Emily smiled as she stood on the docks and watched the harbor below. Despite the fact that it was mid-September, New York was enjoying an Indian Summer so the morning was warm and welcoming. She felt relaxed and happy and it showed in the lightness of her step and the sparkle in her eyes.

If the summer had been one long nightmare, the fall was turning into paradise. Whether it was because it was her senior year or just an incredible run of luck she wasn’t quite sure, but she actually liked all of her teachers and her classes. She’d even gone to the football game with a few friends from school last week. Of course Cupid and Strife had tagged along in the crowd, which would have been harmless if they hadn’t mentally subjected her to a running comparison between football players and the gladiators of Ancient Rome.

She’d gotten even of course. A few casual comments to the most gossipy girls in her class letting them know that Cupid was a Hollywood agent scouting for his next movie and Strife his fashionably gay lover, had left the two of them too busy hiding from screaming teenage girls to bother her.

The bottom line was that for the first time since she had started high school, Emily actually looked forward to going each day.

And the rest of her life? Well, every evening at the mansion was like an adventure in godsitting. Strife would cause problems, Cupid would make them worse trying to fix them, and Emily would watch the nuclear fallout in fascination. It was better than watching Susan tell Kelly off on the Survivor Finale.

As for her friends? Well, she finally felt like she had them back in her life again and it was a blast. She saw Nikolas a lot; they went horseback riding and to an exhibit at the museum. The only down side was that wherever Nikolas went, Gia seemed to tag along like an appendage.

She didn’t see as much of Lucky, but for once she knew that that was because he had a new job working for Mac Scorpio at the Outback and not because he had forgotten that she existed.

And the best part of all was when she and Strife and Cupid would sneak out to the Rose Garden in the middle of the night and they would spend hours telling her about Olympus and even more importantly about her father.

Ares. It was still hard to believe that a not so mythological after all God of War was her father.

But it was pretty neat all the same.

“A penny for your thoughts?” She heard the voice before and turned with a smile.

She raised an eyebrow loftily. “Just a penny?”

Nikolas shook his head and smiled. “I suppose when you put it that way I’m open to negotiations.” He grinned and for just a second Emily felt her heart falter, before she forced herself to remember. Little sister. Gia. Back to earth again.“ How about I treat you to breakfast at Kelly’s?” He paused. “I was suppose to meet Gia but she’s apparently running late.”

“Kelly’s? I don’t know.” She shook her head playfully. “I was thinking more along the lines of the PC Grill.”

“You’re pretty sure of yourself, aren’t you?” Nikolas grinned at her. “If this keeps up the rest of us will be making an appointment to visit you at your temple on Mt. Olympus.”

“What?” Emily whirled around and stared at Nikolas in shock.

“It was a joke. You know-Olympus home of ancient Gods and Quartermaines whose egos are ...” Nikolas sighed. “Forget it. They probably don’t even teach you anything about Greek mythology in American public schools anyway.”

“You know a lot about Greek mythology?” Emily asked him, trying to make her curiosity as nonchalant as she could get it.

“Hello? Greek tutors? Private tutors nonetheless.” Nikolas grimaced slightly. “ I think I read the Odyssey when other kids were reading Horton Hears A Who.”

“Really.” Emily paused for effect make it seem like a casual question wait a minute and then another and “What do you know about Ares?”

“Not much other than...” He stopped and looked at her closely his mind racing. Ares? Wasn’t that who Lucky had wanted to know about on that day he insisted that Emily had disappeared into thin air. Of course Emily hadn’t disappeared but Lucky had been so sure of what he had seen that....

Wait a minute. This is Lucky we’re talking about. Hair so out of style I’m not sure it was ever in. Vocabulary severely limited, although he’s developed several meaningful stares that can be easily interpreted. Thinks Elizabeth Webber is beautiful.

Wait a minute again. Not so long ago you thought Elizabeth Webber was beautiful.

Right. It must be some of kind inherited insanity. Another black mark against his mother to discuss with a therapist when he went through his premature mid-life crisis in a few years, just about the time he took over as the “Prince.”

“Nikolas?” Emily’s quiet voice snapped his attention back from the voices in his head that sounded vaguely like Helena and Stefan arguing, to the much more pleasant sight of her shining eyes.

Funny how he had never before noticed that Emily’s eyes shone.

“Nikolas?” Emily hesitated, his stillness was unnerving her. It reminded her of...nope better to not think of what it reminded her of.

“Sorry. I guess I was daydreaming for a second. What did you ask?”

“I...never mind. It wasn’t that important.”

