Nikolas & Emily #6  July 30 - October 25, 2004 - 8 hour original edit

Helena arrived. Nik let her know of his research into the family finances and that he considered her a menace. Gun pointed at her, he said that he would protect himself, prompting Helena to exit. Later, Helena made a phone call and gave instructions that she wanted her grandson committed as soon as possible. Emily ran into Alcazar at Kelly's and let him know that she didn't trust him. Later, Emily and Elizabeth discussed Nikolas' circumstances. Emily was pouring her heart out about how much she still loved Nik, when Lucky entered the restaurant and overheard her. Liz left, and Lucky apologized to Em for trying to push his feelings on her. Lucky listened as she explained that she couldn't move on, even if Nikolas wasn't interested in her right now. They gave each other a friendly hug, witnessed by Nikolas through the window at Kelly’s. At the Cellar, Nikolas sees Emily and Lucky's closeness and gets jealous. He drowns his sorrows in liquor and lashes out at his brother. After Nikolas throws a punch, Lucky has Nikolas arrested for assault.

Emily finds Edward still sitting at the boathouse and tells him she knows it was his and Lila's wedding anniversary and how they use to dance there under the moonlight. Edward finds great comfort knowing that Emily remembered what the day meant. Emily shows up at the police station to see Nikolas. She tells him she is planning to pay for his bail. Nikolas rejects her help and tells her that he doesn't want to owe her anything and that the problem is that she expects too much from him and asks her to leave him alone. Lucky turns on the intercom from outside the holding room so he can hear their conversation. When Nikolas starts yelling at Emily to leave him alone, Lucky walks in and tells Nikolas to stop blaming his problems on her and that he got himself into his own mess. Emily points out to Nikolas that he is acting jealous even after he keeps telling her he doesn't feel anything for her. Nikolas' head starts to hurt from being hung-over from the night before and asks them to leave after telling them they are his big problem right now. They leave him alone. Mac tells them that someone else posted bail for Nikolas. Mac goes into the holding room and informs Nikolas that he has been released on bail. Nikolas thinks Emily tried to post his bail and tells Mac that he doesn't want to be released on bail by anyone and to let him stay in jail. Mac tells him that he doesn't have that choice any longer and that the decision has been taken out of his hands. Suddenly two men in blue attendant coats come in and grab Nikolas by each arm and haul him out of the holding room. Helena shows up at the police station to see Nikolas after posting his bail. Nikolas is shocked and asks her if she is having him committed and claims repeatedly that he isn't crazy. Helena tells him that he is going to be having a psychiatric evaluation first and that he needs his rest right now. Nikolas fights with the two attendants and breaks free momentarily from them. Lucky grabs Nikolas by the arm and pins it behind his back and while the other attendant lets go, Lucky whispers in Nikolas' ear that he is going to let him go and tells him to run out of there as fast as he can. Lucky lets him go and Nikolas runs out of the police station and eludes the two attendants. Emily realizes that Lucky helped Nikolas escape and is grateful to him. Helena tells the cops that this is a police matter since Nikolas had assaulted. Mac tells Lucky that she is correct and has to put out an APB out on Nikolas but doesn't look too happy with that fact. Lucky suggests to Emily that she get home and he will call her later. Lucky is left alone with Helena. Helena tells him she knows he helped Nikolas escape and that he better be careful since he isn't as good an opponent as his father. Lucky tells her not to bet on that and realizes that she is only interested in Nikolas because he has ownership to the Cassadine estate and that she is actually broke and that is why she is trying to make Nikolas look crazy. Lucky gives her some money and tells her it is to pay a cab with. While Emily is sitting at the boathouse alone, suddenly someone puts his arm around her neck and puts his hand on her mouth to muffle a scream. It turns out to be Nikolas.  Emily warned him of his grandmother's intentions and how Helena had always been obsessed with control over him. Lucky shouted for Emily from afar; even though Emily swore that Lucky could be trusted, Nik hid. Emily lied to Lucky and said she had not seen Nikolas. Overhearing Lucky speak about wanting to help, Nikolas revealed himself. They heard someone coming, so Nikolas hid again, just before Tracy arrived on the scene. Tracy accused Emily of fooling around with Lucky, grounds for elimination from Lila's challenge. Tracy exited, and Lucky did, too, when he received a page, leaving Nik and Emily alone. The two appeared to grow closer.

Nikolas queried Emily's desire to help and she had to remind him she loves him, no matter what. He asked her to love him enough to let him go. Nikolas wished he was on the yacht and on his was to Caribbean, but Emily warned him to not trust Alcazar or Helena. He only got more frustrated and said he can't stand to see the pain in her eyes any more and not knowing if he'll ever get his memory back. He said he wants to leave town but promised to call if his memory does return. Monica came looking for Emily and urged her to forget Nikolas, reminding her that she wished she hadn't pushed Jason so hard after his accident. Nikolas listened as Emily told her she just can't give up. Monica reminded her the Nikolas she fell in love with would want her to move on. After she left, Nikolas came forward and asked Emily to please not let go and not to give up on him. Emily wept with joy as he said he wants to start over with her, right away. Nikolas told her the night they made love at Wyndemere was the happiest he's been since the accident. It didn't make sense then, but now it does he said as he kissed her. Things got steamy in the boathouse as they closed the shades, got undressed and rolled on the blankets. Afterwards, they were surprised to hear Mary knocking on the door.

Nikolas, whose memory began to come back to him in his dreams, wakes Emily up. Before he can tell her about, Mary knocks on the door and interrupts their intimate time together. Nikolas hides as Emily tries to get rid of Mary, but Mary refuses to leave. Finally Nik emerges from a closet and Mary begs him to let her help him escape his grandmother. Emily is incredulous, and tries to again get rid of Mary, but Nikolas listens to her. Once she's gone, Emily begs Nikolas to not trust her. Nikolas tells Emily of his dream, and he realizes that she's all he ever wanted in life. Emily is thrilled at his change of heart, and the two continue to kiss. Mary runs into Helena, and lies that Nikolas has left town. Helena is not swayed, and promises Mary that in exchange for her help in finding Nikolas, she will ensure that he loves her for as long as she lives. Later, Emily tells Nikolas that she won't run away with him, but rather will stay and get her family to help clear his mental status. She later gathers pillows and blankets from her house, and the two begin to make love. Mary chooses this time to return in order to speak to Nikolas, but she sees the two in the window and is devastated.

