"Anna quietly opened the door to Leo and Greenlee's loft and walked in. She looked around and saw no one else. As she walked to the other side of the room, she heard a noise. She grabbed a book off the coffee table and tossed it across the room then quickly hid. David walked out of the bedroom to investigate, and Anna popped out, gun drawn. They were each startled to see the other.
David told Anna that Proteus wasn't in the loft, and Anna said she was there, looking for Vanessa. David wondered why she was looking for his mother, and Anna told him about having the syringe tested. It had contained traces of a heart-attack-inducing drug, and it had only Vanessa's fingerprints on it. "Vanessa is Proteus" Anna said. David was speechless. He refused to believe Anna, and she began listing the proof they had against Vanessa.
David had a very difficult time swallowing the new information and insisted it had to be a sick joke. Anna tried to convince him further when she spied an object on the floor. She picked it up and showed David an earring. David assumed it was Greenlee's, but Anna pointed out that it was not Greenlee's style; it was a cheap "young person's" style. Anna told David he had to see that Proteus was Vanessa. The doorbell rang, and Bianca walked in. She was surprised to find David and Anna and told them she was looking for Leo.
Anna dropped the earring, and Bianca picked it up and recognized it as Maggie's. Bianca wondered what Maggie had been doing in Leo's apartment and where she was. She told Anna and David that Maggie had been trying to figure out the message Frankie had left in the book of sonnets and that she was on the trail of her sister's murderer. Anna said maybe Vanessa was holding Maggie against her will.
Meanwhile, Vanessa still had Maggie tied up in the wheelchair. Vanessa was on the phone with someone and was very angry to find out that Ryan had turned over the disk to the Feds. After hanging up, she turned to Maggie and asked if Maggie was afraid of her aunt. Maggie tried to put on a brave front and asked Vanessa to let her go, since "you don't kill family." Vanessa refused her request.
Maggie then said she'd been thinking about how Vanessa had tried to help Frankie. Vanessa said yes, she had tried to help Frankie, but Frankie had messed things up. Maggie said Frankie had fallen so deeply in love with Bianca that she had made stupid mistakes. Maggie asked Vanessa if she'd ever been in love. Vanessa said she had only ever loved her two sons then she turned on Maggie, accusing Maggie of trying to "humanize her" and keep her from killing Maggie.
Maggie said she knew Vanessa was human. Her mother had told her that "Aunt Vanessa didn't kill Uncle Charles." Vanessa snickered and said if he hadn't pulled the trigger, she would have, and that was something her ungrateful son David would never forget. Vanessa went on to say that Charles was useless, and he'd had to die.
Maggie asked if Vanessa had ever loved her husband, and Vanessa said no, she had only wanted a child. Charles couldn't compete with her love for David, so he had gone into business for himself, trying to make enough money to win Vanessa's love. But Vanessa knew what he was doing wasn't legal, and she had gone along with it anyway. But when Charles had made some promises that he hadn't been able to keep, which had resulted in threats against David's life, Vanessa said she had known it was time for her to take over.
Maggie was amazed at Vanessa's story. Vanessa continued, saying she had taken over "the operation," and Charles couldn't take the fact that she did it better than he had. He had killed himself, and "that was the best thing that ever happened to me," Vanessa told Maggie. Maggie was repulsed by her aunt's story. Vanessa said she was telling Maggie about her past "in order to comfort" her. She said that sisters could be very different. Maggie agreed and said she was very brave and for Vanessa not to underestimate her.
Vanessa said the next move was up to Maggie, and there were distinct advantages to making a deal with the devil. Maggie tried to talk Vanessa into letting her help Proteus, but Vanessa just laughed at her and said she didn't need anyone's help because she had Leo. Vanessa said she wasn't going to take the fall as Proteus, and she was going to set up David and have him go to prison, forever branded as the drug lord "Proteus."
