General Hospital Recaps: The week of February 2, 2004 on GH

Comprehensive daily recaps for General Hospital, dating back to 1996.

Monday, February 2, 2004

by JENNIFER

Zander held a scalpel against Brian's neck and demanded to know if Ric was setting him up. Brian tried to calm Zander down and admitted that Ric was setting him up as Brian's shooter. Zander told Brian he was innocent, but a struggle ensued, and the hospital was notified of an attack in Brian's room. Meanwhile, Ric interrogated Maxie on her helping Zander. He told her that she could be guilty of aiding a fugitive, but Maxie continued to deny having seen Zander.

As Ric was alerted to a problem in Brian's room, he ran off in time for Zander to make it to the elevator in an attempt to escape. Maxie jumped in with him, but he told her that she'd already risked enough to help him. He denied shooting Brian again but told Maxie to leave him alone and not risk more. Maxie refused to go, and back up on the hospital floor, Lucky realized that the elevator had stopped and that Zander was in it. The police got the elevator moving again, and when the doors opened, they saw only Maxie. She again denied helping Zander, and although suspicious, Lucky finally believed her and left without seeing Zander's blood dripping from the elevator shaft.

Ric questioned Brian on Zander's reasons to be in his room, and Brian replied that Zander had wanted to let Brian know that Zander hadn't shot him. Brian also mentioned that Zander had said Ric had reason to frame him, but Ric quickly turned the tables on Brian by pointing out that Brian was the one who had identified Zander, and perhaps Brian had reason to name Zander in order to protect the real shooter.

The Quartermaines gathered at the casino to gamble, and Skye and Tracy got into it over a line of credit. Skye stood up to Tracy's bullying, impressing both Alan and Edward. Skye rebuffed Edward's attempt to compliment her but was puzzled by his odd behavior. As Tracy tried to enlist Ned to her side, Edward went to work on returning Justus to the family fold.

Meanwhile, Emily and Nikolas argued over Zander, with Nikolas pointing out that they had agreed to share their lives together, so she no longer had the right to throw hers away in order to save Zander from himself. She couldn't help but feel responsible, but Alan agreed with Nikolas and told her to be careful. Back at Wyndemere, Emily apologized to Nikolas by pulling him into a kiss.

A shirtless Sonny ended any hope between Jax and Sam, and Jax was obviously disgusted. Sonny quickly left before Jax could run out, and Sam tried to explain the situation. No longer having any interest in her excuses, Jax told her he simply didn't want to see her get hurt in Sonny's world, and he left. Jax went to the casino and ran into Skye. He immediately began to flirt with her and suggested they go away for the weekend.

Skye was clearly confused, so Jax kissed her. She broke away and accused him of being selfish and using her on the rebound from Sam. She pointed out that despite his breaking her heart, she had been a friend to him, but she refused to be a toy to get his mind off the fact that Sam was sleeping with Sonny. Realizing his error, Jax apologized to Skye, but she told him to leave her alone. She angrily went to the bar, where Tracy had paid the bartender to tempt Skye with a martini.

Jason got Carly to admit that Alcazar was the person she'd sent to the penthouse to retrieve Michael and Morgan. He flipped out, but Carly told him she'd had no choice and that Sonny had created the situation. Jason obviously felt for her but told her it was not the way to go about things. Meanwhile, Courtney refused to allow Alcazar near Morgan and Michael. Alcazar tried to reason with her that Sonny was not allowing Carly to see her own children, but Courtney would not listen. Michael ran into the living room, screaming for Alcazar to leave, but he was subdued when Alcazar told him that his mom had sent a message for him.

Alcazar, Courtney, and the children then went to the Port Charles Hotel, where Carly was with Jason. Jason hid her while they entered the lobby, and he told her he would allow her to say hello to the kids but was then taking them home. Jason continued to explain how he would help her, but she had to do it his way, until Sonny walked into the lobby and saw Michael. Carly spotted him and ran to her son and told him to stay with her. Sonny demanded that Michael stand beside him, and not wanting to frighten her son anymore, Carly allowed Jason to take the children home.

After Michael and Morgan left, Carly told Sonny that he would not take her children away from her and to prepare for the fight of his life. In turn, Sonny warned Courtney to never again allow Alcazar near his children if she wanted to ever see them again. Courtney raced up to Carly's room after Sonny's departure and blasted her for being as bad as Sonny. Carly apologized to Courtney for her getting caught in the middle but refused to feel bad over her actions. She told Courtney that Sonny was the one who was keeping her from Michael and Morgan, and she would not stop fighting for her kids.

