Dr. Charles Montgomery looked at his patient with sympathy. Emily Spencer had been through a lot. He hadn't asked, but he knew enough to realize that the scars that crisscrossed her back could only have gotten there one way. The gun shot wound to her chest also indicated a lot of trauma. Yet the woman herself had been cheerful, friendly, and smiling through a battery of tests that could try the sunniest of dispositions.

He wished he had better news.

"Mr. and Mrs. Spencer," he said into the silence that came after Emily had calmed down a little. "While I agree that the best course of treatment, and the one I would recommend would be to abort the fetus so that you could receive immediate treatment for the infection, I should perhaps clarify myself. It is not the only option. There are other choices."

"Letting my wife die so that my child can live is not what I consider an option," Lucky said harshly. "I love this child as much as I love our son, but my wife's health is of primary importance here."

"Lucky.." Emily protests.

"No, I'm afraid your husband is right. Your health is of the primary importance in this situation. Left untreated, your infection could spread, the heart muscle could rapidly deteriorate, and , pardon my bluntness, you could die and the child could die with you. At best, as the amount of oxygen in your blood lowers the amount of oxygen getting to the child is compromised. "

"Not doing anything is not one of those options I was talking about. The infection must be treated."

"What are our choices?"

“As I said, the first and the best option are the medicines that your doctors in Port Charles suggested. They are the most effective treatment we have. Unfortunately, the medicine would also seriously damage the fetus. The child could be born brain damaged, deformed, or even stillborn. That is why we recommend the pregnancy be terminated."

"However, there have been advances in the treatment of this particular strain of bacteria that your doctors have not been aware of."

Emily sat up. "Advances?"

Dr. Montgomery nodded. "Advances Mrs. Spencer. Not miracle cures. There are lot of risks to what I am about to suggest and not a lot of guarantees that it will work. But if your goal is to protect the fetus, it's the best option."

"The goal is to keep my wife alive," Lucky says flatly.

"I understand Mr. Spencer. If it were my wife in your situation, I can't imagine how you begin to make such a decision. Let me explain what I am proposing, I'll answer all of your questions, and then you can discuss it as a family and let me know."

"We have developed an alternative medicine. It isn't as effective as the first medicine, but it might slow down the rate of the infection to a crawl. There are side effects- mostly nausea, tiredness, insomnia, etc. In other words you won't feel very well for a long time."

"And slowing it down will do what....."

"Buy us some time. You are 13 weeks pregnant. A fetus can be viable outside the womb at 26 weeks. The advances in neonatal care in the last decade have been tremendous."

"So you give me the medicine, I don't get any sicker, we wait until the baby is born, and then I get the other medicine?” Emily can't keep the note of hopefulness out of her voice.

Dr. Montgomery shakes his head. "It isn't that easy or I would not be recommending that you terminate your pregnancy. There are some things that you need to think about. We can try to slow the infection down through this method, we can't stop it or reverse it. We're not even sure how successful we will be at slowing it. I can't promise you that either you or your fetus will survive this option. Plus any damage the infection has done may be permanent."

"If Emily goes through with this second option, what are the chances she and the baby will both make it?"

Dr. Montgomery pauses to consider. "This isn't Las Vegas, but if I had to set some odds I'd say maybe 30% for survival, 70% against."

"And if she terminates the pregnancy and receives the first treatment...?"

"100%. Except of course the fetus would not survive."

"We go for the first." Lucky says quietly.

"No," Emily says just as quietly. "We discuss it."

"I understand," the doctor says. “It’s an important decision. Ten years ago you wouldn't have any options with this kind of bacteria. But the military has done a lot of research into biological weapons and these manufactured bacteria strains in the last decade. Luckily the medical world has been able to benefit from that research. Which is a good thing when you consider that they've become the weapon of choice for many terrorist groups."

Lucky pales. "Did you say manufactured? As in man made?"

