Nikolas Cassadine made his way nervously up the pathway leading to the stairs and the front door. What did you say to a brother who just came back from the dead? He flinched when he remembered his last conversation with Lucky. How many times in the last 72 hours had he wished for a chance to take back what he said? To get past this situation with Jonathan and find the brother he had once loved? Still loved underneath all the layers of resentment for keeping the knowledge that he had a son a secret. The explosion of the launch had shown him once and for all just how deadly his grandmother could be so maybe he was more capable today of understanding the why behind Lucky and Emily’s actions but he still didn’t like the result. His son was a stranger to him. But was tearing Jonathan away from his family the answer?

Hesitantly, Nikolas rang the doorbell and after a minute or so, it opened. “How?” Nikolas asks staring at his amazing in one piece brother.

“Pure luck or fate or whatever you want to call it.” Lucky shrugs as he closes the door, stopping for a moment to check with a practiced eye the location of the guards Jason has stationed throughout the estate. “I saw the bomb before it went off and I dived. The force of the blast knocked me out but luckily I came ashore down river. There wasn’t time to warn your launch captain.”

“ But they searched for you up and down the river.”

“I had no idea what was happening and who exactly was looking. I didn’t know if the attack against the launch was just a diversion for Helena to grab Jonathan. I knew that I wasn’t the target. I wasn’t even supposed to be on that launch. So I laid low until I made my way home.”

Briefly Lucky fills his brother in on their New York adventure.

“Jesus.” Nikolas shakes his head. “Emily went after Helena and Jonathan went to try to rescue her. She had to know that the odds were against her and Jonathan ...I can’t believe that he’d do something that crazy.”

Lucky found himself looking at his brother with something akin to sympathy. He pours Nikolas a cup of coffee and sits down across from him at the kitchen table. “You still don’t get it, do you Nikolas?” The words are free of bitterness and Lucky almost smiles at his perplexed brother. “The plain and simple truth is that Emily would do anything and I do mean anything to protect that boy and the feeling is very mutual. You keep forgetting that for the first six years of his life, those two only had each other. The bond between them runs deep, deeper than just a bond between mother and son. Jonathan would face a thousand Helena’s if it meant rescuing his mother and Emily, hell Emily didn’t let the fact that she’s facing a life threatening illness and is five months pregnant stop her from rescuing her son.” Lucky looks at his brother. “I guess we never told you about what happened in Malibu when Helena found us six years ago.” Lucky’s eyes fill with an anguish that hurts Nikolas just to see, he can’t imagine what it’s like to feel what Lucky feels as he remembers. “Emily was barely recovered from the gunshot wounds that almost killed her and we were hiding out at Jax’s house in Malibu. Helena and her man showed up. They had a gun on me before I could do anything. Emily was....Emily was awesome. She held her own against Helena, didn’t let the fact that Helena had her goons surrounding the place phase her one bit. She picked up a knife from the kitchen..”

“She tried to kill Helena?”

Lucky shakes her head. “No, she threatened to kill herself if Helena didn’t let me go. She knew that if she was dead, there was no way Helena would find Jonathan. Helena knew it too. Emily agreed to go with her, if she let me live. Emily knew that the only chance Jonathan had was if I got to him first. Em knew that if she went with Helena she would be tortured until she broke down. Your grandmother is good at torture...what she did to Emily...God I could kill her with my bare hands today. So Emily bargained for my life in the hope that I would save her son. Even managed to give me a clue right there in front of Helena. I can still remember how helpless I felt when Emily agreed to Helena’s demands.”

“But you found Jonathan?”

“Yeah, I did. And you know the first thing he asked me? Was his mother okay? Hell, the boy was six years old but he sneaked on board the plane we took to Mexico to rescue Emily because he wanted to save his mother.” Lucky sighs. “Look, I’m not telling you this to make you feel guilty about what your grandmother put them through or to scare you or anything like that. You just have to know what I realized six years ago. Jonathan and Emily are connected in ways you and I can’t fully understand. You take Jonathan away from his mother, especially right now with Emily pregnant and sick, and he will hate you for the rest of your life.”

“He’s my son. I deserve the chance to get...”

