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Jane knocks on the door to the Quartermaine Mansion. She'd called Lila earlier to see if she was up for visitors. Sally opens the door. "Mrs Jacks, Mrs Quartermaine is expecting you. She is with the girls in the front room having tea." Sally takes Jane's coat and hangs it up in a nearby closet.

"Miss Emily and Miss Maddy. They just finished up with their classwork for today."

"Oh not at all, ma'am. Both of them have afternoon appointments and will soon be on their way."

Even as Sally is speaking the double doors of the front room open and Edward comes out bookended by Maddy and Emily. They are laughing and joking with him. He is eating it up like jam on biscuits. Sally gets their coats ready. Edward takes them from her and assists first Emily and then Maddy with their coats. "So it's a deal." Edward demands. "Brunch at the Grille on Sunday."

"Weather permiting." Maddy agrees. "I can fill you in on everything Granny Sophia said last night when she called to help Nik make dinner."

"I know why you're being so agreeable!" Edward grumbles. "You just don't want to eat his cooking again."

"It didn't turn out to bad for a first effort. At least he didn't blow up the microwave."

"One Microwave! Over two years ago and I'll never hear the end of it." Edward pouts.

"Oh Grandfather!" Emily shakes her head. "It's just so cute. How can we ever forget?"

"But do you have to tell everyone about it?" Edward gives Em a kiss on the cheek. "You be careful on the roads. And call if you get stuck. Not that damn Reginald either. You call me."

"Ha! You just put that damn dog on a lead and let her pull you out." Edward glances down at his watch. "I need to get back to the office myself. I have an appointment this afternoon." He grabs his coat from the closet. "Reginald! Bring the car around."

Reggie opens the front door from the outside startling all of them "Around where? It's already out front." Reggie turns around and walks back to the car. He opens up the back door of the bentley and then leaving it open goes to the drivers seat.

"Damn impudence. Why Lila won't let me fire him..." Edward strides off to the bentley He slides into the back and shuts the door firmly.

Maddy whistles for Cinnamon who breaks off her game of tug with Raoul. Maddy opens the side door of the van and climbs in following Cinnamon. "Let me know if you're going to work on that Econ project this weekend.... and where."

"I'll call you later." Em agrees. "Hey Mrs Jacks. Grandmother is in the front room."

"My partner in scholastic torture." Em glances down at her watch. "I really have to get to Deception; I'll tell Jax I saw ya. Have a great day." Em almost runs to her new car and is soon on her way.

Jane turns around and goes through the open doors to the front room. Lila is relaxing next to the fire a small book of poetry in her lap. "Lila."

"Jane, my dear. Come in." Lila urges. She indicates the couch. "Please. Sally will be in momentarily with a fresh pot of tea. How are things going with Carly? Have you made any inroads?"

"After the kidnapping it was too much for Emily to be going to the local high school with all of her other obligations and stressors. Edward arranged it."

"Madeliene Reynolds. Lovely girl. Between Emily and Maddy, they keep Edward occupied and out of mischief. She runs the coffee kiosks down by the docks."

Maddy pulls open the door to Luke's place. She'd talked things over with Em (before Edward took over the conversation) and been advised that Carly is the best person to touch base with this one on.

"Hey Sweet Young Thing!" Luke says from behind the bar where he is reading his paper and drinking from a coffee cup.

Both of Luke's brows go up. "Oh really! And what mischief is my niece dragging you into?"

"In Mischief making? You've come to the right place, darlin'. Nobody makes mischief like a Spencer." Luke puts a glass of cola in front of her and leans over the bar. "Tell Uncle Luke everything."

"With his papa learning the family business. Which frees me up to get things done. Can I get a coke too?"

"You'll never believe who was in a few nights ago, Caroline." Luke begins conversationally. "Why I was graced with the presence of not only Eddie Q but also the wonder from downunder, John Jacks. I wonder what their topic of conversation was?"

"You got 'em running scared, babe. It's a joy to see." Luke pulls out a cigar and prepares to light one up.

