Prologue

He didn’t wait for the cab to stop as it pulled up outside the townhouse. Instead, grabbing the small leather duffel bag he took everywhere, Lucky Spencer made a graceful leap out of the cab and a rapid half jog/half run up the small flight of stairs.

His blue eyes darkened with an undefinable emotion, Lucky nodded to the tall and silent man at the door.

“How is she?”

Jason Quartermaine shook his head softly. “Not too good. She hasn’t said a word since we got the news. I’m glad you’re here.”

“There is no place I could be right now. I just wish I could have been here sooner,” Lucky said softly. “Where is she?”

“She’s with Brenda and your mom in the bedroom.”

Lucky nodded.

With a sense of command that normally drew the eye of even the most casual of passer bys, Lucky walked through the living room, barely stopping to acknowledge the quiet greetings of Sonny and Karen as he did so. In the hall outside the bedroom, he stopped short when he saw Scott leaning against the wall, a worried expression on his face.

“Scott.” Lucky greeted his stepfather in a neutral tone, he’d long since come to terms with the fact that his parents were no longer married, but because his job had been based in Europe these last few years his actual encounters with his stepfather had been few and far between.

Scott Baldwin looked at the young man. Just over 21, Lucky Spencer had a maturity that belied his youth. But then he always had Scott supposed.

“I’m glad you’re home.”

“Me too.” Lucky replied softly. “How’s Lulu?”

“Lucy and Kevin took her and Serena to the park. She doesn’t quite understand what’s going on and it’s so hard to explain....”

“It’s okay.” Lucky’s voice was scratchy. “I’m sure you’ll take care of her. I’m sure you’ll take care of both of them.”

“Always.”

Lucky nodded as he turned towards the closed door. His mom had Scott, but she had no one now. Except him. He would be there for her for as long as she needed him. He’d spoken the truth to Jason. There was no place he could be at this moment. The moment the call from Sonny had come, he had known he was coming home.

He knocked softly on the door and when there was no reply he opened it.

He saw her immediately, sitting on the corner of the floor, her head on Brenda’s shoulder in a gesture of despondency that tore at him. How many times had he seen her like this? How often had she been hurt in her life? Too many. Too often. God, Lucky thought bleakly, how much could she endure before she broke. Why her? Why him? They’d been through hell for each other and now this. It wasn’t fair.

She looked up when she saw him, her brown eyes so filled with pain that he barely noticed the spark of recognition, the almost involuntary leap of joy that filled them when she saw him.

“Lucky!” Almost immediately she removed herself from Brenda’s embrace and flew across the room.

Lucky held her as she buried herself tightly against him, his arms tightened around her as he felt her begin to shudder.

He’d forgotten how good she felt in his arms.

She looked up at him and closed her eyes to hold back the tears before opening them again, the tears still there.

“He’s gone.” Her voice was so sad and so lost that it kindled an almost physical pain in him to see her hurting so.

“I know,” he said not knowing what else to say.

“It hurts.”

His hand gently brushed the long strands of chestnut brown hair. “It’s okay. I’m here and I’m not leaving.” He tilted her chin up and forced her to look at him. “We’re going to make it through this together.”

For the first time since the call had come that Nikolas’s plane had gone down over the Atlantic, Emily Cassadine cried.

Hours later

Lucky watched her as she sat on her knees by the fire, she’d stopped crying an hour or so ago but her silence worried him in ways that her crying never could.

Emily was so used to keeping things locked away inside her that he had a feeling that no one would ever know how badly she was hurting. He saw her shiver and gently took the wool throw that lay on the leather couch and placed it around her shoulder as he handed her a cup of tea. He’d put a mild sedative in the tea that Karen had given him to help her sleep.

“I should help your mother with the arrangements.” Her voice was emotionless as she drank the tea.

“Not now. All of that can wait until tomorrow.”

“There should be lots of flowers. Especially roses. Nikolas loved roses, whether they were the ones on Wyndemere or the ones in Lila’s garden at the mansion. In the spring he was going to put some on the balcony so......” With a suddenness that took Lucky by surprise, Emily picked up the cup of tea and threw it in the fireplace so hard that it shattered against the brick. “It’s not fair. Dammit it’s not fair. He was only 24. We’d only been married less than a year. I love him. I need him. He’s not supposed to die. He promised me we’d always be together. Always.” She started to cry, harsh racking sobs that tore at him.

“Emily....shhhh.” He reached for her and gently pulled her away from the broken pieces of porcelain. “He loved you. You have to remember that. Nikolas loved you more than anything. That kind of love doesn’t ever die.” He drew a deep breath. “Talk to me Em.” He lead her to the couch and sat down, settling her next to him. “Let me help.”

He could feel her shake her head. “No one can help.”

He closes his eyes as her words bring him back in time five years to a house on Cape Cod and the silver glint of a knife. He’d been so close to losing her then. He knew instinctively that Emily was on that kind of edge again and once again he would have to pull her back.

Only this time he was on his own. God, Nik wherever you are I could use your help. She could use your help.

“Did I ever thank you for giving me my brother?” He blurted the words out.

She turned to look at him, a puzzled expression momentarily replacing the sadness.

“Nikolas loved you Lucky.”

“Yeah he did. And I loved him.” For a second, Lucky lets himself feel his own loss before he brushes his pain away to take care of hers. “But before you came back to Port Charles we pretty much settled into this armed truce. There was nothing remotely brotherly like in our relationship. We were on our way to carrying on the next generation of Spencer-Cassadine feud. But then you came along and all that changed. Suddenly I was spending time with Nik getting to know him...”

“Spending the night in jail with him.”

“That too,” Lucky grinned at the memory. “And then our time in Cape Cod trying to keep you safe from.....” His voice trailed off as he hesitated.

“My father.” Emily finished for him softly. “It’s okay, Lucky. I’m never going to be able to forget what my father did to me and what he did to those other girls, but I’m learning to deal with it thanks to Nik.” She hesitated. “But now Nik’s gone and ....” She stopped. “It hurts so much. And you want to know the worst part? The worst part is that I keep waiting for Nik to walk through that door and make everything better like he always does and he won’t. Ever. So things aren’t ever going to get better.”

“Em...” He searched for the right thing to say but in the end he said all there was to say. “Nikolas loved you more than anything and that love, that love is still here with you and it will be with you always. Love doesn’t die.” He gently wiped a tear with his thumb. “It’s going to take time, but I swear to you Emily that someday it isn’t going to hurt as badly as it does at this moment.”

“I hope you’re right....” Emily’s voice trails off softly as her eyes start to drift close. “I love Nikolas.”

“Me too.”

“Lucky?”

“Yeah.”

“Promise me you won’t ever leave me.”

He expelled a deep breath knowing that she didn’t mean as he wanted her to mean it, but knowing that his answer would still be the same.

“I’ll never leave you Emily. Never.”

“Love you, Lucky,” she murmured as she drifted off to sleep.

“I love you too Em.” He waited until he was sure that she was asleep before continuing.. “And I always have.”

In a dark room somewhere a young man with brown hair and brown eyes began to stir. “Emily?” he whispered before he sank back into unconsciousness.