Back at the penthouse, Sonny exploded to Jason. He called Carly a slut and said she'd never get near the children. Jason told him to be quiet and not insult Carly loudly so that Michael would hear, and he tried to reason with Sonny. Sonny refused to listen and declared to a shocked Jason that since Carly had taken sides with his enemy, she was also his enemy, and if she tried to see his sons again, he would treat her as his enemy and act accordingly.

Tuesday, February 3, 2004

by JENNIFER

Nikolas found Emily searching for information on Zander from the Internet. She said that news reports said he was still at large, and she hoped he'd made it to Canada. Nikolas changed the subject to Helena, and the two thought she was probably hiding but had not gone far. They began to search through her purse, and Emily discovered papers Blackthorn had written.

Emily and Nikolas read the pages and discovered that Constance and Blackthorn hadn't died when the ship had been sunk but rather had made it to an island, likely Spoon Island, where they'd had food and treasure to maintain their lives. Emily and Nikolas began to search the area where Blackthorn had hidden, and they found the symbol of two hearts that he'd mentioned in the pages. They kissed in happiness at their discovery and accidentally dislodged the secret door.

A weak and starving Helena woke up in her cell and found Luke on the other side of the bars with food. She rushed to the door to eat, but he withheld the sandwich from her in order to get information on the treasure. When she refused to tell him where she'd hidden the stash, he began to taunt her with the food by eating it slowly in front of her. She warned him that if she died, he would never be able to find the treasure, but he countered that Nikolas would likely find it and lead him to it. Luke continued to hold the sandwich near her, and having not eaten in days, Helena finally gave in and told him she'd hidden the treasure in the bell tower of Port Charles University.

Luke returned later without the treasure and announced to a smug Helena that he had poisoned the sandwich she'd eaten earlier. As she began to feel the effects, she begged him for the antidote that he was carrying, but he refused to give it over without the treasure. She finally told him that she'd hidden it on Spoon Island, and he took her to show him where in person. When they arrived, however, the treasure was gone.

Nikolas emerged and told both Luke and Helena that he and Emily had discovered the treasure and had hidden it elsewhere. Luke promptly threw away the antidote, and thinking she would soon die, Helena declared her lasting love to her grandson. Annoyed, Luke admitted that he'd only given her enough poison to have a stomachache, and she happily left the cave. Nikolas then informed Luke that he and Emily had decided to auction off the treasure at the Port Charles Hotel the following evening.

Edward ran into Justus at the hotel and again asked him to take over ELQ. Justus refused, as usual, and Edward then asked him to draw up a new will for Edward, stating that whoever could rescue ELQ would inherit everything. Justus laughed at him and said he was a bitter old man who had alienated his entire family and had no money left. Edward was about to respond, but his focus switched to Jason in the doorway. He asked Jason to return to the family and help him with the company, but Jason responded that he was happy with the life he had, and he left.

Tracy walked into the Quartermaine living room and encountered a drunken Skye. Having fallen off the wagon at the casino the night before, Skye told Tracy to leave her alone. However, in typical fashion, Tracy taunted Skye and said she wanted her gone. It was then that Skye discovered Tracy was the person who had sent her the drink the night before. Edward walked in and announced he was changing his will, and Tracy began to call Skye out to him for being a drunk.

Sensing the reality of the situation, Edward banished Tracy from the room and told Skye that he was considering making her the heir. Tracy listened from the door, and when Skye told Edward she didn't trust him and walked out, Tracy ran in to berate him for considering a non-Quartermaine. Edward told her she'd never get the company because she had no soul, and he suddenly began to double over in pain from an apparent heart attack. As he called for his medicine, Tracy stood and watched him but didn't move to help. He stood up, having been tricking her, and told her he'd just tested her -- and she had failed.

Maxie rushed a disguised Zander through the hotel lobby and took him down to the boiler room. It was clear that he was severely wounded and in great pain, and Maxie didn't want to leave him alone. Zander asked her to get him some pain medication to take the edge off, but she refused to leave without him. He begged her to do that last favor for him and promised to stay put and rest until she returned. Maxie finally agreed and went to the hospital to steal pain medication for him, but once she was gone, Zander collapsed.

At the hospital, Maxie stole pain pills, but Cameron caught her. He accompanied her back to Zander, and as Zander tried to get away from him, he collapsed. Cameron operated on Zander's leg to remove the bullet fragment. Suddenly, they all heard a noise and hid behind a generator when Edward walked in with a maintenance man. They overheard the man tell Edward his electrical system was dangerously outdated and in need of an upgrade. Edward promised to have it fixed as soon as he had a cash flow again.