Carly pulls out a little personal fan from her bottomless shoulder bag. and aims in Luke's direction. "No offense, Luke. But I'm not suppose to be around smoke... caffeine either... so I have to pick my vices right now and I really need the caffeine."

Luke grunts but puts the cigar away. "That's what I get for letting little mamas in the club. You manage to not screw up having this one and we'll celebrate with a cigar right there in General Hospital under Quartermaine's nose."

"Come on, Maddy; lets go in the back room. I think better when I'm playing pool and you said this was a brain pickin' session."

Maddy picks up both of their drinks and follows Carly back to the back room. "What did he mean screw up and how cold was that?"

"It was actually kind of sweet. Or as sweet as the old reprobate gets." Carly shrugs. Maddy sets the drinks on a table. Carly sets down her purse and goes over to the pool table and quickly organizes the balls within the wooden triangle. "Just about everything that could go wrong did go wrong with Michael. He was born with a hole in his heart and had to have surgery. I had to have an emergency C cause I was hemorraging and they almost couldn't get it to stop. I started hemorraging when I was home alone. Jason and one of his guys, Rinaldo, found me luckily and got me to the hospital. So when Luke says if I don't manage to screw this one up...."

"I'm actually better at organizing pool tournaments than playing." Maddy warns. She lines up the cue ball at the far end of the table and bends over to line up her stick for a smooth assault on the table. "I need to know how to take down a mental hospital if I have to. Emily told me you were the woman with a plan." Maddy makes a good break scattering balls all over the table but none of them drop. She steps away from the table.

Carly steps up. "I think I need a little more info than that!" She calls her shot and makes it moving on to the next easy shot.

"VA hospital has a friend of mine, Larry. The guy who owns the dog that I've been taking care of. I already talked to Dr Collins and he's trying to find out what the heck is going on. But if that doesn't work I want to have plan B."

"Situationally. He's got the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder." Maddy admits. "But he was doing fine here... in the GH psych ward. And I had it all lined up to have Cinnamon come visit him at GH until the VA snatched him up."

Carly tries a longshot complicated with a couple of banks and almost pulls it off but no go. Maddy takes over. "Well couple of different problems I see. Despite popular opinion... when I was locked up in Ferncliffe, I wasn't crazy. So I knew everything that was going around. I didn't try to mess with the place until after I was out. And I knew somebody who could go in undercover to work there. The place was dirtier than hell-- criminal from top to bottom. All I did was get all the info and then turned it over to Taggart. He's the one that actually shut the place down. Do you think that the VA is dirty? Corrupt?" Maddy plays pool like Jason. Short and to the point. With a little practice she might even be good.

"I don't know about the VA. I hope not. I'm just worried cause the last time I talked to Larry he wasn't making much sense. Marcus kind of has his hands full right now. He's working a drug case that is going all over the place and then there's what is going on with my Aunt Dara and her getting suspended."

"And pulling people out of snowbanks." Carly nods in agreement. After Maddy misses a shot, Carly steps up. "Did Dr Collins find out anything?"

Maddy shakes her head. "Not yet. He consulted with the doctor down there. The doctor is suppose to get the releases signed today so he can find out what is going on-- all legal and ethical. Hopefully he will call me today. Niknik says that Dr Collins is cool but..."

"Well he's on the approved list of shrinks that my father in law gave me. But I don't hold the profession in too high of a regard." Carly chalks up her cue and takes in the remaining shots on the table. "If you can't get the info call me back. I can put you in touch with the gal who went in undercover for me into Ferncliffe. She's an RN who works agency. Hospitals are always short staffed. Lorraine will probably go in for you but it will cost and cost. Blackmail is more lucrative than nursing."

"I'm just so worried about Larry... he was so... out of it on the phone." Maddy describes the pills that Larry described to her.

Carly nods. "Happy pills at least that's what we always called them. It's a so called mild sedative. Keeps the patients in line and makes it easier on the staff. I had quite a collection of them when I finally got released. If he's out of it then he must either be taking them or the staff there is better at monitoring that the patients aren't tonguing them." Carly finishes off the table and sinks the eight ball. "You want me to call Lorraine for you?"

