Lucky crashed through the doors to the emergency room at GH and immediately spotted Taggert and Lark standing in front of a trauma room, three or four heavily armed agents standing nearby.

“How is she?” Lucky asked Taggert.

“She’s..” Taggert began to answer but Lucky waved him off. “Forget it. I’ll find out for myself. Removing his WSB badge from his jacket pocket, Lucky entered the trauma room and stopped.

Emily sat up on the exam table, her top replaced with a hospital gown, her face pale, her eyes downcast. The minute he opened the door she looked up, their eyes met, and a wave of pure joy swept through her as she raced into his arms and he opened them and held her tight against them.

“Thank God,” he whispered shakily. “I was so afraid that you were hurt or even ...” He stops himself from finishing the sentence and takes a deep breath. “I’m just glad that you are okay.”

She took a step back from him. “I’m fine. But you? Taggert said you went after whoever shot at us. Did you?...”

Lucky shook his head. “No. He slipped through our hands.” He looks at Em quietly. “It was Johnny.”

Em closes her eyes. “So either Jason or Carly?”

“Right. And with the male shoe print they found at the mansion...”

“My brother is trying to kill me.” Emily says each word carefully and slowly as if she is trying to make herself comprehend what they mean. She clutches at Lucky as a wave of dizziness over comes her.

Lucky grabs her in alarm. “Doc?”

The ER doctor helps Lucky place a shaken Emily back on to the exam table.

“I thought she was okay.”

“She is for someone who got shot in the chest tonight I’d say she was pretty lucky.”

Lucky whitens. “Chest?”

The doctor nods. “See for yourself. If she hadn’t been wearing that bullet proof vest we’d be tagging her for the morgue right now. As it is, the bullet penetrated a lot of layers. I don’t know what that vest is made of, but I’d lay odds its not a normal bullet proof vest.”

“It’s a prototype the WSB has recently developed. It’s suppose to stop those cop killer bullets.”

“Well in this case it stopped what would have been a lady-killer. As it is, she’ll have a pretty nasty contusion from where the bullet slammed against her and a mild concussion from when she hit her head when she fell. I’d love to keep her overnight....”

“No,” Emily and Lucky respond simultaneously.

“I thought not,” the doctor continued easily. “So my recommendation is rest and I’ll give her a prescription for painkillers for the headache.”

The doctor left and Lucky turned to Emily. “I’m putting you in a safe house tonight. We have one just outside of town.”

“But the funeral? The arrangements,” Emily protested half-heartedly. The shooting in the parking garage had scared her more than she wanted to admit.

“I’ll have you there tomorrow, but you’re going to have to leave the arrangements to someone else.”

“We’ll take care of everything. Your father and brother and I will handle the funeral arrangements,” a voice said from behind them.

“Mom?” Emily looked at Monica. “What are you doing here?”

“I was here picking up a prescription for Lila when I was told that they had brought you in. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

Monica looked at Lucky who nodded. “She’s’ fine.”

Monica picks up the bullet proof vest and gingerly touches the hole the bullet made, she closes her eyes as she imagines that hole not in synthetic vest but in her daughter’s body. “This is crazy Emily. I know you loved your grandfather, but he would be the first person to tell you not to risk your life for his memory.”

“I’m not,” Emily says gently. “I’m doing what I need to do. The best thing for ELQ and for the people who work for us. Besides, whatever’s going on there’s no way to back out now.”

“Sell Nikolas ELQ International. Let the Cassadine’s handle this. God knows they are used to being shot at.”

“You saw Nikolas?” Emily asks stunned.

“He came to the mansion to pay his respects.”

“And to get you to force the board to sell ELQ I behind my back,” Emily mutters angrily. “It doesn’t matter. I have controlling interest. I intend to do what grandfather would have wanted. I will not give into any threats whether they come from a sniper’s rifle or from Nikolas Cassadine.”

“That’s what your father and I told Nikolas.”

“What?”

“We told Nikolas that we had complete and total faith in the decisions that you and AJ make. These last few years have changed you Emily. You aren’t that angry, impulsive, insecure, and scared child anymore. You are incredibly smart, gifted, talented, and astute businesswoman. I have no doubt that ELQ will flourish under you and AJ’s guidance.”

“Then why?”

Monica held up the vest. “I’m your mother. Seeing this scares the hell out of me.”

“You don’t have to worry Dr. Quartermaine. The WSB will do all that it can to protect Emily.”

