The Road Trip Series
by Cher

Independence Day - July 4, 2003

"And no one dare
Disturb the sound of silence.

"Fools" said I, "You do not know
Silence like a cancer grows.
Hear my words that I might teach you,
Take my arms that I might reach you."
But my words like silent raindrops fell,
And echoed
In the wells of silence"

How ironic or perhaps the gods are laughing, Cameron thought sourly, his car ambling down the road in Canada as Simon and Garfunkel sang of the very silence that surrounded the occupants like a smothering cocoon.

He turned off the radio and glanced over at the passenger seat where Alexis sat staring out the window. "You are mighty quiet over there."

No response. "Come on, Alexis, talk to me. We're going to be together for a few days and although I will admit talking to myself can be quite entertaining, even stimulating at times, it does get old after the first hour or two."

Still she refused to respond. "Alexis, please. I'm begging you here and I'm not a begging kind of guy. Don't you want to say something?"

She turned her head and stared coolly into his eyes. "I don't think the language has evolved a word to capture what I want to say to you at this moment."

Boy, she's ticked, he thought. This was going to be one long trip if he couldn't get her to come around. But he had confidence he could thaw out his ice princess it was only a matter of time. His mind wandered to the non-essential items he'd packed into the trunk that should entice her out of her glowering mood. Or so he hoped - or was it prayed?

Cameron looked at luscious lips pursed, eyes throwing daggers and sighed.

"Alexis, I told you I didn't want to have to resort to this… ah… kidnapping scenario…but what else could I do? You froze me out since Father's Day - and Zander too - and we both had to do something to get you to notice we were missing you. We need to talk."

"Cameron, if I wanted to talk to you I would have picked up the telephone and dialed your number. I acquired that skill at an early age."

"No, with all that stubbornness and pride, you would rather gnaw off your arm than give in…"

"I'm a Cassadine, we're born that way."

"Hell, if I would have scaled the walls of your apartment building like Spiderman you still would have…"

"Swatted you down to the ground to be run over by a semi? You bet I would, pal. My serve was legendary on the tennis team at Harvard, aces all around."

He batted his eyelashes. "Even if I was wearing that nice spandex costume with all my Spidey powers running at full throttle?"

She rolled her eyes. "Now who's crazy? There must be a diagnosis for delusions of superhero glory in that lexicon of psychiatric terms you carry around in your back pocket. Physician - or should I say psychiatrist - heal thyself."

He rolled his eyes right back at her. "I was merely using Spiderman as an illustration…"

She snorted. "What's next - a yearning to be Superman?"

He shook his head and grinned. "Nah, too goody two shoes red, white and blue for me. I'm more of a rapscallion, the kind that likes to stir things up."

He saw the turnoff to the river and exclaimed happily, "See, with all this friendly chitchat we're almost there."

Alexis muttered under her breath. "Tempus fugit."

They were bouncing along the road and he didn't catch everything she said. "What did you say?"

"TEMPUS FUGIT…" she repeated slowly and loudly.

"Sorry, I only caught the word TEMPUS. 'Time flies', huh? And we haven't even started having fun yet."

Her only response was an audible snort and another patented Alexis eye roll. He was amazed on some days her eyes didn't just roll right out of her head. He was happy she was at least talking, even if they were engaging in one of their argumentative free-for-alls. He'd learned the lesson early on in their relationship that silence was never golden where Alexis was concerned because there was always another layer secreted within its shadows waiting to pounce.

Alexis forced herself to stare out the window. Must stay angry, must stay angry, she silently admonished herself, I can't afford to crumble. He was already working his magic to break down her anger by bantering with her and it was making her crazy because it always felt so right with him it was second nature. Here she is kidnapped of all things to another country, her apartment and drawers ransacked by two crazy men who seem to be able to work together to turn her life upside down but not to put their own lives right side up. Her suitcase is packed with heaven knows what wardrobe besides her underwear with no Saks Fifth Avenue within a 50-mile radius let alone a Wal-Mart and she was now on her way to some desolate-no-indoor-plumbing-spider-infested fishing hole in Canada. She should either be trying to escape or at the very least hate every minute.

