“Tell me that I’m imagining this,” Maxie whispered to Jason as they stared at the door that Helena and Jonathan had just entered. “This can’t be happening.”

“Normally I’d love to stand here and indulge your fantasies,” Jason grinned at the blush that turned her face red, “but unfortunately you are right. That is my nephew who just acted out the role of the fly to Helena’s spider.” A cold detached look came over Jason’s face and he took long strides heading back in the direction of the hotel Emily and Maxie checked into earlier.

“Where are we going?” Maxie’s long strides managed to keep up with Jason’s as if they were perfectly matched.

“To bring up a reunion much too soon and in the worst way imaginable,” Jason said grimly as they marched through the lobby and took the elevator upstairs.

The hotel room

Emily sat quietly enfolded in Lucky’s arm, listening to the steady and beautiful rhythm of his heart beat, Her fingertips traced delicate patterns along the solid muscles of his arms, almost as if she was afraid if she didn’t touch him he would disappear.

“I can’t believe you’re alive,” she whispered her voice shaky and uneven. “It hurt so much thinking you were dead and trying to figure out how I was going to make it through everything without you. It was like I was alive but everything inside me died when that launch exploded.”

“Shhhh,” Lucky’s voice was low as he gently kissed the line of her long neck. “I’m not dead. I’m here and everything is going to be okay. I swear it.”

“Don’t,” She turns in his arms and looks straight into the depths of his blue eyes. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep. We both know that this is far from over. Don’t make me promises you can’t keep and don’t protect me from the truth. I’m stronger than I look you know.”

“I know,” He closes his eyes and opens them again. “I have never once since Lila’s funeral doubted your strength. Emily Bowen Quartermaine Spencer you are the strongest person I know and you always have been. I love you and I WILL do everything I can to protect you, love you, and cherish you.”

Emily shakes her head, tears brimming. “You were the one who almost died for me. I’ve cost you so much.”

“I would die for you in a heartbeat, don’t you know that. Without hesitation.”

Emily is silent for a while, wondering if he will ever know the depth of the guilt she feels for the choices she has forced him into.

“Emily?” She looks down, refusing to meet his eyes and his thumb runs a tear as it trails across her cheek. “Em?” Placing his fingers gently on her chin, he forces her to look up at him.

She shakes her head. “It’s my fault. You almost died because of me. I should never have returned to Port Charles. I should never have taken you away from your home or your friends or your family. You almost paid with your life for my mistake.”

Lucky swears inwardly and makes a silent vow that he will kill Helena and this time she will not get away from him. His heart aches at the pain and confusion he sees etched on the face that means the world to him and he knows that he cannot erase it with mere words but he knows that he has to try. “I love you. You didn’t take me away from anything, you gave me everything. You made me feel things I never thought I’d feel again after Liz died. Loving you and being loved by you has been the single greatest blessing of my life and I will be forever grateful.” His lowers his voice and tries to steady it, but its a losing effort and he knows it. “If I had died on that launch it would have been with sorrow but without regret. I would have mourned for all the days we didn’t get to spend today but I would not have regretted on single day that we did have together. Not one. Not ever. Whatever happens, you are my miracle and my salvation. Always.”

She looks up at him and all the love she feels for him inside shines in her eyes and it makes his breath catch. “I love you.” she says simply as touches first their fingers together until their hands are intertwined and then their lips as he pulls her close. She pulls away a few minutes later.

“I still don’t understand. I saw the launch explode. They searched for you. How did you survive?”

“Pure luck. Or a miracle. I don’t know. One minute I was watching you and Nikolas walk away and the launch was pulling out, the next instant this voice in my head told me to look down and I did and I saw this bomb. There wasn’t enough time left for me to warn the pilot, so I jumped off the side of the boat and dived down.” He pulls back a lock of her hair from her face and smiles. “I guess those cliff diving lessons I took in Acapulco last winter paid off. Or maybe I just got lucky, no pun intended. The next thing I remember clearly is waking down the river.” Lucky’s hand shakes and he lowers it and places it in hers to keep it steady. “I was so scared that you or Jonathan were hurt. I didn’t know if the bomb was a distraction or a first strike or what. When my head cleared, I realized it had been meant for you and I have never been so afraid in my life. I didn’t want Helena to know I was alive just in case so I walked back to PC, stole a car, sneaked past Jason’s guards, to get into the house. When you weren’t there I was scared and when you weren’t at Jason’s I was terrified and when he told me you came after Helena on your own I was petrified. What the hell were you thinking?” The tightening of his arms around her takes the bite out of his words.