"I thought you knew that," Dr. Montgomery apologizes. "This bacteria could not have been transmitted or occurred naturally. It's very synthetic, although of course its mutated since it was originally transmitted. My guess is that sometime in the last ten years you were administered this bacteria deliberately and its been lying dormant in your system ever since. The fact that it's become active at the same time as your pregnancy is unfortunate. "

"Oh God," Emily whispers shakily images of lying unconscious in a medical exam room in Helena's compound filtering through her head. All these years of thinking she had escaped when there had been no escape. Helena had won.

"That bitch," Lucky swears as he and Emily both connect the dots at the same time. "That damned bitch. I swear I will kill her. I will strangle her with my own hands. I should have killed her six years ago. Hell, I should have killed her when we were teenagers." Lucky's anger explodes and he shoves the chair out of the way and storms out the door.

Emily makes a quick apology to the doctor and follows.

It takes her five minutes to find him sitting alone in a small waiting room. His face is in his hands and she knows from the quiet shaking of his shoulder that he is crying.

Emily approaches him softly. "Lucky?"

His eyes when he looks at her are devastated. She says nothing, simply moves next to him and leans against him, her arm circling him quietly.

"She did this to you," Lucky says in a cold whisper. "How can someone so evil exist in this world? I have never hated anyone as much as I hate Helena Cassadine."

"She did it to us," Emily says softly. "And I hate her too."

"I should have stopped her. When she came after you in Malibu I should have stopped her. I should never have let her take you. I should have done something. I should have kept you safe." He looks at her. "I failed you, Em. I am so sorry."

"Don't be. Please don't be. I'm not. I'm not sorry for one moment of it. You saved my son like I knew you would. And then you saved me. Physically. Emotionally. In every way. I love you Lucky Spencer."

"I can't lose you, Emily. I can't."

"Come on Spencer, You're giving up. We've faced tougher odds and come out okay."

Lucky turns to her urgently. "I think we should terminate the pregnancy. Give the doctor a chance to cure this damn thing Helena gave you. Then we can go on with the rest of our lives. There will be other children. And we'll always be a family. You me and Jonathan."

Emily closes her eyes and opens them filled with tears. "I can't. I really can't. I've thought about this and thought about this, but I can't. I can't sacrifice our child's life for anything. Not even my own."

"Em, you heard the doctor. There's no guarantees that this will work. You could be risking your life for no reason. I could lose both you and our child. I can't," Lucky took a deep breath fighting for a control he feels like he's rapidly losing. "You don't know what it's like to lose someone you love. After Liz died, I lost it. It was so hard. The only thing that made it better was falling in love with you. You are my soul and if you die the best thing about me dies with you. How do I get through that? How can you ask me to risk that?"

"Because I love you. Because you love me. Because our child deserves a chance."

"I'm scared."

"That makes two of us," Emily says softly. "Terrified. Petrified. Whatever word you want to use, that pretty much describes what's going on in my head."

"Then why? Let's just make sure that you are okay."

Emily shakes her head. "I can't explain it and I'm not sure if you will believe me, but something in me is telling me that everything will be okay. That this is what we need to do to."

"Emily...."

"No, listen to me please," Emily begs. "This is our child. Our child. She could grow up to be an astronaut on that proposed trip to Mars that they are always talking about. She could be a doctor like her grandparents and find a cure for AIDS. Or maybe she'll be a computer whiz like her father. She will be a part of you and a part of me so she can do and be anything."

"You think it's a girl?"

"Let's just say that you and Jonathan have me outnumbered so I'm hoping. And," she pauses briefly. "I can't help but think that somewhere my mother and Lila are watching out for our child. I need to do this. I need to give her a chance to live her dreams. To live."

"What about you? What about our dreams? What about our son?"