Nikolas and Emily don't take Mary's sincere off for help seriously and, instead, berate her for everything she's done to mess up their lives. Emily is determined to find a qualified psychiatrist to declare Nikolas both sane and competent, contrary to Helena's claims. But her efforts are short-lived when Helena and two orderlies with a straitjacket trap him, prepared to cart him off to Shadybrook. Helena has Nikolas committed Shadybrook, where she vows to turn him into the Cassadine she has always hoped he would be. Emily instantly assumes that Helena found Nikolas because Mary pointed her in his direction. When Emily arrives at Shadybrook to see Nikolas, she is unnerved by his drug-induced state.

Helena visited Nikolas at the mental institution and said she was going to teach him about his true self. She reminded him of his lineage as a Cassadine prince dating back to Russian aristocracy. Drugged, Nikolas mumbled about Emily, and Helena said she had saved him from Emily. Alexis and Emily arrived to visit Nikolas, which Helena allowed. Emily went into Nikolas' room alone, and he was barely able to make any sense. She tried to remind him of their love and their trust in one another. Desperate, Emily visited Jason and Sam at the penthouse and begged Jason to help get Nikolas out of Shadybrook. Helena went into Nikolas' room one more time, and he told her that he was Prince Nikolas, prince of the Cassadines. She then believed she had eradicated what she considered to be his weaknesses.

Emily begs Jason to help her get Nikolas out of Shadybrook and away from Helena. Jason rushes to a judge and gets a court order granting Nikolas' release, but Helena tries to block his way from Nikolas. Jason locks her in a closet and threatens the corrupt doctor, but it's Nikolas who proves to be the biggest problem. After earlier telling Helena that he is the Cassadine prince, he refuses to leave with Jason. Jason attempts to get through to him, and is almost successful, but Emily's arrival upsets Nikolas and he begins to fight to stay in his room. Jason is close to succeeding in removing Nikolas from the mental hospital when Emily's arrival sends Nik into a frenzy. He refuses to leave, and swears they want to kidnap him. Helena shows up with guards, and is pleased when Nikolas refuses to listen to Emily and instead chooses to stay. After a dejected Emily leaves with Jason, Nikolas assures Helena that he knows who to trust, and he plans to resume his duties as the Cassadine prince. Helena is pleased, but orders the nurse to increase Nikolas' meds just in case. Later, Nikolas palms the pills, and pretends to be drugged. Emily convinces Lucky to help her with her next attempt to rescue Nik, and she has herself committed to the hospital. Nikolas witnesses her act, and in a private moment she again tries to get through to him. Nikolas assures her that he won't let Helena get to him

At Shady Brook, Nikolas is surprised when Emily shows up in his room and Nikolas tries to convince Emily to leave. When they hear someone coming, Nikolas hides Emily in a nearby closet and then jumps all over the arriving orderly for failing to realize that Nikolas is PRINCE Nikolas Cassadine! Helena walks in on Nikolas' tirade and congratulates her grandson because he is at long last showing signs of becoming a true Cassadine. However, when Nikolas announces his intention to take over the reins of the Cassadine estate, Helena refuses to agree to Nikolas’ plan and urges Nikolas to continue with his "therapy." Nikolas pretends to take the medication that Helena hands to him. As soon as a satisfied Helena leaves, Nikolas brings Emily out of hiding and expresses his intention to string Helena along until he can get Helena to confide her crimes to Nikolas so that Nikolas can hand his grandmother over to the police. Emily warns Nikolas to be careful, but Nikolas insists that he knows what he is doing. Emily refuses to leave unless Nikolas goes with her. As the two argue, Lucky suddenly bursts into Nikolas’ room and demands that Emily leave Shadybrook with him! Emily tells Lucky she doesn't want to leave Nikolas there alone and wishes to stay. Lucky is against that idea and insists Helena will catch her if she stays there any longer. Nikolas agrees that she should leave and tells her he can take care of himself against Helena. Emily agrees to leave with Lucky. However, when Lucky tries to get her to leave with him she tells him she can't go after all and needs to stay and watch Nikolas' back. Lucky gets upset with her but lets her stay. Helena runs into Lucky there and acts all smug about how Nikolas is now hers and he can't do anything to stop her. Lucky warns her that he will stop her. Nikolas leaves his room and finds Emily still there. Emily tells him she can't leave him there and wants to stay there. Helena sees Nikolas holding a disguised Emily. She watches from the hallway with her two paid attendants. Nikolas tells her that he has Helena where he wants her as long as he pretends to be taking the drugs and going along with whatever she says but that the attendants will be in for a surprise when he overpowers them. Helena tells her hired men to not do anything right now. Later, Emily walks toward Nikolas' room but Helena approaches her and tells her that she knows what she is up to and that she won't be able to see him anymore. Emily tries to get past the attendants but they grab her and overpower her. Nikolas worries when he doesn't see Emily for awhile. He leaves his room to go investigate. He finds Emily in a room, laying in a bed with a straightjacket on her and she appears asleep after being drugged. He goes in to see her but Helena and her men come in and inform him they know what he is trying to do and that from now on he will receive his drugs intravenously. The attendants grab Nikolas and drag him back to his room and lock him inside. Nikolas hollers out that they won't get away with hurting Emily and hits his head a few times against the door in frustration. Nikolas falls to the floor and starts to have memory flashes of his life. He realizes that he has regained his full memory back. Helena gave orders to the workers at Shadybrook to keep Emily sedated. Nikolas sneaked into Emily's room and knocked out two of the workers in order to get Emily out of the room and out of the institution. As her drugs wore off, Emily was thrilled to learn that Nikolas had regained his memory. The couple hid in the Quartermaine boathouse. Learning of the escape, Helena realized she could never exert control over Nikolas unless Emily was out of the way. Helena ordered that Emily be killed that night.

