(A/N: I am so sorry that I haven’t updated in a long time. My cousin who just got over cancer now has a fever and they are having a lot of trouble bringing it down. I'm really close to him so I’ve been worrying like crazy. Plus I'm training for lacrosse and I’ve been a little busy with school. However, I promise never to go this long without an update again. I promise. Oh, also just so u know, Nikki suffered a miscarriage about 3 months ago. *a reference is made to that. So I just wanted you all to know.* Also, Carly is having another baby. 3^rd! So Jason makes a reference to his niece…that’s the baby because Carly swears up and down that they baby is a girl. But she hasn’t had it (her) yet… so just don’t get confused. I'm saying this because in the first chapter I had Michael say that Sonny was putting Isabelle down to sleep…yeah she doesn’t exist yet. I'm so sorry for that. I feel like a total idiot. So any other questions…please feel free to contact me! And thank you all again for being patient!) Now on with the story.

Chapter 3~

~PH-2~

Jason sat at his desk, trying to finish some paper work before his daughter woke up, when his little sister stormed into the Penthouse. “Nikki?” he questioned, seeing the chilling color of her baby blues.

“Why didn’t you tell me who she was?” He sighed and stood up.

“How’d you find out?”

“I brought Michael to Kelly’s and was talking to Elizabeth. She told me. Now I'm going to ask you again, why didn’t you tell me who she was. And don’t even think about dancing around it this time. I want a straight answer.”

“I didn’t want to upset you. You told me over and over again how much the Michael incident upset had upset you and…” she quickly cut him off before he could say anything else. 

“You…You didn’t want me upset? Well I am Jase. I am beyond upset. I hate it when you keep things from me. You know that.” He looked into her eyes and saw how truly upset she was. He really didn’t know why he kept some things from her any more. There were things that she couldn’t know and she accepted that, but when it was something that could be told to her, she expected it to be. She hated being kept in the dark. 

“Alright, alright. I should have mentioned it to you before. But I was going to tell you.”

“When? After she left town so I couldn’t get my fingers around her scrawny neck.”

“Nikki please relax.” He begged her. He didn’t want her getting worked up and have her get really upset. 

“No Jason I don’t want to relax. Now she hurt you and she hurt Michael and Carly and everyone else involved. These are people that I happen to love very much. Now I’ll be damned if I’m going to let her hurt any of you again. If she even comes near you or tries to hurt any of you, I’ll make sure that she’ll regret coming back to Port Charles.” With that Nikki left, without giving her brother a chance to respond. He stood there and watched as his sister exited the Penthouse. The love and devotion on her eyes was unmistakable. He knew that she would do anything for this family and he was very proud of her. He just hoped that Robin wouldn’t make her come through on her promise. He looked up to the ceiling, exhaled deeply and returned to his paper work. That night as he slept, he wished Courtney was there, next to him. He missed her and wanted her to be in his arms, her back against his chest, his face resting in the crook of her neck. With Robin coming back, it made him realize how much he really missed her. How much he wanted her. Needed her. In two days she would be back and then everything could go back to normal. He knew Robin wasn’t going to give up that easily and he really didn’t want to hurt her. Maybe seeing him with Courtney would make her realize that they really were over. But if he knew Robin, and he did, then this situation was far from over. He shook his head and rolled over. He wouldn’t think about that tonight He closed his eyes and sank into a restless sleep. 

Down the hall, Nikki turned the TV off and rolled her eyes. It was late but she couldn’t sleep. She was far too angry. She looked at her kickboxing bag, put on her gloves and started her attack. She had already worked on this thing for at least two hours earlier today. She was trying to release some of the anger that was quickly building up inside of her. After kicking and punching for about a half-hour, she threw the gloves off, not feeling any better than when she had started. She looked around the room and her eyes caught a table by the wall. It was where she had some of her family pictures. She walked over to it and picked up one of her brother, Courtney and Ashley. He was so happy and she would die before she let this woman take it away from him. The woman who had torn his life apart once. “It’s not going to happen again,” she said out loud. She took one last look at the pictures, smiled and headed up to bed, feeling better than she had in hours.