“Dad,” Jonathan yells as he skips down the stairs. “If I take two or even three of Uncle Jason’s men with me can I go into town and rescue Ruby from Spook Island where Nikolas is holding her..........” Jonathan finally realizes his dad has company. “Prisoner.”

Jonathan pales as he looks from Nikolas to his dad and back again. He shakes his head in protest. “I’m not going with you. I’m not.” He turns to his dad. “Don’t let him take me. At least not till Mom gets back from the hospital with Grandma. Please.”

“Emily went to the hospital?” Nikolas asks, hating the fear that is in his son’s eyes.

Lucky nodded. To Nikolas. “Monica took her in for some tests. They should be back in an hour or so. I wanted to go with them, but Emily insisted I stay here so you and I could talk.” Then he turned to his son. “First off, I doubt Nikolas is holding Ruby prisoner so you don’t need to rescue her. My guess is she’s grounded for what she did something that’s probably in your future as soon as your mother and I get the chance to sit down and discuss what you did. Second,” He softened his tone and smiled at his son. “Nikolas is here because I asked him to come. To talk. That’s all.”

Jonathan smiles at his father’s words.

“Don’t you have something to say to Nikolas?”

Jonathan frowns . “All right. Good morning Nikolas.” He walks into the kitchen and looks back over at his dad. “Any breakfast?”

“Are you cooking?” Lucky responds. “I think I saw some bagels and yogurt in the refrigerator. Maybe some cereal.”

Jonathan shakes his head. “No cereal. Not if Mom is still on that health food kick and outlawing Fruit Loops.”

“She is. But check the top cupboard.”

“Yes!” He glances at his dad. “Our secret, right?”

“If you want it to be there tomorrow morning.”

“Do you think its the Quartermaine or the Spencer side that makes it so easy for me to keep secrets?” Jonathan muses.

Lucky smiles. “Neither. I think that’s strictly a Cassadine trait.”

Jonathan shrugs. “Probably.” And taking the bowl of cereal with him, he heads back upstairs.

Nikolas watches him leave with amazement. “That’s the first time I’ve ever heard him calmly accept that he’s my son.”

“That’s what I’m trying to tell you, Nikolas. You and Jonathan could have a great relationship. Maybe not the one you would have had if you knew about him from day one, but a relationship none the less. But when you take him from his mother, all you do is make him resent you. Teenagers today are really good at resentment.”

Nikolas reviews the last 24 hours with Ruby and nods.

“Look, we said no major discussions about Jonathan until this mess with Helena is settled so won’t discuss it anymore. When this situation with Helena is over, if you want to enforce the court decision, I can’t stop you but Emily and I will fight you in court. And while one of us will win, in the end everyone loses. Just remember when Jason and AJ fought over Michael and how messy that got.” Lucky pauses. “I think we’d all like to avoid that, so just think about it.”

Nikolas nods. “So what’s your plan for taking care of Helena?”

“First, tell me what you’ve done about Helena being a fraud and then I’ll tell you my plan.”

GH
Office of Chief of Staff

Emily looks at her mother in shock. “You have to be wrong.”

Monica bit back her own tears as she looked at her daughter. “Em, I’m sorry. I ran the tests over and over. I followed the procedure your specialist from New York faxed over.” Monica paused. “But you’re right. Maybe I did something wrong or made a mistake. Let me call Edward and he can arrange the ELQ jet and you and I will go to New York to see the specialist in person.”

“No. I’m not leaving Lucky and Jonathan. I’m not. I’m not. I’m not.” Emily repeats the words over and over again as she sinks to her knees in complete and total despair. “Why? Why don’t I get a happy ending? What did I do to deserve this?”

“Em. No. This isn’t your fault. You didn’t do anything wrong,” Monica dropped to her knees next to her daughter. “You’re not alone. You’ve got a husband who loves you although I admit that I’m still in shock that he’s alive. Let me call him.”

“No....Lucky has other things, more important things, to worry about this morning.”

“More important than your health.”

Emily closes her eyes briefly. “Yes.”

Monica studies her daughter. “All right. I just hope you know what you are doing.”

“Me too.” Emily stands shakily and sits back in the chair as her mother resumes her position on the other side of the desk. She tries to focus on the information she needs, leaving aside if possible the depth of the emotions she feels. “How bad is it? The truth. All of it. Please.”

