Laura walked over to Nikolas who was standing not far from the door
and put her arms around him. He tensed up for a moment, but then relaxed.
"Sometimes I just don't understand him," he said sadly. "Why does he always
treat me like I don't have a mind of my own? That I can't determine on my
own what's best for me, and what I have to do?"

        "I don't know, Nikolas," Laura said, brushing his hair off of his
forehead. "Maybe he's caught in the past, when he was the only one who
could protect you, when you needed to be protected. He loves you and he
wants what's best for you. He can't show it, but he's afraid of losing you."

        "Losing me?" Nikolas scoffed. "I love him. He's been a father to me
all my life, regardless of the fact that he never knew that he *was* my
father. Nothing that happens could ever change that!"

        "I know that Nikolas. The problem is that Stefan doesn't. Just
think about it."

        Nikolas sighed, "I will, Mother, but can we just go now? I'm so
tired of this whole thing."

        "Of course," Laura said. As they walked away, neither of them
noticed the two sets of hostile eyes watching them.

*JASON'S PENTHOUSE*

        Luke looked seriously at Sonny, "Yeah well, I came to a few
realizations. He is Laura's son after all, and the kid's kinda become
attached to him. I don't know, I kinda like him myself, just don't tell
anyone I said that."

        "I can't believe this. It's, it's like if I said I kinda liked Jax!
You don't kinda like Stefan do you?"

        "Lord no! I draw the line at Nikolas. Nope, the bat flies alone!"

        Sonny chuckled. Just then Jason and Robin walked in. They were
surprised to see the large number of people in the Penthouse. "Emily!"
Jason exclaimed. "I'm glad you're back. Is everything okay?" He notices AJ,
who is looking a little uncomfortable, but he didn't say anything.

        "Everything's fine," Emily said. "We got back a little while ago,
and AJ convinced the family to allow me to come see Michael."

        "One of the conditions was that I come with her," AJ said. "I hope
you don't mind."

        "No," Jason said, though he really wasn't comfortable with it. He
felt more guilty every time he saw AJ, but there was no way that he was
going to lose Michael now. He now knew that it was wrong, but he couldn't
bring himself to give Michael up. He looked over at Luke, "Luke, what's
going on?"

        "I need some protection for my family, along with Elizabeth Webber
and Nikolas Cassadine." Jason and Robin stared at Luke in disbelief. "Why
does everyone looks so shocked when I say that? Damn!"

        "Well, Luke," Robin said. "You haven't exactly been his greatest fan!"

        "People can change. I just realized that the real enemy is Helena
and that Nikolas is Laura's son, whether I like it or not. Why do I get the
feeling that I'm going to be explaining this fifty million times in the
very near future?"

        "Because you will be, Dad," Lucky said. "Every time I go places
with him it's going to be the same thing. We haven't exactly been
friendly." Lucky decided that now was as good a time as any for his
confession. He looked really nervous as he turned to Jason. "Jason, I need
to talk to you about something, and let me just warn you that you're not
going to be very happy with me." Lucky looked at the floor sheepishly.

        "What is it, Lucky?" Jason said, a little worried.

        "When I was here the other night, you know when I was asking about
Justus, and all?"

        "Yeah," Jason said cautiously.

        "Well, I guess to start this story off, I should tell you that I've
kinda been working for Helena Cassadine." Sonny looked at Luke in surprise,
but Luke just made a gesture to show that he'd explain it to him later.

        Jason just nodded in sudden understanding. "You're the one that
took the papers."

        "Yup, that was me. I'm really sorry. I didn't want Tony to get off,
but I didn't feel like I had much of a choice. In my stupid decision to
work for Helena, I put my whole family at risk, and I didn't see how there
was any way I could not do what she wanted without getting someone I love
killed. Anything I can do to make it up to you man, I will! For starter,
I'll give you a little advice. You should get the locks on Justus's door
changed. I had that lock picked in two seconds flat. No challenge at all.
Either that or don't keep anything sensitive in there."

        "I'll take that advice, Lucky. Thank you for telling me." Jason was
having a hard time being mad at Lucky. It was obvious that he was sorry and
he did have a point about the locks.