Carly showed up at the penthouse to talk to Sonny again about seeing their children. She tried to reason with him at the door and told him that they needed to reach a compromise and not drag their kids through hell, and Sonny let her in. Unbeknownst to either of them, Michael was sitting at the staircase, eavesdropping on their conversation. When Carly suggested that she take the boys to children's night at the zoo, Sonny balked and said that Alcazar could have his plane ready to take them out of the country.

Carly explained that Sonny had left her no choice earlier than to have Alcazar try to get Michael and Morgan, but Sonny replied that the boys were going nowhere, and the only person leaving was her. He told her to get out, and she let him know that the situation was not over. She left, and Sonny angrily threw Morgan's stroller and went into the other room. Once Sonny was gone, Michael emerged from the stairs and took the stroller.

Jason showed up at the penthouse to ask Sonny if he could take the boys to the zoo, and they discovered them missing. In the meantime, Michael showed up at the Port Charles Hotel and told Carly that he had taken Morgan in the stroller and left the penthouse in order to see her. She tried to comfort him and assure him that no matter what happened between her and Sonny, she would always love him, and he would never be to blame.

As Carly was hugging Michael, Sonny and Jason appeared in the lobby. Michael told them that he'd left with Morgan, and Carly had had nothing to do with it, but Sonny told her that she was to blame for Michael being upset enough to do such a thing and that he was getting a restraining order against her so she couldn't get near the kids. Carly immediately attempted to get Alexis to help her stop Sonny, but Alexis refused. Despite Jason's pleas to reconsider, Sonny enlisted Justus to put the paperwork together barring Carly from her sons and granting Sonny full custody.

Wednesday, February 4, 2004

by Irene

Edward, Emily, Nikolas, and Tracy met in the Versailles Room of the Port Charles Hotel to make plans for improving the hotel's security system during the impending auction of the pirate's treasure. When Dillon arrived, he was shocked when Edward offered to revise his will to make Dillon the primary heir of the Quartermaine estate. Edward was likewise shocked when Dillon turned Edward down. Tracy tried to change Dillon's mind, but Dillon brushed his mother off.

Meanwhile, at Kelly's, Georgie tried to convince a compliant Tom to spend the night with her at the Port Charles Hotel in order to make Dillon jealous. However, Tom was surprised when Georgie informed him there would be no hopping in the sack while they were there, and Tom turned down Georgie's plan. As Tom left, he suggested that Georgie should just tell Dillon the truth. Later, when Dillon spotted Georgie at Kelly's, Georgie prepared to tell Dillon the truth about Tom, but Sage soon interrupted them. Georgie blurted out that she and Tom were planning to rent a room at the Port Charles Hotel. Sage suggested that perhaps Dillon and Sage ought to get a hotel room there as well.

When Tom arrived unexpectedly, Georgie rushed to Tom and begged him to play along as she talked about their plans for the evening. Sage quietly convinced Dillon that they should get a room, just to prove to Georgie that Sage and Dillon were a solid couple. Dillon reluctantly agreed. Meanwhile, Tracy met with Coleman and gave him the plans for the new security system at the hotel, and they made plans to steal the treasure.

As Zander recovered in the boiler room of the Port Charles Hotel, the electricity continued to malfunction. Zander fantasized that he saw Emily and that Emily pleaded with him to reconcile with her and allow her to go with him to Canada, just as they had planned years before. Meanwhile, Georgie spotted Maxie headed to the hotel with a big bag of carry-out food. When Georgie questioned her sister, Maxie claimed she had a sick friend. When Maxie later arrived at the hotel with her bag of carry-out, Ric spotted her and questioned her about the bag of food. Cameron suddenly showed up and told Ric that Maxie had gotten the food for a conference of doctors, which Cameron was hosting in one of the rooms upstairs.

Later, when Maxie took the food to Zander, they once again hid when a technician arrived to add the new security system to the hotel's electrical system. At the same time, Cameron tracked Alexis down and implored Alexis to represent Zander in court. Although Alexis insisted it would be a conflict of interest for her to represent both Zander and Nikolas, Cameron prevailed upon Alexis to at least speak to Zander and hear Zander's version of events from the night that Detective Brian Beck had been shot.

In the meantime, the security technician found Edward and reported that the new security system, put in place just for the auction of the pirate treasure, would overload the electrical grid, and the hotel could go up in smoke the next time someone turned on a hair dryer. However, Edward informed the electrical technician that nothing could be done about the electrical system for at least another 24 hours. After that time, Edward assured the technician, the Quartermaine family would have enough money to update the hotel's electrical system with all the latest technology.

