Lesley got up to the sound of the doorbell. She went quickly downstairs to open the door, and Alexis, Sean and Tiffany rushed inside. "Where's Luke?" Tiffany asked.
"I haven't seen him all morning, so I suppose he's still upstairs? Did he know that you were coming?" Lesley asked.
"He's the one who set up this meeting and told us not to be late," Alexis said, frustrated.
Sonny heard the commotion and woke up. He slowly got up from the couch and went over to the group. "He's probably still asleep upstairs. I think we all had a pretty long night."
"Yeah, well, I'm not the one who set up the time. He was, Mr. Corinthos. And we all had a pretty long night yet everyone's here but him."
"Calm down, Ms. Davis, and give the guy a break. He probably thought that comforting his wife was a little more important than making sure he was downstairs in time for your arrival," Sonny said.
"Oh, and can I use the excuse that I'm worried out of my mind about my nephew that I couldn't make it here on time? I doubt it."
"You know, Ms Davis, you really need to just chill a moment. A hot head is not what we need and will only get in our way. Luke's agreed to help and you should be thankful for that one because you wouldn't know where to start if you were trying to find your precious nephew on your own."
"Cut her a little slack, Sonny. The woman's right. We should have been downstairs by the time they got here," Luke said from the stairs, an arm around Laura. "And I'm sorry we were late, Tash, but Laura and I wanted to check on our kids before we got started."
"I'll make some coffee before we get down to business," Laura said, heading down the stairs before Luke.
"Sweety, let me start the coffee, and then I'll go upstairs with the kids to leave you to some peace," Lesley said, heading into the kitchen.
"So, Luke, what's the plan?" Sean asked.
"Can a man wake up first before you start demanding things, Sean?" Everyone stared at Luke. "Why don't we all just take a seat the table, and maybe we can come up with a plan to free Nikolas and take care of Helena at the same time."
"Luke, I'm a police officer, so if you are suggesting murder, I wouldn't do it in my presence," Sean said, warningly.
"Would I plan a murder, Sean? Oh, that hurts to think that you still think of me as a cold blooded killer like that. But we have to be prepared to defend ourselves because you know Helena won't want to let us out of there alive and in one piece."
"Well, I think we should first decide on who's going to go to Greece to get Nikolas back," Sonny suggested.
"That's an easy one," Luke said. "Me and you, Sonny. Just the two of us is enough, and less to worry about."
"No, Luke. I'm going with you," Laura said.
"No, you're not! You need to be here with the kids and make sure they stay safe."
"And this is my son we're talking about, Luke. I'm not going to sit by and wait until he returns," Laura said, determined to stick her ground.
Luke looked at Laura, not wanting to have this conversation now in front of everyone. He didn't want to have this conversation at all. "Laura, I know how you feel, but you have two other kids to think about. If we both leave, then who's going to protect them? And I'm not going to risk your life in this also. Helena's dangerous, and risking one of us is enough."
"And who are you to decide on what kind of risks I should take?" Laura asked, furiously.
"I'm your husband!" Luke said, just as angry.
"And that gives you the right to decide what I do?" Laura said, still not budging an inch.
"Just drop it, Laura, because you are not coming with us!" Luke said, pounding the table with his fist.
"As much as I love watching a married couple get into a huge argument, this isn't getting us anywhere," Sean said.
Luke and Laura just continued to glare at each other until Lesley interrupted with the cups of coffee. Lesley handed each person a cup and whispered into Laura's ear, "Let this argument drop right now, otherwise you'll never work out a plan." Laura nodded and Lesley headed upstairs to the kids.
"So what's the plan, Luke?" Sonny asked.
"Well, Sonny, you and me are going to go over to Greece and sneak onto that island. We're going to have to go disguised, just in case one of those guards spot us. Of course, I don't plan on letting any of the guards have a chance to inform Helena of any intruders, but the possibility is there, so we have to make sure that those two intruders don't fit our descriptions."
"Understood," Sonny said.
"And once we're there, we're going to have to find a place to hide out so that at night, we'll sneak into the house and find Nikolas. Then we sneak him out and head back here. That's it, plain and simple."
"Some plan, Luke. Just sneak into the house and sneak back out. Like Helena would allow that. She's probably got guards all over the place," Alexis said.
"I can't predict what's going to happen, Natasha. We'll see when we get there, and we'll be ready for anything. Sonny and I make a pretty good team," Luke said.
"Well, you're forgetting that I'm going to go with you too," Alexis said.
"And I'm going too," Sean added.
"Would anyone else like to join us? You know, the more body bags the better," Luke said.
"Yeah, Dad, I'm going with you," Lucky said, heading downstairs.
Luke and Laura got up together and yelled, "NO!"
"You can't stop me," Lucky said, making his way to the table. "You're going to need backup, and Nikolas is my brother. Mom, you've wanted me to think of him in that way, and now that I do, you're telling me not to? I wouldn't abandon Lulu if she was in trouble."
"I'm not going to compromise your safety, Lucky," Laura said.
"I've been in danger before and I've always been able to take care of myself just fine," Lucky said.
"But you haven't dealt with Helena, Cowboy. And neither your mother or I are willing to put you in the line of fire over there."
"And Helena's worse than Frank Smith? Dad, I can make my own decisions, and I've decided that I'm going."
"Didn't I just have this conversation with someone else," Luke asked, looking at Laura. He then walked over to Lucky and led him to a corner of the room, out of earshot from everyone at the table. "Lucky, I do need you. I need you to make sure no one comes here and takes Lulu while I'm gone."