"My dreams? Oh, Lucky my dreams came true when you showed up in Alaska. You are my dream. These last six years with you have been my heaven. I'm 33 Lucky. I've had an incredible life. I've seen the best and the worst this world has to offer. I've fallen in love and had my heart broken. Then I got the chance to fall in love with you and to realize that love can be so much better than what I imagined it could be when I was fifteen. I've been blessed with a son who is absolutely incredible. I've been a Bowen, then a Quartermaine, and finally a Spencer. Do you know how fortunate that makes me? How can I deny my daughter the chance to find out how incredible those things are for herself? As for Jonathan, " Emily's voice catches despite herself. "I have to trust that I've given him enough love in my twelve years with him that he knows that I will always love him. I'm not leaving him alone. And if I have to leave him, then I'm leaving him with you, four incredible grandparents, and Nikolas." The last was said quietly.

The silence between them stretches out before Lucky finally sighs softly. "I've never been able to deny you a thing. I wish to hell that I could start now, but I can't. So we'll do this your way. On two conditions."

"Anything."

"First, I'm not giving up. So no more talk about good-byes or anything like that. We are going to fight this. The doctor said 30%. For a Spencer that's just about a sure thing. We'll follow the doctor's orders and I'll be by your side for every step. Every moment. "

"And the second?"

"That you remember that I love you."

"I don't think I could forgot." Emily let him hold her close. "I don't think I will ever forget."
Somewhere between Texas and Port Charles

Jason Morgan settled back into his leather seat as his private jet continued to make its way from Texas to Port Charles.

He hated this. Hated feeling like he felt. Frustrated. Anxious. Depressed. Lost. Where was his usual detachment? Where was the remote control that he usually put on his feelings?

He failed to find Katherine. He failed to find Helena. He had allowed Maxie to get hurt. And, the worst feeling of all, he had lost Maxie. Again. One weekend in New York. A few days in Texas. He shouldn't be missing her this much. She shouldn't be that important to him. But she was. God help him he didn't know how it had happened, but it had happened. For the second time in his life as Jason Morgan, he was in love. And for the second time he had lost that love.

He shifted uneasily. There was no choice. Bringing Maxie into his world would bring her into danger. Her job was to hunt down criminals like him. To ask her to share his life as long as he was in the mob would be to ask her to turn her back on everything she believed in. He had done that once with Robin and it had been disastrous. He wouldn't do it with Maxie.

No matter what the cost.

He just had to keep remembering that.

His phone rang and he picked it up.

"Morgan?"

"Jason, it's Lucky."

"Lucky." Jason could almost smile. "How are Emily and Jonathan?"

There is a pause.

"Lucky?" Jason can feel the tension in Lucky's voice.

"Jonathan is fine. He's in Port Charles with Alan and Monica."

"So why aren't you and my sister with him?"

"We're in New York. Emily is sick. We're here to see a specialist."

A sick feeling developed in Jason's stomach. "The baby."

"Kind of." A bitter tone crept into Lucky's voice. "It seems like Helena gave Emily a going away present six years ago. Some kind of man made bacteria that is starting to damage Emily's heart."

Jason's world tilted. "Is she...."

"We don't know. The doctor is giving her some experimental drugs that may or may not work."

Jason takes a deep breath. Thirteen years ago Emily disappeared from his life completely. Six years ago she came back and he had to let her go again. But it had been tolerable to let her go when he knew that somewhere she was happy with Lucky and Jonathan. To lose her permanently because of Helena Cassadine....

He closed his eyes. He wasn't ready to lose anyone else that he loved.

"What can I do?"

"Help me kill Helena Cassadine."

"No problem."
The Quartermaine Estate

Michael, Ruby, and Jonathan are upstairs in the room Jonathan is staying in.

Jonathan puts the old hard disk that Ruby and Jonathan stole from the warehouse into the computer and goes through the various layers of files.

"It took a while," he says to the other two "because the disk has been reused several times. Luckily there are ways of retrieving information on a disk even after its been reinitialized if you know what you are doing. I used one of my dad's programs to recreate the information. I wasn't able to recreate a complete version of the disk, but I did manage to come up with this."

