Emily: We must be insane, Zander. Do you realize how late it is?
Zander: Oh, well, we might as well be a little nuts. We're newlyweds.
Emily: Mm-hmm.
Zander: Just come back from a romantic moonlit walk in the woods behind our very first home.
Emily: Rented home.
Zander: For now. One day when I start making a little more money, I'm going to buy this place, build a gazebo out back where we can sit out under the stars. You like gazeboes, right?
Emily: What woman doesn't?
Zander: That's what I thought. I can see you out there writing in your journal in one of those beautiful, long, flowy summer dresses that you like, looking amazing.
Emily: Yeah, I like it.
Zander: Hmm. We're going to be ridiculously happy here.
Emily: Oh, Zander, I'm just a little curious. Why here in particular?
Zander: Well, I mean, it's perfect. It's isolated, it's quiet, surrounded by woods.
Emily: How about Nikolas used to live here?
Nikolas: Alexis. I had no idea you were even back. Why didn't you call me?
Alexis: I planned to, Nikolas.
Nikolas: Did you find out anything? All right, don't say anything. It's all over your face. Darius isn't blackmailing anybody because he's dead, and my uncle is as responsible for his death as he is for Summer's. You can go ahead and stop me whenever you think I'm wrong.
Alexis: Guilt or innocence have nothing to do with this.
Lydia: Excuse me? How would that work, exactly?
Nikolas: It means that my aunt here is going to see that my uncle goes free whether she believes he's a murderer or not.
Alexis: I'm an attorney who's taken on a job as a legal consultant, and it's incumbent upon me to do everything that I can to ensure my client's acquittal.
Lydia: I get that, if your client is actually innocent. If he's guilty as sin, can't you fall back on your job as a human being and not let him get away with literal murder?
Alexis: Forgive me for being blunt, but this doesn't concern you, Lydia.
Lydia: The hell it doesn't. If he gets out of jail, I'm the next notch on some cliff rock.
Alexis: I have my reasons for doing this, and they're personal. It's a family matter.
Lydia: Which is double talk for Stefan's using something against you just like he does everybody else.
Nikolas: We're your family, too, Alexis. If my uncle's threatening you, I can make it stop, but my hands are tied unless you tell me what's going on.
Alexis: You know me well enough to know that I have my reasons for doing what I'm doing.
Nikolas: Alexis, you know what? You've always been the one Cassadine with a set of principles that made sense, the one with a soul. And let me tell you, if you turn that over to my uncle, I can guarantee you two things. It'll be very difficult for you to face yourself in the mirror and you'll have to answer to me.
Zander: Well, Emily, I -- I rented this house for a lot of reasons. I mean, the rent's more than doable, it was available right away, we got a sweet deal. And, I mean, yeah, I mean, the thought of living husband and wife in a place that Nikolas used to own, I mean, it crossed my mind.
Emily: But why does it matter, Zander?
Zander: It doesn't. That's the point. This house is perfect for us, and I did not want the fact that Nikolas used to live here keep us away.
Emily: That's very enlightening of you, Zander.
Zander and Emily laugh.
Zander: You think so?
Emily: Mm-hmm.
Thunder.
Emily: I love you. I hope you know that.
Zander: If I don't, all I got to do is look in those beautiful eyes of yours. So, hey, wife, you tired?
Emily: Not too. Why?
Zander: Well, there's some wine in the kitchen.
Emily: Mm-hmm.
Zander: So maybe some cheese and crackers. I was thinking I could light a fire and you could stare at it while I stare at you.
Emily: Zander --
Phone rings.
Zander: Our first official phone call. Do you mind?
Emily: Oh, God, knock yourself out.
Zander: Ahem. (Affected accent) Mr. and Mrs. Smith's residence. (Normal voice) You sound terrible. What's wrong with you?
Alexis: This has to be understood. You and I have never had this conversation.
Zander: Okay. What's going on?
Alexis: Ned has been set up. Stefan sicced some underage girl on him. She's claiming that he raped her.
Zander: What? Why would Stefan do something like that?