"And you think someone will?"
"Yeah, I do. With me out of the picture for a little while, Helena's men can strike. I wouldn't feel comfortable about leaving if I didn't think you were going to be here to protect her and your mother. Lucky, when I head to Greece, I can only think about getting Nikolas back. If I start worrying about my family, then I can make a mistake. And making a mistake with this woman means sure death. You get what I'm saying?"
Lucky looked at the ground, picking up one of Lulu's toys that was laying there. "Yeah, Dad, I hear you. Okay, but promise me something. Come back home in one piece. I'm just getting you back and I don't want to lose you again."
Luke took Lucky in a hug and kissed the top of his head. "I promise, kiddo. Thanks."
Lucky padded Luke's back before breaking the hug and heading back upstairs to his grandmother and his sister. Luke watched him go and walked back over to the table, taking Laura's hand and saying quietly, "He understands."
Laura nodded, and gave Luke a kiss on the cheek. She was relieved that she wasn't going to have to worry about Lucky following them to Greece, especially when she wasn't going to be here to make sure that he didn't leave.
"Now that I've managed to convince one person that it's stupid to come with me and Sonny..." Luke started.
"I heard what you said, Luke, and I understand your reasoning," Laura said.
Luke took that as an agreement that she was going to stay in Port Charles too, so he thanked her and moved onto Alexis. "Tash, what about you? You think you can really handle probably having to swim to shore with a backpack, sleeping outside whether it's raining or not, and making sure that any guard that sees you cannot report you to Helena? And can you handle Helena if she finds you and wants to slit your throat like she did your mother? Or do you think it's wiser that you stay here and be our home base just in case something goes wrong and we don't return?"
"I have the right to help look for my nephew. And you can't say that I have kids to take care of here, Luke, because I don't have anything keeping me here."
"Alexis, Sonny and I are going to move quickly, and we need to be able to do this without worrying about anyone but ourselves. I know Sonny and I know he can take care of himself, so I can concnetrate on my own safety without having to watch his back every five minutes. It won't be the same if you come."
"And you're men and I'm just a weak woman who will only get into trouble," Alexis added.
"I never said that," Luke responded. "My wife has shown me that women do have an amazing amount of strength to handle the worst of situations. I would never use gender as an excuse."
Sean whispered into Alexis' ear, "Let Luke think he's right for now and then we can follow him."
Alexis nodded in agreement. Luke looked at the two of them, knowing that something was not right about it. "What are the two of you keeping from us?"
"I just told Alexis that you weren't going to drop this argument, so she should give in so you and Sonny can leave and get Nikolas quicker," Sean said.
"So, you're not coming now either?" Luke asked.
"Not if I can be of better use here. I'll make sure everyone is safe in Port Charles, while you and Sonny find Laura's son."
"Now that everyone has finally come to their senses... Sonny and I will pack and be gone by this afternoon. We'll have cell phones, but no calls to us. We'll check in with you and keep you up to date on the situation."
"Luke, be careful," Tiffany said, going to Luke and giving him a hug.
"I will, favorite film star."
Sean, Tiffany, and Alexis left together as Laura went upstairs to check on the kids. Luke walked over to Sonny asking, "Do you really think that Alexis and Sean are going to stay put? I didn't like that secret whisper between the two of them. I don't trust Alexis."
"Or Sean. He loves following you, man, so you can expect him to follow you to Greece too."
"Is there anyway you can make sure that he stays here? Anything you can do to remind him of his priorities?"
"Probably, but what about Alexis? She seemed determined to come before Sean said something to her."
"I know. And so did my wife before Lesley said something to her. I don't like leaving here with this uncertainty. It's too huge of a risk to take, and while I like risks, I like ones where I know I can handle it."
"Why didn't you call Laura on it?" Sonny asked, remembering that he was shocked that Luke didn't push her in what made her decide to stay home.
"Where would that have led, Sonny? Another argument?" Luke said. He saw Sonny was not convinced by Luke's answer, so he continued. "Okay, the truth is that I didn't want to make Laura have to lie to me. And she didn't with what she said, so I dropped it. She would have lied, and I know for sure that she's planning on coming with us. I think it's just easier on me that I know that she would have lied rather than hearing her actually lie. It's something I can't handle right now, Sonny, when the major problem between us is trust."
"So, you're going to let Laura just follow us? Man, that's even more dangerous than if you just let her come with us from the start."
"No, I'm not letting her follow us. When Laura's occupied with something, like making breakfast, then I'm going to talk to Lesley. I'm going to convince Lesley to make sure that Laura stays put."
Sean told Tiffany to wait in the car, as he walked Alexis to her car. "Luke said he was leaving this afternoon, but I have a feeling that he'll be leaving sooner than he told us. I don't think he bought our reasoning, so I think that instead of us following him, we should fly to Greece right away, and be there for his arrival."
"I can be ready in a half an hour. How will we get there?" Alexis asked
"We're going to take the Quartermaine jet. I'll convince Edward and Ned to let us have it, and I'll tell Ned to make himself scarce for the day. I don't think Luke is going to ask for the jet, but if he does, Edward can always tell him that Ned left for a business trip. That way, we won't have to buy plane tickets, and Luke will not be able to trace our whereabouts before we want him to know."
"So, I'll meet you in a half hour at the Quartermaines'?"
"Yeah, and pack light. We're going to have to drag around what we bring, so buy a backpack if you need to, and only bring what you think you can carry easily."