Truth was she liked the idea of spending time with him and that was bad, very bad.

She needed to stay focused and annoyed because she was determined not to allow him to get away with ignoring his problem with his son. It was too important to Cameron and Zander, too important in fact to all of them, not to make the best effort. She'd concluded the only way to do that was to force him and Zander to fend for themselves with her out of their fight, their lives if need be. It wasn't what she wanted, she loved them both passionately but something had to give and if she had to retreat from the battlefield and sacrifice her own happiness to force the issue, she damn well would. She's made the selfsame sacrifice so many times before it was sadly becoming a habit. She yearned for the day that she could tackle her happiness in a great big bear hug, snuggle with it and make it part of her life forever. She thought Cameron would be the one to help fulfill that yearning within but she's been wrong, so very wrong, so many times before it was probably just her imagination in the first place. That very thought alone, that she could have been wrong about what they could be to each other, was breaking her heart and with so much heartbreak in her life already, the extent of the pain was telling as to its importance.

Zander had been a part of her life for a few years but the relationship was easy - at least part of the time. They were there for each other when needed, fought each other on occasion but always were comfortable with the reality they had their own lives. It didn't make them love each other any less not being in each other's pockets constantly but the bond surprisingly was tighter in spite of it. He was hurting over Emily's engagement to Nikolas, a liaison even Alexis herself could not understand and she didn't want to abandon him but would need to for his own eventual good. If the situation with Emily and Zander's reaction to it were indicative of anything it was even more crucial to have his father to lean on.

Cameron was another story and the hardest book to close, even if Fate dictated it be only for a short time. He was the one constant in her very volatile life, the only person other than her daughter she thought about upon arising each morning and before closing her eyes to sleep each night. Often those thoughts and the vision of his dark eyes crinkling as he smiled down at her were the only things to get her through the day as she struggled to connect with her daughter. The days since her Father's Day plan went down in nautical flames were lonely, an echoing quiet all about her as she avoided him. She laughed and then cried as she read the poems he slipped under her door, her tears spilling on the parchment paper, a watermark forever embedded upon his heart laid open and vulnerable in prose before her. The thought of him not being in her life was more than she could bear but she had to be strong for both of the men she loved.

Her goal was to reunite them and whatever it took, she would do it.

The car was bumping down a road filled with potholes and large rocks. Alexis was holding onto the dashboard for dear life and snarked, "Why is it that all of the so-called 'Gardens of Eden' you have dragged me to since the day we met seem to be at the end of roads filled with crater-size potholes? Is that some strange allusion to the state of our relationship?"

He gripped the wheel as he tried to avoid hitting another pothole but the wheel caught the end of it and the subsequent bounce rattled his bones. "I haven't heard you complain before about the quality of those 'journeys ended'. Seems to me I could quote chapter and verse some of the more 'verbal' expressions of gratitude you evidenced at several venues. A certain night in a cave comes to mind…"

She blushed and retorted. "Look I know a certain level of denseness is one of the unfortunate attributes of being a man but for some unknown reason you can't seem to wrap your hands around the concept of 'Alexis is angry with me'. Why is that? You are usually so quick on the uptake."

He concentrated on the road and with deceptive innocence replied, "Sorry… my dense male mind appears to have fixated on the 'wrap your hands around' phrase. You were saying?"

She sighed in exasperation and flicked a hand at the windshield. "Forget it and drive."

He chuckled softly as they made their way down the road. He had faith he'd eventually wear her down. They finally turned off the road onto a smaller road that led to an outcropping of tall trees, their massive trunks ancient, gnarled branches offering themselves to the sky. He stopped the car, got out and walked over to her door and opened it.

"Ready to enter the great outdoor world of fly-fishing?"

She ignored the hand he held out, exited the car and looked around in confusion. "Cameron, forgive me if I seem confused - it must be this fine Canadian air - but I don't see any water. Are these fish mammals?"

He pointed to a path through the trees. "We have to walk through the trees a bit to reach the river, the path is too small to drive through."

Oh, that's just great, she thought. "So, we have to drag whatever you are hiding in the trunk down the path?"

