shocked question, "yes, I believe it. She said it, I saw them together and there are DNA tests that prove that Ashton is the baby's father."

"Why, exactly, would my sister need DNA tests to prove the paternity of her baby's father?"[/I]

The question had gone unanswered on the plane, Corinthos quickly changing the subject, but Stefan had been bothered by that detail from then on. It just made no sense. Alexis was long since through with Ashton, and Stefan refused to believe that she had turned to him in any weak moment, and certainly knew she would never do so because of Kristina's involvement with the man. How anyone had been sold such a story amazed him.

The evasive answers he'd gotten about why his sister had ended her relationship with Corinthos coupled with the ridiculous notion of her having a one-night stand with Ashton told Stefan all he needed to know to understand what his sister was punishing herself for now. It was perhaps the one bad side to Alexis' sense of justice and right and wrong. She couldn't see that she had simply been human... that she had lied because she'd had no other solution.

"Oh, Alexis," he whispered, "when will you forgive yourself the way you forgive everyone else? You've certainly paid more than enough for any wrong you did."

She had finally calmed enough to pull back from his embrace and look up into the pool of love and kindness she found in her brother's eyes. Alexis had thought to see only anger and reproach in those eyes the next time she saw them. She had never imagined...

"You don't know what I did, Stefan," she said, still determined to convict herself. "I lied to her and she found out, that's why she went to that warehouse. That's why..."

"Enough," he said, his hand rising to help silence her. "Alexis, you were trying to protect your child. Kristina would have understood that, just as I understand that."

He could tell from the questioning express on her face that Alexis heard in his words that that he knew her secret. Stefan gave her a small smile and reached out to wipe away a few tears from her left cheek.

"I've known you almost your whole life. And had I been here, I would have told you to keep the secret as well. I might have tried to find a better solution..."

His attempt at humor fell flat and Alexis cast her eyes down. The fingers of one hand began to nervously play with the rings she wore on the other, and in her silence, another level of understanding dawned for Stefan. Letting out a sigh, he reached over and lifted her chin with his hand.

"This is why you refused to let anyone call me? You thought that I blamed you for what happened?"

Fresh moisture pooled against her eyelids and Alexis fought to hold it back. "When I called to tell you and you said to go ahead with the service without you, I thought..."

Stefan didn't wait for any further words. He folded her back into his arms, his hand stroking her hair.

"No, Little One, no. Me...it was me I blamed for leaving you. I left you all unprotected."

"You couldn't have known," Alexis said, cheek resting against her brother's shoulder.

"Neither could you, Alexis. Neither could you."

She knew he was right. Had she had any inkling of the cost of her lies, at even the cost of her involvement with Sonny, of course she would have made different choices. But there had been no crystal ball to help her navigate her course.

Finally, Stefan felt Alexis rally a bit of her strength. He sat back, and grinning at her, finally won a small smile from his sister.

"Now, I have a battalion of lawyers gathering at Wyndemere. How about we head home and figure out how to get my niece back where she belongs?"

*****

When he heard that the hearing was happening, Sonny had told himself to stay away. He had, after all, done all that he could. Stefan had returned home and seemingly swept the Port Charles membership of the "Destroy Alexis Davis" club from view. Judge Farmer had been transferred to night court. Scott Baldwin was suddenly up to his ears in investigators combing over every piece of evidence from every case he had tried since becoming D.A. Edward Quartermaine was fending off a takeover bid from a company run out of Llanview, Pennsylvania called "BD Kramer Incorporated," an upstart that had begun with a mysterious influx of capital and seemed to be determined to buy up every last share of ELQ stock they could find.

Meanwhile, the case that had once seemed so airtight for Ned Ashton and his fiancée Skye Quartermaine begun to disintegrate around them. Ms. Quartermaine's checkered past as one Skye Chandler wasn't hard to unearth, and a host of people, from her former half-sister Hayley Santos to her ex-lover Max Holden were willing to come forth and testify about it. The whole Quartermaine clan had paled when they saw the witness list Dara Jensen presented to them. It included Lois Cerullo, Jimmy Lee Holt and Justus Ward.

Emily had related all of this to Jason, who passed on the information to Sonny.

"I get why they'd call Lois," Sonny had said, "since she doesn't want her kid anywhere near the Quartermaines, but why Justus and this Holt guy?"

"Well, you know Edward is Justus' grandfather."

"Yeah," Sonny nodded, "'cause Edward had a thing with Mary Mae."