He punches in a series of keys and commands and soon the screen is filled with information.

Ruby looks at it. "You've got to be kidding."

Michael whistles. "Is this what I think it is?"

Jonathan nods. "Yep."

Michael looks at Ruby. "What have you gotten us into now, Spencer?"

"She's given us a way to get rid of Helena Cassadine." Jonathan speaks up. "She's given us the key."

Michael shakes his head. "You expect us to be able to do what Luke and Jason and Nikolas and Lucky and everyone else we know has been unable to do? Bring down Helena Cassadine."

"With this? Yeah I think we can." Ruby says softly.

Jonathan looks at his older cousin. "You backing out?"

Michael shrugs and looks at Ruby. "I'm not sure who will kill me first- my father or my uncle, but I'm not letting the two of you do this on your own. Someone has to be there to keep you under control."

The three teens look at each other. "So where do we start?" asks Michael.

Ruby looks at the screen and then at the other two. "Wyndemere. We start at Wyndemere."

"I was afraid you were going to say that." Jonathan said. "So when do you want to start?"

"Not tonight. " Ruby said. "The parents are expecting me back. The only reason they let me out at all today was that they thought it was sweet of me to want to keep Jonathan company until Emily and Lucky get back later tonight."

"Tomorrow?"

"Yeah tomorrow."

The teens nodded solemnly.
New York

Helena Cassadine’s real age was a mystery among her loyal staff. When they speculated, not that they speculated that much about their boss, guesses ranged from 60 to 90. What they all agreed on was that no matter what her age chronologically, Helena Cassadine was as deadly in 2015 as she had ever been in her life. She held a firm control over most of the European branch of the Cassadine Empire and it was an Empire that continued to grow under her control.

What Helena Cassadine needed was someone to turn that Empire over to. A Cassadine Heir. She had found him, now she just needed to find a way to get him under her control.

Helena Cassadine stared with cold and determined eyes out onto the city below her. She knew what Katherine Bell wanted. Katherine saw herself as Helena’s successor. In many ways she was. But she lacked the one thing that Helena wanted in her heir. Cassadine blood. Helena would give Katherine what she wanted to a degree, it always paid to reward loyalty and over the last 15 years Katherine Bell had become a loyal soldier of the Cassadine clan. But the true power and wealth would resist with her heir. Jonathan Quartermaine Spencer.

She picked up a surveillance picture of young Jonathan with his cousin on the Quartermaine Estate. So easy to take him from there. So tempting. But the boy had spirit. Spencer spirit. He had escaped from them before. The next time they took him he would not escape. She would arrange so that he would not even want to escape.

Helena took a sip of the blood red wine in her grasp. She had time. She wasn’t ready to die yet. There was time for her to not only finally acquire the prize she had sought for so long, but to also revenge herself on her enemies in a way that they would never forget.

Her plan was simple. But then the best plans usually were. She would set brother against brother in a custody battle that would bring both sides pain and anguish, but which she would see to it that Nikolas won. She wanted Emily to lose everything she valued, beginning with the boy. And Lucky, if all went according to plan he would lose his family. Finally, there was Nikolas. She almost regretted what she had planned for him. Almost. He was her flesh, but he had betrayed her. She would give him what he thought he wanted. The boy at Wyndemere. Than she would come along and take Jonathan. Wyndemere was after all this time an open book as far as getting on and off the island. For all that he was a Cassadine, Nikolas had never really been a Cassadine.

That would soon cost him a son. And a daughter.

Because Helena had realized just how she would control Jonathan. Through his sister. Stephanie Cassadine was the key to getting Jonathan to obey. Once Helena arranged for both of his parents to die, Jonathan would do anything to protect his little sister. And anything was just what Helena wanted him to do.

