Alexis walks into Kelly's and sees Carly and Ric sitting at a table near the door. Alexis is clearly self-conscious when she realizes everyone must know who she is and what she did. Liz spots her and crosses the room to her.

Elizabeth: Hey, Alexis. Hi. It's nice to see you. (Takes her hand) Why don't you come sit at the counter.

Alexis: Thanks.

Elizabeth: I'll get you something to eat.

Liz leads Alexis to the counter where Lucky is watching a TV report.

Alexis: Thank you, Elizabeth. I probably shouldn't go out --

TV Announcer: E.L.Q. founder Edward Quartermaine --

Alexis: Can you turn that up? That's Ned's gatehouse.

Lucky: Yes.

TV Announcer: You can see the paramedic units are standing at the ready.

Alexis: Oh, my god.

TV Announcer: That would suggest the fire department has reason to believe there may be victims still inside.

Alexis: My baby's there.

Elizabeth: I'm sure she's ok.

Alexis: No, she's in there.

Alexis runs out the door.

Alan is sitting on the couch holding Kristina.

Monica: What are you doing with Kristina?

Alan: Shh. Please, you're going to upset her.

Monica: Where's Ned?

Alan: I don't know. I mean, she was in the gatehouse by herself, alone.

Monica: What? Kristina was in the gatehouse when the fire started?

Alan: Yes.

Monica: Where the hell was the nanny?

Alan: I have no idea. A.J. got there just in the nick of time.

Monica: Well -- well, she's got to be examined for smoke inhalation.

Alan: I examined her.

Monica: With what, a flashlight?

Alan: Yeah, well, what's your point? I examined her. She's fine. Paramedics examined her, too.

Monica: Why don't you want her to go to the hospital?

Alan: She doesn't need to go to the hospital.

Monica: And what part of this story are you leaving out?

(Camera switches to the gatehouse)

We see a replay of yesterday's last scene. Ned arrives at the gatehouse frantic.

Ned: Where's the baby?

Edward: Ned, Ned, no!

Fireman: There's a baby in there?

Ned runs up to the burning house.

Edward: Wait Ned! The baby -- the baby's fine, Ned!

A.J.: Ned!

Edward: Ned!

Ned rushes into the house fanning smoke away from his face so he can see.

Ned: Kristina! Kristina!

He just reaches the door of the nursery when a beam falls from the ceiling and pins him to the floor seemingly unconscious.

(Camera switches back to the outside of the gatehouse)

Zander and Gia have arrived.

Edward: (To the fireman) Get my grandson out of there!

A.J.: Ned, Kristina's ok!

Fireman: Commander, we've got one male inside. He just --

Edward: Where are you going? If you could --

A.J.: Grandfather, just calm down, all right?

Edward: I'll calm down when I get my grandson!

Officer: He'll be fine.

Zander runs toward the house.

Gia: No, Zander!

Edward: Zander, get in there!

Zander runs into the burning house and spots Ned on the ground. He starts to move the beam that pins Ned and burns his hand.

He picks it up again and moves it aside freeing Ned. He hoists

Ned on his back and stands up.

Zander: All right, come on, buddy.

Alan: The gatehouse caught on fire. I called 911. A.J. went up there, nobody answered the door, so he kicked it in. Kristina was the only one that was in the gatehouse. There was no Ned, no nanny. He didn't know what to do, so he just picked up Kristina, risked his life, and got her out of there.

Monica: Is he all right?

Alan: Well, he inhaled some smoke, but they gave him oxygen.

Monica: And they have taken him to the hospital, right?

Alan: No. He actually went back up to the gatehouse to be with father and everybody else.

Monica: Wait, let me -- let me get this straight. A.J. inhaled a lot of smoke but was miraculously revived, so much so that he's now assisting the firemen?

Alan: No, he's not assisting. He's doing what everybody else is doing.

Reginald pokes his head in the French doors.

Reginald: Hey. They -- they think Ned's been trapped in the fire.

Monica: Oh, my god. You stay here with Kristina.

Monica runs out with Reginald.

A paramedic tends to a coughing Zander on the ground outside the house. Gia hovers over them.

Another paramedic is working on Ned who is laying on a stretcher. Edward looks down on him.

Edward: Ned, what the hell are you trying to do? Did you want to kill yourself, what?

Paramedic: His B.P. is 156/98.

Edward: Who taught you to run into burning buildings? You certainly didn't learn it from me. Ned -

Zander sees Ned across the yard.

Zander: How is Ned? How's Ned?