At the same time, as Maxie and Zander chowed down on Maxie's takeout, Zander filled Maxie in on his plan to head for Canada as soon as he could slip out of town, unnoticed. Zander and Maxie panicked when Cameron and Alexis suddenly showed up. Holding a gun aimed at Maxie, Zander declared that he would shoot Maxie if Cameron and Alexis planned to turn him over to the police.

In the meantime, Cassandra Kanelos, chief electrician for the Port Charles Hotel, tracked Assistant District Attorney Ric Lansing down and alerted Ric to the dangerous overload posed by the new security system. Ric promised to check into the matter.

In Sonny's suite at the Port Charles Hotel, Sam confided to Sonny that Jason had offered her one million dollars to leave town. Sonny explained that Carly had been with Jason before she had been with Sonny and that even though Carly had only used Jason, Jason had never seemed to realize how destructive Carly could really become. Sonny promised to order Jason to stay away from Sam. Sam reminded Sonny that their relationship had no strings, but Sonny wondered why Sam had passed up the easy money Jason had offered her to only leave town.

Sam insisted that she'd turned the money down because she could not be bought. However, as she spoke, Sam spotted the newspaper headlines about the auction of the pirate treasure and rushed off to get dressed. Sonny was surprised when he discovered that Sam was still going after the treasure. After Sonny left to meet with Jason, Sam called the hotel to check on the security measures being used to protect the treasure during the auction.

At the hospital, as Bobbie and Courtney looked after Morgan, Jason and Michael spotted Brian, and Michael was surprised when Jason warned him to stay away from Brian. Brian was hurt when Courtney suddenly arrived and backed up Jason's warning. After Michael informed Brian that they could no longer be friends and left, Brian blasted Jason for using a child as a go-between to send messages to Brian. Brian accused Jason of being jealous of Courtney's interest in Brian, but Jason only warned Brian to stay away from his family.

Later, Courtney reminded Jason that Jason's involvement with Sonny's business was making a recluse of Michael, who had become afraid of trusting anyone other than Sonny or Jason. When Jason reminded Courtney that Courtney was a stable constant in Michael's life, Courtney predicted that the day would arrive when Sonny turned on Courtney in just the same way he had turned on Carly. Courtney urged Jason to do something to try to convince Sonny and Carly to call off their feud and make peace for the sake of Michael and Morgan.

Later, when Courtney ran into Brian at Kelly's, Courtney began to blast Brian for using Brian's friendship with a child to try to get inside information about Sonny's business. However, Courtney was shocked when Brian calmly explained to Courtney that he knew it was Courtney who had shot him -- and Brian had been covering for Courtney when he'd identified Zander as the shooter.

In Lorenzo's suite at the Port Charles Hotel, Carly and Lorenzo were shocked when Carly was served with a restraining order directing that Carly had to stay away from both of her children. Carly vowed that she would not let Sonny use her children as weapons to hurt her. Lorenzo reminded Carly that the best way to get Michael and Morgan back in their mother's care was to make Sonny look bad. Lorenzo confided to Carly that he had a weapon that would blast Sonny's case out of the water.

Later, Lorenzo introduced Carly to Attorney Jen MacNeill, who would be representing Carly in the custody battle with Sonny. However, even as Carly explained the restraining order to Jen, Sonny met with Justus. Justus warned Sonny that the only way Sonny could hope to gain full custody of Michael and Morgan was to prove that Carly was unfit. Sonny told Justus to go ahead and drag up all of Carly's past mistakes. Justus urged Sonny to put the children's best interests ahead of Sonny's desire to get even with Carly, but Sonny insisted that what was best for Michael and Morgan was to have Carly out of their lives for good.

Later, when Sonny met Jason with Michael and Morgan in the park, Michael coldly turned down Sonny's offer of a trip to the hockey rink. After Michael and Jason left to return to the penthouse, Sonny spotted Carly hovering in the bushes near Morgan, and Sonny warned Carly to not even think of getting near Morgan. Later, at the penthouse, Michael confided to Jason that Michael missed his mother.

At the same time, Carly implored Sonny to sit down with her to work out a compromise for the future of the children. But Carly then suddenly picked up Morgan instead. When Carly refused to turn Morgan loose, Sonny flagged down a passing Lucky and demanded that Lucky do his duty and take Morgan away from Carly. Lorenzo suddenly showed up, and Lorenzo finally convinced Carly to return Morgan to Sonny. As soon as Sonny had Morgan, Sonny insisted that Carly be arrested, and Lucky complied by arresting her.