"We'll need to make a few trips but it's not far and you did okay with the backpack on Flag Day. Well, except when you hyperventilated but I'm prepared now. I bought industrial-strength brown paper bags at Home Depot. I'm ready for whatever you can throw my way."

She muttered, "How about a large boulder?"

"Did you say something?"

"Not me," she said with a shrug and went to stand by the trunk. "Well, if you are forcing me to do this, let's get the show on the road."

"I tell you Alexis, you are going to love it."

He opened the trunk and started removing rods, reels, a tackle box, what appeared to be a large tarp, blankets, and something rubberized that looked as if it belonged in a bondage and domination movie.

She pointed, "Uh… what exactly is that and why do you have it in your trunk?"

He grinned, "Waders."

"Waders? It looks like it can stand on its own."

"You put it on so you can stand in the water and fish. Or would you prefer to soak your sneakers and clothes? Don't get me wrong, I'll never say no to a wet T-shirt contest and just between us, I think you'd win hands down."

She stuck her tongue out at him. "You wish. So I wear that rubber thing and stand in the water?"

"That is the idea. It also can serve as a flotation device if the rapids topple you and you are swept downstream."

She paled and he tried not to laugh. He was taking her to the least dangerous part of the river but he wouldn't tell her that - at least not yet. He was enjoying this too much.

They walked along the path until they reached the river. It was quiet and the only sound they heard was the echo of isolated birdsong and the splashing of water as it tripped over the rocks on its way downstream to the river proper. They were standing on the banks of a tributary of the river and it was peaceful and serene. Unlike the woman standing next to Cameron who he could see quite clearly was trying very hard to keep him at arms length and not reveal her obvious appreciation of where he brought her. He could see it in her eyes as they drank in the river before her. Their relationship was very much akin to that river as it rolled along, stumbling over the rocks in its path, the currents and eddies of their individual lives sweeping them together yet often pulling them apart. He knew she'd come to a river rapid since Father's Day and prayed they could ride the current to a place of calm waters together.

"Well, what do you think?"

"It's nice. It reminds me of that movie…"

"A River Runs Through It, a movie about the very activity we will be doing. But I think I'm much cuter and a better catch than Brad Pitt."

"If I caught you, I'd throw you right back," she volleyed watching the river gliding along.

He saw she wasn't going to give him an inch but he was prepared to work for that mile he knew he could attain.

They went back to the car several times and on the last, he pulled two small suitcases from the trunk and closed it. He started walking when she touched his arm.

"Excuse me, where are you going with those?"

"Down the path to where we set up camp."

"Set up camp? Again, excuse me, please define 'camp'."

"You saw the tent and possess a brilliant legal mind. How do you define the word?"

"I saw a large canvas tarp. I assumed it was something to do with the whole arcane fishing process and we would end up in some sleazy motel."

"Alexis, as much as ending up in any kind of motel with you is tempting, the only motel around is about 8 miles away. We are camping out. You did time in a sleeping bag on Flag Day and seemed to enjoy it. As a matter of fact, I recall you whispering you wanted to stay in that sleeping bag forever. Well, not that you did that much actual sleeping," he said with a saucy wink.

She glared at him and suddenly, as if she decided that beating him at his own game was more challenging than fighting him, her expression changed. "Fine, I'm adaptable. I can out-camp you anytime."

He scoffed, "Yeah, I guess that is yet another skill you acquired growing up in a royal household filled with servants."

She wrinkled her nose and ignored him as she walked up the path.

Cameron set up camp while she sat on a boulder and threw rocks in the water. She wasn't about to help - not that she had any idea how to set up a tent - so she tried to look bored while glancing appreciatively from under her eyelashes at his tight-fitting jeans.

"Stop thinking like that," she muttered to herself.

He shouted over to her. "Ready for your first lesson? "

She shrugged, "Whatever."

He held the waders while she struggled to get into them. "You may be more comfortable wearing shorts, this tends to make you sweat."

"I don't have…" Then she remembered.

He interrupted smugly, "Oh yes you do - I packed them. The denim - you know the really short ones."

