Juan Santiago whistled as he made his way through the streets of Miami at three a.m. in the morning headed for the apartment he shared other street kids. It wasn’t much but it was a roof over his head on nights like tonight when the warmth of the Miami day seemed to disappear at midnight. He was just about to turn the corner when he head a long cough and a flash of brown hair caught his attention. He stopped and approached a silent figure huddled on the step of an office building.

His angry curse was punctuated with a soft whisper.

“Querida?” He whispered softly “Emily right? What in the hell happened to you?”

Emily looked up at him with fever bright eyes. “There were these men....and they attacked me ....and....”Her voice trails off and she looks down at her feet as if surprised to see that they are still attached.

“Did they hurt you?” When she doesn’t respond, he shakes her gently. “Did they hurt you?” He repeats his demand and forces her to look up at him.

She shakes her head. “They stole my money and this one guy he hit me.” She points to the bruise on her cheek that is almost an outline of a man’s hand.

“I’ll kill him.” Juan says in a cold voice.

Emily looks at him in puzzlement. “Why?”

“Because he hurt you.”

“But people hurt me all the time?” Emily asks in the same quiet and puzzled voice. “Why do you care?”

Juan stopped. Why did he care? He hadn’t been able to get her out of his mind since that encounter in the park. He touched her cheek gently and looked at the innocence that mingled with pain in her eyes, the softness of her skin. Few things in his world were soft and innocent. He looked around at the grungy and dirty street. She didn’t belong here. Even battered and defeated she exuded grace and strength. He sighed and was silent, unable and unwilling to answer her question.

“Come with me,” he whispered to her quietly and he held her as she coughed again.

“Where?” she replied.

“ Sanctuary. Someplace where you will be safe.”

“It doesn’t exist,” her voice caught as she shook her head. “It never has you know. I thought... I thought I found it for a while but it disappeared again.”

“Querida,” The endearment slipped easily from Juan’s tongue. “You’re sick. How long has it been since you’ve eaten?”

Emily closes her eyes and tries to think but can’t. She opens them again in dismay. “I don’t remember.”

“All right, come home with me tonight. You can at least sleep for a while and get something to eat in the morning.”

“I can’t. I can’t go with you. I don’t know you. It wouldn’t be safe.”

He smiled at her. “And staying here would be safe?” She hesitates and he pushes. “Maybe I can call your family and they can come and get you.”

“No!” The word comes out stronger than she intended it to as she took a step backwards and tripped over the stair. He caught her before she hit the concrete. She looked up at him, panic in her eyes. “No family.”

“Then you have no choice,” he begins and stops as this incredibly sad expression comes over her face.

“I never do,” she says, picking up her backpack with a resigned air. “Where to?” With Emily walking silently by his side, Juan leads the way to his place.

By the time they have reached the one bedroom apartment, Emily is barely able to stand and the coughs have become this thing that is painful for Juan to even listen to.

He opens the door with a bang and takes note of the three young people sleeping on blankets and mattresses on the living room floor.

One young brown haired 17 year old rubs his eyes sleepily as Juan flicks on the dim light.

“It’s late, mi hermano. Why wake the world?” He then spots Emily in Juan’s arms. “She is muy bonita but not worth waking the rest of us up for.” The youth grinned. “Unless you meant her as a present to share.”

“Shut up,” Juan says curtly, glad that Emily is most likely too out of it too care. He leads her to the bedroom and kicks open the door so that he can continue to support her.

“What the...” There is a scramble of voices and movement on the small bed in the corner and Juan curses.

“Celia. Get out. This is my room.”

“I thought we shared everything...” the blonde murmered invitingly.

“When you pay the largest share of the rent, you can have the bedroom.” His tone is abrupt. “Now get out.”

Celia approached him as the man she was sharing th bed with clambored out of the room.

“Why? So that you can entertain your new friend?” Celia looked Emily up and down. “Forget it boyo. This one is too good for the likes of you. The clothes ....” She peers at Emily’s earrings..”real gold...those hands have never washed dishes...you have found yourself a real life princess here. And you my dear dear Juan may be charming but you are not a prince.” Emily opened her eyes. “I know a prince. A real one. He lives in a castle on an island. He’s not that charming.” She said in a friendly conversational tone. “I mean, not to me anyway. I’m more the little sister type. He’s pretty charming to Sarah and Robin. But they are beautiful an I’m not.”