Thursday, February 5, 2004

by Mary N.

Courtney asked Brian why he hadn't told the cops that she'd shot him after he told her he remembered seeing Jason take the gun from her after he had been shot. He told her he had done it to protect her. She asked him if he was doing it to have something over on her to get her to tell him about Jason and Sonny's activities. He told her he'd lied and told Ric that Zander had shot him because Zander was like Sonny and Jason and had already almost killed another person, but she was innocent.

Brian finally told Courtney that he was in love with her and would never tell the police she'd shot him. She told him she couldn't promise him her feelings for him would change to something romantic. He told her he didn't expect her to feel that way about him right then. Jason watched them talk from outside Kelly's. Brian left Kelly's when his beeper went off, and he returned the call. Jason hid around the corner until Brian was gone.

Jason went inside Kelly's and asked Courtney what Brian had wanted from her. She went outside and told him that Brian knew she'd shot him but hadn't told the police because he wanted to protect her. Jason warned her that Brian had been setting her up from the beginning to get information about him. She told him she understood he didn't trust Brian but that she didn't totally not trust him yet, even though she knew he hadn't been honest with her all the time. She told Jason that Brian had told her he was in love with her, and that was why he was protecting her.

Jason thought Brian was going to eventually blackmail Courtney with the information to use later to get her to roll over on him and Sonny some day. She told him she wouldn't help him like that but believed he was telling the truth about being in love with her. Jason didn't believe it and thought Brian was manipulating her. He warned her not to trust Brian, since he was a cop.

Meanwhile, Carly was taken into the Port Charles Police Station in handcuffs with Lucky as her police escort. Ric was there when she was taken in and asked Lucky what the charge was. Lucky told him she had been arrested for violating a court order. He told Lucky to put her in the interrogation room for the moment. Sonny showed up, and Ric assumed he was there to bail Carly out of jail, but Sonny informed Ric that he was the one who'd had her arrested for violating the court order.

Alcazar showed up with Carly's new attorney. Her new attorney told Ric that the court order had not been properly served to Carly, and she was going to have it rescinded by a judge. Sonny told Ric that Carly had violated the court order, and he wanted her charged. Sonny left. He went back to the hotel where Sam was. He saw her all dressed up in an evening gown. He persuaded her to be late so they could have sex.

Jason arrived at Sonny's room at the hotel later. He told Sonny about the Brian situation and that Brian knew that Courtney had shot him but hadn't told his fellow cops about it. Jason was worried that Brian would hold that over Courtney's head and that even though she was loyal to them, she might end up doing something to ease her conscience. Sonny didn't like that scenario and told Jason to take care of Brian, without overtly ordering a hit on him. Jason understood Sonny's meaning.

Back at the police station, Carly, Alcazar and her attorney met to discuss how to get the court order against her dropped. Alcazar somehow found out that the judge that had issued the court order was one of the judges in Sonny's pocket. Carly's attorney felt that getting that court order rescinded would be harder than she'd thought it would be. Ric offered to help Carly to make amends for kidnapping her. He pulled a few strings and found a judge at the hotel to rescind the court order.

Alcazar listened to what Ric said and realized that he'd never really made amends for kidnapping Carly from Ric and that she should hate him for that. Carly told Alcazar that she thought people could change for the better and that she saw no reason to think he couldn't change either. Carly showed up at Sonny's hotel room with a document. She told Sonny that she'd managed to have the court order against her seeing her children rescinded and that she had a court order for temporary custody of their children.

The Quartermaines gathered in the hotel for the auctioning off of the treasure. The proceeds from the auction would be split evenly by the Quartermaines and the Cassadines. Tracy had Coleman meet her there. He was carrying a gun under his tuxedo jacket and hung around waiting for a moment when Tracy could distract the guards and he could make his move to steal the treasure from the families. Nikolas told Emily that he didn't trust Tracy or Helena not to try to steal the treasure during the auction and got more security to help him.

Tracy announced she wanted to make a toast and made a big spectacle of herself to get the guards' attention. Coleman waited until he saw a guard watching Tracy intently and moved his hand to the guard's gun as if to take it from him, but Nikolas surprised him by slipping up behind him and grabbing him by the arms and knocking him backwards. The security guard saw what was going on and helped Nikolas subdue Coleman. Nikolas ordered the guards to escort Coleman from the hotel premises and make sure he left. Helena warned Tracy that if she tried to steal the treasure, she would not live to see it. Lucky showed up with Brian at the hotel after hearing about how the treasure had almost been stolen and tried to offer more security.