        "Don't be too mad, Jason," Lucky said to reassure him that he would
already have a lot to deal with. "I still have to tell Aunt Bobbie, so you
can be assured that I'm going  to pay for this."

        "Okay," Jason said. Thinking of Bobbie's temper he actually felt
sorry for Lucky. She was not going to be happy with him. "Now the more
important question is what Helena wanted with those papers."

        "Well, for one thing, Michael is a Spencer, and Tony used to be
married to one. That alone is reason enough for her to do anything. There's
also the fact that he's, to her, a Quartermaine and since Ned and Alexis
were together, this would be a way to break them up. She's always hated
Alexis and would do anything to make her miserable. Making her defend Tony,
well it worked didn't it?"

        "How did she get Alexis to defend Tony?"

        "Simple. She threatened both Alexis' life and the life of the son
that Alexis has never been allowed to know. Alexis is Mikkos' child by a
mistress. Her mother's throat was cut by Helena."

        "Great family," Jason said. "Okay, Lucky, you're forgiven. It
sounds like this Helena woman is someone that you don't cross if you want
to come out of a situation alive."

        "Yeah well, she's going down this time," Luke said with his
characteristic smile.

        "What do you mean?"

        "I mean that we've decided that it's time to get rid of Helena once
and for all. We're bringing her down...Permanently!"

*ALEXIS' ROOM*

        Alexis slowly relaxed and the tears stopped. It felt wonderful to
have Ned holding her again. He looked at her, ashamed that he hadn't let
her explain sooner. "Why does she hate you so much? And your mother? Why
did she kill her?"

        "My mother," Alexis gave a small, unamused laugh. "My mother was
Mikkos Cassadine's mistress, and I am their daughter. I don't know how
Mikkos convinced Helena to let me live, but he did, and now, now she's
using the threat to do the same thing to me and Alec, my son, to keep  me
under her control. What can I do? I don't even know where he is. If I can't
find him, this is the only way that I can protect him. Laura didn't tell
you that part, about me being Mikkos' daughter? I'm sure she knows, since
Luke does."

        "No, she didn't mention it, but she did say to tell you that she's
sorry for telling me all this without asking you first. She also said..."
Ned had to think for a minute to remember her exact words. "She said, 'tell
her that we're all united.' What did she mean?"

        A smile spread slowly across Alexis' face. "They must all be
working together. Luke, Laura, Lucky, Nikolas and now me. I think that
they've decided that the time is finally right." Ned looked at Alexis
questioningly. She said simply, "We're going to kill Helena." Alexis got up.

        "Where are you going?" Ned asked.

        "To call Luke and Laura. I have to go see them. There are a lot of
things that they need to know before this goes any further.

*SPOON ISLAND*

        Katherine glared at Laura and Nikolas' backs as they walked away
from Wyndemere. Nikolas was Stefan's son? She had felt so special, unable
to wait to tell Stefan her wonderful news. To learn that Laura had had his
son...She wasn't sure what she was going to do. She touched her stomach
tenderly, one thing was for sure, she was going to have this baby.

*WYNDEMERE*

        Stefan watched them walk away. He hadn't expected this. Things
weren't going exactly how he had planned, but they would work. He hadn't
expected Laura to come back without telling him, nor that Luke would accept
the fact that she had slept with him on the island. It would still work,
there were just a few thing that he had to take care of, a little earlier
than planned.

Chapter Thirty-Eight

        Later on, back at the Spencer's they all got together and discussed
what had happened that day. They each had a guard assigned to them and they
weren't to go anywhere without them. They discussed the living arrangements
and it was decided that Lucky and Nikolas would continue to live at the
cabin, to keep up the appearance that Lucky was still upset with his dad.
There was a good chance that Helena would figure out the bluff, but they
weren't about to give her any help. They were sitting talking, when the
phone rang. Laura answered it and a smile spread over her face, but she got
serious quickly. "Okay, sure. Come right over, we're all here." She hung up
the phone. Her family looked at her questioningly. "That was Alexis. She
said that there were a lot of things that she needed to tell us before we
went any further with our plan. She's coming over."

*ALEXIS' ROOM*

        Alexis hung up the phone and turned to Ned. "I really want to work
things out with you," She said. "But before we can be together I have to be
rid of Helena. Do you understand?"

