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Tracy returns to the stables in her riding attire and is in a mood as she hasn’t had coffee, and her horse bit her. Ned enters, and she hopes he doesn’t have any drama to dump on her. He has no drama and asks about the horse bite. She says it was just a nip. She admits it was her fault as she didn’t read him right and pushed him too early in the morning.

Ned breaks out a first-aid kit for his mom, and she asks why he’s here and what his issues are today. Ned says he just wanted to check on her as he knows it’s Luke’s birthday. She wonders how he knows, and he says it’s in Monica, Lois, and Olivia’s calendar, as well as his. He admits he had reservations about her quasi-legal marriages to him. She reflects on their marriages, their misadventures, and how they found one another for real later on. Ned knows Luke was the love of his mother’s life.

Tracy misses how resilient Luke was and how he could always improvise and adapt. Without him, she feels like she’s barely keeping her head above water. She tells Ned to stop her from babbling, but he wants her to know she can go on like this any time, and he won’t think she’s any less of her. He also liked seeing how happy Luke made her. They embrace and she thanks him for the support and his ear.

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Michael meets with Kristina at Bobbie’s, and she knows something is up. He tells her they have a problem, and she immediately assumes it’s with their dad. Michael says things are pretty tense between their dad and Ava, and he just had a blow-up with Sonny over their looming custody battle. He thinks their dad won’t win custody of Avery. He recounts their argument and how there is no way he can get on the stand in this hearing to testify, as anything he says might set Sonny off. Kristina empathizes with him. Michael says they need to protect Avery, and their father’s failings pale compared to Ava’s. They need someone to testify for their father, but who?

Kristina suggests Carly, but Michael says their entire messy history would be brought up. Dante is also a problem as Sonny shot him. Michael feels their dad needs someone who always sees the best in him, someone like her. Kristina reminds him she saw their father beat up Dex, so she’s as much a liability on the stand as he is. Michael says this leaves their dad all on his own.

Michael thinks about Sonny, his mom, AJ, and the lifelong grudges they’ve held, and he doesn’t want that for his kids. He wants them to let things go, and it’s the least he can try to do with their dad. Kristina points out that their father isn’t extending the same courtesy to him. Michael can’t forget the good times with their dad, and to be a good father to his kids, he needs to know he tried his best with his own father. Kristina gets it, as what he did with Dex doesn’t outweigh the years of love and support he showed her.

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Carly shows up at Sonny’s, and he assumes Michael talked to her. She has no idea what he’s talking about but is here to let him know Cates wants to take him down. Sonny thinks it’s time for someone to beat that smirk off Cates’ face. She tells him not to go ordering his men to beat him up on the docks again. Carly warns that Cates is on a mission, and he’s asking questions. She brings up Dex’s beating and asks if anyone knows about it, say someone who would talk to Cates. Sonny admits Ava knows. Carly says if Cates takes Ava’s side in this upcoming custody hearing, that’s a big issue. Sonny admits he’s already messed up, and he tells her about his fight with Michael. He asks her if she can talk to Michael and smooth things over.

Carly says it’s not up to her to fix things between them, and he treats everyone as disposable and anyone he hasn’t pushed away is walking away from him. Sonny says that’s not true. Carly asks Sonny if he has one friend who will stand beside him no matter what. He responds, “You.” She reminds him that he called her a traitor, and said all their years together and kids met nothing to him, and that’s how he wanted it. Carly says, “I’m not cleaning up your messes anymore, you are on your own.” She storms out.

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Cates shows up to meet with Ava at the Metro Court. She invites him into her room, and he says he wanted to check on her after their last talk. She informs him about working with her lawyer Scott to try and strategize against Sonny. Cates fumes over how people always seem to side with Sonny, and Ava admits she’s terrified of taking him on and feels alone. He lets her know she’s not alone. They chat about Sonny, and Cates rants about how Sonny victimizes women, yet somehow she broke free of that mold. Ava tells him how she and Sonny fought over custody of Avery for a long time, and more recently, she believed Sonny trusted her and thought of her as a friend. However, he’s become so erratic and volatile that she doesn’t think he knows what is going on from one moment to the next.