Brooke and Edmund discussed the hit man's attempt on Ryan's life and concluded that it had been a setup. Simone entered and said it had definitely been a setup, and they wanted Ryan because she'd made it happen. Brooke asked for details, and Simone said she'd handled the whole situation badly. She admitted that she'd gotten emotionally involved with a married man and had thought she could handle it. She was angry that she was being pushed out of the Proteus investigation, and the only way she could "save face" was by continuing the story on her own.
A New York publisher had contacted Simone, saying they'd gotten wind of the story, and had offered her a book deal. Simone said she had been mad, hadn't looked closely enough, and had started to double agent herself. She said she'd overheard Chris, Mateo, and Hayley talking about Ryan having some evidence. Simone said she knew that the New York editor had actually been Proteus or an agent of Proteus and that she'd caused Chris to get shot.
Simone handed over her resignation to Edmund. He said what she had done stunk, but if she could convince herself that it was the worst thing she'd ever do, he'd still let her submit to Tempo. Simone was stunned and touched by Edmund and Brooke's faith in her. She told them she had been taken in for questioning the night before, and they asked if she had a lawyer yet. The discussion was interrupted when Edmund's help was needed in editing. He left the two women alone to talk.
Simone told Brooke she knew better than to fall for Mateo, and Brooke said love made its own rules. Simone admitted that she was still hung up on Mateo then asked how long Brooke and Edmund had known they loved each other. Brooke said it had been a long time, but the timing hadn't been right before. Edmund returned in time to hear that.
Simone left as Edmund walked in. He asked if the timing was right and planted a passionate kiss on Brooke. She laughed and said he couldn't rip her clothes off in her own office. Edmund asked if she could be ready to marry him by May, and she said absolutely.
Outside Chris's hospital room, Kendall tried to talk to Ryan about finding out Chris was his real father. However, Ryan didn't want to hear anything she had to say. Bianca arrived with coffee and sat down with them. Kendall told her that Erica had been in the room with Chris all night, and they didn't have any news. Kendall told her sister to go in and see Erica, who had asked for Bianca the night before.
In the hospital room, Erica talked out loud to Chris, saying he had done what he had because Ryan was his son, and he'd die for him. Chris began to open his eyes, and Erica was thrilled. A nurse entered and checked him out then left to get Joe Martin. Chris asked about Ryan, and Erica said he was fine and that he'd stayed at the hospital all night. Chris asked if he had been hurt, and Erica said no. She went to the hallway to ask Ryan to go in. Ryan refused and tried to leave.
Erica demanded that Ryan go in to see Chris, saying, "He took the bullet for you, you ungrateful louse!" Ryan finally went into Chris's room and stood at the foot of the bed. Chris looked up, and Ryan thanked him for what he had done. Chris tried to brush it off, saying, "Years of training." Erica was appalled at their behavior and said that Chris had taken the bullet because he was Ryan's father. Ryan didn't buy it, though, and said Chris was his father like Erica was Kendall's mother.
Outside the room, Kendall told Bianca how Erica had asked for Bianca the night before and that for one brief moment, she had wanted to help their mother. Bianca wasn't impressed and left without talking to Erica. Ryan told Chris he was glad Chris was okay and started to leave. Chris yelled out in pain and told Erica he couldn't move his legs. Ryan stood by as Joe rushed back in the room.
The nurse ushered Ryan and Erica outside while Joe told Chris the bad news. A bullet fragment had lodged too closely to his spine, and they hadn't been able to remove it during surgery. Joe said once Chris had his strength back, they'd go back in and try to remove the fragment. Chris said, "I don't get any guarantees, do I?"
In the hallway, Erica told Ryan not to feel guilty about what had happened. Ryan asked if that meant he owed Chris forever, saying, "He's no better than the other father I had." Erica went off on Ryan, and Kendall stepped in for Ryan. Ryan walked away, and Kendall followed him, while Erica just waited outside Chris's room.
Joe walked out and told Erica that Chris didn't want to see her again and told her about the bullet fragment. Erica didn't take that well and stormed into Chris's room. Chris told her to stay away from him and to keep Ryan away too. "Get the hell out of my life!" he bellowed. A brokenhearted Erica left the room."
- Soap Central