Maddy bites her lip. "Not yet. If the Doctor hasn't called me by Monday I figure that means they are ducking him. Then I'll get the info anyway I can. I do have another question for you while you're here.... You're tight with Johnny's father, the judge?"

Carly runs her hand over the pooltable. "One of these. The Judge is good but the only time he gets to play is when he comes over to my place or when he and Cookie stop in here to listen to music. Tell you what... if Johnny decides to go with a table... I'll go shopping with Rita and pick up the other stuff." Carly holds up her cue to show what she means.

"Hope it doesn't come to that. Be careful, Maddy-- Your friend is kind of a captive audience. Whatever you do could be held against him. And they, people on the outside, won't believe him-- 'cause he's nuts."

"Is this guy nuts?" Lucky mutters as he stares at the document coming out of the fax.

"Who?" Nik asks as he comes upstairs into the carriage house. He looks around. It's the first time he'd been up here since moving into the main house. Liz had definitely been nesting. No restriction on money had made little difference in her taste just the way she applied it. Instead of a mural like over the motorcycle shop she'd gone with a plain color on the wall but incorporated some texture. Pictures she'd done or some she liked of others decorate the walls. There is a sheer drape surrounding the bed and separating it from the rest of the room. The small kitchenette is tidy and looks barely used. The source of heat for the small flat is a woodburning pellet stove in the corner. There are a few pieces of Lucky in the room.. his guitar, stereo and a really intense computer set up.

"Rick Roberts aka Ricky Robideau." Lucky picks up the first page of the fax and hands it to Nik. "I started getting this stuff a few days ago. It's internal memos from the DA's office as well as anything interesting in Larkin and Ford's desk. Cheese curl?" Lucky offers Nik the bag of cheetos.

"No thanks." Nik shakes his head absently. He picks up another page and scans it. "This is fascinating. Larkin has Ford totally in the dark."

"Not really." Lucky admits. "I gave him my number after we went car shopping. He knows I'm looking into Larkin on my own since he was at the diner when Liz called me. But he didn't say anything about the info that was given to Alexis. No clue as to where he is staying or even what exactly his job is although its giving him great access."

"Yeah," Lucky nods. "The accounts were the last thing. This is all just gravy. There is enough to take Larkin down easy. It's the not messing up Maddy's Aunt that's the time consumer. We could go to Larkin right now and say disappear, buddy. And he would but..."

"Yeah, But. That wouldn't help Dara. Has Elizabeth said that Robideau stopped in since then?"

"Lets go to Kelly's then. Robideau needs to back off. If he should get caught now..." Nik shakes his head. "It would ruin everything. We can have Stefan meet us at L&B after."

"Hey short stuff. Is this stool taken?" Ricky plants himself at the counter at Kelly's.

Rita half turns on her stool still sucking up a chocolate shake. She swallows. "Is now. What you doing? I thought this was your sleep time?"

"Yeah, but I have the night off. Don't have to go in until Sunday. I swung by the school but you'd already gone. I need to pick a criminal brain."

"Wait-- what are you doing here anyway? Don't you work tonight? I thought I was going to have to catch you at Porters until I walked by and saw you."

"Yeah, but Vicki called me. Meeting her at the house or at the restaurant is out."

"Uhoh. Does that put the hair up on the back of your neck the way it does mine?"

"You saw my sister once... just once." Rita protests and then pauses. "Yeah. It does. You going to hang around-- just in case? I don't want Cookie or Dad involved in this."

"Got nothing better to do unless someone comes in that can't see me yet. But you can take her. My money is on you, slugger. Head's up; it's show time." Ricky nods in the direction of the door. Rita turns around and seeing Vicki entering grabs her chocolate shake and moves to a nearby table. Ricky positions himself to hear everything if the munchkin needs back up. Vicki takes the seat opposite Rita and places a quick order when the waitress shows up. Ricky is so busy being lookout he is surprised when he gets slap on the back. "Lucky, Cassidy."