Meanwhile, Luke plotted with Sam to steal the treasure. She wasn't too happy to be just his assistant but agreed to be partners with him. Luke made a spectacle to draw attention to himself and pretended to be drunk so Sam could help him steal the treasure. Luke managed to case the place out by pretending to be drunk and disorderly so he could see where the treasure was being kept. He stole the treasure while Sam was upstairs with Sonny. She sneaked out of Sonny's room when she thought he was asleep. He told her he wished her luck in getting the treasure back and hoped she got all of it, since she deserved it.

Sam got back downstairs and met with Luke in their hiding place. Luke was putting the treasure into pillowcases to take out of the hotel. Sam asked him if he was planning to steal the treasure without her and just take off. He told her that he'd done all the work and deserved the treasure. He offered her a diamond bracelet as her share. She told him that she deserved more than just one piece of jewelry. Luke conceded and gave her some more jewels.

While Luke's back was turned, Sam took out a Taser switch and shocked Luke in the neck to knock him out. She stole the treasure herself and left Luke there. Meanwhile, the auction was a success when one man gave a huge bid on most of the jewelry. Edward went over to thank him for bidding and asked him if he was bidding for himself or someone else. Alcazar entered and told them that he was the man behind the bid. Edward went over to look at the treasure and was shocked to find it missing. He announced to everyone that the treasure had been stolen.

Alexis and Cameron tried to talk Zander into giving them the gun he had pointing at Maxie. Zander told Cameron that he didn't know if he could trust Cameron to suddenly look out for him when he hadn't most of Zander's life. Cameron apologized to Zander for being a lousy father to him and pleaded with Zander to give him the gun and let him help him. Cameron started to cry and told Zander he couldn't stand to lose another child and that he had no one left in his life but Zander. Alexis offered to help get Ric to back off the case concerning Brian's shooting and to help him. She told Zander he would need to turn himself in to the police with her help and his father's.

Zander gave Cameron the gun and let Maxie go. Alexis told them they needed to get going to the police station. Zander refused to go with them, and Maxie confirmed that they had set up the whole gun scenario to get their help and that Zander had had no intention of shooting Maxie. Alexis warned Maxie that she could be in big trouble for helping Zander. They let them stay there for the time being, but Alexis told him they would be back after they got Ric to back off the case.

Cameron and Alexis found Ric at the hotel. Cameron put pressure on Alexis to help Zander and get her to persuade Ric to back off so Zander had a chance to clear his name of the shooting. Alexis and Cameron talked to Ric. Ric refused to drop the charge against Zander because a cop had been shot. Alexis pointed out to Ric that if he didn't back out of the case himself and let someone else prosecute the case, she would make sure a judge knew that he was biased against Zander because Zander was the father of Ric's wife's baby, and Ric had reason to want him behind bars. Ric agreed to take himself off the case.

Lucky told Nikolas that he'd almost had Zander at the hospital but that he'd gotten away. Lucky suspected that Maxie knew more than she was saying to them about Zander. Nikolas took a walk and saw Maxie exiting a door marked for the lower basement room. Maxie had tried to talk Zander out of leaving the country and had agreed to help him with one last favor, which was to drive him to Canada by some back roads. She left to make arrangements to get a car.

Nikolas entered the stairwell that led to the basement. He went inside the electrical room and found Zander. Zander had a metal pipe in his hand and threatened Nikolas with it. He also informed Nikolas that as soon as he took care of Nikolas, he was going to grab Emily and leave the country forever. He hit Nikolas in the stomach with the metal pipe.

Nikolas ducked for the next blow and managed to kick Zander in the head and knock him out on the floor. He checked his pulse and saw he was still alive and breathing. Nikolas left the room. He locked the room up from the outside so Zander couldn't escape. He called the police and informed them that he'd found Zander and locked him in the electrical room in the hotel. An electrical unit blew a fuse, and a fire started and surrounded Zander's unconscious body.

Friday, February 6, 2004

by Mary N.

Georgie showed up at the Port Charles Hotel with "Tom." He wasn't very cooperative with her until she reminded him she was paying him to pretend to be her boyfriend. He handed her his term paper assignment on the Civil War to do for him in exchange for his cooperation. She told him to go pay for their room. They got over to the front desk to check in. Georgie was dismayed to overhear Sage and Dillon talking right behind her. He told Sage that he'd booked them a suite, since she was so spoiled and wouldn't settle for less.

