*A HOUSE ON THE COAST OF MAINE*

        Two girls about 19 years in age were moving around the kitchen of
the house when there was a knock on the back door. "Oh, god!" Kelsey said.
"Here we go again. Who's turn is it?"

        "Yours," Darcy said with a slight grin. Kelsey groaned and headed
for the back of the house. There was a guy that had been bothering them
most summer's for the last couple of years. He was older, a hermit, also
considered the town character. He had a huge crush on one or both of them.
He left the most unusual gifts on the back steps. They took turns checking
to see what it was. He was harmless, and didn't really bother anyone, but
his gifts had been getting more and more strange as the years went on. She
went to the back door and opened it reluctantly. She gasped in surprise.
There on the back steps was a young man, about sixteen years in age. She
quickly checked his pulse and was relieved to feel a strong pulse.

        "Darce, your gonna love this." she hollered to her cousin.

        "What did he leave this time? Painted driftwood? Seaweed?"

        "No! It's a guy," Kelsey answered.

        "A guy?" Darcy said rushing to the door.

        "A guy," Kelsey said pointing to the young man on the steps. He was
obviously soaked to the bone, and a little beat up.

        "Is he dead?" Darcy asked.

        "No, he's alive. He has a pretty strong pulse."

        "Where'd he come from?"

        "I don't know, but we should get him into the house and warmed up.
Maybe he'll wake up and he can tell us something.

        "Dad isn't going to like this!"

        "Hey, it's not our fault that that weirdo has a crush on us, not to
mention his incredibly weird way of showing it!"

        Darcy looked down at the guy, "Well, he is kind of cute. It's not
*that* bad of a way to show it."

        "Darcy!"

        "What!?"

        "He can't be more than sixteen!"

        "What? He can't be cute and sixteen at the same time? I'm not
saying that I'm interested. Boyfriend remember?"

        Kelsey shook her head, and motioned for Darcy to help her move him.
Working together they got him onto the couch in the living room pretty
easily. They quickly covered him with blankets. "What should we do now?"
Darcy asked.

        "Well, for one thing we should call in late for work. Deb will
understand this one. Tell her Mickey left a half dead boy on our doorstep,
and to see if someone can cover for us. We should probably take him into
Blue Hill. I think that he needs a doctor."

        "No, doctor, please," The boy said weakly from the couch.

        "It lives," Darcy says.

        "Shh," Kelsey said, swatting her on the arm. "How are you feeling?"

        "Like I was run over. Where am I?"

        "Harborside."

        "Where's that?"

        "Maine."

        "I know that much. Where in Maine?"

        "It's part of Brooksville, a small town on the coast. What's your
name? What happened to you?"

        "My name's, Lucky," Darcy snorted, but changed it to a cough when
Kelsey glared at her. Lucky ignored the other girl and focused on the one
that was questioning him. "I don't remember what happened..." He closed his
eyes and thought for a minute before they popped wide open. "A car
accident, the fog. We were heading to my cousin's house."

        "We?" Kelsey asked.

        "My brother and Emily, and Lizzie, oh god, Lizzie was with me."
Lucky broke down. He couldn't control the anguish at the thought of losing
Nikolas, Emily...and Lizzie. Lizzie who was his life. "Where did you find
me? Did you see them?"

        "We found you on the back steps, Mickey brought you," Kelsey said.

        "Where is this Mickey? I need to find him. I need to know..."

        "You don't find Mickey," Darcy said. "He finds you. What's your
cousins name? We know most of the people around here."

        "My cousin's name is Sly," Lucky said praying that they knew him.
The girls looked at each other in surprise. Sly!

        "You're Sly's cousin?" Kelsey said.

        "You know him?"

        Kelsey held back a laugh, "Yeah, we know him. I'll go give him a call."

        Lucky looked after her in confusion. That hadn't been the reaction
he expected. He could have sworn she'd been laughing. "What was that all
about?"

        "Nothing, she just thought that it was kind of funny that you asked
if she *knew* him when they've been going out for close to a year."

        "Oh," Lucky said surprised.

        "You must not talk to Sly much, huh?"

        "No, we haven't talked in a while, until last night. We got lost,"
Darcy nodded. She knew how easy that was. There were so many roads that
just led you around in circles. "We called him from our cell phone and he
was going to come out and look for us. There was this place where the road
gets really close to the water, and this deer jumped out in front of us. I
tried to hold it, but, we went into the water. I don't remember anything
after that. God, I hope they made it out. If I lose them, I lose
everything." Darcy watched as Lucky dissolved into tears. She wished that
there was some way that she could comfort him.