"Right. Well, apparently Jimmy Lee Holt is yet another of Edward's illegitimate kids."

Sonny had shaken his head as he thought about the Q family landscape. "That family is something else, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Jason agreed, "see why I don't want any part of it?"

Sonny did see, and he hoped that Kristina Davis wouldn't have to have any part of it, either. Alexis had seemed snowballed under a few weeks earlier, but now, with the support of her family, she had rebounded.

Maybe it was that, the chance to see her as herself again, to see her fighting for something she believed in...maybe that's what had drawn him to the courthouse today. Or maybe, Sonny thought, it was just that he had to be sure. He had to know that this one wrong had somehow been put right.

He'd arrived after the hearing was set to start and planned to slip in the back of the courtroom, hopefully unnoticed. But Sonny had arrived to see Alexis in the hallway, Nikolas and Stefan both hugging her tightly...

and she was smiling.

Jason walked out of the courtroom and glanced over at the where the Cassadines stood together. When he turned to leave, he saw Sonny watching the Cassadine family moment, and eased over toward him.

"Sonny, what are you doing here?"

Sonny ignored the question and bobbed his head, motioning toward Alexis.

"It's already over?"

"Yeah," Jason confirmed. "When all of Alexis' witnesses showed up, Ned had no choice but to fold. He knew the judge might cut off his rights to Kristina if he didn't."

"Cassadine knows how to dig up dirt, huh?"

It was Jason's turn to ignore a question, and he instead leaned closer to Sonny.

"Sonny, what are you doing here?"

This time Sonny sighed, his hand rising up to cup his cheek as he gave Jason his, "I really don't want to talk about this" look. It didn't work.

"Carly is never going to accept you two being friends, Sonny. You're both better off letting it go."

"Yeah," Sonny agreed, "yeah, you're probably right."

Jason might have believed his friend's statement had he not said it while looking directly at the woman they were discussing. Resigned to the fact that trouble was definitely looming on the horizon, Jason walked down the hallway and left.

Frustrated and disgruntled Quartermaines filtered out of the courtroom, all of them leveling dirty looks toward Alexis and Stefan, but the brother and sister simply smiled back and watched them go. After a few moments, Alexis returned to the courtroom to finish signing the papers Dara needed completed. That was when Stefan saw Sonny lurking in the corner.

"You probably shouldn't be here," Stefan said, and Sonny nodded.

"I know. I just...you know, I wanted to be sure things worked out."

"And what would you have done if they hadn't, kidnapped Kristina from the Quartermaines using your underworld henchmen?"

"Maybe," Sonny teased, dimples flashing.

"I appreciate that you came to find me, Corinthos. It seemed a great deal of misunderstanding had left my sister rather isolated. But make no mistake, she filled in the gaps you left in your story. If you think for one moment that I will stand by and let you hurt Alexis again, you have another thing coming."

Sonny could have laughed, the refrain was so familiar. How many times had heard this speech from half of Port Charles? His smile disappeared, though, as he realized that they had all been right. He had ended up hurting Alexis, good intentions not withstanding.

"Stefan, are you ready? I want..."

Alexis' words trailed off as she stepped into the hallway and saw who her brother was speaking to. She fidgeted a moment, her hands running through her hair before she wrapped her arms around her waist.

"I'm sorry to interrupt," she said, her voice tinged with nerves, "but I want to get over and get Kristina right away."

"Of course," Stefan said. "I'll go and get the car and meet you downstairs. Mr. Corinthos," Stefan added, looking back toward Sonny, "you'll remember what we discussed, I trust."

"Oh, yeah, I'll remember."

Sonny had been eyed by suspicious fathers and brothers enough times to know it was happening now. He couldn't resist the urge to taunt Stefan just a bit, and he winked at him, which sent the Cassadine patriarch off none to happy.

And then suddenly, for the first time in months, Sonny and Alexis were face-to-face and alone.

"I, uh, I heard things went your way. I'm glad," he said, breaking the silence.

"Thank you."

The quiet returned and though both of them were unsure of what to say, neither seemed ready to leave. Finally, Alexis ran her teeth over her lower lip, and then she spoke again.

"How are, um, how are Carly and the baby and-and Michael?"

"Good," Sonny answered, "good. Everyone's good."

"Good."

Again the silence fell, and this time, Alexis' nerves got the better of her and she glanced down at her watch purposefully.

"Well, I should, uh, get going because I really want to get Kristina home."

