Emily Quartermaine swore softly when she found herself biting the end of one perfectly manicured fingernail.
God was she nervous. Maybe she shouldn’t have come? She looked around the ELQ jet for a moment and took a deep breath. No she needed to come. She needed to be there for Lucky. No matter how scared she was inside, once she and Lucky were together she’d feel safe. Lucky always made her feel safe. Even when they had been kids and she had been head over heals in a crush on Nikolas and he’d been in that soulmate phase with Liz, being around Lucky had made her feel safe in a way that all the luxury at the Quartermaine mansion had never achieved. Maybe that was why she had so calmly run away with him that one time. Maybe it was why she trusted him completely.
Even if he did kiss Liz.
She found herself smiling at that last thought. Yeah she still trusted Lucky. She wasn’t completely comfortable with the thought that he had kissed Liz, but it wasn’t enough to throw away what they had or what they could have in the future.
That is if he didn’t kill her for coming to Italy.
He wouldn’t. Or maybe he would for a little bit, just to make himself feel better. But underneath all the “I don’t want you in danger” and “I almost lost you once I’m not taking that chance again.” talk there would be this acknowledgment that he was glad that she was there, that he needed her to be there almost as much as she needed to be there for him.
Or at least that’s how she hoped things would play out.
Then they would contact Sonny, which he really needed her for because she knew Sonny better than any of them did. It wasn’t like Sonny was going to be holding a sign up on a street corner that said “will trade information to WSB agents.” Not in a million years. Wherever Sonny was, whatever he knew, finding him would be a matter of thinking like him and somehow she doubted that any of them, Frisco, Lucky, or Robin could manage that.
She leaned back and closed her eyes. An hour until they landed. She shuddered slightly as she realized that she was going to find the man she had just a few weeks ago risked her life to escape from. God, this whole thing had bad soap opera written all over it sometimes.
“Emily?” Robin’s voice carried softly from where she sat on the other side of the plane making notes on a pad of paper. “Are you okay?”
Emily shook her head. “Just tired.”
Robin’s eyes narrowed in concern. In her eagerness to get to Italy and join in the hunt she’d almost forgotten that a few weeks ago Emily had been near death. “Why don’t you lie down until we get there?” She indicated the leather sofa in the luxuriously appointed plane.
Emily nodded. “Just make sure you wake me up when we get there.” She grinned wryly. “I don’t want to miss any of the action.” Walking over to the sofa, she used a throw pillow for a blanket and pulled the heavy wool blanket they kept on board over her. As fast as this new jet was, she missed the old one that had come complete with a bedroom where she had often crashed after meetings. Closing her eyes softly, Emily let her mind drift slowly off to sleep.
Robin let her gaze drift for a moment, before settling back down on the notepad in front of her. She frowned when she noticed that instead of writing down possible plans and scenarios, she’d written the word “Mom” over and over again. Sighing, she put the tablet down and walked over to grab a diet Pepsi out of the well stocked fridge. Was her mother alive? If she was, then why was she with Faison? Was she his captive? Or God help her was her mother with Faison willingly? They’d been lovers before and Anna Devane, loyal WSB agent, had once been a loyal DVX agent as well. She shivered slightly, wishing for a moment that Frisco was here, with her. She needed him, his arms to hold her, his steady presence to anchor her. His smile to make her smile.
Come on Scorpio, she told herself harshly. Snap out of it. There’s too much on the line for you to lose it now. When this is over, all over, then you can snap and check yourself into Ferncliff for a long extended vacation. Or forget Ferncliff, when this was over she was going to grab Frisco and make him make good on his proposal even if she had to get married by a guy in an Elvis suit crooning a bad rendition of Love Me Tender.
She smiled at the thought. There was a happy ending waiting out there somewhere. For her and Frisco. For Lucky and Emily. Maybe even for her mother. All they had to do was to stay alive long enough to reach that happy ending.
Easy enough. If you didn’t stop to think about the fact that they were about to face a man who was evil incarnate on his home turf. On the surface at least, Faison held all the cards. He knew the territory. He had Lulu. And maybe her mother. He was a brilliant sadistic madman who had no morals and no scruples.