“I don’t think I was,” Emily said softly. “I was just acting on instinct. I believed you to be dead. I knew there was a good chance that I was going to die also. I couldn’t let Helena live and hurt my son. I couldn’t.”

“I know,” Lucky acknowledges wryly. “As much as it pains me to admit this I’d probably have done the same thing. How is Jonathan?”

“Home. I told Nikolas that I was keeping him and he agreed,” Her voice softens warily. “Nikolas has been pretty decent. He was devastated by your death.”

Lucky says nothing but Emily sees a softening in his eyes and decides to take it as a positive sign, however small a sign it really is. “Jonathan is going to be so happy to know that you are alive.”

“How are you? And the baby?”

Emily smiles. “ You were only dead 24 hours, Spencer. I’m fine. I took my medicine like a good girl.”

“You look tired and pale? Have you eaten? Any more dizzy spells.”

“I haven’t slept or eaten much if at all in the last day and I’m not exactly up to competing in a marathon but just holding you makes me feel better. Anything else you need to know mom” she teased lovingly.

“Maybe you should go see the specialist and get checked out since we’re here?”

“I’m fine,” Emily repeats the words in a slow and gentle voice for her husband. “The best medicine in the world is having you back again. Besides, I still think this is a good time to go after Helena. She thinks you are dead. She thinks I’m grieving. We have surprise on our side.”

“No. Absolutely not. Helena needs to be taken out and Jason and I will take care of her. Once and for all. You and your partner in crime are going to be on the jet headed home as soon as I can get you to the airport.”

“I’m not leaving. I have as much right to be here as you do maybe more and I can help. I know how Helena thinks, how she feels, how she reacts...” Emily’s face pales and she places a hand on her stomach and catches her breath.

“Em?” Lucky’s voice is filled with panic. “What’s wrong? I’ll call a doctor. Wait here.” Lucky starts to get out of the bed, but Emily gently puts her hand on his shoulder and pulls him down.

“Nothing’s wrong,” she whispers gently an incredible smile on her face. “Your daughter just decided to make her presence known. I felt her kick.”

“What?” Astonishment laced Lucky’s tone.

Emily nodded and reached out to place his hand on top of her gently rounded stomach. After a moment, Lucky felt the gentle flutter himself.

“Oh my God.” His words conveyed his wonder. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” He reached forward to giver her a long and loving kiss, their earlier argument momentarily forgotten.

Just then Jason opened the door to the bedroom from the suite’s living room. Maxie stood next to him. “I hate to interrupt but your son just walked into Helena’s apartment building escorted by the old battle-axe herself.”

“What?” Emily moved to get off the bed at the same time as Lucky did. “He was supposed to spend the day with Michael.”

“I would say his plans changed.”

“Great,” Lucky said bitterly. “I’m going to kill her and then I’m going to ground him until he’s at least 25.” He looked at Emily. “I guess you are going to get your wish after all. The time has come to take Helena out once and for all and we’ll need all of us to pull it off.” As Jason and Maxie head into the suite’s living room, Emily hesitates.”

“I’ll be there in a minute.” Her eyes gesture towards the bathroom.

Lucky nods and gently closes the door.

Emily waits a second, and then reaches into her purse and pulls out her wallet. She pulls out a small photo, it’s a picture of the four of them as teens. She’d left it behind when she ran away and it had been one of the first things she had retrieved from the mansion when she and Lucky had returned.

Her finger traces Liz’s face and Emily looks up briefly and smiles. “I know you saved him,” she whispers softly. “Thank you.”

Closing the wallet she heads into the living room to help her husband plan how to save their son.