She tapped her foot on the ground wanting so much to slug him and wipe that smug expression from his face but she merely walked over to open her suitcase. She saw some of the things he'd packed and was reasonably impressed not everything was underwear or some variation thereof.

"I expect you to stand your ground and not peek into the tent."

He looked shocked as he put his hand to his heart. "Alexis, you wound me! You actually believe I would stoop so low as to spy on you dressing?"

"Stoop, stand, set up a telephoto lens, cut a hole in a tent - absolutely. Too bad tents don't have locks. You'd be sleeping outside with the animal folk tonight."

He shook his head as she closed the tent. He didn't have the heart - or was it the guts? - to tell her angle of the sun at that time reflected off the light canvas and he could see a lot of what was happening right now in that tent. Yes, better to keep that fact a secret.

She walked out of the tent and he almost let loose with a wolf whistle. All he saw was long luscious leg that seemed to go on forever. He just stared at the vision before him, speechless.

Alexis smirked. "You can feel free to blink anytime now."

She'd caught him out. He grinned wickedly as she struggled into the neoprene waders and helped her to stand.

Alexis grimaced. "This feels weird, rubbery weird."

He nodded. "You'll get used to it. I predict you will be my best student ever."

With that a shadow crossed his face and she knew this was a hobby he shared with his sons. Well, so much the better, it may help him remember the good times and want to get them back. With that thought motivating her, Alexis decided they had unwittingly presented her with the perfect opportunity to work on their problem. So her plan of leaving them alone had to be delayed a bit, maybe it wouldn't be necessary at all. That thought alone cheered her beyond measure. She rubbed her hands together and grabbed a rod and reel and attempted to walk to the river when strong arms enveloped her as she started to fall.

"First things first, Alexis. You need to learn to walk before you can fish."

So she practiced walking and in no time she was proficient. He taught her about fishing flies, knots, casting and mending and they realized after awhile that the silences receded replaced by the peals of laughter now echoing like musical notes through the trees.

"Am I ready? I know the difference between a roll cast and curve cast, a tuck cast and a wiggle cast, and pick-up-and-lay-down cast. Strange how a fishing cast can sound so provocative!"

"Well, you seem to be pretty proficient at that last one - in or out of the water. I'd say you were ready… for anything."

She blushed and grabbed her gear and they both walked into the river. They fished for hours, sometimes in quiet stillness, at other times softly talking about nothing in particular, certainly not what preyed on both their minds.

Alexis wanted to push the subject of his son but the perfect moment seemed to elude her and she was loath now to disturb the fragile serenity they built within the confines of that magical river. He always found the perfect place for them, whether a bench along the waterfront, a cave on a mountainside or a river flowing about them. She knew it wasn't the location it was the magic they made wherever they are together. She'd tried very hard to retain the anger she brought here with her, to focus on her goals but standing beside him she could not fight her feelings. She needed him in her life and walking away - even for his own good - was abandoning him and he meant too much to her. She also couldn't imagine walking away from Zander. She would need to find another way to bring them together. In a few days they would celebrate Independence Day, a day commemorating the birth of a nation and perhaps she could find a way to make it a time of rebirth for Cameron and Zander.

Cameron stood happily fishing beside the woman he'd come to love with all his heart. She had no idea how much love was held there, a colorful ribbon curling around his heart, its gilt gift tag bearing her name. Truth be told, he was afraid of frightening her away. She's uncomfortable dealing with emotions but he felt she was learning and he vowed to help her rebuild the self-confidence her relationship with Kristina's father had so obviously robbed from her. Something changed since they came to stand beside this peaceful river. The anger had abated and he could see by the slight smile on her face Alexis decided to allow this time to be free of the main focus of their dissension - his relationship with his son. He knew it wasn't over till the fat lady sang but knowing Alexis, he and his son would be hearing the strains of that aria sooner than later.

They dined on freshly caught fish and grilled vegetables and a bottle of Chardonnay they chilled in the crisp waters of the river. The moon was full and one could readily imagine reaching up and pulling it down into your arms as the stars twinkled and danced. It was romantic and timeless and before long they were dancing beneath the canopy of stars to the magical symphony that joined their souls, the rhythm of their bodies perfectly matched.

