Nikolas was walking through the park after his conversation with his mother. He felt a little better about her honesty with him. He didn't exactly hear what he wanted, confirmation that she will always love a crazed man like Luke, but he had hope that she wouldn't allow Luke to control her life and keep her away from him anymore. That was if Luke even got out of jail. He had his doubts about that one, and he knew he should be happy about it, but he wasn't. Just his small visit with his mother and his sister convinced him even more that Luke was needed at his home.
Lucky was walking through the park also, after having dropped Liz off at home. He was truly greatful for her company today and was glad she respected his wishes to keep his problems to himself. Not many people would just sit with someone in silence for a long time, letting them sulk about their problems in private. Liz definitely was turning out to be the exact opposite of what he thought about her. She was turning into someone that he could really like, someone he might find himself wanting to be more than a friend to.
Lucky sat on the same bench he had been sitting at for hours. He needed some more time before he headed home. Nikolas was walking towards the same bench when he saw Lucky staring at the ground.
"Lucky, hi," Nikolas said.
"Why are you here?" Lucky asked, wishing Nikolas would just leave him alone. It was his brother's fault that his life had turned out to be a living hell.
"I just came from visiting our mother and sister."
"What were you doing there? You think just because my dad's in jail, you have free run of the Spencer home now? If you want to see our mother, then why don't you call her up and ask her to Spook Island? I doubt she'll have any complaints about going there and seeing your father," Lucky said angrily.
"I don't care what you think of the Cassadines and I don't care about this stupid feud anymore! I went there to see my mother and my sister. I went there for answers because I was more blindsided about this news than you were Lucky. I'm the one that got lied to here. No one tried to pass off your father as your uncle!"
"You really think you were the only one hurt, Nikky boy? How much do you think it hurts me knowing that I was lied to about having a brother in the first place? With the many times my mother kept on calling me her lucky charm and her first born... whatever. I don't even know why I'm telling you all this to begin with."
"Maybe because your Spencer blood won't allow you to feel a little sorry for a Cassadine, even if that Cassadine is your brother. You Spencers are all alike... you need to make a competition out of everything. Even if the competition is fighting over who feels the most pain at the moment."
"I ain't in any kind of competition with you."
Lucky got up to leave when Nikolas grabbed him by the shoulders and turned him around so he could look into his face. "We've been in competition ever since we found out about each other. You're living in denial if you can't even see that. We've got to stop this competing if either one of us wants to be able to move on with their lives," Nikolas said.
Lucky shoved Nikolas away from him. "I'll move on with my life just fine without you."
"Yeah, you're obviously moving on with your life very well. Just like your father is."
Lucky went to punch Nikolas, but Nikolas dodge the punch, shoving Lucky to the ground in the process. "Like father like son... using violence as a means of resolution," Nikolas said, as he walked away.
Luke entered Sean's office, surprised to see Tiffany there also. Sean released the handcuffs and motioned Luke to a chair. Tiffany sat next to Luke, trying to put on a smile for comfort, but Luke could tell that her mind was working on overdrive and she wanted something from him. "If this is about Laura..." Luke said.
"No, not exactly," Tiffany said. "This is about something that might help you get out of the mess you got yourself in."
"That is if you're completely willing to cooperate with us this time," Sean continued.
"Well, I'm pretty sick of that grub you call food, so I guess I'm willing," Luke said as he rubbed his wrists. "Just one thing. If I'm willing to trust you with my life, you have to tell those prison guards of yours not to put the cuffs on so tightly. I don't want lose my hands due to the lack of blood circulation before I get out of this dump."
"I think I can handle that," Sean said.
"So, what is this plan of yours? Please don't tell me that the commissioner is willing to try to break me out of here," Luke said with a grin.
"It's nothing like that. Tiffany did some research and has found something interesting, if I do say so myself. Now, it is a stretch, but we can't ignore the possibility."
"What research?"
"I was looking through some news articles since I've been gone from Port Charles," Tiffany said, handing Luke the folder that she had shown Sean. "I came across these articles about the hospital shutdown during Audrey's surgery."
"And?"
"Well, there's nothing in them to implicate Stefan for any crime. He's actually called a hero in many of them, but these articles reminded me of something that the Cassadines had been working on when I was on the island with Victor." Tiffany told Luke the whole story about the computer virus that the Cassadines had been working on and her theory about Stefan using it at the hospital.