        Ned nodded. "Yeah I do, but promise me that if you need any help at
all, let me know. Besides, Emily's involved now, and I can't help but
worry, about both of you."

        Alexis looked at him tenderly. She loved him so much. She didn't
want to leave him, but there were so many things that Luke and Laura didn't
know. She walked over to him slowly and pulled his head down to her's and
their lips met in a tender kiss. "You can come back later if you want," she
said. "I can call you when I get back."

        "It's a date," he said pulling her close for another kiss. They
broke apart regretfully. Alexis grabbed her purse and they left her room
together. They went outside and parted, Alexis headed across the street
towards her parked car. She turned and smiled at Ned. He waved and then a
horrified look came over his face as he saw a car come rushing towards her.
She saw the look and the smile disappeared from her face. Ned started
towards her but he had barely taken a step when the car hit her and threw
her into the air. It was like the whole thing was happening in slow motion.
He ran to her still body as the car sped off into the night.

*THE SPENCER'S*

        "I wonder what's taking her so long," Luke said.

        "I don't know," Laura said. "It sounded really important. I thought
that she was coming right over."

        Just then the phone rang. Lucky answered it, "Hello, Lucky
here...WHAT!?...We'll be right there. Yeah, okay." He turned to face
everyone, a scared look on his face.

        "What is it?" Laura asked, scared.

        "That was Ned. Alexis was crossing the street to get her car, and
she was run down. The car didn't even stop. She's at the hospital now.
She's..."

        "What, Lucky?" Nikolas asked.

        "She's critical. They don't think that she's going to make it.

*THE HOSPITAL*

        Luke, Laura, Lucky and Nikolas rush to the hospital. Bobbie is
startled to see them all rush into the ER waiting room. Laura and Nikolas
head straight for Ned while Lucky and Luke head for Bobbie. "What's going
on?" Bobbie asked them. "When did Laura get back? Since when do you allow
Nikolas to be a part of your family, Luke."

        "Since I realized that he's Laura's son. Sometime yesterday. As for
why we're here, Alexis was run down a little while ago, and we need to know
how she's doing."

        "She's still critical. Why all the sudden concern for Alexis?"

        Luke ignored the question. "I want you to be her only nurse
Barbara. Whose the Doc?"

        "Joe Scanlon, why?"

        Luke already had his cell phone out and dialed Jason's number,
"Hello, Jason?...Luke here. We have a new development...Alexis Davis was
run down outside her hotel a little while ago...yeah...yeah...that would be
good...okay, see you in a little while."

        Bobbie looked at Luke in total confusion. "Luke, what the hell is
going on?" Just then Laura walked up.

        "I just talked to Ned. He said that she had told him that there
were a lot of things that we needed to be told, a lot of things that we
didn't know. I sounded really important to him."

        "Damn!" Luke said. "Leave it to Helena..."

        At this point Bobbie gave up and turned to Lucky. "Can you tell me
what's going on?" Lucky nodded and told her the whole story including the
part about his job for Helena, which had set Tony free. He saw her mouth
tighten at that part of the story, but she didn't interrupt him. When he
was finished he looked at her with regret in his eyes, "I'm really sorry
aunt Bobbie. It was stupid, and I know that. I know that there's no excuse,
so I'll understand if you're totally pissed at me."

        "Lucky, I understand how it is, and that you really had no choice
about stealing the papers after starting to work for Helena, I just wish
that you hadn't started working for her in the first place." Lucky nodded.
"You should go see Carly and apologize to her as well." He nodded again.
"So the reason that Alexis defended Tony was that he son was in danger from
Helena. Tell your dad that I'll be Alexis' nurse." Lucky nodded yet again
and went over to talk to his father, relieved that he had gotten off the
hook so easily.

        Bobbie looked at Laura who was now sitting next to Nikolas with her
arm around him. She and Laura had never really gotten along. There had been
so many things that she hadn't understood about Laura, including her
ability to leave a child behind on a island of people that she hated. She
now understood her better. Losing a child was one thing she understood very
well, and when you had another child that was within reach of the person
that had killed one of your children, you would do anything to keep them
safe. That she understood. It was time that Helena paid for everything that
she had done to these families, the Spencer's and the Cassadine's. Bobbie
turned and went to check on Alexis.

