The Docks. Thursday. 4:00 P.M.

Gia looked down at the note in her hand. It was the same scrap of paper from the envelope Helena had given her at the party days ago. She walked up to Banister’s Wharf. She was on time. Where was the evil witch? She folded the note and stuck it in the pocket of her jeans. Moving slowly down the stairs, she had to wonder why she had even showed up. She was sick of being on Helena's leash.

She took another glance at her watch. Nikolas was probably waiting for her at the cottage. She smiled at that thought. Her lover boy!  How did she get so lucky?  On impulse, Gia reached into her purse for her cellular phone. She had to hear his voice.

There was a sudden rush of footfalls behind her. Before she could turn around, she was pulled against the hard chest of a man. He held a knife securely to her neck. "Gimme your money!" He hissed in her ear. "NOW!"

Gia held out the purse for his free hand. "Take it! There's nothing in it, buddy. You should try one of those rich girls."

"Shut up!" the man said gruffly. He took the purse, stuffing it under his arm. He pressed the knife more firmly against her neck.

"Hey, what are you doing? I gave you my purse. Leave me alone!" she shouted, fear coursing through her body. She could smell the stink of his sweat. "Please...don't..."

He started pulling her backwards toward the stairs.

"PLEASE!" she said louder. "There's no reason to do this. Take my money. My car. Whatever. Just let me go!  C'mon, buddy, you don't want to do this!" The knife was digging deeper in the soft flesh of her neck. Her heart was racing. Please no! NO-NO-NO

"Shut up!" He yelled again. Gia was poised to try and kick her way out of the situation, when there was a sickening thud and her attacker slumped forward against her back. She had no idea what happened.

The grimy man slid off of her onto the wooden planks of the dock. When Gia turned around, she was surprised to see Helena Cassadine holding a heavy leaden pipe.

"Did you do that?"

Helena dropped the pipe on top of the thug. "Yes, my dear, I did. Impeccable timing, correct?"

"Thank you, oh my god, I was so scared and then he was trying to pull me under the stairs and boy was I scared...and then you SAVED ME! You showed up right i n t i m e. .  ." Gia's voice trailed off as she started to think more clearly. Helena, the one who asked her there in the first place, showed up right in time to save her from an attacker. Gia's hand went to her neck. She touched the tiny trickle of blood that the knife had drawn. "YOU did this?" Gia snarled angrily.

"It was one of my better ideas, don't you agree?"

"Do you have any idea how afraid I was? You can't do this to people. I was scared for my life!"

"As well you should be, Gia, but not from some random mugger. You would be wise to remember that."

"I don't want to be wise. I want to be violent! I could kill you!"

"When will you learn to curb your murderous rampages? They've already gotten you into a tremendous amount of trouble. Let's not forget Emily."

"I didn't kill Emily!" Gia roared.

"You might want to keep practicing that line. It will need to be a little more sincere if you want the jury to believe it."

Gia stepped over the prone body. She moved closer to Helena. "I can't believe-"

"GIA?!"

Helena smiled at the sound of Nikolas' voice. "Ah! That would be Nikolas."

"Why is he here?"

"You left him a message asking him to meet you on the docks."

"No, I didn't."

Helena bent over to retrieve the pipe. "Of course you did. Or rather I did for you. Don't you just love technology?"

"GIA?!" Nikolas shouted again as he came around the corner. He was taken aback by the sight of  Gia, Helena with a lead pipe, and a motionless body. "What's going on?"

Gia glared at the old woman before running into his arms. "I was attacked...I was so scared..."

"Attacked? What do you mean?"

"That man," she replied, pointing to the body, "he grabbed me. He held...held a knife to my throat."

He inspected her, his hands going to caress the slight cut on her throat. "Are you okay? I can't believe this. First you're set on fire and now...are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm okay, baby. Now that you're here." She stayed in his embrace for another long moment before hearing Helena politely clearing her throat. "And Helena..."

"What about her?" he said. He had forgotten Helena was there.

"She saved me. She hit the guy over the head with a pipe."

"She did?" He pulled Gia to his side so he could see his grandmother. Addressing the older woman, he said, "Did you actually do something that was not for your own personal gain?"

Helena looked down at the pipe in her hands. "I cannot believe it, either. I saw that hooligan attacking Gia and I couldn't allow it to continue."

"Why?" Nikolas questioned, his eyes narrowing into tiny mistrustful slits. "Why would you lift a finger to help Gia when you hate her? What do you want? Are you trying to manipulate me with gratitude?"

"No, Nikolas, I would not do that. I am not trying to manipulate you."

"Then why did you do it?"

"Because I love you and you love her. I knew how it would devastate you if anything happened to her. It has been a year and I can see that she makes you happy. I will protect your happiness at all costs."

Nikolas sneered, "I don't trust a word you have to say. Why don't you leave? I'll tell the police all about your heroic fetes."

Helena nodded her head in defeat. She dropped the pipe and started walking away. She stopped, placing her hand on the banister of the staircase. Her knees started to give way, but she forced herself to remain in a standing position.

Gia ran over to her, hating every step. "Mrs. Cassadine, are you all right?"

Nikolas came up behind them. "Grandmother?" Instead of responding, she fell backwards into Nikolas' arms.

"She's passed out!" Gia shrieked loudly. She had no idea if it was an act or not. She was pretty old.

Maybe she's dead...

Gia found herself hoping that Helena had kicked the bucket. Nikolas lowered her to the ground and searched for a pulse. "Is she dead?" Gia asked, trying to keep hope out of her voice.

"No, there's a pulse. We should probably take her to the hospital."

"Yeah...I guess we should."

Nikolas hefted his grandmother in his arms and they started walking off the dock. "Wait, what about the guy who mugged you? Shouldn't we call the police?"

"Don't bother," Gia responded, “with the way justice works in this town, he'd probably get off anyway."

"You want to let him go?"

"I don't really care. Let's just take care of your grandmother."

They walked off the docks to the Jaguar. Nikolas tossed Helena into the back seat and they wheeled off towards General Hospital. Gia turned to glare at the woman's unconscious form. Was she on death's door...

Nikolas tossed Gia his cell phone and she  called the emergency room to inform them that they were bringing the devil in with medical problems. Gia laughed, but the nurse on the phone didn't. Gia hung up on the woman. Some people just didn't enjoy good humor.

They arrived at the hospital, rushing Helena to the emergency room. A gurney and a doctor were waiting for her. Nikolas dropped her onto the bed and the doctor set to work. He asked questions.  Gia answered them.

Ten minutes later, Stefan came storming down from his office.

"What are you doing here?" Gia asked.

"They called me and told me that Mother was in the ER. Where's Nikolas? What happened?"

"Nikolas went to find you. Helena collapsed."

Stefan locked eyes with Gia. He placed a hand on her arm. Softly, he said, "Is she...is she-"

"Is she dead?"

"Yes, that's what I want to know."

Gia shook her head sadly. She wanted so much to comfort him. She could only imagine how he would feel when he heard the bad news. "I'm sorry, Stefan, but-"

"BUT?"

"No, she's not dead."

They locked eyes again. At that moment they could read each other's thoughts. Simultaneously, they both said, "DAMN!" ~*~  ~*~  ~*~

End of chapter Thirteen, Please e-mail any feedback by clicking on the mailbox below :)

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