"It's Cassadine." Nik rolls his eyes. Ricky was so predictable. "Lets get a table."

"Let's not." Ricky says quietly. "I got a nice seat right here and I'm kinda busy." Nik is about to protest but Lucky scans the room and sees what is in Rick's clear view.

"Yeah, counter is fine." Lucky nudges Nik onto a stool. He goes behind the counter and serves himself and Nik. He stays behind the counter so he doesn't block Ricky's view of the two girls talking. "You keep on watching and we'll just talk. You got to stop pulling stuff from the offices... we're too close for you to get caught."

"Right. That's why my girlfriend had to hide you in the kitchen." Lucky reminds.

"I didn't get caught then either." Ricky reminds. Vicki is starting to get flushed and Rita is shaking her head no.

"Listen you know they've got to be keeping track of the numbers being called into the fax machine... or counting the number of copies made on the Xerox. It's going to be the stupid bean counting thing that is going to get you busted."

"This will be long over before it comes down to that." Ricky tells him. "Ward is filing charges for abuse of power today. He's getting a huge push from Larkin and Ford. Wouldn't surprise me if Taggart has to arrest his own girlfriend by end of business today." Vicki is rising from her seat putting her finger right in Rita's face. Rita keeps her seat and keeps her cool, keeping her voice low and controlled conscious of Ricky watching. "You want to help Madeliene's aunt then keep her next to her mouthpiece. It'll make the processing go faster." Ricky comes off of the stool in a smooth motion and grabs Vicki's hand as it comes across in a swing. He helps her back to her seat with some force. "You already had your freebie, Babe."

"Someone who believes in picking on people in their own weight class. And the munchkin might be the toughest thing pound for pound in the seventh grade over at Queen of Angels-- and God knows she has you outclassed by far but you've got her on weight, reach and age. Course that can't be said of stepmama. I'd pay to see that fight. Munchkin, you're late for work. Get your coat."

Rita slides away from the table and grabs her coat. Ricky throws some money down on the table. Rick helps her on with her coat. "What happened to my money is on you... and you can take her." Rita mutters as she slides her bookbag up on her shoulder. And steps through the door that Ricky is holding for her.

"Still think that. Also think that you wouldn't be able to explain away the signs of the fight when you're suppose to be at work. But hey if you want to call in to work I won't say a word if you call her out." Ricky turns around to go back inside of Kelly's.

Rita grabs him by the back of the coat. "Come on, Let's go. I'd rather make money than give it to her."

"Yeah, but two different things. Daddy told her that the car was her responsibility-- she had to make sure she got the oil changed and everything and anything went wrong she had to pay for it. And B) Daddy gives her a lot of money to go to school-- I mean in addition to tuition and books. He'll want to know where all her money is going."

"I do okay. I'm saving up for a horse now though. And I've got Christmas expenses coming up. Giving Vicki four hundred dollars was more than I planned on spending on her for Christmas."

"Nope, but I'll buy you an early dinner over at Porter's for giving me a lift to work. I get a discount."

Back at Kelly's. Nik watches as Vicki stalks out of Kelly's. "What just happened?"

"Excellent question." Lucky agrees. "That was Rita Porter right? The girl that left with Ricky."

"Yes." Nik nods. While they didn't run in the same circles he'd been at Rita's father's wedding to the Quartermaine cook, her being kidnapped along with Emily and now with Rita riding all the time up at the stables with Carly.

"And she seems to know the guy... or rather he knows her. Knows her family dynamic, knows what school she goes to, what grade she is in."

"What does Rita have to do with Maddy?" Nik wonders. "Damn. We have to get to Alexis and let her know what is going on. Justus wouldn't be so stupid as to actually press charges would he? Fire her maybe but charges?"

Lucky just looks at him. "Lets go. You call Alexis on the way and tell her we're coming in. Are you going to call Maddy?"

"Once we get there and get some facts verified. This could be a strategy to bring Maddy to them." Nik jumps up into the passenger side of Lucky's pickup. "Aw hell." He reaches for his cell phone and dials Maddy. "Where are you?"