        Jason walked into the room with some body guards and went over to
Luke. They talked for a minute. Then Jason led the guards to Alexis' room
and stationed them outside. "No one gets in there, but Ned, Luke, Laura,
Nikolas, Joe Scanlon, and Bobbie. Do you understand? NO ONE!" Jason said.
The guards nodded.

        Jason walked back over to Luke and they talked a little bit more.
Ned saw them and he walked over to them. "Hey, Jason," he said. "What are
you doing here?"

        "Protection," Luke said. "If my hunch is right, and they usually
are, this was no accident. Helena must be behind it. That means that she'll
try until she succeeds. Jason just put guards on the door. Hey there's Joe.
I'm gonna go explain the muscle." Luke walked over and talked quietly to
Joe, explaining the necessity of the guards and that they'd try to cause as
little disturbance as possible. Joe nodded. He understood. Besides, in Port
Charles it was common practice for there to be bodyguards guarding rooms.
It came with the territory. Luke then asked for an update on Alexis'
condition. "She's in a coma," Joe said. "We don't know when or if, she'll
come out of it. She received severe trauma to the head. I have to say that
right now, it doesn't look good."

Chapter Thirty-Nine

        Ned walked over just in time to hear the end of Joe's statement. He
couldn't believe that there was really a chance that he could lose her
after they had finally gotten things worked out with no secrets between
them. He asked quietly, "Can I go see her now."

        "Sure," Joe said. "Talk to her, no one knows whether patients in a
coma can hear. Some people think that it's helpful to talk to them. Excuse
me, I have to check on some patients now." He then addressed the people in
the waiting room. "I'll keep you updated, but for the moment the rest of
you can go home. There's very little that you can do." He turned and walked
down the hall.

        Luke turned to Ned, "Maybe you can let the kid go in first. I think
that he would want to see her and then we'll leave. We have a lot to do
tomorrow. Keep an eye on her. Jason's guards are good in the way of muscle,
but they're not too bright sometimes. Make sure that they only let the doc,
Bobbie, Nikolas, you, Laura and I in there. That's it. They even have to
keep out count Vlad. I don't think that he's the one that hurt her, but you
never know." Ned nodded, he'd let Nikolas go in first, but then he wasn't
going to leave her side unless someone dragged him out.

        Luke went over a spoke to Nikolas, telling him that he could go in
and see her if he wanted. He looked gratefully at Luke and walked quickly
to Alexis' room. He went in and was shocked by her appearance. She was
hooked up to every kind of machine possible, and every inch of skin that
was showing was black and blue. She had a bandage wrapped around her head,
and the only sounds in the room were the gentle hum of the machine's and
the steady beep that was the only thing that showed that she was alive.

        Tears came to Nikolas' eyes, "Oh, Lexie," He said reverting back to
the name he had called her when he was a child. "I'm so sorry about this.
I'm sorry that I ignored you for so long. You never did anything but care
for me, and how did I repay you? I turned my back on you the moment Uncle
asked me to, without even listening to your side of the story." Alexis had
always been the closest thing that he had had to a mother on the island,
but he hadn't been able to see her much because she was always away. She
had always treated like a son, and he cursed himself for not letting her
know that he still loved her when he had had the chance.

        Nikolas' expression turned determined. "I promise you Lexie, that
we'll get Helena for this. I swear to you that I won't rest until she's out
of our lives forever."

*IN THE WAITING ROOM*

        Luke sat next to Laura, holding her hand comfortingly. Ned
continued to pace around the room, waiting for his chance to see Alexis.
Lucky was sitting talking quietly with Jason, questioning exactly how safe
everyone was. He wasn't going to take any chances with the people he loved.
He wanted to know everything about everything that was happening.

        A door opened and everyone turned to see Nikolas exit Alexis' room.
He was still crying, his pain at his cousin's condition obvious. Laura
rushed over to him and hugged him. He held onto her tightly and cried onto
her shoulder. It felt so good to have his mother around, and for the first
time be able to trust that she wouldn't leave him.