Alexis: Because has no conscience. And because I made the mistake of asking him to help me get custody of my daughter. His solution was to discredit Ned, and I don't have the stomach for it.
Zander: Well, why don't you just tell Ned what's going on?
Alexis: I can't. Stefan's been very thorough. He set me up. There's a paper trail that leads back to me.
Zander: What can I do?
Alexis: You're smart, you're savvy, and you move in the circles that I want to infiltrate. Her name is Cindy Holmes. She's 18. She can pass for younger. She is smart, she is savvy, she is suspicious, and she's a convincing liar.
Zander: Tell me what you want me to do.
Alexis: I want you to hook up with her. She lives in the neighborhood. She may eat here. She may move through the docks on her way to a gym. I want you to tie her to Stefan, expose her for the fraud that she is without making her a sacrificial lamb. If this lands on me, you know how detrimental this will be to my daughter. I am painfully aware that I have no right to ask you to do this, but I have nowhere else to turn.
Zander: Consider it done, Okay? Alexis, you took me in when I first came to this town. I owe you. And Ned just gave me a bunch of money to rent a place, so I owe him, too.
Alexis: You need to be careful because if Stefan finds out about this, you will be in danger and so will Emily.
Zander: Emily?
Alexis: I was right from the beginning. Emily was the target, not Summer. He wanted Emily out of the way so that Nikolas would marry Lydia.
Zander: What?
Alexis: Zander, you need to let me handle Stefan. You just protect Emily and you just be glad that she's not with Nikolas.
Emily: It worked. The lights are on. Hey.
Nikolas: I changed a couple of -- a couple of fuses. The breaker should hold.
Emily: Okay.
Nikolas: The main fuse box is just inside the cellar door. By the way, I always kept it locked.
Emily: Okay. Thanks. You know, I'm sure Zander would have figured out how to open it, but he had to go out and I figured, you know, since you used to live here that --
Nikolas: Stop explaining why you called. I'm happy I could help you. Now, come on, you're freezing. Get away from the door.
Emily: All right.
Nikolas: Here. Here you go.
Emily: Thanks.
Nikolas: All right?
Emily: Yeah.
Nikolas: Okay, I'll tell you what -- I'll get a fire going for you before I leave, Okay? How's that?
Emily: Okay. Thanks. That'd be nice.
Nikolas: How are you feeling?
Emily: Well, you know, I'm sure it has to do with getting out of the hospital, but I feel better than I have in, I don't know, what feels like forever. I mean, I tire easily, but there are no signs of the meningitis.
Nikolas: Excellent.
Emily: And if they -- if they find a new chemo treatment that works for me, I think I'll be around a lot longer than I thought.
Nikolas: Told you.
Emily: Yes, you did.
Nikolas: Matches?
Emily: On the -- on the table.
Nikolas: Oh, here we go. Thanks.
Nikolas: All right, there you go. The lights are on. The fire's going. Looks like you have everything you need. I should go, unless you can think of a reason for me to stay.
Emily gasps.
Nikolas: It's Okay. It's Okay.
Lydia: Trying to call Emily?
Zander: I'm trying to call and tell her I'm on my way home. The storm must have knocked out the phone lines.
Lydia: Yeah, your power's out, too.
Zander: How would you know something like that?
Lydia: Your wife called my husband to come out and turn it back on. Didn't take them long, did it?
Emily: Hey, the phones are out, too.
Nikolas: Yeah, I figured as much.
Emily: Look at you, Nikolas. You're soaked again.
Nikolas: No. I'm all right.
Emily: No, you're not, and you're certainly not going back out there for a while. I mean, it could start raining at any second. Wait it out with me.
Nikolas: Okay, thanks.
Emily: Here. Here you go.
Nikolas: Thanks.
Emily: You know, I -- I have a confession I probably shouldn't make.
Nikolas: And now you have to.
Emily: When I told Zander that he pulled me back when I felt my life slipping away, I lied. It was you, Nikolas. I know it was only a dream or something --
Nikolas: I had the same one.
Emily: What?
Nikolas: I kissed you, and you were back with me. Don't you see? That's how connected we are, Emily. Don't you see that?