A shocked look passed over Faison’s face before it was replaced by a grin. “What makes you think your offer will appeal to me?”

Lucky stared at the man who had held him captive, abused him, and almost destroyed him. “It did before.” He waited somberly for Faison’s response.

“Lucky?” Emily’s voice was little more than a breath and Lucky felt himself tense as he kept his focus on Faison. The guard near Emily moved closer to the still bound Emily and Lucky tensed, his fingernails digging into his fingers.

“Let them go Faison.” He repeated his demand. “You and I both know that they aren’t who you want.”

“Lucky don’t. Don’t do this.” Robin’s voice was pitched low and full of anguish.

“I have to.” Lucky didn’t take his eyes away from Faison as he responded to Robin. “I have to do this.”

“Why Lucky, after all we have been to each other you make it sound like you don’t care for my company that much?” Faison motioned to his guard who stepped away from Emily.

“I’m not here to play games with you Faison.”

“Of course you are dear boy.” Faison smiled. “It’s what you live for after all. Even before we...had the chance to become better acquainted, you lived for the chance to play the game. The cons you played... the addiction to gambling...your own version of Timoria. You live for the chance to pit your wits against a worthy adversary.”

“You’re wrong Faison,” Lucky managed through clenched teeth. “What I live for right now is the chance to strangle you with my bare hands.”

“Such violence.” Faison glanced over at Emily who had remained silent throughout their exchange. “I wonder if Ms. Quartermaine has seen this side of you before.” He approached Lucky softly. “I wonder just how well Ms. Quartermaine knows the real you.”

“Leave Emily out of this.” Lucky took a step forward despite the restraining hold of the guards. “This is between you and me Faison. Let them go.”

“I see that your vocabulary has not improved since we parted company. You really must try to avoid repeating yourself so often.” Faison turned to his men. “Let them down.”

As soon as the shackles were undone, one guard grabbed Emily while another grabbed Robin. Emily took a step forward and barely muffled a cry of agony as she moved the arm she had injured in the plane crash.

It was enough to set Lucky off. “You bastard if you’ve hurt either one of them I swear I’ll....”

“You’ll what, Lucky? Do what I ask you to, whatever I ask of you? Isn’t that what you just agreed to.”

Lucky took a deep breath. “If you let them go, yes.” He ignored the pleading look on Emily’s face or the angry look on Robin’s as she shook her head no as he waited for Faison to release the two women.

The tension grew as the room fell silent.

A silence that was broken by one word. “No.”

Lucky looked at Faison. “What do you mean, no?”

Faison shrugged. “I suppose I should have expected a child of Luke Spencer’s not to know what no means.” Faison walked over to the guard holding Robin. “Let me elaborate. You are asking me to release Ms. Scorpio and Ms. Quartermaine in exchange for you becoming my....shall we say ‘slave’? The way I see it, I already have you under my control so why should I release either of them? Especially when I know that I can use them to keep you under control just like I used the threat against Ms. Webber to keep you in line the first time.” Faison turned to the guard holding Robin. “Take her to my private quarters.”

“You can’t do this Faison.” Lucky yelled as the guard grabbed Robin and began to drag her out of the room. “You promised.”

“No I didn’t. And if I did promises, like the spirits of beautiful young women, are meant to be broken.”

Robin tumbled and breaking free from his own restraints, Lucky rushed forward to grab Robin Carefully, he helped her to her feet.

“I’m okay.” She whispered. Lucky nodded as he reached for her hand and held it tight.

“It’s just like old times, isn’t it?” His voice broke as the guard pulled Robin away.

“It is a lot like old times my dear Lucky,” Faison’s voice was almost gleeful. “Except that this time there is no escape for either of you.” He turned to watch the guard take Robin out of the room before turning back to Lucky. “Now if you will excuse me, sweet Robin and I have some catching up to do.”

The metal of the door clanged shut and Lucky turned back to Emily, moved to take a step near her, and then hesitated. “It’s going to be okay.”

He could barely see her nod in the dimly lit room and her voice when she spoke wasn’t filled with her usual strength and confidence. “I know.” She leaned back against the wall she had just been chained to, exhaustion clear in every aspect of her manner. “They killed Marcus you know.”

Lucky winced, another one to add to the list. “I figured as much when I didn’t see him with you in the village. Marcus would never have left you unprotected willingly.”

