"You actually care?" Nikolas asked, surprised at Luke's comment.

        "I know that I've always acted like I hated you. Hell, I probably
even wanted to. But when it comes right down to it, you're Laura's son,
so...I can't help but love ya. Call me sentimental, but Laura's my soul and
you're a part of her, so you're a part of me. I'm not saying that I
completely trust you, but if Lucky does, I have to say I'm leaning that
way. Besides, regardless of all the times I threatened to kill you, I never
actually meant to do it. As a matter of fact I seem to remember saving your
life a couple of times." Nikolas and Lucky stared at Luke in surprise. "Hey
come on," Luke said. "I'm a semi-intelligent guy, here. I knew that the
Cassadine's expected me to hate you, so I made sure that everything I said
and did followed with that. There's no other way that you could have been
safe. If I had welcomed you into the fam with open arms Helena would have
killed you or all of us, for sure."

        "How would you know that? You only found out about her threats to
Mother today." Nikolas said.

        "I know that because the only thing that is greater than Helena's
love for you is her hatred of me. And she does love you, well as much as
that old bat can love. If she saw you welcomed into my family she would
have done everything in her power to destroy us and if you had come to like
us, you. She would not tolerate a Spencer friendly Cassadine, even if he
*is* the heir. The stuff Laura just told us, that just makes it certain. If
you know anything about me you know that I will do anything for my wife and
kids. If keeping you alive is what they want, then I'm all for it." Luke
then looked at Laura and Lucky and said, "I promise you both, as well as
Lulu, that I will do everything in my power to protect Nikolas from Helena,
and whatever form of internal warfare the breaks out. You have my word."

        Nikolas nodded. He did know that about Luke. He also knew that once
he promised Laura and Lucky that he would do anything in his power to help
Nikolas, then Nikolas could trust him. Luke would not be able to stand
Laura hating him. Lucky's anger towards him was practically killing him.
Luke was not a man that would risk their hatred for any reason but to save
their lives...which is exactly what Laura had done for him. They were a lot
alike those two. Their love for each other and their family was all that
mattered to them. Possessions were only important if they had sentimental
value. How unlike the Cassadine's, who's only love was power. He, on the
other hand, would have given up all of the power, just to have known the
love of his mother, and to have known that the love of his uncle, was the
love of a father.

        Laura looked at Luke with tears in her eyes. "Thank you, Luke. This
means so much to me."

        "I know, baby. That's all that matters to me." Luke just looked at
his wife. God how he had missed her. "Um, baby?"

        "Yeah, Luke?"

        "I know that in about five seconds you're gonna to remember that
you have about a hundred reasons to be mad at me, so can we go somewhere
that the boys won't see me beat to a pulp?"

        Laura laughed and took Luke's hand and they went outside into the
garden so she could yell at him for his failure to pass on important
information without his losing face.

        "How mad do you suppose she is at him?" Nikolas asked, curious.

        "Not as mad as she would have been if he hadn't decided to help her
protect you. You've never seen Mom mad, have you?"

        "Only a few minutes ago, when she was yelling at you for working
for Helena."

        "Oh, yeah," Lucky said sheepishly. "Man, things never seem all that
bad until you have to explain them to your mother...or your wife. I'm sure
dad had a million good reasons for not calling mom about all the things
that happened at home, and I bet that not one of them is making sense even
to him, now that he has to explain them to Mom." Lucky looked carefully at
Nikolas, "So are you going to trust him?"

        "Yeah, I think that I will. The one thing that I know for sure
about your dad is that his family is the most important thing in the world
to him. If he promises you guys that he'll do everything in his power to
help me, I have to believe that he will."

        Lucky nodded. "Hey, I trust what he's saying. Dad doesn't make
promises lightly, and neither do I. I'm gonna make one now. From now on, I
promise that I am going to consider you a part of my family, and in that is
a pledge to do anything in my power to help you."

