After Emily's funeral, Nikolas and Gia followed the stream of people to the Quartermaine mansion. Gia gave her condolences to the family, feeling awkward because it was common knowledge that she and the deceased had never gotten along.

"It really is a tragedy." That was what she said to everyone. She didn't know what else to say. She would have preferred to stay silent, but that wouldn't have gone over too well. At  a funeral, it was important to slobber out some kind of drivel. It didn't help the family, but it made everyone else feel as if they were being helpful. Gia was being dragged from group to group on Nikolas' arm. She forced herself to smile and nod sadly. Inside, she wasn't really sad. Sad was the wrong word. What she felt was best described as miserably numb. In these last few days, from the neck down, she hadn't felt much of anything. The weight of guilt was like a boulder on her chest. A heavy pressure that was always with her.

She felt mildly relieved when Nikolas, Lucky, and Elizabeth gravitated towards a corner to be alone. She roamed around until she found her brother.

"Mark, finally a friendly face." 

Taggert pulled his little sister into a tight embrace. "How are you holding up?"

"What do you mean?" she asked, a slow panic seizing her. "Emily and I weren't really friends."

"I know, G, but she and Nikolas were. I would imagine it's been rough for him since the murder."

"Yeah, Nikolas is taking it hard. Emily was one of the first friends he made in Port Charles...So, do you know...do you have any leads on who did this?"

"We're working on it, but we don't have a real lead."

"Oh..."  Mac came drifting through the crowd then and interrupted.

"Hello, Gia. Uh, Taggert, Monica and Alan want to have a private word with us about the investigation." Then, addressing Gia, "You don't mind if I steal your brother do you?"

"Not at all," she said, but they had already moved away. She slipped out into the foyer, glancing down at her watch. She had been stuck in a depressing sea of black for hours now. She sat down on the bottom stair, her hands weaving through the bars of the banister.

Her mind drifted to her conversation with her brother. The police still had no clue as to who the murderer was. That gave her a mild bit of reassurance but the incriminating tape of  her conversation with Stefan was still unaccounted for. It hadn't been on Emily's body or in her car or anywhere else the police had searched for clues. Gia was certain of this, because, if her brother had heard the tape, he certainly would have confronted her.

She had to find that tape before anyone else did. It was the only way to make sure that she and Nikolas were safe to be together. On a crazy impulse, Gia took a sweep of the empty room and launched herself up the stairs. At the top, she pressed herself against the wall and tried to remember which window she had watched  Nikolas and Lucky climb through. She envisioned the outside of the house and started trying to visualize where the window would be.

Ten minutes later, she successfully found Emily's room. Gia flipped on the lights, closing the door behind her. She fingered one of the posters on the wall. Boy Zone...interesting choice, she thought absently. After a quick perusal, she realized that the room was not as extraordinary as she had expected a bedroom in a mansion to be.

"Now," Gia murmured aloud, "If I were Emily, where would I hide a blackmail tape?"  She walked over to the mirror and did her best imitation of Emily. She changed her posture. She tried to make herself look gleeful. "I'm Emily."

"I'm Emily...Okay, so I'm Emily...what would Emily say? Ummm..Juan is the best singer in the world. He's talented. He's great. Lucky is great, too. Elizabeth is the best thing since sliced bread. I have wonderful friends. Yada, Yada, Yada. So...I, Emily, would naturally hide a tape...where, where, where?" Gia turned in a little circle as she tried to get into Emily's mind. "I'm Emily AND I like...what do I like...CLOTHES!!" Gia stormed to the closet and threw open the door. She searched through shoe boxes, pockets, shelves, and in the toes of a pair of leather boots. She came up with nothing. She dropped to her knees and searched underneath the bed and felt underneath the desk. She rifled through drawers and behind the full-length  mirror. 

Nothing.

Gia flipped off the lights, backing out of the door. Down the hallway, she could hear voices approaching. Not knowing what to do. She shut the door and tried to look like she hadn't been in the room.

The door was barely closed before she could make out the faces as Emily's mother and Elizabeth. They spotted her as soon as she spotted them. She was trapped with no excuse for being upstairs.

"Gia," Elizabeth said suspiciously, her hands on her hips. "What are you doing up here? Were you in Emily's room?"

Gia smiled politely at Monica. "I don't really know why I'm up here, but, well, this is Emily's room, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is, " Monica said, her voice wavering as a tear slid down her cheek.

"And?" Elizabeth snapped.

"And I felt...well I felt really bad about all of the things that went on between Emily and me. If you must know, I apologized to her door. I figured it was the closest I could get."

"You apologized to her door?"

"Yeah, I mean, there was no love lost between us, but over the past year I was able to see her through Nikolas' eyes. She was a remarkable young woman, the kind I always wanted to be. I know this whole situation is a tragedy, but I think something good can come from this."

Monica wiped her face. "What good could possibly come from the murder of my daughter?"

"The best kind of good, the good that can only come from loss. This terrible action has forced me to see how I've wasted some of my life on pettiness. Emily has taught me that life is much too short. I admire her and, I guess, I'll miss fighting with her. She was a formidable opponent."

Monica smiled slightly. She patted Gia's arm. "Emily thought the same of you. No one else frustrated her as you did." She excused herself.

Elizabeth continued to stare at Gia suspiciously. "That's some line of bull you ran by Monica."

"It's not bull, Liz. It's truth.  And I do know how much Emily meant to those who loved her. You included. How are you?"

"You almost sound as if you care,"  Elizabeth said.

"Believe it or not, but I do care. I care about you because you care about Nikolas. So, if you ever need a friend..."

Elizabeth raised her eyebrow in disbelief. Gia smiled widely, "Okay, I was about to say something stupid. I'll revise. If you ever need a friend, call Nikolas. If you are ever so angry that you're about to burst, call me. I'll let you yell at me for free. I won't say a word."

Elizabeth smiled, too. Shaking her head, she said, "That is impossible. I don't think you could stop."

"I can, too! I'm serious, though. You can call...it'll be like community service or something."

"I might take you up on that. There's something about you that makes me want to throw things, anyway." Elizabeth walked past Gia to Emily's door. She stopped, her hand poised on the knob. "Gia, will you take care of Nikolas for me?"

"Always."  Liz went into the room to join Monica. Gia went back downstairs to look for Nik. She found him with Lucky. She could see that the brothers wanted to be alone, so she made Lucky promise to take care of him. He said he'd drop by her apartment later. She kissed him.

She caught a ride home with Taggert, who offered to come in, but she declined. "It's okay, Mark. I'm fine. I'll probably just take a nap."

"I'll call you later, then. Take care, G." Taggert said before driving away.

Gia wearily trudged up the three flights of stairs to her apartment. She spent five minutes searching her purse for her ever allusive keys. Finally, she found them in the pocket of her coat. She opened the door, throwing her purse in a chair and slipping out of her shoes. She walked straight through the living room to her bedroom.

When she opened the door, she found Helena Cassadine sprawled across her bed with a delighted grin on her face.

"Gia, Darling, we have business to discuss. Serious business."

~*~  ~*~  ~*~

End of chapter Five, Please e-mail any feedback by clicking on the mailbox below :)

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