Juan touches her forehead, she is burning up. He looks at Celia who is watching him with hungry and jealous eyes. “Leave,” He tells her, his eyes motioning towards the door. When she has gone he leads Emily to the bed. Angrily. he pulls off the sheets that are soiled from the earlier occupants and instead uses a blanket as a sheet and pulls a quilt from below the bed, He looks at Emily who is standing lifeless and beginning to shake. Making a quick decision, he pulls an old T-Shirt from a beaten up dresser and approaches Emily. Carefully he helps her remove her shirt and pulls it over her head. His concern turns to outrage when he sees that her arms and back are covered with bruises, some faded, some newer, all look horrible. “You too, querida?” He murmers to her softly when she protests and tries to cover her bruises. “Shhh,” he tells her softly. “I won’t tell anyone, okay?” She nods and he finishes helping her slip into hs t-shirt and use it for a nightgown. She coughs again and he helps her get into the bed and pulls the quilt over her. She shivers and pulls the quilt closer around her slender form.

“Rest a moment, okay? I’m going to see if I can find some aspirin?” He smooths a wrinkle from her forehead. “I’ll be back. Trust me.”

Emily closes her eyes and lets the warmth of the blanket flow through her. “Trust you Lucky,” she whispers. “Always.”

Juan stops. Who is Lucky? Did he do this to her? It doesn’t matter. They’re not going to get a chance to get their hands on her again.

Twenty minutes later, Emily is fast asleep and Juan quietly closes the door behind him. Hopefully the aspirin will work. If not, he will have to figure out something else tomorrow.

“The princess is sleeping? I assume you put a pea under her mattress to make sure she is a true princess?” Celia said sarcastically.

Juan grabbed a sleeping bag out of the corner and laid it down. “Don’t be a b*tch.” He replied stretching out in front of the bedroom door. He could have slept in there with her. On the floor. Or even in the bed. He’d started too, but it didn’t feel right.

So instead he’d sleep out here and make sure that no one disturbed her.

Celia’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t be a fool. A girl like that she is not like us. She will have people looking for her. She will bring more trouble than you can imagine.”

“I can handle it.”

“Can you?” Celia demanded coolly. “What happened to your rule? Remember that rule. No one is admitted to Sanctuary who cannot earn their keep.”

“She is staying one night.”

“So you will kick her out tomorrow?”

Silence.

“I thought not. Who will pay for her? Somehow I don’t see her out earning money on her own.”

“Not the way you do it anyway,” Juan shoots out.

“Temper, temper. Weren’t you the one who encouraged me to put my talents to use? And I don’t see you complaining when I let you sample the merchandise for free.”

You were a whore when you arrived here,” Juan says bluntly. “No one forces you to turn tricks. “There are other ways for you to earn money.”

“Pick pockets? Steal? Beg? Con tourists out of their money? Pardon me for not wanting to work so hard. But maybe your precious princess will like to steal money from tourists or beg on the street corner.”

Juan angrily grabbed Celia and pulled her close. “I told you not to talk about her like that. Now shut up.”

Celia’s blue eyes burned as she met Juan’s dark eyes. She traced the solid muscle of his chest. “Make me...” she whispers seductively.

He resists for a minute but then he gives in and they have sex , heedless of the presences of the others sleeping in the room.

A hotel

Jason and Sonny walk into the hotel room. Carly, who has been on the phone to AJ to keep him updated, quickly hangs up and turns to the two men.

“No luck?”

Jason shakes his head. “There is no sign of her anywhere.”

“Maybe she’s not in Miami anymore?” Carly suggests.

“We have men watching the airports and bus terminals.”

“What about the highways? She could be hitchhiking.”

Jason and Sonny exchange glances. Sonny nods. “Good suggestion. I’ll have some men stake out the main roads out of the Miami area.”

Carly hesitates. “I know you hate publicity and all that, but what about some flyers or contacting the local media?”

“And let every potential rival know that my kid sister is out there unprotected?” Jason turns away in frustration. “I hate this. First I couldn’t protect her from whoever was beating her in Port Charles and now she’s out there someplace helpless and I can’t do anything to help her.”

“Your sister is far from helpless,” Carly reminds him. “Robin called a little while ago. She’s worried about you and about Emily. Why don’t you go call her? It will calm you down a while.”

Sonny agrees. “Give her my love, okay?”

Jason nods and heads off into the bedroom.

Sonny turns to Carly, they have had very little time alone together since they arrived in Miami. He doesn’t quite know what to make of Carly Roberts Jones Benson. “You are really over Jason?” He asks watching her as she goes to pour herself a glass of cold water. She looks up at him. “Did I have a choice? Jason has made his feelings for Robin clear from the beginning. Our fling, for want of a better word, ended long ago but I will always consider Jason one of my best friends you know.” She smiles at him. “Besides I have more pride than to go chasing after someone who is so obviously in love with someone else. I made that mistake with Tony and it blew up in my face. Nope, the next guy I fall for is going to be very single and very unattached.” Carly nods emphatically.

Sonny is about to respond when his cell phone rings. He answers it, speaks briefly, and then hangs it up.

“Terrific,” he murmers in a voice that indicates its anything but.

“What’s wrong?”

“It seems like Emily isn’t the only teenage runaway from Port Charles roaming around down here. That was Luke. It seems like Lucky hasn’t been home in almost three days and his parents are fairly certain that he came looking for Emily himself.”