“I hope so,” Monica says somberly. “One funeral in the family is enough.” In another part of the ER

Frisco watches carefully as the doctor stitches and then bandages several nasty looking cuts on Robin’s wrists. Through it all Robin, looking pale and tired, sits quietly without a word. Frisco smiles at the young intern as he finishes his work and leaves them alone.

Robin looks at Frisco. “Before you say it. I’m fine.”

“You look exhausted. When was the last time you slept?”

“Does being knocked unconscious count as sleep?” Robin quips and is rewarded by Frisco’s frown. “All right. It’s been a while since I slept. A long while. But there’s too much too do.”

During the ride to the hospital, Robin had filled Frisco in on her theory about the murder, her conversation with AJ, and what she discovered on the computer.

“Like what?”

“Security for the funeral?”

“Junior has it covered.”

“The evidence from the crime scene has to be examined and analyzed?”

“Junior has it covered.”

“Somebody has to keep an eye on our suspects?” Robin offers. “Don’t tell me- Lucky has that one covered to.” She grins at Frisco impudently. “So you’re telling me our little boy is all grown up.”

“In matters of the WSB yes. In matters of the heart, I’m not so sure.”

Robin winced with sympathy. “I was afraid that being back here would remind him too much of Liz and what he’s lost.” She lets Frisco put his coat around her as they open the door. “I’ll try to talk to him about it tomorrow.”

Frisco smiles. “I hate to rob you of the opportunity to play Dear Abby, but I don’t think our little boy has been spending all of his time thinking about Elizabeth. I think its another E that has him tangled in knots.”

“You’re kidding,” Robin says as they head down the corridor and turn the corner, stopping when they spot Taggert and Lark and the other agents.

“Robin!” Taggert smiles. “You’re okay.”

“Yeah,” Robin glances up at Frisco with a grin. “Mac and Frisco rescued me from Johnny.”

“Don’t let her fool you,” Frisco interrupted. “She had herself and Luke Spencer all saved by the time we got there.”

“Spencer?”

“Long story,” Frisco’s eyes narrow. “What are you doing here? Where is Lucky? And where is Emily?”

Taggert’s eyes darken. “We were ambushed. We were taking Miss. Quartermaine to Queen of Angels so she could finalize the funeral service when we got hit by sniper fire in the parking garage.”

“What? Is everyone okay?”

“Not for lack of trying on the shooter’s part. Emily was hit in the chest, thank God Spencer forced her to wear that bullet proof vest . And the bullet proof car was a nice place to hide out when the shots were flying all over the place,” He turned back to Robin. “You need to talk to your uncle about buying one of those for the department.”

Robin smiles. “I thought you were going to join the WSB?’

Lark looks at Taggert with wide eyes and he finds himself blushing.

“Anything else? Besides changing the funeral from GH to Queen of Angels which was a smart move.”

Taggert hesitates and looks at Robin. “We found a male shoe print near the murder scene. Video tapes picked up a blonde haired figure on the Q estate. Garcia went over to Morgan’s place with a search warrant.”

Just then Lucky and Emily emerged from the exam room.

“Robin?” Lucky smiled. “You’re safe.” He moved to give her a hug and then frowned when he saw the bandages on her wrist. “What happened?”

Robin gave a tired grin. “A lot. And we have a lot to talk about. We’ll talk about it at the police station. I’m assuming you’re moving Emily into a safe house for tonight and it will take a while to search and sweep and double check. I need to talk to my uncle Mac when’s done anyway.”

Frisco frowned. “I think you need to take get some rest.”

Robin shakes her head. ‘I will. I just need to talk to Uncle Mac and Luke before I do so.”

“My father?” Lucky frowns remembering Johnny’s threat. “You were with my father?”

“He showed up to rescue me,” Robin says and notes the immediate paling of Lucky’s face. “What happened? What’s wrong?”

“Johnny. I had him cornered after he shot at us and he held this detonator. He said he was going to use it to blow you and Luke up.” Lucky hesitates. “I ignored the threat and moved to take him out anyway.”

“Just like you were trained to,” Robin says softly. “It’s okay. You did the right thing.”

“Speak for yourself,” Luke drawled as he and Mac walked down the corridor. “You weren’t the ones that almost got blown up.”

Mac glares at him. “You survived didn’t you? So stop complaining.” Mac looks at Robin. “We need to talk.”

Robin looks around at all of them. “We all need to talk. I think its time we took the offensive and set a trap of our own.”

Emily shudders. A trap for the brother who is trying to kill her. Why does it feel like she’s walked into a really really bad episode of the Twilight Zone? Lucky feels her shudder and moves his arm around her, a movement that is not lost on Luke as a speculative look crosses his face.