"What is it that you want from me?" Luke asked, knowing that Tiffany was right about her assumptions.
"It's no secret that you're obsessed with the Cassadines," Sean said.
"Obsessed makes it sound like I care about them or something. I am aware of their capabilities and am cautious. There's a difference."
"Whatever you want to call it, Luke," Tiffany said, wanting to get to the point. "During your caution against Stefan, did you ever come across any proof that Stefan might have been behind the computer virus?"
"If I tell you something that might be of interest, what does that get me? How can this help me get out of here?"
"Why are you making this so difficult?" Sean asked, slamming his fist against the desk. "We're trying to get you out and you're playing games with us."
"I'm not going to be played the fool anymore, Sean. I've been played a fool too many times in my life. I want to know exactly what's in it for me before I go laying out any secrets that I have up my sleeve."
"You want to know what's in it for you? Okay, here it is. If you can give us any evidence against Stefan Cassadine, then maybe I can convince him to drop these charges against you. If he never drops the charges, Luke, you're not getting out of here. There's too much evidence against you and there's too much prior history of bad blood between you and the Cassadines for any court to be lenient about your punishment. Do you understand what I'm telling you? You either give us something against Stefan that would have once put him in jail, or you end up getting used to the prison grub and 8 by 10 cell that you'll be calling home."
"You don't need to get so excited, Sean," Luke said, smiling. "I do know about the virus and have proof that Cassadine is behind it. But this proof doesn't have his name written on it. I have a disk that I got from some friends at the WSB that helped me bring down the actual virus when Stefan planned to use it on a larger scale. What it did was allow me to tap into his computer, letting me see exactly what he saw. So, when he needed to put in the final password to start his world domination plot, I manufactured a little distraction to prevent him from doing so."
"This disk, does it have anything that will tie it to Stefan?" Tiffany asked.
"I saved the date on a disk. The date was written in an old style Russian language, using a calendar that is not used anymore. Honestly, only the Cassadines and their stupid studies would really know about this calendar... and Mike, of course. He helped me and knew about it all."
"That's not much to go on," Sean said, collapsing back in his chair as if they lost their only hope.
"There's also a computer chip which was used to upload the virus to begin with. I have a copy of it also. I found it in a fabrege egg that Nikolas gave to Lulu on her birthday. Is that proof enough that it belonged to the Cassadines?"
"Well, it's hard to go just by your word about where you found the chip because of your hatred for the Cassadines. I need a little more to go on to convince Stefan that if he doesn't drop the charges against you, then he'll be facing charges of his own. Was anyone else around when you found the chip?" Sean asked.
"Yeah. Lesley, Laura and Lucky were all there to witness the opening of the egg. We needed two Cassadine medalions to open the base of it, and once we did, the chip just popped out. Stefan wanted the egg back badly enough that he came to Switzerland to retrieve it at gun point. Nikolas knows about it too, but I don't know if he'd be willing to tell you that he was shoved off of a cliff because his father was in such a hurry to get back and use the thing on the GH computers."
"That should be enough to convince him," Sean said, surprised to the extent of Luke's knowledge to Stefan's crime. "Why didn't you try to get him arrested for this?"
"At the time, it was enough to know I stopped him. I didn't want him striking back at my family if he found out it was me, the computer illiterate, that stopped him. The women of my family where in another continent, too far away for my complete protection. Also, Barbara helped me bring him down and let's just say that he had something to use against her if he felt to need to strike back at us."
"Thanks, Luke," Tiffany said, as she gave him a hug. "Sean will get you out of here soon. As soon as I get back to your house, I'll let Laura in on the plan so she has some hope."
Luke didn't respond to Laura's name as Sean called in someone to show Luke back to his cell. Sean waited until the door closed behind them before turning back towards Tiffany. "Honey, do you think it was really a smart idea to mention Laura at this moment? I don't want him doing something rash that will extend his stay here."
"He cares how she is, even if he doesn't want to show it right now. Do you really think you have enough on Stefan to convince him to drop the charges?"
"You know me... I'm a very convincing man when I want to be." Sean kissed Tiffany before he grabbed his jacket and headed out the door to put his convincing skills to good use.