        Ned took a deep breath and headed for Alexis' room. He wasn't
prepared for what he saw. He walked slowly to her bedside, and took her
hand in his. He sat down in the chair next to her and started to talk
quietly to her, tears streaming down his cheeks as he realized that he,
truly and completely, loved this woman. He also knew that he had never felt
so helpless in his life.

        Nikolas took a deep breath and slowly released his mother. He wiped
his face with the back of his hand. He looked around the room and said
quietly, "Was this Helena?"

        "Probably," Luke said. "She had information for us, and obviously
it was pretty important."

        Nikolas nodded and said, "We have to stop her now more than ever.
She has to pay for this!"

        "She will," Luke said reassuringly. "She's overstepped way to many
times! Right now though, I think it's time for us to go. We all need some
sleep and there are plans to be made in the morning. Who knows what
Helena's next move is." They left the hospital somberly. Lucky and Nikolas
headed for the cabin, while Luke and Laura went home.

        Helena sat in the living room of her yacht listening to the report
of Alexis' accident on the news, a small smile crossing her face. Things
were going her way without her even having to lift a hand. Alexis was out
of the picture so the Spencer's wouldn't be getting any information out of
her. It was time to send them a message of her own. She thought a moment,
who would be the one? A smile spread across her face, soon becoming an evil
grin. That would be perfect. The little brat still hadn't paid for that
threat. It was time that he learned what crossing her meant, first hand.

Chapter Forty

        Lucky and Nikolas drove slowly to cabin. Lucky couldn't shake the
feeling that something just wasn't right. He thought about the accident,
and Helena's usual methods. "I just don't get it," he said, not realizing
that he voiced his thought.

        "What?" Nikolas asked.

        "Huh?" Lucky said. "Oh, did I say that out loud? I was just
thinking that what happened to Alexis doesn't really fit with Helena's
usual tactics. It seems to me that she always threatened Alexis with
getting her throat cut, just like her mother. I always felt that Helena
would follow through with threats like that. She likes to make a point, and
to have the ways people die, fit. Alexis' mother was a opera singer so
Helena slit her throat. A hit-and-run doesn't fit. I feel like we're
missing something."

        "I see what you mean. Helena loves killing more than anything.
She'd want it to be perfect."

        "She's not the one that had Alexis hit, but she's bound to do
something now to make herself known," Lucky sped up the car suddenly
worried.

        "What?" Nikolas asked at his brother's worried look and the sudden
acceleration of the car.

        "Whose Helena the most angry with right now? Me! I threatened her
just a couple of days ago. If she wants to make a point to us, she's most
likely to use me."

        "And that means?"

        "That means Lizzie."

*HELENA'S YACHT*

        A man brought a young woman into the living room of the yacht she
looked around the room fearfully. He put her into a chair and tied her to
it securely. The girl whimpered as Helena entered the room. "You imbecile,"
she said to the man. "You weren't supposed to bring her here! Oh, well!
Miss Webber, how nice of you to join us." Helena looked closer at the girl
and shrieked in rage.

*THE CABIN*

        Lucky rushed into the cabin and hurriedly called Lizzie. Audrey
answered the phone and Lucky felt his heart drop at the commotion in the
background. "Audrey? What's going on? Is Lizzie okay?"

        Audrey said slowly, "Lizzie's fine, but Sarah's missing!"

*HELENA'S YACHT*

        Helena turned to the man that had brought Sarah to the yacht. "YOU
IDIOT! I wanted ELIZABETH WEBBER! What am I going to do with this fool? I
don't to listen to THAT for the next week," she said referring to the
whimpers of fright that were coming continuously from Sarah. "Can't you
ever do anything right?" The man was shaking. He had never been so scared
in his life. He saw Helena make a motion to Ari, who moved up behind the
man quietly. The last thing the man saw before his neck was broken was
Helena's happy smile. There was nothing she liked more than to watch
someone die. She stood quietly for a moment before she realized that the
whimpering had stopped. She turned and realized that Sarah had fainted in
fright.