Vehicles converge on the L&B building. Nik and Lucky in his truck. Stefan in the Cassadine Limo and V in her little compact. Dara is tucked down in the back seat of V's car. Ned lets everybody in and then locks the door and turns the sign around. Ned looks at all of them. "Well. Quite the motley crew." He goes over and gives Alexis a quick kiss on the lips. "See you at home, play nice with the other kids."

Lucky quickly summarizes all the info he found. Stefan chimes in with the last bit of info. "Larkin is banking with us down in the Caymens."

Alexis brows go up. "Oh really. You guys win the prize." She hands over the report from Robideau. Lucky grabs it before Stefan can and starts scanning and nodding. He would have gotten it all within a couple more hours of hacking.

"What is the hurry now?" Dara asks. "Why is V playing cloak and dagger to get me out from under the FBI's watching eye?"

"We have information that you're going to be arrested today for Official Misconduct." Nikolas tells her.

Dara laughs. "Oh you have got to be kidding." She looks from face to face. "This is insane!"

"According to our source, the warrant will be on the judge's desk before end of business today."

"This has gone beyond snowball to avalanche!" Dara protests. "The next step if they were going to push it would be to fire me not have me arrested. On a Friday?! When the courts will be closed until Monday? Do you know how many enemies I have in that jail?"

"Miss Jenson, you are welcome to stay with me at Wyndemere over the weekend. It would allow you to attend Madeliene's birthday party on Monday before having to deal with this unpleasantness." Stefan invites.

"Oh I didn't hear that." Alexis mutters. obstruction, damn wouldn't her brother ever learn?

"The warrant hasn't been issued yet." V reminds Alexis. "That we know of." Dang, I'm getting good at this hair splitting stuff.

"If they have him in the loop." V agrees. "Which is exactly why they won't. I bet they won't involve the PCPD at all but go straight to the sheriff's department or the state police. Which is really going to tick Mac off."

"I've got to make arrangements to turn myself in before the courts close and then go for ROR. I think Judge Porter would give it to me. Carter too."

Stefan looks over at Nikolas and makes a motion with his head. Nik rises to go over to a more private location to talk to Stefan. "Madeliene isn't here."

"Lucky and I started moving as soon as we got the word." Nik admits. "I called Maddy but she is working and waiting for a call back from Kevin Collins."

"Maddy got a phone call from her friend, Larry. The one who owns Cinnamon. She's in a panic wondering what the heck is going on with him because nobody at the VA is talking. Dr Collins is looking into it and I hope he succeeds."

"Because the next step is Carly Quartermaine." Nik informs him wryly. "Or Maddy using her insurance settlement to sue the VA."

Stefan's jaw drops slightly and then slams shuts with a definite click. "Why? Am I missing some information? Some fact? Some reason why this street person wouldn't be better off in a controlled facility where his needs are met rather than living in sub freezing weather? Some reason why Madeliene has made this a priority?"

Nik straightens as Stefan's questions become more emphatic. He picks his words carefully. "I'm sure one might rationally and logically believe Larry is in exactly the right place to meet his needs. However, Madeliene believes those needs could be met here in Port Charles under Dr Collin's care at General Hospital. I believe it unlikely Maddy will ever allow distance to dismiss or mitigate her concerns again." Nik alludes to Lisette's death.

Stefan's eyes narrow and he strokes his beard thoughtfully. "Then I shall contact Dr Collins directly and offer whatever assistance and hospital resources to facilitate Madeliene's friend return to General Hospital."

"That would be good." Nik agrees with a nod. "Lucky and I will follow through on this. I'll reinforce your invitation to stay at Wyndemere. It's unlikely that any of the local law enforcement community would seek Dara out there." Stefan excuses himself and Nik returns to the conference table where only Lucky sits now. "Where is everybody?"

"Upstairs getting lawyerly. Getting motions ready and planning strategies. That whole getting arrested thing sure threw Dara." Lucky shakes his head. "Larkin and Ford must have their heads so far up their posteriors.... How much pressure are they going to put on Maddy to snitch for them?"

