Trevor: Johnny, you and I both know how Anthony operates. You mouth off or step out of line, he's going to use your feelings for lulu to reign you back in.

[Thunder]

Trevor: So why give him the ammunition to control you? And this woman is just using you to keep her father out of prison.

Lulu: I am not going to stand here and defend my relationship with Johnny to scum like you.

Trevor: It really doesn't matter. If you're faking it for Luke or if you're head over heels in love with john, you are a liability. John, drop her, or... she's really going to get hurt.

Lulu: Is that supposed to scare me? It doesn't.

Trevor: Then you're not as bright a woman as I thought you were. And I'm sorry for that because, you see, Anthony is a very dangerous man, more so now that he's sane. John, you love the woman, send her away. Better yet, give her enough money to start life all over -- some place where Anthony can't find her.

Lulu: No, no, no, no, no, you cannot buy me off and send me away. I have a life here.

Trevor: Did I not make myself clear? Anthony is going to control his son. He'll use any means necessary. And you're going to get in the way and sacrifice your life?

Johnny: Get out!

Trevor: John, I am right and you know it. You better take my advice or she's going to end up hurt and you're going to regret it.

Johnny: My father tries to lay a hand on her, I'll kill him myself.

Trevor: Or... die trying. Then who wins?

Nikolas: There you go. The worst is over.

Claudia: How do you know? Couple of aspirin and a first aid kit doesn't make you a doctor. Was the cut deep? Was it?

Nikolas: I don't know. I don't know. I think that your rib cage kept the knife from puncturing any vital organs, but there's no way to tell until we get you to a hospital.

[Claudia groans]

Nikolas: What's wrong?

Claudia: It's loud -- the storms. It's gotten louder.

Nikolas: I -- I hadn't noticed.

Claudia: It's pounding in my head.

Nikolas: Well, the storm will pass. And when it does, we can get you some help, and then you can tell the police who stabbed you.

Claudia: No, no, no police please. No one can know what happened.

Elizabeth: Do you remember when I first connected? It was right after the fire in your motorcycle shop. And I thought that lucky had been killed, and so I went to Jake's to drown my grief.

Jason: And I just... gave up Michael when I felt like my life was over.

Elizabeth: I still remember the conversation we had -- how you described him, the way he crawled, the type of food he liked. The love you felt for that little boy was written all over your face. And I knew how much it hurt you to give him up.

Jason: I should've done it sooner. I was wrong to try to be Michael's father.

Elizabeth: You were only doing what you thought was best.

Jason: You're just saying that because you love me.

Jason: The truth is... I made a selfish decision...

Jason: And it cost Michael his life.

Jax: You know, when I got involved with Carly, I was worried about how the kids were going to react. They handled it quite well -- a lot better than sonny did, actually. They welcomed me with open arms -- welcomed me into the family. And it wasn't long before I started thinking of them as my own.

Kate: You see, that's why it's so hard when one of them needs you, to be shut out. I can empathize, Jax. We're both outsiders. We're damned if we do, and we're damned if we don't.

Kate: From what I can see, you were honest with Carly, right? You told her what you thought was best for Michael, but Carly may not be able to grasp that. Just like sonny can't understand that I was only trying to protect him from his worst possible impulses when I paid Ian to disappear.

Jax: Just because sonny's a violent man who kills people for revenge doesn't mean that this bastard who shot Michael should be walking away with a million dollars in his pocket.

Kate: Jax, I know. I misappropriated the money that you invested in "crimson" to pay off a criminal, I know. And you have every right to disassociate yourself from me and from the magazine.

Jax: Kate, I have no intention of bailing on you, or the magazine.

Kate: Because you're going to lose too much money. I've put you in this position.

Jax: It wouldn't be fair to punish you for buying into sonny's insanity.

Carly: I love you. We've been through too much, good and bad, for me to ever really stop.

Carly: But when I think about all the pain we've caused our children, I...

Carly: I realized how selfish it was for me to fall for you.

Carly: Your life is no place for a child. And I knew it, and I... I didn't care, because I wanted what I wanted. Put my happiness above Michael's -- what kind of mother does that make me, sonny?