Chapter 4~

The next morning Nikki was awakened by the incessant beeping of her alarm clock. She squinted, trying to make out the numbers. As the numbers became clear, she quickly jumped out of bed. “Shit!” She yelled as she ran around the room, looking for something to wear. She had overslept. Her alarm clock had been going for fifteen minutes before it actually penetrated her dreams. Late night brooding sessions could definitely not happen when she had the breakfast shift at Kelly’s.   She pulled on a pair of hip huggers and a body-fit top. She ran a brush through her hair, put on a little makeup, grabbed her sunglasses and coat and ran out the door.  She smiled to Marco as she ran to the elevator. He shook his head, knowing how late she was. She hit the button and was waiting when her eyes drifted towards her brother’s penthouse. No matter how late she was, she couldn’t resist the urge to go see him and her niece. She always loved spending time with her brother. He was her best friend. She knew some people didn’t know how they were so close. Most people could never spend that much time with a sibling and not try to claw their eyes out. Maybe it was the eighteen years that she hadn’t known him, she wasn’t sure. All she knew was that she loved spending time with him, and she loved him very much. She knocked on the very lightly and heard a loud “Come in” from the other side. She poked her head in and saw Jason and Ashley sitting on the floor, playing.

“Hey.”

“Hey Nik.” Ashley looked up at Nikki and giggled. She sat down and kissed the baby’s head. “What are you doing up this early?” Jason asked his sister, who was usually being pried out of bed.

“Oh, I have to work,” she said nonchalantly, while helping Ashley put together a baby puzzle.

“Well shouldn’t you get going?”

“I can be a few minutes late.” She looked up and saw her brother’s raised eyebrows. “Ok, I'm going. So just call me if you need anything.”

“I will. Maybe we’ll stop by for lunch.”

“Great. I’ll see you later.” She kissed her niece’s head on last time and walked out the door. She ran into Kelly’s twenty-five minutes late, and saw Penny trying to handle the morning rush. Penny looked up and gave a relieved sigh. “I am so sorry.”

“It’s ok, can you just take these.” Nikki grabbed the plates and brought them to their respected tables. After settling all the customers, Nikki grabbed two cups of coffee and handed one to Penny.

“I am so sorry I was late.”

“It’s no problem. Is everything ok?”

“Yea I just have some stuff on my mind and I couldn’t sleep last night. My alarm was going for fifteen minutes before I actually reacted to it.”

“Well are you ok to work?”

“Yea, yea I'm fine now.”

Around 12:30, Robin strolled into Kelly’s and up to the counter. Nikki walked out from the backroom and stopped when she saw Robin nursing a cup of coffee. She inhaled deeply and walked up to her. She looked up from her drink and smiled, “Hi, Nikki.”

“Hi.” 

“Look I know you’re angry with me.”

“No angry would be putting it lightly. You lied to me to get access to my brother. I don’t take something like that lightly.”

“Look Nikki, your brother is everything to me.”

“Robin he’s married.”

“But he loves me.”

“I don’t know if you’re stupid or just delusional. He loves his wife.” Robin stood up and stared Nikki straight in the eyes. Even though they were about the same height, Nikki was definitely more intimidating. Her eyes iced over, her jaw tightened and she was rapidly clenching her fists. “I am not going to let you hurt him.”

“I’ll have him again before I see him with that blond slut.”

“Don’t you talk about her that way.”

“Oh, did I hit a nerve?”

“Robin I'm warning you…”

“Did your mother’s have you in the same trailer park…?” Robin never finished her sentence, for Nikki’s fist quickly came in contact with her jaw, sending Robin flying.

Jason walked in just in time to see the standoff begin. He put his daughter in a baby seat and then returned his attention to the two women. He watched intensely as a few harsh words were exchanged and then watched as his sister’s fist connected with Robin’s jaw and sent Robin flying. Jason ran and grabbed his sister by the waist before she could do any more damage. Nikki was a skilled fighter and could kill Robin if she really wanted to. She fought against her brother’s grasp, desperately wanting to teach the woman who had dared to insult her family, a lesson. “Let go of me. Robin I swear to God I'll kill you.” Jason kept a firm grip while trying to avoid her fists and legs, and while trying to get her to back off. The entire diner had come to a stand still, watching the feuding women.

“Nikki please calm down,” Jason begged his sister.

“Jason let me go. Jason…get the hell off.”

“Not until you relax.”

“Alright, alright.” She relaxed slightly in his arms, and he let her go. She shrugged him off and looked at Robin, who was still reeling from the punch. Robin stood up and stood face to face with Nikki. Nikki leaned in closer and said chillingly, “Don’t ever talk about my family that way and don’t you ever mention my mother.” She turned to Penny, who just waved her hand, indicating her that she could go. She took off her apron, grabbed her stuff and looked at her brother. “I’ll see you later.” And with that, she left. Jason looked at Robin, who was rubbing her already bruising jaw.

“What the hell did you say to her?”

“Jason why are you assuming this was my fault.”

