Durant finished the search of Ric's warehouse and found nothing. He and the officers left with just as much as they came in with, nothing but a piece of paper. Ric smiled as Durant passed him on the way out.

"I told you wouldn't find anything, Durant."

"One of these day's Lansing I will and then I'll put you and your brother away for a very long time." Durant once again having the last word, as he walked out the door of the warehouse with the PCPD officers.

As soon as Durant was out of sight and gone, Justus laid into Ric.

"I'm telling you, Ric ... Durant is going to find something to put you and Sonny both away for a long time. He will not give up till he finds it, and even if he doesn't find it, he'll make it up to find it."

"Look, Justus, I appreciate the words of advice, but right now I don't have the time to worry about Durant. He's the least of my problems."

"Problems as in last night's shootout?"

"Sonny and I are on top of the situation." Ric replied just as his cell phone rang.

"Lansing ..." he answered.

"I think I have some information about the unknown threat.." Sonny informed Ric.

"I'll be there in 15 minutes." Ric replied and flipped his phone closed.

"Greg! Let's go ...." Ric and Justus walked out of the warehouse together and to Ric's limo that was waiting.

"If I need you again, I'll call you." Ric said to Justus as he climbed in the backseat of his car.

"Where to sir? Greg asked as he started to pull away from the warehouse.

"I have to meet Sonny at Greystone."

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Greg pulled the black limo up in front of Sonny's compound and Ric emerged from the backseat of the car. Max was at the gate to greet him.

"Sonny's expecting you." Max said as he opened up the gate and allowed Ric inside.

"Thanks Max." Ric replied and he walked up to the front door of the dark and dreary manor.

Once inside, Ric found Sonny in the living room at his desk.

"You found out some information on the new threat in town?" Ric asked as he walked into the living room.

Sonny got up from his chair and went to the wet bar to refill his glass. He offered Ric a drink before getting down to business.

"I did, and I think we have a serious problem." Sonny said as he handed Ric a glass of bourbon.

"So who are we up against? He can't be all that almighty powerful." Ric replied as he took a seat on the couch.

"She ..."

"She .. who?"

"The "he" is a she and yes she is quite powerful and deadly." Sonny replied and then took a sip of his drink.

"Well who is she and how can we put a stop to her?"

"She is Faith Roscoe and she's a viper when it comes to business. We're going to have our hands full with this blondie."

"You sound like you know her." Ric asked.

"I know of her and she can be deadly. She has taken out entire families without getting her hands dirty. She normally hires out to do her killing, but it certainly seems she's taking care of this job herself."

"How can you tell?" Ric asked

"Because instead of two dead last night, they all would of been." Sonny smirked.

Ric gave him a crooked smile and now really became worried about Alexis and his children.

"What ever Faith wants, Faith gets and she doesn't care who has to die for her to get it. If she wants our territory, everyone who is close to us is in danger. She'll stop at nothing till she gets it."

"Okay, so what's the game plan then? It's going to be impossible to tell who her next target is going to be, how can we possible protect everyone?"

"You sent Alexis and the kids to the safe house, and I sent Carly and the boys to the island with Jason. He's coming back after they are settled in."

"Well while you were checking into Faith, I did find out earlier that the men who were killed last night were part of Alcazar's crew of goons. So it looks like Faith is systematically taking us down one at a time." Ric replied.

"Since she's playing right now with Alcazar, it may buy us some time to plan our move against her." Sonny took the last swallow of bourbon in his glass and set it down on the table in front of him.

Ric did the same and stood up from his seat on the couch. "I have to get out of here, I have a long ride back to the cabin. I'm sure Alexis is pacing the floors with worry just about now."

"If I hear anything else, I'll call you." Sonny said as he walked Ric to the front door.

The two of them shared a brotherly embrace before Ric walked out the door, he heading back to the cabin and to his family.

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Alexis just put Emma down for the night, Kristina in bed for a while now, and Viola is upstairs in her room reading. The cabin was quiet, the most it's been all day. She sat on the couch and cuddle up with the afghan and watched as Mario and Davis stood guard outside on the front porch. She felt safe and secure, but worried about Ric not being back yet from town. As she snuggled up on the couch, safe and secure within the cabin, danger lurked outside amidst the darkness and shadows of the woods surrounding the property.

As the darkened figure was about to make an approach, Ric's limo pulled up at the front porch of the cabin. Greg emerged from the driver's seat and opened the back door for Ric. Ric walked behind the car, just as shots rang out from the darkness a short distance from the house.

Davis and Mario both saw Ric fall down to the ground and reacted quickly by drawing their weapons on the unknown assailant. They fired a few rounds into the darkness but had no idea if they hit anything or not.

Greg quick in reacting, rushed to Ric who was lying face down on the ground, while Mario rushed inside the house to make sure Alexis would not rush out to her husband. Davis went to Ric's aid as well, and found him still alive but barely. Davis turned Ric over and saw he had been shot in the chest. Davis quickly got Ric back into the limo and before Greg could take off, Alexis came rushing out of the house wanting to go with Ric to the hospital.

"Ric!" she cried as Davis came upon her, hysterical.

"Greg's taking him to the hospital ....." Davis said as he tried to keep Alexis from getting inside the car.