Gia: Keep -- keep the mask on, Zander.

Zander: Ah!

Paramedic: Keep the mask on, please. Do what she says.

Zander coughs and hacks.

Alexis rushes up to Edward frantic.

Alexis: Where's Kristina?

A.J.: You know, it's ok. I ran in --

Alexis: Where is she?

A.J.: She's safe.

Edward: She is safe, Alexis.

A.J.: She's safe.

Alexis: Did you take her to the hospital?

Edward: What she doesn't need right now is a mad woman's hysteria.

Alexis: (Pushing her way past Edward) I want to see my daughter.

Edward: No, don't -- damn it!

Edward grabs Alexis and puls her back. Gia comes up to Alexis.

Gia: Alexis, Alexis --

Edward: Calm down.

Alexis: I'm not leaving here until I see my daughter.

Edward: Wait --

Gia: Alexis, Kristina's fine. I heard someone say that she was taken into the main house.

Alexis: Great.

Alexis runs off.

Zander: (Yelling out to Alexis) No, don't! Alexis, no! (To Gia) Go after her.

Gia: She just wants to make sure Kristina's ok.

Zander: No, no. The restraining order -- the Quartermaines will use it against her.

Gia: No, not tonight. They won't do that tonight. They know that Alexis needs to know that Kristina's ok.

Zander: You don't know the Quartermaines.

He struggles to stand up but the paramedic holds him down.

Gia: Please, stop.

Paramedic: Stay down, stay down.

A reporter has arrived on the scene and shoves a microphone up to A.J.'s face.

Reporter: Here's A.J. Quartermaine. A.J., we're on live. Can you tell us what happened?

A.J.: Well, I saw the flames from the house, from the main house. I ran over here, I kicked the door down, and I ran inside to make sure --

Edward: My grandson is far too modest. His infant cousin Kristina was trapped in the house, and he risked his life to -- to save her. Now, she's fine. The baby is fine and, as you can see, the house is just a total --

A.J.: It's a mess.

Edward: Total loss, I'm afraid. But you did fine, son.

A.J.: Thank you.

Gia stands with a coughing Zander has he's being examined at the hospital.

Gia: Is he all right?

Paramedic: Yeah, he caught a lot of smoke, but he needs to lie still and keep that mask on. We need a doctor here!

Zander: Call my father.

(Camera switches to another examination room where Monica looks over an unconscious Ned)

Monica: Ned? (He wakens) Ned, it's ok. It's all right.

He lifts his head off the table.

Ned: Kristina? Kristina --

Monica: Kristina's fine.

Ned: What happened to Kristina?

Monica: She's fine, Ned. She's with Alan.

Ned: Are you sure she's ok?

Monica: Yes, I am sure. I saw her. Apparently, A.J. saw the fire from the house and he went and got Kristina out. So she's ok, all right?

Ned: What about Beth?

Monica: Who's Beth?

Ned: (He coughs) The nanny.

Monica: I don't know.

Ned: The nanny.

Monica: I don't know. Kristina was alone, I guess.

Ned: No, no, no. (Coughs) Beth was with her.

Monica: Ned, I talked to the firemen. They said they went in and they checked. Kristina was alone. I'm sure there's an explanation for this.

Alan still holds Kristina at the house.

Alan: Well, that wasn't a very long nap, was it? Was that good? (The baby coos and puts her fingers in her mouth) Is that -- yeah, you say it for yourself.

Alexis comes in the French door.

Alan: Alexis, you're not supposed to be here.

Alexis: Alan, she wasn't supposed to be left alone in a house by herself. The house wasn't supposed to catch on fire. I'm not supposed to be worried that her life is endangered while she's here. I mean, isn't that the point of the custody ruling, is to protect my daughter? Please, I worry about her.

Kristina fusses in Alan's arms. He looks like he feels sorry for Alexis.

Alexis: I just want to hold her. Just let me hold her for a minute.

Alan: It's ok. Ok. All right, just for a moment, but don't try anything, Alexis.

Alexis: I'm --

Alan: Go on, take her.

He hands the baby to Alexis.

Alexis: Hi, there.

Alan: There.

Alexis: Hi. Baby, are you ok? I was worried about you. (Kisses her)

Alan: Ok, there. You got to hold her.

Alexis: Alan, it's a second.

Alan: I just said you get to hold her just for a minute.

Alexis: Just for one more minute.

Alan: Look, Alexis, don't start trouble with me.