Emily mentioned things that Nikolas would know, in order to convince herself that his memory was really back. He told her that happiest moment of his life was when they had first made love. She told him that Mary was not just a misguided soul, and Nikolas told her that Helena was a much bigger threat. A shadow lurked outside. Emily told Nikolas that she was accepting the new him, and now that he was really back, she would never take him for granted again. He apologized for being mean to her, and for punishing her for loving him. He promised to spend his life making it up to her. They made love. Nikolas asked Emily where her engagement ring was, and that he wanted her to put it back on. She told him she took it off before his memorial service and that she had promised it Lulu. Emily told him she had to run to the house to get supplies. Nikolas heard the sirens (from the accident near the house), and fearing the worst, left the boathouse. He snuck into the house and ducked so that Alice would not see him. She warned whoever it was to come out. While Emily was in her room gathering her things, someone stared at her from the closet.  Nikolas managed to run into Emily's room, just as the stranger was about to come out of the closet. Emily told Nikolas her fantasy from back when she had a crush on him. They made love. Just as the stranger was about to exit the closet again, Sage walked into the room, but left after Nikolas and Emily threatened they would catch her for trespassing if she told anyone she had seen them. Emily left to get food and came back with a picnic. She went to the closet, looking for a corkscrew. The stranger looked on.

Emily and Nikolas pack a picnic for their getaway and Emily goes to the closet to look for a corkscrew for their wine. As Emily and Nikolas continue to make romantic plans, the intruder spies on them from a hiding place. A well-armed Faith ducks into Emily's room to hide and frightens Nikolas and Emily when Faith waves her gun in their faces. Faith reminds Nikolas and Emily that, since it would be very unhealthy for Faith if Jason discovered where Faith was hiding, Nikolas and Emily will not be leaving the room alive. Emily offers to help Faith leave the country, but Faith refuses to believe any of Emily's statements. Emily suddenly pretends to see Jason at the window and Nikolas grabs Faith's gun while the mob princess is distracted. Emily is terrified when the gun goes off but Faith drops her weapon and runs away, with Nikolas and Emily in pursuit. Later, Nikolas and Emily discover Faith's hiding place in the freezer. Emily leaves to warn the family that Faith has been hiding in the house. After Emily leaves, the sinister figure in black creeps up behind Nikolas and knocks him out.

Emily arrives in the sitting room but before Emily can take Alan and Monica aside to warn them about Faith, Tracy suddenly demands that "Lila" should tell them who "Lila" believes should inherit Lila's fortune (Heather is pretending to channel Lila). As Tracy makes her demands, lightning flashes, thunder crashes outside, a wind blows out all of the candles and the back-up generator suddenly quits! When the candles are lighted again, Heather is missing! Tracy continues to argue that it is all an act being put on by Heather to manipulate the disbursement of Lila's fortune. Later, Emily finally gets Monica alone long enough to fill Monica in about Faith, but Emily urges Monica not to tell the police that Nikolas is also at the mansion. Emily arrives at the boathouse and finds Nikolas, who quickly explains that he was hit over the head but found the freezer door unlocked when he regained consciousness, so he immediately returned to the boathouse. Emily informs Nikolas that she believed that she saw someone walking around outside the house and Nikolas suggests that Emily might have seen Helena! As Nikolas and Emily huddle together against the cold, Faith walks toward the boathouse, carrying a knife. When Faith arrives outside the boathouse, Faith stands at the window, peering in at Nikolas and Emily.

The teens try to bring up Lila's spirit with the Ouija board and ask her who killed Sage. The Ouija board starts to spell out Emily's name. Trent starts to interrupt their little séance and go off about how they don't want to believe anyone could have killed Sage even someone like Emily because she is Dillon and Brook Lynn's cousin. Brook Lynn notices the board is moving again with their fingers on it and they spell out the rest, "EMILY WARN." Brook Lynn and Dillon believe that Lila is trying to reach out to them to help warn Emily of danger.

Nikolas decides he should turn himself in after hearing about Sage's murder and that Faith is still on the loose. Emily is against the idea at first but after listening to his reasoning about how Monica will start to worry about her if she doesn't show up soon and think he kidnapped her and will call the cops on him. Emily and Nikolas show up. They tell Mac that Faith showed up and pulled a gun on them and they also tell Mac that Sage walked in on them in Emily's room but agreed to pretend she didn't see them. Mac doesn't know who to believe and accuses Nikolas of killing Sage and goes so far as to accuse Emily of killing Sage after Nikolas tells him that someone hit him over the head in the basement when he was checking out the freezer room. Mac accuses Emily of killing Sage to protect Nikolas after he was hit on the head. Alan and Monica resent Mac's accusations and tell him his accusations are absurd. Mac tells them that everyone is a suspect at this point and asks about Heather. They get into the whole Heather being channeled by Lila's spirit, which no one believes. Mac suggests that maybe Heather went down to the basement to find more papers of Lila's and came upon Sage who Heather may have killed to keep her from telling the family her scheme. Justus shows up and asks Mac what is going on. Justus pretends he didn't know about Sage's murder. Emily and Nikolas tell him that Faith is around there somewhere and pulled a gun on them.  Upstairs the killer, dressed in black clothes and wearing a Halloween mask enters Emily's room and tears a picture of Emily and Nikolas in half and smashes the frame. The killer hears a noise outside the room. Brook Lynn heads upstairs towards Emily's bedroom to find her to warn her. The killer readies to strike if someone comes inside the room. Everyone downstairs hears someone scream bloody murder. Justus recognizes Faith's scream. Justus goes upstairs and finds Faith bleeding from being attacked by the killer, but not dead. He carries her downstairs so either Alan or Monica can check her. Everyone wonders where Brook Lynn went and worries she will be the next victim.