Alexis smiled up into his eyes. "Do you realize we've been dancing for a long time to silent music?"

He looked down into the twin pools of her eyes, their darkness mellow with moonlight. "Well at one point I believe I heard a chorus of night creatures serenading the two of us."

She laughed, "You mean the coyote choir? Better than my singing. It is of the strangled cat variety - only audible to bats and dogs."

He held her close to him, her hand on his heart. "I doubt that but I won't tempt Fate. Hey, I just remembered there is a portable CD player under the backseat of the car. I'll be right back. "

"We can make our own music, that's not necess…" she called after his retreating back.

Alexis was happy and she looked forward to the next few days. She needed to be back for Independence Day because, like it or not, she was attending the Quartermaine picnic in the park to spend time with her daughter- and not as Dobson. She was tired of the charade - literally - and her British alter ego needed to disappear. She'd discovered more unearthly secrets in that house than she ever wanted to know in her lifetime but had enough of the 'goods' now to approach the custody of her daughter via another angle. Cameron would be thrilled and he could finally tell Zander he was not the gay blade his son erroneously imagined.

She heard his footsteps and turned with a smile - that was immediately wiped away by the look on his face.

She ran to him. "Cameron, what's wrong?"

He looked down at her sheepishly. "Well, it seems the car has disappeared."

Alexis was incredulous. "The car disappeared? Like 'POOF!" David Copperfield presto-chango disappeared?"

Cameron looked half perturbed, half embarrassed. "While I am unable to confirm it was via the forces of overpriced magic, there is no doubt whatsoever it is, in fact, gone."

Alexis paced in front of him. "Let's approach this logically. Are you sure you took the right path? It is dark and you have been drinking wine. Could you have lost your way?"

He shook his head. "I am not drunk, there is one path to follow and I had a flashlight. No, I was on the right path."

"Ok, let's assume you are correct…"

He loudly interrupted, "I AM CORRECT!"

She rolled her eyes. "Ok, ok, no need to lose your temper. Work with me here with some logical progression."

He muttered, "Sorry."

"Fine. We emptied the trunk and walked over hill and dale to the river. Did you put the alarm on?"

"Alexis, for heaven's sake, why would I put the alarm on out here in the wilderness? It's not like the area is a teeming with felons-in-waiting! It is Canada."

"Ok, so you decide not to alarm your $65,000 automobile…"

"Alexis…"

"Sorry. So the car is not alarmed. Let's assume someone was riding aimlessly around the highways and byways of rural Canada and happened to see a fancy automobile tooling around the potholes and decided to follow at a discreet distance. Don't you think we would have heard someone try to hotwire the engine?" She thought of something and eyed him suspiciously. "I mean you didn't leave the keys in it, did you?

He blushed red beneath his beard. "Of course I took the keys - see?" He pulled the keys from his pocket.

"Again…sorry. I have to try all avenues."

"How lawyerly of you. What ever happened to innocent until proven guilty?"

Alexis glared at him and continued. "Again, wouldn't we have heard something? We weren't that far into the woods."

He cleared his throat and looked at her. "Well, to be totally honest with the Honorable Alexis Davis, Esq., I thought I heard a muffled motor earlier in the afternoon."

Her jaw dropped. "You're kidding, right? Did I just hear you say that?"

He had the grace to look uncomfortable. "Well, it was muffled. I assumed it was a low flying plane in the distance. I mean if you were out in the wilderness would YOU assume it was your car being started?"

Alexis pointed out quite calmly considering the circumstances, "Well I AM in the wilderness and I would have at least called your attention to the very oddness of hearing it."

"Would not!"

"Would to!"

Cameron ran his hands through his hair. "So what should we do?"

"Where's your cell phone?"

He couldn't even look at her when he said it. "In the car."

She smiled as she shook her head in disbelief. "So let's review: you parked the car, you left it unalarmed but with your cellular phone for company, you heard a motor running but didn't think it could possibly be your car and now said automobile and our one means of calling for help - that is if a cell zone could be found out here - has disappeared."

"That about covers it."