But he didn’t have Lucky and Frisco as his partners. The three musketeers. There were no better trained agents anywhere, and none that worked as well together as the three of them did. She’d forgotten the fact that they were a team when she’d made that stupid move in Maine. She’d been so caught up in the idea that her mother was still alive that she had stopped to think. She’d forgotten that that was her specialty, the calm rational logical thinking that could see solutions for problems before others even realized something was wrong. Combine her thinking with Lucky’s technical expertise and Frisco’s flair for action and the three of them were unbeatable.
Which was why she had to be there. She had to help them take out Faison. Without her, they didn’t have a chance because the triad that gave them their strength would be incomplete.
But with her....with her there not even the likes of Faison stood a chance.
She’d just begin to settle down as the jet approached the Rome Airport. Standing up, she was about to wake Emily up again when the door to the cockpit opened. She looked up, expecting to see the pilot who had greeted them when they had entered the plane.
What she saw instead was taller and far more solid.
“Taggert?”
Marcus grinned. “In the flesh.”
“What are you doing here......” Her voice trailed off as awareness filled her and she frowned. “Did Frisco and Lucky put you up to this?”
“Let’s just say they asked nicely and I volunteered.”
Before Robin could begin her tirade on a certain someone’s overprotective streak, Emily sat up sleepily. “Are we there yet?” She looked around and saw Taggert. “Marcus? What are you doing here?”
Taggert’s explanation was cut off as a round of gun fire hit the airplane.
“What the hell was that?” Taggert asked. “That sounded like gunfire.”
“That was gunfire.” Robin turned to Emily as the three of them raced to the cockpit. “Who knew where we were going?”
“I don’t know. The tower I guess. I mean we had to file a flight plan.” She winced as another round of gunfire hit the plane. “But don’t worry, the jet is pretty much bullet proof and. ” she stopped as she saw the cockpit.
“I guess pretty much bullet proof doesn’t quite cut it.” Taggert murmured as he saw the dead pilot, his body riddle by bullets. Even as he was helping Robin and Emily move the body, he scanned the sky. “I think we’ve got a bogey at five o’clock.” He slipped into the pilot’s chair and grabbed the controls.
“I didn’t know you could fly,” Robin asked as she strapped in next to him.
“Never told you about my stint as a soldier of fortune, did I?” Taggert asked as he straightened the plane out from its slight dive. “Remind me to fill you in when we are not being pursued by the Red Baron.” He turned to Robin. “You want to tell me what I’m supposed to do next. This plane doesn’t exactly have the capacity to fight back.”
“It doesn’t have to,” Robin studied their location carefully. “We’re ten minutes from Italian Air Space. Whoever this guy is he won’t follow us out of International Air Space. Faison isn’t stupid enough for that. The Italian authorities could turn a blind air to an American jet shot down in international territory by some random terrorist group. But an American jet shot down in Italian Air Space.....that would provoke a full scale investigation and Faison won’t risk it.”
“I hope you’re right.” Taggert muttered as he took the plane low to avoid a volley of gunfire. “In the meantime, what do you suggest I do for the next nine minutes and ten seconds.....”
“Pray.” Robin replied softly. “Pray really hard.”
A Cargo boat just off the Italian coast
“I hate the smell of fish,” Nikolas Cassadine moaned heartily as he removed the rubber overalls he had on in the confines of the small cabin. The room, like the rest of the ship, smelled like the frozen fish the ship was carrying in its hold. It also smelled like vomit thanks to the persistent seasickness of one of his traveling companions.
“Stop complaining Cassadine,” V removed the stocking cap of her head, frowning as she took a look at herself in the cabins badly dented mirror. “At least you don’t have to go around pretending to be a member of the opposite sex.” Suddenly feeling mischievous, she eyed Nikolas consideringly. “Not that you wouldn’t look that bad in a blonde wig and high heels. You could start a new Cassadine tradition.”
“Funny,” Nikolas growled, trying not to notice or be attracted to the litheness of her figure as she took off her overalls and donned a pair of shorts. Any feelings of modesty or embarrassment had quickly disappeared when the reality of traveling for weeks on board this ship sharing the tiny cabin had began to sink in.
“I try,” V smiled as she walked over to Luke who was moaning quietly on the top bunk. “How you doing Spencer?”
“Am I dead yet?” Luke asked.
“Nope.”
“Then I’m miserable.” The former adventurer-club manager-Mafia hit man- club manager groaned. “You know Cassadine you ought to live up to your end of the Spencer- Cassadine feud and just put me out of my misery and shoot me.”
