It was cold in Heaven, a bitter blinding cold that left her frozen in the white stillness. She couldn’t move, her body too stiff to move even if the pain that seeped through her made movement possible. With what little strength she possessed, Emily managed to open an eye and to see for herself the blinding whiteness that surrounded her.

Funny she always imagined that heaven would be comprised of white fluffy clouds and angels playing harps. Not icy snow crystals that seemed to cut through the the tenderness of her flesh.

Heaven hurt like hell she thought to herself. Of course if her death followed along anything like her life, this was probably some twisted version of heaven reserved especially for her, right?

There was no respite from the cold, it was everywhere. In her. Around her. Touching her. Consuming her. She was never going to be warm again, she knew it.

But that was okay because she was never going to be again.

She closed her eyes, giving up the effort to keep them open. If she wasn’t dead, then she was dying. It wouldn’t be long either. She could feel death out there, waiting for her. Just like in that poem by Emily Dickinson they had made her memorize in high school English. How did it go? I could not stop for death so it stopped for me? I wonder what it will be like? Will it hurt? Or will it be more like a light switch turned off?

I wish I could say goodbye. Tell AJ how much I admire him. How sorry I am for how I treated him when I was a kid. Read one more story to Michael. Maybe a fairy tale with happy endings. Jason had been so wrong. Every kid should be allowed to believe in fairy tales for as long as they can hold on to that belief. She thought of Jason. God she was dying and she still couldn’t forgive him for what he had done. To her. To her grandfather. She didn’t hate him really, but she couldn’t forgive him.

Even if it meant she’d end up in hell.

At least she’d be warm.

Her dying was going to destroy her parents. She wondered vaguely if they would turn to each other for support or turn on each other. She supposed it would be the latter. She just hoped they would be there for Lila.

She could feel her thoughts getting more and more muddled and she knew there wasn’t much time left. Each breath seemed harder that the last and the cold seemed to be calling to her, pushing her out of her further and further into her body until there would be nothing left of Emily just a frozen shell.

I want to hold Lucky one more time. I want to look in those eyes and see the warmth in them shining just for me. Lucky could take away the cold. It wasn’t fair. They’d been through so much. Where was their happy ending? They should have been opening Christmas presents and making plans for the New Year. She should have moved forward with her plans to move her offices to New York so they could be together all the time She should have been in his arms. Instead she was dying alone in some godforsaken place. Poor Lucky. How could he make it without her? Robin would help him. Frisco too. And maybe, just maybe, if he was hurting enough he would let his mother and father under his guard. She doubted it, but anything was possible.

Anything but staying alive. Anything but the two of them together again.

She felt herself giving in to the blessed numbness. She could almost swear she heard death approaching. No need to hurry, I stopped you for death. I wonder what my mother will say. And Edward. Grandfather. I hope he won’t be too disappointed in me. I did try to fight back grandfather. I really did. It just hurts too much and I’m too cold to keep fighting you know.

She heard death coming closer. It sounded like death drove a snowmobile these days. That made a twisted amount of sense. A new death for the third millennium. Death goes techno. It didn’t matter really how death came. Just that it was coming for her.

She could hear Death’s footsteps and she forced herself to open her eyes to face her death head on. She wasn’t going to show fear.

Besides it was too cold to be afraid of anything.

She looked up. Death drove a snowmobile and wore a parka. And had the most incredible pair of eyes. She almost smiled. Softly her eyes closed as the nothingness claimed her.

The man in the parka bent down frantically to check her pulse. It took him a few minutes to find it. It was there, thready and shallow, but there. His eyes skimmed her figure, noting the bruising and scrapes, the arm that hung at an angle that clearly meant it was broken. Her lips were almost frozen blue. Ice clung to her eyebrows and her hair. He wasn’t surprised. It had to be twenty degrees at the most outside and she wasn’t even wearing a jacket.

He had no idea how she had gotten here, but he knew if he didn’t get her to the hospital she was going to die. Hell she might die anyway, but he was going to do whatever he could do to keep her alive.

He looked around. They were miles from the nearest house. If he left her here to get help, she’d be dead before he got back. Carrying her on the snowmobile was going to be tricky and dangerous for both of them.

He shrugged. There was no choice.

He removed his parka and put it around her, gently lifting her into his arms. He could tell that just moving her had to hurt and the fact that she had not cried out in pain scared him.

Carefully, he placed her in front of him on the snowmobile, wrapping his arms around her slender form so that he could manipulate the controls and steer.

And as he started back up the ravine, Alex Masters began to pray.

“Robin!” Frisco called out, panic strong in his voice as he raced out of the car and towards the accident scene. “Robin!” He called again, his heart stopping at the sight of Robin’s rental car wrapped around a telephone pole. Dear God, his face paled and he sickened as he stared at, tried to imagine Robin in the car, losing control, hitting the pole....