        "Thank you, Lucky," Nikolas  said, touched by his brother's gesture.

        Lucky was feeling a little uncomfortable so he decided to change
the subject. "I want to go check on Liz, and I'm sure that Lu would love
another visit from you, and Em hasn't had much time with her. They used to
get along great."

        "Okay," Nikolas said and together they headed up the stairs. Lucky
knocked lightly on the door and Emily opened it quietly and slipped out.

        "How is everything?" she asked.

        "Fine," Lucky said. "We've learned a lot about our family history.
Oh, and dad's here. He must have figured out where we went as soon as he
found out we were gone."

        "That doesn't surprise me. He was bound to find a way to get back
at us for last time," Emily said rolling her eyes.

        "Yeah," Lucky said, with a quiet laugh. He noticed Nikolas confused
look. "Em will explain it to you." He then looked at Em again, "How is she?"

        "She's still sleeping. No more dreams."

        Lucky looked relieved. "I'm gonna go sit with her for a while. Why
don't you go visit Lulu with Nikolas."

        "I'd love to," Emily said. "It's been so long since I've seen her."
The two of them walked down the hall and knocked on Lesley's door. They
went in.

        Lucky had watched them go. He then quietly opened the door and
slipped inside. He walked slowly over to the bed and looked down at
Elizabeth's resting form. She was facing away from the door but Lucky was
still struck by her beauty. She looked so small on the huge bed that was in
the guest room, so vulnerable. Seeing her like that, Lucky renewed his
pledge to protect her at all costs. He walked around the bed so that he
could see her face. He noticed that for the first time in months she looked
calm and peaceful. He sat down on the edge of the bed and took Lizzie's
hand in his own. He was suddenly very tired himself. He hadn't gotten much
sleep and the morning had been draining. 'Maybe, I'll just lay down for a
minute,' he thought to himself, stretching out beside Elizabeth. 'Lizzie
won't mind, if I just...' He was fast asleep as soon as his head hit the
pillow, but her hand remained firmly in his.

*In the Garden*

        "So, Luke," Laura said. "Would you like to tell me why you didn't
tell me that my son had been shot and almost died? Or how about how my
other son was going through an awful time that was made worse by his
finding out about that night in the disco twenty years ago? Or about how he
had been so upset by this knowledge that he had gone to work for HELENA
CASSADINE!?"

        "Uh, well..." Luke said, going through all the things that he had
used to justify his behavior to himself. "Well, babe, let me just say that
I had a million reasons, none of which make any sense anymore. Hey and I'm
not totally to blame for the first one. Count Vlad is Nikolas' guardian.
He's supposed to tell you about these things."

        "Don't worry, I'll deal with Stefan when I get back to Port
Charles, but his responsibility doesn't take away yours. You're my husband
and I count on you to keep me up-to-date. I know that what happened with
Lucky is hard on you but you have to tell me anyway. Especially when it
involves Helena Cassadine!"

        "I know, I know, I was wrong. I should have told you when Nikolas
was shot, but at least this brought me to the realization that he's your
son and so is as much a part of me as he is of you. I'm not saying that I
like the kid or anything, at least not yet. But you don't have to worry
about him being in danger from me. I...ah...I guess you should know that I
did throw a few threats around directed at him in the past few weeks, but
they were designed to protect Lucky. I want you to be sure that I wouldn't
have hurt him, I just wanted Helena to think that I would."

        "Okay, Luke. I do understand that, but I want you to promise me
that the threats stop, unless they're absolutely necessary."

        "You got it babe," Luke said. "So do you forgive me?"

        "Not quite yet," Laura said, determined to stay mad at him for at
least an hour.

        "Come on, baby," Luke begged. "The kids are fine, they're here,
they're safe. I promised to help protect Nikolas."