She took a sip of the wine slowly as she savored the pleasures to come.
The plane between New York and Port Charles:

“We could have stayed another night,” Lucky looked at his wife with concern. They had spent the remainder of the day with the specialist learning the new protocol the doctor wanted Emily on. The doctor had agreed that Emily could receive her twice a week follow ups at GH, but there would have to be monthly visits back to his office in New York. Since they had gotten on the plane to come home, Emily had been pale and quiet.

Emily shook her head. “I want to be in my own home tonight. I want to sleep with you in our own bed.”

Lucky grinned. “Just sleep?”

Emily smiled that half smile that drove him crazy. “I suppose I’m open to other suggestions...that is if you can think of any.”

“I can think of a few.....” Lucky leaned over and kissed her , a slow gentle kiss that took her breath away even as it kindled a fire in her.

“You shouldn’t start something you can’t finish,” Emily whispers.

“Oh, I can finish it,” Lucky murmurs seductively. “If this was a longer flight I’d be glad to give you a personal demonstration.”

“Should I be relieved or upset that we are only twenty minutes from Port Charles?”

“Oh, I say upset....you’ll never know what you missed.”

“Never?”

“Okay, I ‘ll show you later.”

Emily grinned and settled next to her husband as they put the arm rest down. The first class seats were large and comfortable.

“So, what do you want to do tomorrow?”

“Won’t Jax expect you to put in some work now that he’s paying you the big bucks again.”

“Not a problem. I work for an hour or two and then I’m yours.”

“I thought you were always mine.”

“That was never in doubt. I was just thinking that you might like my company tomorrow as a driver and chauffeur when you go gallivanting around town.”

“I could always ask Reggie.”

“Hum but Reggie won’t make plans for an afternoon rendezvous at the Port Charles Hotel...”

“Excellent point, but I have a better idea for tomorrow.”

“Better than spending the afternoon making love, drinking champagne, and this...” Lucky’s voice trails off as he whispers softly in her ear.”

“All right,” Emily concedes shakily as she flushes beet red but manages to smile anyway, “maybe not a better idea but something I think we need to do. I want to take Jonathan to Wyndemere.”

Lucky backs away. “Did you just say that you want to take our son to Wyndemere?”

Emily nods. “For a visit. Just for a visit. To try to break the ice between Jonathan and Nikolas. If he sees that you and I and Nikolas are friends, maybe he’ll start to see Nikolas in a different light.”

“You want this? You want Nikolas to take our son?”

“Of course not. Nikolas can’t take Jonathan away from either one of us. Whatever happens, Jonathan will always see you as his father. As far as that boy is concerned you walk on water. But the truth is that Nikolas is his biological father and Nikolas has to have a role in Jonathan’s life. You know that as well as I do. We can’t keep Nikolas out of Jonathan’s life. We can’t pretend that he doesn’t exist. Look at what happened with Michael and AJ and Jason.”

“Michael was what- two or three when Jason gave him back to AJ. Jonathan is almost 13. He’s old enough to decide for himself if he wants to see his father. He doesn’t.”

“Because he loves you. Because he sees you as his father. Because to him in all the ways that count you are,” Emily sighs. She knows she’s right, she’s just not sure if she can convince Lucky. After everything they’ve been through today, this probably should have waited. She probably should have picked a better time and place to bring this up. It’s good to know that she hasn’t lost all of her Quartermaine traits being married to Lucky. “I’m not worried that Jonathan loves you Lucky. You are good, kind, honest, strong, and everything I want our son to be. What scares me is how much Jonathan hates Nikolas. When Nik came by the other day, I’ve never seen Jonathan that hostile. I don’t want my son growing up hating the man that fathered him. I don’t want hate to be a part of our son’s life at all. But he hates Nikolas. Some of it is because Nikolas is a Cassadine. Some of it is our fault.”

“Wait a minute. I have never said anything negative about Nikolas around Jonathan. You know that.”