“If you say so.” He smiled at her. Oh yeah he could see sparkles in them if he looked closely enough. And suddenly that was all he wanted to do, look closely enough. “You never did answer me about Kelly’s?” He gave her his most charming grin.

“I...” Emily hesitated. She really wanted to say yes but at the same time....she shook her head. “I wouldn’t want to intrude on you and Gia.”

Nikolas checked his watch. “I don’t think you will be. It appears that Gia has stood me up.” He sighed melodramatically. “Now don’t you feel the tiniest obligation to help me repair my broken heart.”

“Nope.” Emily grinned. “But I will let you have the honor of buying me breakfast.”

“Consider it a deal.” And Nikolas grinned hugely as he escorted her across the docks.

Forty five minutes later, Emily and Nikolas had just finished breakfast. Emily was telling Nikolas about this play at school that she was thinking of trying out for and Nikolas was offering to help her prepare for her audition when the door flew open and they both looked up.

Then their eyes widened in shock.

“Gia?” Nikolas’s jaw lowered. “Gia? What happened?”

“I don’t know.” Gia Campbell could not remember being more furious and frustrated in her life. She stared down at the mud that covered her from head to toe. “Everything that could have gone wrong went wrong this morning. The alarm didn’t go off. I couldn’t find my car keys so I decided to walk to the bus station...”

“Gia the bus stops three miles from the cottage.”

Gia glared at Nikolas. “I know that but it was a nice day so I thought I would walk, okay?”

Nikolas quieted down.

“Anyway I was almost at the bus stop when it started to rain.”

“Rain? There’s not a cloud in the sky.” Nikolas pointed out.

Emily began to get a funny feeling in her stomach as Gia ignored Nikolas’s comment. “Like I said, it started to rain. I mean a downpour. And then there was a mud puddle and I fell in it. Twice.” Gia shuddered. “This whole morning has been nothing short of hell and its all your fault Nikolas Cassadine.”

“My fault?”

“Yes your fault. I have an early meeting with my Uncle on Wyndemere, Gia. Meet me for breakfast at Kelly’s, Gia. It will be fun, Gia.” Her voice was mocking and Nikolas winced.

Emily couldn’t help it. She really couldn’t. She tried not to. Honestly. But she couldn’t hold it in. She smirked. Just a little smirk but it was big enough for Gia to catch.

“And who do you think you’re laughing at Miss. High and Mighty.”

“You Gia. I’m laughing at you.” Maybe it was knowing that her father was the god of war that was either making her incredibly brave or stupidly suicidal.

Before Gia could react, Nikolas grabbed her arm and steered her away from Emily, giving Emily an apologetic goodbye as she did so.

Emily waited until they had gone and checked to make sure that Kelly’s was empty except for herself and the waitress who thankfully wasn’t Liz.

“Strife. Strife. I want to talk to you now.”

Before she had finished the sentence, Strife was there across the booth from her holding a Sony Play Station Controller in his hand. “What?”

“What is that?” Emily looked closer. “You’re playing a video game?”

Strife grinned. “It’s called Chaos Bringer. How could I resist? Now hurry up or Lila’s going to win this round.”

“Lila? You’re playing video games with my grand....no never mind. I don’t want the details.” She lowered her voice. “I want to know what you did to Gia this morning.”

“Me? I haven’t done anything to any Gia person. I’ve been too busy trying to figure out how to get to the next level before your sweet lovely and completely bloodthirsty grandmother can.”

“Then who?” Emily frowned. “Cupid?”

The winged god appeared in front of her, an innocent expression on his face.

“Yes.”

Emily’s gaze narrowed. “What did you do to Gia?”

“Nothing.”

“Oh Please,” Strife laughed. “Even Bliss can lie better than that.”

“I’m not lying.” Cupid hesitated. “I’m just mentally rewording the question until my answer fits. I didn’t do anything TO Gia. I just did some things AROUND her.”

Emily groaned. “Why would you bother Gia at all unless....” Emily frowned as she stared at Cupid. “Please tell me you aren’t....I mean you wouldn’t....I can’t believe you did that.”

Cupid shrugged his shoulders. “So I thought that you and Nikolas deserved some time together alone without Miss Attitude tagging along. Sue me.”

Strife shook his head. “This is not the decade to be throwing that word around like that cuz. It’s almost as bad as those Christians who kept saying bite me to those lions. Bad idea.”

Cupid ignored Strife. “Come on Em, I am the god of Love. Matchmaking...it kind of comes with the territory.”