        They heard a curse from the kitchen. "What is it," Darcy hollered.

        "He's not at home, he's not at the camps, we're late for work and
Dave's going ape-sh*t."

        "Did you tell him it was life and death?"

        "Did he care? I hate it when he answers the phone. I got this whole
shpeal about responsibility before I could even open my mouth."

        "I'll go down," Darcy said. "Josh and I can handle the dining room,
with Deb and Dave in the kitchen. It's actually lucky that it's a Saturday,
or we wouldn't have him to help."

        "Yeah, well, we also wouldn't have to deal with him."

        "Forget about him and go find Sly. They had called him right before
they went into the water. What time was that?"

        "It was getting close to morning. Maybe five o'clock?" Lucky said.
Everything was so fuzzy.

        "I'm going to call Aunt Mike at the hospital. She could check and
see if anyone was brought in, right?"

        "Yeah," Darcy said. She headed for the door. "Call me when you find
him and let me know if they're all alright." She leaned close to whisper in
Kelsey's ear, "I hope they're alright. Poor guy, he's devastated at the
thought of losing them! Find 'em as quick as you can."

        Kelsey nodded, looking at Lucky sympathetically. Darcy headed out
the door, on her way to work and Kelsey quickly called her Aunt at the
hospital. She talked to her and was disappointed to hear that  there had
been no report of the accident and that Sly hadn't brought anyone in.
"Where the hell is he?" she thought to herself.

        Kelsey decided to try his house again and was relieved that this
time she got an answer.

*MEANWHILE AT SLY'S*

        Nikolas, Emily, Lizzie and Sly had just gotten back to Sly's house.
Lizzie had finally stopped crying, but she sat as expressionless, a dead
look in her eyes, as someone who had lost the only thing in the world that
they lived for. They were all shell shocked and they sat quietly for a long
time thinking of Lucky. It was a little after eight when the phone rang.

        "Hello?" Sly said.

        "Hi, Sly, it's Kelsey."

        "Kelsey! Oh, god, I know I'm late for work but something terrible
happened..."

        "Sly."

        "My cousin was on his way to visit and his car went off the road..."

        "Sly!"

        "Everyone else in the car's alright but we couldn't find Lucky.
He...he's dead." Kelsey could hear the pain in his voice.

        "Sly."

        "Just tell Deb that I can't come in today, okay. I...I can't talk
right now. I have to figure out how to tell his family. Bye." He hung up
the phone. He was crying. Knowing Lucky was dead and saying it were two
totally different things. To have said it made it so real.

        "SLY!" Kelsey yelled as the phone went dead. "You idiot," she
muttered to herself as she re-dialed his number.

        "Hello?" He said again.

        "It's me again," Kelsey said.

        "Kelsey!" The Nikolas and Emily looked at each other. This was
obviously the same person. What did she want? Lizzie on the other hand
didn't move. Sly's words were still with her. "Lucky's dead." They echoed
through her mind. "Lucky's dead."

        "Now before you start babbling again let me say something. Are you
listening?"

        "Yes, but..."

        "Sly, Mickey left another present on my door this morning."

        "My cousins dead and you want to tell me about the present Mickey
gave you?" The Nikolas and Emily looked at each other in surprise yet
again. What kind of friend was this?

        "If you would just listen!" Kelsey said exasperated letting out a
burst of air. "The present *was* your cousin, you idiot! He's sitting here,
worried to death over his friends, suffering from hypothermia, all the
while stubbornly refusing to see a doctor, but let me assure you that he's
very much alive." Kelsey held the phone away from her ear as a ecstatic
yell made it's way over the phone line. She could hear the buzz in the
background as Sly proclaimed very loudly that his cousin was alive and well
and as stubborn as ever. "We'll be there as soon as we can. Tell him
everyone's okay, alright?"

        "Sure," Kelsey said, her face softening.

        "I love you," he said softly.

        "I love you, too," she said with a small sad sounding sigh, and
gently hung up the phone.

        She went back into the living room to tell Lucky, who looked up at
her hopefully. He had heard her yelling at Sly and was hoping against hope
that she had good news. "They're all fine and they're on they're way over.
I would have been able to tell you sooner, but the idiot actually hung up
on me before I could say more than my name."