“Frisco!” His head snapped around as he heard his name being called and he turned to see her coming from behind an ambulance, a woolen police blanket around her shoulders. She broke into a run when she spotted him, the blanket discarded in favor of the warmth of his arms as they tightened around her in a grip that told her more than words what he was feeling

For a moment, all he could do was hold her. And for a moment, all she could do was let him.

After his heart beat slowed down a little and his thinking processes began again, he took a step back and looked at her. “Are you okay?” he whispered gently as he brushed back a strand of hair and eyed the nasty bruise on her cheek.

“I’m okay,” she assured him softly, desperate to do anything to dispel that fear she saw in his eyes. “I’m not leaving you. I’m right here and I’m okay.”

He closed his eyes letting the reality of her words sink in as he fought for control.

“How? I saw the car...” His voice trailed off as he tried to comprehend how anyone could survive that.

“Airbag. Seatbelt. I remembered all those warnings you gave me about putting on my seatbelt before getting past the driveway in LA and I guess it was automatic.” She expelled a deep breath. “The police officer said it was lucky that I had the seatbelt and the airbag, otherwise...” Her voice trailed off and there is silence between them as they both come to terms with the near brush they had just had.

“I love you,” he whispers the words brokenly as he stares into the depths of her chocolate silk eyes. “I love you more than I ever thought I was capable of loving someone. You are my reason for thinking and feeling and being. You are my life and if I ever lost you....”

“Shhh...” She gently touches his lips with her finger tips before reaching up to take away a tear. “I’m here. I’m not going anywhere. I couldn’t. I love you too. You gave me back my hope when I thought it was gone and my faith when I had nothing to believe in. But most of all you gave me back myself. You can’t ever lose me because I am so much a part of you and you are so much a part of me. I love you Frisco Jones. More than the sky above or the earth below.” She smiles shakily, trying to lighten the mood between them. “Even more than chocolate.”

Her reward is his smile as he draws closer and the gradual subsiding of the shaking in his body. His lips claims fervently, in a kiss that is both a benediction and a promise. “I’m never going to lose you.”

The words are shaky but she hears the vow in them and nods. “You won’t lose me.” She assures him.

Neither of them at the moment want to acknowledge the disease that is lurking in her body waiting for the right moment to destroy her world. The disease that will take her from him eventually no matter how tightly they hold on to each other.

She closes her eyes and lays her head against his chest, the beating of his heart drowning out the sounds of sirens and muffled voices as the accident scene unfolds.

She wants to tell him about Faison’s phone call, but somehow right now doesn’t seem like the right time or place.

She feels herself shudder as she remembers that voice saying her name.

God it sounded so much like her.

Come on Scorpio get a grip. Voices can be mimicked or altered. You know that. It couldn’t possibly be her. No way.

Anna Devane is dead. End of story.

“Robin?” Frisco feels her shaking and is suddenly aware of the cold night air. He pulls her closer. “Come on. I’m taking you back to the hotel to get some sleep.”

“But the case? Faison? Emily?”

“Will all be there when you wake up. I promise. You just had a bad accident and you’re in shock. It’s either the hospital under sedation or our hotel room with me.”

She wants to argue, but she has seen this look in his eyes before and she knows better. Frisco is very rarely overly protective of her. Unlike Sonny or Jason, he knows that she doesn’t have to be coddled or cushioned and that she’s more than strong enough to stand on her own. But its moments like this, when the danger of the life they live comes zeroing in on them, that they are both overly protective of each other.

Besides, he’s right. She can feel the shock settling in as her body becomes aware of the bruises left by the impact of the crash. She wants to sleep for at least a few hours. And she wants to sleep with this man next to her.

Snuggling into the safety of his arms, she lets him lead her to the waiting car.

When she wakes in a few hours it will be soon enough to begin unraveling the puzzle of whether or not her mother is really alive. If Faison’s baiting a trap for her, than she’ll find a way to turn it on him instead. And if her mother is alive, than she and Frisco and Lucky will find a way to rescue her.

It can wait. Once in the car she can feel herself closing her eyes and drifting off to sleep. It’s waited this long. It can wait a little longer.

Port Charles Hotel
Lucky’s Room

He can’t remember the last time he slept. Or ate anything more than a candy bar Lark had gotten him. Or drank something other than black coffee.

He’s physically tired and emotionally exhausted. Every time he closes his eyes he’s bombarded with images of Faison with a gun to Lulu’s head or Emily gagged and tied while Faison tortures her.

He knows first hand how effective some of Faison’s methods are.

All of this is his rationale, his excuse for not sending HER away the minute he opened the door and saw HER waiting for him.

And even as he makes the excuses in his head, he recognizes them for the lie they are.

He can’t send her away. It’s that simple. He doesn’t love her. Or at least he doesn’t think he loves her. Not the way he loves Emily. Not like he used to.

But he can’t send her away. Not at this moment anyway. He doesn’t want to be alone with the darkness of his thoughts.