“All right.” Monica begins. “First you have to understand that the artificial virus Helena infected you with is a huge unknown here, especially in the mutated form that it seems to have developed in you. The medicine the specialist has you on should have slowed down or even stopped the virus. According to the tests we ran this morning, the damage to your heart has increased. You’re getting to the point where if we don’t administer the medicine you really need, it might be too late. We don’t know if the damage will ever reverse itself.”

“But that medicine will kill the baby.”

Monica nods. “Or leave it deformed.”

“That’s not an option.”

“You might not have a choice. Dead women do not have babies either.” Monica says bluntly.

“Damned if I do, Damned if I don’t?”

“I hate to say it, but yes.”

“All right. If I don’t take the medicine, how much longer do I have?”

Monica never imagined having this conversation and the pain of it nearly threatens to overwhelm her professionalism.

“Mom? I need you on this. We need you.”

“Truth?” Emily nods. “I don’t know. As I said the virus is mutating and I don’t know if that means its going to slow down or speed up. You might be fine for months or you might be dead next week.”

“Ouch. That’s blunt.” Emily winces.

“Emily, I know how you feel about this baby, but maybe its time to put your health first. We can deliver your baby now and...”

“Watch her die.” Emily looks at her mother. “Don’t you think I’ve been thinking about this since I found out. Three more weeks. I need to carry this child for three more weeks to give her the best shot at making it. Even then she’ll be three months premature and things will be touch and go. But she’ll have a shot. If she’s born today, she has none.”

“But if you wait three weeks you might not have a chance.”

“I know. But its my child we’re talking about. There was never any question of what my choice would be.” Emily bit back a wave of tears that threatened to engulf her.

“What about Lucky? Doesn’t your husband have a say in this?”

“Do you think I like this? Do you think I want to die? My god Mom I’m only 33. I have a 12 year old son, don’t you think I want to watch him grow up. And this child? I want nothing more than to hold this child in my arms. Lucky’s child. Do you know how badly and for how long I’ve wanted to give him a child of his own? It isn’t fair dammit. It isn’t.” Emily picks up a crystal paperweight from her mother’s desk and throws it across the room. She gets a savage satisfaction out of watching it shatter before she looks at her mother. “It isn’t fair.” She finishes weakly as she finds herself enfolded in her mother’s embrace.

“No, it isn’t,” Monica agrees softly as she holds her daughter and tries to comfort her tears.

The big house in the woods
10:30 am

This time it’s Lucky’s turn to look at his brother in amazement.. “You went to Luke for help?”

Nikolas shrugged. “He is my stepfather and he does know more about Helena than anyone.”

“True. But still....” Lucky smirked and Nikolas growled. The two of them had been talking easily for the last hour or so, Nikolas telling Lucky about Luke and Laura managing to find a lock of the real Helena’s hair. It was amazing to both of them how once they had decided to put aside Jonathan for the moment, it was easy for them to talk and act like the brothers they were.

“So we have a sample of the real Helena’s DNA. How do we go about getting the fake’s?” Lucky asks.

“GH should have something on file from when she had her stroke.”

“You mean when your father poisoned his own mother?”

“Your father arranged for her to fall of the parapet.” Nikolas countered.

Lucky sighed. “And wouldn’t life be simpler for all of us if one of them had actually succeeded?”

“Stop dreaming Spencer and focus on what we need to do now. Killing her would be nice but she doesn’t seem to be willing to stay dead. So removing her from her base of power sounds like a plan to me.”

“I wonder how long DNA testing takes these days?” There is a knock on the door and Lucky smiles. “Here comes someone with all of the answers.”

A minute later Nikolas hears a voice that makes him smile. “You have no idea how hard it is to sneak away from the house of a police commissioner and a private investigator,” Maxie shook her head. “Especially after my dad called and filled them in our little escapade in New York. Honestly, so I had to machine gun down a few guards, blow up a building, and dangle on the end of a rope hanging from an airplane across half of New York City. Is that any reason for parents to be over protective? I swear it took repeated reminders that I’m 27 and a police detective in my own right before he let me go. Still, it wouldn’t surprise me if there was a police car following me around town.”

Maxie stops when she sees Nikolas and a smile crosses her face. “Nikolas. You look happier than the last time I saw you. I guess having a brother come back from the dead must make you happy. How surprised were you?”