Justus brought Faith down to the foyer. She had suffered minor injuries from the masked killer and the gardening claw. Meanwhile, Brook Lynn was upstairs, being watched by the killer, when Trent, Lucas and Dillon arrived to take her downstairs. Dillon stayed behind a moment and was attacked; he was not injured, and the killer fled. Dillon returned downstairs and announced the incident. Mac told Felicia to keep everybody in one room while he searched the mansion. She gave him a kiss before he left the scene. Speaking to Emily, Nikolas wondered why the killer spared him, simply knocking him out. They thought perhaps Helena could be involved. Nikolas decided to aid Mac and was able to talk Felicia into allowing him to go. Upstairs, Mac found a torn photograph of Nikolas and Emily. Thinking each other was the killer; Mac shot at Nikolas but missed. Felicia ran to them, and Mac ordered Nik back downstairs with Felicia. A little later, Alice was startled to find a bloodied badge outside the front door. Felicia realized it was Mac's! Everybody decided to grab something to use as a weapon; Heather's choice was an ice pick, and the group broke up. Brook Lynn and Lucas searched a room and had Trent stand guard in the corridor. Brook and Lucas were bonding when Trent stumbled into the room, with the gardening claw in his back. He fell to the floor, dead! Felicia showed up, followed by Mac, who had not been hurt at all. Mac guessed that the killer had placed the badge outside as a trick to scare and divide the group. With the weapon in Trent's back, Brook wondered if the killer was now weaponless. Outside, the killer found a knife near the boathouse and grabbed it. Soon, Nikolas and Emily were told that the killer was trapped in the boathouse. Nikolas told Emily to stay in her room, while he went outside to help. Thinking she was alone, Emily was actually being watched by the killer from the closet. The others learned that it was actually Faith in the boathouse. Alice, Edward and Heather were wandering the mansion together. Suddenly, Heather again seemed to be possessed by Lila's spirit, warning that Emily was in danger. Edward raced away. Alice was impressed by Heather's "act", but Heather swore she wasn't pretending this time. In her room, Emily came face to face with the masked killer. They fought, with the killer trying to stab Emily. Finally, Emily was able to grab the mask and pull it off the killer's face. It was Mary!

Nikolas and Mac, followed by the others, walked in on Faith in the boathouse. When Nikolas discovered that the killer was not in there, he made his way back to the house.  Emily pulled off the killer's mask only to discover Mary behind it. She told Emily she would save Connor from her. Emily tried to convince Mary that Nikolas was safe. Mary insisted on calling him Connor. She threatened Emily. She admitted to killing Trent because she believed he was working with Emily to keep Connor prisoner. She killed Sage because she thought she was Emily. They struggled. Lucas let Nikolas into the house. Nikolas warned them to stay in the room and to stay together. Nikolas walked into Emily's room only to find her on the floor. Fearing the worst, he was relieved to see her alive. She told him the killer was Mary. She explained to Nikolas what exactly had happened. She told him that Mary was completely unhinged. Nikolas tried to come to terms with the situation of Mary's insanity. They headed downstairs to tell the others. Nikolas and Emily told Felicia and Mac the details of what had transpired between the two women and the history behind Mary's killing spree.

Georgie and Brooke asked the channeling board who the killer was and it spelt out "widow". Dillon joined them, and he and Georgie worried about Alcazar's reaction to his niece's death. Brooke thought that Lois telling Alcazar would be a better idea than him hearing it from someone else, and just then Mary appeared at the window, smiling. They ran to the others and told them about seeing Mary. Nikolas threatened to kill Mary, in front of everyone present. The power came back on and Mac, Nikolas and Emily went to the boathouse to look for Mary.  At the boathouse, Nikolas and Mary came face to face. She continued to call him Connor and told him that she did everything to protect him. She threatened Emily and as she lunged towards her with the knife, Nikolas grabbed Mac's gun and fired.

The next scene seems oddly abrupt as they are all at the PCPD, Ric demanded to know what happened with Nikolas and Mary. Emily defended Nikolas' actions. Ric called Alexis to help Nikolas. He told her things did not look good for Nikolas. Ric questioned Nikolas and Emily about the events of the previous night. They both recounted what had happened. Nikolas claimed responsibility for what he had done and told Ric that if he had to, he would do it again. Emily left, and Nikolas continued to defend his actions. Alcazar walked in and asked to speak to Nikolas alone. Nikolas told him exactly what had happened. He informed him that Sage died due to a case of mistaken identity. Ric apologized to Alexis for having arrested Nikolas. Alexis told him that Alcazar would seek revenge, if not on Mary, then on Ric.

Emily went to the hospital and met up with Lucky. He warned her that nothing could come out of her going to visit Mary and that if Mary died, things would get even worse for Nikolas. Emily went to Mary's room. She told her she tried to feel sympathy for her but then proceeded to call her devious and conniving. She told her she did not deserve to live. Emily yelled at Mary to do everyone a favor and die. Mary woke up and grabbed Emily.