        "Well that did earn you some brownie points..." Laura thought for a
minute. Yes, he had been wrong, but everything he did, he did for her and
her family. They needed each other right now. Helena was making her move,
so the last thing that anybody needed was for the two of them to be
fighting. "Okay, she said. "I'll forgive you for now. But when this whole
thing's done we have some serious things to discuss, such as what are and
aren't things that you're supposed to keep from me when I'm away from home."

        Luke gave a sigh of relief. "You got it honey." He pulled her into
his arms and kissed her tenderly. He had missed her so much. When she was
away every bone in his body ached from missing her. The kiss ended and they
just held each other.

*Lesley's Room*

        Nikolas and Emily sat on the floor playing dolls with Lulu. Emily
had never thought that she would see the day that Nikolas Cassadine would
be playing dolls, but here he was and it looked completely natural. "So,"
Nikolas said. "What is this thing that Luke is getting back at you and
Lucky for?"

        "Oh, the time we ran away to go find my aunt. We went halfway
across the country and back with them trying unsuccessfully to find us.
When they actually found us it was in Lucky's living room. His parents were
very impressed, but mine were less so."

        Nikolas laughed. "Sounds like a lot of fun."

        "It was, until I got home." Emily said laughing with him.

*The Guest Bedroom*

        Lizzie woke slowly. She had been having the best dream. The
nightmare had disappeared long ago. She remembered that Lucky had been
there and she had awakened slightly a few times and noticed that Emily was
in the room, watching her. That was okay. She hadn't minded. Something had
changed though. She wasn't sure quite what. She opened her eyes and found
herself staring into Lucky's face. He had come back, she thought to
herself. She realized that he was holding onto her hand with one of his.
She squeezed it gently and relaxed back into sleep. He was there. It was
safe to sleep.

*In The Garden*

        "How is Lucky?" Luke asked a few moments later.

        "I think that he's getting to the point where he can accept what
happened and my decision."

        "Do you think he'd listen to me now if I tried to talk to him?"

        "I don't know, Luke," Laura said. "You can try, just don't push
him." They walked into the house and looked around for the boys. "They must
have gone upstairs. You know that the girls are here?"

        "Yeah," Luke said. "Which reminds me, we should probably have them
call their families and tell them that they are back under adult
supervision."

        "That would probably be a good idea. I think that Lucky is probably
in the guest room. You know what happened to Elizabeth and about the dreams
she's been having?" Luke nodded. "She had another one today, as we as in
the car on her way down here. He's really worried about her."

        They went up the stairs and Luke knocked gently on the door to the
guest room. "Cowboy?" he called softly. He opened the door quietly and he
and Laura slipped into the room. They found Lucky and Lizzie still
sleeping, facing each other, hands clasped. Luke and Laura looked at each
other and exited the room as quietly as they had entered. They were
exhausted and they needed the sleep. They both knew  that there was nothing
that they had to worry about, so they headed further down the hall to
Lesley's room.

Chapter Thirty Three

        Luke and Laura entered Lesley's room. Lulu looked up and caught
sight of her father. "Daddy!" she cried happily. She ran up to him and Luke
swung her up into his arms.

        "Hey, princess!" he said holding her close. "How's my little girl?"

        "I missed you, but I'm happy now. You're here and Lucky's here and
Nikky's here. Everyone that I missed finally came. You're not going to
leave again are you? I miss you! I don't want you to go."

        "This time, Princess, where I go, you go."

        Lulu smiled happy then asked with the innocent naivete only
children have. "Can Nikky come too? I never see him and I miss him too."

        "Yeah, honey. This time, Nikky's coming too." Luke looked over at
Nikolas who gave him a small smile. Neither one of them totally trusted the
other one yet, but at the moment the had to. For Lulu's sake and for the
safety of their family.

        The six of the stood around talking for a while when Nikolas
realized that he still had a question that he had yet to ask his mother.
"Mother, I just thought of a question that Lucky and I meant to ask you. It
got lost in the conversation. Lucky mentioned overhearing a conversation
between you and Uncle," Nikolas winced slightly, realizing that was no
longer the correct way to address him. "He overheard you talking about
something, him threatening you with something and that the next day you had
decided to go. What was it?"