"They may have an idea of what Maddy might know but they have no idea of the strength of her spine."

"Working to get Cinnamon's human transferred back to Port Charles. I didn't even have the chance to tell him that Robideau got the information about Dara. All it took was the threat of Maddy teaming up with Carly."

"Oh yeah, I see how that could work." Lucky kicks back in his chair kicking his feet up on the conference room table. "Well my job here is done."

"Not quite. You're going to bail Dara out if the Judge decides to not release her on her own recognizance."

"Yeah, right. And everyone will believe that 'cause I'm so confident in her skills after she's prosecuted darn near everyone in my family for murders they didn't commit." Lucky says wryly.

"It doesn't matter why. And if they are busy wondering then all the better for us."

"Until it becomes otherwise necessary." Nikolas agrees. Dara comes back down the stairs. Nik rises to his feet as does Lucky. "Ms Jensen, I hope you'll consider my uncle's offer if you discover the timing is too tight for what you wish to accomplish today. It would be unfortunate for you and stressful for Madeliene if you are incarcerated on her birthday."

"Unfortunate... stressful... Yeah, you could put it that way." Dara says wryly. "V is typing up the motions now.... I should call Marcus let him know what is going on." Dara reaches for the phone.

Lucky leans over and puts a hand over it. "I know this is not the way you're used to thinking but you know your boyfriend better than anybody... do you really think he is gonna be able to stay cool knowing what is going down? I don't know... everything I've seen on the guy says he is a total hothead who'd probably start kicking ass and taking names starting with Justus and moving from there."

"Isn't going to get it done." Dara sighs. "Well since I won't need my first phone call to call my lawyer...."

"You don't have to rush this, Ms Jensen. Relax. Go out to the island. Let Mrs Lansbury spoil you for a few days. Monday is soon enough." Nikolas presses.

"And the additional time will allow us to discover which Judge is involved. While I am confident my Aunt has crossed every T and dotted all the I's in whatever she is planning, I can tell you are as uncomfortable with the speed with which this is all happening-- as am I."

Emily, Elizabeth and Maddy hang out in the kitchen of Wyndemere Lite. It's Maddy's night to cook. She ignores the contents of the crockpot knowing that taking the lid off of the pot will just delay the meal and rather works on the side dishes that will go along with the stew. Mrs Lansbury's menus are posted on the fridge under one of Granny Sophia's magnets. It was nice of Mrs Lansbury to go to all of the trouble and it sure saved a lot of time to know what was on the plan for the day. She'd been able to just chop everything up and throw it in the crockpot before she left for the the day and put a little sticky note on the top. Touch it and Die.

Liz looks up the recipe for the dessert and starts gathering the necessary items for the filling of the cranberry apple tart. "You think the guys are going to show up on time?"

"Who cares?" Maddy shrugs. "They don't and more for us. It's not like anything is going to go bad. Stew just gets better with time."

Emily starts going through the radio stations trying to find something fun to listen to. "When Johnny makes it for the restaurant he puts it in bread bowls."

"Well that would save on clean up!" Liz laughs. "Oh stop on that one!" She demands of Emily who backs up to the last radio station. It is a new station to the Port Charles market. "My mother used to listen to this stuff back when I was a kid."

"Mine too!" Maddy agrees there is a little shimmy in her step. The three of them start singing along with Barry White as he growls that he can't get enough of your love, babe. Emily tosses her hair back and fakes like a microphone. Maddy starts when her cell phone rings. Liz and Em both know she is expecting a couple of different calls and fall silent. Em turns the radio down. "This is Maddy.... Dr Collins, Great! I was hoping to hear from you." Maddy frowns. "Is there a problem? Do you want me to go with you?... Okay. Please call me if there is anything you need." Maddy bites her lower lip as she disconnects the call.

"He's going down to see Larry and his doctor-- tonight-- in person." Maddy tells them.