At the Hospital, Emily's decision to confront Mary backfires badly when Mary seizes Emily by the throat and begins strangling Emily. When Emily breaks free and slugs Mary, Lucky rushes to Emily's side. However, Mary accuses Emily of attacking Mary while Mary was helpless in a Hospital bed. Back at the Police Station, Nikolas confides to Lorenzo that he has finally recovered his memory and demands to know why Lorenzo had been so chummy while Nikolas’ memory was gone. Lorenzo admits that Lorenzo had hoped that Nikolas’ presence in Lorenzo's organization would give Lorenzo some leverage where Jason was concerned. Emily tries to explain to Lucky that Mary tried to choke her, but Lucky just hustles Emily out of the room, while Mary babbles incoherently that Emily wants to kill Mary so that Emily can have Mary's husband. Lucky warns Emily to stay away from Mary, and Emily reluctantly agrees. As Emily leaves the hospital, she runs into Lorenzo, coming out of the elevator. Lorenzo begins quizzing Emily about Sage's death. Lorenzo confides that he is trying to figure out when Mary crossed the line into madness, but Jason suddenly appears and orders Lorenzo to leave Emily alone. Jason and Emily try to convince Lorenzo that Mary's mind just snapped, but Lorenzo reminds them that Sage had been locked in the freezer by the police commissioner's daughter, which set Sage up to become Mary's victim. Jason and Emily remind Lorenzo that Mary also killed Sage's friend, Trent, but Lorenzo reminds them that his niece is gone! Jason tries to convince Alcazar that going after Mary's other victims will not bring Sage back. After Lorenzo leaves, Jason warns Emily that Jason is afraid that Alcazar will blame Emily rather than the teens for Sage's death. Emily insists that she believes that Lorenzo is just grappling with his grief and will be able to see the tragedy from a different prospective soon. Emily informs Jason that Nikolas has regained his full memory and thanks Jason for his support. Alcazar enters Mary's room, and takes out his gun. After sighting down the gun barrel at the unconscious Mary, Lorenzo's hand wavers and he lowers his gun. Later, Emily meets Nikolas at PCPD and learns that Nikolas is being released on bail and will only be charged with attempted manslaughter.

At Wyndemere, Emily and Nikolas discussed the charges against him for shooting Mary. Nik was convinced everything would work out okay, and they made love. At General Hospital, Lucky and Ric visited Mary. She wanted to know why they hadn't brought Connor to see her. They repeatedly told her that Connor had died in the war. Later, Emily visited Mary. Mary started speaking as though "Mary" were actually another person and said that Mary would never stay locked up for the crimes that had been committed. She was sure that Mary would be released after treatment. Emily asked if then she was just planning on chasing Nikolas around for the rest of her life. Mary said she was going to come back and cut Emily's heart out. When Em left the room, she ran into Elizabeth, who was there for her nursing studies. Liz was pushing the patients' drug cart and realized she had forgotten something, so she asked Emily to watch the cart for her. A bit later, Lucky spotted Emily coming out of Mary's room. He entered the room, and, within a minute, the alarms on Mary's monitors went off! Nikolas arrived at the hospital and ran into Emily as a code blue was announced. They realized it was for Mary's ICU room! Mary is found dead.

After Mary's death, Nikolas advised Emily to tell the police the truth about what happened with Mary. Jason showed up and Nikolas left them alone to speak. He told her not to say anything without a lawyer. Outside, Nikolas told Lucky that Jason was in there with Emily. Lucky went in and Jason left. Lucky asked Emily to tell him what happened. Meanwhile, Jason informed Nikolas that it was not a good idea for Emily to tell the police anything. He informed him that the police just wanted to close the case and that they were looking for a suspect to pin it on. Since Emily had motive, opportunity and means, she would be the likely candidate. She had threatened Mary several times and this made her look guilty. The cops were setting Emily up. Jason left and Nikolas went in to Emily. Emily had refused to say anything to Lucky so he let her go, warning her not leave the state. Emily and Nikolas went to Kelly's. He told Emily everything Jason had said, and that he believed that Emily would incriminate herself to protect Nikolas. He knew she was innocent. Emily admitted to Nikolas that she was responsible for Mary's death.

At the Port Charles Police Department, Nikolas assures Emily that she will be fine if she tells the truth to the police. Jason suddenly arrives and warns Emily not to say anything! As Nikolas tries to convince Jason that Emily needs to cooperate with the police, Lucky arrives at the hospital and quizzes Elizabeth about Mary's death. Elizabeth admits to Lucky that Liz asked Emily to watch the medicine cart for Elizabeth while Liz went to check with one of the doctors about something. Nikolas is stunned when Emily admits that Jason is at the police station at Emily's request because Emily believes that she needs Jason's help! Nikolas leaves, while Jason speaks alone with Emily. As Jason advises Emily to stay mum, no matter how safe Emily believes she would be in giving a statement to the police, Lucky arrives at the PCPD and informs Nikolas that Lucky just spoke to Liz about events the night of Mary's death.  Jason continues to warn Emily not to speak to anyone without an attorney. Emily and Jason are interrupted by Lucky's arrival. After Jason leaves, Lucky pleads with Emily to tell him everything she knows about the night of Mary's death. Nikolas tries to convince Jason to help Emily by staying away from his sister's current legal problems, but Jason argues that, since Emily DID call Jason for help, Nikolas needs to be aware that Emily believes that there is something for Emily to be worried about! Jason warns Nikolas that the police brought Emily in without a lawyer because they were setting Emily up and Nikolas is playing right into their hands! Although Nikolas continues to argue that Emily should cooperate with the police, Jason remains adamant that Emily's only hope is to remain mum. When Nikolas returns to the interrogation room, Lucky informs Nikolas that Emily refused to speak to Lucky. After Lucky leaves, Nikolas again tries to convince Emily that she should steer clear of any 'help' from Jason and, instead, cooperate with the police! Nikolas is surprised when Emily declares that she believes that she needs Jason's help because Emily could be guilty of causing Mary's death!

Emily tells Nikolas that she did take pills for Mary out of Elizabeth's medicine cart and bring them into Mary. She tells him she feels bad about that since it could get Elizabeth in trouble and worries about being responsible somehow for Mary's death. Lucky wants to talk to Emily after he questions Elizabeth at the hospital about whether she left her medicine cart alone with Emily to watch it for her. She admits that it happened when he talked to her before but Elizabeth goes over to Lucky later and recants her story saying that Emily was never left alone with her medicine cart. Lucky gets suspicious about her changing her story. He talks to Emily and Nikolas again at Kelly's. He asks Emily to tell him everything that happened. Emily tells him she had an argument with Mary and then left. She then tells him she ran into Nikolas by the elevators when they heard the code blue call for Mary's room and went over to see how Mary was doing when she died soon after. Lucky tells her that he saw her run out of Mary's room and that she went in to her room twice not just one time. He also tells her that Elizabeth told him that she left the medicine cart with her to watch over while she went to get some supplies. Elizabeth shows up at Kelly's and tells Lucky that she didn't tell him that and told him what really happened. Lucky tells them that they need to trust him not to harm Emily in anyway by handing her over to Ric. He agrees to protect Emily by covering up the fact that the medicine cart was left with Emily alone to watch over it near Mary's room. Nikolas and Lucky go into Kelly's to order some food while Emily and Elizabeth talk outside. Emily tells Elizabeth she doesn't feel right about lying to the police and that she and Lucky could get in trouble for covering for her. She also feels that she brought Mary's medicine into her room when she shouldn't have and should probably confess that to the police. Elizabeth tells her she isn't a killer and that Mary was one. Lucky tells Nikolas that it is possible Emily could have killed Mary if it meant protecting him and herself since Mary did kill innocent people and was crazy. Nikolas can't deny Lucky's suspicions.