“He died saving our lives. How do I explain that to Lark? What am I supposed to say? I’m alive but by the way the man you loved and wanted to spend your life with is dead.” Emily shook her head. “It isn’t fair. Marcus was a good man. He was...a friend.”

He moved closer, his hands clinched tight into fists at his side. “He cared about you and Robin.”

“I know. I know that I should be helping you think of a way out of this mess. I mean I’m Emily Quartermaine you know. I run a major corporation. I talk to heads of state every day. I negotiate deals, arrange mergers......I make decisions almost hourly that affect thousands. I’m supposed to be strong and confident and unbreakable and right now, God Lucky, right now all I want to do is fall apart.....”

When she slid down the wall and collapsed on the floor, he moved quickly until he was on his knees in front of her. Reaching forward, he grabbed her cold hand and held them tight and waited for her to look up at him.

“I love you,” he whispered.

“I don’t know why.” Her reply was harsh. “I can be bossy and stubborn and pig-headed. And...” her voice cracked.... “I keep losing the people I love. My mother...you when we thought you died in the fire.......Marcus......my grandfather....” She closed her eyes. “God this is a lousy time for me to have a nervous breakdown.”

Lucky reached forward and tilted her chip up, waiting for her to open her eyes. “You are not having a nervous breakdown. You’ve been through a lot. A few weeks ago you were in that hospital in Maine and I thought you were going to die. And before that...well we both know what happened before that.” Lucky soothed. “And Em, it hasn’t been that long since your grandfather’s murder and all that went down.... Marcus was a good friend. It’s okay to be sad.”

She blinked back the tears. “I want to be stronger for you.”

“Oh love,” he moved until she was settled against him and he was running his hands through her hair and breathing in her scent. “You are strong Emily. You always have been. In a few minutes, you will be strong again. But just for right now, let me be strong for you, okay?”

“I can’t.” Emily hiccuped. “If I start to cry now I won’t stop and then I won’t be able to help you with whatever plan you have to get us out of here.”

Despite everything, Lucky grinned. “What makes you so sure I have a plan?”

Despite everything, Emily rolled her eyes and smirked. “Please! A Spencer without a plan. Next thing you know you’ll want me to believe in Santa Claus.”

“I did wonder about that letter to Santa I found on your desk.”

“That was Michael’s.”

“Right”

The room was silent for a little while and Lucky contented himself with feeling her warmth against him and listening to the sound of her heartbeat, even as he mentally ticked off the time. He had a few minutes of blessed peace before he had to act and he was going to grab them, hold onto them and to her, for every second he could.

“Lucky?” Her voice was better, calmer and he breathed a sigh of relief.

“Yeah?”

“There was one present I asked Santa for....”

“What? A diamond necklace or a new car or a full time maid or maybe cooking lessons...”

“Lucky! My cooking isn’t that bad. All right it is that bad but its getting better.....Fine who needs to cook when you own a restaurant..” Emily grumbled teasingly. “Just for that I’m not going to tell you what I asked Santa for.”

“Right. I’m WSB babe, I know ways to make you talk.”

“Right. I’m scared.” She tossed back a tendril of hair. “Do you want to know or not?”

“Lucky?”

“I’m thinking.”

“You know if my arm wasn’t already hurt.....”

“How is your arm?”

“Fine. Or at least not more than terribly painful. Now stop teasing me or I’m going to pout.”

“You don’t pout Emily, it’s not your style.”

“I could learn.”

“You wouldn’t dare....fine, what did you ask Santa for?”

Emily snuggled closer to Lucky. “I asked him to let me spend the rest of my life with you.”

Lucky was silent for a moment. “Funny, but that was exactly what I asked him for too.”

They fell silent for a moment and Lucky dropped a soft kiss on her forehead.

“Lucky?”

“Yeah?”

Emily took a deep breath and her grip on his hand tightened. “What Faison did to you....” She hesitated feeling him tense up her grip on him tightened further. “It was what I think it was...wasn’t it?”

Lucky froze. He didn’t want to think about that right now, didn’t want to think about anything right now. It was hard enough for him to be in this room, this room that looked so much like the other room, without wanting to crawl into a corner and hide. He couldn’t do that. He had a job to do and two people who meant the world to him needed him to stay sane long enough to do it. He wanted to deny it, to keep from Emily the ugliness that had been his life back then. She had enough burdens of her own to carry, the last thing he wanted was for her to carry his. Still... he couldn’t lie to her. Wouldn’t lie to her.