Dillon noticed Georgie and "Tom" and wasn't happy to see that they'd rented a room also. The front desk clerk apologized to them about their rooms not being available due to remodeling and the auction going on there that evening. Sage told the clerk that any room with a bed would do just fine and looked at Georgie with a knowing gleam in her eye. Georgie glared at her. Both young couples were shown their rooms and weren't happy when they found out their rooms were adjoining ones. They insisted on making sure their rooms were locked from each other.

Georgie worked on "Tom's" term paper while he watched sports and listened to it on headphones. He made noises to make Dillon think they were having sex. Dillon was moping around the room, jealous about what was going on in the other room. Georgie told "Tom" to be quiet and stop making so much noise. Dillon thought they were having sex, so he allowed Sage to seduce him into having sex.

Georgie could hear Dillon and Sage in the other room, and "Tom" pointed out to her that they were having sex. Georgie told him she thought he was right about it not being so great to stay there at the hotel, after all, and told him they should leave right away. She opened her door and saw smoke in the hallway. She rushed over and banged on Sage and Dillon's door and told them there was a fire in the hotel, and they needed to get out.

A fire spread throughout the basement as Zander lay unconscious on the floor. Nikolas called the police and requested them to get to the hotel, and they would find Zander locked up in the utility room in the basement. He didn't tell Emily what had happened with Zander when she asked him where he'd gone. He told her he had just been in the lobby. Ric learned from Lucky that the treasure had been stolen from the auction. He told everyone present that he would be questioning everyone as quickly as possible and that some of them might have to go to the police station to sign a report.

Edward got a call from the hotel manager. He reported there was a fire in the hotel, and they all needed to evacuate immediately. Mac and a uniformed cop showed up at the hotel after getting Nikolas' call. They asked the hotel clerk at the front desk about the utility room and where it was and announced that the fugitive Zander Smith had been hiding down there and was locked inside. Mac and the cop drew their weapons as they approached the door.

Mac called out a warning to Smith that they were going inside and instructed him to cooperate. They got no answer from Zander. Mac ordered the cop to open the door gently and have his weapon ready in case Zander was armed with a gun. He said Zander could be dangerous when provoked. The cop opened the door slowly. The fire inside the basement caused a backdraft when the door opened, and Mac and the cop were blown back from the blast of fire.

The fire department showed up. Maxie walked into the hotel and saw all the commotion. She became alarmed when she saw two paramedics transporting a severely wounded patient toward the doors to the ambulance. Maxie feared it was Zander and approached the paramedics. She was shaken up when she recognized the patient as Mac. She told the paramedics that he was her father. She told them to tell Mac she was okay if he woke up.

Maxie approached one of the firefighters and asked about the fire. He told her that the fire seemed to have originated from the basement. She told him that someone was down in the basement, and they had to get him out. They informed her that if someone was down in the basement, they most likely hadn't survived the fire, which had gone out of control. Maxie was devastated by the news.

Cameron put pressure on Alexis to help Zander as quickly as possible before his son ended up killed. She told him she was doing everything she could at that moment but that she had to wait until things got processed, She reported that Ric had already agreed to step away from the case.

Meanwhile, the Cassadines and the Quartermaines accused each other of stealing the treasure. Edward ordered Justus to go interrogate the Cassadines until one of them confessed to stealing the treasure. Justus refused to do anything for Edward.

Lucky questioned Skye about why she was at the auction when she wasn't really a Quartermaine anymore. She told him she was there to support Nikolas and Emily for the night. He made a remark to her that she seemed to have been getting close to his father, who he didn't trust with the treasure based on his behavior earlier. Skye told him she'd had nothing to do with the treasure being stolen and walked off. Lucky didn't totally believe she didn't know anything.

In another part of the hotel, Luke woke up from Sam knocking him unconscious. He started coughing and used some sharp utensils he found in the storage room he was locked up in to try to pick the lock. He worked at it long enough to pop the lock and open the door. He stumbled out of the room and tried to find a place to hide out. Skye found him and tried to get him to let her help him walk to the stairs. Luke refused to go with her until she got stubborn on him and refused to leave without him.

Luke reluctantly agreed to lean on Skye as they walked to the stairs. Luke started to collapse on the floor, unconscious from smoke inhalation. Skye called for help. Faith showed up and asked why she should help Skye. Faith said she wasn't going to help Skye, and Skye could drop dead for all she cared.

