Mac had just come around the corner, off in search of Dara Jensen, when he saw her. She was headed right for him. Beautiful, six months pregnant-glowing beautiful, but Mac knew that a shock the likes of which she had never imagined, one that could knock the small little Mona Lisa smile off of her face, was waiting behind him. Moving instinctively, he took a step and cut her off.

"Hey, Mac, sorry I almost ran you over. I didn't see you."

"It's okay, Alexis, you probably have a lot on your mind. How are you, by the way?"

"Okay. We're both doing just great, actually, thanks." She let her hand move up and down over her stomach as she spoke and Mac couldn't help but smile.

"That's good to hear. Is there, uh, something I can help you with?"

"I'm looking for Scott, actually. I heard he was up here."

She was right, sort of. Baldwin had been in the other room and he was now in Mac's office making a phone call. Baldwin was the last person Mac was worried about Alexis running into, though. The lady lawyer had the pseudo-DA's number. But that didn't eliminate the other person, the one Mac was worried might send Alexis' blood pressure skyrocketing if she walked in there. He had to think fast.

"Actually, I think Scott headed off to see the mayor. Something about a sure-fire way to wrap up the election for D.A."

Mac knew he had misspoken the second Alexis' eyes narrowed at him.

"Mac, I came here from the Grille. The mayor was there having dinner with his wife."

Uh-oh, Mac thought, totally busted. Did she always have to be so smart?

"Mac, is Scott violating Nikolas and Lucky's civil rights again? Are you trying to cover for him because I swear, if you are..."

Mac put his hands up like a cornered felon. "No, no, I swear, Nikolas and Lucky, uh, they aren't inside."

"You're sure?"

"I swear, Alexis, they're not even in the building that I know of."

"Good." Alexis tried to walk around him then and Mac moved again to block her.

"Mac, does Taggart have someone illegally cuffed to a pipe or something?"

"No. Why would you ask that?"

Alexis smiled but she eyed him cautiously. "Because you don't normally try to use football moves on me to stop me from walking into the squad room."

Thwarted, Mac knew he wasn't going to be able to keep her from finding out what he'd only discovered a few hours ago. But he could lessen the blow.

"I'm sorry, Alexis, I was just...I wanted to protect you, buy you some time, I guess."

"Protect me from what, Mac?"

Acting purely on his gut, Mac reached out and put a hand on her arms to steady her. Alexis eyed his hands, then looked at him with deep concern on her face.

"Mac, what's going on?"

"Alexis, it's something about Sonny."

She paled instantly. Mac firmed his hold on her arms.

"Did you...did you find the person who killed him?"

"We know who wanted him dead. But Alexis, Sonny isn't...Sonny's alive. He's sitting right inside the squad room right now."

Her face ran through myriad of emotions and expressions. Shock, disbelief, joy, confusion, anger; she finished with stunned.

"He's...you're telling me Sonny is in there?"

"Yeah, Alexis, he is. I just didn't want you to walk in there and see him out of the blue."

Mac watched as her eyes wandered over his shoulder. She couldn't see into the squad room from here, but that didn't stop her from turning her attention that way. Gently, she reached up and pushed his hand away from her arm. Mac released her and looked on as she walked toward the truth that waited for her.

Sonny was sitting in the chair next to Taggart's desk, his hands cuffed behind his back, his attention moving between Taggart arguing with Jason and Carly, Brenda, who was working to calm down an angry Jax, and Ned, who happened to have gone with Jax to find Brenda and therefore had been there when Taggart and the cops stormed into the safe house. The show might have been entertaining except that Taggart was trying to charge Sonny with fraud and Benny was taking a long time to get the new lawyer-on-call down here.

He'd have never been left here waiting if Alexis were still his lawyer. He wouldn't have had to. Because Alexis, his trusted friend, would have known all along his death wasn't real, and she would have been here on a moment's notice to make Taggart and Mac see he'd had no choice if he was going to force Alcazar's hand.

All the talking and arguing in the room stopped the moment she walked in, Mac Scorpio standing right behind her. Alexis' eyes immediately found him, and Sonny's gaze locked onto her. He hadn't seen her in so long, and then her eyes had been filled with hate and hurt and anger. Now her eyes were shocked and they were unwilling to believe what they were telling her. They were also happy. Sonny could see that clearly amongst all the other things she was feeling.

He stood up, his eyes staying on her. She was showing now. She was absolutely beautiful. And she was happy to see him.

Alexis watched him stand, saw him right there in front of her, and still she couldn't believe it was him. She took a step toward him, her right hand moving unconsciously to her belly as she advanced. A step, another step, and then finally, she was close enough to reach out to him. Her hand could have simply moved forward and touched his arm. She could have shifted a bit and placed her fingers on top of his shoulder. But none of those things happened. Instead, the well-manicured fingers of her left hand turned palm up and came to rest upon his right cheek.

"You're alive."

Tears began to flow from her eyes as she felt the warmth of his skin against her own. Alive. Breathing. Standing. Looking at her. Alive.

"You're alive."

She repeated the words again, and oblivious to the room full of people around them, Alexis did the only thing her body was willing or able to do. She stepped forward, opened her arms, and embraced him.

"You're alive."

He heard the pure joy in her voice, felt the warmth of her arms around him, and Sonny melted against her. He swore internally, realizing for the first time since she walked in that he was still cuffed and that he couldn't return the embrace. But he could lean his cheek against her shoulder. He could move deeper into her hold. He could remember how much this hug reminded him of another one not so many days ago that now seemed only like a beautiful dream he had once had a long time ago.