“There’s the boardroom upstairs.” Emily slips into her executive mode. “Lark and Taggert can go get some coffee and stuff.”

Frisco watches Robin carefully. If she won’t go to sleep, at least he can make sure she eats. “Chinese too.” He hands Taggert a WSB credit card. Emily motions for him to put it away.

“Get some food from the PC Grill. Whatever you want,” she tells Taggert, adding “And pick up some sandwiches and coffee for all of the agents prowling about.”

Taggert grumbles, “Do I look like an errand boy?”

Lark grins at him. “Come on I’ll let you carry all of the packages and show off your strength.”

Robin watches the two of them with a puzzled frown and turns to Frisco. “Did I miss something?”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll fill you in.” He heads down to the elevators with his arms securely around her waist, pointedly ignoring Mac’s glare. They step on the elevator but before Mac can follow, Frisco shuts the door so that he and Robin are alone in private.

Robin tries to frown but it comes out a smile. “That wasn’t a nice thing to do.”

Frisco pulled her into his arms and leaned against the wall, softly nuzzling her neck and running his hands over her slender form. One hand reaches out to press the stop button on the elevator. The elevator comes to a stop and Frisco groans as Robin’s love making becomes a little more assertive and bold.

“I’m not a nice man,” he whispers as he nibbles at her ear. “Are you complaining?”

Robin’s voice is low and husky. “Not a bit.”

After a few more minutes Frisco gently pushes her away. “We’d better stop now or we’ll be late getting to that boardroom.”

Robin smiled slowly, the kind of smile that lit up her eyes and turned Frisco’s heart around in his chest. She unbuttoned his shirt. “You said Lucky was handling everything fine, didn’t you?”

Frisco barely managed to nod as her lips trailed kisses down his chest. “Then I say we let him be in charge for a few more minutes.”

“He needs the practice,” Frisco agreed.

“And I need you,” Robin said softly. It was the last coherent sound to be heard in the elevator for a while.

WSB Safe House
a few hours later

Emily stands at a window over looking the Port Charles River. The window is made of bullet proof glass and she doesn’t know if that thought soothes her or scares her. She pulls the red silk robe tighter around her, whoever used this safe house last was not built as tall or as slender as she was. Her hair was piled into a loose knot on the top off her head and she looked far more like the awkward teenage Emily than the mature and professional Emily. She felt like the teenage Emily too. Damn.

“Emily?” Lucky walked up behind her a glass of ice tea in his hand “Are you okay?”

She is about to tell him the truth, confess how scared she was, how mixed up she was feeling when her eyes catch the phone sitting on the coffee table and she remembers Nikolas handing Lucky Liz’s phone number. He’s probably called her by now, she realizes sadly. He’s probably just waiting for this case to be over with so that he can rush to her side. Inwardly she flinches, outwardly she just shrugs. “I’m fine.”

Lucky sighs. “I could always tell when you were lying.” He puts down the ice tea and pulls her back against him in a comforting hug. “I’m going to keep you safe. I won’t let you down again.”

“Again? Lucky you saved my life. If you hadn’t forced me to wear that vest I would have died.”

The thought hurts him somewhere deep inside and resonates painfully. “If I had been doing my job, it would never have happened.”

“How could you have stopped it?” She turns around so that their faces are merely inches apart. “You are not God Lucky Spencer and I wish sometimes you would remember that. You’re not responsible for what happened tonight, you’re not responsible for your father’s decision to get back in the mob, you’re not responsible for whatever it is that happened to you while you were gone that haunts you.”

“Nothing haunts me.”

“Oh Lucky,” Emily’s voice drops into a tender whisper as she reaches up and gently touches his face. “It’s in your eyes when you don’t think anybody is looking.” She takes a deep breath and lets it out on a ragged sigh. “I wish..I wish I could take the pain away for you.”

“Emily,” his voice is a caress as he feels himself drowning in her eyes. He lowers his head. “You can” he whispers softly as his mouth claims hers. It takes less than a second for the kiss to reawaken the passion that blazes between them as he pulls her closer. After a few minutes, he pulls back and pushes her away. “I....”

Emily’s desire turns to confusion and then embarrassment and then anger in the blink of an eye. “Don’t say it.” She looks at him with eyes blazing. “Don’t you dare say it. Don’t you dare apologize for kissing me. Not again damn you Lucky Spencer.”

“Emily I....” Whatever Lucky is about to say is interrupted.