“Maybe that’s good news. Lucky can handle himself and maybe he will have more, pardon the pun, luck finding Emily than you or Jason.”

Sonny shrugs. “I don’t like it.” He walks to the window and looks out at the city below. “Miami is not Port Charles. There are too many enemies walking the streets, too many rival gangs who would love to have either Emily or Lucky for a bargaining chip to hold against Jason or myself. Those kids are in more danger than they think they are.”

“Than I guess we keep searching for them until we find them and bring them home,” Carly says in a quiet and determined voice. “ Maybe what we need is someone who knows this town and where street kids hang out.”

“Emily is not a street kid,” Jason says as he reenters the room.

“She is now,” Carly says. Sonny turns to Carly.

“You have someone in mind?”

Carly nods. ‘I think I do.”

Two days later Cafe Del Mar

Lucky Spencer sat quietly in the corner of the coffee sheep, a baseball hat pulled over his eyes as he carefully looked around him. Six days. She’d been missing for six days now. He’d realized after the first two days that finding Emily in a town this size was not going to be easy. Miami seemed to be a Mecca for homeless people and Lucky was amazed by the number of kids his age or younger who were on the streets. He’d spent a few nights in a homeless shelter for teens trying to see if anyone had seen her. But most of the street kids he encountered were relunctant to talk or even downright hostile. One had given him the name of this coffee shop and mentioned that a lot of kids hung out here. So here he was.

His eyes darted back to his coffee when two teenage boys, a dark haired boy near his age and a brown haired boy a little older, came in and took the booth next to him.

“Look Juan,” the brown haired boy spoke first. “I think Celia is right. You are playing with fire. This girl is dangerous. This plan of yours could blow up in your face.”

“It won’t,” the one called Juan said confiidently. “She is perfect. The perfect distraction.”

“The only one she is distracting is you.” the other boy said. “You are breaking your own rules for this chick and I don’t like it.”

“You don’t have to like it. You want out, the door is there. Just don’t forget what happens to those who try to leave. Peope who betray me or betray Sanctuary pay the price and you know it. But I’m telling you that you are worried for nothing. Emily will be an asset, I knew that the moment I first spotted her stepping off the bus. With her working with us, we’ll have more money coming in than you can imagine. No more sleeping on the floor. No more living like a street rat.”

“What will you do? Go back to San Juan?” The other boy laughed. “Somehow I can’t see you settling down to work some two bit job at McDonald’s?”

Juan laughed. “No way. I’m going to find my way north. I aim to make my way into one of the organizations.”

“As in the mob?”

“Why not?” Juan’s eyes gleamed. “I’ve seen pictures of them you know. Rivera. Moreno. Kirakis. Gotti. Corinthos. That’s what I want- money, respect, babes. I want to be someone people not only respect but they fear.”

“It sounds great but I wouldn’t want to take the chance on ending up at the bottom of a river somewhere.” The other boy stood up. “So the princess is set for this afternoon on the beach.”

Juan nodded. “Celia was taking her shopping to buy something appropriate. And don’t call her princess. Her name is Emily.

“She is very beautiful. Are you sure you do not want to share mi amigo?”

“She is mine,” Juan says flatly. “What is mine I hold onto.”

“Of course mi amigo. The princess is yours. I only hope you do not live to regret it. I am running late. I will meet you at the beach.” The other boy left and Lucky watched as Juan settled back against the cushion of the booth.

Lucky hesitates. His next move has to be thought out. If he just shows up and tries to get Emily to come home and she says no, he has a feeling this guy is going to make sure he doesn’t get a second chance. On the other hand, if he could put himself in a situation where he could talk to Emily, regain her trust, and try to convince her to return to Port Charles he might have a shot at it. He thought about Juan’s conversation with his friend and a smile spread across his face. He knew exactly how to make Juan see him as his new best friend. Lucky reached into his backpack and pulled out a cell phone and raises his voice just loud enough to be heard by the occupant of the other booth.

“Yeah this is Spence. Corinthos’ men didn’t show up to make the buy. No way. After that show of rank amateruism, you think I’m going to blindly hand over what I’m carrying to some stoogie. No. You tell Corinthos that if he wants his merchandise he needs to meet me in person. That’s right in person. Listen, you just remind him of who my father is and what is at stake and he’ll be here. Right. No I’m going to hang low for a few days. You have my cell when he’s ready to negotiate. Right. Later.”

Lucky hung up the cell phone, put it in his backpack, and made his way to the cashier. When he paid, he made a point of paying with a $50 and telling the waitress to keep the change. He walked out of the cafe, keenly aware of the other boy’s eyes on him the entire time.

Five minutes later, Juan walked out of the cafe and Lucky, who’d been waiting behind a corner, followed him. hoping to find Emily and get her out of whatever trouble she was in.

To Be Continued in Part Two