Em turns the music back up but not loud like it had been before. "Oh scary. That must mean he found something... or suspects something. What did Carly say when you talked to her?"

"We agreed to wait until whatever Dr Collins found out. She's got some ideas and a really big warning."

"She took down Ferncliffe after she'd done her time and got out. Anything I do could be held against Larry. He's kind of a captive audience. I have no doubts what she lined up would work but it'd take time. Time I don't know Larry has. Dr Collins has got to come through."

"Okay, Change of subject." Emily demands. "Dr Collins is looking into it and we can't do anything right now. So... I didn't want to talk about this around Grandfather earlier... yesterday, on my only afternoon off mind you, I went down to the courthouse and did a title search on that property you were asking about."

Emily nods. "Used to be a service station. I think it's being held onto as some kind of tax loss or something but the reason it closed was some federal environmental regulation. They passed a law that you had to have some kind of special tanks otherwise you'd get fined mucho dinero every day you pumped gas. It's kinda like the ELQ tankers being tripled hulled so they don't spill oil into the ocean if there is a wreck."

Liz pulls down a mixing bowl and starts combining dry ingredients. "I get it. So rather than being fined or putting in the new tanks they just closed."

"Yeppers." Em agrees. "And the owners can't sell the property until the tanks are removed and there is an environmental inspection done to make sure that there has been no leaking into the surrounding soil."

"That's easy enough to find out. Carly and Jerry had the water tested above Deception Spa before she bought the property where the stables are now."

"The methlab thing." Maddy remembers Taggart telling Dara about it. That had all gone down right after she moved to town.

Em looks down at her watch. "Carly and AJ have already left for the weekend. But Jerry was the one with all the phone numbers anyway."

Liz puts down the spoon and wipes her hands before reaching for the phone. "Where are they off to this weekend?"

"Bobbie." Liz says around the phone. "Hey Lucas. Is your mom there? It's Elizabeth.... Hey Bobbie! Howzit going? Yeah, everything's fine. Tammy and Penny know how swamped you've been at the hospital lately so it's all covered at the diner. That isn't why I was calling. I was kinda wondering if you could ask Jerry for the number of the lab he used to check the water up on Carly's property. You don't have to.... Hey Mr Jacks... um Jerry. Do you have the number for the lab you used to do water and soil samples?" Liz snaps her fingers but then just grabs the dry erase marker and quickly transcribes the number that Jerry dictates to her onto the board mounted on the wall. "Thanks I really appreciate this. No reason-- just thought it would come in handy. Bye."

Emily looks at her in disbelief. "No reason-- just thought it would come in handy?! What the hell do you think you'll ever need a number for a lab? Gees Elizabeth!"

"I didn't think she'd put him on the phone! Bobbie wouldn't have asked!" Liz protests. "And I got the number."

"Well I don't know why you need the number, Maddy, but you can plan on Jerry being up to his ears in it now. He's gotten used to dealing with Carly. Someone telling him no reason will send up about a million flares."

"I just sleep with a Spencer, okay?! I don't think that way!" Liz protests. "I did okay with Ricky!" She looks over to Maddy for confirmation.

"You did excellent with Ricky." Maddy nods. She explains to Emily. "Elizabeth got Ricky out of sight before he could get caught by Larkin one morning. Oh and listen to this... Niknik was wondering why Ricky would get in the middle of a family fight between Rita and her sister. That happened today at Kelly's."

"Oh ****." Em blanches. "This is so not good. Johnny is going to freak. He's about ready to dump Vicki ten miles out of town in the middle of a blizzard buck nekkid and let her make her own way home. Whenever Vicki is ticked she takes it out on Rita and that puts Johnny through the ceiling."

"This is Vicki Porter, right? She is the same age as Sarah. They used to pal around until Sarah went off to Bosnia with the 'rents. Vicki ran the in crowd at PCHS. I wonder if Nik remembers her from there?" Liz remembers.

"I think Nikolas blocked his adventure in public school out of his memory; it was one of the things he lost along with his voice after he got shot."