Alexis: I'm not. I'm just standing here with her. I'm not -- what am I going to -

Edward walks in.

Edward: I beg to differ. Now, you hand over that child and you leave.

Alexis: I can't. No, not now. Just give me a second, Edward.

Scott appears.

Scott: Wrong answer, Alexis.

Alexis: What are you doing here?

Scott: Hand the baby over or I'll have to arrest you.

Kristina cries.

Alexis: You called him?

Edward: Look, you murdered one man and you stabbed your doctor.

A.J.: You're mentally ill.

Edward: And we were worried about little Kristina, apparently with very good reason.

Alexis: (To the baby) Shh.

Scott: You just dodged a life sentence. Don't go to jail for this.

Alexis: (To the baby) It's all right.

Alan: Alexis, give me the baby back.

Alexis: Alan, please, you have to understand how I feel. She doesn't belong here. Shh.

Scott: I will arrest you -- make no mistake of that -- and the judge will send you to the nut house.

Alexis: It's ok, it's ok. Shh, it's all right. (Kisses her)

Scott pulls out his cell phone and dials.

Scott: Yeah, I need a squad car to the Quartermaines.

Alan: Come on, Alexis.

Alexis: (Hands the baby to Alan) I love you. I love you, sweetie.

Alexis: It's all right. It's all right.

Alan: I got you.

Edward: Alan, take the baby upstairs. I don't want to subject the child to this.

Alexis: (Calling out to Kristina) I love you, baby.

Alan walks out with the baby.

Scott: As an officer of the court, I'm going to have to report this to Judge Farmer.

Alexis: Go ahead. In fact, I'd like you to. Why don't you tell Judge Farmer that my daughter was trapped in a burning building and could have died?

Scott: Accidents happen.

Alexis: And children die in them, especially when they're neglected. My daughter was alone. Why don't you tell Judge Farmer that.

Scott: Alone? Where was the nanny?

A.J.: We're not sure.

Edward: There must have been some mix-up in communications.

Scott: Oh, yeah. Ned was busy communicating with Faith Rosco on the pier.

Alexis: What do you mean?

Scott: Was playing a little hokey-pokey right there in public.

A.J. starts cracking up.

Edward: Oh, that's preposterous. Come on.

Scott: Well, I was there with the patrolman. We ticketed him. We almost booked him.

Alexis: This is the man who they gave custody of my daughter to because I'm supposed to be unfit? I'm supposed to be a danger?

A.J.: Well, Ned is far from perfect, but he hasn't killed anyone yet.

Scott: Kristina picked a couple of lemons for parents. If she wasn't a Quartermaine, she'd be in a foster home.

Edward: But she is a Quartermaine.

Alexis: She's mine. Go to hell, Edward.

Alexis storms out of the room.

Edward: Five, four, three, two, one. (They hear Alexis slam the front door) Gentlemen, we have arrived at the final stage.

Taggert is getting a statement from Ned.

Taggert: You have any idea how the fire started?

Ned: No. (He coughs) But before you do anything else, I want you to find this so-called nanny and I want you to arrest her for child endangerment.

Taggert: Do you have any idea of an address?

Ned: Call my secretary. And you better hope that you find this woman before I do.

(Camera switches to the E.R. lobby)

Cameron has arrived with Gia and they walk up to Zander's examination room.

Zander coughs as the intern works on his hand.

Intern: Be sure to keep this clean.

Cameron walks up to Zander.

Cameron: Well, reckless as always, but I suppose from certain perspectives it could be seen as brave.

Zander rolls his eyes as Cameron walks over to the intern and looks at the wound he's working on.

Cameron: That's pretty nasty. Did you put any sulfur cream on it?

Zander: Look, don't worry about this. Look, I asked Gia to bring you down here because Alexis is freaking out about her baby. Go find her and help her.

Cameron: (To the intern) Here, I'll do it.

Intern: I can handle it.

Cameron: Leave.

The intern gets up and Cameron takes over bandaging Zander's hand.

Zander: Alexis is in trouble. She is your patient.

Cameron: And you're my son.

Alan pours himself a glass of water at the bar. Scott looks a little uncomfortable about the charade they pulled off.

Scott: You Quartermaines are something, huh? Catching Ned with his pants down -- I like that. But burning down your own gatehouse?

Alan: It needed to be renovated anyway.

Scott: With a helpless baby in there? That's appalling. And I don't appall easily.