“Fine. Remind me to avoid you from January until March just to be safe.” Emily reached over and smiled at her brother even as her eyes shot little daggers that were almost as sharp as his arrows. “Let’s get something straight. I will not be set up. No blind dates. No coincidental meetings. None.”

“But you like Nikolas Cassadine.”

Unnoticed by either of them, Strife sat up and leaned into listen. “Nikolas is my friend.”

“Emily.”

“My friend. Period.” Emily’s voice was stern. “The next time you feel the need to practice your matchmaking skills, do it on someone else.”

With those words, Emily stormed out.

Strife looked at Cupid. “Nikolas Cassadine. You’re trying to set her up with Nikolas Cassadine.”

Cupid shrugged. “He’s intelligent, sensitive, caring, and a prince.” Cupid looked at his cousin. “You have a problem with him for my sister?”

“No but I have a problem with him for my cousin.” Strife’s words were pointed. “Aside from the fact that his family is almost as dysfunctional as ours, the boy’s a twit.” Strife grinned. “Emily needs someone who is going to challenge her.”

“You have someone in mind?”

“Let’s just say that I’ve given the matter some thought.” And Strife’s smile twisted as he disappeared.

Left alone, Cupid frowned. He wasn’t nearly ready to give up on the thought of Emily and Nikolas. But he knew when to at least pretend to retreat. Still he was the god of love and he needed something to occupy his time while he waited for Emily to calm down.

The door to Kelly’s opened and Cupid looked up.

He grinned at the gentleman who came in.

Stefan Cassadine was about to have a life altering experience.

Emily was so angry that she found herself halfway through the park and down the street headed back to the mansion before she knew it.

She stopped when she heard a horn behind her and turned around. Her anger left her when she spotted Lucky in the Outback delivery truck.

He pulled the pick up truck over and she walked to the window.

“Lucky! I haven’t seen you in days. Mac must have you working hard.”

“It’s been busy.” Lucky nodded. “But its not too bad. Mac’s a pretty fair boss considering my dad broke up his marriage. He even said I could fix up the apartment above the Outback and he’d rent it to me.”

“You’re moving out of Kelly’s?” Emily wondered why that thought made her feel happier.

“I figure Liz and I could share the apartment together.” Lucky wondered why those words sounded somehow wrong but then dismissed the thought.

“Oh.” Emily was quiet for a moment and then forced herself to smile. “I’m happy for you.”

“Liz doesn’t know yet, so don’t say anything okay?”

“I won’t.”

Lucky watched the sad expression cross Emily’s face and wondered what caused it. Then it was gone.

“Hey,” Lucky kept his voice lighthearted, determined to keep the smile on her face. “You doing anything this morning?”

Emily shook her head.

“Then how about taking a ride with me. Mac wants me to deliver a catered order to Jasper’s Corner for some kind of luncheon. Keep me company on the ride?” He smiled charmingly. “I’ll even let you pick the radio station.”

“Okay.” Emily ran around to the other side and got in. “And I promise no boy bands.”

“I thought you liked boy bands.”

Emily shuddered. “I liked Juan once too. Everyone has a bad habit they outgrow.”

“Just as long as you don’t outgrow grape snow cones.”

“Never.” Emily smiled shyly at Lucky.

One hour later Emily closed her eyes and listened to the music of BB King coming out of the truck’s stereo. The drive to deliver the food had been a blast. They’d laughed almost none stop the entire time. She’d even coaxed Lucky into singing along with an old Madonna song that they both liked.

Opening her eyes. she watched the scenery go by with a soft smile on her face. It was such a perfect moment that she found herself wishing that everything would just stop so that it would never end.

And that was when dream of a morning turned into a nightmare. The truck, which had been purring along steadily, suddenly stopped causing Lucky to frown and pound the dash in frustration.

Emily didn’t think much of it until Lucky tried to open the doors so he could check under the hood and the doors didn’t open because the locks wouldn’t work.

Emily frowned. The car wasn’t working. The doors weren’t working. She froze.

“Oh my god.” The whisper was so horrified that Lucky stopped trying to open the doors and looked at her. “What have I done?”

“What do you mean? What did you do?”

Emily stared at her best friend. How could she explain this? How could she tell him that she wasn’t who he thought she was and that because of that she had this power and she didn’t know how to control it.

She had wanted everything to stop.

How was she to know that her power didn’t know the difference between literal and figurative expressions of speech.

Whatever explanation she would have given was lost however as they both heard a loud train whistle.

And that was when they realized that the truck had stopped on a railroad truck.

A train that proceeded to smash into their pick up truck and destroy it.

To be continued.