“Yes.” It was all he could manage to say as he waited for her to say something, to push him away as the contaminated and dirty thing he was. He waited for the axe to fall as she realized what he had known all along- that he wasn’t good enough for her after what Faison had done to him.

Her reaction, when it came, was pure Emily but still managed to shock him to the cure. Instead of drawing away, Emily snuggled closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder.

“I love you.” The whisper filled the dark room and Lucky found himself having to remember to breath.

“I know.” And then he did what he hadn’t done since the ordeal had began. He cried.

Another room in the villa

Anna Devane frowned as she arranged the roses in the vase, trying to find the combination of colors that pleased her. She felt nervous and worried, the strange incident in the plaza early in the day had unnerved her. You would think, having been both a DVX and WSB agent that guns and gunshots wouldn’t bother her. Yet the whole episode had left her feeling unnerved and she wished, rather desperately, that Caesar hadn’t been called to a business meeting that would keep him busy the rest of the day and night.

She could have used his calm and steady presence right now. She could almost imagine the tone of voice he would use to chide her, to tell her that everything was okay. She could almost see the teasing light in his blue eyes or the soft lilt of his Australian accent....

She stopped herself when she realized that the man she was imagining was Robert Scorpio.

Which was craziness within itself. Robert was the last man she wanted to think about. She betrayed him and he hated her for that betrayal. It was that simple. It was the reason she kept Robin a secret, her fear that if he knew about his daughter Robert would take Robin away from her.

Anna didn’t think she could live without Robin. Her beautiful Robin, with those dark brown eyes that almost matched her rich brown hair and.....

She was doing it again. What was wrong with her? Robin didn’t have brown eyes, she had blue eyes. Clear blue eyes that were like tiny pieces of sky. Just like her fathers. She could still remember looking up into those eyes of Robert’s in the Quartermaine’s garden when they said those vows.

She sat down and her body started to shake. What was going on? God, she was losing her mind, that was it. She was imagining things, things that couldn’t possibly have happened. She’d snapped. Oh God she had to find Caesar he would fix everything and.... She closed her eyes. He would put her in a mental hospital again. It would be just like it was when he had found her in that hospital in Switzerland. The straps. The shots. The voices in her head telling her what to do, what to think, what to believe.

And he would take Robin away from her.

She couldn’t lose her daughter. She couldn’t.

“Mom?”

Anna looked up and smiled at her daughter. “Sweetheart, I thought you were going to take a nap after the excitement of the morning.”

Lulu faked a smile. She was worried about Lucky and Emily and Robin and she was even beginning to worry about Sonny. He had brought them back to the villa and she understood the need to continue pretending. But he told her that he was going to slip into the village and he hadn’t returned yet.

She was just beginning to panic a little.

“I was wondering if I could go and play in the garden.” She didn’t dare ask about Sonny directly, but they would have to pass through the courtyard to get to the gardens and she could at least check to see if the limo he was assigned to drive was there.

Anna took a deep breath and smoothed the lines of her dress. “I think that’s a wonderful idea.” She stated cheerfully. Leaving behind her fears, she took her daughter’s hand and led her outside.

Faison’s private quarters

Robin winced as the guard threw her on the four poster bed.

Faison grinned as he watched the guard handcuff one hand to the bedpost.

“You aren’t going to get away with this.” Robin yelled at Faison, her fists clenched with fury.

“I think I’ve already gotten away with it.” Faison replied, dismissing the guard. Walking to the door, he locked it from the inside and pocketed the key. “There’s no one who can stop me now.”

“You’ll have to rape me because there’s no way in hell that I would ever let you touch me willingly.”

“Promises. Promises.” Faison sat on the bed next to her and despite Robins efforts at inching away, he ran his hands up and down her body. When she moved to strike him, he grabbed her hand by the wrist and stared at her clinched fist. “Temper. Temper.” He waited for her to lower her hand. “May I remind you that your life is in my hand as surely as your delectable body will soon be. Satisfy me well and maybe I won’t feel the need to claim young Spencer again.”