So he settles for ignoring her as he fumbles through his suitcase looking for the disk he needs to tap into the DVX computers.

At least he manages to ignore her until he feels her hand on his shoulders, tracing the outline of muscles there. He tenses despite himself.

“Elizabeth.” The name comes out from behind clenched teeth as he struggles for control. He can smell the sweetness of her perfume, so different from the spicy scent that Emily favors. Emily.

He pulls himself away from Elizabeth. “Don’t.” He says the word softly.

“Why not?” Liz asks him softly. “You’re hurting. I know you are hurting. Let me help. Let me be there for you.”

God he doesn’t need this. Not now. Being around her brings up feelings he thought he had buried. Memories he had prayed that he had banished.

He turns to face her and realizes his mistake. Facing her means he is looking right at her, staring into her eyes.

He closes his own to shut her out for a moment before opening them again. “I’m hurting,” he says with quiet determination, “because a madman is holding the woman I love and my sister hostage. I am hurting because in four days and ten hours I have to decide which one of them lives and which one dies. I am hurting,” his voice rises for emphasis, “that have nothing to do with you Elizabeth Cassadine.”

She winces. “Marrying Nikolas was a mistake. I know that now. It took me a while to figure it out, but it was always about you. Always.” She closed the distance between them. “We’re soulmates Lucky. Remember? A permanent lock. We were meant to be together forever.”

Lucky tries not to look into his eyes. “I remember. But I don’t want to remember. We were kids Elizabeth. Just kids.” “I don’t believe you.”

“It’s the truth. The Lucky that loved you died.”

“But you didn’t die in that fire.”

“No, I died the morning I stood and heard you say that you no longer loved me. Nothing Faison ever threw at me hurt me like you did that day. I’d gone through hell to get back to you and you didn’t want me anymore. You didn’t want me. My mother was married to Stefan. Lulu called a Cassadine Papa. You and Nik were engaged, My dad was killing whoever Jason happened to point out for him to kill. My best friend....” He stops. He doesn’t want to think about how badly he had hurt Emily that summer. “Is it any wonder that I left town? Swore I’d never come back. I drifted from town to town. Not caring where I went as long as it wasn’t here.” He paused, his eyes bleak. “If Robin and Frisco hadn’t tracked me down and offered me a job in the WSB....”

His eyes meet Liz’s for the first time. “What was between us is gone. My life is different now. I’m different now.”

“And I suppose this new you loves Emily?” Liz doesn’t bother to hide the hurt and anger she feels.

“More than anything.” Lucky says simply.

“I don’t believe you.” Liz says suddenly defiant. “I don’t believe that the kind of love we had could ever disappear.” Without any warning, she pulls him down and kisses him.

After a minute, Lucky pulls away, breathless.

Liz smiles triumphantly. “Tell me you didn’t like that?”

Lucky pauses, unsure of how to explain it to her when he can barely understand it himself. He loves Emily. He knows that as surely as he knows his name. But just now. Returning Liz’s kiss. And he had returned her kiss, he was honest enough with himself to admit that. It wasn’t about Liz and any lingering feeling he had for her. At least he didn’t think it was about that. It was more about remembering a time when he had been an innocent sixteen year old boy who still believed that a flashlight was all you needed to chase the monsters away and somehow believing for just a minute as they kissed that he could be that innocent sixteen year old again. All he had wanted was to go back to a time before he knew who Cesar Faison was and what he was capable of.

Before he can explain to Liz what he is feeling, she reaches up and begins to kiss him again, this time with a wild desperation when she senses his reluctance to return the kiss.

As Lucky is about to pull away, the door to his room opens .

“Lucky they...” An excited voice begins and then stop as Lark Madison stands in the doorway, a hard look entering her eyes as she realizes what she has interrupted. She’d been so excited about the news that Sean Donnelly had received that she had raced right over to Lucky’s room to tell him. Now she stopped. “Sorry to interrupt.” Her voice full of sarcasm she turns to leave when Lucky’s hand grips her.

“What? Tell me.”

Up until two minutes ago, Lark would have defended Lucky to anyone. She’d always been slightly envious of the love that was between Emily and Lucky. Now she wasn’t so sure. Either way, Emily was not only her boss she was her best friend. There was no doubt in her mind where her loyalties were.

“Lark?” Lucky wants to cringe with guilt at the expression in Lark’s eyes, but there isn’t time.

“She doesn’t deserve you.”

“I know.”

Lark doesn’t look at him. “Mr. Donnelly sent me to find you.” Lark takes a deep breath, trying to recapture the hope she had felt a few minutes ago. “Emily’s in a hospital in Maine. She’s been hurt.” Lark’s voice caught. “They don’t think she’s going to make it.”

Lucky barely waits for her to finish her sentence before he’s racing down the hall.

After a second, Lark follows him.

Neither of them give another thought to Elizabeth still in the room, a smile playing on her lips.