She stared him down. "Well, Dr. Lewis, congratulations. Only you could manage to be carjacked in the wilderness of Canada."

"What about your cellular phone? I saw your purse in the tent."

She was silent for a moment as he watched her, eyebrow arched. It was best to just say it and take her medicine.

She murmured, "On my desk at home."

Cameron stared at the woman whose cellular phone is virtually an appendage to her body, who never leaves home without it. Murphy's Law had finally caught up to both of them in a major way. He thought about twisted karma and started to chuckle and then the chuckle became a laugh, then a roar until he was doubled over. He looked at Alexis who was staring at him until she finally connected with him on the total absurdity of the situation they were in and laughed right along with him. He pulled her into his arms and they laughed until they collapsed on the ground exhausted.

She wiped the tears from her eyes and asked, "So, Dr. Smarty Pants, what do we do now?"

He looked into her eyes as his own burned with kindled fire. As his lips grazed hers, he softly and simply replied, "We finish our dance."

Moonlight kissed the waters now at rest and hovered over the tent. The lantern's arc of golden hues softly embraced as they looked deeply into each other's eyes, all barriers and dissension now gone. Cameron rose and opened the top flap so they could make love as the stars held watch above them, their surging energy a pulsing accompaniment to their dance. A world that exacted so much from each was left far behind as they created one for them alone, where demands were of the heart and acquiescence was an affirmation of the joining of kindred souls. Skin upon skin, fingers lightly sketch a portrait of bodies yearning for release, one single touch ignites burning flame, its fire consuming them as bodies bob and weave and tangle, stretched and probed and captured in singular moments of infinite oneness, cries begin as the simplest of words transforming on air to hauntingly passionate soliloquy. Words still as lips are captured, gnawed to rawness as tongues reach out to entwine, their silent dance as powerful and pure as words uttered in ecstasy, breathless words seared into their hearts, their souls forever charred by their eternal beauty.

They held each other, breathless and drenched with love, their hearts and bodies as one beneath the twinkling emissaries of the night sky. The silence surrounding them was so sustained and intense, it possessed texture and substance. It seemed the world they created within that tent was suspended in time, the night created for timeless moments with promises of futures to come.

Alexis could have stayed in Cameron's sturdy arms forever, his heart beating beneath her as his soft breath ruffled her hair. It was too good to be true, this small insular world they created that night, and she was fearful to close her eyes, afraid that to open them would find its perfect harmony swept away on the cool evening breeze. She quietly gazed at the cloudless night sky and thanked Fate for this moment and for bringing Cameron into her life.

Cameron opened his eyes and watched Alexis study the heavens. Strange to look up and use that word when heaven was this tent, the woman laying next to him his angel. He'd given up the thought of finding happiness after he lost his sons, one to death and the other to mutual miscommunication, but the same Fate that crushed his world with a mighty fist urged him back to his past, to his roots, to find his future and his second chance. Alexis almost convinced him he could regain what was lost and build a new life on his own terms, not those levied upon him by circumstances of the past. Maybe she was right, he and his son could find each other again. He knew he wanted to try - for her.

Cameron touched her cheek. "So, what do you see up there?"

She smiled at his touch. "I'm watching for a shooting star. You are supposed to make a wish."

"And what would your wish be?"

She laughed. "You aren't supposed to tell or it won't come true."

He tweaked her nose. "I thought that was the wish you make when you blow out your birthday candles."

She shook her head and kissed his hand. "Same premise, different light source."

He nodded sagely. " I see, very scientific."

She glanced at him. "So what exactly are we going to do tomorrow? Your car has been stolen by the little forest creatures and, as much as I want to stay here alone with you, we need to find a way to get back to civilization."

"We need to work on this fascination you have with the civilized world…"

"Ah, you forget you are no longer my therapist."

"True but I possess knowledge and methods outside my practice that can be very therapeutic on occasion."

Alexis smiled. "Like tonight?"

"Exactly like tonight."

"And you aren't even charging me your regular hourly rate!"

"You didn't get my bill yet."

"That is one I'll be happy to pay in full."