Sonny: You are a wonderful mother -- fighting for Michael, refusing to give up.

Carly: That's why he's back there at that place lying in that bed right now.

Sonny: That a bit -- because's in a better place.

Carly: I know that in my head, but you can tell me over and over again. In my heart, I still feel like we're letting him down, that we did something wrong, there was more we could do, there was something we could've changed, you know?

Sonny: I would do anything if I could bring Michael back.

Sonny: To hear him... laugh, to see him smile, to hug him, to feel the way he would hug me back.

Sonny: But I know that's not going to happen now, because the Michael that we know and love is not here anymore.

Sonny: And you know what? I just want you to know this. You can continue and visit him and have all the hope. That's great. But can't pretend that hearing our voices is going to bring... our little boy back. I believe in my heart that we've done everything we can do.

Carly: Michael would want his little brother to be safe.

Carly: We could give Morgan a better life. There's a way to protect him in the ways that we couldn't protect Michael.

Carly: Morgan would be safer if you weren't his father.

Sonny: So would Kristina, but it's too late to pass them off as someone else's children like Jason did with Jake. For better or worse, you know, I'm their father.

Carly: How many times do they have to keep paying for that? Kristina and Morgan have already been kidnapped. When it happens again, it could be worse. I can't lose another child, sonny.

Sonny: Michael got shot because I was trying to do the right thing. You know, I pulled back on security. It was a mistake. Kristina and Morgan, 24 hours -- I got guards with them 24 hours.

Carly: But that's not good enough.

Sonny: Well, you know what? All I can say is that I'm going to protect my children and make my enemies think twice before they hurt my children again.

Carly: The only way to keep Kristina and Morgan safe is for you to stay away from them. So the next time someone tries to kill you, and they will, one of your children won't be in the line of fire.

Elizabeth: There are no words to describe the love a parent has for a child. It fills your heart, consumes your entire life.

Jason: He felt like my child, but he wasn't mine. He was Carly's.

Elizabeth: For the first year of Michael's life, you were the only father he ever knew. You fed him. You clothed him. You rocked him to sleep at night. The fact that he wasn't biologically yours doesn't really make a difference.

Jason: It did to A.J. He wasn't there to help Michael take his first step or say his first word. I never understood... how important those moments were... until I missed them with Jake. A.J. Missed out on so much of Michael's life because of a secret that I kept.

Elizabeth: A secret that Carly asked you to keep.

Jason: It may have -- it may have started out that way, but you know what? The more time I spent with Michael, the more I wanted to be with him. It became less about what Carly needed me to do. I wanted to take care of him. I wanted to raise him as my own. But he wasn't.

Jason: I'm the one who set this whole thing in motion.

Elizabeth: I'm going to tell you something you once told me. What happened. You can't go back. You can only try to learn from it.

Lulu: You know what? I don't take orders from you or anybody else, and I'm sure as hell not leaving town because you told me to.

Trevor: Lulu, if you gave a damn about john, you'd go on your own instead of playing right into Anthony's hands. And he will control his son, and when he's through with you, when you're of no use to him anymore, he's going to kill you. John, I haven't watched over you all these years to stand idly by and watch Anthony crush you. You can survive your father, but you got to be smart.

Trevor: So please send that girl away before the irrevocable happens.

[Lulu groans]

Lulu: Trevor is manipulating you. Do not buy into it.

Johnny: He's telling the truth, lulu. Even Trevor knows my father will use you to control me, and once that's done and he realizes it's not working anymore, he'll kill you. I'm not going to watch that happen.

Lulu: So are you going to push me away again?

Johnny: It would be for your own good.

Lulu: I don't care. We just found our way back to each other. There's nothing that's going to make me leave.

Johnny: Sure about that?

[Claudia moans]

Nikolas: I know. You're burning up.

Claudia: That's me, I'm hot. Hottest thing any man's ever seen. They all want me, even sonny.

Claudia: He'll hate himself after, but he can't stay away. He'll be back.

[Claudia chuckles]

Claudia: They all come back.

Nikolas: Did sonny do this to you? Is he the one who stabbed you?

Claudia: Sonny?