"Yeah, um, of course," Sonny said, and then he watched as she turned and started to walk toward the elevator. Just before she hit the call button, though, Sonny heard his voice call out even though he didn't remember making a choice to do so.

"Alexis."

She stopped and turned back.

"I never..." Sonny swallowed, his mouth and throat suddenly dry as a bone. "I never thought things could be this bad, you know? I just...I thought we'd find a way out."

Sonny waited as Alexis looked down at the floor, thinking over his words. Then she returned her gaze to his.

"I thought we might, too, once. But the things we've done, that we've said...neither one of us can take that back."

And he knew she was right. You can't take back "I'll break you" or "Why isn't it ever you?" or any of the other countless cruel things they had said to one another.

Maybe Jason was right, too...maybe they were both better off this way.

When Sonny didn't speak again, Alexis hit the call button, and when the elevator arrived, she stepped inside and turned around as she pressed the indicator for the bottom floor. Her eyes found his still watching her, and Alexis felt her heart beginning to pound in her chest.

'You're still a part of me, Sonny,' she thought as the doors closed, 'even if I can never let you know it.'

The "ding" of the elevator bell broke the trance Sonny had fallen into, and with Alexis gone, there was no longer anything to look at.

He wandered down the hall and found himself walking into the now vacant courtroom. He and Alexis had spent so much time in these rooms...her fighting for him, defending him, supporting him. He should have remembered that sooner, he admonished himself. He should have remembered all the times she stood up for him even when she wasn't sure if he was innocent.

Sonny knew he should have remembered it all. If he had, instead of forcing the memories away when her absence was too painful, perhaps he wouldn't have said the things that he couldn't take back.

*****

Alexis was standing over Kristina's crib, watching her baby girl sleep in it for the very first time. She was home... her daughter was home.

"You should rest while she's sleeping," Stefan whispered as he walked up behind her. He had gone home to take care of some business, but had promised to return. He didn't want to leave Alexis alone on this first night for very long so that she wouldn't feel fear of anyone unwanted intruding on her homecoming with Kristina.

"I know," Alexis replied, "but I just can't take my eyes off of her."

"Well, perhaps you should try. I will sit here with my beautiful niece and watch over her, I promise."

Alexis turned and wrapped her arms around her brother, her cheek snuggled against his chest.

"Thank you so much."

Stefan smiled and kissed the top of her head. "You'd have found a way without me, Alexis. But next time, remember, you don't have to."

She pulled back and kissed Stefan's cheek and then, with one more glance back at Kristina, Alexis stepped toward the door.

"Okay, sleep, but just a few hours, and wake me if she wakes up."

"All right," Stefan said, chuckling, "oh, and there was a package outside the door for you. I put it on the desk."

Yawning, Alexis pulled the nursery door but left it cracked, and then walked back out to the living room. She eyed the box and recognized the wrap as being from the baby boutique where she had bought most of Kristina's clothes. There was no card on the outside, and so she lifted the lid and looked at the contents. Had she been able to see her own face, what Alexis would have found there was recognition. She knew this dress...it was lavender, and it had hand-sewn flowers on the bodice.

When she picked the beautiful little garment up, an envelope fell free. She carefully laid the dress down and then picked up the envelope, which had no writing on the outside. The moment she opened the card, though, she recognized the handwriting...the name at the bottom only confirming her instincts.

[I]Dear, Alexis. No, we can't take it back, but maybe we can start over. Hi, my name is Sonny Corinthos.[/I]

Alexis looked from the card down to the dress and then back again. The thought in her mind was pure insanity. She should return the gift and tell him to stay away. There was no other choice, not after everything that had happened. It didn't matter that every time she saw Kristina she thought about him...about his tenderness on the night they had made their daughter, about how much he had once meant to her. It was the past. It was over. It made no sense at all for her to reach into her desk and pull out a monogrammed thank you card and write a quick note in it. It was crazy for her to address it and affix a stamp and it was absolute lunacy for her to rush downstairs to the mail drop before she could come to her senses and not mail it.

So in spite of what his wife would think or what her brother would say or what the whole of Port Charles would rail about, two days later, a particular piece of mail found its way into Sonny Corinthos' hands, and as he read the handwritten note, he smiled.

[I]Well, Mr. Corinthos, I don't normally accept messages from intermediaries, but adorable dresses for my daughter are a good tactic.

And maybe...maybe...

Alexis Davis.[/I]

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