“Surprised? Really Maxie.” Nikolas deadpans. “This is Port Charles. People come back from the dead all the time.”

Maxie laughs and pulls up the chair next to Nikolas. “All right, Spencer. Do we finally get to hear your great plan? Or do Emily and I have to take things into our own hands again?”

“Not this time. This plan will work. I’m just waiting for a few more people. We’ll fill Luke and Laura in when they get back this evening.” The doorbell sounded. “You guys excuse me while I get that.”

Nikolas nodded and turned to Maxie. “So I understand that I owe you for saving my son a second time. Can I talk you into dinner at Wyndemere? Stephanie would love to see you again.”

Maxie looked into Nikolas’s brown eyes and found herself wishing that they were blue. It was so hard to remember that before she left for New York she had been excited about dating Nikolas Cassadine. So much had changed in New York. So much had stayed the same. Nikolas wasn’t Jason. But he was a nice guy and she enjoyed his company. Maybe he’d help her forget about Jason for a little while at least.

“I’d love to,” she began and then instinctively looked up to find Jason looking at her. Her smile faltered only momentarily. Jason frowned and resisted the urge to pulverize Cassadine. “Dinner would be lovely Nikolas,” Maxie said.

Lucky looked from Jason to Maxie to Nikolas and shrugged. “I hate to interrupt your social plans Nik but we need to discuss how to get rid of Helena.”

“Not without me,” A voice piped in as Jonathan came back down the stairs.

Lucky glared at his son who simply smiled. “You know I’ll find out sooner or later. It’s called cutting out the middle man.”

Lucky turned to Nikolas. “Just how much time did he spend with Ruby when he was staying at Wyndemere?”

“Apparently too much” Nikolas responded in a stage whisper.

Jonathan looked around in surprise. “Mom isn’t back yet?”

Lucky looked at the clock and then at his son. He’d been trying not to notice that Emily was overdue.

“Where is she?” Jason asked.

“She went in for some tests this morning with Monica. Monica had a surgery scheduled for noon so Emily went in before 6 this morning. She should be home by now. I’ll give her a few more minutes before I call the hospital.”

“Why do you Spencers always do things the hard way.” Jason took out his cell phone. “Where is Emily at this moment? Fine. Thanks. No everything is okay.” He disconnects the call and turns back to Lucky. “She’s on her way home.”

“Wow.” Jonathan looks at Jason. “Do you know everything I do too?”

“Everything.” Jason smiles at his nephew who gulped. Maxie and Lucky and Nikolas exchanged glances and then burst out laughing.

“Don’t sweat it,” Nikolas tells his son. “Just ask your mom for some tips on how to slip past bodyguards. Between the Quartermaines and Jason, she definitely had a lot of practice in high school.”

“And you never tried to lose the guards Stefan put on you?” Lucky mocked.

“You know, I never considered growing up in the Scorpio-Jones household as a normal childhood, but you guys are definitely making me reconsider. Somehow having your dad send a police car to Inspiration Point looking for you seems somehow mild in comparison.”

“Wait a minute,” Nikolas protests. “Port Charles has an Inspiration Point? How come nobody ever told me?”

Lucky laughs. “Let me see....The only girl you really dated in high school was Sarah and somehow I can’t see her taking you to the point.”

“Nikolas and Sarah at Inspiration Point? When did that happen?” Emily put her keys and purse down on the kitchen counter and came over to join the group. “And not that I mind discussing old times, but I thought you guys were planning Helena’s demise.”

Emily wrapped her arms around Lucky from behind and gave him a kiss and smiled over at her son.

“How are you?” Lucky’s voice is filled with concern as he returns her kiss.

“I’m fine,” Emily says quietly.

Lucky looks at her softly. Something is wrong. “What did Monica say?’

“She said that she wouldn’t tell anyone you were still alive but she’s not sure she’s going to forgive you for the shock of having the door opened for her by a dead man.” Emily quipped and Lucky’s eyes narrowed as he realized she was changing the subject. He let it go for the moment.

“So what’s the plan? Something painful I hope?” Emily asks.

“How about painfully humiliating?” Lucky offers.

“Not as good as I’d like but I’ll take it as long as it removes her from being a threat.” Emily says. “So what’s the first step.”