“You are a sick bastard,” Robin voice shook with anger. “You took a young boy from his home, kept him prisoner, tortured him, raped him... “

“And I look forward to repeating the experience as soon as I finish with you.” Faison reached into a drawer by his bed and removed a cat of nine tails whip. “I don’t think I’ve used this on anyone since I used it on your mother. I can see the soft tender flesh of her back and hear her scream as each blow cut into her flesh.....” Faison used the end of the whip to trace patterns on Robin’s body. “Not that I enjoyed whipping your mother....much, but it was necessary to get her to understand that I am the one who loves her and cares about her and will do anything for her.”

“You’re crazy. When my mother finds out what you have done.....”

“But she won’t. Right now I imagine Anna is happily spending time with her beautiful young daughter Robin...probably helping Robin have a tea party with her stuffed animals....” Faison grinned. “You’re mother can’t help you. Hell, she can’t even help herself. As far as she is concerned she is living in a dream world with the man she loves, Caesar Faison, and her little girl Robin....”

“How in the....Lulu. That’s why you wanted Lulu.”

Faison nodded. “Oh not originally. Originally Lulu was just another pawn to use to destroy young Spencer. I was quite prepared to kill either her or Ms. Quartermaine, whichever he chose. Or should I say, didn’t choose. But my plans changed and rather than being bitter or vindictive, I simply thought of a different plan.”

“You’re crazy. My mother won’t buy into your madness forever.”

“She doesn’t have too. In a few weeks Robin will suffer a terrible accident. I’m sure it will be a devastating blow to my wife. I’m quite prepared to move heaven and earth to support her in her time of need as a loving husband should.” He leaned over her. “Speaking of loving...” He leaned down and delivered a brutal kiss, forcing Robin back into the mattress. When he lifted her head, Robin spit at him.

“Such spirit.” He wiped the spit from his cheek. “Too bad I have to break it.”

“Aren’t you worried that I’ll infect you with AIDS? I’m kind of hoping that I do myself.”

“Oh I wouldn’t worry too much,” Faison began to undress her. “I always practice safe sex. Sadistic. Violent. Rough. Painful. But I always make sure I’m safe.”

He stood and stared down at her naked form. “You are a work of art.”

Robin stared at him directly, determined not to give him the satisfaction of seeing her fear. “Just get it over with.”

“In due time. Art, like fine wine, must be savored slowly.” Faison stepped off the bed. “I believe that I should take a nice relaxing shower. I imagine that knowing you wait naked for me on my bed will make the waiting....intriguing. And I wouldn’t want our first time to be sullied by my currently uncouth experience.” As Robin started to speak, he laid a hand against her mouth. “Tut-tut, there will be plenty of opportunities later for you to join me in my shower. Not that I expect you to escape with guards outside the door and yourself naked and handcuffed to the bed, but I should remind you that if you are not here to entertain me when I finish that I will be forced to seek out the attentions of young Mr. Spencer.” He grinned. “I do believe this is what even you would call a checkmate.”

Robin watched him go and waited for him to close the door behind him. It was typical of Faison’s ego that he wouldn’t think of leaving the connecting door open.

She opened the hand that was still in a tight clinched fist, the hand that Lucky had grabbed earlier.

And grinned at the skeleton key that was lying against her palm. A key developed by the WSB to adapt to any locking mechanism.

Thank God for the boys in research and development. She would have to remember to send them an invitation to the wedding.

Moving swiftly, she took the key and unlocked her handcuff. One minute later, she had her clothes pulled back on. Holding up the whip that Faison had placed by the bed, she bit back the urge to wait for him to emerge so she could use it on him.

She shrugged. Vengeance would have to wait. First she had to see about rescuing Emily and Lucky, finding her mother and Lulu, and getting all of them out of here in one piece.

Simple as pie.

Twenty seconds later, she had the door unlocked and after disabling a shocked guard, headed stealthily down the corridor.

He was cold. Not the kind of cold that you could get rid of by piling on the blankets or turning the thermostat up, but the kind of cold that froze you from within, making you not care about anything or anyone. Not even yourself.

It was a safe kind of cold because it stopped you from thinking too much. It stopped you from connecting the dots when you know that the picture they form is going to be ugly, too ugly to think about or to accept or to even admit its real.

He stood, not because he wanted to or felt like it but because with his hands shackled to the wall and his feet shackled to a spike in the ground, he had no choice.

No choice.