Lucky, Elizabeth and Nikolas hurried to the police station, believing Emily had gone there to confess. They learned, though, that Emily only told Ric that she had visited Mary once the night of Mary's death, omitting any information about the medicine cart or a second visit. Emily and Nikolas bask in their togetherness, and Nikolas suggests that they get married. Emily voices her concern over how it might look when both are under scrutiny for Mary's murder, but Nikolas says he doesn't care. In front of a restaurant of people, he gets down on one knee and again proposes to Emily, who happily accepts. The two later ask Liz and Lucky for their support as attendants, and both offer best wishes. The happiness ends back at Wyndemere, however, when Helena sees them and realizes their wedding plans are back on. She again warns Nikolas against it, and he quickly shows her the door.

Emily has a nightmare that Mary stabs and kills Nikolas. Nikolas hears her wake up and scream and comes over to see what is wrong. She tells him she had a nightmare about Mary but she is okay now. Monica and Alan come over to see Emily at Wyndemere. Emily and Nikolas announce their engagement and how they want to get married as soon as possible. Alan and Monica are skeptical since they know that Emily is a suspect in Mary's murder and that if they get married they can't be forced to testify, which will look suspicious to the police. Emily and Nikolas deny that is the reason they want to get married soon. Emily tells them she is wants to get married because she has waited long enough. Later, Mac shows up at Wyndemere. He tells Emily that he needs for her to recount what happened the night that Mary died and what she did that night so he can hear it from her.

Helena and Tracy arrived at Wyndemere, announcing their intentions to plan the wedding for Nikolas and Emily. Nik informed his grandmother that she wasn't even invited to the wedding, let alone allowed to help plan it. Helena and Tracy insisted that they had put aside their family's differences. Mac escorted Nikolas and Emily to the police station after Felicia found a nurse who claimed to have seen somebody enter Mary's room the night of the murder. The nurse told Ric that she saw Emily go into Mary's room. Mac wondered about the convenience of the nurse's testimony. Ric ordered that Lucky be suspended for saying that he was sure Emily had not gone into the room that night. Later, on the docks, Helena and Tracy paid the nurse for her statement.

Emily, Lucky, Liz, and Nikolas gather at Wyndemere to discuss the situation of Mary's murder. All fret over the grief that has been caused, and the trouble they might all be in until Nikolas lashed out, unable to take it anymore. He demands that they change the subject to something positive, and no longer let Mary bring them down. He reminds everyone that there is a wedding to be planned, and although the others are hesitant, they finally agree and begin to discuss plans. Liz and Lucky leave to locate a florist, while Emily and Nikolas decide to marry in their small church.

Nurse Harris expressed concern to Tracy and Helena that she might not be able to go through with the plan to offer fake testimony about Mary's murder. The nurse hoped that God could forgive her, and Helena said the wrath of God would be nothing compared to the wrath she could cause. Tracy wondered if Helena had actually murdered Mary. Helena denied it and asked Tracy the same thing, bringing about another denial. The two gloated about their plan: keeping Nikolas from marrying Emily and sending Emily to jail, eliminating her from any chance at receiving Lila's inheritance. Lucky later spotted the nurse on the docks, with a load of cash, and informed her that he had the plan all figured out. As Lucky escorted the nurse from the docks, Helena watched.

Nikolas and Emily were surprised to learn that friends and family had received invitations to an engagement party for them that evening at Wyndemere. They figured Tracy and Helena were behind it. In attendance were Elizabeth, Monica, Ned, Ric, Alexis, Justus, Dillon, and Georgie. Monica explained that Alan was out of town. Nikolas was not pleased that Ric was there since Ric was trying to prosecute the engaged couple for Mary's demise. Alexis told them that she had a plan, and she tried to convince Ric that the happy couple couldn't have committed the crime. Elizabeth questioned Ric regarding his motives for being with Alexis, wondering if it was all about Sonny. Helena and Tracy arrived, followed shortly by Lucky. Lucky announced that he had Nurse Harris in a safe place and that she had lied about seeing Emily the night of Mary's murder, only giving false testimony after being paid by Tracy and Helena. Nikolas wanted his grandmother out of his sight, but she informed him that she had something to say first. She then proceeded to place a curse on Nikolas and Emily, much like she had done to Luke and Laura at their wedding decades ago. Lightning and a loud clap of thunder followed, temporarily knocking out the lights. When the lights returned, Helena was gone. Tracy started to sneak away and was stopped by Justus. Emily was a bit shaken but stated that she didn't believe in curses. Next thing she knew, the sketches of her wedding dress caught fire from a nearby candle.

Helena unleashes a curse on Nikolas and Emily's relationship, vowing that their union will bring bad things to those they love. She manages to disappear from the engagement party, and cause additional unrest that worries Emily. Nikolas tries to assure her, but the curse plays at the back of her mind. Lucky gets word that Nurse Harris is in the hospital from an overdose. Ric warns them that without her testimony, her admission to being paid off by Helena and Tracy will only be hearsay. The party rushes to the hospital, where Bobbie fills them in on Donna Harris's condition. While everyone anxiously waits in the lobby, Lucky and Ric try to get Donna to admit again that she was paid off. She gets as far as admitting that she lied, but then dies just as Nikolas enters the room. He goes to tell Emily the news, and she begins to worry again about the curse. Back at Wyndemere, Helena reappears to fill Tracy in on the many Cassadine curses, and their successful history. Emily and Nikolas rush back to confront the women for murdering Donna, but Helena simply replies that while they are correct that Donna was murdered, they are incorrect about the guilty party-it was the curse that they forced her to place on them that actually killed the poor nurse.