Sam got stuck in one of the elevators, due to the fire and the power outages that kept happening. She crossed the wires inside the elevator unit. She got the elevator to move, but it wouldn't go down like she wanted it to. She had the treasure inside a big laundry cart, and she managed to get onto one of the floors, even with smoke pouring out of the floor. She dragged the laundry cart out with her. Later, a mysterious man found her and checked her pulse. He picked her up and carried her away. The man turned out to be Jax, who took her to his penthouse and laid her on his couch.

Later, the Quartermaines were informed that the fire was spreading quickly to all the floors and that it was reaching the stairwells too. Nikolas found out that the fire seemed to have started somewhere in the basement. Nikolas started to feel guilty for locking Zander up down in the basement. He ended up telling Emily what he'd done and worried that he might have inadvertently put Zander in grave danger. Monica and Emily urged Alan to go downstairs in the freight elevator, which was still working, and help make sure everyone got some medical attention.

Carly showed Sonny the papers she'd had a judge sign, giving her temporary custody of Michael and Morgan and revealing the restraining order he'd had placed against her had been rescinded. Sonny told her that she had temporary custody and that he would fight her in court and prove she was an unfit mother. Carly asked him how it had gotten to that point and why he was trying to keep her from seeing her children. Sonny told her that as long as she was with Alcazar, he wanted his children away from her, since Alcazar was a known drug lord.

Carly pointed out to Sonny that he killed people and wasn't any better. Sonny told her he would not let her win the custody battle, and he would do everything that was necessary to stop her. He told her that he would take the children and himself and leave the country for good, and she would never see her children again. Carly told him he wouldn't do that, since it would hurt the children not to see her ever again. Sonny told her he would do it if it would keep them away from Alcazar.

Alcazar showed up after talking to Ric about the auction and his interest in obtaining the treasure as a type of investment. He told Carly he'd known she would probably be up there with Sonny. Sonny told Alcazar to take Carly away and called her a derogatory name. Carly spat out that he was a bastard and left in tears. Alcazar tried to reassure her that Sonny wouldn't be able to take the children out of the country, since Alcazar had men following Sonny everywhere in town and that the men wouldn't let Sonny go anywhere without notifying him. Carly hugged and kissed Alcazar and told him she trusted him. Sonny walked out of the room and saw them embracing.

Later, Carly got in the same elevator as Alexis. Carly and Alexis weren't too pleased to be in the same elevator together. The elevator made a jolting movement, which startled them. The elevator stopped, and the lights flickered inside. Alexis asked what was going on.

In another part of the hotel, Jason found Brian and followed him down the hallway of one of the floors. Jason tried to get a clean view of Brian so he could shoot him. Brian managed to go inside one of the other hallways, and Jason couldn't shoot him. Jason continued to follow him. There was smoke in the next hallway. Jason got a clear shot of Brian as they were face-to-face. Brian asked if Jason was going to kill him. Jason started to aim his gun at Brian, but a little girl walked out of one of the rooms with her little brother to ask for help. Jason put his gun away.

Brian introduced himself to the children and told them he was a cop and showed them his badge. The little girl informed them that their parents were at the auction upstairs and had told her to call them if there was a problem, but she said the phone in her room didn't work, and there was smoke in the hallway and in her room. Brian and Jason realized they had to work together to help get the children to safety. Jason told Brian that they had to get them out of the hotel as quickly as possible.

Brian took the children downstairs toward the lobby, but Jason disagreed with him and thought they should head upstairs toward the roof where a helicopter could go and rescue them. As they headed upstairs, Jason realized that the stairwells heading up toward the roof were getting smokier, and it might not be safe, after all, to head upstairs. Brian disagreed with him, but Jason pointed out that they needed to get the children out of the hotel before the fire spread even more.

Courtney heard the news about the fire at the hotel while watching television and caring for Morgan. She had Leticia watch the children while she went to the hotel. Leticia told her the authorities had asked that all civilians stay away from downtown. Courtney told her that she was going to the hotel because Sonny and Carly were there and that her husband might be there as well. Courtney arrived, and Alan told her that Jason had been at the auction earlier and might still be in the hotel. She also learned that Brian was there too. Courtney argued with the firefighters, who tried to keep her out of the hotel. She told them that her husband was in the hotel, and she needed to find him.

Alcazar cornered Sonny on the stairs. He told Sonny he would not allow him to hurt Carly anymore and that he wouldn't let him get custody of her children, even if it meant he made her a widow. Sonny dared him to try. Alcazar attacked Sonny on the stairs and tried to push him off them and kill him. Sonny fought back, and the two wrestled and fought. A backdraft hit the door to the stairwell and blew it open, knocking Sonny and Alcazar unconscious.