“I know. But have we ever said anything positive about Nikolas? Nikolas is your brother. He was my best friend. We never talk about him in those terms. All Jonathan knows about Nikolas is that he’s Helena’s grandson. He’s wealthy. He’s powerful. And he’s a threat to his family. He doesn’t know about the Nikolas that saved your life when we were kids or the Nikolas who helped me through too many Quartermaine crisises to count. We’ve let Nikolas become the enemy. For Jonathan’s sake, we have to make peace with Nikolas. We have to try to work this out. Or between the three of us we will tear that boy apart.”

Lucky is silent for a moment. “You’re talking about being reasonable. I don’t think Nikolas is operating out of reason at the moment.”

“That’s why WE have to. We’re Jonathan’s parents, we have to put Jonathan first. A visit to Wyndemere is a good first step.”

For the second time that day, Lucky wishes he could tell Emily no. He wants nothing more than to grab Emily and Jonathan and run. But he can’t. If there is to be a chance in hell of Emily and the baby surviving, than he has to stay in Port Charles. He looks at her lovingly. Everything she has gone through and she still believes the best about people. She’s dying because of one woman’s evil, yet she still has faith. Lucky doesn’t think that Nikolas will live up to her faith. There was something too much Cassadine like in Nikolas’s eyes when he looked at Jonathan. Nikolas was not interested in sharing a piece of Jonathan. He wanted all of them. Yet Lucky also knew that in a way, Emily was right. Jonathan would only hurt himself if he continued to hate Nikolas. Hating one’s father, even one’s biological father, was something that tainted everything in your life. Lucky knew that first hand. He didn’t want his son learning the same lesson.

“All right. Tomorrow we’ll take Jonathan to Wyndemere.”

Emily nodded. “Thank you.”

Lucky touched her cheek gently. “I hope to God that you are right about Nikolas.”

When they exited the plane ten minutes later, Jonathan was waiting there for them. Emily smiled, opened her arms, and Jonathan ran into them.

“I missed you.”

“Not half as much as I missed you,” Emily looks around the terminal. She spots Jason’s guards but doesn’t spot any family members. “Where are your grandparents?”

“Which ones?” Jonathan grins. He turns to Lucky. “Your parents are in the tobacco shop trying to buy some duty free cigars for Luke. No, I amend that. Luke is trying to buy the cigars, Grandmother is trying to stop him. Last I heard they were arguing back and forth.” He turns to Emily. “Your parents getting coffee at the Starbucks. Don’t worry, I haven’t gone anywhere without the Walrus and the Carpenter.” He motions to the guards.

“Who?”

“Walrus and the Carpenter. Ruby calls her guards Twiddle Dee and Twiddle Dum so I named mine Walrus and Carpenter.”

“So you and Ruby are getting along?”

“Not if we don’t have to. But since we share a cousin and Michael won’t put up with fighting between us, we pretty much have to when he’s around at least.” Jonathan pauses and then asks the question he’s been dreading. “What did the doctor say?”

At that moment they are joined by both sets of grandparents. Lucky looks around at their concerned faces, then Emily’s wan one. He shakes his head.

“Not tonight. Emily is exhausted and so am I. Tomorrow we’ll give you a full report.”

Before anyone can respond, a voice interrupts them.

“Emily Spencer?”

Emily turns. “Yes?”

The speaker is a young man in his mid-twenties. “This is a court order signed by Judge Townsend ordering you to surrender custody of the minor child Jonathan Quartermaine to his father Nikolas Cassadine pending a permanent custody decision by the family courts. You have 24 hours to give the child over to his father.”

The words echo in Emily’s head as a dull pain overtakes her and the world grows suddenly darker.

Lucky barely catches Emily before she collapses. And as a frantic Alan and Monica confirm that she’s only fainted, Lucky gently holds her head and silently vows that this is a battle Nikolas won’t win.

Unnoticed by all of the adults, Jonathan stands silently, already plotting how he will escape from the clutches of another Cassadine. No matter what the cost.