Emily and Nikolas confront Helena and Tracy over Nurse Harris's murder. Helena tells them that the curse they forced her to place upon them is the reason Donna died. Nikolas refuses to buy into Helena's act, and tells her that she's the curse and the one who kills people. He and Emily return to Wyndemere, and although Nikolas does his best to help Emily feel better, she can't shake her fear that Helena's curse will have real effects. Lois brings over Lila's wedding dress to replace the sketch of Emily's the burned up, and Emily soon is able to assuage her fears and get on with wedding planning. Nikolas is happy to see Emily's choice of a dress, but their mood is again dashed when he accidentally spills red wine on the dress. Suddenly, Nikolas himself is questioning if the curse is true, but Emily is the one to reassure him. She pretends to be fine for Nikolas’ sake, but later has nightmares of Helena and Tracy building curses together.

At Wyndemere, as Nikolas and Emily discuss their future, they are surprised by a visit from Lorenzo Alcazar. Nikolas is surprised when Lorenzo suggests a joint business venture to help get the financially-troubled Cassadine Empire back on its feet. Nikolas puts Lorenzo off. However, after Lorenzo leaves, Emily warns Nikolas that Alcazar is more dangerous than even Helena's supposed curse, and begs Nikolas to avoid doing business with Alcazar. Later at Wyndemere, Emily is appalled when Nikolas admits that he wants to consider Lorenzo's business proposal. As Nikolas and Emily discuss their future, the minister suddenly arrives and sadly reports that the church where Nikolas and Emily planned to be married has burned to the ground. When Nikolas asks if arson is suspected, the pastor replies that it seems more likely that the fire was started by an 'Act of God,' such as a lightning strike. At the Quartermaine Mansion, Tracy is shocked when Helena gloats about burning down the church where Nikolas and Emily planned to be married. Helena points out that it is imperative that Nikolas believes in the Cassadine Curse because Helena hopes that Nikolas would give Emily up if Nikolas believed that separation was the only way to protect Emily from the Cassadine Curse. Later, at Wyndemere, Nikolas tries to reassure Emily that there is nothing to Helena's curse. However, Tracy and Helena continue to plot ways to make sure that Nikolas and Emily believe in the curse, just as Edward returns home to the Quartermaine mansion. Tracy and Helena are shocked when Edward declares that he is ready to help Helena and Tracy with their plans to derail Emily's plans to marry Nikolas.

Emily worked on getting the stain out of the wedding dress. Nikolas arrived, marriage license in hand, and announced that a justice of the peace was on the way to marry them in private. Emily spilled some salt, and Nikolas told her to throw salt over her shoulder to ward away bad luck, and then they discussed Helena' curse again. The judge arrived, but Edward and Tracy interrupted the ceremony. After the group argued, the ceremony finally resumed, until the judge collapsed during the vows. Nikolas went straight to the secret panel and found Helena, whom he accused of paying the judge. Finally, Helena told the judge to get up, but she still warned them that there would never be happiness for them if they were to get married. Later, Emily prepared a bubble bath, with candles lit throughout the room. A cold breeze blew through, blowing out some of the candles. Nikolas went to get some champagne, and Emily started soaking in the tub. Suddenly, Emily started to be pulled underwater!

Nikolas and Emily's romantic evening in the bath is interrupted when Nikolas discovers an unconscious Emily submerged in the bath water. He promptly drags her out and begins CPR. Paramedics arrive and take Emily to the hospital where Jason is already waiting, demanding to know what happened to his sister. Helena, Tracy, and Edward arrive soon after, and Nikolas warns Helena that he will kill her if Emily dies. Steven attempts to help Emily, but is unable to offer any suggestions of what might be wrong with her until the tests return. When they come back inconclusive, he continues to try and figure out her ailment, but then he notices a bite mark near her neck. Guessing a poisonous spider bit her, he immediately begins treatment and Emily's condition improves. All are relieved, but Helena continues to warn them that it's merely the curse running its course. Nikolas again warns his grandmother to stay away from Emily. Emily continues to feel poorly, despite a clean bill of health and a dismissal from Dr. Webber. Nikolas clues the doctor into Helena's curse, and Steven warns Emily to not let it get the better of her- and to not let the threat allow her to make herself sick. Nikolas takes her back to Wyndemere, where she remains concerned about the curse. She searches in vain for the book of curses that Helena removed, and is sad to realize that it's no longer at the house. Meanwhile, Helena tears pages from the book, while Tracy looks on, and promises to not allow Nikolas and Emily to find a way out of the curse. As the pages burn in the fireplace, Emily grows weaker and collapses in Nikolas’ arms. Tracy steals the Cassadine book of curses from Helena and passes it to Nikolas and Emily.

Nikolas pounces on Helena in the police interrogation room, threatening to kill her if she doesn't give up the antidote to the curse. Helena warns that there's nothing he can do to save Emily except leave her. Nikolas begins to choke his grandmother, demanding answers. Helena is shocked at his extreme actions, and as she begins to choke, she gasps, "Aphrodite" and "garden." Ric and Alexis manage to break into the room and stop Nikolas before he murders his grandmother, but unbeknownst to him, as he choked Helena, Emily began to gasp for breath back at Wyndemere. As Nikolas was pulled off of Helena, Liz showed up to wake Emily out of her murderous dream. The events caused Emily to grow more terrified of Helena's curse's power, and she asked Liz if she was crazy. Liz stressed that Emily should listen to Steven, and not buy into the curse, but Emily remain unconvinced. Receiving no further help from his grandmother, Nikolas returns to Wyndemere and begins to look over the book of curses with Emily. He manages to translate the words, and calls on Alexis for further information. He decides to go to Greece despite Alexis's protests, and Emily says she's going with him to find the answer to ending the curse.