Just as they were about to drift off, Cameron watched as a shooting star raced across the sky. He whispered to Alexis, "Did you make your wish?"

She snuggled against him. "Already done."

They awoke at mid-morning to a day of sun playing hide-and-seek as the clouds drifted across the sky. They ate fruit and muffins along with some of the worst coffee Alexis ever tasted - including her own. They decided to break camp and take only what they could reasonably carry and leave the rest. They would hike to the nearest main road - about 3 miles - and try to hitch a ride to the nearest town.

Alexis looked around at their campground and sighed. "Leaving here makes me sad."

He dropped the tent and wrapped his arms around her. "I promise you we'll be back."

She whispered sadly, "But it will never be the same."

They walked along the bumpy roads as Cameron sang camp songs to amuse her. She didn't know any and she really couldn't sing but there was an old Russian folksong she remembered from childhood and sang it for him, very off-key. He was amazed she really didn't know many childhood songs but recalling her difficult upbringing he wasn't really surprised. He recited Shakespeare, she made up limericks and before they knew it they reached the main road. Not a sound in any direction, they just started walking.

Cameron looked at her and noticed she was breathing hard. "Are you ok? Do you need a brown bag?"

She chuckled and shook her head. "No, I'm not starting to hyperventilate, just winded. Exercise is not my passion."

Before he had a chance to offer a spirited retort about what her passion was, a truck was approaching from behind them. Alexis practically jumped in front of it, waving her arms and yelling.

The truck skidded to a stop and an old man yelled out the window. "Hey, lady, are you nuts? Coulda killed ya!"

Alexis ran up to the driver and the old man rolled up his window. Cameron was laughing as Alexis was trying to explain she was not crazy or dangerous but just needed a ride to the nearest town. He watched her lay on the charm and soon the old man was smiling and nodding.

She ran over to him and smirked, "We have a ride!"

She grabbed his arm and pulled him toward the back of the truck.

"Alexis, where are you going?"

"Well, Mr. Edgars, the nice old man, said he'll take us to the next town but there is no room in the cab so we'll have to ride in the back."

He shrugged. "Ok."

As they rounded the back, a wall of noxious scent hit them like a wall.

Alexis stopped breathing. "Whoa! What in the name of all that is holy is that smell?"

Cameron found that talking required breathing and he tried to take in the least amount of air. "It smells like a cross between chickens, cow manure and a mushroom farm."

Alexis sighed and held her nose. "Well, he was the first sign of life in miles and I'm not going to let a little bad smell stop me." She climbed into the truck and sat down cross-legged on a burlap sack next to crates of live chickens.

Cameron shrugged. "If you can take it, I can."

He dropped them off in a small town that boasted a general store, a feed store, a gas station and a diner. They walked into the diner and looked around for a phone.

The woman behind the counter looked them over and asked, "Hey there! Can I get you something?"

Alexis walked up to the counter. "Yes, please, two coffees very strong and two hamburgers with fries."

The woman got a strange look on her face. "Fine, be a few minutes." She walked away quickly to the kitchen.

Alexis sniffed herself and a look of mortification washed over her face. She scooted over to Cameron who was in on the phone with Zander and sniffed him. "Oh my Goddess, Cameron, we actually smell! That waitress practically ran screaming into the street when I gave her our order."

Cameron smelled his shirt and shuddered. "Well, I didn't see a motel so unless you want to roll around in that old rain-filled horse trough next to the feed store, we have to wait until Zander picks us up and drives us back to Port Charles."

"Cameron, there is absolutely no way we can ride back in an enclosed car. Zander will pass out, heck I'll pass out and someone has to drive. Tell him to go and get one of Nikolas's convertibles, at least the wind may take away some of the stench."

He rolled his eyes and spoke into the receiver. "Alexis suggests you borrow one of Nikolas's convertibles. Why? Well, let's just say we shared our last mode of transport with certain less-than-aromatic members of the animal kingdom and they marked their territory and leave it at that. That's right, exactly where I told you. We'll be the ones out by the horse trough. I don't think the diner allows smelly folk to eat in."