Finally, Alexis broke her hold and stepped back. She put both hands on his cheeks now, staring into his eyes. She smiled. And then Sonny watched as her right hand pulled back and then moved toward him again, cracking against his skin with a loud, sickening sound as she slapped him for all she was worth.

Taggart couldn't hold in the laugh that burst out when Sonny, still handcuffed, fell back into the chair he'd occupied earlier. The dapper don looked up into Ms. Davis' now angry face, and rather than restrain her, as he knew he should, Taggart simply moved into position to stop anyone who might interrupt the show about to play out.

"Alexis..."

"Don't you Alexis me. Do you have any idea what you put me through? I am pregnant, you idiot. I'm pregnant and I am a total stress case and you go and fake your death and leave me here thinking the last thing I said to you was that I wanted you dead! What the hell were you thinking?"

"Alexis..."

"I mean, yes, I find you totally reprehensible, and yes, I knew you were capable of low-down, dirty rotten tricks, but faking your death. I mean, really, could you not come up with anything more original, or did Carly give you the idea with her little Casey Jones act in April?"

"Alexis..."

"How could you do that to me? And don't say it's because you thought I hated you because you know how I am when I'm hurt and I'm angry and you knew that I didn't mean that I wanted you dead. You knew that. You did know that, didn't you?"

"Alexis..."

"I can't believe you did this! I should believe it. I really should, but I can't. And now just when I was feeling all remorseful about all the things I didn't tell you or say to you, just when I thought, gee, Alexis, Sonny meant so much to you and now he's gone...now you come back, and you know what? Now I have to hate you again because you made me mad. You made me mad all over again."

Sonny could see her fading, but the words were still coming. Smiling the dimpled smile he knew would throw her slightly off keel, he took his chance.

"Alexis, breathe."

The familiar admonishment caught Alexis just as she was about to launch into another rant. She stood there, mouth open, and realized how close to passing out she was.

"Oh my..."

Sonny moved instantly and used his body to guide her back toward the chair he'd been sitting in. She sank down into it, her right hand moving like a fan to try and help cool her flustered self down.

"That's it, just breathe."

"If you want to keep breathing, I'd shut up now if I were you."

He couldn't help but laugh. Sonny had missed this. God, how he had missed it, how he had missed her.

"Taggart, can you do something useful and get the lady some water, please?"

Though he wanted to disagree just on principle, it was for Ms. Davis, so Taggart went to get the water. Sonny knelt down and leaned close to Alexis.

"So you don't hate me?"

"I did hate you, then I didn't. Now I hate you again."

"Okay," Sonny said, shaking his head, "just so we're clear."

Alexis took a deep breath and felt herself calm a bit. He was alive, sitting here right in front of her. She was furious, no doubt about it. But she was also grateful, so very, very grateful. It wasn't too late. There was time now to take back the angry words and the hard feelings. There was time to tell him about the little girl who moved inside of Alexis to remind her mother she was there and that she was happy to hear this voice coming from outside of her. It seemed Little One remembered the sound of her father's voice.

"I don't even want to know what this was about, not yet anyway. Just tell me, do you have a lawyer?"

Sonny nodded. "He's on the way."

"Good because I wasn't going to represent you anyway, but I will sit here and make sure Taggart doesn't violate any of your rights while you wait."

"I appreciate that. And Alexis..."

She cocked her head and looked at him like she knew she wasn't going to like what he said next.

"I knew you didn't mean it, Alexis."

And despite her anger, and possibly in spite of the dimples he was flashing at her to try and work her, Alexis smiled at Sonny Corinthos for all the world to see.

The rest of the people in the room were having their own mixed reactions to the scene that had played out. They had all been spellbound, unable to move or comment as they watched these two dynamic people interact. The spell was broken when Taggart walked in again with the water and handed it to Alexis. Yet still no one moved or spoke, they simply took stock of their own reactions to what they had seen.

For Taggart, it was simply amusing entertainment. Watching Sonny get told off by anyone was good, but by Ms. Davis, pure heaven. Yet he couldn't help but be a bit annoyed at how chummy they now seemed. How the hell did that man get women to forgive him every sin?

To Brenda, the scene was a revelation. Just when had Sonny Corinthos and Alexis Davis become so close, and what was with their inability to look at anyone or anything else but each other? She was going to have to find out.

Jax was just annoyed. He could see in half a second that Alexis was going to be drawn back into Corinthos' web. He had been down this road before. Nothing he said was going to make a difference, and he knew it. All he could do was hope that Corinthos wouldn't hurt her again.

Mac was just relieved that Alexis was still in one piece despite the major shock she'd just endured. Shrugging, he turned, baffled, and headed off in search of Dara again.

Jason felt like he'd just seen an x-ray of what was really going on in Sonny's heart. Apparently his assurances that Alexis was in the past were far from absolute. He was going to have to talk to his friend and soon about just what was going on.

Two minds in the room, though individual, shared like thoughts. Because they knew now that nothing they did, nothing fate threw at them was strong enough to destroy the tie that bound Sonny and Alexis together. And as Carly and Ned watched Sonny watch Alexis, as they saw Alexis' hand come to rest upon the little girl that she and Sonny had made together, they both discovered that in the end, they were powerless.

They might have time, months, maybe years before they had to surrender, but they would both lose. The thing that was Sonny and Alexis was a force that could not and would not be stopped, not by Carly's manipulations, not by Ned's naysaying, not by anything.

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