“No such luck,” Nikolas made no attempt to hide his smirk. “I’m enjoying your misery far too much to end it. Who would have thought the great Luke Spencer, he of the Ice Princess fame, could get seasick?”
“Before you get too jolly just remember sooner or later we are bound to hit land and when we do.....”
“You’ll what old man?”
“Would you two stop it?” V interjected before things got out of hand. “You are beginning to make me wish I had left you locked up in that jail cell. Come on, aren’t you guys forgetting what is really important here? You know- finding Faison, saving Lulu, etc.”
“You know I still don’t understand why we couldn’t just charter a jet and fly to Italy once your contacts told you he was here.”
V shook her head. “Rule number one at the policy academy- when in doubt do the unexpected. From what Mac has told me about this creep, he has a network of spies that outrivals the National Enquirer. You charter a jet and he’d know you were on the way before you even took off. The last thing he is going to be expecting is the three of us arriving on a cargo ship. I heard them say on deck that we are just outside the harbor, which means its almost time to get this game started.”
Nikolas nodded reluctantly. “Okay, I buy this need to enter the country incognito, although I think you could have found a ship whose cargo was something more pleasant smelling, what I don’t understand is how we are going to get off this boat and through customs. I think our lack of passports or any other identification is going to cause some alarm, don’t you?”
“Yeah I do...which is why I’ve been thinking and I think I know how to get around that little problem. I just don’t think you’ll like it.”
“Considering the fact that I haven’t really liked any of this, why worry about that now.” Nikolas’s eyes narrowed as he stared at the redhead. “So what’s your plan this time?”
“We swim.”
“What?” Nikolas shook his head. “I’d expect Spencer to come up with something wild like that but I thought you at least had an ounce of common sense.”
“I told you would hate it.”
“Hate it? I don’t just hate...I find it ludicrous. Unbelievable. It’s crazy...It’s..”
“Exactly what we should do.” Luke’s voice held a firmness that belied the unsteadiness if his feet as he jumped down from the top bunk. “It’s a good plan.” He grinned at V. “You should have stayed in Port Charles. Might have taught the PCPD a thing or two.”
“You’re not serious. You don’t honestly expect me to swim all the way to shore.”
“No problem kid, you want to let a little salt water stand between yourself and saving your little sister, then you stay here. It will take Faison maybe an hour or two to find out that were here once the Italian authorities figure out who you are. Might actually be a good distraction now that I think about it.....”
“Forget it!” Nikolas’s voice is firm. “If you think I’m going to let you go running off half-cocked after my sister......”
“Then I take it your in kid?”
Nikolas had just spent almost four weeks working on board a cargo ship, keeping the company of men who were decidedly unlike his usual companions. They’d taught him how to tie a rope securely, how to ride out a storm, and how to swear. The latter skill came in handy as he considered his options, which were nil.
He shrugged. Two months ago he had been dancing with his wife in a New York ballroom. Today he was traveling on a cargo ship with Luke Spencer as his partner, fighting his growing attraction to his other partner, and his marriage, if it had ever truly been a marriage, was in shambles. Plus he had a sneaky feeling that he would never get the smell of fish out of his hair.
Curiously he felt more alive than he had in months.
He nodded. “I’m in.”
“Good there’s just one problem.” Luke pointed out slowly.
“It’s a stupid plan and we’re crazy to even be considering it?” Nikolas chimed in helpfully.
Luke glared at him and V settled for sticking out her tongue. After a moment Luke continued. “Nope, the glitch here is that those guns we’ve carefully concealed under our mattresses are not going to make it shore. Even if we could swim with them, the saltwater is going to corrode the firing barrels and jam them up. We’ll have to leave them behind.”
“Let me see if I have this straight.” Nik looked at his two companions. “We’ll have to swim at least a couple of miles through cold salt water, somehow find Faison’s villa, rescue Lulu, and do it all without any kind of weapon.”
“Do you have a better idea?” V asked sharply.
Nikolas started to say something, thought better of it, and then closed his mouth.
“I thought so.” V said softly. “So tell me Cassadine, when jumping off cargo ships do you prefer a swan dive or a feet first entry?”
“Nah sweetheart, the kid’s a Cassadine. They are definitely the belly flop type.” Luke ducked as the rubber boot Nik threw missed him and hit the cabin wall.