Nikolas: Yeah.

Claudia: He's -- he doesn't care if I'm dead or alive or -- I hate him. He'd hate me more if he knew. Promise me, john, you have to promise me. He... he can never know. It has to stay our secret ok?

Lulu: I know that I have sent you a lot of mixed signals, kissing you one minute and fighting with you the next, but it took me a while to figure out what I wanted, and now I know. I've known all along. I was just scared.

Johnny: You should be. My father wouldn't hesitate for a second to kill you.

Lulu: I am more afraid of falling in love with you than I will ever be of your father. If I put my heart out there, that is how you n hurt me.

Johnny: Then why take the risk?

Lulu: Because I -- I'm not going to let fear dictate our lives. You have spent your entire life being controlled and manipulated by your feelings. It's time that you do something because it makes you happy.

Johnny: I just wish I knew how to keep you safe.

Lulu: Well, we're just going to have to let this play out until we find something that puts your father back in prison for good.

Johnny: Once he's gone, we'll be free.

Trevor: So where do we stand on this Luke Spencer thing? Good, it's more than enough to bring him up on rico violation. Do it. Plant the evidence. Tip off the police. I want him busted tonight.

[Claudia moans]

Claudia: I promise you, Johnny, you don't have to worry. I've taken care of everything.

Nikolas: Ok.

Claudia: Everything's been handled.

Nikolas: Shh, just try and rest.

Claudia: No, no, no, this was my idea. There's no way I'm going to let this come back on you, john. I never should have trusted Ian. I'm so sorry. I swear, I had no idea that he was going to shoot that little boy. I didn't know you'd do that, john.

Jason: I have learned a lot from Michael -- how to love, how to give.

Jason: But most important, he taught me that a child needs to grow up safe and secure.

Jason: I am so grateful... that Jake has a mother like you that will do anything to protect him.

Elizabeth: So would his father.

Jason: I know lucky will put him first and keep him safe. That's all I could ever ask for.

Elizabeth: Will you do something for me?

Jason: Yeah, I'll do anything.

Elizabeth: Will you stop punishing yourself? That's not what Michael or Jake would want. You loved those boys, and you still gave them up, even though it broke your heart, and Michael would want you to remember him with joy, and Jake would want you to know that he's a very happy little boy with a great life... because of you.

Jax: You know, sonny's life is obviously affecting you a lot more than you realize. For god's sakes, Kate, you were shot because of the example sonny set for Michael.

Kate: It was an accident.

Jax: That's beside the point. I mean, you could have died, but who can blame you for not thinking clearly when it came to Ian Devlin?

Kate: What about you? I mean, where is it written in stone that you have to be strong one, the reasonable one? You're losing a child too, Jax. I am so angry with Carly for making you feel like your grief doesn't matter. How any woman could treat such a kind and loving man who is only trying to do the right thing is way -- it's beyond me.

Jax: See, sonny doesn't deserve you.

Carly: You said yourself that it was a mistake to think that you could keep Michael safe. Why take a chance with Morgan? We can protect him, sonny. Can't change the fact that he is your son, but we don't have to flaunt it. If Morgan isn't around you, he can't get caught in the crossfire.

Sonny: What's Morgan going to think if I suddenly disappear? He just lost his brother. You want him to lose his father too?

Carly: Better than losing his life, sonny.

Sonny: I agree, but there are no guarantees. Are you assuming that my enemies are going to forget that he's my son?

Carly: You know, time passes. Time passes. Things get hazy. With a different last name and some distance between the two of you, Morgan stands a better chance of growing up whole and safe than if we did nothing at all.

Sonny: What do you want me to say? You want me to -- ok, I'll say it. Morgan's better off without me as a father, but I am his father, and there's nothing we can do right now to change that.

Carly: Yes, there is.

Sonny: What is that?

Carly: If you really want to keep Morgan safe, you will sign away your parental rights, and you'll give me sole custody.

>> On the next "general hospital" --

Nikolas: You're going to pay for what you did to Michael. I need to get through to the police right away.

Jax: I'm sorry.

Kate: I wanted you to kiss me.

Sonny: You slept with me to get me to sign away my son?