        Lucky felt faint with relief, "They're okay," he said, relaxing for
the first time since he had woken up. He buried his face in his hands,
"They're okay."

        It wasn't too much later that they heard the door slam open and the
thunder of footsteps. "Kelsey!" they heard Sly yell. "Where are you?"

        "Living room!" she yelled back.

        Sly ran into the room, with two girls and a guy close on his heals.
They stopped dead when they saw Lucky and Kelsey could see them all relax
in relief. Lucky's eyes went from one to each one in turn, making sure each
was alright. They rested finally on Elizabeth, who had tears of joy running
down her face.

        "Lizzie," he said, his voice barely more than a whisper.

        "Oh, Lucky, I was so scared that I had lost you," she said
beginning to sob. She rushed over to the couch and threw herself into his
arms. They held onto each other tightly, neither wanting to let go.

        "You really are lucky you know." Sly said to his cousin. "Of all
the place to end up. How did he get here?" he said to Kelsey.

        "I don't know," Kelsey said. "But it must have been Mickey. Lucky
doesn't remember what happened so I guess we'll never know."

        "Why don't you ask this Mickey person?" Nikolas asked.

        "Because Mickey doesn't operate like that. If he doesn't want you
to find him, you won't. It's as simple as that. He doesn't like people too
much. Darce and I were in the kitchen getting ready for work when the knock
came like clockwork. I went to see what the present was. I never expected
to see a human body. I thought that he was dead at first."

        "Why would the man bring him here instead of to a hospital?"

        "I told you, he doesn't like people, but he also wouldn't let
someone die. He knows our schedule so he felt like this was the best way to
help Lucky. It worked didn't it?"

        "Well, yes."

        "Then don't worry about it."

        Nikolas looked at her in surprise. He shrugged. He decided that
there was nothing he could do about it now, so he just let it go.

        Kelsey looked over at Lucky and Lizzie, who were talking quietly.
She then looked back at the two teens in front of her. "Would you guys like
something to eat or drink?" she said nodding toward the kitchen. She
dropped her voice to a whisper, "I think they might like some time alone,"
this time nodding towards Lucky and Liz. Emily and Nikolas nodded, and the
four of them headed for the kitchen.

        Kelsey got out some drinks and some food, which the hungry teens
ate gratefully. "We haven't been properly introduced," Nikolas said. "I'm
Nikolas Cassadine, Lucky's brother, and this is Emily Quartermaine."

        Kelsey nodded. "Nice to meet you. I'm Kelsey, and this is actually
my cousin's house."

        "Where is Darcy?" Sly asked.

        "She's covering for us. Dave was a little ticked when we called to
let Deb know why we were late. I guess we were supposed to leave Lucky on
the back steps to freeze to death rather than leave the camps short staffed
for one meal. She'll work it out though."

        "Better her than me," Sly said.

        Kelsey laughed. "Better her than me too. She can handle it. I, on
the other hand, might have walked, and that wouldn't have been good."

*IN THE LIVING ROOM*

        Lucky and Liz barely noticed when the other teens left the room. He
couldn't even describe the relief that he was feeling just holding her
again. She meant so much to him. He had never realized what it felt like to
almost loose someone who meant so much to you. He hadn't realized that the
loss of Lizzie would be the loss of his will to live. The very thought of
that scared him. He needed her in order to live. There was no way around
that. She was his life.

        Liz smiled at Lucky. She couldn't believe that she was really
sitting next to him. She had been so sure that she had lost him. That
terror would stay with her for a long time. "Lucky," she said tears shining
in her eyes. "I love you with all my heart and soul. When I thought that
you were dead, it was as if a piece of me had been ripped out. I don't ever
want to go through that kind of pain again. I don't know that I could
handle it. I don't know what I would do without you in my life. I was so
scared Lucky. I thought that you were dead and that I'd never see you
again. I wanted to die to. I would have if Nikolas hadn't pulled me out of
the water. Life just didn't seem worth it without you. I need you so much.
I...I can't lose you Lucky. I can't."

        Lucky held her close. "Oh, god Liz. I know. I felt the same way.
Without you my life wouldn't be worth living. I love you with my entire
soul. You're everything to me. You are everything to me. I'm never going to
let you go."

        "And I'm never going to let you go. Lucky, wherever you go,
whatever you do, I want to go with you. I want to be with you forever.
Forever Lucky. Can you promise me forever?"