Port Charles
The home of Luke and Laura Spencer

Laura hung up the phone and looked at her husband, worry carved among the fine lines on her face. “There’s no answer. Where could Emily be?”

“I don’t know,” Luke comes over and holds her from behind. “Maybe she jut needed to be alone for a while.”

“She lost her husband and she’s in the middle of a potentially fatal pregnancy, she can’t afford to be alone. She needs us. We need her. That baby is part of Lucky and...” Laura’s voice stilled as the depth of her sadness overwhelmed her. She looks up at her husband and closes her eyes in anguish. “A parent should never have to bury a child. It’s too hard. It hurts too much.” A note of bitterness enters her voice. “Not like this. Not when he was so happy and he had so much to look forward. I could kill Helena Cassadine myself.”

“Shhhh.” Luke turned her around and held her tight against his shoulder. “Helena will pay. I have Jason’s word on that. He knows the threat she poses to Jonathan. He’ll take care of her.” Luke wanted desperately to help Jason with that little task and to pay back Helena for the decades of hell she’d put his family through, but he couldn’t leave Laura alone right now. There was no way he was going to let her mourn their son by herself.

Laura looks up shakily. “I guess planning his memorial service can wait until Emily is ready to help. It wouldn’t be right otherwise.”

Luke had nodded in agreement and was about to speak when he heard the doorbell ring. “That must be Lu. I told her to call me from the airport but she must have taken a cab.”

“But why would she ring the doorbell?”

“This is Lu we’re talking about. You know the middle troubled difficult child.” Luke quips knowing that his oldest daughter is an honor student at her the University of Washington.

“All of our children are difficult. It’s part of their famous Spencer genetic make up.”

“And I suppose none of them inherited your capacity,” Luke began as he opened the door, “for getting into trouble.” He stops short and looks at a grim and determined Nikolas standing next to a very chastened Ruby. “Obviously one of them did.”

“What did she do this time and why did the school call you and not us?” Luke drawled as Laura came to stand beside her husband as Nikolas and Ruby entered.

“Daddy!” Ruby complained. “It’s not even a school day.”

“Beg your pardon sweetheart,” Luke winked at Laura. “I must have been having a flashback to that time when you ..”

“got suspended in the sixth grade.” Ruby finished mockingly. “One little incident involving....well I don’t have to go into the details since you all remember it so well. I’m surprised you haven’t broadcast it to the world.”

Laura smiled at her fourteen year old daughter. “It did make a great story for the Christmas newsletter.”

Ruby refrained, just barely, from sticking her tongue out. She was already going to be in enough trouble when Nikolas finished his story. No point giving them more ammunition or she’d find herself grounded until she was 25.

“So what did she do?” Laura asked Nikolas as they walked into the kitchen followed by Ruby and Luke. “I’m sure whatever it is can’t have been that bad. “ Laura took out a pitcher of iced tea and poured some into glasses and handed one to Nikolas. Luke, watching his daughter’s face as she sat down at the table, wasn’t so sure. Ruby had been up to something these last few weeks and he had a feeling that he was about to find out exactly what. He also had a feeling that he wasn’t going to like it.

Nikolas took a deep breath. He’d had an hour to process Ruby and Michael’s discovery and he still couldn’t believe it. He looked at Luke. With Alexis out of town, he had to speak to someone who knew his grandmother and Luke Spencer was the only other Helena expert he knew. Nikolas’s next step was going to be critical and he had to think it through carefully. “Your daughter, my son, and their cousin have been digging into Helena Cassadine’s life and times.”

“You what?” Luke’s voice was controlled but lethal as he turned to his daughter. “Do you not know how deadly Helena Cassadine can be? My God she killed your brother. She wouldn’t hesitate to kill you or Michael and you don’t want to know what she would do if she ever got her hands on Jonathan.”

Ruby face went white as Nikolas continued. “That’s not all. Apparently they’ve been able to dig up concrete evidence that my grandmother is not the real Helena Cassadine.”

The glass that Laura was holding dropped and shattered breaking the silence that met Nikolas’s last statement.

To be continued in part two