"Whoa wait a minute! 'Candy got shot?! This is news to me!" Maddy blurts out. "What the hell happened?"

Em winces. "Wrong place wrong time. We were all at Luke's listening to music. There was a driveby someone trying to shoot Jason and Nik got caught in the crossfire. He was shot in the throat. Jason had to do an emergency trach on him so he could breathe."

"Oh yeah." Liz agrees. She has finished putting together the pastry and slides it into the preheated oven to cook. "And it broke up Nik and my sister. Nik's got this thing about being perfect. When he couldn't talk after it all happened he pushed everyone away."

Em shakes her head. "Neither. He like threw a clot or something at the hospital. It was a brain thing. Dysphasia. He could think fine but the messages weren't getting to his speech... so everything he was saying was coming out scrambled. He wouldn't see anyone. That's when he taught me how to fence. He was okay with trying to talk to me as long as I was making a total idiot of myself with the fencing. And the bizarre thing was he could talk just fine in french but English? That took a little while to come back. My French sucks. The only person I knew fluent in French was Robin Scorpio... so I hooked them up." Em breaks off what she is saying when the guys come in the back door.

"I'm going to go wash up." Nik tells the others and keeps walking through the kitchen.

Upstairs in Nik's room. Maddy knocks on the door but doesn't wait for the come in before entering. There is the sound of water running in the bathroom. Nik comes out of the bathroom drying his hands. He is somewhat surprised to see Maddy in his room leaning up against the door. "Your Aunt is going to stay over at Wyndemere for a few days. Until Alexis can get everything straightened out with the courts." He tells her. Maddy walks over to him and reaches for his black turtleneck pulling it out where it is tucked in and then pulls it over his head in a swift motion. "Whoa. Not that I'm complaining but what the hell is going on?"

"Shut up." Maddy mutters with a frown on her face. She throws the turtleneck to the floor. Reaching both hands to his neck she starts brailling his neck from the back to the front. Nik rests his hands on her hips watching her expression as she doesn't meet his eyes. One by one she finds them-- the exit scar at the back of his neck, the dime sized entry scar and then just as scary the scar at the place just above where the collar bones meet the breast bone... a circular scar about the size of the end of bic pen. "You could have been killed! Paralyzed from the neck down."

"Someone has been telling tales." Nik realizes what this is all about. "I'm fine. It's ancient history."

"Oh Candy, don't you start trying to blow this one off. I've seen people shot before back home. I know how much it must have hurt, how scared you must have...."

Nik cuts off the flow of words with a kiss swallowing her protestations. His hands slide to the middle of her back and then down. Returning the favor he grabs a fist of material in his hand and brings it up sliding his other hand against the bare skin he exposes. Running his hands inside her sweater and up her back bringing the sweater up to her shoulders. He takes a half step back and breaks the kiss momentarily to bring the sweater over her head and then drops it on top of his turtleneck on the floor. "God, I want you." He runs a finger along the edge of her bra tracing the top of it where it cups her breasts. His breathing grows more labored as he follows his finger with his eyes and then with his mouth. Maddy arches her back closing her eyes. Her fingers tangle in Nik's hair bringing him to her. Nik kneads his fingers against her denim clad flanks. Maddy starts climbing him like a tree. Lifting her up, he carries her to the bed and sets her down on the edge. Maddy lays back and looks up at him... every look an invitation and a dare. Nik reaches for the button at the waist of her jeans unfastening it and then running his hand along the inside. Impatient with the limited access he unzips them. Maddy lifts her hips, and Nik peels the jeans down her legs leaving the matching scrap of lace.

"GO AWAY." Nik snarls. He sits down on the bed and reaches for the laces of his winter boots. Maddy curls up next to his back pressing herself to him and then reaching around to unfasten his belt and unbutton his jeans. Nik kicks free of his boots and then tosses his jeans to the floor. He pulls Maddy under his arm settling her in his lap wrapping her legs around him. "Tell me now. Tell me now this is what you want." Maddy leans and whispers explicitly in his ear. What she wants, how she wants it and for how long.