        Laura sighed, "Not as much as you probably think. He told me that
if I didn't leave that he would tell Luke that there had been a chance that
he was your father, but that wasn't why I left. It was the same day that I
received Helena's little present. There was no way that I was sticking
around after that. I let Stefan think that he had had some influence on my
decision. It kept everyone content in the amount of power they thought that
they held over me. Now though, now I'm tired of running! It's time that
Helena is brought down!"

        This was the Laura that Luke remembered from all the years on the
run from the mob. She had her child back and there was no one in the world
that was going to take him away from her. Luke was glad that he had already
made the decision to help Laura protect Nikolas. He knew what it was like
to go up against her when her children were in danger and for a minute he
almost pitied Stefan for his upcoming confrontation with Laura...Almost.

        Nikolas had never seen this side of Laura. The whole time that he
had known her, she had always seemed to be being pushed around by someone.
Crying rather than standing up to people. He suddenly saw his mother as
Lucky described her. The woman who fought the Mob and the Cassadine's to
protect those dear to her. This was the mother that he had always wanted
and seeing this side of her he could believe that this time she wouldn't
abandon him.

In the Guestroom

        Lizzie stretched and slowly awoke. She opened her eyes to find
herself looking into the face of a still sleeping Lucky. She watched him
sleep, calmed by the sound of his even breathing. He made her feel secure.
He was so unbelievably sweet. He had held onto her hand the entire time
that they were sleeping, and somehow, she knew that it had been as
comforting to him as it had been to her. She couldn't believe the intense
emotions that Lucky caused her to feel. They scared her a little, but at
the same time they made her feel that there was nothing in the world that
they couldn't do, that she couldn't do, as long as they were together. She
would have been content to just lay there watching him sleep for hours, but
just a short while later her eyes were met by a pair of intensely blue ones
as Lucky slowly woke from sleep. "Hey, sleepyhead," she said jokingly. "How
was your nap?"

        Lucky smiled at her. "Good. How long have you been awake?"

        "Just a few minutes." They both sat up, a little uncomfortable
being in bed together now that they were awake. "How did everything go with
your mom?"

        "Okay. We learned a lot about the combined Spencer/Cassadine
history. There were a few more things that we hadn't known about that Mom
filled us in on." Lucky filled Lizzie in on everything that his mother had
told him and then added,"Oh and Dad showed up."

        "Really? How'd he figure out where we were?"

        "Don't know. We didn't get around to asking him. Lizzie?"

        "Yeah?"

        "Do you remember having another dream?"

        "Sort of...I remember being really scared and then...hearing
something...your voice and then I wasn't scared anymore, and I could sleep.
Why? Was it bad?"

        "For a while. I think that Em was pretty scared when she called me.
Lizzie, have you talked to Dr. Baldwin about the dreams? Does she know of
anyway to stop them?"

        "I have a little. We've sort've been working on how I feel about
myself and the attacker. They haven't come up much. Besides they had been
stopping. I thought that they were over." Lizzie's eyes fill with tears. "I
thought that they were over. Why, Lucky. Why did they have to start again?"

        "I don't know,Liz," Lucky said, silently cursing at himself. Just
moments before she had been happy and relaxed and then he just had to bring
up the dreams! "I'm sorry, Liz," he said. "I shouldn't have brought it up
right now."

        "No, you were right. I should talk to Dr. Baldwin about this. She
might be able to help me get rid of them for good. I can't even remember
what a good night sleep feels like anymore. I need to try and get them to
stop." Lucky nodded.

        "Hey, lets move on to a happier topic. You haven't met my little
sister yet have you?"

        "No, but I'd love to. Where is she?"

        "I'm not sure. Probably still with my grandmother, Em and Nikolas."