“No damm it. I can cope with you using me as a substitute for your precious Liz, but do you have any idea how much it hurts when you apologize for kissing me or holding me or making love to me. I don’t want you to be sorry. I want you to have wanted that kiss as much as I wanted it. I wanted you to want it to be me that you were kissing, not Liz.” Emily stepped a few feet away and strived desperately to gain control before she broke down. “Forget it. I’m not making sense. I just want to be alone.” She tries to take a step away but he reaches out and grabs her.

“We need to talk.”

“About what?”

“About that night. About what happened between us a year ago. About what’s been happening between us these last few days. About what happened just now.”

“What happened just now?,” Emily tried really hard to keep the bitterness out of her voice but she knew she didn’t come close to succeeding. “You kissed me and you’re sorry.”

“No, I kissed you and I came an inch from taking you into that bedroom and making love to you and with you.”

“Did you mistake me for Liz again? What did you say that morning? ‘Every other girl will only be a substitute.’ Look closer Spencer. I’m not Elizabeth, I’m Emily.”

“I know that, “ Lucky muttered. “God I know that. Elizabeth never drove me half as crazy as you do. You want to know the truth? Here’s the truth. I wanted you that night. Yes I was drunk and yes I was hurting from discovering Elizabeth and Nikolas together, but I wanted you. I never once pretended that you were here. I knew that you were the one I was kissing, I knew that it was your legs that were wrapped around me, and I knew that you were the one I buried myself in that night. I used you but I wanted you too. God help me I still do. You haunt my dreams and now you haunt me.”

“Then why....”

“Why did I leave? Why did you wake up alone?” Lucky finished for her, walking away to try to collect his thoughts. How did he explain it to her, when he couldn’t explain it to himself? “I felt guilty. I’d had sex with my best friend. I’d taken your virginity on some blankets in your family boathouse. Not exactly the most romantic setting. And then there was the fact that I loved Elizabeth. Thinking of her had kept me alive for those two years and I’d cheated on her, on what we had, to sleep with you. I needed to see her. I needed to hear from her where I stood. And I did. I talked to her. God, I didn’t know you were there. You weren’t meant to hear what you heard. I never meant to hurt you. After Elizabeth told me that she was in love with Nikolas, I walked around to think and I ended up at the gatehouse but you weren’t home and that’s when I learned you left town.” Anger flares in Lucky’s eyes. “You left me. I hung around Port Charles for a few weeks, realized that I didn’t belong there anymore and took off for California. But I didn’t forget about you.”

“Funny, I don’t remember receiving any phone calls from you or letters or postcards.” Emily said sarcastically and then lowered her eyes in shame and finished softly. “It doesn’t matter.” She looks up. “For the record, you don’t have anything to feel guilty about. Okay, so it wasn’t a fancy hotel room, there were no flowers, or champagne, no romantic music, no candlelight. But I wanted you that night too.”

“Then let’s forget about the past and just move forward,” Lucky murmurs. “There’s something between us and it has to be driving you as crazy as its driving me.”

Emily shook her head. “I can’t. I’m not cut out to be your consolation prize because the real prize gets away. I don’t want to be the person you end up with because you can’t have Liz. I want to be the person you want to be with period.” She takes a deep breath. A few more minutes. Just a few more minutes and then she could retreat. “I think its better when this is over with, if we both went on with our lives separately. I don’t think I can be your friend.”

“Emily don’t do this. Don’t we even get a chance.”

Emily looks at Lucky. “Can you tell me that you don’t love Elizabeth?”

Lucky responds a fraction too late and Emily smiles sadly. “I didn’t think so. Liz and Lucky forever, right? Good night Lucky.” She stops at the phone for a moment. “I’m going to be in my room for the rest of the night. Why don’t you give Liz a call?”

Lucky watches her close the door behind her in stunned silence. Of course he loved Elizabeth. He’d loved her since he was sixteen, the way you always loved your first love. He stopped. He loved Elizabeth. But he wasn’t in love with her. Oh God. He’d never understood that distinction before. Now he did. But it was too late.

Emily stands by the bed shaking and pulls the quilt off the bed and around her as she falls wearily to her knees, wrapping her hands around her. She made the right choice. She could never spend her life in Liz’s shadow, worried that someday Lucky would look at her and realize that he belonged with Liz, would always belong with Liz. She couldn’t set herself up for that kind of heartache. Just one thing, if it was the right thing to do why did it hurt so much?

After a few minutes, she stood back up and picked up the phone. Holding it still for a moment, she realized that one thing had become crystal clear today and tonight. Holding the phone as if it was a lifeline, she dialed.