Emily and Nikolas arrive in Greece, and try to get answers from the locals on the Garden of Aphrodite. A man at a restaurant shows fear at the mention of the garden, and warns them to stay away and not ask questions. They refuse to listen, and begin to search themselves. Suddenly, Emily collapses, and Nikolas rushes to grab her before she hits the ground. He lays her on a bench, and a woman appears before them, stating that Emily is cursed. Nikolas tells the woman to leave, assuming she's a paid worker of Helena's. But the woman denies knowing Helena, and attempts to help Emily by telling her what she sees in her aura. The woman tells Emily her love of Nikolas is cursed, and the only chance she has to break it is to kiss on a moonless night in the Garden of Aphrodite. When Emily begs to know where the garden is located, the woman sadly informs her that it was lost during an earthquake many years before and is no longer available to them to break their cursed love.

Nikolas meets with Emily at a cafe in Greece. He tells her he found an old topographical map in the library that shows where the Garden of Aphrodite is located. She points out to him that they may have a difficult time finding it since the earthquake that caused it to go underwater. Nikolas brings her to the place that the garden once was. They notice a cave there. Nikolas wonders if they can get inside the cave and find a way to reverse Helena's curse. Emily can't understand why she can't fight of Helena's curse on her own. She has another weak fainting spell as Nikolas walks with her to the cave. Emily continued to weaken, but Nikolas found the remains of the Garden of Aphrodite and carried his fiancée there. Nikolas kisses Emily in what they hope is the Garden of Aphrodite, and their love for each other causes them to initially miss the bevy of blooming flowers that appears all around them. They break from their kiss, and Emily immediately begins to feel better. Knowing that they did find the right place, and that they kissed there on a moonless night, the couple realizes that the spell cast by Helena has been broken. They retreat back toward the water, where Nikolas tells Emily of his love for the beach as a child in Greece. He explains where the Cassadine island is located, but when she asks if they should go there, Nikolas quickly tells her that he will never return to the place where he was raised. He remembers all of the evil that surrounds his family, and vows to not be like them. He can't help but express concern over their continued detriment to his relationships, and he continues to worry for Emily and any children they might have one day.

Nikolas and Emily summon Lucky to the hospital to fill him in on the details of the action they took to break Helena's curse. Tracy overhears the happy trio planning Nikolas and Emily's wedding and immediately places a call to Helena to warn Helena that Emily and Nikolas have rendered Helena's curse powerless. Meanwhile, Ric finds Nikolas and informs Nikolas that Kristina is in the hospital and Alexis is in dire need of some family support. When Nikolas and Emily visit Kristina's room, Alexis is happy to learn that Nikolas and Emily have succeeded in neutralizing Helena's curse, but Alexis reminds the happy couple of the way that Helena murdered Alexis's mother years ago. Nikolas remains confident that he will be able to protect Emily from Helena. When Nikolas arrives at the Port Charles Police Department, Nikolas is shocked when Lucky advises his brother that the police had to release Helena because of a technicality.

As Emily and Kristina sit in the chapel and Emily happily fills Kristina in on the details of Emily's upcoming wedding, Helena approaches Emily and Kristina with a knife in her hand. At that moment, Alexis arrives at the door of the chapel and sees Helena poised behind Emily and Kristina. Alexis thwarts her plans by showing up just in time to stop her. Helena pulls the dagger on Alexis when Nikolas shows up to stop her. She holds the knife to her throat and threatens to kill her if Nikolas doesn't back off and let them go. Nikolas follows them to the elevators. One of the elevators opens and Ric is inside it. Ric sees what Helena is doing and freezes in panic. Helena orders him to back off the elevator to let her on with Alexis or else she will slit her throat. Ric waits for the right moment when Helena is the most vulnerable and knocks Helena and the dagger down on the floor. Alexis jumps off the elevator but it closes with Helena inside alone with the dagger. Nikolas runs down the stairs to catch her. Ric orders an APB out on Helena. Emily and Nikolas talk later about postponing their wedding right now. Alexis won't allow them to cancel their wedding plans because of her. Ric tells them all he thinks that Helena killed Mary Bishop and tried to frame Emily and that she killed the nurse she paid off too. Helena hides on the docks and calls one of her men to get the plane ready for her to leave the country on. She tells the pilot that she needs to finish some business first before she heads out.

Ric, Emily and Nikolas caught Tracy at Wyndemere trying to steal back the Book of Curses. They questioned her to see if she knew of Helena's current whereabouts, but Tracy said she did not. Ric announced that Emily was no longer under suspicion for Mary's death, assuming Helena responsible instead. Ric also learned that Helena's plane was over the Atlantic, with no flight plan filed with the airport. Later, Nikolas and Emily celebrated by making love. Emily fell asleep afterward and woke up alone. Her search for Nikolas led her outside, where she encountered Helena. Helena had earlier waited for Alexis at Alexis' apartment, but her plans to commit that murder had been thwarted when Ric showed up. Helena was ready this time, though, knife in hand. She attacked Emily and was pushing her over the edge. Nikolas arrived on the scene, grabbed his grandmother and got the knife away from her. Helena tried to attack again with her bare hands. Nikolas grabbed her and threw her over the cliff, telling her to join his father in Hell! Nik reports that there is no way Helena could have survived the fall or the icy waters below, even though no body is found. Nikolas momentarily enjoys his chance for revenge when he throws Helena off of the cliff after she attacked Emily. His moment quickly dissipates when he realizes that he just became the grandson Helena always wanted him to be, that it is ironic that she would be proud of him if she wasn't dead. He rushes to the bottom of the cliff, but finds no sign of her body. He tells a stunned Emily that he's a murderer, but she promptly jumps to his defense. She assures him that he had no choice and that Helena's death was an accident. Tracy arrives to warn them that she suspects that Helena is out to kill Emily again, Nik tells her Helena has already been there and there has been an accident.

**The End**