He couldn’t remember the last time he had eaten or the last time he had seen daylight, had given up a long time ago on trying to keep track of the days. He could have been in here a couple of days or a couple of years, he didn’t know and he didn’t care.

He was hungry and dirty and his body was bruised and he knew that some of the cuts that criss-crossed his body would leave scars.

He supposed he should feel grateful that he was alive.

But he wasn’t. He wanted to die. Had begged for death. Had pleaded for HIM to kill him.

But that never happened. Other things happened. Things he didn’t want to think about. Things that he never knew a person could do to another. Things that would have made him vomit if there had been any food in his system to vomit.

He had no choice.

He repeated the phrase over and over again only it didn’t make him feel cleaner. He didn’t think anything would ever make him feel whole again.

He was broken. He knew it. Felt it. But he was determined not to let HIM know it.

God he was mixed up. Crazy. Insane. He hated HIM. Wanted to kill HIM. Yet sometimes, just sometimes, he wanted HIM to come. Not for what he did to him every time he came down here. He could never want that. But HE was the only other voice he heard, the only other person besides himself that he had seen since the fire.

He hated that weakness about himself. But then there were a lot of things he hated about himself these days. Hated the fact that he hadn’t been able to escape. He’d tried, once but HE had caught him and he had learned first hand that broken bones didn’t’t heal easily when there was no doctor to set them. He hated the fact that things happened to him and he let them happen. A stronger man would be able to stop him. A stronger man would never let this happen.

Superman would never let Lex Luther rape him, no matter how much kryptonite Lex had.

He shivered, the cold intensifying and solidifying.

Not that he was alone in this hell hole. There were rats down here. He remembered the first few months and his pathetic attempt to make friends with the rats. He’d seen a movie once where the prisoner made a pet out of the rat in his cell.

These rats never saw that movie. These rats weren’t friendly. These rats bit and they bit often, which meant that he could never close his eyes and give way completely to sleep because they would see it as the opening they needed to crawl down the pipe he was chained to....

Lucky jerked awake when he felt something cross his arm.

“I’m sorry,” Emily whispered. “I was afraid that you were going to fall asleep.”

Lucky nodded, letting the vivid images fade as he stared into her brown eyes.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” He kissed her softly, letting his lips linger on hers until he pulled away.

“Emily I...”

“It’s okay.” She grinned as she gestured to their surroundings. “This place isn’t exactly what I would term romantic. In fact, if you do have some kind of super secret agent plan now would be a good time to put into motion.”

“You okay?”

“You mean am I going to fall apart on you again?” He frowned and would have said something but she stopped him. “Let’s just get out of here so I can find someplace with silk sheets and room service and fall apart in style, ok.” She paused. “You do have a plan?” He looked at her sideways. “Okay stupid question, forget I asked.”

Lucky grinned as he pulled two buttons from his shirt.

“Lucky, I appreciate the fact that you are the professional but somehow I don’t think throwing a button at Faison is really going to do the trick.”

“It’s a bomb.”

“What?”

“A bomb.”

“I put my head on a bomb.”

“Relax. You need to put the two buttons together to activate it.” A brief silence. “What?”

“When we move in together, I refuse to have exploding buttons hanging around the house.”

He stopped. “We’re moving in together?”

She nodded. He frowned. “What about ELQ? I know how important your job and your family are to you and both are in Port Charles.”

She shook her head. “If you are in New York, then I want to be there. After all of this, I don’t want to be apart from you again.”

He took a deep breath. “I don’t want you to sacrifice your life or who you....”

Leaning forward, Emily placed a finger against his lips. “Can we postpone this discussion until we find a more suitable location.”

“Someplace with silk sheets and room service?”

“That would be nice.” She half grinned. “I think it’s time we blow this joint, don’t you?”

He grinned and moved to the side of the dungeon and placed the two buttons, one on top of the other, by the brick wall.

Emily frowned. “Why not blow the door?”

“Faison would be expecting us to go out the front door.” Lucky smiled at her. “Basic WSB policy, whenever possible, make your own doors.”

“Why do I not believe you?”

“Don’t know.” He stared at his watch. “Get down.”

A few seconds later a small explosion rocked the room.

Emily stared at the opening that could barely be seen through the dust.

“So what now?”

“Haven’t a clue,” Lucky moved to the opening. “I’m making this up as I go along.”

“Now you tell me.” Emily took one last look around her before turning to follow Lucky.