*AT THE CABIN*

        Lucky almost dropped the phone in relief, but then felt a little
guilty. "When did she disappear Mrs. Hardy?" He asked her. Nikolas looked
at him in horror. "Okay, yeah. I'm sure the police will find her too. Talk
to you soon. Tell Elizabeth that I called and that I'm sure everything will
be alright." He hung up the phone. Nikolas looked at him in confusion.
"Lizzie's fine but Sarah's been missing for a little over an hour."

        "We don't have much time," Nikolas said. Lucky nodded in agreement.
Elizabeth would have been relatively safe for a little while, but what
would Helena do when she found out that she had the wrong person? They both
knew that whatever it was, it wouldn't be good. They ran quickly out to the
car. There wasn't time for a plan, or to let anyone know what they were
doing. If they hesitated, Sarah would be dead.

*HELENA'S YACHT*

        Lucky and Nikolas snuck onto Helena's yacht and peered into the
living room, just as Helena had Ari kill the man. Lucky felt sick to his
stomach when he head the crunch of the man's neck breaking. He saw Sarah
faint and Helena look at her in relief. Helena then looked at the dead man
on the floor. "Worthless fool! He couldn't even kidnap a girl correctly."
She turned to leave.

        "What should I do with this one," Ari said, nodding towards Sarah.

        "Kill her, I have no use for her, and even a mistake sends a
message. Oh, and send a note to the Spencer's. Make it very clear that next
time they won't be so lucky. My employees are only allowed one mistake, and
the one that made this one has already paid for it, as will the unfortunate
sister of young mister Spencer's girlfriend. Oh, and get this garbage out
of here," she said pointing to the dead man on the floor. She left the
room. Usually she would watch Ari follow out his orders, but she really
didn't care to watch this sniveling little girl die. Besides, she was
unconscious, and what was the fun in that?

        Nikolas and Lucky watched Helena leave the room, both of their
minds racing as to what to do. They lucked out though. Ari decided to take
care of the body first. As soon as he had left the room, Lucky and Nikolas
rushed in, hurriedly untying Sarah. They got her free, but she was still
out cold. They didn't have time to wake her up so Nikolas scooped her up
into his arms and carried her off the yacht with Lucky following at his
heels.

        They had just gotten out when Ari reentered the living room. He
looked around in confusion and scratched his head. "Madame?" he called.

        "What?" Helena called from the next room.

        "Did you do something to the young girl?"

        "No," she said patronizingly. "You're supposed to kill her, remember?"

        "I would," Ari said. "only she's gone."

        "WHAT!?!" Helena exclaimed, rushing into the living room. "How did
this happen?"

        "I brought the body out first, and when I came back she was gone. I
don't know where she went."

        "Aurgh!" Helena exclaimed. "WHY CAN'T I FIND *ONE* PERSON WHO CAN
DO A JOB *RIGHT*!!! FIND HER, YOU IMBECILE! KILL HER AND WHOEVER TOOK HER
OR I'LL HAVE YOUR HEAD ON A PLATTER!!"

        Ari ran out of the room, but he didn't go after the girl. There was
no way that he was ever going back to that yacht. He was tired of working
for the old witch. The things she made him do...ugh. He would need
protection however, and he knew exactly where to go.

*LUCKY'S CAR*

        Lucky drove quickly towards Audrey's house. Sarah was still out
cold. "How is she?" Lucky asked.

        "Pretty much the same," Nikolas said. "I think that that was a
pretty traumatic experience for her. It's not everyday that you see a
person killed right in front of you."

        "I know," Lucky said. "I'm not feeling so hot right now myself,"
his stomach turning as he thought about the sound of the man's neck
breaking.

        Nikolas nodded in agreement. That was something that he hoped he
never had to see again.  They pulled up in front of Audrey's house and they
got out of the car. Nikolas carried Sarah up to the house. Audrey saw them
coming and opened the door. "Oh my," She said. "Is she alright? Where did
you find her."

        "She's alright, Mrs. Hardy," Lucky said. Nikolas carried her into
the house. Elizabeth looked up surprised that Nikolas and Lucky were the
ones bringing Sarah back. Nikolas walked over to the couch and laid Sarah
down gently.

        "What happened to her?" Lizzie asked.