        They stood up and headed down the hall to Lesley's room and got
there just in time to here the end of Laura's speech. " Now though, now I'm
tired of running! It's time that Helena is brought down!"

        "Great idea, Mom," Lucky said. "I'm all for that!" Everyone in the
room turned to look at the couple in the door.

        Lulu ran over to Lucky. "Look, Lucky. Daddy's here!" Lulu looked at
Lizzie. "Who's she?" she asked curiously.

        "This is a very good friend of mine, Lulu. Her name is Elizabeth,
but you can call her Lizzie if you want."

        Lulu turned to Lizzie and said politely, "It's nice to meet you,
Lizzie." She held out her hand. Lizzie took it and shook it saying, "Well
it's nice to meet you too Lulu." She looked down at the little girl at her
feet. She was adorable. She could see now why Lucky was so enamored with
this little girl.

        "Geez," Lucky said. "It's getting kind of crowded in here, don't ya
think? Why don't we go downstairs or something?"

        "Great idea, Cowboy." Luke said. "Hey, Elizabeth. How are you
doing? I heard from Jason that they caught the guy."

        "I'm okay," Lizzie said, still uncomfortable around Luke.

        "Wait, Jason?" Lucky said. "Is that how you found out we were gone?"

        "Yeah, I was at Jason's when Charlie came back. By the way that's
quite the goose egg you gave him on the noggin. I figured it out as soon as
he said that Nikolas was with you. I figured that this was the most logical
place for you to be coming."

        "Lucky!" Laura exclaimed. "You didn't mention hitting anyone over
the head! And Charlie!? He's always been a good friend to this family. I
hope that you apologized."

        "Don't worry, we said that we were sorry. It was just that he was
guarding Emily, Mom. We wanted to get here without anyone knowing where we
were going. Emily really wanted to get away from home. They were driving
her crazy after what happened in the park and  the whole kidnapping thing
and the strike and now the shooting."

        "Kidnapping? Shooting? What's happening in Port Charles?"

        "Did dad tell you that Carly Roberts turned out to be the daughter
that Aunt Bobbie gave up for adoption all those years ago?"

        "Yeah, he did get around to telling me that," Laura said.

        "Well, did he tell you that Dr. Jones went a little crazy and
kidnapped Carly's baby and Robin?"

        "No!" Laura said glaring at Luke.

        "Hey, don't get mad," Luke said holding up his hands. "I swear that
this is relatively recent information, and the shooting just happened
yesterday."

        "Who was shot?"

        "Tony, by Carly, when Tony was let out with a slap on the wrist for
some unknown reason," Luke said. Lucky looked at the floor. "What is it,
Lucky?" Luke asked, curious at his reaction.

        "Well, I kinda gotta take part of the blame for that one," Lucky
said abashedly.

        "What!?" Emily said. "Lucky, how could you?"

        "It's not like I had much of a choice after I started working for
Helena. I couldn't exactly say no. She doesn't much like that word. Anyway,
I broke into Justus' Penthouse and into his safe, and I found some papers
that Helena gave to Alexis. I guess that they did help her get him free. I
feel really bad about it Em, really. But what could I do? Once I saw it,
there was no way that she wouldn't see through my lying to her. I didn't
know what else to do."

        "I can't believe this, Lucky," Laura said. "We taught you those
things to protect your family not so you could use them for our worst
enemy."

        Lucky looked embarrassed and guilty. "I know, Mom. I was angry but
I shouldn't have let it cloud my judgment like that. If you guys can get me
out, I'm gone. There's an added problem though."

        "What's that?" Luke asked.

        "She knows who Lizzie is, and I think she even knows what happened
to her."

        Luke could see the fear and the hatred in Lucky's eyes. He looked
quickly at Liz and then asked, "Did she threaten her?"

        "Not directly, but if I'm not going to stop working for Helena if
it puts Lizzie in danger. I won't!"