"I'm going with him Davis! And you're not going to stop me!" she screamed at him and opened the back door of the limo. She climbed in with Ric and saw that he had been shot in the chest. She rushed to find something to stop the bleeding with and all she found were towels that were kept in underneath the seats.

"Let's go Greg! He's been shot in the chest!" Alexis cried frantically.

Davis slammed the door closed the Greg sped off down the dirt drive heading back to the main road, then towards town. Viola had heard the shots and came rushing down the stairs just in time to see the limo's taillights. She questioned what happened and Davis told her that Ric had been shot, Alexis had gone with him to the hospital. Mario and Davis helped Viola get the children ready to go into town to be with Alexis. But Viola stopped and thought better of it. The hospital is no place for the children, especially at a time like this. She decided they'd wait to hear from Alexis.

Greg pulled up the limo outside the ER and quickly jumped out of the front seat and opened the back door. Ric barely conscious, Alexis had a bloody towel in her hands as she held pressure on the wound to help stop the bleeding, but to no avail. His wound was just to severe. Greg went into the ER and demanded a doctor to help with Ric who was still in the limo with Alexis.

Alexis opened her door so the orderlies would have access to Ric. He was put on a gurney and rushed inside the hospital where a doctor was waiting to see him. Alexis and Greg rushed in behind him but were stopped before going too far. The front of Alexis's blouse was covered in Ric's blood and the nurse asked if she too was hurt. Through the tears, Alexis told her no that it was Ric's blood.

Alexis sat in the waiting area for a few hours, as the doctors worked on Ric. Soon one of them emerged from the "No Admittance" area and walked over towards her. She got from her seat, and tried to compose herself enough to talk with him.

"How is my husband?" she asked frantic to know his condition.

"We're prepping him now for surgery. You're husband was shot in the right side of his chest. He is really lucky to be alive." the doctor replied knowing she wanted to hear some good news.

"So .. how long will he be in surgery?" she sniffled back the tears.

"It will be a few hours. That's all I can tell you right now, I'm sorry." the doctor turned and walked away.

Alexis stood alone in tears and then she heard a voice from behind her, someone who was familiar to her and she was glad he was there. She rushed to him and threw her arms around him. After all she had done for him, it was his turn to be there for her.

"Who called you?" she asked and then noticed he was not alone.

"I got here as quickly as I heard. Emily and I took the first flight out of Miami." Zander said as Alexis gave Emily a hug too.

"How's Ric?"

"He's in surgery for the next few hours." Alexis replied and walked with them to the waiting area to sit down.

Zander sat down next to Alexis and tried to comfort her as they waited for some news about Ric. Emily left Zander with Alexis and went in search for her parents. She hadn't seen them in a long time and had hoped she'd have the chance once her and Zander were back in Port Charles.

"So how are you and Emily doing?" Alexis asked hoping to keep her mind off of Ric if she heard about Zander's life in Florida.

"We're doing okay .... I made Detective a few months ago, so that helps with making the mortgage payments on the house. And some other good news but I think I should wait and have Emily tell you."

"I am so happy for the two of you. You really seem to have a handle on everything."

"Well, I can't say our life is all rosey but it's certainly better than what we had here in Port Charles." Zander replied remembering all the trouble he had when he lived here.

As Zander and Alexis talked, Emily had found her parents and spent a little time with them before returning to the waiting area where she had left Alexis and Zander. As she came upon them Zander stood up to greet her with a kiss.

"So have you told her yet?" Emily asked as she sat down with Zander on the couch.

"No I was waiting for you, I thought we could tell her together." he replied as Alexis now started to see how anxious the two of them were to tell her something.

"Tell me what? Please tell me it's good news. God knows I need to hear some."

"Oh its good news ... very good news." Emily smiled, just about jumping out of her skin from excitement.

"Emily's pregnant." Zander announced as any proud father to be should.

As the words came out of his mouth, Emily's friend Elizabeth walked up from behind them and over heard the good news. "Emily's ... what?"

"I'm pregnant!" Emily thrilled to see Elizabeth and she jumped up off the couch and went to hug her dearest friend.

Zander and Alexis left the waiting area and took a walk together to talk some more. Elizabeth and Emily stayed back and caught up on old times. As Alexis and Zander walked the halls of the hospital, Alexis told him about the situation Ric was in and that she and the family had moved temporarily to the cabin safe house. She felt comfortable and safe in telling Zander, she had known him for quite a number of years and she knew he would not tell anyone else.

"So where are the kids?" Zander asked as he and Alexis stood outside the doors of the hospital chapel.

"Viola .... Viola is taking care of them." she replied and realized she hadn't called to check on them since she and Greg brought Ric in over 4 hours ago.

"May I borrow your cell phone?" she asked Zander.

"Sure ..."

Alexis walked a short distance from him and made a call to Davis. She felt better once she talked with Kristina and Viola, she knew the children were in very capable hands until she could be with them again. After making the phone call, she and Zander went into the chapel and lit a candle for Ric. Although she not overly religious, she said a little prayer for her husband. The two of them left the chapel and headed back to the waiting area in the ER. Alexis had hoped by now that he was out of surgery and the doctors could tell her he would be okay.

Zander and Alexis sat a little while longer together before a doctor came down to talk with her about Ric. He approached and sat down in the chair next to her. He introduced himself as Dr. Dixon and that he was the surgeon who performed the operation on Ric.

"I have news on your husband's condition."