        "As far as we know, they didn't lay a hand on her," Lucky said. "It
was Helena, and she was...she was after you."

        "What!?" Audrey said. She had known that the boys had thought that
Elizabeth was in danger, but she hadn't actually thought that anything
would happen.

        "Why is she out cold?" Lizzie asked.

        "The man that Helena sent to kidnap you?" Lizzie nodded. "Well,
Helena doesn't care much for mistakes and she had Ari kill him, right in
front of Sarah. She fainted and we haven't been able to wake her up."

        "We have to get her to the hospital immediately," Audrey said,
rushing to the phone to call an ambulance.

        "No!" Lucky exclaimed. "We have to wait. I'll call my dad and we'll
get more guards over here first."

        "Why?" Audrey said.

        "Because we stole Helena's prisoner, and she doesn't like that. I'm
sure that she sent someone after us as soon as she discovered that Sarah
was missing, with order's to kill us. There's one thing we hadn't told you
yet," Lucky looked at Nikolas nervously. "If we had gotten there any later,
Sarah would be dead. Helena decided that she wasn't any use to her so she
had ordered her killed. She said, 'even a mistake sends a message.' We need
all of you protected, all the time from now on. I'm so sorry about this
Mrs. Hardy." Lucky closed his eyes. So many mistakes, and so much of this
was his fault. If he hadn't been able to save Sarah he never would have
forgiven himself.

        Audrey could see his pain at all the things that had been going on.
"Okay, Lucky," she said. "Call your father, but please tell him to hurry."
She walked over to Sarah and sat down next to her. She brushed her hair
back off of her forehead gently and listened as Lucky talked to his father.

        "Dad?...I'm at Lizzie's...Helena made a move for her tonight...No,
she got Sarah instead...Nikolas and I went after her."

        Lucky held the phone away from his ear and those around him could
hear Luke's shout clearly. "WHAT!? Are you crazy!?"

        "She didn't have time for us to call you...Helena had ordered her
killed...The person who grabbed her? Dead...He made a huge mistake, Dad.
The wrong girl. Helena was pissed...Yeah I'm sure she's pretty mad at us
too, though I'm sure she doesn't know it was us that took her...Sarah out
cold and Audrey wants to take her to the hospital...I thought that we
should get more protection first...Okay...Okay...I'll see you in a little
while, bye."

        Lucky turned to face Mrs. Hardy, Nikolas and Lizzie. "Mom and Dad
are on their way, and he's calling Jason for more guards. They'll be here
soon." Audrey nodded, and focused once more on Sarah. Nikolas stood off to
the side, uncomfortably.

        Lucky looked at Lizzie, standing in front of him with compassion in
her eyes, but also fear, and guilt overwhelmed him. He suddenly felt
suffocated in the room and he quickly rushed out the door onto the porch.
Nikolas took a step after him, but Lizzie motioned for him to stop. "No,
I'll go. I think that this is about me anyway." She followed Lucky out the
door and found him leaning against the railing. He turned when he heard her
come out, tears in his eyes. "Lucky, it's okay," she said.

        "No, it's not," he said, his voice breaking. "It's not okay. I
almost got you're sister killed. It could have been you," he said his tears
spilling over. "Elizabeth, I don't know what I'd do if I lost you. I
couldn't stand it. I love you too much to ever lose you. To know that it
almost happened, and that it was my fault..."

        Lizzie went over to him and took his hands in her own. "Lucky, none
of this is your fault. None of it. You made a mistake yes, but everything
else is Helena's doing. You are not to blame. Remember that. You saved me
Lucky and I will never forget that. To blame you for this, that just
wouldn't be fair, because I know, I know, that you would never do anything
that would hurt me intentionally. I know that Lucky."

        Lucky let go of her hands and wrapped his arms around her holding
her as closely and as tightly as he could without hurting her. She held on
to him just as fiercely. "I'm sorry," he said. "I'm so sorry."

        "I know, Lucky," Elizabeth said. "I know you are. I've already
forgiven you. You just have to forgive yourself."

        He nodded, closing his eyes. That would take time, but as long as
she didn't hate him, he could stand anything that the world threw at him.
He held her close and wished that he would never have to let her go, that
he could just stand there holding her, forever.

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