V sighed mentally berating herself even as she put on her tennis shoes. “It couldn’t have been Brad Pitt and Mel Gibson waiting for me in that jail cell. Nope. And I couldn’t just release them and send them back to Port Charles. Oh no. I had to ask them why they were there. And then I had to offer to help. ” She flinched as Luke through a pillow back at Nikolas in retaliation. “Never again.” Venus swore as she climbed on to the bottom bunk and pulled the blanket over her. By her calculations, they had fifteen minutes before they should jump ship. She intended to spend them in a pleasant fantasy revolving around herself, a hot tub, and the man of her dreams.
Her eyes opened a moment later as she realized that the man of her dreams had gone from having blonde hair to hair that was decidedly darker.
Faison’s Villa
Anna sat quietly on a grassy knoll overlooking the vineyard. As much as she had loved their home in Canada, the quiet warmth of the Mediterranean sun suited her and Robin so much better than the winter cold. It was so kind and considerate of Casear to suggest that they spend the rest of the winter here at his villa in Italy.
But that was exactly what Casear was- kind and considerate. Anna smiled as she considered her husband, closing her eyes to let his image fill her eyes.
His forgiveness was more than she deserved after she had betrayed him by allowing herself to fall in love with Robert. She frowned a little as she considered Robert, the gnawing ache that was usually present when she thought of him was barely noticeable and she knew that some of that was due to Casear’s love, but most of it was because she had Robin back..
When Robert had discovered her treachery and turned his back on her, the only reminder of him that she had taken with her had been the child growing inside her. Not wanting her child to be hurt by the danger her double cross had thrust her in, Anna had left her newborn child to be raised in a safe and secure place, heartbreakingly sure that fate had ordained her to be a visitor, a casual friend, in the life of her only child. She’d seen Robin a few times over the years but always from a distance, yearning to hold her beautiful daughter but afraid of the danger.
It would have always been like that if it hadn’t been for Casear. He had found her after the DVX agents had beaten her and nearly left her for dead. She shivered, not wanting to ruin the beauty of the day by remembering those long months of torture and imprisonment. She preferred to remember the long months of her recovery, Casear’s loyalty as he nursed her body, his affection warming her soul. She had confessed to him, her voice halting, her affair with Robert. One night she even told him about Robin. She had expected him to be angry with her, instead she had been given another reason to love him when he had suggested that she bring Robin to live with them. She’d been ecstatic and despite her still fragile health she had wanted to be the one who brought Robin home, but Casear had kindly but firmly dashed that idea. She’d finally relented when he’d pointed out that her passing out from exhaustion would only scare Robin.
Still, she would never forget the moment when she had seen Robin again, when her arms had held her little girl, when she had looked into those beautiful brown eyes and....
Anna stopped and frowned. Brown eyes? Where had that thought come from? Robin had blue eyes. Beautiful blue eyes just like her father.
Not brown. So why was she suddenly sure that her daughter’s eyes had once been brown. She relaxed as she remembered reading somewhere that a baby’s eyes changed colors sometimes. Robin must have had brown eyes when she was a baby and that was why she was mixed up and confused. She smiled slightly, she must be more tired than she thought.
Picking up the basket of flowers they had picked earlier, Anna called for Robin who was lying in a field of daisies making a chain. Anna frowned as she realized that the child was walking slowly, almost reluctantly, like she was afraid of her.
Which she probably was, Anna conceded. After all, she hadn’t been living with them that long. It would take time for them to develop the mother daughter bond that she dreamed of. Still, thanks to Casear they had all the time in the world.
Casear had given her her daughter back and for that he would always have her loyalty and affection, if not someday her love.
From his position a discrete hundred yards or so away, Sonny stood and watched them like the bodyguard/chauffeur he was supposed to be. He smiled when he saw Lulu hold up the daisy chain, frowned when he saw her fear as the woman called her Robin. He resisted the urge to pick Lulu up and get her as far away from Faison as he could..
His gaze moved from the child to the adult. He would have recognized Anna Devane in a heartbeat, even if he hadn’t seen pictures of her with Robin. The resemblance between mother and daughter was striking. What he couldn’t understand was why Anna, who from all the stories he had heard was no pushover, was going along with Faison’s little fantasy family. She even believed that Lulu was Robin. Mental illness? Brainwashing? Whatever the cause, he owed it to Robin, who he had once failed badly but who had never failed him, to get her away from Faison too.
All he was waiting for was Lucky and Frisco.
His gaze shifted to the thick walls of the villa and the heavily armed guards that were stationed every few feet.
And maybe a miracle or two.