“Because my sister doesn’t lose her temper, that bad, that quickly. Only if she's been seriously provoked. Now are you going to tell me what happened?”

“We had a disagreement Jase, end of story.” She threw some money on the table and walked out of the diner. Jason rubbed his temples and went up to the counter to order some lunch. He smiled at Penny as he picked up the bag, his daughter and headed towards Harborview Towers. He was determined to find out what had just happened.

Chapter 5~

Nikki stood in her Penthouse shaking with anger. She couldn’t believe the nerve of that woman. How dare she insult Courtney that way. And that she even mentioned her mother’s name infuriated Nikki to no end. She actually may have killed Robin if Jason had been there to stop her. He was one of the few people who could talk her down. She had to laugh slightly at the thought of her killing Robin. It seemed she fell into the role of ‘mob princess’, as Faith had once called her, so easily. She closed her eyes and sat on the couch, trying to process everything. She didn’t want to see her family hurt, and if that meant eliminating Robin, then that might be what she would have to do. She quickly erased that thought from her head. She couldn’t kill anyone. She didn’t have it in her. Well, at least she didn’t think she did. However, she had come close to pulling the trigger, when the situation was really bad. If it hadn’t been for Jason talking her down, she actually may have done it. Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard the elevator in the hall. She knew it was her brother coming home and she whistled slightly, knowing she was going to get some sort of lecture or form of questioning. “Great,” she mumbled to herself. She quickly moved to the kitchen and grabbed a carton of chocolate ice cream and a spoon. She was going to need this. As Jason exited the elevator, holding his sleeping daughter, he nodded to Max who was by Sonny’s door. He gently handed Ashley to Max and told him to bring her inside the Penthouse and put her in her crib. He quietly walked into his sister’s apartment and put the bag of food down. When she didn’t come into the room, like she usually does when he arrives, he started calling her name.

“Nikki! Nikki!” he yelled.

“I'm right here. Stop yelling.” She said, as she walked out of her kitchen. “What’s that?” she asked, pointing to the bag.

“Lunch.”

“Nah, I'm not hungry.” She said while sitting down on the couch and picking up a magazine.

“Really? Because I would think that after the fight you got into, you would have worked up a real appetite.”

“Jason I don’t know what fight you are talking about. See last time I checked a fight involved at least two people. Now from what I remember, I knocked her on her skinny butt.”

“Nikki what set that off? What could have possibly gotten you that mad that you would send her flying?”

“She lied to me and she disrespected my family. That’s all the reason I need.”

“Nikki…”

“Don’t ‘Nikki’ me Jase ok. Now there is one reason she is back and everyone knows what it is. Honey, its you. She wants you back, despite the fact that you have a wife and a child. She is still very much in love with you. So what are you going to do?”

“Nikki I don’t think she is going to act on these feelings.” “The hell she isn’t. She thinks that you still love her Jase. Now I don’t know if its delirium or just plain stupidity, but she is not going to stop until she has you back. So like I said, ‘what the hell are you going to do about this?”

“I--” he began but was quickly cut off by Marco opening the door and telling him that Ashley was crying. He turned back to her and gave her an apologetic look.

“It’s alright. I have to go to class anyway.” He smiled and headed towards the door. Just as he was leaving he said,

“Try and stay out of trouble ok?” She gave him and innocent smile and then rolled her eyes as soon as the door was shut. She grabbed her books and bag and headed out the door, groaning when Marco followed. She turned around and smiled at him,

“Marco, I'm fine, really. I mean it isn’t dangerous. I'm good really.”

“I don’t think that’s really what your brother is concerned about.”

“Oh, and would you please tell me what it is that he’s concerned about?”

“Um, I think he’s afraid that you’ll kill Miss Scorpio if you run into her again.” “Huh? Is that so? Well Marco let me assure you, I am perfectly capable of handling my temper and handling where my fists fly. Now I am going to go to class and you are going to stay here.” She let out and exasperated sigh and headed towards the stairs, not bothering to wait for the elevator. Inside the Penthouse, Jason watched his daughter sleep. She had gone back down relatively easy, and now he just wanted to watch her breathe. When ever something bad was going on, that’s a way he relaxed. By watching one of the women he loved sleep. Usually it was his daughter or wife, but sometimes he would watch his sister or best friend, usually while they were napping on a couch or something like that. Just seeing them breathe, knowing they were safe, helped him more than anything ever could. He kissed his daughter’s forehead and exited the room. He quickly went downstairs and picked up his phone and dialed his wife’s number. After three rings, he heard her sweet voice answer.

“Hey babe!”

“Hey Jase. What’s up?”