He put down the receiver and glanced at Alexis. "It will be a few hours so we better make the patrons happy and get comfy outside in the open air. Any suggestions for whiling away the time?"

Alexis slid slightly away. "Whatever - as long as it doesn't involve physical contact because, frankly, you smell."

* * *

It was a few days since the infamous Canadian kidnapping road trip extravaganza. Everyone was happy to get out of the car alive and breathing, not even the wind blowing quite extinguished the ripe smell that enveloped them. Zander laughed so hard when they told him the whole story he almost drove into a ditch. When she arrived home, she hid in the shower for an hour emerging like a prune but lacking that distinctive odor of chicken. After smelling like one for almost a day, she vowed never to eat one again.

It was July 4th, Independence Day, and Lila had called to ask her to the family picnic at the park, an invitation she accepted immediately and gratefully. Told to feel free to bring a date, she was meeting Cameron there. She hadn't seen Cameron since they parted and she missed him. She wondered how she could bring up the Zander issue today without him getting frustrated because she promised herself this day would begin their rebirth. She looked around and saw him by the carousel watching the children, a wistful look on his face.

She walked over and put her arm around his shoulder. "Hey there! Happy 4th of July!"

He turned and his expression changed immediately as he kissed her. "Hi yourself, happy holiday. Quite a spectacle today, I'd forgotten how big the celebration is here."

"Yes and the Quatermaines like to play up the BIG part - buffet, champagne, sparklers, the works. It is a bit of the overkill but it is tradition."

"A tradition you almost were part of, Alexis."

She poked him in the ribs. "Bite your tongue!"

They watched the carousel and she saw herself there holding Kristina as the calliope played. It saddened her but she wouldn't let it get her down. She would get back her daughter and they would ride the painted horses someday soon. They walked slowly arm in arm to see her daughter and face down those who would cheat her of the chance to embrace her own brass ring.

Later that day as she and Cameron sat in a sailboat in the harbor watching the fireworks explode above, she turned in his arms and said, " You know, that picnic really could have been a lot worse. Actual cutlery could have been thrown instead of plastic."

Cameron chuckled, "It was like watching live dinner theatre for the macabre. Quite a performance - from a psychiatric point of view."

It seemed from the moment they arrived, everything was slowly blowing up. AJ and Edward were fighting, Monica was arguing with Cook about the buffet, Skye and Ned were fighting about how much time Alexis should be 'allowed' with her daughter, Emily was huddled in a corner looking wan and alone with Nikolas nowhere to be found. The only exceptions to the rule were Lila and her beautiful daughter who sat together under the shade of the old maple looking pleased to be there. She sat with Lila holding her daughter and watched the explosions and arguments and thanked her lucky stars she bolted her wedding and hitched a ride on that semi. She waited for the day her daughter was rescued from that house for she would never cross that threshold again.

Alexis laughed as a red, white and blue star burst and drifted down in the night sky. "They would make excellent research subjects for your next book."

He shook his head as he tightened his hold on her body. "I'll pass. That would require I spend time with them and no book advance is worth that!"

"You make a good point."

"I usually do."

"Egomaniac!"

"Narcissist!"

They cuddled as they watched another holiday pass into time. It was becoming tradition for them to spend holidays together and, strangely, most of them traveling. Even this one they were now on water not land. Alexis thought how lives are built one tradition at a time. They were building traditions for each other, for Kristina and she would not rest until Zander was embraced into the fold. Looking up into Cameron's face as he watched the colorful explosions above, she decided to let the issue rest just for today, wanting only to enjoy relaxing in his arms. It had been a good day, a day spent with her daughter and the man who captured her heart. She looked around at the people laughing and clapping and bobbing in boats on the water - rowboats, speedboats, fishing boats, sailboats and even a yacht or two. Her eye caught on a sleek yacht a good distance away. The other boats had scores of people filling their decks for the fireworks show but that boat looked almost deserted. She was about to turn back to Cameron when she saw movement on the yacht and looked over.

Cameron felt Alexis shiver in his arms and looked down. She was pale as a sheet, her eyes wide.

"Alexis, what's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost."

She looked up at him with uncertain eyes. "I think I just did - Helena."

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