        "Don't worry, Lucky," Luke said, realizing just how important
Lizzie had become to Lucky, as did everyone in the room. "We'll find ways
to protect everyone, and to get you out of working for Helena. Right now, I
think that we should go down to the living room and talk about strategies.
You were right earlier. It is kinda crowded in here. Oh, and you girls
should call your families and let either Laura or I talk to them, probably
Laura. She's seen as being much more responsible for some reason." Luke
said with a wink.

        "I can't imagine why," Laura said innocently. "After all, you're
only surrounded by mobsters and gunfire. That couldn't possibly be it,
could it?"

        "Naw," Lucky said. "I think it was the killing people, dad. That
really gets people upset, ya know. For some reason they just don't care for
things like that."

        "Can't imagine why," Luke said scratching his chin. "Most of the
people I know have killed someone at some point in their life, or been
suspected of it."

        The whole group of them left the room except for Lesley and Lulu.
They headed downstairs, Emily and Lizzie dreading the upcoming phone calls.
Lizzie called first and it went relatively smoothly. Audrey had yet to call
the police and she accepted that she'd get a full explanation when Laura
and Luke got the kids home. She was relieved that Lizzie was at least in
the company of adults. She had figured that she was probably with Lucky and
regardless of the fact that they had taken off, she did trust them. She was
also happy to hear that Laura was coming home.

        The Quartermaine's were a different story. The moment that Emily
let the person on the other end of the phone know that it was her, the
yelling started. She had to hold the phone away from her ear, because they
were so loud. They calmed down a little when they found out that she was
now in the company of adults, even if one of them was Luke. Edward took the
phone and demanded to talk to Laura. She somehow managed to convince him
not to call the police, and that they would get the kids home as soon as
possible. She then handed the phone back to Emily. After a lot more arguing
she was finally able to hang up the phone. She rolled her eyes and said,
"Am I glad that I have at least another day before I have to do that face
to face. It's so much easier when you can hang up."

        Laura looked to Nikolas. "Do you want to call Stefan? I don't want
to force you, but I'm sure that he's worried."

        Nikolas sighed. He really wasn't in the mood to talk to Stefan
right then. There were so many things that he had just learned. He really
wouldn't know what to say. "Maybe later. I don't know what I'd say. I'll
think about it later."

        "Okay," Laura said, nodding.

WYNDEMERE

        "I'm sorry Mr. Cassadine, but what more do you want us to do?"

        "I want you to do your job and find my nephew!?" Stefan said
angrily. "I can't believe that you've found nothing! Where could he have
gone? Find him, NOW!"

        The man that Stefan was yelling at practically ran out of the room.
And people said Helena was scary. He would go up against her over her son
any day.

        Stefan watched the man leave, fuming. He needed Nikolas near by
where he could keep an eye on him. His plan would be coming to a head soon.
Katherine had accepted his proposal, the engagement party was coming up,
the stage was set. The only problem was that a number of the players were
missing. He needed Nikolas here as well as ALL of the Spencer's. He decided
that it was time to let Laura know that it was okay for her to come home.
As soon as Nikolas was found, he would make a trip to North Carolina.

BACK IN NORTH CAROLINA

        The six of them looked at each other, no one quite sure where to
start. Just then the cell phone that Helena had given Lucky rang. Lucky had
left it on the coffee table and Luke being the closest to it picked it up.
"Hello?" Lucky looked at him and mouthed, "It's Helena!" Luke's eyes got a
little wider.

        "Luke? Is that you?" Helena said a little surprised to hear Luke
answering the phone. "I was expecting to get ahold of my employee. Could
you put him on please?"

        "Not so fast, sweetheart," Luke said. "I've got a few things to
talk to you about. I wanted to let you know that I've had enough. My son is
no longer working for you. You got that? He's not even in Port Charles
anymore, so you won't get your hooks into so easily this time."