        "It's already yours Liz. I can no more live without you than I
could live without breath. You are my heart. I love you, and I'll always,
always love you. I want to be with you forever, so I promise you forever."

        Lucky and Lizzie felt exhaustion overtake them. It had been a long
time since they had had any sleep. Lucky leaned back on the couch with
Lizzie in his arms. They held onto each other tightly and slept.

Chapter Fifty-Five

        Everyone in the room stared at Taggert in surprise. Lucky was the
number one suspect in a murder investigation? How could this be? "Wait a
minute," Luke said. "Isn't Murty supposed to be in jail?"

        Taggert nodded, "Yeah, well, the courts let him go on a
technicality. Someone did something wrong, and they had to let him go.
Elizabeth got the call out at the cabin a couple of hours ago. Not long
after that a neighbor reported a disturbance in Murty's house. We
investigated and found Murty dead. Our investigation showed Lucky's prints
in the house."

        "His prints were in the house, but that doesn't mean that he killed
Murty," Luke said.

        "How did he die?" Laura asked. She needed to know exactly what it
was that her son was accused of. Alexis watched Laura carefully. How much
could she take in? This entire day had been full of shock for her. Alexis
finished up her conversation with Nadia, who assured her that she'd be on
the next flight to Port Charles, and then listened to the detective
describe the manner in which Murty had met his end.

        "He was shot execution style. One bullet to the back of the head.
Lucky's our only suspect."

        "Where are they?" Laura said to Alec.

        "I really don't know," Alec said. "I was going to go with them but
then I got the call about my mother. The only thing I know is that they
were going to visit a cousin of Lucky's."

        "Sly!" Luke said.

        "You know where he went?" Taggert asked.

        "I didn't say that. I only know who he was going to see. Sly
disappeared a couple of years back and no one knows where to find him, not
even his mother. Somehow, I always felt like Lucky knew something about his
disappearance. I guess this proves that hunch as being right. He never told
me one way or the other, but he's probably the only person that knows where
Sly is, so we have little or no chance of finding him. Lucky can stay
hidden like no one you've ever seen before. He's gone Taggert. Even I don't
have much of a chance of finding him."

        Taggert looked disappointed.

        "He didn't do it you know," Alec said. "He just beat on him a
little bit. Nikolas went to Murty's after him and he swore that when he
went in Murty was alive. Lucky didn't kill him, as much as he would have
liked to. He couldn't do it, not after Lizzie told him not  to. Besides how
could he have gotten the gun so quickly?"

        "That's another thing, the gun used in the shooting is registered
to you Mr. Spencer. It's been wiped free of fingerprints but the fact
remains that the gun used was readily available to Lucky, and he had motive
and opportunity."

        "Wait, my gun?" Luke said. "What are you talking about?"

        "A 9mm. We found it next to the body."

        "There's just one problem. I don't have a 9mm. At this point in
time, there is no such gun registered under my name."

        "Well, this one is."

        "That's impossible," Luke shouted. "That's not my gun!"

        "It sounds to me like someone's working very hard to make it look
like Lucky killed Murty," Laura said.

        "Any idea who?" Taggert said.

        "A few," Laura said. "And one of them is about to get a visit from
me." Everyone looked at her questioningly. "Stefan Cassadine."

        "I'm going with you," Luke said.

        "No, you need to try and figure out where Lucky was headed. This is
one confrontation that I need to make on my own. That man isn't going to
get near any of my children ever again!" Laura turned to Alexis, "Did you
get a hold of Nadia."

        Alexis nodded. "She's on her way. She should be here tomorrow. Good
luck Laura."

        Laura nodded and headed out of the room. This was one confrontation
a long time in coming

        Luke turned to Alec, "Did Lucky say anything that could give us any
hint where they were going? Anything? I just don't understand why he left.
Why didn't he come to us?"

        "He was sure that everyone would think that he did it. He couldn't
face the thought of jail, and being away from Lizzie. He felt like he had
no choice."

        Luke nodded. "I want you to tell me everything that he said before
they left. Every seemingly insignificant fact. Everything."

        Alec thought back to the conversation that they had had with Lucky
before he had left. "He didn't say much to me. All he said was that he had
helped his cousin to disappear and that he was the only one that knew where
Sly was." That was all that Alec knew. Luke resigned himself to the fact
that no matter how much they searched, they would most likely be looking
for Lucky until he returned on his own. Luke turned to Taggert. "Look for
the person that really killed Murty, cause there's no way that you're going
to find Lucky. He's gone."

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