BREAKING NEWS: Off Rolf’s Latest Breakthrough, Kristen Presents Xander With a Solution — For a Price
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In the Square, Holly tearfully tells Tate that he and Sophia deserve each other and storms away. A sympathetic Sophia believes Tate is truly better off without her. Tate can’t believe after everything they went through, it’s just over. Sophia reminds him of all the bad things that happened, too. She links her arm through his as they go for a walk.
At Titan, Xander pulls a handgun from his desk drawer. He gravely muses on taking matters into his own hands. An alarmed Maggie enters, wondering what he’s doing with the gun. Xander lies that it’s just for protection now that he’s Victor’s heir. Appeased, Maggie moves on to the reason she’s there: to ask Xander to drop his vendetta against Brady. She knows he went after him with a baseball bat, but it’s high time Xander focus on being with his wife and less time on getting back at Brady.
In the interrogation room, Marlena tells Brady how worried she and John are. Brady is worried about the pain he’s causing his father. Marlena makes clear how much they love him. “We will be here for you, now and always.” Without getting into specifics, Brady tells her Kristen offered to do what it takes to get him out there, but he told her to stand down. Marlena hopes she listened because Kristen usually makes things worse.
After sneaking into the DiMera mansion, Rolf asks Kristen what happened to the tunnels. “It’s like a bomb when off down there.” Since he’s a fugitive, she wonders why he’s returned. He reminds her she asked him to develop scientific innovations that would cement her place at DiMera. He’s had a breakthrough that will make her and the board members very rich. Though intrigued, she wants to put that on the back burner until Brady is free.
Eric finds Holly crying on the bench outside the Pub. She literally can’t with him right now, but he tells her he loves her and is there for her. She doesn’t think he or Nicole care. Her mother isn’t even there to see her. Eric again explains that Jude is sick and can’t get on a plane. He suggests Holly visit her mother instead. Holly grows irate over the suggestion. Eric urges her to give Nicole a chance to explain why she lied about Daniel’s death.
On the park bench, a venting Tate can’t believe Holly hit Sophia. Sophia flashes back to taunting Holly about sex with Tate, which prompted the slap. However, Sophia tells Tate that Holly really slapped her because she admitted she has feelings for him. Tate awkwardly averts his eyes as she reminds him of her unabashed flirting. She backed off, though, opting for self-respect, but she wanted to be honest about her feelings so as not to be deceptive like Holly.
In his office, Xander defends how much time he’s spent with Sarah. Maggie knows, but she’s talking about his emotional support. He’s been focusing all his energy on Brady. Xander doesn’t know how to help Sarah. He hears her cry when she thinks he’s not around. He can’t help her regain the use of her legs, but he can help her get justice. With Brady in jail, Maggie suggests it’s time to let it go for both his and Sarah’s sake. Xander says he’s been trying to find a specialist to help Sarah, but it’s not looking good. Xander promises he’ll focus on Sarah and stop obsessing about Brady.
At the station, Marlena brings up Kristen’s lingering love for Brady, and asks about his feelings. He says it’s like an addiction, but he can’t go cold turkey because of Rachel. His feelings are a moot point anyway since he’s about to go to prison. When Marlena suggests that’s not a foregone conclusion, Brady adamantly states he needs to take responsibility for Sarah’s paralysis. Marlena hopes in time he can make peace with what he did. She again tells him she and John are there for him. Brady wishes his father would accept his fate. Marlena declares that John can’t do that, and neither could Brady if it were Tate. Brady tells Marlena Tate and Holly fought over him. He had reservations about them being together, but now that they are, he’d hate to be the reason they don’t work out.
In the park, Tate thanks Sophia for being honest with him and is glad Holly’s slap didn’t leave a mark. She is, too, since she wasn’t looking forward to explaining to her nosy parents. Tate actually misses his parents being all up in his business. She offers hers if he ever needs a fix. He assures her they’re still cool and is glad her feelings are out in the open. He doesn’t want her to feel like she has to hold back with him. “In that case…” She kisses him.
At the mansion, Rolf tells Kristen he came up with a new serum that can regenerate a failed organ or regrow dying tissue. Just about any damage to the body can be reversed. Kristen asks about a spinal cord injury, specifically Sarah’s. Rolf would have to look at her chart, but he believes it is possible. He assumes she has an ulterior motive, but Kristen warns if he wants his lab and funding and glory, he’ll leave it alone.
Outside the Pub, Eric tells Holly that Nicole needs her and misses her. She doesn’t have to go for very long. Wiping tears, Holly agrees to go to Paris. It’s not like there’s anything keeping her in Salem anyway.
In the park, Tate breaks away from the kiss. He’s not ready to move on yet. Sophia profusely apologizes, but he assures her she didn’t screw things up. As he leaves, a smirk spreads across Sophia’s face.
Kristen comes to Xander’s office. Off his obvious disdain, Kristen suggests he change his tone. She fills him in on how Rolf’s formula could help Sarah walk again. Once it’s finetuned, it’s all Xander’s. All she’ll ask in return is a teeny, tiny favor: “Make sure Brady goes free.”