Cates asks her for any information she can share on Sonny’s criminal activities. If she wants his help with Avery, he needs hers. Ava explains she’s in a delicate situation, and charges rarely stick when it comes to Sonny. She points out that he got pardoned for murdering a Quartermain. She says if she goes against him, he could take Avery from her or worse. Cates understands. He promises her that she’ll not lose Avery. Ava is touched and says it’s been a long time since anyone was kind to her. He swears to her that he has a code, and unlike Sonny, he sticks to his. He pulls her into a passionate kiss.

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Jason stops by Anna’s office. She says Carly was already here, and she knows John paid him a visit and Carly believes it has to do with Sonny. He brings up Valentin vanishing and notes Cates is furious and is giving him a new assignment for failing to meet the terms of their agreement. Anna says he gave Cates enough intel to shut Pikeman down, but Jason says Cates thinks he aided and abetted Valentin’s escape. Anna says he should go public and shame the FBI into backing down. Jason argues that will leave Carly behind bars for the rest of her life.

Jason asks if she has anyone she can contact to reign Cates in. She doesn’t know, and getting involved in an FBI investigation is tricky. He says he gave her the two hours she asked for and it backfired on him, and now he is expected to be on a bus to Quantico tonight.

Anna promises to use all her resources to stop this. He calls this her mess and notes he ignored his instincts and let her warn Valentin. She knows that put him at risk, and that is on her, but what is on him and Carly? What responsibility do they have that led them to this point? She says they chose to live outside the lines of the law, and are now suffering the consequences. He admits he and Carly got themselves here, and all he’s asking is for the same consideration she gave Valentin. Anna tells him she’ll fix this and won’t rest until he’s out from under the FBI. Jason knows she’ll try, but there are no guarantees. He exits her office in a huff.

Later, Anna calls a friend at the FBI about Cates, who she says is out of control. She says if the FBI doesn’t reign him in, she’ll be forced to.

Back at Bobbie’s, Carly interrupts Michael and Kristina, having heard about Michael’s blow-up with Sonny. Suddenly Jason interrupts, asking to speak to Carly.

They head up to Jason’s room, and he tells her that Cates is ordering him to leave for Quantico tonight on a new assignment. She won’t let him leave, she won’t let this happen. She declares she’s going to turn herself in, and he can’t stop her.

Tracy finds Sonny on the street looking at where Luke’s club used to be. The reflect on Luke and how he always enjoyed himself. She says Luke made up his mind from a very young age to take advantage of any opportunity that came his way. Sonny recalls their last goodbye on the docks before he left for Amsterdam. Tracy won’t deny she may have gone to Amsterdam looking for Luke, but she didn’t expect to run into him at that café. Sonny notes Luke was the best, and Tracy agrees.

Back in Ava’s room at the Metro Court, Cates and Ava’s kiss is interrupted when he gets a call. He seems to be getting reprimanded and tells Ava he needs to go put out some fires. He’d like to pick this up where they left off, and she says she’s looking forward to it. After he leaves, Ava makes a call inquiring how much it will help her case if the FBI busts Sonny.

Cates storms into Anna’s office at the PCPD, hollering how she cried to his boss about him. She orders him to set Jason free, or she will bury him.

On the next General Hospital: Brook Lynn tells Kristina and Blaze to trust her, and it will be great. They are preparing to give their interview. Willow asks someone what they think. Nina tells Ava she should be thankful if the worst Sonny does is take sole custody of Avery. Carly tells Jason he’s out of his mind if he thinks she’s going to stand by and watch Cates send him on another mission. Anna vows to Cates that she’ll do everything in her power to stop him.