“Helena Cassadine is a fraud. We all know that. And according to Nikolas and Cassadine Family Law, Helena or Maria will lose her source of power once the truth comes out.”

Maxie turned to Nikolas. “The Cassadine Family has its own law? Does that make you a law unto yourself.”

“It makes him an egotist, that’s all,” Lucky replies for his brother before continuing. “What we need to do is to expose the truth to the world in the most public of settings and in such a way that Helena cannot refute it. We need evidence that cannot be refuted.”

“Which we have once the DNA results are in.” Nikolas points out.

“Which just leaves us with the where?” Maxie asks. “And how do we get Helena there. I’m sure she’s going to be twice as careful as before. Not to mention that she will be out for revenge for the redecorating job we did on her apartment.”

“Name me one event that you know for a fact that Helena would attend no matter what.”

Emily looked up and smiled. “That one is easy. Luke’s funeral. Helena would move heaven and earth to be there to watch them bury your father. For that matter she would probably show up at my funeral too.”

“Unfortunately for her but very fortunately for me, neither you nor my dad are dead at the moment. However.....”

“You are.” Jonathan’s eyes light up. “She’ll come to the funeral. You know she will. Especially if mom and I are there. She’ll want to at least gloat.”

“Wouldn’t she be afraid that you would arrest her for kidnapping Jonathan?” Nikolas asked.

“Not Helena. She won’t expect Emily to make a move like that and Emily wouldn’t. The police, no offense Maxie, but the police have never been good at holding Helena and Emily wouldn’t turn to them. Helena knows that.”

“So we get to bury you and I get to play the part of the grieving widow,” Emily attempts a smile to hide the unease all of this talk of funerals is causing her. “How do we make it a public enough place.”

“Actually, you gave me the idea.” Lucky smiles even as he notes his wife’s paleness. “We’ll put the whole memorial service on the internet.”

“Wait a minute,” Emily sputters. “I was just kidding.”

“I’m not. A funeral on the net has the potential of being seen by millions if not billions. Every would be Cassadine out there can tune in and watch Helena admit that she’s a fraud. All digitally recorded for future generations.”

“What makes you sure people will be interested? Other than the Spencer ego?” Nikolas asks.

“We’ll hold it at Wyndemere. The funeral of the half brother of Prince Nikolas held at Wyndemere otherwise known as Spook Island. People will eat it up. The tabloids will dredge it all up again- my father’s colorful history, your arrival in Port Charles, all of it will be used to sell this story. My guess is that by the time my memorial service arrives, I’ll be this kind of tragic figure like Romeo or something.”

“More like Hamlet” Maxie whispers to Emily who nods and giggles.

“You laugh,” Lucky raises an eyebrow. “But you forget I know somebody who can write the kind of story that will guarantee that the whole world tunes into my memorial service.”

“No way. Do you honestly think Sly Eckert is going to go from writing gut wrenching pieces about the suffering in Eastern Europe to writing fluff pieces about you.”

“Hey- I’m his favorite cousin and you are his favorite childhood sweetheart. After all, you did give him your first kiss.”

Emily blushed. “I was ten. He bought me a bunch of roses.”

“Cut from Lila’s rosebushes. Remember how angry the gardener was..”

Emily shudders. “Please don’t remind me.”

“Children,” Jason interrupts with a frown that causes Maxie to giggle. “I hate to interrupt this stroll down memory lane, but we have a few more details to work out. Like who should know Lucky is alive?”

“Just the people in this room. Monica because she knows. Luke and Laura “

Nikolas hesitates. “I hate to pretend with Lulu and Ruby.”

“It’s only for a week or so,” Maxie puts a consoling hand on Nikolas’s, a gesture that makes Jason clench his teeth. “I’m assuming we’re moving fast, a few days to get the DNA results and to set up some contingency plans.” Maxie looks at the calendar on the wall. “Does anyone have any plans for next Saturday?”

“But how do we get Helena to confess? She isn’t going to just walk up and tell the world she’s a fake and a murderer to boot.” Jonathan asks.

“No...she won’t tell the world, but she might tell a ghost.”

Jonathan smiles. “So is this streak of deviousness in me from the Quartermaines or the Spencers or the Cassadines?”

Nikolas and Emily and Lucky look at each other.

“All three,” they answer simultaneously.