        "Oh, Luke, you underestimate me. I know that Lucky and Nikolas went
to North Carolina to visit your lovely wife. Have they told you their
reason for coming yet?"

        "What does it matter why they came?" Luke said, making a signal to
Laura, letting her know that they were going to pull a trick on Helena. If
Helena thought that she had succeeded in dividing them then a united front
on their part would surprise her all the more. Lucky noticed the signal and
motioned for Nikolas, Emily and Lizzie to move a little away from Luke and
Laura. He quickly told them not to get worried regardless of what happened.

        "Why, Luke," Helena said innocently. "Didn't Laura tell you that
they were visiting to find out why she had never told them that Stefan is
Nikolas' father?"

        "WHAT!?!?" Luke roared. "LAURA! WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME THAT COUNT
VLAD IS WAS THE FATHER OF THAT DEMON SPAWN YOU CALL A SON!? HOW COULD YOU
SLEEP WITH HIM? WHAT, I WAS DEAD SO YOU HAD TO SLEEP WITH ALL THE AVAILABLE
MEN ON THAT DAMN ISLAND?!"

        "Luke, please," Laura begged. "It was a long time ago. I'm sorry, I
just couldn't..." She cut off as Luke slapped his hands together making a
sound very close to that of a slap.

        Helena listened to the argument with delight and a satisfied smile
spread across he face as she heard the sound of a vicious slap coming over
the line. Then she heard Lucky's voice as well. "DAD, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU
DOING!?"

        Luke then addressed her over the phone again. "You will pay for
your delight in being the one to tell me about that. Stay away from my
son!" With that he hung up the phone. Helena was delighted. She was glad to
be done with the boy. He had served his purpose and he was getting a tad
annoying. She was still mad about the threats, but he would pay for those
soon enough. Things were looking up. Everything was falling into place
nicely.

        Luke turned to Lucky. "Perfect timing, Cowboy. Now not only does
she think that Laura and I are at odds, she thinks that you saw the whole
thing. Perfect."

        "No problem, Dad," Lucky said. "I figured that that was what you
were going for. The more division she thinks there is the better."

        "I also think that she's done with you. She thinks that she got
what she wanted out of the whole thing. You're off the hook, Cowboy." Lucky
sighed in relief. He was relieved that he might actually be free of Helena.
That had been the worst decision that he'd ever made. Helena was not
someone you joined lightly.

        Luke looked around and noticed that the other three teenagers were
watching the scene with uncertainty. "Hey Nikolas," Luke said. "Sorry about
that Demon Spawn crack. Had to make sure that it was believable, ya know?"

        "Uh, sure," Nikolas said. He definitely wasn't used to Luke being
civil to him yet. It was something that he wasn't sure that he would ever
get used to.

        "That is what you call the perfect set up kids," Luke said. "She
bought it hook line and sinker. I could feel her grin over the phone. She's
expecting a hopelessly divided Spencer clan to return to Port Charles.
Instead she's getting back a unitied front, not to mention a newly
converted Natasha, who has decided that she's tired of Helena controlling
her life."

        "Natasha?" Laura questioned.

        "Alexis," Lucky said. "She's Mikkos' daughter. Helena is holding
that over her head in order to get her to do things for her."

        "Alexis is Natasha?" Laura said surprised. "Well, that explains why
Helena always hated her so much."

        "You knew her on the island?" Nikolas asked.

        "Yes," Laura said. "As often as I was allowed I spent time with
her. She was always so kind. She knew how Stavros could be. She always
tried to help me. The entire time that I was pregnant she would do whatever
she could to be sure that I was healthy. She was my best friend on the
island. Stefan was always kind, but Alexis understood like no one else
could, exactly how vindictive Helena could be. When she came to Port
Charles, it was like a friendship between us was impossible. It was like we
were on different sides, though I couldn't figure out why, since Helena
wasn't head of the family anymore. I hope that things are different now. I
really missed her."
 

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