Edward: Surely, you, Baldwin, can understand how easily appearances can deceive. For your information, that child was nowhere near the fire. And really, all you need to know, in addition to lining your pockets, is that tonight's little exercise in synchronized deception really just fostered the greater good.

Edward holds up a check in front of Scott.

Scott: Well, I'm all for the greater good.

Edward: Here's for your (Scott grabs the check) re-election campaign.

Scott: Thank you, Edward.

Reginald walks in.

Edward: Reginald, Mr. Baldwin's leaving. Will you make sure that he gets to his car? Good night.

Scott leaves.

Alan: I still say that Scott could be a problem.

A.J.: Mm-hmm. Involving Baldwin could be a huge mistake.

Edward: Oh, no. Baldwin has served his purpose -- first with Ned, and now by sending Alexis screaming in Ned's direction. It's only a matter of time -- really, a few minutes, actually -- before Alexis inadvertently delivers Kristina right into our custody. Hmm?

Cameron continues to bandage Zander's hand but Zander pulls it away.

Zander: I warned Alexis that you would let her down.

Cameron: (Taking Zander's hand back) Alexander, hold still.

Gia: Zander, let your father help you.

Zander: Alexis is the one that needs his help right now.

Gia: I'll track down Alexis, all right?

Zander: All right. Try her cell first.

Gia leaves.

Zander: You haven't changed a bit, have you? I've done fine without you for the past years, and now Alexis is the one that needs your help and you abandon her to help a son that you gave up on a long time ago.

Cameron: Can't win with you, can I?

(Camera moves to the E.R. lobby)

The TV crew arrives much to Monica's dismay.

Monica: No. Now, who let you in here?

Reporter: Come on, doc. We're about to go live. I swear we'll be here for one second.

Monica: I'm serious. John, get security.

The reporter finds Zander's examination room.

Reporter: Here he is. Come on. (The camera man follows the reporter into the room) Let's go, in five, four, three, two -- I'm here in the emergency room of general hospital, where one of the heroes from tonight's near-tragic fire was brought in suffering from smoke inhalation and a serious burn to his hand. Zander smith, we're on live. Would you like to comment on your brave actions at the Quartermaine estate earlier?

Zander starts to get up from the gurney.

Zander: Look, not every father would rush into a burning building to rescue his child. You want to talk to a hero? Go talk to Ned Ashton. Come on, Gia, let's go.

The reporter follows Zander and Gia out the door.

Reporter: Let's see if we can get a comment from Mr. Ashton.

Just then Alexis arrives at the E.R.. She looks around and finds Monica.

Alexis: Where's Ned?

She walks into Ned's examination room. The reporter and cameraman follow her.

Alexis: What the hell were you thinking?

Ned: Alexis, calm down. Just listen to what I --

Alexis: They gave you custody of my daughter, and you almost got her killed!

Monica: Alexis, calm down.

Alexis: You don't understand. This is as calm as I can get under these circumstances.

Cameron walks in.

Cameron: Monica let me take over. (Gets up behind Alexis)

Ned: Wait -- Alexis, please, let's not do this in public, ok?

Alexis: Why not? You do everything else in public. I trusted you with my baby.

Alexis swats the TV microphone away from her face.

Ned: Look, I left Kristina with a nanny, ok? That's all I can tell you.

Alexis: So that you could do what, Ned? Tell me what was so important that couldn't wait.

Ned: Alexis, she wasn't hurt, ok? She's ok.

Alexis: And that makes it ok? I can't believe you're saying this, Ned. Why did you want her? Why did you want her if you're not going to stay home and take care of her? Or did you just do it so that you could hurt me?

Ned: I didn't do it to hurt you.

Alexis: You left her alone at the house --

Ned: I didn't! I left her with a nanny!

Alexis: You hired a nanny so you could run off and have sex with somebody on the pier, for god's sake.

Cameron: Alexis, let's go.

Alexis: I'm not going anywhere until I'm sure that my daughter is going to be safe.

Monica: Alexis, you are upset, but you have no need to be. Your daughter is fine.

We now view the scene from the live newscast from the Quartermaine's.

Alexis: I am not comfortable with you taking care of her. You have proven to be unfit, you have endangered my daughter. She is not safe. She almost died. I --

(Camera switches to the Q mansion)

Edward has the TV on and is positively beaming. He turns the volume down, gets on the phone and calls Judge Farmer.

Edward: Hello, Nancy? This is Edward. Are you by any chance watching television? Oh, good. If you will switch on to channel 7, you will see something that really affects the welfare of my baby great-granddaughter, Kristina. Uh-huh.